"I can't believe you, Jacob! How could you be so freaking irresponsible?" Bella yells angrily.
"Don't you care that I tried to do something nice?" Bella turns to the stove and stirs the sauce.
"What I care about right now is how you could just go out and spend money like it grows on the damn trees!" Bella yells, hoping the neighbors can't hear them fight. After all, the walls in their apartment are kind of thin.
"Well," Jacob yells, matching her tone. Hell, she had no reason to be mad at him. "I did it with you in mind!"
"You spent $200 today, Jacob. We could have used that for something important!"
"Forgive me for trying to do something nice for my wife! It's fucking Valentine's Day for fucks sake!
"You know what else it is? The week before the light bill is due!"
"You think I don't know that?"
Bella huffs. "It doesn't look like it!"
"I'm capable of remembering what time our bills are due, Bella! I should know, since I'm the only one that works in this house." She turns away from her cooking to face him quickly.
"You did not just say that."
"I'm sorry. I didn't––"
A loud crash resonates through the Black's house.
"Real mature, Bells. I get that you're angry but we kind of need the dishes to, you know, eat off of! You can't throw them!" Jacob exclaimed.
"I couldn't care less about the stupid dishes!"
"Oh great. Just break every damn dish we have then!"
A shrill cry comes from the back room and Bella glares at Jacob. "Good job, Jake. You woke up the baby," she says through gritted teeth, walking to the nursery.
"I woke up the baby? You have got to be kidding me!" he says, following her.
"Yes, you! And now she's crying."
"I hate to break it to you, honey, but that's what newborns do!"
Bella picks her daughter up, and rocks her gently. The cries quiet down a little and Bella continues the soothing act. "She shouldn't have to hear her parents fighting."
"Bells, she's a month old. I seriously doubt that she can understand what we're saying."
"But she can hear our tone!"
Jacob sighs and leans against the doorway with his hands in his pockets. Over the years, he's learned it's best to stay quiet and just agree with her. "You're right."
She glances up from Amelia and glares again. She knows this game. "Don't just agree with me to get me to shut up, Jacob Black. It will just make me angrier!"
"Clearly."
They hear a loud beeping come from the kitchen just as Bella opens her mouth to retaliate. "Shit," she hisses. She hands the baby to Jacob and runs into the kitchen, grabs an oven mitt and opens the oven. "Shit!" she says again when she sees the smoke. She fans at it before pulling the pan out and setting it on top of the stove.
Bella throws down the mitt in frustration and leans against the counter as Jacob walks back into the kitchen, empty-handed. "She went back to sleep," he says in response to Bella's raised brow.
"I burned dinner," she says, watching Jacob as he goes to open the kitchen window. After that he grabs the broom and swings it in front of the smoke detector to get it to stop beeping. "Thanks," she says.
He nods in response, walks over to her and grabs her by the waist. "I'm sorry," he says.
"Me too." She rests her head on his chest.
"I saved up for it, just so you know. I have the money for the electricity."
Damn, she thinks. "It's really pretty," she says glancing at the bracelet where it sat on the table, still in its box. "I'm glad you got it for me."
"I would've thought otherwise thanks to the fight we just had."
"I'm sorry," she says.
"Me too." He kisses her forehead.
"Bells?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you ever wish you chose different?"
"No," she says with no hesitation.
"He could have given you way more. Jewels and money everyday and no stress. Your life could have been perfect."
"He can't buy me a big crazy family, warm hugs, a baby who I love with all my heart, the opportunity to be with my parents, someone to wake up with every morning or someone to grow old with. Life isn't something that can be purchased."
He kisses her deeply then. "Happy Valentine's Day, honey. Can we eat now?"
"I told you, Jake. Dinner burned."
"That's fine, Bells. I've got us covered." Jacob walks over to the cabinets, pulls down a box and Bella laughs. "Cereal sound good?" he asks.
She thinks about the exquisite cuisine she could've been eating… alone, had she chosen Edward. Million dollar pasta or snails or something else fancy. Then she looks at the box of Cheerios and the man holding them and smiles. "I'm salivating."