Stephenie has it all. I just decided to play with her characters and add some of mine. I don't own anything you might recognize.
THANK YOU, GUYS! I never expected so many reviews or story Alerts/Favorites or hits. You are great! This is seriously my only story to receive such feedback!
Many thanks to my beta for all the support, honey!
This is my FB name: Cherry Bellazza Callen. There are pictures on my profile.
PS: I made a group on FB: http:/www(.)facebook(.)com/groups/274198112656668/
I'll keep a new updating schedule. Mondays and Fridays!
Outtake 8 and 9 are posted in case you didn't read them yet. More to come so keep them on alert. ;)
I've just been lazy in replying your review, sorry. I will respond this week hoping I have time.
I won 2nd place in The Torch Awards for the Best Cliff Hanger with this story. A huge THANK YOU to everyone that voted!
I woke up disorientated when something wet touched my back. I turned my head unsure of what I'd see – it was only Cody looking at me pleadingly. Cody's walks were Edward's job, especially in the morning. We had fallen in that routine without saying anything, but after looking to my right and seeing him hugging Abby's small body to his chest, his hand still clutching her hands, I smiled and rolled off the bed.
"Go to the kitchen," I whispered to Cody before grabbing some clothes and going to the bathroom. I knew I didn't have time to shower, but I could at least wash my face a little.
Cody was sitting in front of the back door, waggling his tail when I reached the kitchen. The second the door was unlocked, he zoomed out and after sniffing around he went to a tree. "Don't go anywhere," I threatened him as I started the coffee, but mostly watching him.
Five minutes later, I was on the rocker with my coffee while he walked around the backyard. Esme had sent me some flower seeds, but I had no idea how and where to put them. I wasn't sure if summer was the right time to seed them, and I didn't want to call and ask such a silly thing.
When Cody realized I wasn't going to walk him like he was used to, he brought me an over-used toy of his, dropping it on my lap. I laughed and after shaking it a little making him bark loudly, I threw it away. We kept playing until my throw aim proved how horrible I was at it. The toy landed on the hood of the car. Before I could get up and retrieve it, Cody had jumped on top of the car making the alarm go off.
"Cody!" I moaned, rushing inside to find the keys and stop the alarm. I clicked the button toward the car and grabbed the stuffed toy from Cody's mouth. "Are you crazy?"
He looked down, almost ashamed, his tail moving between his back legs. I marched back to the rocker and grabbed my abandoned coffee. He came to me and nudged my knee with his muzzle. I tried to ignore him which was difficult; he was too cute when he tried to apologize. A few minutes later, Cody jumped on the rocker and lay on my lap. Unable to resist him, I started stroking his side. If he were a cat, he'd be purring.
I showed him the toy and he sprung up, jumping on the ground. Laughing at how silly he was, I threw the toy away not looking where it landed as I sipped from my coffee.
There was a shout of surprise followed by a loud 'omph' and a bang. My wide eyes went to the kitchen's door to see Edward sprawled on the floor with Cody on top of him. I rushed to him worried.
"Hi," I whispered leaning to him with an extended hand.
Edward took it gratefully and sat up, rubbing his hip. "Hey."
"Sorry," I apologized, biting my lip.
"Sure, sure. You always were a sneaky one. Trying to kill me and make it look like an accident."
I pushed playfully against his chest, leaving my hand there. "I'd have blamed Cody now."
When he heard his name, Cody started yapping and picked up his toy. Edward took it from him, wrapping an arm around me and stepped outside. He threw the toy to his right and stirred me to the rocker.
"What happened earlier? I heard the alarm," he mumbled.
"That was me," I admitted with a giggle. "My great shot aim."
"There goes my plan," he joked, kissing my head.
"What plan?" I asked confused.
Edward glanced at the hoop then at me with a smile. "But I'll wait for Billy to wake up."
I laughed, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Good choice. The last few times, I had sheer luck, I'm sure," I mumbled, grabbing his hand and twining our fingers.
Cody came to us and Edward threw the toy away before leaning into me and nuzzling my cheek with his nose. My eyes shot open.
"Where's Abby?"
"Sleeping. Don't worry."
"She should wake up," I insisted.
"She woke up when the alarm went off. I changed her, gave her something to eat and now she's sleeping again."
I hadn't heard a thing from the kitchen being too focused on our cunning dog.
