Chapter 4
BPOV
See, problem solved. Alice will watch out for the Volturi and nobody else will have anything to do with Italy. I don't really know why Edward was so worried about telling them that. He sighed again. Of course, apparently keeping secrets was part of his nature. At least, he was always keeping secrets from me in the book. I was really glad I knew all those secrets now. I took a moment to ponder what would have happened if Edward had been the only one to read the books. Somehow, I don't think it would have gone anywhere near as well. Then again, if I had been the only one to get the books, it really wouldn't have gone well then either. I could just imagine how much he would have freaked out if I had simply gone up to him that first day, or even the next week and told him everything I knew. I was really glad Stephenie Meyer had informed both of us at the same time. Hmmm. His family was actually taking this rather well considering how crazy it sounded.
"You know, it just occurred to me that you're all handling this really well. I'm sorry for being so forward about acting like I know you. I hope I haven't been making you all uncomfortable."
"Don't worry about it, Bella," Carlisle assured me. "We're rather used to strange things in this family."
The others all smiled and nodded.
"Emmett being one of the strangest," Edward added.
"Hey! This from the boy who hears voices," Emmett retorted.
"That's enough, boys," Esme insisted. "We don't want to give Bella a bad impression of us."
"I think it's a little late for that, Esme," Jasper muttered. "Apparently, she already knows us."
They all laughed.
"What's this you said about the werewolves, Bella?" Carlisle inquired.
I exchanged a look with Edward. He didn't seem to want to jump in with an explanation, so I decided I would do it.
"The wolves are back. There's already at least one. His name is Sam Uley. Apparently, they have 24 chromosome pairs, and their dormant genes are triggered by the presence of vampires. So, because you are here in Forks, many of their young men will become werewolves. It could be as many as 15 males and one female, though that would only be if Forks comes under attack, which it did in SM's future. Hopefully, we can prevent that from happening."
"Hmmm, we'd better contact the tribal elders then and renegotiate the treaty. This is an unfortunate turn of events," Carlisle pondered.
"Well, Edward and I did have something of plan. One of the elders, Billy Black, is best friends with my father. His son, Jacob Black, is the true Alpha of the pack, but he isn't supposed to change for about a year. His two best friends also become wolves a little while after he does. He doesn't believe the legends right now. He thinks his father is just being superstitious. So, I thought this would be a good time to invite him and his friends over here to get to know you all."
"What?" Rosalie screeched. "You want us to invite werewolves into our house? Do you want us to die?"
"No, of course not. They don't even have to come here. The problem is that they are taught that vampires don't have feelings, that they're not people. According to SM's future, the wolves hate you until they start to get to know you. Once they start seeing you as people, they actually choose to help defend our family. We face a newborn army, and they kill ten of the twenty vampires. Without them, we wouldn't all have survived. Also, later, they stand with us against the entire Volturi guard and all three brothers. They risk their lives to protect us. If they didn't stand with us, we would have been immediately destroyed. Because they were there, we all walked away unharmed. We need the wolves on our side."
"When is the newborn army coming?" Jasper demanded.
"Well, hopefully they won't come at all. It was the result of a series of events. But we know who and why, so we can prevent the first even from ever occurring."
Edward groaned forcefully. "Bella, what was the point of our agreement not to tell the family everything?"
"Well, I'm sure they don't need to know every little detail, Edward, but how can they help prevent the bad things if they don't know anything about them?"
"They don't need to worry and fret about things that won't occur."
"Of course not, but if it were me, I'd want to know what I was up against. By the way, Alice, I just thought you'd like to know that you can't see werewolves in your visions. So if they are involved in any way, you can't see that portion of the future."
"What? Why?" Alice wasn't pleased.
"We don't really know, but your theory was that you could see vampires because you are one, and humans because you had been one, but not hybrids, because you've never been one. Speaking of hybrids, you can't see half-human, half-vampire hybrids either. There are several down in South America, whom we may want to visit next year. So you won't be able to see mine and Edward's child."
"Bella!" Edward shrieked. "That's one of the things we weren't mentioning!"
"Well, you know, it's not like we made a list or anything. Maybe you should make a list of all the things I'm not supposed to talk about and share it with me," I snapped. "It's not like I'm a mind reader or anything."
He had the grace to look embarrassed. The rest of the family was frozen in shock, staring at us in disbelief.
"You have sex with her while she's still human?" Jasper shouted.
"I can't see the baby's future?" Alice whined.
"Wow! Go, Edward!" Emmett cheered.
"You two are going to have a baby together?" Esme gasped.
"The baby is half-vampire?" Rosalie questioned.
"I think this is one of those things we'd like to hear about in greater detail, son," Carlisle announced.
Edward sighed again. "Okay, what did you want to know?"
"Well, I've been under the impression that it's impossible for vampires and humans to procreate. So I am naturally curious about that whole process. How does it work? And I'm also surprised that you chose to, umm, attempt that process while she's human."
"Yeah, I know," Edward glared at him. "She almost died because you didn't know anything about it."
"I think Bella should explain," Rose suggested. "She's a lot more forthcoming than Edward."
The rest of the family all nodded in agreement, looking eagerly to me. I couldn't help a little smirk at Edward. He snorted.
"Go ahead, Miss Chatterbox, fill them in on all the details."
"Okay, well, Edward didn't want to change me. He kept thinking I would get over him or something and have a nice human life without him. He was wrong."
"How do you know?" Rose demanded.
"Uh, well that's kind of a long story, and I'm sure that's one of the things Edward doesn't want me to mention," I hesitated.
"Give us the cliff notes," Rose suggested. I started to shake my head and Edward did too.
"Please, Bella, just start at the beginning and let us all get on the same page. You've thrown out so many bits and pieces that just lead to more questions. Can you please sum up the next two years according to Stephenie Meyer, so we can all understand what to expect? At least the bare bones summary?" Carlisle asked politely. I would do anything Carlisle asked. I glanced briefly up at Edward and he nodded. I took a deep breath. I was going to sum up over 2500 pages of material as briefly as possible. I decided to start with the baseball game.
"Okay, three nomads come. Laurent goes to Denali and is Irina's mate. James is a tracker and goes after me. His mate, Victoria, helps him. James almost kills me, so Jasper and Emmett kill him, while Alice, Carlisle, and Edward save me. James bit me, but Edward sucks out the venom to keep me human. Edward decides to leave me because he thinks it's too dangerous for me to be near him. He tells me he doesn't love me and all the rest of you leave without saying goodbye. Edward forbids Alice from looking for my future and you all promise not to come anywhere near me. I spend the next couple of week's catatonic, then the next few months only going through the motions of life, a zombie, more or less. I start hanging out with Jacob Black. He turns into a werewolf. I start doing stupid stuff because I have a death wish. Meanwhile, Edward is holed up in a dirty attic somewhere in South America, completely nonfunctional. I go into the woods. Laurent finds me while hunting and tries to eat me. The werewolves kill him. Victoria keeps trying to get to me to torture and kill me to revenge James's death. I spend most of my time at La Push so the wolves can protect me. I jump off a cliff on a stormy day. Alice sees me enter the water but not come out. She assumes I'm dead and comes to Forks. Jacob saves me from drowning. Rose tells Edward I committed suicide, so he asks the Volturi to kill him. They say no. He decides to force them to kill him. Alice and I go to Volterra to save him. We do, but all three of us are taken to Aro. Aro wants all three of us to join the guard. We all say no. They let us go and we fly home."
