38. Tattletales & Switcheroos

CPOV

Just as we were beginning to discuss Bella’s displaced loyalty towards Jim, she started to show signs of going in and out of awareness. The occasional gasp for breath…uncontrollable blinking. I made sure to quickly write these symptoms down, but all too soon, one of my favorite girls made an appearance, smiling brightly at me.


“Well, howdy doo, doctor dad,” she remarked with a playful smirk.


I loved her nickname for me. Doctor dad.


Dad.


I smiled. “How are you today, Marie?”


She subtly shook her head and brought her feet up onto the chair with her. She twisted her body sideways, and lay her legs over the arm of the leather chair, so that her knees were a bit elevated, while her feet dangled off the side. Her back stay firmly in place, slouching slightly, against the high back of the chair and she rested her head against it.


“Not good, not good…” she murmured.


“Why’s that, dear?”


“Because of all the fuckery that has gone down since I was last around,” she told me, as if it should have been obvious.


I nodded and hummed in agreement. A lot had certainly happened yesterday, but I wanted to know which things, specifically, she found herself disagreeable with.


“Like what?” I asked curiously.


She started to subtly kick her feet out and lightly scratched at her wrist while she talked. “My Bell started that gross-weird-bleeding thing again, and our Edward almost bit us,” she informed me.


I smiled reassuringly at her. “Marie, that ‘gross-weird-bleeding thing’ is perfectly normal and you should start to get used to it, dear, because it will happen to your body once a month. Now, if the five year old can handle it, surely you can?”


She shrugged and snatched up a long lock of her hair, then started to twirl it around her slim fingers distractedly. “Whatever…” she muttered, disinterested.


I nodded. “And, as far as Edward is concerned, the entire family was here when that happened last night. We all know that Bella was never in any real danger. He was just having a hard time confusing his lust with his bloodlust,” I explained.


She nodded. “Oh, I know. My Bell’s body is simply fucktabulous,” she smirked and giggled, then added in an almost whisper, “we’re ir-re-sis-ta-ble…” as amusement lit up her eyes.


“Yes, well, Edward certainly seems to think so,” I told her conversationally.


She nodded and smiled brightly at me, knowing full well the effect that she had on my son. She let go of her hair then, and sat up, bringing her legs back in front of her to sit Indian style in the leather chair.


“Are we done?” she asked bluntly.


I smirked at her. “Do you want to be done?”


She smirked back and raised her hands in the air, giving her back a little stretch. “Well, I sure as hell don’t wanna sit here all day, doc.”


I nodded.


She brought her hands back to her lap and sighed out a long breath, before smiling sweetly at me. “I wanna go see my man-candy,” she informed me with a nod of her own before cocking her head to the side, and asking curiously, “Where’s he at?”


“Edward?” I asked, in clarification of this ‘man-candy’.


“Duh.”


I chuckled. “Oh…he’s nearby,” I informed her.


On the other side of my door…as always.


Apparently, that was Edward’s cue, because the door swung open then, and he came strolling in, walking right up behind Marie with an adoring smile on his face.


Yes. It was quite obvious that my son was in love with Marie, as well as Bella.

EPOV

“Hey baby,” I said, sneaking up on Marie.


She turned around to look up at me with a bright smile on her face. She giggled, then brought her knees to her chest, before placing her palms on the arm rests of the chair and pushing herself up into a standing position.


“Hey, sexy,” she retorted, smiling down at me.


I chuckled and held my arms out for her. “No standing on the furniture, love.”


She twirled around a bit in that pretty red dress, avoiding my reaching hands with skill. “Why not?” she asked with a smirk.


I grabbed her by the waist then, smiling at her. “Because I said so,” I said, keeping up a playful tone, despite the seriousness of my words.


I brought her small body against my chest and I smiled as she hugged onto my neck tightly. She began peppering my face with warm little kisses, repeating excitedly, “missed you, missed you, missed you.“


I chuckled and when she finally reached my lips, I kissed her back. “I missed you too, sweetheart,“ I told her softly, then placed a kiss to her forehead, before setting her down on her feet.


She clung to my side, while I talked to Carlisle. There was still three minutes to spare, but he told me that Bella/Marie’s session could be over now. He was going to go ahead and work a short shift at the hospital, before coming back here to get Esme for their extended hunting trip.


Carlisle started putting his leather bound book away and straightening up his desk as I looked down at Marie. She smiled up at me. I loved it when she was in a good mood. I gave her lips a chaste kiss and took her hand in mine, leading her out of the room.


We were on the stairs, heading back to our room, when Marie spoke up.


“Edward, what the fuck did I tell you about these frilly little dresses?” she asked, pulling the skirt of her dress out with a look of disdain on her face.


I kissed her temple. “I know, love, but Isabella doesn’t mind them and you look so pretty…” I told her lightly, not wanting to bring up the ‘cramp-factor’, which was the real reason why I had put my little girl in a dress today.


“Yeah, but I don’t like it. Can I change?” she asked as we entered the bedroom.


I nodded. “Sure, babe.”


When she started for the closet, I added, “You might want to pick something that’s a little loose-fitting…”


She poked her head out of the closet and looked at me with slight disbelief. “Please Edward, I’m not the fucking five year old, alright? I can dress myself,” she said indignantly.


I smirked at her attitude. I had missed it. “Of course…” I said in a light tone.


She turned her attention back to the closet then, and quickly picked out a pair of light blue jeans and a white tank top, before heading over to the bathroom to change.


I knew the cramps weren’t bothering her right now because of the medicine I had given her, but I knew they would return, and when they did, she would regret ever wanting to put something on that had a waistband. I would let her find that out for herself, though. She, like Isabella, needed to come to terms with what was happening to their body, and just accept it. And how can they do that unless they experience it for themselves? So, when she begins complaining about a ‘hurt tummy’, I would just simply hand her back the pretty red dress that I had originally chosen for her. And then, she would never question me again, because she would know, that I know what’s best.


Always.


When she came out of the bathroom, looking adorable in simple jeans and tank top, she was wiping the back of her hand across her face, trying to keep her long hair out of her eyes. After a second, she huffed and brought both hands up, then swept the long locks behind her ears.


