(A.N. So, you will be meeting three new young ladies through this chapter. They are all named after people in my life, well, two are. One is named after my brothers dog. REGARDLESS, I thought it would be fun(ny) to put picture of my inspiration on my profile. Mostly because my friend that I named one person after isn't a reader and makes fun of me for reading so much, and would murder me if she knew I put her on here. MUHAHAHAHA! Anyways, check that out. Also, check out the play list because it's cool. Thanks everyone. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!)
Disclaimer: Not my characters.
Bella's POV-
Angela came to visit me from Forks this weekend. She was my only real friend from high school and now she was married with three kids. Her and the gang, minus her husband Ben, were all coming to stay at my place for the weekend. My apartment was large, but with three little girls running around it seemed a bit smaller.
I walked in the kitchen to see Angela busy feeding her kids breakfast. "Good morning, ladies."
"Hi, Aunt Bella." Came a chorus of small voices as I made my way over to the coffee machine.
"Do we still get to go to the park today?" BreeOnna, Angela's oldest at a whopping seven years old, asked. BreeOnna was the feisty one out of the group with long, straight, dirty blonde hair and little square glasses over her eyes. She was kind of like the other girls' body guard. If any other kids so much as looked at her younger sisters wrong, she dealt with it. She had gotten Angela called in for a lot of parent teacher conferences because of it.
"You bet. I am looking forward to it." I said with a smile and a wink. Apparently I am BreeOnna's favorite. Angela said she walks around pretending to be a lawyer whenever the other girls are fighting, making them 'go to court to let the legal system work out there problems since they were apparently incapable of doing so themselves.' "Angela, why don't you go get changed and take a shower. I can watch the three stooges."
"HEY!"
"AUNT BELLA!"
"WHAT DID WE DO TO YOU!?"
I smiled warmly at the three glaring playfully back at me. They stuck their tongues out at me then turned back to their cereal. I went and sat next to Darby, Angela's youngest and ruffled her hair. Darby was three, almost four and super smart. She had strawberry blonde hair that hung limply and wouldn't grow past her jaw line. She was one of the prettiest girls I have ever seen. She kept to herself for the most part though. She held her own when necessary and also had a tendency to be a complete smart ass. Something I tended to appreciate more than Angela.
"So ladies, do you think we should call Jasper and see if he will bring Kolbe to the park to hang out?" I sipped my coffee as all the girls eyes went wide with excitement.
"I'll get the phone!" Mia jumped up from her seat and ran towards the phone on the counter. Mia was the middle child. Five years old and by far the quietest of all the girls. She was lanky with thick brown hair that reached her shoulders. She ran back and handed me the phone quickly, then ran straight back to her seat to finish her breakfast.
"Okay, ladies. Keep it quiet until I say otherwise. Jasper doesn't know you came to visit me." They all nodded, excited to be tricking Jasper. They all loved Jasper and showed that love for him by picking on him. "Jasper, good ole buddy, ole pal."
"What." He said sounding like I woke him up.
"I wanted to know what you were doing today, my dear friend." I said happily. Jasper was the most fun to pick on when I woke him up on the weekends. It was a hobby of mine that never got old.
"It is eight o'clock in the morning, on a Saturday and you are calling to ask what I'm doing today? Are you out of your mind?" I smiled warmly at his good mood and winked at the girls all stifling their giggles around me.
I motioned for the girls to all come around me and lean closer to the phone. "Jasper, don't you want to hang out with a group of beautiful women?"
"What beautiful women? You don't have any friends besides Alice."
I held my hand over the receiver and whispered to the girls. "Okay, on the count of three yell good morning to Jasper." They all nodded and stayed quiet. I held my hand up and counted up. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . .
"GOOD MORNING JASPER!!!!" I heard Jasper yelp, followed by a soft thud. I started laughing, causing the rest of the girls to break out in a fit of giggles. I kept the phone next to my ear as I laughed, waiting for Jasper to talk to me.
"Damn it Bella! A little warning would have been nice!" He said grumpily. I heard Kolbe bark at the sound of my name.
"Kolbe sounds happy to hear from me." I countered.
"Yeah, well, he's a traitor. Why didn't you tell me my harem was coming to town?" He asked. "They made me drop the phone. Why would you make them do that to me?"
