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Chapter 75

The First Game


Bella


three days later ...


I really had no idea when I had last been swimming. It must have been years ago. Therefore, I had climbed quite cautiously and insecurely into the pool, and I was already a little queasy. But with three vampires in the water, I would not drown.

Edward was not there.

Not yet.

He was going by Rosalie's with the BMW to replace some part. I had gone along to visit his family.

Carlisle and Esmé were on the way to their swimming pool when we walked through the front door.

So, at the moment I was swimming through the refreshing water with the two of them and with Alice.

"What have you got there?" asked Carlisle immediately when he saw me in my bikini.

This skimpy part was in itself already embarrassing to me, but Edward had insisted that I take exactly this one. I was sure I had seen the eager sparkle in his eyes, with which he would have liked to undress me right away.

"Did you trip again?" teased Alice, grinning.

I shamefully covered my newest bruise on my stomach and mumbled a snorting and embarrassed, "Yes."

We swam for some time and chatted.

Alice was hell-bent on flying to New York with Rose and me to go shopping, which I had been trying to talk her out of for days. She was going to fly out Friday right after I got off work and not be back until Sunday morning.

There were a few things going against it for me. First - two nights without Edward. Did not work, right? Secondly - as a substitute for this two days Alice. Alice was sweet and nice, but at least as annoying when you had to put up with her for so long at a time. Third - shopping! With Alice it sounded like I would have no choice, but since Edward at least shared my first point and knew exactly about the third point, I was hopeful that he would save me from it.

Then Edward came already.

With nothing on his body but his swim shorts.

My heart tripped considerably, and I clawed at the edge of the pool to keep from going under.

Edward, on the other hand, chuckled. He jumped elegantly into the water on the opposite side of the pool with a skillful leap and not a blink of the eye later was with me.

"Breathe, Bella!" he reminded me before kissing me.

Hey, now. Only one of the two were possible, I thought, offended. Challenging my vital functions had already been his hobby for two and a half weeks - since he had been living with me - and he also won every time doing so.

"You're not being fair!" I accused him as I gasped for breath.

"How do you think you'd mess up my circulation if I still had one? I'd probably only be allowed near you with a portable defibrillator," he defended himself.

Carlisle and Esmé soon left us, whereby Carlisle still warned Edward very seriously - but smilingly - not to take this hobby too far.

Edward then discussed the planned 'New York'-weekend with Alice.

A heated discussion of the two. Similar to their chess game. They stared at each other, said nothing, and at some point Alice snorted contemptuously and got out of the pool in a huff. Her gift was working again a little bit by now. At least when she was directly with us, and the children, on the other hand, were not in the vicinity.

"You're staying with me this weekend!" Edward announced the winner.

I immediately smiled and kissed my savior.

"But you'll have to endure a few hours in Portland," he added.

I pushed him off me, splashed water in his face, and swam away from him as fast as I could.

"Traitor!" I snapped at him.

Swimming away was as effective as running away in Edward's case. He swam under me and surfaced in front of me so that I was a bit startled, and he wrapped his arms around me before I really threatened to go under.

"She wants to talk to you a little about our wedding," he defended himself with a charming smile.

"I guess I can't very well say no to that," I admitted.

We swam some more, kissing again and again, until I got goosebumps from the water.

Edward noticed it, of course, and suggested going to the sauna.

"Nope, don't bother. It still has to heat up, " I objected. By the time it was ready, I would already have frozen to death and the children would have starved.

"Alice has already turned it on," he whispered seductively.

I remembered the hot tub briefly and with anticipation. How Edward's cold skin had felt on my hot. Huh ...!

So, we quickly left the water and went two basement rooms further.

Edward walked; I was carried kissing on his hips. I did not pay attention to whether he was really advancing, but noticed at some point a gush of hot air that hit my back. I snuggled closer to my cold angel, whose cool soothing hands alternately stroked my back.

I felt the pressure of my bikini top release and looked at Edward reprovingly.

"You're crazy! You ...!", I wanted to stop him from further undressing me.

His family was just one floor above us. Vampires = Excellent hearing! After all, neither of us were particularly quiet during sex. Plus, my kids were running around somewhere on the property.

Edward interrupted my objection with his lips.

