A/N… I'll get out of your way.

~oOo~

Chapter 28

BELLA

"So wait!" Jasper said, shifting CJ a little in his arms. "So you're saying Edward's dad knew Aro? Like the Italian fucker across town?"

"Yes!" Alice hissed, wiping down the counter. "Language, Jasper!"

My brother's grin made me let out a snort.

My quiet Sunday afternoons in Common Ground had recently turned into the best time and place to meet. I was expecting a few more people soon. I'd lock the doors once they were all here.

I closed one of Elizabeth's notebooks. I'd read them all, but I was going through them again. In fact, the day we'd all split up the things in the box she'd left for Edward, we'd all gotten to work, and that had been two weeks ago.

Emmett took all the video tapes and converted them to digital so it was easier to go through and copy should something interesting pop up. My dad had taken the thumb drive and added it all up on the wall he'd started concerning Edward's mother. He was still connecting all the dots with what was on there.

Lt. Mitchell had taken the voice recordings, and she, too, had uploaded them as digital files. She'd also scanned all the papers and pictures in that Nike box into a file so we could collaborate better.

Jasper sat down across from me in the booth. CJ let out an adorable little noise, but otherwise stayed pretty content in my brother's arms. We'd slowly brought him and Alice up to speed on Edward's situation. Those two were now back together and probably driving my dad crazy staying with him.

Jasper had finished rehab, but he continued going to NA meetings when he needed them. However, the chubby, blue-eyed infant seemed to be the key to keeping my brother stone-cold sober. He and Edward had become friends, which pretty much dragged Emmett, Rose, Tanya, and Alice along with them. It was a weird blend of personalities and characteristics, but it seemed to feel like family.

Jasper opened his mouth to say something but snapped it closed.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head, glancing toward the doors. "It's just… When I was in the county jail rehab, Edward said something about piss poor fathers. I thought he was full of shit, but he wasn't, was he?"

"No, Jazz. He wasn't. Ed Sr. was a monster as far as I'm concerned. He didn't raise his son; Elizabeth did, and then, Carlisle and Esme. He would've killed Edward had his wife not stepped in, and once that asshole killed Edward's mother, he left a fourteen-year-old boy to live on his own for most of a fucking year. During that year, he would threaten Edward about staying quiet," I rambled off angrily. "So, no. Definitely not full of shit. Edward was trying to tell you that there's more to life than fucked-up sperm donors."

Alice snorted from behind the counter but otherwise stayed quiet as she stocked the cups. She worked for me part-time. Between Dad, Jasper, and me, we all took turns with CJ. Even Edward babysat with me a few nights.

And that was a sight way too adorable and sexy for me to handle. Edward bottle-feeding CJ or telling him stories in a soft, sweet tone – yeah, my hormones shot way out of control. Once again, Edward had been completely oblivious as to how he affected me. And I'd thought he was irresistible when he was with Sid.

"Where is he?" Alice asked. "He's usually down here by now."

"He's at the hospital with Carlisle. I think he's getting his medical release to go back to work. If he's cleared, he'll probably stop by the station," I explained, glancing back down at the notebook in front of me. I'd been reading about a few meetings between Marcus, Aro, and Ed Sr.

Jasper hummed and nodded. "Yeah, I've got a bit longer before I can look for a job."

The cement factory had let him go. He wasn't physically able to do his job and he had technically been a temp employee from the rehab, so they didn't keep him. But someone at Hope Haven Retreat had helped Jasper get set up for as many government benefits as he could get. His health was getting better every day, but he was still on a special diet, and he seemed happy.

However, he did help my dad around Common Ground. The fourth-floor apartment was finally ready to rent out, but we hadn't had the chance to show it yet. Dad was being picky, which was fine by me. But watching them work together was amazing. It was good for my brother, and my dad liked having him around.

The bell at the café's door rang, and I smiled when Emmett strolled in with my dad. The former set his laptop bag down on a table.

"Damn, the little dude is already growing!" Emmett said happily, reaching out to let CJ grasp hold of a finger. "'Sup, Jasper?"

"Oh, not much, man."

My dad sat down at the next table, saying, "Dana can't make it, but she's going to video chat with us."

"Okay, that's fine," I said, handing him my computer so he could get it ready.

