Hello to all my lovely readers out there! First and foremost, this is sort of what it will be like with me being back in school, book blogging, working full time, and trying to have some semblance of a life! Sorry for such a break between updates!
Thank you as always to the fabulous lemonmartinis for being my beta!
I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. I do own a couple film strips from Eclipse though. They're kinda cool.
EPOV
When the night had ended with Bella, I still had Kailey to get ready for bed. We'd shared such wonderful conversation, and there'd never been an awkward moment between us. What had possessed me to kiss her cheek as she left was something beyond my own explanation as well.
"Daddy I'm ready for bed."
I was still standing near the door when I heard Kailey come into the room.
"Did you brush your teeth princess?"
When I turned around, I saw the cutest sight before me. Kailey was standing in her pajamas with her teddy bear under one arm and her Rapunzel book under the other.
"Yes daddy I did. Will you come read me my story please?"
When I noticed her yawn, I quickly went over and picked her up and took her to her room.
"What did you need to talk to Bella about?"
"Nothing. I wanted to show her my room."
Her eyes had a mischievous gleam in them, but I didn't push it any further. If in time Kailey wanted to open up more to me, she would. I needed to try Bella's same approach.
"Ready for your story then?"
"Daddy!"
She looked at me like I was crazy. Her nightly routine always included my tucking her in.
"Okay after I tuck you in. Do you have everything you need baby?"
"Yes…no wait!"
I let Kailey down and she handed me her teddy bear and the book. She ran out of the room and back in within under a minute. When she came back in, she was holding a picture frame. I recognized it immediately as the picture I kept of Irina on the nightstand in my room.
"Can I keep mommy in here tonight please daddy?"
I'd slept with the photo on my nightstand every night since Irina had passed away. Most nights, Kailey ended up in my bed anyway so it had never been a big deal. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek as I looked and saw the anticipation of an answer on Kailey's face.
"Daddy don't be sad. Please daddy, please."
When I sat down on Kailey's bed and put the book and bear down, Kailey crawled up in my lap.
"Why are you crying daddy?"
"I miss your mommy, so much. You remind me of her in so many ways."
"But daddy…mommy is watching over us all the time. She's an angel. Mommy loves us both."
My little girl was something else. Everything up until that moment had been about me supporting her, and making sure the nightmares went away. Somehow, she was returning the sentiment and being my strength.
"She would be so proud of you princess."
"I love you daddy. I'm sleepy."
"I know…under the covers sweetheart. We'll read the story together and mommy can stay with you tonight."
Kailey quickly got herself under the covers and grabbed her bear. After I tucked her in, I put the picture of Irina up on her nightstand and turned off the overhead light.
"Night daddy."
I knew she'd fall asleep before I finished the story so I lay down next to her to read the story. I'd made it less than halfway through before I felt Kailey curl up tighter against me and her breathing even out.
"Goodnight my little princess, I love you."
I kissed her forehead and quietly snuck out of the room. In nearly two months, I hadn't slept in my own bed alone, or without that picture of Irina. The only way I kept my sanity intact for that night was by turning the t.v on.
The shrilling sound of my cell phone woke me up at four in the morning. When I looked down at the screen, I could see it was Alice.
"Alice what the hell it's four a.m!"
"Ed…Edward…"
I could hear her sniffles coming through the phone.
"Ali breathe…deep breath in, and out. Keep doing that for me."
Knowing it was the only way to calm my sister down, I waited patiently for her to calm down enough to tell me what was going on. She never called at an ungodly hour unless it was about someone in the family…and that had only happened when Uncle Aro had a heart attack, and our mom had been involved in a minor accident.
"Good, now what's going on?"
"It's Jasper…he's in the hospital. He wrecked his bike. I don't know what happened. I called mom but she didn't answer…and I was afraid to call Emmett. I know he hasn't been getting much sleep lately with Rose all…Edward what if he's….what if…"
"Shh, Alice calm down. I'm going to go get Kailey up and we'll be right over to get you and take you to the hospital."
I knew my sister well enough to know she wasn't going to drive herself to the hospital.
"Don't wake her up…"
"I won't get her out of bed otherwise Ali. Just sit tight okay?"
I heard a muffled reply and hung up the phone. Without giving it a second thought, I called Rosalie. She was generally an early morning person, so I knew she would be up regardless of the fact that Alice had been afraid to call her.
The phone only rang once before I heard Rosalie's voice.
"Morning Edward. What has you calling me so early?"
"Actually, Alice does. Jasper wrecked his bike and is in the hospital. Ali's at home right now and I know she won't drive herself there. She's an emotional wreck. I was wondering if I could bring Kailey over and you can take her to school?"
