Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, Stephanie Meyers does. However, I do own this plot and storyline. I also own my own original characters.
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Chapter 4: A Day of Rest
EPOV
I wake, to what I can only assume, is a cold nose on my cheek. Opening my eyes, I see that Lleu is laying upside down on the pillow, feet in the air and his nose pressed to my face, snoring. If I wasn't worried about waking him up, I would have laughed. He is too cute for his own good. Checking the time on my phone, I decide to let him sleep a few more minutes before getting up. It's only eight and this is going to be a lazy day anyway.
A few minutes later, I get up, which disturbs his sleep, he growls a little then turns over. By the time I've finished my morning routine, he is bouncing on the bed.
"You're gonna fall if you don't settle down," I warn, and to my surprise, he sits back and waits for me to pick him up. "Good boy," I praise.
We make it downstairs and everyone is congregating in the kitchen. I notice Lleu's new bowls are washed and sitting by the utility room door where the animals are normally fed. I put him down and he starts munching away.
"Thanks to whoever washed his bowls and set them up," I greet.
"That would be Cassie and me," Rose acknowledges. "She wanted to come get him, but I held her off." I walk over and kiss both of them on their heads in thanks, earning a few smiles.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Emmett inquires.
"Nothing," Bella and I blurt out and then laugh along with everyone else.
"Today is a day of rest," Bella states. "We will have Sunday dinner but other than that, you're on your own."
"So breakfast...," Emmett starts as Bella walks to the pantry, retrieving five boxes of cereal and sets them in front of him. She grabs the milk from the fridge and sets it down next to the boxes. We all laugh at his childish pout.
"But what are you cooking, then?" Emmett asks, walking over to the stove where she is stirring something in a pot.
"Cassie's grits," she answers, shrugging her shoulder.
"They don't look like any grits I ever ate," he states, looking inside the pot.
"Emmett," Rose sighs. "Those little packets that you heat in the microwave are not real grits."
Everyone starts fixing their own bowls of cereal while Bella makes Cassie a bowl of grits, adding butter and raw sugar. Emmett just stares at Cassie's bowl until Bella slips one in front of him. He happily eats his grits along with Cassie.
"These are really good," Emmett states, finishing his bowl. "I've never had yellow grits before."
"Her shrimp and grits are the best," Jessica exclaims. "Better than any restaurant."
"Now that, I have to try," my dad states. "Is it your grandma's recipe?"
"Yeah," she answers with a small smile. "I have all her and Mom's recipes. I just alter them a little so that Cassie can eat 'em, too. I'll make it tonight if someone wants to go get the shrimp from the freezer."
"And collard greens?" Jessica asks, getting excited.
"Yes, greens, too," Bella agrees. "But, you're helping pick the greens, missy."
"I'll help, too," I state with vigor. "I want to see the gardens anyway. Sarah said that she'd show me how to tend them this week."
"Billy's gonna plow last fall's up this week," she tells me. "We already have the plants started in the greenhouse for the summer."
After breakfast is cleaned up, Bella leads us to the gardens, carrying a couple of plastic clothes baskets. As we round a corner, I see a huge greenhouse that's surrounded by four vegetable gardens. These aren't your small, backyard gardens. They're at least a quarter acre each in size. She explains that the greenhouse, gardens, root cellar, and one small pond take up two acres. Bella goes on to explain that the root cellar is actually a storm shelter, they just use it to store the vegetables.
She shows us how to pick the inside leaves, leaving the large outer leaves on the plant. The inside leaves are tender and make for a better pot of greens. She pulls up a few turnips to use for flavoring. Once we have three clothes baskets full, she sprays the whole basket down with the water hose to clean off the dirt before taking them inside.
I watch as she rolls the leaves, lazily chops them a couple of times then throws them the huge pot, where a pound of bacon is sizzling. Once all the greens are chopped, she pours hot water in the pot and lets them cook. That's it, no seasoning except for the bacon and some chopped up turnips.
"Now, they just have to cook the rest of the day," Bella announces, making her way out of the kitchen and to the living room, plopping down on the couch.
Emmett and Jasper decide to take one of the XUVs and go 'explore' the ranch. My parents are over visiting Billy and Sarah. Bella and Alice are on the couch talking about the rescue horse Alice wants. Ben and Angela decide to take a walk around the ranch with Jake and see the horses. I'm curled up with my iPad in a chair with Lleu asleep in my lap, while Rose and Cassie are on the floor playing with dolls.
I quietly chuckle and watch in amusement as Cassie keeps going down the hall by the stairs and coming back with more toys, handing them to Rose. I assume her bedroom is down there.
"Cassandra Arline," Bella chides. "You have a playroom, little girl. Don't bring all that mess in here."
"I pay," she states with a nod and continues carrying her loot to Rose, who is trying not to laugh at the standoff that is about to take place.
