Chapter 7: Sleepy Time
"Excellent reading, Nessie." Mommy praises me.
"Really?" I ask, placing my book marker in my Disney Descendants book I read a chapter from. I shut it close.
"Of course." Mommy smiles. She takes my book and places it on the nightstand that is next to her. "You're so smart and you read so well."
I smile at her. Showing my teeth and my gap tooth on the top roll from the tooth I lost when Uncle Em was babysitting me today. It fell out when we were playing Hulk Smash.
She and I lay in my bed. I am under my covers as snug as a bug in a rug with Mommy by my side, who lays on the outside of my blantes. It's night time. Unfortunately that means it's my bedtime. The time I don't care for because sleeping isn't fun at all. I wish I could stay awake all night like my parents do.
"Lights out." Mommy says, turning off my small light that sits on my nightstand.
With a click the light goes out. Now my room is dark but I can still see just fine. And that isn't just because my Frozen projector night light is plugged into the wall, shining a picture of Olaf onto the ceiling. Or because the curtain is open and I can see the hundreds of bright pretty stars shining through my window. But because I am half vampire and have no problem seeing in the dark.
"Why must I sleep?" I wonder as Mommy lays on her side looking at me. "I'm not even tired."
Mommy moves her hand to my face, brushing my hair out of my eyes. "Because it's your bedtime and you need sleep." She says softly.
I roll my eyes. It's not fair that my parents and the rest of my family don't need to sleep but I have to. I think of a plan to stay up later than I should. I think this might work. I get ready to get up and out of my bed.
"Ness," Daddy's voice calls from the living room where he's watching TV. Of course he heard my thoughts. "Sleep is good for you. Please don't give your mother a difficult time."
"Okay, Daddy." I say sweetly.
Without a word, Mommy raises an eyebrow at me. I can only guess she wants to know what I was thinking. I'm not going to say. It might make her mad.
"What were you going to do?" She asks me.
I don't say a word. I lay my head back on my soft pillow.
When she asks again I only smile, an itty bitty smile but don't say anything. Mommy asks a third time, she's very curious. When she asks again I don't answer but Daddy calls out to her, he says that he'll tell her later. That doesn't make me happy. I don't want her to know that I was planning on running to the bathroom a million times tonight, pretending I have to go potty just to stay up late.
Hearing Daddy's words Mommy stops asking me, which is good. But now I am thinking of another way I can stay up late. Only this time I don't want Daddy to know my plan. So I start thinking of magical talking ponies, very pretty princesses and yummy blood lollipops. That should keep him bored and out of my mind.
"How was your shopping trip?" I ask Mommy.
Mommy sticks out her tongue and makes a silly face that has me giggling.
"Not that much fun." She says. "Your Aunt Alice had me in the dressing room for a total of 3 hours. Just trying on outfit after outfit in one store. While your Aunt Rose was helping her, bringing clothes for me to try on."
"That sounds like a good shopping trip." I say, hoping she will tell me more.
She raises one eyebrow. "Not really. I was in the dressing room for three long hours!" She shakes her head. "At one store. Unbelievable."
I laugh at the way she says it. Her words are very dramatic.
I don't exactly understand why my Mommy doesn't like to go shopping. Or spend a gazillion hours trying on pretty clothes. Because I love to do that.
When my Aunts and Mommy came home tonight I was so happy that they had eight bags of clothes and six bags of shoes for me. I couldn't wait to try everything on and have a fashion show for my whole family. That's exactly what I did.
Auntie Rose helped me take all of the shopping bags to my room in the big house. I quickly changed into one pretty outfit at a time. Each time I came down the stairs Auntie Alice announced exactly what kind of outfit and shoes I was wearing to the rest of the family. I happily modeled all my new clothes, twirling around as everyone clapped. Just like in a real fashion show.
Daddy thought it was too much. At one point he told Auntie Alice that she overdid it on the clothes shopping for me because my closet is already stocked. But when she explained to him that she had a vision of him standing in my room, holding up one of my favorite shoes and him telling me not to cry, that he would buy me more shoes. He changed his mind. He doesn't like it when I cry. He gets very sad and panicky.
