Dear Crackupmonkey: Emmett wasn't trying to be the morality police in the last chapter. He just wanted to lock up behind Edward since Bella was already settled in bed. That's all. :D
Big thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing, tweeting and pimping. I so appreciate your comments. Thanks for being patient; life is just really busy right now.
Smooshing hugs for Roselover2 for pre-reading.
While You Were Knocked Out Cold
Chapter 29
(from the end of last chapter)
"You're asking me out, Cullen?" The smile grew in intensity and lit up her whole face. She was beautiful.
"Yeah, I am."
"I accept," she said with a grin that matched Edward's, "on one condition."
"And what condition would that be?" asked Edward.
"When do I get to see my dog?"
He stared at her for just a beat before bursting into laughter. He'd prepared himself for a range of provisions from no healthy restaurants to staying in or letting her choose the activity. Jake hadn't even crossed his mind since they'd settled Bella into her new space on the ground floor of her house.
"I'll bring him over tomorrow."
"First thing?" Her drowsy eyes lifted up, as she pulled her covers more snugly around her shoulders.
"I've got to get a few things done in the morning, but I should be here a little before lunch."
"M'kay."
"You might want to give Rosalie a heads up. She and Jake apparently do not get along very well. I wonder if he just doesn't like tall, blonde women."
Bella's eyes had closed, but her eyebrows creased in confusion. "Why do you say tha…?" A long yawn cut off the last part of her question.
"Let's just say he didn't take very well to Tanya, either."
At the mention of his ex-girlfriend, Bella's eyes flew open and she regarded him warily. "You're gonna have to tell me about her one of these days."
"Tomorrow, I promise. Sweet dreams, Beautiful." He leaned over and placed a kiss on her upturned cheek.
Her eyes fluttered closed and she smiled, satisfied and well on her way to unconsciousness.
Edward was filled with a sense of satisfaction as well; as he strode into the kitchen he couldn't wipe the grin from his face.
Emmett looked up from the car magazine he was reading and nodded. "You takin' off, man?"
"Yeah, thanks for waiting."
"No problem, I just didn't want to make Bells get up to lock the door behind you."
"See you tomorrow."
When Edward arrived home, he took Jake for a turn around the park. As they jogged and trotted on the lit pathway, their breaths puffed out in clouds of steam. Homes and shops around the area were decorated with cobwebs and ghosts and other Halloween paraphernalia. It reminded him to ask Bella if she wanted to give out candy.
Both man and beast were breathing hard as they ascended the stairs to the apartment. "Are you ready to see your mom?" He asked Jake as he removed the leash and rumpled his furry ears.
Jake replied with a single "yip" and scampered off to his water bowl. Edward joined him in the kitchen and downed a bottle of Gatorade before turning in for the night.
. . .
When the car pulled to a stop, Jake didn't wait for his door to be opened. Instead, he jumped over the console and out the driver door before Edward had a chance to close it. As usual, Jake tore up and down the walk, turning circles every now and then before plopping down on the porch to wait for the humans to let him in.
Edward knocked and waited. It took longer than he was expecting, but the reason became clear when Bella opened the door. She leaned on her cane and shuffled to the side to let him in while Jake danced back and forth, little whines escaping him as he registered who was finally home.
"Jakers!" She rubbed his head and slowly walked to the couch in the living room. When she sat down, she patted her knees and called to the dog again.
Somehow he knew instinctually to rein in his exuberance. He was shaking with the effort it took, not to jump all over Bella. He whined and rested his muzzle on her knee while his tail thumped wildly on the floor as she stroked his head and shoulders.
"I can't believe how big he's grown."
"He has a hearty appetite." Edward sat down on the couch leaving a little bit of space in between him and Bella. He didn't want to crowd her, but he wanted to be close.
"So tell me what happened between him and Tanya."
He sighed and relayed how she'd barged into his apartment, how Jake had covered her in dog kisses, the fact that she nearly kicked him, and how Jake growled at her.
"Wait. She almost kicked my dog?" Bella's body tensed for a fight as she fumed. "If I ever see her stupid face, I'm gonna beat her with my cane."
"Easy, killer. Jake held his own. She ended up falling over the couch backward, demanded I choose between her and the dog, and then stomping out."
Bella regarded him with her head cocked to the side. After a moment she closed her eyes and began to chuckle.
"What's so funny?"
"Just… You were engaged to her?" Her eyes shone with mirth as she continued to laugh at him and pet her dog.
"No. Not officially. And I broke up with her, like, the next day."
"Still you were with her for a long time," she said. Her face had lost some of the humor that had animated it only a few moments before.
"Sometimes I wonder if I ever really knew who she was. Her competency hearing is tomorrow."
"Oh." It was like a vacuum had sucked all of the sound from the room. She stared at some point beyond the walls of the living room. Not really seeing anything in front of her.
Edward could see the muscles in her jaw work as she processed her thoughts. It was strange to try and put himself in Bella's shoes. Tanya had tried to murder her, but she hadn't even been aware of the danger. "Do you remember anything more from while you were asleep?"
"I don't know. Were you there when she… you know, tried to off me?" She chuckled but the attempted joke did nothing to alleviate the tension.
