A/N: Thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts.
Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine.
I've been claiming we're almost done for a while...but I think we truly are almost done now. 2 - 3 chapters, I'd say, to wrap it up nicely just in time for Christmas. (I hope) :)
Broken - Chapter 37
By June of the following year, the dangers of the H5N2 Influenza strain were a distant enough memory for most of the population to put it from their minds, thanks in part to an effective vaccine which eradicated its potential as a worldwide pandemic, and thanks to a population with a relatively short memory span.
Therefore, that early summer in New York made up for the temporary dearth in the emergence of new and potentially deadly viruses by ushering in record-breaking temperatures that swelled way past tepid and spilled into downright stifling. People protested in the streets by shedding as many layers as possible - which only served to expose their skin all the more to the sun's harmful rays. They carried water bottles shimmering with condensation then laid those bottles over their foreheads, necks, arms, and spilled them over their heads - when not only should they have been drinking that water instead, but using it to drench their unprotected skin while not wearing an SPF 30 or higher was like begging the sun to toast them.
I eyed the piragua vendor as he shaved a huge block of ice with a sharp, steel implement and pounded the ice shavings into cone-shaped holders. The older gentleman had become pretty familiar to me this spring and summer. And one morning, a couple of summers earlier, along with piraguas, he'd dispensed a piece of advice that had stuck with me through some pretty...cold days:
'Summer disappears, and the cold days arrive, but with a little luck and patience, the good days return.'
Or something along those lines.
"Buddy, you haven't been out here all day, have you?"
He laughed as he handed me the piraguas.
"All day, chico," he confirmed breezily.
I sighed. The man had to be at least seventy, and therefore definitely fell into one of the age groups which were considered at high-risk during heatwaves: the young and the old. To that effect, I'd spoken with my parents and reminded them to stay indoors as much as possible; I'd also asked them to tell Alice to make sure she kept JJ out of the heat as much as possible as well. Thankfully, my parents had lives and careers that easily kept them indoors and in air-conditioning. JJ had a trust-fund mother and wealthy grandparents who could easily afford to keep him entertained indoors. I was well aware that not everyone was that fortunate.
"Buddy, tomorrow, please try to remain indoors, at least until sundown."
He chuckled. "Chico, no te preocupes por mi. Eso no es na.' Don't worry 'bout me; that's nothing," he translated in his thickly-accented English, waving a dismissive hand my way.
I offered him a faint smile. "Worrying about people's health is sort of my job."
"On my island, we do this all the time," - turning his face up to the sun, he held out his arms in worship for a couple of seconds before dropping them and grinning back at me - "and we live long lives. Mas importante, como anda esa linda novia tuya con la pipa? Your pretty girl, how is she with the biiig...?" When he gestured a round, half-circle protruding from his midsection, I chuckled.
"She's good. Really good. A bit upset at the moment at being limited by this heat, but not much we can do about that."
He quirked a bushy, graying brow. "You sure only the heat limits her?"
"Now you sound like my friend, Emmett," I smirked.
"I say enjoy the heat; enjoy the good days because always, the cold is around the corner. But with luck and patience-"
"With luck and patience, the good days return and outnumber the bad. Yeah, I recall a similar conversation with you a couple of summers ago."
"Oh yeah?" He grinned. "I'm a smart man."
"Yeah. And you were right. It took a while for my summers to return, but when they did...well, now they trump every winter day I ever had."
The vendor placed both his hands on my shoulders. "Then go home, chico, and enjoy your summer piraguas. Because they're melting. And if your girl is anything like mine was when she was preña', she'll kill you if you get home with melted piraguas."
I barked a laugh. "You give good advice, buddy. Now, I'll listen to your advice if you listen to mine." I handed him a couple of bills that made his eyes grow large before he began to complain.
"No, chico, no."
"Take it. And please, tomorrow, stay indoors until at least late afternoon. Okay?"
He grinned a semi-toothless grin. "Okay. Gracias."
OOOOO
The sweltering heat rose off the asphalt and melted the tar on the sidewalks, creating an inky substance that stuck to my shoes.
"Damn heat."
It wasn't just the discomfort and inconveniences of the brutal heat. Heatwaves were another event that tended to keep us busy at the CDC, with indexes to track, restrictions and alerts to issue, and with heat-born illnesses to contend with. Unfortunately, there were people who thought they knew better than our experts at the CDC, and who either refused to listen to our advisories aimed at certain groups - such as the very young, the very old, the very sick, and the very pregnant - or who heeded the warnings, but with such indignant fury as rendered them capable of flinging pillows early in the morning at their boyfriends, merely because their boyfriends unwillingly left them to go to the office, while they were forced to remain indoors, yet again.
Leaving my tar-stained shoes outside our loft door - I was in enough trouble without dragging sticky shit into the apartment - I cautiously eased the door open and peeked my head in, ensuring there were no more pillows acting as projectile missiles before I walked in.
The apartment was relatively quiet, other than for Bella's fingers moving like galloping horses across her laptop's keyboard. I smiled to myself as I recalled the first time I heard those fingers move like stallions. Those early days between Bella and me at the coffee shop felt like so long-ago now. So much had happened between us since.
