A/N: Um, wow, I had REALLY bad writer's block on this chap so it's confusing and stuff but I am just really sick of this chapter though you DO need it. This will be really important for the sequel, for which there WILL be more info later. Okay well I also have to say that I WILL be starting another story soon so I will be writing two at once. Sorry for my ADD-ness. On with thou show!
I watched her slam the fridge door again. She went in a circle: looking for food to eat, deciding to eat nothing, and then smoothing her skirt again.
"Settle down, it's going to be okay. He will like you." I annunciated every syllable.
"How do you know? It's not every day you meet your grandpa. What if he doesn't like me?" She looked close to tears.
"He'll like you. Besides babies spit up on their grandpas every day and they still get love. Also last time I checked, you weren't so nervous about meeting my dad."
"Yah well, I really didn't have any choice meeting your dad, I was kinda dying. And the coolest thing babies can do is puke so that's why they get all the love." What was up with this girl? She always had some crazy argument going on.
"You know what? You're right. So I'm just going to wave my white flag and give up." She won't win for long because I hear Bella and Charlie.
"Yes!"
"But you might want to get collected because your mom is pulling up with Charlie now." She grumbled but went to go sit on the couch to wait for a good review.
Ha, I never thought I would be calling Bella a mom except in jest. But now James's adoption would be final in a few days, I myself would be a father. I really don't think this would be happening if it weren't for my good looks. At least that's what I continue to tell Bella.
"Are you sure I look okay?"
"You look great. Besides, how could you doubt the powers of Alice and Rosalie combined?" That just got some more grumbling. I laughed; Alice and Rosalie had kept James in a room for seven hours because they couldn't decide what dress looked better on her, even though the dress they ended up with was the one James picked within the first ten minutes.
"Shut up, that was so not funny."
"Yes it was and you know it."
Then our conversation was ended by Charlie and Bella. It was funny how little it had taken us all to grow attached to James. It had taken Esme about one second, Carlisle one conversation on religion, Alice one shopping trip, Jasper one book, Emmett one snowboarding lesson, and Rosalie one car breaking down, and I one punctured lung. Now it was Charlie's turn. I wondered what it would take to win him over.
"We're here!"
"James come here. I've got someone you have to meet." Whatever happened to Edward? I thought that they were still together. Charlie still didn't accept the idea of me I guess, but I think he like me better than someone named James.
James stood up and whispered, "Do I look okay?" I nodded and pushed her towards the stairs.
"Go, he'll love you." With one last exasperated look she headed down the stairs to meet Charlie.
I watched through Charlie's mind as Bella introduced him to his first and only grandchild. He was surprised to say the least, but even more so when she stuck a hand with a timid smile.
He gave a confused grin and pulled her into a hug. I guess it took Charlie one smile. I mentally added it to my list.
He pulled out of the hug, smiled, and said, "It's good to meet you James." That made James smile bigger.
"It's good to meet you too. Would you like to come upstairs? I know the plane was kind of long so I made some things. I even made my famous tiramisu." She hadn't made tiramisu once before in her life. It had been very funny to watch her. She had to remake it three times before it was "edible." But how would I know.
"James, last time I checked you could sucked at making desserts."
"Maybe I learned while you were off getting grandpa. Now can we please go upstairs? We have to show good hospitality to some people." Charlie smiled at being called grandpa just like I did at being called dad.
"Good to know someone can keep Bella in line."
"Well I would like to think that I keep her in line though I have a feeling it's my famous tiramisu."
"Famous tiramisu that no one has tried before." Bella mumbled under her breath.
I decided it was time to step in so I said, "You girls stop bickering and let the man sit down." That made Charlie notice me.
"Edward! How're you doing?"
"Good enough for trying to keep these two from squabbling."
"Well are you going to stay with us for dinner?"
"No, I have to go help Pete. Someone messed up the inventory and now a couple of books are mysteriously missing." I looked pointedly at James and Bella.
"What?" They both said at the same time. "It's not like we were really stealing anything."
"I know, but you could at least mark it down on the inventory so I don't have to clean up your messes all the time." But I couldn't help smiling; it was fun to clean up some messes.
"Face it Edward, you like cleaning up our messes for us." I grumbled pretending to be mad. I really did like having people to clean up after, as long as it wasn't dead bodies.
"Hey dad?" I reveled at the word.
"Yeah James?"
"Will you bring home that order magazine? Oh, and a cheesecake?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Sure, I'll try, but I'm not sure how good my memory is."
"Whatever, just get out of my house." She laughed as she pushed me out of the door and slammed it.
"Bye." I said to no one in particular.
It was funny how much things could change over the course of just months. I had found out how hard it would be to live without Bella. I had found out how horrible of a tracker I really am. I also found out how easy it is to find a family.
