Twilight belongs to the ridiculously talented Stephenie Meyer.
A Father's Hope belongs to me.
Thank you to my awesome beta twimom817, I'm so lucky to call her my friend.
I feel the need to give you this warning BEFORE anyone gets too worried … this story is mostly about Edward and events that happen in his life. Yes, we will see Bella but she won't come into the story until later. Anyone who has read my other story, Perfect Game knows that I'm an Edward and Bella girl all the way.
Are y'all still with me? Good, because this is where the story really begins.
Chapter One
"Yo Eddie! Hey man, wassup? You up for going out tonight?"
"Yorkie! What's up man?" I asked, bumping my fist with his. "Yeah, I'm game for going out."
Eric Yorkie was a member of my squad and we were currently stationed just outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Occasionally we could go into the city and hang out at the bars and clubs. The only bad thing was that even though we weren't in uniform, it was still like being in a meat market; everyone knew we were American soldiers.
That was the night I met Irina. I was twenty two years old.
Yorkie and I were sitting at a bar having a few beers with our buddies when I looked over and saw a gorgeous girl sitting with her friends. They were laughing and appeared to be having a good time while enjoying a few drinks.
She really was gorgeous; dark hair that hung just past her shoulders, pale porcelain skin, rosy pink lips and icy blue eyes framed with thick lashes. She was petite, no more than five feet tall I'd say and she had a jaw dropping smile.
"Yo Ed … are you looking at what I think you're looking at?" Cheney asked.
"Yeah, man I think I am," I replied.
"Well let's go over and introduce ourselves. Maybe they want to dance or we can buy 'em another round?"
"Sure, sure."
Yorkie, Cheney and I left our lofty perch at the bar and made our way over to where the gorgeous girl was sitting with her friends.
"Hi … I'm Edward," I offered to the gorgeous girl.
"Hi, Edward. I'm Irina nice to meet you."
She spoke with an adorable English accent. Not exactly something I was expecting, but it was nice none the less.
"Would you like to dance?" I asked timidly.
"I'd love to, Edward."
I don't know how long we stayed out on the dance floor, but I found myself completely taken with her. There was something dark and mysterious about her but her personality was light and happy. Her eyes danced when she laughed; which was often.
When we'd had enough dancing and enough to drink we went outside and sat on the hood of the Jeep we'd borrowed. We talked and talked until the sun began to rise.
"I'm sorry, Edward. I have to go. My parents will be furious that I stayed out this late."
"Wait … Irina, can I see you again?"
She nodded and dug down in her purse for a scrap of paper before hastily writing down her cell phone number.
"Call me."
I did call her, and I did see her several more times. I fell completely in love with her. So much so that when I got the date that I'd finally be going home, I begged her to come home to Washington with me so she could meet my parents. While she couldn't exactly come with me because I was flying on a transport plane with the rest of my squad, she could fly on a commercial jet and meet me there.
"Dad! Come on! We're going to be late picking Irina up at the airport if you don't hurry."
"Calm down, Son. We'll get there in plenty of time to pick her up."
"Edward, sweetheart, be careful," my mom pleaded.
"You're going to love her, Mom. I promise."
My Dad dropped me off at the curb while I jogged in to the baggage claim area to wait for her. I couldn't believe she was really flying all the way to Washington, and I couldn't wait to see her.
"Edward!" Irina cried.
"Rina," I breathed.
She was more beautiful than the last time I'd seen her, and she was finally there in my arms.
"You are a sight for sore eyes, Rina."
She laughed.
"I'm happy to see you too, Edward."
Our lips met and our tongues tangled in a forgotten dance.
"God, I've missed you."
I spent the next week showing Irina my very favorite parts of Seattle. From the view at the top of the Space Needle, to the banks of the Puget Sound; I showed her why I loved the Pacific Northwest and why I'd always call it home.
We were sitting together one evening on my parent's back porch. It was a rare, clear, rain-free evening. Irina took my hand in hers and began to speak.
"Edward?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"I'm pregnant, Edward."
"Jesus, Irina. How long have you known?"
"A couple weeks. I didn't want to tell you over the phone, and then I kept waiting for the right time to tell you."
