Refunded, Darling
Choking Diner
A blast of warmth washed over Bella as she stepped over the threshold of the Swan home; the heady scent of Sue's renowned and much-loved berry cobbler mingled with her senses and drew a contented, breathy sigh from her lips. The gentle click of the lock that sounded as she closed the door behind her did not go unnoticed as Sue's oven-warmed face peered out from behind the staircase, the dishrag slung over shoulder slipping as she craned her neck.
Her mother's curiosity was replaced by a well-meaning concern and a touch of frustration as she watched her drop her duffel onto the last stair. It was the same deserved mix of frustration and worry that Bella had been subject to after knocking herself out on First Beach after a dare from Jacob's friends, a frustration that her often rebellious and rash nature stirred within Sue on several occasions.
"Something smells good," Bella dared to speak as Sue removed the dishrag and curled it around her hand.
"Just like your father," Sue rolled her eyes and moved her hands to her hips; Bella knew it was her state of avoidance that rubbed Sue the wrong way, and it usually resulted in either Charlie or her getting an earful at some later date.
"I thought you were going to be here earlier," Sue's tone conveyed an interest that wouldn't have bothered Bella if she hadn't something to hide.
"I woke up late," she tried to feign nonchalance and stepped further towards the kitchen.
"Not so fast, Kid," Sue's arm blocked the kitchen doorway.
In an attempt to avoid the usual bitter words that would be traded if she wasn't compliant, she shuffled over to the couch and settled into the cushions ready to face Sue's wrath. It wasn't something she wanted to have to sit through, especially as a harsh bout of heartburn flared in her chest, but the sooner she could appease her overprotective mother the better.
The well-worn couch accommodated her body a lot more comfortably than her Coupe had, and she groaned a sigh of relief as the niggling ache in her back subsided for the moment. She toed her Converse off her feet and propped them on the surface of the coffee table, nudging a pile of fishing magazines aside as Sue dropped herself into the armchair opposite the hearth.
Bella allowed Sue a few moments to compose the argument she had probably been constructing since Bella had sobbed down the phone; plump fingers rested against a weathered brow and Bella shifted her eyes to the floor at the guilt she felt for having exhausted her mother once more.
"You really scared me this weekend," Sue admitted, as she massaged her temple with flour- specked hands.
"I scared myself," Bella mumbled, fumbling with the hem of her tee as she tried to busy the itching need to soothe the nervous trembling of her hands.
"Baby…I understand you're hormonal and that this wasn't your life plan, but you can't keep doing this."
"I know," Bella swallowed thickly.
"Do you?" Sue lifted her head from her palm and stared straight at her, imploring her to meet her eyes, "because you keep pushing the limits, Kid; I'm always waiting for the next call to rip this family apart."
"Don't say that," Bella pleaded; the memory was still too fresh, incoherent sobs, her father's voice attempting to wrestle the phone from her distraught mother…the worst day of her life.
"I have to say this, Bella! It's not going to get through to you any other way!"
"I got it," Bella promised, remembering the unadulterated fear and guilt that had slammed into her like a wrecking ball after realizing who Edward really was.
"I want to be so proud of you for doing this, I am proud of you…but running away, crossing the boundaries of the law…you make me want to tear my hair out over and over again; you can't do that to a baby, you have to accept the limits for what they are, or you'll end up hurting someone other than yourself."
"You know I only went to Arizona because I had to work - I didn't run away."
"We knew that," Sue spoke for both Charlie and herself, "and we also knew you needed space…we all needed it, but you cut yourself off for a long while…"
"No one in this house was speaking!" Bella threw her hands up in frustration, "it was like everyone had died and I was living in a morgue."
"And then we have one fight, one, and the next thing I know, you're driving three hours into the wrong side of the law - you could have found anyone out there," Sue's chest was heaving, "I was so close to getting Charlie to call up SPD and have them drag you home - I can't tell you what went through my mind when you told me you were staying overnight…"
"I'm sorry," Bella offered, dropping her forehead into a clammy palm, "really."
Sue reclined into the armchair after a long silence and exhaled a long, exaggerated breath.
"I'm sorry for making you feel like you had no one else to turn to. If I had kept my head and taken the time to listen to your needs, then maybe we could have avoided all of this heartache."