The bell over the door rang again, and I couldn't stop my eyes if I tried. Edward walked in with Garrett, who was now the proud father of a gorgeous baby girl – Sophia Grace Spears. Apparently, she was named after Garrett's and Kate's grandmothers, but everyone had already taken to calling her Sophie.

But those two walking into Common Ground together brought back all the memories of how this all had started. Two handsome detectives – one easy and charming and the other intense and terse – had walked in after Maria's murder to ask all the questions. Looking back now that I truly knew Edward, I could see his demeanor back then had been shyness with a touch of nerves, maybe even a little anxiety. He'd told me that I was too pretty and made him nervous.

All of the men greeted each other with handshakes, and Alice got hugs.

Smiling up at him, I asked, "Well, will you live to continue to fight crime, Detective?"

Garrett laughed, slapping his partner's shoulder. "Yeah, he will. In fact, we're back on duty this week."

Edward grinned, but he took the seat next to me in the booth. "I'm good."

Something had lightened Edward's disposition. He said it was me, that I made him strong, that I made the bad things not so bad, but I didn't think it was all me. There was a feeling of freedom that came from him now, like unearthing all the information about his parents had purged him of a poison he'd allowed to fester.

And we hadn't finished putting all the pieces together yet.

I leaned into Edward's kiss to my temple, holding out my hand to Garrett. "Let's have 'em. I need pictures of that baby girl, Dad."

Garrett puffed up and pulled out his phone. "My girls are beautiful, Miss Bella."

Grinning up at him, I took the phone from him. Sophie was indeed beautiful. Kate was a pretty woman, and Sophie inherited some of her features, but the baby girl's hair was dark like her father's.

"Oh, so cute!" I squeaked, smiling at Edward's chuckling kiss to my head.

"Right?" Garrett gushed, taking his phone when I handed it back.

"He's not proud or anything," Edward muttered wryly, grinning when Garrett flipped him off.

"I think we're okay to start," Dad piped up, gesturing to my laptop screen, where Dana's face was smiling at us.

"Hey, Dana," Emmett and I greeted, and she waved back.

"Hey, guys!" she sang back.

"Actually, no. We're waiting on one more," Edward said, gesturing to the door when the bell rang.

In walked Felix and a man I didn't know, though I'd guess that it was Santiago, Felix's handler from the FBI. His dark eyes assessed the café, giving Edward a brief nod.

I glanced up to Alice. "Ali, please lock the doors."

"You need us to go?" Jasper offered, starting to slip out of the other side of the booth.

"Doesn't matter, Jasper," Edward answered. "I'm not particularly hiding anything. We're just hoping we'll be able to use this information."

Jasper nodded, but he glanced my way before scooting back into his seat to allow Alice to sit with him.

Emmett took the lead. "Okay, so I think with everything we've got, we were able to put together a rough timeline for Ed Sr.," he started, pulling out his laptop. "I found a few videos that were incriminating, but it was money crimes and blackmail, most of which the statute of limitations would've run out by now. And I think we'll all agree that we don't want some random charge, right? We want something big, something that'll stick. Even better, we want something that'll put the Volturis away permanently."

There were murmurs of agreement, but Dana piped up. "I ran into the same issue with the voice recordings. Elizabeth essentially bugged Ed Sr.'s home office, though, and she was able to get some conference calls between Marcus, Aro, and Ed Sr. It was the same concept – some old crimes and nothing we could charge now. Maybe tax evasion, because money changed hands a lot."

Edward reached over to the stack of journals, pulling out the last one and flipping through it. "Okay, so there was a meeting before Caius's sentencing and after. It was how my mother knew Aro had threatened the whole 'son for a son' thing. Was that recorded in any way?"

Edward and I had scoured all the journals together. He'd read them in order, making notes of his own, but in reality, he didn't need notes to remember. His mind simply worked that way, retaining all that information.

"Yeah, bro. That one may be the key," Emmett said, scrolling through a list of files on his laptop and opening one.

We all leaned forward, and even Dana was able to see.

Once again, we were looking at the study at the Masen house. Ed Sr. was calmly sitting behind the desk, but Aro was pacing, angry. In the background, one of his men stood guard.

"Masen, what did I tell you would happen if you failed me with my son?" Aro asked slowly, like he was speaking to a child.

"That you'd come for my son," Ed Sr. answered, and I tilted my head at how that didn't seem to bother Edward's father at all.

