Chapter Eighteen
"You make me want everything. Things I never thought I would want, I want with you."
"Oh Jasper!" Alice wasn't sure how she felt about this confession; suddenly Jasper was so serious, so open, so different than he had been before.
"Alice, no need to respond, it wasn't an ask and answer, just a declaration of intent. I'm just telling you how I feel.
"But this is so much, so soon." she whined, afraid to let herself think too much about what he wanted from her.
"Soon? I told you this is not soon. I've been in love with you for so long. Even when I thought you'd never be mine, I loved you. Maybe it's soon for you, but its been a long time for me. I can' take it if you push me away now."
"Okay. I won't say anything, for now, how's that? When will you be back here?"
"Monday evening."
"Okay, we'll talk then. A lot."
"Sounds like a plan. Bye, baby."
#
On Saturday night she and Dave went to the restaurant opening in Alameda. Bella was captivating, she looked even more sensual than usual. Dave was riveted, staring and almost salivating. "So, no wonder she has a guy."
"I don't know if she "has" a guy.", Alice answered using air quotes. "But she is more than a little interested in someone. As a matter of fact he might show up here tonight, or so he told her."
Dave glanced around, looking for the competition so he could size him up. His eyes landed on a tall, bronze-haired guy in the shadows of the short hallway that led to the back of the restaurant. If that is the guy, Dave thought to himself, I have no chance.
"Is that him?" He asked Alice and he gestured over to the guy.
"I have no idea." Alice answered. "I've never met him."
When Bella finished they both applauded and as she bowed and headed to the hallway. She stopped and spoke to man in question.
"Yup, that's him all right." Alice said, noting Bella's body language.
Seconds later Bella walked back to the offices and her guy came over.
"Hello, you must be Bella's sister." He introduced himself. "I'm Edward Cullen."
Alice shook his outstretched hand, "Yes, I'm Alice, this is Dave. Please sit down." He joined them and they were all laughing and talking in no time. A few minutes later Bella came over to join them. Alice knew, somehow she just knew, that Bell and Edward were going to be together.
After they left to go off to somewhere quieter, she and Dave waited for his friends to join them. His friends were young and fun-loving, and she had left that behind long ago, but she hung out and tried to have a good time, even if every so often her thoughts drifted to Jasper and what he had said to her.
Dave drove her home and she asked him to wait a little, the lights in the house were not on, but there was a strange car in the driveway, presumably Edward's.
After a few minutes waiting, Alice had made her mind up to brave the possible embarrassment of interrupting something intimate when she saw the front door open and Edward bending down to kiss her sister. She and Dave stared without shame at the two figures which melted into one silhouette in the light of the doorway; Edward and Bella locked in a smouldering embrace, leaving little question in Alice's mind that these two were lovers.
#
On Monday Alice dressed with extra care, knowing that she would be seeing Jasper later that day. Her apple green sheath with wide shoulder straps and perfect cut emphasized her curves and made her eyes more vividly green. She wore her hot pink wedge sandals and a matching wide hair band. Every time she thought about him her heart tumbled in her chest.
The day was a total loss work wise, she couldn't concentrate, couldn't get anything done. As it got later and later she thought of nothing but the possible outcomes of this thing between her and Jasper, and in her anxious mind none of it seemed good. What was she doing? Why, she asked herself, am I even thinking of having another relationship with this guy? I have got to figure this out before I see him again.
So she decided to leave early. Gathering up her laptop and some work, at three o'clock, she locked her office door and walked to the elevator. The doors opened and she stepped in, knowing only one thing for sure, that she needed a little breathing space. As the elevator descended, moving her farther and farther away from the office, she could feel herself relax more and more until by the time she reached the lobby doors she was almost completely at ease.
Walking out of the building and into the afternoon sunshine brought a sense of well-being that she had not felt upstairs, she breathed deeply and headed for the Bart. The weight of making a decision about her and Jasper melted away and she smiled to herself as she waited at the crosswalk. Then she glanced across the street and her eyes locked onto a pair of cobalt blue eyes that were dancing with happiness. When the light changed they walked towards each other meeting in the middle of the intersection. "I had a feeling that I would catch you running away." He said as he smiled and reached for her hand, leading her across to the other curb.
