I suck. Sorry for the length of time between updates. I have had this chapter written for a while, but just didn't know if it was right. After re-reading it for the trillionth time, I think I'm happy with it. I am hoping to win some points for the fact that I made the chapter longer, as requested. And the next chapter will be out pretty quickly because it is almost done.
Thanks to everyone who PMd me or reached out to me through a review to ask me to update this story. RL has been quite hectic, but I'm trying to keep up.
So, quick disclaimer that Twilight and all the shit that goes with it is not mine...and now you can read the chapter.
Previously…
"I'm sorry. But it's too late. You had your chance." I shook my head and made to walk around him in order to leave. I was halted by a hand on my wrist.
"No." I looked up to see a determined look in his eyes before he turned me to fully face him and crashed his lips to mine.
Somehow, even in my drunken state, I knew I didn't want this to happen. Okay, so I wanted it to happen. I would be an utter idiot to not want to lock lips with such a stud. But, I didn't want it to happen on his terms, and definitely not after everything he has done to me…or should I say hasn't done. Being there for his kids, for example.
I attempted to push his chest to move away from him, but his arms quickly wrapped around my waist and tightened so I would not be able to leave his enclosure. I began to get pissed that he wouldn't let up when I was obviously not responding. I suddenly figured out an easy way to get him to stop, so I opened my mouth slightly, acting as though I was inviting his tongue into my mouth. Unfortunately for him, the only thing I was inviting was his tongue between my teeth.
"Fucking shit!" He yelled after jumping away from me in shock at the sudden pain of my biting his tongue.
"That's what you fucking get, asshole." I spat at him, turning once again to leave the bathroom as he looked in the mirror with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, inspecting it for damage. "Don't ever do that shit again."
With that, I finally made my way out of the bathroom and hurried back into the main part of the bar. I found everyone still in the same area, chatting and laughing. Emmett, of course, was telling stories of the crazy people he has had in the bar and enjoying his role as the center of attention.
"B! What the fuck took so long? You didn't puke in there, did you?" He yelled over the noise, causing everyone to turn and look at me as I stumbled my way up to them.
"No, I got locked in." Half-truth is always the way to go. "I finally figured out how to get out and here I am."
I looked away from Em's suspicious stare and locked my gaze onto Alice, who was making some creepy flirty faces at Jasper. Jasper seemed to enjoy the attention, but also seemed slightly uncomfortable by Alice. And let's just face it. She makes a lot of people uncomfortable.
"Ali, want to help me walk home?" I called over to her, and noticed Jasper take on a relieved look when her attention was diverted to me.
"Yeah. Let's go sweet tits. And I may even be willing to put out." She winked at me, and then turned back to Jasper. "Don't worry honey dick, I'm going to convince you to let me see that pretty cock of yours one day." Emmett and I both looked at her in shock. Not because of what she said, because that was just an Alice thing to say. But for her to be flirting with a guy was just weird and I swear I heard the Twilight Zone tune in my head.
For the next week, I was successful in my attempts at avoiding Edward. I spent my time with my normal clients and worked with the movie's makeup artists to get a feel for the stencils I would be using for the guys' tattoos. It was a new material I had never worked on before, so they gave me tons of the paper-like material to practice on.
I used Emmett as my test dummy and had fun creating temporary tattoos for him. My favorite was the tramp stamp I did for him claiming I needed to test the material on all parts of the body. He didn't even question what the tattoo was and was slightly pissed at me when he took at look in the mirror and saw and arrow pointing down with "Property of Butch" next to it.
It was actually rather easy to avoid Edward than I thought it would be. I lucked out that he had some press shit to do for a film releasing in a few weeks, so he was forced to go out of town while everyone prepared to begin filming the movie I would be working on.
I thought I would get away with not talking to him about anything non-movie related, but realized that wouldn't be the case when I got a call on a Friday evening.
"Ink Stains. This is Bella." I answer the shop phone.
There was silence on the other line, which instantly pissed me off. We would constantly get calls from frat boys or silly little girls thinking they want to be cool and get a tattoo, then get all shy and scared when it was time to actually talk to us about it. I didn't have time for that shit at the moment. I had a unicorn tattoo I was working on for Em's next test run.
"If this is some asshole getting shy just calling a tattoo shop, you aren't ready to get one. Try again once your balls have finally descended out of that pussy you are currently sporting." I huffed and slammed the phone down, pissed when it seemed to ring again almost immediately.
"What the fuck?" I yelled.
"Um." Was all I heard before silence again.
