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Chapter 10

2010

When I woke up the next morning, I noticed that I had a missed call from the demon-who-shall-not-be-named. As soon as I saw the familiar number on my screen, I wanted to burn the phone. Did he not understand that I didn't want anything to do with him anymore, that my life was no longer his to interfere in? Everything was settled…there was nothing left to discuss. Unless he was calling to harass me about Alice, and if that was the case, maybe I should burn my phone.

For all I cared anymore, the two of them…well, now almost three, could live their life in miserable bliss. Alice would find out just like I did…everything that man touched turned to poison. I thought I knew that when I was seventeen, too, but of course I never listened, even to myself. When I married him, I always knew a part of me said, "I do," because he reminded me of Edward. My ex was the last thing I had to hold onto of that summer, the only thing I thought I would be allowed to have.

I waited until I was twenty-seven to marry him, always hoping in depths of my heart that Edward would come back to me. I was just as delusional then as I was when I was seventeen.

Delusional. I should add that to my list of reasons why my marriage fell apart.

I really did love my husband. Once upon on time, he made me very happy. But I couldn't live up to what he wanted me to be; I couldn't give him what he wanted.

And, apparently, as I stood in the room in my Uncle Charlie's house, in the place that started it all, I realized that my ex couldn't be the one thing I needed him to be.

He couldn't be Edward. And he knew it.

I decided not to call him back, taking a step forward with my life instead of swimming in limbo. If I was going to find myself again after my divorce, I needed to make decisions based on what was best for me. Calling him, listening to him, allowing him to trap me with his words, hurt me with his manipulations, was not what was best for me.

Besides, I had a date to prepare for. Well, at least I thought it was a date. He did say dinner…dinner usually meant it was a date, right? Who the hell knew…it had been too long since I had done this. I decided, in effort to keep myself from going crazy from my own mental questions, to distract myself with the one thing that I knew would provide adequate entertainment.

Charlie.

"Bella, shush," Uncle Charlie automatically hushed as soon as I walked downstairs.

"Someone's cranky." I made my way to sit down on the old worn couch as he was stationed in his chair. "What's going on, old man?" I asked as I piled my hair into a ponytail, securing it tightly with the elastic band that was around my wrist. It was about mid-afternoon, but we were both limited to staying inside because of the huge storm that was supposed to hit. Seth came over earlier and had helped me take care of the horses in preparation for the approaching downfall, making sure they were locked up tight in the barn with enough hay to keep them comfortable.

"The news is on. It doesn't look right."

"Do you mean the weather?" I asked curiously, glancing at the TV.

"No, I meant the lottery numbers," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

I chuckled and just lounged back on the couch. "Don't worry, Uncle Charlie. It'll be fine. Do you want me to run up to the store and stock up on water and canned foods?" I was only joking, but Charlie was dead serious when he nodded his head in my direction.

"It's not supposed to hit for another few hours. If you go now, you should still make it back in one piece."

"One piece?" I laughed. "Glad you care so much about my well-being."

"Hey, you offered. But seriously, go now and come back quickly." His eyes were glued to the television set in intense concentration.

"Okay, okay." I sighed and got up, grabbing my purse and keys before leaving the old white house. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about; there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The guy who was on the radio was saying something about the oncoming storms, too, but I just switched it off, rolling the windows down instead to listen to the noises of the road.

It didn't take me long to pull up to Wal-mart, but it was absolutely packed! Cars filled the huge lot, and people were dashing in and out of the doors like wild animals. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that chaotic, but people were definitely acting like it was the apocalypse or something. I just scanned the aisles slowly, choosing to do the usually weekly grocery shopping now since I was here. And to be nice, I got Charlie his bottles of water and dry foods to placate him, because, really, when the world ended it would seriously matter if we had enough green beans or not.

All right, enough with the skepticism.

