15. Heating Things Up

BPOV

When we pulled into the garage at the Cullen's house, Edward chose to sit in the car for a few minutes. Despite his firm belief in my naiveté, I knew exactly why he needed the time, so I merely kissed his cheek and followed the girls inside.

"Everybody come to the living room! We got you all presents!" Alice exclaimed enthusiastically to the rest of the family. Carlisle emerged from his study, and Esme came in from the garden. Jasper and Emmett paused their Xbox game and turned to face us. I went to have a seat on the couch where I could watch everyone's faces while waiting for Edward to make an appearance. Rosalie tossed her bag to Emmett at the same time Alice tossed one to Jasper. Alice then presented the third bag to Carlisle. All three men pulled out the blankets and examined them blankly.

"Um, thanks, Alice," Jasper responded hesitantly, trying to fake enthusiasm.

"Yes, nice color," Carlisle commented kindly, handing the blanket to Esme.

"An electric blanket? Cool!" Emmett enthused. "Does it glow in the dark?"

I started laughing and the girls joined me.

"That's a good idea, Emmett," I praised. "Not quite as good as Rose's, but could still have a market for young children. No, an electric blanket gets warm to hot, in variable settings. When you wrap yourself in it, or get under it, it warms up your body, using the electricity. It's like snuggling inside an oven, without the danger of catching on fire." I watched as comprehension and then speculation dawned on the faces of the men and Esme. Emmett was the first to react.

"Well, thanks for the gift, Rosie. Let's go try it out. See you tomorrow, Bella!" he shouted on his way up the stairs. He had grabbed the bag of blankets and lifted Rose up bridal style before sprinting up to their room. The others watched them go. Edward chose that moment to appear from the garage. He came over and sat beside me on the couch.

"You're so sweet, always thinking of me, Alice," Jasper purred seductively, grabbing Alice by the hand and dashing up the stairs.

"Goodbye, Bella!" Alice called as she followed Jasper. "Thanks for the great gift idea!"

I chuckled. Carlisle and Esme were exchanging a heated glance. They started backing towards the stairs, one step at a time.

"Yes, well, I think we're all going to have a quiet…"

CRASH! Something sounded like it broke up in Emmett's and Rose's room.

"…private evening tonight. It was great seeing you again, Bella. You're welcome any time, but I'm sure Charlie will be wanting his dinner soon, so we'll see you tomorrow, okay dear?" Esme explained politely, reaching out for the stair railing.

"Of course, Esme. Thank you all for having me. Good night!" I smirked playfully.

"Good night!" Carlisle exclaimed, winking at me, before the two of them raced up to their bedroom.

Edward was staring after them, wincing at their thoughts. I grabbed his hand and headed for the front door.

As soon as we made it inside the Volvo, I burst out laughing.

"Drive, man, drive," I urged. "Before the moaning starts."

His eyes widened, and he peeled tires backing out and tearing down the driveway. I started laughing again. Then, I stopped with a start.

"Did you get our blanket?" I demanded.

He smirked. "Of course, I did." He pointed to the back seat. I released a huge sigh of relief.

"So, are you looking forward to trying it out tonight?" I cooed coyly, wiggling my eyebrows. He cut his eyes in my direction.

"Absolutely," he leered. I chuckled.

"Excellent."

Once we got to my house, I popped the chicken casserole into the oven with some biscuits. I defrosted some broccoli in the microwave and sprinkled cheese on top, putting it in the oven to melt the cheese. Dinner would be ready shortly after Charlie walked through the door. Edward was busy setting up the electric blanket, no doubt reading the precautions on the bag and devising a new list of rules for me of things I could and could not do with my electric blanket. No doubt it recommended against using in the bathtub and other kinds of common sense ideas. The scary knowledge was that for every one of those possibilities listed, somebody had actually tried it and then tried to sue the company to make up for their own stupidity. The glories of a litigious society.

I quickly dashed upstairs to check on Edward before Charlie got home. He had the blanket set up on the bed, under the comforter. It was plugged in, turned on, and set to maximum heat.

"Why don't you just snuggle under the covers while I eat dinner with Charlie? After dinner, I'll come up here to do homework and see how warm your skin feels. You can actually stay under there until I'm ready for bed, if you like. At that point, we'll have to turn the temperature down, because I'll actually overheat at that setting," I suggested.

"Sounds like a plan, love," Edward agreed. "Charlie's here now, so you might want to head back downstairs."

"Okay, I'm going to talk to him about the Blacks tonight. We need to go ahead and start working on those friendships."

Edward grimaced, but nodded, resigned. "At least this way I'll be around to keep an eye on him and his interactions with you."

I rolled my eyes at his obvious jealousy. "You know, I doubt Stephenie Meyer sent him the four books, so you'd better be nice to him. If you act all jealous and possessive, he's just going to think you're a jerk. He won't have any idea why you resent him."

Edward grinned. "As long as he thinks of you like a sister, I won't have any need to resent him, will I? So no flirting this time."

I groaned, "I already told you I wouldn't. Now that I already know the truth about you, I have no need to pump him for information."

