7 - Small Town Gossip
EPOV
I really had no idea what was going on. Three days. Three fucking days was all it took for Bella Swan to completely re-invade every single one of my senses. Okay, well if I was being honest it took less than three days, but I digress; she was there. She had become a gorgeous, feisty woman who made her own decisions and wasn't afraid to put me in my place. When Emmett and Jasper had said they were going out on Friday night, I knew she would be there and I questioned them until they relented.
XXXXXX
"Edward, come on. All it's going to do is make her uncomfortable and it's going to get us in trouble," Emmett whined.
"I'm not going to do anything, Em. I'll leave her completely alone, but seriously, it's Friday night and I don't want to be stuck hangin' at home with Mom and Dad."
And I wanted to see Bella again.
"I don't think it's a good idea," Jasper muttered.
I glared at him for a second before grabbing my wallet. "Did she say she didn't want me there?" I asked petulantly.
"No," Emmett muttered. "But the girls. . ."
"They'll get over it, okay? What happened between Bella and me is between Bella and me."
They grumbled, but acquiesced.
We got to the bar in Port Angeles and I felt a slight twinge of nervousness. I had promised not to mess with Bella so if I wanted to be invited on any more group outings, I needed to behave myself. Fuck me if the moment I saw her I didn't want to break that promise, though. I thought I would jizz myself like a fifteen-year-old boy right there and then.
Her ass was smokin' in red denim with these gorgeous black heels that made her legs look ten miles long. I couldn't really see her top because her hair was cascading over her shoulders, but I could tell she had a little more skin showing than I ever remembered seeing, other than when I had her naked and in my bed of course.
Bella turned and looked very much surprised and more than just a little bit irritated to see me. I saw the fury in Alice's eyes as she grabbed Bella and moved her towards the dance floor.
Rose didn't even have to say anything to Emmett, she just glared at him.
"Baby, I swear we tried."
"Save it, Emmett," Rose snapped before turning to me. "Edward, I swear, if you fuck with her, you will be finding pieces of my shoe up your ass for the next year."
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha, Rose," I placated, but my eyes were still on Bella. I couldn't believe the little girl who blushed over the mere mention of a blow job was looking like sex personified. I let my eyes roam over her, feeling the tightening in my pants. When our eyes met I literally felt the urge to pounce on her. Jasper's not-so-subtle clearing of his throat brought my attention back to the fact that I didn't yet have a drink and I was definitely in need of a drink.
For the next two hours I simply watched her. I kept my promise and didn't even try to talk to her, but I occasionally felt an overwhelming need to touch her so I'd brush up against her on my way to the bar or the bathroom. There were a few girls who showed interest and I danced with them a little, but they didn't hold my attention very long. Most likely because I couldn't stop thinking about Bella.
And then I saw her in that douchebag's arms. He was close to her and she was whispering to him. His eyes lifted and met mine. I wanted to punch his fucking face in at the smug look he was giving me. When she started dancing with him and touching him I was seeing red. I knew I had no claim to her, but I sure as hell wanted one. And when she kissed him I exploded, throwing my glass against the wall.
"Hey, Fucker, what was that for?" The bartender barked.
"Mind your own fucking business!" I yelled back.
"You destroying my property is my fucking business."
I kept yelling profanities at him until he threatened to kick me out. I looked around and that's when I realized that she was gone. I scanned the whole room and didn't see her anywhere. I left the bar with the bartender still yelling at me and approached Alice.
"Where'd she go?"
"No, nuh uh, Edward. Leave her alone. She's just trying to have a good time," she said shaking her head furiously.
"How do you know she's not in trouble? She was drunk and that dude was all over her."
Alice just looked at me with an annoyed expression before pointing to the hallway that led to the service exit. I slammed open the door and saw Bella pressed up against the wall by the guy she had been dancing with. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and his tongue was doing exceptionally obscene things to her mouth. I had no idea why it made me so angry. I hadn't seen this girl in four years, I'd only been with her once. Prior to that, she was simply my sister's best friend. Right? I wasn't supposed to feel so protective over her. But I did. He dropped her and turned towards me, shielding her behind him.
