"Bella? Bella baby?" Edward says softly in her ear.
Her response is simply an unintelligible murmuring, followed by a shifting of her body against his and then a sigh as she relaxes back against his chest.
Edward watches this with joy, grinning so that his eyes crinkle as he strokes one hand against the precious back of her head, his other thumb rubbing circles against her rounded back. He soaks in the bliss of the moment a few seconds longer, then leans forward so that Bella slides down into his lap, his arms guiding her and keeping her within his embrace.
When her bottom lands against Edward's legs, in motion themselves as he pulls up to sitting and bends his knees to help, Bella's eyes flick open and instantly widen as her body goes rigid in Edward's arms.
He feels her tenseness and leans down to speak soft, reassuring words to her, but before he can say a thing, she bursts out of his embrace and throws herself off the bed, catching her feet in the bedclothes and falling to the ground with a muffled Thunk! that strikes fear in Edward's heart as he freezes for a half-second himself in surprise at her action before moving to exit the bed much more gracefully than Bella had.
Crouching down next to the heap of Bella on the floor, Edward carefully pulls her up to sitting with one arm around her back and the other hand inspecting the back of her head for swelling or soreness, his eyes trained on her surprised face staring up at him.
"Did you hit your head, Baby Girl?" Edward asks intently, watching her carefully for her answer as his fingers continue probing her scalp in their own insistent inquiry.
Bella simply stares up at him for several heartbeats as Edward's fingers finish their inspection and move to her wrist to take her pulse. As she feels his hand press against her in this new place, Bella manages to slowly shake her head "No," tears coming to her eyes as she does so.
Edward notices the incipient tears immediately, his brows drawing together at the first sign of moisture as he inquires, so sharply Bella startles at his tone, "Are you hurt?"
The tears start to flow and her shoulders start to heave as she shakes her head "No" again, then says, "I'm so sorry!" on a sob.
Edward has her back in his lap on the floor in an instant, wrapping one hand around her head and the other against her hip as he pulls her tightly against his chest once more. "No sorries, Baby Girl," he says sternly, followed by "Daddy doesn't want his Little Girl to say 'Sorry' for being scared, do you understand me, Sweetheart?"
He looks down at Bella as his hand nudges under her chin and tilts her face up for his inspection. Her eyes flit up to his for a moment and he sees their confusion and fear along with just a little bit of hope.
The sweetness of that hope almost-but-not-quite drowned by the fear and confusion makes Edward smile as he squeezes her to him even more tightly for a moment in a comforting embrace. "I know you don't understand, Baby Doll. But you will; in time. You will understand how much you mean to me, someday, and how beautiful you are, and how much Daddy loves you."
Edward starts running his hand through Bella's tousled hair as he says this, quietly and with intent. They sit like this for some time, Bella's sobs slowing, then ending, as she drowses again, safe in Edward's arms.
Her rest is interrupted next by a loud knocking on the door, followed by Alice's voice exclaiming, "Bella? Bella, are you in there? Edward! You have to share! You've had her to yourself long enough; it's time to bring her downstairs now!"
At Alice's voice, Bella instantly snaps out of blissful sleep in Edward's arms again, repeating the pattern of locking down all her muscles as her eyes flick open, then – and Edward's ready this time – flinging herself, or trying to, out of his arms so she can put some distance between herself and this puzzling, embarrassing, absolutely mortifying in how perfect it feels but fleeting she is certain it must be (she is wrong) situation.
His arms locked tightly himself, keeping Bella right where he wants her despite her repeated efforts to throw herself off his lap, Edward whispers some soothing-he-hopes words ("Hey, relax, Baby Girl; that's just Alice come to check I didn't sneak out the window with you," and when that has the opposite effect of just making Bella more embarrassed and struggling harder, he follows with, a little more sternly, "You're not going anywhere, Sweetheart, so stop trying, please; you're going to hurt yourself!") and finally, when Alice knocks again, somehow even more loudly and insistently than before, he hears Bella's whimper and, giving up on escaping Edward's embrace, she pulls her legs up so she's bent in half and tries to make herself invisible in his lap, hiding her head against his body. She's now so low in his lap that the side of her face is pressed against his navel like she's trying to crawl into his stomach and Edward says a small silent prayer – all of a sudden he's a praying man again – that his baby girl won't notice the sizable lump growing more sizable – despite his best efforts at self-control – that she's curled up against and become as scared of him as she seems to be of Alice at the moment.
Alice starts in on haranguing them, or rather, him, again, picking up with a whined, "Edwaaard! You promised you wouldn't—"
Edward cuts her off mid-whine, covering Bella's exposed ear as he calls out gruffly towards the door, letting his voice convey both irritation and warning in equal measure, "Alice! Stop. You're scaring her!"
There's some conversation in the hallway that Edward hopes Bella can't hear, because it gives away the presence of a third party to her embarrassment in the situation…although he simultaneously wishes he could make out the exact words Jasper is saying to Edward's sister to calm her down so that he could use them with Alice again in the future. But as he looks down at his Bella, panting in his lap as she stays perfectly still, trying to remain hidden but at least not trying to escape him anymore and trusting him enough to use him as her hiding spot, he feels love and pride in equal measure, and he realizes that it wouldn't matter even if he could hear Jasper's words as the words only work because it is Jasper saying them.
He uses his own words then, soft and coaxing, leaning down over his girl's curled and frightened body. "See? There's nothing to be afraid of, Sweetheart. This is our space, yours and mine, together. This is Daddy's room, and you belong to me, so now this is your room too."
He feels her breathing stop altogether as she takes in his words, then relaxes his arms just enough to allow her to sit up straight again when he sees her struggling to do so. He helps her turn a little in his lap, sitting back now on her butt in the crook of one of his knees with one of his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, the other hand in motion cleaning off her face then gently pressing her against his chest and holding her there, her head tipped up so she can see him and he can see her.
