Under My Nose
Edward Cullen sets a deadline of six months to find his true love before he turns thirty. Leaving his successful restaurant to drive a mule-drawn carriage in the French Quarter of New Orleans, he searches for the meaning of true love, because he has yet to understand it. Will he know when he finds her or will she be right under his nose? Can bubbly, buxom Bella tantalize his taste buds with beignets and an abundant
booty?
A/N: Thank you to the readers who review every chapter. There are a handful of you. I appreciate the love, and I find your input very helpful. When we get into further chapters, I will send you another surprise. Again, thank you for your constant support bringing those review numbers up.
And thank you to the readers who follow and favorite that I am unable to send a thank you PM.
This is unBeta'd... all my doing, not Fran's. But I had to keep schedule, so please forgive any mistakes.
There are finger food recipes at the end.
Chapter 29:
EPOV: February
Once we return home, I fire up all the heaters and grab a beer, while Bella escapes to the bathroom for 'girlie' things. I didn't ask and she didn't fucking offer any explanations.
Wearing only my boxers, I lean back on the pillow-laden headboard crossing my feet at the ankles and reading all the notes Jasper listed for the Masquerade party, a few appointments for carriage rides and a fucking, strange phone call from a woman having a Mardi Gras party and inquiring about our pastry chef, her specialties and if she could be catered out.
Bella walks in from the hallway wearing pajama pants and a white, tank top, her hair is in a ponytail and no make up. I take in her beautiful face as she climbs in next to me.
"What are you reading?" She turns on her side, elbow on the pillow holding her head and looking up at me.
"Just some notes Jasper left for me from yesterday. Hey, we have three, scheduled carriage rides." I inform.
She squeezes my arm. "That's great."
"It is if you go with me."
"Do I get to be Jean Lafitte's wench?" She wiggles her eyebrows and bats her eyelashes.
I throw the papers on the floor and crawl on top of her. "How about being my fucking wench now?"
She giggles, then she freezes.
"What? … What's wrong?" I stare at her.
"Augh, I just got a flash of Aunt Sally's boobs. I need to bleach my brain." She moans.
I laugh and kiss her neck. "Feel better?"
"Much." She bites the inside of her cheek. I kiss her hard, slide my leg between hers and she gasps.
I cup her face. "Did I hurt you?"
"Nooooo," she moans and makes a face. "I have my period."
"Are you all crampy?" I ask.
She smiles. "That is such a sweet question, Edward?"
I frown. "Why?"
"You want to know how I feel."
"Of course, I want to know, and fucking understand how you get."
"To avoid the PMS and craziness," she taunts with a smirk.
"No. Yes. I don't fucking know. Do you want me around or would you rather be alone?" I ask.
"Oh …" She wraps her arms around my shoulders. "I definitely want you around."
I get off Bella, lean back on my pillows and move for her head to rest on my chest with my arms around her. "Then, I'll be around."
"Are you the kind of boyfriend who will buy tampax?" She blushes beet red.
"Yeah, what's the big fucking deal?" I protest.
"Edward Cullen, you just signed up for another football team."
I challenge her. "Bella, have you any fucking idea how many players are on a football team?"
She's smart and ready. "Eleven! I meant another player for our football team. We're up to three or four."
"Three. I plan to rub your back if you want." I kiss the top of her head, reach down and rub the base of her back very slowly. I kiss her nose.
She hugs me around the waist. "Edward, that's another."
I softly whisper into her ear, "That's four. And I'll make you some hot tea and honey, maybe a little snack, and I have a heating pad."
"Isn't chocolate a God food?" I remember Alice saying she craves it.
She softly moans and I feel the weight of her head on me as she drifts off to sleep.
I carefully cover us, turn out the light and hold her tight. "I'll take care of you."
She murmurs incoherently, "We got a baseball team … yikes"
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In the middle of the night, I awake to Bella's soft moans. She curls up closer to my side. The arm around my waist moves to her lower abdomen which she lightly rubs with a whimper.
