"Okay, now the groom and his brother."
It had only been half an hour since the wedding ceremony, but we hadn't gone to the reception yet. According to Rosalie, it would begin to get dark soon, so the photographer who had been hired for the wedding wanted to get some photos in before he lost all of his light.
At the moment, Edward was taking a photo with his younger brother, Jasper who I had almost mistaken for a serial killer I saw on Criminal Minds once. He had already taken a photo of him and Rosalie together, and the picture of the three siblings together. He already done all the photos I was needed for, and I was grateful; I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was now legally married. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had childhood ignorance on her side as she skipped around Leo throwing the rest of her flowers at him. He didn't seem to mind though, if the manic giggling that came from him was any indication. I was glad, though; even though this life probably wouldn't be all rainbows and kittens, Elizabeth would still have a friend to entertain her. 'A brother.' A voice in the back of my head corrected. 'Edward sent his lawyer off with the adoption papers. She's his daughter now.'
"Shut up." I told myself, gaining the attention of Rosalie who stood next to me.
"Did you say something?" She asked and I shrugged.
"I was just wondering about something Edward said on the plane ride over here." I lied, although what I was thinking of had been weighing on my mind lately. Rosalie turned to her body towards me, just enough to say that she was listening. "He said that he wanted a mother for his children." I told her. "But, I've only seen one kid."
"Other than Leo, Edward has two other children." She told me. "Benjamin and Carlie."
"Where are they?" I asked, wondering why they were absent from their fathers wedding, and she sighed.
"Benjamin is with his mother Kebi in Egypt." She answered. "Edward got full custody when they divorced, but he lets Ben go and stay with his mother every summer for a couple of months until the three weeks leading up to school."
"And Carlie?"
"Carlie's at summer camp." She told me. "This year it's for art, I think."
I raised an eyebrow. "This year?"
She shrugged. "Carlie's a bit of a...free spirit. She loves everything, but- so far- there hasn't been an activity that can keep her attention for long."
"Well, what about Leo's mother?" I questioned, crossing my arms. "Where's she?"
"She's dead." Rosalie said, so cold that I got whiplash from the change of emotion. I was also a bit afraid to ask what happened. "Not to be rude, or anything, but I would suggest you not bring her up around Edward. He gets...emotional when he talks about Tanya." For some reason, I didn't think of tears when I thought of Edward being emotional.
"Now the children." The photographer called and neither child hesitated before rushing over to Edward. Elizabeth got there first, as she had been unable to stay away from the camera for too long and had been staring straight into the lens when the photographer called for her.
There were more people at the reception than there were at the ceremony.
"The people at the ceremony were just the people who could get here at short notice." Rosalie told me. "These are the people who got here after."
I was sitting at the head table with Edward. Since we didn't have a wedding party, the table was a small one, but I didn't mind. I didn't feel like making small talk.
"I wasn't expecting this many people to be here." Edward admitted from beside me. "But, I suppose, I did give Rosalie free rein over my wedding. I don't think I even know half of these people."
"They're ass kissers." I said without thinking and Edward looked at me in curiosity. "I just...I asked Rosalie the same thing." I told him. "She said that most of these people are just ass kissers who want to make a good impression on your new wife." Edward shook his head, but I could see the small grin he was hiding and it made me smile to. I was sincerely hoping that this wasn't a rare thing- him not being a psychopath threatening to put bullets in people's heads.
After a few moments, our attention was pulled away by the sound of clinking, like a force being tapped against a champagne flute- also known as something someone does when they want to make a speech.
Looking around, my eyes landed on a woman who was standing beside one of the tables in the front. Her caramel brown hair was down in elegant waves and she wore a long light grayish purple dress embellished with diamonds which were scattered around the top. Her arms were covered by a long shawl and she had a warm smile on her face. Even in her fifties, Esme Cullen was a embodiment of perfection.
"Excuse me," She said into the microphone in her hand. It only took a second for everyone to get quiet. "As most of you know, my name is Esme and I'm Edward's mother. Now, I wish I had something nice to say, but no one told me that my son was getting married until a couple hours ago." I felt Edward tense beside me as everyone laughed lightly. "While I can't claim to know anything about their relationship, I can say that I know my son, and if he has found love with Isabella then I know that what he has with her must be truly special. Never in his life has my son made a decision lightly and he has stood by every decision he has made, even if everyone else doubted it." Looking away from the sea of tables she looked to Edward and I. "So here is to Isabella; the woman my son has chosen to spend the rest of his foreseeable future with. I look forward to getting to know you." She held up her glass and every else- excluding me- held up a glass in turn. "To Isabella."
