Disclaimer: No copyrights infringement intended. I don't own Twilight saga or any of its awesome characters. I also know absolutely nothing about firearms, except what I've seen in TV.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, put on alert or simply... read OTC. You guys make my days a little bit brighter. Thank you. This is one of the chapters I have been looking forward to writing for a while.
Enjoy Chapter-29 and I'll see you at the end of this chapter! :-)
Chapter-29: A Little Piece of Me
EPOV
"You know, the way you're punishing your hair, you'd be bald by the time you get back home. I don't think BabyBell will be hot for you if that happens." Emmett's sardonic tone broke though my haze of thoughts. I rolled my eyes at him. It was actually my fault that I had given him the opportunity to laugh his ass off at me, because with my shit-filled head, I could not figure out what to do for Bella's birthday. Since Emmett had had girlfriends before I thought he could advice me on female psyche. Wrong thought there, Cullen!
"Laugh it up, you moron. You know, being the older brother with far more experience with the opposite sex, you should be the one to help me out." I snapped at my cousin. He just continued laughing his ass off until suddenly he stopped… just like that, and looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth.
I looked behind me to check if there's anyone behind me before saying matter-of-factly, "Em, did you swallow a fly… again?"
Emmett immediately closed his mouth and grimaced at the memory. "Urgh! Don't remind me. And don't ever mention it to Rosie. She'll start calling me Fly-mouth or something. Besides, it was a very tiny fly—more like a mosquito—really."
I chuckled at the thought of Rosalie calling Emmett 'Fly-Mouth' before something struck me. "Wait, Rosie? Since when do you call Rosalie 'Rosie'? How are you guys doing by the way?" I was trying to forget the frustration from moments before by changing the topic.
Emmett suddenly had a silly smile on his face. Don't worry, to me all of Emmett's smiles usually look silly, but this was a different silly—like drunk or glazed look—silly. Whoa! I don't think I have ever seen Em look like that, except when he was fawning over his Playboy stash!
When he finally started talking, his lips were still curved in a goofy smile. "We're great. Rosie's great. You know Ed, I never thought I would say this but, dude, she's like the female counterpart of me. I am so glad to have found her."
I held up my hands and said quickly, "Okay, Em, I don't want to hear about your sexcapades with Rosalie. I'm happy that she makes you happy, Bro. Just bear in mind that she's Bella's best friend. So don't 'fuck-and-duck' on her like you usually do, alright?"
I expected Emmett to laugh at my use of his terminology. But instead, he shook his head and said with a determined look on his face, "No, Ed, it's different, man. When I'm with her it's like I don't see other chicks. Beside, that night at the club, after you and BabyBell went off, I had gone to the bar to get us drinks, and when I turned to look at Rosie, I saw a sleazy guy trying to take hold of her hand. I was about to rush to her aid, but then Rosie simply moved her killer heeled feet, and before I knew it, the guy was couching down, yelling in pain and Rosalie was looking nonchalantly at her fingernails. Bro, even if I wanted to sleep around, I value my jewels too much to do that. Besides, I don't need to fuck-and-duck when I have Rosie with me."
I offered him a smile, showing I was happy for him, but my mind was conjuring up what could've happened if my Bella was in Rosalie's place. I can't even imagine my shy bride aiming a kick at anyone's balls. Oh, yeah? What about that first night? She should've kicked your balls for the dick-wad move you pulled!
I was completely in agreement with my subconscious, when Em suddenly clapped my shoulder. "Anywho, what I was thinking about, before you rudely interrupted me, is that Bella's birthday will fall on the same day as your one month anniversary. You can combine those two and figure something out."
I looked at my cousin with astonishment, because that was actually something that hadn't crossed my mind. I grinned at him. "I don't think I ever said and meant it at the same time, Em, but you are a freaking genius!"
Em let out a boisterous laugh before turning to me and asked, "So, what's the plan, Brainless?" I let his insult slide—for once—and started explaining the plan that was taking shape in my mind. This just might work!
-OTC-
On Sunday, I went up to the Chief and asked him to let me have a day off on Monday, seeing as Tuesday, Bella's birthday, was already our day off. Chief Farrell didn't think of anything before sanctioning my request. Now it's time to tell Bella.
When I walked in the cafeteria for lunch, I immediately found my wife laughing with Jasper and Rosalie. As if she could sense my presence, she looked up just as I was about to take my seat at their table and gave me a bright smile. My lips automatically mimicked her smile.
I leaned into her side slightly before whispering, "We need to talk."
Bella's smile vanished from her lips and she raised an eyebrow at me. "That sounds rather ominous. Are you breaking up with me?" Though her words were teasing, I could see the worry in her eyes.
