EPOV
"Don't you trust me? I've been good the last two times..."
Ha! Like I would be that dumb. Fool me once... I turned all the chairs upside down, I pushed the legs of the chairs to check they were firmly screwed. Alec Thompson would not make me fall flat on my butt again.
"See! I told you I didn't mess with the chairs."
I stopped immediately. 'With the chairs'. So he messed with something else. I stood in front of him, hoping my 6'2'' frame looked frightening enough to make him cave and tell me what did he do this time.
He looked up to me, not intimidated at all. Damn this kid!
"You know you make Bella's work more difficult with your jokes, right?" Because Bella was the only person he respected.
"I know, that's why I didn't..."
Bella came into the room with a bright smile.
"Alec, are you messing with my boyfriend again?"
He blushed and stared at his feet like they had all the answers to the problems of the world.
"What did you do this time?" she asked, then she reached for the glass of water that was resting on the table...and Alec ran and took it from her.
"No! It's not just water!"
I turned my most furious glare to him, but he just smiled.
"I just put a tiny bit of salt on it."
"Define tiny bit." I was a fool to leave him alone in the room for two minutes!
"Two or three tablespoons."
Bella smiled softly. She really knew how to take advantage of Alec's crush on her.
"Alec, you need to apologize to Edward." He looked at her, pleading with his eyes. Yeah, that not seated fine with him. He was a bit jealous that I had Bella, but he knew he was too young for her. Besides, I wasn't the only target of his jokes. Jasper found that the chocolate Alec offered to him was in fact a very potent laxative. Alec also had a soft spot for Alice.
"Sorry Edward. I promise I will never tamper with your drinks."
Aha. Like I didn't know what that really meant. My drinks will be fine, he was going to find something else to do. And the boy was extremely intelligent. It was a shame he was left at the care of his irresponsible parents. They lived with their Aunt Jane, the only person who cared for him. When she died a few months ago, Alec went into a rebellious phase. His parents didn't care as long as they found the money for their liquor. Alec almost dropped school and lost his chance at Cornell with a full ride scholarship. His parents didn't care. That's when he started to dream about his aunt. She told him there was a hidden treasure in the house and she was pushing him to find it. She guided him to Bella, and in every session she gave him a clue in exchange of proof that he was doing fine at school. Brilliant if you asked me.
I was giving him the stink eye when Bella pushed him into a chair.
"Ok. You know the drill Alec. Your grades please."
Alec pushed a folder into the table, where he kept his grades and a letter from his career advisor. We were pushing him to a late application to the university of South Florida., which always was his second option. He wanted to get away from his parents, and honestly, everybody supported this idea. I took the folder, he really did great this period.
"Congratulations Alec."
I gave him a look, Bella smiled to him and he was beaming. Damn kids and their crushes!
I read the letter out loud. The advisor told us that the procedure was going fine and, given he kept this grades, he would be joining USF next semester.
"Oh Alec! Your aunt is gonna be so happy!"
Bella pushed my glass with salted water to the side and relaxed. She was eager to let Aunt Jane to find out how great Alec was doing.
xxx
It was weird. Bella took too much time in the bathroom. She never did that. I was going to give her five more minutes before I knocked. God forbid I interrupted her beauty nightly regime. Oh too many things to get used to!
This week she moved in but she and Alice spent the whole weekend on a spa not so far from here. Jasper brought her back on Sunday night a bit too drunk for my taste. But she needed that girly time with Alice. The next day she was distant and I grew worried that she regretted the move. Jasper told me that Alice was also a bit sad, and we blame it on the moving and we decided to let it rest for a few days, in hopes to let it fade. She slowly returned to her happy self, and today with the way she teased Alec I thought things went back to normal.
I heard a noise in the bathroom. She was sobbing.
"Bella, love, are you feeling fine?" I knocked at the door.
She sniffed and said "Yes."
Right. "Bella, why don't open the door, let me hold you."
I heard some scrubbing and then she opened the door. She was crying.
"Oh Bella, tell me what is wrong? Is it something that I did?"
That was the only valuable advice Jasper gave me. Always assume it's your fault. He said it always worked for him and Alice.
But Bella started to cry harder.
"Shh, shh. Love, tell me what's bothering you."
She put a box on my lap,but I didn't want to let her go.
She opened it and she dropped a white plastic thingy in the counter.
It was a pregnancy test. A negative pregnancy test.
"Oh."
