A/N: I held onto this one for a few days, unsure about the birth scene in it. You'll get me when you come to it, but I decided fuck it. It is what it is. I hope you like it, and gosh this story has gotten a lot of love. I feel positively up myself.
Shutting up.
ETA: had to delete and reupload since some things just don't translate from docx to ffn. Screw you, dodgy site!
Footprints in the Sand
Chapter 34
"Can you see anything, sweetie?" I ask Addie as she crawls further beneath the side of my bed.
"I found something!" she replies in muffled excitement. A moment later her little hand thrusts out, clutching a piece of jewelry.
"I thought I lost that," I muse, taking the crescent moon earring from her and wiping it clear of dust. "No watch?"
"I don't think it's under here, Bella."
"Okay," I say with a sigh. "Come on out."
We've been looking for Edward's watch for the past hour, but it appears to have fallen off the side of the planet.
"Maybe Thimbletack took it," Addie ventures after I help her to her feet and brush her off.
"He might have, that little rascal, and I'm all out of honey," I play along, making her giggle.
We watched The Spiderwick Chronicles yesterday. Addie had never seen it before, and she became an instant fan.
"Don't worry, Bella. I think Grandma has Saltines," she attempts to reassure me, but all jokes aside, I'm starting to panic over where the hell her father's watch could have possibly gone.
He's worn it every day that I've seen him and it looks expensive. And no doubt has some kind of sentiment attached to it.
Addie and I have both come to the conclusion that Thimbletack has stolen your watch. I text him a moment later, hoping humor will mask my concern.
Do I even want to know? He replies almost instantly.
I'll explain later, but I'm stumped. Was I robbed sometime during the night?
Don't worry yourself over it. It'll show up.
I'm sure it will. So long as it wasn't a gift your parents bought you after Addie was born, or anything like that, I'll feel a lot better.
They bought it for me after I passed the bar.
My heart immediately stops. Omg. I'll look for it again after work.
Bella.
From the tenor of it, he's reprimanding me. I don't dwell on it.
How's your head?
Better. Whatever my father gave me intravenously, fixed me up.
You went to see him? I'm more than a little shocked. I was certain he had no intention of seeing any doctor, much less his father.
He came to me. Emmett told him what happened yesterday. Bella?
Yes? I reply, while trying to digest this latest piece of information. My opinion of his brother has somewhat improved. He has a sense of accountability at least; unlike his fiancé.
What you said to Addie this morning. I didn't like it. At all.
I immediately pause. The truth is, it's been plaguing my mind all morning. I knew the instant it came out of my mouth, Edward wasn't happy. I'm sorry, Edward. I saw you hesitate and I thought I'd help you out. I over-stepped.
I'm not angry at you, sweetheart. What happened was on Emmett and Rosalie, and I can't stand that you took responsibility for any of it. Even if it was just to spare me from having to come up with an excuse to give to Addie. You're innocent in all of this.
It wasn't my place.
Bella. Just my name again, before he adds. You're just too damn selfless for your own good that half the time I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with you.
I'm not sure how to take that. I answer honestly, but how does this man manage to take my breath away even via text?
It's a compliment, woman. Every day you surprise me more.
I'm not selfless. You're my boyfriend and you had a concussion. I took care of you. You'd do the same for me. Or Addie.
I would, but not all women would do for me what you did last night.
I pause and bite down on the corner of my lower lip. He's making a veiled reference to his wife, and what an absolute witch she was.
His wife... Despite the fact he told me his reasoning, I still hate that he calls her that.
Maybe I'm jealous.
What does he want to tell me?
My thoughts keep returning to that as well—how he broke my gaze, his frown more pronounced than usual. It's not that I can even venture to guess. His mind is a well of secrets that he still keeps tightly guarded for the most part.
I know he'll eventually show me all his demons. When he's ready. Edward's not someone who can be rushed. He does things on his own time. Right now, though, I feel the need to further reassure him.
You don't have to worry about that with me.
I know I don't. I have to be in court soon, so I'll see you Friday.
Sending him a love heart emoji, I toss my phone to the sofa and return my attention to Addie. "Okay, sweetie, let's get your shoes on."
"Bella..." she whines, "I don't want to go to Grandma's. It's so boring."
"Surely, it's not that bad," I reply, kneeling before her to wrangle a pair of pink polka-dot socks over her feet.
