A/N: kay so I've cut the final chapter into two parts. It's taking a bit to finalise it, and apparently people (and relatives) are getting antsy. I want to get it right, and I have to... upset Bella in the final part. Edward revealed his past to her, and something will happen for her to confront her own. Edward will finally understand everything about her after that. Aaaaaand I'm giving too much away.
Hope you're all having a fantastic new year. I have a new story in the works called Phoenix, with a very different Edward and Bella compared to this fic. I'm still fleshing it out, but I hope you come with me on that ride as well, despite my, at times, horrific updating practices. The next Footprints chapter will be the last, and then there'll be an epilogue. I'm not going to get more into Phoenix until this one is wrapped up properly.
Righto, shutting up. I hope you enjoy.
Footprints in the Sand
Chapter 41
"I almost had an aneurysm keeping this a secret," Alice admits wryly as she admires the diamond on my third finger.
It's our first coffee date since we got back from Florida. I arrived late; I had an appointment to pick up my engagement ring from Tiffany & Co. after getting it resized, and initially, they couldn't find it.
I almost had an aneurysm myself.
"You've got a good poker face, Al," I say impressed. "I had no idea."
"Well, he didn't tell me outright. He just asked what your ring size is—as if I had any idea."
"He told me," I relay with a small smile as the memory of Edward's impromptu office proposal again passes through my mind.
Almost a month later and I've barely thought of anything else.
"Have you announced it yet?" Alice asks, continuing to inspect it.
"Not really. I mean, Edward's parents know. And you and Jay. You haven't told anyone?"
She snorts only half through her nose. "of course, I haven't. I'm almost jealous. Mine's two-point-five, and yours has to be at least three!"
"It's three-point-two-five," I add sheepishly. "The sales woman from Tiffany's—who lost it—told me this morning."
"She lost it?" Alice echoes blankly before I tell her the story of how it got misplaced. She tsks. "You'd think, considering how much they charge, they'd be more careful. Anyway," waving her hand, she picks up her mug and brings it to her lips, "tell me all about Disney."
"It was great. I don't think Addie stopped grinning the entire time, but it took her at least three days to come down after we got home. She was bouncing off the walls."
"I can imagine," Alice notes, nodding her head. "How's Edward dealing with her... diagnosis?" She leans in closer, her voice subtly dropping, but Alice understands the gravity of it.
"He didn't take it well," I answer with a small sigh. "He went quiet and then locked himself in his study all afternoon. Addie told me he always does that when he has lotsa things in his brain," I quote her. "I talked him down later that night, and he's more accepting of it now."
"Hmm, he must be glad he has you, Bells. That you understand Addie and how to help her."
"I think he blames himself, but at the same time he's relieved it's not connected to her mother," I reveal, nibbling on the almond cookie Alice insisted I order with her.
"How so?" she asks, tilting her head.
"The psychologist was very interested in Edward's habit of hyperfocusing and how he gets thrown off if he's interrupted." Not to mention the fact that Edward is an incredibly introspective person who often falls into contemplation. Though, he doesn't get lost in it like I'm prone to.
"He thinks it comes from Edward?" Alice surmises.
"That was my impression."
"Huh," she considers it for a moment before shrugging a shoulder. "But I mean, it has to be a relief to know she's nothing like her psycho mother."
"It is. I think that's what he was worried about most, so..." Mirroring her, I shrug before abandoning my cookie with a grimace. "God, Al, these things taste like cardboard."
"You think? I'm obsessed with anything with almonds at the mo." Reaching over me, she snatches it from my plate and stuffs it half-eaten into her cheeks. "They are a bit dry," she acknowledges. "Anyway, why didn't you bring Addie? You know I love hanging with her."
"She's having a playdate with the little girl she was paired with at kindergarten orientation. I have to pick her up at four." Unlocking my phone, I check the time; I have just over two hours, but I'm still running on anxiety over it. I don't like her being at a person's house I barely know, but Edward's okay with it, and Addie was more than on board. Plus, I really do want her to start kindergarten with a friend. With school starting in just under two weeks, the nerves are already beginning to set in for her.
