BPOV
"Jesus fuck!" I snarled, slamming the phone down on the bed.
Less than ten seconds later, Edward was in the doorway to our bedroom, a worried look on his face — which wasn't a new look for him. Edward had been on the edge of a nervous breakdown for weeks now, all because my blood pressure decided to be a bitch. Though it still wasn't perfect, it had finally gotten in a more acceptable range and Tia had officially released me from bed rest, but Edward still worried and I knew he would until the babies were born. The only reason I still worked from the bed was that my back hurt less when I did, which just caused Edward to constantly question how I was feeling. Good thing I was in love with the man or else he'd annoy the shit out of me.
"What is it?" he asked.
"That was Claire on the phone," I huffed, thinking of the news our realtor had just shared with me. "The owners of the property over on Timberlake Creek have accepted an offer from another buyer. We're never going to find any land to build the house at this point."
"Fuck," Edward swore, coming over and sitting on the edge of the bed.
Fuck was one of the words I was thinking. Edward and I had been working with the architect designing our house for the last month, and all he and the construction crew he'd found for us were waiting for was the land. The only trouble was, we didn't have any. Edward and I had agreed to sell the lot our old house sat on. While we loved that house and our neighbors, the memories of the fire were too hard to overcome. Plus, the house we wanted to build was too big for that size property. Between the insurance money and the sale of the land, we'd be able to put down a huge chunk of cash toward the new house, which would just make it that much easier to handle a new mortgage.
Unfortunately, we were having a hard time finding the right land. Every time we thought we did, the owners would select a different offer or suddenly jack the price up. At twenty-three weeks pregnant, we were running out of time.
"I guess we keep looking." Edward sighed and looked over at me, a smirk curving upward on his lips. "How are the reviews coming?"
I smiled, thinking about the reaction to my new book. "So far, so good. A few negative ones, talking about how the book was too sad, too angsty, but overall, it's good. Not that I should be paying any attention to them in the first place."
"No, you shouldn't, but you can't help it. You're a review addict," Edward snickered.
"I am, and I admit it, but I just don't want to get help," I agreed with a smirk.
Edward laughed and looked over at the clock on my nightstand. "Baby, we'd better get ready for lunch."
"Okay," I sighed.
Closing my laptop, I climbed off our bed and slipped my shoes on, or tried to. With my belly protruding, I just kind shoved my feet into the shoes and hoped that I was putting them on correctly. Once Edward had his keys and wallet, we grabbed our coats. The living room of our apartment looked like the North Pole had exploded. We had two weeks until Christmas and the boys, and Edward, had gotten into the holiday spirit by decorating. A small tree stood in front of the front window, and four stockings had been pinned to the wall. With the addition of bright lights and greenery that hung around the room, there was no way to deny that Christmas was here. I just wished we weren't stuck in a crowded apartment.
Sighing, we headed down to the car, and off to Sue's to meet Carlisle and Esme for lunch. They'd called the day before and asked if we'd meet them, saying they had something important to discuss with us. Neither of us were sure what that could be, but with Carlisle and Esme, it could be just about anything. They'd both, along with Charlie and Sue, been very worried about us since we moved out of their house and into our apartment. Personally, I didn't think they liked the idea of us living in the neighborhood we did — neither did I, but until we could get our house built, we didn't have a choice.
"Um, Bella, are you coming?" At the chuckle in Edward's question, I shook my head and looked around. We were already at Sue's Diner and he was standing outside of the car with a smirk on his lips.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," I muttered, feeling my cheeks turn bright red as I fumbled to open the door.
"Hang on," Edward said, closing his door and rushing to my side. He opened my door for me and held out his hand. "Let me help."
"Why, thank you," I giggled, placing my hand in his. With my other hand resting on my belly, Edward and I headed inside, finding not only Carlisle and Esme waiting for us, but Charlie, too. Sue was sitting next to my father and all four of them looked suspicious.
"Hey, sis." I looked over and saw Seth coming out of the kitchen. As an only child, I'd enjoyed getting to know my brother and sister better. "It's about time you got your ass in here."
"Sorry, Seth," I laughed. He came around the counter and hugged me while Edward went over to our parents. "How's it going?"
"Oh, you know," he said, offhandedly, but I saw the way his cheeks darkened.
"Someone has a secret," I teased, raising an eyebrow at him. "Tell me."
"Well . . ." Seth smiled. "I might have met someone."
I gasped. "Who?"
"This amazing guy," Seth gushed. When his mom started dating my dad, Seth had been very reluctant to talk about himself. It turned out that he was gay and not sure on how I would take it, especially when it came to Alex knowing. I didn't care one way or the other; I just wanted Seth to fall in love with someone amazing — the way I fell in love with Edward.
"And?" I prompted. "You have to give me more than just some amazing guy."
"It's new and different. I don't want to jinx it, but he's just really incredible, Bella," Seth murmured.
"Good. When do I get to meet him?" I asked.
Seth groaned. "Well, if you're nice, he might be there for Christmas. Maybe. It depends on how you, Mom, and Leah behave. You three might scare him off."
