*Disclaimer I own nothing recognizable, all those rights go to Stephenie Meyer. As all Song Rights go to the listed artist. I only own any original characters.

A/N: I think this is starting to become my same song and dance as it has become a habit of late. So again I want to apologize in my late update. RL has been more demanding lately. With the process of my current foster kids adoption coming almost to an end, the paperwork and other requirements keep me busy but all worth it here soon when I can finally call them truly mine, add in my parenting duty, and my ice hockey commitment (which at the current time is insane as I am currently playing on three teams, and soon my son starts his hockey clinics once a week, then it will be my daughters turn) finding time for anything else is a bit difficult.

So that's the lowdown on the slow updates, and for my lack of individual responses to reviews.

To all those who have added this story their favorites, their alerts and to those who have reviewed. I cannot thank you enough for your support, all of it means so much.

Also I want to send another thank you out to who has nominated me in the non-canon awards for Best Tear Jerker. I felt so honored by the nod, that it brought a mist to my own eyes. I am truly humbled and grateful for the nod. So again thank you so much!

Alright lets get to the notes of this chapter, shall we?

1st: only a small time jump of three weeks after Sarah's change.

2nd: In this chapter we are returning to LA to see how Bella is doing after three years with her new family. Last chapter we got an overview from Sarah of life in La Push. Now we will get an overview and see the bonding Bella has done with her new family. Also we will get into Manny's mind a bit.

3rd: Just in case anyone has forgotten Bella, has renamed herself Mia at this current time.

I believe that is it, so now on with the show...

Blessed

(Thanksgiving 1981. Bella is now 11 and living with her family for a little over 3 years)

I have been blessed

And I feel like I've found my way

thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve

To be here with the ones that love me

To love them so much it hurts

I have been blessed

Song- Blessed

By: Martina McBride

Manny slammed the receiver down into its cradle before throwing his head into his hands in frustration. He never thought his life would change; he thought there was nothing left to live or die for. Tilting his head to the left he took in a photo fame, where a set of goofy photo-booth pictures of him and his reason to live and die rested. A slight wistful smile reached his lips; who would have thought a trip to McDonald's would have changed his life so dramatically

A heavy sigh escaped him. If only he hadn't given up and if only he knew what laid ahead for him, he wouldn't have made a deal with the devil himself or otherwise known as Rico. For the past three years he had been trying to get out from under his thumb, trying everything he could to call himself square with the man he had seemed to have sold his soul to. Every run of narcotics was always supposed to be the last, but it never ended up that way. And no matter how many times Manny refused a job for himself and his crew, he found himself running it; all because he didn't want to risk the wrath of the drug lord who loomed over him.

Three and half years ago he could have cared less of the risk but now he had his Mi Niña to think about and he wanted out. He needed out of it all as he wanted to take his little Mia and escape this urban hell and move into a small town and run a garage (a real legit garage) and get Mia into a real school, which would require fake documents but those were easy to obtain. He wanted a better life, a straight and narrow life; especially after he returned a year ago from a run to Mexico to find the back doors of the shop wide open. 'I should really remember to never let Cruz or Jay babysit,' he mentally sighed, as he remembered three motorcycles racing by him and nearly tearing the door off of his charger, as they sped quickly into the open bay. In a blink he made his way into the garage to see Cruz, Jay, and Mia dismounting three Harley Ironheads that were clearly marked ownership of the Hell's Angels. Anger surged through Manny (not like he didn't need the bike parts) but again he didn't like that Mia had been a participant and on a motorcycle no less. It again caused Cruz to end up with a punch to the face and Jay one to the stomach all to the sounds of snickers from the three Stoogies, who stood in the background.

Manny grabbed Mia into his arms and took her upstairs into their apartment and checked her for bruises before yelling at how could she be so stupid and did she realize who she stole from and who taught her to ride. It ended up with his feisty little Mia giving as good as she got before storming into her room and slamming the door behind her. Manny knew she was going to end up doing something like this; he just assumed it would be a car, seeing as he had only taught her to drive. Hell she was ten and could drive better than his own crew; she had a talent but a car had four sides and if something went wrong...

He knew it was more the fact that no matter what, no father wanted to see their baby girl on the back of a motorcycle; it offered no buffered protection He knew he really couldn't be mad at her for stealing as it is what they did and she was just following in his and her uncle's footsteps. Of course she wanted to earn her spot. As he was deep in thought, he felt small arms wrap tightly around his waist, causing him to look down into the bright peridot eyes that shined up at him.

