Author's Note:

Hello! Hope you all had a good holiday, whichever one you celebrate! Thank you all for continuing to read and review! Please keep them coming!

Let's see what our boy is up to now…

I still don't own it.

Chapter 21

EPOV

Christmas had made way for the new year, and Bella and I had actually gotten to spend New Year's Eve together, thanks to my parents who had decided to forgo their usual party and have a sleepover with their grandkids instead. Bella and I had settled into a nice routine over the past few months, spending time with Maggie and time alone together whenever we could. As much as I enjoyed any time I got alone with her, I honestly enjoyed our time with Maggie more. Watching Bella with Maggie made me long even more for the family I'd always envisioned myself having. I loved my daughter with every fiber of my being but raising her alone wasn't easy. I'd always wanted what my parents had, a partner in every sense, and I was grateful for the support my family had given me over the years, but it wasn't the same as having that one special person. The person to come home to every day, laugh with, share hopes and dreams with, raise a family with. Bella was that person, of that I was completely sure, and at times, I cursed my younger self for going through with marrying Tanya when I had known she wasn't the real thing.

Shaking my head, I brought myself back to the present and glanced at the clock on my office wall, sighing when I saw I still had an hour before I needed to leave. I had a meeting with my lawyer that afternoon, and I was anxious to speak with him. I'd never been one for new year resolutions, but this year, I'd resolved to do whatever it took to free myself from Tanya so I could move forward with Bella. If I were honest, I'd wanted to be free for years, for myself, not only for Bella. I had planned to figure out a way before now, but I'd procrastinated. I knew it wouldn't be an easy process, and I just hadn't known where to begin, so I'd taken the easy way out and put it off. Bella had been more than understanding, but I wanted her to know that she was worth whatever hoops I had to jump through to pursue our future together. I was a little ashamed to admit that it had taken a kick in the butt by Maggie to get me into gear and make an appointment with my attorney. I smiled sadly as I remembered the conversation with my daughter the week before.

I was cooking dinner on one of the rare evenings Bella wasn't with us when Maggie came into the kitchen and climbed on a barstool to watch me. I glanced over when I heard her come into the room, but she didn't say anything for several minutes. Finally, just when I was about to ask her what was up, her sweet little voice spoke timidly.

"Daddy?"

"What's up, baby girl?" I asked, waiting for her to say more. Something was clearly on her mind.

"Why isn't Bella eating with us? I miss her," Maggie said.

"Well, she had a meeting this evening, so she couldn't come over," I told her. As the months had passed, Bella had spent more and more evenings with us, so her not being here was the exception to the rule these days.

"Daddy?" Maggie asked again, after she'd gone silent for a couple of minutes.

"What, baby?"

"Is Bella your girlfriend?" she asked, and I froze, not knowing how to respond, but Maggie continued before I could. "If she is, then why don't you hug and kiss her like Uncle Em and Aunt Rosie, or Nana and Papa?"

I took a moment to consider how to respond. As much as I wanted to tell her the truth, that Bella was my girlfriend, I couldn't put the burden of our secret on her tiny shoulders. Knowing I had to give her some kind of answer, though, I chose my words carefully. "Baby, Bella can't be my girlfriend, because I'm married to your mother. Bella is like our best friend," I explained.

"I wish Bella was my mom, then you could be married to her, and she could be with us all the time," Maggie said sadly.

I closed my eyes and sucked in a ragged breath, dying to tell her that I wanted that too, but I couldn't. I wanted to pound my fist into the wall or throw something, anything to quell the rage in my heart. I'd tried to do the right thing by keeping Tanya's secret and taking care of her all this time, but all I'd done was hurt my baby girl in the long run. Not to mention the way I was hurting Bella and myself. I knew there was no use dwelling on the past, but I couldn't stop myself from wishing again that things had turned out differently or that I'd handled the situation differently back then. Yes, it would have been hard then, but how much harder would it be now?

Not knowing what to say to my daughter, I sat on the bar stool next to her and pulled her into my lap. She looped her little arms around my neck, and I held her close, trying desperately to figure out what to say or do. Maggie pulled back a little and looked at me, then reached a little hand up to my face.

"I didn't mean to make you sad, Daddy," she whispered as she wiped away a tear off my cheek that I wasn't even aware had fallen.

"You didn't do anything, baby girl," I said. "I'm sorry that you don't have a mommy the same way your friends and cousins do."

"It's okay, Daddy. I just wish Bella was my mom because I love her and I want her to live with us," Maggie said, as if her reasoning should have been obvious all along.

"Well, I know Bella loves you, too. And I like having her with us, too, so we will just keep her around as much as we can," I told her, hoping that would suffice.

Maggie agreed then ran off to play until dinner was ready. I went through the motions of finishing dinner, eating, and getting Maggie ready for bed, but my mind was spinning. I had known for a long time that I'd have to take some difficult steps in order to do the right thing for Bella and Maggie, but I'd been a coward. But I resolved then and there to get the ball rolling and do right by both of my girls. I called and made an appointment the next day.