Even though Auntie Alice can't see me in her visions because she has never been half human half vampire. She can see around me. So she always knows when it's time to buy me a bigger size in clothes and shoes before I grow out of everything and have nothing to wear. Which is a good thing. Because I don't want to be naked. Eek! I would look like a naked mole rat. That would not be good.
"How come you don't like clothes shopping?" I wonder, looking into my Mommy's golden eyes. "It's so much fun."
"It might be fun for you." She touches the tip of my nose with her finger. "But for me it's not." She says. "Something bad always seems to happen."
That has me very curious. Like a curious kitty.
"What happened this time?" I really want to know.
Last time she went shopping with my Aunties she got stuck in a big puffy purple dress, that was too small for her. She looked silly when she came home, still wearing the dress she was trapped in. Daddy had to help her out of it. They came right home at once. But without me, which had Uncle Em laughing his head off. He really thought Mommy getting stuck in the dress was funny.
That night I had to spend the night at my grandparents house, which was very fun. But the strange part was that Mommy was stuck in the dress for a while. No one saw her or Daddy for two whole days. I still don't know why it was so difficult for Mommy to get out of the dress.
"It's not a very interesting story." Mommy says, sounding board.
"I want to hear it." I stick out my bottom lip in a pouty way. I hope she gives in.
I want to hear what happened when she went close shopping. I also want to stay up late. I'm not ready to go to sleep.
"I don't think you want to hear about it." Mommy says.
"But I do." I smile.
Mommy shakes her head. I ask her again. I really want to keep her talking.
"Bella, please do tell us what." Daddy's voice comes from the living room. He sounds as curious as I feel.
Daddy really enjoys hearing about Mommy's misadventures in clothes shopping. He once told me that it's because that's the only time she is clumsy now. Apparently she was very clumsy when she was a human and he liked that. He found it very cute. I don't know why though.
Mommy lets out a deep sigh. "Like he doesn't already know." She mumbles. "Of course he already saw the incident from his sister's minds. Why he wants me to relive it. I will never understand."
I look at her and I start to giggle.
My giggling makes her laugh. Before I know it both of us are laughing. Because we both know that's true. Daddy already knows what happened but he still wants to hear her say it. He does that a lot. Even with me.
"You want to hear about my funny shopping story?" She asks with a smile.
"Yes!" I say a little too loudly.
"Most definitely!" Daddy who's still in the living room says with a laugh. Which makes Mommy roll her eyes and I laugh.
I settle my head on Mommy's chest as she begins to tell me all about how she got stuck in a skirt and tried on a shirt. She ended up getting hair caught in the security tag that was in the shirt. She finally was able to untangle her hair from the plastic tag but couldn't get out of the skirt. So she tried to wiggle out of it. She ended up jumping up and down like a frog to try to get out of the skirt. That didn't help. She ended up knocking down the roll of dressing rooms, they all fell to the floor when she bumped into the stall she was in. And my Aunties had to create a diversion to explain how the dressing rooms fell over. They then quickly left that store and went to another one.
It's a very silly story. I laugh from beginning to end. I'm not the only one laughing. Daddy is laughing so hard he sounds like a choking raccoon.
"Edward," Mommy calls out to Daddy. "It's not that funny."
"Yes it is!" Daddy laughs.
"You're making fun of Mommy and that's not nice." I yell to Daddy.
I was laughing at her story but not the same way Daddy is. He's doing it all wrong.
"No I am not." Daddy says between laughter. "It's just really comical."
Mommy rolls her eyes. "If you think that's funny then just wait for…" She's talking to Daddy. She doesn't finish her sentence for some reason.
"Alight. Alight." Daddy says, sounding out of breath and worried. "I'm sorry, love. Please don't do that. I'll be good."
"Don't laugh at me again, Edward Cullen. And everything will be very pleasant for you." Mommy says.
I listen as Daddy apologizes from the living room again. I try to figure out what they are talking about. But I can't. I think Mommy let down her shield and told Daddy something from her mind. I don't like when she does that because I don't know what they are talking about.