Overwhelmed with what she sees in his eyes, Bella just stares, speechless, until there's a softer knock on the door and Jasper's voice can be heard asking respectfully, "Hey you two, we're sorry to disturb, but do you need any assistance in there? We've got a late lunch ready and are glad to bring some up and leave it at the door if you're hungry…" he trails off, waiting for a response.
Edward is heartened that Bella doesn't even try to get out of his lap this time, but just presses herself into his chest, hiding her face there, when she hears Jasper's voice. Stroking down the back of her precious head with just a little pressure against it to communicate he wants her hiding there as much as she does, or more, he cheerfully calls back to the visitors in the hallway, "Thanks, Jazz, Alice, that's a kind offer, but I think we'd better come down for lunch. I need to know sooner rather than later if I'm going to be able to work tonight, or if I need to try to find coverage."
Edward watches as Bella relaxes some more in his lap, her breathing coming more normally now as she learns to trust the safety he's offering her and beginning to accept the idea from his modeling that it is perfectly normal and non-embarrassing that she's curled up in this amazing man's lap, in his room, in her underwear in the middle of the day.
Edward smiles, tender joy and grateful awe in his eyes as he watches her take a deep breath and sigh then relax against his chest again, turning her head to the side as Edward lets her so she can breathe better and laying it over his beating heart. Another sigh, and Edward says, "How does my heart sound, Baby Girl? Is it beating normally again after you almost gave me a heart attack trying to run away from me?"
To his happy surprise, Bella looks up at him, the side of her face still pressed against his chest, and says simply, "Sorry, Daddy! I didn't mean to."
Edward looks down at her with a smile so huge it feels like his cheeks will burst. "I know, Sweet Girl; I know you would never hurt your Daddy on purpose."
Bella solemnly shakes her "no" in agreement with Edward's statement, and Edward laughs, amused beyond measure that his little girl is most worried about hurting him when he's twice her size and as good as infinitely stronger than she is.
Bella smiles at Edward's happiness, not understanding why he is laughing, but simply content to know, at least for this perfect moment, that he wants her and isn't angry with her at all. This is Bella's idea of heaven, and she'd stay there forever if she could.
Alice, however, has other plans, and—despite Jasper's cautioning against it—knocks again on the door and this time addresses Bella: "Come on, Bella, let me in. You can't let Edward have his way right from the start or he'll think he can boss you forever!"
Bella had twitched a little when Alice began, but she's comfortable enough in Edward's arms and Edward exerted just enough counter-pressure that she doesn't go anywhere, though her breathing increases a little as she looks up at Edward and whispers, "I don't know what to say to Alice!"
Edward grins again, his eyes twinkling, his heart so full he might have that heart attack after all as he leans down, kisses Bella on the forehead and then the nose, and pulls her more tightly against him as he replies, "That's quite alright, Baby Girl, because I do. But you're going to want to close your ears for this."
He watches tenderly as his girl instead squeezes her eyes shut so tightly there are wrinkles along the sides, holds her tightly to him once more and says, "You're my very good girl, Isabella Cullen," then, covering her exposed ear with his hand, he calls towards the door: "Alice, listen up! I have a job for you, and if you do it the way I ask, then, and only then, you can come in and help me get Bella ready for lunch. If you don't follow my guidelines on this then I'm going to take her home with me for the foreseeable future. Do you agree to do this my way?"
There are some sounds of angry consternation in the hallway and some back and forth between Alice and Jasper before Alice replies, "I cannot believe how ungrateful you're being, but if I think what you ask is reasonable then I will do it, but only if I think it's reasonable and right for Bella too! She's my best friend, Edward, and you've just met her! This isn't fair!"
Edward calls back, "Fair has nothing to do with it, Alice, and I know she's your best friend and I am eternally grateful for your sharing her with me. You were right about her; she's exactly right. You were right and I owe you big forever, and I'll start with that yellow Lamborghini you wanted—if you promise to let Jasper be the driver—but right now our most important concern is keeping Bella safe and making her feel part of our family. Agreed?"
"Duh, Edward, that's what I've been trying to do! Only you're not letting me in to see her! Why?"
"Because she's embarrassed, Al. She's hiding in my lap and she's embarrassed for you to come in and see how much she likes being there. She has no self-esteem and no discernible sense of worth and absolutely no trust in the goodness of the world and the people around her, at least as it concerns how they are likely to treat her, and I'm going to fix all of that but I can't do it immediately and in the meantime we have to try hard to keep from scaring her and making her feel ashamed."
"Why would I make her feel ashamed, Edward? I'm her best friend! That doesn't make sense!"
"I know it doesn't make sense to you, Alice, but Bella hasn't been loved like you have been, all your life. She's hurting and scared and she trusts you an amazing amount to have gotten on the plane in the first place, but I've started something new with her, because I'm her Daddy now and she's going to be testing me every moment for a long time before she will decide she can trust me for good, if she ever really does that. So I'm asking you, I'm begging you, Alice, please, listen to me, today, and tomorrow, and the day after that, and let me manage the situation to keep our girl safe, together, because it's going to be very different from your life at school. I've exposed her for what she is, inside, and she's scared we're going to laugh at her or reject her for it, and she's going to need a Daddy or at least an Uncle around all the time for a while so she can't hurt herself trying to run away. Do you understand?"
Edward was gratified to hear a pause, and then a much softer, barely audible from behind the door, "Yes, I guess I do."
"Thank you, Alice. Thank you for listening to me. Really, I'm so grateful. Now if you would go get a comfortable set of clothes for our girl and send Jasper in while you're picking out her outfit – nothing too fancy, please; yoga pants and a top and maybe a soft sweater, no bra, just underwear and socks, no shoes – then Uncle Jasper and I will get her in a hot shower and you can help me get her dressed when she comes out, OK?"
Alice sighs hugely, Edward smiling with relief at her dramatic capitulation, and says, "OK, you control freak. I'll be back in five minutes." Then, with a few more unintelligible words said to Jasper, she moves off back down the stairs to select Bella's clothes for the day.
Jasper knocks again, lightly, and Edward says, "By all means, Jazz, get in here before your girlfriend comes back and starts making trouble again," a light tone in his voice because anyone who knows Alice knows it won't be just five minutes for her to select an entire outfit but at least three or four times that long, if she's in a hurry.