She's in pain.
I reach down to the swell of her back and massage circles down to her tailbone. Still asleep, Bella sighs in approval, leans into my hand and covers my leg with hers.
I can't pretend to know what a woman fucking goes through. Alice says its like being 'beaten up from the inside, the vah jay jay stretches to the knees and the loss of blood makes you weak on fire and/or ice'. I don't envy it, but I will go through this with Bella for quite a long time. I should learn about her insides and out.
I get up, go into the kitchen and call Jasper.
I whisper, "Jazz? Hey, I'm sorry to call at this hour."
He's quite awake. "No problem, Edward, I was taking a piss. What's up? Why are you whispering?"
"I'm in the kitchen, but I still don't want to wake Bella. She's not feeling very well." I quietly say.
Jasper asks of concern, "What's wrong, man?"
"That time of the month."
"Oh," he mumbles quickly.
"Jazz, I don't know what to do for her. How can I make things better?"
I plead.
"You just took the first step, my man. As long as you are sensitive to her time, then you are on the right track. Keep her warm, fed and medicated and keep your mouth shut, you will get through it unscathed." This is his expert advice.
"What kind of medication?" I ask.
"I don't recall the name of the stuff, but if you Google it, you'll find a bunch of shit for cramps. There's this one tea that's really good, it has the moon in it's name." He clears his throat. "Okay, I'm going back to bed. And Edward?"
"Yeah?"
"To keep the peace … just nod and agree."
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I pace back and forth in front of the stove and recall Alice saying the first day of her period is an open field day. She can eat or not eat, stand, but not for long and something hot in the belly is a must.
I boil water, place a 'Woman's Moon Cycle' tea bag with honey in one of Bella's girlie mugs. Google and Jazz really do have my fucking back, as I did some period shopping early this morning.
She needs calcium, magnesium, fiber, iron, yada, yada, yada. Also, foods to avoid are spicy, which give heartburn, salty, retains water, and eggy is a stink stimulant. There's enough going on down there that I don't want to add any fucking unnecessary, offensive stink bombs. I plan to spend many hours in that region.
Lots of water, little caffeine and TLC are on my mind. I'm ready to take care of my woman.
Bella slowly shuffles into the kitchen and sits at the island. I bring her the mug. "I was going to bring this to you. Would you like some milk?" I tenderly smile at her.
"Yes, thank you, Edward. This is so sweet of you," she hums.
I grab a carton of milk from the refrigerator, and pour some in her tea. "Enough?
She smiles up at me. "Yes, that's plenty." She whispers, "Thank you."
"Do you feel like eating anything?" I ask.
"Oh, Edward, the tea is plenty. I'm not much of an eater ..." She gestures with her hands. "Well, not at this time of the month." She giggles.
"What kind of tea is this? It's really soothing." She takes another sip.
"I Googled tea for cramps and this 'Woman's Moon Cycle' came up," I inform her. "Also, Jasper recommended it."
"You Googled and called Jasper?" She puts her mug down, walks over to me and hugs me around the waist. "That was so sweet of you."
I kid her, "I'm a sweet kind of guy."
She whispers, "Thank you." She looks up at me. "It is helping."
I kiss her forehead. "Good. Then, it was worth getting up at the crack of dawn and going to Whole Foods."
She makes an 'aw' sound. "Maybe I should propose to you?" Ah, there is a spark in her eye.
"Nope, Lady, that's my fucking deal. Besides, we have a full day if you can handle it. We're packing a picnic lunch of pick food for a couple celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They want what Steven and Kate got."
"Really, wow." She sighs.
"They're Kate's parents." I tilt my head to the side to see her face.
Bella shakes her head, a tear falls from the corner of one eye. "Poor people."
"Kate arranged for the tour. Jasper said she sounded a bit tired, but strong." I clear my throat. "They just want to be around young people. No costumes."
She nods. "Okay."
