49. Shopping in Seattle

BPOV

I groaned when I felt someone bouncing on my bed.

"Are we having an earthquake?" I snarled, displeased to be woken up in such an unpleasant manner. I heard the musical laughter of a certain shopaholic. "You'd better not be waking me up to go shopping, Alice," I growled menacingly, snuggling even deeper into the bed.

"Oh, but I am!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "We're going shopping!"

"Ugh!" I groaned angrily. "We are not! We have guests here, in case you've forgotten. Sleeping guests! And I'm one of them. Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'Let sleeping dogs lie'? There's a reason for that. I just dare you to go wake up the wolves as abruptly as you have me this morning."

She laughed. "Don't be silly, Bella. I have no desire to spend the rest of eternity missing a few body parts. I let the dogs lie, but you, my human slave, will drag your butt out of bed and get ready now, before I make you."

There was an edge of menace to her voice that made me open my eyes and look at her. It was terrifying. She looked like she was going to go ballistic. If she put all that pent up energy of hers into violence, I didn't want to be anywhere in the vicinity. I immediately went into placating mode, fearing the worst.

"Okay, fine, Alice. We'll go shopping," I grumbled. "But I'm going to sleep in the car on the way there."

"Fair enough," Alice agreed smugly, easy to please now that she had gotten her way. "I graciously laid out your outfit for today. You can put it on after your shower. Unfortunately, we don't have time to play Bella Barbie today, so I'll have to fix you up at vampire speed, once you're dressed."

I grinned widely. That was the best news of the day so far.

"You could at least pretend to be disappointed," Alice whined, seeing the expression on my face. I laughed.

"No, I don't think I could. I have it on good authority that my acting skills are severely lacking," I teased, throwing back the covers and sitting up on the side of the bed. I stretched my muscles, yawning sleepily. She huffed and left to give me some privacy. I stood up, stretching again, arching my back like a cat. I thought about last night and almost felt like purring. Edward and I had certainly enjoyed ourselves, particularly after we got rid of Jasper and Emmett. We figured they would hesitate to bother us again after the little chocolate stunt, so we did a little boundary stretching while they were otherwise occupied.

I walked stiffly into the bathroom, beginning my morning routine. I always loved the feeling of the hot water coursing down on my skin. I considered it one of the distinct pleasures of life, one of the blessings of technology. The joys of hot, running water was something our modern society took for granted, but it was one of the reasons I was thankful I had been born in the modern age. There were other reasons, of course, but indoor plumbing was one of the main ones. It's all well and good to fantasize about living in the past, but I know I've been spoiled by technology and would find it very difficult to be alive a century or two ago. In addition to technology, I would have an extremely difficult time adjusting to societal attitudes and expectations of women in previous centuries. I enjoyed my freedom and equality too much to simply throw away all I've been taught since I was a young child.

On the one hand, I wondered how much of Edward's attitude toward me is simply a product of the culture in which he was raised. On the other hand, Carlisle was much older than Edward, but I never felt like he belittled me or condescended to me. In all fairness, Carlisle spent more time actively involved in the human world, so perhaps that made it easier for him to adjust to modern ideas and attitudes over time. I thought about the question more deeply. Carlisle is paternalistic though, which would be consistent with his upbringing. Esme is a stereotypical stay at home mom, well, except for the vampire part. The 'kids' all go to school and don't hold down any jobs. In Carlisle's day, and even in Edward's, it was commonly expected that the man should protect and provide for his family. Carlisle did exactly that, for his entire family, even though his 'sons' were perfectly capable of finding jobs of their own. I wasn't Jasper, but I could sense the pride, contentment, and satisfaction emanating from Carlisle whenever he was surrounded by his family, his loved ones.

