I wasn't sure what to do in this moment. The one person I was not prepared to see today was standing less than five feet away from me. Lauren still looked like she did six years ago, still as beautiful. She had long blond hair that hung softly down her back and wide blue eyes. Just like Brody's. I gripped Alex's shoulders and pulled him back into me as close as I could. Lauren's eyes traveled down to my son and widen.
"Bella," said Lauren, again as she looked up at me.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, shortly.
"Bella, who is that?" asked Edward, slipping his arm around my waist. An action that did not go unnoticed by Lauren, whose eyes narrowed at him.
"That's Lauren," I muttered, looking up at him. His eyes widen and he looked from me to her and back to me.
"Oh," he whispered, uncomfortable. His arm immediately fell from my body. I looked back over at Lauren.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, again.
"Tyler works with Ben," explained Lauren, shifting her eyes down at my son. "We came for Anna's party. Bella-"
"Don't," I muttered, tightening my arms on Alex.
"Momma, who's that?" asked Alex, pointing at her. Lauren looked from him to me. There was a look of pleading in her eyes.
"Her name is Lauren," I said. My voice shook as I tried to keep my emotions in check. "Her husband works with Anna's dad."
"Oh," said Alex, pulling out of my arms. I reached for him but he stepped up in front of her. "I'm Alex."
"It's very nice to meet you, Alex," said Lauren. Her lip was trembling. She raised her hand towards him like she wanted to take his hand or stroke his cheek, but then pulled it back. She looked up at me. I could feel the tears building in my eyes.
"Alex, why don't you, me, and Anthony take Anna's presents over to her?" suggested Edward, placing his hand on my back.
"Ok," said Alex, taking the gift from me.
Edward placed his hands on the boys backs and led them across the room to where Anna was. Edward's family was watching me and Lauren standing there in the doorway, just staring at each other. I turned and walked out of the room as I felt the tears start to fall down my face. I wrapped my arms around my body as I ran outside.
"Bella, please," begged Lauren, following me out. I stopped and looked back at her. "I'm so sorry."
"I've heard it before," I cried. "How many times did he ask you to stop drinking? Why that night, Lauren?"
"I don't know," she sobbed, placing her hand on her small baby bump. "I've asked myself that question every day and I don't know."
"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" I screamed. She flinched back. I took a deep breath. "You were my best friend, Lauren. The only other person that I trusted with everything. He begged you to stop drinking so many times. Why wouldn't you stop for him?"
"I don't know," she cried. "I wish I did, Bella."
"Why that night?" I asked, shaking my head. "Why the night before the wedding?"
"Because I was jealous," she yelled. "You and Brody were getting everything and leaving me behind."
"We weren't leaving you behind," I said. "We would never have done that."
"Yes, you were," she said, sadly. "Brody was the only family I had left, Bella. He told me that after the wedding, I wasn't welcomed in your life anymore if I didn't straighten my ass out. I was so mad at him because he was taking my best friend from me."
"He worried so much about you," I muttered, shaking my head. "It hurt him to see you drinking yourself into a stupor like they did."
"I know it did but I didn't care," she said, leaning against the wall. "I've had live with that guilt for six years."
"Yeah, well, I've been raising his son all on my own," I muttered, harshly.
"That was stupid for me to say," whispered Lauren. "I'm sorry."
For a moment neither Lauren nor I said anything. I leaned against the pillar across from her with my arms fold across my chest. The wind blew across me and I swore I heard Brody's voice: She's hurt enough. Forgive her. I brought my hand to my mouth as I choked on my sob. He was right. I knew he was right. I had held onto my anger at her for so long. But how do I let it go?
"He's so handsome," whispered Lauren. I snapped my eyes up to her. "Alex, I mean. He looks just like Brody."
"Acts like him, too," I cried. "He's an amazing little boy. So sweet and loving."
"I could tell," murmured Lauren.
"Lauren, I…" I shook my head and took a deep breath. "I just need some time. I'm not saying that you can't ever see him again. I…I just need some time to deal with this."
