HALLELUJAH! We're back!
Here is your fourth chapter, my loves.
Thanks so much for the reviews and such, I'll have another chapter in a few days!
Bella's legs swung quietly as she peered curiously around the office, ignoring the argument occurring in the meantime. It wasn't as though she couldn't understand that we were arguing, she seemed to simply be used to it – we'd argued so much since she'd come along. I didn't resent her. I didn't even blame her. It was nothing to do with her, even though it was always about her. It was to do with how the rest of us respond to her existence. Bella was perfect... sure, a little frustrating, but a truly perfect person is someone that you can love unconditionally despite their inevitable flaws... because nobody is really perfect or whatever.
I watched her eyes drift from wall to wall; those deep pools of chocolate forever filled with wonder, and let myself drift away with her. I wondered what was going on inside her head; what she thought of the things she lingered on, what she thought of everything else, when the novelty would wear off, when she would finally understand the things she stared at with such awe and amazement.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Carlisle boomed. I was yanked away from Bella's world and back into 'reality' or whatever you want to call it. It's not as if she was in a different world than us, she just had a different point of view – our realities were one and the same but from very starkly contrasted perspectives.
"Yes, Carlisle," I droned. I didn't even know why we were 'discussing' this matter. Anyone from the outside would think that I'd made out with Bella naked in our bed. Words like 'inappropriate' and 'wildly misguided' were being thrown around and really the only words I could think of to explain the bath situation were 'stupid' and 'unthinking'. Okay, so I could have kept my boxers on... was I thinking about that at the time? No. I was thinking about the best way to get Bella clean and to teach her how to have a bath if she got over her fear. I was thinking that getting naked is all part and parcel of the entire bathing experience. I was thinking, as was mentioned at the time, that she learns by example. That meant getting naked.
Carlisle leaned back, looking slightly satisfied with himself after his tirade and that smug smirk on his face along with the exasperated look he'd shared with Jasper just made me wanna ruffle my fucking feathers a little. "Look," I started, leaning forward and gaining Bella's attention as my baggie of gummi bears was exposed. I wordlessly handed them over, not losing eye contact with Carlisle. "I got her into the bath with no screaming, no fear, and no tantrums. In hindsight, I could have kept my underwear on," I admitted, holding my palms out in surrender. "But what I really don't get is why the fact that I was naked is such a big deal. She doesn't know what naked means. She has no-"
"That's the point, dude," Jasper interrupted, making me want to strangle him. Of course he was siding with Carlisle, the father he always wanted. "She's not gonna learn basic social skills if we don't teach her early."
"Babies have baths with their parents," Alice suggested, not really siding anyone. Alice didn't like conflict and she didn't like it when anyone was being ganged up on. God bless her little heart. She just wanted both sides to have a fair go. I glanced up at her gratefully.
"It isn't the same, dear," Esme replied sympathetically, knowing what Alice was trying to do but obviously feeling that Carlisle and the prodigal son were right. It was all a great travesty and I should be burned at the stake for trying to help my Bella in the only way I knew how at the time. Carlisle decided to elaborate further on Esme's point.
"Bella's progress isn't normal. When she came to us she knew nothing about anything. She's progressed so fast mentally that I almost want to take her to..." he trailed off there, taking a deep breath and I could just tell he wasn't going to let himself get sidetracked again. "She isn't like a baby. She's a fully grown woman with a mind that in a matter of many hours has been through many months of development. We don't know who she'll be tomorrow; how far she'll have come – "
"What we know, Al, is that we need to teach her as much as possible now... while she's still a sponge," Jasper cut in, curing her of her confused look.
"So she's just absorbing everything?" Emmett asked, his eyes trained carefully on Bella who was still swinging her legs and chewing on gummi bears. I looked down at the bag, thinking it would surely be near empty now. It wasn't. She seemed to be sifting through them to pick out all of the red and orange ones. I smiled at her and she thrust a yellow one at me before going back to sorting.
"Yes. If she's going to learn anything with ease it will be now and I don't know exactly how fast she's developing so I can't tell you when it'll become more difficult for her. In short, we can't make exceptions for her anymore," Carlisle looked around the room; lingering longest on Esme and I. Apparently he thought we were being too soft on her. I rolled my eyes.
"So we're just going to make her cry and scream and be unhappy and scared? Fuck that."
"It's not your choice."
"The hell it isn't. I found her.
"We all did. I'm with Carlisle."
"I'm with Edward on this," Emmett said, moving to stand next to me in a display of solidarity. "I don't want to make her unhappy, and I think dad is a little too harsh on her. I just want her to be happy and safe."
"Em, she needs to be able to fit in one day," Rosalie argued, staying in her spot near the wall. I was glad she did.
"Well sure," he agreed. "Of course she does but she's not going to make any progress at all if she doesn't trust us. Can't we just go good cop bad cop on this sucker?" he asked. Carlisle's mouth twitched a little as the rest of us suppressed laughter at his painfully serious expression as he spoke.
"Edward, you're not going to do anything like that again are you?" Esme asked.
"I'll definitely think my decisions over a little more thoroughly," I nodded, not looking at anyone but her. I didn't want to see Carlisle's smug expression mirrored on Jasper's face or I might just break something. My jaw was so tight it actually hurt.
"Well then we can all agree that the best thing for Bella is to teach her as much as possible, without being too harsh, unless it isn't appropriate," Alice chirped with a definitive nod. We all murmured our agreements and dispersed. I tried not to notice that Carlisle kept Jasper back to 'have a word'.
***
"..., then you say 'Leeloo Dallas multipass', okay?"
"Emmett!"
"What?!"
