At last, the long-awaited return! The Star Wars story I wrote during the intermission is complete. It was just what I needed. Thanks for everyone's patience... hope it was worth the wait. ;)

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Chapter 14: Junk Food

Bella

The lightest drizzle began to fall as Charlie and Cindy stooped to hug Miles and Ivy with a farewell kiss on each one's cheek.

"You two behave now. And don't try getting out of your baths tonight, you both need them," Cindy brushed some half-dried mud that had jumped from Miles' jacket onto hers. Having spent the afternoon exploring the yard's muddiest depressions, he and his sister giggled at their filthy clothes.

"I nominate grandma and grandpa for that job," Edward teased. "After all, they were your partners in crime. They helped you find the mud – they can help you get rid of it."

"Oh no, we'll leave the honor to you. Wouldn't want to steal one of your favorite pastimes," Charlie countered with facetious enthusiasm.

Using my fingernail to scrape what I could off Miles' shoulder, I just shook my head. "You're too generous, Dad. But thanks for coming over, the kids had a blast, as anyone can tell."

"Anytime," he gave a lopsided grin. "Same time next Saturday?"

"Sure, we'll see you then," my arm waved alongside Edward's. We watched wet gravel cling to their tires as they disappeared into the blue-gray folds of the forest, and then retreated into the house and up the stairs with two grubby toddlers at our heels.

Aside from the unsavory task of scrubbing dirt from every square inch of their bodies, their filthy adventure had its advantages. Both lacked the energy to put up any resistance to bedtime. With one last feeding for Damien shortly afterward, we at last found ourselves completely, blissfully alone as night cast its romantic spell. Evenings like this required no verbal communication between us. The slightest wink, the subtlest brush of fingers against the other's forearm spoke a language that evaded translation.

Tonight, however, the afterglow of our passion didn't keep me drugged as deeply as it usually did. Edward would only offer guttural sounds in response to anything I said at this point, but that didn't deter me. Tracing the contours of his chest as my bare torso and limbs pressed against his, I let words trickle from my tongue like rain down a waxy leaf.

"Can you believe this is only their fourth weekend coming over? They were so nervous at first… but now it feels like we've been doing this for months already."

"Mmm," was the lazy response.

"I hate to admit it, but Alice was right. Life is so much better now that Charlie and Cindy know," I murmured. "I've almost forgotten what it was like before."

We both lay in contented silence for a moment. Yet I was in an undeniably chatty mood, and it wasn't long before I opened my mouth again.

"How do you think the others like it? Obviously Alice does, but what about Rosalie, for instance?"

"Hmm… it could be worse, all things considered," he said with eyes closed.

"What sort of thoughts have you picked up from her lately?"

His eyes slit open a fraction. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Why are you so concerned about her now?"

Sighing, I rolled onto my back. "I've been thinking a lot about talents. You, Alice and Jasper all have them, and I suppose Carlisle's tolerance for blood counts too, but what about Emmett and Rosalie? Sure, Emmett's strong, but that doesn't distinguish him that much from other vampires."

Edward nodded, prompting me to continue.

"And I really don't have any talents either. You once joked that my easy transition from human to vampire was a talent, but I can't help feeling that Rosalie and I have something in common," I paused. "Except I have children and she doesn't. We may both be talentless, but at least I have some consolation, a distraction from my missing pieces. She doesn't."

Edward contemplated my words. "You're right. I've often wondered why some vampires don't possess any talents. I wish I had an explanation."

"Well, I wish there was something we could do for her, but I can't think of anything that wouldn't make her feel more self-conscious."

"Bella, don't worry too much over it," he said gently. "It's good that you care, but she's doing fine. Trust me."

"Really?"

"I've sensed a shift in Rosalie over the years. She's not nearly as bitter as she once was."

I had no reason to doubt him since he had no reason to be dishonest with me. Rosalie's envy was never some shameful family secret everyone downplayed. As incredible as it seemed, Edward's report had to be true. Yet for reasons I couldn't identify, I still felt marginally unsettled about the situation. Without a legitimate counterargument, though, all I could do was purse my lips and let Edward's declaration stand.

As it was, he'd already moved on from the topic and was absently scratching his head. "So what's next on tonight's agenda? A little chess? Go fish?" he nudged me with his elbow, smirking.

I rolled my eyes. But then my expression turned into a slight frown. "I could go for a snack, actually. I'm pretty hungry."

He blinked. "We were just hunting two days ago."

"I know, I haven't forgotten," I scowled defensively. "But apparently my stomach has. Are you saying you don't believe me?"

"No… I guess not," he said uncertainly. "It's just surprising. You've always been able to go at least a week."

I appreciated his tone about as much as the dry, searing thirst running down my throat. Pushing myself up with a huff, I threw on the first set of clothes I came across.

"You can stay here and daydream about my past behavior all night, or you can join me," I announced frostily, grabbing a pair of hiking boots on my way out the door. "I was looking for your company, not your approval."

He'd caught up to me by the time I reached the foot of the staircase. With a brief word to Carlisle and Esme, who were bent over the house expansion blueprints yet again, we were out the door in tense unison.

The cool night air tasted good. I could tell instantly that the wind and humidity conditions were ideal for hunting. No doubt Edward sensed this too, but based on his earlier scoffing, he likely wouldn't be taking advantage of it. That was fine by me. He didn't have to mimic my actions tonight, just not criticize them.