Was Edward trying to do the same with me? Was he mimicking both his human and vampire fathers? He didn't want me to get an after school job, already agreeing to support me indefinitely. He liked to procure food for me, always so proud of himself when he brings me a meal. He expected to make the decisions for both of us, and expected me to do whatever he told me. I had news for him. They'd been leaving the whole 'obey' part out of the marriage vows for decades now, and I had no intention of it being included in mine. Had Esme ever stood up to Carlisle? Had the Twilight books ever mentioned an argument between the two of them? Had she ever told him no? To my horror, I realized I couldn't think of a single instance in which Esme had opposed her husband. Was that Edward's expectation of me? No, Rose ruled Emmett, and Alice ruled Jasper, despite Jasper's age and military status. He must see from his siblings' relationships that it didn't really work that way, right? I had a feeling he and I needed to have a serious talk about our expectations of one another with regards to a long term relationship. We needed to define a few roles and boundaries. There was no way I'd ever successfully pull off the June Cleaver model.

I shivered, both from my thoughts and from the chill in the water. I had been contemplating these thoughts for so long, I had used up all the hot water. I thought guiltily of the rest of the inhabitants of the house as I shut off the flow. I quickly dried my body and hair with the towels, realizing Alice would be after me any second to hurry up my pace. I looked around the bathroom, but didn't see my outfit. I groaned as I realized I had left it on the bed in the room. I wrapped the towel around me like a strapless dress and dashed over to the bed. A sudden raspy intake of breath signaled another's presence in the room. I looked in that direction to meet the shocked but lusty gaze of my soul mate.

I watched his eyes darken as he drank in the sight of me in nothing but a towel, standing beside his bed. I could even witness his internal struggle as he fought against running over, tossing me on the bed, ripping away the towel, and having his wicked way with me, right here, right now. I felt my own arousal respond to the images in my mind. As that knowledge wafted over him, he tensed, a low rumbling growl rippling through his chest. He leaned forward in his chair, as if to pounce, and I recognized my cue to skedaddle. I grabbed my clothes and bolted for the bathroom. Dashing through the doorway, I turned back to see Edward standing by the bed right where I had just been standing, staring after me with a dark hunger. My heart was pounding, and I quickly shut the door and locked it, leaning back against it while I tried to calm my breathing. I heard a chuckle from him at my actions. I knew they were pointless to an extent. After all, the lock would never hold him if he chose to force the issue, but I had faith that he would respond appropriately to it. I believed the lock would restrain him, because the gentleman inside of him would respect the meaning behind it.

I put my clothes on more rapidly than usual, stumbling against the wall as I tried to put on my slacks and barely managing to stay upright. As soon as I was presentable, I flung open the door, only to find Alice had replaced Edward by the bed. I was thankful she wasn't the empath of the family, so she wouldn't detect the stab of hurt and disappointment I felt upon seeing her instead of him. I didn't want to hurt her feelings and knew she would take it personally.

"Ready?" she asked eagerly. I gave her an indulgent smile. I really did love her.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I admitted. She grabbed my hand and led me to her bathroom, where she performed her makeover magic at a speed too quick for the human eye. In less than five minutes, she had created a look she usually took hours to produce. I met her eyes in the mirror. "You mean you could have done this that quickly all along?" I demanded.

She grinned. "What's the fun in that?"

I growled. "And the purpose of dragging out our sessions for hours on end?"

She grinned wider, baring her teeth. "Female bonding time! How else would I manage to get so much time with you, when Edward wants to keep you all to himself?"

I groaned. I suppose she had a point, in a way, but couldn't she have picked a better hobby than that? Something I might actually enjoy too?

She shrugged. "I'll think about it."

Well, that's probably the best offer I was going to get at the moment, so I nodded my acceptance. We darted down the stairs together, her keeping me upright, and into the kitchen, where Esme handed me a homemade blueberry muffin, still warm from the oven, and a glass of orange juice. I set them down on the counter and threw my arms around her.

"You're the best, Mom," I whispered in her ear. She positively beamed, returning my hug enthusiastically. Over her shoulder, I could see Edward smiling contentedly at the two of us. I smiled and waved to him. Then I pulled back from Esme and thanked her politely for making my breakfast.