"You're awfully early." she accused him. "You're not supposed to be back until later."
"Yes, my meeting ended much quicker than I thought, so I grabbed the next flight home to you."
"Home? To me?"
"Yes, Alice. My home is wherever you are."
"Oh god. Where did you learn that?"
"What?"
"That sweet talk you trot out whenever I'm teetering on the brink.."
"Why are you teetering?" He smiled down at her, his eyes twinkling, looking content.
"I'm trying to maintain my balance, because if I fall over I'll drown."
He hugged her tightly to him as they stood on the busy sidewalk, uncaring that pedestrians were filing by. "Fall, baby. Fall into me, I promise it'll be okay."
He raised his hand and a taxi stopped at the curb. He helped her into it and walked around and entered on the other side. As soon as he was seated next to her he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately.
Alice pulled away, "Shouldn't we tell the driver where we're going?"
"12011 Filbert." He told the cabbie. Then he reached for her again and whispered against her lips. "We're going to my place. The first place we ever made love."
"Why?"
"To talk, to be with each other, and maybe to make love again."
"I don't think I'm ready yet."
"That's fine," he reassured her. "I haven't seen you in so long I just want to hold you, uninterrupted."
"That's all?"
"For now."
When they got upstairs to his flat, and he let her in, she was struck by the differences that had taken place since the last time she was there, two and a half years ago. "Wow, you've made changes."
"Yes, you like it?"
"I do." He had broken down some walls and made the space more open, sacrificing a bedroom to create a dining room that flowed from the enlarged living room. Extra wide pocket doors, that were indistinguishable from the original built-ins, opened from living room into the formal dining room. Not only had he changed the original floor plan, he'd also redecorated; the once bare bones masculine décor was now softened and had a retro nineteen thirties appeal.
"I like it very much. It seems to have had a woman's touch."
"Rosie helped a little, but it was mostly done by an interior designer who used some of my parents' furniture as a springboard for ideas. That sideboard over there was Edie's favorite, it came from her parents' house. The dining room table and chairs too."
"Oh it is very, very nice." Alice said, running her hands admiringly over the beautiful polished wood furniture. "Mahogany?"
"Yes." he nodded. "I've changed the bedrooms too, do you want to take a look?"
"Is that like asking me to take a look at your "etchings"?"
He laughed. "You know the way, you can go by yourself if you're too afraid of the big bad wolf."
She shook her head. "Lead on. I've never been afraid of you, I'm afraid of me." she said, and almost regretted her candor when she saw him smile.
"I know that. I've always known it. You feel for me, what I feel for you and neither of us were willing to admit it last time."
"What do you mean?" She asked as they reached his room.
"Very early on, I knew what I felt for you went way beyond what I've ever felt for any woman, but I was afraid to admit it to myself. And I think you felt the same way."
"I don't think so. I liked you, but it never went deeper than that."
"Because you wouldn't let it."
"Because you wouldn't let it. You wouldn't let me know you."
"I think that I was afraid that if I gave myself over to how I felt about you, I wouldn't have much control. And I was right."
"How so?"
"Because I'll give you whatever you want, do pretty much anything you say, so that you can trust me and learn to love me; because I don't want to ever lose you again."
He bent his head and brushed his lips against hers. Speaking whisper-soft words, "I love you, I want you, I need you.' Against her lips.
"I want you too." She moaned against his.
"Do you want me right now?" He asked as he picked her up and carried her to his bed.
"Yes, it's all I've been thinking about since you left me in Austin."
"Me too, I've only thought about you. Your lips." He kissed her lips with lingering passion. "Your touch." He kissed her palms and placed them inside his shirt on his bare chest, pulling in a deep breath. "Your smell." He ducked his head and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "Your taste." And he started to kiss her from the curve of her shoulder, up the side of her neck, along her jaw until he reached her lips again. "I want to make love to you, feel you all around me, taking me and everything I have to give." And he kissed her again, harder this time, until her senses swam and she thought of only the pleasure his body would give her.
He pulled back from her. "Alice, take me into you. Let me love you, baby."
"Yes." she said, helplessly melting into the heat of his passion.
