19. It's Bedtime, Isabella

EPOV

I grabbed Isabella’s wrist and pulled her thumb out of her mouth. She looked up at me and pouted.

I chuckled at her childishness and ran my cool thumb across her warm, jutted out bottom lip, murmuring, “No, Isabella…you can have your thumb at bedtime.”


She nodded then, and stood up. “You like your picture, Edward?” she asked hopefully, then climbed up onto the bed and sat in my lap.


I wrapped my arms around her and felt her stomach muscles tremble under my cold touch. I kissed her forehead and stated confidently, “I do. I like it very much. I’m going to have it framed, and then we can hang it up on our wall,” I suggested. “What do you think of that, angel?”


Excitement lit up her eyes. “I like it!” she said.


I smiled. “Good. Now, I think it’s time for your bath, baby. We don’t want that ink to stain your skin,” I said while eyeing her topless form.

Her face, arms and belly will have to be scrubbed I thought while shaking my head.


She blushed and asked softly, “Do I get to have bubbles?”


I nodded then lifted her off my lap, then headed into the bathroom and turned the tub’s faucet on. Not really sure what a comfortable temperature for her would be, I called out, “Isabella, come here…”

She walked in and looked at the tub. “Do you got my toys?” she asked before I could ask her about the water.

I nodded and told her to stick her hand under the faucet to let me know when the water felt good. She complied and stuck her hand into the running water, before yanking it back with a yelp.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly unsure of why the water hurt her.

“Hot…” she mumbled and sniffled.


I quickly grabbed the hand that had accidentally been burned and brought it to my cool lips. “I’ll kiss it better,” I murmured against her hot flesh.


She sniffled again, before she smiled at me. "All better,” she whispered.


I turned the hot water down then, and added more cold water. “Try it now, baby.”


She stuck the same hand under the faucet and shook her head. “Too cold…”

I added a little more hot water flow and told her to try again…


...four tries later, we had it just right, so I put the drain plug in, then went to grab her two bath toys and the bubble bath solution out from the cabinet underneath the sink.


“My Ariel dolly!” Isabella exclaimed brightly as I handed it to her.


I placed the soap crayons on the side of the tub and began to read the directions to the bubble bath solution. After placing one cap full under the flowing water, bubbles started to magically appear in the tub, making Isabella smile.


She giggled, clinging to my side. “My bubbles…” she mumbled.


I was suddenly faced with a dilemma that I should have realized like ten minutes ago.


Do I stay?


Do I go?


“Isabella, you’re such a big girl,” I began, my tone filled with encouragement. She nodded up at me and began sucking on her pouty bottom lip. “You can take a bath all by yourself, huh?”


I didn’t know if I could stick around to see a naked, wet Bella and not give in to my instincts to take her. My mind may know that it is dangerous…and that this currently is not my Bella, but frankly, my growing erection didn't give a shit.

I had to get out of the bathroom. I could feel my stare being drawn to her perky little breasts that were being held up by that flimsy piece of cotton...and it would be soooo easy to just reach down, and…God, just fucking rip it off.


I gotta go.


Isabella’s voice interrupted me out of my internal monologue. “Not allowed…”


“Huh, baby…what’s that now?” I asked, trying my damndest to rip my gaze away from her soft and supple looking-


“Not allowed to get a bath by myself,” she repeated.


I exhaled sharply, trying to think of a quick solution. “Well, sweetheart…you know, you gotta learn sometime, and you’re a big girl now, and…you know, there’s no time like the present,” I said nervously, knowing that I was rambling but I couldn’t seem to help myself.


Isabella just nodded but didn’t say anything, so I kept going, suddenly coming up with an idea. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do...” I said and smiled softly at her, trying to get her to smile back. I wanted her to go along with this. I was desperate for her to go along with this.


She did smile back in response, so I continued. “You’re going to be a big girl and get in your bubbles with your toys to take a bath all by yourself. I am going to be right next door, in the bedroom, and we will leave the bathroom door open. Okay? So if you need me, you just say my name, and I’ll be right back in here,” I suggested. “Does that sound good, angel?”