I laughed. "Oh, Seth, it's not me, Sue, or Leah, you have to worry about. Charlie's the one who will make or break your relationship. He's a hard ass when it comes to his kids dating."
"So true." Seth sighed, shifting our attention to where Carlisle, Esme, Charlie, Sue, and, now, Edward were sitting. "You'd better get over there. Tea or lemonade?"
"Tea for me, Coke for Edward," I replied.
"I'll have them right out."
I walked over and joined everyone, groaning at the way Esme and Sue's hands automatically when to my stomach. It wasn't that I minded them talking to the babies, but they could have at least greeted me first. Once they were done, I took the chair next to Edward. Seth brought us our drinks and took our order, ignoring the way Edward scowled when I ordered a cheeseburger. Yeah, it was unhealthy, but it sounded damn good. Seth shot me a wink before he walked back into the kitchen, leaving Edward and I alone with the parents.
"So," Edward said, nodding his head. "Are you gonna tell us why you wanted us to meet you for lunch or would you like us to guess?"
"I vote for taking a guess," Charlie quipped. Sue, Carlisle, and Esme laughed, while Edward and I rolled our eyes. "I swear, you two act like we're about to strip naked in front of you or something."
"Ew," I whined while Edward made this gagging sound. "Dad!"
Carlisle, Esme, and Sue laughed with my father, who looked proud that he'd just made me vomit in my mouth. Picking up my glass of ice tea, I took a large drink, trying to get the taste of my breakfast out of my mouth. I swear the old man said shit like that just to gross me out.
"Did you see the looks on their faces?" Charlie snickered, reaching across the table and high-fiving Carlisle, which alone was enough to make me want to leave. They were old; they're not to be high-fiving anyone.
"Priceless," Carlisle gasped, trying to breathe between peals of laughter.
Sighing, I waited until they were done, before speaking. "We don't have all day, you know. The boys will be mighty pissed if we're not there to pick them up from school."
"Oh, sorry," Esme giggled. "Okay, everyone quiet." Carlisle, Sue, and Charlie somehow managed to stifle their laughter, though I could see the strain on all of them. Esme smiled and looked back over at me and Edward — one of her creepy mom smiles. "We have a present for you."
"A present?" Edward asked. "Christmas isn't for two more weeks."
"Yes, well, this isn't a Christmas present," she chirped nonchalantly.
"Um, okay," I said, waiting for them to give us the presents. Yet, the four of them just sat there, smiling. "Are we supposed to guess what it is?"
"Oh, yeah." Esme laughed again as she reached into her purse and pulled out a long, white envelope. She slid it across the table, leaving it in front of me and Edward, who reached out and picked it up.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Open it and find out, my darling boy," Esme scoffed.
Sighing, Edward turned the envelope over in his hand, peeling the back fold out and pulling out a clump of papers. While he unfolded them, I noticed that Seth had come out of the kitchen and was leaning against the counter, watching us intensely.
"What the fuck?" Edward snapped, causing me to jump when he glared at our parents. "You — you bought the land we were wanting over on Timberlake Creek?"
My mouth fell open. "What?" I asked. Edward handed me the paperwork. Indeed, in my hands was a contract to buy the very land that we'd been looking at to build our house on — the very land Claire told me had been sold out from under us this morning. Taking a deep breath, I looked over at our parents. "What the hell is going on?"
"We bought it for you," Esme said, smiling. "It's your present."
"You bought it for us?" I asked, my tone much softer. "But why would you do that when we were already trying to buy it?"
"Because we wanted to," Charlie scoffed. Turning to face me, his grew serious. "Now, Bella, don't freak out here, but, well, I love you, and we wanted to do something to help."
"First of all, I wouldn't freak out because you love me, dork," I jibed. "Secondly, you don't have the money to buy this land, Dad — not even a part of it. Now, someone had better start explaining just what the hell is going on."
Charlie cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. "W — we used the money from Renee's estate to buy the land. She left everything to you, and I handled it all for you, since you were unable to do so."
My eyes flittered to a close as the paper slipped out from between my fingers. "Take it back," I whispered.
"Bella —" Charlie started, but clamped his mouth shut when I brought my hand up to my lips, trying my hardest to muffle my sob.
"Take it back," I cried. "I don't want anything that is connected to her."
"Calm down, baby," Edward whispered, wrapping his arms around me and nestling me into his embrace. "Please, for me, calm down."
"Edward," I whimpered, trying to take a deep breath.
"I told y'all it was a bad idea." I looked over my shoulder at Seth, who reached out and pulled me into his arms. "You should have listened to me."
Without another word, Seth led me through the diner and into the kitchen. I could hear Edward arguing with our parents about the land, but I couldn't handle it right now. What did they think was going to happen when I found out they bought our land with my dead, bitch of a mother's money?
"Sit," Seth ordered, gesturing to a small desk that sat in the back corner of the kitchen. I did as he told me, placing my hands on my belly. Seth moved over to the stove.
"You knew?" I asked.
He nodded. "They told us — all of us — about it last week." Seth looked over his shoulder at me. "For the record, we all told them it was a bad idea. Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Rose, Leah, and I knew this would be the last thing you wanted, but they didn't listen."
