Chapter 27 – Good Intentions

I was right that the kids wouldn't sleep long, so I got them both bathed and dressed as well. Ethan was huge for his age, and he was walking all over the place by himself and getting into everything. Esryl was a little mother hen, running around behind him and trying to keep him out of trouble. It was cute to watch, especially since they were almost the same size. Both had masses of dark auburn curls and the same bright, hazel eyes. They almost looked like twins now.

I grabbed them up and walked into the kitchen with a kid on each hip, finding Rose and Emmett at the table, chatting over a baby book. They helped me settle the kids into their highchairs and got some cereal on their trays, watching me cautiously the whole time.

"So, what was all that noise in the wee hours?" Emmett finally asked. "It sounded like tomcats fighting or something."

"You're not far off. Your idiot brother decided to climb into bed with me and scared the holy crap out of me and the kids. Did I mention he's an idiot?" I grumbled, as I started cooking breakfast. "I nearly beat him even stupider with a big, heavy hardback book."

"Dang, for such a smart guy, he really is a moron," Rose snickered.

"Ah, give him a break, Rose. He's a guy. We're programmed to mess up and do stupid crap. Edward's just following his destiny," Emmett nodded, looking very proud of his logic. Rose just rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, stuff it, Emmett," I grumbled.

"Where's our usual Bella Sunshine? You seem a bit crabby this morning," Emmett observed, as he started helping me cook. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not particularly," I muttered. I really didn't want to involve them in mine and Edward's stupidity. "I haven't had much sleep, and I have a lot to do today, so just…help or stay out of the way, whatever."

"You know what you need? You and our boy need to just cash in those V-Cards and work out your frustrations like me and Rose do; in the bedroom, vigorously," Emmett offered…unhelpfully, I might add.

"Emmett, that's the most asinine thing I think you've ever said to me," I snapped at him. "Not everything can be fixed with a roll between the sheets! Geez!" I huffed.

"Never mind him, Bella. He's a typical male, thinks with the little head most of the time, and we all know the brain power generated from there is sadly lacking," Rose shook her head, turning to Emmett. "I'd suggest you put a sock in it before she dislodges you from your baby maker with one of the knives you gave her," she pointed to where I was cutting up fruit with a sharp paring knife. The image of doing that made me smirk. What was wrong with me?

Once breakfast was done and cleaned up, Emmett headed out, saying he needed to run some errands, leaving Rose and me to get ready for Ethan's party. I quickly mixed up a cake and then shoved it into the oven, while Rose kept the kids distracted, shooting surreptitious glances at me every little bit as I worked. While the cake baked, we headed into the family room to start decorating, and she finally decided to speak.

"You know, Emmett really does have good intentions, Bella. He's just…Emmett sometimes. He loves you both and just wants you to be happy," she said, as we hung crepe paper streamers and balloons everywhere.

Thankfully, Ethan had conked back out for a quick nap on the couch, so maybe he wouldn't be too much of a handful in a couple of hours. Esryl was busy trying to tie balloons to Honey's ears, and God bless that dog, she was letting her, keeping Esryl preoccupied and out from under foot. That dog was seriously my hero some days.

"I know, Rose, and I appreciate that, but I really don't know what to do right now. I'm so hurt and angry that Edward practically cut off all contact with me that I could just beat him senseless, and then he brought that skank to the school…"

"Skank? What skank? What are you talking about?" she asked, looking at me confused, so I told her about Tanya and the little showdown we'd had in the restroom, and about my confession to Edward that I loved him.

"Oh, no he didn't! What on earth was he thinking, bringing her anywhere near you, or even being with her himself? Ooh, he deserves to have his nads shaved with a dull machete!" she growled. "What an idiot! And he didn't say he loved you in return, after demanding a declaration from you?"

"Nope," I spat, getting mad all over again. "He just stood there staring at me, while his whore practically laughed at me and rubbed herself all over him like a cat in heat."

"Make that a rusty dull machete AND a pair of metal pliers hooked up to a transformer to pluck out the roots. What in the world is he thinking? Men are such stupid asses sometimes!"

"Language, Rose," I nodded toward Esryl, "But yeah, they are."

"Look, Bella, yours and Edward's relationship is none of my business…well, actually, yes, it is. We're family, so what goes on between any of us affects all of us, therefore, that kind of makes it my business. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, no matter what, you're still connected by Esryl and Ethan, so you're going to be interacting one way or another, always.

