I don't own any copyrighted material, but I do happen to have an unhealthy obsession with zombie movies. Nom, nom, nom nom.
FF has been going insane all weekend and I have a migraine from hell, so.... have fun reading if I manage to get this posted.
Black Swan
Chapter 7
Bella Swan-Black
Something tickles my nose and I bat it away, annoyed. "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey," an oddly familiar voice taunts.
I groan as my body protests being conscious and pull the blanket over my head, "Ten more minutes guys then I'll get up and make you breakfast."
"Aw Bella, don't be like that," another voice guffaws, "Although it would be funny to see what kind of breakfast you'd come up with."
I move to brush my hair out of my face and notice that my left arm is heavier than normal. Then I smack myself in the face with whatever is on it. I open my eyes, forcing them to focus, and see that my left hand is encased in a dark blue plaster cast that reaches halfway up my forearm.
Edward. Dinner. Bookstore. Kevin. Alley. Pain. Growling. Running. Edward holding me. Carlisle. More pain. Darkness.
"Oh shit." I sit up, in a hurry to find Edward, and freeze as I see two pairs of amber eyes staring at me from very recognizable faces. "Ali? Rose?" I whimper. I wait for their nods and easy smiles before awkwardly launching myself into the two women sitting at the foot of the bed.
"Damn girl, it took you long enough," Rosalie quips in her usual brusque manner, "It was starting to look like you were going to sleep all day. I was getting ready to sic Emmett on you when Alice stopped me."
"That's because he would have scared the shit out of her and she was going to break her other hand flailing to get away," Alice argues as she and Rosalie sit back to look at me, "Edward is downstairs making you breakfast with mom's help."
"He didn't have to do that, I am perfectly capable of making my own food, " I crawl out of bed and notice that I'm wearing a white cotton cami top and a pair of soft grey pajama pants, "Where are my clothes?"
"Tia and Ben eat human food, so it wasn't a big deal to make a little more for you hun. As for your clothes, I'm sorry, but they were ruined Bella," Alice chirps as she hops off the bed and bounces over to my side, "I took the liberty of buying you a few outfits on the way here you if you want to get dressed before you come down."
I bob my head yes, "That's probably for the best. I don't want to look like a complete idiot in front of of everyone. I can't stay long anyways, I have to finish painting everything so I can start getting pictures, shelves, and shit up."
"How come that sounds like an excuse to cut and run?" Rosalie inquires, carrying over a bundle of clothing.
"Cut her some slack Rose, you can't blame a girl for being overwhelmed," Alice chides as she helps me pull off the pajamas.
Rosalie hands me the undergarments they picked out for me. "I can't wear these!" I gasp, holding up the cream colored bra and panties that are covered in black lace, "Fat girls don't wear pretty negligee, it makes people vomit!"
"Puh-lease," Rose scoffs and forces the garments back into my unwilling hands, "Girls of all shapes and sizes deserve to feel and look beautiful, you are no exception B, so quit your verbal self mutilation and put on the bra and panties before I make you."
"You wouldn't," I challenge while trying to preserve what little modesty I have left.
Suddenly there is an outburst of tinkling laughter and Alice grabs my arms, "I've got her Rose, get her dressed while we have a chance!"
I can't help but laugh, remembering that this isn't the first time I had been gang-dressed by the terrible twosome. They usually did it when they were helping me get ready for a date with their brother. He wasn't around to save me from them before though.
"Edward save me! You're sisters are torturing me again!" I laugh-yell while Rosalie is sliding a pair of jeans up my legs, "They're cramming me into more designer clothes against my will!"
"Don't you dare come in here Edward or I will use all of your cd's as frisbee's!" Rosalie shouts back, "Better yet, I'll have sex with Emmett in your car!"
"Aw mom! Now I'm scarred for life!" a masculine voice bellows from outside the room.
Alice lets go of my arms and assists me in pulling the dark gray three quarter sleeve button up over my cast. She is muttering something under her breath and her visage is stormy.
"What's wrong Alice?" I ask, running a finger between her furrowed brows.
