*Labor Day*
Enjoy!
**********S*C**********
Present Day
Edward greeted Bella and the children at the door when they returned from shopping.
"Hey Angel," he said to his wife as he kissed her lips. Lottie cooed in his arms as soon as she saw her mother.
Bella smiled and gave her baby girl a soft kiss.
"Daddy, we buyed all the back to school stuff in the whole store!" Marie shouted excitedly as she began pulling shopping bags out of the car.
"Bought, honey."
"Bought," She repeated obediently. "I got a new backpack with Hello Kitty on it."
"What? No Justin Bieber?" Edward asked with a smirk.
"Shh," Bella chided, "I talked her out of it."
"Oh," he whispered, and gave his wife a knowing wink.
"Mommy said if Marie picked the Hello Kitty one, she'd make smoothies!" Anthony announced.
Edward laughed out loud then.
"Hey, I'm not above bribing our children," Bella defended with a giggle.
Anthony then proceeded to show his father the Thor backpack he'd chosen. Edward told Anthony that it was cool, but Edward was thinking that it was pretty fucking awesome.
"And did Mommy get her school supplies as well?" he asked with a broad smile.
Bella smiled back at her handsome husband. "I did; even though most of my classes are online."
"Doesn't matter Angel, you'll still need the tools to help you succeed."
As if she didn't already know he was the most wonderful man on earth, Edward had gone above and beyond her expectations recently. When he discovered that Bella was a mere twenty-two credits from receiving her degree, he convinced her to quit her job at the library, and go to school full-time.
Luckily, most of the classes she needed were offered online. However, for two of them, Bella would still need to drive the hour and a half to and from campus every Tuesday and Thursday in order to attend.
Edward would have full Mister Mom responsibilities on those days.
Even though the first day of school for them was two weeks away, the children weren't happy until Bella helped them pack all of their supplies in their new backpacks. As soon as she was done with that, Edward pulled her aside.
"We need to talk, Angel."
He sighed heavily before fastening Lottie in her bouncy seat, and leading Bella to the quiet of their bedroom. Once behind their closed door, the happy expression on his face vanished.
"Edward, what's going on?" Bella asked worriedly.
He rubbed his fingers across his forehead in agitation. "Jackie phoned while you were out."
Bella grimaced. In the days since Lottie's birth, she'd all but forgotten about the existence of Edward's ex-wife. The fact that she'd called, could only mean that she wanted something.
Bella drew in a deep breath. "Okay."
Edward frowned again and stared into Bella's eyes. "She wants to see Anthony. She really doesn't care about the money anymore, supposedly." He shrugged as he went to sit on the bed, pulling Bella's hand until she was seated beside him. "This guy she's marrying is loaded, and he wants to meet Anthony."
Bella soothed his back with her hand. "How do you feel about that?"
He shook his head. "I'm against it. I don't want him to be forced to spend time with her, even if it's only a visit. He doesn't know her anymore."
Bella nodded. "And you are perfectly within your rights to deny her Edward. But…"
Edward gave her a confused look, "But?"
Bella bit her lip as she thought about how to phrase what she needed to say. "Well, don't you think you should at least ask Anthony if he wants to see her?"
Edward sighed as his shoulders slumped. "Angel, our lives are so perfect at the moment. I don't want to risk our son's mental well-being on Jackie's whims." He looked at Bella again, "You know how hard we have to work in order to keep that fucker Will from messing with Marie's head; I suppose I'm trying to avoid a similar situation with Anthony."
He sat silently for a moment, turning Bella's words over in his mind, before lifting his head to look at her again. "But, I suppose you're right. Will you help me speak to him?"
Bella was a bit taken aback by the lost expression in Edward's eyes. Ever since they'd met, he'd been her rock, helping her through every difficulty in the past almost two years with his quiet, careful reassurance.
This time, it was Edward who needed someone to lean on. Bella squared her shoulders. Jackie had taken so much from Edward and Anthony already, and Bella was determined not to let that woman be the cause of any more turmoil in their lives.
"Of course I will. He's my son too, Edward. And if he decides to see Jackie, her visit will be on our terms," she said as she placed her hand on his cheek. "I will never allow that woman to steal a moment's happiness from either of you ever again."
Edward leaned into her hand and closed his eyes in relief. "Thank you, Angel."
