CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

TONY'S POV:

I was so excited that now we were with Daddy in Chicago again. I missed seeing him every day. I know we talked lots on the phone and I gots to see him on the video message, but it's not the same. I liked it a lot when Daddy stayed at the house with us in Forks. I wanted him to stay with us always.

At first, when I didn't think I had a Daddy, I was okay with it 'cuz I didn't know that it could be this good. But now that I have it, I like being like the other kids. At the fun place with Miss Angela, I would always hear stories about the things the kids did with their Mommies and Daddies. But I had Jacob, and Poppa Charlie, and they did boy things with me, so I wasn't so sad. And I always had fun with Mommy so I didn't feel like I was missing out. Now that I have a Daddy though, I can see that it was different, and there were things I was missing, like Adventure days.

But even though I am happy that I have a Daddy, I see that I am still different. I noticed it when Sophia and I were playing the stupid house game. Every pretend scene had both a Mommy and a Daddy living in the same house. I didn't want to play the stupid game because that is not what my house is like. It was only like that while Mommy was getting better from her boo-boos. But I wanted it to be that way forevers.

FLASHBACK

I was getting cranky playing house with Sophia, and she noticed it, so I told her why the game didn't make me happy. "This is not like my house, and I want my family to be like the game, but it's not." I was worried she was going to laugh at me for being a sad boy, but she was my best friend, and wanted to help.

"Well, you used to not have a Daddy and now you do, so maybe you will have a house like the game soon," she said, trying to make me feel better.

"But when is soon? I want soon to be now!" I exclaimed. I was being whiney, but I had just talked to Daddy on the phone, and it made me miss him more.

"Tony, remember when we were spies, and we were trying to find you a Daddy? We did such a good job, right?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah, and it's a good thing we picked Edward to be the Daddy since he really was my daddy. The fact that we picked right just shows how good we are," I told her.

"Well, what if we try for another secret mission? Mommy and Daddy's that live together are in love. They hug and kiss, and with that love they make babies. Since they have you, that means that love is there. But it may be buried deep, like hidden treasure. If we can get Aunt Bella and Uncle Edward to find that love again, they can have a happily ever after like in the movies, and then you all can live together in one house like in the game."

"But how do you make someone fall in love? I don't know anything about that," I asked, scratching my head in confusion. "I know I love my Mommy, but I didn't fall in love with her. The love was just always there."

"Only big people can fall in love. Kids just love their Mommy and Daddy's when they are borned. If we watch some of the Disney movies, we might get a better idea of how to help them falls in love. Like in Lady and The Tramp, they shared the pasta, and kissed. We need to make them do things like that for the love to grow."

"Wow Sophia, you know a lot about this stuff."

"I like watching Disney movies. They are so 'mantic," she sighed.

"'Mantic? What's that?" I asked her.

"'Mantic is sweet things that people do to help them fall in love. Like my Mommy likes it when Daddy opens the car door for her, and holds her hand. Once we have enough ideas, we can make your Mommy and Daddy do them. And I know if we need help, my Mommy will have ideas too. I heard her talking to Daddy about how Uncle Edward wants to be with Aunt Bella. She sounded so happy about that so I think she would give us ideas too."

"It will be hard to get them to fall in love when he is far away, and we are here in Forks," I said, sad again that Daddy had to leave to go back to work.

"But next week, we will all be in Chicago, and then we can make the plan work. Until then, we need to research. Let's go watch The Little Mermaid."

"Again?" I whined, since it wasn't my favorite movie.

"That movie is very good for research. They go on boat rides, and have fancy dinners alone. And Ariel had trouble talking like your Mommy, but Prince Eric still fell in love with her! That sort of stuff is what we need to take notes on."

I grumbled, but I could understand what she was saying. "Okay. Let's go. Remember, this a secret. I don't want Mommy finding out and making us stop."

"Secret missions are more fun anyways," Sophia answered, before running off to ask the grown ups to help us start our movie marathon.

