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Chapter 50

Children, Children

Edward

"How do you actually drink your coffee in the morning?" asked Jake just as I pulled the door shut behind me.

"With milk, why?" replied Brandon, confused.

"No reason," Jake smirked.

I smiled and went back to Bella.

In my new pajamas.

I already felt a bit silly in this thing, but Bella liked it. She was asleep right away, which really didn't surprise me. Two evenings in a row she hadn't been in bed until after midnight. Tomorrow I would make sure she went to sleep earlier.

As soon as I carefully crawled back into bed, Bella snuggled up to me again. I pulled her leg over my hips and put a hand under the fabric in her back. So, we lay there and I feasted on this closeness again.

Never again would I be able to endure another night without Bella.

When I got up again at twenty to six, I was completely intoxicated by her sweet scent and warmth. Lightning fast I got dressed. When I looked down at Bella just two seconds later, she was lying on my side of the bed. I gave her yet another kiss on the forehead and went down to the coffee machine.

On the way to the bakery, I dwelled on my thoughts.

Brandon had taken all this news surprisingly well. Jake was undoubtedly right. When you come up with your own conclusions to strange occurrences, the truth might not be as shocking as your own suspicions. Plus, it might be good for Jake and Leah to have someone to talk to about supernatural things.

I had wondered about how Brandon could stay overnight in the middle of the week like he was, but Bella said that it was a frequent occurrence between the both of them. Bran had his own toothbrush in the bathroom, clothes in Jake's closet, and a mattress was ready under Jake's bed by default. Girls were apparently a bit more complicated in this respect, Bella had still said. With Leah, an out-of-home sleepover was usually planned and prepared long in advance.

I quickly set the table.

I hoped that I would not have time for this again when I stood together with Bella under the shower. Yesterday, the last plate had fallen out of my hand when Bella asked if I wanted to shower with her. Fortunately, I had just wanted to put this one down, so it didn't break. However, I was pretty sure that I had set a new speed record.

So today I got four cups. Two black, one with sugar, and one with a dash of milk.

First, I went to Leah. She was already awake and waiting for me.

I should probably say she was expecting her coffee.

"Good morning," I said good-humoredly, to which she replied not quite so cheerfully.

But she looked very recovered.

"What was it like with Brandon yesterday?" she asked, causing her mood to buckle a bit more.

"He knows everything and seems to be handling it well. In a moment, we'll see if it stays that way."

"He's here?" she asked, surprised.

"It got too late yesterday," was all I said, and she nodded.

Leah stood in her open doorway with her cup, wanting to listen in on what was happening over at Jake's now. If anything happened.

I entered quietly and smirked at the steady harmonious snoring of the two. I only woke Jake for the time being.

'Morning,' he mumbled completely overtired and then thankfully took his cup from me.

He didn't say it, he thought it.

He was still too tired to speak. Then he remembered that Brandon was there and was instantly wide awake.

He looked past me indecisively and looked down at the mattress.

Jake thought that I had better get out of there before he woke him up.

I nodded, but said I would stay outside the door in case he needed help.

Roughly, Jake woke his friend, and immediately pressed his cup into his hand.

Coffee was apparently the purest miracle cure.

Brandon had started cursing and as soon as the aroma of coffee hit his nose, he was appeased.

"Your mom has always been cool, but since when did she start giving you coffee in bed?" wanted Brandon to know.

"Nope ... Not Mom ... That was Edward!" Jake corrected.

"He doesn't get up early to make coffee for all of you!" then Bran stated.

"Nope ... He doesn't sleep at all," Jake smirked, and it rattled in Brandon's head until he had fully processed the words.

"That means if I play with my balls in the middle of the night, he'll notice?" he got up from the mattress snappily.

I smirked on the other hand.

"Yep ...!" Jake followed up with a chuckle.

"Err …!"

Brandon wanted to say something, but he had no words.

He was undecided what to say. Should he be angry, since one apparently no longer had any privacy in this house. Or should he just find it 'wacky'.

Jake told him how I had woken him up at night when he had a violent nightmare. Upon further demand from Bran, Jake then briefly told him other things from the last few days, also about his outburst on Sunday and how I had reacted to it.

"Your mom really could have picked a worse fuck buddy!" Brandon then grinned, mentally deciding on 'whacky'.

"Don't talk about him like that," Jake then quickly said, causing Bran to look at Jake indecisively. He considered it.

And I eavesdropped somewhat incredulously on Jake's thoughts.

I had suspected that the only reason he said it so quickly was because he knew I was listening in. But Brandon's rude choice of words hit him quite differently than I would have expected.

"He's acting like a father around here ... and after only a few days ..." Brandon stated with conviction.

Jake stubbornly looked into his cup.

"... and you like it!" he added unequivocally, without making fun of it.

