Author Note: Thank you for the great response to this story so far! With this chapter, we'll pass Reason for Living in reviews.
Readers who were happy with how the last chapter went far outnumbered those who are a bit more negative, or at least skeptical.
Thanks again to moosals for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.
Chapter 27 – All You Need Is Now
I open the door on Sunday afternoon to a smiling Edward, holding tightly to Masen, who looks like he wants to jump out of his father's arms.
"Kitty!" he yells.
"He tried to run over here on his own once I said we were going to go see Bella and Sandy," Edward says, shaking his head as he steps into the house, a diaper bag slung over his arm.
"Well, the kitten is asleep, but I'm sure that won't last now that Masen is here."
"Kitty!" Masen yells again, the moment his feet touch the ground, then he runs into the living room in search of Sandy. By the time Edward and I get there, Masen has located the wriggling kitten and has her in his arms.
"Be gentle with her, remember?" I warn him. "She can scratch you."
It doesn't take long for Sandy to get away and make a beeline for underneath the TV stand. Masen scoots after her, getting down on his belly to coax her out.
"That should keep him occupied for a while," Edward laughs.
He and I go into the kitchen to start dinner, and I'm startled when he pulls me close for a quick kiss.
"What was that for?" I ask… a little too breathlessly.
"I wanted to," he shrugs.
A wide grin on my face, I start gathering the ingredients for our dinner. We work together side by side — periodically poking our heads in to check on Masen — until we've got the baking dish in the oven.
"Do we have time to tackle the cat tree now?" Edward asks.
"I think so," I nod. "I already opened the box and arranged the pieces so we can easily find them. Of course, the directions are almost entirely pictures with no actual words."
Masen stops annoying Sandy long enough to watch in fascination as Edward begins putting the various platforms and posts together. I'm enjoying my role as gofer, retrieving the pieces that he requests. Sandy herself seems to enjoy sniffing at everything.
Slowly but surely, the cat tree begins to take shape. Once the final perches have been screwed onto the top of the posts, I encourage Sandy to climb her tree by holding up a feather on a stick. It's a struggle for her to make it onto the bottom ledge, but she manages to climb up, still too small to jump that high.
Masen jumps up and down, clapping, once Sandy reaches the top. I'm sure he hasn't realized yet that she's now got a perfect place to hide from him, since he's unable to reach that high!
When the oven timer dings, I rush to get our dinner out while Edward corrals his son. It doesn't take long for Sandy to start begging for food, and I'm thankful that she can't yet jump onto the kitchen table. I get up and fix her a bowl of wet food since her cries sound so pathetic. You'd think I haven't fed her in the last week.
"She's got you wrapped around her paw already," Edward laughs.
"And it's not the same for you and Masen?" I raise an eyebrow in challenge as he sits holding Masen on his lap.
"I'm sure it is," he acknowledges. "You too though."
"Yeah, I'd do anything for him, too," I admit with a smile.
"And that's a large part of why… why I'm here, I guess. Giving us a chance. Masen's well-being is my top priority; we're a package deal. And that's never seemed to faze you."
"It doesn't," I assure him. "I would be honored if Masen could call me mama for real one day. One day far in the future," I quickly add, before I freak Edward out.
He chuckles softly. "Thank you for being so accepting of my pace. I know it's a lot to ask — the uncertainty."
"It's… better than the alternative. I mean, it'd be just my luck if I waited for you to be ready to date for months, even years, and when I find out you're finally ready it's because you're asking me to babysit Masen while you go out with another woman."
Edward laughs, so loudly that he startles Masen. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you, because yeah, that would really suck for you. It's not going to happen though. The other women in this town look at me like a shiny new toy. They don't know me. And yeah, that's probably my own fault because I haven't let them get to know me."
"Why was I different?" I ask curiously.
"Eat your dinner, bud," Edward says to his son, who's craning his neck, presumably to look where Sandy went. "I don't know, really. I think… maybe you just seemed more genuine. You didn't look at me like a piece of meat. You didn't act like you had a hidden agenda. You just… treated me like a friend," he shrugs.
