A/N: Thanks so much for your wonderful thoughts.
Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine.
Chapter 13 – Beach Day
Edward
"I'll be there as soon as I get this stuff loaded and Tristan strapped in."
Bella chuckled, a beautiful sound over the phone screen, but even better in person. Meanwhile, beside me, Tristan jumped up and down, trying to catch a glimpse of her as if he hadn't seen her in years.
"Bella! Bella! Bella!"
Not that I was much better, I inwardly admitted to myself.
"See you in a few minutes, sweet pea," Bella cooed. But then her smile eased into something just as tender, but a bit more grown-up…something for me. "See you soon, Edward."
It was a good day for her. And I was beginning to accept that a good day for her meant a good day for me.
Even if it was an even cooler morning than what I'd started becoming accustomed to for a summer in Forks, Washington. I peeked upward at the pewter sky dotted with gauzy coal-toned clouds, a warning that last evening's weather report hadn't been wrong.
But Bella and my son were both happy and healthy today, and as I said, their well-being was quickly becoming my measuring stick for the rightness of the day.
Snorting to myself, I continued loading the truck bed with all our necessities. Tristan helped with what he could carry, anxious to get going. Both of us already sported our wet suits – with hoodies over them, of course – as well as sturdy water shoes.
"Look at us, Trist," I grinned, "all ready for a northwestern pacific type beach day. We're practically a couple of locals at this point."
Impatiently bouncing on his soles, Tristan failed to grin back. Instead, he stretched out an arm sharply and pointed down the block.
"Yeah, but why we driving, Dad? Bella right there!"
Only a couple of rural blocks of similarly-styled houses interspersed with shades of greenery separated my son's and my summer house with the Swan slash Dwyer residence – a fifteen-second drive.
"You're right, Trist; Bella does live right there," I smiled, "but we're picking her up, then heading straight to the beach," – I shut the tailgate and looked down at my son – "and if we walk, then we have to walk back."
Tristan shrugged, unfazed. "I like walking. Bella likes walking too."
His youthful confidence in Bella's likes and dislikes made me chuckle. Crouching, I ruffled his hair.
"Does she now?"
"Uh-huh. We go for many big walks at camp! And she shows me the birds and the trees and the bugs, and she says they all friends and all part of the enri- enrhino- enrhinonet."
"Environment," I helped out.
"Yeah! Environet! The environet takes care of us! Gives us food and air, so we have to take care of it too!"
"She's right," I nodded. "But it looks like that environment is sending rain our way soon. So instead of walking now," I straightened up, "maybe we should get to the beach quickly and walk there. What do you think?"
"Yeah!"
"Yeah," I echoed, glancing up at the sky again as I led him to the truck's back seat. "Unfortunately, we may have to cut the day short."
Tristan stopped and frowned. "I don't wanna cut the day!" He stretched out his arms. "I want a day like this with Bella!"
"Me too, buddy. Me too. We'll see what happens. Come on, let's get you in your seat."
OOOOO
As soon as I had Tristan situated and I took the driver's seat, the dashboard displayed a call from Alice. My first impulse was to send her to voice mail, yet again. But I'd dismissed her calls too often over the past few days, and guilt got the best of me. As I answered the call through the car's Bluetooth, background noises filtered through and echoed around the truck's cabin – honking horns, police sirens, loud voices. A momentary pang of yearning for the city and my family and close friends struck me.
"What's up, Al?"
"Oh, my God, he's alive! Alive!" Alice cried out in a Frankenstein impersonation that made Tristan giggle in the back seat. "Is that my munchkin?"
"Hi, Aunt Ally!"
"Hi, cutie pie!"
"Everything okay, Al?" I cut in.
"I don't know whether to be more pissed off at how you haven't even said hi yet, but you already sound anxious to get me off the phone or more grateful that you at least recognize my voice."
I shook my head. "All right, drama queen. Sorry. Hi. Everything good?"
"You're a shithead," she chuckled.
"Hey, Tristan's here," I reminded her.
"Oops!"
