Christmas Eve
Forks, Washington. I hadn't been home since graduating medical school because my schedule was always so unpredictable. My parents always ended up visiting me in Chicago after I started my internship and we had made it a tradition. Thanksgiving and Christmas were always spent in Chicago to give them some time to enjoy the big city.
It also got harder to travel back to Washington after my daughter, Maya, was born during my fourth year of residency. Her mother and I weren't married but I didn't want to miss any holidays with her and my parents adored her. And even though her mother, Tanya, and I weren't together we still got along really well. For Maya's sake, our families always spent the holidays together.
But this year my mother wanted to have Christmas at our house. She told me she loved going to Chicago and it was always a really good time, but she missed everyone waking up and making pancakes and opening presents like we did when I was a kid. After talking to Tanya about it, we both agreed to spend Christmas in Forks with them. Her parents weren't thrilled, but we promised this wasn't going to turn into a regular thing. We packed up our things and flew into Seattle where my dad picked us up and drove the three hours back home.
I had to admit. It was really nice to be able to show Maya and Tanya where I grew up. Tanya was shocked at how small the town really was. She had grown up right outside of Chicago and found it interesting that I didn't die from boredom growing up. It wasn't the most exciting place to live and we did have to drive at least an hour for something decent to do, but Forks had been a great place to grow up. My parents lived in the nicer part of town and they hadn't gotten rid of a lot of my old toys. They were all laid out and my four-year-old was having the time of her life while the adults sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and talked.
Christmas Eve had always been a big deal in my house when I was growing up. My mom's parents and dad's mom all came over early in the afternoon and my mom and grandmas slaved away in the kitchen and always kicked the men out when we tried to help. After my mom's dad died, grandma just wasn't strong enough to live without him and she died within the year. As for my other grandma, she was tired of the clouds and the rain so she moved down to Arizona where my dad's sister lived with her two kids. We hadn't had a big Christmas Eve in years, but mom was determined to bring the tradition back. With Tanya to help her, she set out to cook the best Christmas Eve dinner and nothing was going to ruin that for her.
Except for the lack of milk.
"Shoot," She whispered as she looked in the refrigerator. Everything had gone perfectly. Dad and I stayed out of their way and we were able to keep Maya entertained while her mom helped her grandma make dinner. We had just finished cleaning everything up and we were about to change Maya into her PJ's and read Christmas stories before setting out milk and cookies.
"What's wrong, mom?" I asked as I filled a cup with water for Maya.
She groaned as she closed the fridge and crossed her arms over her chest. "We don't have any more milk. I thought I had another gallon back here."
"Oh no," Tanya laughed, mocking my mom.
"We need milk for Santa," She pointed out and she was right. "Or Maya will not be happy."
"Crap. We do need milk," Tanya looked up at me. She was determined to make every Christmas perfect Maya and Santa needed his milk and cookies or our daughter would refuse to go to sleep so she could personally apologize to Santa. We learned that last year when she spent forty-five minutes crying when we told her there was no milk. Knowing she needed sleep, Tanya poured coffee creamer into a glass and told Maya that she had found the milk.
Maya was asleep within ten minutes after we settled the milk situation.
"Do you have coffee creamer?" I asked.
"That's for coffee, Edward," Mom rolled her eyes like I was crazy or something.
I laughed. "We put creamer into a glass to make Maya happy last year."
"We need milk, kiddo," She sighed. I looked out and saw that it was starting to snow. I knew the roads were going to be slick because the temperature was hanging at around freezing. But knowing my mom and my daughter, Christmas Eve would be ruined without that milk.
"Is that 24-hour grocery store opened on Christmas Eve?" I asked and mom looked at me with hopeful eyes. "I'll go get milk."
She dug through her purse. "Take my car. It's better in snow than your father's." She threw me the keys and I promised I'd be back soon. I got in the car and hoped a lot of people weren't going to be out since it was seven-thirty on Christmas Eve.
When I got to the store it was pretty much deserted except for a few lone cars in the lot. I parked my car and ran into the store. I tried remembering my way around this store since I hadn't been here for nine years. As I ran passed the ice crème section I turned and stopped dead in my tracks.
