A/N: Twilight does not belong to me.

Shout out to gooseonline my lovely beta. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. The last chapter brought out all the momma bears who wanted to protect our little family. So incredibly sweet. Let's see what happens.

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Chapter 29 ~ make hay while the sun shines

"Jess, can you call Alec and ask him to join us as soon as he can please?"

"Of course, Edward."

"Emmett, can you get Isabella a glass of water please?"

"Sure thing."

"Isabella, I need you to take some deep breaths for me. Look into my eyes love. That's right. Now breathe with me, okay?"

Her breathing calmed while her sad teary eyes looked desperate and worried.

I looked directly into her eyes as I held her face. I spoke slowly and clearly to her, "No one will ever take our darling Elizabeth from us, okay?"

She looked at me with such an earnest expression, as though she desperately wanted to believe me. It broke my heart to see her so stressed and quite frankly it worried the hell out of me. It can't be good for the baby.

"Sweet one, I am so glad you've come to me. That you've trusted me enough to help you but let me just remind you that you are a remarkable, independent, successful young woman. You have raised that little girl by yourself and she is an angel. She is loved and she is loving. You legally adopted her. She is yours. Not only that, you are Lil Bit's sister and this …. person… is only her cousin. Now I don't know what this cousin's game is but I am going to take care of this."

She sighed a very deep sigh. "Thank you baby, it was such a shock. I opened the letter and I just couldn't breathe and all I could think was that I needed you. I need you, Edward." Tears fell silently down her cheek.

"And I need you to relax, love. You have another little one to look after now and this stress is not what our baby needs." She nodded.

I walked her over to the couch in my office and I lay her down. I placed a cushion under her head. "Please rest, love. I am going to look after this. You can trust me."

Bella smiled a weary smile. "This is where I first fell in love with you Edward. You were sleeping on this couch and you were so innocent and beautiful. You are so beautiful Edward, inside and out. I was so afraid when I read that letter but you're right. Lil Bit is my baby. I adopted her legally. Her cousin was nowhere to be found when Phil died and we searched for him…." She was trying to be brave but then I could see the panic again across her face. "Oh, please Edward, don't let him take our Lil Bit."

"Shush, love. Rest for a little while. Let me talk to some people and we'll take care of this okay?"

"Okay."

I knelt next to her stroking her hair and placing small kisses on her face as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Alec stood in the doorway to my office watching us for a moment before he spoke. "You need me, boss?"

I nodded and gestured for him to come in. We moved over to my desk to leave Bella sleep. He sat in his usual chair in front of my desk and I went to my chair behind the desk. I silently handed him the letter Bella had received with Phil's nephew's notice of action to petition a claim for custody of Lil Bit.

I'd worked with Alec long enough to know not to rush him for a response. I sat back in my chair to patiently wait for a response.

I looked over at my sweet little baby momma, she was so beautiful. She was everything I always hoped for and more. The fact that this was the first time she'd really leaned on me was not lost on me. Bella has been strong and alone most of her life. Her parents loved her but because of her accelerated education program she was always the odd one out. She watched her father's battle with cancer and slow suffering. She endured her mother's wondering around the country as she recovered from the loss. All the while Bella was alone with only her own strengths to rely on. Since the terrible night when she lost her mother and stepfather, when she almost lost her own life, she has been focused on the care of her only family, Elizabeth.

She's finished a business degree, built a successful business, grown a very profitable investment portfolio, made a huge difference in her community and has raised the most adorable three year old whom everyone loves.

Now after almost twenty years of being self-sufficient she finally had someone she can lean on to share the good times and the bad. That's what marriage is after all, in sickness and health and all that. I want to be there for her to take on some of the burden. Now that she'd finally come to me for help, there was no way in hell I was going to let her down.

She needed me and I was going to get this sorted.

Alec finally spoke pulling me from my thoughts. "I don't believe this nephew has a chance in hell. He doesn't have a legal leg to stand on. He could petition for some sort of visitation rights but full custody is out of his reach. Not only is Isabella Elizabeth's half sister, where this guy is only a cousin, Bella's legally adopted her and everything was done to find this guy then.

