DISCLAIMER ; Sadly, I don't own 'Twilight'. Stephenie Meyer owns it. Sigh.
[Everything is written in Bella's POV.]
"Edward, I thought you wanted Nessie to have some sort of normalcy," demanded Alice. Edward growled, "Of course I want it for her sake, but I know that's never going to happen." I sighed, "It'll be fine, honey. It's just a birthday dinner."
"She can have her birthday dinner here," my husband protested. I rolled my eyes, "A dinner where nobody eats?" He pursed his lips, his golden eyes burning in frustration. Esme laid a hand on her son's shoulder, "It's her first birthday, dear. I'm sure all of us can put up a human charade for one night."
The living room was so silent, except for the steady beating of Renesmee's heart. "Fine. We'll go out tomorrow night and have Nessie's birthday dinner." I knew he was angry at being defied, but Edward smiled nonetheless at Renesmee.
"Yay! Don't worry, it's gonna be great," Alice said enthusiastically. "It better be." Edward glared at her. She nodded, "I saw it. It'll be a wonderful birthday dinner for a wonderful little girl."
"I suppose you would like to invite Jacob?" said Edward, his voice flat but not unkind. I nodded hesitantly, "If that's okay with you." He took a deep breath, "Of course. Whatever makes Nessie happy is okay with me." I smiled and kissed his cheek, "Thanks."
"Oh, wait! I forgot. Jacob's in Canada for a course," I sighed in disappointment. Edward tried his hardest to look ashen, but failed miserably; cracking a smile of relief instead. I rolled my eyes.
"Happy birthday, darling," I whispered, kissing Renesmee's forehead to wake her up. Her lavender eyelids slowly opened. She smiled. "Good morning, Momma," she threw her arms around my neck and I lifted her out of the bed.
While I waited for her to shower, I ironed the pale lilac cotton gown Rosalie had bought her. After I had dressed her, I slowly brushed her curls and tied a purple bow in them.
I ran with her through the woods to the Cullen house, where everybody was. As soon as I stepped through the door, Renesmee was greeted with a chorus of "Happy Birthday, Renesmee!" Edward was the first to greet her.
"Happy birthday, Nessie," he opened her arms wide and she ran into them. "Thanks, Daddy." I was glad to see that in the one year she had been in our lives, Nessie had grown closer to Edward. I was worried that he might still have a grudge on her since I had deliberately and willingly put myself in danger to have her, but it appears that he adores her as much as I do, probably even more.
"Presents?" Renesmee grinned teasingly. Edward smirked, "She's definitely not your daughter, Bella. You hate presents." I rolled my eyes playfully, "At least now you can give presents to someone who loves them, instead."
"Tonight, honey. You'll get your presents tonight," promised Alice. Renesmee's beautiful face creased in confusion, "What's tonight?" Emmett glared at us both. "You haven't told her?" he demanded. I shook my head.
"Well, sweetie, tonight we're going out for dinner. Since it's your birthday, it's a special occasion," explained Rosalie. Renesmee's chocolate eyes brightened with excitement. "Where do you want to go tonight?" asked Edward.
Our little girl pondered on it for a moment before deciding, "Pizza Hut."
"Pizza Hut!?" eight voices said in unison; still sounding beautiful even in surprise (Edward), amusement (Emmett), shock (me) or horror (Alice).
"Yes, Pizza Hut," repeated Nessie impatiently. I stared at her incredulously. "But Nessie, we have a lot of money. We can eat anywhere else, even expensive places. Why Pizza Hut?" Alice's tone bordered on whiny.
"I want to eat pizza. Jake bought me pizza once and I like it," said Renesmee firmly. Edward muttered, "Of course. Jake." I dug my elbow into his side. "If Pizza Hut is what you want, Pizza Hut is what you get, sweetie," I said. Alice stared at me open-mouthed.
"It's her birthday. She gets what she wants." I said decidedly. Edward sighed, "Fine. We're all going to Pizza Hut tonight. Nessie, would you like a birthday cake?" Renesmee nodded, her bronze curls bouncing.
"Alice."
"Yes, Edward, I'll go buy a cake. But I refuse to stuff it with blood."
"That's fine. I don't think the Pizza Hut people will be very pleased if we started sucking blood from a birthday cake."
"You reserved for Pizza Hut? Does reserving even exist at such a place?" I exclaimed in surprise. Alice smirked, "Of course. I reserved a few tables that were separate from the other customers. Under the Cullen party, obviously."
"And," she continued, pulling out something from a designer paper bag, "I bought this for you to wear tonight." She thrust a purple silk-chiffon dress into my arms. "You know Renesmee loves purple."
