Chapter 4

The months that followed Cayden's birth had been a true learning experience. Angela had warned me that no amount of research could prepare me for having a newborn at home. When Cayden started sleeping through the night at just three and a half weeks old she told me to count my blessings because at almost eight months old her daughter, Lola, still wasn't sleeping through the night. I got my payback when he started teething at just three months old and was fussier than normal. He was typically a laid back easy going baby unless he was hungry, which was more often than I liked to remember, or had a soiled diaper. "Your Papa Charlie is coming for another visit today, monkey." I told my hefty sweet baby boy as I sat him in his jumper that was attached to a hook in the ceiling of my office.

Cayden just smiled and giggled at me as he began tugging on the musical animals that were attached to his jumper. At six months old a lot had changed since his birth. He had indeed lost his head full of dark hair only to be replaced with a replica of his father's. He had kept his blue eyes but they had turned almost translucent instead of the newborn dark blue they had been for the longest time. I had no idea where he got the blue eyes from because neither his father nor I had them. He was still a chunky monkey at 22 pounds but while he was in the high percentile for his age his pediatrician wasn't worried because he was growing proportionate to his height. At six months old he was too long to wear the six month old clothes so he was wearing nine month shirts and twelve month pants or sleepers.

Leaving my office door wide open and Moonshine watching over my baby I headed for the kitchen and the amazing guy that I had working back there. "Morning!" I called out to Jake as grabbed my foil covered plate of biscuits and gravy off the counter along with monkey's eggs and gravy.

"Don't run off!" Jake called out as he rounded the corner to where I was standing. "You have to pay for that amazing breakfast you are trying to escape with." He said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Rolling my eyes at him I stood on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "There. Paid in full." I told him as I landed back on my feet.

"Jake are you harassing Bella for affection again?" Vanessa, my morning waitress and Jake's girlfriend, asked as she stood at the open window pouring several cups of coffee.

"Yes, he was. Are you going to spank him for being a nuisance?" I asked her playfully.

She shook her head at me. "Nope, he may like that too much. I may handcuff him to our bed and blindfold him though. What do you say Jake?" Vanessa said with her tongues stuck in her cheek as she looked at her boyfriend from under her lashes.

Jake held his hands up in innocence. "No, please don't do that again, babe. Sorry Bella. Tell the little dude I said hi." He said before scurrying back into the depths of the kitchen causing both Vanessa and myself to laugh at his antics. I knew better than to ask what had happened to make him have that reaction.

"How are things out there?" I asked her as I took the cup of coffee she held out for me.

She looked back over her shoulder at the semi packed room. "Looks like a good tip kind of day. Give the little monkey a kiss from his Aunt Nessie too." She said before grabbing her tray and heading back out into the room of patrons that were making my life possible.

Once I got back into my office I sat down on the floor in front of Cayden's bouncer with my plate in my lap and his bowl in my hands. I popped two quick kisses to the top of his head before attempting to smooth his hair down once again. "Aunt Nessie and Uncle Jake said good morning, monkey." I told him as I stirred his breakfast up in the small bowl. While I had fed him his morning bottle upstairs before coming down to start our day he would still empty the small bowl of eggs and gravy. After feeding Cayden his bounty I dug into my own as I leaned against the front of my desk with my legs stretched out beside his jumper. "Are you excited to see Papa Charlie today?" I asked my son as he bounced on his legs. He would start crawling just any day now and it was a frightening thought for me but for now he was content to bounce in his jumper and have a simple conversation with his mama.

Cayden squealed and slapped his arms causing the toys to come alive with music garnering his attention away from me. After my breakfast I let Moon out into the small backyard that was accessible only through my office and my condo upstairs before taking the breakfast dishes back to the kitchen. "Need anything Jake?" I asked him since I was about to start on the paperwork and inventory.

He shook his head at me. "Not that I can think of right off the top of my head. If I find anything today I will write it down and add it in with Nessie's till count this afternoon. Okay?"

I nodded back at him with a smile on my face. "Sounds good, buddy. Thanks for breakfast."

"Anytime, gorgeous." He said as he flipped the pancakes into the air before catching them with a plate.

"Showoff!" I told him as I made my way back to my office. Once there I saw Cayden rubbing at his eyes so I scooped him out of his jumper so I could rock him to sleep. He had gotten up earlier than normal this morning so it was no coincidence that his morning nap was coming earlier than normal.

Pulling my chunk of a baby to my chest caused him to tug at my shirt so with a sigh I raised my shirt up so he could have a drink. I knew he wouldn't drink much but who was I to deny my son a drink when he wanted it. Sure enough five minutes after he had latched on his mouth fell slack releasing my nipple as his soft snores filled the space. "Sweet dreams, momma' monkey." I told him as I placed him in his crib that had replaced the couch I used to keep in my office.

Just as I sat down in my office chair preparing to go over last night's receipts my cell phone rang with Alice's ring tone. She had kept the identity of Cayden's father a secret upon my request but she had not been happy about it and made that fact very well known. She had agreed only if I would allow her to tell her husband because she 'couldn't possibly lie to him'. Her words not mine. Just my agreement. "What's up, Ali?" I asked as I powered up my computer to put all the final numbers into my spreadsheet.

"Um, it's not Alice." I was immediately concerned because Jasper had never called me before, especially on Ai's phone.

Sitting up with my elbows perched on the edge of the desk I asked the question I really was scared to hear the answer to. "Jasper, what's wrong? Why are you using Alice's phone to call me?"

He sighed loudly into the phone. "Sorry but I left my phone at the house in my rush to the hospital. I don't know how to tell you this or if you would even want to know but Edward is in the hospital."

"Oh." I said slumping back into my seat as I snuck a quick glance over at my beautiful sleeping baby.

"I know, Bella."

"I know, Jasper. Is he okay?" I asked softly. There was a pause that clearly told me that everything was not okay. "Come on, Jasper, just spit it out."

After a loud exhale into the phone. "He's in a coma, Bella. He was in a major car crash late last night. He muttered your name right before losing consciousness."

"Oh." I said again, not knowing what to do with that tad bit of information.

"And as his legal wife…"