"To Isabella." Everyone else chorused before drinking. I was going to be sick.
The wedding wasn't over until midnight; that's when everyone who had been invited to stay were getting settled into their rooms at the house, and everyone else began boarding their private planes to get off the island.
I didn't know what Edward was expecting for our wedding night, but I roomed with Elizabeth- or, at least, I planned to. Apparently Edward frequented the island with his children, so much that they each had their own specially designed bedrooms. His oldest children, Carlie and Benjamin, had shared a bedroom when they were younger and now, apparently, it was perfect for Elizabeth and Leo. I didn't want to spoil her fun, so I went back to my room. Thankfully, Edward wasn't there waiting.
When I woke up the next morning, it was because the sun was shining straight into my eyes. Seeing as I didn't have to work, but knew that it would be impossible to fall back asleep now that I was awake, I got up. Normally this wouldn't be a problem; if I was home, I'd go into the kitchen and make breakfast for me and El, but I was in a new house filled with people I didn't know who had expectations and rules that I didn't know. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long.
I had just finished making my bed when my door was thrown open and Elizabeth and Leo rushed inside before hopping my my aforementioned bed. "Elizabeth Renee..."
"Mommy, we need your help." Elizabeth said before I could find it in me to chastise her.
"Alright," I put my hands on my hips in my most intimidating mom stance. "I'll bite. What do you need?"
"Today is Mr. Edward's first day as my new daddy." She reminded me while Leo nodded on in confirmation beside her. "And I need it to be 'specially special."
"Okay..."
"Dad likes banana and chocolate chip pancakes." Leo supplied hastily. "I'm not supposed to use the stove by myself, though. I'm only six," He added right after as he held up seven fingers. Someone should probably do something about that. "But you can." I wasn't going to say no; I couldn't- not without looking like a monster in front of my new stepson and my daughter, who thought I could do no wrong. Plus, they were trying to do something nice for someone else, wasn't I supposed to encourage things like that? The random page in the parenting book I stole from the library a year ago thought so.
"Okay," I nodded and they both beamed at me. "But you guys have to help. I'm not gonna do all the work if you're gonna take all the credit." Of course Edward would know that a four and seven year old wouldn't be able to make pancakes by themselves, but I didn't want to crush their little plans.
After they helped me remake the bed they messed up, Leo led Elizabeth and me downstairs to the massive, chef's kitchen downstairs. Compared to the rest of the house, it had a bit of a homey feel to it, but- to be fair- while everything was clean and immaculate, it looked like the kitchen had been used dozens of times before. I guess it would've been if Edward brought his children here a lot.
In order to help, Elizabeth and Leo insisted on getting everything I would need to make the pancakes from the industrial size refrigerator, but I stopped them when Elizabeth tried to climb on Leo's shoulders to get the stuff on the top shelf.
"Aright, guys," I said once they were seated at the island which faced the stove. "Here's what we need in the bowl. One cup of flour," Leo picked up the scooper I found in the drawers and dug it into the bag of flour before dumping it in the bowl. He, somehow, managed to spill half of it so we had to do more. "A tablespoon of sugar," I watched Elizabeth pick up the wrong spoon and she put the sugar in before I realized it was the wrong spoon. I figured a bit of sugar wouldn't make much difference. "Two teaspoons of baking powder- No, El, the other spoon." Elizabeth put in the right amount after I showed her the right spoon. "And the small spoon of salt...great job!"
"Okay, now, in the other bow, we need the egg that I beat and the cup of milk." Leo and Elizabeth both put in the respective ingrediants and I gqave them a thumbs up. "The glass of vegetable oil." There was no way I was trusting either of them with that. I had already poured a bit in the glass. "And the bananas you guys mashed up. Now mix it."
"Can we do it with our hands?" Leo asked. "They're clean, 'member?" I honestly didn't think Edward would be happy about the mess to be made if they accidentally spun the bowl too fast, but I was certain I could clean it up before he saw it.
"Sure." After they mixed it up and poured the mixture into the flour bowl, I added in some chocolate chips and let them mix that up with their hands as well. "Okay, now go upstairs and clean up. Then you guys can play for a couple of minutes." I told them as I turned on the griddle that was built into the stove. After getting down from their seats, the two rushed out of the kitchen.
