Disclaimer: Anything belonging to Twilight I don't own, it's all Stephanie's.
Ch. 9
The Day in the Life
I woke with the sun flitting through my opened window along with a soothing breeze. I stretched and quickly went through my morning routine, thankful I was getting to shower, it was hard when I was in California to get to do some of the necessities, like shower. I was incredibly thankful for Charlie and all the help he was offering me, but I was going to make certain that he no longer took anymore night shifts with the babies, they were my responsibility. I walked back in my room and noticed all the bags from yesterday, whoever brought me home must have brought up the clothes also. With a tiny bit of joy I rifled through to find a comfortable outfit suitable to lounge around the house in.
Making my way down stairs I walked into the living room where Charlie was rocking Juliana in his recliner holding the pacifier in her mouth, she was awake but seemed content. I knew that he had used the remaining of the bottles I had left so I would have to pump before the girls ate for the morning. Smiling at my dad and making my way into the kitchen I grabbed all the dirty bottles from the diaper bag and kitchen counter to clean them. Once clean I picked up the pump, very thankful I could because I was full, I hoped that I could fill at least half of what was needed for the day to make up for the fact that I only pumped once yesterday.
I sat listening for any noise in the living room when I heard whimpering. Julian was losing her patience with the pacifier and she was going to want to be fed, if she wasn't soon she was going to wake her sister. I quit pumping for the moment, covered up and picked up two of the recently filled bottles and brought them into the living room, I handed one to Charlie and then reached in the play pen for an alert Charlotte. Once they were fed, Charlie headed upstairs to get ready for another day at work. I placed them pack in their play pen and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Looking around the kitchen, it was easy to see that a trip to the supermarket was needed to increase the food stuffs to feed more than Charlie, and I highly doubted that he even ate much at home while I was gone. I'm sure he spent the majority of his meals with either Billy or Sue. I rummaged for ideas on what to make and decided that I'd use the rest of the eggs and bread for scrambled eggs and toast with jam. Charlie walked in just as the eggs were being finished.
We sat in silence, me unable to bring up the conversation we had yet to have, him probably trying to figure out how to start said conversation. I'm sure there were many things he wanted to know about where I was and what I did while away, I really had no clue but I knew I was going to be uncomfortable answering most any question he asked.
I finished my breakfast and put the dirty dishes in the sink; I sat at the table, covered up and finished pumping. At this point I didn't care if it made Charlie uncomfortable, I needed to finish the bottles and I wanted to avoid his talk, it accomplished both equally well. Charlie shifted back and forth in his chair for a while then got up and placed his dirty dishes in the sink next to mine, walked back to me placed a kiss on my forehead and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, soon the sound of the front door reverberated through the house.
I finished pumping and placed the filled bottles in the fridge. I checked on the girls and returned to the kitchen. I decided that the house need a thorough cleaning, with the way the food stuffs looked I was sure that the house hadn't had a good cleaning since the last one I did. The girls were happily occupied with the visual aids in their play pen and pacifiers so I got to work on the dishes. Once they were done I moved on to sweeping and mopping. I went back into the living room where I changed the diapers and put them in their outfits for the day and placed my happy babies back in the play pen. Since the day I fled their schedules had been disturbed and if I wanted them to continue sleeping well at night then I was going to have to put them back on the schedule they were used to. They were going to need a nap somewhat soon but I figured I could clean some more before they did.
I moved upstairs to do the bathroom and collect the laundry from mine and Charlie's rooms. Cleaning had taken a good chunk of my morning and I still had the living room and laundry to do. I got the washer started and moved to the living room to see that the girls had fallen asleep. I couldn't do much cleaning with them asleep so I needed to do something else while the clothes washed. There had been something I was avoiding, something I needed to do, but doing it wasn't going to be fun because this was something that shouldn't be done over the phone. I had to call my mom. She needed to know I was home and safe. She needed to know she had granddaughters, but how was I going to tell her in a way that didn't seem aloof or lacking the importance the situation granted. I knew I couldn't blurt over the phone that I was a mother; I needed her to come to Forks without telling her the reason she had to come. And knowing my mother it wasn't going to be an easy task, she was going to grill me over the phone, I was going to have to put up the tough fight to remain as vague as possible. Given my years of lying experience to both my parents I hoped I could pull it off.
