She smiled as she put the pot roast in the oven and set the timer.
"With you as her coach, how could she not?" She continued to smile as she crossed the living room to where Edward and Lottie were sprawled across the floor on a blanket. Bella arrived just in time to see her daughter push off from her tummy and roll onto her back. The surprised look on her sweet face when she landed caused both her parents to laugh. Lottie rewarded them with a beautiful toothless smile.
"See?" Edward exclaimed. "You aren't just a pretty face, are you, Lottie?" Edward cooed as he leaned down and let Lottie attempt to grab his nose. "Such a smart girl. Your brother was the same age when he rolled over for the first time."
Bella giggled again as she watched Edward cuddle with their baby. "I can't remember how old Marie was…"
"Eleven weeks," Edward answered. "It's in her baby book. So she beat both Anthony and Lottie by a week." He chuckled. "That reminds me, we need to write this in Lottie's book."
Bella had come to realize that from the day of Anthony's birth, even though his ex-wife still lived with them at the time, Edward had been the child's sole caregiver. He had documented every stage of Anthony's growth, just as he was now doing with Lottie.
Just as Edward handed the baby off to Bella and went in search of a pen to record the important milestone, Anthony and Marie came bounding into the house through the back door.
"I'm telling Mommy!" Marie shouted.
"Inside voices!" Edward stopped his search for a pen and stood in the doorway to the kitchen, hands balled in fists on his hips while staring down at their two oldest children. "What are you going to tell Mommy, Marie?" He asked in a quiet but authoritative voice.
"Um," Marie paused; Edward could be quite intimidating when he wanted to be.
Anthony used her hesitation as a chance to defend himself. "I said I was sorry!"
"And what exactly are you sorry for?"
Bella could hear Anthony's sigh all the way in the living room.
Edward waited.
"I threw Marie's flip flops in the water. But I got them out again."
"And apologized?"
"Yes."
"But now they're all wet!" Marie seemed to have finally found her voice. "I don't like getting my feet wet."
Edward stared at her in disbelief. "Marie, you're in a bathing suit. And if I'm not mistaken, you've been jumping in and out of water for the past hour."
"But I didn't want my shoes wet!"
Bella rolled her eyes. Marie was such a little drama queen.
"Anthony, from now on leave your sister's things alone."
"Okay." Anthony answered in a quiet voice.
"And you young lady, don't be in such a hurry to get your brother in trouble. Yes, he shouldn't have done what he did, but he fixed it and apologized. Now, you two have been at each other's throats all day. I think some quiet time is in order. I want you to come inside, change into dry clothes, and then go to your rooms until dinner is ready."
"Aww," both children groaned in unison.
"Don't aww me, you need to stop all this bickering if you want to go with Mommy and me to the fireworks tonight."
Anthony and Marie obeyed their father's commands in silence, and Edward, pen in hand, returned to the living room.
"Have I ever told you what a wonderful father you are?"
Edward grinned at his wife before kissing her lips. "A few times. So, you wanna go take a nap while I mind the baby?"
"Planning on a late night are we?"
"Maybe," he admitted. "I was kind of hoping we'd set off a few fireworks of our own."
Fireworks
The word alone would always take Bella back to that night, a year before, when she and Edward surprised their families by doing something spontaneous, carefree and yes, a little impulsive. But Bella knew she wouldn't go back and change the course of events, even if she could…
***Flashback*** One year earlier***
Even though Marie's first unsupervised visit with her father had been a success, Bella and Edward tried not to let it lull them into a false sense of security. If Bella knew anything, it was that Will was unpredictable, and very unreliable.
In mid-June, when Bella and Edward took Marie to her grandmother's home for her next unsupervised visit, Will wasn't there when they arrived. Mrs. Peterson explained that he was running late, but was on his way. Rather than make Bella and Edward wait around, she assured them that Marie would be fine and that she would enjoy nothing more than to spend a little time with her only granddaughter.
After a few minutes hesitation, they reluctantly kissed Marie goodbye.
That evening, when they arrived to pick her up, they were greeted at the door by a woman Bella had never met. After opening the door and giving Bella the once-over, she didn't say a word before turning and shouting into the house for Marie.