I vehemently shook my head and said, "No way, I just managed to get you to go out with me. I am not letting you go that easily."
She relaxed at my words and smiled shyly. "I don't want you to let go that easily, either."
"So, we're on the same page then. Listen, Bella, a few days ago when you were telling me about your parents, you told me that you used to go see them every weekend," I started.
She scrunched up her eyebrows and nodded telling me to continue. So I said, "Well, now that work's too hectic for you to see them that often, I thought… I mean, it's going to be a month since you've seen them soon and I was wondering if you want to go to Forks tomorrow?"
Bella's face immediately lightened up before she grimaced. "Edward, our day off is on the day after tomorrow. We still have to work tomorrow. It's just not possible right now."
I chuckled at her and said in a sarcastic voice, "Oh, how much trust you have in my abilities, Bellarina!" She giggled at my tone and tried to rib me with her elbow. I grasped her hand under the table, before saying in a low voice, so that only she could hear me, "I have already planned it all out. I miss my parents too. So I have taken tomorrow off to take you to Forks. We can stay the night there before coming back home by Tuesday night."
Bella frowned. "But if you have taken the day off, I can't take tomorrow off as well. Otherwise people will start to talk."
I wanted to say, 'fuck the people! I don't give a flying fuck if they know that you're my wife'. But I couldn't, not because I didn't want people to know about us, but because I had promised to let Bella take the lead in this.
Instead, I thought for a moment, before having a light-bulb moment. "I got it. You won't tell anyone anything. Tomorrow, you'll call from the road to let your boss know about your sudden need for a sick day. I'm sure the he'll understand."
Bella started to shake her head before I could finish telling her my plans, and then she mumbled, "I can't lie. I am a terrible liar. Montgomery will figure it out and then I'll be out of job."
She was making this so fucking difficult! I was about to let my frustration out, but Bella suddenly looked behind her before turning to me with a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "I can't lie, but Rose is a champion liar. I could get her to tell Montgomery directly when she came in to work. How does that sound?"
"That, Bellarina, sounds like a plan." I smirked at her. She blushed at the nickname as always, making me smile just a bit bigger.
BPOV
Monday morning was a flurry of activities as Edward and I rushed through our breakfast of hot pockets and was on the road by the time the clock read 8 a.m. I was constantly yawning for getting so little sleep the night before. I couldn't believe it. The only drawback of my getting ward placement, at the end of my internship, was the fact that I wouldn't get to see my parents that often. But Edward, being the obnoxious, crazy, arrogant and sweet man he was, somehow realized the home-sickness I was feeling after having his parents come over.
This month has been one crazy ride what with setting our parameters, getting to know each other, house guests and everything. Even I didn't know how much I was missing my parents before Edward brought it up the day before.
I called Rose up to check if she had done what I had asked her to, and of course, my best friend was always on my side. She had deviously wished me to 'have fun with the hubby' before hanging up making me roll my eyes.
I offered to trade-off driving duty after ten, but Edward was adamant that he'll be the one driving so that I could catch up on the sleep I was obviously in need of. It was a sweet gesture, but to me, it seemed like he didn't want me driving his car. Hmm, I'll have to ask Alice about it when I see her.
On the prospect of seeing my new sister, my mood picked up, and Edward and I spent most of the drive listening to music on the CD player. He really had great taste in music. He's handsome, thoughtful and has good music sense—could he be more attractive? It doesn't seem possible.
EPOV
Just as we crossed through the town marker saying 'Welcome to Forks, Washington,' Bella perked up and asked me, "Hey can you take a right turn?"
I quirked an eyebrow at her before smirking. "Why, Mrs. Cullen, are you trying to kidnap the unsuspecting visitor with your charms?"
She rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, yeah, Dr. Cullen, you are such a catch that I have to kidnap you to get you all to myself. You're an ass sometimes, you know that?"
"Are you telling me you're attracted to asses? Or that you're attracted to my ass?" I was trying to goad her, to make her say that she was attracted to me.
Bella however did the exact opposite and snickered. "Who said I was attracted to you anyway?" When I pouted like I had seen Alice do on numerous occasions, she laughed. "Okay fine, Smirky, don't pout. You know I find you attractive. I wanted to show you around the town before going home. Do you want me to?"
Though she had started her talk with laughter in her voice, she ended it with her shy smile that made me want to wrap her in my arms and never let go. As I couldn't do that—for now—I reached out to tuck the lock of hair that had come out of her ponytail behind her ear.
