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Word Prompt: Savage

Scenario: The only way you'll get me to go is...

In the morning, Charlie wakes up before we do and crawls into bed with us. She used to do this all the time with me, but it's a first for Edward.

Half asleep and slightly shell-shocked, he stares across the bed at me, pushing Charlie's wild-child morning hair from his face.

"Good morning," she trills. "Good morning!" Snow White in the forest with her animal friends comes to mind.

Groaning, I squint at my phone. Seven o'clock.

"I guess we should be happy she slept this long," I say, pushing the sheets back so I can get up.

Edward blinks sleepily at Charlie, listening as she rambles about her day yesterday...as if we weren't there with her the whole time. Chuckling, I make my way to the bathroom.

When I come back, Charlie's jumping on the bed. "I'm hungry, Mom!"

I grab her and squeeze her till she giggles, then toss her back on to the sheets. "Yeah, me too. We should go somewhere cool since we stayed in last night."

Edward nods, yawning again. Poor guy. Once we're married, his days of sleeping in are over. "It's your birthday...anything you want."

"It's your birthday?" Charlie echoes, excited.

"Not really. We're just celebrating it now."

"It's my birthday again too."

"We already celebrated yours." Sitting on the edge of the bed, I turn to Edward. "Okay, so, what about Payard Patisserie and Bistro? Alice says it's the bees knees."

"Does she, now?" Edward sits up, rubbing his eyes. "Never been."

Charlie slides off the bed. "The bistro, Mom."

We catch a cab to Caesar's, where the restaurant is located. It's a little ritzy looking, which makes me nervous because of Charlie, but she behaves herself, seeming to sense that this isn't the sort of place for shenanigans. Fabulous and French, it's replete with crepes and croissants and croissants we completely stuff our faces with.

"What do you want to do today?" Edward asks afterward, as we stroll down the sidewalk.

"I don't know; you're the expert here." Shading my eyes, I look around. "Any ideas?"

"You think Chuck would be into the Botanical Gardens? There's a pretty cool conservatory back at the Bellagio."

Sounds right up my alley, but I don't know about Charlie. She seems open to it, though, and we spend the next hour walking around and taking pictures. It's a lovely change of pace from the freneticism that is Las Vegas.

We hit up M&M's World, of course, where Edward and Charlie run around, filling up bags of overpriced (and, okay, really cool personalized) M&Ms, and then catch a cheesy bus tour so we can see the sights. We sit up top, of course, where the view is the best.

"You tired?" Edward asks later on, as we swing Charlie between us. "There's one thing I have to do while we're here."

"What?" I ask warily. We've been good about keeping our activities family friendly and PG, but Edward's got an almost savage gleam in his eye right now.

"The Stratosphere. Best views in the city."

I glance at Charlie. She seems okay, not too worn out quite yet. "Sure, why not?"

Well. The moment we step off the elevator at the Tower, I get why he's so excited. I like roller coasters as much as the next girl, but there's no way in hell I'm getting on any of these rides. They're dangling...above...everything. No thank you.

Edward grins at me. "We can turns; I'll hold Charlie while you-"

"Um, no. The only way you'll get me to go is by drugging me."

"Really," he says, teasing. This version of him - carefree, silly, mischievous, almost - reminds me a lot of Emmett. Suddenly I can totally imagine what they were like in college.

"You go ahead," I say, picking Charlie up. "We'll watch."

By the time we're back on the Strip, it's starting to get dark. By this point the long day has started to catch up with everyone, especially the kid. Edward's trying to hail a taxi when I'm near blinded by "A Little White Wedding Chapel". Actually, it catches Charlie's eye first when a bride in a resplendently 80's dress and her groom glide across the sidewalk and into a cab, a flurry of rose petals in their wake.

"Mom!" Charlie cries, rushing forward to pick up a petal.

I tighten my grip on herhand. "Um...those are probably kind of dirty. I'll get you your own flower, okay? A little later."

She frowns.

"Come on, Chuck," Edward says.

He generally always takes her side, so i suppose this is a rude awakening. That, coupled with the fact that she's way overtired, sends her into tears. I'm exhausted myself, and so not in the mood to deal with this.

"Ugh, Charlie." I pull her to the side of the sidewalk. "I know you're tired, but don't start."

She sniffles loudly, already splotchy and snotty nosed.

Edward crouches beside us, and before he can say anything, she flings herself into his arms, blubbering.

"What a drama llama," I mumble, rolling my eyes at the melodrama. "Maybe we should just call a cab. Get back faster."

"Please, Mom, can I have a flower?" She's on Edward's shoulders now, wiping her face on her arm.

"Later. Promise.."

She takes a deep, shuddering breath. "Okay."

Edward turns, peering up at the sign, and then back at me. "Want to?"

"Want to what?" I ask slowly.

"Do it." He points up.

"Elope?!"

"Yeah." He grins, giving me a once over. "Why not?"

"What? No way!" I hit his arm, but he has this look on his face...a hopeful one. "Wait, for real?"

I look at the chapel, so awesomely tacky and Vegas. The thought of it sends legit flutters all through my body. "But...I don't know." Rose and Alice come to mind. My Dad. Sue. Esme! She's already got a notebook - a wedding planning notebook.

"Hey." He extends his hand to me. "I'm in, Bella, either way. We can do it now or in March."

"It's just, your Mom..."

"Yeah." He wrinkles his nose. "She's nuts for this sh-stuff."

I glance up at the sign, the neon heart...and cross. "I mean, I want to..."

"We'll keep it a secret."

"Yeah, because that always works!" I laugh. Suddenly I'm really excited. We could do this. Actually do it. Be married. Forever. Oh, God. "Okay."

His eyebrows pop up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Let's do it."

"Let's do it, Mom," Charlie says, but she's staring at something across the street, completely clueless.

And so we totally do it.

yes, i'll go into that tomorrow ;)

thanks for reading!

xoxoxoxo