When she turned back to face Bella, she opened her mouth, about to speak, but before uttering a single syllable, her gaze fell on Edward. Her expression changed to one of lustful appreciation as she raked her eyes over his face and then his body.
"I'm Lena, by the way." She announced while continuing to eye-fuck Bella's fiancé.
"Okay." Bella answered. Still having no clue who this Lena person was. "Where's Will?"
"Oh, he ran to the store for cigarettes."
"And Mrs. Peterson?"
"Mom had to go to work."
Mom?
At that moment, Marie came bursting through the door, shouting goodbyes to everyone in the house as she made for the car.
A bewildered Bella and Edward followed close behind her.
Bella kept the anger she was feeling in check, but knew as soon as she arrived home, she was going to have an unpleasant phone conversation with Will. Not that any conversation with Will was ever anything other than unpleasant.
How dare he leave their daughter with someone Bella had never even met? A virtual stranger?
Bella was relieved that Marie appeared to be fine despite her father's irresponsible behavior. Actually, Marie was more than fine. By the sound of things, she'd had a wonderful day.
"I got to play with two new girls today." She announced as they drove away from her grandmother's home.
"Is that so?" Bella asked.
"Yep. We went to the park with my Daddy's friend Lena, and played with her daughters."
Bella's ears perked up at that. "So Lena is Daddy's friend?"
"A-huh."
Bella thought about the fact that Lena referred to Will's mother as 'Mom' and shook her head in amazement. Even while married to the woman's son, Bella had never felt comfortable enough to call her anything other than 'Mrs. Peterson'.
"Is Lena nice?"
Marie shrugged. "She's okay. She yells a lot, at Skylar and Macy."
Bella didn't like the sound of that, but let it pass. "How old are her daughters?"
"Skylar is seven and Macy is eight. We had fun together."
Bella was a little uneasy but, couldn't exactly complain. If Will was dating someone, and arranged it so that Marie could have a play date with the woman's children, she couldn't find any fault in that. She only wished he'd asked her first.
She let out a gust of air and Edward, almost as if he could read her mind, reached over and clasped her hand in his.
That evening, Bella retreated to her parents' back porch in order to phone Will. It was probably going to be ugly, and she didn't want to take the chance that Marie or Anthony would overhear.
As soon as he said 'hello', Bella didn't give Will a chance to say another word before making her thoughts on the matter of leaving their daughter with a stranger perfectly clear.
"Get over yourself Bella," he snapped back. "Lena has more experience with kids than you have. She's raising two on her own. You can't even handle one, so you let your parents do everything for Marie."
"That's a lie and you know it."
"Whatever. Bottom line is that you let my daughter around that guy who's fucking you, and never once asked my permission."
"Don't cheapen my relationship with Edward. You're the only person who ever fucked me; the disgusting memory of which I'm working very hard to forget." Bella snapped. She heard Will's displeased snort, but it didn't deter her from continuing. "And the reason I never spoke to you about Edward was that you've been missing from your daughter's life for almost a year!" Bella shouted.
It wasn't long before she felt Edward's strong hand pressed against her back, helping her nerves to calm immediately.
"You're such a bitch."
"Now that you've stooped to name-calling, I can see this conversation is over…" She got ready to end the call before Will stopped her.
"Hold on. I needed to tell you something anyway. The next visit, I want Marie to stay overnight."
Bella paused, trying to push back the panic that was rising to the surface. "Why?"
"Because we're taking the girls to the aquarium, it's a long drive and it will be really late when we get back. Lena and I thought it best if we all crash at Mom's."
Bella immediately got her back up. "Marie's not staying if your 'friend' is staying as well."
"Would you fucking let me finish? That's the problem with you. You never know when to stop talking."
At his words, Bella's blood began to boil once again.
"We're not staying in the same room. You know my mom wouldn't allow that shit."
Her head was spinning, and she told Will that she couldn't give him an answer right away. After two days of mulling it over and discussing the matter with Edward and her parents, she decided to relent.
This would be Will's big chance to prove himself, and Bella sincerely hoped that he didn't screw it up.
***S*C***
The day of Marie's overnight proved to be a difficult one for Bella.
