Author: hapakids
Beta: flamingpen18
Story title: Bella's Delights
Story summary: A childlike man with his love of treats, his younger brother, the love of fall, what more could a girl ask for?
Genre: Family
Rating: T
Pairing: Edward/Bella
Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Thank you to my beta for making time to go over this and to my prereader for all of her help as well.
B POV
It was finally the first day of Fall, my favorite time of year. I started decorating yesterday during our down time. I have garland made of fall leaves on every door way. On the tables, I have mason jars also decorated with fall leaves as well as battery operated tea lights. On the walls, I have wreaths made up of fall leaves with mini pumpkins and cornucopias.
One year, one of our regulars knitted a bunch of pumpkins, acorns, and turkeys for me. When she gave me three turkeys, I asked if she could make some more so that they may be used as coasters. About a month later, she brought over about thirty of them. Everyone that uses them loves them.
The first thing that I started off with this morning was making my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. Ever since I first made a batch and started selling them, they have been a big hit. So much so that I have customers order them by the dozen.
Soon after I got them started, Riley came in. He got started on the muffins. We sell Cream Cheese Cranberry, Lemon Cranberry, Pumpkin, Blueberry, Chocolate Chip, Lemon Poppy Seed, and Mini Sausage Pancake Muffins. The Pumpkin muffins are sold throughout the fall season.
Riley also makes a Blueberry Breakfast cake, a variety of breads, and his Pancake Bites.
Ben makes specialty cakes such as his mini - wedding, cake, sugar cookies. He also makes mini donuts, donut holes, and fondant donuts in various shapes. We also have Apple Pie cookie to go along with all the other cookies we sell.
Besides the cookies, I make a Omelette Muffin that is a huge seller. I make a variety of different sausage, ham, and veggie muffins as well as a few quiches. We have fruit cups using apples for the bowls. We are using oranges that are designed to look like pumpkins for this time of year.
During the lunch hours, we have paninis, sandwiches, baked potatoes salads, and soups that can be served in bread bowls if ordered. For the little ones, we have mac and cheese, because what kid doesn't like mac and cheese? I also make different shaped cookies that kids love. We have cake pops for the little ones. Just seeing the joy on their faces when they get a treat makes my day more joyful. I love what I do!
We open up at five every morning and close by six each evening. We have half days on Sundays. Angela comes in every morning at 4:30 to help with the set up, and she is our front of house person until one in the afternoon. Bree takes over for Angela and helps with the closing. Riley and Ben do a split shift. This way, they can get a nap, run errands, or do whatever else they need to do to get done. I'm usually here all day, but I do try to get a nap in when I can. I have a few couches that the guys or anyone else can sleep on when needed.
My downtime or naptime takes place in the back of the bakery where I live. My grandparents helped me start up my business. They knew the person that owned the property. Somehow, the land was big enough to have a cottage along with the bakery and a parking lot. There's even enough space for me to park my own car. There's a electric gate that goes from the parking lot to the cottage with a intercom for those that come to visit after the bakery is closed.
Apparently, the person that owned the property was dying and had no other living relatives. They left the property to my grandparents who, in turn, decided to give it to me. Since I saved so much money with not having to buy a place or even rent one, my grandparents were able to help out with the appliances, counters, display cases, and so on. They are even some of our regulars.
Once we started making a profit, I was going to start paying them back, but all they wanted was the joy that I got out of it. Instead, they are my silent partners, or maybe not so silent partners at times. I love them, so I just take it all in stride.
You see, they raised me when my mom, Renee, died when I was little. I never knew my dad. All I know is that his name was Charlie and that he loved me very much. He was hit by a drunk driver on his way home from work and died on impact. He was fresh out of the police academy when he and my mom met. They were married a few months later and had me. I was a baby when he died.
***Bella's Delights***
Later that day, while I was manning the counter after Angela left and Bree was running late, the most attractive man that I have ever laid eyes on walked in. He had copper colored hair and the greenest eyes that I have ever seen. They reminded me of the forest by my grandparent's house.
"Hi, welcome to Bella's Delights!" I greeted him. "What can I get started for you?"