I checked the time again and saw it was finally close enough to leave work and head across town. I let Rosalie know I would be out for the rest of the afternoon, then left. I hadn't told anybody where I was going, simply that I had an appointment that day. I wasn't prepared to answer any questions, not until I knew for sure what was going to happen. I could admit to myself that I also didn't want anyone to try and sway my decision, not that they would have succeeded. I knew I should probably feel remorse for what I was about to do, but I honestly didn't feel like I owed Tanya any more of my life at this point. I wasn't a total bastard; I had no intention of just washing my hands of her completely. I was willing to work with her parents if needed to make sure she continued getting the care she needed. What I was no longer willing to do was stay married to her, nor be the only one to shoulder the burden of her care. Her parents already paid for part of her care that wasn't covered by insurance, but I was the sole decision maker. Over the last couple of years, Tanya's immune system had grown progressively weaker, and she seemed to catch every illness that swept through the nursing facility, so decisions constantly needed to be made when the doctors presented options for treatment. I'd always consulted her parents, especially with Eleazar being a doctor, but any decisions that had to be made were ultimately mine. We had always agreed that we would not take measures to prolong her life, but some treatment was necessary to keep her from suffering needlessly. That decision making power was something I'd never really been comfortable with, so I was relieved that control would be out of my hands with the divorce or whatever happened.

I pulled up to the law office and sat in my truck for a minute, trying to dampen my anxiety. Finally, I got out and headed inside, even though I was a little early. I checked in with the receptionist, then sat in the waiting area until I was called. Finally, I heard my name.

"Edward?" a voice called, and I looked up to see Jay Jenks, my attorney. "Come on back."

I stood and followed him back to his office after shaking his hand. Once inside we got down to business after a few general pleasantries. One of the things I liked about the man was that he didn't beat around the bush, and sure enough, less than an hour later I was walking out the door. I'd worked myself up, half expecting to be told breaking free of Tanya wasn't possible, but in reality, the conversation had been fairly simple. There were some kinks to work out considering this wasn't just a straightforward divorce, but it wasn't impossible. We'd ended the conversation with Jenks promising to research what it would take to get this done and get Tanya's medical care lined out. He'd promised to be in touch when he had more information, and we could get the papers drawn up. It wouldn't necessarily be a quick process, but I was relieved to at least have the ball rolling. I also couldn't wait to tell Bella. She'd never pushed, but I wanted to show her that I was taking the steps to move toward our future.

It was mid-afternoon and she wouldn't be off work for a couple of hours, but I couldn't wait. Taking a chance, I drove to Twilight Publishing. I'd never been to Bella's office, but once inside, the girl at the front desk pointed me in the right direction. I walked down the hall and into an open area full of cubicles. Just as I was looking around the edge of the room to locate the correct office, I heard my name called and looked over to see Angela Cheney.

"Hey, Angela! How are you? Been a while," I said as she left her desk and met me in the aisle.

"Pretty good, how are you?" she asked.

"Doing good," I said. "How's Ben? You need to join us sometime when the gang gets together."

"Ben's fine, and yeah, that sounds good. Anyway, you're looking for Bella, I assume?"

"Yeah, I was hoping I could catch her, but it may be a bad time."

"Nah, she doesn't have any meetings this afternoon. She's in her office," Angela said, pointing toward a door in the corner.

"Great, thanks! We'll catch up soon!" I said as I walked toward Bella's office.

Once there, I knocked lightly on the open door and watched the smile spread on my girl's face when she looked up and saw me.

"Edward! What are you doing here?" she said as she got up and came around her desk to greet me. She kept things chaste with a kiss on the cheek and I had a hard time not pulling her into my arms and really kissing her, but that was nothing new.

"I was hoping we could talk if you have some time?" I asked.

Bella cocked her head in question, but simply stepped behind me and closed the door, then sat in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "I have time. What's up?" she asked, as I sat in the chair beside her.

"Well, I had an appointment this afternoon that I wanted to tell you about," I said.

"What kind of appointment? Are you okay?" she asked, looking alarmed.

"Oh, no, baby, it's nothing like that. I'm fine," I reassured. "I had an appointment with my attorney."

"Okaaay," she said, drawing out the word in question.

"Baby, I met with him to get the ball rolling on our future. I'm going to divorce Tanya," I said.

"What? Edward, you don't have to do that for me. I don't expect you to do that."

"I know you don't expect it. And I'm not just doing it for you. I'm doing it for us and for Maggie. I'm not willing to live in this limbo forever. I always intended to figure something out, but I've been a coward until now," I told her honestly.

"May I ask what changed?" Bella asked.

"Nothing changed," I said, smiling ruefully. "I just got a kick in the pants. From Maggie."

Bella's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What did she say?"

"Well, she asked me if you were my girlfriend, and of course I had to tell her no. I felt like shit, having to lie to her. I always feel like shit for what I'm doing to you, having to hide like we do, but I've never had to flat out lie to Maggie."

"You aren't doing anything to me that I didn't agree to, but that's a different conversation. What did you tell her?" Bella asked softly.

