Chapter 8

EPOV

Fucking shit, I love this girl. She's perfect for me.

Fucking.

Perfect.

And I was completely in love with her. Twitterpated, heart eyes, all that shit.

I had every intention of telling her that while I was kissing her stupid after she took our vlog a little off the rails by telling me how all-encompassing and intense and perfect she felt our relationship was. I felt the same way, 100%. After only a little under 2 months, she was everything to me. But as soon as I was about to say the words, she fucking moaned.

And she was so fucking wet. How was I just supposed to ignore that shit? Seriously? Mjolnir attacked, and I attacked, and she moaned some more and asked me to touch her and I was just… lost. Done for. Didn't stand a chance.

I wigged out for a minute when I thought there was a good chance I couldn't bring her to orgasm, but I refused to take that shit laying down… so to speak. When she did come, fucking shit, did she come. I swear that first one felt like it may have been 2 or 3, but how the fuck would I know for sure if it was the first one I ever gave her?

And definitely not going to be able to be in the house the first time I make love to her. She was loud, and after the first or second "Shhh", I didn't even try to quiet her anymore, because that shit was fucking hot.

And then she collapsed against me sobbing and gasping and I was gutted.

You hurt her! It was too much, and you were too fucking rough, dumbass! I thought, in horror, but she'd teased me about my dirty mouth, that she not-so-secretly loved, looked at me, face flushed, tears in her eyes and asked "Again? Please?" Even while her legs were still shaking from the first intense ass orgasm she'd had.

Fucking love this girl!

But yeah. I couldn't really tell her that for the first time right after we fucked. Well, we didn't fuck, but the sentiment is the same. It would sound… insincere. And now I'm kind of glad I didn't get the chance to tell her before we started up, because I didn't want her to look back on it later and think the only reason I told her was so she would let me get in her skirts.

I had to tell her for the first time on a completely separate occasion, make it special for her. She deserved to have it made into a huge deal. But, fuck, how in the Hell would I do that? Valentine's Day was too far away. Christmas? It'd make a good Christmas present if the delivery was epic. Could I wait that long?

"Babe, what's wrong?"

I snapped back to the present where Bella was perched on the counter in my bathroom, skirt back on, and looking wholly presentable once more, except for the fact that her panties were in the pocket of my basketball shorts. A new pair, since the other pair I'd worn were still damp in the front.

Fucking hot, I tell you.

Though not as hot as carrying her in here and cleaning her up… and our progress may have been hindered by the fact that I kept rubbing her clit with my thumb through the damp towel, making her wet all over again until I'd, of course, had no choice but to give her another orgasm. Not that she protested at all.

I made myself stop being a perv and pay attention to what she was asking me, and smiled at her. "How could anything be wrong after the last, oh, hour or so? Just daydreaming, Beautiful. Hey," my smile widened as I realized "that's the first time you've called me 'Babe' when we weren't teasing each other."

She shrugged, "It just slipped out."

"Well, I like it." I kissed her lips, only nibbling a little because I really couldn't resist, and held my wrist out to her. I'd developed the habit of taking her buns or ponytails down if she was acting like she was getting a headache or if I just wanted to see her shake out her wild mass of brown curls, and I kept her hair ties on my wrist until she got tired of dealing with it and wanted to tie it back up. She stared at the three I'd amassed, then shrugged again and removed one, handing me her glasses in return. I'd kind of done a number on her hair, for which, by the way, there were NO regrets, and she had to dampen it in the sink before she could get it under control enough to pull it into a bun on top of her head.

Standing here, in this tiny bathroom while she fixed her hair, the scene was oddly domestic, and I loved it. All that was missing was for one of us to be brushing our teeth or something, and it'd be just like something I'd seen of my parents a thousand times when I went in their room as a kid.

Fuck, I loved this girl so much, and I had no idea how I was going to make it to Christmas to tell her. Or how I was going to tell her at all. An inkling of an idea was starting to form, but I'd need Charlie's permission first, if he ever deigned to bring his ass around. He was pulling a bunch of crazy shifts like he usually did during the holidays to cover for the other officers so they could spend time with their kids, but he seemed to have forgotten that he had a kid to spend the holidays with now too.

