BPOV
There really was no other word for it other than “wow”. Making love to Edward as a human versus as a vampire was like comparing night and day. I’d thought our sex life was pretty much as good as it could get before but now that I knew what I’d been missing all this time I was a little mad at him for not turning me sooner. But then, I couldn’t really be mad at him because of just how difficult it must have been for him to even touch me before I was turned. I know that I was using entirely too much force when I touched him; had he been human I would surely have killed him without trying. He was amazing.
I watched him as we ran back to the house to celebrate my birthday. I rolled my eyes at the thought of another birthday celebration…my red eyes. That was just weird, looking in the mirror and seeing me but not really seeing me. I recognized myself, sure, but it was like looking at a prettier more polished sister with demon eyes. It was disconcerting, to say the least.
And just how was it that my husband, the picture of perfection to me with my human eyes, only got more incredible looking through my vampire ones? That didn’t seem fair…I finally looked a little like I belonged at his side but then he had to get even better looking. He’d always be more beautiful, I guess. Still, he was mine.
Edward stopped running so I did too. That was another strange thing. I went from a dead run to a dead stop without any forward momentum. Three days ago I would have face planted; well more likely Edward would have caught me and stopped me from doing so, but still. Everything was just so different!
“How are you doing it, love?”
“Doing what?”
“Making everything seem so easy? Your typical newborn is completely unfocused but you seem just like you did before your change.”
Was I? I didn’t feel like anything was easy, my mind was wandering every which way. Even when I was hunting I hadn’t failed to notice that I could actually see and hear things miles away. I swear I heard a beetle walking across a leaf. I felt bombarded by all the new sounds and sensations but I kept telling myself to focus and it mostly worked.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s easy, Edward. There’s so much happening and it’s hard to stay focused on one thing but I just tell myself to concentrate and I do.”
He took my hand in his and kissed my palm. “You amaze me.”
“So you’re saying that once again, I’m not normal?” That figured, I was never a typical human and now I wasn’t the usual vampire.
“Well I’m hardly one to define what is normal, for a vampire. As you know, I am not exactly traditional myself, but in this case, being abnormal is a good thing. If you were typical, we wouldn’t have made love in the woods a few minutes ago.”
“Well I’m glad I’m not normal then!”
He drew me into his arms and pressed his lips to mine. “As am I, love, as am I.” Was it possible to want him again, already? I gripped his hair and increased the pressure of my lips on his. He winced a bit and pulled back from me. “Don’t forget, you’re a bit stronger than I am right now.”
“Oh my God, did I hurt you? Did I hurt you in the woods? I kind of thought I might have but you didn’t say anything and I got caught up in how good it felt and…”
“Bella, you didn’t hurt me, you were just perfect.”
“But I hurt you just now. How do I know when I’m using too much force?”
He caressed my cheek and I leaned into him. “You’ll learn. It takes time but we’ll all practice with you. Emmett, especially, will be helpful on that front. He’s so strong and he had to learn how to channel it so that he could go to school with humans. We’re all good at holding back but he’s the best.” Okay, I would get Emmett to teach me, which should be fun if nothing else.
“Edward, how are you doing?”
His brow wrinkled in confusion. “What do you mean, love?”
“How are you feeling now that I’m different?”
His face cleared and was transformed by a breathtaking smile. “You’re not different, Bella. You’re still you, at least to me. Yes, you’re stronger and your appearance has changed a little, but you’re still the same woman I love with every fiber of my being.” Everything about me felt lighter with that declaration. “Did you honestly think my feelings for you would change?”
I shrugged. “Not really, I mean, I guess I sort of did but it wasn’t really about not trusting your feelings for me? It was more like fear of the unknown. Does that make sense?”
Surprisingly, he laughed. “More than you know. While you were changing I was afraid that you would wake up and not remember who I was. When you said my name,” he broke off and looked at me as if he was a drowning man and I was his lifeline, “it was one of the best moments of my life. I was nearly as relieved as I was when you woke up in that hospital bed after James’ attack. If you didn’t know me anymore, if you didn’t love me anymore…I don’t know what I would do.”
I threw my arms around him. “I could never forget you! I’d forget my own name before I forgot you, Edward.” He returned my embrace, pulling me too him tightly, as if he was trying to physically make me part of him. I buried my face in his neck and just breathed in his honey and sunshine scent. “My change was harder on you than it was on me, wasn’t it?”
