A/N: Vote for Till the End and Lightning Snatcher- link on my profile! I lost two people to cancer in the last week. It was really painful. I mean gosh, it was right after I wrote the last chapter and really got excited about this story. God likes to pick on me sometimes. I went to Stephen's funeral today. He was a twelve year old boy. There were over 100 people there and it was just seriously the most painful thing- ever. I don't know how I survived.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
"The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret."
-unknown
I Live in a State of Denial
"Oh Ms. Ice cream girl, you missed a spot." Emmett called at me from table one.
I grabbed my dirty wash cloth and bottle of cleaner before I stomped over to where Emmett and Edward were sitting. Emmett was holding his ice cream cone on its side so drips of chocolate ice cream fell onto the table.
I grabbed his wrist and twisted it so his ice cream cone was facing the right way again before I ran the damp cloth over the table. I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to smack him over the head but I figured it would cause more damage to me than it would to him.
The ice cream parlor was empty besides the four of us. Angela, the other employee that was supposed to work with me today, wouldn't be here until noon and the owner didn't feel like coming in today. So, I took advantage of this rare opportunity and let Jake come inside so he could sit with Edward and Emmett while they waited for Alice to pick him up.
"What time do you two have to go to work?" I asked glancing at my watch.
It was getting close to noon and I was afraid that if they stayed with me too much longer they would be late for their jobs. Working at a hospital was different than working at an ice cream parlor. If I was late a few kids will get impatient and start to scream at their moms. If they're late people will die.
"I don't know." Emmett shrugged. "We're already late, so I guess whenever we get there."
I frowned. "Aren't you worried that they'll fire you?"
"They won't fire us." Emmett cleared my conscious. "We're the best doctors they have."
For some reason hearing Emmett say that they were the best doctors at the hospital made my stomach turn. It meant that Edward could tell when someone was sick. And I was accident prone! I had a tendency to accidently cause harm to my body- which meant that Edward would easily pick up that there was something wrong with me.
"Our dad is also chief of medicine." Edward added. "Besides, Emmett called in and told them that we were going to be late."
"I called the hospital?" Emmett asked raising an eyebrow.
My head shot towards him and my eyes widened. "You didn't call the hospital?" My voice was louder than I wanted it to be.
"I was kidding." Emmett raised his hands in defense. "Take a joke Bella." He started to laugh.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and my shoulders slumped. I didn't know why I was so anxious about them getting to the hospital on time. I wasn't a fan of hospitals. They smelled funny and liked to give people bad news. Good news rarely came out of hospitals.
"What the hell?" Edward screamed.
Emmett started to laugh.
I looked at Edward. Jake had put his front paws on the table and was licking Edward's ice cream. Edward was staring at him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. It took all my will power not to laugh with Emmett. I forgot to warn him that Jake liked to steal ice cream from people.
"Jake." I slapped my hands in front of his face. "Down."
Jake looked at me as he continued to lick the ice cream. He made no movement to get off the table. I rolled my eyes and walked around Edward so I could get Jake off the table.
My fingers wrapped around Jake's collar and I pulled on him. He didn't even flinch. In fact, he forced himself to get even close to Edward. His head started to turn on the side as he nibbled on the cone.
"C'mon Jake." I growled at him as I tried to pull him away from Edward's ice cream cone again. It didn't work. He just opened his jaw and clamped it shut around the cone before jumping off the table to the floor so he could finish the rest of it.
When Jake jumped to the floor I lost my balance and accidently ran into the table behind me. The lower part of my back hit the side of the table. I hissed in pain and grabbed onto my back.
"Ouch." I whimpered. That would leave a bruise. A huge bruise.
"Damn Bella." Emmett laughed. "You're weak."
"Are you ok?" Edward asked getting to his feet.
Jake, who was licking the ice cream off the floor no more than a few feet away from me, looked at Edward and let out a low growl. I rolled my eyes and slapped him on the back of his head. He looked at me before going back to licking the ice cream on the floor, his eyes were on Edward.
"I'm fine." I promised Edward. "I just hit my back on the side of the table."
"Do you want to sit down?" Edward grabbed my shoulder and started to guide me to the chair he was sitting in.
"I'm okay!" I told him quickly and stepped out of his grip. "Do you want to me to get you another ice cream cone, to make up for the one that Jake ate?
Edward shook his head. "No I'm fine." His lips pursed and he looked like he wanted to say something else.
"I'm really sorry about Jake." I apologized again, hoping that I could keep the subject off of me and my aching back. "It really would be no problem to get you another ice cream cone."
"No, I'm okay." Edward smiled at me.
"Are you sure? It really wouldn't be that hard." I felt guilty that Jake didn't like him and ate his ice cream cone. Besides, my boss gave me free ice cream all the time.
"I'm fine Bella." Edward promised.
"I would like to say he's not usually like this but he's a fiend when it comes to vanilla ice cream. That's one of the reasons that my boss doesn't like him inside here. He usually stalks little children until they let him have their ice cream cones." I explained why Jake would want Edward's ice cream.
