A/N: I'm spoiling you guys lately. I'm a writing machine, but it could just as quickly stop, so I can't promise to always give quick updates. But for now, enjoy!
Someone suggested that I should differentiate between Edward and Bella's texting so as to not confuse them. I've put Edward's texts in italics. Hope that helps.
Anywho, hope you enjoy.
Footprints in the Sand
Chapter 10
"Relax, Bella, last year she insisted she was marrying me," Edward reassures me scoffing softly to himself, but he obviously noticed how neurotic his daughter's statement made me, and I kind of want to die a little.
"It's fine," I say, while his pointed sigh brings those two words immediately to my attention.
We're in the kitchen. After Edward got Addie back to sleep, he led me in here for coffee. Presently, he has his back to me as he stirs sugar into two mugs, but it's not hard to imagine the smirk on his face.
He's wearing black again, without the usual suit vest, his hair's just as neatly groomed, and it only makes him that much more intimidating.
He turns to me and slides one of the mugs in my direction. "Two sugars."
"Thanks." Taking it from him I bring it to my lips.
"You reacted as though someone asked you to swim with sharks. I'm going to get a complex," he says lightly, the smirk remaining intact even as he takes a gulp of his coffee.
I'm surprised he doesn't scald his throat.
"Don't take it personally. It was more that she said it in front of you," I mumble, sounding a little too meek for my liking.
"Hmm... So are you going to tell me why I intimidate you?" he doesn't miss a beat, and seriously, this man. If he can't work me out, what chance do I have with him?
"No. You're just going to have to figure it out." I'm flirting with him I realize, and badly.
And judging from his grin as it jerks back into place, he's well aware of it. "No quid pro quo, either?" he puts to me, both his brows raised high.
Expelling my breath, I break into a conceding smile. "You're exhausting."
For a moment I'm almost positive his expression warms, before he abruptly clears his throat. "Thanks for looking after Addie. I have no idea what my mother was thinking..." he speaks the latter in a mutter to himself.
"Addie could have been cold just before her fever spiked. Chills and fever often accompany each other," I point out as pragmatically as I can. I don't want to cause any friction between him and Mrs. Cullen, and I have no idea what Addie's condition was before I arrived.
"Hmm..." he hums, as his next comment is cut short by an old-school telephone ringtone. He holds his finger up to me, iPhone in hand, before he places it to his ear.
"Yes?" He listens to whoever's on the other end, before adding, "Can you take care of it yourself, Rose? Addie's sick and I'm about to take her home." Whatever Rose says, causes the knot to immediately imbed itself back in his forehead, and for a moment he almost looks threatening. "I don't have time for bullshit right now, and tell Valentina to cancel my afternoon appointments." With that said, he hangs up on her midsentence. Then huffing quietly to himself, he slams his phone a little too roughly to the counter top.
I don't inquire about it. None of my business.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asks after we both fall into silence.
"Working," I answer.
"Do you always work weekends?"
I meet his gaze and realize he's continuing to frown. "Every three months, yeah. After this month I'll be working weekdays until April," I explain my schedule.
"And you work afternoon shift," he surmises, tilting his head slightly to the side.
He's scrutinizing me again.
"Yes."
"Hmm... February 5th my brother and Rose are having a function at their apartment. Would you like to accompany me?" he asks without any unease that proposition would have caused me.
I immediately hesitate, opening and closing my mouth in silence until it begins to border awkward. Of course I want to go with him, but on the other hand, Rosalie is vile, and what she insinuated... "According to Alice I was already invited. I wasn't going to go, though." Breaking his gaze, I cast mine vacantly toward the living area.
"Bella?"
When I again look up at him, I realize he's advanced upon me and is now only inches away. "Y-yeah?" I stammer.
"Do you want to go with me?" he repeats himself, enunciating the words slowly as he takes both my upper arms in his hands.
"Are you going to put me on the stand again?" I utter, subconsciously leaning away from him.
His expression immediately relaxes with amusement, and that handsome face of his all but lights up with it. "I promise to make an effort not to."
"Daddy...?" Addie's broken little voice pipes up from the entrance of the kitchen. She's still wearing nothing but her underwear with her stuffed puppy tucked beneath her arm.
Her cheeks are splotchy and deep pink; evidence her fever's returning.
Without releasing me, Edward turns his head to her. "What's up, tiger?"
