Chapter 21

EPOV

I went to sleep with Bella in my arms, the back of her body pressed against me with our legs intertwined. The aroma of her hair and skin mixed with the musk that hung in the air from our lovemaking created an aura of serenity. I knew that’s what happened; it wasn’t just sex or a means to achieve release.

We made love.

I made love to Bella and it was incredible. There was no rushing, no ferocity, and no need to control; but the intensity was remarkable and unlike anything I have ever felt before. When it was over I didn’t want to leave her, I had an overwhelming need to remain close, to not lose the connection.

Now, in the darkness of the room I was alone in the bed that hung heavy with her essence. I waited a few minutes thinking that perhaps Bella had gone to the kitchen for a drink; when she didn’t return I pulled on my boxers glancing at the clock - 3:17- before stepping out into the hallway. There was a small light shining from the living room and as soon as I rounded the corner my eyes found her. Bella’s legs were tucked up under her bottom, her back leaning against the corner of the couch and she was intently writing in her journal. Her attention was so engrossed that she didn’t even notice I was there until I spoke.

“What are you doing baby?” Her eyes met mine with a startled gaze.

“I woke up to get a drink and I just had this nagging feeling like I needed to get this out of my head.” Bella’s eyes held a needless look of apprehension. I was glad she was using her journal as an outlet for her feelings. It will also stand as record of the progression she makes, as she gives more of herself over to her submissive nature. I nodded in understanding telling her not to be too long.

I was going to give her until four o’clock and then insist she come to bed. There was no need for my intervention since she joined me about twenty minutes later. Curving her body back against mine as my arms wrapped securely around her. There was a part of me that needed to know if her writing was therapeutic and if she felt more at ease; when she answered yes, I placed a kiss on the side of her head telling her to sleep before closing my own eyes.

When my eyes opened, I was fucking alone again. Damn, what time is it?

6:32.

Bella’s side of the bed was no longer warm, telling me she had been gone for a while. Making my way into the bathroom, I discovered where she went. The room was aglow with dim lighting, soft instrumental music played in the background, while Bella soaked with her eyes closed in the large white tub.

“Good morning.” At my words her eyes opened while a smile lit her face.

“Good morning.”

“I’m beginning to think you have an aversion to sleeping with me.”

“Why would you say that?’ Bella sounded almost hurt as she sat upright from the relaxed position she’d been in. I knelt down next to the tub, securing her hair behind her ear.

“Because this is the second time today I’ve woken up alone.” Relief flooded her face, I grinned at her smile.

“That is a big ass tub you got there.”

“Yes, it’s big enough for two.” Her voice sounded almost hopeful.

“Is that an invitation?” She nodded with a coy smile as her bottom lip went between her teeth, I fucking loved that innocent look and I wasted no time in joining her.

The bath was warm, with the jets stirring the water around our bodies. Bella’s head lay in the nook of my neck, her back against my chest while her fingers played with mine.

“Do you want more bubbles?” She asked me.

“Does it go higher?” With my question she took hold of a remote.

“This is the lowest setting, the jets aren’t even on.” She pressed a button, and the water bubbled behind my back and down at my feet, it felt amazing.

“That’s the jets. Then you can adjust the power.” After pressing another button, the water bubbled at full force like a hot tub.

“This is a really nice bathtub,” I knew I was stating the obvious, but I was rather impressed. “What kind is it?”

“This is a Jacuzzi Bellavista Salon Spa. Charlie had a fit when I upgraded, spending so much money on a bathtub. He just didn’t understand what was wrong with the one that was here.”

I thought about her dad and decided to ask a question that had been weighing on my mind. “Bella if your dad was the chief of police, why didn’t he do something to help you, why didn’t he arrest him or something?”

She sighed, remaining quiet running her fingers in a line up and down my arm, finally she spoke.

“Charlie couldn’t just go after James, he would have been charged with assault. Also, he couldn’t arrest him because I wouldn’t press charges.” Her words came out in a mater-of-fact tone that left me dumbfounded.

“What?” I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard, and I was more than a little irritated. I couldn’t wrap my head around the words she had just said. Even with all the activity of the water I could feel her stiffen against me and when she spoke her voice sounded small and distant.

“You don’t understand Edward. I was so young and I lived in a small town. It was embarrassing enough, people knowing what they knew or thought they knew. If I…”

Her voice broke and it killed me that I had caused her distress. My arms wrapped around her waist pulling her closer to me. Bella took a deep breath gathering her strength.

“…if I would have pressed charges I would have had to tell everything he did to me.”

She became really quiet and I thought she was done. I wanted to tell her I understood, I didn’t agree, but I understood--or at least I could try.

