30. Never Never Land & Time Outs

EPOV

While sitting by the door to Carlisle’s study this morning, I learned a lot about my Bella.


She would want to avoid celebrating the Fourth of July at all costs. She was suicidal as a child. Her mother is a neglectful whore. A stupid, neglectful fucking whore. She loves those Eskimo kisses so much because they remind her of her grandmother. Isabella enjoys them as well. Isabella expressed Bella’s anger as a child, lashing out, but then left Bella to deal with the results…her and Marie have that in common. I could add her fear of going blind to my list that already consisted of her fears of angels, needles, being cooked and eaten, being drowned to death, and losing her fingers. And her two friends were brutally destroyed right before her eyes.


Fucking. Traumatizing.


And this is only the beginning.


“Want my Edward…”


Isabella.


Without thinking, I stood from the ground and opened the door that separated me from my little girl. I strode right over to her and plucked her right out of that chair, then brought her to my chest.


“C’mere, baby girl…” I said softly as she wrapped her legs around my waist.


“My friends, Edward…Daddy killed ‘em,” she told me in a sad voice before she began to quietly cry.


She nuzzled my neck, trying to hide her face from Carlisle.


“I know, angel,” I said and tightened my hold on her.


I looked to Carlisle, unsure if Isabella was actually reliving the things of the past, or if she was just mourning the loss of her old playmates.


Again.


She’s reliving those memories he thought at me.


I just nodded and turned to walk out of the room with Isabella in my arms. She needed me. I was going to make it better…kiss her all better. I had to.


I clenched my jaw at the smell of her tears and kept a tight, comforting hold on her as I walked through the house. I made a pit stop by the kitchen, grabbing a blow pop and one of her bottles of water with a sport top. I walked up the stairs then, keeping one arm under Isabella and holding the water and candy in my other hand.


Once we were in our bedroom, I sat her down on the bed. I kissed her forehead, checking for a fever, then quickly grabbed her ‘Little Angel’ blanket out of the closet, and snatched her doll up from off the floor. When I made my way back over to my sad angel, still sitting on the edge of the bed, sniffling and sucking on those pretty lips, I was prepared.


I was armed with a lolly, a suckable water bottle, her blankie, and her baby dolly.


I sighed and gritted my teeth at the sight of those wet tears streaming down her rosy cheeks. I held the items out to her, not wanting to waste anymore time.


“Here, sweetheart,” I said in offering.


She wiped at her eyes with her fists, then looked up at me. Her watery gaze and beautifully flushed face looked so lost and heartbroken, that it started to break my own heart and fill my chest with even more anxiety.


She sniffled. “Ed-ward…” then hiccupped.


“Yes, baby?” I asked softly.


Tell me what you need…


“Want you,” she proclaimed as another tear slid out of her eyes.


I nodded and tossed the useless crap onto the bed. I picked her back up, filled with foolish pride that she preferred me to one of her beloved lollipops, and relished in her scent and warmth as she clung to me.


I gently rubbed her back while simultaneously reaching for her pink blanket on the bed to put it over her bare shoulders. Once I had it draped across her back, I brought my arm out from under her and smoothed the blanket down her back, before placing my arm back under her. I tucked the soft blanket around her bare shoulders, making sure she was at least bundled up if she insisted on clinging to my cold body in that ridiculously skimpy sundress.


I held her to me and started with the pacing. It was surprising how many times I had paced this floor in just this week alone. She was starting to calm down fairly quickly now. Her cries had stopped, her breathing had evened out, and her body was relaxing under my touch.


Her head was laying on my shoulder and I felt her small fingers start to twirl the hair at the nape of my neck before she spoke with her mouth right next to my ear.


“Edward?” she asked, voice weak and soft.


“Yes, baby?”


“Did Pooh bear go to heaven?” she asked curiously.


I turned on my heel and started back the direction we had just come from.


“Mm-hmm…” I hummed in response.


“But, what about Emily?”


