Chapter Eleven
Bella Swan
January 9, 2013
After the terrible week that had unfolded before my eyes I was ready to get out of New Jersey and just visit Edward, things hadn't been the same since he left, and I knew that both Logan and I were ready to see him.
In the few weeks that Edward had been part of our family he made me realize how much easier things are when you have two people caring for a five year old instead of just one. I was so happy to finally have Edward around, to have him me helping out, sharing the burden, carrying the load; but now that his deal fell through, I didn't know how much longer we would have to be apart. I could tell he felt horrible about the whole thing, but there was nothing we could do about it, so in the last couple days I had put some serious thought into the moving idea. I knew that with Esme's and the girls' help, and checking in every once and a while on the bakery and financials, I would be able to keep my business here in New Jersey, which meant that I would be fine to go to Pittsburgh. But the only thing holding me back was the thought of taking Logan away from everyone that he had ever known.
It was a decision that was going to have to be made by both Edward and myself after a lot of thought. For Logan, there would be a lot of explaining, and probably some tears once he realized that Alex wouldn't be coming with us, and he would have to leave his team behind, but with promise to find Logan a good hockey team, some other extra curricular activities, and hopefully some new friends, I figured we would eventually be able to get him to agree. Getting Logan to agree would mean so much to Edward, to me, to us as a family, and hopefully it meant moving from Edward's apartment to a house, and growing as a family, it would mean something permanent.
For the last five hours this had been my thought process, over and over again. It had been an early morning for the two of us, and thankfully Logan had spent the last five hours sleeping, but in all honesty, I was thankful for the quiet. The last five days had been hell, in the span of five days, my boyfriend/father of my child/love of my life had left to go back to his very time consuming job in a different state, my child had broken his arm during a children's hockey game, and had been whining about the pain non-stop, and same boyfriend/father of my child/love of my life had been denied the deal that would allow him to be closer to his family; needless to say, the last five days had been hell.
As I pulled into the Consol Energy Center I was elated that Edward was just beyond the doors several hundred feet away. "Mom" Logan yawned sleepily from the backseat, making me realize that he was awake.
"Yeah, buddy?"
"How much longer till we get to see dad?" he asked as I realized how thankful I was that he slept the entire way, so I didn't get that question every ten to fifteen minutes.
"We just pulled into the parking lot, the arena is right there buddy. As soon as we get you out of here and get inside we should be able to see dad." No more than a minute later, as Logan threw off his seat belt and waited for me to opened the door we rounded a corner and walked into the building.
As we walked into the building I quickly had an idea as to where we would be spending most of our time in the next couple months. Pittsburgh was a bustling city, and I just hoped that if we did end up moving, like a figured we would, we would be able to find a safe neighborhood to live in.
Having to wake Logan up early this morning in order to get him dressed then out to the car, I hoped and prayed that he wouldn't be cranky today. Thankfully it seemed, so far, that he had made up for the sleep in the back seat, but who knew what would happen. I just hoped that him getting to see Edward would guarantee a positive mood for the entire day.
The farther we walked into the locker room the more I realized how important this place would become to me, to us, to our family, and it made me excited. Here I was automatically confronted with the scent of hockey player, it was familiar, and as odd as this sounds, its comforting. "Bella!" someone called as I turned around to see Sidney coming my way. "Hey how are you?" Sidney said to me before looking down at Logan. "Hi buddy, I'm Sidney."
Logan in some random bought of shyness buried his face into my neck so he couldn't be seen. "I'm good, and sorry about him, I'm not really sure why he's suddenly shy. He's usually very outgoing around new people" I said as he shrugged. "Have you seen Edward around?"
"Yeah, last I saw he was out on the ice, follow me." He said as he led the two of us through the locker room. "I'm sure he'll act himself once he see's his dad." He said motioning to Edward.
"Oh how I hope, all I need is for him to want to be carried around all day." I said as he laughed. "I mean, I've never really seen him get shy around new people, he usually warms up really quickly. I have to think that it's the broken arm, he hates that cast, and I know that he wants it gone." I said as he brought me to the bench where a majority of the guys were standing around talking, or watching the two guys in the middle of the ice jokingly fight.
