Author's Note:
In all the fanfiction I've read, I've wondered if reviews are really as big of a deal as the authors said…and now I know it's true! They are a huge deal! I love hearing what you all think and I love getting those notifications that someone has reviewed (or favorited/followed!)! Please keep them coming!
On to the next chapter. Let's see what happens next for Edward and Maggie.
Sadly enough, I still don't own it…
Chapter 5
EPOV
As I pulled into the parking lot, a familiar yellow Porsche caught my eye. I helped Maggie out of the back seat and headed inside wondering if it had indeed been Alice's car outside. As I was signing into the guest log at the front desk, I got my answer when I saw Alice and Bella coming down the hall toward us from the direction of Tanya's room.
"Aunt Alice! Ms. Bella!" Maggie exclaimed and took off running toward them.
Alice scooped her into a hug and planted a kiss on her cheek before Bella took her turn with a hug as I walked up.
"Hello ladies," I said with a kiss on my sister's cheek. "What are you doing here? It's not your usual day."
Alice explained to me that they had come since she'd had to miss their usual visit the week before. I nodded in understanding but noticed Bella rolling her eyes and I wondered if she wasn't as enthusiastic about visiting Tanya as Alice was. Before I could think about it any further though, I heard Maggie telling her aunt and Bella about our upcoming trip to the zoo.
"So, after we get done here, Daddy's taking me to the zoo! You want to come with us?" she asked. It didn't escape my notice that Maggie avoided referring to Tanya directly, but I wasn't sure what I could do about it.
"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I have to meet Uncle Jazz in a little while, so I can't make it to the zoo," Alice told her.
"What about you, Ms. Bella?" Maggie asked.
Bella glanced at me, but before she had a chance to respond, Alice jumped in and answered for her.
"Ms. Bella can't go either, Mags. She rode with me, and I have to take her home."
"She can ride with me and Daddy and we can take her home after the zoo! Right, Daddy?" Maggie said excitedly. I had to admit, she made a good point, so I added my argument to my daughter's.
"Yes, we can, Maggie. If Ms. Bella wants to go with us, we can certainly give her a ride." Maggie looked up and gave Bella the puppy dog eyes and added a drawn-out plea.
"Pleeease, Ms. Bella. Come with us. It will be so much fun!"
"Yeah, please, Ms. Bella?" I added with puppy dog eyes of my own.
Bella let out a laugh and asked, "Well, who could resist that? I guess I'm going to the zoo!"
"Wait, Bella, didn't you say you had to work this afternoon?" Alice asked her, but Bella looked at her with a puzzled frown on her face.
"No, I mentioned that I had a couple of new manuscripts to read, but there's no rush so I'm free for the day," Bella responded.
Alice looked as though she was going to argue further, but I cut in. "Bella, if you don't mind hanging out here a little longer, Maggie and I will visit Tanya for a bit, then we'll head out. Alice, I know you need to get to Jasper, so we'll see you later."
Bella nodded her agreement, and I saw Alice sigh before giving Maggie another hug and saying goodbye. As Alice walked away, Bella told me she could wait in the lobby, but Maggie had other plans and grabbed her hand and dragged her along with us to Tanya's room. I mouthed and I'm sorry to Bella over Maggie's head, but she just shrugged and grinned at me.
Once we got to Tanya's room, I walked over and looked down at Tanya while Maggie pulled out her tablet and drew Bella into a game. I'd always felt awkward talking to Tanya like this. Hell, if I were honest, I'd admit that it hadn't been all that easy to talk to her at times when she was awake. I'd talked to her more when Maggie was a baby, though. For several months after the accident, Tanya's doctors had encouraged me to bring the baby and lay her on Tanya's chest and talk to her and let her hear Maggie cry. They'd hoped that having that contact with her baby could help bring her out of the coma, but shortly before Maggie's first birthday, Tanya had been officially declared brain dead. I'd still brought Maggie every week, but as time had passed our visits had slowed to once a month. Now, I was generally content to let Maggie ramble on while I sat quietly. Maggie didn't really talk directly to Tanya these days, but she'd usually talk about whatever toy or game she had with her.
