One Family:
Summary: One night changes everything about Dr. Edward Cullen's life when he suddenly has to take full custody of his two little girls. Caring full time for little ones is different than part time. One night changes Dr. Bella Swan's perspective after nearly losing her young son to a fatal car accident. What brings Edward and Bella together, two complete strangers? Is it the same thing that threatens to tear them apart?
AN: Most of the AN is being saved for the end but just for now, this chapter is sort of weird but I needed to fix the girls up some and then mess them up too but anyway, yeah, the AN will be at the end.
Chapter 11: Beautiful Mess
The days following Christmas came and went, and then on New Year's Eve, during the day, Bella called to tell me that Colton was getting to go home. My father and Lauren together had finally come up with a diagnosis and treatment plan for Colton. Tanya had operated, and now Colton had healed. He'd be on medication all of his life and would have to regularly see a cardiologist, but he'd be able to live a happy and healthy life filled with the sports he loved to play.
The girls and I were still staying with my parents but I wasn't about to let Bella travel with Colton back to Chicago so I had asked if she and Colton could join us at my parent's for awhile. Carlisle and Esme, who had fallen in love with Colton, were eager to agree. So now the usually quiet household of two that was normally only loud if the grandchildren were over was filled with two more adults and three injured children. Another new thing were the "sessions" Bella had with my girls, twice a week. Leighton and Bella would talk on Mondays and Wednesdays, Emery with Bella on Tuesdays and Fridays. The girls would tell her things they were afraid to tell me, or just didn't want to, or that's what I assumed seeing as Bella wanted the girls to have the same confidentiality her patients had. The girls just seemed happier, maybe not exactly happier but definitely more relieved. It was like part of the enormous weight that had been forced on them was being lifted, little by little, day by day, I was starting to get my Princess and my Pumpkin back.
Today marked January 7th, the day I'd take the girls to various medical appointments in New York City. Jasper had told me to take the girls to one of his medical school friends, Maria, in New York. He told me she was straight forward and to the point but an excellent pediatric orthopedic surgeon. She was first on our list. After Maria came the pulmonologist, Charlotte, then the neurologist, Maggie, then finally, the plastic surgeon to check on Emery's facial fractures, Benjamin. Other than Maria, I knew all the other doctors personally from medical school.
I got both of my girls in the car and began the drive to the city. Leighton's usual sobs had improved to whimpers and though she still hated car rides, she would endure them without too much of a fuss. Emery helped with this, she found that singing could distract Leighton, or so she claims. I theorize that it distracts her as well. So both of the girls enjoy singing Disney songs loudly on car rides but I would much rather hear my girls singing than sobbing.
We arrived at Pediatric Orthopedics of New York just about three hours after getting in the car. I helped Leighton in her wheel chair and made sure that Emery was close behind me as I walked in the front door. I signed the girls in with the receptionist and then we sat and waited. Emery had brought a book along for the trip, the fifth Harry Potter book, so she began quietly reading in the chair beside me. Leighton hadn't brought anything but enjoyed playing with my phone, Candy Crush to be exact. She always beat my high scores, something Bella teased me about, but if my phone could keep my child entertained for a day, I figured it was worth Bella making fun of me.
We only waited about ten minutes before a nurse came to get us. She led us to an exam room and lifted Emery onto the table while I lifted Leighton. I sat on the chair meant for parents and waited for endless questions to be asked; when did this happen, how did this happen, has anything happened since then, has the swelling gone down, has the bruising gone down, what is the pain like today, what was the pain like a few days ago, the questions were endless.
Once she was finally satisfied with every little piece of information, she told me that she was going to remove the casts on both girls and get scans. Leighton didn't like the look of the cast saw so Emery offered to go first. She was still a little frightened though, I could tell it in her eyes.
"It won't hurt sweetheart, it's just like when you cut paper, she's going to cut the cast off." I told her gently.
"Will you hold my hand just in case?" She asked nervously.
