Chapter Eleven
BPOV
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!
I'm meeting my boyfriend's parents today! Okay, so I already know them, but still. I'm meeting them for the first time as Edward's girlfriend and they don't know that little fact. Edward has told them that he is bringing his new girlfriend home to meet them, but hasn't told them yet that that girlfriend is me. Am I worried? Yes. Am I scared? Hell Yes! I know Esme and Carlisle like me already, but as Emmett and Edward's friend. I have no idea how they will react to my dating their youngest son.
Edward picked me up half an hour ago and currently we are on our way to their place in Manhattan. Edward is driving one handed; his other hand is holding mine, rubbing soothing circles across my knuckles in hopes to calm me some. It's working. To an extent.
20 minutes later, we pull up to a beautiful white house surrounded by trees. One side of the house, I know, is all glass, which overlooks a small lake at the end of their garden. There is a wrap around porch with a porch swing by the front door. It's really very picturesque here and I have always loved it. True, I have only been here a couple of times, with Emmett, of course, but still. I don't think Edward knows about my contact with Esme and Carlisle and I'm not sure how he will react to this little piece of news.
I wait in the car as Edward comes round to my side and opens my door. He has always been such a gentleman and though it irks me when other men used to do this for me, with Edward, somehow, I don't mind it as much. In fact, I like it. I feel safe, protected and loved. Edward helps me out the car and pulls my face up to meet his eyes
"Kitten, it'll be fine. Trust me" his eyes bore into mine as he says this
"I know, Tiger, I know. I do trust you, but I can't help but feel a little scared" I reply with a small smile. He leans down and lightly brushes my lips with his soft ones. I feel my heart race at the most simplest touch. He has only ever been the one that could incite such a reaction so strong in me.
We walk to the door and he pauses and wraps his arms around me before ringing the doorbell
"I love you, Kitten. Always" he whispers and I feel my self melt into his embrace
"I love you too, Tiger. Forever" I replied. Edward let me go and reached down to clasp my small hand in his larger one as he rang the bell and we waited for someone to answer. Suddenly the door swung open and we were greeted by a smiling Esme
"Edward! Bella! How are you, my darlings?" she pulled us into the foyer and into a three-way hug, not noticing at first that we are holding hands. She hugged Edward and he gave her a sweet kiss on her cheek
"Hey Mom, how are you?" Esme beamed up at him
"I'm happy! My baby boy is home and he brought a special someone with him and-" Esme stopped mid-sentence and looked around confused "Edward, honey, I thought you were bringing your new girlfriend? Where is she?" Edward stepped back and squeezed my hand gently before he spoke
"Mom, I did bring my girlfriend" he smirked. Esme looked back and forth between us and then down at our joined hands. It took her a few moments but then she gasped. All of a sudden she screamed
"Carlisle! You owe me $50!" Edward and I stared at her in shock as Carlisle came skidding round the corner
"What- Oh! Hello, son. How are you?" Carlisle and Edward shook hands
"Hey dad. I'm good" he pulled me forward "You remember Bella, right?" Carlisle smiled and pulled me into a hug
"Hi Bella, dear. How are you?"
"Hi Carlisle, I'm great and you?" Carlisle released me and turned to Edward
"Son, I thought you were bringing your new girl. Is she not here?" Esme snickered and whispered in my ear
"Wait for it. He'll get there" I smirked and watched as Carlisle looked between Edward and I and then at our hands. It was silent for a beat and then he gasped. Esme, Edward and I burst out laughing
"Pay up, C! 50 bucks!" Esme stated gleefully and held out her hand, palm up. Carlisle pulled a fifty out of his wallet and slapped it into her hand, grumbling as he did
"Wait. Wait. You two bet on Bella and me becoming a couple?" Edward asked looking between his mother and father who now looked a little sheepish
"Uh…no?" I couldn't help but snigger at Carlisle's unsure response. It was highly comical to see two parents being scolded by their child. I watched as Edwards lips twitched as he fought the smile that was threatening to break out. He tried valiantly to look stern but lost the fight when he glanced over at me. The next thing I knew the four of us were laughing uncontrollably as we walked into the sitting room.
Dinner was a nice affair, filled with playful banter and conversation. I felt much more relaxed and at ease. It had never been like this with Jacob and his family, though I loved Billy, his father dearly, I had never felt so at home with him as I did with Esme and Carlisle.