I heard Charlie open the front door. I quickly went out into the hall, shutting the door behind me. I jostled lightly down the stairs, holding onto the railing, just in case.

"Hey, Bells," he greeted me. "How was your shopping trip?"

"I actually really enjoyed it, and it was productive too. I'm feeling a lot closer to Rose and Alice than I did before. At this rate, they'll be more like my sisters than my friends. I'm so happy to have them. I didn't really have any close friends in Phoenix. I was shy and kind of a loner. I'm so glad I decided to come here, Dad," I replied enthusiastically.

"Any more rumors about you and Edward I should worry about? I did have someone ask me if you were engaged."

"Really, what'd you say?"

"I just told them if there was anything they needed to know I would be sure to tell them. I hate small minded gossips."

"Thanks, Dad. I decided I didn't really care what anyone else thought either. Anybody who wants to know can just ask me to my face."

"Good for you, Bells."

I pulled the casserole out of the oven and set it on the table, along with the cheesy broccoli and biscuits. I set the table, and we both sat down to enjoy our meal.

"This looks fabulous, Bells. I'm going to get fat if you keep spoiling me like this."

"Actually, Dad, this is a lot more healthy than fast food pizza or diner food, so you might find it easier to stay in shape with my cooking."

I put a large helping of broccoli on my plate. I noticed Charlie attempted to avoid it. I rolled my eyes.

"Really, Dad. Just try the broccoli. Be a good example for me."

He grimaced and reluctantly put a small spoonful onto his plate. I added pepper and salt to mine and eagerly tasted it, savoring the flavors and textures on my tongue. I nodded encouragingly to him. He wrinkled his nose, but bravely lifted a bite to his mouth.

"Wow, Bells. This is really quite good!"

"I always thought broccoli should be orange."

"Orange broccoli?" he asked in confusion. I smiled and pointed to the cheese.

"If you coat it with enough cheddar to make it look orange, it can't help but taste good. Cheddar makes everything better."

He shook his head and grinned. "I guess all those commercials really do indoctrinate your young mind."

"The power of the jingle," I teased.

We ate in silence for a bit. I was happy he enjoyed the food I had made for him.

"So, did you see Edward today?"

"Um, yeah. He's in most of my classes, like I told you yesterday. Plus, I sit with his family at lunchtime. I helped Rose and Alice carry their bags inside when we got back to their house. Edward volunteered to help carry bags too, while Emmett and Jasper just kept playing video games. Edward's really smart, gets straight A's at school, and helps his Mom around the house. I really like him."

"Just remember you're only seventeen. Don't worry about trying to rush into anything or grow up too fast. You're only young once."

Unless you're a vampire. Then you're forever young.

"I know, Dad. I'm supposed to be meeting with Angela this weekend. We don't have firm plans yet, but I'll let you know once I know for sure. Speaking of friends, do you still hang out with Billy Black?"

"Well, we've had a falling out recently, over the Cullens as a matter of fact. Billy is always accusing the Cullens of conspiracy to harm us all. I've tried pointing out all the things Carlisle and Esme do for the community, but he's stuck steadfast in his anti-Cullen stance. He's even encouraged some of the other Quileutes to boycott the hospital. What is he thinking?"

"Dad, are you really going to throw away a decades' long friendship over a difference of opinion? Can't you two just agree to disagree about this? Are you really going to let it come between you? Why don't you call Billy and ask if he'd like to join us for dinner tomorrow. Just tell him you still want to be his friend, you just don't want to discuss the Cullens with him. Maybe you shouldn't tell him about my friendship with the Cullen family, at least not at first. Give him a few months or so to get to know me first and learn to trust my judgment. I have to tell you, I really like the whole family so far, and I don't want to spend the entire evening facing Billy's disapproval and distrust for my association with them. Besides, it might be fun to catch up with Jacob after all these years. Maybe he'd like to hang out some too."

Charlie smiled at me. "Great thinking, Bells. I'll call him right after dinner."

"Great," I replied encouragingly.

I cleaned off the table and started washing the dishes, while Charlie went to issue the phone invitation. I really wished I did have vampire hearing right now, so I would know exactly what was being said. I heard Charlie issue the invitation, but I couldn't hear anything else once I started running the water in the sink. I finished cleaning up the kitchen just before Charlie got off the phone. I headed out into the living room as he placed the receiver into the charging unit. I looked at him questioningly. He grinned happily at me.

"Billy and Jacob are coming over tomorrow night for dinner. Thanks for the idea, Bella. I feel a lot better reuniting with my best friend."

"Sure thing, Dad. That's great. I've got a lot of homework to do, so I'm going to head up to my room now. I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

He smiled and gave me a small goodnight hug. "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't, Dad. Don't forget you need your beauty sleep too," I teased. He scoffed, ruffling my hair. I dashed up the stairs, eager to get back to Edward, as Charlie settled down with the TV remote for his nightly sports marathon.

I smirked to see Edward huddled under the blanket, a smile of pure bliss on his face.

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