Author's Note:
Sadly, I do not own Twilight…or these characters (except Roman) :[ The amazing Stephenie Meyer does.
Music: Offspring, Thriving Ivory
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And for lea- I honestly didn't think about Roman realizing Nessie's parents were young or cold… My fault =\
Also, thanks to my wonderful beta/comma nazi superdupersk8r61
FYI- The next chapter is the "party chapter" &+ I'm going to change the rating of this story to T because there will be underage drinking. With that said, enjoy!
--Apparently, my mother was confident that she could manipulate my father into letting me go.
"Night guys," I yawned as I gave them a kiss goodnight.
"See you in the morning," my father said.--
Bella's POV
I had just sent my daughter to bed for the evening. Now all I had to do was convince Edward that Renesmee should go to the party.
"Edward," I started.
"No," he said sternly. "She is our daughter, and we have to make joint decisions about what she can and cannot do. And I'm sorry, but six years old is a little bit too young to be partying."
He had carefully emphasized words pertaining to us as a family.
"I know, Edward. But you've never been in her position before," I tried to explain.
"And you have?" he questioned me.
"Well, not exactly. But very similar. Growing up in Phoenix, I was always the loner that sat by myself, which is what I preferred, so I'm not trying to throw myself a pity party. You, however, never exactly had the same problem. People knew you existed, they liked you, they admired you."
"And…?"
"And our daughter does not want to be a loner, like me. She wants for people to like her and admire her. Please, Edward," I begged. "I know you want to protect her, but she needs to be a teenager."
"But she's not a teenager, Bella. She's six."
"And you're 121, and I'm 22, and Carlisle is several hundred years old. To us, age is not as important. If you don't let Nessie go to this party, she won't forgive you for quite a while."
I guess that got to him.
"Fine," he caved.
"She'll be thrilled, Edward," I smiled at him.
He wasn't finished. "But, Jacob is going with her. I don't know if I can trust Roman's thoughts. They seemed entirely too innocent for a teenage, hormonal boy."
"That shouldn't be a problem. Jake did, after all, imprint on her," I said.
"Yes, he did. But he's also dating someone else, Bella."
That shocked me a little. "Well. That's new. His choice, I guess. Even so, he was probably planning on going to this party with his girlfriend."
Edward stalked over to the piano to play. He knew I was right. Instead of staying to gloat and listen to him play, I decided I would go to find Jake and see what was going on.
I didn't have to look far, only into the kitchen. Jake had the fridge open, halfway leaning on it, no doubt trying to find something to stuff his face with. At least the food around here hardly went to waste anymore.
"Hey Jake," I said.
He jumped into the air sending the door to the fridge abruptly back to its closed position. "Geez, Bells. You've got to give a guy some warning before you spring up in a room. I can't hear you walk anymore."
"Oh," I said. "My fault. Would you like for me to leave and come back? Or since I've already scared you, is it alright if I stay?"
He sighed. "Stay. There is no point in you leaving and coming back."
"Oops. Too late," I laughed. "I already left and came back."
He sighed again, louder this time. "Darn vampire skills. Anyway, what's up?"
"Oh, you know. Edward's playing the piano, Nessie is sleeping, you're dating someone else whose name doesn't start with an 'R' and end with 'enesmee'," I said nonchalantly mixing in the point of my conversation. "What's going on with you Jake? Last time I checked, you were still imprinted on my daughter, yet here you are dating some other girl."
"Yes, I am. And in case you didn't notice, that kid that was here earlier…yeah…he was your daughter's boyfriend. Not a boyfriend that imprinted on her, either," he shot at me.
Obviously, he was pretty upset about the whole ordeal. I didn't know what to make of it, though. And I was still more than completely and utterly dumbfounded by the predicament.
"I know," I sighed as I walked over to him and placed my cool hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "But Jake, just because she's trying new things doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings for you. What I don't understand is how you're dating someone else…isn't imprinting kind of, well, permanent?"
"Yeah, it is pretty permanent," he agreed. "Look, Bella, I don't really like Abby that much. She's nice to me, and she is someone outside of the Cullen family that I can talk to. Truth be told, I only started dating her because I was jealous."
