Hey Cuties!
I'm so glad you are all enjoying these two families! Let's jump right in! This chapter was not beta'd.
Chapter Seven
Edward looked warily at the bunk beds in the too-small room of the Swan House and considered his options.
He knew Bella would never go for sleeping in separate beds, though they'd already proven sleeping in one was difficult at best. He briefly wondered if he should take the top bunk himself, but he envisioned his fiancée crawling up there with him in the middle of the night, only to lead to them both toppling out of bed. He eyed the hardwood floors with a small scowl.
No, best to avoid the heights if at all possible.
"Love," he said, his voice slow, verging on cautious.
"Hm?" Bella asked, distracted as she pawed through her suitcase. He wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she'd been at it for a few minutes now.
"I've been thinking about the beds and—"
"Oh, yeah," she said, looking up at him. She was wearing her glasses, and she reached up to push them up her nose when she turned her face toward him. It was so endearingly sweet, Edward's heart skipped. It wasn't often Bella looked so soft and young. He quite liked this part of her, though, of course, he loved all of who she was, even when she was impossible. "I had an idea while I was working earlier. What if we disassemble the bunks and put the twin mattresses on the floor? It wouldn't be ideal, having the crack in the middle of the bed and us sleeping on the floor, but it'd be safer than being in the bunks." She turned back to her suitcase. "I can just picture us toppling from the top bunk trying to share it." She shook her head, letting out a small laugh, and Edward had to smile.
He loved her ever so much.
"That's fine," he agreed. "But for tonight…" he trailed off when he saw he'd lost her attention. She'd pulled a folded piece of paper from the corner of her suitcase and was busy pouring over it. "Love?"
Bella blinked and looked up at him. "Hm?" she asked again.
"What's that you've found?"
Bella turned back to the paper and shook her head. "Oh, nothing. Just… I don't know, some ideas," she said, folding the paper back up.
Edward frowned. It wasn't like her to keep secrets. Bella was an open book, often revealing far too much. For her to be vague about something was… suspicious.
Edward warred with himself. On the one hand, he wanted to respect her privacy. She didn't ask for it often, but he was always incredibly mindful to give it to her when she did.
But on the other hand, his curiosity had been piqued.
"I can feel you overthinking," Bella said, pulling his attention back to the present moment. Edward looked at her, feeling slightly guilty. Bella sighed and stood, motioning him to the bed. He took a step and sat on the edge while she crawled into his lap. It was his favorite way to sit if he was honest. He loved feeling her body against his, loved the heat and weight of her. It was as if she were an anchor, keeping him steady and present.
Bella handed him the paper.
Edward looked at her face once, checking her features to make sure she was really okay with this, though he knew she'd never hand it over if she wasn't. When he saw no hesitation on her face, he turned to the paper and carefully unfolded it.
He wasn't sure, at first, what he was looking at. He stared at the list, trying to make sense of it, and at his side, Bella let out a soft sigh.
"I know I said not a big wedding," she murmured. "But I couldn't help jotting down some ideas."
"You want me to ride in on a white horse?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice neutral despite his internal alarm.
His devilish fiancée snickered in his lap. "It would be quite a look," she teased. "But no, that was an idea I scrapped right away. Alice and I had been on the phone, and we were talking all these ideas, and I just wrote them all down, even though most of them are ridiculous."
Edward's eyes moved down the page, taking in all the suggestions passed between best friends.
Finally, he turned to her. "We haven't talked about it much," he said, his hand rubbing a small circle against her back. "What sort of wedding do you want?"
Bella considered his question then shrugged one shoulder, leaning into his touch as she wound an arm around his neck.
"The kind where you are there," she said softly. "The rest is just details."
Edward leaned forward, capturing her lips. She tasted minty, from her toothpaste, and smelled of her lavender night lotion. It was such a soothing combination, he felt his soul warm.
Before Bella could press the kiss further, Edward pulled back, looking down at the paper again. "It's just details to me too," he said softly. "But I do have one request."
"Anything," Bella agreed immediately.
Edward looked at her. "I should like our families to be there. Our whole families."
Bella let out a breath. On a number of occasions, she'd joked about going to elope. While Edward's parents would ultimately forgive them for it, he wasn't certain the Swans would be so understanding. Besides, he was starting to see how much the presence of their youngest daughter in their lives had been missed by Charlie and Renée. He would never intentionally deprive them of one of the most important moments of her life.
"Agreed," Bella said after a moment, her fingers curling through his hair. It felt good to feel her nails scratch lightly against his scalp, and Edward let out a soft breath.
"It's late," he said quietly. "Let's get to bed."
Bella nodded, climbing off his lap so that he could stand. They readied the room for sleeping, before shutting off the lights and both crawling into the bottom bunk.
They'd sort the beds out tomorrow, Edward thought. Tonight, he wanted Bella in his arms, her heart beating right next to his own.
…
Fork's General Store was not overly stocked on anything. The shelves were thin and carried everything from food to ammo. It was the only place to do any real shopping in the town limits, though there were bigger stores up the road toward Port Angeles.
