Jasper POV
Finally tired of the torture, Alice put the camera down. She grinned at me slightly, knowing that she'd had her fun and that her turn was next. I could feel that Alice was nervous. For the first time since we began this crazy game years ago, she didn't know what she was getting. Alice was the undisputed queen of the Cullen family Valentine's tradition. It was easy to stay focused when you already knew what you, and everyone else, were getting. The fact that she had been ousted so early in the game was a true testament to Nessie's ingenuity.
Alice flitted nervously between the furniture; cleaning up the mess and getting her stack ready. The family had broken off into private conversations, waiting for the game to begin again. Alice danced in between the couch and the chair I was sitting in, coming just a little too close to me. I took matters in my hands; grabbing her around the waist and dragging her into my lap. She weighed less than a fly, looking like a child's doll in my lap.
"Jas…."
I cut her off by giving her a deep kiss. For just a few seconds, her body continued to twitch uncontrollably; seemingly traveling in a million directions. But finally I felt her relax and then focus on the contact between our lips. I knew I had her attention when her tiny hand slipped into my hair locking our lips together. I slowly eased my lips away, smiling down into her face.
"Feeling better?" I asked.
"Not yet," she replied, pulling my lips back to hers. She proceeded to kiss me senseless. I would have been lost had it not been for the sound of Nessie's giggling. Alice slowly broke away from me, reaching up to tweak my nose before she turned to the family. Nessie and Henry were looking at Alice and me; grinning ear to ear. Living in a family of mated vampires, they had probably seen more public affection than was healthy for their age, but it was an unchangeable fact. Em, Rose, Alice, and I were lucky. Edward was still dealing with his newly awakened sexuality, so he and Bella were the worst offenders for being caught by the kids in compromising positions. Rose loved to harass him about corrupting her "precious angel." It was great fun to be able to have this opportunity with Edward. My brother was finally happy, and I couldn't be more delighted.
Alice scooted off me and onto the floor. Henry crawled over to Alice and she crossed her legs, putting him into her lap. Nessie sat directly beside them. Alice was so tiny, that she almost looked like a third child. Nessie would catch up to her before too long. She seemed to ponder the stack before her. I had seen this look in her eyes before, when she calculated her next move when playing chess with me. Before, Jake, Nessie, or Henry's arrival, I had stood almost no chance of actually beating Alice. Now I bribed one of the kids to stay with me whenever I wanted a fair game out of her. Alice was attempting to decide which of her gifts to start with. Her eyes finally settled on the gift wrapped in Christmas paper. This would most likely be from either Bella or Edward.
Grabbing the package, she set it before Henry, so he could tear through the paper. Henry laughed as paper went flying throughout the room. Esme's smile at his laughter was glorious. She slid from the arm of the chair she had been sitting on, down onto Carlisle's lap turning to him with a message-laden look. Carlisle's peacefulness was palpable. He slipped his arms around Esme's waist, settling her firmly against him.
Henry uncovered a battered shoe box. As Alice was about to open the box, the timer on the stove in the kitchen went off, notifying Esme that Jake's casserole was done. Seeing the contentment on Carlisle's face, I started to rise to keep Esme from having to leave. Jake, however, beat me to the punch. "I'll get it," he said, rising.
"He just wants to get it first so that he can go ahead and dive into it," Emmett teased as Jake walked from the room.
"I have to taste it to make sure it is done," Jake called back. His voice continued, "Alice go ahead, I will be back in a few.
Alice took the top off the box, and I saw a folded over letter, addressed to Alice, in Bella's handwriting, sitting atop a pair of garish purple shoes. I also saw a pair of similarly colored socks, and a couple of CD's tucked neatly to the side of the box. I started laughing out loud when I saw the look on Alice's face. She was busted. I owed Bella big time. Alice picked up one of the shoes by the shoestring, holding it as far away from her body as possible. As the shoe turned, it glittered in the diffuse light coming through the window. She glared at me for my outburst.
While Alice was distracted by the sight before her, Nessie picked up the note and began to read aloud.
