Disclaimer: The characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, I own the plot Chapter thirty-eight
Bpov
Edward and I laughed as we took in the other's appearance.
"I think we need to clean ourselves up before we go downstairs," Edward murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
Laughing, I took his hand and pulled him into the bathroom with me. When I took in my wild hair and rumpled clothes there was nothing I could do but laugh. Edward watched me with amusement as I tried to untangle my hair and make my dress look a little less like I had just gotten some at my future in-laws house.
"God, if you think about it, this is so embarrassing," I chuckled, watching Edward through the reflection in the mirror.
"I guess it is kind of high school of us to have sex while the rest of the family is downstairs."
I was glad the both of us could laugh about the situation. It sure as hell was better than the frigid atmosphere we had experienced when we drove out here. I was glad we managed to settle it. I really didn't want to fight with Edward, especially about something like that.
I had to admit that I could somewhat identify with his fears. I experienced them too, only I was more used to keep my emotions in check. Something that comes with becoming a mommy. Everything you do or say can be picked up by your kid and you could unintentionally hurt their feelings or make them feel insecure. I just hoped that so far I had done a good job with Emma.
"Are you ready to go down?" Edward asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Are you? Will you just look at your hair and shirt?"
"My hair is always this crazy and..." he trailed off while smoothing down his shirt, "The shirt is done. Come one, let's go."
We were just at the top of the stairs when Alice came out of the living room and headed in our direction. She looked up, saw us and smiled.
"Did you two make up?"
"How did you even know we had something to make up?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows.
She chuckled. "I think everyone noticed the tortured expression on Edward's face and seeing he looks nearly post-coital now, I figured you guys kissed and made up."
Edward nearly choked when he started laughing. I poked his ribs to get him to stop, but he couldn't. I simply shook my head at him and left him at the top of the stairs while I went down and joined Alice to go back into the living room.
Carlisle sat in the recliner, watching sports with the boys, while Esme and Rosalie were still pouring over the folders, discussing the pros and cons of each one.
"Where's Emma?" I asked, looking over at Carlisle.
When his eyes met mine, I noticed the slight pink flush of his cheeks and in response I felt my face get extremely hot.
"She fell asleep so I put her in her room."
I really wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole in that moment. Emma had gotten her own room here when we moved in with Edward, so that she could have sleepovers if she wanted. It was the same room as she and I slept in that first night. The room next to Edward's.
Carlisle shifted in his seat, not really knowing where to look. Edward came in and saved me from any more quiet mortification, because Emmett suddenly felt the need to verbalize said embarrassment.
"Hey, little brother! I believe you and your girl having been doing some naughty things."
"EMMETT!" Came from several people in the room.
"What? It's true isn't it?"
Esme got up and walked over to him. She shook her head in disappointment before slapping the back of his head.
"You, son are such a big mouthed fool sometimes. Do you honestly think we haven't heard more than that from you and Rosalie over the summer? Or from you and one of your previous girlfriends? Honestly, Emmett. You of all people have no right to embarrass anyone about having a sex-life."
"Oh, God! Mom! I do not want to hear those words from your mouth. Let me please live in the nice alternate reality where my parents are to old to know about sex, let alone practice it."
Alice and Edward nodded, clearly uncomfortable with the notion of their parents still having sex. I caught Rosalie's eye and she inclined her head to me with a wink. I bit back an evil smile and looked at the others.
"Come on, guys. If I was Esme and I was married to a hot man like Carlise, I would be all over him every day of the week."
Rosalie snorted. "Several times a day," she added, giving me a thumbs up under the table.
"Oh, but I do," Esme blurted.
The three Cullen kids groaned, covering their ears with their hands, while Carlisle simply ducked his head and looked horrified at the conversation. I leaned into Esme and whispered in her ear.
"Why is he hiding?"
"He doesn't discuss our bedroom business in public. No matter how much the situation calls for it. Like it did just now," she whispered back.
I smiled, gave her a peck on the cheek and sat down in the chair next to Carlisle. Thankfully the conversation turned to safer subject and by the time it was time for us to go home, the subject was long forgotten.
The girls and I had decided to take a pastry class. We all liked our chocolate and sweet stuff, but Rosalie pushed it the last bit to our final decision by stating that she wanted to learn how to make her own goods for when her cravings hit.
Edward carried Emma to the car and settled her into her seat, while I waited in the front seat. We drove off and although we were quiet again, it was a comfortable silence.
~*~
It was Sunday afternoon and Edward and I had taken Emma to the park so she could play while the weather was still reasonably good. She had demanded Edward push her on the swings until she spotted a girl from her class and she headed over to play with her in the sandbox.
"She is such a beautiful girl," someone behind us said.