I can feel my face heat up as I listen to Edward's words. Maybe he was just so caught up in his own grief back then that he didn't notice, because in my mind, I feel like I was so obvious in the way I initially lusted after him. I could barely speak to him without stumbling over my words!
"What's wrong?" Edward asks. "You've gotten quiet."
"I… I think you give me too much credit," I confess. "When I met you, my first thought was that a face like yours should be on the cover of a magazine. I wasn't any better than those other women."
"Of course you are! You never threw yourself at me."
"Well, no, I mean… once I snapped out of my stupor enough to realize you were holding a baby, I assumed you were married. You were off limits," I explain.
"And so you didn't act on your attraction. Even when you found out I wasn't married, your behavior didn't change. And I appreciated that. I wasn't even necessarily looking for a friend, but you made me realize how much I needed one."
"Until I screwed up," I sigh.
"I thought we'd agreed that we were both to blame?"
Smiling, I nod, going back to my dinner.
When I've finished, Edward is still trying to convince Masen to finish his vegetables, so I stand up, rinsing my plate at the sink. I put the leftovers away then start loading the pots and pans from earlier into the dishwasher.
As soon as they've both cleaned their plates, I take care of those dishes, while Edward takes his son into the bathroom to change his diaper.
"Hey, hey, no!" I hear, rushing to the doorway just in time to catch Edward stopping Masen from trying to climb the cat tree.
"That's for kitties to climb, not little boys, OK? I'll get Sandy for you. Go sit on the couch," he directs. Reaching up, he easily plucks the kitten off of her perch, then carries her over to the couch.
I run to get my phone as Edward arranges Sandy on his lap, allowing Masen to pet her gently while his dad holds onto her. They look so cute that I snap several photos before sitting down on Edward's other side.
He looks over at me, smiling. "So we can do something alone next weekend? I can see if Carolyn can babysit."
"Sure," I nod, "that sounds great. As long as Angela's not in the hospital having her baby," I add.
"You met Angela at school, right?"
"Yeah, she'd been teaching at Forks Elementary for four years before I started." Smiling when I realize that Sandy is asleep on Edward's lap, I reach out to stroke her head with one finger. "She is out," I laugh. "If only I could fall asleep that easily."
"And Angela's not from Forks?" he questions.
"That's right," I nod. "She's from a town called Steilacoom on the other side of the Sound. I think it's actually not far from where your book signing was held in Lakewood."
"Oh, speaking of the book signing… would you be willing to come to California with us now? I-I understand you won't be able to leave until after Angela has her baby. Depending on when that is, we might start getting pretty close to the holiday and…" he trails off, shaking his head as if to shake off the negative thoughts. "I could ask them to plan something for mid-July?" he suggests, looking up at me hopefully.
"I'd like that," I smile, reaching out to touch his hand. "Would we drive all the way there?"
Edward shakes his head. "Fly, I think, with some driving between cities. I'll just let my publishers work out the logistics; they have people paid to do that. And I'll make sure the cost of any plane tickets for you is covered, OK?"
"That… would be very much appreciated," I admit.
Standing, I find something on TV that both of us can enjoy watching. Edward lifts his arm, allowing me to cuddle up against his side once I come back to the couch. Masen is on his other side, still stroking Sandy's fur.
Eventually the kitten wakes up and jumps down onto the floor, Masen close behind. I show him how to use her rainbow rope on a stick to play with her, keeping both of them occupied while I get some quality cuddle time with Edward. His right hand absently stokes my arm while his warm body is pressed up against mine. I could really get used to this.
When the show is over, he sits up, stretching. "Mase, it's past your bedtime." Masen, of course, acts like he doesn't hear him, busy pushing a small plastic ball at Sandy.
"Somehow I think you're going to have to carry him out of here," I laugh.
"I think you're right," he agrees, standing up. "Masen, come on, buddy!" Reaching down, he grabs the toddler around the waist and picks him up.
