I don't own Twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and the plot of the story.
Author's note at the end of the chapter.
"I will do the cleaning. You can take Cece to sleep," Bella tells him then rises off the table.
Cece opens her mouth to disagree but Bella doesn't let her. "You need to take a bath and then Daddy will read you a bedtime story," Bella tells her in a stern voice that leaves no space for arguments.
"Fine," Cece huffs then gets up and goes up the stairs.
"Bella," Edward calls trying to get her attention.
Refusing to look at him, Bella continues to transfer the food into Tupperware as she replies, "I have to clean the kitchen before I go to my office to finish my work. I am busy."
Recently, "I am busy," has become code for, "Fuck off." Since that fateful day in the bar a week ago, things have been tense in the house. She left him alone in the bar, and suddenly any relief he could have found at the bottom of a bottle vanished into thin air.
Since then, things have been difficult for him. Any warmth he feels from spending with Cece is laced with anxiety from Bella's coldness. Now he understands why Bella played stupid and wishes he didn't demand anymore.
He reads to Cece but his heart isn't in it. "How about you read for me for a change?" He asks her trying to sound cheerful.
Cece nods her head and starts reading only to stop five minutes later. "Why did you stop darling?"
Cece is silent for a moment before she asks him, "Are you and mummy okay?"
Edward frowns as he asks her, "What do you mean?"
"Both of you are sad. Why?" Cece asks him.
Edward opens his mouth to deny what she said but realizes that he can't and closes his mouth. He opens his mouth another time to excuse them but comes up empty. Her question took him completely by surprise.
"Sometimes people go through something or discover something surprising and they don't know what to do with it," Edward finally tells her.
Cece nods her head as she thinks over what he told her then surprises him by asking, "Did both of you discover the same thing?"
Edward scrunches his nose pondering over her question before he finally tells her, "I guess."
"Then decide what to do together," she tells him simply.
Edward opens his mouth to tell her that it won't work out but then he pauses for a moment and thinks things over. He can't do anything on his own, and unless she talks things over with him, she won't be able to let it go. The best thing they can do is sit together and finish the talk they started in the bar a week ago.
Edward leaves Cece's room five minutes later and looks for Bella. He finds her still in her office, her back hunched over her drawings. He knocks softly on the door to alert her to his presence, but she doesn't hear him over the sound of the music in her headphone that he can hear from the door.
"Bella," he calls sternly. She looks up at him and takes out one ear then tells him, "Is there a problem with Cece?"
Edward shakes his head. "Good," Bella mutters then returns the headphone to her ears. Edward realizes that this is her way of telling her to leave, but knows that this time, he can't go along with her silent request, so he walks into the room until he reaches her phone and hits pause.
Bella looks up in surprise then yanks the headphones out of her ears and asks him, "What?"
"We need to talk," he tells her.
Bella shakes her head and tells him, "No. we don't."
Bella hits play on her phone, but Edward hits pause and tells her, "Cece is starting to notice that something is wrong. We need to resolve our issue."
"Fine," she huffs then takes the headphones out of her ears and turns to face him expectingly.
"Can't you go back to playing dump?" He asks her sitting on the sofa.
Bella shakes her head and tells him, "Not after you confronted me."
"I can pretend that what happened in the bar never happened. I didn't even go to a bar. Have short-time amnesia. What do you think?" He tells her joking at the end.
Bella shakes her head sadly and tells him, "I don't think I can."
Edward looks down at his hands and tells her, "So we will stay like this with you running from the room whenever I enter it and being stiff with me?"
Bella shrugs her shoulders at that. Edward sighs in disappointment and gets up. There is nothing else he can do to change things.
"I mean, I think I will go back to normal, but I need time," Bella states stopping him in his tracks.
Edward turns around and asks her, "Is there anything I can do to help? Make the process go faster?"
Bella tilts her head to the side thinking things over then tells him, "You can move on."
Edward rolls his eyes and then tells her, "You can't asks me that like you can't ask me to forget Cece,"
Edward then turns around and leaves not hearing what Bella says next, "Not if I can help it."
Hello lovely people,
No, Edward didn't end up breaking his sobriety. I figured that he has suffered and repented enough as it is. Plus, this story isn't about a guy struggling with alcoholism, so I am not about to center it in the story plot.
What do you think Bella will be up to next? I would love to hear your theories and ideas, and while you are on it, follow and favorite this story if you haven't already.
Also, if you enjoy my writing, please check out my substack where I post my original writings. It's information is in my bio.
Until I post again,
Stay Safe.