.
Chapter 91
Dartmouth
Bella
Leah was happy that there was only her favorite food. The favorite food of both of them. But she meant later, when I admitted that it was just for her, that it wasn't necessary. She knew Jake just needed a little more attention at the moment. She wasn't mad, gave us both a grateful kiss on the cheek, and retired to study.
After dinner, Edward asked Jake about the new schedule.
I looked at it with them.
Oh ...! English: advanced course. Math: advanced course. Business administration: college preparatory course. Economics: college prep course. Chemistry: advanced course - replacing his previous math course while Becky had music. Only politics, history and biology remained as before.
Intimidated, I looked at my son. He didn't look different.
Becky's schedule was completely focused on her planned studies.
"What did you have the most trouble with today?" asked Edward quietly.
"Business administration and economics," Jake stated crestfallen.
That was to be expected.
Edward immediately asked for the new books he had received for these subjects and got an overview. The two of them sat down at the dining table while I cleaned up the kitchen extensively and lay down on the reading couch afterwards with a book.
Jake had never really had anything to do with all these economic subjects. My twins had always been obsessed with all the sciences. Edward seemed to catch on to this quickly and started from scratch, so even I understood some of it.
The hours passed with Jake distracted only once by Bran on the phone. The group of friends wanted to go to 'Twilight' tomorrow, to see if Jason's girl would be there again, but Jake said he probably had to study.
I didn't really get to read, but watched the two of them.
I was proud of my son. I could see how difficult these subjects, which were so unfamiliar to him, were for him, but he was also determined to somehow manage it all. And Edward was very patient with him.
My angel then summoned Jake to look at some pages in another book and signified for me to go up with him.
"How does that feel to you? Sitting there with Jake and teaching him all this?" I asked on the way up.
"I'm not sure I can really describe it," he took me in his arms on the upper landing of the stairs. "It's great. It fills me with honest joy that I get to teach him and also see the result of it right away. Hearing in his head how he draws the right conclusions. To see in his eyes when he has understood something. The willpower to want to understand it. To hear him mentally curse when he doesn't get it right the first time."
"I think it's one of those moments that he's always secretly missed ... A father he can learn something from. It's nice to watch you guys."
"And you gave me these children. Thank you, Bella!" he said and kissed me deeply.
"What are these books you brought today, anyway?" I asked the rest of the way.
"Old schoolbooks of mine. I asked Jasper to bring them to school with me. I've known Becky's schedule all along, but it wasn't until today that I understood why she took all those subjects," he explained to me.
Then I knocked on Leah's room door and we entered when prompted.
"Leah, can we talk to you for a minute?" I inquired.
I could have saved myself the trouble, I considered. If Leah had been busy with anything important - talking to any girlfriends on the phone, studying, doing homework ... in that order! - Edward would not have chosen this time.
I was right with this assumption.
She lay with soft music with her laptop on the bed and surfed seemingly haphazardly through the Internet.
A page about vampire myths.
I smirked.
"Did I do something wrong?" asked Leah, confused.
"I don't know. Did you?" asked Edward immediately.
"Um ... Nope?" Leah replied, not necessarily convincingly, and actually seemed to have thought about it for a moment, so I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "So. What's up?" she then asked, skipping over my facial expressions.
I wordlessly handed her the papers from Berkeley and sat down on the edge of the bed. I looked closely at my daughter.
She hadn't said a word about Berkeley since the envelope arrived, and I really didn't know if she might still want to go there. California, after all, was already an attraction in itself. At least I knew that she got along with Ben on the whole, even if they weren't together anymore.
"Berkeley," Leah muttered to herself, buried in thought.
"We're wondering if you'd like to go there as planned," I said quietly.
"I hadn't even thought about it," Leah admitted. "There was only one reason for me to go to California."
"Ben," I stated.
Leah nodded and seemed thoughtful. She pushed the computer aside and sat up straight.
"I don't think I want to go to Berkeley any more ... If I imagine running across him all the time. I don't need to have that."
"You still have some time to pick a college. For most, the application deadline doesn't run out until spring. So, think about it calmly ... The choice of university has a direct impact on your future. Therefore, you should not make this decision lightly," Edward meant in a rather strange tone.
I knew what he was getting at.
"It sounds like you have something else you want to say!" but Leah also noticed the sound of his voice.
Edward smiled and pulled a small stack of papers from behind his back.
"I have a suggestion," he said, sitting down on the floor in front of the bed and handing her the stack.
Her eyes skimmed the first page and they widened in disbelief as she recognized the college.