And while I didn't mind if he kept up this crazy ass schedule, because Bella spent a lot of nights with Alice, and thus, a lot of time with me, I didn't like that it bothered her. She'd talked to me about it after the Halloween party, that'd she noticed his increase in hours and it felt like he was both "dumping her off on us" and avoiding her. She talked to my parents about it, and while all of us tried to convince her that we loved having her over and that Charlie was just busy with work, weeks like this one made it worse. Charlie had dropped her off this morning, saying that he had to work a double and he would see us for dinner tomorrow, "if it wasn't crazy out."

Bella was far from stupid, and she'd been around now, long enough to know that Forks wasn't such a hotbed for crime that he couldn't take a couple hours to spend with his kid on her first Thanksgiving here. I kind of wondered if he wasn't avoiding her too. If maybe he wasn't regretting having a kid suddenly infringe on his Bachelor-hood? And if that was the case, I'd kick his selfish ass myself. Because after all the things that she told me, there wasn't a chance in Hell I'd let her go back to Arizona.

And on the off chance that Mom and Dad wouldn't allow her to stay here, which I reeeaaaally doubted, based on the epic fit that Alice would throw alone, with how my personal channel had taken off in the last month, coupled with how well my animal channel had already been doing, I should hopefully get a check or two soon that I would put aside in case we had to get a place together, and I would keep evolving both channels to keep the money flowing in case I had to support us long term. It was a long shot and worse case scenario, but that was just how I worked. And it was the best thing I could do with the money anyway. I'd already talked to her about splitting the check with her, since I hadn't blown up in views until she joined, but told me she wasn't having it, because it was "my" channel, and thus, "my" money. So I was going to find a way to spend the money on her, regardless, but at the very least, if shit hit the fan, I had a plan in place to keep her from going back to an abusive parent if this one turned out to be a shithead.

I should be running for my life, just looking at how quickly I'd reached the point where I would do anything for this girl, but that wasn't happening. It's like Alice said, we Cullens knew what we wanted, and I wanted Bella, and was willing to do anything to keep her with me. And just like Bella said, it was intense, yes, but it was also perfect. And it was mine.

"There you two are!" Mom appeared in the bathroom doorway. "What are you up two? Done filming?"

I snorted, handing Bella her glasses back. "Yeah. I was trying to help her with her hair, but I think I'm more of a hindrance than a help."

Mom looked at where Bella's hair was dripping down onto her neck and shirt with a frown and snatched a towel out of the cabinet. "It's freezing out Bella, you can't go around with wet hair in this drafty house. Edward, go get my hair dryer out of my room and the coconut oil out of the kitchen."

"Coconut oil?" I repeated. The fuck? Mom swatted me, laughing. "It's girl secrets, just do it!"

"Aye, Aye, Captain!" I gave her a smart ass salute and went to do as I was told. When I came back, Mom had shoved Bella's back under the faucet, for what I have no fucking clue, since the point was for her NOT to have wet hair. When she was done…rinsing the other water out? I don't fucking know, she left Bella hunched over the sink and took the coconut oil from me, digging a thick glob out and rubbing it between her hands until it liquefied, then massaged it all through her hair and scalp, detangling with her fingers as she went. Then she patted Bella's hair down with the towel and had her stand up and lean over so her head was upside down, then Mom took the blow dryer with this weird circular…thing on the end and dried with one hand, scrunched with the other hand until her hair was mostly dry.

"Now," she said. "When you straighten up, flip your hair backwards, Baywatch style."

"Baywatch?" Bella and I asked together. Mom huffed and rolled her eyes. "Never mind. Before your time." She muttered. Bella stood up, flipping her hair backwards, and it hung a lot neater and shinier than before. "Coconut oil." Esme told her, turning her to face the mirror. "I use it for all types of things, but it's fabulous in hair, so you can dry it every day without drying your hair out. Just be careful in the summer because it has a low melting point and it'll drip everywhere." She placed the square container in Bella's hands. "Do you have a diffuser for your hair dryer?" So that's what that shit was.

Bella lifted one shoulder, this time looking uncomfortable. "Don't have a hair dryer."

Mom sighed. "Your father is clueless, I swear. Girls need girly things. Here, I've got two, take this one." I didn't see any such thing in her bathroom, but she had probably figured out as well as I have by now that Bella didn't like people spending money on her. I'm pretty sure the only way my mother got away with the clothes is because Bella was concussed and high as a kite on pain meds when she gave them to her. She unplugged the thing, wrapped the cord around the handle, and then put it in Bella's arms as well, then changed her mind took it all and set it on my counter.

