Kind of a shorter chapter, only 1900 words, but it at least gets us to that first email.
This is also why I posted the surprise chapter last night!
Enjoy...
Chapter 6 (Edward)
Curve balls of life
February 2012
"Any plans for Valentine's day, Edward?" Rose asked as I was sitting in my office waiting for the last client of the day to come in.
I scoffed at her because she knew that my plans revolved around Noah and nobody else. "You very well know that I don't have any plans other than having dinner with my son."
"Just as I figured. I think it's time, Edward." Rose said as she stood in the doorway to my office.
Leaning back in my chair I just looked at her curiously with a raised eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes at me. "Time to move on, Edward. Noah is almost a year old and that cold hearted bitch has had a hold over your for long enough." She said as she handed me her iPad. "I signed you up. Now it's time for you to pick through the rubble." She told me with a smirk before leaving the room without another word.
One glance at the screen caused me to laugh out loud which caused Rose to laugh from the other room. "Online dating, Rose? Am I really that desperate?" I asked her through the open doorway.
She poked her head through the doorway with a raised eyebrow. "When was the last time you had sex with something other than your hand?" I just shook my head at her. "My point exactly. Have fun."
I shooed her away as I began to peruse through the profiles on the screen. After what seemed like countless profiles of hot young women that didn't seem like the type that would want a man whose whole life revolved around his son and his work I finally decided to check out my own profile to see what Rose had entered. It was minimally filled out so I decided to fill in the spaces she had left blank to see if that could get me some more women to my liking. After filling out my profile with my answers and a recent picture of myself which was one that had been snapped a few weeks ago at a family gathering. I was sitting in the rocking chair on Rose and Em's front porch with Noah napping against my chest but at the angle the picture was taken you could only see the back of Noah's head.
"Find anything interesting?" Rose asked a bit later.
Shaking my head at her I handed her back her iPad. "No but that could be because somebody put in my profile that I was looking for a good time and posted a picture of me without my shirt on." I told her with a smile. "I filled out the profile with my own words and a different picture so maybe I will get a decent girl instead of a floozy looking for a good time."
"Good." She chirped as she took her iPad back. "The last client is here, by the way."
Since the perfect house for Noah and I seemed to be beyond my reach I decided to hunt for the perfect piece of land so I could get a house built the way I wanted it. So that is how I spent the majority of Valentine's Day. Driving from various up and coming housing cul de sac's until I found the one that I liked. It was about twenty minutes from town and backed onto a national park so I wouldn't have to ever worry about some building popping up behind me. It was a fairly good sized lot at the end of the dead end road with only six other houses on the mile long road.
The weeks following finding the perfect spot was spent designing the perfect home. My entire family had plenty of suggestions when it came to the design of the home.
"Extra bedrooms for friends, family, or future children." Rose had insisted.
"Huge kitchen with big pantry was a must have." My mom had chimed in.
"Big bathroom with a huge walk-in shower. You can have a lot of fun in the shower if it's big enough." Emmett had put his two cents worth in.
My father's suggestion made the most sense. "If you have a separate entrance to an office space then you can get rid of the office space downtown and work from home easier."
With that being said I set my floorplan in stone. Four bedrooms. Three bathrooms. Huge kitchen with large walk-in pantry. Office area with separate entrance. Play room for Noah next to my office. Hardwood floors throughout. Music room for the piano I rarely used these days. I started picking out finishing touches the first week of March and I wasn't sure which was more stressful: finalizing the layout or the finishing touches. Hardwood floors throughout or carpet in certain areas? Cherry, Oak, Pine, or painted cabinets for the kitchen and bathrooms? Granite or marble or concrete countertops? Chrome, brushed nickel, or bronze fixtures?
"I can't do this, anymore." I told my mom as I flopped onto her couch while Noah played in the floor beside me. "It's too much." I complained as I flung my arm over my head.
"It's your dream home, Edward. All this stress will be worth it when the house is complete in a few weeks." She said as she sunk to the floor beside the couch so she could play with my son and console me at the same time.
I rolled my head to look at her with begging eyes. "Can you do it?" I asked her in a whiny voice I hadn't used since I was a teenager trying to get my way.
