"Shit!" I yelled aloud, "shit, shit, SHIT!"

"Bella, what's wrong?" Edward asked me, alarmed. Inside Edward's Volvo, in the backseat, Emmett started laughing like crazy.

"Oooh!" he shouted, "Bella just said a bad word!" "Four bad words," Jasper corrected beside him. "Shut up, you guys," I muttered angrily. Usually I avoided cussing, especially in front of Edward and his family. But today...

"Bella?" Edward sighed, frustrated that he couldn't hear my thoughts. "I- I totally forgot it was Charlie's birthday!" I sputtered, furious at myself and embarrassed at my outburst. "Oh," Edward said, starting to relax. "Is there anything in particular that you wanted to do?"

"I wanted to give him a gift," I mumbled, scowling at my stupidity and at Edward's brothers cackling in the back like hyenas. Just then, Edward's cellphone rang. He answered it, keeping one hand steady on the driving wheel as he listened.

"Yes... something like that," he laughed, "I'm sure she'll thank you... meet us there. Thank you... Yes, it was funny." He snuck a peek at me, his expression amused. He hung up, then turned to me.

"Alice called, and foresaw the whole episode. She just bought and wrapped a box of chocolate for Charlie, and she'll meet us at your house." Saved! By Alice again. "That's nice of her," I said, and started to relax. Then I sighed warily. "But she'll never let me live it down, won't she?"

Edward smiled crookedly. "Not in a thousand years."