"The way I see it, the best thing you two can do for yourselves, as well as the rest of us, is to talk it out. Try to determine if there's anything left of your relationship to salvage, and if not, at least try to figure out a way to be civil to each other. Communication and forgiveness go a long way, too, that is if he hasn't done something so idiotic that he doesn't deserve it. In that case, you just need to beat the snot out of him with something bigger than a book, just saying."

She had a point, but I hadn't done anything that needed forgiveness...had I? Maybe I needed to think about this a bit more.

Ethan's birthday party ended up being huge. All the SHAGNICs were home from school and came by to visit, as did a few of the jocks Emmett still kept in contact with from high school. I was dishing out cake and ice cream when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist.

"Bella, my Bella, look at you. You're even more beautiful now than you were in high school," a smooth voice whispered in my ear, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turned around to see James Fairbanks standing there.

"James, hey, I didn't know you were coming. How have you been?" I asked, while trying to extract myself from his arms.

"Good, busy, college has been an eye-opener. Co-eds everywhere, parties and booze galore, but I must confess, you still cross my mind on a regular basis, Bella. So, you and Edward, what's happening on that front? I don't see him over here, hovering like he used to do. Are you guys still playing the redneck dating game and keeping it all in the family?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're Emmett's friend, James, but you're a guest in my house, so I'd suggest you apologize right now, or you can get out of my house," I spat at him.

"Easy, tiger, my apologies," he smirked, and I stepped toward him, ready to throw him out. I might have been small, but I had mommy arms now, so I was pretty sure I could do it. "No, seriously, I'm sorry," he held his hands up, sighing deeply. "That was crappy of me. Can I start over?"

"Just drop the whole Edward thing, and I won't kick you out," I said and turned back to the cake and ice cream.

"Deal. So, you're not together?"

"No."

"Hmm, well, I'll be in town until the second week of January. Can I take you to dinner before I have to head back to California for the spring semester?"

"Thanks for the offer, James, but you know I have custody of my younger siblings. I really don't have time."

"You could get a babysitter. Let me take you…" he started, but then a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

"She said no, Fairbanks, and the answer will always be no, just like before," Edward glared at him.

"But she said…"

"I don't care what she said, she's mine, and she'll always be mine, so you can just go back to California to your fiancée. I've heard she's a really nice girl. I'd hate for her to find out you're trying to arrange a date with someone else while you're out of her sight," Edward threatened.

James threw his hands up and backed away. "Hey, no virginal blood, no foul," he smirked, but then he left quickly when Edward stepped toward him menacingly.

"What's your deal, Edward?" I snapped at him. "I'm yours? Who said?" I growled, punching him in the shoulder as hard as I could. Now, I was resorting to violence…

Edward grabbed my arm and dragged me out to the pool house, with me protesting and struggling against him the whole way. He plopped me down onto a lounger, pacing back in forth in front of me, and every time I tried to get up, he would push me back down before pacing some more. "Let me go back inside! We have guests, Edward! I have to…"

"You have to sit yourself down and listen to me, Bella!" he rounded on me, his eyes flashing with anger and frustration. "I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay, okay? Being accepted at Cornell was an honor, yet I wanted to stay here more. But damn it, Bella, you practically shoved me out the door! The way you were looking at me, so desperate and demanding I go, I felt like I would've been letting you and your dreams of going Ivy League down if I didn't. I hated it, I didn't want to do it, but I went anyway, against my better judgment, because you demanded that I had to go!" he ranted, still pacing.

"I could hardly focus on my classes I missed you so bad, and although I passed, it wasn't because I gave it my best effort, but by the grace of God. I should've been here, with you and the kids, where I belong. But as usual, you just jumped right in and took over like you always do, always having to have things your way. I know your heart was in the right place, Bella, but still, it just didn't feel right to go and leave you and the kids, but I did as you demanded.

"Then, I started getting your pictures and videos, all of them full of Peter, and on dang near every phone call, I could hear him in the background. He was doing the things I should've been doing, the kids climbing all over him and calling him daddy, things that should've been mine to experience, and I got so depressed. I could hear you laughing and sounding so happy, and it seemed obvious that you didn't need me anymore, that you were glad to be rid of me, and so I stopped calling, thinking you were happier with him.