"I'll come over there. Let her sleep. I'll be there in ten minutes tops. I'm already ready for the day."
Rosalie had already hung up, so I went and showered quickly. I knew if she got there in the time I was showering, she'd just let herself in. My assumption was correct as I heard the front door close as I walked out of my bathroom.
I dressed quickly in something suitable for work and headed to the kitchen, knowing Rosalie would be looking for some juice to drink.
"Hey Edward, give Ali my love. I know things will be okay with Jasper. He's probably just banged up a little bit."
"How do you know?"
"I just do. Trust me everything will be fine. I'll get Kailey ready for school and bring her with me if you don't get back before I need to be there."
"Thanks Rose. I owe you for this."
I hugged my sister-in-law, handed her keys to the Volvo, and took her keys off the counter.
"You need to get a new car before that baby comes."
Rosalie sighed and looked longingly out the window toward her car.
"I know, but I love my car. It's taken me a couple of years to get it in the shape it's in!"
"So keep it and get another one more suitable. I have to go."
Before I could make my way out the door, I heard little feet scampering across the house. Kailey didn't typically wake up too early, but she usually had some sixth sense I was leaving.
"Daddy…"
As she rubbed her eyes I went and gathered her in my arms. I hid my emotions well around my daughter when the time called for it. There was no need to alarm her before she went to school.
"Hey princess, I have to go see Auntie Alice about a few things this morning. Auntie Rose is going to stay with you and help you get ready for school okay?"
Kailey nodded her head and hugged around my neck rather tightly. When I put her down, she ran to Rosalie and hugged her leg just as tightly as she'd held my neck.
"Go Edward. Ali needs you. We'll be fine."
I didn't say anything else, just wandered out the door and headed over to Alice and Jaspers place. My sister was wearing the ground thin by the time I'd arrived. It looked as though she'd been pacing back and forth for quite some time.
"About time!"
Alice's voice was raspy as she hopped in the car. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she wasn't wearing any makeup.
"Sorry Alice. Kailey woke up before I left and I had to let her know I was coming to see you. You know how she gets if she's not informed as to why I'm leaving her with any of you."
"Edward what if he's not okay?"
Cue the waterworks again. Alice was a small person naturally, but she looked even smaller as she curled up in the front seat of Rosalie's car. Getting to the hospital was a quick venture and Alice practically flew out of the car and into the front doors of the ER.
I followed after her as quickly as I could without actually running after, and she was frantic as she looked at the nurse's station.
"We're here to see Jasper Whitlock. He was brought in a couple hours ago. One of the nurses called his wife but she has no sense of what's really going on."
Alice had fit her small frame against me as I talked to the charge nurse. I ran my hand up and down her arm to try and get her to calm down even the slightest bit. If Jasper was awake and saw Alice panicking, it's likely he'd panic as well.
"Mr. Jasper Whitlock has already been moved up to room 306. Take the elevator up to the third floor and stop at the nurse's station there. They'll have all the information you need as to his condition."
"Thank you Clara. See Ali, he's up on dad's floor. He's fine. We'll go find out what happened and see what kind of recovery he has to go through."
Alice timidly walked toward the elevator and got on when the door opened. Walking up to the nurse's station on the third floor was hard since I was nearly dragging Alice with. She'd been fearing the worst had happened aside from death. That was Alice's way though.
"Edward what are you doing here so early in the morning?"
Lani was working at the desk which was unusual since she normally stayed on a mid-shift during the week.
"Lani this is Alice. Her husband, Jasper Whitlock, was admitted to room 306 and she needs to be filled in on his prognosis before we head in. All she received was a call from one of the charge nurses down in the ER. They wouldn't let her know what the extent of Jasper's injuries were."
"Alright, Jasper Whitlock…here we are."
She had rifled through the stack of charts that was on the desk and quickly pulled Jaspers. As she pulled it, she came out from behind the desk.
"Well, Jasper suffered a broken right ankle, he's got some lacerations on his right arm and one on his forehead, and they're awaiting a second opinion – looks like it's from your father – on whether or not the ankle will need to be operated on. He's scheduled for more x-rays in twenty minutes."
"Thank you Lani."
"His room is just down the hall on the left. Push the call button if you need anything, no need to be wandering around looking for a nurse."
I took Alice down to his room and pushed open the door. Jasper looked worse for wear, but at least he was conscious. Hearing the creak of the door, he looked up.
"Hey darlin'. Sorry about all of this…"
As Jasper gestured down at his ankle, Alice barreled to his bedside and into his arms.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again! Do you understand Jasper! I thought the worst. I thought something was really wrong, like you didn't make it. I didn't know what to do. I thought you…"
Alice broke down crying in Jasper's arms. He just held her close and let her cry it out. He murmured things to her here and there, but I couldn't make out what he'd been saying.