We left the Cullen's later than we expected. We were having too much fun to leave. I had tears in my eyes though as we left. As Esme hugged me goodbye, her words warmed my heart
"Thank you, Bella, for bringing my son back to us. Welcome to the family. It won't be long before I can officially call you my daughter" I pulled back and stared at her. All she did was smile and wink at me.
Did she just imply what I think she just implied?
You know…I think she did
Holy Crow!
Amen to that!
I felt Edward come up behind to say his goodbyes. We left amidst promises to come back soon.
The next two weeks flew by in a haze of meetings, court dates and…well…general dates with Edward. Suddenly June was upon us and I was panicking. Today is June 15th and in five days time it is my Edward's birthday and I have no clue what to get him.
I met Alice after work at the mall and prayed hard as I entered that I would find something in there. After all this was his first birthday as a couple. I had to make it count. The Edward I knew all those years would have been easy to buy for; I knew him so well. The Edward I knew now, the one I was currently dating…yeah, not so much. I was pondering these thoughts when Alice placed a hand on my arm
"He hasn't changed that much, you know" I stared down at her, shocked
"How did you-"
"Know? Your eyes give you away. I mean, yeah he's an adult now and there is an eight year difference between the Edward you knew then and the one you know now, but Bells, he's still Edward underneath it all" I wrapped my arm around her shoulder in a one armed hug
"Thanks Ali" and just like that I knew what to get him, now I just had to find it.
Alice and strolled into the music store I had seen before, but never ventured into. Inside it was darkened with strobe lighting. I quickly found what I was looking for and made my way over to the counter to pay for it. When I got to the counter I felt the past hit me like ice cold water. There behind the counter at the cash register was none other than Tanya Denali.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Little Bella Swan" she smirked, an evil glint in her eye
"Tanya, how unpleasant to see you" I smirked right back. Yeah, there was no way I was taking any of her shit now. I had grown up, even if she hadn't. Plus I had Edward now. Her ploys hadn't worked
"Hmm…still as snarky as ever, I see?"
"You know it. How about you? Still as slutty as ever?"
"Pft. At least I've got a man to be slutty with" she flashed her left hand as she said this. I caught a flash of a huge fuck off diamond on her ring finger. I mean it was seriously huge!
"Oh wow, that's quite a rock you have there. Who, may I ask is the unlucky fella?" she rolled her eyes
"Edward. You remember him, don't you? Yeah, we've been together ever since and are so in love" I stiffened. Surely she couldn't be talking about MY Edward, could she? Before I could react she continued
"Of course you remember him! You were into him back then. Don't tell me you weren't, coz we all saw it. Well, your loss is my gain. We're getting married at Christmas" Oh hell no, she did not just say that. I have to speak to Edward. NOW. Suddenly I got a flash of inspiration and whipped my phone out, keeping my gaze on Tanya's smug face.
"Hello?"
"Tiger? It's me"
"Kitten? What's wrong? Are you ok?" Edward heard the strain in my voice. I watched as the smug look on Tanya's face switched to shocked. She knew who I speaking to, so I decided to play a bit with her and put the phone on speakerphone
"Tiger, I'm ok. I'm still at the mall and have just run into an old friend of ours" I hissed the word friend as I used the term very loosely in regards to Tanya
"A friend? Of ours? Who, Baby? And do you have me on speaker?" Edward asked, the confusion evident in his voice
"Yes, you're on speaker. The friend I'm speaking of is apparently your fiancé" I stated
"MY WHAT? Kitten, that's not funny. I don't have a fiancé…yet" my breath hitched at the last word, a smile breaking out over my face. I looked up at Tanya and saw that her face was red with rage. Good
"Eddie, Baby, how can you say that?" She said into the phone in a sugary sweet voice. I heard Edward stop breathing for a second before he whispered
"Tanya?"
