Hello, people!
Happy Saturday, everyone!
Usual housekeeping:
- I still don't own any of it.
- Team Momo wouldn't exist without Midnight Cougar and Alice's White Rabbit with their red pens, or without AGoodWitch, Maplestyle, Mel, and Eternally Addicted who pre-read and tell me if I'm off my rocker or not.
Today we get to see "Meet the Swans" from Edward's perspective.
Chapter 27 - EPOV
I shouldn't have been so nervous about meeting Bella's parents. I shouldn't—but something Emmett said didn't sit well with me.
My brother and I had the benefit of a closely knit, affectionate, and ever-present family. Our parents were, in some cases, overly involved with our lives. But I couldn't imagine moving out for college at the other end of the country, with my parents rarely coming to visit.
So, yes, her parents' relative absence in her life concerned me—or at best, it puzzled me greatly. I vowed to suspend judgment until I saw them interact with each other. After all, everything might have a perfectly innocent explanation; airfare was expensive, especially all the way from the West Coast.
When Bella arranged for dinner tonight, she insisted on meeting at the restaurant. She'd picked a nice, unpretentious Italian restaurant a few blocks from the office. I'd been there for business lunches, dozens of times. Pulcinella's could be chaotic at lunchtime, but it became cozy and relaxed at dinner. It also had the added bonus that both she and her parents could get there on foot from the office and the hotel where she'd booked them.
I got there early—which I'd planned, to have a field advantage—and the maître d' recognized me with ease. She also knew Bella pretty well, because the firm used Pulcinella's regularly to cater office events.
"Dawn, I know the reservation is under Bella's name, but could you please arrange to have the tab billed to my card?"
She received my tip with a nod, and confirmed she'd make sure it happened.
Five minutes later—at seven on the dot—my girlfriend and her parents made their way to our table. I stood to welcome them, and didn't waste any time in taking Bella in my arms, giving her chaste kiss to her forehead.
"Hello, my love."
"Hey. You're early," she replied. She clasped my hand in hers and turned toward her parents. "Mom, Dad. Here we are, this is—"
"Edward Cullen. Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Swan, Chief Swan." Knowing that her dad was in law enforcement, I figured calling him by his official title would help buttering him up a little.
"Oh, Bells. You didn't tell us he was such a handsome fellow. Come here and give me a hug," her mom said warmly.
Renée Swan came across as a slightly older, slightly bubblier version of Bella. Shorter than Bella, and with lighter coloring, she had hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair to Bella's chocolate brown eyes and chestnut locks. She put her arms around my waist, gave me air kisses, and patted me affectionately on the back. I didn't expect such a welcome.
"Renée, dear. Call me Renée. None of that Mrs. Swan crap. Charlie, don't just stand there. Come and say hello to Bella's Edward."
After experiencing this whirlwind of a woman for two solid minutes, I had no doubts that Bella's loving disposition was somehow genetic. As were her reserve and private nature, judging by her dad's current sullen expression.
"So you're the rich lawyer who's stolen my daughter's heart?"
I tried not to take his ill-concealed jab personally. "The other way around, sir. If anything, Bella's the one who stole my heart."
He harrumphed and mumbled something under his breath. Bella moved closer to him, and elbowed him in the side.
"Dad! You promised to behave," she hissed at him.
"Charlie, you're out of your jurisdiction here, so maybe you should do as Bella says." His wife's voice came in calm and soothing tones, but her words had an unexpected edge. Bella had described her mom as flighty and free-spirited, and in my head that didn't chime with laying down the law like that.
"Let's take our seats, please," Bella instructed. The look she gave her parents didn't bode well. Her face was set in strained lines, and she was no longer smiling.
I threaded my fingers through hers, squeezing her hand in a show of support. I pulled out her chair and let her sit. When I stepped aside to grab my own chair, in the corner of my eye, I caught Renée eyeing her husband, who had pointedly not assisted his wife.
"I'm so glad you were able to make it today, Edward," Bella said, smiling.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, darling." I wasn't going to watch my language or curtail my endearments to Bella just because her parents were listening.
I felt, more than saw, her father's penetrating gaze trained on me, scrutinizing my every move, dissecting my words. For a second, I speculated that hostile witnesses went through something similar when they spent half an hour on the stand under my uncle's relentless questioning.
A server came and went, delivering drinks, menus, and a breadbasket.
Bella and I started our usual restaurant routine—firing off meal suggestions at each other, until we landed on a couple that sounded palatable to both so we could mix and match.
"What would have kept you from making it today, Edward?" Charlie's voice interrupted our back and forth halfway through Pulcinella's menu, somewhere in the land of ravioli.
"It was because of his obligations at Cornell, Dad." Bella's intervention silenced the Chief, but only momentarily.
"So a glitzy Ivy League school trumps your girlfriend's graduation, then?"
