A/N: Not even a full day had passed on my ski trip and I already missed writing :P So I have a couple of fluffy one shots for you guys that I'll upload very soon. This is the first one. Very much in style of skiing and snow :D It takes place after Breaking Dawn, the Cullens go on a ski trip with Jake and Seth. See what happens. Full of fluff, just the way I like it ;) Hope you enjoy! I know I did :) Please let me know what you guys thought! :)
Snow Romance
It was winter in Forks, of course the only real difference with summer was that it was colder now than in summer and that occasionally resulted in snow, like today. Since I had been turned I didn't mind the cold and wet so much anymore. Of course I still preferred sun but I knew that it also meant that I wasn't going to be able to go outside and mingle, not that I did a lot of that, since people would know the difference between the new and old me but still, I would like to have the possibility.
I couldn't believe it was already more than a year ago that Aro and the rest of the Volturi had attacked us because of Renesmee, or at least that's what he had made everyone believe, we knew better. He had been after Edward and Alice for a while because of their gifts and now that I was a vampire I was also an object of interest to him, something to add to his odd collection. Of course he wouldn't give up on Renesmee that easily either, which made me very uncomfortable but Edward and Carlisle had assured me that they needed a damn good reason to attack us like that again, there had been many witnesses and they doubted the Volturi could afford to exterminate all of them, surely word would get out and if they tried anything like it again any time soon their precious reputation would be ruined for good.
Of course the conflict with the Volturi had given us a lot as well. We were closer to the wolves than we had ever been before and Renesmee had caused strong bonds between many vampire covens and us. We occasionally had visitors over and that was always a lot of fun. I was happy with the way things had turned out and I was grateful for my family and new friends.
It was morning and Edward and I were walking over to the mansion after spending yet another night in each other's arms making love in our home. A huge grin had been plastered on my face for quite some time now, I was so happy with Edward and everything was still going great. I was certain that we would never get sick of each other, which was a very good thing since we had eternity together.
When we walked in the house Alice was already waiting for us, she was radiating energy and it surprised me that she wasn't literally bouncing up and down. I couldn't imagine what would make her this excited but that enthusiasm was what I loved most about my favorite sister. I still thought of her as my favorite sister, even though Rose had been such a great help with Renesmee and we had definitely grown closer, also because I was now not a vampire by will anymore technically, since Edward had turned me to keep me alive, so most of the grudges she had held against me had evaporated. But sometimes things were still awkward between the two of us and I knew that we would never be as close as Alice and I were, especially because I knew that if it hadn't been for Renesmee I would never have gotten any closer with Rose, we would probably have grown further apart even as a result of my transformation.
"Good morning Alice, what are you so happy about?" I asked conversationally.
"Oh Bella! You're going to love this!" she exclaimed while literally running full speed towards where I was standing to pull me into a hug.
I always got suspicious when she said stuff like that. Sometimes I wondered if she even knew me at all. Because things I was 'definitely going to love', always turned out to involve shopping or other things I had never in my life liked. The only time she had actually been right about me 'loving' her surprises and plans was with the wedding, she had truly done an amazing job with that and I was still very grateful for it as I would be the rest of our existence.
"I doubt it, but shoot," I said discouragingly.
Of course Alice didn't falter and she looked like she was going to combust with excitement. "I foresaw snow, lots of it, in the French Alps," she started excitingly. How was this going to be a good thing? I wondered. "and this time of year is never very busy there, most people are working or in school so there will only be a few locals on the slopes." She looked at me expectantly. Slopes? I gave her a confused look, and she got irritated with my lack of enthusiasm and my obvious reluctance to try and understand what she was telling me. "We're all going on a ski trip! The whole family! Including you and Edward and Renesmee, and Jacob obviously. It's going to be so much fun!" she gushed.
"Skiing?!" I exclaimed incredulously.
"Yes Bella, skiing, you know, snow, slopes, skis and lots of fun!" She rolled her eyes at how slow my mind was working.
"But, I suck at sports!" I cried out.
"You're a vampire! You don't suck at anything anymore remember?" She rolled her eyes at me once more.
"But still Alice, it's snow and sports and I can't do that, in any combination!" I was desperately trying to talk her out of it, I could see that she wasn't going to get discouraged.
"I've already seen us going so you might as well give it up and start packing, we leave tonight!" she said sternly.