He rolled onto his back, pulling her to lay above him, covering his body with hers. His hands reached behind her for the zipper that ran along her spine, from nape to the curve of her bottom. As one hand tugged on the zipper, the fingers of the other hand reached inside and slid along the bones of her spine, playing the sensitive nerve endings until they reached the swell of her bottom.
He reached up and peeled the dress down her arms, until it was no more than a wad of fabric below her hips. He rolled her onto her back, hovering over her, trailing kisses down, down, from the paler skin between her breasts, to the tender flesh between her ribs, stopping to dip kisses at her navel and then to just above the lacy band of her hot pink panties. "I like this color on you Alice." He husked. "Reminds me of your little pink nub, here." And he pressed his chin down, gently rubbing side to side, massaging her clit through her silky underwear. She moaned and he laughed, pressing a kiss and then a gentle bite onto her pubic bone. "I need to see your pretty little pussy, Alice." And he pulled her panties aside, to lick his favorite spot. "You're so perfect, baby."
With both hands working deftly, it was only seconds later that he pulled her panties and her dress down her legs and tossed the garments aside, spreading her thighs apart to see, smell and taste her secret place.
He thumbed her flesh apart, running the tip of his tongue, up and over her folds, stopping at her clit to circle it lovingly. When she squirmed and moved her legs restlessly over the bed, he pushed her thighs even further apart, pushing her knees higher.
"Talk to me, baby. Do you like it?"
"Yees. I love it." She moaned. "Lick me, eat me. Then fuck me, hard." She begged.
"Oh yes, baby. I'm going to ride this little pussy until you scream."
Jasper pressed and licked her clit, diving down to run his tongue over her folds and into her cunt, circling and licking. Then back up to her clit, blowing and sucking until he drove her mad with tremors running through her flesh and into her bones. She panted, "Yes, like that, baby." Over and over until she pulsed with ecstasy.
Feeling her flesh give in he wanted inside, he wanted to be one with her, to share her pleasure and he knelt between her spread thighs and plunged his cock into her hot goodness. She moaned out, "Yeah, so good."
"Fuuck, Alice. Shit, you feel so mmm. Fuck, fuck, fuck." He said as he felt her wet surrounding him.
Her pussy clenched tight and he placed his arms under her thighs to bring her up higher and fuck her deeper. She moaned, and panted, "Harder, slam me baby, harder." And he plunged and rocked for endless minutes, until she let out the scream that signaled her complete and utter satisfaction. He rocked a few more times, sweat running down his back, pouring off him, onto her slick wet body, sliding and squirming in utmost pleasure under his. Then he felt it, the buzzing fire in his groin, the electric heat that ran through him and then out into her moist heat, and he couldn't hold back the roar of the beast in him, reaching the heights of orgasmic pleasure .
He held his body stiff above hers, until every last seed was sown, only then did he allow himself the ease of falling into her open arms.
He rolled off her with a deep masculine laugh. "God, I think I'm still coming." He said as he let out another low laugh.
She rolled onto her side, and kissed his shoulder and then his neck. "Hold me."
And he pulled her into his arms. "That was so good, baby. Even my dreams can't compare to how it is when we make love. We've always been so good together. I've never felt this charge with anyone else, Alice. Right after having you I think about the next time."
"Can we talk about something else?"
"Why? Why can't I talk about how good it feels to make love with you?"
"It's not that. I just don't want to go back to how we used to be. When we were seeing each other that's all you ever talked about: sex, food and work; nothing else."
"We're not going back to that Alice, I promise. But this is post-coital talk, it's de rigueur to discuss my love of your pussy." He laughed, not the least put out by her annoyance.
"I need a shower." She said and started to pull away from him.
"Let's bask in our sex and sweat for a little longer. Please don't be in such a rush to shower me off. By the way, you do know that I didn't use a condom."
"Yeah, I noticed you've been doing that. Why?"
"Because I want you to get pregnant."
She let out a big laugh. "When you give in, you give in all the way, don't you? We just started seeing each other again, are you crazy? Please wear a jimmy hat next time."
"Well, what about just now, is there a chance that you could be p…"
"Nope. I'm back on the IUD."
"Oh."
"But please wear a condom. It's safer."