"The right time?" I asked.
I sighed heavily. I knew my parents wouldn't be happy about the idea of a grandchild out of wedlock, but they'd accept it eventually and so would my sister, Alice.
"My father wants us to get married," she said quietly.
"You told your parents before you told me?"
"My mother took me to the doctor, Edward. I didn't have a choice in the matter."
"Fuck. What a mess," I said, running my hands through my hair.
Irina sobbed as she sat next to me.
"Rina, I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you to tell me you were pregnant. We're both at fault here."
"I … I love you, Edward."
"I love you too, Rina."
The next morning, I sat down and talked to my parents. While they weren't happy about the situation, they weren't angry, but they made it clear that abortion wasn't acceptable. We were Catholic but didn't regularly attend Mass. Alice and I had both attended a Catholic high school and were raised with high morals. We obviously didn't always practice them.
"Edward, sweetheart, we know you made a mistake, but we trust that you will do whatever you need to do to make it right. Your Dad and I will support your decision no matter what. We're a family and we'll get through it together."
"We're going to get married. The baby's due in November, so we have plenty of time."
"Have you talked to her parents?" Dad asked.
"Yes. They want me to convert to Muslim and then they want us to get married."
"Is that the right thing to do, sweetheart?" Mom asked, concerned.
"I love her, Mom, and she's pregnant with my baby."
Two months later, Irina and I were married in a small civil ceremony in Bahrain. Not long after that I was transferred to Camp Pendleton.
Chloe Renee Cullen was born on November 14, 2001.
She was beautiful, and she was definitely the best part of Rina and me. I never thought I'd be a doting dad, but my world changed completely the first time I held her in my arms.
It wasn't long after Chloe was born that I saw a side of Rina that I hadn't experienced before. I'd come home from work to find our small apartment in shambles. The kitchen was a mess; there were dirty dishes stacked in the sink, dirty baby clothes strewn about the living room. Rina would hand Chloe to me and then walk to our bedroom and shut the door, effectively leaving me with the baby and a mess to clean up.
I cleaned it of course because I couldn't stand to live in such a mess. I got that habit from my mom. She keeps the cleanest house in the world, and she holds a full time job and raised two kids. Standing there in the middle of that mess made me appreciate my mom a whole lot more.
"Is tea ready?" Irina asked.
"Tea?"
"Yes, tea. You know that meal that you eat at the end of the day?"
"You mean dinner?" I asked confused.
"Whatever you call it," she said, rolling her eyes.
"No, it's not ready. I haven't sat down since I've been home. I changed and fed Chloe and got her to sleep, and now I'm starting to clean the kitchen which was immaculate when I left for work this morning."
"I'm sorry, Edward. Maybe if I had someone here to help me change Chloe's nappies it would be much easier."
"Are you serious? You're not capable of changing her diapers throughout the day and still manage to keep the apartment clean? Really?"
"If we were in Bahrain we'd have servants to do that type of thing. Edward, can you please make me some macaroni and cheese? I'm starving and I need to feed Chloe again soon."
Annoyed that I apparently had to wait hand and foot on my wife, take care of my daughter, play maid and cook, I pulled a beer out of the fridge and leaned against the counter as I popped it open and took a long pull from it.
I talked to Irina about my frustrations and things got a little better, but not much. Fourteen months later, I got another transfer to Parris Island, South Carolina. Instead of living in a small uncomfortable apartment, we'd be getting a house. It was base housing, but it was a house none the less.
We found that we loved Parris Island. It wasn't Washington, but it was comfortable. I had made some new friends and Irina had made some new friends. We found other couples with young kids that we could hang out with. Chloe was getting bigger every day, and every day she looked more and more like me. Bronze colored hair, green eyes; she even had my crooked smile.
She was a Daddy's girl in every way.
A/N: The response to this story thus far has been completely overwhelming! I am so thankful to each and every one of you for reading!
To those of you who are wondering about the length of the story … we're looking at about 13 chapters. As for posting … I've debated between twice a week or maybe even more often. The first nine chapters are already written AND beta'd … chapter 10 is about 90% done … so we'll see how it goes. Sound good?
As always, please review because it totally makes my day! =)