"Oh for fuck's sake! Seriously?" I realized I almost sounded whiney, but it was really irritating me.
"Bella?" The person finally questioned.
"That's the name I said when I answered the phone the first time, isn't it?" I snapped. "Now that we have established that, what can I help you with?"
"Yeah, sorry." I heard a sigh. "I just wasn't prepared for you to actually answer.
"Um. That's what I usually do when this fancy ringing contraption makes noise." I answer, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "And why would you call a second time knowing I was going to answer and still not be prepared?"
I was greeted with silence again.
"Alright. Listen. As fun and stimulating as this conversation has been, I have clients to take care of. Can you either get to the point of your call or try again some other time? Preferably never." I waited for the caller's decision.
"Bella. This is Edward." He paused.
Oh.
"Oh." I voiced my thoughts, because apparently that's all my brain was capable of coming up with.
"I'll make this quick because for some reason I'm the last person you want to talk to right now." He didn't give me a chance to deny his statement, and really it would have been a blatant lie on my part to act like I was happy to hear from him. "I want a chance to talk to you. I promise not to try anything. Can we meet when I get back into town and discuss things?"
"There's really nothing to discuss, Edward. You are douchebag. End of story." I stated with a sickeningly sweet tone.
"I have to disagree, Bella." He snapped back at me. "We do have things to discuss."
"So, for the record, you are not disagreeing on the douchebag part of my statement. Correct?" I clarified with a grin.
"Fuck. Will you cut that shit out!" He shouted into the phone.
"Using that tone with me is not the way to get me to agree to talk to you." I countered.
"Sorry." He sighed. "I'm just frustrated and confused and haven't got a clue why you won't let me explain myself." I heard a slight crack in his voice toward the end of his sentence and decided airing things out may be good. It would give me a chance to tell him to fuck off and get him off my back.
"Fine." I conceded.
"Please. All I'm asking for is 5 minutes of your time. Well, maybe ten minutes. I just want to explain why I left and everything that was going on in my life when you…"I cut off his pleading rambling.
"I said fine. Now, tell me when and where. I have shit to do." I practically shouted into the phone.
"Oh! Uh….hmmm. I probably should have thought this through a bit more." I heard paper rustling on his end. "Shit. My assistant hasn't updated my schedule here." He muttered.
"Okay. Do you at least know what day you will be back?" I questioned, really annoyed by his lack of preparation. He really wasn't making a good impression.
"I'm back into town early Monday morning. That's all I know. I think I have a meeting at some point on Monday, but my assistant would know for sure." He was beginning to ramble again.
"How about this. I will be at the shop all day on Monday. I don't have any clients until 2 that afternoon, so if you can come by before then, let me know. If not, well, I guess we'll try for some other time or just write it off that the talk was never meant to happen." I was so done with the phone call and ready to just hang up. I have never been a fan of phones and conversations that drag out make me want to kick things.
"Okay. That works. I'll call you!" I could tell he was smiling by the light, excited tone in his voice. "I will be seeing you on Monday."
"Yep." I hung up, not caring how rude I was. I had shit to do and he should just be happy that I even took the time to talk t him in the first place.
After the call, the rest of the day at the shop was pretty uneventful. I decided to close up early once Alice informed me that Tanya agreed to go on a date with her. Apparently, Tanya was ready to try women after all the bad luck she has had with men and Alice thought she would be a perfect guinea pig for Tanya's lesbian experimentation. Jake, upon finding out about this news, requested the rest of the night off as well so he could follow the two women on their date. Normally I would give him a hard time over his stalker tendencies when it came to Alice, but I was too excited about getting home to the twins and Emmett, so I let it slide.
Saturday arrived and I found myself at the Science Center with the twins, along with Emmett and Alice. Once a month, we all write down a name of a family-friendly place we want to visit or family activity we want to do, place everyone's choices in a hat and draw one. Whatever it says, we do. This time, it was Seth's request to go to the Science Center, much to Leah's dismay.
"Leah, I really think you are overreacting." I gave her my 'mommy look', giving her outfit another look over.
Leah scoffed while smoothing down her black "Science = Death" shirt. Her black pants and black combat boots were her way of letting us all know she was not happy with this month's outing. The outfit was completed with a huge, floppy black hat so no one from school would recognize her and black gloves so her fingers would not be tainted with "nerd germs."
Alice, ever the encourager of such behavior, was in a matching outfit, prancing around the parking lot of the Science Center like a pixie on crack. I was not given the details yet, but her date with Tanya seemed to be a success.
