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Chapter 213
Babysitting
Bella
The fact that Edward now stayed at school until the afternoon once a week was something I still had to get used to. It had always been nice to have him home by noon. When the weather cooperated, both for my husband - sunny - and for my baby - wet - we had always driven somewhere with Ced when I didn't have to write my dissertation. But I also loved that Edward wanted to experience the rest of our school days with our children.
Now I was sitting with Sonya in the living room. We were eating cake, which we had taken from a bakery as a reward for our eventful morning. We had had to run various errands in town, I had spontaneously accompanied Sonya to go swimming, while Ced had stayed with David. We had been in the woods for a long time with Ced and Cookie, had prepared a 'princely' lunch for the master of the house. There had been potato salad with sausages.
Who was the master of the house had not yet been conclusively clarified. Cookie made serious claims in this regard. But so did David.
"Well, are the ladies pretty lazy?", David came to us in the afternoon with a cup of coffee.
"Yep ...!" we nodded in unison.
"As good wives should!" commented David, giving his wife a kiss.
We chatted while watching Ced and Emma, who were playing with Cookie on the rug. Maybe it was the other way around. Cookie by now had sufficient experience in dragging Oscar or Ced's Kraken. But Emma and Ced were no slouches either, heroically reclaiming their companions.
Luces and Deacon were also soon out of school.
They started riding the school bus this semester. At their own request. Apparently, it wasn't cool to have your dad take you there and pick you up. What can I say? I had gone through that, too.
The boys generously helped themselves to the leftovers of the cake. They hadn't quite finished eating when Carlisle and Esmé came to pick us up.
It was quite rare that Jake and Leah had to play games on the same day. Today, however, Marcus also had a game. The really curious thing, however, was that all three athletic encounters took place at Marcus' school. At the same time.
In Marcus' school, great importance was attached to sports activities and there were a corresponding number of gymnasiums. Four of them, as Marcus had explained to us yesterday. But the fourth one was quite small. It had no bleachers, no field markings, and no scoreboard. It was mainly used by the table tennis club and the dance group.
Marcus had a home game. Leah would be playing against his school's volleyball team. Jake's opponents had technical difficulties in their hall, so they had to switch to the sports facilities of Marcus' school.
It was thanks to this curious circumstance that we would all be going to the games today. Even Ced, who finally got to see his big brothers and sisters in sporting action. Accordingly, he had been excited since yesterday, when these circumstances had become known.
Even now he was quite jittery, had already run to meet Carlisle and Esmé at the door and brought directly his little shoes.
His new booties. We had been to Portland yesterday afternoon with Edward. Our baby was growing too fast and had needed some new clothes. And decent shoes. I had always chosen shoes for my children with a great deal of care, so as not to develop deformities or anything like that. Quite proudly, Ced had shown them off to his siblings last night. They had been found to be pretty cool.
"We still have a little time, sweetheart. Let the boys finish their cake first," I tried to reassure my son.
That had worked out great. He watched every single crumb that disappeared from the plates. And impatiently.
Then it was finally time to hit the road.
"We'll meet Daddy there," I explained to my baby after I strapped him into a car seat in Carlisle's Mercedes and sat down next to him.
However, I explained something else to my son.
There will be a whole lot of people where we were going now. None of them will know anything about Jake and Leah being able to turn into wolves or why part of our family is so pale and cold. Those are our secrets that are not anyone's business. He wouldn't be allowed to call us Mommy and Daddy, either. Ced was a very special baby. He was generally developing and growing way too fast for us to explain to anyone that he was our baby.
Ced already knew all this from various encounters, it was just the first time with such a crowd. He promised to stick to it as always.
The four halls were connected by a spacious foyer where drinks and all kinds of treats were available. There we stood together in a large circle and watched the four children spread cotton candy and ice cream over a large area of their faces. Afterwards, I went with Emma to the washroom and David and Edward with their three sons.
After the little washing orgy, our athletes stood with us.
All already in their jerseys.
The fact that two opposing outfits were standing there hugging each other caused some comments from those passing by.
"Who do you want to watch first?", I asked my baby.
"Jake!" noted Ced.
Jake was his great role model. In all respects. Ced would love to have his brother's girlfriend, too.
The brothers did a sealing high-five.
We spread out partially into the three halls. Sonya wanted to sit down, and Emmett played her bodyguard, who protected her pregnant belly and cleared pushers out of the way.
Em always acted very cute when it came to Sonya or Emma. He had the latter sitting on his shoulders.
David and Ced went after them.
Jazz and Alice took the boys from David to Leah's hall. Luces was eager to get a closer look at the girls, which we noted with raised eyebrows.
With Daniel, we probably wouldn't have been surprised by such a statement, but Luces would be just ten years young in a few weeks.
Rose and Esmé then went to find seats with Marcus.
Carlisle walked with Becky to their gym.
Becky had a small wound next to her knee. Nothing serious, she had just bumped it, but it was bothering her under the knee pad. Carlisle wanted to pad it a bit with a light bandage.
So Edward and I stood alone for a moment with three of our children, wishing them good luck.
"Mr. Carter!" a man stepped closer in horror as Marcus and Leah cheered each other on in their own way.
"Mr. Warren," Marcus replied, after he let go of our daughter's lips, slightly startled.
"Surely you're not fraternizing with the enemy!"
"My fiancée merely wished me good luck for the game!"
"Your fiancée?! ... Mr. Carter! ... Really. That would be straight up intermarriage!"
"Aren't we otherwise pro-ethnic understanding and pro-tolerance?" echoed Marcus.
"Yes, of course ... But not on the pitch!" the man thundered playfully. "Good luck, you two! You'll need it!" he winked at the twins and went on.
"Mr. Warren. Guidance counselor ... Always up for a stupid saying," Marcus smirked.
But then we also went into the hall.
First I wanted to watch Jake and the kickoff wasn't long in coming.
We kept changing through the three gyms in different constellations.