“She’s there too,” I placated her.


“Edward?”


“Yes?”


“Do kikes get to go to heaven?”


“What word did I say to use instead of ‘kike‘, angel?” I asked her with a soft warning pat to her bottom.


“Um, Jewish…” she answered hesitantly.


I nodded.


“Edward?”


“Hmm?”


“I hope not, b’cuz I don’t wanna go to heaven,” she informed me softly.


“Why not, baby girl?”


“I don’t like angels, and I heard there was lotts of ‘em there.”


“Oh…” I said quietly.


Before I could begin the very complicated process of explaining that those kinds of angels aren’t mean and bad, according to the Christian religion, she piped up with, “I’d rather go to Never Never Land.”


I chuckled. “Oh, really? Is that so?”


She lifted her head from my shoulder and showed me the small smile on her beautiful face. My tense shoulders relaxed at the sight of it.


“Uh-huh, yeah,” she nodded. “And you could come with me, and we could go on a top-secret mission to save my Pooh bear and Emily dolly from that heaven place with all the stupid scary angels,” she told me.


She had obviously planned this out.


“Sounds like a plan, baby girl. I’d go anywhere with you,” I assured her, punctuating my statement with a famous Eskimo kiss.


She nodded and her smile grew a little bigger as we gently rubbed noses. A small giggle escaped her lips, and it was ridiculous how all of that horrible anxiety drained out of my body at the sound of it.


I fucking love the sounds of her laughter.


“When we go to save ‘em, we can wear all black stuff and be really sneaky…”


“Super sneaky,” I said with a nod.


"Yeah, and then we could go to Never Never Land and have bunches of fun, huh…” she said wistfully.


“Bunches,” I agreed.


“And I would already fit in with all of the lost boys and we could be bestest friends with Peter Pan. We can learn how to fly too, huh Edward?” she said excitedly, getting lost in her game of imagination.


“Yes baby, we would have fun and learn to fly…but how would you already fit in? Don’t you have to make friends first?” I asked softly.


She shook her head a bit and rolled her eyes in the most adorable way. “No, silly,” she said with a smile. “I’m already like them, ‘cept that I’m a girl,” she informed me, as if it should have been obvious.


“How are you like them?” I asked curiously.


“I’m already little forever, Edward,” she informed with a delicate shrug.


I furrowed my brow.


“I can’t grow up,” she added lightly, clarifying her statement for me.


Really should have seen that one comin, Cullen.


I gave a little gasp of surprise, playing along, and quickly agreed. “That’s right, huh?” I asked with a small smirk.


Her adorable smile grew wider. “Yesss, and Peter Pan is gonna love me, huh? He’ll sprinkle pretty sparkle dust on me and teach me how to fly with Tinker Bell…”


“Lotts of pretty sparkle dust,” I added lightly.


“And me and Tinker Bell can be bestest friends, too!” she said brightly.


“Will you introduce us?” I asked.


“Yah-huh Edward, b’cuz you’re mine, so she’ll like you too,” she assured me.


“Okay.”


“Don’t worry tho', b’cuz I’ll always love you the bestest,” she said seriously.


I gave her another Eskimo kiss for that adorable comment.


“And then what?” I asked in an intrigued whisper.


“And then, Tinker Bell can meet my Pooh bear and Emily dolly, and then they will be friends too,” she said simply.


I stopped pacing then, and started tickling her sides. She giggled and laughed while she clung to me.


I nuzzled her neck softly. “Yes, and then we will have fun in Never Never Land forever and ever and ever,” I assured her over the peals of giggles that filled the room.


When she was breathless from laughing, I stopped and hugged her to me, relieved that she wasn’t sad anymore and that those wretched tears had stopped.


She took a deep breath and hummed it out, hugging me back. “Hmmm…love you, Edward,” she said, then kissed my cheek.


I kissed her cheek in return and gave her another small squeeze before relaxing my grip and resumed my pacing.


