Sacrificial Lamb Chapter 19
BPOV
I did my best to wipe away my tears and clean up my face a little before we got back to the house. I knew the others would be ready to go when we got there and I didn’t want them to see me looking a mess. We pulled up in front of the house; the moving truck and Carlisle’s Mercedes were already gone. All that remained was Emmett’s Jeep and now Edward’s Volvo. The rest of the family cars had been shipped to New Hampshire; we had the available drivers but Alice insisted that we make it a real road trip and ride together as much as we possibly could.
“Great, you guys are here, don’t even bother getting out of the car, we’re ready to go!” Alice was beside herself with excitement and she brought a genuine smile back to my face.
“Actually, I’m going to have a human moment before we go. Are you sure you guys really want to caravan with us the whole way? There are going to be lots of stops made.”
Her eyes shone with excitement. “Oh, I’m sure, it’s going to be lots of fun; just you wait and see!” She clapped her hands together. I shook my head and went inside to use the restroom and wash my face. I came back out and found everyone loaded up; Jasper, Alice, Rose and Emmett in the Jeep and Edward in the Volvo.
“We’ll ride this way for awhile and then maybe switch off after we stop to get Bella lunch. Let’s roll!” The Wedding Nazi had become the Car Trip Nazi and none of us was about to argue. I got in next to Edward and he led the way out of Forks. I felt a momentary pang again when we passed the sign that said “You’re leaving Forks” but before I could get too sad again Edward burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” He couldn’t be laughing at me, could he?
“Alice,” he said shaking his head. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Emmett gesturing wildly while Alice bounced up and down in the back seat. Jasper was grinning and Rose looked rather smug in the passenger seat.
“What are they up to?”
“Well I told you that Emmett broke Alice’s mirror this morning; she’s getting her revenge now.” How? I was mystified; she didn’t appear to be doing anything but Emmett looked very irritated.
“What did she do?”
“She got Rose to help her sabotage the radio. The only station that will come in is some opera station. Em hates opera with a passion. He thought he would be okay just shutting the radio off but Alice has a portable in the back with her and she’s playing more opera. Well that and some truly awful county. Em’s a rap and rock and roll guy. It’s really making him mad.”
I giggled as I watched Emmett’s expression in the rearview mirror. He kept reaching into the backseat trying to get the radio but Rose would smack him and point forward. Alice was laughing and it appeared that she was singing along. “I’m surprised that Rose would go along with it.”
Edward laughed. “Who do you think Emmett spends the majority of his time irritating? Rose may love him but he drives her nuts constantly. She’s quite happy to get payback now and then.” Emmett’s expression became one of tortured resignation as he sulked and stopped his attempts to get to the radio. Thankful that I wasn’t in that car I lay my head against the glass and closed my eyes. It had already been a stressful day and I wanted a nap.
I woke to a grumbling stomach and a slowing car. I glanced at Edward and he smiled at me. “Your stomach told me what your mouth couldn’t say while you were sleeping. We’re getting you some lunch.” He pulled in front of a McDonald’s. “Is this okay?”
“Sure.” I yawned and stretched a little. “Where are we anyway?”
“Some little town on the Washington/Montana border. We’re making pretty good time.” I smiled knowing that he took the opportunity to drive faster when I was conked out.
“Thanks for waiting until I was asleep before you put the pedal to the medal, lead foot.” He laughed and got out of the car. Before I could open the door he had it opened for me. Would I ever get used to that?
“Come on, Bella! Let’s go eat!” Emmett was entirely too excited for an activity that he wouldn’t be participating in.
“What’s going on with you, Emmett? Why are you so excited for me to eat?” I had to be suspicious; this was Emmett we were talking about.
He looked a little chagrined and scuffed his right foot on the ground. “No reason, I’ve just never been in a McDonald’s before. I want to check out that freaky clown.”