I felt like I had gained so much. Everyone in my family did. We were officially gaining two new members in a month. But it was funny I had a feeling everyone's favorite was James. She was like putty; she molded to everyone. I think it might have just been the fact that she was always so curious about everything that she liked to talk to all of us. She had taking a special liking to Jasper and Rosalie. She loved to hear civil war stories from Jasper (though half of them were made up) and Rosalie's debutant stories. (Which were also made up.)
Of course with the wedding approaching, all of the girls (except Bella) were in full shopping mode. It was surprising to see that James was tied with Alice for most excited. She had picked out the bridesmaid's dresses and was currently in a war with Alice about what dress Bella would wear. And it didn't help that Bella loved both of them. There was also argument about where exactly the wedding would be. Though it seemed Bella's "Phorkix" was winning.
About a month after the "garage incident" as we were now calling it, Bella finally called her mom and dad. They were just glad to hear that she was alive and still in school.
That's what Charlie was here for, Bella's graduation. We had him shipped out for this week and then a couple of days for the wedding. James had been so freaked to hear about this but she was also very excited. Besides Carlisle and Esme, she never had any grandparent that were alive (well at least that she could talk to).
I thought about James. It was funny how extraordinary she was. She was so smart and always willing, though if you talked to Pete he would say differently about some of that.
I thought back to the talk I had with Pete after we talked about leaving and taking James. At first I thought that it was funny that he was so willing to get rid of his last living relative, but then he pulled me aside and explained a few things. Though in the end I was left with more questions than answers.
"Hey Edward, can we talk for a minute?"
"Sure." Odd, other than sports talk we hadn't really spoken to each other.
We walked outside and went to his car. Once we were inside it, he started.
"James is, how do I put this? Well, James is, special."
"I did notice that at a couple of points in time."
"Yes, but I don't think that you get how special she is exactly. I just want you to see that she doesn't always say what she means and she will love you all no matter what you do."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means people take advantage of her all the time. She is the most beaten up doormat I have ever seen. And yet she trusts people completely, and she's always so forgiving. I just want you to protect her from people like our father so she can stay that way forever."
"What did your father do to her?"
"That's not really for me to say, just ask her about her arm."
"What did she-" I started but he interrupted me.
"And Edward, don't be surprised if she has a special visitor when she's older, okay?"
"Sure?" He walked away ending our odd conversation.
I did ask James about her arm but she only stared at me for ten minutes, shook her head, then said, "Not now" and left. I decided not to press the subject because I didn't want her to be mad at me like every other teen was at their dad.
I did however, ask Bella about James's dad. All she said was that, "He had a weird name and he killed most of his family including himself. What else is there to say except I never met him." It appeared as though this would be the mystery of the century, and I would be able to actually find out if it was.
Other than that everything had been going great with James. She had completely accepted my whole family and seemed ecstatic about moving in with us. She also had began calling us all mom, dad, etc. The first time she called me dad she blushed and said "sorry" but an instant later I found myself giddy with excitement at the thought of being a "dad."
James had given me a lesson about names after I called myself "a father" out loud. She said that fathers are a bad thing. Calling someone father implies distance. It also implies fear, and she said she doesn't want distance or fear to rule our relationship. I whole-heartedly agreed.
My thoughts drifted to various things while I sorted out the inventory mess. It was funny how good the book store was going. Apparently, everyone loved the way Bella and James ran it. There were always customers and the amount of applications was staggering.
One of the biggest money raisers happened to be a treasure hunt like competition. Every month they picked out a book that no one was likely to buy. Then they set up some clues. The prize was a date with "the stud or studett of the month." So far every month (which was two) Pete, to his embarrassment was the stud. I chuckled at Bella's flair for business of all things.
When I came back in I found Bella and Charlie in the kitchen eating tiramisu and drinking coffee. I found James in the living room with a member of the dead, Emmett; of course.
Like every other Thursday they were watching Grey's Anatomy. Also like every other Thursday Emmett had a pillow and a bowl of popcorn in his hands. He once told me the popcorn is for James's enjoyment and some dramatic effect. Though I think it was only affecting his brain.
I chuckled and sat down on the loveseat. Then once it was done, and she and Emmett had a discussion on what was going to happen next, I took James to bed.
I waited for her to get ready so I could tuck her in, and then like every other night I read another chapter in the book she had picked out. As usual I waited with her while she tried to fall asleep, but my mind wondered.
I couldn't believe I was finally going to marry the love of my life. Most people only dream of finding someone they love as much as I do Bella. I felt unbelievably lucky that I would get to spend eternity with her in just a month. Of course I would have to go through the anguish of having my family heckle me all the way there, but anything for Bella. I stayed with James until she fell asleep, and then went upstairs to continue thinking about the rest of my life.
A/N: Okay so can you guess which part is the mucho importante part? Anyways I think next chapter will be the last REAL chapter though I have like a bajillion outtakes to put up too! Oh, and the sequel! Once again, sorry for my writer's block, but it happens to all of us! Oh and I really hope some of this made sense! Oh, and pictures will be up next chapter!