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She bit her lip as she stared at the phone in her hands. It was fancy. An iPhone something or other. She couldn't remember. Rosie had gotten it for her that morning and helped her uploaded all the numbers she needed, you know in case of emergencies. Hers and Emmett's, of course. Uncle James, Esme, Carlisle, Alice, and Jasper. And Edward's, too. She had even shown her how to send text messages, and they'd spent the better part of an hour exchanging emoji's? That's what she thought they were called, at least. Silly little faces. But now, she was sitting in the middle of the too soft bed, staring at Edward's number, wondering if she should call or just text him. It was stupid, but she missed him.
Sighing, she pulled her knees up to her chest and pressed on his name, hitting the call button. The phone rang three times before there was a click and a rushed, "Hello."
She opened her mouth a couple times before whispering, "Hi."
"Hey," he murmured. "You got your phone."
"Rosie got it for me this morning. It's really . . . big and I don't know. Too big, if you ask me. I don't even know how to use it."
"You managed to call me," he said, laughing.
She smiled, liking the sound of his laughter. "Yeah, I guess I did."
There was a brief pause before Edward asked, "Did you sleep okay last night?"
"Um." She shook her head. "I couldn't really sleep. It's too . . . too quiet here."
"I didn't sleep much either," he admitted.
"Why not?"
"Because I missed you."
She smiled.
"And I was worried about you."
"Oh."
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I guess," she said, pausing before asking, "Is he mad at me?"
Edward sighed. "Of course not. He's just . . . Carlisle didn't mean to lie to you. He wants nothing more than to keep his promise. It's just that simple."
"But she's mine," she whimpered. "She's my Hope."
"I know, sweetheart, I know, and we're not giving up, okay? It's just . . . it's not that easy."
"Because he took her from me?"
"Yes, and because Hope has people who are talking care of her right now."
"Do they love her?"
There was a long pause before Edward said, "Yes."
She bit the inside of her lip, wrapping her arm around her knees. "What if . . . what if they don't give her back to me?"
"I don't know, sweetheart," he whispered. "I just don't know."
"I wish you did."
"Me too."
Before she could say anything else, someone knocked on the bedroom door. She felt her shoulders tense as the door swung open and she found Rosie standing in the doorway. She looked from Bella to the phone, clearly happy that she was using the device.
"Hey, who are you talking to?" she asked, smiling as she leaned against the doorframe.
"Edward," she murmured, unsure why she felt embarrassed. "I called him, though. It wasn't his fault."
"It's not a big deal," she said, waving her off. "But, um, I'm kind of getting hungry, and I thought you might want to help me make lunch."
"What are we making?" she asked, hoping Rosie wasn't going to say pancakes. She'd made pancakes for breakfast, and if she were honest, they weren't very good. Not like hers, and definitely not like Esme's.
"Well," Rosie said, walking over and sitting on the side of the bed. "I'm kind of craving mac and cheese."
"Is it good?" she asked.
Rosie nodded. "Used to be one of your favorites."
"Okay, I guess I can try it," she murmured, bringing the phone back up to her ear. "I, um, I've gotta go. We're going to make mac and cheese."
"I heard." He laughed, which had her smiling. "I'm jealous. Mac and Cheese is one of my favorites."
"You could come over?" she suggested. "Eat with us."
"Maybe in a little bit, okay? Just, um, enjoy the time with your sister, all right? She needs you, Bella. We all need you."
"Do you need me?" she asked.
"I do. I really, really do," he whispered before he cleared his throat and said, "I'll call you later. I promise."
"I look forward to it."
And as Bella ended the call, she thought maybe having a phone wasn't such a bad thing after all.
—SfH—
She wasn't impressed with the mac and cheese. The noodles were too soft, the cheese was too watery, and it just wasn't very tasty. She ate it, though. She'd learned a long time ago that you didn't refuse food. She never knew when, or if she'd get anymore for a long time. So, while she hadn't liked the mac and cheese, she had to admit to having enjoyed the time she'd spent with Rosie. She showed her how to boil the water, when to add the noodles, how much milk and butter to add to the powder cheese, but mostly it was the way Rosie smiled and laughed. She could almost remember Rosie from before, the sound of her laughter, the smile on her face. Almost, but not quite, and she wanted to remember. She needed to remember her Rosie.
