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She sat inside the closet again, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms tucked between them and her body. Edward was next to her, as he had been since she arrived at the house three days ago, when they brought Uncle James home from the hospital. The only time he had left her side was when he went downstairs to get them food. Pancakes. He brought her a plate full of hot, fluffy pancakes. Without the syrup, of course.
She found herself staring at the pictures of Hope, trying to memorize every detail of her face. Edward had gotten her a photo album, helped her place them inside so she could have them at her fingertips, he said. She longed to hold Hope again, to see her smile in person, to hear her laughter. She saw the smile and laughter in the pictures, but she wanted to hear it. Did she have a soft laugh? Or a loud, deep laugh? When she smiled, did she show her teeth? Or was she shy, quiet?
"What were you like?" Edward asked. "What do you remember about who you were before he took you?"
"Um, I don't . . . I don't know," she whispered, laying her head on her knees and looking at him. "My . . . my mom used to tell me that I'd never met a stranger. Maybe that's why he took me. I was too friendly."
"I don't believe that," he disagreed, slipping his arm around her, nestling her against him.
She grabbed the front of his shirt. "Are they nice?"
Edward pressed his lips against the top of her head. "Jay says they are."
"And she's okay? She's . . . she's healthy?"
"Jay said she was, that he didn't hurt her when he took her from you."
"Good, that's good," she murmured, though she felt her shoulders tense when the sound of the bedroom door opened. She found herself holding her breath until Marcus stepped around the open closet door, and she relaxed. A smidge. "Hey."
"Hey, honey," he said, groaning as he settled on the floor just outside of the closet. He gestured to the blanket bed and the twinkling lights. "It's nice."
"He did it for me," she whispered, gesturing toward Edward as she leaned away from him. "To make it easier for me, he said."
Marcus nodded, his eyes shifting from her to Edward. "That was nice of you, Edward. You knew she needed a safe place, and you created one."
"I guess," he murmured, shrugging his shoulders. "I just want her to be comfortable here."
Marcus smiled, his eyes shifting back to her. "Ben and Angela Cheney will be here soon."
She nodded.
"How are you feeling?"
"Um," she whispered. "I don't know."
"Yes, you do," he pushed. "Are you scared?"
She nodded.
"Why are you scared?"
"Because I don't know them," she mumbled, her eyes feeling with tears. "Because they have Hope, and if they don't like me, they . . . they won't let me see her, will they?"
"They could make it hard for you to see her, that's true," Marcus confirmed. "But what else scares you?"
She bit the inside of her lip. "I'm scared I'll never get to be her mom again. She's mine, and I want her back!"
"And we want you to get the chance to be Hope's mom again, but remember what I told you?"
She nodded. "I can't be her mom until I learn how to process my trauma."
Marcus smiled. "That's right. And you've already come a long way, honey, but meeting with them is only one step forward, and it's only going to get harder."
"Because of the trial," she whispered.
He frowned. "Yes, because of the trial."
"Because Sam Uley is the bad guy," she whimpered, clenching her hands into fists.
Edward reached over, covering her hand with his. "Because Sam Uley is the bad guy, sweetheart, and he doesn't get to hurt you ever again."
"He doesn't own me anymore," she whispered, angling her body against his.
Edward kissed the top of her head again. "That's right, sweetheart."
The sound of voices from downstairs, drew all their attention to the doorway, Marcus sighed and looked back at her. "Sounds like they're here. Are you ready?"
She bit her lip and shook her head. "I just . . . I just need another minute."
"Okay," he simply said, nodding. "Take your time. We're not in a hurry, honey."
She closed her eyes, trying to calm her nerves. It was silly, she told herself. They were good people. They wouldn't let bad people have her Hope, would they? And Jasper said they were nice, said that they were good parents to Hope. But what if they were too good? What if they were better at being Hope's mom and dad than she could be? She would never get to see her again if they were better than she was.
No, they wouldn't do that, right? Hope was her daughter. Maggie said she would fight for her. Jasper and Alice were fighting for her, Rosie and Emmett, Uncle James, they were all fighting for her. Her pancake man and his pretty Esme were fighting for her. Edward was fighting for her, and now, it was time for her to fight for Hope.
"I'm ready," she whispered, opening her eyes. "I think I'm ready."
"Okay." Marcus stood up and offered her his hand. "If you're ready, take my hand."
She bit the inside of her lip, her eyes shifting to Edward, who gave her a nod of encouragement. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart, she reached out and placed her hand in Marcus's, allowing him to pull her off the floor of the closet and onto her feet. Edward was immediately by her side, his arm wrapping around her waist, always holding her together.
