Chapter 17

EPOV

"What's that about?" I asked Dad as I saw Emmett kneel next to Bella.

He sighed. "He feels guilty."

"About what?"

"The Rosalie thing." Mom answered.

"Ah. Explains why she's punching him."

"So she is mad." Alice said. "I would have been too."

"No," I corrected. "Neither of us is mad, and please don't say that to her." Bree was tugging impatiently on my sleeve so I picked her up and propped her up on my hip. "Her mother made it very clear that she's considered Bella a mistake her entire life, and now Charlie's doing it too. Imagine how you would feel if Mom and Dad implied that they didn't really want us, but got stuck with us. She doesn't want anybody doing that to our babies."

"Babies!" Alice shrieked.

"I didn't tell anyone but your Dad." Mom chuckled.

I grinned at Alice cheekily. "Twins. Identical."

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack."

"Edward!" Alice through herself at me, hugging me on the childless side as she bounced wildly, however it seemed forced and an odd expression had flashed over her face before she pasted a wide smile over it. Bella and Emmett came on us then, and Alice, thankfully, dialed the physical exuberance back a bit before she hugged her.

"I'm so happy for you!"

Dinner was amazing. Emmett came with Bella and I and drove my car and the rest of the herd rode in Dad's truck. I relaxed into the passenger seat and Bella stretched out in the back, falling asleep before we were out of the aisle we'd parked on.

"Babies' kicking her ass huh?" Emmett asked as her soft snores floated up to the front.

"Only today." I said. "She's been a fucking beast, all weekend. You should have seen her Emmett. She was mingling and networking, she maneuvered collab videos with a couple of really big vloggers. I had to silence all of my social media alerts because our pages have been going nuts from all the new comments and followers and subscribers from all the people she connected with and their followers coming over. And when she got on that stage? Holy fuck."

"Dad yelled for us yesterday morning when the news came on and we all watched it together. She fucking killed it, bro. And you might want to get mom that wedding video before she murders you. She's only mentioned it 76 times since yesterday morning."

"I have it from three angles." I told him, laughing. "I have to splice them and the audio track together and then she can do whatever in the hell she wants with it."

"Probably play it on repeat on the tattoo shop's tv." We both guffawed at that, but then I had to know. "How mad was she?"

Emmett shrugged. "She wasn't really. She was disappointed that she missed it, but with the way Charlie's been acting, we all get it."

I sighed, not really wanting to talk about that fucker, but needing to know. "And how's he?"

"Suspended."

I blinked, turning to stare at him. "How'd that happen?"

"He reached for his gun after you and Bella slipped out. Dad and I tackled him, took it away and called the cops. They pulled some Good Ol' Boy bullshit and refused to breathalyze him and sent him home. He got even drunker and crashed his cruiser the next morning trying to get in to work. The emergency room clocked him at almost triple the legal limit. Apparently he's been missing a lot of shifts, drinking out on the Res when he says he's patrolling and this was the final straw that they couldn't ignore. Him keeping his badge is pending an investigation and whether or not he completes Rehab."

"Holy fuck. Is he okay?"

"He went through withdrawal seizures. Edward, that means he was drinking a lot for a while." My brother says, as serious as I've ever seen him. "But he's out of the hospital now, so I don't know if he's still sober or not. Or if he was before yesterday. He went into Rehab today."

I groaned. "Jesus Christ. But at least he went though? That's good, right?"

"If he stays and completes the program, then sure, it's great. But Dad said since it was just "suggested" for him to keep his job, and not court ordered, he can leave whenever he wants."

For fuck's sake. That was a mess I didn't want to think about Emmett pulled the car into a parking garage, parking a couple cars down from Dad's and Bella startled awake at the sound of Emmett's door closing. Smiling at her sleepy confused face as I got out, I decided that Charlie Swan's shit didn't matter right now. It could wait. The most important thing at this very moment, was feeding my pregnant wife.

I held her door open and helped her out of the car. "Think they have Artichoke dip?" She asked sleepily. I guess the cravings were kicking in. Emmett looked like he wanted to laugh, and I made a cutting motion behind her back for him to shut the fuck up before he upset her or pissed her off.

"I'm not sure, but if they don't we can stop on the way home and get you some."

"Mm kay." She said through a yawn, stumbling into Dad who was walking up beside us, carrying Bree. "Sorry." She said, yawning again. "I can't seem to wake up." When she tripped off the curb leading out of the garage, I grabbed for her and tucked her against me. "Okay, Sleepwalker. C'mere."