"And you're still human at this point?" Jasper asks in disbelief. I nodded. "You go before the Volturi, knowing about us, and they let you go?" I nodded again.
"Yes, with Alice's word that I'll be changed soon. Edward refuses to change me. Carlisle offers to do it after I graduate. Edward says he'll do it if I marry him. I agreed to marry him if we could, umm, be intimate before I change." I started blushing, looking down. "I was afraid I'd have to wait through the whole newborn year before we could do anything. Anyway, he agrees. Victoria makes a newborn army. They come to get us. The wolves help us fight. All newborns die. Edward kills Victoria. A few of the Volturi guard come. They don't see the wolves. They're unhappy we're all still alive and I'm still human. Edward and I get married. I get pregnant on our wedding night. Edward freaks out. We come back. Edward wants to abort. I ask Rose to help me protect the baby. The baby and I almost die until we figure out I have to drink blood. Carlisle leaves to get more blood. The placenta separates. Edward does an emergency C-section and delivers the baby. He gives her to Rose. My heart stops. Jacob does CPR to circulate the venom while Edward puts me back together. I go through the change, and practically skip the whole newborn phase. Our daughter is perfect. Jacob imprints on her. She's gifted, prefers blood to human food, has normal vampire abilities but a human heartbeat and brown eyes, is warm, and has an accelerated growth rate. Irina sees her and tells the Volturi she is an immortal child. They come to kill us all. We call all our friends to stand with us, but the wolves are what stops them long enough for us to explain. Alice finds Nahuel from South America and brings him to testify. He and his sisters are all vampire/human hybrids. They grow to maturity in seven years, then live forever like vampires. The Volturi go home, our friends go home, we're friends with the wolves, my dad knows we're different but doesn't want to know any details, just wants to get to know his grandchild. The end. Okay, that about sums up 2500 pages. Well, except I didn't mention that I'm Edward's singer. My blood is like a thousand times more potent to him than anyone else's is, so he's always fighting the urge to kill me, but he eventually gets over it."
They're all just staring at me. Hey, I think I did a pretty good job of summarizing two years of life in about five minutes. I deliberately left out the part about Jasper attacking me at my birthday party, knowing it would just cause hurt feelings.
Jasper turned to look at Edward. "The other night, when you came in all wild, it was because you smelled her?"
Edward looked sheepish. "Um, actually I had wanted to test the theory to see if the books were real, so I went over to her house. I knew from the books I would react very badly the first time I caught her scent, so I merely opened the passenger side door of the car she rode home in from the airport. That stale scent from the previous day was enough to affect my sanity to that extent."
"So how can you sit so close to her now?"
"I knew from the books that I could learn to ignore her scent the way Carlisle does if I kept practicing, so I took a piece of her clothing and smelled it for hours at a time to force myself to think past the burn. I know that sounds kind of weird and stalkerish, but at least she understands. That reminds me though. Bella had a theory about something, and I wanted to test to see if it's true. Emmett, Carlisle, would you mind holding Jasper for me?"
Jasper looked offended, but allowed himself to be restrained. Edward rested his nose against my neck and inhaled deeply, allowing his mind to register how thirsty my blood made him feel. Jasper immediately started growling and snarling, trying to get to me. Edward quickly stopped breathing and refocused. The women moved to stand in front of me as Emmett and Carlisle pushed Jasper back into the couch.
"Everybody, project your love to Jasper, make him feel it," I cried. "Not anger or disappointment, just love." I watched as their bodies relaxed and their stances changed. Alice approached him, putting her hands on his face and capturing his eyes with hers. Jasper rapidly returned to sanity. He looked at me in horror, then hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I don't know what came over me."
"I do," Edward admitted sadly. "It was my fault." Jasper raised his head in surprise.
"All this time we've made you feel like the weak link. We've seen you struggle more with your thirst than the rest of us do, and we've made excuses that it's because you're newer to this life and that you drank from humans longer than the rest of us," Edward explained. "The truth is that you're one of the strongest. We are the ones who bring you down. You don't just struggle with your own thirst; you wrestle with the thirst of all seven of us. I proved it just now. You were completely fine until I allowed myself to feel my thirst for Bella's blood. You were reacting to my thirst, not your own."
I squeezed Edward's hand and smiled at Jasper. He looked at Edward in amazement, trying to process Edward's revelation. The whole family turned to look at Jasper with new eyes.
"I can't believe we've lived with you for all these decades and never realized it. Bella was the one who figured it out. Every time any of us go too long without hunting, we make it harder for Jasper to maintain control. Every time any of us are struggling, he struggles harder. I'm sorry, Jasper. I'm sorry for all the times I've made it harder for you, and I'm sorry for not understanding and I'm sorry for judging you for your struggles, thinking myself better than you. Please forgive me, Jasper, for all of this and for making you doubt yourself," Edward begged. Jasper sprang forward and embraced us both. We wrapped our arms around him. He leaned back, smiling joyfully.
"Of course I forgive you, Edward. Thank you, Bella. I can't tell you how much this means to me. Edward and I can practice together, so we can both get stronger. I never want to hurt you. Now that we know, I think our whole family can hunt a little more often to make sure we never get too thirsty to have you around," he offered.
The rest of the family nodded, murmuring their apologies to Jasper and promising to try harder to make his life easier.
BPOV
"Okay, I hate to break this party up, but Charlie is going to be home soon, and it would be best if Bella is already there when he arrives," Alice announced.
"Yeah, at least I already prepared dinner. I just need to pop it in the oven so it can get started heating. Alice, do you think you could come over and help me talk to Charlie? Apparently, he will really like you a lot. He's a sucker for your charm," I suggested. Everybody chuckled.
"Who wouldn't like the pixie?" Emmett asked.
"I think Charlie would be a lot more comfortable if I introduce him to my new best friend before I introduce my boyfriend. Sorry, Edward. I'll talk you up for the rest of the week, and then you can officially meet him on Friday. How does that sound? Then it won't be such a shock for him when we start dating."
He nodded understandingly, flashing his crooked smile. "I'll be up to your room later, after he falls asleep."
I grinned. "Looking forward to it."
Alice rolled her eyes. "Come on, lover girl. The clock is ticking. Let's go!"