"You're crazy! They'll never take me!" Leah stated and threw the pages back at him.
"If you wanted to study at Dartmouth, they will take you!" insisted Edward.
"And why would they do that?" asked Leah, annoyed, looking him stubbornly in the eyes.
"You let me worry about that," Edward stared back. Grinning.
This eye duel lasted a moment.
Meanwhile, I remembered the account number ... oh no, the account balance, and wondered what a place at an elite university cost in bribes. And since when did I agree with such methods? ... Since it was about my children!
"I don't want to influence your absolutely free choice, of course ..." Edward then began to say charmingly.
"Of course not," Leah didn't believe a word.
"... but Becky will study there. This already stands. Therefore, I will not have to persuade Jake. And I was also planning to enroll there next year," my angel ended, eliciting a half-screamed "What?" from Leah.
I knew about it. He had already told me weeks ago that he started here in his senior year of high school because he had wanted to escape Samantha as quickly as possible for some time. His last graduation certificate was already so many years old that it didn't match his appearance. Only one detail was new to me.
"How long has it been decided that you're going to Dartmouth?" I asked therefore.
When he told me about it, he had not yet realized the college. Some university that was nearby.
I didn't get an answer, I was just smiled at crookedly and pulled onto his lap.
The decision was probably made after he pictured himself running across campus with his children in his mind.
Leah asked what he wanted to study.
I couldn't help but feel proud of my angel. Edward told her that he had originally planned architecture, but that decision had faltered.
"... Becky wasn't talk crazy on Tuesday after her surgery. I was actually with her and operated on her together with Carlisle. Since I still have some time to decide, I am going to observe my self-control more closely in the next few months and also challenge it consciously but in a controlled manner. In this respect, it may well be that I will go to medical school," he ended again.
"But if you don't have a problem with blood, neither with us, nor with Mom, and now with Becky, why do you have to test your thirst first?" Leah didn't quite understand.
"Bella is more important to me than my life," he began to explain, giving me a kiss on the temple. "Aside from the fact that you and Jake mean just as much to me, though, your wolf blood is not the least bit appealing. No need for self-control there," he quipped, and Leah commented by punching his shoulder. "And I love Becky as much as a daughter. Love is capable of doing a lot in us. That's the only reason I can resist my singer. In this respect, I could react quite differently with strangers. And I can't hold my breath all day," said Edward level-headedly.
"You can do it. I'm sure you're just as strong as Carlisle!" I confirmed his consideration and gave him a kiss.
"You're biased, sweetheart. You were already convinced that I could do anything. But that's not true," Edward objected.
I didn't believe a word he said.
"Dartmouth," Edward then said, getting back to our topic at hand.
"I don't know. I'll think about it," Leah stated diplomatically. "Free choice, you say? What if it was Alaska?" considered Leah.
"Do you want me to make you a list of the colleges that are acceptable to me?" chuckled Edward.
"Does it list anything other than Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard, and the like?"
"Oxford, maybe. Or Cambridge ... England is a very interesting country. Except they drive on the wrong side of the road," Edward considered, as we were already rising from the floor. "The ETH in Zurich is also a world-renowned university, especially in natural sciences," Edward mused a bit further.
I looked at him aghast.
No. He would not let the two of them leave the country! Or would he?
Leah looked stunned for a moment ... and angry.
"Free choice, Leah, I promise!" said Edward peacefully.
"Thanks, Dad," Leah looked at him and he gave her a conciliatory kiss on the forehead before we headed back downstairs.
"What is she thinking?" I asked curiously as we were already standing on the stairs.
"She's already excitedly pulled up the home page," Edward whispered victoriously.
"So, Jake. That's enough studying for today. One must also not over-do-it ... Besides, we have something to discuss with you," Edward announced as we re-entered the dining room.
Jake looked up from his book a little puzzled, but glanced at his watch.
It was ten o'clock in the evening. He had been studying almost continuously for over three hours now. I was a little worried that it would be too much for him in the long run. But I trusted Edward's assessment and Jake's will.
"Are you sure?" I asked Edward skeptically. "I doubt there's really anything to discuss here!" I thoroughly doubted.
"Yes, however, I have my suspicions about what he's going to counter with."
"Huh ...?" interjected Jake, confused.
Instead of saying anything, Edward tossed the second set of application materials for Dartmouth right in front of him on the table.
Like Leah, he also let his eyes fly over the first page, trying to grasp what those papers were as quickly as possible.
