This is a very long chapter for you guys! I hope you enjoy! It's a lot of information, but I personally love informative chapters. A lot of sex education ha-ha. I went through and tried to fix all of the mistakes! Please enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Four
"For a burn, you want to use amix leaves and just the bulb of the traath flower. Not its leaves." She placed the two ingredients into the wooden bowl before grabbing her smasher. "Then, you have to mash them together as much as you can. It is hard, but it is worth it. I keep several jars just in case because the process of making it takes so long."
After the third or fourth twist of my wrist, sweat started beading along my brow. Esme wasn't kidding, mashing the two ingredients together was tough.
"What if you added a few drops of water to the mix? It might make it easier to mash."
"No. Water and the traath bulb do not agree." She said as she wiped her brow.
I bit my lip before looking at Edward who was sitting in the corner watching us.
"What about Edward's venom?" I blinked several times, a tiny ringing in my ears that was beginning to become uncomfortably familiar. "Yeah, Edward's venom! It will work. You only need one… no, three drops per bowl."
Esme's mother cocked her head to the side, "This you see?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
"Alright then," She nodded before beckoning Edward over. He dutifully crawled over and allowed Esme to take venom from him. Well, she held the bowl over his mouth and he dripped only a few drops of his venom into the bowl.
Once the venom was in the bowl, Esme started twisting her hand again. This time, it spun much easier. She sniffed the bowl before nodding.
"It has a strong scent, but it is much easier to mash," She said. I smiled and held my bowl under Edward mouth. He smiled at me as he dripped his venom into the bowl. I couldn't help but smile back.
Once we finished with the mash, it was time for the test. A test that I thoroughly hated, but it was the only way to know if our medicines worked. And even though I hated it, I did have to admit that it was an effective method.
"I'll go first this time," Edward said as he held out his arm.
I smiled at his sacrifice and picked up the small flaming stick. He winced slightly as I held it under the sensitive part of his arm. I slowly counted to ten before moving the flame away. A small third-degree burn was now bubbling on Edward's skin. I scooped out some of my medication from the bowl and placed it gently onto the burn.
"How does that feel?" I asked.
"It hurts," He said through his teeth. "It is stinging, but it is beginning to feel better."
I smiled widely, "Good."
"Your turn Bella," Esme said as she grabbed my arm and the flame. I turned to Edward and grit my teeth as she held the flame against my skin.
Once I was sufficiently burned, she rubbed the cream on it. Edward was right, it stung, but I could feel it healing my skin.
My ear ringing suddenly started again and I blinked several times. "It will also discourage the boys from biting their mothers during feeding, but it won't taint their milk. It will only have a taste if their teeth bite down. It will also toughen the nipple too. It'll also promote a healthy stomach in all of the babies."
Esme and Edward laughed when I finished. They weren't laughing at me, but at the way my premonitions always suddenly appeared. I had once compared them to commercials on television but neither one of them knew what that meant. It was still fitting, however.
"Well little goddess it seems your premonitions have found a cure for the persistent baby biting problem. Hopefully now we will not have so many damage nipples." Esme teased; she had started calling me little goddess which drove me crazy. She only ever called me the name here though, so I had to assume that she hadn't told anyone about the goddess or about me.
I smiled as I rubbed my finger against my ear. "Hopefully we're done with the premonition breaks because my ears are killing me."
"Why don't we go for a run?" Edward grinned excitedly.
I looked over at him and smiled widely. I wiped my hands off on my skirt before jumping to my feet.
"No no!" Esme said quickly as she grabbed a fistful of my skirt. "There is much to learn!"
"Awe, okay," I groaned before throwing a wink at Edward. I moved as if I were going to sit, but as soon as Esme let go of my skirt, I darted out of the hut.
I heard Esme disapproving yelling, but Edward's laugh encouraged me to keep running. Behind me I could hear his thunderous footsteps.
I turned my head to see Edward's hand extended out towards me as if to grab me, but I side-stepped him before suddenly stopping to fall to the ground laughing as Edward ran straight through a tree.
"It is not funny," He said as he rubbed his face.
I held my stomach as I rolled. "It is hilarious!"
He growled and fell onto the ground beside me, grabbing me in his arms and tickling me. I squealed and swatted at him before sighing contently and leaning towards him.
"I am faster than you," I teased.
"You are not. You are just able to make faster turns, but you are not faster than me."
"I don't know," I grinned. "I think I'm much faster."
He chuckled. "Now you are pushing it."
"I'm faster than you and I'm stronger than you are too."
He growled. "You are very cocky."
I moved so I was straddling him. He stayed on his back; his eyes narrowed playfully as he watched me. I grinned and pressed my elbow against his collarbone teasingly. When my forearm pressed into his neck slightly, he growled softly.
