Bella's Thanksgiving

by CodependentLiza

A short but sweet one-shot of an emotionally needy and vulnerable Bella finding home in Edward's arms, as orchestrated by Alice at the arrivals gate. AH, canon pairings. Now made multi-chapter fic.

1. One Shot

Happy New Year, friends. Here's a holiday one-shot-hope it helps you start 2025 feeling loved and wanted.

Speaking of feeling loved and wanted, the movie Gifted with Chris Evans is an amazing model of fatherly affection that might be healing to see (in the better-understand-what-you've-missed-so-you-can-forgive-yourself-for-your-desperate-actions-and-feelings department) if, like me, that's what you've been searching for your whole life.

Many thanks to Stephenie Meyer...the more I write fanfic, the more I understand the power of her casting and her premise. Absolutely indelible, loyal love - give me more please! Definitely our own special brand of heroin - may it help and not hurt you in the year to come.

Yours,

Liza xoxo

...

Edward Cullen is leaning up against the hallway wall opposite the arrivals exit for Delta Flight 263 from Seattle. He had been tasked by Alice, his little sister, to intercept one Isabella Swan on her no-doubt shy and panicked exit. Edward had asked, "And how will I recognize our Miss Isabella?" and Alice had laughed, her light, twinkly, fairly-lights-laugh and said, "Oh you can't miss Bella. She always looks like she's expecting to be eaten by a tiger lurking nearby, and while she's busy searching out the hidden tiger she's running into things and people and falling over her own feet. She's tiny and it's a good thing or she'd be a real hazard; instead, she's adorable."

"I'll take that under advisement, Alice," Edward had replied drily.

But Alice wouldn't have it. "No, you won't! She's absolutely perfect for you and you'll be in love the moment you set eyes on her! I wouldn't let her near you otherwise, because she's terrified of men and you can be especially scary, but I trust you to be kind, and to let me plan the wedding."

Edward was uncharacteristically speechless at this assessment of his character and Alice's future predictions, and managed only a mildly sarcastic, "Scary, Alice? Really?"

Alice didn't bother answering because he is scary, quite frequently, often on purpose, and they both know it. So instead she had chattered on with the flight information, which was wholly unnecessary because she had just texted it as well but Alice liked to talk, and a general description of Bella, just in case "tiny woman searching for tigers and falling over own feet" wasn't enough of a guide.

Edward had interrupted and said, "Just send me a photo, Alice," but Alice had retorted, "Absolutely not. I want your first interaction to be open-minded, and if I give you all the data you will have already shut down. You have to work for this one, Edward, but you'll be glad you did." Then she reflected, and added, "Besides, you already have a ton of them, in my Instagram account, if you were paying attention – which you obviously were not!"

And with that she had, most uncharacteristically for Alice, hung up.

Edward had stared at his phone a couple moments, incredulously processing Alice's abrupt leave-taking before pocketing it with a shake of his handsome head and a slightly cross, slightly affectionate, "Alice!" huffed under his breath. He then proceeded with his usual morning, wrapping up his overnight shift as the head ER attending in one of NYC's best teaching hospitals to make a previously unscheduled trip out to the airport—on the busiest travel day of the year, no less—to pick up one 20-year-old college co-ed, Alice's roommate talked into visiting Alice's family in NYC for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Edward had no idea how difficult it had been for Alice to get her roommate there. Isabella had turned down the invitation several times, insisting that she would just be going home to Forks, WA like usual, thanking Alice for her kindness in inviting her but clearly having zero intention of taking her up on it.

It was only Alice's meddling with Isabella's father that made the arrangement possible. Alice had called Charlie Swan at work, at the Forks Police Department, and had talked him into telling his daughter not to come home for the holidays; that he was going to have Thanksgiving with his girlfriend Sue and their family instead.

Charlie wisely balked at this, not wanting to hurt his daughter, as much as he was also happy to say "Yes" to his own Thanksgiving invitation of sorts, though it was a First Nations celebration instead. He knew Sue would welcome Bella as well, but he also knew Bella wouldn't enjoy it, not knowing or being comfortable around the boisterous Clearwater family and not having a safe role to fall back on in the kitchen.

Alice almost regretted her meddling when she saw how upset and hurt Bella was at the news that her father was ditching their many-year Thanksgiving tradition for the Clearwater home, and expected her either to come with him or do something else herself. Bella had no intention of doing either, and was planning just on curling up in her room with a book on Turkey Day, when Alice handed her the printout of a flight itinerary with her name on it.

"You don't have to come, Bella, but then the tickets will go to waste."

Bella was horrified. "Alice!"

Alice just said back, "Please?!"

Bella shook her head in a panic. "Alice, I don't have the right clothes! I don't know where I'm going! I've never taken an Uber! I just can't!"

Then Alice pulled out the big guns. "Oh well. I told Esme you'd help her because our housekeeper had to go home to take care of her sick mother; Esme's never done Thanksgiving by herself before, and she's freaked out about it. But that's OK; she'll be fine I'm sure. We'll just go out to eat."

Bella stared at Alice for several seconds, trying to find a way to say "No" to this new, guilt-laden invitation. She had almost found one when Alice closed the deal. "We'll just have to tell the couple of moms and their kids from the shelter that we can't host them this year. We'll drop some take-out off for them after we go out, so at least they'll get something good to eat while they're stuck there, hiding out."

That did it, as Alice knew perfectly well it would. Something Bella would never do in a million years for herself, she would do in a heartbeat for others.

"I can help Esme cook, Alice! Don't tell them that," Bella said in earnest reply.

Alice grinned. "OK, Bella! Actually, I already did, so it's a good thing you're coming because otherwise everyone would be really disappointed. Especially Edward."

Bella stared speechless at Alice, now resigned and horrified in equal measure. She had forgotten about Alice's smart, handsome older brother. She would just stay in the kitchen. Men almost never came in there, in her experience, except to raid the refrigerator.

Alice acted like she didn't notice, but of course she did. Alice notices everything.

