The Gift that Keeps on Giving
That lucky lady Stephenie Meyer owns these fabulous characters. I just sent them to Vegas for the weekend!
Here's the last chapter in the story, I have a tear in my eye... I appreciate so much all of your reviews. They really kept me laughing and motivated to write all of this.
BPOV
While I changed my clothes, Edward made a quick phone call. It sounded like he arranged to have the mustang brought over to the Luxor parking garage so we could safely get back to Alice on this beautiful, sunny day. We gathered up our things and headed downstairs. The black mustang was waiting when we entered the garage. It was a beautiful car and I jumped right in. "Now this is a car!" I said as I sat on the black leather seats. My hand ran gently across the dashboard.
The engine roared when Edward turned the key. Smiling he said "At least now I know what to get you as a wedding present." He stepped on the gas and the tires screeched as we tore out of the garage onto Las Vegas Blvd. The engine purred down the street and all I could say was "And as my gift to you, I won't even be mad at you when you buy it!" His laughter filled the car.
We pulled up to the Bellagio a short time later. A confused look crossed his face as he held the steering wheel. Then he shook his head and smiled. "They're all waiting for us. Emmett is especially excited to see you this morning." He winked at me and got out of the car.
Emmett. How would I ever face him again? He would never let me live this down. My face was hot, and I got a little dizzy from all the rushing blood. The door flew open and Edward was there offering me his hand. As he pulled me out of the car he said "Gotcha! Now we're even for the whole Eddie thing."
I gave him a little punch in the shoulder and then took his hand in mine. "Well, let's get this over with, Where are they?"
Like it was somehow obvious, he muttered "Where else? The buffet." Confusion must have taken over my face because I opened my mouth to ask a question and all that came out was "HHUUHH??"
"Come on Bella, let's not keep Alice waiting. I think she has something for you..."
We followed signs for the buffet. What a bunch of vampires were doing at a buffet was beyond me. A big sign marked the entrance and since it was early, there weren't too many people down there yet. At a table in the back I saw Alice, Jasper and Rosalie. Jasper and Alice were sitting across from each other, their interlocked hands sitting on top of the table. Rosalie was seated next to Alice. Jasper waved, he looked so much better that he had last night. An evening with Alice had worked wonders.
But there was no sign of Emmett, has Rosalie killed him? Or was the little pirate back at Treasure Island, grounded by his wife.
We passed the dessert section of the buffet on the way to the table when I heard a voice behind me boom "Good morning Bella. So what did you two crazy kids do last night?" Behind us, was Emmett carrying the largest plate of food I'd ever seen. He had piled bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns and pastries about a foot high on the plate.
Without dropping a single piece of food, he balanced the platter all the way back to the table and set it in front of an empty chair."What are you going to do with all that food Emmett?" I asked as I sat down across from the food. Emmett slipped into the chair next to Rosalie and pushed the plate of food at me.
"Me, nothing. Yuck! I got it for you Bella. I wouldn't want my human sister to starve. I'm sure you worked up quite an appetite after last night..." Edward growled "Watch it Emmett."
"Hey it's not my fault she came to Vegas and Alice and Rosalie turned her into a stripper! Yell at them. I was just as shocked as you when I saw her dancing on the stage..." Emmett's voice trailed off as he relived the memory in his head. A piece of greasy bacon smacked him in the face thanks to Edward's quick hands.
"You're just jealous because you had you back turned to the stage and missed the whole thing. I guess being such a gentleman finally bit you in the butt Edward!" Edward was glaring at Emmett, but he didn't even notice. He was holding his stomach from laughing. "Because I love you man, I will replay the whole show in my head anytime you ask so you can enjoy it. Consider it my gift to you."
Edward's jaw was clamped shut. Gritting his teeth he said "Thank you so much Emmett for the offer. However would you like me to share with Rosalie your color commentary that also runs in your head when you remember it? I'm sure she'd love to hear what you were thinking when Bella turned around..." Smack. A piece of sausage bounced off the side of Emmett's head, this time courtesy of Rosalie.
"Stop throwing my breakfast at Emmett guys. It was my hair brained idea to strip, and you have to admit, it is kind of funny that the only person who actually saw it was Emmett. Jasper had blinded himself, and Edward you did have you back turned, too bad, you would have enjoyed it. Of course, I'm sure I will never live this down will I Emmett?" I raised my eyebrows at him. Hopefully the fact that I defended him to his Rose and Edward will move him to cut me some slack.
Before he could answer Rosalie shoved him. "Don't worry about it Bella. We talked about this last night, didn't we Emmett. Isn't there something you'd like to say to your almost sister??"She emphasized the last word.
