Meant to Be Chapter 7
Friday, December 21st
Bella
Jingle Bellscame out of the speakers of the radio in the kitchen. Emily was singing along under her breathe while colouring a picture of Frosty at the table.
"Bella, can we make our own Frosty?" she asked.
"Not right now, we don't have enough snow for a snowman. In a few more weeks there should be more and then we can do that," I answered. "Do you know how many more sleeps there are until Santa comes?"
"I'll check the calendar!" She jumped up and rushed over to the wall where we had the Christmas countdown calendar posted. "Four more!"
"That's right," I smiled. I was interrupted by the phone ringing.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hi baby, its me. What are you up to?" Edward asked.
"I am making chocolates and Emily is colouring. The boys are sleeping for now," I smiled.
"Chocolates?" he asked.
"Yes, peanut butter cups, Turtles, Oreo truffles, and almond bark. I have to make some caramel corn this weekend too," I explained.
"Why are you making all that chocolate?" he wondered.
"I always give homemade treats as gifts to people that I care about at Christmas."
"Do you by chance need a taste tester?" he joked.
"Well, I wouldn't want to give anyone something that doesn't taste good."
"I'll be there in 10 minutes," he stated and then the call disconnected.
"Edward's coming over," I told Emily.
"Yay! Bella, are you going to marry him?" she asked innocently.
"What? No, Em. We've only known each other for a week."
"Oh, I think you and Edward should get married. And then he could live with us and help with the babies, and then he can take me to the park and make me better when I'm sick," she reasoned. Her thought process was amazing to me.
I stopped what I was doing and sat beside her at the table. I needed to explain this to her.
"Emily, Edward and I are boyfriend and girlfriend, which means we like spending time with each other and want to get to know each other better. But that doesn't mean we're going to get married or be together forever," I explained.
"He's very nice, I still think you should get married though," she noted.
"Not right now. You'll be the first to know if we do though, ok? You understand?"
"Yep," she jumped up as there was a knock at the door. "I wanna get it!"
I followed after her even though I was sure it was Edward.
I got there in time to see Emily being scooped up into Edward arms for a hug.
"How are my favourite ladies?" he asked, smiling at both of us.
"Good! I'm colouring Frosty. Want to help?" Emily spouted out.
"You know I do," he smiled back at her. He came over and gave me a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before following me back into the kitchen.
I set a plate of fruit, veggies, and a few chocolates on the table for the two of them to share while I continued making more treats.
I listened to their quiet chatter over the sound of the radio. Emily was telling him what she asked for for Christmas.
Twenty minutes later Edward got up to go get the boys when we heard them fussing. He walked back into the kitchen, one on each side of his body and put them into their high chairs at the table. Then, without me even asking, he started interacting with them and feeding them small bits of fruit.
I had never felt this amazing and attracted to a man before. He was amazing with Emily and the boys, and so kind to me. I just hope he stuck around despite all that is going on in my life.
"What are your plans for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?" I asked Edward.
"I'm working Christmas Eve until midnight. Then I'll head home and sleep in the next morning. Then around lunch time I'll head over to Mom and Dad's. Ashley will get more presents from the rest of us and we just hang out until dinner time. What do you have planned?"
It's crazy that my mind wishes he would just come here for Christmas. I can't seem to spend enough time with him. It worried me a bit that I was getting too involved too quickly.
"Um, Jasper is planning to come over on Sunday to hang out for a bit since we haven't had much of a chance to talk since you guys were all here. Em will get her special box on Christmas Eve, that night we will be watching a movie as always. Then when we wake up on Christmas she opens her presents. The boys are too young for that still. I bought them a few things because they enjoy unwrapping things. We'll have a big lunch then lounge for the rest of the day. I don't cook a turkey but we have a nice small meal together."
He smiled and said, "The reason I was asking is because I was hoping that you would consider coming for Christmas dinner at Mom and Dad's?"
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes, I would love for all of you to come. And so would everyone else."
I looked into his eyes for a moment then agreed.
Sunday, December 23rd
I brought two cups of tea into the living room and handed one to Jasper.
"So, fill me in on what's been going on with you," I sat down on the other end of the couch with my feet curled up underneath me.
"A lot has changed since you've been here. Mom and Dad moved down to Austin to be closer to the rest of the family. I wasn't planning on being in Washington after school but I met Alice and couldn't leave. I'm working at a decent firm in Port Angeles right now, I have some good cases and I'm happy where I'm at with Alice."
"What area of law did you end up going into?" I asked.
"Family law. I deal with divorce cases and custody issues, I see a fair number of paternity cases and adoption as well."
"Do you enjoy it?"
He toke a sip of his drink before looking back at me and saying, "I really enjoy it. Some days are rough but a lot of the time it's a really rewarding job."
"Good, I'm glad you've found what you love. Tell me about your relationship with Alice. How did that come about?"
"Umm, we ran into each other in Port Angeles one day. She was working at the same salon she's at now, she was leaving work, and her car wouldn't start," he broke off with a chuckle, "she was screaming and kicking the tire of her car. Then she realized that her cell phone was dead. I was walking into the store next door and stopped to ask if there was anything I could do to help. She stared at me for a couple minutes before saying anything. I let her borrow my cell phone to call a tow truck to come get her car and Esme to come pick her up. We sat together until Esme came and talked. We went out two days later and have been together since. We moved in together about a year ago."
"She seems like a really sweet girl, despite the anger when you two met," I chuckled, "Are you actually thinking about proposing?"
