Cakewalk
Disclaimer: Still not mine and never was. I'm just playing with them because they are fun and I'll hug 'em and squeeze 'em and keep 'em forever and ever. (Bonus points to who knows where I took that last part from!)
Summary: Bella has to make three cakes for the senior class fund raising fair and Esme helps! Family fluff ensues!
Author's Note: ….*giggles*….You really think Alice and Edward would have known better…. The title to this chapter says it all. *giggles*
Abscindo femella ab chocolatem nunquam (Chapter 13)
I have learned my lesson. Never, ever say anything remotely like "What can go wrong". Ever. Not even mentally. It's like fate, God, and the universe combined love to trick me. Either that or Grandma Swan was right and there really is an evil Irish Lawyer named Murphy that follows the Swan family women around. I never knew what she meant until I moved to Forks. Murphy's Law has its epicenter right here.
I yelled at Edward. I wish I hadn't but he and Alice should have known a lot better than to ever even think of taking anything of mine to make the hackeysacks for the game. The look on his face broke my heart but I was too mad at him to care…much. Well, for the first few minutes. At least he's grounded now and so is Alice. Carlisle hid their keys to their respective cars. I think that hurt Alice a lot more than Edward.
We were about to ice the cake, put it together, and finally be done with the cake making part of this whole mess, when Jasper just had to get Emmett to come back out and play with him. Jasper threw one of the hackeysacks, a yellow calico one, at Emmett's head as hard as he could. The hackeysack burst at its seams and the contents of said hackeysack were spilled all over the floor around my, Emmett's and Edward's feet. I would have laughed at Emmett's expression except for finally clicking a couple of things together in my head.
The poor, worn, fabric of the hackeysack laid there on the floor all wrinkled in such a way that it reminded me of my favorite pajama bottoms. It was then I realized that it was my pajama bottoms, or at least a piece of them. I was about to go running out to go scream at Alice for daring to go through my closet –again- when I realized what else was at my feet. Around and probably under the flannel yellow calico cloth were small colorful circles that are universally known as M&M's. Yes, she stole my chocolate supply and my PJ's to make the stupid game for the stupid fair. Obviously, Alice really couldn't remember being a human, because otherwise, she would know chocolate supplies are not to be touched. Ever.
I think I heard Carlisle say "Jasper" in an exasperated tone about a half second after he threw the hackeysack. My eyes narrowed and, rather than laughing with Edward or smiling with Esme, I marched into the living room. I think I heard the murmur of voices behind me, still in the kitchen but I ignored them. I was determined to find Alice and demand to know why my favorite pajama bottoms were now scraps and why my chocolate supply laid half wasted on the kitchen floor. She was so going to answer for this.
Only Rosalie was in the living room by the time I got there though. I followed her eyes to the open back door and the swaying of the curtains. Coward. Alice didn't want to answer the human for destroying the human's stuff!
Rose looked tentatively at me, my eyes narrowed and my hands on my hips as I glowered at the open door. "She said to give you this," Rose stated as she handed me a piece of paper. I took it and opened the folded paper. It was written in a purple ink.
Sorry! I'm so sorry, Bella. I'll buy you a new pair! I promise! It was Edward's idea about the chocolate, not mine. We didn't have anything else that would work around the house. I'll have a new pair of pajama bottoms for you when I come back from shopping.
Love, Alice
I grumbled as I clenched the piece of paper into a ball in my fist. I could hear Edward about to say something behind me when I turned around as quickly as I could. I didn't fall or trip. Instead, I stuck my finger at his chest and glared up at him. "You! You put the M&M's in the hackeysacks!" I screamed at him.
"Whoa…Edward is in trouble…" Emmett whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, to Jasper. Jasper was cringing and then I felt a sudden bit of calmness come over me.
"What is going on?" Carlisle asked as he came out of the kitchen, concerned. Esme was right next to him looking worried. I glared at Jasper.
"Stop that!" I told him before turning my attention back to Edward, mostly. I heard Jasper say something like "sorry" to Edward as my anger quickly reflared. How dare he mess with my chocolate supply!
"Edward," I almost sneered, I couldn't really. It came out with a glare though so that was a plus. I was really mad at him. "Used my M&M's and Alice used my favorite pair of PJ's to make the hackeysacks!" I shouted. Edward flinched. I was almost to mad to care. Almost. In reality, that was enough to calm me down. I think I heard Jasper smirk.
"Shut up, Jasper," I grumbled at him, looking down at the floor now, arms crossed over my chest.
"Is this true, Edward?" Carlisle asked. They didn't even ask permission! Why couldn't they just go to the store, like everyone else, and get dried peas or something other than my chocolate supply! You do not mess with a human's chocolate supply. It is the lifeblood of almost every human female on the planet! It would be like making a fur rug out of a grizzly bear and not letting Emmett drain it first while he watched you. It was cruel and unusual punishment.