With determination I grabbed the cordless phone and the new baby monitor that was purchased yesterday, I made my way up the stairs to call the woman I hadn't seen nor spoken to since Christmas. The phone rang.
"Hello Charlie, any word on Bella?" My mother asked before I had a chance to speak.
"Mom." I responded hesitantly.
"Oh my god, Bella?" She nearly shrieked.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Bella, baby? Are you ok? What happened? Where were you?" She asked frantically.
"Mom, I'm fine and yes I'm okay. I'm sorry I ran away and put you and dad and everyone else through all that torment and worry. I was stupid and rash."
"Bella why'd you run away?"
"Mom I really want to tell you but this is something I need to tell you in person." I said trying to placate her worry, I wasn't going to tell her anything about the babies and my reasons for leaving, she was just going to have to come to Forks because there was no way I was going to go to Florida.
"God Bella I was so worried, why don't you come down and see me and we can talk?" She asked.
"Mom I can't leave, I…you…I need you to come here, and I need you to do it as soon as possible."
"Are you in trouble Bella, what's going on, you can tell me?"
"Mom, I just need you to come to Forks and you can have Phil come too, he should know too…"
"Know what Bella, tell me what's going on right now."
"I can't tell you, mom please just come to Forks as soon as you can, I'm sorry I'm worrying you but I will not tell you this over the phone. Please come." I was pleading with her, fighting the urge to just tell her so she wouldn't worry unnecessarily.
"Does Charlie know you're in trouble Bella, is it Jacob, is…is it…Edward?" She asked very diffident to mention Edward afraid she mentioned an emotional bomb.
"No mom it really has nothing to do with Edward and yes Charlie knows." Hopefully she forgot her mention of Jacob.
"So it's Jacob then, what did he do to make you run away and act so secretive on the phone, this is almost like the time you ran back to Phoenix." I sighed.
"Mom, I just…I can't…I don't want…I don't want you thinking anything bad about him, he did nothing wrong, he's the one hurting right now and until you get here I can't tell you what you want to here. I'm going to be vague and secretive because I will not tell you this over the phone, I don't want to share this with you thousands of miles apart. I'm sorry if I'm hurting you but…I need you mom, just please come." I finished sadly.
As much as I didn't want to admit it I wanted my mom here to give me advice on being a young mom. Advice on how I could fix the mess I made with Jacob because she done something similar to Charlie. And even though I was a mother right now I just wanted to cuddle in my mother's arms and let the complications of my life fall away for a little bit. I wanted to just be someone's child for a moment instead of someone's mother.
"I don't like this Bella but I'll come as soon as I can. I'll try to drag Phil with too; he was so worried about you too."
"Okay."
"So besides why you left, how are you doing?"
"Considering I disappeared and gave everyone one a reason to hate me, I'm doing fine most everyone has welcomed me back openly. That is more than I expected, only Jacob is acting how I expected and he has every right to being the way he is right now. It's just difficult being away from him when he's so close."
"How long have you been back?" She sounded a tiny little bit hurt.
"Um…yeah…I got back Sunday afternoon and I would have called you sooner but I had to deal with a lot back here."
"Bella this is really big isn't it, your secret?"
"Yeah, really big, I wish you were here right now, I need your advice so badly, I don't know what to do and I just want someone to tell me how to fix my mistakes." I said my voice belaying my desperation to fix everything with Jacob.
"Oh sweetie, I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better but I can't tell you anything but give it time and things will get better. I have a feeling that it won't help you with your problem though." She said sadly.
"No it doesn't but it still helps to hear your voice, I really did miss talking to you mom." As I finished speaking I heard one of my babies begin to whimper. I turned the monitor down so that Renee couldn't hear and I began trying to find a way to quickly get off the phone to attend to the babies.
"Um…mom…I have to go, something just came up. I'll talk to you later and let me know when you're coming or if you can't come. Hopefully I'll see you soon."
"Are you sure you're okay baby, you seem a little frazzled right now?"
"I promise I'm fine mom. I love you." I could now hear wailing from downstairs.