Jasper opens the door and quietly shuts it behind himself, looking around the room before finding Edward on the floor, holding Bella. Laughing once softly, he shakes his handsome black-haired head as he moves towards the two, Bella still turned into Edward with her eyes squeezed shut and Edward's hand over her ear and her own hands grabbing on to the top of Edward's sleep pants, just below the waistband in front and wrapped around the elastic on his side. Her right hand is holding on so tightly to the top of Edward's pants that she is actually pulling them down a little, and her white knuckles are scraping against the skin underneath, a fact she is oblivious to but Edward is intensely aware of though trying to forget.
Jasper crouches in front of them both, coming eye level with Edward, and grins. "Looks like you've got yourself a Baby Girl, then, little brother," Jasper says, heavy on the Southern drawl, for Edward is two months younger than he is.
Edward grins at him, still pressing Bella against himself and his hand against her ear, saying, "You know I do, Dr. Whitlock, and I am really grateful for your phone call this morning; I might have missed her." And Edward stops there and trains his attention down to the girl hiding in his lap, imagining for one awful moment how stubborn and self-focused he could have been in seeing this precious small person as an imposition, and not a gift.
Bella senses the quiet of the moment, and feeling secure enough in Edward's strong hold to be curious, she tips her head and looks up at him, opening her eyes to see his staring down, his affection and wonder at his good fortune obvious even to her. She doesn't understand that his happiness is directly related to her, but she does instantly respond to his joy with her own, and she smiles shyly back.
Edward grins wider and says, "Good morning, Sunshine! Look who's joining us; your Uncle Jasper," as he leans down and kisses her right next to her lips, then pulls her up under one arm and underneath her bum to sitting up straight in his lap, turning her out slightly to be examined and greeted by Jasper still squatting in front of them both.
"Why hello, Miss Bella; it's a real pleasure to see you again," Jasper says softly, making Bella blush and drop her eyes to study Edward's sleep pants and the front of Jasper's jeans. She's so regressed into a sense of safety and affection in Edward's arms, not engaging her rational mind at all (which is a huge relief as her rational mind is not kind to our Bella), that she even reaches out and touches first Edward's soft flannel pants, rubbing her fingers along the material, then the rougher denim of Jasper's jeans stretched over his knees.
The two men watch her exploring their clothing with such trust, then, as if of one mind, look up and at each other, smiling at their shared understanding of both how vulnerable this little girl in a woman's body has been, and how well she fits in Edward's arms and Edward's life and in their family's future.
"Well, damn, she sure likes you, Ed," Jasper observes softly, trying and succeeding in not distracting Bella from her sensory wanderings.
Edward's smile is radiant. "I know! I never would have guessed." There's a pause as he looks down at the trusting head resting against his chest, and for the first time, a feeling of concern washes over him, not just for her well-being but for whether what he was doing was right.
"Am I a pervert then, Jasper?" he asks as a cloud passes over his expression, looking up at his de facto brother-in-law and hoping there was some way not to draw that conclusion about himself and his undeniable attraction to a woman much more like a child than an adult.
Jasper reassures him easily. "Nah, Edwardo, think about it…have you ever been even remotely attracted to an actual child?"
Edward makes a disgusted face and answers, "Shit, Jazz, no! But then why am I so attracted to her?"
"Because physically she's not a child, but she needs you in a really dependent way. You like to be needed, Ed, in case you haven't noticed. And you like to be in control. Whereas our Isabella here would prefer not to ever make another decision for herself. You two are absolutely a perfect match, and the only thing disgusting about that would be if you wasted it out of some sense of it not matching your expectations."
Edward laughs, relieved beyond words. "Well, I certainly didn't expect this," he offers, back to incredulous joy in his tone.
Jasper smiles. "I know; I wasn't looking for your sister either. Guess we're just two lucky bastards, then."
Edward laughs again. "You know it. Now should we get this one into the shower? I don't like thinking about all the bacteria she picked up on the airplane ride. If you'd hold her for a minute, I'll go get the bathroom set up; maybe we should have you standing so you can walk her in there when I'm ready…"
And Jasper happily complies, rising to standing then bending down with his arms outstretched as Edward gathers Bella at her waist, saying, "Up you go, Sweetheart; Uncle Jasper's going to hold you a little bit while Daddy gets your shower ready," and Bella cooperates, reaching her arms up to wrap around Jasper's neck as he holds her against his chest and stands back up.
Edward hops up behind them, leaning in to kiss Bella on the neck just behind and under her ear; Bella giggles and turns away, into Jasper's shoulder, saying, "Daddy! That tickles!"
Jasper smiles and shakes his head, bending his head and placing his own kiss on the top of her head as Edward grins and teases back, "Oh it does, does it?" then leans in as Jasper lifts his head back up and leaves room for Edward to rub his day-old beard stubble against Bella's neck.
Bella squeals and turns farther into Jasper, trying to cover her neck with her arm, and protests more loudly, "Daddy!"
Jasper laughs and says, "Alright, you two, isn't there a shower to be had?"
Edward agrees easily. "Saved by your Uncle Jazz, Sweetheart. I'll go get the water running nice and warm; you behave," and he pats Bella affectionately on the bum before moving off to the en suite bathroom, leaving the door open as he moves and turning on the lights as he works on setting up the space, carrying a bench from the bathing area to just outside the walk-in shower and motioning to it as Jasper enters behind him with Bella.
"Have a seat," Edward invites before moving off to gather towels from the linen closet and drape them over the nearby towel warmer.
"Yes, Sir," Jasper drawls, before settling in on the bench with Bella in his arms, resting her head comfortably against his shoulder as if she was right where she belonged, her eyes closing again.
Jasper watches as her breathing deepens and mentions to Edward, just emerging from the shower where he's turned the water on to warm up and now leaning against the open glass doorway, "She's really worn out, isn't she?"
