Repentance - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3:

It was late when I got in and Alice was asleep on the couch. She woke up when I closed the door behind me.

“Hey,” she yawned. “How did it go?”

I grinned from ear to ear. “It went really well.”

She laughed and patted the spot next to her on the couch. “Tell me everything!”

We sat on the couch for over an hour and I told her every little detail. She was really excited for me.

“He’s so gorgeous, Alice. I just don’t get what he sees in me! We’re from two different worlds.”

“Stop being so hard on yourself, Bella. Any man would be lucky to have you!”

I sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll see if he calls tomorrow. I don’t want to like him, but I do.”

Alice laughed. “Why don’t you want to like him? What isn’t to like! He’s gorgeous, rich and smart!”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want to get hurt.”

“You have to learn to take risks, Bella. No pain, no gain.”

“Yea, in case you haven’t noticed, Alice, I’m not much of a risk taker,” I laughed.

“Maybe it’s time for change, Bella,” Alice said seriously.

“Maybe, but it’s still early. What do I tell him if he asks about Masen?”

“I don’t know. I was wondering about that too.”

I sighed. “I’m not telling him the truth, I can’t.”

Alice shook her head in agreement. “How about your high school sweetheart? When you got pregnant, he left. That sounds good, right?”

I laughed. “I guess.”

“I’ve got to get going. See you next week!”

“Okay, thanks again.”

She smiled and let herself out.

I didn’t sleep much that night. I couldn’t help but see Edward’s striking features when I closed my eyes. I found myself wondering what he looked like without clothes on. Those thoughts especially scared me.

I was grateful when the sun finally rose and I could get out of bed. I used the few hours Masen slept in to get some homework and cleaning done. It was shortly before noon when I heard my cell ringing. I tripped over one of Masen’s toys while running to the kitchen to find my purse.

“Hello?” I answered, breathless. Masen was still laughing loudly at my clumsiness.

Edward laughed. “What’s got him so tickled?”

I laughed too. “He’s laughing at me. I tripped trying to get to the phone.”

“I wish I could’ve seen that!”

“No, really, it was quite embarrassing, even if he’s the only one who saw it.”

Edward laughed again. “Well, I hope it’s not too soon, but I wanted to see if you’d like to go to dinner again, tonight perhaps?”

“Um...,” I hesitated. “Well, I’d like to, but I don’t think I am able to.”

“You can say no, if you want.”

I laughed. “No, I mean, no, I want to.” I fumbled my words. “Its just that, I can’t ask Alice to keep Masen again. The weekends are the only time she and Jasper really get together and I kept her from him last night.”

“Is Jasper her boyfriend?”

“Oh, yea, sorry.”

He laughed. “That’s alright. Well, you can say no, but what if I make you and Masen dinner, at my place. I really like you, Bella. I know our schedules are insanely busy during the week, so I guess I’m being greedy by wanting to see you again tonight.”

I giggled and my heart raced. “Are you sure? I mean, dealing with me is one thing, but dealing with me and Masen will be a handful.”

Edward laughed. “I’m sure I can handle it. Does Masen require any sort of special diet?”

“No, he can eat whatever we eat. Whether he will or not, is another story. But I’ll take care of him, you just worry about us.”

“I can do that. How does 6 o’clock sound?”

“That’s fine, but there’s one other problem.”

“What is that?” Edward asked.

“Um, I don’t have a car and I don’t like to take the bus after dark with Masen.”

“I’ll pick you both up at 5:30 p.m. then, you’ll just have to help me cook.”

I smiled. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

As soon as I got off the phone with him I started frantically running around the house wondering what Masen and I were going to wear. I called Alice for suggestions and between the two of us we figured it out. She also suggested I bring desert, which was a good idea.

Masen and I ran to the store and got the necessary ingredients. I spent the majority of the afternoon making sure my homemade apple pie turned out perfectly.

As soon as I got Masen down for his nap, I hit the shower and began the never ending task of my hair. I wanted to wear it down, for Edward. I tried to mimic what Alice had done to it the previous evening, but I wasn’t exactly successful. I clipped some of it back from my face and left the majority of it down and slightly wavy. I decided on a v-neck, fitted, dark crimson imitation cashmere sweater with a nice pair of dark wash skinny jeans. A black belt and black ballet flats finished the look. I wanted to be casual, but still look nice. I dressed Masen in blue jeans and a dark blue sweater and then I gave him a talk.

“Masen, we’re going to visit a friend for dinner tonight, okay?”

Masen eagerly shook his head. “Ms. Alwice?” he asked.

“No, not Ms. Alice. We’re going to see my friend, Edward. You have to be on your best behavior, okay?”

Masen laughed and shook his head in agreement. “Try not to have a stinky in your diaper, that’s not cute,” I joked.

