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Chapter 21
Bella's eyes bugged out slightly at Seth's statement, but she was saved by Alice's pout. Before I could step in to appease my daughter, Garrett offered to take her to the carousel and it was now just the three of us.
"I wish we had known you were coming, Seth, that way you could have come to stay with us. In fact, you're more than welcome to if you want to cancel your hotel stay." I hoped that by being sincere I could mitigate a little of his anger.
"I'm better off where I am, I wouldn't want to get in anyone's way," Seth sneered and then focused his attention back on Bella. "So this is how you're making your living, Bella? Screwing your boss?"
"Watch your mouth, Seth. I'm not going to lie as you've obviously figured out that we're together, but any anger you might feel will be directed at me. I won't stand around and let you abuse Bella," I jumped to defend her. I didn't let Ben talk to her like that and I sure as hell wouldn't stand for it now.
"Okay, fine. Do you have a fancy lawyer to defend you against the sexual harassment lawsuit that could come against you?" Seth retorted.
"First, I would never sue Edward, Seth. And for your information, I stopped working for Edward two months ago when things started to get serious," Bella informed him, but he just kept going.
"Oh, so you just pretend to be his nanny, but instead you're playing house. What about your dreams, Bella? The culinary school? Your dream of being a writer?" Seth didn't give Bella a chance to answer and it was obvious that she was running out of patience.
"You knew years ago I would never be working in a restaurant, but having a big family to cook for lets me have fun with my skills. And I still write at night, so that hasn't been affected by this at all. Why can't you be happy for me?" she questioned.
"Because I don't think this is going to end well," he said. "I've watched you get hurt before, badly, and I don't see how this can last."
"It will last because I love her," I declared my feelings, putting my arm around her waist. "I didn't make this choice lightly, because of how it would change all of our lives. The secrecy that we're living in was for our own protection, so that people couldn't question whether or not we were serious. This has been five months of us falling in love and deciding that we wanted a life together. A life, not some little fling or affair.
"Your sister means the world to me, and when I get a chance to talk to my ex-wife so that she won't be shocked by the news, and we've had a little more time to enjoy ourselves before we have to face the kind of nastiness that will come of people finding out about our relationship, we will be telling everyone. I don't expect you to accept us, but I'm begging you to give us a little more time."
Now I was staring down Seth, because I didn't know how much longer I would allow him to berate us. To my surprise though, his expression softened as he said, "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that."
"But can you live with it, Seth? Just for a little while?" Bella begged.
"When will Charlie be getting the phone call?" he asked.
"I have a business meeting at the beginning of January, so I should be home mid-month. I would say that Bella and I will call him sometime around the fifteenth, give or take a few days," I explained.
"Please let me be on the ship when he does," Seth muttered as he shook his head.
"So you'll be cool?" Bella pushed.
"Yeah, but I want a little proof of this devotion," Seth said. "And I mean more than the fancy jewelry."
"All you have to do is watch me sit through a Ranger game with her to see that," I remarked and Seth laughed, obviously well aware of her behavior during a game.
"She's still lusting after the Swede?"
"Shut up, both of you," Bella grumbled as Seth continued.
"So I'll bite my tongue until you tell Charlie, but let me warn you, Edward. Our father is a cop, my mom is on the council for our tribe, my sister's a Marine, and my brother-in-law and I are fishermen, so if you hurt her, they'll never find your body because you'll be lining the coastal waters of La Push in a hundred crab traps."
"Seth," Bella chastised.
"What, I had to do the protective brother thing," Seth responded, but I nodded, understanding the desire to look out for her.
"Believe me, there are quite a few people here who might make me disappear long before you ever get off the plane, but there won't be a need," I promised.
"Why don't you call your friend and tell him the coast is clear. Then maybe you can grab some lunch and join us. I'm in town for two days, so we can have a little time together before I go," Seth said, eyeing the Chipotle that we nearly stopped at on our way over.
"Do you have enough for Seth too, or should I get us all something?" I asked, knowing she'd love to cook, but more than willing to get takeout so they could catch up.
Just then, my phone rang. I answered it to hear Gianna on the other end.
"Edward, you and Garrett left the office alone, right?"
Puzzled by her question, I responded, "Yes, we went to lunch about fifteen minutes ago." There was some commotion on the other end, which concerned me. "Gianna, what's wrong?"
"We lost power here five minutes ago. According to maintenance a transformer that blew. Maria is calling Garrett to check on him, but if he's there then we'll know that everyone is accounted for from our company. They still have to check the elevators to make sure none of the building's other tenants are stuck."
"Should we come back?" I asked.
"No, Mr. Sands came down a minute ago and told us that once everyone was accounted for and safe we could go home. It may be a few hours, but if we can get onto the server later, then we can try to make up a little work. Otherwise we'll be able to pick up Monday."