Today, I settled into a chair and listened to Maggie and Bella play their game. I smiled when I realized I liked hearing Maggie so engaged and happy. She hadn't sounded like that during a visit to her mother in a long time. I felt bad that coming here made her so miserable these days, but I wasn't sure if it was right to stop bringing her. After about a half an hour, Maggie looked over at me and asked if it was time to go to the zoo yet. I decided we'd been there long enough, so I told her yes and to gather up her things. She quickly did as I asked and skipped out of the room ahead of Bella and myself.
Bella fell into step beside me as we followed Maggie out. "I guess she's ready to go," she laughed.
"Yeah, this isn't exactly her favorite place. In fact, the zoo is the bribe I used to get her to come here without throwing a fit," I told her as we walked toward my truck, and Bella nodded in understanding.
Any further conversation was cut short once we were in the truck as Maggie chattered away about all the animals she wanted to see. A short drive later and we'd reached our destination. I bought our tickets and reminded Maggie she had to stay with Bella and me, and then we took off for the first exhibit. We reached the primates first and Maggie stood at the glass and watched a baby chimp running around. Bella and I laughed at the baby's antics with her before Maggie announced she was ready to move on. We meandered our way through primates before heading to the next area. Bella and I walked on either side of Maggie, each holding one of her hands and I couldn't help but wish for a moment that we were an actual family. I stumbled slightly when that thought hit me and Bella threw a questioning glance my way. I laughed it off and we carried on.
A couple of hours later, we found ourselves at the grizzly bear enclosure. There was a viewing area made up of a glass wall enclosing one side of the bear's pool where he was playing in the water. Maggie stood at the glass with several other kids while Bella and I claimed a bench a few feet away. Maggie had been talking about the bear all day, so now that we were here, I knew she'd be occupied for a little while. I kept an eye on her but turned toward Bella and thanked her for coming with us.
"I'm having fun. Her excitement is contagious," Bella said with a smile.
We sat in silence and watched the bear splash around for a couple of minutes and then I felt Bella shift next to me. We may have both been facing Maggie, but I was acutely aware of Bella's thigh pressed against mine on the narrow bench. I knew I needed to get these thoughts out of my head, but I was having a hard time. In an effort to occupy my mind, I tried making small talk with Bella. We chatted about the weather and our jobs as we watched Maggie laugh with the other kids at the big brown bear doing flips in the water. Finally, after the bear had moved to another part of his habitat, Maggie was ready to move on. We got a snack and drink before we continued through the rest of the zoo. By late afternoon, Maggie was dragging, and Bella and I weren't in much better shape. I ended up carrying Maggie out to the truck, thinking it wouldn't be too much longer before she was too big to pick up and carry any distance like this. Maggie was sound asleep by the time we got buckled into my truck and were headed to take Bella home.
Maggie had begun to stir by the time we pulled up to Bella's house, so when Bella asked if we'd like to stay for dinner I couldn't have said no if I wanted to. Maggie had answered with a resounding yes and then clambered out of the truck. Sure, I could have pulled the parent card and said no and taken her home, but I really didn't want to, so I climbed out of the truck and followed Bella and Maggie to the door.
I looked around as we entered Bella's house and took in my surroundings. She'd hired my mother to decorate when she bought it and Emmett had done some cosmetic work on the kitchen, but since there hadn't been any structural changes, I hadn't been involved. The house suited her. Simple, clean lines with a feminine touch. I heard Bella and Maggie in the kitchen, so I followed their voices and heard them discussing dinner. Bella was taking out the ingredients for what looked like it would become chicken alfredo with broccoli and garlic bread. Maggie was perched on the counter listening as Bella described each step in preparing the meal. I watched them for a few minutes before offering my services as sous chef.
"You ladies need any help?" I asked as I stepped up to the kitchen island.
"Not at the moment," Bella said, "but you can grab a beer or open a bottle of wine if you want to."
"Which do you want?" I asked as I made my way to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer for myself.
"I'll take a glass of wine. There may be a bottle of pinot grigio already open. Glasses are up there," she said, pointing to a cabinet to the left of the sink.
I was pouring Bella's wine when Maggie piped up. "I want some wine too, Daddy."
