Chapter 10 (2387)
Hearing Rose talk about how she wished she could have lived here all her life made me remember all times I had wished on everything around me hoping to be magically transported to somewhere other than here. "When I was a little kid I used to sit and wish on every single star whether it was shooting or not that I could be anybody else's child and live anywhere else in the world." I told her honestly as I looked around and the amazing scenery around me.
From the small hill we were mounted atop you could see the smoke coming from the chimney in the houses and the bright red of the barn through the leafless trees as well as our cattle and the mountains that were scattered around in abundance on our property. "But now that I am older I can appreciate all that I have here and despite Charlie's anger issues and lack of parenting skills he instilled some good values in me even though he went about it the wrong way." I told her honestly as our horses moved forward to drink the water now that Edward had broken the ice off the top of it. "He has taught me what not to do if I ever have children." I whispered reverently as I remember when that was a possibility.
Rose shook her head. "I can't imagine what it was like living every day in fear of pissing off the one who was supposed to love you the most. I'm sure you will make an amazing mother one day." She told me honestly.
I shrugged it off. "It is what it is, I adapted well and had a lot of people to lean on when times got tough." I told her honestly.
I noticed her nose was beat red sort of like Rudolph's. "You ready to head back?" I asked her as Edward grabbed a hold of Gypsy's mane and hopped up onto his back behind me.
Rosalie nodded and shivered. "Yeah, I'm cold. I am most definitely not used to the cold weather. I have lived in the south entirely too long." She admitted as we turned our horses around and headed back to the house.
Edward and I just laughed. "Wait until after Christmas when we have three or four feet of snow on the ground and we can't get anywhere unless it's on horseback." Edward told her as we trotted through the snow on our way back to the barn. I smiled as I thought about what Christmas meant. Sled rides.
Rosalie sighed. "I think I could deal with a little hibernation at the moment." She said as her phone trilled repeatedly alerting her to several incoming messages.
"Is he stalking you, Rose?" Edward asked as he hopped off Gypsy and led both horses into the barn. I guess he was intending on stalling Aladdin for a little bit.
Rose shook her head. "No, he just doesn't take lightly to being told to go fuck himself." She said matter of factly as she slid off Aladdin and landed solidly on her feet.
Edward and I glanced at each other but didn't really know what to say. "Okay then." I told her as I slid off Gypsy's back and straight into Edward's arm.
Rosalie rolled her eyes at us and left the barn without another word.
"You staying awhile?" I asked Edward a little while later as we headed towards the house.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and tugged me into his side. "I was planning to stay all night, if that's okay with you?" He asked as he kissed me behind my ear causing me to stumble a little bit.
I nodded and leaned on him for support as he continued to place kisses behind my ear and down my neck. "That's fine." I whispered to him just as we stepped up onto the porch.
"Bella! Edward!" Rosalie and Esme called from inside the house.
I quickened my steps and Edward and I burst through the front door in a rush only to see Alice crumpled on the living room floor and Jasper pacing frantically in front of the fireplace with the phone glued to his ear talking to someone. "What happened?" I asked as I quickly rushed to Alice's side joining Rosalie and Esme on the floor. "Ali, honey wake up." I begged her as I patted her on the cheeks gently.
When no one answered my question I repeated it, a little bit louder this time. "What happened to her?"
Jasper sighed and hung his head a little bit. "She's pregnant. We just found out yesterday morning. She just fainted, Bella." He said quietly as he continued to pace with his phone glued to his ear.
"Has she eaten today?" Esme asked him as she gently patted Alice's face with a warm wash cloth. When Jasper didn't answer she got a little angry and jumped to her feet and stepped into Jasper's path. "Jasper William Whitlock, pay attention. Has she eaten today?" She asked sternly.
Jasper hung his head. "Sorry, ma, I'm a nervous wreck and don't know what to do." He said as wiped his eyes a little bit.
Esme sighed. "Has she eaten anything today, Jasper? This is important son, it may be why she fainted." Esme pleaded with him.
He shook his head. "She only nibbles here and there. She says it's the only way she can keep anything down these days." His head perked up to something on the phone. "Yeah Em, can you come to the ranch my wife is pregnant and fainted and she won't wake up." He blathered into the phone quickly.
We all gasped as he said this. I turned to Edward and mouthed 'wife' at him and he just shrugged his shoulders in ignorance. I shrugged in agreement and went back to trying to get Alice awake. "Okay, thanks buddy see you in a few." Jasper said as he tossed his phone onto the couch before crouching down beside Alice.
"Ali, baby, wake up for me. I need you and the baby needs you to wake up." He pleaded with her softly as he scooped her up in his arms before standing up with her. "Come on, Ali, please." He begged her as he settled her onto the couch and propped her head up in his lap as he settled on the couch with her. I smiled when I saw Alice start to come around and the relief on Jasper's face.
I herded everyone into the kitchen to give the couple some privacy and to come to terms that my brother was having a baby and had apparently gotten married in the few months that we had known Alice and Rosalie. He had never intentionally kept secrets from me until now, he never told me everything but this was a big something. Huge. Life altering.
"When did this happen? How did this happen?" I asked no one in particular as we all settled around the kitchen. Rosalie settled into what used to be my barstool, Esme and Carlisle sat at the kitchen table, I hopped up onto the counter and Edward settled between my legs with his back to me.
