Disclaimer: Twilight character names belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. All intellectual properties associated with Through the Flames belong to SparklingTwilight. Plagiarism is theft. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without express written authorization. Thank you.
Seasons of Change
Time passes at its own pace. It's a fact. Regardless of whether or not one wishes it to move faster, slower, or cease movement altogether at their sudden whim or convenient discretion, time passes steadily. The sun and moon rise and fall at an interval predating man and Earth itself, marking time's transgression from the present and into both the past and future simultaneously. In life, the speed of time is the only constant one can rely on, for everything else can, and more importantly, will change—even when one fears nothing will, or can't wait for something, anything at all, to do just that; change.
For Edward, the months leading from winter toward summer would bring more change than he could have ever dreamed possible—some good, some bad, and some just... bewildering.
Winter
January came and went in a whirlwind of inconsistent weather that seemed to match the ups and downs of Edward's moods in the months leading up to the changing of the year. Some days were brutally cold with angry blusters of wind that cut right through the city. Others were uncharacteristically mild, filled with blue skies and sunshine and even a bit of warmth. It was days like these, the ones that had people tilting their heads toward the sun and smiling, that most closely resembled Edward's spirits during those first few weeks of the new year. He still had his ups and downs, but they no longer made the heads of the people around him spin dizzily. For the most part, he'd become consistent in ways the weather wasn't. Most days, he could even be described as somewhat predictable—at least by Bella. It was in this consistency that she truly began to see the man that he'd been before the fateful night that brought their life paths colliding together.
Each time she found him listening to the transmissions of the happenings going on in the worlds of his fellow firefighters, Bella watched on and encouraged him, most often with nothing more than a gesture of physical affection—a slide of her hand across his shoulders as she passed, or a quick kiss to his lips as she cuddled into him. She laughed with him on nights they'd listen together and his friends and family would send a word or two his way, knowing he'd hear them and was right there with them in spirit.
January had seen many changes in Edward, but it was a day late in the month that the man Bella had seen glimpses of in the past truly came back to life. When she'd come by unexpectedly after getting off work early one afternoon, she found the house empty. On the kitchen counter beside the phone, she'd found the simple note Edward had left behind.
At the station with Alec. Swing by if you can.
Edward
On shaky legs, Bella had darted back out of the house and raced over to the firehouse. The sight that greeted her as she pulled into the parking lot made her laugh through the joyous tears that spilled down her cheeks. In nearly sixty degree weather with the sun shining brightly above, Edward and the guys from his crew were gathered beside one of the trucks that had been pulled out of the bay, laughing and carrying on as they pelted each other with soapy, soaking wet sponges and rags. It was there, in that scene of kinship and playfulness, that she saw Edward in all of his lively glory. The smile that seemed to be permanently etched across his face was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, and his boisterous laughter was music to her ears. Bella wished he could always feel so lighthearted, but knew it was too much to ask for.
As February rolled in, bringing with it a steady stream of bleak gray skies and teeth chattering temperatures that erased the sporadic warm and sunny days of the month prior, so too was the radiance of Edward's spirits. Having gotten the slightest taste of having part of his prior life return to him, Edward wanted more. He wanted to be able to do more than just hang around the firehouse, help the guys wash the trucks, or share the occasional quick fixed meal with them. He wanted to be a part of all of it again. He wanted to be able to jump on the trucks with them when they got a call instead of hanging back and waiting for them to return. He wanted to remember what it felt like being on scene with the adrenaline coursing through his veins, and he wanted to remember what victory felt like.
Edward wanted it all back, but the possibility of getting there hadn't even yet crested his foreseeable horizon. Each day he spent with his crew fueled his desires to return to the job, and every day following he found himself pushing harder than ever before to achieve it. He could see the progress he was making, but it just wasn't enough, and some days, it felt like it never would be. He'd never before wanted something so bad, only to have it remain just out of his reach for so long. It was tiring, and infuriating, but he continued to drive himself toward his goal. By the end of February, he'd reached his breaking point.
"I don't want your help," Edward growled, snatching his arm away from the aide.
"Edward, relax," Seth urged gently.
"No! I'm so fucking sick of this shit already. I'm sick of that goddamn wheelchair and the harnesses and people doing shit for me all the time. Just quit holding me back and let me try to do this on my own for once."