It took me about an hour, but when I drove back home, the sky was just as blue as it was when I left. My car was filled with groceries, and I was thankful when I spotted Seth's truck in Charlie's driveway so he could help me carry them in. I took the first load in myself, but when I went inside, I was met with a very angry uncle in the kitchen.

"Isabella, where have you been!"

I bit my tongue to keep from replying with a sarcastic remark. "The store, like I told you before. This isn't news, Charlie."

"You've been gone for hours!" he shouted, turning almost purple. His breathing was starting to become labored, and I had to check his oxygen to make sure he was getting the right amount.

"Uncle Charlie, relax, I just went to the store. I got a lot of stuff. Is Seth here? I could use his help. And you are completely overreacting. I was gone an hour, tops."

"Hey, Old Maid," Seth greeted, coming in through the back porch door, and I had to admit, the kid had good timing.

I simply rolled my eyes at his comment, knowing that fighting him would be pointless. "Back again so soon, Seth?" I asked, truly wondering why he was back. He had left after taking care of the horses just a little bit ago.

"I couldn't remember if I tied Jenna up right, and it was driving me nuts, so I came back to check." He shrugged and joined us in the kitchen. "No big deal."

I smiled, though. It was good to see him care so much about something. Kids his age needed something like that to keep them grounded. Working for Charlie was really good for him. "Want to help me bring in some groceries since I'm such an elderly woman and can't possibly do it myself?"

He laughed. "Wouldn't want you to pull a muscle."

I punched him in the shoulder for that one as we made our way outside. "Hey!"

"Don't whine," I chastised. "I punch like a girl." It was my turn to laugh, but my chuckles were stopped short when a truck whipped into Charlie's drive.

"What the?" I started, automatically shielding Seth with my small body, angry that this crazy person almost hit us.

"BELLA!" A very angry Edward emerged from the truck, screaming my name.

"Edward?" I asked, clearly confused, my anger dissipating immediately.

"Where have you been! I've been driving around for half an hour looking for you! Do you have any idea how worried I have been?"

"What the hell…heck," I quickly edited when I saw his kids sitting in the truck, "are you talking about?"

"Charlie called me in a panic, said he didn't know where you were!"

I sighed heavily and rubbed small circles on my temple. "I'm fine. I just went to the store. See…" I motioned to the bags in the trunk that Seth began working on bringing inside. However, this didn't seem to placate Edward any. The vein in his forehead was still very visible, and his face was still an unnatural shade of red.

"Why are you so angry?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, suddenly colder than I was a moment ago. I looked up and saw a few ominous clouds approaching. I still didn't think it was anything to have a conniption over, though.

"You could have been hurt," he said honestly, kicking the dirt at his feet, relaxing just a little bit. "You do realize the danger you put yourself in."

"I was just up the street."

"How was I supposed to know that?" he asked, getting loud again.

"What exactly did Charlie say to you?"

He was suddenly looking everywhere but me.

"Edward…" I prodded.

"When he called, all he said was that he didn't know where you were before I hung up and started searching for you." He sounded so guilty, and it made me smile.

"You were really worried, huh?" I asked with a smirk.

"Don't let it go to your head." He almost matched my smile then.

Right as I was about to speak again, a huge crack of thunder roared throughout the sky.

"Shit. I need to get home," he mumbled as he turned around to head back to his truck. He suddenly whipped back in my direction. "Oh, Bella, about dinner tonight, do you mind if we postpone? I don't want you driving in this. And when I asked you yesterday, I definitely didn't factor that I had the kids for the weekend."

The sky grew almost instantly black, the flashes of lightening providing it's only source of light.

"You can't drive back in this!" I argued. The wind was starting to pick up then, too, and I ran over to the passenger side of his truck. "Hey, guys," I greeted the small boy and girl when I opened the car door. "Come on, get in the house. You guys are staying here until the storm passes."

"Really?" The little boy's face lit up.

"Yeah, really, come on, scoot!"

The boy jumped out excitedly, while the girl just looked at me with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm not getting out," she countered.