Renée was quite certain that whatever the Cullens ate, they wouldn't be able to find it in town.
But in the morning, after the Cullens did their yoga—inside today, thankfully—Renée drove them to the general store to go grocery shopping. She didn't suggest Port Angeles, because as she saw it, if they couldn't find something in town, they would have to consider an addendum to their diet. It wasn't realistic to drive two hours round trip for some vegetables.
Renée pulled up to the store feeling self-conscious as Carlisle and Esme climbed out of her car. Her friends were out and about, she was sure of it, and it was a matter of time before the town was talking.
It was lightly raining this morning, but both Carlisle and Esme were dressed in gauzy linen, looking more like some escaped cult members from the remote deserts of Arizona or California. Renée pulled her light summer raincoat around herself, trying to hide her face, just in case.
But they didn't run into anyone she knew in the parking lot, and inside, the store was having a slow day, much to her relief.
"Okay," Renée said. "This is it." She grabbed a cart and brought the Cullens into the small produce section of the store. It was dismal in their selection, she had to admit, but it had been good enough for everyone in this town before now, she didn't see why it wouldn't be good enough for the Cullens now.
"Right," Carlisle said, his eyes scanning the department. "Shall we take a look?"
He led the way toward a pile of watery-looking tomatoes.
"You eat vegetables," Renée said slowly, looking at them for confirmation.
"Indeed we do," Esme agreed, reaching for a green thing Renée had never noticed, let alone knew the name of. "In fact, it's most of what we eat."
Renée was trying to wrap her head around that. "But what do you do for protein?"
The Cullens looked at her. "Beans and nuts, mostly," Carlisle supplied. "Charting our macros, we can eat quite the same as anyone else, but we base it completely on plants."
Renée had no idea what that meant.
She watched the Cullens as they picked their way through the thin produce section. It wasn't much, and Renée wondered how they would sustain on lettuce all summer.
When the produce had been thoroughly examined and a selection had been placed in their cart, they moved on to a pantry aisle, where they spent time weighing out options of rice and beans.
Renée watched them do a curious practice of picking up an object, holding it to their chest as they moved their feet shoulder's width apart and shut their eyes. They would then start to sway. If they leaned forward, the item went into the cart, and if they leaned back, it was returned to the shelf.
She didn't have the faintest idea what this ritual was called, but she assumed it was some sort of crazy hippy prayer.
"What about bread?" Renée asked, reaching for a loaf. "Just flour and water, right?"
"Well, yes, under usual circumstances it is," Esme agreed hesitantly. "But breads from stores have large amounts of sugar in them, as well as preservatives we choose to not eat."
Renée frowned. Who the hell was against bread?
"And we do try to not be gluten dependant," Carlisle added in. "It all converts to sugar in our bodies, and we've found it wreaks havoc on our systems."
It was like they were speaking a completely different language.
Renée tossed her apparently sugar-filled bread into the cart, determined to let her family's eating habits not waver.
When they finished the shopping, Renée led them to the checkout.
"Well, well. What did you do, buy a rabbit farm?"
Renée blushed as Frank, the store's owner, wrang them up.
"Oh no, this is for us," Esme said before Renée could come up with a response. "We're vegans."
Renée was mortified, but there was nothing for it now. Frank looked confused and glanced at Renée before turning back to Esme. "Well," he said slowly. "I'm not sure I know what that means, but it sure does sound fancy, and y'all look fancy enough to go with a word like that." He wove a hand at the Cullens and let out a friendly chuckle.
"We make it our goal to make plants our primary diet," Carlisle provided.
"Plants, huh?" Frank said, pausing his ringing up. "You know, I'm not well stocked in vegetables here. Can't say there's been much demand for more than iceberg and carrots, but I know this farm. It's not far from here and they've been making talks with a few places, trying to start some community-supported agricultural program. I can give you their information if you're interested."
The Cullens lit up. "Oh, that would be lovely," Esme agreed.
Frank nodded, turning away from them. He fished under the counter for a pouch before pulling out a business card and sliding it over to them.
"Tell 'em Frank sent ya. Might get me a better deal on my veggies," he joked.
Carlisle gave him a charming smile. "We most certainly will," he agreed.
Renée wasn't sure what had just happened, but she stood there in stunned silence as they finished up the transaction.
When all the food had been paid for, she followed the Cullens out to her car, where the grocery bags were swiftly loaded.
As they climbed back into her car, Renée couldn't help wondering if maybe, just maybe, the Cullens might be accepted by the Forks community after all.
I know that so many of you have said the Cullens sound crazy, but a confession, I'm not far off from them. I'm not a vegan (anymore) but I'm the nut who is talking to plants and muscle-testing foods in the grocery store (what the Cullens were doing with leaning forward or backward). Also, CSA boxes are seriously amazing. I've had one for YEARS and it's incredible to eat seasonally! If you can source one, I can't recommend it enough!