I laughed and linked an arm through his. “If you’re lucky, this McDonald’s will have a play area. There’s a pit with these balls in it that kids play in.” You’d have thought I’d just told him that grizzly bear was available on the value menu. His eyes lit up like it was Christmas and he bounded inside the restaurant, not bothering to wait for us. We walked in the door and heard a racket coming from the play area. Emmett had cannon-balled into those plastic balls. I prayed there were no children taken out in the commotion. Rose shook her head and muttered about overgrown children as she went to retrieve her husband.
I told Edward what I wanted and went to use the restroom. While I was sitting in the stall a door open and two girls came in giggling. “Did you see those guys? All three of them are gorgeous.” I smiled, knowing the guys to whom she was referring.
“I know! Did you see the one with bronze hair? What I wouldn’t do to that man!” I frowned. Knowing women thought about Edward and hearing them actually talk about him were two entirely different things.
“Too bad they’re all taken. Lucky girls.” We were lucky; we had three of the most beautiful men in the world.
“I think the bronze god is single…no way is he with that brown haired girl. She’s nowhere near his league. Probably his cousin or some poor relation.” I recoiled as if I’d been slapped in the face. Hearing someone verbalize what I constantly thought about myself hurt more than I could have imagined. I felt tears well in my eyes but I battled them back, I wasn’t going to let those girls hurt me. I glanced down at my fists, tightly closed together and my wedding ring caught my eye. I took a deep breath and calm settled back over me. No matter what they thought, no matter what I thought, Edward had chosen me. I may not be in his league but he loved me anyway.
With my resolve set I straightened my shoulders and exited the stall. The girl’s eyes widened as they saw me in the mirror. I just smiled and washed my hands and acted like nothing they’d said was of interest to me. As I turned toward the door I sent a smug smile in their direction. “Actually, the bronze god is very much taken. I’ll be sure to tell my husband that he has some admirers though.” I flashed my wedding ring at them and exited, feeling rather triumphant that I hadn’t let them get the better of me.
Edward was standing right outside the door, the look of concern on his face fading when he saw that I was fine. “Bella, you know that what they said…” I cut him off with a kiss. I timed that well as the girls had come out of the bathroom and saw the two us entwined together. I heard a sniff as the girls shuffled past.
I pulled back and smiled at him. “I’m fine, Edward. They didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. You are out of my league.” He opened his mouth to protest and I put a finger on his lips. “But you love me anyway and I know that. Nobody will ever make me doubt your love for me.” The fire died out of his eyes and morphed into smoldering embers as he kissed my finger. I had to bite back a moan; we were standing next to a seven foot giant clown for crying out loud.
“Someday, Bella, you’ll see yourself clearly. You are so far out of my league it’s laughable. Now come eat.” He led me to the table. Emmett was back, Rose had dragged him out of the play area.
“You are such a child, Emmett. You were scaring those little kids with all that thrashing. You could have hurt someone!” Emmett just nodded at Rose’s tirade and looked every bit like a little boy being chastised by his mother.
Alice reached over and grabbed my hand. “Are you okay, Bella? We heard what those awful girls said in there.”
“I’m fine, Alice, it was no big deal.”
“Of course it was, nobody should ever make you feel bad about yourself. You’re a Cullen now and that makes you completely fantastic. Those evil cows don’t know a thing about being attractive.” Immensely cheered I bit into my cheeseburger.
“Hey Bella, what is a happy meal?” Emmett asked.
“It’s this little box that comes with a burger and small fries and a prize.”
“Prize? What kind of prize?”
I shrugged. “Whatever they’re giving away this week.” I glanced at the board. “Looks like it’s Transformers this week.”
Emmett’s face lit up. “Transformers? Like the movie and cartoons and stuff?”
“Yes, Em, just like the movie.” He was up and out of his seat without another word. I continued eating and was just finishing up when Emmett came back with his hands full of happy meals. He put one in front of each of his family members.