"Yes, Eddie Baby, it's me. It's ok, you don't have to lie to her, she knows" I stayed silent watching and listening. I wanted to see how this played out
"Kitten? Are you still there?" Edward asked with slight panic in his voice. I could hear him moving and it sounded like he was running
"Yes, Tiger, I'm here and I'm ok. I just thought you might want to speak to your fiancé" I said with a smirk. I knew he would pick up on the fact that I didn't mean it seriously. He did
"Oh, sure, I mean it's not everyday a guy finds out he has a fiancé via a phone call from his girlfriend, right?" my smile grew as he said this, he was playing along. I watched the emotions cross Tanya's face as Edward spoke
"I mean, you would have thought I would remember proposing to her, wouldn't you, baby?" He continued, Alice was barely holding in her laughter beside me, though the odd snicker did escape from her mouth
"Of course, you could have been under the influence when you did it, Tiger" I bit my lip trying to hold in the bubble of laughter building inside me. The look on Tanya's face was priceless!
"Yep. Hey where are you?"
"Music store on main level, why?"
"Turn around, Baby" I turned and saw my own personal piece of heaven leaning against the door frame with my favourite smile. He walked, no he sauntered, towards me and swept me up in his arms before leaning down to place a soft, sweet kiss on my lips
"Hey Kitten"
"Hey Tiger. What are you doing here?" I asked happily. He shrugged
"I needed to pick up something for Saturday. How about you?" I blushed and looked away. Unfortunately Tanya was in my line of sight. She cleared her throat
"Eddie, Baby? How could you?" she whined. I felt Edward stiffen as he turned to face Tanya, his arm tightening around my waist
"Tanya, what the fuck? We are not now, nor will we ever be, engaged, what the hell are you thinking?" I could see and feel the rage building inside him, so I thought it best to intervene now
"Edward, lets get out of here, please. The atmosphere in here is too stifling for me. Too much cheap perfume" I snarked. Edward gazed down at me, his eyes softening
"Sure, Kitten, let's go" he took my hand and we walked to the entrance together where he paused and glanced over is shoulder without turning around fully
"Oh and Tanya? I will be adding Bella to that retraining order. Same rules and conditions apply" with that Alice, Edward and I walked out.
The day of Edward's birthday dawned sunny with bright blue skies. New York had never looked lovelier or maybe that was just the bliss talking.
I was smiling as I got up and made my way to the kitchen to make coffee. Edward would be knocking any moment now so that we could meet the Cullen's for breakfast. There was a surprise party planned at Bella Italia for tonight, so as far as Edward was concerned his parents were meeting us for breakfast because they had a dinner with one of Carlisle's colleagues from the hospital tonight. He had no clue about the party Alice and I had successfully organised for tonight. He just thought we were meeting just the gang for dinner there.
I had just finished showering when I heard the knock on the door. Damn he was early. I quickly wrapped the towel around me and ran to answer the door. I pulled it open with a wide smile, which froze immediately. Standing at my door was not Edward, but Jacob.
"Bella" he smirked as his eyes trailed from my face down my body and up again
"Jacob, what are you doing here?" I asked, pulling the door closer to me to deny him access
"We need to talk" he stated simply, folding his arms across his chest. I shook my head
"No, Jacob, we don't. Everything that needed to be said was said that day" at this he unfolded his arms and shouldered past me into the living room and started pacing. I left the door open because I knew that Edward would be arriving any minute now. God, I hoped he arrived soon.
"No, Bella, everything was not said. You need to understand that as my fiancé you-"
"Hold the phone, Jacob, I am no longer your fiancé or did you forget that little detail?" he rounded on my and I took a step back at the look of pure rage in his eyes. It honestly frightened me
"Bella, you are mine for as long as I deem you worthy to be" I gasped and then slapped him
"I. Am. Not. Your. Possession Jacob Black! Now get out of my house before I call the cops!" I shouted. It was at that moment that I realised that slapping him may have been a mistake. Before I knew what was happening he had his hand around my throat, choking me. My towel fell to the floor
"You are MINE! Understood? Mine!" He roared in my face. I was starting to lose focus now due to the lack of breath, but I refused to black out in front of him. I struggled against him as he screamed profanities at me. I was losing the fight for breath and the blackness was creeping in around the edges. Just before I lost consciousness I heard the sweetest sound in the world. My angel had come. I felt Jacob being ripped away from me and I slumped to the ground. The last thing I saw before I lost the fight against consciousness was my angel rolling around on the floor with the devil.
