So, here we are. It's almost Christmas, so hard to believe that this year is almost gone. At the beginning of the year it seemed like January would never end. February and March were about the same. Then April through August was like gone in a blink of the eye. September through November dragged for me. December is here and almost gone. So I want to take a minute of this year to thank you all for reading my words, and leaving me reviews. I hope all your holiday seasons are great no matter which holiday you celebrate.

No copyright infringement is intended, and Twilight doesn't belong to me.

Thanks to LaPumuckl for her help talking out the story and catching issues. Thank you to the wonderful and talented Dowlingnana for again wielding her red pen, to shape me into a better writer.

Any and all mistakes are mine, I still dabble. Thanks for the story love, see you at bottom.

Chapter 14

After walking in the door, I let out a sigh. It has been a long and tiring day, and I am on information overload. I knew deep down one day the person who killed my father would be caught, but this whole situation is far more than what I could ever have imagined. Edward has been quiet but remained close to me during and after we had our meeting. I know he is reeling with everything we learned tonight.

"Edward, we need to eat something, it isn't good for us to go hungry," I say and my stomach growls.

"How about we just have some grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and some chips?" Edward suggests.

"Sounds good to me, I will get stuff out, you get the griddle."

We work side by side, making three sandwiches. After getting them on two plates with chips, we go sit in the four-season room on the sofa. We eat our food, enjoying the quiet and peacefulness of the view from the windows. When we are both done, Edward takes our plates to the kitchen and comes back with two bottles of water.

"That was a good idea, I was hungrier than I realized," I say, as he sits back beside me.

"Yeah, I was hungry, but this whole situation has me in turmoil.

"I know, Edward. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just have always had an issue with reconciling the Kate I knew when I proposed, to the Kate who did the things she did to me … not to mention the things they say she does now. Tanya always came across as a flirt, and a bit of an airhead. I mean Kate knew she flirted with me but made no big deal about it because she thought Tanya flirted with everyone. Tanya is just a shitty person, but a good worker. I mean she was great with numbers, but her personality has always been off. I still cannot understand how anyone, especially Kate, could trust her actions though. Irina was always the worker and always seemed so focused. She always kept everything close, and never really liked being around a lot of people socially. When she was in social situations, she didn't ever talk about anything personal. She never really came across as someone to do wrong, she even demanded that her sisters live with her until they married. When they first stayed with Eleazar and Carmen, they shared a room, even though there was plenty of room for them all. When they got money from the estate and Irina bought a house, she demanded they move in together. She was always so protective of her younger siblings; it seemed odd that she could be involved in human trafficking. This all seems so far out there, but it also fits, you know."

"It is a lot to think about," I say.

"I'm so sorry I brought this into your life. I don't get why you aren't wanting me to leave," Edward states.

"Edward, please look at me," I say. Slowly he raises his head from his hands and looks at me. "You have done nothing wrong. You were a victim in this as well. You may not have lost your life with these people like my father did, but you lost just as much. This tore away at your dignity and heart, not to mention having your child ripped away from you. I think you should make time soon to see your therapist, maybe call tomorrow to see if you can get in. You are not to blame for the actions of other people, and you didn't bring this on us. My father was knee-deep in all of this too, investigating. So, no more of this stuff about you bringing trouble to us, you did no such thing. You mean entirely too much to all of us, especially me."

"Can I just hold you?" Edward asks, and without answering him I climb into his lap.

We sit here together for quite a while before I let out a yawn.

"You're tired, you should head to bed, Bella."

"I don't want to let you go yet," I say, snuggling more into his arms.

"Let's go and lie down on the sofa, it's huge, and we can both relax," Edward suggests.

"I have a better idea. Follow me," I say standing and taking his hand.

I lead him to the door of my room and he stops walking.

"I just want to be comfortable and cuddle," I assure him.

"Okay, I just don't want things to go too far, too fast … you mean too much to me to screw this up," Edward almost whispers, his voice is so quiet.

"Edward, nothing could ever be too much or too fast, because I only feel complete in your presence. However, I have no intention of taking things any further than some kisses and cuddles," I say.

