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Chapter 98
Disputes! And Even Very Serious Ones!
Bella
After the kids were out of the house and I belatedly gave my fiancé his due 'good night' kiss, we drove to his place.
It really could have been a relaxing day.
At Esmé and Carlisle's we had chatted animatedly about an interesting exhibition where they were now headed.
But now it was over with the relaxation. Edward's chess pieces on the playing field just didn't do what I expected them to do and how it would fit my strategy.
However, while Edward was getting me a coffee from the kitchen, whereby the machine, fortunately for me, demanded a descaling beforehand, I desperately searched the Internet on my smartphone for a way to win this game after all. I also sent calls for help and photos of the playing field to Carlisle, Jasper, and David.
Edward handed me the cup with a light kiss on my temple, noted with a very cursory gaze that I had not yet drawn, and slid into the armchair across from me with an extremely elegant and charming smile.
He was serenity personified. That drove me crazy. After all, I just lost the war here!
My cell phone beeped.
After Jazz suggested I'd better give up, the decisive tip came from David.
I casually put the phone away again and pretended to think hard. I moved my knight to the position he had indicated and leaned back in the armchair in an emphatically casual manner. Inside I was trembling.
Edward was still smiling. He hadn't really paid attention to my move. Only after a few still confident seconds he let his gaze drop to the table.
His smile faded. He blinked. He sat up straight. And his laugh was gone.
I laughed for that now.
He was downright bent over the table, nervously running through his beautiful, tangled hair, looking a riot as he pondered his next move.
"Is Mr. Mind Reader out of his depth if he can't hear his opponent's thoughts for once?" I inquired. I knew I was being way too cocky, but Edward's face was just hilarious. My angel raised his gaze to me a bit overwhelmed, still completely engrossed in his tactics, which apparently would not work out.
I chuckled.
"Should we play hide and seek instead? ... Or catch? Maybe you're more up for that?" I asked further, knowing very well that I really wouldn't have a chance at that.
"Well, hide then, you cheater!" he then meant.
"Hey," I complained. Then I narrowed my eyes venomously together as I came up with an excuse. "I'm just providing for fair conditions! After all, you've been playing a hundred years longer than me!"
"And then who am I playing against right now, if not just you?"
"Is it that important?"
"I just prefer to know my opponent."
"Especially when he's beating you?" I raised an eyebrow curiously and condescendingly.
However, he actually stuck his tongue out at me.
Our very factual and deadly serious discussion was interrupted by a new beep from my cell phone.
Edward reached for it faster than I had even registered the receipt of a message.
I stormed towards him, wanting to destroy my evidence, but he held the phone up so high that I couldn't reach it. I crossed my arms in front of my chest offended, pulled a face and stamped my foot.
"You didn't really do that now?!" my angel asked, chuckling.
"You bet!" I repeated this completely silly gesture, more suited to little girls with ringlets from the last century.
Without really spying in my phone, he handed it to me. Chuckling.
When I reached out for it, he pulled me into his arms.
"You're so cute when you're mad!"
"And you so offended when you lose!" I stuck my tongue out at him, which made him chuckle enchantingly again.
"I just want to know who to ask for a rematch, if not you!" my angel meant and there was an immediate knock on the front door.
Edward's siblings came by in good spirits.
The boys/men - I couldn't make a definitive decision there conceptually - decided to take a short trip into the woods. The news said that there had been problems with black bears in the Farmington area, which were coming increasingly closer to residential areas.
However, my vampiric relatives were happy to take care of such things.
I got myself another latte macchiato - this fully automatic machine was really the crowning glory - and joined Rose and Alice on the couch again.
I had already listened to the two of them for what felt like an eternity during their petty chats and made both sensible and polite comments on them. The only really interesting news for me was that my wedding dress was slowly taking mental shape for Alice. Otherwise, they talked a lot about school. What they planned with their husbands here and there for trips or experiences. Rose gave a funny recalling of a quarrel between her and Em.
I had already told the two about Leah's new boyfriend yesterday, in all the required detail, so my stories today were limited to the beautiful wedding celebration the night before. A lot of banalities and it was actually fun to gab with the two of them.
But now, armed with fresh caffeine, I was tired of it.
It was not lost on me that they were talking between the lines without me. Too quietly for me to hear.
"So out with it!" I demanded, then, as I sat down again and looked at the two of them most reproachfully. "You're not here to just gossip!"