"All I do is color." She scrunches up her nose. "And she doesn't play hopscotch with me."
"Well, how about I play hopscotch with you on Friday, and take you running again," I promise her, tying her shoe laces.
"Really?" her face immediately brightens.
"Really, really."
She flashes me a beaming smile, her father's eyes sparkling from their depths, and between the two of them, I'm a lost cause.
"Guess what, Bella?" she immediately changes course.
"What?" I ask, wrangling a sneaker on her left foot.
"I have kindergarten orien...station next week."
"Orientation?" I correct her, coming close to laughter.
"Uh-huh." She nods her head.
"Well, I sure will miss you when you're at school, Miss Addie. Who'll give me Milk Duds when I come back from running?" I tweak her nose.
"Maybe we can still go running after school," she suggests, searching my face as hers threatens to fall.
"Um, of course we will," I immediately put her fears to rest as she giggles again. "Are you looking forward to going to kindergarten?"
"Uh-huh. I'm going to Epiphany School," she announces proudly, and while it's obvious she's attempting to sound all grown up, there's an element of alarm behind her eyes that makes me want to crush her in my arms.
This child's not even mine and it's breaking my heart at the prospect of her not being a little girl anymore.
"Your Daddy told me."
Epiphany School is a private, non-religious school in the same neighborhood they live. Edward's had her enrolled since she was a year old. The man is so organized, he makes me feel like a flake.
Which I essentially am.
The master procrastinator, my father used to say.
I wonder how the hell we can get on so well when we're complete opposites.
It's chemistry, Alice insists. Her and Jay are almost as different as Edward and I, and yet the energy between them is practically tangible most days.
I hate that Edward's noticed how often I get lost in my thoughts. It makes me feel infantile. And ridiculous.
God, my mind is still all over the place.
"Bella?" Addie draws my attention by smooshing my cheeks together in her palms.
"What is it, sweetie?"
"Can you braid my hair?"
"Of course, I can. Hop up." I motion to the dining chair, but Addie knows the drill, by now. Instead of sitting on it, she uses it as a step ladder to sit on the table.
"Bella?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you really help babies be born at your job?"
"I really do," I answer, pulling the front of her hair off her forehead into the first of two half French braids.
"Then that's what I'm gonna do when I'm big like you," she decides. "Daddy doesn't like when babies are born," she adds so nonchalantly that I completely mess up her hair and am forced to start over.
"He's a little bit squeamish," I say, fighting to keep my tone light.
"Uh-huh," she readily agrees. "Bella?"
"Yes?"
"You really don't have a baby in your tummy?"
"I really don't," I let her down, tugging her finished braid playfully before starting on the second.
"I really want a baby brother like Caius. Do you, Bella?"
"Uh, I haven't really thought about it, sweetie," I lie, because in truth, I have. From the moment I lost my father, I knew when I had a baby, I'd name it after him.
Boy or girl.
It breaks my heart that he never got to meet Addie. He'd absolutely adore her.
"Daddy said 'in a blue moon'," she lowers her voice and does her imitation of him. "That means never," she grumbles.
"I thought you said sometimes he changes his mind for no reason at all?" I jokingly remind her.
"Well... he said maybe I could have a kitten for Christmas. So long as I can keep Bob alive for five minutes," she imitates him again leaving me in laughter.
"Well, come on, sweetie." Lifting her under her arms, I help her to her feet as she expels one very over exaggerated sigh.
"You'll miss your grandma when you go to school," I tell her as I hastily search for my I.D badge; wrangling it over my head a moment later.
"But I'll miss you more," she says solemnly, gazing up at me with a pair of huge green eyes.
"I'll miss you most of all, sweetie." Tickling Addie under her chin, and inducing a reluctant smile from her, I grab my car keys and lead her, dragging her feet, toward the door.
. . .
Mrs. Cullen kisses and hugs me when I drop Addie off, coming close to tears again as she relays how she and Dr. Cullen found out about what happened between Edward and Emmett the night before.
I'm forced to sugarcoat the extent of Edward's concussion, hoping for the most part that I'm right.
"He still has a headache, but he seemed okay this morning."
"That boy of mine would go to work if he was on his death bed," she mutters behind a small sigh. "Anyway, thank you so much for looking after Addie these past few days, Bella dear. It's been a weight off my mind, as I'm sure it's been for Edward as well."
