Assumptions Chapter 20

Settling

BPOV:

It took me a good couple of weeks to be totally settled into the house. I kept finding something that just wasn't right and changing it or moving it to a new spot. Just this week, I decided that I was going to redecorate the bathroom because the paint was peeling. That led to deciding that the hallway would need to be repainted and then redoing the bedrooms. Before I knew it, I had decided to redecorate the whole house. Then there was Emmett's campaign that I was helping with and I still had to finish my book and get it off to the editor. It was nearly complete; I was just putting the finishing touches on it.

Edward and I had both been looking for a chance to go an 'actual date' but we'd both been busy. Not that he hadn't come by a few nights for a late supper and to hang out after he closed the store. Saturday night he and I were finally going to do it, go on that date I mean. I was so excited that I asked Rose to drive up to Port Angeles with me so that I could buy a new dress for the night. But that was still two days away. Today I was with Esme planning out the remodel.

We were sitting at my kitchen table and she was drawing out everything that we talked about. She had drawn a diagram of each room in the house and we were talking about color schemes. There was a part of me that felt guilty for wanting to change Charlie's house, like somehow he'd be upset with me. But Edward was very supportive of the idea that I make Charlie's house my home in any way that I wanted. He was also adamant that Charlie would have just been thrilled that I was living here and he wouldn't care how I changed things. I had decided on a simple black and white scheme for my bedroom. Esme and I were going to drive up to Seattle for a couple of days and shop for bedding, furniture, and towels. There were no good furniture stores any closer that Esme would consider to be good enough. We were going to leave Monday, and if all went well we'd be coming home Tuesday night.

After hours of drawing and discussing colors and what would and wouldn't work based on what side on the house the room was on, Esme was adamant that I not place the bed across from the window in the room that faced east. The sun would shine in first thing in the morning and then if the color scheme was too bright, the person sleeping in that room would have a rude awakening. I told her for that to be true the sun would have to actually come out, and if that did happen I'd want to spend every minute that I could out in it, even if it meant getting out of bed at dawn. Esme laughed but agreed with me on that point.

By the time that Esme left for the day we had everything planned out and we were ready to go shopping. After she was gone, I called to order Chinese to be delivered and changed into my work clothes, otherwise known as the rattiest pair of sweats imaginable since Edward was staying home to have a skype visit with his daughter. I pulled open my laptop and committed myself to finishing this manuscript tonight. Eight hours later, my vision was completely blurred and I was stumbling into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. I needed a small break because this was going to be a very long night.

I moved from the sofa to the dinner table around three in the morning when I realized that the sofa was too comfortable and I was struggling to stay awake. I was still sitting there, on my third pot of coffee when Rose and Bree came knocking at the door.

"Oh you look like you've been working hard all night. Let me throw this in the oven then I'll make us some fresh coffee," Rose said as I let them in.

Bree walked in behind her mother and threw herself into my arms, "Good morning, Miss Bella. Mama is going to ask you to stay with me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She and daddy wanna go out to see a movie."

"Bree! I'm sorry, Bella, I was going to bring it up a bit more tactfully, but Emmett and I want to go see a movie that is not little girl friendly and we were wondering if you'd watch her for us. Esme and Carlisle already have plans that night with some friends."

"MOM! I'm gonna be four. I'm not a little girl anymore, I'm a big girl . You said so." Then she turned to me, "Mama said that I'm a big girl now cuz only big girls getta go to school and I get to go to school soon."

"Really?"

"Yes. We signed her up for pre-school while you and Edward were in Arizona. I'm still a little in denial that my baby is old enough to go to school," Rose said as she came into the living room and sat down on my couch. "So, how close are you being finished with the book?"

"Ugh. I just have one or two more chapters to look over. Then I'll start over at the beginning with rereading and editing. I'm obsessive about making sure that everything is the way I want it before I send it off to my editor."

"Then it's done and ready for printing?"

"No. Then she reads it and so does a team of people the look for grammar, flow, and continuity issues and they send it back to me with a ton of notes and 'suggestions' attached. Then I start my rereading and editing process all over again. We've been known to scrap several chapters and I have to rewrite a portion of the book at that point before."

"I didn't realize that there was so much that went into writing a book before. I guess I never really thought about the whole process, I just get to enjoy the final product."

"I had such a rude awakening when they published my first book. When they sent the manuscript back with all these notes and changes, I cried for days. My first editor wasn't as nice as the one I have now. He didn't take the time to explain any of the process to me. I calmed down after awhile and, at Jamie's urging, really looked at what they were saying. Most of the suggestions made sense once I thought about it. Some things I fought to keep the same. I had a plan for future books and refused to compromise on it."

"That is what makes your books the best out there."

"Thanks, Rose," I laughed, "but you really don't have to butter me up, I'll watch Bree whenever you need me to. Just tell me it's not this Saturday night."

"No. Emmett has to work this weekend. We wanted to go Wednesday. He works during the day but is off Thursday so we don't have to worry about him having to get up for work the next morning."

"Just let me know what time you need me."

"Thanks so much, Bella."

We sat and talked for the rest of the morning until Bree started whining that she was hungry again and we realized that it was going on noon so they left to go home and make lunch. As soon as they were gone, I went upstairs and jumped into a hot shower and then lay down to take a nap. I needed some rest to clear my head before I resumed work again. I intended it to be only a two hour catnap, but when I woke up I was shocked to find myself in complete darkness. I grabbed my watch off the nightstand and was surprised that I'd slept until ten. I'd lost the entire day of work.