"Well ..." the usually bright Alice began rather quietly, driving her index finger over the pattern of her skirt.
A rare image.
"You know, Bella ..." said Rose, but didn't really seem to want to continue talking either.
Instead, she indeterminately plucked some nonexistent lint from the armrest.
"Well, say what you want already!" I thundered impatiently. In the meantime, I was just curious, since I didn't usually have to worm something out of my sisters-in-law. Rather, all sorts of things bubbled out of them without prompting and I had to put the brakes on them.
"It's almost October 31st, " Alice muttered.
"Halloween," Rose felt compelled to interject by way of explanation.
Taking turns and hemming and hawing, they proceeded.
"That's when we thought ..."
"... because we also haven't really celebrated the reunion with you yet ..."
"... and Leah and Jake are so great too ..."
"... they would definitely have a lot of fun with it ..."
"... besides, it's so rare that we ever get a chance to have you all together ..."
"... and perhaps David with his children ..."
"... especially Emma ..."
"... I'm sure they would also find it totally super ..."
"... of course Sonya too ..."
"... she is also so sweet and nice ..."
"... how pretty she looked yesterday! Like a beautiful queen ..."
"You're distracting from the subject!" I reminded the two graces, who just didn't look good with this hemming and hawing.
"We want to throw a Halloween party!" Alice then blurted out impatiently.
I got a fright when I understood her words. But only a little one.
The image of Jazz rushing up to me at my eighteenth birthday party came to mind, but I had conquered my past.
Still, I stood up from the cushion, folded my arms in front of my chest, and looked down at the two of them angrily.
"A party, Alice? Already?" I asked directly. She couldn't be serious! "You realize what happened at the last party at your place?"
"It won't happen again!" Rose resolutely stood up from the sofa.
"Jazz is much more controlled than he was twenty years ago!" also Alice rose.
Her expression aroused feelings of guilt in me.
It was the disappointment that I would not trust her husband. It wasn't like that. I had never blamed him.
"Alice, I really like Jazz and would trust him with my life again anytime. Like that time you brought me to Phoenix. I just don't want any of you to be unnecessarily challenged because of me, the clumsy human that I am. If something unexpected happens at this party, you will have a problem with the other human guests you seem to want to invite. What if Emma trips and skins her knees?" I explained.
Actually, I was just desperately looking for an excuse that spoke against a party.
The two of them looked at me a little condescendingly. They smiled.
"Honestly, Bella. You're exaggerating!" Rose accused me.
"It's not like we're going to invite half the town!" Alice tried to placate my notions. "Besides, we've already noticed the blood from David's kids. Jazz, too ... and he didn't mind."
"They're kids. Scraping their knees is their job, in a way. And they didn't neglect that when they were all visiting with us," Rose explained to me.
"The twins have school the next day!" I insisted stubbornly. I was running out of arguments ... actually, I only had this one left.
"We've thought about it, of course, Bella. What do you think of me? We're having the party at your place! All they have to do is go up the stairs and let themselves fall into bed," Alice instructed me, and my facial features slipped.
That was unbelievable!
"Come on, Bella. You don't have to worry about anything. We'll decorate the house nice and spookily, Esmé will take care of the food for you. We'll also clean everything up at night," Rose whined.
"Exactly. All you have to do is dress up and have fun," Alice intoned again.
"Dress up?" I asked indignantly. This was getting worse and worse!
Alice appeared absent for a moment, her gaze went blank, and she moved as if in slow motion.
Her visions slowly came back to life unless a wolf was present and involved.
"Besides, Edward just said 'yes' to the party!" she squealed gleefully, clapping her hands together enthusiastically.
As if that said it all!
"He has WHAT?" I asked, completely horrified.
I almost shouted it.
What was that some random vampire thinking? Just you wait. He's going to get it when he comes home!
"Then everything is clear. We'll get everything ready. We'll see you on Thursday!" Alice happily jumped up from the sofa frantically, whirled past my arms to say goodbye, which Rose matched her with a sugary sweet grin, and they were already gone again.
Completely ignoring my objection!
Only when the door fell shut behind them did I realize what had just happened here. I grumbled.
Great. A party. With costumes. Grrh ...!
I angrily drank my latte empty, whereby I also burned my tongue, and stubbornly sat cross-legged on the sofa so that I could watch the door closely.
I didn't have to wait long for this damn good-looking ... um ... devious, smug, soaking wet vampire to enter.