"Careful," He said as he placed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. "I am relaxing. You are disturbing my relaxation time."
I let out a growl that made his lips twitch as he held back laughter. I quickly leaned forward to grab his ear with my teeth, a body part I had learned was very sensitive. But before I could bite him, he rolled us over, so his large body was pinning me down against the ground.
"Unfair!" I hissed as I tried to kick him, but he had taken up all of the room. "It's only because you are bigger than me."
He laughed. "It is because I am stronger, bigger, and faster than you."
I glared at him. "You're lucky I don't bite you."
"It is true, I am lucky. Your teeth are like little knives." He laughed.
I giggled. "Don't you forget it."
He rolled over so I was laying on top of him. His fingernails began raking down my back gently. He must not have felt like wrestling anymore because he only ever rubbed my back when he was ready for me to settle down.
"You good?" I asked as I placed my chin on my arms. "Usually you want to wrestle more, until I give you a good beating."
He chuckled again and looked up at the sky. "I am just thinking."
"About what?"
"About your first bleed," he said. "It is coming in thirteen days."
"Oh," I blushed as I sat up, "Why are you thinking about that?"
"Perhaps I am just nervous. This is not my first mating ceremony, and the at my first one, I broke the heart of a woman who did not deserve it."
I half smiled at him. "Are you still afraid I will reject you?"
"Yes." He sighed. "I am."
"Don't worry about Tanya," I said as I fell back against the dirt and looked up at the sky. "I haven't seen it yet, but I know she is not going to be alone forever."
He chuckled. "Are you going to open the sky and bring a man from the other side?"
"Oh god no," I shook my head. "I don't even know how I'd do that. But something inside of me is telling me not to worry about her."
He placed a hand on my stomach. "What is your inside telling you?"
I squinted and tried to chase the feeling. After a moment, I huffed in frustration and shook my head.
"It never comes when I need it too."
"Well, I trust you. If you say your inside is telling you this then I trust you."
"Thanks. Hopefully it's right."
"It is. The goddess is never wrong, and she gave you this gift." He said as he stroked my cheek.
"I knew I would find the two of you here," A loud voice erupted from the trees.
I looked over to see Carlisle walking through the trees with Esme on his back. I giggled and ducked down to avoid her disapproving gaze as she hopped off his back.
"We are not finished with your lessons," Esme said as she crossed her arms. "This is important. Come on now."
I groaned but got to my feet. I turned back to see if Edward was going to follow but his dad grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Edward shot me a look over his shoulder but Carlisle's hand on the back of his neck forced him to walk in the opposite direction.
Esme looped her arm through mine as we slowly walked back to the village.
"You two sure ran a long way," She tsked.
I chuckled and yawned. "Yeah, that was my fault. I just wanted to see Edward run into a tree again."
She chuckled. "This is good though. You must be able to forage as well as make medications. The women will turn to you for guidance. You will one day have to teach them how to forage and how to one day be a part of our family as a woman."
"I don't even know how to be a woman in this family." I teased.
She swatted the back of my head gently. I was glad it was gentle because the last time she had really swatted me had brought a tear to my eye. "Hush little goddess. You have thirteen days to become a woman. That is plenty of time, especially with your visions."
"Ah, they aren't really visions. They're just… I don't know, feelings I guess."
She chuckled. "Either way, you have an advantage that the other girls do not."
Edward and I had run a bit of a ways, but we were still close enough to the village to make it back if trouble arose. Emmett was also running the perimeter multiple times a day, as was several other men.
"So, what can I expect from the mating ceremony?" I asked.
"Hm, well, the morning of your ceremony, you will wake up in a great deal of pain." She said. "It will be almost unbearable, but I will get you through it, as will your sisters. We will then take you to the river and you will bathe your childhood away. Then I will present you to your chosen mate."
"So, who else will be apart of this ceremony. I know me… and… Edward," I blushed. "But is there anyone else?"
"No, you are the only female who is close to having her first bleed," She smiled. "The ceremony will be for only you and Edward."
My blush deepened. "Oh wow, that's a lot of pressure. Do we have to do it all in front of the entire village or…"
"Of course you will do it with all of our family present," She said as if it were ridiculous to even think that the rest of the family wouldn't be there. "They will want to celebrate you and Edward."
Somehow my blush deepened even more and spread throughout my entire body. "Esme, so… aside from the mating ceremony, what can I expect from the… actual mating part."
Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
My ears felt hot. "Well, like, what… ugh. This is so awkward. But after the ceremony with the village, when I pick Edward as my chosen mate and after we eat the beast he hunts. What, well, Edward told me what he imagines our mating to be like but—,"
She let out a chuckle. "Ah, I see. I have been so focused on teaching you how to heal people that I have not even taught you about mating."