In each it was very exciting today and they fought energetically for every single point. Only our girls had it a little easier. Marcus had given them some info on individual players. Still, player after player slammed hard on the floor, slipped, were pushed away, brought down with smash balls. But each time they got back up.
Ced was all excited about it. He clapped his hands again and again. As long as he didn't cover his eyes in fright.
Jake went to visit his star during his halftime break. Leah ran to Marcus after the third set. It was an unholy mess among us.
But in the end all our children won, and we celebrated with Italian food that we had already ordered yesterday and now picked up on the way home.
All of us sat together in our house and spread out from the living room to the dining table.
Ced also wanted to learn basketball now and started practicing immediately with Jake's ball as well.
We warned him to only roll the ball around and not let it bounce or throw it. After all, something could break, or he could hurt someone with it.
Looked really cute. The ball was still much too big for our little man ...
The ball flew once across the living room table, with Ced covering his eyes.
None of the wolves or vampires could have prevented it from the ignorant children unnoticed, so all the glasses were knocked over and clinked quite loudly. Likewise plates. Cutlery and food scraps landed on the floor. Emma had gotten hit by the ball on her shoulder and was crying. Cookie barked enthusiastically and searched the floor. A pretty mess.
Startled, Ced ran into the kitchen and hid in the laundry room.
"Your kid!", I said promptly to Edward, still juggling my glass, a bottle, and a pizza box at the same time.
With my knee I also pressed a plate against the table.
Edward put down what he had just managed to save and freed me.
"Thank you for that!" he murmured to me, giving me a kiss and walking over to our baby.
"Charles ... Edward ... David ... Swan ...", I heard from the kitchen and giggled about it.
The bad Dad tone of voice.
Cookie was happy to see the covered ground, tail wagging. Emma was comforted by David. And we started with the cleanup work.
It took a while until Edward came back with our baby in his arms. Quite bashfully he hid in the crook of his father's neck and rubbed his wet little eyes.
My baby, the playwright.
I went to them and just very carefully he looked at me over Edward's shoulder. I took his hand.
'I'm sorry, Mommy. Do you still love me?' I heard him softly in my thoughts.
"Of course, my little darling," I said and kissed his little fingers. That was all I could reach so far up. "But you'll help us clean up now!", I determined.
He nodded tentatively.
Edward lowered him and Ced went to help the others.
A little touched, I watched him.
They kept him away from any broken pieces, but he grabbed them courageously. Always nicely one piece after the other.
"What did you tell him?", I asked my husband as we were in the kitchen putting the dishes and silverware that were still intact into the dishwasher.
"That he should be careful not to break anything, but that sometimes it just happens, no matter how careful you are. And then when something like that happens to him, he doesn't have to run away and he doesn't have to be afraid that we don't love him anymore," Edward explained.
I paused and just looked into my husband's loving eyes.
"Bella? Is everything okay?", I was asked after a moment.
"Did you ever imagine you'd be such a great Dad?", I asked, taking the opportunity.
"Am I?" he asked, embarrassed and seemingly unconvinced.
"The best I know and because of David, the bar is pretty high for that," I answered truthfully.
He took me in his arms while I was still holding dirty plates in my hands.
"And if you don't believe me, ask your kids!", I added.
"If it's me, then you made me. You and our wonderful children," he whispered and kissed me breathtakingly.
However, a loud, clanging rattle interrupted this kiss.
I had dropped the plates and there was chuckling in the kitchen doorway.
There stood our children. Leah had picked Ced up, probably because of the predictable shards, but they were all laughing towards us.
"I'm afraid we're going to need some new dishes," Edward agreed with the smirk.
"And glasses," Jake came into the kitchen with the last fragments of those as evidence.
We quickly cleaned up the last remnants of the mess, vacuumed away the shards, and our guests said their goodbyes.
Ced and Emma had also made up after that little incident, after Ced apologized to Emma with a tight hug and a big smooch.
With our combined efforts, Edward and I put our little brat to bed.
Was not so easy, because the Kraken had fallen into tomato sauce and was therefore down in a laundry basket.
I gave him my little Edwina as a replacement, which he had to be content with willy-nilly. The vampire teddy was much bigger than his Kraken. Therefore, our baby needed some time until he snuggled up with Edwina.
Meanwhile, our older kids had been taking inventory.
We were the proud owners of four plates and six glasses. Everything else that had survived Ced's training I had smashed in the dishwasher.
So in that respect, we went back to Portland the next day. This time to buy new dishes.
As expected, Edward and I could not agree.
I had a plain set in mind, Edward a more ... extravagant one. Aside from the fact that I thought it was way too expensive, I didn't really like it either. We sent pictures to our teens to vote on. They went with Ced's choice. I could live with that. However, we were able to agree on glasses right away.
In the evening after dinner, something strange happened.
Leah had asked me something for chemistry, which I then explained to her. She had mixed up something.
Edward was helping Jake with math. A new subject had been started with him, which confused him.
Becky asked Edward to take a look at her balance sheet for accounting class. Something didn't fit, but she couldn't figure out what it was.
Ced, who wanted to do everything like his big siblings, sat down with a coloring book and was then also heavily occupied.
So our children all sat at the dinner table and did homework. Voluntarily. That scared me a little. I didn't dare speak to them as they sat there.
Edward didn't want to interrupt that either. He silently put a bowl of popcorn on the table, and we quietly moved to our reading couch with a book.
It wasn't until Marcus came home from work around half past ten that the teenagers had realized what they had been doing for hours without any grumbling, which made us laugh a lot.
"I have to write an essay for English, too," Marcus suddenly remembered.
Deadline was Monday. He had completely forgotten.
"Now that you're getting regular child support from your father, you might want to think about quitting or at least cutting back on your work at the diner. After Easter, after all, you should all start preparing for your final exams," Edward suggested.
"Plus your normal homework, sports, and personal life. That might be quite a lot at once," I agreed.
"Homework," Jake muttered to himself, brooding.
