I know its getting longer and longer between chapters, and I am sorry. Real life has a way of slowing down the writing process. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :)
Bella didn't doze long, but she felt fully refreshed as she woke from her little nap. Both Edward and Jasper were still sitting exactly as they had been when she fallen asleep. "Good afternoon, Bella," Jasper drawled in his charming Southern accent. "How are you feeling?"
Bella smiled at the irony of Jasper, the empath, asking her that question. "I feel just fine, thank you, Jasper." Bella answered, sitting up and pulling the blanket against her chest. "But, um... where are my clothes?"
Edward reached out and picked up the small pile of Bella's clothing at the edge of the blanket and handed it to her. "Here, love. We didn't want to assume..."
Bella pulled on her shirt first, resisting the urge to ask the boys to turn away. She felt rather exposed but tried to remind herself she'd been naked and spread out before them just a bit ago. Still, she shifted awkwardly and managed to put on her underwear without moving from underneath her covering blanket. When she stood to put her jeans on both men watched ravenously.
"Both of you stop looking at me like that. I'm going to need at least a day to recover from that and fully wrap my brain around it," Bella said, honestly not sure she could handle any more sexual activity today.
"You're just too irresistible looking for your own good, Bella," Edward teased., wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back down between Jasper and himself. Edward's hands gently tickled Bella's sides as she laughed loudly.
"Stop! Please!" Bella cried out as he tickled her. Inwardly, she was thrilled that Edward was being so playful and carefree while touching her.
"It'll cost you, darling," Edward teased, motioning to Jasper to join in. As Jasper's hands began tickling Bella too, she squealed. "If you want us to stop, you'll have to give us something," Edward said.
"Anything! Please!" Bella's sides hurt from laughing so hard. Both man's hands stilled but didn't move from Bella's body.
"A kiss for each of us then," Jasper demanded.
Bella sat up and wrapped her arms around Jasper's neck, kissing him on the lips with a smile on her face. She then turned to Edward and gave him the same soft, playful kiss.
"You could have gotten so much more from me if you'd wanted it," Bella stated and then went slightly red with a realization. "Neither of you..." She was still too embarrassed to say it.
"No, we didn't," Edward said, smiling at the chagrined look on Bella's face. "It's alright, love. We wanted today to be about you. Thank you for letting Jasper share your experience with me. It was..." Edward couldn't find the right words to describe his feelings, both joyful and jealous. He looked to Jasper for help.
"It was magnificent," Jasper finished. "YOU are magnificent, Bella."
"Thank you, both. For... everything," Bella said, her cheeks turning red.
"I think it's time to feed the human," Jasper announced, jumping up and opening the picnic basket. Jasper laid out several plates in front of Bella wrapped in foil and still chilled from the ice packs in the insulated basket. "I wasn't sure what you'd like so I packed a few options," Jasper said sheepishly.
Bella thought Jasper looked adorably nervous about feeding her. She reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair out of his eyes. "I'm not picky, Jasper. I'm sure I'll like whatever you brought. Thank you for thinking of me," she said sincerely.
Edward began to remove the foil from the plates. "We have roast chicken and potato salad, a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich and chips, or tacos with rice. Which do you prefer?"
Bella's stomach growled loudly at the mention of tacos. Bella couldn't recall having tacos since she'd left Phoenix and they'd been one of her favorite quick bites to eat when she'd lived there. "Tacos, please!" Bella said as she pulled the plate towards herself. Jasper handed her a cold bottle of water before he began packing the rest of the food away again.
Bella hadn't realized how hungry she was until she began to eat the delicious food Jasper had prepared for her. "I didn't know you could cook too, Jasper. I thought only Edward had enough free time to watch Food Network," Bella teased.
"Alice recorded a few specific episodes for me," Jasper said. Of course, Alice would know that Jasper needed to know how to cook these foods for Bella.
"The all-knowing pixie," Edward commented.
Bella finished her lunch quickly. The boys refused her help with folding the blankets and repacking the picnic basket before they started back towards home. Bella had promised Charlie she'd be home for dinner that night after having spent the entire long, holiday weekend at a "sleepover" with Alice.
Edward drove Bella home in her truck, silently cursing the slow, clunky vehicle the entire way. He let his mind wander on the drive to ideas of how to make the thing break down and make it look like it had died of natural causes. He'd have to speak with Rosalie when he got home.
Edward took Bella's bag up to her room for her and lingered there. Bella could feel his hesitancy and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "I'm fine, Edward," she mumbled into his stomach. "Really, I am."
