A/N: So glad you have stuck with my little story, and grateful so many have put this story on alert/favorites. Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters - totally wish I did though!
BPOV
I frantically rushed around the kitchen, simultaneously straining the gnocchi, broiling the prosciutto pesto chicken and emulsifying the balsamic vinegar and olive oil in the food processor. I wanted dinner to be perfect for Charlie and Sue after all they had done to help me throughout the move. My dad even took my truck to his mechanic friend and sprang for a tune-up, which was a welcome and unexpected surprise. I peeked into the oven and saw that my provolone topped chicken concoction had developed a perfectly light brown tinge and was bubbling in yummy goodness. I turned off the stove, and was half listening to the full-tilt tickle fest under way in Zephyr's room when Sue surprised me in the kitchen.
"It's nice to see you smile again Bella. It's been a while," she said.
I looked at her thoughtfully, grateful that my dad had found someone to feed his soul the way Renee never could. At first glance, Sue wasn't what someone would call beautiful but she was the kind of person who seemed to reveal a new alluring quality in nearly every interaction. Sue had all the classic markings of a fifty year old American Indian woman, complete with black eyes and long shiny black hair swirled with a few streaks of grey. Her quiet lilting voice and deliberately slow movements had a calming affect that I almost instantly responded to. I loved that Zephyr would have a chance to get to know her better now.
I wiped my hands on the towel tucked into the waistband of my jeans and considered her comment.
"It has been a while, but I think this move is going to be good for Zeph," I said, as I set the bread on the table.
Sue found the cupboard with the plates and helped me set the table.
"You're home now, near your family; this is where you belong," she said matter-of-factly. She stopped and rested her hands on the back of the dining room chair and looked at me like she was pondering something that puzzled her.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" I said brushing my cheeks with my hands.
"No, I was just wondering how long it's going to be before you stop using your perfectly well-adjusted child as a shield to deflect any opportunity to find some happiness for yourself," she said with a quirked brow.
Okay, maybe her complete inability to beat around the bush and indulge my love of avoidance was a personality trait I found less than endearing in Sue. She was a dichotomy for sure.
"I would love to find the man of my dreams and run away to Jamaica to get my groove back and all Sue, but it's just not in the cards for me," I replied. I finished setting the table and plated the chicken.
"Who's running off to Jamaica?" Charlie asked, slightly out of breath. I was so caught up in my conversation with Sue that I hadn't heard him sneak up behind me with his grandson on his back.
I busted up laughing when I noticed that my Dad had apparently been talked into playing dress up and was wearing my Marilyn Monroe wig from last Halloween and Zephyr's Batman cape. "That's really a good look for you, Dad," I said, reaching for my cell phone on the counter. Before he knew what was happening, I snapped a picture. "I think the guys down at the station should see the kind of shenanigans you've been up to on your days off. "
In one fluid movement Charlie had slid Zephyr off his shoulders and lunged to grab the phone out of my hand.
"Run, Mom, I'll save you!" Zephyr laughed, and wrapped his arms and legs around his grandpa's leg. By now, everyone was laughing and, even with Zeph in tow, Charlie had managed to corner me in the living room between the entertainment center and the bookshelf. I caved when tickle torture commenced and narrowly escaped peeing my pants.
After dinner, Sue and I washed the dishes while Zephyr took a bath. She had me forward the photo to her phone. I almost gave us away with my svelte moves when I tripped and dropped my phone on the way back to my purse, but Charlie was watching the football game that Emmett was likely on the field covering. While Sue was wiping down the counters she slipped me a furtive glance and quietly mentioned something about using the photo for their Christmas cards this year. "He'll have long forgotten that picture exists by the time Christmas rolls around, that'll get him for digging up my rose bushes."
I made a mental note not to cross Sue—she played dirty.
It was a long day for them, but rather than waiting until the morning, Charlie and Sue drove home. As appealing as a blow up mattress on the floor was, I think they just wanted some alone time after having Zephyr for a week. Zeph kissed them both goodbye and the love I saw in Charlie's eyes took my breath away, but it was my Dad's "I love you son, be good for your Mom," that caused my eyes to prick with tears. I know that Charlie loves me and that there isn't anything he wouldn't do for me, but displays of affection were not his thing—at least they didn't use to be. Zephyr had managed to change both of us for the better. He assuaged the hurt I'd held onto for years when Renee left, and his carefree spirit and love for his grandpa has single-handedly melted Charlie's reserved nature. My little man had no idea how thoroughly he affected all of us.
After Charlie and Sue left, I realized that I'd spent the day feeling like I was holding my breath. That anxious feeling seemed to flutter away as I padded back to my room to slip into my pj's. I turned down most of the lights in the house and walked down the hall to go snuggle with my son. I tapped on his open door to get his attention, noticing he was thoroughly sucked into the Harry Potter book we were in the middle of reading.
