Birthdays and Mud Pies
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
Chapter 26-Chickies
Charlie was woken up from his sleep by the sound of small feet padding along a wooden floor. He had stayed the night at the Black's house. Bells and Jacob could not bear to be parted, so all the adults had thought it best to allow them to stay together as they slept, the poor young things were exhausted and they lay side by side in Jacob's small bed holding hands as they drifted off to sleep. Sarah had made Charlie a bed up on the couch and he finally managed to fall into a fitful sleep, worry about what to do about Renee running through his mind.
As he opened his eyes Charlie saw a small shadow approach him and as he peered into the darkness he saw Jacob walk toward him carefully, holding his broken arm wrapped in its cast close to his side. The young boy had a worried frown on his face as he finally reached Charlie and poked him in the side with his good hand. "Old man Chief..." he whispered loudly. "Wake up Old Man Chief."
Charlie sighed and sat up; it seemed that he was deemed not to get any rest. He looked down at Jacob and was shocked to see the miserable expression on the young boys face. The tracks of tears glistened on his round cheeks as he gazed up at him. "What's the matter, Jake?" Charlie asked him in alarm.
"Rainey take Bells away..." He said sadly. "Bells sleep and then cry, then sleep, then cry again..."
Charlie felt his heart hurt. Jacob must be referring to his daughter's propensity for sleep talking. It showed him just how distraught she was at the prospect of having to go back to live with her mother again. It renewed his determination to make sure that did not happen. Charlie lifted Jacob up onto the couch next to him and patted him on the head gently. "Don't worry Jake that will not happen. Bells will stay here..." he promised rashly.
A bright smile suddenly lit up Jacob's face; he crawled onto Charlie's lap and flung his arms around Charlie's neck. "Fanks, Old man Chief..." He declared happily.
"No problem, now we better get you back to bed young man..." Charlie said awkwardly. He lifted Jacob up in his arms and carried him back to his room. As he opened the bedroom door he saw his daughter sprawled out on Jacob's bed, his stuffed bunny wedged against her chest as tears poured out of her closed eyes. He heard her mumbling. "Don't wanna go..."
"See Old Man Chief, Bells sleep, then cry and then sleep again..." Jacob repeated his pronouncement from earlier.
"Yeah I see Jake. Look you get back into bed and I'll sleep on the floor here, make sure that you both are alright..." Charlie replied quickly.
Jacob nodded tiredly, his eyelids already drooping again. Charlie placed him back on his bed next to Bella and tucked them both in again. As his daughter began talking again he gently laid his hand on her hair and she quietened down. He hunted around for something to put under his head and, finding a spare pillow on top of Jacob's small wardrobe, Charlie lay down on the hard floor and stared up at the dark ceiling pondering over what he was going to do. He did not find sleep for a long time.
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Sarah carefully opened the door to Jacob's room not wanting to disturb the two exhausted youngsters if they were still sleeping. She glanced at Jacob's messy bed and found they were not there, her eyes wandered around the room and a smile lit up her face as she took in the scene before her. Billy really needed to see this; it was the cutest sight she had ever seen. Sarah went off to retrieve her husband and when they returned, Billy had a hard time controlling his laughter. Lying on his back on the hard floor was Charlie Swan snoring softly. On either side of him lay Jacob and Bella. The two little ones must have woken up in the middle of the night, dragging the quilt along with them and joined Charlie on the floor. Bella was still clutching Jacob's old stuffed bunny to her chest as she cuddled up next to her dad on one side, while Jacob had the majority of the quilt wrapped around him, just the top of his head poking out the top.
Sarah ushered her husband out of the room and closed the door quietly."They must have woken Charlie up in the middle of the night..." she whispered to him.
Billy yawned and pulled his wife into his arms kissing the top of her head absently. "Yeah, poor kids, I don't know what we are going to do if Renee refuses to back down. She has legal custody of Bella. You saw how she was yesterday, still determined to drag the poor girl off to England."
A determined expression crossed Sarah's face as she pulled away and looked up at her tall husband. "Then it is up to us to change her mind. I will not let them kids be parted it would break their hearts, not to mention Charlie's to lose his daughter again."
Billy placed his hands on his wife's shoulders and smiled down at her proudly. "I know that if anyone can persuade her to change her mind then it is you."
Sarah laughed softly before standing on her tiptoes and kissing her handsome husband quickly. "Let's get ready before they wake up, we can leave Charlie a note. I want to catch Renee by surprise, there must be a part of her that knows what she is doing is unreasonable. Despite how selfish she can be I know that she loves Bella in her own mixed up way."
"I'll go get the truck ready..." Billy said swiftly as he kissed Sarah again and left.
Sarah watched him go with affection, once again wondering how she got so lucky to marry such a wonderful man.
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Charlie woke up with a start, he could hear giggling. He tried to sit up too fast and he groaned in pain. His back hurt from lying on the hard floor all night. Turning his head he glanced up at Jacob's bed to see his daughter and Jacob jumping up and down on it, laughing. A smile crept over his face as he saw the happy expression on Bella's face. He wondered what had caused the change, last night she had been so distraught, now she was glowing.
"Kiddo, what's going on?" He asked in confusion.