"No one's holding you back right now but you. I understand you're frustrated, Edward," Seth argued, his tone firm. "Everyone that goes through what you are gets frustrated from time to time, but recovery is a process. There are no shortcuts."
The moment Edward made a move to stand on his own, Seth's hand pressed against his chest to hold him down on the bench.
"Get your goddamn hand off me."
Their gazes locked, angered defiance against unwavering calm. Seeing they would get nowhere that day, Seth sighed and looked up at the aides standing beside Edward.
"We're done for today. Thanks for your help guys." Focusing his gaze back on Edward as the others stepped away, he shook his head and withdrew his restraining hand.
"There's a fine line between pushing yourself and hurting yourself, and right now, with the state of mind you're in, you're crossing it," Seth said, his voice stern and gaze steady. "I get it, man. You're pissed off and tired of how long this is taking, but what you're bullheadedly trying to do will only set you back. If you push yourself too far, too fast, you'll do nothing more than slow yourself down, ya got me?"
"Fuck this, and fuck you," Edward spat, all but throwing himself into his wheelchair. Seth had barely had time to find the words to calm him when Edward spoke the words he dreaded hearing a patient ever say.
"I quit."
Without a second glance behind him, Edward wheeled himself away angrily. Caught between wanting to chase after him, and knowing it was best to give him some time, Seth growled and kicked the leg of the bench. Cursing beneath his breath, he stormed into his office and nearly slammed the door shut before snatching up the handle of the phone and dialing Bella's number, both to warn her of Edward's current mood, and to beg her to convince him to return.
"What happened? What's wrong?" Carlisle asked, confused and worried as Edward grabbed his coat with a scowl and tossed it on with harsh movements.
"Nothing. Let's go." Carlisle stood as he picked up his own coat, bewildered as Edward wheeled himself away hastily and hurriedly followed in his wake.
After Edward had gotten himself situated in the truck, Carlisle stowed the wheelchair in the back and made his way to the driver's side. Just as he was getting in, Edward rammed his fist into the dashboard. Startled, Carlisle's eyes darted toward his son and his gaze lingered as he slowly, absentmindedly, shut the door. The keys remained in his hand as he watched Edward's jaw muscles bulge as he clenched his teeth and glared out of the windshield.
"Want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Edward..."
"I said I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay." Carlisle held his hands up in surrender for a moment before putting the key in the ignition and starting up the truck.
"Well if you do...I'm not saying now, but whenever...I'm here, son."
The offer was left hanging between them, acknowledged by nothing more than a halfhearted nod of Edward's head as he turned his gaze out of the passenger side window. He really didn't want to talk about it, and didn't see the point in talking about it, either. Talking never helped. He could air out his frustrations from sunup to sundown, but it never alleviated what was ailing him.
He was so angry, and the anger had nowhere to go. Pent up inside of him and festering, turning him toxic from the inside out. For months he'd been watching some of the other patients in the center make great strides toward their full recoveries, silently envying them every step of the way. He'd seen some of the others arrive in wheelchairs, and leave upon their own feet just weeks later. Weeks while he'd been working toward the very same thing for months on end with nowhere near the same results as the others.
Fleeting envy had turned to bitter jealousy that blazed through his veins. He was sick and tired of being told to remain patient, that everyone's injuries were as different as their journeys through the recovery process. He didn't want to hear how anything was possible as long as he kept trying. He just wanted it to happen already. He wanted to be out of his wheelchair; wanted nothing more than to set it on fire and watch it burn, taking the memory of this whole experience with it as it turned to ash, but the very same person he was relying on helping him get out of it, was the one holding him down in it. One person was keeping him from healing faster and returning to the life he'd had before this all started—the life he desperately wanted to be living.
Edward's thoughts spun in a whirlwind of complete chaos as they pulled in his driveway, and it was at that moment, as if he wasn't shattering and falling apart enough as it was, that his father's fire pager went off. The rapid high pitched chirps initiating the series of tones that followed caused Edward's breath to seize in his chest, his entire body frozen rigid as stone against every emotion battering him from within to be set free. At the sound of the dispatcher's voice, the tenuous grasp Edward held on his emotions unraveled.