She sighed then smiled shyly at me, “Edward, my dolly?”


I glanced over to the doll in the play basinet on the floor. “What about her, baby girl?” I asked Isabella.


She walked over to the bed and climbed on. “Gimme her…I gotta get her all dressed, like me,” she told me.


I grabbed the doll and the small accessories bag, then tossed them to my little girl, where she sat on the bed.


Isabella gasped. “You’re not sposta throw babies, Edward!” she yelled at me, then immediately grabbed her doll, cradling it to her chest with a worried look on her face.


Ooops.


I bit my lip and shrugged, trying not to smile at her adorable display.


“Sorry, baby,” I told her softly, trying my best to sound remorseful.


About lightly tossing a fucking plastic doll onto the bed.


Christ.


She nodded and carefully placed the doll on the bed in front of her. “Is she hurt?” Isabella asked me hesitantly with concerned eyes.


I sat beside her on the bed, and picked the doll up, making sure to handle it with extra fucking care this time. I even put my ear to it chest, for show, before I smiled reassuringly at Isabella and said, “No...Haley’s just fine, baby.”


She let out the breath that she had been holding in a relieved manner. “Kay,” she said lightly, then begun digging in the doll’s accessory bag for a different pair of clothes.


I kissed her forehead. “I need to go downstairs and start on your lunch, pretty girl. What do you want to eat?”


She looked up from her task and smiled brightly at me. “Grilled cheese!”


“Grilled cheese?” I asked softly with a small smile.


She nodded. “Uh-huh, yeah…it’s yummy,” she informed me, then concentrated on undressing her doll.


I whispered to Esme at our frequency then. “How do I make a ‘grilled cheese’?” I asked her, perplexed, because I really had no idea what the damn things were.


I had never seen my Bella eat ’grilled cheese’ before. I pictured a glob of gooey cheese in my head, and prayed that that wasn’t what Isabella was referring to. I would never let her eat that.


Esme laughed a little, then assured me that she would take care of it. She walked into the kitchen then, and began the task of making my girl her…um, ‘grilled cheese’. When I saw, through her mind’s eye, that she had grabbed a slice of cheese and two pieces of bread, I was instantly relieved to know that it was apparently some kind of sandwich.


Sandwiches were good…healthy. Globs of cheese…not so much.


I figured I’d help Esme in the kitchen, and learn some more about this cooking crap, since she would be gone for the next two days, and I would be in charge of my girl’s meals again. So, with one more kiss to my angel’s forehead, I left her to her doll and joined my mother in the kitchen.


I kept my ear on Isabella’s heart beat as we worked in silence, gracefully moving around each other in the large kitchen. Esme cooked the sandwich and I cut up a small pear and put a few Pringles chips on a plate for Isabella’s lunch.


I concentrated and watched as Esme flipped the odd sandwich in a frying pan a few times, noticing how the bread was turning a golden brown color. She informed me that when the bread turns that color, then that means that the cheese in the middle is sufficiently melted and the sandwich is done. I nodded, knowing that I could definitely prepare a ‘grilled cheese’ for my girl in the future, if she ever wanted one again. I could master this sandwich making thing. No problem.


“Fuckin doll,” I heard Isabella…or Marie mutter quietly from our bedroom, right before music started coming through my state of the art speakers. I heard Marie start to sing along with Bow Wow‘s ‘Let Me Hold You’. If Marie hadn’t started singing along, I would have thought that it was still Isabella playing around up there, because it seems that all three of my girls like rap music…along with rock, but I can tell their voice pitches apart. It was definitely Marie up there right now.


I went upstairs to get her and bring her back down for lunch. I started to call her name when I was half way up the steps, but she didn’t respond, so I tried again once I had reached our bedroom door.


“Marie!” I yelled over the loud music.


She was jumping around on the bed and when she saw me, she quickly flashed me a smile, before she went back to singing along with her song, effectively ignoring me.


I saw Isabella‘s half-dressed doll on the hardwood floor, the baby doll clothes strewn everywhere, all over the bed, accessory bag up by the pillows.


Marie just kept bouncing around, making a bigger mess with Isabella‘s toys.


“…in my arms, in my mind, all the time, I’m gonna, keep you right, by my side, till I die, I’m gonna, hold you down and make sure everything is right witchyou, you can never go wrong if you, let me hold you, down like a real friend-”


“Marie!”


She stopped singing then and twisted her body in a jump, mid-air, so that she was facing me now. “What?!”


I walked over to the stereo and shut the music off.


“Hey!” she said in a protest and stopped jumping completely.


As much as I loved her singing, I was glad the music was off now. I wouldn’t have to yell.


“Your lunch is ready, hun,” I informed her.


She shrugged. “Kay-” she started, but I cut her off.


“You need to pick up Isabella’s toys and put them back where they belong,” I told her firmly, and then eyed the half-naked baby doll on the floor pointedly.


Marie got off the bed then, with a roll of her eyes. “She can clean up her own fucking mess,” she said dismissively in a curt tone, then began walking towards the bedroom door.


I held out my left arm, effectively blocking her path, then wrapped it around her shoulder, and turned her back around to face the mess. “No. You can clean it up.”


She huffed and stomped her foot. “Why?” she whined.


It was my turn to roll my eyes. “Because I know from the half-naked doll on the floor, that you came back as Isabella was trying to dress her doll for the day, so that means that I also know that all of this is your mess. Don’t you try to pin this on my little girl, I know that Isabella would never throw her doll down on the floor. She practically had a heart attack when I tossed it to her onto the bed,” I informed her, to which she gave a small giggle.


“Yeah, I saw that shit,” she muttered before I cut her off again.


“So you clean it up,” I insisted.


She sulked away from me then, dragging her feet towards the doll, muttering things like “stupid fuckin kiddie toys” and “don’t wanna clean up after the brat”, while she cleaned up the doll clothes mess. After she tossed the doll in the small basinet on the floor , she stuffed everything back into the small accessory bag, and placed it next to the doll. When she returned back to my side, I pulled her into a hug and kissed her temple.


“Good girl,” I murmured, breathing in the scent of her hair.