Intermediately he muttered that the door was locked from the inside and the room was soundproof. He was not the first vampire who wanted to seduce his beloved right here.

I hardly listened, but surrendered to his playful lips and tender fingers ...

Only when he later showered me with cold water did I regain my senses again.

"You're really crazy!" I accused him as he sat kneeling in front of me and I rubbed his hair dry.

"Mmm ... mmm ... after you!" he kissed me. "Esmé has dinner ready for you."

"I told her I was going to do that, " I muttered.

Esmé had already done so much last weekend when Billy, Seth, and Emily were here that it made me uncomfortable. After all, I was a housewife and mother and was used to taking care of my family. This was not injured vanity, but it really made me uncomfortable. I felt as if I were taking advantage of their kindness.

"She loves to spoil you and be there for you. She wouldn't do it if she didn't love doing it," my angel once again instructed me.

I just nodded and we went upstairs.


The kids had already been told, too, so I sat in the kitchen over my plate.

"If we pass you balls any harder, we're really going to break your wrists," Jasper just complained, coming through the door with Emmett, Becky, and Leah.

Edward and I raised our heads in his direction at the same time.

"That's a load of crap. Your balls are too lax!" Becky on the other hand complained.

"You'd think you were little girls!" lamented Leah afterwards.

Edward walked up to the young ladies in sportswear and grabbed one of each of their wrists.

I almost smirked at his face - he was looking at them both very sternly.

"That doesn't look like you've been playing against little girls!" he convicted the pair, giving his brothers an angry glare.

Even I recognized from a few meters away that their skin was glowing red. It must be throbbing and burning incredibly underneath. I just shook my head.

"You see!" put Emmett know-it-all after them.

The girls both snorted contemptuously, withdrew their arms from Edward, and made a beeline for the plates Esmé had handed them.

It became a vociferous discussion.

Two teenagers who had their first volleyball game coming up Friday - and against the hated team from Biddeford High School to boot - against two doctors who had absolutely no sympathy for the fact that the two girls would put up with so much for this game. With Leah, the fear was still within reasonable limits for wolfish reasons, but with Becky, all fun stopped for the medics.

The debate only quieted a bit when Jake and Brandon walked through another door with basketballs under their arms.

Jake also noticed the red-hot forearms, but he too just shook his head without really saying anything about it.

He himself was no better if the basketball season started again for him next month.

The two doctors were able to prevail at least as far as giving them a cooling ointment.


Three days later, the entire family was sitting in the stands of the gym.

Me, Edward, his siblings, Carlisle, and even David was there for the weekend. All of them! Except Jake. Esmé was also absent, she had to work late today but wanted to join us as soon as she could. The girls had forbidden Jake to watch, so that Becky played decently.

Whenever my time allowed, I used to watch my children's games all the time.

That's how I knew how serious they really were. Leah and Becky were the best players on the team and perfectly attuned to each other. If one of them wasn't on her game, it could cost the team their victory. They couldn't risk that with this opponent.

But in the middle of the game, Jake appeared between us and his group of friends, hiding behind their backs and looking past them onto the playing field.

"I'll get lost in the crowd, that hopefully she won't notice," he murmured to us.

"If you do, you can dress warmly!" David teased him.

When the teams from Thornton Academy met those from Biddeford High School, they were always tough games. Regardless of the sport. That was even true in chess tournaments! This small-scale war has already been pursued meticulously and relentlessly at the sports level for generations. And today, they seem to have stepped it up a notch.

The adversaries had fixated on Leah. She was constantly attacked, which hardly gave her a moment to take a breath.

Well, as a wolf she was no longer bothered by that, but I found it unreasonable.

It took a while, but then they also realized it on their own.

Now everyone started attacking Becky.

It seemed to be their plan to get the most dangerous players off the field.

Jake gasped a few times when balls flew full force around Becky's ears, or she jumped after the balls.

One could tell how Becky was slowly getting tired.

Four sets were played, and the score was 2:2. Now came the decisive last set and it got even harder.

One had not yet given up the plan to get Becky out of the game, obviously.

She stood with her back right to the net, in the position of the setter, expecting a teammate's ball to be dredged in her direction. However, her team's serve was taken with a direct spike and brutally slammed into Becky, who had turned around at that very moment to avoid losing sight of the ball altogether. The ball slammed into her temple and sent her crashing to the gym floor. She remained lying.

