[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer
[A/N] I want to thank all of you for the great response on the last chapter. It has received the most reviews so far. Your support makes me feel loved. Also, thanks to those of you who sent virtual hugs or ice-cream.
Today's chapter is dedicated to my readers HomebyTwilight and NoPros. I hope you'll like it.
**10*
This is getting ridiculous. Bella reproached herself while she checked the price tag on the pink dress in her hands. No matter how hard she tried to, she couldn't manage to stop thinking about Rosalie. How could you know someone almost all your life and suddenly see that person in a completely different light?
"Mommy, can I have the dress?" Resha asked impatiently. "Please! It's so pretty."
It's pretty pricey too, Bella thought with a deep sigh. Still, she didn't manage to tell her daughter no. She didn't want to make the girl feel like she couldn't have as much as other children with both parents. It wasn't Resha's fault that things between Bella and her ex hadn't worked out.
Bella decided that she would rather wear one of her old dresses to the wedding instead of getting something new herself, if only the child was happy. The new dress would mean more to Resha than it would mean to her.
"Fine, I'll buy it." Bella told her daughter. "But you don't get to wear it to school. It's for special occasions only."
"Like Rosalie's wedding? Can I wear it to the wedding?" The little girl asked, taking a silver-colored plastic tiara from a shelf. It looked like it wasn't real. She had seen much prettier ones in the glass cabinet in Lucy's house. You couldn't buy those though. You needed to win them. If only she knew how to win a tiara. With one on your head you had to feel like a real princess. There couldn't be anything better than feeling like a princess.
The mentioning of Rosalie's upcoming wedding didn't exactly manage to improve Bella's mood. She was getting angry at herself. It was not okay to have those kinds of thoughts about your best friend. It was especially not okay to have those thoughts about a best friend who was about to get married.
"Mommy, are you going to get married too?" Resha wanted to know when she and Bella made their way out of the Mall again. Bella didn't like shopping trips too much. Still, she had treated herself to a new pair of sling pumps on sale that would look nice with her black dress. Rosalie had insisted on her buying it last year. She had told Bella that it made her look a bit like Audrey Hepburn. Bella could almost feel Rosalie's finger in her neck pushing up the zipper of the dress, when she thought about it. "You look so sexy in this." Her friend had whispered softly.
The memory made Bella's skin tingle with excitement. There had been thousand situations like that one. Now, Bella was starting see them in a different light. Crap, was she secretly gay and hadn't noticed it before. No, that couldn't be, could it?
"Mommy, I don't want a Stepdaddy. They are evil."
Bella fixed the seatbelt around Resha's body and cleared her throat. "Who told you that? It's not true."
"I still don't want one. I want Daddy to come here and live with us and Grandpa."
For a moment Bella imagined Tyler and Charlie together under one roof. It wouldn't end well. She was sure about that.
Taking a deep breathe, Bella sat down next to Resha on the backseat of the car. "Sweetie, I'm sorry but Daddy isn't going to live with us anymore."
"Why?"
How are you supposed to explain a break-up between adults to a six-year-old? With her decision to leave Tyler Bella had not only changed her own life but Resha's on top of it.
"Look, sweetie, sometimes…when adults fight a lot, it is better for them to live in separate homes."
Resha nodded her head. Maybe her parents didn't like each other anymore because of her? She had heard her name more than once when she had overheard them fighting with each other. The thought made her little heart feel way too heavy in her chest.
"Hey," Bella whispered. "Don't make such a sad face. We both still love you." She leaned over and pressed her lips gently against Resha's forehead. "Let's go home now. Grandpa is probably already waiting for us."
Unfortunately, it was not Charlie who was waiting for them when they made it home to the Swan's house. Casually, his arms crossed in front of his chest, Tyler walked up and down the drive-way.
Crap, Bella thought. She didn't need to have another discussion with him now.
"Daddy!" Resha called out, wrapping her arms around his leg. "Did you come to visit us?"
"Kind of, baby girl, kind of. Why don't you go and wait a moment inside. I need to talk to your mother."
"You're not going to go away without saying goodbye?" the girl asked worriedly. "I need to show you the picture of my kitten."
When Resha disappeared inside the house, Bella spoke up. "Why are you here, Tyler?"
"Why are you so bitchy to me? Can't I come and visit my kid?"
Bella pressed her lips together, swallowing back a mean comment. She really didn't want to take the custody thing to court. But Tyler needed to learn that he couldn't just show up when it pleased him to.
"Mom was furious when she had to bail me out." Tyler stated. "She said I should try to get custody for Resha myself."
The wave of anger that spread through Bella was strong. She could feel her face turning red. Was this supposed to be a joke? No one was going to take her child away from her. Tyler couldn't keep a goldfish alive, let alone a human being.
"So, your mother thinks you should." She snapped. "What makes Kadesha think that I'm a bad mother?"
Tyler held up his hands in an appeasing gesture. "Cherie, it's not like that. Mom just thinks it would be better for Resha to be around her own people."
"Her own people? What am I? A stranger?"
"See, Mom told me, you'd react like that."
