So...this little gem was in my old computer files. I had started writing it as a way to get my creative juices flowing for Journey to Find the One and it eventually took on a life of it's own. Now, it is time for me to share this little story with you guys...please let me know what you think of it. I will probably post one chapter of this story and one of Journey a week.

Chapter 1 (Bella)

Life as a single mother

November 2011

"Night guys!" I called out as I head out of the hospital after a fairly easy night at work.

Several of the nurses waved at me as I headed for the elevator. "Night, Bella. Have a great few days off!" Angela called out as she stuck her head around the edge of the medicine closet.

I laughed at her because she knew that my days off were always hectic. "Have a good, Ang. See you and Ben tomorrow." I called out to her as the elevator doors slid open.

"Yep." She called back in confirmation as the doors slid shut separating us.

Despite the fact that it was just a week before Halloween it was almost eighty degrees when I stepped through the doors of the hospital I had worked at for the past six years. I graduated with my nursing degree from LSU six years ago and immediately found a job at New Orleans Children's Hospital, which had been my dream since I entered college. While most people in my nursing program was happy to just graduate with their nursing degree, I wasn't. I went on to take an exam to specialize in pediatrics and aced it. That allowed me to apply for my dream job and get offered an internship where I eventually got hired full-time as a pediatric nurse upon completion of the six month internship.

My phone began ringing before I even made it to my car. "Hey sweetheart, I'll be home in ten minutes." I said in lieu of the normal 'hello' greeting because I knew that it was my oldest niece checking in on me and letting me know that she was up for school. This was the routine when I did my turn at pulling the night shift.

"Okay, Aunt Bella. Love you." She said before hanging up without another word. I stuffed my phone back in the pocket of my scrub top pulling out my keys instead. I pressed the button and smiled at hearing the beep of my Subaru that I had been forced to buy this past January when I took in my brother's three children. Prior to taking in my three nieces I drove the same old rusty truck that I had bought my first year of college.

I hadn't batted an eye when my brother asked me to foster his three children over the phone at two o'clock in the morning from a police station in Georgia just a mere four days into the New Year. As soon as I got off the phone with him I broke down in tears but sucked it up so that I could call in to work to take a few weeks off to make my brother's plea a reality. By eight o'clock the next morning I was well on my way to being a certified foster parent, proud renter of a four bedroom home, and owner of a brand new shiny red Subaru Outback. Six days after that initial phone call I drove back to New Orleans with three very cranky little girls in the back seat. Molly was eleven years old, Mia was four, and Maci wasn't quite three months old at the time. My brother had been pulled over for speeding and was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, child endangerment, and child abuse along with his wife. The girls were put into a temporary foster home until I was certified to take them. Jake and Vanessa, were both sentenced to 15 years in prison because of the amount of drugs found in the car along with the condition of the children. I only agreed to take in the girls if they signed their rights away and let me adopt them legally right away. Neither one of them batted an eye when I presented them with the deal and both agreed; signing the papers four days after their arrest. The adoption was finalized two months after they first came to live with me and we had all settled into a new routine that worked for us.

It took me less than ten minutes to pull into the driveway of the home I had moved into after the phone call that changed my entire world. "Molly! Mia!" I called out as I unlocked the front door. "Alice!" It wasn't my dream home but it was working for the time being. I had been house hunting on my days off for the past few months but so far nothing had sparked my interest enough to put an offer on one.

"In here!" I heard Alice call out from the direction of the kitchen. Alice was my best friend, my partner in crime, and my savior. She and I had been roommates the entire time we both attended LSU. Prior to the phone call we had been sharing the same apartment since we were college freshmen. When I had told her about taking in the girls and needing to find something suitable for them she said to be sure and find something big enough to fit her to because she was going with me. While I brought the girls with me into the house she brought her boyfriend, Jasper, of the past two years.

It all worked out for the three of us in the long run because the house came with a large workshop in the backyard that Jasper used for his furniture making business. Alice also owned her own event planning business so between the three of us someone was home with the girls at all times which saved me from putting them into daycare or hiring a live in nanny.

