Chapter 4 – Build a Baby and They will come.
4.
EPOV
"You just turned up there, no warning?" I asked.
"Yep. Alice could see that if we phoned first he'd just fuck off, so we just turned up. He sure shit himself hey Jaz?" Emmett crowed.
Jasper was barely containing his laughter as he answered, "Oh yeah, he was terrified. Thought we were there to kill him. I almost threw up when his fear hit me full on."
"So, like I was sayin', we get to the house and he's home. We asked him to invite us in for a chat but he was just standing there gaping, so I picked him up by his shoulders and walked through the house with him like that. He didn't like that much eh Jaz?" Emmett asked and Jasper snorted and shook his head. "So I put him down in the kitchen and told him to sit. He did. Didn't have much choice by then." Emmett scoffed.
Jasper picked up the story from there, taking a turn. "So we told him that Nessa had been born safely and that he was a step-granddaddy or whatever but he didn't seem to care too much. Said he was done with all that, that he was divorcing Renee so he wasn't a step anything. Which I thought was rude." Jasper ran over the conversation and I was inclined to agree, the sneer on Phil's face as he said it was just plain rude. "So we tell him that we don't really give a shit whether he thinks he's anyone's step anything anymore and then we told him that Bella wants him here for the christening and since Bella is our sister what Bella wants Bella gets." Jasper began snorting again so Emmett took back the reins.
"He said he wasn't going anywhere, especially anywhere with us. He was real brave for about thirty seconds there, have to give him that. For a second he really did believe he wasn't coming. Jaz fixed it though." Emmett cuffed Jasper on the shoulder.
"Hey, you said it was my turn to scare him, so I did." Jasper had the good grace to look ashamed, for three point six seconds anyway. "I told him it could go one of two ways, but that the choice was his, we'd respect his choice. When he relaxed a little I just explained what the two choices were and left the decision up to him." Jasper shrugged as though it was any ordinary business negotiation.
"You did well bro, very calm, very together." Jasper bumped Emmett's fist but I knew there was more, Seth did too.
"What choices did you give him?" Seth asked as I thought it.
"Oh, we thought we gave him two options that were pretty reasonable, all he had to do was pick the one he could live with best." Emmett shrugged. "I told him he could take the ticket we had for him and agree to come off the plane, where we'd be waiting to collect him of course, the day before the christening. Or, and we did give him an alternative so he could've declined at any time, we told him we could come back in two weeks time and take him to Forks in a bag."
I was about to protest about them using threats to get what they wanted when Jasper interjected. "Now Ed, we knew you'd be unhappy if we threatened him with death, so we toned it down. You'd have been proud. So we told him we weren't into unnecessary violence, that nobody had to get hurt, so out of the goodness of our hearts – and in deference to our brother here - we did tell him that if he chose option two we were willing to concede a little ground and that in a show of good faith we'd poke some holes in his back so he'd be able to breath on the trip."
Seth began howling with laughter, literally howling in between his burst of uncontrolled laughing. The two idiots I called my brothers were doubled over joining in and I just couldn't hold it in any longer and I began to chortle myself.
We all fell about laughing and I had to crouch down on my haunches to contain it. I didn't want to startle Nessa but the barks of helpless laughter that came out of my chest refused to be tamped down.
My brothers were falling on the ground, clutching their sides as they crowed.
Seth had given up trying to keep it in and he sat beside me thumping the ground with his hand as his laughter echoed off the trees.
"I'm not happy with you two boys you know." Esme said from somewhere inside, which only made us all laugh harder.
BPOV
I was getting antsy. Edward had been gone for hours and Emmett and Jasper – the latest of my visitors – had run off an hour ago too. I wanted Nessa back now. I just didn't want to go to the big house, with Seth there, to get her.
I was just judging the pros and cons of phoning the big house when my cell phone rang. Alice.
"She's fine. Stop pacing and stop worrying. Edward is just taking Seth home now, give it ten minutes then come up. Edward says she's asking for you anyway." Alice had already broken the connection before I had a chance to say thank you.
Another half a second and I was running towards the big house. If I had to wait in the shadows until the car was out of the driveway I would. I hadn't really acknowledged my need for Renesmee until the instant I'd heard Alice say she was asking for me. Then it swamped me, filled my chest with an ache that only her smell and the feel of her skin would sate.
