DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alice and Bella get the family to help surprise Edward with a birthday party.
Birthday
Today was the big day! Edward completely believed I was boycotting my birthday. He was a little upset, but said he understood my reasons. I'd told everyone that the stress from our visitors and the recent move had left me out of sorts and I just couldn't handle a party or gifts. To make it believable, Alice and I had gotten into an argument in front of Edward. He had no idea it was all staged for his benefit.
While I didn't really want a birthday, I did want Edward to have one. Alice and I had talked about a surprise party for him back in June, but then Demetri had shown up and ruined everything.
I was on my honeymoon when I came up with this little scheme to give Edward a surprise party for my birthday. Alice had been more than happy to help. The best part of it all would be seeing his face when I gave him his gift! I couldn't wait!
I had persuaded Edward to go hunting with Emmett and Jasper. He'd been reluctant to leave my side, but had finally given into my pleading. The boys took Emmett's Jeep so they could do some off-roading as well. They wouldn't be home until late in the afternoon.
As soon as they'd left, Alice, Rose, Esme, and I started decorating the house. Everything was a shade of gold, to match his eyes. I worked on the balloons while Rose and Esme hung the banner. Alice gave us instructions as she went through her party checklist.
Once the decorating was complete, Alice and I left to go pick up Edward's cake. I was thrilled at the idea of him having a real cake, even though none of us could eat it. It was a picture cake! And I knew Edward would love the picture! Jasper and I had worked on it together with some help from Alice. My pixie sister not so subtly told – more like ordered – my husband to go into town and buy me flowers to lift my spirits. She gave him a list of the types of flowers to get, keeping him away from the house for about two hours. As soon as he was gone, everyone had come into the living room. We had all put on the party hats that we would use during the actual party and stood in a line, making faces at the camera. Emmett's was the best! He had somehow managed to cross his eyes while attempting to touch his nose with his tongue! It was disgusting, but really funny!
I was bouncing just as much as Alice when we made our way inside the bakery to get the cake. "I hope it looks good."
"Bella, for the millionth time, it looks amazing!" Alice said, putting an arm around my shoulders.
"I'm just so excited, Alice! He's going to be so surprised!"
The bakery worker brought out our cake and put it down on the counter.
I looked into the box and squealed loudly. "It's perfect!"
Alice paid for the cake and we headed home with it, ready to show it off to Esme and Rose. They were both just as excited with it as I was. I stored it in the refrigerator and went back out to see what else we needed to do.
"The truck's here!" Alice sang, bouncing toward the door. I ran outside with her.
The driver stopped the truck and got out, carrying a clipboard. "Cullen?" he asked.
"That's us!" Alice chirped, reaching for the clipboard.
"Where do you want it dropped?" he asked.
"Right there will be perfect. Bella will move it," Alice replied, winking at me.
"Why me?" I questioned. She was a far more experienced driver.
"Because this is your gift to him and you should be the one who puts it away in the garage," Alice said.
I smiled happily. I was so excited for him to come home and see it! I knew he would love it!
The driver got the car off of the truck and then left. Alice dangled the keys in front of me as I continued to stare nervously at the car. I looked to her for reassurance.
"You won't hurt it," Alice chuckled. "Now get it into the garage! We still need to put the bow on it!" Alice had found a humongous golden bow to put on top of the car. She put the keychain in my hand and smiled.
I looked down and noticed Alice had already added to the keychain. "What's this?"
"Press that little white button and find out," she giggled.
I did as she said. It was a digital photo keychain, filled with pictures of Edward and me, and a few just of me. I grabbed my sister and hugged her tightly. "He's going to love this!"
"I know!" she chirped.
"You know he's going to totally flip that I bought him a car before he could buy me one!" I laughed, as I climbed into the car.
"Yep!" Alice giggled.
I very carefully drove the car over to the garage and backed it into the Volvo's usual spot, right between Rose's X5 and Edward's Aston Martin. Edward's specialty car had been shipped to the new house on a carrier truck. The truck had been two days late and Edward had nearly ripped out his hair from his anxiety. He swore he would buy his own carrier truck before ever letting the car out of sight again. I was pretty sure he was dead serious about that.
Rose had hidden the Volvo behind the garage to make room and to keep Edward from getting suspicious. Alice helped me get the bow on. As we got it perfectly centered, Carlisle arrived.
"Hey, dad!" I called. "What do you think?"
He whistled as he walked around the car. "Edward will certainly appreciate this."
"I'll put in a good word for you, if you want," I teased. "I'm sure I can convince him to let you take it for a spin."
"Please do," he chuckled, as he kissed my cheek. "You're the only one that will be able to convince him to even let us ride in it."
"Don't forget to move your car behind the garage, dad," Alice ordered. "You aren't supposed to be home yet."
"Certainly!" Carlisle laughed, as he headed back into the house.
Alice stood next to me and I hugged her. We stared at the car, admiring our teamwork.