"Can I have a drink?" she asks, her large eyes moving from me to her father repeatedly as her forehead bunches in confusion.
I immediately shrug myself from Edward's arms as he turns and retrieves a juice box from the fridge. Then lifting her up with one arm, he hands her the apple juice and carries her back into the living room.
"I should go," I say as Edward dresses Addie to leave. He's so tender and loving with her it was compromising my convictions to not throw myself at him as I stood there.
"Can you hang on a moment?" he asks me over his shoulder.
I nod, despite the fact that he's already turned his attention back to Addie. After he pulls her twin pom-pom beanie over her head, she flops exhausted back to the sofa as Edward collects her belongings and tucks them back into her Moana backpack.
He calls his mother then to notify her while I instinctively hold my breath, but as it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. It was a quick, simple "Mom, I'm taking Addie home. See you tomorrow" before he listened to her reply and hung up.
"Daddy, my bones are cold," Addie complains as Edward carries her to the car. The rain's stopped, but the air is like ice and it burns my lungs with each intake of it.
"I'll run you a bath when we get home, baby. You'll be fine," he assures her, settling her into her car seat and buckling the harness over her shoulders.
"Goodbye, Bella," Addie says in a small, whimpering voice, waving a mittened-hand at me through the opened door.
"Bye, Sweetie." I wave back, my smile mirroring hers, as she turns her focus back to Edward.
"Daddy, did you bring the bubblegum medicine?" she asks him almost reproachfully, even as her eyes widen in alarm.
"I did, worrywart," he replies, tweaking her earlobe before closing the door behind her and turning to me. "You didn't answer," he responds to my questioning eyebrow.
"Answer...?" I echo blankly, before recognition hits me. "Oh—okay," I blurt, agreeing to accompany him to Rosalie's cocktail party, but truthfully, it was more of an 11th hour offensive against him thinking I'm a complete flake.
"Are you sure?" he asks dubiously because my reluctance isn't exactly subtle.
"Positive," I assure him. "What time?"
"Six-thirty. We still texting?" He arches a brow, his smile continuing to ghost over his lips.
"I can't promise much for the next six days, but sure." I opted to work back to back shifts for my transition into a new month. My January shift ends Monday, and my schedule for February is Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It means I'll get three months of Friday nights to myself, but the next several days are going to be grueling.
"What are you doing tonight?" he asks without pause, fully turning to me and sinking both hands into his pants pockets. If he's cold, he's not showing any other outward signs of it.
I'm freezing, and in an effort to combat it and prevent my diamond-hard nipples from slicing through my sweater, I fold both arms tightly across my chest.
"Hmm, let's see. I'll probably browse Netflix for several hours and then decide on something to watch ten minutes before I have to go to bed."
His grin tugs back in place and then disappears as he chews on the inside of his left cheek. "How about we have a text date?" he alludes, his gaze overrunning with definite innuendo.
It momentarily blindsides me, because Jesus H Christ, this man is beautiful. "I mean, I might just find something on Netflix to watch..."
What the hell am I even saying? I suck at flirting; I always did. All I ever succeeded at was embarrassing myself, but Edward appears to find amusement in it.
His breath shoots from his nose in silent laughter before it settles behind those intense eyes of his. "Goodbye, Bella, and thanks again for Addie. Really."
"You're welcome. See you." I immediately turn my back on him and head toward my apartment feeling like a wet noodle, while wondering how the hell I even got here.
From being imaginary, to a coffee date, given the blow off via text, an abusive text message that slowly turned to common ground, and now... here.
The problem is I have no idea where here even is.
. . .
I need your opinion. His first text comes just after 7:30 p.m. as the smile instantly spreads broad across my face.
I'm in serious trouble, and here I am rushing headlong into it.
After pouring myself a coffee, I settle myself on the sofa and curl my legs beneath me.
I'm listening.
Is Addie too young to get her ears pierced?
Hmm, that's pretty subjective.
How old were you?
13, but my father was the Chief of Police and had very strict views.
Subjective or not, what's your opinion?
I think 5 is okay.
I'm not sure I can stand there while she has holes shot through her.
Fainthearted?
Incredibly.
I chuckle to myself, but the image of him fainting over anything refuses to formulate in my mind. He's the sort of person who'd make others faint from his intimidating presence alone.
How's Addie?
Asleep.
That's good. Is her fever still down?
