Sorry this is late, and next week's chapter is not yet finished. Nikky and I have both been working crazy hours, so we will get it posted as soon as we can, please be patient.
As always we need to send a HUGE shout out to the great group of girls who keep us readable: AWayWithWords, EdwardsFirstKiss, and LaPumkle, thank you so much for all you three amazing ladies do.


Parallel Parenting

Chapter 18

Edward POV

I get out of my car looking at the Pontiac Correctional Facility main building entrance. "Are you sure you are okay about going in there to see him?" I ask Rose.

When I don't hear her say anything, I turn to look at her.

She sighs pulling her bag strap further up on her shoulder. "Yes. I love Kassie and Cordie, I am doing this for them."

"I know you are, but we can find another way – he may even talk to me, without you."

Rose chuckles shaking her head. "No. Royce has been pestering me for years to come and see him. Let's just get this over with."

I nod at her, and place my hand on her back as we walk into the prison.

We both are checked over three times, and made to lock our personal items in a locker. We're checked once more before we are led into a room with several tables and chairs. I look around, feeling odd seeing there are toys and children's books, sitting on the far side of the room. I am aware that there are some people in here who are fathers, but just the thought of having a child in this room, with God knows who, makes my skin crawl.

"Rose."

I turn my head to see a guy standing there smiling at Rose.

"Hi," she says. "This is Edward Cullen," she says pointing at me, but his eyes don't move away from her.

"You're looking good, Rose, but then again you always did look good."

"Royce, we are here to talk about Charlotte," Rose states.

"What in the fuck did that dumbass bitch do now?"

"She's trying to get custody of Peter's daughters," Rose tells him.

I watch as his mouth drops open, and then he just laughs.

"Not sure why that would be true; she's the one that kept trying to convince Renata to have them aborted. You must be making up shit. I think you just wanted to come and see me."

"No! What Rose says is true. Can you tell us what we could give her to make her drop this case, or why she suddenly would want them?" I ask.

Royce sighs and looks at me. "You're one of the girls' dads and you're loaded." I nod at him and he smiles at me. "She's after money either with you handing it over willingly, or marrying her."

"That's not going to happen," I say.

He shrugs his shoulders, and then lights up a cigarette. "Charlotte has always wanted money and to be looked after. She thinks she needs to be cherished. If she is doing this, then someone is financing her efforts. Someone is giving her money and making her feel like she is the most important person in the world." He stops and smiles a little. "Peter used to look after her, and he always made sure she got what she needed. When he died, she was lost. She was always looking for someone to do what he did and take his place. It could be that guy she talked about, the lawyer—" Royce stops talking and looks at Rose. "His wife's dead or she left; I wouldn't be surprised if he killed her."

"When did she meet him?" I ask.

"A few weeks ago; he is an old friend of one of Peter's other ex-girlfriends."

"Does this ex-girlfriend have a name?" I ask.

"Maggie Peters—" he stops and laughs. "Peter thought marrying her would be great because he could take her name and be Peter Peters. He wasn't enough for her though, not enough money or name for her."

I look at Rose as the rage I have been feeling off and on, come over me.

"She's another one that likes money, and to be looked after. I heard she had her eyes on you," he chuckles. "Also heard she doesn't like your new plaything too much."

He moves so that he is leaning over the table. "Charlotte is a deadbeat for sure; she shouldn't be alone around kids. I thought she wasn't ever allowed to look after kids again after the last time? No … she doesn't want to look after the kids; it has to be money. If you want this to end, then give her money, more than what Mags is giving her, and she'll run away." He stops and smirks at me. "I am a little tempted to say that you would have to get me out of this shithole, or …" he looks back at Rose, "kick the fuck out of that pussy boy Mikey … is he still at your beck and call, Rose?" Royce chuckles yet again and stands up. "Next time, Rose, wear something that will help me get through the night." His eyes move all over her before he walks away whistling to himself.

I stand up, pulling Rose up with me, and we make our way out.

"Fuck … has he always been that odd?" I ask when we get to the car.

"No."

I turn and look her.

"Okay fine, he has always been odd, but not like that," she says.

I nod starting my car. "I am sorry that you had to go through that."

"It wasn't that bad. Just brings back more bad memories. I can't believe I allowed myself to date that. I'm grateful I got away and found Emmett."

"Yeah! I have to agree you with you there; Emmett is a great guy, second best in fact."

Rose snorts. "Take it that means Jasper's in first place?"

"God, no, that would be me," I answer with a laugh.

"I wonder how your head is able to fit into this car."

I just chuckle. "So Mike?" I start after a few seconds.

"What about him?"

"I was thinking that we—Emmett, Jasper, and I—could help him," I say.

"With what?" she asks.

"Be more socially comfortable and able to act more normally?"