“I love you too, Isabella,” I told her in an almost reverent tone.


“You’re mine,” she whispered to me once her head was back on my shoulder.


I softly trailed my fingers along her spine. “And you are mine.”


She kissed my cheek again. “Love you.”


“I love you, too.”


“I love you more.”


I smiled and subtly shook my head. “No…I love you more,” I assured her.


She giggled. “Huh-uh, I love you more.”


“I love you more.”


“Mm-mm, I love you more.”


“I love you more,” I countered, enjoying this new game.


“I love you more,” she insisted.


“I love you more, times infinity,” I said, feeling slightly smug that she couldn’t top that.


She lifted her head then, and looked me dead in the eye, her amusement shining through her chocolate eyes. “I love you more, times infinity…and beyond,” she stated proudly, before giving me a smug grin of her own.


I chuckled. “Where did you learn that?”


A laugh escaped her lips. “Toy Story…” she informed me sheepishly.


I tickled her sides again. “Silly girl.”


She laughed. “I win!” She looked so proud of herself.


I laughed with her, then relented and said, “Yeah, okay…you win, baby. But only ‘cause you‘re so smart and pretty.”


She latched her arms around my neck again, giving me another one of my favorite hugs.


When we relaxed back into the silence of the room, I whispered very quietly, “But, I love you more.”


I felt her smile against my neck before she whispered back, “I love you more.”


Ten minutes later, Isabella and I were on the bed watching Shrek. After our ‘I Love You’ game, I had gotten a warm wash cloth and gently wiped her tear-stained face for her. She smiled at me in appreciation before sticking that blow pop in her mouth. After throwing the cloth in the hamper, I put on Shrek at her request, then joined her and her doll on the bed.


“Edward, want some of my blankie?” she asked sweetly, from her spot beside me.


She held up the side of her microplush blanket, inviting me to use some of it, but I shook my head. She was in that little sundress and was getting over being sick with a cold. She needed to keep warm.


I kissed her forehead. “No, but thanks for asking sweetheart.”


She nodded, then turned her attention back to her doll that lay in her lap. Apparently, it was feeding time, because she had that plastic bottle pressed to the doll’s mouth for the past two minutes.


She took the blow pop out of her mouth and held it‘s stick in her hand. “Edward?”


“Yes, baby?”


“Can you tell me when three minutes is over?”


“Why?” I asked curiously.


“B’cuz that’s when Haley will be done with lunch,” she informed me.


“Is that your doll’s name? Haley?”


“Yah-huh, she’s my baby dolly Haley,” she stated proudly.


I nodded. “Pretty name…”


She looked to me and smiled. “Yeah.”


“I got my baby Haley and my Ariel dolly,” she told me before shrugging and saying, “but no teddies yet…”


“Do you want a teddy bear, sweetheart?”


Cause I can go to the store right now and buy you the biggest one they got.


She nodded slowly, and turned her focus back to her doll. “Yeah…but Edward?”


“Yes, Isabella?”


“He’s gotta be brown and soft, so that I can name him Fuzzy bear,” she told me seriously.


I chuckled lightly. “Of course…”


“And Edward?”


“Yeah?”


She looked at me nervously now.


I furrowed my brow.


What’s wrong?


“You gotta protect him like you protect me. And my baby Haley. And my Ariel dolly,” she cautioned me before pointing out, “You never let nobody give us any owwies. You keep Daddy and the scary angels away.”


I nodded. “Always,” I assured her.


“And…when my Fuzzy bear comes to live with me, you can’t let no one hurt him either,” she told me.


“I won’t let anyone hurt you…or your toys, baby,” I told her with conviction.


I’ll fucking kill the bastard that tries to take your teddy away from you.


And I would.


She nodded then looked back down at her doll.


“Three minutes is over, sweetheart,” I informed her.


“Kay.”


She took the bottle away from her doll’s mouth and put it back in the accessory bag. Then she brought the doll to her chest and gave it a quick hug before hopping down off the bed and putting the doll back in the plastic basinet on the floor. I watched as she covered the doll with it’s small blanket…tucking it in for a nap, apparently.