I could hear the crunch of gravel and knew that Edward was away with Seth. I sprinted to the backdoor and flung it open. Esme was in the kitchen, as always, and she giggled heartily as I flew up the stairs, following Nessa's scent into Alice' room.
"Here she is sweet pea." Jasper crooned to the tiny girl in his hands.
Nessa let out a mighty wail that shocked them all and began clenching and unclenching her fists towards me. I pulled her to me and swung her around in a wide arc, thankful to have her so close once more. I inhaled her perfect scent and kissed her rosy cheek. "Hello pretty girl." I told her, bringing her to my lap as I took a seat beside Jasper. The others were all staring at us. "What?" I asked.
"Nothing. She was just desperate to see you, that's all." Alice told me. The others just shrugged or nodded in agreement with Alice.
"Well I was just as desperate to see her. Hello my angel. Did you have a nice day up here at the big house with daddy?" I asked softly, feeling her snuggle down further into her blanket. She was tired.
It looked like a great effort as she lifted her fist to my chin. I got flashes of her time with Esme then a long, long time of memories with Edward and Seth. I gasped when she recalled being kissed and nuzzled by the wolf and gasped a second time when she showed me Seth's reaction to being reminded of the Alaska trip. I looked up with wide eyes, hoping to see support but instead I was met with four looks of worry.
"Oh come on guys, don't tell me…never mind…it doesn't matter." I grumbled and stood with the baby in my arms. I didn't want to argue with them, I didn't want to hear their reasoning and I definitely didn't want to know which side they'd come down on. "I'm taking her home for a bath and bed now. Tell Edward I'll be waiting for him." I didn't give them a chance to argue or moan about it, I just left, throwing a thank you and a goodbye to Esme on my way out the backdoor.
I bathed her quickly as she was about ready to fall asleep before I even got her into the bath. So it was a very floppy, very sleepy baby I wrestled into a sleep suit. I kissed her goodnight and pulled the covers up over her, patting her little rounded bottom until I heard the first of her snuffles.
I turned the light off behind me and went into the study. I slid into the chair and pulled the textbooks back to the centre of the desktop. I had yet to take my finals and had decided to make it a priority, so I used my time wisely while I waited for Edward to come back from the Rez.
EPOV
It felt so wrong to be sat around the dining room table strategizing without Bella, but there we all were.
"He says he won't go and nobody can force him, so that's an end to it I'm afraid." I informed them when Carlisle asked after Seth. "He faced the tribunal on Friday night and they've recorded his intention to court Renesmee when she's reached maturity. Sam tells me they were none too happy, but the pack had to quickly concede that any imprint of the pack was immediately afforded fealty. It's done." I ran an anxious hand through my hair and let them digest the information I'd given.
"And you Edward, how are you with that?" Esme asked me quietly. It was a question I'd pondered all the way back from the Rez.
I sighed, "I'll admit it would've made it easier for me, with Bella, had the tribunal denied her protection from the pack, but I can't say I'd be happy about it either. Rock and a hard place for me I'm afraid." I told them truthfully.
"What will Seth do now then? If he's not going to Alaska with the others?" Rose asked.
"He'll go to school as normal. Sam's not happy and I did remind him he was able to order Seth to attend the trip, as alpha Seth would be unable to deny him, but Sam was reluctant."
"We'll keep an eye on him Edward." Alice told me, "I think he's going to have a chat with Chloe tomorrow, it's not going to be nice. I can't see him, of course, but I've seen Chloe crying in the ladies toilets between the gym and the science rooms. So I'll look out for her too."
"Jesus, I'd not even thought about that. Poor kid. She doesn't deserve this." I mumbled, thinking about the Sam, Emily Leah situation. "Okay, what are everyone else's plans for this week then?" I asked trying to steer the conversation away from such sad topics.
"I'm going to bust that wall down between your suite and the attic space." Emmett announced excitedly.
"Awesome." Jasper agreed. "I'm going to school, can't wait." He added grumpily at the end. I could sympathize.
"I'm going to work. I'm boss lady while the wolves are away." Rose cackled. God help the customers!
"I'm meeting with Tony Roberts at nine, I should have a supplier for the blood by midday Edward." Carlisle told me, much to my relief.
