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

[A/N] Hi to all my lovely readers out there. Thanks and hugs to all of you who keep reading and reviewing. Your feedback encourages me a lot. Without you all my ideas would probably stay in my head and would never be written down.

This one is dedicated to DeeJee and Angelic lui. I hope you'll like the chapter.

**Chapter 24**

"Daddy! You're home again!" Lilly called out and wrapped her arms around him. His lips twitched into a crooked smile as he kneeled down in front of our daughter to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"Did you bring a present for me from Alaska?" she asked him and he handed her the stuffed animal he had been hiding behind his back.

"An ice-bear…it looks like a real ice-bear. Thank you, Daddy."

"You're welcome, sweetie. I'm happy that you like it."

Slowly he stood up from the ground again and cleared his throat nervously.

"Hello Bella."

"Hi, Edward, how are you?" I greeted him halfheartedly and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"I'm a little bit tired from the flight, but apart from that I'm fine. Have you changed your mind about your stupid divorce plans?"

I shook my head and he frowned.

"Oh Bella, you can't be serious about that…,"

"Of course I'm serious. We can't go on like that."

"Look, I'm really sorry about the whole Tanya issue. I've fired her."

"Yeah, I know, Edward, but it doesn't change anything."

Slowly he raised his hand to put a wisp of my hair behind my ear. Automatically I took two steps backwards.

"Oh come on, don't be like that, Bella." His voice was warm and smooth like velvet as he closed the distance between us. When he leaned forward to kiss my mouth, I instantly stopped breathing.

"Don't touch her!" Ali snarled at him as she entered the living room.

He turned to his pixie-like sister and his emerald eyes narrowed, making him look like a snake ready to attack the rabbit.

"Excuse me? You're not honestly telling me to keep my hands off of my wife, are you?"

"Oh yes I am. She's told you that she wants a divorce. Can't you just leave her alone?"

"Mary Alice, whatever is going on between me and her is none of your damn business!"

"Daddy, are you angry at Auntie Ali?" Lilly asked him and started biting her fingernails nervously.

"No, I'm not, honey."

"But why are you yelling at her?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself down again.

"Lilly, go to your room. I need to talk to your mother and your aunt alone."

"No, I want to stay here with you." She stated sullenly.

"Lilly, I'm serious. Go to your room now!"

A low sob left her throat and then she burst out into tears.

"Are you happy now? You made her cry." I mumbled and lifted her up in my arms to comfort her.

"Shhh, honey, everything is okay." And everything is messed up, I added bitterly in my head.

"She's such a stubborn person and that's completely your fault Bella, because you've spoilt her too much."

"Pardon me? You're the one who keeps sending her tons of toys each time you're away."

"That's not what I meant, Bella. You give into all of her moods and that's just not right."

"Her moods? Let me tell you something Mr. Cul-len…," I made his name two syllables. "You know nothing about her moods. If you did, you would know that it scares her when someone yells at her. But you…you know nothing about what she likes or dislikes or what she's afraid of."

"Don't bring up this witch crap again. Lilly has too much imagination. I'm sure she made the whole thing up because she knows that you can't stand Tanya."

Lilly raised her head from my shoulder and sniffed.

"Daddy, doesn't believe me that the witch will come here to hurt me, does he?"

I shook my head and pulled out a tissue to clean her nose.

"Blow, sweetie."

"Of course he believes you." I assured her, my voice sounding cold as ice. God, why was it so difficult for me to lie?

"And just for your information, Edward…I let Emmett change the lock for me."

He rolled his eyes at that.

"I wished he had taken my sister to stay with him and Rosalie. You and I really need some time alone to speak in private."

Ali's eyes met mine and a wave of panic seemed to flash through hers. Or was it my own that reflected in the light caramel color of her iris?

"I don't think so Edward. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of her."

He raised one eyebrow in confusion.

"You want to discuss our marriage problems in front of my sister? God, Bella…you're truly losing it now."