She kissed it’s forehead, then whispered, “Love you, Haley. My Edward won’t let nobody hurt us…don’t worry ’bout it no more.”


Then she stood from the floor, grabbed her MagnaDoodle off the desk, and came back to the bed. She crawled back over to me and smiled, before sitting in the V shape between my legs and snuggling into my chest. I lightly wrapped my arm around her and kissed her hair, before breathing in the delicious scent of her. She stuck her blow pop back in her mouth and started to doodle on the toy that lay on her lap.


While Isabella doodled and watched the movie, Alice called and told me that she knew where the perfect teddy bear was and that she would pick it up on her way home from shopping this afternoon. She was at the mall with Rosalie in Port Angeles, and I guessed that she would probably just grab one from the toy store while she was there. I thanked her and hung up.


Isabella set her MagnaDoodle aside and popped open her water bottle. She took a few drinks and twirled her hair while keeping her eyes on the TV screen, entranced by the movie, Shrek...where the ogre was on a quest to save the princess from the evil dragon who had a crush on the donkey.


Isabella giggle., “Edward, Donkey is funny…”


I smiled. “I know it, baby.”


“And he’s a talking donkey…” she said with amusement.


I squeezed her waist closer to me and whispered in her ear, “A magical, talking donkey.”


She nodded and smiled. “Mm-hmm…magical. And the princess is an ogre, like Shrek!” she informed me.


“Yes, I know…that was a surprise, huh?”


“A pretty surprise, b’cuz now they can be in love, huh?”


I kissed her cheek. “Yes.”


The movie was almost over now, and her stomach was starting to growl. I noticed the time was 1pm, so it would be time for some more cold medicine, also. As if on queue, Isabella sniffled.


“How do you feel, baby?” I asked in concern, then put my lips to her forehead.


She had a slight fever now.


Damn it.


She shrugged. “Hungry…”


“Mm-hmm, what would you like for lunch?”


She was silent for a minute, thinking about her options. I mean, it was obviously a very crucial decision.


“Um…peanut butter and jelly and teddy crackers and a apple and some lollies and chocolate and then some icecream then for desert I can have a freezie pop,” she finished with a smile.


I chuckled, knowing she‘d never be able to eat all of that. “Wow…that’s quite a feast,” I told her.


She nodded. “Uh-huh.”


“You must be pretty hungry…” I trailed off suggestively.


“Mm-hmm, yeah…pretty hungry,” she agreed, never taking her eyes off the screen.


I kissed her temple then, reminding me of her slight fever, and told her it was time for lunch. She readily agreed, and hopped down from the bed. I turned the movie off, and we went downstairs to the kitchen. When we got there, she wanted to sit on the counter and watch me make her lunch.


I would be making her remaining meals today because Esme was out hunting with Emmett. And after Bella’s therapy session with Carlisle this morning, he went in to the hospital to work a shift, so it was just me and my angel alone in the house for the afternoon.


I decided that she should take her medicine before she eats, instead of after this time. That fever was making me nervous. I knew she was fine…just some sniffles, but I couldn’t help my overprotective nature and tendency to worry about everything that had to do with my girl.


I opened the cabinet and grabbed her Tylenol cold medicine. I noticed and saw how she scowled at the small bottle when I opened it and filled the little cup to it’s correct measurement.


Placing it by her leg on the counter, I told her, “Take your medicine, baby.”


I didn’t watch her like a hawk to make sure she took it. I was giving her room to do it on her own…I was trying to show her that I trusted her to take it. So, after putting the bottle back in the cabinet above her, I turned around and got to work on this lunch business.


I started on this weird thing called, The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. Which, from what I understand, only requires some peanut butter on one slice of bread, then…some strawberry jelly on another slice of bread. Then, you just smash them together.


Right?