Obviously there was no more point in arguing with her so I went to look for Edward, who had conveniently taken Renesmee into another room, so I could voice my complaints at him.
"It won't work Bella, Edward actually likes skiing and he is almost as excited as I am, especially because he wants to teach Renesmee and you how to ski, so if you want him to be happy you won't even say anything," she winked at me. This woman was evil! Playing the guilt card, knowing fully well how well that worked on me. I rolled my eyes and sighed in defeat.
Alice let out an excited squeal as she dashed into the room to tell the rest of the family the 'good' news.
I reluctantly walked into the living room after her and immediately went over to Edward with the pout on my face undisguised.
"I'm sorry love," he said while kissing the top of my head.
"You knew, didn't you?" I accused him.
"I'm afraid so," he said smiling.
"And you didn't warn me!" Most of my newborn temper had faded but sometimes it still showed it's ugly head. This was one of those times as I hissed at Edward.
"Sorry love, Alice told me not to tell you, and you know how persuasive she can be, she knows a little too well how much I love my precious cars," he said with one of the most beautiful apologetic smiles I had ever seen. And as quickly as the anger had come on, it disappeared again and I sighed while lowering myself onto the loveseat next to him. He put his arm around me and soothingly started stroking my hair. "It really will be fun love, you'll see," he said encouragingly.
"You're also really excited about this aren't you?" I asked him, even though I could see the answer in his eyes already.
"I like skiing," he shrugged.
"It's more than that, Alice already told me. You are looking forward to teaching Renesmee and me how to ski, aren't you?" I raised my eyebrows at him.
"You have no idea how much!" he exclaimed with a glorious smile on his face.
Suddenly I felt a wave of calm coming over me and I knew that Jasper had just entered the room, probably sensing my distress. I looked over at him and smiled apologetically, I know how much my mood swings always bothered him. It must be hard to be around a relatively newborn vampire, so easily distracted.
He winked at me. "You'll be fine Bella, don't worry, skiing to a vampire is actually a lot of fun." Another wave of calm hit me.
"Right," I grumbled but couldn't help but smile at myself a little.
Around noon Jacob walked in with Seth and Leah by his side. Seth and Jake immediately walked into the kitchen, anticipating the delicious meal Esme had been preparing for them. Leah staid behind, looking a little uncomfortable as she shifted her weight from left to right. She didn't say anything, she just stood there, like she always did when she was in our house. All of the other wolves had warmed up to us a lot, but Leah always held a grudge, she blamed us for turning her into a werewolf and forcing her to live her life like this. I couldn't blame her, I felt sorry for her, I chose this life because I wanted to be with the person I love more than anything in the world, she was forced and it had caused her more pain than I could probably imagine.
Alice had informed Jacob about the ski trip and he had been excited as well, and where Alice had been able to control the bouncing, he had not and he literally had jumped up from his seat, running over to Renesmee and started bouncing around the room with her, while she let out enthusiastic giggles. Of course Jacob would like to go with us on the trip, I had never expected anything else from him. He told us he wasn't much of a skier though, he preferred snowboarding. Alice had not seen that coming so she felt a little uncomfortable while confessing that that would mean another trip to the store, since she had bought everyone a new pair of skis with matching outfits.
Jake had asked Leah and Seth if they wanted to come along, Seth had gladly accepted the invite but Leah, to no one's surprise, had declined. Jake told Leah she could run with Sam's pack for the time that we would be away then, or if she wanted she could take the time off, have some time to herself, nobody to hear her thoughts. I think she was actually grateful for the opportunity to be normal for a bit, because she was out the door in no time, running back to La Push without so much as a goodbye. Again, I couldn't blame her, I was so glad Edward could only read my mind when I let him in, I wasn't sure I could handle being around him the way I am if that wasn't the case, it would be far too embarrassing.
Alice had dragged Jake and Seth, who apparently also preferred snowboarding, along with her to the store so they could pick out a snowboard they liked, since she couldn't see what they would want. She had ordered the rest of us to begin packing and loading up the cars, we would leave for the airport as soon as we were all done. She had already booked a private flight and cars that would be waiting for us in France, she was nothing if not thorough.
Edward had made sure I didn't have to worry about packing, he knew what stuff Alice had bought for everyone so he knew exactly what else I needed to pack and I could just sit back and relax while he packed clothes and supplies for the three of us. It felt very nice to have him take care of me like that.
