AN: Another chapter for you guys, sorry it took a little longer than usual, I've had a busy week with deadlines on my masters paper. Anyway, time to find out if Edward gets his big break – it's Oscars time! I hope you like it, and let me know what you think!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

32 – The Best Price of All

Bella

"So, I was thinking…" I started when we were having lunch one day in the middle of January. Masen and Emma were in their playpen in the living room, and we could hear them babbling.

"About?" Edward looked up at me.

"About maybe going back to work soon," I continued.

He nodded. "OK."

"I haven't talked to Michelle yet or anything, but I'm sure she'd be happy to let me work from home for a while. At least until the fall, and then I'll probably go back fulltime."

"I think that sounds like a good idea," he agreed. "I was actually thinking about going back to work in the fall, too. Do you think we should start looking into getting a nanny? It would probably be good if we could get someone who could spend some time with them while we're still home, let them get used to it."

"I'm not sure I want to go with a nanny, actually," I told him.

"Why not?" He frowned. "You know that we can afford it, it's not a problem."

"Yeah, I know," I assured him. "And, sure, Lily went to the daycare center when she was little because I didn't really have any other option, but she loved it. And I think it's important that they get to be around other kids. Can we at least look into it?"

"Of course we can. I guess I just didn't really consider it."

"Thank you. And if we don't find a place we like, we'll get a nanny."

Michelle was thrilled that I wanted to start working again, even if it would only be for a couple of hours a day, and from home.

"I've got the perfect 'slow start' campaign for you," she told me when we talked on the phone. "A small, local clothing company that has just gotten started. Nothing too big, and it doesn't have to be done for a while, so you'll be able to work at your own pace, get back in the game little by little."

"That sounds great." Just what I had been hoping for.

"Do you think you could come in for an hour or so sometime next week?" she wondered. "Just to meet with the client and get an idea about what it is they want."

"Sure, no problem."

It felt like I hadn't left at all; I slipped back into my work-routines quickly and more easily than I would have thought. I started out with just two or three hours during the morning; sometimes more when I got wrapped up in what I was doing. Sure, it was a little hard to stay in the office when I heard Emma or Masen crying, but I knew Edward was handling it and would ask for help if he needed it. And it was actually a bit of a relief to have something to do, apart from diaper changes and feedings. I wasn't climbing the walls or anything, but getting a short time-out from all the baby stuff was nice.

"Maybe you should start working a little too?" I suggested to Edward one afternoon about a week after I had started working again. "Ease your way back into it. It might do you some good to get away from the world of diapers and bottles and pacifiers."

He laughed. "I'm good."

I frowned at him. "Now you're making me feel like a bad parent," I complained.

"What? Why?"

"Because you're happy just being home with them. I mean, it's not like I was going crazy, climbing the walls or anything, but now that I've started working again, it feels really good to have something outside all of this," I explained, gesturing to the playpen and bouncers, the discarded pacifier on the living room table in front of us and the few toys that were lying on the floor.

"That doesn't make you a bad parent," he objected. "It just makes you human. And it means that you love your job, which is good, right?"

"I guess." I still felt a little guilty.

"Stop it," he told me sternly, sensing what I was feeling. "You are the most amazing mom in the world, and our kids are lucky to have you."

"You stop it, you're going to make me blush." I already was, as a matter of fact.

"Then you stop feeling guilty when you have nothing to feel guilty about," he countered.

"OK, OK, I get your point."

Edward

When January started coming to an end, Joe began calling me pretty much daily, updating me on how the 'Oscar talk' was going in LA.

"You don't have to call me every day, Joe," I pointed out when I started to get tired of him. "And whatever happens will happen. I really don't think there's any point in listening to rumors."

"Well, excuse me for thinking that you wanted to be kept updated." He huffed.

I sighed.

"It's not like it matters what people think, anyway," I tried to reason with him. "The nominations will be out in just a few days, and then we'll know."

"Aren't you the least bit excited about this?"

"Of course I am." Though apparently not as excited as he was.

"You have a funny way of showing it."

Maybe he was right. I just couldn't get too excited about something that might not even happen.

"Look, I've got to go," I said when I heard a cry from the nursery where Emma was taking her afternoon nap. Bella had taken Masen out for a long walk an hour ago. He had started making a fuss when it was time to take a nap lately, and walking with him usually did the trick, so we took turns doing that.

"Will you at least promise me that you'll come to the awards if you're nominated?" Joe demanded.

"Yes, I will." Not because he wanted me to, of course, but because I knew Bella would never let me skip out.

"Good."