She nodded and dropped her water doll into the tub of bubbles. When she reached for her jeans to undo the button, I reached out to still her hands.

“Hold on, baby…” I instructed gently.


She furrowed her brow. ”But how come?”


“Wait until the tub is full so that I can turn the water off before I go back into the bedroom.”


“How come?” she asked again as the tub continued to fill.


“Because you aren’t supposed to take your clothes off in front of boys,” I said, trying to keep my explanation simple.


“Why…?” she asked, confused. “I get nakey in front of boys all the time,” she informed me casually then went back to unbutton her jeans again.


I stilled them again and tried to reign in my anger at her statement, reminding me of how my Bella was broken at such a young age.

“No, Isabella,” I told her again, referring to her hands.


“But-” she started before I interrupted her.


“Tub is full!” I might have said a little too enthusiastically, before letting go of her wrists and leaning over to shut the water off.

I turned back to find Isabella's curious gaze on me, so I figured I‘d better explain yet another rule to her. “Sweetheart, you don’t undress in front of people. Especially boys. Ever. Never ever,” I said…maybe a little too forcefully.


She just nodded after a minute and blushed, looking down.

I put my finger under her chin, making her keep eye contact with me. “Do you understand that, baby? It’s really important that you do. It’s very important,” I said seriously.


She nodded but continued to stay quiet. For some reason, I felt like I should warn her…like my instincts were telling me that what I had just said went in one ear and out the other.


“Isabella, I’ll be very angry with you if you break that rule,” I said lowly, keeping eye contact.


She nodded silently.

“Say it, Isabella. What is the very important rule that you need to remember at all times?”

“Don’t get nakey in front of people…” she whispered to me and blushed again.


I nodded and kissed her pink cheek, right below a row of purple hearts. “Now, make sure you get all of that marker off of your skin. There’s a washcloth on the towel rack above your head that you can use to help you scrub it off. Alright, baby?”


She nodded then, and beamed up at me. “I’m a big girl…I can do it,” she stated confidently.

God, I hope so.


I walked out of the bathroom then, and headed for the bed, content to just sit and wait until she was done. I couldn’t wait to brush her long beautiful hair.


I decided to go downstairs for a minute and make her a chocolate protein shake to drink when she got out of the tub, and I had one of Bella's sleeping pills with a small glass a water sitting on the nightstand, ready for her when she was done with that shake.

I had been listening to Isabella splash around, her peals of giggling laughter echoing within the tiled bathroom walls, while I tried to decide which juvenile movie to put on for her tonight, when she called my name.


I was suddenly very nervous. I knew that those damn bubbles would do nothing to hide her beauty from my evil gold eyes. I would see everything...a part of me wanted to escape out the front door, and another part of me wanted to go into that bathroom and cater to of a very wet, very naked Bella, or hell, just fucking join her in there.

Apparently, that part of me won out because my feet were pulling me in the direction of the bathroom, and before I could stop myself, I was standing in the small room and looking down at my angel.


And my God, she was breathtaking. I caught a glimpse of a beautiful dusty rose nipple before I tore my gaze away from it and used all of the goddamn control I had left to just stare at her face. And nowhere else.


Christ, I'm a pervert.


She may be my Bella but she's a fucking five year old right now.


Well, as long as I'm going to hell, I may as well do it thoroughly...


"Yes, love...what do you need?" I asked in a light tone with a smile, giving nothing away of my inner turmoil.


She had been playing with her soap crayons, and I could see the words 'I love my Edward' written in green soap on the tiled wall, next to Isabella's name, written in pink soap. She had an adorable smile on her face and was currently playing with her mermaid Ariel doll, dunking it's head under the water and lifting it back up, rubbing some soap in it's hair, then dunking it in the water again. She looked up at me and started sucking on those pretty pink lips.


"Edward, my marker hearts all gone?" she asked, referring to her cheekbones.


They weren't gone but I could tell that she had tried to scrub them off. Her Crayola beard and mustache were history, though, so that's a plus.


"No, baby...not quite," I informed her.