"Oh not again" Sidney said as he rolled his eyes and started to laugh. "Masen, you might want to stop looking like an ass in front of your kid" he called as Edward stopped what he was doing mid-stride, giving whoever he was fighting with the upper hand, allowing him to tackle him down to the ice. "Yeah that didn't help." Sidney laughed as Edward skated over and grabbed a water bottle, squirting it in Sid's face before leaning down to give me a chaste kiss.
"Hey babe, hey bud." Edward said as Logan peered out from my shoulder to look at his dad. A smile automatically broke out on Logan's face as he reached his arms out to Edward who took Logan from me and settled him on his hip, before signaling that he would be back in a minute, as he took off on the ice, skating around in a circle to make Logan laugh.
I couldn't help but smile at my son and his father, they really were quite the pair and it made me realize how happy I was with my family together. "Hey Bell, does Logan have his skates with him?" Edward said as he skated back in front of me. Being the hockey mom that I am I raised my arm where his skates were already rested in my hand. "You're the best," he said as he sat Logan on the side of the bench, tying his skates on for him.
I leaned back against the boards, watching as Edward tied his skates, as the two of them skated around, playing, laughing, really acting like father and son, and a tear slipped down my cheek. I had always wanted this for my son, for our family to be whole, for Edward to play hockey with him, teach him, but reprimand him at the same time, but so, so good to him; and after years of waiting it was finally happening.
"What's wrong? Sidney asked me as I looked up at him shaking my head.
"Nothing, I'm just happy." I said as he looked at me with little to no expression. "After I left that letter and didn't hear anything back, I got it through my head pretty quickly that the three of us would never be a real family. Now here I am, looking at the one thing I thought was impossible, and I couldn't be any happier."
"Even with the deal falling through? I know how much you two were relying on that."
"I've been looking into things with my shop more and more, and as long as I get everything settled, we should be able to move here. I know its a lot, asking Logan to leave his friends behind, me leaving my family, but I know Edward would never let us leave, not for too long; and we're close enough for visits, I just, I hope that's enough for Edward."
"It is" a forgotten voice behind us said as I turned to look into the eyes of Edward. Logan was in the middle of the ice with Geno, laughing, with a hockey stick in his hand, as I looked into the eyes of my sons amazing father.
"Why don't you two go find somewhere to talk, I'll watch the kid." Sidney said as we nodded.
Edward set his stick in the rack, his gloves on the bench, before taking my hand and leading me in to the locker room. "Why didn't you tell me you were planning on moving here?" he asked me quietly as I looked up at him, he was about three inches taller with skates on.
"Because I didn't want to make any decisions without talking to you. We're a team now Edward, I can't make a decision without including you in this. We also have to think about Logan, I can't just uproot his life, he's five, this needs a lot of explaining, understanding for him; which means the two of us need to work together."
"I know that we had talked about this a little before I left, and I just want you to know that I've started to look for a house. I wanted to buy a place with more room. Where I could build Logan a practice rink in the back yard, where we had room to grow. I know its premature, but I love you Bella, and I want us to be a family."
I couldn't say anything, but a large smile spread across my face, and I literally jumped him. He didn't say anything as he wrapped his arms around my waist, picking me up so my face was level with his. I squealed as he kissed me before he stopped, looking up to the faces of his teammates and our son. "Alright, alright you two, enough of that." Sidney said as Edward picked up a puck and chucked it at Sidney.
"I just need to shower and change, then we'll go out for a late lunch?" Edward asked as I took Logan from Sidney.
"Fine by me" I said to Edward before turning toward Sidney. "Do you happen to have his shoes?" I started to ask as he held them up to me, making me smile. "Awesome." Handing Logan his shoes he walked over to sit in Edward's little area, tying his work boots on.
I couldn't help but smile, and take pictures, iPhones were the best inventions ever. Taking Logan and his skates I walked out to my car to add Logan's skates to the rest of our things as we waited for Edward. I was excited to get to drive around the city, to get used to the idea of where we may be living within the next couple months, and maybe scout out a couple areas to live, but this all depended on how Logan took the news.
I knew that Edward and I would have to make the best decisions for our family, and we couldn't let Logan dictate them, but he was the whole reason we were together, and this did affect him.