A sob ripped from his chest and a tear careened down the side of his face as the enormity of everything crashed down upon him. Not for the first time since he'd awoken from his coma, he wished he hadn't. Death would have been easier than what his life had become—nothing but an unending battle to achieve what no one could give him. His recovery was like everything else in his life had ever been; he had to fight for it, earn it the way his brothers had never had to earn a goddamn thing in their lives—with hard work.
"It's not fucking fair!" His fist once again slammed into the dashboard as Emmett's voice came across the device, responding to the dispatcher. Hearing his brother live out the only life he'd ever wanted and had been stripped of was too much to handle. "What the fuck did I ever do to deserve this shit!"
"Edward...son, stop." Carlisle reached over the console and grabbed a hold of his son, wrapping his arms around him as best he could. "Breathe, Edward...just breathe."
Holding his son as he broke down in a way Carlisle had never before witnessed, he cried tears of his own for him. "Sometimes things just happen in life. It has nothing to do with deserving it. If it did, this wouldn't have happened because you're the last person who'd deserve what you're going through. Please believe me, son."
Reaching blindly with one arm, Carlisle grabbed a hold of his pager clipped to the visor as it crackled to life once more. With a twist of his fingers upon a knob, it silenced and he dropped it, leaving it tumble down onto the floor by his feet as he brought his arm back around his son.
"Go," Edward croaked, trying to pull away from his father's hold. "It's a general alarm."
"You're more important. I need to be here more than they need me there."
Bella had been in the middle of lunch with a few co-workers when she'd gotten the call from Seth. Anxiety shot through her at seeing the physical rehabilitation center's number on the screen, and she excused herself as politely, and quickly, as she could. Of all the possible reasons for Seth to be calling her when he should have been working with Edward, hearing that Edward had quit had not been one of them. She'd discretely returned to the luncheon, but for the remainder of it her mind was everywhere but focused on the people accompanying her.
"Jay?" Bella called softly with a gentle rap of her knuckles against the frame of his door. He looked up from the stack of papers upon his desk he was sifting through and removed his glasses with a smile as she entered the room. "Would you mind if I cut out early today?"
"Excited to get everything packed up for the big move, are you?"
Bella forced a smile and nodded, not wishing to discuss the real reason she wanted to leave early. Be it as it may that his assumption was off by a mile, she wasn't entirely dishonest in her reply. Up until an hour before, she had been incredibly excited to be officially moving in with Edward.
"A little, yeah."
"There's not much going on here at the moment, so I see no problem with you getting an early start on your four day weekend."
"Thank you, Jay," she sighed in relief.
The journey from her desk to Edward's front door took less than a half an hour, but it felt like forever after managing to catch every red light possible and getting stuck behind every slow driver out on the roads that afternoon. Parking beside Carlisle's truck in the driveway, she was relieved to find that his father had stayed with him instead of just dropping him off as he usually did. Inside, she quickly dropped her purse on the entry way table and shed her coat, tossing it over the back of a kitchen chair as she made her way toward the den where she'd known she'd find him.
Wordlessly she nodded a greeting at Carlisle and made her way to stand behind Edward, wrapping her arms around his neck. With her head tucked beside his, she swayed him gently from side to side, pressing kisses to the side of his face. His eyes closed as warmth enveloped him along with the faint fragrance of her delicate perfume. She embodied the definition of comfort to him.
"It'll be okay, honey...everything will be okay," she whispered. She pressed more kisses upon the corner of his jaw and his hands came up to grip her arms, his thumbs caressing her soft skin as he nodded minutely.
From his spot on the couch, Carlisle watched the couple's quiet interaction with a heavy heart. He could remember having a fleeting moment of holding his son's life more valuable than that of any other's, but without her, he couldn't imagine how Edward would have ever made it this far. Never before had he been more grateful for someone who had entered one of his children's lives than he was for her, despite the tragedy that had brought them together. As he stood from the couch, feeling it necessary to grant them their privacy, Bella noticed and straightened from her hunched over stance. Edward's hands glided down her arms as she stood, and upon reaching her hands, he laced their fingers together.
"I'll leave you two some time alone." He gripped Edward's shoulder and patted it once before wrapping his arm around Bella and kissing her temple.
"We'd all be lost without you," he said appreciatively as he stepped away. "I'll see myself out. Call if either of you need anything."