Edward's hands stroked Bella's back as he let out a breath he didn't need. "You had a busy weekend, love. I worry about you. I worry that one day you'll realize this is all too much for you and..." Edward couldn't bring himself to voice the end of that thought. He swallowed down the venom that always pooled in his mouth when he was in her room, completely surrounded by her divine scent.
"Edward, no. I promise I will tell you if the supernatural element of my life gets to be too overwhelming. But I will never, ever not want you. I will always want to be a part of the Cullen family," Bella assured him.
Edward gave her one last lingering kiss before disappearing out her window.
Bella made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, grateful that Edward had gotten her home with plenty of time to cook dinner before Charlie came home from work. Bella liked cooking, the silent activity gave her time to sort her thoughts. As she put on a pot of water to boil for chicken Fettucini Alfredo, she thought that Edward was right, it had been an incredibly busy weekend. Again, Bella found herself organizing her life into two distinct parts.
Bella turned on the heat below the grill pan and set it to medium. On the one hand this weekend had involved fight training with both the Cullens and the wolves, followed by hiding in a freezing cold tent only to be found the next morning and stabbing herself to distract Victoria from killing Edward and Jacob getting hurt by a newborn. She made a mental note to set aside some time this week to visit Jake, but the lump in her throat at the thought made her put it off for later. Bella was immensely relieved that none of the Cullens were hurt in the fight. She wasn't sure how she would have handled that.
As Bella placed the chicken into the pan, her mind began to wander to the other aspects of her weekend. Jasper had been so gentle and understanding. Bella's head still spun a little at the thought that she had lost her virginity to her soon-to-be brother-in-law. She couldn't regret it, though, as she remembered his hands on her body and the look of caring in his eyes. Jasper had been wonderful to her.
Bella placed a second pot on the stove and began making her favorite Alfredo sauce.
Edward hadn't been the slightest bit mad at her. That had surprised her then but she felt like she understood better now. Ironically, it was talking with Jacob that made her realize that is was "possible to love more than one person at the same time." Jacob.
Bella flipped the chicken over and added the noodles to the now boiling water.
Kissing Jacob had been a mistake, Bella decided. It not only hurt Edward, but it had been obvious from Jasper's reaction that it had hurt him too. Bella was also pretty sure it would hurt Jake when he realized she hadn't changed her mind about Edward. She doubted even the best kiss in the world could have changed her mind, and that kiss was the farthest from the best she could think of. Of course, she would spare him that knowledge when she broke his heart later.
Bella shook the thoughts of Jake out of her head and focused on cooking, removing the chicken from the grill and draining the pasta in a colander in the sink. As she sliced the chicken on the cutting board her thoughts turned to that afternoon. Edward had wanted to badly to be some small part of her first time. She knew she couldn't deny him access to Jasper's thoughts about it. How his sharing those thoughts with Edward played out was something she never could have imagined.
The feeling of Edward's hands on her body as Jasper kissed her. Edward's kisses as Jasper tasted her skin. Edward had faltered only briefly and Bella was proud of him for not giving in to his fear. The pause hadn't been long enough to cool her inflamed passions even a little. When they both returned their attention to her, it was a wonder she had managed to stay coherent at all. As if the feeling of Jasper's fingers hadn't been enough to send her over the edge, he had decided to add his tongue into the equation. Bella shivered at the memory.
"You cold, Bells? I can turn the heat on for you." Charlie's voice startled Bella out of her memory, causing her to jump and splash hot Alfredo sauce on her hand. She quickly turned the tap on the sink and shoved her hand under the cool running water. The sunlight from the kitchen window reflected off of the large engagement ring on her finger as the cool water cascaded over it. Bella hoped the pained look on her face masked her embarrassment and panic as she quickly slipped the ring off her finger and shoved it in her pocket.
"Sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to startle you. You okay?" Charlie was hanging up his coat and gun as he spoke.
"I'm fine, Dad. Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you go wash up?" Bella turned off the water and dried her hand on a kitchen towel as Charlie went upstairs. She took a deep breath to calm herself before returning to finishing dinner. She didn't want to arouse suspicion by running upstairs to stash the ring, so she kept it hidden in her pocket for now.
Charlie sat down at the table just as Bella was placing two plates of fresh Chicken Alfredo down. "So, did you have a nice weekend?"
Ah, Charlie. I love that mustasched man. :) The reviews that I have gotten have made my heart swell. Thank you! Please continue to review! It improves my mood so much! 3's