The timer on the stove rang through the house and Bella was thankful for the short respite as Sue detached herself from the situation and left to remove the cobbler from the heat. Her fingers still trembled something chronic as her earlier conversation with Edward played like a broken record in the back of her mind. It was a surprise that Sue hadn't called her out on her perpetual fidgeting and incessant lip-biting; she had inherited Charlie's inability to conceal the weakest of lies and secrets.
She pushed herself up from the couch and followed Sue into the kitchen, her mouth watering at the crisp, sweet smell of baked pastry and sugared berries. The smell failed to dissipate the familiar unease swimming in her gut and she leaned against one of the counters with a heavy heart as she watched Sue place the dessert onto a cooling rack.
I'm always waiting for the next call…
Memories of nights spent sobbing her heart out on Sue's shoulder flitted through her mind one after the other in a random, sporadic succession, like a short film of her most vulnerable moments. Flashes of dejection and pain, embarrassment and fear; they all culminated into one lasting image - Sue wrapping her arms around her and forgiving, beyond all blame and reason.
You can't keep doing this…
"Mom?"
Her voice was unusually quiet, the same shy, worried tone that she had used throughout her childhood after breaking a vase or failing a test. A voice she reserved for moments when she failed to recognize any hope for a good outcome.
"What have you done this time?" Sue remained with her back facing towards her, a sign that she was bracing herself for the blow Bella would deal; she realized that her nerves had been a dead give away after all.
"Promise not to yell?"
"Christ, Kid…" Sue's elbows bowed a little as she sank against the counter.
"I'm sorry -"
"Just spit it out, Bella."
"He knows."
Bella flinched as Sue whipped the counter with the dishrag in frustration; it barely missed the cobbler and cracked through the room with a fury that could not be vocalized. Sue braced herself against the counters until the few composing breaths she inhaled were calming enough for her to be able to address the situation at hand.
"Do I need to call the attorney?" she asked evenly.
Bella shook her head but realized it was redundant when Sue turned to her for an audible response.
"I don't think so -"
"You don't think so?"
"I don't know," Bella swiped a hand through her hair and clenched her fingers to grab the strands in an attempt to ground something, "he wants to be involved."
"Absolutely not!" Sue's hands cemented themselves on her hips, "did you tell him that?!"
Bella panicked and she felt herself nodding in a quick-fire attempt to soothe the fear that pinched at her Mother's brow.
"He still wants to be involved; I tried to push him away but he practically begged me, Mom-"
"And this is what you want?" Sue shrugged her shoulders sharply, her lips set into a firm line, "I suppose his girlfriend wants in on this ready-made family as well?" she pressed without pause for an answer.
"He wants us to get to know each other and his girlfriend wants him to try."
"Oh, how saintly of her."
"I think I want him to try," Bella admitted out loud; Sue's stiffening did not go unnoticed and she gulped against the tension in her throat as her stomach churned.
"We can want as much as we like in this life, it doesn't mean we'll always get what we ask for," Sue warned her. "And as soon as this gets complicated it'll be too easy to pretend you never even existed and he'll be gone; or they'll marry and the baby will be a second-rate inconvenience to their own children-"
"Is that what I am to you?"
"Do you even have to ask that?" Sue snapped back, "think before you speak, Child - you're piling the wood for the bonfire and he'll be the first to burn it to the ground when he doesn't get what he wants."
"Would you have stopped my donor from contacting me?" Bella dared to ask; the topic of her birth mother had been a taboo subject ever since she had learned of Sue's non-biological connection to her all of those years ago. She knew next to nothing of the former Mrs Swan who had abandoned her with Charlie no less than two weeks after her birth.
"This isn't the same,"Sue said, refusing to acknowledge the painful similarity of their situation, "but then again, what do I know? Most of the teachings I instilled in you get thrown back in my face time and time again, and my opinion ends up counting for nothing."
The small tears were beginning to show, and Bella knew the conversation was not only painful for both parties, but heading for disaster. It seemed as though every decision regarding her future with the baby was always fraught with trouble and strife. She had never expected to have to deal with all of this at the tender age of twenty-three.
The conversation dwindled and Bella thought that the discussion was over as Sue reached for a spatula and began dividing the cobbler. That was until she uttered the five words that Bella never imagined would come from her stoic, non-negotiable mother.
"I want to meet him."
"But-"
"Everybody deserves a chance in this world; that man gave us Tia. I refuse to believe anything that could make something so sweet could be a monster…I want to meet him."
"I'll see if we can sort something out," Bella offered gently, still unsure of the sudden change of heart.