"You're crazy! They'll never take me!" Jake stated cautiously and threw the notes back at him.
"Tell me something, Jake. Do you know how often Leah and you say or do the same thing all the time?" I asked my son seriously. Sometimes they really scared me with that.
"Word for word, even!" confirmed Edward, chuckling.
"Twins!" grinned Jake at us in turn. Then he got more serious again and looked at the stack of papers thoughtfully. "You know Becky's going to study there?" Jake then asked me.
"Her parents were here this afternoon and Edward heard it in their thoughts," I replied.
"But they'll never accept me with my grades," Jake almost whined and I rolled my eyes in annoyance.
Again, the same reaction from both my kids!
"What then?" he asked, not understanding.
"That's what Leah said, too. And I'm telling you the same thing I told her: You let me worry about that. If you want to go there, they will accept you," Edward explained.
"How?"
"Jazz will settle that," Edward smirked.
I really wondered how Jasper would do it. My kids' report cards were impeccable to me as a mother, with minor exceptions. For Jake, the exception was history; for Leah, it was English. The grades were absolutely sufficient for a really good college, but it was just not good enough for an elite university.
Jake, on the other hand, looked very satisfied. No eye duel between Edward and Jake, as it had taken place earlier one floor higher.
"If you still want to run with Leah, you should get going so you're not late for bed," Edward reminded him.
"Aye aye, Sir!" saluted Jake in high spirits, clearing the dining table and packing his school bag for tomorrow. "Thanks, Dad," he followed up, which Edward in turn answered with a kiss on his forehead.
Then Jake ran up to get Leah.
"You don't get tired of hearing that from those two, do you?", I asked with a smirk.
"No," he chuckled at me, already holding me in his arms.
He lifted me on his hips and kissed me stunningly.
"At least wait until we're gone!" I heard somewhere else far away, but I was too busy to follow the source.
I couldn't even tell which of the two had said it.
But Edward brought me back to reality far too quickly.
"Who's going to pick up Becky? You or me?" he asked.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot.
I averted myself from him so I could think clearly again and quickly considered.
"Me. And you'll discuss it with Jake afterwards about her sleeping in the guest room!" I determined, grabbing the key to the Audi and my purse.
I saw still a deeply offended face as I walked through the front door. I grinned with satisfaction.
Today I would not be the bad mother!
I chuckled as Becky opened the door for me.
At first she was surprised, then she apparently thought something had happened.
Like Jake, she also had no idea yet.
"Hi, Becky. I'm here to pick you up," I said immediately, before she got the wrong idea.
Becky, of course, didn't understand a word and first gestured for me to come in. But then she was quickly enlightened, jumped into her parents' arms and immediately disappeared into her room.
"You really don't mind?" I then asked Elizabeth first.
"No. We were already considering what tonight would be like. Whether I would have to call Jake again," she meant.
"It would be more detrimental to both of them, however, if it was another night like that. Becky, because she's so upset inside that she can't relax, and Jake, because he'd have to come here in the middle of the night. There nobody gets any of that, after all," Henry also emphasized.
Maybe it would have been better if Edward had driven to listen to his thoughts. Well, now it was too late for that.
Eliza asked if it wouldn't inconvenience us, but I said that two or three children made no difference. After all, they were no longer little children who had to be supervised in the morning to make sure they also got up.
Then Becky was already standing with us again, carrying her school bag for tomorrow and her usual overnight backpack.
"Did you pack the wolf?" I asked.
"What for? I have the big one after all," she chuckled softly to me.
Oh oh ... Nope, she still wouldn't have that one.
"Go on, get it anyway," I murmured to her.
She did it. She hugged her parents again gratefully and then we drove back.
"Jake has no idea I'm picking you up right now," I chuckled along the way. "He's still in the woods with Leah."
"Thank you, Mrs. Black. I was afraid of tonight ... I hope I'm not inconveniencing you," Becky murmured, a little embarrassed.
One rarely saw that with her.
I took her hand in mine.
"Oh Becky. Sometimes you just get scared, whether it seems logical to others or not. But that's why we considered bringing you over for the next few days. So that you can conquer this fear and leave it behind you. And you don't inconvenience us at all. On the contrary. I'm always happy when you're here ... But I would like to ask you one favor, Becky," I said quietly.
"Like what?"
"Please, stop calling me Mrs. Black. It always makes me feel so old and grown up, like I don't feel at all. Just call me Bella," I laughed. I had already wanted to say that to her many a times.
"Bella," she smiled at me.
This had already been long overdue!
Thanks for reading!