She smiled up at me, then turned and walked out the door, her growling stomach alerting me to her hunger. She was obviously eager to eat the lunch that Esme and I had prepared for her.


I followed after her, and kept my keen eyes on her feet as she walked down the stairs, mentally calculating where each step would land. I didn’t want her to fall.


I was always so worried that she was going to trip and fall down these steps. No matter what I did, that particular scenario never left my mind, leaving me to constantly fret about it each and every single time she casually walked down the stairs.


It was easier with Isabella. I could just pick her up and hold her to me like a child, but with Marie…she didn’t seem to want to be held like that, unless she was upset about something and needed me to pace the floors with her in my arms.


So I was left to simply watch and be on my guard, ready to just reach out for her at the slightest little sign of her frail body tripping and falling down the stairs to her death.


When we were in the dining room, Esme placed Marie’s plate in front of her, just as she was sitting down.


“Thanks, Ma - you’re the best,” she muttered, right before she took a big bite of that grilled cheese creation.


Esme’s entire face lit up at the compliment, and the fact that Marie called her ‘Ma’. It didn’t escape either of my parents’ notice, that Marie was the only one that seemed to refer to them as actual parental figures. Her nicknames for Carlisle are ‘Doc’ and ‘Doctor Dad’, and she chooses to refer to Esme as a mother, having actually called her ‘Mom’ and ‘Ma’.


Needless to say, they are very pleased about this, because it reveals the fact that there is some part of Bella that reveres Carlisle and Esme as her actual parents. And, because they love my girl like a daughter, they couldn’t be happier about that.


“You’re welcome, dear. Would you like anything else?”


Marie nodded and swallowed. “A fuckawesome swirly straw,” she said and picked up a chip, crunching it in her mouth.


“Of course,” Esme agreed, and went off to the kitchen to fetch my girl a straw.


While Marie ate her lunch, I sat and watched her, thinking about what we were going to do today. Esme came back and placed a plastic straw in my girl’s cup of cherry pepsi, then left the room to go back to work on the remodeling plans for the spare room. We would be making it into a gym within the next couple of days.


It seemed that my girls were already beginning to play the old switcheroo with me today, so I couldn’t expect any of them to be out for any certain amount of time today, because they could switch it up on me at any given moment.


“Edward?”


Like now, for instance.


“Yes baby?”


“Can I play outside?” Isabella asked.


“We’ll see, angel,” I told her, not wanting to give her a definite answer, because I knew that there was storm in the forecast for today.


I pointed to a small slice of pear on her plate, indicating that I wanted her to finish her fruit before she filled up on chips.


She picked up the pear piece between her small fingers and closely examined it before asking, “What is it?” making sure to enunciate all of her T’s, as usual.


“It’s a pear,” I informed her gently.


“Is it yummy?” she asked curiously.


I nodded, knowing that my Bella liked pears, but then I cut my nod short, suddenly remembering that while my Bella likes tomatoes, my baby Isabella absolutely despises them.


Uhmm…


“Try it,” I suggested with a shrug.


Please like it, please like it, please like it…


She had to like it, unless she wanted to have a banana for her fruit instead. Isabella had already devoured all of the apples, we were out of them. I’d have to pick her up some more soon.


She scrunched up her nose in the most adorable way and hesitantly brought the tip of the pear slice to her lips, taking a little nibble. After a second, she smiled at me and took a bigger bite, letting me know that she liked pears, just like my Bella.


I breathed a sigh of relief.


“Edward?”


“Yes?”


“Marie was mean to my baby dolly Haley,” she informed me matter-of-factly.


I nodded. “I know.”


“She in trouble?” she asked curiously with a hint of mirth in her eyes.


I gazed at her curiously. “Do you want her to be in trouble?”


Isabella nodded.


“Well, she’s not,” I told her.


Her face fell then. “Why?” she huffed.


“I made her clean up the mess and put your dolly away, Isabella,” I informed her.


“But she was mean-” she insisted before I cut her off.


“No.”


I squinted my eyes at her, wondering why she was so dead-set on getting Marie into trouble. “Isabella, that’s enough. You need to stop worrying about why Marie didn’t get a spanking, and start worrying about yourself getting one, because that’s what’ll happen if you keep arguing with me on the matter, young lady,” I told her in a firm tone.


She gritted her teeth and scowled at me. She was clenching her fists and screaming in the back of her throat, notifying me of an obvious development to a temper tantrum.


“Stop it.”


The scream in the back of her throat turned into a keening whine and her fists relaxed as she kept up our eye contact. I noticed that her eyes were beginning to water.


She kicked out her legs a bit, in an agitated gesture, lightly hitting my right shin in the process.


“Isabella,” I warned.


She was clearly trying to calm her anger, but was having some obvious trouble with it. I could always bust her ass for some motivation, but I really didn’t want to. I wanted her to calm herself. On her own.


A minute later, she was deduced to slightly angry sniffles, and the previous threat of a temper tantrum was gone.


“It’s not fair,” she insisted with a pout.


“What’s not, baby?” I asked in a calmer voice.


“B'cuz she can mess up my toys, but I can’t touch her stuff,” she told me in an indignant tone.


I nodded, seeing the unfairness of it all. Marie is very possessive of her things, and it seems that she hasn’t learned the concept of ‘sharing’ yet. It is most certainly not fair that Marie threw Isabella’s doll on the floor and scattered it’s clothes around, while at the same time, she insists that nobody is allowed to touch her things.


“I know, baby girl,” I assured her, letting her know that I agreed with her.


“So then, how come she’s not in trouble?” Isabella asked curiously and sniffled again.


“Because she did as she was told and cleaned up the mess, then put your toys away. But, from now on, angel, if you don’t want Marie to touch your toys, then you need to let me know, so that if I catch her doing it again, I can make sure she faces the consequences for it.”


Isabella nodded.


“Alright?”


“Kay…” she mumbled.


“So…is there something you want to tell me?” I asked in a suggestive tone.


She looked back into my eyes. “I don’t want Marie to touch my toys.”


I smiled reassuringly at her. “Ok then, baby. She won’t. And if she does, she’ll get in trouble.”


