A/N: here you go…I hope you love it! ...this took lots of work
BPOV:
I could not believe this was happening; one of my worst nightmares had suddenly become a reality. Running? You're good at that… not an option. I fought back more tears as I walked over to Emily.
"Emily, what the hell?"
"I'm sorry! She was just really excited to see you and when we walked in the bookstore, she just let go of my hand and ran away. Bella, I'm so sorry," she said sadly.
"Emily, it's okay. But next time, try to keep up with her better. You know how she gets when she loses her way."
"Okay, Bella. I'm really sorry about this."
I could see she was really sad that she disappointed me. I reached out and gently grabbed her shoulders in a reassuring manner.
"Emily, you are the best nanny a kid could ask for. Emmy loves you and I do too. You know you are like my own; you just get paid better right?" I laughed.
She nodded weakly. "Thanks, Bella"
I smiled and hugged her. "Anytime, kiddo. Anytime."
She laughed. "Kiddo? That's a new one!"
When I released her, she looked over at Alice, Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and Edward, who were all surrounding Emilia.
"Hey, Bells, you have her from here, don't you? I have to get to my evening class," she stated.
"Of course, Emily. Call me when you are out and we will discuss dinner," I said smiling, as she turned to walk away.
"Ooh! Emily?!"
She turned around. "Yes?"
"On your way home, can you pick up my guitar from the shop? Or do you want me to do it?"
"Actually, Bella, I was going to go to the mall just to get a few things but I can go tomorrow," she smiled.
"No, no, no, no. I can go and get it after I leave here. Never mind!" I said.
"Alright. Bye, Bells."
"Bye, Em!"
When she left, I turned back to the small crowd behind me to find that they were watching me with intent. Oh boy! I slowly trudged over to them, fearing what was to come.
"Who was that?" Alice questioned.
"That was my Emily!" Emilia answered for me.
"What's an 'Emily'?" Jasper asked.
"She is the nanny."
"She is awfully young to be a nanny, don't you think?" Edward chimed in.
"Well, when we lived in England—"
"England?" Emmett asked.
"Wow, we have a lot of catching up to do!" Rosalie said.
"How about we get together for lunch. Umm…maybe tomorrow?" Alice suggested.
"Umm…yeah… I could do that," I agreed.
"What time?" Jasper asked.
"Well, Emilia is at school until 2:30, so anytime before then is great," I answered.
"How about a 12:00 brunch at 'The Russian Tea Room'?" Alice questioned.
"That's on 145 West 57th Street, right?" I asked.
"Yeah," Alice replied.
If
I was a rich girl (Na, Na...)
See, I'd have all the money in the
world, if I was a wealthy girl
No man could test me, impress me,
my cash flow would never ever end
Cause I'd have all the money in
the world, if I was a wealthy girl (Gwen stefani-rich girl)
Alice reached into her bag, for her phone, while everyone was in hysterics; Emilia looked at us like we were crazy. Alice finally got a hold of her phone to answer it. "Hello?"
"Not again!" Alice sighed. "Alright! Alright! I'll be there as soon as I can." When Alice got off the phone, she looked furious. She looked at all of us warily. "Stupid photographers!" she muttered. She turned to Jasper and kissed him on the cheek. "I have to jet. I'll see you at home." She walked over to me and gave me a fierce hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Belly. I'll see you tomorrow."
Alice gave me her phone number, waved at everyone else after hugging and kissing Emilia, and then she left.
"I have some errands to run before I go home, so I guess we better get going," I said, taking Emilia's hand.
She looked up at me with sadness in her eyes and then looked at everyone else. "Bye," she muttered, as she waved.
Jasper, Edward, and Emmett waved back at her and we walked away.
When we got to the door, Edward caught up to us. "You said you had some errands to run, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I do," I laughed.
"Do you mind if I come with you?" he asked.
EPOV:
My heart was racing by the time I asked the question. What if she rejects the idea, or worse…what if she rejects me?
"Sure, but I warn you, it could be really boring," she smiled.
"It doesn't matter, just as long as I'm with you," I said.