"Mommy." Leah whined. "Being seen here could totally ruin my rep." She stomps her foot when she sees Seth roll his eyes. "Do you have a problem with me not wanting to be bored to death by your nerdiness?"
"Not at all, Sister. I just feel bad that I got both the brains and looks." He smirked at her and I realized in that moment he was quickly becoming an exact replica of his father.
"Enough you two." Emmett clapped his hands together, making them both jump, as well as a family walking past us. "We have dinosaurs and shit to see." He bellowed.
"Emmett! Watch your language asshole!" Alice yelled while covering her own ears.
"I swear, Mother. If we are not scarred by our affiliation with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum over there, we'll be able to survive anything." Seth stated before walking to the entrance of the Science Center.
Our first stop was to the IMAX theater to watch a film about dinosaurs. Unfortunately, Emmett misunderstood the title "Mating Habits of Dinosaurs" and was asked to leave the theater 10 minutes in when he loudly asked when they would show how dinosaurs 'got it on' and which dinosaur had the biggest penis. Apparently, he was thinking it would be dino-porn instead of the actual topic of relationships between dinosaurs and which dinosaurs mated for life, etc.
Alice was kicked out about 15 minutes after Emmett when she stood on her seat and asked if they were prejudice against gay and lesbian dinosaurs because they had not mentioned them during the show. If that wasn't enough, when she was asked to leave, she huffed and announced "at least I didn't ask how they masturbate, which I am quite curious about." Leah, Seth and I slumped in our seats, in an attempt to make it look like we were not with her.
Now, I am sure you are appalled that I allow this kind of talk in front of my children, so let me explain my thought process a little.
I would rather they learn things from me, and our family, and know that we are always open and honest with them, than for them to learn it from outside sources and think they can't talk to us about it. I don't want to shelter them in any way. Some may think this is bad parenting, but they are welcome to go fuck themselves.
The film ended just a little while after Alice's grand exit, and we quickly left the theater to rejoin our group of delinquents. We found the two of them taunting the alligators in the Florida wildlife exhibit and moved on to try to see the rest of the Center without getting into more trouble. Seth would be pissed if they revoked his annual pass.
The rest of the visit was fun, and we were even able to get up to the observatory at nightfall to see the stars. Seth found the coordinates of the star he bought for me for my last birthday and was so excited to show it to me. It was a lot of fun and I think even Lead enjoyed herself, thought she would never admit it.
Sunday is our relaxing day, so we cleaned up the house and watched movies all day. I helped Leah work on her art while Seth played piano for us. Emmett had to spend the day doing inventory at the bar, so the house was nice and quiet.
Around three, the phone rand and Leah jumped up to answer it. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the receiver anywhere and were forced to let the answering machine pick up.
"Hi Bella. This is Edward." He paused, probably thinking I might pick up. If I knew where the fucking phone was, I would. "I just wanted to let you know I will be able to stop by your shop around eleven tomorrow morning…ummmm…I guess that's all. So, I'll, uh, see you tomorrow." There was a sigh, then a click indicating the call ended and I realized there were two sets of eyes on me.
"Mother?" Seth called from his perch at his piano. "Who is Edward?"
Leah squealed. "Isn't it obvious dodo!? Mommy has a date!" She bounced and clapped. I made a mental note to cut down on her time with Alice before replying.
"No, Mommy doesn't have a date." I scoffed at the idea. "Edward is no one important, just someone I have to deal with for that movie I told you about."
"Oh." Lead said, dejected. "That stinks."
"Mother." I looked to see Seth giving me a concerned look. "You know we don't mind if you date, right?" Seth asked me, somewhat cautiously.
"I know sweetie. If I meet someone I want to date, you two will be the first to know." I assured him and gave him a wink.
"The first to know what?" I heard from the doorway.
"When Mommy find a stud muffin to love, she's going to tell us." Leah stated excitedly, running back to her art supplies. I started to smile, but stopped when I noticed Emmett's brows furrow and a deep frown mar is sweet face.
"Oh." He looks at me confused. "I didn't realize you were looking." I shake my head at him and gave him a small smile.
"No plans in the immediate future." I assure him and see a hint of a smile appear.
After dinner that night, the kids took their baths and both wanted to go to bed early, saying they were tired. As Leah made her way to my room, she made a comment about Edward coming to see me the next day, which immediately put Em on alert.
"What the fuck does that dickweed want?" He hissed once we got to my room, shutting and locking the door.
