Hello all! Well...here it is. The last chapter. I feel like crying. Again, a leap in time-it's 4 years ahead of the last chapter. Other than that, nothing that's not explained in the chapter.
The conversation between Bella and Kimber actually happened with me and my friend PJ. She was talking about Edward's sparkly peen, and I told her about the time I poured glitter all over my husband-then boyfriend's-bed and gave him a sparkly peen. We laughed, and trust me, firsthand-yogurt out the nose hurts. 'Nuff said.
As promised, at the end of this chapter is a preview of my new story-I don't have a name for it yet. I hope everyone likes it!
Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I own spicy salsa...yum.
Enjoy! XOXO-Ka
Right Vs. Good
by: JudeOrion
Chapter Eighteen: Home
"I feel ridiculous. Why do I have to wear this stupid thing? I didn't the first time."
"And you got divorced. Deal with it."
"Ouch, Al. Too low. Can't you at least make the bobby pins less embedded in my skull?"
"It's already in place. If I have to move it again I'll mess up the whole thing and re-do your hair. We're already running late as is, so you'll just have to wait until after the ceremony."
I rolled my eyes at her and sighed.
"Look up," she commanded. I obeyed and Alice pulled my bottom eyelid down to do the liner.
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry. Are you sure eye makeup is such a good idea?"
"Bella, do me a favor. Just stop thinking and relax."
"Relax. Yeah, the woman with a sharp instrument pressed to my eye says relax."
"I have no qualms about duct taping your mouth shut."
I pressed my lips together and shut up. What happened to "the bride gets her way on the wedding day"? Oh, yeah. Alice was the planner.
Bride. Wedding day. Twelve years ago those were two things I never thought would pertain to me again. But here I was. In Alice and Jasper's bathroom upstairs. Of course she would have the biggest bathroom and closet. She had me sitting on the vanity stool while she knelt between my legs, doing my makeup. My veil was laced intricately into my hair, which was pulled back at the sides with two golden combs that belonged to Esme—my something borrowed. The veil was simple gauzy material, edged with a silk white ribbon.
The butterflies in my stomach refused to disperse, no matter how I tried to calm myself down. It was extremely unnerving. I wished Charlie was there to walk me down the aisle.
Four more years had passed since Edward had proposed to me. I was forty. Nick was eighteen. Kimber had just turned twenty-six. So much had changed in those few years. Charlie died two years ago. It was a really hard time for all of us, but not unexpected. He'd had a heart attack that landed him in the hospital for a double bypass. The doctors warned that if he didn't change his habits he would have another attack that he probably wouldn't survive, but with Charlie you might as well tell him to stop fishing. Three months later he died. The funeral was planned mostly by Billy, with some input from me. It was a small affair; just the Blacks and the cops from Forks that he'd worked with, and me and my kids.
After that, Billy finally broke down, sold the house and moved in with Jake and Mel and their five kids. William and Maggie had been joined shortly after they were up for the graduation party by Josie, and six months ago Mel had twins, April and Jaime. They still wanted more; I swear they were aiming for a litter. I couldn't imagine it, but then again I had eight years on Mel.
Renee passed nine months ago, after finding out much too late that she had breast cancer. I got to go to Jacksonville with Nick right before she died, and helped Phil plan everything. Kimber didn't go—she was still struggling with her "newborn-ness" and besides, she and Renee really weren't all that close. She wouldn't have felt comfortable. Mom was buried in Jacksonville, in a plot under a palm tree next to an empty one for Phil. I kept in touch with him through e-mail but there was really no reason for me to see him anymore. He was a nice guy and everything, but he wasn't really in my life other than being my cross-country step-dad.
So in light of these events, I was free to marry Edward without having to explain why he looked exactly as he did when I was seventeen. Carlisle would be officiating. Nick would give me away. The only people attending would be the Cullens and my children. And, if she creeped out, eleven-pound Tally, Kimber's ugly Persian cat. Four years ago she'd been cute but now that her neck and forehead were threatening to swallow her flat face, she brought to mind the phrase "a face only a mother could love". Technically she was Kimber's but since she was changed the thing wouldn't come within fifteen feet of her.
