Title: The Day The Earth Stood Still
Author: Sare Liz
Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
Continuity: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.
Rating: M.
Book Two: One More Year 'Til Forever
Chapter 6: A Weekend in Clark County
Beta: Colleen P., wonderful, except her snobbery concerning Dutch Ovens. Okay, so in my adult life I've never had one. Okay, so the on-sale Le Creuset is calling to me... I'm not going to get out of this, am I? I suppose we can't all be perfect. Edward is a car snob. Colleen is a dutch oven snob. I am a liturgy snob. We've all got something. What are you the snob of?
Author's Note: I seem to be inundated by plot. I apologize in advance. I promise there is a little lemon in here...
I walked heavily on the stairs to make my footsteps heard by Charlie. I opened her door and didn't bother to repress the shiver that shot up my spine. I loved the smell of this room. I opened my mouth slightly and breathed in, letting the scents flood across my tongue. At the same time, I dove into Bella's mind, letting the warmth and quiet comfort silence the strange dreams of her neighbors, the odd wordless background buzz of her father's mind. Even as expected as it was, the contact was so intimate, so private, so loving that I shuddered.
I locked the door behind me.
I took the bandana from the bedside table and draped it gently over Bella's mouth. At this point it was an unconscious reminder for Bella to be quiet and worked 89% of the time. Its efficacy was up 12% in the last month.
I untucked the sheet from the bottom of the bed and turned on the electric blanket to the lowest setting. I toed off my shoes and slid the sheet and blankets up to expose one of Bella's pale and succulent legs, inch by inch. I caressed the skin gently with my fingers, coaxing her leg to part farther from its mate, to open her wider. I paused at her thigh. God, I loved her thighs. They were the meatiest part of her, though they could stand to be a bit bigger. Bella was, alas, a victim of the modern manic understanding that good health meant life as a stick-figure. She didn't eat enough, either, but arguing with her was, I'd found, a battle quickly lost. Regardless, she was lovely and her body delightful.
I sat on the edge of her bed and leaned in, letting my lips touch the inside of her knee. I trailed kisses, lapping at her savory skin, softly kneading her hip, cradling her small, round ass. I moved slowly, lingering, allowing myself plenty of time. I knew exactly how long I needed until she was wet; four minutes and thirty seconds.
I shifted my left hand underneath the covers - Bella was still mostly covered at this point - and tilted her hips up. I made myself comfortable at the end of her bed and leaned into the feast I held in my hands.
I parted her lips with my tongue and as soon as that perfect, pink seal slipped open I was rewarded with the most intoxicating smell outside of her blood itself - the glorious dark musk that indicated how much Bella wanted me.
I lapped and licked and teased. I thrust my tongue sharply and strongly into the moist furnace that was my second home - my first being her mind - the same as I did every morning. I spelled out my love for Bella in seven languages on her clitoris. She was silent, as she usually was, but her mind was active, halfway between a dream and waking. In her mind we were on a tropical beach - that was probably the electric blanket keeping her warm - and she had her legs over my shoulders and the waves lapped against my feet. Her hands were in my hair, in her imagination, and she was screaming my name, babbling beautifully, cursing interspersed with the compliments.
She was thirty seconds away from coming apart when I decided to do something different. I didn't usually, but it was going to be a very long car ride during which she'd probably sleep most of the way. I knew she didn't mind - invited my actions even, we'd discussed it. And really, I wanted mine. I had been hard since I walked in the room.
Between the space of one of her strong heartbeats and the next I had my shirt off. Before the next heartbeat I had my trousers undone and half shoved down my legs. I whipped her blankets off her and had sheathed myself in one smooth motion, a motion that ended with flicking the bandana off her mouth and slipping my tongue between her lips, capturing the gasp as it began.
Her eyes flew open to meet mine as her arms and legs wrapped around me tightly.
What is he...? Oh, fuck... oh, shit... oh I love it when he's like this. So close, so close. Mmm... just like... oh fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck...
And that would be her g-spot. I loved catching her off guard. I pistoned in and out of her at just the right angle. She was ten seconds away from a fairly strong orgasm, if I wasn't mistaken. I would wait until she was completely finished to provoke my own with a drop or two of her blood from her shoulder. There was nothing I loved more than-
Oh fuck. Blood. Oh, yes.
I saw Bella's intention without enough time to rip my mouth from hers, even if I had wanted to. She had very lightly run her tongue along my teeth.
Still attached to Bella firmly at the hip and the lip I sprung out of the bed. I needed more leverage than I could get and still stay silent on her old twin bed. I stood next to her window with my legs shoulder-width apart, my hands holding onto Bella's beautiful ass as I thrust up into her.
The blood continued to slowly ooze into my mouth until I sealed the wound with a swipe of my tongue. What followed was the most erotic kiss I could have never, ever imagined. Bella showed no signs at all of nausea and I decided that this was my new favorite way to orgasm. The blood swirled in her taste of her mouth, the sweet song of her blood served on the wet velvet of her tongue, and I couldn't help the purring. It was just so good.
I could feel Bella's glorious pussy spasm and tighten around the steel of my cock as I began to come undone myself. Her nails scratched against my shoulders, I shuddered and continued to kiss her. Her mouth still tasted of blood. I groaned while still purring, an odd sound to be sure, but I was so far beyond caring that it barely registered. I thrust deeply, twisting my hips to try to get just a tiny bit farther inside before I held that beautiful depth and shuddered just as I had when I'd first entered Bella's mind seven minutes ago. The sensations were not dissimilar. I released the evidence of my adoration deep inside my sweet love.
Still we kissed.
Bella held me, stroking my shoulder, my hair, as I came down from the delicious and familiar shock of my blood-induced orgasm.
Good morning, baby, Bella thought, the warmth of those thoughts cradling my mind as surely as her body cradled mine - arms around my torso, legs around my hips, pussy around my cock. Let's go get married.
My purring deepened and it felt like my heart was going to burst with how much I adored the woman in my arms.