"You can get that stuff later. I initially came up here to get you guys to help me prep Thanksgiving dinner. Carlisle is hiding in his office and Emmett is at Rose's, also hiding, I'm sure. The twins are the only ones who never run from me when it's time to help cook."

I grinned, and kissed my ma on the cheek. "That's why we're the favorites"

Watching Bella in the kitchen just gave me even more domestic vibes. She pulled her hair away from her face in a low ponytail and donned the apron Mom handed her, getting to work effortlessly, while Alice and I needed to be directed. Even Bree came down after her nap and was given child appropriate duties, like stirring and mixing, giggling like mad when her batter flew out of the bowl. We all sat on bar stools around the Island chopping, dicing, prepping and talking major shit. It was fun.

It wasn't until all the major food prep work was done, and I went to get all of our dessert ingredients out of the fridge, that I realized Bella had been warned about the tradition beforehand, and had been included as part of the family. Her own bag sat nestled alongside Alice's. Each Cullen family member got to pick a dessert for Turkey Day, but you had to make it yourself. Mom bought all of the ingredients before hand, and separated them into bags so no one used anyone else's stuff.

I pulled out mine, Alice's, Ma's, and Bella's, and looked for Bree's only to realize she was sharing with Bella. I set the bags down on the, now bare island with a flourish. "Ladies."

Bree giggled at me, and reached up with cornbread batter sticky hands to pull my face to her so she could kiss me on the forehead like mom did to her all the time. "Thank you Eddie."

"Quite welcome milady. What are you making for the most incredible dessert in the whole wide world?"

"Bella's gonna share with me, and we gonna make Teeee- What's it Bella?"

"Tiramisu." Bella answered. My eyes widened, so did Alice's.

Mom looked at us all, amused.

By the time we were all finished, Dad walked into an exploded kitchen. He took one look at the mess, and retreated back into his office before Mom saw him. Bella and I laughed at him, but we didn't rat him out.

Thanksgiving was peaceful, thankfully. Well as peaceful as Thanksgiving usually was with the Cullens. Mom and Dad put the extra leaf in and extended the table, and Grandma and Grandpa Cullen and Grandpa Platt came, as well as Rosalie. Bree's birth father, since her case was still up in the air as far as whether or not parental rights would be terminated, had the option to show, but thankfully, he didn't. In the year Bree has been here, he showed up to ONE visitation, and he didn't stay long because he'd been chocolate wasted and leering at Alice. Emmett took great pleasure in literally tossing him out on his ass.

Grandpa and Grandma Cullen were awesome. Total lushes, the both of them, the more they drank, the thicker Grandpa's Irish accent and Grandma's Australian accent until no one but Dad could understand them. And always trying to slip the teenagers liquor. Mom and Dad usually let them get away with it, with Emmett and I, since it was the holidays, but under no circumstances were they to intoxicate anyone else's child. They always tried anyways.

Grandpa Platt was hilarious in his own right. Well, it depended on what day you caught him. Sometimes he was hilarious and sometimes he was damned inappropriate (which Emmett and I also thought was hilarious but Mom got upset if we encouraged him). Today though, he was erring more on the side of inappropriate, and so Bella sat between Dad and I, because Gramps had already "accidentally" put his hand on her ass once.

The table was ridiculously packed and it was ridiculously loud, but it was family and it was the epitome of Home. Mom, Dad, Alice and I, and even Emmett, all kept an eye on Bella because she'd look amazed, but then overwhelmed, and then amazed again. She clung to Bree like a lifeline, who was all too happy to spend the majority of the day in Bella's lap.

We all stuffed ourselves silly, and Bella praised Bree for the awesome Tiramisu and everyone else followed her lead. We thought the kid might launch into space she was so happy. (Thankfully Bella had made her her own Espresso-free kid version. I shudder to think how hyper she'd be with coffee in her system) And then Mom started beaming at Bella, teary eyed, because of what she'd just given Bree.

After the fuck awesome meal, we all lounged in the Basement, since it was the only informal spot with seating enough for us all. I kept Bella close to me, because Grandpa Platt now had wine in his system to add to his handsiness, and threw an arm over her shoulder. "You good?" I asked her, because she had that overwhelmed look on her face again.