"Lana," Edward came over carrying the groceries from my car in his two hands, "let's go, baby, before you get caught in the storm."

She just sneered at him, daring him to force her. Edward let out a huge sigh and turned to me. "Get inside, Bella. We'll be in in a minute."

He obviously agreed that he shouldn't try to drive in this weather, and I went to my trunk to get the last of the bags right as the rain started. It seemed like the sky literally opened, and buckets began to fall.

"Lana, we need to get inside," Edward said, his voice still remarkably calm.

"No! I want to go to Mom's!"

"Lana, please…"

I noticed that I was just standing there staring at their interaction when Seth came up to my side, taking the groceries from my hands and pulling me by the arm. "Come on, Bella," he said. The wind was really starting to pick up, and when I looked behind me, I saw Edward running into the house. He completely bypassed us as we reached the porch steps, leaving his daughter in the truck.

"She's not even a teenager yet," he grumbled as he threw the bags on the floor right by the doorway and ran back outside. He re-opened Lana's door, which she had closed, and he forcefully undid her seatbelt and picked her up in his arms, carrying her through the whipping rain and into the house.

Everyone stepped back when he came in with her kicking her legs, pitching a fit. "Put me down!" she yelled. "You can't force me to stay here! I want my mom!"

Edward put her down on her feet but kept his arms around her, hugging her to him as she flailed around. It only took a moment before she burst out into tears, but Edward just held on, refusing to let her go or let her fall to the ground. I tried to clear everyone out of the doorway, telling Seth to start putting away the groceries as I led Charlie back to his chair. His son, whose name I couldn't quite remember, followed my uncle and me into the living room.

"Uncle Charlie," he asked, causing Charlie to turn his head casually. Uncle? Why was he calling him uncle?

"Can we play Mario-Kart?"

He just smiled. "Sure thing, kid. Even though this time there's no getting past me!"

"You wish!" the little boy rebutted, laughing. The boy got up from the couch and went over to where the TV was, opening the cabinet underneath it and pulling out a black gaming system and setting it up.

I looked at Charlie curiously, and he just shrugged his shoulders in response. I wanted to know just what kind of relationship Charlie had with Edward and his family, and why the hell had he never felt the need to mention it to me? Also, calling Edward in a panic earlier? What was that? Clear overreaction on his part, but when I looked over at Edward and Lana in the doorway, I was glad he did.

Lana was still crying, but now both she and Edward were sitting down with his back against the door and she in his lap. He looked up at me then and met my eyes; I didn't have it in me to tear my gaze away. We just stared at each other while he held his daughter, rocking her softly back and forth while her face was tucked into his neck. Edward looked torn, guilty, and exhausted. I knew how painful it was to go through a divorce, and he was suffering that right now, the difference being that he also had two other people who were thrown into the mess with him. I couldn't even imagine the pressure he would be under. My heart went out to all of them.

I hadn't even realized that my hand went up to my chest and covered my own heart until a moment later, and I quickly removed it, breaking my gaze with Edward at the same time. I turned awkwardly back around to Charlie, but by that point, he and the boy were already knee deep in a race.

"Are you going to stand there and drip like a faucet, Bells, or are you going to go upstairs to change," Charlie asked, not even bother to break his stare from the TV screen. I hadn't even really noticed that I was soaking wet until he said something, but I figured I might as well, even though that meant bypassing Edward and Lana who were by the stairs.

When I walked over there, Lana had stopped crying, and I figured I might as well ask her if she would like to borrow clothes since she was wet, too. Edward…well, I didn't have any clothes for him.

"Hey, Lana," I began softly, causing her to look up at me. At least there was less hate in her eyes this time. "I'm about to change into some dry clothes; would you like to borrow some of mine? I think I have some sweatpants and a t-shirt that would fit you." She was definitely a lot smaller than I was, but I had to have something that she wouldn't absolutely swim in.

