Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
BEEP!
6:30 am.
Fuck me.
I don't even remember the last time I got up this early. I'm not a morning person; I sleep in. I enjoy sleeping in.
My alarm clock is beeping erratically in a consistent annoying sound. Every time it beeps, the sound grows increasingly louder; some cruel way to wake a person wake up. I really hated it. I had to resist the urge to yank the plug from the outlet and throw the small machine against the wall.
Six thirty in the morning. Why? Why do people enjoy getting up this early in the morning? Why am I even getting up this early? Oh, right because my so called volunteer work starts today and Carlisle wants me at the hospital by eight.
I groaned and rolled over to the other side of my bed laying next to my dresser were the alarm clock sits. I reached over and hit the snooze button. I let myself fall back into the bed, my eyes fluttered shut before my head even the pillow. Ten more minutes. Ten more minutes of sleep and this day might be more tolerable.
"Edward!" Or not.
I sat up in my bed as my door knob started to turn. I can never get any damn privacy. Can't my mother knock just once? Her pregnant belly shown through the door.
"Thanks for knocking, Mother." I told her icily.
She fully entered my room rolling her eyes. "Don't start with me. Do not start with me. I came up here to make sure you were up and to give you these," She threw a set of blue scrubs on my bed. "Carlisle dropped them off last night. They're your size."
"Scrubs?" I questioned feeling perplexed. "Why do I have to wear scrubs?"
"It is appropriate hospital attire for people who work in hospitals." She stated formally.
"I'm not even an official staff member. I'm doing what Carlisle calls "volunteer" work," I brought my hands up and made air quotes with my fingers at my emphasis of volunteer.
"You could be working with sick patients, Edward. You need to wear the appropriate clothing. Now get out of bed, take a shower, put the scrubs on, and be down stairs for breakfast in forty-five minutes." She was being overly formal.
"Whatever," I murmured.
I fell back into the bed as my Mom walked out of door without shutting the door behind her.
"And thanks for shutting the door too, Mother!" I yelled.
She doesn't knock on the door. She tells me what do… again, and she can't even be bothered to shut my door. Yeah, this day is starting out great.
I lay back down for a few minutes before forcing myself out of the bed to sadly do as my Mom said. The hot water of the shower relaxed my muscles, significantly waking me up. I put the scrubs on. The fabric was soft, hanging loosely against my body. The outfit felt weird; I don't think I will get use to wearing these.
I was downstairs delving into my breakfast when my father joined us, and of course he had to make a comment about the scrubs.
"Looking good son," He patted me on the shoulder.
"You look like a tall smurf." My little sister, Alice told me as she joined my dad in the kitchen. Then she giggled while putting on an innocent smile.
Luckily Alice is nothing like our parents. Alice makes living in this house more tolerable. Unlike our parents she does not try to control me, tell me what do, or judge me for my actions. She is only ten years old but she is the smartest, fun loving ten year old someone will meet.
"Yeah, but you would know all about being a smurf shorty." I reached over to ruffle her hair.
"Hey!" She screeched. "Watch the hair!" She jumped off her chair and started making run towards me. I held my hands in my face feigning fake defense.
"Don't ever call me short again!" She demanded. Then before I knew it she took her tiny fist and jabbed me in the abdomen. I groaned and clutched the area were she hit me. She can also pack quite the punch with her small body.
"Children, watch the rough housing." Not even eight o' clock and she is already scolding us.
"They're not rough housing, Elizabeth. Don't be so dramatic." My father defended us but he was treading on dangerous waters. Mom can get really bitchy with her pregnancy hormones. I was silently urging my dad to push her though. I craved for the days when my parents argued because it took all their focus off me.
"Don't be dramatic? Our daughter just hit our son. They should not be playing and messing around in the kitchen during breakfast time!" He rolled his eyes. That is the one huge difference between my parents. While they're both serious and formal people, my father has a playful side.
"Edward, did Alice hurt you when she hit you?" My father asked but did not look at me. Instead he was grinning.