I turned my head and saw Victoria standing there, looking a little haggard and with black circles under her eyes.
"Victoria?" Edward asked, sounding as stunned as I felt.
"Hi," she whispered. "Do you mind if I talk to you for a bit?"
Edward gestured to the bench next to the one we were on. I could see his jaw clench as he looked over his shoulder, so I figures James was there too. And sure enough, he sat down beside Victoria. He inclined his head towards us in greeting, but kept his mouth shut. He had his hands clasped in front of him and he was staring down at the ground. Something about his posture made me think he was a broken man.
"First of all we owe you both an apology. We never should have dropped you like we did back then. Yes, things were bad and we thought it would be difficult to deal with it, but that was no excuse to give up on you," Victoria said softly.
Edward was staring at Emma who was happily making sandcastles with her friend, blissfully unaware of the straining conversation going on just a few feet away.
"It was a shitty thing to do, but at the time we saw no other way," James explained.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Edward hissed as his blazing eyes bore down on James. The older man actually cowered in his seat.
"You beat the shit out of me whenever you saw fit, but what you apologize for is sending Bella and I away?! It would have been the best move you'd ever made if you had made sure we were placed in the same home."
"I know I was wrong to do that, Edward. Really, I do."
Edward scoffed. "Sure, James. What do you want from us? You want us to forgive you? Do you need money or something?"
From the corner of my eye I noticed Victoria cringe in her seat.
"Oh you've got to be joking," I muttered.
I turned to Victoria and looked her over from head to toe. "You are having money problems, aren't you? Look at you Victoria, what happened to you?"
"James got convicted for assault about a month after you and Edward were sent away. He had beaten Aro within an inch of his life when he had found out what Aro had done to you. We lost our house, because I couldn't pay for it on my own. Then when James got out six months ago, he couldn't get a job, so he tried his luck at gambling. At first he won some money, but he kept going until he lost it all and then some. We couldn't pay the money sharks, so we ran."
"That night we ran into you at the bar, we had been invited by Tanya. We had run into her a couple of days before. She told us she had an idea to get us out of trouble and help her get Edward."
I groaned. Of course this psycho wouldn't hesitate to talk to our former foster parents.
"She asked us to abduct you and hold you for ransom. She would then get a chance to be there for Edward and she was convinced he would fall in love with her then. But I just couldn't agree to that. We waited for her to walk away before we left and then James ran into you."
Edward stood, looking extremely agitated. I placed a hand on his arm, trying to reassure him.
"I'm going to take a walk with Emma. I can't sit still right now," he said.
He gave me a quick kiss and strode over to Emma, scooping her up in his arms and blowing raspberry's on her belly until she squealed at him to stop. They both waved at me before they walked off together, Emma talking excitedly about her sandcastle.
I noticed Victoria's watery eyes and for a moment I felt sorry for her. She was always sweet to the both of us.
"Oh, Bella I am so sorry. You must have had her when you didn't even know where Edward was. How could we have done this to you?" she sobbed.
James didn't move to comfort her and I felt my anger at him rise.
"You are an asshole, you know that?" I past at him. "Your wife is crying and you don't even comfort her, what kind of a man are you really? Victoria why do you even put up with him? He's the one that treated you like shit all these years and to top it off he's gotten so far in debt that he has you running all over the country. You must see that he doesn't really love you. If he did he would try to protect you from everything and anything that could hurt you."
James jumped to his feet, staling towards me with a livid expression on his face, but after having dealt with Tanya I really didn't feel any fear.
"O drop the testosterone, James. It's the truth! If you loved her you would never have treated her the way you did, no matter how angry you were at Edward or me. Or whoever else pissed you off. You should be a man and face the fact that you have problems you haven't dealt with. I had several hours of therapy to help me cope with what Aro did and that was a one time occurrence. You have been abused you entire childhood, moved from home to home throughout your adolescence. James you need help and not just financial help."
His face turned nearly purple in fury and he raised his hand. I raised my chin in defiance.
"Hey!" Emma yelled, running up behind him. "Don't you dare touch my mom! I will get my uncle Emmett and he's way bigger than you and he will hurt you so bad!"
James stared down at Emma who was now standing in front of me as if she could defend me and I saw his face go from angry, to shocked, to amused, to horrified before he dropped his hand to his side and reluctantly met my gaze.
"How did you get so wise?" he whispered.
"I had to learn for her. I had to deal with my past before I could provide her with a future. It's not too late to fix your mistakes, James. You just have to face up to them, starting with comforting your wife right now."
He turned around and for the first time since I've known him, he looked at Victoria with love in his eyes. I realized it had always been there, but it was tucked deeply beneath whatever it was that ate him up inside and made him act like an abusive bastard.
