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Beta'd by melanieintn
EPOV
Our work at the Newton's was finished now, and we had started on clearing land for the community center. I was glad mom called Eleazar to come and help us. We were gonna need all the working hours we could get; we had three weeks to get everything finished. I was glad I wouldn't have to leave Bella at night; I wasn't looking forward to that prospect.
The center was going to be huge; one side was going to be a dining hall and kitchen area, and the other side was going to have a gaming area and an arts & crafts area. The back side was going to have an inside basketball court and locker rooms, and showers were going to separate that from the indoor pool area. It was a lot of work; but I believed with me, Jazz, and Em working during the day and Eleazar and his crew working at night, we would get it done in plenty of time, at least according to Alice.
BPOV
While Edward and the guys were working hard getting the community center built and ready, Esme, Alice, Rose, and I had been busy planning the Thanksgiving Day celebration. Alice and Rose were going to be doing most of the decorations and purchases, while Esme and I were doing the food menu, getting everything bought up for the meal we were going to serve, and the cooking. Since this was going to be a community affair, each person who was attending was also going to bring a side dish or dessert. The Cullens had already volunteered to provide all the meat.
APOV
I was really excited about this community Thanksgiving feast; I had never done one before. Rose and I were in charge of the decorations. We were getting ready now to go shopping in Seattle to find what we needed, aside from what we would order online.
"Are you about ready to go Rose?" I asked from my room, knowing she could easily hear me.
"Yes, I am just putting the finishing touches on my makeup, and I'll be finished," she replied.
"Okay I'm done, so I'll meet you downstairs," I told her.
I went downstairs to find Esme and Bella going through their list of grocery items that they would need. They were going to the Sam's Club in Seattle, and Rose and I were going to a party store; we were getting all kinds of different decorations.
EsmePov
Bella and I walked into the Sam's Club. I didn't come in here very often. What would a vampire need to buy in bulk? But on occasions such as these, it came in handy.
I was so excited about this community meal. This was a great way for the community to come together.
"Okay first, I think we need to head back to the meat department and order our hams and turkeys. What do you think, sweetie?" I asked Bella.
"Yes, it is best to do that first. Twenty turkeys and twenty hams is a huge order, and we want to be sure they can fill it," she said in agreement.
We headed to the back of the store and talked with the butcher. He was very helpful. He let us know that it would be no problem to get in the order. We filled out the form for them to be delivered, and we were going to prepay up front. We would receive the order the Monday before Thanksgiving.
"All right, now that is done, let's go get all the ingredients for yeast rolls. I think it would be a good idea to make tea and coffee as well. What do you think, Esme?" Bella asked.
"That is a good idea," I said.
We headed off in search of our ingredients. I had found a super easy recipe(located on blog) for yeast rolls on Food Network. So we bought bulk amounts of yeast, butter, sugar, and biscuit mix. Then, we bought the tea and coffee and everything Bella said humans liked in those drinks. After we were finished, we were able to pile everything in the back of Bella's SUV. We headed back to Forks very pleased with our purchases.
APOV
We had to hit several party shops and flower wholesalers to get all the decorations we wanted. But by the end of the day, we found everything we were looking for.
Rose had suggested that we string lights and fall leaves around the perimeter of the room. So we had to go to three different stores to find enough of those. We bought all the fake pumpkins and gourds we could find in all shape and sizes. We were going to make centerpieces for each of the tables. A large pumpkin in the middle topped with greenery and fall flowers, surrounded by smaller pumpkins and gourds. Then, we were going to place four crystal wine goblets around the centerpiece with either a red, yellow, brown, or red candle in each. We also turned some wine goblets upside down over miniature pumpkins and placed the candles on the base of the goblet.
For each of the windows, we bought fall wreaths. They were made of orange fall leaves with sprigs of dried German Statice. They were beautiful and very festive. For the door we got simple orange and brown bows with tails of fall garland streaming down, and in the center it said Happy Thanksgiving. It was a good thing we had taken Emmett's Jeep; by the time we were finished, it was stuffed with every fall decoration imaginable.
CoraPOV
Charlie and I had been seeing each other steady now for several weeks, and I was falling more in love with him every time I saw him; I could only hope he was feeling it too.
The Thanksgiving holiday was coming up; and the diner was going to be closed, so I would be off that day. I didn't have any family to spend it with. Charlie and I were going out tonight, so I was planning to ask him what his plans were for it. I was assuming he would be spending it with Bella and the Cullens at the community center, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
Around seven, Charlie arrived to pick me up for our date. We were going to dinner, and then we were gonna pick up the movie Water for Elephants and go back to my house to watch it.
