Where the Heart Lies

Chapter 17: New Adventure

Edward

"Dr. Cullen, how was your weekend?" one of the nurses asks as I round the corner heading toward my office. I needed to get some paperwork done before I could head home.

"It was nice. I spent it with my family and fiancé," I say as I see her eyes get rounder and wide.

"Well she must be one heck of a woman," she says as she looks absent mindly at her paperwork before walking in the opposite direction. I smirk at myself at how easily annoyed the woman became once I told her about my fiancé.

"It was nice talking with you," I say as I go into my office and close the door. I looked at the picture of Bella, Carlie, Emmalin and me from their party. I was kneeling in front of Bella asking her to marry me with our daughters beside us. It was by far my favorite picture.

I worked on some paperwork for a while until I looked at the clock and saw that it was past 6. I had told Bella I would be home for dinner. I quickly rushed out of my office as I went to my car and headed home. I parked in the driveway and walked into the house.

"Honey I'm home," I say as I drop my satchel next to the door and put my keys on their hook.

"Hey," Bella says as she pokes her head out of the kitchen where I heard laughter. I walked into the room to find both of the girls on the barstools covered in flour and other items I wasn't too sure about.

"Daddy we're making cookies," Carlie says as I kiss her head and move toward Emmalin.

"Well that sounds good. Did you get all the flour into the bowl or all over the place?" I question as I kiss Emmalin on the head.

"Yes, they got the majority of the flour in the bowl. I think they got excited by your late gift," Bella says as she points toward the back door.

"I'm sorry mom said that they were leaving and wanted to drop her off. I didn't really think it would be an issue since she was my dog," I say softly as I kiss her cheek before moving toward the back door.

"No, I was just caught off guard. I mean I haven't picked up or anything," she says as the girls continue to decorate the already made cookies.

"Bella, Rosie is house broken. She isn't going to eat the toys or anything like that," I say as I open the door. There was a knock on the front door before she could say anything more about the dog. "I'll get it be right back," I say as I walk toward the front door.

"I am looking for a Mr. Cullen," the woman says on the other side of the door.

"I am Mr. Cullen," I say as she pulls out an envelope and hands it to me.

"You have been served," she says as she walks away.

"What do you mean I have been served?" I question as she continues to her car. I shut the door and sit down on the sofa to see what I was being served for. I couldn't believe it. Jessica was suing me for false entanglement. She claims I lead her on until Bella came back and then I cancelled everything off.

"Edward," Bella says as she is walking down the hallway to the living room. "Hey I thought you were coming right back," she jokes as I look up at her.

"Yeah," I mutter as she picks up on my foul mood.

"Who was at the door?" she questions as I hand her the papers that were in my hand. She skims through them before sitting down beside me. "It's just a ploy by her and her lawyers," she says as she hands me back the papers, but her words still didn't help me feel any better.

"I thought I was done with this issue," I finally say as Bella gives me a small smile.

"Edward there is no case. I will talk with my dad and he'll tell you they are just grasping at straws," she says as I know what she is saying is probably true, but the fact that this would even be an issue is what bothers me.

"Thank you," I finally say as she kicks my leg with her foot. I follow her into the kitchen to help the girls with their cookies. Bella had made lasagna for dinner with hot rolls. I enjoyed the food and just spending time with my family. I tried to put the situation with Jessica out of my mind, as we went to bed. Yet, I couldn't. I laid awake half the night thinking about the year long relationship I had with her. I never asked her to marry me, nor did I promise her anything long term. Bella was right, she was doing one last ploy.

"You didn't sleep well last night did you," Bella asks me over coffee before the girls got up.

"No, not in the beginning I was thinking about my relationship with Jessica to see if I had led her on or not," I say honestly as she takes a big sip of the coffee in her hand.

"Did you," she finally asks as I chuckle.

"No, we hadn't even dated for a full year. I wasn't rushing into anything with any one, least of all her. I enjoyed her company, but I don't think I would have ever married her," I say as she looks up from the paper in her hand.

"Well now that that is finally settled lets go get our little monsters up," she says ending the conversation. I liked that she no longer dwelt on the negative more than she had too, but I was still thinking about it. "Do you have to head to the hospital this morning or do you have time to meet with the construction crew?" Bella questions after handing Emmalin her clothes for the day.

"I have the next three days off," I say as I look at my phone to see my schedule.