She leaned into my touch before blushing bright pink, and making me chuckle. "Alright, Bellarina, show me where you grew up, baby." She smiled up at me before indicating me to turn the car to the right.
After driving for a few minutes, we reached a small and old red brick building which Bella pointed out to me. "That's the elementary school. I met Rose here on our first day of school. I still remember that day. During recess, Laura—our class bitch— had come up to me and flat out called me Duck for having the surname Swan. I was about to cry, when out of nowhere, Rose came over and openly threatened Laura, saying that if she picked on Rose's friend, she'll be sorry for the rest of her life. I don't know where she heard that ridiculous line—must be some cheesy movie or something—but it didn't matter to me. What mattered was that I had a new friend."
I smiled at her memory and asked, "Did you say anything to her?"
Bella giggled, "You bet I did. I asked her how she got the idea that we were friends, and she simply shrugged and said that she was Rosalie Hale and she had decided that I was going to be her friend. And somehow, that was enough to make me realize that I wanted that girl as my best friend as well."
Bella had a sweet smile on her face, and to be frank, though the part about the other girl trying to make Bella cry was horrible, but at the same time the story was quite cute. So I smiled back at her. "Seems like, you have quite a friend in Rosalie."
She gave me a smile before saying, "Yeah, I am lucky to have Rose as my friend. Anyway, let's go another block. There's the playground and middle school I want to show you."
-OTC-
For the next hour, Bella showed me the places that meant something to her and inadvertently, I got a glimpse of a little piece of her life—before me. She showed me the playground where she had dug up a worm, which she had tried to keep as a pet for… three hours, before it ran away from her glass jar.
She showed me the middle school where she and Rosalie had gotten into a fight over Rosalie saying a bad word in a girl's toilet and by the time they had finished screaming their lungs out, the principal had come to find the reason behind the mini-flood in the school hallway.
When we got to the high school—a few more blocks further—Bella's eyes twinkled, as she recounted the story of her being the knight in shining armor for Rosalie. I could feel the excitement rolling off of her, as she said, "In high school, during our senior prom, the captain of the football team, Royce King, made a bet on Rose. He said that he'd get Rose to sleep with him by the end of the night. There was a harmless kid, Jim, who had the biggest crush on Rose. He heard about it and told us. Jazz was so angry! He wanted to tear Royce into pieces, not caring that he was about the size of a stick compared to Royce. But I came up with a far more notorious plan…"
I really did get where Jasper was coming from, and if I had heard any stupid little shit betting on my sister, I would've castrated him—at the least. But I didn't voice my feelings to Bella because I wanted to hear what mischief my innocent wife had gotten into. So instead, I prompted her, "What was the plan? Did you hand Jasper a machete?"
Bella laughed lightly and said, "No, silly. I asked Jim to get us a fishing pole—because his parents own the sporting goods store—the one we passed a few minutes ago. Anyway, armed with the fishing line, Jasper and I went into the Boy's toilet where Royce had just gone into a stall. And as soon as his pants hit the floor, I casted the line and reeled his pants out of the stall through the space under the door."
By now, I had joined in her laughter and I asked in between chuckles, "What did the pantless guy do then?"
Bella giggled—a beautiful sound that was becoming addictive for my ears—and replied, "Pantless had kept his cell phone in the pant pockets, so he couldn't call anyone to ask for help, and in a black-tie event, the football captain couldn't appear without his pants, now, could he? He had to sit on the toilet for the remainder of the function. From what everyone heard in school the next time, the janitor had come to check the toilets before closing the school gates and found him. And the janitor, being a funny guy, said to people that Royce had either forgotten to wear pants in prom or had shitted on his pants and so had to flush them out. Take your pick of the ending."
I snickered and said, "I pick the second one. By the way, did the guy ever find out who took his pants?"
Bella shook her head before saying, "Nope. The fishing line was pretty thin so he didn't really see it. According to him, Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter had come and stolen them. Those pants are still in Rose's closet—as a trophy."
Her wide smile made me laugh again which set her off—again.
When we had passed the library where Bella admitted to have first fallen in love with books, we decided to stop at Forks Diner for lunch. I was going to suggest we get to her parents' home before lunch, but the way Bella's eyes lit up at the sight of the diner, made me stop the car. After having greasy burger and fries for lunch, and listening to Bella and her dad's escape stories to the diner to get away from her mom's cooking, we finally drove towards the Swan residence.
-OTC-
As we drove up to the driveway, I checked the clock on the dashboard. It was almost two in the afternoon. We had already decided to each stay at our parents' place. Because that way, we would get to spend some time with our parents and we wouldn't encounter any awkwardness of sharing Bella's queen-sized bed.