"I'll make sure to warn Alice." Edward smiled at me.
I smiled back. He had a really nice smile.
"Warn me about what?" A high voice asked from the door that led to the parlor.
I turned around to see a very short girl walk into the parlor. She had short black hair that she spiked up at all angles and there were black sun glasses that covered the upper part of her face.
"Jake likes vanilla ice cream." Emmett answered her question before he stuffed the rest of his ice cream cone into his mouth.
"Really?" Alice's voice squeaked from excitement and a smile formed on her face. "Awe that's so cute. Where is Jake?" She looked at Edward and me.
"Licking Edward's ice cream." I admitted, blushing.
"Awe." She put her hands over her mouth and walked further into the parlor, heading to where Edward and I were standing.
I looked at Edward. He was rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.
I was really starting to like Alice. Unlike Emmett she didn't freak out and call me a prostitute! And she looked like the type of person that would understand that Jake is more than a dog. Jake was my family and had feelings just like any other person.
"He's a cutie." Alice kneeled in front of Jake. Her small hands went behind his ears and started to rub them.
Jake didn't lift his head from the tile floor.
"Be careful, he snaps." Edward warned her.
Jake twisted his head into her head but didn't stop licking the floor. Alice giggled.
"He only growls at Edward." I corrected Edward's statement as I scratched Jake's back. "He likes everyone but him."
Alice laughed and turned to Edward. "Poor Edward."
"I'll get over it." Edward shrugged.
I smiled at him before turning to Alice. "I'm Bella." I lifted my hand from Jake's back and handed it to her.
"Alice." She smiled back at me as she removed her hand from behind Jake's ear so she could grab my hand.. I was surprised her small fingers could wrap around my fingers. "I see you all the time here and I never really introduced myself. I'm sorry. The kids keep my hands full."
"That's okay." I started to scratch Jake's back again. "They keep my hands full to."
Alice grinned at me before jumping to her feet. Her hands slapped her thighs as she looked at her adoptive brothers. "Alright you two," her voice was surprisingly demanding for someone so small, "get the heck out of here." Her finger pointed towards the door. "People are dying and they need doctors- unfortunately all they have are you two but I guess that's better than nothing."
"You're just cranky because another mother thought you were one of the kids again." Emmett shot back at her.
"This is coming from a guy that got molested by a-"
"Stop it you two." Edward played the mediator.
I was kind of disappointed. I wanted to hear what Alice had to say about Emmett- maybe I could use it later if he made another joke about me being a prostitute.
"But she's right Emmett. We do need to get going." Edward looked at his watch before looking at me. "What time do you get off work?"
"I think I have to close." I frowned.
"When is that?" Edward asked.
"We close at ten but I won't be off until ten-thirty. Angela and I have to clean up the parlor." I explained.
"Who wants ice cream at nine o'clock at night?" Emmett asked.
"Not many people." I admitted looking at him. "But we don't really get many customers to begin with. Most of our business comes from the daycare." I looked Alice.
"What can I say?" She shrugged. "Kids love their ice cream." She smiled at me.
"I'll make sure to be here by ten then." Edward grabbed my shoulder and pulled me towards him. I twisted my head to the side and he gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I blushed and bit my bottom lip. "Ten it is." I nodded when he pulled away.
"Don't run into anymore tables." Edward ordered.
"I'll try not to." I promised.
"Ready to go?" He looked at Emmett.
"Let's go save lives." Emmett slammed his hands onto the table as he got off his chair and followed Edward to the door. "See yah later Bells. Bye Jake." He gave us a quick wave before following Edward out the door.
"So, you're married to Edward." Alice made sure the boys were out ear shot before she said this.
I closed my eyes and let my shoulders slump. I was hoping that we didn't have to have this conversation. I liked it better when she was excited to meet Jake and making fun of Emmett.
I nodded as I waited for the screaming to start. I was preparing myself for the name calling and the "how could you do that to my brother" speech. I didn't know Alice very well. I just knew what Edward told me about her and what I gathered from her random trips to the ice cream parlor. She didn't sound like a mean person but everyone has their moments.
"That's got to be fun." She smiled at me.
I blinked. "You're not mad?" I frowned at her. I was so used to people screaming at us that I wasn't expecting someone to be okay with it.
Alice shook her head as she knelt in front of Jake, who was cleaning up the floor for me, and started to scratch his ears. "Not really." She admitted. "I'm more shocked than angry. You two are adults- whatever happened is between you two. Though I am surprised you haven't demanded a divorce yet." She looked up at me. "Do you want to explain why?"
I knelt next to her and sighed as I started to scratch Jake's neck. "Because it makes me feel like I'm in the movies." I admitted as I focused my attention to scratching Jake's neck. "And I figured if I hope long enough, I might get a fairytale ending."
"At least you're honest." Alice didn't push the subject any further as she jumped to her feet. "Is there anything I need to know about Jake?" She asked.
