Tale IV: A Charmed Little Princess & Her Prince | PART II

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

[PART II: Or Girl's Got Spunk]

JASPER'S POV

This is the calm before the storm, but knowing how fathers are about their daughters, I know it won't last forever. Any minute now, Chief Swan is going to detonate in fury, and I'll be Jasper putty, a.k.a. HISTORY. It's okay. I've come to terms with it. Even so, though it was for a short while, I can sincerely say it's been nice knowing y'all and a pleasure to let ya in on my story up to now.

However, I have a feeling that right about now would probably be a good time to say my goodbyes in every language I know...

Here goes nothing:

Farewell, goodbye.

Hasta luego, adios.

Addio, Arrivederci.

Adieu, au revoir.

Abschied.

Adeus.

Wakare, sayōnara.

Vale.

As all these farewells are going through my head, I peep sideways at Emmett for some help, but he's as frozen on the spot as I am. We exchange a helpless look that says, 'Dude, I'm so sorry. Can't help you. You're totally dead. And even though you're my cousin and my number one bitch, you're on your own, I ain't gonna go down with you over this cluster f**k. That's the Chief of Police you're up against.'

I don't blame him, I get it.

Sorry, some of you got here late and are probably wondering what the heck is going on, right? Right. Well, let's recap and get y'all caught up.

This is how it all went down EARLIER:

"Mommy and Daddy didn't lie!" Bella squeals gleefully.

"Of course, we didn't lie! I wouldn't do that to you, Bells," mutters the Chief, sounding somewhat indignant, with a bit of a flush coloring his cheeks. She gets that from him, I observe.

In a flurry of layers of tulle fabric in frosted blue, lilac, and lavender, Bella comes at me running with her mahogany hair billowing behind her in loose ringlets that cascade under a tiara and my reflexes give me little to no time in which to react to her unexpected actions. Purely on instinct, I drop heavily to one knee, open my arms wide, and lean slightly forward, positioning myself to catch her just as Bella launches straight into my open arms and powerfully slams against me, swiftly wrapping her arms around me, and—without warning, soundly pecks my lips… with hers....

SHOCK!

The gathered crowd gasps as a collective audience and I stop breathing as electricity courses through the entire length of my body, while the mechanism in my brain that manages my thought processing goes haywire due to the high voltage and instantly stops working as we wait with bated breath for Chief Swan's reaction to this unwittingly shared kiss. Dismayed, I take a chance to dart my eyes around and survey our audience, which has fallen uncomfortably quiet. Eerily so, in light of what just happened.

Groaning internally, I feel the force of an angry pair of eyes trained on me, instantly guessing they can only belong to the Chief himself, and then spot Aunt Alice and Momma in the melee, both gaping along with everyone else. Even the little ones are gaping! Nervous and befuddled, I find myself gulping thickly as my eyes connect with Aunt Alice's and I find that she has an unreadable look within the depths of her eyes which seems much too familiar for comfort and instantly puts me on edge.

On the other end of the spectrum, I can tell my momma looks more amused than worried by my current predicament when our eyes meet meaningfully over Aunt Alice's head. Women, I really don't get them after all! Breaking eye contact with Momma, my gaze next meets two pairs of insistent little eyes trained on me, one pair green and the other black, shooting daggers at me. Their eyes seem to tell me, 'Oh, yeah? Game on!' And judging by the look of them, they were fighting each other before any of this went down and, now that I've been added to the equation and become the bigger threat, they're calling a truce and teaming up against me.

Brilliant, more enemies. Under different circumstances, I probably would find this predicament comical, but since it's my fine hide the Chief's after now, not so much. Talking myself into it, I glance in the Chief's general direction and know my assumptions are correct and spot on as my eyes fall on his face. The man looks livid! Looking down at Bella, I understand why…

With everything still up in the air, Bella continues to cling to me, wide-eyed, and as I glance at her lips her small hand shoots up to cover her swollen, bruised lips with the back of her little hand in shock and embarrassment. Meanwhile, I panic as I watch as her father's face darkens into an angry puce by each second that tics by out of the corner of my eye. Naturally, my first instinct and reaction is to back away from Bella as far and as fast as humanly possible, but I nearly curse aloud when my actions startle her and she drops her arms on either side of her small frame like she's been scalded by me.