She leaned in close, so as not to be overheard. "Is it always like this?" She surveyed the boisterous group. Everyone was chatting happily, most of the adults rosy in the face from alcohol. The only unhappy looking one was Rosalie, who sulked in the corner by herself. She'd had a bug up her ass all day though, and after the first two hours of everyone trying to pull her out of her sour mood we mostly ignored her.

Alice plopped herself on the floor in front of Bella's legs and leaned her head back on her knees. "Almost every major holiday," She answered. "Isn't it great?"

Bella nodded. "I kind of love it."

"Hey, no whispering. Secrets are rude!" Grandma Culled glided over and squeezed herself up to Bella's other side, holding two glasses of amber liquid. This oughta be good. I thought dryly. On this plus side, this meant that my Grandma liked my girlfriend, but on the downside, this meant that she was about to try and get said girlfriend drunk. And she would get drunk, because Grandma always drank some demonic strong shit that nobody had a good tolerance for besides she, and my parents. Literally everybody else who had so much as one of Grandma's glasses, soon regretted finishing the entire thing.

"Bella, Beautiful Bella." She cooed. "You did well Eddie."

"I know, Grandma." I kissed the side of Bella's face, mostly because I knew she was gonna blush. She didn't do it anymore when I kissed her in private, but she always flushed prettily when I showed her affection in front of other people. I was kind of addicted to it.

Grandma grinned at us both and handed Bella the glass closest to her. "Uhh," Bella hesitated, looking for someone to tell her what to do. Dad, who saw first, came over, dumped half of Bella's drink into his coke can, and then gave it back to her. "Drink slow." He warned, "Mother, stop corrupting my children." and that was that.

Bella stared at after him, shock written all over her face at being referred to as one of Dad's 'children'. And then a happy smile. "Well then, little girl." Grandma cackled merrily. "Seems like you all of a sudden have more family than you know what to do with. Drink up!"

Bella took a tentative sip, and I reached a hand out in case she dropped her glass on Alice's head, because I knew what was coming. Or at least I thought I did. Bella's eyes watered a bit, and she smacked herself on the chest once, where I knew it burned like the HellFire it was named after, and croaked "Christ, almighty!" but that was it. No coughing fit, like the first time Emmett and I drank it, and no gagging, like the one and only time Alice had snuck some.

"Holy fucking shit!" Emmett screamed, barreling across the room while Grandma whooped and yanked Bella out of my lap. Alice's head plopped unceremoniously to the couch cushion, with a "Hey!"

"This one's my favorite!" Grandma hollered. "I'm claiming her!"

This time I did reach out and snag her glass, laughing, because Grandma was currently smashing Bella's face into her boobs, hopping madly, crowing triumphantly like she'd just won the Hunger Games, or a year's supply of her favorite liquor. Well second favorite to her own.

Bella giggled, because really, what else could you do when some old drunk lady smashed you to her tits yelling "Did you see that, did you see that?!"

Dad plopped down next to me, smirking, and whispered "You're going to have to marry that girl eventually, you realize that don't you? Mother will never forgive you if you don't"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Drunk though she may be, she takes her liquor and her tests very seriously. And Bella just passed."

I smirked back at him, but didn't say anything, just reached out rescue Bella before she suffocated. Grandma released her and pressed a loud smacking kiss to her forehead, before lightly shoving her back into my arms.

Thankfully, she found it hilarious, and it took her a long while before she could calm down enough to take another sip, this time with Grandma Cullen nodding proudly instead of employing boobie suffocation tactics.

Bella seemed to have forgotten my dad's warning to go slow, however, and finished half the glass before she shook her head with a breathy "That's enough," and handed the rest to me. Deciding maybe I shouldn't have any, in case she got slaughtered, I handed the glass to my mom as she was passing, and she tossed it back like a shot.

"The test." My dad whispered next to me, again.

Ah. Got it.

The Thanksgiving dinner, turned party lasted on. Everybody continued to have a good time except for moody Rosalie, who didn't seem to want to go home, despite being so apparently miserable. Whatever. Other than when one of her pissy expressions caught my eye, I ignored her.

Bella, did in fact, end up tipsy, but thankfully not super drunk. She stumbled a bit standing up, but managed to walk alright as she headed over to the piano where Bree was messing with the keys, thankfully already dressed in her PJs because it was pretty late, and when she crashed, she was gonna crash hard. "Watcha playing?" Bella drawled goofily, leaning over the side of the piano until her legs dangled off the floor, and looking down over where Bree's fingers tinkled quiet nonsensical notes.