When Alice had come back with Seth and Jake and she had made sure everyone was fully packed and ready to go, we left the mansion and drove towards the airport.
The plane Alice had rented was outrageously large for nine but then again, everything the Cullens ever did was outrageous, I guess that's what happens when you have unlimited funding. I was getting used to it a little more each day but some things still shocked me. The plane was one of those things. As were the cars that were waiting for us at the airport in France. She had made sure every couple had their own car, which meant 4 cars, and not just any cars, she had hired a Porsche for her and Jasper, the newest Mercedes available for Carlisle and Esme, an outrageous Jeep for Emmett and Rosalie, a Ferrari for Jake and Seth and for me, Renesmee and Edward she had a special surprise, to my great surprise and pleasure there was a truck parked next to all the scandalously expensive cars, it was red and resembled the one I used to drive around Forks when I was still human, before Edward's estate had also become mine. Of course this truck was far more luxurious than the one I had owned, and undoubtedly it would go much faster as well, but it was close enough and I beamed at Alice thankfully before jumping in the driver's seat. No way was I going to let Edward drive this baby! I was even playing with the idea of driving extra slow, just to antagonize Edward. Alice must have seen my plan because she grinned at me wickedly, I returned the grin.
We arrived at our lodge not much later, since every single one of the cars was extremely fast and every driver had incredible senses so it was a short drive. It surprised me how easily Jake had been able to keep up, but of course he loved driving like a maniac, knowing that none of us would ever let him get caught. The minute I had started the car and slowly began our journey Edward had looked up at me in shock, probably guessing my plan.
"So that's why Alice was naming all countries in Africa with their capitals when I walked past," he had mumbled to himself before looking at me with a shockingly devastating expression on his face. He was pleading. "Please Bella, please don't do this to me!" he begged.
I'd just grinned evilly at him. Then he placed one hand on either side of my face and forced me to look into his eyes. They were filled with mock pain. It was unbelievable that he could still mesmerize me like this but when he kissed me my will completely faltered and I surrendered. Muttering "not fair!" to him before putting the peddle to the metal. His smile had been triumphant and he was very smug with himself the rest of the drive. It bugged me to no end that I had given in so easily so I continued moping for a bit, just to annoy Edward, I knew it was childish but I couldn't help it.
The lodge was breathtaking. It was extremely large and light. It reminded me much of the Forks mansion only this one seemed to be even bigger. There were 4 bedrooms, Carlisle and Esme took the largest room, which appeared to be the master bedroom, Rose and Emmett took the one all the way at the top level of the house, Jacob, Renesmee and Seth were going to share what seemed to be the kids' room, I had smiled at the thought, the room was big enough to fit an entire playground into and it had three single beds, so it made sense for them to occupy that room. Alice and Jasper had a room on the far end of the house. Edward and I had a beautiful room with view of the slopes, which were right next to the lodge, perfect location I assumed, and a balcony, it had a fireplace and a huge bed, not that we would need that, although it would be nice to use, it looked very comfortable.
Edward noticed my stare at the bed and he must have shared my thoughts because before I knew it I was on the bed and Edward was on top of me, placing kisses all over my face and neck. It didn't take long for my mind to catch up with his actions and I started kissing him back, forcefully locking him to my body, planning to not release him for the coming hours.
When we descended the stairs after an hour of blissful lovemaking, everyone was sitting in the living room. Carlisle and Esme were lovingly holding hands while reading books, Jasper, Emmett, Seth, Jake and Renesmee were planning tomorrow's trip, I couldn't help but smile when I noticed that Renesmee was doing most of the planning, she had so much power over the guys, they were scared to suggest a different route. Once Emmett had started: "But, Nessie, it might be better to…" The pout she had given him had been so devastating that he couldn't finish his sentence and she ended up getting her way.
I smiled at Edward, who had noticed the exchange, and we chuckled. "She's going to be such a pain when she hits puberty," I whispered to him so I was sure she wouldn't be able to hear it. He just smiled and nodded. "Luckily her growth is quick so she might grow out of puberty very quickly as well," I said hopeful. Edward had hugged me and given me a kiss on my hair.
