Everything After
Chapter 1
These past six months have been filled with so much pain that I feel guilty being happy on days like today.
"Bella are you ready? The twins are in their highchairs." My aunt smiled.
"Yeah, does my dad have the camera ready?" I asked.
"Of course. He wouldn't miss Boothe and Bonnie's first cakes for anything." She smiled sadly at me.
I nodded and walked out to the backyard where our small family and friends had gathered for the twins 1st birthday.
"Mama" Bonnie giggled as I walked out the door with her Minnie Mouse cake.
"You two ready for some cake?" I asked.
"YES!" they yelled together.
Jane sat Boothe's Mickey Mouse cake in front of him and as we sang Happy Birthday to them, they tore into their cakes and everyone had a goodtime.
"You OK Bells?" my dad asked.
"Yeah, it's just hard." I smiled.
"I know, but they'd want you to be happy and after all that's happened… You deserve to be happy, as do the twins." My dad hugged me tight.
"I know. This move just has me nervous. Here, everyone knows what's happened and who the twins are. Moving to Forks, means having to be ridiculed." I sighed.
"But if you stay here, you'll have to live with Aunt Jane and Uncle Alec or worse, worry about the twins going into a home until you're 18 and of legal age." My dad looked at me seriously.
"No, no I won't let them take my only family! And I won't stay with the wack a do's." I shook my head. I loved my aunt dearly, but she and her husband were even more flighty than my mom could have ever been and Phil taught her how to be grounded, even if it was a little.
"And Sue has already started preparations. We can't wait to have you guys with us. I want you, I've missed so much of your life and now I get a couple more years. And Sue gets the babies she wants, it's a win-win." He chuckled.
"Dad." I hugged him tight.
We finished the party and bathed the twins, putting them to bed shortly after.
"OK. It's all set, the movers will be here next week to load everything and Jane will fly with you to Forks to help with the twins and of course the house is actively on the market. Once it's sold, that money is all split between the three of you as per the will and goes into your trust funds. The ones you can't touch until you're in college and the one you're responsible for now for taking care of the twins, which once you're staying with us you won't have to worry about Bells, we'll take care of you." My dad smiled.
"Dad, no. I can't let you do that. The twins are really expensive." I shook my head.
"Bells, I haven't been able to take care of my baby girl since she was 5 years old. Please, let me do this. You've got a car, so I can't buy that for you. You've got a ton of clothes and every electronic device under the sun, so please let me just take care of you and the twins." He looked me sincerely.
"OK. But if I see something I want to get for us, I'm buy it, deal?" I smiled.
"Deal." We hugged each other tight before turning in.
The next week flew by with packing and getting my records sent to Forks High.
Aunt Jane was crying the entire flight, but I felt strangely calm, and the twins were really good too, I was looking forward to this next chapter of our lives, maybe this move was just what we needed.
"Aunt Jane we're landing." I shook her awake.
"Oh, OK. Are the twins OK?" she asked.
"Yeah. Bonnie is watching a video and Boothe is sleeping." I smiled.
"Good. They were so good." She approved.
"I know, I was kind of worried because of the long flight. At least we're not doing the connecting flight, I don't think we'd be so lucky on that smaller plane." I laughed.
"I agree, I don't even like that bumpy ride." She acknowledged.
We departed last since we had the twins and all their stuff. We went to get the luggage first which is where the double stroller was and strapped them in and the three duffle bags we'd packed and headed out to get our rental car. Everything else would be waiting for us at my dad's when we arrived there.
"First thing we need to do is stop and eat. I'm starving!" I told Aunt Jane.
"OK. Let's make it quick, I'd like to get to your dads before nightfall. It's a four-hour drive." She groaned.
"Don't forget I can drive too." I sighed.
"I'm fine, I just had a nap on the plane, and besides the twins do better with you." She pointed out.
"Well, I'm hoping after a quick meal and diaper change that they'll be ready to sleep. They usually do in the car." I smiled. "Well that's good. That would be a big help." She sighed.
We quickly got the minivan, and I installed the seats, Aunt Jane loaded the luggage while I loaded the twins and we were off.
We stopped at a Waffle House and ate the twins loved waffles so that was a plus and then we were on our way.
About five hours later we arrived at my dad's house. He was waiting outside for us and I saw my vehicle already there which made me smile.
"Bells!" my dad swept me into a hug.
"Daddy!" I hugged him back.
"So glad you're finally here and I've got time to spend with you." He squeezed me again.
Jane and Sue were getting the twins out when I saw two others standing at the door.
"Bells, these are Sue's kids. This is Seth and Leah Clearwater. Seth is 15 and he lives with us, he'll go to school with you, so he'll show you around and Leah is 19, she's at college, but came home this weekend to meet you." He smiled.
"Hi! Nice to finally meet you. I've heard wonderful things about both of you." I said.
"Likewise." Leah smiled. "You'll get to meet my boyfriend and his friends tonight, Charlie thought it'd be good for you to take a break and meet some people, we're going to a bonfire after dinner." Leah invited.