"Noooooooo!" Masen screeches. "Kitty!" Sandy quickly escapes under the TV stand at the loud noise.
"You can come play with the kitty later this week, OK? It's time for bed."
Laughing, I hand Edward the diaper bag, then walk into the foyer with him to open the front door. Masen is pretty much in full meltdown, just as he was when the two of us left the park in Bellevue. Edward leans over for a quick kiss, then steps outside.
"Bye!" I call, still laughing.
The girls decide that we need to have dinner at my place this week so they can finally meet Sandy. Instead of our stand-by pizza, Alice picks up burgers from a little place on the north side of town.
When I hear the doorbell, I scoop up Sandy and carry her out to the foyer. I find Alice at the door and Angela waddling across the sidewalk.
"Oh my God, how cute!" Alice squeals. "I love her already!"
Laughing, I stand back to let my friend in, waiting until Angela comes inside to close the door. "Hi, cutie," she smiles, rubbing Sandy's head. I set the kitten down in the kitchen, quickly fixing up a bowl of canned food for her while Alice sets up dinner on the table and Angela gets drinks out of the fridge.
"She is just the cutest little thing," Alice says again as she watches Sandy scarf down her dinner.
"It's good that you think so," I begin, trying to control my grin, "because I'll need you to watch her for me when I go to California with Edward next month."
"What?!" she exclaims.
"Are you guys talking again?" Angela asks. "I feel like we've missed something big here."
I nod. "He asked me to come over to talk last Friday night and… he suggested that we start dating."
Alice nearly drops her burger. "You and Edward are dating?" she asks, eyes wide.
"We've been on one date — so far. He took me to The Lodge last Saturday after graduation. But we're going out again tomorrow night."
"Oh my God, that's awesome!" Alice exclaims. "Now tell us everything."
I take another sip of my drink, trying to figure out the best way to explain. I mean, I've had nearly a week to think about it, but so much of our talk just feels… private to me.
"Edward has been seeing a therapist since last month to help him deal with his grief over losing his wife. After I told him about my feelings for him, he of course spoke to his therapist about it. And with his help — and a little bit of jealousy — Edward was able to admit to himself that he also has some feelings for me. I-I'm not sure they're the same," I caution, "but enough that he's willing to give us a chance. We're taking things slow, but he hasn't freaked out yet."
"I'm really happy for you, Bella," Angela says, a wide smile on her face.
"Thanks."
"I am too, but explain your comment about jealousy!" Alice demands. "Is he seriously jealous of Jacob?"
"Yes!" I laugh, shaking my head.
"So how slow is slow?" Angela asks. "I mean… did he kiss you goodnight?"
"He did," I nod. "And it was every bit as good as I remembered. I'm not sure how fast we'll progress to more than kissing, but I'm happy that he's willing to take baby steps toward a romantic relationship. I'm just going to enjoy where we are now."
"The anniversary of Bree's death is coming up in a few weeks, right?" Alice asks.
"Yeah, and I'm hoping that once the date has passed, he'll feel a little less wary about dishonoring her memory in some way by moving on. I mean, I can wait for sex until he's ready, but damn, the closer we get, the worse that's going to be!"
"Edward is one sexy mofo," Alice agrees. "I don't even care if I'm dating his brother."
Smiling, I start dumping out trash and cleaning up before the three of us move into the living room. Sandy is on her cat tree, playing with the fuzzy mouse on a string. I pick her up then pass her to Alice to hold.
"She's as soft as she looks," Alice smiles, snuggling my kitten. "And yes, I'd be happy to babysit her while you're off on a romantic trip to California with your new boyfriend."
I roll my eyes. "We'll see about that."
A/N: Some more Masen for those who were missing him. I think Sandy is now his #1 instead of Bella.
A few of you asked about the book signing tour last chapter, and yes, Bella will be going now! With Angela's due date unclear, they've decided to leave after the anniversary of Bree's death (July 8).
It's already written of course, but what should Edward plan for their second date?
Next update on Thursday!