"I was there. She had a syringe full of potassium chloride less than an inch from your IV port. Her behavior was totally erratic; everyone was scared that she would actually inject it into your line." He wouldn't tell her how it felt like his heart had stopped, how he felt like his world was falling to pieces while Tanya stood there threatening her. He wouldn't put that burden on her. At least not yet. "Alice called her 'crazy' and she went nuts. She lunged across your bed and jostled you around a little bit; I'm surprised you didn't wake up right then." He glanced at Bella; her eyes were closed and she seemed to be concentrating really hard.
"I think… I have flashes of a dream that I was in an earthquake. Maybe that was from her." She turned her gaze to him and he felt like he'd been punched in the gut by the raw emotion he saw in her eyes. She seemed so uncertain, so fearful. "Do you think there's a chance she'll get out?"
He shook his head. "From the way I understand it, if she's found incompetent to stand trial, she'll remain in state custody at the mental hospital until she is found competent. If that never happens, then she'll stay at Western State Hospital indefinitely. If at some point she is found competent to stand trial, the evidence and witnesses are pretty irrefutable. She wouldn't walk away without some kind of punishment."
"But what if she tries to plead insanity? I mean, it's not a stretch that she was out of her right frame of mind when she tried to attack me."
He scooted closer to her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, drawing her head to rest on his chest. "If that were to happen, she'd still be remanded to a psychiatric facility until she was no longer deemed a threat. She could be in a psych hospital for longer than she would be in jail. They're a little more cautious about letting the admittedly insane back into society."
She hummed but said nothing else for a moment. "So are you going to the hearing?"
He and Charlie had already made arrangements to go together. He also knew that his parents and of course Tanya's parents would be there as well. "Yeah. I'm picking up your dad."
She pulled away from him in surprise and looked at him with wide eyes. "Really?" she said with a squeak.
"Yes, but enough about that. Do we need to discuss custody arrangements for the fur-baby?" He tilted his head toward Jake.
"No. As long as Rose and Emmett are here, he should probably stay with you. Just promise to bring him with you when you come to visit me."
"Deal," he said and squeezed her shoulder a little bit tighter, wondering exactly how often she wanted him to visit. The thought that he was becoming a more permanent fixture in her life sent his heart and mind into overdrive. "Now, enough depressing talk. I have a little request to make about our upcoming date."
"What are we doing?"
"Hm, that's a secret, but you'll need a little bit of preparation."
She lifted one skeptical eyebrow in his direction and narrowed her gaze. "What kind of preparation?"
"Well, I know you don't have a wide selection of maternity clothes since you've been in the hospital for nearly your whole pregnancy, but for what we're doing you're going to need a dress."
"Edwaaaard," she whined, "what's the point? I'm due in like, a month. Why spend money on something I'm only going to wear once or twice?"
"I want you to feel as beautiful as you look," he said and stroked a finger down her cheek.
"I just don't have any extra money to sp—"
"This is on me," he said. She tried to argue with him but he pinned her with a look that allowed for no dispute. "I'm the cause for the necessity of new clothing, so I'm going to pay. Please, let me do this for you. I'd also like for you to go to the salon and have your hair done in whatever way you want. Maybe Rosalie and your mom can go with you and you can have a girls day out or whatever you call it."
Her brow was furrowed and pinched together as she struggled to accept his generosity. He turned on "the look"—when the eyes glowed, and the lips were just a little bit poutier than usual—it was his completely manipulative fallback maneuver. And this time it worked but only just. He'd have to use it sparingly with Bella or she'd be sure to figure him out quickly. When he added in a soft, caramel-rich murmur, "Please, Bella, just enjoy yourself," he was really thinking, Let me take care of you.
He held her hand, smoothing his thumb over her knuckles in hypnotic circles. As the moments ticked on, he kept sending her subliminal waves of encouragement to just give in and let him do this for her. He smiled and squeezed her hand gently when she finally sighed and said, "Fine. When is our date?"
"Saturday."
"Well, I guess we can go tomorrow while you and dad are at the… thing." She snuggled further into his embrace and sighed.
"That sounds like a good plan. Any thoughts on what you'll do with your hair?"
She shook her head back and forth. "Uh un. If you won't tell me what our date is, then you'll just have to wait and see what I do with my hair."
He looked down and grinned when he saw that her eyes were closed, but her lips were curved into a mischievous smile. "Fair enough," he said.
Jake had wandered away from the living room at some point during their conversation, but Edward could hear him pawing at the back door. "I think Jake needs out. Do you want anything from the kitchen?"
"Some water, maybe? Oh, and I think Rose got some of those mini Milky Way bars, a couple of those too, please."
"Oh, that reminds me. Do you want to pass out candy on Halloween, or do you want to be a Scrooge?"
"Huh. I hadn't even thought about it. I've always been away from home on Halloween. I guess, sure." She shrugged her shoulders, but a smile slowly crept across her lips and lit up her whole face.
"Can I join you?"
"You'd better. I'm not haulin' my butt up every time the doorbell rings."
"Can we paint your stomach to look like a Jack-O-lantern?" He grinned at her now-perturbed expression.
"Don't push your luck, Cullen."
A/N: So a few cute moments, a little more info on the Tanya situation, and isn't he sweet to spring for her date preparation? Have any of you painted your (or your spouse's) preggo tummies like a pumpkin? Not me. It wouldn't have been a pretty sight. I don't get cute little round basketball tummies when I'm pregs. Thank you for all your reviews. I love reading them and so appreciate it!