"We are quite the pair, aren't we?" Edward chuckles.

"Yeah, I suppose … I mean, we are a pair," I say and look at him.

The double meaning of my response is clear and he nods at me, before pulling me into his arms and kissing me. "That we are. I'll be right back, I have to change, and remove this prosthetic for the night."

"Okay, I'm gonna shower, I will see you shortly."

Edward leaves the room and I grab my pajamas and head for the bathroom. After putting up my hair, I take a quick shower. I dry off and put on lotion, before getting my pajamas on. I walk into my room and see Edward is already sitting on the right side of my bed, with the covers turned down.

"Is this, okay?" he asks.

"Perfect," I say before turning off the light and climbing into my side of the bed.

Edward gets comfortable and pulls me into his arms. We don't say anything, and I am so comfortable with him holding me close. We share a few kisses, but the day quickly catches up to us and we drift off to sleep.

When I get up in the morning, I have to unwrap Edward's arms from around me. I smile thinking about all we talked about last night. He means so much to me and has taken up so much space I wasn't aware I had in my heart.

It's still early so I grab my clean clothes and go into my bathroom. I shower and wash my hair. Lather myself in lotion and dry my hair before getting dressed. When I open the door, I see Edward is still lying on my bed, but he is awake.

"How long have you been awake?" I ask.

"Well, I was perfectly comfortable and warm, but then I got cold after being moved," he laughs.

"Well, I needed to use the restroom, sir. All kidding aside, I didn't mean to wake you. My internal alarm wakes me around five in the morning no matter how late I go to bed. I want to head out early this morning. Can you drive over to the shop this morning with Jasper, Alice is supposed to come with me to the store?"

"Oh, yeah, do not ever go shopping for food without her again. I didn't think she would ever let that go," Edward smiles.

"No, she was mad at me, but it is what it is. Is there anything special you want from the store?"

"Could you get some more of those pita bread pockets that are so good to make sandwiches with? Oh, and I am low on granola bars and M-n-M's."

"Yeah, the pitas and your snacks were already on Alice's list. She has a pretty huge list, so be ready to help unload a ton of shit when we get to the shop. Now, before I leave, what do you want for breakfast?"

"I don't care, I'm going to go shower, you can surprise me," Edward says.

I head to the kitchen and open the fridge. I pull out eggs, ham, and some other veggies. I get busy chopping up veggies and dicing ham, before grabbing a bowl to scramble some eggs in. I sauté the ham and veggies together and grate some cheddar cheese. After pulling the sauté pan off the fire, I get out my omelet pan and get it heated with olive oil. After mixing my eggs, I pour them into the pan and let the eggs start to cook. I add half my sauteed mixture and a good handful of cheddar to the eggs. When it is ready, I flip it in half sliding it onto a plate, and begin the second omelet as Edward walks into the kitchen.

"Hey, can you pop down some toast for us to go with the omelets?"

"Sure, do you want sourdough or brioche?" he asks.

"I like both, and they both will go well with this, you choose."

I giggle as I watch him put in two slices from each loaf. Neither of us enjoys dark toast, so I smile again when I see him using real butter to coat the bread when it comes out lightly toasted. I plate the second omelet and smile as Edward adds a slice of each kind of bread to both plates.

We sit at the island and eat our breakfast. At six-thirty Alice knocks, and I let her in.

"Are you ready? I called the store yesterday and gave them our drink order and paid for it. It will be ready to load when we get there. I figured we should take your truck, and my car both. Your truck can hold all the drinks, and then we can put all the groceries in my car. Since we are leaving early for the store, Emmett said he would take Jasper and be at the shop early to unload. If Edward wants to ride with you to the store, he can take the truck to the shop after they load it, and you and I can take care of the grocery part."

"Alice, how many cups of coffee have you had today?" Edward asks.

"None, silly, I am just excited about grocery shopping. Bella, are you ready to go yet?"

