Thank you for your patience with me. Work has been so busy, and my father-in-law was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago. All of my attention and mental capacity has been tapped, but I finally found the time to write. This chapter has been in my head for a while, and it's actually one of my favorites yet. I hope you enjoy.
Thank you to my sweet friend and beta, Chicsarah, for reading and cleaning this up. To her and all parents doing virtual learning with their kids, my heart goes out to you. I know this time is trying for you and your kiddos.
Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable characters herein. No copyright infringement is intended.
"Hi," I said, my eyes barely opened to see a tiny figure sitting cross legged on the bed, staring at me.
"Hi," she replied, a grin across her face, still creased from the wrinkles in her pillow. Her hair was a messy pile on top of her head. I would have thought she'd only just woken up were it not for the large, alert eyes that seemed to shine nearly as bright as the sun peaking through the crack in the curtains.
"What time is it?" I asked, rolling from my side to my back, stretching my legs and reaching for her.
"A little after seven," she answered.
"Bella, love, it's Saturday. It's still sleep time," I told her, attempting to guide her back to me so she could curl up against my chest.
"But I'm too excited to sleep," she said. "And you have to come see." She was all but bouncing on the bed.
I couldn't imagine what had her so excited. Dinner with her parents wasn't until later in the evening, and while I wasn't necessarily dreading it, I wasn't anywhere close to her current level of joy.
"See what? All I want to see are the backs of my eyelids," I declared. I was waking up more and I would undoubtably do anything she'd ask, but it was fun to tease her.
She leaned up and threw her left leg over, gently settling into a straddling position. I had no doubt that even through the bedspread, she could feel just how early morning it was for me.
"If you come see now, I'll make it worth your while," she said, leaning down to place a soft kiss on my lips.
"Okay okay, I'm up," I told her.
"Yeah you are," she smirked, hopping off me and grabbing my hand as I sat up, groaning a little as my back stretched.
"Let me just grab a t-shirt," I told her, reaching for the shirt I'd tossed aside during the night. I'd gone to bed with it and basketball shorts on, but the very warm body tucked against me all night had me discarding a few layers.
"Hurry," she said, jumping lightly on her feet.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I laughed, letting her take my hand and pull me down the stairs.
I continued to follow her to the back door, where she walked out to the yard and towards her garden.
"Look!" She said excitedly, pointing. It looked as it had for weeks, the soil dark with water, several green stems and leaves poking through and growing seemingly taller by the day.
"Bella, love. What exactly am I looking at?" I asked gently.
She leaned down and pointed to one of the cherry tomato plants, and that's when I noticed three very small green tomatoes. They were no bigger than peas, but they were there and they were growing.
"We have our first tomatoes!" She said excitedly, launching herself at me in a big hug.
"Congratulations," I laughed. This woman, this silly, beautiful, incredible woman. She found so much joy in even the smallest things. And in turn, she brought me immeasurable happiness. I was glad we'd broken the "I love you" barrier a week ago, because I was hard pressed to ever stop telling her.
Later that afternoon, Bella and I were both getting ready for dinner at her parents' house.
"Mom has text me roughly 86 times today," Bella sighed, glancing at her phone as it lit up on the bathroom counter in front of her.
I'd just stepped in to spritz on some cologne while Bella dug around in a bag of makeup. She was dressed in a dark green cotton dress that came to just above her knees, the sleeves to her elbows.
Her hair was soft and full around her shoulders, and she looked, as always, breathtaking.
"It's August 1st. It's basically Fall outside," she'd told me when she opted for the green dress instead of the sleeveless summer dress.
She'd brought several things with her, as she did every weekend she stayed over. Many of her things remained here. I thought it would bother me to have her stuff around my house, cluttering up the bathroom counter, but truthfully I loved it. It was a sign that she was comfortable here. She was okay with letting this home be hers, at least on the weekends.
"Why is she texting you so much?" I asked, buttoning the cuffs of my shirt and smoothing it out, making sure it was neatly tucked into my slacks.
Bella zipped up her makeup back and spritzed on her own perfume.
"Does Edward like okra? Is Edward allergic to seafood? Can Edward have gluten? Does Edward eat spicy foods?" Bella said, mimicking her mom.
"Yes, no, yes and yes," I confirmed.
"I already told her you eat gumbo and all of the many vegetables and meats she puts in it," Bella sighed.
