He was in high demand, so I present to you the mind of the DILF himself. Enjoy!
Chapter Seven: "Snow Day" Edward's POV
Emmy.
She always possessed the first thought of my day. I never thought I would ever love someone so much that I would literally think about them the minute when I woke up and the minute before I went to sleep—and every minute of the day between—but here I was. I certainly hadn't planned on being a single dad to the most feminine of little girls, but I wouldn't trade my life for anything.
On this particular Tuesday morning, I thought of Emmy because the apartment was strangely silent. I had worked extra hard to be able to take the week of Thanksgiving off so I could stay home with Emmy. Of course she always had my parents, my sister, and my sister's boyfriend as babysitters, but I loved our lazy days that consisted of sleeping in, watching Disney movies in our flannel pajamas, and multiple rounds of Candy Land. Luckily, my boss had been gracious in giving me the week off since I turned in all of my articles early.
But it was nine AM—which was quite late for me—and like I said earlier, my apartment was silent throughout. Emmy must have been either exhausted or growing to sleep that late…
I noticed that the apartment was extremely chilly. If I was cold, I knew that my small, delicate daughter was even colder. I ran down the hall and kicked the heat up before returning to my room.
I checked my phone for text messages or missed calls. As soon as I saw the name Bella Swan, my heart went into overdrive.
Lately, Bella had been the other woman on my mind. To be perfectly honest, I really felt like she was indeed the other woman. I hadn't dedicated so much thinking to anyone but Emmy—not even my teenage relationship with Em's mother had garnered so many thoughts. I sort of felt like I was cheating on my daughter, but at the same time, I knew that I deserved a shot at my own life, too.
And it seemed like Bella Swan could be the perfect addition to my life…
Needless to say, I was a bit enchanted by Bella. There was just something about her. Maybe it was the way she was so dedicated to her own child…or the way she understood the beautiful life I had chosen when I had decided to keep Emmy…or maybe it was just her surreal beauty and charm. It was probably actually all three of those things, to be honest.
Just before I had fallen asleep, I had texted Bella to check on Emerson, who had a stomach virus. She had obviously replied much later in the night, because I had two text messages from her. The first read:
Emerson is feeling much better, thanks for asking. He's already running around the house and praying for snow. Like that will happen.
The second read:
Well, isn't Mother Nature just a son-of-a-nutcracker.
The second text had been sent at eight this morning. A bit confused, I peered out my window.
To my surprise, the ground was covered by a thick, shiny layer of snow, untainted by footprints or dirt. It was gorgeous. It was sparkly. It was picturesque.
The weatherman had been promising snow, but I hadn't believed it would come this early in the winter, and during such a rainy season. But there it was. Obviously Emerson's prayers had been answered.
I quickly ran to my daughter's room. She was asleep in her bed, tangled in the pink quilts, her wild bronze hair splayed out all over her pillow. I loved her hair more than all of her physical features; it was uniquely mine. During Tanya Denali's pregnancy, I had hoped that our child would inherit her mother's blonde hair, but as soon as I saw my daughter's flaming red wisps, I never dreamed of blonde hair again. Somehow, it made her more real. It made me believe that there really was a part of me in this angel.
"Emmy," I said, gently shaking her. "Come on, love, wake up."
"Not right now, Daddy," she replied sleepily, rolling over.
"Let's go play in the snow," I said, and she instantly sat up.
"Snow?" she squealed. "Where?"
"Outside, silly," I teased her, kissing her face. "Hurry, before it starts to rain!"
She ran to the window, an adorable expression of pure happiness on her face. "Daddy, let's go!"
I laughed. "Breakfast first, angel."
She gave me a pouty look. "Daddy…"
"One bowl of oatmeal," I promised her.
She grumbled all the way to the kitchen. I warmed us both a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave as she sat impatiently at the kitchen table.
As soon as I sat in the chair next to her, she tried to grab the bowl of oatmeal.
"No, not yet," I said, holding it out of her reach.
"Daddy, you're wasting my time!"
"I haven't had a good morning kiss."
She rolled her eyes and stretched to give me a sweet kiss before demanding her oatmeal. Laughing, I gave her the bowl and she nearly inhaled it.
She was even more impatient as I helped her dress for the snow. I insisted on her pink snowsuit, which she thought was unnecessary. She drew the line at two pairs of socks for her boots, though. "Daddy," she sighed. "I'm not a baby."
"No, but you do weigh thirty-six pounds," I pointed out. "You're going to freeze into an Emmy Popsicle."
That made her giggle, but I understood that maybe two pairs of socks was really too much.
I quickly dressed in warm clothing and grabbed my camera. After Emmy had been born, I couldn't stop taking pictures of her with my cell phone and sending them to my friends (which I now realize was very uncool for a seventeen-year-old boy, not that I cared). So my parents had bought me a fantastic new Canon Rebel for Christmas, along with a printer that printed out actual pictures. I had become an avid photographer of all things Emily Juliet Cullen. Of course a snow day would require the camera.
