Okay, so this is a side-along story to My Notebook Will Explain about how Edward's parents react to Bella and Edward getting married. It sucks, I wrote it in about five minutes after band camp. Get over it.
Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. Get over it.
Ugh. Just get over it.
"Jesslyn." I frowned at her enormous plate of food in disgust. "Could you please not eat that right now?"
Jesslyn Martin gulped and scowled at me. "Edward, I am from Alabama. I've got to have my deep-fried chicken." She picked up a piece of chicken and waved it in front of my face, and then she ripped off the top half with her teeth. "A Zaxby's just happened to be nearby, so I got some. No need to go all Chuck Norris on me."
"I'm not going 'all Chuck Norris' on you," I said. "It's just I'm about to introduce my parents to my fiancée, and I want it to be formal."
Jesslyn snorted, showering chicken bits all over me. "Yeah, and a college football game is exactly the place to be formal."
I glared at her, but I knew that the football game was a very, very bad place to address the sensitive topic of Isabella Swan, the girl who broke my heart then put it together again. I assumed this would be the easiest way to tell them – but even if they disapproved, I would marry Bella anyway. Their opinions didn't really matter to me anymore.
But Jesslyn was right – it was not formal at all. As I watched, a chubby senior ripped his shirt off, with an effort, to reveal his belly painted solid red with white stripes. He hollered loudly, but it was interrupted by a large belch that seemed to kill the germs in the air. How disgusting.
I shifted in my seat; bleachers were never comfortable. Jesslyn was lounging casually on the seat to my left, and the two empty seats that were reserved for my parents were on my right. This was going to be a long day.
I faced the field, where the football players tossed the ball back and forth in warm-ups. A few rows below me, a group of high-school girls giggled and pointed at the players.
"They look like fun," Jesslyn said sarcastically, nodding to the girls. I didn't answer.
"Edward!" I heard a familiar voice say behind me.
I turned. "Hi, Mom…" I said awkwardly. It had been about four years since I'd seen them. I came home for Christmas freshman year and that was it.
Esme shuffled down the pathway in the bleachers to me, Carlisle behind her. She enveloped me in a hug. "It's been so long, Hun!" she said. "And you never wrote to us or anything!"
"Sorry," I mumbled, looking down. "Hi, Dad."
Carlisle smiled and patted my back. "Hey there, Edward."
Esme flicked her hand across the seat to wipe off the grime and sat down. "When we got your e-mail about coming to this game, we were shocked, weren't we Carlisle?" She looked around, not stopping for an answer. "You mentioned about something that was important, so we packed up and made reservations at that hotel a few miles down so we could see you."
"And of course," added Carlisle, "we are here to see Alice cheer, because it's her last game ever. But she kept in touch a little bit more than you did."
I didn't answer.
"Ohhh," said Esme suddenly, looking past me at Jesslyn. "And who do we have here, Edward?"
Jesslyn, who had been staring off into space, looked around and beamed. "I'm Jesslyn Martin," she said in her best Southern-bell voice.
"So Jesslyn, how do you know our Eddie here?"
I flinched at the name – an old habit. I hurriedly cut in before Esme could come up with ideas. "We're just friends. Jesslyn's a year old than me, and she's already graduated, but she always seems to come back for football games." Through my teeth, I added to Jesslyn, "And to annoy the hell out of me."
She grinned and smacked on a piece of toast so doused in butter that it oozed off the sides of the bread. I grimaced.
"Oh, look honey, there's Alice!" Carlisle pointed out my sister to Esme.
"Yes," Esme mused. "She looks so nice in that uniform."
Carlisle nodded his head in agreement. They watched Alice do cheerleader-y things for a while in silence, until the game started.
While Jesslyn and Carlisle stood up and jumped around in the bleachers to cheer on the players, Esme and I sat down, sitting stiffly and awkwardly.
"So Edward, there must be a reason as to why this game is so important."
"Yes, it is important," I said, "but I'll tell you why later."
Huffing, Esme returned to gazing blankly at the football players. She didn't understand football.
Usually, I myself would be screaming and jumping in the stands, but today was just too important to mess up. I was so nervous about the reactions of my parents that my head started to ache, waves of pain rolling through my head with every shout Jesslyn and Carlisle made.
I forced the pain away. This was important. Much too important to be driven from my mind by a minor headache. So I endured the pain and the yelling up until it was half time. The screaming pair sat down; Jesslyn returned to eating her food as though there had been no football game at all, and Carlisle crossed his legs and conversed lightly with Esme.
I was suddenly even more nervous now. I was about to tell them. I had to.
"Mom, Dad?" I said, interrupting their conversation. They turned to look at me with quizzical expressions.
I took a deep breath and looked out at the field. The dance team was just now running out – perfect timing. I had to tell them now, or else never.
"What is it, son?" Carlisle paused for a moment, then said, "Are you about to tell us what the important thing is?"
I nodded and looked at the dance team. The member of the team I knew was easy to pick out – she was the most graceful of all. It was much like my first football game ever here. I was nervous, confused, but in my confusion, she was all I could see. She was like a sun that shone all day and all night in my world.
I took a deep breath and pointed to her. "See that girl?" I said. "On the dance team, and in the middle of all the other girls?"
"Yes…" Esme said slowly. "What about her?"
"Well," I paused, testing to see whether I could spit out the words or not. I decided to beat around the bush a bit. "Well she's the captain of the team."
