Standard Disclaimer – I don't own Twilight or any of the characters from the story. All song selections have been provided by my amazing beta, NoWayWithWords. She is the greatest! She has set up a YouTube playlist that includes the songs chosen for the chapters. If you would like to check it out, see my profile for the link.
The song for the chapter is "Good Life" by OneRepublic.
Chapter 33 – Making Progress
When we reached Alice and Jasper's house, Lucy was all geared up and excited. She jumped out of the car and ran straight to Jasper as soon as she saw him screaming, "Uncle Jasssssperrrrrr!"
Emmett, Rose, and I unloaded the car while Alice and Jasper fawned over Lucy. When we got everything inside, I found that Alice had managed to get one of the spare kids' travel cots from the hospital. It was small but didn't look horribly uncomfortable. Alice had put pink sheets on it and a new teddy bear was sitting on her pillow. Alice had moved all of the breakable things up to higher shelves and put child proof locks on the cabinets in the bathrooms and kitchen. She also had some strange contraptions put on the front and back door knobs to keep her from being able to go outside without someone with her. Emmett really got a kick out of those.
I was unpacking our things and starting a load of laundry when Esme called, "Bella, I just saw Lucy on the news. She is so beautiful! She seems like such a sweet little girl. I'm so happy for you. I can't wait to meet her."
"She really is a great kid, Esme. I'm so happy to be able to bring her home. I still have to jump through a few hoops here in Washington before I can adopt her, but I don't mind at all. My manager, Rosalie, knows some great attorneys here in Seattle, so she is going to set up an appointment for me on Monday to find out what I need to do to get everything done."
"Excellent. I hope it turns out to be easier than it sounds."
"Me too," I agreed fervently.
"Well, I actually did have other reasons to call, other than to gush over your new daughter. I came across some great deals on the perfect bedroom suit. The bed is exactly what I was looking for. I emailed some pictures of it to you and told the store owner to hold it for me until tomorrow. I also found a rug for the living room that is a steal. It was a custom order that ended up being too large, so it was returned. I talked the guy down and managed to get it for only a quarter of the original cost. I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and bought that one."
"No, I don't mind. I trust your opinion." There was no doubt in my mind that anything Esme picked would be perfect for my new house.
"Thank you. I took a few pictures of it and sent it along with the pictures of the bedroom furniture."
"Great, I'll take a look at them tonight and email you back. Oh, while I was gone, the band went over and did all of the work that I committed to doing on the new house, so I'm ahead of schedule on my end."
"That's fantastic! I'll call and see if we can speed up the construction a little. Have you decided which room will be Lucy's yet?"
"No, I was going to take her over there and let her pick which room she wants. The two rooms are identical in size, so it's just going to be a matter of preference on her part."
"Ok. See if you can get a feel as to what kind of room she wants. Does she want a pink princess room or is she more of a tomboy? We can do themes, if she wants something specific, like Winnie the Pooh or Cinderella, or we can do some basic color schemes without being specific to a character. I'll send you some links with ideas. Of course her room doesn't have to be exactly like what you see in the links, it's just to give you an idea."
"Ok, that will be great. I'll look through them and see what she likes. Once I figure it out, I'll let you know."
I almost asked her if she had heard from Edward, but I stopped myself. If he wanted to talk to me, he knew how to reach me. I wasn't going to go chasing him. He was going to have to call me if he wanted to talk. Hell, he would have to call me anyway, because I had no way to reach him even if I wanted to.
When we got off of the phone, I finished everything I was working on and went looking for Lucy. I found her and Alice playing with some pots and pans. They were pretending to cook dinner. Lucy was pretending to make chocolate ice cream in a frying pan while Alice made imaginary spaghetti. I left them at it and went to find Jasper in the living room.
"Hey, Bella, before I forget, Laurent is going to be here the day after tomorrow to finish the photo shoot. He wants to take a few of you at the studio. He was also thinking about taking some from the top of the space needle and maybe a few along the pier. Also, I called a few acquaintances from my old life and found out what they recommended regarding pregnancy weight gain and stretch marks. Of course I think you should clear it with your doctor first, but here is the list of tips they gave me."
He handed me a sheet of paper that had been sitting beside him on the end table. I looked it over and decided he was right, I needed to talk to my doctor about it before I did anything, so I stuck the paper into my purse.