She dipped her hand into the bubbles and a second later came back with a wet and soapy wash cloth. She bunched it up and put it on her cheek, making slow rubbing motions in an effort to scrub the marker off. She wasn't pressing nearly hard enough and I knew that if I didn't help, then she'd be in here all night.


And we just couldn't have that because she needed to drink that protein shake that was on the nightstand waiting for her at this very moment. I would do this for her health. Yes. Her health depended on me helping her with those smudgy purple hearts on that soft, smooth skin on her beautiful face.


So, yes...to save us both some time and trouble, I would need to do this for her. I would need to take that warm, soapy wash cloth and dip it into the bathwater that was currently permeated with the delicious essence of my naked Bella, and I would need to put it to her rosy cheek and rub it in circular motions...firm but gentle motions...until all of the marker was off.


Because she couldn't do it. She needed my help. It was the noble thing to do.


Not perverted.


At all.


I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and reached out to her. "Here, baby...let me do it," I suggested softly.


She smiled and handed me the washcloth as I sat down on the edge of the bathtub. I dipped it back into the warm water and quickly removed my hand, trying not to tempt myself any further. I didn't want to do something that I knew I would regret.

This is Isabella...my baby...my five year old...she's five years old...Five. Years. Old.

She began humming and making her doll swim around the water and fly above the bubbles, while I wringed out the excess water from the cloth. This was good. If she kept acting like that...like a child, then it would distract my mind enough to just get the task done and get the hell out of this room. It was working so far...so I placed the wet cloth to her soft cheek and told her to hold still while I started the circular rubbing motions.


"Edward, my dolly likes playing in the bath. She likes to swim and play in the bubbles, just like me," she said conversationally while I worked on her left cheek.


"Well, that's nice...are you two having fun?" I asked, trying to concentrate on her words and not that pink, suckable little nipple that was peaking out at me above the bubbles right now.


She nodded. "Yah-huh, we were playing the little mermaid, and she was Ariel and I was her bestest friend and we went swimmin all day long in the water and singin the songs from the movie that she's in," she said, before she got an excited look in her eye. "Did you know she was in a movie? She's famous! And I'm her bestest friend, so I'm famous too," she pointed out smugly.


"Yes, you are..." I murmured, playing along and dipping the cloth back into the water.


I brought it back up to her cheek and rinsed those purple smudges away, before switching to her right cheek.


"I made you a shake for after your bath, Isabella," I informed her when she got quiet again, her fingers twirling around the doll's hair.


She beamed up at me. "Chocolate?" she asked hopefully.


I smiled, glad that she liked that flavor. "Yes, it's chocolate. Did you wash your hair?"


She nodded and kept twirling the doll's hair, but I knew that she was lying. Only the tips of her hair were wet, so I knew she hadn't washed it. I really only asked her, to remind her that it needed to be done, but then she went and nodded her head...lying to me.

"Isabella, did you wash you hair?" I asked her again, just to make sure...she may have been concentrating on her doll and not my question at the moment.

She nodded again, and I stopped rubbing the wash cloth on her cheek. The purple smudges were all gone now, so I quickly dipped the rag back into the water and brought it back to her cheek to rinse away the marker's residue.

"Are you lying to me?" I asked her.


She tore her attention away from the doll that she had been twirling and flipping around, to look up at the tone of my voice. She saw the slightly stern look I was giving her and started to suck on that bottom lip as she shook her head 'no'.


I sighed.

Is lying going to be a problem with her?


"I think you are. I'm going to ask you one more time, Isabella. Did. You. Wash. Your. Hair?" I asked slowly, my tone back to being soft so that I didn't scare her.


She was quick to answer. "I washed my dolly's hair. See?" she said, and held up the doll for me to look at it's red hair.


"No, baby...I need to know if you washed your hair," I clarified.

She shook her head and sniffled a little. "Am I in trouble?" she asked with worried eyes.


"No, but you need to wash all of that pretty hair before you can get out of the tub, baby girl. Put Ariel down for now," I told her.


She sat her doll down on the edge of the tub next to me. "You gotta watch my friend," she told me.


