Missing Moments Contest
Title: A Present for Bella
Your pen name: Abdex
Pairing: Edward/Bella
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way connected with the creators, producers or franchisers and no copyright infringement is intended. This is not the greatest story in the world, this is just a tribute.
Summary: A CD isn't much of a present for the one that holds your world, or is it? OK Fixed PLEASE REVIEW LEAVE NOTE SOMETHING. Originally this was Chapter 1 of Flares of the Moon
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A Present for Bella
It was sunny out today and has been for a couple of days. Emmett and I were suppose to be hunting but I came home early. Bella's birthday was coming soon and I still don't know what to get her. So I thought that I would spend some time contemplating that.
She isn't happy that she will be 18 soon and she doesn't care for the attention that birthdays bring. Bella has made it very clear that I am not to spend any money on her. She would rather I didn't give her any presents.
I don't like it, in fact I hate it. It frustrates me and I do not understand. Why? I could get her anything she wants, money is no object. She likes that I can't pick through her thoughts to figure out the why's of it. She has an irrational attitude towards turning 18, I would turn 18 if I could but for me there is no moving forward.
I also know her well enough to know she is serious and it was a line that if I crossed, would make her unhappy. So I have resigned myself to her rules. I won't spend a dime, but I won't let her birthday come and go (possibly her last human birthday) without getting her a present.
But what? What could I get Bella for her birthday without spending money? What did I have that I could give her? What was the perfect gift that would cost nothing? Here was the challenge.
Here in the garage among the boxes is where I have kept the little mementos and trinkets from my human days and things I have collected over the years.
This box, maybe? This box was from my human days. Thou I do not have many memories from them I do have a few. I loved my parents, and they loved me.
Because they were dead when I was turned. I tried not to think of them often and that is why I don't have many memories of them.
Left here, in this box, was my father's pocket watch, my mother's locket with a picture of them in it. 2 framed pictures of us when I was 4 and when I was 16. The Family Bible, which held a genealogy on my father's side. I have never looked at it. The heart shaped Diamond that my father gave to my mother when he returned from Europe and in this small black box their wedding rings.
I stopped on the little black box for a minute, wondering. If my parents were alive, if this was 1918, if I weren't a vampire, would they have approved of Bella? Would my father and mother see in Bella what I see?
Could Bella and I have a future like that? Of course not, I am after all a Vampire. This was not the present for Bella but I don't want to leave it here among my old memories so I place the little black box in my pocket and move to the next box.
In this box were more memories, memories from the time after my change. Tickets to the first moving picture I had ever seen. "The Golem", sheet music autographed by Granvill Bentock. A deck of Cards from when I had learned to play poker, a collectors set of dueling pistols and a signed original manuscript of "Strictly Dishonorable". It was a script of a Broadway show that was being made for the big screen. I met that man on a train while I was traveling alone. John M. Stahl. During the night we had talked. I wanted my views on love seeing as I was only 17. But I had very little insight for him. My mind had been on the war and love was the last thing on my list of things to think about. Especially then.
What was I doing? I wouldn't find anything here in these boxes. They were my memories and not for Bella. I don't even know why I kept them. What did it say about me? The fact was that I kept them. So I closed the boxes and arranged them neatly back onto the shelves.
What would be the perfect gift for Bella? Why did she have to be so difficult about this? Frustrated, I left the garage and walked back into the house. What did Bella like? Books, The classics she already had though they were tattered from being read and re-read but I would have to spend money on that.
I needed to calm myself so I walked over to the piano and started playing. I started playing Debussy and them Esme's song and then Bella's Lullaby and that's when It started to come to me. I couldn't play the piano for Bella at her house and I knew that I couldn't get my piano in her tiny room thou the thought of it amused me. But she did have an inexpensive CD player on her desk. She loved music almost as much as I did. Her taste was not as wide as mine but after all she was human.
I already had the recording equipment I needed to make her a CD. Would she like it? Would she hate it? Or would she be angry with me?
So deep in thought, I hadn't realized that someone was behind me until I heard that High pitched voice of Alice's that almost made me jump say "She will Love it Edward! It will be perfect!" and she was clapping her hands. "Can I help?" she asked.
Without another word, Alice and I disappeared up stairs and started dismantling my stereo system and reassembling it downstairs with the extra pieces used for recordings that I grabbed from my closet.
Alice was almost as excited as I was. The vision in her head made me smile. "I hope your right Alice" I said.
"Oh I am, I am!" she squealed with delight.
Then I froze and peered up at Alice. "What are you doing here Alice?" I asked realizing she should have been with Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie hunting. Emmett and Rosalie had just returned from Africa because Emmett wanted to be here for Bella's birthday.
Alice looked at me with a confused look on her face then tilted her head to the side and turned her gaze slightly away from me. And I saw the vision in her mind. It was quick and short. "A possibility" she thought. And though I knew her thoughts she spoke them anyway.
"I saw you propose to Bella. And before I could blink it was gone. I hadn't expected that. So I told everyone that I had something to do, for Bella's birthday and they should finish their hunt. I had to find you. To know for sure." She said in a daze trying to recall the vision but couldn't. Then she redirected her stare at me.
"Just, a random thought." I said, and turned back to my Piano pushing the thought from my head. "Shall we continue?"
Neither of us spoke again of that vision.
By the time we finished assembling the equipment, Esme and Carlisle had returned from where ever they had gone shopping and sat at the foot of the stairs. Esme resting her head against Carlisle who sat behind her watching Alice and I. Carlisle sat quietly and reflectively, Esme closed her eyes in wonder, listening.
By the time I had finished recording all the songs, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie returned had from their hunt.
Jasper was calm though he was slightly tense when he first came in until he saw Alice helping me with our project. Emmett was laughing internally calling me hopeless, and Rosalie was mildly irritated as usual.
And Bella's Birthday was just a few weeks away.