"Get away from her," I spat.
"Fuck you, she doesn't belong to you."
No she doesn't, but I want her to.
The thought caught me off guard, but I held myself together.
I called her my friend and accused him of taking advantage of her. I knew that I was stretching it. It appeared as though Bella hated me.
The look on the guy's face was a combination of exasperation and humor. I really wanted to hurt him.
When Bella told me to go away, I ignored her. I couldn't even look at her because I knew that I was completely out of line, but it was almost like I had no control over what I was doing.
"My friend is drunk and doesn't know what she's doing. I suggest you find someone else to play with."
He grit his teeth and seethed at me. "So, where have you been for the last four years? 'Cause she really could have used a good friend to help her out. Things haven't exactly been easy for her and yet you, her friend, weren't anywhere to be found."
What the hell? What has she been through? She looks perfectly fine to me.
Bella gasped and I could hear the warning in her voice as she called him out. "Demetri!"
The fucker's eyes went wide and he apologized profusely. For what, I had no idea. He turned to leave but had the gall to ask if she was going to be okay with me.
"She's going to be fine," I snapped. I'd known Bella almost half of her life, who was this fucker to ask such a stupid question.
He finally left and I turned back to Bella, who looked like she was going to faint. I grabbed her arms to steady her.
"Get the fuck off of me!"
I reluctantly let her go, but I was starting to get a little pissed. I knew that what I had done to her was horrible, but this was ridiculous. She was insanely angry. After four years, she shouldn't have been that angry, should she?
When she shouted that she was really was trying to bone the guy, I stared at her in shock. The Bella I had known was young and innocent. How was it possible for sweet little Bella to turn into someone like that? Screwing a stranger behind a bar was something I would have done, not her.
I couldn't help but respond in anger. "You were going to fuck some random guy in a bar?"
Of course she wasn't. He wasn't a stranger to her. I had been gone for too long. I didn't know the same people she did anymore. Yes, it did make it better, it made her better than me, but I was too prideful to back off, even asking her what had happened to turn her into "this". Big fucking mistake.
"This?" She screeched, turning her head to the side.
Oh shit, what did I just say?
And then I saw it. A big fat juicy bruise right along her jugular. I remembered the day Mike Newton gave her a hickey. It was the end of our junior year. She had come into the cafeteria after what I could only assume was a pretty hot and heavy make out session. I was sitting at a table with the usual crew. Tanya was sitting on my lap filing her nails and I was talking to Emmett about baseball or something. My head shot up when I heard Alice squeal. She had Bella's neck tilted, pointing out what Mike had done. Mike was standing behind Bella with a smirk on his face. I smiled as I saw Bella turn bright red and then flat out laughed when she turned around and decked him. Then she growled. "I am not your fucking possession, don't you ever fucking mark me again."
That was the day I discovered that Bella Swan hated hickeys.
So why in the hell would she let this Demetri guy do that to her?
"You let him mark you? What the Fuck, Bella?" I demanded as I reached out to touch the bruise.
Bella looked like she was about to explode. She put her hand against her neck and then started screaming at me.
"You want to talk about marking me, Edward? Really?"
The thick metal back door slammed open and Alice started yelling Bella's name. Jasper, Emmett and Rose were right behind her.
"You fucking marked me permanently. You have no idea. I turned into this," she said motioning over the length of her body, "because of you."
"Bella, stop!" Alice screamed.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
Before she had a chance to answer I saw Jasper wrap his arm around her, pulling her into him and covering her mouth. I wanted to scream at him to let her go. I wanted to force him to back off so that she could explain to me what was going on, but I saw her face when Jasper whispered in her ear and that stopped me in my tracks. She looked afraid. Was she afraid of me? I clenched my hands into fists and I was shaking in anger and in frustration.
"Back the fuck off, man," Emmett growled behind me. I turned to face him.
"What the fuck is going on, Em? Why the hell is my family treating me like a predator and her like my prey?"