Seeing as pancakes were some of the easiest things to make, I was able to make five out of the batter that Elizabeth and Leo had made. After that was out, I made more batter for regular and chocolate chip pancakes for everyone else. Despite the fact that I had been forced into this marriage doesn't mean I wanted to go through it with Edward's family hating me. Elizabeth didn't deserve that and my mother had always told me that food was a nice peace offering- despite the fact that she nearly burned our house down while making Ramen.
It wasn't long before Leo and Elizabeth came back down the stairs, clean and dressed in different clothes, but I didn't want them making another mess for me to make so I sent Leo to show Elizabeth to whatever room had a TV in it.
After the pancakes were all done and sitting in the wall oven to stay warm, I got started on everything else, knowing that a couple of pancakes wouldn't do anything for anyone.
"I didn't expect anyone to be up." A voice said, startling me. I nearly dropped the bowl of eggs that I was beating when I whirled around as saw none other than Esme Cullen staring back at me from the doorway. She was dressed in a simple pair of pants with a matching sweater over a white top, but she somehow made me feel like Cinderella's ugly stepsister in comparison. Of course these people didn't walk around in their night clothes.
"Oh, um..." I cleared my throat as I sat down the bowl. "Elizabeth and Leo wanted to do something special for Edward, but they can't use the stove." I said as an excuse. 'Excuse?' That little voice in my head asked. 'Why do you need an excuse to make breakfast?' I had a point, but told myself to shut up anyway.
"I'm usually the first one up." Esme told me as she stepped into the kitchen and I went back to beating my eggs as I tried to remind myself that I didn't do anything wrong. "I always make my family breakfast whenever we come to the island." Oh, I was intruding on traditional territory.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know-" I shook my head, but she held her hand up and I shut up.
"It's okay." She assured me. "I figured that Edward would finally find someone who would replace me one day." I opened my mouth but she kept talking. "Maybe replace was the wrong word. I meant...I knew that he'd find someone to take over." She corrected herself. "To be honest, I'm just glad that it's not Victoria."
"Victoria?" I asked.
"Edward's ex-wife." She supplied going over to the fridge. Apparently, she was helping- or, at least, I figured she was when she took out something wrapped in white paper. I went over to the pan on the stove with my over-beaten eggs. "My granddaughter Carlie's mother. You might've seen her at the wedding yesterday; red hair, hideous taste in clothing, dead eyes, dry humping the photographer." Well, there was no love lost there.
Trying not to sound like I was snooping, I asked, "Why was she there if Carlie wasn't? It doesn't seem like you like her much."
"I don't." She confirmed. "But I didn't make the guest list. My daughter did."
"I didn't invite that whore." Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear. Rosalie came shuffling into the kitchen wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top. Behind her was a small woman with long black hair tied into a ponytail who wore a pair of white pants and a sweatshirt that seemed way too big for her. "I delegated that to Alice."
"I didn't invite Lady Bitchiness either." The woman insisted as she and Rosalie seemlessly began helping out without being asked. "She came with James." Rosalie scoffed and shook her head as she started the coffee pot.
"Of course she did." Not even surprised that I was there, Rosalie turned to me to explain. "James is Alice's older brother. He usually doesn't come to things like this."
"Weddings?" I asked.
"Parties." The woman- Alice, corrected. "He's sort of a hermit. He tends to stay to himself. He was probably too nice to say no when Victoria went begging for him to bring her here."
"She's not still here, is she?" I asked. Seeing as how the only words used to describe this woman had been whore, dry humping, and bitchiness, I wasn't eager to be around her and same could obviously been said for her considering how she was looking at me at the wedding.
"No," Alice shook her head from beside me where she was cooking bacon. "James doesn't usually stay for these things- he's shy and her ride." Shoving a small piece of bacon into her mouth, Alice held her hand out to me. "I'm Alice."
"Bella."
The three Cullen women continued to make comfortable small talk with me as we finished making breakfast, for which I was thankful for. Leo and Elizabeth rushed into the kitchen when they heard that we were finished and helped us take everything to the large dining table before rushing upstairs to wake Edward. Esme, Rosalie, and Alice went to wake up their own partners while I went to change into something that wasn't batter covered sleeping shorts. Taking a quick shower, I changed into a pair of jeans and my fathers old Washington Huskies shirt from his college days. After towel drying my hair, I pulled it into a simply ponytail before going back downstairs.