I hung up the phone and went into the nursery, where Emma had stopped crying and was intently studying the mobile above her, trying to reach the little plush toys dangling from it.

"Good morning, angel." I picked her up. "Did you have a good nap?"

"Dada!" she exclaimed with a big smile, and I stared at her in amazement.

"Did you say dada?"

"Dada!"

"That's right, angel, dada." I heard the front door open and close, and hurried downstairs. "Guess what she just said?" I asked Bella breathlessly.

"What?"

"Go on, Emma, one more time."

"Dada!"

"See?"

A big smile started spreading on Bella's face. She held her arms out for Emma and I handed her over.

"Is that dada?"

"Dada!"

"Can you say 'mama'?"

"Dada!" Emma replied resolutely, reaching up to grab a fistful of Bella's hair. I laughed.

"I guess she doesn't have the whole 'who's who' down yet," I concluded. "But it's a good place to start."

xxxxx

On the twenty-eighth, we were woken up earlier than usual – a little after six – by Masen.

"I'll get him," I mumbled, still half asleep. "You get some more sleep before you have to get up."

Since she had started working from home, Bella had been on a strict schedule; getting up at seven, working from eight to eleven. She said that if she didn't have specific times lined out, she wouldn't be able to focus.

"OK," she replied as I got out of bed. But she sat up and reached for the remote control on the bedside table instead.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pulling on a t-shirt.

"I want to check the nominations," she explained, glancing at the clock before turning the television on. "They were released half an hour ago."

I shook my head as I left the bedroom and went into the nursery. Bella was almost as bad as Joe when it came to the Oscars. Not that I wasn't excited – or, right now, more nervous and anxious – but she was much, much worse. I had been trying to tell myself that whatever happened would happen, and that if I did get nominated, it would just be a nice bonus for the work I had put into the music. But, of course, it would be a lot more than that. Still, I had tried not to expect anything, despite all the speculations that all seemed to agree that it was a sure thing. They had been wrong before.

"You don't care about silly things like awards, do you?" I said to Masen as I changed his diaper. "You're concerned about more important things, like food and sleep and playing. A much healthier outlook on life."

Since the likelihood that he would go back to sleep was about zero, I took him with me back into our bedroom. When I entered the room, Bella quickly turned the TV off.

"You're up early today, mister," she said, holding her arms out for Masen. I studied her carefully as she let him 'jump' on the bed; he loved it.

"So?" I pushed when she didn't say anything.

"So what?" She looked up at me, putting on an innocent face.

"Oh." I nodded, taking a deep breath and then letting it out. "It's fine, I wasn't really expecting it, anyway."

"And that just shows how you underestimate yourself, because you totally got it!" She got out of the bed and moved Masen to her hip to be able to give me a hug. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist teasing you a little."

"Are you serious?" I asked incredulously. "I really got a nomination?"

"Two," she corrected. "Both 'original score' and 'original song'. For you."

"Wow." I slumped back down on the bed, trying to wrap my mind around it.

"The movie got ten altogether, so no big surprise there," she continued, sitting down next to me.

"The big surprise is why Joe hasn't called yet." I reached for my cell on the bedside table. It was on, and there were no missed calls.

"Do you think he's actually developed a sense of respect for other people's privacy?" Bella asked, sounding like she was about to start laughing. "I never thought I'd see the day."

Neither had I.

"I think it's more likely that he's still asleep," I concluded. "Maybe it's time to get him back for all the times he's called at all hours of the day…" I flipped through the phone book until I found his number and hit 'Call'.

"Mmmgah."

"Good morning to you too." I had to suppress a laugh.

"Good… are you insane? It's six in the morning!"

"You're exaggerating." I glanced at the clock. "It's six twenty-two."

"And why are you calling at six twenty-two in the morning?"

"I thought you'd be up." Messing with Joe was one of my very favorite pastimes.

"And why on earth would I be up at six twenty-two in the morning? Unlike you, I don't have two alarm clocks sleeping in the next room."

"True… so you haven't watched the news yet?"

"No, I haven't watched… shit, I forgot." I heard him stumble out of bed and laughed.

"You forgot? Aren't you the one who's been calling every day, reminding me?"

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly on top of things at six in the morning."

No kidding?

"So? Did we get it?"

"We?" Sometimes – not very often, but sometimes – he still surprised me. We?

"OK, fine, you. But don't forget who helped you get where you are today. Who knows where you'd be if it wasn't for me."

I supposed I could give him that much… at least this early, when I wasn't in the mood to argue with him.

