My dear little broccolis 💚💚💚

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Love, Mina 💚💚💚

💚 Some Honeys Need A Daddy 💚

"She is not only the woman I love, she is the mother of my children."

‼️Rated M - {Out Of Characters/All Human/Alternate Universe}‼️

‼️Romance/Angst/Drama/Lemons‼️

‼️Bellward/Esmee Cullen/The Cullens/Original Characters‼️

Chapter 4: (3,1K)

Bella's PoV

When Monday came, Bella made a detour to Edward's office before going to work. Jamie had told her that she had a very small window before Edward would arrive, and she intended to use that opportunity to talk to that Roxanne girl.

She wasn't sure if it was jealousy or a gut feeling, but she didn't trust the woman. Even less when Jamie confirmed that he too was feeling that Roxanne would make a move on Edward if she could. Bella had never considered herself to be a jealous woman because she always implicitly trusted her partners. She knew Edward, and it wasn't in his character to cheat on someone with whom he was in a committed relationship. But still, she never told him about her dislike of Roxanne because Edward's incessant jealousy was getting on her nerves and making her feel like he didn't trust her.

But that didn't mean that Bella was going to let Roxanne get away with interfering in the already fragile relationship between Edward and their daughter. She saw how something broke in Esmee when Edward didn't call her back after Roxanne took the message and promised to get Edward to call back. And she would be damned if that woman ever hurt her baby again.

So, with confidence, she knocked on the blonde woman's door and entered without waiting for an answer. There she found Roxanne behind her desk, looking at her with surprise before she plastered a fake smile on her lips,

"Oh, Miss Swan. What can I do for you?"

"You could leave my family alone for starters,' Bella retorted, not bothered at all by Roxanne's seemingly warm tone. Roxanne looked at her from head to toe, clearly judging her and how she was dressed, though she didn't care much, she was dressed to work, and she knew that she dressed well. For a second, it seemed that Roxanne was going to play dumb, but then she took a deep breath and followed Bella's direct approach.

"If your relationship was so strong, Miss Swan, you wouldn't need to come here and tell me to back off."

Bella repressed a grimace and walked closer to the desk, putting her hands on it to make her point.

"I did not say anything about my relationship. I said my family, Miss Ferguson. No matter what happens between us, we will always be a family because we share a child. I know where I stand, and I know where Edward stands. Now, it seems you need a reminder of where you stand. You will never come before his daughter.

And if he ever learns that you tried to come between his daughter and him, we both know you'll never be working for him, or even in this state, again. So you do whatever you want, go bat your pretty long lashes at him, I don't care, but next time you try to interfere in the relationship between my daughter and her father, I will make sure you will regret ever stepping foot in this building."

Bella held her gaze, forbidding her to look away until Roxanne blinked, paling by the second as she stuttered, "Miss Swan … I never … intended to come bet—"

"I don't care," Bella cut her off, enunciating each word. You can do what you want with him. Just remember that even if you were to snatch him, Esmee would still be in his life and the most important person in his eyes, so you would have to have her in your life. So next time my daughter has a message for her father, you pass it on. Are we clear?"

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

As Bella was putting the final touches on her hair, Esmee waltzed into the bathroom and watched her mother get ready for her date. Bella had told her that Edward and she were seeing each other and she had expected for the young girl to ask to come along, but she didn't. She wasn't sure if Esmee really didn't care, or if she was mostly excited at the prospect of spending the evening with Jamie, who always had a trick ready for her.

"Que linda, Mama!" Esmee exclaimed, making Bella smile as Esmee looked at their reflection. She applied red lipstick and listened to her daughter as she asked,

"Are we going to go live with Daddy again, now? He said he was back for good."

Though she had been expecting this question from her daughter, Bella didn't know what to say. In all honesty, she didn't even know where their relationship stood at that moment in time, but she knew that she wouldn't let what happened over the past few months reoccur. She had known then that they were going too fast, and this time, she would make sure that whatever happened they would go slowly and at a reasonable pace.

"Don't you like it here?" She asked, avoiding Esmee's question.

"I do. Maybe Daddy can come live with us here," Esmee proposed before pausing and thinking for a moment. "But I think Daddy likes big places."

"He does, doesn't he?" Bella agreed, kissing a tissue to set her lipstick in place.

"So, we're going to live with him, then? Back to the big apartment?"

This made Bella stop her preparation to look at her daughter. Edward had come back in the conversation over the past couple of days, but more as a memory than as someone Esmee was missing. But the truth remained: Esmee suffered a lot of familial changes in less than a month, and though Edward was responsible for some of them, so was Bella. She felt incredibly bad for having given to her daughter that hope of a steady family when it was anything but sure at that moment.