Being summer and having Edward home helped me a lot. I could actually do what I had planned for the day without leaving things for the next day. He spent most of his time with Abby while I did some house keeping or cooked. In the afternoons we had fallen in a relaxing habit of taking Abby to a stroll around the neighborhood, along with Cody. It was that perfect picture of a happy family.
As autumn approached, I decided to find a new job, one that would allow me to work from home if possible. I knew that Abby was my first priority and I didn't want to leave her with anyone unknown. Edward wasn't really happy about my decision, but I expected just as much.
It was a week before my birthday when someone called me for one of my applications. They wanted an accountant. I had always hated that subject and with half a mouth, I told them that I wasn't really good even though on my diploma wrote accountancy amongst other things. The man assured me that they could enroll me to some classes to become better. It sounded surreal. I was still hesitant when what the man said made me accept. I wasn't going to work somewhere, I could do it from home and at first I won't have hard stuff to do. I promised to come back with a phone call the next day because I really wanted to talk about it with Edward.
When he came back from the gym that day, I was almost bouncing in the hallway, unable to wait to tell him my news. He was surprised to see me there when he stepped inside.
"Hi, love," he said surprised, shooting me a grin. "Missed me?"
"Always." I wrapped my arms around him not caring that he was sweaty. "Guess what happened?"
His eyes widened and his face fell. "Tell me she didn't walk!"
I laughed at how silly he was. "Uh, no. It has to do with me," I told him pointedly.
"Oh." His face fell further.
"Don't look so excited," I joked, pinching his cheek. "A guy from an accountancy firm called. He said I could work from home. And when I told him that I wasn't sure of my accountancy knowledge, he said it was no problem and that they'd pay for me to study it more. What do you say?" I asked excitedly.
"I don't know, Bella," Edward whispered, rubbing his thumbs on my hips. "Do you really want this?"
"Yes, Edward! I'm going crazy home! My time splits between cleaning the house, cooking and Abby."
"And me," he added pressing his lips to my forehead.
"I barely see you now that you started training for the next season. You must understand me. I want to do something," I insisted.
He sighed heavily. "What courses are they paying for?"
I almost squealed because I knew he was going to cave. "It's like a MBA. There will be two years of this."
"I see. It's not just accountancy then. Right?"
"It's more like a continuation of what I studied in college, but based on accountancy. It sounds like a good career." I shrugged looking up at him. "What do you think?"
He scratched his jaw looking in my eyes, searching for something. "You'll have to go to those classes, right? What about Abby?"
"The classes are at night. After six PM. You'd be home by then and if you are held up or have a game, there's always Liz."
"Okay. If this is something you really want, who am I to stay in between you and this?" he asked teasingly, stroking my hair. "Can I pick you up, at least?"
"Sure. The classes end around nine, but he told me that it depends on the professor and I can escape earlier."
"It sounds to me like you were going to say yes anyway."
"I wanted to talk to you about this. I think it's something normal, don't you? If you had said no, I would have probably…" I trailed off, biting my lip.
"Gone anyway?" he supplied amused.
"Nah. I'd have persuaded you in ways, then you'd have caved," I said playfully, bringing his mouth to mine.
"Bribery gets you everywhere with me."
"I thought that was blow jobs," I said seriously making his eyes light up. "Not now. I haven't started dinner."
"Do you need help?" he asked, toeing his shoes off. I had kept him at the door with my eagerness to share my news.
"No, but you can heat milk for Abby."
He was already on his way to our room by the time I finished talking. I started working on dinner and jumped when I heard the cry from the baby monitor. Wasn't Edward with her? I kept stirring in the pot, but after about two minutes, I decided to see what was going on. When I reached Abby's room, she was alone crying her lungs out. Where was Edward? I picked her up and bounced her for a little while, feeling her diaper. She was just hungry.
"You'll have to wait," I whispered. I had gotten her used to drink the formula for dinner and since it wasn't ready and Edward was doing who knows what in our room, Abby had to wait.
Ten minutes later, she was clutching her baby bottle with her little hands, sucking vigorously on the rubber head. I made my way to our room to see what had sidetracked Edward.
"You here?" I asked when I saw the bedroom empty.
"Stay there. I'll be out in a minute," he shouted from the bathroom.
Like hell. I could tell something was wrong from his voice and when I pushed the door open, I saw him leaning over the sink to be closer to the mirror and inspecting a long scratch on his shoulder. It was an angry red and I could tell it had just stopped bleeding.