"Cutting communication with you and not staying in contact with the kids was a stupid thing to do, and I'm so sorry, but I just knew any day, you'd be telling me you were with Peter, and I just couldn't bear to hear that. It's a sorry reason, but the pain I feared and felt was real. Emmett kept trying to tell me I was being an idiot, but every new video and picture you sent just seemed to make my point.

"I finally went and talked to Peter this morning after I left here, and he told me how it really was. He said that he was in love with Charlotte, but he also loved the kids and you, and he was just being your friend, something I'd failed at on more than one level. Then, he threatened to kick my butt thoroughly if I didn't start standing up for you like a real man and make this right. He also said I needed to stop letting you do this to yourself, taking on so much that you're overextended to the point of exhaustion, and he's right on that as well.

"I hated it out in New York, Bella. Every day I was there, I wished I were home with you, with my family, helping make your burden here easier. I made a few friends, none of them close, and none of whom is Tanya, by the way, but they're not who I want to be with," he said, coming to sit next to me on the lounger. "I want to be here with you, but you have to give a little and let me be your partner. I want you, you stubborn, beautiful, control freak of a girl. Can you ever forgive me for being so stupid?"

I looked down, feeling the weight of his words, but then I squared my shoulders and looked back at him. "You're right. I am a stubborn, obsessive control freak with OCD tendencies, but you know I've had to be. You lazy bunch of slackers made it hard on me from the start, so I had to get organized and handle everything, or I would've gone crazy from the mess and the chaos. All those years of having everything piled on me made me who I am, and I'm not apologizing for that, since it wasn't my fault. It was survival.

"As for Cornell, I only wanted you to have the college experience you truly wanted and not feel resentful for being held back by us. I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was pushing you out the door. That was certainly not what I'd intended to do," I said, bumping his shoulder with mine. "But you do deserve to have your butt thoroughly kicked for not staying in contact with me and the kids, and for making me feel like you'd abandoned us. I thought you'd moved on to someone else. After the crap she said, seeing Tanya Denali with her hands all over you shook my faith in you, and in us. She's lucky I didn't scratch her eyes out."

"I can never say enough how sorry I am for that. It's not ever happening again, you're it for me, even if you are a beautiful OCD-riddled control freak," he bumped me back, smiling.

"Okay, I'll stop trying to run everything by myself and let you help, but you might have to remind me when I'm doing it again, since I'm so used to doing that. I was forced to do it with my mom from the time I'd had to go back to living with her, or else nothing would've ever gotten done. If you're offering, I could really use your help, and I forgive you, if you'll forgive me. However, if I see you so much as even sneezing in Tanya's presence again, I'll castrate you with a rusty hatchet," I said pointedly, and he chuckled. I looked into his eyes then and said the words I should have said a long time ago. "I really do love you, Edward."

He pulled me into his lap. "I love you, too, Bella. I'm so in love with you, and I have been for a long, long time…probably since the day I first laid eyes on you, I've loved you. I didn't just pinch your butt or grope your chest that day at our parents' wedding to be mean. I did it because I thought you were the most gorgeous girl I'd ever seen, and unfortunately, that's how a twelve-year-old idiot flirts, with stupidity," he chuckled.

"You certainly had some hot moves at twelve," I said sarcastically.

"Hey, I probably would've made a more serious move on you when we were younger if Emmett hadn't kept telling me we'd have two-headed babies with buck teeth, crossed eyes, and permanent mullets if we were to get together."

I couldn't help it…I busted out laughing.

"Oh Edward, when are you going to learn not to listen to Emmett?"

"I don't know, sometimes he has some really good advice," Edward said and shifted me off his lap before he slipped off the lounger and down onto one knee. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mother's matching engagement ring to my band and took my left hand. "Like today, he came over to Alice and Jasper's house, and I seriously thought he was going to kick my butt. He reminded me how short our parents' time was together, but how much they'd loved each other.

"Then, he said something that made perfect sense. He said that every bad day wasted on sadness, anger, and misunderstandings is a day not filled with love, hope, and happiness. So, Bella, I know I want a lot of those good days with you, the rest of mine, actually, to be filled with love, hope, and happiness. How about you, do you want to share those good days with me, as my wife?"

I sat there stunned, looking down at Edward's hand, poised to slide the ring on my finger. All I had to do was answer him...