I smiled at the sight that greeted me once I entered the kitchen. Sitting at the small round kitchen table that was situated in the bay windows at the far end of the kitchen were my three girls. Molly was sporting wet hair letting me know that she had indeed taken her shower this morning like she had promised me she would last night when I tucked her into bed.

Mia's hair on the other hand was a rat's nest like it usually was first thing of a morning. The poor baby had the most beautiful raven ringlets I had ever saw but they matted up and tangled up something awful while she slept because she tossed and turned constantly.

Then my eyes landed on my baby. Maci had the brightest red hair I had ever saw which told me that she most likely wasn't Jake's biological baby but it was a moot point by now because legally and in my heart she was my baby. "Mama!" She cheered when she spotted me from her high chair. She was the only one of the three girls that called me that on a consistent everyday basis but it wasn't unexpected since she had been just a baby when I had taken them all in a little over nine months ago.

"Good morning my girls." I said kissing each of them on the top of the head as they ate their breakfast. I pulled Maci from her high chair getting my morning cuddles in while I could. Once she was fully awake she would be fighting to be put down so she could test out her new skill. Walking. She had just started walking last week and it seemed like she hadn't stopped once she got it figured out. "Morning, Ali." I told Alice as I leaned against the counter beside where she stood eating her own bowl of cereal.

She just nodded at me steadily shoving a spoonful of cocoa pebbles into her mouth. "Please tell me that you didn't give Molly and Mia that?" I asked pointing at her bowl full of sugary goodness that I only allowed the girls to indulge in on occasion.

She rolled her eyes and pointed to the box of Lucky Charms that sat on the table between the girls. I groaned burying my head into Maci's shoulder. "That's not much better, Mary Alice." I told her as I peppered kisses all over Maci's cherubic face. "Are we all set for tomorrow?"

That caused her to put her spoon down and face me. "It is going to be the best birthday party ever!" She said excitedly bouncing lightly in place like the exuberant pixie that she was on a constant basis.

"She won't even remember it, Alice. We could have done something small, you know." I told her as I walked back over to place Maci back in her high chair so she could finish her breakfast. Alice had given her some cut up fruit, a handful of Lucky Charms without the marshmallows, a sausage link that was cut up, and a cuppie full of milk. "Where's Jasper at this morning?" I asked as I worked at snapping the tray back to the high chair.

Maci slapped her tray causing her food to bounce on it. "Eat! Mama!" She said holding out a piece of cut up honey dew melon.

I shook my head. "No, Maci eat." I told her guiding her hand back to her mouth that showed her bottom two teeth as pretty as can be.

"Yum!" She said just before shoving the piece of food in her mouth.

"He had a delivery early this morning." Alice said as she rinsed her bowl out at the sink.

"Oh." I told her as I tapped Mia on the shoulder to get her attention. When she looked at me with her bright green eyes I smiled at her before bending down to her level.

"You ready to go get your hair brushed and fixed?" I asked softly because more often than not it was a battle in the morning.

She sighed before asking. "Can you fancy braid two?"

I nodded before kissing her on the forehead. She hopped off the chair rushing to the room she shared with Maci. Mia had been born deaf but had a cochlear implant put in when she was just seven months old.

"Aunt Bella, can I invite a friend over for Maci's party tomorrow?" Molly asked as she brought her bowl to the sink rinsing it out before placing it in the dishwasher.

"I don't care, sweetheart. Who are you thinking of inviting?" I asked as I ran my fingers through her jet black hair that was just like Jake's.

"Sydney." She said softly.

"That's fine, Molly. I will call her mom this afternoon and let her know the plans. You talk to Sydney at school, okay?"

"Okay!" She said as she bounced out of the kitchen to finish getting ready for school.

I sighed as I sunk into the chair she had just vacated. "Tired?" Alice asked as she grabbed the box of cereal to put it away.

Laying my head on my folded arms on the top of the table I nodded at her. "Yes. I'm so glad I have the next three days off before going back to the day shift." I told her as I watched her grab her phone off the counter, joining me at the kitchen table. "What do you have planned for the day?"