It was Saturday afternoon. I wasn't needed back at the studio until Monday, so I decided it would be a good day to go out and get some of the things I thought I needed for Lucy. Alice agreed to watch her. Emmett was at home in Port Angeles with Rosalie, so Jasper went shopping with me. He had never had to act the part of bodyguard before, so he didn't know what to do when we stepped into the mall and were bombarded by teenagers.
After a 20 minute delay, signing autographs and taking pictures, I was finally able to get into the store I was trying to reach. I bought a small step stool, a little wooden chair, and a plastic tub for her to use as a temporary toy box. I went into another store and bought some baby shampoo, body wash for kids, some bubble bath, a rubber ducky, a boat, a mermaid that changed colors when she was wet, and a mesh bag that attached to the wall with suction cups to put the bath toys in when they were wet.
I bought Lucy some new pajamas and a few new outfits. I picked up a little stroller for her baby doll. I looked at the little doll furniture and the kitchen set, but decided it would have to wait until we moved into our house and had more room. I got her a little purse with a mirror, a brush, and some fake plastic jewelry to put in it. I couldn't resist when I saw the princess dress up clothes, and just because I didn't want to be gender biased, I also picked up some cars, and a farm set with plastic animals and a little tractor. Jasper helped me load everything up in the car and haul it all home in time for me to make carrots to go with dinner, just like Lucy wanted.
The days that followed seemed to blur one right into the other. Laurent came and raided my closet. He played with different outfits and dragged me all over the city to take my picture. He was nice enough to do some family portraits of me and Lucy before he left that turned out phenomenal. I was definitely having them framed.
The furniture that Esme had picked out was perfect, so she bought it. She said she was storing everything for me and would have it all delivered when the house was done. The construction crew kicked into overtime and soon had all of the wooden beams put up. I met my new neighbors, who seemed like really nice people. The husband was a doctor and the wife stayed at home with their three boys.
The neighbors on the other side were two guys that were also really nice. They had been partners for almost 10 years. One was an opera singer and the other was a civil engineer. They had a two year old daughter that they adopted from Korea. Her name was Kiko. Lucy loved her right from the start. I knew that they were going to be great friends for a long time to come.
We got back to work in the studio and recorded some more music. It took a few weeks to iron out all the bugs on a few songs, and we had more to write, so we kept busy. I made an appointment with my doctor to discuss the list I got from Jasper and made arrangements to meet with the lawyer that Rosalie recommended.
Both Alice and Rose went with me to see the doctor. This time we actually got to hear the baby's heartbeat. Somehow, hearing the baby's heart beating inside of me suddenly made it all feel real to me. I cried a little and then blamed it on the hormones. I asked the doctor about the list that Jasper gave me of tips and products. The doctor crossed a few of them off stating that they were myths or they were not safe, but the others he was okay with. He pointed out the ones he thought would be most effective, but warned me that some people will get stretch marks no matter what they do. The doctor pointed out that I was already 13 weeks along and would start showing soon, so he recommended that I start telling my family and friends. I thanked him and made my appointment for the following month.
The meeting with the lawyer went relatively well. She told me that I needed to take a parenting class and have a home assessment study done as soon as my house was finished. She gave me the information on the class. I could either take it early in the morning, or later in the evening. The classes would last two hours per session for two weeks. I called Alice and asked about her schedule. She suggested I take the night classes so she could stay with Lucy.
Lucy and I had managed to set up a good routine. She was almost completely out of her pull-ups. She only had accidents every now and then, so I bought her some real panties. She loved them. She ran all over the house lifting her dress up to show them off to anyone that she could find. I tried to tell her that it was not lady like, but she would hear nothing of it. She was in "big girl panties" and by golly the entire world was going to know it.
Lucy had picked the room she wanted and decided she wanted it done in bright girly colors, like pink, orange, and yellow. I found out that she liked flowers and butterflies, so Esme came up with an idea to decorate her room like a garden with bright pink, orange, and yellow flowers accenting her room. She found some beautiful purple and blue butterfly decals that would look great on the walls and was trying to find some furniture to go with the theme.
Rosalie set up an exclusive interview with a popular TV show that focused on the entertainment industry. She worked out all of the details regarding what I would and wouldn't discuss. I made sure that Rose told them that I did not want to discuss my love life. I would talk about my music, my career, my daughter, and how I got her. They readily agreed and flew up to Seattle to meet with me. The reporter suggested we meet in a public place, so fans would not use my surroundings to pinpoint exactly where I lived and show up at my house, so we headed to the children's museum.