Alice also thinks of everything, when it's something she cares about, so she had a new carry-on, packed with clothes that would fit Bella (purchased new for the occasion), labelled and ready to go when Alice herself left the weekend before Thanksgiving, not caring about missing a class or two and determined to maximize her time home with Jasper.

Before she went down to the Uber waiting for her outside the dorm, she turned to Bella and said: "I've ordered a car for you already; all you have to do is be ready at 6 a.m. on Wednesday. I've packed your suitcase—it's right here" and Alice pulled forward the brand-new carry-on that Bella had barely noticed, assuming it was one more piece of luggage belonging to Alice. Bella's mouth dropped and she said, "Alice!" in a hushed and agonized tone, and Alice got ready to leave, not wanting to fight with Bella about the new clothes too in addition to the tickets to NYC.

"Don't worry about it, Bella; it's stuff you'll like, I promise you, and this way all you have to do is bring your backpack. I know you don't like packing!" and Alice reached up and placed a kiss on Bella's cheek because that was an understatement, and Bella hugged Alice good-bye, expressing her emotions the only way she could at the moment, which were love and loyalty returned to match Alice's own, but also fear and frustration, because she never in a million years would have been traveling by plane to NYC if left to her own devices.

And before she could say so, again, out loud, Alice skips lightly out the door, with a "See you at home, Bella! Be good!" and Bella is left in silence, the Louis Vuitton carry-on bearing silent witness.

Bella decides to ignore the carry-on and proceed as if she was not going to be using it in four days, and did so. The morning of her scheduled departure, she had just about worked up the courage to call Alice and tell her that she was very sorry, but she had come down with Covid and couldn't get on the plane.

Alice had anticipated this, however, and called Bella first—immediately after she spoke with Edward. "Hi, Bella! I'm so excited! Mom's asked some senior citizens over from church, too; I hope you don't mind – You'll be cooking for like a hundred people! I told Mom it wasn't fair, that you'd never even have time to come out and enjoy the meal yourself between getting everything ready and then cleaning up, but my mom said that you and she would be happy in the kitchen together, and the rest of us can amuse ourselves. I'm sorry about that," and Alice almost managed to sound a little sorry even though it was all a bald-faced lie.

Bella tries to say what she'd been practicing before falling asleep the night before, but can't get the words out, sighing instead and now resigned to following Alice's instructions on the matter.

"Do you have your suitcase and your backpack?" Alice asked, and Bella said quietly, "Yes, Alice," to which Alice responded "Good, because your ride's there. Go get in it, and I'll see you at the airport in a few hours!"

Bella's not ready. "But Alice, it's only 5:30!"

Alice responds, "I know, but you have a trip chaperone meeting you at 6:15 at the Delta door, so you have to go now."

"A what?"

"I'll explain in the car. Call me when you're moving; the car's waiting and the driver's name is Marvin."

Alice hung up, hoping that last bit would make Bella hustle. There really was no time to lose.

As if in a dream, Bella put her phone in her purse, put on first her sweater then her backpack, placed the purse over her shoulder, and grabbed hold of the dreaded carry-on. She both couldn't believe she was doing this and was absolutely resigned to the necessity of it, given Alice. In that moment, she had an insight about Alice's role in her father's perfidy, although as soon as she thought it, she shook it off, not quite understanding what could have made Alice that determined to have her at Thanksgiving. It's a good thing she didn't have a clue about Alice's designs on her future, because that would have been more than she could handle and she would have disappeared to hide at home, and Alice's plans would have been much delayed, or at least made much more difficult.

As it was, Alice had her chosen future sister-in-law all set to walk into the arms of her lonely big brother. It was perfect.

When Bella was delivered into Edward's arms, she didn't quite understand her role as VIP-very important package. She had dutifully met the woman named Carol that Alice had said would be waiting for her to guide her through airport security VIP style and travel with her to New York to make sure everything went smoothly. Bella couldn't yet conceive of someone's job being her escort, so she just assumed that Carol was another friend of Alice's, and Alice had coordinated her travel too. Carol caught on quickly, and didn't do anything to dispel the illusion, being forewarned by her employer that Bella was a tricky case, and would bend over backwards to help others but was a clear and present danger to herself.

Indeed, Carol cut Bella off twice from volunteering at the gate to be bumped from the flight, and watched incredulously as Bella entertained a small child in the waiting area who was acting up while his mother, busy with a smaller child, looked on helplessly. Bella offered to go on a walk with him to the stores across from the gate, carefully staying within view of the mother, and Carol accompanied them, listening with amusement as Bella indulged the child's imagination and contributed some of her own before buying him an overpriced coloring book and crayons with what looked to be her last twenty, and was.

Safely back at the gate, child occupied with crayons, the call came over for first class passengers and families needing extra time to board, and the little group gathered themselves, Bella still holding the hand of the reformed terror who now walked calmly down the gangway as Carol and the mother managed the boarding passes. The flight staff member wondered briefly what story was behind the young women flying first class apart from their family, and no one would have guessed they were strangers 45 minutes before.

Bella got them settled in their seats, and was bothered at how small the seats were so tentatively asked Carol as Carol was pulling Bella back to the front to take their own seats before main cabin boarding began, "Um, Carol? Maybe we should switch—"

In that moment, Carol saw with full and entire clarity why she was hired. "Absolutely not, Bella. Alice got those seats for us, and we are going to sit in them!" and with that she stood outside their two-seat, first-class row and waved a reluctant but obedient Bella into the window seat.

Carol had one more essential job performance moment, pulling down Bella's arm and shaking her head firmly at the flight attendant when volunteers to give up seats were once more asked for during the boarding process. After that, it was more typical flight escort responsibilities, albeit usually for small children: requesting a pillow and blanket from the flight staff, offering a book from her collection (Bella was pleased, if surprised, to find an old favorite on offer, and didn't think to ask Carol why her reading tastes ran so juvenile, there being a couple of mainstream romance novels for the pre-teen girls among the mix as well), and ordering drinks (ginger ale for Bella; diet Coke for Carol) and snacks and meals when Bella would have consumed nothing. Carol recognized the eating disorder at Bella's reaction to the food that appeared before her, and made a mental note to alert her employer (her employer was already well aware) while refusing to exit her seat and allow Bella to the bathroom until 30 minutes after the meal was, by Bella's standards anyway, complete.