"Miss Maci and I are going shopping this morning for her party tomorrow while you take a nap after dropping the girls off at school." She told me, her tone not leaving any room for arguments.

I nodded obediently before pushing myself up out of the chair. "Sounds like a plan. I don't know what I would do without you." I told her as I headed for the pink bedroom. While I had been in Alabama picking up the girls and visiting Jake, Alice had gotten busy decorating the two spare bedrooms we had. The biggest draw to this house was the fact that it had two master bedrooms and bathrooms. I had given the larger of the two to Alice since she needed an office space for her business and there were two of them compared to only one of me. Upon my return to New Orleans our house had been completely repainted on the inside and unpacked along with filled with brand new furniture that was a present from my father and step-mother apparently. I guess they felt guilty for ignoring Jake's calls that morning.

"You still want two fancy braids?" I asked Mia as I picked her up to stick her feet in the bathroom sink so I could fix her hair.

She nodded picking out the two matching bows that went with her yellow and green shirt she had decided to wear today. Nobody was sure why Mia didn't say much but she had never spoken a whole lot but when she did speak she spoke clearly so we just went with it. "Okay then. You ready?" I asked picking the brush up and showing it to her in the mirror. I watched as she took a deep breath before nodding. It took me almost 20 minutes to get her hair untangled and flowing down her back in her little ringlets before spending another five minutes French braiding her hair into pig tails. Once I was finished I kissed her on the cheek before setting her on her feet so she could go get her shoes on.

"Ten minutes!" I called out to Mia and Molly as I headed back to the kitchen to get Maci from her high chair. "Damn it, Alice. I can do that." I told her irritably as I found her already wiping Maci down from her breakfast.

She just continued doing what she was doing as if I hadn't uttered a word. When she had Maci all cleaned up she handed her to me. "You can finish." She said cheekily as she left the kitchen quickly.

A rank odor told me that I had literally just gotten the 'shitty end of the deal' on this one. "Come on you stinky monster, let's get you ready for the day." I told her as I 'nibbled' on her neck causing her to squeal loudly and slap at the top of my head.

Once Maci was dressed in a cute little summer dress and sandals I passed her back to Alice on my way out of the house to take Molly and Mia to school. "Homework?" I asked before I pulled the door closed completely.

"None." Mia said simply.

"Got it." Molly said.

"Lunches?"

"Yep." Molly said.

Mia nodded.

"Shoes?"

"Yep." Molly said with a roll of her eyes.

Mia just looked at me with her head cocked and a 'have you lost your mind?' look on her face.

"Okay, let's take off then. Remember no more than a half block in front of me." I reminded them as we headed off the front porch that spanned the entire front of our house in the traditional New Orleans style.

It took less than 15 minutes to see the girls to their school and walking back in the front door. Alice's car wasn't in the driveway so I quickly headed for my bedroom and a shower.

"Happy Birthday Maci! Happy Birthday to you!" We all sang loudly as Maci looked around in awe. The entire backyard was a plethora of pink and black because her theme was Minnie Mouse. Instead of traditional birthday hats everybody was wearing Minnie Mouse ears with different color bows.

I bent down to whisper into Maci's ear. "Happy birthday my girl. You ready to eat your cupcake?" I asked pointing to the big pink and black decorated cupcake she had been trying to eat for the past ten minutes.

She looked at me with wide eyes and nodded. "Go for it." I said as I pulled the cupcake towards her on her tray. She immediately dove in with two handfuls getting the pink and black frosting everywhere.

A little bit later I sat in the lawn chair beneath the shade tree in the backyard with an exhausted Maci slumped against my chest trying to get her to go to sleep. "You have done an amazing job with them, Bella." Angela said quietly as she watched Mia run around the yard with Liam, Angela and Ben's little boy.

"Thanks, Ang. It has its challenging moments but I wouldn't change anything that brought them into my life. Vanessa sent me another letter the other day." I said almost as an afterthought.

