AN: This was supposed to be in the chapter called On a Starry Night, but I felt it wasn't needed and it didn't work out because of a timeline issue. I thought you'd like to see it anyway.
We had to have dinner early since Bella needed to be at the theatre by six. Though she was nervous, no one would've been able to tell when we walked into my parents' house later that afternoon. Except for the tightening of her fingers around mine, she appeared as charming, calm and sweet, as usual.
With a bright smile, she greeted my ruddy faced father, my usually shy mother, and an unexpected guest, too. Thankfully, they'd all given Bella in a hug, including Nana. It might prove to be the most embarrassing and strangest meal I'd ever had.
My grandmother spoke her mind and often left my mother speechless. She was tiny thing, probably only five-two and less than hundred-and-five pounds, if that. Her curly grey hair was tamed by a fancy silver clip and pearls hung in both ears.
Mom went to check on dinner and Dad had to retreat to his office to take a call. Alone with my grandma, she turned to Bella immediately.
"You're a little skinny," Nana said to Bella, assessing her as if she were a prized race horse. Nana had a thing for the tracks.
Bella smiled. "I think so, too," she replied easily. "But for now, I can't keep the fat on."
"You eat?" Nana asked as she tugged on Bella's elbow to lead us toward the family room.
"Like a horse," Bella said cheerfully. I almost lost it then, clapping my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. How does she know what I'm thinking? "Do you think Edward's too thin?" With that question asked, Nana turned to see if I met her standards.
"You fattening him, aren't you?" she said with a smile to Bella, who shrugged and grinned. "Good. No more of those God awful, fast food places."
"I would never allow that," Bella said behind her hand. She gave me a little wink before she returned her attention to my grandmother.
"Don't think he won't go looking," she said, poking my chest as if I already committed a crime or something. "The thing to do is keep him full so he won't go touching." Bella maintained a calm composure when it hit me on what my grandmother was actually referring to.
"Nana!" I said loudly. "I would never cheat on Bella, and as for the looking, why would I when I have her?"
Nana turned a lethal glare toward me. "What are you on about?" Then she smacked my ear. "You even think of side-stepping on this girl, she'd have you hanged by the fellas in no time."
I gaped. "Wasn't all that talk about looking, cooking and touching referring to my possible cheating ways?"
Nana shook her head and smacked the back of my head again. Thank God, she was only visiting. "We were talking the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. If that is where you're mind wandered," she turned to Bella. "You best be ending this now."
I spluttered. "No! I didn't know!" I threw my hands up in frustration. "Women! You all speak in codes."
Bella started to laugh and even hunched over from it. "He doesn't know you own the theatre does he, Mae?"
Did she just call my Nana by her first name?
"You'd think after all the stories of my days on grand stages would've clued him in."
"Edward," Bella said softly. "I met your grandmother months ago. Of course, I hadn't put two and two together until tonight. I had no idea until our arrival that she was your grandmother. When she hugged me earlier, she whispered that she wanted to have a little fun with you. I merely played along."
"You're mean," I said, smiling. Then Nana pinched my ear. "Ow!"
"This girl is going to keep you on your toes," Nana said in her no-nonsense tone. "And that will help you two have a long, healthy marriage."
"Mae, I'm only nineteen."
"So have a long engagement," Nana said. "Back in the fifties, I did, to a nice fella. Of course, it was only to ease everyone's thoughts when we were caught in his car."
"Nana!" I wanted to go douse my enflamed cheeks and erase the last several seconds of my life forever. "I do not want to know about your relationship besides the one with grandpa and certainly not about some backseat of a man's car."
When she boxed my ear again, Bella laughed. "Get your mind of out the gutter," Nana snapped. "He gave me a ride to school—alone. That was it."
She walked back into the kitchen, grumbling the whole way. Bella took my face in her hands. "God, I love your family." My arms wrapped around her waist, kissing her.
"You're still mean."
And that was only a prelude of what the night had in store for me. Dinner was entertaining, and there were a handful of times that my mother cringed. Nana regaled about her days in theatre, swapping stories with my Bella.
Apparently, wardrobe malfunctions had not only occurred on television but also on stage. Both Bella and Nana said that they'd had everything from snapping straps, to falling skirts and snagged hosiery. All in all, I was mortified and giddy that Bella fit in with my family, especially Nana. That was important, because she hardly warmed up to anybody easily. And she was an excellent judge of character.
By the time my mother and Bella walked into the kitchen to plate our dessert, I was determined to make something clear to my grandmother and my father.