"Are you saying that we have to wear cocktail dresses to freaking Pizza Hut? And must Edward wear a suit or something?" I demanded. She glared at me, "Bella, that's not a very formal dress. It won't look that out of place in Pizza Hut. And no, the men aren't wearing suits; just what they normally wear, but in shades of purple. It is, after all, my niece's favorite color."
"Alice, you are incredible."
"I know. Have you called Charlie and Jake?"
"Jake's in Canada, remember? For that college course thing, whatever. He wished Nessie a happy birthday on the phone, though. And he promised her a big present."
"Charlie?"
"He's coming. But he refused to dress up for it."
"Then I'll just have to go to his house and force him."
"This isn't gonna be pretty, right?"
"Nope."
The day passed uneventfully, except for Alice making a thousand phone calls. About an hour before our 'dinner party', I got Renesmee ready. Alice had bought her a short-sleeved black velvet dress with a thigh-length purple floral skirt. She pulled on pale lilac tights and black Mary Janes.
"You look so pretty, Nessie," I smiled proudly. She answered modestly, "Thank you, Momma. You look pretty, too." I was wearing the dress Alice had given me. "Thanks, baby. Let's go see Daddy."
"Nessie! You look so beautiful," said Edward, who was waiting down in the living room. We have been married for a little over a year, and together for two; yet I am still not used to this beautiful face, the image of perfection, belonging to me. He wore a white shirt over a pale purple V-neck, with the sleeves rolled up neatly to his elbows.
"Bella, you look….I'm at a loss for words." He smiled crookedly at me, his arm circled around my waist. I teased, "I think the whole I'm-at-a-loss-for-words thing is normally reserved for a woman on her wedding." He smirked.
"Daddy, you look great. Momma does, too," spoke up Renesmee, reaching her hands up; indicating that she would like to be carried by Edward. He obliged—of course—and carefully lifted her up.
Together we ran through the woods, Renesmee on Edward's back; still enjoying our daily routine although she had done it so many times before. She gripped onto her Cullen crest necklace obliviously.
"There's the birthday girl," boomed Charlie. He was early; already seated on the couch in front of the television with Emmett. He wore a brown blazer over a lavender shirt; I assumed Alice had just bought them. Nessie jumped off Edward's arms and ran to her grandfather.
Emmett was wearing a white long-sleeved sweater and pants, with not a thread of purple on him. "Emmett, why aren't you wearing purple?" I demanded. He rolled his eyes, "Come on, Bella, at least I'm wearing white. It's neutral." I was about to argue, but decided to let it go.
"You both look lovely," said Esme sincerely, poised near the kitchen doorway. She was wearing a purple wraparound short-sleeved blouse and white cotton lace skirt. Edward smiled, "You look beautiful, Mom." It was rare that he'd call her 'Mom', so she smiled.
"Are we ready?" asked Carlisle, appearing at the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing black pants and shoes and a dark grey blazer over a pale grey Oxford sweater, white shirt and violet tie.
"We have to wait for Rose and Alice," Jasper replied, a bored, impatient expression on her face. He absently tugged on his pale, almost purplish-grey Oxford sweater; that was worn over a white shirt and black tie.
"Correction: we just have to wait for Alice," Rosalie broke in, slowly making her way down the stairs; clothed in a metallic purple-grey jacket, a white T-shirt, skinny jeans and electric purple high heels. "Shut up, Rosalie!" Alice's tinkling voice yelled from upstairs.
"You shut up!"
"Girls."
"Sorry, Carlisle."
"Okay, I'm finished," announced Alice proudly, moving so fast she was a blur. She stopped a few feet away from me. She was wearing a short purple floral dress with white high heels.
"Great. Then we can get going now. Charlie? Would you like a ride with us?" Carlisle offered with a smile. Charlie smiled sheepishly, "I suppose so. Driving to town in the cruiser is a bit tacky, huh, Bells?" I grinned, "Yup, I guess so."
Before we left, Alice had insisted on taking photographs of everybody; each couple; Renesmee; I, Edward and Renesmee; and also a Cullen family photo that Charlie had helped to take.
In the end, Carlisle, Charlie and Esme rode in the Mercedes; Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett in the Jeep; and I, Edward and Renesmee in the Ferrari. We parked in front of the Pizza Hut in Port Angeles and reluctantly got out of the car.
"Are we sure about this?" I hesitated. Edward put his arm around my waist and used his other free arm to carry Renesmee. "There's nothing we can do about it now." Slowly, the ten of us made our way to the entrance. The door was opened for us and I could see the girl gawking.