"Of course Pumpkin." I agreed.
I held onto Emery's good hand and then Leighton's good hand seeing as the noise had her quite frightened as well and waited as the nurse maneuvered the cast off.
"My arm looks funny." Emery told me.
She was right; she had lost a lot of muscle just in the three weeks since the accident. I couldn't quite tell the amount of swelling due to the loss of muscle in her arm but it didn't look so bad on first glance.
"Keep that still okay? We'll get some x-rays after I remove your sister's casts." The nurse told Emery.
"Okay." She agreed as she studied her arm intently.
"Ready Princess?" I asked Leighton.
"It doesn't hurt, does it Emery?" Leighton asked nervously.
"No, it just sort of tickles." Emery promised.
"Okay I'm ready." Leighton told the nurse.
The nurse removed Leighton's arm cast first, she hadn't lost as much muscle but she also hadn't had as much muscle to lose. Her leg though, she had lost quite a bit of muscle in it. I knew she would need quite a bit of physical therapy to completely regain full function of her leg.
I helped the nurse get my girls to radiology for the new set of scans and was given a led apron to wear so I could stay in with Leighton who did not like how scary the big machines looked. Once both girls had all of their scans, the nurse led us back to the room and told us that Dr. Sanchez, or Maria as I knew her, would be in shortly to discuss what they showed.
"Do you think we get to keep any casts off today?" Emery asked me with a hint of excitement in her voice.
"I don't know Pumpkin, I hope so." I told her.
"Me too, those things are itchy." She told me.
I chuckled and was about to respond but a knock on the door stopped me. The small Hispanic woman Jasper had described walked into the room with a slight smile on her face but also with a sense of professionalism. I figured the smile was to try and reassure the children but the way she kept that professional look was because she meant business.
"Hello girls, my name is Dr. Maria, I'm the bone doctor." She introduced herself. "You must be Dr. Cullen; it's nice to meet you."
"Please, call me Edward." I told her as I shook her hand.
"Well, I've looked over the scans and I'd like to go over what I've found with you all." She told me.
"Do I get to lose my cast?" Emery asked hopefully.
"Actually, yes. Emery, your elbow is completely healed, something quite impressive for how much damage it took. You'll have to wear the sling for a few more weeks until your collarbone heals but you won't need another plaster cast. You'll also have to do some physical therapy as soon as your collarbone is healed so your arm can be back to perfect." She told my daughter causing Emery to smile widely, dimples and all.
"Really?" She asked excitedly.
"Yes, really." Maria smiled a little. "That doesn't mean you don't still have to be careful though, your arm isn't as strong and won't be until you finish up physical therapy. So Dad, that means no contact sports, no doing anything that could potentially re-injure her arm until she gets the all clear from me and no running around until after her next appointment when I'll be able to tell if her collarbone is completely healed."
"So no soccer Pumpkin, not yet at least." I told her.
"Definitely not." Maria agreed.
Emery put her little lip out in an adorable pout for a second, but only a second, before smiling happily again. "Okay." She agreed.
"What about Leighton?" I asked. "How's she doing."
"Well, Leighton, your elbow, like your sister's, is better. Your wrist is healing nicely but I'd say it'll be another three weeks until we can move from a cast to a brace. You'll have a smaller cast though and you'll be able to move your elbow some and will be able to start physical therapy sometime this week." Maria explained
"What happens in physical therapy?" Leighton asked.
"Well, they'll help you get your elbow back to normal, and after the other casts come off, they'll do the same for your wrist and your leg." Maria explained.
"What about her leg?" I asked knowing that legs healed slower than arms did.
