Hello Sister, Goodbye Life
Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight saga. All recognisable characters, content or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Warning: Language. Adult themes.
Author's Note: Holy crap, guys, sixty five reviews. Wow. Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy this chapter, though, really, it may seem a filler but it's kind of necessary for the whole relationship between Eva and Bella to develop...
Chapter Six
Friends Forever
As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
From whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever
Friends Forever - Vitamin C
Bella Swan
The show finished and the five of us waited until the rest of the parents had taken their children out before we made our way out, Edward holding who I learnt to be Tony on one hip and Eva holding his free hand. Maddie had her pacifier in her mouth and was happy walking on her own, her hand in mine. Her steps were awkward, though, and I found myself picking her up so I could walk somewhat faster.
Edward and I didn't really talk, instead silently agreeing to walk together to the cafe down the road from where the show was being held.
Maddie sat in the high chair the cafe had arranged for her, swinging her pudgy legs back and forth as she smashed what used to be parts of a muffin into her face, Tony doing the same thing in the high chair beside her's. Eva ate with a little more decorrum, managing not to get muffin all over her face, instead all over the table.
"What'd you think of the show?" Edward asked, making small talk. He wore a black leather jacket over a faded band tee and a pair of jeans and some chucks. Eva was dressed in jeans with embroidered butterflies, some white sandals and a purple shirt with more butterflies. Her reddish brown hair, much like Edward's, was in two braids and Anthony wore a pair of khaki trousers, little Thomas the Tank Engine shoes and a dark blue shirt.
Maddie had managed to spill juice from her sippy cup down the front of her dark green dress and was just staring at the wet patch the juice had made.
"Jooce!" She shouted, slapping at her chest.
"How old is she?"
"A year and a half," i replied, reaching over to wipe at the dress with a napkin, trying to absorb as much of the spilt mess as possible.
"Daddy, I gotta go potty," Eva announced mid way through her muffin.
Edward ran a hand through his hair, mouthing the word, damn.
"Would you like me to take her?" I asked, seeing the problem Edward had found himself in.
He looked at me, surprised, before looking at Eva, back at me and then sagging with relief. "Would that be okay?"
I smiled reassuringly, getting to my feet as Edward told Eva that I was going to take her to the bathroom. Eva nodded, sliding out of the booth and taking my hand. As we began walking, though, Maddie looked up at me with her big blue eyes. "Go?"
I smiled, nodding, "I'll be back, though, Maddie, I promise."
After Eva had done her business and I'd helped her wash her hands, I walked with Eva back to our booth where a sniffing Maddie was clinging onto Edward around the neck. When she saw me, she held her arms out for me and I took her in my arms, sitting down after Eva had slid back into the booth with Maddie in my lap. She was no longer covered in muffin and i assumed Edward had cleaned the two of them up while Eva and I were in the bathroom and she clung to me like a lifeline.
Once our "morning tea" was paid for – by Edward by his insistance – we headed to the nearest public parking lot.
Having prepaid for my park, whereas Edward hadn't, I bid him farewell and walked, Maddie on my hip, towards the Audi.
Maddie was quiet on the way back to the house and, looking into the rearview mirror, I saw that she had fallen asleep in her car seat.
It was beginning to sprinkle when I pulled into the gates of our house, pulling up behind the cherry red BMW M3 convertible. It belonged to Rosalie but had been in service for the past four weeks. Rosalie had been bitching for the first week it had been in service about how she could've done the servicing herself if she had all the right parts. The BMW was her baby and she cherished it as much as I cherished my first edition Wuthering Heights.
Walking inside, Madeleine asleep in my arms and my tote over the same shoulder as the diaper bag, I set her down on the couch and left her sleeping before dumping both on the coffee table.
Rosalie was sitting on the balcony overlooking the backyard, wearing her sunglasses and looking like she'd just had a shower. Her hair was wet and leaving wet patches on the back of the Abercrombie shirt she was wearing and I could faintly smell the citrusy smell of her shower gel.
"Hey, how was the show?" Rosalie asked, looking up at me through her sunglasses.
I grinned rogueishly. "You're never too old for Yo Gabba Gabba."
She snorted, shaking her head and I was sure she rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. I stepped onto the porch, sliding the fly screen shut behind me so I could hear Maddie if she woke up before sitting on the deck chair across from Rosalie.
"Did you see what's his name... uhhh, Edward?"
I nodded, leaning back in my seat and looking out into the backyard – specifically, the treehouse in the large oak a few feet from the balcony. Charlie had built it when I was eight for Rose and I and we'd painted it fire engine red on mutual agreement. Naturally, it stuck out like a sore thumb against the brown and green of the oak tree.
"Was his brother there, by any chance?"
I rolled my eyes, smiling and not looking away from the tree house. "No, Rose, he wasn't there."