It is. In my defense, it's my father who prescribes her the terrible tasting stuff.
That doesn't surprise me.
He'd probably have heart failure if he saw what I bought her.
He sounds very set in his ways.
To say the least. Found anything to watch on Netflix?
Nope.
What are you doing?
Chatting to you.
Aside from that.
Sitting on my sofa browsing Netflix while chatting to you.
Specific. Was that sarcasm again?
No. Not as perceptive as you think, huh?
You were the one who said I was perceptive.
You said it was an occupational hazard.
It is.
What are you doing?
Chatting to you. I can practically hear his smirk through those words.
I roll my eyes. You're a smart ass.
I can be. Did I intimidate you this afternoon?
Do you honestly think that's going to work?
You need to explain it to me. It's driving me crazy.
I would have, but you were meant to make things even, remember?
I haven't forgotten. When I was 9 I broke my collarbone.
Are you serious?
It's all I've got. Now you.
You intimidate me because when I was 10 I dislocated my elbow.
You do sarcasm well, Bella.
You do avoidance well, Edward.
Touché. Now tell me why you're not aware of how beautiful you are.
So you can tell me you got stitches when you were in high school? I don't think so.
Bella. You frustrate me.
Do I? How?
In every way the definition fits.
Tell me, Edward, how do you want me to react to you? I ask, needing to talk myself down from the edge for a moment. I'm fairly certain we're edging into a texting form of phone sex.
Exactly the way you are. I just wish I could work out why you act the way you do.
There's no reason. I'm just me.
Yes you are.
So you're used to women throwing themselves at you?
That's not exactly right.
Do tell.
If I do, you'll owe me one. Agreed?
Depends.
No. That's my offer. Take it or leave it.
Way to go all lawyer on me.
Yes or no?
Okay, yes, you persuasive asshole.
You're killing me here, woman.
'Woman' is very patronizing, and are you stalling?
I'm not. Give me a moment.
What are you doing?
Getting a drink.
Okay. I'll be waiting.
It's a very long five minutes before those three dots start moving at the bottom of my screen again. I bite down on my lower lip in anticipation.
They fuck with my mind.
I'm sorry?
It's all mind games with them, and I'm ashamed to say that's what I initially thought you were doing as well.
Oh, wow. Edward, I can't imagine anyone outwitting you.
They don't, but they still insist on playing these fucking games with me.
You're angry about it.
It pisses me off.
I know of women like that, but I don't know any personally.
Consider yourself lucky. Now it's your turn.
Okay, fine. You intimidate me because you're stupidly handsome, strangely charming in a cold yet warm, standoffish way, and you have a very intense aura.
I'm sorry? Aura?
Yep.
I have never been called "stupidly handsome" before.
Well now you have.
So who was it who made you believe you aren't beautiful?
It's not my turn. It's yours.
I don't have anything else to tell you.
Somehow I find that really hard to believe.
Damn it, let me think.
Why don't you tell me what you don't want to talk about and we can go from there.
My wife. You?
My mother.
Deal.
Okay, I was a late bloomer. A very late bloomer. I got teased a lot over my looks when I was young.
The best triple malt whiskey takes the longest to age.
That's a very interesting metaphor. Wait. It was your turn!
You can't blame me for that. You volunteered it willingly.
I did, but now you owe me 2.
It doesn't work that way. When did you finally refine, Bella?
I'm sorry?
What age were you when you bloomed?
Oh. Alice claims it was 21, but I'm not so sure.
That makes a lot of sense.
Wait. Jesus, Edward! That's 3 you owe me.
Bella, there is something so wholesome about you.
What the hell does that mean?
It's a compliment. You are the only woman I've ever known who outright dismisses them from me.
It sounded like you were describing potatoes. He doesn't reply for the longest time, and I start worrying I've offended him. Edward?
I'm sorry. I'm changing my shirt. You made me burst into laughter and I spilled beer all over myself.
You're a beer drinker are you? I would not have pegged you as one.
What would you have pegged me as?
Scotch.
I'm that as well. You?
Wine.
I can't drink it. Never could.
I can't drink vodka. It gets very messy if I do.
I'll remember that.
Ditto.
Bella, I don't play games. If I say you're beautiful it's not because I want to get you into bed, it's because you're beautiful.
You are so intense.
Also, please don't assume that I don't want to get you into bed.
That's very forward for a text date, Edward.