"I'm calling the attorney tonight and getting advice about this whole situation," Sue warned her, "and I'm telling your father as soon as he gets home from work."
"Not tonight!" Bella pleaded, "please, let me tell him in my own time."
"I want him to vet this guy," Sue shook her head, "I want every last gritty detail."
"And I'll agree to that, but not yet…let me get to know him before we run him off?"
"You get two weeks, and then I want him standing in front of me, and then we'll see how much he wants this."
"Fine," Bella acquiesced, knowing this was as close as Sue would bargain to.
"Fine," Sue repeated, passing Bella a slice of cobbler that was double her usual portion.
The rest of the evening passed with relative ease and both Charlie and Seth's appearances lightened Bella's mood as they hugged her to within an inch of her life. She helped dish up dinner and clear away the table after bolognaise, chased Seth with a face-wipe, and helped the little boy to bed after his eyes began to droop in front of the TV set.
She curled up on the sofa after weaving a string of goofy stories together and sending off Seth to the land of slumber, watching an aimless TV program until Sue perched beside her and pulled her against her shoulder. She smoothed a comforting hand through her hair and kissed the crown of her head; this was forgiveness at its finest.
Although Charlie's attention had been focused upon the newspaper he held in his hands, Bella had a distinct suspicion that he had been throwing her glances that he must have imagined were highly inconspicuous. The tell-tale curl of the top of the newspaper's pages alerted her of his spying as her cell vibrated with another text; she ignored him for the moment, and opened her latest message.
EdwardC:
GTKM Fact fifteen: When I was twelve, I had my first kiss…and also my first punch in the face from a girl; it must have sucked.
"Who's got you smilin' so early?" Charlie finally gruffed, folding his paper and tossing it onto the free couch cushion beside him.
"Just a friend," Bella exited the messenger screen and tucked the cell into her pocket, artfully trying to dodge Charlie's piqued interest. However, Charlie's cop senses must have been tingling because he pressed the matter a little more as she tried to brush it off.
"Seems like you've had a smile for that phone every day," he noted, "not seen you like this since that Cheney kid."
"Are you ever going to call him Ben?" Bella rolled her eyes; Charlie had never referred to any of her boyfriends by their given names and Ben had been 'Cheney' for the two years that they had dated, sometimes even 'Chichi'.
"Anyone I know?" Charlie fished again.
"God, Dad," Bella groaned, "he's just a …friend?" even she seemed unsure of herself as she trailed off and let her mind mull over some of the pointless yet often funny messages she had received over the past week. Edward was still an enigma to her, a little less a stranger, yet nothing more than a mere acquaintance at that moment in time.
"He?" Charlie emphasised, "and you don't sound so convinced," he muttered, pretending to focus his attention on the TV set.
"Oh, give over," Bella chuckled, "haven't you got anything better to do than to quiz me over my non-existent love life?" she teased, "Mafia in Forks? Drive by shooting at The Lodge?"
"I'll have you know I caught a punk doing one twenty in a thirty zone last night," Charlie bantered back.
"Whoa, look out Detroit, Forks is coming for you!"
"Are you ready, Kid?" Sue called from upstairs as both she and Charlie quietly chuckled to themselves. Bella had been roused from sleep by Sue - despite having set an alarm for herself - for her morning sonogram with Dr. Gerandy at Forks General. She had been fed, watered and dressed an hour and a half before their appointment and Bella was a little resentful that she hadn't been able to sleep for a little longer. It was the only reason she was awake and trading jokes with Charlie at eight am in the morning rather than sleeping in late.
"I'm ready!" Seth's heavy footfalls charged down the staircase and tripped over the last step, sending him flying across the hall and narrowly missing the radiator as he caught himself on all fours.
"Shi..-take mushrooms!" Bella caught her blaring curse as the shock registered in her mind.
"No running in the house, Seth!" Charlie boomed his age-old reprimand that never seemed to be heeded; the little boy had too much expendable energy and he seemed to want to run everywhere. Seth muttered a woeful "sorry, Pops" and sidled over to Bella in the armchair with an embarrassed flush to his cheeks.
"It's okay, Bud," she soothed, "I fell over in front of three hundred people once," she told him, remembering the awful moment she tripped on her high school graduation stage and face-planted the temporary construction before she was even able to accept her diploma.