"No, I'm not. Right now, I can see clearer than I ever did."

"Fine, so you want a divorce. Are you sure about that?"

I nodded my head.

"And where are you planning on living? Because you definitely won't stay here in my house…,"

"Your house? Have you forgotten that the house technically belongs to both of us? It was a wedding gift from your parents."

"No, I haven't forgotten that, Bella. But I don't think that you can afford to buy the other half of it, so I guess it would be best if we'd sell the damn thing."

"I don't want to sell the house."

"And I don't want a divorce. Just for the record. You're the one who doesn't want to stay married, so you'll better get used to the consequences."

"Edward, stop acting like a complete ass…,"

"Damn it, Mary Alice, just shut up. I've already told you…this is none of your business!"

"Stop yelling at her. She's just trying to help me." I told him while I sat down on the edge of a leather armchair with Lilly on my lap.

Ali sat down on the couch next to us and sighed deeply. Hesitantly she put one hand on her chest and closed her eyes for a moment.

"I don't want to fight with you, Edward."

"That's good to hear, Mary Alice…especially since you have no reason to be mad at me."

"Oh yes, I have. Bella is my…well my friend, I care about her."

"And she's my wife. Don't you think that you should support me when I'm trying to save my marriage?"

"Saving our marriage?" My voice raised two octaves, making it reach an almost hysterically sounding frequency.

"Is that a joke? You've been barely around the last three years and I don't want to know whom you've fucked behind my back apart from that strawberry-haired whore…,"

"It didn't mean a thing to me. That was just…well just physical."

"Edward, that doesn't change anything for me. I don't want to stay married to you."

"Fine, if that's what you want. I've already told you that I'm getting full custody for Lilly if you get through with this ridiculous none sense."

Instantly I pulled Lilly closer to me, as if to make sure that she would stay right where she was.

"You can't threaten me with this custody crap, Edward. I won't let you take Lilly away from me. A child belongs to the mother."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed deeply.

"Sometimes the biological mother isn't the best to take care of a child."

Ali's eyes narrowed for a moment before she spoke up again.

"You're not trying to tell her that she's a bad mother, are you?"

"Ali, calm down. He's just trying to provoke me." I mumbled and swallowed hard to fight back the tears.

The shrill sound of the doorbell made me almost jump from my seat. Quickly I stood up to open the door.

The russet colored dog of my sister in law whined when I petted the huge head with my fingertips.

"Hi Rosalie,"

"I thought that you and Ali might need some help dealing with our brother." She whispered into my ear and I nodded my head.

"We haven't told him yet. I thought that it would be good to wait until Lilly's birthday is over."

"Hmm,"

We walked back into the living room and a deep growl left the snout of the dog as soon as he saw Edward.

"Fido, sit!" Rosalie instructed and pulled on the leather leash to hold him back.

"Sit!"

"God, Rosalie, why do have to bring this awful mutt with you? He's probably full of fleas."

"Fido has no fleas. I bathed him with my strawberry shampoo." Lilly told him and pulled a few biscuit crumble out of her pocket to feed them to the dog.

"Lilly, don't do that. He might bite you, sweetie." He warned her, but she shook her head.

"Fido is my best friend. He would never bite me."

"Lilly, he's not your friend. He's just an animal and animals have no control…,"

"God, Edward, just because you're scared of dogs doesn't mean she has to be too." Rosalie murmured and sat down next to Ali.

"Down!" she instructed and the dog obeyed her order immediately.

"I'm not afraid of dogs," he stated exasperated. "But this monster is ill-natured."

Fido raised his head and bared his teeth at him.

"See, that's what I meant, Rosalie. The mutt is dangerous to public safety."

"No, he's not. I don't know why he's like this when you're around. Just try to ignore him."

"It's hard to ignore a calf-sized dog that looks as if he wants to rip your throat out." He murmured anxiously.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at that and turned to her sister.