Aro smirked, though. "My son is dead, Masen. I told you he wouldn't survive prison. I have too many enemies. Now my wife is inconsolable; the doctors have had to sedate her." He rounded on Ed Sr., pointing his way. "The problem I'm facing is…you're a cold bastard. Losing your son wouldn't be a lesson learned. Maybe if I take your wife instead—"

Ed Sr., again, didn't even flinch, but he was sweating profusely. His eyes lifted to Aro. "I tried to tell you, Aro, that Caius left too many witnesses, and even though you removed most of them, the boy had a violent history. It stacked against him in the trial. Not even the psychological evaluation could sway that jury."

Aro waved that away. "I don't care. I told you to fix it. You failed, and it cost me my son." Something wicked and evil crossed the man's face, and he faced Ed Sr. once more. "I tell you what I'm going to do. You will choose between your wife and son, and you'll kill them yourself. I don't care which one you pick, but if you don't choose, I'll burn this house down while you all sleep."

"Aro, I—"

"Defy me again, Masen. See what it gets you. Not even the love I have for my sister, Jane, will stop me from what I will do to you," Aro stated, leaning both hands onto the desk in front Edward's father. "And you'd better have proof of death, too, because if I find out that you've sent them out of the country or put them in a safe house, I'll gut you like a fucking fish."

Emmett paused the video, and we were all quiet for a moment.

My dad stood and started to pace. "Aro was there." He spun to face us. "The night your mother died, Ed Sr. would've called him," he said specifically to Edward. "Because he was a selfish, scared prick. He'd been beaten down so much by the Volturis that he wouldn't have done it any other way."

"Did we miss a camera?" Dana asked out of the blue. "In that house, did we miss something? Because as good as all of this information is…" She trailed off, shaking her head a little. "What I'm saying is… Elizabeth knew time was running out for her husband to choose. She knew that Edward would be the target because he didn't care about his son. She said in her letter that she gave something to Edward to knock him out in order to force Ed Sr.'s hand. With all of this information and all the planning and plotting… I'm willing to bet everything in my bank account that she set up one last camera, planning to pick a fight with her husband."

"Oh, fuck," I breathed, glancing between Dana's face on the computer screen to Edward's furrowed brow.

Emmett glanced between us all. "If we can prove Aro was there the night Ed Sr. killed Elizabeth, then we could nail him for accessory to murder."

Felix had been quiet for a few, but he sat forward. "I'm about to put Powell away for at least twenty-five years. He has been skimming off the top for three decades in the mayor's office, never mind the connection to Inferno."

"What about Marcus and Jane and Chicago?" I asked no one in particular.

"You want blood, don'tcha, Bells?" Jasper asked me, and his grin flashed when I shrugged grumpily.

"Aro sold this information to Powell," I stated, gesturing to every notebook and laptop in the room. "He knew who Edward was, who his family was, and where Alice and I could be found. Don't get me wrong; I'm grateful that it was Felix who showed up that night, but that shit could've gone way wrong. And he still knows. I personally think Aro has been monitoring Edward his whole life."

Felix nodded, giving me a small smile. "You might be right about that, Bella. The problem is proving it."

"We need to get back into the house," Emmett stated. "I think Dana's right. If your mom went to all of this…" He gestured like I had at everything we'd collected. "If she did all of this, then she would've definitely made sure to get the last thing. But she had to have hidden that shit like a fucking pro."

Edward seemed to think about it for a moment, and I slipped my hand into his. He gave it a grateful squeeze. I could imagine he was fighting within himself as to whether or not he could handle going back to that house. But he was way stronger than he thought.

"I met him a couple times," Jasper stated softly, grimacing a little and rocking CJ gently. "Aro. He came into Inferno to meet with James." He glanced up at Felix. "I don't think Powell knows that, but they used to meet to discuss dealers and divide up sections of Seattle. Whose people could deal where. They said that Powell may have had the connections to get the drugs, but they knew where to sell them." He shrugged a little. "Aro isn't without his own addictions. They didn't meet often because they couldn't really afford to be seen together, but when they did, Aro… He likes young girls, and James would give him the basement."

Garrett's head turned toward my brother. "The basement beneath Inferno? That basement?"

"Yeah. There aren't any security cameras down there." He waved a hand. "Oh, they'd film some shit, but it was just personal bullshit. But with Aro, James gave him the space and the privacy. The girl got paid a shit-ton of money, Aro would leave happy, and James had a mafia kingpin in his back pocket."