"Ok," she said, quickly. "I can give you some time. I just…I really missed you, Bella."
"Me too," I murmured as the front door to Chuck E. Cheese opened. Lauren and I looked over to see a tall, dark haired man standing there.
"Lauren, you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said. "I'll be back inside in a minute."
"Ok," he said, looking from her to me. He turned and headed inside. I looked over at Lauren.
"That was Tyler," she explained.
"Oh," I whispered.
"He's a really great guy," said Lauren. "He, um, he helped me get sober and…Well, I couldn't have done it without him."
"That's great," I said, softly. "Well, I should get back in there before Alex thinks I've left him or something."
Lauren followed me back inside the building without saying anything else. When we walked into the room, Edward and Tyler both looked up at us. I wrapped my arms around my chest as I went over to Alex. He was sitting next to Anna, who was smiling. I leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of his head. Lauren looked back at me before she went over to Tyler and slipped her hand into his.
"Ty, we should go," said Lauren.
"Babe, what is going on?" asked Tyler, looking back at me before looking down at her.
"That's Bella," whispered Lauren. Tyler snapped his eyes over to me.
"Ok," said Tyler. He turned and looked back at Ben. "I'll see you at work on Monday."
"Yeah, ok," said Ben, looking around at us.
"Happy birthday, Anna," said Tyler, smiling at the dark haired little girl.
"Thank you, Tyler," giggled Anna.
Lauren looked back over at me before she and Tyler walked out of the room, leaving everyone watching them as they went. I blinked back my tears and took a deep breath as I took the seat next to Edward. He didn't say anything as he leaned over and pressed his lips to the side of my head. I knew he understood just how hard that moment had been.
"Ok, well, should we open some presents?" asked Ben, breaking the moment of silence.
"YES!" squealed Anna.
As Anna started opening her presents, I sat there in the chair next to my son and ran my fingers through his hair. I knew I was going to have to let him have her in his life. She was the only link he had to his father and it would be selfish of me to keep her away from him. It was just so hard to let her close to him. Would he hate me for keeping her from him? The thought of that alone was enough to bring tears back into my eyes.
"Are you ok?" asked Edward, leaning over so I was the only one to hear him.
"I don't know," I whispered, honestly. "I'm so confused. I wasn't prepared for her."
"Do I need to take you home?" asked Edward, tightening the arm he had wrapped around my waist. I smiled and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"I'm fine," I murmured, letting my eyes flitter to where Alex, Anthony, Anna, Elliott, Mattie, and Sadie were eating a slice of Barbie birthday cake. "Look at how much fun they are having."
"They are having fun," said Edward, pressing his lips to the side of my head. I could feel his lips curve up into a smile as Anthony started laughing at something Alex said. "Apparently, Alex is funny."
"I've always thought so," I said, giggling. "Thank you."
"For what?" he asked. I looked over at him.
"For just being here," I said, quietly. "For taking care of my son while talked to her."
"You're welcome," he murmured, leaning his forehead onto mine. "Thank you."
"For what?" I asked, placing my hand on his knee.
"For letting me," he whispered. "For trusting me enough to let me take care of him while you took care of yourself."
"Edward," I whispered, feeling my eyes fill up with tears.
"I know," he murmured, bringing his hand up and cupping my face. "I know, sweetheart."
I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the moment of letting him in, letting him take his place in my heart. I knew without a doubt that he owned every inch of my heart and then some. Edward slid his finger over and caught the tear as it fell from my lashed and trickled down my face. How had I managed to find someone like him?
"Mom, can we go play some games now?" asked Alex, breaking us out of private moment. I took a shaky breath as I looked over at him. He and Anthony were standing in front of us with huge smiles on their faces.
"Sure," I said, quietly. "Let's go get you some tokens."
"Emmett will take them. He owes you," said Esme, stepping up behind the boys. She slipped them each a ten dollar bill. "Make sure he win you lots of tickets, my sweet boys."
"Ok, Nana," they both called.
Alex and Anthony grabbed Emmett's hands and pulled him out of the party room. I laughed as Emmett looked back at us with a look of sheer terror on his face. Serves him right for all the crap he had done since I had met him.