Our kiss finally came to an end and Bella nuzzled into my neck. I was still purring softly, and grinning. I threw my head back so she could have full access to do whatever she wanted.
"But first, a quick shower," she mumbled, her voice roughened from sleep.
I thrust sharply into her at that - we were still attached at the hip and I had already recovered. My purring turned into a light growl and I certainly could not be mistaken for a human when, still growling, I said, "No."
No? She was confused.
My head snapped back up and I met her gaze. I calmed myself down and stopped with the inhuman noises. "Please," I started again. "Please wait until tonight. You smell so good. Please don't wash that away just yet."
Edward, I smell like sex.
Completely out of my control, one corner of my lips curled slowly upwards. "Yeah."
Edward, I can't go out into public like this.
"You won't be in public," I quickly started to explain, burying my face in her neck and licking, enjoying her taste, her reactions and leaving more of my scent behind. "You can toss a goodbye to Charlie from a distance, and then you'll be in the car with me for seventeen hours. We don't have to see the others. We can stop in different places if you want to, or not, not that they don't know already that we fuck like rabbits." She giggled, but I continued. "It will be late when we arrive. The family will check us in and we can go directly to the room, where you can take a shower. Maybe I'll take one with you."
Think there might be a jacuzzi tub?
"I know there is one."
Bella giggled again. "Okay, fine. I won't take a shower, but I do want to have lunch and dinner with the guys. I guess it's not such a big deal, though I'm not sure Sam is aware that you can't seem to keep your hands off me."
"He'll learn. He's a quick kid," I pointed out, sucking lightly on her neck.
Oh, baby, you need to stop that. I do have to have a human moment, here. Where's Charlie?
"Kitchen, making you coffee."
I pulled out from her, holding her gently against me. I walked with her to the bathroom, scooping up the pile of clothes on her rocking chair that she had laid out the night before. I walked her, both of us naked, except for our rings and chains and the Cullen crest cuff that Bella only took off to shower, to the bathroom. It would have been inviting disaster if I had expected her to walk there without incident so soon after her orgasm.
"I'll bring your bag downstairs. Don't forget your toothbrush," I said, leaning in and kissing her forehead before leaving her to get myself dressed again.
"That was quick," Charlie remarked when I walked into the kitchen. "Usually takes her at least fifteen minutes to get up on her own, if I've called her. You did it in ten."
"Eight," I said, grinning and taking a seat at the kitchen table.
Charlie shook his head and poured Bella's coffee into the slightly battered Forks Diner travel mug and doctored it with half and half and two teaspoons of sugar. Charlie had raised an eyebrow the first time he found half and half in his refrigerator, but I had bought it regularly for Bella and soon enough he was putting it in his coffee as well.
"You really love her, don't you?" The spoon didn't reach to the bottom of the mug, so he had only poured it half full of coffee and was stirring.
"Absolutely," I replied.
"How does that work?" He filled the mug the rest of the way.
"We mate for life. There's a period of intense bonding at first, and that helps us get through the hard times. Perhaps you've noticed I hate being away from your daughter," I said the last with a grin.
"Oh, I've noticed."
My gaze narrowed on the police chief as I wondered precisely how much his veiled mind had noticed. Shit. Shit. Now wasn't the time, though. I played it cool and gave no more indication of my curiosity and nervousness, clearing my features and adopting a pleasant countenance.
"What made you choose my daughter?" He snapped the lid on the mug and tested to make sure it was sealed.
"I didn't. It's involuntary. She saw me. I saw her. It happened. We clicked. It was already done before we'd even introduced ourselves."
"Huh."
He put the coffee on the table in front of me, then went back to lean against the counter. He folded his arms across his chest and seemed to be thinking.
"She's... going to become like you, isn't she?" Charlie asked quietly.
I met her father's eyes. "Not until after the twins are born." There was more that I debated on saying, but I left it at that.
Charlie nodded.
"Will she... will it hurt her?"
"It's a painful process, but it's over quickly enough." I paused there, wondering if I should continue. I decided to do so. "Our newborns are volatile as well. The first year, particularly so. After that, however, she would be able to be around you, if you wished it. I would not wish to bar your access to your own grandchildren, either, but it will be as you prefer."
Charlie snorted. "Of course I'll want to see her. And the twins. You're certain about that, aren't you?"
"Absolutely. Alice sees the future. I've seen the moment of their birth." I paused for a moment, the memory of it bringing a smile to my lips. "You were in the room."
Charlie staggered to the chair and sat down in it, heavily.
"I'm going to be a grandfather." He sounded stunned. I could commiserate.
"Not for another year and half," I pointed out.
"I'm going to be a grandfather," he whispered.
I nodded.
Charlie seemed to come back to himself as he whipped his head over to meet my gaze. "Tell me everything," he said.
Everything was rather a lot. I could hear Bella on the stairs.
"In here, love," I called to her. She walked in slowly, eying the scene with suspicion, and well she should. I held out a hand to her and offered my knee as a seat. The breakfast sandwich was by her bag in the hall, but I pushed the coffee toward her as I wrapped my free arm around her waist.
What is going on here?
"Bella, your father and I have just been discussing a few things before we go off camping this weekend."
She raised an eyebrow. A few things, huh? Obviously not our wedding tomorrow.
I smiled at her guilelessly. "You know, how we fell in love, what our children will be like, my penchant for really fresh venison, raw."
Bella's eyes went wide and her jaw slack. Holy mother fucking shit, EDWARD!
"It's okay," I said to her softly. "He knows." Then in a louder voice, glancing over at her father I added, "And he'd like to know absolutely everything about his future grandchildren. Which is kind of a lot, and we're short on time, so here's what I propose. Charlie, give us five minutes to get situated in the car, then we'll call you. On speakerphone, we'll both tell you everything we know about Elisabeth and Sebastian -"
Here Bella cut me off.
"Renesmee and Carlie," she muttered mutinously.
"You're not winning this battle, love," I said to her bluntly before returning my attention to Charlie who looked rather amused. "Anyway, we should have at least two hours before we're out of cell phone range. That should be plenty of time to discuss this. What do you say, Charlie?"
