Child's Play
Volunteers required to help
out at Forks Kindergarten on
Wednesday. Please report
to Mr Matthews.
I noticed the sign hanging on the door of our homeroom, a few people gathered around it. I gasped, and tugged on Edward's arm.
"Oh Edward, we've got to!" I exclaimed. He looked doubtful, and shook his head, pulling me in the opposite direction. I resisted, laughing. "Ah, come on! Scared of a few little kids are we?" I teased. I saw his back tense slightly, but he didn't give in. "A few vampires, easy, but toddlers, oh no!" I whispered in his ear. His jaw twitched. I knew what I had to do to finish him off. I turned his face to look at me. I widened my eyes, and pouted my lips. "Please…" I whispered. He let out an audible groan.
"Please, not that Bella, anything but that!" he pleaded desperately.
I wound my hand round his. "Please, Edward" I said again, injecting as much emotion into it as possible. He squeezed his eyes shut.
"Fine. Fine, we'll go help out at the kindergarten, if that's what you really want Bella" he said in resignation, a tired smile on his lips.
"It is" I replied sweetly, teetering from one foot to the other. He laughed, and pulled me along.
"Come on, or we'll be late for Calc" he said.
The day passed in blissful harmony, as it always did. Alice was cracking us up at lunch; she kept winking at Mike Newton, causing him to go bright red and become very flustered. It got to the point when Alice was blowing little kisses that he had to leave the canteen, knocking his chair over in the process.
The next morning, the cliché 'dawning bright and early' didn't really apply; it was bucketing down outside. I was surprised I'd managed to even sleep through it. I voiced this thought aloud to Edward (seeing as he had such trouble reading them). He grinned impishly.
"I put my hands over your ears when the rain started. You started mumbling about earmuffs though" he laughed, pecking a kiss lightly on the tip of my nose. I frowned, straining my mind back to the dream I had been having. It had definitely involved earmuffs, that much I was certain of.
"Hey! We're helping at the kindergarten today" I said, suddenly remembering. I clapped my hands together in excitement. Edward's face fell, and he buried it in his hands.
"Impending doom" he moaned.
I giggled, and jumped out of bed. "Come on, Mr wimpy vampire, or we'll be late." I danced off the have a shower, and heard Edward climb out of my window to fetch the car.
Five minutes of raspberry-scented shampoo later, the doorbell rang. I gasped; surprised Edward had been so quick. Maybe he was eager after all. I quickly rinsed my hair, and dressed in the first clothes I could lay my hands on.
I bolted downstairs, where he stood in an immaculate shirt and jeans. I marvelled at how fast he had changed. Standing before him, I suddenly felt very self-conscious of my crumpled blue top. He didn't seem to notice though; but then, it was so hard to tell with Edward. Charlie's head appeared around the kitchen door.
"Off to kindergarten, then, kids?" he teased. "I didn't know you were good with little ones, Edward."
Edward coughed loudly, and shifted uncomfortably on his feet.
"Uh…yeah" he said, not meeting Charlie's eyes.
"So what are you going to do to keep them occupied?" Charlie asked, clearly enjoying himself. I stifled a laugh at Edward's expression; he looked as though he'd just swallowed a goldfish.
"Well…I was thinking of…chess" tried Edward, utterly baffled. Charlie let out a barking laugh.
"You think two and three year olds are going to understand how to play chess?" he said.
"Well…why wouldn't they?" asked Edward in confusion.
I looked at my watch. If we didn't leave now, we weren't going to get there in time.
"Come on" I said, pulling him out the door.
When we were in the Volvo, he let out a low growl. I looked at him quizzically. "What is it?" I asked.
"Why shouldn't toddlers be able to play chess?" he asked grumpily.
We arrived at the kindergarten fifteen minutes later, and luckily by then the rain had mostly stopped, leaving shiny puddles of water everywhere. Edward stepped out of the car, and eyed the sky warily.
"Lets hope the sun doesn't come out" he murmured. He turned to me, and took a deep breath.
"You had better be grateful for this-"
I cut him off with a kiss.
"Shut up, and let's go in. We're late enough as it is"
"Ah, you managed to make it after all!" said a strict looking woman with s sharp nose. She strode out of the building briskly. "Those children have been giving me hell, and I really must get to my appointment" she said, striding past me and Edward.
"Hang on, the advert said volunteers, not babysitters" said Edward, his face aghast.
"Yes well, you must have read it wrong my dear. Have fun!" she said, not meeting our eyes. And with that, she got into her car and drove off.
We stood there, stumped. Edward walked over to a wall and thumped his head against it, leaving a small dent. He cursed, and brushed it away. I took a deep breath.
"Right. There is bunch of kids in there that are unattended. We'd better go check on them in case they crush themselves under Lego bricks or something".
"More like you're the one that's going to get crushed under Lego bricks" chuckled Edward. I grimaced, and elbowed him in the ribs.
A loud sob came from inside the building. Edward shot inside before I could blink an eye. I followed at a comparatively snail's pace.
The inside was turmoil. Edward was trying to wade through a mass of toddlers to get to a crying girl.
"What's wrong?" he asked gently, kneeling down beside her.
"She broke my dolly" replied the little girl, pointing at another. Edward didn't seem to know how to react to this.
"Well…can't you just play with one of those ones over there?" he asked in confusion, pointing to a pile of toys in the corner. The girl shook her head tearfully. Edward was about to say something else, but I was unable to catch it because a small hand tugged on my skirt. I looked down at a small boy.