I felt his laugh rumble beneath me. “Yes, it probably was, but that’s only thanks to Jasper. I’m sure if he hadn’t been there, it would have been much harder on you and on me for that matter, because his presence helped keep me sane. Knowing you weren’t hurting that badly helped me immeasurably, but it didn’t stop all the worries that I’d done something wrong or that you wouldn’t remember me or that you’d hate this life and hate me because you did.”
I pulled back, gripping his shoulders tightly. I saw him wince and loosened my hold. “I’m sorry, but you have to know I will never, ever hate you. This was my choice…”
He cut me off. “Our choice.”
I smiled at those words, for it truly was. “Our choice then. You gave me what I asked for, Edward, just as you always do. Eternity with you is a gift I can’t even begin to repay.”
He pressed his lips to mine again. “I get the same gift, so I think we’re pretty much even, don’t you?” Rather than answering with words I answered with my body, pressing against him and pondering ruining another set of clothes. Surely Alice would see and…
“Bellaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Edwarddddddddddddddddd. No way are you going to make us wait any longer! And no, I will not bring you any more clothes if you shred them again. In fact, I will make sure all of us are stationed around your house so that we’ll see you both in all your glory when you finally come home.”
“Alice.” Edward sighed. “She’ll do it too. Of course, we could just stay in the woods indefinitely.”
I laughed and pulled away from him, begrudgingly. “We’d better do what she says. Even if we stay out here forever, she’d see what we were doing and find a way to disrupt us anyway.”
He laced his fingers with my own and we walked back toward home. “Come on, you have a birthday party awaiting you.”
“Ugh, birthdays. I thought I was officially done with those.”
“You thought that? With this family? With Alice? Really?” He sounded completely incredulous.
“Well, what would we celebrate birthdays for? None of us is getting any older now.” I sounded petulant and I knew it but they all knew I hated parties. That didn’t magically change along with the rest of me.
He drew my hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. “I will always celebrate your birth, both of them. One brought you to me; the other will keep you with me forever. Is that not worth celebrating?”
He had me but I growled at him. Holy crap, I growled! I tried it again and broke off in a laugh. “That is so cool!” Edward just shook his head at me and chuckled. “Listen, jaded vampire, this is all new to me and I’m going to enjoy it all!”
“Well, how about you enjoy running then? Alice is getting impatient and we both know that dealing with an irritable Alice is not remotely enjoyable.” I took off, Edward right on my heels as we cleared the woods and approached the house. Sure enough, Alice was pacing back and forth in front of the building, a scowl on her pretty face.
“There you are! I’ve been waiting three days to celebrate Bella’s new life and you make me wait longer? And then you think about making me wait some more? What is wrong with you two?” She threw her hands up and looked at both of us waiting for an answer.
“Um, sorry?” I didn’t know what I was supposed to say, I wasn’t sorry either. I wanted my husband and I had him. I want to have him again and she was keeping me from that. It was annoying but I didn’t want to set her off by telling her so.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You are not sorry, neither one of you is. Why I bother planning anything is beyond me. Nobody cooperates! It’s all hormones and hunger and whining. Well that’s enough; you can get back to your newlywed fun later; right now we’re going to have a party.”
“Partayyyyyyy!” I giggled at Emmett’s roar from the living room.
“What kind of party are we even having, it’s not like I want to have cake anymore. Do you have a dead deer in there?” I was joking but I kind of wasn’t, even though I was full I still wanted more blood. Did the hunger ever abate?
“As if I would have some dead animal fouling up Esme’s living room! What do you take me for? Just because we’re not having food doesn’t mean we can’t have presents. Plus…” a look of hesitation crossed over her face.
“Plus what?”
She looked at me anxiously. “Your mother called and you really need to call Charlie. Do you think you can handle talking to them?” Could I? My mind kind of darted all over the place but talking on the phone I wouldn’t be tempted to eat them, which was undoubtedly a good thing.
“I think so.” What if my mom asked me about school? I was a terrible liar, that hadn’t changed. What if Charlie asked when he was going to see me again? I wouldn’t burst into tears but I would want to. What if Jake or Billy was with him when I talked to him? Would they know? Could vampires have panic attacks? It felt like I was having one although I didn’t appear to be showing any outward signs of trouble because Alice and Edward were looking at me like I was perfectly fine.
Edward twined his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. I felt instantly calmer at his touch. “You can handle it, love.”
“But what do I say about school when they ask? And about visiting?”
He squeezed me tightly and kissed my neck. “Just tell them that classes are going well. As for visiting, I think it’s best to buy a little time there. Tell Charlie we plan on doing Thanksgiving here but you’ll probably be home for Christmas.” But I wouldn’t be home for Christmas, ever again. I closed my eyes and let the guilt wash over me. I wasn’t sorry for the choice I’d made but I was sorry that it was going to hurt people; especially my dad. He’d been such a rock for me over the past couple of years. I hated to hurt him.