Emmett shifted uncomfortably and glanced over towards where Rose was shoving Alice, Bella, and Jasper back into the bar. Rose looked up at him. I saw the threatening look she gave him and he recoiled a bit before mumbling.
"Dude, it's not my place."
I was tired of everyone saying that to me. Something had happened to Bella over the last four years. They all knew and they weren't telling me. Obviously she had told them something that I didn't know. I stomped away like a petulant little child, throwing the door open with way too much force. When I got to the main bar area I searched around looking for Bella. As my anger started to subside, I was starting to feel a little guilty about attacking her the way I had. I needed to apologize.
"She's gone," Rosalie sneered. "Thanks to you, our fun night out turned into a fucking nightmare and all she wanted to do was go home."
I felt my anger flare up along with annoyance, but I tempered it before responding.
"I never meant to upset her," I grumbled.
"Yeah, well, you did. Let's get the hell out of here. I'm done."
Emmett appeared at her side and I followed them out.
When we got home I ignored Emmett and Rose and went straight to my room, changing into a pair of plaid flannel pajama pants and then returning to the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water and sat down at the island to wait for Jasper and Alice.
A few minutes later, they were there. Alice didn't even look at me, but I could still see the indignation all over her face. Jasper glared at me for a minute and I took my opportunity.
"Look, Jazz. I know you all are pissed with me right now, but I need to know what's going on."
He took two large strides towards me.
"You need to know what's going on, Edward? Really? Do you need a fucking recall of what you did to her?"
"I know what happened, Jazz. I was there!" I snapped.
"You do? So….. did she enjoy it when you tore into her? Did she cry out in pleasure? How was she afterwards Edward? And how about the next morning? Was she happy about what happened? Was she sore? Did she love it? Regret it? Just what were her feelings about her first fucking time brother?" he sneered. I was stunned by his outburst. And even more stunned that I didn't know the answers to any of his questions.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said as if reading my mind. "Don't know, Edward?" He leaned into me so that he was only inches from my face. "Guess what?" he paused. "I do. I also know that you never held her, that you never asked if she was okay. She wasn't a fucking slut, Edward, she was Bella! And you just walked out on her like she didn't mean anything to anyone in this family."
My jaw must have hit the floor. I had no response. I wanted to punch him in his fucking mouth, but I couldn't. He was right. I had no idea and I was completely and utterly ashamed by that. Fuck, she was right. I had marked her. I had been her first. Everyone remembers their first. I would always be known to her as the guy she lost her virginity to and I had made it a miserable experience for her. Shit! That's exactly why I didn't touch virgins. I needed to find out if there was any chance to fix this.
XXXXX
The next morning I didn't wake up until almost noon. And even then, I didn't really want to get out of bed. Unfortunately I needed to escape the house before the fucking barbecue started. I didn't want to mingle with my father's colleagues or anyone else for that matter. I had successfully avoided anyone that I might know for the last two days and I hoped to avoid it at least until I got back from Seattle.
I quickly took a shower and bolted from the house, telling Alice I would try to make it back by five o'clock for the end of her shindig. I spent the next five hours wandering around Port Angeles and then heading over to Clallam Bay to troll the beach.
Around four-thirty, I decided it was time to head back. I dragged my ass to my car and booked it back to my parent's house.
There were still quite a few cars there when I arrived, but I wasn't too worried. They were more expensive looking vehicles so I figured they were mostly my parent's friends. It didn't take me long to spot her. Bella was standing by herself on the patio. I approached her from behind, whispering my greeting in her ear and praying that she wouldn't turn around and punch me.
Her body tensed and she greeted me stiffly before turning to face me. Her eyes were darting all over the place and she looked incredibly nervous. I remembered the look on her face in the alleyway and wondered if she really was afraid of me. I wanted to put her at ease so I complemented her on how lovely she looked. And she did too. She was wearing a white sundress, her hair lazily pulled up off her neck in a jeweled clip. I can only describe the look on her face as one of disdain and possibly disgust. I was losing her fast. I needed to bring her back to me.