She raised an eyebrow in my direction. "What did she want this time?" Angela asked because I have been getting at least four or five letters a month for the past four months all asking basically the same things. It all boiled down to that she was having regrets now that she was clean and sober but that wasn't my problem.

"She keeps asking if I will bring the girls to visit her in prison and let her be a part of their lives once she's released." I said placing a kiss to the top of Maci's head as I felt her finally succumb to sleep and slump against me heavily.

Angela shook her head in disbelief. "As if these girls haven't been through enough already."

"I know but she is their mother so I begin to wonder if I should at least ask Molly what she wants to do since she's the oldest."

"I don't think that would be a bad idea. Has she asked about either of her parents since coming to live here?" She asked quietly.

I shook my head. "Not a single time. Mia has asked a few times what happened to them but other than that we don't talk about them. From what I've found out they weren't the best of parents and Molly was pretty much raising Mia and Maci all on her own for who knows how long. I'm just grateful that she can be a little girl now instead of a mother figure." I said looking over to where she sat with Sydney giggling over something they were looking at on her phone.

"She is pretty remarkable. They all are." Angela said smiling at me as Liam and Mia came running over.

I quickly held my finger to my lips to warn them to not scream or talk extremely loudly. Maci could normally sleep through just about anything but I didn't want to risk her being cranky for the rest of the day. "What's up, Mia girl?" I asked when she leaned against my shoulder at the side of my chair.

"Tired." She said simply. I looked over at Angela who had pulled Liam into her lap where he rested his head against her chest tiredly.

I scooted over patting the spot beside me I had cleared for her. She quickly clambered up onto the chair leaning heavily against me as I wrapped my arm around her tired body. I readjusted Maci and patted my lap for Mia to lay her head down so she turned sideways in the chair dangling her legs over the arm and putting her head in my lap. "Love you, Mia." I whispered as I brushed her curls away from her damp forehead.

It was a gorgeous day today but she had been running and playing fairly steadily for the past hour so she was a little sweaty. The party was over by now with only Alice, myself, Angela, Ben, and Jasper still hanging around. Ben and Jasper were in Jasper's workshop doing what guys do. Alice was in the house putting away the extra food and cleaning up that was her part of the agreement we had come to for me was letting her have complete control over the party. "Love you, Mama."

Within five minutes we had three snoozing children and a good breeze going in the backyard. "Do you ever miss the single life?" Angela asked quietly.

I shrugged. "Not really. All I ever did before the girls was work and come home. Clubbing and partying and sleeping around isn't my kind of thing. It never has been." I said quietly.

"Ain't that the damn truth!" Alice said as she slumped down into another lawn chair beside me.

Angela laughed. I shrugged. "Really? You never partied in college or high school?"

I shook my head. "Trying to get that girl to go to a club is worse than planning the mid-winter debutante ball every year." Alice said with a huff. "Now give her an old book or her laptop and she's happy as a peach but show her a sparkly clubbing dress and she's the sulliest person on the planet."

I merely shrugged as I ran my fingers though Maci's curly red hair. Her hair wasn't as curly as Mia's but it wasn't flat like Molly's either. "Sue me."

"Thanks, Ali." I told her later that night as I collapsed in my chair. Alice and Jasper were cuddled on the couch each with their tablets in their hands. "It was perfect." I told her as I picked up my book from the end table. I was almost to the end of Fifty Shades Freed, the third book in the Fifty shades of Grey trilogy that Alice had gotten me for my birthday six weeks ago.

She laid her tablet down on the coffee table. "Thanks, it was my pleasure. I tagged you, Charlie, and Sue in all the photos I put on Facebook."

I smiled at her as I picked up my tablet from the end table beside my chair. "Thank, I'm sure they are as amazing as her pictures the other day were." I told her pointing to the framed photo of Maci that she had taken on her actual birthday this past Wednesday. She had taken a photo of each girl on their birthdays and I had framed them to put on the mantle and would update it every year until the mantle got full.

