Happy Birthday Beth, and many more to come. Gypsysue
Disclaimer: Ms Meyers owns Twilight and all its characters.
Big thanks to VanPireNZ for going over this for me.
Family Matters
I was woken abruptly by a kick in the ribs by a very small foot. With a sigh I rolled over on to my side to look down at the little rascal that had been playing football with my ribs for the last two nights.
Jake hadn't been sleeping well after an incident at kindergarden. We were still trying to get to the bottom of it, but Jasper said to give it time. He would come around and open up when he felt ready, but I wasn't so sure. He would wake up screaming in the night and end up in bed with us. Not that I minded him being in bed with us, but that my ribs where having trouble with the whole concept.
Brushing the hair out of Jake's eyes, I leaned over and kissed his forehead to try and soothe the nightmare away; he had been lashing out quite a bit, managing to wake Jasper in the process. "Edward, is everything alright baby?" Jasper asked, his eyes full of sleep and worry.
"Jake's just having another nightmare, love. We really have to do something about this. His teacher is at a loss as to what's going on too," I whispered, trying not to wake our son.
"I've been thinking about that too babe. I was wondering what you would think about enrolling him in a karate class. I think it could really help boost his confidence and help him with whatever it is he is going through," Jasper said, moving to a sitting position and reaching out to caress my cheek. I sighed softly at the contact and nodded.
"At this point, I would try anything love." Looking down at our sleeping boy, I sighed again. The worry you feel for your child can compare to nothing else on this earth. I lived and breathed for him, as did Jasper. His pain was our pain, but he refused to tell us what had him so upset.
Jacob was six months old when he came into our lives. Jasper and I had been married for three years; we were twenty - three years old, having been married at twenty and dating since we were fifteen. When something is right, you just know and it was love at first sight for us.
Jake's mother was a friend of my little sister Alice, who was fourteen when they met. They were best friends from school and did everything together, but one night everything changed for the both of them. There was a party on the reservation that night, Alice and Bella were excited to be going and since Bella's dad was friends with Billy and Harry, who would be supervising the celebration, it was expected to be safe for them. What was meant to be a night of innocent fun, turned into a nightmare for Bella. The result was Jake.
Her father tried to help her as much as he could, but in the end it was my mother, Esme, who was adviser and friend for them both. Alice had been lucky; she had walked away with a minor head injury, Bella was not so much. We adopted Jake after Bella realised that she couldn't look at him without flashbacks. She was adamant that he be with loving parents and we were more than happy to step up. It wasn't exactly how we envisioned having a child, but we fell in love with the little guy the moment we met him.
Four years later and we couldn't be happier to call him ours, even with his current dilemma.
Jasper's voice brought me out of my musings. "I will enroll him in classes tomorrow, they have them down at the youth centre. Garrett runs them." He smiled at me as his eyes started to droop.
"Go back to sleep love, we will talk about it more in the morning. Well, at a reasonable hour in the morning." I glanced at the clock; it was only three. Jasper was alseep again before I even finished the sentence, and the room was filled with the chorus of his and Jake's soft snores.
Jasper had Jake enrolled in the Saturday morning classes, and since today was Friday, I needed to get Jake to kindergarden and then go pick up his uniform for tomorrow. Rushing around to get breakfast, pack Jake's lunch, get coffee into my system and then head off to work myself, had me in a bit of a tail spin. I had not slept well last night, nor had I for the last few nights. I knew that karate would be a good thing for Jake, but we really needed to get to the bottom of what the real issue was.
Miss Hale was an excellent teacher and so great with the kids. She was a little abrupt with the parents though. It was like watching two seperate people when you would talk to her alone verses what she was like with the children. She was doing her best to get to the bottom of what was going on and we appreciated that greatly.
Miss Hale approached me as I made my way over to Jake's cubby, putting his bag in his assigned slot.
"Good morning, Mr. Cullen, if I could speak to you for a moment in private." Her face was stony, and to be honest, I was a little afraid.
"Certainly. Jake, why don't you go play and I will come and say good bye before I leave."
"Okay, Daddy." Jake's voice was somber as he shuffled away and sat down in front of the play dough.
"Mr Cullen..."
"Please, call me Edward."
"Okay, Edward. I had a phone call from one of the other parents last night. It seems her son, Mike and his best friend, Tyler, have been teasing Jake about you and your husband." Her face screwed up slightly and I wasn't quite sure why, which made me rather uncomfortable. "Mrs. Newton heard the boys talking about it in Mike's room after school. Apparently, they were using words that only could have come from an adult. Words I will not repeat as I find them very distasteful." And there we had what caused her to make that face.
I could only imagine what the words were and I had no doubt they came from Tyler's father. Mr. Crowley was one of the most bigoted men I had ever had the displeasure of meeting. He was also the reason that Jasper no longer did pick-ups for Jake. I insisted on it after he almost came to blows with Mr. Crowley over his intolerance and the filth that spewed from his mouth.
"I have asked both sets of parents to come in after school for a meeting and I would like you and Mr. Cullen to be there," Miss Hale added.
"Sure, we will both be here. See you at three, Miss Hale." I shook her hand and made my way over to Jake, who was sitting with Mike Newton. They were laughing and playing together nicely and I wonder just exactly what Mrs. Newton had said to her son to forge this reaction.
I stayed back a little and listened in on their conversation. "It must be cool to have two dads," Mike was saying. "You have two people to play ball with and take you cool places, mommies are boring when it comes to boys stuff." I couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"My daddies are awesome," Jake said. "Wanna go play on the swings?" And it seems that was that. Kids can be so cruel and yet they could be so endearing.
