Chapter 8 - A walking, talking stink bomb

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"Alice Cullen, please."

The hotel receptionist typed the name into her computer. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't find her."

"Oh, my mistake. It's Brandon... Mary Alice Brandon. Can you please call her and let her know Isabella Swan is here to see her."

"My apologies," the receptionist said, shaking her head, "I can't call a person who isn't staying here."

Bella nodded, and looked around the hotel lobby uncomfortably. The reception area looked empty. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her FBI badge.

"Look, I know she's here, I just don't know what name she's registered under. She is short, petit, dark hair, pixie looking... I believe she arrived two says ago."

The receptionist raised her eyebrows and made an 'oh' with her mouth in understanding. She checked her list again, and what do you know, it turned out there was a match after all.

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...oxXxo.

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The sound of someone knocking on the door startled little Anthony. "Uh uh… Door go knock knock…" he squealed and clutched at Alice's arm with surprising force.

"Oooh, you're right…. I think we have a visitor," Alice replied, grabbing a firmer hold on the squirming child in her lap.

"Who?" the child asked as a big chunk of half-melted ice cream slipped off his spoon and onto his t-shirt. "Isa scary monster? "

"No, no scary monster," Alice chuckled softly and ran his hand over Anthony's head to smooth down his unruly hair. "It could be the cookie monster, though. You wanna help me get the door? "

Just then there was another knock, sharper this time and more insistent.

"Ah…coming…just, hold on!" Alice jumped off the couch and quickly hoisted, a now very ice cream sticky, Anthony onto her hip.

The noise was enough to prompt a weary-looking Edward to stick his head into the room.

"Are you expecting someone?" he asked with a frown.

"Isa monster ana cookie," the child piped up, in a matter of fact way.

"Yes, what he said," Alice agreed with a casual shrug.

"The cookie monster, really?" Edward surveyed his sister with narrowed eyes, as the knocking keptgetting louder and louder. "What have you done? Who did you call? I fall asleep for ten minutes and now someone's pounding on my front door like I owe them money or something… "

Alice rolled her eyes. "Well, don't just stand there; get the door before they tear it down!"

"They?" Edward squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I swear Alice, if you told a living soul about my little predicament, I'll,… I'll…"

"You'll what? Kill me? Just get the door Edward. Facing the monsters is always the best way of defeating them."

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...oxXxo.

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It wasn't the cookie monster at the door, nor was it a hotel maid, or a room service delivery, but then again none of those had been Edward's top guesses. When Alice had used plural in reference to the knocking, his first though had been Carlisle and Esme, but thankfully the person waiting behind the door held no resemblance to either one of his adoptive parents.

"Isabella Marie Swan," he said the name out loud, as if to confirm that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. She hadn't changed, at least, not outwardly, and his heart surprised him by skipping excitedly at the sight of her.

She was early; he hadn't expected her to show up for another couple of days. Actually, he hadn't been sure she would show up at all. The only thing he had been sure of was that Alice would disregard his wishes about not contacting her. Telling Alice to mind her own business waslike telling the sun not to rise.

Shaking his head from his reverie, Edward stepped away from the door to allow her to enter. " Or is it Special Agent Swan today? I get the feeling this is not a social visit."

He held out his hand to take her coat and she promptly flung it in his face, on purpose no doubt

"How about you call me Bella for now and we save the formal stuff for later" she suggested, with a slight frown. "Nice to know you still got your manners, though."

Edward felt his face break into a smile and he laughed a little in spite of himself. "I never did see what was so SPECIAL about you anyway,"

"Bah, you're just jealous because I get to carry a gun and you don't," she replied returning the banter.

"I always hated that gun of yours and you know it."

"True…. You always seemed more fascinated with my handcuffs..."

"Heh…"

He never got a chance to respond because his sister chose that precise moment to emerge from the bathroom with a freshly cleaned Anthony in tow.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed, practically skipping across the room to greet her friend. "I thought I heard your voice!"

"Yeah, well, rumor has it that you've ditched Jasper for a younger man. I just had to come see for myself."