I snorted a laugh as I turned to her and said, "Well, baby girl, you have a few years before you can have wine, but nice try."
I realized I'd underestimated how tired my girl still was when I looked at her and saw the pout on her face that was on the verge of becoming a tantrum. I was about to pull her from the kitchen to try and calm her down when Bella jumped in and saved the day. She tossed the pasta into the pot of boiling water and turned to Maggie.
"Actually, I have just the thing for you, Miss Maggie," she said as she walked over and grabbed another wine glass from the cabinet. Maggie was looking at me with a glint in her eye thinking she was about to get her way when Bella reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of white grape juice. She poured some into the wine glass and turned around and presented it to Maggie. "Here you go, Maggie, a special kind of wine just for you!"
Maggie looked thrilled as she carefully took the offered glass from Bella's hand and took a sip. Her eyes lit up and she licked her lips as she proclaimed her newfound love for 'wine'. I rolled my eyes as I lifted Maggie from the countertop and carried her around to a barstool on the other side of the island. I warned her to sit still and not spill or break the glass then skirted back around and leaned on the counter next to the stove where Bella was stirring the sauce.
I leaned closer to Bella and said quietly in her ear, "Thanks for that. Now let's just hope I don't get any calls about what a lush my six-year-old is when she goes to school and tells everyone how much she loves wine."
Bella glanced up at me and giggled, then quickly covered her mouth. "Oh crap, I didn't think about that," she said.
"I was just kidding, I'm not really worried about it," I said with a laugh.
Bella grabbed the hand towel she had slung over her shoulder and playfully smacked me with it and then handed me a butter knife.
"How about you and my assistant chef over there get the bread buttered so it can go in the oven?" she asked me. I took the knife from her and nodded, then grabbed the bread and set up next to Maggie at the island.
A short time later, dinner was ready, and we were settled at the dining table where Maggie was regaling Bella with tales from school and the short vacation we had taken back in the summer. I just kept thinking how great it was to spend time with Bella, and I appreciated how she included Maggie and didn't make it seem like a chore to listen to her ramble on about the fascinating lives of her friends. I smiled as Bella acted appropriately shocked to hear that two boys in Maggie's class had gotten into a fight over a game on the playground the week before.
"Seriously, Ms. Bella, boys are just dumb," Maggie was saying with a roll of her eyes.
"That's right, baby girl," I interjected, "you just keep thinking that until you're about thirty."
Bella giggled and shot me a look that clearly said 'Yeah, good luck with that.' I shook my head and smiled ruefully. I knew I'd have to deal with boys someday, but I'd hang on to my baby as long as possible.
When we finished eating, Maggie and I helped clear the table and then Bella asked Maggie if she'd like to watch a movie. Of course, the answer was yes, so I started the dishes while Bella took Maggie into the living room. I glanced into the other room and watched Maggie climb into a big chair, while telling Bella what movie to search for on Netflix. A minute later, Bella joined me in the kitchen, and we chatted while we made short work of loading the dishwasher and washing the pots and pans. After grabbing another drink for each of us, we joined Maggie in the living room and settled on opposite ends of the couch facing each other as neither of us were especially invested in the Trolls movie Maggie was watching.
"Thanks for coming with us today, and for dinner," I said softly. "We had fun, and it made what is usually a difficult day more than pleasant."
"I had fun, too. She's a great kid," Bella said sincerely as she looked over at Maggie. I followed her gaze when she smiled and nodded in that direction. Maggie was out.
Bella got up and pulled a blanket from a basket at the end of the couch and covered Maggie before sitting back down and looking at me.
"I know you probably want to get her home," she began nervously, "and I probably shouldn't say this, but I've really enjoyed spending time with you, so I'd love for you to hang out for a little while longer."
I knew she was probably right, and I should get Maggie and leave but I looked at Bella biting her lip anxiously and I couldn't bring myself to go anywhere at that moment.
"I'd like that," I said.
Bella smiled softly and reached over for the remote control. She turned off the movie. The loud, somewhat obnoxious soundtrack of the movie was replaced with classic rock flowing softly from the hidden surround sound speakers. Once that was taken care of, Bella went back to looking nervous.