I stepped behind her so that we were both looking in the mirror, and I wrapped my arms around her, bending down to rest my chin on top of her head.
"I'm flattered that she's so concerned," I said honestly.
"She's just anxious. This is big for her. She interacts so little with others, and it's been a very long time since I brought a boyfriend home to meet them," Bella explained.
"Well how did they like them? So I know what not to say or do," I asked.
"Mom and dad were always kind of ambivalent, though they tried to never make it too obvious. But my mom knows me better than anyone. She knew each time that the guys I was dating were just time fillers. And she was right," Bella shrugged.
"What do you think she will think of me, then?" I asked.
"Oh, total time filler," Bella winked, and I reached to tickle her sides.
"Kidding!" Bella said, turning in my arms and looking up at me. "She knows that I am 100%, totally, completely, head over heels in love with you," Bella said softly, standing up to meet my lips with her own.
We spent several long seconds lost in a kiss until her phone chimed again.
"Come on, handsome. Time to go," she said, grabbing my hand and leading the way.
I drove us across the long bridge from downtown into Mount Pleasant, where Bella's parents lived.
She pointed and directed where to turn until finally I was driving through the subdivision where her parents' home was. The houses looked older, from the 70s and 80s.
We passed several homes with large front yards, trees towering over the houses.
After a few more turns, Bella pointed to a modest one story home with bright yellow siding, a magnificent weeping willow covering nearly the entire yard in a shadow.
I turned into the driveway as Bella instructed and pulled up behind a big white truck.
Once we parked, I reached behind Bella's seat for the bottle of wine we'd grabbed from my house. My mom had recommended it, a sweet white wine.
I stepped around the car to open Bella's door, reaching for her hand as she stood.
"I usually go through the garage but my opener is in my car," Bella shrugged, leading me down the sidewalk in front of the house. She let herself in, opening the light blue front door.
"Anyone home?" Bella called out as she often did when she came to my house.
"In here!" We heard. Bella led me through a short foryer and into a big, opened living room. Only a large counter separated it from the kitchen to the left, where Bella's mother was standing and stirring a tall pot.
A large TV was playing the evening news to my right, with a plush couch and matching recliner set facing it.
Towards the back of the room was a dining table, and behind it I could see out into the yard. The sliding glass doors opened into what looked like a spacious, comfortable porch.
"You're here! Charlie, they're here!" Bella's mom said, placing her spoon on the counter and rushing over to greet us.
If I hadn't known she was Bella's mom, I would have known it the second I saw her.
They were the same height and build, with the same rich chocolate eyes, identical noses, and the same full lips. Save for the streaks of grey in her hair and the lines around her eyes, she and Bella could pass for sisters.
"Hey momma," Bella said, hugging her mom and then standing back. "Wow, you look beautiful," Bella told her, and the surprise on her face told me her mom had probably dressed up more than she had in a while. She was wearing a short sleeved sundress, her hair curled and stopping just at her shoulders.
Her lips were bright pink, but despite the efforts to frame her eyes, the makeup couldn't hide the sadness that had settled bone-deep in her. I could see it in just the seconds I'd been here; the hurt lived on her, kept her eyes and smile cautionary.
"Thank you, sweetie. So do you. And this must be Edward," she said, turning to me and looking up to meet my eyes.
"Mrs. Swan, it's a pleasure to meet you," I told her honestly, shaking her hand.
"Likewise. Bella has told me so much about you. But please, call me Renee," she said.
I heard footsteps behind me and we all turned to see Bella's dad coming into the room. He was wearing a polo shirt tucked into his jeans, and he wore a guarded smile under a thick mustache.
Bella introduced us, this man who was eye level with me. His stare was intense, and I knew he was reading me, figuring me out.
Thankfully, Renee announced that dinner was ready and urged us to sit down while she and her husband dipped up steaming piles of gumbo and rice.
There were rolls on the table, glasses of iced tea at each seat. They were sweating, no reprieve from the August heat even in the air conditioned home.
"So Edward, Bella tells us you're an attorney," her dad, Charlie, said while we were eating.
"Yes, sir. My dad, brother and I run our own practice," I answered.
"What type of law do you practice?" Renee asked.
"Mostly family law. A small bit of criminal defense," I answered. "The majority of my work deals in adoption, custody, divorces," I said.
"That must be hard," she said.
"Sometimes. Custody battles can get nasty," I agreed.
