Bella

She tossed and turned in her bed, took the pillow, punched through the fluffiness and set it down, smoothed it out, and plopped her head back onto it.

Despite the warm response she sent Edward, though it may have come back as condescending depending on who read it, she wondered if she shouldn't have left it alone. He obviously wanted to have the last word, and engaging with someone on this low-level vibration was never the way to resolve a conflict. Yet, she couldn't just let it be.

No matter how much she told herself it didn't bother her, his words were like poisonous darts that hit her, aimed for her eyeballs. They stung with alarming precision.

Irritating. Stubborn…par for the course…she'd not let those words bother her in the past.

But vile…vile…while it had a number of meanings leaning more toward bad and offensive, her ego honed in on the reflection of disgust…and Bella had been a lot of things, people perceived her in many ways—but disgust…this troubled her.

I'm not vile, she told herself.

He's just a little man, ignorant to the ways of the universe, and he doesn't know me. She held back tears…but then remembered that no matter what he said and how he made her feel, she had the choice to fester in it. She could either disclaim its validity, or she could take the lesson and see where it was within herself that she allowed herself to be upset by it.

Vile…why did this word upset her? Was it because Sam Peterson in junior high had called her Whale-a Bella? Because he'd been disgusted with her when she'd been obese, and she'd been disgusted with herself? Probably. She stopped suppressing it and let the tears fall. It hurt. Badly. Bella sent the email to Edward to show there were no hard feelings, but weren't there? Sobs wracked through her—a full two minutes' worth—and when she was done, she wiped her nose with a tissue. She told herself that she was worthy of love, that he didn't know her, that he was dealing with issues of his own, and that it wasn't about her. After releasing and letting go of the hurt, she wished him love from her heart, not just from the edge of her own defense, but that forgiving him was as good as forgiving that heavy pre-teen who was made fun of…and the realization that she was safe. Her life was amazing. All was well. Then, a yawn broke through her mouth, and finally she fell asleep.

When she awoke the next morning, she was tempted to check her email, to see if he had sent back another nasty retort. She resisted. Mr. Edward Masen was a man in pain, and he wasn't seeking help

for it. There was no point in engaging in further possible hurtful communication with him. She sipped her tea and looked at the schedule that Angela had sent her. The culmination of her world tour was during the middle of June.

The Disney cruise.

She'd had a few days of workshops scheduled along with a lot of much needed R & R. Months of seminars and travel had left her drained, not to mention her current book was in dire need of some attention. June was around the corner, and thankful for the upcoming reprieve, she browsed her emails, not surprised that he'd replied…and promptly deleted it.

Edward

Of all the nerve of her to write such an antagonistic email. The sarcasm dripped from her words.

He formulated his reply.

Dear Miss Swan:

I don't give a shit about your well wishes or whatever it is that you think I need. My opinion of you hasn't changed one bit. I wish I'd never seen you, or that my daughter had never found you. Please do not respond to this email as it doesn't serve either of us.

I do wish you caution in the drivel you are feeding your followers and warn you that the harm you are causing is far greater than you can imagine. Though this may not deter you, I believe that karma always catches you in the end.

Sincerely,

Edward Masen, ESQ

He'd been about to close his laptop when Renesmee bounded down the stairs with Bella's book in her grasp, and he smiled at his daughter, trying not to be openly dismayed at the sight.

"I hope you're hungry," he said, gesturing to the stack of pancakes.

She drizzled syrup over them, and just before he could engage her in conversation, found that her nose was in the book, and now on the other side of his laptop sat the back cover, featuring the smiling face of Miss Bella Swan.

The doorbell rang, signaling Alice's arrival. He'd been so enthusiastic about formulating a nasty reply to Miss Swan after breakfast that he'd forgotten to unlock the door for her.

"Can you get that?" he said to Renesmee, intending to hit send on the email, when the doorbell sounded again. His daughter didn't acknowledge him, and when he stood, he found her gaze intently on the page she was reading. He hurried to the front door, letting Alice inside.

"Sorry," Alice said. "I forgot my key at home."

He apologized for not leaving it unlocked for her, and asked her if she was hungry. "We have a lot of pancakes if you're…"

That was when they entered the kitchen and Nessie stared up at him, from his laptop, tears in her eyes.

"Daddy, you sent these emails to her? Why would you do that?" Her lips were curled into a tragic frown.

"Ahhh. Ness…you don't understand…"

"You called her vile! Daddy, what kind of a monster are you?"

"Nessie…I…" Edward was at a loss. He'd behaved badly…attacked her idol, and in his daughter's young mind there would be no understanding.

Nessie rose and grabbed her book, leaving her breakfast half-eaten on her plate. She ran into Alice's arms.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked, but Nessie shook her head and ran upstairs to her room. Alice looked at Edward, but he had no explanation to offer. He went back to his email, found that it had been sent, but when he looked at the body of it she'd changed his words…the whole first paragraph.

It said:

I'm so VERY SORRY for what I wrote.

She sent it, and Edward's mouth dropped open.

An apology?! He strode to his daughter's room with the intention of reprimanding her for tampering with his email and touching his private property but stopped when he found Alice crouched over her on the bed as Nessie sobbed into her pillow.