“And when Christmas approaches?”
He turned me around and took my face between his hands, his golden eyes boring into mine. “We have two choices; you lie again and say we’re going on holiday somewhere.” He traced his thumb along my cheekbone. “Or we fake our deaths. Our plane could go down on the way to Forks maybe.”
“No!” I could not do that to my father, he’d feel like my death was his fault. But I couldn’t make him think I didn’t want to spend time with him either. If I put him off about visiting he’d think that he didn’t matter to me anymore. “We can’t do it on the way to Forks. He’d blame himself.” Why hadn’t I thought of all this? We needed a plan.
“Bella, sweetheart, we have time. Just tell him that we won’t be home for Thanksgiving. That buys us a couple of months to figure things out, okay?” Yes, we just needed time to plan everything.
“Okay. I’ll tell him we’re traveling over the holiday, since school will be out. But, do I sound different?”
“You still sound like you, Bella. Alice, reassure her will you?”
Alice’s golden eyes unfocused for a moment as she looked ahead to see if I handled everything. “It’s going to be fine, Bella. They’re not going to notice a thing. You know your mother; she has more to tell you than you have to tell her. And your father has little to say. It’s actually a wonder they didn’t work out.” I laughed, on the surface my father and mother did appear a little bit like Jasper and Alice but they didn’t have that soul mate quality that those two possessed in spades.
The front door burst open and Emmett glared at us. “Are you going to stand outside having panic attacks all day or are you going to come in and celebrate with the rest of us?”
“We’re coming!” His face melted into an impish grin as he ran over to me and scooped me up, carrying me inside with Alice and Edward trailing along behind us. “You were awesome against that bear, Bella! What did you think of it? Tell me everything!” He deposited me on the couch with a flourish and then sat on the coffee table, folding his hands between his massive tree trunk legs and looking at me with anticipation.
“Yes, Bella how was your first hunt?” Carlisle had his scientist face on again, looking exceedingly interested in everything I had to say.
I bit my lip and tried to think of an answer. “Well, it was weird.” I had to be honest. “It went well I think. I took down the deer with no problem and the blood was alright. It didn’t satisfy me, though, you know what I mean? It had this grassy taste?”
Emmett nodded and scrunched up his nose. “Herbivores. They just don’t taste the same. Now about the bear?” I laughed at his excitement.
“It tasted better. There was a certain tanginess to the blood. It’s hard to describe but it was more satisfying to me. Does that make sense?”
“Yes! And you know what’s even cooler? Different breeds have different flavor!” Emmett was gesturing wildly, I cringed away afraid that he’d inadvertently smack me with one of his huge arms. “Grizzlies are the best; they are sweet and tangy at the same time. Black bears, well you tasted one of those. Polar bears are sugary sweet; I consider them to be like my version of ice cream!”
I frowned; I couldn’t imagine myself eating a polar bear. They were so pretty. Then I thought of something. “Wait! Please tell me you haven’t eaten a panda bear?” I had a thing for pandas, Charlie had bought me a stuffed panda before I was born and it was still in a box at his house.
“Heck no! They’re endangered, for one thing. And they’re herbivores, for another, may as well eat a deer.”
Edward let out a loud laugh. “Why not tell her the third reason?”
Emmett crossed his arms. “There is no third reason.”
“Oh yes there is!” Everyone in the family was snickering and I was left out again.
“What? You guys and your secrets! I’m family now too, you know. Let me in on the joke.” I was irritated, I couldn’t help it. They all knew each other so well and had so many years together. Would I ever not feel like an outsider?
Edward slipped an arm around me. “I’m sorry, love, I know it’s frustrating for you. Em, tell her.”
“Fine!” He huffed. “I won’t eat a panda bear because I like them, okay? They’re cute and cuddly and I don’t want to kill one. I was going to try one, once, just because you know, I want to taste all bears, but I couldn’t. I walked right up to him and he was sitting there eating bamboo and he was ripe for the picking but I couldn’t do it.” He frowned at all of us, his body rigid as if waiting for us to laugh at him.
Jasper stepped up. “Not only didn’t he eat it, but he petted it and played with it for awhile.”
“So? He was cool, okay? I made him that ball out of leaves and we batted it around a bit. So what?”