"I'm sorry, Papi."

"Me too, Mi Niña, me too," he said softly tucking a few stray hairs behind her ear, as he saw a devilish smile pop onto her lips.

"Cruz," was the word that crossed them and the hint of mischief in them was evident.

He leaned over and kissed the crown of her head. "Is that so," he stated with a wry smile before heading down the steps and into the bay calling out for his friend in a sing song voice. A punch to the jaw was nothing compared to what was coming for going behind his back and teaching her to ride a motorcycle.

That was the day it became clear that this life needed to end and that he needed normalcy not just for him but for Mia too. It was that day he started to skim more than his cut from the runs as he needed enough money and new identities to start a new life. It was also the day that he told his crew he was getting out and asked who wanted the shop when he left. He remembered them all laughing and he didn't understand how any of this was funny; until a beaten and bruised Cruz pulled the ice pack from his swelling eye to glare at him with a smirk on his busted lip and told him if he thought he was just going to up and leave with their little niece, he was crazy. They were all family, so where he goes they all go.

In all honesty it floored Manny at their declaration; granted he knew they were loyal and in a sense a family but he now saw how much of a true family they really were, all brought together by a small light copper skinned, green eyed girl. In that moment for the first time, he felt something he never even felt with Marissa. He felt true happiness. He had been given a true family; brothers who stood by him and who truly cared for him and a beautiful, caring, brilliant daughter who loved him with his flaws and all. He chuckled to himself again at how the craving for a burger caused his life to become whole, to heal and to become so fulfilled.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted, not by the bell alerting to the arrival of their Thanksgiving pizza dinner (it wasn't turkey and since they were a bunch of octane junkies they never learned the proper use of a cookbook or an oven). No, what interrupted his thoughts was the pissing and moaning, courtesy of Cruz that caused Manny to sit up straight and crane his neck to see what the fuss was about. There hovering at the back bumper of Manny's 1953 faded Chevy truck and standing over a slim pair of jean clad legs and untied black boots stood an annoyed looking Cruz.

"You're not doing it right!"

"Psshh... whatevs. I could change these brakes in my sleep," Mia smirked as she rolled out from under the jacked up truck.

"If that were true, you'd be done by now but you're not and you know why that is? It's for two reasons. One because you aren't doing it right and two because you HIT LIKE A PUSSY!" Cruz bit out with rancor as he grabbed the hammer from the shocked girl. The tone and Cruz's actions had Manny starting to rise from his chair and cracking his knuckles in preparation.

"THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT!" was smugly bit out followed by a loud bang, a cussing scream and then a clang.

All of it had Manny stopping dead in his hunt as he watched Cruz roll out from under the truck holding his hand and cursing as blood gushed. He stumbled to his feet heading towards the office cursing in Spanish and English with Mia close behind him with a bloody hammer in her grasp as she talked over her cursing uncle; and with a clever smirk plastered on her face telling him if that's how you do it, then he was right, she was doing it wrong. As Cruz entered into the office followed by Mia, the back door of the office opened to reveal the four missing parts of his crew, who instantly paused at the sight of a bloody Cruz and Mia who was holding a bloody hammer. Snickers crossed four sets of lips.

"Hey, Manny, guess Mia beat some sense into him before you could," Travis smirked. Only to be given a few cuss words from Cruz who made his way into the bathroom to tend to his hand, and ego.

"You guys going to come in or you just gonna stand in the door all damn day?" Manny asked as he sat back down and pulled Mia onto his lap. With a smirk on his lips, he kissed the side of her head as he fought to contain his laughter.

"Uh, depends. Is she planning on putting down said weapon anytime soon?" Fonz asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I know I could use some common sense but I don't wanna end up having it beat into me like Cruz." Jay smirked.

"She didn't hit him," Manny chuckled.

"Then-"

"Oh geez, guys! I was fixing the truck's brakes and you know Cruz, he thinks he knows it all. Well, he told me I was doing it wrong and I hit like a pussy as I was knocking the pin out of the caliber. So he took the hammer and went to show me how to do it. Well, instead of hitting his target he hit his thumb and then cried like a PUSSY," a smug tone hung in her voice.

"So, you decided to carry around the hammer because-"

"Why to taunt him mercilessly. YOU HIT LIKE A PUSSY!" she retorted with a fake strike of the hammer. Breaking the questioning, the bell chimed. "DINNERS HERE!" she squealed as she dropped the hammer as if it burned her as she wiggled free from Manny's lap and grabbed the cash on the edge of the desk before darting out of the room.

