#Belward – Chapter 4
The next morning, Edward tried to give Embry the day off, but the stubborn jackass wouldn't take it. He insisted in coming to breakfast at his parents' house because he didn't want to miss "The Show".
"This is going to be so much better than the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight. There's actually going to be action in this one!" Embry said with excitement, as he and Edward walked up the drive to the Cullen's house in Weehawken.
Edward just shook his head and prayed that Emmett and Rosalie were in Philly visiting her family for the week. As soon as he opened the door, he heard a sultry voice and knew he was in for it.
"Heeeeyyyy, Hubby!" Rosalie said. Running up to Edward, she jumped in his arms. Even though Edward wasn't as big as Emmett, she knew that he was strong enough to catch her without stumbling or dropping her on her ass.
Peeking around the corner, Emmett rushed out and threw his arms around the two of them. Not wanting to be left out, he placed a big wet kiss on Edward's temple and said, "Hi Lovers!"
Pushing Rosalie into Emmett's arms, Edward yelled, "Ma! They're picking on me!"
"But Lover, we missed you," Emmett said. He put Rosalie back on her feet and pulled his brother back into a hug with Rosalie trapped between them, effectively making a Rosalie sandwich.
As Emmett squeezed and tried to kiss his brother again, Rosalie giggled. "You know, this could actually turn a girl on a little. This amount of male hotness is pretty stimulating. Not gonna lie."
"Babe, we should take a selfie like this and post it on Instagram. Hashtag MCM!" Emmett said with his arms still trapping Edward as he continued to squirm.
"What the hell is Hashtag MCM? Embry! Why aren't you helping me? Your job is to protect me you idiot!"
Emmett just squeezed harder and wiggled more. "Dude, MCM is Man Crush Monday. Duh!"
"Ugh, that's a social media thing, right? I swear it's making people speak less and less English!" Edward continued to struggle, and Rose kept giggling. "Embry, I swear to god. If you don't get me out of this, I will fire you. I don't care how pissed off anybody is at me!"
Embry didn't answer. Instead, he doubled over in laughter.
When Esme walked out of the kitchen, she found the source of all the commotion in her foyer. Shaking her head, she walked up to Emmett and stood up on her tip toes to deliver a loud smack to the back of his head. "Let your brother go, Emmett."
Emmett released Edward and kept his arm around Rosalie. With his eyes still twinkling with laughter, he looked at Esme and said, "Come on, Ma. You have to admit that it is pretty funny."
Esme pursed her lips together and shook her head. "It's actually kind of gross. If you were in a three-way marriage with your brother that would be incest."
"Right?! Thank you, Mom," Edward said. Walking up to her, he gave her a hug and kissed her head. "Where's Dad?"
"He got called in for an emergency at the hospital early this morning," Esme said as her trail of starving ducklings followed her into the kitchen. Carlisle had been a surgical attending at Mount Sinai for the last thirty years, and he had recently been promoted to Chief of Medicine. Since they were a little short-staffed, he still had to go in on occasion to assist with certain specialty procedures.
Edward and Emmett were used to their father being called away and thought nothing of his absence.
"More for me!" Emmett said as he sat down at the table.
"Where's Alice and Jasper?" Edward asked. He was used to a full kitchen with lots of noise, and having only five at the table seemed sparse to him.
"Alice has an important client fitting this morning at her shop in Midtown, and Jasper has to oversee a system installation in SoHo," Esme said without missing a beat.
"That reminds me," Rosalie said. "Alice told me to make sure you don't forget you have a fitting at 11, Edward. I have a fitting today too, so can I catch a ride with you and Embry?"
"Anything for Edward's wife," Embry said as he scooped a massive pile of bacon onto his plate.
"I'm going to stab you," Edward mumbled.
"What was that, Son?" Esme asked, smirking at her son.
"Nothing, Mom," Edward said. "So how are things going at the office? Are you cutting back your hours yet?"
"No," Esme said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Carlisle still works full time, and all of you are preoccupied with your own lives. None of my children feel the need to bless me with grandbabies to spoil, so I may as well continue to work."
Emmett stuffed an entire pancake into his mouth and said, "Ma, we're going to the Big Game next season. I can feel it. I can't get distracted, and Rosie doesn't want her tits to start sagging yet."
Rosalie elbowed Emmett in the side causing him to grunt while he continued to eat. "I've got a few more roles lined up, and maybe after that I'll be ready for a break and a baby."
Edward looked at his sister-in-law and said, "Are you sure you want to breed with that, Rose? Some people should not procreate, and you've got a fifty-fifty chance of your baby turning out like him."