You say the complete opposite of what I expect you to.
From what I've heard, you don't have women around Addie.
I don't. What else have you heard?
Many, many things.
Being vague is against text dating rules.
I heard you were gay.
Where did you hear that from?
I didn't. I thought you were gay.
Why?
You have neat handwriting and very neat hair.
Those two things determine whether someone is gay, do they? Are you forgetting I have a daughter?
So does Neil Patrick Harris.
I have absolutely no idea who that is.
Barney Stinson. How I Met Your Mother.
You've still lost me.
It's a TV show.
I don't watch a lot of TV outside of Disney.
You watch Disney with Addie? That's adorable.
Remember I told you I can't say no to her? She takes full advantage.
That just makes you 100 times more attractive, Edward.
Is there something 100 times higher than stupidly handsome?
You are such a smart ass. Tell me why you disappoint your father.
If I had an answer to that, I'd tell you. I have no idea. Everything I do seems to disappoint him.
Does it upset you?
When I was younger it did, but not anymore. Bella, Addie is awake.
Okay, go look after her.
Find something to watch on Netflix, I'll be back soon.
It's ten p.m. when he finally returns. I was half-heartedly and very distractedly watching House, when I spotted those three dots flicker on my message screen again.
She's so miserable.
Poor little chicken.
It's going to be a rough night. I should probably hit the caffeine now.
The joys of parenthood, hey?
Indeed. You were right about my mother. She said Addie was cold and shivering, and she couldn't get her warm. Good thing you warned me because I was five minutes from losing my shit at her. Bella, this is going to give me carpal tunnel.
Well stop texting so much at once. It defeats the purpose.
And what is the purpose?
Short and sweet.
Is that so? What time do you usually go to bed?
I have a few hours. Are you sick of me?
I'm still chatting to you, aren't I? Change of topic.
Hm?
What's something you've always regretted?
Are you going to reciprocate?
Yes.
Then you go first?
Why?
I don't trust you won't trick me again.
You willingly volunteered it before, remember?
Because you asked questions when you should have been answering them.
Okay, I regret making Rose a partner.
Uh-oh.
It's not a terribly bad thing working with her, it's just she has her way of doing things and I have mine. We clash. You?
My father called me the night he died. I was out with friends, saw his call and I ignored it. I will regret that for the rest of my life.
Bella.
Yes?
I'm sorry.
Yeah, but I can't change the past, can I?
Unfortunately no.
Are you going to let Addie be Alice's flower girl?
Probably not.
Why?
I can't ask Alice to watch her while she's about to get married.
I don't mind watching her.
I can't ask you to do that, either.
I wouldn't offer if I didn't want to.
Have you been to a lot of weddings?
Only one. A friend from high school. She got pregnant straight after graduating and had a shotgun wedding.
Very 1950s.
So is Forks. What about you?
Only my own. You lived in Forks?
Yes. Where did you grow up?
Chicago. What were you like in high school?
Terribly, terribly popular. Cheerleader, Prom Queen, voted most likely to marry a billionaire...
You and your sarcasm.
What were you like in high school?
I played baseball and lacrosse, had a 4.0 average, got drunk too many times on the weekends. Pretty standard. Now tell me the truth about you.
I read too much, went running with my father, also had a 4.0 average, but I only drank once underage at a graduation party. Which my father broke up. You can imagine how popular I was, right?
Are you going to get mad at me tomorrow for asking you all these questions?
No. You're answering them too, so it's fine.
You really do say those two words frequently.
Habit. Have any girlfriends in high school?
A few. You?
No.
None?
None.
So you graduated high school a virgin.
Very forward, Edward! But yes, and do not ask me when I lost it!
When did you lose it?
Smart ass. 19. You?
15.
That does not surprise me at all.
It surprises me that you were 19.
Why? I was awkward.
I'm having a hard time picturing it.
Take my word for it.
Bella. Addie.
Oh poor thing. Okay, chat later.
The later doesn't come, though. After waiting almost two hours, I fall asleep on the tail-end of When Harry Met Sally.
When I wake the next morning, it's to a completely flat phone. I plug it in in the bathroom, hastily scrubbing my teeth while waiting for it to have enough charge to switch back on.
When it does, three missed messages pop up on the screen.
Edward texted me just before one a.m.
You still with me?
Guess not.
Sweet dreams.
I'm sorry! I fell asleep. How was your night? I immediately text back, and he replies just as swiftly.
