New Orleans

"I am so jealous of you," Alice complained on our short flight to New Orleans. At the moment the girls, Alice, Rose, and I, were all sitting on one aisle and Jasper, Emmett, and Edward were right behind us. I sat in the middle, allowing Alice the window and Rose the aisle. I would have taken the aisle seat myself, but Rose looked as if she was going to throw up at any moment. Apparently, flights didn't agree with her stomach much either.

"You shouldn't be," I told her. "Yours is bigger and newer."

"Not that! The fact that you found it on the FIRST try! That is insane. I looked for months before I found the perfect house here."

"We haven't gotten it yet," I said with a sigh.

Yeah, the bank was taking its sweet fucking time trying to decide if we could get the loan together. I wasn't sure why. We had provided them all the information they needed. We had tons of money in the bank. There was no way that we would miss a payment in the next year at the very least, just from Edward's savings alone. I wasn't sure what the hold up was, but I didn't like it one bit.

"It's just a matter of time," Edward said behind me. "Trust me, love. Don't worry."

"She's not worried," Alice smirked. "She's impatient."

"Either way." I shrugged. "It needs to hurry up. Can we talk about something less stressful? At the very least I know we're not going to hear anything from them today," I said as I looked at my watch. It was already five o'clock. Even if it was a Monday, they were done for the day. "What do you want to do besides the parades?"

"Tonight I want to hit Bourbon Street," Jasper called out. Emmett high-fived him.

"Parades tomorrow," Alice said with a wicked smile. "Lots of hurricanes."

"I want to go on the ferry cruise on Wednesday," Rose added in.

"I saw that they have a package where you can go to the aquarium and the zoo on the ferry," Edward added in. "That would be a fun way to spend the day. What about you, love?"

"I just want to spend time with all my friends," I said with another shrug. I was sad that we had to return late Thursday. Edward had to work on Friday afternoon and Saturday. He was worried that he would have to cancel something on the day of Alice's wedding, but luckily that wasn't a worry. I knew he would have hated to do that and I had never seen him do something like it before.

"Oh!" Alice said as if she suddenly remembered something. "I want to buy a Blue Dog painting for my collection."

"I won't even ask," Emmett smirked.

"It's a series of paintings done by George Rodrigue. Thank you very much," Alice scoffed. "His work is beautiful, bright, and very modern. Get some culture, swine."

"I'd rather get a beer," Emmett answered sarcastically. Rose smirked, rolling her eyes as she looked over at Alice and me. "And some oysters. I want something Cajun. I am starving."

"We'll be landing in like twenty minutes and then we have to check in. Think you can control your stomach until then? I know it'll be difficult for you," Edward asked him sarcastically. I think there might have been a rude gesture, but I wasn't sure.

"Ass hat," Emmett muttered. Rose turned around and gave him the evil eye. "What?"

"Behave," she warned him. When she turned around, I looked at him in time to see him stick his tongue out at her. "Don't think I didn't see that, mister. You are not that smooth."

His face instantly turned green.

This is going to be an interesting trip.

Our home away from home was bustling with activity and people coming and going, so it took forever for us to get checked in. We had rooms all on the same floor of the hotel, but they weren't right next to each other. That was probably a good thing. I wasn't sure what Rosalie and Emmett would be doing in private, and I was positive Edward didn't want to know- at all.

Rosalie said she needed a nap before we went anywhere so we all decided to get freshened up and that we would go out for dinner at nine before going to party. It gave us roughly two and a half hours to waste.

I didn't need a shower. The plane ride wasn't that long, so I didn't feel that gross. I decided it was probably wise to get a nap as well. I wasn't sure what we would be doing that night, and I didn't know how much walking we would be doing the following day. It was probably better safe than sorry.

Edward snuggled beside me, setting the alarm so we would have thirty minutes to get ready.

"How are you?" Edward asked me in the quiet darkness. His hand slowly ran through my hair, combing it with his fingers soothingly.

"Frustrated," I told him truthfully. "A little tired."