Masen giggled. “tinky!” he exclaimed. Stinky was his newest word and he loved repeating it. I got all of our things together and set them by the door. Between my purse, Masen’s diaper bag, a smaller bag full of things to entertain him and his car seat, Edward would think we were moving in. The site at the front door almost made me want to cry. It was such a production to go anywhere. Surely Edward wouldn’t be expecting all this, but it was necessary with an 18 month old. I was making sure I had everything together when I heard a knock at the door.

I took a deep breath and opened the door. “Hi, Edward. Come on in.”

Edward came inside and stood near the door while I went to grab Masen. He started screaming as soon as I told him we were leaving. “What’s wrong? I told you we were leaving.”

He started pointing behind me. “Unky!”

“You’re monkey. Right. We’ll get your monkey.” I ran back to the bedroom and grabbed his stuffed monkey from his crib. I met Edward back at the front door. “Are you sure your ready for this?” I laughed.

Edward laughed too. “I’m sure.”

“Okay, well, we have to get all of this stuff downstairs,” I said, gesturing to the pile next to the door.

“Oh, wow. I didn’t even think about a car seat!” Edward laughed.

“Yea, it’s a big production to take us anywhere.”

“Nonsense, Bella,” Edward said, grabbing the car seat and the diaper bag. I took Masen and my purse. I couldn’t believe how willing he was to jump in and help with Masen. We made it outside and down the street a little ways to Edward’s car. He opened the passenger side door and scooted the seat up and placed the car seat in the back seat. “I have no idea how to install that thing,” he laughed.

“I’ll do it. Do you mind holding him for a second? If I put him down, he’ll disappear.”

Edward laughed. “I don’t mind at all,” he said as he took Masen from me. I struggled with the car seat for a few minutes. I was used to having a little more room in a four door car, unlike Edward’s two door.

I was a little surprised when I turned around. Masen was asleep in Edward’s arms, his head nuzzled into his neck. Edward was brushing a lock of hair back from Masen’s eye. Our eyes met and Edward smiled at me. My heart melted. Edward stepped around me and placed Masen in the car seat. “I’ll let you buckle him in. I’ll probably screw it up.”

I laughed at him and did as he suggested. It was a quiet ride to his apartment on the other side of town. He lived in a nice area, like Alice. We took the elevator to the 10th floor and entered his apartment. Masen was still asleep and I placed him on a blanket on the floor with some pillows around him from Edward’s couch.

“You have an amazing waterfront view,” I said, looking out the wall of windows in his living room.

“Yea, that’s why I got this place. It’s a little small, but it works, and you can’t beat the view.

I continued to look around his apartment. “I didn’t know you were musically inclined too,” I said, noting his guitar and keyboard in the corner. “Is there anything you can’t do?” I joked.

Edward laughed. “I can’t instal car seats.”

I laughed too and nudged him in the side.

We started working on dinner in the kitchen. He was making baked salmon, baked potatoes and a salad. I was cutting up tomatoes for the salad when we suddenly heard the guitar being played in the living room. I dropped what I was doing and ran in there. Masen was picking at the strings on the guitar. I started to go get him when I felt Edward’s hand grab my wrist, pulling me back.

“It’s okay. Let him,” Edward said, staring at Masen.

“I don’t want him to break anything.”

“He won’t. Has he seen a guitar before?”

“Never.”

Edward laughed. “Amazing.”

“What?”

He looked at me. “Oh, nothing. It’s just that, I was about his age when I first became fascinated with the guitar.” Edward left my side and went over and picked up the guitar. He sat down on the couch and Masen followed him, sitting directly in front of him on the floor. Edward started playing. Masen watched him; his eyes fixated on Edward’s fingers strumming the acoustic guitar.

The site made me a little sad. I’d never be able to afford to give Masen a guitar, or lessons. I went back to the kitchen and continued preparing the salad. A few minutes later Edward joined me in the kitchen, carrying Masen.

“I want one doze mommy,” Masen said, referring to the guitar.

I laughed. “Maybe when you’re older.”

Edward passed Masen off to me to finish dinner. “Here,” he said, handing me a glass of wine. “Go have a seat, relax, I’ll take care of this.”

I smiled and went into the living room and sipped my wine while playing with Masen.

Edward popped his head in the living room about 45 minutes later. “Dinner’s ready.” I picked Masen up and went to the small dining area off of the kitchen.

“Wow, this looks really good,” I said, as I sat down.

“I hope you like it.”

I mashed a baked potato up for Masen and fed him some of my salmon. He liked it as much as I did.

The dinner conversation mainly focused around Masen being silly. It amazed me how enthralled Edward seemed to be with Masen. It was as if he had never been around a child before. Maybe he hadn’t. Edward seemed amazed by everything Masen did, it was cute.