Alice let out a tinkling laugh. "Poor Jasper, but it couldn't be helped," she mused, taking a hold of Anthony under his arms and lifting him off the floor. "This young fellow is just too darn cute to resist!"

Holding the child out in front of her, she showed him off like he was a new doll she'd found under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.

Of course Anthony, being an actual living, breathing toddler and not a life sized doll, took the opportunity to jiggle around for a bit and then, with a scrunched up face, relieve himself of some gas.

Alice's facial expression was priceless, or would have been priceless if Edward had taken the time register it. Instead his eyes were fixed attentively on Bella, who in turn was staring unblinkingly at the child. Being the trained professional that she was, her face gave away nothing of her thoughts…. Or, well… that was before the stink bomb was dropped, because she certainly didn't hold back on her reaction as she caught whiff of the offending odour.

"Mother-of-all-stinky-farts, What the hell have you been feeding him?" she exclaimed loudly, frenetically fanning her nose with her hands. "He's like a mini-clone. He even got the smell down pat! Screw the DNA test. Congratulation Alice, You're an auntie!"

"I know!" Alice was quick to agree, setting the now squirming boy down on the floor again. "The resemblance is eerie, isn't it? The hair, the eyebrows, the pout…."

"You both need your eyes checked," Edward protested, edging towards the nearest window."…and your noses. Nothing coming from me has ever smelled this badly."

"Whatever you say, Edward," the girls both replied in unison, breaking into a fit of sniggers and snorts.

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...oxXxo.

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The feeling of déjà vu was growing stronger by the minute.

A puzzling letter, an upsetting photograph, a call from an concerned sister and a meeting with a very grumpy Edward Cullen… Check, check, check and double check...

It seamed as though history was repeating itself, only this time there was an innocent two-year-old boy stuck in the midst of the turmoil.

Seeing Edward again had been painful, no surprise there, but seeing Edward interacting with the child, had been even more painful; a reality check that that tore at her already wounded heart. Emotional attachment was indeed the cause of all suffering, you didn't have to be a Buddhist or a Taoist to benefit from that understanding. But Bella had made a promise that she would see this through. And being a woman of her word, she would have to find a way to do just that.

She couldn't falter now. Faltering was not an option. She would see this through, and somehow they would all come out on the other side, better than before, stronger than before, wiser than before.

And happier. She had to believe that, especially now when she was feeling bleaker than ever.

Putting on her best game face she examined the piece of paper in her hand. It was a copy of the letter that had been found with the child. She had, of course, read it multiple times already, courtesy of her contact at the Seattle police department.

"I doubt it's a blackmailing scam," she said, with a reassuring smile in Alice's direction. "No threats or demands have been made and there is nothing vindictive about the way the letter is worded."

"The last thing we need right now is another lunatic on our hands," Alice sighed with a meaningful glance in the direction of balcony where Anthony and Edward was working up a sweat by kicking a big, rainbow colored beach ball back and forth. "I used to think I was good at judging people, but now… now I find myself second guessing my intuition all the time."

"Alice, it wasn't your fault. We've been over this before. She came with good references; she was polite and well mannered. You thought you had found the perfect babysitter for your nephew. She had us all fooled, but all that is in the past now. The stalker issue has been resolved. Angela is dead and buried. It's time to move on…"

"I know, I know… I'd hate to see history repeat itself, that's all. I mean, what about the photo? I thought you said FBI had confiscated all those nasty photographs."

"The ones they could get their hands on. Compromising photographs are like weeds, like dandelion seeds. Once they get wind borne there is not much you can do to stop them from spreading."

"Hah, that was probably the lamest analogy I have ever heard!" Edward shouted from the doorway.

"So in other words, it's just a matter of time before my brothers pale, hairy ass makes a debut to the internet? Is that what you're saying?" Alice concluded giving Edward a gentle shove back towards the balcony.

"Well, hopefully it wont come to that. Look, let's not get ahead of ourselves. No crime has been committed and no threats have been made. My advice for now would be to treat this like an ordinary paternity case. "

"I could have sworn abandoning a child was a crime the last time I checked," Edward protested , once again poking his head through the door.

