SUMMER
BPOV
"Fucking take it off," Rose yells over the music to the male stripper on her lap. Her black dress is low cut and short enough that it's inching up her thighs, especially with the stripper straddling her. Once he's down to his G-string she pulls a hundred out of her stack she has on hand.
My phone buzzes.
Em just slid a hundred into the stripper's G-string. – E
Your sister just slid a hundred into the stripper's G-string. – B
Soulmates. – E
I laugh.
"Quit sexting with my brother, Bella," Rose calls as the stripper thrusts his crotch in her face.
I roll my eyes.
It was me, Rose, Maggie, her friend from work, Gianna, a friend from her spin class, and Vera. Vera seemed like an awkward choice to me, but her husband, Royce, was in the wedding party. Rose, I think, feels a little bad for her and had voiced that she didn't want her to be uncomfortable. She didn't want to shove her love for Emmett in her face.
"I can't believe you and Edward are together," Vera says from beside me as she straightens out the skirt of her blue gingham dress. "Not only that, but you have a child together."
"Stranger things have happened?" I offer, not sure if I should be offended or not.
"No, I just mean you're so different, I was surprised when Royce said you had a baby," she says, politely.
I want to respond that I was surprised when I walked in on her eating Rose out on our kitchen counter when we were in college, but bite my tongue.
I think about it and we really aren't that different. We have the same values when it comes to raising our daughter. As parents, I think I'm going to be the bad cop to his good cop. He was far more laidback with Dylan than I was. I wanted to make sure we instill rules and boundaries with her the older she gets.
As a couple, we both were pretty laid back, we were introverts, but I was more outgoing than he was in public. If it came to work, we were pretty equal with being social.
"Edward was the life of the party when we were in school," she adds.
She's digging herself in deeper with me but at least she's not bringing up Tanya. She had some tact in her for that.
Rose cackles when the stripper motorboats her, I laugh shaking my head at how truly crazy she is. I snapped a quick picture and sent it to Edward.
Your sister. – B
His response is quick with a picture of Em motorboating his stripper.
My soon-to-be brother-in-law. – E
Soulmates. – B
I look up to see Maggie and Gianna supporting Rose in her night of debauchery. Vera watches her with a look of longing.
"How's Royce?" I ask conversationally.
"Uh— good," she answers with her blue eyes not leaving Rose.
She basically picks up her cocktail chugging it. I feel for her, but Rose had been pretty upfront with her during their relationship. She had thought Vera had been too.
Rose finishes up with the stripper, letting Maggie have a turn in the hot seat. She takes a seat between me and Vera, resting her head against the booth. She's drunk and blissfully happy. Her wedding is a week away and then she'll be Mrs. Emmett McCarty.
Vera decides in her drunken state to be bold and inch her fingers up Rose's dress. Rose looks at me warily before taking Vera's wandering hand in hers.
"We'll be back," Rose says with a sigh.
As they walk away, Vera tries to put more moves on Rose thinking this was a rendezvous. Rose dodges her advancements, as they head to the bathroom hallway.
I shake my head at the fact that Rose and Edward were so desirable to other people that their exes couldn't seem to take a hint. Maybe this is part of the Masen charm Esme was telling me about.
I see Rose walking back alone, she looks totally unscathed.
"Where's Vera?"
"I had Sam take her home," she says slightly clipped.
"Are you going to tell Em what happened?"
"I already texted him, but he has such a soft spot for Vera," she sighs dramatically.
"Why?" I ask confused.
"Because he has said that if I ever left him, he'd totally understand how she feels," she answers sincerely.
I roll my eyes.
The McCarty's everyone.
"Do you think she'll be okay enough to be in the wedding?"
"I'll have a heart to heart with her when we're both sober. Royce is one of Emmett's closest friends and I don't want this to cause a rift between them."
"I feel for Royce," I say.
"You would," she responds dryly.
I'm clearly not as drunk as she is. It was odd to be off my meds, it had been only two weeks but I felt like I was in a better place and more myself without them. I would have a glass of wine here or there, but I hadn't been at the point of drinking like I did before Dylan.
