SURPRISE!
Chapter 17
June 23, 2012
Long Time Coming (Bella)
***The school mentioned in this chapter is a legit magnet school in Chattanooga, Tennessee but I am changing things up a bit with the location of the school, the audition dates, application deadlines, etc... to make it work for this story line.***
"Mama when are we going?" Mia asked me for probably the thousandth time since Edward and I told them we were going to Disney World two days ago.
Smiling down at her as I ran the baby shampoo through her long locks. "In the morning. Our flight leaves at 9 in the morning. Are you excited?" I asked her as I massaged the soap through her long locks.
She nodded eagerly as I began pouring the water over her head rinsing the soap from her hair. "Yes ma'am. Noah and Edward going too?" She asked softly.
It was so great to hear her talking so much because since the house fire she had kind of sunk back into her shell and barely spoke a word most days but this trip had her excited and being out of school helped also because she was around the same people day in and day out now so she was comfortable. "Yes ma'am, is that okay with you?"
She nodded eagerly. "Yes."
"Good. How do you feel about going to visit Edward's house after we get finished at Disney World?" I asked her as I washed her body. Her answer was a simple shrug of her shoulders. "Would you miss this house if we didn't come back?" I asked because I had been thinking hard and heavy on relocating my little family to Tennessee so Molly could attend CCA and we could all be a family.
Once again, her answer was a shrug of her shoulders as I rinsed the soap from her body. "Why?" She asked as I pulled the plug from the bathtub draining the water.
"Because we have to find us a new house before the new school year starts." I explained.
"Bubbles, Garfield, and Joe come with us?" She asked as I dried her off.
"Of course. And all of our clothes, and toys, and everything. Always." I told her as I placed a soft kiss to her forehead.
"Okay." She said with a bright smile on her face.
One could only hope that this conversation would go as smoothly with Molly and Maci. Once I had Mia dressed in her pink and white minion pajamas and her hair brushed I patted her on the bottom and sent her to her bedroom. "Bed time, missy. We've got a busy day tomorrow."
"Okay, Mama. Love you!" She called as she flew into her bed where Bubbles was waiting on her.
I tucked her blankets in around her before kissing the top of her head. "I love you too, sweet girl. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite."
"Okay." She whispered as she curled up against Bubbles who groaned at me when I rubbed the top of her head.
"Goodnight girls."
Poking my head into Molly's room I saw her sitting up against her headboard with her drawing pad propped against her knees as she chewed on her lip while her hand worked tirelessly against the paper. "Hey Molls, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked leaning against her doorframe.
She closed her notepad and nodded. "Sure, Mama. I was just trying to finish a piece before I went to bed."
"I would love to see it when you are finished with it." I told her as I sat on the foot of her bed beside Garfield. "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." I told her as I ran my fingers through Garfield's soft hair.
Molly cocked her head to the side as she sat up straight folding her hands in her lap. "Is this about that school I got Edward to help me look into in Tennessee?" She was such a smart little girl, and I was never more grateful that her harsh upbringing hadn't turned her into a hardened bratty teen.
I nodded. "It is. What would you think about if you went there next year?"
"Really?" She asked excitedly as she practically vibrated on her bed.
Again, I nodded and braced myself for the weight of her body when she launched into my arms for a gripping hug. "Nothing is set in stone but I have scheduled a walk-through for July 18th and you also have an audition scheduled for August 2nd." I told my excited little girl. "But you know this means we will have to move to Tennessee, right?" I asked just to be on the safe side.
"Duh, Mom. Why do you think I looked into that school in the first place? Edward and Noah live in Knoxville too." She said with an eye roll and a shake of her head as she settled back against her headboard.
Chuckling at her I placed a kiss to the top of her head. "I love you so much, sweet girl. I will print out the requirements for your audition tonight so you will have time to go over them and make sure you have everything you will need."