"Jealous?" I questioned.
"Mmhmm," he murmured. "The way Nessie looked at Roman. The way she looked at him like she wanted to be with him… it just set something off in me. I wanted her to feel that for me, but I knew she didn't. So I went to someone that did. I found Abby, and I kissed her."
I was suddenly very thankful for the extra capacity my mind could hold. This was definitely a lot to take in. My daughter got jealous of this girl, Abby, which is essentially what made her want to be with Roman. Then Jake saw Nessie kissing Roman, so he went and kissed Abby.
"Oh boy," was all I could get out.
"Huh?"
"Apparently, both you and my daughter were missing a bit of what was happening." I explained to him everything that I'd just thought.
When I was finished, he only slumped further down in the chair he'd moved to.
"Wow. I guess I've messed things up a bit, haven't I?" he surmised.
"It takes two. Neither of you really meant for any of this to happen…" I trailed off.
"I don't know what to do, Bells," he said to me with pleading eyes.
"I'm out of that part, Jake. This is between you kids." I only hoped that he would fix things. "The reason for me coming to talk to you in the first place may give you an opportunity to patch things up."
"What is it?"
"Nessie asked me and Edward if she could go to a party tomorrow with Roman. It's for the seniors, and she really wants to go. But, Edward won't let her go unless you go as well. I thought you may be going any way with Abby…but I had to check."
"Oh, I'll be there. Definitely not missing out on a party for seniors. I really hope I can talk to Nessie sometime then…try and set things straight…"
"Great!" I exclaimed. "And I'm sure you'll be able to talk to her. After all, there aren't too many seniors that go to Forks High."
"Very true. Thanks, Bells," he said to me.
"Anytime, Jake," I smiled at him. "Do you want me to make you something to eat?"
He laughed. "Thanks, but I'd rather not throw up while trying to eat. You smell pretty bad now a days."
"You're not a bouquet of roses, either," I argued. "I'll just leave you to your nasty eating habits, then. Sleep well."
"You t--…I mean…Have a good night, Bella."
"Thanks."
I went back to Edward who was still playing the piano. Even though I knew he'd heard our whole conversation, I told him anyways. "Jake's going. So Nessie will be going too."
"Very well," he groaned. "Care to join me?"
"Sure," I said. I took a seat next to him on the small piano bench. Edward had taught me how to play a little, though I was nowhere near as good as him. I delicately placed my fingers on the piano and began stumbling through the lullaby that Edward had composed for our daughter.
***
Nessie's POV
I woke up to find Alice perched at the end of my bed staring intently at me.
"Um…morning?" I said, confused.
"I was wondering if you would ever wake up! It becomes bothersome just sitting here staring at you, Nessie."
"Oh, uh. Sorry to cause you so much trouble, Aunt Alice. But you do know you didn't have to be here staring at me when I woke up, right? Because you didn't," I said to her.
"I know I didn't have to," she said. "But I wanted dibs on you, and I figured that this was the best way to get what I wanted…so that no one else could steal you away before me."
"It's still kind of early…do you think you could make your point before I lose my track of thought?"
"Of course! How rude of me. You see, I heard that you're going to a party tonight, and I wanted to help you pick out the perfect outfit," she smiled at me eagerly.
"Party? OH! Party!!!" I said ecstatically. I jumped up from my bed and bounded downstairs. "Daddy! You're going to let me go?!? Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
I found my dad and practically jumped into his arms.
"Yes, sweetie. You can go, but Jacob is going as well. That is my stipulation, and the only way that you will get to that party," he said strictly.
"Fine by me!" I let my dad go and moved on to my mother. I was sure that my mom had to do some manipulating to get my dad to let me go.
"Thank you so much, Mom! I owe you."
She looked me in the eyes. "Yes, you do. You have to give Jake a chance to talk to you tonight, okay? Then you won't 'owe' me anymore."
"Um, sure thing," I agreed.
Alice stood at the top of the stairs tapping her foot impatiently, no doubt waiting for me.
I looked desperately at my parents, but it was evident that they weren't going to help me out on this one.
"You asked for it, kid," Emmett said as he walked into the room.