"Auntie Ally, I going to the beach!"
"Ooh, beach day! Sun and sand and surf. I'm jelly."
I chuckled heartily and glanced upward. "Look up the weather here, and you might not be so jelly. Anyway, Al, I've got to-"
"Seriously, Edward, what's been going on with you?" Alice probed. "Mom and Dad have barely heard from you, freaking Chelsea called me, ME, complaining for about ten long-ass minutes straight-"
"Language."
"What did I say? Oh, long-ass," she repeated, then chuckled when she realized she'd repeated it. "Sorry, sorry! Anyway, she said that the last couple of times she's called, Tristan's been in bed."
"That's because she needs to adjust her calling schedule for the time difference and Tristan's camp routine. She either calls way too early in the morning or while he's at camp."
Alice chuckled. "Even Tanya texted me."
My jaw tightened. "What did Tanya text you for?"
"Just wondering how you and Tristan are doing. I guess she doesn't want to seem like she's…"
"Mm," I said simply when Alice trailed off. After all, not only was Tristan in the truck but there was nothing more I needed to say about Kate's twin sister anyway.
"I go to camp, Aunt Ally!" Tristan volunteered, changing the subject.
"Ooh, camp! That sounds fun, kiddo! So many changes since we last spoke! Are you growing facial hair?"
"It's been like a week, Al."
"A week is a long time when your brother and nephew are MIA in some unknown, hidden corner of the world."
"We're in Washington State."
"Still!"
"Seriously, everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. How's Colander?"
I exhaled audibly.
Alice wanted a talk. And in truth, I was anxious to end the call, but not because I didn't miss my sister or wish to speak with her. Despite the age difference between Alice and me, Kate's sickness and passing minimized the natural gap that may have existed between two siblings at entirely different stages of life. Alice had more than stepped up to help. She'd gone above and beyond what a then-sixteen-year-old needed to take on. She'd become one of Tristan's and my most substantial rocks. And…yeah, I suppose that, over the past couple of weeks or so, I'd been so immersed in my summer in Forks, and perhaps…a bit neglectful of a sister who'd grown accustomed to having us around.
"Forks," I corrected, "is…good. Really good." I heard the smile in my voice, and I was sure Alice could hear it too. "The weather's not what you'd expect for a typical summer vacation spot, but it's great in its own way – most of the time. At the least, it makes the landscape lush and surreal in its beauty. At the most…it makes you appreciate the sunshine in other forms. How's New York?"
"Already scalding, scaffolding everywhere, and everyone's mood is a dumpster fire from the humidity." I could picture her rolling her heavily-eyelinered eyes. "Hey, bro, remind me why I remained here in New York for the summer rather than going up to Corkscrew with you?"
"Forks. Because you're taking summer classes and because I didn't invite you?"
"Ay-hole."
"Language," I hissed.
"What? I censored myself! Ay hole is a hollow space in the ground, right, Trist?"
"Uh-huh. Like a wabbit hoe! We see wabbit hoes at camp!"
Alice snickered. "See?"
"You're amazing, Al," I droned sardonically. Then, I sighed. "When do you end, late July?"
"Yeah."
"We can discuss your coming up for a few days after that if you'd want. I think you'd enjoy it."
"Yes! I was hoping you'd say that!"
"Were you?" I smirked.
She laughed. "Trist, you want to see your Aunt Al, don't you?"
"Yay! Aunt Ally!"
"Can-Opener, here I come!"
"Forks. Try getting the name right before you get here. All right, we'll talk more later."
"Wait, why are you still rushing me off?"
It was Tristan who lost his patience. "Aunt Ally, we going to get Bella! Then we go to the beach, but we gotta hurry 'fore the environet sends rain!"
"Bella? Who's Bella?" Alice wondered, of course, catching the one mention there I'd hoped she'd missed.
"Al, we'll discuss that-"
"Bella's my friend, Aunt Ally! I go to camp with her and Esme, and Bella shows me lots so many things! And when we take her to work, she and Dad do kisses, kisses!"