I reached over and took one of Emmett’s balled up hands in my own. “Emmett? I think that’s very sweet. I happen to love pandas and I’m glad you befriended him instead of hurting him.” Emmett looked slightly mollified. “In fact, I hope this doesn’t bother you but I kind of think of you like a panda bear. You’re big but gentle and kind and cuddly.” I bit my lip, hoping I didn’t irritate him.
His face stretched in a mile wide grin and his dimples winked at me. He enveloped me in a hug, his giant body dwarfing mine. “I’ll always be your panda bear, little sis!” I laughed and hugged him back. “Now, did you like the bear, for real?”
I hastened to assure him that I did. “Yes, Emmett, it was much better than the deer.”
Alice giggled. “You should be honored, you know, Emmett doesn’t give up bears, ever. I found one once and he came running over and took it out before I could even pounce!”
“What? I like bears! Everyone knows it! And don’t make it sound like I didn’t hook you up later, I found you a whole herd of deer, didn’t touch one!”
“Because you ate my bear!” She stomped her little foot at the memory, causing the floor underneath us to rattle.
Emmett looked a little ashamed. “Everyone knows I eat the bears,” he mumbled.
“Thank you for letting me try one, Emmett.”
He grinned again. “Consider it one of your birthday presents; it probably won’t happen again unless I find a different breed I want you to sample. Speaking of presents!” He raced off and was back in seconds with some packages in his arms. “Happy birthday, Bella!” He tossed a box at me and I flinched away from it instinctively but somehow my arm reached out and caught it. I blinked in surprise.
Emmett’s laugh shook the room. “You actually have reflexes now. A day ago that totally would have hit you in the face unless Edward caught it for you.” It was true. This vampire thing was full of benefits. I could hear better, see better, move faster…I just had to try not to be too overwhelmed by all the sights and smells around me. “That one’s from me. Open it!”
I tried to remove the wrapping carefully but after I placed one finger underneath the seam all the paper ripped away. “Oops.” Everyone laughed. I looked at the book in my lap. Why in the world would Emmett give me a self help book? “The Key to Self Fulfillment?” Everyone started laughing, except Edward who was glaring at Emmett. “Um, thanks Emmett.” He smiled brightly at me, looking so pleased with himself that I couldn’t ask him why he thought I needed help. Maybe he was trying to pump up my self esteem.
“You’re welcome. This is from Rose.” He handed me another package, wrapped beautifully in pink paper. Alice’s doing no doubt. I glanced over at Rosalie, who was sitting perched on the couch with her arms crossed. I was surprised she was giving me anything but wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Thanks, Rosalie.”
She nodded at me. “It goes with Emmett’s.”
I again tore off the wrapping without using any effort whatsoever. It was another book. At least this one made sense, when you considered the person giving it to me anyway. “The Key to Sexual Satisfaction.” I was absurdly grateful that I could no longer blush because I knew I’d be bright red right now. Edward growled as everybody else started cracking up with laughter, though Carlisle and Esme both tried to contain their laughter somewhat; I saw Esme bite her lip and Carlisle covered his mouth as if he were coughing. I put my hand on Edward’s knee and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry; I won’t ever have use for this one.” I whispered it to him even though I knew they could all hear me anyway. Rose just smirked at me.
“There’s a whole chapter dedicated to the cli…”
Edward cut her off. “Enough, Rose!”
“Just trying to help, brother dear.” Rose looked and sounded like the cat that ate the canary.
I quickly stepped in before Edward could get any angrier with her. “Okay, what’s next?” As if I was that anxious to get more gifts.
Alice shot a wary glance between Rose and Edward but danced over to me with a bright yellow package in her arms. “This is from me. Here, I’ll open it!” And before I could attempt to open it myself, the paper was gone and a scrapbook was before me. The cover was a wedding picture of Edward and me, taken during our first kiss. I melted at the site of the happiness on both of our faces.
“Oh, Alice, thank you!” I flipped through the pages, pictures that chronicled my relationship with Edward; pictures from prom and us at the house and even a few Edward had taken of us in the meadow. It was perfect. Edward’s rigid form relaxed next to me as he took in the photos. A sudden flash caused us both to look up at a grinning Alice, taking yet another photo of us. “For the next book!”
I laughed. “I don’t know if I want to see the red eyes but it’ll be fun to look at the differences as the years go by.” Edward’s hand caressed my back as he looked at the pictures.
He touched a photo of us dancing at our wedding. “So beautiful.” He looked up at me and cupped my face in his hands. “So beautiful.” He pressed his lips to mine and I forgot where we were for a moment. I was brought back into reality by the sound of Emmett clearing his throat, loudly. I frowned at him and pulled away, resigning myself to not being alone with my husband until later.
