Title: Living Life
Summary: When Edward fell for Bella he knew his life would change forever, watch as he navigates this life with just love and a plan.
Rating: M because we all love our OCD lovin'
Pairing: It's always going to be an E/B story
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own these characters. Although I wish I did.
Chapter 20 – Edward
Stuff I Love About Us
I was sitting at my desk when the phone went off giving me a reprieve I definitely needed. My head was feeling a bit heavy with all the figures in it but I didn't have time to take a break. Or more realistically I wouldn't let myself take a break. So this phone call was a perfect excuse to stop. Plus it made me stop looking at the screen. My eyes were getting tired from typing so much.
"Edward Cullen" I said somewhat distracted, I was finishing typing in the figures from a receipt as I picked up the phone.
"Mmmm don't you sound sexy when you're working?" Bella's voice rang through the phone, making me smile. I leaned back in the chair, deciding I could take a break to talk to my beautiful fiancée.
"If you think that's 'hot' you haven't seen you cleaning out the oven." I teased her causing her to laugh "How's your day going?" I asked her. I needed to talk about something different than work.
"It was good until I found out you've been lying to me." She said.
"Excuse me?" I asked confused, I had no idea what she was talking about. Not that this was unusual. Bella tended to ramble making me confused a lot of the time but right now I was truly baffled.
"First you lie and know you lie about lying, where does this end Edward?" she asked over dramatically, letting me know she was kidding.
"Ok so what did I lie about?" I asked her curiously.
"I asked you what was in the envelope you got in the mail that wasn't a bill yesterday right? And what did you, my lovely fiancée tell me it was?" she asked.
"Shit" I said realising what she was referring to.
"No it wasn't shit, I would've been more alarmed. No you said and I quote 'it's just a business Christmas card, probably got held up in the mail' before shuffling it in with the rest of the crap we get." She stated, as she did I was banging my head against the desk.
"We do get a ridiculous amount of junk mail." I said trying to get her to stop her in her line of thinking.
"In what Universe did you think you could get away with lying to me?" she asked.
"How did you find out I was lying?" I asked her.
"Angela asked me were we going, she and Ben are." She said and I groaned.
"Damnit" I said. How could I have forgotten Angela? She's only the most in your face person in the world. Of course she would have told Bella.
"Babe, come on high school reunions are supposed to be fun." She said and I snorted "That was just so attractive, you should be a phone sex operator." She teased.
"Aren't you very funny?" I asked her.
"I try." She said.
"We'll go, we'll get drunk, we'll laugh at the people, and we'll come home." She said changing the subject back to my school reunion.
In an attempt to try and avoid going to my highschool reunion I had planned to claim the invite had been junk mail. Knowing Bella could be relentless about these things I decided to just not tell her. I had forgotten that Ben had been in my class and Bella would be talking to Angela.
"No" I said.
"Edward!" She whined.
"No" I said again "We're not going."
"Please? Plus Angie and Ben are going to be there. Are you really going to get in the way of me spending a weekend with Angela?" she asked knowing I would rather die than get in the way of those two. Angela much like Bella and my sister was small but deadly. It's better to usually give the two of them what they wanted. But not this time, I really didn't want to go to Chicago.
Not now.
"I'll buy you both spa vouchers." I offered to Bella knowing she hated when I bought her anything.
"For in Chicago, aw Baby." She said and I rolled my eyes.
"We're not going." I repeated.
"Why not?" she asked me.
"Bella high school was hardly the time of my life." I said trying to get my point across.
"I'm sorry is there a chance it's actually a positive experience?" Bella asked. "Because I work in one and I can't see it." She said.
"But it's small talk and group crap and yeah who has a reunion after only graduating nine years previous. I get ten or whatever but nine? Is that really logical?" I asked leaning back in my chair. "Honestly Love, these people are obviously idiots." I said "And we all know what little tolerant you have for idiots."
It was more non-existent but I was trying to get her to agree with me here.
"But Baby don't you want to go back and rub in the faces of all those idiots who put you down in highschool and show them how successful and amazing you are?" she asked.
"No" I said flatly.
"Edward come on I think it could be really fun" She said.
"I really don't want to go Love." I said hoping I was getting my point across.
"Oh okay" She said sounding disappointed. "Sorry I bothered you at work. I just..."
"What?" I asked her.
"I just want to make sure you really don't want to go or that you're just scared of going?" she asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her.
"You know what I mean Edward." She said.