"Hi, I'm Edward," he told me in a velvety voice. "Everything looks so good that I have no idea what I want."
"Take your time deciding. Just let me know when you're ready to order." Behind him I could see my grandma wiggling her eyebrows while my grandpa was shaking his head at her. I had to turn around so that I wouldn't laugh. My grandparents were too much at times.
While I was waiting for Velvety - Voice - Green Eyes to make his decision, I went about making up a tray of some samples of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies to put on the counter. When I was done, I asked him if he would like to try the sample. He took one and declared that they were really good.
"Can I get a dozen of those?" he asked. "I think my parents would like them."
"No problem," I told him and went about packing up a baker's dozen. We use boxes for everything because they look much more orderly and attractive in them than just using bags. I rang up his purchase and bade him a good day.
Bree finally made it in. Apparently, her study group had been running behind which is why she was late. She takes two classes each semester at the local college. She's still undecided, but she has shown some interest in what goes on in the kitchen. In fact, it was her idea to add the specialty cakes to the menu after she saw Ben make a birthday cake for Angela.
"I'm so sorry that I'm late, Bella," Bree said
"It's not a problem, and it's not like it's an everyday occurrence."
"No, thank goodness it's not," she said. "Why don't you take off for the rest of the day. I can handle the closing with the guys."
"Alright you know where to find me if there are any issues," I replied. "I'm just going to go tell my grandparents goodbye."
I walked up to them to let them know that I have the rest of the day off and that I would see them tomorrow, but my grandma had other ideas.
"Bella, who was that handsome man that came in?"
"All I know is that his name is Edward," I told her.
"Well, maybe you will see him again," she said.
I just shake my head at her. "I'll see you two tomorrow. Try to keep this one out of trouble," I told my grandpa with a smile while pointing to my grandma.
"I'll do my best, Bells." he said. "You know how she is though."
"Hey, now," Grandma protested.
"Love you," I told them and kissed their cheeks.
I made my way out of the back of the bakery and walked to the front door of my cottage. Even though it is in the back of the bakery and it's safe, I still lock the door on my way out. I'm not taking any chances. After I let myself in, I opened up a few windows since it was kind of stuffy inside. I walked into the kitchen to see what I could make for dinner. I didn't have much to eat, so I decided on a sandwich. I would need to go to the store soon though.
Once I finished eating my sandwich, I had decided to go take a bath and get ready for bed. With the time that I had, I decided to read till I felt sleepy enough to go to sleep. I pulled my pajamas on and got into bed and picked up my Kindle to read.
***Bella's Delights***
The next morning I was busy baking another dozen batches of the omelette muffins since they sold out fairly quickly that morning. Just then Angela stuck her head into the kitchen saying that there was someone there asking for me.
"I'll be right out. I just need wash my hands first," I told her as I was moving to the sink.
As soon as I walk out of the kitchen, I recognize one of our regulars. He wasn't alone, and it was late in the morning for him to be here.
"Morning, Carlisle," I greet him. "What brings you here at this time? It's later then your usual time."
"Good morning, Bella," he greeted me. "Apparently, you met my son, Edward, yesterday and my wife here wanted to meet the person that makes the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies that he was raving about. Of course, I knew they were yours once I saw them. Of all the times that I have been here, I have never tried them, and I have to say that they are really delicious,"
"Oh, yes, they are. I would have never thought of making those myself. Hi, I'm Esme. Carlisle is always telling me about some kind of omelette muffin, a blueberry breakfast cake, and all of your other breakfast items. He can't get enough of them when he has to go to work."
"Hi, Esme, it's so nice to finally meet you," I told her. "Carlisle talks about you all of the time when he is in."
"He tells me that your grandparents are here all of the time as well."
"They are. They are right over there if you would like to sit with them. Carlisle does all the time. Now what can we get started for you, or would you like a little of everything?"
"Oh, can we do that? Can we have a little of everything?" she excitedly asked.
"Yes," I told her with a laugh. "Why don't you two go sit down, and I'll bring it out to you. Would you like a mug of coffee as well?"