"Trynna play Frozen." She said sullenly, staring straight ahead at the music book Mom had bought her for her birthday. It had both kid versions and advanced versions of sheet music for all the songs, but Dad hadn't had the time to teach her yet.

Aaaaand the book wasn't even open.

"Do you want some help, Sweetie?"

"Yes, please!"

I stared harder, more interested now. Bella had repeatedly talked about her love of music, and mentioned how her mother had ruined the fun of singing for her, and I constantly caught her eye fucking that damned Barbie looking Piano whenever we were down here, but to my knowledge, she had yet to touch the thing.

My mom was closest to the piano and she stared too, but in that Mom way that she uses so we don't realize she's watching us, usually because we're about to door say something stupid or against the rules. Bella lifted Bree into her lap and settled into middle of the piano bench. She wiggled around and cracked her knuckles noisily, clearing her throat loudly, hamming it up until Bree's quiet giggles turned into loud cackles and she tickled Bella in the ribs, squealing "Bellaaaaaaa."

"Okay, okay!" Bella laughed. She flipped open the book, not even looking at what song it landed on and asked "Let It Go?"

Bree squealed again, and it was either a credit to Bella's tolerance of kids, or the liquor in her system that she didn't flinch away from the Banshee Decibel that was released right in her face. She only laughed and shifted Bree forward again. "Okay, two jobs hun. I need you to be the page turner, and I need you to help me sing. Good?"

"Good!"

Bella laughed at her exuberance, even as her fingers started to slant over the keys, and we could all hear the opening notes to Bree's favorite song. She wasn't a classically trained pianist by any means, she was playing the song in the simple way it was written, with no added fluff… but she was playing it without even glancing at the book. Which I guess was good because Bree was already flipping pages all over the place.

And then she started to sing, and holy fucking shit!

She and Bree were in their own little world and neither seemed to notice that the entire basement had come to dead silence as we watched the two girls at the piano. Even over Bree's 5-year-old voice yelling out the lyrics, you could hear the beauty and the power in Bella's voice.

As the song came up to Bree's favorite part, the part she always screamed out even though she had no earthly clue what the words were, Bella nudged her with her shoulder, even as her fingers flew rapidly over the keys. "Get ready!" she teased.

My power flurries through the air into the ground

My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around

And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast

I'm never going back,

The past it in the past!

Let it go, let it go!

And I'll rise like the break of dawn

Let it go, let it go!

The perfect girl is gone!

Here I stand, in the light of day

Let the storm rage on,

"Mother of God." Whether the whisper came from me or from Dad next to me, I really had no fucking clue. Probably Dad though, since it didn't have a 'fuck' in it. Everyone was staring at Bella in complete shock as she belted that note out with no effort what so fucking ever.

Bree was… there was no calming her down now. When Bella finished the song, she hot potato'd all over the place screaming "Yay!" in a pitch that made me wish for ear plugs. Bella was laughing happily, until she glanced up and saw Emmett with his phone in hand, and then she paled, remembering where she was.

"Oh shit." She whimpered, and because she was staring at Emmett's phone in horror, she was totally unprepared when Bree launched herself at her, and the two went flying backwards off the seat.

"Oh shit!"

"Fuck!"

"Shit!"

Expletives were flying all over the place, and the room burst into minor chaos as everyone basically rushed to help the girls off the floor and make sure that thunk hadn't been Bella's head on the hard basement floor and a 3rd concussion. "Damn it, Carlisle, we're putting carpet down here!" Mom cried, lifting Bree into her arms, who was crying either because the drop had scared her, or she thought she'd hurt Bella because she wasn't holding on to any of her body parts, so I didn't think that she was hurt.

I helped Bella up as Alice, on her other side, hurriedly flipped down her skirt, not that she was flashing anyone, it had just risen up kind of high. Bella gripped my arm with one hand as I lifted her, and with the other, she held the back of her skirt down and left her hand there like she thought it would fly back up a la Marilyn Monroe all by itself.

"Baby, did you hit your head?" I asked her, digging my hands in her hair to check for knots or blood, and not caring if I was knocking her ponytail crooked. "No, I don't think so. I'm okay." I breathed a sigh of relief. A short lived sigh of relief, because Grandma literally swatted me away. No really, she swatted me on my ass, growling "Move boy, don't coddle her, she's made of stronger stuff than that."