Bella thought back to the events of the past year, and how Will's behavior had caused her more than one sleepless night. During all that time, Edward had provided his advice, his strength, and sometimes a shoulder to cry on when she needed it most.
From the beginning, Edward had shared his belief that Bella's ex-husband wasn't ready to be a real father to Marie. Unfortunately, during the past year, he'd been proven right. So much so that Bella doubted whether Will would ever be ready for that particular responsibility.
*********flashback, one year earlier*******
"Mr. Peterson, after reviewing all the facts of the case, the court has ruled to deny your request for unsupervised visitation."
Bella and Edward both breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at one another. Will, on the other hand, in a gesture of defiance, crossed his arms over his chest while frowning at the judge.
Judge Jamison was not amused, and removed his glasses before narrowing his eyes at Will. "I find it difficult to understand why you would leave the corporal punishment of your own child in the hands of a woman who is neither Marie's mother nor any relation to her whatsoever. Furthermore, some would argue that this 'punishment' was not a punishment at all, but child abuse, plain and simple."
The judge put his glasses back on and shuffled the papers in front of him. "You're fortunate that your ex-wife chose not to press charges. However, the fact remains that you exhibited poor judgment with regard to the physical and mental well-being of your child. These, coupled with the fact that you neglected to pay child support for a significant number of months during the past year, were the deciding factors in my ruling."
He paused and took his glasses off again, his expression not as stern. "Now, if you are truly sincere in your intentions to be a father to your daughter, the court will give you an opportunity to earn unsupervised visitation."
Will dropped his arms to his sides as he began to listen intently to what the judge had to say.
In the end, Judge Jamison advised that Will would have supervised visitation at a location of Bella's choosing, every other Saturday. Will was also expected to phone Marie every Thursday evening at 7:30. Mrs. Chisholm, Marie's court-appointed advocate, would monitor Will's compliance to the demands and report back to the judge in six months.
If, at the end of those six months, Judge Jamison determined that Will had complied with the requirements to his satisfaction, he would be granted unsupervised visitation every other Saturday.
Bella had conflicting emotions about the Judge's decision. Either way, she worried for her daughter. She feared that Will would let Marie down by not complying, but she also feared for Marie if he did comply and was granted unsupervised visitation.
"Angel," Edward's voice, always soothing as he drove them home, "Please stop worrying. We'll take this one day at a time. No matter what, we will protect our little girl."
Bella smiled. Edward's support meant everything to her. Dealing with Will's nonsense was so much easier now that she had him.
Regardless, as it got closer to Marie's first supervised visit, Bella grew more and more anxious. Her reaction was even worse than it had been prior to Marie's unsupervised visits with Will a couple of months before.
Edward watched as his wife worked herself up into such a state that she actually became ill. The seemingly simple cold she caught soon developed into an upper respiratory infection. Under protest, Edward forced her to go to the doctor.
After a couple of doses of antibiotic, she seemed well on the road to recovery, and Edward decided that they needed to have a serious chat.
"Angel, I'm concerned about you," he admitted as he lay beside her on their bed. Bella felt better, but was still fatigued easily. "You can't keep doing this to yourself. You're not eating or sleeping as you should." He reached over and brushed a strand of hair away from Bella's face. "Talk to me, Angel. Why are you so tense about this upcoming visit?"
Bella let out a breath as tears filled her eyes. "Oh, Edward," She choked out the words, "I can't shake this guilt. I should never have allowed Will to have unsupervised visits. If I hadn't, Marie never would have been slapped by that horrid woman. And now," she sobbed, "Now, it's out of my hands."
Edward could do nothing but pull her close and comfort her as she cried.
"Suppose he complies with all the judge's demands? He'll get to have her, and I won't know what's happening to my baby," she wailed. Edward supposed, correctly, that she was on the verge of a crying jag.
"Angel, we will deal with that when and if it happens. Regardless, that woman will never be allowed near our daughter again."
Bella loved it when he referred to Marie as his.
She sniffled and looked up at him hopefully.
"I'm here, and no matter what, I promise to do everything in my power to keep my family safe." He bent down and kissed her soft lips.
Before long, the kissing turned into more. Knowing that Bella was not well, Edward told himself that he needed to let her rest, but soon realized that resistance was futile.