Kimber worked, nursing at the hospital until she had been changed via Carlisle eighteen months ago. The family had come to an agreement that having two newborns at the same time would prove absolutely completely volatile, and Kimber decided to get it done and over with. She'd only come to see me for the first time a month ago, and it was extremely hard for her. The entire time she was stiff and she barely talked. Rosalie and Emmett flanked her the whole visit. She couldn't even hug me; she didn't have that kind of self-control yet. We talked on the phone since she was changed but it wasn't the same. I missed my baby girl.
I laughed, remembering our last conversation before she was changed. Alice scowled at me and wiped a bit of eyeliner out of the corner of my eye.
"What's so funny?"
"Just remembering what Kim and I talked about before she was changed."
"…And?"
"Well…we were sitting on her bed talking and she was asking questions—personal ones like she couldn't ask Carlisle…"
Kimber runs her finger along the flower decoration on the comforter. She's leaning against the headboard and I'm sitting against the wall with her feet in my lap, rubbing them. She's eating yogurt and in-between spoonfuls asking questions. Her brow is puckered, thinking about her next question.
"Ok…so what if I get control of the thirst and I get in the same situation you and Edward are in? Or, not even love let's just say I want a good time—"
"Kimber!"
She rolls her eyes. "Mom, c'mon. Just because you were never interested in just fooling around doesn't mean everyone is. I mean, I've been with—"
"Just stop there. Please. Spare me the honesty. I would rather be blind to your lack of innocence."
"Jeez, mom, where did you think I was last night? I wanted one last good boink before I have to start restraining myself."
I put my hands over my ears. "Oh, sweet lord, tell me I am not hearing this."
Kimber apparently decides to take advantage of my momentary weakness. "That's not even the best part, his peen was like, this—"
"La la la la la la la! Please, Kimber, I love you but just shut the hell up right now!"
She's about falling off the bed laughing. "Mom, I'm twenty-five. You can't honestly expect that I'm a virgin."
"No, but I at least hoped you would have a—a—I don't know, friend with benefits? Not…many."
"Mom, you're a big girl. You can say fuck buddy."
"Oh God, kill me now. Can we just get back to the conversation please? I'm going to need some serious therapy."
Kimber rolls her eyes and rightens herself on the bed. "Anyway. What if that happens, though? I mean, obviously it can happen without the human being hurt, but how difficult would it be for me?"She takes another bite and then swirls the stuff around in the tub, looking at it rather than me.
"Um…pretty hard, sweetie. Even though we've been…you know…for a while now, Edward still has to practice a lot of restraint. It's not easy by any means."
"Then if you're just going to have a good time, like those Denali guys, then why do it? Why go to all that trouble?"
"Well, first off because there aren't that many vampires out there who live the kind of permanent-resident lifestyle we do, let alone who don't have a mate. Unless you're a nomad your chances of running into another vampire are slim-to-none. Also it feels better. Edward explained it to me like this; he doesn't have anything to compare it to, since I'm the only woman he's been with, but he guesses that what makes it worth it for people like his friends Tanya, or Kate, is the warmth. Once you're a vampire, touching another one is like me touching you—the warmth of the person is the same. You've touched the others, and they're cold. You're very warm to them. The difference in temperature is a very…um—pleasing experience. Plus there's the sport of it, but I know you wouldn't be that depraved."
Kimber nods her head in both understanding and acquiescence. She looks down at her lap again, and I can practically see the next question pop into her head. "Say I wanted to have sex in the sunlight. Would my lady bits sparkle?"
I laugh out loud. "I don't know for sure but I would guess so."
"You'd guess? Well does Edward's peen sparkle?"
My eyes about pop out of my head. I can feel the blush start from my neck and bloom to cover my entire face.
"It does, doesn't it! Edward's got a sparkly peen!"She's laughing as she takes another bite of her yogurt.
We can hear Emmett's booming laugh blasting from upstairs. "Shut up!" Edward growls at him.
"Edward Sparkle Peen! Edward Sparkle Peen!"Emmet's taunting receives a slap upside the head.
"You've got it too, moron!"
"Oh, shit! You're right."
It literally hurts to try to suck in air, I'm laughing so hard.