Edward gave me a brief goodbye kiss, pulling back as Emmett began hooting. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Just wait, Emmett. I'm keeping track, and when the time comes, payback will be hell."
He laughed. "Bring it on, little sister."
I glared menacingly and he pretended to cower. "Oh, yeah, I'm quaking in my boots now. Rosie, save me from the big, bad human! She might cry on me or something."
"Whatever!" I growled, stomping out the door. Unfortunately, for my dramatic exit, I tripped over the threshold and would have fallen down the porch stairs if Edward hadn't caught me. I heard Emmett howling with laughter. I sighed and felt Edward trying to suppress a chuckle. Alice grabbed my hand and pulled me along to the car. I did my best to ignore her speed on the way to my house. I knew it wouldn't do any good to protest, since Alice was a rather unstoppable force, so I was determined to learn to live with it. She chattered happily about all the clothes she wanted to buy for me, and I quickly tuned her out to think about what I should say to Charlie.
At home, I put the pasta dish in the oven, along with some garlic bread. I pulled out one of the bag salads and poured the contents into a suitable salad bowl. Alice helped me set the table. I smiled to myself when I saw her folding the napkins into various elegant shapes.
"Oooh, can you make a swan?" I asked, knowing it was a popular origami figure.
"Of course," Alice replied, as if it should have been obvious to me. "Oh, Bella! That's a great idea! Charlie will love it." With a few deft flicks of her fingers, faster than my eyes could even process, she had folded some paper towels into an elegant centerpiece.
Just then, I heard Charlie come in the door. He walked over to the coat rack, where he usually hung his jacket and gun belt.
"Bella?" he called.
"In here, Dad," I called back. I heard his heavy footsteps as he made his way to the kitchen. He smiled when he saw me.
"Something smells good. I see we have a visitor," he commented pleasantly.
"Um, yeah, Dad. The pasta is coming out of the oven soon, and this is Alice Cullen, my new best friend. She offered to help me set the table while I made dinner."
"It's very nice to meet you, Alice. Your father is a wonderful man. Our town is very lucky to have a surgeon with his skills working here. Wow, look at the napkins!" he replied warmly.
"Thank you, Chief Swan. I'll pass on your regards. Do you like the centerpiece? I made it for you. A swan for the Swans," Alice twinkled charmingly.
Charlie actually blushed. Well, at least I knew I came by it naturally.
"Call me Charlie. It's a beautiful swan, Alice. You're very talented."
"Thanks!" she squealed enthusiastically, flashing a wide smile at him, dazzling him speechless. I guess I came by that honestly too, considering the Cullen's, some of them at least, had the same effect on me.
"By the way, Dad, I just wanted to warn you about something, in case you heard any strange rumors," I began, embarrassed. He concentrated on me intently. "There were several guys at school who were invading my space and making me uncomfortable, so Alice's brother stepped up and told them I was his girlfriend. I was so thankful, because it was the only thing that made them back off and leave me alone. Alice was there with me, because we had already started becoming friends, and Edward was just trying to help. He apologized and said it was the first thing that popped into his head that would make them stop fighting over me. I thanked him and thought nothing of it, but I realized later the incident had been blown out of proportion by the gossip mongers, and most of the school had us engaged to be married. I even had somebody ask me if I was pregnant, which was rather embarrassing, considering I've never even had a boyfriend before. I told her I was still a virgin, but I wouldn't be surprised if by tomorrow a few people have decided I've managed an immaculate conception. I knew rumors could get out of hand, especially in a small town, and everyone was talking about me before I even arrived, but still, this is crazy. I just wanted you to know if somebody tells you tomorrow that I'm eloping with Edward Cullen to have his love child that you really have nothing to worry about. I'm just about as likely to be abducted by aliens," I assured him, rolling my eyes.
Alice chuckled. "I wouldn't rule out the aliens just yet. I've heard of stranger things around here."
Charlie's lips twitched, but he asked sternly, "Edward Cullen? Which one is he?"
"He's the youngest one, in the same grade as me. In fact, we have the same biology class," I explained.
"Ah, the youngest one," Charlie muttered, lost in thought. He smiled. "Well, that's okay then."
I wondered what that was about, but shrugged it off as unimportant. I had Charlie's approval, which was all I needed to proceed. I pulled the pasta and bread out of the oven and placed them on the table with the salad.
"I'd better get on home now," Alice stated, hugging me goodbye.
"Alice, you're welcome to stay and join us for dinner," Charlie offered sincerely. "It smells delicious!"
I smiled as I saw Alice give a tiny shudder of distaste before she turned to give Charlie a grin.
"Sorry, Charlie, maybe next time. My mom is expecting me to have dinner with the family tonight," she lied cheerfully.
"I'll save you a taste, if you'd like," I joked as I walked her to the door.
She grimaced and stuck her tongue out at me. "I'll look forward to it, Bella. Hey, how'd you like to catch a ride to school with me tomorrow? It's better for the environment if we carpool."
"Sure, I'd love it!" I agreed enthusiastically. "See you tomorrow."
I closed the door behind her and joined Charlie at the dinner table. We served ourselves and took a few bites, before he began his interrogation.
"This is really great, Bells. You're a good cook. So how was your first day of school today?"
"Well, it was both good and bad. I met Alice, and she and I hit it off right away. She invited me to sit with her family at lunch, and her brothers and sisters were all really nice to me. It was so wonderful to be able to relax and fit in comfortably with a group. It was like I really got five new friends for the price of one," I chuckled. "Another girl in one of my classes seemed really nice. She's as shy as I am though, so we didn't say much to each other, but I just had a feeling we'd get along well together. Her name is Angela. I certainly didn't enjoy being the center of attention all day today. I had to endure so many stares and whispers. If it wasn't for Alice, I don't think I would have made it. Some of the girls were downright rude and nasty to me, but she stood up for me. I didn't really like the way any of the boys behaved around me, except for Alice's brothers. They were all perfect gentlemen. They didn't really talk much, but when they did, they were always polite. Alice's sister Rose was really nice too. The two of them invited me to go shopping with them after school tomorrow. I told them I'd check with you first."
"Who's driving?"
"Um, Alice I believe. Why?"
"Well, that's okay then. I'm not sure I want you in a car with Rosalie behind the wheel."
"Why not?"
"Well, let's just say she's been known to exceed the speed limit on occasion."
"Okay, Dad, whatever you say. I'm just glad to have some friends to spend time with now."
He smiled. "Yes, that's really great, honey. Dr. Cullen and his wife are very nice people. I was concerned when they first moved here that we'd have a lot of trouble with so many adopted teenagers in one family and with the parents being so young, but those kids are much better behaved than a lot of the teens whose families have grown up here for generations. By the way, honey, which boys were giving you trouble?"
"Well, there were a few that just seemed a little creepy. Um, I know one was named Mike, and one was Taylor or something like that. I didn't really catch their names."