"Alice, I'm sorry I can't be there to share this moment with you. I recently uncovered, with the help of a few of your siblings, your previous infatuation with Donny. I was amazed that you would be so unfashionable as to wear purple socks, but I figured if you could break out of your mold, that I would help you with this character growth. Esme indicated that it has been a couple of decades since you purchased your secret addiction. For shame! I decided that if I was going to expand your horizons, I would also add comfort to them. To get you back into the mood, Edward helped me pick out a few of Donny's classics on CD. Jasper also helped me download some songs onto your IPod. No need to thank me. Love, Bella."
"Donny?" Nessie questioned the group. We all snickered, enjoying Alice's discomfort.
"Donny Osmond, Nessie. He was one of Alice's crushes a couple of decades ago. He and his sister had a program on TV, and Alice made us watch it every week. We caught her running around the house a few times wearing purple socks, although she would have never been caught out in public with them. Didn't she drag you to a concert, Jasper?" Emmett added, throwing a taunting look to Alice.
I groaned. I could still remember all the eight to ten-year-old girls screaming in delight when Donny took the stage.
"Do we all want to discuss our crushes?" Alice responded, having finally rallied. "I can think of a few that might provide some good discussion for you Emmett."
Emmett shrugged his shoulders; clearly unconcerned. We all knew Emmett's crushes, ie… anything female.
Alice threw the offending item back into the box, shoving the top back on. However, she wasn't fast enough to stymie Henry. He had grabbed the socks out of the package, and had begun to push at Alice's heels. Alice was stuck. She couldn't insist I wear the items for my roast, and then not wear hers. What was fair for the goose was fair for the gander. After Henry and Nessie placed the purple socks on her feet, he smiled; patting Alice's feet for good measure. He looked up at Alice with an angelic expression, seemingly pleased that he could help her in obtaining Nirvana. Looks could be deceiving. I could feel the impishness in the gesture. He turned to me, and winked. I loved this kid. Alice saw me looking at Henry and stuck her tongue out at me. She grinned; seeing my humor.
"Yeah, now you're forcing poor Jasper to put up with your addiction to Johnny Depp," Emmett announced, as Jacob walked into the room, with a plate in his hand.
"What are we talking about?" Jacob asked.
"Men," Alice giggled.
"Well Mr. Depp definitely provides us with an ideal for the perfection of the human male," Rose added, giggling as well, clearly picking up Alice's giddiness. Alice and Rosalie shared a knowing look and then beamed at each other.
Emmett threw a threatening look at Rose.
"What? You can have the 'Golden Metal Bikini," but we can't drool over abs?" Rose challenged.
I could sense the dichotomy of the responses in the males in the room. None of us were stupid enough however to admit we didn't want them looking, as it would be a double standard.
"Actually Aunt Rose, I think Zack Efron is cuter, and he has a nicer stomach," Nessie voiced.
You could have heard a pin drop in the room.
"WHAT!" Jacob roared, almost spilling his plate onto the floor as he stood. He looked incredulously toward Nessie.
The rest of us stared at her dumbfounded.
Nessie turned on him. "Jacob Black, sit back down. I live with role models of perfection everyday. I know what constitutes 'good looking', and what doesn't." She sniffed in disdain at the rest of us, before slyly looking at Jacob with a smile.
Jacob collapsed back onto the sofa, properly chastised.
"Talk about wearing the pants in the family…" Emmett mumbled.
Alice reached blindly for the next present in an attempt to smooth over the awkward moment. She picked up what appeared to be a large poster tube. It had a note attached, so it was obviously from Edward. She opened the note and began to read:
Alice, I have noticed that your visions seem unclear lately. Out of concern for your mental health, I have found a few things that will hopefully help you strengthen or clarify them. To make it easier for you, I attempted to put one of the items in terms that you could understand. Love, Edward
Alice pulled the stopper off the end of the tubing. As she turned it upright a beat up pair of black horned rim glasses fell into Henry's lap. Nessie snatched them up placing them on Alice. Her eyes blinked owlishly through the lenses. We all laughed. She resembled a nerdy librarian, hmm…
She pushed the glasses to the top of her head. "I can't wear these; they throw my visual sight off. Wow….I can't imagine having to wear those long," she said, as she rubbed her eyes.