I picked Emma up and hugged her close to me. "I love you so much, baby girl, but promise me you will never do that again."
She nodded into my neck and put her thumb in her mouth.
"Let's get you home," I whispered, while stroking her curls.
I looked up and saw Edward looking at us from a distance. He was staring so intently at me that I could feel a fire ignite within. I knew what he wanted and I desperately wanted it too. He held out his hand in invitation and I practically sprinted across the park to get to him.
He wrapped the both of us in his arms as soon as we reached him and I knew he had watched what happened with James. I was so proud of him for not interfering. It meant so much that he trusted me to handle it, even after Emma had decided to butt in.
"I love you," I said, looking deep into his eyes.
"I love you too. I was afraid for a second," he admitted against my forehead.
"Nothing happened, so we can all relax."
"Do you think we will see them again?"
"I don't know and I don't care. They need to handle their own problems, we don't need to fix it for them."
Edward pursed his lips and nodded. "Let's go home."
~*~
Emma had fallen asleep in my arms when we walked home, so when we got in, I put her down for her nap. I was standing beside her bed, watching as she slept peacefully. I heard Edward softly call my name from our bedroom, so I bent down, placed a kiss on Emma's curls and left her room to go find my love.
He was standing in the middle of our room, without a shirt on. He crooked his finger, beckoning me over to him. When I was in arm's reach he pulled me flush against his body. I felt his hard length press into my belly and I instantly felt my panties dampen.
"I want you, my Bella. I want to undress you and kiss and lick every inch of your body."
I shivered in anticipation as his hands reached the hem of my shirt. He slowly slid it up my torso, fingers skimming along my skin ever so lightly, making me feel lightheaded. When he reached my breasts he teasingly ran his thumb over my pebbled nipples. I moaned softly at the sensation. When he had freed me of my shirt I tangled my hands in his hair and pulled him to me for a passionate kiss.
"I love that you want to worship me, but I want to do something that you haven't let me do since the first night we spent together," I whispered against his lips.
"And what is that?" he groaned, his eyes rolling back as I tugged on his hair.
"I want to make you come in my mouth."
I blushed as I said it, but Edward's shiver and strangled moan was all the reward I needed to forget all about the embarrassment I felt.
Impatiently, I pulled his shirt over his head, my hands roaming over his bare chest as soon as he was freed of the offending fabric. I shoved him until his knees hit the bed and he fell back. I kissed him fiercely.
"Stay right there," I ordered him, loving the excitement that shone in his eyes.
I sank to my knees in front of the bed and quickly unzipped his pants and pulled them down with his boxers. I helped him get them over his feet and then he was spread before me, completely naked and looking glorious as ever.
I licked his tip, eliciting a deep moan from Edward. I smirked against his skin and dragged my tongue from his base to his tip, swirled it around the head before I plunged down over him.
"God! Bella!" he exclaimed, bucking up into me.
I pulled away. "Shhh. You don't want to be stopped by our daughter again, do you?" I asked, biting away my smile.
"No, just don't stop. God, don't stop. Put your mouth back on me baby, please."
"I love hearing you beg," I murmured before taking him back into my mouth.
I altered between long deep strokes and sucking and licking the head. Edward moaned as quietly as he possibly could, but he couldn't stop his sounds completely. His hands slipped into my hair, guiding me in a pace he liked. His breathing picked up, while I sucked harder.
"Oh, baby. I'm gonna….God, I'm gonna come," he moaned.
With a couple of erratic thrusts of his hips he released into my mouth, while letting out a dragged out groan. I swallowed as couple of times before releasing him from my mouth. I crawled up the bed beside him and smiled as I took in his blessed out face.
"Did you like that, baby?" I asked him quietly.
"Yes, very much."
I wanted to say something else when I heard Emma's door open.
"Get into the bathroom," I whispered, shoving Edward to get him to move.
He groaned in protest, but made his way into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, just as Emma stormed into our room. She paused as she took in my shirtless body.
"Mom? Where is your shirt?"
"I spilled something on it and I wasn't sure what to put on."
"Okay. Can I watch some cartoons."
"Sure, baby. I'll be right out."
She happily skipped out of the room, thankfully unaware of what she nearly walked in on. Edward stuck his head around the door with a smirk.
"Is the coast clear?"
"Yeah, but I'd better go out there before she decides she needs to know where daddy went."
A/N: The confrontation might not have been as spectacular as I originally planned, but I felt it would be best for them to settle this once and for all. There will come no good from living in the past and Bella and Edward needed to let James and Victoria go.
I hope you guys like the chapter. I am really looking forward to hearing what you think, so please drop me a review :)
Love,
Mo
PS I've written an all-human one-shot about musician Edward and his neighbour Bella (rated T). If you're interested check it out on my profile and let me know what you think of it.