DC: I don't own it

Summary: Edward's life is in shreds. His family is broken and Bella has left him. On a rainy night he finds a baby on the doorstep. Bella's baby. Carlisle makes him take care of the infant and he finds that the little baby has the power to bring everything back into place.

Chapter 1,

Bella sat in the rocker and looked out of the window at the rain. She still had so much she had left to do but she was so tired. When she heard her baby crying she closed her eyes and sighed. She started to get up when she heard the cries soften and then finally fade. She smiled thankfully and giggled when she heard protests from the other room.

"There is no way someone so small can make all that!" Jacob cried.

Bella shook her head with a smile. He was helpless sometimes but at least he tried. She looked around the room. Half of the clothes and toys were in boxes. Stuff that Bella had left here when she moved out was either packed away or sold off. It was too soon but it had to be done. Jacob walked in with the baby and put her in her crib. Bella glanced up but didn't really pay much attention to him until she felt his hot hands on her shoulders and his lips on her head.

"Come to bed," he whispered, "you're exhausted."

"I still have so much left to pack," she moaned, "I don't have time to sleep!"

"You can't afford not to sleep," Jacob said.

Bella sighed in defeat and tilted her head back. "Why is it I keep choosing men that don't agree with me?"

"Who knows," Jacob shrugged. "Bells please, you've had a long couple weeks and..."

"I have to get everything ready for the burial tomorrow..."

"Bella..."

"Everyone will be meeting at the lodge for drinks after so I don't have to cook anything..."

"Isabella Marie Black go to bed."

"Did you just order me to bed?!" Bella cried. "And use my full name?!"

"Yes," Jacob said with an impish grin, "now go to bed." Bella sighed and was about to leave when her baby started to cry. "Go, I can handle her."

Bella groaned and shuffled past the guest room where she and Jacob had been staying and into Charlie's room. This was the last room they had to pack up. It was for the most part unchanged. She hugged her arms and sat on the edge of his bed. It felt like it was so long ago when she got the call. The call had come from the hospital and it only made it harder that it had been Carlisle telling her. Your father had been in an accident and you need to come to the hospital. They left Seattle that night and arrived a few hours later. A few days later Carlisle said that Charlie hadn't survived.

During the next few days Bella learned the details of the accident. Charlie had been called to stop a robbery. He had been shot a few times, as had his partner. Bella still met the young man who would apologize over and over again.

Pictures of her lined the dresser. Most of them were of her and Jake. It wasn't much of a secret that Charlie was happen when she and Edward split, but he did feel bad for her broken heart. When she told him that she was dating Jacob he was overjoyed and when she said that she was pregnant Charlie nearly went through the roof, especially when that news was followed by "we're engaged"

So there were photographs on the dresser of Bella and Jake at Christmas, at their engagement party and in the hospital when the baby was born. Bella felt her tears when she saw a picture of Charlie with his arm around her and his new granddaughter in his arms. She felt old.

"I thought I told you to go to bed," Jacob sighed, walking in and sitting next to her.

"I know," she sighed resting her head on his shoulder, "I just really miss him."

Jacob pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "He loved you more than anything, Bells, and you made him so happy."

She knew he was right. She walked with him into the bedroom where they changed into their pajamas and went to sleep. Bella laid awake, listening to Jacob's soft snores and looked out the window. Ten years. Had it really been that long? After everything that happened it was no wonder that her relationship with Edward fell apart. She wondered how the Cullens, or what was left of them, were holding up. From what Charlie had said Esme was away visiting relatives and Alice went with her.

She stood up and walked into her old room. She reached into the cradle and gently picked up her daughter without waking her. She sat in the rocker and rocked slowly. When she closed her eyes she could see it, the beginning of the end. The painfully beautiful woman with the deep red eyes and her army walking gracefully into the clearing by the Cullen house. She had been sitting with Edward at the time, secure in his arms. Alice was on the defense and Emmett was sitting on the steps with his arms around Roselie.

Days later Sam and Jacob came, claiming that the treaty had been broken and not only was someone killed but it was one of their own. Leah had been killed before she had time to react. Carlisle argued that it was not any member of his family and therefore they were not in violation of the treaty and though he felt for them, he could not be held responsible.

It all ended after that. The wolves attacked and seeing the point of weakness, the vampires did too. The Cullens were fighting a double front war and Forks was unaware. Bella begged Jacob to stop but when Sam was killed all hope was lost. The woman from before, with the platinum blonde hair and red eyes, found Bella and planned to kill her.

Bella fought the tears in her eyes. She remembered Roselie's reaction. She screamed out and as the vampire, named Asia, launched forward, Roselie blocked the attack. After a brutal fight Bella saw Roselie die. Her beautiful body torn apart and burned. Emmett's tortured cry of agony rang in her ears even now.

Bella didn't know when she had moved but when she opened her eyes she was curled into the corner of her old room hugging her baby tight against her chest and crying into the blanket. She felt warm arms guide her into a hot body.

"Bella, honey, please don't cry anymore."

She felt Jacob put their baby back to sleep and then he picked her up and carried her to bed. He held her against him and stroked her hair while she cried. Finally she was calm and she sighed against his chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"You smell nice," she sighed. Jacob chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"It's Eau de haven't showed in two days," he said, "with a hint of baby vomit."

