SM owns Twilight but Edward insisted I write this story!
"In the weeds" is a term used in the culinary world to mean that the chef is in trouble of not getting the dish or what have you out in time.
Thank you to my loyal following and to those of you who have reviewed, recommended, alerted and favored this story. It means a great deal to me to hear from those of you who love that this is a love story.
This chapter moves us through to the beginning of the New Year.
Chapter Fourteen
October
Our lives moved forward, each day proceeding better than the one before. With the end of October and preparations for Halloween it seemed as if the Holiday season was not only upon us but it was rushing at us head on.
The weekend before Halloween, there was a huge gala in honor of Breast Cancer awareness month. It was held at the local Convention Center and it was hosted by the mayor. Several of the area's top chef's were invited to prepare the food that would feed the people who were coming out to support a very important cause. It was a great honor to be asked to participate and when the call came into Bella about doing the desserts she was as humbled as I think I have ever seen her. Of course for those of us who loved her it was not a surprise at all that they would ask her.
The week leading up to the event was very busy in the bakery as Bella began the task of preparing desserts for 300 plus people. The dinner was going to be buffet style and Bella wanted to do a mixture of different types of desserts.
Francesca came in to help her that week as did Esme. The kitchen was very busy at times but between the four of us we figured out a way to move in tandem with one another and there were no mishaps to speak of.
On Bella's menu were minis, mini mile high chocolate cake, mini carrot cakes with pink tinted cream cheese icing, mini tarts, mini éclairs and mini cheesecakes. There were chocolate dipped fruits which included chocolate covered strawberries. She was also doing an ice cream bar that along with the requisite chocolate and vanilla ice creams included apple pie and melon and prosciutto ice cream, all of which Bella made home made in the bakery.
Now I know you are asking yourself melon and prosciutto ice cream? All I can say is that it was amazing and the fact my girl could know that the combination would make for such a culinary treat speaks to her skill.
Knowing that people tend to get more than one type of dessert with a buffet, Bella knew that she had to be prepared. With 300 plus people, Bella wanted to make sure that there would be roughly 1500 pieces of desserts and that is a lot of dessert and a lot of work.
We made200 mini chocolate cakes, which were delicately cut, so that each cake would have five layers. In between each layer was chocolate butter cream icing and then the cake was covered with ganche. It was a totally decadent dessert and when Bella came home that evening I got the pleasure of savoring the taste of chocolate on her skin.
We made 200 mini carrot cakes, baked in mini tin cups. Cream cheese icing was the flavor of her skin that night.
We made 200 mini fruit tarts with pastry cream, 200 mini cheesecakes and 200 hundred mini éclairs. Those along with the ice creams made her skin even creamier than normal.
The most amazing thing was the day she dipped 300 pieces of fruit in chocolate. Visions of my dreams flooded me and I honestly thought I was going to have to excuse myself to take care of things so to speak. The knowing smile that graced my beauties face while she dipped the fruit didn't help matters any. Her fingers were covered in the liquid gold of melted chocolate. It dripped down her hand, buried itself under her nails and somehow managed to find its way on her cheek bone at one point. It was methodical and beautiful to watch. I knew that if I had been a vampire and tired to suck her blood that night I would have been graced with the pleasure of chocolate flowing through her veins. I think that was my favorite night of the prep week.
Nerves woke me up the morning of the gala. I was nervous for Bella. I knew she was prepared, all the goods were baked, all the ice creams churned, all the sauces made.
This however was a big deal. Those who had not yet been to Bella's bakery were going to be exposed to her magnificent desserts. They picked the top chefs in the area to invite and Bella was included in this company and she was the youngest one there. It was all a very big deal.
But my girl never batted an eye, she never dropped a drop of sweat, she was calm, serene even leading up to the big day and even that morning when she woke up. As the day wore on and the event got closer I thought maybe just maybe there would be a hint there, but there was nothing.
Even when we arrived to mass ciaos at the Convention center she was calm and collected. Like Bella, most of the chef's had done the majority of their prep work in their restaurants but there were still some items that needed to be prepared on site. They had tables set up in the halls behind the main ballroom with single burners, hot boxes and anything else that might be needed to prep.
Bella was going to plate the mini cakes individually so she needed to sauce them each. That was four hundred plates that would need some type of sauce on them. The fruits and other minis were going to be put on platters, but that still meant she had to arrange eight rather large platters with those treats. The ice cream bar was going to be self serve so it was a bit easier to put together.