"I'm not sleeping with anyone else, nor am I going to, so there is no question that I'm safe."
"Well, I'm thinking more about not getting pregnant. Nothing is one hundred percent, I'd like to double up on the protection."
"I like the feeling of being inside you without a condom. I prefer it if you didn't ask me to wear one." He had the audacity so smile at her.
"Well, I'm asking you to. Why should I take on the responsibility of protecting us?"
"You're not protecting 'us', you're protecting yourself. Against a pregnancy that I'm all for, so I don't want to wear one."
She got up off the bed and stood at the side, both hands resting on her hips. "You're nothing but a big baby, you know that? No condom, no pussy. That's final. Take it or leave it."
He pursed his lips into a thin line. "I'll take it. You see what I mean? I'm totally at your mercy. You're calling all the shots."
"As I should, it's my body. I'm going to take a shower," she announced, and as he rolled out of bed to follow her, she turned around and said, "Alone."
"What? Why?"
"You're going to try for the naked dance again in the shower, do you think I'm stupid?"
In two seconds flat, he grabbed her around her thighs and hoisted her over his shoulder, striding with her to the shower. "I'm man of my word, Alice. No more naked, until you say so."
He stepped with her into the shower stall and turned on the four jets, so that they were drenched from all sides.
"I like your new shower," she said. "It's very sensual."
Jasper reached for the soap to wash her off, but she took it from him. "I'll do it myself, no more sexing, I have to eat first."
"Later. First I want to take you somewhere that's very special to me."
"And it doesn't involve food?"
"No, but after I'll take you for some good Zagat rated eats, how about that?"
"Sounds good, but where are we going that's so important to you?"
"It's a surprise."
"Not even a hint?"
"No, I just need to call in to Charlotte at the office and then we can head out, okay?"
#
While Jasper was on the phone, Alice, wandered around the flat admiring the changes he had made. By the time he came back, she was engrossed in his photo albums.
"Hey, what are you doing with those?"
"I'm looking for a bit of you. Is this Rosalie?" Alice pointed to a picture of Jasper with his arm around the waist of a beautiful young woman, with hair the color of gold and silver and eyes as blue as his.
"Mmhm. That was taken on the day of my graduation from USC."
"And who is this?" She pointed to a voluptuous dark haired woman.
"Aida. My girlfriend at the time. She was at USC too. Architect."
"She is quite the bombshell."
"She was very attractive, yes."
"Mmm. Do you keep in touch?"
"No. What would be the point?"
"What? Was she one of those who wanted more?"
"Yes, I guess she was."
"And you broke her heart?"
"I don't take responsibility for broken hearts, Alice. Other than you, I've never promised anyone love."
"Still, I feel sorry for all the women you disappointed."
"How about the men you've disappointed? She who is without sin…"
"I never deliberately set out to hurt anyone..."
"Neither did I, Alice. I just didn't have it to give. And I was pretty honest about that."
"Yeah, I bet." she huffed.
"Alice are you going to hate me on their behalf? Are you looking for another reason to pull away from me?"
She shook her head. "You're right. I guess I'm just remembering how removed you were when I asked you if you love me. You were really cold, you know."
He pulled her up and into his arms. "I'm sorry. If it's any consolation I regretted that night, I suffered many times because of those words. I remember all the times when you were talking about Mike and how much you loved him, how I wished I could have gone back in time and stopped myself from saying those words to you."
"I'm sorry, Jasper. I don't mean to beat you up over it. I have no regrets. As I said, if things had been different with you, I may never have met Mike and believe me I am grateful for every second he and I had together. In a way your words did drive me away from you and made me not want to settle. I guess it made me ready for something more fulfilling. So you did me a big favor, Jasper, so don't ever regret it."
"Well, I do have regrets, because every time you talked about him I wished it was me that you loved; me that you married, me that you wanted to share your life with. And even though you were happy with him, I was in a lot of pain for many months."
"Until he was gone from my life? Oh my God! Are you happy that he's dead?" she asked him horrified.
"Alice for god's sake, what kind of question is that? Of course not. I would never have wished him dead, or for you to have endured the loss of your baby. What kind of person do you think I am?"
