Disclaimer:Twilight does NOT belong to me. This story is inspired from the show "Sunny Happiness". I don't own that one either.
Thanks to my Beta, Ninkita 3
Previously:
"Shouldn't we just end our story? I think it'll be best," I murmured, resting my head on his shoulder.
He loosened his hold on me, turned me around by my waist, and stated, "Absolutely not. I want to be with you. I want our story to continue. I know this marriage started as a fake arrangement, but along the way, I fell in love with you, I don't even know when. Please Bella, let's not end our relationship. Let's not get divorced… ever," he said, before he pulled me into a tight hug.
"Okay," I answered, before returning his hug. And thus, in that park, we started our real marriage.
Chapter 7
A few days passed, and I could finally state that I was… happy. Everything was just same as before, but now everyone knew that I was their daughter-in-law. Edward's parents had insisted that I should call them by their names as it was my right… or so they said. Esme and Carlisle were borderline affectionate. They treated me like a piece of glass, as if I would break with the slightest touch. If any of them saw me working, they would ask me to rest immediately. It took some time to make them understand that I would be healthier if I kept my body active, but I promised them that I wouldn't overdo it. Edward took me to the OB/GYN and we got to hear our baby's heartbeat. We were over the moon.
One day, Alice aka Miss Brandon came and stated that Jasper always praised my brownies, so she bought brownies from the most expensive store to compare them with mine. I could only sigh at her act. For some reason unknown to me, she was jealous of me. Carlisle came in for a glass of water at that very moment. "That's a challenging offer. Looking forward to eating them," he stated, chuckling on his way out.
"I'm going to win this," Alice started as soon as we were alone. "Just because Edward married you, it doesn't mean it changed your status. You were a maid and will always be a maid for me," she hissed.
"Okay," I just returned with a confused look, since I just didn't understand her. Why was she jealous of me? Why did she hate me so much? She had literally everything and yet she was jealous.
That night over the dinner table our brownies were tasted. The ones Alice had brought were really beautiful and delicious and mine weren't that good to look at. Edward encouraged me and served my brownies himself. The looks on everyone's faces scared the life out of me. But then Esme stated that mine had the perfect balance of ingredients, while in Alice's brownies the flavor of chocolate was a bit too strong. Edward nodded and offered me a spoonful with a proud smile.
Does it make me petty that I felt happy while Alice must have felt humiliated?
I don't know…
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Edward was different when we were alone; a mix between a best friend and a caring, loving husband. A vast difference from the man I had first met. Often he would offer to hire a caretaker for me and I would insist on not doing so. When his requests weren't accepted, he started helping in my menial chores whenever he was home. If I protested, then he would say, "I'm your husband and it's my duty to help my wife."
That was the first weekend when Anthony went to stay at Tanya's house after her move to Seattle. I was reading a book when Edward joined me on the couch and took my hand. He didn't say anything at first but he seemed to want to say something.
So I asked impatiently when he didn't say anything for a while, "What is it you want to say? You can tell me, you know?" I offered him a smile.
He looked at me through his ridiculously long eyelashes and offered me his famous crooked smile. "I think it's time to tell Anthony about our marriage." He nodded to himself and added, "As soon as he arrives home tomorrow, I'll tell him. Will you be with me when I tell him?"
"I'll be right beside you." I replied.
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The next morning when Edward brought Anthony home, Anthony started acting upset. He wouldn't even talk to Edward. When he arrived with his father, he actually had a huge scowl on his face, which seemed to grow as he saw me. I couldn't understand his reaction. Anthony would always come running to me to tell me about his weekend, but that day he stomped around the house like an angry kitten and wouldn't talk to his father and me.
"What's wrong?" I asked Edward.
"I have absolutely no idea. Tanya said he's angry because I was late. So…" he shrugged.
I nodded at him, before approaching Anthony. I asked him, "What did your dad do to make our Anthony so angry?"
"I'm NOT you Anthony. I'm my mom's Anthony," Anthony shouted.
"What on earth are you talking about? Why are you throwing a tantrum?" Edward asked sternly, raising his voice and crossing his hands over his chest.
"Don't raise your voice at him." I shook my head at my husband and asked Anthony calmly, "Anthony, why are you in such a bad mood? Is everything okay?"
"NO, EVERYTHING IS NOT OKAY. YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. NOW, BECAUSE OF YOU MY MOM AND DAD WON'T BE TOGETHER ANYMORE," Anthony yelled at the top of his voice, leaving his dad and me stunned.
"ANTHONY? What's wrong with you, kid? Who told you these things?" Edward questioned, astonished.
