EPOV
The moment Bella Swan opened her mouth I knew she would be a problem for me. She was gorgeous with her doe-like chocolate eyes, but it was when I snapped at her and she snipped right back that I knew she was going to be a force to be reckoned with.
It didn't help that I was already in a shitty mood that day due to Rosalie and her bullshit. Hadley had called to tell me that they were staying at Rose's boyfriend's fucking apartment that night. Rose being Rose decided to call off so she didn't have to face me.
Rose was known to make poor choices and Royce King, Wall Street broker extraordinaire, might be her worst choice. They'd scream at each other in front of my kid who would tell me how scared that made her feel.
I knew Rose would never hurt Hadley or let anyone hurt her but there was something about Royce that made all my alarms go off.
So for the last six months, there had been a back and forth between us about Hadley being anywhere near Royce.
I knew the moment Rose decides to move in with him I will need to rethink our custody agreement.
For years I had cut Rose more slack than most would because I knew she loved our daughter, but her familiar patterns of self-destruction creep back in from time to time and it makes me disappointed that she'd do anything to let Hadley down.
I made it my mission to make sure Hadley came first since the day she was born. I turned down my residency so I wasn't taking Hadley away from her mother or her support system here in New York.
I never second-guessed that decision, but when I see Garrett living the fucking dream I get a little envious.
He gets to feel the rush of coming off a surgery high and saves lives day in and day out.
The department I work in at Sloan-Kettering fulfills me but just in a different way. My original plan was to be a pediatric surgeon but now I manage research projects in the Pediatric Oncology Department. We work mostly on researching childhood cancers and running drug trials for courses of treatment.
The cases I've seen make me feel grateful every day that Hadley is healthy, happy, and thriving.
I lucked out with having the kid that I do. Bella calling her a 'sweet angel child' was accurate, but we do have our days when her temper flares like mine does, it happens mostly after she stays with Rose.
Rose was in rare form these days and I think it mostly has to do with Bella arriving at the restaurant. She could see the attraction between us, telling me more than once that I was a hypocrite for going after someone so quickly after meeting them.
At that point, she already thought I was ready to introduce Bella to Hadley. I knew she had been grilling our daughter about my dating life and soon realized that Bella didn't know about Hadley.
Technically she didn't, but when Alice told me that someone bought Hadley the book Emma to read and that she was new to the area from Seattle and her name was Bella, I knew at that moment that it was my Bella. That one small act of kindness also told me what kind of person she is.
I then decided to put more of an effort into getting to know her and fell for her, even more, each time we worked together or went to Tavern.
Still, guilt ebbs at me for the way I treated her after the bike incident and for Rose bringing Hadley into work last week resulting in Bella slicing her hand.
Esme is the only person I've been confiding in and she has been nonstop in Carlisle's ear about Rose's behavior. Bella still needed to pass her trails, but I knew my sister was going to hire her full-time regardless.
Carlisle is the general manager but he is also an investor in the restaurant. An investor who Esme gave the capital to from her inheritance from our parents.
If Rose keeps up her attitude toward Bella, Esme will send her packing. Her being put on leave for the month was a warning.
Tonight, I got called into the restaurant after work since we are short-staffed at the moment. Bella offered to stay later to watch Hadley.
We were into day four of her watching Hadley and it has been nice to come home to them both after work.
Hadley is usually so reserved, but with Bella, she's able to be a kid. Bella fits perfectly within the fold, she's responsible but doesn't take life too seriously. She's messily chaotic in her beauty.
The chemistry between us is electric.
I feel a bump to my back.
"Quit daydreaming," Jasper says with a grin.
I nod and greet the customers who just sat on my side of the bar.
The next few hours we get busy and I try not to think about who's waiting for me at home. Hadley had told me that Bella's father had raised her and that she didn't have a mother.
The bleeding heart on my kid got me every time.
I asked her if Bella was sad when she told her and she said that she seemed okay about it. Hadley also said that Bella's dad missed her.
I wanted to hear more about this from Bella but didn't think we were there quite yet. I suggest our friend's arrangement in hopes to get her warmed up to the idea of something more with me.
Bella seemed like the kind of girl who spooked easily and I wanted to take my time with her.
"Edward, break time," Esme calls from the end of the bar.
I walk down to her.
She pinches my cheek, following me through the kitchen to the lounge.
"So how's Bella?" she asks me, I see the glee in her eyes.
"Watching Had at the moment," I tell her while I go through my texts.
If I let her watch The Exorcist would that be a deal breaker for you? – B
If she watches The Exorcist, you will be sleeping over to handle the aftermath. – E
Is that threat a ploy to get me into bed? – B
I bark out a laugh.
(wink face emoji) – E
I look up to see my sister grinning at me.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing, I've just never seen you like this," she tells me.
The truth was I'd never felt this way about anyone.
Bella makes me feel every emotion at once.
"Not to burst your Bella bubble but does Rose know she's watching Hadley this week?" she asks softly.
I shake my head.
"You need to be careful with that, Rose is strong but I can see Bella being a setback for her," Esme warns carefully.
"Bella and I are friends," I insist.
"For now, but what happens when it becomes serious?" she asks.
I think about that for a minute because I could see Bella making us whole if we let her in. Esme sees that too.
"I know Rose is— a lot, but she is also complicatedly human. She has a tough exterior but we both have seen how fast that crumbles," she tells me.
"So you're telling me I can't be happy?"
"I'm telling you to be empathetic to the situation. I'm not sure how much you've told Bella, but she seems like an understanding person. I don't think you can't be together because I see what Bella brings out in you, little brother—"
"But."
