Chapter 25: Spring, Spring, Spring
"Every field wears a bonnet with some spring daisies on it, even birds of a feather show their clothes off together. Sun's gettin' shinery, to spotlight the finery,
Spring, Spring, Spring."
-"Spring, Spring, Spring" from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
"It finally stopped snowing!" Alice exclaimed, bouncing to the window, the skirts of her dress brushing daintily against the floor.
Esme came up behind her to the window, "Yes, it did. It is April, though; so that's to be expected." She teased, nudging Alice's shoulder.
Alice pouted, "I want the snow to stop, but that means we'll have to go home soon."
Esme wrapped her arm around the younger woman's shoulders, "I know, Alice. But you are engaged to Jasper, so it won't be long before you see him again."
"I'll miss you, Esme," Alice said softly, resting her against Esme's shoulder.
"I'll miss all of you girls, you'll have to come visit me," Esme sighed.
"Of course, and you'll have to make Carlisle bring you and this baby into the town to see us," Alice said, touching Esme's stomach.
"Of course," Esme replied, hugging Alice to her tightly.
"At least it seems we'll be able to be here when he or she is born," Alice observed.
"Yes," Esme replied, "It's only going to be another month."
Alice smiled.
Bella flounced into the room happily, "Alice, the snow is melting!"
"I know," Alice laughed.
Bella trotted forward and wound her arms around Esme's neck and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Are you girls going to go outside and enjoy the sunshine?" Esme inquired.
Bella and Alice nodded enthusiastically. They looped their arms together and stumbled out the front door, giggling.
Most of the boys were already outside jumping in the mud puddles.
"Don't you dare make your trousers dirty," Emmett growled, jabbing a large finger in his brothers' direction. He was in no mood to scrub mud off everyone's clothing.
Garrett gave a loud battle cry and ran up and tackled Benjamin to the ground.
Emmett sighed and shook his head. Rosalie came up and patted him on the back. She snuck her foot up until she was able to kick him harshly in the back of the knee. His legs buckled and he fell heavily into the mud.
Rosalie started laughed raucously.
"You think that's funny, Babe?" He asked; he rolled around until he was good and muddy and then he stood up and picked her up.
She squealed and swatted him on the chest.
Esme came and stood on the porch, laughing at their antics. Everyone, minus she and Carlisle, were covered from head to toe in red mud. They were enjoying throwing dirt-clods at each other rather than snowballs.
Carlisle came and stood next to his wife.
"Rosalie and Emmett are going to have an awful time getting that red clay out of everyone's clothes," he whispered in her ear.
"Yes they will, by I'll help them," she whispered back.
"You'll do no such thing," he argued, "I don't want you doing that much work."
Esme nodded, she had a feeling that he would say something like that. She sighed, "I really am useless right now."
"No you're not," he rebutted, "you've just got to worry about taking care of our baby."
Esme nodded, she hated feeling like she wasn't allowed to do anything; but she understood why she needed to do it.
"Just enjoy being able to be lazy while you can," Carlisle said, nuzzling his nose into her neck.
She melted into his arms, "I'll try."
"Please do," he replied pressed a kiss to her pulse point, "I want you and our baby to be as healthy as possible."
"We are," she replied, pulling his arms around her and resting his hands against her belly.
They stood in comfortable silence for a while watching their siblings rolling around in the mud like little pigs.
"Carlisle," Esme said softly, turning so she could whisper in his ear, "what do you want to name our baby?"
"It depends, I guess," he replied.
"Depends on what?" She asked.
"Well, first off if it's a boy or a girl, and second I think we'll know the perfect name when we see the baby for the first time."
"But what names do you like?" She pressed.
"I guess I like old fashioned names. Maybe Bibles names, like Esther or Joshua."
"I like Bible names, too," she replied with a smile.
"What names would you like, my Esme?"
"I like Joshua for a boy like you suggested. Maybe Sarah for a girl, or Hannah…"
Carlisle smiled, "So we have three possible names for a girl and one for a boy."
"Maybe Jonathan for a boy, too," she smiled, "or he could be another Carlisle."
"Well, in that case we should name our little girl Esme!"
Esme laughed and blushed, "No, I think I'd like to give our child a different name than either one of us."
"Me too," he conceded, pressing a kiss to her brow.
"So, Esther Cullen…Sarah Cullen…Hannah Cullen…Joshua Cullen or Jonathan Cullen?" She asked, crinkling her nose.
"Or maybe we could have a Bartholomew Cullen or a Haggai Cullen."
"Oh no, I don't want a strange name for our baby!"
"They aren't strange names, your making fun of God's chosen people!" Carlisle chastised.
"I am not; I just don't want to name my baby after them!" Esme replied, hitting him playfully on the chest.
He laughed and kissed the top of her nose and then he pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist. They were quiet for a moment.