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By late afternoon, Bella and I have everything ready for the tour. The picnic basket is in the back all packed with food and drink. The sun is bright with no clouds in the sky, the temperature is a mild sixty-two with no humidity and little wind, Julia is happy and Bella is better.
The pink returns to her glowing cheeks as she sits with me on the driver's seat. Her hair falls down her back cascading over a deep red sweater. I long to kiss her ruby-painted, full lips.
"You want to kiss me, don't you?" She toys with me.
"How do you know?" I playfully question hooking my fingers in between hers.
"Because you keep staring at my lips and licking yours. You're very obvious, Edward." I get a sly smile.
"I'm that transparent?" I toy with her, but she catches me off guard and kisses me hard.
We hear the sound of a throat clearing, and we break away from one another.
"Ah, young love ... reminds me of us, Josie." A small, older man gestures in our direction. He wears jeans, a heavy beige sweater and biker boots.
His tiny counterpart, in similar clothing, smiles and extends her hand to me. "Hi Edward, I'm Josie Samuelson and my husband, Julian. We're Kate's parents." She looks at Bella. "And you have to be Bella. Kate raved on and on about you."
Bella smiles and reaches over me for Josie's hand. "That's nice to hear. Kate and Steven were amazing."
Josie smiles up at Bella. "And that is nice to hear."
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They're a great couple. Josie still oversees her dance studio. She engages Bella into a conversation of pink tutus, while Julian and I discuss piano. He teaches private lessons to underprivileged children in the Seventh Ward.
Maybe that will be Bella and me when we reach their age.
They eat and drink the finger foods heartily, as we move throughout the Quarter.
"So, when's the big day for the two of you?" Josie asks.
I stupidly respond without a thought, "I asked, but it wasn't …"
Julian chuckles. "What we promise when we are in the throes of passion."
Bella belts out a guffaw.
I stare at her with pink ears.
"That good, huh?" Josie kids, but becomes somber. "I taught my daughter to live for the moment, enjoy every breath like it was her last." She tears up. "Little did I know that she would go before me … us."
Julian takes her hands.
Bella turns to face them. "I hope this comes out right. I think Kate is resigned with her fate. She has learned from your lessons. She does enjoy everything little thing. She does have a marriage like her mother and father. But she will always remain in your hearts, and you can feel proud that she was everything you could possibly want her to be and more." She grabs my hand. "She touched us in only a few hours."
Bella cups my face. "She told me to stop being afraid." She turns to Josie and Julian. "I know you are parents. I don't have that knowledge, yet. But I do know you have to trust and not be afraid. It will help her."
I squeeze Bella's hand.
Julian nods. "Thank you, Bella." He looks at me. "You got some girl there, Edward."
I kiss Bella's forehead. "I know it."
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Once we get back to the restaurant, we head into the office, and I go over the details of the masquerade ball with Bella, Alice and Jasper.
In three days, we will transform the dining room into a Mardi Gras Wonderland. I always leave the decorations to Alice, the staff and Jasper to do their magic.
But Alice furrows are brows. "We do have a problem, Edward."
I lean back in my chair and ask, "What problem?"
"Well, this party has become so popular that we have twice the amount of reservations that we had last year. We can't accommodate all of these people. We don't have the room, but we can't turn business associates away," she huffs.
Bella paces back and forth in front of my desk. "Does the party have to be here?"
Alice looks up at her as she shifts one leg over the other. "We've always had it here."
"But since we don't have the room, we'll need a larger space. Right?" She still paces as we nod. "Well, what about a private home?"
I sit up.
Alice hums, "Is it large enough to handle a few hundred people?"
Bella quickly answers, "Yes."
I frown.
"Edward, stop frowning. I think I have a solution." She points around.
"Which is?" I play along.
She smiles. "Aunt Sally."
"Bella, her place is nice, but I don't think twenty-five people could fit in her house." I point out.