"That's cute," Alice says, evidently in agreement with Edward who insisted it'd be good for her.
"I know," I nod, before groaning openly and being forced to explain myself. "She walked in on me and Edward yesterday morning. I was on top."
"Uh-oh," Alice replies with a smirk. "So it begins."
"So it has. We had to have the whole 'this is what mommies and daddies do when they love each other' talk. She only stared at the two of us like we were completely nuts because she thought Edward was hurting me. I was mortified," I recap as Alice practically chokes on her cookie.
"Welcome to parenthood, Bells. Does she call you 'mom', yet?"
"Not really. A couple of times, but it's more natural for her to call me by my name, and that's fine."
"Give her time. I really didn't think you'd be a mommy before me," she teases, nudging me playfully with her shoulder and causing my coffee to spill down my fingers.
I chuckle. "Neither did I. Edward made a joke about him being a package deal, and I told him Addie didn't come with him; he came with Addie. Okay, serious question," I quickly change course.
"Hm?"
"You really think I'd resent him if he refused to get his vasectomy reversed?"
"I do," she concedes truthfully, her tone as equally serious. "I mean, not right away. Okay, say Addie's all grown up and about to leave for college, and you're about to hit the big four-zero and the window of pregnancy is almost closed. I think you'd regret ever agreeing to it and you'd eventually resent him for it. I know you want to have a baby and name him after your dad."
"Him?" I repeat after the longest few moments of coming to the conclusion that she could be right. Not that I can even conceive of it at this point in time.
"Sure, you're going to have a little mini Charlie-Edward," she says simply.
"You've got my whole life planned out, haven't you?" I put to her good-naturedly.
"When have I been wrong?" she reminds me pointedly.
"Well... When do you get the results back for your genetic test?" I ask, but I'm forced to admit that lately she's been dead on about everything.
"I already have them," she says smiling to herself shrewdly.
"And?" I practically screech in anticipation. "Why haven't you told me?"
"Because I wanted to hear all about how Edward popped the question," she says as if it went without saying.
"Okay, so now that you know..." I leave it deliberately hanging for her to spill.
"What have I been telling you since I found out? Seriously, your doubt wounds me, mon ami." She pouts, but she's unable to prevent her grin from breaking the charade.
"It's a girl?"
"Of course, she's a girl." She rolls her eyes, as I impulsively engulf her to me.
"Alley, that's amazing news—and everything's okay with her?"
"Yep, she's perfect." She smiles wistfully, and I recognize it immediately; it's the same way Edward looks when he talks about his little girl. "I can't wait to meet her."
"Neither can I. You're not really naming her Isabella, though, right?" I ask dubiously after a moment of mini celebration where we both came infinitely close to tears.
"Uh, yes, I am. You know I've always been jealous of your name. Mine sounds like I was born in a shack in the mountains of West Virginia—Mary Alice," she adds drolly as I break into laughter.
"No, it doesn't," I chide her. "The morning sickness passed, yet?"
"It pretty much faded after ten weeks. Though, I really didn't have much – thank god. I'm still hungry." She glances toward the counter, eyeing the display of cakes closely. "Don't let me do it, Bells. I'll end up with gestational diabetes. I cannot seem to get enough sugar."
"Do it. You know you want to," I urge her anyway.
"Ugh, you're no help," she grumbles, getting to her feet regardless. "Your fiancé not crashing our coffee date today?"
"I'm not sure," I reply, looking toward the entrance and straight into those too beautiful green eyes of his.
"Why hello, stranger. Fancy meeting you here," Alice decides to tease him, and grinning in response, Edward places his palm to the top of her head, referencing the more than the foot of height difference between them.
"Hey, counselor," I greet him warmly when he sits beside me and drops his head to kiss the curve of my neck tenderly.
"Nurse Swan," he reciprocates in turn, as I lean against him to straighten his tie.
I tied it before he left for work this morning, and while I haven't technically moved in with him and Addie, I haven't slept a night at my apartment since we got back from Florida, either. So far, he's insisted upon it.
He takes my hand, noticing his ring sitting comfortably on my finger.
