Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T, Shadows
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Prompt: Flip, slip, trip

"We should double date," Marta said one morning as I was getting ready for work and she was getting ready to go to the beach with Jacob. "Do you think the guys would be all right with that?"

Edward and Jacob were trying very hard to not be friends. The would growl at each other, sniff the air in disgust whenever the other would appear, and refer to each other as dog and leech. It was all very amusing because both Marta and I could tell that bare tolerance had yielded to grudging respect. Many times we'd caught them making the same comment about a television show, sports game, or newscast. This was invariably followed with one of them stating they were shocked the other had that much intelligence. A couple times they'd slipped and gave a nod of agreement before remembering they were at odds.

"They might be," I said, then grinned. "You tell Jacob it's what you want, and he'll cave. I'll ask Edward if he'd do this for me, and I bet he'll agree."

"You know, it's not nice to manipulate your boyfriends. Guys don't like that," Charlie said as he entered the kitchen, giving us both a mock glare as he snagged one of my pieces of toast. "Although, in this case it's probably a good idea." His glare turned into a grin. "Don't know what's between those boys, but they're more alike than they realize. That might be the problem, though."

Marta and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh. Jacob and Edward couldn't be more different in a very vital way, but the more I thought about it I realized Charlie just might be right. Yes, there was a huge gulf between them in terms of species, but the truth was they both protected humans, cared about us, and held similar opinions on several topics.

"You call Edward and I'll call Jacob," Marta said, but just as I reached for my phone, it rang. I glanced at the display and laughed.

"Hello, Alice, do you and Jasper want to come out with us tonight?" I asked, phrasing it that way since Charlie was still in the room, making more toast.

"Yes, we do," she answered. "Rosalie and Emmett will arrive this afternoon and will probably want to come along as well. Is that all right?"

"You tell me, what do you see?"

"Nothing, Jacob's there, but that could be good." She was quiet on the phone for a second. "It'll be raining in Seattle this afternoon, so we could head down as soon as you get off work, pick up some food for those who eat it, pick up Rosalie and Emmett, then we can play tourists!" Alice's enthusiasm was always contagious.

"As long as you don't drag me shopping," I warned, and got a trilling laugh from the phone and another laugh, not quite as high from beside me.

"We are so taking her shopping!" Marta yelled into the phone.

"Hey, you're supposed to be my friend, when did you flip sides?" I said, pointing an accusing finger at Marta while Charlie shook his head and chuckled.

"Sounds to me like she's being a friend," he said. "What are you girls planning?"

"Alice wants us to all go to Seattle, pick up her brother and sister-in-law at the airport, and take in the sights," I said. "We may be out late."

"Okay, have fun." He leaned over, and I thought it was to give me the customary kiss on the top of my head but instead he shouted into the phone, "I'm with Marta. Make her buy something nice."

"Traitor," I called after him as he skipped away from me swinging out to slap at him.

"Hello, Edward. I want to warn you the girls are up to no good," he said, opening the door. I couldn't help the huge grin that split my face as I tried to catch sight of him in the doorway.

"I know," Edward replied. "My sister is talking to me, too. I've already called Jacob to warn him." He looked around the door and asked me, "Are you ready to go to work?"

"Yep," I said, then spoke into the phone, "I'll talk to you in a few hours Alice."

"I'll have everything planned," she told me. "You have fun at work."

Work dragged. Normally Newtons was quite busy during the summer with hikers dropping by to stock up before hitting the mountains, but not today. After cleaning the aisles, restocking and facing the shelves, taking inventory and dusting there was nothing to do. Thankfully Mike had a deck of playing cards and we played many hands of rummy, whiling away the time and talking about friends from high school.

Eventually Mrs. Newton came by to relieve me. "I know it's early, but it's silly for you to sit here. Why don't you go ahead and knock off early?" As she finished I noticed Edward's car pull up, Alice waving from the backseat. Five minutes later we were on the road to Seattle.

The city was wonderful. We all went to Pikes Place market where Jacob demonstrated just how much food he could put away in answer to Edward's taunt that he was a lightweight. "I've taken out an entire heard of elk," Edward said. "I bet you couldn't even come close. In fact, here's my credit card. I bet you can't eat enough to have them call me and ask about unusual activity on it."

"You're on," Jacob said, grabbing the small, black piece of plastic and dragging Marta into the market.

When we lost sight of them, I leaned over to Edward. "That was really nice."

He looked down at me with a smile and a wink. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure, sure." When we caught up to them we both laughed at the look of shock on some of the faces of the vendors. It took an hour, but eventually the call did come. Edward smoothly explained he was taking a group of friends through the market and buying whatever looked good to authorize the charges.

In the early evening Alice informed us that it was time to go pick up Emmett and Rosalie from the airport. We were walking to the car when Edward stopped short, causing me to trip over my own feet. His hands shot out to catch me and pulled me close to his body, twisting slightly to set me behind him.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking up, but he wasn't looking at me. Instead his gaze was directed to where the car was parked. Leaning against it were two people I recognized. My breath caught in my throat.

"Hello Jane, Demetri," Edward said with a nod.

Thanks for all the well-wishes on my day yesterday. Today was much better. I took time off work to herd cats (aka teenagers) around the state capitol, introducing them to their legislators, touring behind the scenes (one of the representatives showed us places the public never gets to see, then assigned one of his interns to make sure we had everything we needed), and eating lunch with them and our local officials (city council, one of which is my husband, and lobbyists), before heading home. It was a really fun day, especially when the kids stumped the legislators with their questions. Gives me hope for the future.