"Bella," he sighed softly. "We both have good credit. The bank will call. If not? You know what... I'll be able to front the rest of the money. I'll just use everything if I have to. This is the house I want for us."

"I wouldn't let you do that," I complained.

"You could put some into it too. Maybe another twenty-five hundred. I'd front the rest," he said, shaking his head. "Bella, we will get this place. One way or the other. I assure you. I'm not going to let it slip through my fingers. Don't worry about it."

I nodded my head, tucking it underneath his chin. He turned his face to the side and lightly kissed the top of my head. "I love you," I muttered quietly.

"I love you, too. Don't worry so much. We've got this."

My heart knew he was right, but my head wasn't so sure. It was causing a few issues, like heartburn and a headache. Despite my all over annoyance induced ache, I fell asleep. Though it wasn't exactly restful.

I don't know what I was dreaming about, not really. It was just dark, cold, and scary. I woke up to gentle hands moving over my arms and Edward whispering in my hair, "Bella, love... sh... It's okay. I've got you. You're okay."

I turned my face into his chest, softly whimpering his name in my still exhausted state. My fingers gripped his shirt to hold him as close as possible to me. I was just relaxing back into sleep when the alarm started going off. It shocked the crap out of me. I jumped, knocking my head into Edward's. He moaned in pain before he started laughing, rubbing his forehead gently.

"Ow! Woman, I will say one thing. You have a hard head."

"So do you," I complained, putting my hands on my forehead as I fell back onto the pillows. "Ow."

Someone banged on our door loudly, making me jump once again. Edward groaned, "yeah?"

"Hurry up, bitches! I'm hungry!" Rose yelled grumpily. I looked at Edward with a raised eyebrow, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, we're coming," I answered for us.

"Wonder what has her in such a foul mood," he said as we freshened up quickly.

"Who knows. The flight maybe? I know when my ears pop it makes me grumpy," I shrugged.

Ten minutes later we joined our small group in the lobby. Rosalie was tapping one of her feet. "Finally! Come on! I've been wanting some gumbo all day."

We took the trolley down the Quarter a ways to a part that wasn't completely crazy. We decided to visit a local seafood place. We sat down at the table and Alice went straight to the page in her menu with the liquor.

"Let's get a bottle of wine!" She said excitedly.

"Sounds good to me," I agreed. Edward nodded his head.

"Let's get a nice white," Jasper chimed.

"I'll take a beer. You can have your fruity wine," Emmett decided to add in. "What about you, baby?"

"I'll take a water," Rosalie shrugged.

Alice frowned at her answer. "You don't have to be the designated driver. We were going to take the trolley or a couple of cabs. Feel free to have a couple."

"I can't," she said, a small smile growing on her lips.

"Why?" Emmett asked, confused. He looked over to his bride's brother who just shrugged.

Edward was the first one to get it. "Oh, my god! Congrats! How far along?" He flew over to his aunt, giving her a huge hug. She hugged him back, giggling.

"Twelve weeks. Somewhere around there."

"Congratulations," I said, offering a hand to Emmett. He looked totally in shock. Then it dawned on me. "Did you know?"

He shook his head slowly.

"Do you remember that night that Bella and Edward took Bridget to Ripley's?" Rose said, patting her stomach as she looked at her husband. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, well... Good work, baby."

And then all of a sudden it all sunk in. Emmett hopped out of his chair and whooped loudly. "HELL YEAH! I AM GOING TO BE A DADDY AGAIN! MY PARTS WORK, DAMNIT!"

"Was he worried about them not working?" I whispered to his nephew. Edward just shrugged as he sat down beside me once again.

Emmett grabbed Rosalie in his arms and practically threw her in the air before kissing her hard on the mouth. The waiter came by quickly, looking horrified at the sight. Instead of stopping he looked at that little boy and went, "shut up, man! My woman is gonna have a baby. I can be loud if a damn well please."

"Sit down you big oaf," Jasper scoffed quietly before giving his sister a hug. "I'm going to be an uncle again. That's awesome, sis."