She didn't respond immediately, but she looked at her dad and then to me before nodding.

"Great!" I said with a smile. "I can either bring some down for you, or you can come upstairs with me."

"I want to stay with my dad," she replied, looking at the floor instead of me.

"Okay." I smiled at Edward, and he gave me a gracious nod and a small smile in return.

I scaled the steps to my room and changed into a dry pair of jeans and a hoodie, deciding to just redo my hair so it was just a simple bun on my head. I dug around and came up with an extra-small pair of black yoga pants and a spare t-shirt I had for Lana. When I went back downstairs, she and Edward were in the kitchen, sitting at the small table.

"Here you go." I handed her the clothes. "Just hand me your wet clothes after you change, and I'll put everything in the dryer."

"Thanks," she said softly before heading to the bathroom to change.

"Are you sure you don't want something of Charlie's, Edward?" I asked as I noticed him shivering from being cold. "I would just tell you to strip, but I don't think that would be appropriate with the kids here. Seth might be scared for life," I attempted at joking, trying to lift the mood a little. I think it worked because he actually broke a genuine smile.

"I'm sorry, Bella." He then sighed as he became somber. "She's just having a really hard time with Rachel and I. She doesn't mean to lash out at you; she just doesn't know how to deal with all of this."

"It's okay, really," I tried to assure. "I understand, trust me."

He smiled again right as Lana stepped back into the kitchen. "Here you go," she addressed, passing me her wet items. "Thank you. And, um," she mumbled, looking down at the floor, "I'm sorry for what I said to you and for how I acted."

I took the clothes in my hands and smiled down at her, even though she wasn't looking at my face. "It's quite alright, Lana. I was actually about to start dinner, would you like to help me?"

She looked up, finally with elation in her features. "You know how to cook?"

"I sure do!"

"Will you teach me?" she asked excitedly.

I looked over at Edward who was now beaming in our direction. "I would love to," I answered, looking back at her.

"I want to help!" Edward whined, cutting in. "Besides, wasn't I the one who was supposed to be cooking tonight?"

"Dad!" Lana rolled her eyes. "You can't cook."

His face turned into one of mock horror. "I can to cook! Who do you think made you all those pb&js growing up."

She just laughed. "That's not cooking! Right, Bella?" She looked at me to back her up.

"Lana, we don't call adults by their first names unless they tell us to," Edward scolded, instantly ruining the moment we were having.

"No, no," I assured, "Bella is perfect, actually!" I said upbeat, wanting to keep the mood light. "Please, I insist. Bella it is."

She smiled at me guiltily, and I heard Edward sigh in just the slightest.

"And you're right, Lana, pb&js don't count."

"Told you, Dad."

He laughed and stood up from his chair. "Alright, then, Chef Bella, why don't you show us how it's done."

O.o

It was a few hours later, and we were all gathered in the living room, Seth, Edward, Lana, and Edward's son, whose name I quickly learned was Patrick, going to head-to-head playing Mario-Kart. Lana and I had made lasagna for dinner, while Edward sat on top of the kitchen counter and watched, adding his own commentary for entertainment. Lana seemed genuinely interested in learning how to cook, and it was fun to teach her some tricks in the kitchen. Apparently, neither Rachel nor Edward cooked much, but I didn't really ask many questions, and they didn't seem to offer any elaborate explanations on their old family dynamic.

On Seth's request, we all ate dinner in the living room as the video game tournament continued. It was good just to sit back and watch Charlie laugh. He and Patrick got along extremely well, and I couldn't help but think that Charlie got his grandson that he never had. Lana, after cooking with me, warmed up a little but still stayed quiet as we ate. At dinner, I learned that she was only ten, but she definitely acted like a young teenager. Her mood swings were all over the place, but I wasn't about to judge her for them. I couldn't begin to imagine what she was going through. It was nice to see her lighten up, though, whenever she played the game, elbowing Edward every chance she got so it would mess up his chances of winning.

