Edward's Birthday - Part 1 (it's split into two parts because it would've been a ridiculously long chapter otherwise :D)
Bella:
It's the day of Edward's birthday, and we're meant to be going round to the Cullen house soon.
"I don't want any funny business," Dad reminds me.
"I thought you said you'd accepted the idea of Edward and me dating," I huff, crossing my arms over my chest and giving him the stink eye.
"Accepted; yes. Happy; no," Dad points out.
"What sort of funny business do you expect? I'm hardly going to molest him in the kitchen!" I throw my arms up in frustration.
"Calm down, Charlie, she's happy. Let her be," Mum says, thankfully sticking up for me,
"See, someone who's speaking and thinking," I exclaim, pointing at my mother.
"Come on, let's go before we're late," Mum says, dragging Dad and I out of the house. She pushes us into the car, and I'm forced to sit in the back since they're both in the front.
"So, a younger man, hey?" Dad muses as we're driving towards the house. I groan very loudly and very audibly, banging my head against the window.
"By a couple of months!" I whine. "Anyway, just because you like a younger woman," I retort childishly. Dad's five years older than Mum.
"Touché," Dad chuckles, shaking his head as he pulls into the drive.
We all get out of the car and knock on the front door. Instead of anyone answering it, Esme just calls out 'come in' to us. Shrugging, we open the door and walk inside the house. Correction, inside the mad house.
Emmett has flour all over him, Queenie's hair is a mess, Alice is screaming unintelligibly, Cowboy is lying on the sofa, Esme also has flour on her, and Carlisle is nowhere to be seen. Like I said before; mad house.
"We'll…go help Esme and Carlisle," Mum and Dad mutter, wandering off into the kitchen.
I nod, and walk into the living room, where all the teenagers appear to be. Apart from Edward. I wonder where he is.
"Where's Edward?" I ask no one in particular. Only after I have spoken do they realise that I'm here.
"Oh, hey, Bella," Queenie greets me, raising her eyebrows at my questioning of where Edward is.
With a shrug, I reply, "We're together now. I had to stand on glass in the process, but, yeah, we're together." Then, completely surprising me, Queenie laughs. Proper, loud laughs. Have I stepped into some parallel dimension?
"There you are," Edward smiles warmly, walking into the room and over to me. Instantly, his arms reach out and wrap around me, and he plants a big kiss on my lips.
His stutter has improved dramatically. Now, when he's with family and friends, he doesn't stutter once. Of course, there are still some occasions. Like at school, if he has to give a presentation, or when he's particularly nervous about something, but other than that, you'd never know he once could barely say a sentence.
"Edward, dude! She's like a sister to me!" Emmett complains, covering his eyes.
"Sor-" I cut off Edward's apology by placing my hand over his mouth.
"I can't recall the amount of times I've had to see you stick your tongue down your girlfriend's throat," I tell Emmett, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I'm sorry, Bella," Queenie says. Both Alice and I just stare at her – wide eyes.
"Woah, woah, woah, are you Rosalie Hale?" Alice confirms, looking at her.
"Um, yes?" Que-Rosalie nods.
She's acting confused, but she knows exactly what we mean. Alice and I have never tried to hide our distaste for Rosalie, only when Emmett's around. So now, I can't understand why she's acting strange. Well, not so much strange, but nice.
I turn to Edward, still confused, and give him another kiss. It's his birthday, he's gets extra kisses. That, and the fact I can't keep my hands or lips off him.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart. Have you had a good day?" I ask, snuggling into his hold.
"It's been good. A lot different from my other birthday's, though," Edward tries to joke, but since a couple of weeks ago, he's told me more about his birthday's. Apparently, his mother wasn't the most nurturing kind.
"Are you looking forward to your present from me?" I smirk; a little excited to see his reaction.
"Is it something I should be opening in front of my parents?" he teases, placing soft kisses on my cheeks.
"One part you can," I chuckle, blushing a little when I think about the other gift. It's nothing too bad.
"And the other?" he pulls back a little, his eyes widening.
"Don't worry, it's not like a condom or anything," I reassure him, laughing at the look on his face.
"Yeah, it's Alice and Jasper who need to learn how to use condoms!" Emmett shouts, pointing at Alice and Cowboy who are sat next to each other on the sofa. Alice is starting to get a little bump, and recently had her first scan. Every time she looks at the picture of the developing baby she starts crying.
"I know how'ta use a condom," Cowboy drawls. He's not fooling anyone.
