When we got home I rocked Aurora to asleep. Antoinette was already asleep and Bella was putting her in her crib. She was still sniffling, “Shhh, it’s okay. Daddy’s here,” at that she calmed down some and finally fell asleep. I put her upstairs and went into Bella’s room. She was sobbing on the bed. “Bella, love, shhh, it’s okay.”

“NO IT’S NOT! I JUST LEFT HER, EDWARD! I LEFT HER!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Bella. It’s not your fault. It was just too much. Breaking down is completely understandable.”

“SHE’S MY DAUGHTER! I SHOULDN’T HAVE LEFT HER THERE ALL ALONE!”

“Bella, you didn’t leave her alone, you left her with me. She was fine, she is fine. You need to calm down, okay,” her sobs quieted after a few minutes. She looked up at me with a tear stained face, “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Bella, what on Earth do you have to be sorry for?”

“I shouldn’t have put you in that position. That wasn’t fair to you.”

“Bella, stop being absurd. I have no problem helping you with her. I love her to you know?”

“I know,” she nodded at me and buried her face in my chest. We stayed like that in a comfortable silence. But I had to tell her, “She called me daddy,” she looked up at me, her eyes wide. Then her face broke out in the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. “O-Oh, Edward!” she kissed me with a passion that wasn’t far from violence. I responded, of course, what kind of idiot would I be if I didn’t take advantage of a situation like that. When she pulled away to breathe we both sounded as if we had run a mile. We lay there like that until she fell asleep.

JJJ

            It was around 3:00 am when Rora walked in, a tattered blanket trailing behind her. “Mommy? Daddy?”

“Aurora, what are you doing up?” she should be asleep.

“I woke up and I can’t fall back asleep,” she walked over to the bed and reached her arms up to me. I pulled her on the bed and laid her down between Bella and me. She snuggled into the blankets. I pulled her to my chest and kissed her head. She fell asleep quickly. So there I was, lying next to my daughter and my love, listening to the heart beat of the other angel in the crib down the hall, and I knew I was the luckiest man in the world.