"That was probably Mike and Tyler. You should probably stay away from those boys. What about Edward? The one who claimed he was your boyfriend."
I blushed. "Dad! He just said that to get the others to leave me alone. I do like him though. He seemed really nice, but he's rather reserved and shy. He doesn't talk to very many people, and he seems uncomfortable around a lot of the girls. He only really seems to relax around his family. I don't know what he thinks of me, other than that I'm friends with his sisters." I thought I was doing a fairly good job of selling Edward, at least as far as I ought to know him from our first day of school. I was deliberately painting an image I thought an overprotective father would appreciate.
Charlie nodded his head knowingly when I mentioned Edward's discomfort with the girls at school. I wondered what he was thinking about.
"Anyway, Alice is so outgoing, she brings us all out of our shells. I felt like a turtle poking my head out for the first time," I joked playfully. "I don't even have to say a word. She can carry on an entire conversation all by herself. Personally, I love it. I don't have to worry about any of those awkward silences when I'm with her."
Charlie chuckled. "Maybe that's why all the boys in her family are so quiet. They can't get a word in edgewise."
I laughed. "Don't let her hear you say that. I have a feeling she can be quite a force of nature once she gets riled, kind of like the Tasmanian Devil. A whirling vortex of destruction. I definitely don't want to get on her bad side."
Charlie laughed out loud. I could tell he had a hard time imagining that petite young girl being strong enough to destroy anything, but I knew better. That girl had her entire family quaking in their shoes, their really expensive designer shoes that she bought for them and forced them to wear.
We finished up dinner in harmony with one another, and Charlie went into the living room to watch TV. I put away the leftovers and washed the dishes. Once the kitchen had been restored to order, I grabbed my backpack and headed up to my room to work on my homework.
After my homework was done, I got ready for bed. I went downstairs and gave Charlie a hug and a kiss goodnight.
"You off to bed now, Bells?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty beat. Today was somewhat emotional for me, so I'm feeling kind of drained. I'll see you in the morning."
"Sure thing, sweetheart," he yawned, shutting off the television. "I think I'll head up myself."
Yes! That means Edward will be here soon! I hurried up to bed and jumped under the covers, listening impatiently to the sounds of my father preparing for bed. After what felt like an eternity, finally all was quiet. I watched the window, waiting for my angel to appear. Even though I was watching, I still missed his actual entrance. One second I was alone, and the next second he was standing there smiling at me. I held out my arms, and he flew over to the bed to wrap me in his embrace. I lay up against him, relaxing as I felt safe and secure.
Before I drifted off, I mumbled, "You know, if you want to get me a gift, you could start with an electric blanket." I felt him chuckle underneath me as I lost the battle for consciousness.
BPOV
I woke to a chilly kiss that nevertheless warmed me up on the inside. I opened my eyes and found myself staring directly into Edward's golden ones.
"Good morning, love," he greeted me with his crooked smile. I smiled widely in return.
"Good morning to you, too. What a way to wake up in the morning. I must admit I'll take you over my alarm clock any day."
He chuckled. "Well, at least I'm good for something."
I grinned. "I'm sure I can think of a few more reasons to keep you around. If I concentrate."
"Is that so?" he murmured, giving me little kisses along my jaw line and down my neck.
"So much for concentrating!" I gasped. He lifted his head with a smirk.
"Hey, who said you could stop?" I protested, trying to pull him back down. He gave me an evil grin.
"Time for your human moment, love."
I huffed. How frustrating. How like him to get me going and then pull away. I grumbled as I got up, grabbed my clothes for the day, and went to take a shower. I wondered if cold showers worked on women too, but decided to try it another day. By the time I finished my shower and dressed, he was waiting in my room, in my rocking chair, already changed for school.
"Let me get this straight," I grumbled. "You ran home, took a shower, changed your clothes, and then ran back, just in the amount of time it took me to take a shower and dress?"
He smirked. "I can't help it if you like to take really long showers."
Long showers? There was still hot water, doggone it. It didn't qualify as a long shower in my book unless I ran out of hot water. I knew he was teasing me though, because the truth was that he was just really darn fast.
"I parked the car around the corner, by the way. I'll go and get it after your father leaves."
I went over and sat in his lap, leaning back against his chest. I could tell he was holding his breath.
"Is this too hard for you?" I asked in concern. He shook his head, smiled, and wrapped his arms around me. We stayed like that for a few minutes, gently rocking back and forth, until my stomach growled. I blushed and Edward chuckled.
"Sounds like breakfast time for the human," he teased. I glared at him. He pushed me off his lap and helped me upright. I heard my dad moving around in his room. "Go hunt downstairs for some food, love, so you can quiet the hungry beast inside you."
I rolled my eyes. "Very funny, Edward. Maybe we have some yummy mountain lion in the fridge." He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Fine," I sighed. "I'll go pounce on a Pop Tart. I think I can manage to subdue it into submission. I'm sure you'll come running if it gets to be too much for me and you hear my terrified screams for help. Attack of the mutant Pop Tart. I can see the headlines now: Mutant Pop Tart Mutilated by Vicious Vampire. 'Nothing munches my mate!' he screamed while passionately pummeling the Pop Tart. What do you think?"
"I'm thinking I may need to have Carlisle investigate mental institutions. I'll be sure to visit you as often as I can."
I threw a book at his head, which he promptly caught and began flipping through. I groaned, shut the door and headed downstairs. Charlie was already in the kitchen, messing with the coffee pot. He may not know how to cook, but he knew his way around the coffee machine blindfolded.
"You know, caffeine really isn't good for you, Dad," I pointed out by way of greeting.
He turned his head and smiled. "Okay, so don't buy anymore Cokes then."
"Then again, everyone needs a little pick-me-up in the morning, right?" I hastily backtracked as I grabbed a soda from the fridge. Coke and Pop Tarts—the breakfast of champions.
"Right," Charlie chuckled. "So, did you sleep well?"
"I slept great, Dad. I actually sleep a lot better here than I did in Phoenix."
"Really? That's great to hear! It sounds like you're settling in well," he ventured.
"Yep, I like it here so much better than I thought I would. In fact, if I could have anticipated this level of happiness and contentment, I would definitely have come sooner. Thanks for having me, Dad. I'm really glad I came."
He blushed, looking away. "This will always be your home, Bells. I'll always have a place for you. I just want you to know that. You're always welcome to come home to me, no matter what."
I felt the tears leaking from my eyes. "That is so sweet, Dad. Thank you." I jumped up to give him a hug. He patted my back awkwardly before clearing his throat.
"Time for me to go to work," he announced, putting his coffee mug in the sink. "See you this evening, Bella."
I smiled, knowing he was uncomfortable with showing emotions and physical affection.