"Oh good, although I did enjoy the visual of you lying under that…" Alice began sweetly but I had her out of her chair and pinned to the floor, tickling her mercilessly in half a second. "Ow, get off me you big brute." She squeaked as I ruffled her hair.
"Big brute? Oh really?" I taunted her. "Surely those two are the brutes? It wasn't me who threatened the human to come visit." I cackled, knowing any mention of Emmett and Jasper's road trip would stir up Esme. I let Alice up as Esme began her tirade at the two boys. "See ya." I called, flipping them the bird when Esme wasn't looking. As their mirrored calls of 'not fair' and 'thanks Eddie' boomed out of the house I was already running towards the cottage.
I stuck my head into Nessa's nursery before stepping into the study to find Bella. She had a huge pile of papers at her elbow and was pouring over her Trig textbook when I came in. Without looking up from it she mumbled her hello.
I too said a quiet hello. She didn't look up and I didn't feel like being on my own so I went to the bookshelves to choose something to amuse myself with in the short term.
I pulled her well-thumbed copy of Pride and Prejudice from the shelf and settled myself into the window seat. Her marker was left precisely at the part where Miss Lizzy seeks to confirm for her father her changed regard for Mr Darcy.
"Lizzy," said her father, "I have given him my consent. He is the kind of man, indeed, to whom I should never dare refuse any thing, which he condescended to ask. I now give it to you, if you are resolved on having him. But let me advise you to think better of it. I know your disposition, Lizzy. I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable, unless you truly esteemed your husband, unless you looked up to him as a superior. Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an unequal marriage. You could scarcely escape discredit and misery. My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life. You know not what you are about."
Not for the first time I thought about Bella's request for an equal partnership. Was I once again denying her that by making decisions on her behalf?
I closed the book with a thud, making Bella jump slightly. "What are you reading Edward?" She whispered to me.
"Your Pride my love." I answered.
"From my marker, yes?" She asked, I could hear the interest in her voice.
"Indeed. 'Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an…'" I left off there, hoping she'd finish the line.
"An unequal marriage, Edward." She huffed.
"Will you escape your discredit and misery Bella?" I wondered aloud. "I am not your superior, we're partners. I promise."
"I know." She whispered, closing her textbook but remaining facing the door, away from me. "I don't like ultimatums Edward but it's me who's given you one, haven't I?"
"Of a sort, yes." I answered truthfully. It was true that she was forcing me to choose between what she wanted from me and what I wanted for Seth. I'd never go against her if I truly thought I'd lose her over it, but for now I was confident enough that time would withdraw the need for me to ever choose.
"I am sorry for that you know. I don't want you to have to choose." She told me, her head hanging lowly over the desktop.
"I'm trying to be all things to all men, but I'm not choosing, yet. The reality of any choice is that someone will lose. The only thing I truly know, for certain, right now, is that any choice that takes you away from me is not acceptable." I let the book fall to the window seat and steadied myself to admit to myself and then to Bella what I had to admit. "If this is something you cannot, and will not accept Bella, then I'll make plans to take us away from here, away from the problem. I can't have you unhappy."
She sucked in a breath, a harsh heavily burdened breath and turned to face me. A look of utter desolation on her beautiful face. "I don't want to leave here Edward, but I don't want him here either." She told me as she put her head back into her hands. It was obvious that these choices were hurting her too. I knew that and yet I could do nothing to ease it for her. I didn't want to push lest she push back and we were forced apart.
"Come here my beauty." I held my arms open and she came and settled herself into my chest, sitting in my lap on the little window seat. I kissed the top of her head and held her tightly. "I don't want to leave, but we have to do what's best for us as a family, love. I survived being apart from you for short bursts and Seth will too." I told her, feeling her tense at the mention of Seth's pain. I knew she cared about him, despite her trying to hide it from the both of us. "I also know that even if we leave now he'd find her when she was of age and there'd be nothing we could do about that. Wouldn't you much rather be a part of it from the beginning?" I was hoping she'd grant me at least that.
In a whispered voice she said, "She was born four days ago Edward, four lousy days. She behaves as though she's weeks old already. She's grown, did you notice how her body is longer already, her curls looser? Four days Edward. She's been mine for four days and you're asking me to share her, to give her over to a wolf." Her voice was so filled with pain I ached to soothe her.