He nodded mutely.
"Alright. Let's get going then, shall we?" I asked Bella as I looked into her deep brown eyes, so full of everything I'd ever need. I brought my left hand up and brushed my thumb across her cheekbone. She met my wide smile with a small one of her own.
Bella said her goodbyes and we headed to the car. I opened her door for her and made sure that she was comfortably situated with her coffee and breakfast before closing the door, tossing her bag in the trunk and climbing into the car myself.
We were two blocks away when I pulled over to the curb.
What-
I didn't let Bella finish the thought before I drug her into a kiss.
Hmm... Edward.
Smiling against her lips, I pulled the platinum chain out from underneath her shirt and off her body completely. I leaned back and unfastened it, retrieved the ring then balled up the chain and shoved it in my pocket. Bella wouldn't need that until Monday morning.
"Miss Swan," I said, holding her engagement ring gently by the sides, holding my other hand out for her. She placed her left hand in mine and I slid the ring onto the appropriate finger just before I brought it to my lips to kiss it gently.
Mr. Cullen. Let's get this show on the road.
I leaned over to kiss her one more time before I pulled away into the pre-dawn darkness. I headed south.
Bella unwrapped her sandwich and folded the aluminum foil such that she could eat it, hold it, and not lose any of it. She took a swig of her coffee before putting it in the cup holder. I motioned to a canvas bag at her feet - it had a liter of water, some of the trail mix that she most enjoyed (with the M&Ms) some baby carrots and a few granola bars. She peeked into it and smiled before leaning over and giving me a kiss on the cheek as I drove.
"Ready to call Charlie?"
How much are we going to tell him? How much have you already told him?
"Well, no one's actually mentioned the term 'vampire' and he's been most concerned with the murders last spring when the nomads were in town, and how this will affect you, so I've tailored the information. I think there's a certain amount he doesn't want to know about - your father is rather singular in that way. I think he respects the concept of the 'need to know' information-situation. And right now the need-to-know situation is his grandchildren."
Well, okay. I guess we'll just wing it.
Bella pulled out her cell phone and dialed her father's house.
"Hey, Dad. Yeah, we're on the road. No, I had to explore the bag of munchies that Edward packed for me. Here, wait. Let me put you on speakerphone." Bella squinted at phone and I turned on the interior lights for her.
Thank you, angel.
"Okay, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," Charlie said.
"Hello again, Charlie," I said.
"Edward," Charlie said in recognition. I was about to start the conversation when Charlie continued talking. "That car's not your father's, is it?"
I grinned. "Nope."
"Edward's a car snob," Bella remarked in a bored voice.
I wanted to argue, but it was a point I had conceded to her long ago. Instead I glared at her, then turned off the interior light, plunging us back into the dim light of the dashboard.
"If I had a Aston Martin, I reckon I'd be a car snob, too."
"See?" I asked. "Your father understands."
Huh. It's a guy thing.
Oh, Bella love, don't let Rosalie hear you say that.
"So," I said, trying to refocus us. "You wanted to know about the twins."
"Yes. You said you'd seen me there, at the birth. Could you elaborate, please?"
You told him about Alice's vision? Okay.
"We were at our house - the Cullen residence - just outside of Forks. There were several members of my family present, including Carlisle and myself. There were three people I did not recognize who were also present - two of them were Quileute. The third is a complete unknown to me. You were also present. This was just seconds after the twins had come out via caesarian section from Bella, who was still lying on the bed. We had yet to wrap up the infants. I held one, Carlisle held the other. The twins seemed to be healthy and Bella seemed to be healthy."
"Are they... were they... the twins, were they normal?"
"There is no way to know that. It is unlikely that they will be completely human. They will be Bella's children, but they will also be mine. There was a second vision, however, which gives us hope."
I told Charlie briefly about the second vision and all it seemed to convey from their stature to their humor to their obvious ontology - at least somewhat human and not entirely vampire. I hesitated before I mentioned my conclusions about their motorcycle partners, but eventually I explained my thoughts on that too.
Charlie was silent for a while.
"Um, Dad? You still with us?"
"I'm here, Bells," he said in a remarkably even and measured tone. "It's just... a lot... to take in."
Bella snorted softly. "Yeah, we get that. We've had some time to adjust to the idea." She had finished she sandwich and most of her coffee and now had one hand free. She rested it on my thigh and gave it a little squeeze. I picked up her hand and held it in my own. I brought it to my lips for a soft, silent kiss. "Mostly they were happy adjustments, and his family has been really great about this, Dad. They've been so supportive."
I really would have to tell her about Condom Testing Night. She never did hear about that one, and I think she could appreciate it, now.
"But at first, before the visions, when we didn't have that reassurance," she said, trailing off. "Well, there were moments when the drama was high."
I kissed her hand again.
"Speaking of reassurance, Alice is certain that there is precedence for the twins. Obviously we want to know as much before hand as possible so there will be as few surprises as possible. She and Jasper have spent the summer, and will continue to spend the next year combing South America. They've worked their way down the west side of the continent and have come back up the southern cone. They'll be concentrating on Brazil this fall, and we have high hopes that they will find what they're looking for."
"And what is that, exactly?" I was surprised he asked. Charlie usually caught on faster than this and so far hadn't asked for this sort of verification. Still, I would tell him.
Then Bella beat me to it.
"A child, probably an adult child, who had a human mother and a vampire father."
And, she said the 'v' word. I wish I knew what Charlie was thinking right now.
"Right," he said, and then was quiet for a moment. "Is there anything I can do to help? With the search, or... anything?"
I breathed a sigh of relief and Bella and I smiled at each other. "There's not much any of us can do from here. Depending on their success, we were thinking about traveling down to meet her at Christmas."
"I'd love to go with them, Dad."
"Weren't you going to spend Christmas with Renee?"
"Yes. And we've been thinking about that. We were thinking that Edward and I could go down a few days before Christmas and stay with Renee, and then the day after, go join his family in Brazil."
