Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters, I merely thought up the plotline. Chapter twenty-eight
Bpov
When I emerged from the bathroom I found Emma asleep and Edward staring off into space while he was absentmindedly playing with a strand of her hair. He looked like he was deep in thought, so I took the opportunity to look at him a little while.
My heart still spluttered wildly every time he smiled at me and he could still make me weak in the knees whenever he touched me, even after six years. It amazed me, bit then again, I was amazed a lot these past two weeks. Most of all I was impressed with how naturally Edward had taken to caring for Emma. I could tell he loved her so much already.
For a fleeting moment I was terrified of what the universe might throw our way to tear us apart again, but then I breathed in deeply and let those irrational fears go. Things worked themselves out no matter how depressed I had been about my future a few years back. We were together again, happy again.
February 20th 2003
I sat down next to Renee after putting Emma to bed. Charlie was working another night shift and Renee had ordered me to take a night off tonight, but I really didn't feel like it.
"Bella, I think we need to talk for a bit."
I frowned a little. "What about?"
"Your refusal to let me and Charlie help more with Emma now that you're work load in school has gotten heavier."
"Renee, I already told you that I need to do this for myself. I want to be able to take care of her on my own as much as I can. I'd have to do it in a few years anyway."
"Bella, honey, we want to help. You can do it on your own, but you don't have to. Why not take some more time for your schoolwork and let us worry about Emma two nights a week?"
I sighed. The fatigue hit me like a truck at that moment and I suddenly was so sick of fighting with her about this.
"Fine. Two nights a week," I muttered, closing my eyes in defeat.
"And at least one night a month during the weekend where you spend time with just your friends. You go out to the movies or hang out at someone else's place, anywhere but at home."
My eyes flew open. "Renee! I'd feel like I was completely shirking my responsibilities if I were to accept that offer."
"Bella, everyone needs some time away from every day life every once in a while. You are only seventeen and you need to enjoy your youth while you can. It's been tough enough on you already. Emma will not think any less of you if you take a breather one night a week. Honey, you are working so hard to graduate early, without a little downtime you are going to crash and burn."
I stared at the TV without seeing anything, thinking about what Renee just said. It's true that lately I had more trouble getting out of bed in the morning and the time I spent with Emma was starting to feel like an obligation, which in turn made me sick with guilt. It was a downward spiral and maybe, just maybe I needed to let some of my control go and just let it happen.
July 26th 2007
Edward called my name, bringing me out of my musings. I smiled and sat down beside him.
"Are you okay, love?"
"Yes, just remembering some less than pleasant things."
"Like what?"
I shrugged. "When Emma was just born I tried to do everything on my own, you know. I wanted to prove to everyone I could handle it. I took extra classes so I could graduate early. It started to get too much just after Emma turned one. Renee and Charlie kept offering their help until I finally gave in. You wouldn't believe how guilty I felt those first few months."
He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, kissing my temple lightly. "I understand how you felt, but I think your parents did the right thing back then."
"I know. It's just that I sometimes remember stuff like that and, depending on my mood, it can still affect me. I'm nervous and a little tired and it's getting to me."
"You can take a nap on the plane," he tried to reassure me.
I simply nodded and laid my head on his shoulder with a contented sigh. About ten minutes later we were called to board and sooner than I would have expected the plane was taking off.
Once we could loosen our seatbelts, Edward took Emma in his lap and told me to get some rest. Despite knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on peaceful thoughts.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think mommy's sleeping?"
I tried to keep from smiling, but hearing Edward's chuckle I realized I must not have done a very good job.
"I think so, why?"
"Just because."
It was quiet for another few minutes, until Emma once again broke it timidly.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, baby?"
"When you and mommy get married, can I be mommy's maid of honour?"
Edward chuckled softly. "I don't know, sweetie. I think you should ask mommy, but I think she would love that. You'd have to do a lot though, so maybe your aunt Rose can help with that."
"I'd like that. Do you think aunt Rose would want to help me?"
"I think so, yes."
"Uncle Emmett is your brother, right?"
"Yes, he is."
"But he's already my uncle, is he now my uncle twice?"
I almost laughed, but remembered that I was supposed to sleep just in time.
"No, honey, but he will always be your uncle, no matter what happens."
"Oh, like uncle Jasper?"
"Yes, like uncle Jasper."
"And you will always be my daddy?"
"Of course, baby. I will be your daddy for all of eternity."