"Oh, that was easy! She was enamored with her reflection in the mirror for over an hour." Alice said explaining the photo of Maci. The picture showed the back of her head and the front of her as a reflection in the mirror.

I laughed because I could picture her just standing in front of the mirror that hangs in the hall just pointing and 'talking' to her reflection. I scrolled through the pictures on my tablet and smiled at them. I liked the one where I was bent down kissing the top of Maci's head while she reached for her cupcake. "As I said, these are perfect, Al." I told her softly just as I heard a cry come from down the hall.

I sat my tablet back down as I got up to go see what was wrong. I walked into the nursery and spotted Maci standing up in her crib again. It had taken me almost an hour to get her to lay down earlier so apparently that was going to be a sign that it was going to be a long night. "What's wrong with you tonight, sweet baby?" I asked her softly as I reached for her outstretched hands.

She just snuggled into my neck as her cries turned to soft whimpers. I rubbed her back softly through her pajamas. I quickly felt of her diaper and noticed that she was still dry so that wasn't the problem. I laid her down in the crook of my arm so I could check her forehead for a fever. I placed my lips against her skin and she felt a little warm but nothing to be alarmed about. Next I slid my finger into her mouth feeling of her gums and found the culprit. She had another tooth coming through. She hadn't been fussy at all with the first two teeth until they were almost all the way through. "Another tooth? You are getting to be a big girl, Maci." I whispered to her as I headed for the kitchen so we didn't wake Mia up.

Once in the kitchen I opened the freezer pulling out the frozen pacifiers I kept up there when she cut her first tooth. Angela had told me about that little trick so I had kept her pacifiers when she outgrew them. I hated to revert back to them but it had worked and once her gums stopped hurting she didn't want it anymore so it turned out that I had initially stressed about nothing. I popped the frozen pacifier into Maci's mouth and she immediately shifted it to the side and began gnawing on it. I headed for the living room again since she likely wasn't gonna go back to sleep in her crib tonight.

"Teething?" Alice asked as I passed by her and Jasper as they headed for their bedroom.

I nodded as I turned down the lights in the living room since it was just going to be the two of us. I laid down on the now empty couch with her stretched out on top of me. I felt the heavy weight of her full body within minutes as she let slumber take her away again. Instead of going to bed I just wrapped my arms around her and let myself doze off while she slept as well.

"Aunt Bella." Molly whispered as she shook my shoulder gently. I cracked open an eye and saw her standing before me with tired eyes.

I licked my lips as I fluttered my eyes fully open. "Yeah?" I asked her quietly so as to not wake a sleeping Maci who was still on my chest.

"Can I watch cartoons?" She asked quietly.

I sighed, she was such a sweet child. "Of course you can. Why don't you go curl up in my bed and watch them there? I'm gonna stay right here."

She nodded before kissing me on the forehead and scampering away down the hall. I wrapped my arms back around Maci as I shifted slightly on the couch that I had spent the night on. "Oh, Maci. It's going to be a long day, baby girl." I told her as I shut my eyelids one more time.

"Mama! Up!" Maci said loudly before slapping my cheeks playfully.

I shook my head and continued to play dead. I had been playing with her like this for the past few minutes. I wasn't sure what time it was but I could hear the cartoons playing from my room and talking coming from the kitchen.

I heard Maci sigh loudly. "Mama." She said softly before placing a slobbery kiss on my cheek.

I finally gave it up and opened my eyes which caused her to clap, bounce on my stomach, and laugh. "Mama up!" She said loudly.

I scooped her up as I got up off the couch. "Yes, you little monster, mama's up." I said placing kisses all over her face. "Let's go get your butt changed."

Once we were both freshened up we headed for the kitchen where I found Alice and Jasper. "Morning you two." I said as I put Maci in her high chair.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Jasper asked as he tossed a handful of cheerios onto Maci's tray.

"A little bit. I had to change the pacifiers out about six or seven times but she usually went right back to sleep." I told him as I pulled the flour out of the cabinet so I could make waffles for breakfast. "Waffles?" I asked them and both of them looked at me like I was crazy for even asking. "Okay, sorry I asked." I told them playfully as I walked to the fridge to get the eggs.

