Chapter Sixty-Eight: Bella

September 7, 2025

Seattle, Washington

"Edward, I'm not sure this is a good idea."

I sense him looking at me, and I tear my eyes from where I'm craning my head to watch Spawn in her carseat, to look at him.

"Bella, we've talked about this."

I glance back at Spawn who is looking so fucking cute that I want to cry. She's dressed herself today, wanting two different shoes as well as stripy leggings and a duck hoodie. She looks like… well, she looks exactly like my daughter.

"What if I don't go back to work right away?" I ask, turning to Edward. He looks at me.

"Babe, if you don't want to work, that's fine, but I don't want you to not work so that you can keep Birdy at home," he says gently. I let out a tense breath.

"She's not ready."

Edward reaches out to me, rubbing my knee. "Are you talking about yourself in the third person?"

I snort. "Yes," I say petulantly. He grins as he maneuvers the car into a parking lot. I'm so nervous, I want to throw up.

"What if we wait another month?"

Edward squeezes my knee. "Come on." He says gently, putting the car in park. He climbs out of the car and heads to let Spawn out. I take a deep breath and climb out myself.

I meet Edward and Spawn at the front of the car. She's in his arms, her tiny ass backpack over his shoulder.

I feel tears bubble up in my eyes again.

"This is your new school," Edward says to her gently. "You know how daddy goes to school? Now you get to go to your own."

I see her little foot bounce in excitement. "My tool?" she asks.

Her little lisp sends my tears over the edge. Fuck, Bella. Get your shit together.

Edward's arm comes around my shoulders, and I look up at him in surprise. He squeezes me gently, and I'm about to start crying all over again.

Edward leads us toward the brightly painted building, pulling the front door open for us. Inside is just as brightly colored as the outside. Honestly, it looks amazing, with a little wood fort in one corner, a table with painting activities set up right next to the block area. If I wasn't so damn emotional about my daughter going away for the morning to be at school, I'd be pretty into this palace.

"Welcome!" A soft voice calls out. We look up at the woman who is dressed in a bright red apron. She has such calm energy, I feel myself immediately taking a deep breath.

"Good morning, we're the Cullens," Edward says, offering her his most charming smile.

"Oh yes!" the woman says, reaching for a clipboard on top of a set of cubbies. "Welcome!" She turns to my daughter. "You must be Birdy."

Some toxic part of me wishes my daughter would be so shy and cold to this woman that we'd be asked to leave. I wouldn't mind homeschooling. I could fucking figure that shit out.

"Hi!" Birdy says, in her classically unshy way. Of fucking course.

The woman smiles. "I'm Maggie. I'm going to be your teacher."

Birdy's eyes wander around the room, and Maggie motions around. "Feel free to explore the environment together." She offers us.

"Thank you," Edward says, taking a step into the classroom. I follow him, barely keeping my shit together.

Edward sets Birdy down, and she immediately darts into the room, investigating everything she can.

Edward turns to me, taking my hand in his. "You doing okay?"

I sniff. "No," I pout. I hear Maggie chuckle quietly, and I turn to look at her.

"It's really common for first time parents to have a harder time separating than the child," she says gently. "I imagine it's been you and Birdy for some time?"

I sniff again, nodding. "Yeah," I say slowly. "It's been us for years."

Maggie nods sympathetically. "I understand how hard the transition is. You just want to keep them around, to protect them, keep them happy…"

"Teach them pranks," I mutter on a sigh. Maggie looks a little surprised and I shake my head. Edward snorts quietly next to me. "She's my little buddy."

Maggie nods.

"Well having time apart will become a blessing for you. You'll get some degree of your life back, and the time you get with Birdy will be that much more meaningful."

I let out a heavy breath.

"I guess so," I admit reluctantly.

Spawn is deep in the classroom, exploring. Maggie leaves us alone to watch her, and Edward wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm currently plotting out how many more kids we can have so they never leave me."

Edward snorts hard.

"They all grow up at some point," he says gently. I frown.

"How did my dad do this?" I ask, looking up at him. "How did he let me go?"

Edward leans down, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of my head. "He trusted you," he says gently. "And he loved you enough to give you what you need."

Tears spring to my eyes and I shake my head.

"I don't want to let go of her yet."

"It's just daycare," Edward reminds me. "It'll be a long time until she's ready to fly away."

I sniff, turning to press my face into his chest.

"Promise?"

Edward kisses the top of my head. "I promise."

I watch Spawn pick up a block, investigating it curiously. "If you are wrong, we're having ten more kids," I warn him.

Edward huffs a laugh. "Deal."