I don't own these characters. They are the sole property of Stephenie Meyer. I only borrow them. No humans are permanently harmed through my actions, though I do confess to harassing, annoying, torturing, and exasperating them – just because it's fun. I make no money from my little stories, sad day. I only play in the sandbox, I didn't build it.

Author's Note: I'd like to thank my soldier buddy who helped me out. I've corrected Edward's rank to Sergeant Major, which is still an E-9, but more appropriate for Edward's position. He also helped me correct the scene in which Edward is informed of Bella's accident. I confess, I can't really "consult" my own military "experts" as none of them know I write fan fiction. It's my dirty little secret, LOL! So your help, Billy, is most appreciated. I've told him to holler if I get anything else wrong because I very much want this to be realistic and accurate.

The next update should be on Sunday. Again, thank you for reading. You all put a smile on my face.

Chapter 38: Seeing is Believing

We all headed back to my house after Masen and Alyssa let the real estate agent know their decision. Mom and Dad were back by the time we got back and my mom had bags of stuff for the boys – all six of them. Each one of them had been remembered and I saw Bella's smile when Esme handed Seth a bag. I looked at my mom over Bella's hand and gave her a wink. My mom acted like she didn't see me and just continued handing out little gifts to the boys like that was standard operating procedure.

She had always said that spoiling grandchildren was the biggest benefit of being a grandparent and she usually did a very good job. I suspected that she was going to have a ball figuring out what Bella's boys liked. I'd have to warn Bella about my mother, in the nicest way possible of course. And I had a feeling that Bella wouldn't care. She would know that whatever my mother did was motivated out of love and generosity.

Then the women retreated to the kitchen and somehow whipped up a spaghetti and meatball dinner. I didn't know I had all the ingredients necessary in my kitchen and frankly it was a little scary that they put it all together like that. We male types gathered in the living room to watch Spike TV. Bully Beatdown was on and not one of us suggested changing the channel. It was a fact of life that most males liked seeing a little brutality, especially when it involved some punk bully getting his ass handed to him.

Alyssa came out to see what we were watching and then rolled her eyes. Masen ignored her. Mom peeked out and gave my father "the look." He ignored her. Bella sauntered out and studied the nine of us and shook her head. I ignored that. Sometimes you just have to give into the testosterone surge.

After a while they called us to dinner and told us that we would be responsible for clean up since they'd done all the cooking. My dad and brother and I bitched about it for a bit but then settled down after each one of the women bestowed "the look" on us. Dinner was great; the conversations were loud and punctuated by a lot of laughter. Once again, I was struck by how easily we all sort of fit in together.

We cleaned up the kitchen like we'd been told. None of us were stupid, though we all had our moments. The boys pitched in, though there was more grumbling from their ranks than from ours. The rest of the evening passed quickly and then Bella said it was time to get the boys home and ready for bed.

My stomach felt sort of sick when I saw her stand up and I knew she was getting ready to go. I hated it when she left or I left her; I hated it more and more every day. It just felt wrong watching her walk away from me. I wanted to know that when I crawled into bed, she would be there to snuggle up against. I wanted to hear the boys running up and down the stairs, to hear them yelling for each other. When I was alone in my house, it was too damned quiet and empty.

I kissed her goodnight, hoping that the shadows I saw in her eyes were a similar reluctance to be apart from me. My family would be leaving first thing in the morning and I was actually looking forward to spending a few days with Bella and the boys by ourselves. I still had four days left of leave and I wanted to make the most of them.

My parents got up early and decided to accompany Masen and his family to the airport. Masen told me not to worry about it since they'd be back soon anyway. They had put an offer in on the house and it had been accepted. Alyssa was already mentally packing up their house, armed with Bella's list of helpful hints. I hadn't been lying when I said Bella knew her shit about moving a family.

Early the next morning, I got up and kissed everyone good bye. Masen and Alyssa and the boys piled into their rental car and mom and dad pulled out of the driveway right behind them. By 0630, I was alone.

And lonely.

I went back into the house and straightened up a bit. It was too early to bother Bella but the urge was there. Then my phone vibrated and I saw there was a text.

All by yourself yet?

I grinned. Bella had great timing.

Yep.

Poor baby.

Maybe someone should invite me over? I suggested.

Maybe.

I waited. It didn't take long.

Wanna come over? I have coffee.

Coffee? I'll be right over.

I was smiling like an idiot as I climbed into my Suburban. I drove a little faster than I should have, which was a bad habit of mine. But in the tank of a vehicle I had purchased I pretty much invincible. Honestly, the beast could have run down the smaller cars on the road and not even been slowed down. I would have been picking out Prius parts from the grill. I would have been lying if I said I didn't like the feeling.

By the time I got to Bella's it was a little after seven. To my surprise, even Jake wasn't up yet so when Bella opened the door I just stared at her for a moment. "Where's Jake?" I asked.

Bella shook her head. "Still sleeping, can you imagine?" she said dryly. Jake never slept in. Ever.

"Are you sure he's alive?" I teased as I pulled her into my arms.

"Pretty sure," Bella answered breathlessly. "He was snoring away ten minutes ago."