The question was phrased and delivered to be deliberately inflammatory. In a courtroom, Uncle Jamie would have called for an objection. But I wasn't a litigator, and I wasn't in a courtroom, so I had to fend for myself.
"Their commencement ceremony takes place on Sunday. I believe Bella informed you that I was a visiting professor there this past semester, didn't she? Well, the dean of the law school wanted me to attend, but eventually, I managed to un-attend."
"Oh, that was a great honor, Edward," Bella's mother replied. "What if they insisted?"
I shrugged. "The main speaker will be Bill Nye. Nobody would have paid any attention to some lawyer from Atlanta with the Science Guy at the podium."
"How come they invited you at all?" Like a dog with a bone, Charlie didn't give up. Admirable quality in an investigator, yet slightly more irritating in your girlfriend's father.
The server returned with our salads, and when she left, I poured water for the ladies and myself, then passed the bottle to Charlie.
"No, thank you. I don't drink fancy foo-foo water."
Bella rolled her eyes at her father's attitude. Funnily enough, his daughter had been the one to order the Italian sparkling water I loved.
"Charlie, you can cut the hard-ass routine." Bella glared at her father. "You're not in the interrogation room at your station with some small-time criminal that falls for your act."
"Be kind," Renée hissed at her husband, who didn't relent.
"Bells, what are your plans after graduation? When should we expect you?" Charlie asked, changing his tack completely.
"Expect me? I don't have any vacation planned over there, Dad."
He blinked once, twice, then again, almost like an owl. "Well, you are coming back, aren't you?"
Wide-eyed, frown firmly planted on her face—Bella looked positively puzzled. "To do what? I'm not following you."
"To live. You're done with your studies, there's no reason for you to stay in Atlanta any longer. Time to go back where you belong."
Bella's fork fell out of her hands, clattering onto the table. I reached for her other hand, because based on her irritated huff, she could explode at any second.
"I realize you're used to ordering people around, instead of asking them what they intend to do, but you're way out of line, Charlie. This is beyond the pale."
Charlie crumpled his napkin into a ball and threw it on the table with a grunt. "It's a reasonable expectation to want you back home. It's been seven years."
I didn't know how to interpret this outburst. Best-case scenario, Bella's father missed her and hoped she'd move back to the West Coast. Worst-case scenario, Charlie wanted to orchestrate Bella's life, and that wasn't going to work. Not with the Bella I knew and loved, the one independent to a fault.
Bella took a long, deep breath before addressing her father again. "I'm going to say this once, so open your damn ears and listen. Yes, it's been seven years because that's how long it's taken me to go through undergrad and my MBA by paying my own way. I've worked full time for seven years—hell, longer than that if you add community college in Port Angeles—and I've never asked you for a dime. I have a job, Dad. I keep up with tuition payments, with rent, and everything else I need to live. I have a life here, a life I've built for myself without any input, or help, or support from you. I'm not about to upend a life I love only because you feel I should fly back to the coop. So get it through your thick skull, Chief Swan. Demanding things from me will result in one thing only. You'll be driving me out of your life. If that's what you want, please proceed."
After her righteous tirade, still short of breath, Bella deflated like an empty sack, leaning back into her chair. She turned toward me, her face red with anger and her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I want to go home now," she murmured, her voice breaking.
"Are you sure, my love?"
She faced her parents for a second, and her expression transformed into a mask of indifference. I'd seen that face before in the office, whenever she dealt with unpleasant people.
"I've had enough of y'all tonight. I'll see you at commencement on Monday, or I won't. It's up to you. But remember, this isn't your turf. It's mine. Act accordingly."
"Bella, please. Wait," her mother pleaded.
"No, Mom. I'm sorry, but I won't allow him to walk all over me. I warned him, and he decided he knew best. Well, this is the result of his arrogance. You know what happens to people who assume. Enjoy dinner, it's paid for."
Evidently, she'd arranged to pick up the tab, but that wouldn't happen. Luckily, I'd already made alternative plans, because I didn't want her to foot the bill for this debacle, regardless of how well Pulcinella's would treat her.
In all of this, Charlie Swan hadn't uttered a word since his daughter wiped the floor with him.
Hopefully, this would be a learning experience for the man.
I loved that Bella's first wish had been to go home, and hoped my place would be home to her in the near future. Permanently.
"Let's go home, my love."
And yes, a lot of you commented that Charlie wasn't being ... pleasant. Here, he just stepped in it and dug his heels in for good measure. The why of it will come up over the next couple chapters.
Bill Nye was indeed one of the commencement speakers at Cornell in 2019, and the ceremony took place on May 12. Emory's commencement, on the other hand, was on May 13.
Pulcinella's is a real Italian restaurant in downtown Atlanta.
I'll catch y'all next Saturday. Meanwhile, let me know what you think ;-)
Also, remember my FB group, LaMomo's Lair, for teasers, chats, Rob pics and varied shenanigans. Just type the name in the search bar.