Shortly after Carlisle's truck was heard pulling away from the house, Edward began wheeling himself toward the couch, only to have Bella grab a hold of the handles of his wheelchair and halt him.
"How about we go out and get some fresh air?" He shrugged as she pressed her lips at the corner of his jaw. "We could go to the park, or take a stroll down by the waterfront or something."
"I guess."
She could hear in his voice that he wasn't all too keen on going anywhere, but sitting around the house with nothing to distract him from his thoughts had proven time and time again to make matters worse. A little fresh air would do them both more good than cooping themselves up indoors.
Ruston Way Park lined part of the shore of Commencement Bay and consisted of a two mile scenic waterfront walkway that Bella had spent many a summer's evening strolling with her mother in her youth. Her mother had especially loved it in the fall for the beauty of the turning foliage that the views provided, but Bella, herself, had always loved the remarkable view of Mt. Rainier it provided at any time of the year. Her sudden chuckle as they slowly made their way down the path grabbed Edward's attention away from his plaguing thoughts instantly. She smiled down at him as his questioning gaze caught her eye.
"When I was a kid, I use to dream of one day climbing Mt. Rainier." Her smile remained softly stretched across her lips as she looked back at the hulking giant of earth across the bay. "I always fantasized about what it would be like to stand at the very top of its peaks and look down on the entire world below."
"Aren't you afraid of heights?"
His question made her laugh as she nodded. "Deathly. Never stopped me from wanting to try though. What about you? Was there anything you wanted to do as a kid that you never got around to doing?"
Edward thought for a moment as they strolled along and then shrugged, unable to come up with anything as adventurous as climbing a mountain.
"Not really. The only things I ever wanted to do as a kid, I did..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "Never planned on it all ending like this though."
Bella transferred Tango's leash to her opposite hand, holding both dogs' leashes with one hand so she could reach out and smooth a hand over the back of his head. "Nothing's over yet, Edward. Not until you say it is...so are you? Seth told me you quit today. Is that what you really want?"
"At the time, yes...now? I don't know," he sighed, slowing as they approached a bench. His arms were getting tired, and if they kept going to the end, he wouldn't have the energy to make it back to the car on his own. Bella took his cue and lowered herself onto the bench and slid the loops of the leashes over her wrist to free her hands. She reached out and took a hold of his hands, her gaze focused on his fingers as she gently fiddled with them.
"I can accept you quitting, but only if you can," she said quietly, and rose her gaze to meet his. "I want you to be happy, Edward. Whether that means making peace with yourself as you are and making a new life for yourself, or continuing to fight for what you used to be makes no difference to me because as long as you're happy, I'm happy. And that's all I really want. I just want to be happy with you."
"What if I don't really want to quit?" Edward asked, lowering his gaze to their hands. "I hate dragging you through all my moody bullshit all the time, and I don't want it to become the reason I lose you."
"I'm not going anywhere, Edward," she said reassuringly. "But if you don't really want to quit, can I ask you to do something for me?"
He raised his eyes to hers and nodded, willing to give her anything she asked for after all she'd done, and continued to do, for him.
"Anything."
"Will you please consider joining the support group Seth's been pushing for so long? I'll even go with you if you want."
"Bella..."
"Please? Or if not that, at least consider talking to Aaron when things start to become too much to handle," she pleaded at his groan. "He's such a nice guy and he's tried to reach out to you and be there for you so many times when we've run into him at the center. All I'm asking is that you try. If it doesn't help, then it doesn't help. Just...will you please give it a chance? I can't do this all on my own anymore, honey."
He sighed miserably as he looked deep into her eyes and saw the truth within them. She couldn't do it alone anymore, and he couldn't keep asking her to. Especially not when he could admit to himself that he couldn't do it on his own anymore either.
"Okay," he conceded, nodding once. "I promise, Bella. I'll give it a shot."
That very night, after returning home from watching the sun set over the bay, Edward dug through his wallet to find the scrap of paper Aaron had had Seth give him. While Bella cooked dinner, he spent over an hour on the phone with him, and though he'd initially thought he'd end the call wishing he'd never made it, in the end, he realized just how wrong he'd been.
