Disclaimer – Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.
A special thanks to my Beta, shelikesthesound.
In the Long Run
Chapter 11
EPOV
When we went downstairs for breakfast the next morning, Dad was still at the breakfast table waiting for us. He had two bottles for Bella.
"I picked these up at the pharmacy on the way home yesterday, Bella. One is a pre-natal vitamin. It would probably be better for you to take it at night because of your morning sickness. It's important to get the vitamins in your system as soon as possible. The other one's for nausea. You can take one tablet every six hours. It may make you drowsy, especially at first, but that's better than vomiting, especially at school," he said.
I picked up the one for nausea. Phenergan. I had taken it before. In fact, we had some in the cabinet. I took one out and gave it to Bella. I knew that she was having trouble with the nausea already, and I wanted her to be able to eat. In the meantime, Bella had picked up the other bottle and was looking at it. Her eyes narrowed, and I couldn't help but notice the tears that were starting to rim her eyes.
"What's wrong," I asked her.
"They have my name on the bottle," she whispered to me. I couldn't figure out what the problem was. The prescription was for her. I was overlooking something, something big. I knew it, and I just couldn't see it.
"It's your prescription. Whose name should it have on it?" I whispered back. I had to jump out of the way as she reached for her crutches and flailed to get away from the table. I followed her into the den where the tears were fully formed and streaking down her cheeks, making her mascara run.
"I'm sorry, Bella. I know that I should get it, but I don't. I know I'm missing something, but I just don't see it."
"Edward, they're pre-natal vitamins, and my name is on the bottle. Everyone at the pharmacy knows I'm pregnant now," she cried into my arms. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. Of course she would be upset. A couple of the students that attend Forks High worked at the drugstore part time afterschool. They would know which would mean the whole school would know, too. How could she go to school that day, any day? I held her closer to me.
"Well, they'll figure it out sooner or later. You're going to eventually show. Not even you can hide a baby for nine months." It was exactly the wrong thing to say. She pushed me away with so much force that I actually stumbled.
"Okay, I know I'm going to get fat. You don't have to rub it in, Edward Cullen. How could you?" She plopped down on the couch and hid her head in her hands. She was sobbing by the time that Mom and Dad entered the den.
"Bella, honey, it's Esme. Calm down, dear. You're not going to get fat, and I'm certain that Edward didn't mean whatever he said that way," Mom said as she sat down next to Bella, pulling her into her arms and giving me a scathing look.
"No, Mom. All I said was that she . . ."
"Never mind what you said, Edward. It's what she heard that counts," Dad said. "She's pregnant, and there are dozens of hormones running through her system. She's going to be a little cranky . . ."
"I'm not cranky. Edward said that even I couldn't hide a baby for nine months," Bella cried into Mom's arms.
"Of course you're not cranky, dear. You're sensitive, and these two men just don't understand anything about carrying a child, do they?" Mom said, giving the both of us men the go to hell look.
"Anyway, Bella, sweetheart, all I meant was if anyone finds out from the drugstore, I'll be beside you no matter what. You won't be alone one step of the way, okay?" I tried again.
"Is that what this is all about?" Dad asked. "I talked to Nicholas personally and explained the situation. All of this was very hush hush. Nobody but him and me knows what medications I prescribed or who they were for. He handled every part of the transaction for me, from preparing the meds, to attaching the lables, to ringing up the transaction."
"You mean . . . that . . . they won't know?" Bella asked.
"That's right. I told him in confidence. We, in medicine, can keep secrets, Bella. It's called patient confidentiality. I also need to set up an appointment for an OB/GYN soon," Dad said.
"Can Edward come with me?" Bella asked.
"I don't know, Bella. You know the rules. He's under house arrest. We'll have to ask the judge for permission," Dad said.
"Well, we'll need to ask Uncle George to help with that. Can you call him, Dad?" I asked.
"No way. This is your story to explain. I'm not about to get in the middle of this one," Dad said. "You know how your uncle feels about these situations."
"Yeah, I know," I said. I did know. His reaction was going to be almost as bad as Charlie's. Maybe he already knew. After all, Alice was his daughter. I picked up my cell phone and called my Uncle George's number.
I dreaded my afternoon appointment with Uncle George all day long. Mom was able to talk Charlie into signing an excuse for Bella's absence the day before, so nobody was suspicious as to why she was absent. Bella was drowsy during our morning classes, but the nausea was manageable. By morning break, the rumors that we'd had a fight were gone, and everything was as back to as normal as could be.