EPOV:

Mom came to help out and close the store for me so that I could get ready for my date with Bella tonight. We were going to have to leave early to make the drive up to Port Angeles in time to get dinner before the show. The Port Angeles Community Players were putting on "Twelve Angry Men". They always put on a good show so I got tickets to surprise Bella. The movie had come on one night and Bella mentioned that she loved it, from the complexity of each character and the pasts and prejudices that they bring with them, to the jury room and the simplicity that the whole story takes place in one room over the span of just one afternoon. I couldn't wait to see her reaction at seeing it live.

I got out of the shower and walked over to my closet and pulled out my black suit. I chose an evergreen shirt and black tie to go with it. I had cornered Rose after they had gone shopping and she told me that Bella had bought an evergreen dress for our date. That was all she would tell me about the dress, not wanting to ruin the effect for me. All I had told not Bella anything about the night that I planned for us except that we would need to dress up.

I fought with my tie for almost a half an hour before I finally gave up and ran downstairs, "MOM! HELP!"

She smiled at me and calmly got the tie knotted in one try. Why was it whenever it was a special occasion ties never cooperated?

"There you go, honey. Do you need anything else?"

"Nah. I just couldn't get that stupid tie to do what I wanted it to."

I went back upstairs and groaned when I caught a look at myself in the mirror over the dresser and saw what a disaster my hair was. I went back into the bathroom and attempted to find a way to tame it. I eventually gave up. One day I was going to have to come to terms with the fact that there was no controlling my hair. I went to the refrigerator and grabbed the tulips that I bought for Bella at lunch. I had looked at white roses first but then thought better of it. I was afraid that it was too soon after Charlie's funeral and the roses would only make her think of burying her father. I didn't want to sour the mood from the start so I chose the tulips.

I didn't know why I was so nervous. Yes, technically we were considering this our first date, but we had been out places together many times already. I tried to calm myself with some classical music on the drive over to Bella's, but the drive was too short. I pulled into the driveway and took a deep breath before gathering all the courage that I could muster and got out of the car.

I had much dating experience when I was a teenager. Tanya was my first date and first girlfriend. Hell, she was my first everything and the only girl I had ever wanted to go out on a date with for many years. There was a point in my life that I thought that I had gotten off easy. I had never had a broken heart and I was going to spend the rest of my life with my high school sweetheart. But life didn't work out that way. I had my heart ripped out when Tanya chose a new life in New York and excitement over me. Tanya had moved on with her life and now, I was ready to move on with mine.

With that resolve in my mind I opened the car door and got out. Now that I was thinking of Bella being in there, waiting for me, I was so excited that I had to force myself not to run from my car to the front door. I rang the bell, which still felt unnatural to do at Charlie's house, but it wasn't Charlie's house anymore.

When the door finally opened I was expecting to see Bella standing there and to be able to see her beautiful brown eyes. I was surprised to find that there were no eyes there looking back at me. I looked down to see my niece standing there smiling up at me, "Hi Uncle Edward."

I picked Bree up and carried her into the house. "Where is your-oh there you are, Rose. I didn't think she'd be answering the door without you nearby," I said as I kissed my sister in law on the cheek.

"She has a thing about answering the door lately. She knows that she has to ask first, though."

"Sounds reasonable," I said, putting Bree down. She took off running upstairs to where I supposed that Bella was finishing getting ready.

I heard footstep on the stair and I looked up at a sight that took my breath away. Bella was standing there looking absolutely stunning in a sexy dress that covered only one of her shoulders. The other shoulder was bare as the dress dipped down under her arm. The male in me immediately realized that there was no way that she was wearing a bra with a dress cut like that. I tried to push those thoughts out of my head to remain as much of a gentleman as I could.

Her face broke out in a huge smile as she continued down the stairs and I held the bouquet of tulips out to her.

"Oh, Edward, they are beautiful and my favorite! I don't remember telling you that they were my favorite flowers."

"You didn't. I just got lucky, I guess." I thought I heard her mutter, 'yeah, you just might get lucky' as she walked towards me and took the flowers from me with a kiss to my cheek.

"Just let me put these in water and I'll be ready to go."

"I'll do that for you, Bella. You guys should get going." Bella handed Rose the flowers with a thanks. She melted my heart even more when she turned to Bree and gave her a big hug goodbye before we left. She was so good with Bree and I knew that she'd be just as wonderful with my daughter when I brought her back her in a couple months. I couldn't wait to see Bella with my Abby.

A/N:

Happy Saturday! I made a lot of changes after Sweetpea123 got this back to me so all mistakes are mine. A little over a week ago, I was going through my twitter list and unfollowing people that left the fandom over two years and ago and for some reason are refusing to talk to me now, like I'm suddenly some ogre or something. Well, I somehow managed to unfollow some people that I didn't mean to. If I've unfollowed you by accident please let me know and we'll get that fixed. If you haven't follow me yet and you want to, I am Branson101 there. I do mention updates on chapters once in a while and when I think the updates will be coming. I'm also on Facebook as Branson Writering. I am resolved to go on there more this year. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week.