"And you have a playroom for that," Bella argues.
"No," Cassie states, not even looking at her mother.
"Yes," Bella asserts. "Let's take this back to your playroom and we can show Rose all your toys."
They start picking up the dolls and accessories that she dragged into the living room and head down the hall. Not wanting to be left out, Alice jumps up to follow.
Quiet. It's so quiet. I just lay my head back to rest my eyes for a few minutes.
The next thing I know, my father is shaking me awake. "Huh?"
"You're shaking the foundation with all that snoring," he laughs out.
"Whatever, old man," I retort, groggily. "I don't snore."
"The hell you don't," Bella states sweetly. "I'm amazed the dogs howlin' didn't wake you," she says, winking at me.
"Well, if you two only woke me up to pick on me, then I'm going back to sleep," I reply, smirking at them.
"Hush, you," Bella sasses. "Dinner's ready."
"Wow," I say in surprise. "I didn't mean to sleep that long."
"You're tired," my dad comments. "We really haven't had a day to just rest since we left Seattle."
I get up and follow them into the dining room, noticing Lleu and Dasher running around the back yard. I sit next to my mother, smirking at my father's pout. Teach him to give me a hard time.
"For food that stays our hunger, for rest that brings us ease, for homes where memories linger, we give our thanks for these. Amen," Billy blesses the food as we echo 'Amen.'
There is already a plate of shrimp and grits in front of everyone, along with a small bowl of greens. I am just fixing to take a bite when Emmett shouts, scaring the crap out of me. "Holy Hell! This is good!"
"Emmett Samuel Cullen," my mother admonishes. "You need to watch your mouth, Son. There are little ears around."
"Sorry," he apologizes remorsefully. "It's really good, though."
"Thanks, Emmett," Bella replies shyly. "And if my child curses her speech therapist out, you're going to the school to handle it."
It really is awesome, rich and creamy. The shrimp are cooked perfectly. Many people overcook shrimp and they end up being rubbery or tough.
"So, Bella," Angela asks quietly. "This is all gluten-free?"
"It is," Bella responds. "Cassie has a gluten allergy. She also can't have honey."
"I've always wondered if I had a gluten allergy," she explains. "Every time I eat a lot of floury or whole wheat stuff, I break out in a rash."
"You could," my dad interrupts. "Have you ever had an allergy test?"
"No," she answers shyly. "Our insurance didn't cover it and I didn't want to spend the extra money at the time. I just try to stay away from wheat now, but I still have flare-ups."
"Your insurance will cover it now," Jessica interjects. "And gluten is in more than just breads; you have to be really careful with cross-contamination."
"We learned the hard way with Cassie," Bella explains. "I thought cutting wheat out of her diet would be enough, but there are so many foods that have wheat hidden in them. You need to see a dermatologist. Cassie has a really good one close by, and we can make you an appointment."
"Thanks," Angela states gratefully. "It'll be nice to find out for sure."
"Well, allergy or not," Emmett blurts out, "if the food is this good, I'm going gluten-free, too."
"If you eat in the main house," Sarah clarifies, "you'll be eatin' gluten-free. To prevent cross-contamination, we only cook food containing gluten in our personal homes."
"So, the cereal we ate this morning-," Ben starts to ask but is cut off by Jessica.
"... was all gluten-free."
"I couldn't tell the difference," Ben accepts.
An easy conversation flows between everyone as we finish dinner. I rise to start cleaning up, but Bella's voice halts me.
"I would like to have a staff meeting at seven in the morning before I have to take Cassie to school," she directs gently. "How about everyone meet here at six-thirty?"
"We'll all be here, sweetheart," Billy acknowledges. "And I'll take Cassie to school since I have to go into town anyway."
"And why ya need to go to town, mister," Sarah inquires playfully.
"Nunya, woman," he chides lovingly. "Mind ya business."
As they continue to banter, I start cleaning up. Rose and Alice join me, along with Ben. We wash and dry the dishes before everyone is ready to leave. I let Lleu and Dasher in, both taking off at breakneck speed through the house.
"Hey, Edward," Rose calls, getting my attention. "I think we should make a dinner menu for the week using some of the recipes that we found. It would take some of the work off Bella."
"That sounds like a great idea," I agree. "Can we print them out somewhere?"
"Um, yeah," she answers, leaning against the counter. "Bella has an office here in the house. I think I saw a printer in there. We'd have to see if it has Wi-Fi for you to print from your iPad."
"It does." We both jump at the sound of Jessica's voice. "I'll help ya' set it up. Oh, and that would help her out a lot."
After putting the last dish away, I grab my iPad from where I left it in the living room and follow Jessica to the office. She takes the iPad and sets the printer up, explaining that I will be able to print from anywhere in the house.
