I suck majorly when it comes to deadlines and shit. I was working on something special which I had to put all my spare time into... more at the bottom.
Chapter Twelve
Inky
"What food did you have in prison, Dad?" The four of us sat around my parent's dining room table practically inhaling the spaghetti and meatballs plated out in front of us. It had been my favorite dish ever since I was a little boy, and going without it for five years was hard, man.
"Bland, greasy, stodgy food which you couldn't quite work out what it was trying to be. We certainly didn't have Nanny's spaghetti and meatballs." I washed my mouthful down with a chug of cold Coca Cola. I would have done anything for a glass of red wine like my parents had been enjoying, but the tiniest bit of temptation could lead me into a lot of trouble, and with everything that had recently happened, I couldn't afford any other slip-ups.
"I think that should be illegal," Corin nodded her head firmly, "everyone should be able to enjoy Nanny's food."
"But do you realize why they cannot?" Dad responded and from his tone of voice I knew exactly where it was leading. "Those men are being punished - punished for a crime they should not have committed, so they don't deserve food this wonderful." My eyes rolled at his words; my father is one of the smartest men I know and highly respected, however he can cause a major headache. It had always been that way.
"But Dad isn't a criminal, Grandpa. Nanny said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"That may be so, but what he was doing at the time is known as a crime and -."
"-Okay!" I broke off his words before I lost it, "thanks Dad, I think we have had enough of that for one night. Corin, Sweetheart, it is very sweet of you to think that way, but for now let's just be happy that we get to enjoy it, yeah?"
We continued our meal and enjoyed the key lime pie for dessert before clearing the table so that I could help Corin with her school work. I couldn't call myself a mathematician, but at least I knew how to multiply.
"Six multiplied by seventy..." Corin mused, tapping her pencil against the work sheet. "Oh that is a hard one!"
"Remember what I said, about ignoring the zero? So what is six times seven?"
"Um..." She used her fingers to mentally work out the equation, then not even a minute later she had her answer, "forty-two?"
"Excellent. Then add the zero on the end?"
"...Four-hundred and twenty!"
The praise towards my daughter was cut off by the ringing of my phone - Rosalie was on the other line. I apologized to Corin and took the call whilst walking out from the dining room. "Hello, Rose."
"Edward, I have some good news."
"You do? Excellent, what is it?" Rosalie had been working over-time for the previous few days to help me sort everything out - I couldn't have asked for a better counselor.
"I have spoken to the board repeatedly and they understand where your problems lie and and don't see why your parole should be effected by the outcome. I have managed to sort out three job interviews for you in the following week, which you need to attend whether you want to or not."
"I understand, and I will attend them. Thank you." I didn't know what the interviews were for, because she never told me, but I prayed to God it was something reasonable. But I knew nothing would be better than the stables.
"Another thing," she cut me off suddenly from my thoughts, "your drug test came back, and I'm pleased to see that it is negative."
With a smug smile, I responded, "I told you it would be."
"I know, Edward, but you do realize that these are mandatory. However keep going the way you're going and you'll be free before you know it."
Our conversation ended on a high note, and so did the rest of the evening. Once Corin's homework had been finished and completed, it was time for her to have a bath and go to bed. Before she could scurry up the stairs I made sure she knew that I loved her and I would see her again very soon. That was the hardest part, leaving her behind when I left for the night, but like Rosalie said, I could be free before I knew it, and Corin could be back where she belongs.
"Edward," Mom caught me as I got into my truck. In her hand was a white envelope which she didn't hesitate to hand to me, "I hate to see you suffer."
I sliced open the envelope with unease and found a hand written check for one-thousand dollars. "Mom! I cannot accept this."
"You can and you will," she looked at me with loving eyes and a sweet, motherly smile. "This will pay off your jail fee, correct?"
It would pay off the fee with some change left over. When I was handed my parole I was also handed a charge of $1,150 and failure to pay that off would result in you being hit with an extra $300 added on. I had been paying off a couple hundred whenever I could, so I had managed to bring the total down to just over half.
"Edward, my boy, you will accept this check and whatever money is left over you can put towards a house for yourself and my granddaughter, understand?"
I knew there was no arguing - Esme Cullen always got her way, and she wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer. "Thank you," I said genuinely, "this is going to help me out so much." I pulled my mother in for a tight hug.
"It's the least I could do. Now, you are coming over on Sunday, right? I'm making a pot roast."
With a faint kiss on her cheek, I stepped up into my truck, "I'll be there. If I can come over before then I'll give you a call."
"Absolutely, drive safe."
0-0
The following day before I left for Rosalie's office, I received another phone call. I had thought it could have been her saying we had to postpone the meeting for whatever reason, so I was certainly shocked to see Bella on the other end. The conversation was brief - she asked me whether I was available early evening that day and if it was okay for her to come over with Noah. She didn't have to explain further; that little boy had made such an impact in my life and I had certainly felt the loss of his presence. Hers too, surprisingly.