"Sorry," she whispers shyly and begins to tremble slightly, tears of embarrassment brimming at the corners of her brown, doe eyes. Overwhelmed, I watch as a stray tear falls rapidly down her cheek, and Bella swipes at it furiously, before anyone else notices, hiding her little face behind her loose ringlets. "I-I-I didn't— You know, I didn't..." She trails off, knotting her little fingers together nervously and biting at her lower lip, before stuttering yet again and whispering, "I-I-I tripped and…"

She tripped? I stare at Bella with unbelieving eyes. I'm at a loss for words, unsure of myself or what I ought to do or say in this sort of predicament, since I don't want to hurt her. Hesitant, I hedge, opting for more time through silence, but the crowd doesn't play along with my plan. Animated once again, they start to mumble to each other, but their distinct words do not reach me past the drowning rush of blood coursing loudly through my ears.

At my silence Bella takes a compulsory step away from me, like I've stricken her or something. My heart begins to hammer painfully against my chest at the sight of her tears and pained expression, and it feels like I might end up with a cracked rib or two if it continues at this pace. Honestly, I never intended for my silence to hurt her. I glance at the Chief quickly and regret it, instantly feeling unsteady on my feet.

"Easy now, Charlie..." says the person I assume is the Chief's wife and Bella's mother, while holding on to his arm and physically keeping him from getting to me.

"Renée let go of me this instant!" says the Chief through gritted teeth.

Okay, yes, so I did do my research after our call last Friday since I was feeling more than a little paranoid and wanted to make sure that my fears weren't unfounded. In fact, Chief Swan wouldn't be able to blow my brains out with the 'Less-than-Lethal' weapon he is required to carry by law, but he'd achieve the desired effect of scaring me witless if he so desires nonetheless, I'm sure. Also, it would surely stun me and or immobilize me, the actual victim here, whose virtue has been put on the line and is now thoroughly being tested without consent.

"Jasper..." I think I hear Momma call quietly and uneasily, but I decide to ignore her. Even though I know from my research that the bullets are made out of rubber and all that, I still find no solace in that knowledge. Nope, worst case scenario I'll be shot at close range and at best end up with a broken arm or leg or two, of each, and end up with the ugliest bruise I've ever had to date. (And that's saying something, since I'm into and practice MMA: Mixed Martial Arts.)

Comforting, wouldn't you say?

"No, I will not let you go, Charles Swan!" I'm indebted to the woman; I thank her silently. However, I feel like I've been rescued from the fire, only to be transferred into the frying pan. Nope, I'm not out of the woods yet, Renée's next words ensure that as she says, "Not until you promise me you won't do anything rash to the boy, he was merely being helpful!"

"I will do no such thing!"

"We both saw the same thing," she states rationally, and I cringe, a fine sheen of sweat covering my forehead as Chief Swan jerks his arm out of Renée's hold. Huffing, Renée glared at the impossible man but was undeterred. "Bella tripped on her way to greet the boy and he tried to catch her. What happened after was happenstance." Did she have to remind him? "End of story."

From the vein throbbing on the Chief Swan's neck, I can tell how much of a strain it is for him to not simply launch himself at me and pin me to the ground at the reminder of what just happened. However, the greatest testament to the Chief's undeniable self-control and what I appreciate the most at the moment is the restraint he possesses in forcing himself to remain frozen to the spot upon which he stands and not move a muscle, solely giving away his thoughts and their propensity for violence only by the telltale uncontrollable twitch of his mustache.

"I really did trip," Bella adds quietly, head hanging low and sniffling.

"See?" Renée gloats.

"I-I-It's- It's okay," I soothe uncertainly, trying to ignore the intense glare from the Chief and redeem myself in Bella's eyes. Instead, I hear my internal clock ticking its countdown in reverse; I have point five seconds to live on this earth before Chief Swan takes his gun in hand, pulls the trigger, and puts a bullet straight through my brain, ending my spectacularly ordinary life because his little girl tripped and kissed me on the lips. Hello, Chief Swan? My eyes plead, I'm also a victim here! "Like you said, you... tripped."

"Yeah…" Behind me, I hear Emmett and the Chief ahead of me snort at the absurdity of it all. Bella shuffles uncertainly on her feet, well-hidden by layers upon layers of tulle, her little face getting redder, and as I see a few more tears catch and fall down her ruddy cheeks, I glare at Emmett from over my shoulder.