Edward walked out into the parking lot where Logan and I had decided to wait for him, and I smiled. He donned a pair of jeans and work boots, much like Logan, and then had a flannel shirt, a guys cardigan, and then a winter jacket on top, complete with a snap back hat. I had to admit that I was beyond happy to have this wonderful, gorgeous man, to look at every day, I loved it, and it wasn't something I would get sick of quickly.
Leaving Edward's car behind the three of us piled in to my Audi, this time with Edward driving, zooming around Pittsburgh. My hand sat in Edward's on the center consul; we had taken to driving through the suburban areas in Pittsburgh, when I saw it, the perfect house.
The bottom part of the foundation was made entirely of pieces of stone, next were pillars that help but the porch that wrapped almost the entire way around the house. Complete with beige/grey siding, and plenty of windows, and a second or maybe third floors, the house looked absolutely stunning from the outside; and it just had to be for sale. "Edward stop!" I said as he pulled over to the side of the road.
"What's wrong?" he asked as I looked into the backseat where Logan had fallen asleep again.
"The house, it's perfect." I pointed, as he turned to look at the house across the road. "Can we please, please go in and look? It say's it's an open house!"
"Sure, why not." He said, taking the keys from the ignition, and picking Logan up out of his car seat, resting our sleeping son on his shoulder.
As we walked through the front doors of the house, I was immediately amazed. Dark hard wood floors, an open floor plan, the stairs were curved with an intricate design on the railing, and the same dark wood. "Hello there, how are you?" the female real estate agent said as we stood there in awe.
"Hi" I said as I shook her hand. Edward held his out afterward, trying his best to not rustle Logan around too much.
"I'm Maggie Olsen"
"Bella Swan"
"Edward Masen, and our son Logan."
"The hockey player Edward Masen?" she asked as Edward blushed, then nodded. "My son is a big fan." She smiled before she started showing us around. "The house is a new build, the original owners didn't get the chance to move in, as sudden move and a new job, and so they're selling."
"How much is the house selling for?" Edward asked as we stood in the kitchen.
"The asking price is set at half a million, but the owners are willing to negotiate." She said as I stared at Edward with wide eyes. "I'll let you explore on your own for a little, how about you come and find me once you're finished?" she suggested as the two of us nodded.
As I looked around the room more I realized how exquisite the kitchen was, it was a bakers dream. The hard wood followed into the kitchen, with an island in the middle with marble countertop. The wall behind the oven with made entirely of brick, a staircase following behind, leading to the second floor, and below. Two tall cabinets sat on either side of the oven then again on the wall where the sink, dishwasher, and fridge sat, the marble countertops following. All the appliances were stainless steal, a window was directly over the sink, and another farther up on the wall.
We made our way from the first floor downstairs. The basement was finished entirely complete with a bar. Another door led us to the laundry room, where another door held a downstairs bathroom. Out in the main room french doors were off to the side, and as we opened them we found an indoor pool. There were another three sets of French doors on the back wall that opened us to the fairly large back yard as Edward smile.
"What are you thinking?" I asked him as we looked out to the snowy yard.
"Homemade rink for Logan over there, and maybe a place for a dog." He said as I smiled, I could picture it too.
Closing the French doors we walked back through the bar/entertainment area, and up the stairs to the second floor. Once again the hardwood followed us all the way upstairs, there was a catwalk over looking the main floor, then a set of six doors. The first door we opened was a moderately well sized bedroom with an en-suite, the same with the next two doors. There was a linen cabinet, a door with another set of stairs hidden behind it, then the door to the master.
The master was what you would call perfect. The first thing I noticed was the balcony that looked out over the yard, then the wall of shelves. There was a fireplace on the opposite wall, and a part of the room that was set back where there were two doors, the first, leading the en-suite. It was absolutely amazing, the back wall held his and her sinks, then a set of drawers/shelves, and then a vanity on the other side. A large, Jacuzzi tub sat in the middle of the floor, and then clear double doors led to a ginormous marble walk in shower.
"We could have a party in there!" I said as Edward started to laugh, leaning down to kiss me.
Walking out of the bathroom opening the second door I became confronted with the perfect walk in closet. Two floors, with indents into the wall perfect for clothes, shoes, bags, a island in the center with drawers made for jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, anything and everything I could imagine. And upstairs there was more of everything. "Is this a closet, or heaven?" I asked Edward as he rolled his eyes. "I think we would be able to find a space for some of your things." I laughed.