"Okay, I love you too baby, I hope I'll see you soon, bye." I quickly hung up and rushed downstairs to calm my daughter.
Descending the stairs and then entering the living room I glanced at the clock to see that it was time to feed the babies. I picked up my vocally upset Juliana and made my way to the kitchen to warm two bottles for them. I shushed her, bounced her and patted her back to calm her down. She wasn't having any of it and her wails increased. I rushed to the diaper bag and grabbed another pacifier and put it in her mouth. She suckled for about three seconds and began crying again. Once the first bottle was warmed I put it to her lips and she took it quickly.
She devoured the contents of her bottle more quickly than she had ever done before. I moved to burp her and when she did I felt the warm gooeyness before I smelt the offending odor. Thankfully my hair was on my other shoulder so I didn't need to clean that out. I walked into the living room and set Juliana in her carrier with her pacifier and made my way to laundry room, I removed my shirt and added it to my large pile. I moved the wash to the dryer and threw my newly dirtied shirt and the rest of the load in the washer to wash. I grabbed one of Charlie's clean shirts off the dryer and put it on so that I could continue washing my clothes. I picked up Charlottes warmed bottle and went to go feed her. She ate happily. I burped her and placed her in her back in the play pen with her pacifier.
Juliana was still acting fussy so I picked her up and went to Charlie's recliner so that I could rock her. I placed her on my shoulder and gently patted her back as I rocked her. She was nuzzling the crook of my neck and grabbing at my collar bone and whining quietly. I thought she might be hungry after spiting up bottle but I was afraid that if I gave her more milk she might spit that up as well because she seemed to have an upset stomach. I stood up and grabbed Charlotte's empty bottle. With Juliana in my arms I went to the sink and cleaned the bottle and then filled it with tepid water. I went back to the living room and fed Juliana the water in the recliner.
She finally seemed to calm and relax. I placed her in the play pen with Charlotte and went to clean the bottles again so that when I pumped later, there were clean bottles already available for me to use. I heard that the washer was done so I pulled out the load and put in a new one. I checked the one in the dryer and pulled it out because it was done, and replaced it with the load I had just pulled out of the washer. I folded the dried load and set it on the dryer for me to put away when the rest of the laundry was finished. I made my way into the kitchen and made the grocery list.
I walked back into the living room when I heard one of the girls begin to cry. I notice a very strong odor coming from the play pen. Charlotte was fine but Juliana was the one crying again. I picked her up and regretted it immediately. She had messed herself out of her diaper and up her back. I held her gingerly in my arms and sat down near the diaper bag. With one arm I pulled out the diaper pad and laid her on it. I cautiously removed her soiled clothes and placed them in a pile. I then removed the diaper and began cleaning her as best I could with wipes. Once she was clean enough to hold I walked into the kitchen and filled the sink for her bath.
I gave her, her bath and then grabbed one of the outfits I had just folded and walked into the living room to diaper and dress her. I put her back in the play pen in a different spot. I marched to the kitchen to look for a safe cleanser but found none so I filled a small bucket with warm soapy water and a tiny amount of bleach and began to clean the soiled diaper pad and then the dirty portion of the play pen. I picked the dirty outfit and began to rinse it out in the laundry room sink. I cleaned out the sink and filled it with water and a bit of detergent to soak the outfit. I then went to change Charlotte.
I was a tad worried that Jules was being fussy and Charlotte wasn't. I hoped that Juliana didn't get anything from all the people she had been around the past three days. Because I was worried she did I went to the phone and called the clinic to make an appointment with the pediatrician. I didn't want to be the overly fussy mom but I couldn't help it when it came to my babies when they were like this. I was at least thankful I wasn't in the blind panic I was the first time Juliana got a fever. With the appointment made for Tuesday afternoon I went to the play pen and pulled Charlotte and Juliana out and put them in their carriers so we could make the trip to the supermarket. As I'm about to walk out the door to make sure the carrier bases are back in my car, the phone rings, I move quickly to answer is, resulting in me stubbing my toe on the door frame. With mumbled expletives I pick it up.
"Swan residence."
"Bells?"
"Oh hey Dad, what's up?"