"They called me just after ten to say it was ready, and then couldn't find it. I almost had a stroke," I fill him in as his brow knots in evident amusement.
"It looks good," he says, adjusting it slightly before bringing my knuckles to his lips.
"You know, I told Bella you two would get married the day of your first date," Alice cuts in, sitting opposite him on the sofa.
"Did you?" Edward humors her.
"Yep. She told me I was delusional, and then went on a whole spiel about how intimidating you are," she adds, spooning a wedge of cheesecake in her mouth with a wink.
"Alice," I complain, as Edward's smirk is not-so-discreetly to himself. "I swear pregnancy has made you worse."
"What?" she says innocently as I can only shake my head.
"She's exactly the same as she was in middle school," I tell him as he chuckles openly.
"That doesn't surprise me. Jay's not much different, either."
"Tell me—what was he like when he was a teenager," Alice insists, leaning toward him curiously.
"Pretty much the same. In love with his hair, only he used to wear black nail polish," he discloses as Alice snorts back her laughter.
"I knew it. He told me he only wore it once for Halloween."
"No, it was all the time," Edward clarifies, bringing a paper cup to his lips that I didn't realize he was holding.
"When did you buy coffee?" I ask, shaking my head quickly from his puzzled response. "By the way, look what I found." Digging inside my purse, I produce his missing Rolex. I discovered it this morning when I returned to my apartment to pick up a few more things to take back to his house. It was tangled in one of my bras at the bottom of the laundry hamper—somewhere I searched repeatedly.
Taking it from me, he briefly inspects it before handing it back. "Throw it away. I don't want it."
"Huh...?" I utter vacantly.
"Oh, it was a Rolex," Alice observes. "I mean, of course it was."
"A-are you sure?" I ask stammering.
"Positive." There's something restrictive behind his voice, so shoving it back inside my bag, I don't say another word.
Alice catches on as well and decides to change the subject. "So, Edward, what do you like more—Isabella or Sybella?"
"Isabella," he answers without hesitation. "You're having a girl?"
"We are."
"Congratulations. Jay must be happy," Edward professes with a slight incline of his head.
"He is—wait, did he say something?" she drills him.
"He mentioned he was hoping it was a girl," Edward fills her in, and taking another gulp of his coffee he leans forward and places the empty cup to the table before us. "Bella?" he breaks into my preoccupation.
"Hmm?"
"I have to get back. Walk with me for a moment." Taking my hand, he pulls me to my feet alongside him before I can answer.
"Be back in a moment, Al," I tell her.
"Take your time. See you next week, coffee-date crasher," she jibes Edward, bringing the smirk back to his lips.
Usually, Edward stops just outside the entrance to the café, but this time he walks us both south toward the adjacent block in the direction of his office building.
"What's going on?" I quiz him when he breaks into a frown and doesn't elaborate.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart—about the watch. I didn't want to mention it in front of Alice, but..." Pausing, he rakes his fingers back through his hair. "I hate that fucking thing. I never got rid of it because I didn't want to upset my parents. It no doubt cost them a fortune," he mutters, pausing again to huff silently to himself. "She was always throwing it at me. I lost count of the number of times I had to get it repaired. It became a symbol of..." He leaves it unspoken and breaks into a smile that's seeped with enough vulnerability that immediately puts me on edge.
"I wish you told me earlier," I murmur after he pulls me against his chest even as pedestrians pass us by from every direction.
"I was tired of always bringing her up," he explains, pressing his lips to my hairline before drawing back. "I didn't realize how much I hated wearing it until I lost it, and when you bought me this one"—he raises his left wrist in emphasis—"I was glad to have a reason to be rid of it."
"So... what do you want me to do with it?" I ask gently, grabbing his hand before he can make another assault on his tie.
"Give it to Goodwill," he answers so cavalierly, my jaw drops.
"But... it's a Rolex," I state the obvious, "and your parents..."
"Bella, I don't want it, and my parents believed I was abusing my pregnant wife. I was angry at them for a very long time." With a small sigh, he bows his head and momentarily cups his palm to his forehead. "Here, give it to me." He reiterates it by holding out his hand, and pulling the Rolex from my purse I pass it to him.