It only a block or so walk to our apparent destination: The Metropolitan Grill, and I whistled low. Mom and Dad had never brought us here before because the place was freaking pricey. Everyone else ordered steak, but Bella, who I knew usually loved them, ordered nothing but appetizers.

Green things.

She got artichoke hearts, asparagus and broccoli with cheese. When Alice made a weird face, Mom elbowed her without looking up from her menu. Dinner was fun, or it would have been, were it not for Mom and Alice quizzing us the entire meal.

They wanted to know where Bella's gown came from, if her flowers were real, where I got them, when could everyone see the wedding video, where did I get her ring, how much it cost, and how much money we 'threw around'. (Those last two were all Alice.)

Most of my steak was cold before I got to enjoy it, but I knew this was coming when I decided to ask Bella to marry me the way we did. Bree, who'd eaten only half of her tenderloin bites, crawled into Dad's lap and fell asleep, snoring and drawing amused glances from other diners, whom we all ignored.

After we'd all stuffed ourselves silly, Mom and Dad surprised us by having a small two-tiered cake brought out to the table. Both layers were a metallic gold with pink roses stuck to the sides and to the top and had a strand each of rhinestones and pearls draped around the sides to match Bella's flowers. "I didn't think the two of you got to have a cake." Mom said, blotting her eyes. "So we got you this one, and you can still freeze the top layer to have on your anniversary."

Bella, also tearing up, got up to hug and kiss both my parents and I followed right behind. "It's perfect, Ma. Thank you."

"These are for you as well." Carlisle handed us a large flat box, and inside, on a bed of shiny satin were a cake knife and server, with two matching champagne flutes and what looked like interchangeable tops to make them into wine, water or champagne glasses. A little card laid on the top, written in calligraphy that said the handles and stems and base of the glasses were pearl enamel overlaid with silver filigree and Swarovski crystals. Each was Artisan made and no two sets were the same.

"Your mother and sister almost tackled a woman for this set." Dad said dryly, while Emmett, Bella and I laughed.

"Worth it." Bella insisted, hugging them both again. "They're gorgeous, thank you."

I handed Alice my phone and she and Bella both took pictures of the cake, and Alice started recording as everyone stood and the family moved to the other side of the table while the server returned and gently removed the top layer of the cake and set it in a box before placing it on the table. Ma handed us the cake knife in exchange for Bella's phone and she moved off to the side.

"Left hands." She reminded us, and we gripped the knife together before sinking it into the golden cake. Other tables seated near us who could see what was going on, cheered and clapped along with Dad, Emmett and Alice as we carefully removed a slice of cake that had a red, fruit layer in the middle.

"It's Raspberry." Mom whispered, because I was allergic to strawberries. After we laughingly shoved forkfuls of cake in each others faces, I kissed my wife, chastely, since we were in front of my parents and siblings, and we sliced the cake for everyone else and sat. There were no more inquisitions, no more teasing, no talk of Charlie or of anything that may have been waiting for us at home or at school, just talking and laughing about the trip as we enjoyed our dessert.

The server was kind enough to take the cake set and wash them for us, and with our cake tier, wedding set and leftovers in hand, we all headed back to the cars. Mom offered to drive back with Bella and I, and I happily turned over the keys, completely sick of traveling. Bella sat in the front, with her blanket, and I sat in the back, dozing lightly until we hit Port Angeles and I heard Bella ask about her Dad.

"Are you sure you want to talk about that today?" Mom asks carefully.

"If we're going back to school tomorrow, yes." Says Bella softly. "I want to be prepared."

Ma sighed. "Sweetheart, he's… We couldn't calm him down after you and Edward left so I called the police. They didn't do anything, and the next morning he was driving drunk and hit a tree. He's fine!" She added quickly at Bella's horrified gasp. "He needed stitches, but he's fine. The force is making him go to rehab." It seemed Ma was glazing over a lot of things, and I didn't like that. Bella could handle it, and she did need to know what was happening with her father. I would want to know everything if it were Esme or Carlisle.

"Emmett says he was triple the legal limit almost." I say, grunting to clear the sleep out of my voice. "He's been skipping work and drinking out on the Res, probably with Billy. Right now he's suspended."

Bella half turned to face me. "For how long?"

"Probably until he finishes Rehab. He might lose his badge if he doesn't."

"So he does have a drinking problem."

"He went through withdrawal seizures."

"Edward!" Ma cut in, glaring at me in the rear view mirror.

