Chapter Twenty-One

Flashback:

"Eight… nine… ten…. Weady or not, hewe I come!"

I squeal in laughter, uncovering my eyes and leaving the home base of Edward's wall to search for him.

He's such a cheater. I'd bet my whole rock collection he's under the bed. I slowly pull up his Power Ranger blankie and peek underneath.

"Gotcha!"

I pout 'cause he's not under there. If he thinks I'm searching this entire mansion, then he can suck my left thumb. There's no way I'm gonna find him on all three floors.

I pull a lollipop from the pocket of my shorts and skip down the hallway. "Eddy! Eddy!"

Edward appears out of nowhere, grabbing my wrist and holding me to his chubby body. "Shhh!"

"Why?" I whisper. We crouch next to his mommy and daddy's bedroom as he stares through the opening.

Edward steals the lollipop from my mouth, savoring the watermelon flavor. "Listen. Do you hear anything?"

I listen carefully, and the only sound that register is moans and growls.

Sounds like someone's being attacked by a bear.

"Oh, no! Is your mommy huwt? We has to help!" I don't want anything to hurt Mrs. Cullen. She's my favoritist second mommy in the whole wide world.

Edward covers my mouth. "No, you idiot. She's having s-e-x."

I'm not sure what that means, but I know it's a bad word. "You not supposed to say bad things, Eddy. I'm telling on you."

"Who you gonna tell, snotball? I double dog dare you to go in there."

As much as I want to tattle, I shake my head. "I'm not going. You go. It's your pawents."

"That's not my dad. He's at work."

I frown and peek through the door again. Mrs. Cullen is wrestling in the bed, making those weird sounds. "Who is it, then?"

Edward shrugs. "I dunno. You think I should call dad? He said to call him if there's an emer-gant-key."

I shake my head. "No, that's tattling, too. She's just playin' with a fwiend."

"Yeah, I guess dad can wrestle too when he gets home. Sounds like fun. Wish Mom would have asked us, too. I'm a great wrestler!"

"Nuh-uh," I joke. "Too slow!" I giggle and run off, ducking in and out of rooms as Edward tries to tag me.

Hours later, when Edward and I are chasing fireflies on the back porch, we catch one in a jar and race to the front of the house.

Daddy is standing on the steps with Mrs. Cullen waving from the doorway.

"Daddy! When did you get here?" I reach my arms up to him as he scoops me in his arms.

"I'm leaving. You ready to go?" I nod, burying my head in the crook of his neck.

"Look what I got, Mr. Swan! It's a firefly!" Edward holds the jar out proudly, showing my daddy our prize.

"Those filthy bugs. What did I tell you about playing with insects, Bella? They carry diseases. C'mon, we need to start walking."

"You not dwive, Daddy?"

He shakes his head. "My car is, uh, up the road a little bit. Say goodbye to Edward. We need to leave."

Scrambling from daddy's arms, I run to Edward to give him a hug goodbye.

"Don't listen to him," Edward whispers in my ear. "Fireflies are awesome."

"Daddy doesn't think so," I reply.

"It's 'cause they're like a secret. No matter how dark it is, they always come out."

Do you understand the secret Charlie is hiding?

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