"Sure thing, Dad. Don't forget, I'll be shopping with the girls after school today but I should be home around dinnertime. I'll call if I'm running late for some reason."
He nodded as he put on his gun belt. He shrugged into his jacket and opened the front door. "Have fun, Bells, and be safe."
"I will," I called out as he shut the door. I quickly cleaned up my mess in the kitchen and was going to go upstairs to check on Edward when I heard a knock at the front door. That's odd. I went and opened the front door to see Edward standing there, his Volvo in the driveway. He chuckled when he saw my surprise.
"I've already got your backpack in the car, so grab whatever else you need and we can go."
I raced to get my purse and ran out, locking the door behind me. Edward was waiting for me on the passenger side of the Volvo. He already had the door open for me. I was surprised but happy to see Alice and Jasper in the backseat.
"Hi, guys!" I exclaimed as I slid into my seat. I put on my seatbelt, then turned to look at them. "I wasn't expecting you. Not that I'm complaining or anything."
"Yeah, I could tell," Jasper chuckled. "You have really strong emotions for a human. We decided now was as good a time as any to begin working on my control, so here I am. Confined in a tiny little vehicle with a delicious smelling human and two vampires who wouldn't hesitate to tear my head off if I decided to take a little nibble. Nothing like jumping right in, hoping for the best. Why, this isn't challenging at all for me. We really should make it more difficult."
"He's just jealous, Bella," Jasper drawled. "The question is, was he more upset about the idea of you sitting in my lap or me drinking your blood?"
Alice giggled.
"Both," Edward growled. I laughed.
"Don't worry, Edward. I'm all yours," I reassured him. He smiled at me.
Everyone watched us openly as we pulled into our parking space at school. Edward and Jasper got out of the car and walked around to open the doors for Alice and me.
"Not that we can't open our own doors, of course, but it does make them feel better," Alice muttered to me with a wink. "I tell you, the things we women do for our men, just to make them feel better…"
We all started laughing, including Rosalie and Emmett who had walked over when they saw us arrive.
"Oh, Rosalie, did you drive your M3 today?" I asked, remembering the car from the book. She nodded impassively. "Great, I've been dying to see it. I've heard it's a pretty fabulous car."
She grinned at me and gently grabbed my arm. "It's over here."
We walked toward a large group of boys, clustered so tightly together I could barely make out the hint of something red in front of them.
"Nobody better get fingerprints on it, or they're gonna die," Rosalie threatened through clenched teeth. "Nobody touches my baby." The boys quickly moved away from the car, not wanting to make her any angrier. I finally got a good look at her car. It was a red convertible. If I hadn't read the Twilight book, I wouldn't have known anything else about it. I may not speak Car and Driver, but I can still appreciate an attractive sports car.
"Wow, Rose, this is incredible! I'm impressed. It's perfect for you. It's gorgeous, sexy, powerful, and can get wherever you need to go really fast," I stated quietly. "Plus there's a lot more going on under the hood than a casual observer could even imagine."
"Ha, that sums up my Rosie fairly well," Emmett laughed. "Don't forget dangerous if mishandled."
Rosie smacked him, but smiled at me, the smile going all the way to her eyes. I relaxed. I had taken a chance, making an analogy like that, but it seemed she liked it.
"And it fills up on fluid once a week," Alice joined in the game.
"It's flashy and gets noticed wherever it goes," Edward added.
"It's expensive and high maintenance," Jasper offered.
"Hey now, guys, be nice," I complained.
Rose smirked, looking down at her fingernails as if admiring them. "Well, it is the best in its class."
"True, true," Emmett agreed. "Personally, I always enjoy the ride. It's a great feeling every time I'm inside it."
We all started laughing. Trust Emmett to come up with that analogy. I blushed, trying not to make the inevitable comparison in my mind.
"Sorry, Rosalie. I didn't expect it to get so carried away."
"Don't worry about it, Bella, but we'd better get to class before the bell rings. I'll see you at lunch."
We exchanged smiles as Edward, Alice, and I headed off to first period.
BPOV
"Hey Angela!" I greeted warmly. "I know we didn't talk yesterday, but I was hoping you'd be willing to be friends."
She looked at me with surprise. I guess I couldn't blame her. I hadn't given her any indication yesterday that I was amenable to friendship.
I lowered my voice. "Look, Angela, I've met Lauren's and Jessica's type before, and I really have no desire to become best buds with someone so shallow and conceited. You, on the other hand, are a real person. You don't smile and pretend to like someone while internally insulting them and making up rumors about them behind their back. And Mike is the type that is thinking of nothing but how quickly he can make your clothes disappear. So, I know I was kind of mean yesterday, but they were all so fake and insincere. I just wanted them to leave me alone. I hate being the center of attention."
She smiled at me, nodding her head in understanding.
"Sure, I'd love to hang out anytime."
"Cool! Umm, I'm going to be sitting with the Cullen's at lunchtime, but maybe you could join us?"
I felt Alice's eyes boring a hole in my back.
"No offense, but I'm a little intimidated by some of the Cullens," she whispered. "I'd just as soon stay at my regular table for now."
I smiled. I couldn't really blame her. After all, I was the weird one. Humans were supposed to nervous around vampires. "No problem. Maybe we can hang out some on the weekend?"
Angela grinned. "That would be great."
I turned to Alice and winked. "Couldn't you foresee her answer, Alice? I could, and I'm not the psychic one around here," I taunted under my breath. I saw her relax and nod, writing something down in her notebook. A few seconds later, she flicked a note onto my desk. I glanced down at it casually.
Well, I'm glad you knew what you were doing, because if she had accepted your offer, Rose would have turned you into mincemeat.
I wrote back: Yeah, it doesn't take a psychic to see that one either.
I heard Edward chuckle behind me and knew he was reading over my shoulder. I didn't bother trying to flick it back to her. Knowing me, it would have probably missed her desk completely and landed on the teacher's shoe just as she walked by us. Somehow those kinds of things kept happening to me. So, I just held it up a little so she could see it. She huffed and stuck her tongue out at me, so fast I almost missed it. I barely resisted the urge to return the gesture in kind.
I mumbled, "Whatever," under my breath with a slight smile, and she proceeded to ignore me for the rest of class. Like that was a punishment. I smirked to myself.
Later that afternoon, when the last bell rang, I hurried out of the gym, ready to spend some quality time with Edward. I noticed we didn't really talk much in the books and wanted to spend some time talking about our principles, morals, and ideals. I needed to know what he expected from a girlfriend and a wife, and he needed to know my expectations. We needed to learn more about each other and not just our favorite colors either. We needed to discuss some of the major issues facing the world today, find out where our stances differed, and then move to compromise, agree to disagree, or part ways. I figured it was probably already too late for both of us to part ways. I wanted to know how he felt roles and responsibilities should be divided in a relationship. I was no Esme, and if that is what he expected of me, then that is something that needed to be discussed from the outset. We had already discussed having a child, so I wanted to know how he wanted to raise his child, how parental responsibilities would be divided, and what discipline methods he considered appropriate. We needed to discuss finances. We needed to think about where we would live after we got married. So much to say, so little time.