She nodded. “Kay. I’m full,” she told me.


I peered down at her plate and blew out a slow breath. Three pear slices, four chips, and half a sandwich still remained.


Hmmm…


“Try to eat the rest of your sandwich baby,” I told her, feeling worried about why she always becomes full after so little food consumption.


This had been happening a lot the past couple of days.


It’s not normal.


She shook her head.


I nodded mine.


“Edward?”


“Hmm?”


“I wanna go play outside.”


“Finish your sandwich,” I repeated.


“No.”


“Yes.”


“Huh-uh,” she breathed out with another shake of her head.


“Yes, Isabella.”


“Nooooo…” she whined.


I gave her my ‘stern face‘ and said in a hard voice, “Stop. Whining.”


She smiled, switching tactics, and said brightly, “I’m full, let‘s go play outside.”


I sighed and softened my gaze then. “I think you can finish that small sandwich, Isabella,” I insisted.


“Nope, I can’t.”


“Yes, you can.”


“No.”


“Yes.”


She picked up a chip then, and crunched it into her mouth. “Edward, these are some motherfuckin yummy chips,” Marie remarked with a smile.


I smiled back, relieved that Marie was around now and seemed more than willing to continue eating.


“Are they?” I asked softly.


“Down right, goddamn delicious,” she assured me, sticking the last chip in her mouth.


I nodded. “I’m glad.”


Then something occurred to me.


“Marie, are you still hungry?” I hedged, hoping that I had the wrong idea of Isabella lying about being full, just so she could go play outside.


Marie nodded, and then realization seemed to dawn on her. She smirked. “Yeah, don’t believe the tricky little brat, Edward. I’m fucking starving,” she said, then grabbed for the other half of her sandwich.


I sighed. “Thought so…” I murmured.


Well, damn.


Looks like Isabella needs another lesson on why lying is wrong.


I sat in silence while Marie finished eating, contemplating on how, exactly, I was going to handle Isabella.


The idea of anything or anyone depriving my Bella’s body of food was infuriating me. I knew that I couldn’t look at it like that though. That may have been the effect of her little lie, but that’s not what her intentions were when she lied. She just wanted to hurry so that she could go play outside…the sooner, the better, so to speak. She wasn’t thinking ‘let’s starve so we can play’…no, she has a child’s mind. She was thinking with a child’s train of thoughts. And what’s the most important thing to a child? Fun. Play. Toys.


Not pear slices.


“Hey, Marie?!” Emmett called from the other room.


Marie swallowed her drink. “Sup!”


“Come in here when you’re done so I can beat you in some Guitar Hero…” he trailed off suggestively.


She rolled her eyes and grinned. “I think you’re the one who’s gonna get his ass handed to him. You’re on!” she challenged.


His booming laughter trailed into the dining room, where we were seated, and Marie started munching on the remaining pear slices at an excited, hurried pace.


I, however, kept my train of thoughts on Isabella. And her lie.


When Marie was finished with her lunch, she went into the living room at Emmett’s request, and I took care of her dishes. After I washed and dried her plate and cup, I joined my family in the living room, where Emmett and Marie were battling it out in Guitar Hero on the PS3.


After one ‘practice round’, Emmett paused the game and nudged her shoulder lightly as he asked, “Ready to get schooled by the beast, Marie?”


She smirked up at him and shot back, “Don’t let your mouth get you into somethin your ass can’t handle.”


He smiled down adoringly at the girl he viewed as his ‘kid sister’, and Rosalie caught the look. She rolled her eyes from her position on the couch, and I growled quietly to her in warning. She had no reason to be jealous of my girl. She should be happy that Emmett is making an effort to accept Bella’s alternates into the family.


Stupid blonde.


Emmett ignored what was going on behind him with me and his woman, and pressed the buttons to begin the game.


After a couple of songs, they were laughing and humming along to the tunes together as they frantically tried to press the buttons on their respective guitars to hit the notes correctly. I decided that Marie looked comfortable playing the game with my brother, so I figured that now would be a good time to try out that whole ‘letting my family help’ thing.


This was a great opportunity in testing my ability to be away from my mate while she interacts with others in the house. I know that this is not a scenario that is stressful, requiring me to walk away, yet, but I can still practice that whole ‘walking away’ bit. So after the fourth song, I gave Marie a kiss to her forehead and assured her that I would be up in our room if she needed me.


She giggled at something that Emmett had said and turned her attention back to me, giving me a warm peck to my lips. “Later, babe,” she said casually with a beautiful smile.


I smiled back and nodded before making my way up the stairs to our room. Alone.


I took calming breaths and focused in on my mate’s heart beat as I occupied myself upstairs. I prepared another pair of panties with a small pad, knowing that it was just about time for her to change into another clean set. The panties were white with powder blue trim, this time.


I set them on top of the dresser and went into the bathroom, intent on gathering up the other two pairs of discarded panties from earlier, but when I saw them, I couldn’t help myself from chuckling softly.


Poor Isabella…


I really needed to explain this whole process a little better.


They were laying, crumpled into a ball on the floor next to the trash can…the used pads, apparently, still attached.


I shook my head, and quickly removed the old pads, discarding them into the trash, then throwing the panties into the hamper inside the closet.


I walked into the spare bedroom then, which happened to be next to ours and started to try and envision where the different sets of gym equipment would go. I saw what Esme had planned in her mind, and it all looked fairly do-able. I was trying to decide which spot on the ceiling we should hang the punching bag from, when I heard Isabella call out my name from downstairs.


I sighed.


Show time.


I sensed her spike in adrenaline almost immediately after hearing her calling for me, so I let paranoia take over and raced downstairs to get to her and see what the problem was.


“Hey…it’s okay,” Emmett said in his calmest and softest voice.


“Ed-ward…” she half-whimpered, half-cried.


She’s crying now?


I appeared in front of them a split second later. Their toy guitars lay on the floor beside them, completely forgotten. Emmett had a gentle, reassuring smile on his face, but it didn’t seem to be helping matters any. Isabella was staring up at Emmett with wide, fearful eyes that continued to glisten with unshed tears. The sight spiked my anxiety, but she hadn’t seen me yet.


