I don't own twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and the plot of the story.

Author's note at the end of the chapter.

Bella picks up her phone and rolls her eyes before putting it on silent and throwing it in her drawer. This is the seventh time Victoria has called her in the last thirty minutes. Typically Bella is quick to answer anyone that calls her, but she is busy with work and would rather not take it home with her as Edward is dropping by.

Bella picks up the office line and calls her assistant asking her to get her more coffee yawning through the words. She hasn't been sleeping well. On top of the strain that Edward's return has put on her, she has been having the worst nightmares that have rattled her to her core. Each one of those dreams is different from the others, but one thing is the same in each one of them, Cece dies.

When her assistant arrives, she lets her know that the head of the department has called for a meeting. "How long will it last?"

"It will run after hours," Her assistant tells her apologetically.

Bella nods her head and waves her off before she takes her phone out of her drawer to call Angela to get Cece from school.

"I thought I told you yesterday that I have a doctor's appointment," Angela tells her.

Bella groans before telling her, "Why can't I remember you telling me that?"

Angela on the other end chuckles then tells her, "Cause you are tired. I tell you that you should take your sleep pills, but you don't listen."

Bella huffs then tells her, "The pills don't keep the nightmare away. They make it impossible for me to wake up from them."

They are silent for a moment before Bella sighs and Angela tells her, "I can cancel my doctor's appointment if you want to. It's hard, but possible."

Bella considers that for a moment and then realizes that she knows what she needs to do. "No, you won't cancel your appointment. Edward will get her."

"Are you sure?" Angela's voice comes through sounding skeptical.

Bella takes a deep breath and then tells her, "Yeah, just leave early so that you can drop the house keys at Edward's office. I trust him enough to take her but not enough to take her to his home."

Bella rattles off Edward's office location and number to Angela and then calls Edward. "Listen, I don't have a lot of time. I need a favor," she states the moment he picks up the phone.

"I need you to pick Cece from school and take her to my house," Bella tells him.

Edward is quiet for a moment before he asks her, "Are you sure she is ready for that?"

Bella rubs her hand against the plastic handle of her chair as she tells him, "She better be. Neither Angela, nor I can get her."

After that, Bella tells him the details he needs to know and about Angela dropping by then hangs up.

Bella rubs her hands against each other nervously as she climbs up the stairs of the porch. She should have taken Angela on her offer, demanded a reschedule of the meeting, anything but let Cece stay with Edward.

It's not that she doesn't trust Edward. She does. Despite her best efforts, somewhere along the line, Edward has proven his loyalty to Cece. She can't deny that he loves her more than himself, something that many parents spend decades without mastering.

Her issue is that Cece is not used to Edward in her life yet and is quite fragile. Bella doesn't want to hurt Cece by making her feel like she has abandoned her with Edward only when weeks ago Cece wanted nothing to do with him.

Bella rings the doorbell the moment it's within her reach. She would rather deal with the firing squad sooner rather than later.

After a couple of seconds, the door is yanked open by Cece who throws her arms around her mum's legs and tells her, "Mummy! You're back. You can have pizza with us."

Bella frowns in surprise at Cece's behavior and looks up to find Edward running into view seconds later. "I didn't know if eating pizza is allowed or not but we were busy with her homework and she told me that she is allowed to eat it," Edward tells her then turns to Cece and tells her, "What did I tell you about answering the door young lady?"

Before Bella can react to what Edward said, Cece argues, "But I saw my mum's car through the window Eddie."

Edward shakes his head and tells her, "Doesn't matter. You can't answer the door on your own."

Bella foresees a ten-minute argument between the two stubborn people in front of her and cuts in before Cece can speak. "Cece, did the pizza arrive?"

Cece turns to Bella and shakes her head. "Can you go and help Edward set the table while I change? He doesn't know his way around the kitchen, not like you do."

Cece nods her head in excitement then takes Edward's hand in hers and drags him before he can say anything and Bella climbs the stairs to her bedroom. Then two hours later, Bella finds herself watching a movie on the couch as she waits for Edward to finish reading Cece her bedtime story.

Sometime later he comes down the stairs and sits beside her quietly. "How was it like?"

"I almost succumbed to her third story request," he answers dramatically.

She giggles and then tells him, "I meant the entire day."

Good," he tells her with a huge smile on his face. "Really good. I would have never expected it to go that well."

Bella raises an eyebrow in disbelief. Why would things go that well in her absence? Cece is too used to her mum, but most importantly, she is not used to Edward enough for things to go seamlessly. It's not that Edward is lying. He probably is not. He is just sugar coating things to save face.

"No really. Initially, she was apprehensive but I managed to iron things out," he tells her seeing the disbelief in her eyes.

Bella opens her mouth to call him a liar but the look in his eyes compels her to believe him. She knows when Edward is lying and when he isn't. Edward isn't lying. This went as well as he claims.

Maybe it's her hurt feelings over Cece not needing her as much as she thought she would or her fear that Edward's new self would charm his way into her good graces the way he did with Cece, Bella finds herself telling him, "Since things are going this well, I think it's time for the both of you to hang out without me."

Hello lovely people,

It's quite the leap of faith Bella took. I have been building up to this since the beginning, and I am so happy that we are finally here. Bella's reaction at the end wasn't part of the original plan, but the moment I started writing this chapter, I knew that it had to end this way. Anything else would be out of character for her.

Please leave a comment in the review section. It could be your favorite part, thoughts, feeling, or even criticism. Any and every comment you leave is read and taken into consideration. Your comments motivate me to update faster and help me grow as a writer.

Until my next update,

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