“Get out your toys, let’s do this thing.” I watched in amusement as my vampire family started playing with the little plastic toys. “Dammit, I broke mine, give me yours Rose.” She refused, seemingly fascinated by the transformation from robot to car. I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me, Rose loved cars. Emmett went back and got more happy meals, stacking the food in front of me and gathering up his toys.
“Emmett, I’m full. Even if I wasn’t I couldn’t eat 15 cheeseburgers and fries.” He just grunted at me and continued playing with his toys. “Are you guys ready to go yet?” We stopped so I could eat and they all get caught up in the magic that is McDonald’s. Even Edward was playing.
“Hey, Em, I want that yellow and black one, I’ll trade you my truck for that.”
“Alice, you’re into Transformers?”
She shrugged. “Not exactly, but that one is just so cute, it looks like a little bee.” Emmett pondered for a second but then saw he had a second bee-like one and so he made the trade.
“Seriously, can we get out of here; you can play with your toys in the car.” I felt like a mother all of a sudden. No wonder Carlisle and Esme drove ahead.
After a little more prodding I got everybody to head toward the vehicles. On the way out the door we passed the girls who had talked about me in the bathroom. Before I could work up a smirk both of them burst into tears, loud wails racking their bodies. I started in surprise and just continued out the door.
“Dude, Jas that was awesome!” Emmett boomed, clapping his brother on the back.
Jasper just grinned. “Nobody insults my sister.” I felt a warm glow spread inside of me; Jasper had used his ability to get back at them for me.
“Thanks, Jasper.” I was surprised when he put a hesitant arm around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze.
“Nothing to thank me for, you’re family, we defend our family. Speaking of crying, Emmett, you still owe me a hundred bucks from the wedding.”
Emmett shot him a look of disbelief. “No way, man, you cheated.”
“What is this about?” I asked, figuring they bet on me tripping down the aisle or something.
“Emmett bet that Mike Newton would cry at the wedding, I bet that Eric Yorkie would. He did and I won.”
“He only cried because you made him!”
“How do you know? Besides, you didn’t say I couldn’t when we made the bet.”
Emmett’s face fell and he slapped some money in Jasper’s hand. “Cheat.” Jasper just grinned and headed toward the Jeep, pocketing his winnings.
Rose fiddled with the radio and all of a sudden some loud rock music came blaring out of the speakers. “You’ve been punished enough.” Emmett whooped with joy, happy again, and got back in the driver’s seat. I settled down into the Volvo and basked in the craziness of my wacky family.
Hours and a couple of pit stops later, at which Emmett insisted on buying me candy and soda because according to him that’s what people on road trips should eat, we stopped for dinner. Although Emmett lobbied for McDonald’s again I wanted to actually sit down and order. We selected an Olive Garden and were seated in a quiet corner. As usual stares and whispers followed my gorgeous family everywhere they went but they ignored it. Jasper and Emmett had their heads bent together discussing something and Edward let out a laugh.
“What are they doing now?”
“Betting, again.”
“Betting on what? How quickly it will take me to slop food on myself?”
Emmett’s eyes lit up. “No, but that’s a great idea. I say three minutes after she gets her lasagna.”
Jasper studied me with narrowed eyes. “Five minutes. Another hundred?” Emmett nodded and they shook hands. I just sighed knowing that one of them would likely claim the pot.
“Alright, so what are you betting on other than that?”
Jasper laughed. “Emmett has to collect an item off everyone in the restaurant, undetected.”
“He’s going to steal?” I couldn’t imagine it; the Cullen’s had enough money to buy anything they wanted.
“No, just borrow. We have to set some ground rules though, Em.”
“What rules? I don’t do rules! The rules are there are no rules!”
Edward spoke up. “No, we need some rules. We can’t have you getting caught with 100 wallets or something.”
“That’s right.” Jasper nodded. “No wallets, purses, or jewelry of any kind. We can’t take anything of value even if we do plan on returning it.”
