Dollybigmomma made it sparkle.
Chapter 10: Like You Were Never Here
Bella had been unusually quiet. I was used to being the quiet one, but as of late, she had been nearly silent. The visit from her mother had obviously hit her very hard, not to mention there were tons of unanswered questions floating around in my head. Of course, with as off as Bella was acting, I wasn't going to bring them up. I just didn't know how, and Google didn't offer me much help. There was no way to ease into the subject.
Emmett noticed my distraught demeanor and offered me some golden advice. "Does it affect your relationship now? You said she was divorced and possibly lost a kid. I don't see an ex-husband around or a kid, so does it really matter if either were in her past?" he asked me.
The truth was, it didn't. I still loved her the same. Nothing had changed with me. I worried that something had changed with her, though. I didn't like her being sad. It was weird. She pushed to have sex a lot more often. I liked sex, a lot. She had even gotten me to loosen up and try a few new positions, but I felt like her heart wasn't in it. It was like she was trying to get something other than a release out of me, and I wasn't sure what it was.
There were a few articles about coaxing people to talk about something uncomfortable by buttering them up. Not using actual butter, but other things, though I did consider making a butter sculpture for her. I was still debating whether or not to do it. I could program an image into Bella bot, and she'd be able to reproduce it perfectly in butter form. I'd have to give it a little more thought.
Emmett was making good headway with Rosalie bot. He had finally given up on reprogramming her and was attempting to woo her. He did make the mistake of not researching flowers before giving her a bouquet and found out the hard way they meant death and revenge. I'd be sure not to make the same mistake as my brother.
A good solid red rose bouquet and nothing else. He thought the darker roses looked cool, but that didn't work out for him in the end. I just hoped Bella liked the flowers I had bought her. I brought them into the kitchen for her and waited for her to turn around. She had ear buds in and was cooking something. I didn't want to startle her, but I was getting impatient and second guessing my move. She turned to get something from the fridge and saw me. She gave me a smile that didn't seem very bright and kissed me hello. "I brought you flowers," I said nervously, nudging them toward her. "They mean love, I looked it up to be sure to get the right ones."
Her smile grew a little wider. "Love…" she whispered. "Thank you, Edward, it was very sweet of you."
I wasn't sure if it was working. Maybe I should have bought her jewelry instead, but jewelry took on a whole bunch of different meanings as well. "What's that look on your face for?" she asked with a smirk.
"I was just wondering if I should've gotten you something else. Are you disappointed or mad or…"
"I'm not disappointed in you or upset with you," she answered and turned back to the stove.
"Are you okay?" I finally asked.
"I'm not sure what to do. Usually, when my mother finds me, I leave, but I don't want to leave, Edward. I like it here with you. I just don't want to be ambushed by her again."
"That's understandable. I did program Bella bot to monitor the outdoor security cameras and have her removed, before she can make it to the porch. You don't ever have to face her again, Bella. I'm sorry I let her in the house before. I can't imagine what it was like growing up with her."
"Don't you remember me from high school, Edward? I was the perfect daughter. I had perfect grades and did exactly as she wanted. I dated who she thought would be best for me. When I went to college, she moved with me, joining a law firm down there, so she could be the 'supportive' mother she'd always been. I could go to her with any problem, and she'd fix it. She set me up with my ex-husband. He was supposed to be perfect for me. I had everything she thought I deserved. I had a mansion, clothes, servants, literally anything I could've ever wanted. I just had to stick to the plan she and my husband had for me. He was focused on his future and moving up in life. I was supposed to follow in both of their footsteps. They were paving the way for me." She went quiet again, and tears started dripping down her cheeks. I wiped them away and kissed her softly.
"What happened?" I carefully ventured.
"I got sick. It was some sort of stomach bug, but I couldn't keep anything down, including my birth control pills. I didn't realize it until it was too late. I wasn't protected, and so, when I turned up pregnant, things got…"
I pulled her over to a chair and into my lap.
"They saw the baby as a complication, a problem that needed getting rid of. I didn't want to. I'd wanted to keep it and stay home. I wanted to drop out of school and be a mother. I was married, we had everything we could ever want, so why not a child?"
I kissed her temple.
"When Tyler found out, he went to my mother with the news immediately and then told his parents. It didn't fit in with everyone's plans, and they were all furious. I was supposed to be part of the firm. It was supposed to be a family business of successful attorneys. My mother, Tyler, his parents, and me. Everyone specialized in a different section of law. Mine was supposed to be business contracts. There would've been big money for the family firm. My changing my mind wasn't an option. I refused to get an abortion and made it almost seven and a half months, before…" she cried harder.
I squeezed her in my arms. The food on the stove started smoking. She jumped up and removed it from the burner. I called Bella bot to come clean up and ordered us dinner. I led Bella to her bedroom and cuddled up with her on the bed, while we waited for the food. "I'd never ask you to get an abortion, ever. I hope you know that," I whispered.