I sighed and drug my feet up the stairs. "See you all after dinner, if I'm lucky."
"It's not going to be that bad, Nessie. We're only picking out your outfit today. The party isn't until tomorrow, so clearly I can't fix your hair and makeup until then."
I groaned in despair.
Alice went overboard, and she didn't even go shopping. She had compiled a wardrobe of possibilities for me out of all of the girl's clothes in the house.
I tried on outfit after outfit for what seemed like days. Finally, after a couple of hours, Alice had settled on the perfect match for me. It was tolerable. The only think I'd requested was to be able to wear my converse with whatever she picked. She didn't like that very much, but since it was the only thing I wanted, she let me have my way.
"Now," she said. "You can't let anyone see my creation before tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," I groaned. She zipped my outfit up in a garment bag, an unnecessary precaution, and hung it in the closet.
"Am I free now?" I asked.
"I suppose so," she said. "I don't guess you have to stay here for me to pick out the right make up and hairdo for you."
"Great!" Almost like a repeat of when I woke up, I flew from the room and went downstairs.
"You survived!" Jake said staring at me as I made my way to the kitchen.
I sat at the bar and laid my head down on the hard marble countertop. "Barely," I mumbled. "Oh," I said sitting up. "I have to call Roman!"
Jake sighed and left the room.
I picked up the phone and dialed the number that I already had memorized. Roman answered the phone after the first ring.
"Hello?"
"Hey Roman! It's Nessie," I said to him.
"Hey. How're you?" he asked me.
"I'm doing well, thanks. I just got done being dressed up like a Barbie doll by my Aunt Alice."
"Dressed up?" he questioned.
"Yeah. My parents said I could go to the party, but…" I didn't get to finish my sentence.
"Awesome! We're going to have so much fun, Nessie! This party is supposedly the party of the year, and I get to go with you!"
"Yes, you get to go with me. But you also didn't let me finish my sentence."
"Oh, sorry," he said apologetically. You were saying…?"
"I can come to the party, but Jake has to be there too. And I have to talk to him, whatever that means. I think he was going with Abby anyway, so it's not that big of a deal."
"I know Abby is coming, so Jake probably was planning on coming anyway. That's fine. Are you riding with him here?"
"I suppose I could…but I'd rather get to the party with my boyfriend, if you don't mind," I said as sweetly as I could.
"I definitely don't mind! The party doesn't start 'til 9, so how bout I pick you up then and we can be casually late together?"
"Sounds great," I exclaimed. "See you then."
"See you tomorrow," he said before hanging up.
I don't know why, but I'd always wait to hear him hang up before I did. Maybe it was just a girl thing.
The rest of my day passed inconsequentially. I lounged some, watched television, and even got started on a history paper I had due the next week. Even so, the minutes on the clock seemed to tick by at an extremely leisurely pace.
I decided to go to bed early for a couple of reasons. One being that I'd exhausted everything to do. The other being that I was too eager for the next day to come. I was so excited for the party!
I kissed my parents goodnight, and went upstairs to sleep in their old room, yet again. Sleep overcame me faster than I thought possible, but I was thankful.
When I woke up the next morning, instead of getting up, I rolled over and tried to force myself to sleep further. I knew that the more I slept, the later it would get in the day. And the later it got in the day meant the closer it was to party time. I did manage to nap on and off for another hour, or so.
It was barely 11:30 when I got up. To delay my day further, I took a pretty long shower. I let the heat of the water pound on my back thoroughly working out the knots that had formed from stress. Reluctantly, I got out of the shower and dried off. I shrugged one of my mom's old sweaters on and pulled a pair of shorts on. I looked at the clock. 12:00 p.m. 'Ugh', I thought to myself. 'Nine more hours'.
I worked on my history paper even more. Luckily, when I was working on it, I didn't notice the time much. I was relieved to see that it was 1:30 when Alice came dancing into Carlisle's study where I had been working.
"Time to start getting you ready, missy," she said to me.
"Not yet, Aunt Alice," I said. "I want to go and hunt before we start. I want to be prepared for tonight."
"Fine," she sighed. "I'm coming with you though."
"Oh, you don't have to. It's alright."