Bella sat at my desk with her back to me. Actually, it was Bella's desk now. Shortly after she moved in, she'd sat at my workspace and decided it was a great spot to write; there was something about it she loved; something that kept the words flowing, her muse alive, and inspiration building at the tips of her raw fingernail beds.
Who was I to limit any of that?
Even if the desk had been with me since college. Buying a new desk and organizing a new workspace, which we set up opposite her workspace, was a small price to pay in comparison to everything I now had - not to mention what Bella and I would soon have together.
Watching her now, when Bella's fingers suddenly stopped flying over the keyboard, I paused in my silent approach to wonder what went through her mind at that moment, especially when she looked up and in the direction of the large, industrial windows - another feature in the loft that tended to feed her inspiration. No longer was the view from the windows overshadowed by a man who didn't appreciate her, or by a life she thought she'd never have.
Like the vendor said, Bella and I were in the midst of good days, indeed.
Bella brought her hand up to her mouth and began murmuring to herself, and strangely enough, I felt my own inspiration building, an inspiration for a life I'd never even known I wanted...until I met her.
"Pig-headed. What's another word for Pig-headed?"
I'd bet my life I knew what I'd find if she were facing me: Bella's dark eyes glazed over, her right hand absently stroking her stomach, and the skin of the thumbnail bed on her left hand red and raw. They were always that way when she was in the best of her days.
Balancing the piraguas carefully, I resumed my stealthy approach. When I stood behind her, I leaned in and brushed my lips against her nape before helpfully murmuring in her ear.
"Obstinate is another word for Pig-headed."
Bella sighed.
I placed a firm kiss against the spot just below her ear. "Or Headstrong..." - I kissed her neck - "or Willful..." - When I kissed her bare shoulder, Bella turned her head sideways and met my eyes. And just as they always would, the dark sparkle in her eyes struck me with their depth.
"Or Edward."
"Nice." My ensuing smirk made her chuckle, and when she thrust her arms around my shoulders, I had to pull back and hastily lift my hands up and outward to avoid a piragua disaster.
"Careful, love! Careful."
"You think you're so stealthy, Mister James Bond slash Jack Ryan of the CDC World. I heard you come in."
"Oh, yeah? Well, I bet you didn't see the peace offering I brought you."
When she pulled away enough to note the items in my hands, I grinned smugly.
"Who's not so stealthy now?"
A small line appeared between Bella's brows. "What are those misshapen mounds?"
"They're piraguas." My tone implied the obviousness of it.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"But..." - she leaned in closer - "those are just discombobulated paper cones half full of red and yellow water, respectively."
"Oh. Well, I...I guess they sort of melted. Hm." I frowned.
Bella studied the melted icies, then brought her eyes back to me before dropping them back to the piraguas. After a couple of rounds of this, she met my eyes once more.
"Most partners would've gone with flowers."
"Flowers would've wilted in this heat."
"So you went with melted piraguas instead. I totally see the superior thinking in that choice." She held my gaze..and burst into laughter.
I snorted. "You're a pain in my ass sometimes."
This time, when Bella slid her arms around my neck and pulled me back in, she met no resistance. As a result, the piraguas were crushed between us, drenching us both in watery, cherry and pineapple flavored syrup.
We both yelped at the sticky contact - and then laughed hard.
OOOOO
An hour later, I had Bella propped up with pillows on our bed, and with the A/C on full blast to keep her comfortable even if my balls were freezing.
After the unsuccessful piraguas peace offering a short while earlier, we'd showered together to rid ourselves of the tenaciously sugary scent clinging to us. Though the conciliatory piraguas turned out to be a fail, we'd made up for our morning argument in another, just as effective way. I'd held her carefully, making sure her palms were flat on the shower tiles, her feet spread apart sufficiently so that she didn't slip, and I'd wrapped one arm under her stomach, supporting its weight and balancing us both with my free hand flat and firm on the tiles above us. Then, I'd taken her from behind, with slow and rhythmic strokes not meant to unbalance her but to soothe and pleasure her as I whispered stuttered apologies for the melted piraguas...and for more.
"Sorry...so overprotective...but...love you and our baby so damn much...so damn much..."
"I know...I understand...ohhh...I know..."
Now, I sat on the bed beside Bella, helping her dry her hair. She was still chuckling over the piragua incident, and the picture she made, with a tank-top riding over her rounded stomach, a pair of shorts that fit her shorter with each passing day, and her smooth skin flushed from our shower, caused a cacophony of emotions to surge through me, ranging from love to awe to fear to protectiveness, and yeah, to lust.
"I'll try to run quicker with the piraguas tomorrow afternoon," I promised.
"Oh. So my imprisonment will continue for at least another day?"
I exhaled heavily.
"Edward, your hands are practically vibrating with the effort you're expending in not using that towel to choke me."
"You're not far off the mark."
When she tried to turn around and snatch the towel from me, I chuckled and held her in place. "Sorry, sorry. Stay still, love, before you hurt yourself."
She glared at me before facing forward once more and sighing. "Had I been able to speak in the shower, I would've said you're forgiven. I suppose it has been pretty hot out, as evidenced by the piraguas which didn't even make it down two blocks."
"Does that mean you no longer think I'm a masochistic, misogynistic, overbearing jailer who would've been in his element guarding a medieval dungeon?"
