A/N for 2019-05-11: Beta'd by the amazing Eeyorefan12, who assures me this chapter *is* funny in parts. Hope it brings you a chuckle, too.
~ Erin
Edward kept his distance, as did Jasper. She hadn't seen either of them since a few days prior, the night Edward lobbed what she hoped were all the informational bombs he had at his disposal.
She felt entitled to a small bubble of denial. She would handle everything, but one thing at a time. Right now, being more than a warm body to her children and getting ahead at work were the only two areas for which she had energy.
Therefore, it was with gritting reluctance that she'd agreed to see Matt's friends, Eric and Jan, for a lunch date.
And they were definitely Matt's friends. Not hers.
Matt and Eric had been college roommates, two strangers to Seattle, and both from very different backgrounds. Eric was a stalwart church-goer, Matt an easy-going agnostic. They'd formed a vibrant friendship that had survived Eric's whirlwind romance with, and then marriage to, Jan.
Like Eric, Jan was a fervent Christian. But where Eric leaned towards the loving side of his faith, Jan tipped in the opposite direction, verbally expressing displeasure for anything she considered a sin. Age had tempered her a little, but not to the point where Bella could imagine ever having a friendship with her, based on its own merits.
And while the couple had always been kind to Matt and Bella, and their kids, Bella frequently had the nagging suspicion that they disapproved of her in some way. Neither of them had ever said anything about her psychosis, but she didn't doubt they knew about it. Matt and Eric had been best friends long before Bella entered the picture.
One thing that had often irked Bella had been Eric and Jan's attitude towards Bella and Matt's parenting abilities—Eric and Jan seemed less than impressed by them. Though childless, the phrase, "When we're parents" littered Jan's commentary whenever she was in Bella's—and especially, Josh's presence.
For Matt's sake, Bella had kept her eyerolls to a minimum whenever this occurred.
She wasn't sure if she could hold that line today.
Matt had been one of the most tolerant people Bella had ever met. His kindness and willingness to believe in people—even messed-up ones like herself, had been one of the things that had endeared him to her the most.
So when Jan had texted, asking if they could bring lunch on Saturday, she'd taken a good long look at Joshua before replying. She had wondered if they'd be able to take a hint about leaving if things started to go sideways when nap time approached.
She doubted it and teetered towards saying no. Then she remembered her promise to Charlie. She'd told him she would see friends. So she'd punched in a misspelled 'yass' before she could change her mind.
After a brief trip to the neighbourhood park Saturday morning, specifically for the kids to wear off any excess energy, Bella rushed Meredith and Joshua home. She found herself huffing and puffing behind the stroller, trying to get back in time to get Josh a quick bath and a snack. As with most park outings, he had found the largest puddle there and planted himself in it, spending the rest of their time there dragging around a squishy diaper wrapped in sodden clothes. He'd refused to let Bella change him.
"Please let them be understanding," she mumbled, thumping the stroller wheels up the backstairs.
Josh squealed in delight. He loved the jarring movement and had shrieked in protest when she'd tried to get him to walk up instead. Bella had strong arms, but hefting both the stroller's weight and her child's up the steps was a strain on her one good arm.
"Okay little dude, bath time. Then our friends are coming over, 'K?"
"Bath-time!" he sang.
Meredith busied herself at the table, papers and crayons out, describing to no one in particular an elaborately artistic plan involving ponies, a monkey, and birthday cake.
Bella called out occasional encouragement to Mer as she tried to rush—and not rush, Josh through his bath. This too was a fine balance, negotiated with all the finesse she could muster while dealing with an unpredictable almost two-year-old.
"Splash!" he said, delighting in demonstrating this action to Bella.
"Yes, splash!" Bella tried to enthuse, stepping back and reaching for a towel.
Then the doorbell rang.
"Oh God, do you have to be early?" Bella muttered, looking at her watch. Plastering a smile on her face, she forced a chipper note into her voice. "Alright Josh. Looks like our friends are here. Why don't we dry off and go see them?"
"No," he said, "Splash!"
She dabbed uselessly at the most obvious water spots on her shirt as she dashed to the door, yanking it open as the second round of knocks started. Eric and Jan stood on the porch, neatly dressed in crisp chinos and pressed pastel shirts. Both were holding casserole dishes. They looked like they'd just walked out of a Lands End catalogue.
"Hey you," Eric said, smiling.
"Hey yourself. Gotta-kid-in-the-bath-come-on-in," Bella rushed out, and then ran back to the bathroom.