As I scarfed down the delicious buttery muffin, I noticed it was later than I had realized. Then I noticed how quiet and peaceful it sounded in the house. How odd.

"Where is everyone?" I inquired in confusion.

Edward smirked. "Long gone, sleepyhead. They all wish you good morning though."

I looked around in confusion, then back at him.

"Where'd they go?"

"Rose and Emmett went for an overnight 'hunting' trip, Angela and Ben are spending the day alone together seeing the sights in Tacoma, and the La Push gang are going to spend some time working together to develop rules and regulations governing their relationships within and outside the pack," he explained.

"Wow, it's so quiet with just the six of us here," I commented, wondering what we would do with ourselves. Why did I have to go shopping again?

"So, why am I going shopping?" I asked bitterly, wanting to spend more time with Edward.

"We are going shopping, love," he assured me, understanding my objection. Oh! Well, if he's going too, it won't be so bad. Did he plan to buy something, or was he just along to spend time with me? "Alice and Jasper are coming with us to Seattle. Carlisle and Esme are going to enjoy some precious alone time, something they haven't gotten much of lately. It's time for me to replace the Volvo, as I don't want to keep driving the Vanquish around town. It's way too conspicuous."

I laughed quietly to myself. They were way too conspicuous no matter what, but if he wanted to pretend they could fit in by driving a less flashy car, then I was willing to play along with his delusions. Soooo, a new car, eh?

"A Vette, get a Corvette, please?" I begged, wiggling and bouncing in my best Alice impression. Edward scoffed at me.

"A Corvette? Is that the best you can do? How about the latest model Volvo?"

I snorted. As if. "The Corvette simple purrs 'sports car', honey. It's the only car that calls to me. I always look twice when I see one. I always think, 'Nowthat's a car'."

He eyed me in disbelief. "And the Vanquish?"

"Oh, yeah, it's um…nice," I stuttered, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

"Nice?" he nearly exploded.

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement. He looked like he was in pain, like he'd been kicked where it hurts. I patted his arm to comfort him.

"So, let me get this straight, the Vanquish which I paid over a quarter of a million dollars for is 'nice', but the Corvette which costs a mere 60k or so is a 'real sports car'?" he choked out, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

"Yep, you got it," I agreed eagerly. He winced, looking disappointed and distraught. I squeezed his arm, trying to help. "Hey, to each his own, right? Don't worry, it's your car, you should get whatever would make you happy."

He nodded, but didn't look pleased. Oh, well. Can't please everybody all the time. I shrugged, turning to finish my orange juice. Alice came dancing into the room.

"Ready to go?" she asked. We both nodded and shuffled out to the garage where Jasper was waiting for us. We piled into the SUV, with Jasper driving. True to my promise, I laid down in the back seat with my head in Edward's lap and promptly fell back to sleep.

Edward decided to awaken me by tickling me mercilessly. I woke up giggling and gasping for breath, squirming and wiggling to avoid his annoying fingers. My head was thrashing back and forth and I whimpered for him to please stop. I hated being tickled. I hated feeling so out of control, being unable to prevent my body's automatic response to the stimulation. He stopped abruptly, clearing his throat and shifting underneath me. I looked up at him and noted his eyes had darkened again. I didn't really think anything of it, as I was simply grateful he stopped. I sat up rapidly and fled out the door on my side. Alice caught me before I could do a face plant on the ground from the force with which I flung myself out of the vehicle. She chuckled as she helped me regain my balance. I saw Edward standing on the other side of the SUV with his eyes closed, taking deep breaths. What was his problem?

I looked around, taking in our surroundings. We were in front of a large Chevy dealership. I saw several new Corvettes prominently displayed and shrieked in pleasure. I grabbed Alice's arm and dragged her over to them. She started laughing but came along willingly.

"I think I must be rubbing off on you," Alice teased.

