Baby Be Mine

I haven't been on FF for a while because I kinda lost my muse to write, plus school had been super busy and demanding. But now its summer, I cant find a job, so I'm stuck at home! Hopefully my boredom will help me write! Anyway, this was a story I thought of years ago, and so I started to add some more this past week. If anyone decides to read it, let me know if you like it or not! And if anyone has read my other story, Lucky, let me know if I should continue. I wasn't really feeling that story anymore, I felt like Bella and Edward being kids was starting to annoy me, yet at the same time, I didn't want to drastically change the vibe of the story and force them into an older version of themselves.

Anyway, here's the first chapter. I have three already written, so if anyone likes this chapter, I'll update the other two in the next two weeks and then just go on from there.

If you've decided to read this, thank you so much! You interest will keep me motivated.

...

"Alright, don't hate me."

I heard those words way too often for it to not become true sometimes. I sighed, leaning back against my couch and pausing the current rerun of Modern Family. "What is it this time, Tanya?" I twirled a cornel of popcorn between my buttery fingers before popping it into my mouth. This shit was a guaranteed way into gaining about twenty pounds, but I'll let Alice worry about that. Somehow, she manages to drag my ass out of bed at five in the morning to go running most of the time.

"I need you to watch Maggie," she said. "Please don't say no. James hooked us up with this amazing gig, Bella! Like, I'm talking five hundred dollars each. Do you know how many toys I can buy Mags with that shit?" She sounded giddy saying this, but I knew it was all bullshit. She'd be spending that money on herself and Maggie will be lucky to get even a shirt out of it.

But I couldn't say no. Last time I did she dropped Maggie off at her neighbor's, who ended up hosting a party with every drug from the book floating around. The poor girl was probably still scarred.

"Fine," I said, not entirely hating it. The millions of times Tanya dropped Maggie off at my house resulted in us bonding and actually having a good time. Despite her being only seven years old, I'd take her company over most people my age.

Tanya squealed and I had to pull the phone away from my ear before I became deaf. Fuck, she was loud. "Thank you, Bella! Oh, my god, you won't regret it. Seriously, when we become really famous, you'll be the only one I thank."

I'm pretty sure there's only about a .1% of that actually happening, but I don't say anything. The doorbell rings and I groan, standing up heavily and trudging towards it. "Hold up, Tanya. Someone's at the door."

I opened the door and my eyebrows rose at Tanya's excited stare. "You can teleport now?" I snorted, not entirely too surprised. Figures she'd just assume I'd watch Maggie. Tanya grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "You never let me down, Bella. But, yeah, we gotta hit the road now." She bent down and kissed Maggie's cheeks quickly. "Love you, Mags! See you tomorrow."

Then she was gone.

I smiled softly at Maggie, who looked tired but not too phased. Her mother did this so often that she's gotten used to it. "Hey, Mags," I said ushering her in and closing the door behind her.

She sighed, pulling her little plush elephant close to her stomach. "Hi, Bella."

"You want some cookies? I believe I have some left over from earlier."

…

Maggie eventually extracts herself from her tired state after a few cookies and soon we're playing and laughing like we usually do. I hated the game, but Mags somehow coerced me into playing hot lava, which meant if you touched the floor―or the lava―you were automatically dead. Of course this was much easier for Maggie since she was such a small thing and could leap like a fucking frog.

Not to mention she was a cheater.

More than once she had accidentally pushed me off the couch. The last time she did it though, I pulled her with me, laughing as we fell against some strewn pillows. "Oops. Guess we're both dead," I said.

"Actually." She sat up on my stomach and grinned cheekily down at me. "The lava can't kill me."

I decided to humor her. "Oh? Why's that?"

"'Cuz I'm adorable."

"And what am I?" I snorted. "Chopped liver?"

She shrugged, still grinning. "Yeah, pretty much." I scoffed at the teasing words and then attacked her stomach relentlessly. Mags exploded into fits of laughter, calling Uncle until I gave mercy and ceased my tickling. "Am I still chopped liver?" I chuckled, ready to tickle her more if need be. But Maggie shook her head, wild hair flapping about. "No. You're the best."

I grinned and pulled her into my lap, letting her rest of head on my shoulder. "I'll have to disagree," I said. "Because I think you're the best." Maggie smiled against my shirt and yawned tiredly. "Tired?"