"Emmett has tried, for the past few years. Mike is just ... Mike. He calms down once he knows you, and he's just normally shy. He's never been one to have a filter, and just stutters out the first thing that comes to his mind most of the time. However, he's a nice guy, one that would help anyone out without looking for something in return".

"Okay, I get that, but he needs to find himself a girl," I say.

"He hasn't been hitting on Bella since he found out you two were dating, so calm yourself, he's not going to try to steal her away."

"I know that; it's just … well, he's looking for a girlfriend, and let's face it, he needs assistance."

"He is, and I still think Jessica is suited for him. Besides, he doesn't need someone else trying to get him laid, not when he wants an actual relationship."

"Emmett?" I ask.

"Emmett," she agrees making me chuckle.

I pull up outside her shop, and right way we are met by Mike.

"Did it go all right, are you okay, Rose?" he asks as his eyes seem to be scanning Rose over.

"Yes, it went fine. I am fine, he is loopier than I remember him being," Rose tells him.

"He's always been loopy; you were just in love with him before," Mike tells her as he looks at me. "Did he give you any answers?"

"Not any that you haven't already given me. I wasn't aware, however, that your family knew Maggie Peters, or was associated with her."

Mike nods at me. "Oh, yeah, Maggie's parents, my parents, and Royce's parents, all went to college together. Only Maggie and I climbed the ladder as the rest of them fell from it. What does Maggie have to do with this?"

"She wants Edward and seems to be stirring this mess up, along with some lawyer named Buckley," Rose states.

"If I were you, I would speak to DCFS and Chicago PD about Buckley; his wife mysteriously disappeared. To my knowledge no one is investigating it anymore, due to zero leads, but I know they were previously. He's got a temper on him that would match Royce's point for point. As for Maggie, I never really hung around her, but what I do know of her, she's spoiled. She always had that only child, pretentious bitch syndrome."

"How do you know Buckley?" I ask.

"He was Royce's lawyer when the trial went to court. Don't you remember him, Rose?" he asks looking at Rose.

My head turns to her, but she shakes it.

"He was the one that claimed you liked getting hit, and that it was your idea to film it along with making sex tapes, too. He's also the one who said my testimony, and yours were altered because we were trying to get rid of him, since we were now together."

"That fucker?" she asks.

Mike just nods at her.

"I thought you remembered who he was, and just didn't want to tell Emmett because—" he stops and looks at me.

"He would kill him," we all mutter together.

I rub my face. "Mike," I say trying to remain calm. "If you can think of anything else, even if you think Bella, Emmett, or Rose already knows, just tell us again to be sure."

He nods at me. "I honestly didn't know he was involved. I only knew about the trouble at school, and just thought Rose was being professional in not saying anything more."

I give him a nod before opening my car door and stop. "What makes you think he likes Royce?" I ask.

"Birds of a feather flock together, and all that. Royce and Buckley as far as I know, were in college together. There was an incident at college with Royce. The one I spoke to you about," his eyes move to Rose.

"The girl who said she was beaten and raped?" Rose asks.

Mike nods at her. "Buckley was the other person involved as far as I heard, anyway. Not saying he is guilty, that would be up to a court, but I am just saying my family and Buckley's went full out for the girl to drop the case. She later killed herself, and it was odd to say the least. That alone is why I always tried to warn Rose away from Royce."

"I know, Mike, and I am sorry before for not paying attention to what you told me."

Mike moves to her and they hug.

"Still wasn't your fault … just … I should have shown you proof, you didn't know me."

I watch as he hugs her to him, it's clear he's nothing more than a member of her family.

Mike turns and looks at me. "There was one other friend of Maggie's that was around Charlotte, Peter, and Royce. She dated Peter for a few years in high school; Angela Web, Webbish, something like that—"

"Fucking bitch," I hiss cutting him off.

"I take it you know her?"

"Yes; she used to work for me," I growl.

I sigh getting into my car, and drive straight to Jenks's office. I need to find out if he's found anything else and give him the information that Mike just gave me.

~PP~

"Come on in," he says with a small smile. "Would you like a drink, coffee?"

"Please," I say.

"Two strong black coffees, Sarah," he says to his secretary.

I walk in taking a seat. "I have come for an update and to give you some more information," I tell him.

"Why don't give me what you've got first," Jenks states.

I nod at him and tell him everything that Royce and then Mike told me.

"That adds up to what I have found—" he stops talking as Sarah walks in and places our coffees down. When she leaves and closes the door, he resumes. "Angela has had contact with Maggie for the last several months, starting shortly after she started with your company. I can also confirm that Maggie and she knew each other prior to that, and that she went to school with Peter King. I didn't know that they dated; so I'll add that and confirm it. I will also look into the allegation of abuse and rape against Royce and Buckley. Not to mention the possibility that Buckley offed his wife, or at the least caused her disappearance."