He's right though, it really is absurd. The dubious look on Bella's tearstained face as she watches me take a step towards her tells me she doesn't buy it either but is grateful for my placating words. She smiles timidly, watching me and I smile back, reach out a tentative hand to wipe away Bella's tears and to—

"Renée let me go, now," the Chief tells her slowly, enunciating each word menacingly. Renée does let go of him then, like she's been burned, and I'm slightly terrified. By the looks of it, if I were to guess, the Chief never talks to her like that. Things are so not going according to plan, not that I ever had a plan, to begin with... but you get the point.

Somehow, I find I'm in horrified awe of my would-be executioner, since he's still standing there, fuming, and not acting on one of those crazy scenarios that I'm sure are running rampant through his head, which most likely include some form of strangulation before my demise. Not that I'm complaining. Still, I gotta give the man some merit where it's deserved.

"Now, Charlie, there's really no need for you to take that tone with me!" Renée tells him, squaring herself, hands on her hips. Oh, boy, is he in trouble now. I watch in fascination as the Chief, standing at six feet, two inches, give or take a few inches, sputters before this menace of a woman that barely stands at five feet, five inches.

"Sorry," he says meekly, not looking at her.

"Now, go thank the boy for catching your daughter."

I'm watching this like I would a tennis match, avidly.

"What- I- But-" the Chief sputters in protest.

"No 'buts' Charlie Swan."

"But Renée, he kissed our daughter! Kissed!"

God, I can't believe my first kiss' been stolen from me by an eight-year-old! my mind shouts at me as I realize this. I never thought I had to guard my virtue against little ladies much younger than myself! Just as I think this, the minute kiss stealer giggles and extricates herself from my person and like a blushing bride on her wedding day, she flushes furiously. I take this opportunity to stand up, slowly. Now that the shock of the moment is sort of wearing off, she's making me blush.

"I said no 'buts' Charlie." Renée makes a point of reminding him. Mostly everyone's lost interest by now in the happenings of the last five minutes and are going back to what they were previously doing or still watching the scene before them with some humor. As for me, I'm waiting to see how this plays out.

"Daddy, be nice!" Bella put in, stomping her little foot petulantly.

"Bella, sweetheart, Daddy's trying here..." the Chief says, looking flustered as his two women turn on him.

"Try harder," demands Bella, pouting. I bite my lip, it's all I can do not to start laughing as Emmett begins to snicker next to me. "He's my Prince Charming, Daddy," Bella stresses, "and he came to my ball. So, you gotta be nice, Daddy."

"I see what you meant," Emmett tells me, momentarily distracting me. "This little lady's got some legit spunk going for her."

"She's got spunk all right," I mutter, smiling broadly.

"I won't talk to you ever again if you're not nice Daddy," I hear Bella threaten.

"I think she means business, Charles," Renée interjects. "You better listen to your daughter unless—"

"

Not until I'm... nine!" Her idea of 'never again'. Cute. Just the right blow to make the Chief cave in defeat, though.

"You want that to happen," Renée puts in her last two cents. By now, Emmett and I are so amused we are practically doubled over in laughter as Bella turns her back on the Chief with her nose in the air and acting haughty. Yeah, I'm out of danger all right, I sigh and watch as the Chief starts groveling for his eight-year-old to not stay mad at him.

"Pyon, pyon!" The black-haired kid with the black eyes that glared at me previously says, pretending to shoot the Chief down with his toy gun and giving its invisible bullets sounds. "Be nice to Belly, Chie'ff," he demands furiously. "I get you! Pyon, pyon!"

"You too?" The Chief groans, but by now he's smiling.

"Hi Jake!" Bella giggles, but pretends not to when the Chief looks at her.

"Yesh, Chief, pyon, pyon! No making Bells cry!" screams the green-eyed boy with the breezin' bronze hair right after, imitating the younger boy. "Pyon, pyon!"

"Hey!" the russet boy protests, pointing a finger at bronze kid. "Don't say what I say!"

"I didn't!" the bronze kid argues, looking affronted.

"Did too!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Stop it, Edward!" says Bella irritably, rolling her eyes at the older boy. "You, too, Jake. Don't be such babies!"

"I'm no baby!" says Jake, looking upset that Bella would think so.

"Let's not fight," sighs Edward, looking slightly flushed and thoroughly chastised by the girl he obviously likes. "We're on the same team, remember Jake?"

"Oh, okay," says Jake, rolling his eyes and sneering, "Edward."

Edward glares at Jake. "Just saying."

"And I'm just saying, Belly's mine!"

"Nuh-uh, not fair, I've known her longer!" Edward argues. "She's mine!"

"Ugh! Daddy and boys are silly..." Bella puts in before running past the gaping Chief and boys. I have this strong urge to chase after her but rule it in and stay put.