Jasper came up and handed me a small package, looking almost shy as he did so. I took it and was thankful that there was no paper, it was just a box. I lifted the lid and gently brought out the contents. It was a gold button with a clasp on it. It was pretty but I wasn’t sure quite what I was supposed to do with it.
“It’s a charm, for your bracelet.” Oh, the bracelet that Jacob had given me. I hadn’t worn it since that fateful day in the woods, when he kissed me and I had to tell him goodbye. “I know you haven’t worn it lately but you have the heart from Edward on there and the wolf from Jacob and I wanted you to have something from me. I thought you’d want to wear it, to remember.” I did actually but I didn’t want Edward to feel bad about it.
He smiled gently at me. “I think it’s a lovely gift, don’t you Bella?” It was his way of telling me he didn’t mind if I wore it.
“It’s wonderful, Jasper, I can’t wait to put it on. What does the button signify?”
“It’s from my confederate uniform.” I stared at him in astonishment. He was giving me something that was well over a hundred years old, something he’d had forever. He smiled gently. “I gave Alice my sash the day I met her and I thought I’d give you something special to me to welcome you fully into the family.” I stood up and wrapped my arms around him, truly touched that he would give me something that important to him.
“Thank you, Jasper.” Alice beamed at him and clapped her hands at my reaction.
“I told him you’d love it! Here, this is from Esme!” She handed me another package that I tore into carefully. It was another photo album, but this one was from my youth.
“I got the pictures from Renee and Charlie and put it together for you. I got copies made and gave them each a book as well.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and threw my arms around her. Now I’d always have pictures of myself and my parents, no matter how many years went by. Esme enveloped me in her soft embrace, still holding me gently as if I was the fragile human I’d been the last time we hugged. I would have been crying if I could. It felt weird not to have the release of tears at this moment. No crying, no blushing, no longer a klutz but somehow I was still me. It was very surreal.
“My turn, I guess.” Carlisle handed me a gold box tied with a ribbon. I yanked on it but instead of untying it split open. Fortunately I held the box in my left hand so it didn’t fall toward the ground. I lifted the lid and was at an immediate loss for words again. There, nestled into the cotton, was a Cullen crest pendant, just like Rose, Alice and Esme wore. It was on a silver chain. I lifted it out and Carlisle took it from me and slipped it over my head.
“I would have given this to you earlier, for you’ve been a part of our family for two years now, but Alice convinced me to wait until you were officially one of us. I hope that it’s okay?” I just nodded mutely and wrapped my arms around him. I was one of them. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and returned my hug.
“You know I’m not big on gifts but you all have gone above and beyond. This is the best birthday, ever.”
“It’s not over yet, love. I still have some things for you.” I frowned at Edward; he knew I didn’t need him to get me anything. He chuckled at my predictable reaction. “Don’t worry, one I’ve had for awhile and it’s really part of our bargain, the others are small and purely for my enjoyment.” Well that was cryptic. What had he done now? “I’ll go get it, why don’t you call your parents while I do?”
Nerves immediately returned at the idea of calling Renee and Charlie. Still, it was better to get it over with. Emmett tossed my cell phone from across the room, firing it at me like it’d been shot out of a canon. I caught it but when I closed my hand around it I heard a distinctive crunching noise. I opened my hand and the phone was in pieces. “Oops, my bad! Sorry, little sis, I didn’t think about the fact that you have no concept of your strength yet.” That was an understatement. I frowned down at the phone remnants in my hand.
Alice sighed and brought her phone over to me. “Here, use mine. But I’m going to dial and hold the phone!” She pressed in a number and put the phone on speaker. I bit my lip worriedly as the ringing was cut off by the sound of my mother’s voice.
“Hello?”
My mouth opened but nothing came out. Come on, Bella, you can do this. It’s just a phone conversation. She doesn’t know that anything has changed, act like it hasn’t. Stay calm and focus!
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, baby! Happy birthday! I can’t believe you’re nineteen today! I can’t believe I’m old enough to have a nineteen year old. Well, I’m really not, of course, I was so young when I had you. Don’t you do the same, Bella. Live a little. You’re using protection, aren’t you?” Oh God. Emmett and Jasper snickered while Rose smirked at me.
“Mom, you’re on speaker phone and don’t worry about it.”
“Hi everyone! And course I’ll worry about it. I’m far too young to be a grandmother. Is Carlisle there?”
Carlisle squeezed my shoulder. “Yes, Renee, I’m here, we were just giving Bella her gifts.” Nice attempt at a redirect Carlisle. Too bad I know my mother and it won’t work.