Charlie was quiet for a moment. "You going to tell her?"
"Would you recommend it?" I asked him.
"I don't know. I... how can you not?"
I sighed heavily. "The thing is, this must all remain an absolute secret. It's an open secret among the Quileute elders and wolves, and so you can talk with them about it, of course, but there are rules. We cannot tell people who we are."
"You've already broken those rules, Edward," Charlie pointed out. "What will happen?"
"Hopefully? Nothing."
"Who enforces the rules, Edward. You already said that wasn't your job."
"There is a group in Italy. We are cordial with them, but they don't understand our way of life. They are not vegetarian, but they are very old and very powerful. They enforce the rules at their discretion and they are not the sort of people you want the attention of."
I could hear Charlie's sigh. "I feel like Bella is marrying into the Mafia."
Bella snorted. "If so, this is the clean branch of the family, the one full of priests and doctors."
"Priests? Can they even go inside of a church? How are you going to get married?"
"No, well, you know," Bella started, but when she paused, I continued.
"That's all just fairytale stuff, Charlie. I quite like churches and Bella and I are hoping to get one of the Episcopal priests from the diocese to marry us out of our home."
"Oh."
The conversation wound down after that. And soon Bella and I were alone in the car once more.
Do you think we should tell Renee? I mean, I think we're long past having to fake my death at some point in the near future. But the twins... I mean, that complicates things. And... I mean, she's, don't take this the wrong way. You are everything to me, but outside of you Renee is still my best friend. I mean, I know it's pathetic - she's my mother.
I was quick to sooth her. "Bella, love, it's not a bad thing that you're so close to your mother. It's a good thing," I said. I found it deeply amusing how much Renee knew of our sex life, for instance. Obviously she knew nothing about the blood, which did figure in pretty large when it came to my libido, but baring that there wasn't much she didn't know. I'd actually been present for some of those conversations. They never failed to deeply amuse me.
"I know how much she means to you. And I know it's different, but Carlisle is my best friend, even though he is also my mentor and my maker. It's..." I struggled to put it into words. "I think that as we all mature in life - something that we're constantly doing or not doing, Emmett is a case study in that, by the way - I think we're able to recognize that people are people beyond the roles they play when their lives intersect our own. And sometimes we choose to be deeply defined by those roles, but that's not strictly necessary. It's not required. Who we are runs deep, far beyond labels of mother or mentor or lover. And sometimes, when we are at our best, I think, we are able to know someone deeply, to be able to look into them and see a glimpse of who they really are, beyond the labels, beyond their behaviors and their thoughts and their actions, all of which can change like the sea, or can stay in the same rut for all eighty years. That you have looked beyond the label of 'mother' to know and appreciate Renee, that you can have a relationship with her beyond that of mother-daughter, that's not bad, love."
But I like that you're my lover. Lover, lover, lover. I like that label. I don't want to get rid of it.
I smiled over at her and squeezed her hand. "I like it too. I like that you think of me as your lover. I love thinking of you as mine. We don't have to get rid of it. And yet, for all the breathtaking sex, I know that you know there's more to me, and I know there are moments when you see so deeply into me. I know because there are moments when I watch you look and I expect you to be repulsed by what you see. You never are, love. You look deeply into me with compassion and love and it only takes thinking about it to make my heart nearly burst."
So you're not just using me for sex, then? she asked, her inner tone mirthful.
My laughter rung out in the confined space of the car. "My sweet, wonderful love. No," I said, laughter still present in my voice. "I'm not just using you for sex. Nor am I using you for the solace of your mind... even though your pussy and your mind are my two favorite places to be. I'm not planning on giving up either one of them, ever. Just so you know. I may not be in it for the sex, but I'm not about to go without, either." I looked over at her and grinned lasciviously.
She laughed and dug her phone out again.
Speaking of Renee, I should call her now so the rest of the car ride can be you and me. And possibly nap-time.
I smiled. Coffee or no coffee, Bella could still take a nap. It was a talent that I think had something to do with the metabolism of her eighteen year old body.
She didn't need to put it on speakerphone for me to hear Renee's side of the conversation.
The two caught up. It seemed Jacksonville was going well, and Renee and Phil were getting ready to rent a house. She seemed thrilled at the prospect of me coming to visit for Christmas, even though Bella's trip would be cut short by a few days. The conversation got somewhat raunchy when Renee discussed sleeping arrangements over Christmas, however.
"It would be a pointless gesture to expect Edward to sleep on the couch, wouldn't it sweetie? I mean, if Phil was as good with his mouth as your young man I'd make sure to sneak him into my room as often as possible, no matter where we were."
Oh, Renee knew so much already. I grinned and Bella blushed. She knew that I 'sometimes' sneaked in and slept with Bella at night. She knew how I tended to wake her up on those days, before Charlie woke up. She knew that 'sometimes' we didn't really go camping with my family, we just stayed the weekend in my bed. She knew how loud we could be, as well as how quiet. She knew that the Spanish teacher had caught us after prom against the lockers, and Renee knew that I had talked our way out of trouble.
"True. Too true. But we'll be quiet, I promise."
Renee snorted. "Feel free to accidentally make noise. Maybe it will inspire Phil. He still thinks that adventurous sex is just a matter of a change in location. Not that I don't like it in the kitchen, of course, but I mean..."
"Mom, you should just talk to him. I mean, not in a critical way, but ask what his fantasies are, maybe, and then... you know... share yours with him. Try stuff. And if you don't like it, or he doesn't like it, well, at least you'll know."
Renee sighed again. "You're right. I know, you're right. And Phil is so great about so many things, I just hate that we don't seem to automatically click on this, you know? So how is it with Edward? Do you click, or do you have to have these difficult conversations?"
Bella looked over at me and grinned. She squeezed my hand and I leaned over and kissed her cheek. Hm, how is it with me and Edward? How is it with me and Edward? It's like... gosh, it's like he can read my mind, she thought with mock-innocence, her grin turning impish.