"Bella, sweetheart," the Chief calls after his daughter, looking heartbroken. I feel kind of bad for him. The boys recuperate from their momentary daze and glare at each other.

"Truce?" Jake asks begrudgingly, extending Edward his hand.

"Whatever," replies Edward, spitting on his hand and taking Jake's extended hand.

"Eew," they mutter, cleaning their hands on their pants and turning to glare at me, again. And now I think they're coming towards me, so is the Chief who just managed to slip past Renée unnoticed who is engaged in a conversation with the parents of the kid dressed like a frog. So much for being danger-free…

"Is it just me or do I see a romantic triangle in the future of these three?" Emmett observes with an amused chuckle. I frown, straightening to full attention. "Seems like your little Swan Princess just turned eight, but she's already popular."

"Shut up, Emmett," I plea in a mutter as Chief Swan reaches earshot.

"Hello son," he greets, the Chief then clears his throat, and extends his hand to me.

"Chief Swan." I take his hand and shake it firmly.

"That's quite a strong arm you've got there," he mumbles appreciatively. I smile. Eleazar is responsible for my handshake, he'll be ecstatic when I tell him the Chief of Police thought I have a strong arm. "Thank you," he says finally, sounding like his arm is being forced and tries again. "Thank you for coming today. This means the world to my daughter, as I'm sure you can tell."

"No problem, Sir." Surprisingly, I realize I mean it. "Thank you for inviting me, it's my pleasure." Emmett scoffs at my words, which brings the Chief's attention on him and how he is dressed. "He's my cousin, Sir, Emmett. He's my footman today..." I introduce and shrug awkwardly. "Emmett, meet Chief Swan."

The Chief looks between the two of us and shrugs dismissively, probably looking for the family resemblance between us and finding no similarities beyond the ridiculous attire we were both forced to wear to this party. Guess he decided it didn't really matter at the end of the day.

"Chief Swan, son." He takes Emmett's outstretched hand and they shake firmly on it. "A pleasure. Thank you for doing this, too." He seems embarrassed for us.

"Emmett McCarty, Sir, a pleasure." Making sure that the Chief's not looking, I elbow Emmett, but he's a trooper and doesn't let it show. But I know from the sideways look he just gave me that I'll be paying later today. I don't mind, it's worth it. Bring it on, Emmett.

"Jasper!"

"Emmett!"

We hear our mothers' distinct voices call out simultaneously and the three of us turn in the general direction of the voices to watch the approach of the two most important women in our lives, Aunt Alice and Momma, who are significantly out of breath. Emmett and I exchange glances and grimace. We are not scot-free yet! Mortification part three; it's not over folks!

Stay tuned...

"There you boys are," begins Momma.

"We've been looking all over the place for you two," finishes Aunt Alice.

Momentarily stumped by the arrival of the two women, our group just stands there a moment too long and just looks at each other in awkward silence before my mother finally elbows me hard enough to get my attention, reminding me of my manners. Right, that's my cue.

"Uh... Chief Swan." I cough. "Allow me to introduce you to my momma, Rosalie Hale," I introduce, and Momma comes forward with a winning smile. "And my aunt, Alice McCarty. Momma, Aunty Alice, this is Chief Swan. He is Bella's Pops and the one that extended the invitation for today."

"Chief Swan, such a pleasure to officially meet you! We spoke on the phone yesterday..."

"Ah... Yes, of course," the Chief replies, remembering. "I remember thinking that you have such a young voice!"

"Oh, you flatter me too much," says Momma, giggling gleefully. It takes nearly all of Emmett's and my self-control not to roll our eyes at my momma's words. The Chief has won her over. Traitor, I thought affectionally.

"At your service, Chief Swan," greets Aunt Alice second.

"The pleasure is all mine," says Chief Swan genially.

"But really," says Momma, "thank you for inviting my son over."

"Not at all!" exclaims Chief Swan with a warm chuckle. "It's not a problem at all, after all, he's the one doing me a favor!" The 'adults' laugh at this, while us kids try to blend into the background and hopefully disappear while doing so.

"And we are more than pleased to be able to be of service, aren't we boys?" Aunt Alice, who hadn't said much up until now presses. We cringe.

"Yes, ma'am," Emmett and I chorus obediently before we get our asses handed to us later down the day.

"Ha, ha," Chief Swan chuckles none the wiser. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance then, both of you ladies..."

"The pleasure is all ours, Chief Swan," assures him Aunt Alice.