"BECKY!" yelled Jake wildly and immediately ran down with Carlisle.

The whole family had jumped up from the benches in panic, as had the rest of the stands, which were in a frenzy. Loud whistles were blown, boos rang out, Thornton Academy demanded retribution.

Edward and I had kept a reasonable distance from each other throughout the game, but now he pulled me into his arms. I hid my face against his shoulder and his arms held me tight.

I didn't want to see what was going on down there.

In just a few seconds, so much went through my mind.

Fear for Becky - had a volleyball tournament already claimed a life? How bad did this really hard ball have to be? What would Jake do if Becky was seriously hurt? What would my vampires do then?

"She's coming around," Edward whispered to me and I looked back down.

One carried Becky off the playing field on a stretcher, where Jake and Carlisle were just arriving.

The opponents were burning to resume the game immediately, but fortunately the referee disagreed.

That was good for his life, I thought to myself. Otherwise, he would probably not leave this hall alive.

Becky quickly recovered and Carlisle began to discuss with Becky.

"She wants to get back on the playing field," Edward said incredulously, and I looked him in the eyes in shock.

"What?" asked David, Alice, and I at the same time.

"Mrs. Black. Perhaps you would like to explain to me why you are in the arms of an underage student?" I then heard a completely different voice.

I winced and Edward's gaze became so incredibly guilt-ridden that it almost hurt me to see him like that.

"I'm sorry. I should have been paying attention," he apologized and immediately let go of me.

I put my hands to his cheeks, kissed him briefly on the velvet lips and whispered that he couldn't help it. Only then did I turn to the principal and put on my most charming smile.

"Mr. Taylor. I don't think it's any of your business whose arms I'm in!"

"Perhaps we had better discuss this in private!" Mr. Taylor urged, looking around furtively after Edward's family and my children's friends obviously disagreed with him.

"What's your problem then?" David interjected, which made the principal gulp at first.

Since Carlisle was with Becky, I was just surrounded by teenagers here.

Apparently, he didn't expect a grown man to speak out against him.

Forcibly polite, he again asked me to follow him to his office.

Fortunately, we sat at the very back and at the very edge of the bleachers. This is where I always sat, in the midst of my kids' friends. That way, during a game, the twins knew where to find us all, and this time it was also an advantage that we didn't cause too much of a stir.

I was balanced through the narrow row of seats and Edward was about to follow me.

"Just stay here. I can handle this one by myself," I smirked at him encouragingly. "Besides, Leah will just worry and get distracted from the game if we're both not here anymore," I explained further.

Edward looked pained for a moment, but then kissed my hands and nodded.

So, I followed Mr. Taylor alone.

Before I walked out the door, I took another look at the playing field.

I was no less afraid for Becky than I would be for Leah or Jake. She would one day be my daughter-in-law and I was very happy with that. Especially when I now saw how the two looked incredibly intensely into each other's eyes. She was a perfect match for Jake and fit into our now quite large family as if she had always been a part of it.

Yes, I loved this girl. Like another daughter.


The aisles under the bleachers stretched a bit.

"Dr. Stone," Mr. Taylor nodded to Carlisle, who was back through the halls on his way to the bleachers again.

I smirked again.

It sounded respectful and even already somewhat flattering. Still, I heard an embarrassing undertone, which was certainly due to the fact that I had lain in the arms of the doctor's son.

"Bella?" asked Carlisle in surprise, knowingly ignoring him.

"How's Becky?" I asked first, though. That was much more important to me right now.

"She is incredibly stubborn and has an almost unhealthy level of fighting spirit," he smiled. "I've already threatened that I'll examine her from head to toe after the game. Jake will help if necessary if she refuses!" he added.

I smiled reassured.

"And what are you doing down here?" he then asked as the principal grew impatient and slowly nervous.

"Mr. Taylor has a problem with me marrying your son!" I said flatly.

"I see!" said Carlisle tonelessly, looking the principal in the face as he put an arm demonstratively approvingly across my shoulders. "And what exactly is your problem?" continued Carlisle, looking at him invitingly.

Mr. Taylor was searching for words.

This one seemed to be put his nose out of joint. It took a while, but then his face turned deep red, as if it was about to explode.