"Nope." But she yawned again. I chuckled and rested my head back against the sofa, content with staying here a while.

We fell asleep moments later.

…

"I just don't think it's right," Alice sighed the next morning. When she got home she woke us up and I carried Maggie to my room to lie down. Tanya never said when she'd pick Mags up, but since it was almost eleven, we had decided to take her to IHOP. "I actually don't mind it much," I whispered, looking across at Maggie. She was playing a game on my phone, little lips puckered in quiet concentration and fingers speeding across the screen. "It's nice to have a breath of innocence around, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said softly. "But what about Maggie? Her mother spends more time with her band than her child."

I frowned. "Yeah. I know. It sucks, but Tanya's just like that." Which is no excuse, but Tanya's the type of person who doesn't change. She's incapable of actually looking out for her responsibilities, which is a shame and disappointment all in one. "Hey, Mags, you ready to order?" I asked. Maggie paused the game and nodded. "Mhm."

I called a waitress over and ordered our meals before getting up to go to the bathroom. I asked Maggie if she had to go, but she said no unsurprisingly. She was too engrossed in her game.

Walking to the bathroom, I almost ran into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry," I said, glancing up, then thought―holy fuck. The guy looked down at me, his green eyes apologetic as well. He looked ready to reply, but then paused as he stared at me. "Uh… no, no. Um―I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

I smiled and stepped aside. "I guess we're both sorry."

"Uh, yeah… well, have a good day."

"You too."

He stood there awkwardly for a moment before walking away. I stared after him, grinning. Damn. How could someone be so adorable and hot at the same fucking time? I did my business before walking back over to the table and this time sitting down next to Maggie. She wanted to show me one of the apps she downloaded.

"You can only hit the black tiles," she explained. "And sometimes they go faster than the other ones."

"Wow, really?" I asked, eyes wide. "Sounds so difficult."

"Maybe for you," she said, giggling when I poked her stomach. "But it's so easy. Look."

I watched her play the game for a while before looking up at Alice, who'd been kicking my leg. "What?" I mouthed. Her eyes were wide, and she titled her head discreetly to the side, mouthing, "Look." I turned around and my eyebrows rose at the sight of the guy from the bathroom collision. He was looking this way, but quickly turned back around when he saw that I was looking.

I grinned and turned to Alice. "Bathroom," was all I had to say, and she laughed.

…

"Mags, your mommy isn't picking up her phone, so I'm gonna take you to work with me, okay?"

"Okay." She shrugged and set down her book. It was nearly five o'clock and Tanya had yet to call or pick up the phone when I called. My boss didn't really mind when I brought Mags to work, as long as she was quiet and undisruptive, which she usually is. "Can I have a root beer float when we get there?"

I smiled and nodded. Mags usually got drunk off of those things – figuratively of course. Actually, she got drunk off of anything sweet I gave to her.

I helped her slip on her shoes before we walked to my car and drove off. I worked at a restaurant downtown as a waitress, but only until I found out what to do with my business degree. I honestly have no fucking clue why I majored in that area and Alice more than once told me to go back and major in something else, but I didn't shit money these days. Hell, right now I was really just living off my inheritance money.

"Mags!"

Maggie grinned and broke out of my grip, barreling her tiny self into Emmett. It was always amusing to see the blatant differences between the two―so blatant, actually, that when I first brought Mags here she'd almost wet her pants looking up at Emmett, who towered over her and everyone else. But she loved the fact that he was as harmless as her teddy bears and always let her win when they wrestled.

"Hey, Emmett," Maggie said, grinning as he lifted her in the air. I laughed and walked over to them. "Hey, Em," I said and he bent down to kiss my forehead. Trust me, it didn't look as intimate as it seemed. Emmett was like an older brother―protective, loving and utterly stupid.

"I'm gonna go clock in," I said, kissing Mags' cheek and walking off. Looking back, I smiled as Emmett sat down and as Mags started punching his thighs, he cowered away as if it hurt. Turning back, I gasped as I ran right into someone, but before I fell, they grabbed my arm and steadied me. "Oh, shit," I breathed, looking up. "Sor―"

Holy fuck.

It was IHOP guy.

I smiled and crossed my arms. "Hello again."