She clicked her tongue, her gaze following mine until it landed on the object of my musings. She laughed sadly. "Do you remember when we snuck Embry Call and Jacob Black in there?"
I snorted, rolling my eyes. Jacob Black and Embry Call were three years older than us, we were thirteen and thought it was the coolest thing to have two high school juniors in our tree house, even if we weren't doing anything. When Charlie had seen their motorbikes parked in the drive on his way home from the charity banquet he and Renee had been at, he'd come up to the treehouse and chased Jake and Seth off the property. After Mama and Papa Hale were informed, we were both grounded for six weeks and not allowed in the tree house until we were fifteen. "Good times." We both laughed.
"If you could see them, one more time, what would you say?" Rosalie looked at me, tentative.
"I'd tell them that I love them," I replied, "And that I'm sorry for all the greif you and I caused them and that I'll do my best with Maddie."
Rosalie nudged my knee with her foot and said, "That's all they'd ask of you, girlie." She yawned and said, "I think I'm going to go have a little cat nap."
She walked back into the house as I turned my attention back to the tree house. I hadn't been in it since my and Rose's high school graduation after-after-party-party. By then, it was a tight squeeze for more than four people so we'd braught our closest friends, Angela and Kate, over and as our 'last hoorah' we'd played the old childhood games – Truth or Dare, Have You Ever etc – with an empty bottle of whisky and a bottle of tequila that Rosalie had managed to nick from her father's liquor cabinet.
When my cell phone started ringing in my pocket, I jumped and pulled it out, looking at the caller ID. Angela. Speak of the devil. "Hey Angie, what's up?"
"Are you and Rose free for drinks tonight?" She sounded hopeful and I felt guilty for having to turn her down, but Madeleine was my main priority and I couldn't just keep dumping her with babysitters. Didn't parenthood involve sacrifice?
"Sorry Ange, I don't want to leave Maddie with a sitter; she's got some sort of seperation anxiety going on and I already left her with Leah last night to go out with Rose, her cousin, his wife and her brothers."
She sighed. "Damn. Do you think Rose would be up to it?"
I raised a sardonic eyebrow, even though she couldn't see it. "Do you really need to ask, babe? Come on, this is Rosalie; anything to do with alcohol and socialising, she's in."
Angela laughed on the other side of the line, "Too true; so should I just call her?"
"Yeah, but she's sleeping right now so just leave a message if she doesn't answer."
We talked a while longer, Angela about her family and her new boyfriend, Ben Cheney, as well as her new job as a teacher aid/student teacher at a local high school and me about how I was coping with Maddie and the firm and Renee's design company. Eventually, Angela said bye and hung up and I walked back into the house to find Maddie beginning to stir awake.
When she was coherent enough to look around and recognise her surroundings, her gaze found that of mine and she held her arms out for me.
Lifting her up, I held her at arms length and moved into the kitchen.
"Baby, you're gettin' heavy," I faked a grunt, dropping her down into her booster seat. "Soon I won't be able to carry you and you'll have to start walking everywhere."
She clapped her hands together so I didn't think she understood a word I said. She began to ramble in baby speak as I fixed her a snack of sliced fruit and apple juice in a sippy cup. She'd eaten half a muffin - the other half of it wound up on her face – so I didn't think she needed a full meal for lunch.
As she munched on her snack, talking nonsense as she did so, I ate my microwave ravioli and carbonara and pretended to understand what the hell she was saying.
When she stopped eating and resorted to throwing the food at me, I gathered up her left overs and threw them away, stacking our plates in the dishwasher.
When the kitchen was clean again, I carried her into the playroom and, as she played with toy cars, I pulled out my Cosmo and began to read about Taylor Swift's latest boyfriend.
"Fuck you, Royce King!" was how I was greeted by Rosalie as she stalked into the playroom, cellphone to her ear.
"Do you mind keeping your language G rated when in the presence of my sister?" I demanded, swatting her side with my rolled up mag. "She is only one and a half."
Rosalie smiled sheepishly as whom I presumed to be Royce spoke on the other end of the line. "No! I don't want to take you back, loser! I've moved on, thanks very much! Don't ever call me again!" She snapped her phone shut, growled, and slumped into the seat beside me. "I need a drink."
"Good thing you're going out tonight, then," I replied.
"I know," Rosalie agreed, "I love Angela Weber."
"No," I contradicted, "You love oppurtunities that allow you to drink.""Maybe," she hedged with a shrug, an impish grin on her face.
"When you get liver failure, don't expect me to donate mine, bestie."
Rosalie sighed, giving me a long suffering look. "I don't have a problem, Bella, I promise. If I feel I do have a problem, you'll be the first to know, promise."
"If I feel it gets too bad, Rose, I will get you a counsellor, you know that, right?"
Rosalie nodded, giving me a smile. "I know, Bella, and I know it's just because you're my bestie and you love me." She gave me a shoulder shove. "But I promise you, it's not a problem and it won't be a problem."