"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to uh…interrupt," I admitted painfully. I wasn't actually sorry that I interrupted. In fact, I was seriously happy about having stopped whatever would have happened in that alleyway. I was sorry about the fight though. I was sorry that I had upset her so much and I was sorry that I had ruined her night.
"I just didn't realize that you knew the guy and I didn't want him taking advantage of you in your state of drunkenness."
That sounded like a good excuse right?
Apparently not.
"Really, Cullen? That's your argument?"
She was looking at me with her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed.
And then it hit me. Fuck! That's exactly what I had done. I groaned in frustration and embarrassment. This wasn't going how I wanted it to go.
It was definitely time to apologize.
"Shit, Bella, I didn't mean to….I didn't realize…that night was….."
"Terrifying? Humiliating? Life altering? Yeah, Edward, it was all of those and more. And guess what? I was far more drunk back then, than I was last night. And you insinuating that I'm a whore for hooking up with a guy I've known for years is downright hypocritical."
She was right. I had nothing more to say, because I couldn't defend myself. I was a bastard and I knew it. I knew it then and I knew it now.
She then admitted that my interruption had been a good thing, but the little dig about how sex would have ruined their friendship, unintentional or not, hurt a little. Okay, maybe it hurt a lot. Not that we had ever really had a friendship to really mess up, but it fucked up whatever it was we had or could have had. That's what I had always been afraid of.
I asked her to take a walk with me and she agreed. I could see my family watching us out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored them as I led Bella down to the creek. She was quiet. She wasn't going to be the first one to talk, this I could tell. I took a deep breath.
"Bella, I am so, so sorry," I breathed.
"You've said that," she huffed.
She didn't get it.
"No, I apologized for last night. I never apologized for…..that night."
I was looking at her and wanting desperately for her to look back into my pleading eyes, but she wouldn't. She kept her gaze on the ground in front of her.
"I, I didn't know you were a virgin. God I can't even imagine. I was so rough. I never would have…." I couldn't finish my sentence. I didn't have to, Bella found her own ending.
"Fucked me, Edward? You never would have fucked me if you had known?" I winced a little at her tone. I wanted to be able to tell her 'no' that I wouldn't have. I spent years telling myself that I wouldn't have done it, but now that she was confronting me, I didn't know if that was the case. I know I wouldn't have fucked her like I did, at least not at first. I had never been known to be gentle so I probably wouldn't have been, but I wouldn't have tried to split her in two.
And then a thought crossed my mind. A really fucking stupid thought. Once it slipped out, I wished that I could take it back, but I couldn't. I asked her if she had not told me on purpose so that I would fuck her. I had essentially just accused her of being a whore. Again.
God, could I be any more of an asshole?
She laid into me like nothing I had ever heard or seen from anyone before in my life, telling me that she never would have touched my 'disgusting skanky ass'.
I deserved it, I knew I did, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt. In fact, I don't think any girl, fuck, any person, had ever said such painful words to me. She had never wanted me.
I wanted to know how my entire family found out. One word explained everything. "Alice."
She never really did explain how Alice found out, but I knew my sister. She could get a mute to spill his guts if she decided she wanted to know.
I needed to know what I had done to her. What it was like for her. How could I truly be sorry for what I did if I didn't even know what that was?
I asked her what she was thinking.
"I'm trying to figure out the point. Why do you care?"
Why did I care? She really did think the worst about me. I put my hand on her arm, half expecting her to pull away, but she didn't.
"I care because it's one of the biggest regrets of my life, Bella. I never meant to hurt you. That morning, when I found out, I….I was devastated." I would never be able to put into words what I had felt, and I didn't even know the full story. I knew that what I was asking for would completely crush me, but I deserved it. I deserved every fucking ounce of pain that I had inflicted on her.
I begged her to tell me, but before she could we were disturbed by Alice's shrill voice screeching from the pathway. She and Jasper were running towards us. Once again, they had interrupted at the most inconvenient of times. I was about to throw a fucking fit, but Bella jumped up. I noticed the panic on my sister's face and the concern on Jasper's. Something was wrong.
