EPOV
When Liam and I pull up outside the Swan house, I turn around to look in the backseat and smile at my little guy. "You remember the rules, right?"
He nods and gives me his toothy smile. "No running and no cookies 'til I eat all my dinner." He ticks every item off on his little fingers.
"One more?"
He looks thoughtful for a minute. "Oh, I'm 'possed to use my manners."
"Good job, bud. Go ahead and unbuckle, and we'll go see Mister Charlie and Miss Sue." I scramble out of the car ahead of him and wait at his door as he takes his time unbuckling his car seat. It's tricky, but he can do it, and he likes the independence of it.
"That lady from the park is going to be here too, right, Daddy?" he asks as I take his hand and we walk up to the front porch.
"Her name is Bella. You remember, right?" Liam has a problem with his "Ls" so I think that's why he didn't say her name.
"Bella," he says slowly and smiles when it comes out right. "She's pretty and nice, even if she hit your face and gave you a boo-boo."
I laugh as I ring the doorbell, and we only have to wait a minute before a figure appears at the glass. When the door opens and Bella is standing there looking surprised, I send her my best smile.
"What are you two doing here?" she asks as she cringes, looking at my eye. "Oh, my God, that looks awful. Come in, come in."
She steps aside, and I walk in with Liam gripping my pants leg. He's not usually terribly shy, but he does think she's pretty. Maybe my baby boy has his first little crush.
"It's really not as bad as it looks," I say as we remove our coats and I hang them up. "I didn't ice it like I should have the other night."
"I'm still sorry. Can I get you two something to drink? I think we have some juice, Liam." She crouches down to his level. "We have apple juice and grape juice."
"Can I pwease have grape juice?" He smiles at her and she smiles back.
"Of course you can. Is that all right, Dad?" She looks up at me from her position on the floor.
"Sure, just dilute it a little bit with water," I say and offer her a hand to help her up. When she takes it, that's when I feel it. Something I must have missed the other day—a surge of electricity. It's like a static shock when you wear socks and drag your feet on the carpet, and then touch metal, but it was deeper and longer.
"Whoa, it must be staticy outside," Bella says as she stands and pulls her hand away, but her eyes never leave mine. "Edward, what can I get you to drink? We have soda, beer, wine, water …"
"I'll just have water. Thanks."
Bella runs to retrieve drinks for us, and when she comes back, Sue and Charlie are with her. Liam makes a beeline for Charlie, and when the former chief hoists him up in the air, I see the megawatt smile grace Bella's face.
"Mister Charwie, guess what!" Liam says as Charlie begins to tickle him under his arms.
"What, little man? Tell me everything! This is a patented torture technique," Charlie says with a laugh.
"Bewa gave Daddy a bwack eye!"
As if the record scratched, you could hear a pin drop in the room it got so quiet. Sue and Charlie turned to look at me and Bella—we were standing next to each other. I looked over at Bella, who was frozen with the reddest face I've ever seen.
After explaining everything that happened the other day and Sue chiding Bella for not telling them, we sat down to dinner. Charlie was at the head of the table, with Sue opposite Bella across from me, and Liam had asked to sit next to her. I told her she didn't have to entertain him, but she insisted.
They whispered and laughed together through the majority of the meal, and Bella actually got my son to eat more than I anticipated, including dressing, which I figured he wouldn't like.
"So, Bella, what do you do in Seattle?" This beautiful woman is sitting across from me and my kid is getting all the play.
"I actually own a bakery." She laughs. "Marie taught me everything I know, and then I went to culinary school and decided to open my own place. Speaking of the bakery, I have some really good news."
"What's going on, Bells?" Charlie asks and sets down his fork to give her his full attention.
She tells us all about this big catering job she got for Christmas Eve for a big company in Seattle and how this could make her business. She's giddy while explaining it, and when she's finished, Charlie and Sue are happy for her, but you can tell they're also a little disappointed.
"So, no Christmas here then?" Sue asks softly.
"Maybe I can drive up the day after Christmas," she offers. When the silence stretches on for a few minutes, I finally have to break it up.
"What's it called? Your place, I mean. I love a good bakery name," I tell her with a wink, and she sighs a little.
"It's just 'Bella Bakes'. Grandma really wanted me to name it after her shop, but I wanted to go out on my own." She smiles softly. "Did you ever go to the bakery?"
"All the time, Marie was a really great lady. I was sorry when she passed."