Bella slipped off of the bed and flung herself in her father's arms. Charlie groaned again as the force of her hug jolted his back. "I can stay, daddy. Mommy said I can live with you." She told him happily.
Charlie gave her a quick hug in return. He felt more confused than ever. "Have you been dreaming, kiddo?" He checked.
Jacob jumped easily from his bed and joined Bella and her dad on the floor. He too flung his arms around Charlie and squeezed. "Old man Chief sleepy..." he laughed.
Charlie felt like he was in an alternative universe. What made the two youngsters so certain that his ex wife had changed her mind? Some inner voice told him that Jacob's parents were somehow behind this miracle if it was true. He carefully disentangled himself from the two of them and struggled onto his feet. "Come on let's go see your mom and dad..." He said taking Jacob and then Bella's hand in his own and towing then out of the bedroom and into the main living area.
To his surprise he found Billy, Sarah and Renee sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. They weren't speaking but the atmosphere appeared cordial. He felt Bella pull her hand out of his as she ran over to her mother. Renee opened her arms and helped Bella to climb onto her lap. She then turned her attention to Charlie. "Morning Charlie," she greeted him, a nervous tremor in her voice.
"Morning, how are you?" He asked politely, not knowing what else to say. He gazed around at Billy and Sarah.
Billy gave him a wide grin and winked. "Actually it is the middle of the afternoon old man. You slept right through the morning."
"I did?" Charlie ran a hand through his hair, making it spike up.
Sarah slapped her husband playfully on the arm. "Stop teasing him, Billy. Why don't we give him and Renee some time to talk alone, huh?"
Billy nodded after laughing again at his friend's bewildered expression. "Hey Jake, Bella do you want to come outside and help me feed the chickens?"
Bella squealed with delight, she crawled off of her mother's lap and ran over to join Billy. Jacob did not look happy at the prospect. Chickens were boring. "Don' like Chickies..." He complained. "Wanna horsey, they fun. Chickes bite..."
Billy laughed again at his son's downcast face. "Aww come on son. Bells is excited, just come along you might actually change your mind."
Jacob poked out his lower lip in his familiar pout. He was about to protest when he saw Bells looking at with a pleading expression on her face. He supposed he could try just this once. "Okay..." he agreed magnanimously.
The adults all exchanged a smile as Billy took hold of his son and Bella's hand and led them both outside. Sarah followed them out of the house to make sure the two kids did not get messy. Jacob and Bells had already developed the propensity to get covered in mud when they did any outside activities and she knew her husband would be slow to stop them getting dirty.
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Charlie and Renee were left alone in the house. An awkward silence fell between them as they pondered what to say. Eventually it was Charlie who broke the ice. "What made you change your mind, Renee? You were so determined last night to take Bells with you?"
Renee finally looked at her former husband, a guilty look spreading over her face. "I couldn't sleep last night. All I could see was Bella's face. She ran away Charlie because she was desperate. I know that you all think that I am selfish, maybe I am, but I do love our daughter. Last night I felt under attack from you all and I said things I didn't mean...I arrived here this morning to talk things through with you properly. Sarah and Billy were getting ready to come and see me to plead your case." She gave him a wry smile.
"They're good friends..." Charlie replied, feeling emotional at what his friends had tried to do for him.
Renee let out a small sigh. "I really thought that Bella would find it like a big adventure, going to London and having new experiences. It seems that all she wants is her daddy and her new best friends. I guess that I have never settled anywhere long enough for her to make good friends. Seeing her bond with Jacob has brought that into focus."
Charlie reached over and caught hold of her hand. "I will look after her Renee. You know that."
"I am not going to London Charlie. I can't leave my little girl behind. I love her and would miss her too much. I have decided to return to this area so I won't be too far away..." she informed him.
Charlie felt stunned. "You would live in Forks?" He said in surprise. "I thought you hated it here."
Renee shook her head no. "Not in Forks, I was thinking more like Seattle..."
"Are you sure about this?" He checked with her one last time, finding it hard to believe that he was getting to keep his little girl and also that Bella's mom would still be not too far away for her to visit regularly.
"Not really, Charlie. But what other choice do I have? I can't be selfish all my life, can I?" she said ruefully.
Charlie gave her a small smile as he watched her drink the rest of her coffee.
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Twenty minutes later Jacob and Bella were brought back into the house covered head to toe in mud. Billy looked sheepish as his wife gave him a dark look.
"What happened?" Charlie asked as he regarded his forlorn looking daughter. All that were showing were the whites of her eyes.
"Jakey scared of Chickies...I was feeding Priscilla and Jakey tried to help and Priscilla pecked at his foot. Jakey ran off and fell over into the mud and I tried to help him but I fell over too." Bella said mournfully.
"I hate Chickies, they evil..." Jacob muttered angrily.
"You were supposed to be keeping an eye on them," Sarah reprimanded her husband.
Billy held up his hands in surrender. "Aww come on Sarah I only turned my back for a second."
Sarah rolled her eyes at this statement. She grabbed hold of Jacob and Bella's hand and led them to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Renee offered to help and the two women left the men alone. Charlie and Billy managed to hold their laughter in until the bathroom door closed and then they burst out into gales of laughter.
A/N-Thanks for reading, hope you liked it?