I don't own Twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and plot of the story.
Thanks to my Beta MadMooey18 for her constant support and help in making this story what it is today.
For a moment, Bella stares at him in confusion racking her brains to remember who Royce King is until it finally downs on her. "Let's talk about that later. Now we have a kid to take to lunch," she tells him, going into action mode. She squeezes his shoulder then walks around to the other side of the car. She is trying to understand why he is making this King thing such a big deal since she is transferring her son to another school anyways.
Soon enough, Edward finds himself fumbling with the radio looking for a child appropriate station to put on, finding himself uncomfortable in his skin. He spent the entire ride to Adam's school hyping himself up and getting himself ready to make the best impression on Adam, and now he can barely string two thoughts together. He recognizes that making Adam like him is essential for his relationship with Bella to work, but he can't help but think of all of the awful things that running into a relative of King could lead to.
"So, Adam, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love pizza?" Edward asks, breaking the awkward silence since he had given up on finding a kid friendly station. He needed to get one of those mini-screens attached to the back of the seat that he sees children watching stuff on all the time. As soon as Edward catches himself thinking that, he shakes his head and tells himself to focus on the now.
Adam shrugs unsure why Edward is asking him that then tells him, "Seven?"
Edward smiles at him through the rearview mirror and tells him in an encouraging tone, "That's good then. You will love the pizza at the place we're going to."
Adam smiles hesitantly at him then nods his head and turns to watch the passing cars through the window. Edward sighs in disappointment taking the hint and puts all of his focus into driving his car. Five minutes later, he finds himself parking in front of the restaurant. He turns off the car then gets out silently and walks around to open the door for Bella.
As soon as he helps Bella to get out of the car, Edward drops her hand to reach the other car door and opens Adam's, but Bella, who is not letting go of his hand, stops him in his tracks. "I'm sorry about Adam. He's just shy around people he isn't familiar with. He'll warm up soon."
At the nervous look he spots in Bella's eyes, he relaxes his shoulders, and tells her, "You don't need to apologize. I just want him to like me because I know how important this is for you."
Bella rolls her twinkling eyes at him as she tells him, "Of course he will like you. How couldn't he, when you are who you are?"
"Are you flattering me, Miss Swan? Because it's working," Edward tells her in a flirty tone as he tucks the scarf around her neck into her jacket.
Bella glances at Adam then tells him, "Come on, we have a kid that is pretending to not watch us."
Edward helps Adam out of the car and then Adam takes Bella's hand and the three of them walk into the restaurant together. "The usual, Katy," Edward tells the hostess as he helps Bella out of her scarf and jacket and then takes his own off while Bella helps Adam out of his. After the hostess places their coats in the closet behind her, she leads them to a cozy table near the window but far away from the other tables to give them some privacy.
"So you come here frequently?" Bella asks him once the hostess hands them the menu and leaves with the promise that their waiter will come soon.
Edward closes the menu knowing what he will order and replies, "Cullen enterprise has a share in this restaurant and part of the deal is my family gets a table reserved to us at all times. It's a win-win since most people don't want to sit by the window even though there are curtains."
Bella nods her head in understanding, but then Adam surprises both of them by asking, "What does a share and enterprise mean?"
Edward looks at Bella unsure of whether he should answer him, but Bella's reassuring smile puts him at ease. An enterprise is just a fancy name for a company or a business."
At the look of understanding on Adam's face and himm noding his head, Edward gains more confidence and continues, "Sometimes a business can have many owners at the same time. In that case, the business tends to be divided between those people. We call the parts someone owns a share."
Adam nods his head then turns to his mother and asks, "Is grandpa's business owned by many people, or just him?"
"Grandpa?" Edward asks in confusion since he knows for a fact that Charlie Swan never owned any businesses.
"Phil," Bella answers his unasked question then turns to Adam and replies, "Grandpa and his sister own the business together."
"But Grandpa's sister doesn't work there?" Adam asks in confusion.
Bella smiles at Adam and pushes his hair back then replies, "She doesn't have to. You don't need to work in a business to be one of the owners. Just ask Edward. His daddy and his two brothers own the business with him but he is the only one who works in it."