She then placed her finger into the tubing and pulled out a rolled up poster. She smoothed it out. Edward had created an alternative Snellen Eye Chart. Instead of the traditional letters, he had cleverly replaced them with famous designer logos. For instance, the C looked like the intertwined C's of the Chanel brand, the L was the LV for Louis Vitton, and the F was the flip flopped Fendi design. He had however broken the pattern on the last three lines of the chart. In the very small print below the 20/20 division was the following message:
- P L E A S E -
P R A C T I C E
F O C U S I N G
Rose snorted, "Like she would even need her sight to find those brands. She would be able to find them by smell."
"She can probably type them out on the internet and sort, just by touch," Emmett added.
"Aaaah … but those glasses … let me see them Alice?" I asked. I wasn't ready yet to let Edward's gift go.
She passed them off to me. I gently pushed the lenses out of the frames and then handed them back to her. She went to put them back on her head.
"Unh…unh….put them back on," I told her, holding her gaze intently.
She began to look at me crossly, figuring I was making her do it out of spite - then her eyes widened as she suddenly picked up on my mood. Her intrigued smirk conveyed her understanding.
Emmett snickered from across the room, but I was lost in my fantasies as I stared into her horn-rim-framed eyes. Nessie snapped her fingers in front of Alice's face to get our attention. Everyone in the room burst out laughing at how easily we had gotten distracted - again. Alice smile bashfully before re-focusing on her pile of presents. We definitely needed to go hunting tonight … by ourselves … Alice saw my decision, and her smile brightened considerably, obviously seeing our trip already in her mind. I wiggled my eyebrows at her.
Nessie took pity on Alice and picked up a box; handing it to her. "This is from Jake and me. Maybe you should open it next."
Alice slipped her fingernail in to break the tape and pulled the lid open. She reached in and pulled out a bunch of tissue surrounding a round object. She uncovered a used Magic 8 ball. The "8" on the side had a picture of Alice taped over it. She crossed her eyes in vexation.
"If Daddy's chart doesn't help, maybe that can clear up your problems, Aunt Alice," Nessie said through her giggling.
Emmett reached over and snatched it out of Alice's hands. He shook the thing and asked, "Alice, will I find a really angry grizzly on my next hunting trip?"
Alice was about to tell him that of course she couldn't know, because of the proximity of Jacob, Nessie, and Henry. Emmett continued however, with his plan of action by ignoring her and looking down to the answer window.
"Outlook not so good. What the heck kind of answer is that? I should be able to find at least one if I go far enough."
Rose jumped up from where she was sitting by Jacob and grabbed the ball from Emmett, sitting back down.
"Alice-ball, are Edward and Bella having a good time in Chicago?" She asked.
"Cannot predict now. Hey what's wrong with this thing?" She then looked over to see Jacob sitting beside her. "Are you messing with this thing too?"
He snorted, taking it out of her hands. "Let me ask a better question, which might also answer yours. Alice-ball, are Edward and Bella utilizing my and Nessie's present right now?"
He looked down and his face split into a grin. "Better not to tell you now."
Jacob glanced up and saw quizzical looks on all our faces. He looked to us, glancing toward Nessie and Henry, and then somewhat embarrassed, said, "I found a copy of the Kama Sutra."
Emmett's face registered shock for the smallest of moments, and then he burst out into gut wrenching laughter. I was right behind him. I bet Edward was furious. I could only imagine what his face looked like when he and Bella had opened that one. I heard Carlisle's snorts coming from across the room. Jacob was attempting to hold it together because he was fielding questions from Nessie.
Alice was laughing despite herself. She chuckled before adding, "I'm not sure I would count Edward out on that matter, he has been privy to all our thoughts around here. He could probably author his own book."