Emmett noticed us standing at the bottom of the stairs and he wiggled his eyebrows at us suggestively. "What? You still haven't gotten enough of each other just now?" he said while winking. I let out a loud hiss. In front of our daughter! I thought angrily. Before I knew it my body responded and I pounded on Emmett. We wrestled for a bit, it was too bad that my newborn strength was wearing off, it was an even fight and I knew I was never going to be able to beat him at wrestling anymore from now on. Then we gave up and helped each other up laughingly.
The next morning it was time for us to hit the slopes. I was still worried, even though Edward had assured me it would all be fine and we will have a lot of fun. It wasn't that I didn't trust him to be a good teacher, I just didn't trust myself.
I had clumsily put on my shoes and skis, I was horrified to notice that not all of my clumsiness had disappeared with my humanity. If this ski trip was going to be a problem I would demand a refund for sure!
"All set love?" Edward had asked after he had strapped Renesmee onto her skis and after putting on his own skis as well. I just glared at him for a minute, then I nodded uncertain. "Great, let's go then!" he said excitingly.
The rest of the family, except for Jake and Seth, had already gone ahead to ski down some slopes before Renesmee and I would get the hang of it, then we would all start the tour the boys and Renesmee had planned out the evening before. But Seth and Jake had gladly staid behind to watch us struggle for a bit, their words, not mine. I glared at Jake one more time, I saw him grinning already and I really didn't want to make a fool out of myself anymore. That part should have been behind me when Edward changed me!
To my great dismay, Edward had shown Renesmee what to do and she had been able to follow his example immediately, I was jealous of the ease with which my daughter was gliding down the slopes, nobody would think this was her first time on these treacherous things.
When Edward was certain Renesmee would be able to handle herself pretty well he looked up at me expectantly, undoubtedly waiting for me to do the same. I had seen them do it and I knew for a fact now that my vampire senses would make me a great skier. But Edward had been so excited about teaching me to ski that I was going to have some fun with him first.
"Jake, why don't you and Seth take Renesmee up so she can practice on some other slopes first? We'll join you once I have gotten the hang of it all, alright?"
"You just don't want me to see you stumble!" he accused me with a pout, but then he smiled and took Renesmee to the lifts.
"I think I'm going to need some help with this," I told Edward in my most innocent voice.
He smiled and quicker than humanly possible he was next to me.
"Do you want me to show you one more time? I'm sure that should be enough for you to be able to copy," he asked.
"No, actually I was wondering if you could come with me the first time?" I put on my most innocent expression and batted my eyelashes at him. I heard him gasp for a second and then he grasped what I wanted him to do.
He was behind me in les then one tenth of a second, his skis around mine and his arms around my waist. I smiled contently. "Ready love?" he whispered in my ear and I knew that my heart would have skipped multiple beats if it had still been able to. I turned around to kiss my husband with as much passion as I could put in one kiss. I saw his eyes darken in desire immediately. Then I kissed his neck and brought my lips to his ear before I whispered "let's go."
We were gliding down the slope easily and the way he held me felt wonderful. Why had I never tried this before? As long as Edward was holding me I knew I loved skiing.
Edward had shamelessly suggested that the two of us leave the rest to go on their tour while we went back to the house to share a bubble bath. I had been very tempted and I knew my eyes were just about as dark as his were by now, that plan sounded wonderful.
But at that moment Renesmee came back with Jake and Seth on her tail. She was giggling excitedly and we heard her giggle on top of the slope. She gracefully skied down while Jake and Seth flanked her on both sides, not as gracefully but easily nonetheless.
"Mommy! Daddy! I love skiing! Will you come with us now?" She yelled from halfway up the slope.
I smiled at Edward and whispered "I guess the bath will have to wait," with a sad look on my face. He looked just as disappointed but when Renesmee stopped right in front of us, bright red from the excitement and cold air against her cheeks, with such a beautiful and adorable smile we couldn't help but beam back at her.
We spent the rest of the day skiing with the entire group. Like Alice had predicted there weren't many people in the area, and the ones that were there were locals who owned a season's pass and who quickly wanted to grab a slope before continuing their chores or work. But the few locals that were on the slopes always stared at our large group with a mixture of awe, confusion and surprise. It must have been a strange sight, eight vampires, a half-breed and two werewolves all gliding down the slopes easily, all beautiful and just a little off to humans.
