Chapter Twenty: Hiding Something
I hummed a long with the radio as I set the food on the table with a smile. I walked over to the stove getting the rolls out of the oven, I placed them on a plate as the front door slammed. I smiled setting them on the table, I walked into the living room.
"Perfect timing honey! Dinner is on the table." I said.
I looked up to find a very angry Edward tugging at his hair.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"What's wrong?! What's wrong is that I was suspended for a week!" He growled.
"What?!" I gasped.
"Yeah! A week!" He screamed fuming.
I knew I had to calm him down.
"Edward, I'm sure it was a mistake. Whatever it was I'm sure it will blow over tomorrow." I said walking over to him.
"No it wont." He huffed.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I apparently lost my temper on a patient." He told me.
"Well, it only happened once." I said.
"Its been happening for the past month actually." He said.
"What?! The past month?!" I gasped.
"Don't you yell at me Bella!" He growled.
"I wasn't yelling at you Edward." I told him.
"Bull shit. You just cant wait to rub it in my face that you are the only one who is bringing in the money." He growled.
"What?! Edward where did that even come from?!" I snapped.
He looked angry.
"James?" I said.
"Who else would it be? I thought you were smarter then that." He hissed.
"I am smart! And how dare you insinuate that I am dumb!" I growled.
"Well you weren't smart enough to keep your legs closed." He screamed.
I don't know what came over me but I slapped him across the face.
"You bitch!" He growled.
SMACK!
He back handed me right in the eye as I fell to the floor. I gasped grabbing my face looking up at him shocked.
"Now. I'm going to go eat, and don't even think about joining me." He said stepping over me.
I winced hoping he wouldn't kick me, he didn't. He just walked into the kitchen letting the door swing shut behind him. I think it was shock, but I must have stayed on the floor for at least five minutes. When I finally did get up I went into the bathroom, I gasped when I looked into mirror. I leaned over the sink to get a closer look at my bruised face. I lightly touched my right cheek wincing a little as I did, I began to sob quietly quickly shutting the door so James wouldn't hear me. I covered my mouth with my hand and cried into it. I put the cover to the toilet down and sat on it placing my hand on my stomach. I cried harder thinking about the fact that something bad could have happened to the baby. After a few minutes of letting myself cry I took a shaky deep breath before standing up.
"Okay." I said.
I walked out of the bathroom and went to face whatever was waiting for me.
…
I yawned sitting up, it was almost ten in the morning and I had a doctors appointment with Carlisle. I looked over my shoulder at Edward who was still sleeping. I got up grabbing clothes, I took a quick shower before getting dressed and surveying the damage of last night. It looked worse, if that is even possible, I closed my eyes. I went to get my cover up, but I couldn't find it!
"No! No!" I cursed.
How could this happen?! Alice kept my makeup stocked up in case I needed it, and the one time I needed it! I growled slamming the drawer shut. How was I going to hide this now? I headed downstairs getting my jacket on, I wrote Edward a note before going for my last resort. I put the biggest pair of sunglasses that I had on and thanked god that it was bright enough to pull them off.
I walked into the hospital and was directed to an exam room where I was told I would be seen by a nurse first. I got onto the exam table and laid down trying to get comfortable, the doors opened and a nurse walked in.
"Hi, my name is Abby." She said smiling.
"Bella." I told her.
She smiled, "I'm going to be doing your ultrasound. Dr. Cullen is with a patient right now, but he will be here after he is finished."
"Okay." I said pulling up my shirt.
"Is there a reason you are wearing sunglasses?" She asked.
"I have a headache, and they are helping block out the light." I told her.
"Ah, I had bad headaches with my first one too." She smiled.
"You have kids? How many?" I asked.
"Two, seven and three." She told me.
"Wow." I said.
"They are my angels." She said getting the ultrasound started.
I looked at the screen.
"It looks like everything is just fine with the baby!" She said.
"Good." I said.
She took a few photos and we chit chatted a bit before she stepped out, she told me that Dr. Cullen would be here in a few minutes. I sat up and took a deep breath, I knew that Carlisle wouldn't take the 'headache' excuse so easily.
"Bella!" Carlisle said.
"Hi dad." I smiled.
He gave me a quick hug before glancing over a paper.
