Welcome to another Must Read Thursday! So happy to see you all here with us again this week. Real life has been kind of crazy lately, so we apologize for not being able to respond to your reviews. But we will! Some of you have asked if we plan on going through each episode one at a time or not including our own scenes. The answer to that question is absolutely, yes we will be veering off into our own scenes soon, but we're only on Episode Three right now and we're still establishing a lot of the foundational aspects that was crucial to making the sitcom what it was. We won't be including every scene and storyline, no, but the best of the bests will be included AS WELL AS OUR OWN. We're taking baby steps here :)
As always, thanks to Fran for always stepping up, even when we send her the wrong posting date (sorry Fran!) and to our prereaders who catch things we miss.
Enjoy!
Episode Three: The One with Edward's Big News
"This is actually kind of great," Jasper offers to Edward the next night at Edward's new apartment. It's about the same size as theirs, just a tiny bit more...expensive looking. Nothing crazy, but minor details here and there that reveal the fact that the rent is inevitably at least a few hundred dollars more here.
There is no method to the chaos surrounding them, just boxes strewn haphazardly throughout the space with the three guys in the center of it all. Edward can't help but notice how this fact reflects his own life, mixed up and tossed around by his divorce.
Jasper notices his friend's solemn expression, despite his and Emmett's attempts to keep his mind off Tanya and their split. His next plan of attack is to focus on the excitement of Moving Day and not let Edward dwell too much on the changes happening so quickly in his life. "It's closer to all of us and the coffee shop. Not far from the museum, and the biggest plus of it all - Tanya never comes to this side of town."
"What's not to like?" Emmett asks, taking a sip from the bottle of beer he has in his hand and looking around.
"Sure. It's a great place," Edward agrees with an unenthusiastic shrug. "I'll just have to get used to all this space just for me."
He motions towards the large living room and dining room overlooking the city, then back at the minimal furniture he had delivered earlier in the day. It's enough for now, and whatever else he needs, he'll buy along the way. He never had to think about stuff like this before; he had met Tanya in college, and decorating and furnishing apartments was her thing, not his.
It's just another entity he has to learn to do on his own. He'll add it to the ever-growing list. Flopping down on his new plain couch, he hears Jasper make another attempt at a joke to try to lift his spirits.
"Did I hear you say you're interested in a roommate?" Jasper sits down on the couch next to him with a hand pointed in Emmett's direction. "I'll gladly offer Emmett to you, if you're looking for someone to share the space with."
"I don't hear you complaining when I bring girls home to our place," Emmett retorts, letting Jasper's comment bounce off him like he always does. That's been the cadence of their relationship since they met five years before, and neither would change a thing about each other. Not only do they get along perfectly as roommates, but they also found a friendship in one another that is rare to find in a busy city these days.
Edward watches as Jasper contemplates Emmett's accusation.
"Yeah, he's right," Jasper concedes before looking over at Edward to further explain. "I get to talk to them in the morning."
"It'll just take some time, I guess," Edward says softly, picking at the label of his beer. Jasper claps a hand on his shoulder.
"We know, man."
"I'm telling you, putting furniture together tonight was a horrible idea," Emmett says with a shake of his head and looks at the clock. "It's not too late to change your mind about a strip club, you know."
"Thinking about other women is the last thing I need right now," Edward scoffs, picking up his beer to down what's left.
"Looks like it's working for Tanya," Emmett laughs before stopping when he sees the look on their faces. He clears his throat. "Sorry."
"You're never going to get over Tanya being a lesbian, are you?" Jasper questions with a shake of his head.
"Probably not."
"Look," Jasper sighs. "You're going to be okay. Maybe not tonight or even in a day, a week, a month, or even a year. But you will."
"We'll make sure of it," Emmett promises.
Edward has known these two for years now, and though they may take him on a winding path filled with bumps and detours, he knows they'll be the guides he needs on this new journey of his.
Besides, the detours always make for the best parts.
"I know," Edward manages a small smile. "Thanks, guys."
As they're clinking their beers together to welcome Edward back into the world of bachelorhood, his phone vibrates on the coffee table in front of them. Reaching for it, he sees Tanya's number on the screen and whatever progress he had made tonight falters at the sight of her name.
Something's come up. Can we meet for lunch tomorrow?
He should say no, but he wonders if he'll ever actually say that word to her. He certainly never did before.
He agrees to meet her, assuming it has something to do with some asset or another she needs to resolve, thus striking his name from another document, severing their lives more and more each day.
He has no idea how wrong he will be.
f.r.i.e.n.d.s
"Edward?" Tanya Denali, formerly Tanya Cullen, reaches out to place a hand on his arm to make sure he's still breathing. "Are you all right?"
Edward doesn't answer her at first, unable to form any coherent words inside his head as he tries to repair the damage she has done from her latest bombshell. Seconds away from dropping a fossil worth more than his own life, he remembers they're standing in the museum where he works and forces himself to blink himself back to his new nightmare of reality.
"Hmm?" He's only capable of sounds at this moment. No words quite yet.
Tanya sighs and repeats herself. "I asked if you're all right."
Am I all right?