Then she started talking again, “the other night, when I told your grandmother that fear is the abusers number one weapon, it’s not…” Bella sat up turning to look at me, her legs laid on top of mine with her feet by my hips. When her eyes met mine there was fierceness in them.

“…it’s not just fear of the abuser. It’s fear of everyone else’s reaction. People are either going to pity you or they are going to blame you, neither of which I wanted. If I would have pressed charges, I would have had to tell my father and everyone else all the awful things that were done to me.” Tears began to well in her eyes.

“Charlie would have had to sit there and listen while I told how James would strip me and put me in the box for hours, sitting in my own urine. How he would tie me down to the table, pluck out my pubic hairs one at a time with tweezers. Or how he would take me anally then force me to lick him clean; it’s gross and disgusting and humiliating, no father wants to hear that!” The tears started to fall, but they weren’t tears of pain, they were tears of… anger?

“I didn’t tell, I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t put my father through that.”

Jesus Christ! She stayed in that hell in some warped attempt to protect her father? I wasn’t sure if that made me respect her, or want to punish her for being so damn stubborn. I was leaning towards the latter. I knew I couldn’t really punish her, but I’d be damn if I would ever let her put herself in danger again because of some twisted sense of loyalty.

I didn’t know what to say and I certainly didn’t want my own anger to be projected on to her. Bella had enough emotional ups and downs in the past two days; she needed some normalcy and relaxation. So I did the only thing I could think of, I kissed her tenderly. However, she had other ideas and as our kiss deepened her chest pressed against mine and my dick became wedged between our bodies.

Bella pulled back with that coy smile, “Little Eddie likes his bath.”

“Would you stop calling my dick Little Eddie?” I snarled as she placed her forehead on my shoulder and giggled.

The movement from her laughter caused her to rise up, making my dick slide through her folds and eliciting a moan. “Mmm…again…please,” she whispered the words against my neck and I was all too willing to comply. Her hips moved so her core slid along my length as my hands guided her motions.

Bella wrapped her arms around the back of my neck placing her forehead against mine and our gazes locked. She pressed her bottom tighter against my dick making me hiss at the sensation as her hips continued to slide her folds over me. The head of my dick making contact with her clit would extract the most amazing gasps of pleasure from her. My breathing picked up as the tightness in my balls began to grow. My hands moved her hips at a more frenzied pace and as she applied more pressure I watched in her eyes as the tension started growing and her breathing became irregular, coming out in pants. I was trying to hold on to my own control, but my irregular breathing pattern was matching hers.

The pace of her hips became frantic as her face contorted, her thighs shaking while she ground her sex against me. Bella’s eyes closed and her head dropped to my shoulder as she let out a shuddering moan gasping my name. The warmth in my own belly became too much; I pulled her hips tighter to my body, laid my head back against the tub and fucking came, and spilled my seed between our bodies.

“Jesus baby,” I said in panting breaths. Bella panted with her forehead pressed against my shoulder, my arms holding her tightly to my chest. “I haven’t fucking dry humped since I was in high school.”

She giggled in my neck. “Is it still dry humping if we are in the tub?”

I laughed turning my head to kiss her cheek, “I don’t know baby, but it fucking felt good.”

“Mmmm,” she breathed softly lifting her head to kiss me before whispering against my lips, “it sure did.”

The knock on the bathroom door sobered me up.

“Bells are you alone?”

Bella’s eyes locked on mine. “No Leah. I’ll be right out.”

“Umm…ok…I’m going to make some tea. Do you still have some of mom’s bread?”

“Yeah, I think it’s on the kitchen table.” Bella kissed me once more, before turning off all the jets and climbing out of the water. She wrapped herself in a towel handing one to me. In the bedroom she dressed for yoga class. Wearing a pair of deep purple pants with a gray waist band and a gray sports bra, she was just pulling a Nike t- shirt over her head, while I finished putting on my clothes from last night.

“You know, you could leave some clean clothes here. I could clear out a drawer for you.”

“My own toothbrush and a drawer.” I mused as we walked towards the kitchen.

Bella stopped short turning to me, “was that ok? I didn’t mean to overstep.”

I eyed her with speculation; did she think I was being sarcastic? I wasn’t sure. I figured I better make myself perfectly clear so I pulled her to me wrapping my arms around her back. “That would be great baby, I hate wearing dirty underwear.”

She cocked her head looking at me sideways. “You could always go commando you know. Let Little Eddie breathe.” I scowled swatting her bottom, which she wiggled against my hand, so I swatted harder, receiving a sigh and a kiss.