The noise level was through the roof as chef's barked out orders to the people working with them. I knew from watching Chopped and Top Chef that they could be some egotistical bastards, but those shows were tame compared to some of the chef's there. Not all of them were jerks, some where even generous with their time trying to help others who might be behind, but there were a few that I wanted to punch and I am not a violent man by nature.
Bella just seemed to drown out the noise. I watched with rapt attention as she painted chocolate and strawberry sauce onto 200 plates for the mini mile high cakes. It was like watching an artist. There was such a rhythm to what she was doing and the look of peace on her face was breath taking.
After she finished the plates she moved onto the platters. She stood quietly, contemplating where to place each of the other mini desserts and dipped fruits on the trays. I could she her working through the placement, working in great detail just how to position each on so that none were overlooked or left to the way side. That was her nature, even when dealing with food she wanted there to be equals, she wanted everything to be loved.
After she finished the platters she set about saucing the plates for the mini carrot cakes. She had reduced pineapple and a little bit of carrots to make a very vibrant sauce that she squirted onto the plates as dots. She then took a bit of cream and put that into the center of each dot; next she took a toothpick and pulled the cream out creating a starburst effect. It had great eye appeal and really made the plates pop visually.
As she was engrossed in what she was doing, Francesca and I began placing the mini cakes onto the earlier painted plates. The table beside us was being used by one of the event's most arrogant chefs who was currently barking orders at a female assistant and the poor girl looked like she was fighting back tears.
"Move your ass Jane!" He barked at the small girl. "I need mint right now."
Jane stood there for a moment, terror over taking her face.
"We didn't bring any mint. You didn't say anything about needing it." She said in a timid whisper.
"Do I need to tell you everything? You should have known that I needed mint. Do you need me to tell you when to take a piss or when to eat? I'm in the fucking weeds right now because you didn't have the foresight to know what I needed you to pack. I need mint now!" He screamed before turning his back on the girl.
I stood there dumbfounded that someone would do something like that, completely lose it over something as simple as an herb. My heart broke for the poor girl who took off running for the main kitchen, tears streaming down her face.
Bella, who had been working on her plates while the eruption took place, stepped away and grabbed the bag of mint she was going to use for garnish on one of her plates.
"It would be a pity to deny the good people who have come here tonight in honor of such a noble cause the food that you have prepared because of the self inflicted coronary that you are about to have from yelling at that poor girl for your oversight." Bella said to the chef as she handed him the bag of mint that she had. "I guess the real drama though would be from the rest of us debating whether or not we should revive your ego and rescue your sorry ass from the weeds so that they could enjoy your creations. I fear you might not like the outcome of that debate you miserable prick! At least not from my vote anyway!"
She walked away from him, went over to one of the platters, took off two chocolate covered strawberries and headed in the direction that Jane had just traveled. I watched her as she found poor Jane coming out of the kitchen empty handed and pulled her into a hug. They stood there for a minute, embracing before Bella sat her down in a chair and handed her the strawberries.
I looked over at the offending chef who had steam coming out of his ears.
"Why that fucking…"
"I would advise you not to finish that sentence." I said.
"And what are you going to do prick?" He spat back at me.
"We are going to knock you over inflated ego down to roach status if you open that mouth again." A booming voice answered him from behind me.
We both looked to see Emmett standing just over my shoulder. I knew that he was going to be there tonight, but I hadn't realized he had come back there to find Bella.
The chef who had a huge ego but small back bone took one look at Emmett's size and quickly backed down.
"Marcus, get over here and mince this mint!" He screamed at another one of his assistants turning his back on us.
"Sorry Edward, not that I thought you couldn't handle yourself, but I cannot have someone talking about my sister like that." Emmett said loud enough for the chef to hear him.
"Not a problem man." I said with a smile before turning my attention back over to where Bella was sitting with Jane who now had a smile on her face.
A few minutes later, Bella and Jane walked back over to where we were set up. Jane took her chef's jacket off and flung it at the ego monster. She gave Bella a quick hug and said thank you before walking out the door.
"Hey Em." Bella said has she walked over and hugged her brother before going back over to her plates to finish saucing them. And just like that she was back in her grove as if the past few minutes had never happened. She talked with Emmett while she finished her task and promised to come and see him and Rose as well as Carlisle, Esme, Alice and Jasper who had all come out to support her and the cause, after we had finished setting up the dessert table.