Oooo! I'll tell her! I'll tell her, angel! This is PERFECT!
I raised an eyebrow.
No, no, really, it's the perfect context.
"Well, funny you should ask, Mom. Edward has this talent..."
Renee snorted with laughter. "I'm well aware of just how talented Edward is, sweetheart."
Bella grinned. "Well, yes, that is certainly true. But I actually meant something else. Edward... he's got... well, he's got sort of a supernatural talent, Mom. Edward can read minds. It's... um, well it was a little weird when I first found out, but it's not something he can control. He can't not read people's minds. It's horribly distracting for him, poor boy. It's a good thing he's wickedly intelligent or school would be a nightmare. But he has this way of kind of burrowing deep into my mind, and it blocks out everyone else. He can't do it with anyone but me, but yeah. It, um, it makes for some mindblowing sex, among other things. Stuff I would be embarrassed to try to tell him, he sees as I think it. Fantasies in full color, sort of thing. So, you know, even though I can't read his mind, I like to think that I can coax whatever information I need out of him, so yeah. Communication isn't an issue between us, weather about sex or other stuff."
"You're not kidding, are you, Bella?" Renee asked, her voice serious.
"Really not kidding, Mom."
"Wow. Wow."
"Tell me about it. Edward is pretty special. And, you know, I adore him."
"Wow. Yeah, don't let that one go, Bella-boo."
"Funny you should mention that, Mom."
"What... what are you not telling me? Bella... Bella, has he asked you to... no, no. Tell me. Tell me before I go insane!"
Bella laughed. "I'm putting you on speakphone." Tell her. Tell her you asked me to marry you. Tell her I said yes.
I grinned. "Good morning, Renee, how are you?"
"Cut the shit, Edward. Do you two have something to tell me? Because, just for the record, I'm all ears over here. And the suspense is killing me. So out with it, pretty boy."
We both laughed. "Why yes, Renee, we do have news." I looked over and caught Bella's eye.
You know that unnerves me. Watch the road, angel.
Eyes back on the road, I continued to speak with her mother. "I've asked Bella to marry me." Months ago, but I did. "And she's agreed to it." Tomorrow.
Bella and I laughed at the happy shriek over the phone.
"Oh my god, I knew it! I knew it!I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait. Bella. Bella," Renee said and with a tone that was nearly a growl. "Bella, are you and Edward going to elope? You are, aren't you!"
As Renee continued on, I glanced quickly at Bella, seeing the same shocked look on her face. Renee was scarily intuitive. I'd always known it, but I'd never guessed just how true it was.
"Oh my GOD!" Renee was still ranting. "You are. You are, you're going now, aren't you? Are you going to Vegas? Oh my god, Phil! PHIL! Bella and Edward are eloping this weekend! My baby is getting married in Vegas WITHOUT ME! Find out if there are any flights!"
"Mom, stop. Stop! Calm down. We are getting married tomorrow morning, yes, and Charlie doesn't know, so please don't tell him. He only thinks that Edward is asking me to marry him this weekend. But next year we'll have a quiet little ceremony and and make it public."
"Wait, wait. You're not going to tell anyone about it afterwards? You're not going to live with Edward? I mean, I'm glad. I think. But, wait, I'm also very confused. You still have a year left of high school, sweetie. You're not thinking of dropping out, are you? I thought you and Edward were planning on college? Dartmouth? What about that?"
"It's still the plan, Renee," I said. "We're driving down with my family, and Jacob Black and one of his friends. It's... well, it's as simple as this, Renee. You know how accident prone Bella is. I am deathly afraid that something will happen to Bella and I'll have absolutely no rights."
Renee was silent for a moment. "That is the by far the strangest and most responsible reason I've ever heard for two eighteen year olds to elope. Only you, Bella. You're eighteen going on forty-three.
"I want pictures, do you hear me? I don't care if it's a drive-thru wedding chapel, I want pictures! If I don't get pictures in this next week - you'd better express them to me, please don't try to email them, you know how I am with technology, if I don't have them in my hands by next Friday, I'm calling Charlie."
"Message received, Renee," I said. We would have them developed in Port Angeles and overnighted to her on Tuesday. I'm glad I pushed Bella to bring her new camera, now...
"Good. Take me off speaker phone. I want to talk to Edward."
Bella gave me a compassionate look and handed me the phone.
"It's just us now, Renee."
"Be good to her, Edward."
"To the end of my days, Renee," I responded.
"Call me Mom."
I grinned. "Thanks, Mom."
"And don't be a stranger. You can call me, too, you know."
I grinned. It might just be that I liked Renee as much as I liked Charlie. It really wasn't so remarkable that these two interesting people came together to create the most perfect creature in the world. Knowing Bella and getting to know them... the similarities were becoming clearer and clearer.
Renee requested my address and both my cell phone number and our home phone before we hung up. I had a feeling that a wedding present would be arriving shortly.
"Well," I said, after Bella had turned her phone off and put it away. "This is interesting, isn't it? Charlie knows you're doing family planning with a vampire and Renee knows that you're getting married to your telepathic boyfriend tomorrow. We'll have to make sure to keep our stories straight," I said, grinning.
Well, until Monday morning, I don't have to keep any stories straight. It's you and me, baby, and a bunch of people who know it all.
The rest of the trip was significantly less remarkable than the first two hours. Bella slept, Bella chatted with me in her stream of consciousness. We stopped twice for food and she joked with the cubs, but was mindful of not touching them. I was grateful. The joy of her scent would be significantly diminished if it the smell of our sex was mixed with the smell of werewolf. Even thinking about it left a bad taste in my mouth.
After dinner Bella decided that she was in the mood for dessert, which ended up being me. I'd never experienced the joy of fellatio while driving, though Emmett always raved about it, but for the last two hours of the drive, largely in the desert, Bella sucked, slurped, licked, nipped, stroked and teased me while I sat in ecstasy beneath her mouth. Her stream of consciousness during this two hour period was as bizarre as it typically was, and deliciously X-rated. Finally as we approached the city limits, my car in the lead of our caravan, she offered me her finger.