I peeked over at Isabella. I knew that I’d be able to tell from her facial expression whether I was doing this right or not. I saw a smile, so I guess I was good to go. Next would be the apple. She still had some slices left over from Thursday, so I got the Ziploc bag of them out of the fridge and took out three, then put them on the plate next to that sandwich. I grabbed the box of cinnamon Teddy Grahams and scooped out a small handful, then put those on the plate as well, in between the sandwich and the apple slices.


Perfect.


I smiled down at the plate, proof that I could cook and feed my little girl when she needed me to. Bella and Marie could cook and make their own food, but Isabella needed me. She depended on me for everything.


I grabbed the plate and turned back around to face Isabella, only to see a still full cup of cold medicine, sitting by her leg. I turned back around and put the plate back down on the counter. When I turned around, yet again, I glared at the cup before drifting my eyes over to Isabella.


She was looking out the window and her bare feet were lazily kicking out in front of her, making a soft thump-thump noise on the cabinets below.


“Edward?” she said, then turned to look my way, only to find that I was already looking at her.


“Yeah?”


“After lunch, can I go play outside?”


“That’s depends…” I hedged.


“On what?” she asked curiously.


“You need to take your medicine. You have a slight fever baby, and you’re not going to be playing outside at all until it goes away.”


“But I wanna play…” she insisted.


I nodded. “Okay, so then take your medicine, angel.”


“It’s ucky,” she informed me with an adorably scrunched up nose.


“I know, but you still have to take it,” I insisted.


“Mm-mm,” she said with a shake of her head.


I sighed. “Isabella?”


“Yeah?”


“What is your rule about listening and doing what your told?” I asked conversationally.


She shrugged. “That I’m sposta.”


“And what did I just tell you to do?” I asked, keeping my tone light.


“Take my medicine.”


“So then, why aren’t you taking your medicine?” I asked curiously.


“B’cuz it’s ucky,” she told me with a nod.


I glanced at the medicine cup, then looked back to her face. “Are you breaking a rule right now?”


She slightly cocked her head to the side, as if to think about it. “Probably…” she hedged.


“Isabella, do you want to be in trouble?”


“No,” she told me with a shake of her head.


“Well, baby…then I think you need to just take your medicine, like a good girl,” I suggested, before pointing out, “otherwise, you’d be breaking a rule, and then you’d be in trouble.”


She took a deep breath and sighed, “Hmmm…”


“And being in trouble’s no fun, huh?” I asked lightly.


She shook her head again, her bare feet still kicking out lazily. “Nope…no fun at all,” she agreed.


“So what’s it gonna be, angel?” I asked, hoping that she would make the right decision.


“Um…” she squinted her eyes, then asked, “Can I think about it over lunch?”


Jesus Christ, this is not a fucking business deal, Cullen. Stop treating it like one.


I shook my head. “Afraid not, baby. How about you think about it while you’re in time out?”


She gasped. “No!”


“Take the medicine,” I told her firmly, serious now.


She had a desperate look on her face now. The entire mood of the room had shifted when the words ’time out’ had been spoken.


“Edward, no time out…” she whined.


I decided to be lenient and ignore that whine.


“Just take your medicine,” I repeated, offering her a Get Out Of Trouble Free card.


“But, Edward it’s ucky and I don’t feel good and I don’t want a time out and I’ll-” she said in a rushed, whiny voice before I lifted her off the counter and put her back down on the ground.


“Too late now,” I told her.


Then she started to cry. Hard. There may have been some screams too.


Woah…


What’s there to cry about? To get so worked up over?


I swear to Christ, all the tears came out of nowhere and she was immediately sobbing. I stood there for a second, getting over the shock of her instant change in demeanor, before I gently squeezed her hand in reassurance then let go of it, putting a few steps in between us.


Right…she broke a rule. You gave her chances. Stay fucking firm.


“Isabella…” I spoke, cringing over her cries.