But I loved watching Edward most of all. He was such a child at heart, getting so into these silly races, but you could tell he was a caring father, too. He kept looking at both Patrick and Lana, unconsciously, I was sure. I wondered if he was doing that just to check to make sure they were there. He would always take a deeper breath after looking at them, and my chest just ached for him. I bet he was going through a hard time, too, only having his kids on certain nights, knowing he couldn't be a source of consistency for them.

The storm continued on mercilessly as the hours passed, cracks of thunder echoing through the sky as the rain never ceased its assault. After my stomach settled from the large dinner, I got up to clear the dishes, carefully gathering them without blocking anyone's view of the screen.

"Here, Charlie," Edward said, passing off his controller, "I'm going to help Bella clean up."

"Edward, it's fine. I've got it," I assured, but he ignored me. Figures.

"Thank you for making dinner," he said as we placed the dirty dishes in the sink. He rolled up his now dry sleeves and took station as the washer at the sink, while I grabbed a towel so I could dry them.

"It was my pleasure." I smiled as we both waited for the sink to fill up with soapy water. "Lana seemed to have warmed up a bit," I added, my voice low enough so the people in the other room wouldn't be able to hear us.

"Oh, Bella, I'm sorry about earlier."

"Edward," I stopped him, "you already apologized, which there was nothing to apologize for to begin with. Kids will be kids."

"She knows better…" he mumbled as he started on the first dish.

"I have a question." He passed me the clean dish for me to dry as I continued my thought, "Why does Patrick call Charlie 'Uncle Charlie'?"

"Oh, um," he mumbled, shrugging. "Does that bother you?" His head whipped to mine, concern written on his face.

"No! Of course not! I was just curious, that's all."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, it's just that, when Rachel and I started having problems, I mean, we've never had the perfect marriage, but when things started getting really bad, I used to bring the kids here so they wouldn't have to listen to us fight. And then when we separated, we decided to switch off custody every other week, but I would have to work, so they would stay here. I hope you don't mind that they would sleep in your room." He looked guilty again, but I just smiled at him.

"How dare you!" I replied sarcastically. "Letting your kids use that room upstairs that hadn't been used by me in over twenty years. You really have some nerve, mister!"

He chuckled at my joke and nodded his head. "Okay, good. I just needed some help, and Charlie was always there for me."

"What happened to your parents?" I asked softly after a moment, wondering why they wouldn't take the kids when Edward worked.

"They moved to Florida after my dad retired. They still come to visit, but we don't see them very often."

"I see."

"So, you really had no idea?" he asked, looking at me every few seconds between washing.

"Had no idea about what?"

"About me…Lana, Patrick, even Rachel?"

"No." I shook my head. "How would I have known?" There was no bitterness in my voice as I asked.

"Charlie never told you anything?"

"Oh. Well, I don't know, I guess, well," it was my turn to look guilty, "Charlie and I kind of had this rule."

"Okay…" he prodded after I stayed quiet for a few moments.

"He wasn't allowed to talk about you."

Edward stopped what he was doing and turned to look at me. "Why?"

Even though his eyes were boring into my head, I refused to lift mine to his. I just shrugged, unable to find the words.

"Bella…"

"I just," I began, "it was easier for me not to talk about you, not to be reminded of you and what happened."

I looked up to him, and he dropped his head. "Oh," he said, fiddling with his wet hands on his t-shirt. "That makes sense." He took a deep breath, lifting his head just enough to look at me. "I really screwed things up back then, didn't I?"

I just shook my head. "It wasn't your fault, Edward. We were so young. Honestly, I'm not surprised it didn't work out between us. You were going off to college, I went back to Ohio; we had set ourselves up for failure from the beginning. It was really childish of me to ask Charlie to not bring you up in conversation, even though he did break that rule on occasion around my ex-husband. Charlie never did like him." I tried to laugh, but it came out awkward and completely unnatural.

