Gwendolyn

The alarm clock in my bedroom had been set for four am. I rolled over, hitting snooze, thankful the beach was apparently cancelled. I fell back to sleep easily. When I wandered downstairs later around nine or so Alice was tapping her foot, impatiently. Emmett looked over at me then back to Alice. He let out a low laugh.

"We'll see you at the movie, Rose,"Emmett stated standing.

"Where is your father?"I asked. Bella looked up from the chess game she and Jasper were playing as Edward watched.

"He's at work."

"On a Saturday?"

"He's a doctor and therefore always on call," Rosalie said as Emmett kissed her cheek.

"Checkmate," Bella smirked as Edward kissed her on the forehead. He whispered something unintelligible to her and she laughed. Jasper hugged Alice, looking into her eyes. She beamed at him. He walked over to where his brothers waited.

"Have fun!"The girls called in unison as the boys exited.

"Good luck," they yelled back. I didn't care to know why.

"After you eat, we'll go," Alice grumbled to me. She frowned muttering to Rosalie. I grabbed a bagel and toasted it gulping down a glass of orange juice as I buttered it. Bella stood by the door.

"What?"I asked. I didn't appreciate her watching me.

"Alice is frustrated. You were supposed to get up earlier. You didn't and because of that we are running late. So please finish up in a timely fashion."Bella replied coolly. I glared at her as I rinsed my glass in the sink. I chewed my bagel very slowly; going in depth with each bite making sure my teeth crushed the bread to bits. This took another ten minutes to my great satisfaction. That little girl should know not to rush an adult. And if she didn't she does now, I smiled as Bella held the door open for me. She walked toward yet another silver car, getting into the backseat with Rosalie. I walked toward the driver's side surprised to find Alice there already.

"That's my seat," I said simply.

"You don't even know where you're going," Alice replied.

"Just be glad, Bella gave you shotgun. It was her turn after all," Rosalie added snappishly.

"Please get in," Bella chimed in.

Reluctantly, I climbed into the passenger seat. Alice put the car in reverse and pulled out smoothly. When we reached the paved road Alice sped up. As we pulled out of town I checked the speedometer. Alice was going 450 mph!

"Slow down!"I screamed, terrified. Alice just laughed at my request.

"You're fine," Alice said coming to a stop. I looked up to see that we were in some sort of shopping plaza. The girls all got out quickly. Again Bella waited for me. I took my time getting out, checking the speedometer before I even touched the door handle.

"Ready?" Bella's tone was impatient. I nodded and she locked the car, walking ahead.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"Well we're starting with Herve Leger,"Bella said walking to a door. Someone inside opened the door for her and I followed quickly.

"Bonjour Madamoiselle Bella. Madamoiselle Alice ne précise pas ce que vous recherchez tout pour aujourd'hui." A tall woman in a black dress spoke to Bella.

"Nous vous magasinez pour , Celine."

"Bella," Alice appeared holding a blue dress. "Zinnia bandage dress. Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"Finally! You are the slower than a sloth," Alice said handing someone the dress she'd shown Bella.

"Celine, I need a rack for a large."

"Yes ma'am."

"That was rude," I said to Alice. The woman holding Bella's dress laughed.

"Where do you usually shop Mrs. Daniels?"The saleswoman asked politely.

"Walmart and my friends' garage sales."

"You can't be serious," Rosalie said from where she now stood next to Alice.

"I thought you were kidding Alice," Bella said looking at a white skirt. She held it against herself for a moment. Turning, she spoke. "Rose?"

"It would look great with that teal blouse, you got in Marseilles." Bella nodded giving the skirt to the woman holding her dress who then put it on a rack. The woman from earlier reappeared towing a half full clothes rack behind her. The girls converged on it thumbing through the clothes. Once in a while they'd decide to pull something off and it would land in the hands of a sales associate. After a while Alice stopped. Then her sisters followed suit. I guess they were done.

"Come here please," Alice barked. I was tempted to stay put but I decided I didn't want another adolescent trying to put me in what she thought to be my place, when in fact I was the adult.

"Do you want to try anything on?"Bella asked.

"No, I'm not buying anything in here. It's all very immodest." I looked pointedly at Rosalie's outfit. She wore a clingy blouse, low slung jeans, and boots. A pair of sunglasses was nestled in her hair. Bella wore a purple dress with ballet flats and she too had sunglasses in her hair. They were, like Rosalie's, oversized. Alice though was the worst. She wore a ribbed blue shirt, ripped dark skinny jeans, and incredibly high black heels. And of course oversized sunglasses.

"Are you all ready?"A tall man asked,smiling.

"Oui, Jean Pierre. Everything, s'il vous plait," Rosalie said smiling widely. The workers came to life then. They hurriedly emptied the contents of four racks into bags upon bags. Alice strode up to the cashier with three credit cards.

"Split, please,"she said in a businesslike voice. He took all three and ran them through the reader,while Alice signed the machine once. Then Bella and Rosalie started to pick up bags. When they stopped their arms and hands were full and there wasn't much left. Alice picked up the remainder and stepped outside her sisters in tow. Bella turned her head. I was still in the same spot.

"We haven't got all day," Rosalie spat. "We need to go to Prada," Alice said.

"You girls do not need all those clothes," I said angrily.

"They're not all ours," Bella laughed.