The rest of the night went off without a hitch and everyone had only great things to say about the treats that Bella had provided them with.
The ego made sure to steer clear of Bella the rest of the night.
Bella left the bakery open until 9 pm Halloween night so kids in the area neighborhoods could come by and get cupcakes and cookies. She was adorably dressed up as Glenda the good witch from The Wizard of Oz. The bakery was loud and full of kids hyped up on sugar but the smile on Bella's face never faltered once. She was in her own land of Oz watching the little munchkins run around the place singing with the Lollipop Guild and trying to stay away from the Wicked Witch of the West.
After Bella closed down the bakery and she changed into more suitable clothing, she and I went on a midnight ghost walk. It was touristy and kind of cheesy but we had such a good time laughing that neither one of cared.
November
The first week of November was kind of quiet compared to the previous week. The same could not be said for the second week though.
It seemed Bella was on the phone constantly that week while she was at work taking orders for Thanksgiving desserts. If she wasn't on the phone she was working with customers face to face. When she wasn't taking orders she was baking.
On top of her normal daily routine she baked 200 pumpkin pies and 100 sweet potato and pecan pies. She also made 35 carrot cakes, 20 coconut cakes and 50 pumpkin cheesecakes. There were a countless number of cookies, and the bread, where to begin with the bread. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving I walked into to the bakery before my night class to find not a single inch of counter space free. It was all covered with sheet pans which were all covered with dinner rolls set out to proof before going into the oven. I have never seen so much dough in all of my life.
I myself was pretty busy with classes. As the semester was winding down, I had papers and projects to read and grade. On top of that I had to meet with those students I was an advisor to about their schedules for the next semester.
We were both exhausted by the end of the day but we always managed to fall asleep in the other's arms. Even if that was all that we did, there was never a morning that I did not wake up with beauty laying beside.
We were celebrating Thanksgiving dinner at Carlisle and Esme's house. Emmett and Rose were coming after having lunch with Rose's parents and Alice and Jasper were coming after lunch with his dad. All of the desserts and breads had been completed. Bella and Esme were up very early that morning cooking the turkey and the sides.
The afternoon was ours to lie around quietly and just be together. It was really very perfect. I loved being around my family, cherished it really, and I was very much looking forward to my first Thanksgiving with them in six years. But this time alone with Bella, she was my home, just right where I need to be, her in my arms, the two of us snuggled up together on the couch watching a movie.
Our pre feast movie of choice was The Princess Bride, her choice, not mine but I would give her anything. It was fun to watch it with her though. She literally knew every line to the movie, literally was able to recite it with every tone, inflection and emotion. There was a childlike innocence to watching this fairytale love story with her. The innocence aside I knew that true love really did exist and that she was here with me. We were Buttercup and Wesley, we shared that kiss that left behind the five most passionate and pure kisses ever rated. We shared each other's intimate thoughts and feelings. We were true love.
Dinner was a boisterous occasion filled with laughter, Alice's excitement over early morning shopping, Emmett's booming voice and Charlie's giggles. The food was amazing on all counts and dessert was all that should be expected and more. It was perfect really. One of those dinners that is written for the screen. A feel good moment that ends a movie and everyone leaves the theater warm. But this wasn't the end scene with our names rolling over set to pretty music. It was real, it was our life and it wasn't the end. It was bliss, it was perfect and it was the best damn Thanksgiving I have ever had!
After we finished dinner, we were all clearing the dishes and helping to clean up the dining room and kitchen. As I was putting a bowl of left over Mac and Cheese into the fridge I felt a small tug on my pants leg.
I turned to see Charlie who tilted his head towards the living room in a way that let me know that he wanted to speak to me.
I followed him into the living room and sat down beside him on the couch.
"What's up little man?" I asked him after I was settled down.
"Edward." He said before pausing for a moment. "You have my mission for Bella's hand."
"What?" I asked not quite sure what he was talking about.
"It's ok to for you to take Bella's hand." The look on his face reminded me so of Emmett at that moment.
"Well thank you buddy, but I'm not sure what you mean exactly."
"I heard daddy and mommy talking the other day and mommy said she thought it wouldn't be long before you were asking daddy for his mission to take Bella's hand and I wanted you to know that I give my mission."
His words were sweet and earnest but I could not get past them. He was giving me permission to ask Bella to marry me even if he didn't know that was what he was doing. He had heard Emmett and Rose talking about us, about the feelings I guess they knew I had.