"Yes, sir," Edward said. His voice sounded so sad. I couldn't look up at him yet. I still wanted to be mad at him and not just forgive him immediately. He had to learn and I knew if I looked up into his eyes, he'd just dazzle me into forgiving him. I was not going to let that happen.
"I take it neither of you asked permission to use Bella's things?" Carlisle more stated then asked.
"No, sir," Edward almost whispered. I could feel him reach for me and then pull back. I just humphed and turned around slightly, facing the rest of the family. Keeping my gaze very purposefully away from Edward was not easy. I concentrated on the M&M's and the piece of calico fabric spilled across the kitchen floor. Thinking on that would keep me angry enough to avoid looking at him.
"You and Alice needed to ask Bella before taking her things for your project," Carlisle told him. Edward should have already known that. I expect this kind of thing from Alice –stealing my clothing- but not from Edward! "Give me your keys. I'll get Alice's keys when she gets home," he told his son sternly.
I felt Edward leave my side and heard the keys hit Carlisle's palm. I also felt another pair of cool arms hug me tight. "We'll go finish the cake, alright, sweetheart?" Esme asked as she held me. I needed a mom right then and I'm glad it was Esme. I could feel those traitor tears on my face. I had been too angry earlier to notice they were going to make an appearance. I nodded into Esme's shoulder as she led me back to the kitchen. The remains of my favorite PJ bottoms and the M&Ms long gone from the kitchen floor.
Esme kept me by her side until I had calmed down. I can't believe Edward would do something like that. If he had asked, I probably would have let him have a few or helped by going to the store and getting something else to fill the hackeysacks with but instead he stole my M&Ms for some stupid game for the stupid fair that I didn't want to go to anymore but had to because I couldn't let Angela do this alone. Ugh!
Leaving me for only a second, Esme wetted one of the paper towels and, just like any other Mom, gently washed my face once I stopped crying. "Thanks, Esme," I whispered to her, now more hurt than anything. She smiled at me and hugged me tight again.
"Of course, dear," she said softly back. Carlisle entered into the kitchen about then.
"I grounded them both. I'm taking away Alice's credit cards and asked her to come home immediately," he said, probably more for my benefit than for Esme's. I just stayed glum until Esme gently pulled me back to face the two cakes.
"What do we do next?" she asked me. I managed to look at the two cakes and to my two other parents.
"Um, we need to get a cake platter to ice them," I told her.
Esme pulled out one of the really pretty glass ones –Depression glass, I checked with Renee last night- to use for the cake. My eyes went wide with shock. "No, Esme! We can just use a paper plate or something. Once it goes on the cake platter, that's what I'll have to carry it on," I told her.
"Oh, it's alright, Bella. I think it will showcase the cake perfectly and I need to get some new ones," she told me smiling. Before I could say anything more, Carlisle smiled at me.
"She's been looking through Good Housekeeping again and saw a few new ones she wanted. This is her excuse to get rid of this one," he informed me. Esme looked slightly embarrassed by this admission. Then I thought about it, Esme was the interior decorator of the family. She probably really was trying to get rid of them without simply throwing them away. Although, if either ended up in my hands, it would be just like throwing it away. I'd trip, it would smash, and that would be the end of the antique glass cake plate.
"Okay," I said as I moved to grab one of the pieces of the cake and dump it on to the cake platter. I was very careful not to touch the cake platter if I could avoid it. "We need to put a thick layer of icing between this piece and the other half of the cake," I told the two parental vampires.
"May I?" Carlisle asked. I nodded and I guess Esme did too. She gently put a hand on my shoulder and drew me back away from the cake as Carlisle picked up a knife to slap the icing on to the cake. He was about to put another chunk of icing on when I reached out to stop him automatically.
"It only needs to be about a ¼ inch think," I told him. And then I thought about the cake and how he's probably use to seeing them; out flat in a box with candles on them. "Right now, we only need it on top. I think we just need a thin layer over the entire thing," I told both Esme and Carlisle.
"Ah," Carlisle said and then went to spread the icing the top part of the cake half only. Within a few seconds there was a perfectly flat, even layer of icing on top of the cake half only a ¼ inch thick. I bet if I got out a ruler to measure it, it would be exactly a ¼ inch thick. Actually, If I got my hands on a ruler, I'd probably want it to rap it over Edward's knuckles for stealing my M&Ms. Maybe I shouldn't do that…
For the next few minutes, I spent time with my other parents. Carlisle and I managed to, somehow, get the other half of the cake on top and ice the entire thing while not making it a recreation of the leaning tower of Pisa. As soon as we were done with that, Esme gently placed the layer of fondant icing on top of our little creation. I decided to let Carlisle cut the edge of the icing. I didn't want to play with knives and accidentally end up cutting myself.