"Speaking of nasty, Bella tell you any work stories?" Charlie asked, taking a large bite of his dinner.
"Some of them. I don't ask much. I don't know how she does it," I shuddered, thinking of the latest incident she'd recounted yesterday. It involved a bowling alley worker and an impaled hand in the ball retrieval machine.
"Somebody has to," she shrugged.
"Rather it be you than me," Charlie said.
"Whatever. You deal with angsty teenagers all day. Now that sounds miserable," she said.
"Eh, they aren't so bad. It's the parents of those teenagers that can really make my life hell," he laughed.
Bella explained that her dad was a high school principal. I'd remembered her mentioning that. He seemed just gruff enough, just slightly scary enough that the job title fit.
Once we finished eating, Renee told Bella and me to stay seated. She left the room and came back a few minutes later with a shoebox under her arm.
"What's this?" Bella asked when her mom set the box on the table.
"It's a box of your aunt's things. Uncle G found it in her old bedroom and thought you and I might like it," her mom said, her voice cracking a little.
"Really? Have you looked in it yet?" Bella asked.
"Not yet. I was waiting for you," Renee told her.
"Did Uncle G find anything else?" Bella asked.
"No. Mostly clothes and a few things from when she was a kid. All of her belongings were at her own house, aside from the few bags she'd brought to mom and dad's when she came to them before...well, before," Renee said.
"Anyway, Uncle G and Aunt Kate have been cleaning out mom and dad's. Mostly all that's left are the bigger pieces of furniture. But they found this in the bottom of the closet in Vicky's room. He guessed that she probably always kept it at mom and dad's. As far from...him as possible. He said they thought you should have it," Renee explained.
"That was really nice of them," Bella said, but I could see the anxiety and pain on her face. Her eyes were watery, her smile shaky at best.
"Should we...right now?" Bella asked.
"Yes. Let's see what this mysterious box is about," Renee said, a tear rolling down her cheek as she smiled at her daughter.
I sat beside Bella, my hand placed on her knee in silent comfort.
"Oh wow," Bella said. The first thing she pulled out was an older looking bottle of perfume.
"Phew, it's strong," Bella laughed. Her mom reached for it and sniffed at the sprayer, her eyes lighting up.
"This is the perfume our grandma wore!" Renee said excitedly. "She always, always had it on. Vicky used to beg to wear some, and when Grandma died, she took the bottle from her dresser," Renee smiled.
"She must not have ever worn it. It's...old," Bella said.
She handed it to me, and I tried not to grimace. It smelled a lot like Grandma Cullen's friends at the retirement home. Bella laughed at the face I was making before reaching into the box again.
She pulled out some random things: seashells, a sweetgrass flower, a keychain of the Statue of Liberty.
"From our trip to New York when we graduated high school. I loved it and have always wanted to go back. She vowed to never return. Such a homebody, she was. I'm surprised she kept this," Renee smiled.
Bella then pulled out a stack of newspaper clippings and began to read through them.
"I can't believe she kept all of these," Bella said, her eyes watering as she sorted through them.
"What are they?" I asked.
"Tennis score highlights from when I played in high school. All of the clippings about me making the Dean's list in college. The article about my pinning ceremony, and the piece I'm quoted in that they did on the hospital my first year working. She even has my baby announcement!" Bella gasped, holding a very delicate and faded looking newspaper clipping.
"You were as much her pride and joy as you are mine, sweetheart. Aunt Vicky was so proud of you. You were the true love of her life," Renee said. She and Bella were both full-on crying now. I continued to rub her leg in support. This was a family matter; I was only here as the quiet comfort.
"Oh my gosh, I haven't seen this picture in probably 20 years," Renee said through tears as she held out a picture for us to see.
In the photo, which looked to have been taken very early in this century, there was a tall, lanky woman with curly red hair wearing a bright pink, sequined formal dress. She stood beside an even taller black man wearing a tuxedo, a cummerbund to match her dress. They were tucked close in each other's arms, their smiles wide, young, and carefree.
"Who is that with Aunt Vicky?" Bella asked.
"That was Laurent," Renee said.
"Laurent! That was his name," Bella explained.
"Wait, is that who you thought I was—" I started.
"Who I thought you were putting flowers on my aunt's grave? Yes," Bella laughed.
"Wait, you were doing what with flowers? I thought you met when he was visiting his family," Renee questioned.