For a couple of heartbeats, Alice was eerily silent.
"Ho-lee shiii-"
"Bye, Al." Chuckling, I ended the call.
OOOOO
About a minute later, I pulled up along the curb to the Chief's house. The well-maintained white aluminum siding and its frame of evergreens contrasted strikingly with the hovering dark clouds. I chuckled to myself; just a couple of weeks ago, those clouds would've felt like a dark omen. Now, as I'd told Alice, I saw the beauty in it as well as in the blowing breeze rattling the nearby branches while the house remained perfectly still and unrattled – like the family within.
When I could've sworn I saw a curtain move by the main room's bay window, I snorted to myself. Maybe not so unrattled after all.
The previous day, the Chief and I had ended our fishing trip on a better note than I'd expected. However, he'd left me thinking, which I was sure was his intent. I'd gathered he wasn't as much opposed to Bella and I dating as he was concerned regarding…ghosts…memories that might dredge up. I wasn't clear on what sort of ghosts or memories, and almost with every passing moment, I became more and more curious. That curiosity was beginning to take on a note of outrage on Bella's behalf. But she'd ask me to wait for her to share her story, and that's what I'd do.
My gaze trailed to the detached garage-turned-apartment. A gray paver path led to Bella's doors – two side-by-side glass sliders draped with vertical blinds. The garage's siding practically gleamed, obviously much newer than the main house, as was the roof boasting two large skylights. Along with a couple of red-shuttered windows with planters on each, it all ensured that Bella would have plenty of natural light despite the small space and Forks' typically gray days. Finally, a metal railing that began at the far end of the apartment ran its entire perimeter, all the way to the doors.
It was a space created for someone well-loved, someone whose well-being was paramount, someone whose stay wasn't considered temporary. Sue and the Chief hadn't spared any expense for their goddaughter's safety, comfort…or proximity.
"Where's Bella?" Tristan asked from the back.
"Let me text her and let her know we're…"
One of the sliding doors opened.
"…here," I finished with a smile as Bella bounded out. Like Tristan and me, she wore a wetsuit with a zippered hoodie over it, a blanket draped over one arm, and a picnic basket in the other. Her hair swung from side to side with her quick steps.
"Bella!" Tristan called out.
"Hold on, Tristan." I turned toward him while simultaneously opening my door. "I'll be right back."
"Dad!" He whined.
Sprinting toward Bella, I met her halfway down her pavers, where we both stopped and grinned at one another.
"Bella."
"Edward."
I leaned in and brushed my mouth softly against hers, reveling in her warm response, in the way her lips responded and molded perfectly to mine as if…as if we'd done this same thing hundreds of times, as if both pairs were meant to fit. At the same time, I reached for her picnic basket and blanket, but she held on tightly.
"I've got 'em," she said against my mouth.
I nipped her top lip. "You sure?"
"Uh-huh," she breathed, bathing me in her warmth, "Oh, knight in shining-"
When "Kisses! Kisses!" resounded behind us, we pulled back, sharing chuckles.
"That's gonna be fun," I smirked.
Bella grinned up at me. "We'll have to keep it PG."
"Mm. I need to step up my search for a sitter."
Chuckling heartily, she bypassed me and briskly made her way to the truck, where she set her things down in the back before kneeling on the seat and enveloping my son in her arms, kissing his face all over.
"Kisses, kisses!" she said, echoing Tristan and making him giggle until he hiccupped.
When she pulled back to take her seat beside me, Tristan frowned. "Dad says we cut the day little!"
Bella's brow furrowed as she climbed out of the back seat and stood in front of me. "Why?"
"It looks like it might rain pretty hard today."
Bella threw her head back in one of those full-body chuckles of her I…adored.
"It probably is," she finally said. "You've got all your gear?"
"Yeah," I smiled.
"Then, we're set." And with a shrug, she lifted herself on her toes and kissed my jaw before opening her door and climbing in.
And I swallowed thickly at both the sensual heat of her mouth against me…and the warmth that her of her natural love for life.