"I have work to do." I told her not wanting to get into this now. I knew exactly what she meant.
"Babe..." she tried to interrupt but I interrupted her.
"I'll be home in an hour or two."
"Okay" She said "Love you."
"Love you too." I said before hanging up the phone.
I sat back again and sighed taking my glasses off and rubbing my face before taking hold of the phone again and dialling Ben's number.
"Hello" Ben answered.
"Do you have to tell your wife everything?" I asked not even saying hello. I was pissed off now and had started something with Bella that I really didn't want to start. Unfortunately for Ben he was the easiest target right now. "And more over does she have to tell my future wife everything?" I added pinching the bridge of my nose under the frame of my glasses.
"Oh come like I open my own mail." Ben said "She had the bags packed before I got home. Edward she's crazy. My Mom calls me and is all like 'so did you get that birthday card' and I'm like 'Angela has it somewhere' it's crazy. She's making me go, I don't want to go. Please tell me you're going?" he asked.
"No way, not a chance in hell!" I said.
"Come on Edward; don't make me do it alone." Ben pleaded.
"Nu-uh, not in a fit." I said.
"Come on" Ben said. "What happened to us being friends?"
"That ended when you let Angela open your mail, listen I got to go, but seriously try and hold her back." I said.
"Ha! You think Bella's a lot to handle? Fine let's switch you can have Angie and I'll have Bells. We'll see who comes out sane!" He said. "Actually please can we swap I need a break."
"I wouldn't be that stupid" I told him before hanging up. "Ugh" I groaned.
Deciding this was pointless I switched off my computer and headed home. As I made my way down to the car I realised I was in for it when I got home. Bella would generally support me but if I took my temper out of on her... well it wasn't good.
I drove home knowing it was going to be bad when I got there. Seeing her car was in the driveway I sighed as I pulled up behind her.
As I walked in I could hear Bella talking.
"Bella?" I called as I walked into the house; I quickly put my stuff away.
She walked into the hall, the phone pressed to her ear. She pointed to her ear before walking back into the living room. Whoever she was talking to... well it didn't look like fun that's all I'm saying.
"Hey Eddie" Emmett said following her out of the kitchen. I was shocked to see my brother there. Bella had come home from her meeting with the contractor completely frustrated. Just as we suspected they treated her like crap. I wanted to help her with this but my work schedule was like crap right now and I couldn't afford to take that time off.
Trying to get back in my good books it would seem Emmett had volunteered to help Bella out. He would go with her to meeting with James.
Bella wasn't entirely thrilled but she wanted the centre done right and unfortunately for her Emmett was the only one who could commit that kind of time.
She tried to make their interactions as brief as possible. But apparently my brother had a habit of sticking around longer than he was wanted.
He really must be trying to suck up at this stage.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"James dropped the plans for the building over to my office earlier. Like I told you after our meeting with the guy I don't trust him so I checked them out for her. I made some adjustments, they look great." He said.
"Show me?" I asked him, shocked at how far he was taking this favour for me. He really was trying.
I did also have to appreciate he was saving my fiancée from having to deal with sexists pigs.
"Yeah, I left them on the counter." He told me. I hung my coat in the coat closet and followed after him into the kitchen.
I stopped in the living room to see Bella looking very frustrated on the phone. She was not having a good day.
First me going off at her, then Emmett arrived over, probably un-announced and then whatever this was.
"Yes Mom, I know that." Bella said. "I know that too." She said frustrated "Look Edward's home, got to go, bye." She said before hanging up.
"What wrong?" I asked leaning against the door frame to the living room.
"Bella, your second cousins ex-wife's new stepdaughter's baby Daddy has to come to the wedding; they need to be in the photographs." She said putting on her mother's voice. "Where do these relatives come from?" she asked. "Seriously if I don't know who they why do they need to be at my wedding?" she asked.
"No idea" I said. "Has she been bugging you all day?" I asked her. Bella's mother could be relentless at the best of times and it made for a very tense Bella.
"More like since the day I was born but you know it's just intensified recently." She said. "Why are you home early?" she asked changing the subject.
"Head ache" I told her looking down at my feet.
"I'm sorry Babe." She said, I looked up and saw she had that embarrassed and apologetic look on her face.
"Let's not do this with Emmett here okay?" I asked her and she nodded. "Come on show me the plans." I said and she nodded smiling.