When I got back into the kitchen, everyone was there; Rosalie, Alice, Edward's brother Jasper, the large, muscular man who I had seen shoot Caius Volturi- and children who I hadn't seen before. 'They would have kids you didn't know about.' The voice in my head said. 'You literally only met them yesterday.'
"Shut up." I told myself quietly, but it was loud enough to gain the attention of one of the kids; a smaller boy around three with short black hair wearing Hulk footie Pajamas. Once he saw me, he tugged on Alice's shirt and she lowered her head so he could whisper something to her. A second later her eyes landed on me.
"Bella, what are you doing out there?" She asked before making a 'come' gesture. "Come sit down." There were only a couple of seats available; and all of them on the side of the table nearest me. "This is Alec." She told me before looking down at the little boy who was attached to her side. "Alec, this is your new Aunt Bella. Can you say hi?" He simply gave me a feeble wave before digging his face into Alice's side.
"He's shy." Rosalie explained before gesturing to the two small kids next to her. "This is Colin and Claire." Colin was around twelve with blonde hair and blue eyes while Claire was a completely opposite with curly brown hair and brown eyes. While Claire was thin and willowy, Collin seemed to be on the fast track to turning into his father They both paid me no mind as they continued to eat their pancakes. I couldn't blame them, I was a very good cook and not very modest. Speaking of not being modest...
"Where's Elizabeth?" I asked with a slight worry to my voice that was noticed.
"She and Leo are still upstairs." Esme told me. "I don't know why it's taking them so long to wake up one man." That's when I heard the sound of giggling coming from the hallway.
I turned to see Edward casually walking normally with both Leo and Elizabeth wrapped around his legs while they giggled madly. It amazed me how the very same man who had threatened my life not even a day ago had somehow managed to look non...murderous this morning. "Now, I know." Esme finished with a fond smile. "Edward used to do the same to his father." Where was his father? Yesterday had been his son's wedding day and I hadn't seen him once- not that I was looking. I could go the rest of my life without meeting the man who's face I had seen flash across the TV at night when I was a child, staying up late to watch the news with my dad. "Alright, children. Come sit down." Letting go of Edward's legs, Leo rushed to the table while Elizabeth came to me. When she ran to me, I bent down and picked her up. While I wasn't a petite person, I didn't have an amazing amount of strength. It wouldn't be long before I couldn't pick my little girl up anymore.
The only free seats was one between Alice and Leo on the side of the table near the wall to ceiling windows. One on the other side between Jasper and the free seat at the head of the table. I was assuming that the head of the table spot was reserved for Edward and Elizabeth wanted to sit next to her new daddy, so I was put between Leo and Alice, across from Edward.
"Here!" Withe the table manners of a newborn giraffe, Elizabeth leaned forward on her knees and grabbed a pancake from the smaller stack in the middle of the table before dropping it down on Edward's plate with a plop. She beamed at him. "Mommy made these special for you 'cause it's your favorite!"
"We helped!" Leo piped up and Elizabeth nodded enthusiastically. Jasper, who sat on Esme's right, stabbed at one with his fork and brought it to his nose. One sniff was all it took for him to grimace.
"Banana and chocolate chip?" He sounded disgusted as he put back the pancake and Rosalie groaned.
"I don't understand how you can eat those," She shuddered before looking to me. "Edward went off to college when Jasper and I were fourteen. He came back for Thanksgiving and our mother made them every morning until he left again."
"It was a week and a half of hell." Jasper added as he took two plain pancakes for his plate. Everyone else began serving themselves, but Edward was the only one who touched the banana and chocolate chip pancakes.
"She did say there were special for dad," Leo reminded his uncle who stuck his tongue out. Alec giggled from next to his mother.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprise by how normal they all seemed. Somewhere in the back of my mind, when I pictured family dinners, I pictured them all grinning and rubbing their hands while whispering things like "Murder," and "Chaos". There was no point where I pictured Emmett Cullen swiping whipped cream on his daughters nose or Edward smiling at my daughter while helping her cut up her pancakes. The only thing stopping me from being comfortable with these people was knowing what they did for a living and that it wouldn't always be like this.
But I held my tongue; I answered the questions Edward's family asked me and smiled when I knew I was being watched, whether it was by Edward, Elizabeth, or any other member of my new family.
After breakfast was finished, I washed the dishes, forgetting that there was a cleaning staff who were paid to do it. Elizabeth was outside playing with Leo, and her new cousins while Rosalie watched them. Knowing I didn't have to worry about something happening to her while she was out of my sight was a relief and it helped me calm down.