"He keeps insisting that we need to talk and I figure that I might as well just give him a few minutes to say this shit and then explain to him that we don't want anything to do with him." I explain calmly.
"This is fucking ridiculous, Bells." He seethes. "You can't get close to him! What if he tries to take the kids?"
"He hasn't even mentioned them, Emmy." I soothe, trying to calm him down, but Papa bear was already being unleashed.
"They are not his kids!" He begins to rant. "I have been here for everything and I am not going to allow that pretty boy to come in here and take my place. We are a family! You are my family! And that does not include him!" He is practically yelling at the end of his speech and I'm a little pissed that he felt the need to tell me those things.
"You think I don't know that?! Fuck Em. I would never allow him to take your place in this family. He gave up his chance to be part of this when he turned his back on me while I was pregnant. You are the only man that has been there for me and my children expecting nothing in return. You give us your all. We wouldn't be a family without you, so don't you dare feel you need to tell me that it doesn't include him." I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I thought you knew us better than that. I definitely thought you knew me better than that."
"I just don't want to lose those kids. They are my life." He tells me solemnly. "You are my life."
"I know, Em. You are just as important to them as they are to you." I squeezed his shoulder and offered him a smile.
"And you?" He questions.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"Am I just as important to you?" He asks, moving closer to me.
"Of course you are." I state with conviction.
"Show me." He says with a smirk and pulls me to him as he backs into my bed. And I did show him how important he is to me…multiple times.
I woke from a restless sleep on Monday morning and the kids insisted that Emmett take them to school because they didn't want to deal with me while I was so cranky. It may have also had something to do with the fact that I looked like the love child of the Crypt Keeper and Larry King. It was pretty scary.
I took the time alone to get ready for the day. I spent way too much time in the shower, allowing the steaming hot water to pour over me and relax my strained muscles. I couldn't get the overwhelming tension out of my shoulders, but was hopeful it would go away after the talk I would be having with Edward.
The talk. To say I was nervous would be a huge understatement. I was petrified. The truth is that everything Emmett was worried about were the same things I have been festering in the back of my mind since the moment he said hello to me. I didn't want him to come in and decide he wanted to disrupt my family and try to take Emmett's place a father figure.
We were happy and we all functioned well together in our slightly dysfunctional way. It worked for us. And I couldn't allow the "pretty boy" as Em called him, to ruin everything by decided he was ready to play daddy five years too late.
I would just have to make it clear that he is not welcome in our lives. But then again, is that fair to the twins? They never ask about their father, but I know one day they will. I have never lied to them and wouldn't want to start, but I can't imagine they would take it well if I were to tell them they had a chance to know their father but I turned him away. It was all just so confusing and I needed the hours to speed up so I could stop over thinking.
Luckily, after arriving to the shop, I had plenty of work to do to keep my mind off the Meeting of Doom as I have now dubbed it. Ominous music playing in my head every time I thought the name. I quickly got to work on the design I was preparing for my 2 o'clock appointment, Alec and Jane, even though they were creepy beyond belief.
In the three years, I have been their tattoo artist, I have never seen either one of them smile. That's not so strange, I guess, but the fact that Jane hisses at people is probably weird. Or maybe it's the way Alec licks the back of his hands and rubs the saliva-coated skin all over his face and makes this odd purring noise when Jane strokes behind his ear while he gets tattooed.
Or what makes them so creepy could be that they have matching tattoos. Now, I have been asked to do plenty of matching tattoos, so that's not the strange part. It's just that every single one of the tattoos I have done for them are matching…in the same location on their bodies…and all have something to do with cats of some kind.
My current design was of two cats playing with a ball of yarn. Sweet right? Well, that is what the picture was that they brought me when we did our consult on what they were wanting. So, they requested a few changes to the design. The cats now have sneers on their faces, baring fangs dripping with blood. The ball of yarn is actually now a ball of intestines.
So, as much as these two freak me the fuck out, there is no way I am saying no to them. For one, it is pretty entertaining to watch the two of them, almost like a Discovery channel special. And two, those scary fucks would probably cast some spell on me if I ever say no to them.
When the clock chimed, letting me know it was time for the Meeting of Doom, I started a pattern of trying to concentrate on my work while looking up at the door every five seconds. I counted.
Fifteen minutes passed and I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. He may have been bombarded with paparazzi while leaving his hotel or was being following by screaming fans so he stopped for a quick photo and to sign some autographs. Or possibly, his watch was broken and he wasn't good at telling time by the placement of the Sun in the sky.