Edward stopped me when I tried to help with the dishes. “I’ll take care of this,” he insisted.

“Okay,” I finally agreed. “Edward, is there somewhere I can put Masen down? I mean, he can stay in the living room with us, but we can’t be noisy.”

Edward laughed. “Noisy? What did you have in mind, Bella?”

I blushed. “I...that’s not what I meant...never mind.”

Edward laughed loudly. “I’m just messing with you. He can sleep on my bed. It’s down the hall on the right.”

“Okay, I have to read him a story first, so I may be a few minutes.”

“Of course, take your time, Bella.”

I smiled and got Masen and headed to Edward’s bedroom. It felt kind of awkward being in there without him. It was perfectly spotless though. I changed Masen’s diaper before I started his story. He was asleep before I finished. I put some pillows around him and joined Edward in the living room.

“He’s out,” I said, sitting next to Edward on the couch.

Edward smiled. “He’s a great kid.”

“Yea, he is. I keep waiting for him to turn into a monster,” I laughed.

Edward laughed too. “Why would he do that?”

At that point, I realized what I had said. That was always my biggest fear, Masen becoming like his father. “Um...I don’t know. Never mind.”

Edward seemed to sense my uneasiness and he didn’t ask anymore questions.

“Are you ready for dessert?” I asked, to break the awkward silence.

“Sure.”

We both headed to the kitchen and I warmed up two slices of the apple pie.

“Apple pie is one of my favorites and I have just the thing to go with it!” he said, as he pulled a container of vanilla bean ice cream from the stainless steel freezer.

“Mmm! That will be good!” We made our plates and went back and sat on the couch.

“So, Edward, tell me something.”

“What?” he asked.

“What do you want with a girl like me?”

He laughed. “What do you mean, a girl like you?”

“Well, I mean, we’re obviously from two different worlds. I’m a single mom, I live in government housing and can barely pay the bills.” I laughed.

His face turned serious. “Bella, none of that matters to me. I don’t know why. I was initially just drawn to you. You’re beautiful, and last night, I learned so much more about you, and I really like what I’ve seen of you so far. You’re not pretentious like other girls. You’re real and your passionate and you’re smart and caring and you give 110 percent at everything you do.”

I stared at him blankly. I couldn’t remember the last time someone took the time to get to know me, instead of classifying me as a whore, or single mother on food stamps. He stared at my lips and he moved closer to me. His hand caressed my cheek. His lips were mere inches from mine and my heart was thundering inside my chest.

“Is it alright if I kiss you?” he whispered against my lips.

I shook my head and instantly felt his lips against mine. Time seemed to stop. I set my plate in my lap and my hands made there way around his neck and into his wild hair. Everything inside me was on fire. I couldn’t help the way my body reacted when I was around him.

He pulled my bottom lip between his, sucking gently and pulling slightly away from me. “And you’re an amazing kisser,” he said, before lightly pressing his lips to mine again.

I smiled against his lips. He tasted incredible. I finally pulled away from him, grinning from ear to ear. “I should get going.”

He shook his head in agreement. We got Masen and gathered my things together before heading to the car. Fortunately, it was parked in the garage. It was pouring rain. I momentarily had a flash back to that night when I looked out on to the street from the covered garage. I didn’t realize I had stopped walking until Edward turned back and looked at me.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry. I just don’t like the rain.”

He didn’t say anything. He walked back over to me and put his arm around my waist and led me to his car.

When we arrived at my apartment it was still raining and we had too much to carry to deal with an umbrella, so we got wet. Edward came in and I put Masen to bed. I met him at the door.

“Thank you for dinner; it was wonderful.”

He smiled. “Anytime. Maybe I’ll catch you at the library sometime this week, otherwise, I hope to see you next weekend.”

“Definitely,” I grinned.

He grabbed my hands and pulled me closer to him, pressing his lips to mine. His hands left mine and his arms wrapped around me. His scent, again intoxicated me, and I wanted nothing more than to take him to bed with me. But I couldn’t. Our lips finally parted.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered against my lips.

I smiled against his lips before kissing him again momentarily and then pulling away. “Goodnight, Edward.”

He laughed and kissed my forehead. “I’ll call you. I hope you have good week.”

“Thank you.”

“Goodnight, Bella.” He walked out the door and as I closed it behind him, I exhaled, feeling like I had been holding my breath all night. I couldn’t help but to do a little happy dance around my living room before calling Alice and telling her everything.

***Author’s Note: Hey! Sorry this update took SOOOO long. This year has not been kind to me and it’s taken me a while to get my brain functioning again. Things should move a long better from here, hopefully! I hope you all liked this chapter! Thanks reading and reviewing!

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**CHAPTER 4 - CLICK HERE**