She looked up at me then, and I had to steel myself to stay still in my spot and not go to her and envelop her in my arms and shush her and give her kisses and tickle her…like my instincts were telling me to.


I gritted my teeth.


Stop crying, stop screaming, stop sobbing…please.


“Isabella, if you didn’t want to be in trouble, then you should have just taken your medicine. I gave you plenty of chances to,” I pointed out while she rubbed a fist on her eye and hiccupped a sob.


She nodded in agreement, so I went on.


“After your time out, you will take your medicine, young lady. And then you can eat your lunch,” I told her firmly, but gently…gently, but firmly.


It’s all about finding that balance.


I walked back over to her then, and took her hand in mine, leading her into the dining room.


All the way there, she was saying how fucking sorry she was, and it made my resolve waver six times, before I reminded myself that it truly wasn’t that big of a deal, and she shouldn’t be this ridiculously worked up.


I mean come the fuck on…


She was going to sit. In a chair. For five minutes.


Not exactly something to scream about.


“Ed-ward, I’m s-ss-sorrrry…” she cried out, then hiccupped.


“Well baby, you know…maybe next time, when I tell you to do something, you’ll do it,” I said softly.


“But, Ed-waaaard…” she hiccupped and wiped her eye. “I can take my medicine now.”


I grabbed a chair and turned it sideways. I told her to sit in it, then I sat in a chair beside it, turning it to face her. I needed to make my point clear, before her punishment began.


When I had eye contact with her, I spoke over her cries. “Isabella, it doesn’t work like that. You need to listen and do what you’re told, when you’re told, not when it’s too late and you’ve already willingly broken the rule and are facing punishment for it. Do you understand?”


She sniffled and nodded.


I gave her a hard look, silently telling her that I wanted an actual answer.


“Y-Yesss…” she sobbed out.


Fucking hell, she’s reacting worse to this than that spanking yesterday.


I nodded, then said in a calm, but firm voice, “You stay here. In this chair. You don’t play with anything, you don’t run your fingers along the table top, or tap your fingers on it. Stay in this chair, and stay still. I will let you know when you can get up. Alright?”


She nodded through her cries, and I stood from my chair then, pushing it back in place by the table. Isabella’s chair was positioned so that she would see nothing but the boring white wall in front of her. I went to the other side of the room, behind her and stayed silent, keeping my eye on the clock and watching Isabella.


She didn’t know that I could see her, and she probably thought that I had left her in the room alone. I watched and cringed for the first two minutes while she sat in the chair and cried. She just cried…and cried…and fucking cried some more. It seemed like forever, but when I checked the clock, it had only been two minutes.


Three minutes left.


She brought her knees up to her chest then, and wiped her wet face on the bottom off her dress, sniffling and gasping for breath as her sobs quieted down. She wrapped her arms around her shins and placed her cheek on her knees, then subtly rocked back and forth.


Two minutes left.


The room was silent now. Almost too silent. Deafeningly silent. I focused on Isabella’s heart beats to give my mind a distraction.


She sniffled. “Edward…?”


“No talking,” I said from my position behind her, causing her to jump a bit.


She lifted her head from her knee and turned to look at me.


“Eyes forward, Isabella,” I said firmly, before raising my eyebrows and pointing to the boring white wall. “On that wall.”


She turned her head back around and looked at the wall, starting to cry again.


I looked at the clock.


One minute left.


My thoughts drifted back and I began to wonder again what the big deal about a time-out was. I mean, she’s not being hurt…or deprived of anything. She’s just sitting there.


I don’t understand.


It was frustrating me, because I wanted to know anything and everything about my Bella. Even why her alternate, Isabella, reacted so strongly to having to sit still in a chair for five minutes.


I wanted to know.


No, I needed to know.


It made me realize then, that this entire past week, I had been craving knowledge on my girls…wanting to know every single little detail, no matter how small or insignificant. It was never insignificant to me.


This right here? This…was my new mystery. And I intended to solve it.


“You can get up now,” I told her, my voice calm and soft now.