"Alice, we are both ready to go. Edward, do you want to ride with me and wait for them to load the truck, or do you want to ride in with Emmett and Jasper?"

"I will just go with you and take the drinks back to the shop; that way they will be in and put away before you girls return from the store," he tells me.

"Okay, let's go," Alice says before dashing off to her house.

We lock up and get in my truck, as we pull out of the driveway, Alice pulls out of hers and I can't help but laugh when Edward starts laughing.

"It is funny seeing her driving that, isn't it?" I ask.

"Why in the heck do they own a seventies grocery-getter anyway?" Edward asks.

"Exactly for this reason," I laugh. "Don't let Rose hear you call that car a seventies grocery getter, or she will school you. Rose rebuilt that nineteen-seventy Chevrolet Chevelle Station Wagon from the wheels up. Even car enthusiasts called it a grocery-getter, but Rose said it is more than that, it's a love wagon she says. Wait until you see how many people it attracts at the store. Everyone wants to look inside, it's like going to a car show each time it gets out of the garage."

"It's still hard to not laugh when you see tiny little Alice, driving a giant lead sled like that. I mean it is huge, you could fit a hundred Alice's in that vehicle."

"There is no way I could put up with more than one Alice," I groan as we pull into the store's parking lot. I drive back to the loading dock and jump out of the cab.

"Hey, sugar, are you with Etched Swan?" the guy on the dock asks.

"Yeah, that is us," Edward says, getting out of the cab behind me and putting his hand on my hip.

"Okay, here is the order slip and receipt. We can have it all loaded in about fifteen minutes."

"Thank you," I say.

"That dude needs to watch where his eyes travel," Edward all but growls.

"Well, who cares where he directs his eyes, I only care that your eyes are on me," I whisper.

"Always, Bella, always."

"Okay, I am going to head inside," I say as my phone rings. "Hello, Alice, I will be right inside, give me two minutes, please," I say before disconnecting the call.

"I'm going to go crazy on this shopping trip, why isn't it someone else's turn to go with her and reign her in?"

"You drew the short straw, and only you and Rose can handle her. We can't send Emmett; he just encourages her crazy food buying. Jasper can't tell her no, and you vetoed me going with her because in your words "you would just be amused by her", so you're stuck since Rose can't do it."

"Wish me luck," I tell him as I hug him.

"Good luck," he says as he hugs me back.

Edward kisses my lips softly, and I turn and walk to the entrance. As I approach the door, I see Alice, with two carts ready to go and bouncing in place. "Heaven help me," I whisper to myself as I go through the door.

Shopping with Alice is never fun, but by the time we hit the checkout, I am ready to kill her. We ended up with five full carts of stuff. Alice neglected to tell me that she preordered a bunch of stuff when she ordered the drinks. There were two carts full of deli meats, fresh fruits, fresh veggies, and refrigerated stuff when we got there. We filled two carts with candies, chips, snacks, and miscellaneous things. I thought we were done when Alice said we needed one more cart to get some freezer items. We got the additional cart and ended up stacking things in it that went well over a foot taller than the cart. When the cashier started ringing up our items, I was ready to leave. After a straight ninety minutes of checking out, the total was over two grand. That doesn't seem bad, but the drink order was paid for already and that was easily over a thousand alone.

Thankfully the store has people to help us, and with three workers we load the car. When we are done, the car is so packed full, there is barely room for us in the front seat.

At least Alice has a way of packing the car that makes it easiest to get things put away. All the freezer stuff will come out of the car first and then fridge stuff and then finally the shelf stable products. When we arrive at the shop, we pull out back and the guys come out right away.

Thankfully we have a huge fridge and a huge freezer, when we are done putting things away, they are both packed to the gills.

A month ago, Edward bought a second sliding door pop cooler from a local auction house to put down here. We put it in the workspace room, beside the other one we had, and both of those are full.

"Okay Alice, we spent about three hundred more than we had in the fund, but we are fully stocked on everything for a good while," I say.

"I covered the extra since I will be eating and drinking here too," Leah says as she walks into the room.