"Good to know," I whispered against her cheek, on my way toward that earlobe. Oh yeah, the ear. She liked that shit. I nibbled and then sucked her lobe into my mouth. She moaned and pressed up against me.

"You play dirty, Cullen," she accused.

"Very dirty," I agreed. "I'm a dirty, dirty boy." I pulled back to wink at her.

She playfully slapped my arm and pulled me inside. "Before we give the neighbors a show," she admonished. "I'm fairly sure they're already gossiping about the widow and her pretty boy."

"You think I'm pretty?" I batted my lashes at her and she laughed.

"Oh, I was talking about my other pretty boy," Bella answered. "You're my ruggedly handsome manly man." Then she made a face at me.

I pouted. "But I wanted to be the pretty boy for once."

She sighed and shook her head. "You men, so high maintenance. I swear."

"At least give me some coffee," I pleased. "We ruggedly handsome, manly men need our coffee."

"Come on, Mr. Brawny Paper Towel man," she mocked.

"I thought I'd at least rate a Mr. Clean," I grumbled.

She sent me an arch look. "You gonna shave your head?"

I rubbed my hand over my very short hair. "What? This isn't close enough for you?"

"You aren't bald," she pointed out. Then she wrinkled up her nose. "Not yet anyway."

"We Cullen men don't go bald," I informed her arrogantly. Then I grabbed her and began tickling her, and she buried her face in my neck and snorted. Loudly. Then she groaned. "Shit…" she muttered. I laughed.

I tilted up her face and kissed her. "I think it's cute," I assured her. Then I nuzzled her neck. "Besides, we've already established that you're pig-headed." Bella laughed and turned her head so that my lips were pressed to hers. I liked the way my girl was thinking. Our tongues slid against each other, slow and easy. There was nothing hurried or urgent about it. "Hmmm…Bella," I whispered, feeling that familiar response in my lower region.

She sort of pushed against me with her hips, and it was the sweetest kind of torture. Because I knew that there wasn't a damned thing I could do to alleviate the ache. I whispered in her ear, "You're gonna pay for that Bella."

"Promises, promises…" She pulled away slightly and gave me a slightly less passionate kiss. My dick and I sulked together. She laughed at me, but didn't move away from my embrace so I couldn't be too upset. I kissed her.

"Ewww, gross," I heard a voice mutter. I turned to see Jake who was shuffling by us on his way to the kitchen.

"We've been busted," I murmured, but I didn't move away from her. I gave Jake a wink.

He shook his head at me. Apparently it was too early in the morning to see your mother kissing someone. Anyone.

Luckily, we hadn't been doing too much more than standing really close and kissing. Thank God we hadn't been groping each other. Thank God it hadn't been Emmett who saw us. Thank God she had untucked (and when the hell had she actually done that?) my shirt so that it fell below my belt and hid my all-too-obvious erection. She had even left my shirt buttoned, which sort of threw me.

Bella tugged my hand and dragged me to the kitchen. "Come on, you big manly man, we need to make Jake some breakfast."

Soon Bella and I were making French toast and giving each other little innocent kisses every now and then while Jake looked on with amused resignation. He wasn't really upset with us and Bella knew it. It seemed that we were going to ease the boys into accepting our physical relationship, kiss by kiss and touch by touch. Slow and easy, we'd allow the boys to see that we were getting more serious about each other. It had worked between the two of us; I only hoped the boys would be as receptive.

Before too long, Seth ambled down, followed closely by Emmett. Sam was the last to shuffle down. Once the boys and Bella were eating and I had indulged in one or two servings of the same, I asked Bella what was on the agenda for the day.

She sighed. "Well, I have to go get some supplies for the school year," she said. "Not just stuff for the boys, but for my classroom too."

The four boys groaned. Apparently they were familiar with this routine. "Aw, Mom," Emmett said. "I hate school shopping."

I thought about it before I made the offer. I really did. For once. "Uh…I could go with you and uh…help?" I had no clue what one did for school shopping, or even what Bella needed to buy. But I was willing to help, especially if it meant I could spend the day with Bella. And it couldn't be too involved, could it? It was just shopping after all.

The grin on her face told me she had been hoping I would offer. Sucker. "Okay," she said. "When I have to get stuff for my classroom maybe you could take the boys to the arcade or something?"

This suggestion got the full approval of the boys and Emmett jumped up to claim the shower first. "Don't take forever!" Bella yelled after him and then she looked at me. I started laughing. I couldn't help it.

~TBTA~

School shopping for four boys proved to be…interesting. Honestly, I was a little overwhelmed. Bella didn't even have a list in her hand, yet I could see her mentally checking off things as she went. Of course, she had a lot of practice. Boxers for four boys. Check, check, check, and check. Socks enough for an Army? Done. And the boys each had to have their own special kind. When I asked if it wouldn't be easier to just buy a bunch of the same, Bella made a face. "Yeah, it would be easier now, but down the road it would just make things harder."