"I enjoy having her," I say truthfully because if Edward decided to give his child to me, I wouldn't hesitate to snatch her up.
"Bella, you're too kind. Say good bye, darling," she coaxes Addie, who's been pouting since the moment we left my apartment.
"Bye, Bella," she says quietly, wrapping her arms tightly around my mid-section.
"I'll see you Friday, 'kay?" I say, kneeling down to her and tweaking her earlobe. "We're going running don't forget, so make sure you get lots of sleep."
She immediately breaks into a sunny smile and nods her head vigorously. "'Kay."
She kisses me then, on the lips, and I'm positive her grandmother is going to turn to water. I make my escape before I can be sure of it, and as I'm heading to my car, it's with a heavy heart knowing I won't see her or her handsome daddy again for three more days.
. . .
After changing into my scrubs, I shove my clothes into my locker, grabbing a couple of pens as I do, before getting my report sheet. For some inexplicable reason the first day back after my break is always chaotic, and my mind isn't nearly as placated as it should be.
"Interesting patient, today, Bella," Bree, another Labor and Delivery nurse, says after I track her down in the staffroom. I'm receiving two of her patients today, and out of all my work colleagues, she's the one I have the most in common with. We're both roughly the same age, both from small towns...
"Yeah?" I say, quickly scanning through my report sheet. All three of my patients are in early labor; one a scheduled induction at thirty-six weeks due to pre-eclampsia.
"Patient seven, she came in through emergency with back pain. Claims she was unaware of her pregnancy, so no prenatal care—"
"Wait—seriously?" I interject in surprise.
"Yep. E.R sent her for an ultrasound. She's full term plus or minus a week. She was checked in the E.R, but I checked her again twenty-minutes ago. No change; still two centimeters. She's eighteen, is insistent her parents don't find out, and has a real mouth on her. So, good luck with that one," she gives me the run-down with half a smirk.
"Huh, so it actually does happen outside of TLC." Of course, you hear the stories, but I've never witnessed it firsthand. Not to mention, teenage girls tend to overdo it on the histrionics when it comes to labor and childbirth. Not all, but most. "So, she doesn't have an OBG?"
"Nope, we're trying to track one down, but it's busy as hell in here today."
"How utterly unexpected," I say as Bree grins at my inside joke.
"Okay, well I'm outta here before there's some god-awful emergency. Good luck, chicka." She winks and quickly takes her leave.
I check in on two of my patients first, introducing myself as I do. Both are relatively comfortable and in good spirits. I perform internals, check Pitocin levels on my pre-eclampsia patient, then blood pressure, followed by the babies' scans. So far, everything is going by the book, but in my line of work, that can change in an instant. They're both first-time mothers, so their babies are no doubt still hours away.
My third patient I hear from half the labor ward away.
"Hi, Victoria? I'm Bella. I'll be looking after you—"
"I NEED SOMETHING FOR THIS PAIN—NOW!" A waif-like teenage girl with a near-non-existent baby bump cuts me off, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Victoria, you need to try and calm down," I say in a firm, but encouraging voice, "Breathe in through your nose and out through your mou—"
"I AM BREATHING. IF I WASN'T I'D BE DEAD, YOU STUPID BITCH!"
"Okay..." putting forth my best I-am-Chief-Swan's-daughter-and-I-will-fuck-you-up tone, I lean down over the railing until my face is inches from hers, "I understand that you're in pain, but you cannot talk to me like that."
"Don't worry, she's always like that," a second girl approaches from the side and offers up in explanation.
"Great," I mumble only fractionally beneath my breath.
"I'm McKenna." She shoves out her hand toward me.
Taking it, I incline my head with a smile.
"Vick's all bark."
"And who's this?" I say, drawing the attention of the boy hiding in the corner of the room.
"That's Liam," McKenna says as he looks up and meets my gaze, looking beyond all realms of terrified.
"How long is this gonna take?" he practically pleads with me. His eyes are wide with open alarm, and his face is sporting a very notable tinge of green.
"First labors can take a while. You can leave the room and stretch your legs if you like."
With his face lighting up in relief, he pulls himself to his feet, only to be immediately barked at by, I'm guessing, his girlfriend.
"IF YOU MOVE ONE INCH, I'LL CUT YOUR BALLS OFF! OWWWWWWWW!"
"Can you give her something?" Liam asks, taking the hand Victoria thrusts out to him as he's almost pulled off his feet.