"That's a lot of people," Seth's eyes widened, to him, anything over twenty was like infinity; twenty dollars was usually looked upon as a million and Seth would treasure it for months before wanting to blow it all on plastic toy heroes.
"Oh gosh, Leah almost went into labor over that!" Charlie chuckled, as he too replayed the memory in his head.
"Yeah," Bella smiled wistfully, a little jolted by Charlie's ease in regards to talking about Leah.
"Hey, Pops," Seth tried to attract Charlie's attention.
"Yes, Son?"
"I get to see Belly's baby today!" he cheered, dancing on the spot.
"Ain't that fabulous," Charlie gruffed, turning to Bella with narrowed eyes, "have you been letting him watch that Geek programme again?"
"You mean Glee?" Bella smirked.
"Whatever," Charlie grumbled, "he needs to stop copying that sissy dancing-"
"Ah, give the kid a break, we all know he isn't destined to be Billy Elliot - let him get it out of his system before he realizes he has two left feet like the rest of us," Bella shrugged it off.
As soon as Sue was ready, Bella and Seth said their goodbyes to Charlie and the trio walked to the nearest bus stop despite Bella's pleas to hop into the Coupe. Seth was all for a cruise in Bella's car but Sue was a little more hesitant. And as soon as it looked like Bella would send her into shock, she stopped pressing the matter and gave in to Sue's original plan to catch the bus. Even public transport unnerved the stoic woman, and she clung to Bella's hand for the entire journey, numbing her fingers in a response to her raw fear.
Bella signed in at the reception desk and waited for her name to be called before trudging her way to Dr. Gerandy's office with Sue and Seth in tow. Her cell buzzed once as she greeted her new OB and she ignored it as she was led over to the table.
"It's lovely to meet you, Isabella, I see you brought some visitors?"
"Yeah, this is my Mom and my brother," she explained, much to his amusement as he surveyed the differences between the three.
"Lovely to meet you all, and now, if you could take a seat," he motioned to the spare chairs, looking back down at the file in his hand. Dr. Gerandy was a pleasant man who seemed a whole lot more invested in his patients than her OB in Arizona had ever been. Seth's eyes were glued to her stomach for the entire session and by the time Dr. Gerandy was finished taking external measurements, it was time for the actual sonogram.
She would never get used to the cool glaze of gel spread across her abdomen, even if Dr. Gerandy used half as much as her previous doctor. As the first flicker of the black and white image appeared on the small screen, the familiar pang of guilt and loss settled in her chest and burned a tension that threatened to blur her eyes with watery tears. Every scan she'd had since Leah's death had been a quick affair with no real emotion allowed to surface. It had been pushed down to avoid the impending arrival of a life that she had no idea how to care for.
In the light of recent events, Bella managed to persuade herself to look at the various parts that Dr. Gerandy pointed out - hands and feet, arms, legs…grainy images that she usually glanced at as her eyes roamed the room, but never fully invested herself in. The image on the screen seemed so much more like a baby now, and she struggled to remember at what stage she had last allowed herself to really look at the child that resided in her womb.
"We're looking at a healthy 3.5lbs at the moment, expect that to double over the next seven weeks," Gerandy informed her as he moved the doppler over the baby's head.
"It's got a big head, Belly," Seth whispered from Sue's lap.
"Hey," Bella craned her neck to frown at him, "that's my kid you're talkin' about."
Seth squealed an uncontrollable giggle and the whole room erupted in laughter, earning a few peels from not only the family but Dr. Gerandy himself.
It was hard to disguise the sharp hitch of her breath as the steady thrum of the baby's heartbeat echoed through the room in a gentle cadence; it was as though she had finally tuned in to that radio station that always seemed out of range, and she was finally able to bear witness to a raw, ethereal treasure.
Bella had never allowed her to invest much interest in the baby in fear of forming an attachment or a bond that she would be unable to overcome. Although Leah and Bella would never admit it out loud, it was only natural that they both feared the complex nature of human emotion and feeling in their delicate situation. Even after Leah's death, Bella distanced herself from the pregnancy and continued to go about daily life until one idle Tuesday in Arizona when a tiny limb nudged at her right side for the first time.
"Hey, that's my skin, Kid."
She had sounded so much like her mother in that moment and it had scared her half to death.
"Momma, Belly's crying," Seth's worried voice announced.
"She's okay, Baby," Sue smiled down at him, "everything's just falling into place."