"Yeah, you looked like twins right then," Jasper agreed, playfully taunting us. "I'm not sure the world can handle two Alices. I'm also not sure the Cullens have enough money to support the both of you if you're going to take up her hobbies, Bella."

Alice scoffed. "Spend all you want, we'll make more. There's plenty more where that came from, my dear. Besides, we're stimulating the economy, just like all the analysts say is needed, right?"

"You've got a good point," I agreed, smirking. "It's important to support our local businesses, keep the small businesses afloat, and help prevent rampant unemployment. Our decision to purchase luxury items, to share the wealth, is for the good of the individual, the state, and indeed the whole country."

Alice laughed gleefully. "I'll make a shopper out of you yet!"

"Heaven help us all," Jasper muttered, not bothering to hide his amusement.

Edward slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me up against his chest. He rested his chin on my shoulder and murmured into my ear, "So which one do you like best?"

I looked them over. There were three of them there.

"Well, the red is pretty, but I know for a fact that police pay more attention to red cars and pull them over more often for speeding. The white would be too difficult to keep looking clean. That leaves the black, which happens to have tinted windows already. Perfect!"

"I can't believe I've been reduced to picking out a car based on the color and because it 'looks pretty'," Edward grumbled. "What a disgrace. The things I do for you, Bella. The sacrifices I make. I hope you appreciate this. It goes against everything I believe about car shopping."

At first I was offended. Then I realized that, despite his grumbling, I was getting the car I always wanted. So I simply patted his back, gave him a big hug, and stroked his ego a bit. "You're so good to me, darling. I love you so much. Thank you, sweetheart, for humoring me."

It worked like a charm. He gave me his crooked grin, melting under my touch. "Anything for you, love."

A grumpy looking salesman came over to us, seeing us surrounding the black Corvette. "Can I help you young people with anything?"

Alice turned to me. "Do you want to test drive it first, or do you know it's the one you want."

I turned to Edward. "What do you think, honey?"

He smiled at me. "Do you really think you're going to change your mind?"

I deliberated for a second, before shaking my head and smiling. "Nope."

Edward looked at the salesman and nodded. "We'll take this one. Go ahead and start writing up the paperwork."

The salesman started at him and raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"What the lady wants, the lady gets," Edward answered with a smirk.

I looked at him and waggled my eyebrows. "Anything I want?"

He chuckled. "Eventually, my Bella." I smiled and nodded, knowing he meant it.

The salesman stared at Edward, his lips twitching to hold back a smile. "Do you know how much this car costs, young man?"

Edward grunted in disgust. "Yes, cheap little thing, but for some reason she prefers it to my Aston Martin Vanquish. She obviously has no taste in cars, as she picked it purely because she likes the way it looks." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm uncomfortable parking the Vanquish in our high school parking lot, so I offered her any car in the world, and this is what she picked. She didn't want a BMW or a Mercedes or a Porsche. She thinks Porsches are ugly. Ugly! But I love her, so if this is what makes her happy, I'll be happy with it." Alice, Jasper, and I were chuckling from both his rant and the salesman's response to it. The salesman cleared his throat, fairly certain we were pulling his leg. He decided to call our bluff.

"Well, sir, I'd be happy to get the paperwork started on that. What payment arrangements did you wish to make?" he inquired indulgently. There weren't any other customers around at the moment, so he didn't mind our little 'joke'.

Edward smiled. "I like you, Carl. It's nice of you to humor us when you obviously don't believe us. You've been nothing but respectful and professional, despite your internal doubt and amusement. It's your lucky day." He whipped out his mysterious black credit card and handed it to Carl. "We'll take it as soon as the paperwork is ready."

Carl looked at the credit card in his hand, and his jaw dropped in shock. He looked at Edward and then back to the card. "Um, of course, sir. Do you have any ID?" he asked tentatively, unnerved by the possibility that we kids actually did have enough money to buy the car outright.

Edward sighed, reached into his wallet, and brought out his ID, handing it over with a small smile. Carl compared the names and signatures on the two and appeared intimidated. He gulped and looked at Edward, hoping he hadn't offended him. "I'll get right on it, sir. If you'll just follow me?"