"But you need to be sensitive to Rose's feelings where Hadley is considered. She's not a monster to her daughter and she loves her more than anything but she might feel as though she's being replaced," she explains and I can see the understanding in Esme's eyes.
She has supported me fully but she also wanted me to have compassion for the situation itself. Times like these made me frustrated because when Rose was sent to live with Esme and Carlisle she was sweet.
I'd take her to places on campus and around the city partially due to Carlisle asking me too. They didn't get into why her mother, Vera, shipped her from upstate to the city but I was supposed to show her kindness.
Rose at first used to tease me calling me Mr. All-American because I was in med school and beloved by my sister. I'd brush it off because I knew that it looked like Esme spoiled me. It had been just me and her after our parents' death.
She coddled me more because I was in the car with our parents the night a drunk driver hit us. I could have acted out and rebelled, but I focused on school and making my sister proud of me. I didn't want her to worry about me when she was dealing with her own grief.
When I was eleven, she started dating Carlisle who was patient with both of us. He made her happy and I saw the Esme I knew from my childhood. A year later they were married and that was when I met five-year-old Rosalie.
She was a terror. Her only job was to be a flower girl but she was more like a flower tornado. I remember how beside herself her mother was when she spun down the aisle, throwing flower petals and shrieking.
Every interaction in the following years was much like that one, so when she came to live with Esme and Carlisle I was shocked by the sweetness that she then exuded.
It was all a ploy though.
To say it was all her fault would be wrong because I was just as into it as she was, but the night Hadley was conceived was a rough one for me. It was during finals so I was already wound tightly and I had received scores back from my one final. I didn't necessarily do bad but it wasn't to my standards.
I brought a bottle of bourbon to see if Esme wanted to share in my misery but she and Carlisle were stuck at the restaurant for inventory. Rose was there and took my bottle from me pouring us both a shot.
We each did three before she climbed onto my lap kissing my jaw. We were both consenting adults and it had been a while for me. Her touch was welcomed and made me loosen up from a day of stress.
We fooled around first until it turned into something more. I quickly fished out the condom that had been in my wallet for God knows how long and sunk into Rose.
It was sloppy.
It was primal.
It was fast.
When I pulled out the condom had a sizable tear.
With us both feeling the buzz of the bourbon, we thought nothing of it and soon even forgot about that detail.
I avoided her at all costs after that until she showed up at the apartment I shared with Garrett three months later telling me she was pregnant.
It was the first time in my life that I had been irresponsible.
But Hadley had been the best mistake I could have made.
I paid for and supported Rose during her pregnancy, it was six months in that the doctor noticed something on the scans.
Esme was with us and that is when the truth of why Rose came to live with them came to the surface.
She had started using again briefly before she found out she was pregnant.
Me being in med school knew exactly what this could mean for the baby.
Hadley has been wearing glasses since she was a toddler due to Rose's addiction. The doctors said we were lucky when Hadley turned a year old and she was thriving and hitting each one of her milestones.
This is one of the things that I will never forgive Rosalie for and I don't think she even forgives herself for it either.
Her guilt was also one of the reasons she fell off the wagon once she was done breastfeeding.
"I'll talk to her," I mumble.
"I did tell Carlisle if it came down to hiring Bella full-time or getting rid of Rose that I would choose Bella," she tells me.
I try to hide my smile while I nod.
Esme would support us. I just had to convince Bella there should be an us.
She goes back out to the floor and I spend the next ten minutes left of my break wondering what's going on back home.
When I get back out to the bar we've slowed down like we usually do with an hour left.
"Are you going to Tavern tonight?" Jazz asks while he wipes down the bar.
"School night," I tell him like always on a weekday.
"Does Rose have Hadley tonight?"
I shake my head wondering if I should tell him.
"Al's out of town," he says, because of course, he knows where his girl is whether he likes to admit they're together or not.
"Bella is watching her," I confess.
His eyes widen in surprise.
"Do I even want to know how that happened?"
"We're friends, she actually met Hadley at the bookstore a while back."
"Small world," he comments. "That's why she was so surprised the night she hurt her hand."
I nod guiltily.
Jazz gives me a look before warning me. "Don't let Rose loose on her because you know a majority of us have Bella's back."
If anything, I'd have Bella's back as well if anything were to happen involving Rose.
We go through our usual closing process, once we get the drawers counted Jazz tells me he'll take care of the rest.
I didn't bring my bike today so I take the train back home.
It's close to midnight when I walk through the door.
The lights are off but what looks to be the third Halloweentown is playing on my TV. Exorcist my ass, that movie would probably scare the living daylights out of Bella.
I toe off my boots walking into the living room and peek over the back of the couch where Hadley and Bella are cuddled together.
A light snore rips out of Bella making me want to lean down to kiss her.
Hadley's glasses aren't on her face so she must have fallen asleep first, I look around until I spot them on the coffee table.
I quietly pick them up and take them to her room.
I leave the two sleeping beauties on the couch while I shower and get changed for bed. When I'm done they are both still sound asleep.
I carefully pick Hadley up, carrying her to her bed first, she snuggles into me on our short walk to her room.
With my arms full of my child, I am careful to move her sheets and comforter out of my way before I lay her down.
"Daddy," she mumbles.
I smile because I normally only get called Dad these days.
I run my fingers through her curls.
"Sweet dreams, baby," I murmur against her temple before tucking her comforter around her.
She cuddles close and I sit with her for a few minutes.
Once I know she isn't going to wake up, I make my way back to the living room to decide what I should do with my new favorite girl.
A/N: This chapter was so long CoppertopJ suggested I break it up. Hope you enjoy hearing from Edward!