"He so better appreciate us," Alice said.
"He does, Alice. Everyday," I sighed.
"I'm really glad you decided on this party, Bella. He's going to be so blown away by all of it!" Alice chirped.
"I sure hope so!" I laughed.
We closed up the garage and headed back into the house to see if there was anything else that needed to be done.
Alice was just finishing up her final inspection of the house when Emmett's Jeep roared up the driveway.
"They're here!" I squealed. Esme, Carlisle and Rose came down to join us.
Rose hugged me and smiled. "You're doing a wonderful thing for him, Bella."
We could hear the three of them coming up the steps, arguing about who'd had the bigger kill for the day. We smiled at each other. It was so very typical of the three of them.
Emmett opened the door, blocking Edward's view. He winked at me and I grinned. Jasper scooted around Emmett so he could watch Edward's reaction. Emmett stood in the way just long enough to aggravate Edward, making him step around him.
"Surprise!" we yelled.
Edward's head jerked up and his eyes widened with surprise as he looked at the decorations behind us and the banner over our heads.
He started laughing. "You're about nine months too early!"
"Nope!" I said, walking over to him and taking his hand in mine. "I gave up my birthday in place of yours. This is your party!"
His golden eyes were filled with love as he stared at me. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I had left Edward Cullen speechless! It was about darn time!
"Do you like it?" I asked, smiling at him.
"No, Bella. I love it!" He pulled me into a tight hug and kissed my cheek. "You are amazing. Thank you so very much." His voice was shaky with emotion.
I wanted to make him laugh. "We have cake! Want some?" I asked, already pulling him to the table.
"Bella, we don't eat cake," Edward laughed.
"I know that, silly! But we wanted you to have one anyway! I was very disturbed to learn that as adamant as you were about celebrating my birthday, you wouldn't allow our family to celebrate yours. We can't have that now, Edward," I said, shaking a finger at him and smiling.
"Oh, Bella …" Alice called. "Surprise!"
She pulled a string and the banner dropped down even lower. It now read 'Happy Birthday, Edward' and just below that was 'And Bella'.
"Alice!" I cried.
They all laughed at me. I turned toward the pile of presents we had wrapped for Edward to see it had been increased. Next to the all of his gold wrapped gifts was a set of blue wrapped gifts.
I turned back toward my sneaky sister. "I wanted this to only be about Edward."
"And he wanted to share with you," Alice stated. "I saw it when we first started planning this. Now! Kiss your husband, have fun at your party, and be gracious about accepting your gifts."
"Let me get through the first and we'll discuss the others," I chuckled.
Edward laughed as he spun me around to face him. "I guess I'll just have to dazzle you into accepting Alice's last two requirements."
"You can certainly try!" I said, putting my arms around his neck.
Edward smirked as he slowly leaned his face closer to mine. He blew a breath out into my face and softly said, "Isabella, please share this day with me without a fuss." He followed his words with a very tender kiss. He chuckled as he stared at me. "Does that look mean you agree?"
I nodded my head, unable to speak for the moment. I could feel the goofy grin on my face, but was unable to do anything about it. I was completely dazzled by my perfect husband.
He hugged me tightly, tucking my head under his chin. "Good. Thank you for being so agreeable."
"Alright!" Emmett yelled. "Enough with the mushy stuff. Let's have a party."
I laughed as I reluctantly let go of Edward. We walked over to the table Alice had setup and we all stood around Edward's cake.
"What do you think?" I asked him.
He just shook his head, his entire body shaking with laughter. "You are all absurd!"
"I think he likes it, Picky!" Emmett chuckled.
"He likes it," Jasper confirmed.
"Time for presents!" Alice sang, pulling Edward and me over to the sofa. "Jasper, Emmett, you guys get to hand the gifts out."
We spent the next hour laughing with our family and opening gifts. Emmett and Rose had given Edward tickets for all of us to go to the amusement park. Alice and Jasper had given him a new laptop, the MacBook Air, with special programs for recording his music. Esme and Carlisle gave him tickets to take me to see the symphony orchestra in New York. I gave him a new jazz CD I knew he had wanted. I was so ready for him to see his real gift, but Alice had said I had to wait or we'd never open any of the other gifts.
From Alice and Jasper I received two new outfits and a book of poems. Jasper was working with Edward to try and get me interested in poetry. I got an '80's compilation CD from Rose and Emmett. Edward groaned when he saw it. I chuckled at him. Esme and Carlisle gave me my own set of gardening tools and a book about caring for plants. Edward gave me a new backpack for school and a set of writing pens, engraved with 'E B 4ever'.
"I wanted to get you something much better, but with the boycott, I didn't think you would let me get away with it," Edward said, smiling at me.
I laughed and kissed his cheek. "This is just perfect, Edward. These are things I actually needed."
"Bella, I think it's time to confess now," Rose said seriously.
"Yes, dear," Esme added. "We shouldn't put it off any longer and you want to be able to show him while there is still light out."