At lunch, though, Alice and Emmett were chomping at the bits to know what I wanted to talk to their Dad about. I told them we were going to tell him our news, keeping the conversation cryptic so any eavesdroppers wouldn't hear any information that would compromise our secret. The rest of the gang shook their heads at us.
"Why would you do that, man?" Emmett asked me.
"I wanna go to her appointments with her," I said. "I have to get the house arrest lifted at least a little in order to do that. I also need to add her name on some of my accounts."
"What accounts?" Jasper asked.
"Just some savings bonds and things like that that my Grandfather left me when he passed away. If anything happens to me, I want to make sure she can access anything she needs. Just in case, you know," I said, squeezing Bella's hands.
"As if a couple of hundred dollars is going to help her buy diapers," Emmett muttered under his breath.
"Would you keep your voice down?" I whisper-yelled at him.
"What the hell happened to your face?" Coach Davis asked as he took a second look at me. He had been absent from football practice the day before. "Jesus H. Christ, Cullen. Did Emmett do this to you? I told you not to mess him up, Emmett. Just to talk a little sense into him." A crowd was starting to form. Rumors about my face and the obvious beating that I'd taken had not died down, unfortunately.
"Coach, I didn't do this to him," Emmett said, holding up his hands. "Ch . . ."
"No, Coach, Emmett didn't do it," I cut Emmett off, loudly. "This happened on Saturday night. Don't worry about it Coach. It doesn't feel as bad as it looks."
"Who hit you, Edward? They need to come see me," Coach Davis said.
"NO!" I said, at Emmett, who had started to answer him again, shutting him up by kicking him in the shin and staring into his eyes. "It doesn't matter who did it, Coach. I deserved it. It was my fault."
"Bullshit," that time it was Jasper. "It was . . ." Alice was the one who took care of him. "Oww," he couldn't help but squeal as her heel ground into his foot.
"Okay, people, back at your tables. NOW!" Coach Davis said. Then, "The six of you, in my office, now."
"Coach, Bella's not finished eating. We'll . . ." I started.
"She's green as a toad. Now," Coach said.
We got up and put our trays in the tray return line and followed Coach Davis to his office in the field house which was otherwise empty. He was nice enough to bring in enough chairs for the girls to sit. We stood behind them.
"All right. Let me get started. The three of you are now couples." We all nodded. "The three couples are all best friends." We all nodded again. "Edward, Emmett, and Alice, is it?" Alice nodded, "are cousins?" We nodded. "Good. Now, nothing said in this room leaves this room. Edward, did Chief Swan do this to you?"
"Coach, that's none of your business," I said, while Bella looked down, and Jasper, Emmett, Alice, and Rosalie all nodded their heads. "Guyysss," I hissed, shaking my head.
"Edward, why would Bella's dad want to mess up your face, and by the looks of it, do a pretty damn good job of it? And don't tell me it's because he arrested you. He's had plenty of time to do that in the past four weeks if it was his intention," Coach said.
"Coach, I don't mean to be rude, but that's none of your business," I said, looking sternly at my friends. Bella still had her head down.
"Something that has the good 'ole Chief that upset has to involve Bella here, and means there's something going on between the two of you. Edward, son, I've been in this business going on twenty-five years, and I can smell a kid in trouble. Son, you're a kid in trouble." Emmett started nodding his head.
"Emmett, will you keep out of this, please," I begged.
"A kid in trouble can get hurt on the football field. If there's other things on his mind besides football, like your arrest, for instance, he could be distracted from my football game. I almost benched you because of it, Edward, but you seemed to have your mind in the right place. I wasn't sure where your mind would be today, after Bella got hurt last game. I knew that I'd have to determine your frame of mind and decide if you'd be good to play . . ."
"I'm good to play, Coach. I'm fine," I said.
"But then I get here today. Coach Singh said you were distracted yesterday, but he said that Bella didn't come to school, so I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but he didn't mention your face . . ."
"I'm fine Coach. No vision problems, no concentration problems. I was worried about Bella yesterday is all. I'm good," I said.
"Today, Edward, I see two shiners and a split lip. Bella's father gave them to you, and you say you deserved them. Now, what must I assume other than you've got your mind on something else other than football . . . ."
"I'm pregnant," Bella said, still looking down, in a voice so low that I almost didn't hear her.
"Okay. That makes a difference, doesn't it, Edward? A big difference. You're worried about everyone finding out, about what everyone'll think, the finger pointing. But you're not worried about football . . ."
