(A.N. Alright all. I have pictures, pictures, and more pictures on my profile for this chapter. I won't tell you what of yet, but at the end of the chapter I will have another A.N. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, and keep it up. New songs will be added to the play list for this chapter so check it out, again that link is on my profile. Thanks people. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!)
Disclaimer- Still not my characters.
Bella's POV-
The waitress had been giving Jasper goo-goo eyes all lunch. It would be really annoying if it wasn't for the way it made Jasper fidget around uncomfortably. He didn't mention it as we ate, but he never would. It didn't matter what or where we were or how pretty the girl was. He got really uncomfortable and even sometimes a little angry when girls hit on him when I was around.
According to Jasper, he thought it was disrespectful to me for those girls to hit on him, while he was with me. I guess I could understand that to an extent. Most people have asked one time or another if Jasper and I were a couple, but usually after being around us for any amount of time it was pretty clear that we weren't. Personally, I think he likes hanging out with me in public. That way girls don't just walk up and ask him out, leaving him with dates he doesn't want. I'm his out. In fact, once he even said I was his girlfriend when a girl asked him out in front of me. I tried to keep my composure when he said it to the woman who asked him out, but me choking on the water I sucked down the wrong tube when I gasped in surprise made it a little less believable. Still, he expected to come back from lunch today date free, and from the way the waitress was acting, that wouldn't be the case.
I smiled, very amused, as Jasper grimaced at the not so subtle wink the waitress threw him. He stared at me like I was a traitor, while still keeping hold of the grimace. I smiled wider.
His eyes became pleading when he realized that my sympathy would be better than any other emotion he might provoke with a glare. "Bella, you beautiful, wonderful woman."
"No."
"C'mon, last time. I promise." He held his hands together as he begged. Pathetic.
"You said that last time." I said as I finished taking a drink from my water. "And the time before that."
"Yeah, but this time I mean it." He said encouragingly. "Please. I will do anything."
"I don't care what you will do, I still won't do it." I said shaking my head. "There is no way that woman will believe we are dating after she has been giving you goo-goolie eyes this whole time, while I laughed. That isn't normal girlfriend behavior."
"Maybe you are one of those cool, non-jealous girlfriends that doesn't care if other girls hit on their boyfriends." I stared at Jasper in wonder, eyebrows raised. There was no way he could believe that. "Okay, maybe you just haven't noticed until just recently. She hasn't been as blatant, up until a few painful minutes ago. When we first got here she was almost discreet. It's a plausible excuse."
"She was seeing how I was reacting to you getting flirted with." I explained, taking another bite of my food. "She has been making sure I wasn't your girlfriend this whole time you dolt."
"Maybe you are my brain-dead girlfriend, who is too stupid to notice." He said with a wink. I threw a half eaten bread stick at him. "Wait, I didn't get to the good part. You are the stupid girlfriend that is so hot it doesn't matter that you're stupid. See, it's a good thing. Almost a compliment."
"That's it." I said blankly. "You're getting it now."
Jasper turned to see where my gaze wandered to, only to notice the waitress making her way back over to our table with two new sodas for us. Jasper stared back down at both of our almost filled cups of soda and sighed.
"Here you guys go." She said, happily placing the drinks next to the other full cups. "Can I get you anything else?"
"You know what, I think you can." I said with a sweet smile. Jasper's head popped up as he fixed his wide warning eyes on me. I smiled back innocently, before returning my gaze to the waitress. "Jasper here would like to know something."
"No, really, it's okay sweetheart." Jasper said, placing his hand tenderly on my own as he attempted to spoil my fun. I squeezed it lovingly.