Rose just sat on the couch shaking her head from side to side, smiling slightly. Esme was still sitting in Carlisle lap and smacked him in the chest trying to get him to stop. Carlisle began drawing in big breaths, and shrugged his shoulders at Esme. He leaned in and said something to her, low enough that the rest of us couldn't hear. She put her hands to her cheeks, and I was certain she would have blushed if she could. She smiled bashfully back at him.
Nessie, being a little frustrated by Jacob's evasive answers grabbed the ball and shook it. "Will anyone blame me if a certain wolf disappears?
"My sources say no. Hey, I like this present," she announced to the group. We all made various offers to help, but Jacob just rolled his eyes at the threats.
Carlisle, not to be left out of any opportunity to harass his children, grabbed the ball and shook.
"Alice-ball, will my children quit breaking Esme's furniture and begin to behave as rational adults?"
He looked at the window, "You may rely on it."
He then looked up at all of us. "This thing is as broken as our little Alice. It seems we won't get any clear answers from here either."
Alice had had enough. She flew into a standing position supporting Henry on her hip and stalked over to reclaim her gift from Carlisle. Sitting back down she put Henry back into his previous position. He took the ball from Alice's hands and began shaking it. Whatever questions he was proposing in his head must have been good ones, because smile after smile came to his face. Where was Edward when we needed him?
Alice reached over to grab a larger box. It was mine. Now thinking about it, I wasn't sure that my gift was going to be all that funny. I was relying on Bella's part to goad Alice, but it might be too subtle to really do the trick. Rose's part was much more technical. I had wrapped it in Barbie comic book pages, which Nessie and Henry had colored for me.
Alice opened the top lid on the box and looked down into the box. She reached in and brought out a very strange creation. I had found a Barbie Porsche on line. It was unfortunately red, and a Boxster versus a 911, but it was as close as I could find for what I wanted. Rose and I had taken the toy apart so that I could utilize the body. We had then purchased a used radio control car, one of those kinds that require nitro fuel. Generally the fiberglass outer shell on the RC cars is easily replaceable, as they take a good amount of abuse from their usage. The main point of the purchase was for the working car structure underneath. Rose had helped me re-attach the Barbie body to the frame. It was awkward looking. It reminded me of some of the toys the child villain had created in Toy Story. But it created what I wanted … a supercharged Barbie vehicle.
Bella donated a Barbie that she had found in her bedroom upon moving back into Charlie's house. It had been naked, so clothes were a necessity. We had found another darker headed companion at the store. Bella had gone overboard, mumbling the whole time she shopped about paying Alice back for making her a living Barbie dress up doll over the last few years. Bella's sense of humor; however, and her call to keep the tradition of "would not or could not use" alive in the game, was in full force. She solely purchased jeans and t-shirts for the doll – and a matching pair of purple tennis shoes. As a child, Bella had cut the doll's hair with scissors, so she went back and shaped the remains into spikes and dyed them black to make a mini Alice.
Alice quirked her eyebrow at me, before she set the vehicle and its occupants down on the carpet. Reaching back inside the box she brought out the remote control. She then gave into her curiosity. "I'm not sure I understand Jazz."
Emmett and Jacob; however, broke into the conversation.
"Those things are actually cool. They fly once you get the hang of it. You can build obstacle courses, and other stuff," Jacob stated, getting down into the floor to look at the contraption.
Emmett joined him.
Alice then looked closely at the dolls. "Are those the clothes they came in?" she asked, clearly offended.
"Bella picked out the clothes for you. There is a bag of items in the box."
I chuckled when she didn't even bother to reach inside and pull out the bag to look. Her judgment on Bella's fashion sense was clear.
"I figured that you couldn't drive your Porsche everywhere, or like you wanted, so I bought you a replacement."
Emmett and Jacob were already heading out the door with the invention, and the family followed. After priming the vehicle, Jacob grabbed the control from Alice and said, "Watch this, one of the guys on the reservation had one, so I have played with them before."
