I don't own twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and plot of the story.
Author's Note at the end.
She used to love traveling until she became the parent everyone is frustrated with on the airplane. Adam is an angel. Bless his soul. He didn't make a noise. Peter, drove her and everyone within hearing distance up the walls. His ears popped out and it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain. He kept crying and crying until everyone was either glaring at her or throwing her looks of pity.
Finally, having had enough, she gave him a fever medicine that made him drowsy. Is she proud of what she did? Not really, but she didn't have any other choice. The rest of the flight passed in peace, but all things come to an end, and Peter is now awake and as upset as he was in the airplane.
She barely managed to get their luggage. Now she waits for the driver to come and pick them up. She had hoped that Phil would come too, but he had an urgent meeting to attend. That's a blessing in disguise because the last thing she wants is for this to be his introduction to Peter.
"Hush, I know babe, I know. We will get in a car soon. You love cars, right?" she rubs his back soothingly as she stand on her toes looking for Phil's driver. She knows him pretty well. He used to drive her to school. She would ride in the car with Phil ever morning. He would drop her at her school, and then drive Phil to his office.
She feels her pants being tugged and looks down to find Adam looking pleadingly at her and saying, "Mummy, I am tired and hungry."
"I know baby. Once we go home, we will eat okay? You have to just be a good boy for me now and wait till I find Jim." she tells him running her fingers through his hair. He blows a breath and nods his head then throws himself on Peter's carriage.
After a couple of more minutes, Bella finally spots Jim and starts waving obnoxiously until he notices her and runs in her direction, and lifts her into a hug, "it's so great to see you kiddo," he tells her after he pulls back.
"Well, I don't think you can call me kiddo when I have got kiddos of my own," she replies smiling wildly. She can't believe that she is finally here. It finally feels real. Since things started working for her, she has felt like she is in a dream. A really nice dream, but one she is bound to wake up from, but seeing Jim makes it feel real.
"This is Peter, and you must be Adam," Jim states as he kneels till he is at eye level with Adam. Adam thrusts his hand forward to shake and Jim turns to smile wildly at Bella before he shakes Adam's hand.
He stands up and whispers to her, "He is social and respectful. I like him."
"Well don't get too excited. Adam is it. Peter on the other hand is the opposite. If you had arrived two minutes earlier, you would have been exposed to a screaming fit of epic proportion. You would think I was performing an exorcism," she tells him whispering the last part, so Adam wouldn't hear.
She smiles to herself as she hears Phil talk to Peter in the living room as she takes the dishes out of the dishwasher and puts them away. She smiles to herself as she stands in the doorway of the kitchen and watches Phil with Peter. She is happy that he has taken to him well. She looks and for the hundredths time wishes that Phil was her biological father. Charlie never sat with her boys. They never saw anything from him beyond the yells and screams.
She shakes her head at the thoughts she is having and while doing so catches sight of Adam watching Phil with Peter, and it breaks her heart for him.
Good thing that piece of shit is dead or I would go after him and kill him.
It's been two days since they moved to New York City. Adam hasn't been more forthcoming with Phil than he was with Jim. Years of being social isolated did its number on him. He is standing afar looking wistfully as he stares at the two of them together. She was privy to a couple of Adam's social fumbles on the first day they arrived. He just couldn't get the words out. If he did, he sounded strange. It was like he was a giant in a china shop fumbling around trying to not knock things down. It was painful to watch, and it's obvious that after a couple of times he gave up altogether.
Well, fuck it. I will not let that piece of shit damage my son permanently.
She pulls her shoulders back and takes a deep breath and walks towards Adam with purpose. She walks into the room that Phil has made for him and goes to the book shelf Phil put up once he found out that Adam likes reading.
"Adam, come here baby," she calls to him. He looks back into the room in surprise as if he didn't notice her entering the room. He walks to her slowly as if there are bags of stones tied to his feet.
"Pick three books. We are going to read them together," she tells him.
He looks at the bookshelf in intrigue as if he only just noticed them and then asks frowning in concentration as he persues them, "who are those for?"
She combs his hair backward with her fingers as she says, "For you of course."
"What? When did you get them?" he asks turning to look at her his face etched with surprise and his voice rising an octave.
"Who said anything about me buying them?" she asks him smiling her eyes twinkling, "then who got them?" he asks staring at the two books he picked in his hands and looking unsure as he stares at the bookshelf as if he was asked to return them.