She didn't often spend the night away from Marie, and when she did, her little girl had always been left in the loving care of her Swan grandparents.
In order to keep from breaking down, she spent all day with Edward and Anthony.
The next morning, Sunday, not having been able to sleep well the night before, she dressed early and made the short drive to Mrs. Peterson's.
A very groggy Will answered the door, and scowled at Bella before calling out to Marie. As soon as Marie heard her name, she rose from the spot where she was camped out on the living room floor with the other girls.
After gathering her things, Will made a big deal of hugging her goodbye.
Bella, not sure if Marie was just grumpy and tired, noticed that the child never smiled and never hugged her father back.
Just before turning to leave, Bella saw Lena glaring at her from the kitchen doorway, a large mug of coffee clutched between her hands. Bella ignored her, suddenly feeling the urge to get her daughter out of there and back home as soon as possible.
On the drive to her parents' house, Bella's attempts to get Marie to talk had proven futile. When the little girl immediately retreated to her bedroom upon arrival, she began to worry that something was seriously wrong.
She entered Marie's room only to find her lying in bed, wide awake, and staring at the ceiling.
"Sweetie, I need your help with something." Bella said softly as she sat down on the bed.
Marie stopped looking at the ceiling and turned her gaze toward her mother. "What's wrong, Mommy?"
"Well, I'm worried because I can tell you're upset. And until I know the reason, I'm going to keep worrying and worrying…"
Marie frowned. "I don't wanna tell you."
"Baby, you know you can tell me anything." She coaxed.
Marie stared at her mother. "I don't wanna go back to Grandma Lynn's."
"Why not, sweetie?"
"I was bad," Marie admitted in a sad voice, just before her lip began to quiver.
Bella pulled her little girl up from the bed until she was cradled against her chest, and proceeded to brush her fingers through Marie's hair. "I can't imagine that you were bad. Why don't you tell me exactly what happened?"
Marie wrapped her arms tightly around her mother before whispering the details of her shame. "I didn't want to touch the sharks."
"What?"
"In the touch tank at the 'quarium. Skylar and Macy wanted me to touch the sharks, but I didn't want to…"
"Honey, that doesn't mean you were bad…"
"That's not the bad part. When they started teasing me, I told them to stop, but they wouldn't. Then I said 'shut up'."
"Oh," Bella paused. "Well, you know I don't like that phrase, but saying it doesn't make you bad, Marie. I hope you apologized."
"Yes."
"Well then, no harm done."
Marie was quiet for a moment before Bella heard her sniffling. "Lena hit me." She said in a voice barely above a whisper.
What?!
Bella took a deep breath and pulled Marie away, so she could look at her face. "Lena hit you?"
Marie nodded.
"For saying 'shut up'?"
Marie nodded again as a few more tears trailed down her cheeks. Bella was abruptly furious. "Where did she hit you, baby?"
"On my face. Everyone at the 'quarium saw it." A sob caught in Marie's throat as she continued. "She told me I was a bad girl. I'm sorry I said shut up, Mommy." She gave Bella a pleading look as she practically wailed out the last few words.
Bella pulled Marie back against her, holding her baby close while her own heart fractured. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. "You're not a bad girl, Marie. I cannot say the same for that woman. Don't worry, baby, I promise that she'll never come near you again." Bella tried to swallow her anger momentarily in order to ask another question. "Did you tell your daddy what she did?"
"He was standing there. After L…Lena slapped me, he told me to say sorry to the girls."
Bella was going to kill her ex-husband.
After briefly explaining to her parents what happened, and watching as their eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed in anger, Bella stood from the table and made for the front door.
Her dad was immediately on his feet, stopping her. "Just where do you think you're going, Missy?"
"I'm going to have a word with my ex-husband and that bitch, and I may just slap the two of them for good measure! He's never getting near my daughter again if I can help it!" Bella's entire body was shaking with her anger.
"Bella, stop and think about what you just said. You know, little girl, that violence never solved anything." Her dad was trying to be the voice of reason. "Well, except for when Edward knocked the shit out of that fool a few months ago." Charlie Swan's mustache twitched in amusement at the memory.
"Charlie, you're not helping," Renee scolded before turning to her daughter. "Bella, I think you should have your say, but please don't hit anyone. Will would not hesitate to press charges. You can't risk losing your daughter."