Mini Alice and Mini Bella flew across the cleared off space behind our house. The car went almost to the river before Jacob turned the controls causing it to spin erratically before heading back toward us. The Alice doll looked like she was holding on the steering wheel. Mini-Bella had slumped sideways during the turn, but her hair flew straight back in the wind. Half way across the field, Jacob headed the car for a slight bump in the ground. The dolls and car went airborne. The car landed, veering wildly before Jacob got it back under control. Mini Bella was lodged in a tree at the edge of the clearing. Mini Alice sat flat on the ground – her hands still extended as if touching the wheel. Henry started laughing hysterically and making crashing noises. "Krrr….Boom….."
Emmett sprinted to the dolls and retrieved them. He held his hand out for the control and Jacob handed it over. Henry held his hands up to Jacob to be lifted, obviously to have a better view of what was occurring. Emmett took the car out across the field holding the throttle fully open. The little vehicle streaked across the yard. As he arced back toward the house, he cut too close to one of Esme's planters knocking into the side of it, tearing a piece of the plaster loose. Esme growled at him. The car then headed directly toward us, spinning out to rest before us … the dolls however, without the benefit of seat belts, hurled into us. The Bella doll smacked Jacob upside the head, as his hands had been occupied by Henry and his food. Carlisle had caught Mini-Alice mid air.
"I wonder how many times Mama has wanted to do that for real?" Nessie pondered, with a smile.
"Thelma and Louise," Alice stated.
"Huh?" Rose asked, turning to look at her.
"I am going to call them Thelma and Louise," Alice grinned, eyeing the dolls with satisfaction.
She danced over to Emmett for tutoring on the controller. Within just a few seconds, Alice had the car streaking around the yard. Before we finally decided to go back in and continue the gifts, Thelma and Louise ended up dirty, from running through mud puddles, and had landed in various locations and positions throughout the back yard.
'Jazz," she said, looking up to me through her glasses, as we were entering the doorway. "I like my gift, but the clothes have got to go." She shuddered delicately.
I had been right. I had imagined a long internet session focusing on fashionable Barbie items. I heard her speak to Rose about rigging up some safety belts for the dolls. Well, I had failed in the funny department, but what I lost there was made up by the fact she was still wearing her glasses and socks. Holding the vehicle to her side, she had now transformed into the nerdy science geek chick, pondering the benefits of her creation. Or maybe it was Thelma from Scooby Doo. Man… I had it bad …
We all sat back down again. Rose was sitting in Emmett's lap on the couch, next to them were Jake and Nessie. Carlisle and Esme had taken the chair, again snuggling against each other. Henry was cruising around the area, hanging on to the chairs, couches and tables. Alice took her spot on the floor in front of her remaining presents. The presents were all connected by a ribbon that ran through four identical white plastic bags. Each one had a bright red cross on it. Obviously Carlisle had pilfered them from the hospital.
Alice grinned over at him and pulled the bags toward her. I could see at least one package wrapped in the paper hospital gowns. Alice pulled this one out and began to open it up. Inside was a dark gray and black robe. Alice shook it out. The family started cracking up and Alice looked up quizzically. Jacob twirled his finger to indicate that she should turn the robe around. When she did, I realized what had sparked the humor. The back of the robe featured a large wolf head.
"Considering the recent development of your headaches, I wanted to make sure that you had something to make yourself comfortable. Rose, Emmett, Esme and I felt that since you can't take medication, we would get you some items to help you during your time of need."
She smirked, starting to place the robe to her side. Carlisle shook his head and said, "I believe I would like to see it on you Alice … just to make sure it will fit."
Alice glared fake daggers at him, but no one was fooled - she was loving every moment of this. She stood up to put in on. It was so big that it almost dragged the ground. She cinched the belt around her tiny waist, and turned in a slow pirouette. She took off across the floor like a model walking the catwalk. She perfectly imitated the bored look of most supermodels, as her hips threw the material from side to side. Jacob let out a couple of wolf calls as Alice modeled her newest acquisition. Emmett let out a very karaoke version of "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred.