Bella? I wondered as I watched the grown woman search for the right kind of ice cream. I stepped a bit closer to get a better look and I just stood there staring for another few seconds. It was definitely Bella. I hadn't seen here since right before I left for Northwestern and we had somehow managed to avoid each other during breaks from school since. My feet seemed to be on a mission and before I even realized what I was doing, I was right behind her. I reached out and tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
She whirled around and gave me a confused look.
"Hi," I whispered.
"Hello?" It came out as a question and I realized she probably didn't recognize me. Because although she hadn't aged a day since she was eighteen I definitely had. I mean, I didn't look old or anything. I was only thirty-four years old but between residency, having a baby, and becoming an attending I was starting to look my age.
Then her eyes grew wide.
"Edward?" She asked and I just nodded. "I…I didn't recognize you at first."
"What gave me away?" I laughed.
She sighed. "Your eyes," She always said she loved how bright my green eyes were. "I can't believe this," She smiled as she went to give me a hug. She must have been frazzled because she ended up knocking her purse off her shoulder and everything spilled out all over the grocery store purse. We looked at each other and burst out into laughter because she was still the same Bella I knew over a decade ago. She had always been clumsy and apparently, that was something that would never change.
"You haven't changed a bit," I laughed as I helped her pick things up. She looked at me and rolled her eyes, just like she did when we were dating. After we'd picked everything up we stood up and just kind of stared at each other.
It had been a good breakup. We didn't hate each other afterward because it was a mutual agreement. I was going to Chicago for pre-med and she was staying in Washington. She'd decided on UW for nursing because she couldn't afford to go out of state to school and couldn't leave her dad. We wanted to stay together but it just didn't seem possible. If we couldn't fully commit to each other because of the distance and our busy schedules then we didn't want to end up hating each other.
So, we both decided ending it would be better in the long run. Our three-year relationship ended two and a half weeks before I moved to Chicago at the Forks Park on our favorite bench. We looked like idiots as we held each other and cried together. The break up may have been a mutual thing but that didn't make it any less painful. I was miserable for the first semester of college before my roommate and current best friend, Emmett, snapped me out of it.
When I decided to start staying in Chicago after med school ended, mom kept asking me if it was because of Bella. She had gotten a job at Virginia Mason Hospital when she graduated from nursing school. But then her dad had gotten hurt on the job and her mom wasn't around anymore. She'd transferred to Forks Medical Center in order to take care of him and she'd been living back here ever since. She moved back right before my medical school graduation so my mom thought I was trying to avoid her.
I promised her that I was over Bella and she had nothing to do with me wanting to stay in Chicago for the holidays. I don't think she ever really believed me and for right now I was wondering if she was right.
"What are you doing here on Christmas Eve?" I asked as I looked at her basket.
She sighed. "I just got off of my shift and I needed a pick me up."
"That sucks you had to work tonight," I whispered because I knew how that felt. This was the first year since I started my fellowship I hadn't had to work at all on Christmas Eve.
"You of all people know how much Christmas Eve in a hospital sucks," She laughed. "Why are you here?"
"We didn't have any milk," I rolled my eyes. "And Santa needs milk with his cookies."
"Santa?" She looked at me like I was crazy. She knew I was an only child and we weren't friends on Facebook anymore.
I sighed. "I have a four-year-old. And last year we didn't have any milk and she threw the biggest tantrum."
"You have a kid?"
I smiled proudly. "She's four. She'll be five at the end of March."
"Wow. Edward Cullen is a dad," She laughed because there was a time in high school when I swore I would never become a father because my patients were enough to take care of. I could see her eyeing my ring finger but then she looked back up at my eyes. "Didn't think that would happen."
"Me either but she's my entire life," I said. "Her name is Maya."
"Pretty," She nodded. "Well…I should go check out so I can get home and have somewhat of a Christmas Eve."
"I'll follow you," I said and grabbed a gallon of 2% on our way out. We waited for her food to be totaled up and bagged. It was starting to get awkward but I just couldn't bring myself to say goodbye yet. Once both of our stuff was checked out, I stopped her before we left the store. "You wanna go get a drink or something?"