"Bella, why?" I asked.
"Because he's right. You could get hurt. I don't want you hurt because of me and our situation. You've got to forget about me and get your mind back on the game. I'll be okay. Nobody's gonna find out until we decide to tell them, unless Emmett doesn't keep his big mouth shut."
"You're not mad, Coach?" I asked.
"Mad? No, Edward. Not mad. Disappointed maybe. I assume your parents know, otherwise you wouldn't have such a pretty face, so the first part of my speech is done. You four are excused. Not a word to anyone. Your life depends on it, Emmett." Emmett gave me a pat on the shoulder and left with the others. "Now, for the second part of the talk. Do you know what you're going to do?"
"We're gonna have a baby," I said, sitting down in the chair that Alice vacated and taking Bella's hand in my own. "You mean others on the team have been in this situation before?"
"What's said in this room stays in this room," Coach said again. "Let's just say that my team members have found themselves in loads of all kinds of problems before you came into my life, Edward. I've been in this business for almost twenty-five years. I've heard and seen it all."
"I had no idea," I said, wondering which if any of my teammates had been in my situation before.
"Now, was that so hard, Bella?" Coach asked.
"No, not really, but you already suspected. I could tell by your tone and the way you were looking at me," Bella said.
"So, what you think will be so hard is the fact that people won't be suspecting it? Or that we'll be disappointed in you?" Coach Davis asked.
"What's so hard is that I'm disappointed in myself and in Edward. We always said that we'd be married before we'd have sex, and we just let it happen. We were so immature about the whole thing. I'm disappointed in me," she said, her eyes brimming with tears again.
"Bella, we all make mistakes. Some are bigger than others. Some have larger and more lasting consequences than others. But bottom line, dear, is that we aren't perfect. If we were, we'd still be in the Garden, and we lost that privilege ages ago. It just happens that your mistake is one that is going to be visible in about three more months, and is going to last you the rest of your lives. Are you sure that the two of you are ready to handle that responsibility?"
"We're not having an abortion, if that's what you're asking!" Bella said. "I couldn't murder a child just because I made a mistake. What kind of a monster do you think I am?" and her tears were falling for real now. I faced her and started wiping her tears.
"I don't think that was what he was asking at all, sweetheart. I think he was asking if maybe we wanted to think about letting someone else, someone more mature than we are, raise our baby," I said, looking to Coach Davis for help.
"Right, Bella," he picked up on my cues quickly. "I didn't mean for you to terminate your pregnancy. That wouldn't be right for you to do. I meant what Edward just said. There are many wonderful people who would love a baby to raise as their own. Adoption is always an option, Bella, dear."
She stopped crying and looked up. "I'm . . . I'm s -sorry. I'm a little emotional, lately." I grinned and looked at her. She really was. There wasn't long until lunch was over, and she looked as if she had been crying.
"Bella, honey, you need to go fix your make-up. I'll talk to Coach Davis about this afternoon, okay," I said. She nodded, and taking her crutches, I gestured to a restroom which she could use to get herself together. After she'd left, I looked at him. "Coach, I'm gonna have to miss practice this afternoon. I have to meet with my lawyer about the house arrest thing. I want to go to Bella's doctor's visits, so I have to get that part approved with the courts."
"I think that'll be fine. I still haven't decided how much you'll be playing this week, to tell you the truth. I wasn't kidding about distractions and football not being a good match. Kids get hurt when that happens, Edward, and I don't intend to have that on my watch."
"Oh, come on, Coach. We're going undefeated. I've gotta play. Don't worry, when I'm on the field, I'm on the field. I swear it," I said.
"That's not what I saw Friday night, Edward. You rushed the ball because you were angry. You're not a rusher. You're a passer. Your game is in the pocket. You let your emotions about Bella get the better of you. I don't care if the game had been tied, you'd have come out last Friday, and I'm still not sure that you're gonna be playing this week. I just don't know. Now, go take care of Bella and get your personal life in order."
I shook my head which was swimming with the information he'd just given me. Benched? I'd never considered the possibility. Sure, I'd been acting out Friday night. I knew it. But benched?
I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the afternoon. When our last academic class was over, we went to the office to check-out in order to keep my appointment with Uncle George. Mrs. Hope didn't give us any problems because with Bella's broken ankle, she couldn't participate in cheerleading anyway.
When we arrived, his secretary waved us to his office in the back of the building. I knocked on the door, and with building trepidation, we walked in when invited and took seats across from his desk.