"Yes, please," she said.
Carlisle lead her to the table where my grandparents were at. While I was getting the breakfast items together, I pondered about Edward being their son. Carlisle has blonde hair so that meant that Edward got his coloring from Esme. Her hair was a touch darker than his was.
I placed everything on a tray along with four mugs of coffee. I then set the tray down on the next table over and unloaded it.
"Carlisle knows where the creamers are if you need it for your coffee. I hope you enjoy it. Grandma and Grandpa, can I get you two anything else?"
"No, I think we're good for now. If not, we can get it ourselves," Grandpa told me.
"Alright, I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything else. Before I forget, I'm making some more of the omelette muffins. We ran out of those fairly quickly this morning."
Once the omelette muffins were ready, we took them out to put them into the display case. We placed the remainder into the warmers. I took a few over to Carlisle, Esme, and my grandparents. They looked like they were having a good time.
"Bella, everything is just so delicious. Carlisle was right. I can see why he raves about your bakery."
"Thank you," I said with a blush creeping up on my cheeks. "I, uh, need to get back to the kitchen," I say.
Just as I turned around to walk back to the kitchen, the bell over the door rang. I looked up just as Edward walked in. He saw me and smiled, which turned to a frown. I looked to see that he was looking at his parents. He walked over to them and said, "Mom and Dad, what are you doing here?"
"Your dad brought me to meet Bella and to try some of her other things that her and her crew make," his mom said.
"I see," Edward said.
The bell over the door rang again and in walked the biggest man I had ever seen. I mean it looked like his muscles had muscles and with him was a knockout blonde. She was the most beautiful person that I have ever seen. That was until one got a look at her eyes. One look and you could tell that she was an ice queen. The man came bouncing in and was talking really loudly.
"Rosie, look. There are so many treats. I want some treats. I want to try them all. Can I please get some treats?" he asked her in a childish way, while still bouncing around.
Does he have some sort of disability, I thought.
I walked up to him and said, "Hi, I'm Bella and welcome to Bella's Delights! Would you like to try a sample?"
We hadn't had time to make samples yet, but if someone wants some when we don't have any out, we will go out of our way to accommodate them.
"Yes, please, I want treats," he said excitedly while still bouncing around.
"Emmett, settle down before you scare her away," ice queen told him.
"It's okay. I don't mind that he's excited. Besides, it's always nice to have new people try our stuff," I told her with a smile.
With that, I saw her whole demeanor change. The smile that came over her face not only made her more beautiful, but it also made her approachable. "Hi, I'm Rose! Not many people understand Emmett, and when he's excited like he is they tend to not approach him at all."
"That's because he acts like a child whenever there is a bakery of some sort around," Edward said.
I gave him a look of confusion to which he responded,."Bella, this is my brother, Emmett, and his long suffering wife, Rose."
Hearing him say that made it all make sense. I walked up to him and asked him, "Does he have a disability of some sort?"
"He was diagnosed with Aspergers which is on the Autism spectrum, but I just think that my mom may have had consumed too much sugar when she was pregnant with him," he told me.
"I heard that, Edward Anthony," his mom said.
"Dear, he is right though. All you did eat were sweets when you were pregnant with Emmett," came from Carlisle.
"Mama, Dad, I want treats. Please, can I have some treats? Rosie won't tell me if I can or not. All I want is some treats. Edward, will you get me some treats, please?" He turned to Edward with a pout and the saddest puppy dog eyes I have ever seen on a person and that's a lot considering that I own a bakery.
I went back behind the counter and grabbed a variety of samples for him. I just couldn't take the eyes and the pout any longer. I put it all on one plate and put the rest on a tray to be put out after Angela added the name tags to them. By the time I was done, Emmett was sitting down still bouncing away while the others were trying to decide what to let him have that wouldn't have him bouncing off of the walls. Oh, well, too late now since they were taking forever to decide. I walked over to him and placed the plate in front of him. In an excited voice he said, "Treats, yes, I got some treats!" He then proceeded to devour them.