"Mom told me everything. That you got married to Bella and left my mom. I HATE YOU BOTH." And with that Anthony ran to his room and locked the door from inside.
Edward started to follow him but I stopped him. "Edward, let him cool down a bit. Then we'll make him understand calmly. Yelling at each other will only create problems. He's a child and I can understand his point of view on this whole situation. Please calm down. We'll talk to him later."
Edward nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry for his behavior, Bella."
"Ssshh… no… it's okay. I'll go check on him," I told him before heading towards Anthony's room. His door was locked from inside. I knocked for a few minutes but instead of opening the door, Anthony yelled, "LEAVE ME ALONE." I sighed and left him for a while, to cool down a bit.
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Three hours later, with his favorite ice-cream as a bribe, I went to Anthony's room. I knocked and knocked but he didn't reply… in fact there wasn't even a sound of someone being in there. I started to worry.
I got the spare key of his room, and opened the door. The room was empty. I called to see if he was in the bathroom, but that was empty too. The window of his room was open though. I was about to leave the room, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and in Anthony's handwriting it said, "GOODBYE. I'M LEAVING HOME…. ANTHONY."
"Oh God!" I ran out of the room. Nobody was at home, so I ran to the police station alone. I tried to call Edward but his phone was switched off. The police was of no help at all. They said I could only report a missing person after 24 hours.
How screwed up was that…
Hopelessly I started thinking of places where my little boy could go and was about to go search myself, when my phone rang. The id said it was Seth, the caretaker from the orphanage I volunteered in.
"Hello, Seth? Huh… really? I'll be there soon." I hung up and headed for the orphanage.
Half an hour later, when I reached the orphanage, I found Anthony playing with other kids there with a huge smile on his face. Seth was playing along them. He suddenly looked up and saw me. "Bells," he waved. Anthony turned around at my name and seeing me, he grimaced and turned the other way.
I walked to him and smiled. "Hey Anthony."
He pouted, looking down and asked, "Why are you here?
"Oh? Did you forget that I volunteer here sometimes? I'm here to visit the kids. Can't I do that?" I answer nonchalantly. He just "hmmed" in answer.
"Bells, what a coincidence. You're here too. I bumped into Anthony on the road and brought him here," Seth stated with an innocent face. "Do you want to play with us?"
"I won't play if she does," Anthony grumbled.
"Little petty devil. Who wants to play with you?" I asked with my hands on my hips. I then poked my tongue at him and started making faces. Anthony pouted some more, if that was possible.
"Okay you lose. Anthony, let's play our game if she doesn't want to play. We'll have more fun without her."
I smile at Seth and leave them alone. I knew Seth would take care of Anthony.
They started playing again. I smiled and went to do my usual stuff when I worked there. I washed the dishes, clothes, made beds of the kids, chatted with the principal, and at noon I headed to the kitchen to make lunch for everyone. I was humming and adding cheese when I heard footsteps. Someone entered the kitchen. From the corner of my eye I saw that it was none other than Anthony. "Hey kiddo, what are doing in the kitchen?" I asked smiling.
"I had no choice," he replied very seriously "I lost the game and Brother Seth said, according to the game rules I have to do some chore. That's why I'm here to help you serve the food to everyone."
"It'll take a few more minutes. Why don't you wait outside? I'll tell you when I'm done."
"Whatever," he grumbled and went out.
I turned down the heat on the cooking range to let the food simmer a bit more and followed him out. He was playing with a stick. I took a seat beside him and asked, "Are you having fun here?"
"Yes, it's fun," he replied absentmindedly.
"Why is it fun?" I asked.
"There are lots of kids here. Brother Seth is here. We played ball, race and lots more other games. Bella, let me tell you…" he then trailed off.
"Okay, enough of this awkward silence thing. Your dad and I may have gotten married but I'll still just be his new wife. I won't be your mom. Because I know that there will be only one mom for Anthony and that's Tanya. No one can take her place; not even me. I'll be your friend, your mischief partner," I explained.
"But since you're married now, I'll have to stay with dad, and mom will be alone," he pouted. For a little kid, he really was worried for his mom.
"Then how about this? I'll tell you a secret but you can't tell your dad. Pinky promise?" At his acceptance, I continued. "I'll borrow your father for one year. After that I'll… leave and return your dad to you."
"Why one year? And where will you go after that?" he asked widening his innocent eyes.
"There's a reason that you won't understand, but the reason will be over after the year and I'll be able to give you your father back." I patted his head.
"Why do you adults have so many reasons that I won't understand?" Anthony whined, making me chuckle.
