TWILIGHT ANNIVERSARY CHALLENGE
Entries accepted until 11/30/09
Voting begins 12/1/09
Title: An unexpected surprise
Author: BMC1984
Rating: K+
Word Count: 2471
Summary: It's the anniversary of a special day between Edward and Bella. What type of surprise does Bella have planned.
This story is an entry for the Twilight Anniversary Challenge, hosted by edward-bella-harry-ginny, Justine Lark and Gleena. For complete challenge details, to read the rest of the challenge submissions, or if you are interested in entering, please visit the challenge community at:
www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/~twilightanniversarychallenge
"Are you sure you don't want to come with love?" Edward asked as I walked to the other side of the room.
"No, I promised Alice and Rose I would go shopping with them this evening." I said forcing my gaze to meet his. After all these years together I still hated it when we were apart. Don't give in. Don't give in. I continued to remind myself more thankful than ever that he wasn't able to read my mind.
He crooked his head as his gaze met mine. While my acting skills had improved since becoming a vampire fifty years with him only made him more attuned to me.
"Go, spend some time with your brother." I said reassuringly as I quickly made my way to him wrapping my arms around his waist and placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Besides I'm sure there will be a surprise waiting for you when you return." I whispered as my lips grazed his ear.
His grasp on me tightened as he pulled my body closer to his I could feel his excitement over the possible surprise that would be waiting for him when he returned. If only he knew.
"Edward!" Emmett's voice echoed from downstairs.
I playfully pushed him out of the bedroom door. "You better get going."
We exchanged one last kiss and an 'I love you' before he rushed down the stairs. I stood frozen as I listened to the two of them running through the forest outside the house. I waited until I was certain they were far enough away as not to hear me before exiting the room in search of Jasper. "Time for phase two." I whispered as a smile formed on my lips.
I found him in the library, looking up at me he set the book down and motioned for me to sit in the plush Victorian lounge chair across from him. "You need to talk to me." It wasn't a question, he knew.
Anger boiled up inside of me. I had asked Alice not to say anything. I knew the rest of the family wouldn't understand. I wasn't quite certain Jasper would either but I wanted to explain my reasoning.
"What's gotten you so upset darlin'?" Jasper asked obviously noting the sudden fluctuation of my mood.
"I'm sorry Jasper, I understand you're her husband but I specifically asked Alice to let me be the one to discuss this with you." I apologized.
Jasper looked confused. "Bella, I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about."
"I just assumed that--"
He cut me off. "Don't fret, and you know what they say about people who assume. Why don't you just tell me what's on your mind."
I began to feel more at ease. I glimpsed down at my fidgeting hands and let out a sigh. Where to begin?
"Why don't you start at the beginning." Jasper suggested as if reading my mind.
"Well," I paused. "It all started five weeks ago when Renesmee and I started our weekly meetings."
Jasper nodded his head. They all knew and encouraged our meetings. Over the years I found it harder and harder to retain many of my human memories. Edward and the family of course gave me constant reminders and shared their memories with me but I began worrying that in another fifty years it would become even more difficult to remember. I didn't want to forget how we came to be who we are now, nor did I want to forget Charlie and Renee, or the friends I had made my first time through high school. The actual suggestion of designating a set time each week had been Renesmee's idea, another way for us to bond as mother and daughter.
"It was three weeks ago I was telling Renesmee of the first day we truly spent together. Our first time in our meadow, the first night he spent the night with me. With my knowledge" I added. "That's when you pixie of a wife got involved."I had caught him off guard. I glanced up to catch his eyes staring back at me wondering what exactly what Alice had to do with any of this.
"I was trying to recall the exact date of that Saturday when Alice entered the room and chimed in that it was three weeks from Tuesday. It got me thinking and before I knew it she had the answer and the assurance that everything would go according to plan."
He still looked confused. "Go on." He encouraged."