I was putting away the dishes that I had died when I heard a voice speak from somewhere behind me. I nearly dropped the dish, but managed to recover.
"You do realize that we pay people to clean, right?" Gripping the bowl in my hand, I turned around to see Edward standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Letting out a nervous laugh, I nodded.
"I forgot," I admitted, turning around and putting the bowl in the cabinet with the others. "By the time I remembered, I was already done."
"Thank you," He said suddenly and I turned back around to face him. "For what you did for Leo this morning."
The pancakes? "Actually, it was Elizabeth's idea- mostly." I added and he quirked an eyebrow. "She wanted your first day as her 'new daddy' to be special. I want her to be happy and, despite everything happening so fast, knowing that she's had a new dad to replace the old one does that."
"And what about you?" He asked, moving into the kitchen and stopping on the other side of the island. "What would make you happy?"
"Other than the life I had before I saw a man get shot?" I asked. "Knowing that Elizabeth is happy. That's all I ever wanted since I gave birth to her." By the look on Edward's face, I knew he realized that I wouldn't open up that easy. When it came to him and me, there would be no emotions tied into this relationship- I'd make sure of it. I'd do what needed to be done in order to protect my daughter, but I don't think I could ever see Edward Cullen in the way he seemed to think I eventually would. How could someone be attracted- let alone love someone who had threatened to kill me?
"Then what would make her happy?" He asked after a moment.
It wasn't a hard question to answer. "Her birthday's in two days," I told him. "She's always wanted to go to Disney World."
"Don't most kids prefer Disneyland?" I shook my head.
"She did until her babysitter- Mrs. Cope, had her grandchildren over for the weekend a few months ago. They told Elizabeth all about how their mom's new boyfriend took them to Disney World and they stayed in Cinderella's Castle. She begged me to take her, but we never had the money."
"Then Disney World it is." He said and I opened my mouth to question him, knowing that vacations to places like that were booked years in advance, but closed my mouth when I realized he was in the mob. Of course the mob would have connections to Disney World.
Pulling out his phone, Edward left the kitchen leaving me to myself. As he left, I could hear him saying words like "Disney World," and "Tonight,". I couldn't help but feel grateful to him for giving- or, at least, attempting to give Elizabeth the birthday she's always wanted. A small part of me couldn't help but wonder if I could try to love Edward; he was Elizabeth's father now- I wasn't sure if the adoption papers had gone through yet, but I realized quickly that it didn't matter either way; Elizabeth had already claimed him as her father. I knew that giving her the illusion of a happy and loving relationship between Edward and I was all she needed at the moment, but I still wondered if I could ever let it become more. Despite the things he had- allegedly- done and the judgement of him that had already set in stone in my head, I couldn't help but notice what a good father he was to Leo and the father he was trying to be to Elizabeth. I knew that, so far, I had been amenable when it came to the forced marriage and his family, but one day Elizabeth would realize that Edward and I didn't have the textbook happy marriage it seemed we had and I knew that she'd eventually come to the conclusion that I was the only roadblock in making that happen.
"Shut up," I told myself. "She's not even five- and you didn't even want this marriage." I was so confused. How the hell was I supposed to fell or even know what I was supposed to feel? This wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence.
Knowing that Elizabeth was safe with Rosalie, I decided to take my mind of off my predicament by cleaning. The dishes were already done, but I was sure that Elizabeth had already made a mess of her bedroom.
However, Edward seemed to have the same idea- not to clean, but to go up to the bedroom Elizabeth had shared with Leo the night before, because when I was nearing the door I heard him talking on the phone.
"Get it done, Riley." I heard him say. "I don't give a fuck if you can't reserve the suite. Convince them," My heart jumped into my throat, wondering what he meant by that. "No, I don't mean kill them- put Garrett on the phone." He ordered. There was a moment of silence before he said; "Your brother's a fucking idiot...Yeah, I need rooms in Cinderella's Castle for everyone." Silence again. "What do you mean they only have one suite? Who the fuck makes a giant castle in a theme park with only one suite?!" Yeah, I was miffed when I read that online too. "Okay, fine. Just get me the suite at the castle and book a few suites for the rest of the family at whatever place is closest to the castle...Thanks, Garrett- yeah, tell Kate I said 'hi' too. Yeah, my mom still wants pictures of the baby...alright, bye." I decided that it was time to make myself known."
"Were one of your goons really gonna kill someone at Disney World?" Edward looked up from his phone to see me leaning against the door frame of the messy bedroom.
