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Chapter 65

A Little Angel


Edward


I sat in the car looking at the clock as I drove through a lonely dark night.

The sun would not rise for another hour, but would fortunately be hidden behind clouds today. 5:40 a.m. Just the right time to kick a goddess out of bed.

After a few rings, I heard a majestic, "Mmm ... mmm ..." and smirked.

"Good morning, my angel," I whispered lovingly through the car's speakerphone.

I tried to picture Bella lying in bed right now, chuckling as I did so. Still more asleep than conscious.

"Morning," she mumbled drowsily. "Where are you?" she asked after a moment.

"Already just before New York," I replied.

I was making good time. During the night I had been able to drive fast, but so slowly the work traffic started. Now I actually had to adhere to the legal speed limits.

For the most part, at least.

"You're really speeding!" Bella reprimanded me, still sleepy.

"You're too far away to be allowed to pass judgment on that! You'd better see to it that our children are awakened on time than to complain about my driving," I teased her.

"Thank you for doing this for me," Bella said incoherently.

Her voice had changed somewhat. She was probably sitting on the edge of the bed to finally wake up.

"What else could I do, dearest. I can't refuse your big almond eyes!"

Apart from the fact that this was really true, I thought it was a good idea. It would present David with a done deal; he would no longer have the opportunity to run away. However, I absolutely could not tell how Sonya would react to it. I didn't know her, having only spoken to her briefly on the phone yesterday. Too short a conversation to form an opinion about someone. But she had a pleasant voice. A bit low for a woman, but that made her a bit fascinating.


So, at 8:00 a.m. sharp, I stood in front of the front door as agreed and rang the bell. A nice big house in a posh Philadelphia suburb. David really did make a good living, it seemed.

I heard children's screams from inside.

This would be an interesting return trip, I thought to myself.

A pretty woman opened the door.

Sonya.

That's how I had seen her in David's thoughts. Mid-thirties. Not graceful, but still slender, yet almost as tall as myself. Wavy full blonde hair that hung slightly past her shoulders framed a narrow face with blue eyes.

She eyed me skeptically, with a little 'Wow ...' in the back of her mind.

"Good morning. I'm Edward Stone," I introduced myself politely.

She pulled her eyes together for a moment and considered when Bella became interested in such young men. On the other hand, she considered, she wouldn't know what Bella's taste in men was. As long as she had known Bella, she had always been single. She had expected a slightly older man. Or as she mentally put it: she had expected a man and not a boy. Bella had literally said: 'My fiancé will pick you up!'

"Good morning. I am Sonya. Come in ... We still need a moment," she shook my hand kindly, skipping my age for the moment, and invited me inside.

I already saw two large sports bags sitting by the stairs. With children apparently needed more luggage, because a third bag sat open on a table. Luces and Deacon sat together at the kitchen counter, spooning their cereal and bickering over the television program. Only reluctantly did they interrupt their breakfast to greet me at their mother's stern request.

"Have you had breakfast yet?", I was still asked.

"Of course. I slept in a motel for a few hours. There was an excellent breakfast," I lied.

"Can I get you anything until we're done, Edward? Coffee, perhaps? Tea?" asked Sonya, running back and forth, sipping her cup in between.

I shook myself inwardly already at the thought and declined kindly.

What else?

"Emma, have you shaken hands with our visitor?" Sonya asked with a persistent undertone, looking in the direction of an armchair.

I had already seen Emma through David's thoughts, but this sweet little face, which cheekily peeked out from behind the armchair, left me quite speechless.

How cute is she! Like a little angel!

She had a blonde curly head, dimples in the cheeks of her round and healthy little face and bright blue eyes. With clumsy strides and a broad happy laugh, she came up to me and held out her small hand. She stretched to appear taller.

I knelt down to her so that we were at eye level.

"Hello, Emma. I'm Edward," I shook the chubby little hand.

She did not let go of my hand but examined me with big googly eyes.

"Are you an angel?" she asked me with all the skepticism a three-year-old girl could display.

"I could also ask you that!" I smiled at her.

"I am just a girl. But you are as beautiful as an angel," she explained to me, as if I had no idea about the important questions of life. Unlike her, of course.

"You, too. You're only missing the little angel wings," I chuckled.

Disagreeing, she slapped me on the shoulder. Then her little hands patted against cheeks.

"You have beautiful eyes," she stated matter-of-factly, looking scrutinizingly into each one.

"So are yours. As blue as the sky," I also noted, gently pinching her little chubby cheeks.

She built herself up in front of me, stretched again to be taller, braced her left hand in her side and put her right index finger next to her mouth. She thought hard.