"We need champagne!" Alice chirped happily. "I have to make a toast."

And her toast began with the words, "better you than me!"

Joined in by Jasper's, "Amen!"

Everyone laughed and clinked their glasses, Rosalie drinking sparkling water.

"What now?" Jasper asked excitedly as we exited the restaurant.

"Hurricanes and hand grenades and let's pray Rosalie can haul all our drunk asses back to the hotel!" Alice said with a little hop and a skip. Emmett cheered, and Rose frowned. Edward and I just laughed.

"Let's hit Bourbon Street," I suggested.

Which, by the way, was a madhouse. The streets were packed with people. Edward held onto my hand tightly as we wove through the ocean of drunks. Alice was like a bloodhound trying to find the closest open street bar. She ordered us each, except for Rose, of course, a huge Pat O'Brien's Hurricane. We were going full-on tourist.

We would go through a couple of shops, have a drink, and then go to another. We found our way into a couple of free clubs, dancing to the music before getting another drink.

And another.

And another.

And another.

It was somewhere around the sixth or so drink that I was smashed out of my mind. I may have been an adult with the whole house thing, but when it came to drinking at Mardi Gras? I might as well have been a teenager.

Edward was just as bad off, maybe just a little bit less so since he was so much taller than me. Alice was wobbly, and Emmett looked like his normal self from what I could tell. And Jasper was the zen master. Nothing could have bothered him at the moment.

"I want to go to a strip club!" Jasper yelled at his wife, a stupid smile on his face.

I expected her to argue with him. Of course, she didn't. "Sounds like fun! Let's go!" I began to open my mouth to argue, but she gave me a pointed glance. "Our party and I say we see some tits."

"This is going to end so badly," Edward snickered into my ear, holding on tightly to my waist.

We came to a bar with no cover charge but with a two-drink minimum. No one was going to argue with that, besides Rose who complained that she was pregnant. The doorman said she could order a soda, but she still had to have two. She wasn't too happy about that, but Emmett dragged her away before she could start screaming at the man. Pregnancy hormones were scary.

"I want a lemon drop," I yelled at the barely dressed waitress. My shy boyfriend was being very careful to not look anywhere but at her face. It was rather funny actually.

"Shot or drink?" She asked.

"Oh! I want a shot!" Alice yelled. "Make it two shots!"

"I can't believe I'm in a strip club with my girlfriend," Edward mumbled when the waitress tripped away in her massive heels. Jasper and Emmett's eyes were glued to the center pole where there was a very topless young woman dancing. Edward's eyes were on the floor, and he was blushing a furious shade of red.

"Ever been to one before?" I asked, putting my hand on his thigh comfortingly. He shook his head. "Me either."

"Shots! Shots! Shots!" Alice squealed in a sing-song voice as the waitress set us down four shots. I didn't remember ordering that many, but Alice pushed two my way. "Come on! Drink with me! When was the last time you did shots?"

I looked at the tiny glass and swallowed hard. "A while. Okay, on the count of three..."

It went on like that three more times. Damn Alice and her wicked ways.

I was so far gone.

Alice was sitting in between the boys who were all staring at the pretty girl with purple hair named Sour Grapes. Okay, even I would admit that she was adorable while fully dressed. Even Edward seemed slightly curious about her. His eyes kept flicking up towards the flashes of purple that was her pretty hair.

And Emmett noticed.

When she came off the stage, he pulled out a twenty and flashed it at her. She grinned, swinging her hips on over to him. He waved her in close, whispering in her ear. He then turned and looked at Edward.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked right off, not giving him a chance to get too far.

"What kind of uncle would I be if I didn't buy you your first lap dance?" He smiled.

"No!" His nephew whined, frowning. "You'd be a good uncle, that's what kind of uncle you'd be."

"No, no. I bought you your first drink, and I'm going to buy you your first lap dance, my man. Here cutie," Emmett said as he passed the girl the money. "Make sure it's a good one."

"Bella, tell him no," Edward said, pointing at me. "As my girlfriend tell him I'm not allowed!"