Emmy looked like some kind of caged animal as she jumped up and down at the door, waiting for me. Finally, I grabbed her inhaler from the kitchen—just in case—and opened the front door. She ran out as fast as her little legs could carry her, her knit cap doing little to tame her curls. I laughed and snapped pictures as she ran all over the snow, picking it up and throwing it in the air, and finally stopping to make a snow angel.
"Daddy, play with me," she begged, giving the camera a gorgeous smile. After five years of near-constant photo ops, she knew how to pose.
"Of course," I said, looping the camera strap around my neck and taking off after her. She squealed in delight and ran from me, purposely kicking snow toward me. I fashioned a snowball and chunked it toward her.
"Show me how to do that!" she exclaimed, thrilled at the new trick.
I crouched down beside her and showed her how to pack snow between her mittens. Her first attempts were poor, but she finally got the hang of it and used a tree as target practice.
"Come take pictures with me," I encouraged her, lifting her up into one arm and turning the camera on us. We smiled together as I clicked pictures, and she accepted a few kisses for me. Of course, she was probably only posing because she knew that her grandfather would end up with copies of the pictures.
We played for a little while longer. I was amazed that the snow wasn't melting away. But Emmy got bored with me.
"I wonder what Emerson is doing," she mused as she tasted some snow.
"I don't know," I admitted before an idea came to me. "Want to find out?"
She nodded happily.
Bella had mentioned that she needed more spontaneity, so I was going to give it to her. She only lived a couple of blocks away from me, so why not show up at her house and surprise her? I knew she was awake from her text, and she had said that Emerson felt much better…
"Let's go find out," I decided, taking Emmy's hand.
She was thrilled with the idea. She skipped down the sidewalk ahead of me, sometimes stopping to observe other people playing in the snow. She was an incredibly bright little girl and (I thought) she noticed things that other kids didn't. She loved to people-watch.
Finally, we made it to Bella's apartment complex. I held Emmy's hand as we crossed the street to the Swan apartment. I rang the doorbell and waited for about thirty seconds.
The door opened, and one of the most adorable creatures I had ever seen stood there.
Her brown hair clearly was a bedhead, messy curls framing her shocked face. She wore an ensemble of yoga pants and a t-shirt that actually looked flattering on her petite figure. And she had black-framed glasses that just added to the overall charm of early-morning Bella.
She briskly closed the door in my face, making Emmy giggle.
"Well, that's not the reaction I was hoping for," I murmured.
"She's embarrassed because you saw her without makeup on," Emmy informed me, her knowledge of the female species already shining.
"She's pretty without makeup on," I replied. Bella actually wasn't much of a makeup girl, from what I had seen of her.
"Yeah, but girls don't always know that," my wise daughter insisted. "She's not like a dinosaur. She can't impress others with her growl or her size."
Emerson opened the door then, fully dressed. "Mom said to come in. She's getting dressed."
"Thanks, buddy," I told him before reminding Emmy to stomp the snow off her boots. When we were as clean as possible, we entered the warm, cozy apartment.
"Come play in the snow with me," Emmy begged her friend.
"I will," Emerson promised her. "As soon as my mom comes out. Come look at our Christmas tree! We put it up early this year."
"Cool!" Emmy replied before running with Emerson to the next room. I followed more slowly, wishing Bella wouldn't feel so self-conscious about her appearance. She always looked beautiful.
It was a modest artificial tree decorated with Wal-Mart ornaments. Bella had managed to make it look stylish with colorful balls, lights, and candy cane ornaments, but Emerson had obviously begged for the plastic superhero ornaments. There were little Batmen, Supermen, Spidermen, Ironmen, Green Lanterns, Flashes, Wonder Women, and even Captain Americas. It was a great mix of the Swans. They had also made popcorn chains to go around the tree. It wasn't elaborate, but it was still cute and festive-looking. (Yeah, I use the word cute…call it the curse of raising a daughter.)
Finally, Bella came into the living room, looking much more put-together. She was wearing jeans and a thick sweater, her hair brushed and pulled out of her face with bobby pins. Her long curls were hanging down her back rather than all around her.
"Hi," I said. "I hope we aren't interrupting anything. That was rather rude of us to just show up."
"Not rude, just unexpected," she insisted. "Sorry for slamming the door in your face…I looked like a swamp monster, and I really didn't want you to see me like that."
"I thought it was unbelievably cute," I admitted. "And I haven't even shaved or brushed my hair today, so don't feel bad."
She giggled. "I like the stubble, and at least your hat covers your hair. So I guess you're here to pull me out into that white wet stuff?"