Adam turns to Edward. "Yep. I am the only one that works yet they also own it with me and get money while being lazy," Edward replies winking at the end.
"Kick them out. That's not fair." At Adam's outburst, both adults break out into laughter and that is how the awkwardness is broken between them. The waiter comes to take their order then and once he leaves, they resume their chatter. Adam tells him about his day in school and how he helps the teacher all the time because he is the only kid in his class that can read and write already.
"You can read and write? But you are only five!" Edward exclaims right as their food arrives.
Adam shrugs sheepishly then tells him, "I am smart."
Edward nods his head in total seriousness then tells him, "I'll make sure to come to you, if I face any problem that needs a solution."
"I will try to fix it," Adam promises then picks his cutlery and starts using his knife and fork to cut the pizza.
"And you eat pizza with your knife and fork!" Edward exclaims this time not needing to try to sound impressed because he is truly impressed. Aren't kids, especially boys at this age, supposed to be a nightmare?
"Mummy taught me well," Adam replies cheekily.
"Yes I did," Bella tells him and kisses his head then picks her own cutlery and starts eating her pasta. They are quiet for a couple of minutes, too busy with the tasty food to try and make small talk, but their peace is soon disrupted when they feel eyes on them.
"Mummy, who are those people?" Adam asks, alerting them to the paparazzi watching and taking photos through the windows. The pair quickly jump into action. Bella tries to shield Adam's face with her bag while Edward closes the curtains as fast as he can to give them privacy.
Edward turns to Bella and tells her in a frustrated tone, "I am so sorry. I should have closed the curtains as soon as we sat down. I don't know what is wrong with me." That was a stupid move on his part. He has gotten too complacent. Usually, paparazzi don't take pictures of his family because they are too afraid of the Cullen name. But that fear never seems to extend to him, and he should have remembered that.
Wanting to alleviate his guilt, Bella shakes her head and tells him, "It's okay, Edward. I forgot about it and I'm his mum."
Edward attempts to smile at her even though he still feels guilty and goes to reply to her, but is stopped by Adam's demand. "Who are those people?"
Bella turns to Adam and tells him, "They are called paparazzi, darling. Their job is to take photos of people."
"But we didn't ask them to take a photo of us, did we?" Adam asks in a whisper leaning into his mum.
"Sadly, paparazzi don't need to be asked to take photos," Edward tells him sounding as troubled as he looks.
Adam frowns as he tries to make sense of what he is hearing then tells him, "But that isn't nice," then he pauses to turn to his mum and asks, "We shouldn't do something to someone before we ask their permission first, right mummy?"
Bella nods her. "Paparazzi aren't known for being nice baby."
Bella's answer doesn't seem to satisfy Adam. "But why? Didn't their mummy teach them good manners?"
Bella sighs as she answers him, "I am sure that their mummy did, but sometimes when you could get a big reward from doing something not right, a lot of people forget what their mummy taught them."
"What do they get?" Adam asks her surprised by the whole notion. You can get a big reward from doing the wrong thing?
"They make money because a lot of people like to see pictures of famous people," She explains to him.
"I change my mind. I never want to be famous," Adam grumbles. Bella smiles a bittersweet one as she remembered a couple of months ago when she explained the concept of fame to Adam, and he thought then that it is a cool thing. He had decided then and there that he wants to be famous.
Bella takes Adam's cutlery and cuts a bite of the pizza and feeds it to Adam as she tells him, "You don't have to be anything you don't want to."
"I don't want you to be famous," Adam grumbles.
"Sadly, fame is a side effect of the jobs your mummy and I hold Adam," Edward explains as Bella had a bite in her mouth and didn't answer him immediately.
Bella nods her head as if to second Edward's answer then continues, "Sometimes if you get really good at your job, many people will know that you are good at it and then you will become famous."
Adam nods his head, seeming still bothered by what happened. The rest of their lunch passes with relative silence with the liveliness it once had gone. The two adults try to lift up Adam's spirit by cracking jokes, and it works for the most part, but it's clear that nothing can change Adam's irritable mood.