Though I had agreed to the plan, but right at that moment, I was kicking my own ass because if in my king-sized bed we ended up snuggled to each other in our sleep, what would we have done in a smaller queen-sized one? Yeah, Cullen, if you had manned up a bit, you could be snuggling with Bella tonight, instead you'll have to sleep alone—under a separate roof from her! I could practically hear my dick cursing my gentlemanly ways.
However, the thought of being separated from Bella, for almost ten hours or so, made my heart clench just a bit tighter. What's up with that thing?
Gathering my nerves for facing my in-laws, I turned off the car. And then on impulse, I leaned over the centre console to kiss Bella on the cheek—at least that was my intention. But Bella suddenly turned her head towards me with parted lips—about to say something, which made my lips land on hers—rather than her cheek—not that I minded in the slightest!
So what else could I do but kiss her? And that's exactly what I did—I kissed her softly at first, and then as I felt the heat coming off her cheek, I knew she was blushing. So I raised one hand and cupped her face with the barest of touch, making her fist a handful of my shirt collar to keep me anchored to her—and that's how Charlie Swan found us.
"You planning on getting out of the car this week, Edward?" the gruff voice of my father-in-law made my eyes snap open, and then I exercised extreme control, as I removed my lips from his daughter's and refrained from cussing.
I stole a quick glance at Bella and saw what I had expected—her cheeks and neck was several shades darker, bordering on red rather than pink. If I hadn't been feeling like a little boy who just had favorite toy taken away, I might have smirked at her expression.
Instead, I decided to get out of the car and then opened the door for Bella—surprisingly she had waited in the car for me rather than opening it herself. Maybe I'm finally getting her used to this. Or… maybe she'd just too embarrassed to face her father! When Bella had climbed out of the car, I closed the door before turning to greet her father.
"Hello, Sir, how are you? Bella was missing you guys and so we took a day off." Not the cool and casual greeting I was planning but it was still good—or so I thought.
"Now why would she be missing us? Are you not taking good care of my baby girl, Boy?" Charlie's accusing tone made me feel just like what he called me—a boy. I was about to sputter out some apology or explanation—I don't even know which—but Bella decided to step in.
"Dad, it's enough. Why are you pulling his leg?" At her words, I peeked at Charlie and saw a small fluttering on his mustache. The fucker! Here I was sweating bullets, and he was laughing! I must've scowled at him because Bella poked my side and said, "Don't let him scare you. He's not the Chief Swan here. He's my father. He's totally harmless."
I wanted to say, "I beg to differ, Baby. Because if the way he threatened me on our wedding day was anything to go by, he is a super scary guy!" But I didn't, because I figured, Bella would think of me as a chicken if I said that her dad scared the shit out of me. Instead, I smiled back at Charlie and took his proffered hand. Though I'm not sure if it was my imagination or not, he squeezed my hand just a little bit too tight.
By the time he let go of my now almost-mangled hand, Reneé had joined us and was hugging Bella by the front porch. After a customary hug from her, I turned to bid Bella goodbye. But Bella clasped my hand and said, "Wait, I want to go with you." My heart almost started to dance at the thought of her not wanting to part with me. But her next words made me slump back. "I should go and meet Esme and Carlisle. Alice is there too, right? It's been so long since I've seen Alice!"
I suppressed a sigh and was about to open my mouth, but Charlie beat me to it. "Bells, why don't you freshen up first? I want to take you and Edward somewhere this evening. So, you can go to the Cullens' place after we get back. Is that alright, Edward?"
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at the fact that Charlie wanted to take me somewhere. But seeing that Bella will be with us, he wouldn't dare to kill me for kissing her, right? So I nodded and said, "Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I'm sure mom will be ecstatic to have you there for dinner, Bella." When Bella gave me a timid 'okay,' I looked at Charlie and asked, "When should I meet you, Charlie?"
Charlie thought for a minute before telling me to meet him and Bella in two hours. I may not have been looking for bonding time with Charlie, but I could use his help for my plans for Bella's birthday. Besides what can he do to me anyway?
BPOV
I so wanted to ask Edward to take me with him—not because I wanted to see his family again like I had told him—but because I didn't want to be away from him for even a whole day. Funny how that feels, isn't it? One moment, I was ready to murder my father for marrying me off to the Rude Adonis, and the next, I was missing the same man like crazy. But he's not the same man, is he? He's more… playful, nice, teasing, funny, cute… he's just… more. I shook off my wayward thoughts and went up to the house with my parents. It was good to see them after almost a month.