As she buckled herself in, she turned to Tristan. "First Beach, here we come! Woo-hoo!" She threw a fist in the air, an action which Tristan, of course, mimicked.
"Woo-hoo!"
And for a handful of seconds, I could only stand there and watch my two favorite people interact…and enjoy the world in all its gray splendor.
OOOOO
The beach was…cold.
And mostly empty.
A few souls, either brave or stupid, depending on how one looked at it, braved the surf's wrath this morning, waves higher than I'd seen them since we'd arrived at Forks.
Hand in hand, the three of us climbed the rocks, pretending to be pirates on the lookout for treasure. Tristan pointed at the cliffs ahead, and Bella shared his enthusiasm, offering him what she knew of them in simple terms he'd appreciate and understand.
We ate our picnic lunch while chewing on the sand blowing into our sandwiches. Bella joked that it was a secret ingredient she'd included, then she and I laughed together at Tristan's exaggerated crunching. The blanket we'd spiked down to the icy sand billowed in the breeze, like a wayward magic carpet ready to fly us away.
While we strolled the shoreline with Tristan, hand-in-hand between us so we could swing him, Ty bounded out of the water with his wet, long, bleached-blond hair swinging from side to side. He made the shaka sign with one hand while he wrapped the other hand around his surfboard as if it was his Trident.
"Bella! Edward! Little Man! How's it hanging, dudes?"
I tried not to roll my eyes. "It's hanging well, Ty. Thanks." At least, it was hanging well 'til a moment earlier.
"That's totally cool! Bella, the waves are bitching good today! Let me go grab Bertha off the jeep for you!"
"No, thanks, Ty," Bella waved him off with a smile. "I'm not surfing today."
"Aw, man." He threw back his upper body in a childish display of his massive disappointment. "Are you sure, babe? These waves are too good to waste!"
My jaw tightened, but I resisted the urge to make any comment.
"I'm sure. Today, I'm solely dedicated to these two fine men here," she grinned, bending down to first kiss Tristan's cheek, then, like in front of her house earlier, she stood on the tips of her water shoes and brushed her lips against my jaw, her eyes on mine as she backed away.
"Kisses, kisses!" Tristan exclaimed, and any and all stupid, unnecessary, and yes, immature moment of jealousy I may have felt evaporated like the mist around us.
"Got it, got it," Ty nodded. "Well, I'll leave you three to enjoy the cold sand!" he chuckled.
"And you enjoy your surfing, Ty," I grinned broadly, shooting him his shaka sign. "Go hang ten out there!"
As we strolled away, Tristan pulled his hands out of ours and ran ahead, prompting Bella and me to call out simultaneously:
"Not too close to the water, sweet pea!"
"Not too close to the water, buddy!"
I looked over at her and chuckled, then weaved my hand through hers.
"Sorry about that back there, but in my defense, Ty does have a thing for you."
"In your defense," she scoffed. "What an attorney you are, Mr. Cullen."
"An attorney who duly notes how you're not refuting that fact, though," I teased, side-eyeing her then leaning in to brush my lips against her shoulder.
"Hey, I really am sorry if I-"
She stopped us, somewhat breathless, her gaze on Tristan, who'd stopped to collect shells, and assured he was safe, she turned to me.
"No, Edward, I'm…" she shook her head, "That's nothing. I just remembered Rose called me this morning."
"Oh, yeah?"
We both looked in on Tristan again, then returned to our conversation.
"Mm. She's having a last-minute summer sleepover play date for Esme tonight with just a couple of Esme's little friends from camp. She asked Esme who she'd like there, and she mentioned another little girl along from their camp class, Maria, along with Tristan."
I scratched my head. "That sounds great, but…in all honesty, I'm not sure that Tristan is ready for a sleepover."
Bella nodded vehemently. "That's what I said! And I hope you don't mind that I suggested that to Rose," she continued, unaware of how my heart swelled at her words, that I was the total and complete opposite of minding how she felt she knew my child. "He's so good, but he's still really young, and other than you or your immediate family, he's never slept over anywhere, right?"
"Right," I smiled softly.