I had had a lot of fun, Edward and I had mostly been holding hands while we glided down the slopes, causing our poles to drag along behind us most of the time, perfectly synchronized. Every now and then we would steal a kiss or just hide in the bushes for a make out session. It was amazing the pull he still had on me, I was always slowly moving closer to him, like I gravitated towards him. I had been afraid that this feeling would decrease but instead it had intensified so much it was ridiculous.
Of course our behavior caused Emmett to make fun of us in a less than subtle way every now and then but I mostly let it go. Renesmee didn't understand any of it well enough so I wasn't worried. The rest could think what they wanted, at least it was clear that Edward and I were still very much in love.
The rest of the week went by in a daze and before I knew it the last day had already arrived. I was really sad to leave this beautiful area behind, I had had so much fun. Much more than I would have expected when Alice mentioned skiing to me. But of course being a vampire caused me to be a natural at sports I would have earlier considered life threatening. It was nice to have the whole family together like this and I was very happy to see how much fun Renesmee was having with every single individual of her family.
On numerous occasions Renesmee had shown me how content she was with the situation and how grateful she had been that the entire family had been together on her first ski trip and her first vacation in general. I couldn't help but smile at the excited look on her face when she had shown me all the images of the past week, the way she'd cracked up when Seth had fallen down into deep snow outside of the slope and how Jacob had made an entire show of finding his friend. She had willingly played along and so had Seth. He had scared her when he all of a sudden jumped out of the snow right in front of her and started throwing snow at her. Causing Jacob to come to her defense and playfully wrestle Seth away from Renesmee. She had been happy when Rose and Emmett had held her in between them on one of the slopes so the three of them skied down completely synchronized and she had felt like they had been dancing. And finally she showed me images of Edward and me, true happiness clear on our faces, holding hands and always close to each other, she showed me how happy it had made her, and proud even, that we loved each other so clearly.
Everyone had packed their stuff and we were going to leave first thing in the morning, after Seth, Jake and Renesmee had had a good night of sleep. Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rose, Edward and I were all sitting in the living room and we could hear the soft snoring coming from the room above, all three were sound asleep. We had been chatting excitedly, I had shamefully admitted to Alice what a wonderful time I had truly had and Edward and I had been driving Jasper crazy with the feelings of desire between the two of us. The look on Jasper's face when he was pleading with us to stop it already had made Emmett crack up and he was unstoppable after the first time he noticed. Mercilessly teasing Edward and me with jokes about our sex life. Saying things like "give the poor guy a break already!" while shaking his head mock disapprovingly at us.
"Well, maybe we should give Jasper a break," Edward had said out of the blue, "let's go somewhere." He had given Emmett a suggestive look and wiggled his eyebrows at him. Of course Emmett had cracked up and all of us joined in this time.
I gladly took Edward's hand, curious to see where he was going to take me. Once we were outside he started to run and I would have definitely had trouble keeping up with him if he hadn't been holding my hand the entire time, dragging me along behind him. He came to a sudden stop when we were at the top of the mountain, we were above the clouds and the sky was clear. We could see all the stars and it was beautiful.
Edward laid down in the snow and motioned for me to do the same. We laid there for a while, arms around each other and staring up to the sky, perfectly happy.
"There is something I've wanted to do ever since we came here," Edward broke the silence.
"Oh?" I asked, "and what would that be?" I was curious now.
"I'm not telling you, but I can show you," he said before he pulled himself on top of me and started kissing me in a way that should be illegal, I lost all thoughts and kissed him back, desperately clinging myself to him, tracing patterns along his back and running my hands through his beautiful bronze hair. We made love until the sun started to rise. Renesmee would wake up soon and then it would be time to get back home.
Still cradled against his chest I let out a sigh in contentment.
"I love you Edward," I murmured into his chest.
"As you know I love you," he told me sincerely.
"This week has been truly amazing! I'm sad to see it end," I told him honestly.
"I feel the same love, it has been wonderful to be with you like this," he said while pulling my chin up so I was staring into his beautiful golden eyes. Just one more kiss and then we were heading back. But that one kiss was a perfect moment of pure bliss.
A/N: Well, that was it for this One Shot :) As you can see I'm a big fan of snow and skiing :D If only I could spend my ski trips like this with Edward *sigh* Anyways, to come back to the real world: I hope you enjoyed the story :) Let me know what you think :)
Until next time!
Xxx,
Thari