"Can you believe I'm marrying Emmy?" Rose squeals out of nowhere. "You have a baby and my brother. When did we get here?"
I laugh at her antics. I'm truly happy that I have my baby and her brother, not only that, I am happy for her and Emmett.
We leave the strip club heading over to a club where Edward and Jazz knew the owner. They sit us at a reserved VIP table with bottle service already waiting for us. Maggie and Gianna are impressed with the levels I go to for a bachelorette party. If they only knew, Edward and I planned this together.
He knew I hated planning parties, but I wanted Rose's single status to go out with a bang. Their parties mirrored each other's activities since she and Em are basically the same person.
The table next to us is reserved but empty. I turn to see Rose and Maggie with champagne flutes in their hands as they dance and lean on the rail overlooking the dance floor. I notice a group of rowdy men approaching the empty reserved table.
One of them catches my eye but he's not as rowdy as his counterparts. He makes a beeline to where I'm sitting hitting me with a searing kiss.
"Fancy meeting you here," he says, pulling away with a sparkle in his green eyes.
"Especially with you knowing we were going to be here," I add dryly, giving Edward another kiss.
I hear Rose squeal before Emmett lays the messiest kiss on her.
"I thought this would be a well-received surprise, though Em told me what happened with Vera," he explains.
Royce is flirting with Gianna so he seems fine with his wife being no longer present.
"Yeah, it was— interesting to say the least," I tell him as he sits beside me.
I look up seeing Emmett paw at Rose's boobs through her dress. "We're probably wrong for letting that happen," Edward says, gesturing at the two of them.
"If they get kicked out it's not on us," I tease.
He laughs giving me another kiss.
Jazz joins us and I'm sandwiched between the two of them. These two were more my speed when we were all out for a night on the town.
"Do we think they're going to need to be bailed out by the end of the night?" Jazz asks with a laugh once Em's fingers sneak up past the hem of Rose's dress.
"They need to cut that shit out," Edward says disgustedly.
I move his face toward me with a crooked finger. "Let them have their fun, if they get freer with themselves, we can wrap this bachelor and bachelorette party up," I promise.
The rest of the night into the early hours of the morning Rose and Em toe the line of what would be considered decent behavior in public. Edward almost has a coronary when he catches a flash of Rose's ass when Em manages to push her dress up.
When we get back to the loft Esme is sleeping on the couch so we quietly make our way to our room. We each kiss our sleeping girl before going to shower the night off us.
Edward is sneaky when he kneels in front of me, carefully lifting my right leg to rest on his shoulder. I grab onto his hair when he licks my slit. I lay my head against the tiles while his mouth works me over until he brings me to climax.
I pat his head once he pulls back with a grin.
He pats the side of my thigh before setting my leg down. His grin widens when he stands towering over me.
"What?" I ask with a laugh.
He shakes his head leaning down to kiss me.
My heart tightens for what I feel for him.
"Awww," is echoed around Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church as I walk down the aisle with Edward and our daughter. Dylan's facing forward in Edward's arms while she looks around and babbles.
Edward lightly bounces her to keep her pleasant and engaged in front of the very crowded church. Dylan and I are wearing burgundy dresses, her dress is an off-shoulder just like mine. Edward was annoyed at Rose for her choice for a four-month-old baby, but she made sure a huge burgundy flower was on the shoulder of her dress, very Carrie Bradshaw. He doesn't look too bad either in his black Tom Ford tux.
Emmett is grinning at Dylan, waving at her once we're close enough. Esme stands taking her granddaughter who is just as excited to go to her nana. Edward takes his place beside Emmett and I wait at the front for Rose.
Vera sullenly walks with Royce, I heard from Emmett that Royce wants to leave Vera due to her cold nature toward him. So I wager to guess that this is probably the last event we'll be seeing them together at.
Maggie walks with Jazz and Gianna with Ali. I watch as Rose walks down the aisle with Carlisle, a small photo of her father front and center in her bouquet. Her dress is cream lace, reminding me of a vintage wedding dress from the twenties. Esme dabs at her eyes and I can even see tears in Edward's.