"Her femur has at least another three weeks, probably more around five though. I think we can move to a straight leg cast though so she can try and move on crutches instead of the chair. Her leg if her femur wasn't broken would only need a cast for about another week and then we'd move into a walking boot but since her femur will need to remain casted I think we'll just keep the whole leg in a cast until everything is all healed up and then we'll go from there. The swelling in her leg is a bit more than I'd like to see, especially around her knee so I want to get an MRI of her knee to be safe. Sometimes because there is so much trauma involved with broken legs, especially broken femurs, hospitals overlook knee injuries. I'm going to do a quick exam to make sure I think she still needs an MRI but I'm pretty sure she will and if she does I can have her in sometime this afternoon, probably in about four hours." Maria explained.
"That's right during Emery's appointment with the plastic surgeon, can it wait until tomorrow?" I asked.
"Well, in theory yes, but for the MRI there needs to be no cast on her leg so I would be more comfortable having it today. I'm going to splint her leg because that can be taken off easier than a cast, and then we'll recast after the MRI as long as nothing is torn. If something is we'll splint again and talk options." Maria told me.
"I'll call my parents and see if one of them can meet us and take Leighton for the MRI while I take Emery to her appointment." I told her.
She nodded. "I'll be right back with a nurse to cast Leighton's wrist while I splint her leg. I'm also going to get a new sling for Emery; hers is just a hair to large for my liking."
I nodded and watched as she left the room. I got to work calling my parents, neither answered. My next thought was Bella but she wasn't technically family so she wouldn't be able to consent to the MRI and there was also the fact that Colton was still being ordered to stay in bed and rest. I settled on Jasper next, seeing as he had today off.
"Whatever it is, no." He answered the phone.
"Not even for your sweet little niece?" I asked.
"Oh sorry Edward, I saw an E and Cullen and assumed it was Emmett. He's been trying to get me to prank your Dad at work with him for weeks now and no matter what I tell him he is persistent. What do you need?" He asked.
I chuckled a bit, sounded like Emmett. "I need someone to go with Leighton to get an MRI of her knee while I take Emery to see the plastic surgeon. Maria thinks she might have something torn. Mom and Dad didn't answer but if you can't I can keep calling the family, there's enough of us that I'm sure someone can."
"I'm actually in the city already so I'm your guy." He chuckled.
"What are you doing in the city?" I asked curiously.
"Oliver went back to preschool today so Alice wanted to go shopping. This is actually sort of perfect, I've been trying to escape since this started and well, you know how your sister can be." He sighed.
"Jasper Hale, you better not say one thing about not wanting to shop with me!" I heard Alice in the background followed by muffled talking which I knew was Jasper explaining what I had asked.
"Alice and I will be there whenever you need us but her condition is that she gets to take the girls to Macy's if they're up to it." He told me.
I laughed. "Alright, well I'm not sure exactly on the time yet but the girls see the pulmonologist in half an hour and then Leighton sees the neurologist in about two and a half hours so you could meet us at Maggie Benedict's office in three hours."
"I know where that is, sounds like a plan." He told me.
As soon as I hung up the phone, Maria and a nurse came back in the room. Maria got to work splinting Leighton's leg while the nurse casted her arm and then put the new sling on Emery's arm. Maria told me the appointment for the MRI would be in exactly four hours. I thanked her, set up Emery's follow up, though I couldn't set up Leighton's yet without the MRI results, and then my girls and I made our way to the next appointment.
We didn't luck out too much on the time it took to see the pulmonologist but we did luck out in the fact that both girls lungs were doing better than expected at this point of healing and Charlotte told me they should be perfect in just two weeks but wanted to see them in three to make sure. We made our way to office number three for Leighton's neurologist appointment. By the time we were being called back, Jasper and Alice had arrived and told Emery she could wait with them if she wanted.
Leighton got a CT scan and an excellent report from Maggie and then I sent her with Jasper and Alice while I took Emery to see Benjamin. He had been one of my best friends through medical school seeing as he was my roommate so it was good to catch up even given the circumstances. He gave us the only bad news we had been given all day, the way Emery's nose had healed she wasn't able to breathe very well through her nose. She'd need another surgery to remove her adenoids to solve the problem, a simple procedure that he would perform in six weeks.