"Alice, can I speak to her alone?"

With sad eyes, Alice left the room and Edward closed the door behind her.

"Ness…look, it was a personal communication between Bella Swan and me…and she…"

"What? Sent you love and light?"

Edward faltered. As smart as his young daughter was, she was still too immature to understand the nuances of language. She mistook the tone, and the antagonism…

And now, Miss Swan had surely turned his daughter against him…without even trying.

"I'm sorry, Ness. It's just that things aren't the way they seem."

She sniffled…and buried her face in the pillow. He hoped she wasn't going to hold her breath like she used to do a couple years ago.

Instead, she turned her head away toward the window on the other side of the room.

"Nessie…talk to me."

Nothing.

She simply lay there, limp, and when he went to the other side of the bed to meet her eyes, she turned the other way. The silent treatment.

So, this was how it was going to be…

"Alright, Ness. I guess you're going to be mad at me then. Okay. I love you, I'm sorry that what I did hurt you, and I never meant for that to happen."

He sat on the bed and waited. She still lay there, her gaze far off in space…reminding him of her mother. Rose was the queen of passive aggression and while Ness hadn't seen it personally, it must've been genetic. He hoped that she wasn't like her mother so much that days would have to pass before they reached a settlement.

One Week Later:

Friday night

He came home, his brain exhausted from the deliberating he'd done, the research, the countless witness investigations…and he'd brought work home with him. The case was coming up Monday—he hoped they would reach either a conclusion or agree on a deal. It was not helpful to have this tension between his daughter and him. Edward opened the door, and he looked at Alice.

"How is she?"

"She's still mad at you. I'm available this weekend," she said.

He was going to try to smooth it out with her…he couldn't let this go on any longer. He needed to have his head on straight. "I'll let you know, thank you." For sure, he'd need her most of Sunday because he had to review his files prior to court.

"Goodnight," he said, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Ness," he said, coming into the room. He'd just heard a voice coming from the screen on her ipad. When he approached her, she ducked underneath her covers. "Come on. When are you going to talk to me?"

She stayed quiet, and he debated whether to take the godforsaken tablet and throw it out the window…restrict her access to this woman's content, burn the book in a trash can…he wished he could set fire to the memories she had in her brain.

No, he wasn't going to do this. Instead, he nodded, accepting defeat. So, rubbing his neck with his hand, he said, "I love you, Ness. Goodnight and sweet dreams."

Since it was the weekend, he wondered if she would stay in her room the entire time.

"Hey, I have an idea," he said, and though she joined him for breakfast, she didn't look at him. Instead, her gaze fixed on the pages of the book, and he kept meeting the eyes in the image of Miss Swan. "Why don't we go check out the play over at the theater? Beauty and the Beast is your favorite. Then we can go out for ice cream?"

Silence.

"Ness, come on! You can't just stay mad at me."

When she didn't respond, he plucked the book away from her view, and she folded her arms, looking away.

"Okay. Okay. I can't handle this anymore, Ness. I've said I was sorry. Tell me what I can do. We can't keep doing this."

She stood then, not meeting his eyes, and ran upstairs. "Wait. Ness, what?"

His daughter came back a minute later, holding a flier. She set it on the table between them…hadn't even bothered to hand it to him.

He looked down at the paper—a mailer from Disney cruises, advertising how there were still bookings available for mid-June. Edward blew out a breath. Nessie had mentioned this before, and now he wondered if his clever daughter wasn't just manipulating him to achieve this goal. If she was, could he be upset? Of course, except for that it had been months since they'd spent time together in a relaxing environment. And then Rose's voice whispered to him like a phantom:

Just take her, Edward.

"Finish your breakfast," he said, feeling like he'd been played like a musical instrument. Weren't the females the ultimate manipulators? As if it wasn't bad enough that Renesmee was using their disagreement to go on this cruise, now phantom Rose was telling him what to do. In fact, he missed Phantom Rose. She'd helped Edward get through those first few years, guiding him how to manage their young daughter's needs. Whenever he needed her…the voice…her voice whispered to him in his mind.

Nessie went back to her room, taking her book with her. Hours later, he returned to find her adding butterfly stickers to her vision board…but at least she'd removed Bella Swan's photo, as per their agreement.

"You win," he said, setting the paper down on her desk in front of him; it showed the confirmation. "It departs June 16 and we come back on the 23rd. Jasper is making the flight arrangements as we speak."

"Just you and me?" she asked, her eyes on the page.

He had considered bringing Alice but realized that in doing so he was telling his daughter that she should expect his attention to be elsewhere. "Just you and me."

She turned around, and her lips, for the first time in over a week, curved upward. "Thank you, Daddy."

"Okay…so, this is it, right? No more hard feelings about Bella Swan? No more mention of our interactions…we're done with this, right?"

Her arms squeezed around him so tight, and his heart melted. Had she been acting out because she'd been missing time together with him? She acted twice her age, but she was still only eight years old. "Yes, Daddy. No hard feelings. All is perfect."

A/N: Poor Edward sees that actions have consequences! Next up the Disney cruise! Stay with me for more, and thanks to you all for reading, following, and supporting! I always appreciate your feedback.