Unfortunately, halfway to Edward's Volvo, I was hijacked by two female vampires and carried over to Rose's car.
"How about we take my car?" Rose suggested. I shrugged. Okay, it's only a few minutes. I was curious to go riding in the convertible with the top down. I'd never been in one before.
"So where are we going shopping, Bella?" Alice asked innocently, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"What? Shopping? What on earth are you talking about? I'm going to hang out with Edward this afternoon," I protested.
"Bella, Bella, Bella," Alice chided, shaking her head. "Didn't I hear you tell Charlie that you were going shopping with Rose and me this afternoon?"
"Ummm, yes…" I answered hesitantly.
"So what are you going to say or do when he asks you how your shopping trip went? You're a terrible liar, Bella."
"Ummm, I hadn't really thought about that. I guess I could come up with something."
"Excuses won't work. You need to tell the truth. In order to tell the truth, you must actually go shopping with us. We're doing this for your own good, Bella," she entreated, giving me the puppy dog eyes. I rolled my eyes. I swear that little pixie has me wrapped around her finger. She did have a point though. I sighed deeply.
"Edward can come too, if he wants," Rosalie offered. I perked up. If I had to endure this torture, just give me Edward and I'd be a happy prisoner. Edward was beside the car in seconds.
"Thanks, Rosalie. I'd be glad to come." He eagerly climbed into the back seat with me.
Rose's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe Edward actually willingly volunteered to go on a shopping trip with the girls.
"Okay, I believe you now. I never thought I'd see the day Edward would choose to go shopping with us. He must be head over heels in love to be so out of character for himself."
"I am head over heels," Edward confirmed. "And I'm not choosing to go shopping. I'm choosing to stay close to Bella. There's a difference."
Rose snorted. Then she realized something else peculiar. "How is your Volvo getting home?"
"Jasper agreed to drive it home for me."
"You let Jasper drive your precious Volvo, just to spend time with Bella while she's shopping?" Rose gasped. Edward nodded. "Now I know you've gone over the deep end. Bella, who is this and what have you done with my brother?"
I laughed, squeezing his hand.
"I don't know, but I sure do like him," I teased. Rose turned and smiled at me. I got rather nervous when she did that, considering we were traveling well over 100mph, and unlike everyone else here, I wouldn't get up and walk away if she hit anything at this speed.
"Ummm, thanks, Rose. Ummm, wouldn't it be a good idea to keep your eyes on the road though?"
She laughed, but turned back around. "Now you're scared? A houseful of vampires doesn't scare you, but fast driving does?"
"Got it in one," I managed to choke out, my heartbeat racing as we took curves at speeds that should have sent us flying through the air, but we always managed to stay dead center in the lane. Edward wrapped me in his embrace, softly humming something sweet into my ear. I relaxed considerably, concentrating solely on him instead of Rosalie's insane driving. I could see why Charlie didn't want her driving me around. Saying she didn't always obey the speed limit was the understatement of the year. I wondered if she ever obeyed the speed limit. We made it to Port Angeles in record time.
"Oh, Bella! What a great idea! I'm going to get one too!" Alice shrieked excitedly, bouncing up and down in place and clapping her hands. "Jazz and I are going to have so much fun with it. Rose, I bet you and Emmett would like it too. Maybe we should get one for Carlisle and Esme, just in case? Let's see. Yep, they'll love it! Oooh, I can't wait. C'mon, everyone, let's go already!"
I had finally figured out what I was going to buy. Trust Alice to see it as soon as I'd made the decision. Edward was smirking, having seen the visions in Alice's head as she did. Rose looked decidedly irritated at being the only one not in the know. I knew exactly how she felt. I felt that way a lot around these two.
"Where are we going, Bella?" Rose inquired her voice full of frustration.
"We're going to Bed, Bath, and Beyond," I replied.
"Well, I hope they have something in the 'Beyond' section because I don't sleep, and I don't go to the bathroom," Rose grumbled. "What exactly was it you planned to get?"
"Blankets."
"Blankets?"
"Blankets."
"Oh, joy."
I chuckled. "I appreciate your company on this endeavor, Rose. You can pick the next store, and I promise not to complain."
That helped her perk right up, and she fell into a state of contemplation, trying to decide which of her favorite stores was going to make it to the top of the list.
We found our way to the blanket section of the store and were pleasantly surprised to see the wide variety of color. Rose came out of her reverie when she realized we had arrived at our destination.
"Electric blankets? What do they do, vibrate?" she asked curiously.
I laughed. "No, but maybe you should patent that idea. They get warm, which in turn makes you warm. They can actually get rather hot on the highest setting. I'm going to use it to keep Edward and me warm, when he snuggles with me at night."
Sudden comprehension flashed into her eyes, and she looked at them again with more respect, as she realized the potential. How would it feel if Emmett were warm all over when they came together?
"Do they come in king size?" she wondered, starting to dig through the pile. "Or would two twins be better? Or maybe both? Yeah, I think I'll get all three."
Alice snickered. "Good idea. You never know when you're going to need extra blankets. Okay, I've got two kings, one for us and one for Carlisle and Esme, plus two twins for Jazz and me. So do you want to continue shopping or go home and try these out?"
"Go home," I answered immediately, holding my two blankets. I had a king for his future bed and a queen for mine.
"Bella!" Rose gasped. "I'm shocked at you!"
I blushed and stared at the floor.
"I distinctly recall you promising I could pick the next store and you wouldn't complain."
"Yes, Rose, I did."
"So, how could you possibly want to go home and try these out without going to the lingerie store first?" she teased, pretending to be hurt and indignant.
"I can't imagine what I was thinking, Rose. How foolish of me," I drawled, blushing even redder. Even though I was embarrassed, my blush was nothing compared to the look on Edward's face at the turn in the conversation. If he were human, he would definitely have been blushing. He looked like he was caught between the desire to agree and the desire to flee. I couldn't help but want to push him just a bit further. "I need some new pajamas anyway."
His eyes widened, then darkened, then he looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets. Rose, Alice, and I giggled all the way to the cash register to purchase the blankets, with Edward stalking us the whole way. When it was my turn, Edward stepped up smoothly to pay for my items. I started to protest, but he quirked an eyebrow in my direction.
"I do remember you telling me my first gift to you should be electric blankets, so since you already gave your permission for me to buy them, there should be no complaint now."
Well, that effectively shut my mouth. I had said that the other night. I had also promised to work on accepting gifts for his sake. So I gave him my best smile, and stood up on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss on the lips, whispering, "Thank you, Edward."