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if Maria had been one of those girls, but I kept my mouth shut. It didn't matter who the girls were, and I didn't want to dredge up Maria in front of Alice. They were just now getting somewhere with their lives and CJ.

"Hm," Felix hummed, a small smile spreading over his features. "Now ain't that some delicious information?"

"You didn't know?" Jasper asked. "You worked there."

"No. I knew they knew each other, but not that intel. I was mainly at the front doors," Felix told him. "Knowing James, though… I wonder if he recorded Aro for insurance purposes."

"If he did, he'd have put it in Inferno's safe," Jasper replied.

"Guess I'm 'breaking in.'" Felix grinned at our laughter.

"Guess I've got to go back to the house," Edward said, nodding once.

"I'll go with you," I volunteered.

"Yeah, me too," Emmett added.

Garrett stood up from his seat. "C'mon, we'll go now."

I nudged Edward. "I need to feed Sid before we go. Ali, will you lock up?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Can I go?" Jasper asked as everyone started to pack up.

Edward smiled. "Yeah, you can ride with Bella and me."

I kissed my dad's cheek on my way to the door. "We'll be back in a bit."

Edward was my shadow on the way upstairs. He followed me into my apartment and sat down at my table. Sid immediately was in front of him getting pets and bumping Edward's chin.

"He loves you more than me now," I teased them both.

Edward chuckled, leaning into another head-bump along with a loud purr. "Nah, he's still your buddy. He lives to curl up with you when you're asleep. He's batted my hand away when I try to pull you closer."

I smiled at that because we slept together more than we slept apart now.

Once I poured the food and freshened up Sid's water, Edward lost him. Food always came first with Sid.

I wandered into my bedroom, quickly changing shirts and shoes because I always felt like I smelled like coffee and food. When I walked back out to the dining room, Edward was sitting with his elbows on his knees.

He gazed up at me, pulling me between his legs. "Is this… Am I… I feel like I'm nothing but trouble for you, beautiful."

"If this is a break-up, Edward Masen…"

His smile was bright and gorgeous. "No, never. I just… It seems like this has gone on forever."

I stepped closer, finally just crawling onto his lap. "For you, it has, baby. But if you're asking if this is too much or if you're too much, then the answer is no."

Edward pulled me closer, wrapping one arm around my waist and caressing my cheek with his other hand. "I'm about to start back to work in a few days, Bella. I just don't want you to think that it's more important than you, but the hours are strange and long and sometimes overnight… I love you. I just don't want you to think I'm ignoring you if I'm working a case."

"We'll figure it out, Edward. I'm pretty independent, and I remember Dad's schedule was all over the place," I said, trying to soothe him. "Do you think about the future, Edward? Our future?"

He nodded. "Yes."

I would've laughed at his nervous one-word answer, but I kissed him lightly instead.

"Me, too. And eventually, you and I will sit down and talk about it. Okay?"

He kissed my forehead, nose, and finally lips. "Okay."

"Okay," I repeated in a singing manner because I'd grown so used to his speech patterns. "C'mon, let's go. Let's see if your mom left the smoking gun somewhere in that house."

Slipping off his lap, I took his hand, tugged him up, and led him out the door.

~oOo~

EDWARD

I disengaged the alarm of my parents' house, letting everyone inside. There weren't as many with me as the last time. However, Dana pulled up just as I was closing the door. I opened it again to allow her inside with us.

"I figured that if you found something, having one of the cops from the original investigation may help you. You know what I'm saying?" she rambled sweetly.

Garrett chuckled. "And I was about to be all offended and shit. I mean, we're cops. Hell, the DA is here too."

Laughing, I introduced Dana to my partner and to Jasper.

"Let's do this the right way, kiddos," Dana started. "There was just under a year between Elizabeth's death and Ed Sr.'s arrest. With that much time, we never truly found the murder scene. There wasn't a gunshot wound or blood, so a black light wouldn't have done us any good."

"Right. According to the coroner's report, it was asphyxiation, crushed larynx, and the cat's neck was broken," Emmett explained, looking around and meeting my gaze. "Sorry, man…"

I waved it away. I'd read the same report, and he was correct.

"Okay, but Elizabeth gave something to Edward to knock him out –sleeping pills or a valium or something to that effect," Bella added, giving my hand a squeeze. "But I think she'd still keep the situation away from him. Like this floor or the basement."

