Meh. I don't really know how to speed up this divorce process. I don't really know much about divorce, to be honest, because my parents refuse to get one, no matter how much I beg. I know that this chapter may be boring. If you have any ideas on how I can spice up this story until Bella and Edward start making babies, let me know. *wink*
Chapter Seven: "All He's Worth" Bella's POV
My babies were seventeen months old.
I couldn't really comprehend this until one morning I woke up to find Abby Hope sandwiched between me and Edward. She had a smile on her face as she slept, cuddled into her daddy's chest. He was snuggling her unconsciously, with a grin on his own face.
I was perplexed. I had not been up with her during the night—only with EJ, for a bottle. And I didn't think that Edward had taken her out of her crib…
"Sweetie, wake up," I told Edward, gently jarring him awake.
"Hmm?"
"Did Abby wake you up last night?"
He peered out of one sleepy eye. "Uh…no." He glanced down at the child in his arms. "How did she get in bed with us?"
"She climbed out of her crib," I said in disbelief.
"How in the world…?"
I smoothed her messy hair down, marveling at her cleverness, and noticed that she had cookie crumbs down the front of her pajamas. Someone had been in the kitchen. I propped pillows around her warm little body and dragged Edward out of bed to go to the nursery, where EJ was still asleep. Abby's crib rails were at their normal level, but her blanket was in the floor, along with a couple of toys that were usually in their toy box. Edward surveyed the scene of the crime and snickered. "So what do we do from here?" he asked me.
I winced. "I don't know, to be honest with you. Is this normal at her age?"
He shrugged.
"Come to the kitchen," I said, not wanting to wake EJ. He had been up enough during the night.
Sure enough, there was a box of cookies on the kitchen table. I couldn't blame that one on her—I had accidentally left those out the night before. I saw a crumbled cookie on the floor, like she had stepped on it and freaked out about eating it. Abby hated broken cookies.
Now Edward was chortling. "Bella, love, I think we have a problem."
No joke. After Abby woke up, I tried to gently explain that climbing out of her crib was a "no-no," but the idea only seemed to depress her—if she even understood what I meant at all. Ever since she had been thoroughly terrified by Jacob, my sunny little girl was a rare sight. She preferred to simply sit in mine or Edward's lap and be loved on. EJ was much the same way. Like I had told Jacob before, I wanted my happy babies back.
Abby sat on my hip as I took her into the nursery after EJ had woken up. "Why is your blankey in the floor?" I asked her in my sweet mommy voice.
She stared down at the blanket and gave me a little smile.
"You have to stay in your crib," I told her, putting her in the bed.
She immediately swung her leg up to demonstrate how she did it.
"No," I said. "That's a no-no."
She stared at me, lip quivering, like she expected me to be proud of her new trick.
"Aw, sweetie," I sighed, pulling her out. "You're not in trouble. But you have to stay in your bed!"
"Ee-ay," she requested quietly, resting on my shoulder.
"You can play with your brother," I assured her, kissing her hair. They seemed to take so much comfort in each other.
Still, to be on the safe side, I made Edward figure out how to lower the mattresses of the cribs so it would be harder for our bugs to reach the top. I couldn't even bear to think of my precious little daughter accidentally falling from such a great height. I had heard the principle "if your child climbs out of the crib, she's ready for a toddler bed," but I knew that if Abby got a big-girl bed, then EJ would want one. And with his dependence on the bottle, if he had a big-boy bed, Edward and I would never get any sleep because he would be right out of the bed and into our room, demanding a baba.
"The mattresses are as low as they'll go," he told me as I sat at the table with my children, watching them eat breakfast.
"Good," I said. "It was brilliant of Esme to buy cribs that do that. Edward, let's do something today. I can't stand to watch them mope around the house."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"What if we call Emmett and Rose to come have a picnic on the beach with us?" I suggested. "Emmett can usually cheer them up."
It was a Saturday, so no one had to work. "That's a good idea," he nodded. "Let me call Em."
We ended up in our swimsuits on a blanket on the beach. EJ and Abby had already eaten breakfast, so they were content to let Edward and Emmett take them out to the ocean. They seemed hesitant of playing at first, but of course Emmett could always bring a smile to his bugs' faces. Rosalie and I laid out under the sun, me occasionally sitting up to grin at the way my babies were so fearless when it came to the water.