"Oh my god!" Kimber's got her hand to her nose and she's still laughing. "Oh my god it went through my nose!"
"W-w-what?"
"My yogurt! Owwww!"
I cackle harder. Edward opens Kimber's bedroom door and hits her with a glare I swear would kill her if it could.
"I understand that you two are having some kind of mother-daughter bonding moment. But kindly leave my body parts out of it!" He storms off and I hear the sliding glass door open and slam shut. I glance at Kimber and meet her eyes and we dissolve into another peal of giggles.
Looking back it was a perfect way to say goodbye. When I saw Kimber for the first time at the beginning of the month, when we were talking about the wedding arrangements, the first thing she said to me wasn't even hello. It was, "Well, you were right. That sparkles too."
Edward threw another mini-tantrum.
"I remember that. The look on Edward's face was priceless," Alice said. She uncapped the lipgloss and applied it, then stood back and looked at me. She tucked a flyaway hair beneath the veil, licked her finger and swiped it above my lip, then smiled. "I think you're done."
I stood from the stool and looked in the mirror. Both pieces of the veil were back, covering my lightly curled hair. I smiled at myself, happy with the results. My eyes were barely lined and shadowed, and looked natural. There was no cover-up or blush on my face, as Edward had requested. My lingerie was gentle blue satin with lace trim. It wasn't the honeymoon outfit—that scary-looking contraption would come later.
"Come on. We have ten minutes to get your dress on."
The dress was an…interesting compromise. Alice wanted a big fluffy cupcake kind of deal. I told her I would rather walk down the aisle naked. It was the one thing where I really put my foot down. So after a few tries I found it. The perfect dress. It was floor-length, with a small petticoat underneath. Long-sleeved satin that covered three-quarters of my arms, then flowed into lace that almost covered my hands. The front of the scoop-neck bodice was laced in pale pink silk, like a corset without the breathing troubles. The back buttoned from nape of neck to end of spine in the same pale pink silk no bigger than pearls. I wore no shoes. The only jewelry I wore was my engagement ring, though the first ring he had given me was tucked into my bra.
What? I had no pockets.
Once I was buttoned in and had a last once-over by Alice, she called Esme and Rose up for the final ok.
"Oh, Bella. You're stunning." Esme looked like she would cry if she could.
"Edward won't know what hit him," Rose smirked approvingly.
"Ok. Let's go," I said. Alice took one hand, Esme the other, and Rose lowered the veil over my face. We went down the stairs and Alice messed with the sound system for a moment. Our lullaby came on both inside and out. Alice had draped the sliding glass doors in heavy linen so no one could peek. Nick came in through them, dressed all spiffy in a charcoal suit—we'd opted no on tuxes. Too formal for such an intimate gathering.
"Wow Mom. Check you out. You're so pretty."
"Thanks, Nick." I kissed him on the cheek.
"Ok, we're going to go first. When we're both in our seats you start up the aisle."
"All right."
My heart was thumping erratically. I knew everyone could hear it out there. I struggled not to sweat.
"Settle down, Mom. It's going to be fine."
"I know that. Still…"
"Let's go." I hadn't noticed that Alice, Rose, and Esme were seated, and the former was staring daggers into the house, impatient that we had disobeyed her careful orders.
Slowly, painfully slowly, Nick led me up the aisle. My legs were wobbly and my breathing shallow. Edward turned as I came over the threshold. His eyes grew and his mouth dropped.
Well that's reassuring.
He shook his head after a second, when everyone stood, and closed his mouth into a loving smile. He looked stunning in his clothes—a black suitjacket with a long tail and tan trousers. His normally unruly hair was slicked back. It looked nice, but I wanted to run my hands through it and make it more Edwardesque.
The walk up the aisle took forever, even though it was only twenty feet. Nick stopped me Just before Edward and put my hand in his, kissed my cheek, and went to sit down.
I honestly couldn't tell you what all was said during the ceremony, except for my part, because I had it memorized.
I was too busy thinking about my and Edward's journey.
The way he looked at me the first time he smelled me in Biology class. The way he terrified me then, for shallow reasons. Dinner at La Bella Italia. How we were in our own little bubble. The first kiss, coming from the meadow. Oh, that beautiful meadow.
