27
MAIDEN VOYAGE
The Cullen meeting had included some summer plans of which I was not completely privy to, Alice came running into the room as soon as the meeting was over.
"You're going to have another birthday surprise Bella," she said.
I rolled my eyes.
"Ok now what?" I asked.
I was resigned to whatever surprise they chose to give me because I knew there wasn't any point in arguing.
"If I tell you, it won't be a surprise but I just came to warn you to get used to the idea and forget any complaints you might have," she said.
"I'm beyond complaining about anything any more so just lay it on me," I said.
I lay back on the bed in a relaxed position with my arms outstretched as if to say bring it on, Alice laughed and so did Edward as he came in the room.
"I like that you're giving in to our surprises young lady," he said and he grinned.
I flashed him one of my dazzling smiles.
"There's absolutely nothing you could get me that I don't already have so I'm not too worried, I have the boat from my last birthday which I haven't even used yet, having babies has taken my time as well as everything else so I'm not worried in the least," I said happily.
Edward came over to me and started tickling me, Alice laughed at my giggling and screaming.
"This is where I leave," she said.
"No Alice, don't leave me, help me," I pleaded in vain.
She left anyway and she was still laughing, Rachel came in with the babies.
"I think it's time to feed them again," she said.
They were fussing quite a bit and Edward stopped tickling me.
"You escaped for now," he said, but I'm not leaving."
They both helped me latch the babies on, then Rachel left and Edward sat cross-legged on the bed near my feet with some lotion and proceeded to massage my feet and legs so I'd relax; it worked very well.
"You're so mean to me and yet you're so good to me," I said.
"That wicked smile does it every time," he said.
Aro came to see us.
"Ah I see you're getting the royal treatment," he said smiling, "I have to leave my dear but I'll be back in the morning to see you and spend some time with you."
"Can't you stay tonight; Edward and I like it when you stay?" I asked.
"No Isabella, not to night, as I said I'll see you in the morning early."
Aro bent over and kissed me.
"You take good care of our babies," he said as he patted their heads, "I love you."
"I love you too, thank you for these beautiful babies," I said.
"My pleasure," he said as he left.
"It looks like you're stuck with me," Edward said.
"I guess I'll have to make do then," I joked.
"Maybe I'll leave then," he said smiling.
"No Edward, I need you please stay."
I must have sounded alarmed.
"Just joking, why would I leave when I have you all to myself, silly," he said.
"You don't have to wait for the babies to finish," I said, "I'm all ready for you, I love you."
He lay beside me on the bed and put his fingers through the hair of the baby closest to him; he watched the babies feed for a few minutes.
"I love that you can breast feed Bella love," he said.
"I'm glad that I can too, I never dreamed I would be a mother and I'm still only eighteen, all the things happening to me in one years time that are good; I don't believe I make love to two men who are so different in their love making and yet they both make me so happy and complete."
"I think you need two men, there are too many bad things that have happened to you, you were snatched from under my nose, out of my arms, so you need at least two people watching you at all times," he said.
He rolled off the bed, undressed and came back to me.
"Haven't these babies had enough?" he wondered.
"I think their sort of sucking but yet sleeping," I said.
He called Rachel; she came, took the babies from me and left.
He kissed me and came on top of me, his kissing becoming more demanding as I responded to him, my legs opened up automatically and we were soon making love.
Aro came as he promised, early in the morning and I enjoyed my time with him.
A few weeks later I was pulled outside the house by Edward to see my gift and it was a new vehicle equipped with car seats, large enough to accommodate three children but with room for more.
"I should have known you'd find something practical but still expensive, I think our baby making days are over though," I said.
"Never say never, love, in our vampire world anything's possible, the fact that you can breast feed and actually shed tears makes me wonder if you could actually become pregnant with the right man," he said.
"Well if it isn't you or Aro, then it's not happening so don't even start looking for the right man, Edward," I said.