While she was at least willing to hear me I decided to push her just a tiny bit, try to get her to see reason. "You already share her with the others, would it be so bad to share her with one more? He's not asking you to let him take her away, to live with him at the Rez, he just wants a chance to get to know her. He wants to spend time with her, just like the others do, that's all. He's no different than my siblings or our parents in that Bella." I was trying very hard not to guilt her, not to manipulate her feelings for the family and use them against her.
"But with Seth there's an ulterior motive. She showed me Edward, she showed me him kissing her cheek. She wants him too Edward. She clutches at me and she holds her arms out for you, but she wants Seth too." She sobbed.
"His only motive is to give her what she wants. Right now she wants him near her, neither of them fully understand why. That's all it is. This strange feeling of happiness, comfort, of belonging when they're near each other. It's how I've felt about you nearly your whole life Bella. The only time I'm whole is when I'm near you. It will never leave me, never. I know it won't leave Seth and I have my suspicions that it's going to be the same for Renesmee. He smells right to her, much the same way we do. She knows she's a part of us but she's also acknowledged that he's going to be a part of her too. I'm so sorry Bella, but it's done. And if we force them apart now she'll only run to him as soon as she's able and we'll be left out of their lives, I can't let that happen."
It was only when I heard Nessa mewl that I realized I'd raised my voice. We sat silently waiting to see if she'd settle and when she did we both let out a deep sigh. I stroked Bella's hair and just held her while she thought about what I'd said.
BPOV
It was true that, like Edward, I didn't want to be left out of my own daughters life once she was grown and able to live it her way, but at the same time I wasn't ready to give her up to him.
All that Edward said made sense, good sense, but I wasn't ready to have him near her. I wasn't ready to watch it and I wasn't ready to condone it. I felt bad that Seth would be in pain because of me, but on the other hand I'd be the one in pain if I were to allow it. Perhaps one day, when I'd had her in my life a little longer and had spent some time with her, getting to know her, I might allow their relationship. But today wasn't that day. "He can see her at the big house, not here." Was all I said by way of a reply to his speech.
"Deal." He kissed my hair again and stroked my wedding rings. I was so relieved when he changed the subject. "A christening in two weeks huh?"
"Yeah, Alice does love a party." I giggled. "Is that okay with you?"
"Of course. Would you like to pick her godfather?" He asked even though I'd already asked Rose to be her godmother.
"Nope, that's for you to sort out with your brothers."
"Hmm, it is tough, but I think I am going to go with Emmett. Jasper will understand, I hope." He mused.
"Edward, I don't really want to leave any of them out. Why don't we ask all four?" I really did want them all to be a big part of her life and knew that one or all of them would be offended if someone were left out. While both girls had been a part of our wedding party neither of the boys had.
"Is that ok with you?" He asked excitedly. "I mean, it is normal for a child to have two pairs of godparents, but I don't think it's usual for them to be all from the one family."
"I don't have any siblings, only yours, so yours it is." I chuckled.
"They'll love that." He said, lost in thought. "Want to count down with me? Oops, too late." His cell was already ringing in his pocket. "Gee, surprise surprise, it's Alice. Hello Alice," he said as he opened it, "You're welcome. Yes I'll tell her too. Please let me ask the boys personally…thanks Alice. Good night." His smile was radiant as he closed the phone. I leant back off him so he could swing his legs off the edge of the seat. He pulled me to him so I was against his shoulder. "As you could hear she's happy about our decision. She won't be able to keep it a secret for long, I'll have to go up there pretty early to ask the boys."
"They're all coming here before work and school." I giggled. "They all want to see Nessa before they leave for the day, so hang around here. Build a baby and they will come." I laughed.
EPOV
I used all the charm I could muster to drag her away from her studies that night. I found it difficult and unsettling to get my point across – the point being that I wanted to spend the evening ravishing my gorgeous and sexy wife – without her being able to read me. I found myself missing it. I never thought I would, but I did. Instead I had to use my considerable skills at persuasion. She protested, though not loudly. I finally got my prize by promising that Mr Darcy was worthy of Elizabeth Bennett. I may have lied. But I did get what I wanted and my lie wasn't so terrible a sin.
We made love for hours and as the night gave way to a very murky morning we bathed each other under a stream of boiling hot water in our shower.
Thunder and lightening wakened our little angel a little earlier than she'd woken the days prior. So she was bathed, dressed and fed by the time my siblings arrived to see her, before they set off to work and school.