I again nod at him.

"As for Charlotte, I have found that she was barely making any money and had squandered all she had from her parents' estate. Suddenly, around September she started having a substantial amount of money wired into her account. I am talking twenty grand a week. She's going through it like water through a sieve. I don't have proof of where the money is coming from yet as it seems to be filtering through several off shore accounts. However, I am closing in on it, and will have the answer by the end of the week."

I nod sipping my coffee.

"Edward, my two cents tells me I would have to agree this could just be about money. If it turns out that she is the biological aunt of the girls, you may be able to pay her off."

I rub my face feeling unsure about that. "Do we know what she's spending her money on?"

"Yeah, I'm certain it is all going to drugs, alcohol, and gambling. From what I've been able to ascertain, Charlotte is addicted to just about everything."

"Great," I mutter knowing that if we pay her off, she may end up dead.

"She's making the choice to not change, Edward. I have found out that she's been in rehab a number of times, for a number of different things. As soon as she's out, she's back to her old ways. I doubt very much that she will live for another ten years and that is being awfully lenient. I am honestly surprised she is still alive."

I again nod at him. I drink my coffee as he takes me through the paperwork, and proof of what he's found. When he is done, I leave heading to the school to pick up my girls.

~PP~

"How did it go?" Bella asks as the girls head up to get changed.

"Royce was odd, and quite frankly off his rocker. I am surprised that Rose went out with him."

Bella hums. "Did he say much?"

I shake my head at her. "Just the same as Mike. He thinks we should pay her off."

I glance at the hallway and then back to Bella. "Let's start dinner," I say knowing that we will have more privacy in the kitchen.

I take her through everything Mike told me and then what Jenks had found.

"I thought lawyers were supposed to be smart?"

I just look at her.

"I mean, in what world would a court give her custody of the girls? He must have known that at some point the court would look into her past. When they found that she's been in rehab countless times and continues to need rehab for drugs, drinking, and gambling, wouldn't they demand drug testing and proof of her no longer doing those things? I mean, come on; I could understand him trying with someone like me—"

"Like you?" I interrupt.

"Yeah. I mean, a young girl who is working and not making much more than what she needs to live on. Someone that came from a small town and was new to the area. Someone who wouldn't have the money to get a lawyer she would need. But they involved you; someone they had to know has more than enough means to fight them more than they've ever been fought before."

I sigh knowing she is right. "I am not sure, but I don't think you would have lost Kassie if we weren't a couple, or had never met. I think he just wants to cause us heartache and trouble."

"So, he's just being a bully?" she snaps.

"Looks like it. Maggie is just the same, I think. She wants to cause us pain because I didn't choose her. As for Charlotte, I think she's just after the money."

"Yeah, well, then they're going to need a better plan, because this one sucks."

I snort and pull her to me. "I know, but I am glad that they're not all that smart and their plan to hurt us has been blown out of the water."

"Think I will wait it out, until it is over, before getting overly confident," Bella says.

"If that's what you want," I say.

She nods at me pouting, so I kiss her lips and smile.

"So, should we talk about our wedding?" I ask.

Bella chuckles and moves away from me. "You mean the girls' wedding?" she asks over her shoulder as she starts to pull out food out to make dinner.

"They may have planned this out, but this is in fact our wedding. Now, do you want to go with the standard vows or should we make up our own?"

Bella looks at me as she thinks it over. "How about a combination of our own and parts of the standard vows we agree on?"

I nod at her and start to cut up the vegetables she pushes my way. "Sounds good. I would also, if it's okay with you, like to have us jointly say something to the girls. As you mentioned, this is their day, too."

"I like that idea," she tells me with a smile.

~PP~

I am in the middle of my workload when my phone buzzes.

"Yes, Tanya?" I say as I answer it.

"Mr. Peters and Miss Peters are here demanding to see you."

I stop my work, and just look at my phone. A part of me is surprised that they have dared to come here, and the other half is fuming that I didn't take away Eleazar's security clearance already—a mistake I will be rectifying momentarily.

"Call in our company lawyer, and Jasper. Once both are here, show all four of them in. I would like you to take notes, and video and audio record everything from this second on.

"I've already started that, Sir."

I smirk shaking my head as I hang up the call. I should've known she would've been one step ahead of me.

I close my eyes taking a few deep breaths making sure I am calm for this meeting. It takes no time before Tanya is buzzing me again telling me that everyone is here.

I sit back in my chair and watch as the group enters my office.

"Edward, what is the meaning of all of this?" Eleazar asks with a stunned look on his face as he waves his hand all around.

"I could ask the same of you, Eleazar. I have told you, more than once, that my company and business transactions are no longer dealing with you or yours. You were previously informed I no longer wanted you to come here and especially didn't want your daughter here."