They videotaped me playing with Lucy for a little while and then we went to a hotel nearby, where they set up a small conference room to do the interview. They made it look like a nice comfortable living room. They even brought some toys for Lucy to play with. Of course, Lucy was more interested in the camera than any of the toys.
At one time during the interview, Lucy got up and walked over to the camera man and said, "I wanna see."
The camera man picked her up and let her look through the camera that he had mounted on a stand. Lucy got a kick out of that. She called to me, "Mommy, come look. You in a picture!"
I laughed and said, "Sorry, baby, I'm in the middle of talking to this nice lady right now. Why don't you come over here and draw me a picture?"
She came over and started drawing quietly, so I continued talking. When she finished her drawing, she handed the scribbled mess to me and said, "Look, Mommy, I draw Uncle Jasssssperrrrr." She loved to stretch out his name and make the first part sound like a snake and the last part sound like a cat purring. It was so cute.
The reporter asked who Jasper was. I told her that he was my producer and a good friend. I told her that we were staying with him and his wife while our house was being renovated but hoped to move into our new place in about a month. That got us talking about living arrangements and if I was going to hire a nanny to take care of Lucy during the day. I told her that I had considered putting her in daycare part time, a couple days a week, so she could interact with other kids, but I had no intention of hiring a private nanny.
When the reporter thought she had enough information to piece together decent interview, she thanked me for my time and told me that she would be contacting my manager if she had any additional questions or needed clarification on something. I left the interview feeling pretty confident that it went well.
Lucy and I went to visit my dad the following day. Dad loved when I brought Lucy to visit. He pulled out all of my old dolls and toys that he had stuffed into the back of a closet somewhere. I didn't even know he still had those things. They had definitely seen better days. Apparently I'd been pretty rough with the dolls when I was a child.
I fixed lunch and we all sat around the table to eat.
Dad said, "So, Bells, how have things been going? Are you almost finished with the new CD?"
"Yes, we're almost finished. We need to put the finishing touches on three more songs and then my part will be done and it will be up to Jasper to do the rest."
"So, do you think it will come out soon?"
"I don't know. I'm thinking about postponing the release until March."
My heart was pounding in my chest. I was determined not to chicken out and leave without telling him about the baby. I was starting to get a little pooch that was easily disguised by the sun dresses I was wearing, but it would soon be a much larger pooch.
"Why would you wait until March? It's just now the end of August. That's over six months away. Is there some special event going on that you want to wait for? When are all those music awards things going on?"
I took a deep breath and said, "Dad, I wanted to wait until March because I will have had my baby by then." I glanced up at him and said, "I'm pregnant."
Dad was frozen in shock for a moment, and then he said, "What? When? How? No… more importantly… WHO?"
I tried to hold my head high and act like an adult and not a child, as I explained that Edward and I had been seeing each other while we were on tour together. I told him about the ear infection and the antibiotics nullifying the effects of my birth control which led to my current predicament.
"So, where is he now? Why haven't I seen him yet?"
"He's still in Europe. He doesn't get back until late September."
"Is he going to marry you?" Dad asked.
"No, Dad, he doesn't even know about the baby. We broke up because he wasn't ready to have a family and the idea of me adopting Lucy kind of freaked him out. I figured that since he couldn't handle the idea of adopting a three year old, he surely couldn't handle a newborn, so I'm doing this on my own."
"Bella, a man has the right to know that he has a child running around in the world. Even if you don't think he will like the idea, he still deserves to know about it."
"I know, Dad, I just don't want him to think that I'm trying to trap him or force him to come back to me."
"Do you want him back?"
I thought about it a moment before I answered, "I loved him very much, but I'm not sure he felt the same way. I thought he did. Everything was just… perfect, but then he left like nothing had ever happened. I ran into him when I went to New York. He was just passing through, so we met to talk. He pretty much admitted that he missed me, but he didn't like the idea of me adopting Lucy. He doesn't want to get married and have kids. He wants to keep everything the way it is. We talked on the phone a short time later, after he had a chance to think it through. He was still adamant that he didn't want kids. He even had the nerve to suggest that I walk away from everything I have going here to get an apartment in LA so I could be closer to him. How could I ever consider having a long term relationship with someone like that?"