As wet as he was, he promptly ran upstairs and put on dry clothes.
"Well ... Did you have fun?" I asked grumpily when he stood in front of me not twenty seconds later - newly dressed.
His hair was still damp, but otherwise you would not see him now, as he had returned to the house only moments before.
"It was very exquisite. Thank you for asking," Edward replied formally, approaching the sofa and placing his hand against my forehead.
Huh ...?
"I just wanted to make sure you're not sick ... We're having a party? Voluntarily? What did Alice do to make you agree to this?"
"It was you who agreed!", I wildly gestured with my hands and stood up to emphasize my mood.
I walked up and down the room furiously.
"Where do you get off deciding something like that over my head? Without even asking me? Especially if she's planning the party at my house? Maybe I already had plans for Thursday! I'm sure Leah and Jake will already be up to something too!"
Edward didn't answer, but just looked at me in irritation. Then he smiled.
"They set us up!" he opined.
Um ... Again: Huh ...?
"I actually agreed and that's what Alice apparently saw. But Jazz and Em said it was all set with you already and wondered why I didn't know about it yet. Therefore I thought that your aversion to social customs had changed in the past twenty years and that perhaps you had not told me about it because it was now normal for you. So, I had no choice but to approve it in the end," Edward explained.
He came up to me, as I was standing in the middle of the living room by now.
My anger had shifted. From Edward to Alice.
"I thought we only had two kids, where we'd have to deal with something like this!"
"I should have known better. Please forgive me, dearest. I had to trick you into going to the prom that time. I should know your attitude hasn't changed," he whispered apologetically, breathing a kiss into the back of my neck.
His wonderful cold lips made my anger subside. I sighed comfortably.
"Ask me to go to the prom with you again, " I just indulged in a little reminiscing.
Although I would have loved to fight back with my hands and feet back then, I had somehow also liked it. Perhaps it was also only that it had already been so long ago. Looking back, many things were no longer as bad as one had once thought. For example, I was pretty sure that I had screamed my lungs out in pain when the twins were born. But today, retrospectively, it didn't feel that bad. Strange.
"Miss Isabella Maria Swan. Would you do me the honor of escorting me to the next school dance?" he asked formally, and I had to chuckle.
"No. That would look a little funny with both of us in the meantime. But you can dance with me here," I kissed him.
Edward pulled out his cell phone to turn on his modern hi-fi system.
It no longer had a compartment for CDs, as I still had at home. His thing made use of the Internet. Any CD Edward purchased through certain online stores was instantly available through this system - and through his cell phone - and could also be saved to individual playlists. And the music could be heard in every room. One could also have something else playing in each room.
The first notes of a slow waltz sounded, and we danced.
I was not afraid to fall or step on his feet. Edward guided me. Safely and excellently. As he led me across the proverbial parquet, smiling enchantingly, I was very glad that David had taught me to dance before. Something at least. However, it was enough to make Edward visibly happy and I didn't find it as bad as I had always assumed earlier. It must have been another one of those retrospective misconceptions, because I even enjoyed it.
After a few songs, a slow ballad came on and Edward gently pulled me close.
"Thank goodness no such song was intoned last evening when we were on the dance floor," Edward smirked into my hair.
I didn't understand what he meant and loosened up a bit to look at him questioningly.
"That's when I think this would have led to trouble," he whispered, gently covering my lips with his.
Yes, that would probably have been a bit problematic in the midst of the wedding party, most of whom knew nothing about us.
I lost myself in this kiss, which continued playfully.
Until both of our cell phones beeped. The children.
Since the surfing had been cancelled due to the weather and the day's plans had thus become obsolete, they had not known this morning when they would be back.
They would be home at seven o'clock. In other words, they expected dinner on the table on time. That in turn meant we would have to leave very soon.
We danced another slow song together, tightly embraced and kissing again and again, until we had to leave in the end however.
I took my cup to the dishwasher while Edward turned off the various appliances, gathered my things, and turned off the lights everywhere. When I had my shoes on, Edward was waiting next to our chess set. He put his king on the side and gave me a played scowl.
"Who helped you?" he asked curiously.
"David!" I admitted now, chuckling.
He took his cell phone out and typed his revenge request before helping me gentlemanly into my jacket.
I loved these little old-fashioned gestures from him. Hand kisses. A helping hand when I got in or out of the car. A hand in the small of my back when I walked through a door in front of him. A chair, which he pushed to me.