So she picked Esmee up to sit her on the counter next to the sink and explain to her, looking straight into her eyes, "Honey … what I told you on your birthday is still true. What happens between your daddy and me is just for us grownups. It doesn't change the fact that we both love you very much, and …

If you want to stay with your father, I would understand honey. As you said, there is more space in his apartment."

"No! I want to stay with you, Mama! But families live together. That's what Daddy said in New York. When we went to his apartment. Are we not a family anymore?"

"Of course, we are, honey. But not every family lives together. Look at Vicky's mom."

Esmee scrunched her nose as she pointed out, "But Vicky's mom doesn't like them. She said so. Does Daddy not like us anymore?"

Bella heard the panic in her little girl's voice, breaking her heart so much in the process that she didn't have the heart to correct her.

"Daddy loves you to the moon and back, honey. You're the most important person in his life," she assured the little girl, who pursed her lips, unconvinced. So Bella caressed her daughter's cheek and explained as well as she could, "We just don't want our adult issues to affect you. Both daddy and I love you very much, but our grownup problems made it so that we were sad living together."

"So … when you are happy again, then we will live together?"

"We will see then," Bella simply said, not keen into making promises she wasn't sure she would be able to fulfil in the future. Esmee squinted her eyes at her mother, clearly not happy with the lack of commitment in that answer, but before she could add anything else, the doorbell rang.

The little girl squealed and rushed to the door, shortly followed by her mother who opened the door to Edward and Jamie. Esmee jumped in her father's arms as he looked at Bella, stunned by her new hairdo. But before he could comment on it, Esmee was dragging him to her room.

Jamie followed Bella to the bathroom as she gave him the instructions for the night and finished getting ready. "And don't let her fool you into anything but fruit for dessert. She eats enough sweets as it is at her grandparents."

"Well, if the kid knows how to negotiate, you bet that I will reward that."

Bella glared at the man, putting down her mascara as he grinned at her and he bumped her shoulder, reassuring her, "Don't worry, I won't let your kid have cavities. Relax. I'm not a terrible uncle."

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

As they rode the elevator down, Edward took a lock of her hair between his fingers and pointed out the obvious. "This is new."

She had gone to a hairdresser and cut her hair all the way up to her shoulders the day before and she was now sporting a wavy bob, not bothering to tie it up as she usually did. In all honesty, she felt weird to have her hair free like that for the first time in years, but the fact remained:

"Yes. I needed a change."

Edward didn't retort anything to that, but Bella saw from the way he locked his jaw that he didn't like this particular change. She waited for him to say something, aware that Edward could be quite the caveman when it came to her hair, but he remained silent until they reached the ground floor and he opened the door to his car for her.

She sat on the backseat, surprised that the partition was already up and as soon as Edward sat next to her, she asked him, "Where are you taking me?"

A part of her was giddy at the idea to finally have this date that she never had the opportunity to have with Edward, but another part of her, much more rational, was dreading the thing. She didn't want to put too much hope into it so she wouldn't be disappointed.

"McDonald's," Edward grinned, sitting next to her.

They didn't speak on their way there, though it was barely a ten minutes drive. Still, Bella noticed that Edward didn't use his phone even once. Just like her, he simply watched through the window as Volturi was driving them through Seattle.

Not even fifteen minutes later, Volturi pulled over at Veggie Grill, surprising Bella who couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at Edward as he opened her door. "You said you wanted low-key," he explained, making her smile as she admitted,

"I didn't think you'd actually settle for real low-key. I was entering you to go overboard and nonchalantly say that it was low-key to you."

She saw him hesitate to put his hand on her back before he refrained from doing so and walked them to the restaurant, letting her know, "You have no idea how much I'm willing to do for you, babe."

She didn't retort anything, feeling a bit self-conscious whilst the usual guilt rose in her. Ever since Edward came back in her life, she had felt as if she was implicitly asking him to change for her, but it was the furthest thing from what she wanted. Sure, she wanted him to be more present and aware of both Esmee and her, but she didn't want it to be at the cost of who he was first and foremost.

"Do you want to drink something? Apparently, they have Pinot Noir. No matter the grape variety, it's hard to go wrong with Pinot Noir," he proposed but she shook her head.

"I'd rather not. Let's keep a clear mind tonight."

He nodded, and as they both looked at the menu, Bella felt an awkwardness grow between them. It was something odd because it had happened so rarely in the past.