They'd just washed the last of the dishes when someone knocked on the door. She felt herself tense as she looked at Rosie and took off through the apartment, into the bedroom, and into the closet, slamming the door closed behind her. She fell to the floor, pulling her knees up against her chest, trying her hardest to keep from crying, from screaming. She'd just gotten her Rosie back, and now he was going to take her away again.
The door to the closet opened and she saw Rosie and Jasper standing there, frowns on their faces.
"Hey, honey," Jasper said, kneeling in the doorway. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"S'okay," she whispered, tightening her arms around her knees.
"No, it's not," he said, stretching his hand out to her. "Let me help out of here, okay? I brought you a present."
"What is it?" she asked.
He grinned. "Come see for yourself."
She couldn't stop herself from putting her hand in his, letting him pull her to her feet. He kept hold of her hand, in fact, as he lead her through the bedroom, down the small, narrow hallway, and into the living room, where a small, square white box was sitting on the coffee table.
She looked from the box to Jasper, who grinned wider and motioned toward the box.
"Open it."
"What is it?" she asked again.
Jasper laughed. "Just open it."
"But what is it?"
Giving her a look, Jasper walked over to the table and picked up the box before he turned and walked over to her, holding it out. "You'll like it. I promise."
She bit the inside of her lip before taking the box from him. She slipped her fingers under the top flap and pulled it open, her eyes widening and she smiled.
"A cupcake?" she asked. "You brought me a cupcake?"
"Not just any cupcake," he said, shaking his head. "This is Belmar Bakery cupcake."
"Okay."
"I don't think you understand just how important this cupcake is," he said, taking the box from her. "When we were little, our mom would pick a day. Just random days and she'd say it our special day. Just her and me, her and Carlisle, her and Emmett, her and Edward. You get the picture. Anyway, when it was our day, she let us pick whatever we wanted to do. We could pick where we ate, what we did. I always asked to go to Belmar Bakery and I always picked out one of these cupcakes."
"Oh," she murmured, lifting the cupcake out of the box. "What kind is it?"
"Red velvet with a cream cheese icing and sprinkles, because you know, sprinkles."
She held it up in front of her, looking at it.
"Aren't you going to take a bite?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Why not?"
She shrugged her shoulders and put it back into the box. "It's too pretty to eat."
"You're missing out," he snickered, but she didn't care. She hugged the box to her chest, being careful not to crush it. He shared a look with Rosie before gesturing to the couch. "Can we sit down? Talk for a minute?"
She shifted her eyes between them before she nodded and settled on the edge of the beige couch. She placed the box on the coffee table as Rosie sat next to her and Jasper took a seat on the couch across from them. There was a look on his face that had her anxious, nervous, but before she could question him, someone knocked on the door. Rosie reached over and took hold of her hands before she could bolt from the room, find refuge in the closet again, and she watched as Jasper walked over to the front door, and pulled it open.
There was a woman with fiery red hair. The woman looked from Jasper to her, and her eyes widened, which didn't help the anxiousness she felt at the moment.
"Hey, Mags, come on in," Jasper murmured, ushering the woman into the apartment. "You're early."
"Yeah, sorry, traffic was light," she said, clearing her throat and looking from him back to her and Rosie. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
Jasper pressed his lips into a thin line before he cleared his throat and turned back to her. "Rosalie, Bella, this is Maggie Thornton. She's a lawyer."
"Hi," Maggie said, smiling tentatively. "It's, um, lovely to meet you."
"You too, Maggie," Rosie said, looking at her with expectation, but she just shifted her eyes from her to Jasper, but didn't say anything. "Bella, honey, are you okay?"
She shook her head, and when the woman took a step toward her, she scrambled to her feet, onto the couch, pressing herself against the wall behind her. Rosie was on her feet in a heartbeat, reaching for her.
"Just give her a second, Mags," he told her, moving so that he was standing between them. He turned toward her, stretching his hand to her again. "Honey, it's okay. Maggie is . . . she's a friend, a good friend."
"Nice?" she whispered. "She's nice?"
He nodded. "Yeah, honey, she's nice. Can you take my hand so I can help you down?"
She shook her head but slid back down on the couch, her eyes staying locked on Maggie. "She's a friend."
Jasper nodded, and walked over, sitting on the coffee table, next to the white square box with her cupcake in it. He held his hand out again, and this time, she placed her in his. "Honey, Maggie is a lawyer. Do you know what that is?"