It was no surprise to them when I blurted out, "I'm going to ask her to marry me."
My father only raised an eyebrow and nodded approvingly. Grandmother, however, chose to box my ear again. "I hope you'll show more restraint and class when you ask her, boy."
I blushed and apologized. Before Bella and my mother joined us again, Nana pulled me toward my father's study. She pushed me into a wing back chair and looked me in the eyes. Her gaze was hard, even a little scary before she seemed to like what she could see.
"I knew this day would come," she said, nodding. "As did your mother and it's the main reason I came down for a visit."
"Okay," I said simply, only because I had no clue what she was talking about.
"I brought something and I hope that you'll use it and give it to that pretty girl of yours," she said softly. Nana slung her giant purse, the same purse that she refused to put down no matter what she did. She started to look through it, muttering and cursing the whole time, until she found what she searched for.
She pulled out a small box and exclaimed, "Eureka!" I laughed and watched as she handed me the tiny blue box. My breath hitched, because I knew what it was. Our eyes met and I could see tears started to form in her eyes. "I want you to give this to you, to give to her and hopefully one day your own daughter or son."
"Why didn't you give it to Mom?" I asked, opening the small box that held an heirloom.
She smiled and curled her hand along my jaw. "My boy," she whispered softly, "That bitch, your other grandmother, beat me to it. She gave your dad her wedding ring before I could offer mine to him."
That wasn't exactly what I expected to hear, but it made perfect sense. My grandmothers barely tolerated each other. According to my parents, the two families had feuded for years before they had to come together to support my mom and dad. From what my mother told me, whenever my grandmothers were in the same room, they greeted each other with insults and air kisses.
"I'm sure she'll love it," I said, trying not to laugh. Though I had a simple ring for her already, I knew I would have to give her this one, too, the day I married her.
Nana turned even more serious. "Life won't be easy, my boy," she murmured. "That girl has more talent in her pinky than all those skinny things on the red carpet. You'll have to get used to it. I really think that acting keeps her sane."
I nodded. Bella and I had discussed her need to do something creative to keep her mind off work and numbers. So I understood what my grandmother was trying to say.
"If you want to be with her," she said firmly. "You need to accept all of her. And that includes the roles she will play."
I nodded and listened as she gave me advice on how to handle what was to come. From the spotlight to the lime light, and she said there would be lime lights, because the paps were vicious when it came to good girls like Bella.
"Most of all, Edward," she said in a tone that said I better listen. "Just love her."
And I would – forever.
That night, with the ring heavy in my jacket pocket, I felt lighter and freer to love a girl that loved me. I drove her to her play, watched her come alive onstage, and in my arms as I made love to her. She was mine and I was hers.
And all the while, I wondered if Jasper and Emmett would be able to tell the next time I saw them, that I finally popped my cherry.
Emmett
My senses tingled, my body rigid as I lay beside Rosalie. I picked up my cell phone, quickly making my way down the hall. As I waited for the asshole to answer, I took a leak. "Dude," I said when Jasper answered.
"You felt it, too."
"Hell yeah," I said with a sniffle. "Our boy is finally a man."
Jasper snorted. "It's fucked up that we can tell when he's doing—" the fucker paused for dramatic effect, "Bella."
I groaned, and cried, "Shut up!"
"Get over it," he said. "They'll be all over each other when we meet later for our trip."
That instantly reminded me of my plans. "You sure you don't want in?"
For a minute, I thought he hung up. "This will be all you, Em."
"Pussy."
"No matter what you throw at them, they'll find a way to turn it around."
"I don't care," I said as I washed my hands. "I'm still going to get them back."
"Your funeral."
Another shiver ran through me; fucking Edward. "Dude!"
"Damn," Jasper hissed. "To be young again, fucking Edward. I need to wake up Alice."
I hung up on the asshole, since I couldn't touch my wife for another month. When I heard the tiny cry of my baby girl, I made my way to her room. I picked up baby Izzy and nuzzled her soft cheek.
Careful not to wake Rosalie, I went downstairs to warm one of the bottles of breast milk. Several minutes later, and well into Izzy's feeding, another shiver went through me. Fucking Edward seemed to have the recovery of a damn teenager.
"You," I said to my baby girl, "—are not dating until you're thirty. And you're staying away from geeky boys, because it's always the quiet ones."
She gurgled up at me, smiling a bit. Then she tooted, laughing all the while. I think she just proved my point. Naughty little brat, but when I bent to kiss her soft cheek, she nuzzled me and I knew I'd love every minute of every day for the rest of her life.