[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer
[A/N] Thanks for all your lovely reviews. I had a pretty awful week and reading your nice comments really helped me a lot to feel better.
Today's update is dedicated to HomeByTwilight. I hope you'll enjoy
**40**
"Is it going to hurt badly?" Resha asked, her eyes widening with fear. Yes, she did want to wear pretty earrings, just like Rose. Getting her ears pierced was something she was a little bit scared of, though.
"It doesn't hurt." Rosalie lied. She didn't want to worry the girl unnecessarily. "I can hold your hand, if you want me to."
"Yes, please." The girl mumbled, reaching her hand out to Rose. They entered the small jewelry store and took a look at the silver earrings in the dusty glass cabinet.
"Those are pretty. Don't you think?" Rose asked, pointing at a pair of heart-shaped earrings.
Resha shook her head. "I like the ones with the little stars." She stated. "Can I get these?"
Rose brushed her fingertips gently over Resha's head. "Sure, sweetie, you'll get them."
"Found something nice?" The shop assistant purred overly sweet. "Can I help you, Miss?"
Rosalie cleared her throat. "We'd like to get her ears pierced. Can you do that here in the shop?"
He nodded his head. Then, he pointed to a chair in the corner of the shop.
"Hold my hand, sweetie." Rose instructed. "Look at me, not him."
The girl winced when the shop assistant sprayed some icy disinfectant on her left ear. She cramped her fingers into Rosalie's palm. Sharp pain rushed through her earlobe, but before she could manage to cry out, it was already over.
"Great." Rose praised. "You're doing great, honey, now the other side."
The shop assistant was just about to pierce Resha's second ear when the phone on his counter started ringing.
"I'm sorry." He apologized. "But this is my boss calling." When he picked up the phone, his voice turned into a high-pitched tremble. "Good evening, Mr. Volturi."
Beads of sweat started to appear on the man's forehead. He mumbled something unintelligible while he chewed on his upper lip. "No, Mr. Volturi. I'm sorry, Mr. Volturi. Can't we just try to get rid of him? If he starts singing, we're all screwed. Aren't we? Yes, I can do that. Thank you, Mr. Volturi. Good bye."
A deep sigh left the man's mouth. He wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.
"I'm sorry about the interruption. Now, let's get your other ear done. Shall we?"
xxxxx
Half an hour later, when Rosalie and Resha met with Bella at an IHOP, the girl proudly presented her freshly pierced ears to her mother.
"I didn't even cry." She announced. "Right, Rose?"
"She was very brave." Rose said, sitting down next to Bella. She leaned over and planted a kiss on her girlfriend's mouth. "Hmm," she whispered. "Whipped cream and strawberries, delicious."
"Can we order some pancakes with blueberries?" Resha asked. "Mom, we need to hurry up with eating. Baby T. is already waiting for me to come and pick him up."
Bella sipped on her hot chocolate. "We'll get your cat tomorrow." She promised. "The animal shelter will already be closed when we get home from Port Angeles."
Resha frowned. "But I want to pick him up today."
"Don't make such a face now." Bella scolded. "I can't stand when you do that."
"You're always mean to me." The girl screeched, her eyes filling with tears. "I like Rose better as my Mom than you."
"Resha, I warn you." Bella snapped, when her daughter jumped from her chair and stormed off towards the restrooms.
"Hey," Rose whispered, placing her hand on top of Bella's. "Breath. There is no need to ruin this day by starting a fight now."
Bella sighed. "I know. Why do I always have to be the bad parent?"
Rose took Bella's hand in hers and lifted it to her lips to blow a kiss over Bella's knuckles. "You are not a bad parent. Stop doubting yourself."
"You don't know, how it's like." Bella mumbled. "Tyler, this selfish prick isn't going to come to her birthday party tomorrow. You can guess whom Resha is going to blame for that. Sure as hell not her perfect Daddy. Fuck my life!"
"Hey, it's okay." Rosalie whispered, caressing Bella's hand with her fingertips. "It's okay. You're doing what you can. I'm sure Resha knows that."
The girl returned from the restroom. She snuggled her head against Bella's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mommy."
"It's okay, sweetie. Please, stop, fumbling around on your ears. We don't want them to get infected."
"The man in the shop gave us some spray." The girl explained. "Rose has it in her handbag."
"Right," Rosalie mumbled, pulling out the small plastic bag. "Here it is."
Bella took the bag from Rose. "Volturi Jewellry?"
"Oh yes, that's where we went to get her ears pierced. It's the same shop Mom took me to when I got my own ears pierced. It was a much nicer shop back then."
xxxx
Bella closed her eyes and moaned softly while Rose let her lips glide down her neck.
"This feels good." She whispered. "God, I missed you so much."
She turned around, carefully making sure not to get any cake mixture on Rosalie's shirt when she hugged her.
"I missed you too. Every night I thought about you, about us."
Tingles went down Bella's spine. She circled her dough covered fingertip gently over Rosalie's mouth. "Sweet enough?"
"Let me try some more." Rosalie mumbled, licking her lips. She wrapped her hand around Bella's wrist and slowly licked off the creamy dough. "I like the dough better than the actual cake. Isn't that strange?"