"I'm guessing that you've already turned on your computer and…"

"Yes!" he interrupted me, and I held the phone a few inches from my ear to avoid going deaf. "I knew it! What did I tell you?"

"Yeah, yeah, you said it all along." I had to hand it to him; he had been completely convinced that I'd get nominated ever since the movie came out.

"Though I have to admit; I didn't expect both categories," he confessed. "I mean, there were some seriously good songs out there last year. That one in that animated movie was great."

"Since when do you watch animated movies?" I asked incredulously.

"I watched my niece one day a couple of months ago; she dragged me to it."

Who in their right mind would leave a kid with Joe? The man could kill a cactus, for Christ's sake!

"So this means we'll see each other soon!" he concluded, and I groaned. Right, I had promised to go to the gala if I was nominated. I must have been temporarily insane when I agreed to that. "You are coming, right? You said you would!"

"Yeah, we'll be there." Bella looked up at me and smiled as I said it. For someone who claimed she didn't like being the center of attention, she sure was looking forward to a public appearance with a little too much excitement.

"Great. Now, I'm going back to bed. And if you ever call me at this ungodly hour again, I will have you blacklisted with every major movie producer and director in Hollywood."

"It was nice talking to you too."

"So we're going to LA?" Bella asked as soon as I had hung up the phone.

"I guess we are." I sighed.

"Oh, come on, it'll be great!" she tried to encourage me. "Be a little excited!"

"You do realize that this will involve a red carpet and paparazzi?" I pointed out.

"Oh, please," she disregarded. "They'll be too interested in all the hot movie stars to pay any attention to us. And, besides, it's one night."

She did have a point.

"OK, I am going to try my best to be excited," I promised.

"Good." She glanced at the clock. "It's already nine thirty in Florida, I'm going to call Renée, she is going to be so excited!"

"Come on, buddy, how about you and I get some breakfast while your mom starts spreading the word." I picked Masen up and left the bedroom, heading down the stairs. "Can you say 'Oscar nomination'?"

All I got in return was a laugh.

Bella

"We should book plane tickets, right?" I said as I came into the kitchen half an hour later. Like I had suspected, Renée had been thrilled.

"Huh?" Edward looked up from the bowl of baby cereal he was trying to get Masen to eat. "Yeah, I guess so."

I studied him for a moment before sitting down opposite him at the table.

"Why aren't you more excited?" I wondered.

"Now you sound like Joe," he told me with a smirk.

"Oh, the horror! But, seriously. This is a big deal. Why aren't you thrilled?"

"I am, honest." He shrugged. "I guess that, with everything that's happened in the last few years, I've just come to realize that there's more to life."

"Of course there is." I watched him smile as Masen swatted at the spoonful of cereal and resolutely turn his face away. "But that doesn't mean you can't be excited about this."

"I. Am. Excited," he said each word slowly. "I'm just not as obvious about it as you and certain other people. And if I don't win, it won't be the end of the world."

"Is that what it's about?" I thought I saw the direction his mind was going. "You don't think you'll win, so you don't want to get excited?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. I mean, a nomination is huge in itself. And I honestly don't see why I'm any better than the others that are up for the award."

"Maybe you're not."

He looked up at me with an incredulous expression on his face.

"Thanks for that vote of confidence!"

"Oh, come on. It's music we're talking about; who can say what's better than something else? It's all about preference and stuff like that." I reached over the table and took his hand in mine. "I don't know the other composers that have been nominated, and I haven't heard all the music. But I know you, and I know your music, and you do deserve this. So, please, be a little excited, will you?"

A smile started spreading on his face as I spoke, and when I finished, he leaned over the table to give me a kiss.

"Thank you," he said when he pulled back. "I think that maybe I needed to hear that."

"Glad to be of service."

I got up and turned the coffee machine on before getting a box of waffles from the freezer.

"Celebratory breakfast," I announced, popping two waffles in the toaster and getting the syrup out of the fridge. "I'll go wake Lily up."

I climbed the stairs and went into Lily's room. She was asleep, curled into a ball under the covers. I turned the lamp on her bedside table on and then shook her shoulder.

"Time to get up, baby."

"Mmm-mmm."

"Come on, there's waffles for breakfast." That usually got her attention, and it didn't fail this time.

"But it's Tuesday," she said, sitting up in the bed and rubbing her eyes. "We only have waffles on the weekend."

"We're celebrating," I told her.

"What are we celebrating?"

Before I could answer, Emma announced that she was awake from the nursery.

"Get dressed and go downstairs and ask your dad," I told Lily. I knew he'd want to tell her himself. "I'll be down in a minute."

