Chapter 34 - The Photo
Charlie places the square photo on the little ledge of Bella's picture frame. He nudges it until the corners catch well. He lets go.
The photo falls.
He grumbles.
He picks it up and tries again. His fingers fidget, and the photo crunches at the edges. He lets go.
The photo falls.
He lets out a loud, frustrated growl.
Then he sighs. It's like even the baby is against him, and it's not born yet.
He gingerly smoothes out the wrinkled edges with his fingertips. He stares at the nose, the webbed fingers.
Then he chuckles to himself. Humorlessly? He doesn't know. Maybe because this is a head-scratcher, where he's stuck, painted into a corner. He has no choice. Things decided without him. It was always Renee running the show, now Bella. They make family decisions, plan the holidays, while he's the one to tag along like a …. spineless wit. His personal bullies, pushing him this way or that. Even the baby is now his new bully. He doesn't quite know how to feel.
All he's sure about is that nose is definitely Bella's.
He remembered when Renee slipped a photo like this in his hand, just like Bella did in his. Take it or leave it. Decision made without you.
Hey, was he not in the room when he and Renee conceived Bella, for God's sake? His thoughts matter too. It makes him furious.
But then it grows on him, like whiskers he has to shave every day. His heart expands, and he's trapped in this love. Love for Baby Bella moving in his arms the day she was born.
He was worse than Renee, too over-protective.
"Now look who's obsessed." Renee teased him once as he let Baby Bella sleep in his arms, him snoozing too. He made a face and smothered it in Bella's, soft little neck as Renee mumbled "ridiculous" under her breath.
Well, she did that to him. Now Bella has too.
He tries again, and the photo catches this time. It stays up-right, perfectly still over Bella and Jameson's photo, mother and father to the unborn.
Well, he's done his part. Renee likes to put up yearly pictures in the cabin. He's kept her promise of keeping it up. Yet, there hasn't been any eventful moments to remember this year, only Renee's passing. It's depressing. This year has been tough on the Swan family.
Their last name carved on a piece of wood hanging on the door. Everything is intact. Charlie breathed relief when he came back to the campsite, and all was just as he left it. No thief breaking into the cabin this time.
On this Friday afternoon, work was light, Charlie kept driving toward the path to the campsite, never stopping for home like he usually does.
He's hurting. It's a bad day. The kind that keeps him up at night, tears spilling down his temples as he stares at Renee's side of the bed. Well, he misses her.
This place, spared from the terrible memories, is a time capsule. Renee left and never came back here. He can almost smell her scent, feel her presence, like she'll walk in from the other room and tell him to get more piles of wood for the fireplace or take out the damned trash.
He chuckles at that. What he wouldn't give to have her yell at him again.
The small photo came rolling out of the glove compartment when opened to retrieve the flashlight he needed to get power to the cabin. He remembered he tossed it there in a fit of anger. He grabbed both and figured his trip today was productive after all, not a spontaneous, secret trip born out of nostalgia.
He stares at the perfect picture.
There you go, Renee. Just as you like it. Just not what you would've expected.
He lies down on the bed he shared with her and listens to the birds chirping outside. This is peace. Maybe he should've come sooner. Maybe he'll stay the weekend. No one needs to know. His little escape. His little secret.
Charlie's phone buzzes. Bella's on the other line.
"What?" he answers chagrined. Peace gone.
She's been calling him more often now. She refused his tangent when she broke the news to him in his yard. Bella insists Charlie gets involved in her journey through pregnancy.
Charlie doesn't know why. He'd just like to be left alone. He's reluctant, but he's a sucker anyway. Seeing her belly fill up through the months has been … new, surreal. He's … what is he? Accepting, he guesses. Might as well.
He almost scoffs on the receiver.
"Where are you?" Bella asks.
"Um … work. Why?" He lies.
She sighs. "I need to talk to you."
He waits. "Okay." Silence.
"Are you listening?"
"Bella, for crying out loud. We're talking now. Come out with it already."
"Fine. My God, you're difficult." She pauses to sigh. "I want to go to the cabin early. And … I want to stay until the baby is born," she says. "Jameson will meet us later."
He's confused. "Like, give birth in the cabin?"
"No. Like out on the lake, in a canoe. Of course, in the cabin!"
He rolls his eyes. "Right. So, who will help? The sheriff? Him ready to catch the baby like a football? There are no near hospitals here. That's crazy."
"You're so infuriating."
"Like father, like daughter," he spits back. He folds an arm and cradles his head. He tries not to laugh out loud.
"So, we have to start packing. Jen is driving me home now."
Charlie panics. "Like, home, home?"
"Yes. I'll wait for you to get off work."
He sighs, rubs his face. "Look, I'm not … home. I'm at the cabin."
The line is quiet. "Oh. Um, why?"
"Because I'm a grown man, and I don't need to give explanations!"
If hearts could make a noise when they sink, Bella's would be a loud thunk over the speaker. He's hurting. She knows it. And she should be gentler with him.
"Yes, Sir."
"I'm … here for the same reasons you want to be."
Bella nods even if he can't see her.
He sighs. "Just … we need to clean the place. Might as well stay the weekend and do that. Too much dust. It isn't good for you to get sick now." He waves a hand and lets it drop on his chest where he lies.
Yes. That's another reason she wants to be there, Bella thinks. It's the memory of Mom.
But really, it's a mission to find Edward.
Charlie hangs up and takes his deserved damned nap, baseball cap over his face. This place will be mayhem soon. His little escape. His little secret.
For now.
What Charlie doesn't know is that tomorrow, while he's out getting breakfast, the lock will be turned with a key saved under a rock. Edward will walk in and search that wall of family photos he knows Charlie brings every Spring. Winter was brutal, but through it all, he thought of Bella and her tears as she asked him if he felt anything for her. His automatic response. Her heart breaking right before him.
He'll find the square photo sitting over that frame; the little nose, the webbed fingers.
Like it did to Charlie, it'll pester, it'll be a worm in his brain. The girl will be a mother. A monumental change.
…..