Edward's POV
In a clear plastic cylinder with blue tint, skinny plastic sticks of green, yellow, and red stuck out every which way, oddly resembling pins in a pincushion. Those sticks were designed to keep the marbles of green, blue, and white that rested on the sticks set in place, and that's exactly what they were doing. For now.
Bella, Nessie and I sat at our kitchen table getting ready to play KerPlunk for the seventy-seventh time that evening. It was a game that Nessie had recently become obsessed with in the past month. She wanted to play it every chance she got, with whoever was around.
As repetitive as our night time ritual of playing KerPlunk as a family had become, Bella and I never once complained. We always showed enthusiasm every time our little girl asked to play, even though the thrill of the game had long since worn off for both of us. Neither of us gave her any clue that we were growing tired of it. We just grin and bear it. Which is exactly what my wife and I were doing at this moment.
With KerPlunk set up and placed in the middle of the table like a centerpiece for a Thanksgiving feast, my wife and I sat there patiently waiting to see who would be picked to go first. This time I gladly let Nessie pick since last time when I made a joke about age before beauty, it didn't sit with Bella. Since she still can't see the humor with Ness making her out to be older than she really is but I do. I can't help teasing her about it.
Though that proved to be the wrong choice tonight. I honestly thought that Bella would unleash the wrath that would make grizzly bears look like puppy dogs on me. She probably would have if it would have been the two of us because she hates to be told she's old. I don't understand that since I find it very funny. But since she doesn't she put me on dish detail tonight as some form of punishment, I guess. Which I plan on doing after our nightly round of Kerplunk is done.
"Okay," Nessie said thoughtfully. "First Mommy takes a turn, then me and then it's Daddy's turn."
"Sounds good." Bella nodded her head.
"Of course, ladies first." I said, waving my hand for Bella to take her turn.
Nessie looked at us with a happy grin on her face. Both of us returned her smile.
Bella took her turn, since it was early in the game no marbles fell, which made Nessie disappointed because she enjoys when Bella or I make them fall instead of her. The game proceeded with the three of us taking turns and talking. Nessie was leading the conversation since she enjoys talking about anything and everything that comes to her mind.
"Why do both of you keep saying each other is older than the older?" Nessie randomly asked as she removed a yellow stick from the cylinder.
At the moment Bella nor I had said anything of the sort, Nessie was referring to an ongoing joke between Bella and I. It was more one-sided though, since I'm enjoying teasing Bella about her fake age, since Nessie had written the wrong birth year for Bella on her Social Studies assignment.
"Daddy is." Bella said in a teasing tone. "He's older than dirt."
"I'm older than you but I'm not that old now." I grinned at her. Since falling in love with my Bella she has really brought out the seventeen-year-old in me. Especially in the bedroom. She knew that and loved it.
"Yes you are." Bella playfully said. "You are an ancient fossil after all."
She was trying to pay me back for all the wisecracks I made towards her. Taking my turn I rolled my eyes. She laughed and Nessie started thinking about dinosaur bones, of all things.
"Daddy, are you really as old as a dinosaur bone?" Nessie wondered.
Bella laughed. She took her turn, pulling out a green stick that resulted with three marbles being set free and falling into the base that the cylinder was standing in. She stopped laughing at that moment which made Nessie giggle.
"No." I answered my little girl's question. "I'm not as old as dinosaur bones." I saw her next question in her mind so I quickly added. "And no, I have never ridden in a covered wagon. The invention of cars had been made by the time I was born."
"Awe. That's too bad." Nessie said, sounding sad.
"You can't know that for sure. We can't have cars after you are born." Bella said.
I shook my head. "I was born in 1901 and cars were invented in 1885. I know the history of cars to know they are older than I am."
"You're still very old." Bella snorted.
I stared at her, a dull expression upon my face.
"What does the word "bone" mean?" Nessie said, breaking up our playful banter. "I don't mean real bones but the expression "I want to bone you"?"
Without a word Bella and I turned to each other. Both of us looked at one another, deadpan. It was shocking to hear our five-year-old utter that sentence so nonchalantly like it was an everyday thing to say, though it's not. At least not in our house. Both Bella and I knew she didn't hear that word from us since we don't use "bone" in that sense. Though we did know two people that often openly say things like that to each other frequently.
Quickly I rearrange the expression on my face. I turned to Nessie and opened my mouth to speak but Bella was quicker.
"Squeakers, did you hear that from Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose?" Bella asked, sounding very casual.
Nessie shook her head no. Images of the school playground, Mikey and a couple other kids from school, along with Bella and I kissing flashed through her mind. Though I saw the images from my little girl's mind I couldn't put them all together. None of that made sense to me.
"From kids at school." Nessie answered matter-of-factly. "So what does "bone" mean?"
"It's just a saying adults use sometimes." I said, trying to make it sound uninteresting.
"Exactly." Bella said and added. "But it's not good to repeat it, especially at school."
"Why?" She wondered, sounding so innocent.
"It just isn't." Bella and I said in unison.
Nessie gave us a funny look and she began to think of the theme song to her favorite cartoon at the very moment. I quickly suggested that we get back to playing the game that we haven't finished yet though Nessie wasn't as eager as I thought she'd be.
"Does bone mean s-e-x?" Nessie spelled out the last word. Her big brown eyes, so full of innocences darted from Bella to I.
Bella looked so embarrassed, if she were human there was no doubt that she would be blushing. But since she is incapable of doing so she hid her face in her hands and began to let out a series of nervous giggles.
"Where did you hear that word from?" I asked Nessie, trying to keep my voice leveled.
"Mikey." She said the name of Mike Newton's son as an explanation.
I groaned in frustration while Bella could only titter from anxiety. I should have known my sweet little girl would hear something like that from Newton's son.
"It means s-e-x doesn't it?" She asked again.
"That's it." I looked at Bella. She uncovered her face and our eyes locked. "We're homeschooling." I said, meaning every word.
"Okay." Bella agreed.
"Daddy," Nessie said and I turned to her. "What is s-e-x exactly?"
"Ohmygod." I said in one breath. I wasn't expecting this question until she was a teenager.
"It's the difference between a boy and a girl." Bella explained before I could say anything.
I was so relieved that she answered when I couldn't. Exhaling, I smiled at my incredible wife. She smiled back at me and let down her shield, showing me what she had up her sleeve, a diversion of sorts. I gave her one tight nod.
"Why don't we," Bella began, talking to Nessie. "Clean up the game while daddy washes dishes? Then we'll all get ready to watch a Disney movie."
"I vote for Coco." I quickly said, thinking about a Disney movie that doesn't have a romance theme. The last thing I wanted was for Nessie to see a prince and princess kiss and get married. That would probably bring us back to this dreaded question.
"How does that sound?" Bella asked.
"Awesome!" Nessie half shouted, grabbing a handful of plastic sticks.
They began to put the game away. I then got up to do the dishes, which wasn't a lot since Nessie is the only one that eats. In no time at all the three of us were done with our task and in the living room relaxing on the couch watching the cartoon movie about singing skeletons. For the rest of the night there was no more questions about what sex was since Nessie was distracted by one of her favorite movies. Which Bella and I were both very grateful for.
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This is the last installment of this little series.
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