She choked on a laugh. "I never said that."
"Oh, but you did. You said the past five months of my oppressive overprotectiveness has been nothing to the past couple of days of my autocratic rule." I grinned. "It was quite an impressive speech. So why the change of heart?"
She shrugged. "Well, for one, my muse was singing today."
I smiled. "So I noticed when I got home. You were biting your nailbeds - make sure you keep those off of dirty surfaces, by the way - and you were debating words and synonyms...it was a beautiful sight."
Bella chuckled. "And like I said, I guess it has been pretty hot out."
"But you knew that already."
Her long, silky hair was dry enough now so that water droplets didn't fall on her back, something she said she'd always hated, but now that she was eight months pregnant, she had difficulty drying her own hair enough to avoid it. Setting down the towel, I knelt on the floor and waited for her to meet my eyes. When she did, she offered me a rueful smile.
I quirked a brow. "You got a second opinion, didn't you?"
"From the obstetrician."
"And who else?"
Bella laid her palms flat on the mattress and leaned back. "No one else."
"Who else?"
"Vera."
I nodded slowly. "Rosalie's pediatrician wife. Go ahead. Who else?"
"And Doctor Gerandy in Miami, the doctor who confirmed my pregnancy a few months back. She says hi, by the way, and she says to thank you for sending her that crate of signed copies of Gemma."
"So you got three, second opinions."
"Did I mention that Doctor Gerandy said you have some strong-fucking swimmers?"
"No," I grinned, "don't try to butter me up now. You went and got three, second opinions on my expert recommendation that an almost eight-month pregnant woman should stay home during this heatwave."
"Edward, you know I love you with all my heart and soul, and you know I'm massively proud and amazed by your vast amount of knowledge in the area of the spread of diseases, but right now, in my condition, a CDC expert isn't exactly the easiest person to live with. I think I've left this house twice since this heatwave started, and each time I do, it's like prepping for battle. All right, Swan!," she growled like a drill sergeant, "first, you're not to step foot out of this loft between the hours of ten hundred and fourteen hundred! Second, if you do step foot out of this loft, make sure you wear a wide-brimmed sunhat and wear moisture-wicking, long-sleeved, and long-legged clothing if you can bear it, or if you're too chicken-shit to bear it, apply SPF 5000 to every inch of your skin at least fifteen minutes before you step one foot out of that door! Next, carry at least sixteen ounces of an electrolyte drink with you, or if the little monster in your belly protests and makes you nauseous, carry plain old water, and drink at least one ounce per three-minute intervals. And finally, you lily-livered-"
She shrieked when I pushed off my knees and picked her up in the air.
"Stop! I'm too heavy!"
"You're not, even though you're full of it." Depositing her carefully on the bed, I readjusted her pillows now so that they supported her stomach, and I lay down beside her so that my chest supported her spine and my hands cradled her protruding midsection - as well as the 'little monster' within. "First of all, I've never called you chicken-shit or lily-livered - never even thought you were anything close to either. You're the bravest damn woman I know."
"Emphasis on the damn?"
"And while I'll admit I've called our unborn son a 'little monster' it's only when he kicks you and keeps you up at night, and thereby you kick me and keep me up at night. I'm sure he knows it's a term of endearment."
Bella snickered. "I'm sure he does. But everything else I said is accurate."
"There's no such thing as SPF 5000."
"If there was, you'd have me wearing it."
"Bella, I know I've been a bit overbearing these past few months-"
"Who, you? Never. Ouch! You bit my shoulder!"
"A heatwave is nothing to scoff at, my love, especially in your-"
"-in my condition. Ouch! Damn it, that one hurt!"
"I'll stop biting you when you start taking the dangers of this heatwave to your and our unborn son's health seriously."
"I do take the heatwave seriously, Edward. After everything I've been through to get here...everything we've been through, I would never, ever endanger our child. Which is why..." when she turned her head sideways, I lifted myself up on an elbow to make it easier for our eyes to meet, "you're right."
"Not because three other people corroborated me?"
"No. Not really," she smiled.
Chuckling, I kissed her forehead and lay back down.
"Edward...there's not much more I can ask for from life."
I spoke softly. "Now that's something we can completely agree on."
OOOOO
We had friends over the following evening.
Rosalie, her wife, Vera, and their infant daughter Beck brought a few bottles of sparkling grape juice, Bella and I provided dessert pastries from the corner shop, and Emmett and Mack brought dinner.
Bella and I had watched Em and Mack cook dinner together once in the apartment they began sharing after Bella moved out. The pair moved in sync around the kitchen, one peeling while the other chopped, one sauteeing while the other measured, one washing utensils while the other loaded the dishwasher. What resulted was a delicious dinner, and the clean-up performed almost simultaneously because they both abhorred a messy space work space, something I knew about Emmett from both sharing a college dorm with him and working with him. Interestingly enough, Bella told me Mack had been the same way since she'd known her. We tended to tease them that no two OCD people ever belonged together more. Emmett, at least, deserved the ribbing after all the taunting of me he'd done over the past couple of years.