She slightly jumped again at the sound of my voice and immediately stood from the chair. She turned around and looked at me, staying silent and in her spot.


“Come here.”


She walked over to me, stopping when we were only inches apart. She wasn’t crying anymore, but her face was flushed and she needed to blow her nose.


Aw. That adorable little button nose…


I kissed it, then looked at her with a small smile.


She sniffled and kept her wide gaze on mine. I could smell the tang of adrenaline, now.


What, why?


This only confused me more, adding to my mystery.


“Isabella, why were you in time out, baby?” I asked her lightly…conversationally, and keeping our eye contact.


I heard on this parenting show, Nanny 911, the other night while Isabella was sleeping, that you should point out to the child why they are in trouble before and after the punishment, so that it sticks in their mind and they remember and don’t do it again and blah blah blah…


Worth a try, right?


“B’cuz I broke a rule…” her voice was pitched high, like she was fixing to cry again.


I nodded. “And…what rule would that be, angel?”


“B’cuz I didn’t take my medicine when I was spostoo…” she said thickly and started sucking on her pretty, pouty lips.


Bottom then top.


Top then bottom.


Back and forth.


I squinted my eyes at her lips, then looked back into her eyes. “Are you ready to take your medicine now?” I asked gently.


She furrowed her brow at my question, looking slightly confused, but also looking like she was relaxing at the same time. Her adrenaline was also fading. She nodded silently a minute later.


I took her hand then and kissed her forehead, checking for that damn fever, to find that, yes…she still had it.


I led her back into the kitchen and handed her a few tissues. After she blew her nose and wiped her eyes, I grabbed the medicine cup off the counter and handed it to her. She stared at me for a few seconds before hesitantly taking the cup from my hand and putting it to her lips. She squeezed her eyes closed, then tipped the cup back and swallowed quickly, no doubt trying to avoid the ‘ucky’ taste of it all as much as possible. She opened her eyes and handed me back the cup, so that I could rinse it out and put it back in the cabinet with the medicine bottle.


I lightly ran my hand through her long hair, then reached for her plate of food.


“Go back to the table baby, it’s lunch time.”


She eyed the plate with a small smile, then turned and walked back toward the dining room.


I grabbed a cold juice box out of the fridge, then followed Isabella out to the dining room. I set her plate and drink down in front of her, then sat down across from her, so that I could ask my questions.


I watched and waited until she had finished half of that weird sandwich that I had made for her, before I spoke.


“Isabella, are you scared?” I asked curiously.


She shook her head and swallowed. “No.”


“Were you scared a minute ago?” I asked, thinking of when I had picked up her adrenaline in her scent.


“Yeah.”


“Why, baby?”


She shrugged, then munched on an apple slice, smiling at the sweet taste of it.


When she swallowed, she said, “Time out is scary, Edward,” then looked up from her plate, and into my eyes.


“Why’s it scary?”


“B’cuz you gotta stay still for a really long time with owwies…” she trailed off then, putting three teddy grahams in her mouth.


I furrowed my brow, slightly confused. “Do you have any owwies? Was that a really long time?”


She shook her head, “Mm-mm, no…”


“Then why were you so upset?”


“Don’t like bein in trouble, Edward,” she informed me.


I nodded. “I know…it’s no fun, huh?” I said sympathetically.


“Nope, and Daddy always gives me owwies in time-out,” she told me.


There it is, ladies and gentlemen…mystery solved. It always comes back to that schitzed out asshole, Jim.


And I am fucking sick of it.


“Sweetheart, what you just did was a real time out. And it doesn’t involve owwies. Of any kind. At all,” I informed her.


She nodded and took a sip of her juice.


I was almost afraid to ask, but I had to know. My craving for knowledge on everything about her far outweighed my hesitance with this question.


“What happens in time outs, Isabella?”


She swallowed some sandwich, and said, “When I gotta go in time-out, the purity knife comes out.”


Well, fuck.