I peeked through my lashes to find my little girl burying her face in her father's chest, while Edward was quietly crying into her hair. He rocked her back and forth while softly humming a tune I never heard before.
"When can we play the piano again, daddy?" Emma asked a while later.
"We can play on Sunday."
"Kay."
"Go to sleep, sweetie. You look tired."
A small yawn escaped her and soon I heard her quiet little snores. I slowly opened my eyes, finding Edward looking at me with an arched eyebrow.
"Do you always eavesdrop on our daughter's conversations?"
"No. I just wasn't sleeping and you knew it."
"She's so much like you," he murmured.
"She's just as much like me as she is like you. You don't want to know how many times she did something or looked at me a certain way and all I could find was you."
He laughed lightly, lifted the arm rest between us and tucked me into his sight. I turned my head and reached up so I could kiss him. Just as my lips touched his I heard someone 'aawww' behind me.
We both looked up to find a stewardess with a refreshments cart standing in the aisle.
"You look so cute together," she gushed, before asking us what we wanted to drink.
She left with a longing sigh.
~*~
We arrived in Phoenix a little after six in the evening. My parents were waiting for us at the arrivals area and welcomed us with big hugs and happy smiles. They drove us to their house while informing us about all the details of Charlie's new job in Forks. When we arrived at their house they ushered us to the guestrooms, one for me and Edward and one for Emma.
I had to admit I was a bit surprised at this arrangement, but decided not to ask, afraid to rub someone the wrong way. Emma was so tired that I gave her a bath and tucked her in.
"But I want to see grandma and grandpa," she protested.
"You will see them all day tomorrow."
She tried to argue a little more, but her insistent yawns interrupted her. She finally gave up and was asleep before I even had the chance to turn off the light.
I found Edward with Renee in the kitchen.
"Hey, you two. Where's dad?"
Renee gave me a kiss on the cheek. "He's attempting to record a movie for me."
"That's going to turn into a disaster. You know that, right?"
Renee laughed, shaking her head. "He'll live. Let him battle it out with it. He's going to have to learn anyway, now that you won't be living with us anymore."
"Come on, let's go to the backyard, Charlie will join us soon. He already fired up the barbecue."
Her mention of food suddenly made me realize I was indeed hungry. Taking Edward's hand I walked to the back of the house. We settled down on the porch swing together, while Renee took one of the two wicker chairs. The barbeque was placed against the porch and was flaming softly, the meat was already sitting on the side table, ready to be grilled by Charlie.
"That's something he's going to miss in Forks," I noted quietly.
"It'll be fine. He doesn't do it much anymore anyway. Not since Jacob and Leah moved away, but you know that. He always claimed he lost his fun when there were just women to feed."
"I remember that," I replied laughing. "He must be glad to have Edward here."
Renee and Edward laughed too, but I could tell by the strained sounds coming from Edward that he was incredibly tense. So as soon as Charlie came out I cleared my throat and took Edward's hand in mine, my ring on top.
"Mom, dad, we have something to tell you," I started.
I could feel Edward tense beside me when Charlie's eyes darkened a little and his mouth set into a tight line.
"Edward and I really took the time to get to know each other better these past two weeks and we realized that we still love each other just as much as we did six years ago. Now I know what I'm about to say might come as a bit of a surprise, but we want you to know."
"Well Bella, don't keep us on edge here," Renee urged with a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"Edward proposed and I said yes."
They sat there, not speaking, gaping at us in shock. I chanced a nervous look at Edward, noting that he was staring intently at the expression on my father's face.
"Mom? Dad?"
Renee snapped out of her shock first, hurling herself over to me to hug and kiss me and wish us both her best. Charlie took a deep breath, focused his eyes on Edward and stepped forward with a stern look on his face.
"If you ever hurt her in anyway you have me to answer to. You and Bella have a daughter and you have a life long obligation to your little girl. If you feel in any way uncertain, you'd better throw it out there now before you marry Bella."
"Sir, I understand your concern for Bella and Emma, but I simply can't stand the idea of going another day without either of them. I love them both very much and I will do whatever I can to make them happy."
Charlie still stood, staring down at Edward contemplatively. Suddenly he let a smile break out on his face.
"Welcome to the family, son," he said while getting up to offer us his congratulations.
We breathed a sigh of relief. All things considered Charlie had taken it all very well.
