It was saturday and the storm was still going. Ed was sleeping in his basket while Bella was making dinner. She was humming a tune to herself while stirring the sauce she was making and Anthony was setting the table It was a one-minute task considering they were only two.
"Have you talked to Jacob?" Anthony asked making Bella stop her humming.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Nothing really came out of it. I talked to Lea and that was equally rewarding."
Anthony grimaced and Bella sighed.
"Too bad she didn't believe you."
"I know but..." Bella stopped midsentence. "Was that...?"
"A knock on the door" he confirmed.
Anthony shrugged his shoulders which meant that there really wasn't any danger.
"They're already gone" he told Bella, but she went to check anyway despite knowing he was right. Without hesitation she opened the door but there was no trace of anyone.
"Hello?" she called out.
Quickly she let her eyes travel across the garden for traces but she saw none: only big dark trees swaying in the storm. She sighed and closed the door.
"The Volturi has got to stop prank knocking" Anthony said sighing.
Bella raised her eyebrows.
"Do you think it was them? I don't know why they still do that. It was scary the first couple of times now it's just getting annoying" Bella said going back to preparing dinner.
"It was one of them. They probably want to keep us reminded that they haven't forgotten about us."
When they sat down and began their dinner Anthony looked worried.
"What?" Bella asked.
"The Cullens think the Volturi will attack you again."
Bella sighed.
"They're so close you can read their minds?"
He smiled innocently.
"Are you lurking about their house? I don't like that."
"I'm sorry" he said. "Mostly it's gibberish and I ignore that, but this one had me worried. I won't be far from you" he said seriously. "It seems like they'll stop by for a visit though."
"Just Emmett and Rose?"
"The ones who are here. Which means everyone except Jasper, Alice and Edward."
Bella frowned. So Edward was not here afterall. Was Jasper with Alice? Wherever she was?
"Why are they even here?" Bella groaned.
Anthony seemed to think.
"It has something to do with the Volturi, that's all I've been getting" he said sighing.
"Enough about depressing matters" Bella decided. "Let's play normal. There's been so much going on lately I've had no time to snoop around in your life. How's school?"
Anthony finished his bite before answering.
"I and Jenny are official" he said.
Bella's heart thumped quicker in her chest. Her son, in love! She was a mother of a son who had a girlfriend. Oh love. She was happy and proud and all of those feelings a mother would have. She imagined her son getting married and giving her grandchildren…
"Well it's only been two days."
Maybe marriage would have to happen a little bit further ahead than she'd imagined.
"Do you still need help tomorrow?" he asked out of the blue.
Bella felt confused.
"With what?"
"You needed a new book shelf because the one in the living room is falling apart?" he reminded her.
Then it cleared.
"Oh right, it's easy to forget we have those ordinary things to take care of, too."
Bella sighed inwardly. She really did not feel like going to the furniture store tomorrow. On Sundays the store was always packed with irritated parents and overly energetic children. Bella preferred her Sundays quiet and calm. Maybe she was getting old for real.
"No, I'll take care of that some other day. I'm just going grocery shopping tomorrow" she decided.
"Cool then I'll probably go to Jenny's."
Bella smiled.
"Sounds great."
Walking down the aisle of Forks grocery shop was sleepy to say the least. The storm had been so intense last night Bella had hardly gotten any sleep and even if she'd had she'd probably been woken up by Ed's whining. The little dog was scared of the thunder even though he calmed down a little when Bella let him snuggle in her hair. She was also up extra early this morning. She'd realized that Ed couldn't be alone at the house yet so she'd left early so Antony could watch him until Bella came home. She sleepily put milk cartons into her shopping wagon and played with the thought of leaving work early tomorrow or simply don't show up at all and just sleep away the entire Monday. She grabbed some tomatoes and made a slow U-turn to the shampoo department. It was when Bella was searching for her shampoo brand among the shelves that she heard a voice she recognized very well. She did not dare turn around, so she didn't. Instead she made a silent prayer that the person would not spot her. And if he did spot her he would not want to talk to her. Just as she grabbed a shampoo bottle she dropped it.
"Bella!" the person called out.
She quickly turned around and had a feeling she looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"Jacob!" she called out equally as enthusiastic but of course she was being ironic.
He seemed to be deciding on whether or not to smile, and quickly seemed to decide not to.
"You're still not talking to me are you?" he said disappointedly.
Bella's smile wavered.
"What do you call this? But no, I don't want to talk to you, that's correct."
Bella was about to say something else but stopped herself. The woman with the ridiculous hat was a few meters away.
"Is that Dr. Ross?" She nearly whispered.
Jacob looked at her too and then at Bella. He nodded carefully. Bella looked at Dr. Ross again.
"Is she following you? She's still wearing that ridiculous hat as a disguise!"
Jacob looked as if he didn't know whether to smile or not again.
"Bella, that is her hat. Her favorite hat, actually."
If she hadn't been so angry with Jacob Bella would've laughed out loud. Dr Ross, a woman who'd she'd imagined had some class, wore a stupid hat like that! It was yellow and black and checked. She could not believe it. For a moment Bella was sad she'd decided not to go to therapy anymore. She would need therapy after seeing that hat. It really was an awful hat and by the way; who even wore hats anymore?!
"What are you doing here with her? Does Lea know?" Bella asked feeling quite uncomfortable that maybe she was again witnessing something she didn't want to witness.
