Mix up: What happens when two very busy people send two clueless people to pick up their babies from daycare? Bella Swan and Edward Cullen are in for a rough day but it may just have some nice repercussions.
Character pairings: Edward and Bella the whole way
Rating: M for fun times
Disclaimer: While I love Twilight I do not own it, however the little cuties that star as the babies are all figments as my imaginations.
Bella
I stood in Connor's room watching him sleep.
Where was that tiny Baby I had brought home from the hospital? This couldn't be him.
How had a year gone by so fast?
He stirred a bit before stretching and settling down again.
My baby was growing up fast.
Everything was going fast.
Not just Connor but my life.
It felt just yesterday I left college, a young bright eyed girl.
Here I was just five years later and everything was accelerated.
I was a mother, to a one year old.
And an almost two year old if we're being honest.
I was in a grown up relationship, with love and emotions mixed in.
I had a job, money, a car.
When did I become a grown up?
I was pulled out of my thoughts when there was a knock on the door.
I left Connor's room quietly and went to answer it. I presumed it was Edward or Seth, Seth was in town for Connor's party and I was expecting him here any minute.
When I opened the door I was a bit surprised to see Officer Whitlock standing at my door.
"Ms. Swan, I'm sorry to drop by unexpected but I felt you should know something." He said. "Can I come in?" he asked.
"Yes, yes of course. Would you like some coffee, tea?"
"Black coffee please" He said.
"Okay, just sit yourself down there and I'll be back in a minute." I said walking into the kitchen I grabbed two mugs and poured some coffee I had put on earlier before walking into the living room. There was stuff for Connor's party everywhere so I was a bit all over the place. "Here you go." I said handing him the mug.
"Thank you" He said.
"Sorry about the mess, it's Connor's birthday tomorrow so birthday party mode." I explained.
"It's alright."
"Officer, what's all this about?" I asked.
"It's about Jacob Black."
"I had a feeling he wouldn't go quietly." I said clutching my mug.
"He's about to kick up a whole lot of dust for you." He said.
"How?" I asked.
"He's demanding that Connor's paternity be determined." Officer Whitlock said and I almost dropped the mug. "He had his lawyer in with him the other, no one has posted bail but it's coming through in the next couple of days and he's going after you personally. I'm not here officially but I wanted to give you a heads up so you want just be headed a warrant to submit to a DNA test."
"Oh my God" I said putting the mug on the table and dropping my face into my hands. "Connor's paternity can't be determined. I don't know who is biological father is." I said.
"Oh, well if it's a case of narrowing it down..." he began and I stopped him.
"No, not like that. I can't tell you because I used an anonymous sperm bank. He's a test tube Baby. The men who gave their sperm to the clinic don't give their names or personal details. They go through a physical and fill out a medical history form but no names or social security numbers." I said running my hands through my hair. "But thanks for telling me."
"I thought you should know. I know you love your son and I have a feeling had Jacob Black been Connor's father you wouldn't have kept him from seeing his father for fear of what it would do to him. That's why I came over."
"You're a good man, not many would do that." I told him.
"It's my job to protect citizens." He explained.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked.
"Yes of course."
"Have you dealt with cases like this before?" I asked.
"Not personally but my wife Detective Brandon has." He explained.
"Um you wouldn't know personally what would happen should the paternity remain ambiguous in these cases?" I asked.
"No, but if you want I could ask my wife to come over and talk to you about it." He said.
"Now?" I asked and he nodded.
"Of course."
"Thank you" I said. "I just have to make a phone call."
"I'll call Alice"
"Who?"
"My wife." He explained.
"Oh okay." I said before getting up and walking into my bedroom. I dialled Seth's number.
"Hello" He answered.
"Hi, where are you?" I asked.
"I am just pulling up to my hotel now." He said "I'm going to drop my bag off and come over." He said.
"Seth something's just come up so just stay at your hotel okay?" I asked.
"What's wrong? Did something happen with Edward?" he asked.
"No, no Edward's great I just I have to... oh Seth." I said breaking down.
"Bells I'm coming over"
"No" I said.
"What happened Bella?" he asked.
"I didn't call to cry at you" I told him.
"Well I'm here now so come on" He said.
"Jacob's coming after Connor" I said.
"I'm gonna kill him." Seth said.
"Seth the officer who helped with the mix up came over to give me a heads up, his wife is a detective and has worked with stuff like this before so we're going to talk through it, you're probably tired after your flight, and I'll see you in the morning."
"Not a chance Bells I'm coming over now. Screw check in I'll sleep on the floor." He said.
"I have to call Edward." I told him.
"Why?" Seth asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm the kid's Godfather, Edward's just your boyfriend he's not got a lot of leeway." Seth said.
"Seth it's my relationship, plus if it were Lily I'd want to know." I told him.