"Don't worry I'm not looking but he'll probably come looking for you, you have your antenna to bring in your catches, witch," he said.
I rolled my eyes and he pulled me inside the SUV.
"Do you like your gift, Bella?" he asked.
"Of course I love it, thank you," I said and we kissed.
"We're also going on a plane trip with the babies and of course Emma and Rachel along with our family," he said," We're leaving in the morning."
"Are we going to my boat?" I asked knowing the answer.
"You'll see," was all he would say.
"Isn't Aro coming?" I asked.
"No, but he does have the means to come to you if he needs you and I'm sure he can't stand to be away from you for too long, just like me," he said.
The next morning I wasn't allowed to worry about anything including the babies, Aro spent the night with us so he kissed me goodbye.
"I wish you would come too," I told him.
"I'll visit you when I need to Cara, you know I can do that," he said.
"I hope you need me soon," I said and he laughed.
"We were just together last night my love," he said.
"But I need you every minute of every day," I said emphatically.
"You know that isn't possible," he said.
"I know but I can wish it."
One of Aro's peculiarities was that he didn't want women to wear underwear or pants because he felt it destroyed the perfect scent women had, neither did he want confining clothes to be worn which included bras; he wanted me to be dressed in such a way that my clothes were easily removable and he liked to show off my body too, so the least I wore the better for him.
"You make sure you remember not to cover your body too much, Alice told me she'd watch you but I'm reminding you what I expect," Aro said.
"Yes Aro, I'll only do what you want, I promise, I said.
"Good girl, I want you to smell sweet when I come to you," he said, "What you're wearing now is ok for the plane ride."
I wore a long straight skirt with a slit up the side and a blouse which was tucked in for now until I fed the twins; Alice had fixed my hair to look older and I wore high heeled shoes to match my outfit.
"You look beautiful Isabella, come back to me soon," he said.
"Are you two lovebirds finished so we can leave?" Alice asked.
We kissed and Alice pulled me away; when I was seated in the limo, I waved to him as we drove away.
I was seated next to Edward and he pulled me to him and we kissed.
"How can you miss one man when another one is right beside you Bella?" Alice asked.
"They're both different and I like it best when they're both with me," I said.
"Three men will be an interesting prospect," she said.
I saw an exchange of looks between Alice and Edward, I couldn't help wondering what it meant but I knew they would never tell me; Edward kissed me again, obviously to distract me and it worked.
I was so excited to be finally able to see my boat, the plane seemed to take forever and I had no idea where we were going; whenever the pilot said anything to give the slightest indication of where we were going, Edward kissed me and it would distract me again.
"You're so good at distracting me," I told him.
"I know," he said.
I fed the babies on the plane and the stewardess came to see how I did it with both babies.
"I have a lot of help, I said smiling at Edward.
"There you go with that wicked smile," he said when she had gone.
"I love you," I said seductively.
Finally the plane flight was over and we were in another limo in a country where the language was unfamiliar to me and then I saw the boat looming up before me.
"Wow it's huge!" I exclaimed.
Edward smiled.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"Yes it's beautiful, I can't believe it's mine, Edward," I said.
My eyes started to tear up; he kissed me and wiped my tears away.
"Some vampire you turned out to be," he made me laugh.
The captain and the crew were waiting to meet us and I was introduced to the captain.
"This is Captain Contreras, Captain, this is Bella," Edward said.
"I'm very pleased to meet you Captain," I said.
I then went down the line and met all the crew, it was obvious to me that the captain and most of his crew were vampires, but there were some humans who were aware of the vampire community and seemed to work well with them; it was the same kind of relationship those humans at the castle had with the vampires there, humans with no ties and unable to mix with other humans now unless there was a reason and it was approved.
All the crew had strict instructions to leave our humans alone and this included Jenny who was basically unaware that we were vampires, she just loved us and had a great relationship with all of us, we watched her carefully to make sure no one had eyes for her but one important vampire rule was that under no circumstance would a vampire change a child; under pain of death, no vampire would even try.
