Chapter Eighteen
November had swept in with a series of flurries, but all the snow melted just slightly before the next snowfall happened. I had had a series of awkward conversations with my father about boys, and about Edward specifically. He insisted on meeting Edward, and of course Edward was all for it. "What am I even supposed to call you." I asked Edward with a panicked gaze. We were sitting on the sofa at his house, Les Mis was playing in the background and it was early, Fontaine hadn't even sold her hair yet.
"Well what do you want to call me?" He looked down curiously, I was nestled into his chest comfortably, cocooned in a blanket because the whole freezing to death thing was a mood killer.
I played with the edge of my sweatshirt sleeve as I thought about it. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to call him, the age gap between us was a tad concerning, even if we just went off the age he stopped at he still had two years on me, and I had only recently turned 15. As far as the school was concerned he was 16, because there was no way he would ever pass for a 15 year old. I guess if I went as far as the outside world was concerned it wasn't a weird age gap, and he was in my dating pool. "Well if we really had to put a label on it… I'm sure you already know what I'm thinking." I stared at my hands as they twisted the cuff of the hoodie.
"Actually today I don't. It was a shock this was the movie you chose, and I haven't been able to pull a coherent thought from you all day." Edward said, seeming almost uncomfortable with that idea.
"What!? Is there something wrong with me?" I was instantly worried, but gained a small chuckle from Edward instead of matched panic.
"No, you've just been very distracted today, your mind is going a million miles a minute and honestly I'm having trouble keeping up." He reassured me. "If I had listened a little closer I would have heard you singing 24601 repeatedly in your head before it began, but instead I kept hearing Christmas music, and oddly enough, professor Umbridge from Harry Potter saying her line about the OWLs."
"Oh that's my favorite and I don't really know why, awful character, iconic lines." I laughed, catching myself distracted and trying to focus back in. Edward could tell I had lost my course of reasoning, and reminded me of the original topic of conversation. "Okay yeah, so if I had to put a label on it, maybe… boyfriend?" I shrunk into myself and the blanket, all but pulling the drawstring on my hoodie to completely conceal myself.
"If that's what you want." He spoke in coy words, knowing how that phrase affected me.
"Only if it's what you want." I spoke muffled through the blanket, though I knew he could hear me perfectly well. His fingers pulled the blanket away from my face, and then gently reached up to cup my cheek. "Oh I know." I laughed and shrank back into myself. Before anything else could be said, I got distracted. In my defense Master of the House had began to play, and that one is enough to distract me from almost anything.
I woke up in Edward's arms still, the movie was over and I had missed the final number, I fell asleep at some point between Jon leaving and the Master of the House reprise. I stretched in his arms and turned to look at him, he smiled down at me and brushed my hair out of my face. "Good nap?" He asked sweetly as I cracked my fingers.
"Mmhmm." I turned slightly to bury my face into his chest. The smell of honeysuckles overwhelmed my nose. "Still sleepy". I grumbled, hearing him laugh with my face against his chest made it reverberate in my ears. I felt his hands brush through my hair almost absentmindedly, and that sensation was enough to knock me out once more. I had read that someone running their fingers through your hair was soothing, but in this context I had never experienced it. Oh boy was I glad I did. When I awoke again it was later in the day, and Edward had shifted to wake me up.
"Welcome back sleepy head." He smiled at me, and brushed my hair back from my face once more. Such a simple action yet so soothing.
"How long was I asleep?" I grumbled as I stretched to pop my back and crack my toes and knees. The stretch was easily one of the best I had had in a while, and it brought tears forth in my eyes while I rubbed the sleep away.
"Long enough for Carlisle to phone your father and let him know you were having dinner with us and for Esme to cook it for you." Edward smiled as the look of shock crossed my face. "About an hour." He clarified.
"Oh I didn't snore did I." I grumbled as I sat up.
"Like a freight train." This time it was Emmett's voice that piped up, he happened to be crossing through the room. I laughed and shook my head as I looked at him. "No really I was worried you were going to shake the shingles off the roof."