“Oh, good. Carlisle, you’ve put Bella on the pill right? I assume you’re her doctor and if not, you can still get her a prescription for birth control. We don’t want any accidents.” If I hadn’t just technically died I would surely die as I listened to my mother ask my father-in-law about contraception.
“Uh, yeah, it’s taken care of, Renee. Nothing to worry about there.” Carlisle shifted awkwardly and sent me a look of quiet panic.
“I’ll say!” Emmett muttered. Jasper butted him with his shoulder to keep him quiet.
“Good! Now, baby, I can’t believe we haven’t talked in the past couple of weeks. It’s my fault, of course, I lost my phone. Again. Can you believe it?” Yes, I could. Renee was always losing things, including me when I was little. “So, tell me all about Paris! Did you have that spontaneous sex like I suggested?”
“Mom! We are not talking about this right now.” Edward was back from wherever he’d gone to get my present, chuckling quietly at the topic he’d walked in on.
“Well really, Bella, it’s not like they don’t all know you’re having sex! You’re newlyweds! I’m not asking for details…yet. I’m just asking if you gave it a try and if it was everything I told you it would be.”
I sighed; if I didn’t answer she’d only keep asking. “Yes, mother.”
“Yes to both questions?”
“Yes!”
“So, outside then?”
“Mom, you said you weren’t going to ask for details.” I closed my eyes as Edward’s arms snaked back around me, pulling me to him and kissing me softly on the cheek.
“I’m not asking for a play by play, Bella. I just want to know if you were outside.”
I turned around and buried my head in Edward’s neck, inhaling his scent and longing to be alone with him. He stroked my hair and answered for me. “Yes, Renee, we were in the woods in the rain.” I looked up at him in shock. “Let’s just say that I’m immune to your mother’s questioning at this point, Bella,” he whispered to me. She must really have done a number on him at the wedding.
“Thank you, Edward. It’s nice that somebody will answer my questions with more than two words.”
Emmett grinned mischievously. “That time!”
“Who is that?”
Emmett ran over and snatched the phone out of Alice’s hand. “It’s Emmett, Mrs. Dwyer.”
“Oh please dear, call me Renee. What did you mean by that time?”
I shook my head at him frantically and Edward said his name quietly but there was no stopping Emmett without creating a scene. “I mean that they just went at it in the woods about an hour ago.” I groaned and buried my face back in Edward’s neck.
“Really?” My mother’s voice came out in a purr. “And how do you know?”
“Jasper and I were with them, uh, hiking.” He shot a glance nervously around the room as he refrained from telling why we were really in the woods. “Edward and Bella just looked at each other and it was like they were the only two there. Edward told us to get lost so we did. I inferred the rest. Well, that and Bella came back with leaves in her hair.” I was going to kill him. I was stronger than him now and he was a dead man.
“Well, that is wonderful! See, Bella, I told you spontaneous outdoor sex was incredible! Now, you took your pill today right? You have to be timely with these things.” Lord would she get off the pregnancy kick? Rosalie was glaring around the room every time she hinted at potential babies.
“Yes, Mom. Now can we talk about something else?”
“Well I was going to tell you about Phil and me at the beach the other night but…”
“Renee! I don’t want to hear about you and Phil and I don’t want everyone else to do so either.”
My mother sighed. “How I ended up with such a conservative daughter I’ll never know. Fine, then, did you like your presents? Esme gave you the photo album right? She sent me one as well, it’s so cute!”
I took an unnecessary breath to calm myself. It was weird not to have to breathe but it felt strange not to. “Yes, I loved it, Mom. Thanks for giving Esme the pictures.”
“Oh you’re welcome, baby! I’m so glad you liked it. It was a blast going through all your old baby pictures, you were so adorable. I was so young and had no idea what to do with you but you were the best baby, quiet and content, watching the world go by with your big brown eyes.” They weren’t brown anymore. “Don’t go getting any ideas from those pictures though, baby. You’re not ready to be a mother.”
Dear Lord, she was like a broken record. “I’m not getting any ideas, Mom. Please, enough with the baby talk!” Rose was muttering to herself about how that would never be an issue for me and I didn’t need Renee to hear any of it.
“Alright, tell me how classes are.” I froze and Edward stroked my cheek again, soothing my nerves.
“Classes are great, Mom. We’re just getting started but I really like my literature and creative writing classes.” I knew I would, were I attending them.
“That’s great, Bella. And how do you like New Hampshire?”