Edward nods, his eyes on Bella, his look evaluatory as he adds to and edits his inner list of concerns he will be addressing about his girl. "Yep, she needs rest almost as much as she needs food."
"Yeah, I wondered if you'd noticed," Jasper says, a little sheepish that he hadn't mentioned it to Edward before. "Alice says she has a little bit of an eating—thing."
"An eating thing, Jasper? Really? I thought you were a board-certified psychiatrist; surely you know the term, or should the lowly ER doc enlighten you? Our girl has a full-blown eating disorder and we're going to have to do something about it right away. The question is, can we manage it ourselves, or do we have to bring in outside help?"
"Oh, I'd think we could get pretty far with the expertise we already have at our disposal."
Edward and Jasper both turn to stare at Carlisle, standing in the bathroom doorway, one hand on the wood trim. He arches his eyebrows in response and says, "What? This seemed to be a black hole from which no Cullen man returned, and I was sent to find out why."
"Mom?" Edward asks, already growing comfortable with his own understanding of his relationship with Isabella (he thinks her full name when he's not addressing her, and sometimes even when he is), but not sure how to help his parents understand, especially his feminist mother.
"And myself," Carlisle acknowledges as he nods his head in response to Edward's question.
Meanwhile, Jasper has turned his attention back to Bella in his arms, who has come to and then frozen at the new voice in the environment. He both feels and sees her start to shake, and turn her face farther into his shoulder, and he starts talking, half to her and half to the other men in the room.
"Shhhhhhh, Bella, Sweetheart, there's nothing to worry about. Carlisle" – he breaks off abruptly there as Bella sobs in response to hearing Alice's father's name. Truth is she is intensely envious of Alice's relationship with her dad, never understanding how Alice can treat him so cavalierly, sometimes not even taking his phone calls but rolling her eyes and saying, "Dad," under her breath, equal parts affection and irritation. Bella yearns for a father like that; little does she believe in this very moment that she now has three, Carlisle himself included.
Coming forward, Carlisle stops in front of Jasper and Bella, Edward moving to the side a couple steps to admit him, monitoring Bella's condition and ready to intervene but curious what his father is going to do with the situation, and with her.
Cupping the back of her head and stroking down her hair several times, Carlisle says, "Welcome to our home, sweet Bella. Are you feeling better?"
No one in the room is surprised as Bella continues to cry, but Edward is upset by it. He steps forward and says, "Christ, Dad—" but is cut off by an uncharacteristically stern Carlisle who leaves his hand on Bella's head as he turns to Edward and says, "Edward, I understand what you're doing, and why, but I have personally guaranteed the safety of this little girl to her father while she is here this holiday, and we will be managing her my way from here on out until such time as you fly to Washington state and obtain her father's permission to…do something different."
Edward starts to object, "But—"
But Carlisle is having none of it. His head back to staring down at Bella with a tender smile on his face, he speaks like he looks but his words have steel-sharp edges designed to glide past Bella's half-consciousness and land into Edward's brain with precision. They do.
"I know you mean well, son, and I wholeheartedly approve of your selection, but she wasn't dropped on our doorstep by the stork. She comes from a family that, if you proceed as I think you are proceeding, will soon be our family too, and that family deserves some restraint on our part as a sign of our respect for them, and for her. You've waited your lifetime for her, you can wait a few more days."
Now Edward is mad, misunderstanding what Carlisle is referencing (quite simply, sex).
Stepping forward, nostrils flaring like an angered stallion, Edward says, "But she can't. She can't afford to pretend another hour in order to spare your sensibilities, Carlisle, or those of her so-called father."
Carlisle turns and puts himself bodily between Edward and Bella, drawing himself up to his full stature of 6'1"; less than Edward's 6'3" but with his hands on his hips his meaning is clear. "Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, you have no idea how much worry and effort that 'so-called father' you disparage has put into keeping this little girl alive, and you owe him much more than a cold shower or two."
Carlisle is sensitive on this point, for he is all-too-familiar with the impotency of parenting a child whose emotional needs and temperament are a mystery to you (Alice), or exhausting (Emmett), or simply beyond your ability to manage (Edward), and has sagely guessed that poor Charlie has experienced all three in one child. Carlisle also knows with certainty that you can try your damndest as a parent and still end up simply praying to God that your child doesn't blunder out into the world and ruin their own life, or others'.
Luckily, Edward is starting to clue in on the specific angle Carlisle is objecting to, and he puts his hands up and backs up a half-step, happy to give Carlisle the reassurance he needs. "Dad, you know me better than that," Edward chides good-naturedly with a small smile and a tip of his head. "I'm not…" Edward looks towards his newfound love crying softly in Jasper's arms, Jasper now making a rocking motion and laying his head on top of hers to comfort her, speaking softly to her and giving Edward the cover he needs to speak truth to Carlisle, albeit at half volume. He starts again, "I'm not having sex with Isabella, Dad, and I won't until we're married."
Carlisle gives him a look of complete incredulity, for Edward has been their most physical child even with all of Emmett's athleticism, and there's no way Carlisle believes that. Edward laughs, puts his hands out and says, "OK, fair enough, I might not make it quite that long, but I can make it a month or two, at least until things have settled out with her family concerning my role—" Carlise clears his throat here and arches one eyebrow, and Edward grins and nods, "Alright, Dad, our role in her future."
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for your promise on that, Son," Carlisle says, but with a lighter tone in his voice.
Edward grins. "You're not giving me much credit for self-control here, Dad."
Carlise shakes his head grimly. "Not in this department, though I do grant you that you've made it this far without any out-of-wedlock children, that we know of, or incurable STDs, and on both those points I both congratulate you and blame half of my gray hair on your testing of those particular limits."
Jasper can't help but laugh silently, even as he is focused on comforting Bella, and her head bounces gently with his chest moving. Edward sees his reaction, and says good-naturedly, "I'm glad we're amusing you, Jasper," before turning back to his dad and saying, "Surely you mean one-third, Carlisle; I remember Emmett and Alice causing their share of stress."