I picked the doll up and kept it in my hand, then repeated, "Wash your hair, angel."


She reached for the bottle of shampoo that was sitting at the corner of the tub and handed it to me.


I handed it back and reminded her, "You're a big girl, Isabella. Wash your own hair."


She handed it right back and shook her head sheepishly. "Not allowed...I get the soapies in my eyes, and it makes me cry," she informed me.


I looked at the damn shampoo bottle for a second and sighed, resigned to my fate. I would have to wash her hair. I swallowed back the venom that had pooled in my mouth from her wet scent and my desire for it and her body. I put the doll down, back in the tub so that I could have use of both of my hands.

She immediately reached for it, but I stopped her.

"Uh-uh Isabella, no...I told you to leave her alone for now," I reminded her. She pouted but I ignored it, and said simply, "Get your hair wet for me, baby."


I looked away then, to put some shampoo in my hand, as she lay back to dip her head under the water, getting all of those luscious brown locks nice and wet and fucking ready for me.

Get your mind out of the gutter, Cullen.


Right.


When she came back up out of the water, she squinted her eyes and wiped the water away from her face and eyes. When she opened her eyes again, she smiled up at me.

"S'all wet now," she told me, then turned around to face the wall so that her back was to me, and I started the process of washing her hair.


I wiped the shampoo in my palms onto her silky soft hair, and rubbed it in. Once all her strands were coated in the soapy substance, I gathered it all in my hands and started to lather it up. Once all of the bottom locks were soapy, I moved to the top, gently running my fingers along her hair and parting it so that I could start to massage the soap into her scalp.


"Edward, can Ariel come to Never Never Land with us?" Isabella asked into the quiet of the room, completely interrupting my concentration on the task that I was clearly enjoying entirely too much. I must have been washing her hair for eight minutes now.


I was suddenly melancholy at the thought of having to stop, but reminded myself that I could play with her hair again, and very soon, when I would brush it out for her before she laid down to go to sleep.


"She sure can, baby."

"Are the soapies done cleanin my hair now?" she asked

"Yes," I informed her and stopped my fingers that had been using the excuse of washing her hair just to be able to play in it. "Go ahead and rinse, sweetie."


She nodded and laid back down in the water to rinse the shampoo out of her hair. I stood from the tub's ledge then, and went over to the sink to rinse the soap off my hands. She lifted her head out of the water after a minute, and after she wiped the water from her closed eyes with two tiny fists, she opened them back up and gasped for a breath of air.


"Are you okay, Isabella?"


She nodded and blushed. "Wanna be done now, Edward."


"Okay."


"Kay, can I be done now?" she asked.


"Yeah baby, you can be done now," I answered and grabbed her white fluffy towel from the towel wrack. "Isabella, wait until I'm back in the bedroom to get out of the bathtub, okay?"

She nodded.

I set the towel down on the counter. "Okay, when you get out, wrap this towel around you and then come into the bedroom," I instructed before quickly walking out of the bathroom.


She followed soon after, dripping a trail of water behind her. I furrowed my brow at the water, then realized that it was because Isabella didn't wring her hair out, or try to dry herself at all. I walked up to her small form enveloped in that white towel, and gave her button nose a quick kiss, then told her to stay put.

I went into the bathroom and grabbed a small towel, then came back into the room and proceeded to wrap it around Isabella's soaking wet hair. Once all of her thick, wet hair was in the towel, I squeezed on it, trying to do a half-ass job of wringing the excess water out of her hair. I felt the towel dampen quickly, so I removed it to find that it had worked.

Because I'm a fucking genius.


Her hair was only slightly damp now, so I took that same towel and wiped up the little droplets of water trailing from Isabella all the way back to the bath tub.

Isabella was still standing there in a towel that practically covered her from her neck to just below her knees. She had it wrapped around her shoulders like a blanket, clutching the ends with her fists, and I noticed that she was starting to shiver. She was cold.


Get her fucking pajamas, genius.


"Hold on, baby..." I told her, then went to the dresser.


"Want my jammies, Edward..." she mumbled as her teeth began to chatter.


