Chapter 13 (She Saw The Future)

Chapter 13~(She Saw the Future)


BPOV

Having Angela in town was a little surreal. I’d never had a friend come and visit me anywhere before. Then again, I viewed most of the people that I knew more as acquaintances than actual friends. Angela had always been good to me. I met her one day when I went to check on a patient of mine that had just received a kidney transplant. She let me know that Mr. Adams was recovering really well and that all of his lab work looked great even while he was in the Intensive Care Unit. She had been taking care of him since he was discharged to the regular surgical floor. Angela was so sweet to me and was apparently very good to him. When I went to visit him he gave her rave reviews. He talked about how he never had to wait very long for his pain medication and how she popped her head into his room several times during her shift just to check and make sure that he had everything he needed.

After that, Angela and I began meeting each other in the cafeteria for lunches and eventually, she talked me into joining her for some girls’ nights. She was around my age, in her later twenties, but had been working at Massachusetts General since she graduated from nursing school. She was a Boston native and attended UMass, graduating at the top of her class. It was no wonder she had already achieved so much, being such a go-getter. She was determined and driven and was a wonderful example to me while I was there.

“I still can’t get over the fact that you are here! You know I hate surprises, but this has been absolutely the best! I’m so glad you came.”

“Thank your man. It was half his idea anyway. You don’t even want to know how shocked I was when he answered your phone. I knew after talking to him that I had to get my ass down here.”

“Mmmm, you got Edward’s wake up voice. That really is one of my favorites. His voice is all low and rough and his accent is even thicker then. How were you able to stand it?”

“It wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that. That may or may not be part of the reason I decided that I needed to come see you. I just want to lick every single one of them when they talk.”

“Well, I think they are just as fascinated by your accent there missy,” I told her.

“Do you know how hard it has been to tame this wild tongue of mine?” she laughed.

“I can only imagine. Maybe you should come here more often. It might cure you of that chronic potty mouth.”

“Hmm…maybe I will. I did have a lot of fun.”

“I noticed. And somehow I don’t think you were trying to tame your tongue so much as you were trying to ram it down Mr. Chaney’s throat,” I said, looking at her pointedly.

“Can you blame me? That man was made for my pleasure, that’s what I know.”

“Oh my word, I don’t think I want to hear this.”

“Look, you cannot deny that there must be something in the water down here. The women are beautiful and the men are gorgeous, but their slow, sexy, southern drawl and all of that charm? It’s just too much. I’m just saying.”

“I learned quickly that there really was no point in trying to resist it.”

“So I see. You know I’ve been watching you over these last few days and you’re different. The entire time you were in Boston, I never saw you let go and have as good of a time as you did Saturday at the party. I don’t even have words for yesterday. First of all I can’t believe I let you drag me to church, but lunch with the whole Cullen family? That was truly revealing. Those folks will slop sugar all over anything standing, and if they’re not kissing you, then they are tackling you with a hug. But you fit right in, like you’ve always been there.”

I let her words hang in the air between us, not really knowing what to say, but knowing that they were true.

“Why don’t you tell me more about that tall drink of sweet iced tea you’ve been hiding from me?” she said, wagging her eyebrows at me, which reminded me way too much of Emmett.

Angela and I were meeting at The Deli on the Square for lunch. I thought the name of the place was pure genius. The owner told me she named it that because that was how people would always describe which deli they meant. Like I said…pure genius. I had taken her to the hospital earlier and given her a tour so that she could see where I was working. I should have known she’d hit it off with Carmen.

“So…,” she prompted me after our waitress dropped off our sandwiches and chips.

“First of all, I haven’t been hiding him from you.”

“Well, you certainly haven’t told me how much things have progressed between you two. I don’t even think you went on a date while you were in Boston and now you have a boyfriend.”

“Did too!” She raised a questioning eyebrow at me. “Okay, well maybe only once or twice.”

“That’s what I thought. Now I know all about how you and Edward met and everything until right after you went with his family to the lake. After that, you just sort of disappeared. Now what happened?”

I swear she and Alice could be sisters, or in the very least best friends. I know I may as well tell her everything or she’ll probably just find a way to get me drunk before sundown.

I retold her everything; how Edward and I had talked at the lake, about the sweetest birthday ever when he told me about Nashville and sang me a song after giving me the necklace. I went on, telling her how I already knew that I was in love with him and his family and how it just became concrete after the open mic night at Sugar’s. I told her about his song and mine and how tender he was when we made love. I told her about how he held my heart in his very hands and how I wasn’t scared in the least to give it to him completely. I told her about how insanely sweet he was and how much I loved it when he teased me.