Thankfully he kept silent as we prowled the forest, keeping stride with every crouch and weave I executed. But I knew my husband well enough to know the difference between content silence and reluctant silence. This was undeniably the latter. What was his problem? What did it matter if my appetite returned more quickly for once? It affected neither him nor anyone else in our family. The local animal population might feel some impact, but it wasn't as though anything was in imminent danger of extinction. Especially considering that I was craving…

Rabbit. Oh, sweet heavens above… the sight of a plump, light gray rabbit burrowing under a bush made my salivary glands explode with venom. One millisecond later, the overwhelming pleasure of its warm, savory blood was mine.

So great was the euphoria that I all but forgot Edward hovering behind me. He remained dutifully quiet while I drained the small animal, but when I finally turned around, his face was anything but mute.

"You just ate a rabbit," he said with disgust, disbelief, and contempt.

"Your powers of observation are astounding," I replied sardonically. "You're certainly a vampire of many talents."

He took two steps toward me, still looking at the rabbit carcass with unconcealed horror. "Bella, you've never liked rabbit. None of us do. It's… cheap and tasteless, to say the least."

"So? What's your point?" I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. His reaction was irritating, but not nearly as grating as it would've been with my hunger in full force.

"Don't you find this a little strange?"

I shrugged. "Stranger things have happened, I'm sure."

"That's beside the point. You made a poor choice, nutritionally speaking."

His undue criticism was starting to get under my skin now. Standing as I flung the rabbit aside, I decided there was no better place to shout out our differences than the middle of a forest.

"I've had just about enough of your snide judgment! First you sneer at my unjustified hunger, and now you condemn my food? Really? Is this what Carlisle taught you a hundred years ago?" I stood inches away from him now. "Did he tell you that vampire junk food will make us fat, just like regular junk food will to humans? Is that it?"

Angry as I was, I didn't know what to make of the indecision that flashed briefly in Edward's eyes. "He's never told me that, no," he answered unevenly.

"Exactly! Vampires can't become overweight or unhealthy, Edward! So who cares what I eat or don't eat?"

"I do," his brow pinched in consternation. "This just isn't like you, Bella. Including your temper right now. None of this is rational, and I'm concerned. It's all come out of nowhere."

"Deal with it! If I'm not endangering my health, then your opinion is irrelevant."

Indecision returned to his eyes. Glancing down, he suddenly seemed uncomfortable looking at any point on my body.

"That's the thing. Bella, I'm not sure how to say this…" he swallowed, clearly uneasy. "But as your husband, I have to be honest with you. We've always been unreservedly honest with each other, have we not?"

I tried to bury the alarm I felt by crossing my arms indignantly. "No, we haven't. Or I should say you haven't. Another forest argument comes to mind. One where you said you didn't want me?"

"Since we've been married, then," he winced slightly.

"Then yes," I conceded.

"So in keeping with the past four years of honesty, I have to tell you something. Believe me when I say I don't mention it for superficial reasons, but as a health concern…" he slowly brought his gaze to rest on me, though I didn't understand why he was still looking down. "Have you noticed any changes in your body lately?"

The absurdity of the question had me drawing a blank. "What?"

"So help me, if I were any other man I'd get killed for this," he muttered under his breath. "You asked me if Carlisle ever said 'junk food' could make us fat. And he never has. It's been my understanding that our bodies can never change shape. We're supposed to be permanently preserved like statues."

I made sure to convey my boredom and impatience nonverbally.

"Ugh, there's no sense drawing this out… I'm a dead man either way," he groaned. "Bella, I wasn't going to say anything, but given your strange behavior tonight, I feel compelled to. I've noticed… your stomach changing."

At first his words sounded like nonsense. Nonetheless, the natural response was to let my own gaze fall to the area in question. All I saw was plain white fabric stained by a few droplets of rabbit blood. I simply stared like an idiot, waiting for Edward to explain himself.

"Well? Do you see?" he asked with fearful hesitation.

"See what?"

Throwing all pride and caution to the wind, he placed a cold palm against my abdomen, moving it to reaffirm his suspicions. "This. You honestly haven't noticed it?"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"You're… bigger," he said through a grimace. "Not conspicuously, and not in an unattractive way, but the fact is it shouldn't be happening," he quickly added, anticipating a backlash. "Not to a vampire. Not to a statue. Do you understand? I'm worried about you… the same as if you were still human and had a persistent rash, or a mole that looked cancerous."

His information wasn't quite processing correctly. I was bigger? Since when? And by how many millimeters? He had to be mistaken, oversensitive or seeing things askew.

"Are you sure?" I frowned, skeptically placing my hand next to his.

"Very sure," he almost chuckled. "You may not realize this, but I've long memorized your body. There isn't a single curve or indent I'm not fully acquainted with."

"More so than I am?"

Sighing, he withdrew his hand and thought a moment. "You've had a lot to adjust to the past few months. Damien's birth, your transformation, Charlie and Cindy integrating fully into our lives. You've been distracted. Anyone else in your position might have just as easily missed it."

"So I'm supposed to take your word for it? Without any evidence or proof?" I crossed my arms, feeling uncomfortably scrutinized at last.

"Just humor me for now," he pleaded. "It won't hurt to have Carlisle examine you. If nothing comes of it, then you can laugh at me all you want. But if there's even the slightest chance that something is wrong, I'll risk humiliation."

Aside from my own humiliation under Carlisle's assessment, I couldn't refuse his request. After all, this exam might indeed reveal an anomaly – an anomaly with Edward's eyesight, anyway.

"Fine," I relented. "Does it have to happen right now, or can I eat more first? That is, if you don't think it will make me morbidly obese?"

Shaking his head, he granted me half a smile. "At least we know your wit is still in perfect health."