The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25[dot]com

Prompt: #21
Pen Name: MaxieMoose
Pairing/Main Character(s): Bella/Edward
Rating: T

Photo prompts can be viewed here:
thetwilight25[dot]com/round-5/prompts

Prompt #21 – Lifesaver – One Shot

"Oh, joy, Mr. Wonderful Attitude is here." By Jessica's tone, Bella knew whom Jessica was complaining about to Lauren. Edward.

"If he wasn't such an asshole, he'd be gorgeous," Lauren complained.

"I know, right? But even if he wasn't a total jerk, I don't think I could get past the wheelchair," Jessica said in her sassy tone.

Bella had to put a stop to their gossipy ways. They were being loud and rude. She walked towards the beverage butler pantry at the diner she had worked at for the past year and a half and cleared her throat.

"You two are being loud. Do you think Mike would like the way you're talking about his regular customers who keep this place in business?" Bella gave them both a serious look.

"Oh, please, Bella, you just like the abusive type." Lauren snorted.

Jessica's eyes got wide and Bella looked at her with the betrayal she felt course through her veins.

How dare Mike tell Jessica? Just because he was sleeping with her didn't mean she had to know Bella's business. Bella had no choice but to tell Mike about her abusive ex-boyfriend. She had to take several days off work to go to court when she first started and had to explain to Mike since he was ready to fire her.

"Bella, I'm sorry," Jessica said ashamed. Bella stormed off to wait on Edward.

"Good morning, Edward. The usual?"

The gorgeous crippled man gave Bella a small smile. "Yes, Bella, please."

Bella went to put his order in, ignoring Jessica and Lauren who seemed to be whispering in the corner and ignoring their customers. There was no doubt in Bella's mind they were talking about her and her past. She was a victim. James beat her almost to death, but these two looked at her as if she was the culprit.

Bella shook off their stares and grabbed the coffee to get some for Edward and refill the other patrons' cups. Jessica and Lauren might not do their jobs, but Bella was a good waitress and she was going to do the rounds to compensate for their lack of attentiveness to the diner's clientele.

Bella filled up Edward's cup. He smiled at her. His smile was kind, but sad, like his eyes. He was rude to most people, but never to Bella. He was always so kind to her. She often wondered what happened to him. She knew his eyes held secrets. Secrets she wanted to unravel and understand.

"Thank you, Bella."

"You're welcome, Edward." Bella smiled like a school a girl and her tell-tell blush she knew gave her away. She had a crush on Edward, but she was a single mom. He never showed any interest so she knew it was a pipedream. Nevertheless, she often wondered what it would be like to touch his silky hair, kiss his soft lips, wake up to his strong arms and beautiful green eyes.

The clinking bell pulled Bella from her reverie. She saw Leah, her neighbor and babysitter, usher in Regan, Bella's young daughter.

"Bella, I'm sorry, but Jake is in trouble. I can't watch her today." Leah was frantic. Bella wondered what trouble her neighbor had gotten into today.

"It's fine, she can hang out here. My shift is over in a couple of hours." Regan was allowed to come to the diner when Bella was in a bind and had no sitter. Mike had always had a crush on her, and she knew Jessica would try to cause trouble when she saw the little girl.

As Bella finished her shift, she noticed Regan and Edward chatting. He was in his chair, breakfast done, and had wheeled himself up to Regan's booth to color with her four year-old daughter.

She almost laughed aloud when she saw the two of them with looks of concentration on their faces as they were finishing their Cinderella pictures.

"Hey, Elmo, you can't make Cinderella have a pink dress. She has a blue one," Regan admonished the gorgeous man.

Bella made a b-line for her rude daughter. "Regan, apologize right now. And you must call him by his proper name, Mr…" Bella broke off, looking to Edward for help.

"Mr. Elmo is fine." Edward smiled at Bella. "She had a hard time with the 'w' so we ended up on Elmo." It stung a little that the gorgeous man did not want Bella to know his last name.

He was wealthy, you could tell. Bella was sure he didn't want anything to do with the likes of her. "Of course, Edward," Bella said in a curt tone.

Edward looked at her with concern, but he didn't change her demeanor. Bella shook it off and finished her shift while Edward and Regan played.

As Bella watched Edward interact with her daughter, she felt a pang of sadness. Regan had a bum for a father, Bella's dad had passed and her brother, Jasper, was away for work, so Regan had no real men in her life.

After Bella finished her close out duties, she hurried her way over to Regan and Edward who were chatting like old friends.

"How come you have to ride in that funny looking bike?" Regan asked Edward.

Bella gave her daughter to look that made her look down instantly. "Regan, apologize right now. You are a rude young lady."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Elmo." Bella could tell she was too harsh for her timid daughter and Regan fought tears.

Edward waved Bella off. "It's fine, Bella, seriously, she's just curious. I'd rather people ask than stare and wonder." Bella turned beet red since that was what she had done week after week when Edward came into the diner.

"Regan, I was in an accident and my legs don't work anymore." Edward let out a stressful sigh. "This chair helps me get around."

"Okay. Can I have a ride in it with you?"

"Regan!" Bella scolded Regan for being so forthcoming and rude with Edward.

Edward chuckled. "No worries, Bella." He gave his regular waitress a sweet smile and then turned to address Regan. "Sure, sweetie, hop on. We can go for a ride, well, as long as it's okay with your mom."

Edward and Regan both turned to her, brown and green eyes, pleading. "Fine, but five minutes and then we have to go Regan."

"Okay, Momma!" Bella helped Regan jump on Edward's lap.