She bit the inside of lip before she nodded. "Like Kate."
Jasper tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, like Kate, except Maggie practices family law. That means she works to help families stay together. Do you understand?"
She shook her head. "Are they trying to take me away from all of you? Because I don't want to go away again."
"Of course not," Rosie insisted. "Right, Jay?"
"No, of course not, Bella," Jasper insisted, putting his hands up. "Honey, I've reached out to Maggie to . . . to help get Hope back."
Her eyes widened as she looked from him to the woman with fiery red hair. "Hope? You're going to help me get Hope back?"
"Um," she said, slowly joining them, sitting on the opposite couch. "I'd like to, but you need to know that it's not going to be easy."
"What do you mean? She's . . . she's mine? He . . . he took her away from me. I didn't do anything wrong. I was careful, and gentle. He said I wasn't, but I was. I held her and loved her and . . . and . . ."
"I don't doubt for one second that you weren't a good mom to Hope," Maggie said, frowning. "But it's complicated, okay?"
"Complicated? Complicated how?" she asked.
Jasper looked over his shoulder at Maggie, before turning back to her, his lips curving downward. "Honey, um, when he . . . when he took Hope from you, he . . . well, the police couldn't find you, right? Because he kept you hidden, right?"
She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. Rosie scooted closer, slipping her arm around her, and even though it made her nervous, it made her feel better too. Rosie loved her, that's what she said.
"When they found Hope, they placed her with a couple. Their names are Angela and Ben Cheney, and they took care of Hope and even though they tried to find you, they — Angela and Ben — they adopted her, okay? The court gave them guardianship . . . and they became Hope's parents."
"She's Hope's mom and he's her dad?" she whispered, and Jasper nodded. "Because I was bad? Is . . . is that why they gave her to them? Because I was bad?"
"No, honey, no," Rosie insisted, bringing her hand up to her face, but she pulled away.
"They just didn't know where you were," Jasper added. "Or that Hope was your daughter, okay? And that's why I called Maggie, so that she . . . she can help us, help you, get Hope back."
She nodded, and looked back at Maggie. "When will I get her back?"
"I don't know," she admitted, and when she started to speak, Maggie put her hand up. "There's a lot of work I have to do, okay? We need to petition the court to contest Hope's adoption. And the judge is going to want to talk to you, talk to Angela and Ben. The judge will want to make sure they are doing what is best for Hope, and that may mean that it might take some time."
She tightened her arms around herself, tears flooded her eyes, and she heard herself whisper, "She's mine. He took her from me. I just want her back."
"I want to bring her back, Bella," Maggie said. "Will you let me help you?"
Biting the inside of her lip, she nodded.
Maggie smiled and looked at Jasper, tilting her head toward the door. "I should go. Walk me out to my car?"
"Yeah." Jasper looked back at her, saying, "I'll be right back, okay? Don't eat that cupcake until I get back. I want to see your reaction, all right?"
She simply stared at him as he and Maggie walked out of the apartment. In that moment, she wished that Edward was there, to hold her in his arms, to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.
—SfH—
Jasper followed Maggie out of Rosalie's apartment, down the hallway, and out to her car, neither of them speaking. It wasn't until they reached her red BMW that the woman turned and looked at him, slapping his chest.
"Jesus fuck, Jasper, what the hell happened to that girl?"
"You wouldn't begin to believe what she's been though," he scoffed, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Can you help her?"
Maggie shook her head, looking back toward the building. "I can, but are you sure we should?"
"What? Of course we should!"
Maggie put up a hand. "Just hear me out, okay?"
Jasper nodded.
"That girl is damaged, Jasper. Like severely damaged. Can you say without a doubt that she's ready to be the mother of a toddler? Hope is what? Two?"
"Almost," he confirmed. "But she deserves the chance, Mags."
"Look, I'll take her case, okay? But you need to prepare her for battle, because they're not going to just rip this girl out of the only home she's ever known and put her with Bella just because they share the same blood. She could lose, and if she does, she may not survive. Just think about what's best for both Bella and Hope."
Maggie gave him another look before she climbed into her car, and drove away. Jasper sighed and gripped the back of his neck before pulling his phone out of his back pocket and sending a quick text: She needs you. Hurry.
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