Finally, just as Carol knew the seatbelt light would ding on any moment for their descent to New York, she turned to Bella (who was trying not to think about all the calories she had just consumed and would not be able to get back up) and said, "You can go to the bathroom now, but I'm going with you and standing outside the door. If I hear any suspicious sounds, I will call the flight attendant and she will open the door, in front of everybody."

Bella blanched at that, and then tried to avoid going at all, but Carol made her, as she knew the ginger ale and bottle of water she'd insisted Bella drink before would be causing her charge discomfort—and indeed they were.

So that's how well Carol managed Bella, getting her off the plane as quickly as possible as Carol had a tight window to pick up her next client at the Lufthansa desk for an overseas flight. She actually took Bella's hand, Bella's roller suitcase already in her other hand (Carol's own belongings were in a travel backpack on her shoulders), as they exited into the ocean of people at JFK, and Bella's eyes went wide as if she'd never been in a busy major metropolitan airport before (she hadn't). Bella was so grateful for the physical connection in that overwhelming sea of people, she didn't question it, but followed obediently behind Carol onto the moving sidewalks and then the escalator that spit them out to the arrivals area…where a tired-eyed but somehow even more handsome than usual (new beard growth on his sculpted jaw helped) Edward Cullen is leaning against the wall, sipping a coffee and watching for them.

Edward is watching much more carefully than he had when he first arrived, 15 minutes earlier. He had not been worried then at all, and was still mildly irritated with this chore added to his already long and exhausting early morning. When Jasper had, uncharacteristically, called him while he was standing in the Starbucks line, Edward had answered gruffly, "I'm in line for coffee, Jazz. Everything OK?"

Jasper had answered quietly, for he was acting outside official Alice channels at this point, "Everything's fine, Edward; I just wanted to give you a heads-up about the girl you're picking up this morning."

Edward raised his eyebrows even though Jasper wasn't there to see it. "Isabella Swan? What is it about this kid that has both you and Alice so worked up?"

Jasper laughed mildly. "Oh, she's got Ali worked up all right." There's a small pause, and then he added, "You know Alice tried to talk her into a threesome with us."

Edward was nonplussed, and not just because his little sister's sex life is the last thing he wants to discuss with anybody on the planet. He said brusquely, "Hold that thought, Jazz, preferably forever; I have to order," and put the phone down as he approached the barista who would be making his grande café latte with coconut milk.

Done with his order and waiting in line for pick-up, Edward put his phone back to his ear saying, "I'm back, Jasper, but only if you move on from any topic involving my little sister's and your sex life. Consider it an early Christmas present."

Jasper laughed, catching himself when he realized he's being a little loud as he doesn't want Alice hearing his end of the conversation, although he'll be happy to admit he's had it later. "Fair enough, man, but the central point here is not about me, but about Bella. She's special."

Edward sighed. "I'm getting that message, and it's reminding me of the time I flew to Paris with Alice and escorted 16 different bags of clothing home. Everything she saw was special! This is classic Alice, only this time it's a single human being which is hopefully easier to keep track of. What is it that you think I need to know to transport this girl from the airport to the house?"

Jasper grinned. He'd heard about that trip before, from both parties – magical kismet on Alice's end, trip from hell on Edward's. Then he got serious again, because Edward was not in the right head space yet, and Bella had landed. He doesn't really want to have a sexual relationship with Bella, but he already had an avuncular one that makes him worried for her safety and genuinely affectionate towards the girl - plus he knows how deep Alice's feelings go regarding her non-Jasper best friend. "Just that those 16 bags of fashion didn't have fear and shame issues that would make them jump out of a taxi if given half a chance."

"Jump out of a taxi? Is she suicidal?" Edward asked, truly concerned now and moving into ER-doctor assessment mode as well as experiencing an uptick of irritation, as ER-doctor assessment mode is something he prefers to turn off when not at work.

"Not suicidal, exactly, though I'm sure she is capable of trying again and we'll want to search her bags at some point before giving her free access to them, if we ever do that. No, she's more 'intensely emotionally reactive' than 'actively planning to kill herself,' but as I'm sure you can appreciate from your professional experience, that can end up in the same ugly spot if someone isn't paying attention – and I hope you are going to be paying attention for the next hour or so, until I can get eyes on her."

Edward vented. "Goddamnit, Jazz, if she's so high-maintenance, why the hell didn't you and Ali pick her up in the first place? It's not like you were working all night or anything!"

Jasper knew why not, and knew Alice has told Edward why not, but also knew Edward didn't believe it. He tried again. "Because Alice is convinced that she is perfect for you, and you are perfect for Bella. She might be wrong, but, in my experience, Alice isn't usually wrong about relationship matters – only about how many clothing items can fit in a suitcase or social events can fit in a day, on both of which points she is notoriously impaired in judgment. And even if Bella isn't the girl of your dreams, I do think you're the right pick for helping her get through the minefield of the next few days, because without you as an Alice barrier, the poor girl will be dragged into all sorts of social situations she wants nothing to do with."

This is the first Edward had heard that the approaching Bella doesn't like social situations. His brows lowered, and he said lowly after thanking the barista handing him his coffee and turning away to head to a good spot for watching incoming arrivals, "What's wrong with this girl, Jasper? Besides extreme emotional reactivity, I mean."

"Nothing's wrong with her, man; she's just really, well, I think the best term for it is 'little.'"

"She's a little person?" Edward asked, surprised because it didn't fit what he'd seen on Alice's Instagram account.

"Not physically, just emotionally, and relationally," Jasper clarified. "Didn't you do some human sexuality studies in medical school? She's a little, and not one who is just pretending in order to get attention or work through issues or something. No, Bella's absolutely, genuinely and really kind of amazingly little in this adorable way that is also extremely, extremely vulnerable. She's spent most of her teenaged and young-adult life in a small town when she's not at school, or I think she'd be dead by now. Her family's not great, but at least they usually give her a safe place to hide, but Alice interfered with that this holiday and I think we're going to be looking at a scared little girl who's already feeling more rejected than usual by her non-stellar father figure. I just wanted to give you a heads-up, so you could maybe avoid scaring her away before she even gets here, and keep some especially dramatic bad thing from happening if she were to try to run away from you."