I looked up at her and furrowed my eyebrows as I thought of something that she might need to know. "If he gets too excited just rub his stomach- that usually calms him down." I frowned as I thought of something else. Nothing came to mind.
"He doesn't bite or anything, right?" Alice asked.
I shook my head. "Like I said, he likes everyone…except Edward."
Alice giggled. "Edward's more of a cat person anyways."
"Oh! Jake doesn't like cats either." I added quickly in case the day care kept a pet cat- which honestly wouldn't surprise me if they did.
Alice laughed. "You and Edward are going to make an interesting couple." She shook her head.
"Are you okay with me being married to your brother?" I frowned at her.
"Trust me. If I had a problem with it, you would know." Alice smiled at me. "Besides, everyone deserves their fairy tale ending."
"How do you know it won't end in some blockbuster horror movie?" I frowned at her.
"I'm Alice. I know everything." She tapped her head.
I continued to frown at her. As much as I would have liked to believe her, I couldn't. Edward was right, this isn't a movie, this was real life and in real life people didn't get a fairy tale ending. But it was still comforting to know that Alice believed that I would have a fairytale ending with Edward. Even if the odds of it were a gazillion to one.
"C'mon Jake." She patted her leg. "Let's go see the kids."
"Thanks Alice." I smiled at her at her as I got my feet. "You really don't have do this."
"It's no problem Bella." She smiled back at me. "Oh and Angela is about to call- she's running a little late."
"Why did Angela call you before she called me?" I frowned at her.
"She didn't." Alice's smile didn't fade as she opened the door. "Bye Bella." She waved her hand at me and left to go across the street to the day care.
I frowned at her. I could understand her saying that Edward and I would have a fairytale ending but there was no way that she could predict Angela calling me to tell me that she was running-
As soon as the door closed, the phone rang. My jaw dropped and my eyebrows furrowed. I walked quickly to the cash register where we kept the phone to the store. I picked it up and pressed it to my ear.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Hey Bella." It was Angela. "I'm running a little late. I'm sorry. Can you manage the parlor without me?"
"Yeah." My voice sounded distant. "Sure."
How did Alice do that? I had never seen anyone predict anything like that before and I was pretty sure that Angela and Alice weren't close enough for Angela to call Alice before she would call me. So that left only one explanation. Edward's sister was a psychic.
"Bella," Angela yelled at me.
"Yeah." My voice sounded less distant and I focused my attention on Angela.
"Where were you yesterday?" Angela asked. "You weren't at work. I got worried. You weren't at the-"
"No." I interrupted her. "I went to Jessica's bachelorette party the night before and I guess I drank too much."
"Thank God." Angela sighed. "You scared me. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah," I nodded- it was more out of habit than necessity. "I accidently ran into one of the tables at the parlor and I think I bruised my back but other than that, I'm okay."
"Do you want me to look at it when I get there?" She sounded concerned.
I loved Angela. She was genuinely concerned about my health and was always making sure I was doing okay.
"No," I shook my head- again out of habit. "I'm okay. I promise."
"If you say so." Angela didn't sound convinced. "I'll be there in less than fifteen minutes. I promise."
"Okay." I tried to make my voice happy. "I'll see you in a little bit."
"See you in a little bit." Angela hanged up the phone.
I pressed the dial button and started press the familiar numbers. There was no one in the parlor and there was nothing that I needed to take care of right at this minute and since I was right by the phone- I decided to give Charlie a call. He deserved an explanation and it would be easier for me to tell it to him over the phone than in person.
"Hello?" Charlie asked.
"Hi dad." I smiled so my voice would seem happier than I felt.
"Bella?" Charlie asked. "Is everything okay?" His voice was lace with the same concern Angela had.
"I'm fine." I nodded- again to try and make me sounded happy. "Angela isn't at work yet and we're having a slow day, so I'd give you a call. Since I owe you an explanation and all."
Charlie was quiet. "An explanation would be nice." His voice was stern.
"Are you at the station?" I asked. If he was at the station, chances were he would be sitting down. He needed to be sitting down for this.
"Yes." He sounded impatient.
"So," I held out the word 'so.' "I went to Jessica's party and I had a few drinks-"
"Bella do you realize how stupid that is?" Charlie screamed at me. "What about all the-"
"Dad!" I interrupted him. "Do you want to know what happened or not?"
Charlie went silent. "Go on." He ordered.
I took a deep breath. "So I was at Jessica's party…"
End Chapter.
A/N: Foreshadowing all over this chapter. Gosh. Almost everything in this chapter is foreshadowing something important. Seriously, if anyone can guess it- I will give you a cookie. It has to be exact though, you have to have it down to a "t". If you can do that- I will seriously give you a cookie. There's something that is obvious that I'm foreshadowing but I want to know the other thing that I'm foreshadowing- the one that isn't so obvious. If I reply to your review with "you got a cookie" than you know you're right. If I don't reply, then better luck next time. Also! Please get me to 1400! I would love you forever and always! :D
Vote for Lightning Snatcher and To the End- link on my profile!
In loving memory to Stephen Whitlow and Annette Kasparian.