Two things that could guarantee a smile from Bella, talking about the centre or the wedding. Well sometimes the wedding. It depended on what context really. Her mother and mine were trying to turn it into something huge and Bella and I were trying to keep the focus of a small wedding in mind.
It currently wasn't working and they still had a year to plan. I just hope the two mothers could keep it somewhat toned down. Bella didn't think it would work.
We walked into the kitchen where Emmett had the plans laid out on the kitchen island counter.
"Well as much as I don't like James he can make up a good plan." Bella said leaning against the opposite counter.
The two of them were agreed about James and Larry's work. Because Bella and I were willing to pay out the money the work would be done but the process was going to be long and painful if we didn't have someone like Emmett, he knew what he was doing to make sure things were done to standard.
"I would just make a few recommendations here." Emmett said pulling out a pencil. "Bella and I were talking about class sizes and what different rooms were for, if it were me I'd make each class room just that bit bigger so instead of two windows they have three. It means a lot more light comes in. Plus we were talking about wanting everything to be clear and open so windows instead of walls facing into the hallway?"
"Yeah" Bella said as he marked it in.
"And this is the elevator here right?" I asked him.
"Yeah, it's nice not too claustrophobic, you just have to approve a model you want." Emmett explained. "But I know someone who puts them in, I'll get a good price."
"Why didn't we hire Emmett?" Bella asked me. She was beginning to regret hiring the other two. So much that she was willing to put up with my brother. Desperate times call for desperate measures and what not.
"Because I'm not a professional and I don't have a contracting license." He said. "When all the construction work started to slow down I went back to school and I do architecture work now, I'm good for the drawing but once it comes to actually building it I'm pretty useless." He explained.
"You obviously know what you're talking about." I said and he nodded.
"Listen Bella, I told Edward I'd keep an eye on everything that happens. Just to make sure they don't screw you over because you're a woman. I've seen it happen." He explained and we both nodded.
"That's great." She said nodding.
"When is it all going to be done?" I asked him.
"If James does the right amount of work it should all be done by the end of summer. I know six months doesn't seem like a lot but in this economic climate the guys work hard when they have work and they want to be paid so they'll do it right." Emmett explained.
"And would that be painting and all?" she asked.
"Yeah, should be." Emmett said.
"She wants it functional by September." I explained.
"Might be a push but you'll get there." He said. "I better head home Rosie has had Parker all day and the twins are making her tired." He said.
"Yeah okay" I said. I walked him out after he and Bella said goodbye before heading back inside.
As I walked into the kitchen Bella launched herself at me.
"Baby I'm sorry I was just making sure you really didn't want to go and I took it too far and I'm really sorry." She said as she wrapped her arms around me. I grabbed the back of her legs and lifted her up so her face was in line with mine. "And I don't know what I was thinking, I didn't need to be that harsh and I'm just under a lot of stress and dealing with Emmett and I get that he's trying but he's still not my favouritest person in the world..." She rambled.
"Favouritest? They let you teach English?" I asked her teasingly.
"It's is a crime I know." She said and I chuckled.
"It's okay." I told her "It's your job to push me sometimes."
"I know but I was mean." She said and I shook my head.
"It was fine." I told her and she shook her head.
"Are you sure? I felt mean as I said it." She said and I shook my head before kissing her. She sighed against me as I kissed her.
"Sorry I snapped." I told her.
"How about we're both sorry and we call this one a tie?" she asked and I nodded kissing her again. "I just sometimes I forget, Babe you've grown so much over this past year that it's easy forget the once scared man I met. I forget that you're still learning to cope." She said resting her chin on my shoulder.
"I am, everyday. For me highschool was a nightmare, when I got the invitation to the reunion I started sweating and ugh... I just... I h-had a-al-all t-these..." I said beginning to stutter and in fact panicking.
"Shhh" Bella said pulling my head down to her shoulder. She rubbed the back of my head soothingly, her fingers gently massaging my scalp as she tried to relax me. "Just breathe Baby." She murmured.
"I never liked myself before I met you Bella." I whispered honestly.
"I know" She sighed. She pushed down and climbed out of my arms. "You're pretty amazing though. Look how far you've come in nine short years."
I snorted in response.
"They didn't feel short." I muttered.
"I know but Baby look where we're standing" She said. "Really when you were in highschool did you ever think you'd be in this situation?" she asked me gesturing to the house around her.
"What? Living in my dream house with my ridiculously beautiful fiancée?" I asked her. "No." I said shaking my head.