"I don't know why I said that, honestly. It's just that suddenly I felt uncomfortable about us, thinking that maybe you've been hoping and waiting in the wings for Mike and I to break up or something."
"Not at all! I thought I had lost you forever, I just didn't see any point in dating another woman, when you were all I wanted. I wasn't waiting in the wings. I knew you loved him and that you were committed to him for life. I had no hope at all."
"I think we should get going." She suggested, walking to the front door of the apartment. That claustrophobic feeling was enveloping her again.
"Sorry, I asked that." she said quietly, as they got into his car. He nodded and smiled at her. "Where are we going?" she asked him again.
"Somewhere special to me." he said mysteriously.
Jasper drove his yellow Porsche down Geary toward the ocean and stopped at 25th ave and made a right and then a left.
"What on earth are we doing here?"
"I used to come here all the time when I just moved here from Houston." He said as he parked.
"Where is here?"
"Just a little spot I found."
"Isn't this private property?" She said looking up and down the quiet street of small houses, not unlike her own little street across the bay.
"I don't think so. No one's ever told me to leave."
He grabbed her hand and tugged her. "Come on, we have to walk a little."
"Jasper I have on heels." she complained.
"Take them off." He bent down and she held on to this shoulders as he helped her to step out of her shoes. When he straightened he gave her a quick peck. "I like you like this, barefoot, au natural."
"Probably the first and last time, mister."
"I hope not. You've heard the phrase barefoot and pregnant. I'd like to see you like that." Alice did not answer. What could she say? He helped her up a steep grassy knoll and then she clambered over a big boulder.
"Oh my Gosh." She exclaimed
"Beautiful isn't it?"
"I can see Marin and the Golden Gate Bridge and even, is that China Beach?"
"Yep."
"Oh this is spectacular. Too bad it's hours until sunset."
"I know. But it gets a little crowded around that time. I'm glad we're here early."
"You're kidding? Other people know about this place?"
"Uh huh. Mostly people in the neighborhood."
"Sea Cliff? Is this where you grew up?"
"Yes, about two blocks up and a few blocks over."
"Show me."
"Show you what?"
"Your house, silly. The one you lived in with Nick and Edie."
"You really want to see it?"
"Yes, I want to see where you lived."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "I'm piecing together a puzzle."
"How can where I lived matter?"
"I'm a visual person, it'll add to my picture of you."
"Okay. But let's stay for a bit longer."
"Okay, until it gets nippy." The sat next to each other on a rock, Jasper took off his jacket and spread it for her to sit on. It was a peaceful place, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. She took a deep breath. "Why did you come here so often?"
"To think. I had left hell behind and I think it was very hard for me to get used to being treated normally. I had to consciously make myself stop being fearful. I also has to convince myself that I deserved the things that were being done for me."
"Have you ever seen Royce again?"
"Never. Not even when his parents died. Rosie and I refused to go to the funerals and the reading of the wills. I never wanted to see any of them again."
"Have you ever been back to see your mother's grave?"
"No. Auralee's not there. Just remnants of her body. She's in me and Rosie. We remember her."
"Why don't you call her your mother?"
"I needed the distance. I needed to make a new start. Nick was and is my father, Edie was my mother."
"How do you feel about Auralee? I get a strange feeling from you, almost as though…Did you love her?"
He shook his head. "No, I didn't. I think I resented her for a long time, after I left Texas. I had so many questions. Why didn't she fight back? Why didn't she leave? Why didn't she call Nick and Edie like I did? I couldn't understand or forgive her for taking the abuse and allowing us to live through it, especially after I found out that she had a family to lean on. It wasn't until years later that I came to grasp just how young and vulnerable she was when she married Royce; just sixteen. She'd had only four years living with Nick and Edie; before that, who knows what she went through. I suspect she suffered physical abuse when she was very young; because she accepted Royce's treatment of her so willingly, she gave herself over to it. I think Royce beat her because he knew he could get away with it. So, after many years, I came to forgive her; but my understanding came too late for me to feel more than pity for her."
"That is just so sad!" Alice said. "Poor unloved Auralee."
"Nick and Edie loved her. Rosie loved her."
"But not you?"
"No." he said. "Are you ready to go?" he asked her.
