Chapter 9 (Bella)

Pick your battles…

My email to Edward on Friday was short and sweet because I was absolutely swamped at both work and home as I was helping Alice prepare for her baby shower that was the next day.

Date Sent: Friday, April 6, 2012 5:26 am

Subject: Postponing…

Recipient: GreenEyedDaddy2011

Sender: VirgoMama2_3G

I hate to do this but I think your question deserves much more than a rushed question so I am going to ask for a postponement until tomorrow. I WILL find the time somehow tomorrow but today and tonight are going to be hectic hectic for me.

Gotta go get my cranky girls up and get them moving.

Your frazzled friend,

Bella

I hadn't been lying when I said the day was going to be hectic nor was I lying when I said I was going to be frazzled. Taking the time to read Edward's short reply email had been the one bright spot to my day.

Date Sent: Friday, April 6, 2012 8:46 am

Subject: Good luck!

Recipient: VirgoMama2_3G

Sender: GreenEyedDaddy2011

I am sorry that you are frazzled so early in the morning and are planning for a hectic day. Hopefully you come out of it alive. Your requested postponement is GRANTED!

Looking forward to hearing from you tomorrow.

Your worried friend,

Edward

Collapsing into bed that night at a quarter to ten I was sound asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

"Come on, girls! We're gonna be late!" I called out as I slipped the strap of my bag that contained anything and everything but the kitchen sink over my head. Today was the day for Alice and Jasper's baby shower and we were already running behind because Maci hadn't wanted to go to sleep for her nap so therefore had slept later than usual.

Maci came running out of her room with her sandals that I had put on her feet less than five minutes ago in her hands. "Mama shoes off!" She said holding the shoes up for me to see.

Shaking my head at her I knelt down to slip them on again knowing that as soon as she was in the car she would take them off again. "Why did you take them off?" I asked her as I slipped them back on her tiny feet.

"No like." She said with a shake of her head. "No good." She said frowning down at the shoes on her feet. This had been an ongoing battle for the past few weeks.

"Yes, shoes are good. You can't walk barefoot outside." I reminded her as I stood back up just as Mia and Molly came out of their rooms. "You two ready?" I asked them to which they both nodded. They had all been picking out one toy each to take to the shower with them. Molly held up her iPod while Mia held up her LeapPad she had gotten for Christmas and Maci held up her stuffed frog she treasured. "Great, let's go then." I said as I opened the door while grabbing Maci's hand.

"You're late." Alice accused when we pulled up to the civic center where we were holding the party.

I ignored her while I climbed from the car and began getting Maci out of her car seat while Molly helped Mia undo her seatbelt. Taking Maci's shoes from her I sat her on my hip as I grabbed the bag of decorations I had brought to help decorate the building for the baby shower. "Yes, Alice, punctuality tends to be a little flexible when kids become involved." I told her with an eye roll.

"Your eyes are gonna get stuck like that one day, Mom." Molly said as she walked past me with Mia trailing after her.

The laughter just bubbled out of me as I followed a giggling Alice through the front doors of the civic center. Alice had thrown me an impromptu shower a few days after I had brought the girls home but it was nothing like this. The entire place was done up in green, yellow, and blue since she was having a little boy, Jansen Joseph Whitlock or JJ for short.

While taking a small break from the party games I decided to re-read and return Edward's email.

Date Sent: Saturday, April 7, 2012 1:32pm

Subject: I SURVIVED!

Recipient: GreenEyedDaddy2011

Sender: VirgoMama2_3G

I'm so sorry that I couldn't get to this yesterday but it was go go go go all day long yesterday. I didn't even have my lunch hour to respond because I was busy planning both a baby shower and an upcoming family vacation with my girls and my friends later this summer. So….without further ado…

I've never known anything other than being a single parent to three little girls who suffered needlessly most of their lives until they came to live with me.

It does get frustrating. For example, Maci has gotten it in her head that shoes are a bad thing and shouldn't be worn. Today after getting her dressed, shoes and all, I sent them to pick out a toy to take along with them and Maci comes back out with her shoes in one hand and her toy in the other. When I asked her why she took them off she that she didn't like them and they were no good.