"You're asking that too?" grumbled Mr. Taylor. "Your son is a minor and Mrs. Black seems to have nothing better to do than unconscionably seduce your son. Young people, as we know, can be tempted to make rash decisions. Who knows how many times she has already done this without it becoming known and what means she resorts to in order to make the young men willing?"

Now I was stunned. My smile had become smaller with every word.

I was shocked at what Mr. Taylor just accused me of. As if I were dragging one boy after the other into my bed. I had already carefully considered what I would say in response to someone who would not understand or want to understand my love for Edward, but now all of that was gone. I was downright speechless and fought with all my might against my tears of rage.

"Please moderate yourself!" replied Carlisle calmly instead.

"What do you think of?" I heard yet another voice.

I looked down the hallway.

Cathlyn!

She hadn't said a word to me yet since she overheard Jake and Brandon's conversation. I had resolved - since I assumed that she would be here - to carefully go up to her after the game today. Apparently, I could save myself that the trip.

My shoulders drooped.

"How dare you confront Bella with such bottomless accusations - just because of a little hug?" continued Cathlyn angrily.

In disbelief, I lifted my head in her direction.

She was on my side?

She smiled barely noticeably as she came to stand next to me.

"I could report you for slander!" added Carlisle.

Mr. Taylor was getting a little smaller, but his aggressiveness was not over.

"Who says that was just a harmless hug? Who already knows what else Mrs. Black will do to that boy! I have a duty to look after the students entrusted to me after all."

"And whatever those two do together is none of your business!" countered Cathlyn, thundering on and on against her boss along with Carlisle.

They babbled something about the age of consent, that the law was on my side and that they knew me privately and therefore knew that I would never lead such a dissolute and immoral life as the principal imagined.

Meanwhile, Edward stood by me with an angry face and squeezed my hand.

I would have so loved to flee into his arms, but I didn't want to give Mr. Taylor another real reason. But that little touch was enough to give me courage again.

I swallowed my tears and took a deep breath.

"Mr. Taylor. I realize that my relationship with such a young man does not fit into your world view and that you reject it on principle, but it is not your place to judge me as a person. What I do with my life is absolutely none of your business as long as I don't encourage your protégés to lead equally unconventional lives. I recognize that you are concerned about your students and give you my word that we will not give you any reason to take us as an example. I know that most people will be ... piqued or even disgusted by our age difference. Therefore, we will also not flaunt our love in public. What you saw up there in the stands was just a brief fearful reaction to my son's girlfriend apparently lying unconscious on the field," I said in a firm voice.

That had gone better than I expected.

"My son and Mrs. Black are getting married soon!" said Carlisle emphatically. "Apart from the fact that this union has the unqualified approval of both my family and Mrs. Black's children, this does not conflict with the existing legislation and unequivocally permits such a marriage, despite what appears to be a considerable age difference."

"And isn't your wife also considerably younger than you, Mr. Taylor? You should know yourself, that love knows no age!" asked Cathlyn.

I inevitably had to smirk.

I had forgotten all about that. His wife - his second wife - was much younger than me, while he had recently celebrated his fiftieth birthday.

Mr. Taylor was at a loss for words. He seemed to be clutching his last straw.

"And you have nothing to say about this?" he now spoke bitingly to Edward.

"I think everything has already been said. I will not let anyone take Bella away from me, especially not a man like you - with old-fashioned views that he himself does not follow. And if you dare to denounce my fiancée in such an unforgivable manner again, I will report you personally," Edward stated matter-of-factly as he put an arm possessively around me.

Mr. Taylor looked at us in turn and plodded off.

As he turned the corner of the hallway, Edward had his hands on my cheeks and was looking apologetically into my eyes. But before he said anything, I kissed him.

I didn't want to hear an apology. If he hadn't pulled me into his arms earlier, I would have sought his embrace.

"So, it's really true ... You're really together ... and even engaged?" Cathlyn now asked.

Less mistrustful than curious.

I detached myself from Edward a little and turned in her direction.

"Yes, we are. Both!" I confirmed.

"And the kids are okay with that?" she asked.

Why did everyone actually think of the twins first instead of asking me how happy I was?

I nodded. A little annoyed.

"I don't know how many times I've already had the phone in my hand to call you, but I just didn't know what to make of it ..." Cathlyn now began to explain herself.