"What about your milk and cookies?" She asked.
"Maya is refusing to put on her PJ's," I laughed as I looked at the most recent text from Tanya asking me why we'd allowed Maya to have a second piece of pie after dinner. "She's all hopped up on sugar right now."
She smiled. "Are any of the bars even going to be open?"
"We won't know until we check," I pointed out as she walked towards a car that looked like it was made for the snow.
She noticed me staring and laughed. "I got into an accident because of ice right after I graduated from nursing school. It scared the hell out of dad and insisted on buying me this car which is apparently the safest car in the snow."
"That sounds like Charlie," I smiled as I got in the passenger side. We drove to the two bars Forks had and they were both deserted and dark inside. "I guess we could have just gotten a case of beer at the store."
She put the car into drive and headed back in the direction of the store. "We still can. It is a 24-hour store." Once we were back at the store, I jumped out and ran in to get a six-pack. Once I jumped back in her car, she drove us to Forks Park where we used to spend a lot of time together in high school. This was where we had our first kiss when we were only thirteen years old and just wanted to see what it was like.
Forks Park was one of the only places for young teenagers to actually hang out. It was in the middle of town so you didn't need your parents to drive you anywhere and there was a lot of stuff to do. Bella and I usually got into trouble as we lurked in the woods and tried to build fires and different shelters. Today was different though and we decided that we wanted to go swing at the jungle gym.
"I bet you I can go higher than you!" I laughed as I sprinted for the swings.
She sighed. "Edward, we're thirteen now. We're in seventh grade."
"So?"
"So, next year we're going to be in eighth grade and then we'll be in high school. We should practice…I don't know. Being more mature than having height contests."
I stared at her. "Yeah, you do that. I'm going to swing as high as I can." I jumped on the swing and began pumping my legs. "Come on, Bella! You know you want to!"
"Fine!" She giggled as she got on a swing and began pumping her legs. She was catching up with me, but I ran track. I had stronger legs than she did and she gave up within a few minutes because her legs were tired. "I give up! You win!"
I started to slow down and tried not to gloat. But I couldn't help it. I slowed down to a stop and got off the swing and started doing my happy dance. "I won! Oh yeah! I'm the king!"
"You were able to swing higher than me. It's not like you won the Nobel Prize."
"I did win the Nobel Prize!" She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me like I was nuts. "In swinging really freaking high!"
"You're crazy!" she laughed as we walked over to the bench right by the jungle gym. We sat down and caught our breath from laughing so hard. Then her face turned serious as she turned to face me. "Edward?"
"Yeah?"
She looked at me thoughtfully. "Have you ever kissed a girl before?"
"What? No."
"Why not?"
I stared at her. "Because."
"That's not an answer."
"Have you kissed a boy before?"
She shook her head. "No."
"Why are you even asking me this?"
She sighed. "Lauren was bragging this morning about how Eric kissed her after they went ice skating on Friday."
"Oh."
"She said it was weird. But nice," She smiled at me like a light bulb had just gone off. "We could kiss and see what it's like."
"You wanna kiss me?" My voice squeaked. She nodded. "Really?"
"We're friends. And I want my first kiss to be with someone I actually like," she had a good argument and I nodded in agreement. We both awkwardly stood up and stared at each other. "Well? Are you going to kiss me?"
"Me?"
"You're the boy." I gulped as I leaned forward. I gently and quickly pecked her on the lips and Lauren was right. It was kind of weird. "That was quick."
"Bella!" I could feel myself turning red.
"Lauren said it lasted like fifteen seconds!"
I took a deep breath. "Okay! Okay!" I leaned in and gently pressed my lips against hers. It seemed to have lasted a little bit too long and it got kind of awkward. She touched my cheek and it felt out of place but when I pulled away after a few more seconds, she was smiling ear to ear.
"Is that better?" I asked sarcastically.
"Yes. But you should practice."
"What? How?"
"I use my stuffed animals," She smirked and then ran towards the swings again.
It took us another three years to actually begin dating, but we had been really good friends since the third grade and Jessica Stanley was picking on her for wearing glasses.
