A Girl's Day
Two weeks passed. Two hectic, long, horribly lonely week. Edward actually worked nine days straight without a break. He worked tons of parties, weddings and things like that. During those fourteen days, we slept in the same bed only three times.
I hated it.
I missed him.
But, I did get a lot of work done. I would admit that. I worked out at the gym, a lot, just to let the frustration out.
I also started helping Alice with her wedding planning. I was just her tiebreaker when she couldn't decide between one thing or another, but it still worked. I was more like the devil's advocate. We would go back and forth with what would be good or bad about each thing until she would finally decide.
I never knew a person could get in an argument about the use of colors at a wedding. Honestly, I wasn't going to go that insane for my own.
The time Edward and I spent together had been used mostly for three things. Eating, sex, and planning for the Mardi Gras Party.
Mardi Gras that year was in Mid-March, which was great since Alice and Jasper were renewing their vows on April first.
Only Alice would get married on April's fools day. It was kind of cute.
We had already arranged for three hotel rooms right off of St. Charles, which was in the French Quarter but not in the center of the action. That way we would be able to sleep at some point. If we slept at all.
We had also arranged for a flight for the six of us. We decided it was silly to rent a car. They had trolleys, taxis, and buses that could take you anywhere in New Orleans. Hell, we could even walk from our hotel to where the parades were being held.
It was sure to be a great time.
It was Saturday morning, and Edward and I were getting ready to go out. Edward literally had to work all day. I, on the other hand, was having a girl's day with Alice, Rose, Bridget, and Tanya. We decided that it would be fun to take the younger ones out, especially since Tanya was still getting adjusting to Texas. We hadn't decided where we were going or what we were doing yet. We were just going to wing it.
"So, I was wondering something..." Edward said as he struggled to put his socks on. He was bending over and trying to balance on one foot. He wasn't having much luck.
"Wondering if it would be wiser to sit down when you did that, so you don't ram your head into the dresser?" I asked with a smirk as I watched him from the mirror I was looking into. I was trying to pull my hair into a bun, and it was not working. I frowned and took it down, shaking my hair loose.
"No," he laughed, "but that's probably a good idea. No, I was wondering if you'd be able to take a couple of days off the weekend after Valentine's day."
"Hm?"
"Well, this will be our first Valentine's together. I booked that weekend a month or so before I even met you. Otherwise, I would have left it free. But, I don't have anything the Monday and Tuesday after. I was wondering if we could do something."
"Like what?" I asked, going to sit on the bed to put on my shoes. He sat beside me, socks in his hands.
"It would be a surprise." He smiled at me ruefully. "I already know what I want to do, but I want it to be a surprise. All you have to do is take the days off. Can you do that? I mean, if not, we could do it another day but-"
I leaned over and kissed his lips lightly to shut him up. "I can do that. What days are those? Sixteenth and Seventeenth?"
"Yeah," he said, looking at me thoughtfully. I wondered what he was thinking about and I would have asked him if we weren't both in a hurry. We both had to be out of the house in under twenty minutes. "So, yes?"
"Yes." I leaned over and kissed him again. "That would be great. So, can I have a hint?"
"Nope," he said, working on his socks before slipping on his slick black shoes. "This is going to be good. I'm not going to ruin it."
"Why does that worry me?" I asked with a laugh.
He chuckled before standing up, going to get the rest of the things he needed like his wallet and keys. When he was all arranged, he came over to where I was sitting and leaned over. "The only thing you will have to worry about is relaxing. I will see you tonight?"
"My place or yours?"
"Yours," he sighed. "I'll be late."
"I don't care. I just want to see you," I told him softly. He nodded and placed his hand on my cheek. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he breathed before pressing a quick kiss on my lips then a lingering one on of my forehead.
"There you are!" Rose said as I came to sit down with them at the restaurant. It was just after noon, and I hadn't had breakfast. I was starving. I called and told them as much, so they agreed to meet me there. It was a lovely little country kitchen with comfort food. It smelt great. "I was wondering what took you so long."
"Traffic," I complained as I flopped down in my chair. Alice pushed a water my way. "You okay?" She hadn't said anything. That was odd for her. She was usually so excited.