The family was already well aware of what was occurring in our car - the windows of the Vanquish weren't tinted at all, and they'd seen Bella slink down across my lap and never surface. That being the case, I didn't censor myself when I came hard in her mouth, the car never deviating an inch from the path of the road. I even managed to downshift, by some miracle.
Except for that moment of downshifting, I had one hand at the back of Bella's head, my fingers tangled up in her silky, fragrant chestnut hair. The blood on my tongue was as devastatingly delicious as it ever was. The moment her finger slipped from my mouth my growling ceased and I told her just how much I appreciated her efforts on my behalf.
"Fuck. Fuck, baby it's so good. God, just like that, baby." I groaned. My orgasm was deliciously long this time. I shuddered as she sucked the tip of my cock. She liked to catch me on her tongue, the better to savor me, she said.
That's it Edward, come. Come, baby, come. So good, you taste so good. You must be tired of me telling you that, I always tell you that, but it's so true-
I cut her off. We'll be having none of that. I forced the words out. It was difficult to be coherent in this way, but I couldn't let her think that her thoughts of adoration during sex were ever monotonous to me. "No, baby. No. You know... you, oh fuck, oh God, yes, yes, yes, you know... oh God, I love... oh fuck... love your thoughts, always, always, oh fuck, fuck fuck, yes..."
I was purring as Bella licked me clean to the sound of applause from the cars behind. Emmett and Jasper were gleeful and Jacob and Sam were surprised I was as coherent as I'd been. Rosalie snarkily pointed out that I'd had a lot of practice, lately. She had a point. I was all put back together as we pulled into the valet parking in front of the hotel. I got out of the car, handed him the keys and told him of the luggage in the trunk. I took Bella's canvas bag from the floor at her feet as I helped her from the car and she blushed when the rest of my family - Carlisle and Esme included - were quietly hooting and teasing us as we walked into the hotel. I pulled Bella off to the side and into the lounging area. I sat down in a massive armchair and pulled her onto my lap, kissing her as thoroughly as I'd wished to for the last seventeen and three-quarters hours.
I'm up for some shower sex, how about you?
"Actually," I said softly, "we have an errand to run after your shower. Clark County Courthouse is open until midnight. We need to go and get the marriage license before they close tonight. It shouldn't take long. Then I'm up for whatever you want, love."
Bella smiled at me. We're getting married. We're really getting married.
I smiled back, and nodded. "We really are," I murmured.
There wasn't a day that passed in which I didn't find Bella to be beautiful and this, the first of our wedding days was no different at all. I held her throughout the night - I'd brought the electric blanket from home to warm us - and woke her at half past seven the same way I woke her most mornings. We took a rather leisurely shower and per instruction I massaged hot oil into her hair. The directions required that we let it set for ten minutes without disturbing it or accidentally washing it away, so obviously that ten minutes couldn't be used for purposes of cleanliness. We managed, somehow, to fill that time nevertheless.
Bella and Alice had come to a compromise. In the second wedding, Alice could be in charge of hair and make up. In the first, she could only offer suggestions from afar, hence the hot oil treatment. Bella left her hair wrapped up in a towel for an hour before letting it air dry for another hour, during which time we lounged on the bed, she ate her breakfast from room service, and I recited the first three acts of The Tempest from memory, a skill which did not cease to amaze my love. She particularly enjoyed that I gave each character a different voice. I was very good at mimicking other people's voices...
It took Bella five minutes to put on eyeliner and mascara, mentally swearing the entire time. She put some lip gloss on as well, but I kissed her afterwards, wary of the strawberry flavor.
As suspected, it was revolting.
We both washed our lips off and I promised that the moment her lips lost their gorgeous pink blush of blood I would be happy to kiss them again until they were rosy and lush once more.
It took five more minutes for Bella to gloss her hair with some substance that tamed it slightly, and clip it back from her face. Her natural, soft curls tumbled down her back beautifully.
I put my suit on while Bella slowly dressed. I dressed quickly and before Bella had even shed her plush robe I was sitting sprawled out in one of the overstuffed chairs by the bed. I watched with hooded eyes as she laid her white dress out on the bed. I'd seen it modeled on her before - it was tea-length, modest, and with simple, modern lines. It looked lovely on my Bella. From her suitcase Bella also dug out a pair of silver sandals, and a matching set of lingerie which from here looked like a thong and demi-cup, though I couldn't be sure.
I want to try getting waxed. Did you know that some women have everything waxed? I mean, like no hair at all from the waist down?
"Um-hmm," I murmured my assent from across the room. Bella was completely naked at this point and reaching for her underwear. She was so beautiful. I loved just looking at her.
I'm not sure I'm up for that, but I wouldn't mind entering the rest of eternity never having to shave my legs again, you know?
I was right. It was a thong. A snowy creation of cotton and lace, and it matched the bra she was just now putting on. Together, in the white lace set Bella looked positively... virginal. And virginal, apparently, was quite appealing to me. Quite.
But maybe just to try it once. I don't know. Maybe not. What do you think?
"Sure, try it," I said. She turned around to look at herself in the mirror while she wondered if it would really make a difference, this lack of body hair she was considering, but I was focused on the perfect roundness that was her ass, beautifully framed by the barely-there thong that I knew she wore for me. Left to her own devices, she'd be wearing boy shorts. I was incredibly grateful.
Hmm. Maybe. I talk to Alice. I'm sure she'll have some insight. At the very least she'll help me make the appointment. How weird will that be, though? Isn't that weird? I mean, you're the only one who has ever seen that part of me as an adult. Not sure I exactly want to share that with anybody else.
She continued on, but I sighed as she covered up the expanse of her creamy soft skin. She was so beautiful. I was so grateful that I could have moments like this when I could just watch her, be with her, an integral part of her life, but also sometimes just quietly, silently watching and loving. My love for her was all wrapped up in the sensation of her mind, the bliss that was her heart, the ecstasy that was her body and the experience that was her blood. It was hard to tease one from another, though I knew that soon enough one of the blessed four would cease to be available to me.