“I think your sister is waiting for us.”

“Sister, Shimister. She’s busy eating” Bella called out in a louder voice towards the kitchen.

“I heard that!” Leah’s voice rang through the room, making Bella smile.

Leah was just taking a piece of bread out of the toaster. “Good morning Edward”

“Hello Leah.”

She glared at Bella who walked over and kissed her on the cheek. “Good morning Leah.”

“Bitch! Telling people I eat all the time.” I listened to their exchange while I poured Bella and myself some coffee.

“I didn’t say you eat all the time, I said you were in here eating, and you are.” Bella was digging through a pink tote bag on the table pulling out some clothing as I handed her the coffee mug

“Thank you.”

When she turned to take the clothes to the laundry closet she informed me that there was a plate of muffins or she could toast some of the raisin bread that Leah was eating. I decided on the toast, while that was cooking Bella removed the bag from the table. When she did she seen that Seth’s collar was underneath.

“Hey, there’s his collar.” She picked it up to show me.

“Yeah, I put it there yesterday; I guess I forgot to tell you I found it.” She carried it over to the counter and called Seth.

“Where was it?”

“It was wedged between two rocks out front,” I said taking a drink of coffee. Bella turned to gape at me, while Leah narrowed her eyes.

“It couldn’t have been out front, he can’t go out front. Well he could, but he would get zapped. Unless the battery died, but even so he knows the boundaries and he never crosses them.”

“I don’t blame him, who the hell wants to get shocked?” While Leah was talking, Bella buttered our toast placing mine in front of me before calling Seth, then she took the collar and walked to the back door.

“Where are you going?” She had a determined look on her face and I wanted to know what she had in mind.

“I want to see something, come on Seth.”

Leah and I followed Bella outside standing on the back deck. We watched as she walked towards the front of the house with Seth following and when she had gone about eight feet Seth stopped and Bella yelled, “Ow Fuck!” shaking her hand.

Leah snickered. Bella then turned to Seth trying to coax him past the invisible line. That dog was not moving. “Leah, go get him a treat”

When she returned I took the treat down to Bella while Leah stayed on the porch out of the misty rain. Bella tried everything she could to get Seth to come to her. When the dog wouldn’t budge Leah came down with a rather large bone, trying to entice Seth. He sniffed the air and sat waiting for the treat, but he still didn’t move. Bella took the bone from her sister tossing it to the dog then turned to me.

“Where Edward, where did you find it?” She sounded stressed.

The three of us walked to the tree and I showed Bella how the collar was wedged between the rocks.

“Bells, maybe he got shocked and then pulled on the collar to get it off before going back so that he didn’t get shocked again?” Bella didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t have any other explanation, and standing out in the rain was not getting us closer to an answer.

“Ladies, let’s go back in the house where it’s warm and dry. We can talk about it in there.”

Back inside the kitchen Bella warmed up our coffee and toast and pulled over another bench seat to sit with us. I could see her thinking. “Well I guess it sounds plausible Leah, because it makes no sense for someone to take the collar, what would that do?”

“Is there any personal information on it? Is your phone number or anything on the tags?”

Bella shook her head at my question, but it was Leah who spoke, “both tags go to Jakes’s shop don’t they?”

“Yes, and if someone wanted to hurt Seth, they would have. Besides, why take the collar and then leave it there? What purpose would that serve?”

Neither of us had an answer for Bella’s question, and I noticed she hadn’t eaten. Leah finished her tea and announced that they had to leave or they would be late. I picked up Bella’s bag and placed it in the back seat of Leah’s car. After kissing her good-bye I handed her a napkin with her toast in it. “Eat,” she took it from my hand looking into my eyes. “I mean it Isabella; you need the carbs for energy.”

“I will.” I kissed her again before opening her door.

“See you tonight Leah.” She said good-bye and they drove away.

I had some time before the contractors came so I figured it was a good day for me to go for a run. It was misty but not a full rain and by the time I was half way through the run the cool mist felt good against my skin. I thought about Bella as I ran. It’s funny how that woman has all of a sudden taken up so much of my attention.

She worries me sometimes. She really does need to pay better attention to her nutrition and her sleeping habits. I’m going to have to get tough with her on that. I know that Sunday night she was emotionally drained and I have no idea what time she got up last night, or rather this morning, but I know she didn’t get her full eight hours, she didn’t even come close. I’m also pretty damn sure she is not getting her adequate calories. I knew what I was going to have to do about that and I know Bella is not going to like it, and personally, neither am I.