"Rhetorical question right?" I looked over to Alice and smiled at her. "Shorty could never hurt me."
Alice glared at me. "Keep it up brother dear, I know were you sleep!" Then she looked away from me to devour her French toast.
"Alice. Edward, you will watch your rough housing when the baby is living here with us." She stated and instinctively put her hand on her belly. Her body expression was rigid; her eyes looked like they would pop out at any second.
"We got three months till then, Elizabeth. Let them have some fun." Dad walked over to Mom and placed a kiss on her cheek. Her posture softened.
Suck up.
The rest of the breakfast passed in silence. At seven thirty I slipped my shoes on. I was getting ready to walk out the door but Mom stopped me.
"Were do you think your going?" Just one break. One fucking break from my Mom's babble would be so nice right now.
"Well I'm being forced to do work at a hospital, and now you're acting like you don't want me to go." I smiled but it was not a happy smile, it was flippant and forced. "Make up your mind woman."
You push me Mother and I will push back and I will push back even harder.
"I suggest you start thinking before you speak young man," She walked around me and grabbed my Volvo keys of the key hangar on the wall. She stuffed them inside her pants pocket.
"Maybe you should start thinking before you act," I told her giving her a dose of her own medicine; figuratively of course. "Give me my keys so I can go do this damn volunteer work."
She laughed. Why is she laughing? I did not think she was capable of laughing.
"You won't be needing your car. Dr. Cullen will be picking you up and bringing you home till you start School. Esme and I were afraid that you might skip the hospital if you drove yourself," Damn. I did not even think of that. What a good plan that would have been.
I was dreading being in the car with Carlisle. I never really liked him. Like my dad he could be over confident, and his personality annoyed the fuck out of me. I liked to call him the peace keeper because that is exactly how he acts. He likes to be in charge, to try and solve everyone's problems. Maybe if he learns to keep his mouth shut and stay out of other people's business he would be less annoying.
I stomped pass my Mom walking outside to wait for Dr. Cullen. I enjoyed a cigarette while he waited.
I joined Dr. Cullen in his vehicle and he drove off to the hospital. He didn't even drive a mile over the speed limit. Mr. Peace keepr tries to be to damn perfect too. Which is an annoying trait. No one is perfect. There is not one person in this world that can achieve absolute perfection. I am living proof of that but I'd rather poke my eyes than be like Dr. Cullen.
The silence in the car was really awkward. Dr. Cullen was making me very uncomfortable every time he would turn his head and look at me.
"Why do you keep looking at me?" I hissed. "Pay attention to the road. I'd rather not get in an accident." Well if we did at least we're not far from the hospital. What a coincidence that would be.
"I'm just waiting for some smart ass comment to come out your rude mouth," He retorted. Oh, the peace keeper is not so nice.
"Don't worry I used all my smart ass comments on my Mom this morning," I told him.
"Edward, your Mom is six months pregnant. You need to watch yourself or could stress her out to the point of something bad happening to her and your little brother or little sister."
"What about my Dad or Alice?' I questioned. "They could stress her out too. Mom and Dad were arguing when we were eating breakfast this morning. Believe it or not but I'm not the main the reason our family is so unstable." I was telling the honest truth. My family was not some rainbow and lollipops happy family.
What Carlisle did next shocked me. He nodded his head in agreement with me.
"It wouldn't surprise me if your Dad did something to stress your Mom out," He told me in a soft voice.
"What do you mean?" I questioned. I was very confused as to why he would say things like that. Dr. Cullen is supposed to be my Dad's best friend.
"I shouldn't have said anything, forget about it." Fat chance that I will forget about that.
What is Carlisle hiding? And most importantly why is hiding something about my Dad from me?
Edward Sr does have a secret, a secret that Carlisle is hiding. I did not want to do all this side drama because the main focus of this story is Edward and Bella but the side drama is essential for later chapters.
Be honest though, was this chapter good or bad? I'm not feeling good about it and if anyone has anything to offer that would be great. I know I'm not a great writer, so anything I can do to improve things would be great.