As Esme smoothed out the icing over the cake, making it look absolutely perfect, Carlisle sat down at one of the barstools and started to play with the excess icing. Well, maybe play isn't the best word. It was more like mold piece of the excess icing into things like leaves, flowers, and what looked like a feather. I just watched, wide-eyed I'm sure.
Carlisle looked up at me as he worked on another leaf. "Do you want to try, Bella?" he asked. I shook my head.
"I'll just get my hands all sticky and end up with a glump of icing," I informed him truthfully. I slumped against the counter. Carlisle patted the barstool next to him, indicating I should join him and play with the icing too.
I went over and sat down. "We could make holly to go on top of the cake as a decoration. I'll make the leaves, if you like, and you can make the berries," he suggested. It would be pretty. I could even play with the icing markers and I could definitely handle making small balls of icing to make berries.
"Holly?" I asked him. That seemed a little Christmasy to me. Not that I minded since I liked Christmas but I'm sure I'd hear it from Lauren.
"Or we can make something else," he said. He got a look from Esme but it was too quick for me to catch it. "Or we can just leave it with the ribbons, if you prefer" Carlisle told me.
"No, holly is fine," I said, reaching for the markers. "It just seems a bit Christmasy is all," I mentioned and I grabbed a small bit of the icing. It was really sticky but I could still mush it up into a ball.
"Perhaps it is," Carlisle mused. He looked thoughtful as he made another leaf and then handed it to me to color. I looked at the perfectly formed little creation in front of me and immediately got nervous. I didn't want to put the green marker to the pretty little thing out of fear of totally destroying it.
"Maybe you should color them, Carlisle," I whispered.
"You won't destroy it," he said gently. I shook my head. "I can make many more, Bella. Just try," he told me.
Hesitantly, I picked up the marker and softly, carefully, I colored in the holly leaf. I tried to touch the leaf as little as possible as I colored it in. In a matter of minutes, we had one very green leaf. Carlisle and Esme both smiled proudly at me. Great, I colored in a leaf and my vampire parents were proud. This was kind of sad.
As I started to babble with Esme and Carlisle, while coloring in the berries as well, I heard the kitchen door open. I knew who ever it was had made the noise on purpose and I could think of only two that would do that…neither one of whom I wanted to talk to right now.
"Bella?" I heard a very soft bell like voice ask me. Against my better judgment, I turned around to see the pixie herself with a shopping bag. She was looking down at her feet, looking so completely upset, it took everything in me not to comfort her. All I had to think about was my favorite pair of pajama bottoms and that helped a lot. Alice held out the bag to me.
"I'm sorry, Bella," she said. That did it. She was too adorable to stay mad at.
"Why, Alice? Why did you have to use my pajamas? Why couldn't you use the scraps from your fabric stash?" I asked sadly. She ran over to me, dropping the bag in one motion and hugging me tight. I automatically hugged her back.
"I'm sorry," she repeated quietly. It didn't matter. She was forgiven probably around the time Rose handed me the note and I found out it was Edward that raided my chocolate supply. I knew my Pajama bottoms days were numbered anyway with Alice supplementing my wardrobe every so often but I thought my M&Ms were safe from thieving vampires!
"I got you a new pair. Just like your old ones," Alice mumbled to me. I managed to weakly smile.
"Thanks, Alice," I told her. And with that, she sat down next to me and smiled back.
"Can I stay to watch the cake decorating?" she asked, now mostly back to the Alice we all know and love.
"After you hand over all your credit cards," Carlisle told her, trying to hide a smile and failing at it.
Alice sighed and did as requested. She had four credit cards, two platinums, one with a picture of a rainbow and sunshine on it, and a black credit card. All four were slowly handed over to Carlisle. Once he took them and quickly hid them, Alice looked back at me, "I really am sorry, Bella."
"I know," I told her as I went back to holly berry decorating.
"So you forgive me?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course! I can't stay mad at you for long. You know that," I told her. I heard a squeal of delight and her arms wrapped back around me again.
"Thanks, Bella," Alice told me. And with that, we all went back to our focus on cake decorating 101. I know Lauren would comment on the holly on the cake but I didn't care. It would at least look pretty and I liked it. Right now, that was all I cared about…well, that and getting to spend time with my vampire family again.
Author's Note: Poor Alice! Her credit cards! What will she do? Is Carlisle even thinking of the consequences here? I mean Alice without shopping is like....not possible. I don't even want to think about it. It's too horrible. Poor Jasper. Is Carlisle even thinking about the effects this will have on Jasper? Jasper is innocent in this.....