I also enjoyed cooking together with Edward. Unpleasant tasks, like chopping onions, went much faster, but it wasn't only that. Just everyday things I do with him. Things that every other couple in the world also did together. Those were the moments that mattered to me. The ones that made me forget that he wasn't human. Which made it seem unimportant what actually was the age difference between us was. Irrelevant whether one started from twenty years, which one saw when they looked at us. Or whether one considered the eighty or so years that separated us in truth. Maybe it was a stuffy life we led, but I loved the normality. I didn't need the excitement.
Cooking, however, occasionally tugged at my ego. I considered myself a pretty good cook. Sure, I wasn't a five-star chef, but so far everything had always tasted great. However, Edward set out to refine my recipes that had become coherent over the years. And also with success. Well. The casserole was in the oven, the lettuce was washed and chopped, and the dressing was just waiting to be added to the bowl.
So, we sat on the kitchen counter.
"Halloween party? ... Alice makes costumes compulsory!" Edward discreetly changed the subject when I asked him about Marcus.
I was curious what he thought of our daughter's new boyfriend. I liked him, which Edward had commented on with a slight jealous growl. He didn't say much to Marcus so far, which I attributed to the very moderate contact so far. Perhaps Edward had not yet been able to finalize his opinion of him, since he had heard his thoughts only incoherently and relatively briefly so far. That probably had changed today, after the comfortable breakfast. Still my angel wrapped himself in silence. But I trusted that he would save our baby from disappointment, if Marcus' thoughts gave rise to this fear. So, I gave in. For the time being!
"Halloween party," I repeated downright disgusted, which in turn made my angel chuckle.
"Any idea what you want to dress up as yet?" he asked, sweet-talking.
"Is that what you enjoy doing? Dressing up?" I asked, amazed.
"Yes. Being able to scare ignorant people for once without being discovered is kind of like a holiday for us. Emmett, especially, always has a lot of fun on Halloween."
"I believe that easily! ... Okay ... How about as the mother of two wolves and the fiancée of a teenage vampire?" I smiled hopefully, even though I knew I wouldn't get away with it.
Edward grimaced disapprovingly.
That plan failed. Plan B.
"Then how about as Little Red Riding Hood or the Big Bad Wolf?"
Edward's mien relaxed a bit.
"Or as a tree? ..."
Edward appeared mistrustful again.
"I'd also have Abraham Lincoln as a possibility," I continued to list what I was sure could be found down in the basement.
Edward now finally bristled, and I laughed. I jumped from the kitchen counter and fetched a photo album from the dining room.
"The costumes of various kindergarten and school plays," I explained, and Edward flipped through the pages in awe.
"I missed so many things with you guys," he said melancholically.
"Maybe I can share my memories with you when I'm like you. Maybe then I won't just be running on shortwave," I tried again to make it clear why it was good to change me. Something I never forgot on the few occasions that arose. For Edward was not yet at peace with himself on this subject, although his word was in this regard.
"You can't let up on pointing out the benefits to me, can you?"
"No!" I clarified.
Edward rolled his eyes in a way that was far too exaggerated.
"Then how about dressing up as what you are to me? An angel," Edward now suggested.
"I look even paler in white," I countered.
"Or my goddess?"
Mmm ... I already wanted to disagree, but plan C was forming in my head.
"That might be a little cold," I considered. I saw that Edward was not following me. "Well. Standing in a shell with nothing but a gold shawl around your hips is a bit chilly this time of year. I'm sure I'll catch a cold. But what one doesn't do to make Alice happy."
All of Edward's facial features slipped away and a growl escaped his mouth.
Not laughing was pretty hard for me right now, but my angel quickly caught himself again and his gaze became downright beguiling.
"Agreed!" he said, which now made me look quite perplexed. He would let me go to a party virtually naked?
"But then I won't let you out of the bedroom, guaranteed!" Edward tapped the conditions for this costume. "But then I wouldn't either," he added in a whisper and kissed me.
"And what are you dressing up as?" I then asked. Whereby I would gladly accept his offer, if I could avoid the party.
"Mmm ... Halloween. So, something spooky ... How about as the Death himself?"
"You're not frightening enough for that," I objected, twirling through his impossible hair.
"But I'm good at it. I can make anyone be afraid of me," Edward tried to make me believe.
"I'm not afraid of you and never have been!" I clarified.
"You are the exception. But only because you gave me your heart!"
"And Jake and Leah!" I furthermore stated.