"What? We go to school with kids whose parents work with Charlie. How fair is it to send us to school with no idea of what's going on?"

"Bella is pregnant Edward. She doesn't need any undue-"

"How stressful do you think it's going to be when she finds out from some asswipe at school whose Dad arrested hers, instead of from her family?"

Esme sighed, but she didn't say anything yet. Bella, however, turned to face me, looking hurt. "How long have you known?"

"Emmett told me as we were pulling up to the restaurant." I swore. "I just hadn't had a moment to talk to you about it yet." I reached my hand out, and she reached hers behind the seat, squeezing mine before letting go and facing my Mom. "What does it mean that he had seizures?"

When Mom didn't answer, Bella groaned. "Esme, please!"

"It means it's possible that he was not only drinking in excess, but drinking excessively for a long period of time."

"And what if he doesn't finish Rehab? Or he finishes and it doesn't work?"

"Sweetheart, addiction is mental as well as physical. He can get detoxed and be clean when he finishes the program, and there are ways to try and combat cravings physically, but unless he comes out of it acknowledging that something was wrong with his behavior, and wanting to stay sober…"

"He might start again whenever he feels like it."

"Yes. We won't know for sure where his mind set is until he's sober and has been sober for a while. All we can do is wait and see."

I could tell Mom was still frustrated as we dragged all of our stuff into the house, but Dad agreed with me after he found me out back, keeping an eye on Lola as she did her business and asked why she looked upset with me. I nodded, because I'd known it wasn't fair to keep Bella in the dark but it seemed Mom was going to be a little paranoid about the pregnancy… and here I'd thought that was my job.

Bella was exhausted, so she kissed us all goodnight and headed up to bed while I got back on Ma's good side by connecting one of the cameras to the television and playing the raw footage from the wedding for everyone. It was the camera that had been directly in front of us, so she couldn't see Bella walk down the aisle, but she could see my dumbstruck face as I waited for her to come to me, and she could see us both clearly as we said our vows and when I dramatically dipped Bella backwards for our first kiss as man and wife.

Mom cried, Alice stared, then when Mom quit blubbering, gave me one of her Esme Cullen Cobra hugs until I struggled to breathe.

When I unplugged everything and we all scattered, I trudged up to the second floor, and wondered if Bella had gone to sleep in my bed or hers.

I found her in her room, sitting upright in bed instead of sleeping, staring at her closet door where she'd hung the garment bag with her dress and Esme's birthday gifts in it. Her bouquet sat in it's wooden and glass display case on her desk.

"I was going to put that together for you." I told her, leaning down to kiss her lips before getting rid of my heavy sweater and Henley.

"It's okay." Her voice was off, distracted maybe. "It only took a minute or two."

"Baby, what's wrong?"

Down to my boxers and t-shirt, I slipped under the covers and discovered that Bella had her weighted blanket beneath the comforter. I slid beneath both and pulled her closer. "What's wrong?" I asked again. "Is it your Dad? I'm sure we can find out if he can have visitors when he's less… drunk and angry."

"It's not that." She rolled to face me fully and drew her leg up over my hip. Her cell phone was in her hand and she held it between our chests. I could see a missed call from someone who's number wasn't saved in her phone.

A 602 area code. I had a bad feeling I knew exactly what city and state that call came from.

"I think I know who this is, but I need you to listen to it with me." She opened her voicemail and his 'play'.

"Isabella!" The voice cut into the silence like a whip and Bella tensed against me. "You lied to me, little girl. This isn't over. You owe me, and I'll be getting everything that I'm due. Do you hear me, you selfish bitch? Everything!"

Bella started shaking wildly and I took the phone from her and tossed it onto the bedside table.

"She's going to take our babies from us." She breathed in terror. "She's going to hurt them. Sh-sh-she-"

"Bella," I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her as tight as I dared. "Stop. Just stop for a minute and breathe, okay? Deep breaths."

I took loud and slow breaths for several minutes until she calmed. Her breathing was still a bit heavier than usual but her shaking stopped.

Still I held her, running my hands over her, hoping I could help her calm completely.

We laid there for a long while before the tension started to slowly drain out of her and she relaxed against my chest.

"Better?" I kissed the top of her head.

"A little."

"Good. Listen to me Bella. Nobody is getting their hands on our twins. Do you hear me? Nobody. I won't let anything happen to them, and I won't let anything happen to you either."

"Promise me." She pleaded, and her voice cracked as she fought not to cry.