END FLASHBACK

We did lots of gathering information, and had lots of ideas on how to make my Mommy and Daddy fall in loves. But we were going to wait until we got to Chicago first. After Mommy went to the doctor and he said she was okay to go on the aeroplane, we had to take a break from our planning to work on a new surprise! Aunt Alice said we were gonna show up at Daddy's work and surprise him 'cuz he didn't know we were coming early. He would think we were going to have lunch over the video, but then when he came downstairs to get his food, we would be there. I was really excited. I wanted to see Daddy's happy face. Plus I just wanted a big hug from him.

The surprise plan worked out really good. Daddy was confused at first wanting to know why we were out to eat, and why I wanted to talk with him when I wasn't alone. But because he was thinking about that stuff, he didn't think about why the cafeteria looked like the hospital's. He was so surprised! I was so happy to see Daddy, and we spent a lot of time eating lunch, and I told him all about the plane ride, and how much fun Sophia and I had. Daddy paid me a lot of attention, but one thing I did see was that Daddy spent a lot of time looking at Mommy. It wasn't like when big people talk with their eyes. Usually, Mommy didn't see Daddy doing it. But Daddy's eyes would look at Mommy a lot. I wasn't sure what this meant, but maybe if Daddy wants to look at Mommy a lot it's because he thinks she's pretty and love is already on the way. Maybe Sophia was right about what Aunt Alice said. This could be good.

The first couple of days in Chicago, I didn't get to leave the house a lot. Mommy was hurting from flying on the aeroplane, so she slept a lot. I played a lot with Grandma, and one day I went by to see Sophia's house. She liked showing me all her fun toys, and it was good to see Shadow again. Uncle Emmett surprised us with a visit, and took us out for ice cream.

While we were out for ice cream, Sophia thought it would be a good idea to get more information about 'mantic stuff, so she asked Uncle Emmett a lot of questions.

"How did you know you were in loves with Aunt Rosalie?" she started. Emmett looked surprised, but he chuckled and smiled at her.

"I knew I was in love with Rosie the first time she didn't fall for my usual pick-up line."

"What's a pick-up line?" I asked.

"Uhh, it's sort of like a grown-up lure."

"Like for fishing?" I remember having to use those when I went out with Poppa Charlie. They were supposed to be shiny and make the fish want to bite them.

"Yes, exactly like fishing. Grown-ups will use a pick-up line to see if anyone will bite and show interest. I thought Aunt Rose was very pretty, and I wanted her to like me back, so I gave her a line, and hoped she would bite. But she didn't. You'd think that would make me sad, and give up, but instead, I decided I was going to do everything to win her over."

"But how did you win her over? Is it hard to make someone falls in love with you?" Sophia pressed.

"Why all the questions munchkins? You guys in love with someone? For kids it's easier. You just have to share your toys, or offer up your snack to the one you like." Ruffling my hair, Uncle Emmett asked me, "So is there a girl you like, Tony?"

"Eww, Uncle Emmett. Girls are gross," I whined, but then added, "Not you Sophia, but only not you."

"Yea Uncle Emmett. We are too little to be in loves. We are just gathering information."

"Gathering information, huh? Do I want to know for who?" Emmett asked.

Sophia and I shared a look, and quickly said, "No one." The fact we both said that had Uncle Emmett looking at us like he knew what we were up to.

"I'm not sure if I believe that, but it's time for us to head back home anyways. Maybe you should ask your Mom, Sophia about falling in love. Girls have more information on that sort of things. Its more important to them."

Sophia looked to me, as if asking if that is what we should do. Originally, we were going to keep it just between the two of us, but I think we might need more help. I nodded my head to show her that the plan was okay by me.

"I will do that. Thanks Uncle Emmett. I'm sure she'll have lots of ideas."

"Ideas, huh?" He must have seen the worried looks on our faces, because he added, "I won't ask any more questions, but just be careful you two. You don't want to get your hopes up. Love is a fickle thing—you can't force it." I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but we nodded our heads to show him that we heard him.

Spending time with Uncle Emmett was so much fun. I like seeing all the people from Mommy's stories again, though I haven't seen Uncle Jasper, or Aunt Rose yet. Maybe soon. Grandma said we were having a big dinner so everyone could see each other. I can't wait. But for now, Sophia and I had to work on the secret mission, so when we got back to her house, we went and looked for Aunt Alice.