Am. I. All. Right.
He shakes his head, hoping it will settle the rest of his world to stop spinning.
"You're…"
"Pregnant."
"Pregnant?"
"Pregnant."
"Like, with a baby?"
"That's usually how it works, yes…"
"My baby?"
"I don't appreciate what you're insinuating, Edward," Tanya's eyes narrow slightly, though she can't find it in her heart to be too upset with him. She cares deeply for the man before her, and nothing about this divorce has been easy on her. It all simply came down to the fact that she could never love him the way he deserves, and she hopes in the long run, he'll see that. Especially now.
"No, shit, you're right. I'm sorry, I just …"
"You're shocked; it's okay, I get it, I was too. It wasn't exactly our plan, but I am. Pregnant. With your baby."
He nods again at this fact, understanding that his hearing is, in fact, working just fine. He suddenly finds the words, and they fall out of his mouth like fire. "How did this happen? I mean, I know how this happened, but how? When?"
Tanya shrugs and offers him a small smile as she remembers. See, in Edward's eyes, she's the happy partner in the breakup. She's the one who initiated it, the one who gets to walk the world without a broken heart. It's what makes her able to smile right now, while Edward, on the other hand, is struggling to remember how to breathe, let alone the motions it takes to make his lips tilt upward. "A few weeks ago. Remember that night after we went to dinner with my boss?"
Of course, he remembers. It was the first time they had been intimate in...longer than he could say, and he had chalked up the awkwardness of their encounter to the huge amount of time that had passed between then and the last time they had done anything like that together.
Turns out he'll remember that night for the rest of his life.
They had always wanted children, though he never pictured it in this scenario. It'll be fine, some part of his rational brain tries to tell him, but for now, all he can think about is how earlier this morning he was just a newly divorced man trying to navigate his way through a new life, and now, just after noon, he's become a newly divorced father-to-be.
Now he has yet another new world to wade through, and he thinks this may be his final breaking point.
"We're not asking you for anything," Tanya rushes, unsure exactly how he's feeling now. She's not sure if he's happy or upset, given he hasn't said much, and she can see the conflicting vacancy behind his eyes that tell her his brain is running faster than he is at the current moment. "I know this is a hard situation for you right now."
He stops her with two hands held in the air between them, halting her next words.
"Not asking me?" He shakes his head in disbelief. "Are you serious? This is my child, Tanya. No matter what happens between us, our child is going to know both of his parents."
"Well -"
"Okay, fine. All three of his parents." Edward amends with a roll of his eyes. He was always up for the idea of sharing his wife with another woman for a few hours, or maybe a night, but not like this.
"His?" Tanya softens and smiles at him the way she used to back in college when they first met. He looks down at his feet, unable to stay mad at her for long, even now when she's turned his world on its axis.
"Or her. Just trying to get used to what it sounds like."
Tanya nods and rests a hand on her still bumpless belly. "I have my first appointment next week. We would love it if you were there."
Edward freezes and then drops his eyes to the floor.
"We?"
"Yes," Tanya breathes, exasperated at how many times they've gone over this in the last few weeks. "Irina isn't this monster you've made her out to be."
Edward has yet to make a final decision on how he feels about Irina just yet. Everything is too raw for him to trust the nagging venom in his gut every time the pretty blonde is mentioned.
But he has made a final decision on something else.
"Next week?" He asks and reaches for his phone to schedule it in his calendar. "I'll be there."
f.r.i.e.n.d.s
Edward arrives at Tanya's Obgyn appointment both early and apprehensive. He's never been to one of these places, and this is not how he'd ever envisioned his first time to be. He pictured walking in with Tanya hand in hand, both eager to see what awaited them in the next couple of weeks and months before their firstborn arrived.
Instead, he's pacing the outside steps, alone, thinking about how Tanya is doing the exact same thing he imagined them to be doing - but with Irina instead.
It hurts, and man, is he tired of it hurting.
Anger bubbles deep within his chest as he shakes his head at what his life has become. He tries to ignore it as he pushes through the doors, determined not to let anything ruin this day for him. Even though he has no idea what this appointment has in store for him, he's ready to face it head-on - but without the anger.
Breathing in the positive and exhaling the bullshit, he greets the receptionist at the front desk. He finds out not only is Tanya already here, but she's been taken back to an examination room already. He thanks the woman, finds the numbered room Tanya is in, and knocks before he enters.
"You're early," she teases with a smile when she sees his familiar copper-colored head of hair peek into the room first.
"So are you," Edward chuckles, stepping uncomfortably inside.
Tanya sits on the examination table while she waits, the paper underneath crinkling with her nervous fidgeting. She knew he would arrive early in typical Edward fashion, so she made sure to get here extra early to make him feel less anxious. He hates being late, as he's one of those 'if you're on time, you're late!' kind of people, and because today is promising to no doubt be an anxiety-fueled day, she hopes her being early will help him relax a little.
Tanya also knows Irina, and her punctuality is not one of her strong suits. It doesn't stop her from trying, however, even when she swings into the room a few minutes after Edward.
"Sorry I'm late," Irina quickly says as she disrupts the comfortably quiet room.