"Is she hurting you?" Bella asked.

"No, I can't feel a thing." Edward said in small voice, not making eye contact with Bella, but rather looking outside with a thoughtful look on his face.

"We'll be outside," Edward stated as he wheeled the pair outside.

"Okay, see you in a few." Bella felt that familiar tug at her heart; seeing her daughter with a grown male made Bella realize that Regan was missing that interaction in her life.

She sighed as she clocked out and realized that no father was better than the deadbeat Bella had made the mistake of falling for. Before her father's sudden death, she remembered how he called Bella a bum magnet.

She ignored Lauren and Jessica's stares as she made her way towards Regan and Edward.

xxooxxoo

The next few weeks Edward insisted Regan come join him daily for breakfast. Bella felt bad, but he insisted and she did save a few dollars on a babysitter. Once Bella offered to walk Edward home, but he avoided the topic and refused, so Bella never pushed the issue again.

Jessica warned Bella it was weird he wanted to be with her daughter, that he was some kind of creep. Bella didn't really see any issues with Edward, but just to be safe she never took her eyes off them. Mike, her boss, knew Edward personally and one day told Jessica to shut up, that Edward was a stand up guy who he just got a raw deal.

Bella was curious what Mike meant by a 'raw deal', but never pushed for more information. Each time she tried, Edward shut down immediately, so Bella put her curiosity away and tried to be happy with a small piece of the gorgeous man that her daughter enjoyed so much.

xxooxxoo

About a month after the ritual where Leah would drop off Regan at the diner so she could spend time with Edward until Bella's shift was over, she woke to a whimpering little girl.

She ran to Regan's side - she and Bella shared a room since all Bella could afford was a one-bedroom apartment. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"My nose is stuffy and my throat hurts." Bella felt her daughter had a fever, but hoped it wasn't too serious since she didn't have health insurance and couldn't afford a clinic visit.

Bella called in sick and bundled up Regan to go the pharmacy to get her daughter some medicine. While talking to the pharmacist about the best over the counter medicine to give her daughter, she saw Regan go to the candy display.

She walked over to Regan with the recommended medicine in her hand, ready to check out. "What are you looking at, sweetie?"

Regan pointed to a display of hard candy. "Mommy, what does this say?"

"It says 'lifesaver', sweetie." Regan gave her mom a big smile.

"Mr. Elmo gave me some of those and he told me I was his lifesaver." Regan smiled, remembering her good friend, Mr. Elmo. "I miss him, Mommy."

Bella rubbed her daughter's loose curls. "I know you do, baby. You'll see him soon. But now we need to buy your medicine and get home to rest so you can get all better."

Bella scooped up Regan and some cherry lifesavers. She couldn't keep the smile off her face at the thoughts of Edward referring to Regan as his lifesaver.

Bella and Regan walked home and as they approached their apartment entry, she saw a blonde handsome man holding a medical bag. He held a big smile for the pair.

"Are you Bella Swan?" the handsome older man asked. His kind eyes sparkled as he took in Bella and Regan.

"Yes, how may I help you?"

The man held out his hand. "Hello, I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen. I hear you have a very important job to get back to and I must do everything in my power to make sure we fix this little one up so you can get back to work."

Carlisle handed Bella his card. She inspected it suspiciously, not sure what was going on. Her phone beeped and she checked it quickly. It was from her boss, Mike.

Doc Cullen is on his way, he's an okay guy, let him look at Regan, we need you back here ASAP.

"Everything okay?" Doctor Cullen asked.

"Yes, it's fine. Please follow us. You can examine Regan in our apartment." Bella led Dr. Cullen in. She was nervous, but trusted Mike, so she knew her and Regan would be safe.

As she led Dr. Cullen in, she was ashamed for her modest home, but put a proud smile on her face, since she alone supported her and her daughter and helped put her brother through college.

As Dr. Cullen started his exam of Regan, he peppered Bella with questions, one catching her off guard. "So you must have a very important job. What is it that you do?"

"I'm a waitress." Dr. Cullen chuckled.

"Well, that explains it." Dr. Cullen shook his head and kept chuckling to himself.

"It looks like our little patient has a cold. Two days in bed and I think she'll be okay to be out in public. Lots of rest and fluids, little lady," Dr. Cullen touched Regan's nose lightly while she giggled at the kind man.

Bella tucked Regan into bed and went to get Dr. Cullen some coffee she had prepared.

"I think I should explain myself." Dr. Cullen gave Bella a tentative smile.

"Yes, that would be helpful. I'm a little lost." Bella returned his nervous smile.

"Ms. Swan – "

"No, please, call me Bella."

"Fine, Bella. And please call me Carlisle." Bella nodded.

"I'm Edward's father." The dots connected for Bella as she saw the resemblance of father and son – strong jaw, kind eyes, sculpted nose, but Edward's coloring must be like his mother.

"Oh, I see." The words escaped Bella's mouth, but she was still confused.

"I got a frantic call from my son this morning. He has been doing much better, so when I heard his plea for help I dropped everything."

"Okay," Bella said tentatively.

"You see, the last month I have seen more light in my son's eyes. More progress on his…issues than the last five years. I thought it was just that he was ready to heal, but it's you and your daughter. He is finally opening up in therapy and positive about his circumstances."

Bella smiled. "I don't think it's me. Regan and Edward have grown quit close. She comes into work with me now and they spend a few hours together each day. It's been good for Regan too. She doesn't have many male figures in her life."

"Well, I want to thank you, Bella - your daughter is a lifesaver."

"Yes, she is."

I'd love to hear from you! Four to go…