She amazes me. I watched her last night slip into a sub-mode right before my eyes; it was subtle and at first I thought perhaps she was being shrewd in an attempt to manipulate me into getting what she wanted. I kept waiting for her to show some sign of levity, watching her countenance change. Bella’s eyes had the most intent look, her chin and shoulders squared, back straight as a board with relaxed arms at her side. She talked with eloquence as she pleaded her case. It was the first time I had ever seen it happen and it was so fucking beautiful, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Bella agreed with my conditions. I had no choice but to do that; her communication with me has been hesitant. I believe that is because she is afraid of what my reaction will be. I can understand that to a degree, the experience she had with her husband was not conducive to frankness. I need her to tell me exactly what she is feeling and thinking, without hesitation or petulance. I figured that as she begins to become more unguarded in her writing and she sees that there is no adverse reaction on my part, then perhaps she will be forthcoming with me vocally. That is not to say that we won’t discuss what she writes, because we will. In fact I am very anxious to read what she wrote this morning.

The rain was beginning to pick up as I left the park, and I was soaking wet by the time I got home.

The contractor would be here in less than an hour so I decided to take a shower in the main bathroom. When I was done, I went downstairs got a drink and remembered to write a few things on Bella’s calendar.

The contractor took longer than I thought, and in order to put in the standing shower and the whirlpool tub, he was going to have to reconfigure part of the plumbing fixtures. That would also require a few extra days of work and no doubt a few extra thousand added to the bill, but it would be worth it to get what I wanted. He left with a promise of getting me a detailed estimate by the end of the week giving me only enough time to set up the playroom for tomorrow night.

The chair and side table needed to be moved, and then I placed the body mat on the floor with the black comforter over top for Bella’s comfort and warmth. I wiped off the toys I would be using to make sure they were clean, and got the media gear ready. The last thing I did was place a clean robe on the hook in her closet. The rest would have to be done right before she got here.

Before I realized it the morning was over and I needed to grab some lunch and head over to the club. Inventory needs to be done on a bi-weekly basis, and somehow it has become my job. Aro would very much like if I learned the day-to-day running of the club. I know that there are rumors going around about his retiring, but to be honest that’s not even in the cards for a least a few more years. Aro just always assumed that either Emmett or I would take over, and he’s been sort of grooming us in that direction for years. It is during these times when I miss Mason and I wonder had he lived would I be as close to my uncle as I am?

Aro hadn’t arrived yet, which is not that unusual. He hardly ever comes in on Monday and rarely arrives before two on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I had been doing this for over a year and so I just set about my work. I always begin on the top floor; each room needs to be stocked with paper products, disinfectant wipes, and various plastic bags. Each member who books the room is responsible for providing linens and then cleaning up the space when they are done. It’s a simple process that works very well.

Throughout the clubs existence Aro had told me that he could count on one hand the number of times that someone had to be reprimanded about not cleaning properly. His philosophy is that if it ain’t broke-don’t fix it.

Once everything was stocked, I checked the inventory noting what needed to be ordered and then moved down to the second floor. This is a simple area, I noted what was needed to stock the bar area, filled the shelves by each stage with disinfectant wipes and the plastic bags. The first floor was the easiest, strictly bar supplies. I stocked each area then went to check the main supply.

With all that done, I was sitting at Aro’s desk filling out the order forms. I hadn’t heard from Bella so I figured I would text her.

Hi Baby, just wondering how shopping is going. Did you find shoes? – E

Aro came in just as I hit send.

“Hello Edward,” he said sitting in the chair in front of his desk. He looked a little worn out, like he wasn’t feeling well or had not gotten enough rest.

“Good afternoon,” I didn’t want to add that he looked like hell. If he felt the need to share he would. I went back to the order forms, double checking my figures when Aro sighed.

“I spoke with Marcus last night about the situation that occurred yesterday.” My interest was piqued and I waited for him to continue.

“He is of the agreement that because they apologized that the issue should be dropped; however if another incident occurs then they would be censured and their membership revoked. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”

My phone buzzed before I could answer him.

Yes, I found shoes. Not ones that met with your sister’s approval, so now she is torturing me by making me try on everything in the store…Please help me – your Bella

I chuckled, replying immediately:

Sorry my Bella, you are on your own. – E

When I looked up Aro was watching me with a knowing smile on his face. “Can I assume that is Ms. Swan?”

“Yes, the Cullen women are shopping,” I answered.

“Ah,” Aro nodded his head. “Isabella is now a Cullen woman?”

“She is in my book.” She would stay that way if I had anything to say about it, my phone buzzed again.