Halfway into the dining room, she slipped in a small stream of water that was now flowing out of the bathroom and landed hard on her backside. A fresh cloud of drywall dust added insult to injury, settling on top of her, as she briefly cursed the unfinished renovations again. Smacking the towel down in the water, Bella struggled up and made it to the bathroom. "Stop!" she called to Josh, who was bailing water from the tub with a cup and gleefully pouring it on the floor
He finished emptying out the cup he was holding with a good natured, "All done!" and then smiled brightly at her.
"Water stays in the tub, Josh," she said, trying not to clench her teeth. "Okay?"
If he heard or understood, she had no idea. He was humming happily as he climbed from the tub, and let Bella towel him off with his sister's towel. When he was dry enough, she threw this onto the rest of the river outside in the hall. "Our friends are here. Let's go get you some clothes."
"No!" he said, and then bolted for the living room.
"Hey!" Bella heard Eric call out. It sounded friendly enough but, as she rounded the corner, she saw that the friendly tone ended with his voice. His eyebrows were raised in a shocked expression.
Josh was oblivious. He was too busy showing off all his new words from the week.
"Pee," he said, pointing to his private parts.
Jan's cheeks were a mottled red, and she studied the empty walls.
"Uh, yeah," Bella said. "Come on. Let's go find your dragon costume. And a diaper."
His face lit up. "Dwagon!"
When she'd finished wrangling Josh into a diaper and his now perilously-small dragon costume, Bella made it back to the kitchen, wiping her hand across her face. Eric and Jan looked calmer and were loudly admiring Meredith's drawing.
Well thank fucking God, Bella thought.
Jan had been busy. The plates had been pulled out and the casseroles sat on the island.
"Thank you," Bella said, appreciating the help. Just getting food together was challenge enough. She was legitimately grateful that they'd gone to the trouble of bringing lunch.
"Missed you," Jan said, standing up and giving her a hug.
"You too," Bella answered politely. She hadn't, but she figured widowhood permitted a little elasticity with the truth. Then there was a guilty twinge. Matt would've been able to let the truth roll off his tongue, without it making anyone feel uncomfortable. His ability to be both kind and truthful had made him easy to be around. She wished she could be at ease with them, just for his sake.
"How're things?" Jan asked.
"Oh, fine," Bella said, doubting that Jan expected an honest answer. She briefly thought about how nice it would be to have close friends she could share with, who could listen to her worries and understand. Although Eric and Jan were making an effort, they could never relate to her life situation, not to mention the supernatural aspects of it. No, it had been a very long time since she'd had friends around her who could.
Jacob had been that last friend, and before that—
"What happened?" Eric asked, lifting his chin in the direction of her cast. "No one told you they don't do corporal punishment here in schools?" He winked and chuckled at his joke, and Jan joined him.
"Ha-ha, uh, no. Just me being clumsy." She forced a smile, which almost became genuine when she pictured their faces if she had told the truth about the circumstances behind her broken hand.
"And what's up with you, little man?" Jan asked Josh.
"Man!" Josh said excitedly, standing up on his tippy-toes. The wings on his costume flapped with the movement.
Bella stiffened. She wasn't sure if he was just excited to talk about his new and favourite topic or if he was expecting Edward to magically appear.
But no. He surprised her on both fronts.
"Man!" He repeated. Then he pointed to Bella. "Mama!" And then, added, "Bed!" And as if those three words together weren't enough, Josh picked up the two trucks he and Edward had played with and banged them together loudly. "Play!"
Everyone stared. Including Meredith.
Part of her wanted to weep with joy. He'd used four words together. Sort of.
Mostly, though, she wanted some natural disaster to absolve her from the need to explain that those four words did not mean what Matt's friends clearly thought they did.
"Uh . . ." Eric said.
Jan stared wordlessly at Josh, then at Bella, and then at the floor. After an uncomfortable pause, she mumbled, "I'll just get lunch ready."
It was the fastest lunch they'd ever had together.
Bella suspected it just might be the last.
Josh went full dragon, roaring every time he took a bite of food.
By the time Eric and Jan left, casserole dishes in hand and promises of return visits that wouldn't happen, Bella felt like there wasn't an inch of room left inside her to experience another emotion known to humankind.
She shut the front door and then turned her back to it, sliding down slowly until her sore ass hit the floor.
"And that, kids," she muttered, too quietly for the children to hear, "is why mommy doesn't want to see 'friends'."
She sat there for a few minutes with her eyes closed until she heard Josh trotting in her direction, taking her unguarded posture as an invitation to attempt to jump into her lap. Too exhausted to move, she curled up instead, hands crossed protectively over her head, as Josh continued his attempts to infiltrate her defenses.
"Bella?" a woman's voice called.
Bella snapped her head up, just as Josh's head caught her hard in the chin, and registered the sight of Alice Cullen standing in her living room.
DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.