"Well, everything seems perfectly fine with you and the baby. Are you taking your prenatal vitamins everyday?" He asked.
"Yes." I said.
"Good, now what is with the glasses. You are inside, you can take them off." He said.
"I actually have a bad headache, and they are helping keep the light out." I told him.
"I can lower the lights, take them off Bella." He said.
"I want them on dad, really it's fine." I said again.
All he had to do was give me that 'I am your father and I told you to take them off' look. I sighed before slowly reaching for my glasses, I looked at the ground before I slowly removed them from my face. I slowly looked up at Carlisle trying to ignore the fact I looked like one of those abuse cases that he has to see ten times a day.
"Bella!" He gasped.
I didn't say anything, I looked back at the ground.
"What happened?!" He asked.
"I fell, yesterday. I managed to bang my head against the corner of the table, Edward said I was lucky enough to not blind myself on the right side." I lied.
"Bella..." He said.
"I have been putting ice on it, but this morning when I woke up it was swollen." I told him.
"Bella, tell me what really happened." He said not believing me.
"I just did." I said.
"Bella... He hit you didn't he?" Carlisle said getting serious.
"No." I said.
"You can tell me Bella." He told me.
"He didn't hit me, I fell." I said sticking with my story.
"Damn it Bella!" He cursed.
My eyes went wide, he turned around and ran his fingers through his hair. I could tell his anger level was rising because he knew the truth.
"Okay," I whispered trying to stop the tears, "He hit me. James hit me."
Carlisle turned around just in time to see me have another break down. I covered my face with my hands and sobbed into them.
"Bella, shh. Shh, I didn't mean to upset you." He told me.
"He didn't mean it!" I cried.
"Bella, you don't need to make excuses for him." He said.
"I technically provoked him." I said wiping my eyes.
"That doesn't give him the right to hit you Bella." He said brushing the hair from my face.
"Please dad, please don't do anything. Don't tell anyone, he wont do it again. He wont, please." I begged.
Carlisle sighed looking at me, "You have to promise me that you will tell me if he does this again Bella."
"I will." I said.
"You are pregnant now Bella, so that makes this situation worse. He can hurt not only you but the baby, just keep that in mind." He told me.
"I know, trust me, I know." I whispered.
…
"I'm home Edward." I said putting my purse down.
I walked into the kitchen to find him sitting at the table rocking.
"Good morning Peter." I said.
"Morning." He said.
"Do you want some breakfast?" I asked.
"I looked for you but you weren't home." He told me.
"Yeah, I had an appointment." I said.
"For the baby?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said getting his cereal ready.
"I love babies." He smiled.
I smiled, "Me too."
"Is the baby fine?" He asked.
"Yes, everything is okay." I told him walking over to the table.
I set his cereal down.
"After you finished I can show you pictures of the baby if you'd like." I said.
"I would." He said.
I waited for him to finish before cleaning up, I took him into the living room where I turned on the television. I sat down next to him on the couch sighing.
"You shouldn't let him hit you." He said out of no where.
"Who?" I asked.
"Who ever hits you. You should leave him." He said looking at the the TV.
"It's not that easy." I told him.
"Why?" He asked.
"I'm having a baby with him Peter, and I know you don't understand this, but I love him. He can't control it, and I know that. He is getting help and I know that it's a bad situation, I just don't know what to do! I love him, but I know people will try to break us up because they don't understand. They will tell me its an abusive relationship..." I explained.
"But isn't it?" He asked.
I sighed, "Kind of, but- I- Ugh. It's his bad side, he has a good side too. A really good side, and the bad side only gets triggered every once in a while. He is going to therapy and taking medication. It's going to help, it will."
We didn't talk about it after that, I left him to watch TV to go into the kitchen and clean up a bit. I needed to clear my head for a little bit.
A Few Hours Later
I gasped squeezing my eyes shut, I gagged a little holding back my own hair.
"Bella?" Edward asked through the door.
The door to the bathroom opened and he rushed over to me, I was finished through.
"I'm okay." I gasped wiping my mouth off with my towel.
He rubbed my back as I leaned my head against his shoulder.
"You feel up for a family dinner tonight?" He asked kissing the top of my head.
"Yeah, what's it about?" I asked.
"Nothing special, just a get together." He said.
"Okay." I said.
"Let's get you up." He asked helping me up.