"Well you're here." She said leaning up and kissing me. "What did they do to you?" she asked me looking concerned.
Bella knew what kids that age were capable of; she worked with them every day. I could see it in her eyes she was legitimately worried right now.
"It's not so much what they did to me but what I did to myself." I explained "And they picked up on that." I added and she nodded.
"Let's stop talking about this; it's your old life." She said Bella was never one to let me linger on a sore subject. She knew it allowed me to over think and that's when we ran into trouble. "And this is your new life." She said leaning up and kissing me. "Now are you hungry or do you want make up sex?" she asked me.
"Is that a rhetorical question?" I asked her and she giggled as I picked her up again, this time bridal style and carried her upstairs. Once there I put her down on her feet. She kissed me as we walked towards our bedroom. I pulled her skirt down over her hips while she unbuttoned my shirt and pushed it off my shoulders.
I began opening her blouse when I realised what was underneath.
She was wearing lacy black underwear and a matching bra.
"Expecting this?" I asked her knowing that Bella was more of a comfort than show kinda lady, or so she told me, and she shrugged.
"I like to be prepared." She said before bringing her lips back to mine. I pulled the clip out of her hair and completely removed her shirt. She kicked her heels off before grabbing my belt buckle and pulling me closer to the bed.
"Mmmm" I moaned as I kissed her again, when we interrupted by the phone ringing.
"Ignore it" She panted against my lips as she undid my belt buckle. "I need you" She added making me forget the phone.
My pants fell around my ankles and I walked us over to the bed until the back of her knees hit the bed and she fell back. I climb on top of her kissing her again, when the phone rang again.
"Ugh!" Bella said pushing me off her and grabbing our upstairs landline. "Who the hell is calling while I'm trying to have sex?" she asked. She must have seen it was Angela's number on the caller ID. "Oh hi Daddy"
"Bella!" I yelled and she blushed as she looked over at me shrugging.
"Of course that was a joke Dad; you know I don't believe in pre-marital sex."
"Oh yeah except for the time you announced in his living room that I had broken your hymen." I muttered as I threw myself against the bed, hugging the pillow with me as I did.
"No Angela and Ben are coming this weekend so we're not coming down." She explained. "You and Sue should come up for dinner during the week." She said. "Yeah, Love you. Bye Daddy."
I laughed as she hung up the phone
"I need to stop doing shit like that." She said throwing the phone onto the side table before climbing up onto the bed beside me.
"Could be worse" I told her.
"What?" she asked.
"I could have answered the phone like that." I said and she laughed as I rolled back on top of her and started kissing her again. "Now where were we?" I asked.
"Um..." She said "Somewhere around... here" She said grabbing my hand and placing it on her chest. "Does this seem familiar?" she asked.
"Oh yes I'm very familiar with this area." I told her before reaching behind her and unclipping her bra. She pulled it off herself while my hands palmed at her chest. I dipped my head down and pulled her left nipple into my mouth making her gasp.
"Yes Edward" She moaned as my finger and thumb rolled her other nipple. She pushed her crotch up against mine as I continued my attention to her breasts. "Please Baby." She moaned.
"Please what?" I asked her bringing my face up to hers.
"I want you" She said hooking her feet into my boxers and pulling them down. "I need you right now."
"Mmmm" I moaned as she lifted her panty covered crotch towards my erection. "I need you too." I told her. I pulled her panties down her and she kicked them off the bed.
Pushing myself into her we both moaned. "God" She cried out as I pushed in and out. Her hands reached over my shoulders and she scratched at my back, her ankles on my ass pushing me in further.
It didn't take much more for us to go over the edge.
I collapsed down on top of her when I was done. She panted against me holding me in place as we came down from our high. Afraid I was crushing her I tried to move but she shook her head.
"Just stay here for a bit Babe." She said kissing my cheek. Deciding I might aswell embrace it I snuggled my head into her chest causing her to giggle.
"I don't know what you're laughing at this is the best pillow possible and I'm only ever going to share it with three other people." I told her and she looked down at me.
"Who?" she asked.
"Our children." I told her and she smiled at me.
"I love you Cullen, even if you're a dork." She said making me laugh.
"I love you too." I said before pressing my head down.
I eventually rolled off her, but pulled her with me so she was lying on top of me. I loved holding her like this. She sighed and started running over the outline of my tattoo.
It was then I got thinking, how different my life truly was from when I was younger. Like seriously here I was on a Thursday evening after having sex with my ridiculously beautiful future wife, talking about children. The complete opposite from the dorky kid in high school. I ran my hand over Bella's hip where her tattoo was.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked me.