The first time he came to my class. I was so angry. The way he fought for me and fought for me and fought. The first time we made love. The last time we made love—just last night, against Alice's demands.
"I do," I heard myself say, bringing me out of my thoughts. I smiled, tears suddenly in my eyes.
"I pronounce you husband and wife. You may ki—not till I say so!" Carlisle laughed.
I had pounced on him with so much enthusiasm that he didn't respond right away. When he did, though, he wrapped his arms around me and crushed his mouth to mine, licking my lips and tasting my tongue with his. Our family applauded and rushed us, slapping backs, hugging, kissing, congratulating. It was a mass of people talking and laughing in one big mosh of family. We were pulled this direction and that to talk and answer questions.
Edward never let go of my hand.
Edward had his tie wrapped around my eyes and was carrying me up what felt to be a small hill. We had driven from the house around two in the afternoon, to get a head start. To where I had no idea. The windows were so darkly tinted I couldn't tell where the sun was setting, and Edward had told me to close my eyes whenever we passed a sign. About an hour from our destination it was dark, for which Edward was thankful because he didn't want to blindfold me. He finally parked and got me out of the car, telling me to keep my eyes closed. He then threw me across his back and ran. Oh, I would never get used to that.
"Open up, love. We're here." I peeked my eyes open and gasped.
"The meadow."
"The meadow," he chuckled.
"Thank you, Edward. It's perfect." I dropped myself from his back and went to stand in front of him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him in for a kiss.
Gently he lowered me to the ground and moved his mouth to cover my pulse point. He kissed and suckled there for a moment, then went to my collarbones.
"I love you, my gorgeous bride."
"I love you too, Edward."
"You still wanted it to happen tonight?"
"Yes," I gasped as he lowered the dress and pulled my nipple out. The cool air hit it and was almost immediately replaced with Edward's cold tongue.
"Then I will. But not here. Not this time. I want to love you first. Then we can go to the house and I will do it there."
I nodded.
"Turn."
I rolled onto my stomach and Edward started undoing the buttons. "Do you realize how sexy these stupid little buttons are? They're a pain to undo, they prolong the excitement on purpose. Any human man would go mad trying to get to his wife." He grunted. "Screw it." I heard a loud rip and felt myself suddenly exposed.
"Edward! Alice is going to kill you."
He rolled me over—not roughly but not gently either. "We are about to make love on the night of our wedding and you bring up my sister?" A smug smirk played on his lips.
"Sorry. But you know she is."
"I don't care." He sat me up and took the dress by the shoulders, lowering it down my arms slowly. "Stand." I did, and the dress dropped from my body to the forest floor. Edward was still kneeling on the grass. He opened his arms to me and I came to his already naked form. I straddled his lap and felt his erection pushing into my belly. I sighed.
He began to rock into me slowly, kissing my neck and ears and caressing my nipples.
"You are my everything," he whispered.
"And you are mine."
"Good." He slipped into me.
A long time later we came together and sighed and grunted in unison.
Home.
We were lying on the bed in the Cullen house in Forks, early morning. Edward's body was covered in the beautiful diamonds that I loved. And that in three short days I would have as well.
Edward stroked my cheek. He was lying on top of me, his lately ever-present erection still inside of me. We were both coming down from orgasm for the fourth time since the meadow. He kissed my nose.
"You're sure about this?"
"I am."
"All right, love. I'll be here the whole time." Worry was lining his face.
"I know. Just do it."
He moved the hair from my neck and tilted my chin up and to the side with two fingers. I felt a kiss on my neck, a lick, and then a sharp pain. I gasped and cried out in pain as fire licked from my neck up my face and down my chest.
"Edward…" I whined.
"I'm sorry my love. It will be over soon. I promise. Hold on."
Chapter One
"Bisou, you little turd! Give me back my bra!" I chased the stupid dog off my bed and plucked the pink bra off of it. There was a button chewed off. "This cost me twenty-five bucks! I haven't had it a month, and you ruined it!"
