A/N: Hello, everyone. Firstly, I'd like to apologize for my absence from this story. I feel an explanation is in order. I started this story several months ago, back in early December I do believe. At the time, much like the heroine, Stella, my grandfather was battling cancer and was in ICU for a time. It was a horrible thing to watch as the cancer spread, destroying everything. At that time Breaking Dawn Part 1 was still fresh in my mind. Thus this story was born. I realize now that at the time it was a way for me to cope with what was happening. Writing a story where Stella was doing what she could to save her grandfather from cancer helped me to keep the small fire of hope for a miracle burning within me. And the story progressed to eight chapters. On March 19th my grandfather lost his battle with cancer. Needless to say I was a grandpa's girl. It was an awful, crushing time for me. If I didn't have such supporting friends, I don't know what would've happened. I posted chapter nine on the 31st of March without an explanation or note. I'm sorry for that. I just wanted to post something to prove I wasn't giving up on this story. I am trying to get back into the swing of things with this story. I do not doubt that some future parts will be a tad hard for me to write. I considered for a time completely changing the outcome of this story but now have opted against that. I very much hope you will bear with me and will continue to read and enjoy my work. A huge thank you goes to all of my readers and supporters. You all mean a lot to me. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Thank you so much for your understanding. ~BLB
My Shining Sun
BlackLaceBeauty
Chapter Ten
All My Children
~Stella~
The annoying sound of my alarm clock rang in my ears. My natural response was to ignore the sound. Sadly, the sound only increased in irritability until I couldn't take it anymore.
"Shut up Finland!" I moaned.
"Finland?" Carlisle questioned.
"Finland…" I said as everything began to sink in.
It was Friday, which meant I had school.
"I'm gonna be late!" I gasped as I sprung from my bed.
I snagged a pair of panties from my dresser and sprinted to the bathroom. As quick as I could, I turned the water on to heat up while I brushed my teeth and pinned up my hair from getting soaked. I scrubbed down with my favorite scent, lavender, and was out and dry within ten minutes. A new personal record. The bathroom clock read seven ten, leaving me with ten minutes to get out the door. I quickly had my underclothes on and draped a bathrobe over my shoulders as I sprinted back across to my room and flung open my closet.
I grabbed the first pair of jeans I saw, a medium blue pair of skinny jeans. Then I pulled a dark grey cowl necked, ribbed blouse. Carlisle still sat in the old game chair but I paid him little mind. I felt bad that I had fallen asleep on him, but now wasn't the time to talk; I was on a tight schedule. I let my robe drop to the floor in my haste. Oddly, it didn't bother me to have Carlisle in my room; he was going to see me naked eventually. Besides, I was already partly clothed. I struggled into my jeans and then into my shirt. My makeup today would be very simple: foundation and mascara only.
Now onto jewelry. I slipped my class ring onto my right ring finger. Since, my, uh, wedding band (There was no getting around that word now) was still on, I left any other jewelry off of my left hand, except for the charm bracelet I'd warn for the past several years. My time was ticking down so I pulled my hair into a stylishly messy bun before tying on the diamond necklace Ivan had given me. At the last moment I remembered I needed to wear shoes. So, I took my favorite pair of red and purple argyle no-show socks and slipped them on. I kept a box of granola bars next to my socks, so I took two to eat on my way to school. My no-show socks actually were quite visible with today's pair of shoes but that was okay. They were really cute with my most comfortable flats, grey moccasins with the faux fur lining. Now I was ready to hightail it out the door.
Flinging my backpack over my shoulder, I scooped up my purse and said a hurried goodbye to Carlisle. However, as I walked out the door, Carlisle stopped me.
"Stella, wait."
"Huh?"
"This will only take a second; I know you're in a hurry."
Then, Carlisle gently kissed me on the lips. I flushed redder than a strawberry which amused Carlisle greatly.
"I figure since we're married now, we should get off to a good start."
"Yes, that sounds nice," I stuttered.
"Wonderful! Well, have a good day; I'll see you this evening."
"Alright, have a nice day," I said as I made it to my truck and out of my driveway. On my way out I noticed a sleek Mercedes. It made sense; Carlisle was a doctor after all. I made it to school, hoping for a rather quiet day without any extra work.
When I got to school, though, I had a tack waiting for me. The new kids had requested a tour of the school and I was to lucky person who was given the task. Everything had been cleared with my first four teachers. I wouldn't have classes until lunch, a huge bonus. I put up my books and went to the office where Rosewood's four new students were waiting on me. The school secretary, Jill, introduced us.
"Hey Stella!" Jill greeted me. "These are our new students. Alice Cullen, Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale."
"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you all," I said. I was desperately trying to ignore Alice and Emmett's last name.
Alice was a little bit, I don't know how to say this, odd. She took both of my hands in hers and said,
"I just know we're going to be great friends."
"Uh, great," I said, kind of freaked out. "Why don't we get started?"
So, we took a tour of the whole school. The music room, auditorium, and art rooms were among our first stops. Then came the home-ec department, followed by the history and business departments. I showed them the outdoor amphitheater and football field, which was in the center of the track. The track had just been repainted blue, so it still had a funky smell to it. So funky that Rosalie's nose crinkled in disgust; not that I could blame her.
Back inside we went up to the math hallway. The four of them whispered amongst themselves whole I rambled about each math teacher and their specific curriculum. Alice zoned out for a moment, who knows why, and when she came back to, a huge grin overtook her face.