"She's happy?" Seth asked, a little unconvinced as she raised her fingertips to wipe away the few tears she hadn't even realized she'd let go of.
"Very happy, Bud," Bella turned her head to flash him a megawatt smile.
"Would we like to know the sex today?" Dr. Gerandy asked.
"Nah," Bella declined, "Seth and I have a little wager going on and I'm giving him some time to save up, so he can pay up when I win."
"Ah, starting the gambling young I see," Dr. Gerandy chuckled, much to Sue's dismay; Bella had bet with Seth for years and he had a nice little jar of one dollar bills from their many wagers that Bella had a knack for losing.
"But I could get a head start on my knitting if we found out," Sue tried to persuade her.
"And that's what I'm afraid of," Bella snorted, earning herself a small whack to the shoulder.
"Pictures?"
"Please," Bella nodded, "two if you could."
She was aware of Sue's brow raising in question of her demand but pushed the awkwardness to the back of her mind as Dr. Gerandy handed her a towel so she could wipe the gel off of her stomach.
"So her blood pressure's nothing to worry about?" Sue asked, as Bella curled the elasticized part of her pants over the curve of her lower abdomen.
"As I said, it's borderline, I would like to think it's only gestational at the moment; there aren't any proteins in the urine sample and her blood work is clear," he turned to Bella who looked a little concerned at Sue's worry. "I recommend you keep going about as you are doing, we'll amp up the visits to every two weeks from now on and we'll keep checking your urine samples. But at the moment everything is fine."
"It's just…she's been under a lot of stress recently and I was worried…"
"All I can advise is that you eliminate as many stress factors as you can," Dr. Gerandy handed her the sonogram pictures, "but don't dwell on it, a little stress is healthy."
Once they were home, Charlie allowed Seth to lecture him on the sonogram picture and he recited all of the information that both she and Sue had told him on the return bus journey. While both Charlie and Sue were occupied with their respective tasks, she reached into her pocket and flicked through her phone until she found the unopened text that she'd received at the hospital.
EdwardC:
I hope everything went well today.
She had been kind enough to inform him of her appointment through the few texts she allowed herself to send; a little uncomfortable texting him while Angela still refused to speak to her.
He held fast in his promise to allow her to get to know him and her cell was full of little intimate details that helped her to paint a picture of the man she had known for only one week. He had celebrated a birthday four weeks before she met him; he had two siblings and a nephew; was a native of Chicago, knew how to juggle and his middle name was Anthony.
He was still nothing more than a friendly acquaintance but it was a work in progress and she supposed other people weren't so fortunate as she was in that moment.
Everything was perfectly normal.
-B
" - no, it's not!" Seth's frustrated huff pulled her out of her reverie.
"Lower your voice, Son," Charlie warned him as he took the sonogram picture from the little boy; his finger's had curled in response to his anger and he'd bent the corner of the picture.
"Belly," Seth turned to her with watery, doe eyes.
"Oh, don't go looking for sympathy," Charlie gruffed, "apologize to your sister."
"No," Seth crossed his arms and slammed his back against the couch.
"Fine, timeout," Charlie pointed to the staircase, "you don't move your butt until I say so."
"No!" Seth shouted.
"He's cranky, Dad, he got up early-"
"Timeout," Charlie ignored her and used his 'cop-stare' on the unmoved little boy.
"What's going on in here?" Sue joined the fray and looked between Seth's stoic form on the couch and Charlie's pointed finger.
"Timeout's not going so well," Bella mumbled.
"I'm gonna count to three and your butt better be on those stairs," Charlie warned, "One…two…th-"
"Fine!" Seth waited until the final second before shoving past everyone, "I hate that stupid baby!"
Even though Seth's words were a product of his overly tired frustration and would more than likely be forgotten the next day, Bella couldn't help but to feel hurt by the sudden shift in Seth's feelings towards the baby; he had been the most excited out of everyone that she knew.
"What was that about?" Bella turned to her father.
"You tell me," he grumped, "I said it looked like a boy and he didn't like it."
"Well, if you didn't argue with him," Sue chipped in.
"He shouldn't be so darn sensitive all the time," Charlie quipped back.
Bella could feel the storm brewing and she wasn't willing to be caught in the middle of the crossfire; the sonogram picture was the least of her worries as Charlie and Sue began to argue in the living room, and she turned to the staircase where Seth sat with his palms pressed to his ears.