"How are you four months pregnant and looking like a supermodel?" I complained to Rose, who was slathering sunscreen on her perfect body, bared by her bikini. She probably didn't need it—it was a rare sunny day in Washington, but not that sunny—but she was so overprotective of her baby already. She wanted her body to be as healthy as possible.
She grinned. "I throw up all the time. I don't know how my bug is getting any nutrients, because everything I eat comes right back up. Don't be offended if I don't eat the food you brought."
"Trust me, I understand," I said dryly, waving at EJ as he sat on Edward's shoulders in the water. "Are you on pre-natal vitamins?"
"Yeah, they're good. At least my boobs are getting bigger," she shrugged. "Emmett loves it."
"Rosalie, you don't need bigger boobs. Emmett may think you do, but I would kill for your body."
She giggled. "What is up with Abs and EJ today?"
I sighed. "Ever since Jacob visited, Abby has been quiet and withdrawn. EJ is, of course, still stuck on the bottle. It worries me."
"Yeah," she said quietly. "I've noticed. You're going to start going gray if you keep worrying, Bella. And you're so young. Don't do that to yourself."
"You know me," I replied a bit tartly. "I'm a worrier. I can't help it."
"How is the divorce going?"
I groaned and rolled over on my front to watch my babies play. "My lawyer is in love with Edward, and I have a feeling she'll want Jacob as soon as she sees him. We've already outlined everything I'm going to demand in court. We're just waiting for his lawyer to contact us."
"You're going for total custody, right?"
"Of course. He's already traumatized my daughter."
"Use that in court."
"Oh, I am."
"What else are you going for?" she asked me curiously.
"Child support, alimony until I get engaged, the house," I sighed. "I hate relying on him for anything, but I need a place to live and I can't support two children on a librarian's salary." "Jesus, Bella," she snorted. "Alice and I would be milking him for all he's worth. Make him pay for those bruises he left on you."
"I don't want any part of him," I stated. "Not even his money."
"What kind of woman are you?" she teased me.
I chuckled. "I'm about to approach him and tell him that we have to get this divorce moving along. I don't want him to have any rights to EJ and Abby, as selfish as that sounds. His contact with them needs to end."
"Mama!" Abby shrieked. I looked over to the water and saw Edward putting her on her feet so she could run to me.
"What is it, beautiful girl?" I asked her, rolling over so she could tackle me. The scratchy sand stuck to her wet body, but it was a wonderful hug and kiss she gave me. "Do you feel better than you did this morning?"
She proudly held out a lavender pebble.
"That's so pretty," I enthused. "Aunt Rosalie, isn't that pretty?"
"It's beautiful," Rose agreed.
Abby walked to her "aunt" and hugged her midsection, resting her head on Rose's tummy.
"Aw, are you loving Aunt Rosalie's baby?" my friend cooed to Abby, smoothing her wet hair.
"Aunt Rose has a baby in her tummy," I tried to explain to Abby. "Are you ready to see your cousin?"
Abby grinned. I had no idea if she understood what she meant, but she liked to be the center of attention. I hoped that a good frolic on the beach was exactly what she needed to go back to her old self. Rosalie used Abby's hand to rub her belly.
"Can you tell Aunt Rosalie what you did this morning?" I cooed to my daughter, hoping to make her chatter in that cute little language my bugs used.
"What did you do, Abby Hope?" Rosalie asked animatedly.
Abby let out a little giggle, which made my heart soar. She was still resting on Rosalie's belly, which my friend loved.
"Can you tell Aunt Rosalie that you climbed out of your crib?" I asked her.
Rosalie gasped in mock-shock. "You climbed out of your crib? Where did you go? Did you try to run away?"
Abby laughed at Rose. The sound was golden.
"What did you eat when you got out of bed?" I prodded Abby. "Can you say cookies?"
Rosalie laughed. "You've been around your Uncle Emmett for too long."
I laughed a little myself. I could picture a little bitty Emmett sneaking down to Esme's kitchen. "Edward and I woke up to find that Abby was in our bed. She had eaten some cookies in the kitchen."
Rose apparently thought that was very funny. "You need to tell your mama to feed you more. You just wanted to snuggle with your daddy, didn't you, sweet girl?"
Abby nodded bashfully.
"Do you love your daddy?" Rose asked her.
"I love Daddy," Abby said clearly and confidently.
