Chapter Twenty-Nine: Did You Say?
She saw the back of his head and recognized him immediately. Jacob had a distinct copper blonde color in his hair and with his broad shoulders; it wasn't hard to distinguish him from the rest of the customers. Edward didn't appreciate the fact that Bella paced herself a little faster the moment she saw Jacob. He tugged her hand a little tighter to slow her down which caused her to turn around and give him a stern look.
What he really wanted to do was take her by the waist and drag her back home. She was extremely eager in the morning as they were on their way to the restaurant. However, he didn't want to push her any further. She had already agreed to allow him to join them this morning.
"Jacob!"
When Jacob stood up from his chair and turned around, his eyes gleamed at seeing Bella, but his stature changed when he saw Edward. He wasn't expecting him there.
"Bella. Edward, I didn't realize you were joining us too?"
They both shared a friendly handshake. They were both firm in their hold. Jacob finally released his hand from Edward's grasp.
"Well, I'm learning to surprise people like how my wife surprises people."
Edward felt Bella pinch his thigh. A warning in regards to his behavior at the moment, he presumed.
The conversation didn't start until after they ordered from the menu. As the waitress left, Jacob was eager to know the reason behind Bella's sudden request to meet.
"So, Bella, there must be an urgent matter that you wanted to meet." Jacob felt uncomfortable talking to Bella with Edward present.
Bella didn't know how else to approach the matter at hand, but the longevity of her silence forced Edward to speak up.
"My wife believes Victoria is a potential threat to you."
The silence became eerie. Jacob didn't know how to take the statement from Edward. He stared directly at Bella for clarification. She finally made eye contact with him. She then went on to explain how Victoria was manipulative and caused strife in Edward and her relationship. Jacob studied Edward's body language, and Edward didn't seem to be bothered by Bella's confession. Jacob leaned back in his chair and raised his glass cup of water for a sip.
"Bella, if you don't want me to be in contact with Victoria, then I won't. You don't need to explain yourself to me, ever."
She felt a sense of relief at his response. It was easier than she had anticipated. Jacob had always been easy to convince.
After finishing their breakfast, Jacob had to return to work.
"Bella, you could have called or text me this message, though it's always good to see you."
She blushed at his comment, "I, uh, wanted to explain in person. It was important for me." She gave him a hug and released him quickly.
As Edward and Bella returned back to her apartment, Bella could feel the tension in Edward's hold around her waist during their walk. She tried to keep her pace, and if she took a misstep, he slightly lifted her up to bring her back to speed.
His silence spoke volumes, and she wanted to confront him about what he was thinking.
"Edward, please speak to me."
He went into the kitchen and fixed himself a cup of coffee. All the while, Bella stood by the island waiting for him to respond.
"Edward?"
He took in a deep breath and didn't feel like turning this into an argument.
"You do realize what Jacob is doing?"
Bella seemed perplexed at his response. "I'm sorry, but I don't realize what Jacob is doing?"
"Bella, the man will never be over you. The way he looks at you, holds you, talks to you. All the while, your husband is sitting there in front of the both of you. He has no respect for me."
"Excuse me? Now you're being preposterous. What you saw was nothing but a conversation between two friends."
He continued making his coffee, but now he lost any craving to drink it.
"It's clear that he wants to be that perfect man for you by following your every single order. From meeting you to not continuing his relationship with Victoria, it's all a show for you. To impress you."
Bella couldn't believe Edward's jealousy. There was no threat with Jacob.
"Edward, you're being paranoid. All he did was take advice from me. At least someone actually believes me about Victoria."
Edward stopped his motion, closed his eyes and gave her a direct glare. "And if I stopped all contact with Victoria, would you stop all contact with Jacob?"
Bella became silent. What he was asking was unfair. Jacob wasn't a threat. Victoria was vindictive and pursued Edward even while Bella and Edward were still married. Victoria was even a possible suspect in the plane crash. Convincing Edward was harder than she realized.
"Jacob and Victoria are two very different people."