"Damn it!" cursed Edward softly, which astonished me.
Jake was grinning by now. And he was grinning in Marcus' direction.
"We won a bet there once, didn't we? Against Emmett," Jake grinned a little more.
"That's right!" a light just seemed to dawn on Marcus.
I peeked confused.
"Emmett has to do homework for them for three months because they almost survived a day in handcuffs," Edward told me sullenly.
"And why did you say 'damn it' to that?", I dug deeper, chuckling as I remembered. It was when we ladies had been in New York and left our husbands home alone. I had seen Jake and Marcus still cuffed together because they were supposed to wear them until after breakfast.
"I'd rather they do their own chores, so they learn something in the process. After all, that's the whole point," said the strict daddy.
But Jake was already on the phone with Emmett to collect the betting debt.
It was the end of February. Three months of homework. March, April, May. And then it was already exams. Ergo, Jake and Marcus wouldn't have to do any more homework. As a mother, I didn't quite know what I thought of that. In any case, the girls didn't find it funny at all.
"You must be crazy!" thundered Leah.
"Then you can do mine instead!" grumbled Becky.
There was no agreement and they argued about it on the way to bed.
But the next morning, Emmett stood at the breakfast table.
With handcuffs.
Considerately, he placed it on the table.
"Twenty-four hours! Then I'll do yours, too!" he determined with his arms folded in front of his chest.
The girls immediately wanted to reach for the handcuffs, determined and confident of victory, but Edward was faster and took them.
"You should at least wait until after school to do that," he reminded them.
Becky and Leah couldn't help but agree with him.
Leah didn't particularly care for economics or accounting. And Becky didn't like chemistry. Not to mention that the teachers wouldn't be thrilled about it either.
They began planning when this would work most easily. This wanted to be carefully thought out. A small discussion about the exact rules came out.
The boys hadn't had to wear those things for the full twenty-four hours, in exchange for which he now allowed Leah to take them off, provided she was a wolf for a short time - Em emphasized that word! - was on the road.
As I usually did when the kids and my husband were at school and I wasn't going to Professor Stewart's, I went over to Sonya's with Ced.
A little chat. Today I also delivered my report to David on the program updates.
Late in the morning I left Ced with them and went to visit Stan and Peter.
They had been in Canada for a few days and still had vacation today.
Actually, I just wanted to stop by for a cup of tea, but they persuaded me to cook lunch with them. They had brought some really great recipes that they wanted to try out.
My mouth was watering just listening to them. Besides, it was always a lot of fun with the two and I had not seen them for a long time.
However, I made sure to check with Sonya and of course my baby to see if they would mind if I stayed out longer than intended.
Sonya didn't mind, as expected, and Ced didn't even have time to come to the phone. He was busy with David and Cookie.
So I sent another message to Edward that Ced was with the neighbors, and I was with friends.
I should take my time. He would then go shopping, pick up Ced and we would meet again in our glass palace. That would even suit him quite well, because he could then do something else.
I did not ask further, because I was already impatiently called into the kitchen.
We made a tasty mess in the big kitchen, and I stayed until everything was cleaned up.
It was already half past three when I passed the large wrought-iron gate in the middle of the forest and drove across the spacious grounds.
I was shocked anew each time by how extensive the property was.
I was on the road with my motorcycle and drove accordingly carefully. So it really took me a few minutes from the gate to see the big main house of Carlisle and Esmé.
Carlisle, who had probably just come from the hospital, even passed me.
I stopped and chatted with him briefly before driving around his house to head down to ours on the riverbank.
Edward was busy with Ced in the play corner, and I joined them.
We romped exuberantly with lively music. His slide up and down, catch, in between a bottle to strengthen, slide again, romp in the balls.
Around six o'clock the children came from school. I greeted everyone in turn and then wanted to go to the kitchen now to make dinner, but somehow everyone was in my way for that. And all with a strange grin on their face.
Ced wanted to be picked up. He hugged me tight and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. Then he wanted to go to Daddy. Edward also got a hug and a smack. He ran to his siblings; Marcus took him, and they turned closed to the door.
"Have fun!" was still wished from the front door and I heard another smirking "See you tomorrow!" before the door fell into the lock.
"What was that about?" I wondered. Weren't any of them hungry? Why did they leave so wordlessly?
"The babysitters were just picking up the baby," I was told, but this only confused me more.
I was still sorting out the words. By my hand I was pulled to the stairs and kissed standing on the bottom step.
"I still owe you a romantic rendezvous, my heart," Edward whispered promisingly, and I suddenly felt quite with pleasure.
"A rendezvous?", I echoed. "You're kidnapping me. Just like that. Without warning?"
"I know how much you hate surprises, but also how much you enjoy them," he smiled my beloved crooked smile.
He was right about that. My aversion to surprises collapsed more and more since Edward. Slowly, but steadily.
But I looked down at myself.
For a real date with my angel I was definitely dressed inappropriately. In jeans and a sweater. In addition, the curry smell from lunch still hung in my hair and I was a little sweaty from romping with Ced. Unlike me, my baby was a bundle of energy.
"Do I still have time to shower?", I asked, therefore.
"Of course," Edward gave me a kiss and I ran up the stairs.
Quickly, but carefully. After all, I didn't want to stop by the hospital or even Carlisle's house because I was stumbling around again.
I took a shower and looked for something to wear.
First underwear.
I smiled at that.
I took the ensemble that Alice had called rags just three weeks ago. Over it, a plain pantsuit with a lace-trimmed blouse. After all, it was February and quite cold outside. My jewelry, a subtle spritz of perfume - a gift from Edward - shoes, done.
Edward welcomed me at the bottom of the stairs in a casual dark suit without a tie.
Dreamlike. As always. No matter what he was wearing. Or didn't wear.
"You are beautiful," he murmured.
I wasn't sure if he was complimenting me or if it was more of an observation for himself.
After a welcoming kiss, he pulled something out of his pocket.