"OK." As I left the room, she jumped out of bed.

"Good morning, sunshine," I said as I picked Emma up out of her crib.

"Mama," she replied, and I smiled. Only a day or so after she said 'dada' for the first time, she had started saying 'mama' as well. She didn't differentiate between me and Edward, however, using 'mama' and 'dada' for both of us, but it was still an amazing feeling when she said it.

"Today is a big day for dada, so we're going to be extra nice today, right?"

"Dada."

"That's right."

I changed her diaper before I went downstairs, where Lily was gulfing down waffles at the table.

"Hungry, are we?" I asked as I passed her.

"We're going to the Bug Safari today," she replied in between bites.

"Right." I knew that; I had just been a little distracted by the morning's events. "Well, make sure you don't bring any creepy crawlies home with you. I don't want some huge, foreign cockroach taking up residence in the basement."

She just rolled her eyes at me.

"Can I come to the big Oscars party in LA with you?" she asked, quickly changing the subject and taking me off guard. I shot Edward a pointed look, hoping that he had come up with some good reason why she wouldn't be able to go with us.

"I'm sorry, princess, but we only get two tickets," he lied smoothly.

"That sucks," she grumbled. "I want to go too."

"Maybe you and aunt Alice and aunt Rosalie can have your own glamorous party here?" I suggested, knowing that neither Alice nor Rosalie would mind shopping for something fancy, even if they would only get to wear it around the house.

"I guess," Lily agreed, still sounding a little disappointed. Then the look on her face brightened. "Can we go shopping for dresses this weekend?"

"Sure we can." I didn't normally like shopping that much, but it might be fun to get to go all out for once. "I'll call Alice and Rose later today and make sure they can come with us."

"Great!" She stuffed the last piece of waffle into her mouth and jumped off the chair. "I go gress."

"Don't speak with food in your mouth," Edward told her.

She swallowed loudly. "I'm going to get dressed."

"Better."

She hurried out of the room and a moment later we heard her climb the stairs.

"Shopping with Alice and Rosalie?" Edward questioned. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

I laughed. "Normally, I would ask you to lock me up until I came to my senses," I admitted. If I usually didn't like shopping, I hated shopping with both Alice and Rosalie; they always ganged up on me. "But I think I'll need their fashion expertise to pick out something fabulous for the party."

"Since when do you care about what you wear?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Excuse me?"

"OK, that came out sounding a little different than it did in my head. I just meant, since when do you want Alice and Rosalie to help you pick out something to wear?" he explained. "You usually don't care what they, or anybody else, think about stuff like that."

"I know." I shrugged. "But this is different. Do you know how many people watch the Oscars?"

He buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"I was actually trying very hard not to think about that."

"Well, if I have to, so do you," I said with a smirk.

"You're evil."

Edward

The weeks between the announcements of the Oscar nominations and the actual gala were surreal, to say the least. All of a sudden, I found myself more or less pulled into the Hollywood world; different magazines and TV-shows wanted interviews, I got at least one call a day from producers that wanted me to do the music for their movies, and once, at the supermarket, I even got to sign an autograph for a teenage boy who told me all about how he wanted to compose music one day. Even if it was nice that my work was being acknowledged, I would be glad when life went back to normal again.

We got tickets for a plane leaving Seattle at eleven o'clock the morning of Sunday March second. Since neither of us felt like rushing to the airport after the gala, we also made reservations at a hotel in Los Angeles.

"Ready?" I looked up at Bella's voice and closed my suitcase.

"Yep, let's go."

It was a little after eight, and we needed to get going soon to get to the airport in time.

I grabbed both my suitcase and Bella's and carried them downstairs. Alice and Jasper, who would be staying with the kids while we were in LA, were already there, watching TV with Lily in the living room.

"OK, we're heading out," Bella said as we entered the room.

"I want to go too," Lily complained, slumping back against the couch.

"And miss our super-duper-all-time-most-fun-ever Oscar party?" Alice questioned incredulously. "We have the greatest night ever planned!"

The pout disappeared from Lily's face, but she didn't look much happier.

"Come on, princess." I sat down next to her on the couch. "You'll have a great time with your aunts, much more fun than we'll have, I promise."

"Right."

"Seriously. There's going to be a ton of people, and we'll have to sit there for hours. And we won't get any of aunt Rosalie's special strawberry-chocolate-sauce-marshmallows sundae either."

At the mention of that, one corner of her mouth turned a fraction of an inch up. I had hit one of her soft spots; ice cream always did the trick.

"I guess."