Thanks…what happened to protecting me? – B

I laughed as I wrote:

Sorry, I can protect you from everyone…except my sister – E

I looked to my uncle. “Sorry about that,” I said pointing to my phone, then added, “and as far as Caius and Irena goes, it’s a done deal. I really don’t want anything more to do with either of them.”

I went on to tell him about last night, “Bella brought up getting together with Jane.”

“Good, Jane is rather excited about it and I’m afraid she would have been very disappointed had it not occurred.”

That shocked me; Aro must have seen that because he went on, “Oh come now Edward, Jane has been speaking with Isabella on the phone for years. She had her little bout of jealousy…,” he said that with a grin and then went on, “…and became enraged upon learning of the attack that occurred in Isabella’s home.” He smiled shaking his head, “your aunt can become quite furious when it comes to defending someone she cares for.”

I had surmised that Bella was attacked in her home, but up until now I had no concrete evidence. Then something else he said occurred to me, “Jane was jealous?”

Aro shrugged, “not for long, but her attitude and demeanor changed and it took many discussions before she admitted her uncertainty of Isabella’s and my relationship. That was not hard to fathom; I was spending time with a woman half her age. Speaking one-on-one to her and Jane had no idea what was being said. I had never done that before, so once I realized Jane’s insecurity I changed my means of contact with Isabella so that she would have to speak directly with Jane. That changed the way Jane looked at the association I had with her, gifts and correspondence always came addressed to ‘Mr. and Mrs.’ and Jane began to look forward to speaking with Isabella. Now she feels a…,” he stopped for a second looking for the right word “…kinship, a bond.” Aro sighed, “When I told you that Isabella was special and that she would shine, I am not the only one who thinks so.”

At first I was astounded by what he said, but as I thought about it I suppose that if I was not immune to Bella’s charms, how could I expect anyone else to be?

Aro stood, “well, I will let you get back to work; Jane is planning on having Isabella to lunch on Thursday. One more thing, the two weeks after the anniversary party I will be on vacation. Will you and Emmett be able to be here to see to the operation of the club?”

“I will,” I assured him. “I’ll ask Emmett, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

I finished up the order forms handing them to Aro to authorize before placing them on Jane’s desk for her to call in. Then checked the demonstration schedule to see who had signed up for Sunday night. One caught my attention; we would have to be here earlier than I had planned, but that would work out.

I had some paperwork that I had put off that needed to be done when it dawned on me that Bella had not returned my last text message. I didn’t bother typing out a text, opting instead to just call. In all honesty I was expecting to get her voice mail, so I was surprised when she actually answered.

“Hi,” Bella responded with an animated voice.

“Hello, I’m surprised that you answered, I thought for sure you would be holed up in a dressing room knee deep in clothes.”

“That was earlier, they let me out on good behavior,” she giggled making me grin at the sound. “Actually, we are going home now. I know you said you would pick me up but Rose is just going to drop me off.” I looked at my watch – 2:25 – I told her I was just about done and that I would be at her house in less than an hour.

I needed to file the invoices that I had just gone over before leaving. Aro walked in as I was finishing up. “Edward, would you double check this figure? It seems unusually high.” Looking at what he was talking about I understood his concern and retrieved the file on the computer to show what the problem was.

New Moon runs on a no cash basis, the only exception would be open door night. Each member has an account and they use their membership card as a debit to their account. New members (or bronze) are required to keep a credit card on record that can be accessed immediately to pay their bill. Silver members are those who have been in good standing for more than five years and they can opt to receive a monthly bill.

“Stefan was billed last month but no payment was made, so that bill,” I said pointing to the invoice in Aro’s hand, “reflects two months worth of charges.”

Aro sighed; clearly not happy about the idea of one of the members not paying their bill. “Is it possible that the bill was paid and just did not get credited, or possibly was inadvertently passed towards another’s account?”

I nodded, “anything is possible. Jane reconciles the accounts; you should have her double check before you mail that to Stefan.”

“Yes, I would hate to debase him needlessly.” He placed the invoice on his desk and sat down jotting a small note before looking to me. “Have you spoken with Isabella about the rumors on Club Talk?”

Shit, with all that had happened in the past few days it completely slipped my mind.

“No, but I will tonight.” Aro’s expression became almost pained making me wonder. “Is it worse?”

“No, just more of the same, but make sure that Isabella is aware of what is happening before you bring her on Sunday.” I told him I would and we said our good-byes.

When I arrived at Bella’s she was leaning against the counter talking on the phone. Her pink paisley tote was on the table along with a half dozen shopping bags, she smiled at me in acknowledgement as I kissed her cheek, before she went back to her conversation. I knew it was rude to interrupt, but I hadn’t seen her all day.