"So do you know what you are doing for Thanksgiving? Are you going to spend it with Bella and the Cullens?" I asked.
"Actually, I'm not sure yet; they haven't let me know anything because they are all really busy preparing for the community Thanksgiving dinner," he said.
"Oh yeah, I had heard about that. I heard the Cullens were basically hosting it. Do you think they could use another pair of hands? I would love to help out in any way I could," I said.
"That's very sweet of you, honey; I'm sure they could use another pair of hands and would love for you to help out. Remind me to give you their number before I leave tonight," he told me.
We finished our dinner and then went to rent the movie and went back to my house. We sat on the couch and cuddled during the movie, and I loved it. When he got ready to leave, he wrote the Cullens number down for me; then, we walked out onto my front porch to say a final goodnight.
It was late when he left, so I would wait and call them tomorrow. I turned off all the lights and went to bed.
BPOV
It was now a couple of days before Thanksgiving. The community center was finished last week; thanks to Eleazar coming in and giving us access to a "night crew."
We had started cooking yesterday. Cora was over, and she was helping as well. She had called a few days prior and asked if she could help. She was such a sweet woman; I was so glad my dad has dating her. She was perfect for him.
Cora and I were making yeast rolls. Everyone else was busy with the turkeys and hams. Esme had rented a bunch of catering equipment, so we had extra ovens and even a few deep fryers to deep fry a few of the turkeys. Things were running smoothly; and according to Alice, everything would be done in plenty of time.
Cora and I were able to talk while we made the rolls.
"So, how are you feeling Bella?" Cora asked me.
"Oh, I am feeling great. I really like being pregnant," I told her with a smile.
"Charlie told me you are having a girl; that is great. Is Edward excited?" she asked, although by her tone I could tell she was afraid she was being too nosy.
"Oh yes! We are having a girl, and Edward couldn't be happier. He talks to my belly every night. She will respond to his voice and his piano playing. It is almost like they are communicating to each other," I said, catching Edward's eye from across the room; and he winked at me. I winked back and continued kneading the dough.
Cora noticed our silent communication.
"You can tell he loves you so much," she said with a smile.
"I love him too, Cora, so much," I said, smiling back.
"Speaking of love, how are things going with my dad? You know how Charlie is. I get no details from him," I asked and giggled.
She blushed.
"I really like your dad a lot, Bella. I hope it isn't awkward for you or anything. I mean, I know you and your mom had to have been fairly close," she said.
"Cora, I want Charlie to be happy; and you make my dad happy. I can tell he really likes you too. He may not be extremely verbose, but I can tell by his eyes; he hasn't been this happy in a long time," I told her, grabbing her flour covered hand and looking her in the eyes.
"Don't worry about my mother. She and I were close once. But they were never right for each other, and I never had any dreams that they would get back together. She has Phil; and now it is time dad found someone, and I believe with all my heart that you are that someone," I said, letting go of her hand and returning to my roll making.
I heard a sniffle and looked over to Cora. She was looking at me and smiling with tears in her eyes.
"Thank you, Bella; you have no idea how much your support means to me," she said. I could feel myself tearing up too. I couldn't help it; I leaned over and gave her a hug. We then wiped our tears and continued on with our cooking.
The next day, Wednesday, Rose, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett went and set up all the tables and decorated, while the rest of us stayed at the house cooking. We had all the rolls, turkeys, and hams cooked and in cold storage. The catering equipment was in trailers; tomorrow we were going to take them to the center, so we could warm the meat and rolls up before they were served.
Now we were making the tea. By the time this was all finished, I was going to never want to make another roll or tea again.
After we were finished later that evening, we went to see the decorations. When we walked into the center, I couldn't help my gasp; it was beautiful. There were fall leaves and lights around the walls. The huge pumpkin centerpieces were gorgeous, and the wreaths in the windows were unbelievable.
The center itself was amazing as well. My family had really outdone themselves this time.
"Everything is simply amazing everyone. This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever," I said, hugging Edward.
"Come on, love; let's get you back home to rest. You have had a busy couple of days, and it will be busy tomorrow as well," he said as he pulled me out the door. I didn't complain because I was tired. I wanted a nice hot bath, then to snuggle up to Edward and go to sleep; and that was exactly what I did.
EsmePOV
Today was Thanksgiving! I hadn't truly celebrated this holiday in 80 years. Sure the family would make a special hunting trip, but this was the first time in a long time that I was cooking and preparing food for people.
We pulled the catering trailers over to the community center and started warming all the turkeys, hams, and rolls. We started this at about six in the morning. Cora came over to help, so we had to move at a human pace. Cora was such a sweet woman; we couldn't tell her no because she seemed so eager to help. And she and Bella had a good talk yesterday and seemed to have bonded some. I couldn't deprive my daughter of the chance to get to know her some more.