"No, they're not, Bella. That's what you don't understand. Regardless of how they each are playing their games, Jacob still wants you – "
"And Victoria still wants you, so are you finally going to admit it?"
"Fine, I'll admit to that, and I'll stop all contact with Victoria."
She smiled at him. It was a small victory.
"But can we at least note that Jacob isn't attempting to kill either one of us over jealousy?"
"Bella!" His look was fierce. She didn't know why that would upset him so much. He still had little doubt that Victoria had anything to do with the accident.
"You're asking me to stop all contact with Jacob, which I will, but you never asked me to stop insinuating that Victoria is innocent in regards to the accident. Until Mr. Call and the FBI can find out who's behind it, I'll always have my reservations about Victoria."
He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was pressed hard against him with no room for any movement.
"You're impossible, you know that? I'm beginning to understand more every day why I had fallen so hard for you."
She was surprised at his confession. She was expecting another anger bout with him. Not to disappoint him, she placed her arms gracefully over his chest.
"Oh. Please enlighten me, Mr. Cullen."
"Well, for starters, you're a challenge. I can't seem to match your intelligence, so I adore that appeal."
She released a giggle from the back of her throat. She pulled his curls behind his ears to remain in place.
"Keep going."
"As much as I hate your behavior towards Jacob, I know it's because you have a good heart. Your intentions are always to protect those you love. And though I want to be greedy and have your attention always, I love seeing your maternal instincts."
It didn't take long for Bella to reach up to his face and kiss him.
The next month seemed to be quiet for Bella and Edward. They both became preoccupied with a heavy work load. Neither spoke about Victoria or Jacob anymore. Their lives seemed to naturally flow with work, dinner, late nights and spending time with Seth. The case of the accident was now being handled by the FBI after Peter Strife completed his report. There was conclusive evidence the plane was tampered with, and now they were all waiting patiently for the investigation to take its course.
The coming month also meant Bella was finalizing her restaurant into franchise territory. All paperwork was finalized and The Sweet Encounter could finally celebrate their growth. Bella held an event at her restaurant and catered the event for her entire staff to show her appreciation. She had put so much work into perfecting everything that she never rested when needed. Alice handled a portion of the event as well to alleviate the stress from Bella, but Bella was so meticulous that she kept diving into Alice's work.
"Bella, you're going to have to trust me. Now go sit yourself down, so I can finish this without you breathing down my neck!"
Alice slowly pushed her aside so Bella could fall onto the chair.
"I'm sorry, Alice. I'm never like this. I just want tonight to be perfect for everyone who has sacrificed so much time and effort for this company."
Alice bent down so she could be face to face with Bella, "We've got this, Bella. Let us do this one thing for you."
Alice grabbed some appetizers for Bella and the moment it went into Bella's mouth, she spit it out.
"Oh my goodness, is this the same thing we tasted last month? It's so strong?"
Alice grabbed the same appetizer and tasted it. "Tastes the same to me, pretty good actually." Within a second, Alice's eyes opened wide as she could. "Oh my God! You're pregnant!"
Bella nodded her head, "No, I can't be. I was on my cycle recently." Bella was thinking in her head and counting the weeks. She placed her hand over her mouth and gasped. She had been so busy that she never took the time to worry about how late she was.
Alice held onto her hands tight, "I'm leaving."
"Where are you going, Alice? You can't leave me now!"
"I'm going to run to the drug store and buy you a pregnancy test." She got up and left before Bella could argue with her. Bella couldn't believe it. Could it be possible? She placed her hand over her belly and wondered if there could be a little miracle living in her at this moment. Tears began to fill her eyes. If it was true, she couldn't wait to tell Edward. He had always been open about wanting a family.
She never wanted Alice to rush before. Edward would be here in a few hours, and if the news was positive, then she would surprise him somehow.
The loud entrance of Alice barging in startled Bella. She gasped at the sight of Alice who seemed out of breath. Alice took out the box from the brown paper bag and handed it to Bella.
"Here. Go. Pee. Now!"
Alice pushed her towards the bathroom and followed closely behind her.