"I didn't make them do anything. They were all willing participants." The girls dispersed after I motioned for them to finish their food. "So you want to come to the park with Kolbe today?"
"Yeah, sounds good. What time?" I heard Jasper walking through his house, then heard his voice start to echo as he entered his bathroom.
"Eleven. Don't be late." I hung up quickly before he could start peeing while I was on the phone with him. It was how he liked to pay me back for waking him in the mornings. I shivered at the thought of it.
__
Jasper was waiting on a bench in front of the playground with Kolbe sitting at his feet smiling with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he looked at all the kids playing. The three girls spotted the two and started yelling Jasper's name, running towards him. Jasper looked up just in time to be crashed into by three little girls hugging him. They had him knocked over sideways on the bench in a dog pile while Kolbe put his front paws up on an empty portion of the bench and barked once, wanting attention.
"Alright ladies, get off Jasper. We don't want to suffocate him before he is able to buy his girls ice cream." All three of the girls jumped off Jasper immediately at the promise of ice cream. Jasper sat back up with his hair going everywhere. Kolbe was sitting happily as the girls all huddled around him, petting behind his ears and such while Jasper tried smoothing down his hair and cloths.
"Angela, you're raising a bunch of hooligans." Jasper said getting up and giving Angela a hug in greeting.
"They're pretty hooligans, so they'll get away with a lot more." I said, smiling at the girls. "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to have three different moms try to get my number." He said with a huff.
"And how many walked away with your number?"
"None, I gave them yours." He said turning back towards the girls. I heaved out a sigh and glared at his back. I can't say I wasn't used to it. He has done this before on numerous occasions. I have lost count of how many random women call my phone asking for Jasper.
"You can always give them his real number when they call." Angela said patting me on my back. "In fact, you could probably think of something better to do than that. You're creative enough."
I made my way over to where Kolbe was being fawned over and knelt down to help in the fawning. He made a quick swipe for my face leaving a trail of slobber up one of my cheeks. I blew a raspberry on top of his head then took off towards Jasper. I jumped up on his back making him give me a piggy back ride, but he didn't even flinch or move to help hold me up. I held on tightly with my legs and wrapped my arms around him for support. I leaned my chin on his shoulder digging it in a little to get his attention.
"What's got our panties in a twist?" I asked as I slipped down.
"Nothing. I don't think I brought enough cash for ice cream." He said digging through his wallet. "You have a couple of ones?"
"Yeah, over in my purse. You sure you're okay?."
"I'm just kind of tired." He threw me an accusing glare.
"You talk to Alice lately?" I asked trying to wake him up. He stared down at me with his eyebrows drawn together. I waggled my eyebrows back at him.
"No, I haven't." He said simply. "Have you?"
"Yup. Yesterday." I said with a smile. "We are all going to dinner tonight. Kind of a girl's night out with all these lovely ladies. You could come along if you want. You're pretty enough."
"You are just so freaking funny, Bella." He said sarcastically and pulled my head down into a head lock, giving me a quick noogy.
The girls all saw it and ran to defend my honor while Kolbe wobbled behind them barking. Jasper let me go quickly and bent his knees to brace himself. He went down after BreeOnna got to him as they wrestled him to the ground. He looked up to me for help and I just stuck my tongue out at him.
"I'm the favorite." I boasted. "You mess with me, you mess with the ladies."
"I surrender!" Jasper wailed as they covered him in another dog pile. Kolbe sat back watching, barking occasionally. "If I go get ice cream, will you forgive me?!"
The girls all jumped off quickly and hurried Jasper as he got up from his spot on the ground. He was smart enough to wear his old jeans and NYU t-shirt today so the grass stains he was getting wouldn't be a big deal.
"You guys go play some more while I get ice cream." He said shooing them off. "Oh, and could you guys watch Kolbe for me?"
The girls all cheered excitedly, picking up Kolbe's leash and started going through what game they were going to play. Jasper and I walked over to the bench Angela was sitting at, looking amused, while watching the purses. I grabbed my purse and sat beside her, nudging her lightly with my shoulder.
"They really do beat you up don't they?" She asked Jasper with a smile. "I can get them not to if you want."
"No, I don't mind really. Bree is quite the scrapper though." He said rubbing his arm. "I wouldn't mess with her."