"Run away from me? Jesus Christ, Jasper, why would she run away from me?"

"She's scared of men, Edward. Just put on your pediatrician persona, and you'll be fine, and so will she. And if you don't like her, I'll be her Daddy for the weekend. She likes me, and I like her, although not in the way Alice likes her, which I suppose will eventually be a problem but I can manage it one more weekend at least."

"Jesus, man, be her Daddy? Are you playing with me?"

Jasper was deadly serious when he answered. "Do I ever play around about vulnerable people, Edward?"

Edward stopped and thought about it. No, Jasper does not. He is uncommonly intuitive and kind, and that was only part of the reason he is going into psychiatry as a profession. The other reason was his own personal nightmare of a childhood, and all the suffering he witnessed. "Vulnerable people" is an understatement.

Edward responded with another sigh. "No, Jasper, you do not. And I promise I won't play around with Isabella. I am on notice to treat her like a small child, and I will do so, and ensure she gets to you and Alice safely, although I can't promise to do more than that because I'm exhausted and my pediatrician persona has a very limited lifespan."

Jasper smiled and responded warmly, "We couldn't ask for any more, and I wouldn't. That is perfect, and should give you the opportunity to see if there's anything about Isabella you're interested in, the way your sister thinks – or maybe just wants to believe – you will be interested in. And if there isn't, then she's all mine as soon as you arrive. I took the week off when I heard Alice's plans, which means there will be no Christmas for me, but that's how much I want not to see this little girl destroyed over the holiday."

"And how much you want to please Alice," Edward deadpanned in response.

Jasper laughed; he couldn't disagree. "Yep, and how much I want to please your very demanding but supremely wonderful sister. See you at home!"

Edward laughed back. "You're insane, Jasper, but I love you for it. See you at home," and they both disconnected.

Edward had just leaned against the wall, sipping his coffee and looking much more carefully than he would have before for an approaching petite brunette with daddy issues, when his phone beeped a text notification and he pulled it up to read a brief message from Jasper: "Forgot to mention, ask Uber to use child safety lock on her side."

Edward rolled his eyes, but messaged back, "Ofc," though there really wasn't anything "of course" about it. He flipped through his nearly photographic memory and identified the point where, he was reasonably certain, he could engage child safety locks on the rear doors in his BMW, not bothering to inform Jasper he had driven himself. Jasper is not a car lover as Edward is, and sees no reason to bother with driving himself in a city full of people all too eager to drive him wherever he wishes to go. Edward, on the other hand, hates not being in control of a situation, and only uses his family's car service when there is significant reason to, and then only with certain drivers. He imagined what he would do if Bella tried to get out of the front passenger seat, and realized that she'd have to both unlock the door and unlatch the seatbelt, so he should have time enough to keep her from doing one if she attempted to do the other. He tried to be irritated about this growing inconvenience in his day, but realized that he was starting to feel just a little bit intrigued and excited. Edward, after all, loves a challenge, when the cause behind the challenge is a worthy one. Jasper's positive regard on top of Alice's makes him have confidence in the worthiness of the girl in question, even if he isn't yet believing in his own attraction to her.

It is with this sense of anticipation that Edward's eyes easily skip over Carol, a clearly intelligent and self-assertive female professional, but light on the girl behind her, and—helped along by the beep of recognition from the tracking app Alice had sent him and Carol had installed on Bella's phone before their departure—crinkle in an indulgent grin as he pushes off the wall and pitches the coffee cup in a convenient trashcan, his eyes not leaving the bent brown head dutifully following Carol's feet forward.

He'd investigated Alice's Instagram postings, as instructed, and seen lots of photos of the side of camera-shy Bella, or the top of the same bent head, or even—in a couple of spontaneous shots—her ass and her belly, both of which made her look child-like and not at all sexually-appealing; so he was not expecting his own reaction when faced with Alice's roommate in person, as petite as his sister but with a different vibe altogether, finally staring up at him through her eyelashes when Carol stops, then cringing towards Carol as if she was terrified of him at the same time she bravely, if slowly, holds out her hand in response to his own, extended as he says, "It's nice to finally meet you, Isabella," and she says quietly back, "It's very nice to meet you too, um, Mr., Dr., Edward-Cullen."

Edward laughs cheerfully at Bella's confused naming of him, accompanied by her flaming cheeks, but when his hand makes contact with hers, they both flinch—Bella because a big, scary man is touching her, Edward because he suddenly feels complete in a completely surprising way. The handshake goes on, as Edward doesn't stop it while he reaches out with his other hand to take the backpack Carol had already removed from Bella's shoulders, hooking it over his own shoulder without taking his eyes off Bella. He looks at Carol as he uses his hand to pull the shy girl into the protective circle of his body, wrapping his arm around Bella's front from behind the second she is close enough to do so.

"Did we behave?" he asks, deadpan but also somehow serious, though he had mocked Alice at first for her hiring of a trip chaperone specializing in young children of divorced parents and elderly clients traveling alone. Seeing Bella, and how she doesn't fight his arguably inappropriate invasion of her personal space but actually shrinks into his embrace as if she was both scared and relieved by it (she was), he also sees how the woman's services had been needed, though is still surprised by the laugh and pointed look he gets in return for his question.

"You could say that, if trying three times to volunteer to get bumped from the flight and then to give away our seats to a naughty three-year-old with an overactive imagination she entertained for an hour preboarding and his mother counts as behaving; and I rather think, in sweet Bella's case, it does," and Carol glances affectionately down at her former charge before snapping a photo of Bella unquestionably in Edward's care as her proof of safe delivery for Alice.

Edward says quietly, "Send that to me too, please," and Carol does.