"Thank you, Bella. for doing that for him," Rose told me. "Maybe now he will stop asking me to bring him here. He's been asking since last night after he tried your Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. He asked all the way home from mom and dad's and then started back up when he woke up."
"Oh, my, I don't know what to say." I kind of whispered, but she heard me anyway.
"It's not your fault. I knew this about him when I married him, and I wouldn't have him any other way. It's kind of a shame that I can't bake for shit, so I'm always at the store buying him things. Although it looks like I'll be coming here more often," she told me with a smile.
"Would you like to try anything yourself?" I asked her.
"Those omelette muffins look good."
"Would you like some coffee with it?"
"Yes, please. My man-child woke me up at the ass crack of dawn this morning."
"Have a seat, and I'll bring them right over." I told her and then went to get her a few of the different omelette muffins that we had and a mug of coffee. I set it all on a tray and brought it over to her.
"Bella, please join me. I know that Edward told you that Emmett has Aspergers. I just want to tell you a little more about him. I get this feeling that you will be seeing a lot more of him."
"Alright," I said and sat down with her.
"While Emmett may be on the spectrum, he is highly functioning until he sees something that he really likes, like sweets or as he call them treats. He does drive, and he's very sociable for someone on the spectrum. However, he does relate more to children than adults. That is why he volunteers in the children's ward at the hospital that Carlisle works in. Plus, Carlisle can keep an eye on him while he is there too. The children love him, so that's always a bonus in our books."
"That sounds amazing for not only him, but for all of you that he is able to do all of that. How long have you've been married to Emmett?"
"Seems like forever, but it's almost been seven years. I've known the Cullen's for most of my life. I lived next door to them as a child. Emmett was… I can't really explain it. If you were to ask Edward, he would say that Emmett was a pain in the ass at times, but you could tell that no matter what, he loves his brother. They are very close. Their relationship is more than just them being brothers. You'd have to see it for yourself to know what I am talking about."
"Who's older?" I asked.
"Believe it or not Emmett is. For the most part he acts younger than Edward."
"If Emmett is older, then how does Edward know about what Esme ate when she was pregnant with him?"
"That's easy. It's a running joke in the family that all she ate was sugar. Not that she did. She just ate it more than a normal pregnant woman would."
"I heard that, Rosalie Lillian," Esme said.
"Dear, just admit that you consumed a lot of sugar when you were pregnant with Emmett. It would make life so much easier," he replied with a twinkle in his eye to prove that he was just teasing her.
Edward laughed and said, "Mom, dad is right. Quit denying it."
"Alright, alright, I admit I was craving an astronomical amount of sugar," she said bashfully. "I couldn't help it," she said in somewhat pathetic voice.
My grandparents and I laughed at how she was sounding while admitting at how much sugar was consumed.
"I have to get back to the kitchen. It was nice meeting all of you. It was also nice seeing you again, Edward." I told him and ran into the back after he kissed my hand.
There is just something about him, I thought as I got back to working on the omelette muffins that I had abandoned. I quickly finished those and got started on a whole new batch of them.
***Bella's Delights***
For the next couple of weeks, I saw not only Emmett everyday, but I saw Edward as well. The more I got to know them, the more I saw what Rose was telling me about. Rose just so happened to become a regular as well. I got to know her quite well. I learned that she was a children's writer. Her characters are loosely based off of Emmett and her experiences with him.
One day, close to closing time, Edward walked in with Emmett. I gave the rest of the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies to Emmett, since he proclaimed that he loved them so much when Edward asked to speak with me.
"Bella, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure," I told him.
"I was wondering if you would like to go have dinner some time?" As he is saying this, he took my hand in his and was playing with my fingers.
"I would love that," I told him. Like I had mentioned before, there is just something about him that calls to me.
"Would tonight be okay, or is that too much of a late notice?"
"If you don't mind waiting for me to close up and changing my clothes, then tonight is okay with me," I told him with a smile.
"How about, while you get changed, I take Emmett home and then come back and pick you up afterwards?"
"That works for me."
"I just need your address so I know where to get you," he said.
"You can pick me up here."
He looked at me in confusion so I told him, "My house is in the back of the bakery. There's a gate that leads to the back for when I have visitors."