“I don’t know what else to tell you, Angela. He makes me feel like I’m somebody. Edward makes me feel like…well, me… and that it’s ok to be me just like I am. I knew who I was, for the most part, when I got here, but he has started teaching me who I can be. I never realized that after hiding for so many years that there were so many missing pieces. I was content in life, but I wasn’t truly happy. He’s already so much a part of me…his touch alone isn’t just written into my skin, it’s burned into my soul. Does that make any sense at all?”

She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes slightly at me. Giving me the once over and a nod, she reached across the table and grasped my chin, looking me in the eyes.

“Well, Miss Bella,” she said in her best mock southern drawl, “it sounds like you may have finally found yourself a home.”

I smiled at her and wiped away a tear that I hadn’t even realized had fallen.

“We’ll see.”

-x-X-x-

Edward and I arrived at Emmett and Rosalie’s house at ten o’clock in the morning on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. They had decided that they were ready to take advantage of their win from the Cullen Halloween Costume Contest. Angela deemed them the winners as soon as she had been introduced to everyone. Traitor…not that I could blame her. I mean, they rocked Dog and Beth!

Alice and Jasper paid for their room in Atlanta plus managed to get them two tickets to see Jason Aldean that night in concert. Edward and I were taking care of Riley and Ally and I’m pretty sure we got the better end of the deal. Those two were some seriously cute kids and they were so good. I couldn’t wait to show them what I brought with me.

“We really appreciate y’all doin’ this. We have been needin’ a night away forever. With Emmett’s game and practice schedule and with the day care, it just never seems like a good time.” Rosalie led us into their living room where Emmett and Riley were bowling on the Wii.

“Hi boys!” I said, sitting down on the couch behind where they were standing to play.

“Hey, Little Bell. You sure you’re up to this?” Emmett asked, never looking away from the television screen.

“I think we can handle it. You just go have fun and show your lady a good time. She needs some adult only time, if you know what I mean. She’s with kids all day long. She may not remember how to have an uninterrupted conversation.”

“Well, between you and me, I’m hopin’ we don’t do much conversatin’,” he said, wagging his eyebrows.

“Dear Lord, I did not need to hear that. Weren’t family body shots enough?” Edward groaned as he walked in the room with Ally sitting on his shoulders.

“Listen mister. I don’t care what you say. What y’all did was hot and if I’m honest, a little inspirational. We ought to be thankin’ you two,” Rosalie said as she placed their luggage by the door. “Come on, Em. If we leave now we can stop and have a good lunch before checking into the hotel and then get some rest before the concert.”

Emmett cut his eyes at me as he handed me the Wii remote. “Rest. That’s what we’ll call it,” he chuckled. He walked over to Rose and gave her a big sloppy kiss.

“Gross!” Riley groaned.

“What do you know? You’re seven,” Emmett said to him.

“Come here you two,” Rose said, calling Riley and Ally over to her. She kneeled down, getting eye level with them. “You two be good to each other while we’re gone. We’ll be home tomorrow after church. Don’t give Uncle Edward a hard time gettin’ up in the mornin’. And what Aunt Bella says, goes. Alright? She’ll tell me if you don’t behave.”

“Yes ma’am,” Riley said.

“’Es ma’am,” Ally agreed.

“Give us some sugar, babies. We love you.” Emmett and Rosalie got hugs and kisses from the kids and from us and walked out of the back door with him whispering, I’m sure something naughty, into her ear, making her giggle.

“Ok guys…what’s first? Games, or making cookies?” I asked them.

“Cookies!” they both screamed.

“Well come on then. I brought some cool cookie cutters. When the cookies are done, we can decorate them with icing and sprinkles and candy!”

“Baby girl, you know we are gonna have these two for the next twenty four hours. Do you really wanna get them all strung out on sugar already?”

“You don’t have to participate, Edward. I think we can have fun without you,” I told him while taking Ally down off of his shoulders and putting her on my hip. “What do you think princess?”

“I make cookies, Lella.”

“See? She wants Lella to make cookies, Eddard. Don’t be such a hiney hole.”

“Hiney hole? I’ll show you. C’mere girls!” He grabbed me around the waist and started kissing both Ally and I all over our faces.

“Stop, Eddard!” Ally growled at him. He immediately stopped kissing and instead started pouting.

“I can’t believe she growled at me. I’m her favorite.”

“Yes, but I said the magic word…cookies. Come on Sir Pouts-A-Lot. I’m sure you can make it up to her and get back on her good side.”

-x-X-x-

EPOV
After decorating three dozen cookies and eating lunch, it was time for Ally’s nap. I took Riley outside to toss the football. I told Bella that we needed to talk strategy for the upcoming annual flag football game that the whole family played every Thanksgiving.