"C'mon, Bud," Bella nudged him with her knee, "grab your coat."
"I'm in timeout," he mumbled as Charlie and Sue took their shouting match to the kitchen.
"Not anymore, come on, we're going to the diner."
"The Diner? Can I get a cheeseburger?" his eyes widened in expectation.
"Whatever you want, let's ditch this joint," she joked as he scrambled for his coat.
"I'm sorry, Belly," he apologized as they ambled over to the Coupe.
"S'alright," she sighed, "put your seatbelt on."
"I don't like it when Momma and Pops shout," he mumbled, as he stared out of the passenger-side window, Forks whizzing by in blurs of brown and green.
"Nobody does, Bud" she replied, pulling into the diner parking lot.
They trudged inside hand in hand, Bella ready to lead the way to her usual booth until Seth's squeal halted her in her tracks.
"Uncle Jake!"
Seth's hand slipped from hers and she cringed as he tore through the diner and slammed into the figure in the far booth.
"C'mon Bud," Bella ignored Jake as she tugged Seth's arm, unable to remove him from Jake's hip, "we'll go to The Lodge instead."
"No," Seth whined and wrapped his arms around Jake's neck.
"Uncle Jake's busy," Bella avoided her brother-in-law's gaze and attempted to tug Seth on the back of his shirt again.
"He's eatin' and we're eatin'!" Seth pointed to the half-eaten plate of food in Jake's spot, and she sighed in frustration; if Jake hadn't been so absent she would have found it easier to argue with the young boy.
"It's alright," Jake finally gruffed, setting Seth back onto the floor and nudging him into the booth.
"No it's not," Bella hissed, "you'll have him missing you again, and I can't stand by and watch you ruin everything he's tried to build back up."
"Chill, Bells," Jake's words smoothed over her hiss.
"Chill?" she repeated with a furrowed brow, "you're seriously telling me to chill?"
"Just get in the booth, B, people are staring."
True to his word, the many regulars that they had grown up with were spying on the threesome, drinks halted mid-air, forks abandoned, as both she and Jake stood off against one another. She reluctantly tucked herself into the booth and shot the waitress a frosty glare as her eyes lingered for longer than she would have liked; she wasn't an attraction for the world to fawn over.
Seth chuckled as he stole a handful of fries from Jake's plate and stuffed them into his mouth before the older man could notice.
"Whoa," Jake blurted, as Seth began to choke, "take it easy, Sport," he warned, slapping him on the back.
"Eugh," Seth moaned as he gained his breath back.
"That'll teach you for stealing someone else's food," Bella said.
"You steal mine!"
"That's the baby's fault," Bella argued back, "it's like 'Feed me! Feed me'!" she squealed, tickling his ribs.
"Stupid baby," Seth rolled his eyes as the laughter died on his lips.
"Will you quit calling the baby stupid," Bella asked him, "you're gonna give him a complex."
"Him?" Jake's interest piqued.
"No, her," Seth corrected her, "it's a girl."
"We don't know what it is," she answered Jake's confused look.
"I do," Seth said as he snatched another fry.
"He's gonna be so bummed when it's a boy," Bella sighed, forgetting that she was supposed to be feigning anger at the man who had dropped her into her current situation. She had fallen into the friendly 'I've-known-you-for-years' routine and it was oddly comforting.
When tears began to fall down Seth's face she immediately felt awful and tried to dab his cheeks with one of the free napkins, only to have her hands slapped away by one exhausted little tyrant.
"Hey," Jake intervened, gently pulling Seth's chin upward, "don't hit your sister."
Seth narrowed his eyes at Bella and flicked his gaze to the floor as Jake stared him down.
"What's going on with you, Bud?" Bella sighed as Seth began to kick his feet against the booth seat, "why are you so upset that the baby could be a boy?"
"Boys are cool, Seth," Jake attempted to help, "we're boys and we're awesome."
"No!" Seth repeated his favourite word of the moment, "boys are horrible!"
"A bit melodramatic and a tad hypocritical but I'll take it," Bella sighed resignedly.
"Tia was a girl," Seth huffed.
Bella fidgeted uncomfortably and noticed Jake tense at the mention of Tia.
"Yes she was," Jake agreed with him slowly.
"I loved Tia," Seth continued to speak, "she played action men and jumped in mud."
Jake chuckled at the memories.
"She sure did," he nodded, turning to look at Bella for an uncomfortable moment, "and she loved her Uncle Seth."