Bella's office looks like you have stepped back in time. The walls are distressed wood, an odd burnt sienna color. One whole wall is nothing but pictures, all black and white. I can only assume that they are of her family since I recognize some of the people, including one of Bella and a blond guy. The frames are also old. There are even metal words and phrases about love and family randomly placed within the pictures.
I walk over to take a closer look, "Those are my parents," I comment.
"It is," Jessica replies as she and Rose come to stand beside me. "These are all of her family. That's the last picture of her and Mike before he was killed," she states, her voice sad.
"Who are the others?" Rose inquires, trying to take Jessica's mind off her brother.
"Her great-grandparents and grandparents," Jessica starts, pointing out the pictures as she explains who's in each of them. "That's her favorite of Charlie and Renee."
"How did she get the walls like this?" I ask, running my hand over the uneven wood.
"Oh, she didn't," Jessica states. "This is the original cabin that her great-grandparent's built. When Marcus and Marie started expanding the place, they just built around the original cabin that was here. Charlie later turned it into an office."
"That's really cool," Rose comments. "So this room is what? A hundred years old?"
"'Round there, yes," Jessica confirms, walking back over to a sideboard where the printer is set up.
There's an antique desk in the center of the room with an oil lamp on the corner and a vintage high-back leather chair behind it. The room is full of antiques, some I'm sure are older than the room itself.
The three of us sit in the office picking out recipes and printing them. My mother strolls in, holding Lleu.
"Your son's tired," she states, handing him to me. "I think Cassie and Dasher wore him out."
He snuggles into the crook of my arm and immediately falls asleep. Jessica looks over and smiles.
"Bella always wanted a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel," Jessica states sadly. "After Mike died and Cassie was born, she quit wantin' anything for herself."
"Why?" Rose asks. "I mean, why wouldn't she do anything for herself?"
"Because she's always takin' care of everyone else," Jessica answers sadly. "She just works through the pain, I guess. Charlie was actually gonna get her one for her birthday, but he was killed before he had a chance."
"When's her birthday?" I question.
"May thirteenth," she answers, her smile growing. "I think we should get her one."
"Why don't you let me take care of that," I reply. "It'll be from all of us. I'll get Alice to help me find one and make sure it's healthy."
"Then, it's a deal," Jessica agrees. "I will quietly spread the word. Make sure it's a male."
We finish up the menu and create a list whose turn it will be to help Rose and me cook each night. Jessica hangs it on the refrigerator for everyone to see.
"Whatcha doin?" Bella asks, walking over to read it. She turns to look at us with teary eyes. "Thanks, this means a lot to me."
"Hey," Rose says quietly. "We're here to help and that's what we're gonna do."
"Why are you and Rose taking every night?" my mother asks reviewing the list.
"Because we wanna try these new recipes that we found," Rose sasses smiling at her. "Next week someone else will be Edward's sous chef."
"So let me get this straight," my dad clarifies. "Edward and his sous chef for the week, plus another person cook every night?"
"Yep," I answer. "And the sous chef gets to help make the menu for that week."
"That's pretty cool," Ben agrees. "I want to be the sous chef next week." We all laugh at his excitement.
"What?" Ben exclaims. "Angela's been trying to teach me HOW to cook for years. Now I get to cook with a real chef."
"Wait," Bella declares. "Why am I not on here?"
"Because you cooked today," I explain. "And it rotates, so everyone gets a chance. There are nineteen people on this ranch that eat. Sarah is always cooking breakfast and lunch, which I'll now help with. The others can all help with dinner."
"Well," Alice cuts in excitedly, "it sounds pretty fair to me. I'm excited I get taco night. Yummy!"
"That shelf," Bella states as she points above the breakfast nook, where I see a ton of books. "All of those are either gluten-free cookbooks or books on livin' gluten-free. You're welcome to 'em."
"Okay," Emmett states. "Off to bed we go. We gotta be up with the roosters."
"Dumbass," Rose chides. "Come on. Wouldn't want you to miss your beauty sleep."
"Hey," he banters. "How do you think I keep this pretty face, of which you love so much, young?"
"Goodnight, all," I say, heading up the stairs to put Lleu down and get ready for bed myself.
Once in my room, I lay Lleu in his bed. Maybe since he is already asleep he won't notice, I think to myself. I quietly make my way to the bathroom so I won't wake him.
He is still snuggled in his bed as I turn out the light. I fall asleep with no problem.
I'm woken by a whimpering sound, and squint tiredly at the clock which reads that it's just after midnight. It takes me a minute in my drowsy state to realize Lleu is sitting next to the bed, whining. I reach down and scoop him up.
"Little man," I chide. "You're gonna have to learn to sleep in your bed all night."
Too tired to fight with him, I snuggle him next to me. We'll try again tomorrow.
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