"Okay, Gianna, be safe and I'll see you tomorrow," I said and then noticed Garrett walking over with Alice.
"I didn't know work had the equivalent of snow days, but I'll take it. Especially if I can beg a meal from my favorite little chef?" Garrett joked. I rolled my eyes as I looked over to Bella who was taking in the situation.
"We can still do tacos, but it will have to be beef," Bella told us.
"Sounds great, and this means we can start the weekend early," I teased, adding to her confusion.
"So how are you able to play hookie?" she asked.
"A transformer blew in our building so there's no power. They've got crews checking the elevators, but thankfully all of our people are accounted for. Now we will just have to make up for the work next week. Thankfully, I will be able to work from home once the power is restored and the server is back online. I just can't wait until our week off at Christmas. It will be a well earned break," I said as Bella got Alice's things together.
"Well, there's a surprise for you waiting at home, so why don't we head out," Bella commented. Seth was quick to interject on the conversation.
"If that offer to crash with you is still good, I'm going to head over to my hotel and pick up my bags. They didn't have my room ready so hopefully I can get out of any cancellation fee," Seth asked and I smiled. It would be nice to get to know Bella's family a little.
While Seth went to deal with his hotel, we headed home. Bella put Alice upstairs as she'd fallen asleep on the walk, but I hadn't made it much farther than the living room. In front of me, larger than life, was the closest thing to my mother's tree that I'd seen since I was a teenager. My eyes were stinging with unshed tears as Bella's voice sounded behind me.
"Do you like it?"
I didn't say anything, the emotions were too intense to speak, so instead I kissed her with everything I had. I didn't want to stop, but soon I pulled back to tell her what I was feeling. "That is my mom's tree, Bella. I don't know how you did it, but there is no way you could have done a better job with it."
"It was a long day shopping but thankfully I found a store that had the full selection. I wanted it to be perfect for you," she said.
"It is," I told her. She headed into the kitchen to start cooking and I followed behind, noticing Garrett out on the terrace.
Bella cooked with me enjoying the opportunity to watch her as I so rarely got to do. I commented about how quickly she was working, which always earned a laugh from her. Garrett and Seth came in just as lunch was finished.
Lunch was quiet, but mainly because we were all enjoying the food. After we finished, Garrett thanked Bella again and with a self-invite to dinner, left to go home. While Seth went to play with his computer, we snuck upstairs for some alone time.
"That was definitely not how I expected my day to go," I said as we sat on her couch.
"Seth is all bark and very little bite, Leah and my dad will be worse. Are you ready for that?" she asked nervously.
"You're worth all the irate family members that can be thrown our way. We've come almost all the way through this, in a month we'll be starting to share our news," I promised.
We cuddled for a bit until the front door alerted us to the kids' arrival, setting us off in different directions. Bella went to see to Alice while I took the elevator to stagger our return to the main floor.
The doors opened to reveal all of the young females, including my daughter, fawning over Seth. When Bella arrived she seemed amused, but I didn't know if I liked this development. It wasn't until Bella brought up Seth's job that Jasper perked up and the two of them started talking about his time on the fishing boat.
I used the distraction to get on my computer in the kitchen, so I could see the living room and still hang out with Bella. She moved so effortlessly, I had to comment on it part way through her work.
"You're so at peace when you cook. If it were me I would be so tense trying to get things timed right and making sure I'd cooked it all properly, but with you it just happens."
"It's one of the things I love," she said.
"What about your writing? I don't see you doing that too often," I asked. I knew she loved being with the kids, but her free time was spent with me, so I was worrying that she wasn't following her dreams because of us.
"I'm researching the historical aspects of it. I can't figure out the plot until I understand the world. But I promise you that I am working on it," she reassured me, the sincerity clear.
"If you ever want me to take an afternoon and bring the kids out into the city so that you can focus, I will," I offered, but she refused.
"I think the quiet would distract me worse than if they were all screaming around me." She turned to the living room with a wistful look before continuing. "Besides, Alice will be going to preschool in the Fall, so I will be all alone until they get out of school."
"Don't rush my baby, it might be a while before I've got another toddler to coddle," I said, causing Bella's head to snap up to look me in the eye.
"When you're ready, all you have to do is say the word, Edward," she told me.
"Don't temp me, Bella. I want to do this right this time." I said.
"Bella," Seth called from the hallway. "How long until dinner?"
"Another fifteen minutes, Seth, Carlisle and Esme should be here any minute."
Just as Bella predicted, Esme and Carlisle came in, happy to see our surprise guest. We talked about our days, and I didn't miss the looks between Bella and Seth. They seemed to be having a wordless conversation, giving me hope that he saw just how right this was.