Aaron didn't laugh or try to make a joke out of the pained words he had spoken, and he didn't try to insinuate that Edward was making a mountain of a mole hill. He understood, empathized, and shared his own tales of therapy related emotional turmoil to show that he wasn't alone in his struggles. Everyone had their good days and bad days, some worse or better than others. The only thing that mattered at the end of the day was if he was willing to keep going, and if not, whether or not he could live with knowing he'd given up. Edward couldn't live with that indefinitely. He'd known that much before having even spoken to Aaron, and it was because of that knowledge that the very next morning, with Bella by his side, he wheeled himself back into the PT center.
"I thought you said you quit," Seth remarked, his arms crossed over his chest but a smile tugging at his lips.
"I lied." Edward wheeled himself right over to the stretching table and transferred himself onto it with ease.
"And Seth?" He looked at him remorsefully. "Yesterday was..."
"Just that—yesterday." Seth grinned, waving it off. "Today's a new day."
Spring
March greeted the residents of Tacoma with a series of hellacious thunderstorms upon its arrival. Cracks of thunder shook the city as lightning streaked across the angry skies, causing frequent power outages with the tangling of electricity lines in fallen trees that had been battered and beaten by the wind and fierce rain. Electricians worked around the clock to restore power, as did the fire and police departments responding to reports of live wires in roads, sparking transformers, and even downed trees upon houses or across residential streets, just to keep the city residents at a safe distance from the danger the obstacles presented until the next available utility company truck could arrive.
The storms eventually passed and warmth and sunshine moved in, thawing the earth from its previously near frozen state, but chaos continued to ensue beneath Edward and Bella's roof. For once, however, it was a good kind of chaos. Their days were filled with long hours at work and vigorous therapy sessions, and their nights were filled with dinners spent with various family members and friends that stopped by to help them hastily plan an upcoming event for someone they both loved.
March 15th marked Alec's thirtieth birthday, and for it, Edward and Bella were planning on hosting a party for upwards of around one hundred people. There was plenty to do, and little time for them to get it done with their combined schedules, but pulling it together served two purposes—and served them well. Not only would it show their friend their gratitude for all he'd done for them, but it also kept Edward's mind preoccupied and far away from his mental struggles with his recovery. Everything was once again starting to look up, but the night before the party, while sitting at a table with Alice and putting together party favors for the guests, Edward was hit by something that took him even further away from his own problems, and light years away from the celebratory mood around him. After nearly an hour of idle chat with one of his dearest friends, and sister in-law, one simple question led to an outburst that blindsided him completely.
"Did Jasper tell you he got hired on with Dispatch?" he asked, smoothing the sticker he'd just applied to a bottle of red wine. It contained Alec's picture designed to look like a vineyard label of a vintage wine.
"No," Alice sighed as she took the bottle from him and began tying and curling decorative ribbons around its neck.
"Huh...well he's only been there a few weeks, but he seems to..."
"Edward, we're filing for divorce," she blurted suddenly.
The bottle he'd held in his hands slipped and fell to the table, half affixed sticker and all as his eyes shot up in her direction. He'd barely caught it from rolling off the table when she slapped a hand over her mouth and began rambling quickly.
"I'm sorry...god, I'm so sorry. We just...Jasper and I decided to wait until after the party had passed and things had calmed down to say anything about it, but there I go blurting it out like an idiot because I can't even answer a few stupid questions without pointing out the obvious that we don't really talk to each other about anything anymore. Jesus, Edward. Say something, please."
"We...what do you mean we?" he questioned, having barely caught a word of what she'd just spoken so hurriedly, still stuck on her first statement involving the word divorce. "Is this because I told you to drop him on his ass? Because I didn't mean it like that, Peanut. I just meant let him flounder on his own for a bit until something knocked some sense into him."
"It's, um...it's mutual, Edward. We both want out...irreconcilable differences is what our lawyers are filing it as..." she trailed off, twirling a strip of ribbon around her finger. "I'm not even the one who brought it up; he did...not long after New Year's Eve."
"Well, shit," Edward muttered, sinking back into his chair. "I don't...damn, Alleycat, I don't even know what to say to that."
"There's really nothing to say," she shrugged, dropping the strip of ribbon onto the table as she looked up at him. "Please don't tell your parents, or anyone else, yet. We really wanted to keep it under wraps so it wouldn't ruin tomorrow for anyone. I really didn't mean to let it slip like that. I'm so sorry, Edward."