I had a nice moment with my brothers when I asked them to be my daughters godfather and Jasper basked in the reflected happiness of how we were all feeling.
Rose and Em were the first to leave, Rose had to be at the garage early enough to open up and Emmett was keen to start knocking down the wall at the big house.
Jasper grouched good naturedly about having to go to school but he and Alice set off in good spirits after we'd promised to bring the baby to the house once they got back.
We had to go up there at some point anyway, Carlisle wanted to begin a growth chart for Nessa and today was to be his first exam with her. It was very reminiscent of the check ups Bella had had with him when she was pregnant.
I had the delightful pleasure of a whole day with my family. Bella ran off to hunt while I stayed indoors with Nessa, the rain pelting down on the slate roof of the cottage. A very bedraggled but utterly gorgeous Bella returned and while Renesmee had her afternoon sleep, and Bella recommenced her studies, I took great pride in phoning our lawyer and making an appointment to see him early the following week.
I had a long list of people who wanted contacting once our baby was born so I set about marking them off while Bella fussed over her Biology text.
My very first call was to Nathaniel. With the time difference it was always going to be tricky to catch him, what with his classes, so I was a little disappointed to only reach his voice mail. But I left a message informing him of Nessa's birth and inviting him to the christening. Then I called Aro who was very happy for us. He wished us well and I was so pleased to tell Bella that the entire Italian contingent was planning to come for the christening.
Esme had already contacted the Denali cousins, of course, but I phoned them anyway, happy to personally share our news and receive their congratulations. Rose had already invited them for the christening and I was able to mark them as attending on my little list.
It was amusing when I phoned the Irish and it was Garrett who answered my call. We spoke for a while about how he was coping being part of a more permanent coven – he assured me he was adapting quite well – and I teased him a little about his having grown up and settled down. He was older than me by a good hundred years, so it was an interesting conversation. I accepted his congratulations and his assurance that the Irish would be in attendance, in full numbers no less, for the upcoming christening.
I did my best to locate either Peter or Charlotte but once again I only managed to leave a message. It had always been difficult contacting the nomads, both here and abroad. But with the advent of mobile telephones and email we did much better at it now than ever before. I was confident that they would receive my message or contact us when word got out about Nessa's birth. These things didn't stay secret for long within our world.
Carlisle was wanting to contact a few more acquaintances and I had them on my list, but wasn't too comfortable asking them to come personally. I'd leave them to Carlisle, they would be his guests, not ours.
Renesmee woke hungry so I did my duty and wrestled with yet another small deer in the quest for blood for her. Hopefully Carlisle would have blood on hand the following day and that foray into the forest would be the last I'd need to make on Nessa's behalf.
During the wedding – when the other 'vegetarian' cousins had inundated us - Carlisle had had to purchase a new stock for our close-quarters forest. With Bella needing to feed so often, and a likely influx of vampires for the christening, he thought it prudent we buy in some stock, all of which had arrived while Bella and I had been on our honeymoon.
By the time Renesmee had been born the newly arrived herd of white tailed deer had entrenched itself firmly in our surrounds, giving us greater variety in our diet. I knew that Emmett appreciated the influx of black bear and I was enjoying the variation in the taste of the newly acquired Lynx as opposed to my normal bobcat. It was highly illegal to trade in these animals, of course, but when money is no problem, anything could be bought and sold.
As I ran back towards the cottage with my collection my cell phone announced a call. I knew it was a problem the instant I saw that Sam was the caller.
After a brief greeting he outlined his problem, "He's had a rough day Edward. I phoned Sue to check that he'd gone to school and she told me he came home early and refuses to speak to anyone. I told her you'd speak to him. I'm sorry about that, that I didn't check with you first, but I can't do anything else from here."
The pack had left for Anchorage earlier this morning, Seth, as predicted, had refused to go and had at least made an attempt to go to school.
"I'll talk to him Sam. Thanks for letting me know. I'll call you if I need to, but I'll keep an eye on him until you return."
"Thank you Edward." And with that he broke the connection.
I dialed Alice and she told me that she'd spotted Seth and Chloe speaking first thing, that Chloe had indeed been crying in the ladies toilets by the first break and that she hadn't seen Seth again during the day. Of course she was blind to everything else but suggested I call the Clearwater house and see if he'd speak with me. If that didn't work she'd send Em and Jaz. I thanked her, hung up and dialed the Rez.