Batting her eyelashes at Edward, Rose reached across the table and put her hand on Edward's. "Why, are you volunteering to be my sperminator, Hubby?"
"Ma!" Edward cried, yanking his hand away from Rosalie, as Embry continued to giggle with a mouthful of eggs.
"Edward, don't get me started on you, Son," Esme said. "I know you've had a rough couple of days with those stupid reporters asking you those asinine questions. But you are 30 years old. You haven't had a girlfriend since high school, and you're not getting any younger."
A little surprised at the turn in the conversation, Edward gaped at his mom. He didn't expect her to turn on him too. He was the favorite. What the hell?
"Granted, Cullen men stay in their prime a lot longer than most men. Carlisle can still go all night long for multiple rounds even in his fifties-"
"MA!" All four yelled with their hands going up to their ears. Eggs flew and pancakes flopped off of plates.
"What?" Esme said. "I am not naïve enough to think that my children aren't having sex, so don't be ignorant enough to think that your parents aren't having sex either. We made you didn't we?"
"No, Ma!" Emmett yelled. By this point, he had his eyes closed and one hand on his ear while the other was pressed to his shoulder. His free hand was still shoveling food blindly into his mouth. "I was brought by the stork. There was no hanky panky of any kind. I was wrapped in a little blue blanket and the nice birdy dropped me on your doorstep."
Rosalie rolled her eyes and slapped Emmett's arm. "Keep calling it hanky panky, and you won't be getting any."
Faster than anyone thought was possible, Emmett straightened his posture and started eating normally again. "Carry on with the wild, hot animal lovin', Ma. More power to you."
Embry elbowed Edward and said in a stage whisper that everyone could hear, "I bet all this talk about sex is making you feel the desperation of your 12 year dry spell, huh?"
Just as Edward was about to pounce out of his chair to tackle Embry to the floor, Esme put her hand on Edward's forearm and said, "Edward, if you start wrestling Embry in my dining room, I will start to tell you about the night you were conceived."
Edward pouted and stabbed his eggs. There must have been some kind of memo that went out announcing that it was "Pick on Edward Week" and he missed it.
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Meanwhile at ABC Intl. on 5th Ave…
Bella was nervous. She'd never been to a fitting before. She was a strictly off the rack kind of girl, and she wasn't used to all the fuss that was involved with going to a red carpet event. She'd been to numerous groundbreaking ceremonies, but she's never been to an Awards show before. Angela e-mailed her the list of appointments to get her nails done and her hair trimmed and conditioned. Angela even made her an all-day spa appointment to get a facial, a massage, and a full body wax. But even that wasn't enough. She hired someone named Rachel to do her hair and make-up for the night.
When Bella walked into the store, she was immediately greeted by a tall blonde woman.
"Good morning, Ms. Swan. My name is Lauren. Ms. Cullen is expecting you. Right this way please," she said extending her arm in the direction she wanted Bella to walk. "May I offer you some water, tea, or coffee?"
"Uh, water is good," Bella said feeling more out of her league by the second.
"Sparkling or flat?" Lauren asked.
"Flat is fine," Bella said softly. She followed Lauren up a spiral staircase and through a pair of frosted glass doors.
Alice heard the door open and peaked out from behind the rack of clothes in front of her, "Bella! Hi, I'm Alice."
Bella was a little shocked when Alice pulled her into a bone crushing hug as she was about to extend her hand for a hand shake.
"We're going to be great friends. I just know it," Alice said. Pulling back, Alice took Bella's hand and pulled her over to the rack of clothes she'd been looking at. "I'm a big fan of yours. I've read all of your books, and I was so excited when you adapted the screen play for 'Born in Blood' on your own. The movie was so true to the book. It was amazing!"
Feeling her blush rise to the tips of her ears, Bella said, "Wow, thank you. I've loved your clothes for a long time too. I'm not usually into fashion, but I have to dress up for business events. Half of my closet is filled with your designs."
Alice turned and jumped up to her tip toes and back down again. "See? We were made to be friends!"
Bella looked at the rack of clothes and started to feel overwhelmed again. "I have to admit, Alice, I've never had to go to a fitting before. I'm not quite sure what to do or expect."
Throwing her arm around Bella's shoulders, Alice said, "That's why I'm here, Bella! We will make you the most perfect dress. Don't you worry. See this rack? It's mostly for fabric and color palette. None of these are actually your dress. I want you to tell me what you like and like about each one. That way I'll know about who you are and what your preferences are in clothing. This is about your comfort. Leave the style up to me."