“Are you sure? That seems like a lot of work. I don’t mind ordering…alright...,” Bella pulled out a jug of iced tea silently offering me some; I nodded as she went on explaining over the phone.

“Well, I can stay at Edwards…I’m a grown woman Sue…he’ll get happy again…No, Kim has room and you and Charlie can stay here with Rachel and Rebecca, the only problem would be Billy.” She handed me the glass, and I wrapped my arms around pulling her back against my chest while she finished her conversation.

“Ask Emily to call Kim, see how much room she has, then let me know…ok, I’ll talk to you Friday…yeah, love you too. Bye.” Bella sighed turning in my arms to place the phone on the counter. I ran my hand over her chin cupping her face before giving her a proper kiss hello.

“Trouble in Forks?”

She shook her head, “no, just planning Leah’s shower. I thought we would do it there, but Sue wants everyone to come here and surprise her.”

Truly, I was out of my depth when it came to planning a baby shower and it sounded like there were a lot of people that would need a place to stay. “You know, there is plenty of room at my house, your friends could stay a night or two.”

Bella stepped back eyeing me with total disbelief. “You would let people stay in your home that you don’t even know?”

I shrugged, “you know them, and you’ll be there.” She still looked staggered. “What are they going to do Bella, steal my soap?”

Finally she laughed, “no, they won’t steal anything.” Bella walked over to the table moving some of the bags out of the way pulling her tote towards her while I sat down. “I think the only problem will be Billy, Jake’s dad. He’s in a wheelchair, so he’s unable to do steps.” She was removing her workout clothes while she talked.

I thought about it before interjecting, “so Billy should stay here…” I was going to continue when something in her bag caught my eye. As I reached for it, Bella’s gaze followed the movement of my hand. The raisin toast that she made for herself this morning was completely untouched and still wrapped in the napkin I had placed it in. Bella’s eyes never left the offending piece of bread.

“I forgot about that.”

I remained quiet watching her, finally her eyes locked on my gaze. “I didn’t have time to eat it before class, and I didn’t want to just woof it down because I was afraid it wouldn’t sit right in my stomach.” She was trying to explain her logic, and I understood what she was saying, however the fact remains that she didn’t do what I said.

“I put it in my bag at the gym thinking I would eat it afterwards but I forgot about it.” Once she was done with her explanation I continued to observe her demeanor, and although Bella remained steadfast, her eyes dropped.

“Isabella.”

In an act of uneasiness she bit her lip, raising her eyes once again.

“Yes Sir?” There was apprehension in her voice, and that fact alone disturbed me.

“Why are you anxious?”

“I don’t want you to be angry with me.” I thought about her words, sighing as I placed my hand on her face to cup her jaw, my thumb lightly tracing her cheek bone.

“I’m not angry Isabella; it will take a whole lot more than this for you to make me angry. I am however disappointed; can I assume you at least had lunch?” Bella’s head move in my hand indicating she had.

“Your actions will have repercussions; you cannot simply disregard something I specifically told you to do…” My hand left Bella’s face while I once again listened to her try to justify her actions.

“I just thought… I didn’t want to feel yucky during yoga.” She was trying, I had to give her that, but she was falling short.

“Yucky? If you were afraid of felling ‘yucky’ then you should have voiced that concern.”

Bella interrupted again and she started to sound like a snappish child. “But I was already gone…”

I took a deep breath; ok enough excuses, time to put an end to this. “You have a phone Isabella, and if you didn’t want Leah to hear a conversation between us, then you should have texted me rather than disregard what amounted to a direct order.”

Bella was quiet taking my words in; I thought I would stress again one of my main concerns.

“This is our communication problem Isabella, and it may seem like a minor thing, however minor things have a way of growing. So they have to be stopped before becoming a habit. Do you understand what I am saying?”

Bella wasted no time in answering, “yes Sir, nip it in the bud.”

“Exactly,” glancing around the table and then at the clock I asked, “when are Jacob and Leah coming?”

“Six.”

I handed her the piece of bread, “throw this away and I will help you with dinner.”

Bella was making chicken enchiladas rather than fajitas; we sipped on a glass of wine while we worked. I chopped peppers and onions while Bella made some kind of pie. She called it Lemon Chiffon Cheesecake, saying the chill and subtle sweetness of the lemon went perfect with the spiciness of the meal. I had never heard of it, and when she let me taste a dollop off her finger I had to agree with her, because that shit was pretty damn good.

Jacob arrived alone a few minutes early, saying that Leah was running late from a photo shoot but she was on her way and would be here soon. He then went on say that Sue had called and made sure that the date for the shower would be alright with their schedule and to tell him to make plans for something to do with the men.