With his head bowed sorrowfully, he sighed, as he spoke I could tell he was reciting a memorized script written, I'm sure, by Rosalie. "Sorry I looked at you like a piece of meat Bella. It was rude and disrespectful of me to think those things about you, not to mention disgusting knowing that in 12 days you will be my sister for eternity. I promise..." there was a long pause as he hesitated. Rose elbowed him hard in the side "...that I will not ever tease you about it again. If I do, tell Rosalie and she will kill me, set my Jeep up in flames in the front yard while I watch,... Rose, what was the third one? Oh yeah- no more playing pirate." As he said the last one, he stuck out his bottom lip and looked like someone had kicked his puppy.
I mouthed a silent 'Thank you' to Rosalie and she leaned over and gave Emmett a peck on the cheek."Good Boy Em." The silence at the table was broken by Alice's giggling. "Funny you should mention Bella's striptease..."
My eyes flashed to Edward for some hint at what was coming next. He was shaking his head back and forth. "Listing the countries of the world circa 1950 in reverse alphabetical order? This must be a good one." Jasper sent a wave of calm to keep me from running away from the table.
A small package about the size of a book was in her hand. She slid it across the table to Edward. He picked it up and twirled it in his hands. "And what is this Alice?"
"A gift for you from Bob the bouncer at the strip club."
What in the world would the bouncer have given Edward? A book on stripping? Strange, but nothing Alice would need to keep Edward out of her mind for. I felt another huge wave of calm from Jasper, the explanation must be bad.
"Well what is it?" Edward as making a slightly disgusted face now, I'm sure he too was trying to imagine what it might be.
"It's the surveillance tape from the club last might. From inside the club..." Alice was watching him intently waiting for the light bulb in his head to go off. In the blink of an eye, the tape vanished from his hands and my head slammed down onto the table in humiliation.
"No,no,no,no,no,NOOOOOOOOO" I wailed. I put my hands over my head so I could drown out the hysterical laughter going on around me. Even with my head covered, I could still feel the table's violent shaking from Emmett's hand slapping it over and over in glee. I felt a hand gently rubbing my back, trying to pull me upright, I refused to move.
"Bella love, please sit up." He was whispering in my ear now.
"Movie night tonight! Movie night every night. I'll make the popcorn." I heard a 'whap' and knew Emmett had more food thrown at him. "Hey, that was gross. I have scrambled egg in my hair now Edward."
Jasper was doing his best to calm me and remove my feelings of humiliation. I sat up but kept my face covered. Edward gently took my blushing, hyperventilating face in his hands. I uncovered my eyes to see him smiling at me sweetly. "I promise I will destroy it...after I get to see it, just once OK? You did say it was too bad I missed it. Please..." Darn that dazzling vampire. All I could see were his eyes and feel his breath on my face. "Fine," I surrendered "but if it ends up on the Internet" I turned and was speaking directly to Emmett now "When I am changed, I will spend every day of my newborn year kicking your ass Emmett Cullen!" If he had been scared of Rosalie earlier, he was down right terrified of me now.
Edward gave me a laugh and a high five and Rosalie reached across the table and shook my hand. Emmett bowed his head to me in defeat.
Suddenly I had a thought that made a big smile come across my face. "Alice, how much did Bob put on the tape? Do we have any video of Emmett's little performance that we could post in the Forks video yearbook?" Alice shook her head no. She glared at Emmett. "Sadly Bella, Emmett's performance went to far into the XXX range so Bob destroyed it, for the good of mankind!" Emmett let our a huge sigh of relief.
Th esilence was broken by Alice clearing her throat.
"Now what Alice!" I heard Edward exclaim. "How bad is this one?" My eyes became huge and I started blushing in anticipation of what was coming next.
"This one isn't from me either. It was delivered this morning, for you Bella." A huge box appeared on the table. Where had she been hiding this? It was a blue box, with a giant red and white ribbon on top.
My legs wouldn't move. Glancing over at Edward, he simply shrugged "She's doing advanced Calculus now. I'd say open it at your own risk." That certainly wasn't what I wanted to hear.
"I'll open it for you Bella" Emmett offered. Somehow I knew it would be ten times worse if he did it, so I jumped to my feet and yanked the lid off the box. I looked and the contents and immediately knew who and where it was from.
Now would be the moment I died, I thought to myself. If I just stopped breathing for long enough, I would pass out, surely hit my head on the table and need to go to the emergency room and get 10 -15 stitches if I was lucky. Edward and everyone would panic with all the blood and in all the ruckus the package would get lost and I'd be in the clear. It had to work...it was my only hope. I held my breath, closed my eyes and waited to faint.
It was taking way too long. I felt Edward rise to his feet out of concern, he had noticed I stopped breathing. "Bella, Bella what is it?" He must have looked in the box and saw the contents. "What's the big deal? It's just a pair of boots and this..."
I slowly opened my eyes to see him standing next to me with my favorite crooked grin on his face... and a cowboy hat perched proudly on his head.