"We all have our different likings. Now, let's get this cake into the oven before Resha ends up without a birthday cake."
"We can't risk that to happen. Why isn't Tyler coming here again?"
Bella rolled her eyes. "He told me that he had to work, like I would buy such an excuse. I bet he's just screwing around with this slut."
Rosalie filled the dough into the cake pan. "You still have feelings for him."
"No, I don't." Bella stated. "It's just pissing me off, like he can't act like an adult for fucks sake."
"Tyler's a jerk." Rose stated. "Let's not talk about him now. We have so little alone time together."
"You're right. " Bella whispered. "Let's wait in the living room until the cake is ready."
They snuggled up on the couch, wrapping a blanket around them. "Are you alright?" Bella asked. "I mean, because of the things you told me last weekend."
She could feel Rosalie tensing in her arms. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"We have to." Bella stated. "And you have to press charges against Royce."
"Don't tell me what to do." Rose snarled in a harsh tone. "I want to forget about what he did to me. Can't you at least try to understand that?"
Bella tightened her hold around Rosalie's shoulder. "I love you. I hate this monster so much for what he did to you."
"I know." Rosalie whispered. "I hate him too. There is nothing I want more than for Royce to rot in a windowless cell for the rest of his days."
Bella reached for Rosalie's hand and gave it a gentle tug. "Then, you need to press charges. I can come with you, if you want me to."
Rosalie stared down at the coffee table in front of them. "What if they don't believe me? I can't endure the thought of having to talk to some random officer about…the things Royce did to me."
Bella squeezed Rose's hand. "Of course, the police are going to believe you. Nobody would lie about something that horrible. Like I said before, I'll come with you. You wouldn't be alone."
Rose leaned back against the cushions of the couch and sighed. "I'm scared they won't believe me. My own mother didn't believe me. So, why should anyone else?"
Something inside of Bella cracked. It was like she had suddenly lost her faith in mankind's goodness. "Lucy knows? She knows, he molested you and didn't do anything?"
A bitter laughter left Rosalie's throat. "Sure, she knows. I told her. I told her, I didn't want to go to his house again." Rose swallowed hard. "She said I made it up. That I had only imagined the things he did to me. It made me feel like everything was my fault."
Bella hugged Rosalie tightly against her chest. "It's not your fault. God, I'm so mad at your mother. You should press charges against her too for not helping you."
"I can't do that." Rose whispered. "Can we please stop talking about this now?"
Bella inhaled sharply through her teeth, once, twice and even a third and fourth time. She was going to kill Lucy. It was a mother's job to keep her child safe. Lucy had failed this job in every possible way.
xxxx
Cowering on the bed in his cell, Royce was chewing on his fingernails. He was about to lose it. If Lucy, this hooker, wasn't going to bail him out soon, he was going to turn insane.
Things didn't look good for him. The lawyer, he had hired, had made that much clear to him. The pictures, Esme Culled had handed over to the police, would be used as evidence in court.
If he had only remembered wearing gloves while he had handled them! There was another thing, Royce was afraid about. Maybe he was even more worried about this than about the risk of going to jail for several years.
The Volturi would make his life a complete misery, should the morons from the police find out they were involved in a child pornography ring. Aro was the most unscrupulous person Royce had ever met in his life. That man would sell his own soul, if the devil would offer him enough money for it.
"The good money is always in the forbidden things." Aro had told Royce on one of the random occasions, the two of them had met in person.
It was then, in Aro Volturi's marble-floored office, that Royce had discovered a very familiar face in a folder. Yes, the Volturi preferred to organize their dirty businesses with the sense of order of a nerdy bookkeeper. They had catalogues filled with every girl that ever worked for their organization.
Royce had been puzzled to discover that snob-nosed Lucy Hale had been offering her young body out on the streets. Well, pride goes before a fall, or how they say.
It was Royce's only hope that Lucy's fear of someone finding out about her dark past would be big enough. The Volturi had made it clear, that there was no way they were going to bail his ass out of jail. They wouldn't risk, the police discovering a connection between them and a suspected pedophile.
The iron door of Royce's cell squeaked when it was pulled open. Instantly Royce straightened his back.
"Company for you, Mr. King." The guard informed him. "Platt, I assume you are going to behave, won't you?"
"Sure, sure." The man mumbled. He was huge, the muscles of his impressive biceps pressing against the sleeves of his shirt. "We'll be great buddies."
The guard told the men goodbye and walked out, locking the door behind him.
Royce cleared his throat. "H-hi, I'm Ro-o-oyce." He held out his hand, trying his hardest not keep it from trembling like a leaf in a storm.
Platt spit out on the ground. "I couldn't care less about what's your name, bitch."
Fear prickled down Royce's spine. He was about two heads smaller than the moody giant in front of him. The thought of having to spend the next days in a small room with Platt, seemed frightening.
"Get your ass from my bed now. I always take the one at the window."
"But that's mine." Royce protested in a low voice.
"You are new and a nobody in here." Platt stated, pushing Royce from the bed with so much force that he lost his balance and landed flat on his face.
He whimpered, when he felt Platt's boot against his neck. "Let me introduce myself to you." he said. "My name is Felix. You, little fucker are my bitch now."