She smiles. "Oh, not the one on Dorgenois, but the house on St. Charles can."
Jasper chimes in. "She has another house?"
Bella laughs. "I'd say she has another house. It's in the Garden District, over eight-six hundred square feet."
Jasper whistles. "Wow, Aunt Sally rolling in the dough."
Alice scrunches up her nose. "How?"
"Many well-off, but dead husbands." Bella reveals.
Jasper chuckles. "She's quite an interesting lady."
Alice wonders, "And she would loan out her house for this?"
"I'm sure she will. She loves Edward." She sits on the edge of my desk. "She's having her upstairs redecorated. That's why she's living near Betsy's." She laughs. "And their pancakes."
"Edward, why are you so surprised? I told you there was money."
I repeat, "Eighty-six hundred square feet."
Bella adds, "Three stories." She grabs my phone. "I'll call her."
Bella dials and I can hear a 'hello'. "Hey Aunt Sally."
Happy chatter, how-are-yous and I miss you. Some giggles, then Bella asks, "I have a favor to ask you. Do you think Edward could host a masquerade party in your front ballroom? The restaurant has outgrown his clientele."
She listens. "Around 200."
She listens. "Thanks. I'll come by and get the key from you."
She listens. "Don't be silly, of course! Okay. See you in a bit."
She listens. "Love you, too."
She turns to me. "All set. We can get the keys any time you want. Also, she wanted to know if she was invited. I said, 'of course'. Is that okay?"
I shrug. "Of course."
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Aunt Sally insists on driving to her home and giving us the grand tour. I didn't expect the sight before me.
On a half acre of flawlessly, manicured lawn, shrubs and trees, that is encased by a black rod iron gate and fence, sits this pure white home of absolute grandeur. It is three stories high, the front entrance is boldly adorned with three clusters of huge, sculptured columns on each side of the doorway with a five-step stairway and platform of white marble. The elegant porch area wraps around to the right with ten more ornate columns.
My eyes look upward at the round balcony over the front double-doors of mahogany and beveled glass with matching columns of the first floor and surrounding porch to the right. The architecture of finely carved details of ornate, scalloped garland surrounds the border of the second level.
I swallow hard at the view of the third level boasting a rectangular balcony of multi-decorative trims and railings. And the designs go on and on. It's the kind of house that every time you look at it, you find something new.
Aunt Sally drives around the to the back into a three-car garage.
We enter the house through the kitchen of pure white and stainless steel. Jazz, Alice and I are all with wide eyes and open mouths. Aunt Sally waves her hands about as Bella follows with a small smirk on her knowing face and hands behind her back.
We get the 'three-cent tour' Bella mumbles as we walk into the main ballroom. Yeah, two-hundred people can easily roam around. There are pure white walls, dark mahogany floors and three, huge crystal chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. The crown molding and the baseboards over a foot height.
Aunt Sally explains she will have her staff, her staff, remove the furniture and surround the walls with basic chairs. We can set up a buffet against the back wall across from the three fireplaces. Each fireplace has the same scalloped garland, multi-decorative trims as the outside with smaller columns.
She informs us that she usually decorates the room for Mardi Gras, so all we would need to do is supply the food. She has everything else. Her staff can serve, so my staff can celebrate.
Alice and Aunt Sally put their heads together while Jasper follows. I turn to Bella.
"I really didn't expect this," I grab and hold her.
She sighs. "Yeah, it can be overwhelming."
"But Sally's so down-to-earth, unpretentious." I back away to see her face.
"They're just things, the house, the furnishing. She's always been creative. Everything is a canvas to her. And money is her paint." Bella shrugs. "So, will this do?"
I hold her tight. "Yeah … yeah."
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So, next chapter … the storm!
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A/N: Thank you to my Beta, Sunflower Fran. I appreciate her time, her proper grammar and quick pen. Another great find by PAD!
To Robseve and Postapocalypticdepository (PAD), my pre-readers that give their unselfish time and creative input. Both of these ladies are inspirations and true friends.