Unfazed, Emmett had a habit of joking that my catching the H5N2 strain was the best thing that could've ever happened. Whenever he said it, Bella would scowl at him. But then he'd lay out the facts as only Emmett McCarty, microbiologist and armchair psychologist, could ever see them:
"Panita, you should've seen it. My girl Bella's hand practically ricocheted off that cheek. Well, she only got the one smack in, but it was some kind of smack!"
Emmett had first relayed this to me on my second night at the hospital, a few months earlier, when I was recovering from the H5N2 strain.
I'd swallowed hard. "It's my fault she was forced into that situation."
For a few moments, Emmett held my gaze steadily. Then, he broke out into hearty chuckles. "Ed, let me lay something out there for you because your brain still appears to be a bit too fried to get it. So, by being forced to confront your crazy-ass sister as well as your parents in a situation where she didn't have the time or the patience for any of their bullshit, Bella has completely eradicated any sense of intimidation she may have once felt in relation to any of them."
"You think so?"
"Pfft," he'd snorted, "you were too feverish to notice any of it, but by the end of the night, little Alice was the one scurrying out of Bella's way. And your parents, perdoname and I'm sorry," he said, laying a hand on his heart, "are now both in some serious awe bordering on their own intimidation at the balls on your woman. They do everything they can to keep themselves in check around her. Scared they'll get a taste of that backhand," he stage-whispered. "Whack!"
When he motioned an airy backhand, I'd given in to a wave of chuckles, even if they left me wheezing.
"So, you see," Emmett said, expounding on his somewhat morbid though strangely accurate reasoning, "good thing you caught that virus. It forced Bella to announce her pregnancy while you were already mostly unconscious, so we didn't have to worry about you fainting dead away. What's more, when LeeAnn and Emily visited the hospital earlier, they were so relieved you weren't dead, and that no one was the wiser about the fact that their lead in the H5N2 anti-viral development hadn't been immunized himself, that they totally forgave both our asses for not following vaccination protocol. And finally..."
"Finally?" I prompted when Emmett stopped.
"Finally..." Em's eyes scanned the hospital room as though he were measuring our level of privacy; though we were, at the moment, the only two in the room. He scraped his chair closer to my hospital bed.
"Hey, Ed," - his voice was unfamiliarly low and shaky - "what uh...what do you know about Bella's roomy?"
"Bella's roomy?" I echoed, a bit thrown by the question.
"Yeah. Yeah, you know, the roomy you once thought was Bella's live-in lover cuz you were too chicken shit to ask her straight out whether she lived with her man?"
"Thanks for the reminder," I smirked sardonically. "What about Mack?"
"Well, this morning when I got here, I find this striking person in the waiting room - almost as tall as me, which is fucking tall. She's got the smoothest jet-black skin, and a head of silky black curls like you wouldn't believe, Ed. I mean, they're..." He bounced his hands around his head to illustrate the head of curls. "Then, when she looked at me, I swear, she's got the darkest eyes, and the reddest lips, and...and she was on her phone, and I didn't mean to listen in on her convo, I swear I didn't," - he laid his palm against his heart again, but in such an uncharacteristically solemn manner that it was all I could do not to laugh - "but she's got this voice you just can't help listening to. Know what I mean?"
"Yeah. I can relate."
"I mean, I had no choice."
"Again, I get it. So, what was she saying?"
"She was talking to someone about a piece of art she's curating from a small museum in Kenya because the artist's work has been banned and the painting will be destroyed otherwise. The painting apparently makes a socio-political statement about the ongoing struggles in that part of the world, struggles which artists fight every day to convey so that the rest of the world will see...and hear about more than just what happens on this hemisphere."
"Wow." I whistled through my teeth and ended up coughing. "You got that all from listening in on a phone conversation?"
"No. She told me to fuck off and mind my goddamn business for that. But when I sincerely apologized and told her I couldn't help it...and that I'd genuinely like to hear more about the artwork she curates because it sounded amazing, she agreed to have coffee with me in the hospital's cafeteria."
He was quiet...and shockingly pensive for half a minute. "So, Panita, have you met Mack?"
Trying my damnedest not to mock what I saw in his face and heard in his voice - because Em had never mocked me when it counted - I offered him a nod and what I hoped was a benign grin.
"Yeah. Yeah, I've met Mack. She's pretty...and single."
Emmett's head jerked back as if I'd punched him. "Dude, would you ever describe Bella that way?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
He quirked an incensed brow. "Is that how you'd like to hear someone else describe her? What with all her talent and strength, you'd want someone to say, "Oh, Bella? Yeah, yeah, I've met her. She's...pretty."
He spat the word like a curse, and yeah, by then I'd pretty much given up on forced composure and was simultaneously laughing and coughing my ass off.
Emmett glowered darkly. "Good for you. I hope you choke on your own phlegm."
"Sorry, sorry. And you're absolutely right." Clearing the phlegm from my throat, I sat up straight and managed a semi-serious expression. "Those creative types, they tend to stick together. That's why Mack and Bella are such good friends. They're both hugely talented in their respective fields. And that's what matters."
"Yeah. Not the fact that they're both...gorgeous." This time, when he sighed lovelorn teenager, I made sure to keep my features impassive. "So, Ed, you think you can tell Bella to put in a good word for me with the future mother of my kids?"