Emery was a little bummed by the news but I told her Aunt Alice wanted to take her shopping and that Macy's was having a sale on athletic clothing so she perked up some. We met back up with Jasper, Alice, and Leighton soon afterwards at Maria's office. We sat in Maria's personal office instead of an exam room this time and Jasper held my sniffling daughter.
"They had to give her a shot of contrast for the scan." Alice told me.
"Aunt Alice said it wouldn't hurt." Leighton cried.
"I didn't know they were going to use contrast." Alice mumbled.
"Oh sweetheart, I'm sure Aunt Alice didn't mean to lie to you." I sighed.
"Maria should be in with the results in a few minutes." Jasper told me.
"Shouldn't one of you be getting Oliver?" I asked realizing it was 3:30.
"Rosalie is watching him for us until we get back." Jasper explained.
I watched with the slightest bit of humor as my sister tried to make amends with my daughter unsuccessfully a few times before giving up and settling with bribery of ice cream and four new outfits from Macy's. This, of course, mad Leighton very happy and she was soon in Alice's lap instead of Jasper's.
Maria entered her office soon after the switch and had a small frown on her lips. "Something's torn isn't it?" I asked.
She nodded. "I was expecting a torn ACL but instead it's a torn ACL, torn LCL, and a torn meniscus." She sighed. "I'll want to operate sometime either this or next week."
"Operate?" Leighton asked as her lip began to tremble.
"Oh baby, it's okay." Alice told her as she kissed the top of her head. "It's all going to be fine."
"Your auntie is right little one; I'm going to make your knee good as new." Maria told Leighton with the most gentleness I had heard from her all day.
"People die in surgery." She mumbled. "Mommy died in surgery."
Emery stood up angrily from the chair she had been in and left the office. "I've got this." Jasper told me as he followed her.
I exhaled, thinking for a moment before I took Emery from Alice. "Princess, you aren't going to die."
"Mommy did." She cried.
"It's different Princess, your Mommy wasn't hurt somewhere like her knee, she was hurt in her head, belly, and her heart." I tried to explain.
"I don't want it, I don't want surgery." Leighton cried.
I felt like we had taken about ten steps back in the progress she had made so far, I wish Bella was here to tell me what to do but she wasn't. it was up to me to comfort my daughter, no one could help, I didn't have my best friend that happened to be a child psychiatrist with me this time.
"Leighton, your Daddy is right, I do this kind of surgery at least once a week, all you do is go to sleep and then wake-up, it's like dreaming." Maria tried.
"I don't like my dreams." Leighton cried.
"Princess, you've got to get this done, if you don't your knee might be hurt forever. You wouldn't be able to dance or ice skate or anything, you want to do those things again don't you?" I asked.
"Yes but I'm so scared Daddy." She mumbled.
"I know Princess but I'm going to be there when you fall asleep and when you wake up, you won't be alone." I told her.
"I have an opening next Friday." Maria told me. "At 8:00 AM, you'd have to be at the hospital at 6:00. I know you live in New Canaan and I have privileges there so I could operate there to make this a little easier."
"That would be great, thank you." I told her.
"I'll gather together the pre-op and post-op instructions for you to go over." She told me. "I'll be back."
"Daddy." Leighton whimpered.
"I know baby, I know how scary this is but I'm going to take care of you." I promised.
She sniffled and nodded. After everything was in order and I had all the various instructions for before and after Leighton's surgery, it was time to go. Emery had perked up and still wanted to shop with Alice but Leighton was clinging to me, tears still falling from her sweet little eyes. Jasper offered to drive us back to in my car and let Alice stay and shop with Emery. He wanted a guys night with Oliver anyway so it worked out well.
Leighton was so upset that her usual whimpers on car rides turned back into sobs and I had to practically hold her the whole way back home. I decided to see if Bella could talk to Leighton while I took Jasper back to his house knowing that I didn't know what else to do to comfort Leighton but that Bella did.