Jasper whispered something in her ear.
"Yes, I'm positive now that it is her. Everything matches what I'm seeing." Alice said.
"Wait, what?" Emmet said.
Alice clarified what she was talking about by whispering into Emmett's ear. Whatever she said really surprised him.
"Holy Hell!" Emmett boomed.
I spun around, staring at him in shock.
"Sorry," He mumbled with a half hearted smile.
For the rest of the tour I felt four sets of eyes burn into my back. Why were they staring at me? Was the tag to my blouse showing? No. I knew exactly why they were so observant of me. I had married their father. Thankfully the tour soon came to its end.
"And that's the grand tour of Rosewood High." I concluded as we stood at the cafeteria doors. It was almost lunch time.
I asked if they had any questions but they shook their heads no. The lunch bell rang, and as students ran from their classes to get to lunch, Emmett picked me up in a bear hug.
"I know you'll be a great mommy to us," Emmett half whispered to me. The others laughed before they too left for lunch. If my stress was high before, it was through the roof now. I had to calm down. Luckily, I was to have lunch in the photography room with my friend and fellow photographer, Jennifer.
The photo room was our sanctuary, the best class of the day. Our photo teacher doubled as our English teacher, so we had him two hours straight in the afternoon. It was awesome. I got my standard lunch from the cafeteria, chicken sandwich and a bag of chips, and went upstairs to eat with Jennifer.
"I didn't see you in the hall this morning." Jennifer commented as I sat my stuff down.
"Yeah, I spent my whole morning giving the new kids the grand tour." I explained as I went to get my mug from the back office.
Jennifer and I had a shelf where we could safely keep our photography equipment. Since no one else got to use that shelf in the back office of the photo room, we stashed other stuff there too, like our travel mugs. Usually we get them out the hour before lunch to fill them up with the bottles of soda in the fridge where the film was kept. We washed them out every day then took them home on Fridays.
I filled my blue mug, a freebie from a local bank, with my favorite orange soda. Then I sat down and talked with Jen about our days, what movies were coming out on Thanksgiving next week, new books; the same old. At the end of the hour I realized that I didn't have my English binder, which was my next class. I ran downstairs to get it and spent the last two minutes of lunch with Gabby and a couple of friends.
"How was lunch?" Gabby asked.
I answered, "Fine."
"What is that?" She asked, spotting the ring on my left hand.
Oh no, there's no way I could go through the whole story in two minutes.
"Well, I met a guy…" I started before, right at the right moment, the bell rang. "Oh, I have to go, see you next week!"
"You will tell me, Stella!" Gabby called as I scurried through the sea of students.
By the end of the day I was in a pretty good mood despite the stress of the morning. I was feeling down right artsy by the time the final bell rang. I had a new paining mapped out in my head and I had some free time after school, so I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to go to the local non-chain pizzeria and get a medium cheese to go. I'm a regular there so they knew what I wanted when I walked in. I added a super meat pizza for Ivan to my order because who knew what Aunt June would be cooking. As I waited for my order to be ready, I toyed with my wedding band. That was when I noticed that beneath my wedding band there was a band of green. The cheap little piece of crap had turned my finger green! Just great.
I paid for the pizzas then drove home. At home I first put the pizzas onto the coffee table in my art studio then ran across the hall to my room. Kicking my shoes into my closet, I put on and old green v-neck t-shirt. That sweater was too nice to get paint on. Then I switched my necklace for a plain silver chain that I put my wedding band on. My finger was still such an odd color of green where that ring had been. I took my hair from its bun, letting it fall down my back in a gentle wave, held back by a brown head band. From the little fridge I kept film in my studio, I took out a bottle of flavored water, setting it next to the pizza boxes.
Setting up my easel with a fresh canvas didn't take long, so before I knew it I was happily chewing through a beautiful, delicious piece of cheese pizza.
~Carlisle~
My shift was drawing to a close for the day. As I returned to my office to gather my things, I found that the children couldn't wait until I get home to explain my situation. All five were gathered in my office.
"You all knew that I would be home in less than an hour. Why couldn't you all have waited?" I asked.
"Because! We want to know everything!" Alice squealed.
I told them about the deal I had made with Solomon leading to my marriage and first night with Stella. After what seemed like an hour they finally let up on questioning, only after they talked me into taking Stella over to see the house. We all left simultaneously, only I wouldn't be going home with the rest of them. I was going to Stella's.
This morning, Ivan had reluctantly given me a key to the house. I walked in now, finding Stella's mother and brother in the kitchen. Ivan looked up at me from the beef he had been mincing and gave me a sweet smile as he waved the bloody knife in greeting. Her mother, a nice looking woman, greeted me warmly.
"Hi, Carlisle," she greeted me. "Oh, that's right, we've not met. I'm June Rhodes, Stella and Ivan's aunt."
Oh, I was wrong, Stella lived with her aunt.
"Stella's in her studio, just down the hall. If you need anything, don't be a stranger."
"Alright, thank you."
I went into Stella's studio and found her standing behind a canvas, deeply concentrating on whatever she was painting. It only took her a few seconds to notice me.
"Oh, hey, Carlisle. Come on in." Stella said.
I walked up to the canvass and could smell the light aroma of the paints she was using.
"Are you ready to be interrogated again?" I teased. I knew I still had to tell her about the kids.
"Stella chuckled and rolled her eyes at me before saying, "Sure, but I have a question for you first."
"What is it?"
"When were you going to tell me about your kids?"