OK, the Chapter you've all been waiting for at last. Jules x

Chapter Twenty Three

Charlotte

When Grace and I got to the hospital the next morning Bella was dressed and sitting waiting for us.

"They're letting me go"

"Really? And whose idea was that?"

"Well mine but its driving me mad in here. I need to be home with you and Grace"

Grace wriggled from my arms and toddled over to her mother.

"Mummy still sick?"

"No baby, Mummy is fine now. I'm coming home."

"Daddy coming home"

Bella looked at me and I nodded,

"He spoke to her last night, he rang and asked to speak to Grace. They'll be home sometime today."

She looked suddenly nervous and Grace must have felt it because she climbed carefully on her mother's lap and touched her face.

"Its OK Mummy."

She smiled,

"Of course it is. Lets go"

I drove straight home much to Graces disappointment and I had to admit to the little meal stops we'd had. Bella sat quiet stroking Grace's hair while Grace did the same with Shadows mane, which reminded me,

"Horse has a name by the way"

Bella looked at Grace,

"You gave horse a name?"

She nodded, her ringlets bouncing,

"Yes Mummy, Shadow."

She looked at me and I shrugged,

"I found out it was horses real name. The one Jasper gave it when he was a little boy"

"How did Grace know or did he tell her?"

"No she named it before she spoke to him. When we were here the first day in fact."

Bella

I was nervous when we got home, Jasper would be here soon, to see a child he knew nothing about until a few days ago. A daughter he played no conscious part in creating. What would he think of me and her? Would he want to know us? How should I act when he walked in? I paced the room from window to window shooting looks at the clock from time to time until Char confiscated my stick.

"Now sit down and relax. Its Jasper, not Big Foot coming. Here drink your coffee."

I had to admit sitting by the fire was easier on my ankle and my bruised ribs. I'd brushed my hair avoiding the really tender areas of scalp but I couldn't do anything about the grazes on my face, still he knew I'd swan dived from a car.

I tensed hearing a vehicle draw up and put my mug down with a trembling hand, waiting as I heard the steps on the porch and the door open. Grace who had been drawing quietly looked up and smiled broadly then stood up and ran shouting to a spot behind me.

"Daddy, Daddy"

As I listened apprehensively I heard Jaspers voice,

"Hello Grace"

Her giggles told me someone had picked her up, but who? I turned to see her in his arms, she was stroking his face as he gazed at her. Then he turned to look at me,

"Hello Bella. She's beautiful"

"Hello Jasper. Charlotte thinks she looks like you but I think she's biased."

He walked to the mirror and stood looking at their reflections and I saw recognition dawn on his face. Seeing them side by side they were almost identical, Grace could only be his daughter. He stood there a long time while she continued to stroke his cheek then she leaned back to look at me.

"Daddy's home"

I smiled at her but was scared to speak, to break the spell.

Char picked up Shadow and offered him to her and she took him showing him to Jasper,

"Look Daddy its Shadow"

He took the horse from her and sniffed him,

"He smells better than when I had him. Did you give him a bath?"

She giggled and nodded then closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I think its time for bed"

I struggled to get up but he stopped me,

"Would you mind if she stayed up a little tonight, I've got a lot of catching up to do."

I nodded,

"Sure"

He walked over to sit beside me on the couch and used his free hand to touch my cheek,

"You got that jumping out of Rosalie's car?"

"Yeah, I forgot how hard the road is"

His touch had given me goosebumps and he withdrew it.

"Bella I don't know what to say. It's all so new, so confusing."

I nodded again unable to string enough words together to make a coherent sentence.

"Alice was right, she is my daughter isn't she?"

"I think so, she thinks so. She recognised you before we said anything."

I felt suddenly more relaxed, the tension leaching out of me and I looked at him,

"Are you doing that?"

He looked startled,

"What?"

"It doesn't matter."

I felt awkward sitting here with the father of my baby and not knowing how or what to say. Now he was here I felt a great sense of relief as if Graces future safety didn't depend only on myself and I wondered, if he felt it, how he would translate it. I glanced at Grace asleep on his shoulder and wondered how he felt about her, about her calling him daddy. Our eyes met and he swallowed nervously,

"She's bigger than I expected"

"Yes she's growing fast. Char and I took some photographs, would you like to see them?"

He nodded, his hand absently stroking Graces cheek, it gave me a warm feeling inside, he was at least fond of her. I went to the coffee table where we usually kept the album but then I remembered Char took it up to the bedroom and cursed,

"I'm sorry its upstairs and stairs are a little difficult with this ankle."

He looked at my leg then at my arm before frowning.

"You let Rosalie take you to save Grace?"

"Yes, she's innocent in all this and I knew Char couldn't manage both of us."

There was an awkward silence before he spoke again,

"Peter told me about Jake, I assume he meant Jacob Black"

"Yes, but its history now"

"It still hurts though?"

"Jasper I think maybe we should get a few things straight because were walking on eggshells here and to be frank I'm too tired and I hurt too much to carry on that way. Peter told my story but he left out the really good bits because he didn't know them. My life ended the day you all ran out on me, I know you didn't out of choice but I didn't at the time and maybe you would have if things had been different. None of us could see the future or we'd shoot ourselves to escape the misery, Alice excluded obviously. Edward left me with a broken heart, the Cullen's taught me that whatever people say don't trust them, they lie. After a while I dragged my mangled remains back to school and graduated, just. Jake helped me with that and he loved me, so in return as payment I married him, my secret was that I still loved Edward despite everything. Then my life turned around, a baby, someone I could give the love and stability denied me to. Jake was killed on his motorbike, a truck veered over into his lane and wiped him out. They said it was the shock that made me miscarry but I think my body realized I wasn't capable of giving anything else. The next months were great, I popped the pills from the doctor, unknowingly supplied by Rosalie. I moved out after Charlie and I rowed about me stopping my medication and I sat in my apartment wondering what was left. Deciding to trace Carlisle and find out what he'd done to me gave me a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning. I had no luck so I went to the house and found your stuff all, well almost all, destroyed and I knew something terrible had happened between you and Alice. I'd blighted yet more lives. Why I collected your undamaged possessions I can't tell you but I did. I decided if I could trace you maybe I could trace the others. Then I got the call from Alice and the rest you know. It's not a pretty story but then neither is my life."

I waited to see how he would react.