“Alright, I’ll meet you at the car when I’m done. Rose, you keep an eye on my other bet, the instant Bella slops I want to know about it.” He was off in a flash and I didn’t see him again while waiting for my food or even after it came. I occasionally felt a gust of wind and I’d glance at Edward and he’d nod to let me know that was indeed his brother running past but he was too fast to catch with the human eye. Soon enough, a bit of lasagna landed up on my shirt. I glanced from the mess up to Jasper who smiled with grim satisfaction. “Four minutes, 39 seconds, that’s a win for me!” Everybody laughed and Edward dipped a napkin in his water and cleaned me up as best he could.
Once we were finished we headed out into the parking lot. I followed everyone over to Emmett’s jeep. Behind it, there was a pile of paraphernalia that made my eyes widen. Hats, scarves, keys, key chains, hair ties, aprons, chef’s hats, shoes, shirts, belts…pretty much anything you could have wanted was right there. He even had a baby’s pacifier. “Em, you stole from a baby?” Jasper’s voice was tinged with disbelief.
“Hey, you said everybody in the restaurant. I’m giving it back, so you could say I borrowed from a baby.”
When Rose spoke up her voice was tight with anger. “Emmett McCarty, is that a g-string?” Emmett nodded and grinned triumphantly at his brothers, clearly that was his prize of the collection. “How in the hell did you get a g-string?” Rose’s voice held the threat of imminent death and Emmett was wise enough to realize that maybe he shouldn’t take such joy in that item.
“Now Rosie, you know I wouldn’t do anything inappropriate! This woman was wearing these really, really low cut jeans. I mean, you could see well down her pants and the g-string was right there. You know I wouldn’t have taken it but that was the only item I could get off of her. She didn’t have keys and I couldn’t take her purse.” The last came out in a whine. “I ripped it off really carefully…she didn’t even feel a thing!” Rose’s lips were twitching as she tried to hold on to the frown. She failed and joined the rest of us in laughter.
“Ha, I want to see that girl’s face when she realizes her underwear is gone! I’ll help you return everything.” Rose and Emmett gathered up the spoils and ran back to the restaurant in a blur of activity.
I turned to Edward. “Are road trips usually like this for your family?”
Jasper spoke up. “No, not at all, we usually just drive straight from one place to another. Your presence is giving us an excuse to have some fun, so thank you for that.” I smiled and told him I was glad to contribute in my own little way.
Emmett and Rosalie came back shaking with laughter. “Her face! You should have seen her face!”
“Baby, that was hilarious, I can’t believe you did that.” Edward was laughing along with them.
“Clue the rest of us in, please.” I hated their superior skills and hearing, I had no idea what was so funny.
Emmett wrapped his arms around Rose and placed his head on her shoulder. “So we return everything and nobody is the wiser. The only thing left was the g-string and there was no way of returning that without some kind of explanation.”
Rose took up the story, still giggling. “So I told Emmett he could keep the underwear but you know I wanted to see her reaction to finding out she wasn’t wearing any.” Emmett proudly whipped the black underwear out of his pocket and tied it on the Jeep’s antenna like a flag of victory. “So she stands up from her chair and bends down to get her purse and Em was right, those were really low cut jeans. You could see half of her butt!”
Emmett cut in then. “So Rosie walks right up to her and acts completely offended. She starts yelling about the girl flashing the entire restaurant. She reached behind her and felt no underwear and I swear, Bella, she turned redder than I’ve even seen you get. She went running to the bathroom, holding her jeans up as high as she could get them. It was priceless.”
I felt like maybe I should feel bad for the girl but then Edward said that she wasn’t very nice anyway, her thoughts were anything but kind. I squelched the little germ of sympathy and laughed along with the family.
“Alright Em, you get double for that because it was epic. What shall we do next?” Emmett and Jasper hopped in the Jeep and started plotting their next task. Edward took my hand and led me over to the Volvo.