"Do you want a girl or a boy?" Esme asked. "I know you have all the brothers, so would you want a boy?"
Carlisle smiled at her sheepishly, "Would it sound bizarre if I wanted a girl?"
"No, not at all," Esme replied smiling. "I kind of want a little girl, too."
"What about a little girl?" Emmett asked coming up near the porch. The only light-coloured points on him were the whites of his eyes and the pearly tones of his straight teeth.
"We're kind of hoping that our baby is a girl," Carlisle replied, rubbing circles on Esme's stomach.
"Aw!" Emmett exclaimed; he opened his arms wide, "Give me a hug Carlisle!"
Carlisle jumped and pulled away, "Don't you touch me, Emmett!"
Emmett didn't head his warning and grabbed Carlisle and threw him into the mud as well.
Esme giggled, "Oh, you guys better not make me muddy."
"We wouldn't dream of it, we wouldn't want you to catch a cold," Alice said. She wiped her hands against her dress to try to get the mud off them, "We wouldn't want this little baby here to get sick."
"No we would not," Carlisle said, coming up near his wife. His blonde hair was slicked back with clumps of dark mud and his clothes were disheveled. He wasn't nearly as dirty as the rest of them, though.
"Shall I give you a kiss, my love?" He asked with a smirk.
"Don't you dare touch me all filthy like that, Carlisle Cullen!"
He pouted, his lower lip sticking out in a very pitiful expression, "Don't you love me, Esme?"
"I do, Carlisle. I just love you better when you're in clean clothes," she said, shrugging her shoulders.
Carlisle laughed, "Why don't we let the girls get cleaned up out back first and then the boys will go."
The girls nodded and fetched some water and set it over the fire pit so they could take baths. They stripped down and scrubbed the dirt off each other before they each took a turn in the warm water.
The boys went next and soon everyone was squeaky clean.
Everyone still had wet hair as they sat around the dinner table that evening. The April air was warm, so they left the back door open. A slight breeze ruffled everyone's hair and chilled them a little.
After dinner, Benjamin and Tia took care of the dishes.
"I'm so glad that it's not snowing anymore," Bella said, sitting back with her head resting on Edward's chest. The younger couples were all gathered in the sitting room after the moon had risen high in the sky.
"You and me both, Bells," Rosalie said.
"Do you really want to leave, Rosie?" Emmett asked, staring deep into her violet eyes.
"No, but I do miss my family and I miss having my own house and being able to go to the market for food," she frowned.
"What are we all supposed to do when you girls go back?" Jasper asked.
"What do you mean, Jazz?" Alice asked, turning around on his lap to stare at his face.
"What I mean, Ali, is that your fathers and the rest of the townspeople very well might kill us when we take you back in the spring, do you really think they'll let any of us marry you?"
"Oh, Jasper, don't think like that!" Alice exclaimed, throwing her arms around his scarred neck.
"I have to, Alice," he replied, putting his hands over her small back.
"I know," she replied in a small voice.
"He does have a point though," Carmen pointed out solemnly. "Do you really think Pastor Webber would wed any of us now?"
All was silent as they contemplated.
"I would go to the ends of the earth to marry Bella," Edward said, "but, if you don't want to hurt your father, I'll understand."
"What are you saying, Edward?" She asked, pulling away from him.
"I'm saying that if you don't want to go through with this, you don't have to," he replied honestly.
"Don't you love me?" She asked, her face burning and her eyes stinging with tears. The Cullen brothers as well as their girls all watched on in horror.
"I do, but I don't want you to be unhappy with your decision," he replied.
"Why would you ever think I'd be unhappy?" She asked, her voice shaking.
"I just don't want you to ruin your life to be with me," he replied.
She slapped him hard across the face. Her fingers left long, red welts across his left cheekbone. "Don't talk to me Edward Anthony Cullen. I'm not ruining my life to be with you. I love you, but right now, I don't even want to look at you."
And then, Bella stormed up the stairs in tears.
Edward, Edward, Edward. He means well, it was just poorly executed. Don't worry this won't cause major drama, it's just something I wanted to throw in there. Anywhoo, it's finally spring!! And do you all know what that means? The mountain pass is going to be clear soon... But not too soon, because one major event has to take place before that. ;)
Now that all of my power issues are worked out, we're going back to the normal updating schedule for all of my stories. So the next chapter of Seven Brides will be up on Thursday!
Next time on 7B47B:
"I really messed things up, Esme," he said brokenly. He turned to face her, his back against the wall as he slid down to the floor.
"Oh, Edward," she said, kneeling next to him, "it can't possibly be that bad."
He glanced up at her with his melancholy green eyes, "I told Bella that she didn't have to marry me if she didn't want to."
Esme frowned and slapped the back of his head, "Now, why would you do that?"