"No shit," I muttered, brushing my hair out of my face. "All she ever did was hurt me."
"I know," Seth replied, turning back to the stove.
I waited for him to say more, but he didn't. "She told me to give Alex away," I added. Still nothing. "She told me I'd never be a good mother."
"And you proved her wrong." Seth looked over his shoulder at me. "You want everything on your burger?"
"No onions," I muttered. Seth nodded and turned back to the stove. "Aren't you gonna tell me that I'm being too harsh when it comes to her?"
"Nope." Seth pulled the hamburger patty off the grill and placed it on the bun he had waiting. Grabbing some lettuce, he added it to the burger, followed by some cheese, tomatoes, and a few pickles. "Mayo or mustard?"
"Mustard," I said. Once he'd added the mustard on my burger, he dumped an order of fries on my plate and brought it over to me. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," he replied, going back over to the stove.
Picking up a fry, I took a bit off the edge. "I hate her."
"I'd imagine so," Seth said. "She wasn't anyone to you, Bella. Nobody expects you to love her."
"She was my mother," I groused, finishing that fry and grabbing another.
Seth shook his head. "From what I've heard, she wasn't anymore your mother than my dad was my father."
"Your father died, he didn't abandon you," I pointed out.
"True," Seth admitted, placing everyone else's food on the shelf between the kitchen and the front part of the diner. "Ma, food."
A moment later, Sue came over and grabbed their food, throwing me a sad smile before she carried their plates over to the table. Guilt ate at me; I should go back out there, but I just couldn't — not yet. Seth came over and to me, turning an old pickle bucket upside down and sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him. I picked up my burger and took a bite, waiting for him to say something else, but he just sat there, watching me.
Swallowing the mouthful of food I had, I sighed. "Dude, just say it already!"
"Say what?" he laughed. "I'm just watching you eat. I've never seen a girl stuff so much food into her mouth at once."
"Ha-ha, very funny," I grumbled.
"I'm serious," he said.
Shaking my head, I dislodged the tears that had been hanging on the end of my lashes. "She left me, Seth. More than once, she willingly left me. Why wasn't I enough reason to stay?"
"I don't know, Bella," he said. "You're asking the right questions; unfortunately, I don't have those answers for you."
The door to the kitchen opened and I looked over, finding Edward standing there with his own food in his hand. "You okay?"
I nodded. "Are they mad?"
"No," Edward quipped. "Confused on why it would upset us, but not mad."
"I'll just let you two have a few minutes alone," Seth mumbled, standing up. He walked past Edward, who came in and took a seat on the bucket Seth had been sitting on.
"How's your burger?" Edward asked.
"It's good," I murmured. Picking it up, I took a small bite.
"I think we should take the land," Edward said, softly. I tensed up. "Just hear me out, okay?"
"Okay," I grumbled.
"While I don't like the fact that they went about purchasing the land the way they did, they did it with good intentions. Bella, by letting them pay for the land, we could take that money and use it against the cost of building, leaving us with very little left to pay out."
"It makes sense," I agreed. "But, Edward, it's like forgiving her for years of hurt. I can't do that, I just can't do that."
"Nobody's asking you to," he assured me. "Charlie knew you wouldn't accept the money outright, so he, Sue, Carlisle, and Esme thought that buying the land would be the most beneficial to us and the kids. Baby, I think they're right. The contractors could start building as early as next week, which would put us in the house a hell of a lot faster."
I sighed. "I know, but I don't know that I could live on a piece of land bought with her money, Edward."
"If you really don't, I won't push you, but, Bella, I think you should at least think about it."
"Suppose I can do that much," I huffed.
"Good." Edward smiled. "Now finish eating before my mom has a heart attack. She's already convinced that I never feed you."
I laughed because all Edward did anymore was try to shove food into my mouth. "Clearly, she doesn't know you very well."
"Guess not," Edward teased, stealing a fry from my plate.
Edward and I finished eating our food, and then I followed Edward back out front. Seth and Sue were busy helping other customers, but Charlie, Carlisle, and Esme were still sitting at the table. We walked over to them, but didn't sit down.
"We'll think about it, but you really should have talked to us about this before you made that decision," I said.
"You're right, we should have," Carlisle replied. "But we wanted to help, that's all."
"I know, and I'm thankful for that, but it's hard." I sighed and picked up my coat. "Just let me think about it, okay?"
"Okay, sweetheart." Esme reached out and grabbed my hand. "We love you."
"I love you, too, Esme," I whispered, squeezing her hand in return. Shifting my eyes over to Charlie, I added, "You too, old man."
"Stubborn little girl," he grumbled, standing up and walking around to me. Wrapping his arms around me, my father hugged me and whispered, "Think real hard about whether or not you want to live the rest of your life being angry at her. Anger is a dangerous weapon, Bella."
"I will, Daddy," I whimpered, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "Love you."
"I love you, too," he murmured.
Edward and I loaded up into the car and headed back to our apartment. Upon walking into our small, danky apartment, I knew that I'd accept the land from our parents — even if I didn't like the fact that Renee's money paid for it. Maybe it was time for her to do something worthwhile for me.