Marcus shifted his eyes between the two of them before he turned and led them out of the room, across the landing, and downstairs. As they stepped off the bottom step, she tilted her head backward, looking past Rosie and Esme, Jasper and Maggie, and Carlisle to the two people standing next to the front door. She knew immediately that they were the Cheney's.
Ben was tall, thin with dark hair and eyes that were hidden behind a thick pair of black framed glasses. He had his arm around Angela, who had long dark hair and black eyes. Even from across the room, she could see the tears in her eyes, and she couldn't help but wonder if Angela felt just as scared as she did. After all, she'd been Hope's mother for a long time, since he took her away.
"I still think this is a mistake," another woman said, and when she looked at her, she flinched. "I'm sorry. I didn't . . ." The woman, who had strawberry blond hair, closed her eyes before she said, "I'm just concerned about what's best for Vanessa."
"Understood," Angela said, but placed her hand on Ben's, which was resting on her hip. "But it's important that we meet her, that she meets us. For Vanessa's . . ." Angela paused. "For Hope's sake."
The woman with the strawberry blond hair sighed, but waved them forward.
Angela and Ben shared a look before they took a few steps toward her and Edward. "My name is . . . my name is Angela Cheney, and um, this is my husband Ben. You . . . you must be Bella."
She nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, Bella," Ben said, softly. "We've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time."
"You have?" she asked.
And he nodded. "Of course we have. You're Vanessa's. . . I'm sorry, still trying to get used to referring to her as Hope. You're Hope's biological mother, Bella."
"What does biological mean?" she asked.
"Oh, um." Ben paused and looked at Angela before saying, "It's means that you are her birth mother."
She nodded. "And you're her adoptive mother and father. That's what they told me. That you adopted Hope after she was found."
"We did," Angela said, gesturing toward the couches. "Can we sit?"
"Of course," Carlisle said, causing them to look back at him. "Can I get you any coffee? Tea? Pancakes?" he added with a chuckle. "Sorry, kind of a private joke."
"Coffee would be great," Angela said, smiling. "And maybe we could be introduced to everyone? Feels a little awkward, you know? Everyone knows who we are, but we don't know them."
"Oh, yeah, of course," Carlisle murmured, shoving his hands into his pockets. "That's Edward, my little brother with Bella, and Marcus, her . . ."
"I'm her therapist," Marcus said, walking over and offering them his hand. "I'm helping Bella rebuild her life. Um, as Carlisle said the young man with her is Edward. And this is Rosalie," he added, gesturing to Rosie. "Bella's sister, and Esme is Carlisle's wife. And um, you know Jasper of course."
Ben and Angela nodded, their eyes flickering from her to Jasper before turning back to her. "It's, um, nice to meet you," Ben said. "All of you."
"It's nice to meet you, too," Rosie said, her eyes shifting between her and Angela. "Thank you for, you know, coming to her, to us."
"Of course," Angela said with a smile.
"Where's Hope?" she asked, drawing their attention back to her. "Where is she right now?"
Angela and Ben shared a look before they walked over and settled on one of the couches. "She's with my dad. He takes every chance he can to dote on her."
"Oh." She bit the inside of her lip as she settled on the couch with Edward next to her. "She's big. The pictures Maggie gave me . . . She's gotten big. She was so tiny with me."
Angela nodded. "She's growing like a weed."
"Was she . . ." She trailed off, looking at Edward before saying, "Did he hurt her?"
"No," Angela whimpered, bringing her hand up to her heart. "No, he didn't hurt her, Bella."
"Good, that's good," she whispered, blinking back her tears. "And, um, you've had her the entire time, right? Since she was found, I mean?"
Ben smiled. "They called us before they even took her to the hospital."
Her eyes widened.
"As a precaution," he added, putting his hand up. "Just to make sure she wasn't hurt. We never left her side, Bella. We stayed with her until they were sure she wasn't hurt. Other than being cold, she was healthy."
"Oh, okay."
Her pancake man came back in with a tray full of coffee and a glass of milk. He placed the tray on the coffee table and passed out all the coffee before he handed her the milk with a wink, reminding her that he was there, that she was important to him, that he was her pancake man.
She took a sip of the milk before she heard herself asking, "What is she like?"
Angela and Ben smiled, placing their coffee ups on the table. She spoke before he could.
"She's the sweetest little girl, Bella. She has a lot of energy, keeps us on our toes," Angela added with a laugh. "She looks like you."
"She does?" she asked, smiling.
Angela nodded. "Especially when she smiles, and she smiles a lot."