She must have seen the confusion on my face and she laughed. "Okay, when I buy them each a different kind, it makes it very easy to tell which socks go in which dresser just at a glance. Emmett has low cut white socks, Sam prefers crew socks, Jake likes ones with a band of color and Seth likes a special brand with gold toes." She shrugged.

Oh. It seemed there was an art to even just buying socks for a large family. I admit, I was impressed at how effortless Bella made it seem. Then there were shorts and jeans and tee-shirts. Dozens of tee-shirts. Jake liked bright colors, unless it was a Star Wars tee, which tended to come in black. Sam preferred earth tones like green and brown. Seth liked anything red or yellow. And Emmett liked blue. A few dress shirts, though each of the boys groaned when Bella made them pick out two each. "I'm not wearing it," Emmett muttered.

"I think Rosalie will like this color on you," Bella murmured casually. Emmett then volunteered to buy four of the nicer shirts and Bella hid her grin. Bella James was a dangerous adversary.

Shoe shopping was a trip. Emmett was already wearing a size 14 and that made buying shoes a bit challenging. Jake insisted that he'd only wear Star Wars shoes and so Bella trekked through three stores to find them in his size. She had the patience of a saint. Sam only wanted shoes that tied, no Velcro thank you very much. Seth just asked for black shoes, which seemed to make Bella's shoulder slump with relief.

We got all of that done before we stopped for lunch, though admittedly lunch was a bit late. I don't think any of us had the energy to look for anything healthier, so McDonald's it was. Jake got his special meal and once again he had to shove it in Emmett's face. Seth distracted him by reminding him of the arcade we were going to later in the day and discussing what games they wanted to play.

Then Bella announced it was time for her to hit the office supply place. The boys cheered because they knew they were on their way to the arcade. It was decided that I would drop Bella off and then take the boys. She would text me when she was close to being done and the boys and I would go get her and help her load her purchases. Through it all, the cast hadn't slowed her down one bit. I wondered what next year would be like, especially considering she wouldn't be encumbered by the cast. I was beginning to feel like I should have worked out in preparation. Bella could teach a drill sergeant a trick or two about reducing a man to exhausted tears. I was ready to beg for mercy.

Honestly, it was a relief to take the boys to the arcade. All I had to do there was hand out some cash and sit down. I guess the boys were as tired as I was because after about thirty minutes, all four returned to the table where I was sitting. They each had drinks and they sucked them down in about two minutes. I looked at Seth. "So…is it like this every year?" I had to ask. I had to know.

Seth grimaced. "Sometimes it's worse," he admitted.

"No way," I said, shaking my head. "Not possible."

"Just wait until we get the school supplies she won't find at the office store for the price she wants," Sam piped up. "She's not going pay more than she has to."

Emmett sighed. "That means…"

"Comparison shopping," all four boys said together with loud groans.

I had to laugh. They all wore identical, morose expressions.

"Yeah, but at least this year we got to come to the arcade while Mom was at the office store," Jake reminded them.

"And not enough energy to really enjoy it," Emmett muttered.

"Yeah, but still…" Jake mumbled. I ruffled his hair and then my phone vibrated. It was Bella. She was in line to pay for her stuff.

"Wow, that was fast," I said as the boys got their feet. "She must not have had much to buy." The boys exchanged looks and started snickering.

"What?" I looked at them. "What's so funny?"

Seth shook his head. "You'll see."

Sam snorted. "You've gotta see it to believe it." All four boys nodded.

~TBTA~

I saw. I believed.

I knew my jaw dropped when I pulled up to the store and saw Bella standing there with her cart absolutely full of bags. Others must have had the same idea because there were two other carts near her. I turned off the engine and jumped out, the four boys following me. I opened up the back of the Suburban, very glad I had all of the extra cargo room. I pushed her cart to the back so I could load up her purchases.

Then I noticed Emmett and Seth pushing the other two carts my way. "Hey boys, those aren't-"

Bella nodded. "Oh yes they are," she said and she slid into the front seat, leaning down. I suspected she might be rubbing at her leg. Walking around with that heavy cast must get tiring.

I looked at Emmett. "Really?" I asked quietly, indicating the dozens of bags.

"Really," he confirmed. "It's like this every year."

"You guys go through this much stuff?" I didn't even want to think about how much money this stuff cost.

He shrugged, loading up the bags his brothers were passing to us. "Some of it's for us, sure. But it's for her class mostly. She's gotta have a lot of stuff to make her classroom run and she's gotta buy it."

That blew my mind. Bella was not only expected to teach them, but to supply her classroom out of her own pocket? I looked in some of the bags. Hand sanitizer. Tissues. Pencils. Paper. There was a lot more that went into teaching than I had suspected and I suddenly respected Bella even more.

When we finally got it all loaded, Bella turned to me and sighed. "I'll finish up later," she said. "I'm beat."

"Us too," Sam said.

Bella smiled back at him. "What do you say, Edward? Can we go to your house for a swim after we unload all this crap at my house?"

"I thought you'd never ask," I answered with a grin.

Fic Rec: There Fell a Stillness is back up. Read it. Now. Please. It's SO good you won't believe it. It's by HappyInLove and is listed in my favorites.