"You know, Edward and Marie were neighbors, actually," Sue says as she pushes her plate away and folds up her napkin. "You two were friends, right?"
"We were. She was there for me a lot right after this guy was born." I waggle my fork at Liam, and he giggles.
"I used to help Miss Marie bake cookies!"
"She used to have this stool that I would climb up on, and she always said you're never too young to learn to bake," Bella says fondly, and I smile.
"That's how he learned. I bet it was the same stool."
After dinner, Charlie and Sue take Liam to the den for a couple games of Go Fish while Bella and I start clearing up.
"You're a guest; you don't have to help, Edward," Bella says as I hand her dishes, and she covers them with their lids.
"I always help Sue when they invite me over. It's the least I can do," I tell her as I hand her the sweet potatoes. "You were great with Liam, by the way. Thank you."
"He's amazing. You really lucked out with such a great kid." She laughs. "I love kids. I do a weekend bake class for kids with their parents. It takes a lot of patience, but it's worth it."
"Seems like Charlie lucked out in the kid department too," I tell her as I start the water in the sink and begin washing dishes.
She blushes as she grabs a towel and begins drying the plates. "We had to adapt. When your own mother abandons you when you're Liam's age … I'm sorry, Edward."
I sigh. "You're fine. We have different stories. I didn't know that about your mom. I don't even know her name. Charlie has never mentioned her, really."
"Renee. That's her name, and that's what I call her whenever she decides to call me."
"So, she left?" I ask quietly.
"Right after I turned five. I remember the fight they had." She shudders a little as she stacks the dry plates on the counter. "This life wasn't what she expected, and she hated Charlie for trapping her … trapping her with me."
"You're the light of his life—it's obvious," I tell her, and she smiles.
"It was just the two of us for so long. Now we have Sue, and it feels right." Her eyes are a little misty, and she turns to put the plates away. "I think we can leave the cups and silverware in the drainer until tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me." I dry my hands, then clap them together. "When do we get to have pie?"
Bella laughs, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite sounds. "You've earned a slice or two. Let's go check on the other three and see how they're doing."
Slices of pie and scoops of ice cream have been passed around and everyone is finally fully stuffed to the brim. Liam is curled up in my arms, asleep and snoring lightly, while we sit on the couch. Bella is curled up on the other end with a mug of tea and smiling at everyone. Charlie and Sue are cuddled up together in his recliner, and a roaring fire is going.
"Before we go, I just want to say thank you for having us. This has been a terrific Thanksgiving, and I really appreciate it," I say to everyone in the room.
"It's been a pleasure getting to know you better, Edward. We love having you and Liam around," Sue says, and Charlie smiles.
"It's so good to have this house full like it was meant to be." Charlie pats Sue's thigh, and she scoots so he can stand. "I'm not a man of many words, but tonight is special. Tonight marks five years since Sue and I first had dinner together, and I'm so grateful for all the time we've had together."
"Oh, shit," Bella whispers from her end of the couch, and when I look at her with her wide, glistening eyes, I realize what's happening. I reach for my phone and hit record to capture this moment.
"Sue, you were there for me when I was sick, and you helped me get healthy again. You were there for me when I retired and wasn't sure where my life was going. You've always been there for me, and I hope I've done the same for you." Charlie pulls something small from his pocket and drops to his knee carefully. "In front of our daughter and our friend, will you marry me and finally make an honest man out of me?"
"Oh, Charlie, yes," Sue cries and leans into Charlie's embrace. I look over and Bella is crying and smiling, and I feel for just a quick moment that maybe I'm intruding.
But then Bella gently takes Liam from my arms, and I'm plucked from the couch, and Charlie wraps me in a manly hug. "I want you to stand up for me, Edward. Will you do that?"
I'm shocked and choked up with emotions, but manage a "yes".
Later when Bella walks me out to my car carrying Liam, I laugh a little. "What an eventful Thanksgiving, huh?"
"Tell me about it." She laughs again and hands over my boy so I can buckle him into his seat. "It was good to see you again, Edward. I am sorry about the eye though."
"How long are you in town?"
"At least a few more days, why?" She cocks her head to the side.
"You can make it up to me by having dinner with me," I tell her and smile.
"I just had dinner with you," she counters.
"Just you and me. What do you say?"
"One dinner?" I nod, "All right; sounds good. I'll get your number from Charlie. Goodnight, Edward." She walks back into the house as I get into my car and begin to drive away, grinning like a fool.
I have a date with Bella Swan.
Happy Thanksgiving!