Pulling me away from the closet Edward pulled me to the door in the hall that held the stairs. As we followed the winding staircase up, I was surprised to see that the attic was completely finished, and saw it as a play area for Logan, or an office space for me. This house was absolutely perfect.
We stood in the attic for a couple minutes before Edward looked at me. "Well what do you think?" he asked me.
"I love it, but half a million dollars is a lot of money Edward." But he just waved his hand at me. "No, I know what you're thinking, and you're not paying for this house, not by yourself." I said as he started to protest.
"Bella, I make more than enough money."
"And I have plenty of money to my name Edward. I have my inheritance, there is plenty there for the two of us to split the price."
"Let me do this for us. You've spent the last five years taking care of our son by yourself, it's the least I can do."
"Edward you need to stop apologizing for that, you didn't know."
"Bella, please, let me do this for you, for us."
"Okay" I said after a few minutes. "You do realize that we haven't talked to Logan yet. That we don't even know if he'll agree to this?"
"Bella, you do realize that he's five. He'll have plenty of time to make new friends, to find a new team to play on, and he can visit his old ones, New Jersey isn't that far." He said as I looked at him.
"Alright, I'll start planning for a move." I said as he smiled.
Agreeing to this it was life changing, but I knew that it was something that I needed to do in order for our family to grow. Edward and I walked hand in hand down the stairs and into the main area. At that time Maggie was walking out of the kitchen with another couple that ended up walking right out the front door.
"So what did you think?" she asked us as we waited for the couple to walk out the door.
"I think we'll take it." Edward said as he shifted Logan from one hip to another.
"Really, price and all?"
"Yes, the price isn't a problem." Edward said as she smiled, grabbing her card from the table in the middle of the room.
"Here's my card. If you give me a call on Monday I can conference you in with the owners. I'm sure when they find out that you're offering the asking price it won't take long to close." We talked to Maggie for a while longer before Logan started to stir, making a quick decision to leave before he really woke up, making the new house a surprise.
We found ourselves back at Edward's apartment half hour later, after stopping back at the arena to pick his truck up. Then, we had to talk to Logan, oh, this would be fun.
One month later
I had to admit that telling Logan we were moving to Pittsburgh was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. He understood that things hadn't worked out with Edward getting to play for New Jersey, and that he really wanted to be with us all the time. So while he continued out his contract we would be moving to Pittsburgh, I have our chance at being a family.
One stipulation was that we had to find a good hockey team for him to join once he got his cast taken off, and that we had to visit New Jersey at least once a month so he and Alex could continue to be best friends.
As the days came closer and closer to our move date, we would be moving during Logan's February break, I saw my friends and family as much as I could before we left. Esme agree to help with managing the bakery, and the girls promised to call me twice a week to let me know how everything was going. I had passed on the family recipes that I used to Angela, who would be taking over as head baker once I left. Since I had agreed to let Edward pay for the house, and my bakery here was doing so well, I was budgeting some money to rent out space in Pittsburgh to try and open another branch of Eclipse Café there. With Logan being in school a majority of the year, and Edward training, or playing September through June, I needed something to do with my time, and opening another bakery would be perfect.
Rose was getting large by the day, at now six months pregnant she was struggling to get to her classes on time, and often wondered how she would walk at graduation in just a few months time. I knew that she was relieved graduation was a week before her due date, and even though these we're her first children and most arrive late, she was having twins, and they, well they almost always arrive early.
The last couple weeks had been beyond stressful with everything happening all at once, but somehow I was getting through it. Today I would be joining Rosalie at her doctor's appointment, seeing that Ryan was on a business trip, and she wanted the emotional support. She was six months along, and glowing, and I just knew that she would make the best mother. Logan was at school until four o'clock, so with luck Rosalie and I could swing by and pick him up on the way back from the doctor's appointment.
"Hello beautiful, don't you look lovely today." I said as Rosalie climbed into my car.
"Oh stop, I'm huge." She said with a huff as I laughed at her.
"You're growing to make enough room for those lovely twin girls you have inside of you. You're a lovely kind of huge, not a whale kind of huge." I said with a roll to my eyes and a laugh in my voice.