"Nope," and Carlisle pops the p of that word with relish, "they're a quarter apiece, Son. You're the one who's been so certain since the day you exited the womb—3 weeks early, I might add—that you know what's best, and God help anyone who tries to tell you different. It's a miracle that, most of the time, you're right, but it does make the times you are wrong particularly explosive."
Edward has the grace to look a little sheepish at that, and shrugs. "Can't win them all."
"You come as close as anyone I've ever known to that impossible ideal, Edward, and I want this," and Carlisle waves his hand between Edward and Bella, "to follow that streak, because it's the most important decision you'll ever make."
Edward nods, serious as Carlisle now. "You're right Dad, it is; and I am absolutely certain about what I am doing with her, and I need you not to undercut me; she needs you not to undercut me."
"I have no intention of undercutting you, Edward; just slowing you down a little bit. Consider me a roadblock, albeit one that can pick up and change its location as needed."
Edward's mood lightens again as he feels reassured by his father's seeming acceptance of his relationship with Isabella; he also can't help but admit to himself that his girl would only benefit from additional caregivers in her life, which makes his concession even easier.
"I suppose I'm grateful that it looks like she'll be well cared for when I go to work tonight," Edward offers as an olive branch, waving his hand to encompass both his father and his brother-in-law-to-be. "I was a little worried about who I was going to be able to talk into taking my shift tonight."
It is news to Carlisle, Chief Administrator of the hospital in addition to his other more clinical roles, that his son was even considering backing out of his shift that night on one of the most difficult staffing dates of the year. Eyebrows to his hairline, he asks his son incredulously, "You were thinking about not going in tonight?"
Edward grins, half sheepish and half-unrepentant. "If that's what she needed, Dad; absolutely."
Carlisle stares at him a moment, recalculating his assessment of Edward's level of intention with this unexpected information. Edward takes his career and medical responsibilities extremely seriously; Carlisle has been immensely proud of his son in this, and to hear how willing Edward was to back out of any commitment to the institution and the people it serves if that's what he thought Isabella needed, well, that tells him more than he needs to know about how devoted he is already to the girl in Jasper's arms.
He takes a step back, removing himself as a block between Edward and Bella. "Well, Son, I must say, that is a very clear indicator of your commitment here, and I'm…" Carlisle takes a heartbeat to ponder what it is he is, exactly, and continues with, "enormously happy that you've found your partner in life," and then he turns to look kindly at Isabella, "and proud that you could see the great value in her gentle soul. I've been worried about her since we met this summer; I know how good she's been for Alice but I could see certain things your mom and sister missed, and I wasn't sure how I could help as merely Alice's Dad, nor was I certain that it would be in her best interest for me to try. But now—"
Here he turns back to Edward with a happy grin on his face, looking surprisingly like Emmett. "Now, I have a second daughter, and I'm overjoyed!" With this he reaches out and embraces Edward; Edward is at first surprised but then happy to return the hug, feeling the aura of his father's approval fill the room like the warmest, most welcome and nurturing sunlight.
"Thanks, Dad," Edward says, quietly and utterly sincerely, and they hold their embrace another manly moment before Carlisle backs away again, placing a kiss on his son's cheek as he goes.
"No, thank you, Edward, for waiting until you got it so very right. You had me worried a couple of times, I will admit. But now," and Carlisle turns back to beam at Bella, who has quieted again in Jasper's arms, comforted despite herself by the mostly positive-seeming waves of male voices around her, seeming to place her safely in the center and not asking any more of her than staying in one place. That isn't always an easy ask, as Bella likes to run away and hide when feeling things strongly, but right now, in Alice's Jasper's strong arms, the memory of another pair of even stronger arms still tangible on her skin, Bella is content to wait and see what happens.
Carlisle continues, "Now, we can't lose a moment getting our girl's health righted." Turning back to Edward, he continues in his usual clinic tone, warm and engaging but also very matter-of-fact, "I took the precaution in advance of her arrival of ordering some high-quality protein drinks; they're in the fridge in my office, where I also have a chart set up for monitoring her weight and vitals. Maybe we should move the scale in here so you can weigh her in the mornings before she showers? We need to know precisely what we're working with, and I do have an IV stand and a few bags of high-caloric supplements on hand if warranted."
Edward is relieved, and says so. "Thanks for being so on top of things, Dad. That's a good plan – I'll go grab the scale since Jazz has her asleep again. Is the chart on your desk?"
"Front and center, Son. Grab a pen too!" Carlisle calls after him as his son is already out the door and on his way to Carlisle's home office.
"Got it, old man!" he hears Edward answer teasingly as he's exiting his bedroom, moving at a jog to start healing his future.
Carlisle turns then to address Jasper, backing up against the vanity and leaning there as he watches his future son-in-law manage Isabella with such confidence and skill. Carlisle is almost as proud of Jasper as he is of Edward in their clinical abilities, and takes just as much pleasure in nurturing Jasper's fledging career. "I can see our Isabella is making good use of your considerable talents, Jasper. Have you had practice with her before?"
Jasper smiles. He likes his father-in-law, and respects him, and Carlisle's high regard means the world to him as someone without his own father figure. Bella is not the only one of the family with Daddy issues, and so he laughs lightly, at himself and the often cruel but occasionally kind absurdities of life and fate and sheer luck.
"You could say that I've been practicing for her my whole life, Carlisle; but yes, I've had a few experiences with Isabella-wrangling before. The first time I visited Allie this year, Isabella ran away when she walked in the room—just turned on her heels and flew down the hall when she caught sight of me!" Jasper smiles tenderly down at Bella's lightly-sleeping head as he describes that first meeting. He had been frozen speechless for a moment at the time, but Alice had immediately given him marching orders, "Go and bring her back, Jazzy!" and he had obeyed, running after the girl and catching her on the stairs just as she was tripping towards a hard fall on the landing.
"Careful!" he had said as he lifted her up under her arms and set her on her feet on the landing, moving around her to block her further descent. "Hi, I'm Jasper! I'm hoping we can be friends," he had offered, holding out his hand to shake hers as if this was a regular meeting and not an interruption of her escape attempt.