"You'll have to get a ton of pictures of you and your aunts in your dresses, OK?"

She nodded. "I will."

"Good. Now we really have to go." I kissed the top of her head. "Be good for your aunt and uncle, and have the best time tonight, OK? I promise to wave at you if we see any cameras."

She laughed.

"OK."

We said goodbye and were soon in the car on the way to the airport.

"She'll have fun tonight," Bella said after a moment, as if sensing that I worried. "It was just a last effort."

"I know," I agreed. "But you know how I hate saying no to her."

"Practice makes perfect," she pointed out with a smirk. "You can't give her everything she'll ever want."

I knew that. It didn't stop me wishing I could.

At the airport, we quickly checked our luggage and went through security.

"Maybe we should get something for Lily?" Bella suggested. "A souvenir from our trip, to make up for her not being able to come."

"I think that sounds good," I agreed, knowing Lily would be thrilled.

We browsed the different shops, which sold everything from clothes and jewelry to books and toys. Finally, we decided to go with a necklace-earring combination; Lily had been nagging us about getting her ears pierced ever since Catie'd had it done for her tenth birthday last year. I hadn't really liked the idea, but Bella had convinced me to let her do it. We had told her that she'd have to wait until her birthday in May, but we could get her something to look forward to in the meantime.

When we had paid and gotten the little box wrapped, we went to get some coffee before boarding. I had just finished mine when my cell rang, reminding me to turn it off before we got on the plane. I pulled the phone from my pocket and saw that it was Alice.

"Did we forget something?" I asked Bella before answering, but she shook her head. "Hello?"

"I'm sorry, Edward, I'm so sorry," Alice's voice came over the line.

I sighed. "What did you do?"

"I was watching her, I swear, and she was just on the sidewalk, but the car came down the side street and I couldn't…" She cut herself off and I heard the sound of sirens in the background.

"What happened?" I asked, feeling like my insides were turning to ice.

There was some sort of commotion in the background and, for a moment, I couldn't catch my breath and it felt like my heart had stopped beating. Then a male voice came over the line.

"Mr. Cullen?"

"Yes? Please tell me what's going on."

"My name is Hank Gilbert, I'm an EMT. Your daughter was injured in an accident a short while ago, and we're on our way to the hospital right now."

Injured? Accident? The words didn't make any sense.

"What do you mean injured? Is she OK?"

Bella's eyes widened when she heard my words, and she mouthed 'what's going on', but I just shook my head.

"As far as I can tell, she has a concussion and her left leg is broken. She's awake and coherent, so I'm sure she's going to be just fine, but you might want to come to the hospital."

I tried to hang on to the fact that she was awake and the EMT's assessment that she was going to be fine, but it was very difficult.

"What hospital?" I stood up as I spoke and Bella did the same, looking even more worried.

"Swedish at Ballard."

"Thank you, we'll be right there."

"What's going on?" Bella asked as soon as I had hung up the phone.

"I don't know, but Lily was hurt in an accident," I told her as I pulled her along back towards security, where we should be able to get out. My mind – probably in some sort of effort to focus on something other than the fact that my little girl was hurt and I hadn't been there to keep her safe – was calculating which way would be the best to take to the hospital.

"What?" I heard the same fear I was feeling in her voice.

"The EMT said that he thought she'd be fine, but she probably has a concussion and a broken leg."

"But what happened?"

"I don't know," I repeated, trying to remember what Alice had said. "Alice mentioned something about a car, but she wasn't really making much sense, and the EMT guy just said that there had been an accident."

"Oh my God." Tears started rolling down Bella's cheeks as she said that, and I stopped for a moment.

"She's going to be fine," I assured her, wiping the tears away. "She's going to be fine." She had to be. There was no other option.

xxxxx

We got to the hospital in what must have been record time. For some reason – I wasn't sure why, since it should have been the last thing on my mind right now – I reflected on the fact that it was a good thing that we hadn't met any cops on the way there, since I would have lost my license for good if we had.

"Lily Cullen?" I breathlessly asked the nurse sitting behind a desk inside the main entrance. "She was brought in just a little while ago. We're her parents."

"Let me check… yes, she's still in the emergency room, there's a waiting room right back there, the doctor will be with you in a moment." She pointed down a hallway to the right, and we hurried in the direction she had indicated; not that I had any intention of waiting there.

I spotted Alice as soon as the doors opened. She was pacing the floor, back and forth, back and forth, her face streaked with tears. When she saw us, she started crying again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed into my shoulder as I hugged her. "I was right there, I promise, but I didn't see the car until it was too late."