"We have reservations. The Cullen party." Carlisle smiled briefly at the receptionist. I can tell that practically the whole restaurant were staring at our family. Why wouldn't they? Eight inhumanly beautiful people, with alabaster skin and matching golden eyes; a sturdy man who looked so different in comparison with the others; and a little girl, who was much too pretty and intelligent-looking to pass for a normal child.
"Right this way." A teenage boy showed us to our table; and kept staring all the time we were talking there. Mostly he was staring at me, Edward and Renesmee; how we looked like two teenagers but with a girl that looked four or five years old who has striking similarity to the both of us.
Of course, they also couldn't help staring at the matching Cullen crests we sported, with the exception of Charlie.
I was getting uncomfortable as the restaurant grew silent, as if observing our every step, and every word. "Daddy," whimpered Renesmee, nestling into Edward's shoulder. I noticed that the crowd was shocked by the single word Renesmee had uttered, automatically confirming their suspicions that he was her father.
"It's okay, Nessie, it's okay," Edward whispered, stroking her curls gently. "Okay, this is your table." Carlisle thanked the teenage boy and handed him a twenty-dollar bill. His eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, thanks, sir," he smiled. Carlisle grinned, "Sure."
"Okay, everybody, sit." Alice ordered. Carlisle sat at the head of the table, with Esme on his right and Jasper on his left; Edward, Renesmee and I next to Esme respectively; and Alice, Rosalie and Emmett on Jasper's side. Charlie was at the foot of the table.
"What're we gonna order?" Emmett asked. The rest of the Cullens looked trapped. I laughed, "I was human once, I suppose I can remember what used to taste good to me." Charlie rolled his eyes. In one year, he had known almost all there is to know about us; and is somewhat comfortable with it.
"Oh, wait, I'll just open the cake box, first," Alice was practically bursting with pride. She put the cake box in the middle of the table, and expertly unraveled the ribbons. She lifted the lid and unfolded the sides of the box.
"Oh, my, that really is pretty," gushed Esme. The cake was two-tiered with royal icing, and was so beautiful, it looked like it wasn't edible. The bottom part was striped pink, blue, and purple; and the top part was purple with pink, white and blue polka dots. A big purple 'R' decorated the top tier.
"You people really went all out," murmured Charlie. I bet he'd never seen such an outrageously pretty cake, that was almost too pretty to be eaten. "It's so pretty, Momma!" exclaimed Renesmee happily, clapping her hands; drawing attention to herself without realizing it.
"It is, isn't it? You see, that 'R' there is for Renesmee," I smiled and kissed the top of her head. Before we could continue, Alice hissed menacingly, "I want every single one of you to have at least two slices of this thing. I know, it's going to taste awful, but it's Nessie's birthday. We are humans tonight."
Out of habit to Alice's bossiness, us eight vampires nodded. A waitress timidly walked up to our table. "Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you ready order?" she asked in a small voice. Wow, I'd never realized how intimidating we looked.
"Yeah, we are. We would like two extra-large pizzas, one pepperoni with extra cheese, the other one seafood; two medium pizzas, one Super Supreme and the other one Hawaiian Chicken; five plates of chicken wings; four plates of garlic bread; and Coke all round." I decided. The rest of the table stared at me incredulously.
"Bells, you never really liked pizza before, you know." Charlie reminisced. I shrugged, "I must've had them pretty often back in Phoenix, then." The waitress, meanwhile, looked like she wanted to cry. I sighed.
"You didn't get that, did you?"
"N-n-no. I'm s-sorry."
"It's okay," I assured her, and repeated the order. As soon as she was done scribbling down what was necessary, she scurried off.
"Seriously, Bella, to be honest, you looked pretty mean," Rosalie giggled, the sound of golden wind chimes serenading us. I pouted. "I didn't mean to do that," I said defensively.
"Of course you didn't, honey. But it was funny nonetheless." Edward smirked. Even my own father looked amused. "You guys, stop making fun of Bella. It's Nessie's birthday; let's keep it cool," warned Alice.
"Yeah. I can make fun of her at home instead!" guffawed Emmett. I rolled my eyes.
"Emmett makes up for your not having an annoying older brother," joked Charlie. I grinned, "You got 'annoying' right, Dad." Emmett rolled his eyes.
"Daddy," Renesmee tried to whisper discreetly, but we heard her anyway, "presents." Charlie chuckled. "After we…..eat, darling. I promise. After the cake," said Edward, wincing at the words 'eat' and 'cake'.
If we thought that being human for one night would be difficult, we were good at hiding it. Conversations and pointless chatter flew effortlessly at the table—all of us were deftly ignoring the curious stares of the other customers—and Renesmee seemed happy.
And then the food arrived.
This is my very first 'Twilight' fic, so please, please be nice! This is just a short two-shot about Renesmee's first birthday. So, yeah, enjoy! XOXO.