"Maggie has been a friend of yours—and a good one—for years now, Edward. More than ten years I may add," he argues quickly. "And you let this woman walk in and push her aside, and now you're cutting her off and me in turn?"

I just look at him, and then to Jasper and Tanya. "Maggie and I have never been friends. Whatever in the world would make you think that we were?" I question him, still feeling odd about how he would think Maggie and I were close.

"Don't be coy with me, Edward," he argues looking at Maggie. "I know that she was your friend and more for that matter—"

He is cut off when Tanya lets out a loud choking laugh, and he just looks at her as if she is the rudest person he's ever met.

"No, Eleazar that is where you are misinformed. Miss Peters has been nothing more than a stalker to Mr. Cullen. Mr. Cullen never brought that allegation up due to the fact that he strived to maintain a good working business relationship with you. I, on the other hand, have made it clear on numerous occasions that your daughter's presence isn't welcome. I have informed you both in person and in writing that she was not to be attending any meetings or parties, all of which you continued to allow her to do."

Eleazar rolls his eyes at Tanya. "That was your personal doing clearly because of your infatuation with Edward, not his doing."

"My what?" Tanya asks with a blink. "It will do you good to remember who you are speaking to, not to mention that I'm a little over sixty years old. Whereas, I clearly know that Edward is a smart and well educated man, who's easy on the eyes – he is still young enough to be my son. My feelings for Edward are motherly, and your claim would have been better met if you said that I was acting as an interfering mother who didn't think any woman was good enough for her golden boy." Tanya smirks and looks at Maggie. "And that would have been quickly disproved as I love his fiancée and think she is perfect for Edward."

Maggie snorts and crosses her arms.

"I would like to ask you a question, which I already know the answer to," Tanya says, and I sit back just letting her carry on with what she is doing.

Eleazar just hums at Tanya.

"Where, or whom I should say gave you the impression that Edward and Maggie were more than casual acquaintances, and even that term is stretching what they are to each other?"

"Well ..." Eleazar's eyes move to his daughter.

"Oh, so I am right – it was in fact your daughter who made you believe there was something going on. Now the fact that you know your daughter is lacking in her ability to tell you the truth are you honestly going to stand here and continue to believe her less than truthful accounts of things? Or did you just hope that she snatched Edward up, knowing that his involvement with your spawn would help your business out?"

Eleazar started to stutter, making me smile, as Tanya just shakes her head.

"I wonder what the business world would say, or rather do when it comes out that your daughter, is so spoiled, that when she was told no, she carried on with her sexual harassment of a person she wanted to the point of stalking them? When that didn't get her what she wanted, she then targeted, a lovely warm hearted woman, and two small children, both whom are the daughters of a well-known and respected businessman in this area and around the world for that matter. I know at least six companies that would stop doing business with you if they hear this news."

"Are you threatening me?" he shouts.

"No, I am pointing out the stupidity of your coming here, and showing you that you are leaving Mr. Cullen no option other than to seek legal advice to keep your lunatic-of-a- daughter at bay."

"That's slander!"

"No, it's not; she's clearly acting as if she is losing her mind. Oh, wait, yeah, you're right, calling her a lunatic could be slander, if only it weren't true," she says looking at me. "We should file all those pending charges of stalking, harassment, and slander which are pending against Miss Peters, and see what charges stick, shouldn't we?" She asks turning her face back to Eleazar as she poses the question.

Eleazar looks as if he is about to lose his shit, so I smile at the lawyer who stands and addresses the whole room. "I think this meeting has come to an end."

"Yes, it clearly has," Eleazar states.

"What? No!" Maggie whines but Eleazar just stands up looking at me red faced.

"Let's go," he says, but she shakes her head at him.

"She is using him, Daddy. She's making him tell lies."

"Then he will find out the hard way," he tells her before turning to me. "I hope she takes you to the cleaners, and you lose your daughter. I will only be here to buy up all of your business from you, at pennies on the dollar when she does," he hisses at me and storms out with Maggie quickly following.

"If I haven't said it lately, I freaking love you," Jasper declares to Tanya who just chuckles at him.

"Sorry, Darling," she says mimicking Jasper's Texan twang, "you're too young for me, too."

He just chuckles and hugs her to him. "I agree, Tanya, but I love when you show people that you're more than just a secretary."

She winks at me. "Let's get back to work, boys."

I chuckle and nod. Everyone leaves my office, and I get back to work after calling security to tell them not to allow any of the Peters into this or any of my places of work.

~PP~

Bella POV

I smile at my class as they look at me. They've all been put into groups of three and are in the gym playing a game. I could use this time to do prep for other days, but I have my class prep done for months to come. I enjoy watching them interact in gym class anyway, so here I am.