"It's OK," I tried to comfort her. "It wasn't your fault. Where is she?"

"They just took her to radiology a minute ago, they wouldn't let me go with her. The doctor said that she has a mild concussion and probably a broken leg."

I pulled her along to a row of five empty, plastic chairs. Bella sat down on my other side, taking my hand. I squeezed it in what I hoped was a calming way. It was all I could do right now, considering the fact that I was far from calm myself.

"What happened?" I asked Alice when she had stopped sobbing. She took a deep breath.

"She wanted to ride her bike, since there wasn't any snow for the first time in weeks, and I said that it was fine as long as she wore her helmet and stayed on the sidewalk. I went out into the front yard with her, anyway, to make sure that the pavement wasn't slippery and that she didn't go too far or into the street or anything." She swallowed and wiped a few tears away. "She was on her way back to the house when this car came from the side street right in front of her. I don't know if the driver was drunk or something, but he ran onto the sidewalk and hit her. I barely had time to react."

"But she was wearing the helmet?" Bella piped in, her voice laced with anxiety.

"Of course!"

"Then she'll be fine." I said it to convince myself just as much as them.

"That's the doctor that examined her," Alice said, pointing at a middle aged man that had just entered the waiting room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, I assume?" he said, stopping in front of us.

"Yes, how is she?" My hands balled into fists as I waited for him to answer.

"She's going to be just fine," he assured us with a comforting smile. "She does have a mild concussion, and her left leg is most likely broken, but it could have been much worse."

I didn't even want to think about that.

"We're getting x-rays of her leg right now, and then we'll probably put it in a cast. There are no signs of internal bleeding, but we're going to keep her here until tomorrow morning, just to be on the safe side."

"Thank you." I slumped back against the wall, closing my eyes. She was fine.

"Can we see her?" I heard Bella ask next to me.

"I'll send someone to get you as soon as she's out of radiology," the doctor promised. "And just ask for me if you have any questions, I'm doctor Langdon."

"Thank you." I waited until he had left before asking Alice if she had called our parents.

"No, just you," she replied, sounding a lot calmer. "I don't know if Jasper has, though."

"I'll call him at the house, check." I pulled my cell from my pocket, noticing that my hand was still shaking. The initial terrifying, mind numbing fear was gone, but I wouldn't relax completely until I had seen Lily for myself and could make sure she was OK. "I don't think we should call mom and dad until we get home tomorrow, you know how mom will react."

Alice nodded. "Probably a good idea."

I hit the speed dial and waited for Jasper to pick up.

"Hey man, how is she?"

"She's going to be fine," I said, feeling the relief wash through me again as I said the words. "Broken leg and a concussion, and they're keeping her over night. You didn't call our parents, did you?"

"No, I thought it would be better to wait, at least until I knew more," he replied.

"Good call. We're going to wait until we get home tomorrow."

"Probably smart."

"How're things at the house? They giving you a run for your money?"

He laughed. "No, it's fine, don't worry."

"I'll see if I can get Alice to leave and go back to…" I cut myself off as Alice started shaking her head vigorously. "OK, maybe not right now."

"She's feeling really guilty," he told me. "Try to make her realize that it wasn't her fault, would you? I talked to the cops who showed up, and the guy driving the car was definitely drunk or high or something."

"I'll do my best." I tried to control the anger that was bubbling inside me as I thought of the guy who had been driving the car. I hoped the cops had locked him up somewhere, because if I got my hands on him… I took a deep breath, remembering that Jasper was on the other end of the line. "And if you need reinforcements, call Ben and Angela. They need to practice, anyway."

"I will. Give Lily a kiss for me, OK?"

"OK, bye."

"Does he have everything under control?" Bella asked when I had hung up the phone.

"Yeah, he said that everything was fine," I assured her, squeezing her hand again.

"Maybe I should call Ang, ask her and Ben to head over there anyway," she suggested.

"You do that." I nodded. "I told him to call them if he needed a hand, but he might not want to admit defeat."

Bella laughed weakly at that and then dug around her purse until she found her phone. When she put it to her ear, I turned to Alice.

She had pulled her legs up and was hugging her knees to her chest. I put my arm around her and pulled her head onto my shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault," I repeated quietly and felt her shake her head.

"I should have been keeping a better eye on her," she insisted.

"You can't do that all the time," I reasoned; it was something that Bella had said to me a couple of years ago, when I had been reluctant to let Lily out of my sight for too long, worrying about all kinds of things that could happen to her. "These things happen. It could just as easily have happened when we were there. It wasn't your fault."

