AN: Thank you so much for those of you that reviewed. It makes me happy that you like my story. :) Hope you like this chapter!
Chapter 4
Edward heard the little patter of feet before he saw him. Dylan came running out of the kitchen as fast as his little legs could carry him. Edward didn't realize he was kneeling down with his arms open to catch him until Dylan almost knocked him down with the force of his little body. Edward hugged him tightly chuckling into the boys soft brown hair.
"Hi Eward!" Dylan said once he pulled back.
"Hey little man!" Edward answered.
He lifted Dylan into his arms and walked into the kitchen. His mom was grinning widely as he entered.
"Hey ma, Alice." Edward said reaching over to the table and grabbing a sprinkle cookie.
"You look good with a child on your arm son," Esme commented.
"Don't mind her," Alice said rolling her eyes, "She's on her 'I want grand babies' phase."
Edward laughed, "Isn't she always."
"Eward! Awice tooked me in da pawk and fo' ice cweam and and da school and and I wan' her to be my teachew!" Dylan said grinning at him.
"Wow! That sounds like an awesome day! I wish I hadn't gone to work and hung out with you guys instead." Edward answered.
"Wok?" Dylan asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm a police officer." Edward said pulling out his badge from the clip on his belt and showing it to him.
Dylan grabbed the shiny badge, "Wow! Was a powice of-of-"
"Officer," Edward said helpfully. "I protect everyone from bad guys,"
Esme watched how Edward and Dylan interacted with each other and had to hold back her tears. Her son was so patient and kind. He'd make such a great father. Dylan looked up at Edward with wide eyes, Esme could see the boy looked at Edward like he was some sort of hero.
"Pwotect from bad guys?" Dylan asked softly as he glanced down at the badge again.
"That's right," Edward smiled.
"Alright mom, we've gotta go." Alice said.
Esme turned quickly to look at Alice, "What! why?"
"I promised Bella I would pick her up for lunch after work. She'll be done at 3:30." Alice answered.
"You guys can have lunch here! I'll make your favorite." Esme coaxed.
"Mom, I don't know if she'll be comfortable with that." Alice answered.
"Pish tosh! I want to meet Bella and Dylan can stay and help me cook while you go get her," Esme's eyes widened. "As a matter of fact you don't even have to go anywhere. Give me a sec."
Alice and Edward watched their mother pick up the phone on the counter and dial quickly.
"Hi honey! How's work?…That's wonderful…and Bella how's she doing on her first day?….Great! Listen that's what I called you for, Alice was supposed to pick Bella up for lunch but I asked her to stay and I'd cook…oh would you?…Thanks hon. Love you too. Bye." Esme grinned. "All settled! Your father is driving Bella over after they close up."
Alice shook her head smiling. Her mother always got what she wanted.
"Alright!" Esme said clapping her hands. "Edward hand me Dylan while you go up to your old room and change out of your work clothes. And put that thing away," she said looking pointedly at Edwards gun on the side of his hip. "Alice, can you call your brother and husband and see what time they'll be home then pull out the fixings for a salad."
Edward and Alice both did as she asked knowing there was no point in arguing.
"You wanna help Nana Esme cook for mommy and everyone?" Esme asked Dylan as she sat him on the counter next to the sink.
"Yep!" Dylan answered hopping up and down.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Bella had just finished tiding up her desk wondering where Alice was when Carlisle came out of his office.
"Bella?"
Bella looked and smiled. "Yes Mr. Cullen?"
Carlisle smiled. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Carlisle? You did a wonderful job today."
Bella blushed, "Thank you,"
"So, my wife called me and asked to bring you home for lunch. Alice and Dylan are there already." Carlisle said.
"Oh, um ok." Bella answered.
Bella grabbed her purse and waited for Carlisle to close the office. They both hopped into Carlisle's Mercedes and not ten minutes later they were pulling up to a house that Bella could only describe as a tiny mansion. It was beautiful.
Carlisle parked next to a shiny BMW that was parked next to what Bella recognized to be Alice's yellow Porsche. They both got out and Carlisle let them into the house.
"Honey?" Carlisle called.
When they didn't get a response Carlisle shook his head. "They're probably in the backyard,"
He led them through the house, Bella could not believe how exquisite everything was. Each room that they passed was done differently like something out of a magazine. Carlisle opened up beautiful french doors and the sight before her stopped her in her tracks. Alice and who Bella could assume was Esme were sitting in lawn chairs grinning at Edward and Dylan.