"Good, they'll be by around 8," she calls out as she disappears into the girls' room once more. I head to the kitchen and start making the batter for waffles. I have a plate full ready for them a half hour later when the three of them enter the kitchen. I have juice and fruit on the table as well.

"Okay, girls your dad is going to stay with you while I run to Seattle to get a few assignments done. I want you two to behave," Bella says as I laugh because they were usually great.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" I questions as she is zipping her coat up.

"I have to meet with a publisher for the new book a client sent me, and I have to get some photos of the downtown market area for my article and the blog assignment due in a few days. I should be home for dinner," she says as she kisses my cheek and heads out the door. I was amazed she got so much done all the time with the amount of things she does at home and all the kid related tasks.

The girls were working on their assignments since Bella was homeschooling them for this year. I wanted them to go to school, but she wanted them to have the remainder of this school year with us. I had met with the contractors who would be starting in the morning on expanding two rooms off of the kitchen area toward the back yard. One of the rooms would be a second guess room, while the other more larger room be our study or office area. I loved the design that the contractors drew up.

"Dad, can we help you cook dinner," Carlie asks as I finish chopping up the onions I was going to use for my soup.

"I'm making beef stew. I am almost finished, but if you want to set the table that would be great," I say as she gives me a huge smile and begins getting the dishes and napkins out. The table is set, the stew is simmering and the bread is buttered and ready to go into the oven when Bella gets home.

XOXOXOXOXO

Bella

I was actually excited as I drove into Forks for the first time in a long time. I felt at peace with the speed at which things were moving with Edward. I did hate that Jessica was trying so hard to make him pay for her crimes. I pulled into the Police Stations parking lot as I saw Emmett pull out.

"Bella," my dad says as I open the door just as he was moving toward his office.

"I wanted to ask you something," I say as he motions for me to follow him. As I sat down in his office I told him about the papers Edward received the day before. He said he wasn't surprised that the lawyer sent them. He was trying to get things to look better for Jessica. It was a ploy to make her look like she was wronged and had made a bad judgment call.

We talked about the girls and Edward. He was glad to hear things were going well for the two of us, but admitted that Edward had discussed the papers with him earlier. He also was on board with the expansion of the house. He showed me the plans that he had seen earlier in the day when he met up with Edward and the girls for lunch. We made plans to meet for brunch on Sunday if Edward's parents were still out of town as I left for home.

"I'm home," I call out as I enter the house. I was a little worried because it was so quiet. I made my way toward the kitchen, but no one was in there. I headed upstairs where I found Edward and both girls asleep in our bed. He had one girl laying on his chest both sides of him. I quickly went and got my camera to take a few candid photos while they slept. I have taken several of them like this, but each picture is different.

I headed back stairs quietly to keep from waking them up. If I knew Edward they probably had a busy day. I listened to the messages on the machine and felt bad knowing that Edward's boss asked him to take time off until everything is settled with Jessica and the trial. It wasn't fair that he had to quit doing what he enjoyed just because Jessica was a psycho.

I placed the bread in the oven to bake while I sent a few photos to my boss to see which ones she liked. I set up my portfolio with all the photos in the spare bedroom to look through later. I was pulling out the bread as I felt two arms wrap around my waist.

"Hmm, how long have you been home?" Edward questions as he nuzzles into my neck.

"About an hour," I say as I see my other two sleeping beauties coming into the kitchen. "Go wash up for dinner," I say as they both hold up their hands.

"Already done," Emmalin says with a smile. We all sit down for a nice family dinner. The girls told me about their lunch date with their grandpa and going hiking for flowers and other things in the woods behind the house. I knew Edward would do something fun with them.

"Did you get everything you needed to do done?" he questions as he slips into the bed beside me.

"Yeah, I took some great pictures, sent them to my boss and set up the rest in the spare room," I say as I turn to face him.

"I was asked to take some time off," he starts as I nod my head.

"I heard the message on the machine," I say as he gives me a weak smile. "It's nothing you did wrong, please just remember that," I say as he pulls me closer.

"I know that, but I have been thinking for some time about talking with my dad to see if he wants to open up a practice together," he says as I see where he is going.

"That would be great," I jump in as he laughs.

"I haven't even set anything in stone and you're excited about it," he chuckles.

"I think that would be a great adventure for you. I know you like or love working at the hospital, but this would give you more reign to do it the way you want," I say as I remember a few discussions we had about how there were so many things he wished he could change because sometimes people needed care even if they couldn't afford it.

"Yeah," he says smiling brightly for the first time in two days. We fell asleep in each others arms.