I carried Leighton inside, telling Jasper I'd be back, and made my way to the kitchen where Esme was cooking with Bella and Colton appeared to be the taster.
"Bella." Leighton cried reaching her arms for her.
"What happened?" Bella asked as she took Leighton from my arms.
"Well, Leighton's going to have to have some surgery on her knee and she's a little nervous." I sighed.
Okay nervous was an understatement, Leighton was terrified, but I didn't want to upset Leighton by saying anything she might not like.
"Oh baby, do you want to talk?" Bella asked.
"Not yet." Leighton disagreed as she held onto Bella.
"Edward, a word?" Mom offered.
I nodded and followed her from the kitchen. "Mom I don't know what else to do. She won't let me reassure her." I sighed.
"I know, I'm sure you've done all you know to do. Let Bella handle this, she is more than capable." She told me. "I have an idea."
"Okay, what's that?" I asked.
"Well, why don't you let Bella and I have a girls' night with Leighton and Emery, wait, where is Emery?" She asked.
"With Alice in the city shopping, Alice promised to have her home at 10:00." I told her.
"Okay, why don't you let Bella and I have a girls' night with Leighton then. Bella can talk to Leighton and calm her down while I finish up on dinner. You go ahead and take Colton with you to the office and suggest to your father that you all go to the indoor batting cages, seeing as it's too cold for the outdoor ones. That little boy misses sports and the batting cage won't stress his heart, check with your father first seeing as I'm no cardiologist but I'm sure especially with your father going with you two, it would be completely fine. The three of you can go get some pizza or burgers afterwards, I think Colton would really enjoy having a guys' day and just getting out of the house." She told me.
"I'll talk to Bella but do you really think I should leave Leighton while she's like this?" I asked.
"Don't take this the wrong way but I think it might be good for her. She's probably a little upset with you, not over anything you did or didn't do but just because you were there when she received the news." She told me.
I sighed. "I guess so."
"Go talk to Bella and then Colton. I've got to get back to the spaghetti sauce before it burns." She told me.
I took Esme's advice, asked Bella if I could take Colton out, which she gladly agreed to, and then talked to Colton. He was ecstatic and I had to remind him not to run as he took off towards the stairs.
Once Colton came back down in some jeans and a hoodie with his new baseball glove, we set out to the car. After I dropped Jasper off, I headed to the office to get my father. I figured we'd go get his car on the way home. I led Colton through the staff door and towards Dad's office.
Dad sat behind his desk doing paperwork, glancing up at us as we entered. "What a surprise, what are you two doing here?"
"We thought you might want to go to the batting cages with us." I told him.
"Let me just finish up this last chart and we can head on over." Dad smiled.
"Do you want to go look around?" I asked Colton. "I can give you the unofficial tour of the place."
"Yeah, cool." He agreed.
I showed Colton the different types of exam rooms, his favorites were the five Jasper and Emmett had for their patients because they were decorated with all types of sports posters and pictures. After we finished up on the tour, we got in the car and I drove us to the batting cages. I bought tickets and Dad and I found the right size and weight bat for Colton before claiming a batting cage.
Colton was a fair hitter, even with the pitches set on medium. After he hit a homerun he told me he wanted to see how I did it. I switched places with him, Colton taking my seat by Dad, and prepared to hit. I hit four homeruns in a row.
"Edward?" Colton asked as I handed the bat to my old man to go hit some.
"Yes pal?" I asked as I sat beside him on the small bleachers.
"Will you teach me how you do that?" He asked. "The homeruns I mean?"
"Of course." I agreed.
I joined Colton in the batting cage after Dad finished up and held the bat with him. The trick was the angle of your shoulders and the follow through, so to speak, of the bat. After I helped him hit a few homeruns in a row, the kid was a champ and hit quite a few back to back on his own.
