A/N: What do you get when you cross Edward Cullen's birthday with his wacky, talented family of vampires and a human Bella whose thoughts he can't read? This! My second Twilight one-shot! I give thanks to my poppet, tenlong for providing the inspiration, and also thanks to my friend FelineWraithKuro for being my co-writer and coming up with the idea of this insane scenario! Thank you both so much! Now, enough of my babble! Read the spawn of insanity!
A/N2019: This is a repost of my older Twilight one-shot entitled Blood, which is still on my page. I also revamped Edward's Dilemma, which is now titled, Temptation, if you're interested in reading more!
Edward sits on the white couch in the Cullen's spacious living room. Emmett sits on one side, Jasper on the other. The two girls, Rosalie and Alice sit on the arms of the couch next to their respective partner. Carlisle and Esme sit in the remaining chairs. It is June 20.
"Can't we just get this over with?" Rosalie whines.
"We have to wait for Bella," Edward insists. He ignores her bitchy mental reply.
Alice's eyes glass over as a vision comes. Jasper steadies her. "Are you alright?"
Alice comes back to the present, giggling.
"What's so funny?" Jasper asks, smirking.
"You'll see," Alice says, biting her lip. "Esme, you might want to get that."
Edward gives her a serious look. "What is it?" She puts a finger to her lips and wipes her mind clean. His amber eyes burn into her, but she is unfazed. He reasons, as long as she's laughing, there was no danger.
A moment later, there is a knock at the door, and Esme is already on her way. The family of vampires look to the entrance as she opens it. The familiar, tantalizing scent hits their noses before they even see her.
Bella walks into the living room, carrying a small gift wrapped in blue paper. Edward appears at her side, welcoming her with a hug and kiss. He notices the box. "You didn't have to get me anything."
"I think it's kind of cool I get to attend your one hundred and eighth birthday," Bella says, shrugging. "And I find it impressive at your age that you can still blow out your own candles. Hey, everyone." Bella turns to greet the rest of the family.
When her eyes land on the small figure of Alice, she winks and mouths, "I know." Her amber eyes dart to the box in her hands.
A familiar blush creeps into Bella's human cheeks. Edward senses her discomfort and pulls her close. "We were waiting for you to start the-"
"Presents!" Emmett yells, jumping up.
Quick as a flash, he's back with the family's birthday gifts. Edward opens them one by one, appreciating each. He saves Bella's gift for last.
"I'll bet it's a condom," Emmett thinks.
"Is it lingerie…?" Jasper wonders.
Edward tries to block their thoughts and hear Bella's. Like always, he hears nothing coming from her mind. Maybe there is something wrong with her. Who knows? She looks at him expectantly, biting her lip. He carefully pulls off the wrapping paper and peeks under the lid of the plain white box.
Edward sees the contents and cannot hide the confusion on his face. Alice's tinkling giggle echoes in his head.
Bella falters. "What is it?" She deflates, hanging her head. "You don't like it, do you? It's just…I thought since it's so hard for you to resist my blood, this might be a safe alternative."
Edward's expression softens. "No, it's not that. I just wasn't expecting…" He doesn't want to admit that he would have liked it if his brothers' predictions were correct. Instead, he opens the box for all to see. "Well, Blood Pops."
"It's from this book series, 'Harry Potter'!" Bella explains excitedly over Jasper and Emmett's roaring laughter. "It's a great series, and I found the Blood Pops and thought they were cute!"
The whole Cullen Clan laughs hysterically. Alice even topples from her perch on the arm of the couch.
"I love it," Edward assures her, kissing her head. He doesn't have the heart to tell her that Blood Pops aren't intended for actual vampires. She just wouldn't understand...