"Phil bought them for you, sweetie. When he found out that you like reading he bought them for you, and since you are unsure of the third book to pick, I will pick it for you," she tells him, and then her fingers fly over the spines of the books till her fingers land on a book with a thick red spine.
"Tada, let's go," she tells him then she gets up, takes his hand, and leads him toward the living room.
Despite Adam looking uncomfortable, Bella sits down and starts reading aloud the story which gets the attention of Phil and Peter. Phil shifts closer to her with Peter in his lap and watches as she reads to Adam.
Once done with the first story, Adam launches into his typical questioning. If there is anything you can count one once you read a story to Adam, is that he will have a lot of questions.
"But why did his daddy not tell him that?" he asks.
"Maybe because he wanted him to learn that on his own," Phile replies answering a question of Adam's for the first time.
Adam nods his head in understanding which prompts Bella to ask, "Do you have any other questions or should we start the second story?"
Adam doesn't answer verbally, instead, he picks a second book and opens it then hands it to Bella to read, "You know what? I need to use the bathroom," she pauses then turns towards Phil and asks, "Can you do me a service and start reading it? Once I return I wil pick up where you two stop," then not giving either of them a chance to refuse, she hands Phil the books and jumps up and runs to the bathroom.
She takes her time in the bathroom and once done, she slightly opens the door and pecks at them through a slit. She watches Phil read for Adam who occasionally sounds out certain words that Phil says. She smiles to herself as she watches them bond. Finally, when it becomes clear that Adam is enjoying Phil reading for him, she makes her presence known.
"How is the story going?" she asks walking into the living room.
While Peter puts his hands up wanting to be picked by her, Adam launches into an explanation of what the story is, "Peter here wants to sleep. Are you okay to finish the other story with grandpa Phil?" she asks Adam. Without any hesitation, he nods his head quickly.
She is running her fingers through Adam's hair while laying beside him in his bed when he says, "Mummy, grandpa Phil likes me."
Beaming to herself she asks, "How did you figure that out?"
He raises his head upward to look at her and says, "He got me books. He read to me, and when I hugged him, he hugged me back."
"You are a very cool kid. It's easy for people to like you," she tells him.
"So it wasn't my fault that grandpa Charlie didn't like me?" he asks looking worried.
That son of a bitch.
Bella forces herself to smile when all she wants to do is go and punch a wall and say, "Of course, not baby. Grandpa Charlie didn't like anyone."
He didn't even like mummy. He wanted to control her, but he never liked her.
Adam nods his head and closes his eyes and it's silent for a couple of minutes, and right as Bella thinks he is asleep, he mutters, "We can stay with grandpa Phil a little bit mummy. Not a lot, but a little bit."
She rolls her eyes at him and says, "Thank you sir for giving me permission."
He opens one eye to look at her and says, "You are welcome mummy."
She waits ten more minutes until she is sure that he is asleep before she gets off the bed, turns on the strings light, and shuts the door behind her.
She chats with Phil for a bit, but when it becomes clear that the game on the screen takes precedence to talking to her, she tells him good night and leaves him to it.
She enters the room and goes into the in-suite bathroom to do her skincare. She is applying the moisturizer when her phone rings. She finishes applying it quickly and goes to get it before it wakes up Peter.
"Hello," she says not bothering to look at the caller ID.
"I know what you did," a rough voice says. Her breath hitches in her throat in fear, but then she remembers that if anyone knew anything of what she did they wouldn't be making cryptic statements over the phone. They would go to the police.
"Excuse me."
"I know what you did to the truck and the boat. You can trick everyone with your nice girl shtick but not me. I see through you," a voice spat on the other end of the phone.
Recognizing the voice, she answers, "What can I help you with Jacob?"
"How dare you destroy my car and dad's boat," he demands.
"I did no such thing," she states smirking. She isn't lying. She didn't do it. But she did ask Aro to have one of his goons do it for her.
Serves you right asshole. You fucked around and found out.
"Liar, you are lucky that I am not buying a ticket to New York or else,", "Or else what? Huh? What would you do?" she asks cutting him off.
When he doesn't answer, she continues, "You claim I stole your inheritance. You claim that I destroyed your car and boat, yet here you are throwing threats at me. You and your father are walking a very thin line. After reporting me to the police over some bogus claim you should be too ashamed of yourself to even call. If you don't leave me alone, you won't like the consequences."