"We are not going to Prade,"I said authoritatively. "You girls have bought enough, for the next two years!"

"First it's pronounced Prada and second, if you say so. You are the adult after all."Bella complied graciously smiling in a way I didn't trust. After a second she whipped out a cell phone and made a call speaking so softly I couldn't make out a thing.

"Where would you like to go ? We've got"- she checked her phone,-"forty minutes until we meet the boys."Rosalie grinned. Another untrustworthy look.

"Let's just be early,"I said, suppressing a groan. I had no desire to do anything more with these children. Especially not the girls.

The girls somehow got all of the bags into the trunk of the car and then we were off again. The drive to wherever was quiet except for the occasional whispering between Rosalie and Bella. When we parked outside the mall, Bella glanced uneasily at Alice. A moment later, Edward appeared opening her door. He helped her out and kept her hand in his as his brothers helped his other sisters out. Siblings that were dating! It was something straight out of a trashy 99¢ novel. Jasper turned to me as we walked toward the mall.

"Enjoy Prada Mrs. Daniels?"

"We didn't go, Jazz,"Alice pouted.

Emmett's eyebrows shot up, "What? We skipped the beach, and then Alice and Rose skipped Prada?"

"We only went to Herve Leger,"Bella sighed as Edward held the door for her.

Edward looked at all three girls with concern, whispering something in Bella's ear that made her smile hugely.

"The movie we're seeing is Dark Darlings," Emmett said to me. "It starts at 4:25. Here," he placed a ticket in my hand.

"Where are you all going?"I asked as Alice and Jasper moved to walk away.

"Shopping," the girls said in unison.

"What am I supposed to do? It's only 3:15!"

Edward sighed and Bella glared at him. "You can sit in the bookstore," he said squeezing Bella's hand.

They began to walk and I followed. Several minutes later I found myself at the entrance to a large bookstore. Bella smiled brightly, towing Edward with her. She pointed to a small seating area by the door before strolling away. I sat down, wondering how long we'd be here. I hoped not too long. I just wanted this outing to be over.

I woke with a start. Edward and Bella stood over me, Edward smirking.

"I told you she'd fall asleep, love."

"Em bet against you. Not me, silly. We need to go; the movie starts in fifteen minutes."

I got up and we headed for the theater. When we reached the other girls Edward took Bella's numerous purchases and disappeared.

"He's putting them in the car," Bella said.

"You girls shop too much,"I said as Edward,Emmett,and Jasper walked toward us. Rosalie laughed and Alice rolled her eyes. Rosalie didn't acknowledge me, before she walked into the theater. The others followed and they took seats below and around the projectionist's booth. The opening credits said that Marilyn Noonan was in the film. I detested her acting. I stood up to leave.

"Sit down," Emmett said, "the movie's starting."

"I can't stand Marilyn Noonan," I replied heading for the steps.

"Esme would watch and you are required to follow her rules," Jaspe said just loud enough for me to hear. So I sat back down. Three and a half hours later I regretted it. "You are not allowed to go to the movies again as long as I am a guest in your home. They rot your brain anyway," I said as I got into the car. Rosalie laughed, "Not educational documentaries."

When I looked up again I was alone in the car, in the garage. I opened the door and the alarm started to blare. I saw headlights coming toward me. Alice popped her head out to the garage and the alarm stopped.

"Oops. I forgot you were in there. It won't happen again."

"I should hope not Alice."Dr. Cullen frowned at his daughter.

"It won't Dad," Alice said going back inside.

"Carlisle, your daughters took me shopping today," I began, struggling to remain calm.

He smiled, "How was it?"

"They bought so much they had to split it on three separate credit cards!"

"Where did you go?"Carlisle held the door, seemingly amused.

"Some shop called Herve Leger."

"Alice and Rosalie are members. It probably didn't cost much."

"I forbade them from going to Prade."

"Do you mean Prada?"Carlisle asked removing his coat.

I nodded. He frowned at something I wasn't aware of.

"Why?"

"They bought enough clothes in the first store to last at least two years if not more."

He nodded, "What did you all do after?"

"We went to the mall. I sat in a bookstore while Edward and Bella browsed. She came out with at least six bags."

"She probably didn't buy them all for herself," Carlisle laughed.

"If you say so," I walked toward the living room to see what the children were doing. They were all hunched over laptops, typing.

"What on earth are you all doing? You just spent three and a half hours staring at a theater screen and now you're hunched over computers staring at even smaller screens?"

"We were just finishing homework," Edward replied closing his laptop.

Bella looked up appraising me. She whispered to her siblings something that sounded like, "Worse than Renée."

They all laughed understanding the comment. I was at a loss. "What did you say?"

"Oh nothing," Bella said smiling.

Alice shut her computer as Bella did, picking up a book. Sierra Supernova, the cover read. I didn't ask choosing instead to check on Rosalie's progress.

"How's it going?"I asked peering at her screen.

"Fine. I finished before you came in."Rosalie replied logging into a game. A thin blond girl in her underwear came up. Rosalie clicked something and opened what appeared to be an onscreen closet. She clicked a button that read burn the cheap labels. Nothing left the screen much to Rosalie's satisfaction.

"A girl being that thin is not healthy," I said quietly.

"I'm probably thinner than she is," Alice laughed. "I'm perfectly healthy."