"The wedding is stressing her out, already," Rose snickered. "The devil may be in the details, but if you nitpick at everything you're going to give yourself a heart attack."
"I know that," Alice mumbled. "Jasper and I had an argument over what we're going to serve. I'm just annoyed."
"I'm with Jasper."
"Of course you're with Jasper," Alice said to Rose. "You're his sister."
"No," she laughed, rolling her eyes. "I agree that serving Japanese Kobe beef is going overboard. I also agree that going with a buffet would be wise. There will be some kids there, and it'll be more comfortable. And that way, you don't have to worry about who will have what plate. They'll get their own," Rose continued on and on.
Bridget took no notice of it as she crawled into my lap from her spot next to her mother. "Hi, Auntie Bella."
"Hi there," I chuckled. I liked that name a lot. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. I miss Tanya. Mommy said she was coming. When is she going to be here?" She asked in a pouty voice. I gave her a tight hug after I shrugged.
"Here I am!" Tanya said quickly, looking flustered. "Sorry, I got turned around. I hope I didn't miss anything."
"Wait? How did you get here?" I asked, confused.
"I got a car!" She squealed, pulling her keys out of her pocket. Both Alice and Rose rolled their eyes. I was missing something. "Daddy bought it for me for Christmas."
"That's awesome! What kind of car is it?"
She launched into details, talking about how it was a Volvo hatchback in a pretty silver color. Rose leaned over and whispered in my ear when Tanya got distracted by Bridget, who was now sitting on her lap. "Her parents are trying to play favorites. Who's the best, you know. Her mom bought her some fancy silver jewelry, her dad bought her a flashy silver car."
"You know I know that, right?" Tanya said. Rose blushed when she realized she was caught. "You're not very subtle or quiet."
"Sorry! But, it's true!"
"I know it is," Tanya said, laughing. "They're just trying to piss each other off. They can do that all they want. It won't change the way I feel about either of them. Maybe they'll eventually figure that out."
"Hopefully AFTER one of them buys you an apartment wherever you're going to school," Alice laughed, popping a bite of cornbread in her mouth. I hadn't even realized that there was bread on the table. My stomach grumbled loudly.
I needed a menu.
I grabbed one of the paper menus while they went back and forth with their commentary. Bridget got in on it too, saying maybe they should get Tanya a pony.
It was adorable and just plain cute.
I ordered a big lunch of a ham sandwich with mac and cheese. Bridget approved of it so much that she made her mother change her order to that from her original corn dog. Tanya ordered mac and cheese as well but got a salad with it. She mumbled about wanting a sandwich the entire time. Poor thing.
"When do you get the braces off?" I asked after the waitress was gone.
"Two months. THANK GOD!" She huffed.
I laughed, patting her hand. "I will take you out for a giant steak or something myself."
"Barbecue. Lots of meat," she said, nodding her head in her own little fantasy world. "Ribs, brisket, sausage, ham, turkey-"
"You're going to make yourself sick," Rose laughed, shaking her head.
"Don't care. Totally worth it."
"Auntie Alice, when are you going to teach Bella and me to knit?" Bridget asked out of nowhere, obviously tired of our somewhat adult conversation.
"I didn't know you knit," Tanya said to Alice.
"I don't. I crochet, a little." Alice shrugged. "I told her that I would teach them both. I just haven't gotten around to it."
"Isn't knitting on your list?" Rosalie asked thoughtfully, taking a bite of biscuit.
"List?" Tanya asked in confusion. "Huh?"
Alice and Rose looked at me at the same time. I just shrugged and waved my hand in front of me for them to continue. Alice decided to take the lead since she seemed to be the head of Bella's List club. Maybe even the president.
"Well, Bella has a list of all the things she wants to do before she turns thirty-one that she wrote on her thirtieth birthday this year-" She began, but Tanya cut her off.
"Thirty? Dude! I thought you were totally like twenty-four or twenty-five."
"God bless you," I said, leaning over and hugging her. She laughed, hugging me back.
"Anyway!" Alice said, scoffing at my silliness. "We've all been helping her in our own little ways. Even Edward. One of the things on her list is knitting. There are fifty-one things in all."