She shakes her head and sits me down in Edward's reading chair, "My daughter is being a brat, that's all. She is used to having everyone, especially her uncle Edward, dote on her. She's jealous of the attention you're getting sis."
Rosalie lifts a curling iron and winds a strip of my hair into it, "Tia is the baby of the family Bells. She's two hours younger than Ben and although she gripes about it, I think she secretly likes the fact that she is the youngest in the family."
"I don't want to cause any problems with your family guys," I mumble through Alice's ministrations to my face.
I am smacked on the shoulder with a hair brush by Rose and my nose is pinched by Alice. "You've always been part of this family Isabella Marie Swan Black," Alice growls, her topaz eyes swirling with emotion, "Just because we didn't see each other for a while does not change that fact. Get it through that thick skull of yours already and move on. The only trouble here is Tia is throwing a tantrum like a two year old and I'm going to have her father dismantle her motorcycle for a month if she keeps it up."
The door opens and a smiling caramel haired woman slips through the opening. "Oh my goodness Bella, you're still so beautiful!" Esme loudly proclaims before enveloping me in her tiny arms, "I finally have all my children in one place again."
"I missed you too Mama E," I murmur against her sage green turtleneck, "So much."
After a long hug and a longer moment recomposing ourselves, she holds my face in her icy hands, "I'm so sorry that we weren't here when you needed us, but we are here now, for good, I promise you sweetheart."
"I know Mama," I tell her and she kisses my forehead, "But you might reconsider once you meet Seth and Leah."
She rolls her ocher eyes, "I highly doubt that. You haven't met the infants that Ali and Rose married. I guarantee that your kids are already more mature than those two."
"Hey! No turning the little sister against us!" two men's voices call out.
"Done!" Alice and Rosalie exclaim simultaneously in victorious tones. Alice holds a mirror up and I'm flabbergasted at the woman looking back at me.
"Damn, I'd forgotten how good you two were," I admit, fingering one perfect curls cascading over my shoulder. The make-up looks very natural but makes my skin look creamy and my flat brown eyes glimmer. "You made me look beautiful again." I can feel the tears welling up and grab a tissue to blot the dampness before it ruins their hard work.
"Nonsense," Esme counters in a slightly condescending timbre as I slide on the metallic platinum ballet flats without complaint. I'm just grateful that Alice remembered my issues with gravity, "You were always beautiful darling, you just have a habit of not seeing yourself as clearly as the rest of us. Now come on," she holds out her hand, "Edward is pacing a hole in my floor and so is his father."
I take her hand and she pulls me to my feet like I weighed nothing at all. "Damn Mama E, you got strong."
She smirks and gives me a sideways glance as the four of us descend the stairs, "One of the perks of being what we are now hun."
Waiting at the bottom are two men, I'm assuming Alice and Rosalie's husbands. One is tall and lean with blond hair hanging passed his shoulders. He's dressed in a white tee shirt with a black, red, and gray striped button up hanging open over it. His long legs are clad in blue jeans and I see the tips of his cowboys boots poking out from under them. Huh, matches the beat up cowboy hat I guess.
I look at the second man and goddamn he's big. Taller than the blonde one and his shoulders would put a linebacker to shame, his mop of dark curls and huge grin making him only slightly less threatening. He's wearing a snug fitting black long sleeved tee that is tucked into a pair of tan cargo pants. I almost burst into laughter when I see what's on his feet. Fuzzy pink bunny slippers.
The blonde one gives Alice a kiss on the cheek and the big one gives Rosalie a very passionate kiss after we reach them.
"The blonde one making googly eyes at Alice is Jasper and the big guy trying to suck Rosalie's face off is Emmett," Esme explains, wrinkling her nose slightly at their enthusiastic display of affection.
Jasper takes my free hand and gives it a chaste kiss, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Bella," he says in a slow southern drawl, "Alice has told me so much about you that you already feel like a sister to me."
"That's Jazz for you," Emmett chuckles, evidently having concluded his hello kiss with his wife, "Always charming the ladies." In a flash his arms are holding me in a bear hug, "Welcome back to the family little sister, maybe now Rosie will stop whining about you!"