No need to apologize. It was like having a newborn again, but we survived.
Good thing it's the weekend.
Weekend or not, I still have a lot of work to do, but I can do it while Addie's asleep.
What do you usually do on the weekends?
Saturday I'm usually finishing work. Sunday is Addie's day. I do whatever she wants. You?
If I'm not working, or running, I'm usually hanging with Alice. If not, I do what I did last night, sans talking to my neighbor's stupidly handsome son.
Bella.
Yes?
You make me laugh.
I'm happy to entertain you.
When's your shift start?
Midday.
To midnight?
I wish! My average is 12 pm to 2 am.
That's a long day.
It is. Occupational hazard of being a nurse.
Bella, I have to get to work. I'm swamped, but feel free to message me when you have time.
Okay. Tell Addie I hope she's feeling better soon.
Will do.
. . .
I work eighty-five hours over the next six days, and apart from squeezing in food shopping, I only really have time to sleep. Edward and I text a few times back and forth in the mornings before my shifts, usually while I'm grabbing a quick bite to eat or brushing my teeth, but anything more will have to wait.
On Wednesday mine and Alice's shifts overlap, and I give her the 4-1-1 on Frowning Daddy asking me to Rosalie's cocktail party in the hospital cafeteria during the fifteen minute break we manage to squeeze in.
I don't tell her about the brush off Edward sent via text which he then took back, but Alice has news of her own.
"He texted me this morning to let me know Addie can be my flower girl!" she announces, a self-satisfied grin on her face, before turning the screen of her phone to me.
Of course, Alice initiated the conversation with a very bold Have you made a decision on Addie being my flower girl?
To which Edward replied, I assume this is Alice, and yes, she can be your flower girl.
"How on earth did you get his number?" I ask, as Alice raises a dubious brow.
"Jay, silly."
"Of course," I mumble. Alice is on the verge of becoming related to Edward by proxy. How could I forget? "I really don't want to go to this thing Saturday," I admit expelling my breath subconsciously, which only emphasizes my hesitancy further. "Help me come up with an excuse to get out of it?"
"Why would I do that?" she demands as if I'm out of my mind.
"Have you forgotten his partner in law thinks I'm swindling his daughter for a piece of him? Me turning up on his arm will prove her right."
"Are you still hung up on that?" Half rolling her eyes, she dismisses me with a wave of her hand. "Let's go shopping Friday for cocktail dresses," she suggests, doing that stupid accent again.
"It sounds pretentious as hell," I point out.
"It does, doesn't it? But if I'm going to be a doctor's wife and you a lawyer's we'll have to grin and bear it."
While Alice's delusions can reach impressive peaks, that one tips the scales, and I come infinitely close to snorting scalding hot coffee through my nose. "Al, you are completely—"
"Delusional," she beats me to it with a knowing smirk and non-committed shrug. "I own it."
"We had a coffee date, then he got moody with me, and then—"
"Wait! When did he get moody?"
Curse my careless lips, and of course Alice would immediately zero in on it.
"He told me I was giving him mixed messages," I fess up, cringing away from her inevitable judgement.
Her brow rises again with concentrated sentiments of I told you so bleeding through the cracks.
"We sorted it out," I assure her dryly.
"Good to know," she says simply, folding her legs at the knee, "but seriously, Bells, you need to broaden your horizons."
"I'm very happy where I am," I attest, but it's only a half-truth at best. I'm more curious than I'm willing to admit about who Edward surrounds himself with.
"Happy watching Netflix and texting a six foot demigod when you could be between the sheets with him?" she says rhetorically, quirking that questionable eyebrow at me for a third time. "You're a dork, Belly."
Releasing an emphatic sigh, I otherwise ignore her when the little device clipped to the waistband of my scrubs starts vibrating. "I'm being paged, Al." I quickly pull myself to my feet, and rising after me, Alice leans forward and plants her lips to my cheek.
"Call me Friday."
"I will," I promise over my shoulder as I make my way back to labor and delivery.
We're understaffed as usual, and all hands-on-deck are required; I don't get a break for the rest of my shift.
By the time Friday comes around I'm mentally and physically exhausted, but I have a full twelve weeks of weekends to either spend it sexting Frowning Daddy, or engaging in the real thing.
Something I'm not even remotely averse to anymore.
A/N: thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought. Or not.