"I WANT AN EPIDURAL!"
"It's too early for an epidural," I tell her frankly. "Are you fine with me feeling your belly?"
"Whatever," she grouches.
Peeling back her t-shirt, I carefully feel for the position of the baby. It's head down and anterior, but not even close to being engaged. In fact, I can fit my fingers between its head and the top of her pelvis. She's got a long way to go, and at this point, it's probably better if she went home and came back when her labor progresses.
"Please put your gown on," I instruct her. It's lying haphazardly over the chair beside the bed, dangling to the floor. "I can give you Tylenol."
"TYLENOL? ARE YOU INSANE!?"
"Can you please stop yelling at me?" I demand, and it's not a request.
"Vic," McKenna pipes up, practically laughing, "you want this nurse to help you. She aint gonna do that if you're a bitch to her. So, is it really cool to be a labor and delivery nurse?" she puts to me.
"Huh? —oh, it can be."
"When are you gonna check her—what's it called?"
"Cervix, and not yet. She was not long ago checked."
"CAN YOU NOT TALK ABOUT ME LIKE I'M NOT LYING LITERALLY RIGHT HERE!"
"Vic... you're so putting it on," McKenna tells her in the same tone Addie often uses on her father. "Mind if I watch next time you do it?" she asks me eagerly.
"Not at all." With a quick smile, I turn to leave.
"Hey, you!" Victoria calls out to me through clenched teeth, making an obvious effort not to raise her voice.
"Bella," I correct her drolly.
"Well, Nurse Bella, can you please get me some Tylenol?" she asks as each word bleeds with sarcasm.
"I'll be back shortly," I say, scowling pointedly at her. "It's gonna be a long day," I mutter to myself as I leave the room.
My induction patient's labor progresses slowly. Three hours later, she's only at four centimeters, and unlike the high-strung teenager a few doors down, she's in genuine pain. I arrange an epidural for her and make her very anxious husband a coffee.
At seven centimeters, my second patient's baby goes into distress and is immediately sent for an emergency c-section. As I'm getting her ready to be moved to the O.R, I'm forced into a patient shift and am sent back to room seven where Victoria is now shrieking like a dying banshee.
"You have to breathe, Vic," a very flustered Liam attempts to calm her down as she squirms on the bed and comes close to falling off.
It's been close to two hours since I last checked her dilation, and I realize—with an internal groan—that I'll have to check it again.
With a half-concealed sigh, and forcing my impatience back into submission, I coax her to lie on her back to get it over with.
It takes all three of us to hold her still. She's five centimeters, her waters are bulging, and the instant I remove my hand, it breaks all over me.
"Does that happen a lot?" McKenna asks repulsed.
"A lot," I answer matter-of-factly. "Five," I tell Victoria, holding my thumb and index finger apart in emphasis before I pull off my gloves and head toward the sink to clean myself up.
"FIVE?" she screeches in disbelief. "CAN I HAVE AN EPIDURAL NOW? PLEASE, BELLA? PLEEEEEEASE." She's resorted to begging me, and I'm starting to suspect her pain might not be as exaggerated as it was.
"You can. I'll get it arranged now," I tell her over my shoulder. "Sit tight for a moment."
"Oh, thank you so much. I'm sorry for being such a bitch," she sobs—with actual tears, "I'm in so much PAAAAAAIN! OH MY GOD—MOTHERFUCK!"
"At least a two hour wait," I'm informed when I book in the epidural with the head nurse at the service station.
"Oh my god," I utter, bowing my head momentarily into my palm.
"Four emergency C-sections," she says, and it's explanation enough.
"Any word on the OBG?"
She sighs along with me without lifting her eyes from the screen of the computer she's hastily typing away on. "Not as yet. Can you handle it for the short term?"
"I can." I have no choice but to handle it.
"You're overdue for your break, Bella. See if you can fit it in," she adds eyeing me briefly, as I laugh dryly.
"I'll see."
The protocol for telling laboring mothers that their epidurals are delayed is "the anesthesiologist is on their way". They'll hold onto any promise you make when it comes to pain relief, and the guilt can be terrible, but since Victoria has returned to hurling abuse at me, I'm fast running out of any compassion I might have had for her.
She's screaming the absolute building down. I try everything to relieve her of it, from heated pads, getting her up and walking, sitting her on the yoga ball, to helping her into the shower, but nothing helps, or appeases her.