"Oh. Dad, I've got the twins to get ready…" I started rambling…
"Bella…" Sue started "between the three of us, we can get the twins ready for bed. Their rooms have already been set up. Everything arrived yesterday and was put together and put away. Your bed is up, you just have to put your room together the way you want." She smiled at me.
We ate dinner and I Leah showed me my room and helped me find my clothes.
"Go shower and I'll find something for you to wear, then we'll leave with Seth. Do you mind driving?" she asked.
"No, just tell me where I need to go." I shrugged as I entered the bathroom, amazed by what my dad had done for us.
I came out with a towel around me and looked at what Leah had laid out.
"I'm sorry for your loss. It must be hard to raise your brother and sister on your own." She smiled sadly.
"It was at first, especially with school. It was me and them in the house. Aunt Jane would grocery shop for us and take us where we needed to go because I wasn't old enough to drive, and that was the hard part. Luckily the nanny came early in the morning so I had time to get ready for school. But taking care of infants and doing school work, I don't know why any girl would want to have a child while in high school." I shook my head sadly.
"Me either. They were the best times of my life." Leah smiled.
"Mine too, until all this." I choked.
"Let mom and Charlie help. That's all they've been worrying about is if you're going to let them help so you can have a normal high school life and socialize." She rubbed my back.
"I know, I need to learn to let go now that I have some help." I sighed. "Thanks."
I got dressed and she did my hair, telling me just to put on lip gloss, it was dark and make up wasn't needed, not like I needed it anyway.
Kissing the twin's goodnight, they cried a little but settled quickly when Sue picked them up and offered them a cookie.
"So why do they call you mommy?" Seth blurted out.
"Seth!" Leah chastised.
"No, it's OK." I laughed.
"Well, our mom was killed when they were 6 months old. So, they obviously weren't talking, I've raised them by myself with little help from anyone except the nanny when I'm at school and occasionally aunt Jane, so they just took to calling me mommy and no one ever stopped them." I answered.
"Wow. Are you going to tell people any differently?" Leah asked.
"It's not really their business. If they want to judge me let them." I shrugged.
"Well, hopefully you'll meet some nice people tonight." Seth smiled.
We arrived at the beach and it was already crowded.
"OK. We'll find Sam and his friends and I'll introduce you to them." Leah grabbed my hand.
"Ugh! Have fun Bella, I'll see you later." Seth walked off.
"What's with him?" I asked Leah.
"He hangs out with the younger group, you'll meet them too. But, I thought you'd like to meet the older guys first." She winked.
"Oh, I'm not looking to date. I've got too much on my plate for that, plus with the twins." I shook my head.
"Bella, calm down and besides they're not yours. Mom and Charlie are going to help you." She calmed me. "Be a teenager." She squeezed my hand.
I nodded as a group of guys approached us.
"Well, well, well. Who is this with you?" A tall guy asked Leah.
"Paul, this is my step-sister Bella. Bella this is Paul Lahote." Leah nudged me.
"Nice to meet you." I smiled.
"You too." He smiled at me. "You here for a visit?" he asked.
"No, just moved back." I smiled.
"Nice to know." He nodded and walked away.
"Come on. Let's find Sam." She pulled me towards the drinks.
"Sam!" she yelled.
This huge guy turned around and broke into a smile.
"That's Sam?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's 25 and has his own contracting business. That's who redid mom and Charlie's house." She smiled as she ran into his arms.
We were introduced and several more guys walked up.
I was introduced to them as well and then we went to sit by the fire.
After a while, Seth came and pulled me over with his friends.
"Bella, these are my friends Jake, Quill, Jared, Brady and Embry." He introduced.
"I hope to see a lot more of you around Bella." Jake smiled.
"Uh maybe." I shrugged.
I went in between the two groups all night, Paul and Jake both vying for my attention, neither being my type and I told Leah and Seth to let them know.
Upon arriving home, I checked on the twin quietly and they were sleeping, thankfully.
I showered again to get the sand and bonfire smoke off me and climbed into bed, the twins would be awake early.
I awoke to the smell of bacon and coffee, peaking in on the twins and they weren't there.
Quickly running downstairs and they were in their highchairs, munching on waffles.
"Sue, you didn't have to do this." She had a huge breakfast spread out.
"I wanted Jane to have a good meal before her flight, your dad is taking her and then he's got to work, so he needs to eat." She smiled. "It'll be us and the kiddos today. We'll go register you for school and get these two put into daycare. I know of a great one." She assured.
I'm Bella Swan and this is my story of how I became a 'mom' at 15.
I'm nervous as hell as to what the kids of Forks will think when they see me with twins.
They don't know my story, I hate reliving that moment just to set someone straight that they're NOT my babies.
At least at my old school everyone knew my story, they could know it here if they were smart enough to Google my stepdad, he was the owner of a major league baseball team in Florida after all.
Time will tell.
AN:
Hope you like this new story…
Hope you enjoy it…
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