"So Rose said it would be fine if he just wants to pop in for a little while, maybe watch a couple of movies and play with the others, then she'd give you a call when he was ready for pick up. Anyway, I told her that's something you'd have to decide with Tristan, so she'll be reaching out to you this afternoon, and she just wanted me to give you a heads up."
Again, I nodded slowly. "Everything you suggested…makes perfect sense. I think Tristan would love that."
Once more, we checked on Tristan. With a deep breath, I took both Bella's hands.
"And…maybe you and I can have dinner at my place?"
She moved in closer. "And…talk about some stuff?"
"Yeah," I breathed. "That sounds good."
OOOOO
We stood close to the shoreline while Tristan watched the surfers in fascination.
"The first time I saw Tristan…" Bella murmured, her gaze on the nebulous horizon, "I wasn't having a great day. He was standing here at the shoreline, and he looked as fascinated as he does now. His hair was blowing in the wind, and…" – her eyes panned to me – "he was just such a soothing sight, Edward. He…settled me. I used to have a friend…before all this happened," she said, gesturing with one hand to her head, her gaze reverting to the horizon, "who calmed me. Anyway," she sighed heavily, "I found Tristan to be one of the sweetest sights I'd ever seen, so…staggeringly beautiful in his innocence, just standing there, full of trust in life and nature and mankind."
For a long moment, I merely watched her profile, vaguely wondering who this elusive friend was and what became of him because, at that moment, my main concern was her and the wistful pain that momentarily stole over her features. But in the next moment, her mouth twitched in amusement.
"Of course, at the time, I didn't know he was the son of the City Boy who'd rammed into me the night before."
"I saw you that day too, you know."
"Did you?"
"M-hm. Except, at the time, I didn't know you were the Lumberella who'd tried to drag me down with her the night before."
"Funny how life works sometimes, isn't it?"
"It is," I agreed with a nod.
Our gazes held.
"I want go out there," Tristan broke in longingly.
"Not today, little man," I said, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "No water today. The waves are too rough."
"But Bella go in the other day when waves like that," he argued.
Hissing under her breath, Bella shot me a rueful, apologetic look that just made me chuckle as I quirked a brow at Tristan.
"Bella is a lot older than you, buddy."
"No fair." When he frowned darkly, unsatisfied with my mandate, Bella looked at me.
"May I try?"
"Of course, Bella."
She knelt in the wet sand before him and curled her hands gently around his arms.
"You know, when I was your age, we used to visit Forks, but my parents hated the beach here."
Her ensuing chuckle held no bitterness whatsoever. Yet, over the past couple of weeks, through bits and pieces gleaned through conversations with both Bella and her godfather, my mind had begun forming an image, like a painting of Bella's elusive parents. That painting's colors grew all the more distorted, more disagreeable.
"They did?" Tristan asked, in his way as bewildered by that statement as I was.
"Uh-huh," Bella nodded. "They said it was too cold."
"It's cold, but it's nice cold," Tristan described in his three-year-old logic.
"I agree," Bella said.
"As do I," I added.
"So it was my godfather who would bring me to the beach."
"The Chief?" Tristan clarified.
"The very one. And when I grew a bit older, he taught me to swim because he wanted me to be safe in the water. But he didn't take me out to swim on days when the water was like this." She shook her head from side to side. On those days, he made me promise to stay out of the water."
"So…when the water's nicer…can you and dad teach me to swim?"
I saw how Bella's face fell, how she felt cornered as if she'd stuck her foot in it, and I lay my hand on her shoulder.
"If you promise Bella and me," I said, "that you'll stay out of the water on days when the ocean looks like that," – all three sets of eyes turned toward the raging waves – "then when the water's nicer…and if Bella's good with it, then we can both start teaching you to swim."
Bella glanced up at me through long, dark eyelashes, specks of sand dancing on the ends as she blinked and swallowed.
OOOOO
Bella wove her sandy yet soft fingers through Tristan's much smaller ones; the action performed as naturally as if she'd performed it a thousand-and-one times before. In turn, Tristan received her touch as if she'd been around all along.