Those thoughts changed around the 30 minute mark and I began to think maybe he was in an accident. I even thought about calling around to the hospitals in the area to check. I had no doubt that he would show up to the meeting if he was physically able. He badgered me enough to agree to it, so I couldn't imagine him standing me up.
When the clock struck noon, I was pissed. No, pissed is putting it lightly. I was fucking livid and deciding on the manner in which I would inflict pain on him the next time I saw him. He was just further cementing his place in the Douchebag Hall of Fame.
I jumped when the door chime alerted me to someone entering the shop, effectively breaking me out of my daydreams of torturing Edward in the most gruesome ways. Looking up, expecting to see green eyes and bronze hair, I was surprised to see a tall, attractive woman with blonde hair walking through the door. My eyes immediately traveled down to her hand, rubbing her very pregnant belly.
"Sorry. We don't tattoo pregnant women here." I stated harshly. I have many a run in with pregnant women not understanding that I have the right to say no to giving them a tattoo. While there are no reports stating tattoos during pregnancy are bad, I just don't feel right about it. Plus, your skin is all out of proportion during pregnancy, so the work just wouldn't look right in my opinion.
The blonde laughed and gave me a condescending look. "Oh. God, no. I would never get a tattoo. And definitely not from here." She stated with disgust as she looked around my shop.
"So, then what are you here for?" I asked, not hiding my offense at her statement.
"My…Edward requested that I come done here and talk to you." She stated with a somewhat smug look on her face.
"Your Edward?" I questioned, raising my eyebrows.
"Hmmm…." I couldn't tell if she was confirming my question or what, but it was pretty annoying. "Yes." She smirked, before clearing her throat and setting her face straight as she took in my defensive stance, with arms folded across my chest. "Oh, forgive me dear." Who the fuck is she calling dear? "I should introduce myself. My name is Irina." She held her hand out to me, which I promptly ignored.
"Pleasure." I stated dryly. "So, mind telling me why your Edward sent you here when he said he would be the one to be here?" I asked, noticing the slight bitter sound to the tone of my voice.
"Well, you see. Edward has asked me to come here and request that you stay away from him." I opened my mouth to speak, but she put her hand up and continued talking. "Yes, I know he asked you if he could talk to you, but he's just confused right now, what with the baby coming and all." He hand went to her belly to rub again.
"That's his baby?" I asked, stunned. I saw a brief look of what I can only deem as satisfaction flit across her face before she answered.
"Of course it is his. We have been together for seven years, so it was bound to happen sooner or later." She grinned at me.
"Seven years?" I choked out, feeling like she just punched me in the stomach. "But, do you know about my…" She didn't allow me to finish before she scoffed.
"Of course I know all about the little bastards you tricked Edward into making with you." She narrowed her eyes at me as though I had done something wrong. "Edward had a moment of weakness where he felt like slumming it and you came along. Poor man regretted it as soon as it was over and he came running back to me." She grinned at me. "We had a wonderful laugh over your predicament when we received your letters. Seriously, it was funny stuff." She went on a bit more, but I tuned her out because it was taking all my power to restrain myself while chanting in my head that it was not okay to hit a pregnant woman. I'll just save all my violence up for Edward.
"So, anyway. I'm bored with this conversation. I just came to tell you that Edward is going through a lot right now and is confused about what to do over the whole pregnancy thing. He was just acting out when he saw you. I guess you know from past experience that he isn't thrilled with the whole fatherhood aspect that comes with unprotected sex." Irina giggled and looked at me as though she expected me to agree and join in. Fat chance psycho.
"After he told me he would be meeting you, we discussed that he needed to step up and be prepared to be a father for this child and not worry about yours since they had already lived without him for so long. Why start now, right?" She smirked like she was saying the funniest thing in the world, and I rolled my eyes. "So he asked me to come down here and talk to you. Explain things and ask that you not tell anyone about the little freaks you call your children." The condescending look was back and she walked toward the door before I could make sense of everything she just said.
"Bye now, Bella. It was great talking to you." She trilled as she sauntered out of the shop.
What the fuck just happened? Meeting of Doom indeed!
A/N: EPOV next chapter. I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and continue to read theories on the whole Edward aspect of this story. Did he get the letters? How many babies is he the 'baby daddy' of? Does the carpet match the drapes?
Oh, one more thing. If you aren't reading Dream Like You'll Live Forever by Lozz5159, you need to be. Look it up! It's an fuckhot Mobward with an outspoken Bella. Read it, review it...love it.
Peace out.