"Okay, thanks Mama. I love you too." She said as she pulled her art pad back into her lap. "It's a family portrait from the bar-b-que at Aunt Ali's a few weeks ago. I've been working on it since then." She told me as she opened the pad to the page she had been working on and showed me the work in progress. I gasped when I saw what my child had captured in her mind and explained on the paper in her hands. That bar-b-que had been a nice reprieve from dealing with all the house stuff. This Disney vacation will be another reprieve since the Fire Marshall had called last week with his final report and it was indeed arson. The 'hot spot' as he called it was where there was no plug-in, light switch, or any electrical wiring located so an official investigation was open to find the person who could've killed me and my girls.
"This is amazing, Molly." I told her as I looked at the distant view of Alice and Jasper's backyard. She had drawn all of us women (Esme, Rose, Alice, Angela, and myself) lounging on the large swing that hung from the huge oak tree with Sophie and JJ playing on a blanket beside the swing and all of the men (Edward, Emmett, Jasper, and Ben) gathered around a smoking grill laughing, and finally but not least of all the kids (Mia, Maci, Liam, and Noah) running around the backyard with Bubbles chasing them. "Did you take a picture of this to remember all of the details?" I asked her as my eyes bounced all over the page taking in my girls talent.
She shook her head as she pulled her knees to her chest resting her chin on them as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "No ma'am. It's all from memory."
"This is absolutely amazing, Molly. You even drew the ice cubes in the lemonade glasses!" I told her as I noticed the small details she put into the drawing.
She nodded. "The details are what can make or break a drawing. Who drinks lemonade without ice?" She asked with a chuckle.
With a shrug I handed her the art pad back. "I don't know what the audition requires but this is by far your best piece yet and I think you need to show it, if it's possible." I told her as I stood from her bed.
"But, Mama, this is our family. It's not meant to be meant to be seen by anybody else except family." She said softly as she held the art pad close to her chest.
I looked at her curiously. "And why not? Our mish-mashed family is nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart. Showing this family portrait will not take anything away from our family, sweetheart. We are family for a reason, and that is that we stick together forever." I explained to her. "I guarantee you, if you show that drawing to any single person in it that they will tell you to use it at your audition." I told her firmly. "But it's your decision at the end of the day, sweetheart. I love you, Molly Rayanne. Don't stay up too late, we have a flight to catch in the morning for some well deserved fun."
"Yes ma'am. I love you too, Mama."
Pulling her door shut on my way out I headed for Maci and Noah's room where I found Edward sitting in the rocking chair reading softly to our children who were laying in their cribs listening to his voice intently. I stood in the doorway listening him read 'The Ugly Duckling' to our children who were slowly losing the battle with their eyelids. I walked over to Maci's crib and ran my hand through her red curls as she closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Sleep tight, my girl. Mama loves you." I whispered to her as I bent down to give her a kiss to the top of her head. Once I was finished with Maci I walked across the room to Noah's crib and repeated the process. "Sleep tight, sweet boy. We love you." I whispered against the top of his red hair.
Edward met me at the bedroom door, taking my hand in his and silently leading me to our bedroom. "What's wrong, baby?"
I shook my head as I wrapped my arms around his waist. "Nothings wrong, everything is perfect. My girls are okay with moving to Tennessee." I whispered against his chest.
He picked me up and spun me around. "This is absolutely amazing news, baby."
I nodded as I giggled at his exuberance. "It is but now I have to go through the tedious process of packing up this house and relocating our entire lives to Tennessee. And I have to find somewhere for us to live while we're there on 'vacation'." I said using air quotes around the word vacation because we had the things with the art school and now the horrible process of finding us somewhere to live.
"Move in with me and Noah." Edward said as he cupped my face in his hands softly. "My house is meant for a family, Isabella. Please move in with us." He asked softly as he placed a gentle kiss to my lips.
Sighing heavily I sat down onto the edge of our bed. "Is your house even big enough for a family of six? What if I don't like it? What if my girls don't like it?" I rattled off quickly as I twisted my hands in my lap.
He chuckled and grabbed his laptop off his nightstand pulling something up on the screen before handing it to me. "Have a look. There is the security video footage so you can get a live view plus tons of pictures."
Once the computer was in my grasp he got up off the bed heading for our dresser. "What're you doing?" I asked as I scooted to the middle of the bed settling the laptop in my lap.
