Minibusted
All Twilight belongs to the great Stephenie Meyer. This story is a token of my admiration. Because we love the Cullens. All songs belong to their respective owners. Please no sue.
Rated M for innuendo.
With a tip of the hat to Eowyn 77 for jokes about sausages.
Chapter 5: Gambling
Alice's pov
I exchanged a private look with Jazz as we sat in the lobby waiting for the last members of our group to arrive. I shot a wave of affection and fulfilment at him, and he smiled conspiratorially at me. I had whisked him back up to the room briefly this morning after foreseeing what Bella had planned for Edward. And I thought the previous night was good. Jazz had enjoyed my report. Poor Edward. So innocent. He really got steamrolled. Hurray for Bella.
Jazz, naturally, had to be informed. Not giving him advance warning would have been quite unfair, seeing as how shockingly loud the emotions emanating off my brother and his mate were going to be today, and how unlikely Jazz was going to be able to avoid being in close proximity to them. I had Seen that Bella and her mate were going to invite us to ride home in the Vanquish with them. It would expose Jazz to everything they were feeling, and although Jazz was happy for them, he would not like surprises.
I also told Em and Rose that they had better be nice and not tease Edward and Bella in front of the humans. I did not specify why. I thought they could figure that out on their own. There was only a 52 percent probability that they would not tease the lovebirds anyway, so there wasn't much use in me filling them in. It would only give them ammunition.
By 10:45 am, our party was pretty much assembled in the lobby, barring Edward and Bella, and Rose was attempting to organize the luggage and commandeer the males into cramming it all into the minibus. Good thing it had a roof rack, because all the accumulated souvenirs were not going to fit inside the bus.
I hid behind the Japanese newspaper I was holding, while surreptitiously studying the humans. Ben and Angela were sitting with arms around each other on a couch, looking pleased, alert and relaxed. Nice. Jessica was talking to Mike with genuine interest this morning. Lauren was all cuddled up to Tyler, and Conner was looking daggers at them. Oh, swell. Why did that girl always have to be on the make? Guess I should have paid a bit less attention to Jasper and a little more to chaperone duty. That Lauren was a floozy. Tyler should have known better, but he always seemed to be thinking with the wrong head. Silly humans.
The elevator opened and my brother and his personal miracle worker skipped out. Literally bounced out, he with their miniscule amount of luggage in hand, she with a very pretty, delicate gold barrette in her hair. She was wearing a dark blue tank top with her jeans, and by the look of it she did not have anything on underneath. Totally wrapped up in each other. Radiant. Jazz recoiled despite being forewarned.
As soon as Edward and Bella got close, greeting friends and wishing them a good morning, Rose and Emmett moved in, sniffing warily. I sat back for the show. They looked at each other and they looked at Bella and Edward and they looked at me. I smiled smugly at them. Emmett's eyebrows were on the ceiling. Then everything seemed to click for him and he moved to stand between Edward and Bella, and put his arms around them.
"Well good morning little brother, little sister. Aren't you smelling lovely today. Is that a new perfume, Bella?" Emmett leered at Bella. Rose was doing her best not to laugh. After all, Edward had been subject to her picturesque thoughts for decades, and he had never ratted her out to anybody. Meanwhile, Bella was turning so red she was almost fluorescent. It was Edward who answered the question.
"Of course she has a new scent, Em. You didn't think I would bring her all the way here without giving her anything, did you?" Emmett gaped at Edward. Edward smiled smugly and inserted himself back between Emmett and Bella. An unflappable Edward: something outside Emmett's experience. Today was going to be fun. At least for Edward.
"Alright, everyone." Edward smiled, "Alice suggested that we make a quick stop at the Casino before we leave. Then we should grab a quick lunch before heading out. It's going to be a long trip, but we'll try to stop every few hours to stretch our legs."
Rose finally harangued the guys into taking all the luggage carts out to the minibus, girls trailing behind, and Edward came to talk to Jasper.
"Jazz, I know there are pros and cons either way, but Bella and I wondered whether you and Alice would like to ride with us on the way home. It would give you some space from the humans. What do you think?"
"As long as you and Bella can keep it toned down, I would be much obliged. It's getting pretty wearing, being so close to humans, and it's over a week now since we hunted."