“Why don’t you lie down in the back for the night, you can sleep and we’ll drive nonstop until you have another human moment.” I was amenable to that plan, my stomach was more than full and I was sleepy. I climbed into the makeshift bed Edward had provided, soft pillows and blankets, it was like being in a bed.
“Goodnight, Edward, I love you.” I yawned and closed my eyes.
“Goodnight, sweetheart, I love you too.”
That was all I heard and I didn’t wake until the sun started to peak through the clouds in the morning. I sat up and reached my hand over to tangle in Edward’s hair.
“Good morning, are you hungry?” I nodded. “We’ll get off at the next exit.” A quick stop and we were back on the road. I enjoyed the scenery for awhile before asking Edward where we were.
“Not too far from Chicago, actually.” There was wistfulness to his tone that I’d never heard before. Chicago, his first home, his human home. I touched his cheek to let him know that I knew where his mind was.
“Did you want to stop there, look around?”
“No, baby, I don’t remember anything from there anyway. It’s not home anymore.” I threaded my fingers through his and rested my head on his shoulder, just being there for him as he was always there for me. We left his hometown behind and I was hungry again. We stopped in Gary, Indiana, this time at a Burger King. Emmett got some more collectibles and a crown, which he insisted upon wearing as we drove away. I laughed at his antics. Emmett could find the fun in anything.
Our final stop for dinner was in Ohio. As this was the last leg of the trip, Emmett and Jasper wanted to get back to their fun. The two of them huddled together as I ate a delicious steak. They got up together and disappeared. I wondered what they were up to but figured I’d find out soon enough. They both came back wearing mile wide grins. “Oh come on you, two, what if there are cameras out there?”
Jasper shook his head. “There’s not, I checked and so did Alice.” Edward shook his head.
“Come on, Eddie, have a little fun, it’s the last time we can do this. Bella won’t have to make human stops next time we travel, though I totally think we’ll have to stop just so we can play again!” Emmett wasn’t letting anyone rain on his parade.
Edward raised an eyebrow at him. “I can have fun.”
“Oh yeah? Prove it, brother dear.” Edward gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and got up from the table. He wandered over to a woman sitting in the booth next to us. She was in her 40’s and wearing some skimpy leopard print top that she was spilling out of.
“Hello Marly, my name is David.” The woman’s eyes widened as Edward used her name.
“How…how did you know my name?”
“I’m a psychic, I know everything.” Emmett let out a laugh.
“Oh…uh…”
“Would you like to know what I’m picking up from you?”
She looked petrified but nodded. “You want my brother over there, that big guy with the muscles.” Emmett’s laughter cut off abruptly. She looked embarrassed but nodded. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, he likes you too. He has a thing for older women.”
A feral smile came over her face and she began plumping her hair. “Hey, I do not prefer older women!” Emmett protested softly.
“Sure you do, man, Rose has a decade on you.” Jasper pointed out helpfully.
“That’s different,” Emmett spluttered, looking panicky as the woman got up and started walking in his direction. “Rosie, help me.”
She laughed. “Sorry, you’re on your own big boy. I can’t begin to compete with her.” Rose laughed as her eyes traveled down the leopard print and took in the much too short miniskirt, stocky legs and black heels. Marly stopped and stood right next to Emmett. He glanced up at her and she took that as encouragement.
“Hello there, handsome.” She ran her fake nails along the back of Emmett’s shirt. Emmett shifted in his chair but couldn’t get past her without causing some kind of scene. “What’s your name?”
“Mike, Mike Newton.” His face lit up in a smile. Jasper started shaking with silent laughter. His laughter cut off abruptly when another woman approached our table, looking remarkably similar to Marly. She stopped and stationed herself at Jasper’s side. She was also in her 40’s but she wrote a short black silk top and zebra striped skirt with black tights and black boots. Alice pressed into my side, her head buried in my hair as she fought the laughter.