"Riley's harmless," He insisted. "He's a good kid, just a little slow in the head. If I had told him to kill someone at Disney World, he wouldn't have done it...probably." I raised an eyebrow at him. "That was a joke."
"It wad a bad one." I inform him, pushing myself up and walking into the room. "Did you seriously get us the Cinderella Suite? I looked online and the website told me that it was unbookable." Before he could even answer, his phone vibrated and he looked down at the screen.
"Tell that to Garrett," He said.
"What?" I asked. "Did you threaten to put a hit on Mickey Mouse?" He shook his head.
"Nah, apparently offering to foot the bill so they could build another suite in Cinderella's Castle was the easier option." He shook his head before letting his phone slide into his pocket. "But, yeah, we got the suite."
"You should tell Elizabeth."
"You're her mother-"
"And you're her...father." It felt strange, saying those words to someone other than my no good ex. I constantly had to remind him of that fact whenever he refused to take her to daycare, change her pull-up, or even feed her. "She's already got it drilled into her head that I'd do anything to make her happy. This one's yours." An appreciative smile went over his face and he nodded before walking past me and leaving the room. Once I could no longer hear his footsteps, I started picking up the toys that were littered on the floor.
I was almost finished, only needing to pick up a couple of stuffed animals from the floor underneath the window. After grabbing them, I stood up and looked out to the front yard where the room faced out. The house was over a hundred feet away from the shoreline, but I could see Elizabeth in a bright yellow bathing suit splashing around in the water with Claire and Leo. Edward came into view and Elizabeth rushed out of the water before running over the sand to him. He didn't seem to care that she was wet when he picked her up so they were talking face-to-face. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Elizabeth nodded a couple times before Edward said something else and her face lit up like fireworks on the fourth of July. Throwing her skinny arms around his neck, she hugged him as tight as she could before wiggling down from his arms and rushing towards the house. Knowing that she was probably on her way to find me, I quickly disposed of the toys in the trunk where they had probably started.
I could hear Elizabeth's voice downstairs and she must've passed almost everyone in Edward's family and staff because she squealed "Daddy's taking us to Disney World!" about twenty times before I heard her bare, wet feet padding up the stairs. "Mommy!" She called.
"In here!" I heard her feet slap down the hall before she rushed into the room, jumping at me and I picked her up immediately. "You look happy."
"We're going to Disney World!" She shrieked right in my face. "Daddy's taking us to Disney World!"
"He is?" I feigned ignorance and she nodded enthusiastically. "When are we going?"
"Daddy says we have to leave for a hour-"
"In an hour." I corrected and she nodded.
"That's what I said." She insisted.
"Well, then you should probably go tell everyone else so they can pack."
"I already did," She grinned, thinking that she had become smarter than me. "I told grandma, and Miss Rosalie, and Mister Rosalie-" I stifled a laugh. "And Miss Alice, and Mister Jasper, and everybody else!"
I nodded at her. "That was very smart. Now we just have to pack our bags and go." I put down Elizabeth and she rushed over to the dresser in the room while I got her suitcase from the closet. I didn't know any of the Cullen's staff well, but they were clearly efficient; if it had been left for me to do, it'd probably end up being days before Elizabeth's bags got unpacked.
Elizabeth chatted away while we packed- well, while she threw her clothes in the suitcase and I took them out and re-folded them before packing them back inside. By the time I got her clothes packed up, Leo rushed into the room to pack his own things and Elizabeth insisted we help- which meant me doing all the work- while she and Leo discussed everything they would do once they got to Disney World.
"Is it safe for them to run around like that?" I asked, watching as Leo ran around with Colin.
We were on the plane once again and I was sitting on the couch with Alice. Elizabeth had gotten Claire to braid her long brow hair near the fireplace while they chatted about princesses and other Disney-esque things. Emmett and Jasper sat together talking on one side of the plane while Edward and his mother sat on the other side. Colin was playing on his mother's phone on the floor while she was on the other end of the couch from us reading a book with Alec while he listened intently, sucking his thumb.
It turned out that Elizabeth and Leo had been the first to finish packing since they had my help and I had been the last out of everyone- despite having less then thirty pieces of clothing. Jasper, however, had been nice enough to carry my bag down while I tried to keep Elizabeth from exploding from excitement.
"It's not like they can do much damage," Alice insisted. "As long as they stay away from the cockpit and don't break anything, I try not to bother them...unless somebody starts crying. So...how long have- had you and Edward been dating before you got married?" She asked suddenly and my eye widened.