"See you in a couple of minutes." He said.
"Right" I said before hanging up and dialling Edward's number.
"One second" he called into the phone before I heard a loud. "Lily come back here so Daddy can put on the clean diaper." A minute later he came back on the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey" I said my voice shaking as my tears pushed to come out. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah I thought I had another month until the terrible twos kicked in. Not so much." He said. "What's up?" he asked.
"Huh?" I asked.
"You called me" He said.
"Oh right" I said.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Yeah"
"Is Connor alright? Bella you're scaring me." He said sounding worried.
"Officer Whitlock is here, he came out of courtesy. Jacob and his lawyer are planning to pursue Connor's paternity." I said my voice cracking as I did.
"I'm coming over." He said. "Lily we're going to see Be" He called.
"Thanks" I said into the phone.
"No problem Baby. I'll be there in about twenty minutes." He said. "You going to be alright?"
"Yeah, Seth's on his way. I called him to tell him to go to the hotel and not bother coming over but he's hell bent on being her now." I told him.
"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can be. And Bella remember what I said at the wedding, I won't let anything happen to you and Connor, okay?" he asked.
"Okay. I love you" I said wanting him to know I really did.
"I love you too Bella."
"Bye" I said.
"Bye" He replied and hung up the phone. I walked back out to Officer Whitlock, who was hanging up the phone.
"She'll be here in a minute." He said.
"Okay, Connor's godfather and my boyfriend will be here soon." I told him.
"Edward Cullen?" he asked.
"How did you know?" I asked him.
"As riled up as the two of you were that night, there was chemistry. Plus my wife had a feeling about you two and she's never wrong."
"Officer I don't actually know your first name." I told him.
"Jasper" He said.
"Can I call you Jasper? It feels less formal." I told him.
"Of course Ms. Swan."
"You can call me Bella." I told him.
"Oh right." He said when Seth arrived just walking into my apartment.
"Bella?"
"Seth" I said standing up and walking out into the hallway. He pulled me into a big bear hug and I wrapped my arms around him.
"How you holding up?" he asked.
"Barely keeping it together." I told him. "Come on in" I told him stepping out of his hug. "Seth, this is Officer Jasper Whitlock, Jasper this is Seth Clearwater, Connor's Godfather." I explained.
They exchanged pleasantries when my baby monitor went off.
"Excuse me" I said before walking to the nursery. Connor was lying on his back crying. "Hello Baby." I said picking him up.
I checked his diaper and so he just had a wet diaper.
"Mama" He cried as I unbuttoned his baby grow. It was warm so that was all he slept in. Taking the diaper away he seemed to calmed down his cries turning to whimpers as I cleaned him up.
"All better Handsome?" I asked as I fastened on a new diaper. He was cooing away to himself now. I picked him up and held him against me calming him back to sleep, but I think he could feel how tense I was because it wasn't working.
"Bella?" I heard my name being called and turned around to see Edward holding a sleeping Lily. He walked over to where I kept the travel cot set up for her and placed her down in it before walking over to me.
"Do you want me to do it?" he asked and I nodded.
I carefully placed Connor into Edward's arms and then cleaned off the changing table.
Once everything was clean Edward was laying Connor down in the crib. Once he was asleep I rubbed my face with my hands.
"What am I going to do?" I asked.
"Bella Jacob isn't Connor's father. He won't get him."
"I know but I just... Why does he have to go after Connor?" I asked my tears falling again. Edward wrapped his arms around me holding me while I cried. "He's just a baby Edward." I said.
"I know Love, we're going to fight him don't you worry." He told me. He tilted my chin up and kissed me sweetly. "It's going to be okay."
"We better get out there." I told him.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I will be once this mess is over." I told him and he nodded bringing me out into the living room where Seth was talking to Jasper and Alice, who must have arrived while I was in with Connor.
"Bella, Jasper's told me everything." She said sitting down beside me on the couch.
"Yeah" I said.
"Do you have any idea who the father might be?" she asked.
"No." I told her. Edward sat beside me holding my hand.
"Well then we're just going to have to show him that the test is one hundred percent correct." She said.
"How do we do that?" Edward asked.
"We get as many samples as possible." She said. "Plus we need to figure out if anybody you know might try and help Jacob."
"Help him?" Seth asked.
"Yes, maybe tell Police that Jacob and Bella were still dating when she got pregnant, someone who thinks they should still be together."
"Charlie." Seth and I said at the same time.
"Who?" Alice asked.
"My Dad, Charlie Swan, he and Jacob's father had been friends for years. My Dad didn't support me having Connor because he thought I was throwing away any chance I had of getting back together with Jacob." I told them.
"Do you think your father would try and help prove Jacob is Connor's father even though he knows he isn't?" Jasper asked.
"Yes" I said and Seth nodded. Edward held my hand tightly give me reassuring squeezes.