"Shit," I snorted. "And I was accused of skipping a few steps once. You know what, Em? It sounds like you're doing a great job of putting in a good word for yourself - and it seems like you're already way ahead of where I was the first time I met Bella, and look how we turned out? Why don't you just see how things play out, and if you screw it up somehow-"
"The way you almost did with Bella?"
"Yep. Just like that. If you screw it up, we'll figure it out, buddy."
"Yeah." A slow grin spread across his face. "Yeah. Sounds like a plan. Oh, and guess what? She likes my bun."
Once dinner was done, Emmett and I cleaned up and left the women to relax. When we were done and made our way to the living room, Emmett wasted no time in situating Mack on his lap, and I set Bella and baby Beck, whom Bella was holding, on my lap. I smiled inwardly as I looked around at the friendships we'd built over the past couple of years, at the close-knit group we'd become. All our phones were set face-down on the coffee table. We led busy lives, all held doctorate degrees in one form or another, and all had careers that didn't always allow us to unplug, but for as long as we could, we'd enjoy good conversation and good laughter.
When Beck fell asleep in Bella's arms, Bella cooed softly at her goddaughter.
"Isn't she adorable, Edward?"
I stroked Beck's minuscule hand. "She is."
"I still can't believe you two are going to have one of these," Vera said. "In purely non-medical terms, Bella, that right there was a million-dollar shot into your bucket. Strong-ass swimmers, indeed. Good job, Ed."
I chuckled heartily. "Thanks, Vera."
"Vera, please, don't remind Edward about his strong-ass swimmers."
"Why not? You reminded me last night." I whispered it in Bella's ear before kissing her cheek, but I was admittedly none too quiet about it, and everyone shared a laugh. "She was just trying to make up for the fact that she got not one, not two, but three, second opinions on my opinion that she should remain indoors throughout this heatwave."
"Wait. Bella, you asked someone else other than Edward and me? That's it. You're ungodmothered. Give me back my baby," Vera demanded, feigning indignation.
"Thanks a lot, Edward," Bella muttered, handing Beck back over to her moms.
"My godchild was created by strong-ass swimmers," Rose chuckled.
"He's my godchild too, Rosie," Emmett said. "Hey, did I ever tell you all the story of how Bella announced to Edward that she was pregnant?"
"Yes!" Everyone groaned loudly in semi-unison.
"How about the story where they pleaded with Rosie and me to be the baby's godparents?"
It was while Emmett went through his roster of stories that my cell phone vibrated over the coffee table.
"Emmett, the way I remember it, they asked nicely, and you broke down in tears," Rose said.
Everyone roared, but the damn phone kept vibrating.
"Fine, fine. How 'bout the story of how Mack convinced me to shack up with her after Bella moved out?"
While Mack cursed out Emmett, I met Bella's eyes. When she offered me a soft smile and jerked her chin toward my phone, I sighed and begrudgingly reached for it, turning it over. The name which appeared on the screen simultaneously startled me and stiffened my shoulders. My eyes flashed back to Bella, whose gaze was on my phone screen.
"Emmett, I get the feeling you tend to embellish stories," someone said.
"Answer it," Bella murmured. "It might be about...your nephew."
"You're right." Gently easing Bella off my lap, I set her on the couch and stood. "Excuse me," I said to the room at large before kissing Bella's cheek and murmuring, "I'll be right back."
Once in the kitchen and far away enough to hold a private conversation, I drew in a deep breath, exhaled it through my nostrils, and hit the green button.
"Yeah?"
"I need a favor."
The words were spat with an emphasis on the word favor that not only negated the usually courteous plea for assistance which tended to accompany the word, but that made the entire sentence sound more like a furious string of expletives. Though it shouldn't have, the oxymoron of a request as well as the perpetually shameless gall of the requester, took me by momentary surprise.
"Did you hear me?"
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I hung my head and shook it from side to side. Despite her obvious impatience, I had no plan to reply until I was sure I could remain relatively calm, at least appearance-wise. Even now, though I could hear Bella a few feet away, holding a conversation with Mack and the rest, I knew she worried. When I looked up and found her laughing at something, her eyes were fixed on me. The small, parallel lines between her brows, always an indicator of her unease, were visible from here. And all the while, she stroked her stomach.
"I said, did you hear me?"
Unlike the first sentence, these words were accompanied by a strangled noise that approximated a choked-back sob. With my internal fury growing, I offered Bella a hasty wink and a smile, turned my back, and dove into it with my sister.
"I heard you, Alice. What's this about? Is JJ okay?"
"JJ is fine," she spat once more. "I mean, no, he's not."
As soon as she finished speaking, I heard JJ crying in the background, and my blood ran cold.
"Alice, what the fuck happened? Where's JJ?" I hissed urgently now.
"He's not hurt or anything!" Alice snapped. "He's just crying and upset because fucking Jasper was supposed to..." Alice broke down into heavy sobs.
"Jesus," I exhaled, gripping my hair. "What the hell did that bastard do now?"
"He was only supposed to take him to the park for a few minutes, but they returned two goddamn hours later. When they did, Jasper left, and JJ was irritable, and his lips were cracked, and-"
"Did you take him to the hospital and have him checked for dehydration?"