"See, Bells?" my friend smirked. "You have nothing to worry about. Just milk Jacob Black for all he's worth. And if he doesn't let you, I'll kill him."
I snorted. "I'll remember that."
Jessica and I finally met Jacob and his divorce lawyer the next week. Jacob was being extremely nice and well-mannered. I was expecting something totally different. His lawyer, Mr. Berty, was just as nice and professional as Edward. I prayed that Jessica would be the same way, but then I realized that Edward would have not recommended her if he didn't have faith in her. So I tried to steady my breathing and put my entire faith into Jessica Stanley.
"Mr. Black has decided to offer the house and Mrs. Black's motorcycle," Mr. Berty said, reading from a sheet of paper. "Along with child support, of course."
That sounded fine; my car was bought in my name so he had no claim to that. "Alright," I said. "But what about alimony and child custody?"
Mr. Berty coughed uncomfortably. "Er, Mr. Black feels that since you are already in a relationship with a man, alimony would be taking advantage of him."
Jessica cut in before I could. "Yes, but Mrs. Black's friend is not financially supporting her or the children in any way. Plus, when Mr. and Mrs. Black decided to formally separate, he told her he would support her with alimony. So are you going back on your word, Mr. Black?"
"I said no such thing," Jacob replied evenly, but I recognized his tone as arrogant.
"Did you record the encounter, sign a contract, or have a witness?" Mr. Berty asked me and Jacob.
"No," we both admitted. I added, "I didn't think it was necessary since Jacob tends to be a man of his word."
"Well, since you have no proof, you will have to compromise," Mr. Berty told me, making me sigh.
It was going to be a very long process.
The night after my meeting with the lawyers, Edward and I decided to take the twins back to the beach for a stroll. I held Edward's hand as we walked, the bugs running in front of us to collect pebbles. I was recounting the entire meeting with Edward.
"Bella, love, calm down," he told me softly.
I was so furious I was shaking. "He lied, Edward. He promised me alimony, and now he is saying that he never brought it up."
Edward sighed. "I know, sweetie. That makes me mad, too. But…"
"But, what?"
"I can help support the three of you and you won't need alimony."
I immediately started shaking my head. "No. No, no, no. You're not doing that."
"Bella, I may work in Forks, but I'm still an attorney. I make good money."
I sighed. "You already help me out so much. No, I can't accept that. Maybe if we get married..."
"If?" he asked me softly. "I was kinda betting on when."
I snorted. "Let me get there, Edward. Don't rush me."
"Just consider letting me support you, okay?" he asked me, suddenly stopping in the sand. "You don't know what an honor that would be for me. And even if you want to move in with me…that would be, well, wonderful."
I rolled my eyes. "Edward, please let me do this my way."
"I am," he said quickly. "I'm not trying to force anything on you. I just want to make sure you are convinced that you and the twins are my first priority. I love you, Bella. I'm in love with you. And I want to make sure that I'm the daddy that EJ and Abby love."
"You're their only daddy," I assured him, wrapping my arms around his waist to hug him. "Even if he doesn't pay me alimony and child support, I will make sure I have full custody. Even if I have to commission Rosalie to kill him."
Edward looked confused at that last sentence, but he held me in a close embrace and kissed my hair. I tilted my face up and kissed his mouth softly. I knew that even if we disagreed on a few things, I was always safe right here in his arms. And so were my children.
"Mama!" EJ said excitedly, tugging on the hem of my dress. "Daddy!"
I broke our kiss to look down at our son. He was reaching for me. I picked him up and balanced him on my hip. "What is it, sweetheart?"
"Num-nums," he requested just as Abby ran to reach for her daddy. He placed her on his shoulders.
"Are you guys hungry? I'm sorry," I replied. "Daddy, do you want to go get something to eat?"
"Of course. They managed to stay out of the ocean, so they're clean. Do you want to go into town to eat?"
I didn't really feel like cooking, so that was a great idea. Leave it to Edward to always know when I needed a break.
Okay, so I think that Edward's POV will be next. I might skip a month or two and go straight to Bella's court date with the divorce. I'm going to try to write as much as possible today because tomorrow I have to start studying for finals. Any students know how miserable it is.
Like I said earlier, if you have any ideas-dates for Bella and Edward, fun things to do to cheer up the bugs, etc.-let me know.
And review!