I had time before I left to clear up the apartment as much as I could - it's not easy when the place is the size of a shoebox - but at least I made some sort of effort. It wasn't until I was driving back from the prison that I started to think what I had to entertain Noah with, I knew children of his age lost interest very quickly, and if Bella didn't bring anything with her then there would have been nothing for him to play with or look at apart from my books which are totally not suitable.
With that in mind I took a detour back towards my parents house, Mom had kept all of Corin's toys - she's sentimental in that way. It also meant I got to see my girl again, which you'll never hear me complain about.
"Daddy!" She called as I stepped from my truck. I had seemingly timed it perfectly and Mom and Corin had just arrived back from school. "I didn't know you were coming over today." She squeezed my middle as tight as she could and held back her head to grin up at me.
"Neither did I, Pumpkin. In fact I can't stay long - Miss Bella is coming over soon with Noah, and I was wondering whether you could lend me some of your toys for him to play with?"
"Um... okay, Daddy... but I don't think Noah wants to play with Barbies..."
"But you still have storybooks or something though, right? Anything that is more his age range?" Even a blood bouncy ball would have done the trick.
"Grandpa put them all up in the attic, Dad... but I have DVDs!" She suddenly thought, "you have a DVD player, don't ya?"
Now, why didn't I think of that? "Excellent idea, can I borrow some? Just for today."
"Sure!" Corin led me inside. I took her school bag from her and propped up on one of the couches in the living room. "What movies does he like?" We sat gazing at a giant glass cabinet, full of various DVDs; half of the titles I had never even heard of.
"He loves Disney."
She cocked her head 'round to peer at me, "Pixar? Or original?"
"Is... there a difference?"
"There is a big difference, Dad!" It was almost like I had offended her with my simple question.
"Oh, okay... well he likes 'Monsters. Inc.' and 'Toy Story'."
"They are both Pixar. Okay, I'll pick you some of them." I sat and watched silently as Corin found her Disney section of the cabinet and began to pull different case from the vast selection. "Do you know if he has seen 'Monsters University'?"
That was one of the movies I had never heard of, but after noticing the two main characters on the front of the case actually got me quite interested. "I didn't know they brought out a sequel..." I flipped the case over and over in my hands, reading the back and looking at the characters on the front. "I'm sure he would have seen it." I finally answered her.
"Okay, well I have a selection for you anyway." She counted the DVDs out on the floor, saying their titles as she went along. "''Monsters. Inc.' and the sequel, 'Toy Story 1,2,3', 'Cars', 'Up', 'The Incredibles', 'Finding Nemo' and 'Ratatouille'."
"Perfect," I beamed, "thank you for lending them to me, I promise to bring them back as soon as I can."
"There's a new Disney movie out and I really want to see it! Can you take me, Daddy?"
Pulling her into my side, I rested my cheek against the crown of her head, "I don't see why not, Pumpkin."
"A Daddy and Corin date!"
0-0
Bella mentioned arriving for about 6 o'clock, but thankfully I was ready before that because my buzzer sounded at 5:30. It was clear from Noah's reaction that he didn't know where he was and why he was there - the boy threw himself at me and refused to leave until Bella had to shuffle them both inside. I felt very emotional suddenly, the glaze in my eyes helped to verify that.
"This is so much better than Chuck E. Cheese!" Noah announced once he had chosen my lap to sit on. I wasn't complaining. "But... Momma, can we still go Chuck E. Cheese?" I had been told that that was Bella's bribe to get Noah into the car in the first place, one that she had to follow through with. "Inky can come too and we could get lots-a-lots-a tokens and win all the games!"
"Er," Bella looked at me with an unsure expression on her face, "if Inky would like to come along he is more than welcome."
Noah turned around suddenly on my lap, bouncing his butt, "please Inky! I haven't seen you in a real long time and I wanna play all the games with you!"
How could I say no?
"However, baby, Inky and I need to talk about something first, so before we go anywhere you need to be my best boy and be really patient."
"Exactly," I helped Noah down off my lap to show him where I had stacked all the DVDs, "Corin has very kindly lent me some of her movies which I thought you might want to watch?"
"Aw yeah!" His eyes lit up, he flipped through the cases eagerly, "Can we watch 'Cars'?! I love that one!" Before I could even accept he had the disc in his hand and was crawling over to my TV. "I'm faster than fast, quicker than quick. I. Am. Lightning."
Thanks to the fictional car and all his fictional friends, Noah was distracted enough to allow Bella and I the chance to have our conversation. It started off like any other conversation; 'how are you?' 'I'm good, how are you?' - that kinda thing. But as soon as we were content with how the other was, things too an awkward spiral. It was clear Bella couldn't word her sentence properly in her head, and because I didn't know what she wanted to talk about, I found myself staring at Noah and smiling at how engrossed he was in the movie.