She took a sip of her wine and said, "So, you said before that it would have been a difficult day. Is that just because of visiting Tanya?"
"Yeah, I've mentioned before that Maggie has gotten pretty adamant about not wanting to go, and sadly, I can't really blame her."
"I don't really blame her either, but what do you mean?" Bella asked.
I put off answering for a moment by taking a drink of my beer. I drained the bottle and sat it on the coffee table before looking back at Bella. I felt this pull to her and wanted, for the first time ever, to tell someone the truth and judging by her comment about not blaming Maggie I knew my secret would be safe with her. I'd never say what I was about to say to Alice, but I had always known that Bella was not as close with Tanya as my sister was. I glanced at Maggie again to confirm she was asleep. She was snuggled under the blanket breathing deeply. I knew she could sleep through nearly anything, but I still spoke softly to avoid waking her.
"Well, I mean that I can't blame her for not wanting to visit, because I don't particularly want to visit Tanya either." I stated matter of factly, then waited for Bella's reaction. I'd been pretty confident that she wouldn't be overly angry on Tanya's behalf, but I was still relieved to see her look at me sympathetically with a tilt of her head as she waited on me to elaborate.
"I mean, I know Tanya never meant for this to happen, but things would have been so different if she'd never been in the accident." I continued.
"Well, sure, I get it. It must be very hard for you to see her in her current state. And you'd be raising Maggie together," Bella interjected, and I realized that she had misunderstood me.
"No, that's not really what I meant, Bella," I corrected, and Bella furrowed her brow in confusion. "What I mean is that I visit Tanya, and take Maggie to visit her, out of duty, not out of love. I know that sounds harsh, but when I said things would have been different, I mean that Tanya and I would have been divorced and I would have been free."
Bella's eyebrows rose toward her hairline in surprise, and I could see she was trying to make sense of what I was saying, so I continued before she could speak.
"I've never told anyone else the truth about my marriage," I began, and Bella nodded in understanding, so I continued. "Tanya and I weren't happy. I'm not sure I can say I was ever truly happy with her, but I wasn't entirely miserable either. Things got worse though after we'd been married for a year or so and I was planning to file for divorce. I'd gone so far as to meet with my attorney, but Tanya announced she was pregnant right before I filed the paperwork. I'd always wanted to be a father, so I decided not to file and to do my best to make the relationship work. I threw myself into preparing for parenthood, and I must have been incredibly unobservant, because the day of Tanya's accident, I came home to find her packing. She was leaving me for Alec."
I paused when Bella gasped softly and said, "You mean, she was…I thought Alec was her client and she was showing him houses when they were in the accident."
"Yeah, that's the official story. And he was technically her client, but she'd also been sleeping with him for more than a year. She confessed everything to me that day before she left with him. She also told me that the baby likely wasn't mine and she'd let me know if she was proven wrong after the birth. Apparently, there was a chance, but she felt it was a greater likelihood that the baby was his." I glanced at Maggie again to ensure she was still soundly asleep and in gratitude that she was here and mine.
"Oh Edward, I had no idea. You must have been devastated," Bella said softly.
I looked back at Bella and could read the sympathy in her eyes. Our arms were stretched across the back of the sofa toward each other, so I shifted enough to reach her hand. She turned her hand over and gripped mine and squeezed lightly.
"I was upset of course, but really only at the possibility that Maggie wasn't mine. After Tanya left, my first thought was that I'd contact my lawyer the next morning and get a DNA test ordered. I didn't really trust Tanya to let me know even if she believed I was the father. I know I had contemplated divorce, but I never cheated, so that part hurt, but I wasn't exactly sorry the relationship was over if that makes sense.
"But, anyway, it was just a couple of hours later that I got the call from the hospital that Tanya had been in the accident, and they were taking the baby by c-section. The hospital and authorities had no reason to think the baby wasn't mine, so I went and was there for her from the moment she was born."
"Well, as terrible as the whole situation is, I'm glad that part worked out. You couldn't deny her even if you wanted to. She looks just like you." Bella said with a soft smile toward my daughter.