"I like his coddling." Bella protested, reminding me that she was still super tipsy. "Psh, psh." Grandma waved her statement away. "I want to know where you learned to sing like that!"

"Oh. Um." Bella buried herself into my side, until she was pretty much hiding behind me and peeking out beneath my arm. "I didn't really learn it, per se."

"You have a gift girl. Come sit. Sing something else!"

"Oh. Um." Bella said again, but one didn't really say no to Catriona Cullen, and so Bella let herself be prodded along and unceremoniously plopped right back on the bench she'd just fallen off of.

"Caz, let's leave Bella alone eh?" Grandpa Cullen steered his wife away by the elbow, distracting her by refilling her glass with his other hand. You were supposed to tell Carlisle about this new recipe we're about to put into production, yes? Come."

Carlisle dutifully followed his parents up the stairs, winking at Bella over his shoulder as she sighed in relief. Alice flitted over and very daintily sat herself on the seat next to her friend, twining their arms together and offering her comfort in a very Alice way.

"I think it's time to call it a night." Mom rose as well, cradling a now sleeping Bree with some effort. Emmett rose and relieved her of her snoring bundle, calling "Come on Rose, wait for me upstairs, I'll come back down and take you home."

"Bella doesn't have to go home." Rose said nastily. Bella froze, surprised to be on the receiving end of Rose's assholery. Shit kinda shocked me too, they usually got along pretty well from what I saw.

Emmett sighed and continued on up the stairs. I could tell he was getting sick of her attitude. Ma wasn't having it either. "Bella is staying the night with Alice." She waved a hand towards the two girls sitting arm in arm. "If you had ever bothered to spend any time with her, I'm sure Alice would have been more than happy to have you sleep over too. Now that's quite enough young lady, and the next time you step foot in this house, I fully expect you to be respectful to everyone under this roof. Understand?"

"Whatever." Rosalie rolled her eyes and stomped up the stairs. Alice, Bella and I all stared after her, incredulous, but only Alice and I knew what was about to happen. Rosalie wasn't stepping foot inside this house again for a long time, if ever. Sure enough, Ma headed up the stairs and we could hear her continue on up to the second floor where Emmett was putting Bree in her bed.

BPOV

Edward, supposing his brother might need to talk, went with Emmett to drop Rosalie off at home. She huffed about it, but Edward was Edward, and he didn't give a shit what somebody else thought if someone he cared about needed him.

I smiled happily, thinking about how lucky I was to have such a loving and loyal boyfriend as Alice and I changed into our pajamas. I abandoned the trundle bed tonight and dragged my heavy blanket into bed with Alice, wrapping up in the thick folds so I wouldn't smush her with it. We faced each other in the semi darkness, and I giggled. "Ali, I think your Grandma got me drunk."

Alice laughed. "I think she did too. Did you have a good Thanksgiving?"

"I had a fantastic Thanksgiving!" And then I sobered a little, mood wise. "Thank you for having me. Seriously. Otherwise, I may have been spending the Holidays all by myself. I mean, I've done it before, but I still don't like it."

She wrapped her arm around my waist and snuggled close, laying her head on my shoulder. "You don't have to thank any of us for that Bella. We love you. You heard Grandma Cat, she claimed you!"

"When she handed me that drink, your Dad told her to stop corrupting his children."

"See!" She cheered. "I told you! Nobody in this family makes relationships easily Bella, but we're like pack of rabid wolves when we see something as ours, and you're ours." She lowered her voice as deep as she could get it and said ominously. "There's no escape, bwahahaha."

I laughed, way louder than I probably should at this time of night and nudged her. "Your evil genius laugh is terrible; in case you were wondering."

She giggled, and shrugged. "I have a high voice. Talking that low hurts."

"I have a low voice. I hated it for so long, my mom used to tell me I had a manly voice, and for months she was on this kick where I could only sing songs in a higher register. I don't really know what she hoped to accomplish, but it strained my voice after a while. When it went out, I totally faked it and pretended that it was gone a lot longer than it really was, and when she took me to the doctor, I begged the lady to tell my mom that my vocal chords are permanently damaged. She did, but Mom got so much meaner after that."

"Bella?"

"Yes Alice?" I closed my eyes.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yes. I love you, too Ali."

"Good. So know that this is coming from a place of love: Your mother is a cunt."