"No," I protested. That looked a lot like a blindfold. Surprise or not, and that my opinion on this was compromised by Edward, but everything had its limits.
"Trust me, Bella!" he asked, however, earnestly and gently at the same time.
Such an affectionate sound with it that I was will-less. So I let him have his way. Under inner protest! What should happen already great, only because I would not see our goal.
Very gently I was blindfolded.
Edward pulled me into his arms, and he turned me pressed against him.
This seeing nothing also had advantages, I noticed. I was completely disoriented, but I didn't feel dizzy. Could be that it was because I clung to his divine smell, which seemed much more intense to me without sight. Then I was embraced backwards and - accompanied by a musical humming - pushed through the dark world.
"My purse," I finally remembered.
Edward interrupted his humming for a smirk.
I did not understand this. Then all of a sudden I heard real music, Edward's piano playing, although he had not let go of me, a kiss on the back of my neck and the blindfold disappeared.
I smiled when I saw the target of my little kidnapping.
"Why wander far and wide when good things are so close!" he quoted a saying that I could only agree with at the moment.
We were standing in the fireplace room.
The beautiful little room, which after all had been somewhat forgotten after the renovations.
The fireplace was already lit, and a bearskin lay invitingly in front of it.
I chuckled at that.
It was a teddy bear fur. Fluffy. With head on it.
The lighted Jacuzzi gently bubbled away, and towels and our bathrobes lay to the side. On a side table were some goodies for me.
Bruschetta with mozzarella, a cheese platter with grapes, sliced baguette with various dips, a chocolate fountain - it was new - around which fruit and crackers lay handsomely ready. Red wine breathed in the beautiful glass carafe. On the table where the chess set was usually set up, other small games were ready. Mikado, playing cards, and dice. The latter I looked at more closely, as there seemed to be no dots on the faces. On one were terms like 'kissing', 'caressing', 'licking' and so on, on the other body parts.
I was already getting quite hot.
"When are the babysitters booked until?", I asked my husband.
"Until after breakfast," he smiled at me.
I also smiled and shook my head.
"You're amazing, Edward," I snuggled into his arms. "How did you do that?!"
"It suited me just fine that you were with Peter and Stan longer and wanted to take a shower just now."
The evening began with me taking off my shoes and blazer and settling in on the bearskin.
Edward poured me wine and pulled the side table closer.
During the meal we talked animatedly, and the rules of Mikado were explained to me.
Our Monopoly game before our wedding would have been very stimulating, but also protracted. My husband thought to change the latter. Whoever moved another stick in Mikado had to take off an article of clothing. More precisely, to let be undressed. Done were the rules for that. The dice were pretty self-explanatory. He hadn't come up with anything yet for the cards, but the evening was just beginning.
And the evening became beautiful.
When we weren't devotedly playing by the rules, we talked. About our happiness, our children, what the near future might bring. We made love, starting in the Jacuzzi, ending in front of the crackling open fire.
I ate almost the entire side table empty during the evening.
It was wonderful to just lie there with Edward too and watch the flames. And all accompanied by Edward's incredible music.
Happily, I lay in my bathrobe in his arms and sipped my glass of wine.
"When did you come up with this?", I asked him curiously.
"Last week. Our kids' thoughts were very much on the subject of rendezvous, and they're all already thinking about how they want to set up their next dates as a couple. This made me feel the worst guilt. I already owe you a rendezvous since New Year's Eve. It was unforgivable to make you wait so long for it," he apologized ruefully, breathing a soft kiss on my lips.
"I'll forgive you anything if something like this comes up," I promised. "Aside from having you all to myself for once, though, I thought it was a nice idea to stay home."
"That's what I thought. I was thinking of carrying you off somewhere again, like how we were in the penthouse at Thanksgiving. But we have everything we need here, don't we, and we can move around freely. We could even have Ced join us anytime you get tired of my company."
"You can wait a long time for that!", I stated. How could I ever get tired of him! "I'm kind of not worried about our crumb right now. I'm sure he's having a great time with his siblings and probably isn't even thinking about us," I laughed.
"As far as I could tell from the reflections, they wanted to go swimming together. What else! And other than that, I talked to Ced this afternoon. He not only agreed to stay with his siblings until breakfast, but was quite excited about it. However, he knows we're here in case of an emergency."
"That means we still have the whole night to ourselves. What are we going to do with all that time?" I asked seductively, turning to him in his arms.
"I'm sure we'll come up with something," he merely said, setting my glass aside.
He kissed me passionately and I was already lost in the play of our lips.
But Edward jerkily broke the kiss and smiled mischievously at me.
"You start!" he held the dices out to me challengingly.
I rolled the dices.
Nibble on earlobes.
I did what the dice told me to do.
The dice no longer rolled too often, but we did. From one side to the other. The bathrobes evaporated more and more, and we gave ourselves to the consuming and intoxicating love ...
The next morning we were still lying in front of the burning fireplace. The sun was shining and made my husband sparkle beautifully.
At first I thought I was still dreaming sweetly, because the morning continued where my dream had left off. With playful and teasing endearments.
I sighed happily as we sat in the kitchen a little later, showered and dressed, and I cumbersomely ate my breakfast.
Cumbersome between a few kisses.
By our usual Saturday standards, it was late, almost eleven o'clock, when we entered Carlisle's house.
We were really looking forward to our children, who we could already hear from the front door in the living room.
They were playing 'Twister' and had apparently introduced an additional rule. Not only did they apparently have to follow the color instruction, but they also had to keep Ced off the floor. Ced, in fact, was just spreading himself over Jake's arms and Marcus' head, but slid on with the next instruction on Leah's shoulder after she rearranged herself according to the current instruction.
For a moment we watched them unnoticed. Only Rose, who operated the spinner, smiled at us.
"Good morning," we then wished loudly as the overall acrobatic work of art collapsed.
We greeted our children, cuddled our baby, but after a while we turned to our Saturday pursuits.