I still recommend we get the best family lawyer we can to lock this shit down. No sense taking chances." His tone was filled with the same anger that I felt.

"Okay, I know exactly who to call."

Alec stood. "While you make that call, I'm going to do some research on the law firm who sent the letter. This is a pretty aggressive first action. I mean normally you'd only take this kind of step if you'd tried everything else and failed. I'm curious why this firm is taking this so far so early."

"Thanks Alec."

"Anything I can do Edward. That little girl isn't going anywhere. The law is on your side but we need to be smart in case there is more going on here than just a custody dispute. Let's pull a meeting together and decide how to handle this."

"Good deal." As Alec walked out of my office I picked up my phone, scrolled through my numbers then called.

"Hello Vicky. It's Edward. I need your help."

I explained the situation to Vicky and then held the phone away from my head as she cursed up a storm.

"I know Vicky, believe me I feel the same way. We are in a good position and I don't think this bastard has a hope in hell but we don't want to leave anything to chance. We need a specialist in family law and custody disputes. Someone really gifted in bringing pain. We need Jane."

Victoria chuckled lightly, "Fuck. Of course you do. That bitch will set this guy on fire, cause him so much pain he'll wish he was never born. Fuck, I almost feel sorry for him…. almost. I'll call her now."

"Thanks Vicky."

"How's little Bell? She must be out of her fucking mind with worry! Shit!"

I lowered my voice. "I've never seen my sweet one so distraught Vicky. She's asleep here on the couch in my office. Her panicked tears near broke my heart. She's never really leaned on me for anything before. I need to get this sorted for her."

There's was a moment or two of silence, then in a quiet soft tone you rarely heard from Vicky who always put up such a tough front, "I'll do everything I can to protect her and that little angel, Edward. She's a rare gem."

"She is. Thank you Vicky." I cleared my throat as hearing her speak so softly of my girl really affected me. "We want to meet as soon as possible, today if we can. Can you call Jane and make that happen?"

"Fuck yeah." Ah, there's the Victoria I am more used to. She ended the call.

I quietly walked out to Jess' desk.

"How can I help, boss?" The look on her face was almost comical, she was clearly ready to take someone down.

"Jess, I want to nip this legal nonsense in the bud before it gets out of hand. Bella doesn't need the stress. Once Vicky confirms a time, we're going to need to pull together a meeting to sort this mess out. We're going to need Alec, Emmett and Rosalie, Rev J and Leah, Carlisle, Esme and Alice."

"You should probably meet at home. Lauren and I will come and watch the little ones… if that's okay with you boss?"

"Perfect. Thanks Jess." I gave her a small smile.

Just then my phone pinged with a message:

'Jane is all fired up and ready to inflict some pain. Can meet today anytime after five. Send me the details… V'

"Okay Jess. Let's get everyone to Bella's at 5.30, we'll meet then have dinner. Give them the basics of what's happened so they know why we need them. Oh… maybe we should include my Uncles as well… yeah. Can you call them too?"

"On it, boss."

I shot a text back to Vicky:

'Meeting at Bella's at 5.30; meeting first, dinner second…. E.'

'Got it…. V'

I went back in to my office and found Bella was missing but then I heard the sounds that reminded me of why I needed to take this burden from her. I walked into the bathroom to find my love kneeling with her head over the toilet vomiting up what little she had in her stomach. I moved to her quickly pulled her beautiful hair back out of the way and softly rubbed her back until she was done.

After a few moments to collect herself, she stood and moved around the room a little too quietly. I flushed the toilet, put the seat cover down and sat down to watch her warily. I reached out to take a new toothbrush from the drawer and handed it to her. She gave me a small smile and then turned to brush her teeth, then washed her face and grimaced when she saw her hair in the mirror. I thought she looked cute as hell all sleepy and mussed up but she obviously didn't agree.