"Sandpit!" he said brightly, pointing over to the raised box of sand. I smiled, remembering the days I spent at kindergarten. I remembered running about on the green grass outside, in the sun, playing all sorts of imaginary games; from princesses to pirates. But never vampires.
"Sure, I'll play in the sandpit with you" I replied, pasting on my best smile. The young boy beamed, and we went over to where the other children were playing. I picked up a shovel, and began to craft a little sand fortress. The others stared at me as I moulded the sand into a perfect castle replica.
"Pretty" said the little boy in awe.
"Looks like you have a hidden talent after all" whispered a velvet voice in my ear. I turned slightly to Edward, and pushed him away.
"Later" I whispered, not wanting the children to get any ideas. He let out a soft laugh, but was interrupted by an excitable child jumping up and down in the middle of the room.
"Story time! Now now NOW!" she cried. The children all cheered, and there was a mad rush to the bookcase to choose a story. The boy who I had been building sandcastles with got there first, and selected a large purple and black picture book.
"The vampire story!" he cried excitedly. I bit my lip, and glanced sideways at Edward. He was frowning, his eyes glazed over. The little boy ran over to him and thrust the book in Edwards face.
"You read it" he demanded.
"Alright" said Edward suddenly, with a frighteningly steely determination. He pulled up a chair, and several of the kids settled around him, the rest seemed uninterested and started throwing sand at each other.
"Vladimir the vampire was sleeping in his coffin one day…." began Edward. I could see his mouth twitching in barely restrained laughter. I did not have the same self control as Edward, and had to shove my fist in my mouth and turn away. "When all of a sudden, a terrible vampire slayer threw GARLIC over him!" cried Edward animatedly, causing the little ones to gasp in shock. "And of course, garlic is very dangerous to vampires, so Vladimir ran outside. But of course, it was very sunny outside, and light is also dangerous to vampires…" he continued through the story, becoming more and more animated as he went along. Even I found myself being drawn into the story, and I pulled up a chair to listen. As I watched, I pretended Edward was telling a bedtime story to our own child. I closed my eyes, wishing with all my might it were true…
"Bella?" Edward's voice reverberated in my ear. "I've finished the story you know. You looked like you were in some kind of trance, are you alright?"
"Yes…" I murmured dreamily, a faraway look in my eyes.
"What were you thinking about?" he asked, kneeling down at my feet and looking up at me.
"I was-" I began, but I stopped myself. I didn't want Edward to feel bad. I'd hurt him too much for that.
"Please tell me" he begged.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"
A loud shriek caused our heads to snap round.
"Max BIT me" sobbed a little blonde girl with pigtails, clutching a bleeding finger. The boy who had chosen the vampire book had apparently raided the dressing up box, and was zooming about in a black velvet cape and plastic fangs.
"Rrrraaagghhh!! I'm Vladimir the vampire" he cried, suddenly changing direction and swooping at me. A low growl rumbled in the back of Edward's throat.
"Don't! He's just pretending, cool down" I muttered sideways at him. Max ran outside, where it was raining again. Edward and I bolted out after him, on account of there being a rather busy road by the building.
He stood a few metres from us, giggling.
"Come and get me!" he cried at us. Edward started forwards, but I caught him by the belt, for fear that he would use his 'abilities' to catch the boy.
"Why are you trying to take my belt off?" asked Edward, turning around. I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Come on Max, if you come inside now, I'll tell you some real vampire stories!" said Edward, eyeing the road nervously. Max hesitated, but then finally decided to come back. I exhaled a sigh of relief, and swooped down to pick him up, before carrying him back inside. Edward followed reluctantly.
I stopped short at the door. I'd forgotten all about the girl with the bleeding finger. Edward appeared at my shoulder. He saw the same scene, and I felt his body go rigid.
"I'll deal with it, don't worry" I reassured him gently, even though the mere sight of blood made me feel faint. Edward shook his head.
"I can handle this" he protested. "I don't think the kids will like it if you pass out, you know".
"Fine" I said grudgingly "just don't do anything stupid"
"Mmmhmm" he replied, already by the girl with a plaster. "There, all done. That wasn't that bad, was it?" he said kindly to the girl. She stuck her tongue out at him, and lobbed a basket of Lego bricks over Edward's head. I burst out laughing.
"You were saying?" I teased to him.
"I was being nice to her!!" he said in shock, brushing bricks from his bronze hair. I ruffled it playfully, and he caught me in his arms.
"Wooooo you're in looovve" chanted a girl behind us. "Are you going to get married?"
Edward looked a me, and smiled.
"Yes. Yes we most definitely are." he said, caressing the ring on my finger with pride.
Another girl came up behind the other one. She was pushing a toy pram and had a baby doll in her arms.
"And are you going to have lots of babies too?" she asked.
Before I could stop myself, I broke away from Edward. I didn't meet his eyes. I went and picked one of the dolls up from the pram. She was incredibly lifelike, with little fingers and toes. She even had the same weight and feel as a real baby. I looked up at Edward, and immediately wished I hadn't. His face wore an expression of inconsolable sadness, as he gazed at the doll in my arms.
"You'd make such a wonderful mother" he whispered. I knew, if he had been able to cry, he would have.
That night, as I lay with his arms wrapped around me, he repeated the same question he had asked that afternoon.
"So what were you thinking about earlier, when I was reading that story?"
I looked my beloved fiancé in the eye, and stroked his cheek.
"I was thinking about spending the whole of eternity with you".