I told Jessica to get a life and told Bella the glasses looked nice on her. We became friends that day and I became her protector that day as well. Our parents told us that they knew something would eventually happen between the two of us and we were apparently the only two in town who were oblivious to our feelings for each other.
"Earth to Edward," She laughed as I heard her opening her beer can. I turned and smiled to her as she held her can out like she was waiting to toast or something. I opened my can and she tapped the side of hers against mine.
"What are we toasting to?" I asked curiously.
She smiled. "We're toasting to random grocery store runs on Christmas Eve,"
"Here! Here!" I laughed as I took a drink. "So…what have you been up to in the last…"
She looked at me with surprised eyes. "Sixteen years."
"Has it really been that long?" I asked and she nodded slowly. "I feel old as hell."
"We were sixteen when we started dating," She mused. "Anyway, I've been working as a nurse at the Forks Medical Center for the last eight years."
"Are you happy living here?" I asked. Bella had always loved Forks, but she always wanted more. I knew she was happy to be able to help her dad, but I had a feeling she wasn't dreaming to be living in Forks after living in Seattle for so long.
"I love being able to see my dad every day. And he loves seeing the kids."
I looked at her. "You have kids?"
"Two boys," She smiled. "Parker is nine and Carson is six."
"Are you married?" She nodded. "For how long?"
"Jake and I got married ten years ago," She said but I could see a glimmer of doubt in her eyes. "He's a good guy and he gave up everything in Seattle so we could move here to help my dad when Parker was a year and a half old."
"What does he do?" I asked.
She sighed. "He's a mechanic."
"You don't approve?"
"We both have busy schedules and they can be unpredictable," she said. "We do the best we can but he's a business owner and he works six days a week. It's hard when his only day off is Sunday's and I typically work Saturdays."
"That's hard."
She nodded. "What about you? How long have you been married?"
"I'm not married."
"But…"
I smiled. "We had a baby out of wedlock," I gasped dramatically. "Tanya works at the hospital where I'm an attending and where I did my residency. She's a physical therapist. One night after a really…really hard day at the hospital we were drinking together and one thing led to another and now we have Maya."
"Did you ever consider getting married?"
"Tanya and I are that one couple who had sex once and got pregnant," I laughed. "We were never involved romantically…not even after that one night together. But we were friends and even though it was kind of awkward at first we made it work when she found out she was pregnant."
She smiled. "It must be nice to be good friends with her mom even if you two aren't together."
"Tanya's great and she's an incredible mother," I smiled. "How'd you meet your husband?"
"My car broke down in the middle of the night," She laughed. "I was coming home from a shift at work and it was pouring and my car just…stopped moving. I wasn't having any luck with getting a tow truck so I decided to walk because I saw a sign for his shop. When I got there, I saw that there was a light on upstairs and went up to knock."
"And the rest is history," I finished. She nodded but she looked unsure. "Are you happy?"
"Y-yes," She nodded but I could tell she was lying. Even after all these years, I still knew Bella better than she knew herself. "He's great and he gave me my two boys." She wasn't in love with him. She wanted to be in love with him because they were married and had kids together but she wasn't in love with him.
I started thinking about high school and how much I wanted to marry her at the time. She was my world. She was the girl I was willing to trade Northwestern for the University of Washington because I couldn't stand the idea of being away from her. She didn't speak to me for a week after I told her my new plan and then told me that I had to go to Chicago because she wasn't going to be responsible for me not living out my dreams. Then I told her to come to Chicago but she reminded me she couldn't completely Charlie. Her mom had left them when she was two years old. Bella was all her dad had left and he would have been crushed if she moved thirty-three hours away for nursing school.
And then I began remembering the pain I was in as we sat on that bench and broke up.
"I can't believe I'm going to be moving from the rainiest place in the country to the windiest," I laughed trying to fill the silence as we sat together on our favorite bench right before school started. We both knew something was wrong but neither of us was ready to say anything.
"You just have to be the best at everything," She sighed as I reached over and gripped her hands. I pressed my other hand to her cheek and turned her head to look at me. She had tears in her eyes.