Jacob looked to me, “any ideas of what we can do Edward?”

“You’re inviting me?” I was taken aback. Jacob looked to Bella as he walked to the refrigerator and I noticed that they seemed to share a moment as she smiled at him.

“You’re one of the men with a woman at the shower; I think that means you are suppose to come along.” He said holding out a beer to see if I wanted one. I nodded, but before I could say anything Bella spoke up while she sat place mats and utensils on the small table.

“Just don’t do what you did at the Bridal Shower.”

Jacob rolled his eyes which made me wonder.

“What did you do?”

“We went fishing,” he answered quickly.

Bella stopped what she was doing. “UH! You all got drunk! And then I had to spend all night long convincing Leah that you were not an insensitive, immature ass.” She spit out the word.

Jacob laughed looking at me. “She was pretty mad,” he chuckled again before adding, “my girl is full blooded Quileute, when she gets a fire in her, holy shit, you better look out!”

Bella was smirking, “it’s not funny Jake, and she was going to call off the wedding.”

Jacob put his arm around her shoulder and somewhere in the pit of my stomach I got the strangest desire to rip his fucking arm off, I took a long drink to try and squash that feeling.

“Bells, she wasn’t going call off the wedding.” He looked to me again, removing his arm from Bella and probably the scowl from my face. “Women know a good catch when they got it, and I was the best thing that ever happened to her.”

Bella gasped, “oh my god, where are my boots because the shit is getting deep!”

Leah chose that moment to burst through the door announcing that she had to pee, NOW! The three of us watched as she practically ran through the house. Bella turned and spoke in a hushed voice, “see if there is a baseball game that day; that should be safe.”

Jacob nodded. Leah returned and Jacob wrapped her in a hug, “how was your day Nenemoo'sha?”

“Exhausting, and I had to pee so badly. For some reason your spawn seems to think my bladder is a punching bag.”

I caught Bella’s eye and noticed she had a strange look on her face. “That sounds pleasant.”

Leah turned to answer Bella’s comment, “it sucks. Is the food ready, because I’m starving?”

Bella pulled the food out of the oven where it was staying warm, and placed it on the counter next to the plates. Her kitchen table was small so we would be eating buffet style. Once everyone was at the table, Jacob once again said the blessing before we started to eat.

I took a bite of enchilada chewing while I watched Bella prepare the food on her plate. Basically, she had mixed the rice and refried beans together into one clump. Then when she had a piece of enchilada on her fork, she used the knife to scoop the mixture on top of it, before sticking the whole mess in her mouth. I grinned, shaking my head and wondering how the hell she could eat like that when Leah’s comment broke me from my train of thought.

“Bells, that idea you mentioned this morning--totally doable. There are only a few pictures I don’t have and I can get them when we go for graduation.”

“What’s your idea baby?”

Bella looked to me before explaining, “Charlie and Sue’s tenth anniversary is coming up, so I thought as a gift to make like a scrap book. There would be a picture of the person and a small writing of something memorable that they did together.”

“It sounds sentimental,” I admitted.

“It sounds cheap,” Jacob said flatly.

“I think they will like it.” Jacob shrugged at his wife’s retort.

“I think Sue will like it, Charlie would rather have a forty-two inch plasma.”

I laughed.

“Am I right Edward?”

Damn, why didn’t I keep quiet? Now I had two women looking at me expectantly.

“Well a plasma’s really nice.”

Jacob sat back nodding, “yeah, and now he got the room...Ow!” He bent down rubbing his leg as Leah glared at him.

“Bella doesn’t know, because she has to see it first.”

Jacob squinted his eyes at his wife while Bella asked, “does this have to do with what Charlie did to our room?”

They ignored her so she changed tactics. “I’m getting a tattoo.”

Leah dropped her fork and glared at Bella while Jacob laughed, “Charlie is going to freak!”

“I’ve wanted one for a long time, I’m getting it.” Bella said matter of factly.

Leah huffed then left for another trip to the bathroom. I then watched Bella’s whole character change: she leaned across the table looking up at Jacob from under her lashes, biting her bottom lip with her head slightly tilted.

“Jake…” Bella’s voice was quiet and Jake eyed her the same way I did-with suspicion.

“Jake, what did Charlie do to my bedroom?” I watched her as she tried to finagle information out of him.

“Stop that.”

Bella’s eyes dropped and her face followed into a deep pout.

“I have a right to know, come on Jake…” Her eyes got kind of misty as her voice grew pleading. “…my Kurt Russell Gladiator poster was still hanging on the wall. Did he rip it down?”