"I'll go help him," said Edward, laughing. "Who knows what he might have them do."
"Thanks," I said, smiling.
Edward placed a light kiss on my lips before he followed his brother out of the room. Jasper, Garrett, Carlisle, and Ben followed him out, leaving just us women. I smiled and looked back at Esme, who was watching us with her own smile. I should have felt embarrassed about Edward's show of affection in front of his mother, but I didn't.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing," she said, still smiling at me. "I really enjoyed getting to know your father this morning. He's quite the character."
"Yes, he is." I laughed and shook my head. "He's an amazing man. I was lucky to grow up with him."
"Bella?" asked Angela. I looked over at her. She came over and sat in Edward's empty seat. "Are you ok? I mean, I don't know Lauren very well but if she did something or said something-"
"Lauren is Alex's aunt," I said, quietly. "It's a long story that I don't really want to get into but I hadn't seen her since his father's funeral. Alex hadn't met her until today."
"If I had know," muttered Angela, shaking her head.
"You couldn't have know," I said.
"Still-"
"I'm going to go find Edward and the boys." I stood up hastily. "Excuse me."
I turned and rushed out of the room, leaving Esme, Alice, Rose, Kate, Angela, and Jessica sitting there. Maybe I was overreacting but I was tired of my life being on the front burner of conversation for everyone. Yes, I had issues but who doesn't nowadays? I made my way out to the game center and looked around until I found Edward and the boys.
They were standing in front of the skeet ball game. Edward was standing behind Alex, helping him roll the balls up the track and into the holes. Anthony was standing next to them, cheering on his best friend and his father like they were going for gold in the skeet ball Olympics. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life.
"Way to go, Alex," cheered Edward, wrapping his arms around my son from behind and hugging him. "Look at all those tickets you got!"
"There has to be like fifteen of them," gasped Alex, ripping off the tickets.
"I bet Anthony and I could do better," I said. Edward, Anthony, and Alex turned around and looked at me. I raised my eyebrow at the auburn haired little boy. "What do you think, Anthony?"
"Oh, yeah, we own this." He laughed as he held out his fist towards me. I reached out and bumped his fist with mine.
"Sounds like a bet," smirked Edward, handing me a token. "Good luck."
"Thanks."
I let Anthony put the token in. The balls rolled down and he stepped in front of me. Once he had a ball in his hand, I pulled his arm back and helped him roll it up. The ball rolled up and fell into the hole marked five thousand. Anthony jumped up and down as he cheered and I looked over at Edward, who looked surprised.
"Was that good?" I asked, feigning ignorance. Edward narrowed his eyes at me before he looked down at Alex.
"I think we've been had," he said.
"I think so, too," agreed Alex. He looked up at Edward. "What does that mean?"
"It means that I think your mom tricked us," explained Edward.
"Oh," said Alex, looking over at me. "That wasn't very nice, Mom."
"All is fair in skeet ball, my darling son," I said, smiling at him.
"Whatever," he muttered.
Anthony grabbed another ball and I once again helped him roll the ball up the track and into the marked holes. Nine times we did this, hitting the three thousand hole, four thousand hole, and one thousand hole. Once we rolled our last ball, we stepped back and watched the tickets come pouring out of the slot. There had to be at least thirty tickets.
"Whoa, look at all of them," gasped Anthony, tearing it off. Alex huffed and glared at me.
"What?" I asked. "I'm going to help you, too, you little knuckle head."
"Yay!" cheered Alex.
Edward laughed as he handed me another token. Alex took Anthony's spot in front of me. He picked up the first ball and I pulled his arm back and helped him roll the ball up. It dropped straight into the ten thousand hole. Anthony and Edward both cheered for us as Alex threw his arms around me and hugged me.
We continued rolling the rest of his balls up and ended up winning around the same amount of tickets as Anthony and I had won. Edward and I divvied up the rest of the tokens and helped the boys win as many tickets as we could. It was blast. We laughed and smiled. We cheered each other on. It was the most fun I had had in a long time.