"Clearly not," Emmett replies. Despite his initial hatred of Cowboy for knocking up his baby sister, Emmett actually seems to be quite friendly with him now.
"Too late for should-offs now," Cowboy jokes. Alice sends a little glare his way.
"Bella, Alice, could I have a word with you two? Outside?" Queenie asks.
"Sure, why not," I shrug, standing up from next to Edward. Though not before kissing Edward.
Once out in the hallway, we're led upstairs and into Emmett's old room by Rosalie, who doesn't say a word. Except for 'follow me'. Alice and I both exchange nervous glances, wondering what the hell is going on.
"You two are probably wondering what the hell is going on." It's like she's a mind reader.
"You could say that again," Alice mumbles, placing her hands on her stomach. She's been doing that a lot recently, but half the time it's like she doesn't even notice she's doing it.
"For a long time, I just acted civil around you guys because of Emmett. In high school you two were…the dorks, and I didn't want to been seen with you. Emmett, however, was another matter," Rosalie begins.
"Um, if this is an apology, it's not working. You're just offending me further," I scoff, sitting down on Emmett's bed. Who does she think she is? 'I didn't want to be seen with you.'
"Well, if you'd let me finish," Rosalie huffs, pacing around the room while Alice joins me on the bed. "Em is…very family orientated. I wanted to make a good impression, and it wasn't until I started dating him that I realised just how close he was to you two. So, to keep him happy, I pretended," Rosalie continues with her story.
"I'd never of guessed…" Alice murmurs. I nod in agreement with her.
"Look, so, to keep Emmett happy, I pretended. I was amazed when he believed it, and, up until recently, thought he still did. However, one night Emmett called me up on it. Asked if I really liked you two. So, I admitted that I wasn't as close as I made out," Rosalie sighs.
"Wait, how close did you say we were?" I squint my eyes at her. When she was around, I only ever acted civil. I never acted as though she was my friend.
"I told him we were good friends, who text each other on a regular basis." Alice and I gulp, looking towards each other for comfort. "What?" Rosalie glares at the both of us.
"Um…" I mutter.
"Well…" Alice continues.
"The thing is," I mumble quietly.
"Emmett may or may not have asked us…" Alice says, continuing the story.
"Whether or not we had your number," I admit sheepishly.
"So what did you do?" Rosalie demands.
"We may have laughed. Pretty hysterically," Alice tells her, shuffling closer to me.
"I don't believe this…" Rosalie whines, pacing around the room some more. "Basically, I told him I'd try harder."
"What, you want to make a deal with us or something? To act friendlier?" I ask, frowning. I don't like the sound of that.
"No. No more faking," Rosalie insists. "I want to…to try and, um, be friends. With you two," she pauses, looking worried for some reason.
"Why, we're just 'dorks'?" Alice asks, using what Rosalie called us before.
"Because I love Emmett, with all my heart, and I truthfully don't know what I'd do without him," Rosalie admits, looking actually quite sad.
"How do we know you're still not faking?" I raise an eyebrow, needing more to convince me.
Rosalie looks at both Alice and me, seemingly trying to find the words. Or, rather, the courage to say the words. It doesn't seem like Rosalie finds it easy to compliment other people or apologise.
"I've come to realise that you two are actually pretty cool. I was such a bitch in high school, I can admit that. Emmett," at his name, Rosalie sighs dreamily. "Emmett's grounded me. Made me realise popularity isn't everything."
I consider this for a minute, trying to see if she is telling the truth. She seems genuine, but it's hard to tell. And I suppose she is sort of nice to Edward and she does make Emmett happy.
"This doesn't mean we're forgiving you for everything you've done, that'll take more time," I point out to her. I vividly recall when she first met Edward, and claimed I'd already 'sunk my claws' into him.
"I know, I truly am sorry for being such a bitch though," Rosalie pleads.
"We'll call a truce. Not friends yet, just not enemies right now," Alice decides, holding out her hand to shake Rosalie's. I do the same.
But, surprising me once again today, Rosalie hugs us both.
"How about a girly sleepover some time?" Rosalie suggests to us.
"Maybe," we agree, going back downstairs to join the others.
I sit next to Edward, avoiding the kitchen as I can here lots of crashing and banging happening. Edward frowns at us, wondering what we were talking about, but I just shake my head. I'll tell him later.
"Food!" Esme calls out to all of us.
Let the madness begin.
A/N: Should Rosalie be trusted? :O
Review please! :)
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