DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer owns the Twilight saga and all the characters. I own nothing except my measly little plot.
A/N: Thanks to everyone for the hits, reviews and favorites - special thanks to the anonymous reviewers since I can't reply to them! I'm glad you are enjoying this story as much as I am. Sorry in advance for the bit of "heaviness" in this chapter, but this story is also about her struggle to be taken seriously as an adult.
Chapter 6: I'm a big girl now!
Jacob POV
"SHOPPING? Is this that what this game is about? Forget it…Nessie and I are going to stay home. I'm not taking her out in that madness." That crazy vamp was always dragging Nessie and Bella shopping, but this was insane! I shuddered, thinking about my Nessie out in the crowds of pushing, shoving and desperate humans. I started walking toward the door, expecting my beloved to follow me.
"Jake, honey, I'm not a little kid anymore! You don't get to make the decisions for me. If Alice wants the family to play a game, we can at least listen to what it is all about. Then, we can make a decision TOGETHER about whether we want to participate." When she finished her protest, I turned back to look at her. She captured me with her deep chocolate orbs and her gorgeous smile. I knew she hated it when I was overprotective; I certainly knew she could protect herself, but I just went crazy whenever I thought about her in any sort of uneasy situation. But when she looked at me like this, I just melted inside.
"Fine, but only because you want to. I just want to go on record that I am doing this under duress." Even though she had me wrapped around her finger and everyone knew it, I could still show I had some part in the decision. I walked over to the couch with Nessie following me, but I stretched out, leaving no room for her. She just laughed quietly at me, barely loud enough for me to hear.
"If I had a nickel for every time I had to do something 'under duress' for Alice…" Jasper was in the same boat as me; for that matter, all the Cullen men were. We were putty in our women's hands, and when the women banded together there was no stopping them! But based on the look on Alice's face, Jasper might have crossed the line…he was going to be lonely later HA!
Alice explained the game, but I tuned out. I would accompany Nessie, but she was going to be running the show. Eventually, I noticed that the rest of the family had faded from the room to develop their game plans.
"So, are you guys in?" Alice asked, as if she didn't already know. "That is ingenious Nessie, I don't think I would have thought to do that, and you know that is saying something." My love blushed a deep pink; she was so much like her mother. I wonder what she was planning?
"Please Jake, I really, really want to play! Pretty, pretty please?" She looked up at me from under her lashes, batting them at me. As usual, I caved to her puppy dog look; I just rolled my eyes and nodded my approval.
"You know I can't say no to you Nessie! Especially when you give me that look, it is so unfair. You better make it up to me." That's right honey; I'm talking about the red lace teddy and LOTS of chocolate flavored whipped cream…she was going to OWE me BIG TIME!
Suddenly, I heard a growl and some struggling coming from upstairs. Apparently my dear father-in-law had been assaulting my mind again. Serves him right for invading our privacy! It was bad enough to live with your in-laws; but not to be able to even have the privacy of our minds made it even more difficult. At least we had our little house in the backyard as a retreat, just out of "mind reading" distance.
"She's a grown woman Edward. They've been married for over 10 years, give the poor boy a break." Heh, Bells coming to my rescue again!
"Fine, but that's enough of that! Please do me the courtesy of leaving first the next time you want to think about things like that Jacob!" My one-time rival sounded more threatening than ever, but I knew our women would never let him hurt me over an indiscrete thought; especially not since it was the same type of thing he and the rest of the men around here had all the time about their wives! I guess I could try and control myself around him a little better; I had been slipping a lot lately.
"Thanks Dad! See you tomorrow after the game. On that note, let's get out of here Jake." My beautiful love gave me "my" smile – a mix of mystery and mischievousness that caused my mind to want to wander again. I held it in check, focusing on the rules Alice had detailed out to us for her silly game. She took my hand and towed us out to our house, "showing" me just how she was going to make it up to me…boy did our minds think alike! I heard Edward groan again; I squeezed her hand to remind her. She winked at me and continued her fantasy session until we reached the house. At least he couldn't blame me this time!
"Now, let's just spend a few minutes strategizing, and then we have all evening to make that little vision come true!" Still powerless against her captivating smile, I simply sat down on a chair and started rifling through the papers Alice had armed us with.