It's another two hours before we're finally able to get hold of an OBGYN, but he's on vacation, is madder than hell that we dared to wake him up, and isn't rushing to get here in any sense of the word.
By ten pm., he still hasn't arrived. Victoria is in transition, and I've lost the better half of my hearing and patience. The baby's coming sans the doctor, and with another emergency c-section, it's up to me and a very young, still very squeamish intern.
With McKenna eagerly at the foot of the bed alongside me, and the intern and Liam holding Victoria's legs in the stirrups, I encourage her to push when I need her to, breathe when I don't, and to "stop screaming—you need to be able to hear me!"
A small, black-haired head crowns, Victoria's screams become ear piercing even as she pleads with me for it to be over, and Liam faints. I don't notice at first, but the intern does.
"Do not move!" I order her, as she turns to help him. With no one holding Victoria still, I fully expect to be kicked across the room. "Press the button. McKenna, can you—"
"I am not missing this," she insists, her eyes glued to the slowly emerging head.
One of the more senior nurses arrives. She doesn't take over from me; instead, she helps Liam off the floor, pressing a vomit bag strategically over his mouth.
The baby's head is born, the intern notes the time, and with several more pushes—that causes my ears to ring from the pitch of Victoria's screams—and a bit of help easing its shoulder free, the rest of the baby slips out smoothly.
"Vic, it's a girl!" Mckenna announces excitedly over the baby's increasing wails. "She's..." The words die on her lips, and a single glance in her direction and I know she's become aware of what I already am.
While Victoria and Liam are both Caucasian, this baby girl is most definitely not.
"What?" Victoria demands, pulling herself up on her elbows in attempt to see the baby. "What's wrong with her?"
"Nothing," I reassure her. "She's fine."
She is, thankfully, considering her mother had no prenatal care and took god-knows-what while she was pregnant.
I clamp and cut the cord, thankful her boyfriend is still only semi-conscious, and hand the baby over to the post-delivery nurse who takes her to Victoria.
She reacts to her newborn like most mothers. She bursts into tears, only to exclaim a moment later how she's so glad "this thing is out of my vag".
I not so discreetly roll my eyes, as a very pasty-looking Liam hauls himself on shaky feet to the edge of the bed and gazes down at the baby that is not his.
The penny drops less than thirty seconds later.
"It's Tyler's!?" he yells, dragging both sets of fingers back through his hair and suddenly looking very volatile. "You promised me nothing happened between you two. You promise me, Vic!"
"Okay, everyone needs to calm down," Sue, the nurse who assisted him states resolutely, as Victoria puts up a futile defense, declaring she didn't know how it happened.
I think maybe I snort to myself. Or maybe it's the intern, and with tears now streaming down his face, Liam throws the vomit bag in disgust, and storms out of the room.
I immediately follow, ditching the bloodied surgical gloves and plastic apron as I do, finding him crouched along the wall, his head in his hands.
"Hey," I say softly, placing a hand to his shoulder.
He looks up, and this poor boy is sobbing his heart out. "I was gonna step up, you know. Be responsible for her."
"Liam," I whisper, leaning closer to him, "you just dodged a bullet."
"I..." He contemplates it for a moment before breaking into a bitter laugh. "It still hurts."
"Do you have any way of getting home?"
He shakes his head. "I left my phone at Vic's. McKenna drove us."
"Do you want me to call your parents?" I suggest gently.
"Yeah..." he mumbles, throwing me a half-hearted smile. "Thanks."
"Take my word on this," I add, "but you're going to find the right girl one day, and when you do, Victoria will be the last person on your mind."
"Yeah..." he echoes, his eyes downcast, and I'm not so sure he believes me.
After giving me his parents' contact details, I squeeze his shoulder one last time, pull myself to my feet and head toward the reception desk.
My pre-eclampsia patient delivers next with a lot less drama. It's all very straightforward, and after only five minutes of pushing, her doctor places a very cute, very loud, squirming baby boy on her stomach.
There's no doubt who this baby belongs to; he's the mirror image of his father, and the sweet moment when two becomes three makes my heart ache for the teenage boy who left not long ago in his parents' arms.
That boy really doesn't know how lucky he is right now, but he soon will.
With everything charted and scribed, and with the prospect of a hot cup of coffee, I head out, only to be called back to room seven.