The men went to the workshop, the ladies to the kitchen of our glass palace.
Leah and Becky were now handcuffing themselves.
I looked at the clock.
Twenty-four hours. So until tomorrow at half past eleven. Em had declared me and Edward as well as the boys to be referees, so that everything would be done properly. The boys would also make sure that Becky and Leah kept to their agreements. After all, their time in handcuffs had not been agreed upon and had been cumbersome due to the undertakings as a whole.
We continued to work on our story while making cookies on the side for our guests tonight.
Today Edward and I would be babysitters. For all of David and Sonya's children.
We had finished the character development last time and our story was now looking for a beginning.
We already had some scenes in mind when we developed the characters, but around that we needed a more or less logical plot and generally an introduction. Potential readers had to get to know us first, who and what we all were.
Esmé had the bright idea when she brought new blood for Ced. She looked with amusement at the notes on the character traits and origin stories and, just off the cuff, contributed matching portraits in which the various beings could really be recognized. The oversensitive Emmett, the daredevil Alice. Esmé wanted the name Winifred for her cool and distant character, which we of course fulfilled.
By the time early winter twilight set in, the men had returned from the workshop, and we had written quite a bit of the introduction.
The men sampled our baked cookies while I wrapped another gift.
Brandon's birthday was today, so of course our teens would be at his party today. As far as I knew, a room had been rented for it at a bistro, but it would be smaller overall than the twins' party. We gave him a tool kit for his motorcycle. His 'Simson' was already quite old and there was always something loose.
Then the kids said goodbye and we wished them a good time. They would go to shower in the other house because they had to walk as/on wolves to their cars anyway.
Edward accompanied them, if only to check for rule compliance because of the handcuffs, and would pick up the children from David and Sonya.
"And we're starting dinner?", I asked my baby.
"Yes," he stated.
Children and food were always such a thing, they just did not like everything, but for everything there was a solution.
I had borrowed a small pizza oven from Peter and Stan.
Also a reason why I had been with them. With it you could make mini pizzas yourself, according to your own taste.
I set it up in the dining room. I put all kinds of the ingredients in small bowls or on plates and distributed them around the device. Plates, glasses, and cutlery to it.
Ced did not understand the dinner yet. I had not explained anything to him about it yet. He just looked skeptical and brought one piece after another to the table with me. He liked pizza, but he couldn't seem to bring the individual pieces down to a common denominator yet.
Em and Jazz brought us the foosball table in the meantime.
It was agreed with the kids that we would have a championship.
They also tested the kicker extensively for function before heading off to hunt.
Speaking of 'hunting'. I also gave Ced another bottle before our guests arrived.
We went straight to his room with the bottle, as he also needed to be changed. We did that first and then settled in the big nest swing.
Ced showed me how the afternoon had gone in the workshop.
Funny. Marcus and Rose had been discussing something animatedly until Ced held out the screw they were looking for. He had had it in his hand the whole time.
The evening turned out to be a great success. None of the prepared pizza dough was left over. But no one could eat any more either. The children were very creative with the ingredients and had a lot of fun trying out new things.
I thought there would probably be one of these in the Mitchell family household soon. Maybe in ours, too. It was delicious. Our teenagers could get excited about that, too. Without problems even. However, we would then need double the ingredients. At least!
After that we needed a little exercise and went for a walk along the river. Cookie was also with us, who had to go out anyway.
Then it was on to the foosball championship.
Of course, Edward could have defeated the rest of us without effort, but he didn't. He usually lost in a way that made it look close. Except against me! He beat me hard as a rock! And that's what I had married!
Ced and Emma also played against each other, which was especially cute.
We had arranged chairs on the sides so that they could comfortably get to all the poles, but to get to all of them at the same time, their arms were too short, and they were altogether too uncoordinated. So the ball was bumped with a pole, and they first rearranged themselves in peace.
Ced was already falling asleep, though, watching a match between Daniel and Deacon from Edward's arm. But he still had a cookie between his mouth and fingers.
Emma sat on the sofa not long after, struggling with her ever-shrinking eyes.
Daniel carried her to Leah's loft, as Edward was putting Ced in his crib.
The little smooch ball would be too heavy for me on this rather long way.
"Take the back stairs. It's shorter," I said, but went up myself from the entrance to get Emma's bag.
We arrived at the same time in the glass attic, through which you could partially see the stars today. Very gently he put down his little sister.
"I'm not even tired yet," the little angel whined, but was actually almost asleep.
She yawned heartily and turned on her side.
Daniel and I chuckled at this and began to carefully undress her and pack her into her pajamas. Oscar was in her backpack, too, of course. With her thumb in her mouth and Oscar in her arms, she immediately snuggled into the blanket.
"Sleep well, little sister," Daniel whispered, stroking her blonde curls.
I found it very sweet how much Daniel had integrated into this family. Actually, he was only David's son and his children his half-siblings, but no outsider would probably notice that. He called Sonya by her first name. That alone was an indication that the family relationships were not quite so straightforward.
"You're very fond of that little one, aren't you?", I asked Daniel on the way down.
"How can you not love this little whirlwind?" he asked a counter question with a laugh.
I shrugged my shoulders ignorantly.
Emma even made numerous vampire hearts melt.
Back in the living room, the championship continued directly.
Edward was also back, bringing supplies of snacks and drinks from the kitchen.
Around eleven we chose the winner of the tournament.
Daniel.
He had intended to let Deacon win, which Edward and I had noticed, but the last ball had rolled into the goal via awkward detours. As a prize, he received a particularly beautifully decorated cookie.
My girls had made a big effort with it in the afternoon.
Nevertheless, it was gone in no time.
Luces and Deacon soon went to sleep by themselves. In Leah's room, they changed their clothes, even brushed their teeth without being asked, and quietly crept up to their sister in the attic.
So there were only three of us sitting in the living room.
Oh nope. Cookie was also still here. So four.
Daniel wasn't tired yet, but I wasn't either.