"Well you better get up there and make sure they are all fastened on huh?" I countered, with a quick cock of the eyebrow and set of my jaw I had caught him off guard.
"Yeah babe," Rose had appeared. "Better get to it." She slapped him on the back before zipping off to an unknown location. Emmett chased after her, laughter being the only thing they left behind.
Esme had made me chicken tortellini. I had also found out they stocked the fridge with Ginger Ale for me, seeing as my dad ratted me out for my stomach issue. Carlisle reminded me that there was of course no shame in needing special accommodations, and I reminded him that the idea of people taking care of me made my skin crawl. It appeared we had reached a stalemate, but I was going to take that as a win when arguing with an immortal doctor. Esme's food was lovely, as usual, and once I was done Edward drove me home and looked at me expectantly as we sat in the driveway. "I think your father expects to meet me tonight."
"Oh my god is that what he's thinking?" My face went pale and my eyes flashed to the house where my father peeked through the front kitchen window.
"It would appear so." Edward chuckled and turned the car off. "What do you say we go up and humor him tonight." I nodded begrudgingly and popped the door of the car open. Once I successfully pulled myself out of the car, Edward took my hand and closed the door. He had walked around the car slowly as my fathers eyes still peered out the window in a nosey fashion. Edward matched my pace as we walked to the porch and I opened the front door apprehensively. I could feel myself internally screaming and heard the slight chuckle break through Edward's mouth, of course he could hear me scream.
This ability of yours really disrupts the idea of internal screaming and monolog. I grumpily thought, earning a pleased smile and jostling laugh from him as we stepped through the door. "Hey dad!" I said as the door fell shut and I looked through the kitchen archway while I kicked the shoes off from my feet and stashed them under the bench in the foyer. When I wandered into the kitchen he sat at the table, feigning surprise that I was home.
"Oh hey hun! I didn't hear you pull up! I just got home about ten minutes ago." He was still wearing most of his uniform, badge included, but the gun belt was safely locked away in the vault that sat just inside the door.
"Sure, sure." I nodded as I pulled Edward into the kitchen by his arm. "Uhm this is Edward Cullen." I spoke sheepishly.
"Hello sir," Edward spoke in a surprisingly proper tone, I had nearly forgotten what time period he spent his human years until he spoke like this. "I do wish I had the chance to make your acquaintance earlier," my father rose and they shook hands in what seemed to be a strong test of masculinity.
"Pleasure to meet you Edward." My dad smiled back and then shot me a glance. I 100% knew Edward had caught and understood the thought behind. "What grade are you in again?"
Ahhh there it is, clever ol' dad, no way you're looking like a fifteen year old.
Seeming to have ignored my thought, Edward continued unphased. "I'm a freshman with Ara, but I'm sixteen now, I had to repeat a year after I was adopted." He must have had this spiel memorized for moments like this. My father seemed to freeze, looking at Edward then glancing at me, I could see the gears turning in his head and the recognition behind his eyes.
"Oh you're adopted?" He took a sip of the coffee in front of him, this man had been prepared to wait for hours and was going to down however much coffee that took.
"Yes, my whole family is actually, my parents are very dedicated to adopting the ones who are seen as too old in the system." Edward gave a genuine smile, knowing the truth behind the words "too old" was the most privileged of knowledge. I knew Edward as reading some kind of situation in my father's head, maybe he accredited our relationship to that of similarity.
"That's very noble of them." He said with a thoughtful look. "How many of you are there?"
"Five including myself," he said with a smile. "Three of us 16, two 15." It didn't take much guessing which two played 15, though how Jasper managed that was beyond me. Alice I could understand, she was so slight, but Jasper looked as if he had seen some shit. I heard a slight laugh from Edward, apparently the course of my thoughts caught him off guard.