"What are you—"
Encased in concrete planters, hedges and small trees line the pavement; creating a barrier between the road and sidewalk. In the one closest to us, no more than a couple of feet away, is where Edward tosses his watch with complete indifference.
"Let someone find it and pawn it," he says with a shrug. "I honestly don't care."
"Okay, well..."
"Alright, one last thing—I really have to get back." Pulling back his sleeve he quickly glances down at the watch I not long ago gifted him, and to know it holds more sentiment to him than something which has significantly more value makes me want to turn to water. "A breeder from Tacoma called me earlier. She has two kittens available that can be picked up now. I sent her a holding fee and thought we could take Addie down on Sunday."
I nod, and reaching up, I once again straighten his tie. "Sounds good. She'll be pumped."
She's beginning to think her father was bluffing on the kitten promise, no matter how many times I've reassured her, but there's just none available in the city right now.
"She will," he murmurs, his gaze coming to a halt over my lips.
"Let's not tell her. We'll just say we're going for a drive. It'll make the surprise even bigger," I just manage to suggest before he kisses me.
"Deal," he speaks against my earlobe after, leaving me slightly breathless. "I'll see you tonight."
. . .
"So, what's the story with the watch?" Alice immediately pries the instant I sit myself back beside her.
"Bad memories," is all I reveal, lost in thought as I bring my quickly cooling coffee to my lips.
"Amber Heard?" she concludes.
"Hmm..." I'm deliberately vague, not wanting to divulge something so deeply personal to him, but it's still so inconceivable to me. That he was being so horribly abused. He's told me more than once that no woman has ever genuinely cared about him before me other than his mother, and I can barely understand it. "I swear to god, Al, if Edward's wife was still alive, I'd genuinely hire Sam Uley to get rid of her."
Sam Uley was mine, Alice's, Jessica's—hell every teenage girl at Forks—first crush. He was tall, ruggedly handsome, bulging with muscles, and a real gentleman, but he had a dangerous edge to him that several people had the misfortune of witnessing firsthand. It was rumored he took care of the out-of-towner who sexually assaulted his wife, and there was nothing he wouldn't do to help out a local; even an expat like myself.
"He'd do it, too," Alice readily agrees. "Payment in puppies."
I laugh lightly, nodding my head, because Sam had a love of dogs that began to border hoarding when I knew him, and last I heard he had over twenty living with him, his wife and kids on his family's property.
"Why do you keep referring to her as Edward's wife," Alice asks after a moment, scrutinizing me closely.
I shrug. "Habit, I guess." Though, I'm not sure about it myself.
Alice is well aware of it, and just as she opens her mouth to question me further, she's cut off by my ringtone.
It's You're welcome from Moana, the song I attached to Addie's number.
"Hey, sweetie," I greet her cheerfully, my voice automatically softening because no matter how this child came into the world, she's mine wholly and completely, and I couldn't possibly love her more.
"Bella—I-I mean mommy," she quickly corrects herself in a small, tearful voice, "can you come and get me?"
"Of course, I can," I promise her. "What happened?"
"I fell over and-and my knee is bleeding," she continues to stammer.
"That's no good," I tell her tenderly.
"Are you coming?" Her voice rises with hope.
"I'm leaving now."
. . .
"Goodness, she's full of energy. I can see now why you're so fit keeping up with her!" Rachel, Makenna's mother, exclaims after ushering me into the foyer.
In her late thirties, and living in the same neighborhood as Edward, she appears nothing like the types of women I became aware of by proxy of being involved with him. Her husband's in finance, Edward informed me last night, and how he found out, I hate to wonder. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he did some kind of background check on them.
They have two kids. The youngest, Makenna, who at one month older than Addie, is the polar opposite of her. Whereas Addie is assertive and rambunctious, Makenna is quiet and reserved, but they compliment each other and clicked almost instantly.
"Believe me, she constantly tires me out," I admit in good humor, just as Addie herself runs into the room and attaches herself to my leg.
"Makenna, this is my mommy!" she announces proudly. "Bella—I-I mean, Mommy, can I stay a little bit longer?"