"Adults are troublesome. I also don't understand them sometimes," I offered him a sad smile.
"So… a year later, my dad can be with my mom?" he asked.
"That depends on your parents. I don't really know what will happen after a year," I replied as I felt my heart tearing itself apart. "Now can we be friends again?" He nodded and gave me a big hug.
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When we returned home, Edward and Anthony talked and made up. Days started going by at a normal pace again. I didn't move into the Cullen mansion yet, since we were waiting for the vow renewal first. The day when I was officially going to move was coming near; though most of my day was spent in their house anyway. I was doing the dishes one night when Edward entered the kitchen with his eyebrow raised and asked, "Why are you doing the dishes? You're pregnant, Bella. Shouldn't you be resting?"
"It calms me to do household chores, Edward. I feel at peace. And these days all I seem to be doing is one thing… REST," I replied with a slight pout. He chuckled and came to stand beside me.
With a slight shove of his hip, he replaced me and started doing the dishes. "I'll help," he said, winking.
We were talking and joking when Edward received a call. He gave me an apologetic look and said, "Sorry, can't drop you off today."
"I'll be fine. Go attend your call. Good night."I smiled.
"Good night," he smiled and left with his phone at his ear. After finishing the rest of dishes, I picked up my purse and walked out. Jasper and Alice were standing in front of the swimming pool and talking to each other when they saw me going out alone. Jasper enquired about it and seemed a little upset that Edward wasn't dropping me off. When Jasper asked if he could drop me home, Alice got irritated about it. I didn't want to anger the wild cat more so I told them I was fine, but these Cullen brothers are damn stubborn. He said since he was going to drop off Alice, he could do the same for me too.
During the drive I noticed there was a distance between Alice and Jasper. Alice seemed eager for her fiancé's attention, but Jasper was short with her, in a polite way; like he was just enduring her. When Jasper dropped her off first, she got pissed and left with a glare in my direction. What their situation had to do with me I didn't understand. I asked Jasper about it but all he said was, "Alice needs to grow up and act mature and not act like some jealous school girl." What was she jealous of and why?
Suddenly Jasper braked the car in the middle of a busy street. I turned to ask him the reason, but his next word filled me with dread.
"Edward?" he sounded confused. I turned to look in the direction he was looking and saw Edward and Tanya standing in front of a café, talking about something. Jasper started to remove his seat belt when I requested, "Can you drive away? It's too late. I'm sleepy."
"But..."
"Don't ask. Please drive away," I pleaded, looking away. He nodded and started driving.
Why had I fallen in love with Edward? I knew that after a year he'd be back with Tanya, then why did it hurt so much? I tried to keep my tears at bay. No need to show Jasper how much it pained me to see them together like this.
"He shouldn't have done that," Jasper stated softly.
"Tanya is Anthony's mom, Jasper. Maybe they had something to talk about him," I tell him with a soft smile.
"It is normal but he shouldn't have lied to you that he was going to meet a client," Jasper frowned.
"Maybe he didn't want me to over-think things," I shrugged. "Maybe he's scared that I'll be worried." Jasper nodded, sighing deeply. "And anyway, it's not me you should be worried about now. You might have a fight tonight with Alice," I smirked at him.
"There is a good chance that might happen," Jasper chuckled, nodding his head.
"Good night, then. Drive safely."
"Good night, Bella." And he drove away.
I stood there in front of my building, thinking about my husband—my fake husband. His meeting with Tanya was normal. Anthony wanted his divorced parents to be together again. That was normal as well. As for our marriage, it was an unexpected occurrence.
When one has been thrown off the route, they just have to work hard at getting back on the route, and it'll be fine. Unfortunately, I didn't seem to be able to get a grip on the steering wheel of my life.
This was the first time I'd hoped that I'd be just like Cinderella. The last person the prince would turn to face would be me. But I know that in the end, Cinderella was only a fairytale that others daydreamed about.
I'm Isabella Marie Swan. The Isabella Swan, who can't fall in love with the prince. I sighed, pulling myself out of my thoughts and headed for my flat. That night tears had free reign in my eyes.
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Then the day came when I officially moved into the Cullen Mansion. Since our families weren't there during our original wedding, Esme, Carlisle and my dad decided to have a small ceremony at the Forks church before I went with them. The ceremony was short and sweet. Edward said his vows looking in my eyes as if to reassure me that it was real. But there was a tiny voice that asked if it was really a real thing or the calm before a storm?
But that day I put my fears on the back burner and enjoyed my wedding.
A/N: You guys are awesome. Thanks for reading and please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think of the progress.