Since the first play date went so well, every Saturday after group ended around noon, Esme and I would go eat in the hospital cafeteria and then take the children to the park. And as we got to know each other, I learned more about her. She lived just north of Forks in the town of Beaver, which meant that she was only ten minutes away. She worked as an architect, as an independent contractor, and was frequently making trips into Port Angeles for work.
She had her kids in an after school program in Beaver, but she frequently had to work on Sundays, and had to drag the kids along with her. I had a similar problem, as I had Edward in an after school program, but frequently had to work nights. Luckily, my best friend Charlie Swan, the police chief, had a daughter Edward's age and agreed to watch him most nights.
Edward did not mind spending the night at the Chief's house, but, when Charlie was not available, I had to resort to asking my neighbor, Mrs. Johansson, to watch him. Mrs. Johansson had three children, including a boy, Henry, Edward's age. But, Edward did not get along well with Henry, and the two other children were quite a bit younger, so he did not like spending time over there.
The Saturday before Columbus day found the five of us at the park once more, when Esme asked, "What are you two doing for Columbus day on Monday?"
"I have to work, and Charlie is out of town, so Edward with have to go over to the Johansson's. He was crying when I told him: he really hates it over there, but I have no where else to leave him. My only family left live in Alaska."
"Oh, that's too bad. I have the day off and was going to take the kids to the mall and see a movie… Hey, why don't you let Edward come with us? We are just going to Port Angeles, and he gets along fine with Rosalie."
"That's a great idea! And maybe I can return the favor and watch your two next time you have to work on a Sunday," I suggested.
"That would be great! Actually, I have to work the Sunday a week from tomorrow. Are you free?"
"Yes. I'm not even on call that day or anything. Now that I have Edward, they have been giving me less night and weekend shifts."
Edward was ecstatic to learn that he would get to spend the day with Rosalie instead of Henry, and I dropped him off at Esme's house bright and early before heading over to the hospital. After work, I went straight back to her place, where she had dinner prepared. I really missed home cooking, and Esme was a wonderful cook.
But her place was small: she only had a two bedroom apartment, so Rosalie and Jasper had to share. And that second bedroom had originally been used as her office, so now her work stuff was scattered around wherever it could fit. She had squeezed her desk and computer into her bedroom, and her filing cabinets and bookcase into the living room.
I had the opposite problem at my house: I had inherited my grandparents old house, and it was huge. I had not had the time or necessity to fix the entire place up, so I had only had minor repairs done to the first floor. Edward and I were living solely on the first floor, with the second floor boarded off: it needed a lot of repairs still and was dangerous for children.
After dinner, Rosalie and Edward went to the kids' bedroom to play Barbies, and Jasper went into the living room to watch a baseball game. I hate baseball, so Esme and I stayed in the dining room/kitchen to talk.
"Listen Carlisle, I need to talk to you about something that happened at the mall," Esme began once the kids were out of earshot.
"Okay, I'm listening."
"Well, Halloween is coming up, and the kids wanted to go into The Disney Store to look at costumes. I would have bought all three of them costumes right then, and saved myself the trip back to the mall, but for the one Edward picked. I didn't want to get it without your permission.
"Jasper went over to the Pirates costumes and choose Jack Sparrow. I would have thought Edward would have gone with him and also picked a pirate or Buzz Lightyear or something. I know he loves Pirates of the Caribbean: he watched it just this morning before we left. But instead he followed Rosalie around the store. Rosalie chose Sleeping Beauty, but then I caught Edward staring at the Bell costume. You know, from Beauty and the Beast?"
"Yes, the yellow gown?" I had seen Edward watching that movie enough to recognize the signature golden gown.
"Yes! That's the one. Anyway, he was staring at it when I asked him what was wrong, and why he wasn't with Jasper looking at the boys costumes. And…and he said he wanted the Bell costume, not a boys costume. I didn't know what to say, because I didn't know how you would feel about me buying your son a dress. So I told him we would come back another time, closer to Halloween, to get costumes. What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to go back to the store and buy him the Bell costume. He asked for Elizabeth Swan last year: it was the old-fashion style gown featured in the beginning of the movie when she falls into the Caribbean."
"You let him have a gown last year?"
"Yes. I have tried to keep as much continuity in his life as possible. His mother always let him have a dress for Halloween, so I got him one last year as well. I even have some pictures of him from before the adoption. There are pictures of him as Tinker Bell, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Pocahontas."
"Why did she get him dresses and not boys costumes?"
"Well, she got him boys costumes the first two years: I have a picture of him as a pumpkin and as a clown. But, the boy is gay and wanted a dress. Both of his mother's fathers were gay, so she did not have a problem with it."
"Both of her fathers?"
"Yes. One of her father's sisters donated eggs and an uterus for the couple."
"Wow. And you are okay with all of this?"
"Yes. She told me all of this before I agreed to adopt him. Are you okay with it? Because if you have a problem with homosexuality, then I'm afraid we are not going to be able to continue to see each other."
"Oh no, I don't have a problem with it. I'm surprised is all. One of my best friends in high school was gay. I just didn't realize that a boy could be gay so early. I thought they had to be teenagers before anyone could tell. And I was particularly shocked that someone would let their boy wear dresses. But, the way Edward was drooling over that dress made me really want to get it for him: it just broke my heart to make him put it back. Besides, Edward would make an adorable Bell. Maybe I can comb his hair and add a tiara."
"He has a set of tiaras on his dresser and a closet full of dresses at home. His mother used to let him dress up as long as he was at home, but made him wear pants in public. I've kept the same rule."
"Well, that seems reasonable. I was mostly worried about him being made fun of by the other children."
"Well yes, he does get made fun of a lot, but the other children don't know that he is gay yet: they are still too young to understand. I don't think Edward even understands. I think his mother told him that he is a fairy princess, and can only kiss other fairies."
"What?"
"He has a crush on Jack Sparrow, and he told me that he hopes that Jack is a fairy so that he can kiss him when he grows up."
"That must explain why he was so into the movie this morning. Jasper and Rosalie enjoyed it as well, but they have both seen it so many times that they goof off and play around while watching it. Edward sat still the whole time."
Author's Note:
Reviewers for last chapter: Master of the Boot, VoldieBeth, and Megan Geyer! Thanks!
Review counts for this week (counting from Saturday morning):
VoldieBeth- 1; Master of the Boot- 1; Megan Geyer- 4
1 rollover reviews from last week. Plus 6 new review for this week, equals 7 reviews!
So I know I said that Edward was not sexually abused, but then I got into Edward's head and realized that he was. It just wasn't his parents and Jasper never knew about it, so we don't find out until Carlisle tells his side of the story...