"Dad, don't squish the human, I haven't got to say hi yet," another man jokes. Emmett spins around and I am faced with a young man with long dirty blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a mischievous grin. He sticks his hand out after his father sets me down, "I'm Benjamin McCarty, Ben for short. It's so cool to meet you aunt B."
"Aunt?" I ask, looking to Rosalie with an eyebrow raised.
She bobs her blonde head yes, "Of course silly girl. It happened when I first started showing him photo albums when he was little. He asked who you were and I might have kinda sorta told him that you were his Aunt Bella. I hope you don't mind."
"How could I?" I wrap my arms around the man and hug him, "I'm an aunt!"
"Any of those hugs left for me now that you're fully aware of your surroundings?" Carlisle asks, a grin playing at his lips.
Ben scoops me up in his arms, causing me to squeal, and carries me over to the man despite my vehement protests. With a laugh, he drops me into his grandfather's waiting arms. "All yours grandpa!"
Carlisle hugs me to him for a second before allowing me to stand on my own, "You are looking so much better this morning, how are you feeling?"
I shrug, "I'm sore as hell and a family of vampires just played hot potato with me, other than that, I feel fine."
Everyone laughs, but stops short when a thundering crash comes from the second floor. Jasper and Alice turn and dash up the stairs while the rest of the group sighs and parts as Edward enters and makes a beeline towards me.
"What's going on?" I ask him as I feel his lips press into my hair.
Edward shakes his head, "Nothing that Jazz and Ali can't handle," he gives my hand a gentle tug, "Breakfast is waiting, you don't want it to get cold, do you?"
I roll my eyes, but can't hide my broad smile as the smirking vampire pulls me into the kitchen . He pulls out a chair and gestures for me to sit next to Ben, who has already started happily munching on the massive omelet on his plate. Before I can blink, another plate, covered with pancakes, scrambled eggs, and thick sliced bacon is set before me.
"Wow, someone likes to cook," I ponder aloud, wondering if I'm even going ot be able to finish half of the food.
"I couldn't remember exactly what you liked, so I made a bit of everything," Edward answers as he hands me a glass of orange juice.
"That's right uncle, run around playing Igor for the human," a young woman with waist length blue-black hair and piercing blue eyes spits as she floats into the room. This must be Tia.
"Tia," he growls but I wave him off.
"What is your problem kiddo?" I ask in the most polite voice I can muster.
"You are," Tia spits, her hostility evident in her eyes, "You don't belong here. You should be with the rest of the mongrels."
"So you decided to throw a temper tantrum and make an ass out of yourself?" I ask her, "Yeah, that's real fucking mature. If you were my child, I would have turned you over my knee and tanned your ass for being such a little brat."
She is standing over me in a flash, "Is that a threat little human?"
Edward looks like he's going to tear her apart and I give him a glare as I get to my feet, "Nope, no threat at all little girl, it's just that I've been raising children longer than you've been alive and my two human children have better manners than I think you are even capable of."
I hear a low growl roll out of her, "You think you're something special because you used to be married to the leader of a pack of wild dogs, but you must not be all that good because he tossed you away when you lost your looks."
I ignore the pain that streaks through me and laugh in her perfect face, "At least I can survive on my own two feet and have grown up enough to take responsibility for my own life instead of sitting around on my ass and letting mommy and daddy take care of me. It's kind of sad really that you are so goddamn jealous of people who take the attention away from you that you have to take pot shots at a human to make yourself feel better."
She looks frozen as I walk passed her. I'm almost to the doorway when something else occurs to me and I turn to look at her again, "Oh, and for the record you spoiled little brat, I've been dealing with werewolves on almost a daily basis for pushing twenty years, so your attitude problem doesn't phase me in the least. Since they don't scare me by now, don't ever expect me to fear you either."
"You can't talk to me like that!" she suddenly shrieks from behind me.
I spin on my heel and face her, "I just did, you egotistical brat. Get the hell over it or kill me; either way stop fucking talking because you're voice seriously annoys the hell out of me. I honestly don't know how your parents can even stand listening to that whiny ass voice all the time."
"Mom!" Tia cries out and stomps her foot like a petulant child.