“Don’t be scared…” Emmett softly pleaded and took a hesitant step toward her.


She immediately gasped, noticing his movement, and took a huge step back, then cried for me again. “Ed-ward,” she said a bit louder and sniffled.


I couldn’t watch anymore. I had to step in.


“Isabella,” I said her name softly, getting her attention.


Her watery chocolate eyes immediately flashed over to mine, and I reached out for her. “C’mere, baby…”


She made it a point to keep a wide girth in between herself and the huge male in front of her, while she walked around him to get to me.


I picked her up and crushed her to my chest, shushing her quiet cries while she buried her face in my neck. She wasn’t sobbing…barely whimpering, really. She was just sniffling and gasping for breath occasionally.


What I didn’t understand, was why she was scared of Emmett now, when she had seemed to be fine around him before.


“Hey,” I said softly and nudged her cheek where it lay on my shoulder.


She lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. She had stopped crying.


I furrowed my brow slightly in confusion. “Why are you scared of Emmett, baby girl? He won’t hurt you,” I told her in a quiet voice that was just between us.


She gave me a delicate shrug and blushed. “You weren’t there…” she said quietly, matching my tone.


She turned to Emmett then, and surprised us all by giving him a shy smile.


He smiled back and gave her a little wave.


She giggled and blushed.


I nodded in understanding. So, Isabella was fine around other males in my family, as long as I’m there with her. Fair enough. In fact, I prefer to be there. Always.


“Can I have a lolly?” she asked me, her tone child-like and normal, now that she was tear-free and back in my arms.


I shook my head, remembering her lie. “We need to talk,” I said a bit firmly, and headed back for the stairs.


She gazed at me curiously. “’Bout what?” she asked lightly.


I gave her a pointed look, that clearly said ‘you know what’, and at that, she immediately began to cry.


Yeah. She knew what she did. She also knew what happened the last time she lied to me.


I sighed and tried to block out the wretched noises as we ascended the many stairs back to our bedroom at a human pace.


She tried to free herself from my arms, pushing against my chest and kicking her legs out, to which I only swatted her ass and tightened my grip on her.


She told me that she was sorry in a really small, really pitiful voice.


She dug her forehead into my shoulder and sobbed, effectively soaking the fabric of my shirt with her clear snot and salty tears.


I kept a blank expression on my face and stayed quiet throughout her display, until we reached our room, where I gently placed Isabella on the bed and gave her a quiet, but strict order to ‘stay’.


I didn’t need her trying to run off, causing herself to be in even more trouble. In my opinion, I was keeping this punishment light, but if she tried to take off downstairs, or even hide underneath the bed, it would only anger me more. And that wouldn’t be good for Isabella.


Not good at all.


I took calming breaths as I walked towards the closet and noted that Jasper was here in the house to help me, but I knew I wouldn’t need him for this. After I took off my shirt and changed into another one, black this time, I made my way back over to the bed, where Isabella still sat, crying and wiping at her eyes with small fists.


She hadn’t moved and that was a good thing.


Good girl.


I sat on the edge of the bed and ground my teeth at the sounds of her cries. I hated it. It made me anxious and I knew that I would be in this emotional state until those horrible noises stopped, regardless of Jasper’s help.


“Stand up, Isabella,” I told her in a firm voice.


She jumped slightly at my tone, and crawled off the bed, then stood by the edge of it, sniffling and awaiting what was to come.


“Come here,” I gave my next order.


She hesitantly walked over to me and when she got within arm’s length, I reached for her with both of my hands and grabbed her small hips, then pulled her the rest of the way to me. Her slow pace had been irritating me.


She stood in front of me, in between my legs now, and we were face to face.


I could smell her sweet adrenaline as it coursed through her veins. I could smell her salty tears, as they streamed down her rosy cheeks. She took to sucking on her lips, then…top then bottom, bottom then top.


She took the occasional gasp for breath, trying to calm her little sobs. We stared into each other’s eyes. She knew what I was waiting for, what I wanted. She was trying her best to give it to me.


I needed her to calm down, and stop crying, so we could talk.


When I thought she was calm enough, I grabbed a tissue and gently wiped her face clean of all the wet mess. A second later, when I was done with that, I balled it up and handed it to her. I needed my hands free.


“Hold this,” I said.


She reached out a timid hand and took it from me, balling it up in her own fist, and bringing her hand back down to her side.


I made my voice soft before I spoke, but kept the firm edge to it.


“Isabella?”


“Yeah?” her voice cracked.


“Did you lie to me?”


She nodded slowly and looked down.


My hand immediately shot out and I grabbed her chin, tilting her face back up to lock her eyes with mine again. I gave her a pointed look and raised my eyebrow, letting her know that I wanted an actual fucking answer. None of this nodding crap.


“Yeah,” she whispered.


I let go of her chin then and placed my hand back on my lap.


“Why did you lie to me?”


She sniffled. “B’cuz I wanted to go play and lunch was takin a long tiiime,” she supplied.


I nodded, glad that my suspicions were confirmed. She just wanted to play, not to starve my Bella.


“Well, you won’t be playing outside today, angel,” I informed her.


I didn’t need to tell her that it was more about the impending bad weather, than her behavior.


She whimpered at this apparent tragic news.


“Because what happens when you lie?” I asked, keeping the same firmly soft tone.


She sniffled and squeaked out a small cry before she finally answered in a shaky voice, “Get in trouble…”


I nodded and she showed me her pleading, watery eyes. I looked away before they could suck me in. I focused on hardening my resolve for a second while staring at the wall just above her thin shoulder. Three seconds later, my eyes shifted back to her chocolate ones, and I swallowed back some venom that was caused by the scent of her enticing adrenaline, before I went ahead and voiced my next question.


“Can you count to five, baby girl?” I asked softly.


She sniffled and furrowed her brow in confusion before she finally nodded. I gave her that same hard look.


She immediately caught herself mid-nod and said, “Yes.”


“Show me,” I prodded gently.


“1...2...3...*sniffle*...4...5,” she recited in her small voice.


“Good,” I said quietly.


She nodded.