The family was rolling by the time she sat back onto the ground before the last three gifts. I could see that she decided to get them all done in one fatal swoop. She pulled out the next package, Rose's, and un-wrapped a pair of wolf bedroom slippers. The third package held a large stuffed wolf from Emmett, and the final package from Esme contained an ice pack and a CD that combined instrumental music with howling wolves.
"Wolf girl …" Jacob mumbled, throwing in a little barb.
Alice knew it was inevitable, so she proceeded to slip the wolf slippers over her purple socks and put the ice pack on top of her head, bringing the elastic binding under her chin, and stuffed the wolf under her arm without prompting.
"Like I said, we tried to think of everything," Carlisle snickered.
Even Esme joined in on the explosive laughing that followed the combined gifts. I quickly located the camera across the room. However, as I put my hand on it, Jacob's covered mine.
"I believe a joint picture might be just what we need here," his deep voice came from behind me.
Stupid mutt. Alice and I would never live it down. My own mother was the worst contributor arranging Alice, me, and our gifts to perfection. The whole family stood behind Esme giggling at the digital frames as picture after picture was snapped.
"Don't worry Jazz, we'll find a way to pay them back, one way or the other," my gypsy whispered into my ear.
__________________________________
I could still hear the roars of laughter downstairs as the family continued to tease Emmett about his gifts. The game had finally ended, and I had brought my and Alice's gifts up to our room. I reverently placed the chess set on the table between our two chairs. Even with all enhancements Bella had cleverly done, it was still a glorious gift. I was anxious to get on line and see if I could find the missing chess piece. To be missing the Confederate Queen would be a travesty.
I heard Alice's soft footsteps as she entered into our room and I turned to smile at her. She was still wearing the robe, and her slippers.
"I have something for you," I told her.
Going to the closet, I pulled out a gift bag. She had gone over to our bed and crawled into the center. I saw that she had two bags, sitting beside her as well. I quirked my eyebrow at her.
"I had them sitting beside the bed," she indicated, smiling her sweet smile.
I loved this woman to distraction. I wasn't sure what I had ever done to deserve such a mate, but I wasn't going to waste my time questioning my luck. I would rather spend it enjoying her. I scooted over to the center of the bed so that I could sit beside her.
"You go first, because I'm not sure when Jacob is going to be far enough away, that you will see it. I like having this element of surprise," I told her.
She began quivering with her excitement and squealed when I handed her the package. She reached inside the bag and pulled out a large memory album. The girls had been invaluable in helping me get this present together. We had spent hours cutting and pasting and decorating the gift. Emmett had unselfishly spent massive amounts of time helping with research - and a little breaking and entering. Jacob's talent at drawing had also been put to work creating whimsical scenes throughout the book.
The front part of the album was leather, and I had the letters MAB tooled into the material in calligraphy. Alice looked at the front of the gift for a few seconds, and then turned her eyes to me. Her expression told me everything. She reverently turned to the first page. In it was a black and white picture of Alice as a baby. We had placed her birth date below the picture. What followed on the pages to come were pictures of her family, pictures of her with her sister playing, pictures of as many of her relatives as we could uncover, including shots of her niece in Biloxi - and her family. Towards the end of the book, it transitioned. Next came pictures of our family. Random, but cherished shots of us together over the years; enjoying our lives.
Each of us had chosen an important picture of Alice and us together, and then written a little note to her. For instance, Edward had chosen a picture of he and Alice sitting at the piano. The light had been streaming through the windows creating a haloed effect around them. I had not read the words he had penned to the page, wanting those thoughts to be private between them. Rose had chosen a picture of her and Alice staring off into the distance. Henry was ensconced between them. I remembered the day. The boys and I had been rough housing out in the yard. Alice and Rose had sat on the sidelines with Henry making bets on who would be the victor. Esme had been taking pictures of us - as usual.
"How…?" her voice actually shook as she looked to me.