We came to a small clearing that was covered by the shadows of trees. She sat both of us down, so we were facing one another on the soft grass. I'd give anything to turn my head away from her, but I had learned that when she taught me something, she expected me to be looking directly at her.
"Have you seen Edward's pintel?" She asked bluntly.
I nearly fell over with embarrassment. I could not believe I was talking to Edward's mother about this!
"Um, well—,"
She laughed. "So you have? There is no need to get embarrassed. It is only natural."
"Yeah, but where I'm from men and women typically don't see their partners naked until marriage. You guys are a little freer about nudity then we are."
"Your world is very strange," She nodded. "But here, nudity is very common. We only cover ourselves for protection from the elements."
"So, you don't find other men attractive?" I asked. "Because a lot of our issues with nudity have to do with attraction."
"I do not," She said, her nostrils flared. "We only find our mates attractive when we reach adulthood."
"So right now, Jasper and Alice don't find one another attractive? You don't have to worry about them sneaking off and having sex or anything like that?"
"They might touch each other, out of curiosity, but neither one of them has the sexual desire yet. They also cannot produce the proper necessities for sex."
"What are the necessities for sex?"
"Alice cannot produce any slick and Jasper's pintel cannot harden. His pintel will not harden until he can smell Alice's slick. She will start immediately producing it when she has her first bleed."
I was blushing from head to toe. "Oh, I see."
She laughed and patted my leg. "It is funny to see you embarrassed like this. When Carlisle and I speak to the children about this, they get giggly and embarrassed as well."
"Well, I wasn't expecting you to say all of that," I laughed awkwardly. "But it sounds the same to the people in my world having sex, so I guess it's not really all that scary."
"It is not scary. You have nothing to fear." She paused for a moment, "You do need to be prepared for your first mating though. I prepare all of the females for this. Before I began, do you have any questions?"
"Yeah, I do actually," I cleared my throat. "So, um, on Edward's p-pintel I noticed he had really bright blue markings on it. What do those mean?"
"I believe those were used to help attract the females that used to live here," She said as she tapped her chin. "But I cannot be sure. Carlisle has the brightest and biggest marks along the side of his pintel. He also has the biggest pintel because he is our protector. Edward's pintel will continue to grow, but it will reach its biggest when he finally becomes the protector."
"I can't imagine his pintel growing any bigger."
"Do the pintel's of the males from the other side get that large?"
"They do not," I laughed before sighing. "Honestly Esme, I can't even imagine how Edward's pintel will even fit," I gestured to myself.
"You have plenty of room for Edward's pintel, do not worried about that." She said. "I know the men from the other side do this," she motioned with one hand a thrusting motion against her other hand, once I figured out what she meant, I blushed again. "But the men here do not do that. Once their pintel's are inside of your cunnus, it moves itself, but Edward does not move. That might sound scary, but it is extremely pleasurable."
"Huh," I said. "So, is it going to hurt?"
"Yes, it will be extremely painful at first," She nodded. "When Edward's pintel first enters your cunnus, you will be in a lot of pain. Edward's pintel will not start moving until you are ready. It will be able to sense when your cunnus is ready."
"Edward mentioned something about his seed, but he only knew a little bit about it."
"Ah, yes their seeds," She smiled. "They are large, which is why their pintel's need to be large. When his pintel enters your cunnus, it will go into your womb. That is why it is very painful when he first enters yours. This way the seed goes where it needs to go."
"What do the seeds look like?"
She made a face. "I am not sure. If a man's seed is outside of his body, then it has been cut out and he is dead."
"The goddess told me that even though the men give us the seed that becomes a baby, we ultimately decide what it becomes."
"Yes that is true for everyone except you." She pointed at me. "You will have a male child."
"Why is that?"
"Because only the male bloodline of the goddess can be the protectors of our people."
"Why must we have protectors? It seems like you guys are pretty well guarded." I said.
"The protectors have a very important role. They keep the balance of things. It may seem as though I am doing a lot to help our people by healing and teaching them, but Carlisle also does very much. We look to him to lead us in times are darkness. We need his strength to protect us. Without Carlisle here to keep all of the men on their best behavior who knows what could happen."
"You think the men would hurt the women if Carlisle wasn't here?"
She shrugged. "It happened once before. The men hold us women to the highest of standards. But that does not mean bad things can happen."
I nodded, "So how long is a typical pregnancy here?"
"It takes about twelve and a half of your other world months."
"Wow," I raised my brows. "That's a very long time."
"Yes it is. But it is worth it." She chuckled. "Do you have any more questions?"
"Not at the moment, no." I said.
"Well then, we should get back to work then my dear," She patted my knee. "Let me teach you how to properly forage."
I told y'all I'd get back to Edward's pintel. And I couldn't really find the old English word for vagina, cunnus was the closest I got. I hope you all enjoyed! Leave me a little review and let me know!
