The following weeks passed by too quickly.
Edward had made enough progress in which he didn't need my help to get in bed anymore, and I was working on my music from home.
The doctor had sent a refill of the prenatal vitamins, along with extra folic acid. So far everything was fine with the baby and I, besides the low weight. Which was a relief to all of us.
Rose had been accompanying me to most of the doctor appointments since Edward was busy doing P.T.
Three weeks later Rose and Emmett had to head home to take care of some business but promised to come back as soon as possible.
Four days after they left, I woke up early, and in need of some breakfast tacos.
I drove to the closest taco stand, and bought a few orders, before stopping at a convenience store, and buying some iced tea and coffee.
As I arrived home, I noticed that the small hole that Emmett accidentally made the other day, when he opened the door too fast, was patched up as I passed the kitchen.
"Edward?" I called, as I saw Peaches sitting on the floor. "Hey, Peaches, where's Edward?" I asked as I set the things down and saw his wheelchair empty.
"Hello?" I called out as I dropped my bag on the stool.
"Edward?" I called again, growing concerned as Peaches whimpered.
He slowly limped out from the side of the kitchen, as I turned, causing me to jump. "Hey." He groaned.
I gasped, "Oh my god. You're walking." I stared with wide eyes.
"Barely." He replied as he moved to the living room. "Hurts like a bitch." He adds with another grunt.
I smiled, "You know, apparently, I'm a psychic." I teased.
"Oh yeah?" He asked with a smile.
I nodded, "Because though I would usually just get myself breakfast tacos. This morning I woke up, and I thought, 'I wonder if Edward deserves one?'" I told him, holding up the bag.
He scoffs a laugh, "Oh. One?" He asked in disbelief.
"Oh, calm down." I told him rolling my eyes at him, "I got way too many. I even got our dog a taco." I added as I turned and cooed at her. "Right, Peaches. Yeah." I cooed as she sat up and barked.
He chuckled in amusement as I waved my fingers at her.
I laughed and moved, picking up the bag and drinks before heading to the table.
I pulled out a few, handing him four before sitting down, drowning them in hot sauce and taking a bite.
As I finished eating my first taco, and felt the nudges I had become accustomed to, I remembered the patched up hole by the entrance.
"Did you patch up the hole by the door?" I asked.
"Mm-hmm." He responded before taking a drink of his coffee.
I frowned, "Thanks. I guess." I whispered.
He took a bite from his taco, and swallowed, before smirking, "You know you can let a guy help you and still be a feminist, right?" He asked rhetorically.
I rolled my eyes at him, and chuckled, "I'd rather have a hole in my wall than have you lecture me on feminism." I retorted.
He took another bite, and nodded, "Oh, okay, so you wanna live on an island of broken walls?" He asked sarcastically. "Why don't you say, 'Edward, you're wrong.', 'You don't understand me.'"
I roll my eyes at him, "You know what? Edward, you're wrong. You don't understand me." I deadpanned.
"I'm not..." He said, as he continued to eat his taco.
"Really? Well, I'm doing okay on my own. Maybe I don't need the chaos of someone having my heart or whatever." I told him.
"Hmm." He said, in disbelief, as he nodded and clasped his hands in front of him on the table.
I was lifting my tea to take a sip when I set it down and frowned at him as he reached over and began to unwrap another taco. "Oh no. No more tacos if you do that." I told him, snatching the taco and setting it down.
He looked at me in disbelief, and lifted his hands, "Do what?" He chuckled.
"Hmm." I replied mockingly, as I sipped my tea. "Just say the damn thing." I told him, waving the taco in his face.
He raised his brows, before dropping his hands and tucking them into his side, "Okay. The same reason you and I wouldn't work out. You don't believe in love." He told me, nodding as he reached over and plucked the taco out of my hand with a soft smile.
I sighed and looked out the window, sitting back as I rubbed my barely protruding stomach. "Wow, I had no idea that Psych 101 was a part of basic training." I retorted, with a cynical laugh before leaning forward.
