Chapter Sixty-Five: Bella
June 3, 2025
Cambridge, England
"Okay, Spawn. This is the last nice dress we own. If you get this messy, you're going in a diaper."
"No," she pouts, crossing her little arms. I take a deep breath. Spawn is just over two years old, and her favorite word is no.
It'd be the actual worst if it wasn't so goddamn funny.
"Grandma and Grandpa will be here soon. Are you excited to see them?
"No!"
I smirk as I turn her around and start brushing out her unruly hair. It's the exact middle color between my hair and Edward's though it behaves like his. She tries to squirm away from me, but I keep her firmly in place as I work.
My phone rings on the bed, and I glance at it. It's Alice, and I reach for my phone to answer the call.
"Hey," I grunt, turning back around to my daughter. She's trying to slip away again, and I yank her back on the bed between my legs. My girl is fast.
"Hey, we're running a little late. Train delay," Alice says over the phone. Spawn screams at me as I try to keep brushing her hair.
"Yeah, that's fine," I say to Alice, trying to stop Spawn from losing her shit. "We are too."
Alice snickers. "Okay, we'll see you soon."
We hang up as Spawn hits her screaming crescendo, nearly shattering my eardrums as well as the windows in our room. I turn her to look at me.
"What's going on?" I ask her. "What do you need?"
She glares at me, her tiny face mutinous.
"Ca-ca."
"You're hungry?"
Instead of answering me, she wiggles out of my arms. I let her go, getting up off the bed to follow her. She toddles through our bedroom door to the kitchen, pointing up at the counter. I sigh.
"Okay, fine, but hold still."
I grab her bib, securing it around her neck before reaching into the cupboard to grab a snack for her.
The moment it's in her little hands she cackles. Actually cackles.
Before I can tell her to sit down, she's sprinting off, and I run after her, scooping her up. "Come on. You can eat while I finish your hair."
"No," she says with full cheeks. I blow out a breath as I grab another hairbrush and settle on the sofa. I try to work quickly, knowing the cracker will only buy me so much time.
In the end, I have to settle with a little ponytail on the top of her head and that's it.
As she finishes her cracker, I get up to pack the stroller. It's a toss-up whether she will get in it or not. Just like her mother, Spawn hates to be confined.
I make sure I have everything I'll need before turning my attention back to Spawn.
She's hiding from me, though I can hear her menacing little giggle.
"Come on, Spawn. We have to get going. We're going to see Daddy graduate."
"No!"
I hear her voice come from behind the sofa, and I head over, approaching from the side she won't expect me from.
Sure enough, she's crouched down, looking mighty smug as I reach behind the sofa and snatch her into my arms. She squeals and I toss her up into the air before turning her to look at me. She's got shit all over her face, but otherwise, she looks pretty presentable.
I take her to the kitchen to wipe her face clean.
"Do you want your stroller today?" I ask.
"No!"
"Do you want me to carry you?"
"No!"
I sigh. "Do you want to walk?"
"No!"
I don't know why I bother to ask. I know what her answer will be, it's the same answer she always has.
"Okay, you've left me no choice. Mommy is going to decide."
I lean down, strapping her into the stroller.
She immediately starts fighting me. I ignore her, strapping her in and pulling the bib off her. I make sure I have everything I need one more time before pushing us out the door.