Rosalie let our a scream of laughter and Alice was clapping her hands and giggling. Edward, Emmett and Jasper exchanged confused looks trying to figure out what was the big joke they were missing.
A huge laugh burst from my chest. The whole scene was so absurd! If Edward only knew what was sitting on his head right now he wouldn't be wearing it so proudly. I kept looking from his face to the hat. I could see black signatures on the hat, but he must have missed that when he threw it on his head.
Edward thought we were laughing at how he looked in the hat because after a while he slid it off and mumbled "I don't see what's so funny..." He started examining the hat in his hand and saw the writing. Furious eyes flashed in my direction. He started reading the message out loud.
"Bella baby, Hope you had a fun weekend. Next time you're in town stop in for another ride. Love, Matthew and the rest of the guys from... The Thunder Down Under?!" The most horrified look crossed his face as he finished. The hat fell out of his hands and rolled into Emmett's lap. Emmett threw it to Rosalie like it was a hot potato.
It wasn't funny, he was upset, but it I couldn't stop laughing. I could feel Jasper trying to calm Edward down which only made me laugh more. Emmett was hooting and hollering on the floor. Alice and Rosalie got up and came over and hugged Edward. "Sorry Edward, we know you're mad, but it was so much fun. By the way, you may not want to hear this, but she looked fantastic up on stage!" I was biting my lip trying to not laugh, I could tell he was trying very hard to calm down..
A growl came from Edward. "We'll meet you guys in the lobby." Knowing they had been dismissed, the four of them, grabbed the box with the boots and left. Edward picked up the hat off the table and put it on my head. "Don't forget your gift." he said with disgust.
I took the hat off my head and moved closer to him. Slowly, I slipped it back onto his head and wrapped my arms around his neck. He stood stiffly, staring over my shoulder into the distance rather than look me in the face. I pressed my body as close to him as I could, in the middle of a public buffet. "Edward, you know I love you, only you." I put my hands on either side of his face and pulled it to mine. His eyes were sad and unbelieving. I had to make him smile. "Come on Edward, look at it this way, at least we both have stripper clothes to pack for the honeymoon. That should make things interesting." I used the sexiest voice I could muster. "Do you forgive me?" I brushed my lips gently against his lips.
"Fine, but I'm keeping the video!" He swept me up into his arms and kissed me. I could feel the smile on his lips as I kissed him and knew all was forgiven.
"Let's get going before anything else happens! After you madame." Like a good cowboy, he removed his hat as I walked away from the table and them out it back on his head.
"You know Eddie, you're the sexiest cowboy I've met all weekend!"
"Keep laughing Bella." He teased as we walked to the lobby.
"I knew you couldn't stay mad Edward! I hope you had fun Bella on our girls weekend." Alice beamed.
"Thank you both for the craziest weekend of my life." I hugged them both with all my might.
"Who's riding home with who?" I asked "Girls going back in one car and the guys in the other?"
As we walked out to the valet, Rosalie answered."No...actually Bella, Emmett and I are going back in my car and Alice and Jasper are returning the mustang to the rental place." She shot Edward a look and he gave her the slightest of nods. He didn't want me to see it, but I knew something was up.
"Well then how the heck are we getting home?" The words were no sooner out of my mouth and I heard it. The purr of the engine... he didn't! A brand new shiny, blue mustang came flying around the corner with a bow on top.
"What did you DO Edward!" I gasped. The valet shook his head as he walked up with the keys and dropped then into Edward's hand. "Sweet car sir!"
"Oh it's not mine, it's hers" He gave a nod in my direction. I felt him take my hand from my side as he laid the keys in my hand. "You said you wouldn't be mad Bella. This is my gift to you. Way better than a stupid hat don't you think?"
I jumped into his arms and started kissing him. "I love you Mr. Cullen"
"I love you too Mrs. Cullen" I let out a small sigh as he said it.
Alice screamed from the rental car "Let's get a move on you two. Don't make me hose you down, we have a wedding to plan!"
Emmett's head popped out of the passenger's window of Rosalie's car "Race you guys home!"
I jumped behind the wheel of my shiny, new car. I heard Emmett yelling "On your mark..."
Alice and Jasper squealed away.
"Oh come on you big cheaters. OK, never mind them. Bella ready? On your mark...get set..." I glanced at Edward and winked, he nodded and I slammed down on the gas. The car flew past Rosalie's and I heard Emmett screaming "CHEATERS!" out the window.
Thank you thank you to all of you who have reviewed, and tagged this silly story as a favorite. I hope if you have a bad day and need a laugh, you'll re-read it to cheer up. I have another idea floating in my head but it might be a bit before I start it. I really need to clean the house and do some laundry!!
Drop me one more review and give me your final opinion. Thanks:)