We both knew what was happening.
She took a deep breath. "What's going to happen during the next few months?"
"What do you mean?"
"How is this going to work?" She pointed to both of us. "How are we going to work."
"We love each other," I shrugged but even I knew that it wasn't going to be enough. Chicago was almost a two-day drive from here. We were never going to see each other except for Christmas and summer. I wasn't even sure if I'd come home for Thanksgiving since the break was so much shorter and it seemed pointless.
"Edward," she cried. I knew what she was saying. I just wasn't ready to believe it.
I sighed. "It's not going to work…is it?"
"I want it to."
"Me too."
"But I don't know how it can work," she said. "You're going to be so far away and we're both going to be so busy. And you're going to have three times as many years of school as I am plus your residency. You're going to be in Chicago for a really long time."
"I can do med school over here," I reminded her. "Remember I can do Stanford med school. It doesn't have to be Northwestern."
"You've always wanted Northwestern."
"That was before I fell in love with you," I reminded her as I tried not to cry myself. I wasn't too many to cry but I felt like crying meant defeat. And I wasn't ready to give up yet."
A tear slowly streaked down her cheek. "Edward…"
"This can't it be it for us," I cried as I let the first tear fall. "I don't want it to be it for us."
"I don't either. I love you so much," She sobbed as she laid her head on my chest. I tightly wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly. I bit my tongue to keep myself under control but after I felt her shaking I couldn't hold it in anymore. I loved her so much and I didn't want to end things.
"I love you," I whispered as I kissed the top of her head. "You're my best friend."
"Best friends first," She smiled as she lifted her head and looked at me.
"Boyfriend and girlfriend second," I finished as I leaned down and gently kissed her. It was the last kiss we ever shared and I hated it for that reason.
"Do you ever think of what it could be like?" I asked suddenly as she opened her third beer. She looked at me for a moment like she was thinking about what I meant. Then she nodded her head yes. "I think about it whenever I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing comes on the radio."
"Me too," She smiled. "Or Ignition."
"I missed you a lot," I admitted. "Getting over you was…" I paused.
She sighed. "The hardest thing I've ever had to do."
"Yeah," I nodded in agreement.
"Is that why you stayed in Chicago and haven't been back in so long?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."
"You're part of the reason I was so hesitant to move back to Forks. I wasn't sure what you were doing anymore," I nodded. "Don't get me wrong. I love my boys and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world."
"Same with Maya."
"But…I sometimes can't help but let my mind wander."
"Me too," I whispered. "Remember our disastrous first date?"
She laughed. "It wasn't that bad."
"Are you remembering the same date that I am?"
I had everything planned out. I had finally managed to ask Bella out six months after I had turned sixteen. Wanting to seem more grown up, I had begged my parents to take me to get my license earlier that day. But I hit the curb during parallel parking and failed so I couldn't drive Bella myself.
My dad offered to drive us and it's like he'd never met Bella before. When she got in the car, dad would not shut up about how I liked to run around with my underwear on my head while my mother chased me around the house. My face was beat red by the time he pulled up in front of the restaurant I'd picked for us.
"Have a good time!" Dad called as I slammed the car door.
I blushed. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it…Captain Underpants."
"Geeze," I mumbled as I opened the front door for her. When we walked inside, I was surprised at how crowded it was. I had been smart and made a reservation…or at least I thought I had. This was one of the nicest places in Forks and the man at the hostess station chose to ignore us when we approached him.
"Hello?" Bella sighed as she slammed her hand on the desk. I smiled at her proudly and wondered what the man was going to do.
"Name?" He asked.
"Cullen," I said and he looked through his computer and smirked at us.
"I'm sorry but there is no reservation for Cullen."
"But I called and made a reservation," I argued. "Look again."
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Sir, I know how a computer works. I checked the list and your name is not here. Now please step aside for someone else who had made a reservation ahead of time."
"But I did call!"
"Edward," Bella tugged on my hand. "Forget about it." I looked at her and she didn't look like she cared. I wanted to say something to the ass at the counter but I knew that would make me look even more immature. We walked outside into the freezing air and stood there while I thought.