"Going to take a shower." He told me with a smile as he disappeared into the bathroom.
Pulling up his security footage I clicked from angle to angle looking through his house. It was massive. More massive than anything I had ever dreamed of living in. The backyard is what sealed the deal for me. It was like a child's paradise with a huge 'tree' house sitting in one corner, a jungle gym contraption in another corner and a sand box and wading pool between the two huge contraptions. The other side of the yard was more adult friendly with a fire pit, deck, and outdoor kitchen. The two sides of the yard was separated by a good size expanse of grass. Just as I was about to click close on the surveillance footage I noticed a strange woman standing in the driveway in front of the garage but no car in the camera's view. "Edward? Is this footage live?" I asked once I heard the shower shut off.
"I backed it up a couple hours so you could see everything. Why?" He asked as he stuck his head around the corner of the bathroom door.
"There's someone standing in your driveway." I told him as I turned the laptop to face him showing him the strange figure pacing his driveway.
He took a closer look before snatching his phone off the dresser. "That's Tanya." He told me before he pulled the phone to his ear.
"I'm so tired." I complained as I flopped back onto the bed of our bedroom in our suite at the Animal Kingdom resort at Disney World. It was technically our second day in Florida but it was our first day visiting the parks and the kids had been beyond excited. We had rented a double stroller right off the bat but it quickly became a hassle because Maci and Noah were too excited to sit in it so for the first several hours it was just a hold all for our stuff. That is when I produced two little backpacks that had 'leashes' attached to them and slipped them around each toddler. After a few minutes of fit throwing my sweet angel agreed to wear the backpack as long as she was out of the stroller. Hearing my girls giggle and smile broadly was 100% worth the aching feet and sore back at the end of the day.
Edward chuckled as he walked into the bedroom behind me. We had just finished checking on the kids for the final time and making sure the monitor was on. "How about a shower then bed?" He asked running his hands up the backs of my bare thighs. I still had on the shorts and t-shirt I had put on this morning.
I groaned at the idea of having to force myself from the bed but I knew that I would never sleep good knowing how much sweat and grime was on my body from being out in the Florida sun most of the day. Edward chuckled and forcefully rolled me over before leaning down over me in a mock push-up. "Come on, lazy bones. Let's go." He said as he bend down placing a quick kiss to my lips. "The quicker we get washed off the quicker we can get to bed."
Things heated up fairly quickly once our clothes disappeared and we were beneath the stream of hot water. "You've been killing me all day in those little shorts of yours." Edward mumbled against the back of my neck as he rubbed his hands across the slick skin of my stomach.
I felt his hardness against my buttocks and couldn't help but rotate my hips to tease him a little bit more. "Just what do you plan to do about it?" I asked as I looked at him over my shoulder.
Before I could realize what was happening, Eward had me bent over grasping the edge of the bench that sat at the back of the shower, and was slamming himself balls deep inside me. At least we didn't have to take a shower to clean up, since we got dirty while in the shower. Once we were dried off, I tugged on one of Edward's t-shirts while he tugged on a pair of underwear and we crawled into bed practically passing out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.
"How's your drawing coming, sweet girl?" I asked Molly as I stepped out onto the patio where she had been for the past hour working in her art pad.
She smiled up at me. "Good. I talked to everybody and they said I should use the family drawing for my audition." She told me with a huge smile. "I finished it last night before bed but now I'm working on a few others."
"That's great, Molly, I just want you to enjoy our time here and not stress about this audition. Okay?" I told her as I leaned against the railing.
"I am but I have to say I'm ready to get to Tennessee so we can just chill out and enjoy summer vacation." She told me honestly.
I couldn't help but laugh at her because she wasn't the only one feeling that way but we only had two more days in Florida before our flight to Tennessee. Edward had sent his car back to Tennessee with his family when they headed home and mine wasn't big enough for the six of us so we had flown to Florida and will fly to Tennessee too. We had talked about renting a large SUV once we landed in Tennessee to accommodate all of us which would be extremely helpful. "Just a few more days then we can all just chill out and relax at Edward's house. Rose and Esme are fixing up the spare bedrooms for you girls so that you will be comfortable once we get there."