"I'm sorry Edward, he says he doesn't feel like speaking to anyone. I don't know what to do with him. He says he won't go back to school and Sam's not here to order him to go." Sue sounded frustrated and worried.
I wanted to go there myself but knew that Bella would…well, I didn't know what Bella would do, but I knew that she would think she was being cornered into letting him see Nessa.
"Okay. Can you send someone to the entrance, I'll have Emmett and Jasper meet them there, see if they can't talk some sense into him. I'm sorry about this Sue, we just need to be a bit patient I'm afraid." I told her.
"I'll have Harry meet them, thank you."
I phoned the house and told Alice, she promised the boys would leave then and there and that they'd be discreet about the outcome when they came back. She said she'd explained Bella's feelings on it all to them, they were all aware how delicate the situation was and that no matter who was on whose side they'd all put Nessa and Bella first. I thanked her and asked her to pass my thanks to the boys and then made my way home to feed the baby.
We'd taken to sharing the task of feeding her. Bella had found some stainless steel bottles online but they'd take a few days to arrive, so until then I would feed the baby her bottle. Bella found it awkward and uncomfortable to use the transparent bottles while her thirst was still quite strong.
She was better when she'd just fed herself, but for the times in between, when she'd not hunted for a few hours, I fed our baby. I was more than happy to do it. We had little conversations while Nessa fed, her plump little fingers wrapped around mine as I held the bottle.
She would replay for me her whole day, regardless that I'd been there to share it with her. I asked her questions and she showed me her answers.
After she'd been fed, bathed and changed into clean clothes we made our way up to the big house.
BPOV
"I miss not reading you Edward, I don't like not knowing what you're thinking when you're this quiet." I told him, giving his hand a squeeze in mine.
He chuckled a little but didn't go on to tell me what he was thinking. I figured if he wanted me to know what was on his mind he'd share it with me. I'd try once more then I'd let it go.
"Please Edward." I wanted him to share his burden before we got to the house and we were swamped with questions and pulled in a hundred different directions.
Without breaking stride he squeezed my hand back, "I have a hundred different thoughts in my brain right now Isabella, some of which you don't want to hear or discuss." He seemed to think on something, as though he was picking a topic that wouldn't upset me or cause an argument. "Carlisle wants to begin Nessa's charts tonight, lets get that out the way first and then once she's tucked up in her little bed we'll talk, alright love?" He spoke quietly and carefully, as though changing his tone of voice would alert me to something I shouldn't know.
"What are you hiding Edward?" I asked.
"I'm not hiding anything Isabella. I told you, I promised you, we'd be equals, I haven't reneged on that." He said very abruptly, as though that's what I was accusing him of.
We walked the rest of the way in silence.
Esme met us at the backdoor, eager to get her hands on Nessa. "Hello little lady, come see what grandma Esme got today." She scooped the baby out of my arms and bore her off to the dining room. I listened for a few minutes, to learn what Esme had to show the baby and smiled when I heard Esme begin to give Nessa a lesson about flowers and their meanings.
"Bella, come up here." Alice called from the second floor.
"I guess I'll be up there." I told Edward.
"I'm going up to see what Emmett's done to our room." He announced with a grimace.
We parted on the second floor landing, without another word. My fear and worry that something was terribly wrong just wouldn't leave me. Edward's emotional distance all but confirmed it for me, despite my knowing anything about what Edward was thinking anymore.
Alice' room was filled with boxes!
"What's all this?" I asked, flopping down on her bed. Rose was sifting through a box by the window. "Hey Rosie."
"This is for our little miss." Alice announced, earning an eye roll from both Rose and myself. "And you can keep your eye rolling to yourselves. She's going to grow so fast, I need to be on my toes. Grab a box." She pointed to a row of boxes that were stacked four high. "Sort them into what you want to keep here and what you need at the cottage."
I plucked a box from the top and took it back to the bed. Inside it were hundreds of pink outfits in all sorts of styles and sizes. "What's in your box Rose?" I asked.
"Same as yours." She cringed. "Only this one has ribbons and hair clips too, look." She held up a smaller box she'd taken from within a bigger box and tipped it to show me. Inside was reel after reel of ribbons in every shade of red and pink I'd ever seen.
"O-k-a-y." I mumbled but Alice just giggled.