Edward nodded and we all followed him inside. He offered us drinks, but I was the only one who accepted. He ran off to get everything started with the paperwork and grab the keys. He spoke briefly with the manager, who argued at first, but stopped as soon as he saw the credit card and ID. The manager left his office and came over to introduce himself and checked to be certain we were being treated appropriately.

"Actually, I was very impressed with Carl. He was respectful and professional the entire time. Most people judge us based on our age, not realizing the financial power we wield, and treat us poorly. Carl, on the other hand, was helpful from the beginning, despite our appearance and his belief we couldn't afford the car I had chosen for my beloved. Congratulations on hiring such a delightful employee."

Carl blushed at the effusive praise, but the manager eyed Carl with a new respect. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed Edward's cheek. I was so proud of him for the way he handled that.

Before long, we had all the paperwork in order and were ready to bring the new car home. I looked at the keys in Edward's hand longingly and gazed up at him with my best puppy dog eyes. "Please, Edward?" I pleaded, moving closer to him. "Please?" I reached slowly for the keys, hoping he would give in to me. He blinked his eyes at me, his vision slightly dazed. I realized I was dazzling him and took another step closer, staring into his eyes, as my fingers stealthily reached for the keys.

Quick as a wink, I grabbed the keys and kissed him on the lips. "Thanks, Edward!"

I turned and got into the driver's seat. He blinked and looked down at me in astonishment. "Whoa, wait a minute," he protested.

"You're the most wonderful guy ever," I gushed, not giving him a chance to continue his protest. I started up the engine and waited for him to get in the passenger seat. Truthfully, I had been taking lessons from Alice and Rose both. I met Alice's eyes as she and Jasper pulled away in the SUV, and she burst into laughter. Edward reluctantly climbed into the passenger seat and stared after his departing siblings.

"Love, do you have any idea why Alice is laughing uncontrollably while reciting the Gettysburg address backwards?" he wondered, turning to me. It was too much. I started laughing too. He stared at me as if I'd gone insane. Maybe I had. But I was insane behind the wheel of a brand new Corvette, so who needs sanity anyway?

I had a lot of fun driving the new car, feeling the purr of the engine vibrating up through the seat. I felt like I was riding in a growling cougar, so fast and cunning. After about fifteen minutes, Edward couldn't take it anymore.

"Please pull over at the next exit," he pleaded. I looked at him in surprise.

"Certainly, honey," I replied, concerned. It wasn't like he needed to eat, go to the bathroom, or vomit. Why did he need a break?

He was over at the driver's side door, opening it, mere seconds after I pulled into a deserted parking lot. "What's wrong?" I asked in confusion.

He gazed down at me in desperation. "Please let me drive, Bella. If you want to get home sometime today, please let me drive!"

I started laughing. "Was I going too slowly for you, Edward?"

He shuddered and whimpered, trying to get himself under control. He turned on his best dazzling charm effects and began to 'convince' me to trade places with him. "Aren't you still a little tired, love? Your eyelids are getting heavy. You are getting sleepier and sleepier. It isn't safe for you drive right now. You want to curl up in the passenger seat and get some sleep. I will take care of you and keep you safe. When you wake up, we'll be home, safe and sound. Sleep, my Bella."

Was he seriously trying to hypnotize me? So unfair! Unfortunately, it was working. At least I was aware of what he was doing and could take him to task for it later. Right now, I just wanted to take a little nap. Seeing my eyes closing, he gently unbuckled me and shifted me over to the passenger seat, buckling me back in safely. Then, he slid into the driver's seat with a big grin, shifted into gear, and floored it.

"He'd better not wreck my car." That was the last cohesive thought I had before drifting off into dreamland. Stupid charming vampire.

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Lol... Sweet? :) An early upload for you guys... I got quite less votes in the past chappie though idk why... Hope you liked this!

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