"Hey you guys. Did you have fun with Uncle Emmett?" she asked, as she cut up things in the kitchen for dinner.

"It was so much fun. We went and got ice cream! He let me get three scoops! It was so big!" I said, happy that I got to try new flavors.

Alice put her knife down, and put her hands on her hips. "Three scoops? That's a lot of sugar."

"Tony, we weren't supposed to say about the three scoops, remember?" Sophia whispered to me, but I think her Mommy heard her, because she asked us "Did your Uncle ask you to keep secrets? Was he being naughty?"

I didn't want to get him into trouble, so I simply said "No?" but I think it sounded more like a question.

"I guess I can't really say I'm surprised. Your Uncle Emmett acts like a little kid too sometimes. How many scoops did he get for himself to eat?" she asked us.

"He got like 7 scoops. It looked like a mountain with all the whipped cream he got on top. I hope it doesn't hurt his belly later," I said.

"Very little can hurt his belly—it is huge after all," Alice said with a giggle. I couldn't help but laugh with her. Uncle Emmett was huge, but not scary huge. He's more cuddly, like my teddy bear.

Sophia pulled on her mother's shirt to get her attention. "Mommy, we are working on a new secret mission, but I think we need help from you. Can you be a spy with us again?"

Alice got a huge smile on her face. "I was hoping you'd ask for my help. I hate not knowing what is going on. Fill me in!"

So we did. I told her about the house game, and feeling sad. Then I told her about Sophia's idea about Mommy and Daddy needing to fall in love. We explained about watching all the Disney movies so we could get ideas on 'mantic things.

"Oh, so that's why you guys went crazy with the Disney movies before we left. Okay, that makes sense now. Did you guys come up with some good ideas?"

"Some, but not all of them can work 'cuz Mommy's in the chair. Like no boat rides. And a picnic might be hard," I said, worried that Mommy might be too hurt to do the falling in love things.

"Yes, being in the wheelchair might make this a little bit more difficult, but it's definitely do-able. We might just have to get creative. We need to get them to spend time together alone."

"Like have dinner with candles and flowers?" Sophia asked.

Before Alice could answer her, I asked, "But how do we do get them alone? When Daddy comes over, it's to see me."

"He does come to see you, but I think he comes to see your Mom too. They've become friends again, so they are talking a lot more. I'm sure you've seen your Mom with her phone in her hands a lot. It's usually because Edward is messaging her, and trying to make her smile."

"That's 'cuz he loves her," Sophia squealed.

"How do you know that," Alice asked. But she didn't deny it.

"I heard you tell Daddy that Uncle Edward wants to be with Aunt Bella. And when I asked you where babies come from, you said that Mommy and Daddy's use their love to make them, and they made Tony so the love had to be there before, so it can be found again," Sophia explained.

"You heard that? Well, you guys are too smart. Yes, I do think Uncle Edward loves Bella. But a lot of time has passed, and they didn't always get along, so the relationship kind of got a little broken. But all broken things can be fixed. We just need to remind them that they were good together. I think they are on the right track. We just need to nudge them a little."

Alice, Sophia, and I brainstormed lots of ideas. I'm glad we had an adult working with us because I didn't know how Sophia and I were going to pull this off all by ourselves. Alice did warn us that Mommy and Daddy might catch on to what we are doing, but we are super spies, so I think we will do a good job of hiding it.

"What are you three conspiring about in here?" I heard Daddy say from behind us. I quickly turned around, surprised to see him here.

"Daddy! I didn't know you were coming!" I said, rushing to give him a hug. I was worried he might have heard something though.

"Grandma called, and told me you were here, so I figured I would pick you up after work, since I was coming over for dinner anyways. What have you been up to?" he asked, while giving me a nice big squeeze.

"Just playing. Mommy had boring phone calls to make, so I was happy to have a playdate with Sophia, and I gots to see Uncle Emmett too!"

"You did, huh?"

"Thanks to your brother, Tony's dinner may be slightly spoiled. He loaded them up with ice cream," Alice added.

"My brother? He's your brother too, Alice," Daddy laughed. "But thanks for the warning. Anyways, are you ready to go buddy? I'm sure your Mom is done with her calls by now."

