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.
Bella shakes her head riding it from the intrusive thoughts that seem to have taken home in her brain.
"He will be here. He promised and he would never break his promise to me," She whispers under her breath to herself.
"Did you say something Bella?"
Bella looks up and finds Seth staring at her intrigued. Bella blushes and shakes her head. She didn't mean for Seth to hear her. He must think she is crazy. As if taking Edward back isn't crazy enough, now she is talking to herself.
The Apple Watch on her wrest vibrates alerting her to the fact that it's time. Bella rubs her hand across her face then cracks two of her knuckles; a nervous habit she formed during the six months she spent in the cottage.
He will be here. Why would he not come. He wouldn't do that to her. He loves her. He promised her. He promised Cece that they will be a big family. This is a big step yes, but an important one for them to be a family.
Right as she is about to lose hope and go into full on panic mood, she hears the skeeding of shoves before she feels a gust of wind and a pair of lips land on her forehead. "I am so sorry baby. A meeting with one of my clients went over time and the traffic was awful."
She kisses his cheek then tells him, "No need to apologize. You are just on time." There is no need for her to get angry at him for being two minutes late.
Over the last year of them dating, or maybe technically it's been more, as the exact moment they went from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend is a bit hazy as, she has learned that not every thing that bothers her is worth pursuing. Some fights shouldn't be had.
A couple of months of being together, they almost broke up and surprisingly, he was the one who wanted to break up with her. While for Edward, his behavior in the past was obviously bad and he knew it, Bella's behavior wasn't so black and white. Bella's knee jerk reaction when ever he said something that hurt her, was to hurt him back, find the sharpest knife in her arsenal and stab him with it.
Edward processed his actions and learned to never abuse anyone. Bella on the other hand, never processed her reactions to Edward's behavior. The moment they got back together, she was back to the way she reacted in the past.
Except that this time, Edward wasn't abusing her. He was making her feel uncomfortable, and she confused that with him attacking her.
Something she learned during that time; is that no matter how well Edward seemed, he still harbored an immense amount of guilt over what he did to her, and those defensive moment in which she thought she was under attack, were in fact untriggered attacks that served as salt to the wounds and a painful reminder of what he did to her.
At one point it got so bad because Edward thought she would never forgive him and she is better off alone to find someone who will be good enough for her.
Edward needed to be constantly reminded that he is doing well. To her surprise, Edward had insecurities that she is solely the one who can make them go away.
"Then let's go," he tells her as he takes her hand in his.
"Let's go," she murmurs smiling up at him and squeezing his hand. They walk together as they follow Seth into the court room. As this is the first time that Bella has been into a court room, she looks around the room and is too distracted to notice anything being said which she knows is wrong, but she can't help it.
"Let me get this clear son, you want to adopt your daughter, whose parental rights you gave up almost two years ago?" The judge asks in surprise snapping her out of her stupor.
"Yes your honor," Edward answers standing up. Bella follows him and stands up even though she isn't sure she needs to.
"And you, her mom, are okay with him adopting your daughter?" The judge asks directing his next question to Bella.
Bella nods her head then telling him, "I wouldn't be standing here, if I didn't want him to do that your honor."
"Aren't you worried that he will stop wanting her sometime down the line Miss Swan?" The judge asks. They decided together that they won't give details as to why Edward signed his rights over in the first place so Bella isn't surprised by the judge's apprehension.
Bella clears her throat then tells the judge, "I can't control Edward nor make him want to be a parent, but what I can do is give him the capacity to be Cecelia's parent and make sure to protect her in case he changes his mind."
Things go on fast from that moment, one moment Seth is speaking on their behalf, and the next they are walking down the steps of the court house with smiles that threaten to split their faces.
Edward raises her hand to his lips then kisses it before telling her, "I love so much."
She intertwines their fingers as she smiles back at him and tells him, "I couldn't love you more, if I tired."
Edward beams at her then returns his eyes to the road as he drives the both of them home. Every time he hears her say that to him, it feels like a wound deep inside of him that he never knew off heals, a small reminder that regardless of everything he has done in his life, he is redeemable. He isn't as broken as he always thought he was and he isn't as small as the broken pieces of him are. He isn't as horrible as he always thought he as the one he hurt isn't broken at all. She is more healed than he will ever be.