"I know you did research at the library, trying to find what you could, but I was honestly amazed you didn't go to the length of visiting your niece's house. Emmett and I didn't have such scruples. He's made several trips to Biloxi, to her house, when your niece has been away, going through her stuff, and books. He's become a pro at stealing pictures, copying them, and returning them without your niece even being aware. We left the spot in the back for a new picture of the two of us." At that moment, I realized that Esme would probably insist that the picture from just a few minutes ago would claim the coveted place.
"Jazz … I don't know what to say. I'm a little overwhelmed, and ashamed to say that my present is nowhere as incredible as this." She looked a little upset about this fact.
I reached over and grabbed her face between my hands. "You are my gift … every single day … I'm humbled that you love me, despite everything."
She ran her hands lovingly across the album in front of her, gazing unseeingly.
"Jasper, I am the one who has been given far more than anyone could ever ask for." She raised her hand placing it along the side of my face, for the briefest of moments. I turned my face to kiss the palm of her hand.
She reached down and picked up the smaller of the two packages.
"Bella wanted me to give this to you, after everything was said and done," she stated, handing the bag to me with a curious expression.
I was also curious why Bella would have an extra gift for me. There was a note attached.
Jasper, for some reason I couldn't live with the idea of not making your gift complete. Maybe because of the incredible role you played in making my life complete. I know you believe that your actions on my birthday led to a horrible time in my life, and you have lived with that burden. I will not attempt to convince you that what happened that night, including the consequences, is anything different than what you have convinced yourself they are. You and I are both too intelligent for that. However, I offer you an addendum to that story. Had Edward and I not separated, had that separation not led to our visit with the Volturi - I wonder how long Edward would have continued to keep me at arms length - insisting that I stay human. I would have died growing old along side this family. It would have been an excruciating death. Instead, you served as a catalyst to my obtaining everything - everything I had ever wanted - everything I never knew I wanted. Inadvertently, you handed me my life. So I now, symbolically hand you yours. Love, Bella
My hands shook as I read the letter again. I closed my eyes and suddenly, I was at peace with my world. The last remaining vestiges of the shame that had resided in my body for the previous year and a half now slipped away like a vapor. I was struck speechless. Alice broke me from my momentary reveries by reaching over to softly take the note out of my hands and replace it with an object wrapped in tissue paper. I unwrapped the paper to find the missing Queen: Belle Boyd, a Confederate spy and a gatherer of information. Appropriately, Bella had painted the figurine with spiky black locks and golden eyes, so that it now resembled my own little spy. Yes, I held a symbol of my life in my hands.
Alice had read the note, and met my gaze with a bittersweet smile.
"I told you, Jazz; it's time to move on." She grinned and leaned over to kiss me softly.
Before I could get carried away, however, she plopped her gift onto my lap.
"I feel bad now, reading Bella's note, that I didn't buy you something romantic. But Edward helped me find these, and I admit I have been waiting to see you in them."
I could smell the distinct odor of leather and against my better judgment I was curious. I reached down into the large bag and pulled out a black leather Ducati riding jacket. The pants quickly followed.
"It's for the motorcycle. Edward had purchased some for himself, when he planned to ride with Bella, but he and I both agreed that the pants would be short on you. I ordered a similar set for us to ride together. I know we don't really need them, but since we have to continue the human charade, I thought we could do it in style. Would you put them on for me, please …?" She begged, pouting her lower lip out.
I grinned, "Only if you do the same …"
Within a few seconds Alice stood before me decked out in a black leather riding outfit. I reached over to where she had put the glasses, and perched them on her nose. I imagine my eyes turned black with the emotions and thoughts I was having. My hands reached for her almost involuntarily. I was startled when she slapped my hands.
"No way …. I like these too much to get them ripped apart, and I like Esme's shirt too much to let anything happen to it either. Put some more clothes on and let's go." She bounced foot to foot as she changed her clothes in a whirl of motion. As she raced in front of me into the forest, I heard her tinkling laughter floating in the wind.