He bit into the taco, taking his time to chew, before he answered, "Well, You realize that I'm a Marine, right? So, the training is not exactly basic." He told me as he continued to eat.
"Oh yeah, I've seen the movies. I've done my homework. I'm a proud military wife, after all." I retorted.
He sighed as he finished chewing his taco with a head shake, letting out a scoff, and clearing his throat as he crumpled the taco's wrapping foil. "You don't want to date that guy that you actually like because that would mean, you know, you'd have to give up control to let someone in." He told me challengingly.
I scoffed but nodded, setting my tea down on the table, "Okay, yeah. Well, maybe having control issues just means that I'm being smart. So, maybe you don't know what you're talking about." I replied.
He nodded, giving me an unfathomable look, "Mmm, that's fake news. Because when it comes to control issues, I'm self-taught." He said as he took another bite.
"You?" I asked in disbelief. "You seem so chill." I commented, moving a piece of my hair away from my face.
He nodded, " Listen, it's this, or I'm breaking six laws, going 120 down the 405 with no pants on. So…" he trailed off shrugging.
I smirked, "Metaphorically?" I asked amused at the mental picture he painted.
He moved his head before shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
My jaw dropped as he continued to eat. "Hard to picture." I finally say, amused.
He smiled back, amused.
"Not that I'm picturing it." I add quickly as he smirks at me amused.
"Okay." He says as he laughs and looks out the window.
I stared down at his plain taco and scoffed,
"What kind of freak skips out on Tapatío?" I asked, offended as I picked up the small white and brown packet and threw at him causing him to snort, eyes widening in surprise.
I snorted at his reaction, biting my lips to hold back the laughter.
He finished chewing the bite, before swallowing, and leaning back on his chair, waving the packet in the air between us, before slamming it on the table. "Wow. You know, you snowflakes are just -- You're so judgy." He tells me.
I grab the packet again, taking my tongue and pressing it with my lips as I prepare to throw it. He narrows his eyes, wordlessly challenging me as I smirk and throw it.
"Don't start this." He says as he grabs the packet, as I begin to reach for it, and keeps it away from me causing me to laugh.
"Okay, control freak, you ready to let go?" I asked, leaning forward, as I held up a small plastic container filled with jalapeno slices, shaking it at him challengingly.
"Hell yeah." He says in between bites.
"Drive on the wild side?" I teased.
"Bring it on." He told me with a leveled look.
"Pants down?" I continued to tease.
"Fuck it. Let's go." He told me.
I laughed as I rose from my seat and lead him to the kitchen. Leaning against the breakfast bar.
"What is this?" He asked.
"Contest. First person to give up gets bragging rights." I told him.
"What are we going to do?" He asked me.
I smirk, as I pop off the lid, "Were going to take a slice of jalapeños and hold it in our mouths for as long as we can. Can you deal?" I asked amused.
He sighs, and sits on the stool, giving me an expressionless look.
"Are you ready for this?" I asked.
He exhales before nodding, "Yeah." He replies. "Bring it on." He adds.
"Ready?" I ask with a smirk as I pluck the first slice off the top and hold it up.
He shakes his head before reaching for a slice, "Yeah." He breathed.
"On three." I told him. "One. Two. Three." I say as I smirk and pop it into my mouth, holding his gaze as I do. He sighs and pops it into his mouth.
I watch as he makes his first error. Sucking onto the slice, and choking on the juices of the slice. Holding back a smirk as he struggles to keep his face expressionless.
"Do you want to spit it out?" I asked, waving the container at him.
He shakes his head at me, as his face turns red.
I suck on the slice, smirking at him, "It's not spicy, dude." I tell him.
A few seconds later he sucks again, and coughs, his face is red as he stares back at me. Clearing his throat multiple times.
I giggle as he blinks back tears.
"Oh my G-- " he says, "Can't breathe." He says as he points at himself.
"No, I'm totally fine." I say, completely at ease.
"I go--" he began, as he strained to keep composure.