"I don't give a shit what your mother said. Now, piss off before I call Charlie to come and arrest you again. I'm sure your mother wouldn't like that too much."
Bella's hands were quivering when she walked inside the house. She had never really gotten along well with Tyler's mother, but this was just too much. Tyler was only going to get custody for Resha over her dead body.
"Where is Daddy?" Resha asked. "He promised to look at my picture."
"Your father had to leave." Bella pressed out. "Why don't you show the picture to Mommy?"
"Don't want to." The girl murmured sadly. "I''ll go to my room."
Bella could feel her heart clasping painfully in her chest. She had vowed to herself that Resha wasn't going to suffer under the separation from her father. Crap.
She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. It was the last rest in the bottle she had opened with Rosalie. After taking a sip from the wine, she dialed her best friend's number.
"Hale."
"Hey, Beautiful, it's me."
"Bella! Oh, it's so good to hear your voice. My mother is going to drive me nuts with the wedding preparations."
Bella sipped on the wine again. "Maybe you should tell her to slow down a bit?"
"Can't." Rosalie sighed into the receiver.
"I don't know why you are always so chicken around Lucy. That's so not you."
"It's complicated. My Mom only has my best interest in mind."
Yes, sure, Bella thought, biting back a sarcastic comment. The only interest Lucy had on her mind was her own. She wanted Rosalie to go through with this wedding because that was what she, Lucy, wanted. If she'd like to have a doctor in her family so much, Lucy should just get married to one herself. Rose would not be happy with Carlisle. She would never be happy with someone that she couldn't be completely honest with.
That was not what Bella told Rose, though, when she spoke up again. Instead she tried to be a bit more supportive. "Don't let yourself pressure into something. I'm here for you. You know?"
"Yes, I know. Thank you, Bella. I want to get married. I'm just nervous how everything is going to work out."
Bella gulped down the rest of her wine, enjoying the pleasant warmth it filled her stomach with.
"So, the rehearsal is going to be next Saturday?"
"Yes, it is. You and Charlie are coming too. Aren't you? I really want to have some familiar faces around. It will make me feel safer."
Oh Rose, Bella thought, I always want to make you feel safe. "I'll come to hold your nervous bridal hand. Charlie has to stay here in Forks though. Someone has to run the station."
"Thank you, girl, you are a life saver. Emmett can take you. He's coming by car. Look, I hate to ask you that but are you going to bring a date with you? Mom needs to know for the seating arrangement."
"Whom would I date?" Bella snarled, thinking in anger about her annoying ex-boyfriend. "I'm done with that shit." The only person Bella had any kind of romantic feelings for right now was Rosalie. It was probably because she was lonely, even when she didn't like to admit that to herself.
"Oh, Bella, sweetie, don't say that. You are too pretty to stay on your own forever."
"It doesn't even matter. So, to come back to your question, Beautiful…I'll bring Resha with me. She can be my date."
"Great. Carlisle's niece will be there too. They can play together."
Bella cleared her throat. "Asshole showed up here again today. I felt tempted to shoot him."
"Don't do that." Rosalie laughed. "He's not worth going to jail."
Bella chuckled bitterly. "Who says I'd be going to jail for killing him? I know how to cover my traces. Securing of evidence was my favorite subject at the police academy."
"I promise to be your Alibi anytime you need me to. Now, what did he do to make you angry?"
"His mother that bitch told him he should try getting custody for Resha. Can you believe that? Apparently, it would be better for the child to be around her own people. Her own people…what kind of racist shit it that supposed to be?"
"Tyler needs to find a cliff to jump off from." Rose snapped. "You are a wonderful mother. Let no one tell you different."
"Thank you, Rose. If I'm a good mother, why don't I feel like I'm one? Resha is crying again because she heard me and asshole fighting. That's horrible!"
"Maybe you need to explain the break-up to her again. She's a smart girl and will learn to understand."
"Yeah, maybe you are right."
"I wish I was there to hug you. God, you really should move back to Seattle again."
"You could move to Forks." Bella suggested, leaning back against the doorframe.
"Not really." Rosalie sighed. "Goodbye, honey. Take care. I love you."
"Love you more," Bella mumbled before she hung up and put her empty glass in the sink. She pulled a package of Oreo cookies out of the cupboards and went upstairs.
Resha had pulled her blanket over her head, only a few brown curls were sticking out at the top.
"Hey, sweetie, I'm sorry." Bella whispered, stroking gently over the girl's back. Resha lifted her head. "Go away."
"Are you sure? I brought cookies with me to share with you."
"Kay." The little girl sniffed, wiping her running nose at the back of her hand. "Can I have just the filling? It's my favorite."
Bella pulled down the blanket and snuggled against the girl from behind. "I'm really sorry."
"Is Daddy going to come back?"
"No, he won't. Mommy and he will figure something out when he can come and visit you. How does that sound like?"
"I don't know. Can't he just move in here with us?"
"No." Bella whispered, pushing a tangled curl behind Resha's ear. "But I can understand why you want that. I wanted the same when my parents got divorced."