Disclaimer: I do not own anything, and sadly am not making any money off of this. If I was I would be on vacation somewhere, nice and hot.

This chapter is dedicated to .37 for coming up with the reason why Bella wasn't brought to the hospital earlier. Thanks for your help!

Chapter Seven:

Jacob and Billy shared a glance at each other. Jacob tightened his hold on Bella, pulling her tighter into his chest.

"What is this about Officer?" Billy asked, placing his hands on his lap nervously.

"You and I both know what this is about." Deputy Smoke countered "We will discuss this further at the station."

Jacob nodded, "we will follow you."

The next ten minutes were a blur to both Jacob and Billy. During the drive to the station they tried to come up with a plausible explanation to how Bella ended up in their custody.

"We could say they dropped her off at our house on their way home from their trip." Billy said once they were on route to the station. "That Bella missed both of us and wanted to see us."

"They'd leave her with us the middle of the night?" Jacob raised his eyebrows. "That's not believable at all."

"If you're so creative you think of something!" Billy said harshly.

"You're not the only one scared of losing her dad." Jacob replied, tension clear in his voice. "She is my imprint; I love her more than anything. If they try and take her away from me I will run with her. You can count on that."

"Hopefully it won't come to that." Billy knew that if it came down to it Jacob would disappear with Bella and be gone for good. He would not only loose his best friend, but his son and goddaughter in one big swoop. "I hope it doesn't come to that." Billy repeated softly.

All too soon they were sitting in the interrogation room, sitting at a small table with Deputy Smoke across from them.

"I want to start off my saying I'm terribly sorry for your loss." Deputy Smoke said, looking down at the table slightly. "The Chief and his wife were good people. Everyone at the station is going to miss them both."

"Thank you." Billy acknowledged "were sorry for your loss as well. You all lost Charlie as well. It's a difficult time for all of us."

"That it is." Deputy Smoke agreed, "How is Bella holding up?" he gestured towards Bella who was sitting calmly on Billy lap, drinking milk from her Sippy cup.

"She seems to be doing well considering." Jacob replied "I don't think she fully understands yet."

Deputy Smoke nodded, "I hope she continues to do well."

"Thank you." Billy and Jacob said together.

"Let's get down to the reason we are all here." Deputy Smoke cut to the chase, "how did Bella end up in your custody?"

"A member of our tribe found her wondering down the street." Billy paused "once he found her he brought her straight to us."

"And who is this person?" Deputy Smoke leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms against his chest almost as if he didn't believe them.

"I can't reveal that." Billy replied "he wishes to remain anonymous for personal reason."

"And how exactly did Bella, a two year old little girl, get herself out of her car seat?" Deputy Smoke continued "and get out of car for that matter. Not to mention that the car was completely totaled."

Jacob cast a quick glance at his father, "Charlie taught her how to undo her car seat." Jacob said slowly, not completely believing the words that were spilling out of his mouth but he had no choice but to say them anyway. His imprint could get taken away from him, and Jacob couldn't stand for that, not at all. "He always wanted her to be prepared in case she ever needed to get out of the car in case of emergency. You know how Charlie was about being prepared for everything."

Deputy Smoke nodded his head in agreement. "He was always prepared for everything."

"Yes he was." Billy nodded in agreement.

"Why wasn't Bella brought to the hospital right away?"

"As soon as she was brought to us, we brought her to the hospital." Billy replied.

Deputy Smoke nodded in understanding. "We just have one final piece of business gentlemen." He said gruffly. "Charlie and Renee's lawyer is here to go over some things regarding Bella."

It was as if someone was hiding behind the large glass windows, because moments after the words left his mouth a short balding man entered the room carrying a black briefcase. The man was quick to take a seat next to Deputy Smoke.

"Bruce Miller." The man said reaching across the table to shake both Billy and Jacob's hands. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss. But we need to go over a few things."

"Let's get to it." Billy replied, adjusting Bella slightly on his lap, pulling her a little closer, as she sleepily closed her eyes, leaning into Billy's chest.

Bruce quickly opened his briefcase, and began to shuffle through his paperwork. "Ah here were are." He murmured to himself before continuing. "The last will and testament of one Charles and Renee Swan." Bruce continued on for a few minutes, naming Bella the sole heir to everything they owned.

"In the event that Renee and Charles Swan pass while their child Isabella is still a minor they appoint Mr. William Black as her sole legal guardian. In the event that Mr. Black is unable to care for the child Mr. Jacob Black given he is of age, will be appointed sole legal guardian. If Mr. Jacob Black is unable to care for the child then Deputy Eric Smoke and Lily Smoke are the third and final selection made by Renee and Charles Swan."