Now, I knew what Sober Bella would have said. Sober Bella would have told Stupid Emmett to keep his damn money and to shove off. But Drunk Bella was slightly amused by the whole thing. And Drunk Bella said, "no! You have a good time, babe! I want to see this."

Everyone but Emmett's jaw dropped. He just grinned. "I knew I liked you, Bella."

Edward looked horrified, poor thing. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was hanging up. I knew if he wasn't in such a state himself he never would have allowed himself to be dragged off to a private room with all of us following.

"I'm going to pick the song!" Alice said in her sing-song voice again. I had determined that it was her normal voice while in her current state.

Alice picked a song with some heavy beat that I didn't know and the girl pushed Edward into the chair before straddling his waist. Her breasts were all in his face, and he was trying his best to look directly upwards.

"I thought you didn't like strip clubs," Alice mumbled in my ear.

"This is different."

Apparently, she knew how it was different because I didn't know. She nodded her head in agreement.

"And funnier."

And then I noticed she had her lips near my boyfriend's ear. He was whispering back, smiling slightly with heavily flushed cheeks. I was sure neither one of the boys noticed because they were staring at her boobs. Rosalie just sipped her club soda with quiet amusement.

I wasn't sure what to make of the whole scene, but my mind went to the whole 'he's mine' place. Though surprisingly I didn't say anything. It was amazing in my drunken state that I had some sort of sense.

When the song came to an end, Edward slipped something into the girl's panties. He stood up and gave me an evil smirk. I mean downright evil.

"Your turn, sugar," the girl with the purple hair said, pushing me down into a chair next.

Edward leaned down out of nowhere and whispered quietly, "payback, baby. Fair is fair."

"Shit," I mumbled, frowning to myself. All of my friends cheered as the music began. "Uh, hi."

"Hiya," she giggled, grinding against me. "Your boyfriend seems to be really into you..."

Well, that's an unexpected conversation starter. Especially from a stripper. "Yeah, we're in love. We're buying a house together," I babbled drunkenly.

"Aw! That's so sweet," she cooed. "Are you getting married?"

"Someday. This is actually my friends' party before their vow renewal. They'll be married ten years in a couple of weeks."

"That's always nice to hear. People don't stay married like they use to. I'll be married for six years in October," she said, shaking her hair loose and swaying her hips to the beat. I was concentrating more on the conversation than I was her.

"Wow, nice. Any kids?"

"One," she giggled. "She's four. She'll be starting school this year. Okay, well, there you go! Songs all over. Your torture is done."

I laughed quietly as I stood. Well, that wasn't so bad. I took a ten out of my pocket. "Thanks for not making me uncomfortable."

She took the money with a smile. "Thanks for letting me have a conversation that doesn't involve my boobs."

"That," Alice slurred, "was awesome! Let's go! I want to go to a voodoo shop!" She said randomly.

I would have agreed to anything if it got me out of the strip club. Edward was leading the pack to leave, holding my hand. He was practically dragging me out.

It didn't take us long to find what we were looking for. It was on Royal Street, overflowing with business still despite the time of night. I had a feeling they didn't close at all during Mardi Gras.

Alice played with every knick-knack and put on every weird hat or mask she could find as she sipped on another drink. There was no way on earth I was going to have another. I was already too far gone.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, we dragged Alice out of the store. Edward shooed me on, telling us that he would only be a moment. Ten minutes later, in which Emmett and Alice sang the entire time, Edward returned with a brown paper bag.

"What's that?" I shouted over the crowd.

"You'll see!" He assured me.

I turned in time just to see Jasper sway. Rosalie threw an arm around his waist to keep him up. "Okay, I call it a night. We need to get everyone to bed if we're going to get up and go to the parades tomorrow."

"Awwwww," Emmett and Alice said at the same time. Jasper just nodded his head.

"Come on, you two," I said, taking Alice by the arm. Edward took his uncle's. "Let's go before you throw up."