"What did you tell him?" I wonder, gently tapping two fingers to her forehead.
She takes my hand in hers. "Never mind." She says. "Why don't you tell me how your day with Uncle Em was. I'd love to know what games you guys played. And how exactly you lost a tooth."
Of course Mommy knew all about my fun day with Daddy. Because he and I told her all about it when we came home, to our cottage. Together he and I told her about my lunchtime caribou and our snowball fight and my check up.
I even told her all about my Candyland dream which she really liked hearing about and seeing from my memories. But I never did get around to telling her about my fun time with Uncle Em that was also kinda silly. I was going to, but then Jacob called me on my tablet and we video chatted before I had to get ready for bed. Then he talked to Mommy and Daddy for a while while I changed into my pajamas. And so, I forgot.
"I painted Uncle Em's finger nails to look like a beautiful bright rainbow." I explained happily.
"Oh. I'm sure he liked that." She giggles, shaking her head.
"He did." I nod my head. "He liked the colors so much he let me paint his toe nails to match."
She giggles again. This time I heard Daddy laugh too.
I wiggle my hand out of Mommy's and press it to her cheek. I show her my memories of painting Uncle Em's nails and him looking at his finished finger nails with a smile. Then he let me paint his toe nails to match after I asked him where babies come from again.
Mommy giggles as my memories continue.
I show her how I talked Uncle Em into playing Hulk Smash. It only took me asking him my favorite question about where babies come from, a few times in a roll before he agreed to play. It's the most fun game ever.
He gave in even though, after the last time we played it the last time and got very carried away and broke a ceiling fan, window, and a vacuum cleaner, not to mention ruined a bunch of Grandpa's work shirts. And now Grandma and Grandpa don't allow us to play it any more but we did anyway. Besides, there was no one home.
We made a tiny city out of legos and cardboard boxes in the living room before he changed into one of Grandpa's shirts. So he could rip out of it just like Bruce Banner does when he turns into the Hulk. After that he let me cover him in green bath paint to play the part of Hulk. And I dressed up in my Captain Marvel costume.
Uncle Em yelled 'Hulk Smash' as she stomped around the tiny lego city, defending the townspeople from the bad guys while I was by his side, pretending to fly. Both of us punched and kicked the air where the invisible bad guys stood. We got all of the bad guys out of the city but not before Uncle Em accidentally broke the coffee table for real and knocked out my front top tooth. It wasn't loose yet.
Uncle Em felt really bad about that. He said he was sorry a million times and hugged me a lot of times. I was shocked that my tooth popped right out, flying to the other side of the living room. But I didn't cry.
Uncle Em had to move all of the furniture around to find my tooth. So I would be able to put it under my pillow for the tooth fairy tonight. By the time we found my tiny tooth, the living room was a mess. That was when Grandma and Uncle Jazz came home.
Grandma ended up scolding Uncle Em for the damage that happened when we played our game, that we weren't supposed to play. He looked like a little boy that was in trouble. Then she made him go take a shower to wash all the green bath paint off of him.
Grandma who was very surprised I lost a tooth. Took it from my hand and put it in Grandpa's office for safe keeping. When she came back down the stairs she handed me a yummy blood lollipop.
I end my memory when Uncle Jazz helped me clean up the legos. He then cleaned up the rest of the living room. All while I helped Grandma unload the car, taking out everything that she bought at the antique stores.
"Well, it looks like you made Uncle Em's day a whole lot more interesting than just him sitting on the couch." Mommy giggles as I move my hand from her cheek. "That's a very unusual way to lose a tooth."
From the living room Daddy laughs. I can't tell if he's laughing at the memory I showed Mommy. Or something that's on TV. I don't worry about it.
"Yep." I smile very big and proud, showing my tooth gap.
I am the only one that was able to get him off of the couch. I feel very proud of myself.
Mommy forehead creases with concern. "I am curious." She says and I look at her. "Why did you ask your Uncle so many times where babies come from?"
"Because I want to know." I answer.
Mommy raises an eyebrow. I explained how I saw a commercial of a lady holding a stick with two pink lines, that made me want to know where babies come from. And how it was funny because Daddy and Uncle En freaked out when I asked.