She nodded and followed him back down the path to the car. Alice felt like crying, for Auralee and for Jasper. As they drove away she couldn't help but ask him, "Do you think she loved you?"
He sighed heavily. "I don't know. I don't think so. How can you love someone and not care when they are hurting?"
"Who says she didn't care? Maybe she cared, but didn't feel capable of stopping it." Alice answered, feeling the need to make Jasper realize that his mother cared for him.
"Maybe." Jasper said. "It doesn't matter now, does it?"
"I think it does. Fundamentally we are grounded in the love we have for our parents and those who gave us life. I do understand why you can't care for Royce, but not why you can't care for Auralee."
"I've been over this with my therapists for years, Alice. I just don't feel that way for her. I can't make it any clearer than that."
"I don't think you can love me then. That 'mother love' is so fundamental. It's how we learn to love others. And you even admitted that you never felt that love for Edie either. Just gratitude for her niceness."
"Well I disagree with you, I am capable of love. Sure I never felt that love for a mother, but I have loved. I love Rosie and Emmett and my niece, Emma and my nephew, Zach. And I do love you, very much."
"I wonder if you even know what love is."
Jasper pulled over and parked the car; turning in his seat to face her, he cupped her face between his large hands. "I'm sorry that I'm not perfect, Alice. I'm sorry that I had such a rotten life. I'm sorry that I don't have a big, extended, loving family to offer you. But no matter what else you think of me, I know how to love. And I do love you. I know I need to convince you of it, and I have every intention of doing that." he gave her a kiss and started the car again.
"You told me that she told you to be good so that Royce wouldn't beat you. So she cared enough to console you."
"I suppose she may have. But I was still getting beaten and she did nothing to stop it."
"She was a victim too. She never hit you?"
"No."
"Did she ever intervene, when he was hitting you?"
"No. I tell you , she accepted it as though we deserved it."
"Did you ever intervene when he was hitting her?"
"No. Are you kidding? Usually I was trying to make myself as small as possible so he wouldn't see me."
Her heart squeezed with pity, thinking of that frightened little boy trying to hide.
#
Later on Jasper took her out to dinner at the Cliff House, where they dined as they watched the sun set over the Pacific. Something was nagging at the back of her mind and she just had to bring it up. "Jasper, do you feel guilty? About not saving Auralee?"
"Yes. Especially after I came here. Sometimes I used to think I could have saved her. If I'd had the courage like I did that night when he tried to beat on Rosie, maybe Auralee wouldn't have died."
"I don't think you should feel guilty. You were a kid. You couldn't have saved her if she didn't want to be saved. You couldn't have done anything. You probably would have gotten yourself killed. Imagine if you had beaten Royce while your mother was alive, you probably would have gone to juvie, and God knows what would have happened to you in there. You would have been at the mercy of all the horrors the system has to offer." She shuddered and reached up to stroke his cheek wanting to wipe that sad look from his face. "Please don't have regrets, Jasper. Mike once told me something so profound. When I told him that I wished we had met sooner, he said you can't have regrets, things happen as they are meant to happen, and that's when things work out. I've been thinking that Rosie saved you. She gave you something to fight and live for."
"Yes, I guess you're right. I always thought that I saved her, but I didn't save her, she saved me."
"You saved each other. And I can't wait to meet her."
"Believe you me, she can't wait to meet you either. Emmett's whetted her appetite."
Alice raised a brow, wondering what on earth Emmett's said to Rosie. "What do you mean, whetted her appetite?"
"Well, since I told her I wanted to bring you to dinner, she's always calling me with questions. Asking what you like to eat…"
"Tell her I'll eat anything, except calamari."
"… about what you like to do for fun…"
"Eat, drink, dance, gamble, vice, the usual hi jinks."
"...about when and how we met…"
"Oh, okay, that's a toughie…"
"…about your husband…"
"What has she asked about him?"
"She asked if I knew him. How he died. Stuff like that."
"Oh."
"Yeah, ohh."
"Nosey isn't she?"
"Given our background, wouldn't you be? Believe me when she met Emmett, I had him investigated."
"Nah! Really?"
"Yes, really."
"He was right. He said if you didn't approve there was no way Rosie would marry him."
"Yes, he was right. My sister is too important for me to trust her future to any jackass that came along."
