Chapter 33 – Fall Fun
Bella
Edward and I were officially dating, and all was now right in my world. I would have thought the little detail of me being involved would have deterred the "try to date Bella" enthusiasts around the hospital, but it seemed as though it just fueled the fervor, which was frustrating me to no end.
Dr. Cheney appeared to take our relationship status as a personal challenge to try and divert my affections away from Edward, which confused me thoroughly. He had to know he didn't have a chance with me. Like I'd ever consider going out with him, especially after he'd called me "Ugly Duckling" all those times behind my back! Did he really think I didn't know?
I'd had to practically run from him on a couple of occasions due to his persistence. I so wanted to tell him to go stock up on lotion, get himself a girly magazine, and just leave me alone, for heaven's sake! However, knowing I would have to interact with him on a regular basis kept my tactful side at the forefront, and I just did my best to gracefully dodge his attempts. The most annoying thing was that he kept himself in check when Edward was around, only approaching me when Edward wasn't looking. He was such a worm!
Dr. Black was slightly better, but he, too, made it a point to find me in the corridors of the hospital whenever Edward wasn't with me, attempting to make suggestive small talk. I felt like he was trying to feel me out, seeing if I would be interested. The only feelings I could muster for him, though, were indifference and irritation, with an occasional spurt of pure exasperation thrown in for good measure.
If he could only interact with me normally, like a regular coworker, without verging on sexual harassment, I could easily see being friends with him. He was wonderful with his patients, a very warm, funny, and caring doctor the children loved, but he just couldn't seem to drop it with the unwanted overtures. At least I didn't have to run from him. He seemed to have enough attention from the nurses to keep him sufficiently sated that he didn't feel the need to act totally like Dr Cheney. I was becoming more and more convinced that Dr. Black's pursuit of me was a knee-jerk, testosterone-fueled, competitive response to Dr. Cheney's rivalrous nature. I was only glad no more tug-of-war incidences had occurred. Edward would have probably punched their lights out.
I was still occasionally getting that weird feeling that I was being watched or followed, but like usual, no one was ever there when I turned around. I was considering taking a page from Alice's book and carrying around a mirror with me, so I could "check my makeup" when I got that feeling and use it to look behind me surreptitiously without having to turn around. The idea of actually catching someone, though, gave me goosebumps. What would I do if I did?
I probably should have told Edward what was going on, but I didn't want him feeling like he had to follow me around the hospital to protect me. It was all completely silly, really. He had enough to do to take care of his patients, without phantom stalkers or his colleagues' idiocy proving a distraction or getting him a reprimand for physical violence towards someone. Besides, I was a big girl, and I could take care of myself.
The weather was crisp and cold of late, and it seemed as if, even though the sun was shining less hours and on fewer days, when it did, it was brighter, and the sky was bluer than I could ever remember. Even the overcast and rainy days seemed better. Maybe it just had something to do with my view of the world these days. Or maybe it was my view every morning I came downstairs and found a handsome man in my kitchen waiting for a good morning kiss. He would be there with fresh coffee and our scriptures, so we could spend a few minutes studying. Then, it was a bit of making out before we both started our day with a companionable power walk or a session on his weight machine if the weather was bad. Those mornings were rapidly becoming my addiction.
My favorite time of year was upon us – the fall holidays. For me, the season started with decorating for Halloween and ended with New Years' day. It had been a tradition with my grandparents to have a fall decorating party the last weekend in September, complete with friends, good food, and enough tasteful fall decorations to be festive without being tacky. Those decorations usually stayed up through dinner on Thanksgiving. The big meal was followed by a sprint of Christmas decorating, complete with ample mistletoe for Poppa to trap Grammy under, as often as he could catch her. I made a mental note to remember to get some this year.
Rose and Alice came to help, along with Jasper and Emmett. Carlisle and Esme also came out and brought all the girls. Stacey was healing nicely from her last surgery, and Edward was pleased to see that she would look almost normal, except for a thin white line through her eyebrow. Nothing a little brow pencil couldn't cover. She and the other girls ran happily through the yard, kicking through the piles of leaves they raked up and taking turns moving the pumpkins and haybales around into groupings they found most aesthetically pleasing. It was hysterical to watch the three oldest trying to out-decorate each other. Dorianne spent most of her time perched on Carlisle's shoulders, jabbering at everything going on. She had clearly stolen his heart.
Edward helped me stuff old thrift store overalls, gloves, and flannel shirts with leaves to make a cute scarecrow couple. I made burlap heads, hands, and feet for them, and we sat them on the bench on the front porch, completing their look with a straw hat for his and a bonnet for mine. Rose swatted Emmett a while later when she caught him stuffing extra leaves into the chest of my scarecrow after having crammed the "hand" of Edward's scarecrow inside the front of my scarecrow's overalls. I wouldn't have expected anything less from Emmett.
The girls had just finished raking up a huge pile of leaves when Edward tackled Emmett into it, and the two began a wrestling match, scattering the pile once again.
"I don't care how old they get, those two will always act like seven-year-olds given the chance," Esme giggled beside me. "I can't wait for it to be their own boys doing the same thing."
"Me, either," I smiled, as the cool wind scattered the colorful autumn leaves falling around us. Seeing Edward so happy, carefree, and laughing, while stuffing leaves down the back of Emmett's sweatshirt, was something I hoped to one day see repeated with our own roughhousing sons in this very same yard.