"It sounds like he's a little set in his ways. That's not uncommon in men. It also doesn't mean that he won't change either. I was a lot like that when I was younger. Hell, I'm still like that. Before your mother got pregnant with you, I never even thought about having kids. I didn't even like kids, but once I felt you kicking around in your mother's stomach I was a changed man. Now, I love holding them and playing with them. I don't even mind changing diapers every now and then." He paused for a moment and said, "He might change his mind and he might not. You'll never know if you don't give him a chance. Even if he sticks to his guns and doesn't want anything to do with this child, his parents might. I know I would be pretty pissed if I found out that I had a grandbaby out there in the world that I didn't know."
I sat quietly thinking about what he was saying. Could I give him a chance? Should I tell Esme and Carlisle about the baby? How would I even bring it up without looking like I was trying to extort him for child support? As I was contemplating all of this, Dad asked, "So, when do I get to meet my second grandchild?"
"The doctor says that I'm due on March 1st."
"Have you told your mother yet?"
"No, not yet. I was going to call her this evening, after I put Lucy to bed. Oh, Dad, I'm kind of trying to hide it from the press until I decide what to do about Edward, so please don't go blasting it to the world just yet. If he is going to find out, I want to be the one to tell him. I don't want him finding out about it on the internet."
"I understand, but I don't think you'll be able to hide it very long. People take your picture all the time. You know they are going to start asking questions as soon as you start looking like you're trying to shoplift a bowling ball."
I laughed. "I know. I just need more time to figure it out."
The rest of my visit with my dad went well. Later that night, I called my mother and had to listen to her scream and get all excited. She never asked about who the father was. She only wanted to know when she should come into town to be with me. It was crazy. I knew that she wouldn't abide by my wishes and not tell the entire world, but I tried anyway.
The following week, I noticed my boobs starting to look a little fuller. This didn't bother me one bit, because my stomach still looked pretty flat. If I pressed on it, I could feel that it was a little firmer, but it wasn't significantly bigger. I could still wear my own pants, but they were a little more snug than usual.
The interview aired on international television a few days later. I was afraid to watch it, but Alice insisted. She said I needed to know how the reporter portrayed me and to make sure they didn't take anything I said out of context. It actually went really well.
They showed clips of me playing with Lucy at the museum while the reporter was talking about flying out to Seattle to meet the woman that had taken the music industry by storm with my innocent looks and not so innocent lyrics. She talked about how I was born and raised in a small town in Washington State. She explained how I was discovered singing karaoke and was recruited to play in a band by a local radio station. She mentioned that the band disbanded shortly after they became popular. Thankfully she didn't mention why.
Then she ran the footage of her interview with me. I looked good. I didn't look washed out, like I thought I would. She played the part where I talked about Jasper contacting me and offering to produce a CD for me. Then she cut to the part where I mentioned about being contacted to tour with Edward Cullen. I kept my statement brief, only saying that it was a short tour to raise money for charities across the country. The next segment showed me helping the handicapped kids ride horses and playing with them while she talked about how the fans fell in love with my kind nature and willingness to help the kids and make them forget their problems for a little while.
Next she cut back to me describing how I met Lucy in Disney World and gave my number to her foster father. I talked about us keeping in touch and him telling me about her mother's medical condition. The reporter then flashed a picture Colleen's mug shot and brought up her arrest record. She returned to me talking about my meeting with Colleen and our discussions. The reporter then flashed over to a picture of the legal papers that Colleen had drawn up and talked about her setting me up as Lucy's guardian if something were to happen to her. She switched back to me saying that I thought it was just a temporary thing until we could draw up the permanent adoption papers. Then a newspaper clipping popped up on the screen regarding a suicide at the prison as the reporter told about Colleen Santiago taking her own life.
The view transitioned back to me and the reporter asked, "How did you find out about the suicide? What was your reaction?"
On the screen, I teared up and told her about the phone call and admitted that I cried for Colleen and worried that people would think that I wanted it to happen that way, but I didn't. I told her that I had promised to send Colleen monthly letters regarding Lucy's progress and take pictures for her. I told her that in exchange, I asked for her family history and anything she knew about her family's medical history.
The reporter cut over to a picture of the papers that Colleen left behind for me and told about how she wrote out everything before she died. Next she showed a clip of me going into the courthouse to meet with the judge and talked about the judge awarding me guardianship of Lucy while I undergo the adoption process here in Washington.