Then, business accomplished and a need to visit the ladies before picking up her next charge asserting itself, she leans in towards Bella and says, "It was fun traveling with you, Bella. I hope we get to take another trip together sometime."

She had thought about suggesting that Bella let her know if she wanted to pick up some contract gigs; Carol often had to turn down jobs when they conflicted with already-established travel itineraries, and Bella had just proven herself excellent with both kids and old people, having helped a white-haired first-class passenger with her carry-on to get off the plane and to a Sky cab earlier. But Carol stopped short of doing so, as she realized that Bella's trust and innocence would leave her and any charges vulnerable in the dangerous world, and instead she looked up at Edward with a hard stare. "You've got her?" Carol asked, not certain this pretty boy understood the value of the package he had just picked up.

Said pretty boy is getting it, more every moment, and is able to satisfy Carol with his response; nodding his head once, he says, "Yep, I've got her. Thanks for the assist," and Carol turns to move off, Bella calling out while waving from within Edward's embrace, "Good-bye, Carol! Have a great rest of your trip! Thanks for lending me… the book!" she interrupts herself, blushing, there, not wanting to admit in front of Edward what book exactly it was, and Edward looks down at her, smiling, while Carol waves cheerfully back.

"It was my pleasure, Bella. Be good for this guy, OK? He looks tired," and winking at Edward while blowing a kiss to the girl in his arms (it felt the thing to do), Carol turns and walks away as Edward does the same with Bella.

"OK, kiddo, let's get home to Alice," he says as he walks them in a quarter-circle to face the exit doors then starts moving forward, forcing Bella to do the same as his hips press into her back and his arm pulls more snugly against her waist while he pulls the travel suitcase behind them.

He stops them just before the exit doors and asks Bella where her coat is. It's cold outside.

Bella blushes, and ducks her head, and they both feel the lightning strike as her retreating head collides with Edward's chest. "Careful," he chides gently, not wanting her to be so careless with such a precious head, pulling Bella farther to the side so he can find her coat.

Bella blushes further and whispers, "Sorry," to which Edward doesn't respond but simply sets the backpack down on the suitcase and unzips it open, figuring her coat must be wedged in the top, holding on to the straps while that arm remains wrapped around Bella's waist.

He finds nothing but schoolbooks, and a bag of toiletries resting on top. "Did you pack your coat, Baby Girl?" he asks Bella, perplexed and not really registering the endearment he's using; it's so natural, it just comes out that way.

Bella, however, is registering it, and blushing brick red, and feeling like she has to pee, and starting to tremble. Edward notices the trembling, and drops down to look up at his charge's blushing face. "What's wrong, Sweetheart?" he asks, gently, violating a central rule of big city living by letting go of the luggage so that he can wipe off with the inside of his thumb the one tear that's starting a trickling path down her cheek. "Tell me what's the matter," he coaxes, his hand returning to the luggage as Bella takes a deep breath and closes her eyes before saying, "I forgot my coat."

Edward laughs. Of course she did. He removes his hand from the luggage again, just long enough to extract one arm from his leather coat, then – and this is more worrying to him – he does the same with the arm holding Bella, before grabbing hold again once the coat is draped over the top of the suitcase. Next, Edward removes her purse, saying quietly, "Up we go," as he pulls it with two hands over her head, gently but insistently tugging it free from her grip, then looping it over one of his arms.

He grabs the coat by the shoulders and slides it on to her small frame. She jumps when the smooth silk lining makes contact with her, and her eyes flick up to Edward's. He's concentrating on pulling up the jacket on her other side, then pulling it together in the front where it hangs, ridiculously large, more like a leather blanket than a jacket. His eyes move back to search out hers, and for just a moment, there's eye contact, one pair incredulous and wondering, the other humorous and tender. Then Bella's head drops, and Edward quickly puts her purse back in place over her head and one shoulder before reclaiming the luggage, tossing the backpack over his own shoulders then grabbing hold of the suitcase and Bella's opposite hand, pulling her front and center again before dropping her hand in favor of her hip.

"Let's go, Little One," he whispers in her ear, and this time he's paying attention to the term of endearment too, and inwardly recognizing how spot-on Jasper's assessment was.

Bella whimpers, but starts moving as Edward walks behind her, and they navigate their way through short-term parking to find Edward's silver BMW. He stops them behind the trunk, opens it and deposits the roller bag and then, stepping forward just a little so that his legs are gently pressing Bella's into the back bumper so he can be assured she is staying put for the moment, adds her backpack and, lifting it from the front and back again, Bella's purse.

Bella protests a little bit when her purse goes in. "Oh! Please, I – I need that!" she says quietly, turning her head around to look up at him with those big, brown eyes that Edward is already learning by heart.

He looks down at her, smiling, but unmoved. "Do you have emergency medicine in there? An inhaler? An Epi-pen?" he asks, pretty sure of the answer but wanting to be certain.

She is still staring up at him, entranced by his green eyes evaluating her in such a kind and knowing way, but manages to shake her head slowly back and forth. No, she doesn't.

"Then what is it you need, pretty girl?" Edward asks as he puts one hand heavy on each of her hips and turns her around in front of him so they're now face to face, or rather face to chest. He lifts one hand to force her eyes back up to his, tucking his fingers under her chin and holding her there. "What do you need from your purse, and we'll get it now," he repeats, for some reason stubbornly certain that he doesn't want her equipped with such an adult item in the car. He wants to feel the total deliciousness of her dependency on him, and he recognizes this and worries about it just a little for just a moment before deciding, Fuck it, the feeling's too delicious for him to do anything else.

Bella, meanwhile, is trying to find her words and finally comes up with, "Um, I need my phone, please?" as if it is an uncertain answer to a question, and one she desperately hopes is right.

Edward grins, then lifts his hand from under her chin to the trunk, closing it firmly with a click that makes Bella jump. He laughs at her exquisite startle reflex, giddy with the adorability of this small, trembling creature in his arms, and eager now to get the vulnerable girl home and…he starts imagining holding her on his leather sofa, watching some ridiculous rom-com movie to amuse her, and instantly regrets letting his imagination wander as he's now as publicly erect as he's been since early puberty, before he learned control over those animal impulses.