"I think I like you, Eddie!" she then smiled at me.

I grumbled inwardly because she abbreviated my name. But she made it sound so sweet that I couldn't stay mad at her.

"I think I like you too, Emma," I smiled back.

Then, out of nowhere, I got a big smack on the cheek.

At the latest now it was all up to me. The last remnant of my heart that Bella had left belonged to this little angel.

She smiled at me and then turned to her stunned mother.

"When are we driving to Daddy's?" she wanted to know.

It took Sonya a mental moment to respond.

She was completely amazed at how Emma behaved towards a complete stranger. Emma was apparently anything but shy and reserved. But she usually adhered to social customs, which included being respectful to a strange adult, even if he was still young.

Quickly Sonya regained her composure and explained that we would leave as soon as Emma's brothers were done with breakfast.

Emma immediately retrieved her stuffed animal from the armchair and then stood behind her brothers with her arms folded in front of her chest and her foot thumping.

She was so cute!


While the boys each held a video game in their hands and Emma told her stuffed teddy bear all about the area, I chatted with Sonya.

She sat a little to the side next to me. On the one hand, to have the children better in her gaze, and on the other, to be able to look at me.

She thought it was generally more polite, even if I would have to watch the road for the most part.

We talked about all kinds of things.

About Bella, David, the kids, the city, my hobbies and theirs, my family, and their family. Intermediately, the children were admonished when they were about to take my car apart. I found that Sonya had a very pleasant nature. Sincere and kind. I liked her.

Her thoughts circled lovingly and angrily at the same time around David and worryingly around the unborn child. As I gathered from her thoughts, her sister had given her a piece of her mind. She could not just decide on her own whether she would have this child. Not if their lives depended on it. Sonya and David would have to consider together and talk about it. Especially with a doctor who knew the medical circumstances before any decision could be made in this regard. The sister did not believe that David generally did not want another child. In the end, Sonya had had to agree.

Around noon we stopped at a rest area.

The humans among us had to eat something and go to the bathrooms.

While I was refueling the BMW, I glanced at my phone and smirked, touched.

Jake and Leah had written very concerned text messages. They asked why I was neither at home this morning nor at school now and were bothered about whether I might have had a quarrel with Bella about David.

Emma was the first to finish eating and bounced jitterily on her chair. This sitting around and waiting for her brothers was too boring for her.

Sonya allowed her to go to the small playground next to the rest stop. With all the strength at her disposal, she pulled me along with her. She climbed on a swing and then looked at me helplessly. She did not reach the ground to give herself momentum.

"Hold on," I commanded her, nudging her gently.

Maybe it was my fault, but swinging quickly became too boring for her. I refused to give her more momentum for fear it would be too much. She pulled me to the slide.

"I'm much too big for that," I contradicted her, pointing to the setups made for children, including obstacle courses.

Offended, she put her hands to her sides.

"But I can catch you down below," I suggested conciliatory.

With that, the little angel was appeased. She climbed up the ladder, which in my opinion was not very well secured, scrambled briskly through a few turrets and then stood imperiously at the top of the slide. With the help of a pole attached to the top, she gave herself as much momentum as she could. I caught her and twirled her through the air while I spun with her. She laughed and giggled like a honey-cake horse and her blue eyes sparkled with joy. We repeated this a few times, but the happy child's laughter was captivatingly sweet. She actually persuaded me to climb up with her. The ladder was still no problem, but then it got tricky. While Emma didn't even have to bend over, I crawled through the corridor on all fours. I pulled myself into the first tower. Emma waved to her mother, who, to my chagrin, held up a cell phone and took a video of us.

Hopefully this video never got into the wrong hands. Emmett's for example!

Next was a free-hanging short bridge where I just had to duck a bit. Again a tower, a short breather, and waving to Sonya.

I was a little afraid of the next obstacle. I wasn't sure if the beams, which were only attached to ropes and otherwise floated freely in the air, were designed for a man of my height and weight.

Emma was already over it and cheered me on. I held my breath.

Little by little I put my weight on the first beam ... it held.

Lucky me!

"Are you scared?" Emma asked me, chuckling.

"Absolutely!" I said.

Emma came back the distance to me and held out her helping hand. Together we balanced over the remaining beams.

Such a sweet child, I thought to myself.

Finally arriving at the slide, she let me go first so I could catch her again at the bottom.

No sooner said than done and this time I twirled her all the way back to Sonya.


We drove on immediately. Luces initial shyness had faded and he now wanted to know everything possible about my car.

HP, top speed, year of manufacture. What one at the age of nine years already said something.