"You're right, technically it is and that's why the police is on the lookout for the mother. In theory it could lead to both prosecution and conviction…" she trailed off with a shake of her head.

"In theory? What about the reality?"

It was Alice asking the question, but Bella directed her answer to both of the siblings.

"The reality is that we should all focus on making sure the child's physical and emotional needs are provided for."

"Because you don't think we'll ever find the mother?" Edward asked with a frustrated huff.

"Anthony is what's important here. You should never lose focus on that," Bella reasoned. "Speaking of losing focus, if were you Edward, I'd duck right about now!"

"What?"

Edward swirled around just in time to see Anthony make mad dash towards the ball and kick it with all his might towards his soccer buddy.

Before he had time to react the ball had hit him square in the face, hard enough to make his eyes water.

"I kick baw high!" Anthony squealed, clapping his hands in delight.

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...oxXxo.

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"I still can't believe little miss FBI agent showed up acting all friendly and shit.," Jasper chuckled over the phone later that evening. " I was expecting a confrontation of some sort…or at least some tension."

"Oh, there was tension, alright," Alice replied as she locked herself into the bathroom with her cell phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder. "They weren't ripping each others heads off or anything, quite the opposite actually. The were being very civil towards one another. Can you imagine that? No arguments, no shouting, no nothing."

"So maybe they have both done some growing up since the last time they saw each other."

"No, that's not it. Edward was still being his immature, bratty self and Bella… Well you know Bella, she's stubborn to a fault and hates being told what to do. She loves picking fights even, or especially, when she probably shouldn't. Only today she was more guarded than I have ever seen her before."

"You got them to talk, though, that's always a start. "

"I thought that if I could only get them alone in the same room together, the rest would sort itself out, you know"

"Right, but if you were there, hanging on every word spoken, they weren't actually alone, now were they? "

"I offered to take Anthony out for a walk, but Bella freaked and said she had to leave because she had a plane to catch. Now, I know she isn't leaving for another..," she paused to push her sleeve up to look at her wrist watch. "…nine hours. So that excuse was a complete utter lie, but I didn't call her out on it. I don't want her to think I'm taking sides."

"Did you at least get a chance to ask her about her opinion on the letter? Did she read it?"

"Yep, she thinks we should hire a private investigator to find this Kebi person."

"Oh really? What about the ongoing police investigation? Wouldn't one investigation be more than enough."

"Maybe… maybe not… Bella reckons officer Franklin will drop the case if, or should I say when, the paternity test confirms that Edward is the father. Apparently the main focus here is to find someone willing to care for the child. Everything else is a waste of time and resources."

"Well, in that case I suppose hiring a P.I. sounds reasonable. To be honest I kind of thought miss Swan would take a personal interest in this, though."

"We can't really ask, or expect that of her. She nearly lost her job the last time around. "

"I guess you're right, "Jasper hummed into the phone. "So, lets talk about something else. How's the little tyke doing? Is he still refusing to eat?"

"No, I've gotten him to eat plenty today. He's just picky about what he likes and don't like. Remember that time when Elliott point blank refused to wear shoes?"

"Sure do…. He ran around barefoot for three whole weeks. "

"Well, it's like that, only with Anthony it's all about food. The kid won't eat anything unless it comes with french-fries or ice-cream on the side."

"Aaah, but that's why they call it the terrible twos. Elliott has almost grown out of it, I'm sure this kid will too."

"Jasper, I feel so bad for him. He's not a bad kid, not at all… It's just the situation that sucks, you know…. "

"Aww, come on baby, you'll help Edward work something out. You're a problem solver. That's what you do best. You're a caring, compassionate person. That's what makes you 'you'."

"And you're the king of pep-talks," Alice returned the compliment. "…and the best fiancée a girl could ever ask for. I miss you something terribly."

"I miss you too, love, but you need to stay where you are or else we'll miss out on all the juicy gossip. "

"You think she'll be back don't you?"

"Who? The mother?"

"No, special agent Swan."

"Of course I do and so do you, otherwise you wouldn't have let her leave that easily. I assume you have plan B up your sleeves."

"You know me so well, of course there is a plan B."

"You know me so well."