Alice and Jasper, along with the rest of the family, streak into the room.
"What Tia?" Alice asks her daughter, fighting a grin.
"There is no way I'm going to spend any more time around this human!" the girl screeches, pointing a finger at me, "She keeps insulting me and smells like garbage!"
"Apologize to Bella now Tia," Jasper interjects in a calm voice, "You had no right to treat her like that, especially since she has been part of this family since before you were born."
"That dog fucker is not my family! Ow!" she gasps, holding the side of her face where Alice just smacked her.
"You will keep a respectful tongue when it comes to Bella and her children Tia!" Alice snarls in a tone that causes chills to run through me, "They are family! What the hell has gotten into you?!"
"Humans are dangerous and stupid," her daughter argues,"It's only a matter of time before this ends badly and we will have to move again because one of us has killed her or the damn werewolves try to come kill us. That is what's wrong with me mother."
"We don't have to worry about the wolves trying to hurt us Tia," Carlisle chimes in, attempting to smooth things over, "The treaty has been reworked and now the same courtesy that the Denali's live with has been extended to us. And just to let you know, Bella has never been stupid and I resent the fact that you called someone that I consider a daughter all of that awful garbage that you spewed. I am very disappointed in you and am shocked that you would judge anyone without getting to know them first."
"So does this mean uncle Edward is just going to go kill himself when she dies because she is his mate or is he going to turn her and risk the wrath of the pack?" Tia counters, giving me a stare that would kill if she could manage it.
"That is between Edward and Bella," Esme explains as she lays a hand on my and Edward's shoulders, "You should stay out of other peoples business sweetheart."
"It is my business because Edward is my uncle and I think we need to know if the dogs are going to be attacking us because Edward didn't have the sense to mate with another vampire!" Tia's voice begins rising to ear-shattering octaves again.
"Enough!" Jasper bellows, causing me to jump and cover my ears, "Tia, you are way out of fucking line, consider yourself grounded for the next month." He turns to me as his daughter huffs and storms up the stairs, his expression sad, "I'm so sorry, Bella darlin', I think you were right when you said she needed a good spankin' to put her back in line. Please don't think that the rest of us feel that way about you. She's just being difficult."
I wave him off as I watch Alice follow her daughter, "I have teenage twins, I know temper tantrums when I see them. Her ass needs reminded that the world doesn't revolve around her, that's all. She's a teenager so she's going to act up and show her ass every now and then. No harm done Jasper, I promise. I've heard worse out of my own two brats."
Everyone chuckles and Emmett pats me on the back, "Bellaboo, I think you pissed her off more when you said that you weren't scared of her than anything else that got said. I've never seen Tia that mad before when some has stood up to her, it was hilarious!"
Ben slides passed Edward and hugs me, "That was so fucking awesome aunt B! You definitely have to come back if you can piss her off like that again! And don't worry about her hurting you, I'll protect you."
I can't help but roll my eyes and laugh at my new nephew's enthusiasm. "At least I was able to entertain you Ben," I giggle and pat his face, "That alone made it worth it."
Edward not so subtly pries me away from his brother-in-law and our nephew, "Do you want to finish eating now?"
I shake my head and sigh, "Nah, I've lost my appetite. I should probably get home and give Tia some time to cool down so I don't breathe wrong or something and piss her off again. Do you mind taking me home?"
He smiles and ghosts his lips over my cheek, "Not at all love. Let me jus--"
"We're going too!" Rosalie interrupts, grabbing Alice who has just come back down the steps, "Bella needs to get the house done before the kids come home and we need more time to catch up!"
He looks down at me, his face uncertain, "Do you mind if Rose and Ali come as well?"
I shake my head, "Not at all. I could honestly use the help and having friends that can work at the speeds you guys do can only be a good thing." I see Ben looking a little dejected and quickly form a plan, "Can Ben come too? Having two big guys to help move stuff around is better than one."
"As you wish," Edward softly proclaims and I thank the Princess Bride creators all over again.
Here's where I am supposed to be pathetic all over again and beg for your reviews but my head hurts too much to give a shit right now so either review or don't.