Bella opened the box, read the instructions and continued with the process. Bella placed the stick on a piece of paper towel on the counter sink. They waited patiently for the two minutes per the box. Two lines, that's what Bella kept wishing for. It seemed to be the longest two minutes in her life. Even Alice was silent throughout the whole thing. After the time was up, they both looked at the stick.
Bella's eyes swelled up with tears, she covered her mouth while her other hand covered her stomach. She was going to be a mom.
Alice grabbed her and hugged her so tight that Bella thought she was going to run out of breath.
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't hug you so tight now! Don't want to hurt the baby! Baby! Oh my, Bella! You're going to be a mom! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! Oh my, you can't be working. You should be resting. Let me handle the rest of tonight, and if you could just go into your office and sit and wait. Wait, call Edward! He needs to know too."
Alice continued to talk to Bella, but Bella only heard bits and pieces. Her mind was thinking about how she was going to tell Edward. She didn't know if she could wait. She thought she wanted to surprise him later, but when she sat down at her desk, she immediately called him.
"Hello, Bella. You already can't wait to see me in a few minutes?"
"Hello, Edward. I finally had a moment to sit down while Alice is taking care of everything else, and I wanted to hear your voice."
She couldn't stop smiling through the phone. She kept rubbing her stomach as if she wanted the baby to be comforted knowing their dad was on the phone and could hear him speaking.
"I'm finishing up as we speak and getting ready to head down to the elevators. I'll see you shortly."
"Okay. There's something I wanted to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I'd rather tell you in person."
"Alright, but you're scaring me. You don't sound like yourself. Are you okay?"
She released a soft giggle. "I'm more than okay. I'll see you soon. I love you."
"Love you too, Bella."
She was elated and wanted to dance on her desk. She extended her head out of her office and realized she could trust Alice with handling the rest of the evening. Bella went back into her office and tried to find some work to do. She opened her laptop and researched "pregnancy". She grabbed the unopened letters from the corner of her desk and started opening them while looking through the websites.
She was nervous and taken aback from the pictures and articles of birth. As she made a petrified face from the images, she felt something soft and light land on her hands from the letter she just opened. When she turned to look, she saw white powder over her hands. Cut-up letters were pasted onto the paper. She gasped at what she read, and then held her breath.
"You deserve this."
There was nothing else in the letter. Bella tried to remain calm. She closed her eyes, and then screamed out Alice's name.
"Alice!"
It didn't take long for Alice to walk in.
"Stop right there, Alice. I need you to stop."
"What's going on? What is on your hand? Oh my Lord. No." Alice placed her hand over her mouth and wanted to cry. How was she going to protect Bella?
"Alice, I need you to be calm and get everyone out of here, and then I need you to call 911. Edward is on his way here, and you cannot let him in here. I don't want anyone in here. Do you understand?"
Alice was silent and didn't move.
"Alice! That's an order. Now!"
"Yes, Bella."
Bella could hear Alice clearing everyone out. She felt better knowing all her employees would be safe. She was breaking a sweat and could feel the sweat trailing down her forehead onto her eyebrow. She sat still, not moving. She tried desperately not to inhale too much in, but the sudden chaos outside her office made her panic. She could hear Edward screaming while Alice was trying to calm him down.
Please don't come in here was all Bella could tell herself, but it was too late. He stormed into her office. His petrified eyes met with hers. He directly eyed the white powder cloaked over her hand.
"Bella." She never missed him so much, but she couldn't fathom having him there, endangering himself for her.
"Edward. I'm fine, but you need to leave. Please."
"To hell I'm leaving my wife alone. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Never better actually."
"Now is not the time to joke, love."
He showcased a dimple and it calmed her. His presence there helped her heart from palpitating uncontrollably.
"I'll be right back." He left the room, and she wished he was back already. He entered the room with a cloth over his face as a mask. He had another cloth and created a mask over her face.
"You should leave, Edward."
"Is that what you wanted to tell me today?"
"No. I think I will wait once this is done and over with."
"How did you come across this?"
She stared at the letter that still remained on her desk. "Someone sent me this with an anonymous note."