"That's nice of them. Are we going to live with Edward once summer is over?" She asked curiously as she rested her art pad against her chest.
Shrugging my shoulders I sat in the lounge chair beside her. "I don't know, first we are going to see how the summer goes. We may get a house of our own if you girls are uncomfortable at Edward's house."
"I think we'll all be fine. Are we going to have to share rooms?" She asked softly.
With a smile I shook my head. "No ma'am. You will have all have your very own bedrooms according to Edward and his mom."
"That's good. I've got to finish this before the sun goes completely down, Mom." She told me gesturing to the sun setting behind me.
Chuckling at her, I made my way back inside where Edward was fixing dinner. Spaghetti, which according to him was the only edible thing he knew how to fix. "How's things going in here?" I asked him as I wrapped my arms around his bare waist. He was wearing his pajama bottoms and nothing else which was perfectly fine by me because he was one helluva good looking man.
"It's almost done. I just put the garlic bread in the oven to cook so as soon as that is done dinner will be ready." He told me as he flicked the stove off before turning around to pull me into his arms with a kiss to my lips.
"Molly said she's ready to leave so we can just chill out and enjoy summer vacation." I told him as I laid my head on his chest.
Edward nodded against the top of my head. "I don't think she's the only one." He said with a point into the living room where all three little kids were stretched out on the furniture watching Shrek on the large TV.
"She's not. Just two more days and then your beautiful house will be destroyed." I teased.
"I can't wait. My mom texted earlier and said that she was almost finished with all the girls' rooms." He told me as he rocked us gently side to side.
Leaning back in his arms I looked at him curiously. "If I remember correctly, you told me that your house was only a four bedroom so how are the girls all getting their own rooms?"
"My mom is turning my music room into Molly's room and putting my piano somewhere else since I rarely play it anymore." He explained against the top of my had just as the oven timer went off.
"You shouldn't have to lose your music room, Edward. Mia and Maci could have shared a room." I told him as he pulled the pan of garlic bread from the oven while I grabbed the plates so I could start fixing the kids plates.
He sat the hot pan on the stove before tossing the oven mitt onto the counter. "It's no big deal, baby, I promise. She swears she found a perfect place for it so that it looks like it was intended to be there. She's magnificent at her job so just trust me when I say she'll work it all out."
"Okay."
After five exhausting days in Florida we hailed two taxis to take us to the airport where we boarded a plane for an hour and a half flight into Knoxville where we flagged down two taxis to take us to Edward's house. "I'll see you there." I told Edward as he helped me into the back seat of one taxi with Maci and Mia while Molly and Noah were riding in the other with him.
"I can't wait for you to be in my house." He told me as he leaned down placing a gentle kiss to my lips.
Thirty minutes later the taxi I was in pulled alongside the curb behind Edward's taxi. "Thank you." I told the elderly man as I paid him for the ride.
"My pleasure, young lady." He told me with a kind smile.
I climbed from the car and began pulling Maci's car seat out with her in it since she had fallen asleep on the ride from the airport. I sat her seat on the grass so I could pull our luggage from the trunk. "Stay on the grass, Mia." I told my little girl who was looking around in awe at our surroundings.
She nodded as she began walking cautiously around the front yard.
I simply piled our suitcases and bags on the grass before shutting the trunk of the taxi and tapping on it to indicate that I had everything out. With a wave the old man pulled off from the curb heading down the road. "I could've sworn we sent most of our belonging in your car with Emmett and Rosalie." I told Edward as his bags joined mine.
"Yeah, I thought so too." He said as he grabbed Noah's car seat that held a slightly snoring sweet little boy. "Follow me and we'll come back for the luggage." He told me with a nod in the direction of his house.
Grabbing up Maci's seat I followed him as I called out to Molly and Mia. "Come on girls."