Now that was a question I could answer honestly. “I love it here, Mom. We’re surrounded by mountains and forest. Edward and I have our own small house behind the main one; it was a present from Esme and Carlisle. It’s amazing.”
“Oh, Bella, that’s wonderful! I’m sure you and Edward need your privacy.”
No, we were not going down that road again. “Yeah, it’s nice. Listen Mom, I have to go call Charlie now, try to catch him before he heads out for the day.”
“Good luck with that, he’s probably already out on the lake! You give him a call, baby, and take care okay? I’ll talk to you soon. Don’t forget to take your pill! Love you!”
“I love you too, Mom.” I breathed a sigh of relief when Emmett pressed disconnect on the phone but it was short-lived. “Just what did you think you were doing telling her that we were having sex in the woods?”
Emmett shot me an innocent smile. “What? She wanted to know, I made her day right there!”
I growled at him, enjoying the look of surprise that stole over his face. “It’s nobody’s business what Edward and I do in the woods.”
He laughed at me and I lunged forward. Edward’s arms tightened around me, trying to hold me in place. I knew I could get away from him if I wanted to but I refrained for now. “Bella, welcome to the world of being a vampire, this is how it is. We can hear you from a few miles away. You’ll hear us, we’ll hear you. Privacy is not a way of life for you anymore.” I leaned against Edward and tightened my grip on his arms that were holding me. He was right but I didn’t have to like it.
“Still, you didn’t have to tell my mother.”
The amusement died out of Emmett’s face and he stepped toward me cautiously, watching to make sure I wasn’t going to attack him. “You don’t have a lot of time left for talking to your mother, Bella.” I flinched at his words, knowing they were right but not really wanting to hear them. “She wants to know that you’re having a good time and that you’re happy. She knows that now.” The fight completely drained out of me. He was right; Renee needed to know that I was content before I was gone forever.
“You’re right, Emmett. I don’t think you went about it the right way, but thank you for letting her know that I’m happy.”
He grinned and ruffled my hair. “Now let’s call Charlie!”
“Emmett, don’t you even think about mentioning forest sex or sex of any kind to my father. Edward won’t be able to hold me back if you do.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t do that to you, or to Charlie. No father wants to know about his daughter’s sex life, even I know that.”
“Charlie’s on speed dial eight.” Alice piped up. It was cute that she had Charlie programmed into her phone, I know that was so she could hound him during wedding planning. Emmett hit speaker and the button to call Charlie.
“Hello? Alice?” I giggled; there was a note of fear in Charlie’s voice, like he thought she was going to yell at him for something.
“Hi, Dad, it’s me. Well all of us, really, we’re just using Alice’s phone. Mine’s dead.” Literally, I’d crushed it to dust, if he only knew.
“Hi, Bells! Happy birthday!” The excitement in his voice made me smile.
“Thanks, Dad. Thank you for the pictures you sent, Esme made me a really nice album.”
“I know, she sent me a copy, it’s beautiful. So are the wedding pictures, Alice sent me a book of those as well. Thanks, Alice.”
“You’re welcome, Charlie!” she piped back. “Did you get your tux dry cleaned?” She shook her head at me, knowing the answer.
“Uh, yes, of course Alice.” Her eyes narrowed at his lie and I giggled again. “So, what are you doing for your birthday, Bella?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Alice stepped in. “The usual, Charlie; a nice meal, cake, maybe a movie. We’ve done most of the presents already.”
“Oh well, that sounds nice. How’s school going?”
“It’s great, I really like my classes.” I didn’t really want to elaborate and fortunately Charlie wasn’t the type to ask me to do so.
“Well, good, I’m glad you like it there. Listen, Bells, I’ve got to head to Billy’s, we’re due to hit the water soon.”
“Okay, Dad, have a good time.” I hesitated for a second but then said it anyway. “Tell Billy I said hi.”
“Will do, Bells. You have a good birthday and I’ll talk to you soon.”
“I will, Dad. I love you.”
“Love you too, Bells. Bye.”
I felt a little choked up as Emmett disconnected the call. Edward pressed a kiss to the back of my head and ran his fingers through my hair. “You did well, love.” I had. Lying still wasn’t easy for me but neither of my parents seemed to notice anything was different when they talked to me. It didn’t make it any easier knowing that I didn’t have a lot of time left to talk to them. “Would you like the rest of your presents?”