A daily struggle for my little family is my precious Mia talking. Something we all take for granted each and every day is something she seems to struggle with. She was born deaf and had a cochlear implant placed when she was just seven months old. She has the most angelic voice I have ever heard but she doesn't chatter needlessly like most little girls her age. Unlike my brother and his wife I don't force her to 'use her words' as my sister in law practically screamed at her when I took them for a visit last year.

Each of my girls struggle in their own way as do I but at the end of the day we all love one another and that is what makes me get up each morning with a smile on my face.

I am sitting here surrounded by boy colors as Alice, the best friend, calls them. Are all baby showers like this? I wouldn't know since Maci was already ten weeks old when I got to bring her home. This, by the way, is in no way shape or form my question for the day.

I am sorry that you are having to struggle with Noah's mother but nobody knows what is best for you and your son but you. If you think it is best that she has no contact with him then that is what I would do. If you think it would be better for him to see her then all I would say is to tread carefully.

Six months ago I took my girls to see Jake and Nessa because I got tired of the begging and pleading letters but I consulted Molly and let her make the decision for all of them. I was leery at best, as was Alice, but unlike you I had a pre-teen that could tell me what she wanted to do. It took less than five minutes for Molly to call her biological mother out on her bullshit and release the last of her pent up anger at the life they had drug her and her sisters through. I couldn't have been more proud of my girl in that moment but I will say that there will never be anymore contact between them and my girls until they turn 18 and can do so without me really being able to stop them.

I say to make up for yesterday you get to ask an extra question to catch us back up.

My question for the day is this…What is your favorite color?

I can honestly tell you that blue, green, and yellow do not fall high on my list. Especially after being surrounded by them all day today.

Not many people know this but emerald green is my favorite color following light pink. I know that is really specific but I don't like the typical hot pink or just normal green. Weird, I know but that's me.

Take it or leave it.

I'm being beckoned back to the party.

Looking forward to your answer,

Bella

Alice absolutely racked up on the baby gifts but I think every woman in that room had tears in their eyes when Jasper walked in with a wooden cradle that he had been secretly working on for the last several weeks. I had known about it because he had gotten my girls to help him out with the special project. "It's beautiful, Jazz. I love it." I heard Alice cry into his shoulder. The cradle was a masterpiece that went perfectly with their nursery theme which was 'when the cow jumped over the moon'. It was in the shape of a quarter moon with little stars cut out on the sides and a little mobile that had a cow, a cat, a fiddle, a star, and a moon as the hanging pieces.

The party wound down not long after the gifts were handed out because Alice couldn't stop yawning and my girls were getting cranky. "I no like dis, Mama!" Maci cried out as I tried to slip her little shoes on her feet again so we could leave. This was about the tenth time I had caught her without her shoes on.

"You have got to get over this phobia of shoes, Maci. You have to wear them." I told her firmly.

She shook her head. "No, Mama, I no like dem." She cried pitifully as she kicked her shoes off again.

"Maci Isabella Swan, you stop this right now." I told her in my stern Mama voice.

She hit full meltdown mode then. Hysterical cries, tears and snot running down her face, flopping in the floor fit. I just sat back and shook my head at her before getting the other girls ready to go before attempting to go at Maci again. "Are you ready to cooperate now?" I asked her as she lay on the floor sniffling.

She shook her head at me before burying her head in her arms.

"Shall we do a timeout so that you can get ready?" I asked her as I held her shoes out for her to make her decision.

"Me no like tie outs, Mama." She cried flipping over to her back as she looked up at me with red cheeks and watery eyes.

I sat down on the floor beside her. "I don't like giving you time out's either but you get to either put your shoes on so we can go or you can go sit in time out first." I told her.

She sighed and placed her feet in my lap. "Shoes." She said pitifully.

Trying to hide my grin as I slipped her shoes on was hard but I think I managed pretty well. "Shall we go get some pizza and chicken for dinner?" I asked the girls as we headed out hand in hand.

"Yay yay yay yay!" They all cheered as they began skipping to the car.

Just as the girls settled into devouring their dinner my phone dinged with an incoming email but I knew that since I had enforced our dinner table as a technology free zone I couldn't see if the email was from Edward until we were all finished eating. "What's up with your phone dinging all the time? It used to not do that so much." Molly asked just before taking a huge bite of her pepperoni and pineapple pizza.

"I met a friend and we are trading emails." I explained vaguely hoping she would be satisfied with my answer.