"We can just go to McDonald's or something," She suggested.
"We are not going to McDonald's for our first date!" I argued.
She smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind."
"We'll find something," I told her as I walked into the parking lot and looked around. We were in the nicer part of town so it was all fancy restaurants where you needed to make a reservation. I looked further down the road and saw the bright, blue sign for one of the local diners. Knowing it was our only option without calling my parents to drive us somewhere else I grabbed her hand and we made our way down the street.
The diner was crowded, but the wait wasn't terribly long. I took the time to call my parents and tell them that our location had changed and that I would call them when we were done. By the time I'd gotten back, they were ready to take us to our table. The date was already off to a terrible start and to make everything worse, our waiter was a freshman in high school and it was his first night on the job.
Bella must have been able to sense how frustrated I was because she reached across the table and grabbed my hand. "This is fine, Edward."
"I had a whole night planned."
"It's okay," She assured me. "This place is more my style anyway."
"You deserve the best."
"Hey," She smiled as she gently stroked my hand with her thumb. "This is the best. I get the spend the entire night with you. I'm good."
"You sure?" she nodded and I eased up a bit. We ordered our food, breakfast for dinner, and I was finally letting go of the disasters o the beginning of the night when our waiter spilled water all over Bella. She gasped when the cold water fell into her lap and I nearly pushed the waiter out of the way.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I got up and gathered napkins to help her dry off. When I sat down next to her, she was shaking so I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying. I turned to our waiter. "Can you go get a towel?" He ran off towards the kitchen and I tried to help but the napkins were useless. "Bella?"
She looked up and she was laughing like it was the funniest thing to ever happen to her. "Someone did this to my dad last week," She laughed. "It was a different diner but the same thing happened."
"He went to go get some towels." She kept laughing. "We're going to do this again and do it right."
"Edward, this was perfect," She said seriously and I looked at her confused. "I got to spend a super memorable night with you. It's a first date I'll never forget."
"Yeah," I smiled. "Me either."
We sat there staring at each other and I just started laughing. To me, the date was a disaster and I was lucky she agreed to go out with me again. But she saw it as a good time where she laughed a lot. And that was the thing about Bella. She always saw the good in the situation no matter how painful it was. Even as we were breaking up she told me how proud she was of me for going to Chicago to become a doctor. She knew I was going to end up doing big things in life and that's why it was okay that we were ending things.
"Edward…" Bella whispered as my phone began ringing. Startled, I pulled it from my pocket and groaned. We'd been talking for over an hour and Tanya was calling me…probably to yell at me for being so late. I answered the phone and braced myself.
"Where the hell are you?" She yelled and I was sure Bella heard her.
"Sorry, I got sidetracked."
"You went for milk over an hour ago," She reminded me. "We had to use coffee creamer again because Maya was throwing a fit. And she was upset that her daddy wasn't there to kiss her goodnight before Santa came."
"Shit," I whispered as Bella checked her phone. I could tell by the look on her face that her husband had probably tried calling her as well.
"I thought you were dead, Edward."
"Then why didn't you call earlier?"
She sighed. I could hear her eyes rolling. "Your mom said to give you some time."
"I'll be home soon."
"Maya's so upset."
I shut my eyes. I had always tried to be available to say goodnight to my daughter, even if it wasn't in person. If I was working or she was at Tanya's place, I always called or Skyped with her before she went to bed. I hadn't missed a bedtime in over a year. "I'm sorry, Tan. I'll be home soon," I promised.
"Okay," She whispered. "Bye." She hung up and I turned to Bella.
"I'm the worst father on Christmas Eve."
"Jake's been texting me for an hour asking where I am. Parker is still awake but barely and Carson passed out forty-five minutes ago."
"I guess our trip down memory lane has been problematic," I laughed nervously.
"Jake will get over it," She shrugged. "And your daughter will forget about it when she sees that Santa came when she was sleeping."
I smiled. "You're right."
"I'll drive you back to your car," She said as she turned the key to turn the car on. We drove back to the grocery store and my car was the only one still in the lot. I guess the 24-hour store wasn't 24-hour on Christmas Eve. She parked next to my car and turned to face me.