"It's okay, Alice." Edward shook it off and righted himself in his seat before reaching for a new bottle. Peeling off a new sticker, he glanced up at her and smiled as best he could. "Stop apologizing. It's only meyou slipped to, so it's no big deal. Forever friends no matter what, right?"
"Yeah, forever friends," she smiled sadly back. It was a big deal, and she knew it, but no matter how much she wished things could be different, there was nothing she could do to change it. She and Jasper had just grown too far apart to rekindle what they'd once shared, and their months apart had only allowed them to drift further away from each other. Whether it was that night, or sometime within the next few weeks, Edward would have heard the news from either her or Jasper eventually, but till, she wished she hadn't blurted it out as she had, or when she had.
As he'd promised, Edward said nil a word about the impending divorce within his family to anyone, and if his slightly somber mood was noticed the following day at the party, it went by unacknowledged. He smiled on cue, laughed when it was expected, but the sadness of knowing what Alice and Jasper had once shared had withered and faded away lingered beneath the surface. A week later they broke their decision to the family over dinner. Ironically enough, it was the very same night Alec came home with the news that his own divorce had officially been finalized.
March slowly passed into April, with many of the days feeling much the same as the day before. Rocked by his brother and sister in-law's marriage falling apart, Edward spent most of his time throwing all of his energy into his physical therapy and spending time with his family. In the mornings, he'd taken to caring for Ian to save Emmett and Rosalie the money they'd been spending on daycare during the hours they both had to be at work and school, respectively. It was infrequent that he ever found himself alone with Ian during those few hours between Rosalie dropping him off and someone else taking over while he was in his therapy sessions, but he didn't take offense to the extra set of eyes and hands. He felt better knowing there was someone close by in case he needed them, especially now that, at almost seven months old, Ian was starting to crawl like a speed demon all over the place.
In the evenings, it was fairly often that Rosalie and Emmett would join them for dinner, and it was those nights that Edward enjoyed the most. Watching Bella coddle and coo at his nephew, laugh while playing with him, and hum while rocking him to sleep gave him a crystal clear view of how wonderful a mother she'd be one day. He wanted to have that with her—fiercely, and it showed enough that his brothers, Alec, and even Alice and Rose had begun teasing him as to when he planned on asking her to marry him. Little did they know, their hinting shallowly passed off as comments made in jest were entirely unnecessary.
The second Sunday of April, Edward had taken her parents to breakfast under the guise of going to the shooting range with Charlie, and during their meal, politely requested their daughter's hand in marriage. Renee had been over the moon with excitement. Charlie on the other hand, actually did take Edward to the shooting range, and only after spending two straight hours making Edward age a decade from anxiety did he laugh and clap him on the shoulder while asking him when the big day was. For a split second, Edward was tempted to shoot him in the foot and play it off as a complete accident, but he couldn't because the man had just given him his blessing to marry his daughter.
That very night, with the house all to themselves, Edward and Bella laid in the darkened den, the only light illuminating the room coming from the television. Many a Sunday night had been spent in their exact position; stretched along the couch beneath a blanket, Bella's back to Edward's chest, one of his arms beneath her head and the other curled over her side. The only thing that differentiated this Sunday night from any other, was the ring tucked away in the pocket of his sleep shorts.
As discretely as possible, Edward pulled his hand away from the slow trails his fingers had been making up and down the length of her arm, from her fingers to just above her elbow and back again. With the ring encircling his pinky, he returned to his tender caressing, making two more passes before slowing at her fingertips and slipping the ring over the fourth finger of her left hand silently. He felt it the moment her breath seized in her chest and his gaze turned toward her just in time to see her eyes widen. A smile crossed his face as her hand turned within his and her thumb crossed over the three diamonds resting atop the ring. Her gaze finally turned toward him and his nose skimmed featherlike across the soft flesh of her cheek.
"Will you?"
"Seriously?" she breathed, smiling brilliantly.
"Entirely," he grinned, bumping the tip of his nose against hers as he laced their fingers together.