She chuckled blackly. "That's just the thing, Edward. Tyler beat me so badly, I lost the baby, but it also damaged my body. The doctor said I have too much scar tissue now to ever get pregnant or carry a baby to term."
"Well, it's a good thing you have a boyfriend who specializes in biological repair advancements. It's nothing a little research and elbow grease can't fix."
She laughed, but it was a happier one.
"That's what I love to hear. Bella, I hope you know, I'll give you whatever you want in life. Not someone else's dream, but your own. All I want to do is make you happy."
"I love you," she said and kissed me.
We heard the doorbell ring and then some knocking. "That's probably our food," I said, pulling away reluctantly.
"I've got it!" we heard Emmett yell.
You couldn't trust my brother with food, especially since I had paid for it over the phone. The delivery guy was supposed to ask to see the card I used, but they didn't always do that.
"Can I get a picture with you?" I heard a stranger ask excitedly.
"Sure," Rosalie bot answered, and I started moving down the hall faster.
"So, what are you doing here?" the guy asked Rosalie bot.
"I live here with my boyfriend," Rosalie bot said, confused.
NO! What the heck was Emmett doing? I finally made it into the room, only to see a confused-looking delivery guy. "He's your boyfriend?" He sounded appalled.
"That's my food, thanks, now leave," I said, shoving him out the door. I was never that bold, but in the panic of being exposed, I had found courage. I slammed the door and braced against it, as if the guy would try and come back. "Emmett, are you a complete idiot? What the heck are you doing, letting others see your bot! You know she's based on a famous model, hence the fool asking for a picture with her!"
"What does it matter if some guy thinks I'm dating Rosalie Hale?" Emmett snapped defiantly.
"Because you're not, and if that picture gets out, the press and her lawyers could be at your door," Bella thankfully stepped in.
"But she's not the real Rosalie, so they can't do anything," Emmett said, just not getting it.
"She's built with parts which were ill-gotten and made for what most would consider nefarious reasons. I don't want to go to jail, and I'm guessing you don't, either!" I shouted at him.
"Crap!" He finally seemed to understand the weight of his actions. "Don't worry, I'll wipe the guy's phone," he said, running off upstairs to his lab. I let out a sigh of relief.
"Wipe his phone? Can Emmett really do that?" Bella asked.
"Yeah, that's nothing for him. Hopefully, he's able to get it before it's spread too much," I worried.
"Remind me not to let him near my phone," she said jokingly.
"Oh, he doesn't need to be near it. Just know where you've been with it," I tried to explain.
Her brow furrowed. "Do you think he could go into my mother's phone and wipe my information from it?" she asked hopefully.
"Maybe, it doesn't hurt to ask. We'll do it after dinner," I suggested. I was starving.
We had just finished eating, when Emmett came into the kitchen. "Problem solved. I wiped it from the guy's phone and all the media outlets he'd sent it to. The only way it'd still be out there is if someone downloaded and printed it immediately. We can always claim the printed picture was a Photoshop fake, because it won't have a digital form to prove otherwise," Emmett said, clapping his hands together and motioning like he was wiping them clean.
"Can you do that with my information and my mother's phone?" Bella asked right away.
"Maybe, I need a location on her phone," he said with a shrug.
We gave him the time and date of her visit, and Bella bot even gave him more exact GPS coordinates to it. He was quick to find her data package. Luckily for us, someone had sent her an email during her visit, pinging her phone's location. It was pretty simple for Emmett to follow her digital trail from there and find her current location.
He hacked her phone and erased several references to Bella. Most were texts between Renee and a couple of other people. He then dug deeper into her phone and found photos of Bella. "Do you want me to wipe these as well?" he asked.
Bella stepped forward and looked at the thumbnails of all the pictures. They covered a wide age range. "Can you send them to me?" She sounded like she had a plan.
"Yeah, I could just put them on a thumb drive for you," he suggested.
"That'll work," Bella said with a grimace. "After you do that, can you delete them all from her phone, except the last one. That was taken just after I lost…" she choked up.
Emmett pulled it up, enlarging it on his screen. We both gasped. My poor sweet Bella was black and blue all over. Her expression was vacant, as she lay in a hospital bed.
"Your mother took this picture of you, and she still wants you to get back with that asshole?" I shouted.
"No, Alice took it and sent it to her. She obviously didn't give a damn," Bella hissed.
"What a bitch. I'm going to make it her new background picture and make a virus, so every time she tries to change it, it'll switch it back to this. Oh, look here, she linked her phone to her iPad, it'll be the new background for that as well. As soon as she syncs it with her computer, I'll give it the same treatment, wiping any trace of you, except for that picture. Maybe she'll grow a conscience," my brother said, gearing up for battle.
Bella had tears in her eyes, when she hugged my brother tightly. "Thanks, Emmett."
"Hey, you're my sister now. I won't let anyone hurt you," he said sincerely. Some days, my brother could be pretty awesome.