He takes a step back, hoping not to scare his girl with this unwanted appearance of his normally-well-restrained but now-demanding alter-ego. He uses his hand still at her waist and his other hand reaching for and clasping hold of one of hers to lead her around the side of the car and to the front passenger seat door, which he opens and then exerts masterful control over her body when she tries to stay standing by folding her at the waist to sitting, making her drop down into the front seat then quickly pulling the seat belt across to keep her there.

Taking the time and physical intimacy to adjust the seat belt across Bella's lap and chest-unnecessarily so, he knows, but doesn't care-he says to her, mere inches from her face, his spoken words landing on her physically with his exhaled air, "No phone for you, Isabella. Strict orders from Alice. She's texted Charlie about your safe arrival, whoever that is, and says that you'll only get in trouble with your phone from here on out. So it's confiscated until your return trip."

Edward watches as Bella's eyes widen in fear; she hadn't expected to be so thoroughly trapped, and though part of her is extremely happy with the current arrangement, another part—the one that is always looking out for her and previously always-accurately anticipating the emotional worst—is panicked. Edward sees the relief and the fear fighting each other, and knows he has a mystery to unravel; more than one, really, a whole 20-year-old woman's worth. He's joyful at the thought, and decides to savor it while also wanting to erase the fear for the time being, so he says briskly, "No worries, Sweetheart; I'll take good care of you, I promise, and you just tell me if there's anything you need, OK?"

He just gets wide eyes and stunned silence for his pronouncement, but at least she isn't crying or protesting the loss of the phone, so he takes the opportunity to stand then lock and close her door, locking it again from his key fob so it will set off the alarm if she opens it. He unlocks and relocks the doors again twice as he moves around the car and manually engages both child protection locks on the back doors, confusing Bella but not making her feel anything but extra-safe in the care of someone who checks so carefully to make sure all his car doors are locked.

Finally, the car as secure as Edward can make it right now, he enters the driver's side, climbing in and starting the car before turning the heat up high.

Taking a couple moments to adjust the heating vents Bella's direction and to pull up his favorite soothing classical track on his sound system, Edward starts backing out as he instructs his own phone to "Call Alice."

Alice answers immediately with an excited "Is Bella there?"

Edward's pulling forward into the drive to exit the lot and says, warm confidence and comforting self-assurance spilling out of every syllable, "She's here in the car with me, Ali-Cat, but maybe a little speechless after I confiscated her phone, isn't that right, Baby Girl?" and as he says this he looks over at a wide-eyed Bella still staring at him, tenderly tucking a few tendrils behind her ear before returning his hand and eyes to driving.

Alice is giddy at how well her plan is unfolding—"Baby Girl!" She knew Edward was a perfect fit for Bella! She knew it!—and squeals just a little, bouncing enough on her end of the conversation that Jasper comes over to calm her down. Edward hears his slow drawl, a sharp contrast to Jasper's sharp intellect, saying, "Hey, there, Eddie boy; I hear you're bringing our Bella home to join the party," said to keep up the façade for both listening women that he hadn't just spoken with Edward in particular detail about the little girl in question.

Edward grins, glances over at said Bella still staring at him with wide eyes and open mouth, and replies, "Yep, I sure am. She's a sweet one, our Bella," and reaches out to squeeze the sweet girl's closest knee as he says this.

The overwhelmed sweet girl in question starts crying, so Edward wisely removes his hand from her knee and his overt attention from her, reaching up to brush the tears off before replacing his hand on the steering wheel, and changing his tone to alert the other end of the conversation that little, overwhelmed ears were listening and had heard enough for now.

"I have to stop home first to change, Jazz," Edward says in a lower, softer register.

Jasper recognizes the shift, and gently takes the phone from an about-to-gush Alice, removing it from speaker and saying softly himself, "Do you need any help over there?"

Edward smiles, stealing a quick glance at Bella who is relaxing a little into her heated leather seat as her eyes stare out the windshield, freed from staring at him now that the conversation seems to have shifted away from her.

She is very much still the topic of conversation, however, as Edward carefully responds, "I think it will be OK; I've got good security and I'm going to use it. But if I need anything, I'll call."

Jasper nods, for Alice's benefit, and says back, "Excellent. Sounds like a good plan, but we're on stand-by over here so don't hesitate."

Edward smiles. He is lucky to have such a top-notch human being for a best friend and brother-in-law, and he knows it. "Absolutely, Jasper. Thanks. Tell Alice bye for us," and Edward disconnects the call.

He's now at the pay kiosk for the lot and grabs up his phone to use the Apple Pay function, making Bella sit up and protest. "Oh! Um, I have money—"

But that's as much as she gets out before the phone is back, the window is up, and Edward is pulling out into the driving lane headed to the freeway. He looks over at her with affection, says, "Not on my watch, Baby Girl," then—checking for traffic nearby first—reaches over and quickly lowers her seatback a little, her hi-tech seatbelt adjusting with it.

"There. Now sleep," Edward says to her, before concentrating on a tricky merge, and Bella—warm and feeling safe in a way she has dreamt of her whole life but never experienced before—closes her eyes and obeys.

She sleeps all the way to Edward's building, and through his entry into the secured parking lot beneath, and through his pulling into a loading zone spot and parking but leaving the electric motor running so the heat would continue flowing over his (he feels the sense of possession more strongly every time he looks at her, and has already decided not to fight it but to enjoy it and see where it goes) girl. She sleeps through the quiet phone conversation he has with the concierge, and the appearance of one of the building's security guards at the side of the car and then Edward's exit and the guard's entering the car, taking over Edward's seat so Edward can go upstairs and shower and change.

The guard is relaxing against the butter-soft leather seat, thinking he could get used to riding in a car like this, and checking sports scores on his phone when Bella's eyes flutter open, then go wide as she sees a stranger sitting next to her. She sits up straight, and the motion draws the attention of the security guard, who puts down his phone.

