"Good morning everyone."Rosalie said as she entered the kitchen the next morning finding Alice, Charlotte and Esme looking through what she thought were cookbooks.
"Good morning sweetheart. Where's Bella?" Esme asked.
"Shower." Rosalie told her. "What are you guys up to?"
"Well we found out that during her human years Charlotte trained as a cook for a wealthy family in the south." Alice began.
"Something I enjoyed doing but haven't done since being turned." Charlotte added.
"And since Bella has to eat food we thought it was the perfect opportunity for her to try cooking again." Alice told Rosalie.
Charlotte seemed suddenly unsure." If that is ok with you and your mate of course."
Rosalie shook her head. Here was just one more thing she wanted to do for her mate that was being taken away from her. However Charlotte and Peter seemed to respect Bella and this was something she could give Charlotte in return for their loyalty. Rosalie knew the pain of having your dreams taken away because you were turned into a vampire. Bella had given her a chance to have what she always wanted in life. If giving Charlotte a chance to cook again meant that much to her, then Rosalie wasn't going to stand in the way of Charlotte getting back a little of the human life that was stolen away from her.
Rosalie gave Charlotte a reassuring smile." I think Bella would be more than ok with you cooking her food. Just remember she eats a lot,so make the portions big."
Charlotte chuckled . "Don't worry I've heard of shifter appetites and plan on making Bella a feast."
"Good. Are you making her breakfast or do you want me to do that?"Rosalie asked.
"I was hoping I could make her a southern breakfast. It was the first thing I learned how to cook." Charlotte explained.
Rosalie gave a hum of approval." I'm sure Bella will love it no matter what you make."
"What will Bella love?"Bella asked as she walked into the kitchen and gave Rosalie a kiss on the cheek. "Good morning everyone."
"Morning Bella. Charlotte is making you breakfast." Alice told her. "Did you know in her human life she was going to be a private chef?"
"I did not but I welcome trying out your food." Bella told Charlotte.
Charlotte smiled shyly. "It won't be a gourmet meal but it is nice to be able to do something I used to love again ."
"I will love it no matter what it is." Bella said turning to Rosalie she asked." Where is Carlisle? You need to give him our reply and I would like to know what the Denali's response is."
Rosalie looked at Esme ."I was about to ask."
"He is out hunting but should be back any minute now." Esme said.
"That will give us enough time to get set up for the shifters. We aren't supposed to be in town but Alice would you and maybe someone else go and pick up an order from the butchers I put in yesterday?" Rosalie asked.
Alice gave her a confused look."What do you need from the butcher?"
"With the shifters coming we thought we could bbq for them for lunch." Rosalie explained.
Esme clapped her hands together. "That's a wonderful idea. What were you thinking for sides. We have time to make some different kinds of salads and other things."
"I just got some vegetables to grill nothing fancy." Rosalie said.
Esme gave Rosalie a look of disapproval "That won't do. Alice honey ,I'm supposed to be away as well, but let me make you a list of things to pick up. We need to make a good impression on the shifters as they are Rosalie's guests."
Bella pulled out her black card and handed it to Alice. "Use this for whatever you think you will need."
Alice took the card and squealed. "I'll make sure we have everything we need."
Rosalie glared at Alice." You are to get what we need not what what you think we need. Respect the card. It is not your personal money. Anything I feel is frivolous you will pay back."
Alice frowned. "I'm a responsible adult Rosalie. I can be trusted with Bella's credit card ."
Bella pulled Rosalie into a side hug when she heard her growl. " Alice will be perfectly fine. Just think of it this way, there is only so many things she can spend money on in a town as small as Forks."
Esme handed a smug looking Alice a list. "I'll call you if I think of anything else I need.
Alice took the list and made her way out of the room yelling as she entered the hallway. " Emmett,Bella gave me her credit card. Want to go shopping?"
There was a thud followed by Emmett's voice saying."Hell yeah!! I already spent my video game budget for the month and there were a couple preorders I want to make."
Rosalie tried to break Bella's now firm hold over her. "I'm going to kill them. If they so much as spend a penny on something they weren't supposed to I will literally kill them. Why did you give them your card anyway?"
"They will be fine. You worry to much." Bella chuckled at Rosalie's eye roll. "Anyway we invited them so it would be rude to make anyone else pay."
Rosalie huffed. "They can afford it."
"Of course they can but as immortals having a lot of money doesn't mean much. You know this. You guys are teenagers so there isn't really a lot of ways to earn it and it's probably really hard to invest long term when you don't age and have to change identities so often."Bella said.
"I know but I don't want them thinking you will buy them whatever they want." Rosalie told her.
Bella kissed her cheek. "They won't. You are here to remind them it won't happen."
Esme laughed. "I think Bella's right, with you around I doubt those two will get away with much."
Charlotte started setting plates of food on the counter. "I don't know. I heard the two of them conspiring to get the James Bond car and there was talk about a race car. I'm not sure what they were talking about on that one."
Rosalie rubbed her face with her hand. "I may buy them a James Bond car just to get them to stop plotting ways to get to drive Bella's. The race car is a definite no. The one they want to race is a car that only had 85 models made and Bella's is in mint condition. I don't trust those two to not ruin it."
"Bella, breakfast is done,you can just serve yourself buffet style." Charlotte told Bella. "Why don't they just buy the car themselves?"
"It's because they don't know enough about cars to invest in them and I refuse to fix a car they purposely wreck." Rosalie explained.
"Charlotte this is delicious." Bella said around a mouthful of food.
Charlotte gave her a beaming smile. "I'm glad you like it."
"Oh good you two are up." Carlisle said as he made his way through the door in the kitchen.
"You have news for us?" Rosalie asked.
"Yes, the Denali are displeased we don't want their help. Apparently they discussed things as a family and decided they over reacted." Carlisle told them.
Bella rolled her eyes. "I'm sure talking to the Volturi had no impact on that decision."
"Well I also believe the fact that Laurent has been up there lying to their faces has led them back to our cause." Carlisle said. "From what little I was told, it seems he has been trying to work his charms on Kate."
Bella finished off her third plate."That does make sense as she does have a gift that would be most helpful in a fight."
Carlisle nodded. "She would be good to have on their side. Laurent has also spoken of you Bella. He hasn't said anything about our coven yet but he has been taking every opportunity he can get to tell them stories of the dangerous white tiger. Tanya said he is not very subtle and if they weren't on to his game already they would have called him out on it."
"Has he said anything about their plans yet?" Rosalie asked.
"He has made comments about the benefits of trapping the tiger but made no mention of how he would go about it. The Denali have been careful not to let it slip they know his plan so it is a fine line they are walking with how hard to push to get information without tipping him off." Carlisle said.
Bella put her plate in the sink. "Then we continue to train until the time comes for us to fight."
"What time are the wolves coming?" Carlisle asked.
"In a couple hours."Rosalie told him. " I have our reply to the Volturi ready when you need It,"
"I have to give it to the messenger tonight,so I can stay for training today."Carlisle said.
Rosalie grabbed Bella's hand pulling her towards the living room."Bella and I are going to take advantage of having the house mostly empty and watch a movie while we wait."
"Thank you for breakfast Charlotte it was delicious." Bella called over her shoulder.