“Because you are going to count for me. Start now,” I said as I quickly reached behind her small form and firmly swatted her ass.


“Owwie!!” she yelled in my face, because we were…well, face to face.


I cocked my head slightly to the side and gave her a pointed glare. “What?”


I sob tore through her throat as understanding crossed her features. “One…” she mumbled and clenched her eyes shut to clear her eyes of the tears that had been gathering there.


I spanked her again.


Her eyes shot back open and she yelled out, “Two!” an entire octave higher then before.


I spanked her again.


The force of it caused her to step a little closer to me, in between my legs. She cried and stared into my eyes, wiping at hers with tiny fists.


I spanked her again.


Her hands shot out to brace themselves on my shoulders. Her cries got louder, but she still hadn’t said her number.


“Naughty girl, did you forget how to count?” I admonished her and spanked her again.


She shook her head quickly, and cried out, “Three…” as another sob tore through her throat.


“We would have been done by now, but you didn’t listen, Isabella. The fact that you didn’t listen means that you will get two more, because you weren’t paying attention and lost count,” I scolded her.


I was mad at her because she hadn’t been paying attention to the simple task, causing me to have to smack her more times then I had intended, and I was mad at myself for coming up with this little fucking charade in the first place. I should have just draped her over my lap and done the damn counting myself, but I knew she would remember this, and counting would keep her mind focused on why she was being punished.


I spanked her again.


“Four,” she sobbed out and kept our eye contact as she mumbled, “I’ll be a good girl...”


“I know,” I said softly, then delivered the sharp and final blow.


“Fiiive!” she screamed, and even went up on her tippy toes a bit on that one.


I placed my hand back on my lap then, silently letting her know that the spanking was over.


She continued to cry for a minute and I let her, knowing from Alice's advice, that ‘sometimes girls just need to cry it out’.


Whatever.


I placed a cool kiss to her warm forehead, before removing her small, fisted hands from both of my shoulders and placing a gentle kiss to each smooth palm. I stared at her for a second, before giving a very pointed, and deliberate nod towards the corner beside the computer desk.


She turned away from me then, with a pitifully defeated look on her face, and slowly made her way over to the corner to serve her time out.


While she rested her overheated forehead on the cool wall, I grabbed another tissue and silently brought it over to her. I stood next to her, waiting to be handed back the soiled tissue, while she blew her nose and wiped her eyes. When she placed it in my palm, I instructed the usual, “Eyes forward,” and left her side to throw the tissue in the trash.


I kept an eye on the clock and began making the bed because it hadn’t been made yet today. Too much had been happening since 6am this morning, and I just hadn’t thought about the mundane task of making the bed. But now that I was looking at the casually tossed pillows, wrinkled sheets, and bunched up comforter, it brought that fact to my attention front and center. Isabella had slept in the bed and Marie had jumped on it. It needed to be made.


Three minutes later, I was placing the pillows back in their designated spots when my girl decided to speak up.


“Umm…Edward?” she mumbled quietly.


I smiled.


“Why am I staring at a wall?” she asked in an almost whisper.


I chuckled. “Because you’re in trouble - err…Isabella is in trouble,” I informed Bella.


I saw her give a small nod, but she didn’t make any move to leave Isabella’s timeout corner.


I rolled my eyes. “Come here, my Bella,” I ordered softly.


She turned around and gave me a small smile. I watched as her cheeks lit up with a beautiful blush and I couldn’t resist holding my arms out to her. She giggled and gave me a bright smile, then ran into my arms. I picked her up and enveloped her small form in my arms, cradling her tightly against my body.


I breathed in the beautiful scent of her hair and started peppering the soft, warm skin on her beautiful face with small cool kisses, much like Marie had done to me earlier. I even added in the excited, “missed you, missed you, missed you’s”.


My ears delighted in her light giggling laughter and when I reached her sweet, warm mouth, I kissed her passionately. She graced me with her trademark move then, by gliding her wet, hot tongue along my bottom lip, causing a tingly feeling to erupt on the entire bottom half of my face, sparking it to life.


I fucking love it when she does that.


I whispered a chuckle into her mouth, before setting her back down on her feet and palming her delectable little ass, giving it a small squeeze.


She hissed slightly in pain.


Oh, right.


I kept my cool hands firmly in place on her ass, and kissed her forehead, murmuring quietly onto her soft skin, “I’m sorry baby, does it hurt?”


She nodded and placed her hands on my chest, then looked up at me in question.


I just shrugged. “I told you Isabella was in trouble,” I offered as an explanation.


“Ohhh…” she said as she gave a small nod. “What’d she do?” she asked curiously in a quiet voice.


“Lied,” I said simply, then started kissing those pretty pink lips again.


Bella reciprocated by pressing her warm lips to mine and letting her wondering little fingers find their way into the hair at the nape of my neck.


I moved my hands from her warm ass, down to the backs of her thighs and lifted her up then, never breaking our kiss. I brought her over to the bed and laid her down, while I spread her legs apart and hovered on top of her. I nestled my hips in between hers and I could feel her delicious heat pressed up against my belly.


I started to trail my kisses away from her lips to allow her some oxygen, then over her rosy left cheek, down her delicate jaw line, to her ear, where I sucked that adorable little lobe in between my lips and smiled at her little surprised gasp of pleasure.


I lifted my head and gazed into her chocolate depths, whispering to her how much I loved her. She gave me a beautiful smile and her expressive eyes sparkled as she told me that she loved me too.


I dipped my head back to the side of her face again and took that little lobe back in between my lips, before letting it go with a little pop and skimming my lips down her throat, breathing in her heavenly scent and relishing in the burn of my throat.


It hurt so good.


“Turn your head to the side, Bella,” I whispered in her ear and watched, fascinated, as goose bumps erupted all along the skin of her neck that I was about to mark as my own.


She did as she was told and my mouth wasted no time in attaching itself to the side of her throat. The second my tongue snaked out to wet the surface for me, she let out a breathy moan and gave me the magic word.


“Please…”


Please.


Fuck.


Say it. Again.