"I thought you were going to wait for me. Now I'm going to be lost," I said as I crawled under the covers with him. I wrapped my arms around my son and tousled his hair. "I missed you like crazy, you know." He gave me a sideways smile and acted like he was a little embarrassed at my gushing.
"Yeah, me too," he said. "Do you like your new job?"
I pondered his question before deciding on going with the most honest reply. "I'm not sure yet, little man. But I'm working on it, so I don't want you to worry about it."
Zephyr furrowed his brows a bit in concern. He always worried about me. Sometimes I felt guilty about the honesty policy I maintained with him. I wanted him to trust me enough to always be real with me, and in order to earn it, I paved that road first. Zephyr was the perfect combination of everything I liked best about mine and Mike's appearances. He had Mike's light blue eyes with a darkened ring around the outside of the iris and my thick dark brown hair and long dark eyelashes.
Oy, God help me when the girls discover you, Zeph.
He launched into reading the most recent chapter aloud. It was the part of The Sorcerer's Stone where Hagrid led Harry through the porthole key that landed them in Leaky Cauldron. Hagrid was taking Harry to Gringots bank to get some of the money his parents had left for him to purchase books for his wizardry courses at Hogwarts. After the chapter was complete, Zephyr closed the book and was deep in thought.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked. He looked at me as though his thoughts might not be something I wanted to hear, and I couldn't imagine what part of that chapter had him so serious.
"Mom, why doesn't Dad want me?" Sadness, anger, and fear clenched at my heart and I took a breath to carefully formulate an answer.
"Baby, Mike was never your dad," I started. "Mike helped to bring you into the world, but unfortunately he made the choice to not be a parent. He didn't reject you, because he doesn't have the foggiest idea how incredible you are. It's more like Mike rejected the responsibility of being a parent. I know it feels personal, but it isn't. And Zeph, the loss is his."
There had been a few times that Mike had come around since Zephyr was born. Therefore, Zeph had seen Mike and so his birth father wasn't some big secret or anything. However, whenever Mike came calling, it was always under false pretenses. He usually lured me in with a sudden interest in Zeph and would let me down when I caught on to his bullshit. Once, when he was between girlfriends after I'd returned to San Francisco State, Mike thought I might just roll over and let him have his way with me "since we have a baby and all." He even held Zeph a few times, but through the façade I could tell his smile was feigned.
On that fateful day, just over a year ago, when Mike showed up on my doorstep, crying about his breakup with that snide bitch, Jessica, my inebriated mind let down its guard enough to let Mike talk me into allowing him into my bed. Not my proudest moment. He hinted at the possibility of us trying to be a family and I was just lonely enough to fall for it. I may have been drunk, but I wasn't stupid. I never really believed he wanted me, and I should have known that the bottom line was that Mike just didn't want anyone else to have me, either.
I found out later that a mutual friend leaked that I was dating someone at the time, and I think he thought he could prove I wasn't over him. At least that was what he screamed at me from the hallway of my apartment in his underwear the morning after our little drunken transgression. In hindsight, the whole scenario was fucking funny. Sure, I was a class A slut for letting that man back into my bed, but kicking his ass to the curb in nothing but his Tighty Whities and his shoes while he screamed obscenities at me was really… empowering. I had thrown that little shit's clothes out the window after coming to my senses and forced San Francisco's leading anchorman and local television personality to walk down four flights of stairs and around the building in his underwear. Fortunately, lady luck was on my side and some fabulous passerby snapped a cell phone photo. Mike's ass was all over a local news blog for two weeks afterward. Did I mention he sucked in the sack?
What a waste of a good buzz.
I was ashamed to think about how I started crushing on Mike almost as soon as I noticed him my freshman year at SFSU. He was a promising, broadcasting sophomore with a charming personality and endless confidence. The following year, my position as assistant editor of the student newspaper, Golden Gate X Press, propelled us into similar circles. By the time we had started dating we had been in a few core journalism courses with each other, but it was a class project that really threw us together. My untimely pregnancy a few months later brought on a whirlwind of emotions.
I was afraid of what kind of mother I would be with such a disappointing role model myself. In fact, I had never visualized myself as a mom. The whole experience turned out to be an incredible lesson that eventually played a huge role in my decision to ditch my door mat persona. Mike didn't want to wear a condom because it "didn't feel good" and I, being the chump that I was, didn't want him to miss out on a moment of his pleasure. How could I be more concerned for his pleasure than my own health? I knew the ridiculous rate with which SFSU girls were being diagnosed at the Student Health Center with Venereal Warts—I mean I wrote about the shit for Christ sakes. That as probably why my self-deprecating choice was such an embarrassment to me.
When Mike found out I was pregnant, I became damaged goods and he was furious with me for not having an abortion. At the time, he feared I would ruin his life, but I assured him that I had no intention of burdening him with my baby. I did it all myself and never once asked for child support. I needed a clean break from Mike.