Together with Deacon, he then talked about his Aunt Bella, that she knew quite a few great games, and how great he thought Jake was, and how pretty Leah was.

Quite young for such a statement, although he was not wrong.

Emma, on the other hand, continued to chat mainly with her teddy bear. Every now and then Sonya nodded off, but usually woke up again quickly. The boys were soon completely asleep after all the pre-packaged cookies were eaten. Only Emma lasted until the farthest city limits of Saco/Biddeford before her eyes fell shut, too. In this unaccustomed quietness, I dwelled on my thoughts.

David had to be one of the luckiest people on earth because he was blessed with this family. I wish I had found Bella again sooner. It certainly would have been nice to see Jake and Leah grow up with her. But would I have stayed if we had met earlier? I couldn't tell.


Finally home, finally back with Bella, I sat with the kids so Sonya and Bella could talk in peace. I enjoyed playing with them, watching their little squabbles and placating them. Then Emma wanted to paint. So that she could sit properly at the low living room table, I put a thick cushion on my lap and sat her on it. I was to join in and Emma asked for a picture of herself. In her favorite color. Pink.

So, I painted - or rather - I drew a perfect likeness.

With fluttering eyelashes, more pictures were requested and I set to work on a family portrait, each person in a different color that was handed to me.

When Emma quieted down, I took a blanket and put it around Emma's shoulders. I didn't mind if she fell asleep on me, but it would be too cold for her. She held onto me with her tiny hand while her head fell back against my shoulder.

I smirked at the cute face she held while dreaming and continued painting.

Soon came the twins, who were quite surprised. Deacon and Luces were shocked at how tall they were. They seemed impressed with them, apparently always have been.

After the moms were greeted profusely, Jake and Leah sat down with us, demanded a family picture of us as well, and played with the boys.

Until David came home.

"Hello?" he said, standing in the doorway, completely gobsmacked.

He quickly compared the number of children from this morning with now. They had increased somehow.

"Daddy!" the boys muttered in chorus, already jumping up.

David took her in his arms while laughing all over his face. He was really happy to have his children with him.

"How did you get here?" he asked in amazement, eye-to-eye with his sons.

"Edward picked us up," the children explained.

David slid the short distance toward me and looked lovingly into the face of his daughter, who simply slept through the appearance of her father. Tenderly he stroked over her little chubby cheek.

"Thank you," he murmured to me. "Where is she?" he asked immediately, however.

I pointed to the kitchen.

Sonya met him halfway after Deacon ran excitedly into the kitchen, and she was just pushing open one of the sliding doors.

"Sonya!" whispered David, walking toward his wife.

He put his hands against her cheeks with feeling and hers rested against his torso. For ages they stood there like that. They said nothing, just looked at each other.

In their thoughts, both were already apologizing, he for his escape, she for her words, and forgiving each other's behavior.

The boys rolled their eyes in annoyance and sat back down to play.

Out of nowhere - it came as a surprise even to me - Sonya's hand slammed swingingly against David's cheek, causing him to stagger back a step.

"Uh ... what do you guys think about a little basketball before dinner?" Jake asked the boys, who immediately jumped up with enthusiasm.

Jake and Leah instantly realized there was something in the air that the boys wouldn't understand. They wanted to distract them from it.

I nodded to them affirmatively.

'But you will enlighten us what this is all about!' both urged in their thoughts.

I nodded again.

So, Jake went outside and Leah went into the kitchen so Bella could have some me time.

Meanwhile, David and Sonya went to the terrace and talked together.

Bella lay down on her stomach on the sofa behind me, so that she could look over my shoulder. She playfully cuddled through my hair and placed a kiss on the side of my neck.

"Like an angel," she stated as she looked down at Emma. "Are you ever going to give her back?" she asked me with a smile.

"I don't think so," I admitted, and kissed her persistently, leaning back over my shoulder.

We were unfortunately interrupted by the phone.

A neighbor asked for Jake's help.

The little ones continued to play outside while Jake ran three houses down the street.

Shortly thereafter I got a text message from him, whether I could also briefly help. The neighbor was apparently already a somewhat older gentleman and needed help carrying something. Jake was strong enough, but he didn't look soooo strong.

Only reluctantly and extremely carefully did I hand Emma over to Bella.

When I returned about twenty minutes later, the two of them were cuddling on the sofa. Bella was reading to Emma.

I stood still in the doorway and watched her.

Bella gave me the impression of a happy mother who was completely absorbed in this moment. Bella was by no means too old to experience this happiness again and looked as if she wanted nothing else. What I would give to be able to give her a baby myself! Our baby!


Thank you for reading!