I'd asked my dad to get me a little dog for my birthday. I meant a Yorkie or a Chihuahua. No. He got me a Corgi. They're kind of like Danny DeVito; stubby legs and a roundness that makes up for it. They're little, but sturdy, so you can't carry them around in one of those cute little doggy handbags. She was only three months old, I'd had her for four weeks, and she loved to chew my underwear. I'd spent half my latest paycheck just replacing the shredded bras and panties. Forget the gas for my truck or lunch money.
Bisou lowered her belly to the ground and pouted at me with her ears back. I immediately felt guilty for yelling at her. I stuck the bra in her nose and told her no firmly, then patted her head. She wiggled to my touch and knew she was forgiven. Just because she was a pest didn't mean she deserved to be screamed at.
I glanced at my watch; a quarter to ten. "Damn. I have to get going." I dropped the towel to the floor and shimmied into my panties and bra, ignoring the missing button. Ugly black polo—check. Unfashionable straight-legged jeans—check. Awesome lime Converse—check. Purse—where's my purse?
"Bisou! Get away from that, you fatso!"
Slobbered purse? Check.
XOXO
"Hi! What can I get for you?"
"Skinny mocha, please."
"All right…what size?" I punched in the girl's order. She was gorgeous, tall and blonde with huge blue eyes. Her hips were made for dancing and I was instantly envious of them. She could fill out that jersey tank top better than I ever could.
"Medium. And whatever my sister wants." She stepped to the left and the tiny black-haired girl next to her smiled at me.
"Hi! I'll have a double Americano with just an eensy bit of cream, please. Small." She also had blue eyes and her sister's little nose, but where Blondie was about two inches taller than me, I doubted this one was five feet tall. She was extremely thin, but you could tell it was genetics not diet.
"Ok. Anything else?"
"Our brother is supposed to be coming in soon. Use this to pay for what he wants and keep the rest. He's got blonde curly hair, looks exactly like me." Blondie handed me a ten and winked with a smile. I smiled back.
"Ok. So I have a 16oz skinny mocha, a 12oz double Americano with cream, and whatever your brother wants. That it?"
Jess started making the drinks.
"Yep."
"Can I have a name to call when its ready?"
"Rosalie."
"All rightie. Thanks!"
Blondie, or Rosalie, nodded and went to sit at a table with her sister. It was then I noticed their clothes—their very fashionable, designer clothes. Were those—no way. I'd dreamed of having a pair of JC's for years. And Blondie was strutting her stuff in them. Bitch.
"Hello? Earth to Belly?"
"Huh? Oh. Hi Edward."
"Jeez, what were you doing, babe?" He followed my gaze to where the two sisters had sat and were looking at a magazine. Jess brought them their drinks and they smiled at her in thanks. They were very cheery, weren't they?
"I've fallen in love."
"Wha—Oh my gosh. Have you finally crossed over to the dark side?" He waggled his eyebrows. "Which one? The voluptuous blonde or the member of the IBTC?"
"IBTC?"
"Itty Bitty Titty Committee."
I laughed loudly at him, then sighed. "The black."
"Uh…honey? They're both white."
"No, black. Three inches. Supremely gorgeous."
"What?"
I pointed at the closer girl's feet.
"Should have known." He shook his head and clucked his tongue at me. "Jimmy's?"
"Yup."
The bell dinged as someone came in and Edward moved to the side of the counter and looked out the window. Oh, this had to be the brother. He had shoulder-length dirty-blonde hair, kind of curly and a bit frizzy. He did look just like Blondie and about her age, too. They could only be twins. He could be handsome; however, where Blondie's skin was immaculate, the brother's skin was so dry it made me itch just looking at it. His glasses were thick but so stylish his sister had to have picked them out; thin silver wire, probably Italian. He wore uneven cutoff jean shorts that he probably did himself and a black shirt with Blizzard Entertainment written in gold across the chest. On his feet were brown hiking sandals.
It was a complete opposite of what his sisters looked like and I couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with him. He came up to the counter and grinned at me.
"Hi."
"Hi. What can we getcha?"
"Uh…I don't know about coffee really. What is there?"
"Well…Are you in the mood for hot or iced?"
"Uh…hot?"