Emmett can't take his eyes off her and once the minister asks who gives Rose away, Carlisle says her mother and I do, Emmett and Rose are complete and utter sobbing messes once her veil is lifted.
Dylan lets out a loud squeal. She's looking at me and I'm the closest to her, I playfully put my finger to my lips. When I look across the altar, I see Edward smiling at me.
The minister keeps the ceremony short per Rose's instruction. They are pronounced husband and wife within forty-five minutes. Edward grabs Dylan from Esme so we can follow Rose and Em out of the church for pictures.
"This kid," Edward says, kissing her head as she clings to him.
"She's definitely a show stopper," I say, fixing her dress.
An older woman with blonde curly hair makes her way to us before we make it to Rose. Oddly enough she looks like how I'd imagine Rose to in forty years. Her pantsuit is a sparkly champagne color.
"Hi, Gram," Edward greets the older woman with a hug.
She gushes over how beautiful Dylan is. I only recognize her from photos in Esme's house and have seen her from a distance at our graduations.
"Babe, come meet my Gram," Edward says, holding his hand out to me. I know this isn't his Nana Platt or Grandmother Cullen so this only leaves Edward Masen's mother.
"She is lovely," I hear her murmuring to Edward.
She tells me she lives for days like today. It's days like these she thinks of her late son and the children he, unfortunately, had to miss out on. She tells me that Edward and Rose always keep her updated on their lives and now that she lives in Portland that they visit her a couple of times a year.
Edward is a huge help to her I discover; when he does visit he fixes things around her house. If something breaks, he is quick to send someone out and covers the charges. She calls him her sweet boy.
He's watching me a little warily, but I'm not sure why. I knew he and Rose held their father as a sacred topic, Rose shared a little more than Edward, but I always thought it was because he'd seen his father die.
Rose comes over hugging her Gram and tells us we are needed for pictures. The three of us take pictures with the wedding party, then a few family ones with the bride and groom and both Masen-Cullen and McCarty sides. The last set is of our little family and I can't wait to see if the happiness I feel translates well into the photos.
Between grandparents and great grandparents, Dylan is covered for babysitters throughout the night, but when she got tired and fussy she only wanted her father. So we stood side-by-side doing our Maid of Honor and Best Man speech all while he held Dylan.
"As many of you know I'm Rose's twin brother, Edward and this lovely lady beside me is Rose's soul sister and my partner, Bella. We thought it would be better to tag team this speech," he says to the crowd. Dylan is completely conked out with her face in his neck.
"You would," Rose crows from her seat.
I lift an eyebrow at Rose before I turn to the crowd. "As we were saying—" I pause, earning a laugh throughout the ballroom. "We probably know Rose better than anyone, well that was until Emmett came along."
"We have never met anyone quite like my sister, until Emmett. They say opposites attract but in this case, my sister fell in love with the male version of herself," he says smiling at his new brother.
"You bet she did," Em hollers.
"Again, as we were saying—" I pause again, earning more laughter. "Not only Rose, but Emmett too met his soulmate."
"So, we want to officially welcome you to our crazy and growing family," he says, pointing the mic at Dylan.
"We can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together," I finish giving them both a silly look.
Rose and Em both stand to give us hugs and kisses as we join them at the table. The MC for the evening asks for the bride and groom to make their way to the dance floor for their first dance. Edward rolls his eyes when All of Me by John Legend starts playing by the string quartet. The way Emmett looks at her makes my eyes tear up.
"Are you getting sappy on me, babe?" he says in my ear.
I nudge him with a smile.
After their dance, the dance floor fills up, Edward gives the baby to his mother and takes my hand leading me out to the dance floor.
Esme looks shocked and pleased all at once.
"Your mom is practically bouncing in her seat," I tell him.
"Not sure why, I just want to dance with my girl," he smirks.
We sway with the music for three more songs. The last song we dance to is Heat Waves by Glass Animals but played by the string quartet. Edward is grinning and I lay my head on his chest over his heart.
"How'd that get on the playlist?" he teases.
I look up, pulling him into a kiss.
This is the moment I knew the past year was all worth it. It was the clarity I needed.