"Well we'll keep an eye on him." Alice said making a note of it.
"What did you mean about the samples? Why would we need to supply different ones?" Edward asked.
"Well in the past I've dealt with cases where the mothers have been less what you call less than virtuous. In those cases were the paternity is left a little ambiguous it give the person enquiring a bit of leeway. Plus if the test comes back blatantly clear than they can accuse you of tampering with the evidence. By collecting a number of samples you can show you did no tampering, why would you tamper your own evidence?"
"Okay" I said nodding.
"We need to make a list of people who are going to give samples." Alice said and I nodded.
"I don't know..."
"I'll do it." Edward said.
"Me too" Seth added.
"Well okay, that's two."
"Emmett, my Dad, Phil" Edward said.
"Edward you can't volunteer them." I told him.
"I can, Emmett owes me a couple of favours and I have a feeling Dad and Phil would volunteer." He said.
"Five then. Although wouldn't Emmett's DNA be the same?" I asked him.
"Okay four then." He said. "But four is enough right?" Edward asked.
"Yeah" Alice said. "I'm really sorry you have to go through this Bella." She said.
"Thank you for all your help."
"He'll probably get a court order to get the DNA test." Jasper said.
"Will she need a lawyer?" Seth asked.
"Yes, hopefully we can keep this out of court though." Alice answered.
"I'll call Phil." Seth said and I nodded.
"It's getting late but you can call us once you're given the court order. Don't do anything pre-emptive. It will make them think you've got something to hide." Alice said as she and Jasper stood up. She handed me a card as we walked them to the door. "It will be alright Bella, even if he does that throwing around tampered evidence we won't let him get away with this."
"Thank you for your help." Edward said before they left. I turn to him and rested my head on his chest.
"I hate my life." I told him and he sighed. "Okay I don't hate everything in my life. I like some parts of it but for the most part it's a big case of fuck-uppery. Oh you know who I really hate? Jacob. That bastard when I get my hands on him I will wring his neck." I said stepping back and beginning to pace.
"Well Phil said he's fully on board and we can meet up with his lawyers on Monday, and what is she doing?" Seth asked watching my pacing.
"She's digesting things." Edward said.
"And you were going to let this go on for how long?" he asked.
"She might wear a hole in the floor, I think that'll be when I stop her. I doubt we have time to get the floor re-fit for tomorrow." Edward said. "Speaking of which we need to get ready."
"You want to have the party? Now? With everything that's going on? Are you crazy?" I asked him.
"About you? Yes. But as for the rest of me I'm quite well mentally." He told me "Bella you can't let this rule your life. Now tomorrow is as big a day for you as it is for Connor and you'll actually remember it. So come on let's give him a good birthday that we can tell him about when he's older."
"I like this guy." Seth said pointing at Edward "Very nicely done Bella."
I rolled my eyes at the two of them.
"I hate to have to pull out the big guns Babe but we've promised Emmett cake and if you're cancelling the party you can be the one to tell him he's not getting cake." Edward told me and I mocked glared at him. I reached into a bag of party supplies I had bought and pulled out the packet of balloons.
"For that you're on balloon duty and that's the only blowing you're gonna be around for a long time." I told him.
"Happy to" He said with a smirk. I shook my head and walked into the kitchen and tidied it up so when I got up tomorrow I could put on the food and be done with it. Seth followed me into the kitchen and reached into my fridge for a beer.
"So he's loves you?" he asked.
"Yes" I said smiling dreamily.
"He looks like a nice guy." He said.
"He is a nice guy. But enough about me, how are you Daddy?" I asked.
"Oh stop, am I supposed to morph into this paternal being the minute I found out she's pregnant. I love her and I love the baby I really do but I don't know I just don't feel like a parent yet." He said.
"You should talk to Edward about that." I told him.
"Why?" he asked.
"I never told you about Lily really did I?"
"Just that her Mom wasn't around." He shrugged.
"Lily's Mom cheated on Edward and up until the month before Lily was born Edward didn't really know if she was his." I told him. "Edward didn't connect with Lily at all until he realised he could have been told she wasn't his. It takes certain experiences to get you connected with the baby. Didn't you get those baby books I sent you?" I asked him.
"Of course I did, they make wonderful coasters and mouse pads." He said and I sighed.
"Men are ridiculous. Go blow up balloons before I call Louise on you."
"You're all smoke without fire Bella Swan."
I turned and reached for the phone when I heard him running away.
"Thought so Clearwater."
Edward
"Dada, cup" Lily asked pulling on my pant leg as I stood and talked to Emmett in Bella's kitchen.
"Lily do you remember the big girl words we were trying, what do you say?" I asked her.
"Pea...as..?" she asked and I nodded giving her the cup.