"I can hear you teaching her Leeloo's lines!"
It was silent for a moment, then bubbles and chimes filled my ears and I knew Emmett was mocking me in the other room. Ordinarily, I'd go in there and kick his ass for it but if it made Bella that happy I didn't really mind that much.
Okay, I minded. I just didn't want her to see me kick his ass. She'd cry and be scared of me and I never wanted her to look at me with fear. I was the only one that she trusted implicitly – the others she trusted to a degree but she was still always on her guard with them. She didn't need a shield with me. She was just Bella. I didn't want that to ever change.
It had been a couple of weeks and we were starting to doubt Carlisle's original thoughts about Bella's development. She'd learned a whole host of new social skills, but as far as speaking was concerned, she'd gone backwards. Sure, she could understand more than fifty percent of what we said to her now, but she never replied to us verbally. Ever. It had been two days after the bath incident that I'd last heard her speak. She'd said yes happily when Alice had held out a blue sweater to her. Come to think of it, she was wearing that same sweater today.
"Bella!" I called, a crease appearing forming on my forehead as I concentrated on cutting her sandwich the right way. I jumped when I felt a cold little hand on my arm. "You scared me." She gave me the look that I understood to be an apology. I didn't vocalise that I forgave her – partly because we all agreed that we would encourage her speaking with discouragement for silence and partly because I always forgave her. She hugged me tightly before taking her sandwich and Emmett's to the lounge. I followed with my own. When I approached, she stood up, gesturing for me to sit in her place. I hesitated, but sat down and she promptly sat on the floor below me, leaning her head on my knee happily. She patted Emmett's knee between sandwich quarters. She was such an affectionate girl, always giving us hugs and little touches. She was eternally happy, bubbly and bouncy, lighting the dreary house up with her smiles and giggles. "You wanna play Mario Kart?" I asked her when we were done. She nodded happily, then frowned and dashed upstairs.
"Potty break," Emmett chuckled.
Just then, Esme arrived home early. "Baby shower was interrupted by the baby arriving early," she explained, seeing our curious expressions. "Where's Bella?"
"Bathroom."
"Ah. Any words yet?"
"Nothing," I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I had a theory about why she wasn't talking, but I hesitated over mentioning it. It would sound both completely stupid and completely conceited, but it might make sense. Carlisle would at least consider it if Esme mentioned it to him. "I think she knows I'm leaving soon," I confessed. "That's why she's not talking. Maybe she thinks if she doesn't talk I'll have to stay and take care of her."
Esme kicked her shoes off and joined us on the lounge, putting her arms around the both of us and looking thoughtful. "Perhaps..." she mused. "Perhaps that's part of it." She was obviously being polite.
"Oh come on she's not that switched on," Emmett argued.
"Yes she is," Esme countered. "She's very switched on. I think she stopped talking because she finally began to understand what we were saying and she didn't have the confidence to verbalise her thoughts. Then I think she continued to be silent because of Edward's pending absence," she acknowledged my idea with a smile and a nod. "But now..." she sighed and shrugged. "Now it's something different."
"You spoke to Carlisle about it already?" I asked, surprised she was speaking as though she'd already discussed my idea. A week earlier, I'd decided to attend a summer course in small business management to help at Emmett's bar. I couldn't afford to leave town for college now that Bella was sith us but I wasn't allowed to sit at home and be a bum. Emmett and Rosalie offered me a job if I could gain the right qualifications before it opened. Carlisle ignored the age factor and Emmett assured me he'd find a way around it all – meaning Rosalie would be looking for loopholes in legislation during her free time. The point, anyway, is that I was going to be away from Bella for a time while I studied.
All heads snapped upwards as a gut-wrenching scream echoed throughout the house. Esme was first up the stairs and into the bathroom, shocking us guys as she took a single glance and Bella and slammed the door in our faces.
"It's always the bathroom," Emmett muttered to himself, looking more pained than I'd ever seen him as he slid to the floor and prepared to wait. It was true, there often seemed to be drama with Bella in the bathroom. She was still getting used to her body.
We could hear Esme's soothing but couldn't make out any actual words, Bella's sobs only adding to our anxiety. We heard Esme on her cell and we shared a panicked look. Before long, Rosalie was sweeping past us, a paper bag in her hand. Our faces were met by the door again. I huffed and joined Emmett on the floor. Alice dropped Jasper with us as she too disappeared behind the door with Carlisle.
About ten seconds before my head imploded, Bella came flying out and into my chest. I held her close, overcome with relief. "You're okay, my Bella. You're okay now. You're alright," I assured her, even though I had no fucking clue what had been wrong. All I knew was that she could move and breathe, and that her heart was beating against my stomach. That was all that mattered.
"Well," Carlisle began, looking flustered and a little... awkward? "Bella, uh... she got her first, er... period," he mumbled, actually fucking blushing. Bella obviously now knew what this meant because she buried her head further into me in embarrassment.
"It's okay," I whispered, nodding to Carlisle. Like I said, she didn't know her body yet. It was kinda gross, sure, but she was already mortified. No need to make it worse.
"Hey, this is cause for celebration!" Jasper cried suddenly, breaking the awkward silence. Bella peered at him through her hair. He pushed her hair behind her ear and held his fist up for her. "Congratulations!" She shyly bumped his fist with her own but didn't let go of me. The girls tittered nervously.
"Alright, Bella!" Emmett laughed, joining in as usual and slapping her a high-five.
"Welcome to womanhood, sweetheart," Esme grinned, kissing her forehead.
"Yeah, you're one of us now," Alice winked.
"She was always one of us," Rosalie added with a small smile.