"Okay, you and I could easily sneak out for a quick bite if you aren't with the group. Let's get your stuff in the Vanquish. Alice, what all the heck did you buy? The trunk is going to overflow!"
"Oh, you know, there are a lot of good designers in Niagara On the Lake. I just took a little side trip the evening before last. You should see the handbags I got. Hand-tooled leather. Absolutely gorgeous."
Edward rolled his eyes and kissed me on top of the head. Then he dragged Jasper and my luggage cart off to the Vanquish. I looked at Bella and crossed my arms.
"Who are you, and what have you done to my brother?" I teased.
"Why does it have to be my fault? Why not ask him who he is, and what he's done to me?"
"Well," I looked at her slyly, "Because I know who started it, and I know who was in charge." Bella gasped and curled in on herself and giggled behind her hands. I put my arm around her and steered her out to the parking lot.
"Thank you, Bella, sincerely. He is going to be so much easier to live with from now on. Much more angst and Jazz and I would have been forced to move out."
"Well, Edward seems a little worried that the present emotional climate will not be ... comfortable for Jasper. What if angst isn't the worst thing to put up with?"
"Trust me, no matter what you two do in the future, it couldn't be as bad as Emmett and Rosalie." I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Bella gave a single, soft laugh and then we joined the group.
A few minutes later, our vehicle pulled into the Casino. Rose was ahead of us, arguing with a parking attendant about how to park the minibus. I think she scared him, because she got her way.
Jasper caught one taste of the high emotions leaking out of the Casino and excused himself, ostensibly to take a nap in the car.
Emmett collected the human herd and told them to be back at the bus in 45 minutes and to be sure to eat and use the facilities at the food court before boarding the bus. He warned them to be prudent. He told them that our family had a pact to never spend more than $20 per person on gambling, and advised them to do likewise. Everybody filed in, chattering and pointing at games they wanted to try, and soon they had dispersed.
Ang and Ben remained standing in the lobby, looking a little lost. I went over and tucked myself under her arm. She was twice as tall as me.
"Come on guys, let's have a bit of fun," I coaxed.
"I don't know, Alice. It's the Sabbath, and my father doesn't think very highly of gambling."
"Well, it isn't every day that you travel 2500 miles to Canada to see the sights. Why don't you just try one quarter in a slot machine, and then you can say that you tried it without getting carried away. If you win anything on one try, it will really be a miracle. People hardly ever win on one try."
"Well, I suppose we could try just one quarter, just to say we saw what it was like to play. But don't tell my dad that we did it on Sunday."
"That's the spirit. Why don't you try this machine here?" I showed her how to play one line of the Double Diamond game. Angela approached the slot machine and dropped in a quarter. She pulled the lever, and bells and whistles went off. She and Ben looked at each other, dumbfounded. She had five Double Diamond symbols lined up in a row, and the credit counter was spinning fast. Edward and Bella ran over before the machine had stopped clanging. Angela and Ben were watching it spew out numbers with mounting excitement. When it was all done, Angela had won $6000 Canadian. She and Bella jumped up and down, and Edward clapped Ben on the back.
Edward told Ang and Ben where to cash in her winnings, and to take the payout without playing any more games. He said that it was rare for anyone to ever win more than one game against the house, and not to get carried away. Angela said a little prayer of thanks under her breath and she and Ben went to get in line for the cashier.
I turned to Edward. "So what is she going to do with the money?"
Edward tuned in on Ang's thoughts, and murmured, "She's going to put some of it toward tuition, and share some of it with Ben, and she's going to tithe part of it to the church, and buy Ben a set of classic martial arts movies he's been wanting, and she's going to buy her parents and her brothers tickets to a Mariner's game , and a new outfit for herself. I really do like that girl, Bella. I'm glad you have a friend like her."
The three of us wandered through the Casino, mostly watching people in our group play. Nobody else won or lost anything major, but everyone had a lot of fun.
Right on schedule, we piled back into our vehicles and got in line to cross the border. Soon, we were speeding towards home.
Hours passed, and sometimes the Vanquish was ahead of the minibus, and sometimes Rosalie got ahead of us. It took longer for them to stop for meals, because we only had to feed Bella and they had to feed 8 people and pretend to eat too.