Her mother's words caused Bella's stomach to twist uncomfortably. She was right. Bella needed to remain the level-headed, responsible parent. Will had always been irrational and impulsive, and once again it was going to be his downfall.
Renee was able to coax Bella back to the kitchen for a cup of tea, before she did something she'd regret.
Bella had calmed considerably by the time Edward and Anthony arrived, surprising everyone with donuts.
It wasn't long before Marie padded downstairs to join them.
As soon as he saw her, Edward pulled Marie into a hug. "Ree, I was hoping you'd like to spend the day at our place. Anthony's dying to go in the water."
Marie smiled widely and nodded.
"Okay then," Edward continued, "as soon as Mommy and I return, we'll leave."
Bella gave Edward a confused look.
He quirked an eyebrow at her and smirked, "We'll be back in a little while," he announced to the room as he grabbed Bella's hand and led her out to his car.
"Where are we going?"
Edward frowned, "To have a word with your ex."
"Dad phoned you?"
Edward nodded. "And I've already had a conversation with my attorney. I'm putting Peterson on alert."
Bella smiled. "God, you're sexy when you're pissed off."
Edward blurted out a laugh. "Cut that out, Angel. I'm trying to hold onto my anger here…"
When they arrived at the Petersons', the car had barely come to a stop before Bella was out of it and bounding toward the front door. Edward had to run to catch up with her.
"Did Marie forget something?" Mrs. Peterson asked in confusion after opening the door to them.
"No, I'd like to have a word with Will and Lena please." Bella tried to keep her tone even.
Mrs. Peterson looked even more confused.
Will's voice sounded from inside; he'd obviously heard Bella's request. "What's going on? If you have something to say to me, Bella, say it over the phone."
"I need to do this face to face," Bella began; aware that Lena's daughters were watching the entire exchange. "I suggest you and your friend step outside unless you want the children to hear this."
At that moment, Lena herself appeared in the open doorway. "Is there a problem?"
Bella took a good look at the woman before her. From her straggly, dirty blonde hair, still bearing the remnants of an old perm, to the bony shoulders protruding from the edges of a 'barely there' blue halter top, then down to the ratty cut off jean shorts hanging from her hips.
No, Lena was not attractive, but it was obvious that she could be, were she to put a little effort into it.
And toss out her entire wardrobe while she was at it.
Unfortunately, the attractiveness or unattractiveness of Will's current hookup was the least of Bella's concerns. This bitch had hit her child, and she was going to answer for it.
"There wasn't a problem until you decided to slap my daughter," Bella seethed, not able to hold in her anger any more. "And if that wasn't enough, you then told her she was bad. How dare you?!"
Lena had the nerve to roll her eyes. "My girls aren't allowed to say shut up to each other."
"So you hit them for it?" Bella asked, incredulously.
"When necessary." Lena told her with a shrug. "If Marie is going to be around my kids, she needs to follow my rules."
"You're not her parent!"
By this time, Will finally appeared in the doorway behind Lena. "Well, someone needed to discipline that child. You weren't around, and Will doesn't know how. You see he hasn't been allowed to see his daughter enough to learn what it takes to be a good parent," Lena sneered.
"That was his choice." Bella was still speaking in a raised tone. "And lady, you know nothing about being a good parent."
As she stood there, she felt Edward's hand soothe her back before grasping onto her shoulder. Bella took a deep breath before continuing.
"There is something seriously wrong with you if you think it's okay to slap a child across the face."
Lena just glared at her.
"I wonder if your daughters' father approves of the way you treat his children. If I were him, I'd be suing for custody."
For the first time since Bella and Edward had arrived, Lena actually looked uncomfortable.
"From this moment on, I will make certain that you are allowed nowhere near my daughter,"
Bella directed her statement at Lena, but Will was the one to respond. "You can't stop me from seeing my kid!" He exclaimed.
"As a matter of fact, she can," Edward finally spoke. "According to my attorney, Bella has every right to insist that your friend not be allowed anywhere near Marie during her visits, so if you insist that she's there, you won't be able to see Marie either. Also, Bella is perfectly within her rights to request that all future visits with you be supervised. In other words, when you want to see Marie, the two of us or Bella's parents will be there as well."