I reached into the same drawer and pulled out a small man's hair brush. I stood behind her and started brushing her hair. I loved her hair, it was long, thick and shiny. I had brushed Alice's hair enough as kids to know how to brush longer hair without pulling at knots. She watched my movements in the mirror.

"I hope our baby will have your hair." I smoothed the hair after each downward stroke with the brush. "Better than my crazy hair."

"I love your crazy, sex hair." She laughed lightly.

What a beautiful sound. "Sex hair?"

"You always look like you've just had hot, hair pulling worthy sex." She paused and tilted her head slightly looking at me. "I hope our baby has your looks Edward. You really are the most beautiful person I've ever seen in real life. You're like a movie star or a model, you're so gorgeous."

I continued with her hair as I snorted with disbelief at her comment. I liked that she thought I was handsome though. That was nice. I put the brush down on the counter. I reached my face down to rest my chin on her shoulder and we looked at our reflection in the mirror.

"I'm going to take care of this situation Isabella. I don't want you to worry."

I snaked my arms around her waist and pulled her body back against mine. "I love you sweet one. Nothing and noone is going to break apart our family. Lil Bit is our daughter, she's yours by law and mine by love."

One single tear rolled down her cheek. She turned in my arms and held on to my biceps as she looked up to me. "I'm sorry I lost it today Edward, I normally handle things better but …. it was a shock." She leaned forward to rest her cheek on my chest and I held her just that little bit tighter.

"I am so proud of you for opening up to me, letting me in. I won't let you down." I kissed the top of her head. She felt so small all wrapped up in my arms like this. "C'mon, let's get out of the bathroom. I want to take you home to our daughter. Jess is organising for everyone to come over to our place tonight.

She perked up immediately. "Oh, will they stay for dinner? I'd really like that."

I led her out into my office and laughed, "Yes, they'll stay for dinner. Jess and Lauren are joining us so they can look after Seth and Lil Bit while we're meeting."

"Did you bring a bag or anything sweet one?" I looked around the room for anything that Bella may have brought with her.

"No, after I opened the letter I asked Rose to watch Lil Bit and I just ran here."

"Oh, love. I am sorry you were so frightened. Let's go home."

We walked out of the office together hand in hand. I gave Jess a wave to say we were heading out.

"See you at ours later Jess."

"Everyone is locked in boss. See you later, Bella."

"Thanks Jess. I am sorry I was in such as state when I arrived."

"Bella if I had received a letter like that out of the blue, I would've been in a much worse state. Please don't think anything of it. I'll see you at yours later."

Bella smiled and nodded her thanks. We headed down to the garage where Tyler was waiting ready of us thanks to Jess.

By the time we arrived home, Bella's mood had lightened considerably. We walked into the play lounge in our wing of the building to find Rosalie and Lil Bit dancing around the room singing. Rose had a tamborine while Lil Bit had sleigh bells on a stick. I had no idea what they were singing or dancing to but they were having a fabulous time. Bella and I stood watching them from the doorway. Lil Bit's sweet little voice singing and giggling was a joy to hear after the stress of the day.

"Momma! Daddy!" Lil Bit ran to us. I squatted down with my arms open ready to catch my little love. She flung herself into my arms and I engulfed her laughing.

"You having fun with Aunty Rose?"

"Wes, daddy. Wosie woves to dance. I wov to sing and dance."

Rose came over to us laughing, her hair was falling out of her bun and she looked softer than usual. Rose was a spectacular looking woman but there was always something a bit cold, stand-offish about her look. When she was with Lil Bit she always looked softer. I could see why Emmett was so enraptured with Rose and why she liked him too. She needed a big teddy bear of a man like Em.

"You really don't want to hear me sing, that's for sure." Rosalie laughed and placed a kiss on Bella's cheek.

"You okay, Bella? Jess told me what happened."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I panicked and needed to get to Edward but now I feel calmer about it all. It was the shock, y'know."

The two women walked arm in arm towards the kitchen while Lil Bit and I followed. Lil Bit played with my tie as we walked and I held her tight to my chest, thankful she was oblivious to the legal shitstorm which was surrounding her.