"Yeah, I bought a ring last weekend. I think I'm going to ask her on Christmas morning before we go to her parents' house for dinner."
"Aw, Jaz, I'm so happy for you! I can't believe you're going to get married!" I squealed.
"Who would have thought? I thought you were going to get married long before me. I was happy being a bachelor well into my thirties but a little woman with black hair changed that pretty quick," he shrugged but I knew he was so happy with Alice and wouldn't have it any other way.
"Yeah, I know all about your dreams of being a playboy and having all the pretty girls," I joked.
"Eh, what can I say?" he teased back. He pulled out the ring box that was in his pocket and handed it to me. I opened it slowly and gasped at the beautiful ring inside.
I heard Emily padding down the stairs from playing in her room. She walked into the room and sat in between us on the couch.
She grabbed at the box in my hand and looked at it. "You gonna marry Jasper? You're supposed to marry Edward! I want Edward!" she screamed.
"Emily! Calm down," I said.
"No, you're not allowed. Edward the doctor is supposed to be my new brother!" she was in full blown hysterics at this point.
Jasper had a look of alarm on his face and he was frozen in place.
"Emily, Jasper and I aren't getting married. My goodness, take a deep breath, everything is fine," I wrapped her in my arms and started rocking her back and forth.
After a few moments she had calmed enough that she wasn't sobbing any longer.
"Jasper is going to marry Alice. This is the ring he bought for her, he was just showing it to me," I explained.
"Bu-but, in all the movies the guy gives the girl a ring and they get married. I don't want you to marry him. He's only supposed to be your friend," she was so confused.
"Oh darling, you are a romantic at heart aren't you, my little doll," I pulled her tighter to me. "What did we talk about earlier? Edward and I don't know if we are going to get married yet. Now, I want you to apologize to Jasper for screaming and shouting and being rude to him."
She did as I asked then looked up at me. I brushed the tears off her face and gave her another hug. How do I deal with this? I'm so out of my element right now, she is clearly very attached to Edward, which could be an issue if he decides he doesn't want to stick around any longer, and to add to that she just had a huge temper tantrum over nothing.
Jasper cut in before I said anything else, "Emily, I was asking Bella's opinion on the ring that I bought for Alice. I want to ask her to marry me on Christmas day. Can you keep that a secret for me? I want Alice to be surprised."
"Uh hun," she muttered out while peeking over at him from between my arms.
"Ok, that's good, thank you. Now, tell me about Edward. You like him, huh?"
"Yeah," that was all she said.
"Does he colour with you?" Jasper asked.
"Yes," she said, "and he plays with me with my toys."
"I bet that's lots of fun. Is he nice to you?"
"Yup, he made me better when I was sick. And he helps Bella with the boys," she answered.
"I'm happy to hear that. He sounds like a good friend. Did you know that he's Alice's brother? I've known Edward for a long time and he's a great friend to me too."
"Really?" she asked. At this point she wasn't holding onto me to so tight anymore. She was relaxing.
He nodded then continued, "I was talking to him the other day and he was telling me how much he loved playing and spending time with you, your sister, and the boys."
Emily smiled a brilliant smile, loving that Edward enjoyed spending time with her. A few minutes later she asked me to put on a movie; she sat on the floor and watched Frozen while playing with some of her toys.
I looked over at Jasper and he could see the absolute desperation on my face.
"Em, we're just going to go into the kitchen for a few minutes, let us know if you need anything," Jasper told her then pulled me out of the room. He wrapped his arms around me and held me until I felt I could breathe again.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Jasper, I don't know what to do anymore. I'm so lost. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to go out with Edward because now she is so attached. What happens if he doesn't want to be with me anymore and decides to stop spending time with her, she would be crushed.
"And what if he's just like every other guy out there and doesn't want to wait for me. I'm not healed yet, I don't know if I could ever be with him the way he would want. I'm not ready for that, Jasper. He's going to get annoyed with me and leave us all. Emily will be heartbroken and so will I."
The pain at that realization was astonishing. The depths of my feelings for him already were unbelievable.
"Bella, I've known Edward almost as long as I've known Alice. I don't think he is one of those guys that would leave you because it got hard, or expect more of you than you were willing to give at any point. He's one of the kindest guys I've ever known. In the whole time I've known him, he hasn't dated or even shown interest in anyone until he met you.
"I don't think you could do better, honestly. You may be like my sister and I am fiercely protective of you, but he's a great guy as well. I think you need to have a talk with him about what you are feeling. And about what's going on with Emily. Then I think you need to sit down with Emily and Edward and have a conversation about Edward's role in your lives. Clarify with Emily that Edward will always be her friend, if that's what the two of you decide you want regardless of where you relationship ends up. I think that will help."
"Thanks Jasper. I will work on that. It has never been easy raising her but she was a good baby and toddler. Now that's she's older and understanding more, it's getting harder for me to know what to do."
"You're doing fine, Bella. She's going through a rough time, growing up without her parents and without a strong male role model. You will have to work with each other and it will all turn out fine."
Soon Jasper decided it was time for him to head home. I made dinner for myself and the kids and later put them to bed.
Then I called Edward and talked to him before going to bed myself. I didn't mention what happened today, I needed time to digest it myself before having that conversation with him.
Hi all,
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'd love to hear your thoughts- and you predictions about what's coming next. I posted the first chapter of a new story I'm working on. Go check it out if you have the chance.