"I began to realize how much had changed since the beginning of our relationship. Not so much for me but for Edward. I know in the beginning he assured me over and over that he didn't miss a single thing about me being human. Of course I believe him. I can't begin to fathom how hard it had to have been for him to be around the scent of my blood, but did he miss the other things? Did he miss the sound of my heart beat, the warmth of my skin?""Bella," Jasper interrupted me. "Edward loves you for you, not the physical things that defined your human life, or your vampire life, but the things that make you you.."
"Of course I know that." I replied shocked at his line of thinking. I have never once doubted Edwards love for me, maybe I was going about this the wrong way.
"Alice and I once had a conversation regarding your time with Maria." I paused waiting for his reaction. I knew this was a sore subject. "We were discussing tactics used to subdue the newborns. She mentioned the use of influencing lethargy to help them through the newborn period."
"And what exactly brought about this subject?" Jasper inquired.
That would be the embarrassing part. I thought back to the conversation we had twenty-three years ago when I had refused to play Barbie Bella. She told me about this facet of Jasper's ability and was prepared to send me into a empath induced coma while she played dress up with me.
"Let's just say your wife was sweet enough to volunteer your services if I didn't play nice." I smiled."Damn, I love that manipulative little pixie." Jasper shook his head as he chuckled.
"So I was thinking." I continued. "The majority of our time those first few months was spent in my bedroom, he spent the better part of our relationship watching me sleep. Surely some part had to miss those moments." The latter of my thought was left unsaid, in truth I missed those moments as well.
"I can sense your longing also Bella, you don't need to hold back, you miss those moments as well. Don't you?" Damn Empath. I couldn't help but smile as I nodded.
"He said something to me once. When I found out he watched me sleep and that he knew of my dreams about him. He reassured me telling me 'If I could dream at all, it would be about you.' Tomorrow is the fifty year anniversary of that day. I want to commemorate it."
Jasper nodded silently waiting patiently for me to continue.
"Well, I was thinking, all remnants of that time and place in our relationship with the exception of the meadow have since been destroyed." The truck as much as I loved it was a dinosaur when I had it, and Edward had happily seen it be retired to truck heaven when he bought me my new car. Charlie's house, my old room, had been demolished. My old neighborhood was now replaced with a cookie cutter subdivision. "It's unrealistic to go all the way back for a simple trip to the meadow so I thought we could combine our powers to recreate that first night together." I paused a second to gauge Jasper's reaction. "Do you think it will work?"
"That's odd." I mumbled to Emmett. My pace slowing as I tried to process what I was hearing.
"Huh?" He said racing past me. "It's quiet."
"Edward. What are you talking about. I can hear Alice and Esme talking on the porch from here." Emmett said as he circled back around to join me. "Yes, but their minds, they're silent." I looked back to the house. "Bella." I whispered as I once again picked up my pace. What did my little vixen have up her sleeve?I paused before entering the bedroom door, although there wasn't a noise being made from inside, her scent gave her away. I opened the door and my jaw dropped as I looked at my wife. This was defiantly not what I had expected. Standing in the center of the room in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt was my wife. This was an unexpected surprise. Of course Bella would always look beautiful no matter what she wore but I had grown accustomed to the silk and lace negligees she now commonly greeted me in. She told me she would have a surprise when I returned; this just wasn't the surprise I had in mind.
The look in her eyes said it all as she cast them down to the ground. She had clearly seen the disappointment in my face upon seeing how she was dressed. "Happy Anniversary." She whispered.
The comment though me off guard for a moment. It wasn't our wedding anniversary. But it was some sort of anniversary, a special day that I had foolishly forgotten. I thought about today's date and wracked my brain skimming over our time together trying to figure out what had happened today, what were we celebrating. It didn't take me long to remember what had happened that Saturday fifty years ago.
"I'm sorry love." I whispered as my fingers tilted her chin raising her lips towards mine. The clothes suddenly made sense now. How could I have been so insensitive.