"Sue was wondering if you wanted to do dinner together since we all didn't really get to talk to you last night with everyone there and you passing out not long after dinner."
"Sure, sure, sounds good dad, I was heading to the supermarket now, is there anything special you want tonight or the rest of the week?" I asked.
"No whatever you make I'm sure will be great, do you need help with the groceries, I have the jar for food in the cupboard above the sink for you to use."
"That's okay, I have to get diapers and things for the babies that I forgot to get yesterday so I'll get groceries dad."
"Um dad…I called Renee and I asked her to come to Forks so that I could tell her about the girls and so she could meet them. I won't tell her over the phone though she tried to get me to tell her. So, um could you make sure you don't say anything if she calls to interrogate you?" I pleaded
"Okay Bells, I'll see you when I get off at four, love you kiddo." He said and then hung up before I could reply.
I quickly rushed out to my car and noticed that both bases were in my car but were not buckled in. I opened my car secured them properly and went back in the house to grab the babies, the diaper bag and my purse.
Once at the store I grabbed two carts, one for the baby carriers and one for my purchases, this was the reason I always got groceries when the girls were at the babysitter, it is really a hassle to try to push two carts around the store. I moved around the store as quickly as I could pointedly ignoring the stares everyone was giving me. Some were out right bug eyed staring, some were trying to do it slyly others just ignored me, which was fine with me. Thankfully the whispers I had heard at the diner were not recreated here at the store. Grabbing everything I needed off the list and also a few things I didn't have I made my way to pay.
They thankfully had the bag boy go out to my car to help me load the groceries, or he loaded the groceries in my trunk while I buckled the babies up. I wanted to get home quickly because they were going to get hungry soon and it looked as if it was going to storm as well.
When I pulled up at the house there was a very happy werewolf sitting on the porch steps grinning. I got out and went to the back seat to pull the babies out. Quil ran up to me to help me. He took one carrier while I took the other. I walked into the living room and took Charlotte out of her carrier and placed her in the play pen, Quil followed my actions and did the same for Juliana but a little more delicately. He followed me out to the car where I popped the trunk and began pulling out my purchases. Quil fills his arms with more than twice of what I carry and be both go to the kitchen, he quickly goes back to get the remainder of the bags. I began pulling out everything from the bags and putting them away. Once Quil is back in the house he helps with putting away the groceries. Once I began hanging out with the pack regularly they all seemed to learn where everything in the kitchen was because Jake knew, so it didn't surprise me that Quil was putting everything in the right spot. What did surprise me was that he was even here.
"Hey Quil, what are you doing here, not that I mind the help?"
"Well, I heard you on the phone with Charlie talking about going to get groceries and with the babies I figured you could use the help." He smiled
"You're hungry and you want me to make you something right?" I laughed lightly.
"You caught me, I haven't had your cooking in months and just the thought of it makes my mouth water and I figured since I'm here I could check on the pups."
"For Jacob." I finished for him, sadly. The look in his eyes told me everything I need to know. Jacob was avoiding me and he was now using the pack to check up on his children so that he could avoid me. I guess he's phased since yesterday then. I ignored the festering wound the thought of Jacob ignoring be created. I deserved to be held at arm's length for as long as he needed me to be there but not coming to see his daughters because of that hurt.
"Just let me switch loads and then I'll make you something Quil, if you want you can go in the living room and watch the babies."
I moved to the laundry room, pulled the dried clothes out and folded them and placed them on the piles on the dryer. I moved the washed clothes to the dryer and then placed the clothes Jules dirtied earlier and the rest of the load in the washer I started it. I moved to the kitchen to make lunch for me and Quil. I decided on grilled turkey paninis with tomato, basil and provolone cheese on sourdough bread. I made two sandwiches for me and six for Quil.
I called Quil into the kitchen where we ate, me keeping my head down avoiding him, avoiding asking the questions I wanted to ask, really avoiding the answers more than the questions. I was afraid I wouldn't like what he had to say. I could think of Jacob's motives for his actions all I wanted but they were just that, my thoughts. I didn't know for certain if he was avoiding me or if he was just more alert for patrol than the others because the threat was against his children. I wanted to remain in blissful ignorance because if he was ignoring me and by proxy the babies then I was going to want to know why, besides his anger. Had he finally had it with me and didn't want me in his life? I had to stop the thoughts before they festered.