That would give her time to set up the games we would play that afternoon before we made mini pizzas for supper that night. I thought we could play Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. They were childhood favorites of mine and I knew that they were Riley’s favorite board games. It can be hard getting him away from the Wii or his DS, so we needed to pull out the big guns. Plus, those were easy enough that we could let Ally play with us.

“Uncle Edward, is Aunt Bella your girlfriend?”

“What do you know about girlfriends big man?”

“Well, she is a girl, and she’s your friend and I saw you kissing her at my birthday party.”

“Boy nothin’ gets by you. Yes, she is my girlfriend,” I said, tossing the ball back to him. I was working with him on how to make the ball spiral when you throw it.

“Is she gonna be my real Aunt Bella someday?”

Good Lord. This kid is killin’ me here. Why couldn’t he have asked his dad this?

“Um…well…I’m not sure yet. She just started being my girlfriend a couple of months ago. It usually takes a little longer than that, bud.”

“That’s not what Lexie said.”

“Who is Lexie?”

“She’s a girl in my class. She wears pink glasses. She told me that when a boy and a girl like each other, they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Then they get married so they can kiss and hold hands. And then after that is when the baby comes. Are you and Bella gonna have a baby?”

I stopped throwing the ball and stared at him in complete and utter shock. Then after I thought about what he had actually said, I doubled over laughing.

“Dude, you need to stay away from Lexie. And don’t let her be your girlfriend! That’s not exactly how it works, but yes, I love Bella and she is my girlfriend. Maybe if we’re lucky she will be your real Aunt Bella one day. Is that alright with you?” I asked, starting to throw the ball again.

He shrugged. “That’s cool.” Wait ‘til I tell Emmett about this one.

We made our way inside about the time that Bella was coming downstairs with a freshly bathed Ally. That child was precious and totally owned my heart. I hated to say it, but lately, she may have been knocked down a notch on my favorite girls scale. Bella had me completely consumed and seeing her with a dark headed baby girl on her hip after the conversation I’d just had outside with Riley…it was doing things to my heart. Big things. Good things.

“Hey ladies,” I said, leaning down to kiss my two best girls. Bella pulled back, avoiding my kiss.

“No way, sugar. I love you to bits, but you smell like outside and us girls are squeaky clean. But, I think we’ll take a rain check on that kiss for when you don’t smell so much like a dirty boy.”

I leaned down, moving her hair behind her shoulder and pressed my lips to her ear. “I thought you liked it when I was a dirty boy,” I growled.

I saw the goose bumps rise behind her ear and down her neck as she shivered at my words. I couldn’t help myself, tracing them with the backs of my fingers. “Cold, lovin’?”

She narrowed her eyes at me and then grinned before turning her head to whisper into my ear. “Look down and you can see for yourself.”

I looked down and noticed just how thin her shirt was. Wicked, wicked woman. “Hateful.”

“Hmmm…I prefer to think of it as fighting fire with fire.” Our eyes were locked in a grinning stare.

“I think I’ll go take that shower now,” I said as I turned to walk upstairs.

“You might want to make it a cold one!” she hollered over her shoulder. Ain’t no doubt about that Jezebel.

-x-X-x-

Riley and Ally had luck on their sides, each winning a round of Chutes and Ladders, but I was getting my ass kicked in Candy Land. Every card they picked up either had two colored squares or a character on it, getting them further up the board. Every card I picked up only had one square on it. It was the longest game of Candy Land I had ever played.

“Cuss it! I can’t believe I suck this bad at stinkin’ Candy Land!” I looked over at Riley who was laughing his fool head off. “Just what is so funny?”

“Nothin’, Uncle Edward,” he said still giggling.

“How is it possible to get stuck on every single piece of licorice?” I looked over at Bella and she was biting her lip so hard I thought she was going to draw blood soon. She was shaking, she was trying so hard not to laugh. Suddenly realizing what must be going on, I jumped up off of the couch.

“No ma’am! Not fair! Did you seriously cheat at Candy Land?” I yelled. She finally doubled over laughing, holding her stomach.

“Oh my gosh, you should see your face! Oh Edward…that’s…oh man!”

“You know, I kind of expect it from Riley. I mean he’s seven and he’s a Cullen male. He’s hard wired to be competitive and hate losing. But to be set up by my own girlfriend…that’s just wrong!”

I picked Ally up from Bella’s lap and started walking up the stairs. “Come on princess. I think it’s time for our tea party while these two big cheaters make our supper.” I could hear Riley and Bella’s continued laughs as we went into Ally’s room.