Bella had stared back at him, near hyperventilating, but as he stood there, motionless, his hand extended and a smile plastered on his face, she started to calm, and then suddenly, she was reaching a shy hand up to tentatively touch his palm.
Jasper had grinned with relief when he felt her hand brush against his, and she had nearly pulled away and run up the stairs, but just then Alice had banged into the stairway, neatly boxing Bella in and leaving her shaking Jasper's hand for a rather longer time than is normal.
Coming up to her boyfriend and newly-acquired best friend (Alice reads people like books, and knew what Bella would mean to her soon after they'd met the previous spring; she'd bided her time after arranging to be roommates this year and now, now she was reaping the benefits of her planning and watching her cherished dreams of her future fall into place), Alice enthused, "Bella! This is Jasper. I know he looks scary, but he's a big teddy bear, I promise. He's going to take us out to dinner! Now come back to the room so we can get dressed together, while Jazzy goes to pull the car around. Wait for us out front, OK, Jazzy?"
And Jasper leaned in and kissed Alice's cheek as he said, "Yes, Ma'am," and squeezed Bella's hand before pulling his away and saying to her, "It was very nice to meet you, Miss Bella; I promise to be on my best behavior tonight and I'm sincerely sorry for scaring you earlier." He made a small bow in Bella's speechless direction, then continued down the stairs, waving to the two roommates as he went, saying, "Now don't take too long, ladies. Your Jasper is hungry!"
Alice blew a kiss back and said, "We'll be quick! Bella doesn't like dressing up," then grabbed Bella's hand and hauled her back up the stairs to their room.
"And you'll never believe it, Carlisle, but Alice was ready in five minutes flat so as not to lose Bella, and that tells you how much those two love each other already. I just about choked to death on surprise when I saw them exiting just as I was pulling up in the car!"
Carlisle laughs, "Yes, that would have been a shocker. Alice is not known for prompt exits! We'll add that to the list of miracles our Isabella seems poised to perform."
Edward was just entering with an old-fashioned scale in his hands and a paper folder wedged under one arm, a pen behind his ear, as Carlisle finished, asking, "What miracles are those, Carlisle?"
"Well, I can tell you your mother is hoping babies top the list, but not for a year or two, Son," Carlilse responds cheerfully, moving forward to help Edward situate the scale in an unobtrusive spot in the bath alcove.
Turning back to Jasper, Edward calls out, "Ready, Jazz – should we just weigh them together, and subtract him after?"
Carlisle nods. "Sounds wise to me. Are you taking her into the shower now? We can weigh Jasper and all her clothing then and get a nice, precise starting point."
"That's the plan," Edward says as he is lifting Jasper under one elbow, helping him step up on the scale with Bella in his arms.
Bella starts to stir and Jasper says, "Better hurry, Ed; when she figures out what we're up to, I don't think she'll like it!"
And she didn't, hearing the clink-clink of weights being moved on the scale and freaking out in response, flailing her arms and legs in an attempt to burst out of Jasper's arms.
Jasper, however, held firm, and the weighing was completed with Carlisle jotting down the number as Edward reached out for his struggling girl, gathering her up and into his arms as he hushes her, saying, "Baby girl, shhhhhh, Sweetheart, stop fighting, you're going to hurt yourself, Sweetheart; please, you're hurting Daddy's heart—"
Somehow the last few words cut through Bella's panic, and she stopped, terrified she'd actually hurt him physically. Staring at him with wide eyes, she said, softly and fearfully, "Daddy? Did I hurt you?" and as she asked she slowly reached out her hand and touched his cheek, so tenderly and tentatively, it hurt Edward to watch.
"No, baby girl, no, not like that; you could never hurt my body, please don't worry, Sweet Girl," and as he crooned to her, he picked up her hand that had caressed his cheek and held it to his lips, kissing her palm and each fingertip.
Bella's still worried though, and she protests, "But you said—"
Edward cuts her off with a nose rub, and the words, "I meant it makes Daddy feel sad to see you scared, Baby Girl; that's all. Just a feeling, and feelings can be fixed. See?" and he held her hand flat against his chest and his strongly-beating heart. "Can you feel that? Strong and healthy. Your Daddy isn't going anywhere for a long, long time, and neither are you. Now let's go get your shower!" and Edward strides off to the bench and sits down on it to remove her clothes.
The shirt and bra are easy and make a small pile on the floor while Bella wraps her arms around her breasts and hunches over in Edward's lap, embarrassed.
Edward moves quickly to finish, dumping her out of his lap and onto her feet standing between his legs, then pulling her panties down with both hands. "Step up!" he commands, and is gratified to see her do it, first with one foot, then the other, and the panties join the pile of discarded clothing.
Bella is speechless at this point, and a little cold, and she stands still until Edward scoops her back up and heads into the shower with her, still running warm from his adjustments earlier. He moves into the water stream with her, soaking them both, then sets her down in front of him, his pajama pants now plastered to his body. He fills one hand with shampoo then works it into Bella's hair, massaging her scalp then gently nudging her forward and adjusting the showerhead til the water is streaming over her head and down her back, careful to keep it from running into her eyes and holding her head in place by her chin, tilting it this way and that.
After he has her hair washed, he reaches for a washcloth he set out earlier and lathers it up with rose body wash that he had stuck in his shower for female visitors. He makes small circles across her skin, from the back of her neck to her shoulders and down her front, over and around her breasts and across her stomach, then he twirls her around so she faces into him and washes down her back. He pulls her back around to his front again with one arm across her chest and washes between her legs and down her thighs to her knees, then pivots her and does the same thing down her buttocks and the backs of her legs.
As he goes, he keeps up a soft patter of approving words. "That's my girl; hold still for just a moment—well done, Sweetheart! Thank you for trusting Daddy. You're such a good girl; that's right! That's my baby!" and so on.
Bella is lost in his praise and the comfort of his body surrounding her in the warm water.
