[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer
[A/N] I hope you're all having a nice weekend. Thank you for the lovely reviews, you left me on the last chapter. I cherish your support so much.
FAQ's
Will Emmett and Alice end up together in this story?
Most likely, so if you don't like the idea…hmm…well, you can never please everybody.
Who's Alice's Dad?
Mr. George Brandon is an OC. I specially named him after the new prince lol. If you'd like a visual, Pierce Brosnan comes pretty close to how I picture him to look like.
*The chapter below is dedicated to CrimeSceneLover3 and Villemo79
**35**
Lucy Hale nipped on the cup of black coffee in front of her, frowning when the bitter drink hit her taste buds. She didn't like black coffee but life was not supposed to be about always doing what you liked. Wasn't it?
Her fingertips petted the fur of the cat on her lap, making the brown-furred animal purr in approval.
"Mr. Jenks, sometimes I think you're the only one who truly understands me."
She took another sip from her drink and sighed. Her eyes fell to the pile of wedding invitations next to her. It would have been such a spectacular event. Lucy had dreamed her whole life about a romantic fairytale wedding like this.
The wedding she wanted but never was lucky enough to celebrate herself. She stood up from her chair, carefully placing Mr. Jenks on the floor again.
Her fingertip brushed tenderly over the gold-framed picture of her late husband. Jasper had been a good man. It was probably part of life's injustice that the good and kind always got hurt in the end.
She grabbed the box that was standing on a sideboard and opened it up. The silk of the ivory wedding dress felt smooth and cold against Lucy's fingers. It was the most magnificent dress she could imagine. Lucy remembered buying it, embarrassing herself and the shop assistant by paying it with not one, but four different credit cards.
But the soft dream of lace and silk wasn't the gown Lucy Hale had gotten married in. The woman frowned at the memory of the burgundy-colored maternity dress she had worn on the day she had become Mrs. Lucy Hale.
"It's not about the dress." Jasper had told her, taking her hand to blow a kiss over its back. Her skin tingled at the memory of his tender caress.
She took the box and carried it upstairs to her bedroom where she put it somewhere in the deepest corner of her closet.
A feeling of loneliness swapped through her. Lucy grabbed her phone to call one of her children.
"Mom," Emmett groaned into the receiver. "It's Sunday, why are waking me up?"
"It's past eleven. I'm already home again from church. Don't tell me you've been asleep?"
She could hear him curse under his breathe. Lucy smacked her lips. "I wanted to ask if you've already heard back from the coaching job?"
He slurped on something. "They want a second meeting tomorrow morning. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed."
"I hope it turns out as you hope, boy. Now, well, when you have to be here tomorrow morning anyway. Why don't you come here tonight and take your old mother out for dinner?"
"Sure, Mom, why not. Now, let me go back to sleep, okay?" He grumbled.
Lucy shook her head. Emmett was such a sleepyhead. She remembered how she had practically forced him out of bed every day to get him to school in time.
"Great, I'm looking forward to seeing you, boy. By the way, do you know where your sister is? I left a message on her phone but she's not calling back."
"What am I? Her secretary? Try Bella's place. I think she's there over the weekend."
He murmured a goodbye and Lucy disconnected the call. She was just about to fish the Swan's number out and try to call Rose there, when her phone started ringing again.
"Hale" she purred into the phone with an overly sweet tone, she always reserved for strangers. The phone cracked.
"Lucy, it's me. Royce. This is the only call I get to make, so you need to listen well."
"Only call? Royce, where are you? Why weren't you at church today? Are you sick?" The line cracked again. Lucy held the phone a bit further from her ear. "Royce?"
"I'm at the police station. They've arrested me."
"Damn it, Royce, you promised to get therapy. You promised—"
"Keep your mouth shut. They're probably tracking this call. I got arrested because this awful Cullen woman pressed charges against me."
Lucy sat down on the ground and closed her eyes. "Why are you calling me then and not a lawyer?"
"Because I need money to get out here." He stated, clearing his throat. "You need to help me."
"Not this time." Lucy snapped. "You promised you'd get treatment. Maybe you getting arrested is only for the best."
"How dare you?" Royce growled. "Listen, Mrs. Hale, listen well. You know, I know stuff about you that you wouldn't want others to know about."
Lucy bit the inside of her cheek, tasting the blood on her tongue a second later. "You wouldn't do that. You have more to lose than me."
He laughed an annoyingly high-pitched laugh full of disrespect. "Is it like that, Lucy? Is it like this?"
With shaking fingers, Lucy ended the call. She could feel the sweat beginning to pour out of her pores. She got up and tumbled to the bathroom.
The woman staring back at her in the mirror looked like the perfect image of a lady. Her hair was tight up into a knot, the crème-colored dress, she was wearing simple but elegant. She had put on the pair of simple white pearl-earrings she had gotten on her tenth wedding anniversary. Still, Lucy knew deep inside her heart, that all of this was just a façade.
No pearl-earrings or Chanel costumes would ever distinguish what she really was. Lucy would rather die than let anyone find out about it, though.
xxxx
"You're still wearing his earrings." Bella stated, brushing her fingertip over the shell of Rosalie's ear. She snuggled closer against her girlfriend and kissed her neck.
"Do you think, I should give them back to Carlisle? It was a gift."