I heard a groan of approval come across the table and I looked up at Quil and smirked. He was patting his belly and all his food was gone. He stood and placed his plate in the sink. He walked up behind me and placed a peck on the top of my head.
"Thanks for lunch Belly Bear, but I have to get back to patrol, I'll see you later." He smiled and walked out of the back door towards the woods.
"You're welcome Quil, and quit calling me that nickname." I said knowing he could hear me.
I decided to feed the girls now before I got started on the supper for Charlie, Sue and I. I wanted to pump now before Charlie got back so that we could avoid the awkward atmosphere that was breakfast. I filled the remainder of my cleaned bottles, happy I got caught up from yesterday and from coming up from California. I didn't know how much longer my body was going to keep producing this much milk, but it was getting kind of exhausting and painful. Good thing I was meeting with the doctor next week.
I fed them one of the freshly pumped bottles and then went back into the kitchen to start on the Bar-B-Q pulled pork I was making for supper. It was going to take several hours for the pork to cook and then it needed to rest for a bit. Once the pork was cooking I cleaned the kitchen up a bit and then went to clean the living room.
I checked to see if Juliana had spit up her bottle like before but happily she didn't but she still seemed fussy so I picked her up and went to the recliner to rock her again.
I must have nodded off because the next thing I knew I was waking up to Charlie taking a picture of me holding a sleeping Jules. I smiled at him; I didn't have that many pictures of me and my babies because there was no one around to take them. I hoped it turned out so that I could make a scrapbook of their childhood one day.
"Hey Bells, how was your day?" Charlie asked after pulling off his gun, picking up Charlotte and sitting on the couch.
"It was just the typical day for me, I cleaned the house, worked on some laundry, went grocery shopping and hung out with my babies."
"Well whatever you're making for dinner smells great." He supplied happily.
"Oh speaking of which I have to pull that out of the oven, Dad what do you say having Sue pick up Billy and he can eat with us too?" I asked.
"Sure sounds good, you want to hand me the phone and I'll call her." I get up, place Jules in the carrier nearest Charlie and put the pacifier in her mouth. I grab the phone and hand it to Charlie and go into the kitchen to pull the pork out.
I let the pork rest while I mixed up my bar-b-q recipe. Once that was finished I pulled the pork apart, replaced it in the pan, poured my sauce on it and put it back in the oven at a much lower temperature. I set the kitchen table for four and made my way back to the living room to change the babies' diapers.
"Bells?"
"Yeah Dad?" I looked at him, he seemed uncomfortable and I knew he was going to try to have a talk.
"What…How…Didn't we…?" He tried asking but kept stopping.
"How did this happen, is that what you wanted to ask? It happened my first time, I wasn't thinking straight and I doubt Jacob was either. I know we talked about contraception and every time after we used it, we made a mistake and I destroyed everything." I really didn't want to talk about my sex life with Charlie
"Why'd you think you couldn't come to me? Yes I'm disappointed but I would have helped you no matter what."
"I wasn't thinking clearly that day, so no I wasn't going to come to you or anyone, I thought there was nothing anyone could do to help, I'm sorry."
"What's done is done and there is nothing that can be done to change it, but Bella if you ever get in trouble again, you come to me before you decide anything. I can't lose you like that again. It killed me not knowing where in tar nation you were."
"I promise dad."
Any further talk was interrupted by the arrival of Sue and Billy. Charlie got up, handed me Charlotte and went outside to help Billy up the stairs. I put Charlotte in her carrier next to Juliana and went to the kitchen to take the pulled pork out of the oven and then place the buns and condiments on the table along with the iced tea I had made earlier in the day. I moved to the laundry room and switched loads, folded the dried load and started a new load, I only had one more to wash and I'd be done for a little while.
Upon reentering the kitchen I noticed that Sue had a dish in her hands. She was walking towards the fridge. I supposed it was a dessert or a meal for later.
"Hello Sue, did you need me to take that for you?"
"No dear I'll just put this in the fridge, I thought since you were nice enough to make dinner I would bring a dessert."