Bella moves to exit her seat, but the locks are on and she can't without hitting the unlock button, and she isn't sure which one is the right button to push. She turns back in a panic towards the stranger, who she now sees is wearing some sort of uniform, and the stranger says, "Hey, no worries, Miss; I'm just sitting here until your boyfriend gets back. He didn't want to wake you up." Felix the security guard is glad to see the panic fade from the girl's eyes; he's thinking to himself She's a little young for Dr. Cullen, isn't she? when Bella asks him an unexpected question in a very confused tone.

"My boyfriend?"

Hunh, Felix thinks. Maybe not her boyfriend then. Out loud he says, "Dr. Cullen?" and watches as Bella's eyes widen so dramatically he half-expects her eyeballs to drop out onto her lap.

Luckily, just at that moment a fast-showered, still wet-haired Edward reappears off the elevator and strides forward to the passenger's side, a blanket and pillow in his arms for his girl for the rest of the trip to Brooklyn.

He puts a hand on the door handle and waits to hear the lock click open, which it does after Felix processes Edward's intent, and then Edward leans in to tuck the blanket around a confused and trembling-again Bella, who stares up at him with those adorable wide eyes that start melting into incredulous pleasure as she feels the soft luxury being wrapped around her person by such expert hands.

Edward smiles at the eyes, and the girl, and says, "There, Sweetheart; we've got a little way to go yet and I want you to rest," confirming the point when he lowers the seat some more then gently raises Bella's head to tuck the pillow under it.

Bella immediately turns on her side and curls up, pulling the blanket tightly under her chin.

Edward laughs, lightly, and reaches out a hand to gently stroke his thumb back and forth across her cheek a few times.

Bella responds to this by closing her eyes and sighing, making Edward laugh again, though it's a little more intense than before.

Finally, he forces himself to pull his hand away and stand away from the car, gently shutting the door and waiting until Felix locks the door again.

Striding around the car then pausing at the driver's door, Edward reaches out three $100 bills to the security guard as he exits, saying, "Thanks very much, Felix. I owe you one."

Felix pockets the money with a "Nah, it was an easy assignment. Your stepdaughter" (Felix is trying out a new theory) "was no problem at all."

Edward grins and climbs into the front seat. Looking up at Felix, Edward says, "Not my stepdaughter," winks, and shuts the door before smoothly backing out of the spot and starting the drive to the Cullen family home.

Bella sleeps the whole way there. She has been seriously sleep-deprived, and anxious about this day, and the combination is making her feeling of safety and security while asleep in a moving car driven by the kindest, most handsome man she has ever met absolutely irresistible. Finally, after conferring with an excited Alice and smiling Jasper in the driveway, Edward decides he'll just carry her into the house and up to a guest bedroom—his own, remodeled from his teenaged days but still with some personal touches, like the art on the wall and the condoms stashed in the bedside table drawer.

He follows through with his plan even though Bella wakes with a start as he gathers her up into his arms, and whispers, "Please, I'm sorry, I can walk," and starts to struggle a little bit, trying to get down.

But Edward just starts moving, letting Jasper shut the door behind him and allowing Alice to run ahead and open the door for them, saying back to Bella, both humor and absolute seriousness in his tone, "No way, Little One. It's straight to bed for you. Now be a good girl and stop wiggling."

There is nothing our Isabella has ever wanted more in life than to be a good girl for a loving Daddy, so she freezes immediately at the command.

Edward grins and keeps walking. As he quickly strides across the pavement, wanting her out of the cold air, he says, "Good girl! Good girl for listening to Daddy," down to the top of her brown head. He pauses talking—but keeps moving—for a moment there, wondering how that self-applied job title is going to land. He's taking the front steps two at a time when he hears the small sob that tells him it was heard, and registered, and accepted with a relief so profound it requires crying.

Turning his head to say, "Thank you, Ali. We'll be back down when she wakes up," to his sister holding the outside door open for him and for Jasper who's following with Bella's luggage, Edward crosses the threshold with an oblivious Bella who is now shaking with repressed sobs, completely unaware of her surroundings other than the male body that has her in his arms pulled tightly against his chest and has just called himself…her Daddy. Her Daddy! This word, this precious, powerful word, is ricocheting inside her brain and obliterating any thoughts of agency or even manners, so when she hears a somewhat-familiar female voice saying, "Welcome to our home, Bella! We're so excited to have you here," she panics and freezes again and holds absolutely still, trying to blend into the super-soft cashmere sweater Edward had donned for her benefit.

Edward smiles tenderly down at the scared and embarrassed little girl in his arms and keeps moving, picking up his pace as he heads to the front formal staircase. "Isabella's asleep, Mom, and I should be," he replies. "I'm taking her upstairs for a nap before she can come down and join the kitchen brigade. See you in a few," and with that he turns around and mounts the staircase two at a time, feeling the gradual release of tension in the body he is holding as they move farther away from other people.

Esme calls up, "The first guest room is all ready, Edward; I'll just pop in behind her and make sure she doesn't need anything," and starts to move towards the stairs to follow Edward's trail.

Edward stops on the landing and turns around to look down at his well-meaning but intruding mother. "It's okay, Mom; I've got her, right Alice?" and Edward gives a hard look over the top of Esme at Alice, dancing in place, then looks sideways to Jasper and says, "You can put her things in the guest room Esme prepared, thank you, Jazz. We'll be in mine." And with that pronouncement said to the room at large and garnering spontaneous clapping and cheers from Alice, an "As you wish," from Jasper, raised eyebrows from Carlisle and a mouth dropping wide open from Esme, Edward turns and strides up the rest of the stairs, disappearing down the hallway to his suite up the back stairs to the third floor and stretching across the front of the house.

Entering his room, he strides forward to the queen-sized bed under the windows, turning the lights on to dim then hitting the button that controls the window coverings on the way and lowering them all so he has instant twilight in his room. Reaching the bed, he gently sets Isabella on it, leaning forward to keep his head near hers and his arms around her as he sits her up on the edge, toeing off his own shoes to one side.

He starts in on her shoes next, untying the laces. When Bella feels the soft tugs on her tennis shoes, another little piece inside breaks wide open, and she starts to really cry.