She smiled at me before swallowing her food so she could take without her mouth full. "A guy friend? Where did you meet this friend?"

I couldn't help but laugh at her. "Who is the parent and who is the child in this situation?" I asked teasingly.

"Just curious, Mom. No need to get feisty." She said with a huge grin.

Tossing a fry at her I couldn't help but smile at her young carefree laughter that filled the room along with her sisters giggles. "I'll show you feisty, young lady." I told her as I tossed another fry at her. "And by the way it is a guy but we are just friends as of right now."

We settled back in to finish our dinner before the girls scampered away to go find their animals and I settled into the corner of the couch with my phone to read my email.

Date Sent: Saturday, April 7, 2012 7:12 pm

Subject: My extra question

Recipient: VirgoMama2_3G

Sender: GreenEyedDaddy2011

I have to say that your mention of a family vacation made me want one too. Don't think my family has been on a true vacation in two years or more, since before Katie got sick. I'd say it's about time.

On another thought…you wouldn't be tempted to tell me where you're going and when so I could crash it would you? Just an idea. Might be easier to meet away from either of our home turfs.

Okay, I will quit sounding like a stalker now and get back to our original email.

I am sorry to hear about Mia's struggle with talking which I would have to say that most people do take for granted. The thing about Maci's apparent distaste for shoes is hilarious. I nearly fell out of my desk chair when I read that part of the email. Can't help you there because Noah hasn't really fought me on any clothing options or anything besides his food. The kid loves his food and wants it when he wants it too.

Thanks for the advice about Tanya and sharing your story about Molly confronting her birth parents. It helped me out a lot. I have decided to not let Tanya in his life until he is 18 but if he starts to ask about her when he's old enough to understand, like Molly is, then I may relent and let him seek her out if she is still interested. If she truly wants to be his mother then a few years shouldn't deter that feeling but right now my precious little boy doesn't deserve to be tarnished by her bullshit.

Now onto answering your questions…

First off, men were strictly banned from Tanya's baby shower and I later found out why. She had told all of her friends to buy for her instead of the baby because that was my job as his father. I should have known something was up when she decided to have it at the spa instead of some public space and she also refused to invite my mom and sister in law because 'they didn't like her' apparently.

I did indeed buy everything my baby boy needed before he was born but my mom and sister in law threw me a baby shower anyways a few days after I brought Noah home because it turns out there were things I had no idea I would need. Bugger sucker. Medicine droppers. Forehead thermometer. 100 baby blankets. That's a slight exaggeration but I had only bought five or six blankets and I quickly learned that you could go through that many in just a few hours if your baby was sick or gave you a nice juicy diaper or you forget to place a diaper over his peepee when changing it. I guess you wouldn't know about that experience since you have all girls but let me tell you I quickly learned to keep it covered because the cold air affects his ability to pee with deadly aim.

My favorite color is the blue of my son's eyes. They are the one thing that he truly inherited from his mother but I can't hold that against him. They are so expressive and the clearest blue you will ever see. The light up when he gets excited about something and I can't stop myself from getting excited right along with him.

My extra question for the day is…

Nickname? Who gave it to you?

Eddie. I absolutely HATE it! Emmett calls me that when he's teasing me but Tanya calls me that thinking it's cute but let me tell you…it absolutely grates on my nerves to hear my name shortened to 'Eddie'. Saying 'Edward' is not that hard but I think you would be shocked at the people that will shorten it out of pure laziness.

Hope you have a relaxed Sunday since your Friday and Saturday were so hectic.

Your friend,

Edward.

I sat pondering his suggestion about meeting up while on vacation and was seriously considering it but I needed some outside advice so I called Angela.

"Hey Bella." She said after just a few rings.

I sighed into the phone. "I need some advice, Ang." There was no point in beating around the bush plus it was kind of getting late.

"About?"

"Edward and our vacation."

She laughed into the phone. "Not sure what those two things have to do with one another but please elaborate so I can give this much needed advice you called me for."

Leave it to Angela to be a smartass to calm my nerves. "Haha. Edward suggested crashing my vacation so that neither one of us is on home turf. What do you think?"

"I think he's a smart man. We're not going on vacation until the end of June, right?"

"Yep."

Twenty minutes later I decided to write Edward back and let him know about my decision.