"Edward!" I gasped. "What happened?"
"Nothing. I told you to wait," he moaned, covering his shoulder with his palm. Then he saw Abby in my arms and groaned. He had forgotten. Figures.
"Let me see. Does it hurt? What did you do?" I insisted worried.
"It's nothing. I might have slipped off the treadmill." He shot me a smile.
I raised my eyebrow at him. Yeah, sure. "Really?" I asked skeptically.
"Really. You can ask Kyle. I was with him. I'm fine, I swear."
I shook my head, pursing my lips. "Can I see, at least?"
Slowly, he uncovered his shoulder as I stepped closer. I swear, even Abby stopped sucking and her eyes widened as she looked at her daddy's shoulder. She pointed there saying something in her own language before looking at me and back at Edward.
He nodded, taking her from me. "Yeah, I have boo-boo."
She pouted and watched him with teary eyes. Don't make her cry, I begged silently. Then she did an unexpected thing. She reached for his shoulder and kissed him before beaming. We had told her about kissing the boo-boo and she must have remembered it.
Edward grinned and pressed his lips to her head. "I feel much better." That earned him a huge grin from Abby.
I stepped closer and kissed his bruise too before kissing his lips. "Did you disinfect it? Why didn't you say a thing when you came home?"
"You kinda ambushed me when I came home, love. I swear, I wanted to tell you but you were so happy…I thought I'd take care of it alone."
"Disinfectant?"
"Yes. I was about to put the band aid when you barged in," he explained, rolling his eyes. "I finished pre-med, don't forget that."
He winced when Abby pushed her finger above the cut. I took her from him. "No, Abby. It hurts him." Of course, she wanted back and started wailing when she was in my arms.
"I'll be right out," Edward said, though I had no idea who it was directed to. As I walked to the door of the bathroom, Abby grabbed at my hair pointing to Edward and crying loudly. "Shh, I'll be with you in a few minutes," he said soothingly, stroking her head. Yeah, like she knows what a few minutes mean.
I went to the kitchen, trying to stop her tantrum but she was wailing at the top of her lungs looking over my shoulder. Some outsider might have thought I was killing her.
Abby was restless and I couldn't pacify her with anything. The second Edward stepped into the kitchen she stopped crying. Just like that. I huffed and passed her over to him before preparing her food. He sat down and kept whispering to her as if I couldn't hear them. I loved seeing them together. Edward was a great father.
When he caught me staring, he shot me a wide smile before focusing back on Abby's babbling. I had promised myself not to baby talk to her because she was capable of hearing and understanding if I talked normally to her, although sometimes it was hard to keep my own promise. Edward wasn't even trying to be serious.
I put our food on the table and offered Edward Abby's food. He looked startled before chuckling.
"It's for her," I admonished him when he pretended to eat from her bowl.
"It's not like I'd put this in my mouth. It smells bad," he told me, scrunching his nose.
Abby made to grab for her food and that was Edward's cue to feed her. I started eating too, but I felt bad knowing he must be famished. Abby wasn't going to accept me if I tried to feed her so I pressed my fork to Edward's mouth.
"Open up."
"Thanks," he whispered, taking the meat off the fork. "Mhmm, it's so good."
"I'm glad you like it." I kissed his cheek.
We continued like that and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to feed him while he was feeding Abby.
Staying home, time passed quickly and before I knew it, Halloween was upon us. Somehow, I had accepted to crave three pumpkins. It was so much harder than it looked.
After cutting the upper part and nearly taking a few fingers down with it, I altered between a knife and a teaspoon to take the contents out.
It's the last time I cave to his wide, pleading, green eyes, I promised myself.
When I was elbow deep into a pumpkin, Abby started crying. Why was she awake now? It felt like she had just fallen asleep. Cleaning hastily, I went to her room. Of course, she didn't need anything because when she saw me she started smiling. Rolling my eyes, I took her with me to the kitchen and installed her in the high chair along with a few toys.
Once the first pumpkin was as empty as it could be, I brought my laptop and searched nice faces. I drew the first one on my pumpkin and decided to start craving it. Thankfully, it was much easier and in no time I had a grinning pumpkin with one lopsided eye. I'd only craved pumpkins twice in my life, but never from scratch. Dad helped me cut the upper part and I missed him more than ever as I tried cutting the second pumpkin. It was in a pear shape and once I managed to have the cap off, it looked full and it was so hard to take it all out. Deciding that I needed a break, I took Abby to the living room and we played for what felt like ten minutes before the doorbell rang. Picking her up, I went to open the door and came face to face with Liz.