"Oh no." I groaned.
I got back on the floor and dry heaved first before actually throwing up. Edward knelt down and held my hair back for me this time.
…
"Here, try some salad and crackers." Edward said walking into the living room.
"I'm sorry." I said taking the plate.
"Don't be." He said sitting on the coffee table in front of me.
"You made this huge meal though, and I can't even be in the room with the family without the feeling of barfing." I sighed.
"Bella, it's fine. Really it is." He reassured me.
Thankfully I was able to keep the salad and crackers down without a problem. Once the family was done with their meals, steak I might add, they came to join me in the living room. Alice and Rosalie sat down on either side of me and began to chatter about their latest sales and how this lady wanted to buy twenty shoes. Needless to say they never took a breath during all of this.
"I'm going to go see what Edward is up too." I said.
"Edward, Edward, Edward. That is all you care about." Alice teased.
I stuck my tongue out at her before walking into the kitchen. I walked behind him and hugged him from the back, he was doing dishes.
"Mmm." He smiled.
"Surprise!" I said.
"That it is." He said turning around.
I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him on the lips.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too." I smiled.
I helped him dry while he continued to wash the dishes.
"Oh! I spoke to Anne the other day! She is going to sub again for me when I go on maternity leave." I told him.
"That's good." He said.
"Yeah, I told her it wouldn't be until I was about eight months so it gives us time to work on what the kids should be doing while I am on maternity leave." I explained.
"But it would be sooner then eight months though, right?" He asked.
"No, I mean lots of people work well up to the birth. I figure give myself a month to prepare, not that we wont be along the way, but just give me enough time to make sure everything is good." I said.
"Bella, call her back and tell her you will be leaving when your seven months." He told me.
"What? Edward it's a month's difference! Why can't I work til I'm eight months! Lots of people do it!" I said.
"You're not 'lots of people' Bella! You're my wife!" He said drying his hands.
"And as your wife I think I have some say in when I should stop working! I can work til I'm eight months Edward! Or at least plan on it! Now I can always change my mind if I don't feel like I can do it!" I scolded.
"You are not working til you are eight months Isabella!" He yelled.
I saw a change in him.
"James you can't tell me what I can and can not do!" I told him.
"Damn it!" James screamed.
The next thing I knew I was thrown against the wall, James flew at me and put his hand around my neck. My eyes went wide as he pressed down.
"If you ever back talk me again I will kill you!" He hissed.
"James! I can't breathe!" I gasped.
"Good! Maybe this will help you learn!" He told me.
"I've learned! I have! James please, think about the baby!" I pleaded.
"The baby?! The baby?! You act like I care! It's not mine! You cheated on me, its like you don't even love me!" He growled pressing harder.
"I do! I love you James, so much!" I said looking in his eyes, I tried to fight back the tears but one slipped.
"Oh, so now you are going to try the crying thing! Well-"
"What the hell is going on?!" Emmett gasped.
I looked over at Emmett and realized this looked bad, well that was because it was bad.
"Um... Umm, Edward um, thought that he saw something on my neck! So he was trying to get it off! Right, Edward?" I asked looking at James who kind of loosened his grip.
I begged him with my eyes to agree and stop this madness.
"Right." He said.
I sighed in relief as he released my neck, I looked at Emmett who was struggling with whether to believe this or not. I half smiled before rushing past Emmett and hurried upstairs to the bedroom.
Later That Night
"Do you think they will fight?" I asked.
"Who?" Edward asked me.
"Our kids." I said.
He smiled, "I'm sure they will."
"Is it weird that I kind of look forward to it?" I asked.
He laughed, "I guess it's a little weird."
I smiled thinking about standing in the kitchen with five kids each fighting and yelling while I tried breaking it up.
"I can't wait to be a mom." I said.
"Me either." He said.
I looked at him, he rolled his eyes.
"You know what I mean!" He said.
"Sure I do." I said.
We spent the rest of the night watching movies and talking about the future.
Alright, I'm just going to post the chapters and whoever reviews, reviews. I realized that just because people don't review doesn't mean that no one is reading the story! Sorry it took like three months, but there has been major changes at work and I'm balancing work with school and it's been crazy! Let me know what you think if you want too! Working on the next one now! Hopefully it will be out this week!