EPOV
I cradled Bella in my arms as the officers handcuffed Jacob and took him away. Some kind neighbour had heard the fight and called the cops. I was rocking my love on the floor, her breathing shallow and laboured. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see my father bending over me
"Son, let the paramedics take care of her. You need to let her go-" I shook my head, my tears running down my cheeks
"No, no, no…she can't leave me, dad. She promised she never would again" I sobbed. My father knelt down beside me
"Son, she's going to be ok. She just needs a check-up, ok?" I looked up into his eyes and read the care and sincerity there. I nodded my consent. I picked my Kitten up from the floor and laid her gently onto the sofa and covered her with the blanket that lay folded on the back. The paramedics went to work on her immediately. I watched them closely. I felt my dad pat his hand on my shoulder before he went over to determine the situation.
What felt like hours later dad walked back over to me and pulled my into a hug
"She fine, son. She'll be coming round soon. She just had the breath knocked out of her, but she's fine" he whispered in my ear. I nodded and felt fresh tears run down my cheeks. These were in relief. All of a sudden the front door crashed open and I saw a black haired blur run at me
"Edward! Oh my god! Is she ok? We came as soon as we got the call from Esme" Alice cried
"She's ok, Al. she hasn't woken up yet, but she's ok" I said, my eyes still on my Bella. I watched as she stirred slightly and moaned. I extracted myself from Alice's arms and walked to the sofa, falling to my knees in front of her face
"Eddwwwaar-"the smile that broke out my face must have been a mile wide. She was waking up and it was my name she said first. I heard Alice and my father whispering behind me
"How is she really, Doc?"
"She's going to be just fine"
"And Edward?"
"He'll be ok once she wakes up" I heard the smile in my father's voice
"He wasn't hurt then?"
"Not physically, no"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, he was hurt emotionally. You should have seen him Alice. The last time I saw my son like that was eight years ago. I'm glad this has a different outcome" I watched Bella's face as I listened to my father say this and I heard the pain and sadness in his voice. It was too much for me to bear
"I'm sorry, Dad. I never meant for my pain to hurt you" I whispered, not taking my eyes from Bella's face. I felt my father lay his hand on shoulder once again
"I know, son, but as a parent, it happens anyway. I'm just really glad things a very different now" I turned to look at him and saw unshed tears in his eyes. He smiled at me and I smiled back. We would be ok. I turned back to Bella and saw her eyelids flutter before she opened them and stared right at me
"Edward?" her voice was a hoarse whisper, but it was still the sweetest sound to my ears
"I'm here, Baby. How are you feeling?" I saw her smile and there was nothing in the world that I could do, not that I wanted to, to stop my answering smile
"Sore, but happy to see you, Tiger" I chuckled and kissed her gently
"I'm happy to see you too, Kitten" she tried to lift herself off the couch and I leaned forward and helped her into a sitting position
"OH! Shit! Tiger, I'm so sorry!" Bella exclaimed suddenly, I pulled back, startled and frantically looked her over
"What? What's wrong?"
"Your birthday breakfast! We missed it!" I rolled my eyes. Only my Bella would worry about that first
"Bella, that was the last thing on my mind. As long as you are ok, that's all that matters to me" I placed a kiss on her forehead. I pulled back to find that she was looking down and away from me
"Jacob?" she asked in a whisper
"In police custody" I replied curtly. Surely she couldn't be concerned about him, not after what he did that day at the restaurant and again today?
"Good" I barely heard it, but hear it I did. As I gazed into my Kitten's eyes and saw pain and anger there and it made my heart clench. I wanted so much to take that look away from her. I gathered her into my arms and rubbed soothing circles on her back, not saying a word. We were interrupted by a throat clearing. I looked up to see an officer standing in the doorway. I watched him cautiously as he walked into the room and stopped before us
"Ms Swan, Mr Cullen, I am Officer Steve Twain. If it's not too much trouble, can I get your statements now, please?" he spoke softly, as if unsure of our reactions. I looked to Bella and saw her smiling. She motioned for Officer Twain to take a seat just as I rose from the floor and took my seat next Bella on the couch
"That's fine Officer Twain, please call me Bella" I felt Bella slip her hand into mine as she spoke with Officer Twain. She recounted everything that had happened on the day of their break-up and then everything that had happened today. I felt my jaw tighten as my rage against Jacob grew exponentially with each word she spoke. I remembered the look in Jacob's eyes that day at the restaurant. The pure feral rage and possessiveness made me fear for Bella's safety. If anything happened to her, it would surely kill me. Maybe I could talk her into hiring protection?
