I do not own Twilight
SEVENTEEN
The next day, after dropping Nessie to school Jacob called Bella and asked to meet for coffee. Embry and Jared would handle the shop until he could come in and Julie was taking Billy to the doctor's.
Jacob sat in the booth nursing a cup of black coffee when Bella breezed in. She was elegantly dressed in an off-white trench coat and heels. Her long hair was tied up and she wore diamonds in her ears. She was a totally different woman from the shy, clumsy girl he'd loved most of his life.
"Jacob," she said in greeting.
"Hey Bells."
"What's this about?" she asked.
Jacob cleared his throat. "I wanted to know if it would be okay…if we shared custody of Nessie until summer."
"Jake-" she groaned in frustration which immediately caused the man in front of her to lose his cool.
"I know the deal Bella, shit, I know! But it's not what's best for her. You can't rip her away from me cold turkey like that. She had it hard when you were gone. And this will only make it worse. Please, just hear me out, I'm only thinking about my daughter. Let me have her three days a week, and you have her otherwise, but I get one weekend a month. Please Bella. It'll help her adjust to you and Edward." Jacob pleaded, feeling the desperation tightening his chest.
Bella sighed, her face showing how annoyed she was. Jacob had seen that face one time too many in the last year and a half and it made his blood boil. He knew that she was about to say something that he didn't want to hear. "Jacob, you've got to stop acting like you've got control here. She's not yours. And I'm sorry I lied about it, I know I can never live it down, but it was my fault not to tell Edward. None of this would have ever happened if I hadn't kept my pregnancy from him."
"But it DID happen, and I gave up my entire life for you! You can't do this to me now just because of him. She is mine, you can't act like she's not and expect me to just disappear. I won't, I fucking won't abandon Nessie."
"Well Edward has a right to be her father and he's ready, since the moment I told him. He hates that he's missed out on her life."
"Well imagine how I'll feel! I was there from the start Bell, I loved you. I raised her. It's MY name on her birth certificate! You think it's fair for ME to miss out?"
"I know Jake. And you've got to stop throwing it in my face! How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry I lied to you and to Edward! He's forgiven me, you need to forgive me too so we can all move on."
"I'll forgive you if you promise me you won't keep her from me Bella. Promise me I'll get her for at least a month in the summer, and I'll get to come visit for her birthday. Promise me that if she asks, you'll let her call."
Bella sighed and pouted her red lips, looking out the window. "I'll do what's best for Renesmee."
"Bella," Jacob growled in warning. How could she be like this? He didn't understand, and it was so frustrating that Jacob just wanted to reach over the table and shake some sense into her perfectly coiffed head.
"I won't make a vow I can't keep. I can't just say yes to these demands without talking to Edward first. We were thinking of getting a lawyer."
Jacob's blood ran from hot to cold. "Bella, NO, please, don't do that, just try to meet me halfway on this! If you loved Nessie you'd never want to hurt her like this!" Jacob leaned closer, forcing Bella to look him in the eye. She exhaled again and shook her head in resignation.
"I promise you I won't let her suffer. If she misses you Jacob, I'll always let her call. If she wants to see you, I'll let you visit. But things are different now. Any contact with Nessie will be on our terms not yours."
"So that means you'll do whatever you can to make her forget me so that she'll never want any of those things," Jacob concluded, knowing he was being played. Edward and Bella planned to take his little girl and run off into the sunset.
"I'm not so cold and heartless Jake."
"But aren't you? I think that's exactly what you are Bella Masen. You're so blinded by Edward that you can't see what you've become." Jacob knew she wasn't his Bella anymore, that there would never even be a friendship like the one they shared growing up.
"Fuck you Jacob Black."
"Fuck me? Fuck you for being gone all this time! You hurt her Bella!"
"I did what you asked me to!"
"NO, you didn't! I asked you to give me one more year with her in the home where she was raised for most of her life. You wanted to travel and be all lovey dovey with your new husband and you liked the idea! I never told you to stay away from Nessie! You did what was best for YOU not her!"
"Edward wanted me to see the world before we settled down, it wouldn't have worked to take Nessie and she has school, that's the ONLY reason I let her stay with you," Bella reasoned. Jacob didn't miss the underlying threat in her tone, the way she was implying that he had no rights to their child.
"Well forgive me for thinking he's an asshole if he was okay with keeping you away from your child for so long."
Bella's face seemed to pale even more if that was possible. She pulled at her ring before confessing, "He didn't."
"What?"
"I told him you wanted me gone."
"YOU WHAT?" the other customers literally stopped talking and turned to look at the arguing couple. "And he was okay with that? Bella you're not making any sense!" Jacob groused. He couldn't decide who the bigger asshole was between Edward and Bella. They both were selfish and chose their relationship over Nessie for almost an entire year, now they wanted to come back and make it seem like HE was the bad guy? Jacob was offended and disgusted with the pair of them.
"I told him to just let you be because it was hard on you."
"Oh so you convinced him to feel 'sorry' for me right?" Jacob spat.