"Exactly," I nodded. "Before it melts."
"Please, Mom?" Emerson begged, pulling the old puppy-dog-eyes trick.
"Of course we can," Bella told him. "Let's go get you dressed."
They emerged in full winter gear a few minutes later. Bella wore a blue puffy coat with a white knit set of a hat, a scarf, and gloves. She looked like a model for a ski lodge or something.
Emmy and Emerson bounded out the door. I offered Bella my hand, which she happily accepted, and we walked out together, my camera hanging from my neck.
"Nice Canon," she commented, smiling as the kids ran and tumbled in the snow.
"Thanks. It was a gift from my parents. I use it to document the everyday life of Emmy."
"Are you a skilled photographer?"
"I'll let you come over to my house for dinner, and you can look at the thousands of pictures and tell me what you think," I grinned at her. "Emmy has grown up in front of the camera. Do you mind if I take pictures of Emerson?"
"Not at all. I might request some copies, though."
Bella and I laughed together as I photographed the kids as they played. They had a poor version of a snowball fight and made snow angels together. Finally, Bella suggested making a snowman. Of course, she didn't really know how, since she was still a Phoenix girl at heart. I had grown up in the north, though, so I was a snowman expert.
Emerson and Emmy called themselves "helping" me as I rolled up the different body parts of the snowman. It was hard work and had me winded when we finally stacked the three snow mounds on top of each other. Bella ran in the house and found a baseball cap, some buttons, and a celery stick.
"Quite an unconventional snowman," I teased her as she made the celery stick into a nose.
"Oh, hush," she replied, fashioning a mouth out of the buttons. "I don't have any huge carrots lying around."
"He's beautiful," Emmy decided when we were finished. "I think we should name him."
"Optimus Prime," Emerson suggested, which earned him a nudge from his mother.
" Lillian," Emmy said instead.
"He's a boy," I argued. "He needs a manly name like…George."
Bella giggled. "George?"
I turned to look at her, the sound of her giggle entrancing me. She was beautiful in the cold weather, with rosy cheeks and windblown hair that danced around her face. Her chocolate eyes were wide as they watched me back. I think our kids grew tired of our staring, because they scampered off together in search of sticks to make arms for the nameless snowman.
I put a cold hand to her cheek. "You're gorgeous."
Her skin turned even rosier. "No, I'm really not…"
"Yeah, you really are," I replied, my eyes flitting over to Emmy and Emerson. They were distracted by their quest for snowman supplies. I pulled Bella closer to me and bent to brush my icy lips against hers.
The kiss was just as sweet as it had been Friday night. She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, leaning her head on my chest. I pulled the camera away from us and turned it so I could snap some pictures of us together.
She laughed after about the fifth picture, which I'm sure made for another beautiful photo. "You know that these are going to look horrible, right?"
I rolled my eyes playfully. "I know what I'm doing."
She pursed her lips in a moue and bent to grab a handful of snow. She suddenly threw the snowball in my face, nailing me.
"Gotcha," she grinned before running away.
"Oh, you're in trouble!" I called after her before scooping up some snow of my own. I bombarded her with loosely-packed snowballs, making the white frost coat her hair and coat. She looked like some kind of snow angel running in the grass clearing. She started to throw snow back at me, and finally I tackled her and pinned her under me.
"I surrender!" she shouted, laughing as I started to shovel snow on top of her with my hands. "I surrender! Don't bury me alive!"
I laughed, pecked her ruby-red lips, and then helped her up. She pretended to pout as I helped brush the snow off of her.
It had been a long time since I had been a player in these flirtatious little games. I had missed them, even though they were more fun than ever with Bella.
I was suddenly made aware of Emerson calling, "Edward! Mom!" I looked over and saw my little girl sitting on the snow, her mouth open as she gasped for air.
"Oh, god," I said, running for Emmy. I scooped her up, cradling her in my arms while keeping her upright.
"What's wrong?" Bella asked in alarm.
"Asthma attack," I explained. "It's okay, Emmy, I have your inhaler, sweet girl. Can we use your heat?"
"Of course," she said, leading us to the apartment. I stepped in and carried Emmy to the couch, sitting her in my lap. I pulled her inhaler out of my zipped coat pocket, grateful that I was once again an overprotective parent.
Emmy was trying to slow her breathing to match mine, as we had practiced many times. I pulled her coat, hat, and scarf off of her, knowing that the heat would be too much. After I yanked my coat off, I aligned her with my torso and shook the inhaler.
She knew exactly how to use it. She focused on exhaling like a trooper before putting it to her mouth. She inhaled as she squirted the medicine tube.
"Ten…nine…eight…" I counted softly for her, kissing her hair. "Seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…exhale, my love. Breathe with me."
