The life and lies of Matty and I - J.Black

A lie and an 'adoption'

AS THE FOLLOWING WEEKS developed the now household of four had managed to settle into their new routine. The times of adaption were slowly starting to ebb away as the routine stuck and few new things continued to be added to the equation. And as the initial period of mass adjustment began to slow, the stress levels in the house only continued to rise. Charlie loved having his grandson around, truly finding joy getting to spend time with the small boy. And Veronica did not mind spending time with her nephew knowing that sometimes mothers just needed space. Yet this was not exactly the case they were being presented with. Bella was just not able to be a mother for her child. There was no exact reason, nothing they could really pinpoint that they could help with to make it easier for her, to make it so she could step up and into that role. There just seemed to be a level of disconnection between Bella having given birth to Matthew and then stepping into the role. And until they could find a way for Bella to be able to connect to her role and then help her through the adjustment, the rest of the family would just step up to support until they were no longer needed. 

Charlie did not mind stepping up, his daughter needed him to give more support in this time and he would not let her down. Her would not let his grandson down by failing to provide the support which would lead to Matthew being well cared for. He did not mind waking up during the night to aid to the young boy, it had been something he had done many times before when both of his girls had been younger. The lack of sleep was worth it when he looked in those bright happy eyes and the gummy smile and he just knew that it was all worth it. Ensuring that Matthew had the best childhood he possibly could made everything worth it. Coming home from a long stressful day at work, to a household full of joy and happiness made the job worthwhile. When he got to spend an evening watching cartoons, playing games, telling stories and helping his grandson reach those milestones that made the bad days fade away to the back of his subconscious. His co-workers had commented a few times recently that he seemed to have a little more pep in his step. 

Veronica also did not mind helping out to help her older sister out. She held the belief that if she gave everything just a little more time, that it would begin to settle and things would be clearer. Bella would either make the steps she needed or she wouldn't. And it was not like having Matthew around or doing things for him was difficult, it did not come easy like the television would lead you to believe. But with enough time and patience Veronica was able to do things and she was able to work out what she needed. And if she ever had any questions she was lucky enough that her dad was there to help her out. Things she was aware many people did not have. 

Veronica and Charlie worked together to provide care for the baby. The nickname Matty had stuck over the previous weeks and it would usually be Veronica who woke Matty up in the morning and dressed him before heading down to breakfast. Charlie would be responsible for organising breakfast for all four of them whilst Veronica was dressing Matty, and at just over nine months old the small boy was usually allowed to attempt to feed himself though often did need a lot of assistance. Charlie would drop him off at the nursery in the morning, and Veronica would pick him up dependent on what activity she had after school to what time. She would be the primary carer until 5pm when her father would take over after arriving home from work and Veronica would be allowed to have a couple of hours to get any school work or socialising done. They then took it in turns each night to bathe him and then put him down to bed before they sat together in an evening and watched tv together.

Bella had not adjusted to the exact same routine as the other three in the house had. She had decided to focus more on trying to adjust to her new life in the teenaged world of Forks, something Veronica could understand as the social life in Forks did often feel like a political campaign. Bella did not want to be known as the awkward new girl for long, she wanted to either fade into the background or take a prominent role in the social scene. And considering the people she had befriended on her first day, it was the latter path she had taken. Joining the most popular clique at the school also came with a lot of attachments, as Veronica had witnessed as she watched Bella get deeper and deeper involved in the group. There was some sort of unwritten requirement that they had to constantly be spending time together outside of school, as Bella would be out for three nights of the week and at least one day of the weekend with her friends. Sometimes it would be small town things like heading to the beach or the diner. But a weekend would usually include heading to the parties of which were not a secret to the adults of the area. The second unwritten rule that was part of belonging to the popular kids of the school was the rule that they could not be single for long. A rule which had lead Bella down the spiralling path of trying to find someone to date after only being in the town for a month or two at most. And the poor girl only had a few options to being with, considering it was a town where many people starting dating at fourteen or fifteen and would rarely split ever. And not many of the choices Bella had were people that Veronica could even see as semi-worthwhile attempting to date.