"Tomorrow, when you bring her up, bring your camera Bell's. We need to start working on her album. She'll outgrow most of this stuff in a few weeks, so we need to take photos of her in it now." She told me.
I could see the logic in that, the need to take pictures of her as she was now, seeing as she was going to change so fast. We'd need proof of her aging to show humans, if the need ever arose, so I had no problem with it really. I just wasn't keen on spending so much money on clothes that were only going to fit her for a few weeks, at best.
Alice screwed up her nose and shot me a 'look'. "Don't make me tell Edward you're being miserly with his daughter."
"God, you're such a bitch." I giggled.
EPOV
I didn't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this!
The third floor landing, from where the landing began right up to the recently replaced door to our bedroom, was littered with our belongings and Emmett's tools and equipment.
Inside the room was worse.
All the furniture was pushed back, up against the windows. It was all covered in dustsheets, thank god, but it was such a shock to see it like that. We'd not spent long in it after Bella had redecorated it, it was true, but it still felt like home to me.
I'd told Bella what I was in this room, we'd pledged ourselves here, lost our virginity here. I doubted anywhere, even the cottage, would feel as this room did. I always felt calmer, as though I belonged, in this room. I stood staring at the gaping hole in the wall beside the closet, the dark cavern beyond it hidden in shadows, the daylight had long since faded.
I went in through the hole in the wall and looked at the destruction. Huge braces were clamped to the supporting beams, shoring the structure up while Emmett knocked the joining wall down.
I could see what he was trying to achieve, and I was sure it would be fantastic when it was complete, but it was a little shocking to see it as it was now.
I heard the car on the gravel and knew that it was Emmett and Jasper, arriving back from seeing Seth at the Rez.
Jasper went right to Alice but Emmett ran up the steps, coming to find me with his news.
"Hey." He said quietly. "What do you think bro?"
"You'll reinforce this beam here?" I asked.
"Yeah, and that one too because its carrying the load from Esme's studio. I'll knock in a bit here, there's no heating duct up here, so I'll encase it there." He was pointing and I nodded in agreement.
"What did you have in mind for the windows?" I pointed to the outer sidewall.
"Triple glazed I think. I'm not worried about the weather but the noise. She sleeps so it'll need to be quiet up here." He'd really thought about this, this wasn't just some little renovation job.
"It's brilliant Em." I told him, making him smile widely. "Thanks so much for doing this." I held out my hand and he shook it, smiling proudly.
"You're welcome dude. We want you guys here as often as possible, right." He told me.
I was desperate to know what had happened with Seth but knew the walls had ears. I hoped Alice was right and that Emmett knew to be discreet. "How was your drive?" I asked.
He didn't fail me. He turned to face me, closed his eyes, concentrating hard and began to tell me, silently, how his and Jasper's talk with Seth had gone.
'He's in a bad way Ed. He told us it was awful at school, having to tell Chloe he couldn't see her anymore. She didn't understand why and he couldn't bring himself to lie, so he had to tell her that he'd met someone else over the break. She was really upset.' He told me.
"Shit." I muttered. I had known, from what Alice had already seen, that it wasn't going to be pretty, but I was astute enough to know that the more upset Chloe was the worse Seth would feel about breaking things off with her.
'Yeah, couldn't have said it better myself. So he told her and then he just couldn't handle being there any more, so he went home. He said he wants to see Nessa real bad. That he feels sick when he's not near her. Sam's been great, talking to him, explaining things to him, but he says that it just hurts to be near couples that are happy right now.' He shifted his weight to his other foot and rested back against the outer wall. 'I didn't know what to tell him, whether there was a solution. I think I did something dumb bro.' He admitted with a grimace.
I nodded to let him know I'd heard and that he should continue.
'I told him to phase and get himself into the forest, told him that if he stayed downwind he could sleep near the cottage without Bella knowing.' He was already apologizing before I began to curse.
"Oh fuck Em, why did you do that?" I yelled far louder than I should have. I could hear everyone already asking what the problem was. "Shit." I mumbled, running a hand through my hair. "Okay, keep it to yourself." I whispered knowing it wouldn't matter; I'd tipped my own hand already.
A/N: Thank you for reading. If you've found something of interest in my story please review. If, on the other hand, you'd like to tell me where I've gone wrong, please review. ;)