"No," she said sternly. "I'm coming. That way when we get back I can make sure that no one else tries to steal you away from me."
"Oh," I said sadly. "I feel used."
"You shouldn't. But we should get going. It's going to take me a while to detangle that hair of yours."
We went downstairs and out the back door, making our way into the woods.
I let my instincts take over temporarily as I stalked down a large deer. My asunt found a mountain lion and finished her meal rather quickly. I, however, took my time. I pretended to be picky as I darted around the treetops. Honestly, I just wanted to kill more time. I finally caught sight on a hefty looking elk that would suffice quite nicely. I pounced and drained the animal.
Unenthused, I turned around and began heading back to the house…and the makeup.
"C'mon Nessie," Alice begged. "We're running late now!"
I groaned before picking up my pace. We got back to the house too fast for my liking, but I figured that I could deal.
Aunt Alice dragged me upstairs to her bathroom with huge vanity mirrors in them. I gasped at the sight of the countertops. Every square inch was covered in makeup, hair products or accessories.
She put her hands on my shoulders and forced me into the chair.
"Aunt Alice," I cautioned. "This is not the prom or anything. Just a party for seniors. Do not make me look like a drag queen, or so help me God, you will never touch my face again."
"Yes ma'am," she agreed, saluting me with her right hand.
"Very funny," I said.
After she finished tugging through my hair, I fell asleep. I didn't know how I could possibly be tired after all of the sleep I'd gotten, but it made things much easier for me and Alice when I was unconscious.
When I woke up, Alice was just finishing up.
I looked into the mirror and let out a little gasp.
"Crap," she said. "I didn't think I overdid it. Go back to sleep…I'll take it all off and start over."
"No you won't," I said. "I love it!" I turned my head from side to side and tilted it up and down trying to get the full effect of myself. She had pulled my hair into a messy bun and gelled some of the ends it to make them stick out. She also put a thin, hot pink headband on me that would match my shoes.
My makeup was very subtle. She'd put a little bit of light colored blush on my cheekbones and gave me 'smoky eyes'. It would go great with the perfect outfit she picked out the previous day.
"Thank you so much, Alice. I give you full permission to touch my face in the future!"
"Yay," she squeaked. "I'm glad you like it, Nessie. And I'm really glad that I get to touch your face again!"
"Time check?" I asked her.
"It's 5:30."
I sighed. "I guess…I'll just sit here and read for another three hours."
"Great! Then you won't have a chance to mess up your hair or makeup. I'll just go grab you an array of magazines and books."
She flitted away and was back in record time with the latest gossipy magazines and a couple of books.
I placed my feet on her countertop and began flipping through the pages of the magazines aimlessly. This was not going to work.
"Actually, this is pretty boring, Aunt Alice. Can I go downstairs and play video games? I won't do anything hard core, I promise," I begged.
"I suppose so," she said.
"Sweet!" I said jumping up. I went downstairs and joined in the fun. Emmett and Jasper were playing Need for Speed when I walked in.
"I'm playing the winner."
They both turned as I walked into the room and their mouths fell open. "Relax guys. It's just makeup. My face won't be this hideous all the time," I laughed.
Rather than saying anything, they just casually nodded and returned to their game. Time definitely passed much faster with the guys. It was 8:30 in no time, and Alice was tugging on my sweatshirt to go and get dressed.
I went upstairs and unzipped the bag she had put my clothes in. I put them on in layers. Alice knew it was going to be a chilly night, so she made sure I would be prepared. I pulled on a pair of black leggings, followed by a slim, form-fitting, sleeveless black dress. The bottom of the dress came to my mid-thigh and the leggings rested comfortably on my shins. I then carefully pulled on the shirt she'd chosen. It was a loose fitting, bright blue, three-quartered sleeve shirt that was designed to hang more on one shoulder than the other. It left my right shoulder exposed. I slipped on my chucks and looked at myself in the mirror.
I was extremely grateful for Alice. I looked like I had just walked out of one of the magazines I was flipping through earlier.
I grabbed the white coat draped over the railing at the top of the staircase before making my way downstairs.
I really liked writing this chapter! Review &+ let me know what you guys think…next chapter is party chapter! (= Woot woot!