Victoria is insisting she wants to place the baby for adoption, on top of going after Liam. Both McKenna and I attempt to stop her, but she jumps out of bed regardless and promptly faints. Which means not only do I have to call social workers, but I have to fill out an incident report.
The OBGYN turns up ninety minutes late looking half asleep and irritated beyond words. His current mood is entirely my fault, of course. If a doctor doesn't make it on time, it's our fault. If we call them too early, it's also our fault. It really is a lose-lose situation for us.
His hard eyes meet mine and he scowls, but the chew-out I brace myself for doesn't happen.
Carlisle's right behind him.
"Miss Swan," he greets me with a warm smile. "Can I have a word outside?"
"S-sure," I stammer, and ignoring the stares of several nurses who curiously walk by, I follow him through the door and around the corridor.
"I heard you delivered a baby yourself. Your first?" he puts to me, his expression almost amused.
"Fifth—is it Edward?" I ask anxiously as he staidly nods.
"Yes, he's here—he's fine," he quickly eases my fears. "I made him come in for an MRI. The results came back normal, and he's less than impressed, as you can imagine. I thought you could go down and see him," he informs me, pushing his coat back and sinking both hands into his pockets.
Of course, I want to, but I don't have a single second to spare right now.
"We're—I mean, it's really busy. I'm not sure—"
"Don't worry, I informed the charge nurse I was borrowing you," he says behind a satisfied smirk, and he suddenly looks so uncannily like Edward that for a moment, I'm stumped.
I ride the elevator to the first floor with him in silence. He checks his watch a couple of times, reminding me again of Edward's missing one, and with one last accommodating smile, he lets me know where I can find his son and then heads back to the neurology department.
I happen upon Edward just outside the hospital's main entrance, leaning against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other, his hands in his pants pockets—exactly like his father only moments before—and one hell of a charming smile on his face considering he's clearly in the depths of anxiety.
His hair's as chaotic as my mind presently is, and it's a thought that suddenly makes me want to laugh. In fact, I have to fight to stop myself from bursting into it.
"Hello, stranger," I greet him as he pushes himself off the wall and approaches me.
Crushing me to him, he expels every last molecule of air in his lungs, and goes almost limp against me. "I couldn't leave without seeing you," he murmurs against my hair.
"Hmm. Feeling better?" I ask, pressing myself further against him. It's insane what this man does to me, and completely irrational. I feel like I'm in one long Mariah Carey song every second I breathe these days.
"Better—I told him there was nothing wrong with me," he says begrudgingly, and before I can reply, he bends down and merges his lips tenderly with mine.
"I'm on your dad's side on this one," I state, straightening his tie when he releases me.
His smile broadens, before that frown of his makes its appearance. "You're...wet," he notes.
"I know," I say ruefully. "I just appeared in an episode of I Didn't Know I was Pregnant."
He blinks vacantly, his eyebrows furrowing further. "I'm sorry?"
"Long story—never mind," I say shaking my head, knowing he does not want to know.
"Your shift almost over?" he asks a moment later after appearing to scrutinize me.
"Not for a few more hours," I say regrettably. "Go home and go to bed, Edward. You had a concussion; you need to sleep."
"You're beginning to sound like my daughter," he teases me, his voice taking on a husky edge. "I'm fine, woman."
I nudge him, and chuckling in response, he pulls me close to him again.
"How was your case management conference?"
"You remembered that?" He sounds a tad too impressed.
"You have such little faith in me," I say lightly, leaning my forehead against his shoulder.
I didn't realize until this very moment how exhausted I suddenly am.
"Hey," he chides me, resting his chin to the top of my head. "Don't say that."
I only hum, sounding barely coherent as I curl myself against his chest. Five more minutes and then I'll get back to the ward.
"Bella?" he prompts me after holding me tight in his arms for too short a pause.
"Yeah?"
"I fucking hate that you work here," he mutters to himself, and I honestly don't think he meant for me to hear it.
"Huh?" I immediately pull back to gauge his expression; it's as serious as the intensity of his gaze. "What—"
"I'd better get going. Addie's staying at my mother's," he quickly covers, and leaning down, he presses his firm, cool lips to mine just as briefly as the kiss he plants to my brow after. "I'll see you soon, baby."
His hands slip from mine and I watch him go for the second time today with a sense of dread swelling in the pit of my stomach.
I knew this was coming.
A/N: we all knew, Bella.
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