"Oh, but Jasper, sweetie. Don't you think we should just ask her?" I asked. I was going at a completely different angle with this one. Jasper had no idea what I was doing, but acting as though we were a thing while trying to get him the date seemed to be throwing him off. "Anyways, we were just noticing how pretty you are. You see my husband Jasper and I are in a rather open relationship. Well, sort of. You see we are what some might call swingers, and well, we were wondering if you maybe had a boyfriend who might enjoy embarking in such a lifestyle." The woman and Jasper stared at me with wide eyes and slack jaws making it harder and harder to hold my poker face. Keeping eye contact with the woman, I continued. "There is nothing to worry about really. Jasper of course would have to wear protection, but he isn't broken out right now, so there wouldn't really be any chance at catching anything."
"I'm sorry, I have to check on my other tables." The waitress spun quickly on her heals and walked away. I smiled happily back at Jasper who was staring at me with a red face. If it was red from anger or embarrassment I couldn't be sure.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Jasper asked me in a heated whisper.
I shrugged and stared at him offended. "What!?" I asked surprised. "I did as you asked. I don't think she will even talk to us after that."
"You gave me genital herpes!" Jasper said a little too loudly. The people at the next table over stared at us strangely. Jasper smiled tightly at them, apologizing while I stifled a giggle. We were never going to be able to come back to this place. "I will get you back for this."
My eyes got big in mock horror. "Scary."
We got our check quickly after that, without any offerings for desert or any eye contact from the waitress. Jasper kept his head down, his cheeks tingeing pink with embarrassment whenever we saw different groups of the waiting staff huddled together then abruptly stare over at us. The whole thing was hilarious to me.
As we walked back to work from the restaurant, Jasper wouldn't speak to me until he spun abruptly and stared at me with wide eyes. "What?"
"It's Maria." He said in a scared whisper.
I racked my brain to try to figure out who the hell Maria was, but it wasn't coming to me. "Maria?"
"I went on a date with her a few weeks ago. She was the gum chewer. Remember, the day that your dreamy guy that just found out he was a daddy came in." My mouthed formed an 'O' shape as I remembered the discussion. "Help."
"No." I said again. He stared at me in desperation. "Jasper you were just not talking to me because I helped you and you didn't approve of my methods. Why in the world would I help you now?"
"Bella, you owe me after that. Seriously though. You have to help with this one."
I peeked over his shoulder to see a pretty, dark haired woman making her way across the street towards us with a big smile plastered on her face. She was waving her hand in the air in our direction and looked like she was yelling Jasper's name.
"She's pretty." I said sweetly. "Maybe you could get past the gum chewing thing and give her a chance." He shook his head and glared at me. "You're gonna have to think of something, because she is heading this way."
Jasper's eyes got wide at the news. He cringed slightly when he heard his name being called out in a very unpleasant, nasally voice. He stared at me, still pleading with me until determination covered his expression. I looked back behind him again to see that the woman was almost to him when he grabbed me by the waist, turned me slightly to the side and kissed me.
My eyes flew open as I stared at Jasper, who had his eyes closed tightly as though he was willing this to not be happening. He wasn't moving his lips, just puckering them against mine, while angling me so Maria would see the very impassionate and very unwanted kiss occurring, without having to see how unwanted it was. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her side step and walk around us as though she didn't even know Jasper while hiding her own face in her hair. As soon as she had her back to us I hit Jasper's chest hard with my palm and pushed him away.
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
He turned and looked to make sure the girl was far enough away to not be able to hear my outburst, then turned back to me. "What? It's not like I slipped you the tongue or anything."
"Are you out of your freaking mind?" I asked as I swatted his shoulder.
"I don't see what the problem is wifey." Oh, he was going to get it. "As a married couple we should kiss, especially if we are such exhibitionists as to be swingers."
"I know where you sleep." I said pointing at him threateningly.
"Yes, well let's not get carried away here Bella. I only kissed you to get Maria to leave me be." My mouth dropped open as Jasper started walking away. I chased after him, not speaking at all when I got to him. "You know Bella, I thought you would have been a better kisser than that."
I punched him in the arm. He just smiled at me, happy to have gotten a reaction. I didn't care; it felt good to hit him. "Payback's a bitch."