"Hmmm." Mommy looks at me.
She gets quiet and I wonder what she's thinking.
"Well, Nessie," She says after a while, running her hand through my hair. "It seems that the time has come to tell you where babies come from."
My eyes get wide. "Really?" I ask and she nods her head.
I don't believe it. The question that I have been asking since this afternoon is finally going to be answered. Doing my best to be patient I wait for her answer.
"Babies live in the mommy's tummy for a while." Mommy begins. "Once they are big enough to be born they come out of the -"
"Bella," Daddy's firm voice cuts Mommy off.
Mommy stops talking and both of us look over at my door, where his voice is coming from. There he stands, shaking his head with his arms crossed over his chest.
"She's too young." Is all Daddy says.
"But she's asking." Mommy says. "Besides, I was ten when Renee gave me "The Talk". That's only three years older than she is now."
Daddy's golden eyes get big. "Even that's way too young."
"Well, not all of us can live to be a 110 year old vampire when we get "The Talk." Most of us are younger than you were." She teases.
Daddy rolls his eyes. He doesn't think her joke is funny.
I'm not sure why, but Daddy has a sick look on his face. He also keeps shaking his head. I stop looking at him and look beside me at Mommy. I think she let down her shield again and is telling him something from her mind so I won't hear.
I don't say anything. But I do wonder what "The Talk" is and why Daddy was 110 when he heard it and why Mommy heard it when she was only ten years old. It doesn't make sense that they were different ages. I also wonder why Daddy doesn't want mommy to tell me about it.
I open my mouth to ask Daddy if he'll tell me the secret of where Babies come from. But before I say anything he speakers first.
"Absolutely not, Nessie." He says as he walks over to my bed. "You are too young. Enjoy being little for now. There will be plenty of time later on for you to know about such things."
"I guess you're right. She is a little too young." Mommy says, looking at me. Daddy agrees.
I do a pouty face. Before I can even blink my eyes he is laying down with Mommy and me. Now I am in between them.
"My Vampire Princess." Daddy whispers because it's late and he wants me to go to sleep. "If you don't go to sleep the tooth fairy won't come."
I squeal in happiness. I can't wait for the tooth fairy to bring me money in exchange for my tooth.
"Oh that's right." Mommy says. "The tooth fairy can only fly in the house when you are asleep."
"I wonder how much the tooth fairy will bring me." I yearn. Up until now I didn't even know that I was tired.
"I don't know." Mommy and Daddy say at the same time.
I yawn again.
Last time I lost a tooth the tooth fairy left five dollars. I can't wait to see if I get the same type of money.
"We just have to wait and see." Daddy answers my thoughts. "You need to sleep now. Would you like me to tell you a story or would you prefer a lullaby?" He wonders.
I think about that for a second. He always has the best stories to tell. What makes his stories so cool is that they are real and not made up. Since he has lived for a very, very long time he has a lot of stories he tells me at bed time. Some are about when he was a young vampire. Where others are of how he and Mommy met the first time she went to High School.
I yawn again. I began thinking about asking him to tell me a story about their first date, when he took her to his meadow in Forks. I do love romance. But then I change my mind. I want my lullaby instead.
"Lullaby it is." He says, reading my thoughts. He kisses the top of my head.
"That's a good choice." Mommy compliments. "Your Daddy makes up good lullabies. It reminds me of when I was human."
"Is that so?" Daddy says, putting his arm around me and wrapping both Mommy and I in a hug.
"Yes." Mommy smiles.
All of us stop talking and Daddy begins to hum my special lullaby. I close my eyes.
Laying with my Mommy and Daddy I feel safe and warm. It doesn't matter that both of them are cold, I still feel warm with them. Their coldness doesn't bother me at all.
Feeling very loved and now very sleepy, I snuggle closer to both of them.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Thank you for reading. :))
Amber would be very delighted if you would leave a review with your thoughts on this chapter.
She hopes to have another chapter out soon. This one took her so long to finish since she's been very busy with school work, since it's almost the end of the school year.