"Yeah, I never really questioned it after she was born. I knew she was mine the minute I laid eyes on her. But I did have a DNA test performed just to be safe. I didn't want any relatives of Alec's to come out of the woodwork and claim she was his. I had no idea who might have known about his relationship with Tanya, and obviously couldn't ask either of them, so I wanted to cover my bases just in case. Turns out it was a moot point because I later found out that he didn't have any immediate family left. His parents and a sister were all dead. And I have to say, by the time I found all that out I'd have kept her even if she wasn't mine biologically." I looked at my daughter and smiled. "That girl had me wrapped around her tiny finger from day one."
"That much is obvious. It's clear you adore each other, Edward." Bella said as she squeezed my hand again.
It was then I realized our fingers were still linked. As much as I liked the feeling of being connected to Bella, even if it was just by our fingertips, I pulled back. The fact that I hated to break the connection was the exact reason I felt like I should. A look crossed Bella's face as she glanced toward our hands that were now an inch apart and I wondered if she missed the contact like I did. I quickly determined it was best to avoid that train of thought, so I glanced at the clock and realized it was getting late. I regretfully unfolded myself from the couch and started to carry my beer bottle to the kitchen. Bella rose as well and followed me, depositing her wine glass in the sink. I turned to her and found her closer to me than expected. The only light in the kitchen was the dim light over the sink and the glow of the lamps from the living room, and in the semi darkness it felt like there was a current flowing between us. My fingers itched to reach for her and pull her into my arms. I'd never wanted to kiss a woman as badly as I did at that moment, but I restrained myself and stepped back.
"Thank you, Bella, for a lovely evening. But it's getting late, and I better get Maggie home," I said.
"Of course. I enjoyed the day with you guys very much," Bella said.
I walked back into the living room and picked up Maggie and she barely stirred as I settled her against my shoulder. Bella reached up and brushed Maggie's hair back from her face and smiled tenderly before following me out to my truck. I got Maggie buckled in without waking her and circled around to the driver door. Bella told me again how much she'd enjoyed the day, and I knew I wanted to see her again. Even though we could only be friends, I didn't want to lose this connection I felt.
"Maybe we could do lunch one day this week?" I asked her.
She appeared to hesitate for a split second before nodding. "Yeah, that would be nice."
With that, I leaned forward and kissed her cheek before climbing into the truck and driving away. When I got home, I got Maggie out of the truck and roused her enough to get her ready for bed. We got her teeth brushed and pajamas on before I tucked her into bed where she fell quickly back to sleep. I settled myself in my own bed and thought about the day. I felt lighter having gotten the truth about Tanya off my chest. It didn't really change anything, but it still felt nice to not feel like I was lying to at least one person. I never wanted to lie to Bella. I couldn't deny my attraction to her and it wasn't just physical. Everything about her seemed to draw me in. Her beauty was most certainly part of it, but it was also little things. She'd always been a good friend, practically a part of my family for over two decades, but I had never really seen her the way I was beginning to see her now. I pictured the way her eyes had gone soft as she updated me on her father and stepmother after I asked how they were doing. I pictured the way she threw her head back when she laughed at one of my stories of Emmett's antics around the office. I pictured the way she looked at me when I told her about Tanya, sympathetic but not judgmental. But most of all, I pictured the way she had been with Maggie throughout the day. They'd interacted countless times over the years, but never one on one as they'd been today. She was tender and caring, but not a complete pushover with my impetuous child. She would make an amazing mother. With that thought, I scrubbed my hands over my face. It didn't matter what I saw in her or how much I wished otherwise, I wasn't free to explore these feelings. With a sigh, I turned over and willed myself to sleep.
As was becoming routine, I awoke the next morning with rapidly fading images of Bella Swan in my mind. I much preferred the dream of Bella in my bed to the reality of cold sheets and an empty pillow next to mine. To escape the truth, I crawled out of bed and headed for a hot shower. After I stepped into the stinging spray, I closed my eyes and pictured the scene from my dream. I braced my left hand on the tile wall and took my erection in my right. In my mind's eye, it was Bella's perfect pink lips wrapped around me, rather than my own hand, but I'd take what I could get. It didn't take very long to reach my climax, and I slumped against the wall as I came down from the high. I shook my head sorrowfully as the thought crossed my mind that despite the force of my orgasm, I was far from satisfied. Oh well, nothing I could really do about it, so I finished my shower and got ready for the day.