I grabbed the first thing I saw, which was a little blue cotton night gown with short sleeves and yellow stars on it. I held it out so that I could look at it, and read the 'Wish Upon A Star' logo on the front, then came to the conclusion that it was both cute and would come down to just above her knees, so I decided that she could wear that and then went in search for a pair of panties. I found a pair of powder blue cotton ones that would match the gown perfectly, so I chose those.

I laid them on the bed, then looked back at her. "Isabella I'm going to clean up the bathroom and drain the tub. You stay in here, finish drying off, then get dressed in those pajamas," I told her, pointing to the clothes I had just put on the bed. "Alright?"

She nodded, so I walked back into the bathroom and saw that it was a mess. I reached into the bath water and unplugged the tub drain, setting the plug up on the ledge of the bathtub, then I grabbed another towel and laid it down on the floor, and wiped up the water that had spilled over the ledge from Isabella playing and splashing around. I turned on the tub's faucet and let it rinse out the bubbles that were still on the floor of the tub, then grabbed her water doll, and ran it under the faucet, getting all of the bubbles off of it. I didn't want it coated in soap scum the next time she wanted to play with it. When I was done rinsing off the doll and the tub's floor, I shut the water off and dried the doll off with a hand towel, then I gathered up the five soap crayons that lay haphazardly on the floor, and put the toys back in the cabinet below the sink.

I heard Isabella's giggles as she called out, "Edward, my jammies got pretty stars on 'em."

"I know, baby," I told her and grabbed her hairbrush off of the counter, then walked back into the bedroom. I smiled, knowing that I could brush her hair any minute now.


She was jumping on the bed when I went over to the dvd shelf to get back to the task of picking out a movie. I had been distracted from it by Isabella's bath earlier. I held the brush in front of me and fingered the bristles while I stared at the movies, and tried to make a decision. Finally, I decided that it didn't really matter because she would be falling asleep soon anyway, so I just grabbed one and saw that I had randomly selected The Emperor's New Groove. When I put the movie in the dvd player and heard it starting up, I turned away from the TV and headed back towards the bed. I had to convince Isabella that it was time to get ready for bed...not time to play and jump and bounce around.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to tell her that it was time to lay down and relax, she froze and immediately stopped jumping. I stilled for a second, wondering...did I really just say that out loud?

No...


I looked at Isabella, observing her for a second. She was rigid still and had her wide chocolate eyes glued to my hand. When I started to smell a hint of adrenaline in her blood, I knew that something was wrong. I looked down at the hand she was currently staring at, and realized that it was the one holding her hairbrush.

She doesn't want her hair brushed?


Well, that's fucking disappointing.


I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't get to enjoy playing with her hair tonight before telling her, "Isabella, it's time to relax and lay down for bed, baby. No more jumping tonight. Okay?"


She minutely nodded, but didn't make a move to relax her stance, or sit down. And her gaze was still fixed on the hairbrush.

After a few seconds, I tried again. "Okay sweetie, it's time to lay down and watch your movie. You can drink your shake while you watch it..." I trailed off.

She wasn't looking at me, but at the damn hairbrush. Experimentally, I moved my hand to the left and saw that her fearful eyes followed it warily.

I sighed. "Alright, Isabella...what's wrong?"


"Am I in trouble?" she asked in a soft whisper.


"No, just lay down for your movie, baby...I'm getting tired of repeating myself."


She still hadn't made a move to sit down from her standing position on the bed, and she still hadn't looked at me. I looked at the clock and noticed that it was just after 11pm. We needed to get this show on the road if I wanted her to take that sleeping pill before midnight.


"Isabella," I said her name in a slightly firm tone, hoping that it would knock her out of whatever trance she was in and she would finally look at me.


It worked and when her wide eyes landed on me, I was suddenly very concerned. Why is she scared of her fucking hairbrush? I moved my hand, and as I predicted, she flinched.


Oh. Ohhh...


Remembering her asking if she was in trouble a second ago, I asked hesitantly as I held up the brush, "Do you think I'm going to hit you with this?"