I worked up a nod and a smile for him. “Sure.” He placed a set of keys in my hand and pointed toward the front door. “More keys?” Everyone but Edward started snickering. Emmett hummed “The Farmer in the Dell” for some unknown reason and Alice and Rose started laughing hysterically. I raised my eyebrow at them but nobody clarified what was so funny. Carlisle tried to look at the girls disapprovingly but he had a slight smile on his face. I sighed, resigned to the fact that I was missing something, probably from decades ago and followed everyone outside and took in the sight of my new car. Edward had been true to his word, replacing my truck with something sleek and beautiful and undoubtedly fast.
“What do you think, Bella?”
“It’s pretty.” It was too, a dark blue convertible. I knew nothing about cars but judging from the way Rosalie was openly salivating over it, I guessed it was a good car.
“A Mercedes Roadster!” She ran her hand over the fender lovingly. “Such a perfect machine.” She shot another glare at me. “It’ll be wasted on her, Edward, she drives like a grandmother!”
“Rose!” Edward stepped in front of me, finally losing his temper at Rosalie’s attitude.
“Rosie.” Emmett stepped in, trying to play peacemaker. “It’s Bella’s birthday and this is one of her presents. Maybe if you were nice about it, she’d let you take it for a spin. Right, Bella?” He looked at me beseechingly.
“Sure, Rose, you can take it out anytime, if you want.” It was just a car and if it would make her happy she could have it. I didn’t want this constant fighting.
Rosalie eyed me warily, her eyes darting between me and the car. “Sorry.” It was all she said but it was more than I expected from her.
I nodded and tossed her the keys. “Have fun.” Emmett mouthed a silent “thank you” at me as Rose got into the car and he got in with her. She tore out of the driveway, spraying gravel as she punched the car in gear. We all watched as they drove off.
“You didn’t have to do that, you know. She doesn’t deserve to drive it with the way she’s been acting.”
I turned to Edward and slipped my hand in his. “It was a way to make peace, even if it’s only temporary. Thank you for the car, it’s beautiful.”
“You should be the one out driving it first, not her.”
“That’s not important to me, you know that.”
“Still…” I silenced him with a kiss.
“We’ll take it out later, on our own.”
He smiled seductively at me, instantly catching my meaning. “We’ll christen it a different way, huh?” The rest of our family started laughing and I nodded. “Okay, let’s go see your other presents.”
“There’s more? Edward!”
“One is from all of us, come on.” He hauled me towards our house. What could possibly be in there? Then I saw the glee on Alice’s face.
“More clothes?”
She skipped ahead of me. “Of course! I filled your guest room closet!”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Edward pulled me into the office, where our computers and desk sat. There, lining one whole wall, were four huge oak book cases, already filled with tons of books. A couch and recliner sat in front of the roaring fireplace. It was a perfect room to curl up and read. “This is from all of us.”
“Well, that explains Emmett’s book I guess!” Jasper roared with laughter, clutching the couch to keep himself upright. Mystifying.
Edward silenced him with a look. “Yes, he wanted to give you something that would tie in to your library.”
“This is perfect, thank you all so much!” I hugged Esme and Carlisle and Jasper. When I got to Alice she redirected me toward the closet.
“These are your clothes; they’re organized by occasion and color. Casual here, dressy here, formal here. They’re further broken down into designers. Here’s Armani, Gucci…”
“Alice, you know I don’t know the difference between any of these. What am I going to need all these clothes for?”
“It pays to be prepared, Bella.” She put her hands on her hips and frowned at me. “Don’t you like them?”
Looking to appease her, I ran my hand over a cashmere sweater. “Yes, Alice, they’re lovely. I’m sure you’ll tell me what to wear, when?”
She lit up at that. “Of course! For now, why don’t you try on the Prada dress with the Badgley Mischka heels?” Edward chose that moment to save me.
“I still have a couple more presents to give her.” For once I was happy with his excessive gift giving.
He led me back to the couch and handed me two small boxes. I opened the first and smiled. It was a bellybutton ring with a little gold book dangling from it. “Edward, it’s adorable!”
“I had it rush ordered; Alice took care of it for me.” Of course, he didn’t leave my side while I was bedridden undergoing my change.
I opened the other box. Sure enough, it was another bellybutton ring but this one had an E & B intertwined. It was lovely. “I love it, I really do!” I pressed my lips to his.
“I’m glad.” He wrapped his arms around me.
Alice nudged Jasper. “The lovebirds want to be alone. We’re going to take off now, enjoy your new library!” I thanked everyone again as they took their leave and settled back with my head on Edward’s shoulder.
“This was the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
He kissed the top of my head. “It was just the first of many, my love.” I pressed my lips to his and he pushed me back on the couch, making my birthday even better.
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