***S*C***
Marie frowned for the entirety of the call, and when she hung up, she asked her mother again if Lena would be coming with her Daddy when he visited. Bella answered with an emphatic "no".
Will's first visitation was to take place the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. Since Marie had dance class every Saturday morning, Bella thought that would be the perfect time for Will to see her.
He could come observe the class and spend time with Marie afterwards.
The visit started awkwardly as Will greeted Marie in the parents' waiting room of the dance studio.
Despite the fact that Bella and Edward had tried to reassure Marie that Lena wouldn't be allowed anywhere near her, they noticed that her eyes still searched warily around the room, no doubt making certain that the wicked witch wasn't in tow.
"Are you going to be okay, Angel?" Edward asked in Bella's ear as he kissed her goodbye. He needed to take Anthony to karate class, but was loathe to leave Bella in the company of her ex, despite the fact that there were four other mothers in the waiting room.
Bella gave him a tentative smile. "I'll be fine." She whispered back. "I'll see you in about an hour?"
He nodded before kissing her forehead and giving Will a curt nod. "Peterson." He said in a formal tone before he and Anthony disappeared through the door.
Will and Bella sat quietly for a while, watching Marie and her classmates through the large glass window. As time passed, Bella got lost in her daughter's antics. Marie was quite the ham, never taking her eyes from her own reflection as she mimicked the teacher's dance steps.
"You sure didn't waste any time," Will mumbled, startling Bella, who'd almost forgotten he was there.
She turned toward him with a frown, "What?"
Will smirked. It was a look Bella had seen many times. "Getting Cullen to marry you. You sure you're not knocked up?"
Bella shot him a look of disgust. "You'll never change," she muttered before turning away to watch Marie again.
"What? Just speaking from experience; after all, that's how you trapped me."
Bella was merely annoyed before, now, however, she was livid. "As I recall, you were the one begging me to marry you. Dumbest thing I ever did was to agree to it." Bella answered, her voice laced with venom.
Will merely scoffed at her answer. "Yeah, well, looks like you hit the jackpot this time."
"What are you talking about?" Bella asked, still angry.
"Cullen," Will said matter-of-factly. "Don't tell me you didn't know that his whole family's loaded. Still don't know why he's hiding out in this stupid little town. Did he murder someone?" Will asked, laughing at his own joke.
"Whether or not Edward's family has money is none of your business."
Will shot her a leering smile while, at the same time, he narrowed his eyes. "It will be my business if he ever hits me again; I'll be lawyered up so fucking fast it will make your head spin."
Bella heard the gasps from the other women in the room, one of whom had a small child on her lap, as they reacted to Will's colorful choice of language. "I apologize for my ex-husband. He never did learn how to be respectful while in the presence of ladies."
Will's eyes flashed with anger just as Annette, the mother of Marie's friend Tori, spoke. "No need to apologize, Bella. We're all familiar with Will."
It was true. In their small town, everyone knew Will, and most didn't care for him.
"All I can say is I'm glad you traded 'up' with your second husband," Annette said with a mischievous grin, causing Bella and the other women to laugh.
"Yes, my taste has improved greatly since I was a naïve teenager."
"I'll say." Annette agreed.
Will glared at her. "Still the same bitch you were in high school, huh, Annette?"
Annette covered the ears of her son before speaking again. "And you're still an asshole."
Will huffed and stood. "I don't need this shit. I'll wait outside."
So much for spending quality time with his daughter…
***S*C***
"Now, we have something much more important to discuss." With the forced change of subject, Edward was grinning from ear to ear.
"What's that?" Bella asked with a curious smile.
He leaned in close until their lips were almost touching, "Our honeymoon."
"Oh." Bella's look of surprise caused Edward to chuckle.
"You didn't think I'd forgotten, did you, Angel?"
Bella shrugged, "I guess I hadn't really thought about it…" They'd been married almost two months, but their lives had been so hectic that Bella had put aside all thoughts of a trip.
"Do you think we should still go away?" she asked quietly, "Suppose Will causes trouble…"
"Angel, I have every confidence in your parents' ability to look after the welfare of our children. There's a part of me that wishes Will would try something. I'd be willing to bet that Chief Swan's been waiting for the opportunity to open a can of whoop ass on that fucker." He grinned hopefully, causing Bella to giggle.