"Okay class, we're going to play a game of tic-tac-toe. You have to run up, place the bean bag into one of the squares, then run back and tag the next person on your team, who will do the same. As the game continues, you have to move the bean bag to make three in a row, but also block the other team from scoring, and getting three in a row," James tells them.

I look around to make sure that they all understand and smile as they nod their heads at him.

"Let's play," he blows the whistle and they are off. I stand between the two games keeping an eye on the kids. This is a game I like to watch the kids play. It is great exercise and makes them use their minds. It helps build teamwork and learning to work with others. It is also a lot of fun to watch them.

"Are you okay, Billy?" I ask as he jumps up after falling. He nods at me, and returns to his place in line.

Billy is one of my children who I have been watching a little more closely. He is always falling, and wherein some people may have passed it off as him being clumsy, I am not so sure, as he also seems to forget instructions.

The last few weeks I have only been giving him one instruction at a time, which seems to be helping him somewhat. But as I have been watching him more closely, I am starting to believe that he has DCD: Developmental Coordination Disorder, better known as Dyspraxia. This is another reason why I am watching the class do this exercise. I am hoping to gather some more evidence for my meeting at the end of the day, with Emmett, and then later with his parents, and with their approval, the educational psychologist who I am hoping to get called in.

"Well done, Kelly and the blue team," I say as the other group carries on playing.

I look at Billy who has yet again fallen. He gets up and carries on running. "His hand and eye coordination is poor, too, and it's not from lack of trying," James says into my ear.

I hum and nod at him.

"I have my statement printed out for you, and I have to say that I agree with your assessment."

I look at him giving him a smile, and before I can say anything he is calling out instructions. "Billy, speed is not everything, pay attention," he calls. We both watch and Billy throws the bean bag in getting the score for his team.

"Okay, let's change teams, and do this again," James says to the class as he turns looking at me. "Take your break and look over my notes."

I nod at him and tell the kids I'll see them soon before walking out of the gym.

I walk into my classroom with a coffee in one hand and James' notes in the other. As I sit down, my cell starts to vibrate on my desktop.

~Nayeli, I just wanted you to know that Maggie and her father showed up here today. Nothing happened apart from Tanya reading them the riot act. You should have seen it. How is work, I'm missing you like crazy? XO~

I feel angry over Edward's words. I don't get why she keeps this up. Maggie is turning into some deranged woman who thinks she's somehow been scorned. I also know that the only reason he is texting me this information, is to keep me in the loop. I take a deep breath, and quickly text him back.

~Work's going fine, my kids are in gym right now. Cordie is in with Victoria. Sorry about today, tell Tanya next time I want to see her in action. Love and miss you too. XO~

I put my cell away and begin looking through the information James gave to me as I drink my coffee.

~PP~

I wave bye to my last school child and look to Victoria. "How did Cordie get on today?" I ask as we walk back in to the school.

"She settled in well; she's very arty, and her imagination is something to behold."

I smile and nod at her.

"Bella, I can see her being an author or artist, maybe both when she's older."

"Sounds good to me," I say with a smile.

She chuckles. "Kassie seems to plan on joining Edward on the Board of Trade, and she's quite adamant about it, really."

I roll my eyes not feeling even a little surprised. "With her ability to pick out good companies to invest in and her excellent math skills, I think she might be on the right path," I say.

I'm a little bitter that she's doing so much better than me in our family stock market game. Kassie and Edward seem to be almost on par with the amount of Monopoly money they are making. I wave goodbye to Victoria before walking into Emmett's office.

I take Emmett through all of my findings, and show him proof of what I have observed, what James has observed, and give him samples of Billy's work.

"I have to agree with you that all of these findings raise a red flag," Emmett says. He rubs his chin a little. "I think we should call in his parents and ask about how he acts at home. I want to see if they have seen him falling in the home, or while playing outside and such. After we talk to them, we can take it from there.

I nod at him as he carries on.

"If they are in agreement, then we'll call in Caroline to assess him.

Again I nod at him. "Do you think they will agree?" I ask biting my lip. I know some parents, no matter what their walk of life is, do not want to think of their child having anything wrong with them. They would rather be in denial than accept the truth.

"Billy's older brother and mother both have Dyslexia, so they are coming from a family that knows about special needs. They may even think Billy is Dyslexic, and are just waiting it out for a few more months to see what we say."

I again nod knowing that Dyspraxia and Dyslexia overlap in that they both cause the person difficulty in learning to read, write, and spell. People with Dyslexia often have poor organizational skills, and may have difficulty with language both spoken and heard, not to mention math. They also tend to be clumsy, often falling, especially falling while going up, or down stairs. They can drop things easily, either by them slipping out of their hands or not putting them down correctly. Then there is the forgetfulness of what has been said or asked of them, not to mention the many other things that they face each day.

"Moving on, I am happy to hear that Cordie's transition to Victoria's class is going well."