"Edward and I needed time for ourselves and I won't apologize for that. I knew you'd take care of her Jake. I know you only want what's best for her, but what's best for her is to be with ME now. You said it yourself, she's had a hard time with me gone. I want to make up for lost time Jacob. Don't fight this. Nessie needs to come home with her mother as soon as possible."
"How do I know that you won't poison her against me like you did Edward, Bella? I know even know who the fuck you are right now!" Jacob gestured to her angrily.
"Fuck you Jacob!" Bella hissed before she grabbed her purse and stormed out of the shop, running into a Bentley that had apparently been waiting for her at the curb. Edward opened the door and let Bella in, throwing Jacob a look of hatred.
"Fuck you too," Jacob grumbled to himself, fighting the urge to crash his fist through everything in sight.
Later that night Bella called to tell Nessie goodnight. Jacob allowed them to talk, watching how happy his little princess was to hear her mother's voice.
"Will you come home Mommy?" Nessie asked. Jacob tensed. "Really?" Nessie turned to him, "Mommy said she can come take me to school tomorrow! She's back!"
Jacob grabbed the phone without thinking. "Really Bella?" he argued.
"Jacob, what are you doing? I was talking to her!" Bella cried on the line.
"You didn't agree to my terms. You're not doing that until you tell me you agree with what I want."
Bella scoffed into the phone. "You told me you don't want a lawyer involved, but you're not making this any easier. You can't make demands Jacob. You have no claims to her anymore. I can come get her tomorrow and you can't do a damn thing about it."
Jacob growled, and tried to keep his temper in check when he saw the expression on his daughter's face. It occurred to him that there was another way to fight fire with fire. "You have to come here and talk to Nessie first then," he bargained.
"Fine, when?" Bella answered easily.
"How about tomorrow?"
"Good, I don't want to wait. I miss my daughter Jacob. I want to spend time with her, it's been long enough."
"Fine, tomorrow after school, so don't show up until then."
"But I just promised her I'll take her to school!"
"I don't care, tomorrow after school."
Jacob handed his daughter the phone, noting the tears in her eyes. He listened as she told her mother good night. Nessie handed him the phone and then ran away towards her bedroom.
Jacob sighed and followed, knowing he'd messed up yet again, but he'd be damned if he let Bella Black – no – Bella Masen, do whatever the fuck she wanted without consulting with him. Jacob knew that it was a fine line he was walking but after Bella confessed that she'd maligned him to Edward, Jacob couldn't help but want to lash out. The threats she made were pushing him over the edge. Still, he didn't want to hurt Nessie, no, never that.
"Nessie, don't be upset. You'll see Mommy after school, that way you can spend more time with her," he told his daughter as she curled up on her little bed.
"You were mean to Mommy!" She screamed.
"I'm sorry honey. I'm sorry. Please don't be mad. Mommy's mad and Leah's mad, I can't have you hate me too Ness, please?" Jacob lay down behind her and pulled her into his chest so that they were spooning.
"Hate is a bad word, Daddy. I'm not allowed to hate."
"That's good to know princess." He kissed her head and together they lay there for a few moments in silence. "Ness, promise me you'll always love Daddy and Papa? I'll always love you, and I'll always be here for you no matter what, I'm always a phone call away, 'kay?"
"Daddy are you going away?"
"No, but things are going to be different now Mommy's back. And sometimes we won't be together."
"Why not?" she turned to him with tears in her eyes. Jacob knew he shouldn't tell her without Bella there but it just felt like the right thing, for him and Ness to talk in private first. He'd always been better with her than Bella anyways.
"Remember I told you about Edward?" Nessie nodded. "Well, Mommy lives with him now and that means that you have to go live with them too."
"But I live here."
"Yes and this will always be your home and your room. You'll always have me and Papa. But Mommy and Edward are going to be your other family too. You've got two families now that Mommy and Edward are married."
"Will they give me a baby brother too, like you and Leah?"
Jacob sighed, not wanting to bring Leah into this. "Maybe, I don't know. But maybe a sister? Or a dog? Wouldn't you like that?"
"I want a puppy!"
"I know you do honey! You should ask Edward, I think he'd like to get you a puppy to live at his house." Jacob silently hoped that Edward hated dogs or had an allergy or something.
"Okay."
"So that's okay right honey? You'll spend time with Mommy and Edward and live at their house?"
"Will you come too?"
"No Ness, I can't. But you can always call me and we can video chat, we can see each other through the phone and you can show me your new room and your new puppy. I think that would be great."
"I'm scared Daddy."
"I know princess, I'm scared too. I'm going to miss you so much. But I'll keep you in my heart and you can keep me in yours, promise?"
"Yes, I promise Daddy."
"I'll always be your Daddy and you'll always be my girl Nessie Black. I love you."
"Love you too Daddy."
Happy 2019 to you all! I'm back home now so I will be updating regularly again. Thanks for sticking with me. Only a few chapters left to go though! I won't be dragging this out things will be resolved quickly.