"I thought you wanted to come home, sweetie," I remind her because she's obviously over whatever drove her to tearfully call me.
"I did, but... Can you braid Makenna's hair, too?" she asks, completely dodging the question.
"Well, sure..." I reply, meeting Makenna's large brown eyes and returning her shy smile.
"Would you like coffee, Bella?" Rachel offers.
"Sure," I reply, catching sight of the band aid plastered haphazardly over Addie's right knee. She appears completely oblivious to it, and while I braid Makenna's hair, Addie explains how she came to need it.
"I told Jared—that's Makenna's brother. He's seven. Anyway," shaking her head, she quickly starts over, "I told him that I could beat him in a race, and he didn't believe me. So, we raced in the backyard, and guess what, Bella?"
"What?" I play along, finishing the first Dutch braid and starting on the second. Makenna's hair is as long and straight as Addie's, in the color of deep chestnut a few shades darker than Edward's.
"I won," she proclaims, cheesy grin wide.
"Of course, you did," I say as Makenna's mother laughs in the background, busily making coffee.
"You just won," a strawberry blond, freckle-faced young boy—who I can only assume is Jared—walks in the room and adds begrudgingly.
Addie immediately pokes her tongue out at him. "So. My daddy said winning is winning—it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile."
Jared scoffs to himself, but judging by his expression, he's found himself with more than a sizeable crush on her. "I guess you're pretty fast for a girl."
"She's fast period," his mother corrects him, placing a mug to the dining table before me.
"Thank you," I say.
"Anyway, he ran into me and we fell over," Addie recaps. "My knee doesn't really hurt that much anymore."
"That's good." I wink, making her giggle.
"Have you thought about getting her into soccer?" Rachel suggests casually, just as Addie sharply sucks in her breath.
"Can I, Bella? Makenna plays soccer too. Can I? I promise I won't come into bed with you and Daddy, or barge in when you love each other," she vows as Rachel nearly asphyxiates on her coffee in attempt to muffle her laughter.
"We'll... ask your daddy tonight, sweetie," I say awkwardly, my face combusting as I deliberate whether I should even explain why her declaration is relevant right now.
I decide it isn't, and once Makenna's hair is finished, Addie declares that they look like twins, then grabs her hand and drags her from the room, with Jared trailing several feet behind. This is when Rachel leads me into the living room.
"I've read all the books about braiding, but I'm all thumbs."
"My best friend's the same," I say tactfully, sitting on the sofa opposite her. "She's having a little girl in a few months and is insistent I teach her before she's born. It's not going well."
Laughing lightly, she takes a sip of her coffee and changes the subject. "I did notice that Addie tends to be an over-sharer." While her tone is discreet, her amusement is more than blatant.
"Oh, god, what did she say?" I ask with a good-natured groan.
"She gave me the entire story of how you became Bella-from-next-door-to-grandma's-house, and how you make her daddy breathe."
With my face flushing, I momentarily drop my head to my palm, because over-sharer might just be the understatement of the century when it comes to Addie. "Usually, the first thing out of her mouth when meeting someone is 'this is Bella, my daddy's gonna marry her'."
"You two have an amazing bond," she perceives with a warm smile. "I had no idea you weren't actually her mother until she told me this morning."
"Hmm, well, she decided I was marrying her daddy long before I even met him."
"That's adorable," she remarks, chuckling. "When are you getting married?"
"Oh...we haven't set a date, yet," I answer, glancing subconsciously down at the just-over-three-carat diamond on my left hand. To be honest, we haven't really talked about it yet, but in reality, it's more than likely going to be sometime this spring. Edward's not the kind of man who likes to sit on things, and he's hinted more than once that he doesn't want a drawn-out engagement; something I'm more than in agreement with.
Two cups of coffee and a slice of tea cake later, and I'm practically dragging Addie out the door.
"Bella—I-I mean Mommy?" she hastily amends, as we're saying our goodbyes on the doorstep.
"Hm?"
"Can Makenna come to our house next time?" Wiping several stray strands of hair, that escaped her braids, off her face with the back of her hand, she grabs mine and practically swings from me.