Jesslyn elbowed me in my rib, I cringed away from it. Now my head was throbbing, and my side was aching. I knew why – Jesslyn knew I was going to tell my parents, and she knew I was going to dodge around the truth as much as possible to avoid punishment. Jesslyn Knows All, a lesson I had learned about five years previously.
"Okay." Was all Carlisle had to say. "That's neat, son."
Esme raised her eyebrows at me. "Yes? That can't be all. This is the important thing. How is that important?" She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God you got that poor girl pregnant didn't you Edward?"
"What? No!"
Jesslyn managed to cover her maniacal laughter with a hacking cough.
"Then what is it, Edward?"
I looked out at Bella again, her brown hair whirling in the wind and her smile powering the sun. To remember that I had run my hands through her hair so many times, to think that I brought a smile like that to her face was enough to empower me to say what I had to say. I smiled to myself, thinking about her.
"See that girl?" I said again, pointing at Bella. "I love her. And I've asked her to marry me."
Carlisle and Esme blinked at me in shock. Jesslyn pinched my arm; I whipped around to glare at her. She smiled angelically. Ugh. She was so violent.
"Um," Carlisle finally had the sense to mutter. "That's great, Edward."
"Who is she Edward?" Esme demanded. "What's her name?" She craned her neck around to see the field better, and the little people dancing upon it.
"Bella Swan."
Esme's searching stopped abruptly and she slowly turned her head so her eyes were looking straight into mine.
"You're marrying Bella Swan." Her voice was so quiet I could barely hear it over all the common noise of the football game. Looking at her now I could hardly believe that a football game could continue at all.
I straightened up, making me even taller than I was before. "Yes. I am. And there is nothing at all that you can you about it."
Esme straightened, too, but it didn't have the same effect as mine did. "Oh, I'll bet you there is. Do you know how much trouble she caused that one time when you were in high school? I could've shot her that night. But of course, it's not polite to shoot people."
"Mom, that was six years ago. People change!" I said loudly. "And besides, that night was my fault. I told Bella to meet me there! We got tired and fell asleep, so what? It's not as though you and Dad never snuck out to do something like that when you were that age, so why is it such a crime that I did?"
Carlisle was feigning deafness, looking around the stadium as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"Edward, I really didn't want to tell you this," Esme said. "But it's her parents. Renee Swan and I used to be best friends in high school. Some girl who was jealous of our friendship started a terrible rumor that I believed to be true. Renee told me it wasn't true, but it really was."
"What was it?"
"She had an affair with my boyfriend at the time. He loved her more than me. They ran off and got married, and now it's landed them divorced."
I shook my head. "Bella wouldn't do that. I'm not my parents and she isn't hers. She loves me and I love her." I sighed. "Can't you just be happy if I'm happy?"
Carlisle rested his hand on Esme's shoulder. "We're happy. Aren't we, Esme?"
Esme frowned. "We're happy." But she didn't sound happy at all.
"Oh, come on, Mom. Bella is a sweet girl. Just get over your damn prejudices please and accept the fact that I love someone unconditionally and I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with her? Even if you don't accept it, that's fine, because it doesn't really matter what you say!"
My mother stared at me as if she had never seen me clearly before. "You really love her."
"Yes, I do!"
"I'm just being silly, I suppose," Esme flustered.
I didn't say anything for a moment. "So, you're okay with us getting married?"
Esme sighed and said, "I guess I can't stop you. And I'm just… being silly…"
I grinned and hugged her as hard as I could. She's okay with it. My mother, Esme Cullen, is okay with the girl she had forbidden me to see. I could have been flying right now for all I knew.
Carlisle hugged me in congratulations as well, and Jesslyn, clearly feeling out of the loop, gave me a hug too for no reason at all. That's Jesslyn for you.
By the time all the hugs were done, the third quarter had started. My parents turned their attention back to the game, and my imagination soared. My headache was gone. Bubbling happiness filled me up like champagne, and I was elated. Bella was mine, free to have with no complications or obstacles.
I heard a sigh next to me.
"What?" I said to Jesslyn.
"It's nothing, really," she said, smiling at me slightly. "I just wish someone would love me like you do for Bella."
"You'll find the right person eventually, Jesslyn," I assured her. "I promise you will."
Jesslyn smiled and popped the last French fry into her mouth. "Thanks, Edward."
"No problem."
"And I'm glad you chose to love Bella. Y'all deserve each other."
"Jesslyn." A boy with brown hair came to Jesslyn's side and crouched so he was level with the bleachers.
"Oh, hey, Connor," Jesslyn said, greeting him happily.
"Hey do you want to come with me to get some ice cream or something?" he asked.
Jesslyn turned to smile at me. I raised my eyebrows but said nothing. "Sure, sounds great," she said, standing up and following him up the stairs and to the concessions. She suddenly turned around and said, "Oh, and Edward? Before I forget, I want to say congratulations on you and Bella."
I laughed. "Okay. Thanks, Jess."
"It'll work out, I promise."
"If you say so, I know it will."
She smiled and followed Connor and I turned to watch the rest of the game, my mind filled with Bella and how she would officially mine soon.
A/N: To my Beta BubblyAmericalWriter1 - I love you, and I'm fixing the minor problem with the inbox thing. I know what's wrong now. It was kind of stupid of me not to realize what the problem was. Anyway, expect a new chapter of 1810 soon.
To the readers - this took a while to write something so crappy. Sorry. I love yall. And I love Jesslyn. I had fun with her and her Zaxby's obsession.
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Songs: When I Get Home, You're So Dead - Mayday Parade, Too Much - All Time Low, Shameless - All Time Low, Fuzzy Blue Lights - Owl City.
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