When he can't reach any lower and still keep an arm around her waist, he places her hands on his shoulders, pressing them against him and saying, "Hold on tight, Baby Girl," then drops down to a crouch in front of her, soaping up the bottoms of her legs and her feet, gently pulling each one up in turn and paying attention to each little toe.
When he has the last inch of skin soaped up and rinsed, Edward stands and slowly twirls her around one more time in the shower spray then carefully walks her out of the shower, one hand around her waist and one holding one of her hands up in the air to lead her forward. Getting to the shower door, Edward drops her hand and cracks the door, leaning out and saying, "Jasper? You ready to dry?"
Jasper appears quickly from around the corner where he had been weighed with Bella's discarded clothes and done the math with Carlisle to figure out Bella's weight all by herself. His eyes show his worry, though he smiles tenderly at naked, dripping wet Bella and reaches quickly for one of the terry bath sheets Edward had set out to warm earlier.
Holding it up in front of him, he steps forward to engulf Bella, arms and all, wrapping it around her shoulders and under her chin, as he speaks gently to her, then picking her up like a Bella burrito and carrying her in his arms back to the bench. Edward hasn't moved but hovers in the entryway, waiting for Jasper to settle with the burrito bent into his lap, grabbing up a smaller towel from the end of the bench and starting in on drying her hair.
"How bad is it?" Edward asks quietly.
"Not good," Jasper replies, equally quietly, followed by her weight in kilograms, trying to keep the details from Bella's ears.
"I figured as much. You can feel every rib, and every vertebra, and her pelvis—"
Edward breaks off. There are tears in his voice. His little girl had almost been allowed to starve herself to death. He is also very, very angry, and has to go stand in the shower for a few moments to calm himself while breathing deeply. There's no need in this moment for the water to be cold, for his intimate exploration of her body had acquainted him with just how breakable that body is right now, and that had extinguished all of his earlier thoughts and feelings of desire much more thoroughly than anything else could have done.
As he breathes, he focuses his mind on his determination to fix the unacceptable situation, to heal her, to make her strong and healthy and happy and his, and by the time he turns off the shower and strides out, dripping wet, to strip off his sleep pants and grab his own towel, he is resolved.
"Alright, Baby Girl, time for dinner," he says, his voice steel forged with 100% pure certainty.
Jasper, still working on her hair, looks up and sees the fire in Edward's eyes. He smiles softly down at Bella, her eyes closed again as she soaks up the warmth of her body in his arms, and says, "Your Daddy's sure not going to be taking any 'No's' tonight, Baby Girl."
Edward hears as he's towel-drying his own hair, and drops down in a crouch in front of the bench, another towel wrapped around his waist. "Your Daddy's not going to be taking any 'No's' ever, Isabella Cullen," he says as he rubs his hand against the side of her hip from on top of the towel.
He looks up to Jasper then and says, "I'm going to go get dressed, Jazz, and see if Alice is on her way with clothes. I'll weigh them first so we know for tomorrow's weigh-in." Then he rises and kisses his girl on the cheek before turning to head to the bedroom.
Jasper says behind him, "Smart thinking, Ed. Your Dad went to get the food on the table and prep one of the protein shakes."
Edward called back a simple, "Good!" and headed to his chest of drawers.
As he was pulling on an old pair of jeans, soft and comfortable for him and for his girl, he heard knocking on the open door and in came Alice, much more cheerful than he felt right now.
"Edward! Where's Bella?" she asks, and Edward, pulling on a t-shirt now, answers, "In the bathroom with Jasper getting dried off. Let's see what you brought."
Alice was happy to model the black yoga pants, rose-colored "Princess" t-shirt and royal blue hoodie she had brought, along with a pair of pink panties with ladybugs and a bow in front and a pair of soft, warm socks, striped pink and blue as well.
"Perfect, Al," Edward enthuses, smiling at her, his mood lifting as he realizes he's got a crack team supporting him in taking care of his girl, and he's not the only one who won't take "No" for an answer. "Want to go help me get her dressed?" he asks his sister.
"Yes, please!" Alice enthuses back, and they turn as one towards the bathroom, Edward stopping at the scale to weigh the clothes and record the weight on his phone.
Alice had danced ahead when they got to the bathroom doorway, heading straight for the white bundle of Bella in Jasper's arms and calling out with enthusiasm, "Bella! I'm back!"
Edward is tempted to shush her, but realizes he doesn't have to worry. Between the warmth of the shower and the towel wrapping and the lack of food and sleep for far too many months catching up to her, Bella is drowsy and comfortable and simply smiles up at her friend, not worrying for the moment about whether she's going to have to pay for her comfort now with humiliation and shame later. Edward smiles at Bella's smile that reaches to her eyes as she tries to reach her arms out to return Alice's hug.
Jasper feels her struggle, so starts to peel back the top of the oversized bath towel, saying, "Let's find those arms then, Baby Girl," as he goes.
Edward moves forward into the mix of bodies. "I've got her, Jazz, if you'll hold on to her waist and sit her up in your lap," and Jasper does so as Edward rolls the towel down to Bella's waist.
Squatting to the side, he looks up at Alice and says, "Start dressing then, Al; we'll do the top first."
"OK, Bella, look at this cute shirt I got you! And Alice holds it up to show Bella, who really does like the pretty sparkles, not really thinking about the word "Princess" and what that means for her now.
"Thank you, Alice; it's beautiful!" she says instead, smiling up at her friend.
Alice is so pleased she squeals in happiness and leans in to kiss Bella on both cheeks before stepping back and saying, in a more serious tone, "Now lift your arms up, Bella, so I can get the shirt on," and Bella does.
"Good girl, Baby Doll," Jasper says approvingly as Edward reaches and helps pull the t-shirt down in the back.
"We should do the sweatshirt last," Alice says with authority, and Jasper responds, "Yes, Ma'am. Ready to stand, Bella-bee?"
Bella just nods, hearing her name with a question, and Jasper looks at Edward to make sure he's standing by.
"Ready," Edward says to Jasper with a nod, and he pulls the towel down and off, patting Bella's center and legs dry as he goes as Jasper gently tips her to standing between his legs.