Chief Swan had been taken to the hospital. I offered to take Bella, but everyone screamed at me.
That was really fucking weird.
I watched my father drive off to the hospital with Bella beside him and Alice in the backseat. The rest of my family looked on, completely despondent. I knew I was still missing a piece of the puzzle. I hoped that the chief would be okay, whatever had happened to him. Of course, I hoped he would be okay simply because he was Bella's dad, a good man, and I wouldn't wish injury on anyone, but I also hoped that he would be okay so that I could get Bella back to that place where she was about to go. I needed to have the answers to Jasper's questions. I needed to hear it from her lips.
BPOV
Carlisle raced us to the hospital reaching speeds that certainly shouldn't have been attempted on the streets of Forks, but we were there in record time. We all burst through the doors of the emergency room and Carlisle pulled his clout to get us all sent straight back to the little room where my father was pacing. A couple of doctors and nurses were surrounding my baby. Charlie had what looked like a tube sticking out of his mouth.
"Oh Jesus," I gasped, rushing over. "What happened, Dad?"
"I don't know. I only left him for a minute."
"Dad?"
"He's never gotten into there before, Bella. I don't even know how he got it open," my dad sobbed into his hands.
"Dad?" I shouted.
"I found him in my bathroom with an open bottle of my blood pressure pills. I don't know how many he ate, but he didn't look good. I didn't know what else to do so I just brought him straight in."
I looked over as the doctors were shoving fluid in through the tube and then sucking it back out. Alice was holding my hand tightly and Carlisle's arm was around my shoulders.
"It'll be okay, Bella," Carlisle whispered into my hair as he kissed my head.
"I'm so sorry, Bells," my dad was crying. I had only seen my dad cry once in my life and that was the day my mom left him when I was seven, but here he was, sitting down in hard orange plastic chair with his hands tented over his nose and big fat tears streaming down his cheeks.
I walked over and bent down in front of him, grabbing his wrists to pull his hands away so that I could look into his eyes. "Daddy, it was an accident. I understand that. It could have happened at any point. We just need to be more careful." My father's guilt was evident in his eyes.
"I should have been watching him more carefully," he sniffed.
"Maybe. But it's hard to keep an eye on him at all times, Dad. I know that better than anyone. Maybe it's just time to baby proof the house."
"I should have done that a long time ago, Bells."
"This is the first time we've actually lived with you for any significant period of time, Dad. Let's just, let's just get him better and then we'll figure out what needs to be done okay."
My dad nodded. A half second later, we all jumped when the doctors stepped away from Charlie and the nurses started pulling the tube from him.
The younger of the two, a guy whose lab coat read Dr. Johnson, approached us. He surveyed us and then took a double take at Carlisle.
"Hey, Dr. Cullen," he smiled. "Are you here with the Swan boy?"
Carlisle nodded. "He's my grandson."
"Oh?" Dr. Johnson looked surprised. "I didn't realize, I'm sorry."
"It's okay Steve. This is Bella, Charlie's mother."
"Chief Swan's daughter," Dr. Johnson stated. I nodded my head.
"Is he going to be okay?" I hiccoughed.
Dr. Johnson smiled at me reassuringly. "He'll be fine. We pulled four pills from his stomach. They were completely intact which indicates that he didn't really have time to digest them. It's a good thing Chief Swan got him here when he did." I looked over at my dad who still looked completely deflated.
"He's probably going to be pretty exhausted. We sedated him prior to the gastric lavage."
"Gastric lavage?" I asked.
"Pumping his stomach," Carlisle clarified.
"I would highly suggest a lock-box for your medicines, child locks on all of your cleaning supplies and chemicals as well," Dr. Johnson stated. "We actually see a lot of kids his age in here because they got a little too curious. Pills look like candy and some of those cleaning solution bottles almost look like juice. And I've seen plenty of kids who can manipulate the childproof caps so those aren't always a sure bet."