At suppertime, we all pulled into a McDonalds. The human girls came and joined us after using the facilities. Edward and Bella were sitting next to each other on the long bench side of our group of tables. Lauren was the first to slide down the opposite end of the bench, so she sat next to Edward. Edward was in the middle of a conversation with the boys. He glanced at Lauren, and then refocused on Mike, who was telling a funny story about his parents. Edward stiffened. He gave Lauren a frosty look, picked Bella up, scooted over, set her down where he had been sitting, and sat in her place. He set her tray gently back in front of her and kissed her on the side of her head.
Bella looked at Edward, puzzled. She shrugged dismissively, and went back to eating her burger. Suddenly, Bella stiffened and gave Lauren a frosty look. Bella asked Edward to get her a takeout bag, which he did. Then, she asked to get going, and the four of us marched out to the Vanquish.
"Okay, what was that all about?" Jasper demanded as I stood laughing.
Edward looked embarrassed and indignant. "I can't believe what a sl-(ahem) that girl is. She knows I'm getting married in 18 days, and she knows Bella and I are happy, and she still put her hand on my knee. And her thoughts are filthy. She was thinking about involving me in a group." Jazz and I roared with laughter.
Bella cleared her throat, "Edward? She put her hand on my knee, too."
"Oh, no way! That is too much. You just had to bring her, Alice! Her presence created a big problem that I'm feeling a little guilty about. I don't know how to sort it out."
Bella gave Edward a funny look, "What problem would that be?"
"Well, we brought that floozy, and she acted true to form, and consequently I feel a little responsible for the harm she could do the victims, even if they are mostly people I don't really like. She has a disease. And she has cooties."
"Cooties, Edward? You mean head lice? That's solvable."
"I never said they were on her head, Bella. She has crabs."
Bella pitched over sideways. "What disease?" she snorted.
"From her thoughts post-ladies room, she's just had her first outbreak of herpes. I can't even rat on her to any of her conquests because she hasn't even been to the doctor yet. There's no way anybody could know."
I suddenly zoned out and when I came to, Jazz was supporting me as usual. "You don't need to worry, Edward. I just Saw her sitting in a clinic with most of the guys from our class. They all look very awkward."
"Most of our class? Just how many guys has she been with?" Bella gawked.
"Bella, Lauren makes my cousin Tanya look chaste. I know Jazz and I escaped, but I doubt she missed anybody else. Except maybe a couple of the gay ones."
"A couple? What about the rest?"
"She convinced them to experiment. See why I try not to listen to people's thoughts? Lauren's highly dangerous. I haven't figured out a redeeming quality in her, and I don't ever again want to be close enough to her to try and identify one. Let's hope nobody ever makes her a vampire, because I don't want to know how her talent would manifest."
"I don't get why any guy would go for her, do you?"
"Some humans are like sheep, Bella. They follow the herd without thinking for themselves. All it takes is a dare or a little flattery and they jump on what ever wagon drives by."
"Well," I said, "At least she only got her claws into two of the human males we took with us."
"Ha, ha, that's what you think, Ms. Gypsy. You don't read minds. She had all the human males in our group except Ben. He turned her down. And I imagine she'll have made a play for all the Cullens before we reach Forks, too."
The three of us chorused "Ew" as we piled in the car and took off. Ten minutes later, Bella piped up,"I hope Lauren asks Rosalie for a threesome. And I really hope I'm there to watch the fallout." We laughed, imagining...
After sunset, Edward and Jasper took off into the woods to hunt, and I babysat Bella, who was happy to get an earful about the other people on the trip and what the future might hold for them. The boys returned in less than an hour, having found themselves a herd of deer within a short distance, their eyes warm and golden. The mood mellowed. Jazz got in the driver's seat and I moved up to sit with him so that Edward and Bella could have the back for awhile. Edward retrieved a blanket from the trunk, and he and Bella curled up on the back seat. He hummed softly to her. Within a short time, she was sound asleep.
Jazz drove through the night, and before long the minibus was visible in front of us. It pulled off after about 100 miles, into another rest stop. Emmett waved as we passed by, and yawned and stretched theatrically. Jazz kept driving.