I roll my eyes at the smugness in his voice.

"Yes, Emmett, just like you said it would," I deadpan making him chuckle.

"Yep, besides all that, I received a rather interesting letter in the mail today."

"Oh?" I say.

"From the Chairman of the Board for the school."

I swallow and just look at Emmett, but he seems to not look worried or upset.

"And?" I say when clearly he's not carrying on.

"They wanted to tell me that they have filed a court action against Buckley."

"They have?"

"Yes, they have," Emmett echoes making me merely glare at him. He laughs holding up his hands.

"It turns out that Buckley complained to them, and what the stupid asshole didn't realize was that the Chairman's nieces and nephews, and several of his own grandchildren all attend this school. The boys are older, but his granddaughter, who is his favorite, is in your class and had already told him about Buckley's son bullying the other kids, and then went home to tell him what Kassie did."

All I can do is nod at him. "He was quite impressed and gave me a lecture for disciplining her."

"Disciplining Kassie?"

"Yep, he told me I should have praised her for being so level headed, and for dealing with the matter the way she did. Anyway, he had already informed Buckley that he was in during your job interview and agreed with me about hiring you. He also agreed with me about expelling his son, and told him that no further contact was to happen between him, the school, or anyone that works here. A little birdy told him about him being in court with you, and he's now taking further actions, one of which is to drop Buckley's law firm by his whole family and all his friends."

"Oh wow," I say feeling speechless.

"Uh huh, I have a feeling that Buckley may not have a job soon," Emmett states.

I frown a little. "What about Johnny?" I ask because as much as the kid was a bully and unkind, I can't help but feel worried for him.

"Not sure; last I heard there was a pending case with DCFS, and they were bringing Buckley to court to get a CINA. The biological mother was found, and they are going to be placing Johnny with her after she is deemed fit."

"I was told people thought she was dead?"

"I heard that, too, but it turns out she wanted a divorce and Buckley did some unhanded things to excuse her from her son's life. She went into hiding and no one knew where she was except one attorney who did not mention anything until things became public record."

I let out a long breath. "Well, I hope she will be a better parent to him."

"Only time will tell, Bella. Now the way I see it is that you are done for the day. Go get your girls and go home to make your man his dinner."

"I'll get right on that," I deadpan making him chuckle.

"Hey, I'm just saying I would love a home-cooked meal, once in a while."

"So would Rose," I agree.

"She gets it three times a week."

"I really hope we're still talking about home-cooked meals?"

"We are, and if you were referring to sexy times, then she gets it every time she asks for it," he says with a wink.

"Yeah, she's told me you're easy," I retort.

"Sure enough and I'm happy to be that way."

I laugh as I walk out the office.

I pick up the girls and we head home. When we arrive, I am surprised to see a beat-up car parked outside. I get out of the car, looking toward the other car. I feel my face pale as a shaking Charlotte gets out the car just looking at the girls.

"Go into the house, lock the door, and call your dad," I say handing them the keys.

Their eyes flicker to Charlotte but they move quickly to the front door as I move to Charlotte.

"Girls," she slurs but the girls don't stop and keep moving.

"Why are you here?" I snap at her. I am not stupid enough to ask how she got our address, clearly that is Maggie's doing.

"I just wanted to see them, just once."

I cross my arms and look at her, feeling unsure if she's going through withdrawal or she has just taken something.

"Look, this is my brother, and Renata," she holds out a photo.

I take the photo, looking at it. Peter is a dead ringer for the girls. Just like them, he has the same eyes as the girls; one blue and one green. My eyes move to Renata seeing the girls in her, too; her hair is the same shade as the girls'.

"Okay," I say handing the photo back to her but she doesn't take it.

"Buckley asked me to do this ... he told me ..." Charlotte stops abruptly, and I know she didn't mean to let that slip out.

"Buckley asked what?"

"He said that he could help me ... help me get the money that I need."

I sigh a little giving her a smile. "Okay, so this is all about money?" I ask.

Whereas, I am angry and want to yell – I know she'll drop her guard if I play nice and sweet.

She shakes and sort of nods at the same time. "Yes, no," she huffs out a breath. "It wasn't until I saw them ... I saw Peter. It just made me remember him and remember when I was happier. I miss him so much."

I touch her shoulder giving it a small pat. "It must be hard, especially with Royce being in prison."

She nods at me as she sniffles, so I carry on talking.

"What I don't get is why Buckley contacted you. How did he know that the girls were Peter's?"

She lets out a scoff. "That's because he was awful to Peter, who was his friend. He had an affair with Renata, and he thought the girls were his, but he wanted nothing to do with them. She knew they weren't, and so did Peter, but they thought it would be a great way to make a few thousand." She chuckles in an angry way. "The fucker double crossed them, set my brother up, and told him about the bank job that got him killed. All just so that he could deal with Renata. She was a week late in delivering the baby, and he was getting restless, so she said that he'd given her something to start labor. He drove her to the hospital dropping off the first baby. He was shipping her ass out of here, when unknowingly baby number two started making its appearance."