"Hmm and Rosie feels the same? She thinks she has to look out for you?"
"I guess so."
"So, I'm meeting the big Kahuna, huh?"
"Yes."
"Should I bring a peace offering? Wine?"
"Rosie doesn't drink at all."
"Chocolate cake?"
"She's a vegan, a raw food aficionado."
"Oh hell no! We're going to In 'n Out after, right?"
"I'm joking. She loves to eat. Chocolate cake, chocolate anything will win her over."
"Great, I'll get Bella right on it. She'll make a black forest cake your sister will die for! Yum!"
#
On Sunday, armed with a Bella Swan Black Forest Cake, Alice went to meet the big Kahuna.
The Big Kahuna, was actually not that big and had the all the outward appearance of being a harried mom. Her silvery blonde hair was spilling from a sloppy bun, and she almost had on a pretty pink sheath dress. As she opened the door of the mediterranean-style house she smiled and turned around. "Zip me up?" she asked over her shoulder. Jasper did his duty with all the aplomb of someone who'd done the chore a zillion times before. Rosie swung back around to face them. "Just pretend you didn't see that, Alice." And she grabbed Jasper's hand in her right, and Alice's in her left. "It's so nice to meet you. Come in, come in." she said breezily as she tugged at them. "Welcome to the nut house, Alice. Jasper here talks about you all the time. "
"Only when you call my office with prying questions..."
"I can't shut him up." She said cutting him off rudely. "Welcome to Chez McCarty. On our menu tonight is Pot Roast a la Emmett, with red potatoes and glazed carrots. A spinach salad and your wonderful chocolate cake for dessert." And she took the cake from Alice's outstretched arms. "Looks yummy."
"Oh it is, because I had nothing to do with it." Alice and Jasper followed her into the kitchen, where the smells were amazing.
"I had nothing to do with dinner either. Emmett cooks. That's why I married him."
Alice laughed, "Good for you."
"Give me your sweater, ohh what a pretty dress!" Rosie exclaimed, looking at the black velvet surplice bodice and the white net skirt that was scattered with little black velvet stars.
"Thanks, I made it myself."
"No way!You're lying!"
"Okay, I am lying. I got it at Nordy's."
"Oh, it's adorbs, now turn around, let me see the back." Alice turned to show off the plunging v-shaped back that ended in a black velvet bow at the bottom of her spine. "I love it."
"Okay, enough, can we move on?" Jasper interjected with an exasperated sigh. "Where's that husband of yours and your offspring?"
"Oh, he's getting them out of the tub. Go ahead, your niece and nephew await." Rosalie, waved her brother out the door and grabbed Alice's arm and whispered to her, "I'm so happy to finally meet you. Emmett raved about you after he met you on the flight. I was almost getting jealous until Jasper invited you to dinner. Are you and he, you know, getting it on?"
"What the hell?" Alice gurgled out, in a shocked exclamation, choking on the glass of white wine that Rosie had pressed into her hand.
"Are you and my brother swapping spit, and other fluids?" she said with a conspiratorial wink.
"Eww. Now that's just gross."
"Sorry, I'm so juvenile. I don't know how to do this, this best girlfriend stuff. Never had one, girls never seemed to like me."
"Me neither."
"Get out! I only had guy friends."
"Me too!"
"So I kinda have a guy mouth. I talk a lot like an uncouth dickhead kind of guy."
"Now, there's where we part company." Alice faked a cockney accent. "I tawk like a lydy." She smoothed her hand over her skirt and tilted her chin up snobbishly."
"Oooh. Is that wha a lydy sounds loyk? I can do that too." Rosie and Alice walked into the living room, side by side. "Look at me, I'ma lydy."
All four faces, two adult and two sleepy toddlers, looked up at them questioningly. Without skipping a beat, Alice shrugged and said, "I have no idea what she's saying, she just started talking like this and freaked me out." And then she sauntered over to sit down next to Jasper who was holding eighteen-month old Emma on his lap.
Rosie gasped and laughed out loud. "Jasper, why have you been keeping my BFF from me all this time?"
Alice smiled as Jasper gaped at Rose. "See Jasper, the Big Kahuna loves me."