"We'll come back to that in a minute. This is the first time I've ever seen Laurent. That's why I thought you could have been him. It's not like I would have ever guessed the real reason you were there," she laughed, playfully nudging me with her elbow.
"I thought she told you about him," Renee said.
"I knew about him. Aunt Vicky told me all about him when I was a teenager. They dated in high school, he proposed to her a few years later, but then he got a job opportunity overseas. They called off their engagement and went their separate ways," Bella explained.
"That's the abridged version, yes. The two of them were inseparable. But of course, even in at the end of the 90s, being an interracial couple had its challenges," Renee said sadly.
"What did Grandpa and Grandma think of the relationship?" Bella asked.
"They were supportive after a while. Dad was particularly worried about what they may face living in the south. But they grew to love him. We all did. He treated your aunt like she walked on water," Renee explained.
"Anyway, they decided to part because his job offer was being extended, and Aunt Vicky had no desire to move. Not from the US, or this town. Especially not from her family," Renee said.
"That makes me sad. She should have been with him. Maybe then she'd still be..." Bella said.
"Alive. I know. I think about that so often it haunts me," Renee said.
"So does he...he does know, right?" She asked.
"Yes. He'd heard about it and called me a few months after it happened. I could hardly speak about it so your dad had to talk to him. I wish I'd saved his number; then maybe I could call him back when I'm more prepared," Renee said.
They continued to look at the other pictures in the box, more of Vicky and Laurent, one of her with her brother and sister, one of their parents, and several of Bella throughout the years.
"What's this?" Bella asked, picking up a black velvet ring box.
She opened it carefully, revealing a large round diamond on a thin gold band.
"That's the ring Laurent proposed with. She never gave it back and he never asked for it," Renee said.
"It's...fucking huge," Bella said.
"Bella!" Her mom exclaimed, but the smile on her face let me know she wasn't mad at her daughter's curse. "But you're right, it is big. Bigger than what she would have picked. But Laurent came from a wealthy family, and he loved to buy her nice things. She just wanted to live a quiet life, though, and he wanted adventure," Renee said.
"I wish they'd have made it work. I wish she was sitting right here wearing it now," Bella said sadly.
"I do, too, baby," Renee said, reaching her hands for Bella's.
"But surely this can't be for me. Did Uncle G not see it? Do they not want it?" Bella asked, admiring the large diamond in the box.
"I'm sure they saw it. But Bella, you and Vicky were best friends. And G has two grown boys who are already married. What would any of them want it for?" Renee asked.
Bella took the ring from the box and slid it on her finger, admiring how it sparkled as she moved her hand around.
My heart rate sped watching her, and I wanted suddenly and desperately to put a ring on her finger myself.
"It's lovely on you," I murmured, leaning over to kiss her temple.
"It is really pretty. Not exactly my style, but gorgeous nonetheless," she said, sliding the ring off her finger and placing it back in the box.
"Why don't you keep this here? For now anyway," Bella told her mom, placing the lid on the box after carefully replacing all the contents.
"That's fine. It will be here when you want it," Renee said.
"Thanks, Momma," Bella said, leaning over the corner of the table to hug her mom.
They sat back and all was quiet for a minute until Charlie came in and declared it time for coffee and dessert.
We sat around the table eating rum cake, and Bella was regaling her parents with stories about Beans, or their "grand cat" as she called him. She told them about Bagel, baby Olivia, Grandma Cullen, and everyone else she could think of. She excitedly told them about the tiny tomatoes in her garden.
Her mom, despite the constant air of sadness and the melancholy of earlier, was laughing what seemed like a very genuine laugh and smiling the entire evening.
Bella's dad told us about the dumbest fights he'd had to break up at school, how he had been roped into being in the dunking booth at the back to school carnival coming up, and about how he was planning a fishing trip out on the ocean soon.
I told them more about my practice, my family, and answered all of their questions. Charlie made a few jokes at our expense about the age difference but otherwise seemed pretty okay with me.
By the end of the evening, we were nearly ready to call it a night and head home.
We were seconds from getting up from the table and preparing to leave when Renee spoke up again.
"Oh, Bella. You never did tell me. Why was Edward putting flowers on Vicky's grave?"
So close.
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts. About the story, about virtual learning with your kiddos, about what you're doing to get by during this weird time we are facing. Love to you all, sweet friends.