"It's a decent guess, Bella," Dana conceded softly.

"What are we looking for?" Jasper asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "I know a camera, but are we looking for some sort of…I dunno…spy shit? Something tiny or those teddy bear nanny cams?"

Chuckling, I nodded. "Sure. All of those are possibilities because no one found it. Look, my mother was a Sherlock Holmes/detective story/true crime fan. The fact that she found herself having to put that to use is just… I don't even know. But she would've been careful at the end. I know that much."

Jasper gazed around the living room. "Got it, man."

"Edward, you're with me," Dana said, pointing to the study. "We'll start where she filmed the most, okay?"

"Okay, spread out. Garrett and I will take the living room. Bells, you and Jasper take the basement," Emmett directed everyone.

Bella gave my hand another squeeze before letting go, and she led Jasper to the door of the basement. I stepped into the doorway of the study and came to a stop. Too many people had ransacked this room – me, the police, even Aunt Esme. It had been picked through and searched.

"Give me a second," I requested softly, my eyes raking over shelves and windows and the desk.

"No worries, kiddo." Dana pulled out a small flashlight, clicking it on.

I needed to look beyond the mess down to the reality of the room. I tried to imagine a struggle, but my father was my size. My mother was essentially Bella's size. It wouldn't have taken much strength to overpower her. Since there was no blood spilled, then there wouldn't have been any trace evidence – no blood spatter, no marks on walls or furniture, no weapons.

I turned to the right, studying the bookcase my mother had used for all of the videos she'd recorded. If my guess was correct, then it would be the shelf second from the top. Picture frames, a silk plant, and some books were all covered in dust. Behind those was nothing, simply a small space where the camcorder would've fit. I used my fingers to search through the plant, along the wall, and even turned the books and frames over. I did the same with the rest of the stuff on those shelves.

"This shelf is clear," I muttered, frowning over to Dana, who was slowly working her way along the opposite wall – light switches, lamps, and another bookcase.

"Nothing here so far," she replied.

Behind the desk were more bookshelves that took up the entire wall. We started on each end, searching every shelf, book, decoration, and plant. As we worked, I could hear Emmett and Garrett clearing the kitchen, dining room, and living room.

When Dana and I came up empty, I said, "I think I need to check their bedroom."

"Okay, let's go upstairs."

We walked out of the study, and I told Emmett it was clean. He nodded and kept searching as Dana and I took the stairs.

My bedroom was the first room on the left. My parents, though, had the master bedroom at the end of the hallway. This room, too, had been searched. Aunt Esme had wanted a few things of my mother's, but her jewelry had been gone for as long as I could remember. We'd looked through drawers and the closet, but at the time, we weren't looking for hidden cameras.

Again, I stood at the doorway, taking in everything and trying to remember how things had been fourteen, almost fifteen years ago. My eyes raked around the room – king bed, nightstands, closet, dresser, bureau, chair, and TV. Then there were the decorative things – artwork, more silk plants, vases, framed photos.

Finally, I took in the mirror that was mounted above the dresser on the wall between the closet and the bathroom doors. I had never paid it much attention, but I was now, because something about that mirror was off. Maybe not so much as off as familiar.

Walking to it, I put my finger to the glass. The way to tell if a mirror was two-way was touching it. If your finger has a space between it and the reflection, it's a regular mirror. If they touch, then it's two-way.

My finger fucking touched its reflection.

"Son of a bitch," I whispered, glancing over at Dana. "This isn't a real mirror."

"Oh, damn. Okay, hang on." The closet door was already open, so she slipped inside with her flashlight, and her voice was muted when she said, "No one would've seen this. She peeked out, waving me forward. "Look."

She held her flashlight steady as she shifted stuff out of the way – umbrellas, boxes, and old luggage. It was the kind of stuff in just about every closet on the damn planet, but when she moved it, there was a cut out in the drywall. It was a small square that had been cut but carefully placed back, using drywall tape to make it almost invisible. My mother had then placed all the shit back to cover it up.

Dana pulled out a knife and pried the section of drywall off. And sitting right there on a two-by-four of the wall frame was another fucking camera that was aimed through a hole and the two-way mirror.

Dana then pulled on gloves and removed the camera from the wall. Her gaze up at me was sad yet hopeful.