"Alright, but you really owe me now! Let's take a look at the sales and see if there is anything we want." I figured if we just looked through all the advertisements and picked out a few things we actually liked, we could be done with our planning and move on to the making up part of the evening.
Nessie POV
Jake and I sat quietly for a while, flipping through the flyers and occasionally taking notes about things we liked. I reflected on the earlier activities, huffing in frustration over being treated like a child, yet again, by both my husband and my father.
"What's wrong honey? We don't have to do this, you know. Alice will get over it, I'll talk to her. You don't always have to please everyone." Jacob sounded serious, but he also had a hint of excitement in his eyes, most likely from the thought of not participating. Ugh, he infuriated me sometimes! I grabbed his arm, unable to form coherent words, and showed him my feelings in a series of memories.
My frown, mirrored in his eyes when he pulled me out of the driver's seat of my Porsche Boxter on the day Alice gave it to me, not letting me drive it simply because I had only passed my driver's test that day.
My mother and father huddled together, worried looks on their faces when I asked to go to school for the first time when I was 6 and fully matured.
Emmett pointing out a bear cub for me when we went hunting together a few years ago, even though there were several full grown bears in the same area.
The look of fear on the face of the boy in my gym class that accidentally hit me with a ball on the tennis court when Jacob ran over from the track to make sure I was okay, shooting death glares at the poor kid.
My father yelling at Jacob tonight just before we left.
The image of my face falling, reflected in the window, as I heard Jake say "I'm not taking her out in that madness." and realizing he still thought of me as a little kid he needed to protect.
A single tear rolled down my face as I struggled to compose myself. Crying was not going to help me win this argument. When I finally met his eyes, I was blown away with the love and devotion I found.
"Nessie, honey, I'm so sorry you feel like that. You have to understand that no matter how old you are, I will always be crazy overprotective of you. I don't think you can comprehend the depth of my love for you and what would it would do to me if anything ever happened to you." I threw myself at him and crushed him into my arms with all my might, nuzzling my head into his chest. Our bond was so strong; a little fight could never keep us apart for long. "Everyone knows you control everything we do! You have me wrapped around your little finger, and that is my favorite place to be. I can't deny you anything, and if braving the Black Friday crowds is what you what, that's what you get! I may be protective, but I realize you know your own mind and you are the one who makes the decisions for us – haha – just like the rest of the Cullen women! And as for the rest of the family, they appreciates that you are all grown up now, but they miss having someone to protect. They had your mom for a while, and then you. Now, I think they feel a little empty, maybe without a purpose or something. "
"I just feel so frustrated sometimes; as if all anyone ever sees is the little girl I used to be. I always think that because my body grew up so fast, you all still think I am 6!" I started to smile a little; I could never stay mad in Jacob's strong, loving arms.
"Honey, you know I don't think of you as 6! And if you give me a chance, I'll prove it to you. RAWR!" My ridiculous husband, always thinking of sex no matter what! "Wait, is that why you were thinking all that stuff as we left the house? To punish your dad? HAHAHAHA! If it was possible, I think I just fell even more in love with you!"
"Okay, okay, I've made a full recovery on the whole angst thing. I'll always be the baby of the family and I guess I'll just have to deal with it. And as resilient as I am, I'm still the most breakable of everyone, so I can sort of understand. But, I WANT TO WIN THIS GAME! They will learn that I am not someone who needs her hand held in a competition and they should give me more credit!" I was determined to show the rest of the family up and prove how capable I was, even if shopping was the competition. I was so caught up in my competitive fervor, I inadvertently "showed" Jake my burning desire to win.
"I knew you were competitive, but this is a whole new level. It is so…sexy! I repeat, RAWR!"
"Enough with the RAWR! The longer we talk, the longer until we get to that part honey." I grinned crookedly, channeling my father. Jake just sat down and crossed his arms.
"Fine. So, what was the pixie talking about that was so ingenious?"
"Oh, I almost forgot about that! Well, I guess when I said I didn't need my hand held during the competition I wasn't really telling the truth. It will be easier if I demonstrate I think." I took Jacob's hand and "showed" him how my plan would work. I pushed random images through his mind, similar to what I planned to do to unsuspecting shoppers tomorrow.
A shorter line at a different checkout counter.
A cheaper price on an item at another store with a sign calling it out as "Unadvertised Special!"
An image of a game breaking as soon as two young boys got their hands on it.