"I'd like to keep him here for observation until tomorrow morning, but he should be good to go first thing. Bella, you're welcome to spend the night with him. They're going to move him up to the pediatric ward in a few minutes and they have pull-out sofa beds."
"Thank you," I said quietly.
When Dr. Johnson excused himself, Carlisle, Alice, and my Dad followed me into Charlie's temporary room. I stared at his tiny little body lying motionless on the gurney. He was pale and looked so helpless. It was mere seconds before my emotions completely racked my body. I collapsed into the chair and started sobbing. I held onto one of Charlie's hands and ran my fingers back and forth over his chubby knuckles, silently thanking God for sparing my baby.
Alice ran soothing circles over my back as Carlisle and my dad talked quietly in the corner.
A few minutes later I heard Carlisle talking. "He's okay, honey. He got a hold of the Chief's blood pressure medicine. They had to pump his stomach, but they got everything out. No, he's going to be here overnight, but I think he just needs to rest. I'm sure you can just visit at their house tomorrow. Just tell him that there was an issue with some blood pressure meds and that you don't know the details. I know, honey. I will. I love you too. Bye."
About forty-five minutes later, they came to take Charlie to the pediatric ward on the third floor. Once he was settled, everyone said goodbye, kissing both me and Charlie before leaving. Carlisle stayed back.
"I hope it's okay that I told Dr. Johnson about Charlie," he said quietly. "I know we had decided to wait, but..."
"Carlisle, it's fine," I interrupted. "I completely understand. I've kept him from you long enough. I am going to tell Edward as soon as I can. He deserves to know and you deserve to be able to claim Charlie. I owe you that."
"Thank you," he smiled, kissing me on the cheek. "I'll be in first thing in the morning, okay?"
I nodded. "Goodnight, Carlisle."
"Goodnight, Bella." He leaned down and kissed Charlie on the forehead. "Goodnight, sweet boy."
And then I was left alone. About a half hour later, I heard someone clearing their throat and looked up to see a familiar figure standing in the doorway.
"Hi, Bella," she smiled gently.
"Hi, Angela," I smiled back.
Angela and I had been friends since Junior High. She had attended nursing school in Seattle and returned to Forks last year to work so that she could help her father, Reverend Weber, take care of her mother who was battling ovarian cancer. She had twin little brothers who were twelve and Angela was trying to make sure that they were able to continue living a somewhat normal life, despite their mother's illness. We had kept in touch over the years and often got together for coffee or lunch and the occasional night out whenever I would come home. She had known Charlie since the first summer that I brought him home. I knew she, like everyone else, had her suspicions that Edward was Charlie's father, but she had not once brought it up.
"He's getting so big," she said as she came in to check Charlie's vitals and fluids.
"I know. It's happening a lot faster than I figured it would."
"That tends to happen. I remember when the twins were his age. And now they're almost teenagers." She sat down next to me on the sofa and put her hand on top of mine, which was resting on my knee. "How are you holding up?"
I sighed loudly, letting a gust of air pass through my lips.
"I keep telling myself that he's fine, that he's going to be okay, but I'm just so scared. I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to him."
"You can't protect them forever, Bella. Things are going to happen, but right now he's going to be fine. Think of this as a learning experience and move on."
I looked at her and smiled.
"Thanks, Ang."
"No problem." She hesitated for a minute and I could see that she wanted to say something else.
"What's up, Ang?"
"I don't mean to pry, but, uh….was that Dr. Cullen I saw leaving a little bit ago?"
I chuckled.
"Yes, it was. I guess I should let you know how much I appreciated over the years that you never asked. I know you knew, but you let me have my privacy."
"So, he is?" She didn't even need to elaborate.
"Yeah. He's Edward's."
"I didn't know you two…."
"We weren't. It was an accident."
"An accident?" She lifted her eyebrows.
"I would call it a mistake, but if it hadn't happened, I never would have had Charlie and I can't ever call him a mistake. He's my life."
She nodded.
"I guess I can understand that. I just don't get how he could abandon you."
"He didn't, I never told him."
She gasped. "You….you didn't tell him?"