I watched on in amazement as my entire family (Yes, Alice and Jasper are family too!) devoured the breakfast I had prepared for them. Alice had been teasing me for years that I needed to open up a restaurant or bakery so that I didn't waste my talents on them. Waffles, sausage, homemade maple syrup, and fresh fruit salad was for breakfast. "Yum!" Maci said as she shoved a strawberry into her mouth.

I smiled at her over the rim of my coffee mug before taking a sip. "Thanks, Aunt Bella." Molly said as she swiped a piece of sausage through the syrup on her plate.

"Your welcome, sweetheart."

Later that afternoon while Mia and Maci were taking a nap I pulled Molly into my bedroom so I could talk to her. "What's wrong?" she asked nervously as I patted the spot on the bed beside me.

"Nothing's wrong, per se." I told her as I pulled the envelope containing her mother's letter from my nightstand. "I need to ask your opinion on something." I said handing the envelope to her. "Read this first and then I will explain." I told her.

I watched her face for signs of what she was feeling as she read the simple one page letter. Anger, sadness, and then anger again crossed her face clear as day. I knew what the letter said.

"She has no right." Molly said as she tossed the letter on the bed.

"She's your mom, Molly. She's off the drugs and thinking straight again, sweetheart." I told her softly.

Molly shook her head before launching herself into my arms. "She's not my mom, anymore. You are." She cried into my shoulder shocking me.

Wrapping my arms around her slender body I pulled her into my lap where she curled much like her little sisters do. "She will always be your mom, Molly. We both can be. Would you maybe want to go see her one weekend?"

"I don't know. Can I think about it?" She asked quietly.

"Absolutely." I told her as I kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer. "Absolutely."

That Monday morning as I walked into Molly's room to wake her up for school is when I got my answer. "Molly, sweetheart, it's time to get up." I told her softly as I switched on her lamp before brushing the hair from her face.

She rolled over blinking her eyes open. "Good morning, Aunt Bella." She whispered groggily as she sat up in bed.

"Good morning, sweet girl. Sleep good?" I asked her as I looked at the outfit she had laid out last night for school today. She had asked if she could pick out her own clothes and I had reluctantly agreed with the agreement that I got to approve or disprove every day's outfit.

I looked over my shoulder to see her nodding her head. "Yes, ma'am. I think I want to go see her." She whispered wrapping her arms around her knees.

I turned around quickly looking at her with wide eyes. "Okay. I will fill out the visitation forms and get them sent back in. Not sure how long it will take to get approved but I will let you know." I told her with a nod.

"Thanks, Aunt Bella." She said as I walked out of the room.

"Your welcome." I told her as I headed for Mia and Maci's room.

I filled out the request forms that Vanessa had so kindly included in each and every letter she sent me with a heavy heart. "You gonna take all three of them to Georgia?" Alice asked from the front porch as I placed the thick envelope in the mail box beside the front door.

I nodded as I sat in the rocking chair beside hers. "Yeah. I figure that will make it easiest on Molly if they are with her. Offer distractions and all that stuff." I said quietly.

"That might help. Are you going to confront Nessa about Maci's paternity?"

I shook my head. "I don't think it will accomplish anything. This is the only time I'm going to take the girls up there to see either of them and that is what the whole trip will be about. Her chance to see how amazing her girls are despite the shitty job they did raising them."

"Good. What about Jake?"

"I sent off a set of visitation papers for them to also see him. I also wrote him a letter letting him know that Molly agreed to see Nessa. I'm not sure about them wanting to see him or him wanting to see them. You know that he cut off all communication when the adoption was finalized." I said shrugging my shoulders.

Alice reached over patting my hand. "You only did what was best for those girls. It's not your fault that they got messed up in the drugs and lost their way."

I nodded. "I know. How is the Halloween gala coming for the hospital?" I asked changing the subject.

She bounced in her chair as she flipped open her tablet excitedly. "Look at this!" She said and the subject was officially changed.