As she exited it was almost if a countdown occurred from the three before the room erupted with laughter.

"Yeah, laugh it up fuckers while you can," Cruz grumbled from the bathroom.

"Oh no, guys, we better stop," Carlos chuckled.

"Yeah, he might hit us," Fonz's voice holding a fake fear.

"Don't worry, guys, from what I hear he has bad aim, proving him to be the one that hits like a pussy," Jay smirked as he and the rest of guys made their way into the office taking their spots on the couch or the free chairs.

"NO, I told Mia she hits like one. I just missed."

"True, but you're the one now crying like a pussy from their bad aim," Travis remarked, which caused everyone to crack up laughing over Cruz's cusses.

"So where is dinner? Mia that anxious to start she decide to eat in the bay?" Carlos asked over the dying laughter

"Nah, she ran it upstairs. She has been working in her room for days with stuff, getting ready for today. She's pretty happy this year as it's the first one where we are all going to be together, seeing as we had no international runs today. So she has been pretty excited. She kicked me out of the apartment around eight this morning to get ready," Manny chuckled at the memory of her huffing and puffing as he provoked her by not leaving the apartment this morning just to ruffle her feathers a little."

"What on earth, could she-"

"Dinner's ready," bellowed through the bay.

"Well, you heard it, guys. Let's go see what had me kicked out of the apartment bright and early this morning."

Everyone nodded, wanting to know what their little Mia had up her sleeve. "Come on, you don't wanna be late do you, Hammer Time," Jay laughed, causing him to receive a hit in the shoulder from Cruz and for Cruz to yowl out in pain and shake his freshly bandaged hand; therefore resulting in the room to laugh out again at his expense. As they made their way through the bay, up the stairs and through the apartment door, they couldn't believe their eyes. The dining area had harvest colored construction paper cut and stapled into a circled chain that hung from the ceiling and crossing over the center of the table. On each chair was a name plate made out of a hand traced turkey and in the center of the table sat a pumpkin cut open and gutted and filled with fresh flowers that matched the harvest colored paper.

"You boys just gonna gape all day or you gonna sit? If you notice, it's assigned seating tonight. OH, and Uncle Cruz if you haven't noticed, I put you down between Jay and Carlos. I didn't want you to have to sit next to me and tell me I chew like I hit - like a PUSSY," she smirked before turning around, ignoring the laughter from her uncles and plopped herself down into her chair at the end of the table.

Manny followed his brothers but remained standing at his seat at the head of the table as the others sat and began to pull pieces of pizza from the boxes to their plates. He couldn't help but feel frozen as he stood and watched everything around him. From the surprise decorations his little Mi Niña put so much time into, to the way his brothers joked as they ate and how Mia kept up never missing a beat. He thought he saw it before; but in this moment he realized he really didn't see the full impact as he watched it all. He watched how everyone here was tied to one another, how they truly cared for each other, and just how much he loved everyone here, especially the little girl sitting opposite him. She truly was a blessing, she truly was a gift with all she gave him; whether it being able to tuck her in every night, read her a story, braid her hair, or get to bask in her sweet kindness, or her witty nature.

He had never been a man of God, not with his life, but in this moment he couldn't help but thank God for his brothers who stood by him in his dark times, and continued to stand by him even now as they all planned to break free from this life of crime. But most importantly he couldn't help but take a moment to thank God for the best gift of his life. His Mi Niña, who gave him his smile, heart and soul, and life back.

"Papi, you going to join us or just stare at us?"

Her sweet voice broke him from his thoughts, causing his eyes to meet the peridot ones he loved so much. Instantly a smile broke onto his face at the thought that came to him full force.

'I have been blessed.'

I hope you all enjoyed getting to see things from Manny's perspective, as we got into his mind and his plans for the future. Most of all I hope you all enjoyed the time with Manny, Mia (Bella) and the crew, as they celebrated their holiday, and getting to see Mia finally happy and loved.

Next Chapter is focused on Jacob and his Thanksgiving. We will get to see how Jacob is handling the loss of his mother, as well as his thoughts on how he feels about his father. I do hope not to make you wait a month for that chapter as my proof reader is already on it. No promises but there is a good chance it could be up sometime next week.

As always, please review as they are very much appreciated; however as always flames are not.