"Oh, before I forget, we've got a big family gathering tomorrow. It was changed at the last minute. You're welcome to come with us," Renee said, effectively killing the residual tension in the air.
I turned to Edward. "What do you say? You want to meet the entire family?"
"Why not?"
"Okay, we'll go. What time does this thing start?"
"It's at two and it's at the Whitlock's."
I bit my lip. That meant Jasper would be there. I had no idea whether or not it would be wise for us to go at that point, but Edward squeezed my hand reassuringly so I let it go.
We enjoyed a nice meal outside and talked a bit about the past two weeks. When we came to the story of our date on Friday, I hesitated.
"Bells? You look a bit pale, you okay?" Charlie asked.
"It's fine, dad. It's just that…Well, we decided to try and find out more about our biological family last Friday. We went to the library and started with my family. It wasn't that hard to find out more because Edward recognized my mother's name. It turns out she was Esme's younger sister. Esme is my biological aunt."
I looked down at my hand resting in my lap, a little afraid they'd be hurt by our plan to learn more about our family.
"Bells, why do you look so worried, kiddo?" Charlie asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "This is a good thing, isn't it? I mean Esme's a wonderfully kind woman."
"She is, but I guess I'm just afraid that looking for blood relatives…I just don't want to hurt you two. You've been the best parents I could have ever asked for and I don't want to seem ungrateful."
"Nonsense," Renee exclaimed. "We completely understand, don't worry about it."
Edward laughed lightly. "I guess we were both far more nervous than we should have been."
The rest of the evening we talked some more about my new job and Charlie's as well as what plans we had for Edward's apartment so that Emma and I could move in. We said goodnight well past midnight.
As Edward and I snuggled up into bed, he sighed and asked: "Bella, are you sure about going tomorrow? Jasper will probably be there, but so will Lauren and I don't know what the other family members might think of me, of us."
"I can handle it as long as you're with me. But what about you? Can you handle Jasper and Lauren?"
He laughed happily. "Sweet heart, I am far more nervous about Rose and Em coming home on Sunday."
"I guess you're right.
~*~
The drive to the Whitlock house was short, so I didn't have much time to get worked up about introducing Edward to the family as my fiancée. I smiled to myself at the thought. I liked that we were going to be together from now on. I stepped out of the car and walked around to Edward who had Emma already on his hip.
He snaked and arm around my waist and guided me after my parents. Charlie shot us both an encouraging grin as he knocked on the front door.
"Renee! Charlie! I'm so delighted to see you again," Mrs. Whitlock squealed. "Why don't we see each other more often? It's such a shame."
"I agree, sis. I agree," Charlie stated smiling.
Cynthia looked up and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw me. "Bella? I thought you were up in Seattle, darlin'."
"I was," I laughed. "But we came down to talk to my folks about something important."
Cynthia looked a bit confused, but turned her attention towards Edward.
"Edward? What on earth are you doing here?"
"Hello Cynthia. It's nice to see you again. Perhaps we can come in?"
"Oh, of course. Where are my manners?"
We followed her inside, but were stopped by Cynthia as soon as the door was closed behind us.
"Now, please someone explain why my son-in-law's brother is here, holding Emma no less?"
She stood there, hands on her hips, head cocked to the side. I suddenly realized how much Rosalie really looked like her mother. Charlie huffed in annoyance at his sister.
"Well? Tell me…"
I opened my mouth to speak, but my eyes caught sight of a tall, burly guy with a head of dark curls.
"Uh oh," I breathed.
Edward looked at me curiously, but before I could speak I heard Emmett's boisterous voice call out to Edward.
"Eddie! What are you doing here, man?"
Charlie muttered something about a crowd and quickly dragged Renee away from the slowly growing group in the foyer. Emmett clapped his shoulder and with Rosalie tucked under his arm came over to us.
Their eyes flickered from my face to Edward's to Emma's and then down to our entwined hands.
"No!" Rosalie exclaimed. "Edward, you douchebag!"
"Rose, simmer down," her mother said. "they were just about to explain why Edward's here."
"Why is everybody yelling at mommy and daddy?" Emma's sleepy voice suddenly cut through.
All of a sudden everything went dead-silent.
A/N: Don't you just hate it when things go dead-silent? I hope you liked the reveal, because I really wanted Emma to out them to Rose and Emmett.
Let me know what you think. And for those of you who enjoy a bit of Tanya bashing, she'll get hers in chapter thirty, so hang in there ;)
Hugs,
Mo