Emmy literally breathed a sigh of relief as the albuterol soaked her lungs and allowed them to open up again. I focused on rationing the deep breaths she was supposed to copy, my chest and stomach rising and falling behind her. Finally, she matched her breathing to mine so our respiratory systems were moving in synchronization.
"You're okay," I said, kissing her again. "That one wasn't bad at all."
Bella was watching from a few feet away, her arm around Emerson. "Do you need anything?"
"A glass of water would be wonderful," I replied. "Breathe with me, Emmy."
"I'm okay, Daddy," she assured me, her voice still a bit weak and airy.
"Let's do it one more time."
We went through the same routine again and finally, we were both breathing easier, though for different reasons.
"Are you okay?" Emerson asked timidly.
She nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just asthmatic." She sipped at the water Bella had brought her. The albuterol didn't taste good.
"You're a brave girl," Bella said sincerely.
She shrugged, unimpressed by her latest asthma attack. "My bronchi just had to be relaxed by the albuterol. I've had to go to the emergency room before."
Bella looked up at me, her brown eyes wide. I nodded with a sigh. "Those were a few of the scariest moments of my life."
Emmy rolled her eyes. "Daddy, I was fine. Asthma isn't that bad. Can we go back outside?"
"Not right now," I said gently. "We were out there for too long, anyway. I know that my chest hurts from the cold."
"Let's take our coats off and put them by the door," Bella suggested, "and I can make some hot cocoa. Do you like marshmallows, Emmy?"
"Very much! Daddy makes oatmeal that has egg-shaped marshmallows, and when you heat it, the eggs turn into marshmallow dinosaurs!"
Bella chuckled. "Wow! I've never heard of that before. Edward, you can put in a movie for the kids if you want." She was gathering up everyone's wet coats and shoes.
They decided they wanted to watch 101 Dalmatians, so I put that DVD in and then joined Bella in the kitchen.
"I didn't know Emmy is asthmatic," Bella commented as she stirred the hot cocoa in the pot on the stove.
"She doesn't like for everyone to know," I admitted.
"She really went to the ER?" the lovely girl in front of me asked fearfully.
I nodded. "Yeah…on several occasions, actually. It's not that uncommon for asthmatic kids. I'm lucky that she's so mature about it at only five years old. She insists on operating her own inhaler and even keeps one in her backpack at school."
"You're not lucky," Bella stated. "You're just a good dad for raising her to be so mature about it."
I shrugged. "Emmy has always been very independent. It's in her nature. But really, that wasn't even a bad attack. Don't worry."
"Would you like to stay for lunch?" Bella asked me, her tone lighter now that she realized the "emergency" was over.
"Are you sure…?"
"Of course," she rolled her eyes. "I was thinking grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup."
"That sounds amazing," I admitted. "But when am I going to have you over for dinner?"
She gave me a sly smile. "Well, I plan on seeing you for a while, so we'll find time."
We spent the day like I had planned spending with only Emmy—watching Disney movies, playing board games, and eating winter-appropriate foods. I unveiled new shades of Bella's personality as the day went by, and I realized that I was quickly falling for her. She was just such a kind person, all wrapped up in a pretty package.
Emmy and I left earlier than usual, because Bella mentioned that she and Emerson were driving down to Forks to spend the rest of the week with her father. I discreetly kissed her while Emmy and Emerson were distracted by a passionate discussion about…dinosaurs. (What a surprise.) She promised me she would let me know when she made it to Forks so I wouldn't have to worry about car accidents or anything.
"Face it," I teased her. "I'm a chronic worrier."
Emmy was understandably exhausted, so after I tucked her in with a sweet lullaby, I retreated to the living room and began the long process of printing out all of the quality pictures on the memory card. There were some beautiful ones of Emmy I needed to frame. I made Bella copies of the ones with Emerson—of course, those were unbelievably cute as well. Emerson Swan was one photogenic kid, and his bright personality showed in the pictures.
I gasped as I saw the prints of me and Bella. We already looked like a couple, with my arm around her and her head resting on my shoulder. Her beauty lit up the entire picture. It even complimented me.
I realized as I studied the pictures that it wasn't because her ivory skin matched mine, or because her brown hair looked nice with my reddish stubble. It was because there was something sunny that naturally bubbled out of Bella, and it reflected on me.
It was happiness.
When I was with Bella, I was happy. Period.
Not that I was an unhappy person. I loved a human being more than any other person ever loved anyone—the object of my affection just happened to be my daughter. But I now realized that something was missing. I needed a woman, a mate, a partner. I had been lonely for too long.
I picked my favorite of the Bella pictures—the one where she was resting her head on my shoulder and laughing—and stuck it onto my refrigerator with a magnet, right next to a picture of a three-year-old Emmy picking flowers from my mom's garden. Now I had two favorite pictures.
I loved writing this chapter. There will be a few more Edward chapters with a lot more fluff.
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