"You sure have a lovely home, Sir," Momma compliments, meanwhile, glancing at our surroundings with admiration.

"Thank you," he chuckles, nodding in agreement. "Really, both of you ought to just call me Charlie. But you two," he adds, looking sternly between Emmett and I, "you better stick to calling me Chief or Sir, understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" Emmett and I answer readily as our mommas laugh.

"Charlie, there you are!" Interrupts a frustrated voice.

"Oh, Renée!" The Chief turns toward the sound and motions Renée over, saying, "Come on over and meet the enchanting mother to our Prince Charming and his Aunt and Cousin."

________________________________________

________________________________________

After the awkward introductions between the parents was done and over with and the adult party had exhausted all their resources but still came up empty, Bella's mother and the Chief's ex-wife, Renée, sent Emmett and I on the epic quest of searching for our missing birthday girl. So far, finding and tracking down our missing Princess isn't an easy task. It has been very unsuccessful, in fact.

Why you ask? Because every few feet I get stopped or poked by blushing, giggling girls! And since my momma raised me up to be a gentleman, I have no choice but to spend a significant amount of my time into indulging them instead of elsewhere, say in search of the missing Bella. Albeit, no more kisses were going to be stolen from me today, if I had any say-so on it, and I did.

Meaning there would be no more 'accidentally' tripping little ladies who were gonna hoodwink me into giving them an opening of easy access to my lips. Been there, done that. Let's not repeat the past. History serves a purpose and it is to teach us how to better ourselves. Still, there are some very persistent little girls and though I keep trying to steer clear of them at almost every turn, they keep coming at me; one by the name of Lauren and Jessica the other.

Having enough, I finally manage to escape the throng of swooning toddlers with the help and support of their shiny new toy in the form of one Emmett McCarty, who decided to sacrifice himself for the cause. Breathing a little easier and feeling more clearheaded than before, I take a moment to look around and find myself scanning every which way for any sighting of Bella and come up short once again.

Frowning and growing worried, I mentally run over the list of places I searched. I already looked under all the tables and found no sight of her. There are two long tables with tablecloths that were set for the adults and another four round tables set for the children; each round table sitting a capacity of six people to be shared between the two groups, each consisting of twelve boys and twelve girls in attendance.

There hadn't been any sight of her near the vanity area, either, where there was a tarp stocked with twelve miniature white vanities with an immense assortment of make-up and a trunk full of outfits of all kind. Everything any girl would need to play make-over time. Somehow, I had expected not to find Bella there and so, I hadn't lingered there for long. Honestly, Bella didn't seem the type to get overly hyped about things like make-up or clothes.

Thus, I kept searching.

Renée and I didn't find her in any of the rooms inside the Chief's home, nor the most likely place, the library. They had an impressive library, let me tell you, but that's beside the point. By now, as one can imagine, we were growing immensely worried, since there were very few places remaining where we had not searched for Bella.

"Where are you Bella?" I mutter under my breath, growing frustrated with myself.

Racking a hand through my now messy hawk, I look to the sky for some... illumination... that comes in the form of a tug... a tug? Looking down eagerly and hoping to see Bella's brown eyes, I am severely disappointed. Instead, I meet a pair of hazel, kind eyes behind red, square spectacles that belong to a girl who's similar in demeanor and stature to Bella. Only, she's dressed in a blue dress that hints at her being Cinderella.

"Hi," she says shyly. "I'm Angela, but I'm Cinderella today." I guessed right.

"Hello there, Angela," I reply, trying and almost failing to keep the edge of frustration from showing in my voice.

"Um... P-prince Charming?" Angela stutters out. What now? The one thing, I've noticed, toddlers lack is intuition. I try to smile encouragingly for her to proceed, thinking she has some kind of absurd request of this here Prince Charming. "Are you looking for Bella?"

"Why, yes, I am, Angela." To say I'm surprised and impressed by her directness is an understatement. "Do you know where she's hiding?"

"I'm her best friend, you know?" Angela tells me, as if that explains everything. "We had a sleepover and she told me all about you."

"That's great," I manage, disappointed once again. "I hope she told you nice things about me." Angela nods. What am I doing? This is going nowhere fast.

Just as I'm thinking this, Angela's looking at me like she can't believe her own eyes at the sight of me. But her mind seems to work like a one-way train that allows for no detours.

"Have you checked the lake?" she asks me, like I'm stupid or something for not having checked there first. I didn't even know they have a lake!