Bella felt the tears burn in her eyes at the sound of her little boy's laughter. Edward carried Dylan with his arms outstretched over his head. Dylan had his arms out making plane noises as Edward ran around. Every few minutes Edward would swing him up, down, and around with would make Dylan laugh again.
"Oh! Look who's here!"
Bella looked over at Esme and Alice as they walked over to her. Esme was beautiful with copper colored hair and golden eyes.
"Hi Bella! I'm Esme. It's so good to meet you!" she reached out and hugged Bella tightly. "Oh, I love your son!"
Bella laughed lightly, "Hi. It's nice to meet you too."
Alice hugged her next, "Thanks for letting me watch him. We had so much fun today."
Bella had never had so many loving people around her before. Even when her dad was alive he was never the hugging type. It was a little overwhelming but, nice.
"Momma! Looky momma! I'n a pwane!" Dylan called to her.
Bella turned and grinned when Edward swung him around again. Bella couldn't help but admire as the muscles in Edwards arms tensed as he carried her son. He was wearing black shorts and a cut sleeve shirt that showed off his tribal tattoo perfectly. "Wow, you're a great plane!"
"Let's fly to mommy." Bella heard Edward say before he jogged over to her.
Dylan stretched his arms out and reached for Bella as soon as he got to her. Bella hugged her son tightly never having been away from him for so long.
"Hi Cricket! How was your day?" Bella asked.
"So good momma! Awice tooked me to da park and ice cweam and school and and I hewped Nana wif lunch and and Eward pwayed wif me in da backyawd and and I lub it hewe momma!" Dylan said bouncing in her arms.
Bella laughed. "I'm so glad you had such a wonderful day."
"Hello again Bella,"
Bella heard his smooth voice from beside her and turned to look into his eyes. The man's eyes were gorgeous. Beautiful sparkling green like emeralds.
"H-Hello Edward," Bella answered softly.
"How was your first day?" Edward asked.
"Good," Bella said giving him a small smile.
Edward reached over and tucked some hair behind her ear that had come loose from her bun. "You tied up your hair."
Bella blushed at the feel of his fingers brush lightly on her cheek. She nodded trying to look anywhere but at him.
"I think I like it down…though you look beautiful either way." Edward said softly.
Carlisle cleared his throat, reminding Bella that they were not alone. She glanced down at her son who was snoring softly his head tucked into her neck.
"So! Edward, why don't you show Bella to your old room so she can tuck Dylan in? I'll set the table for lunch." Esme said grinning.
Edward smiled never taking his eyes off Bella, "Sure,"
Bella felt Edward's hand on the small of her back as he led her back through the french doors and to the foyer where they went up a marble spiral staircase. Bella had a feeling Edward was looking at her ass while he followed her up the stairs, but was too chicken to check. Once they reached the top of the stairs Edward placed his hand back on the small of her back and went down the hall to the right.
When he got to the third door he opened it, letting her go in first. Bella didn't know what to expect but this definitely wasn't it. When she thought of his room she pictured baseball posters and half naked women calendars. She certainly didn't expect white walls and abstract paintings. He had a queen sized bed with a fluffy black silk comforter and red pillows. There was a desk on the corner with papers scattered around but what Bella loved the most was the small fire place adjacent to his bed with a large black rug in front of it.
"Wow," Bella said softly. "This is definitely not what I expected when your mom said your old room."
Edward chuckled, "I don't live with my parent's anymore, but when I do stay here I like to feel like a thirty year old man not a fifteen year old boy."
Bella walked over to his bed and laid Dylan on top of the soft blankets. She grabbed the pillows he had and surrounded Dylan with them just in case he rolled.
"He's a cute kid," Edward said next to her ear.
Bella jumped not realizing he'd been so close. She turned around quickly their bodies an inch apart. "T-thanks. I've been told he looks like me but I don't know."
Edward grinned, "Well you are cute,"
Bella blushed.
Edward reached out and ran the back of his hand on her cheeks softly. "You have such a beautiful blush," he said quietly.
Bella swallowed thickly never been complimented by a man before. She had never been popular at school being somewhat of a loner and boys tended to always go for the popular girls. It also hadn't helped that she was the daughter of the Chief of police. She hadn't even gone to her prom, preferring to stay home and hang out with her dad. Josh had been her first everything and we all know how that had turned out.
Bella's heart started beating out of her chest when she realized that Edward was leaning in to her. It had been almost two years since Josh had kissed her and Bella hadn't realized she was trembling. Josh had said she was a prude that couldn't kiss worth a damn and Bella was afraid Edward would think she was terrible at it too.