"Spit it out!" I yell, laughing.
He bangs on the table, blinking back more tears, "No!" He says.
"You're gonna lose." I tell him as I lean forward.
"Okay. I can't." He finally says in defeat and leans forward to spit it out. "Agh!" He groans, plopping his forehead on the breakfast bar.
I jump up, squealing as I cheer in victory. "Victory is mine." I say as I go to the sink, spiting the out the slice and dancing around.
"Oh my God." Edward groans from his seat. "I'm bleeding from my eyes. I'm bleeding from--" he complains as he begins to cough violently.
"Yes!" I continued to dance around the kitchen happily.
"Oh wow." He says as he watches me amused.
I turn and laugh at his face as he rolls his eyes at me. "I won." I announced smiling widely at him. "You lost." I told him.
"I got something for you." He finally says. "It's in my back pocket. Gimme one second. Here it is, right there." He tells me as he flips me the bird.
I grab his finger and throw his hand down on the table.
"Ah!" He cries out. "I'm in pain. I'm in so much pain." He breathed as I continued to laugh.
I grab a napkin and slowly reach over to oat his face dry. "You're sweating. Here." I tell him, amused.
"Oh." He groaned as I wiped away the side of his face. "Thank you." He whispered with his eyes closed.
"Mm-hmm." I say, holding his head steady with my other hand.
"Why would anyone do that to themselves? I don't understand." He mumbles as he opens his eyes. "You're sweating too." He pointed out.
I smiled, "No. This isn't sweat. This is a glow." I tell him, as I move my hair off my shoulder.
As I finished wiping his face he sighed, "Maybe we should watch a movie or something." He suggested looking away.
"I can smell jalapeños coming out of your pores. So, uh… Maybe you should shower first." I suggested with a smile.
He chuckled, turning to look away uncomfortably. "Well… Getting in the shower means standing up for a long period of time, which means radiating pain." He told me.
I nodded, "Okay, then take a bath?" I suggested. "It's gonna make you feel better." I told him.
He sighed, "Getting in the tub is also a nightmare." He finally told me, looking down.
I sighed, and straightened up. "I'll help you." I finally said.
Without waiting for a response, I took his hand and pulled him in the direction of the bathroom in the master bedroom.
He sighed as I gave him a pointed look as I made my way towards the bathtub. I slowly bent over and turned on the water, adjusting it to the correct temperature before adding some bath salts.
He sighed, as I heard the sound of clothes dropping to the floor.
As I turned around he was fiddling with his belt and struggling to lower his pants as he sat on the other side of the tub.
I wordlessly made my way over to him and kneeled in front of him. "Here." I whispered as I helped him step out of his pants.
He groaned in pain as the pants slowly fell, lightly clutching at his injured leg and locking away.
He held onto the edge of the bathtub as I pulled the rest of his pants off.
"It's not pretty." He mumbled as my eyes fell on the scarring on his leg.
I didn't say anything, choosing to take his hand and squeeze it as he looked away.
I then helped him into the tub, helping him wash himself.
"I can do that myself." He whispered with an uncomfortable chuckle.
"Just let me." I told him, as I squeezed the water onto his shoulders.
He sighed and moved his hands in the water.
"I can see how hard you've been working at it, and you'll run again, Edward. I know you will. I believe in you." I whispered as I placed my hand on his shoulder.
He wordlessly grabbed my hand, and held it in his. Leaning his head back to rest on my knees as I leaned over and held his head with my other hand.
"Why don't we sleep in the same bed tonight?" I asked him quietly.
He nodded, as I finished bathing him.
That night as we laid in bed, facing each other, he smiled at me, reaching up to caress my hair before kissing my forehead.
He placed his hand on my stomach, and felt as the baby immediately kicked his hand.
He looked at me, his eyes filling with sadness as he kissed my forehead again.
"It'll be okay." I whispered as he pulled me into his chest.
Author's Note:
Okay, so y'all can say it. I'm avoiding the talk. lol.
Anyways. Hope y'all enjoyed it.