"I don't…" I swallowed nervously. "I'm not…" I sneered at my own fucking fear. It pissed me off, but I knew it was more anxiety than temper.

"Easy, son," she whispered. "I actually don't want you to watch this. Understand? You've done everything she asked of you. There's no reason you need to see what's on this."

"Shit," I heard from the doorway, and Bella was pale as she glanced from that camera in Dana's hands to my face. "Please do what she says, Edward. For me? Let them scan through it. Please?" she begged, walking to me.

My instinct was to argue with them both. I needed to finish this, needed to make sure what we'd always assumed was correct, but then, knowing the evidence, I knew they were right. Actually watching my father kill my mother would be too much.

"All I want to know is if Aro was in the house the night this happ—" I choked a little on the words. "Okay. Just…take it."

I brushed by Bella, stepped out of the room, and made my way downstairs and out the back door. I hated this house. I hated what my life had become inside it. I hated my father for being a cold, shady bastard. I hated that my mother was taken from me, but I also kinda hated her, too. She should've fought, or we could've run away, or she could've…

I picked up the closest thing, which was an outdoor chair. I swung it hard at the brick wall. Due to neglect, it shattered in a most satisfying way. And I reached for the next one and then the table.

When I ran out of patio furniture to destroy, I started in on potted plants. Three had met their demise before a small, strong force wrapped itself around my middle.

"Edward, stop. Please, baby," Bella sobbed into my chest.

Something about her… Fuck, who was I kidding? Every-fucking-thing about her brought me up short. She was comfort and beauty, support and smiles. She was probably the only person on earth who would've dared approach me at that moment. And I couldn't resist her. I had never been able to fucking resist her.

Out of pure instinct, I cupped her bottom and lifted her up so she could wrap herself around me. Burying my face in her neck, I simply inhaled the scent of her.

"I'm sorry," I breathed into her skin.

"Don't you dare apologize to me," she whispered back. "Sit down, baby. You're shaking."

I fell down onto the back porch steps, but be damned if I was letting her go. It was all I could do not to set the whole house aflame.

We didn't say anything for a minute or two, and we were left alone. I could imagine they were already looking at whatever that camera had caught.

"I hate this house."

"I know you do," she said softly, pulling back enough to cup my face. "When this is over, I'll help you sell it. We all will."

Nodding, I stayed quiet for another moment. "I can't watch…"

"No one said you had to watch any-damn-thing," she stated forcefully.

There was movement and noise at the back door, but I didn't bother to turn around. Bella's gaze, though, drifted over my shoulder, and it was Jasper's voice I heard.

"Not only was Aro here, but she called him. She threatened them all. She told Aro on the phone that he'd better make sure her son was untouched, or she was going to call Jane and tell her everything, including her brother's deception. She told Ed Sr. the same thing. They both killed her."

"Christ," I hissed, and it was barely audible.

"Sorry, Edward," Jasper stated softly. He seemed to hesitate a moment but then added something unexpected. "If… If you want help, I'm in. I know a few of Aro's hangouts. If Felix finds anything at Inferno, you may not need a confession."

Squeezing my eyes closed, I nodded. When I opened my eyes again, Bella smiled sadly. "I love you, and you're okay. You don't need to apologize or say it back. You just need to sit here so I can look at your handsome face."

I cracked a small smile. "Thanks, beautiful."

She leaned in and kissed my forehead, nose, and finally my lips. "What do you want to do?" she asked softly against my mouth, pressing one more kiss there.

Inhaling deeply, I let it out just to try to settle down, and she waited patiently. I leaned in for another kiss, and it was heat and fire and over way too soon, but fuck, I had to channel my emotions somewhere, and she was way better than smashing furniture.

When I pulled back, I pressed my forehead to hers, saying, "I want…" I bit hard on my bottom lip. "I want to sell this house and never look back. I want to move in with you and Sid because you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I want Aro to tell me to my fucking face that he destroyed my family."

"That's a lot of wants, Edward." Bella fought her smile, brushing a kiss over my lips again as I nodded. "Then we gotta get to work, baby."

~oOo~

A/N… I'm doing my best to keep to Monday postings, but don't panic if I run behind, because RL work is busy for me.

We are getting closer to the end on this. If had to guess, I'd say two more regular chapters and an epi – give or take. That's if all characters behave and do what I tell them. And we all know that never truly happens.

That being said… Until next time… Mooches, Deb ;)