"I-uh-" I cleared my throat. "...Just a year- not even that. This was all kind of...sudden." At least I wasn't lying.
"Really?" She asked and I felt myself get even more unsure of my answer. "Edward's not the type of person who rushes into things."
Luckily, I was a master bullshitter. I watched Leo run over to Edward who picked him up and let him sit on his lap as he continued his conversation. "I've been helping him out of his comfort zone," I lied and Alice nodded in understanding.
"I had to do the same with Jasper," She explained. "When I met him, getting him to talk was like pulling a tooth. He still doesn't talk that much now, but it's no longer at the point where you think he's a mute."
"Not to be a bitch, but have you noticed the serial killer thing he's got going on, right?" Her eyes flicked to Jasper and she sighed with a nod.
"I have," She admitted. "And it was really hard to ignore at first, but then I realized that it's only a defense mechanism; no-one messes with you if they think you'll murder them in their sleep." She had a point, but that didn't stop me from eyeing him like he was a lion ready to rip someone's throat out.
"Bella!" Looking away from Alice, I saw Leo rushing over to me with a tablet in his hands. He only just managed to avoid bashing it into his head when he jumped on the couch between me and Alice. Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket. When she saw who it was, she quickly got up. "Work," She explained before walking away.
"Look!" Leo regained my attention and positioned the table so I could see and I saw a photo of two kids. They were both older than Leo; one of them was a boy with tan skin and loose, black curls that went down to his shoulders. He was around twelve or so. The girl looked a little older and had a wildly different appearance; her skin was a few shades away from being considered fair and she had red, coppery hair like Edward's that went further down than the camera could see. "This is Carlie," He pointed at the girl. "And this is Ben; they're my brother and sister,"
"How come you're not in the photo?" I asked.
"What photo?" A voice asked and my eyebrows shot up. Who was that? "Leo, are we frozen again?"
Leo nodded. "We're on the airplane." The photo- which I soon realized was a video- began to glitch as the two figures moved.
"Dad really needs to do something about that," The picture cleared up and I was able to see the two kids are they stared back. "Did it get better?" Carlie asked and Leo nodded. "Good," She looked at me. "Hi,"
"Hello," I said back.
"This is Bella," Leo introduced. "She's our new stepped-mom-"
"Stepmom, Leo." Ben corrected before looking at me. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why did Dad marry you? He said he was never getting married again af-"
"Ben!" Carlie shoved him and he fell off of whatever they were sitting on with an oomph. "Sorry about him," She apologized. "He's a caveman."
"Ask her if we're going to Disney World," Ben's voice ordered as he shoved himself back next to her. "We've never been," Isn't going to that place something that all rich people had in common? "We were supposed to go last year but-"
"But we couldn't because someone thought it was a great idea to jump off of the roof into the pool and broke his leg," Carlie interrupted, sending an accusing look to her brother who shrugged.
"You're the one who dared me,"
"I didn't think you would actually do it," The two continued to bicker for, what had to be, at least ten minutes before Elizabeth came over after Claire opted to play with her brother on Rosalie's phone.
"That's Ben and Carlie," Leo pointed them out to her as Elizabeth shoved her away between the two of us. "They're your stepped-brother and sister-"
"Step, Leo." Carlie pushed Ben off of whatever they were sitting on once again as she corrected her brother. "Did you do any of your summer reading?" He shook his head. "You do know that Daddy's gonna force you to, right?" He shrugged and she sighed. Feeling left out, Elizabeth demanded attention.
"Do you know anything about princesses?" She asked suddenly. "Mommy doesn't." I did actually, but I had been too busy packing her clothes to answer her questions.
Elizabeth and Leo ended up falling asleep halfway through the ride to Florida and were thoroughly cranky when they were woken up, but quickly got over it after they saw that we were at our destination. Since it was only mid afternoon when we landed, the first thing they- and Emmett, who was surprisingly childlike considering I witnessed him shoot a man in the head- wanted was to go on rides. Rosalie pointed out that we still had to get Carlie and Ben who would be meeting us in the lobby of the hotel. When we finally did find them, they barely said hello to me before begging Edward to let "Uncle Emmett" take them on a ride.
"Only if Rosalie goes, too." He answered immediately. "Last time I let you go anywhere alone with him, he ended up in jail and you-" He looked directly as his daughter. "Assaulted a cop." What?!
"How was I supposed to know that it wasn't an all ages casino?" Emmett demanded.
