Someone Else's Baby
April 24th 2021
Forks' one and only diner is different from how Bella remembers it.
The once-weather-beaten exterior has been replaced—or at least tidied up a lot. The roof used to be two different colors after a tree fell down on it during a storm one year; now both sides match, logs forming a perfect triangle repeated in a smaller fashion over the front door. It's even got a new name.
The Lodge.
As Sue ushers Bella and Edward inside, out of the rain, Bella catalogues the other changes, the biggest of them all being the extension at the back of the building, which seems to have freed up what used to be the kitchen and behind-the-bar area to become more seating.
Torn, retro booths have been replaced with buttery brown leather and rustic, live-edge tables. Fairy lights twinkle from the thick wood beams stretched across the ceiling, and what she assumes is fake moss is twined all around the bar and the shelves behind it.
"I'll be right back," Sue says gently once the maitre d has shown them to a table and taken their orders. Bella watches her go, recognizing the woman she heads over to chat to at the bar as one of her long-time friends.
Left alone with Edward, her attention soon shifts; they stare at each other across the table, shoulders sagging.
"The world is pretty small, huh?" Edward finally says, his small smile rueful.
"It really is," Bella agrees. "So, your parents and mine?"
He nods. "They've been friends for years—since I was eleven or twelve, like Sue said. We moved out to Chicago a few years later, but I came back after college, and Mom and Dad always kept in touch with Harry and Sue."
Bella watches his expression turn nostalgic as she admits she purposefully didn't tell Sue Edward's name in case she knew him. She and Harry don't venture out of La Push all that much, but Forks is still a small town. She knew the chance their paths had crossed at some point would be pretty sizable, especially as Jacob's nephew goes to the school where Edward is principal.
A tiny part of Bella wonders how Sue or Nessa haven't noticed the similarities between Milo and Edward.
A bigger part knows that you often don't see similarities when you're not looking.
If you're not expecting to see a celebrity walking down the street, would you recognize them on sight? Bella knows she probably wouldn't, and that it's unfair to place even the smallest amount of blame on her family for not noticing something that she didn't.
"I understand that," Edward says, running a hand through his hair. "It's a small town. There was a good chance we'd have people in common since you have family up here."
"I, uh, there's someone else, as well."
Edward cocks his head slightly, and Bella almost smiles at the absurdness of the situation—he looks so much like Milo, it's uncanny.
"Nessa—Vanessa Black. And Taylor? They're Jake's sister and nephew."
Over the course of a few seconds, a myriad of emotions cross Edward's face. He finally, eventually, lands on resigned acceptance just as Sue arrives with a tray of coffees and a selection of mini donuts.
"These were on their way out from the kitchen, so I thought I'd just bring them myself," she says chirpily.
Edward musters a weak smile before sighing. "I guess I should have been expecting that. Black. I didn't put two and two together when he introduced himself that day."
"We both had other things on our minds," she reminds him carefully, scooting up a little so Sue can slide in beside her. "Sorry I didn't tell you before now. I wanted to let you know in person."
He nods, then scowls when Sue refuses to accept the money he pulls from his pocket to pay for the coffees.
"Oh, ho," Sue splutters, grinning as she points at his face. "We recognize that sourpuss face, don't we?"
Bella freezes. Across the table, so does Edward.
Amusement fading, Sue offers them both gentle smiles as she takes one of Bella's hands and reaches across the table to take one of Edward's.
"Loves, we can't hide from this. You do look like Milo, hon. And I'm betting there are characteristics your son has that are carbon copies of Bella."
"I—"
The sound of a phone vibrating against the leather seat cuts Edward off before he can really get started. Pulling his pocket to check the screen, he murmurs a soft "Shit" and slips out of the booth.
"Shelly, is everything okay?"
Bella frowns, but responds to Sue's questioning look with a shrug.
"Shit. Okay. I'll come—oh, right, fine. I'll meet you there. Tell him I'm on my way. Thank you for calling."
Sensing that their time is coming to an end, Bella sips her coffee and turns her attention to the window. The rain has stopped as quickly as it started, everything it touched extra vibrant in its wake.
Verdant greens, deep browns, and the odd flare of colored cars drifting by hypnotize her.
Until Edward clears his throat.
The tight, guarded expression on his face when Bella looks up sets her on edge.
"I'm sorry, I've got to go."
He takes a step away from the table as he speaks, and Bella instinctively leans in just a little. He hasn't told them why, nor does he, but as Sue says they'll await his call to arrange a meeting for tomorrow, Bella knows, somehow, that whatever has him rushing out of the door and jogging to his car has to do with Lucas.
~ oOo ~
"What if he's hurt? What if it was his WPW?" Bella frets hours later, staring out at the forest as it stands steady and firm beyond the crude, natural border of the yard.
Sue's knitting needles stop clicking for a moment, dark eyes lifting to peer over her glasses. "Bella love, you can't think like that."
"I can't help it," she admits as the clicking resumes, teeth gnawing on her lip, stomach in knots and the bowl of nuts and berries Sue set beside her an hour ago, untouched. "Would it be weird if I texted to ask if everything is okay?"
Sue's needles still again. "Would it put your mind at ease?"
"Yes. Massively."
"Then, text him. The worst that could happen is he won't answer, and then you'll see him tomorrow anyway."
"That's right. We're meeting with our lawyers, without the hospital," Bella mumbles to herself as she swipes her phone off her knee, tapping out a quick, hopefully innocuous message, and hitting send before she can second guess herself.