After they passed their order, they looked at each other, and Edward's poker face finally crumbled as he admitted, "I haven't done a first date in ages. I'm all rusty … not that I was ever good, to be honest."

"Well … we can keep the awkwardness at its most and have the small talks that will both weird us out, or… we can talk as we always did, before Esmee, before the contract, when it was just Edward and Bella bantering about your outrageous bank account and the fact that I'd never bake for you."

Edward had a small smile, quickly replaced by a frown as he inquired with sincerity, "Are you not going to bake for me anymore?"

"I honestly don't know right now. I do want to try having this family with you, Edward. But … I don't want to lose myself in the process. And that's what happened."

Edward nodded and they kept silent for a moment, though she could tell there were so many things he wanted to say. Once they had their food in front of them, Edward seemed to snap out of it and said, "My father helped you find your new apartment."

"He did."

"He said that …you were withering. That I was smothering you."

She hesitated, hating the sadness she could see on his face and hear in his tone, but she still confessed, looking down at her food, "I wasn't happy, Edward."

"Because of me."

"No …" she looked for her words and Edward gulped on his soda as he clarified,

"That's how it looks. In fact, that's how it feels."

She shook her head and reached for his hand. "I'm not here to throw accusations left, right and centre. I'm here to enjoy a nice evening out with you."

"I'm trying, Bella. I just … I don't want you to feel like you have to force yourself to be happy for our family."

"I …" Bella stopped herself as the meaning of Edward's words fully dawned on her and she realised what they meant. She had never told anyone about this feeling of failure of being happy for her family. Not even Jacob. So the only way Edward could know about it was if he had read the diary she was writing at the beginning of the year. The same diary that she stopped because Edward was feeling threatened by it.

"When?"

"When what?"

"When did you read my diary?"

She looked at him in the eyes, and she saw how for a split second, he was ready to deny it. But in the end, he hung his head low in shame and confessed, "Valentine's night."

Bella closed her eyes, a powerful sense of betrayal coursing through her veins. She repressed the tears of pain and anger threatening to spill as it dawned on her that there were no limits to what Edward could do. As he had told her earlier that evening, she had no idea of what he was willing to do for her.

And though it was supposed to be a romantic notion, it frightened her. In fact, she wasn't sure anymore if Edward actually loved her. Because to her, love was so much more than the words, it was in the little day to day actions, it was in the trust and faith, it was in the comfort one could find in the other.

"I'd like to go home now, please."

"Bella …" he started, looking for his words but she shook her head, getting up and strongly stating,

"Please."

He didn't try to argue any further and they left the restaurant. The drive back was as silent as the drive in, but the awkwardness had been replaced by something deadly. When they reached her building, Bella left the car without a goodbye, still holding onto her hurt but Edward rushed behind her, and once in the elevator, he let her know,

"I'm sorry, babe."

"No, you're not. You're sorry you got caught."

He reached to touch her face but stopped himself, his eyes scrutinising her as he told her, "No. I am truly sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. It feels … like no matter what I do, you end up hurting. And that's not what I want."

"Then what do you want Edward?" She scowled and he took her face in his hand, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Your happiness. Your love. Your smile."

The elevator dinged, and Bella reclaimed her personal space, exiting the cubical space and telling him, "I was happy, Edward. But happiness is something you groom, not something you take for granted. I was happy when you made an effort for us. But the truth is, the moment we moved in with you, the moment we were secured for you, you stopped.

And the sad thing is, we are no longer a sure thing, so you're here, putting in the effort again. You make those grand gestures that dazzle both Esmee and me. You flew all the way here for her birthday, you say you'll stay here for a while, you don't use your phone when you're with us and avoid bringing business in our personal time. But as soon as you're sure we're yours again …

I can't put Esmee through that again, she deserves better. And so do I."

"So …" he took a deep breath through his nose. "What does it mean for us?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I love you, and I do want to believe there is a chance for us but is there? I can't change who you are, Edward, nor will I ask you to."

"But I can. The truth is, I do want to change. And not just for you. But for Esmee. For my family. I … I am working on it. You just have to give me a chance to prove it to you."

She didn't say anything, unsure if those were just words or if he really meant them. "The love I have for you and Esmee, babe … you have no idea of what I could do for you, girls."

"No, I don't."

He took her hand in his to kiss it and told her, "Let me show you."

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

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‼️ Anyway, Stephanie Meyer owns the names of the characters from the Twilight franchise, everything else is mine ‼️

Love, Mina 💚💚💚