"Do you think I'm stupid? Of course, I did! That's what I was about to say! They said he was fine, but they put him on an IV for an hour just in case, and they sent us home with an electrolyte solution. But he's still crying, and he refuses..." she sobbed uncontrollably, "and Jasper's not here, and I don't want to tell Dad, and-"
"Put JJ on."
"Okay." She drew in a series of successive breaths to calm herself before she spoke again. "Okay. JJ, hon! It's Uncle Edward! He wants to talk to you."
Little feet could be heard scurrying, and a handful of seconds later, JJ came on the phone.
"Uncle Edwahd?" A long string of broken sighs followed his greeting, and my heart clenched painfully.
"Hey, buddy. What's going on? I hear you had a little scare at the hospital."
He started crying. "Doctuh put a needle in my ahm. It hut."
I swallowed through a constricted throat. "Aw, buddy. Mommy says you needed some liquids, that's all."
"Like when you was in the hospital?"
"Yeah, something like that. You need to drink that drink they sent you, okay?"
"Tastes icky."
"I know it tastes bad, but it's important that you drink it, okay?"
Again, he cried. "Uncle Edwahd, can you come heh-oop me dwink it?"
"I'll be right there, buddy."
As soon as I ended the call, Bella's warm hand stroked my back. She walked around and looked up at me.
"Bella, baby, I've got to-"
"I heard," she nodded. "Go."
"I'm so sorry to leave in the middle of...you were having such a good-"
"Shh." Cradling my face, she pulled me down and brushed her lips against mine. "You have nothing to apologize for. You were right about this heat. Go. I'll be fine, I'll be safe, and I'll be nice and cool and entertained here with our friends. Don't worry about me, and go take care of...your nephew."
OOOOO
Three hours later, I sat across from Alice, with my forearms resting on my thighs, and my hands knit together in the space between them. As furious as my little sister had gotten me on various occasions throughout the years, with some instances obviously standing out more than others, at that moment, I had no words for the frustration I felt with her.
"So, where's his father?"
For all the crying she'd done over the phone, since my arrival, she hadn't met my eyes once. Her gaze, hard and stoic, remained trained on a spot just beyond me, her jaw squared tightly.
"Alice, you realize it should've been him in there with JJ, right?" I pointed toward JJ's bedroom.
He was asleep. I'd played games with him, read to him, and all throughout coaxed him into drinking a few sips here and there of the pediatric solution they'd sent him home with, until the entire solution was finished. Then, I'd made sure he urinated before bed, so I could check its color, and I'd breathed a long sigh of relief when it was normal. His lips were moist. He'd been playful, energetic, and even laughing again before I finally got him down.
"Alice, look at me. I'm not letting you ignore me and brush off this clusterfuck now that JJ's well and asleep. Look at me, and tell me where the hell JJ's father was throughout all this?"
Alice's eyes flashed to me, full of defiance as she offered me a caustic grin. "Why? I thought you loved JJ."
"Don't fucking give me that," I spat through gritted teeth. "You know I love him, but that bastard is his father, and he's got responsibilities he's completely ignoring!" I hissed. "What the fuck happened today?"
"He came home, uncharacteristically eager to take his son to the park. So," she shrugged, "I let him."
"We're in a heatwave," I pointed out impatiently.
"I know that! Esme and Dad told me you said to keep JJ indoors as much as possible. I told Jasper to have JJ back in a half-hour, max. Give me some fucking credit, Edward, but Jasper wanted to take his son out." Her tone implied I should've been impressed. "Then, when a couple of hours passed, and they hadn't returned, I thought maybe he'd taken JJ for ice-cream or something. Turned a whole new leaf - with his son, at least." She snorted.
"So he kept JJ out in the park for two hours because..." I lifted my hands in a gesture of confusion.
"All I got from JJ was...that there was a woman at the park with them." Her eyes flashed away from me again, and then she dropped them to her white carpets, nostrils flaring.
Meanwhile, I chuckled mirthlessly and shook my head slowly from side to side. "Un-fucking-believable."
Her eyes returned to me, a sneer curving around her mouth. "What was it that you once told me? That he'd do it to me too?"
"That's the least of my fucking concerns right now. Now, we're talking about your son's health. You realize that, right?"
"Of course I do!" she snapped.
"Then kick that rat bastard to the curb once and for all, and get yourself together for your son's sake. Jesus, Alice, after this shit-"
"He wasn't even dehydrated. The doctor said JJ wasn't dehydrated." She shook her head vehemently. "I've got the discharge papers if you want to see them. It was all just precautionary, the IV and the electrolytes. And he was crying because he was scared."
I fisted my hair tightly, trying to rein myself in long enough to make her understand.
"I'm a good mother, Edward! I keep my son healthy!"
"Alice, there's physical health, and there's mental health, and they're both equally important and interrelated. Do you know why JJ was scared, Alice? Because he's two, and though he can't completely understand or verbalize in full sentences, he's smart enough to sense that something is massively wrong. He senses his mother's misery and his father's neglect."
"Whatever, Edward. Don't project your childhood onto him. He had a frightening afternoon, and that's all it was." Alice stood. "Now, I'm sure your little girlfriend is gonna give you hell for leaving her in her delicate condition to come here to help me and your nephew."
Getting to my feet, I glared at her in disgust.