"All right, are you ready, Sir Tristan? This is the moment of truth here." Her eyes met his. "Will our castle weather the storm and keep Sir Edward safe inside?"
"I don't know!" he shrugged.
"Me neither!" She chuckled in return.
And while they gazed together at the castle, I gazed at her, entranced by more than just her physical beauty – because there was no denying she was gorgeous. It was the outward glow her inner strength afforded her, flushing her cheeks and brightening her eyes, which made her allure transcendental.
Suddenly, gazing at her felt almost like a spiritual experience, soul-lifting in its zeal, like a personal religious revival right on this breezy beach. The sensation surpassed even her physical draw...and defied the rules of time.
She swept her dark eyes toward me. "What do you think, Sir Edward? Will the moat we made around you and the castle hold the tide at bay? You feel safe in there, City Boy?" she teased.
I'd gone into it with Kate young and excited, yeah, but with both feet on terra firma. Just like a law student, I'd conducted a mental study of pros and cons, all before falling with my own full approval, with a recognizable cognizance of the fact that I was falling.
But…
What if…what if you were mid-plummet before you even realized that you hadn't fallen off terra firma as much as you'd leaped into plush sand, and all rationality of pros versus cons wafted away in the salty sea breeze?
"Hm?" I asked. "Oh. Sorry. All right, let's see, shall we, Lady Bella?"
She chuckled, and the perfectly dew-shaped drop that found purchase on her flushed cheek momentarily distracted me. The tide came in, and Tristan gasped sharply as the sea rushed like tenacious whitewater into our manmade defensive moat. Yet, I watched it peripherally; my attention focused on the delicate droplet.
"Here we go!" Bella bit her lip as the seawater rose…rose…holding her breath, that dew-shaped drop remaining perched.
"But Bella, what if the castle falls?" Tristan's bottom lip jutted in trepidation.
Bella offered him a tender smile. "Then we rebuild it, sweet pea. Everything we need to rebuild is right here."
Her grin, infused with hope and as infectious to my son as it was to me, grew when the tide trickled out without breaching our defenses, leaving the fragile sandcastle, as well as the drop on her cheek, intact.
Tristan shrieked. "Bella, look! The castle! It not fell!"
When Bella pumped her arms in triumph, cheering wildly at their success, Tristan followed suit, eyes adoringly on her. And still, the dew-shaped drop lingered, refusing to relinquish its prime real estate and wholly unaware of the balancing act it performed on the gloriously beautiful precipice that was Bella's smooth skin. Little did the drop know that, like the tide rolling in and breaking against a deceivingly calm shoreline, it too ventured too close to an overpowering force.
Suddenly, her cheek blurred with the alacrity of a lightning strike. For a moment, I actually thought we'd been struck, the electric charge between us blistering. Then both the cheek and the drop on it morphed into lips as pink as the whimsical seashells safely tucked in Tristan's pockets. Had she sensed my raw and irrevocable need and turned toward me?
"Bella…"
Or had I reached for her, claimed that drop with a fingertip, then cradled her jaw in my hand, steering her ebony gaze my way again because…because not having it on me had become an unbearable struggle. And because I was ready to face that precipice, to draw close to the abyss and the warmth emanating from its dark depths like-
"Dad!"
Like lightning, Tristan was on his feet and between Bella and me. He simultaneously scrunched his cherubic features into an impressive scowl and pushed against my chest with both palms and all his strength.
"You broke the moat!" he declared in disbelief, waving a pudgy arm wildly in the Pacific's direction as if irritated by a helpless knight who was making his damn rescue needlessly tricky.
"And look! More waves coming!"
"You know what, buddy?" I snorted.
"What?" he snapped.
"Maybe the knight simply doesn't want to be rescued!"
And with that, I reached out both arms and pulled them, toppling both Bella and Tristan against me while shrieks of surprise and joy – from both – filled the icy, First Beach air.
"Maybe the knight is happy remaining…right…here."
A/N: Thoughts?
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