"Of course."
"And David!"
He also agreed to that.
"And Becky!"
He nodded.
"And Sonya!"
He nodded.
"And Brandon!"
He nodded.
"And Emma!"
He nodded, but unhappy that this list was getting longer and longer.
I chuckled.
"But for most of humanity I am scary! ... With a black cloak. Black eyes. Black fingernails," Edward pictured his costume, which only made me laugh, though.
"All in black. So, like a goth!" I noted.
"Maybe a scythe over the shoulder," he wanted to clarify seriously.
"Scythe?", I inquired.
"Yes ... Scythe!"
"With that, however, one would think you were the gardener at best!"
He looked quite offended.
"All right. Grim Reaper is out. Let's focus on what I am. A vampire. With that, I also don't have to consider how to appear creepy. It's in my blood!"
"In the non-existent!" I said and raised an eyebrow.
"In my nature!" he corrected himself.
"I would like to see you as a real vampire! With red eyes and real vampire teeth!", I said lightly.
"I'm a real vampire!" the vampire retorted in a huff.
"Oh, nonsense. However, you're just the light version that glitters in the sun instead of turning to dust. Who are you trying to scare with the twinkling?" I said and started to run away.
I actually got as far as the kitchen door before my fiancé's arms stopped me and he mercilessly tickled me out.
We discussed my statement very factually. Well. He discussed. I was more busy struggling for air, begging for forgiveness, and perhaps somehow freeing myself from his grip however. I was completely unsuccessful. So, I tried to kiss myself free. I then succeeded. So, to say. I was still on the kitchen floor, but now I did not want to leave.
"Good evening," a voice distracted us.
The grin was hard to miss hearing.
Jake was leaning in the kitchen doorway with Becky, and they were looking down at us with amusement.
"Real vampire, my ass!" I carped after my angel as he helped me up from the floor. "I'm sure he wouldn't have missed the fact that Jake is back!"
"Shall we start the discussion from the beginning?" Edward approached me threateningly. "Your mother is casting doubt on my being a real vampire!" he declared, presumably due to their questioning thoughts.
Fortunately, the kitchen alarm clock rang before the would-be vampire took hold of me again.
"Where's Leah?", I asked, going off topic and turning off the oven.
"Uh ... should have been here already," Jake paused.
"She and Marcus let us out at my place, and we walked through the woods on foot," Becky completed the statement.
"She's outdoors!" Edward almost growled.
I went through the narrow laundry room without turning on the light so that one would not discover me from the outside and looked through the window.
There stood my daughter. Smooching in the dark, leaning against an old VW bus.
I smiled and averted myself again. And stood before a grim Edward.
"Do you know what's going through that lout's mind right now?" he asked me tensely.
"Same thing as you when you kiss me?" I asked sharp-tongued, but apparently I hit the bull's-eye.
His face appeared - in a miffed way - startled by my answer, which he obviously had not expected.
"Either you present justifiable reservations about Marcus or you accept that Leah is very happy right now!" I made clear, kissing him on the tip of his nose and sidling past him.
And tripped over a laundry basket.
I was already squinting my eyes shut and stretching my arms defensively, but I didn't hit the floor.
"How long do I have to choose either one or the other?" asked Edward intently.
I opened my eyes and looked around briefly. I was already standing again without having noticed anything. I put my arms around the neck of my jealous angel.
"Until Leah starts to wonder about whose opinion is more important to her. Her father's or her boyfriend's," I said.
My angel sighed in frustration and drove his hands through his hair.
"What's your problem with him anyway?" asked Jake rather amusedly from the kitchen.
"I don't think he really knows that himself!" I chuckled, and we set the table together.
Leah also finally came during the meal.
Extremely good-humored. She carried around a permanent grin.
As with every evening, we all talked about our day, which had been equally comfortable for all of us due to the rain.
"You could do your father a favor," I said after the table and kitchen were cleaned up. Not only did the twins looked at me confused, as if they had forgotten something. Edward also appeared a bit overstrained.
I took the photo album from earlier and handed it to the children.
"Reminisce!" I concretized my request.
So, we threw ourselves together on the couch and talked animatedly about the various photos, what we still remembered. Jake was really embarrassed in front of Becky at times, which Leah and I remembered. We even found Becky in some pictures, when we reached the Elementary School photos.
It turned out to be a happy evening, whereby we could see how much Edward appreciated his gift.
Thank you for reading!