Edward and I spent a lot of time together but usually this included Jenny because we wanted her to have fun and not be bored; plus we watched her closely. Emma was always with us because she was obligated to be my constant companion and Rachel would be with us if I had the twins, otherwise she would be in one of the cabins designated as a nursery, next door to Edward's and my cabin; Jenny and Emma shared a cabin just to be sure Jenny stayed safe at night.
There was a pool on the boat and Edward and I spent much of our time in it skinny dipping, but when Jenny was with us Edward would wear shorts; he had taught Jenny how to swim in the sea at our home, by now she swam like a fish and Jenny would try to race Edward in the water, of course she didn't win even though Edward slowed down for her.
There were other types of sports on board and all the Cullen's participated, I found I was much more coordinated now I was a vampire too, so I would sometimes join them and actually have fun. Jenny would play sports with the humans and she was much more coordinated than I ever was, Emma and Rachel would play with her while I fed the twins or I'd just hold the babies while Rachel had some down time. Alice and Rosalie would often take the babies to play with them because they were already showing some personality; Carlisle and Esme liked holding the babies as well.
Because it was my boat, the captain would bring Edward and I to the helm and he showed me how to handle the boat; I did this often and soon became confident in my abilities.
Aro came often to the boat and he would be naked with me, when we were together, he would make love to me all the time, he enjoyed me and was not discrete so the crew would often see us. Aro wanted them to know he owned me, he loved me so much and was proud to show off our bodies; I was used to the attention so I no longer tried to cover myself or complain, the captain and crew knew how important Aro was and accepted whatever he did.
Edward on the other hand was more discrete, he usually wore shorts especially around our family, and I wore a shift or one of my skirts when Aro wasn't around, Alice tutted at me for covering up.
"Aro doesn't want you to wear clothes," she reminded me.
"It's alright, I'm not wearing underwear," I said.
"I dare you to wear that when Aro arrives," she smiled; she was referring to the shift.
"You know he'll be angry if I do, Alice please allow me a little privacy, you're covered up all the time," I said.
"I didn't marry Aro and you promised to love and obey him in front of millions of people, didn't you?"
"Yes but I didn't know he was going to make me naked all the time, and in any case what choice did I have."
"None of course and you have no choice now, either," she reiterated.
"Well it's my boat and I'm making my choice," I said stubbornly.
"Well don't say I didn't warn you," she said, "You never know when he'll show up."
Of course he did show up that same day and of course I didn't take Alice's advice.
"So what's this?" he asked me as he removed the shift.
He held it up, the wind took it from his hand and it fluttered far from the boat.
"I don't suppose you'll be able to wear that again," he said and smiled.
I wasn't happy.
"That was the only one I could find," I grumbled.
"Well then I guess you'll have to be obedient little one," he said.
Alice came by and she winked at me, I knew she'd informed on me, I thought about removing all her clothes from her closet but she came back shortly thereafter.
"Don't you dare?" she said knowing my intentions.
"You'd better watch your closet very closely because you never know when I might strike," I said, "And I only need fifteen minutes from the time I think of it."
"I presume you'll need more than fifteen minutes to empty my closet, Bella," she said.
"I'm a vampire, believe it or not, and I can work very fast when I need to," I threw back at her.
I was still angry and I felt very stubborn, Aro had laughed at our exchange but he picked me up and took me to the closest place he could find and proceeded to make love to me, I let him but I wept before he was done.
"What's the matter young lady, aren't you happy I came?" he asked gently.
I nodded.
"If I buy you another outfit will you forgive Alice?" he asked.
"No because she'll do it again, I've too many spies," I said.
"What can I do to make you happy, Cara?" he was being to kind to me and was taking my breath away.
"You can let me wear clothes sometimes," I said.
"Those beautiful skirts aren't good enough?" he asked.
"Yes but…," I started to say.