I shied away from the idea.
"Zip me up?" Bella asked, presenting me with her back. I did as she asked, then pulled her down on top of me when I was through.
"Bella," I growled at her. "Do you have any concept how much I love you? Care for you? Adore the ground you walk on?"
"Yes," Bella replied lightly. "I do talk with Jasper, you know."
I snickered at her. "So do I," I confided in a whisper. "And I have it on good authority that you are every bit as obsessed with me as I am with you."
"Maybe," she conceded with a smile. "Maybe I adore you. Maybe I want to marry you. Maybe I want to have your children. Maybe I want to spend the rest of eternity with you. Maybe," she said, teasing me terribly.
"Maybe?" I said with mock indignation.
I caught her look at from the side. "Okay, fine. Definitely." I caught her lips. She tasted divine.
With a sigh we ended the kiss.
"So. What do you want to do this morning?" Bella asked me coyly before getting up off my lap.
"Oh, I don't know," I said, getting up and pulling my suit jacket on. I held a hand out to her after pocketing the room key, car keys, my wallet and the marriage license, and then pulling on a pair of black suede gloves. Bella perched my fedora on my head at a jaunty angle. "Go the casino? Catch a show at a strip club, maybe," I mused.
"Wanna get married?" she asked.
I shrugged. "We could do that, I suppose." Bella wasn't the only one who could be coy.
"What if I said please?" she asked.
"Oh, well that's something different," I remarked. We were almost to the door now, but I pulled her in for a kiss. She slid my hat back as I leaned down to kiss her. "In that case, there's absolutely nothing I'd rather do this morning than marry you, love," I murmured against her lips.
"It's time, Edward," I heard Carlisle say in a quiet voice outside our door. I echoed the sentiment to Bella once we had finished kissing.
We had compressed the ten of us into three cars - the Volvo, the Mercedes and the Aston Martin. The trip to the wedding chapel took no time at all. Bella thought that the men were all a little too matchy-matchy, her phrase, but I was fairly certain that it was because we all wore fedoras. Alice had explained that it was necessary for the Cullens and optional for the Quileutes, and with that Bella could not argue. Jacob had tried to affect a strange Humphrey Bogart accent when he first donned his - I'd heard it from three rooms away. He and Sam had gotten a laugh out of it. The boy had a strange sense of humor.
Still, it did not take us long before we were all in the wedding chapel. I wondered, not for the first time, why we had not chosen to simply have a judge marry us at the courthouse, but admittedly in Las Vegas there was much more flexibility in choosing a wedding chapel than a courthouse. The chapels had better hours, for one thing, and hotels and casinos had wedding packages. It was all very strange. Alice arranged it, and for that I was grateful.
The chapel was kitch and strange, a sort of pseudo-church on steroids; garish, trite, and very plastic, though meant, I am sure, to be elegant. Walking in, I had a pang of doubt. Should I have waited? For certainly, I was the one who was so insistent on marrying so quickly, I and not Bella. Bella would have been content to wait until next summer, if not longer. Was this really what I wanted? It gave the illusion of a church wedding, but the illusion was thin at best. I realized all at once that even though the hours were trickier, a marriage begun in a courthouse might have had more integrity and less illusion, for certainly everything in the wedding chapel was an assault on the senses.
But then again, I wasn't here for the illusion. We weren't here to fake a church wedding. We would have our religious ceremony next year with family and friends around us, officiated by an honest-to-God, I-spent-years-training-to-do-this clergy person. Now what we needed was a legal document tying our lives together, confirming for us and every legal system that existed in our country and abroad that our fate was mutual and we were answerable to no one save one another. That we would achieve that aim in this room covered in white satin and plastic flowers as opposed to an office with mahogany paneling and books on constitutional law was a detail that made no difference, except to my offended sense of aesthetics.
The clerk at the courthouse last night had a moment of extreme judgmentalism when he realized that according to our driver's licenses, Bella and I were only just eighteen years old, but I ignored him. It was the one and only time we would have to identify ourselves in that way during this process and I was only glad that Bella hadn't picked up on it. It was the sort of thing that would have annoyed her. I was deep inside Bella when we met the man who would be officiating our very short ceremony this morning and so avoided even a single stray thought commenting about our ages or relative readiness for marriage. I simply shook his hand, smiled as Alice introduced Bella and I, and handed over the marriage license.
Carlisle produced the set of rings Bella and I had decided upon, and for the first day since I had tied it onto her left wrist, Bella was bereft of the Cullen crest. The leather cuff was back on my wrist. Bella had tied it on me this morning after our shower. She would receive her own from Carlisle after we were finished, here, and I couldn't stop grinning when I thought of it.
The officiant asked us a number of question - we were doing this of our free will? Was there any legal reason why we could not be married to one another? The vows were short and sweet, and we read them off a card that the officiant held for us. The words we exchanged the rings with were of a similar nature.
It wasn't that it was a meaningless ceremony, but it felt like it was a dog dressed up as a cat. It was clearly a civil ceremony dressing up as a religious one, without actually being one, and for that reason it felt... strange. Which itself was strange, as I had attended two of Emmett and Rosalie's Vegas weddings. By now it shouldn't feel strange. But Bella and I weren't doing this for a cover, or because it was time to renew our vows, or just for the hell of it, because in Emmett's words, 'Everyone ought to be married at the Bellagio at least once in their lives.'
By the end of it, seven minutes later, I couldn't have told you if I'd made the right decision in how to get married, but there was no doubt in my mind that married to Bella was how I was supposed to be, so in the end I decided that it didn't actually matter.
In a move almost foreign to me, I let it go.
Bella, my love, my sweet, my mate, my wife, Bella was all that mattered.
Back at our hotel we had a table reserved with a champagne brunch already ordered. It made no difference to us that the only ones consuming the champagne would be under age. It was a special occasion and we certainly would cut them off after one glass.