"Well, Edward. I didn't expect for you to come by here. I thought all of our business could be conducted at your house around the supper table. I do enjoy Esme's desserts," Uncle George said.
"I thought that you'd yell less here, Uncle George," I said.
"Why would I yell?" he asked me, a frown beginning to form on his face.
"I need for you to petition Judge Maye to allow me to go somewhere else except school, home, and here, please."
"And just where would that be?" Uncle George asked, leaning forward, waiting, just a little less than patiently.
"To Bella's doctor's appointments. She's pregnant with my baby," I said, trying to hold my head up while withstanding his icy stare.
"Tell me this is a horrible joke, Edward. I know this is October, not April first, so it can't be April Fool's."
"No, Sir. It's not a joke," I managed to croak out. I felt Bella's hand take mine and squeeze. I felt some feeling come back into my fingertips which had already frozen from his icy stare.
"What the hell were you kids thinking?" He got up from behind his desk, went to the door to his office, and slammed it shut. Things weren't going well. I took a deep breath. "You're only fifteen years old! You're barely old enough to drive a car! At least you need a license to do that! Now, you're telling me that you're having a baby! Are you two crazy? Answer me!"
"No, Sir. We're not crazy. We're pregnant. Can you please lower your voice? I need my Uncle right now, not the best defense attorney in the city," I said, quietly.
Maybe it was the tone of my voice, or maybe it was my words. It might have been the terror in Bella's eyes, but he calmed down almost immediately. He went back to his desk and sat down, his chair facing the wall behind him as if he was too good to face us, or maybe he was too ashamed to face us. Either way it was several minutes before he turned back around, and when he did, his eyes were red rimmed and somewhat swollen while his nose had a reddish tint to it. I didn't understand why my uncle would be crying over Bella's and my situation, but he had. All I knew was that I didn't want to add to the pounding we'd already suffered through at his hands.
"I'm sorry, you two. It wasn't my place to go off on either of you like that. I guess that's where the shiners came from, Edward?" I kept my mouth shut and only nodded. Nothing to provoke any more wrath. "So Charlie and your parents know?" We both nodded. "Well, you didn't come here to tell me, though I guess that it was the place to do so, if I think about it. What do you need, Edward?"
With a shaky voice, I said, "I'd like to ask Judge Maye to let me go to Bella's doctor's appointments with her, please."
"Well, that'll have to be done in a petition, and with the accusation of rape pending against you, it doesn't look good for you to admit to getting your girlfriend pregnant, especially this soon after you two got together. May I ask . . . ?"
"The day I was arrested. That was the only time," I said.
"Are my kids . . . ?" Uncle George asked.
"None of my business," I said. "If I knew, I wouldn't tell you."
"How're your parents taking the news?"
"Dad's cool. Mom was hot at first. Now she's cool. They're being totally okay. Anyway, Uncle George, I need for you to help me with something else. I need to get a checking account. I want Bella's and my names on it. For now put Swan. We're gonna get married, so we'll change it to Cullen then."
"Whoa. What do ya mean you're getting married? And your folks are okay with that?"
"Mom and Dad are, I guess. We haven't told Charlie that part, yet. I'm still alive, aren't I? Anyway, I need to pay for her medical bills. Charlie won't be paying, so I'm gonna need some money from my trust. I don't know how much these things run, so I was thinking about a hundred thousand. I've put that much back in interest in the past year or so, haven't I?"
"I'd say so. Edward you generally make twice that a month. How about this. Let's start Bella and yoy having your own checking accounts. That way she can have her own money. I don't like putting that much in one account. The FDIC only insures up to a hundred thousand, and we can put seventy-five in yours and twenty-five in hers. That way, she can pay out of her account and keep things quiet for a little while longer."
"I like that idea. Okay. Can you make that happen? Without Mom's signature, I mean?"
"Edward Cullen, you are not going to do any such thing," Bella broke into our conversation. "What are you talking about? Making me a checking account. No. I won't allow it! For pete's sake!"
"Bella, what if I can't go to the doctor with you? Who's gonna pay the bill? Charlie? He told you he won't. I'm gonna pay for our bills. It's only right. You know that. You heard what he said. I make plenty, and you know that I don't spend it all. All I have is insurance on the car."