My eyes popped open and I stared at tiny, delicate Alice and the horrible word that had just poured out of her mouth, lip twitching because I kind of wanted to laugh. But Alice wasn't done. "And if I ever see her, I'm going to put my size 6 foot so far up her ass, she'll be coughing up the rhinestones from my favorite ballet flats until she's old and gray."

Again, I stared. "Why on earth would you wear your favorite shoes Alice?"

Pause.

Silence.

We both burst into raucous laughter at the utter ridiculousness of the question.

"What on Earth is going on in here?" Esme's voice sounded, amused, from the doorway. I squinted at her, but gave up, unable to see without my glasses in the dim lighting, never mind the tears in my eyes. I choked back my laughter to answer, since Alice was still kind of hysterical sounding. "Alice wants to put her foot up my mom's ass until she's coughing up rhinestones." Alice laughed even harder at my frank words. "I just wanted to know, if this is premeditated, why on earth she would wear her favorite shoes."

Esme climbed onto the middle of the bed, sitting between Alice's and my legs. "The liquor hasn't worn off yet I see."

Oh well, at least she wasn't mad about it. "I didn't drink much, and it was forever ago. Is that normal?"

"Grandma Cullen's specialty." Esme answered. "It's what makes her liquor so popular. Stuff is very very strong and lasts for forever. She and Carlisle's father have made a sizeable fortune out of getting people ridiculously drunk for a ridiculously long time. It's a good thing you stopped when you did, or you'd probably be throwing up now."

"Oh God no," I said, yawning. "No more vomiting."

"No more vomiting indeed." She leaned forward and kissed us both on the forehead. "Go to sleep, my giggle boxes."

I could definitely obey that one. I'm pretty sure I was out of it before she'd climbed all the way out of the bed.

Unfortunately, my bliss didn't last long. I awoke, some time later, to the sound of my phone vibrating noisily against the table next to me. I picked it up and reached for my glasses, holding them in front of my face so I could see who the hell wanted consciousness from me in the middle of the night. It was a text message:

Dad

Happy Thanksgiving kid! Sorry I missed. Had 2 cover at the station.

Your mom called. She will stay with us 4 Xmas.

My chest squeezed painfully and felt oddly heavy.

I couldn't- No. No, no no no no no no! Why would he let her come here? No. no, no, no.

I tried to slip out of bed without waking Alice, and ended up thudding heavily on the floor. I shouldn't have worried though, Alice sleeps like the dead. Jerkily I made my way out into the hallway and down two doors.

He was awake, I knew. Could see the light underneath his door. I fumbled with the handle, and fell forward into the room when the door swung out from beneath my weight.

"Bella?"

Two disarticulated arms came forward out of the blur and caught me.

Emmett?

I think.

It had sounded like Emmett.

Was I in the wrong room? I didn't remember walking up any stairs.

"Bella? What is it?"

I clenched both hands in my hair, pulling and trying to distract myself so I wouldn't cry, but I couldn't get a good grip, my hands were shaking.

I couldn't breathe properly, felt like I was swimming in jello.

"No you don't." Arms steadied me when I swayed. Familiar arms.

"Deep breaths Baby."

Edward?

"Yes. Come on Bella, you have to breathe deeper than this."

I pulled in as much air as I could.

"Again."

I obeyed.

"Again."

EsmePOV

Enough, was enough.

When my oldest child knocked on our bedroom door at 1 am, I thought he needed to talk to perhaps talk about that viper of a girlfriend of his, or that Bree had had a nightmare. When I opened the door and saw the look on his face, I feared Alice had had another seizure, even though her meds were working wonderfully, and she hadn't had one in almost a year.

But no, it was Isabella, who'd been happily tucked in next to Alice when I'd last seen her, on her way to sleeping deeply.

I watched wordlessly as Edward clutched her close, coaxing every breath out of her until the panic attack was over, and then the shaking started and tears poured down her face.

We were all on the floor now, Edward, with Bella in his lap, Emmett, Carlisle and I. We knew, from experience with some of our children, how much some of them hated coming out of the throes of anxiety on the floor with people looming over you.

"You're not going back." Edward was insisting, wrapping himself even tighter around Bella. I moved closer to them, reaching under his arm to place my fingers on her wrist and check her pulse. While rapid, it wasn't thready or bounding, so as long as she didn't start hyperventilating again, physically, she was okay for the moment.