"Yes." Bella mumbled, nuzzling her nose against Rosalie's neck. "A gift for his fiancée,"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll take them out." With a quick movement, she fumbled the clasps of the earrings open and placed them on the table. "I really liked those."
Bella giggled and pulled Rose into her arms again. "Don't be sad. I could always get you some other jewelry, if you want me to."
Rosalie kissed Bella's mouth. "We don't have money for unnecessary stuff like earrings. I've decided that I want to move back to Forks. Now, wish me luck with the garage."
Bella's heart made a joyful jump inside her chest. Rose was going to move back to Forks; the thought of living together with her filled Bella with happiness.
"Mommy, can I have some Oreos?" Resha asked, jumping down the stairs, taking two, then three at a time. "I'm hungry."
Bella rose from the couch. It was starting to get difficult to keep her affection for Rosalie from her little daughter. Hugging and kissing Rose, just felt way too irresistible to her.
"Come here and sit with us, sweetie." Rose said, petting the spot next to her on the couch. "We can share some."
Resha reached for the package and pulled a cookie out. "Rosie, do you think my Daddy is going to come visit me for my birthday?"
Bella sighed. "I'm sure, he'll be here. He won't miss your big day, right?"
Crap, now she needed to call Tyler and tell him to get his lazy ass here. She could barely endure being in one room with her ex without snapping at him. Their relationship was so tensed. But Bella knew it would break Resha's heart to celebrate her seventh birthday without her father.
"Rosie, you can come too." Resha mumbled, licking off the filling of her cookie. "You can sleep in my room."
Bella wrapped her arm around Rose and took the half of the cookie, Rosalie had been nibbling on. "I think she's fine with staying with me. Aren't you, Rose?"
The Blonde nodded. "Your mom is right. I will stay in her bedroom. Now, sweetie, why don't you tell me what you want for birthday? We could get you a new Barbie doll. The one you wanted. What was it…Rapunzel?"
"Yes, I want her. My Daddy said he's going to get it for me. He won't forget, right?"
Bell pressed her lips together. Resha was so young and she was already starting to grasp that you couldn't rely on anything Tyler promised you.
The little girl snuggled against Rosalie's side. "Rose, I like when you're visiting. Mommy's not so strict when you are here."
"I'm not strict." Bella protested. "I only want what's in your best interest. Now, stop with the cookies. We're going to have dinner in an hour."
She grabbed the package and went to put it away in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Resha had discovered the pearl-earrings on the table.
"Oh they are so pretty, Rose. I want earrings too."
Rose smiled while an idea formed in her head. She held up the earrings against Resha's ear. "We could get your ears pierced for your birthday. Would you like that?"
Resha nodded her head. "Is Mommy going to allow it?"
"I think so. Let me go and ask her, okay?"
Rose went to the kitchen where Bella was about to chop an onion. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. "Nah, nah, no need to cry." Rosalie mumbled, hugging Bella from behind.
"It's just the stupid onions." Bella mumbled, putting them aside. "Go keep Resha's company while I finish cooking here."
"I could help you." Rose offered. "You don't need to do all the work." She kissed Bella's hair and hummed. "Your hair smells good."
"It smells like kitchen." Bella protested. "Now, if you want to help, you can cut this cucumber. It's the only kind of vegetable I can make Resha eat without her throwing a tantrum."
Rose laughed. "I understand. Hey, I would like to get her earrings for her birthday. You'd be okay with that, right?"
Bella started peeling another onion. "I don't know. She's too young."
"I was three when I got my ears pierced and look how nice my ears turned out." She laughed, pushing her hair over her shoulder.
Bella placed the knife, she was holding on the counter. She wrapped one arm around Rosalie's waist and pulled her close. "I think I need to take a closer look." She kissed Rosalie's earlobe. Then she tightened their embrace and placed a passionate kiss on her lover's mouth.
"Mommy, what are you doing?"
The women jumped apart. Crap, they hadn't wanted to have the girl find out like this. If only they had been a bit more careful.
Taking a deep breathe, Bella went down on her knees. "Come here, honey. Mommy needs to tell you something."
"We need to tell you something." Rose added, sitting down on the chair behind Bella. "Your Mommy and I…we…love each other. That's why we like to kiss each other on the lips."
Resha nibbled her lower lip. "You mean like Snow White and Prince Charming love each other?"
Bella nodded. "Yes, kind of like that, sweetie."
"Or like Rapunzel and Flynn?" she asked, sucking her lip between her teeth again. "Like this?"
"Yes, Resha, that's how we love each other." Rose said, placing her hand on Bella's shoulder. "Now, do you think you understand it?"
"Maybe a bit." The girl mumbled. "Can I go to my room until dinner is ready?"
"Sure, sweetie." Bella whispered. She reached out her hand to her little daughter and pulled her close. "Mommy loves you. You know that, right?"
Resha nodded and grabbed another cookie from the box on the counter before she went to her room.
Bella sighed and leaned her head against Rosalie's knee. "Thank you for explaining things to Resha. I had no idea what to tell her."
"Children are smart. Sometimes you just need to tell them the simple truth how things are like."
"You're probably right" Bella said. "But Rapunzel and Flynn? Wasn't he some kind of thief?"
Rosalie chuckled. "I don't really remember the movie. But you've stolen my heart, so the comparison with a thief is quite fitting somehow.