"Did he know she was still in labor?" Edward hisses making both Charlotte and me jump.

Charlotte just looks at me and then at Edward.

"Don't tell him I said anything," she says looking worried. "He'll kill me, please?"

"Tell you what," Edward says with crossed arms. "I will take you to my lawyer right now and you'll give them a statement in front of Mr. Wahl from the court. When we are done, I will give you a quarter of a million dollars to leave town, go somewhere else and start over."

Her eyes look to the house. "Make it half a million, and I'll do it."

Edward shakes his head at her but before he can answer, I pull Edward away.

"Why the hell are you giving her money, she's going to spend it on drugs and shit?" I say as my eyes fall on her as she shakes some more. "She needs rehab."

"She's been there many times, and failed. I doubt anyplace could help her. You can only get help if you desire to have the help you're receiving."

"Doesn't mean we should give her the means to kill herself," I hiss back. "I can't be angry with her for being a drug addict, but I damn sure don't want to help enable it to get worse."

"I am clean, right now," Charlotte says making both Edward and me look at her. Royce is getting out. I just want a fresh start away from everyone that I know, and they're all into drugs. Royce said he'll only live with me if I was drug free. I just don't want to be alone."

"Tell you what," Edward says with a side look at me. "I will help you set up a house and then give you fifteen hundred a month if you pass a drug test each month?"

She looks at him. "For how long?"

"The rest of your life, but it will be contingent on passing drug tests each and every month. A privately hired nurse will come to you, and will watch you pee, and if you test dirty even one time, the cash cow is gone, and so is your house. I will deposit a check into your account at the beginning of each month. Do we have a deal?"

She again nods, and he shakes her hand. "Let's go," he says with a point to her car. She gets in and Edward looks to me.

"I'll be back soon," he quickly kisses me and gets into his car and I watch as they drive away together.

I close my eyes looking up. "Let this work for her; please make this her fresh start." I beg, knowing this may very well be her last chance to have a life.

I walk around to the back of the house, taking out my back door key. I walk in heading right upstairs to the girls' room.

"Daddy didn't pick up," Cordie cries.

I move quickly to them. "It's okay, my love, he must have been on his way home."

"Is he here?" Kassie asks.

I shake my head at the girls. "He's helping Charlotte."

"Is that the lady that was here?" Kassie asks with a sniffle.

"It was," I answer.

"We don't like her; tell her not to come back," Kassie says.

I look at them trying to work out if they know who she is, or did she just scare them. Not coming up with an answer I pull them to me, holding them close and I hush their crying.

We've been cuddled here for a while, when I hear Esme calling us.

"Grans here?" I say with a smile.

"Bella, Cordie, Kassie," she yells again.

"Up here," I yell back. "Come on, girls, let's go see her."

We all walk out of the room meeting Esme in the hall.

"We're fine," I say when she looks at me, unsure of why she is here.

"The girls called me, and said there was a strange looking woman here, and they couldn't get ahold of daddy," she states sounding a little frantic.

"It okay. Edward got here after the girls went inside, and he's helping Charlotte," I make sure I say her name with clear pronunciation, so Esme knows who I am talking about. "He's going to help her, to get to where she needs to be."

She gives me a nod as she pulls out her cell. "Think I'll call Papa and tell him to come here, and we'll join you for dinner tonight, if that's okay?"

"Yeah," both girls say back to her but clearly they're still upset.

"Meet you downstairs," I say with a smile taking both girls down knowing that Esme will call the people we need right now.

I just reach the living room when Alice, Colton, and Jasper run in. "Girls, is there anyone else you've called that I should know about?" I ask looking down at the girls.

"Just E-man, and Rose," Kassie states.

I shake my head. "Okay, you sit here with Colton and watch cartoons, and I'll start making dinner for eleven people."

"I'll help," Jasper says standing up.

"I'll keep an eye on the kiddos," Alice says with a small smile. I know that she would like to know what's going on, but she doesn't like conflict and tries to stay away from any big problems.

Jasper waits until we are in the kitchen before talking. "What happened?"

I look at him as I grab some steak and chicken out the freezer and set it to thaw in the microwave. Opening the fridge again, I take out the salmon steaks we were planning to have for dinner tonight and marinate them. "Esme is upstairs more than likely calling Samuel and Jenks. How about we wait and see if she has anything to add before I tell you what very little I know?"

"I am here," she says right as I finish talking.

"So are we," Emmett says walking in the kitchen with Rose.

I fill them all in on what happened and what Charlotte claimed.