Once Edward and I had Noah and Maci settled on the living room couch he took me, Molly, and Mia on a tour to show them their new bedrooms. "This is your room Molly." Edward told her as he stopped in front of a door that had her name painted on it. "I hope you like it." He told her as he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
Molly walked in and gasped as she took in the feature wall of the room. It was a wall of pictures. As I walked closer I couldn't help but gasp like Molly did because it was of pictures of our entire family. Even Jake, Nessa, Charlie, and Sue. "Where did these pictures come from?" I asked Edward as I took them all in. Some of them were from when Molly was a baby that I hadn't seen in years.
"I don't know but she is a resourceful woman. You'll have to ask her when she brings my car home in a few hours." Edward explained from the doorway.
As I turned to walk back to the door I took in the rest of the room. It had a full size bed that was covered in a beautiful gray, white, and yellow comforter that matched the rest of the room. The wall were painted a soft gray while the walls were adorned with bright yellow curtains. There was a massive desk sat against one wall while a fuzzy white rug covered most of the floor and two beanbag chairs sat in one corner of the room. 'You like?" I asked Molly as she sat on the foot of her new bed.
She nodded as she looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Yes. It's amazing and the pictures are just…" She trailed off as she wiped the tears off her cheeks.
"I know, sweetheart. If you don't want them up there just take them down and we'll find you a box to put them in. Esme had great intentions with them." I explained as I made my way to her and Edward left the room without a word, taking Mia with him. I heard them talking in the hall but gave Molly my full attention. "Do you want to take them down?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders.
With a shake of her head she settled against my chest. We were quiet as we looked at the pictures for the next several minutes. "Are you going to tell Dad and Mom that we are moving to Tennessee?" She asked out of the blue.
"Nothing is set in stone yet, Molly. We have until the end of the summer to make a decision and it will be a family decision not just mine." I reminded her softly.
She shook her head as she pulled away from me. "It makes more sense that we move here. That school is here, Edward and Noah are here, Esme and Carlisle and Rose and Emmett and Sophie are close by. Mayb we can talk Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper to move up here with JJ. Then everything will be perfect." She told me as she stood up from the bed walking to the desk to poke and prod at the items stacked there. "I think we could all be happy here."
"I think so too but like I said we will make a final decision at the end of summer, after your audition." I told her as I placed a kiss to the side of her head as I headed out of her room. "But it won't hurt for you to plant the seed of relocating to Tennessee in your Aunt Alice's head." She nodded with a smile as she pulled out her phone.
Making my way down the hall I found Edward and Mia having a tea party at a little table that sat in the corner of her bedroom. I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing at how ridiculous Edward looked with a sparkly purple boa wrapped around his neck, huge fake bracelets on his wrists, and an equally large floppy hat on top of his head. "What are you guys up to in here?" I asked as I leaned in the doorway taking in her bedroom.
There was a twin size old fashioned iron bed that sat against a pale pink wall with a white filmy canopy draped around the headboard. The other walls were an off-white and the room had an overall feel of old elegant English, complete with a small round table that held a tea set. There were numerous stuffed animals sitting in one corner and a beautiful dollhouse in another. It was a beautiful room for a beautiful little girl. "Tea party." Mia said with a nod of her head.
"Sounds like fun, you make sure that you teach Edward how to hold his pinky, okay? I'm gonna go get our stuff out of the yard." I told them with a smile as I disappeared down the hall. I peeked in the bedroom next to Mia's and found Maci's new nursery. The women in Edward's life had truly outdone themselves making my girls feel at home here. Maci's room was just as done up as Mia and Molly's. The walls were a white and gray chevron pattern with huge pink and red flowers painted in a random pattern around the room. The flowers and colors tied into the bedding and the rug on the floor. The bedding was dark gray with similar flowers on it, the ruffle at the bottom of the baby bed was stripes in all the colors in the room. Yet again, it was a beautiful room for a beautiful little girl.
I decided to wait on checking out the master suite until Edward could truly show me the room so I headed back for the living room where I checked on the kids before heading outside to tug all of our luggage inside.
The last thing I expected to encounter once I opened the front door was a fuming blonde and my clothes tossed all over the front yard. "Who the hell are you!?" The angry blonde that I had only seen on camera footage screeched at me.