"Who's projecting now, Alice? Despite the fact that you and his father were once responsible for causing Bella a shitload of pain, and she'd have a right to be bitter toward anything that resulted from that entire experience, bitterness isn't in Bella. Not at all." I made my way to the door but then quickly backtracked. "On the other hand, while I'll always, always be here for JJ, I am keeping score of all the shit that motherfucker pulls, and one of these days..."
And with that hanging in the air between us, I let myself out.
OOOOO
When I arrived home, everyone had left, and Bella was already in bed.
Shedding my clothes, I slipped in beside her as quietly as possible, trying my best not to jostle the mattress too much. Bella had a hard time getting comfortable enough to rest well these days, and if she'd finally fallen asleep, as much as I ached for her eyes to be the last ones I saw before I fell asleep, the last thing I wanted was to disturb-
When she attempted to turn, proving that I'd woken her, I sighed remorsefully and helped her readjust the pillows around her so she could face me. The lights streaming from outside illuminated her beautiful face.
"Everything okay?"
"As well as they'll be, I guess. Sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep." I kissed her forehead.
"Want to tell me what happened?"
I shook my head. "I don't want to burden you."
Bella cupped my cheek. "If we share our burdens, it lightens the load."
"I don't want to upset you in your-"
Bella quickly took my hand and placed it over our unborn son. "I'm okay; I promise you. We're okay, and we want to make sure you're okay."
It all poured out. I complained, and I railed, and my voice broke a couple of times from my fury and my frustration and yes, from my overwhelming concern for JJ. And all the while, Bella stroked my cheek with one hand and stroked our child with the other.
For a long while afterward, Bella and I gazed at one another silently. Finally, I let out a shaky breath.
"Life isn't fair. He deserves better."
"But neither is it completely unfair. He has you."
"We should be completely focused on our son's imminent arrival, but instead, I can't promise you that I won't be worried about JJ until when and if my sister gets her shit together and kicks that bastard to the..." I exhaled heavily.
All the while, Bella's caressed my cheek and my jaw. "Do you think I could ever fault you for that, Edward, for being such a caring man, such a caring uncle? Such a caring son and friend? What better partner to me and father to our son could I ever ask for? Don't ever think you can't share your worries about JJ with me, because even though I don't know him, of course my heart goes out to him. Come here."
She tried to pull me toward her, but with her protruding midsection, her movements were awkward and pretty ineffective.
"Maybe help turn me over and spoon me, yeah?"
I chuckled lowly. "Sounds good. Bella, I love you."
"I love you too, Edward."
And as I held her in my arms, I realized that it was the first time that Bella had ever said JJ's name without pausing before it or tripping over it.
OOOOO
A few weeks later, the heatwave of mid-June was another distant memory.
While the summer had definitely turned out to be a hot one, now in late July, there was a hint of a warm breeze, and temperatures hovered around the mid to high eighties without exceeding the ninety-degree mark for more than three consecutive days - therefore not meeting the definition of a heatwave.
Unfortunately, the lack of outside air-conditioning had caused Bella to spend much of the summer indoors - by her own choice. To somewhat make up for that, we were holding our baby shower in Central Park, at a restaurant with a great garden and an even better indoor air-conditioned area she could escape to when my nine-months pregnant girlfriend got too hot, which turned out to be through much of the shower. Strangely enough, Bella appeared to have forgotten who'd specifically requested an outdoor baby shower.
"Whose idea was it to hold our baby shower outdoors in the middle of summer?" she'd asked more than once throughout the afternoon.
"Yours!" Rose, Emmett, Mack, and I invariably replied.
We'd invited everyone - well, almost everyone. There were those with who we'd likely never be easy in company with, no matter what.
My parents were here. Over the past few months, Bella had managed to develop a good relationship with my mother and a decent one with my father.
Charlie, Bella's dad flew down from Forks, Washington. Over the past few months, he and I developed a good relationship as well, first based on our mutual hatred of Bella's ex-husband, but more importantly, based on our mutual love for Bella.
Charlie and my father appeared to get along decently as well.
It was while Bella, a few of our friends, and I were sitting under the flowered, air-conditioned trellis, which my mom and Rose decorated for the shower - with Bella's blessing, for God's sake; how could she so conveniently forget? - that one of the biggest events of Bella's and my life was set into motion. Though, at the time, little did we know how momentous that even would be.
We were talking and laughing, passing around baby Beck as if she were a doll. She was now six-months-old, starting to giggle, and keeping Bella and me entranced with visions of our own near future. I may have joked about babies and my great-fucking-swimmers, just to get Bella riled up. Afterward, Emmett started telling one of his many, long-winded parables; I can't recall which one. I do recall that I was relieved when my dad called me over, so I could escape the damn story.
"Coming!" I yelled out eagerly, placing a quick kiss to Bella's cheek and brushing her stomach gently. "I'll be right back."
"Lucky bastard. You get to escape Emmett's parable."
Chuckling heartily, I walked toward the restaurant. However, it was Charlie who waited just inside the door. There were deep lines across his forehead, and his jaw was set tight. Along with the stiffness in Bella's father's shoulders, the entire image set me on wary alert.
"We have a problem," he said, as if I hadn't extrapolated that much already. And as soon as I opened the restaurant door, I extrapolated more.