I bucked my hips into her moist heat and began sucking on her warm flesh a little harder, bringing the little sliver of skin in between my lips and always being careful of my venom coated teeth. I could feel her blood quickly rising to the surface on the piece of skin that I was marking, and it caused me to groan in satisfaction.


I had marked her.


She was mine.


Bella’s hips started to gyrate against my rock hard erection on their own, then. I lifted my face from her throat, now that my mark had been made, and reached out a quick hand to place on the side of her hip and still her movements.


I looked down at her face with an adoring smile and chuckled when I saw her bottom lip slightly jutted out in a pout.


“Naughty girl, no pouting,” I whispered to her with a smile and proceeded to kiss her pout away.


She moaned into my mouth and gave my bottom lip a little nibble, before I reluctantly pulled away.


I smirked. She really likes my bottom lip. Well, I like hers too.


“I want more,” she whispered to me with pleading eyes.


I subtly shook my head. “My Bella…so greedy,” I playfully admonished her in a quiet voice.


“Greedy for you,” she insisted and ground her hips up toward mine again.


I tightened my hold on her left hip in warning. “Mm-mm, Bella stop it,” I murmured softly, breathing my cool, venom-tainted breath onto her flushed face.


I wanted to taste her. So fucking badly. But I couldn’t. Even if my Bella was comfortable with the concept of me sucking on her tasty little clit while she was menstruating, I can’t do it, regardless. That heavenly spot on my Bella's perfection, that I need so badly right now, is no doubt covered in dead blood at the moment. And I can’t partake in dead blood. I’m a vampire.


She reached up and gripped my hair then, running her fingers through it and pulling it in some places. “I want you…” she whispered to me when we made eye contact again.


I cocked my head to the side, coming up with an idea, and murmured in a teasing tone, “What’s the magic word, Bella?


She moaned and breathed out the word, “Please…” again.


Oh, fuck yes.


I brought my lips back to hers and we started kissing again. I ground my hips into her heat, giving her some friction to work with, and I let her lick and nibble my bottom lip as much as she wanted, while I took to gently palming her beautifully perky breasts.


I tore my lips away from hers and gazed down at her chest, focusing on my new task at hand. I didn’t want to ruin her shirt, or her bra, like I did last time, so I grasped the low neckline of the white tank top and brought it down to the underside of her breast, then moved the bra cup out of my way, exposing that dusty rose nipple to my eyes, once again.


Hello, beautiful...


I felt the emanating heat rise in my Bella’s face and I knew then, that she was blushing while I took a second to just gaze down at the perfection of that one naked breast.


I lightly ran the pad of my cool thumb over her little peak and watched, completely enraptured, as her body reacted to me. Her moans became louder, and that perfect, suckable little nipple perked right up for me.


Mine.


I flashed my eyes back up to my Bella’s lustful gaze for a second and whispered, “Good girl,“ letting her know that I was happy with her responsiveness to me.


Before she could say anything back, I dipped my head down and took that perfect little bud in between my lips and began to suckle on it, ever so gently. She moaned louder for me, and I smiled.


I lifted my hips off of hers then, and brought my knees onto the bed, my mouth never leaving her warm skin. I pressed my cold, jean-clad thigh up against her jean-clad core, and when she began to hesitantly grind her moist heat against it, I lifted my head and looked into her eyes, giving her an encouraging nod.


At my nod, she realized that that was why I had put my thigh there…so that she could utilize it however she wanted, so she started going at a more steady rhythm, knowing that I wouldn’t stop her.


I spent another minute sucking and licking that pretty little nipple…flicking it with my tongue occasionally, while my Bella went to town on my thigh, filling my ears with all kinds of delightful little gasps and moans of pleasure that I would remember and replay in my mind for years to come.


Eventually I ended up back by her throat, my tongue teasing the recently marked flesh, while I purred and whispered in her ear, igniting more goose bumps on her soft flesh and sending a tightening little shiver down her spine.


“Mmmm…my Bella, so warm,” I whispered against the sensitive skin of her newly marked flesh.


I moved my mouth to hover over ear then, and I smiled at her gasp and heated whimper at the sound of my soft purr, directly in her ear.


“Edward…” she moaned.


“Who do you belong to, Bella?” I purred softly in her ear while intently eyeing my mark on her intoxicating neck.


“You,” she declared.


“Mmm-hmmm…” I hummed in agreement, then attached my mouth back onto her neck, and proceeded to leave another mark, directly above the one I had already made on her.


She gasped then, and arched her back into my chest, moaning out my name in the most delicious way.


I groaned, knowing that my Bella had just cum for me, and wrapped my arm around her back, which was currently lifted off the bed. I held her to me as her body relaxed and her breathing slowed, always continuing with my lip’s light sucking on that little sliver of skin. As soon as I felt the blood rise to the surface of her skin, I let it go and licked my lips, enjoying the taste of my Bella in my mouth. I lifted my head then, and gazed down at a relaxed, and dazed looking Bella.


I smiled at how beautiful my mate looked right now...with pouty, swollen lips, messy sex hair, two little bruises on her soft neck, and a boob hanging out.


Perfect.


My mouth was drawn directly back to that perfect, pink little nipple, and after I kissed it goodbye, I gently covered my Bella’s chest back up, replacing the bra cup and lifting her tank top’s neckline back into place. Then I kissed her lips, her forehead, both of her rosy cheeks, and saved her adorable button nose for last.


She smiled up at me. “I love you…” she murmured to me in a sleepy voice.


I kept my face close to hers and nodded, effectively giving her an Eskimo kiss. “Love you too, beautiful.”


I stopped hovering on top of her then, and moved to lay on my side beside her.


I wasn’t sure if what I was about to bring up was appropriate post-orgasm conversation material, but I wasn’t sure when I’d see her again, so I had to let her know that everything was going to be okay. No matter what.


I let my fingers explore and trail, and comb through her now-messy locks, then brushed some strands away from her face as I began talking. “I talk to Carlisle last night, love. I know the conversation you had with him.”


Her eyes shot over to mine and I saw how my beautiful chocolate depths had immediately become clouded with worry and despair. Her heart rate even spiked. It broke my heart.