"You're teaching her manners?" Emmett asked as Lily toddled, half walking, half what looked like a drunken stumble, back into the living room.
"Never too young." I told him.
"So Jacob is coming after Connor?" he asked. "Why? He knows he's not the father."
"He's trying to intimidate Bella into going back to him." I told him.
"You think it might work?" he asked me and I shook my head.
"I know she's scared but she's not an idiot." I told him. "Plus Bella would never go back to a guy who cheated on her."
"Why are we standing in here gossiping?" Seth asked.
"Seth this is my brother Emmett, Emmett this is Bella's friend Seth Clearwater. He's Connor's Godfather."
"Nice to meet you" Seth said.
"You too."
"So did you tell Emmett about Dickface?" Seth asked and I nodded. Dickface was the new name for Jacob between Seth and I we came up with it last night while blowing up balloons. We may have been a bit loopy due to the beers we were drinking and the lack of oxygen.
"He's a right bastard." Emmett said.
"She doesn't deserve that shit." Seth said. "You better not bring any of this kinda of shit to her Edward." He warned.
"Oh Eddie here would never break up with Bella or cheat on her. One he's not on a long enough leash to get far enough away from her to cheat. She has him so whipped. And two? He's already picking out the China patterns." Emmett teased and I glared at him.
"No shit you want to make an honest woman out of Bella? I wish you luck." He told me.
"Not right away, the way everybody talks about it you'd think I was planning on proposing tomorrow but no. I know I love her so I'm going to treat this relationship as leading up to marriage so when the time comes we've talked about it and we know where we want to be in our lives."
"And then maybe one day Bella will take his balls out of the glass jar she has them in and give them back to him." Emmett added at the end.
"Where's Rosalie? Whenever I see I always forget to tell her about Sheila. Remember from your bachelor party? What was her profession again? Oh... drat... what was it? Oh yeah a stripper." I told him and he glared at me.
"I hate you Edward." He said when Bella came into the kitchen.
"You playing nice boys?" she asked.
"Hardly Bella." Emmett answered.
"At least your honest." She said. "I was thinking we get the cake out now?" she asked me and I nodded. "Emmett your on camera duty." She told him handing him her camera. "Seth can you find Lily and Edward you go get Connor while I get the cake ready I want them both in the shot." She explained and we all got to our tasks. Emmett staying in the kitchen with Bella opening the camera and 'interviewing' her about what it was like having a one year old.
I went out and found Connor sitting in the middle of a pile of wrapping paper while Lily was sitting on Phil's lap. Yes he and Renee were here. Her and Bella just weren't making eye contact.
They were going to have to talk eventually especially now with the Jacob thing but I think Bella was still hoping her mother would apologise.
"You guys ready?" Emmett called from the kitchen as I picked up Connor and Seth walked over to me with Lily.
"Yep" I called back. Bella appeared out of the kitchen holding the cake with the big candle in the shape of number one.
"Happy Birthday..." she began and everybody joined in.
"Happy birthday dear Connor, Happy birthday to you" We finished just as the cake was in front of Connor; he looked very confused as to the goings on but was smiling away.
"You gonna blow the candles out Buddy?" I asked him showing him what to do, he tried to do it but Lily had her eye on the cake and so getting impatient so she helped him. He didn't seem to mind though so it was all good.
My Mom brought the cake back into the kitchen and Bella took Connor out of my arms before sitting down on the couch.
"So you're one." Bella told him. "What do you think of your life so far?" she asked him in the baby voice and he smiled back at her brightly. "That's good and who's your favourite person in the world?" she asked him.
"Ily" He pushed out of his lips.
"Lily?" Bella asked him. "Not Mama? Not Edward? Not Nana?"
"Ily" He repeated.
"The child has spoken." She sighed.
"On-r and Ily" I said with a laugh.
"They are so plotting against us." She said.
"Wait, wait, wait." Seth said picking up Connor "What about Uncle Sethy? You gotta love Uncle Sethy the most." He said putting Connor over his head.
Connor shook his head no yet master 'no' he wasn't really talking yet, but we did get babbles. He did know that shaking his head meant no though, he was very quick to tell us he didn't like something. Very smart baby.
"What? Fine then." Seth said and let go of Connor before catching him again.
"Seth you are trying to kill me." Bella said.
"Oh it's all fun and games until Mommy goes into a cardiac arrest isn't it?" Seth asked before handing Connor back to Bella.
"You wait, the first time you do that to your Baby in front of Louise you'll sleeping on the couch for a month." Bella told him kissing Connor's forehead.
It was nice sitting here. It felt right, Bella and I hosting birthday parties together, playing with the kids, just co-parenting.
I could only hope she doesn't push me away with all this drama from Jacob.
Dun, dun, DUN!
So let me know what you think. I love all the support I get for this story so keep it up.
Love The Irish Cullen.