The third chapter! Whoo! Have fun. Alice is in this one, as well as another special someone. =D.

Jasper insisted that I went to his house to rest for the night. He probably thought that I was getting suicidal urges, or developing depression. I didn't want to intrude on his first night with his wife, but he could be pressing when he wanted to be.

For the last time in the night, the car pulled into a doorway. This door belonged to a house that was moderate in size, on the edge of a line of similarly structured homes. To the side with no houses beside it, a neatly kept garden was in full bloom with roses sharing their sweet scent mixed with the fresh summer night's air.

A small, petite woman with black hair cut in a stylish bob was waiting at the doorway, and ran out to the car before it even stopped. Jasper quickly opened the door and received her in his arms, kissing her passionately. I was jealous, because he could hold her, and receive such a welcome, and all I had was an empty cabin and a letter of goodbye.

Reluctant to intrude on such a heated moment, I lingered in the car, thanking the driver. Then, I grabbed mine and Jasper's small amount of belongings, and silently walked past the couple, intending to go without notice.

However, no sooner had the car left, then the woman, Alice Whitlock I presumed, saw me. In her surprise, she let go of Jasper. Her eyes were wide with shock, her mouth hanging partially open. Then, she walked right up to me, and gave me a smart blow to the cheek.

"Fucking hell!" I shouted. For such a small woman, she could punch harder than many of the soldiers that I'd wrestled with at camp.

"First off, you do not use such language in my house. Second, what do you think you were doing? Running off to war? Leaving behind a girl and her baby? You think-"

Jasper cut her off with a soothing voice, "Allie, he just found out."

Her face immediately softened into sympathy and sadness, then, just as abruptly, a cheerful smile lit her face, and she laughed, "There's a surprise waiting for you inside. Go on."

Scowling, I tramped inside, dumping the bags in the sitting room. I walked to the dining room to find some ice for my aching face, when, again, my breath caught in my throat.

Sitting quietly, with her golden head bent over something, was a beauty. She wasn't as beautiful as Bella, that was impossible, but her loveliness was the closest rival to Bella's that I'd ever seen. When she looked up, I knew she was the one. Her eyes lit up when she realized, as well. She slipped down her chair, and ran towards me, arms wide and inviting.

I scooped her up, like it was the most natural thing in the world, and held her close to my pounding heart.

"Daddy!" She shouted with joy, her chubby arms wound around my neck. Her voice was clear and high, like a laughing brook in spring. I smiled at her, and took in all of her features. Large, innocent brown eyes and a straight nose like Bella's, curls the same colour as my own hair. She looked up at me with adoring eyes, her long, brown eyelashes casting shadows on her cheeks like cherries, blushing like her mother.

"Now, you're supposed to say 'Yes, Renesmee?', and I have to say, 'You won't guess what happened at nursery school today.' Then you have to say 'What happened, darling?' and then I'll tell you all about my day, just like what Betty says to her father when I visit her house." She ordered.

I sat down in the nearest chair, with her in my lap. We re-inacted her scene, and she told me about her day, like she said she would. As I heard about what Ronald said to Fanny and what Angelique did to Wendy, I felt like her father. It wasn't hard to pretend that this was just a normal day: Her telling me about school after I returned from work, Bella out with some friends. What would have been if I hadn't left for the war.

As it was, I was content with Renesmee in my arms. After hearing about her school, she told me about herself, occasionally asking me questions. By the time Jasper and Alice walked into the dining room, I already knew that her favourite colour was blue, like mine, she hated onions, her favourite doll's name was Rosetta, her best friend's name was Willy Turner, and she wanted to go to the fair that the Sunday school was arranging.

Then, Jasper commented about her growth since the last time he saw her, two years ago. She then turned some of her attention to Jasper, asking who he was, whether she could call him 'Uncle Jazzy', and if he could help her convince 'Auntie Allie' to buy her a dress that went all the way to her ankles. Alice told me about her development, and she sang several songs to prove that her voice really was as pretty as her Alice said it was.

Just when she finished singing, however, we heard the sound of a key sliding into the back door. Alice's face turned into one of panic, and she ushered Jasper and I into the kitchen, closing the door partially, so that we could see what was happening in the dining room through a crack.