So we decided to play cards and talked while doing so.
I had asked him what it was like for him to live with his father and siblings now.
"You know how and where I grew up," he looked at me and I nodded.
I had been visiting him every few weeks at his uncle's, aunt's, and grandparents' house when I could arrange it unnoticed by Jake and Leah.
"Uncle Thomas and Aunt Mae never treated me any differently than the other children. They had four children, and with me even five. Jerry and I sometimes got lost in the middle between the two big ones and the little straggler. Not that it really bothered me. It was always nice with them ... But now I'm the big brother. I think that's totally great somehow."
"How the three of them look up to you and see a bit of a role model in you," Edward said with a grin.
"Yes," Daniel admitted sheepishly. "I had my difficulties with Sonya at first," he said after a moment, grinning.
I smiled and remembered that.
Daniel was in the middle of puberty when Sonya met him. He still was. He could be very moody and bitchy. Sonya had absolutely no experience with that and had no time to slowly get used to it. After all, her own were nowhere near that stage.
"Sonya didn't have it easy. She didn't know about you all these years," I pointed out.
"Yeah, I know. She was probably overwhelmed with me," Daniel laughed mischievously.
"That's right. She only had experience as a mother as far as your siblings were concerned. You are already several years older and more mature. In addition, she didn't know you and was presented with you as her husband's son. She just didn't know how to deal with you without offending you in some way. She wanted to be nice, get to know you, but not impose herself," Edward commented.
"Bottom line, I think we can say that Sonya did everything right. I like her a lot. She's now more my mother than my own ever was. That one only came around every few months, which didn't really have anything to do with me. She only ever asked my grandparents for money ... I only ever saw Dad every three months, but it was always different with him," Daniel reflected.
He seemed to be searching for the right words. However, I knew what he meant, even without him putting it into words. David came here as often as he could and thought very carefully about what he could do with his son in this short time, so that he could make good use of the time. Besides, he had also been the substitute daddy for my twins.
"But it doesn't matter what it used to be. Only now is important," Daniel ended the topic and won the current round.
He grinned victoriously.
My glass was empty, so I headed for the kitchen.
But I also felt like something else. A little treat.
"What do you think about a little midnight dessert?" I asked Daniel, who had made his way to the toilet.
"I wouldn't say no," he indicated to me.
I nodded.
Edward then showed me how to start up the chocolate fountain.
Quite expertly, he explained that you should not take normal chocolate, but couverture, because this would flow better due to the higher fat content. A dash of cream further improved the flow properties. And the chocolate was heated up first in the water bath and only then put into the well.
Another lesson learned.
I arranged some fruit, cookies and marshmallows on a plate for this and we set it up between Daniel and me.
"How come you never eat or drink anything?" asked Daniel in a casual chatty tone as Edward reshuffled the cards and Daniel just sank a chocolate covered butter cookie into his mouth.
"I already eat and drink, but I have a rare form of diabetes," Edward recited his standard excuse.
But Daniel looked doubtful.
"I've heard that before," Daniel replied.
It sounded brash, although he smiled.
"You're very observant for your fourteen young years," Edward said very calmly, handing out the cards for the new round, while I preferred to freeze temporarily from inner panic.
"Soon to be fifteen!" clarified Daniel.
"Why do you all have birthdays in the spring anyway?", I tried to change the subject. "Emma is about to turn four, Luces is about to turn ten, Deacon is about to turn eight. David's birthday is in a couple of weeks. All of you have birthdays in a very strange three-month period. Even the baby is joining in this family tradition," I jitterily enumerated.
"No idea," Daniel smirked, sorting through his cards.
I glanced at Edward.
Apparently, my observation had distracted him sufficiently.
"When is your birthday?" he looked at Edward again.
"In June. On the twentieth," Edward replied calmly, also sorting his playing cards.
"And how old are you going to be?"
Edward looked up from his cards - surprised for a moment.
"What would you guess?"
Edward looked with interest at our young teammate. They both put the sorted cards aside and Edward gently covered my hand with his.
Daniel leaned back in his chair, took a sip, eyed my husband.
"Well ...," Daniel began, picking up another cookie. "You look like you're going to be eighteen or something," he said casually, taking a bite.
Edward squeezed my hand reminiscently. I only now realized that at some point I had involuntarily held my breath.
Edward smiled reassuringly and lovingly in my direction.
"But?" he then dug deeper.
"Otherwise, I'd say more like ... forty or something. Something in the age range of Bella or my dad," Daniel chewed with relish, but looked while doing so as if he was thinking about his answer.
Edward continued to smile, which unfortunately only made me nervous.
"Sometimes you seem even older, the way you talk sometimes. So do the others. Especially Carlisle," Daniel seemed to be finished with his observations.
I took a deep breath.
If he hadn't noticed anything else, I'm sure it wasn't a big deal and maybe we could explain it to him somehow.
"And what else?" asked Edward, contrary to my reasoning, which is why I threw my head in his direction, caught off guard.
Daniel sipped his glass again and calmly peeled a banana, which he probably wanted to hold in the fountain.
"Maybe I'm wrong, but sometimes I get the impression that you and the others are quite strong, fast, and also quite skilled. Also that you seem to hear much better."
"What makes you think that?!", I asked now, as if that were completely absurd.
In truth, I was clawing anxiously at Edward's hand.
When would he just stop Daniel? Perhaps he was just considering a comprehensive explanation, but was at least mentally eliciting all the clues from Daniel so that he could refute them all equally.
"There were a lot of little things," Daniel mused, quickly eating the piece of banana before chocolate could drip onto the table. "At Christmas, when we were here for a few days. Or even when the others were in New York. Emmett came to grips with a skateboard surprisingly quickly. The day before your wedding. Carlisle had no real problem with the unwieldy grill when he got it out of the van. Alice and Rosalie I saw running around the grounds. Pretty fast for two girls. You also seem to have reacted to something sometimes before it was seen or heard. Often when something fell or something." Daniel interrupted himself, looking thoughtful again. "There does seem to be something wrong with Ced," Daniel muttered to himself as he seemed to consider what to dip next from the plate into chocolate.