"While you're here on this boat, clothes aren't important, when you're at home or at the castle you can also be free. Any other time you can dress like a Cullen, parties, balls, meetings etc. my only stipulation, you know Isabella, is that so hard for you?"
"No Aro, I guess you're right but when you're not here with me, I'm the only naked person, even Edward wears shorts," I said.
"Then you can wear a skirt but I don't like those shifts on you, too much is covered up; can't we make that a compromise Isabella?" he asked.
He kissed me and held my face, smiling at me, how could I ever say no to him? I smiled back and he knew he had won.
"Let's go find a pretty skirt for you and then I must leave," he said.
"You know I want you to stay with me," I said seductively.
"You know I want to stay young lady, but unfortunately I have a meeting to attend," he said.
He pulled me up and we went to my closet where he found me a skirt that he liked and he helped me put it on.
"Now go to Alice and give her a hug," he instructed me.
He kissed me again and then was gone; I ran back to Alice, she had the babies.
"Now you look very pretty in that skirt," she said.
I hugged her.
"I'm sorry Alice you were right," I told her.
"You're forgiven but these babies are looking for your breasts, they're hungry, come and sit down," she said.
I sat down and she helped me latch on the babies.
"You're so lucky, I'm so jealous, Rose and I want babies too," she said enviously.
"I wouldn't mind having more babies but not to go through what I just did, if I could have a more human pregnancy, I would love it."
"You were made to have children, Bella, you're such a perfect mama," she said.
"I'm so in love with Aro for giving me these babies, I can't even explain the love I feel for him, it's the same way I feel for Edward, he's given me so much too and I'm not talking about this boat or cars etc. I'm talking about our loving, my change, which I don't regret so far, my new family and now Aro and two beautiful babies," there just isn't any room in my heart for anymore love."
"I'm sure there is Bella and you'll find out in the not too distant future," she said mysteriously.
"You know something, don't you, you're not telling me; I saw you and Edward exchange looks on the plane after you said something about three men?"
"You know Bella, that what I see can change and if I told you what I saw, you would definitely change what I saw, what happens will happen and you will make your own decisions at that time; it could be a very good thing but it will depend on certain things occurring," she said.
"I love you Alice but all I ever wanted was Edward, I couldn't conceive loving anyone else, Aro forced himself into my existence so now I love him and the children he provided," I said.
"I suppose the sex is great too," Alice smiled as she spoke.
"It's the best Alice, I don't know how your sex life is but mine is perfect, Aro and Edward know how to make me feel great and I've learned how to reciprocate, they're both so gentle and kind but yet so forceful, I'm sure you've seen how Aro makes love to me, he wants everyone to know I belong to him, Edward doesn't show off his love making quite so much but he still makes it clear that I belong to him too, I love being loved by them," I said.
"Well my love making is great too and I can't conceive of anyone other than Jasper but I'm sure that's how you felt before Aro came along," she said.
"Edward took away my virginity but before I came to Aro I'd had sex with several men and one woman, I know the difference between sex without love and sex with love; in a way I'm glad I know even though I'd never want to be subject to that again," I said.
"Would you have sex with someone who loved you, even though you didn't love them?" she asked.
"I would only have sex with someone other than Edward and Aro, if Aro told me to, because I trust him to know what's best for me and he would have a good reason for wanting that; I can't imagine him wanting that though," I said.
"Would you do that Alice?" I asked her.
"I guess if Jasper wanted me to I might but he would be too jealous to want that," she giggled.
We both laughed and Little Aro looked up at me as if to say, "Why are you moving mama?"
I smiled and smoothed his hair. Rosalie and Emmett came and sat with us.
"We were talking about sex," Alice told them, "Do you have any contributions?"
"It's great," Rosalie said, "What more can be said?"
"Would you have sex with someone who loved you even though you didn't love them?" Alice asked the same question.
"Not without permission from my honey, but I might if it paid well enough," she said.
"You'd have sex with someone for money?" I wondered.