The sullen salesclerk cutting up a declined credit card.
An unflattering picture of the shopper wearing whatever they were planning on purchasing.
"Wow, honey; that is brilliant! Between your images and my pure brawn, we'll be able to get whatever we want and always be the first in line to check out! I love it!" Jake was now vibrating with excitement. He hated shopping, but he loved playing tricks on people. Unfortunately, now that I had shown him this idea, he was going to ask me to use it all the time just for fun!
"I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not going to get Emmett to think a monkey is Rosalie!" Although, the idea did have some merit…
"Wh-, how the hell did you know that? Did the psychic tell you or something?" He stuttered, trying to figure out how I knew his plan.
"Ha ha! No, you are just really predictable. And after the last time we all went to the zoo, you murmured in your sleep about how you needed to 'get Emmett to make out with a monkey' for a week straight! Of course that would be your first plan!" I just laughed at my love; really he and Emmett came up with the strangest things to do to torment each other. And when Jasper joined it, it was just trouble. Like the time they persuaded Emmett that Chuck E. Cheese was a super romantic dinner theater restaurant that Rose would love for their anniversary. I believe the main selling point was the fact that food was optional; I'm not sure he's finished his punishment for that one yet!
"Oh, yeah, I suppose that one was pretty easy to guess. So anyway, what are the things we are going to persuade other people to not buy so we can? Your plan will work great, but we need to figure out what we want to buy first, right?" Embarrassed, he steered the conversation back to the task at hand. He was probably hoping I'd forget what happened at the zoo that made him want to get Emmett to make out with a monkey. But like that elephant, I'll never forget! However, he was right in that we needed to get back down to business; I'd give him a pass on that memory for now.
"Did you find anything you liked in the flyers you were looking through? I found some great deals at some stores that have coupons, but I'm not sure what to use the coupons for. Alice was right; they are pretty tricky to get rid of without wasting a ton of money." I wrinkled my nose in contemplation; I'll be damned if these stupid coupons were going to stand in the way of my victory!
"You are so gonna love me for this! I have an equally brilliant plan myself! You know that super fancy silverware you like so much? Well, I looked at it once, thinking I might get you a set for your birthday." He paused when he noticed my quizzical look. He had never given me silverware for my birthday. Usually he got me cars or jewelry or motorcycles. And what did this have to do with tomorrow? I was about to pepper him with questions when he continued. "When I realized how expensive it was for a stupid spoon, I decided to get you the Ducati instead. I mean, how often do we even use silverware? Anyway, I started thinking about that when I was looking through the Macy's flyer. They never have that stuff on sale – so it will be perfect!" He reached out his fist for a bump, truly proud of himself.
I left him hanging, still baffled by what his plan was. "If it isn't ever on sale, chances are the coupon can't be used on it. That's usually the case with the designer stuff. Especially sterling silver." It was a good try, but I started thinking again about what else we could do.
"I have that covered. When I went to look at it, they said if I wanted to buy one piece at a time, the coupons would be accepted. I double checked on the flyer here, and it says that is still the policy – and not just at Macy's! So, we buy a $20 spoon and use the '$10 off $20' coupon and not only save 50% on it, but also be able to buy whatever else we want there! They had my favorite brand of boxers on sale for 80% off! We can use all the coupons at all the department stores to get a few pieces for your collection. Then I promise we can get the rest for Christmas. Hell, Alice is probably already planning on buying it for you!"
"That, my dear, is an excellent plan! Well, I think I have my list ready to go now too. It's time for the second half of the evening to begin!" With that, I skipped into the kitchen to grab the chocolate whipped cream and bowl of strawberries. Jacob had already stripped down to his boxers before I even left the room…
A/N: Woo, it's getting steamy in here! You'll have to use your imagination for the rest of that evening, or bribe me with reviews to do a one-shot of their whipped cream filled evening! The next chapter will start the actual shopping; I'll probably continue one chapter per couple, but as they run into each other throughout the day I may mix up the POVs a little bit. Please, please, please review and let me know what you think!
Don't forget to check out my other stories "Destiny of Dreams" (a serious BxE story about Bella "meeting" Edward in dreams while she still lived in Phoenix) and "Twilighted Pets" (a really silly story about what would happen if my pets were Twilight characters – WARNING – it is REALLY silly!)