Bella cupped my face in her hand. "Edward, stop. I didn't expect you to do anything special. It's been fifty years and we have never celebrated the day, I just wanted to try something new today."
"Something new?"
"Or I guess more appropriately something old." She smiled. I glanced at her quizzically. What was she talking about? If only I could see into that head of hers.
"Come." She whispered as her teeth gently grazed my ear before leading me towards the bed. I lay back on the bed as she wrapped herself in a blanket and curled into my chest. While she no longer needed the blanket it was a comforting routine of that period in our lives. I was beginning to see where this was going only I couldn't see the reasoning. She had questioned me about this before, wondering if I missed the quiet nights of simply holding her in her sleep. My answer was always the same: no. There was no question in my mind that I now had the better end of the deal. Without the need to sleep we easily found other ways to occupy our nights. Yet deep down I knew I missed these moments. I Selfishly missed listening to her talk in her sleep, awaiting the sound of my name on her lips. Many nights I had simply closed my eyes and replayed visions of her in my mind pretending I was also able to dream as well.
"I miss this." She whispered closing her eyes she snuggled deeper into me.
She reached across my chest and placed my hand in hers I ran my finger over the ring that reminded me she was mine for an eternity. "I'm not one hundred percent sure this will work but I want you to try something. I need you to be completely relaxed." She clasped her hand more tightly to mine. "Will you hum me my lullaby?"
"Of course love." I kissed the top of her head as the melody escaped my lips. I slowly felt myself becoming more lethargic, obviously the works of Jasper. Before I could question her motive I felt her shield lift around me as I was granted full access to her beautiful mind. My eyes closed as I slowly felt myself becoming lost in the images she showed me.
Her thoughts raced back to that day fifty years ago and while I remembered it perfectly it was even more amazing seeing it through her eyes. I tensed slightly as she reminded me she had told no one where we were going. How differently would my world be if I hadn't changed my mind. I could see her amazement the first time she saw me in the sunlight. Felt her fear as she raced through the woods on my back. The love she felt for me as we shared our first kiss as well as her embarrassment as she mumbled 'oops' realizing she pushed my limits just a little too far.
While I had no recollection of any of the dreams I may have had as a human this was surely better than any dream I could ever imagine.
"Dad! Mom! Wake up!" We were shaken back to our senses as Renesmee pounced on our bed.
Bella and I bolted upright panicking. Why was Nessie here and what was wrong. "What's wrong?" I asked still trying to pull myself out of Jasper's induced lethargy.
"Just taking what's mine." She smiled.
I glanced over at Bella who looked just as confused as I was. I wanted to hint at her to withdraw her shield, let me find out what she was talking about but Renesmee continued before I could ask.
"It's every child's right to be able to come in jumping on the bed and wake their parents up in the mornings. You're never needing to sleep cheated me out of that."
Bella shifted over to allow Nessie room to wiggle between us. "There's two problems with this. I don't think that applies to forty-eight year olds." I chuckled as I ruffled her hair. "and it's not morning."
"Yes it is." Renesmee smiled and pointed out the window. It's five twenty the sun will be up shortly."
I glanced over at Bella, never would I have imagined that seven hours had passed since we first lay down. "That's all I wanted." Nessie giggled before kissing each of our cheeks before heading out the room.
I pulled Bella back to me not yet ready to let go of the moment. "That was amazing love." I kissed the top of her head. Reaching around her I slowly brought her up towards me, our lips met and within seconds our hands were all over each other.
"Don't get too excited." Emmett yelled from down the hall. "I'm thinking it's a good day for a game of baseball. Edward, Bella, You guys in?"
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked the story. I own none of the twilight characters. This was just an idea that I had been playing around with for a while. Since finishing Payback I've been having a hard time getting back into writing, hopefully this has helped me get back into the swing of things. Now hit that little button below and show some love. :)