I made my way over to Jake just as they were getting up to go play outside and he jumped into my arms.
"Daddy!" he yelled as he threw his tiny arms around my neck. I leaned down and breathed in his scent, a warm feeling filling my chest.
"Hello, Mr. Cullen," Mike said, looking intently at his feet as he shuffled them back and forth.
"Hello Mike, how are you today?" I asked as I place Jake back on the ground. His little head snapped up and he gave me a big grin.
"Very good, thank you, Sir. I'm sorry I was mean to Jake, my mom explained to me last night that some people have a mummy and a daddy, some have two mommies and some have two daddies and that Mr. Crowley is an ignor, ignor, umm,"
"Ignorant?" I offered.
"Yes that. Ignorant jackass." He smiled wider and then asked, "What's an ignorant jackass?" I couldn't contain the laughter that spilled forth as I told him that he should ask his mommy that. He pouted and said she would tell him when he was older. And with that they ran off to play.
I called Jasper at work to explain everything I had found out and told him to meet me at the school at three sharp. He agreed only after a few expletives left his mouth, and grumbled about bringing Emmett. That was all we needed.
My brother Emmett, was beyond overprotective. He would beat up anyone who picked on me when we were growing up, and his tendencies to play protector increased the day we brought Jake home. He was already chomping at the bit to find out what was causing his nephew to be so sad and withdrawn, so I had no doubt that when Jasper called him to let him know, he would show up ready to beat Mr. Crowley's head in.
I groaned as I made my way to the store to pick up things for dinner and to get Jake's Karate uniform. Even though we had gotten to the bottom of this, I still thought it was a good idea to let Jake do this. He was very excited when Jasper told him that he would be starting classes tomorrow.
Three rolled around quickly and I pulled into the car park just in time to see Jasper and Emmett get out of Jasper's car. I groaned out loud and slapped my forehead. This was so not good. When I reached them, I pulled Jasper aside and told him exactly that.
"When I told him what happen, he insisted on coming. I told him it wasn't a good idea and that I didn't have time to go pick him up anyways, but you know your brother. He was waiting outside my office. What was I suppose to do?" Jasper's eyes gave him away. He was happy Em was here, no matter what he was saying.
"Whatever, lets just get this over with, and Em, keep ya mouth shut," I growled out as we made our way to Miss Hale's office.
Mr. and Mrs. Newton were already there, as was Mrs. Crowley; her husband was the only one missing.
Quick introductions where made, where I found out Mr. and Mrs. Newton's names where Bob and Sally, and Mrs. Crowley's first name was Rachel; her husband's name she informed us was Matt.
Sally was the first on her feet followed by Bob. We shook hands as Sally apologized relentlessly for her son's behavior and promised it would never happen again.
"I have been in a mad panic all day. I even contacted my brother to find out just how bad this could be. My brother, David, is gay, happily married and raising a child, with his husband. Which is why this has been such a shock to me." She laughed slightly before she added, "my brother was absolutely no help. He just said, all you can do is apologize and hope they accept it."
Bob nudged her and said,"Honey, you're babbling again. Sorry about that, she tends to ramble when she's nervous." He reached out his hand and shook mine, Jasper's and even Emmett's. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I just wish it was under different circumstances."
Turns out that the Newtons were lovely people and a pleasure to talk to. Jasper even invited them over for dinner on Saturday night, which they accepted gratefully.
Rachel waited patiently for us to finish talking and then stood, her head bowed slightly and her cheeks tinted pink. She reached out her hand for me and placed her other one over the top of mine when I accepted her handshake. "I am so terribly sorry about all of this, I can not even being to describe how embarrassed I am by my ex-husbands behavior." There was a collective gasp at that. I had no idea they were divorce and by the sounds of it, neither did anyone else.
"I'm sorry I had no idea..." She raised her hand to cut me off.
"No one did. Matt wanted to keep it quiet. The thought of his wife, leaving him for another woman stung as you can imagine. Turns out, all of this is my fault." She sighed softly and for the first time I noticed another woman sitting in the corner, slightly hidden from view. "This is my life partner, Maggie. We have been together for two years. You would think Matt would have accepted it by now, but no. I can't apologize enough for his behavior and the horrible things he has been sprouting. I can only imagine what Tyler has been saying, considering the filth that comes out of Matt's mouth every time he comes to the house."
I was completely gobsmacked as were the rest of the people in the room; all but Emmett and Miss Hale, who seemed to be totally oblivious to what was going on as they stared into each others eyes. Just lovely.
We all sat down and discussed what we were going to do about all of this, and by the end of the night, we walked away to four new friends and the possibility of a new family member. Seemed Emmett and Rose, as we were now told to call Miss Hale, hit it off extremely well and planned to see a lot more of each other.
By the time we got home and tucked Jake into bed, I was exhausted, but happy. Matt never did show up to the meeting, but we were assured that Rachel would take care of it. I was glad, especially since I knew if he had shown up, we would be down at the police station bailing Emmett out for assault and battery.
I crawled into bed next to my husband and curled up in his arms, enjoying the feeling of his skin pressed tightly against mine. "You know, it's strange that something so nice could come out of something so nasty," I said before placing a kiss on Jasper's chest.
"Indeed. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night. Especially now that Rose and Emmett will be there," Jasper chuckled.
"How about we forget about all of that and you focus on satisfying your husband?" I didn't have to ask twice as before I knew it, I was naked and enjoying all the benefits of being married to one of the most wonderful men in the world.
I was truly satisfied that night, twice.