She looked at the brush once again, then back into my eyes before silently nodding.


"No," I stated with conviction, then softened my tone and gaze. "No one is going to hit you, Isabella," I assured her.


"You spank me?"


"With my hand...and only when you're naughty and break a rule," I clarified slowly for her.


I did not like the idea of anyone hitting her with an object. But it had obviously fucking happened. Because she was scared of a goddamn hairbrush.


I sighed, then held up the brush again, emphasizing, "No one will ever hit you with this. Or with anything, for that matter. And no one will ever spank you, but me. Do you understand, angel?"


She nodded and relaxed visibly, seeming to believe the truth in my words. She sat down on the bed then, and grabbed her protein shake off of the nightstand, and started to drink it through the straw.

Once her gaze was fixed onto the TV, I came over and sat up against the headboard. I spread my legs out into a V around her and reached forward for Isabella's waist, then pulled her back until she was flush against my chest. She giggled and kept the straw in her mouth, sucking all that protein down like a good girl while I kissed the top of her head and began lightly stroking the brush through her long hair.


She hummed and mumbled around her straw, "Tickles my hair, Edward."


"Does it?" I asked softly in her ear.

She nodded and I continued my brush strokes, keeping an eye on the progress that she was making with her shake. When she was done, she held it out to me, so I took it off her hands and set the empty cup down on the nightstand.

I grabbed her medicine and glass of water then, and said, "Angel, you need to take this, okay?"


She turned her head to look down at the tiny pill in my hand. "Don't wanna..." she mumbled while shaking her head, then turned her eyes back towards the screen.


"Yes, Isabella."


"No, Edward."


Damn it, now she wants to be difficult?


"Isabella, you need to put this in your mouth and swallow it, sweetie," I gently prodded.


"Don't wanna Edwaaard..." she whined.


"Isabe-" I started, but she shushed me.


Shushed me?


If I wasn't getting so frustrated, I would have laughed.


"Shhh, Edward..." she said softly while putting a finger to her lips, then twisted around to whisper in my ear, "The emperor is fixin to get his groove back," she told me, referring to her Emperor's New Groove movie.


I chuckled then, I couldn't help it.


She will take the medicine if you ask Carlisle to come in and tell her to Alice thought to me, clearly seeing the decision I had almost made a second ago, since Isabella was refusing me.


"Carlisle, I need you to get her to take this pill," I whispered at vampire frequency.


Five seconds later, there was a knock on the door and Isabella's head shot over in that direction to see Carlisle walking in. Her breath hitched, and she twisted around so that instead of her back being against my chest, her side was now pressed against it. After grabbing a fistful of the front of my shirt, she turned her head and buried her face into the crook of my shoulder.

Carlisle had paused his steps and I didn't know what to do so I just ran my fingers lightly along her spine in a comforting gesture and waved Carlisle over. When he was standing beside the bed next to us, he spoke up.

"Isabella..." he called softly, trying to coax her out of her hiding spot in my shoulder.

She didn't budge, so I moved my shoulder a bit and used my other hand to grab her chin and lift her gaze up to me. I decided that she had to stop being so shy around my family. She was supposed to be starting therapy sessions in the next day or so, and I knew that her timidness would only hinder her progress. So I made sure that she was keeping eye contact with me, then I spoke in a serious tone.

"Isabella, don't be rude," I admonished her.


She started sucking on her bottom lip and nodded, keeping her eyes on me.


"Carlisle came to see you," I informed her in the same tone, but made sure to keep my embrace firm around her waist, and kept up my light caressing fingers to calm her.

She looked over at him with a questioning gaze, as if to say 'what do you want'.

He smiled at her warmly and kept up his bedside manner as he asked, "Isabella, are you a big girl?"

She quirked a small smile and nodded hesitantly.


"Well that's good, because big girls take their medicine when they're supposed to. Can you show us that you're a big girl, Isabella? Will you take your medicine?" he asked.

I knew he had tricks up his sleeve from working in the pediatrics ward at the hospital.

I smiled at Isabella. "Go on baby, take your medicine," I encouraged in a persuading tone.