"Let's have some coffee… well tea might be better." I looked over at Bella who's faced paled at even the mention of coffee. "Then I'll bring you up to speed with what's happening."

Rose went into the kitchen to make the tea while I sat Lil Bit down and strapped her in to her booster seat. Bella went to the fridge and pulled out some fruit and cut it up for a platter.

"I have a group coming over this evening which includes family, friends and legal friends. We're going to discuss the letter Bella received today and then we'll talk about our options.

"One person who will be joining us that neither of you will have met yet is Jane. Jane is a legal phenomenon. She specialises in pre-nuptial agreements, custody battles and divorce cases. She is…. very successful."

Bella and Rose who were both sitting across from me and Lil Bit, both gave me a look like I was leaving something out. I chuckled.

"Okay, she only represents women and by successful I mean she's been known to make grown men cry. She's tough… very tough. She wins."

Rose gave me a look like she was impressed. "I can't wait to meet her."

Bella looked thoughtful, "Is she the lawyer who put Vicky's pre-nup together?"

I nodded. "Yup. She had that agreement written so tight James will be lucky to hold on to his own money. Vicky's money is safe from him and because of the infidelity clause his cheating with Tanya means that James is in for a world of pain. She'll get the house, all the money she came in with and then some of his as well. As well as that she'll be able to fast-track the divorce. Jane will wipe the floor with poor old James. Nothing he doesn't deserve of course."

"Wow, and she's coming here to help me?"

I nodded again. I was chopping up more fruit on the board and putting small pieces on Lil Bit's plate. "Do you want some banana, Elizabeth?"

"Mmm, I wov nanana."

I smiled at her, "Me too. It is my favourite."

I turned back to Bella and Rose. "Anyway, everyone will be here around 5.30. Lauren and Jess will look after Seth and Elizabeth while we have our meeting. Then we'll have dinner together."

Bella's face brightened. "Once I've had tea I'm going to start cooking. Are you okay with Lil Bit, baby?"

"Of course."

"I'll head home and wait for Emmett." Rose stood from the table, touched Bella's hand and kissed the top of Lil Bit's head.

"Thanks for looking after her Rose."

She snorted and waved her hand dismissively as she left.

"Are you okay to cook dinner, love? Are you feeling well enough?"

"Yes. I am actually quite excited by the idea. I need to take my mind off things."

"Alright then. Miss Elizabeth and I are going to head down to her room for early bathtime. Seth is coming to visit this evening little love."

"Yay. I wov Sef." I laughed. "Yes. I know you do."

By the time the others arrived Lil Bit was all bathed and in her pyjamas. Of course I was more wet than dry after her bath. I learned after the first night I'd given her a bath that it was best to do this particular activity shirtless because I usually ended up soaked through. Bella said she preferred it when I was shirtless too but I think that was for other reasons. Lil Bit and I read four of her favourite books while Bella had cooked up a storm in the kitchen.

Bella had prepared an early dinner for Lil Bit and Seth so once Lauren and Jess arrived I introduced them to the everyone in the group who didn't already know them and then they took off with the kids into the kitchen to give them their dinner. They were chattering something about building forts after dinner.

The rest of us gathered in the lounge room over drinks as we waited for Jane to arrive. Aro and Vicky shared a huge hug and I could see that Aro was deeply sorry for what James had done. Vicky was a rare bird but she was a good wife and a good daughter-in-law who deserved better than what James had given her.

Esme came out of the kitchen and walked straight over to me. "I'm a little worried about Bella, dumpling."

"How so, Ma?"

"She's cooked enough food for twice as many people as we have here tonight and she shows no signs of stopping. You're going to have plenty of left-overs and that's for sure."

"Cooking is like therapy for Bella, Ma. But I'll go and check on her if you think it's out of hand."

She raised her eyebrows and gestured me towards the kitchen. When I walked in I was shocked. There was food everywhere. There were at least six uncooked fruit pies sitting on the counter ready for the oven. She even had her corner wood-fired oven fired up. I could see some loaves already in there and she at least a half dozen loaves on the bench ready to go in. There was some sort of amazing smelling soup on the stove as well as three massive trays of cannelloni already stuffed ready for the oven.