"Why didn't Charlie like him? He had to be a great guy if he married you."

I shrugged, feeling embarrassed to talk about my ex in front of Edward. That was one conversation I never wanted to have. "It's complicated. I married him for the wrong reasons, and Charlie knew that."

"What happened between you guys, if you don't mind me asking?" Edward turned to shut off the water and we each dried our hands, choosing then to sit at the table and talk instead of stay standing.

"He had an affair."

Edward's face fell. "Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks." I offered him a small smile. "It wasn't completely his fault, either, though. Our life was really hard."

"All marriages are hard, that doesn't excuse infidelity," he fought.

"Oh, I agree, but everyone plays their part in a divorce. It's never one sided."

He sighed heavily and nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I would know…"

"I still can't believe you ended up with Rachel!" I laughed, shaking my head as memories of that summer raced through my mind. I never would have guessed then that they would have married.

"If you would have asked me when I was eighteen who I was going to marry, I promise you that I wouldn't have said her."

"So what happened?"

He sighed again, looking down at his hands that rested on the table. "She and I went to UNC Chapel Hill together, and it wasn't until my junior year that we started hanging out. She was friends with my roommate, Jasper, from class, and we just saw each other a lot. One thing led to another, and before you know it, I was in law school and she got pregnant."

"What?" I asked in disbelief. "I thought you didn't go to law school."

"I went…I didn't finish, but I went."

"Okay, go on…"

"Well, she found out she was pregnant, so we told our parents. Mine were accepting, hers not so much. Her dad cut her off from everything financially, so I had a decision to make. I was only twenty-three, halfway done with law school, but I had to support her and this baby. So, I dropped out, we eloped, and we moved back here with my parents."

"What happened to the baby?" I asked, counting in my head how old Lana was, knowing that the baby would have had to be older than ten by now.

"Um, she miscarried."

"Oh," I breathed out, "Edward, I'm sorry." I for one knew that subject well, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"It's okay; it was a really long time ago."

"Did you go back to law school?"

He shook his head. "I couldn't. I still needed to support Rachel. She got her degree in marketing and took a job at a firm, but she didn't make enough to keep us afloat and put me through school. I just kind of had to accept that it wasn't going to happen for me."

"That's a lot to take in, especially at such a young age."

"Yeah," he agreed. "But we made it work. I didn't resent her or the baby for anything. Rachel was a really good wife to me."

"So what happened?"

He shrugged. "After Patrick was born was when things went really downhill. She wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but I was already working double shifts down at the station. We just couldn't afford it. She wasn't used to living life without getting everything she wanted. Our money problems really took a toll on her and our marriage. She started accusing me of having an affair, which of course I never did. But, Bella," he sighed, "it got to the point where I didn't want to go home to her. I didn't want to share a bed with her. I didn't want to wake up to her every morning. We fought more than we had civil conversations. And then on top of that, she wouldn't let me touch her, kiss her, anything. Life became a constant battle with her. I just couldn't do it anymore.

"Lana and Patrick didn't deserve to hear their parents fighting every night. Listening to Lana cry, asking me if I was going to leave them, broke my heart. They deserve a stable home, a good environment, and we couldn't give them that if we stayed married.

"Rachel isn't a bad woman; I just couldn't be her husband anymore."

"That's fair," I offered. "I think we all have to make really hard decisions in life that will ultimately be best for us and those around us. It doesn't make you a failure because your marriage fell apart. It doesn't mean you're not a good person."

"Decisions," he mused, mostly to himself. "Life is based on our decisions, isn't it?"

I nodded in response.

"I think I made a lot of wrong decisions."

I looked up at him and met his blue eyes before sighing. "I think we both did."

XXX

END NOTES

So, any guesses on who Bella's ex-husband is? There were some clues in this chapter…

And, just to put it out there, today is that last day to vote for the Love Like Fire contest. My entry, There You'll Be, is entered. The link to vote / read the other entries is on my profile page.

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