A child...JJ's frightened sobs hit me immediately.
"Where are they?"
"Come on."
Charlie led me down the hallway toward the men's restrooms, where my dad stood just outside, with a screaming JJ in his arms.
"Want Mommy! Mommy! Uncle Edwahd!" As soon as JJ saw me, he reached his arms out, and I took him from my dad.
"What happened, little man? Are you okay?"
JJ resumed his crying, so my dad provided the answer. "He's upset because his mom dropped him off, and..." Carlisle mouthed the rest - "she and Jasper had another fight."
I snorted. "Hey, look at me, buddy. It's okay. It's okay."
But JJ continued crying. "Want Mommy! Mommy!"
I stroked his curls and glowered at Carlisle. "This is Bella's baby shower."
"I know, son."
"She doesn't freaking change," I hissed, "and I don't want to upset Bella because she can't-" I cut myself off and shook my head sharply, unable to say all the things I wanted to say, not in front of JJ. "It's our baby shower, and she's nine months pregnant, for God's sake."
"I know, son, and I apologize, but Al just dropped him off and-"
Charlie cut in. "Ed, maybe Bella won't-"
"What's going on?"
At the sound of that voice, I spun around instinctively. JJ spotted Bella, and to this day, I can only imagine what he saw. Whatever it was, it was enough to startle him out of his sobs.
For a few, loaded heartbeats, no one spoke, no one moved a muscle. No one had any clue how a nine-month-pregnant woman would react at the sight of the child borne of the biggest betrayal she'd ever experienced, a child whose birth announcement was flung at her like a spear through the heart.
And all the while, Bella stroked her stomach. When she took a small step forward, my breath hitched. And then...Bella smiled.
"Why, hello. You must be JJ."
JJ offered Bella a slow nod, a series of small, broken sighs shaking his tiny frame. I stroked his curls comfortingly because I knew that, no matter what, he had nothing to fear from Bella. It's what the sight of him might do to her that terrified me.
Yet...Bella took another step forward.
"I'm Bella."
"Bells, honey…" Charlie whispered.
"Bella…" I breathed.
"Shh," she said softly. "It's okay. It's fine."
And the thing was...Bella appeared...more than fine.
She had the look of a mother, a fiercely protective, nurturing mother, whose dark eyes were brimming with compassion, and shining with an expression of pure, tender love that I'd only ever witnessed when she spoke to our unborn son, Masen.
When she closed all the distance between herself, JJ, and me, she slid her fingers softly through JJ's hair, taking over his comfort. And I dropped my hand.
"What's wrong, baby?"
"Mommy went bye-bye," JJ said, waving 'goodbye' in illustration. "She said 'go with Gwampa and Uncoe Edwahd. I need a bwake.'"
I could see Bella's eyes fill with tears, but she didn't allow them to fall. Instead, after my father leaned into her ear, and he whispered words, of which I only caught a few, - "...fight...Jasper...dropped off...without warning...sorry...never-" - Bella's spine straightened, and she stood taller than her heavy midsection had allowed her to stand in a while.
She offered JJ a radiant smile.
"Well, guess what, JJ? We're having a party just outside." With her raw thumb - a clear sign of her happiness - Bella gestured behind her. "And we have cake and balloons, and it's a beautiful, sunny day, and there are more kids out there, and soon, I'm going to open presents."
JJ blinked away his tears. "Buhthday pwesents?"
"Something like that, yes."
He paused pensively. "Can I heh-oop open pwesents?"
"Of course you can help open presents." Bella patted her stomach. "This is your little cousin in here, so it's sort of your job to help him or her out, if you don't mind."
JJ clapped his hands, and Bella chuckled.
"Are you ready, Jay?"
JJ nodded eagerly, bouncing excitedly now in my arms. "Let's go, Uncoe Edwahd! Let's go!"
Slowly, I met the love of my life's eyes.
No, Life wasn't always fair, but neither was it unfair. JJ had neglectful parents, but he had me...and Bella.
The summers ebb and flow...ebb and flow...but always, they return.
"I love you so much," I mouthed thickly, hoarsely.
Again, Bella chuckled. "Come on, guys. Let's go."
That night, when we laid in bed after a successful baby shower, Bella gushed for hours, but not about the gifts we'd received at the party. She gushed incessantly about the two-and-a-half-year-old boy who'd stolen her heart.
"All this time, I'd been so wary, when he's just a little boy. A sweet, beautiful little boy - Alice and Jasper's son, yes...but our nephew."
OOOOO
A few weeks later, on August 15th to be exact, I took part in the labor and delivery of our long-awaited son, Masen Edward Swan Cullen.
Well, I took part in it as much as I was able. I helped Bella breathe through the contractions. I offered her ice chips. I helped her focus. I held her hand, and I kissed her cheek, and I wiped her brow, and I reminded her that I loved her more than anyone in the world, and I vowed I'd love our son just as much and that I'd protect them both with my dying breath.
But who are we kidding? There was only so much I could do.
When our tiny miracle...our butterfly screamed his way into the world, it was because the hardest part was performed by the the strongest of women. From beginning to end...
It was all Bella.
A/N: Thoughts?
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Almost done - for real this time.
"See" you all soon.