She then showed Lucy playing at our feet. Lucy looked up at the camera and said, "Mommy, what dat?" as she pointed at the camera.
I reached over and ran my fingers through her hair and said, "That's the camera Lucy."
Lucy smiled up at me and said "I love you, Mommy."
I kissed her on top of the head and said, "I love you too, Lucy."
The reporter went on to talk about all of the kids that were available for adoption across the country and listed some facts about how hard it is for older kids to find families. She encouraged people to open up their hearts and consider adopting older children. She also encouraged people to consider becoming foster parents. Some websites and phone numbers were displayed across the screen for viewers to find out more information if they were interested.
When the show ended, Alice sighed, "That was incredible. They did a great job. Now the whole world is going to love you even more than they already do."
Rosalie called a few minutes later and told me that she was receiving emails like crazy from people wanting to thank me and tell me how happy they are for me. There were also a bunch of people who wanted me to support their cause or help them raise money for their foundations. Some people wanted me to play at their events while others just wanted me to do interviews. One strange lady offered to babysit Lucy, if I needed a break or wanted to go on tour; as if I would actually consider leaving my daughter with a stranger.
I received a huge bouquet of flowers two days later. The note attached said, "I watched your interview. You looked beautiful. I'm glad to see you are doing well. I miss you. Edward"
Tears started running down my cheeks as I read and reread the card. At that moment, if I knew how to reach Edward, I would have called him and told him that I loved him and that I was pregnant with his child, but I didn't know how to reach him. Just then, Lucy started throwing a temper tantrum because Jasper changed the channel on the TV. He was sick of watching cartoons all morning and wanted to catch the news. As Lucy screamed and cried, I remembered why Edward didn't want kids and changed my mind about wanting to tell him about it.
During the week that followed, Esme found the perfect furniture for Lucy's room. When she emailed me the pictures, I called her right away and told her I wanted it. The construction on the house was moving right along. The house passed inspection with no problems. All of the damaged sheetrock had been removed and replaced. The stone for the floor had been delivered and was sitting in the garage waiting for the floor to be leveled and the heating elements to be installed.
I went by the house every couple of days to see what progress they had made and admire the construction workers. I found that my new rush of hormones brought out the hornier side of me. This was very frustrating, due to the fact that I had no man in my life. I contemplated digging in the boxes in the garage and finding one of the vibrators that I had never used, but I was sharing a bedroom with a very curious three year old and didn't think I could get away with it. Instead I started taking long showers and thanked whoever invented the shower massage and decided it needed to be on a long hose. I'm pretty sure it must have been a woman.
This new side of me inspired some new music that was a little saucy. I wrote a song about a woman looking for a man to fulfill her fantasies. Jasper liked it, but suggested I tone it down a little or it would never get any radio play. We compromised by agreeing that I could perform it with the original lyrics when I played it live.
I also wrote a song about older women that have the experience and skills to rock a man's world but older men are too busy watching the college girls to appreciate what they have. Alice loved the song. She said that it was a wakeup call for all the men out there who were ignoring the women who have true cougar potential.
With the addition of the last two songs, Jasper decided I had enough for him to do the CD. He played around with the order and came up with something he thought worked out well. Just for fun, at the very end of the CD, he recorded a tiny snippet of Lucy singing the chorus to one of the songs. She had the words completely wrong, but you could still tell which song it was. It was precious.
After much discussion and persuasion, Jasper finally convinced me to announce that the new CD would be available in stores on October 1st. Once the announcement went out, orders started coming in like crazy from retailers looking to stock up before the release date. Jasper had his people working overtime to get all of the CD's ready to ship out on time. I didn't think they were going to make it, but somehow they managed to pull it off.
He sent advance copies to radio stations across the country and even a few radio stations overseas. They started playing it the week before the official release date. By the time the CD was released for sale to the general public, it was already at the top of the charts.
A/N: Hello everyone. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Things are finally looking up for Bella. Everything is starting to settle down and progress quickly. Now that her career is back on track and things are starting to settle down with Lucy, hopefully she can start trying to figure out what to do about Edward.
On a more personal note, things in my own life are still crazy, but hopefully they are going to start settling down soon. My son's prom was last night. It amazes me how fast they grow up. I tell you, you should cherish the time you have with your kids. They are adults before you know it.
Ok, enough of that. I am hoping to have the next chapter posted next weekend.
Smiles and good wishes to everyone!
A Little Distracted