Are you insane? She would freak!
I sighed at that thought. Well, it seems that I would just need to be around her more often. I internally smirked. As if that was such a chore! I was brought out of my thoughts by Officer Twain rising from the seat
"Thank you, Bella. We'll be in touch if we need anything else from you, but other than that, we'll see you in court" Bella rose unsteadily, my hands instinctively reached out to support her. She looked down at me and smiled in thanks. I rose too, still keeping my hands in her waist.
"Thank you Officer" Officer Twain nodded at me and then left. We each let out a deep sigh. I ran my fingers through my hair. Bella turned and placed a hand on my chest and as always her touch calmed me
"Tiger, I'm sorry this ruined your morning, but can we move past it, please? I don't want this to rule my life, our lives?" I looked down at her and saw the determination in her eyes. As much as I feared for her safety, I couldn't deny her this. I couldn't deny her anything. I sighed then wrapped my arms around her
"Of course, Kitten. We'll continue this day as if nothing has happened" I brushed my lips across hers
"Thank you, Tiger. I love you" she whispered against my lips. I groaned and crushed my lips to hers, slipping my tongue inside her mouth as soon as she granted me access. She deepened the kiss, moaning softly into my mouth. I pulled her tighter to me, I needed her closer, but we both knew if we didn't stop soon we would be taking this to the next level and we had yet to take that step. I didn't want to take that step in retaliation to Jacob Black. I pulled back, panting
"Bella, baby, you have no idea how much I want you, but now is not the time" I was desperately trying to catch my breath and I could see that Bella was trying to do the same. It certainly didn't help that she was clad in only a blanket
"I know, Tiger. Our time will come, but you are right, as always" she smirked at me and I smirked right back. We heard a low whistle then. Startled we turned to find our family and friends standing in the doorway staring at us, mouths wide open, jaws near the floor. Alice, Rose and Mom fanned themselves
"Phew! That was one hot kiss!" Rose exclaimed "Bella, if the man kisses like that, I have no worries on whether he can satisfy you in bed, girl!" Bella, of course, blushed and buried her face in my chest. I simply grinned proudly at Rose's compliment. That is until my darling mother spoke
"Yep, I surely did not raise any fool! He is, after all, his father's son!" now it was my turn to blush
"Mom!" I cried. Mom simply widened her eyes at me innocently
"What? It's true! Your father is the best-"
"Mother, for the love of all that is holy, please, do not finish that sentence!" I cut her off before I could hear any damaging details about my parent's private life. That was something no child wishes to know about!
"Ewww, mom!" Emmett exclaimed, catching on a little later than me. Everyone just laughed at Emmett and me. I huffed and pulled Bella tighter to me and buried my face into her hair, my forehead resting on her shoulder. She stroked my hair as she laughed, her nails scratching my head. I couldn't help it, I moaned. The pleasure she was giving me simply by running her fingers through my hair was indescribable and shot straight down to my nether region
"Kitten, you need to stop doing that" I whispered into her ear, trying to gain control of my now raging hard on
"Why? Do you not like it?" she whispered back, hurt evident in her tone. Oh no, I needed to make it clear to her that, that was he last thing I wanted to convey
"No, I love it, but unless you stop, our first time together is going to be me fucking you like an animal in front of our family and friends" I heard her breath hitch and then stop altogether
"Breath, Bella" she exhaled a long breath, her sweet scent washing over me, nearly causing me to make good on my promise of taking her here and now
"Get a room, you two!" Alice shouted.
Damn, I had forgotten that they were here again!
Why are they still here again?
Because they are your family and they love you both!
Oh yeah...
I was brought out of my thoughts by Bella whispering in my ear
"Do you think they would take the hint if we simply ignored them for a bit?" I chuckled at the slight frustration in her tone, loving the fact that she felt the same as I did
"Its Alice, baby. I don't think so" she huffed then pulled away slightly to look over her shoulder
"Alice, sweetie, you know I love you, but right now I really wanna kill you, you know that?" Bella said in a sugary voice. I couldn't help but laugh. My Kitten was perfect and safe.
Or so I thought.