When I said that, I saw sadness well up in her eyes. She shook her head as if she was trying to shake the feeling. "Come on," she said, leading the way to the street. She was about to hail a cab when I stopped her.
"Let me," I said.
She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and walked back to the sidewalk with Emilia.
I raised my hand and stepped out onto the street, but the cars and cabs just kept zooming by. I was about to take another step into the street, when I felt a spark on my shoulder. I turned around to see Bella with a smug smile on her face.
"Let me," she said in a mocking imitation of my voice.
I laughed and then I felt a small hand on mine. I looked down next to me, to see the little girl was smiling at me.
"Watch! Mummy's good at this," Emilia said.
I nodded my head and watched as Bella bent over slightly and whistled with one hand at her mouth and the other in the air. All of a sudden, four cabs and two town cars stopped abruptly. Bella laughed and waved for us to follow her to the nearest town car.
Bella and Emilia got in first, and I got in last. As I climbed into the car, I felt like someone was watching me…It was really eerie.
"Madison Avenue, please," Bella said to the driver.
"What's on 'Madison Avenue'?" I asked.
"Oh, no! You don't get speaking privileges since I schooled you on how to hail a cab!" she laughed.
"Told you mummy was good at that," Emilia giggled.
"Okay! Okay! You can talk now," Bella sighed after one minute of silence.
"Thank you so much, oh queen of cab-hailing," I joked.
"You are so very welcome, king of making-an-ass-of-himself." Bella immediately threw her hand over her mouth after realizing she had cursed in front of Emilia.
"Mummy, what's an ass?" Emilia asked sweetly.
Bella just sat there with her hand over her mouth.
"An ass is an…animal," I answered, when Bella looked panicked.
"What kind of an animal?" Emilia pressed.
"Umm…" I looked at Bella with confusion on my face.
"It's an animal with…" Bella stuttered.
"Really big teeth!" the driver chimed in.
We all looked at each other and then at the driver, and burst into a fit of laughter. When our stop came, we got out and started walking, with Bella leading the way.
"Where are we going?" I asked, noticing that we were headed more north.
"Jeez! You are worse than Emilia!" Bella scolded jokingly.
"Hey!" Emilia and I said in unison, making Bella laugh.
We stopped in front of a two story building that appeared to be a store; in the display windows were vinyl records, blocking the view of the inside of the store. When I looked up, I saw that the name of the store was "Lucy is Blind". (A/N: I own!)
"What's 'Lucy is Blind'?" I asked.
"It's an investment I was handed when we moved here, but right now, I'm just picking up some things," Bella smiled.
When we walked in, I noticed the room was a blood red color, with black and white photos scattered across the walls. I saw several small tables, an average sized stage with a little piano on it, a couch on the back wall, a cash register opposite, and a starbucks stand.
"Would you like a tour?" Bella asked.
"Of what, exactly? I mean, what is this?"
"It's my dream aka a café slash music store. I inherited this place from an aunt two weeks after being in New York. I thought all my family was already dead, but then I found out that I had a great aunt who was dieing. When she contacted me, she was living in Saratoga at her lake house and she asked to meet with me. So, Emmy and I took a road trip up there. The house, the lake, and the scenery were so beautiful…About four weeks after we arrived here, my aunt died in her sleep. She left everything she owned to me…the lake house, this place, a photography studio in Soho, and a generous sum of money," she said nonchalantly.
"Wow," was my brilliant answer.
"That's the same thing I said!" Bella laughed.
"Mummy, can I go play in your room?" Emilia said, as she walked over from the couch she had been sitting on.
Bella looked at her and smiled. "Sure, kiddo. Just don't get lost like you did last time!"
"Okay, mummy. I won't!" Emilia sang, as she ran for the back room.
Bella turned her attention back to me. "So, do you want the tour or not?"
"Sure."
We walked toward the back room where Emilia had just gone, and walked up a flight of stairs. When we got to the top, we were in an olive green room, with shelves full of records wrapped all around the room. To the right, there was a window with a comfy looking seating area beneath it. There were racks lined with CDs on the wall farthest away from us, and in the center of the room, there was a long table with twelve flat-screen Apple computers, and office chairs.
"I'll be right back," Bella said.