I shook my head. "Edward Cullen, Angela," I said as an explanation.
"I know, but don't you think he would have wanted to know?"
"Maybe. Hind sight is 20/20," I shrugged. "At the time I thought I was doing what was best for me and my baby. I didn't really think about how it would affect anyone else." There was a brief moment of silence and then she spoke again.
"So, obviously he knows now right? I mean, since his dad was here."
"Uh, no, not yet."
"Bella!" she scolded. Then she furrowed her brow. "How does he not know? That child is the spitting image of him."
"He hasn't seen him yet."
"Really?"
"Really. He just got back into town a few days ago and I'm trying to figure out how to tell him. It's not as easy as it may seem."
"Oh no, it does not seem easy. I don't even have any advice to give. Good luck with that."
I laughed. "Thanks a lot."
"I should probably get to work, but I'll be his nurse for the night so just let me know if you guys need anything okay." She stood up and smiled at me before heading out into the hallway. I pulled a blanket out from the closet and lay down on the sofa, not even bothering to pull it out. Within a few minutes, I was asleep.
I woke up a few times during the night whenever Angela would come in to check on Charlie, but the night was uneventful. The next morning, Charlie woke up bright and early chatting exuberantly with Angela who just laughed. He seemed relatively unaffected by his situation. Ang said goodbye and introduced us to our new nurse, since her shift was ending at seven. My dad and Carlisle showed up about nine just to make sure that everything was okay. Carlisle was working all day on Sunday and Dad had driven my car and would be taking us home. At ten thirty, Charlie was released and we piled into my Volvo to head home.
We pulled up to my dad's house and Jake was waiting for us outside. I pulled Charlie out of his car seat and we were both immediately enveloped in Jake's warm arms.
"Jesus, Bells," he whispered. I nodded into his chest and tried to hold back the tears
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, Jake, but what are doing here?" I asked.
Jake looked at my dad.
"I asked him to stop by," my Dad said as we made our way into the house. "I need to run some errands. I'm going to head to the hardware store for some child locks and a childproof medicine chest. I called Mitchelson's in Port Angeles and they said they had them."
"Um, Dad, it's eleven o'clock on a Sunday morning. When the hell did you call the hardware store?"
My dad blushed and looked at me sheepishly.
"I kind of know the owner. He's an old fishing buddy. I called him this morning at home and he said they open at noon. Jake's gonna hang out with you guys while I'm out.
I didn't know how to respond to him. I was a little irritated that he thought that I needed help taking care of my child. I almost said something about the fact that it had been him that was supposed to be watching Charlie last night, but I didn't. My dad already felt guilty enough as it was and I was just tired and cranky. There was no reason to be a bitch.
He placated me with his next sentence though anyway. "I thought that maybe you'd want to take a nap. I know those hospital sofas aren't very comfortable. If you get tired and Charlie is still up, you can go lie down and Jake can look after him." My dad's face was hopeful I felt like a complete asshole. I smiled thoughtfully.
"All right, Dad. That's actually a good idea." I acquiesced. I was exhausted and I knew that I would have to nap at some point in the day, probably sooner rather than later.
XXXXXXX
EPOV
I was sitting in the family room trying to watch television, but my mom's pacing nearly killed me.
"Mom, just come sit down. Dad will call as soon as he knows something."
"I know," she sighed. She sat down on the sofa and curled her legs under her. I had to laugh. She was trying really hard, but I could see her checking her phone every minute or so as if she was going to somehow miss my father's call. Just as I was about to take her phone from her, it began ringing.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey, how are things going?"
I heard her humming at whatever Carlisle was telling her.
"Are they going to let him go home tonight?" she asked standing up and walking away from me.
I couldn't really hear the rest of her conversation as she was speaking in a hushed voice and she wasn't facing me. I didn't really think anything of it. It sounded like the Chief was going to be just fine. Maybe that meant that Bella would be willing to sit down with me before I had to head to Seattle tomorrow night. My mom got off the phone and came back to sit down next to me. Her lips were turned up in a satisfied grin.
