The Man Who Can't Be Moved Ch 20 Teaser

Teaser time again!

Here's a bit from the latest Man chapter. I have one more scene to write in BPOV and then it's going straight to Stratan for beta'ing.

I've also submitted a version of this teaser to Fictionators.com. Be sure to check 'em out. There's a ton of awesome recs over there.

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"Reneé?" Bella asked nervously.

"What?" She cleared her throat once. "Did you tell your father?"

Bella smiled with the thought of Charlie's reaction. "I did. He said that he thought I was too young, but that he'd never really seen me happy until Edward came along. And I even got a congratulations out of him."

Her sharp intake of breath alerted me to her change in demeanor.

"Well, you are too young. Did you learn nothing from your father and me?" she snapped.

"I learned what not to do in a marriage, if that's what you mean," Bella shot back.

"You have your entire life ahead of you! Why rush this? It'll only wind up in divorce!" Reneé cried in frustration.

"I have no intention of ever divorcing your daughter, Reneé," I said tersely. The
woman was mad.

"You may not have the intention, but when my daughter realizes that she's rushed into something she wasn't prepared for, you'll have no choice in the matter."

"I'm not you!" Bella screamed. "I'm nothing like you. I love this man and I want to have a family with him. You never wanted me; I was always a burden to your hippie, free-spirited lifestyle. The fact that you're actually wanting to be a parent to my brother is almost incomprehensible to me. Why can't you just be happy for me?"

"You're only twenty-one! Why can't you wait until you're thirty to marry Edward, if he's still around?" Reneé argued. It didn't escape me that she didn't refute Bella's claim of not wanting her, which was absurd. How could anyone not want her?

"Because, I will not make him wait until he's fifty to get married just because you want me to. I'm tired of living my life to appease everyone else. I'm ready for this," she said emphatically. "I'm ready to stop being plain, frightened, uncertain Bella Swan and be what Edward sees in me; the bright, funny, confident, and beautiful girl that stubbornly accomplishes whatever she puts her mind to."

"Well said," I whispered.

"It's what you're always trying to tell me, right?" she asked nervously.

"Exactly."

"Well," Reneé said, sounding a little defeated. "I still think you're making a huge mistake. As much as I like Edward, I don't like that he has made you become dependent on him like you are."

"I'm not dependent on him. Jesus, do you know how long it took me to realize that loving him doesn't make me dependent? He makes me stronger because he's always--no matter how stupid he thinks I'm being--there for me. Having someone besides Dad, who lives twelve hundred miles away, support me is the most incredible feeling I've ever known."

"So what are you going to do?" Reneé asked. "Drop out of school and pop out little half-British babies because you got involved with a man who's pushing forty?"

Both our jaws dropped in shock at the venom in her voice. "Who are you?" Bella gasped.

"I'm sorry. That didn't come out right," Reneé said quickly. "Hormones have made me a bitch. I-I don't want to see you make my mistakes all over again."

A tear slid down Bella's mottled cheek. "Just forget it. I'll send you a save the date card and you can sit at home twiddling your fucking thumbs while I walk down the aisle."

"Bella-"

"Hang up, Edward." I was frozen and couldn't get my hands to cooperate. "Hang up!" she screeched.

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So there ya go...