"I'll be right here," I murmured absent-mindedly.
I walked over to the wall lined with vinyl records closest to the window. As I fingered each LP, looking at the artist, I noticed she had everything from Nirvana to The Beatles. I picked up a Jefferson Airplane record and was studying the artwork when Bella walked in.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
I turned around to see Bella carrying a manila folder and a heavy looking guitar case.
"What's that?" I quizzed, nodding toward the folder in her hands.
"Oh, just some inventory and status reports I had the employees fill out. Emmy! Come on! We're leaving!" Bella called.
"Oh, I wanted to buy this…I've been searching for this very album, and I couldn't find it anywhere," I explained.
Bella put down her guitar case and walked toward me. She took the LP from me and looked at it inquisitively. "Jefferson Airplane?"
I was too distracted by her closeness to pay attention to her words, so I just answered with the first thing that came to mind. "Yeah, it's beautiful."
"Really? I never really pegged you for Jefferson Airplane."
I moved a little closer to her and placed my hand on the side of her face. When I did this, I saw pain engulf her beautiful eyes and tears start to form.
"Don't," Bella whispered. "Just don't…It will be easier that way."
I was just about to ask 'what?' or 'why?', when Emilia bounced in. We separated, like two teenagers who were going at it and their parents just walked in.
"Mummy, let's go. I'm hungry!" she whined with an adorable pout.
Bella blinked away her forming tears. "Okay, darling. Let's get you some food." Bella looked back at me for a second. "Just keep it. It'll be my gift to you."
"Bella, I can't—"
"You can and you will," Bella said with a tone of finality.
"Come on…I have to get out of here," Bella giggled, as if she wasn't on the verge of tears a few seconds ago. That was something I noticed; Bella had become a very good actress, and I wondered why.
After Bella locked up the store, we started walking up Madison Avenue. Ten minutes of pleasant conversation about everything and nothing—avoiding what we really needed to discuss anyway, like oh, I don't know, why she left me. Later on, we ended up at a nice little French restaurant 'Le Madeline'. When we walked in, Bella asked for a table for three and we were seated immediately.
"Bella, is there something wrong?" I asked in a whisper so Emmy wouldn't hear.
Bella, who was seated across from me, looked up and shook her head 'no' but her eyes…her eyes told a completely different story.
"Edward, have you been here before?" Emilia asked.
"No, Emmy I haven't," I answered with a smile.
"You should come here with us all the time…this is my favorite place to eat. You know why?"
"No…why?" I asked, playing along.
"It's named after me! And the cocoa here is yummy!"
"It's named after you?"
"Yep! Madeline is my second name!"
"You have a second name?"
"Yeah, my name is 'Emilia-Madeline Elle Swan'!" she stated proudly.
"Well, Emilia-Madeline Elle Swan, that is a very lovely name. It sounds like a princess."
"Thank you. What's your second name?"
"Anthony. Edward Anthony Cullen," I said, playing along.
"That's a nice name, too. But I like mine better," she laughed.
Her laugh was a beautiful sound, and I couldn't help but think that it should be heard more often. I made a mental note to myself to make Emmy laugh as much as I could.
After we had our meal—cocoa included—I paid for it all and then we left. As we walked, Bella and I exchanged glances, but mostly Emmy and I were the ones having the conversation, getting Bella to 'laugh' in all the right places.
Suddenly, something occurred to me—and when I say occurred to me, I mean waves of realization washed over me—just the mere thought of it was scary, exciting, and at the same time, made me very…livid.
As we walked leisurely in the midday—not too hot, not too cold—weather, we passed a park.
"Mummy! Can I play over there? Pleeeeeeease?" Emmy begged.
Bella smiled. "Sure. But hey, only for a little while."
Emilia smiled. "Okay, mummy."
Bella leaned down and kissed her cheek before letting her run off to play. Bella and I sat on the bench across from the playground area and watched Emilia play for a while; I looked at Bella and then grabbed her hand. She and I locked eyes and then I took a deep cleansing breath…
"Is she mine?"
A/N: cliffy madness! R&R…how am I doing? ...special thanks to Santi911… and my beta…My-Bella