He looked shell shocked, and I was surprised to discover I had actually dazzled him for once. Wow! What an ego booster! I could dazzle Edward Cullen! I grabbed his hand and led him out of the store to where his sisters were waiting.
"Edward, why don't you take our purchases out to the car and then meet us at the lingerie store?" Rose suggested nonchalantly. He nodded mutely, gathered up all the bags, and headed for the exit.
"Alright girls," Rose murmured conspiratorially, putting an arm around each of our shoulders. "Ready to have some fun?"
Alice immediately grinned, "Heck, yeah!"
I hesitated, not sure if I wanted any part of whatever Rosalie might consider 'fun'.
Alice reached over and grabbed my hand. "C'mon, Bella! Where's your spirit of adventure?"
My spirit of adventure? I lost it somewhere around the time I got a cast for the fifth time. Then again, I did hang out with a bunch of vampires and no witnesses. That was pretty adventurous, wasn't it?
"I'm here with you, aren't I? I kiss Edward, don't I? I come over and hang out in a house full of vampires, don't I? That isn't adventurous enough for you?"
Alice rolled her eyes, but it was Rose who responded, "That's not adventurous. It's just plain stupid. But don't worry, we like you anyway."
Wow, Rose just said she liked me. In a backhanded kind of way. Well, I can do my part to foster this friendship.
I sighed, "Okay, I'm in. What's the plan?"
"Okay, so here's the plan. We're going to mess with Edward, which we always enjoy, and you'll reap the benefits, Bella. You know how Edward is, he's such a prude. He wouldn't be caught dead, or even undead, in a lingerie store, so he will wait outside the store for us, facing away from the store. He will also do his best to stay out of Alice's and my heads so as to not see anything he shouldn't. So, if you can get over your shyness of Alice and me, we can really mess with him. Every time you model something you want him to see, you'll model it for us in front of the three-way mirror. Then we'll take turns saying odd things that he can't help but want to investigate. He'll jump into either Alice's or my mind to see what's going on, and then he'll get an eyeful. What do you think?"
Could I do this? Was I willing to model teddies and sheer nightgowns in front of Alice and Rose in order to 'make' Edward look at them? What was the worst that could happen? Really? Well, Edward might get mad, but the images would be forever burned into his perfect memory, and I had no doubt he would pull them out and look at them again later. I did want to encourage him to progress our relationship, didn't I? But this was so soon. I'd only known him for not quite four days now. I'd been saving myself all this time. Would I really wish to become sexual with someone I'd known for only a few days? Then again, I knew I belonged with Edward for eternity. He was the someone special I'd been saving myself for all these years. Of course, we couldn't go the whole way anyway. I wasn't ready to be a mom quite yet. So, did I want to encourage him to take the next step in our physical explorations of each other's body? Absolutely. I'd soon be sisters with these two girls anyway. In the books, Alice had helped me shower with my broken leg, and Rose had carried me to the bathroom every time I needed to use it while pregnant. So, I really didn't need to fear being not fully clothed around them. They were family. They weren't interested in my body or anything, so I had no need to feel self-conscious.
"Okay, I can do this. It's a go with Operation Lingerie," I grinned.
"Finally! I thought you'd never stop debating with yourself," Rosalie teased. Alice giggled.
We headed off to the store and started picking through the racks. Alice kept giggling to herself every few minutes. Finally, we headed to the dressing rooms so I could try on a few things.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Alice sang excitedly.
Rosalie signaled that Edward was in position outside the shop. I hurried to get changed into the first teddy, a lacy piece in his particular favorite shade of blue. As I stepped back out into the main part of the dressing room and posed in front of the mirrors, Rose and Alice got into their positions to get the best possible view of me. Then, Rose began her plan of attack.
EPOV
I took my sweet time taking the bags to the car, trying to give the girls time to find what they wanted and finish shopping. Or at least move to a store I wouldn't be ashamed to enter. I knew undergarments were necessary, and I thought about them as much as the next man. After all, we got multiple copies of the Victoria's Secret catalog mailed to our house each time. One to McCarty, one to Whitlock, one to Masen, one to Cullen, and one to Hale. We four men each grabbed one for ourselves to peruse in private and left the fifth copy for the girls to share amongst themselves. Hey, it was perfectly legitimate. They did commercials on TV for Pete's sake. Emmett always lets us know when one of those came on, so we could all watch it. We pretended not to, of course, but even Carlisle would find an excuse to wander downstairs for a few minutes. Then, he and Esme would usually go back upstairs afterward. Like none of us knew what they were doing. Actually, Alice, Jasper, and I had way too much information about what they were doing. Rosalie and Emmett would be blissfully caught up in themselves, too busy worrying about what they were doing to think about anybody else. They'd head off to their room shortly thereafter. By then, Jasper would be overwhelmed by everyone's lust and Alice would be desperate for distraction, so she wouldn't mind in the slightest when he would suddenly grab her and throw her over his shoulder, cave-man style, and run up to their room. Personally, I would just go hunting. Woo. Hoo.
Still, I was a gentleman, a gentleman of more than a century. While I was very much in favor of Bella purchasing some beautiful things that I might hope to see on her someday, there was no way I would be going into that store. No way I was going to walk through rack after rack of women's undergarments and touch them, or look at them, or suggest any of them. Whatever Bella got would be fine with me.
On the way to meet up with the girls, I passed a game store. I couldn't resist and stopped in for a few minutes. I was happy to note the new Xbox game Emmett wanted had finally been released. I decided to get it for him. Not only would I be his hero for a few hours, but he'd be kept busy playing it until school the next day. Emmett, quiet and in a single known location not causing trouble, was a good thing for the entire family.
I headed on to the specified meeting location, hoping by some miracle the girls were already finished. I was dismayed to see the number of things Alice carried in her arms on her way to the dressing room. I might as well make myself get comfortable. We were obviously going to be here a while. I leaned my back against the wall of the store, pretending to watch the people walking by in the mall corridor and listening to the conversation in the dressing room. I deliberately gave them all some privacy by blocking out their thoughts.
"Go ahead, Bella," Alice encouraged. "We'll wait for you here."
I wondered what kind of items Bella was trying on for size. After a couple of minutes, I heard Rosalie ask, "Hey, Alice, do you think Bella will like these crotch less panties?"
What? Instinctively, I jumped into Rose's mind just in time to be treated with a view of Bella in a royal blue teddy that matched her curves perfectly. I moaned, biting my lip, and jumped out again, but it was too late. That image was burned into my brain. I had no desire to tuck it away out of sight. Instead, I closed my eyes and dwelt on the image, drowning in her sexy brown eyes and the luminescence of her pale white skin next to the brilliant royal blue fabric.
"I like it, Bella. You should get that one."
A few minutes later, I heard Alice ponder, "Do you think Edward would like this one?"
"Nah," Rosie returned blithely. "It's too sheer. It wouldn't leave anything to the imagination."