-OTC-
Just as the clock struck four, the door bell rang. One side of my dad's mustache shook as he snickered. "Is he always this punctual or just trying to butter me up?"
I rolled my eyes at his obvious pleasure at my husband's unease and said, "Dad, be nice. You were the one who chose him for me, remember? Now you have to play fair. Besides he's not that bad." I could feel my cheeks heat up as I mumbled the last sentence.
My dad patted my hair and said in a soft tone so that my mother and Edward, who were talking in the foyer, would not hear him, "Not that bad, huh? If he keeps you happy, then I don't have any complaint against him, Kid."
I whispered, "He does keep me happy, Dad." And then I tried to hide my face behind the curtain of my hairs, feeling too uncomfortable to discuss my relationship with my husband, with my dad.
Dad then cleared his throat and said, "Well then, let me have some fun with him—just this once." I rolled my eyes at him, already knowing that he was going to scare the hell out of Edward. God help us all!
-OTC-
Just as we turned into the street towards the police station, I knew what my father was up to—he was taking us to show Edward his gun range. This was my dad's most favorite hobby—scaring off any guy who showed slightest interest on me, sometimes even Rose, with his gun collection. Though the gun range was bit overkill, I'll give you that—even for him. Maybe it was because he had seen Edward sticking his tongue down my throat this time.
When dad had insisted that we ride in his cruiser, I already knew he was going to embarrass me but—guns, Dad, really? Edward looked curiously puzzled as Charlie stopped the car in front of the station. But I just shook my head not willing to break the news to Edward that he was about to be thrown into the face of guns.
I kept grumbling under my breath the whole trek towards the field in back of the station, where my father's precious gun range was. Edward kept trying to catch my eye, most probably hoping to get some clue, but I avoided looking at anyone other than my feet.
After we reached the shooting podium, dad turned to me and pointed to the bag he was carrying. "Take your pick, Kiddo." I was about to spew out my anger, but seeing the way he was pleading me with his eyes, I decided to let him show off—just this once. So I gestured toward Edward as if to say, "Fine, go ahead. Let him have the first pick." Charlie's eyes were twinkling with mirth as he held out the bag to Edward.
Looking absolutely clueless, Edward slipped his hand inside the bag and the moment his hand touched the cold metal of the guns, his eyes turned as round as saucers! He stammered, "Charlie, what is all this? What do you want me to do?"
Dad let out a huff. "We're at a shooting range, Edward, with guns in a bag. What do you think we're gonna do? I wanted to see if Bella's aim is still as good or not."
My name made Edward look at me like it was the first time he was seeing me. "You can use a gun?" I just shrugged not wanting to say anything.
However, Charlie immediately went into brag mode. "Use? My Bells can shoot both guns and rifles, Son. Now, are you gonna take your pick or not?" Still eying me with shock written all over his face, Edward reached into the bag before pulling out a 44 Magnum. He was eyeing the piece with a dubious look which made me join him and reach for my usual one—the Glock 22. After a few minutes of pointing out the mechanics to Edward, we were ready to practice.
On Charlie's count, we both fired the guns—mine went directly through the forehead of my target and Edward's went straight through the lung of my target. When I heard my dad snicker from behind—obviously proud to have shown the boy that he had trained his daughter well—I decided to pay him back for trying to scare my husband.
So I went to Edward and stood close to him with my front almost touching his back. Then I brought my mouth close to his ear and whispered, "Don't pay him any attention. You can do it. It's easy really. Let me help you." While I was talking, I inched my hands up his arms and held his hand steady with mine and then said, "Now softly squeeze the trigger. Don't pull it, squeeze. And lock your gun hand with the other one, that'll make you shoot straight."
Edward took a long breath, making our bodies brush and then he fired—shooting at the heart of his target. Forgetting my father's presence, I hugged Edward tightly and said, "You did it."
He nuzzled his face in my hair and exhaled. "I did it because I had a pretty good teacher." And I grinned against his chest, feeling immensely proud of him.
Behind us my father grumbled, "Beginner's luck. Stop fussing you two." But Edward proved him wrong. Because most of the next shots he fired, struck to his target.
As we were making our way back to the car, I fell back when I saw Edward talking to my father. After allowing them few minutes, I picked up my pace. As I climbed in the back of my dad's cruiser, I caught his eye in the rearview mirror and I thought I could detect happiness and a hint of pride in them. Now what is he planning?
A/N: Again, I have never seen a real gun in my life, except in movies and TV. So whatever I wrote is purely fictional.
I know, Edward did not reveal his gift in this chapter, but you'll love it, I promise.
Take care and leave me your thoughts and review, please?
Ann
