My birthday morning started out as normal as any other day, only because I wanted it too though. Edythe accepted my request with little argument, her only stipulation being that she gets to spend all the time today with me that she can. Alice did not take my request well to say the least. Apparently, she had a thing for birthdays that Esme encouraged. From what Edythe told me about what Alice had in her mind, she planned an extravagant party with everyone in the town invited.
Jasper took pity on me and helped calm his little hurricane down to manageable levels, though the favor I owed him for this was apparently a major one. There would still be a gathering at the Cullen house, but Edythe promised me that she had spoken to them about appropriate levels of gifts.
I was a bit sad when I thought about what my mother would have done today, but it was more of a dull ache now. Before, it felt like a mix between a stabbing pain in my heart and my stomach dropping during a roller coaster ride. I was glad to see Edythe wasn't looking at me with any pity or being over the top clingy. She just gave me a long kiss and wished me happy birthday while hugging me a bit longer than normal.
I took the day off from working out, and once the house started to stir, Edythe left out the window to go get her car. I made my way downstairs to begin cooking breakfast. I decided to make my mom's blueberry pancake recipe and sausage links. Having decided this yesterday, I made sure to have all the ingredients on hand.
Surprisingly, Bella was the first one down, and she smiled when she saw the bowl of pancake batter next to the stove. She instantly started to set the table and got the butter and syrup out of the fridge. I turned the heat off the sausage links and scooped two up to add to Bella's plate before placing it in front of her. She was lathering her pancake in butter as Charlie walked in.
"Smells good. Happy Birthday, sport."
"Thanks, Charlie. How many pancakes can I interest you in this morning?"
Looking over to see the size of Bella's, he said "I will take two and four or five of them links, thank you very much."
He continued to the front door to grab the daily paper before getting his coffee and sitting in his normal seat to wait for his plate. In no time at all, he was happily covering his pancakes in Maple syrup as I was finishing off the bowl of batter into the pan and getting my own plate ready to eat. It was a comfortable and quiet morning, the clinking of utensils the only noise in the kitchen.
Once done, Charlie was the first to leave, and Bella insisted she do the dishes alone. I walked back to my room and took the cover off my painting to give it another inspection. It showed a traditional band on stage playing the expected instruments, but if you looked closer, you could see the equipment and artists were all iconic representations. The lead guitarist was playing the 1968 Fender Stratocaster identical to Jimi Hendrix. The lead singer looked suspiciously like Queen frontman Freddy Mercury. Little-known Carol Kay was playing the bass guitar. Finally, in the back, sitting at the drums was the one-armed figure of Rick Allen from Def Leppard.
In the crowd was everyone I could remember from the dance, but their outfits were all different. Rosalie and Emmett were wearing the height of fashion for the 1950's, while Alice and Jasper sported outfits from the 1860's. Alice in a fancy yellow dress that sported blue accents, and Jasper in a grey confederate soldier's uniform with accents of yellow on his lapel and sleeves. Every couple in the painting was matched in whatever era of clothing I felt matched them the best. To finish the painting off, I had layered the paint on the folds of the woman's clothing to stick out a bit so that as you walked past the painting, your side vision would trick you into thinking that the figures were moving.
Seeing that adding any more to it was unnecessary, I covered it again so it would have the full day to cure before taking it to class tomorrow morning to turn in. The appointment for my mother's Will reading would be after lunch, so I would be leaving during lunch with no intention of returning to school, but Charlie insisted I go for the first half of the day. I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of Edythe's car coming down my street, so I quickly made my way downstairs and out the door.
Apparently, Lauren was mad enough at me for dating Edythe that she decided to keep the gift she had gotten me when she learned of my birthday. I was glad I didn't have to come up with an excuse to turn it down now. I had informed Ms. Ross that I would be turning in my painting tomorrow morning, and she had told me she was looking forward to it.
Lunch was a big change today, as Edythe and I sat at the table I used to sit at before spending so much time at the Cullen table. Edythe had tried to talk with everyone at the table, but she kept getting short replies. Mostly because she was intimidating to everyone. Ironically, Jessica and Angela were the warmest toward her. Mike and Tyler just kept staring at Edythe, and Lauren was pouting a great deal. Ben and I were talking about a movie coming out on April 8th that caught our attention, it was called Kung Fu Hustle, and he knew it wasn't something Angela was interested in seeing, so he was trying to talk me into going with him.
The rest of the day was basically normal, the end-of-day bell rang on time at 2:20 pm, and I made my way to my locker. Edythe was there, and as I knew she would, Bella came running up to me at 2:30 pm, looking at her watch. As soon as she saw it strike 2:31, she jumped forward and gave me a tight hug, then just loud enough for me to hear her, said, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Thomas."
Edythe looked confused for a moment, then slightly frustrated, she asked. "Why the wait to tell him until now, Bella?"
I laughed, so that's why she looked frustrated. Normally, she didn't have to ask questions. She could pick the answers out of someone's head much easier.
Bella smiled at Edythe, "Because now it's true. He was born at exactly 2:31 in the afternoon. So, I wait until it's truly his birthday to tell him."
Edythe's eyes lit up with the new knowledge, "That will definitely be something I remember from now on. Thanks, Bella."
We were still all smiles as we walked out of the school building and to the school parking lot. Edward had caught up to Bella, and she explained why she rushed off as we walked. Edward was opening the passenger door to his car for Bella as Edythe, and I were making for her car next to his when I noticed a Grey Chrysler 300 parked across several spaces next to Edythe's car. I just shook my head at the entitled driver's parking job and started my way to the passenger side, when the Chrysler driver's door opened, and I was stopped in my tracks as Johnny got out with a smile on his face.
"Wow, kid. Look at you. I almost didn't believe my eyes when the P.I. sent me your pictures. Looks like you finally took my advice and lost some weight."