Edward could clearly remember Bella being as calm as a windless day, impossibly subdued on the night they'd first kissed, first made love, and the day he'd asked her to move in with him. Not one of those momentous occasions had prepared him for the ear shattering squeal of delight that burst forth from her windpipe as she flipped over and clung to him while pressing kisses against his lips, cheeks, chin, and even his nose as he laughed.
"Should I take that as a yes, then?"
"Absolutely," she beamed, followed shortly by a gasp as she jumped off the couch, nearly tripping herself with the blanket as she ran from the room, her voice trailing behind her. "Oh my gosh! I have to call Tanya and Irina, and Alice, and Rosalie!"
"Babe, they're probably all sleeping already!" he called after her, still laughing to himself as he watched her slide across the kitchen floor in her socks.
The following day, Edward found himself standing with each of his arms around an aide on either side of him supporting some of his weight, the edge of a padded therapy table pressing lightly against the backs of his thighs, and sporting an ear to ear grin. His mood was unshakable as Seth stood before him, using one hand against his chest to right him each time he began to lose his balance and tip forward.
"How are the legs feeling, lover boy?" Seth asked, bemused by the inerasable grin Edward had had stretched across his face for the last hour.
"Great," he grinned impossibly wider.
"Not too shaky?"
"Nah uh," Edward shook his head.
"Balance, Edward," Seth laughed as he pushed against his chest gently to right him again. "Get your head out of the clouds and focus on your balance."
"Doing good, man. Now take a step forward."
"What?" Edward gaped, his grin falling as his left knee buckled and his expression took on one of surprise and confusion.
"Take a step forward. We gotta get you practicing for the real thing. No better time than the present, don't you think?" Seth laughed again, entirely too amused by his mood that day. If it hadn't been for the nearly eleven p.m. phone call he'd received from an overly excited Bella, he might have thought Edward had been under the influence.
"Ah, ah, balance, Edward," Seth corrected, pushing against his chest once more. "Eyes on me, not the floor unless you plan on becoming closely acquainted with it within the next few minutes."
Edward had been practicing his balance while in the center's pool with Seth and either Emmett, his father, or Bella, but being on his own two feet on dry land wasn't anywhere near comparable to being in the water. It took twice as much effort out of the water than in it, and his ability to maintain his balance continuously was tenuous at best.
"Jimmy and Sean got ya, and we're not gonna let ya fall, so give it a go. Right leg first since it's your stronger one, then bring your left beside it."
Edward nodded, feeling both aides at his sides secure their grips upon his hands, their opposite arms crossing behind his back for support. Just as it was on the treadmill when he was strapped into the harness, when he bent his right leg, the motion was jerky and erratic, sloppy and difficult to control. Gritting his teeth as the toe of his sneaker caught on the floor, he leaned slightly to the left and tried to kick his foot out. It hit the floor a few inches in front of him with an echoing slap as his breath rushed from his lungs.
"Awesome," Seth encouraged, holding his hand out ready to push Edward back a little, but he righted himself on his own. "Straighten your foot out before stepping with your left."
Edward did as he was instructed and pulled in another breath, his face twisting from the effort he was exuding as he tried to bend and bring his left leg forward. He couldn't. He strained and gave it all he had trying to lift it, but all he could get it to do was bend slightly with the same jerking motions, only with greater intensity. The movement was quickly throwing him off balance, and he feared his full weight would cause the three of them to all fall.
"I'm going to use my foot to push yours forward," Sean warned before Edward felt his leg move forward with stunted motion.
Seth's gaze quickly flitted across the floor before finding who he was looking for and calling him over. Edward watched as Alec came jogging up to them.
"What's up?"
"Need a hand. I need you to stand behind me and if Edward starts to tip forward, press your palm against the center of his chest and push gently until he's straight up again."
"No prob," Alec nodded as Seth knelt down to the floor.
"Okay, Edward. Get your bearings and start with your right again. I'm going to help you step with the left."
With the same outcome the following two steps forward and three back to the table, Seth moving his left leg for him each time only after making him try on his own first, Edward felt something he hadn't felt in quite some time as they lowered him to sit on the padded table—a sense of accomplishment. Leaving the center that day, after the promises spring had brought, he couldn't wait to see what summer held in store for him.
A/N: One more and then the Epi! OMG I'm wigging out over here LOL. See ya'll Thursday!