"You enjoying that, Lil' Man?"
After a small delay, Noah turned his head to grin at me - just that one expression alone had me smiling like a fool in reply. "I love Mator. He's so funny and has real big teeth! Who is your favorite, Inky?"
I didn't want to disappoint the little boy and admit that I had never seen the movie, so I chose the most obvious choice - the first character I saw. "I like him, buddy." He was bright green and covered completely in car stickers, his black grills made it seem like the character had a mustache. I found myself laughing silently to myself.
"Chick Hicks?! Inky, he's the bad guy! You can't like him!"
"Oh, er, no I meant that red one."
Thankfully I had caught my slip-up before it became known, and Noah wiped the imaginary sweat off his forehead as he sighed, "oh thank God! Liking Chick Hicks is like liking Lots-O'- Huggin' Bear and you wouldn't do that, would'ya?"
Again, I had no idea who he meant, so I side-glanced to Bella who mouthed the words, 'Toy Story 3', I nodded my head in thanks. "Er, no , of course not. Okay, well you enjoy it Buddy." I turned my attention back to Bella, "sorry," I mumbled.
"It's fine, Edward. I love how well the two of you get along, and to be honest, that was part of the reason why we are here today." I frowned at her words and she continued to explain herself. "I was speaking to Alice who made it clear what I should have done in the first place."
"And... what was that?"
With a deep breath, Bella stretched her arms out in front of her, "I shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss you. I was scared of the consequences regarding... you know who, but there are much more important things I should have thought of. Like your care towards my son, and the way he is when you are around."
A warm, heavy feeling filled my chest. "He means a lot to me, Bella.. you both do." I instantly slapped myself internally; that was the worst thing I could have said at that moment, and it made me feel and look like a complete idiot.
But before I could adjust my words and have her see what I actually meant, Bella covered her mouth with one hand - I spotted the glaze in her eyes. "That is exactly what I am talking about; you deserve to work at the stables."
Of course that was I wanted to hear - what I needed to hear - but when Bella actually said the words, I began to doubt myself. There was a reason this all started in the first place, and I knew that wouldn't have vanished in the short time since it happened. I needed to really think - what would I gain for going back, but at the same time what could I lose?
Bella spoke up again without hearing any response from me. "You need to understand, Edward, that you'll have to be patient. I'm going to speak to Alistair and try my best to let him down gently - I cannot have him working there anymore, but, for the most part, he has been very good to me, so I cannot just throw him out the door."
I nodded silently. That showed how big her heart is and how, even when people made the wrong choices, she saw the good in them. But again with the doubt, how patient can I be? If I didn't have rules to stick by and a parole board to please, there wouldn't have been a problem.
"How long are we talking here? I want to work at the stables, you know that, but I already have three job interviews lined up - I cannot go a month or more without a job."
Her shoulders drooped with that information, her face fell with sadness. I don't think Bella had thought about that. "Can't Rose do something?" She asked, there was a soft plea in her tone, "technically you have got a job, there's just some... technical difficulties being sorted out at the moment. Would they accept that?"
"I hope so, I really do. But these guys are not easy to please - you step one toe out of line when you are in there and they could dismiss your parole straight away. Doesn't matter if you've been an angel leading up to that moment."
"Oh God..." Bella's face fell into her hands as she let out a groan, "what have I done?"
I couldn't sit there and watch her break down in front of me. I was up off my seat almost instantly and brought the shaking woman into my arms. "It's not your fault, Bella, don't beat yourself up over this. Even if I get a job working behind a cash register in the middle of town, I'll find the time to drive up and see Noah - he won't lose me as a friend." What I wanted to say was that I would drive up just to see her... but I didn't want to push my luck and freak Bella out. She was still in vulnerable place, I needed to take my time. But then she muttered something, something I never would have imagined her saying.
"It's not just Noah that needs you. I need you just as much."
That was when a shit-eating grin took over my face, however instead of saying anything, I continued to hug her tight. We only pulled apart when another set of arms was felt hugging our legs. Noah looked up between us with a smile that showed off his pearly whites.
"Why we huggin'?"
I brushed my hand through my buddy's hair, "it's nice to hug sometimes, don't ya think, Lil' Man?"
"Yep, it sure is. My Momma gives the best hugs 'specially when you're not feelin' too good."
Bella and shared a smile, "you're right, Lil' Man - she sure does."
"Yep! So... can we go Chuck E. Cheese now?"
0-0
Oh, that ending... those three give me the honey-glow something awful! (bonus points to those who can tell me which Disney movie that quote comes from...)
For those of you who don't know I have written an outtake for The Workings of Fate for the Fandom For Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, if you would like to read that special chapter, all you need to do is donate a small amount of money. It will be posted here in December... but I know I couldn't go that long without a Cooper fix ;)
Anyway, enough of my rambles. Thank you for reading, thoughts?