Through the day, we travelled in stops and starts, listening to Edward's CDs. The minibus was somewhere behind us. Toward evening, Edward called Rose and suggested that we should stop so that everyone could stretch their legs. We pulled over in a park that had fire pits with cooking grates, and we got out and started a small fire in one.
Edward got the blanket, and Jasper got the guitar, and by the time we were comfortable, Rose and Emmett had pulled in with the eight teenagers. She and Emmett shepherded the kids off the bus, and they gladly trouped over to warm themselves by the little fire. I pulled out the snacks that I had foreseen we would need, and passed them around. We sang a couple of old camp songs, and Jasper played a couple of Spanish guitar songs. Everyone clapped and murmured appreciatively. Then, Edward was asked if he would sing something again.
"Well, what do you want me to sing?" he asked quietly, a little bemused. He was glancing around, so I bet a lot of people had ideas.
"Do you know Adored by Collective Soul?" Jessica asked. Yes, I Saw.
Edward nodded briefly and took the guitar from Jasper. Bella was surprised. "You never told me you could play guitar, Edward."
"Well, I don't play it half as well as Jazz. Piano is my instrument." Edward strummed the strings tentatively, and launched into the song. The humans sat quietly, and Emmett, Rose, and I joined in on the chorus. The humans joined in, too. Edward glanced at Tyler and followed up with another Collective Soul song, She Gathers Rain. Tyler looked pleased. The humans were beginning to mellow out.
Edward passed the guitar off to Emmett and went to sit with Bella. Emmett said the crowd was too sleepy for his kind of music, and passed the guitar back to Jazz. Jazz crooned Annie's Song by John Denver, and Rainbow Connection. The group was, truly, getting sleepy under the hypnotic voices of the Cullen boys. Rosalie called an end to the evening, and the kids piled back into the minibus and settled down for the night.
Jazz got behind the wheel again. We followed the minibus through the darkness. It was dull until Bella suddenly exclaimed in her sleep, "Alice! We are not having the wedding at a nudist camp! Charlie would flip. And I do not want to see anybody's doodahs. Well, except Edward's. No, not in public! Put the camera away and don't ever ask me again. How you could imagine that we would agree to that sort of thing is beyond me."
The vampires' snickering lasted a long time. Maybe I should suggest those things to Bella, just to freak her out. I Saw her reaction. Oh, yeah, I would have to do it in front of witnesses. Lots of them. Priceless. We were going to get a lot of mileage out of this one.
Bella went back to silent slumber, and Edward smirked silently out the window, doubtless imagining Charlie, Renee and Phil at a nudist wedding. By breakfast, we had hit the first stretch of the I-90 that would take us home. Jasper pulled into a truck stop and Edward took Bella in to get cleaned up and have breakfast. Rose and Em's group were already inside. Everybody looked a little worse for wear.
Edward took the next stretch of road. The rest of the day passed monotonously. We made intermittent stops and both vehicles changed drivers for show. By 8pm, the humans were all snoring. Extensive travel certainly wore them out quickly. We would have to keep that in mind from now on.
Edward surrendered the wheel to me in the middle of the night, the better to hear Bella sleep-talking. I think he wanted to sit where he could wake her if she said anything too incriminating, but sadly, she seemed fixated on making apologies to dream people for the engagement photo. I guess it was still worrying her. Edward sighed. He sounded a little miffed.
At 6 am, Edward pulled out his cell phone and called Carlisle. He told him that we should be home by approximately 8 am, and to please ask Esme to prepare breakfast for the humans.
Shortly after 8:00, we pulled into our private drive, the minibus behind us. A group of families was standing on the lawn, waiting to receive their kids. Everyone in our group was surprised except me. Esme had a long line of tables set up with pancakes, fruit, drinks and warm ham. She was fluttering around, delighted with the opportunity to play hostess.
Bella was peeking warily at the crowd, probably wondering where to find Charlie. She muttered something under her breath to Edward that sounded like, "There had better not be any sausage on that table. I have had enough sausage jokes from your siblings for a lifetime."
I parked the Vanquish and the four of us piled out. Suddenly, there was Charlie, looking a little sheepish and very happy to see Bella. He stuck one arm out to hug her, and then reached out to pull Edward to his other side. I knew everything would work out. I always knew.