To her fear, Jacob nodded.
"Well kind of, I mean. I'm staying at a friend's house for some time."
"And Lea's fine with that? With you staying with Dr. Ross?"
Jacob looked unsure.
"Well we decided I was going away for a few days, but she doesn't need to know I'm staying with Dr, I mean with Ross. It doesn't really make a difference."
"It doesn't really make a difference?" Bella echoed. "You are married. Do you even know what it means to be married to someone?"
Jacob shot her a dirty glare.
"No, do you?"
Somehow she had a feeling Jacob was giving her crap for rejecting his proposal all those years ago.
"No, and I didn't get married because I knew that I wasn't ready to take that step. You are married, you've taken that step and here you are with her."
It dawned on Bella that Jacob was really doing this: he was having an affair. Lea didn't know anything about Dr Ross. That's probably the reason for Jacob's early Sunday morning shopping. There was no way Lea would be here. Still Bella didn't understand it. Forks was not a very large place. Forks was a place where people talked about other people, a place where gossip travelled quite quickly. What could Jacob be thinking? Was the thinking at all?
"Really Jacob?" she said. "You're really going grocery shopping with her?" her voice was shaky and to her own surprise she was on the verge of tears. She just felt so helpless. She'd tried talking to Lea but that lead nowhere and Jacob was acting all kinds of crazy. Bella already had her own troubles to deal with. To name one, the Cullens were back in town! She had enough on her mind and she felt the right to be selfish.
Jacob got closer.
"Is that so bad?" he asked his voice more quiet.
Bella shook her head in disappointment.
"Yes Jacob, that's so bad." "I can't believe you're still seeing her. You are a..."
But Bella stopped mortified when seeing the hideous hat getting closer.
"Jacob what's taking so long?"
Dr. Ross and Bella's eyes met. They looked at each other for a long time before one of them spoke.
"Dr. Ross" Bella said smiling meakly.
"Bella, I heard you're not coming to therapy anymore" Dr. Ross said.
Bella tried to stay calm.
"Yeah well actually I told you to your face and it would be kind of awkward considering you're with Jacob now and Jacob is... Well, with you! Also you know, our restaurant run in was strange considering you were hiding a few tables away."
Dr. Ross smile did not fade but Bella could see in her eyes that she was deeply uncomfortable. Dr. Ross punched Jacob in the ribs and he cleared his throat.
"You should come over for dinner some time" he suggested.
Bella blinked but smiled wider.
"Are Lea and Dr. Ross cooking together?" she asked.
Jacob cleared his throat again.
"I'm living with Dr.." he began but awkwardly corrected himself. "With Ross now."
Jacob broke their eye contact and looked down on the floor.
"You dropped this" he said and picked up her shampoo bottle.
Bella accepted it still feeling shocked.
"Well we're off" Jacob said.
"Nice to meet you Bella" Dr. Ross said waving awkwardly.
Bella watched them walk away but couldn't resist.
"Lovely hat!" she called after her.
When she left the grocery store she felt more tired than ever. What were the odds? She was at the grocery store at nine o' clock in the morning. Jacob was not a morning person yet there he was and with his new girlfriend which Lea did not even know about. Bella decided she could not trust a word Jacob said. He'd told her he and Lea were separated somehow, but for all Bella knew he could've simply told Lea he was going fishing for a week with some buds from work. However Bella knew better than to stick her noise in this, yet she felt a strong urge to go and see Lea which was very odd. Bella had never wanted to see Lea. It had been the exact opposite: she had never wanted to see Lea and had had quite a few dreams where Lea had gone missing or been kidnapped and neither Jacob nor Bella had enough money to pay her ransom. Bella allowed herself to enjoy the dream once more. That was one of her favorite dreams. When she got home she still had a smile of content on her lips.
"You look happy" Anthony said.
Bella nodded absently.
"thinking about the dream I had about Lea. Did I tell you about that one? The one where..."
"Where she gets kidnapped and no one can pay the ransom? Yeah quite a few times."
Bella smiled again and sighed happily. Anthony frowned.
"What happened over there?"
Then Bella remembred what had really gone down. She groaned and took off her shoes. Anthony grabbed a few bags and headed for the kitchen. Bella followed.
"I met Jacob and Dr. Ross there."
Anthony grimaced.
"They're seeing each other for real?"
bella nodded and leaned on the kitchen counter.
"They're totally in session."
Anthony shook his head.
"That's lame mom."
Bella shruggedh er shoulders.
"Well it's ridiculous, isn't it? Talking about ridiculous. That hat she wears? Ugh!"
"Let me guess, ridiculous?"
Bella nodded.
"It's so ridiculous. I feel ridiculous talking about it.
"Point taken" Anthony said. "It's ridiculous" he said just in case.
"It's so ridiculous" Bella said feeling annoyed about it again.
She was quiet for some time until she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Ridiculous ridiculous ridiculous!" she called out.
Anthony looked at her.
"Got it out of your system?" he asked sympathetically.
Bella took a deep breath.
"I think so. Thanks for listening. I know I'm being..."
Anthony interrupted her.
"If you say that word one more time I'm not going to help you with the groceries."
Bella smiled at him and felt quite thankful. She was too tired to pack up all of the groceries herself so she found herself agreeing against her own will. But so far this day had really been… ridiculous.