"Thank you for telling the truth. If it was Alice she would tell me that I was in no way shape or form huge, and I know that I am, I don't want to be lied to." She said as I laughed.
"Point taken Rosie. How's Alex doing with the whole pregnancy thing?"
"So far so good, he doesn't want to be an only child anymore. We're trying to explain to him that the twins are going to be really small, and that he won't be able to rough house with them. We're also trying to explain that they're girls, and once they get a bit older, they still might want to do that with him." She explained. "I think he's secretly hoping that either the doctor is wrong about one of the girls genders, or that there is a third baby inside of me, and it's a boy." She said with a smile.
"Urgh, three babies at once? No thank you, you'll have enough trouble trying to handle the two and make sure that Alex is happy."
"Oh thanks for the vote of confidence Bella" she said as I laughed.
"Hey now, I never said that you weren't going to be able to do it. I just said that it was going to be tough."
"Yeah, yeah. So how is the move going? You getting excited, it's next weekend isn't it?"
"My house is a complete mess. Between trying to figure out what I do and don't need to take with me, and boxes everywhere, I think I'm going to go insane. Every time I try and pack away some of Logan's toys, he ends up wanting something that I packed. It's the reason why I'm happy that Edward and I are letting movers take care of everything, and that we bought all new furniture to go with the house. They're taking the things I want to keep to the storage unit I have, and I'm only bring down clothes, books, toys, and kitchen accessories."
"I'm just happy that we don't have to deal with finding a big enough place. How are you feeling by the way, any better?"
"I mean, I feel better than I did yesterday. But there still are some days where I don't feel the best. I honestly think that it's just stress, once the move is over, I think I'll be just fine."
As I pulled into the parking lot I let Rosalie get out before I parked, it would take her longer to get out, and some of the spots were really tight, so it was best to let her out now. After that I found the closest spot that I could and parked, before sprinting into the building, and magically catching up to Rose. "Why the hell do they have the office on the second floor, and no elevator?" she asked me as I started to laugh. "It's not funny."
"Oh, no, it's hilarious. I have a kid remember? I had to do this too, and I was only seventeen."
Eventually, the two of us made it up the stairs and into the office where a nurse was already waiting for Rosalie. "I figured you were just having trouble with the stairs," she said, as I noticed it was one of our old friends, Jessica. "Haven't seen you in a while Bella, how's that little boy of yours?"
"Good, really good. Currently has a broken arm, but still a happy kid."
"How have you been?"
"I've been good. Getting ready to move, but asides from the stress everything is good."
"You're moving? Where to?"
"Pittsburgh actually, Logan's father and I are back together, so we're getting a place for the three of us."
"And you're moving the little boy there? I thought you had a business here, and he has all his friends? Shouldn't his father move here?" she said as she started to get a little too nosey.
"Well, he was supposed to, but something fell through and he can't leave his job. So Logan and I are making the move there, with promises to find Logan a good hockey team, and to visit here once a month so he can see Rose's step-son."
"Well Rose, Dr. Volturi will be with you in just a couple minutes." She said as Rose nodded, then rolled her eyes the moment the door shut.
"Gods, she's such a nosy bitch."
I just laughed, what more could I say, people were nosey and sometimes there wasn't anything you could do about it.
Dr. Heidi Volturi joined us a couple minutes later, and smiled at me as she welcomed Rose. "Bella Swan, I remember you. How is your little guy?"
"Perfectly healthy, just like you promised me about a hundred times after the birth." I laughed.
"See, I told you there was nothing to worry about." She said before she turned back to Rose.
"Alright darling, we're just going to do the simple things today, make sure that there isn't anything wrong with these lovely twins, then get you on your way."
It was as Dr. Volturi was taking Rosalie's blood pressure that I started to feel that something was wrong. Trying to take deep breaths, and show that nothing was wrong, I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, the world was spinning. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was sick spinning versions of Rosalie asking me if I was okay.
Authors Note; Okay guys, sorry about the wait. I've been really blocked on what to write for this chapter, and finally figured something out. I'm going to do my best to finish the story within the next sixteen days seeing that I want it finished before I leave for school, and it will be.
There are pictures going up on my profile of the new house, so you all can have some sort of visual.
Happy Reading, Love Lauren