"She loves to be read to," Ben said, causing her to look at him. "She loves books. She insists on us reading her at least ten books every night before she will go to sleep."
"I liked books, too," she whispered. "Does she like pancakes?"
Angela laughed. "Yes, she loves pancakes. It's all she will eat for breakfast."
"Mine too." She paused, and then added. "But I don't like syrup."
"We've never offered her syrup," Ben said. "She uses her hands to eat, and syrup is a little too messy for hands, don't you think?"
She nodded.
"When is her birthday?" Angela asked.
She frowned, shifting her eyes to Edward before saying, "I don't know."
"We think she'll be two in about three weeks," Jasper added, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Based on some of the information we've gathered, but we don't know for sure, and the only person can tell us isn't talking, so . . ."
She bit the inside of her lip, knowing he was talking about him. No, not him. About Sam Uley. She brought her arms up, wrapping them around her torso, trying to keep herself together.
"We see," Ben murmured before clearing his throat. "We've always wondered, you know?"
She nodded, though she didn't know.
"Would you like to see a video of her? It's from this morning," Angela offered, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Angela said, shifting her eyes to Edward and back. "Can I sit next to you? Would that be all right?"
She nodded, though she felt herself tense when Angela stood and moved so that she was sitting on the couch next to her. She pulled open the video, and she felt the tears fill her eyes. Hope was standing in what she assumed was the living room in a nightgown with Cinderella on it. Her hair was long, reaching well past her shoulders, and tangled like she'd just gotten out of bed. Hope brought her hand up to her mouth, kissing the palm of her hand, throwing her hand in the air, and said, "Air kisses, Mommy!"
Only, she wasn't blowing the kisses to her, but to Angela, her mommy.
"She loves Disney princesses," Angela laughed, looking from her phone to her, her smile dropping. "I . . . I'm sorry. I didn't think . . ."
But she just shook her head before she scrambled to her feet and hurried upstairs, dropping to her knees, and crawling into the closet. She wasn't Hope's mommy anymore. Angela was, because he'd stolen her away, and given her to a good mommy. Angela was the kind of mommy who got air kisses, and she was the kind of mommy who got locked in a box.
—SfH—
Angela stood as Bella fled the room, hurrying upstairs. However, Marcus put his hand up, stopping her from following.
"Edward, go to her," he said.
Nodding, Edward followed Bella, leaving the rest of them alone.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Angela," Marcus said, drawing her attention to him. "She's just . . . This has been a lot of her."
"It's been a lot for us, too," she whimpered, feeling her eyes fill with tears. "I didn't want to hurt her. That's not why I showed her the video. I thought . . . I thought maybe seeing that Vanessa . . . Sorry, I mean Hope is happy, healthy, might put her at ease a little."
"It will," he said. "When she allows herself the chance to process it, of course." He frowned, and looked toward the stairs. "I'm not going to tell you what to do," he added, looking from her to Ben and back. "But that girl, she deserves a chance to know her daughter."
"She's not her daughter, not anymore," Tanya argued, drawing everyone's attention to her. "I feel for the girl. I do, but Angela is Vanessa's mother. Ben is her father. They've been there every day since that baby was found, thrown away in a duffle bag. Tossed away like trash. And I get it, okay?" she said, putting her hand up before Jasper, who had stood up, could jump her ass. "It's not her fault that Sam Uley stole her daughter from her, but it's not Ben and Angela's fault, either. Now, they've been more gracious than I would have been, but you're asking a lot."
"No, they aren't," Angela said, looking down at Ben, who sighed but nodded as he stood up, sliding his arm around her waist. She turned toward Tanya. "They're right, Tanya. She deserves a chance. We're not giving Vanessa . . . I mean Hope up, but Bella . . . Bella is Hope's mother, and I don't want to be just one more person in her life that hurts her."
Ben sniffed as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out one of his business cards, laying it on the coffee table. "We'd be willing to let her see Hope, with supervision, of course. Maybe we can bring her next time, or meet at a park, or I don't know. My office, cell, and our home numbers are listed on the card." He shoved his wallet back into his pocket. "We don't want to lose our daughter, but we won't keep Bella away, either."
Angela slipped her hand into Ben's before they turned and walked out, knowing Tanya would follow, would try to talk reason with him. But she couldn't be just one more person who hurts hers. Bella Swan had suffered enough, and though she was terrified of losing Vanessa forever, she remember the way her mother cried when that little girl went missing. And if her mother could grieve for a little girl she never knew, Angela could let Bella know her daughter, even if it scared her.
Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! I'm going to go cry in the corner now.