Anthony and I had just gotten done playing a game where you hit the hedgehog in the head with a rubber mallet when I looked up and saw Edward watching me. He had a huge smile on his face. His cheeks turned pink as he turned back to Alex and finished whatever game they were playing. I felt my own cheeks turn pink as I turned back to Anthony.
By the time we had used all our tokens, Alex and Anthony had at least six hundred tickets between them. Edward and I fed all the tickets to the ticket eater, as it was so appropriately named, and took the boys over to the counter so they could pick out their prizes. It took them awhile but they both picked Chuck E. Cheese soccer balls.
"Are you ready to get out of here?" asked Edward, looking back at me. "I think the boys are tired."
"More than ready," I said, smiling at him.
Edward and I headed back into the party room and thanked Angela and Ben for inviting us. They both seemed unsure of how to act towards me but I decided to just ignore it. Today had already been an emotional day for all of us and I didn't really want to add to it. Anna thanked us again for the art supplies we got her and told Alex she would see him at school. I swear, my son blushed as he wished her a happy birthday.
"Alex," said Ben. My son looked up at him. "Treat my girl good."
"Daddy," whined Anna, throwing her hands up. From behind Ben, I could see Angela shaking her head and laughing, as was everyone else. Especially Carlisle and Esme. "You are embarrassing me."
"I will, sir," said Alex, seriously. I was so tempted to roll my eyes at my little Casanova but I didn't.
"Ok, we are leaving," I said, laughing. "Thanks again."
Edward and I took the boys back out to the car and loaded them inside. Edward was laughing silently at Ben and his little showdown with a five year old. Ben was a father of a little girl who was growing up before his very eyes. It couldn't be any easier for him to watch Anna growing up as it was for me to watch Alex.
By the time Edward pulled his car into my driveway, both boys were conked out in the back seat. I motioned for Edward to bring Anthony into the house. We laid the boys down in Alex's bedroom and quietly shut the door behind us. We made our way back downstairs to the living room.
"Would you like some coffee?" I asked, looking back at Edward.
"No, I'm already too wired," said Edward, smiling. "I'll take some water, though."
"Ok."
I headed into the kitchen and grabbed us a couple of bottles of water. I went back into the living room and kicked off my shoes before I climbed onto the couch next to Edward. He took the water from me and thanked me before he took a big drink.
"Do you want to talk about her?" asked Edward, pulling me closer to his body.
"Their parents were drunks," I said, looking up at him. "Brody was sixteen when he and Lauren moved in with their grandmother in Forks. Their parents had been fighting and things turned ugly. His father hit their mother, she called the police. They both ended up in jail. Brody never drank because he was terrified of being like them. Lauren, on the other hand, drank like a fish. He used to beg her to stop drinking. He told her that he loved her too much to let her kill herself but she didn't listen," I explained. "When she called that night, I asked him to not to go. I told him that she was being selfish but he told me that she was his sister. That she needed him."
I paused as I felt the tears building in my eyes again. Edward didn't say anything as he listened to my ramblings. He just ran his fingers up and down my arm. "I wasn't expecting to see her standing there. I wanted to take Alex and run but I couldn't. I couldn't because I know that Brody would want him to know her and I…I have to let him have that chance but…"
"You don't have to decide anything tonight," murmured Edward, pressing his lips on the top of my head.
"I know," I whispered. "Edward?"
"Yeah?" he asked.
"I'm really hungry," I said. Edward started laughing. I sat up and looked at him. "I'm serious. That pizza wasn't very filling and neither was the cake."
"I'm hungry too," he said, smiling. "How about if we order some Chinese? My treat, of course."
"Fine," I muttered. "But next time, I'm buying."
"Deal," said Edward, winking at me.
Edward and I spent the rest of the evening eating our dinner and watching movies. The boys were so tuckered out that they slept right through dinner. I guess a soccer game and a big party at Chuck E. Cheese will wear you out pretty damn good. Sometime during the second movie that Edward and I put on, I drifted off to sleep in his arms.