Edward was staring at Bella's soft pink lips wanting so badly to kiss them. He wanted to know if they were as sweet as he imagined them to be. He was leaning in to her, his eyes focused on her soft lips until he felt her small body begin to tremble. Frowning he pulled back looking into her wide scared eyes. Damn. Maybe the attraction he had was one sided and Bella didn't feel it. He could have sworn he was reading her body language right, but the fear in her eyes clearly told him he was wrong. Edward stepped back giving her room to breath so she wasn't so afraid. He would never force a woman to do anything.
"I'm sorry Bella, I didn't mean to over step my boundaries," Edward said quietly.
Bella bit her lip nervously. She wanted to tell him that she wouldn't mind if he kissed her. She wanted to tell him she just didn't want to disappoint him, see wanted to say she didn't want to be bad at it, but she didn't. She nodded softly instead unable to meet his eyes.
Edward stuffed his hands in his pockets not wanting to make her anymore uncomfortable than she already was.
"Lunch should be set up by now. I'm sure my mom is wondering what's keeping us," Edward said giving her a small smile.
Bella nodded again taking one last look at Dylan to make sure he was okay. They left the door wide open so they could hear Dylan if he called.
"So where's the little guy? I'm dying to meet him." Bella heard just as they reached the dining room.
"Bella and Edward went to put him down for his nap," Alice answered.
There was a large man with black curly hair and deep dimples standing next to Esme. His eyes were a light blue and though he was bulky and looked like he could bench press three of her his big smile made him more approachable. Next to Alice was a tall handsome blonde with kind bright green eyes.
"Bella! Did you put him down okay?" Esme asked.
Bella nodded smiling slightly. She knew it looked sort of forced but she couldn't help it. Edward moved to stand as far away from her as possible once they got into the dining room. Was he angry with her? Josh always got angry with her when he wanted to do something and she was afraid. Maybe he realized how ugly and useless she was. Josh did always say that no man could ever want her. She was useless and not good for even a short fuck let alone good enough for someone to want to be with her. To love her.
"Hi Bella! I'm Emmett, the handsome brother." Emmett said grinning.
Bella smiled again a little more genuine. "Hi,"
"And this is my husband Jasper. He's the Hale of Cullen & Hale," Alice said smiling brightly.
"Hello, I'm glad to meet our new secretary. I had to take care of a client outside of the office, but I should be in tomorrow." Jasper said with a slight southern accent.
Bella nodded. Carlisle was so kind and patient with her and Bella had a feeling Jasper was the same.
"Well, let's eat! Sit! Sit! I'm sure you're all hungry." Esme said settling down at the table next to Carlisle.
"Great! I'm starved!" Emmett said taking a seat next to his mother.
"When aren't you?" Jasper joked sitting down across from him.
Alice sat next to her dad and Jasper. Bella stood awkwardly unsure where to sit. She felt his tingling warmth behind her back before she saw his hand reach around her and pull out the chair next to Emmett.
"You can sit here Bella," Edward said before walking around to take the seat across from her.
Bella glanced up at Edward afraid to see anger in his eyes but he just gave her a small crooked grin. She returned it tentatively her cheeks heating up again.
Bella looked at the large amount of food. There was a big bowl of spaghetti next to another bowl of delicious smelling sauce. There was a plate of both grilled and breaded chicken and a basket of garlic bread. Different kinds of steamed vegetables were on a plate next to a bowl of fresh lettuce.
Bella noticed Emmett was almost done with his plate already and was eyeing more of the chicken. Bella put some veggies and grilled chicken on her plate along with a bit of spaghetti and sauce. Everyone was quiet at first piling food onto their plates. Once everyone had begun eating Esme smiled at Bella.
"So, Bella, tell us about yourself." she asked.
Bella cleared her throat. She felt her cheeks burn as everyone turned their attention to her. "Um, I was actually born here in Forks. I lived here all my life until I was eighteen."
"Oh, really?" Esme answered. "We moved here a few years ago and never looked back. It's such a wonderful little place."
Bella nodded, "Yes, I'm glad I came back. Dylan loves it here."
"Where's his father if you don't mind me asking?" Emmett asked.
"Emmett!" Edward hissed at him when he noticed Bella shifting uncomfortably.
"What?" he said shrugging.
"Um, he's, he's no longer in the picture," Bella said looking back down at her plate.
"Well, it's his loss. That little boy is wonderful," Carlisle said giving Bella a grin.