"Carlisle explained that," I interjected frantically.
"Yeah, right. Genetic growth disorder and so on," Daniel said and decided on a ladyfinger.
Now he already started with this 'and so on'.
"But Ced is just two months old and can already walk and talk a little. He knows all of our names, which I find really strange. Also, there are baby bottles in your kitchen, but I've never actually seen him drink. Also, his whole demeanor doesn't seem to match his size. He walks, but doesn't look like he should be able to."
I swallowed hard.
"Can you think of anything else about the twins?", Edward dug deeper again.
Still smiling casually and frugally.
"Sure," Daniel said with an equally casual grin.
I somehow felt increasingly silly with my fear and panic that our secret had been blown, among the men who grinned at each other good-humoredly and challengingly.
Edward made an inviting gesture to our guest.
"Jake and Leah are supposed to jog every morning," he reasoned.
"They do. Every morning. Almost without exception," Edward confirmed sympathetically.
"But I only see Becky and Marcus," Daniel noted. "Jake and Leah are pretty warm too, like they have a fever. Even though they just got out of the snow. Jake can also carry Becky around for a pretty long time without her getting too heavy for him or him getting out of breath. I saw that when we went skiing. I also thought it was pretty strange how quickly Emma got her Oscar at Christmas when she got sick. I also heard Dad and Sonya say something about them once, which I didn't get at the time. I actually still don't to this day. Something about them being ... dogs? - Not sure, but some animal definitely ... - It was pretty strong in them, they said."
"And what do you conclude from all this?"
"Honestly. I have no idea ... But I find it interesting that you don't disagree!"
"Why should I disagree? ... Of course, I could tell you that it's all pretty far-fetched, that your perception has played a number of tricks on you, or maybe you've gotten carried away with a fantasy in search of logical explanations... But what would we have out of it?"
"So it's true?" echoed Daniel.
"What exactly is supposed to be true?"
"That there's something wrong with all of you," Daniel said, but grimaced in amusement. "That sounds pretty strange," he immediately smiled again.
"I, on the other hand, find it interesting that you've noticed so many things, but you don't seem to have any fear," Edward then stated.
"Why should I?", Daniel shrugged nonchalantly and took the next piece of banana on his fork. "Dad wouldn't leave us with you if you were dangerous!"
Edward had a fit of laughter.
"Okay, Daniel. Let's talk frankly together ...", Edward began solemnly, leaning forward to the table. "Do you want another drink?" he then asked.
I was merely surprised and then somewhat amused at his trivial question.
Daniel chuckled, too, but nodded.
I got the last bit out of the juice bottle so that I could do something useful for a change, besides just sitting there in shock.
I considered taking a small sip of his father's whiskey directly for Daniel.
Edward nodded as I stood indecisively in front of the glass case. Then I sat again, refilled Daniel's glass with juice and put the glass of whiskey to me for the time being.
It was only a very small sip. I had also brought myself one. A larger one.
"So, Daniel. Like hell I'm going to tell you exactly what we are. But I can tell you what we are not," Edward now began.
Daniel nodded.
"We are not human," my husband said meaningfully.
"I thought so," Daniel nodded again.
"As I said, I had better not tell you what exactly we are. No human being should know about our existence and in my world there is even something like laws for it, so that one stick to it. Bella is an exception to that, as are your parents ... I met Bella when she was seventeen years old. Do you understand what that means?"
"You're not getting any older?" pondered Daniel.
Edward nodded in affirmation.
"I left Bella then because my world is not so simple. In a way, even dangerous, and I didn't want to expose her to that danger. Since then, about twenty years have passed and things have changed somewhat. Bella is a grown woman and has evolved over the years. Now Bella is married to me, and she will follow me into my life voluntarily when she is ready and feels it is right ... As for Sonya, I am not aware of the extent to which you are informed. She nearly died when Emma was born and was advised not to have any more children."
"But ... she is pregnant, isn't she?!" Daniel stated, startled.
"That's right," Edward confirmed, seemingly contemplating his next move.
But now I thought of something else. To distract from the topic a little.
"This pregnancy was crucial for your father to move to Saco and for you to be able to live with him now," I began, recounting in summary the events when David had so unexpectedly shown up at my house one evening. That he had fled to me after a heated argument. That he had been afraid of losing Sonya when she gave birth. How it came about that Sonya found out about Daniel through this visit. And so on.
"Carlisle is a brilliant doctor, but should he be unable to do anything on a human level to keep Sonya alive during childbirth, there is the possibility of making her one of us," Edward then continued. "It's not something to be wished for. But it's a last resort if all else fails. That's why your parents know what we are."
"And Ced doesn't really have a growth disorder. At least we don't think so," I looked invitingly at Edward.
"Ced is my biological son. His whole development is different, faster than it is with normal babies. The pregnancy lasted just four weeks, and you're right, of course. For a baby not even ten weeks young, he is extremely developed. Further along than his physical abilities, however, is his mind. Nothing fits together with him in terms of development. As far as we know, he is unique. We were previously unaware that creatures like us could father children. Therefore, we have no standard by which to measure his talents. Whether he is within a norm or not," Edward explained about this.
"But he's pretty cute for that," Daniel interjected.
I was especially surprised that none of this frightened him.
"But that means his life could be over pretty quickly, too," he then quietly reflected.
"I don't assume that. Bella is human and I am immortal. As good as, anyway. Why would Ced leave this earth again sooner than would correspond to the average life expectancy of his parents?"
"Immortal," Daniel muttered. "How old are you going to be in June?"
Edward smirked, while Daniel was curious.
My husband pushed the whiskey glass intended for Daniel over to him.
Daniel took the glass between his hands, but waited for the answer.
"One hundred and twenty-four," Edward opined.