-x-X-x-

“Girls, your pizza is ready,” Bella said, snickering as she leaned in the doorway of Ally’s room.

Ally had required a dress code for our tea party and apparently this afternoon’s theme was Candy Land characters. She had dressed herself as Grandma Nutt, or as she said it “Gamma Nut”, in a little apron and a big floppy hat. I didn’t even get to be King Candy. No, I was Princess Frostine, or “Pincess Fwosty” with my tiara and sparkly pink tutu. I had no shame for this little angel. However, the first one of those women to buy her make up will have to answer to me! I don’t think I can pull off wearing glitter blush.

Bella came across the room to where I was seated at Ally’s Tinkerbelle table and wrapped her arms around my shoulders from behind.

“I have always thought you were gorgeous, sugar, but today you are absolutely stunning,” she whispered into my ear before kissing my temple.

“I’ll do anything for my girls. You should know that by now,” I said, lifting up my tiny tea cup to her mouth so that she could take a pretend sip.

“Mmm, that’s excellent tea Grandma Nutt,” she said to Ally.

“Tank you, Lella.”

“Why don’t we put your costumes away and go have some pizza? Then we’ll watch a movie before bed.”

We walked down the stairs hand in hand with Ally following behind us so that we could catch her if she happened to fall. She insisted “I do it mysef” about everything, which quite frankly scared the shit out of me.

“You’ll make a great dad some day,” Bella said to me. That one little statement spread warmth through my entire chest. I raised her hand to my lips, placing kisses along her knuckles but not losing eye contact with her.

“Thank you, baby girl. I hope you’re right.”

We had our fill of pizza and a few more cookies. Not even twenty minutes into the movie I saw Ally start to suck her thumb, the tell-tale sign that she was getting ready to fall asleep. She slowly raised her chubby little hand to my head to start twirling my wild hair around her fingers. I could only hope that my own daughter would do the same thing. I absolutely loved that when I was with her, that it was how she would put herself to sleep. I gave her a few more minutes, feeling her fingers eventually slow until they finally stopped. I picked her up and took her upstairs to tuck her into bed.

When I got back downstairs, Riley had stretched out along the couch and had his head in Bella’s lap. She was scratching his back, singing Puff the Magic Dragon to him and his eye lids were drooping. I pulled on his toe to get his attention.

“C’mon, bud. Let’s go get your teeth brushed and get into bed. We have church in the mornin’.”

“Yes, sir.” I bet my kids will never be this good. Emmett and Rose had done such an awesome job with them.

After we set out his Sunday clothes, Riley crawled into his bed and asked me to stay and say prayers with him. He thanked God for his family, his friends, his Nintendo DS and lastly for his Aunt Bella. I couldn’t think of anything else to add to that.

After making what felt like my millionth trip downstairs since we had been there, I was ready to curl up with my girl for a little quiet time. The only problem with that was that I couldn’t find her anywhere in the house. She had turned off the movie and the only lights that she left on was a lamp by the couch and the light over the kitchen sink. Knowing how we typically spent our last moments before bed, I suddenly knew where to find her.

I opened the back door that led to the deck. She was lying down on one of the cushioned lounge chairs, wrapped up in Rose’s hot pink Snuggie, looking up at the stars. It was the perfect night for that because the sky was completely clear and the moon was basically full. She was twirling her hair and had a slight smile on her beautiful face. Rose and Emmett lived in town and I could hear the train rolling through off in the distance.

“Now why do you always sneak off from me and come outside by your lonesome? You did this at the lake too, you know.”

She smiled up at me. I moved her forward in the chair, taking my place behind her and pulling her back between my legs and against my chest. I breathed in the vanilla scent of her hair. “Why do you smell like cake?”

She giggled. “What?”

“You smell like cake…like vanilla and sugar. It makes me think of something warm and cozy, like home.”

She rested her head against my shoulder. “It’s my lotion and body spray. Warm Vanilla Sugar. Does that mean you like it?”

“Makes me want to eat you,” I whispered, biting her earlobe playfully.

“You already do that.”

“You are a very naughty girl today, not that I’m complainin’.”

“I just like teasing you. It goes both ways you know.”

“Yes, I know and I wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s only one of the many things that I love about you my baby girl.”

She was quiet for a few minutes. I took her hair out of her hand so that I could run my fingers through it. It was always so soft. I wonder if hair twirling is genetic since Ally loves to do it too.

“You always twirl my hair. Did you know that?”

“I know I do it sometimes.”

“No. You have done it since the first time you sat on your parents’ swing with me. It made my scalp tingle and I nearly got a crick in my neck sitting there because it felt so good I didn’t want to move,” she giggled. “You always do it when we are sitting close together. It always seemed like a very intimate gesture to me.”