"Oh! I want to see the list!" Tanya said. Both Alice and I looked at each other and she shook her head. "What? Why not?"
"Because you shouldn't do some of those things on the list," I said with a raised eyebrow, showing that I wasn't going to explain in front of a small child. "I've got almost everything scratched out."
"But, not knitting?"
"No, not knitting," I told her with a small sigh. "Crocheting is close enough though if we ever get to it."
Tanya shrugged her tiny bony shoulders, her pinkish blond hair bouncing slightly. "I know how to knit. My grandma taught me. I've knitted a ton of stuff, but I had to leave all of that in Alaska when I moved. I'd love to do it again. I could teach you."
"And me?" Bridget asked, looking up from her picked apart bread. I don't actually think she was eating it, just pulling it into tiny bits.
"And you," Tanya said, ruffling Bridget's wild blond curls.
"When?" The tiny child asked impatiently.
"What were our plans today?" She asked curiously.
"We hadn't decided," Rose answered.
"Today then. We can go to a craft store and get all the things we need. I can teach you all to knit. Maybe we can even rent a movie to watch while we're doing it. Go over to Rose's place and-"
"Alice's or Bella's," Rosalie shook her head at Tanya's words. "I promised to get Bridge out of Emmett's hair for the afternoon."
"Well, anywhere would work," Tanya shrugged. "What do you think?"
All of us looked at each before shrugging our shoulders almost in unison. "Sounds good to me," I said, smiling as Bridget clapped her hands excitedly.
I never knew that there were that many different kinds of yarn. It was amazing. We were in the middle of a craft store with three confused adults, a happy three-year-old, and a peppy teenager leading the way.
It was like some sort of comedy routine. A bad one at that.
"Okay. It's furry. Why the hell is it furry?" Rosalie asked in confusion. Alice poked her shoulder and pointed down at Bridget who was making a rainbow of string in our cart. Rose rolled her eyes and smirked slightly. "She's not listening to us. She's just like her father. She's in her OWN universe."
"Okay, so we'll each need a set of needles. I got a good size," Tanya said, coming back with a range of knitting needs in a wide variety of colors. "I got some smaller ones for Bridget."
"I call dibs on the shiny pink ones!" Alice said excitedly. We all ignored her.
"Why are these furry?" Rose said, picking up a ball of oddly purple yarn fuzz.
"They're good for scarfs and stuffed animals," Tanya said, taking the string from the blond's hands. "That's a bit advanced for you. The yarn you'll need is on the next aisle."
"Why do I feel the urge to say the words 'oh, burn'?" I asked Alice as I trailed behind Tanya. Rose flicked me on my shoulder, making me giggle.
"I think I understand how my home economics teacher feels now," Tanya said, shaking her head at our childish antics. Alice actually giggled and snorted, making me laugh as well. "Anyway, so like this yarn is fairly middle of the road. It's soft but still fairly strong. It's also cheap, so it's good for beginner's who will mess up with a lot."
"I think she's saying we're going to be bad at this," I frowned playfully, making Alice smirk and Rose laugh.
"No, I know you're going to suck at it," Tanya says, tossing a few colors into the cart. "I just want to keep this experiment in disaster from costing you too much."
"Oh, burn," I said with as straight of a face as possible. Tanya cracked, laughing loudly and shaking her head. After that point, Bridget came bounding up to us and excitedly told us that there was yarn just for kids and that she wanted every single color. In an effort to put back the entire armful she had, Alice and Rose went with her. That left Tanya and me alone. "Seriously, how do you know all this? It's kind of awesome actually."
She shrugged her shoulders almost thoughtfully, giving a soft and nearly wistful smile. "My grandma taught me when I was ten, right before my mom and dad split up. Right before I stayed with Alice and Jasper. When I had to move up to Alaska with my mom, I realized that there was nothing to do. So, I knitted."
"You knit often?"
"I did before I came back to Texas. Before the summer I worked so much I used to be constantly knitting. I'd start making all my Christmas presents for my friends and family in like January," she laughed. "Then anything extra I made I donated to this mission to help kids get warm winter clothes. Scarves and hats and stuff. One year I donated like twenty-five things. It was so happy."