Both her normal ovens were already full. Fuck. How did she manage all this while I was with Lil Bit. Music was blaring, the benches were covered in food prepared and ready for space in the ovens and my girl was moving around the kitchen like a demon possessed. Her hair was tossed loosely on her head and flour was on her cheek. I loved that. I stood in awe just watching her, wondering if I should try and slow her down but I saw that she was smiling, dancing to the music while she cooked. She was having fun. No way in hell was I going to stop her.

Emmett came up behind me and stood there watching her. His eyes bugged out of his head looking at all the food. He breathed in and licked his lips. This was heaven for him.

"Edward, is it wrong of me to say that I love your woman." He grinned at me and wiggled his eyebrows.

I punched his arm. Hard. "Fuck, bro. I'm just saying that I love her cooking but this is even a little too much for me to handle."

"She's happy and after seeing her so upset today, I don't have the heart to stop her."

"We should try and get some of that food into her tonight though Ed. She's looking pretty thin. And that baby of yours needs some food to grow."

I looked at her and realised how right Emmett was about Bella. She had definitely lost weight and she didn't really have any to lose in the first place. Huh!

"I might talk to Lauren. She's a nutritionist. I'll get some advice on how to help Bella through this morning sickness phase."

"Good idea, bro'."

I couldn't stay away from her any longer and that one strand of hair was loose again. I walked over to her and circled her in my arms. I turned her to face me while I smoothed that stray curl behind her ear.

"You alright, love. You've cooked quite a bit of food here. You know there's only thirteen of us here tonight, right." I kissed the tip of her nose.

She giggled. I loved that fucking sound.

"I know. I figured I'd make hay while the sun shines. We can freeze the leftovers for the times when I don't feel as well a I do right now."

"Very sensible, love. It does smell divine in here." I started to nuzzle her neck because she smelt delicious. She moaned as she tilted her head to give me better access.

Jacob's voice made us break apart. "Edward, leave the poor woman alone. C'mon, you two Jane is here."

Cockblocking bastard. Bella giggled as I grabbed her hand and dragged her into the lounge room.

Jane had arrived and was standing talking with Victoria.

"Ah, here's little Bell. Jane, I'd like you to meet Isabella Swan soon to be Cullen. Little Bell this is Jane the most kick arse lawyer you will ever meet."

Bella reached out and shook Jane's hand. Jane was no bigger than Bella but about ten years older, not that you could tell. Jane had this sweet little girl look about her except for her eyes which were a steely blue almost grey and were cold as ice. I could see Bella was a little taken aback by Jane's piercing look. It was like fire and ice looking at them. Bella is like chocolate, soft and warm while Jane is like snow, blonde, sharp and cold. It was kind of fascinating to watch.

"Isabella. I want you to know that I a great admirer of yours. I've done some research on you this afternoon and I must tell you that I am very impressed with you. After we've dealt with this little hiccup, you must let me prepare your pre-nuptial agreement. Especially if you are marrying Edward Cullen which as far a I can see is the only poor judgement you've shown in your nineteen years."

Bella was shocked and I could see she was about to defend me when Jane let out a sharp bird like laugh. It made a shiver run up my spine. Then I heard something else I don't hear very often, Alec was laughing.

"I am just teasing you Isabella." Jane smiled at Bella. "Not about the pre-nup, just about Edward."

Alec came over and stuck his hand out to Jane. "Nice to meet you Jane, I am Alec. I handle corporate law for Cullen & Masen."

"Corporate law is for pussies." She laughed and shook his hand. He laughed and then took her around the room to introduce her to the group.

Bella gave me an alarmed look and gestured for me to come over and talk with her in private. So fucking cute. "Umm, Jane's a little scary, Edward. Are you sure she is the right person to represent us?"