Angela laughed and apologized while I handed Jasper some cash. He headed off down the walkway towards the ice cream stand while I looked around at my surroundings. It wasn't often that I got to come out and enjoy a day at the park when it wasn't raining. Not that I would normally have a reason to come to the park. The only reason people came to the park was to have a day with their kids or run. I didn't have kids, and I certainly was not a fan of recreational running. As I stared around the park my eyes caught on a familiar shade of auburn.
"Are you looking at a guy?" Angela asked in shock.
It was common knowledge that I didn't mix well with men, at least not in a relationship kind of way. It was like putting oil in water. No matter how much you tried to mix the two they always ended up separating. Angela, Alice and even Jasper would continuously try to point out men to me that apparently I was supposed to be attracted to. Angela thinking I was staring at a guy right now would be, to her, a giant accomplishment.
I shook my head and stared back at Angela. "No, well, yeah. He was a client of mine over a month ago. One of the few nice ones."
"Which one is he?" She asked scanning the area.
"The one with the bronze-colored hair. Tall, lean. Way to attractive for his own good."
"Holy cow, Bella. He is really good-looking!" She said excitedly. "Why is he at the park though? That's kind of weird."
"He had just found out he had a daughter after her mother died." I said turning back to her. "She is probably around here somewhere."
"Well, go talk to him!" Angela pushed my shoulder lightly. I shook my head and looked back over at the girls and Kolbe. "Why not!?"
"He probably won't even remember me." I said defiantly. "Besides, what would be the point in talking to him?"
"Look, a doggie." I heard a little voice sound from behind me. I looked back to see an absolutely gorgeous woman holding a small girl with long, curly, reddish colored hair. "Can I pet it?"
"No honey, that's not our dog." The woman told the girl.
"She can pet him." I said looking up at the two. "He's with us, and really good with kids."
"Are you sure?" The woman asked while the little girl's eyes widened in excitement. I nodded and called the girls over. "Thanks. I'm Rose."
The woman held her hand out to me to shake and I took it happily. "Bella, and this is Angela." I motioned towards Angela, who gave the woman a small wave. Rose put the girl down on the ground as the girls got closer and I bent down and started whistling Kolbe over. "And this is Kolbe."
"Kowbe." The little girl said in wonder as she walked over and patted him on the head. Kolbe smiled his big grin up at her and licked her hand once sending her into a fit of giggles. "I wike you Kowbe. Auntie Rose! I wike him!"
"I do too, sweetie."
"What's your name?" I asked her with a smile.
"Isadowa." My heart about stopped. I had only heard that name once before and that was only from the guy across the playground from us. Was this Edward Masen's daughter? I stared at the little girl a little closer only now noticing the same piercing green eyes and strange colored hair that about gave away her relation to Edward.
"That is a beautiful name." I said after a short pause. I heard Rose talking to someone quietly and looked up to see Edward standing directly above us watching his daughter pet Kolbe. His hair was a mess and he was breathing a little harder than normal as if he ran over to talk to Rose. I looked down quickly then over to Angela who was smiling knowingly at me. When I turned back around Edward was kneeling beside Isadora patting Kolbe on the head. He looked up at me right as my eyes met him.
"Bella?"
"Yes, hello." I said nervously. "How are you Edward?"
"You know her?" Rose asked confused while Isadora stared between Edward and me until she again got distracted by Kolbe. Isadora had called her 'Aunt Rose.' That must be his ex's sister. My god, if his ex looked anything like her, he just shot even further out of my league.
Edward and I both stood while Edward explained. "Yes. This is Isabella Swan."
"Your name sounds kind of like my name." Isadora said patting my leg excitedly. I smiled down at her and nodded while Edward continued.
"She was the lawyer I went to after I found out about Isadora." Rose's mouth made on 'O' shape as her gaze tightened slightly. I smiled and nodded, looking back at Edward a little confused. He smiled sheepishly at me.
"I'm going to go get something to drink. You want anything Edward?" Edward shook his head and Rosalie walked off.
"Did I do something?" I asked as I stood staring at Rosalie walk away.
"No, sorry. She wasn't too fond of the advice you gave me about the DNA test." I nodded my understanding and looked down at his daughter who was now talking away to BreeOnna, Darby and Mia. I understood Rose's stance on that particular subject, especially if Isadora's deceased mother was her sister. "So this is your dog?"