"Give me a second and let me make a phone call, and we'll get the banking taken care of," Uncle George said. He waved us to the couch against the wall, and we walked over there and took a seat. After he got off of the phone, he walked over to where I was sitting and said, "The bank president is on his way over to set up the checking accounts right now. Sit tight." I nodded my head. I didn't know what to say. The bank president was coming to set up my account. In the meantime, Uncle George went back to his desk and picked up the phone again.
Bella and I were in the middle of chemistry homework when the bank president, Mr. Summers arrived. Uncle George motioned for us to come back to his desk and take a seat. I did, and Mr. Summers introduced himself to me as if I were someone special.
"Hello, Mr. Cullen. It is nice to finally put a face to the name. I've known George for a number of years, and he's handled your accounts with great ability." I only nodded. What else could I say? "I understand that you'd like to withdraw one hundred thousand dollars from one of your CD's and convert it into two checking accounts. Is that correct, Mr. Cullen?" I looked at my Uncle George, him being the only Mr. Cullen in the room.
He laughed. "Yes, that is exactly what he'd like to do, Mr. Summers. I think that you can get away with addressing him as Edward." I looked at Uncle George, then at Mr. Summers, and understood that the question had been directed at me.
"Oh, yes, Sir. Whatever Uncle George says is what I want to do. I just want the money in the two checking accounts, one for me, and one for Bella Swan."
"That's quite some gift, young man," Mr. Summers said.
"That's none of your business," I said.
"Oh, no, Sir. You're right, Sir. It is none of my business what you do with your assets. Now, let me see. You need to sign right here to close out the CD . . . , and here . . . , and here. Now, the first account will be in your name, Edward Cullen, is that correct?"
"Yes, Sir."
"And your address. And your telephone number. And your driver's license number. The type of checks that you want, Sir?"
"The type that pay bills. I don't care," I said. Bella took my hand and squeezed. She was always able to calm me down.
"I want Mickey Mouse," she whispered in my ear.
"Bella wants Mickey Mouse," I said.
"Okay, we'll get to hers in a second. And how much did you want to deposit in your account?"
"Seventy-five thousand dollars," Uncle George said.
"Fifty thousand dollars," I said. "Half it. Give half to me and half to Bella." Mr. Summers looked at Uncle George. "I said half it. Are you hard of hearing?" Mr. Summers nodded his head.
"Yes, Sir. Half in each." He repeated each question with Bella, and then he had her pick out her checks. "Now if you will each sign on the line with the 'X' on it." We did as he instructed, and he gave us our newbie checkbooks.
"When will the accounts be available to them," Uncle George asked.
"By noon tomorrow," Mr. Summers said.
"Thank you, Mr. Summers. I'm sorry for my bad mood. I'm just under a great deal of pressure right now," I said.
"I understand, Mr. Cullen. Until next time," Mr. Summers said. "George, if I can ever be of service again, please call."
"I'll do that, Stan. Thanks again," Uncle George said. After Mr. Summers left the room, Uncle George looked at me. "What was that all about? He did you a great service by coming here today, Edward."
"I know. I just felt like he was a fake," I said.
"Why do you say that?" Uncle George asked.
"What if he walked up to me on the street or playing a game of ball with the guys? Would he have 'sir'ed' me like that, or 'Mr. Cullen'ed' me? He'd have just thought I was some ratty teenager up to no good. Just because he knows how much money my grandfather left me, he was acting so uppity. I don't like him at all."
"You may have a point about him being uppity, but that's his job, Edward. Just like it's my job to deal with miscreants who get accused of raping their ex-girlfriend and getting their current one pregnant. He and I have to deal with all sorts. What would he have thought of you if he knew who you truly are? The boy that I know?"
I hung my head. He had a point. I was worse than the boy on the street who was playing touch football.
"Now, let's deal with your other problem, shall we?" He leaned over and picked up the phone. He spoke a second with someone, then he said, "Peter, George Cullen here. How's it going over there? Any news? . . . " he laughed. "No, I was just joshin' with ya. Really, the reason I called. Edward is over here, yeah, Edward Cullen. No, no, the school isn't giving him any new problems. Look, the reason I'm calling. . . . Yeah, I'll tell him. Look, the reason I'm calling is that Edward has run into a little trouble, . . . well, not your kind of trouble. I guess it would be family trouble. . . . No nothing to do with Carlisle and Esme. . . . Look, can we come over? In ten minutes? That'll be fine. We'll see you then. Thanks, Peter." He hung up the phone, and then he punched a button on his intercom. "Alicia, please cancel my appointments for the rest of the day. Thanks."