"She was so brave." She looked up at me with a small smile on her lips. "I was the one who panicked; she kept telling me that everything was fine."

That was just like Lily.

"She even said that I shouldn't call you; she didn't want to ruin your big day."

Right. The Oscars. That had completely slipped my mind.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't listen to her." I couldn't imagine being a thousand miles away right now.

"I knew you'd kill me if I didn't call and you found out when you got home tomorrow."

I laughed, surprising myself. "You're probably right."

A couple of minutes later, a nurse came and told us that Lily was out of radiology. We were brought up to the children's ward, where Alice sat down in the waiting room after having made us promise to let her know how Lily was doing. Bella and I followed the nurse to the room Lily had been moved to.

My mind instinctively reacted against the image of my little girl in a hospital bed. She looked so small, so fragile.

"Hey, baby, how are you feeling?" Bella asked, pulling a chair up to the bed and sitting down. I stood next to her; there was only the one chair, and I was afraid that it would hurt Lily somehow if I sat down on the bed.

"I'm sorry," Lily said, tears forming in her eyes.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," I told her, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you in pain? Does it hurt anywhere?"

She shook her head.

"The doctor gave me a shot, so it doesn't hurt anymore."

But it had hurt. Of course it had, she had broken a bone, for Christ's sake! I had never done that myself, but I could imagine how much it must hurt.

"Did the doctor tell you what they are going to do?" Bella asked and Lily nodded.

"I'm getting a cast." A smile suddenly spread on her face. "And I can have all my friends at school sign it, like Jordan did last year!"

Bella and I laughed at that. I was glad that Lily, at least, could see the silver lining.

xxxxx

I was in the hospital cafeteria, having lunch – Bella had pretty much kicked me out of Lily's room after she herself had gotten back after getting something to eat – when my phone rang. We had been able to get Alice to leave a little earlier, and she had gone back to the house. She and Jasper were still staying there with the twins tonight, since both Bella and I wanted to stay with Lily in the hospital.

"Hello?"

"Why weren't you on the plane?" Joe's annoyed voice came over the line, and I sighed. I hadn't even thought about calling him.

"I'm sorry, Joe, something's come up and we won't be able to make it."

"Oh really, something's come up? And what might be more important than this?"

He doesn't know, I tried to tell myself. It's just Joe being Joe.

"Lily was hit by a car and has a broken leg and a concussion," I replied, sounding a little more irritated than I had intended. "I'm sorry if it happened at an inconvenient time, but there isn't much I can do about that now."

"Oh, man, I'm sorry, I had no idea. How is she?"

"She'll be fine. They're keeping her until tomorrow just to be on the safe side, but the doctor says that she's fine."

"That's good. Is there anything I can do?"

His question surprised me a little; it wasn't like Joe to offer to help.

"Not really. Though I guess you could talk to Paul, explain the situation. You'll have to make some sort of arrangements in case…" I couldn't say 'in case I win', but Joe seemed to get it.

"Of course, we'll take care of it, you just focus on your family."

I felt a strange kind of gratitude that I had never experienced in relation to Joe before.

"Thanks."

"Don't even mention it."

"Still. I have to go now, have fun tonight."

"I'll try," he replied sarcastically. "Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and sighed. Joe's call had reminded me that, as much as we might want to, we wouldn't be able to postpone calling my parents until tomorrow. Even if I didn't win tonight – which I was far from convinced that I would – they would wonder when the nominations were announced and I wasn't there. So I called Carlisle's cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Dad, hi."

"Edward, hello. How is Los Angeles?"

"That's why I'm calling, actually. We're not in LA."

He was silent for a moment.

"Oh. Why not?"

"You're going to have to be careful when you tell mom, OK?" I instructed. "I don't want her to freak, because everything is fine."

"Now I'm getting worried myself. What's going on?"

"Lily has a concussion and a broken leg," I told him, deciding that it was best to start with the outcome, and not the accident.

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine." I shook my head, remembering her reaction to the cast earlier. "She's excited about the cast, says that she'll have all her friends sign it at school."

Carlisle laughed.

"It's good that she can look at it that way, though I'm sure she'll get sick of it soon enough."

I had no doubt about that.

"What happened?"

"She was riding her bike on the sidewalk, and some idiot in a car hit her." I felt the barely controlled anger stirring a little.

"Then she was lucky," he concluded.

"I know. Anyway, I was hoping you'd tell mom. I don't want to spring this on her over the phone."

"I will talk to her, though you should expect a call. I doubt she'll take my word for it."

"Of course she won't."