"Ok then…we've got lattes, which is coffee and steamed milk with a flavor. There's mocha which is basically a hot chocolate with a shot of coffee. Americano—"
"Ugh. I know what an Americano is. My sister gets them, they're nasty." We both chuckled.
"Any of those sound good? I've got more."
"You know…I don't really know. What's your favorite?"
"Me? I like caramel Macchiatos myself."
"I guess I'll have one of those then."
"Yeah? All rightie, one caramel Macchiato. What size?" The boy shrugged. "Medium," I said, punching it in. I heard Jess start on it.
The boy went to pull out his wallet. "Actually—your sister paid for it. Rosalie, right?"
"Yeah. They're here already? Damn I thought I was gonna be early for once. Where are they?"
"Behind the partition there." He peeked around from my point of view. The little one was facing us and saw him. She waved and Blondie turned around and waved, too. The boy waved back.
"Thanks."
"Yep. Oh, can I get your name? To call you when your coffee's ready?"
"Jasper."
"Ok Jasper. It'll be up in a few."
He smiled at me, then turned and sat at the table with his sisters.
Edward leant against the counter. "Ooh, somebody has a crush on you."
"Get real."
"I am. Did you see the way that boy smiled at you?"
"Whatever. He's not my type, anyway."
"Whatever you say, dollface."
Edward ordered his drink, then sat surfing the net until it was time for me to get off work. I watched the three of them talk and drink their coffees and laugh for about an hour before they left. The boy—Jasper—looked around to where I was wiping off syrup bottles as he held the door open for his sisters. He smiled and winked at me, a lot more flirtatiously than his sister had before walking out to the parking lot. I just shook my head. So not my type.
After I was done at work Edward and I went to my place. I cranked up the radio as I danced with him around the kitchen while I made dinner. Halfway through his cell phone rang.
He frowned before he answered.
"Hey, Mom."
I turned back to the stove and continued rubbing the seasoning into the steaks; Emmett would cook them when he got home from work. I set the steaks into the fridge and got to work on the potatoes, wrapping them in foil and stabbing them with a fork.
"I don't know. No, I'm not staying the night. Yes, I'm at Bella's. I don't know! I will be home when I'm home. Yes. Bye." He turned his phone off and slammed it on the counter before jumping onto it and crossing a leg under him.
"What's up?"
"Same ol' shit."
Elisabeth Masen. There's a story. She was raised in a very close-minded little Catholic community. She married a Catholic man at 19, real freaking nutbag. He moved them out to Seattle as soon as they were married, and proceeded to try to have children. And try, and try. He refused to go to the doctor to find out what was wrong, alternating between insisting that it was God's will that they not have children and her not being faithful enough. So, being the good Catholic indulgence-withholding man that he was, refused to have sex when she couldn't get pregnant after a few years.
Edward's mom got fed up with sexual tension and had a raunchy affair with a neighbor. Right after that, she was knocked up, having never considered birth control, and her husband left her. So she gave birth to a baby boy and named him after her ex-husband in contrition.
Flash-forward fifteen years. The recently pubescent teenage Edward is stashing Playgirl magazines and Alex Sanchez books under his bed. Mommy comes in to clean up, finds them, goes ballistic. Wails about how it's God's punishment on her for being unfaithful, yada yada, yada. She moves them to Forks and the first day of school I punch my boyfriend's face for pushing down the messy-haired new gay guy.
We've been best friends ever since.
Edward's mom likes me well enough, but she would love me if Eddie and I were together. Can you say "ew"? She's actually told him to try and sleep with me so he won't be gay anymore. How twisted can you get? She encourages him to stay over, and he does a lot, but for totally different reasons than she hopes. She thinks we're getting our freak on, he's really getting his drink on. She doesn't demean him for being gay, and she didn't try to kick him out or disown him or anything like that, but trying to get him to change at every turn is almost worse.
The only awkward part I find about him being gay is that he has a crush on my brother. Just. Wrong.
"What'd she say?"
He rolled his eyes. "Wanted to know where I am, what I'm doing, who I'm doing. The usual."
I nodded in response and set the potatoes into the oven, then tugged Edward upstairs to my room. I turned on the computer and left the door open so we could hear the music playing downstairs.