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Will snarled.
"I'm the man who intends to marry this woman, and treat her as she deserves." Edward quipped back. "In other words, I'm nothing like you." He then took Bella's hand and made a quick exit, ignoring the string of profanities that Will hurled at his back.
Bella was silent until they pulled into her parents' driveway. "Was all of that stuff you told Will true?"
"Absolutely, Angel. He doesn't get another chance at this. That little girl is much too precious to put at risk. We will do whatever it takes to keep her safe and happy."
"Oh, Edward," Bella gave him a teary smile just before throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me, Bella; you would do the same for me and Anthony."
"I would." She admitted before kissing him sweetly. When she pulled away, the tears were still in her eyes. "Edward, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," he whispered.
"Do you really want a big wedding?"
He shrugged, "Don't you?"
"If it means we have to wait, then no, I don't." She looked into his eyes and decided to tell him everything she was feeling. "I'm tired of saying our goodnights over the phone, Edward. I want to fall asleep in your arms every night and wake up next to you every morning. I want to bring you breakfast in bed, and complain when you leave the toilet seat up."
"Hey! I don't do that," Edward defended with a grin. "And when I do, I blame it on Anthony."
Bella giggled, "I want to raise our children together, under the same roof. I want the crazy, busy days of soccer practice and dance classes, PTA meetings, and school field trips. I want it all, and I don't want to wait until October. I want our life together to begin now."
Edward stared at Bella as he processed exactly what she was telling him. "Angel, I don't care about a big wedding, but I thought you would want one."
"No, Edward. All I really want is for our families to be there, and your parents are flying in this week..." Bella waited, gauging his reaction.
"For Fourth of July weekend…" Edward hesitated and then Bella watched as his mouth turned up into a hopeful grin. "You want to get married next weekend?"
Bella nodded again.
"But… we won't be able to go on a honeymoon until the fall."
"I don't need a honeymoon," Bella whispered. "I just need you."
Edward couldn't contain the joy he felt at Bella's declaration. She wanted to marry him as much as he wanted to marry her. All these weeks, he'd been allowing his mother to plan a lavish, over-the-top wedding which was sure to be the talk of New York high society for years to come. And now he discovered that Bella, like him, would be happy with a simple ceremony, witnessed only by close friends and family.
"Let's do it, Angel."
Bella threw her arms around his neck again, and literally squealed with delight.
Early in the week, they acquired their marriage license and reserved a special venue for the event, keeping their plans a secret from all but the minister who would perform the ceremony.
Bella even went as far as to purchase a lovely white summer dress for their nuptials. When she slipped it on during the afternoon of July 4th, no one knew it was to be her wedding gown, but they were soon to find out.
Edward and Bella merely told everyone that they'd reserved the lighthouse on Mark Island for an elegant private dinner, ensuring that their guests would dress the part.
In the early evening, the group traveled by boat to the island, still unaware of the true purpose of their excursion.
It wasn't until Edward and Bella stood under an archway of flowers in the candlelit room, hands clasped, and the minister standing before them, that awareness finally dawned on those in attendance.
Just as the sun dipped below the distant horizon, Bella and Edward looked into each other's eyes and promised forever.
Their vows were simple and heartfelt, the tears each shed, sincere, and their first kiss as husband and wife, passionate. As they turned to face their nearest and dearest, the minister pronouncing them "husband and wife", they were startled by the sudden intrusion of light and explosive sound from beyond the wall of windows behind them. A simple glance across the water made it apparent that the annual 4th of July fireworks display on the mainland had begun.
*********end flashback*********
"Quite a different scene from a year ago, huh?" Edward asked from his spot beside Bella.
They were stretched out on a blanket, Lottie lying across Edward's lap, fast asleep. Marie and Anthony were sitting beside them, eating cotton candy and laughing with delight at the explosions and showers of fireworks filling the sky overhead.
Bella smiled and nodded. "Your mother was not very pleased, if I recall."
"She got over it." Edward shrugged, grinning widely. "I am so glad we didn't wait."
"Me, too." Bella answered before leaning in for a chaste kiss.
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