She kept her gaze on him for a few seconds longer before looking back at me and reaching for the pill in my hand. She put it in her mouth, then sipped some water out of the cup Carlisle had given her. When she handed the cup back to him, he gave her a beaming smile.

"Good job," he congratulated her.


I kissed her cheek. "Good girl."

She smiled and whispered to us, "I'm a big girl, huh..."

Carlisle nodded in agreement as I confirmed, "Yes you are, angel."


Now that the moment was over, Isabella got quiet again and kept staring at Carlisle. She sucked on her bottom lip before switching to the top, then stopping completely.


"Do you know Daddy?" Isabella blurted out.

He shook his head and stated softly, "No..."

Isabella tightened her grip on my shirt and laid her head down on my shoulder, but kept her penetrating stare fixed on Carlisle.

"Why do you got yellow hair, then?" she asked.


Carlisle smiled. "I was born with it, sweetie."


"Do you got any tattoos?"


"No..." he replied slowly.


"Do you got piercings on your dick?" she asked then.


Carlisle furrowed his brow as we simultaneously wondered where this odd line of questioning had come from. He shook his head, and waited for the next question.

"Do you got babies?"

He nodded, automatically thinking of me, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett as his children.

"Do you give 'em owwies?"


"No, sweetheart, I don't hurt them," he assured her in a calm voice and sat down on the bed next to us.


She scooted her form closer to my body, keeping her grip tight on my shirt and her stare fixed on Carlisle. I was beginning to think we were getting to the bottom of why she was nervous around him.


"Do you got any kitties?"

"No."

"Do you got puppies?"

"No."

"How come? Did you kill them?"

"No, Isabella...I just don't have any pets," he informed her, trying to convince her that he wasn't like the men that she had most likely associated with Jim and, more specifically, men with 'yellow hair'.

Isabella seemed to be lost in thought for a minute before she spoke again. "I saw this lady with yellow hair downstairs today. She hit the big man. She's mean," she informed us in a confidential whisper.


"Her name is Rosalie, and she was only playing, Isabella...she didn't hit him in the way that you mean it," Carlisle tried to explain, but she shook her head.


"Marie told me she is not our friend and I believe her b'cuz she hit that big man and she's got ugly yellow hair," she reasoned, then added, "She's a meanie."

He sighed, resigned to her belief in Marie's words. Of course Marie would tell Isabella that...Marie hates Rosalie.


Great.


"How about we talk more about that at another time, hmm?" he asked her and stood from the bed when she yawned.


She nodded and nuzzled her head into my shoulder some more. "Kay...I'ma cuddle with my Edward now. Bye," she dismissed him.


He nodded. "Goodnight," he said as he walked out of the room.


I laid down and tucked Isabella into my side. She would clearly be falling asleep soon, because she kept yawning.

She laid her head down on my chest, stuck her thumb in her mouth, and looked back over to her movie. I lightly ran my fingers through her hair, along the soft skin of her bare arms, and all around her back in different patterns...usually spelling out her name or the words 'I love you' on her back with my finger tip.

Nine minutes later, Isabella's limp form was asleep, pressed up against my body, so I slowly removed that thumb from her mouth and found myself breathing a sigh of relief that I had made it through another day, unscathed.


Things were going pretty well, in my opinion...well, as well as could be expected. We learned of Marie's side job of being a drug dealer and I quickly squashed the possibility of that ever happening again, so I felt peaceful, knowing that she would stay safe since I am shielding her from the ugly world of toxic powder and narcotics now. I also learned that I can handle her tantrums just fine with well practiced restraint so that I don't lash out at her in my anger. Bella's court fine would be taken care of in the morning, and we learned quite a few things about Isabella too. About her automatic writing ability, her unique handwriting, her amazing ability to draw, her fear of being spanked with an inanimate object, her aversion to people with blonde hair, and also...she is coming out of her shell and starting be more independent by learning to take baths on her own.

I smiled and kissed my angel's warm, smooth forehead. I couldn't wait for her to open those chocolate eyes again. I wanted to get started on a brand new day with my girls.