Now, let me rec Postapocalypticdepository stories, since she so graciously rec'd mine.
Never Judge by the Cover: 9056924
Boys Will Be: 8868006
Rude Awakenings: 8876785
It's a New Dawn, It's a New Year: 8862243 (complete)
And a shout out rec to: BURN 8999279 by compass54
And to: Midnight-Confessions 9182601 by ohgeefantasy
Careless Hearts 9881551 by ohgeefantasy
And to: Edward Cullen FBI Special Agent and Psychic by 9626040 Dinia Steel
Also, found this story: Finally in Phoenix by 9987411 laughablelamb
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And thank you to all the readers, whether you review or not. I enjoy every comment and suggestion. Yes, NOLA (New Orleans, LA) is an exciting place to live. And to combine the old world with the new is a challenge, but the humor is quite a serious business. My objective is for all of you to smile, after each chapter.
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Recipes:
Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls
1 lb elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups warm milk, plus 2 tablespoons for egg wash
1 lb. grated cheddar cheese
1 lb. grated Gouda cheese
salt & freshly ground pepper
2 large eggs
3 cups seasoned bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying
Cook the macaroni according to package instructions. Drain and rinse.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour into the butter and stir it with a whisk. Cook for 2 minutes. Whisk the warmed milk into the flour mixture, working out any lumps. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the cheeses, and stir until melted and smooth; season with salt and pepper. Fold the cheese sauce into macaroni. Pour the mac and cheese into a shallow pan and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.
Shape the cold mac and cheese into meatball-sized balls and place them onto a waxed paper-lined tray. Freeze the balls overnight.
Beat the eggs and 2 tablespoons milk together to form an egg wash and pour it into a shallow bowl. Put the bread crumbs into another shallow bowl. Remove the mac and cheese balls from the freezer. Dip the frozen balls into the egg wash then into the bread crumbs. Put the balls back into the freezer until you are ready to fry.
Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 350 degrees F. Fry the mac and cheese balls until they are golden brown and center is hot, about 5 minutes. Serve hot with your favorite marinara or Alfredo sauce or combination or both for dipping.
Chicken Fingers
2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken strips
3 eggs
oil for frying
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon paprika
2 cups all-purpose flour
Mix flour with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, parsley and paprika in one bowl. In another bowl, mix the eggs.
Dip chicken strips into flour, then egg and back into the flour. Fry in oil until golden brown. Place on paper towels to drain off grease.
Serve with any kind of sauce, ketchup, mustard, honey-mustard.
Finger Sandwiches - tuna, egg and chicken
2 cups tuna, chopped hard-boiled eggs or cubed chicken
½ cup mayonnaise
½ chopped celery
1 teaspoon mustard
Mix one of the proteins with mayonnaise, celery and mustard. Make a sandwich, cutting off the crust and cutting in triangles. With the egg, you can sprinkle paprika over the egg salad.
Salad Wrap
¼ head of lettuce, shredded
2 tomatoes, sliced
½ cucumber, sliced
½ cup Carrots, shredded
½ cup sliced black and green olives
2 10" flour tortilla
Dressing
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sweet cubed relish
Mix all vegetable and the tomatoes together, adding dressing.
Place half of salad in the middle of one tortilla and roll up.
Fried Apple Strips
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup cold beer (not dark)
10 cups vegetable oil
2 apples, peeled, cut into strips
Confectioner's sugar for dusting
Mix together flour, sugar and salt. Add beer. Heat oil 375°F. Dip apple strips into batter and fry golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar.
Rainbow Sticks
10 Strawberries
10 cubed pieces of cantaloupe
10 cubed pieces of pineapple
10 sliced of kiwi fruit or 10 green grapes
10 blueberries
10 purple grapes
10 wooden sticks
Sweet sauce
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Combine all ingredient. Dip fruit … yum.
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Next up: BPOV
