[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Anyone still left who's reading this story? I felt so bad after posting the last chapter because I knew that people would not be too thrilled about it. Unfortunately it's impossible to please anyone and you got to have a little trust in me that I love the story (way more than I probably should) and that I had to write this chapter because…well, you'll find out about it later, I promise.

I feel bad for all the crap, I'm putting Ali through and I actually cry a lot when I write those parts. Real life is like that sometimes. A lot of bad things happen to good people. Anyway, for those of you, who are still with me, I hope you'll enjoy the new update.

This one here is dedicated to aquarius127 and mydsgirl. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

**Chapter 81**

"I'm afraid there is no way to sugarcoat things for you, Esme." Zafrina stated while she sipped on the plastic cup of coffee in her hands.

Esme sighed deeply and looked as if she was about to burst out in tears any moment. I should have known that it would be a stupid idea when she called to come over to our house. We had just returned to our house in Seattle about two hours ago and Lilly was already on the phone with that little witch child. At least she would be distracted in case her grandmother was about to have a nervous breakdown in the middle of our living room.

"This whole situation is so terrible. I don't understand how he could do something so awful while the little one was there."

She took a deep breath through her nose and searched for something in her handbag, a tissue probably.

"Yeah, we all don't understand how Edward could do those things, but the fact is that they happened. And above all the crap he managed to come up with…,"

"Miss Penthes, do you think it's necessary to torture her with the ugly facts?"

"Trust me, Miss Whitlock it is. Esme is not some breakable doll. She needs to know the truth, so that she can prepare herself for the things to come."

What kind of things? I thought while I started playing with the spikey ends of Ali's dark hair.

"Does he have to stay down there in Forks until the trial?"

Zafrina shook her head and gave Jasmine a dirty look when she added some more milk into her coffee cup. The way the two of them acted together was quite amusing to outsiders.

"His lawyer arranged that he's going to be transferred back here to Seattle in the next two weeks."

"Oh that's good news; at least he will be close to home than."

I didn't agree with her in that one at all but I pressed my lips together and decided that it would be best if I just kept my mouth shut.

"Hmm, where was I? Oh right, above all the things that your son managed to come up in the last month. He even dared to commit the worst possible crime in this country."

"Murder? He didn't kill anyone, did he? Oh God, this is not really happening!" A dry sob escaped Esme's throat and Ali put one arm around her mother's quivering shoulder in an attempt to calm her down a bit.

Zafrina chuckled slightly. What the hell was there left to laugh about now?

"You're watching too many bad TV shows, Esme. The worst crime in this country isn't murder. It's tax fraud."

"Tax fraud? Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm serious about that. The American State doesn't like it at all when people try to steal its money."

"I don't think I understand." I mumbled, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Isn't Edward supposed to stay in jail for breaking the damn restraining order?"

"Hmm, yes partly but the thing he's going to have most trouble with is indeed the tax fraud."

"That's weird."

"No, it's not. That's logical at least for someone with a hint of juristic knowledge."

"In other words, it's completely stupid when you look at it with common sense." Jasmine stated, twisting her hair into a sloppy ponytail.

"I'm afraid that common sense isn't going to help in this case."

"Then it's good that we have you…for all that what is beyond common sense."

"Was that a compliment, Miss Whitlock?"

"If you want to see it as one…,"

A smile flashed over Zafrina's face before she cleared her throat and turned to Esme again.

"Your son is definitely going to jail, for several years probably."

"Isn't there anything that we can do about that? My husband is going to lose it when he hears of this."

"Esme, I assure you that your husband is already aware of these things. Try to convince your son to get his mental status tested that's the only thing that I can suggest right now. It won't help him deal with the tax fraud thing though."

"I don't understand how he managed to do something so completely ridiculous like that. I mean, what was he thinking?"

"It's hard to tell what goes on in your sons mind. That is probably going to stay a secret forever."

"Can't we just pay the tax fraud back? How much money are we talking about?"

"Well, he kind of inherited a house and didn't tell the authorities about that."

"What do you mean; he kind of inherited a house? Are you talking about Carlisle's mothers' house in Chicago?"

"No, I'm talking about the house in Forks."

"In Forks? Why in heaven's name would he inherit a house in Forks? He doesn't even know anyone down there."

"He made Bella sign some papers after her father died so suddenly."

"Charlie Swan's house? I still don't understand why he would have wanted to keep that house. It's small and old-fashioned."

She started biting her fingernails nervously before she spoke up.

"Maybe he did that for you, Bella."

"For me? Is this supposed to be a joke? He practically stole half of my father's house away from me." My voice raised two octaves and I had to take several deep breaths to keep me from doing something stupid.

"Mom, maybe it's better when we talk about this another time. We're all tired from the flight."

XXXX

"That was awful." She mumbled, while she wrapped her arms around me from behind and planted a soft kiss on my neck.

I nodded my head and sighed deeply.

"You're right about that. The whole conversation with your mother was awful. But she actually made me think about something. It really doesn't make sense that Edward would want to own that house. He had this one, plus that in Chicago and that's comparable to a palace."

"Hmm,"

Her hand moved underneath my shirt to caress the skin underneath my belly button.

"Are you feeling different yet?"

"Why? Oh, you mean that." I took her hand in mine and squeezed it gently.