Edward turned to look and anger filled his body. Someone was threatening his wife, first the tampering of the plane and now a letter filled with ricin. He needed to do a better job at protecting her.
"We'll get to the bottom of this, Bella. I promise."
Bella then saw a few figures walking behind Edward in their hazmat suit.
"Good evening. We are from the Regional Poison Control Center. We're going to carefully handle all this, so if you both would please cooperate with us, we'll get this all under control."
One of the gentleman in the suit walked towards Bella, "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I was opening my mail and didn't pay attention when I felt the powder fall over my hand."
She realized she still had her laptop screen open under her search for pregnancy. The gentleman looked at her laptop screen and noticed her research. "I assure you m'am, we'll make sure that you and your baby's health and safety will come first."
Bella saw the look of Edward's eyes. She couldn't read his face because of the mask, but his dejected eyebrows catapulted fear.
"Baby? Did you say baby?" Edward kept his stare towards the gentleman in the hazmat suit who was more confused than Edward.
"I'm sorry, m'am, I assumed from your laptop screen that you were pregnant."
"No need to apologize . . . "
"James. My name is James."
"No need to apologize, James. I just found out a few hours ago." She turned to look at Edward and smiled behind her mask. "Edward, you're going to be a father."
Edward let out a laugh and brushed his fingers through his head. "Oh God, we need to get her out of here and take her to a hospital to get her checked. We have to make sure they're both okay."
James held his hand up, "Don't worry, sir. That's why we're here. Were you exposed to any of the powder, sir?"
"No, I wasn't. I came in here to give her a mask that's all."
"I'll kindly ask you to leave so we can clear the area."
"I'm not leaving her, James."
"I'm not asking you, sir. I'm telling you. The sooner you leave, the sooner I can have you reunite with your wife so you can talk about your future family."
Edward stared at Bella before walking out of the room. "My God, I love you, Bella."
"I love you too."
Edward waited outside on the other side of the street as they cleared out the area. It felt like an eternity waiting for them. He finally saw movement behind the glass door, and there stood Bella. She was looking for him and when they finally locked eyes, he ran to her and held her tight.
"It was baking soda."
"What?" He was confused and yet profoundly happy it was only baking soda.
"James and his crew tested the powder, and luckily, it wasn't ricin. Call it a prank joke, I don't know or care, but I'm thankful it wasn't poisonous."
Her entire staff all surrounded her, and she never felt more relieved and safe. She felt awful that the event meant to celebrate everyone there had to be cancelled, but no one cared for it as long as she was safe. Edward finally spread out his arms and spoke up.
"Alright, I appreciate all the love and support for my wife, but it's been one whirlwind of an evening, and I would like to take her home tonight so she may rest."
The staff stayed behind to close up the shop once the police and poison control center left while Edward drove his car around to pick up Bella. As they left, she noticed he wasn't taking her home.
"Where are we going, Edward?"
"We're not going to either homes until they have been thoroughly combed through for any possible threats or danger."
"You can't be serious, Edward? It wasn't even ricin, but some sick joke. We don't even know if it was directly towards me. It could have been addressed to anyone."
"I'm not risking your life or our baby. I've already got it handled, so don't worry. What you need is rest and to be stress free."
He was right. She was tired and didn't feel like arguing with him tonight. Everything was making sense now with her lack of energy and spontaneity in taste this past week. She secretly smiled and couldn't wait for this new chapter in her life.
"What has you smiling ear to ear?" He looked over at her and held her hand, then kissed it.
"I'm overwhelmed with joy. It's been such a hectic life for me, and I wouldn't change anything to be where I am right now."
Edward felt at ease knowing she was much more relaxed than he had anticipated. However, he knew he had to confront the person who sent the letter. It was a similar style of anonymity with the cut up letters that he had received years ago. Someone had threatened him if he wasn't going to marry Victoria when she faked her pregnancy. It was too much of a coincidence, and as much as he hate to admit it, Bella may have been right about Victoria all along.
A/N: I appreciate you reading and leaving a comment. Hope you are still hanging on to Bella and Edward!
-KL