"Hey, Leah, you didn't have to do that, we would have covered it, you are here to help watch out for our safety," Emmett says.

"Nah, I doubt my mad skills of protection will not even be needed anyway. Besides, I like to eat. Honestly after reading the files about all of them, I think my being here is nothing more than peace of mind for Billy."

"Yeah, he did promise to always watch out for us, ever since we were both little," I say and hug my brother.

"Well, one of the things that Billy left out is that I am a physiological profiler, and in my professional opinion, you all here are safe. I believe the true key players have no reason to even think of you guys. The agency has almost all its i's dotted and t's crossed anyway. It is only a matter of a short time before they are all taken down. It's the biggest reason I am here because it's all gonna come to a head very soon."

"That's good to know," Edward says. "Not that I don't want you here, I am just sick of all of this in my head right now."

"Edward, dude, you're not to blame for any of this," Emmett says.

"I know, it just feels like it though," Edward states.

"Well it isn't, so let it go, man," Emmett says.

"Hey, Rose just called. She and Quill are gonna be here at one for lunch, and they are bringing lunch with them from Sammich. She wants everyone's order for lunch sent to her by eleven, so she can submit the order online and have it ready to pick up at twelve-thirty. Leah, Quill is getting your usual, and I already sent her mine, and Jasper's."

"What did you order?" Emmett asks.

"For Jasper, I ordered the Zombie with Fries and Zombie slaw. I also ordered a Cubbie Cubano to share with him. For me, I got Da Burger Double - Holy Grail style, and a Timbo with double meat and cheese, fries, Zombie slaw, and soup."

"That's all?" I ask, wondering why she only got two and a half sandwiches.

"Yeah, I'm saving some room. Jasper and I are going out to eat tonight at Ipanema," Alice says.

"I love Ipanema," Emmett shouts. "They serve sixteen choices of different meats nightly, and it's all you can eat. I gotta call Rosie, I want to go there."

"Not tonight, Emmett, this is our date night," Alice growls.

"They really serve sixteen different meats and it is all you can eat?" Edward asks.

"Yeah, it is a Brazilian steak house, the meats are really good, and you can eat all you want. It costs about sixty-some dollars per person, plus more for drinks and desserts. Alice loves the place, and clearly so does my brother."

"Where does she put all the food she eats?" Leah asks.

"We have no idea, but Rose's mom Lilian says Alice has a hollow leg," I laugh.

We all looked up the menu for Sammich in Seattle. Edward is surprised it is a food truck, but I've had their food before. It is amazing. We all send our orders to Rose. My first client comes in at eleven, and I stay busy with them until about ten to one. As I clean my room, I hear Rose come in.

"I'm setting the food in the workspace room, come and get it," Rose states.

"Holy shit that sandwich is huge!" Edward says.

I look over and see that Alice opened the container holding her Da Burger Double - Holy Grail style and laugh. It is two huge burger patties with bacon, pastrami, several kinds of cheese, jalapenos, and Sammich's famous giardiniera. There is so much food there it is stupid.

"Alice, I thought you were eating light for lunch to save room for the all-you-can-eat meat place," Leah says.

"I am," she says before she takes a huge bite of her sandwich, which seems to be bigger than her head.

Quill, Leah, and Edward all just look at her like she is possessed.

"Emmett got two of those burgers, between the two of them they can eat half a beef at a sitting I think," Rose says.

Leah and Quill eat but are both quiet as they take in the food-binging antics of my brother and friend.

"Rose, now I know why you work so much, you have to help feed that man," Quill says.

"You should try to pay for Alice's food bill," Jasper jokes.

"Hey, we pay for our food," Emmett says.

"Yes, you do," Rose states.

"Does anyone have any extra giardiniera? My half of the Cubana doesn't have much," Alice states.

"Here, Alice, you can have mine. I always get it on the side because too much of it is too spicy for me," Leah says.

After lunch, I have a private appointment, so I head up and ready the room. I am about done when I hear the buzzer. I go down to get my client, Fred.

"Hey, Fred, you ready to finish this up today?"