"I swear." Fucking shit, I hated parts of the situation we were in. I wouldn't trade my wife and kids for anything, but I hated that we couldn't get married and just be home and enjoy it our first night back without someone ruining it for us. We knew Renee might react, but I hoped we'd at least be able to ignore any more bullshit for the night at least.

Leaning back into her massive pile of pillows, I tugged her on top of me. "You're safe." I whispered. "You're a Cullen now, remember? She can't make you go anywhere or do anything. We belong together, and together is where we're staying. All of us."

The next morning was rough, and I could tell Bella hadn't slept well. She was up and about long before my eyes cracked open, and since she was still in the bathroom, I went to my room to get showered and dressed. I didn't see her until I went down for breakfast, and instead of Mom, Bella stood at the stove with Lola at her feet, dressed in a black sweater, gray skirt that hit her mid thigh, dark tights, and the black, flat shin-high boots she'd gotten in New York with gray boot socks peeking out of the top. She looked amazing, but that she was wearing a skirt gave me the feeling that she was donning her old armor again.

I came up behind her and rested my chin on top of her head while she flipped several pieces of French Toast in 3 different skillets. The fourth skillet held scrambled eggs, which were almost done.

"Morning, Baby." I hummed softly, breathing in the flowery scent of her perfume. She'd left her hair straightened from the wedding, and it fell in soft hazelnut sheets past the middle of her back with only a slight curl at the end.

"Good morning." Her voice was still softer than usual, but I tried my best to ignore it since Alice and Emmett were both sitting at the kitchen table.

"You look nice." I said instead, rubbing my hands down from her shoulders to her elbows and back up again.

"Thank you."

"She didn't even let me pick out her clothes for her big debut." Alice broke in, her voice loud in the early morning quiet. "She didn't do badly though."

"I can dress myself, you know." Bella replied, voice tightening. "Edward, can you grab the plates, please?"

I let go of her to grab the stack of dishes she'd left on the island, and shot my sister a look. We didn't need her pushy shit this morning, but of course she fucking ignored me.

"Because we picked out all your clothes." Alice grumbled while leaning over to dig through her bag for something. Emmett reached out and smacked Alice upside the back of her head while Bella stiffly divided up the French toast and eggs. I carried the plates to the table and sat one at each spot while Emmett got up to grab the juice and glasses and Bella grabbed the syrup.

"Oh God, you made breakfast. Thank you Bella." Mom said, breezing into the kitchen with a disgruntled looking Bree behind her. "I couldn't get this one moving this morning."

Bella shrugged it off quietly, and Bree ran to let Dad know breakfast was ready.

"I still think you should change your sweater." Alice said petulantly. Bella, who'd been about to pour syrup over her breakfast huffed and slammed the bottle down onto the table.

"What's wrong with my sweater?" She ground out.

"It's form fitting."

Bella's breath stuttered out roughly and her eyes clamped shut tightly behind her glasses.

"Alice!" Mom barked. "That's enough young lady!"

"I just think everybody's going to be looking at her gut today. She should hide it better."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I snapped.

"Stop." Bella commanded, flinging herself back from the table. "I don't need you to defend me." She bit out at me and then turned to Alice. "And I don't need you to pick out or approve my clothes. I'm not a fucking child! Just- ugh." With a huff she stood and dumped her breakfast into Lola's bowl on the floor before flinging the plate into the sink. It shattered loudly, clashing with the sound of Bella stomping up the stairs.

"You need to stop picking at her when she obviously doesn't feel good." Emmett spat. "And worry about your own outfit."

"There's nothing wrong with my outfit."

"It's dirty." He said simply, and knocked his orange juice over into her lap.

"EMMETT!" She shrieked before Dad slammed both his hands on the table.

"That's enough out of the both of you. Settle down or get out of my kitchen."

Emmett, nonplussed, settled into his chair to eat his breakfast while our sister stomped off to change clothes, completely ignoring Bella who came back down with her rhinestone bag and her coat.

"I need to go to school a little early." She said, not looking at any of us. "I have to go by the office."

"I can take you," Dad said, moving to stand, but I waved him back.

"We can go. Alice can take the bus." I went to the cupboard and grabbed a set of Tupperware, sliding my untouched breakfast into it and dumping syrup in one of the compartments. Walking to Bella, I placed the sealed bowl in her hands with a fork, and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and handed that to her too before I jogged upstairs to grab my stuff. Ready, I grabbed Bella's hand and led her out to the garage without saying goodbye to anyone.