Daniel's eyes widened, he drained the small sip in one go and then coughed.
"Woah ... you're old!" noted Daniel between his coughs.
"Well ... excuse me!" reprimanded Edward with played disapproval.
"But you have rather well preserved!" Daniel added, chuckling/coughing.
He then drank his juice afterward.
Tasted better, I guess.
"Something else is very important, Daniel," Edward now began with a really serious face. "Definitely don't call my kids dogs! Because then they can get very angry! They don't like that at all!"
I looked at my husband puzzled.
Based on the tone of voice, I would have expected him to make it emphatically clear to Daniel that this was all a big secret that he was not allowed to tell anyone. Daniel had apparently expected something else and looked confused.
Edward, on the other hand, smirked and rose.
"They're coming home right now. Do you want to see them?" asked Edward quite enthusiastically.
Daniel nodded cautiously.
He certainly couldn't really do anything with the question. After all, he knew Leah and Jake and had seen them many times before. What was so exciting about that?
I shook my head in amusement.
We went out through the fireplace room and waited for the twins at the end of the carport.
This way, they would not notice us immediately and would change back ahead of time, just to avoid being seen as wolves by Daniel.
I laughed when I saw her approaching.
It looked quite like a race.
"Come on, Leah. Show him," I heard Becky already.
"You don't stand a chance against us men!" Marcus arrogantly replied.
"Didn't we consider at some point how grown up and mature our children were?", I pondered.
"We must have meant Ced," Edward replied dryly.
Daniel first peeked rather bored - albeit amused - in the direction from which the voices came, but very soon he fixed the approaching bodies with his eyes. And he no longer let them escape his gaze. He stood in front of us, but involuntarily backed away when I recognized the massive bodies of the wolves so slowly in the darkness.
"Don't worry," I whispered to him and put an arm around his shoulders.
The kids arrived at the carport, and Leah promptly let herself fall under the roof.
She was completely out of breath, but had won. Jake arrived barely two seconds later and was apparently also at the end of his strength.
Becky rolled off Leah's back laughing joyfully.
She was as happy as a lark about the victory. I couldn't express it any other way.
The picture that presented itself also brought Daniel back to a hesitant laugh.
"You did cheat," Marcus dismounted Jake a little more elegantly.
"How?" croaked Becky, choking between her laughter. "We showed you!"
"Aren't you going to say anything about it, Jake?", Marcus turned to him.
The latter phased back, but simply remained lying. All fours stretched out from him.
"Next ... year ... maybe," he gasped.
Marcus pouted and pulled the handcuffs out of his jacket pocket.
"Come on. Hands here!" he determined defiantly.
The twins also had bathrobes hanging here all the time. When they arrived here as wolves, they were usually either on their way to the shower or almost to bed, so that it was not worth getting dressed properly in their eyes.
Becky quickly took off her jacket and held hers out to him. Leah then phased back as well, pulled on the robe from the hook and let her fiancé tie her to her future sister-in-law. However, she had not slipped the arm to be tied into the sleeve provided for that purpose. Otherwise she would not be able to take it off. However, this did not diminish the good mood of my girls.
"What's with the handcuffs?", Daniel called our attention.
The youths were startled by the unexpected spectator and turned jerkily in our direction.
"And you have nothing to say about the wolves?" dig deeper Edward.
"Well. You've more or less admitted that there's something not quite right about them. I've seen that now. But what the handcuffs have to do with it, I don't understand," Daniel explained confidently.
Our children visibly relaxed.
"Someone was too attentive?" asked Jake indeterminately in Edward's direction.
He nodded in affirmation.
We went back to the considerably warmer house.
The kids, as expected, made themselves a nightly snack. Becky's attention was more on the chocolate fountain. She wasn't nearly as voracious as the other three, after all. She didn't stand a chance against Leah on her wrist, though, and stumbled after her into the kitchen.
"You guys are home pretty early," I stated, looking at my watch.
It wasn't even one o'clock yet. We had expected them to call in an hour or two at the earliest, so Edward would pick them up. Edward had offered to do that, as usual. For one thing, he wasn't sleeping anyway. For another, he preferred to know that our children were safe in his car than that they were wandering around at night, possibly drunk.
"Jenny showed up drunk. Then somehow the mood changed," Jake said.
"Oh ha ...," was all I said.
The drunken ex-girlfriend. I could imagine that the party had ended quickly. But our kids also seemed to be well buzzed. It must have been a fun party until Jenny's performance. Boozy just.
We sat back in the dining room as the chocolate fountain was still running there.
So we enlightened Daniel a bit more about the wolves, which he thought was pretty cool. He wasn't a bit afraid. At the age of fourteen, it was apparently easier to cope with everything. The idea that he was not allowed to tell anyone came to him of its own accord.
"No one would believe me anyway," he said, but asked how it would look with his siblings. They would have to notice one or two details at some point. Especially when Ced was getting closer and closer to Emma developmentally.
"They can't know about it. Right now, all three of them are too young to understand. If Bella is really going to follow me into this life...", Edward began to say.
"I will!", however, I interrupted him.
He sighed exaggeratedly theatrically, which made our teenagers giggle. The subject would probably not end until I was reborn as an immortal.
"As soon as Bella will follow me into this life ...", so he improved himself involuntarily.
I nodded.
"... we will leave Saco. Bella will not change from then on, which will be noticed by her environment sooner or later. Moreover, we cannot hide Ced from the neighbors forever, nor can we logically explain his stage of development. We will then retire to this house. We will tell your brothers and sisters and many other people that we are moving away from here. However, now that you know - as well as your parents know about these plans - you are welcome to come and visit us."
The evening came to a very late end.
Or should I say an early one, considering the time?
My alarm clock showed half past two in the night when I took a last look at it. Edward said that Daniel had taken it all in very well. He seemed to find it all quite exciting and was very excited about being let in on it. That they didn't treat him like a child, but thought he was a mature young man who could handle such secrets.
Thanks for reading!