"Yes, that. Do you feel anything?"

"No, I don't. It's too soon to tell if everything worked out."

"I really hope it did."

I turned around and cupped her face between my hands. Then I brushed my thumb over her full lower lip before I leaned down to plant a tender kiss on her mouth. She smiled against my lips and a low moan escaped her throat when I slipped my tongue into the sweet warmth of her mouth.

"You have to tell once you start feeling different. I don't want to miss anything." Her caramel eyes sparkled in excitement.

"I promise, although I highly doubt that you're looking forward to holding my hair anytime I'll get sick."

"I wouldn't mind. My own stomach is pretty strong usually. When can we make the test?"

"In a few days…"

"So soon, we have to buy one when we go shopping tomorrow."

I suppressed a chuckle and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, pulling her on my lap to plant a kiss on her hair that smelled deliciously of fresh apples.

She jumped from my lap and almost stumbled over a box that was standing on the floor.

"Is something wrong?"

"We should be more careful. I don't want to accidentally hurt the baby with my weight."

Hurt the baby with her weight?

"You're kidding me, aren't you? The baby…if there is a baby that is…is probably the size of a match head right now."

I took Ali's hand in mine and placed it on my tummy again.

"You really don't have to worry. Feel all this fat? That is all going to work like a buffer. I could probably get kicked by an elephant and nothing would happen to the baby. Now come back to me."

Hesitantly she sat down on my lap again and I pulled her closer until she finally rested her head against my chest.

"Am I annoying you?"

"No, you aren't. It's actually cute that you care so much."

I put a wisp of her short hair behind her ear and grazed its shell with my teeth.

"I love you. So much more than words could ever say."

She turned her head and smiled at me while her fingertips caressed my face in feather light circles. I closed my eyes for a moment to enjoy her tender caress but then somehow, maybe because I was so exhausted I fell asleep in her arms.

XXXX

The first thing I realized about her when she opened the door for us was that she looked terrible. Her blue eyes were red and puffy and she hadn't even made the effort of covering the dark circles underneath them with makeup.

"Hi Rosie, are you okay? God, you look awful."

"I'm good, thanks. The twins are keeping me pretty busy. They kind of decided that it's too boring to sleep at the same time."

We followed her into the living room where Ali instantly lifted one of the babies out of his cradle.

"Hi Tegan, oh you've grown so much since I saw you the last time."

"That's Tennessee."

"But his shirt says that…,"

"Yeah, I know, Em dressed them this morning and he still can't tell which one is which."

The real Tegan started screaming way louder than such a tiny infant should be capable of and Rosalie sighed deeply before she lifted him up and started rocking him back and forth while she hummed something into his tiny ear.

"If you want to drink something make yourself at home. I'm sorry for being such a terrible host, but I'm pretty exhausted right now."

"Hmm, I can see that. Why aren't you hiring a nanny or something like that?"

"Are you telling me that I can't handle my kids on my own?" her tired voice raised two octaves.

"I don't need help from anyone."

Oh woman, I thought. You don't look as if you have enough time to wash your hair but if you don't want help…enjoy your two little tyrants as much as you like.

"Rosie, have you spoken to our brother yet?"

"When would I have time to speak to him? I haven't slept more than three hours in the last nights."

"It was just a question. Esme is pretty upset that he's in jail."

"I know, Bella. She's telling me about it every time she calls or shows up here and I'm really sick of that. Am I responsible for all the crap my younger siblings come up with?"

"No, you're not. Mom is probably just desperate. You know that she's such a sucker for harmony."

"Me too…"

Tennessee started whimpering and a noise that reminded me of a squeaking little duck left his throat.

"Shhh, please don't start crying now too."

She put one finger into his mouth and he sucked on it for a moment while she balanced the other twin on her shoulder. Everything would probably be a lot easier for her if she had another pair of arms on her body.

"Fine, that's my boy. You're not hungry again, are you?"

I cleared my throat nervously before I spoke up again.

"Edward is going to stay in jail. That is probably going to break your mother's heart and everything is our fault."

"No it's not. Stop staying that. My brother is the only one who is responsible for his actions."

"But this is going to break our family." Ali told her, her voice trembling with fear.

Rosalie shook her head and put the baby back into the cradle before she wrapped her arms around her sister.

"Don't be afraid. We're going to survive this."

"But mom…,"

"Our mother needs to realize that her son isn't as perfect as she thinks he is."

"Probably,"

"Definitely,"

Her eyes caught a glimpse of Ali's hand that rested on my abdomen. When I realized it, I quickly took her hand in mine and planted a kiss on the back of her hand.

"The two of you are having secrets, haven't you?"

I quickly shook my head and tried to cover my blushing face behind a curtain of my long hair. Ali's eyes met mine and when I saw the look in them, I had to swallow hard to keep tears from falling. She wanted this secret so much to be real, so much for it to work out, as if she somehow knew that this was what was going to give us hope in the next months.

XOXOXOXXOXXOXOXXOXO

[A/N] I've written a new one-shot that you could check out. It's called 'Waiting for June' and is quite different from the stuff I usually write but if you're curious and have some time to spare, you could give it a try.

Next chapter for WTHN will probably be up tomorrow, if I find the motivation to write. Until next time, take care :-)