I sat in my home office and reviewed my schedule for the upcoming week while waiting for Maggie to wake up. It wasn't too long before she padded into the room and climbed onto my lap. After snuggling into me for a few minutes, Maggie announced she was hungry and dragged me into the kitchen for breakfast. We didn't have any plans for the day, so I worked around the house and made sure Maggie was all ready for the school week. It was mid-afternoon when my phone rang, and I was only mildly disappointed to see my sister's face on the screen, rather than Bella's. I realized that Bella had no reason to call me, but that hadn't stopped the hope that she might. I rolled my eyes at myself and swiped the screen to connect the call.
"Hey, Al, what's up?" I said in greeting.
"Not much, big brother, what are you up to today?"
"Nothing much, just getting ready for the week."
"Did you guys have fun at the zoo yesterday?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, Maggie was worn out, but she had a blast. Pretty sure she wore Bella out, too," I said with a laugh.
"Oh, yeah I'm sure she did, but I guess Bella wasn't too tired for her date last night."
Something in Alice's tone sounded off and I froze for a moment as my mind raced. Had Bella told Alice about dinner last night? I wondered what she had said. We hadn't done anything wrong, but for some reason I wasn't eager to tell my sister exactly how much time I'd spent with her best friend the day before. I wasn't worried about Bella betraying my confidence about what I'd revealed to her, and I didn't think either of us had considered it to be date, but what other purpose would Alice have for calling it one? I decided to play it safe and hopefully get a little clarification.
"Oh, I didn't know Bella had a date last night." I said lamely. I hoped Alice would elaborate without me having to ask specifically what Bella had told her.
"Yeah, she was going out with a guy she's been seeing. I was going to call her to get the scoop, but I'm sure she still has company, so I'll have to catch up with her later this week."
Clearly Alice was unaware that Maggie and I had stayed at Bella's for dinner the night before, which made me even more curious about the edge I'd heard in her tone of voice and why she felt the need to lie about Bella having a date. It had almost seemed as if she were warning me in some way, but that didn't make any sense, so I dismissed the thought. I was sure I was reading too much into it. Perhaps I had a bit of a guilty conscience from my early morning shower activities, so I shook my head and tuned back into my sister rambling in my ear.
After the mention of Bella's alleged date, Alice had gone back to her usual chipper self and was telling me all about some new designer she was going to be carrying in her shop. I responded when appropriate and then inquired about Jasper when I could get a word in. We talked for a few more minutes before promising to see each other soon and ending the call. I briefly wondered again about Alice's odd tone at the beginning of our call, but considering I'd never fully understood her in the thirty-two years she'd been my little sister, I let it go and carried on with my day.
Monday morning dawned with a gloomy chill and a blast from my alarm. I groaned as I rolled out of bed and headed for the shower before waking Maggie for school. I denied myself my Bella fantasy time in the shower, instead scolding myself to rein in my crazy thoughts and get myself under control. Bella was my friend, nothing more. With that newfound resolve, I got through my morning routine and got Maggie off to school. I had just sat down in my office and was looking over my schedule for the next few days figuring out what day would be best to have lunch with Bella when Emmett walked in and plopped into a chair in front of my desk. I glanced up and raised my eyebrow at the scowl on his face.
"Good morning, Emmett, what's got your panties in a twist already?" I asked with a smirk.
"Bro, we've got an issue on the Carrington job. She wants more changes," Emmett said, effectively wiping the smirk off my face.
"Christ, I don't know why she ever signed off on the original design if she was going to make us change every damn detail." I said and ran my hand through my hair. "I don't care how loaded her husband is, this is the last job we do for her."
"I'm with you, man. She pulls this shit every time. Not only is it a pain in the ass for you and the permits, but it also puts my crews behind on other jobs." Emmett said.
"Oh well, let's just get this done so we can move on. What does she want now?" I asked. Emmett leaned forward and began to point out the changes on the blueprints he'd carried in with him. I rolled my eyes at the client's requests but set about making the accommodations were possible. It was going to be a long day.
Author's Note:
Next chapter we'll be back with Bella.
Let me know what you think!