"Hello?" I said surprised. Shouldn't she have been at work?
"Hello, dear. They always leave us out early on holidays," she explained taking Abby from me. "She gets bigger every time I see her."
I smiled and shrugged, not realizing it as well as her. I could see changes every day, yes, but Liz wasn't seeing Abby every second like me.
"Were you painting?" she asked confused taking an orange smudge off Abby's cheek.
"My pumpkin!" I shouted startled. I had forgotten about it. When Liz frowned, I explained what I was doing before she came over, and she offered to keep Abby entertained.
By the time I finished, it was almost time to go to college for my classes. I didn't want. I was tired and my fingers and nails were orange.
After lining up the pumpkins on the table with a little unlit candle inside, I went to shower and get ready to leave.
"Edward should be back any minute," I told Liz as I zipped my boots.
"You know I love to spend time with her. He can be late." She laughed making me giggle. She was just as bad as Edward when it came to Abby time.
"Okay then. You can light the lanterns and there are some candies in the bowl on the coffee table." I gestured to it as I wrapped the scarf around my neck.
"Stop worrying. Everything will be fine. Though, there are no candies here," she added.
"What? They have to be there. They were for kids that would come...if anyone would come," I said uncertainly.
"No candies, Bella," Liz said giggling.
I was going to kill Edward. He knew the candies were for trick or treat. With a huff, I wrapped the coat around me and said goodbye before opening the door and running straight into someone.
"Hi."
It just had to be Edward. When I was upset at him.
"Hi," I muttered back, slipping out of the house.
"No kiss?" he asked after me amused.
"You don't deserve anything. Why did you eat the candies?" I retorted.
"They were there…I wanted something sweet…" He shrugged.
"They weren't for you and you know it!"
"Evening!" someone shouted, distracting us. When I looked to the road I saw Billy with a smirk on his face.
"Hey," we answered at the same time. It wasn't even funny.
"Give me your keys." I held my hand out for Edward. He scowled but pressed the car keys in my palm. "Thanks." I pecked his cheek and went to the car while Billy went to Edward.
"Is it true what I heard today? Are you coming next week to my high school?" he asked excitedly.
"I dunno…maybe," Edward told him teasingly. "It was meant to be a surprise. We had to choose a high school and I chose yours."
"All of you?" Billy went on.
"No, sorry, kid. Just three of us."
I closed the car door behind me, making a mental note to ask him about that. He hadn't told me anything, but maybe it had happened today.
My class flew by and at eight thirty I was home. The house was in complete darkness except a fuzzy light from the kitchen. Maybe they were out, walking Cody.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside to hear noises from the living room. Why would they sit in darkness?
"Why is there no light on?" I moaned after tripping over Edward's shoes in an attempt to get to the switch. When I flipped it, nothing happened.
"There's no light," Edward explained.
After taking my coat and boots off, I went to the living room and saw them on the couch with the laptop on the coffee table.
"We're watching a movie until the laptop will die." He laughed. "It's really like Halloween."
"Spooky," I joked, eyeing the movie choice. "Edward Cullen!" I shouted scandalized.
He jumped looking at me worried. "What?"
"How can you make her watch A Nightmare on Elm Street? Are you fucking crazy?"
"She likes it," he dismissed me looking down at Abby who seemed captivated. "She likes Freddy, always pointing to him when he comes on."
"Because she's scared, I'm sure," I hissed sitting next to him and picking her up. She turned her head to look at the laptop.
"Oh!" She pointed to Freddy Krueger – who had just killed someone –, clapping. She really liked this.
"Actually, Abby chose the movie," Edward told me seriously. "I pointed the flashlight to the movies, searching for some Disney shit when she grabbed this." He chuckled.
"Did you expect her to turn normal with us as parents?" I asked jokingly, arranging her small body on my lap.
"Hey, I'm not that bad! You, on the other hand…" Edward trailed off, glancing at me.
"Jerk," I muttered, elbowing him in the ribs.
Thank you again for helping me win. It means a lot to me. And thank you for sticking around for so long. We have a dozen chapters left and a shit load of outtakes. :D I can't find a proper spot to end this story. I don't want it to end...ever.