"How's your heart? Are you feeling better today?"

"Dad told you?" Ali sounded completely embarrassed now.

"Technically he only told mom…and she told me."

"Great, just great…"

"Ali, they're just worried about you."

"That's completely unnecessary. My stupid heart is fine. I just shouldn't try to run a marathon with it."

Rosalie put one arm around her sister's dainty shoulder.

"Okay. But you have to promise me not to do anything stupid. Mom was so hysterical when Dad told her that you fainted."

Edward shook his head.

"Mom has always made an unnecessary drama because of her congenital heart defect."

"Congenital? Shouldn't we let Lilly see a doctor too, just to make sure that she hasn't the same condition?"

Edward and Rosalie exchanged a panicked look that didn't make any sense to me.

"Bella I don't think that's necessary."

"I would prefer to have her checked, just to be sure."

"Lilly is healthy. You don't need to worry about that Bella." Edward assured me while he kept staring down on the ground.

"But if it's congenital, she might have it too."

"If she were sick, we would have found out a long time ago." Rosalie stated and a forced smile flashed over her pretty face.

"Yeah, I guess we had. It's just…well Ali is her aunt. If she has a heart condition, it would be possible that Lilly has something like that too."

"Bella, I've told you not to worry." He sounded almost impatient now and that surprised me.

Rosalie cleared her throat and pretended to search for something in her handbag.

"Lilly, honey, would you do me a favor and let Fido out in the garden for me?"

"Can I play with him?"

Edward nearly choked when she nudged her forehead against his gigantic snout.

"Of course you can, sweetie."

"Come with me, Fido!" she told him and wrapped the leather leash around her tiny hands.

As soon as she was out of the room Rosalie spoke up again.

"Have you already told her about the divorce?"

"No, we haven't. She's too small to understand it." I whispered worriedly.

"And when are you planning on telling her? When she's finished High school?"

"Rosalie, that's none of your business. She's not your daughter." Edward snarled at her.

"Bella might change her mind again. So we wait until she's sure about what she wants."

"Edward, for the last time now, I am sure about the divorce."

"You'll regret that. And you'll be crawling back to me sooner than you think you will. I won't let you see Lilly ever again…"

"Stop threatening her like that, that's not fair. She's still Lilly's mother."

Edward stood up from the chair and walked over to the window.

Then he inhaled sharply through his teeth.

"I can't believe that you're on her side. Weren't you the one who tried to convince me not to marry her over and over again?"

"I'm not on her side, Edward. I'm on Lilly's side. You just want custody for her to hurt Bella, but you're not thinking one fucking second about what's best for your daughter. You're such a selfish prick, it's unbelievable…"

"Fido, stay here!" I heard Lilly yell from the backyard before the dog rushed back into the living room.

Edward landed flat on his back while the dog growled above him; his fangs dangerously close to his jugular.

"Rosalie, get that stupid mutt off of me before I press charges and force you to get a muzzle for him!"

"I don't know why he's like that today. Normally he's as meek as a lamb."

She pulled on his metal collar to get him off of Edward again.

"You're a bad dog. You've scared Edward almost to death…," She murmured reproachfully, but her voice sounded unusually amused.

"Where are you planning on staying tonight?" Ali asked him nervously.

"Here of course. This is still my house, in case you have forgotten it."

I stood up from the sofa again and took a deep breathe.

"You're not expecting me to sleep in the same room with you, are you?" I stated, trying to make my voice sound hard, but it almost cracked at the end.

"Bella, you're so ridiculous…but if it makes you happy I can sleep in the guestroom."

"And Ali?"

"Jeez, she can stay with Rosalie and Emmett for a few days. Or at our parents' house, I honestly don't care. I don't have the nerves to deal with that right now."

I sighed deeply and closed my eyes for a moment, hoping that I would somehow find a good excuse why she needed to stay here with me…