"Yeah," he says.

Fred is a man of few words, and he really prefers the quiet. I spent about four hours working on the final part of a full-back piece for him. Fred is a fellow tattoo shop owner here in Seattle. I agreed to do his tattoo because he willingly takes clients, we have troubles with. Fred is very talented but there is something about him that is not inviting when he puts his mind to it. He is genuinely a nice person and we all love him, but it is like he has the ability to repel people if needed. Normally the piece I am doing for him would have cost about sixteen hundred dollars, but I told him at the start I'd do it for a thousand dollars. He gave me eight hundred when we started this tattoo. When I wrap him up today, he hands me an envelope. I can't help but shake my head, it's supposed to be two hundred dollars, but there are a thousand dollars in the envelope.

"Fred, I told you a total of a thousand, not eighteen hundred dollars."

"Tip," he shrugs.

I give him a sidearm hug, and thank him.

"Come on, I will walk you out," I tell him.

"Thanks," Fred says, as he follows me down.

I let him out with a wave, and he never says anything else. I go back upstairs and clean the room.

"Hey, Bells, I noticed on the computer you closed out Fred, how was he today?" Alice asks.

"Quiet as usual," I respond, finishing up the room.

"Yeah, he is always quiet. The only conversations you will get out of that man is an email or text. He writes really well, and his work is crazy good," Alice says following me down the steps and into the workspace room.

"I know, Alice, it is strange how he can be friendly and nice to some without using any words, yet I have seen people cross the street to not walk past him."

"It makes me wonder how his shop is successful," Alice says.

"His talent alone makes him successful," I say, as Edward walks in.

"You two must be talking about that guy who just left a little bit ago," Edward says.

"Yes, that was Fred Browning, he owns Needle Point over off of Clay Street. He is very talented, but he can be very standoffish, or rather there is something about him that people pick up on and it makes them want to stay away from him," Alice says.

"I've seen some of his work, he is good. He didn't seem unfriendly with Bella," Edward states.

"He's not, Fred is just very quiet. He did a few tattoos for Jerry back in the day, and they were friends. Fred does have a large clientele though, even if some people find it hard to be around him. He is just quiet and lets people think what they want. Jerry introduced me to him a long time ago."

"If he owns a shop, why doesn't he have his work done in-house?" Leah asks.

"Well Bells here is the absolute best in Seattle with Black and Gray Realism," Alice answers.

"And he doesn't trust easily," I add.

"Makes sense, Bella is the best, and I know from experience having trust in someone touching you with a needle and ink is important," Edwards states.

"Yo, are you ready to blow this popsicle stand?" Emmett walks in and bellows.

"I'm ready to buy you a fucking gag for that damn loud mouth of yours," Rose snarks walking in behind him.

"Rosie, why are you so crabby?" Emmett asks.

"Mainly because of your big mouth," she states. "How are things around here?"

"Things are great," Alice says. "Jasper, we have to go, it is time to get ready for our date."

"Yes, dear, let us go eat some meat."

"That's what she said," Leah and Emmett say at the same time.

I shake my head and see Edward is chuckling.

"Wanna go have dinner at Five Points, or go home and cook?" I ask.

"Oh, we need to go to Five Points, Diego sent me a few tips for Jane," Edward smiles.

"Well, I suppose we need to make sure her ammo is full, let's go," I say.

"Hey, Bells, we will meet you there," Rose says, as she grabs Emmett's arm and drags him out of the room.

"Okay, Leah, we are leaving too. Are you heading home for the night or joining us?" I ask.

"Well, I am going to head home for the night. If you need anything, call, no matter what time it is."

"I thought you said you didn't think we have anything to worry about," Edward says.

"I don't think you do, but I heard a little while ago that things could be going down very soon, like maybe even sometime in the next week or two. Just keep your eyes open and call if you so much as get the feeling that something is not right."

"Okay," I say and take a hold of Edward's hand.

A/N: What do you think of the dynamics of the shop with Leah? Things are coming to a head with the drama aspect soon. Hope you are all still enjoying the story.