"You're a pretty awesome girl," I said, putting an arm around her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Thanks for agreeing to teach me."
"Don't thank me yet," she laughed again. "I still have to teach you. It's easier said than done."
And boy, she wasn't kidding.
"I swear to God, she's speaking a different damn language," Rose complained loudly as we sat around Alice's house, all trying to knit.
Bridget gave up first, of course. She ended up tying her legs together, saying that she was a prisoner. Somewhere along the way she got distracted by the movie on the TV, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and fell asleep. With her feet still tied together.
Alice was doing the best. She was halfway to a bright pink scarf which she claimed to be for Jasper. There were a lot of problems with that. First off, it was Texas and no one ever really needed a scarf. The second problem was that it was neon pink. Jasper was whipped, but not that bad.
Rosalie was doing the worst. The most she had going for her was a ball of knotted string. I'm not sure how she accomplished that, but she did. And she was getting very annoyed about it.
"It's really easy," Tanya tried to explain for what was the third time. "Look, this is how you do a purl stitch."
"Speak English," Rosalie mumbled.
"P- U- R- L. Purl. It is English," Tanya replied back saucily. I snorted, not taking my eyes off of the navy blue scarf I was working on. I could send it to Phil for when he traveled. He went to cold places sometimes.
"I give up. I need a martini," Rose said, chucking her yarn to the side. Alice giggled, nodding her head towards the small bar that sat to one side of her living room. "Bella. Care to partake?"
"No, thanks," I smiled. "I'm barely able to keep from stabbing myself with these things when I'm sober."
"Never drink and knit," Tanya quipped. She giggled at her own joke, her cheeks turning red. She was adorable, and I could imagine a teenager of my own being that way. Or at least, I hoped she would be like that.
Rosalie and Bridget left first because Emmett started sending her texts that he was in the mood to set something on fire. At first, I was a tad worry, but when Rose explained that he wanted to barbecue, I was slightly less so. Only slightly.
Tanya left next. It was getting close to eight o'clock, and she needed to get home. She apparently had church the next morning. I hadn't realized that she was religious, but it did fit her personality. I gave her a big hug and whispered my thanks before she left.
"I had a great time. I've been kind of homesick in a twisted sort of way," she admitted. "This helped. I like Texas better. It's just that I miss a few things."
"I know," I smiled. "Maybe we can practice this together. I'll make all of my own Christmas presents. It sounds cheaper."
I left soon after when Jasper arrived home. He smelt of cookies. It was lovely. Alice had finished with her scarf and wrapped it around his neck. He thanked her with a big kiss, and I could tell it was time for me to leave. Two certain someones wanted a private moment. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like a third wheel. It made me miss Edward even more.
I tried to stay up for him. I really did. One minute I was reading and the next I felt two smooth hands trail over my stomach lightly. A moment later I felt his warm body and his soft lips against my back.
"Hey baby," I mumbled softly.
"Hey, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep," he said, stroking my arm. "I was later than I meant to be."
"It's okay," I stuttered through sleep. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," Edward whispered quietly, kissing my neck. "Did you have a fun Saturday?"
"Mmhmm. Tanya taught us how to knit. Bridget tied herself up, and I made you a placemat. I was going to make a scarf for Phil, but I got lazy and stopped."
"Okay," Edward laughed at the nonsense I was most likely saying. I was too tired to actually care if I made sense or not. "Thank you, I think."
"Mm," I said, turning in his arms and rested my head on his chest. "I want kids like Bridget and Tanya."
"Me too," he admitted. His voice was so distant that it was almost dream-like. Maybe I was drifting off at that point, but I wasn't sure.
"You're going to be such a good daddy," I told him truthfully. "You're going to be the dad where the kid's friends all have crushes on you. They'll come over just to spy on you. You're so hot."
I felt Edward's chest rumble with laughter. "Bella, I love you dearly, but it's time for you to back to sleep. We'll talk in the morning, I promise."
"Mkay," I mumbled, pressing my nose against his chest and breathing in deeply. It was like... home. I was so secure in his arms. He was my soft place to lay my head, and I loved it. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanks for reading!