Tossing the towel to the side, Edward says, "Hold the panties, Allie, and I'll move her feet. Got her at the waist, Jasper?" and hearing a "Yes, all set up here," Edward leans in and picks up first one foot, then the other as Alice slides the panties on and pulls them up Bella's bare legs.
Alice notices how skinny her friend is as she moves up her body, not having seen Bella naked before as Bella's always been very careful to keep her body private and changes in the bathroom whenever her roommate is around.
Getting to the top of her legs, and seeing how Bella's pelvis juts out, Alice pauses with a little cry. "Oh, Bella!" she says, concern and sadness in her voice, as she reaches out and touches the edge of the bone on one side.
Bella sucks in a breath and freezes, afraid she's done something wrong to jeopardize the safe place she's in at the moment, and Edward and Jasper both move quickly to fix the situation after a split-second glance at each other.
Wrapping his arms more tightly around Bella from his position behind her, Jasper soothes, "It's okay, Bella-bee; Alice isn't mad at you, Baby Girl, she's just realizing how little you are right now, and how much TLC you're going to need to get your body strong and healthy like we want it to be, right Alice?"
Edward has been talking at the same time to Alice as he takes over pulling up the panties the rest of the way, and running his fingers along the edges at her legs to tug them straight. "It's okay, Alice, we've got this now. Dad's already started a medical file and you know what he's like; she'll be back up to a healthy weight before you go back to school on Sunday, or at least by the time you're back home for Christmas." Edward speaks faster and more softly, so Alice hears Jasper's "right, Alice?" in time to respond, with a cheerfulness that is, after Edward's pep talk, only partly forced over her anxiety, "That's right, Jazzy! We're going to take good care of Bella now, all together, right?"
And Jasper responds "Right!" as Edward echoes "Absolutely!" followed by, "Pants now, please, Alice."
Alice says, "OK, look Bella, I found these adorable Lululemon tights for you! I know how you like to run—" and she broke off there as she realizes that maybe her best friend didn't like to run so much as she was, in an indirect but still frighteningly effective way, trying to kill herself.
Alice starts to cry, and says, "Oh, Bella!" but Edward takes over the pants and pulls them quickly on, holding his girl at her too-tiny waist as he says to Alice, "It will be OK, Al, we've got her now, Jasper and Dad and me, and we are not going to let her hurt herself anymore, I promise." Then looking up at Bella, who has retreated inside herself, her eyes closed and her face pale white having lost the rosy hue from the shower, he says more loudly and cheerfully (although his cheer is also slightly forced as his worry is stronger in the moment), "Alright Baby Girl, one more step and then we're going to have your stylist fix your hair, right Allie Cat?"
And Alice wipes her tears, and sniffs, and says bravely, "Right! I brought hair bows, and they're really cute, Bella. But first your sweatshirt so you don't get cold," and there was just a little more crying, but not too much, and by the time Alice had her eyes wiped again and was grabbing up the pretty flower bag she'd packed with hair styling tools and accessories, Edward had Bella zipped up and was holding her around the waist from the front freeing Jasper to give Bella's hair one more gentle towel dry.
"Okay, Edward, I'm ready. Turn her towards you, please," Alice says, matter-of-fact now that she's focusing on something she has control over. "Jazzy, would you get me a hair dryer please?"
Jasper looks to Edward who says softly, "Under the sink," and then Jasper moves to snag the dryer and plug it in before handing it off to Alice who has already started combing out Bella's long hair.
Not much is said for a few minutes, the dryer whirring as Alice works intently on brushing out and drying Bella's hair as Edward holds Bella in place around the waist, bending his knees to look up into her downcast eyes from time to time and saying things that can just be made out over the dryer's hum—things like, "Good girl, Baby Doll; good girl holding still for Daddy and for Alice. You must be tired Sweetheart; just another minute or two and Daddy will pick you up again; that's my good girl."
Finally, Alice was done with the dryer, handing it back to Jasper who had cleaned up all the towels, and Alice started in on making two braids, tied with bows on either side, and making Bella look somehow even younger than she had looked before.
Despite the gauntness of her face, some of the rosy color had come back from the warmth of the sweatshirt and the bodies around her, and Bella looked beautiful—and when Edward turned her towards the mirror over the sink and said, "Look, Sweetheart," she was brave enough to flick her eyes up for a moment.
The moment extended as she studied the pretty little girl in the mirror, confused at first as to who it was. She reached a hand up and felt one of the bows, watching her hand move in the mirror then looking down and confirming that it was really her hand. She looked up and behind her at Edward then, her puzzlement writ large on her face, and Edward beamed down at her, laughing just a little at her surprise before leaning down and rubbing his nose against her cheek, then kissing her soundly on the same spot and saying, "That's you, my adorable baby!"
He kisses her again on the other cheek, then leans down and scoops her up in his arms, saying to Alice as he does so, "Well done, Alice! She looks exactly right."
Alice beams at this high praise, and answers as she gathers her supplies back into the bag and sets it on the vanity for later, "She always looks exactly right, but I thought I could help her see how pretty she is. Do you think she likes it?"
And Edward nods, reassuring Alice with, "I think she loves it, Al; she's just so overwhelmed she can't tell you herself right now. That's a good thing. She's not going to be doing much talking while she's feeling so little, and that's a healthy sign – it means she's trusting us to take care of her."
Alice nods at this. "That makes sense, I guess; I just, kind of, miss her a little?"
They're in movement now, Edward heading out the bathroom door with Bella in his arms, followed by Alice and then Jasper, who turns out the lights, then all of them heading out of Edward's room as well.
"She'll come back to you, Alice; I promise," Edward reassures her, before leaning in and kissing Bella's exposed cheek, saying, "Won't you, Baby Girl? When you're ready; when you feel like it, your words will come back to you. But when you're feeling little, like you are right now, you don't have to say a thing. Daddy doesn't need you to talk to know how to take good care of you, little one. You're Daddy's baby now," and he tucks her in more tightly against his chest as he heads down the stairs to find his baby her dinner.