[Disclaimer] All things Twilight belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Thanks to those of you who keep reading & reviewing. It's you that make me keep writing this story.

** It's impossible to please everyone and if you're not comfortable with the amount of corniness in my story… no one forces you to stay. I never claimed that this would be realistic. **

This chapter is dedicated to Silvi86; your review was really lovely and motivated me a lot. So thanks a lot for it.

**Chapter 22**

Ali's POV

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bella stumbled out, her voice raising two octaves in an attempt to suppress the tremble in it.

She couldn't tell a lie, another proof that she wasn't a born Cullen.

"I think that the two of you know exactly what I'm talking about." My sister stated and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Lilly asked me why the two of you kiss each other."

Bella inhaled sharply between her teeth and her face blushed into a bright crimson red.

"It's none of your business." I croaked out while I tried to calm myself down by taking several deep breaths through my nose. My heartbeat quickened so much that it was almost painful and the unpleasant dizziness that always came with it made the world around me blur for a moment.

"Ali, as much as it pisses you off; you are my business. Why the hell did you do something so stupid?"

"It's not her fault, it's mine." Bella whispered, while tears started falling down her cheeks.

I put one hand on her shoulder while the blue eyes of my older sister narrowed into tiny angry slits.

Maybe she would stop doing that if I told her that it caused wrinkles? No, that wouldn't be smart right now…

"Bella, that's not true. I was the one who…seduced you."

"I honestly don't give a shit which of you seduced the other one! Damn it, this is so wrong!"

"Auntie Rosie, are you angry?" Lilly asked her as she entered the kitchen, her hand wrapped around the leather leash.

"No honey, I'm not. Why didn't you stay outside to play with Fido, like I told you to?"

"He's still hungry and I've already fed him all the biscuits you gave me for him."

She sighed deeply and pulled a small plastic box out of her handbag.

"Dogs are always hungry, sweetie. If you give him too much food he'll get sick."

Lilly nodded her head and turned to her mother, who was biting her lower lip nervously.

"Mommy, why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, sweetie." God, she couldn't even lie convincingly to a four-year old…

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Would you let me speak to my sister alone for a moment?"

Hesitantly she stood up from the kitchen chair, her hands trembling slightly.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I am. You look like you could need some fresh air right now."

She nodded her head and walked out into the small garden behind her house.

As soon as she and the copper-haired girl that looked like a miniature edition of our mother were out of sight a low sigh left my sisters throat.

"Ali, how could you do something so stupid? Our sister-in-law? Of all the women you could have chosen to have an affair with, it had to be her?"

"Don't you think that I know that it's wrong?" I croaked out while the sharp pain in my chest increased suddenly.

"Then why?"

"I didn't know that she was Edward's wife when I met her the first time." And it wouldn't have made a difference if I had, I added in my head.

"You should have stopped when you found out." She stated and started playing with the silver bracelet on her right wrist.

"I couldn't."

She raised one eyebrow.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?"

I nodded my head and felt the tears starting to burn in the corners of my eyes.

"Does she know?" she asked me, her voice not as harsh and bitter as it had been moments before.

"Yes she does. She feels the same way about me."

"Oh Tinker-Ali, you can't even fall in love without causing a drama…,"

"Yeah, I know. There must be a reason why I'm the black sheep of the perfect Cullen family." A low sob left my throat and a painful heartbeat later I tasted the salty liquid of fresh tears on my lips.

"Ali…,"

Slowly she kneeled down next to me and wrapped one arm around my shoulder.

"Please don't cry. You know that I can't see that. It makes me feel awkward."

"Mom and Dad will never speak to me again, if they find out." I croaked out hoarsely.

"Of course, they will. You don't have to worry about that. No matter what you'll do, they won't stop loving you."

"I don't think this is comparable to cutting out the flowers on Moms Dior evening dress."

She chuckled slightly.

"You were so scared to tell her and you begged me to buy her a similar one at Gap, like she wouldn't notice the difference…"

"Yeah, I remember. You didn't do it, did you? Instead you told Mom that it had been your fault, because you left me alone to play in the house while you went shopping with Vera. She grounded you for an entire month…,"

"And she gave me a very long speech about responsibility on each single day of it."

"I'm sorry about that, Rose."

She twisted her hand into my short hair and planted a kiss on my forehead.

"No big deal. Our parents spent so much time with you in the hospital…that gave me enough time to sneak out of the house now and then."

"Hmm,"

I wondered how much my health condition had affected the life of my family. Wasn't it ironical that the daughter of a cardiologist had been born with a cardiac defect?

Thoughtlessly I placed my hand over my chest and tried to focus on the rugged beating underneath my hand. Damn it, why didn't it slow down?

"Ali?"

"Yes, Rose?"

"You were scared to tell me about you and Bella weren't you?"

"Of course I was. I know that you wouldn't understand it. None of you would…,"

"It's not necessary to understand it. Ali, I've already told you that I want nothing more than to see happy. And I don't think she's good for you. Bella and you…that's like fire and ice. You broke up with Jasmine because she was too conservative for you and now you want to be with someone as boring as Bella?"