Bella smiled back noticing where Edward got his handsome smile.
"Momma! Eward! Momma!" They all heard a little voice call from upstairs.
Both Bella and Edward shot up from their seats. Bella was surprised her son would call out for Edward but was even more surprised how quickly Edward responded. Josh had never cared what Dylan needed or bothered with him if Dylan did ever call him.
"I'll um, I'll get him Edward," Bella said softly.
"Are you sure? I can come up with you if you'd like," Edward answered.
Bella shook her head, "It's okay. Continue eating I'll be right back."
Edward watched her go then slowly sat back down. He picked up his fork and had a broccoli have way into his mouth when he noticed his family staring at him. His mom had a a wide grin on her face, along with Alice. His father looked proud of him and Jasper and Emmett both looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"What?" Edward asked.
"Nothing son," Carlisle answered.
Bella walked in a few minutes later carrying a rumpled Dylan. His hair was all over the place and he had a small pillow crease on his chubby cheek.
"Carwile! Awice! Eward! Nana! I was sweeping! Now I woked up." Dylan grinned hopping up and down in Bella's arms.
Everyone laughed at his excitement. Dylan looked over at Emmett and Jasper. "Hi! I'n Dylan! Was you name?"
Jasper grinned, "I'm Jasper,"
Emmett got up walking over to Bella and Dylan a wide grin on his face. "Hi Dylan! I'm Emmett."
Dylan stared up at the big man. He had nice eyes, just like Dylan's Eward did. "Memmet? You so big!"
Emmett let out a booming laugh. "Yes I am little buddy,"
"Eward pway wit me ouside. I was a pwane! Do you wanna pway wif me?" Dylan asked Emmett.
"Sure!" Emmett grinned.
"First you have to eat Cricket. Then you can play for a bit before we go home," Bella said.
"M'kay momma," Dylan said kicking out his feet so Bella could put him down.
Everyone watched Dylan as he walked over to Edward and attempted to climb on his lap.
"Dylan sit on your own seat like a big boy. Edward has to eat too baby," Bella said.
"It's alright Bella, I don't mind my little man sitting on me." Edward said surprising Bella.
Edward picked Dylan up and sat him on his lap. He hugged him tight to him not wanting to admit he'd gotten slightly jealous when Dylan asked to play plane with Emmett.
"What do you want to eat?" Edward asked him.
"Pasghetti!"
Edward laughed, "Pasghetti it is,"
Edward piled a bit of spaghetti onto his plate with sauce. Dylan grabbed a fork attempting to put the spaghetti in his mouth. One noodle actually got into his mouth while the rest plopped down onto Dylan's shirt and the top of Edwards pants.
Bella watched in horror as sauce and spaghetti dripped off of Edward and on to the floor. A flash of what Josh had done to her the last time he had spilled food on himself. Bella quickly ran over to them picking Dylan up and putting him behind her. She grabbed a napkin on to table with a cup of water and began to clean him hurriedly. She kneeled down next to him dipping the napkin in the cup every few seconds. The cup shook in her hands as she trembled.
"He didn't- he didn't mean to," Bella said quietly trying to wipe his pants as fast as she could.
"Bella," Edward began placing his hand on top of hers to stop her.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please." Bella whispered her eyes closed tightly.
Edward looked down at Bella then at Dylan who looked frightened when he saw his mother kneeling next to him. Edward felt anger course through him so strong he had to close his eyes and take a deep calming breath. This wasn't the first time he'd seen a woman react this way. In the line of duty he'd seen a lot and put a lot of men away but the most satisfying men to put away where the ones that hit women. Edward looked at Emmett who's jaw was tight.
Edward pushed his chair back and noticed Bella flinch slightly as if afraid he was going to attack her. He kneeled down next to Bella careful not to touch her.
"Bella? Sweetheart look at me," Edward said softly.
Bella looked up slowly afraid to see the anger in his eyes.
Edward made sure to give her a small smile, "Bella, Bella baby I'm not angry. It's okay,"
"Y-you're not?" Bella asked.
Edward shook his head. He slowly lifted his hands and cupped her face rubbing her soft cheeks with his thumbs. "Bella, I would never, ever, hurt you. But, baby I need you to tell me who has."
Edward heard his mother and Alice gasp from their seats but his eyes never wavered from Bella's teary brown ones. She looked so sad and it just made him want to rip the guy apart even more.
"Joss! Joss gib momma boo boos." Dylan's little voice said.