"I'm just going to head back out. Call if you need anything."
It was incredibly awkward to be in that moment. Alice was clinging to Jasper with all the strength she had, and Jasper looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Edward, thank you for bringing her."
"Well, I knew she wouldn't drive here on her own. Like she said, don't ever scare her like that again."
Jasper smiled at me then continued to console Alice. As I walked out the door, I ran into Carlisle.
"Edward? Did you bring Alice?"
"I did. She's with Jasper right now bawling her eyes out. Can I ask why you're giving a second opinion on Jasper's ankle?"
"He fractured it pretty badly. I'm checking to see if there was damage to the Talus. They didn't catch anything on the first x-ray, but I want to be sure. I also want to be sure of any damage that's already done and make sure I don't need to put any rods through his ankle to help the healing process."
"Otherwise he's fine?"
"He's pretty lucky, but he also always wears a helmet. The only reason he had that nasty gash on his head was because a chunk of gravel got lodged in the helmet as he rolled off the bike. No concussion, no serious damage to his arms, torso, or his other leg."
"Thank goodness. I need to get back home to Kailey. Rose came over and took charge this morning but I'd like to get my daughter to school myself."
"Fatherly duty awaits. Say hi to the munchkin for me. And call your mother. She wants to know when you're bringing Kailey over for dinner this week."
"Will do. Make sure Alice gives me a call later. She's bound to forget while worrying over Jasper."
"Sure. I have to get in there to take him down to x-ray."
With that, I headed back home. There was still enough time that Rosalie could get herself to school without worrying about Kailey. I knew Rose had gotten into a routine on the days she watched Kailey, so I didn't think too much of it. That routine included taking a bath, picking clothes for the day, and packing some toys if they went back to Rosalie's house. Surely she'd pack up her backpack and have it waiting by the door.
Sure enough when I got home, Kailey was watching one of her princess DVD's curled up on the couch next to Rosalie.
"Daddy! Rosie got me ready for school. Is Auntie Ali okay? Did she get hurt?"
I went and sat on the couch next to my daughter so I could explain everything to her.
"You know how Uncle Jasper rides his motorcycle a lot? Well, he crashed it today, but he's okay. Next time you see him, he's going to have a cast on his leg like you do on your arm. Yours is almost ready to come off though so he'll have his longer. I had to take Auntie Alice to the hospital because she was scared to drive herself. But Uncle Jasper's okay and so is Auntie Alice."
Kailey hugged me tightly as I finished telling her.
"You're awesome daddy. When other people get scared you help them. Can we go see Uncle Jazzy after I get done with school today?"
"We sure can. I might be a little late picking you up, but you know the drill…stay with Aunt Rosie here until I get to school."
"Is Bella going to be at my school today?"
"Yes she'll be there. Maybe she'll stay and play with you until I get there to pick you up."
Rosalie got up and dashed to the bathroom, in which I could only assume she was dealing with morning sickness.
"What's wrong with Auntie Rosie?"
"Well remember when she came over and we talked about how she was going to have a baby?"
Kailey nodded her head and looked at me with wide eyes.
"Well sometimes the baby makes Auntie Rosie's tummy feel funny."
"How come?"
"Well because the baby is growing in her tummy and sometimes it doesn't like what she eats."
"Lily doesn't like what her momma eats?"
"Lily?"
"Yea, that's what her name is going to be."
Rosalie had returned and was watching with rapt attention at the interaction happening between Kailey and myself.
"Oh. Well Lily is picky, just like you are sometimes, and doesn't like everything that Auntie eats."
"Well Lily should be nicer to her mommy. Least she has a mommy."
Kailey quickly got up and ran past Rosalie to her room, slamming the door. She hadn't had such an emotional outburst over things in a while. She was due for something.
"Edward…I feel horrible about that."
"You shouldn't. I was just trying to explain everything to her. I wasn't really thinking about what I said."
"I hate to leave before you resolve things with her. Do you want me to go talk to her?"
"No, I'll go. You need to get to the school before she does. We'll be fine. Thanks for taking care of her this morning."
"Any time Edward, you know that. Maybe not after the baby comes, but any time before then I am available at the drop of a hat."
Rosalie gave me a hug before she left, and I wandered into Kailey's room without knocking on the door. She was face down, crying into her pillow. I pulled her up into my lap as I sat down on her bed.
"I wish I had a mommy."
I easily plucked the photo of Irina off the nightstand next to Kailey's bed and held it so she could see.
"You do have a mommy, she's just in heaven now. She's watching over you right this second and knows you're sad. Mommy wouldn't want you to be sad, she'd want you to be happy."