Hi. I couldn't help but notice you seemed worried earlier. I hope everything is okay? Bella.
After reading it aloud to Sue and getting her nod of approval, Bella relaxes back in her seat, her gaze returning to the forest beyond the yard while she waits for her phone to ping.
After a little while, she grows too restless to sit, unfolding herself from Harry's armchair to step out onto the porch. The fresh grass and trees and dirt-scented air blows away some of her anxiety.
Dropping her butt down onto the steps, she runs her fingers over the worn grain, staring at the intricate patterns that bleed through the wood.
.
With a flurry of hugs and kisses and 'see you soon's, Jacob slips a long arm around Bella's back to help her down the sometimes slippery porch steps; more than once, the moss that covers the roof of Sue's small wooden cabin has fallen into the steps and created a hazard for Bella's clumsy feet.
Just as Bella smiles up at Jacob to thank him, her left foot hitting the dirt, she feels a rippling tide of pain washing through her. "Oh." Clutching Jacob's hand hard enough to make him wince, she breathes through the contraction before realizing she's instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
.
Ignoring the tears trailing over her cheeks, for the first time since that phone call, Bella lets herself remember it.
All of it.
Every incredible detail of her son's birthday.
It feels like someone has wrapped a big roll of saran wrap around the memories. Hacking at it with all her might, Bella remembers Jacob's erratic driving, Sue's gentle coaxing, and then the hospital lights glowing in the windshield. She remembers the agony of trying to walk, the humiliation of being carried inside instead.
She pictures the nurse who checked her into the maternity unit, her kind face as she reminded Jacob that Bella could only have ice.
And then...Edward.
He skidded into her life that day in more ways than one.
Swallowing hard, Bella tilts her head back, watching spruce and evergreens remaining firm and unbreakable even in the wind that whips up dirt and fallen leaves. It didn't rain out here, the ground hard and dusty.
Firm and unbreakable.
The very opposite of everything she feels.
The pain of labor was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. It was worse than what Bella expected. And yet, how could it have really, truly been that bad when it gave her the most precious gift?
.
The nurse gently places him on her chest, tucking a towel around him and rubbing his back to coax lusty cries from him. Automatically moving to cradle his body against her, Bella stares at him, seeing past his blood-streaked hair and bright red face. She doesn't see the mess or register the nurse handling the placenta. She barely hears the nurse promise to put an ID bracelet on him in the nursery because she forgot to bring one with her before.
All she sees, all she cares about, is her beautiful baby boy.
.
He was so tiny, so amazing.
But the boy she's raised, the boy who's grown up into an incredible boy...he's not that baby.
He's smart and funny and such a sweet kid. Bella couldn't be more proud of him, regardless of who gave birth to him or whose genes he carries.
He's hot-headed at times, has way more energy than Bella knows what to do with, and a streak of willfulness that she knows he's inherited from her, which only makes it all the more frustrating.
Except…
Bella scrunches her eyes shut, closing out the trees and the sounds of Milo playing under them as a toddler, just miles away from Forks and the man whose hair and eyes and crooked smile he inherited.
He didn't get it from her. Not genetically, at least.
Can you learn willfulness? Bella wonders, pondering the effects of nature versus nurture until heavy, clomping footsteps emerge from the forest. The bounding dog trotting ahead of Harry breaks into a run when he spots Bella, flopping down on the porch with his great, furry head in her lap and his thick tail thumping the wood.
"Hey, boy," she croaks, clearing her throat in time to look up and offer Harry a "Hey, Papa Bear."
"Hi, hon." Harry rips off his leather gloves, stuffing them in one of the many pockets in his cargo pants as he leans against the porch railing, eyeing her with dark eyes that see too much. "How're you holdin' up?"
"Not...great, I don't think," she admits shakily, heat bleeding across her cheeks when he reaches out to wipe under her eye with his thumb.
"How'd your meeting go?"
"They…" she pauses, gathering herself, and her voice trembles when she says, "they admitted it. The nurse who made the mix-up was there and she...she…"
"There, now. Let it all out."
Harry's arms around her are exactly what she needs. Exactly the right mixture of firm and gentle to allow all her emotions to spill out unchecked, to sink into the earth under their feet.
He's been like a father figure to her for almost three decades. When she was five and her whole world had been turned on its head, he and Sue were there to catch her.
Twenty-seven years later, they still are.
~ oOo ~
Edward doesn't reply to Bella's text until much later that evening.
"Goodnight, Bella love," Sue calls after her as she heads down the hall to her childhood bedroom.
Hesitating in the hall, Bella peers back over her shoulder at Sue and Harry snuggled together on the couch. His arm around her shoulders. Her head resting on his chest.
Smiling, she makes the most of their distraction with each other and snaps a quick picture of them.
Just as she's tucking her phone back into her pocket, it pings in her hand.
Edward Cullen
1 new message
Sitting heavily on the twin bed she's had here since she was a child, Bella chews her lip and opens the message.
Hi, Bella. Sorry for rushing off so fast and for taking so long to reply. Everything is fine but it might be easier to explain in person. Edward.
Palming her racing heart, Bella tells herself that if he tells her to back off, she will.
Then she hits the little picture of a phone beside Edward's name.
Thank you for all your support so far! Both with this story and with my own journey to parenthood. You're all lovely *blows kisses*
As always, massive thank yous to annaharding, maplestyle, and hotteaforme for keeping me in check xo