When I had ended the call, I hurried to finish my lunch and returned to the room. Only a few minutes after I got back, Esme called. She sounded a little less hysterical than I had expected, but still demanded to talk to Lily herself. Lily was only too happy to chat with her grandmother for a while.

Less than an hour later, a nurse came into the room, telling us that Lily was being moved to a private room. I chuckled a little to myself, knowing that Carlisle must be behind it. He had friends at pretty much every hospital in the country. Not that I was complaining; a private room would be much better if we were going to sleep there.

Later that afternoon, Bella went back to the house to check on the situation and get some things for our over-night stay. Lily had asked me to move into the bed with her, and she was lying with her head on my shoulder, listening to Cinderella. It had been one of her favorite stories when she was little, and the only one I remembered. Well, at least most of it. Lily helped me out when I skipped something or got something wrong.

When I had finished the story, I heard Lily sigh.

"I'm sorry I ruined your big day, daddy," she mumbled.

"Don't be silly, you haven't ruined anything," I told her. "I'm right where I want to be."

"Can you still win if you're not there?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Sure I can."

"Can we watch it?" There was a TV in a corner of the room. "And have our own gala?"

"Of course, princess."

When Bella got back, I went down to the gift shop and bought snacks and drinks, which I smuggled up to the room. I also got a couple of balloons, some streamers and a plastic tiara for Lily, to make up for her not being able to wear her dress.

"It's perfect," she announced when the balloons and streamers were in place and she had put the tiara on.

I couldn't agree more.

We turned the television on, and the Kodak Theatre came into view.

We had a lot more fun than we would have had if we'd been in LA. Lily told us who she thought should win based on their clothes; the ones with the prettiest dresses always deserved the award. A lot of the time, she was right too.

I wasn't sure exactly when the music awards would be announced, but assumed they would be somewhere in the middle. As the show continued, I got more and more nervous and when the announcer presented the nominated for best original score, I had a hard time staying in the chair.

"And the Oscar goes to… Edward Cullen for the score to Always and Forever."

All I could do was stare at the screen. Lily was the first who reacted.

"You won, daddy, you won!"

"Wow," was all I could get out as I watched Joe getting onto the stage.

"You did it," Bella said, reaching over Lily's bed to take my hand. "You really did it."

I nodded, not really taking it all in. It would come later, I knew. Right now, it was too overwhelming. I focused on the television where Joe was standing in front of the microphone.

"I'm accepting this award for my friend Edward, who unfortunately couldn't be here today because of a family emergency." He paused and smiled into the camera. "My thoughts are with you and your family right now, and I hope Lily will feel better soon."

"He said my name!" Lily exclaimed, pointing at the TV.

"I know that whatever he would have said if he had been here would have been short and to the point. So on his behalf I thank you. The people behind the movie, the academy, his friends and family. Thank you."

And with that, he left the stage.

"Joe keeping it short, never thought I'd see that," Bella said with a laugh.

"Me neither." And he hadn't even taken any credit himself.

Then it was time for the Best original song award, and I leaned back in my chair, knowing I couldn't possibly win both.

"And the Oscar goes to… Edward Cullen, For You from Always and Forever!"

Again, I stared in amazement on the television. This couldn't be happening.

"You won again, daddy!"

I just shook my head, unable to believe it. Again, Joe climbed on stage, but I couldn't focus on what he said. Everything had taken on a slightly surrealistic glow.

Later that night, when everything had sunk in, I lay in the bed that had been brought into Lily's room for us. I really had won. As I watched the face of my sleeping wife and daughter, however, I knew that I had won a long time ago. My prices were much more precious than an Oscar; I had Bella and Lily and Emma and Masen. And with them, I felt like I was winning every day.

AN: I know, corny movie name. What can I say, I suck at titles! But it was supposed to be a romantic drama, so maybe it should have a corny title. The song title is actually a translation of my very favorite song by Swedish singer/songwriter Lars Winnerbäck, För dig.

I was originally planning on continuing this story until the twins first birthday, but this felt like a nice ending. I will probably (OK, almost definitely) continue this story in some way, right now I'm thinking short one-shots of different events and milestones (the main reason for this is that I really want to write about the first time Lily goes on a date…). Let me know if that's something that you're interested in.

I want to thank all of you, my lovely readers, for sticking with me on this long and sometimes bumpy road. A very special thanks to those of you who have taken the time out of your day to review – every time I've gotten an e-mail about a new review, it has made my day. At the beginning of this story, I never imagined that it would end at over five hundred reviews! A huge hug to all of you, you are the best readers ever!