A drunk Bella was not a Bella with whom I wanted to spend the day of our wedding. While it might be amusing for both of us to get her drunk and see what that would be like, today was not the day to experiment thusly.
Carlisle toasted to Bella and I, and I think if I had been able to cry, I might have done so. I felt the burn of tears unshed.
"I would like to propose a toast to Edward and Bella. That you complete one another is obvious for all to see. Your love will never dim. May you live long and happy lives, filled with peace, joy, and love such that it radiates out from you to touch and bless the lives of those around you. When you have children," Carlisle said with a radiant smile, "may they be all things good in this world: compassionate, loving, thoughtful, intelligent, creative, mature beings that grace this family and the world with their presence. To Edward and Bella."
"To Edward and Bella," echoed seven strong voices as eyes smiled at us and champagne flutes were raised.
I squeezed Bella's hand and she quietly thanked them for us as we raised our own flutes. I could not find my voice, but I did not need to. It was enough to sit here and be loved.
Carlisle handed Bella a box wrapped in green paper. She pulled on the bow and pulled the top off the box to reveal her own crest, just as she had once imagined it. She pulled out Carlisle's coat of arms framed by platinum in a delicate wrist cuff and quickly slipped it on her left wrist.
It was in that moment that I realized just how handicapped I was, remaining in Bella for such long stretches of time. I also realized, simultaneously to this, a new depth to Bella's sneakiness.
And that's it for the gifts! Bella thought, practically chortling in her glee.
I gave Bella a look that conveyed my suspicion.
I know you said I had to gracefully accept gifts. And you know, I might have. I did from Carlisle. But I also pointed out to Rosalie and Emmett what a huge gift they'd already given me, fixing up my truck, making it so safe, so very Edward-approved. And nothing Alice and Jasper could possibly ever buy me could ever come close to the work they're putting in trying to find the half-vampire child they're looking for. And Jake and Sam's very presence, which surely won't please the Tribal Council once they inevitably find out, is more than I could have asked for in a gift from them. So really, that's it. We're done now, and everyone's happy!
I narrowed my gaze on her. She played dirty, I'd give that to her. Just as I was about to ask Jasper to hand over the gift I'd prepared for Bella, Jacob spoke up. I'd never before been so grateful for his oft-confounding presence.
"Right. So I know there was the great gift embargo on this wedding, but I figured it was time for this anyway. And no, I haven't told the Tribal Council about this yet, but I'm within my rights to do this, so I'm sure I'll get around to letting them know about this soon enough, certainly by this time next year. I'll keep you posted."
And with that, Jacob handed me an envelope. I looked up at him in confusion. The way he mentioned the Tribal Council let me to believe that this had something to do with the Treaty, but what I couldn't be sure. Would it be an amendment that would allow for Bella's turning? Could I dare hope that far?
Open it already, Edward! Bella requested sharply.
I slit open the envelope marked with our names and pull out two sheets of paper filled with... Carlisle's flowing handwriting.
I looked up quickly to give him a searching look, but had no wish to exit out of Bella's mindscape even for a moment today. Before Bella got a chance to read even the first word my eyes had returned to the page. We read it in silence together.
"Because the Quileute Tribe recognizes that the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen, marked by their compassion for humanity, and bearing the crest depicted below, has a deep and long-standing commitment to the sanctity and preservation of human life and finds sustenance only in lesser animal forms,
"Because the Quileute Tribe recognizes bonds of mutual trust and benefit with the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen,
"Because the Quileute Tribe recognizes that the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen has performed many acts of mercy and kindness not only to various and numerous members of the human population of Forks, Washington, but also knowingly to members of the Quileute Tribe and Pack,
"Because the Quileute Tribe trusts the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen to aid in the mutual maintenance, while the Olympic Peninsula is their residence, in an area free of the threat of cannibalistic cold ones,
"Because of the reasons listed above, and in the interest of growing a deeper bond of friendship and understanding, the Quileute Tribe
"invites the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen onto their ancestral and reserved land,
"agrees to mutual secrecy from those unaware and without the need to know,
"requests the presence of Ms. Rosalie Lillian Hale McCarty-Cullen and her husband Mr. Emmett McCarty-Cullen during First Shift ceremonies,
"requests to be notified before the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen grows, which the Quileute Tribe acknowledges would only occur after a thoughtful period of most serious discernment, and
"names friend the following established members of the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen, as listed with their imprint-mate: Carlisle and Esmerelda Platt Cullen, Edward Anthony and Bella Marie Swan Masen-Cullen, Emmett and Rosalie Lilian Hale McCarty-Cullen, Jasper and Mary Alice Brandon Whitlock-Cullen.
"Signed on this day, September 20th, 2005 by
"Chief Jacob Black, Alpha of the Quileute Pack, Chief of the Tribal Council
"Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Patriarch of the Cullen Family
"Witnessed on this day, September 20th, 2005 by
"Mr. Samuel Uley, Second of the Quileute Pack
"Ms. Rosalie Lilian Hale McCarty-Cullen, Midwife to the Quileute Pack, Daughter in the Cullen Family
I'm there, Bella though, sniffling back tears. In black and white, right next to you, listed in the Treaty. I'm part of the family. I really am.
I turned toward my love an wiped away her tears with my thumbs, placing a single, swift, chaste kiss on her lips before turning to Jacob. I reached out my hand to him and shook his.
"Thank you, Jacob. It's more than I ever imagined."
The alpha just grinned and shrugged one shoulder. His second didn't look so certain, but just now I wasn't worried about it.
Bella passed the two sheafs of paper to Jasper, next to her, and the revised Treaty quickly made its way around our table, stunned silence in its wake. No one had anticipated this happening quite as it did, but the surprising nature of Jacob Black's wedding gift in no way diminished our gratitude for the changing nature of our relationship.
If you liked this piece of fanfic, I hope you'll consider checking out my wonderful original fiction, on sale at amazon author / sarelizgordy Thanks! You're wonderful, and probably a very good kisser!