"This was…unexpected," I laughed. "But really fun."
"It was," She agreed. "I should go. And so should you."
I nodded. "We're in Forks until the New Year. Maybe we can get together some other time when our kids aren't trying to go to sleep and wait for Santa to arrive."
"Okay," She agreed. She gave me her phone and I put my number in it. I had a feeling she wouldn't call. Even though it had been sixteen years the hurt still lingered…just a bit to make it uncomfortable to hang out again. I got out of the car and watched as she pulled out of the spot and drove away towards her home. I watched until she was gone and rain began to pour instead of snow.
I got into my mom's car and made my way to my parents' house. On the way, I passed the high school and slowed down and remembered our first real kiss as a couple. It was our fifth date and we had somehow managed to make it back to the school. We were just sitting on the track bleachers and talking about God only knows what.
"You're beautiful," I smiled as she laughed at one of my jokes.
She blushed. "Thanks. I had a good time tonight."
"Me too," I nodded and we locked eyes. Her eyes were so beautiful and I just couldn't help myself as I leaned in. My lips gently brushed against hers and she stilled for a second. I almost pulled away, but she gripped the back of my neck to hold me there. I brought my one hand to cup her cheek and she brushed her tongue against my lips. She moaned into my mouth as the kiss really got going and we only pulled apart when we were both breathless.
"Whoa," She breathed as we stared at each other. It was one hell of a kiss…the best first kiss I'd ever had.
"Yeah," I agreed stupidly.
She smiled. "See? That lasted way more than fifteen seconds."
"Mmhmm," I agreed as she leaned in and pressed her lips against mine again.
When I got home, it was quiet which I knew was bad. Tanya was pissed and my parents probably weren't too pleased with me either. But I also knew that Maya was asleep so they couldn't yell at me too loudly.
"What the fuck, Edward?" Tanya whisper-yelled and slapped my arm. "Did you have to go to Timbuktu?"
"I ran into an old friend," This grabbed mom and dad's attention. "And we got a beer and we were talking. I didn't even realize how long it had been."
"Who was it, honey?" Mom asked curiously.
I sighed. "Bella."
"Bella?" Dad asked. "Really?"
"She was grabbing something after her shift," I smirked remembering that she'd bought ice cream at the store. "And we just started talking."
"Who's Bella?" Tanya asked.
"His first love," Mom smiled stupidly.
"Mother," I groaned. Tanya and I were never romantic but I still felt weird about the conversation.
"Hush, Edward. How is Bella? How's her dad?"
"She's married with two kids," I pointed out hoping she'd get the point that this wasn't some start to a new relationship with her. "And Charlie's good. We didn't talk about him much."
"I know she's married, Edward," Mom rolled her eyes. "She brings her boys into the store all the time when she's not working."
I nodded. "What do you think of her husband?"
"Edward."
"I'm just curious, mom."
She sighed. "He seems nice. He's good to the boys and he provides for his family."
"Do you think they're happy?" Why was I asking these questions?"
"Honey,"
"I'm just asking. She didn't…seem happy when she told me about him," I said. "And I know that we haven't dated in sixteen years and I'm over her…I haven't been for a while. But she still deserves to be happy."
"Sixteen years," Mom smiled thoughtfully. "Yes, I think they're happy. I think they have crazy lives with two demanding jobs and two little boys but I think they're happy."
I nodded and turned back to face Tanya. "I'm sorry I was late."
"We were more worried than anything," She rolled her eyes. "But I get it. I would have done the same thing if I saw the first guy I loved randomly."
"I'm going to check on Maya," I whispered and tiptoed up the steps into the room she was staying in. I carefully opened the door and smiled when I saw my beautiful copper-haired baby sleeping soundly. I walked over to her bed and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.
"I love you so much, baby," I whispered. "You are daddy's favorite little girl. And you always will be."
"I love you, daddy," She whispered sleepily as she held out her arms. I laughed softly and wrapped my arms tightly around my daughter.
Maya was my life. And she was the love of my life.