The awkward (at least on my part) interaction lasted only ten more minutes, just a few obligatory father-meeting-the-daughters-boyfriend questions, and then Edward dismissed himself under the guise of an approaching curfew. "Well it was nice to meet you son, I hope to see you around here a little more." My father shot a knowing glance at me as he spoke to Edward. I walked Edward back to the door and smiled sheepishly.
"Window?" He asked in a low whisper as I fiddled to get the lock open.
I nodded slowly and popped the door open. "I'll see you at school." And with a quick and graceful motion he brushed a kiss across my cheek and exited the house, closing the door behind him. Heat was flooding my face and I'm sure he was laughing uncontrollably because the only tangible sound my brain could make was that of a tea kettle ready to be removed from the flame.
•••
November rolled in and out with little consequences, school kept me busy and if I wasn't busy there the Cullen's home was where I spent my time mostly. Jasper had finally come around to me and sat lazily on the couch, the snow had finally begun to stick and glistened on every surface past the glass wall. The wall shot a reflection of the perfectly decorated Christmas tree that Esme had set up in the entrance hall. Even more concerning was the growing pile of presents under said tree. I hadn't realized vampires celebrated Christmas, let alone so enthusiastically. The wonder of how they got the surprise of the gifts to work on Edward and Alice danced in my mind and before I could even finish my inhale to ask the question to Jasper who sat next to me on the couch, he turned his attention to me. "What's up?"
"I- how did you know I was going to ask a question?"
"Your curiosity just started screaming at me and you tend to have more subdued and almost unnoticeable emotions." He clarified.
Once over my shock I proceeded. "How do you surprise Edward and Alice with their gifts?" This earned a chuckle from Jasper as he began to coin his response.
"Alice's visions work based on a set decision, so the trick with her is to not make your decision until the very last minute if you can help it. But she tends to be just as excited for a gift even if she did see what you were getting her beforehand." He clarified. "Edward is a little more tricky, you can't think about the gift you are going to get him, and if you can help it also don't decide on that until the absolute final second because he can see Alice's visions just as well as she can."
"So basically it's mission impossible?"
"Basically." He chuckled and Alice appeared in a beautiful satin cocktail dress made of a deep emerald green fabric. My eyes nearly burst from my head as I watched her sweep in, the green complemented her skin tone so well, she was warmer toned than most of her family, though Jasper seemed tanner than the rest.
"Alice, you're so beautiful." The words stumbled from my mouth clumsily as I took her in. She also wore golden accessories that looked so delicate even on her petite body.
"Arabella, you're so kind." Her words were like honey and glass, sweet but almost sharp. An edge you wouldn't mind cutting yourself on. "You have to let me dress you someday, I haven't been able to work with long hair on someone in so long, and you have so much of it!"
"Oh absolutely, I love fashion wear. I do have a thing against wearing velvet though. And large cashmere pieces. They make me want to rip my skin off." I said with so much sincerity it made Alice falter for a moment.
"I'm sure I can work around that. You would look gorgeous in a golden silk dress with a cowl neckline!" Her mind seemed to be whirling as she looked to my future and saw random clothes she would dress me in. As those thoughts whirled in her mind Edward walked in laughing.
"Ara you are only enabling her." His head shook as he sat beside me with a fresh bowl of popcorn. "I left you for two and a half minutes and you've already become a Barbie for Alice to dress."
"I'm made of plastic. It's fantastic!" I shot back, earning another chuckle as he grabbed the remote to press play on "It's A Wonderful Life." Christmas was only a few days away after all, and I had been forcing Edward to watch all my favorite Christmas movies. We had already seen all the Tim Allen Santa Clause movies, as well as National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Christmas with the Kranks. Now we were getting deeper into some of the classics. Alice and Edward stiffened at the same time, and as the mood shifted with a sudden urgency, Jasper too stiffened. "What?" I found my voice and laid my hand on Edward's cool skin. Looking into Alice's eyes I saw the distant dazed look that lost all the playfulness. She was seeing something important, something she didn't expect. Once her eyes cleared and Edward relaxed I looked at them again. "What happened?"