"That's got to be illegal, drugging a pregnant woman to cause her to go into labor, right?" Rose asks as she looks around us.

"Depends on what he gave her to start the labor process," Jasper answers.

"What about abandoning the babies?" she snaps back.

"He did it safely at a hospital; a safe haven," Jasper says in a low voice.

"But he's a lawyer," she argues back sounding outraged.

"That doesn't matter, Rose, it's not just people who don't have a job, or low income persons that abandon babies."

Rose just huffs shaking her head.

"Any news from Edward yet?" I ask Esme.

"He was at the courthouse when I talked to him, and he didn't sound very happy."

I rub my face feeling unsure of what to do for the girls. "Do you think you could call Mary and ask her if we can bring the girls into her office first thing in the morning?"

Esme nods and walks out of the room.

Jasper and Emmett leave the kitchen, and Rose helps me cook dinner.

"How are you holding up?" she asks and I shake my head at her.

"I'm thinking of asking Alice to lend me some of her drugs, so my mind will slow the hell down."

Rose snorts. "I am starting to wonder if that's the real reason he wanted Kassie out of the school."

Rose just looks at me. "What if he knew Kassie was Renata's baby, and he still thought she was his?"

Rose shrugs a little. "Then why not Cordie, too?"

"Maybe because he didn't think he could win with Edward, and since he thought I was lowlife scum, the same way he felt about Renata, he thought he could get away with it."

Rose sighs a little. "Well, he could have followed her after she was adopted and then knew that your daughter was the same girl."

I nod at her. "Again, what about Edward?"

"Edward comes from a rich family; there was no reason to think he would blackmail him. Maybe he thought you would, or he could have been looking at another way to get rid of Cordie."

She stops and just looks at me. "Boarding school ... wasn't it Maggie's idea to send her away? Maybe he's the one that fed her that idea. That way he would get rid of any reminder of her because she'd be far away."

"I am telling you if this was his real plan, then I will find him, and I will kill him slowly," I hiss as I chop up the vegetables with authority.

It's almost six hours after Edward left when he arrives back home.

"Hi," I say almost running to the door, hugging him to me. "Alice and Jasper took Colton home. Emmett and Rose just left a few minutes ago. However, your mom and dad are still here," I blurt out to him.

"Thank God, I didn't want you to be here alone," he whispers back. "Are the girls in bed?"

I nod at him "They tried to stay up, but were very tired. They agreed to go to bed if I promised them you would come up and say goodnight and hug them when you got home."

"It's okay, Nayeli, I'll sneak in on them when we go to bed."

We walk back into the living room hand in hand.

"What happened?" Carlisle asks.

"She gave a full confession to the court as well as submitted evidence with all the text messages she kept. Buckley is in this up to his neck, and the courts are looking to draw up charges against him. Charlotte has been checked into a private rehab center, located in the Quad City area, because she needed help and finally wanted it. I asked that she not be charged as long as she completes the rehab process and continues to do well. She will be in rehab a minimum of six months, and will only be released when a host home is open for her to live in for a minimum of two years. It's not an easy rehab to deal with, and they take each case very seriously. It was expensive, but I paid for it. If she fails, she knows she is facing up to five years in prison, without a chance of parole." Edward looks at me and I nod at him. "Once out of rehab and in co-housing, she must secure and keep a job they help her to find. If she gets into any trouble over the next three years, she is going to prison."

All I can do is nod again "What about Maggie?" Esme asks.

"There was no concrete evidence on her," he says sounding disappointed.

"And the girls' court case?" I ask.

"It's over and the court has told Charlotte that there's no way that they would allow her near the girls, or any child for that matter. Her repeat trips to jail, rehab, as well as her criminal background show that she is unfit, and that this will be the only chance she will get. The judge hopes she takes it; if she doesn't, he doesn't see her living another five years."

"Is Royce getting out?" I ask him finding my voice.

"He has another year, but it looks as if he will be out at this time next year."

I now feel a little worried about Rose and Mike.

"Okay, son, we'll call you tomorrow," Esme says standing up she hugs us both as does Carlisle before they walk out.

Edward eats dinner as I lock up. Before heading to our own bed, we look in on the girls who are fast asleep. Edward goes to each girl and lifts them into a hug, whispering that he is home and that he loves them.

"We going to be okay," he says happily against my ear. "I think she's really gone, and I don't think we'll be hearing from her again."

I smile feeling a little lighter than I have been. "Come to bed," he says pulling my hand.

I smile following him to our room.


A/N: So what did you think about that? Royce is a bit of a jerk, but at least he told the truth. Maggie is a piece of work, and several of you wondered what she had to do with all of this. What do you think of how things are going so far? Up next will be the wedding ... we still have a few loose ends to deal with, but we are on the downhill slide for this story. Happy Holidays to you all, and we will post again as soon as it is ready to post.