"Are you threatening me?"
"You wanna consider what I just said as a threat, a promise, or even an invitation be my guest. As long as it gets you to understand that I am not one to be missed with, I don't care," she tells him her voice rising.
"Listen here you little bitch," she hangs up the line not interested in hearing anything else he has to say.
Before she knows it, a month has passed and she has moved herself and the boys into her mum's apartment. It took her some time to get things into order, but finally, they moved.
Now she has to finish getting ready because Phil is taking her out for dinner to celebrate her moving into her own place. If it's not for the fact that she is anxious about how the boys will deal with the sitter, she would be more anxious about what she is wearing and her makeup. After all, this is her first outing in New York City. Sure, she has left the house before, but not to dine in a fancy restaurant where people will recognize her and everyone in New York City will know that she is back.
A message lights up her phone alerting her to Phil being downstairs. She gives herself a last look in the mirror and gets up.
It will do. My make up isn't crazy. It doesn't look like I got frozen in the 2010s make up trends.
She puts on her heels and walks towards the living room, "Adam I am leaving. I am counting on you to keep an eye on Peter, okay?" she tells him.
"Okay mummy,", "Ma'am you have got no reason to worry. I will take care of them," Adam and the sitter answer at the same time.
"Of course, I know that sweetie. I just want him to get used to handling responsibility."
Which is why you left your phone with Adam, told him the password, and taught him how to call Phil in case of an emergency.
Shut up.
The truth is that she does not trust anyone with her kids, and she never will, but sitters are a necessary evil she will have to use when she starts working, so she might as well get the kids used to it, and know what to do in case of emergency.
She opens her mouth to speak but the sitter cuts her off, "You showed me how to make milk for Peter. Both boys go to bed in two hours. They are allowed to watch no more than 30 minutes of TV. They can color in their coloring books, as long as it's in coloring pencils and their designated area in their bedroom, not the dining table, and if any emergency happens to call Phil because there is a problem with their phone. Did I miss anything?"
Bella giggles nervously and shakes her head then walks to the door. In front of the mirror she checks her outfit for the last time, off-shoulder little black dress with stilettos, check. Then she shrugs into her black coat that reaches her claves, and leaves.
She tells Jim hello as he gets out to open the door for her, and hugs Phil once she is in, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting very long."
"I was expecting it. You wouldn't be you if didn't lecture the sitter for a second time," he tells her shrugging.
She looks at him bashfully and mutters, "Try fifth."
Phil cracks a loud laugh and even Jim looks like he is trying not to laugh through the rearview mirror, "Go ahead and laugh Jim. It's not like daddy dearest didn't just laugh at me. Although in my defense, the fifth time she lectures herself," she states which prompts both of them to laugh even harder.
The leftovers of their laughter fill the air for three more minutes before Phil asks Jim, "Do you remember when she was 10 and she would lecture me on the airplane's safety measurements every single time I flew?"
"You played football, a sport that involved getting hit on the head frequently, how could I be sure that you weren't stupid," she whines which prompts them to laugh even more. She tries to maintain the mask of frustration, but she fails and ends up laughing with them.
"You are always prepared for anything and everything," Jim comments.
She starts laughing with them, but as she processes his words her laughter becomes more hollow. Is she? Is she always prepared?
She wasn't prepared for what James did? She was definitely not prepared for what Charlie did. What's the point of preparing for everything when she wasn't prepared for something that coasted her years of her life? What is the point of all of the safety measurements she took if they couldn't protect her from the one thing she needed protection from?
She is too busy in the self-induced pity party going on in her head to notice everything around her. She only comes out of it once the car is parked in front of a restaurant.
She steps out of the car and waits for Phil to finish threatening the valet. Of course, he had to go and act like the car is his child. For a man born into a lot of wealth, you would think he would go around throwing it carelessly, but not Phil. He is always careful with his money, and the car. He would freak out if he found a scratch on it. That's one thing she respects about him.
She hears laughter she recognizes, laughter that should be in Seattle not here. She looks around seeking it out, and that is when she is met by green eyes.
So, next chapter we will be meeting Edward. I hope you are as excited for that as I am.
IMPORTANT: Fanfiction made a recent update that turned email notifications off. If you want to be notified of when I update by email, you will need to manually change the setting.
Let me know your thoughts in the review section.
Until the next update,
Stay Safe