“I’ve never thought about it like that, and I didn’t realize that I had always done that to you. I’m surprised you didn’t run away from me. I think I must do it because I just feel like I need to be touching you in some way whenever I’m with you. It doesn’t bother you does it?” I asked, looking down at her.

She snorted at me. “Hardly.” After a few contented sighs, she was silent again.

“Wanna tell me what’s on your mind? You’re bein’ awfully quiet.”

“Nothing. Well, that’s not true. I was just thinking about today, about the kids…about you.”

“What about me?” I asked as I started placing soft kisses down her exposed neck.

“You know I can’t think much less speak when you do that,” she sighed. Oh how I loved that sound.

“Quit stallin’. Start talkin’.” She giggled because my words were muffled into her shoulder at this point.

“Well, first I was thinking about how much I love you. I feel like I don’t tell you enough.”

“You tell me enough. You tell me every day, several times a day. You tell me even when you don’t say anything.” I kissed around to the back of her neck, running my hands along the backs of her thighs.

“I was also thinking about the future. I haven’t allowed myself to do that much in the last few years. Today just brought up a lot of things I haven’t thought about in a really long time. That’s all.”

“Like what?”

“Like staying in one place…marriage…kids,” she trailed off, biting her lip.

“Are those things that you want?” I asked hesitantly. She surprised me by turning around in the chair and straddling me. She closed her eyes, placing her forehead against mine. “Yes,” she whispered.

“What do you see for your future? I know marriage is just a piece of paper to some people, which is really sad. So many people see it as something that is disposable.” I rubbed my hands up and down her back, under her shirt, just needing that skin to skin contact to feel even closer to her.

“You know I Wiki’ed marriage one time and it said something about it being a social union or a legal contract. I couldn’t believe it! When did the world become so calloused? You would think with my background that I would be one of those people. But I’m not. My view of marriage is very much the opposite.” She was thoughtful for a few more minutes. “When someone asks me to marry him and I say yes, there are no take-backs. To me it’s more than a promise that you make on one day. It’s a promise you make for life.”

I crushed my lips to hers. I couldn’t help myself. It’s like God made her just for me. She is under my skin, in my veins, the very essence of my heart and soul. I parted her lips with my tongue, just needing to taste her sweet warmth. After our kiss slowed down I got up the nerve to ask her something I desperately needed to know.

“Would you let me love you for life?”

“Yes.”

“You’re awfully sure of your answer. Does that scare you?”

“I’m sure it should, but it doesn’t. Not at all,” she said against my lips.

“Bella, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t already thought about a future with you. Seeing you with the kids today, especially when you were holding Ally on your hip…I just wanted it. I wanted it more than I have ever wanted anything. I need you to know that. I need you to know that one day I want to hear you tell me that there are no take-backs; that you promise to be with me for life.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a tender kiss. It was sweet and sensual and most of all promising. She never had to use words with me. I knew that this was her way of telling me with her heart and her body what her lips couldn’t yet say.

She turned back around in my lap so that we could stare at the stars a little longer. We had come so far since we first gazed at that big southern sky. It seemed like yesterday and last year all at the same time.

“How many kids do you want?” I asked her, breaking our silence.

“More than one. How about you?”

"More than two.”

“Boys? Girls? Both?”

“Both.”

She was quiet again before asking, “Soon after marriage or wait?”

“Soon,” I said with finality.

“Soon,” she agreed.

Not much later she began to shiver even though she was wrapped in a blanket and in me. I tossed her over my shoulder to take her upstairs. I think she liked it when I pulled the caveman stuff on her. She giggled the entire way to the guest room where we were staying.

“You go brush your teeth. I want to check on the kids,” she said to me after returning from the bathroom in her pajamas.

When I was done, I found her in Ally’s doorway just staring into the darkness that was only lit by a Disney princess nightlight. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her hair, placing my cheek on top of her head.

“I can see it, you know. With you,” she whispered. I squeezed her tighter, her probably not knowing how much I wanted to jump up and down like Sassy at that very moment.

I turned her around in my arms so that I could see her face. I traced my finger from her nose to her cheek and down to her bottom lip. I looked into her beautiful eyes and made her a promise I never intended to break.

“It will only ever be you baby girl. No take-backs.” After I placed a chaste kiss on her lips, I led her by the hand back to the guest room and pulled her into the bed with me and held her as close as I could get her with our clothes still on.

“I love you, Edward.”

“Mmm, love you too baby girl. So, so much.” And with that, I had one of the most peaceful night’s sleep ever, wrapped up in future promises and my baby girl.