Chapter 44

Emmett sat across the table from Jasper as they two of them squared off in a chess game in Edward's music room. Alice sat with her legs crossed next to Jasper and leaned an elbow on his shoulder. Throughout the game, she would make faces or excited noises to indicate she knew what Emmett was about to do, though bit her tongue each time. Jasper kept laughing at Emmett's annoyed expressions, and Rosalie, who sat in the corner reading, couldn't help but giggle every so often.

They'd played several games over the course of about an hour and their current one was about to wrap up. Emmett's eyebrows pressed together with distress as Jasper closed in on his king, that was only accompanied by a few stray pawns and a knight.

Jasper eyed his brother with a smile before finalizing the game with the words he'd spoken several times that afternoon, "Check mate."

Emmett gave a low frustrated grunt and made sure the move had, indeed, done him in before knocking his own king off the board and to the ground.

Rosalie and Alice both laughed, and Jasper continued to smile. "Another round?" he asked.

Emmett shook his head, "I'm good." He looked around the room and stretched his arms above his head. He looked at Rosalie, who flashed him a smile before going back to her book. "You know," he went on, "It's been all serious, gloom and doom around here for a month."

Rosalie looked back up at him and saw a mischievous idea pass through his mind through the look in his eyes. She tilted her head a little to the side and questioned him with her own facial expression.

He let out a chuckle, "Want to prank Carlisle?"

Alice couldn't help but snicker and looked at Jasper. Rosalie smiled subtly but didn't say anything.

"I want to try to get him to swear; curse."

"No," Rosalie said right away.

Jasper looked at Alice and they both share a quick laugh. "Why do you want to do that?" Alice asked him.

"I'm bored," he said, "And I think it'd be funny."

"He's working," Rosalie said.

"Not for much longer," Emmett argued with a grin, "I say we do everything in our power to make him swear."

"And take bets on how long it'll take..." Jasper added, looking at the girls.

"No," Rosalie said again. She flipped the page of her book. "He won't swear, anyway. That's my bet."

"He did in the car that one time."

"That was different."

Emmett raised his eyebrows and continued to grin playfully at his wife.

"I'll disagree," Jasper said, looking at Rosalie, "I say less than a day."

"Definitely not," Rosalie said without looking up again.

Alice shook her head, "I'm siding with Rose. He won't."

"No matter what you... idiots do," Rosalie told them, now smiling to herself.

"What counts as swearing?" Alice asked.

"Just about anything," Emmett said, making a face, "Carlisle doesn't even use Rosalie's choice of words." She looked over at him in confusion before he reminded her of what she just called them, "Idiots."

"Idiots doesn't count," Alice said, "Not that I think he'd even say that."

"If he says any curse words," Rosalie chimed in, " 'Damn it' setting the low bar and anything worse from there on up, I'll..." she tapped her finger on her mouth, "I'll..."

"Buy us a pair of jetskis like the Quileutes had," Jasper said, looking over at Emmett with a smile. His brother nodded and gave him a fist bump.

Alice crinkled her nose and smiled, "You're on... oh wait, what's the time frame?" she looked at Rosalie, "And what's the deal if we win?"

"Twenty four hours," Rosalie told them, looking around the room to see if everyone could agree.

Emmett and Jasper looked at each other and nodded. Alice gave a shrug and an approving expression as she contemplated the potential winnings for her and her sister.

"What would you ladies want... if you were to win?" Jasper asked, winking at Alice.

"Cars," Rosalie told them, "The cars of our choice."

Emmett laughed, "You're getting pricey, babe."

"Ooo, how about motorcycles?" Alice asked, looking at Rosalie, "Hot pink Suzuki motorcycles?"

Rosalie smiled and the boys both laughed. "That could be fun," she said, looking over at Alice, "And different... okay. Hot pink motorcycles it is."

Emmett held his hand out for her and Alice to shake. Jasper followed his gesture and did the same.

"You can't cheat," Rosalie said as Emmett playfully wrapped her in his arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

He laughed, "How can we cheat?"

"You can't tell him what we're doing, and you can't get him to quote something." Alice told them.

"He would skip over the bad word in a quote," Emmett told them with a laugh.

Rosalie nodded in agreement, "I've witnessed it."

"Songs too," Alice added, "They don't count."

Everyone agreed and they all shared a laugh.

"You have to admit it's been a bit... mope central around here lately," Emmett said, "We have to brighten it up a little."

"You're kind of sick for thinking this up," Jasper told him with a laugh, "But I can see it might become entertaining."

"Are we getting anyone else involved in this?" Alice asked.

Edward and Bella walked in and Edward gave a smile and a quick, "No."

Rosalie rolled her eyes at him, "God forbid you go against Carlisle."

He laughed again, "I'd just rather sit back and watch this all unfold."

Bella snickered, having overheard their whole conversation, "I don't think he'll swear," she said.

"Edward?" Emmett asked, "What's your take on this?"

He paused for a minute, never letting his smile fade, "I'll side with the girls," he looked over at Bella, "As much as I hate siding with Rosalie, I don't think anything you do will get him to curse."

"No way," Bella said, shaking her head at Emmett.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a confident smile, "Bella, don't you know me well enough by now?"

Edward smirked at his brother, "I don't think she's been quite as impressed by you since she beat you in an arm wrestling match."

Emmett shook his head and let his smile fade, though it didn't totally disappear.

Bella and Alice both laughed and Jasper now had a big smile on his face.

"Should we tell Esme?" Bella asked.

Rosalie shook her head, then laughed, "She'll feel bad and tell him. This is between the six of us."

Edward shook his head, though didn't express any displeasure in the event. "When does the twenty four hour period begin?"

They all turned their attention to the clock before Alice spoke, "The second he gets home from work."