"She's not boring…and she's not fat. Her self-esteem is just so low since people like you treat her like crap because she doesn't look like a freaking Barbie copy."

"That's nothing compared to the fact that she's married to our brother."

"She won't be his wife for long anymore…so she and I are free to do whatever we want."

"And what about Lilly? The whole situation is so confusing for her."

"I'm sorry that she asked you about the kissing thing. She's so observing…,"

"Yes she is. That's normal for a girl her age. You were like that too when you were little."

A smile flashed over her pretty face as she stood up from the ground again.

"Will you tell Edward?"

"Maybe you should better tell him yourself."

"No way; he'll freak."

"Yep, he will. But if you plan on staying with Bella, it's inevitable."

She checked the time on her watch.

"I'll have to go now. Em is already waiting for me in the hospital."

XXXX

My brother and I always had a slightly tensed relationship and I often wondered why he was so cold to me when I was a little girl. Rosalie told me that it had to do with the fact that I took away a lot of my father's attention from him when I was born. I was the unexpected latecomer that had forced him into the role of the middle child.

They sent him to boarding school when he was fourteen and the few weeks he was at home he mostly spend playing on the piano in the living room. He never told me that it was my fault that Dad wouldn't allow him to finish High School in Seattle, but the hateful looks that he threw at me from time to time were enough proof for me.

Then Mom suggested that I could live at his house, after moving back from Europe and I couldn't believe her when she told me that he had agreed to it. Then I realized that he would do anything to please our parents. If they wanted him to get along with me, he would. And he knew that he wouldn't be around too much anyway. Far too busy fucking his secretary in Alaska. God, how much I wished that he would stay there forever.

I sighed deeply and dialed the number of his office in Anchorage. My hands trembled slightly and I hoped that the unpleasant feeling in my chest wouldn't get worse.

"Cullen."

I cleared my throat nervously before I spoke up.

"Edward it's me."

"Mary Alice?"

"Yep…are you busy right because you need to sue people or have you time to talk to me?"

He chuckled into the receiver.

"I'm always busy but you'd understand that better if you had a proper job."

Charming as always…

"It won't take long. I want to talk to you about Bella."

"Bella? Mary Alice…why in heaven's name do you want to talk about my wife?"

Then he sighed deeply.

"Look, I've already had that conversation with Rosalie."

I highly doubt that you had that conversation with our older sister before.

"You had?" I croaked out, cursing myself for the embarrassingly high frequency my voice reached.

"Yeah, I had. God, all this hormone crap they're injecting her is turning her into a fury. She yelled at me and told me what a bad husband I am."

"She's not exactly wrong about it, is she? How could you cheat on Bella with this strawberry-haired bitch?"

"Jeez, that didn't mean anything. It was just sex, nothing more."

"And the fact that she threatened your child, what do you say to that?"

"Tanya didn't threaten Lilly. You don't know my daughter. Lilly has too much imagination."

And you think that you do? You're never around…

"Fine, but you should make sure that she stays away from her anyway."

"Just for the record, I've fired her. Not because I believe any of the crap you accused her of, but because she was a lousy secretary."

"And now?"

"And now I have to find a new one as soon as possible. I'll be flying back to Seattle tomorrow to meet with a few that the agency suggested."

"You'll come here?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I'm not. It's just…well, how long will you stay here?"

"Until Lilly's birthday…it won't help me to get custody for her if I can't even make it home for her birthday."

"Edward, can't you see that this full custody thing is bullshit? You can't take her away from her mother."

"Listen, this is none of your business. Lilly is my own flesh and blood and I won't risk her being taken away from me."

"She's Bella's child just as much as she's yours. And she's the one who has taken care of her for the last four years."

"Yeah, I know. Bella is a good mother…but she and I…well that was never really meant to be. I need a wife that can represent on my side. She doesn't really belong in my world, she never did."

"Edward, there is only one kind of world."

"Oh Mary Alice, you're still a child."

"No, I'm not. I'm just not as narrow-minded as you are."

"Hey, I'm not some superficial asshole. If I were I would have left Bella a very long time ago, but I didn't."

"And now she left you."

"Yes, she did. But I wasn't joking when I told you that she's instable. It wouldn't take me much to win her back. She's emotionally so ravenous that any guy could make her fall for him."

"That's not true."

"Sure it is. You don't know her like I do."

God, if you knew how well I knew her…

"Can I ask you for something?"

"Depends on what you want, Mary Alice."

"When I tell you something will you manage to stay calm or will you flip? I really hate it when you yell."

"I'll try not to. Now come on, spit it out. I really don't have a lot of time to speak right now."

I cleared my throat but when I wanted to speak up again my mouth was too dry to bring out any words.

"Mary Alice?"

God, I couldn't do that. Not on the phone. What kind of a stupid idea had it been to call him?

My knees felt like yell-o and it seemed impossible to remain standing; so I sat down on the floor while the pain in my chest knocked the breath out of me for a moment.

The cell slipped through my trembling fingers and I could hear my brother calling my name again somewhere in the distance before everything around me vanished into darkness.