“Shhh…” I shushed her quietly and placed another cool kiss to that adorable little nose. It really was just too fucking cute for it’s own good. “I know everything that you told him, baby, and it’s okay. I promise,” I assured her.


“O…kay,” she said hesitantly.


I nodded. “And I know about the girl’s tendencies now, and I’m glad that I know. It gives me an opportunity to be better prepared,” I insisted.


She softened her gaze and nodded in agreement.


“And I’m going to work really hard on letting my guard down when it comes to you, and allowing my family to help me out more often, too,” I told her.


I kissed her soft, pink lips again, then murmured against their warmth, “Okay, love?”


She nodded and breathed out a relieved sigh. “Yeah, okay,” she said quickly and attached her lips to mine again.


I brought my hand into her hair then, and fisted some of those mmmm smell so good locks in my hand, always loving the feeling of those silky strands bunched in between my fingers.


When she pulled away from the kiss for a breath, she said, “Fuck Edward, you’re damn good at makin my pretty Bell cum.”


I hummed in agreement, knowing damn well that I could make my Bella cum whenever I want, however I want. She was my mate, I could play her body like a finely tuned instrument.


“I’m so wet,” Marie remarked in a seductive voice with a sexy smirk.


“I know,” I replied without skipping a beat.


Her arousal permeated the air in our bedroom and I had been smelling it for the past half hour.


“I gotta pee,” she told me in the same tone.


I chuckled and kissed her again, then pushed up off the mattress, grabbing her hand and bringing her with me. I brought her over to the dresser and grabbed the newly padded pair of panties I had prepared earlier, and handed them to her.


She looked at them with slight confusion, before realization seemed to dawn on her and she muttered, while giving me a sad look, “Oh, yeah…I’m fuckin bleeding.”


I nodded slowly at her, returning her look with my sympathetic one.


I knew that it would be hard for her this week, having to adjust to a menstrual cycle. That is, if she even let herself come into awareness often. I didn’t know if she would though, but just in case, I took it upon myself to hide all of my Bella’s tampax pearl tampons. After hearing my Bella tell Carlisle, in that first therapy session, about how Marie used a tampon and forgot about it, there is no way I am risking that happening again. My Bella could get TSS and fucking die, all because her alternate didn’t want to deal with the natural changes of her body.


I kissed her lips gently, then said in a soft tone, “Go change your panties, sweetheart.”


She nodded, and turned around with heavy feet to shuffle her way towards the bathroom door, obviously hesitant about having to clean up a potential blood mess from her skin.


While she was in the bathroom, I began straightening the covers on the bed that I had just made. My Bella and I had, apparently, wrinkled them while we were fooling around.


I smiled at that thought and contemplated just leaving the wrinkles there...as a reminder, ya know? Then I realized how much of a fucking girl I was being, and quickly straightened the damn covers out. In a manly kind of way.


When I heard my girl’s light humming, I decided to go ahead and pick out a movie for Isabella to keep her occupied since she wasn’t allowed to play outside today.


I furrowed my brow at the realization that I had actually grounded my five year old for the day, and I suddenly felt nervous as to whether or not she would be bored, stuck inside the house until tomorrow morning. My gaze traveled the room then, and my worry died out as I was reminded that she had lotts of toys and movies, along with tons of drawing and coloring material to keep her occupied.


I put her 'It Takes Two' movie, featuring the Olsen twins, in the dvd player and grabbed the remote. The bathroom door opened just as I was sitting down on the bed, getting ready to start the movie for her.


She walked up to me with a sad face, her soft lips wrapped around the thumb in her mouth.


I immediately reached for it. “Thumb, Isabella,” I quietly admonished her, while simultaneously wondering what had gotten her so upset.


She turned her head away from me when she saw my hand going for her mouth.


I dropped my hand back down to my side and sighed.


Difficult.


“Edward?” she mumbled around her thumb.


“Yes, baby girl?”


She popped her thumb out of her mouth then, and sniffled. She looked up at me with watery eyes, and I immediately became worried and went to her. I cupped her rosy cheeks in my hands and stared intently into her beautiful eyes.


“What is it?” I whispered.


“Pants are hurtin my tummy,” she muttered, while softly running her little fingers along her lower abdomen.


I nodded, a bit relieved that that was all that was causing her to be upset. I couldn’t help my sense of smugness that I had been right all along about those jeans. I walked over to the dresser then, where I had folded and placed the little red dress from earlier, and grabbed it, then quickly handed the piece of clothing over to Isabella.


“Go change back into this, pretty girl,” I instructed. “I’ll set up the heating pad, and when you’re done, you can cuddle up with me while you watch your movie. It’s already in the dvd player, baby,” I told her.


She nodded and took the dress from my hands, then turned back towards the bathroom.


I raced downstairs and grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen, took two pills out, grabbed a Hi-C juice box and a peanut butter cookie, then flew right back up the stairs, to set up the heating pad on the large bed and wait for Isabella to finish changing.


When Isabella came out, I pressed PLAY on the remote, effectively starting the 'It Takes Two' movie, and handed Isabella the small pills and her juice box. She took them without hesitation, remembering that they had made her feel better this morning. Then, I gave her the peanut butter cookie to munch on.


I knew that she had to take that medicine on a full stomach, in order to avoid any possible stomach bleeding ulcers from developing, but I wasn’t exactly sure if what she had eaten for lunch was actually still in her stomach, and I wasn’t going to take any chances with my precious angel.


She was going to finish that damn cookie.


I kept my keen eyes focused intently on her progress with it, as she slowly nibbled on her peanut butter treat, while keeping her distracted gaze on the screen. When she finally took that last bite, and swallowed, I breathed a sigh of relief and had her lay down on the bed for a cuddle.


I laid down beside her and placed a pillow under her head, like last time, then set the heating pad's intensity to level two and let it work it's magic on her lower abdominals.


I lightly trailed my fingers along her arms and back, slowing my hands down into soothing, massaging, little circles when I reached the tense muscles of her lower back.


When I felt her body begin to relax, and saw her little thumb make it's way up to her mouth, I kissed her temple and started gently running my cool fingers through her long hair, until she was finally lulled to sleep for her afternoon nap.