And I did have those feelings. With each day I knew more and more that I wanted to marry Bella and that I didn't want to wait a long time to ask for her hand. I wasn't going to wait six years, hell I didn't even want to wait another six months. I loved Bella with all of my heart and I knew she was who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We had only been together for a little over three months, but when you knew, you knew. Life was too short to wait, Bella's wreck and the fear that it had engrained in me helped me to get past any concerns that might have been there. But the thing of it was that there were none. I didn't fear what I felt for Bella; I embraced it, loved it with all that I am and wanted it more than anything else in this world.
"Well thank you Charlie that really means a lot to me." I said pulling him into a hug. "So what did your daddy say?" I asked.
"He said that he thought the same thing." I heard Emmett's voice coming from behind us. "And I told her that I was ok with it, that I would be ok with it when you did come and ask." He said with a wink as he walked back out of the room.
It was quick and simple, it was an understanding between the two of us, three of us really and it was all Emmett.
December
To say that Bella Swan is a fan of Christmas is the understatement of the century. The enthusiasm that emanated from her rivaled Alice and Charlie put together. It started the day after Thanksgiving when she began decorating the bakery with Christmas themed items. Next she tackled her loft and then my house. She even helped Esme decorate her house. It was like watching someone experience Christmas for the first time and it was completely contagious.
The Grinch himself could have come into Dolce Amore at his grinchest but he would have walked out of there like a Smurf hyped up on cinnamon and spice and everything nice.
The bottom half of the front windows were covered with blown fake snow and the top half was covered with cut out paper snowflakes that all the kids and some kids at heart created when they came in. There was a good size tree (artificial of course much to Bella's dismay but required by the Fire Marshal) decorated with various Santa themed ornaments because my girl had a soft spot for Santa which was evident further by the huge number of Santa's found throughout the store.
Starting December 1st Bella did a storybook reading in the bakery everyday, where kids came in and enjoyed Christmas shaped sugar cookies and hot chocolate while Bella read Christmas stories. Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Polar Express seemed to be the favorites.
Christmas music was always playing and the smells that came out of the bakery were heavenly. Christmas just has a scent, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin and apple cider to just name a few.
As much fun as she had living in the joy of the season she stayed busy right up until Christmas Eve. There were Holiday parties to be catered. There were cookies and pies to be made. There were traditional breads and other baked goods to bake. And I have never seen so many Fruit Cakes (not the touched kind of course) in my life and yes Bella even made Fruit Cake taste really good!
The first two weeks of the month were busy for me with final exams and finishing up the semester, but then I was all hers and I made sure I was there every day to help her out in any way that she needed me. Truth was I knew she didn't really need me but it was nice to be with my girl as much as I could.
We all agreed to get together as a family on Christmas Eve so that no one felt rushed Christmas Day trying to be in five places at once.
Dinner was as wonderful as expected and watching my family tear open gifts was a treat. Not sure who was a bigger kid, Charlie, Emmett or Alice.
As we all settled into our post present euphoria and Emmett found the first viewing of A Christmas Story a debate was sparked when he announced that it was the best Christmas movie ever made that was not animated.
"I'm telling you if it wasn't the best they wouldn't play it for twenty-four hours straight." Emmett said to no one in particular.
"Yes it is a funny movie but it is not the best one made." Rose protested.
"Ok my beautiful wife." Emmett started. He may disagree with her but he was smart enough to stay on her good side about it. "Tell me what you consider to be the best Christmas movie."
"Love Actually of course." She said.
"That's a chick movie." Emmett retorted.
"It is not a chick movie, it is a movie about all different types of love which you would know if you would sit and watch it with me instead of falling asleep five minutes into it! Alice, back me up here."
"Yeah I do like that one but I actually like The Holiday better." Alice said.
"That is a good one." Esme answered. "My personal favorite is An Affair to Remember, granted it isn't specifically about Christmas but it does end during that time so it always makes me think of Christmas."
"And so does Sleepless in Seattle." Alice and Rose both said at the same time before they fell in giggles at being on the same wave length.
"Oh my goodness, those are all girl movies, guys help me out here, give me something that doesn't end in weepy credits rolling." Emmett said throwing his hands up in the air. "Edward you're the movie guy give me something here."
"Well I am partial to Christmas Vacation and of course the scholar in me likes It's a Wonderful Life."
"Jasper what about you man?" Emmett asked.
"I would have to go with Elf."