For the next little while, they discussed their honeymoon options. Bella preferred warm climates, whereas Edward favored cooler temperatures. "See, that's the difference between people who are born in places like Maine, Edward. We tend to long for those warmer vacation destinations."
Edward smiled, his mind made up. This honeymoon would be all about giving Bella what she wanted.
Ultimately, they decided on a cruise out of Miami in mid-October, arriving home just before Halloween. Ten nights in the Caribbean should give Bella her fill of warm weather. "Maybe I'll even get a tan for the first time in my life," she laughed.
That settled, they both enjoyed the rest of their evening, sipping wine and snuggling together on the sofa. Instead of Bella's thoughts straying to the next time she'd have to see Will, her mind was occupied with visions of blue Caribbean water, sun-drenched beaches and swaying palm trees.
*****end of flashback******Return to present day*****
"Is there anything that you don't excel at, Edward?" Bella asked with an awed smile when she returned from her first day of class to find Edward cooking dinner, Lottie strapped to his chest in her baby carrier, while Anthony and Marie lounged in the family room watching a DVD.
"Excel?" he asked in an amused tone as he bent down to kiss her hello.
"You're handling the children and cooking dinner."
He grinned. "Well, you may change your mind when you taste this. It in no way compares to your cooking, my love."
One thing Edward had learned during the last year and a half was that Bella was an excellent cook.
As a matter of fact, just the mention of her homemade chicken and dumplings was enough to cause Edward's mouth to water.
The dinner wasn't fancy; just pasta with sauce from a jar and a light salad, but Bella was grateful that Edward had spared her the chore of preparing it.
As the days passed, Bella didn't bring up the subject of Jackie again. She knew Edward was struggling, and decided that any pressure from her would only make things more difficult for him.
Finally, the Saturday of Labor Day weekend arrived and, much as he did after receiving Jackie's phone call weeks before, he pulled Bella aside. "I think we should talk to Anthony today."
Bella nodded and placed her hand reassuringly on his forearm. "Everything will be fine, Edward."
He gave her a tight smile before turning toward the family room, where Marie and Anthony were playing video games.
"Hey kids, Grandma and Grandpa want us to come over for a cookout." Edward announced happily.
"Yay!" Both kids shouted in unison before jumping to their feet and turning off the game.
Edward stopped Anthony before he ran from the room. "Son, Mommy and I need to speak with you."
"Okay," he answered with a bright smile.
After all three were seated on the sofa, Edward began. "Anthony, a couple of weeks ago, I got a phone call from your mother."
Anthony frowned and glanced at Bella, before understanding dawned on his features. "Ohhh," He said knowingly while nodding his head. "You mean Jackie." Then he turned to his father with a curious expression. "Why did she call?"
Edward cleared his throat. "She wants to see you."
"Why?" Anthony asked very matter-of-factly.
Edward looked to Bella for assistance. "Well, honey," Bella said softly as she put her arm around Anthony's shoulders. "She's getting married again, and would like you to meet her fiancé."
Anthony frowned again. "She just wants me to meet him?"
"That's all," Edward reassured.
"Would you and Mommy be there too?"
"Absolutely."
"Okay," Anthony said with another shrug.
"You want to see her?" Edward asked.
"No," Anthony answered. "But I will, if you want me to."
"No son, this is your decision. Mommy and I don't want you to do it if it makes you uncomfortable."
"As long as you and Mommy are there, just like when Marie has to see Will, it's okay." Anthony said.
Bella and Edward sat there quietly, a little stunned by their son's mature reaction.
Suddenly, Anthony was on his feet. "Can I go now? I need to get my glove so I can play catch with Grandpa Charlie." He grinned widely, looking very much like his father when he did.
Edward nodded distractedly. "Sure."
"Okay," Anthony said happily before disappearing upstairs to his room.
Bella laughed at Edward's stunned expression. "No matter how long I live, I don't think I'll ever understand children," he muttered, "My own, least of all."
******A/N*****
A/N Remember the worried child of a year before? Anthony certainly has changed. I think observing how protective Bella and Edward have been of Marie has given him a sense of security which he may not have had before.
Also, as you can gather from the 'present day' Will wasn't granted unsupervised visits after all. hmm. More about that in next chapter, which will also encompass the honeymoon cruise.
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