If only I had the forethought to get him to sign away his parental rights at the time.
I never wanted Zephyr to experience the heartache of having a deadbeat parent. Looking at him now, I wonder if I made the right decision.
Maybe I can't protect him from everything.
I snuggled my son for a few more minutes until he drifted to sleep. I kissed him goodnight and slipped out of the room. Trying not to focus on the conversation and the memories of Mike, I settled down on the couch with a cup of hot tea. I decided to check in with my laptop to see if I had any new emails since I'd last checked on Friday afternoon. I skimmed over the usual handful of emails from readers commenting on stories I'd written earlier in the week. Moving down the page my heart suddenly stopped for a second when I saw a message from Carlisle Cullen. I was surprised by the twinge of disappointment that the email hadn't come from his sexy son, Edward. The subject line read: Lunch meeting request for Wednesday.
Oh, my fucking hell, this man isn't going to rest until he gets me fired.
A wave of dread washed over me. I was antsy and waited impatiently for the message to open. My piece of crap wireless router had slowly been going to hell in a hand basket and I was thinking I would have to reboot to get the damn thing to load the page that held the message.
Miss Swan,
I would very much appreciate your company over lunch at my country club on Wednesday. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and would like to discuss your future—perhaps one that could lead you to the Seattle Enterprise. You are entirely too tempting for me to allow you to continue to work for Aro and I would relish an opportunity to persuade you to see things my way.
Sincerely,
Carlisle Cullen
Fuck. This shit just keeps getting better and better.
I finished my tea and went to bed in a quandary over whether I should meet with Carlisle, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about him that made me think he was a predator. Well, that sinking feeling in my gut also had to do with the warning from Emmett. The situation was delicate and I had to not only turn Carlisle down gently, but I had to do it without alerting my publisher Aro.
Jesus, especially not Aro. I can't afford to get fired for lack of loyalty in the little boy pissing contest these two are engaged in.
Pissing contest was the best description I could come up with after working for the King County Reporter for all of five days. I was fairly certain that to Carlisle and Aro, the fight was an all out war. I just needed to figure out how to avoid ending up part of the spoils. I lay in bed for hours, devising a plan of action. Emmett would probably kill me for it, but I had a big story on Monday that could throw off Carlisle's little game of world domination, and Edward Cullen was going to help me get it.
His warm breath lingered on my neck and my breathing hitched when I felt his soft lips in the hollowed dip beneath my ear. His tongue and teeth massaged my earlobe and I was suddenly very aware of the fact that my panties were damp. I could faintly hear his sweet words penetrate me through the fog that enveloped us.
"Moooom," I heard, sharply breaking through my unconscious state. "Mom, did you buy any Captain Crunch when you were at the store yesterday? Please tell me that the Grapenuts in the cupboard isn't my only breakfast food option."
Oh, for the love of fuck. Is nothing sacred?
I moaned painfully and barely opened one eye. My vision was a bit blurry, obscured by the hair that had flopped down my forehead and was scattered all over my pillow. My son's morning breath was wafting dangerously close to my face. He was gearing up to ask the same question again, but I reached out and pressed my forefinger to his lips, stopping him before he could assault me with his breath again.
"Check the cabinet on the right, next to refrigerator," I said unceremoniously, and flopped my head back onto my pillow.
Zephyr scrambled out of the room in a flash, and before long I heard the cereal clink into his bowl. Rolling over, I made a conscious effort to try to slip back into my lovely dream. I could hear my son mumbling under his breath flipping through the channels trying to find cartoons. I made a mental note to sign up for cable. The Cartoon Network is a must-have in my book—especially if I wanted to sleep in on the weekends. A few minutes later I opened my eyes and pounded my fists and legs against the bed, throwing a mock tantrum over the unfortunate loss of a perfectly fabulous wet dream.
Women just don't get that shit every day you know.
The tendrils of the dream were slipping away from me before I could figure out who I was dreaming about, when suddenly I got a clear visual of his piercing green eyes. They were oddly familiar, but in my haze I couldn't pinpoint who they belonged to.
I dragged my ass out of bed and got into the shower. I had a busy day ahead of me if I was planning on getting Zephyr registered for school in the morning. Finding his birth certificate was my first order of business.
A/N- Hmmm wonder who those green eyes belong to.... teehee. Edward is up next ladies so get your big girl panties, something tells me there is going to be some tension. Quick recommendations fer ya: If you haven't read The University of Edward Mason by SebastienRobichaud or High Anxiety by EdwardsBloodType or Emancipation Proclamation by kharizzmatik run don't walk to read them. They own me right now. Given my own love for angst, I should warn you that you should count on some angst coming down the pike for our Bella. She has a lot of baggage, but rest assured she has a bright future with lots of smexin ;) So don't be shy. Show me some love and press review. I will be forwarding teasers to everyone who reviews!