Edward's listening to it and responds immediately, his fingers flying to get the second shoe's shoelaces untied and the shoe off her foot to join its neighbor tossed at the end of the bed over his own.

"Shhhhhhhhh, Baby Girl, you're okay, honey; Daddy's here," he croons as one hand reaches up to wipe tears off her cheeks while the other slides off his leather jacket from her shoulders and arms then goes to her waist and nudges her shirt and sweater out of the way to find her jeans button, which he quickly undoes, then brings his other hand back down to unzip and pull off her jeans as quickly and neatly as if he was a practiced parent of a tired toddler.

He laughs once, softly, just a joyful exhale really, as she falls backward onto the bed, her legs bare and her pale pink discount store underwear exposed, her face pulled into an adorable kewpie-doll "O" shape in her mouth and eyes, the surprise freezing her in place while Edward pulls up a bottom corner of the duvet and tucks it over and around her half-naked body before turning and moving off to his dresser against one wall.

Pulling open a couple different drawers in quick succession, Edward plucks out first two soft, worn t-shirts and an old soccer jersey of his, then a pair of sleep pants for himself. Turning and quickly returning to the bed, he is sitting down next to Bella just as she has recovered enough from the surprise to be sitting up, feeling anxious about what she is supposed to do next.

Sitting down on the bed next to her, he reaches over and pulls her into his lap just as she starts to turn away from him and draw her legs in. "No way, Baby Girl," he chides warmly, "No running away from Daddy," and as he says that he pulls her only-pantie-clad bottom onto his lap, moaning softly under his breath as she lands with her ass sliding down against his now painfully engorged member.

"Oof, Baby Girl; this is going to be a long day of waiting for Daddy," he says as he skillfully pulls both her shirt and sweater up over her head and off her arms, a new gravelly-growlly quality in his voice that makes Bella's center wet and her back arch for reasons she does not understand.

Edward understands, however, and inhales then exhales loudly as he casts the last of Bella's outer clothes to the floor at the end of the bed and looks down at her adorable little breasts, perky in their plain white bra.

"Daddy loves his little girl's sweet body," he says as he places a kiss on the outside of her cheek while his hands expertly unhook her bra and remove it from over her shoulders and toss it on the floor then just as quickly gather up his old t-shirt and pull it on up her arms and over her head before Bella understands what is happening.

She has just raised her head, her questioning eyes searching his for answers, when Edward holds out his short-sleeved soccer jersey, grateful for Esme's sentimentality that had kept it in his drawer, and says, briskly, "Arms up!" to which he is heartened to see Bella instantly respond.

Pulling the jersey straight down over her arms and head, Edward leans in and kisses Bella on the shell of her ear as he says, "Good girl, Little One; you're Daddy's good girl."

Bella starts to sob at this, but Edward's not too worried, figuring it's a good breaking he's doing now. But he does move quickly in scooping her back into his arms and walking around to the top of the bed, pulling back the covers and sliding her underneath them.

Placing a kiss on her now-wet cheek as Bella's shoulder-heaving cries continue, Edward says, "Just a minute, Baby Girl; Daddy's got to get ready for bed too," and strips off his own clothes before pulling on his sleep pants and the second soft t-shirt before changing his mind and pulling off the t-shirt again and sliding in next to Bella wearing only the cotton flannel pants.

His arms circle around her like a velvet-lined bear trap, pulling her up and into his chest as he says, "Come here, Baby Girl, come here and let Daddy hold you."

Bella responds to his tenderness with even louder sobs and by curling her body into his and hiding her face in his chest, shocked at first to encounter bare flesh and pulling away but quickly giving up in response to his insistent pulling her closer.

Her sobs slow quickly as Edward holds her, curled on his naked chest after he turns on his back as he pulls her even more tightly against him. He models deep breathing for her, saying softly but insistently, "Good girl, Isabella; you're my good girl, now take a deep breath for your Daddy, just like that, out through your nose, Shhhhhhh, good girl, Baby Doll. Daddy's so proud of you."

This last bit makes a now-quiet Bella stop her deep breathing and lift her head from its tucked position to meet Edward's eyes, focused on her. Looking as confused as she feels, Bella asks him, so hesitantly and disbelieving it makes Edward's heart hurt, "You are?"

Her words hit as a lightning strike against Edward's heart and mind, and he is never the same again, now irrevocably and absolutely Isabella Swan's Daddy and lover forever. He smiles tenderly at his scared little girl, and brings his hand up to rub gently along her cheek bone as he says, his profound certainty resonant in his voice, "I am."

This of course makes Bella start to cry again, and Edward chuckles as he tightens his arm wrapped around her torso and pulls the covers up again to her chin then starts stroking down the back of her head. "Oh Baby Girl, cry it out all out, honey; cry it all out."

And Bella does.

It doesn't take long, and when she's done, profoundly comforted by the warm strength of Edward's arms around her and his hand moving against her head, she takes a deep breath, lifts her own hand to wipe off her cheeks, then snuggles into Edward's chest and closes her eyes.

As she drifts off to sleep again, one hand curled in a fist next to her cheek and the other holding on against Edward's side, Bella murmurs, "I love you, Daddy."

Edward freezes and is silent for a glorious moment, listening to the echoes in his mind of those beautiful, heart-felt and innocently-offered words. Then, softly exhaling, and resuming his hand's movement against her hair while tracing along her ear and cheek with his thumb, he says, "I love you too, Sweetheart. Daddy loves you very much."

He leans down and kisses her on the forehead as he feels her body relax into sleep, and he holds her there for many long, happy moments before he closes his eyes and sleeps as well.

Edward wakes first, precisely four hours later. His eyes open as he remembers the events of the morning, and he feels his arms tighten instinctively around the fragile body snuggled up next to him. He holds her there, lying in such natural and easy intimacy, for a profoundly happy few minutes, the simple joy of which he carries in his heart forever.

Finally, aware that there is a ticking clock on both Alice's and Esme's willingness to leave them be, Edward decides to wake his girl up his way before she could be disturbed and frightened by knocking on the door.