When we got back to the office, both Jasper and I went straight to Katie.
"How was your lunch guys?" I glared over at Jasper, then smiled happily over at Katie.
"Great." I said sarcastically. "Mr. Whitlock used me to get out of dates, then got mad at me when I saved him from one." Jasper sighed.
"You are such a drama queen." He said shaking his head.
"I am not a drama queen." I said heatedly to Jasper.
"You are more mad than I am!" He exclaimed. "You told the woman I had an STD! I should be the mad one."
"I didn't tell her anything…" I said defiantly. I was still proud of that moment. "I implied it."
Katie smiled, amused, as she shifted her gaze from Jasper to myself. "Sounds like a fun time. Don't worry Ms. Swan, that polite gentleman from before, Mr. Masen, is waiting for you right over there."
"Hey, it's dream boat." Jasper whispered teasingly to me. I ignored him.
I turned to see Edward smiling over at me, apparently having heard our conversation. I smiled back. He looked much better, happier, than last time he was here. His hair didn't look like he had been running his hands through it all day, though it was still messy, and his posture wasn't as slumped and confused looking. I gave Jasper one last glare before walking over to Edward.
"Hello Mr. Masen." I said when I reached him, reaching my hand out to shake his. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm great, but I still would prefer it if you called me Edward." He said with a crooked smile. I didn't remember just how attractive the man was.
"Sorry. Edward. I will remember to call you that." I said with a smile, trying to not put my foot in my mouth. "Well, follow me back to my office and we can talk."
We walked by the receptionist, fluttering her eyelashes at Jasper. I paused mid step. I excused myself from Edward with a quick apology, which he accepted with an amused smile. I walked over to Jasper, then I leaned over closer to him, so Edward would be less likely to hear me being so unprofessional.
"Why don't you get back to work Jasper?" I asked as Katie handed me my messages. I had interrupted their flirting so Jasper wasn't exactly happy with me. He loved flirting with Katie, knowing she would never push a relationship for fear of losing her job. "Or do you think our little kiss from earlier will be too distracting a thought."
Jasper glared at me as Katie gasped slightly and stared at me with wide eyes. I smiled at her and walked away. Both Jasper and I knew that there was no way Katie would keep flirting with him if she thought there was something going on with the two of us. He was probably very pissed right now. I let my smile pull across my face as I headed back over to Edward, who was standing patiently waiting for me.
"Did you enjoy yourself just then?" Edward asked with a small chuckle.
I cringed slightly. "Oh gosh, did you hear all that?" I thought I had been quiet enough. He nodded and smiled that crooked smile of his at me. "I'm sorry about that." I led him back to my office and shut the door before continuing. "Jasper and I have been friends since college, and he pulled a little stunt today that called for a little revenge."
"I figured as much with what you said when you first got back." He still had the smile planted on his face as he took his seat across from my desk. "I don't think your receptionist caught onto it though. So mission accomplished."
"How was your trip?" I asked, then cringed when I realized he had taken the trip to go to a funeral.
"It was nice. Sad, but the funeral was lovely." He said. "I met my daughter and she is absolutely amazing. Perfect really."
I smiled at that. He really was a nice guy. It was nice to see him so attached to the little girl he just met. You could see it when he spoke about her. His eyes lit up and his tone became more adoring. Strangely enough, he became even more attractive to me when I heard how much he adored his little girl.
"What was her name again?" I asked trying to make conversation as I pulled his paperwork.
"Isadora." He said happily.
"That's right." I straightened some papers, then set them down in front of me, smiling at Edward. "Well there isn't really much for you to do. I have a few more papers for you to sign, some advice to give, and then you don't have to come see me again." He smiled a small smile at me as he leaned forward. "First though, I wanted to give you some advice. Lawyer advice, nothing personal, promise." I wasn't sure how he would take this advice, but I had to give it as his lawyer in the matter. "I am not trying to offend you with this, and I am sorry if it does, but I feel that it would be safest if you got a DNA test, just to prove you are Isadora's biological father."