"Mm you smell like a daddy."

"Bells, I've been thinking..."

"Never good," Bella teased. He poked her side playfully.

"Maybe we can have another baby."

"Not yet," Bella sighed sitting up, "Jake I can't handle it yet."

"Alright," he said, sounding a little down. Bella kissed his forehead.

"We have years to have another. Maybe we'll have a boy."

"I would like that very much," Jacob said with a grin, "I don't think I could handle another you."

Bella laughed and sank into his arms. "When can we go home?"

"Tomorrow night at the earliest. Why?"

"This place makes me sad," she said quietly, "too many memories. Whenever I go into my old room I remember Edward coming in through the window and singing me to sleep. I remember Charlie coming to check on me and other small things. Jake I can't believe he's actually gone!"

Jacob let her cry into his chest until she fell asleep. He kissed her forehead and followed her into an uneasy slumber.

--

Edward didn't know why he was there at the cemetery. Almost the entire town had shown up to give a final farewell to their beloved police chief. People were paying their respects to Bella. He hadn't seen her since she left. The change was unbelievable. Ten years had been kind to her but they showed on her face. She had laugh lines on the corners of her mouth and everything about her looked older. Her hair was tied back at the base of her neck and she wore all black. She was plumper than he remembered her to be.

Jacob stood beside her with his arm secure around her shoulders. She turned into him when the tears came. Her hand left the stroller and balled around his shirt.

"It's okay," Jacob whispered.

We have to get out of here, this place is breaking her heart, Jacob thought. Edward closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Carlisle walked up to Bella and gave her a gentle hug and she seemed happy to see him. Her face broke into the first smile of the day. He overheard everything they said. Bella asked about how everyone was and if he was okay. That was all Edward could stand. He turned and drove home.

--

Bella was aware of three things above everything else. One, she was no longer in the car. Two, her baby was screaming at the top of her little lungs and three, she was going to die. She could smell gas and smoke. Neither promised anything good. She turned her head slowly. Someone from the other car was hanging out of the window nearly completely severed.

"Jake..." she screamed. Her voice was muffled, like it was being smothered by a pillow. With difficulty she rolled onto her stomach and pushed up to her knees. She tried to call to her daughter but she didn't have a voice. She saw Jake in the flipped car. There was a long shard of metal sticking out of his throat. Her eyes exploded with tears and she fell to the ground again. "No," she rasped, "Jake! Jake say something!"

She laid on the cold wet ground. Sleep would be so much easier. Her body was so weak. Her stomach was on fire and when she looked down she saw gashes. They were deep. She felt the warm blood on her hands.

The sounds of her crying baby snapped her out of it. She struggled to stand and she followed the cries to the side of the road where her baby laid on a bed of thick moss. She took her into her arms and continued into the woods. They were close to the big white mansion she had once called home. If she could make it...maybe...

What other choice did she have? She was going to die in a matter of minutes and Jacob was already gone. Would Edward forgive her enough to take her baby? She could count on Carlisle's compassion but would his family out vote him? She was sure that after all the damage she had done...would they forgive her?

It wasn't about forgiveness, she told herself as she stumbled through the wet ferns. At least the doctor would have enough compassion in his heart to care for her innocent baby, even if it was hers. Could Edward look past who the baby's father was? She didn't have time to dwell.

A light was on. She stumbled onto the porch and fell against the door. She pounded on it. They were vampires with super hearing, surely they would hear it. Her vision was blurring and her head was spinning so fast. The seconds passed like hours. She sank to the ground and curled around her baby, sheltering her with her warmth.

The door opened and she saw Edward.

"Carlisle!" He called.

"Please..." Bella cried in her thick muffled voice, "forgive me...take her..."

She pushed her baby towards him, praying with everything she had that he would accept the child into his arms. Edward took the baby into one arm and touched her face with his hand.

"Bella..."

Bella smiled weakly. Then her eyes drifted closed and she gave in to the pull of eternal sleep.

"Bella! Bella open your eyes!"

"She's gone Edward," Carlisle said, checking for a pulse even though he couldn't hear her heart.

Edward turned away from her. He couldn't see her like that, with blood pouring from her stomach and her heart dead.

"Her baby?" Carlisle asked.

Edward looked down at the tan infant in his arms. He stood. She had to get into dry clothes. Looking at Bella and being so close to her blood was painful. He walked up the stairs and swaddled the baby in an old t-shirt.

Hours later Carlisle came up. Edward was still holding the baby against his chest like he had been.

"What are you going to do?"

"What can I do?" Edward asked. He put the baby on his massive bed and covered her with the quilt before leaving. He returned with several boxes of the baby's clothes and her crib. He dressed her and put her in her bed.

"You'll keep her then?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes," Edward said. He reached down and brushed his thumb over the tired girl's cheek. "Isabella," he whispered, "Isabella Rose."

"Beautiful," Carlisle said softly. He patted Edward's shoulder and kissed him on the side of his head. "Everything will be fine."

"I suppose it will," Edward said softly, not taking his eyes off of the sleeping baby.

TBC

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