"No. It's Jaspers, but Kolbe likes me better." I said happily. Edward smiled a beautiful crooked smile at me that made my heart go nuts. I felt a small shove and looked over to see Angela smiling at me. "Oh! Um, this is my friend Angela. She is the mother of these three monsters. BreeOnna, or Bree, or Onna. Whatever you prefer. Darby, and Mia."
"Nice to meet you all." He said holding his hand out to Angela and smiled down at the girls who all waved timidly before continuing their conversation with Isadora about Kolbe.
"You too." Angela said back shyly.
"I HAVE ICE CREAM!" Jasper howled behind us from down the walkway.
The girls all jumped up and ran towards him. His hands were filled with ice cream cones that were starting to melt down over his fingers. He kept walking, holding the ice cream up high in the air away from the girls while they yelled and jumped around him until he finally relinquished the goods. He walked up to me and handed me a cone as well as Angela before looking up and noticing Edward.
"Oh, hey." Jasper said staring at Edward with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Dream Boat." He looked back at me pointing at Edward. I stared at Jasper in shock. I felt my mouth hanging open and my eyes staring widely at Jasper which only seemed to amuse him more. "Look Bella, Dream Boat's here. I'm sorry, I never actually learned your real name."
Edward nodded, holding back a laugh and shook Jasper's extended hand. "It's actually just Edward. How are you, Mr. Whitlock?"
"Great, man, but just call me Jasper." Jasper said with a smirk as he stared between us. I saw Edward nod and run his hand nervously through his hair sending pieces flying in odd angles. He still looked amazing. "You invited him to the park but you wouldn't invite Alice for me." Jasper asked incredulously. I heard Edward try to stifle a chuckle behind me. Jasper smiled proudly. "Some friend you are Bella."
My cheeks flushed as I glared at Jasper, shaking my head. "I didn't invite him here; he was here with his daughter. He came on his own accord. It just happened to be at the same time we were here." I said bitingly and I motioned down to the little girl petting Kolbe while staring at the ice cream in my hand longingly. "Oh, jeeze. Poor kid has to watch a bunch of us eat ice cream." I said looking from Isadora to Edward apologetically.
"Oh, no. Don't worry about it. We can go get her ice cream later." He said with a wave of a hand. I still felt bad though. He must have noticed because he gave me a reassuring smile. "Really it's fine."
"Well, does she like Chocolate ice cream?" I asked more towards Isadora then Edward. Isadora nodded happily. "Can I give her mine? I don't really want it."
"Bella, you don't have to. Really."
"Oh, hush." I said with a dismissive wave as I knelt down next to Isadora and handed her my ice-cream cone. "There you go, sweetheart."
"Thanks!" She said happily before holding her stuffed giraffe up to me and introducing it to me. Princess Cootie. Great name.
Edwards POV-
I watched as Bella knelt down beside Isadora and handed her, her ice cream cone, smiling sweetly at her the whole time. I had always found her attractive, but at that moment, seeing her being so good with Isadora, her beauty about knocked me over. Before, I didn't picture her in any light other then my very good-looking lawyer, but now I saw something more.
Bella stayed knelt down next to Isadora, listening intently as she introduced her to her stuffed giraffe, something she only did for people she really liked. At that moment in time, I couldn't picture a more attractive woman. She laughed lightly, her head falling back a little. She was beautiful. She introduced herself back to the inanimate object making Isadora beam. I was pulled from my gawking when I heard Bella's friend, Angela, snicker. I looked up to see her and Jasper staring at me, both smiling a knowing smile at me.
Jasper nodded, patting my shoulder reassuringly, and smiled in understanding when I gave them an uncomfortable smile. I ran my hand through my hair nervously when Angela walked over closer to me.
"How is fatherhood treating you, Edward?" She asked sweetly. I appreciated that she didn't call me on so blatantly staring at her friend.
"I love it." I said with a smile. "I take it Bella explained my situation to you."
"Not really. She gave me the overview when she noticed you earlier." She had noticed me before and didn't come say hi. Maybe I was getting the wrong vibe from her. Maybe Jasper's comment had nothing to do with Bella possibly being attracted to me. I didn't like that. "She said that you had just recently found out about a daughter you hadn't known about soon after her mother's death."