"Ah, I see. Okay, so I'll just pick you up by the gate then, if that is alright with you?"
"Yes, it is," I told him.
"How long do you think you will need?"
"I will need about an hour or so. Bree is here to help, and Ben is in the kitchen as we speak, cleaning up and boxing up the items that didn't sell to send to the soup kitchen. It shouldn't take too long."
"Alright, I'll see you in about an hour then," he replied and gave my hand a kiss and let it go and then proceeded to tell Emmett that it was time to go and that he would see me tomorrow.
"Bye, Emmett." I said to him. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I just might have a special surprise for you as well."
His eyes got huge, and he nodded his head and said, "Bye, Belly, I'll see you tomorrow," in a child like voice.
Once they walked out, I turned the open sign off and locked the door. I started to help Bree clean up the front end of the bakery. Once we were done, I checked in with Ben who was just finishing up. I could hear the truck that picks the items up. We loaded it up as quickly as possible. When we had finished, I let them out the side door. I then went out the back to go to my cottage to take a quick shower and pick something out to wear for my date with Edward.
I had decided to wear a pair of dark, washed high-waisted jeans with an off- the- shoulder, black, bodysuit along with my floral bomber jacket and black laced heeled booties. I added a pair of linear cord drop earrings in silver and crystal and my silver pocket watch necklace. I didn't put too much makeup on, just some mascara and a light dusting of eyeshadow and some lip gloss.
***Bella's Delights***
After our first date, Edward and I were inseparable. We were together all of the time when our schedules allowed it. Edward loved my house in the back of the bakery, and I finally had someone that I could cook for. Edward, Emmett, and Rose were over all of the time for dinner. Rose and I became the best of friends.
On Halloween, Rose had come along to help out in the bakery since it happens to be one of the busiest times for us. Angela, Bree, Rose, and I decided to dress in a Halloween inspired dresses, black leggings, bat earrings, and black Chucks. We all wore our hair. The kids that came in loved what we were wearing. I had also made some mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies to give out to them. I didn't go for the handing out candy as most businesses do. Someone told me that I should start selling them as well as the normal sized ones.
Rose was having a blast helping out. My grandparents were having fun watching all of the kids coming and going dressed in various costumes. They even decided to dress up as dusty cobwebbed dummies to get into the spirit of things.
"Bella, if you ever need help again please let me know. I'm enjoying myself a lot."
"Anytime you want to help out is fine with me, Rose," I told her as I heard the ringing of the bell above the door.
Edward walked in with Emmett and their parents. I walked over to greet them and gave Emmett his very own bag of mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. Carlisle and Esme went over to talk to Rose while Emmett went to sit down with my grandparents. Edward pulled me into his arms to give me a hug and a kiss.
"How's it going, baby?"
"Busy but good. Rose is having a blast and even asked if she could come and help out again anytime that I needed it."
"That's great. I had a feeling that she would like helping you out," he told me as he was playing with my hair. He seemed kind of nervous.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Yes, but there is something that I would like to ask you," he said. All of a sudden, in the middle of the bakery, he got down on one knee with a ring in his hand. He took one of mine into his other hand. "Bella, I know that we have only known each other for a short time. I love everything about you, and I want to ask you if you would be not just my one and only, but would you be wife? What I'm saying is will you marry me?"
While he was asking me this, I had tears streaming down my cheeks. Rose and Esme had their hands to their mouths as they waited to see what I would say. I attempted to pull him up so that I could throw my arms around him. When he finally stood up, I embraced him while whispering yes to him. He brought one of my hands down from around his neck and put the ring on my finger. Everyone that was there burst into a round of applause. All of a sudden there were arms around both Edward and I. I looked up, and it was Emmett looking gleeful.
~*~To Be Continued~*~
A/N: While Emmett has Aspergers he is use to familiarity. Yes, Bella's Delights was new to him, but the fact that Rose was the one to take him and with Bella's personality he was comforted in being there. Having both of his parents there and his brother helped him even more. As long as he has someone that he knows and his comfortable with Emmett does not have any issues.