My god, my girl could work it when she wanted to. I watched the little show going on in front of me; the same way I watched her during our session last Friday. Looking for all the signs in her mannerisms that would alert me to what she was attempting to gain. That way, I would be aware of her intentions if, and when, she ever tries this shit on me.

“Bells, I promised my wife I wouldn’t tell.” I think Jacob was actually sweating and I figured it was time to stop her.

“Isabella.”

She huffed then sat up straight before giving me her attention.

“I don’t think it’s fair that you ask Jacob to break a promise he made.”

She didn’t get a chance to answer before Leah came back taking in the scene before her. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing,” Bella answered while Jacob added, “she was trying to get me to talk Babe, but I didn’t cave!”

Bella grinned, “another minute and you would have.”

“It was close.” He said to his wife in all sincerity, while Bella chuckled standing up gathering plates and used utensils taking them to the counter and returning with the pie and dessert plates.

“I would have had him too if Edward hadn’t stepped in.” She grinned at her sister who became slightly irritated.

“Would you stop doing that to him?” Leah then turned her irritation to her husband, “and you’d better get tougher.”

“What did I do? I held my ground!”

Bella dissolved into a fit of giggles and Leah glared at her, “it’s not funny,” but then she grinned and started giggling too.

I was totally confused and at a loss for words, so as I did before I turned to Jacob who just shook his head at me.

Leah reached for the pie cutting herself and Jacob a piece and then asked Bella, “Were is the tattoo going?...” she looked up at Bella and continued asking, “do you have any chocolate syrup?”

“In the fridge.”

As Leah went to retrieve the syrup Bella answered, “it’s a tramp stamp.”

“It’s going to be a little bit bigger then a tramp stamp Bella,” I said as I watched Leah squeeze the chocolate sauce on her pie. I ignored the display in front of me and cut a piece for myself, then pushed the pie into the middle of the table, because I had no intention of giving any to Bella. Part of my reasoning was for her lack of obedience this morning and the other reason was her lack of attention to her nutrition in general.

Bella’s eyes met mine for a split second before falling to the table, she knew. Later, once we were alone, we would talk about it.

“Bella, we’re not going to stay tonight, is that alright? I’m exhausted; I just want to go home, take a shower, and collapse.”

“Sure, I’m tired too and I have a busy day tomorrow.”

An hour later the kitchen was clean, the talking was over, and the left over pie was wrapped and in Jacob’s hand as they walked out the door. Bella looked to me and smiled, I wrapped her in a hug, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“Why did you send the pie home with them?” I figured I already knew the reason; I just wanted her to tell me for sure.

Bella shrugged, “I just thought that if you didn’t want me to have any tonight, then you probably wouldn’t want me to have any later either.”

Yeah, I was right. I pulled back cupping her chin in my hand while I gazed into her eyes.

“You know why I didn’t give you any, correct?”

“Because of the toast thing this morning?”

I nodded. I knew that her overall nutrition was lacking, but I would wait until tomorrow to bring that up. Right now I needed to tell her about the blog.

“Come, I want to show you something and then you, my dear, are going catch up on your sleeping.” I took her hand leading her into the spare room that housed her computer, motioning for her to sit, while I pulled over another chair to sit next to her.

“Log on and pull up the internet.”

She looked at me for a second, but then went about doing what I had asked. When she was done I began to explain what was going on.

“Jane started a blog for New Moon, it’s called Club Talk. She originally started it as a place for people to voice their comments on bands, activities, and upcoming events. It’s still used for that, however, occasionally it becomes a place for gossip and speculation. Unfortunately for us, our relationship seems to be at the center of that right now.” I took hold of her hand, silently pleading with her to understand what I was going to say next.

“Just as you told me last night that the only opinion that matters to you is mine, I want you to know that I feel the exact same way about you. Nobody else matters to me. I could give a flying fuck what anyone else thinks.” That was true. If they just thought it, without going around voicing their assumptions, I wouldn’t feel the need to even be having this conversation. But as it is, Aro is right, Bella needs to be informed of what is occurring around her, and why it is necessary to pay a visit to the club on a regular basis.

“Isabella, we will be going to the club on Sunday night, and we will be making an appearance at least once each weekend. We need to do that so that everyone else will see that the rumors are not true, and those that are spreading them are full of shit. Do you understand?” Bella nodded, I sighed and she answered while I used my password to pull up the blog.

“I don’t mind going to the club Edward; and what do I care what people say?”

I rubbed my hand through my hair cupping the back of my neck, while Bella started reading some of the posts. Her mouth dropped as her eyes grew larger in astonishment. Bella’s eyes met mine.

“Holy Hell Edward!”