He chuckled. "We keep meeting this way. You must think I'm a clumsy asshole." I wasn't too sure, but I think I heard a hint of a British accent. Or maybe it was Irish? I laughed and shook my head. "No, trust me, I'm definitely the clumsy one."

He smiled. "Well, still, I apologize. I'm Edward, by the way." Edward? A little old fashioned, but definitely suitable.

"Bella. Nice to meet you―again."

"Oh, Bella, I see you met Edward." I turned around to face my boss, Rose. Raising an eyebrow, I looked back briefly at Edward, then to Rose. "He's our new bartender," she explained, smiling.

"Oh, really?" I smiled at Edward, who was scratching the back of his neck. "Guess I'll be seeing a lot of you then."

…

"Look, Bella."

I looked at Maggie. She was on her second root beer float and was currently blowing bubbles into the foamy liquid. I smirked when the suds flew up into her face and she jerked back in surprise. "Very cute, Santa Clause."

Maggie giggled and blew some suds in my face. I got ready to tickle her when my phone rang. "Saved by the bell," I said. "But I'll get you later."

Mags stuck her tongue out at me before spinning off her chair and running over to Emmett. I wasn't too worried about her disturbing the customers since there were only about two couples left and ten minutes until closing.

Looking at the caller ID, I rolled my eyes then swiped to answer. "Tanya, where are you?"

"Bella!" I cringed and pulled the phone away a tiny bit. "Ohmigoddd, you will not believe―believe what happened. The fucking gig was a huge total big fucking success! And then we totally got shitfaced. Like, fuck, I am such in a cloud right now. Like… fuck. And then we rode to Vegas! Fucking Vegas! Like…" She trailed off, giggling, and I tried hard not to lose my cool. If I yelled at her chances are she'd forget most of it anyway. She was completely wasted. "But I called to see how my Maggie Bear is! Is she being good? Next time I gotta hafta bring her to one of these shit things, man."

"Yeah, Tanya… call me when you're sober, okay?"

"Okay! Hey, Bells, how's Maggie again – Derek, get the fuck outta my face you fucking re―"

I hung up on her and sighed, distressed. Looking over at Maggie, my heart broke for the free-spirited child, completely innocent in this whole fucked up situation. She was busy hanging on Emmett's arm and he was swinging her back and forth. I smiled, glad she had this to turn to when her mother abandoned her.

"You look pretty deep in thought."

I jumped, scared and twirled around to face Edward. He was leaning against the bar and cleaning some wine glasses. "Nah, not really… just…" I shrugged. "Just wondering about some things."

He smiled. "Sounds pretty similar to me. Wanna talk about it?"

"Eh…" Edward seemed like a nice guy, but I barely spoke two sentences to him. He smiled softly and set the glass down. "Right, sorry. Boundaries."

"No, it's okay. I just rather not talk about it." I paused, figuring now would be the perfect time to get to know him. "So, did you just move to Seattle, or…?"

"Yeah, I did actually. I, um, lived in Chicago for a bit after moving here from England―" Ha! I knew it. The sexy, adorable, bartender man was a fucking Brit as well. "―but I didn't really find any purpose there."

"But… you find purpose in a random restaurant in Seattle?" I guess that sounded a bit rude actually said out loud, but I was curious. What did Seattle offer that Chicago didn't? They both seem pretty similar to me. Edward chuckled, as if thanking the same thing. "Well, I guess the women just weren't as beautiful in Chicago."

It took me a moment to realize what he was saying. I stifled a giggle behind my hand and leaned against the counter. "Charming," I teased. Edward chuckled sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair. "That sounded way better in my head. Besides, you probably have a boyfriend anyway…"

"Oh? Well, when can I meet this boyfriend? " Because I sure as hell haven't had one of those since freshman year. Yeah, there's been some flings here and there, but nothing serious enough to label. Edward shook his head, eyebrows raised high. "Nah, you're shitting me. There's no way you're not taken."

"Yeah, and how do you infer that?"

He smirked, all lopsided and cute. "Look in the mirror and see for yourself."

"Okay, well, what about you? You must have someone back for you in Chicago."

Edward laughed and shook his head. "No, not by a long shot. I was actually a bit of a hermit there. Not many women fancied me."