"She did?" Seth looked up at him.
"Of course she did!" Jake plastered on a smile for him, "she wanted to be just like you…all the time."
"That's why I want the baby to be a girl," Seth admitted, "one like Tia."
"Oh, Buddy," Bella sighed, "Tia was very special, nobody can be as good as our Tia," she trailed off as Jake's eyes glassed over.
"But I miss her," Seth began to cry again.
"I do too," Jake pulled him into his side and stroked his hair comfortingly, "I do too."
The trio remained in the booth for a long while; Jake ordered for them both and Bella finally managed to finish her first garden burger since her arrival back in Forks. As much as the situation warranted certain apologies and a certain forgiveness, both Bella and Jake put aside their feelings for the few hours they were together, and each regaled Seth with silly stories from their childhood, and memories of Seth as a tiny baby.
He was intrigued by the mention of the portion of his life that he could not remember, and Bella chuckled fondly at the "I did not's" when either she or Jake would tell him something embarrassing that he had done.
As the evening drew to a close, Jake brushed the crumbs from the front of Seth's jacket and hoisted the sleepy boy onto his hip to help Bella get him in the Coupe. Her cell had stayed silent for the entirety of the night and it seemed as though Sue wasn't worried by their sudden disappearance.
"Thanks for tonight," she said to Jake as he buckled the boy into the back seat, "he really enjoyed himself…well, when he wasn't snotting all over the booth."
"It's alright," Jake straightened himself up, "I miss the little guy."
"He misses you," she replied, "we all miss you."
"It's just not the same," Jake admitted, as he leaned against the Coupe.
"Of course it is," Bella shrugged, "Seth's still Buzz Lightyear, Sue and Charlie are…well, Sue and Charlie and I'm just me, just a fatter version I suppose."
Jacob smiled a weak smile and scratched the back of his neck as the awkwardness seeped into the conversation.
"So, uh - are you keeping him," he asked, watching the way she smoothed a reassuring hand over the ridge of her bump.
She nodded in confirmation and slowed her strokes.
"Yeah," she smiled, "I like to think I have Leah's blessing."
"Of course you do," Jake rolled his eyes all-knowingly, "you know she gave you everything."
"I know," Bella sniffed, "but it's nice to hear you say it."
"Then I'll say it again," Jacob smiled a little more enthusiastically, "you're gonna be a great Mom, and Leah wouldn't have allowed anyone else to do what you're doing."
"You think so?"
"I know so," Jake nodded.
"Good," Bella nodded as she wiped her eyes dry.
"I, um - I was doing some clearing out the other day…I was going to come over but I didn't know if you'd want to see me or not..."
"You know you're welcome anytime," she reassured him.
"There's boxes of Tia's baby stuff packed up; and her crib is still going strong," Jake explained, "if you want any of it for the little one…"
"That'd be great," she smiled up at him, "honestly."
"Great, yeah - great," Jake nodded awkwardly, "I can drop it off sometime next week," he offered.
"Cool," Bella smiled, "Charlie and Sue would love to see you."
"Yeah…"
"Don't be a stranger," she reminded him before pulling him into a difficult embrace.
"I'm surprised you can stand up straight, Kid."
"Yeah, laugh it up," she grinned as she walked over to the driver's side door, "in seven weeks this deflates, you'll have to run your gut off."
"Get in the car, Bells, before I knuckle sandwich you."
Her laughter followed her into the Coupe and she looked over at the sleeping boy tucked into her back seat.
For the moment it seemed that life was finally looking up.
Apparently I have been nominated to stand in the 'Fic of the week' polls on The Lemonade Stand - thank you to those responsible for this! This little story is up against some big names, so it's lovely that it's even managed to make it amongst some amazing work; if you have the time to spare, I would love for you to vote!
There was a hiccup with the first upload of this chapter and words were strung together with no spaces, I had to painstakingly go through the whole document again to rectify the upload issue; sorry for double e-mails.
It's so hard to be mad at someone you've loved your entire life; Jake did a terrible thing but it's slowly bringing them all back together.
It came to my attention (through the love of you dear readers) that I need a more concrete updating schedule; ask and you shall receive! Updates will now occur every Monday & Friday of each week. Thank you to all those of you who have recc'd this and taken the time to review, you make all of this worth it! I would also like to thank my newly appointed beta SUNFLOWER3759 for her amazing work on this chapter.