We had everything warmed up and over in the community center by 11:30. People had started arriving and bringing their dishes about an hour before. They oohed and ahhhed over the work we had done, and they bragged about what a good job my boys had done; I couldn't have been more proud.
When it was time to start eating, our family volunteered, minus Bella, to serve everyone. She really did need to eat, and this was a perfect cover to disguise the fact that we didn't eat. Bella sat at the table with Charlie and Cora. Charlie was only going to get to be here for a couple of hours before he had to go back to the station, but at least he got to spend a bit of it with Bella.
As we served the townspeople, they made sure to tell us what a good job we had done.
"Mrs. Cullen, may I say you and your family have done such a wonderful job on this center and the meal. I can't thank you enough," the mayor said as he made his way through the line.
"The pleasure was all ours, Mr. Mayor. It was so great to do something for this wonderful community that took us in," I told him sincerely.
EPOV
"This place is so beautiful, and the food is delicious. I guess I was wrong about the Cullens, they aren't pretentious snobs." This was the main thought going through everyone's minds. Everyone was floored when we volunteered to serve the food.
Everyone thought us to be rich snobs, which was what we wanted them to think when we first moved here. But then Bella came into my life and changed everything. Now here we were; I was married to a wonderful woman, who was carrying my child. We built a community center for our town, and now we were serving food to said town in that center.
I walked over to where Bella was sitting with a plate of food. She wasn't eating much off of her own plate; so when we came over to visit her, she could pick off our plates and make it look like we were eating.
"This is so amazing, Edward," Bella squealed as I sat down. She leaned over and gave me a kiss. I put my hand on her protruding belly and felt Ren kick.
"She seems to be enjoying the food as well" I laughed, keeping my hand on her belly and rubbing gently.
"Oh yes! I think she is enjoying the noise too," she said with a wink.
"She keeps on wondering about the noise and who these different voices are," Bella said and giggled to me in her thoughts.
I heard an aww sound and looked over; Cora was watching us closely. She thought we were the cutest thing ever. Something caught my eyes over her shoulder, and there were Lauren and Jessica watching us with envy.
I just rolled my eyes at them. Then, their mothers caught them staring at us, and they grabbed them by the arms and led them away. Those poor women had experienced enough embarrassment at the mall and were keeping them on tight leashes.
The party lasted a couple more hours. The townspeople ate and visited and basically had a wonderful time. The party was a huge success. I could tell they were going to start looking at us in a different light. Now that we had shown we weren't afraid to get our hands dirty, they saw us as more approachable. We had never had this kind of interaction with people before. I had to say if felt pretty good.
Later that night, Bella and I lay in bed; I had my head lying on her belly listening to our daughter. Bella was running her fingers through my hair, lightly scratching my scalp.
"Baby, I am so proud of you guys. The party was a great success, and the town got to see all of you like I have for two years," she murmured quietly.
"I must say I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would," I told her, rising up to kiss her.
What was meant to be a chaste kiss was quickly deepened into much more.
"I love you so much," she gasped out as I released her lips only to travel down her neck and right to her succulent breasts. I sucked and nibbled on her right breast, while I played with her left. Bella was moaning and writhing beneath me. I kissed my way down her belly, placing several reverent kisses all over it. I then reached her core. She was soaking wet and smelled so sweet. I had stopped, so I could admire my beautiful wife; but Bella was evidently impatient.
"Please, Edward," she begged. That was all I needed to hear, and I plunged my tongue deep inside her; she screamed out my name. I kissed and licked her lips and flicked her clit with my tongue until her orgasm hit her hard. I sucked on her clit until her orgasm was finished; she then grabbed my face and pulled me up to her.
"Come here," she growled out, kissing me; and I knew tasting herself on me. That was so sexy, and I growled in response. I turned her to her side and lifted her leg and entered her with one swift movement.
"Oh Edward," she screamed as I started pumping in and out of her. She was still so sensitive from her first orgasm that it didn't take long for another one to hit her. She felt so good and squeezed me so tight that I couldn't hold off, and I spilled my seed inside her.
"Oh! Happy Thanksgiving, baby" she said as she turned over and kissed me once more.
"You too, my Love," I said kissing her back. Soon her breathing evened out, and she was sound asleep.
I held my sleeping wife, and couldn't help but think that this had been the best Thanksgiving ever.
A/N: Please leave us a review, and let us know what you think of our story. Check out our blog to see pictures, yeast roll recipe, and hear music at http:/ /coconspirators2011 .blogspot .com/. This chapter has lots of pics. Please go to our profile page to participate in our poll about authors responding to reviews.