"I've never been that consistent before." He told me. "That's really cool, where'd you learn that?"
I pointed towards Dad. "He used to be quite the pro at baseball, one day; he took me and Emmett to a batting cage and showed us that trick. I wasn't as good as you though, I had to practice a lot but I finally got it."
"Did you play?" Colton asked me.
"I did, for a very long time." I agreed.
"Why did you stop?" He asked.
"I hurt me knee, I couldn't get it back afterwards, not the speed at least." I explained.
"Do Emery and Leighton ever come here?" He asked.
I shook my head. "Leighton only dances and skates, Emery does about ever sport aside from baseball and softball."
"Maybe we can come here again." Colton decided.
"I think that's a great idea." I agreed. "Now, how about some dinner, are you hungry?"
"Yeah, what do you want?" He asked me.
"Whatever you want, some pizza or burgers maybe?" I suggested.
"Can we get burgers?" He asked.
"Sure, there's this great place Emmett and I always went with Dad after the batting cages, let's go there." I suggested.
"Okay." He smiled.
Dad, Colton, and I drove to "Burger Place" the restaurant that we always came to on guys' night when I was younger. We ordered some milk shakes, burgers, fries, and three cokes. I hadn't seen Colton so happy since we showed up with presents back on Christmas Eve. He really was having a wonderful time.
After dinner, I got a text from Bella. "Emery just got back from shopping with your sister. Your mother and I aren't quite finished with girls' night. We're going to watch chick flicks with your daughters and eat ice cream so if there is anything else you want to do while you are out go ahead and do it." –Bella.
"Colton, we've got some time to kill, can you think of anything at all you've been wanting to do?" I asked him.
"There's the new Hobbit movie." He told me. "Have you seen the others?"
"I have but not the new one, do you want to go see it?" I asked.
"Yeah." He smiled.
"Do you need to get back? I know you have work tomorrow." I told my father.
"You could just drop me off at the practice on your way to the theater." Dad told me.
"I'm stealing your son to go see the new Hobbit movie with me, we'll be late getting back." –Edward
I took Dad back to the practice to get his car and then Colton and I made our way to the theater. We bought popcorn, candy, and drinks and then I let Colton pick the seats. He chose right where I would've chosen, dead center of the middle aisle.
After the movie, we made our way back to my parent's house. "The girls are asleep already Colton, I'll be up to tuck you in soon but don't wake them up." Bella told her son.
"Okay Mom." He agreed.
After Colton left I smiled at Bella. "You told Colton not to wake the girls when he went to bed. He's been sleeping on one of the beds in the grandkid room which means you got the girls to sleep in their own beds?" I asked.
"Call me a miracle worker, or God, either will do." She laughed.
"You really are a miracle worker, how'd you do it?" I asked.
"After the movie, your mother and I took them up to bed, your mother hummed some soft lullabies to them, and we sat with them until they fell asleep." She told me. "Now, I don't promise they will stay in their own beds all night but it is a start."
"You really are amazing, you know that?" I asked.
She giggled. "How about you tell me more about how amazing I am after I put Colton to bed?" and then she winked, a tiny little wink with a smug little smirk, but a sexy little wink and smirk.
After that, things were sort of a blur. The next thing I knew I was panting in bed beside Bella, both of us sweaty and naked.
"We should talk about this." I mumbled.
"Let's not talk, not now, let's just enjoy the moment." She whispered.
And so I did, I enjoyed the moment. I held Bella's beautiful naked body close to mine and fell asleep, praying to God none of our kids would wake and need us during the night.
AN: So wow, this was longer than expected. I don't know what happened to make me have Edward and Bella hook up. I'm currently working on a detailed love scene between them to put as an outtake one-shot so be on the lookout but I thought since it was a T story and wasn't in the romance category necessarily I shouldn't include all the dirty details of the hook up. Keep checking my profile to find the one-shot but I think it'll be up later tonight or sometime tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you guys in chapter 12!