Jacob's ear perked up at the part of Bruce's speech. Tears were quick to fill up in his eyes, but he blinked them away as quickly as they came. Jacob couldn't believe that Charlie and Renee trusted him to the point that they wanted him to raise Bella if Billy couldn't. Even if he hadn't of imprinted on Bella he would have taken her in and raised her, no matter his age.

"Mr. Black, are you planning on giving up guardianship or keeping it?" Bruce asked in a dull voice, it was almost as if he did this all the time.

"My wife and I would love to take Bella in." Deputy Smoke jumped in, "we can't have children of our own. We would love to raise her as our own."

"That sounds ideal." Bruce agreed wholeheartedly, nodding along with Deputy Smoke. "A child needs a mother and a father after all."

"Thank you for the thought," Billy interrupted "But Bella belongs with Jacob and I. It's what her parents wanted. I have no intention of giving up any of my rights to Bella."

"My wife and I would take real good care of her." Deputy Smoke practically begged "given your state in a wheelchair we could give her the life she deserves. We would be more than willing to give you visitation rights."

"We will give her the life she deserves." Jacob said strongly, he was clearly angry at the thought of yet another person trying to take his Bella away. "If Charlie and Renee thought my dad couldn't handle it they never would have put him as her guardian. And let me point out I am not in a wheelchair, I will help my dad every step of the way. And my dad raised three children on his own from his wheelchair."

Billy nodded in agreement. "Bella will be raised on the reservation by Jacob and I."

"Okay, the matter is settled, Mr. William Black does not wish to relinquish his rights to the child." Bruce said, "Now continuing on Mr. and Mrs. Swan had a rather decent life insurance policy set aside for Bella in the event that something happened to them. Along with Charles pension plan and the sale of the house Isabella will be taken care of. You will receive a cheque of roughly around 2,500 dollars a month to help with the care of Isabella. The biggest sum of the money is to be kept in a trust for her, when she graduates from college. Isabella will have access to some of the money to help her with her college education but will not have access to the account until she graduates or turns 25.

"We don't want any money." Billy argued "we will be fine on our own."

"Charlie thought you might say that." Bruce said, pulling out an envelope and handing it to Billy "he told me to give you this after you refused."

Billy made quick work of the envelope, and pulled out a letter written in Charlie chicken scratch for handwriting.

Billy,

If you're reading this than that means Renee and I have passed before our time. I know that the responsibility of raising our Bella is a great favor that we will never be able to repay you for. I wish more than anything that we were able to raise Bella ourselves, but it's out of our hands now.

I know you're going to be a stubborn ass and not want to accept any money to help care for Bella. But you need to accept the money. Renee and I have always wanted a child of our own, and it kills me that I won't be around to see my baby girl graduate high school or get married. We won't get to be a part of any of it. Accepting this money is the only way we will get to contribute, and even this way is just a little. You will be raising our little girl; please let us help in the only way we can.

Please tell Jacob that I loved him like a son, I know he is going to do me proud in whatever he chooses to do in life. And make sure he has a baseball bat ready; my little girl is going to be a heartbreaker.

Please make sure that Bella know how much we loved her. Make sure she always knows that we completely adored her. And that we are so sorry that we won't be around to watch her grow but we will always be watching over her.

You have been my best friend since before I could remember; you are the only person in the world that I trust with my daughter. I know you and Jacob will do Bella right, and raise her the way Renee and I would have if we were given that privilege.

Renee and I have both written a few letters for Bella, please give them to her when the time is right, you'll know when it's time.

Charlie

Billy wiped the tears away that were streaming down his face, as he finished reading his last link to Charlie. Silently Bruce handed Billy a small box, for what he assumed was Renee and Charlie's letters to Bella. Billy took it carefully, looking over the box slightly.

"Thank you." Billy crocked out.

Bruce nodded, "I have some paperwork for you to fill out." Bruce reached across the table, handing Billy the papers. While Jacob in turn reached to move a now sleeping Bella to his own arms so his father could look over the paperwork.

"I need my lawyer to look over these." Billy said as he looked up from the papers. He didn't trust lawyers, and when it came to Bella he had to do everything in his power to protect her.

"That's fine." Bruce agreed, "We will need to meet again in a week or two to sign the paperwork. I need to witness it. But we are done here for now, if you' like to take Bella home."

"Yeah we would." Jacob replied, cuddling Bella closer to his chest as he moved to stand. "It's time to get her home."

And chapter seven is COMPLETE! This is the longest one yet! They just keep on getting a bit longer each time. Hopefully I can keep up with them getting a bit longer! Sorry this one took a while, life has been busy.

Once again this is un beta'd. So any mistakes are my own.

Please review! A happy writer means happy updates.