"I told her that you were our best friend, but you couldn't be my girlfriend because I'm married to her mother. Then the real kick was when she told me she wishes you were her mom."

Bella gasped and I saw tears shimmering in her eyes.

"That's what I want, if you want it, too," I told her, and Bella nodded and swiped a tear away. "I don't want you to think that I'm only doing this for Maggie. I would have done it for us anyway, but it's past time. I don't want to hurt you anymore by hiding our relationship. I want a future with you, and this is the only way I know how to make that happen. It won't be fast, and it won't be easy, but it's what I want for us."

"I want it, too, Edward. I would have waited, but I'm happy that things are in motion," she said, then stood and leaned over to kiss me quickly before sitting back down. "So, what did your lawyer say?"

I told Bella what Jenks and I had talked about and that he would be getting back to me when he had more information. I also told her how I was willing to continue to help pay for Tanya's care if needed. I had a trust fund from my grandparents that I'd never touched, and I'd use part of it if I had to. I'd been saving it for Maggie's future, but there was plenty to do everything I needed to do for Maggie and for Tanya. Part of me hated to spend it on Tanya, so I thought of it more as being for Bella and our future.

When I finished sharing the details with Bella, she moved over to sit on my lap. Kissing me softly she said, "You are truly a good man. I love you, and I love that you are doing this for us."

"I love you, too, baby," I said, then kissed her again, deeper this time.

After I few minutes, I pulled back and said, "It's probably best if we don't continue this in your office, so I'm going to go."

Bella giggled and climbed off my lap. "I'll see you this evening?" she asked, and I nodded to confirm and dropped another kiss on her lips before I opened her office door. I left Bella's office and headed to pick up Maggie from school, feeling light and happy, knowing a real future with my two best girls was on the horizon.

BPOV

After Edward left my office, I started counting in my head and sat back in my chair, watching the doorway expectantly. I made it to twenty-three before Angela appeared and rushed inside, closing the door behind her.

"Took you longer than I expected," I grinned.

"Well, I had to wait for him to be out of sight," Angela said, not embarrassed by her blatant nosiness at all. "So…a quickie in your office? I didn't know you had it in you, boss."

I laughed at her giddy expression and couldn't resist the opening she left me. "I didn't have it in me. He was only here for fifteen minutes, and I can assure you even a quickie with Edward takes longer than that!"

"Okay…yeah, TMI," she said with a scrunched-up face.

"You started it!"

"Okay, fine, I started it," she shrugged. "For real though, everything okay? He's never dropped in before."

"You know, I might have to start calling you Alice with your tendency to interrogate me," I said jokingly. Angela was nothing like Alice. Her inquisitiveness came from a place of genuine caring.

"Don't even go there," she said crossly. "Now you don't have to tell me of course, but what's going on with Edward? And since you mentioned her, what's up with Alice?"

"You know I was only kidding, and as far as Alice goes, I have no idea. I haven't heard from her in a while," I told her sadly and Angela grimaced sympathetically. I had to swallow past the lump in my throat at the thought of Alice. I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that our friendship was apparently over. She'd texted me a few times in the weeks after our last argument, nagging me to visit Tanya, but after I'd refused a few times, she'd given up and I hadn't heard from her since, and our usual game nights had been just Emmett, Rose, Edward, and me since then as well.

"I'm sorry, Bella. That really sucks. You guys have been friends forever."

"Yeah, we have, but I think it's safe to say it's over now. I hate it. Much of the guilt I feel for being with Edward is because of Alice, but even if she knew her accusations were correct, the way she's treated Edward and me both is not exactly what I want in a friend, you know?" Angela nodded and I continued. "I know I've never said it, but I'm grateful to have you, Ang."

"Same goes, my friend," she said and started to rise. "Anyway, I'll leave you alone about Edward and get back to work."

"No, you're fine. I'll tell you; I just don't have much information. Edward met with his lawyer today. He's going to divorce Tanya."

"Oh, Bells! That's great!" she said, but I just shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean, yeah, I'm happy about it, but it's just a shitty situation. I know he doesn't necessarily care what anyone thinks, but I know deep down he feels bad. I mean, the woman is in a coma and it's going to look like he's just walking away because he doesn't give a shit, even though that's not the case." Angela nodded in understanding, and we talked for a few more minutes before we both got back to work.

I tried to focus for the rest of the afternoon, but I couldn't stop thinking about Edward's news. I had told Angela the truth; I was happy that he had taken this step, but I also felt guilty. For all her faults and the fact that we hadn't been extremely close, Tanya had been my friend. For the first time since Edward and I had given in to our feelings, I felt a little like I was stealing her husband. Maybe it was just the thought of everything coming to light eventually that made me uneasy. No matter how long we waited to date in the open after the divorce, people would make the connection and Alice would definitely know the truth when the time came. Not everyone would be as understanding as the few people who already knew. So, as happy as I was, I was also acutely aware that we did not have an easy road in front of us.

Author's Note: Well…he FINALLY did it. Not everything he needs to do, but at least it's a start.

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