Neither one let's go of the other's hand until they reach their home and Edward gets out first to open the door for her. He helps her out by taking her hand and doesn't let it go as they climb up the stairs of their front porch and rings the doorbell.
Angela opens the door for them then greats them before saying goodbye and leaving for her date with Ben.
Edward smiles at Bella as he hang up his coat in the coat closet by the door. He moved in with Bella and Cece three months ago and since then this has been their house as a family. He initially assumed that it would take him a long time to get used to living in a home that isn't his, but this is the home of the people who are his home. No one feels like a stranger with his home.
He is surprised when a flash of light snaps him out of his thoughts. "I wanted a picture to commemorate the memory," Bella tells him smile sheepishly.
Edward smiles at her then pulls her into his arms and tells her, "I think we should have a picture to celebrate the day we became the Swan-Cullen family."
They decided to hyphenate their names. It's something he never cared much for, but when Bella suggested that both of them give Cece their names, he knew that he didn't want a different last name than his daughter and suggested that the three of them hyphenate their name so they are all the same. It was a suggestion Bella was surprised by, but absolutely loved.
Bella smiles at him and kisses his lips as she presses the button of the camera. "Hey, how come you are having pictures without me?" Cece who has been playing on her iPad since her parents walked in, protests once she hears the flash of the camera.
"Then come quickly," Bella tells her and Cece follows her mum's orders. They take a couple of family pictures together, until Cece gets bored and tells them she is hungry. Edward goes into the kitchen while Bella climbs up the stairs to change into something comfy.
Bella changes into her pajamas then stand by the open window watching her beautiful backyard. She isn't sure how much time passes but realizes that it's more than five minutes when she feels arms wrap around her.
"You were supposed to change then come and help me, not stare by the window," Edward whispers into her ears.
Bella leans back into his chest and tells him, "You know that I am no good in the kitchen. I was doing you a service by being out of your hair."
Edward tests his chin on her shoulder and tells her, "We need to do something about it. You can't stay that hopeless in the kitchen."
Bella barks out a laugh and tells him, "Good luck." There is no amount of work that will make her capable in the kitchen. Edward should know that. It's the court high that is making him feel indefeatable. She gives it two days and he will be back to kicking her out of the kitchen.
Edward kisses her shoulder and tells her, "You are laughing now, but I promise that I will make you learn."
"Are you sure that you wanna marry someone that is incapable of anything in the kitchen? We could always call off the wedding if you want to," Bella tells him jokingly as she examines her ring as she spoke. She isn't that enthusiastic about marriage, but for Edward it meant something, so when he proposed, she didn't turn him down. She did provide him with a list of expectation and demanded his signature on it, but she didn't tell him no.
Edward shakes his head and tells her, "I don't care for your cooking. You are it to me. I want to wake up and choose to love you every single day."
Love isn't something that just happens to you. If it was, she wouldn't have left Edward, and he wouldn't have worked on himself before meeting again. Love is a conscious choice both of them make every single day.
To love, respect, and church each other everyday, is their daily mantra, the pillars of their man made religion. If it was something that happened to them, they would still be together, but insufferably miserable.
They aren't.
They are happy.
The Real End.
Hey lovely people,
Writing this feels extremely surreal. I have so many feelings ending this story. Writing this story and its prequel Left Behind brought me so much joy over the last year. I hope that this story made you as happy as it made me.
I have two other stories I am currently working on; Risk It All, and my newer story, Safety Blanket.
I also publish my original writing on Substack. My profile name is Aseel Ayelia and my publication is called Eunoia. I went through some stuff and had to take a break from posting there, but I am back.
I have another story currently in the making. I will be submitting a part of it in a writing contest called the Eras contest, so keep an eye out for the contest. Once the contest is over, I will start posting the full body of work here, so put me on Author alert, if you want to know as soon as I start posting it.
If this is the last thing you read for me, thank you for being a part of my journey. Otherwise, until we meet somewhere else,
Stay Safe