"Yes, that about sums it up, really." I said awkwardly. "It's hard, I suppose, time consuming, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Isadora is amazing."
"She seems to be. She's beautiful." She said shyly. "She looks a lot like you."
"Thank you."
"Hey Bella, why don't you invite Edward and Isadora to dinner?" Jasper asked out of the blue. I looked up at him with my eyebrows pulled together. He smiled broadly at me then back down at Bella.
Bella glared up at him and excused herself from Isadora who was busily licking her ice cream. I heard Angela giggle as she knelt down beside Isadora and asked her if she would like to go sit with the rest of the girls while she ate her ice cream. Isadora looked up at me for permission and when I nodded Isadora smiled excitedly and went to sit on the bench with Angela's children.
"Jasper, I haven't officially invited you yet." She said threateningly to him while he just winked at her.
"But I bet Isadora would like to hang out with the girls for the night." Jasper looked up at me for conformation while I just stood there unsure of what to do. To be honest, if Bella were to invite me to have dinner I would say yes, regardless of who else is going or if she was just being polite. "What do yah say, Edward? You want to come to dinner with all of us tonight?"
"I wouldn't want to intrude." I said with a small smile. I would accept the offer if Bella asked, but from the looks of it she didn't really want me to tag along.
Bella turned to me with an apologetic smile. She looked so sweet, cute, and unimaginably sexy. Her hair pulled back into a messy pony tail with wisps of hair falling around her face. Her jeans and t-shirt attire gave her a younger, softer look then her work attire. She looked gorgeous either way, but I had a feeling this is what she really felt comfortable in.
"Edward, would you like to come to dinner with us?" She asked sweetly, her big brown eyes staring straight into mine. "The girls always like having someone new to play with and you could bring Rose if you would like."
"Are you sure it would be okay?" I asked trying to feel out what Bella thought about this. I couldn't tell if she was just being polite or if she really wanted me there. She nodded and smiled a sweet smile at me. "Well, she does seem to be getting along well with those three. It would be nice for her to make some friends her own age. If you really don't mind."
Bella's eyes held surprise for a few seconds while Jasper yelled out a loud 'Yeeha.' The four girls sitting on the bench eating ice cream all giggled at him while Bella punched him in the arm. She looked back at me then with a warm smile.
"Well, cool. It will be quite the crowd. Do you think Rose will want to come?" She looked so concerned when she mentioned Rose. I felt a little bad for telling her that Rose didn't really like her just because Bella was doing her job.
"I don't know. She might have plans." I smiled at her and realized we were standing off by ourselves while Jasper and Angela watched the girls. Kolbe sat at their feet staring up at their ice creams. "But Isadora and I will definitely be there."
By the time Rose got back with her soda Isadora had about finished her ice cream and Bella and her friends were leaving. I had gotten all the information needed from Bella to meet up with her and her friends for dinner including her number.
"You're going to dinner with her?" Rose asked.
"Yeah. Isadora really liked Angela's kids. I thought it would be nice for her to make a couple of friends her own age." I explained without divulging too much into my other reasons for going. Bella.
"Yeah, sure." She said slyly. "I'm still not too fond of her, but she is pretty. Just be careful. You have a daughter now. You can't just date woman all the time. It will confuse Isadora."
"I'll keep that in mind." I said not denying my attraction to Bella but also not confirming it. I was never one to date a lot of women, and well Bella didn't seem like most other women. She was special in some way. "What are you doing tonight?"
"Emmett and I are hanging out. Apparently I don't know fun until we have a guy night at his house. I believe you were suppose to be attending too." Rose wiped Isadora's chocolate covered face down with a wet napkin.
"Shoot, I forgot about that." I sighed sitting down next to Isadora. "You think you can control him in my absence?"
"Sure thing. Emmett's easy." She said with a wave of her hand. "The fact that Isadora isn't going to be there will be the part that bums him out."
"I feel so used." I sighed and leaned against the bench. "Well, just tell him he wouldn't have been able to drink if she was there. That should placate him."
(A.N. Well, what did you think? A little B and E action. I hope it was up to your standards. Thanks for reviewing…because that's what your going to do next…Right?!?!?)