Emotionally? I wasn't sure. From this close I could hear her gasping over and over "I don't want to go back there. I don't want to go back there. I don't want to go back there."

Her phone was falling out of her loosening hand, still unlocked from where her hand had been on the screen all this time. I took it from her, and she either didn't notice, or didn't care, simply used the free hand to tightly grip Edward's shirt.

The text I saw on the screen made me furious, disgusted, and sad.

Dad

Happy Thanksgiving kid! Sorry I missed. Had 2 cover at the station.

Your mom called. She will stay with us 4 Xmas.

Sent at 12:49 am. I don't know what that man's problem is, but he's been ridiculously absentee. And this had been his only child's first holiday here, first holiday with him, and he hadn't come by, and didn't call and check on her all day, but sends a half-assed text after midnight. I know Bella had been feeling abandoned for weeks, and half terrified that he was regretting bringing her home. Now, I was sure, she thought he was trying to ship her back to her mother. I couldn't say I blamed her for thinking he would do such a thing. He wouldn't, of course, not if Carlisle and I had anything to say about it, and oh, did we have plenty!

Carlisle and I loved her, even Emmett loved her, Bree loved her, Alice loved her, Edward loved her. And enough is enough. She's been through enough and I draw the line here and now. I'm mostly sure Charlie just didn't know what to do with a child that he couldn't send back to it's parents after being the Fun Uncle for a weekend, but if he really did try to do such a vile thing as to send Isabella back to that horrid woman, Carlisle and I would fight for her.

We had enough influence between here and Seattle, and more than enough money to make such a tangle of a case that they'd be scrambling for their asses until Bella was legally an adult, at which point it would be all for naught, and she could make her own legal decisions, and we'd keep her.

I handed my husband the cell phone, so that he could see the message, and motioned for he and Emmett to leave the room. Bella was calming down, and people felt horrible enough about panic and anxiety attacks without additional people adding to the feeling of being gawked at. She would be fine, so they could come back in a bit.

Edward leaned back against his sofa, and while my youngest boy was intense, I'd never seen him focus on anything the way he was in tune with this girl. He blocked the rest of the room out completely, and it was like I wasn't even there, not 5 feet away from them.

"I won't let that happen." He was whispering fervently. "Bella, look at me." He leaned his head back so he could look into her eyes. "I don't give a fuck what Charlie is thinking or doing. You are not going anywhere. He can try all he wants to, but I swear to you, I'll take care of it, I promise."

He said it with such conviction that I didn't doubt him at all. But I did worry that he might do something rash in trying to protect her, more so than when he'd purposefully failed his junior year, when Alice was sick, so that she wouldn't be alone when she went back last year. It was far too late to try to keep Edward from taking on "adult" stress and worries, but he did have a horrid habit of handling everything himself, well before it even occurred to him to come to his father and I for help. He tended to maneuver in all situations as if the worst possible outcome were a certainty, and it made him view everyone, us included, as a hindrance or complication. I'm sure that if Charlie did try to send Bella back with that woman, he'd be thinking of a way to circumvent Carlisle and I too, because in the worse possible outcome, we would elect not to argue with letting her parents make the proper decision for her.

Not a chance in Hell would we let that actually happen, but Edward took zero chances when he wanted something. Tenacious wasn't the word for Edward on a mission, especially when he felt like something or someone he cared about was threatened.

"Bella." I shifted forward, into her line of sight. "Sweetheart. You don't have to even see her. You're staying with us if she does come to town and she will never step foot in this house."

"There, you see? It'll be okay." Edward rocked her slightly, but the tension in his posture never eased.

I sighed, and hauled myself to my feet and over to Edward's bed, pulling the covers back and shoving pillows into a pile at the headboard. Edward didn't hesitate, didn't second guess, or ask if I intended for him to bring Bella to bed with him. He just carried her over and climbed into the middle of the pillow nest, and without releasing his grip on her, settled the covers around them both, one handed.

"Thanks Ma." His voice was rough, and his jaw was tight. A look of dogged determination was heavy on his face. Yup. Boy was definitely going to do something rash. I sighed. I would have to talk to him alone tomorrow, when hopefully he'd be less upset. He was a smart kid, but also angry, and over protective, with access to his own money. I had no doubt that if it weren't for Alice, the damned boy would take Bella and run if he thought it necessary. Or maybe he'd do it anyway. Or take his sister with them. I had a police chief to go cut down to size, because I could not let that happen.