"Thank you Sue." I replied kindly, it was still a little awkward talking to her knowing she was my dad's girlfriend. I'm sure she wasn't happy with me for the pain and turmoil I put Charlie through either.
I was surprised when not only did Billy and Charlie come into the kitchen but Rachel and Paul as well. I quickly went to the cupboard and grabbed two extra place settings and then to the closet in the foyer for two chairs. Rachel left the kitchen and came back with both carriers. The kitchen was now officially cramped. I put the pork in a serving dish and set it on the table and we all sat down to eat.
Billy and Charlie talked enthusiastically about a fishing trip they had planned for the coming weekend while Sue paid silent attention to them. Rachel, Paul and I ate in silence, something I was familiar with but Paul's indifference to me made it an uncomfortable silence. When mostly everyone was finished I went to the fridge to grab Sue's dessert. While I was cutting Rachel cleared her throat. I stopped what I was doing to see what she wanted.
"Um, Bella would it be possible for me to take the girls for an overnight visit either tomorrow or Friday night?" She asked hesitantly.
Her hesitation bothered me. I thought about why she would be timid, unless she wasn't asking for herself, she was asking for Jacob. While I knew I was going to have to let him have overnight visits I couldn't do that right now. With the way Juliana was acting to the fact that Renee was hopefully going to be visiting soon. Not to mention Jake had no experience with babies save what I had him do the other night. If he wanted to avoid me he could but I couldn't let him have the girls for overnight right now till after their doctor visit.
"Uh…I don't think that's such a good idea right now…but if you want to take them for part of the day that would be fine." I said as I placed the dessert on the table and went back to the fridge to pull out two bottles.
I picked up Juliana first. I wanted to feed her so that if she repeated her morning incident then I could handle it accordingly and try to make an earlier appointment with the doctor for sometime this week. She ate at her normal pace, not eating hungrily like before. I ate my dessert while she drank her bottle. Rachel got up, picked up Charlotte and fed her, never commenting on what I said, which confirmed my belief she was asking for Jacob.
Sue and Charlie cleared the table and then she washed the dishes. Billy, Paul, and Charlie moved to the living room to catch the latest Mariners game. I contemplated saying what I wanted to tell Rachel knowing it was going to come off as harsh but the fact that Jacob was so obviously avoiding me stung and I wasn't in the mood.
"If Jacob wants to spend time with the girls all he has to do is ask and I'll gladly bring them down to see him but right now I can't let him have them for an overnight visit." Before Rachel could comment Sue spoke.
"I didn't expect anything different from you Bella." I was shocked, was she being harsh or what. Her tone didn't come off as harsh but I was apprehensive.
"Why?" Rachel asked for me.
"She's a young mom and while she can handle them gone for the day because they were at daycare, having them gone overnight scares her, I'm sure she gets up at night just to see if they're breathing, so her being uneasy about Jacob taking them overnight without her knowing he could handle it scares her." I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Sue wasn't criticizing me, she was being understanding.
"How about I drop them off at Billy's house around noon and he can have them till after dinner and I'll do the same for Friday?" I asked Rachel.
"Works for me, if he doesn't like it he can grow a pair and talk to you himself." She replied annoyed.
The rest of the night past in relative calm; Sue, Rachel and I remained in the kitchen chatting about nothing of importance while the boys watched the rest of the game. Once the game was finished, Billy, Sue, Rachel and Paul all filed out and I got the babies ready for bed, glad I was able to keep them on their schedule. I brought my pillow and blanket down from my room and plopped them on the couch. I knew I couldn't keep sleeping on the couch and I was going to have to find a way to make the play pen fit in my bedroom but, tonight I would sleep downstairs. I bid goodnight to Charlie and fell into a fitful sleep where I was once again tormented by my disappearing daughter and Jacob's imprint.
A/N: This chapter sets up a bit of drama in the next several chapters so while nothing really important happens it's still needed. I know many of you wanted to see Jacob, but I know what I'm doing and you won't see him till two chapters from now, sorry, but I hope you'll be happy when you do see him. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, the response was amazing. I can't thank everyone enough who has read this story. Let me know what you think.