Twenty minutes later Jasper had sobered up slightly as we walked into our hotel. He was hanging onto Alice, talking to her in her ear. Whatever he was saying, she was eating it up. She giggled and flushed, touching his arm as she did so.

"Alright, we're going to bed." Edward waved as we reached our room. Alice and Jasper's were across the hall and Rosalie, and Emmett's were four doors past ours.

Rosalie and Emmett hardly even noticed us as they strolled down to their room, his hand on her ass. Edward grimaced, doing an all over fake shiver.

We opened the old fashioned lock with our key and went inside. The moment the door closed Edward pushed me against the wall.

"You are a bad, bad girl, Ms. Swan."

I snorted, "I think you got me back."

"Mm, you didn't seem bothered actually. Did you like seeing someone else rubbing their naked body all over mine, huh?"

"No," I mumbled, frowning to myself.

"And why is that?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because you're mine, dammit. I don't like when other women touch you," I told him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He pressed himself closer, his erection pressed against my stomach.

"That's right. And you're mine, dammit. So don't you forget it," he said in a forceful voice before picking me up. A moment later his lips were on mine, eagerly kissing them. They were determined and demanding as his hands gripped my ass. Lifting me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist.

We made it to the bed, and he sat down with my legs still wrapped around his body. His talented tongue traced down my neck until it met cloth. He quickly became annoyed with it and pulled my shirt off and threw it to the ground.

"I am so drunk," I complained out loud, my head falling back as he kissed the tops of my breasts. "I'm going to be horrible."

"Bella, you couldn't be horrible if you tried," he mumbled against my breast as his fingers worked on the clasp of my bra. Like a pro, he popped it open on the first try. "You forget, your pussy was made for me. It's perfect every single fucking time," he muttered in his thick accented voice.

A soft mew of pleasure fell from my lips as my head fell back, my eyes shut tightly. His mouth was on my breast, sucking and teasing it with his tongue. "Oh, Edward... yes... please… Fuck me..."

"Hell yeah," I heard someone high-pitched say. It certainly wasn't Edward or me though. Edward's head popped up from my breast with wide eyes. I turned just slightly to see the door open with Jasper and Alice standing there. Edward spread his fingers wide on the center of my back to push me forward against his chest. I was assuming so no one would see anything.

Jasper's mouth was hanging open, surprised. He was flushed too. Alice, on the other hand, looked stupidly drunkenly giddy. She was smiling, and her eyes were wide.

"What the hell?" Edward shouted at both of them.

"I am soooo sorry," Jasper began. "We forgot to ask you what time you wanted to meet up in the morning, and Alice decided to just barge in without knocking. I went after her, trying to stop her, but it was too late. And you guys were doing that and-"

"Dude, get out!" He shouted at the sputtering southerner. "And take your pervy wife with you."

"That was so hot!" Alice shouted as Jasper dragged her away. She giggled, "sorry, Bella. I love you, but seriously that was hot."

"Payback," Edward muttered as his mouth dipped down once again after the door shut. I pushed on his forehead, making him stop and look up at me. "What?"

Yup, he's drunk too.

"What do you mean 'payback'?"

"Love, do you know how many times I've walked in on them having sex? Like in the kitchen or the living room? Finally, they know how it feels. Or at least Jasper does. Alice is proving to be a voyeur and an exhibitionist."

Edward put his hand on the back of my head and brought me down for a slow and very distracting kiss. I soon forgot all that happened just minutes before. He lowered his mouth again, his eyes on mine. I couldn't help it. I was just too turned on.

"Fuck me," I whimpered once again.

"With great pleasure," he said before tossing me back on the bed.

Edward and I had drank before, yes. We had drunken sex even. But we had never been anything close to what we were at that moment.

The entire night had been an interesting start to Mardi Gras but I would have been very surprised if we remembered any of it in the morning.

The stripper thing may or may not be based off real events that happened in New Orleans. Ms. Grapes seemed like a lovely lady.

Someone needs to learn to lock the door. Alice is apparently a pervert and doesn't understand knocking. It's a problem.

Thanks for reading!