I scoffed. "Impossible. You're adorable, like… Angel Elsort adorable. A bit geeky, but hot at the same time. "

"Uh… thank you?" He chuckled and I laughed along with him. Edward paused and fiddled with the rag in his hands. "You look like you're in your early twenties," he started slowly. I looked at him curiously and waited for him to continue. "Is that your daughter?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What happened to boundaries?" I laughed when his eyes widened and he immediately began apologizing, mouth flapping open like a fish out of water. It was really amusing to watch, but the poor man looked so pitiful. "Edward, I'm messing with you. Mag's not my daughter, I'm just watching her for a friend."

"Oh, that's nice of you."

I shrugged and twisted around to look at Maggie. "I do it so often now that it feels more obligatory instead of like a favor than anything. But I do love her like she's my own."

"Wow, that's… really awesome, actually."

As if the little brat knew we were talking about us, Maggie spun around and darted over to me. I prepared myself for the impact and let out a little, "Oomph!" as she ran right into my arms. I pretended to struggle as I lifted her into the air. "God, Mags. Did you gain a pound or fifty?"

"No," she giggled and swung her legs around my hips. "I think you might have, though."

"Oh, really now?" I blew raspberries against her neck and she dissolved into fits of giggles and squirming limbs. "Do you take it back?" She shook her head quickly and I tickled her sides. "Really?"

"Okay! Okay, I was just kidding," she squealed. "You're the prettiest Bella I ever met."

I'm pretty sure I'm the only Bella she's ever met, but I take what I can get. I kiss her cheek and set her down on the counter. "Mags, this is Edward."

Maggie looked at Edward, eyes wide and unsure, as he waved a little awkwardly. Then she turned to me, leaning over to whisper in my ear. "Is he your boyfriend?"

I looked at Edward, who was cleaning the glasses again, trying not to eavesdrop. I giggled in spite of myself and looked back at Mags. "No, but he's kinda cute right?" I may have said this over a whisper and Maggie giggled, shaking her head vigorously. I smiled, and it grew even larger when I saw Edward's too. "It's about time to go. You ready?"

"Yep," she said, kicking her feet out. I helped her off the counter and she ran to go find her coat. "I don't know whether to feel insulted or not that a six year old thinks I'm ugly," Edward mused teasingly.

"Seven year old," I corrected, grinning. "And Maggie's just like that, all innocent and whatnot. She'd think her own father had cooties if she could." I grabbed my coat off of the stool next to me and shrugged it onto my shoulders. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Uh, yeah. Tomorrow. See you then."

"Bye, Edward."

I turned and met Mags by the door. She was trying to show some magic tricks to some of the other waiters. "And then, see, you put the card back," she said, all giddy and excited. I tried to repress a snort when she quickly peeked at the card and placed it at the bottom of the deck, then did a half-assed job shuffling before taking the card out. "And see! This is your card, right?"

Jane grinned and nodded. "Yeah, it is. How'd you do that?"

"I'm magic!"

Jane and the others laughed and smiled and I snuck up behind Mags, swooping her swiftly into my arms. She laughed and tried to squirm away, but I held her tight. "I'm gonna go ahead and take this little magician to bed. See you guys later."

"Bye!" Maggie called.

I rushed to the car because it was freezing out and helped Maggie into her seat. The drive wasn't long, but she fell asleep almost immediately after we drove off. When we got to the house, I was careful not to wake her, but being a light sleeper and all, Maggie stirred naturally. "Bella," she mumbled as I snuggled us under the covers. I didn't even bother changing clothes. "Hm?"

"Do I have to call you mommy?"

I sighed and swiped the soft bangs of her hair out from in front of her eyes. "No, babe. You have a mommy, you know that."

She was quiet after that, so I assumed she'd fallen asleep, but she spoke about five minutes later. "Does she love me?"

My heart broke and clenched about five times over as she muttered the soft words. I'd gotten mad at Tanya plenty of times, all in different variations of anger, but this was different. This was more of an I-want-to-strangle-you type of anger. "Of course, Mags. She loves you, mommy's just… busy, is all. But your mommy loves you so much."

And it's true. Tanya loved Maggie, but she also loved her music and herself. Sometimes, her love gravitated more so to music than anything else, which was a harsh reality, but completely true. "Okay," Mags sighed. I stroked her hair until she fell asleep.

...