"You're not late at all." Tanya smiles, reaching for her girlfriend's hand once she's placed her belongings down next to her own. "Irina, you remember Edward?"
Irina turns towards the tall man in the corner of the room, playing with the instruments the doctor will use for an examination.
"Of course." Irina smiles stiffly, holding her hand out towards her girlfriend's ex-husband. "Hi, Edward."
Edward drops the instrument with a clang at her words and lifts his hand to shake hers weakly.
"Hello." He tries to smile politely, but it's so forced that his eye almost starts to twitch. "Wow. You two must love this place," he jokes, looking around.
He's never seen this many vaginas in one room, not even when Emmett finally convinced him to go to a strip club a few days ago. Granted, the ones he's looking at now are more from an obstetrician's perspective, but nonetheless, he thinks a joke could help cut the tension.
Irina sends him a smile in pity at his awful attempt at making them laugh. "Yeah. It's where we go when all the gay bars are at capacity."
"She's kidding," Tanya insists with a laugh. At least one of them is laughing.
"Yeah, I got that." Edward retorts with an edge of bitterness. "I was too."
"We got that." Irina states and it catches Edward off guard.
"We," he repeats and then feels the need to apologize. "Sorry, but I'm just not used to -"
Tanya interrupts him before things can get any more awkward than they already are. "It's okay, Edward. Why don't you tell us some of your favorite baby names while we're waiting for the doctor."
"I haven't even thought of any yet. Have you?"
"Not many. We can't find any that would sound okay with two last names."
Edward holds his hand up.
"Two? As in you," he points towards Tanya, "and you?" His finger finishes on Irina, and just like that, he feels like his role as a father has come down to just one drunken night between him and his ex-wife.
"We can add yours if you'd like," Irina offers. She's never had any problem with Edward, given the circumstances the three of them have found themselves in over these last couple of months.
"Are you saying my child is going to have three hyphenated last names?" Edward feels robbed. It's an emotion he's become familiar with since his marriage started falling apart. He had a plan. Get married, work in a museum, buy a house, spend nights laughing and making love to his wife, pop out a few kids, and grow old and gray with no major issues. All of that continues falling down around him, especially now that he has to share his firstborn with a veritable stranger.
"Hello, everyone," the doctor strolls in just as Edward is thinking he needs to go outside to get some air. She smiles and walks towards Tanya. "Are you feeling nauseous?"
"A little." Edward replies with an exaggerated breath in at the same time Irina says, "Yes."
The doctor laughs. "I was talking to the mother but good to know we're all on the same page." She reaches for the tube on the tray of instruments. "First, we'll take a look, and a listen, okay?"
All three of them nod, and Irina and Edward move, so they're standing to one side of Tanya's bed. As the doctor lifts Tanya's shirt and spreads the clear gel on her stomach, she and Irina laugh at the cold feeling on her skin. Again, Edward feels like an outsider. He feels like someone watching an intimate moment he has no business being a part of.
He feels like he should go.
"You know, I'm just going to go," he whispers and begins to gather his things.
"Edward, no. Stay." Tanya insists. There isn't much she can do since she's on the table with a Doppler rolling across the gel on her stomach. But she knows Edward. She knows he won't want to miss this.
"It's fine. Just send me a video -" But then, Edward is interrupted by a sound he'll never forget until the day he dies.
The sound of his unborn child's heartbeat is what he's needed all along. It's the sound that convinces him everything will truly be okay.
Somehow.
f.r.i.e.n.d.s
"What is it I'm supposed to be seeing?" Emmett asks later that night. They're all in Rose and Bella's apartment, huddled together watching a video Edward recorded on his phone during the appointment.
"The head is right here!" Bella shares excitedly, pointing towards the large part of the moving image. Edward can't help but be hyper-aware of her proximity since she's leaning over his shoulder. The rest of their group of friends are more like family at this point, so having this new member join them makes her moves stand out just a little bit more than the rest.
They all pause as they watch the video again.
"That's not the head," Jasper corrects and points to the other large part of the moving image. "The head is here."
"Oooh, yeah, that is the head," Alice gushes. "Wow."
"I can't believe you're going to be a dad," Jasper says in amusement. "Never thought we'd have one of them in our group."
Alice looks over at him strangely. "Never?"
"Well, eventually, yeah. But not right now."
"Yeah, Edward is, like, a grown-up now," Emmett says in mock disgust. Ignoring them all, Edward walks over to the one person in the room that doesn't look disgusted about this tiny person that will be entering their circle in eight months.
"You okay?" He nudges Rose once he's reached her. He sees her wipe away her tears before she gives him another hug.
"I'm fine."
"You're going to be an aunt."
Just like he planned, this makes Rose dissolve into another puddle of happy tears in his arms. Laughing, he tilts his head back and catches Bella's eye from across the apartment.
She's smiling too, and it's warm enough for him to send her a smile back.
We wanted to incorporate all aspects of friendship dynamics, and that would include adding children into the mix at one point. And Ben is just so cute :) See you next week for Must Read Thursday! Let us know what you think about our Rossward and Rachella!
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