"Mummy, I want to go home," Adam mutters the moment he spots the empty plates of the adults.
Edward signals to the waiter and tells him that he wants the check then gets up to move the curtain slightly then peeks outside before he returns to his chair in a huff. "Yep, they are still taking photos," he grumbles.
I don't want Adam to be seen by the paparazzi. I don't want them anywhere near him.
We will think of something.
Bella is silent for a moment thinking over how she will handle the problem at hand until she has her answer. "I will cover his face with my scarf then carry him."
"How about I do the carrying?" Edward immediately suggests
"I can carry my own son," Bella states, sounding offended. She crosses her arms and glares at him.
Adam, not liking to be excluded from the discussion mutters, "I am not a baby. I don't want anyone to carry me."
Bella opens her mouth ready to explain it to him, but Edward beats her to it, "The guys outside will get vicious and try to take a photo of you and we don't want that. That is why we want to carry you so we can stop them," then Edward pauses to turn to Bella and tells her, "Which is exactly why I should be the one to carry him. They will be too aggressive with you, but they will give me more space."
Adam is my son. I am the one to explain things to him, and I am the one who protects him.
Chill, it's not like he wants to steal Adam from you. He is just trying to be helpful. Plus, you can't deny that his idea has a lot of merit.
I don't like his idea.
You don't have to. You just need to swallow your pride and do what is right.
"That is sexist," Bella finally mutters.
Edward shrugs and tells her, "No one has ever accused the paparazzi of being feminist."
"God, they aren't any less vicious," Edward exclaims as soon as he slams the door of the car shut.
A giggle comes from the backseat followed by Adam telling them, "That was fun!"
Edward rolls his eyes as he puts on his seat belt then tells him, "Of course you thought that. You're not the one who had to run through them."
Bella stops herself from giggling at Edward's expression. He toke protecting Adam very seriously. It's the most adorable thing ever, and if she wasn't already in love with him, this would have done it for her.
"Can we do it again?" Adam asks, leaning forward between the two of them as much as his stupid seatbelt would let him.
Bella shakes her head and tells him as she ruffles his hair, "Sorry son. You will have to settle for the swings for fun."
Adam sits back in disappointment and tells her, "The swings aren't fun. Even books are more fun than the swings."
Edward hides his smile as he watches Adam through the rearview mirror. Adam is quite the unusual child in the best way possible. He knew from how Bella spoke about Adam that he wasn't like most kids his age. While he expected that to make him appear traumatized or struggling, he saw a well mannered curious child with a lot of questions.
The rest of the ride to Bella's home is filled with silence that is occasionally interrupted by Adam asking questions. Sometimes, it's Bella that answers him. Othertimes, Edward jumps in and Bella lets him. Finally, they reach her home and Edward parks the car in front of her building. He helps Adam get out of the car with Adam readily taking his chance to jump out of the car, then he helps Bella out of her seat.
As he is closing Bella's door, he feels hands wrap around his legs. "Thank you, Mr. Edward, for the fun day," Adam states looking up at him, and before Edward can answer him, Adam runs into the building.
"He has this thing where he needs to be the one to press the button for the elevator," Bella tells him.
"It's okay. It's not like I will judge him for it or anything," Edward states smiling at her.
"So, this was a success," Bella smiles with her hands in her pockets unsure of what to do. Him kissing her in the car threw a wrench into her routine and now she isn't sure how she should tell him goodbye.
If this is how you are reacting to him kissing you, I fear for what you will do if he tells you that he wants to have sex with you.
Shut up.
"You know that this is the part where we kiss and say goodbye, not stare at each other," Edward tells her, smirking, figuring that if he takes her fears more seriously, she will feel less anxious.
"Well then, do that instead of making fun of me."
Hello lovely people of the internet,
What do you think of this chapter? Love it? Hate it? Tell me your thoughts in the review section. Every reviewer will receive a sneak peek into the next chapter.
My schedule over the rest of December is a bit hectic, so I am not sure when exactly I will update the next chapter, but I know it will probably be before the new year.
Until then,
Stay Safe.