Curiosity overcame self-control as I hopped into Alice's mind. I groaned heavily as I saw my beautiful Bella wrapped in black lace that exposed more than it covered. I hopped back out, but I was having a hard time thinking straight. I was also felt a need to untuck my shirt and hope it might hide how much I was enjoying the images in my mind. I swore to myself I would stay out of my sister's heads if it killed me. I took deep breaths, trying to calm down.
"Alice, do you think we should get Bella some toys?"
"Maybe, Rose. Oh, no. I don't think Edward would want her to have one of those!"
What? What were they talking about now? What did they want to buy for Bella that I wouldn't want her to have? I started to panic, but I didn't want to jump into their minds in case they were looking at Bella again.
"Well, I think we should get it for her anyway. He doesn't have to know she has it," Rose decided.
Forget self-control, I needed to know what Rose was planning to get for Bella. I quickly jumped into both of my sisters' minds. I got a double eyeful this time. Both of my sisters were looking at Bella from slightly different angles. With the mirrors behind Bella and the two viewpoints, I had a clear 360 degree view of Bella in the latest creation. I nearly toppled over from the force of my lust. I completely stopped breathing. Good thing Jasper wasn't here. I didn't think he'd be able to stand, but if he could, Alice would be in big trouble. And we probably wouldn't see them for days.
What do you think, Edward, red or blue? Alice thought to me. I caught a quick glimpse of two amazing sets of sexy, silky pajamas.
I was beyond rational thoughts at this point. I simply whispered, "Blue."
Alice snickered. "Here, Bella, Edward says he likes the blue ones."
Bella chuckled. "Blue it is."
"Hey, is that a tattoo, Bella?" Rose asked in surprise. I couldn't help myself; I had to see what she was talking about. Bella was wearing a sheer bra that opened in the front and a matching sheer thong. I gasped, a low rumbling building in my chest. I was just about ready to burst in there and take her on the dressing room floor.
"Oh, guess it must have been a shadow," Rose snickered. "Which one would you like to try on next, Bella?"
"Just get them," I growled. "Get them all! It's time to go home. Now." I was barely holding myself back. I was even picturing throwing her over my shoulder and running for the car. I heard all three girls laughing, but Alice and Rose were headed to the cash register, so I ignored them. Bella got her clothes back on and came out to wait with me. As soon as my sisters left the shop, I grabbed the armload of bags and started herding them toward the car.
"Get a grip, Edward," Rosalie complained. "You don't want to be quite that obvious, do you?"
I just growled at her, urging them all to move faster. I soon as we got to the car, I threw all the bags into the trunk and settled into the back seat with Bella. She stared up at me with wide, innocent eyes. My sweet naïve Bella.
"Is something wrong, Edward?" she inquired with concern.
I gave her a pained smile. "Of course not, my darling Bella. I'm just having a hard time right now."
"Very hard," Alice muttered. Rosalie started laughing, and Bella bit her lip while smiling angelically at me. She started patting my upper thigh and rubbing it a little.
"You poor baby, I'm sure you'll feel better soon."
I groaned. This sweet darling girl had no idea what she was doing to me. I closed my eyes, determined to endure the blissful torture all the way home.
BPOV
When we pulled into the garage at the Cullen's house, Edward chose to sit in the car for a few minutes. Despite his firm belief in my naiveté, I knew exactly why he needed the time, so I merely kissed his cheek and followed the girls inside.
"Everybody come to the living room! We got you all presents!" Alice exclaimed enthusiastically to the rest of the family. Carlisle emerged from his study, and Esme came in from the garden. Jasper and Emmett paused their Xbox game and turned to face us. I went to have a seat on the couch where I could watch everyone's faces while waiting for Edward to make an appearance. Rosalie tossed her bag to Emmett at the same time Alice tossed one to Jasper. Alice then presented the third bag to Carlisle. All three men pulled out the blankets and examined them blankly.
"Um, thanks, Alice," Jasper responded hesitantly, trying to fake enthusiasm.
"Yes, nice color," Carlisle commented kindly, handing the blanket to Esme.
"An electric blanket? Cool!" Emmett enthused. "Does it glow in the dark?"
"That's a good idea, Emmett," I praised. "Not quite as good as Rose's, but could still have a market for young children. No, an electric blanket gets warm to hot, in variable settings. When you wrap yourself in it, or get under it, it warms up your body, using the electricity. It's like snuggling inside an oven, without the danger of catching on fire." I watched as comprehension and then speculation dawned on the faces of the men and Esme. Emmett was the first to react.
"Well, thanks for the gift, Rosie. Let's go try it out. See you tomorrow, Bella!" he shouted on his way up the stairs. He had grabbed the bag of blankets and lifted Rose up bridal style before sprinting up to their room. The others watched them go. Edward chose that moment to appear from the garage. He came over and sat beside me on the couch.
"You're so sweet, always thinking of me, Alice," Jasper purred seductively, grabbing Alice by the hand and dashing up the stairs.
I chuckled. Carlisle and Esme were exchanging a heated glance. They started backing towards the stairs, one step at a time.
"Yes, well, I think we're all going to have a quiet…"
CRASH! Something sounded like it broke up in Emmett's and Rose's room.
"…private evening tonight. It was great seeing you again, Bella. You're welcome any time, but I'm sure Charlie will be wanting his dinner soon, so we'll see you tomorrow, okay dear?" Esme explained politely, reaching out for the stair railing.
"Of course, Esme. Thank you all for having me. Good night!" I smirked playfully.
"Good night!" Carlisle exclaimed, winking at me, before the two of them raced up to their bedroom.
Edward was staring after them, wincing at their thoughts. I grabbed his hand and headed for the front door.
As soon as we made it inside the Volvo, I burst out laughing.
"Drive, man, drive," I urged. "Before the moaning starts."
His eyes widened, and he peeled tires backing out and tearing down the driveway. I started laughing again. Then, I stopped with a start.
"Did you get our blanket?" I demanded.
He smirked. "Of course, I did." He pointed to the back seat. I released a huge sigh of relief.
"So, are you looking forward to trying it out tonight?" I cooed coyly, wiggling my eyebrows. He cut his eyes in my direction.
"Absolutely," he leered. I chuckled.
"Excellent."
Once we got to my house, I popped the chicken casserole into the oven with some biscuits. I defrosted some broccoli in the microwave and sprinkled cheese on top, putting it in the oven to melt the cheese. Dinner would be ready shortly after Charlie walked through the door. Edward was busy setting up the electric blanket, no doubt reading the precautions on the bag and devising a new list of rules for me of things I could and could not do with my electric blanket. No doubt it recommended against using in the bathtub and other kinds of common sense ideas. The scary knowledge was that for every one of those possibilities listed, somebody had actually tried it and then tried to sue the company to make up for their own stupidity.