Bella quirked an eyebrow and asked, "You mean you're not just going to shove something at me and tell me to wear it because you said so?"
Alice giggled and said, "No, Silly. If I did that then you'd most likely be uncomfortable, and that would show on your face when you walked down the red carpet. There's enough bullshit going on when you walk down that carpet without having to feel awkward in your clothes."
"That is the best thing I've heard all day, "Bella said. "So, what do I have to do first?"
"We can start by trying each of these on, so you can tell me what feels good and what doesn't. I can also look at the color in comparison to your skin tone for what works best. Go ahead and strip," Alice said with a wave of her hand.
"Right here? Is there a dressing room or something that I'm supposed to go into?" Bella asked looking around the room.
"Oh, honey, don't worry. There's nothing to be shy or embarrassed about. I've seen tons of naked people in this industry. I don't judge," Alice said.
When Bella could tell that Alice wouldn't budge, she put her bag down on the daybed in the corner and did as she instructed.
"Good, Angela gave you the instructions to wear a strapless bra and a thong," Alice said. Picking the first dress off the rack, she handed it to Bella. "And, girl, let me tell you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You have a hot little body under all that clothing. Let me guess. C-cup and size 6 jeans?"
Bella just nodded. She'd been rendered mute by another woman's perusal of her goods. Taking the royal purple dress from Alice, she started to put it on.
"I think we'll have lots to work with, Bella. You've got a nice set of boobs, and you even have a little bit of Kardashian tush. Definitely not Kim or Khloe, but there's a little bit of Kourtney happening. I like it!" Alice said. "Oh, and don't worry. I'm definitely not checking you out in a sexual way. I'm a very happily married lady. My Jazzy is the only one who rings my bell."
Bella just laughed. This morning was going to be much different than she originally anticipated. It was a very different experience for her, but she was having fun. Alice was just kooky enough for her to feel comfortable with, but Bella could tell that she was a professional and could be trusted to make sure that she didn't look like an idiot on her first red carpet.
Before she knew it, she'd tried on all the dresses, and Alice had the beginnings of her design all started. After she dressed, Bella made a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up before she had to make the trip back to her home office to start her writing for the day. It didn't matter what else she had scheduled to do. Bella made it a rule early on that she had to put in a solid 8 hours of writing each day, and that discipline is what kept her on track and made her so successful.
While Bella was in the bathroom, Alice pushed Bella's rack of clothes back into the side room and pulled out the next two racks that she'd need for her next two fittings. Just as she was pulling the second rack out into the main room, the door opened to the sound of Rosalie's laughter.
"God Edward, that girl wants to jump your bones so bad! Maybe I should start a cat fight over my hubs," Rosalie said collapsing onto the daybed with laughter.
"Aw, if it isn't the happily married couple!" Alice said. "I hear congratulations are in order. Although I am pretty pissed that I wasn't invited to your wedding, Bub."
Edward just rolled his eyes. Alice had been calling him Bub for as long as she could speak. When she was little and learning to talk, she could say Emmie when she would try to get Emmett's attention. But she could never say Edward, so Carlisle and Esme tried to teach Alice to call him Brother. Instead, what came out was Bub, and Bub it has been ever since.
"At this rate no one is being invited to my wedding when I actually get married. I'm starting to wonder if it's too late to emancipate myself from this family. All of you are assholes," Edward said, as he sat on the edge of the daybed next to Rosalie. "Why do I have to be here for this fitting, Ali? I will wear whatever you tell me to wear. You know my size, so why can't I have an afternoon to myself?"
"Stop pouting, Edward," Alice said. "Besides, I can tell just by looking at you that you ate a whole pepperoni pizza last night. My guess is you also had a couple beers and a couple Cherry Cokes with that. Your face is all bloated. You're also looking a little pudgy. You better call your trainer if you want to really look the part for your WWI role."
Edward ran his hands through his hair and said, "What is with everyone telling me I'm fat lately? Do I really look like I've put on weight?"
He walked to the bathroom to look in the mirror and just as he was about to pull the door open it was pushed from the inside and out tumbled a mass of brown hair. Acting on instinct, Edward's arms shot out and he caught the softest, warmest body against his.
Time froze for a second when a small hand reached up and pushed the hair out of the way, and he was met with the most beautiful brown eyes he'd ever seen.
The rose colored, bow shaped lips that had formed a surprised O started moving, and he heard the most sexy voice say, "Oh shit!"