She briefly recounted the evening she had accidentally eavesdropped on our sons. At first, she thought Jake was too young and naive to understand the meaning, or perhaps he had misunderstood the situation entirely, and Edward and I were actually just friends. Because of the tutoring, which she had noticed herself.

"Our children are old enough to know what love and marriage means," I reminded her mildly.

"Yes, but maybe it was just out of context," Cathlyn tried to defend at least that assumption and smiled.

But it didn't last long. She walked back and forth across the hall for a moment, brooding.

"No!" she then said firmly and looked at me again. She took one deep breath and came toward me. "What Mr. Taylor said went too far. In that respect, I'm on your side ... But that you threw yourself at a boy who is half your age, I can't approve ... I may not have the right to forbid you, but I'm allowed to have my own opinion about it, aren't I?" she wanted to know in the middle of her speech.

I just nodded.

"You're together with a man as old as Brandon. I can't overlook that or approve of it ... I always thought of you as a conscientious and grown woman whom I always admired for her inner strength. You raised your twins alone. You threw the men who were interested to the wind as soon as they said even one wrong word to your children. You gave up a lot in your life just to be able to give them everything. And you never complained about it but accepted it with a smile. All the years that we know each other. Yes, I have always held you in high esteem for that ..." Cathlyn mused.

Since our sons had been best friends - a good ten years by now - we had seen each other quite often and had become very good friends ourselves. So, of course, she knew that I hadn't had a real boyfriend for at least as long either. Always just a few dates.

"After all these years, don't you think I also deserve to be happy for once?" I asked carefully, feeling my love's cold hands on my shoulders in confirmation.

A gentle touch that just did me good.

"Sure you finally deserve it! You've been waiting too long for this! But I mean, you're smart, nice, lovable and good-looking! However, you can't be so desperate that you throw yourself at the first boy who comes along just because you might think you can't get another, or because you're suddenly looking for adventure," Cathlyn meant.

I took her hands in mine and looked at her directly in her eyes.

"Cathlyn. I love Edward. That's all there is to it. I'm not desperate or looking for adventure. I'm just happily in love!" I wanted to make it clear and said it emphatically.

"And that's exactly what I don't believe you. I don't believe it you two that you are truly in love with each other!" she replied directly.

"What do you think?" asked Carlisle meekly.

"Well, you are a doctor! Hasn't it occurred to you that your son might be suffering from a mother complex, or whatever the specialist jargon calls it? From his point of view, Bella can already be described as an 'old biddy' ...", she said with conviction and immediately turned her head in my direction. "That's not meant as an insult, Bells. After all, I'm a few years older than you!" she indicated to me, explainingly. "The simple fact is, that your son shouldn't have a problem finding a girlfriend who is as young as he is himself," she turned to Carlisle again, but this time Edward answered her.

"You are quite right about that, Mrs. Cathlyn. Perhaps I should choose a girl who matches my age. But would that also inevitably make us happier just because other people think it's more acceptable? I don't think it depends on the year of birth. It depends solely on the feelings, and these say that we love each other, trust each other, and never want to lose each other again. Age doesn't matter when it comes to love," Edward said calmly.

"It certainly does matter if the age difference is so high that a relationship appears offensive!" Cathlyn matter-of-factly clarified.

I slumped my shoulders.

This battle was lost.

I leaned against Edward, who gingerly took me into his arms.

Carlisle was trying to convince her still, but once Cathlyn had formed an opinion, she was hard to dissuade.

Contrary to her conviction, she would not forbid Brandon to have contact with Jake. He would be old enough to make his own point, and that's what he probably did very vigorously at home. He also found support from his father. The men in the Turner household were both of the opinion that it was my own decision with whom I got engaged, as long as I was happy in the process.

Cathlyn very dramatically shook my hand goodbye, said "Farewell!" and went on her way.

I had lost a longtime friend and that made me sad. At least the real best friends of my life remained. David and Sonya, and Zoey and Alex. The latter had invited themselves to dinner with me the other evening, when their 'little daughter' once again came up with the idea to cook something vegetarian and especially all-around healthy. Alex only knew our official history, but he accepted Edward at my side. He had met him with a certain distance, but it had dissolved into pleasantness in the course of the evening.


Thank you for reading!