I chuckled and tucked that loose curl back behind her ear again. "Yes, love. She is scary but we need her kind of scary." I laughed and hugged her close. "I'll protect you from the big bad Jane."

I led Bella into the dining room to join the others.

I decided to get the meeting started and hear what Jane and Alec had to say. "So we all know what's happened. We've all read the letter. Now we need to decide the best course of action to take from here."

I looked to Jane to start.

"First of all Isabella. Young Elizabeth is your daughter by law. This cousin cannot claim custody so you need not worry about that. In addition, your step-father's Will was solid and well put together, his stipulation for his money to be split between you and Elizabeth is water-tight. So this cousin has no claim on the money either. From what I could gather from the short search I did this afternoon, money isn't an issue for him anyway. Plenty of old southern money to go around apparently and he is independently wealthy himself.

"Now although he cannot petition for custody he may pursue a claim for visitation rights. We can fight that of course. She is your daughter, you have no reason to allow him visitation. I am just telling you what he may pursue, not that he has legal entitlement to visitation."

"Well, that is a relief." Leah reached over and squeezed Bella's hand.

"Alec, what did you find out about the law firm who sent the letter. You said this afternoon that it seemed odd?"

"Yes, boss and I still say it is odd. I was curious as to why the first time we hear from this nephew is a threatening letter about custody. You would know better than I Jane, but normally wouldn't the earlier actions be making personal contact, making requests, some sort of denial of access and then a petition for custody."

"Yes. Normally it is best for a petitioner to try softer measures first. If you're serious about getting custody you'd try non-legal resolution and then if that doesn't work you'd at least have tried and that goes over well with a judge. Good observation Alec. It is odd that this is the means through which his first contact is being made."

"Did you find anything out about them this afternoon?" I remembered Alec was going to do a bit of research to find out about them.

"I made some calls to some old buddies from from law school who live and work in Houston. The law firm, King & Associates, is an old family law firm which has apparently developed a reputation for bullying and aggressive tactics over the past five years since the younger son, Royce King, took over the reins. Previously they were an old fashioned firm."

Jane perked up at this. "Well that is interesting. I did some quick research about the nephew and I am surprised that he would work with a law firm with such an aggressive and dodgy reputation. This man is a real old fashioned southern gentleman. His father died when he was just a toddler but his mother never remarried. His mother was the late Phillip Dwyer's older sister. She died while he was at the University of Texas studying American History at the University of Texas. He majored in Civil War studies.

"After he graduated, even though he had a hefty inheritance and need never work a day in his life he joined the armed forces. He was a green beret and completed two tours before his recent honourable discharge. I believe he was on covert duty during the time when you were searching for him."

Marcus leaned over to Jacob, "That explains why we were unable to track him down at the time. But it doesn't explain why he is suddenly wanting to not only be part of Elizabeth's life but to actually bid for custody."

"Daddy…." Lil Bit burst into the room giggling and ran over to me.

I picked her up and plopped her on to my lap. "What are you up to my little monkey."

"I not monkee, I petal. Nonna says so."

Esme laughed. "That's right, you are my petal."

"Who dat?" Lil Bit was looking at Jane.

"Hello, Elizabeth. My name is Jane. I don't think you look like either a monkey or a petal."

Lil Bit tipped her head on her side a little, the way Bella does when she's trying to work something out. "What oo fink I is?"

"I think you are a mini version of your momma. You're like a little Isabella doll."

I tickled her side. "You are just like your momma, Lil Bit. Except for your eyes."

"She has her father's eyes." A deep southern voice came from the doorway.

The whole room spun around and there was a tall, blond good looking man with a soft, smile on his face. He was standing next to Jess.

"I hope you'll excuse the intrusion on this family gathering. I came to visit with my cousin and step-cousin. My name is Jasper Whitlock."

Bella gasped and I'm pretty sure I growled.

A/N: As many of you guessed the Phil's nephew and Elizabeth's cousin is none other than Jasper Whitlock - our favourite southern gentleman. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter… did we like how Edward is handling things? and Jane the Pain - what do we think about her?