"Who do you need to show and what do they need to see?" Edward asked, immediately growing concerned.
I made myself look sad and repentant. "Edward, I had a little trouble with the Volvo when I took it out today. I'm really sorry. It was a complete accident." I paused for effect and lowered my head. "It will never look the same. Rose took a look at it and said it was beyond repair … even for her."
"Are you okay?" Edward asked, suddenly trying to check every inch of me.
"I'm fine!" I laughed. "Vampire, remember?"
Edward smiled and nodded his head. "I still forget sometimes."
"So … do you want to see?" I asked, trying to seem 'bad' nervous instead of 'excited' nervous.
"Let's get it over with," Edward sighed, standing up and pulling me along with him. "How did it happen?" he asked as we walked outside and headed to the garage. It was a separate building from the house.
"Well, there was this truck that just came out of nowhere," I said, as I punched in the code for the garage door. I stepped back and turned Edward toward me, pretending I needed a hug. "I really did try to avoid it, but it all happened so fast."
He stroked my hair and whispered to me. "It's fine, Bella. I'm just glad you're okay."
"Damn, Bella!" Emmett yelled. I smiled. My brother was right on cue!
Edward jerked his head toward the garage. His eyes slowly widened and his jaw dropped. He just kept staring at his brand new 2008 Mercedes AMG CLS63, black with very dark tinted windows.
I chuckled. "I told you the Volvo would be unrecognizable."
Edward laughed and picked me up, swinging me around. He put me down and kissed me quickly. "How did you know?"
"Alice," I shrugged.
Edward spun around, grabbed Alice and lifted her up into a huge hug. "Thank you!"
Alice laughed happily. "I think Edward likes the car!"
Everyone laughed at that. Edward put Alice down and ran over to the car. He traced a line over it, from the front all the way to the back. He turned and smiled at me.
"Thank you, Bella."
I held the keys up, dangling them from my finger. "Want to take it for a spin?"
The keys and I were already in the car thanks to Edward's speed. I laughed at his exuberance. He ran his fingers over the steering wheel and smiled brightly at me. I handed him the keys.
"What's this?" he asked, holding out the little black square on his keychain.
"Press that little white button and see," I told him, grinning.
Edward pressed the button and laughed as the picture of us in New York came up on the digital photo keychain.
"Keep pressing it," I said.
He pressed the button until he'd gone through every one of the pictures. He looked at me and I knew if he were capable, he would have been crying at that moment.
"Happy Birthday," I whispered, hugging him tightly. "And the keychain is from Alice, by the way."
Edward laughed. "Of course."
I let him go and smiled at him. "Are you going to start this thing up or what?"
His answering smile put the sun, the moon, and all the stars to shame. He put the key in the ignition and started the engine. The car purred to life and Edward purred right along with it. He pressed down on the gas, revving the engine, making it sound like an animal was growling in the garage.
I laughed as I watched our family move out of the way, all of them knowing Edward was not going to exit slowly.
"Don't take all night!" Emmett fussed. "We all want a turn!"
"I think you're going to have to wait until tomorrow," I heard Alice saying, as Edward tore out of the garage, speeding down the driveway.
Edward chuckled. "She's right."
"Is she now? Just where exactly are we going, Mr. Cullen?" I asked, leaning over and kissing his cheek.
"Well, Mrs. Cullen," Edward smirked. "I thought we might see just how far we can get on a full tank of gas."
"And then?"
"And then I plan to properly thank you for my gift."
"I do like the sound of that," I said, running my hand over his chest.
"I thought you might," he chuckled.
I kissed his cheek and rested my head on his shoulder.
His tone grew serious. "Thank you for doing this, Bella."
I lifted up my head so I could see his face. "It really was my pleasure, Edward. It was nice to get to spoil you and surprise you for a change."
"I can't believe you bought me a car before you let me get you one!"
"I don't need a car, honey. I don't want or need to go out on my own. I'm content on always being with you or someone in our family."
He took my hand and kissed the palm. "I honestly prefer you to not be alone."
"I know."
"But Bella, you shouldn't do that just for me. If you would like some time to yourself …"
"No, Edward. I've had more than enough time to myself for a lifetime. I don't want to be by myself." The mood was getting too serious for my liking. I decided to make a joke. "Or is this some veiled attempt to get rid of me?" I asked, pretending to pout.
He laughed. "As if I could ever want such a thing! I'm not that much of a masochist!"
"I think you've been doing really well lately. You're hardly a masochist at all anymore."
"That might have a lot to do with the beautiful woman sitting next to me."
"And just what did this woman do for you?"
"She loved me in spite of myself. She never saw me as anything other than the person she loved. I was never a monster in her eyes."
"Never!" I whispered fiercely, as I hugged his chest.
I felt him kiss my head. We drove for a long time, just enjoying the silence and our time alone together. It was the best birthday I'd ever had and it was all because of Edward. Maybe I could convince him to always share my birthday with me …