"What? Why would I need that?" He wasn't angry. That was good.
"Well, it's not that anyone is saying you aren't her father, but it is good to have that taken care of, just in case. Again it's just advice, and I am certainly not saying that it is necessary to prove anything to you or me for that matter, but it would be a smart idea, legally speaking."
"I see." He said, leaning back in his seat. "I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. Thank you."
He didn't look nearly as happy as before, though he wasn't unhappy. Just thoughtful. The rest of the meeting was reasonably quiet while he signed the papers and I gave him little bits of advice and things to look out for. We made small talk and then he left. I would never get to see him again, and that was bugging me. I figured that it was just because of how attractive he was. I left it at that.
Rosalie's POV-
"She wants you to what!?" I exclaimed as Edward explained his trip to the lawyer's. The woman sounded like an idiot. "Why would you need to take a DNA test? You know Isadora is yours, why is that twit of a lawyer asking you to do that?"
"She's not a twit, she is just giving some advice. It's sound advice, and it's only a precaution. If anyone ever challenged me about being Isadora's biological father then all we would have to do is show them the medical records and have it be finished, instead of having to go through a big ordeal." He sighed and sat down. "Bella didn't do it vindictively."
"Bella? Is that the lawyer?" I asked confused. "Who in the world would challenge that?"
Edward shrugged and sighed again. "Rose, it's not a big deal, just a precaution."
"Yes, well I think it's stupid." I said, on the couch across from him. "The woman sounds like a fool."
"She was just trying to help, but on a lighter note, I don't have to go to a lawyer anymore." Edward said, smiling at me. "She got everything together for me last time I came in, before the funeral, and only had a couple more papers for me to sign today so I wouldn't have to go back in. It was actually very nice of her."
The whole thing sounded silly to me, but it wasn't my business. Edward was Isadora's father and could go get a silly DNA test if he wanted. I didn't want to tell him how stupid I thought it was, or piss him off when I was staying with him, especially after all the strings he and his family pulled to get me moved down here so quickly. I would have had to wait another fifteen days, if not longer, to get everything done.
Edward's home was only a two bedroom apartment, though very spacious. Both of the rooms were giant. He had already baby-proofed the house, and set Isadora's bedroom up before he came to the funeral, but other than that it still had the looks of a bachelor pad. Leather couches took up the living room, facing the big flat screen TV that covered the wall. The pictures he hung, that Esme had gotten for him, made his place feel more homey. He hung them in the entry way and living room in perfect view for anyone who came over.
Isadora's bedroom was amazing. On the door was a plaque hung from a purple ribbon that said 'Isadora's Room' with little fairies on it. Edward got her a trundle bed and hung mosquito netting around it, making it look like it was made for a princess. Directly under the bed was a big stuffed alligator as a buffer to soften the blow in case she fell off the bed. He had fairy figurines strung from the ceiling, giving the appearance of them flying around the room, and even got her pretty curtains, rugs, and bedding. He set up a small desk for coloring, and a bookshelf full of children's books. On the other side of the room was a toy box and a doll house. Everything was light shades of pinks, greens, and whites, with a closet full of new clothes for her, including a few princess outfits Emmett apparently had picked up for her when he had gotten back into town. When Edward had gotten back he hung up all the pictures Esme and I had gotten for Isadora, displaying them proudly around the room where Isadora would get the best view. He really went full out and Isadora loved it.
Isadora was coping with the new home and life pretty well. Her new room kept her occupied pretty regularly, plus the frequent visits from Emmett, who seemed to come over just to play with Isadora. He brought her a football helmet last time, and had her running around head butting things just for fun. Edward wasn't exactly thrilled with it, but couldn't help but laugh when Isadora would run full speed with her curls sticking out of the football helmet as she ran around head butting different things. The best part was when she went to head butt Emmett, but with how short she was, she hit him in a very painful spot. Emmett took it like a champ, but Edward and I were laughing the rest of the night about it.