Jake didn't move for a moment, as if he'd been caught doing something embarrassing, before nodding hesitantly.

Somewhere in the region of my heart I thought I felt a brief pleasant glow.

I took the last cup from the dresser in the hallway and went to my angel. Of course, I had to pass Leah, who was still standing in the doorway.

She smiled hesitantly at me and thought: 'Me too' - before she disappeared into her room.

Again I felt this glow, as if my heart was warming up. I paused for a moment and enjoyed this feeling.

Bella had woken up by herself in the meantime, lying on her side facing the door and looking expectantly at me.

"Good morning, my angel," I whispered as I knelt in front of the bed and placed a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth.

She smiled with satisfaction and drove her delicate fingers tingly over my face.

"How was it?" she then asked as she sat up to drink.

"He won't betray Jake and Leah," I immediately said, and she exhaled in relief. "So how did you sleep? You still look tired," I asked with slight concern.

"I am. But after a shower I'm awake enough for the day," she yawned.

That wasn't an invitation yet, I thought bitterly.

She then soon went into the bathroom, leaving me undecided.

I had on yesterday's stuff, which I certainly wouldn't put on again today. Alice would give me hell. Besides, I also wanted to take a shower.

So, I slowly undressed again and put my clothing neatly aside. Then I went into the bathroom. Bella had just finished brushing her teeth, spit out the excess foam and rinsed. I turned on the shower water and immediately stood behind her, covering her neck with kisses and opening the buttons of the pajamas.

I live here! I had become joyfully aware in the meantime. In addition, Brandon was likewise in the other shower and the children had disappeared over the terrace into the forest.

Kissing, I pushed my naked goddess under the warm water, washed her long hair, we soaped each other with shower gel and I finally lifted her back onto my hips as the erotic tension became almost unbearable.

"Told you I'd be awake after the shower!" Bella smiled at me in love as I carried her back to the bedroom wrapped in a towel.

During breakfast Brandon had countless questions in store. He choked when I told him my age, but soon drove away. He still had to go home and get his school supplies.

The twins took the Audi. I carried Bella's helmet to the garage, kissed her and with a heavy heart said farewell for the next hours.

The school day passed without any special incidents and afterwards I drove straight home again.

To get an answer regarding the lingerie, I would wait until the weekend. Then I would have more time to take care of undressing her.

I was the first one home and also didn't need to do any homework for tomorrow. Therefore, I only repacked my school bag for tomorrow and put them down at the coat rack. I looked for a book I hadn't read from the shelf and settled down on the very comfortable reading lounger.

Bella soon came home and let herself fall into my arms. She was exhausted.

We told each other how our day had been, but with her it had apparently been stressful today. Important people had been there and Peter and she had had to pick out and present any reports and samples umpteen times.

She sat sideways in front of me between my legs and leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder. I read to her from the book. It didn't take very long for her heart and breathing to become absolutely calm and steady. She had fallen asleep. I put the book aside, kissed her on the hair and put my now free arm around her. She snuggled up to me more. I closed my eyes and pondered my happiness.

How had I been able to weather the past few years?

At some point I heard the children coming back. They quarreled, but it was only a mutual teasing that they got into. The first moment they saw us, they both feared that something had happened. But they realized themselves that their mother was just sleeping.

Jake went to his room to study and Leah cooked dinner.

I watched through her eyes.

I had asked her permission, as was proper. In doing so, I could heard that something was lying close to her heart, but she was even talking around it in her own thoughts. Probably because of me.

"Leah, is there anything I can help you with?" I asked quietly so as not to wake Bella.

Caught off guard, Leah came over to me and bit down on her lower lip.

Like her mother! But with Leah's lips, I didn't feel the urge to personally protect them from that.

"Do you actually hear all the thoughts around you?" she asked embarrassedly, squatting down next to the lounger.

I said it was usually a big buzz of voices and I only really heard the thoughts of an individual when I concentrated on them. The voices would become clearer as they became more manageable.

"Are you interested in any particular thoughts?" I asked.

She said nothing - looking at the floor. Gently, I put my hand under her chin and lifted her gaze again.

"Ben's, maybe?" I cautiously asked further.

She nodded.

I wondered what Leah expected from it and also asked her about it. Teenagers were sometimes irrational, especially since the 1960s. At that time, children began to disagree with their parents and insisted on making their own decisions. I should have dared to do that in my youth.

"Well," she began to stammer. "He's had a little time now to let it sink in ... Maybe ... he'll consider it."

"Do you have a reason to assume that he might have changed his opinion on the wolfish facts?"

"Actually, no. He ignores and avoids me," she admitted sadly.