"If Makenna's mommy says it's okay."
"It's okay," Rachel assures Addie before her eyes meet mine with affection flooding them. Addie's most definitely won her over, but she tends to have that effect on people. "Just let me know the next time you're free and we'll set it up."
"Will do."
"Bye, Makenna!" Addie choruses, waving her arm above her head as though the two of them are a football field apart as opposed to a couple of feet.
"Bye, Addie," Makenna echoes her timidly, and running across the lawn toward Edward's car—that he insisted I take—Addie does a clumsy cartwheel and practically ends up flat on her back.
"Can we stop for ice-cream, Bella?" she asks after I buckle her into her booster.
"Sure, but when we get home, we're going running, Missy Moops." I tug on one of her braids playfully. "You need it."
. . .
Edward arrives home a few minutes before eight, but I've already reconciled with myself that by marrying him, it's just going to be me and Addie in the afternoons. This is despite his constant promises to scale his workload back, but I'm not sure he has it in him.
Besides, he more than makes up for it when we're together.
I'm stacking the dishwasher after my and Addie's dinner, when without warning, he engulfs me to him from behind and buries his face into my neck.
"What's this?" he asks when he eventually releases me, curiously tapping the shiny new small appliance sitting on his counter.
"A rice cooker. You don't own one, and Addie thinks my chicken and mushroom risotto is berry yummy," I quote her, as he breaks into an immediate grin. "You hungry?"
"I am. You saved me some?"
"Of course, I did." It goes without saying, and as I'm attempting to dish it onto a plate, he decides to grope me. "If you don't let me sleep tonight, I'm drugging myself," I forewarn him teasingly as that husky-sounding laugh of his washes over my ear.
"Woman... Addie asleep?" Turning he removes his jacket and hangs it over the back of the dining chair, before taking it.
"She is. On the sofa. She tried waiting up for you." Pointing my chin toward her in the family room, I pick up the plate of a rather large serving of risotto and make my way over to him.
"Was she good today?"
"When isn't she good?" It's not really a question, and placing his dinner before him, I take the chair alongside him. "Though, she did out you on my former imaginary friend status."
Edward's reaction is almost identical to mine. He groans openly, but his grin doesn't waver. "That kid talks too much. You take her running?"
"I had to," I state unequivocally. "She was the energizer bunny."
Chuckling to himself, he grabs his iMac, opens it and slides it closer. He's checking his emails, and a moment later, he looks up over the screen and locks the intensity of his gaze to mine.
"What?" I quiz him.
"My house cleaner just quit." There's reproach behind his voice. And exasperation.
"I..."
"You're killing me, woman."
"I'm not cleaning your house. I'm just cleaning up after myself," I say weakly in my own defense because I am cleaning his house. We both know it, but it's too ingrained in me not to. Charlie was a terrible house keeper, so by the time I was twelve I just naturally took over in his stead. I've been slightly anal about it ever since.
Naturally, Edward only arches a cynical brow before expelling a frustrated-sounding breath. "Bella..." he complains.
"I'm sorry," I tell him sincerely.
"So, you're going to clean my house as well as yours, on top of working, cooking, running and taking care of Addie, is that it?" he practically cross examines me.
"When you put it like that..." I mumble, my eyes falling to my clasped hands in front of me.
"No!" he puts his foot down.
"...What? Edward—"
"I'm not marrying you for you to be a live-in maid," he mutters, and I realize he's serious.
"Are you ordering me around, counselor?" I decide to make light of it.
"I am," he directly challenges me as his trademark smirk faintly ghosts on his lips.
"Oh, really?" I'm sure I'm supposed to be offended from a feminist's viewpoint somewhere, but I'm everything but.
"Really," he doubles down, and meticulously rising to his feet, he approaches me, grabs me under my arms and props me on top of the table; moving himself between my legs. "You have to remove one."
"One?" I echo, clinging to his still-buttoned vest as he leans over me and flattens both palms to the surface.
"One. I want you to move in with us, Bella. Officially."
A/N: thanks for reading. You can review, lurk, troll yada, yada, yada. Whatever's your poison.