I slept in Isadora's room, declining Edward's offer for his bed, saying he could just sleep on the couch for my stay. The trundle bed came in handy and was pretty comfortable, plus I liked being near Isadora while I slept in a new place. Some mornings I would wake up to her cuddled up against me in my bed, after crawling down from her own in the middle of the night.
"Emmett has arrived!" The voice bellowed from the entryway, and I couldn't help the smile that pulled across my face when I heard him. Emmett has taken to calling and hanging out with me more often than not, and Isadora and him are practically inseparable. He has been an incredibly good friend to me. Edward stood and walked over towards Emmett, probably trying to get him to quiet down so he wouldn't wake Isadora from her nap. "What do you mean quiet down!? I brought her a present."
"Hey Emmett." I said, when he pushed passed Edward into the living room.
"Well hello Rose." He said staring back at Edward pointedly. "You see that brother? She knows how to greet a guest."
"You lost the title as a guest when you started showing up here unannounced and without knocking." Edward mumbled.
"Look what I got Isadora, Rose!" Emmett said excitedly, sitting next to me on the couch. He sat down roughly, making my whole body bounce. He put a giraffe rocker in front of me.
"Emmett you have to quit bringing her things." Edward sighed out. "We are running out of room already. The girl has more stuff than three kids combined."
"Shut up, spoil sport." Emmett said, not even looking up from the plush giraffe rocker. "See Rose, it even makes noises!"
Emmett pushed a little button and indeed the giraffe started making noises. I let out a giggle making Emmett beam proudly. "Very cool Emmett."
"It's neat, but please stop bringing stuff over for her." Edward said again. "Besides she's into princesses."
"DUDE! She likes giraffes! Haven't you met Princess Cootie!?" Emmett, again getting a little too loud, pushed another loud hush from Edward. "Besides, I got her princess dresses before. She likes everything her Uncle Emmett gets her. Did you see how much fun she was having with the helmet? You're just worried she will like me better than you."
"Uncle Emmett!?" Isadora was now officially awake. Emmett beamed back at her and held his arms in the air.
"Isadora! I brought you something!" He said in a sing song voice. Before he could finish his sentence, I heard the thumps of Isadora's feet hitting the wood floor as she hurried over to Emmett, stopping abruptly and staring at him wide eyed when she saw her Giraffe rocker.
"That's fo me?" She asked surprised.
Emmett laughed lightly and stood, picking her up, giving her a quick kiss on the head and sitting her on the rocker. "Of course it's for you, short stuff." He nudged the giraffe with his hand and lit up when Isadora started giggling as it started rocking. "So you like it, right Izzy?"
"Yes, thank you Uncle Emmett." Isadora said, hugging the giraffe's neck as it rocked her back and forth. "Daddy! Did you see, did you see!?"
"Yes, baby, I saw. It's neat!" Edward said in defeat, but played the excited role well enough to placate Isadora. "Uncle Emmett is just swell, isn't he?"
"I wove Uncle Emmett!" Isadora confirmed seriously, missing the sarcasm in Edwards voice while Emmett smirked proudly at Edward.
"I love you too, short stuff." Emmett said, ruffling her hair before sitting back down next to me, and poking me playfully in the side, earning a swift smack in the arm. Emmett was really the only one Isadora allowed to call her nicknames besides princess. She would constantly correct anyone calling her Izzy or Dora, and most certainly wouldn't let anyone else call her something like short stuff, but Uncle Emmett on the other hand, could call her whatever he wanted. "Alright people, what are you feeding Uncle Emmett for dinner?"
(A.N. Alright so most of Isadora's room is on my profile. I went a little nuts, but it was fun. I have her bed, door tile, stuffed alligator, toy chest, doll house, and of course the toy Emmett bought her. Check it out. Oh and did I mention, REVIEW! Thanks my friends!)