"My tastes aren't the same as yours, son." She said patting me on the head like she had done when I was that teenager trying to get my way. "Want me to take Noah for a day so you get everything done? He can even spend the night with Nana and Poppy."
"I don't know, Ma, he's never…" I trailed off nervously because Noah and I had never spent a night apart from one another before. It's not that I didn't trust her because let's be realistic. She raised Emmett and I into responsible adults with little to no incidents.
"Do you not trust your own mother? The mother that rescued from the grips of your brother more times than once? The mother that came to get you at 3 in the morning the night of your senior prom because you were too drunk to drive and just wanted your own bed?
I shook my head as I cast a glance over at my own baby boy that was my reason for breathing these days. "It's not that, Ma. You are the best mother in the world if you ask me but I don't know how I will handle him not sleeping across the room from me."
"Maybe you could spend the evening taking advantage of that online dating service Rosalie told me she signed you up for." She said casting me a speculative glance over her shoulder.
"I'm gonna kill her. All I've come across so far are floozy's looking for a one night stand or their first question is asking if Noah is my nephew." I told her as I watched Noah grasp onto the edge of the coffee table and pull himself up. This was his latest physical achievement and it made me nearly come to tears when I first saw him do it because I knew that he was growing up and would soon become more independent.
My mom smiled at me. "You have to weed through all the trash to get to the good ones. Your other half is out there somewhere, Edward, and you will find her when the time is right." She said before standing up. "Now, I'm gonna go fix us some lunch."
Later that evening I sat on the couch with my iPad perusing the multiple photos of various ladies while Noah walked circles around the coffee table in front of me. I couldn't complain because he was keeping himself occupied and wearing himself out before bed. "Maybe I need to look outside of the state." I mumbled to myself as I changed my preferences to within 500 miles of my current location. The amount of new profiles that popped up was immediately overwhelming so I shut down the app as soon as Noah let out his first whine.
My phone started dinging a little after 8 the next morning with my contractor bugging me about making some final decisions for the house. Heaving a sigh I handed Noah some of his yogurt snack bites as I dialed my mom's number. "Hello son." She said cheerfully into the phone. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a call so early in the morning?"
"I want to take you up on your offer. I've got to get this stuff done today so my contractor doesn't quit on me."
"Great! Are you gonna bring him to me or shall I come get him?" She asked eagerly.
I chuckled into the phone as I headed to the bedroom to pick out Noah's clothes a day with his Nana. "I'll bring him to you because I have to meet the contractor at the house to go over samples of stuff." I told her as I grabbed a pair of his jeans, socks, and a cute long sleeved onesie and a hoodie jacket to go over it.
"Okay, I'll be here son."
My entire day was spent making decisions on everything from flooring to light fixtures to cabinet styles to cabinet knobs but once I walked back in my apartment a little after six that evening everything was decided on. I tossed the box of pizza I had picked up on my way home onto the counter before going to hop in the shower.
It was strange spending the evening without Noah but I did as my mom suggested. I perused the profiles that had popped up when I widened my search to within 500 miles of me. A few of the profiles caught my attention so I sent a few generic opening emails to them as icebreakers. One profile caught my particular interest so I decided to be a little more honest in my icebreaker email.
Icebreaker email:
Date Sent: Sunday, March 4, 2012 7:42 PM
Subject: Are you as nervous as I am?
Recipient: VirgoMama2_3G
Sender: GreenEyedDaddy2011
I love your picture! You have a lovely family, VirgoMama2_3G. Sorry but I am extremely nervous about getting involved in any way with someone over the internet. Not only am I nervous for myself but I have a little man that I am nervous for also because we have both been scorned in the past. I will leave it at that, I guess.
Hope to hear back from you soon.
Sincerely,
GreenEyedDaddy2011 AKA Edward
After sending that last email I tossed my iPad aside and called my mom to check in on Noah because I hadn't heard from her in a few hours. She picked up with a chuckle after just a few rings. "He's fine, Edward. We're just finishing up our nighttime bottle."
"Can I say goodnight?" I asked with a smile as I settled into the cushions of my couch.
"Of course. I will put you on speakerphone."