"And how was I supposed to know that that guy was a cop before I bit him?" Carlie asked. She bit him? I looked at Rosalie who returned a look that clearly said not to ask.
"You shouldn't have bitten him in the-" He stopped suddenly when he looked down and saw that Elizabeth had slipped her small hand into his. It made me smile, knowing that she was trying to calm him down. "Just...don't get arrested again," He said and Carlie grinned before she grabbed Emmett's hand and pulled him towards the door. Ben followed and Leo took Elizabeth's free hand.
"C'mon!" She looked at me for permission and I nodded to show her that it was okay. She blew me a kiss before running off with Leo and with Rosalie following after with her own children. Alice, Alec, and Jasper were nowhere to be found and Esme had walked off to make a call, so it was just Edward and me. I looked to see him still watching as the kids ran towards the doors. I couldn't help but notice his attention lingers on Elizabeth.
"She saw you were frustrated," I told and he looked down at me. "Whenever I'm stressing about one thing or another, she always notices and holds my hand to make me feel better. I used to do the same thing with my dad."
"...She's a sweet kid," He said after a moment. "So, we're at Disney World." He pointed out. "The happiest place on Earth and your only responsibility just ran off to play. What're you gonna do now?"
Thankfully, I didn't have to answer that question- not that I even had a clue as to what to answer with. "I've actually booked a place at the spa for Bella and I," We both turned to see that Esme had ended her call and was now only a foot away. "I want to get to know my new daughter-in-law." I looked at Edward with raised eyebrows, but he didn't say anything. "Come along now, sweetheart."
"Actually," Before his mother could even try to pull me away, Edward wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. "I have a few things to talk to Bella about first. Why don't you go ahead and she'll meet you later?" Esme gave him an incredulous look, but didn't say anything before she turned and walked away.
Edward steered me towards the private elevator that most likely led to the exclusive Cinderella suite. "What exactly do we need to talk about?"
"Well," We stopped and Edward pressed the up button. "I have no doubt that my mother is going to grill you for ever tidbit of information about our relationship that she can get, and seeing as there's not actually any to tell her about, I figured now is probably a good time to get our stories straight." Right.
The elevator doors opened and I stepped in before Edward did the same.
"What's my middle name?"
Two hours. That's how long Edward had kept me in the suite, drilling the facts about our fictitious relationship into my head.
I had insisted that we stick as close to the truth as possible which is how we ended up with our story; Edward and I met at the hotel where I worked and he pursued me- "So my mother won't think you're a gold digger"- relentlessly with little success- "Do you want them to think you're easy?"- before I finally agreed to have coffee with him. We dated for exactly ten months before he proposed and I said yes. We had planned to elope on Isle Esme, but Rosalie had found out and insisted on having a wedding. I had all that down, but now Edward insisted on quizzing me on every single detail.
"Anthony, what's mine?" I asked back. If he was going to quiz me, I was going to do the same to him.
"Marie, after your grandmother." Know-It-All. "Where and when did I propose?"
"At my house, the first time you met Elizabeth." I answered. "When did I finally say yes?"
"Three days later when Elizabeth asked if I was going to be her new father." He replied. "What are the names of my birth parents?"
"Edward Masen Sr. and Siobhan Smith." Edward didn't ask anything else after that and I prayed there weren't anymore questions. It's not that I didn't know the answers, it was more like I got tired of answering them over and over again. "Are we done?"
"...Yes," He sighed. "I'm just worried that my mother won't believe you; you are a notoriously bad liar." He wasn't wrong.
"Well, it's not like she can fact check with anyone other than you," I pointed out as I stood up, but he still looked concerned. "Stop worrying. It makes me nervous."
"Sorry," He apologized. "You shouldn't keep my mother waiting." I wanted to point out that he was the one who had kept me away for two hours, but resisted. Instead, I just sent him- what I hoped was- a reassuring look before leaving the hotel room.
I won't lie, I did get ridiculously lost in the huge hotel- somehow ending up in the staff room- before someone finally took pity and led me to the spa. The locker room was empty so I was able to quickly get undressed and put on the fluffy white robe without anyone looking at my bare body before going out to the main area. There were dozens of men and women milling around the large room and even more settled into the large pool of mud that was in the middle of the room. Thankfully, Esme was seated on one of the loungers near the large wall of windows.
A woman passed me holding a tray of champagne and I quickly grabbed one before chugging it. It was sweet and burned a bit on the way down, but I just shook it off. "Let's do this."