"High school" I told her.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again, you're brutally honest Babe." She said with a laugh. "What about high school so?" She asked leaning up on her elbow.
"I think we should go." I said.
"To high school? Babe not again." She said.
"No the reunion."
"Are you serious?" she asked me sitting up.
"Yeah"
"What changed your mind?" she asked.
"You did" I told her.
"Was it my boobs?" she asked pushing them together and looking down. "Well done ladies."
"No but they did help." I said placing a kiss above her chest. "I was just thinking how different my life is and I want to go and show off."
"Yes!" she said fist pumping. "Me and Ang gonna boogie to cheesy music from our teen years." She said and I rolled my eyes. "I'm proud of you though Babe."
"You have to hold my hand though" I said and she nodded "And tell everyone about how you gave up your career as a Victoria Secret Model to be the mother of my children after our wedding next year."
"And how big your dick is?"
"No but if you wouldn't mind walking into a janitors closet with me, moaning a bit and then come walking a bit funny that would be great." I told her and she nodded.
"Done" She said "So you going to show me all of your Chicago?" she asked me.
"I forget you haven't been before. We'll stay in my parents place. Tell Ben and Angie they stay with us there. Cheaper than getting a hotel." I told her and she nodded.
"And are you sure you want to do this?" she asked me and I nodded. "Okay then" She said standing up and grabbing her robe off the dresser.
"We're not going like right now." I told her and she shook her head.
"I'll be back in minute" She said. She walked out of the bedroom only to appear five minute later holding a flowery box.
"What's that?"
"Well I figured you're doing this and it's out of your comfort zone, so I might aswell return it by doing something that's out of mine." She said climbing onto the bed.
"Okay" I said somewhat confused.
"Now before I open the box I must explain why I've been hiding this." She said and I tilted my head in confusion before it dawned on me what this was.
"Wait is this, what I think it is?" I asked her looking at the box.
"Yes" She said solemnly.
"Okay explain." I said.
"I was an ugly baby." She stated.
"No way" I said shaking my head.
"I was fat, my eyes were too dark. My hair was wiry. My mother thought she had a changeling." Bella said before dramatically sniffling.
"I doubt it Bella." I said grabbing the box out of her hands.
"Fine." She said as I lifted the lid off.
I pulled out the first one, it was Charlie holding a swaddled pink bundle. The date in the corner was Bella's date of birth.
"Look how tiny you were." I said as I lifted more out "You were not an ugly baby. Look at those chubby cheeks."
"That is not cute. My mother once told me I almost broke her vagina coming out I was so fat." She said.
"No that's just chubby. I want a little chubby baby." I told her pulling her onto my lap.
"Fine you can push it out of your vagina." She said and I laughed as I found the messy baby photos and the bath time ones.
"Aw" I cooed and she began telling me different stories behind each one. As we moved through the photos I started seeing some toddler Bella. "Do you have any tapes of you as a kid?"
"Tonnes. My Dad kept those. He promised he wouldn't throw them out because they were too important."
There was one of Bella in an oversized Mariners jersey as her Dad held her up by her sides.
"How old are you there?" I asked.
"Four." She said with a smile "It was one of my first visits with Charlie after the divorce. My Grandma took tonnes of photos and printed them all of at the drug store because she wanted me and my Dad to have this stuff." She said.
"That's sweet." I said. As she got a bit older I noticed two little boys and a little girl joining the photos.
"That's Leah, Seth and Jacob." She explained "Me and My Dad would hang out down on the Rez when he had days off because of the beach." She added.
"And one day he would grow up to be a douche" I teased and she laughed. We went through the rest of the photographs, me breaking my shit laughing at some of them. "Oh come on look at your hair."
"My mother was a Madonna lover and that was cool at the time."
"Sure it was." I said "Then how do you explain the perm?"
"That was my natural hair, it was so embarrassing eventually I killed it though." She explained.
It was times like this that I knew one hundred percent that Bella and I were going to make it. Sure we could fight over stupid things but we would always figure it out. I don't see us ever getting so in over our heads that we couldn't fix something.
And it was something I loved about us.
Sorry for the lack of updates but I have so little time to write, I'm lucky if I get to sit down and write a drabble length chapter! So sorry, again.
Review please, I would love to see what you thought of the chapter.
Love The Irish Cullen.