That was my brilliant answer. Bella started to talk between sobs.
"I was supposed to have my period when we were on Costa Rica."
I nodded and gave her a tissue.
"But when it didn't come, I started to think that I was... that maybe I was..."
"You thought we were pregnant."
She smiled between the tears.
"Yes. And when we came back I got an appointment with the Ob-gyn... but the sooner I got it is next Wednesday. And I couldn't tell Alice because... you know."
Oh right. Alice met Jasper when they were nineteen. She got pregnant and they married. Bella's parents helped them to continue through college, but Alice's pregnancy went wrong and she lost the baby along with her capacity to bear another one. So, it was a touchy subject.
"I bought the pregnancy test and Alice found it. That was why we both got drunk. I took it and found I wasn't pregnant."
Now her sobs got bigger.
"Bella, baby. Did you want to be pregnant?"
"No. Yes. I don't know! For a second I was scared, we never had mentioned plans for the future. And, well, it took you so long to ask me to move in with you..."
Oh shit.
"Baby, I didn't ask before, because I was sure you would say no. But I want you to know that I want everything with you. Of course I plan to marry you some day, and to have kids and maybe a cat because they're more independent and I'm very careless..."
She put her lovely hands in my face and she kissed me. A very satisfying kiss.
"Edward you always know what to say. You have the right phrase to brighten my day."
That merited another long satisfying kiss.
"That's why I want to help that poor woman, Esme Platt."
"Uh?!"
"You see how sad I am because I feel like I lost a baby, though I know it was only the idea of the baby. And we can plan to have one in the future. But that woman had her daughter for a few marvelous years. She bore the baby in her womb, then she nurtured her as she grew... imagine the pain the poor woman is suffering! I have to give her peace."
With her brief speech I knew our battle to get rid of Esme Platt was lost.
"But I want to be present in every session. And Alice too. We don't trust that woman."
"Sure baby."
Esme POV
"Are you sure? Because it doesn't look right to me."
Carmen was at my house, having brunch with me. We were discussing what to do with Charles' house. He left it to me, but I didn't want it. His lawyer brought me the keys, and asked me what I wanted to do. So I went there to see it. To my utter surprise, I found lots of pictures of me on the walls. It seems that Buffy wasn't a jealous girl. I also found a letter from her parents that came into the mail that day, and we were discussing to open it. Carmen was against it.
"But what if it says something important. I didn't saw them at Charles funeral. Worst, I didn't ask if she had a funeral, who knows where they buried her!"
She got quiet and I decided to open it.
'Buffy, We decided to extend our vacation in the Bahamas for another month. If you want to reach us you could call Amelia and she will give us the message. Love, Mom.'
"That's it?" Carmen asked confused.
"Yes. And it's dated a week ago. Seems like they don't know their daughter died."
"How terrible! Who could be this Amelia? We have to find her and tell her..."
She was right.
xxx
"I can't understand how could they..."
"I know! I am disgusted. How could they be so cold towards their daughter?"
Turns out Amelia was the housekeeper. She swore she already told them, but apparently their trip was more important than Buffy.
"Maybe it's their way to deal."
"How? They're ignoring the fact that their daughter died! How could someone do that?"
"Maybe they're in denial. You know if we pretend it didn't happen, then it didn't happen."
"I would never do that!"
"No, you're obsessing with it."
"What?"
"You're the polar opposite of them. Look how you got so stalkerish to get an appointment with this Swan girl."
I got quiet. I never thought my conduct could be considered stalkerish.
"Look, I'm sorry. But you have to accept that you're not acting normal."
I sighed.
"Probably you're right, Carmen."
She smiled to me. "You are normally sweet and caring. Just look at you, we are packing this poor girl Buffy's belongings to give them back to her family. And the woman was your husband's mistress!"
I smiled with her.
"You know, I feel pity for her. Charles wasn't a great husband, and her family is just..."
She patted my arm. "I know. I feel bad for her too, but now she's in a better place."
"Yeah, just like my Bree. You know, maybe I will wait to call this Isabella."
"Oh no, call her if you think it will make you happy. Just don't get too obsessed."
Maybe Carmen was right after all. I will call, but I'll be patient and wait 'til she give me the chance to talk to Bree.
Hi! Sorry for not answering your reviews, my computer died and I only had the chance to post the past chapter from work. I still can't repair my computer, but I took one borrowed to post this and I'll be answering you soon.
May