“Your brother told me you were as into me as I am you,” she announced, running her fingers through Jasper’s hair.
“Uhhh…somehow I don’t think that could be true.” He muttered, tugging on Alice’s hand. She pulled it away and smiled brightly at the woman.
“Of course it’s true, my brother is just shy.” Jasper gasped as Alice left him to his own devices. “We’ll just leave you ladies to get to know our brothers. Bella, are you finished?” She took my arm and the three of us ducked into the restroom, where we could watch everything play out. Marly took Rose’s vacated chair and the other woman took Alice’s.
“My name is Nicky. What’s yours?” Jasper gulped. “I’m Tyler.” Her fingers continued to thread through his hair. “Nice to meet you, Tyler. Your brother said you’ve been checking me out all night, why didn’t you just come over?”
“Well, I didn’t think it would be appropriate.”
“I like inappropriate things,” she purred, running her other hand along his thigh. Alice and Rose were clutching each other, howling with laughter now.
“Why don’t they run?”
“They’re trying not to make a scene, for one thing. For another, they’re just not used to women touching them like that. Usually people stay away from us. Edward found some real desperate cougars that weren’t about to take no for an answer though.” Alice explained.
“Uh, Michael, we really should go find our family. I’m sorry, we’re just passing through.”
“Well surely you have time for a little fun.”
“No, no we don’t.” Emmett was absolutely silent, sitting completely still as Marly kept caressing his shoulders.
“You’re so big. Are you big everywhere?” Oh my God.
“She doesn’t know the half of it,“ Rose chortled with glee. “If she did she’d never let him go.”
“Should we go rescue them?” I felt guilty, the boys looked so uncomfortable.
“Hell no! That’s what they get for messing with humans the whole trip. Maybe this will teach them a lesson.”
“Yeah,” Alice added. “Besides Jasper is going to figure a way out of it in a second anyway.”
Just as she spoke his face suddenly lit up. I watched as he appeared to concentrate for a moment and then both women flushed with embarrassment. They got to their feet and started apologizing for their behavior and took off.
“Thank God. Jasper, you are a lifesaver.” Emmett was up and headed out the door in case the women recovered and came back.
“What did he do, Alice?”
“He made them feel embarrassed. Their reaction was to get out of the situation to save face.” Ah, nifty skill Jasper had. We left the restaurant and found the boys confronting Edward, who was wearing a huge smile.
“Dude, how could you do that to us, cougars?” Emmett gave Edward a shove that had him falling back a few feet.
“Hey, you told me to have a little fun, that’s what I was doing!”
“Next time I’ll just let you be your stick-in-the-mud self then. And you!” Emmett rounded on Rose. “How could you let that woman violate me like that?”
Rosalie just laughed at him. “I figured it was a good reminder of just how well have you it. Next time you think I’m being overly bitchy maybe you’ll remember what you have.”
Jasper raised his eyebrow at Alice and she shrugged. “I knew you’d get out of it and it was funny. Your face was priceless!” She made no apologies.
“Hey, what prank did you two pull anyway?”
Emmett looked confused for a second and then his face cleared. “Oh, we moved the cars.”
“What do you mean you moved the cars?”
“We took all the cars in this lot and put them in the lot of the restaurant next door; moved those over here.”
I looked at him in disbelief. “You hot-wired cars?”
Emmett looked at me pityingly. “No, Bella, we picked them up and moved them. Vampires, remember?” Like I could forget. Though I did occasionally forget just how strong they were; moving cars with their bare hands, for crying out loud.
Edward rolled his eyes. “Real subtle guys.”
“More subtle than what you did!” Emmett protested.
Edward just grinned. “Let’s hit the road shall we?” He grabbed my hand and led me to the car to lie down again. “When you wake up in the morning, we’ll be home.” Home. I couldn’t wait to see it.
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