"Let's go! Bye Sophia, Bye Alice. Thanks for, you know, the secret stuff."

"What secret stuff?" Edward asked, looking between the three of us.

"Nothing. That's why it's a secret. Come on Daddy. Time to go," I said, while pulling him towards the door, and away from the others.

"Do I want to know Alice?" I heard him ask. I looked quickly back to see what Aunt Alice was going to do. She wouldn't give away our secret, right? That would be a bad spy thing to do.

Alice simply shrugged her shoulders and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've been here making dinner the whole time." She gave me a wink when she saw my worried face. I smiled back, glad to see that she really was working on our side. "I'll see you boys on Saturday for dinner. It'll be nice to have the whole family together. The first of many dinners, hopefully."

"Ladies, have a good night," Edward said, and helped me out to the car.

The ride home didn't take long at all. I told Daddy more about the fun things I did with Sophia, but left out the planning and secret stuff. I told him that I was glad to get out of the house since I couldn't yesterday with Mommy sleeping.

"Maybe tomorrow we can go on some adventures, and see more of Chicago? I'm not sure what your Mom has planned, but I have the day off. Does seeing more of Mommy's places sound like fun?" Edward asked me.

"Oh yes! And Mommy can come this time too. It'll be so much fun."

"Yup, we could make it a Family Day, just the three of us," Edward said. I liked the sound of that. I bounced around in my car seat as I thought about all the places I wanted to go. I had already seen the Magic Bean. I wanted to go on the Ferris wheel by the water, for sure. Oh, and Mommy said there was a carousel there too! I wonder if it just had horses, or if there were other animals to ride too. Then there's the baseball place. Poppa Charlie said 'cuz we were from Forks that we cheered for the Mariners, but Mommy told me that Chicago had two teams. I wonder which one Daddy cheered for. I think it would be okay for me to like more than one team, so that I can make Poppa Charlie and Daddy happy. Oh, and maybe we can go to the zoo too! I forgets what it's called, but I think its named after a band. I was so busy planning tomorrow that I didn't even realize that we were back at Grandma's house.

When we gots to the door, Daddy opened it up, and yelled, "Honey, I'm home!"

I had never seen someone make an entrance like that. I started to giggle, but then realized Daddy was wrong. "But you don't live here Daddy."

"Its more of an expression. After working a long hard day at the office, the man comes home to his family. He misses them so much, that he calls out to them, and they come and greet him."

I really liked the sound of that. But I was confused by what he said. "And who is honey? Grandma?"

Edward looked to be a little embarrassed, but he said, "No, not Grandma. I guess I was calling out to your Mom to let her know we were home."

He called her honey! This was a good sign. I was about to ask him another question, when I saw Daddy rush over to where Mommy just rolled into the room. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. That was an even better sign. Seeing that the kiss made Mommy smile, I decided to copy him, and gave her a kiss on the other cheek.

"Mommy, Daddy is being silly," I told her.

"Is he?" she asked, looking between the two of us.

"What can I say? I'm a happy man. And who am I to deny sharing that happiness with others?" Daddy said with a big smile on his face.

After Mommy asked about my day, I filled her in just like I did for Daddy on the way home. While I was talking, I was watching Daddy and Mommy. They would look at each other, then look away. But they looked a lot! From the movies I saw, I think that was another good sign. Three good signs, and I haven't even done anything yet! Remembering what Aunt Alice said about giving them time alone, I quickly made up an excuse so that I could leave them be.

I watched a movie with Grandma, and helped her get dinner ready. When it was time to eat, I watched Mommy and Daddy to see if being alone was a good thing, but they both kind of had sad faces. Did they fight? Maybe I should have checked on them? I did see Daddy reach over and hold Mommy's hand under the table though. That made her smile a little bit, so maybe they weren't too sad. I think Daddy might be good at this 'mantic stuff!

Tomorrow we would have our Family Fun Day. Then maybe, I could talk Grandma into helping me have Daddy and Mommy get dinner alone. Maybe we could set it up that it would be just the three of us, then I would get tired, and have to go home early. I would have to be a good actor though. Tomorrow is going to be another bestest day. I can't wait for everything to work out.