"Eat." I ordered Bella as we backed out of the driveway. "Please."

"What are you going to eat?"

"I'll be fine, Baby. I'll grab something at school. You eat."

I didn't relax until she removed the lid and started cutting into the toast with her fork, and when we got to school, we sat in the parking lot for a couple of minutes so she could finish. When she'd eaten everything and clamped the lid back on the tupperware, I went to open the door for her. "Ready, wife?"

"No." She sighed, but placed her hand in mine and allowed me to help her from the car. "Let's just get this over with."

"Gee, Babe." I teased. "Love you too."

She didn't respond to my joking or nudging at all, but she at least didn't pull away when I grasped her hand as we walked into the school and headed into the front office where we ignored the many looks we got from Mrs. Cope as she copied our Marriage License and changed Bella's last name in the system.

BPOV

It was easy to ignore the stares. I was used to them. What was a little harder were the verbal jabs and jibes. They hurt just the same as they usually would have, but my reaction was a lot harder to hide when the twins made me feel so damned emotional. I didn't notice it until this morning when I broke one of Esme's plates, something I'd have to apologize for, and then I thought back to swearing at Edward when we were in New York and his phone died, and almost crying at the thought of not being able to have that stupid Artichoke pizza again and I realized it had been happening for a little while now.

In homeroom, I sat away from Alice, who I just didn't want to deal with at the moment, and people noticed and started whispering. The whispers grew louder when roll was called and Isabella Cullen was called, right after Alice Cullen.

"It's true!" someone in front of me whispered. I didn't see who because I had my head down, scribbling in my notebook, but I could hear when multiple bodies turned in their chairs to look at me.

"You didn't see that ring? It's huge!"

"So you think she's pregnant too?"

"She must be, why else would he have married her?"

Stifled laughter, and then: "Jesus, she can't afford to get any fatter, can she?"

"I bet that's why her Dad got sent to rehab."

"He's in rehab?"

"You didn't know? He developed a drinking problem after his fatso kid got sent here."

And more laughter.

I kept my head down and thought about song lyrics. Any and every song I could think of just to block out the whispers and snickering.

When the bell rang, I didn't run or even speed walk, I simply shoved my things into my bag and made my way to my next class, ignoring the people who walked in a circle around me. More pointing. More laughter and whispering. Notes were tossed onto my desk and shoved into my locker calling me names, saying my marriage was a joke, telling me to let Edward go before I brought him down with me, whatever that was supposed to mean. I didn't say anything, I didn't tell anyone, I just shoved them into my bag.

By the time I got to lunch, I was walking with my hands shoved under my arms to keep them from shaking. Edward was already there, waiting for me, but I wouldn't let myself collapse into him. I wouldn't let him tuck me beneath his arm and squeeze me tight like I wanted him to. I didn't want to give the other students anything else to gossip about, so I sat there, gritting my teeth against the tremors that tried to take over my body, head held upright and picking at my food. I just shook my head when anyone tried to speak to me and gratefully tossed my uneaten food in the trash when the next bell rang.

I gathered my things quickly, and Edward carried my bag for me, like he always did when we were headed in the same direction. I was reaching for his arm when someone rammed into my shoulder as they walked by us. I looked up in time to see a head of thick blonde hair.

Rosalie. I suppose we didn't have to guess whether or not she saw the interview.

Sighing, I headed to biology and tried to make it through the rest of the day.

"Set the bar pretty low, didn't you Edward?" Lauren Mallory giggled, sidling up to our lab table with Mike Newton right behind her.

"Fuck. Off." Edward said slowly. "And take your stalker with you."

She turned to see Mike standing way too close to her and made a disgusted noise before side-stepping to get away from him.

"We just have questions." Newton shrugged, though his ears turned red at how quick Lauren was to move.

"I haven't beat your ass at all this year." Growled Edward. "You were doing good. Don't fuck it up."

"Come on, man, don't be like that." He grinned, looking sleazy as he leaned his elbows onto the table and leered at us. "I just want to know how you talked your parents off the ledge. My mother would kill herself if I brought home an abomination like a half black baby like yo-"

His foul words cut off on a surprised cry as Edward stood so fast his stool went flying. He was on the shorter boy in a second, punching him so hard that he flew into the lab table across the aisle. Edward went to lunge for him again but Mr. Banner ran into the middle, yelling.

"That's enough! Cullen, Swan, and Newton, to the office. NOW!"