"If he can't accept what you are, he's not the right one for you. The wolf is a part of you and makes you the person you are. You can't suppress it just because you don't want to scare or frighten a boy," I said my opinion on the matter, knowing that most people wouldn't understand it as easily as Becky or even Brandon. "I will pay attention to his thoughts tomorrow," I still promised, however. I myself was interested in the extent to which he had processed this matter and whether he would deal with it secretively.

"Thank you," Leah said, and turned to go back to the kitchen.

Another question I had heard earlier, she had probably forgotten. So, I said "You can have the Audi this evening, of course."

I had already said that to them both on Thursday on the way to school.

"Thank you!" she repeated, giving me a kiss on the cheek and disappearing back into the kitchen.

Devoutly, I bowed my head and smiled to myself.

It wasn't what she said that moved me, but what she thought. After the 'thank you' she almost slipped in a 'Dad'.

Soon I heard two other very familiar mental voices approaching.

"Bella!" I whispered softly, stroking over her cheek.

She leisurely stirred.

"Darling, we receive visitors," I continued to whisper and she slowly opened her eyes. "Hello, my heart," I said as she looked up at me.

She smiled immediately.

Jake was seemingly magically drawn to the smells from the kitchen and was coming down the stairs when the front doorbell rang.

Bella rubbed the sleep from her eyes and asked, yawning, who was coming.

"Well, us," Carlisle said with a friendly smile on his face and had Esmé by his hand.

They were very touched in their thoughts how they had found Bella and me.

Bella literally jumped at the two and quickly perked up again. They kept us company during dinner, but the mood was somewhat restrained by the kids. Of course, the two also asked for a tour of the house, but then soon took their leave. They didn't want to disturb us for too long. We both said that they would not disturb us, but they still left.

Leah then drove to Lisa's, Bella wanted to do some paperwork yet, and Jake went to the garage. Most of all he would have liked to go to Becky, but his sentence yes had not yet been issued.

"How long are you going to punish Jake?" I then asked Bella curiously when we were alone.

She was sitting at the dining table with her laptop and some letters. Apparently, she wanted to pay bills.

I would have liked to offer her my money, but I knew what would follow. An endless discussion about the fact that she had managed for nineteen years without me and my money.

But I stood behind her, my hands gently resting on her shoulders, to at least get an overview of her finances.

"He has just completed one day," Bella snapped at me playfully, looking up at me sternly.

I leaned toward her.

"But he is already atoning ... With every kiss he has to look at, he suffers," I explained to her and kissed her.

I should tell her how it was with the two of them at school today.

There wasn't that much to tell. They hung on to each other and made the most of every second. Saying goodbye after sports was very difficult for both of them, because they knew they would not see each other until the next morning. He had not asked Leah yet not to betray him. But that was probably more for the reason that it hadn't come up. Because of Brandon they had not gone running yesterday. In his thoughts, however, he was not sure whether he would ask Leah. It was clear to him what he had actually done on Sunday and deserved his punishment.

"Think about it in peace. He is your son, after all," I said, gave her yet another kiss, and went to Jake.

I had no right to interfere in their upbringing, especially since I also had no real idea about it. She had obviously done everything right in these matters so far. Her children were proof enough of that. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by Bella's financial situation. She had a few bank accounts and even a small six-figure sum in one. She would be able to pay the tuition for the first two to three semesters - depending on the college - for both of them, but then she wouldn't have any savings left.

"Hey, Jake, may I help you?" I then asked when I got to the garage.

He wanted to start taking the Harley apart and I had promised to help him.

"Sure," he just said.

He had already been relatively quiet all evening. He missed Becky. There was a difference if they saw each other at school ... or outside. I felt sorry for him and hoped that Bella would remit his punishment very soon.

Rosalie had brought me a small set of tools from her collection today and I now put them down between us. We talked about the Harley and I explained some individual parts whose purpose he did not know.

It was nice to work with him like that.

"How's history going?" I asked after a while, as we placed the first parts of the bike on an old table at the side.

I worked at a leisurely human pace, partly so Jake wouldn't miss anything, and partly because I really liked tinkering with the bike with Jake, so I wanted to take my time.

"Not very well," he admitted, and immediately explained his problem to me.

Becky. Diagonally in front of him. But I already knew that from his thoughts.

"I don't know if it would be any help to you, but Jasper said you could always ask him for help," I said, pointing to a small screw that Jake was overlooking.

"And how would Jasper be able to help me with that?" he asked impassively.

I smiled.

"He was the youngest major in the Confederate Army."

"Isn't true!" he said incredulously, already tensely considering all the things Jasper could tell him that were not mentioned in his dry history book. And when Jasper would have time.

"Just ask him," I prodded him as I handed him my cell phone, happy to be able to distract him a little from his lovesickness.

Becky was omnipresent in his thoughts.

"And ask your mother," I reminded him as he was already searching my phone directory.

Immediately he jumped up and ran into the house.

Thanks for reading!