"So Chief Swan's okay?" I asked.
"Yes he is. He had an issue with some blood pressure medication, but everything is sorted out. They're keeping him overnight for observation, but he should be fine."
"That's good."
I sat for a few more minutes before I excused myself and headed to bed. It had been a long day and I just wanted to sleep.
As tired as I was, it should have been a given that I would just crash, but I wasn't that lucky. I had Bella on my mind and I couldn't get her out. Images of her over the past ten years kept popping up behind my eyelids every time I closed my eyes and I couldn't sort through them. Silent snapshots of various ages and occasions. Eventually exhaustion did win out and I drifted into a painfully turbulent sleep.
XXXXX
The next morning I woke with a splitting headache. My sheets were twisted around my legs and I was sweating slightly. I groaned and rolled out of bed.
My mother was sitting at the island drinking a cup of coffee and looking over some paperwork that I'm assuming had something to do with her firm. "Where's dad?" I asked as I stumbled into the kitchen.
"He's at the hospital."
"With Chief Swan?"
My mom looked up at me for a moment with a blank expression. She blinked at me a few times and then looked back down at her papers.
"Uh, I think he was planning on checking in with him, yes."
I glanced up at the clock, noticing that it was ten o'clock. "Where's everybody else?"
"They're around. Alice and Jasper were down here a little bit ago, but I haven't seen Rose and Emmett yet. I made biscuits, help yourself."
I poured myself a cup of coffee and grabbed a biscuit from the warmer. I needed to get into Seattle at about four o'clock to meet a friend for an early dinner and get myself prepared for my meeting with some of the deans and a couple of instructors over the next couple of days. At around noon, I decided to head out figuring that it was always better to be a little early.
I stopped at the diner to grab myself some lunch and saw Chief Swan sitting at the counter. He must have been discharged fairly early. I was about to stop by and see how he was feeling when I overheard the woman next to him.
"How's that grandbaby of yours, Chief?" the elderly woman asked. "I heard you had to bring him into the hospital last night."
Wait. What? Grandbaby?
"He's doing okay, thanks. He got past the child resistant cap on one of my medications. Swallowed them down before I could stop him."
"Oh dear. Well I'm glad to hear that he's okay. That poor baby. Has Bella recovered yet?"
Bella? What happened to Bella?
"I suppose so, but I'm not sure she'll ever fully trust me to watch him by myself again."
Holy Shit!
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Bella had a baby? Bella was a mother. Things were beginning to make sense now. Everyone talking about how Bella had had a rough couple of years and things weren't easy for her.
"Oh, honey, Bella's a reasonable girl, I'm sure she realized it was an accident."
"I hope so. In any case, I'm headed to Port Angeles to get some of that childproofing stuff for the house. Even when Bella and Charlie eventually move out, I'm going to want to have the house safe for him."
Charlie. Charlie is her baby. That's why everyone was so upset last night. It wasn't Bella's dad who was sick, it was her child.
I slid quietly towards the bathroom so that Chief Swan wouldn't catch me eavesdropping.
As I watched him leave after saying his goodbyes, a million questions passed through my mind. Obviously this changed things. I wanted her, yes, but now there was a baby and a baby's father. A boyfriend? I can't imagine that Bella had a boyfriend, not after that display at the bar. Unless it was that Demetri fucker. But if it was him, then why would he have left her there with me? Had she been married? Divorced? Maybe this baby had actually been planned. I hadn't even considered that Bella would have had relationships in college. Stupid, I know, but I hadn't really wanted to think about it. Had I done that to her? Is that what she meant? Had I completely ruined her? Turned her into a whore? Turned her into me? Oh Jesus, maybe she didn't even know who the baby's father was.
My thoughts were getting ridiculous and out of control and I had no answers. I needed answers. I needed to satisfy my morbid curiosity so that I could know that it hadn't been my selfish need to claim her that fucked her up.
I forgot about my lunch and headed to my car. I would go see her. I would sit her down and ask her to tell me what happened. I would apologize...again. This would be easy. Right?