"Yes why not? If someone wanted me badly enough to pay for sex, I'd do it," Rosalie declared.
"Is this something vampires do?" I asked.
"Yes of course," she said.
"What else do vampires do that I don't know about?" I wanted to know.
"Well let's see, you know about sharing, then there's the birthright," she said.
"What's a birthright?" I asked.
"Someone's son can share his wife even though usually it's a different wife than the one who bore the son, it could be the same one," she said, "Vampires have an existence to live through and so it has to be filled with different things which are not necessarily human traits. For example, you will always be eighteen and your son, who is part vampire and part human, will eventually be much older than you plus you didn't actually give birth to him; there are many men like that whose human mother died during childbirth or a human man impregnating a vampire woman, the latter being very rare," she said.
"So you're telling me that my little Aro could grow up and sleep with me?" I asked astonished.
"It would be his birthright to choose you, of course he would have to want you but I would be surprised if he didn't want you; especially with encouragement from Aro," Rosalie said.
"You mean Aro would encourage it?" I was incredulous.
"He would be proud for his son to choose you that would mean he had a perfect wife."
"Wouldn't I have any say so?" I wondered.
"Not if I know Aro and I could see his son being very persistent," she said.
"This isn't a good thing," I said.
"Things are not always what they seem and it could turn into a very good thing, Bella," Rosalie said.
"Now you have her worried, Rose," Alice said.
"She asked the question, I just told her the way it is," Rosalie said.
"Why don't we go for a swim," Emmett said, "Let's change the subject before Bella spazzes out."
"Here's Rachel to take the babies," Alice said, "Perfect timing."
We all went to the pool, Edward and Jasper were already there, they were both skinny dipping; Alice was shocked.
"Jasper, don't tell me this nakedness has rubbed off on you too," she said.
"It kinda looks like it honey and it sure feels great, you don't have to take anything off to have sex, come on in," Jasper said smiling, "Let's have a game of take it off, between the four of you who have clothes on and see who gets undressed the fastest."
Emmett discarded his shorts very quickly and jumped into the water.
"Now it's down to the three of you," he said.
Carlisle and Esme arrived at the pool as the guys were trying to convince the girls to undress, I took of my skirt and jumped into the water, and Edward grabbed me and kissed me.
"So who's next?" Edward asked.
"Well you can count us out," Carlisle said, "We're still into private nudity."
"Come on Rose, you can do it," Emmett encouraged.
She took off her bikini top and all the guys cheered but she jumped in the pool before Emmett helped relieve her of the bottoms.
Alice jumped into the pool with her bathing suit on but with Jasper's assistance it soon lay at the bottom of the pool.
Edward and I were used to making love in the pool and we did just that; at that point we were oblivious to whatever else occurred, when we finally surfaced everyone else had left and so we stayed a while longer before retiring to our cabin.
In the morning I told him what Rosalie had said about the vampire ways.
"Bella you worry too much, Rosalie shouldn't have told you that," he said.
That's all he would say on the subject, he just kissed me and we made love.
All too soon our relaxing voyage was over and we traveled home, I immediately went to the castle and saw Aro; he was pleased to see me and the twins; he laughed when I told him about everyone jumping in the pool naked.
"So you weren't the only naked person, Isabella," he said.
I told him what Rosalie had said and he became serious then and sat me on his lap.
"There are many things to learn about vampires my love, and that is one of many; of course it will affect you and I want it to, so you may as well get used to the idea while Little Aro is a baby but he will eventually be much older than you. You will realize this is a good thing, he will love you as a woman and not as a mother eventually; I will of course encourage this relationship because it will make me proud to know my son loves my beautiful wife in the same way I do."
"But Aro…," I started to say.
"There are no buts Isabella, this is the way it will be, just trust me and accept the inevitable," he said.
He kissed me.
"I want to make love to you now Isabella, I missed you, are you upset with me now or will you come to me?" he asked.
I went to him and we made love but the idea of having a relationship with our son was not appealing to me.