I felt Edward tense up when no one answered the question and that immediately alerted me that he knew something. "Edward Anthony you best tell me right now what you know." I told him firmly as I slapped him on the shoulder.
He sighed and hung his head. "I promised Jasper I wouldn't say anything and I don't want to give him any reason to hate me anymore than he already does." He told me as he twisted to face me. "I'm sorry, baby, but it wasn't my place to tell." He whispered to me as he cupped my face gently in his palms.
I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, but-"
"He's right, Bella, it's not his place." Jasper interrupted as he walked into the kitchen. "It's mine and Alice's and we will tell you all how and when this happened after the doctor looks her over and makes sure everything is okay." He said solemnly as he settled in the chair beside Esme and laid his head on the table.
"Jasper?" Emmett McCarty, the resident doctor, and Edward's college buddy, called from the living room.
Jasper jumped up and headed back into the living room to see what the doctor wanted leaving the rest of us in the kitchen to speculate on what all was going on.
"Ma, what are your plans for the holidays this year?" I asked to break up the tension in the kitchen as we waited for Emmett to get finished examining Alice in the living room.
Esme looked up in surprise. "I'm not sure; I didn't want to plan anything because of Charlie passing." She hedged lightly. "What do you have in mind?
I shrugged my shoulders. "Why don't we do old school traditional this year? Go all out? Tree, lights, presents, dinner, sled riding, and everything." I asked looking to Rose for confirmation that this was what she wanted. She smiled and nodded eagerly.
Esme perked up in her chair and Carlisle had a smile on his face. "Does this mean no work for the day? Lay on the couch watching football while the women cook kind of day?" He asked eagerly.
I smiled and nodded. "Nothing is to be done unless we really want to do it." I confirmed with a huge grin on my face.
"Who's all going to be here? I need to make a grocery list." Esme rattled off as she hopped up and went to grab a piece of paper and pen.
"Ma! Wait!" I practically shouted at her to calm her down. "We all want to help shop and cook, right Rose?" I asked and she nodded quickly with a huge grin on her face.
Esme slumped back down into her seat defeated but happy. "So we are really going to have a traditional Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year?" She asked cautiously.
I smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's about time that Charlie stop ruining the great joys in life for everyone." I told everyone as I wrapped my arms and legs around Edward waist and neck peering at everyone over his shoulder. "It's time for everyone to be happy."
"What's this I hear about Thanksgiving dinner?" Emmett asked as he walked into the kitchen holding his black medical bag in his large hand. Normally people were intimidated by the sheer size of Emmett but he had the heart of a teddy bear and a touch as gentle too. His girls made him that way.
Those of us that new Emmett just laughed because he was notorious for wanting food for his medical service calls. Rosalie on the other hand seemed frozen in place as she gazed at the six and a half foot, nearly three hundred pound behemoth that was as gentle as a teddy bear. "We are having a traditional Thanksgiving this year, Em, you and the girls are more than welcome to come. I haven't seen them in what seems like forever." I told him extending the invitation to him and his two young daughters.
He smiled and nodded. "I'm sure they would appreciate something that didn't come out of a box. Kylie is about to drive me insane wanting to come visit so she can have some of her Nana's food." He said with a smile on his face as he talked about his almost three year old daughter, Kylie.
She was a cutie pie and as sweet as they came, the total opposite of her father because she was shy and took a while to warm up to new people. While Kylie was shy and reserved, her baby sister was the total opposite of her and more like her father. Rylie was only eleven months old and never met a stranger and jabbered all the time, like her father. Kylie had her mothers' reddish tinted hair and Emmett's beautiful eyes while Rylie had hardly no hair but what little she did have was shockingly blonde with bright blue eyes. They were both miniature baby dolls according to Esme. Emmett had gone to college with Edward and had followed him back here and fell in love with the place so he decided to stay. He had no family besides his girls so it was no issue of him completely relocating to Wyoming.
Esme and Carlisle had taken Emmett under their wing and became surrogate parents to him and grandparents to his girls. When the girls' mother had ran off just mere days after having Rylie he had turned to Esme and Carlisle for help and they had offered it up willingly. "Is this the other sister?" He asked as he looked between me and Rosalie.
I nodded. "It is. Rosalie this is Emmett, the town doctor and father extraordinaire. Emmett this is Rosalie, my half-sister from Florida. She's the middle child out of all of us." I told them as I introduced them to each other.
Rosalie smiled at him and held out her hand towards Emmett. "It's nice to meet you, Emmett." She said as she shook his hand a little longer than would normally be appropriate.
Emmett just grinned from cheek to cheek and nodded. "Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Rosie." He said just as his phone dinged from his pocket. "Excuse me a minute." He said as he pulled out the phone and cringed when he saw whatever it was he was looking at.
I assumed it was a picture message of whatever damage the girls had done. "How bad this time?" Esme asked with a smile on her face. The girls were notorious around town for some of the stunts they pulled while he was away on house calls or busy doing whatever he had to do.
Emmett just handed her the phone as he shook his head. "I can't believe Maria let them do that." He mumbled under his breath at his babysitter/secretary/head nurse.
"It's just toilet paper, Em; it will all clean up relatively easy." Esme said cheekily as she handed him back his phone.
He shook his head and pocketed his phone. "Alright guys, I guess I better go relieve Maria before she relieves me." He said as he headed back towards the living room. "Set three more plates for Thanksgiving and count us in." He said as he closed the front door behind him.
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