"Now that sounds more like it, I knew my guys would back me up with this. What about you Carlisle?"
"Well I have to go with the classic A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim but I admit I do like the Scrooged version with Bill Murray as well."
"Ok we have funny, we have classic and we have girly. The only one we haven't heard from yet is you Bells let me have it." Emmett said as he waved his arms towards him in a receiving motion.
"Miracle on 34th Street of course, the black and white version only It is all of those things you mentioned, funny, a classic and it has a love story, plus it is about Santa, what's not to love?" Bella answered her brother with a look daring him to debate her.
"Well Emmett I think she has you there, Bella wins." I said trying to hide my laughter at the stare off the two siblings were having.
The rest of the evening was spent debating animated movies, Christmas songs and holiday traditions. It was very loud at times, but it was full of love and nothing more could be asked for than that.
Bella and I got up early Christmas morning to go and have breakfast at Emmett's house so that Bella could be there to watch Charlie wake up to his visit from Santa.
We joined Carlisle and Esme at a local shelter to help serve Christmas lunch to those less fortunate then ourselves.
After the shelter we went back to my place and crashed on the couch, falling asleep watching Christmas movies. We woke up after the sun set and warmed up left over's from the night before for a quiet dinner with just the two of us. It was probably the least amount of noise that either of us had experienced in the last twenty four hours and it was perfect.
We had not exchanged gifts between ourselves yet. We had little gifts to one another, things that we had asked for or hinted around at. My favorite was picture she had Esme take of her standing underneath one of the risers on the Cooper River Bridge. It was in black and white and hauntingly beautiful. She was looking at me as if she only had eyes for me, her hair blowing slightly in the wind. There were huge white clouds in the sky and shadows from the risers falling graceful across her face. It is a picture of the things that represent home to me, my bridge and my Bella. It is perfection.
I was excited for her to open the necklace I had gotten for her. I was filled with a little boy's excitement as I waited for her to open the box which of course caused her to take her ever loving time doing it, much to my chagrin!
She finally removed all of the wrapping paper and opened the long box with a gasp.
"Edward it's beautiful." She whispered. It was a simple silver heart on a silver chain that had the word Love engraved on it with a small sapphire for her birthstone beneath the word love.
"Turn it over beautiful."
She pulled the necklace out of the box and turned the heart over, tears forming in her eyes almost instantly.
"For twas not into my ear you whispered but into my heart. Twas not my lips you kissed, but my soul." Her voice trailed off as she finished reading the words.
"It's from a poem that Judy Garland wrote."
"It's perfect Edward. Thank you. I love you, with all of my heart, I love you."
"As do I, my love, as do I."
We ended our first Christmas together, me inside of her, our bodies, hearts and souls merging together as one.
It was this same way that we began our New Year together as well.
We finished out the year with a lovely evening together, dinner out with Carlisle and Esme, dancing afterwards with Alice and Jasper. Our kiss at midnight was full of passion and promise.
The New Year began for us as our bodies moved together in time, her warmth and sweetness enveloping me, my pulse and movement taking up residence within her depths. With slow, steady rhythm we welcomed the New Year with labored breath, whispered names and love.
All was right in our world.
A/N: The Princess Bride is one of my all time favorite movies and no matter how many times I have seen it I always stop to watch it when I come across it. It is a classic love story that I think will still be that way 20 years from now.
All of the Christmas movies mentioned above are great to watch on a day when you have nothing else to do but watch movies. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry and some are just classics that still hold their beauty even after all of this time.
I didn't have a particular chef in Charleston in mind when I wrote about the douche bag chef above. Unfortunately the culinary world is filled with major egos and this guy was just a culmination of many that I have come across.
The poem that Edward got the quote for the necklace from is called My Love is Lost. It is actually a very sad poem about the loss of a loved one, but I think those lines pulled outside of the other tragic words are filled with love. I never knew Judy Garland wrote poetry. Learn something new every day!
I believe in the healing power of chocolate covered strawberries, especially when standing in a walk in cooler taking a moment to get out of the heat of the kitchen.
In the South we sometimes say that a crazy person is touched instead of crazy. Just a more gentle way of calling someone crazy and that is what Edward means when he is talking about Fruit Cakes not being the touched people. Of course we also like to say we don't hide our crazy here, instead we prop them up on the front porch.
Sorry for the long note. Hope you enjoyed the chapter let me know as your thoughts and words are always welcomed and much loved!