"Why can't Lily be nice to Auntie Rosie?"
"When a baby is still that little, they don't know any better. You know what princess, after you go to school, and we go see Uncle Jasper, how about we watch a movie that has mommy in it?"
"We have a movie with mommy in it?"
"Yes we do. It's from when you were a little baby. Daddy liked carrying a camera around and filming you and mommy together."
"How come I didn't see it before?"
"I was waiting for the right time to show you. We'll cuddle up on the couch tonight and watch okay?"
Kailey sniffled one last time and looked back at the picture of Irina in my hands.
"Love you daddy."
"Love you too pumpkin. Come on, let's get you to school."
We drove to school in silence, and when we pulled up, Kailey spotted Hope straight away. Once I'd let her out of the car, she ran to Hope and hugged her. Bella was again taking Hope inside so I got out to speak with her.
"Edward, nice to see you this morning."
I could detect the faint blush that she had on her cheeks as she looked at me. To be honest, I was nervous around her now. Too many thoughts would race around my head, and I didn't know whether to make heads or tails of them.
"Nice to see you as well Bella. How's your jaw feeling?"
"Still a little sore, but not nearly as bad as when you took me to see your dad. Please tell him thank you again for me. And thank you for taking me…and having me for dinner."
"It was my pleasure Bella. Did Hope sleep all the way through til this morning?"
"Surprisingly yes. She woke up briefly when we got home, but as soon as I helped her into her pajamas, she was out again. She seemed more excited to come to school today too, knowing Kailey would be here."
"She almost wasn't. Big breakdown this morning, but she seemed okay when we left the house."
"What happened?"
I knew I didn't have too long with Bella since I had to be at work shortly.
"My brother-in-law Jasper got in a motorcycle accident this morning so I had to take my sister to see him. Rosalie came over to watch Kailey while I was gone and shortly after I came back she was going through morning sickness. Kailey asked what it was all about and when I explained it to her, she said Rosalie's baby should be happy she has a mommy. She ran off crying after that."
"But she's here now and everything is okay?"
"After some calming down and a promise to watch a home movie tonight it was. I just hope it's not too soon to show her videos I took when she was still a baby with Irina. I don't want her to have a bad reaction. I'm almost afraid it'll be like taking two steps back."
"She's shown significant progress over the past few weeks Edward. My idea with that is to have her watch about ten minutes and see how she's reacting. Ask her how she feels about seeing Irina on the screen. She may not be completely open with you this first time, but she'll give you some kind of reaction. If you want me to have a session with her before the end of school today, I'd be more than happy to arrange it with Rebecca."
I wasn't sure then if I should ask Kailey if she wanted to speak to Bella, or if I should just give Bella an answer. She usually told me when she wanted to talk to Bella about things.
"Think about it. I'm here all day today so if you want to make the decision before lunch and call me, then call me. If Kailey decides later that she wants to talk to me, she'll ask Rebecca to call my office. Really Edward, she's growing up and she knows when she needs to talk to me."
I hadn't realized I was holding Bella's hand in mine by that point. I'd also been standing very tensely. When I finally took another deep breath, my body relaxed a little and I looked down into Bella's eyes.
"You really have no idea how much you mean…to Kailey, to me. Thank you Bella. I have to go, I have to be in at the office in half an hour."
"Call later. If you need anything, call. Even if it's not for Kailey…if you just want a friend to talk to."
I lifted Bella's hand and kissed the back of it. She blushed again but didn't say anything. Before I could leave, Kailey came running back up to me with hope in tow.
"Daddy, Hope wants to ask you something before you leave."
I kneeled down next to the girls and Hope came up to me, cupping her hand around her mouth so she could tell me a secret. Apparently, she didn't want Bella to hear.
"A-thk my mommy on a date…plea-the? Mommy i-th happy with you."
I was taken aback by Hope's request. Every time I saw Bella, which wasn't too often, I wanted to spend more time with her. Our dinner last night had proven that. I nearly kissed her on the lips before she left. Was it too soon though? My heart and my head were conflicting at the thought.
"How about I'll talk to her after school today while you and Kailey are playing?"
"Okay."
Hope hugged me tightly and then waited for Kailey. After Kailey hugged me, they went into the school.
"Do you think our daughters are up to something?"
I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.
"Definitely."
A/N And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think there's a curse to writing a chapter 13 though. It took me forever to get things to make sense!
If you like it, hate it, or just are "eh" about it, let me know by reviewing. I love seeing those tiny things come in my inbox!
Don't forget, you can follow me on twitter (at) Rosmelie OR you can check me out at my book blog www (dot) memyshelfandi (dot) com
Thanks for reading!