No sooner did we leave then Bella herself stepped into the dining room, smiling at Renesmee. She was wearing the same dress that she wore to the party, but her hair was now falling in cascades down her back, making her look like a nymph coming from the woods.

"Hello Nessie, how are you?" She cooed. She sat down beside our daughter, and brought out a porcelain doll with what looked like gold buttons and crystal shoes. After some oohing and ahing from Renesmee, Bella started helping Renesmee tie a bonnet onto her new doll's head.

"Momma, Daddy came home today." Renesmee announced, as she watched her mother work on the piece of white fabric.

Bella paused, and then continued with her work, "Don't be silly, you haven't got a father." She scolded.

My hands turned to fists again, and my jaw clenched.

"I do too have a father," Renesmee argued, "He's a soldier, and he loves to play the piano, and he's got the same colour hair as mine, and green eyes."

Bella sighed, "Did Alice tell you this? Didn't I tell you not to listen to her?"

Alice rolled her eyes beside me. Jasper shot me a warning glance telling me to keep my temper in check.

"How come I have to listen to Auntie Allie when she tells me to eat my greens, but never when she talks of my father?"

"Because greens make you grow healthy, and making up a father for yourself makes you unhealthy."

Renesmee frowned, "Everybody's got a father."

"No, Fanny Truman hasn't got a father, either."

"She's got a father, except he died with her mother from a diskeez." She retorted.

"It's called a disease, dear."

Renesmee was thoughtful for a moment. "Is Sir Newton my father?" she asked.

"No, I told you, you haven't got a father, and that's that."

I lost it. I saw red, and I burst into the dining room. "What do you think you're doing? Telling our daughter that she doesn't have a father?"

Bella stared at me for a long time with unreadable eyes, while Renesmee smiled gloatingly. I stared back at her. How different this was to what I was expecting all those years. That the first time I spoke to her after the war would be to question her on lying to our daughter about my existence would never have occurred to me in all my wildest notions.

Finally, she broke the silence, going back to fixing the doll, "So you're not dead after all."

I struggled to reign in my temper, "No, I'm not."

"Momma, can I go to the fair?" Renesmee piped up.

Bella's voice was tired when she answered, "No, honey. Alice hasn't got the time, and I can't go with you. You know that."

"I'll go with her." I dared her to question me.

She turned her attention back at me, "I don't think so, you've got no business messing with my child."

"Your child? She's my daughter as well." I shouted.

Suddenly, she stood up, cold fury in her expression, and she walked until she was inches from me. Despite my rage, I still had to contain a shudder at our closeness.

"You listen to me, Edward Cullen." She said, enunciating every word, "when you left that godforsaken cottage to join your stupid war, you lost all rights to that child and everything else you left behind."

"I did it for you! I went to the war for the child. We needed the money, and the war was the only place I could get it. I didn't know it would drag on for four years."

She scoffed, "Oh don't pretend you didn't want to do that all along. Your heart wasn't ever in the family, don't lie, you know it."

I looked at her with incredulous fury, "I suppose yours was, wasn't it? Running off to that rich bastard of yours the minute I leave the house."

She cleared her face of all emotion, and sniffed daintily, "Just be grateful that I don't take your petty insults serious enough to report them to my husband, beggar."

Before I could comprehend, my hand flew up and slapped her.

She stumbled, and I reached for her, "I'm so sor-"

She wrenched her arm out of my desperate grasp and glared at me, "Don't let me catch you with my child again, or I'll make sure your home will be the county jail. You should thank me, really. It offers more luxuries than you'll ever be able to afford in your life."

I felt like she'd just cut me with a knife a thousand times. I'd always felt ashamed that I couldn't give more to her financially. She always assured me that it wasn't a problem, and yet now, even the love of my life mocked me.

I looked at her with sad eyes, "You've changed so much, Bella."

She turned briskly, giving Renesmee a parting hug, and walking towards the door.

"The Edward I knew would never have hit a woman, either." She replied with icy contempt.

The door slammed behind her, and my heart shattered. The pain I felt was undescribable. I clawed at my chest, wanting to take my heart out to ease the agony. The next thing I knew, Jasper and Alice were by my side, soothing me, but nothing would help me, now.

What'd you think? With the way I was describing Renesmee, who thought she was gonna be Edward's "new love"? Review, review, review! Love you all, and hopefully another chapter will come up soon.

P