"No... I haven't..."

"I told you so, I'm her best friend," Angela gloats, blushing bashfully.

"I didn't doubt you for a second," I tell her honestly and ruffle her hair. I like her, and I like that Bella has someone like her for a friend. As for those other two... I'll have to see. "So, you think she's been there all this time, Angela?"

"That's our favorite spot!" Angela explains gleefully. "We always have peeknicks there."

"Oh, really?" She nods enthusiastically. "Do you think you can show me where it is?" I ask hopefully.

"Please?"

Angela scrutinizes me for the longest time before uncertainly saying, "I guess if it's you it's okay... and you did say please. Mommy always tells me that's the magic word that can get you anything!" She's too adorable, I think. I smile, trying to portray the eager image of innocence.

"And I promise to keep this place a secret if you ask me to," I add for good measure. And I know I've hit the jackpot as Angela beams up at me, nodding. "Okay, it's our secret," I promise.

"Follow me," she whispers conspiratorially. "This way."

"Here we go..." I whisper as I look around us to make sure no one's noticed us. All part of playing the part. Seeing that no one is paying us any mind, I follow Angela to a little clearing behind the Chief's home, and about five steps in, we vanish out of sight.

________________________________________

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Five minutes into following Angela through the hole in the wall, in a manner of speaking, and I'm beginning to think that the girl's been pulling my leg all along.

Honestly, we keep walking further and further into this thicket of shrubs and trees and I have no idea where this little girl is taking me. If it wasn't for the fact that she's more than half my size and a kid, which makes it very unlikely, I'd suspect that this would be around the time where she turns around and tells me that she's sorry, but she has to kill me.

"Are we getting close?" I ask her quietly, which makes her stop suddenly, nearly making me run her over.

"Don't scare me!" she hisses, rounding up on me like a kitten with her hackles raised.

"Sorry, sorry..." I plead, hands up in surrender. "Are we?" Angela rolls her eyes at me, shrugs, and turns around without so much as an answer. "O-kay..." I guess that means I'm annoying her.

"You're so slow, Prince Charming," Angela complains and looks back at me pointedly.

"Sorry," I mouth and try to hasten my pace, but the shrubs that stick too close to this well-worn path makes it nearly impossible for someone my size to make any real progress.

Another minute passes by and—

"Ouch! Shi-" I suddenly groan in pain after receiving a sharp hit to the shin. "Shoot!" I curse, hopping on one leg.

"Angela, you traitor!" Two voices I recently became familiar with accuse.

"What?" Angela asks, sounding hurt and confused by their accusation. "I'm not!"

"Yea-ha!" They insist.

"Jake! Edward! Don't be mean. Leave Angela alone." I identify Bella's reproachful gasp and glance her way, feeling instantly relieved in seeing that she isn't hurt or anything. She's a vision of pent up, miniature fury. She'll be a force to be reckoned with when she grows up, that one. "I can't believe you stupid boys kicked Prince Charming!" Neither can I, for that matter.

"What?" Edward speaks up nervously. Apparently, they have the decency to look bashful under her glare.

"Yeah, he had it coming!" Jake interjects fervently in their defense. It's official, they definitely have it out for me.

"I'm sorry, Prince Jasper Charming," Bella says, apologizing for her friends and glaring at them. Now, I'm in pain, but this girl is making me want to laugh at the same time, this is crazy! "Are you okay?"

"I'm all right, Bella," I say as I smirk at the boys and pretend to lean on Bella, who's blushing madly by now. They scowl at me reproachfully. "Just, let me take a moment and the pain will go away..."

"Should I kiss it better?" Bella asks sincerely, her little face contorted in concern. Too bad I'm trying not to laugh; Edward and Jake's faces right now are priceless with incredulity. "Like my mommy does? I know the song, pain, pain go away too..."

"No way Belly!" Jake intervenes. "You never do that for me!"

"Or me!" Agrees Edward, outraged and nearly scandalized.

"Why him?" Jake pouts angrily, clearly on the verge of a temper tantrum. Only now I notice that Jake actually looks younger than these three, maybe by two or three years.

"Because he's my Prince Charming," Bella informs him simply, like it's the most obvious reason in the world.

"You!" Jake says, pointing angrily at me. My brow arched in question. He proceeds. "Belly mine. You leave alone." You know, buddy, I'm not the problem here... I tell him silently, trying to keep the smirk off my face. These kiddies are too funny.

"Jake, what did Uncle Billy say about pointing?" Bella asks.

"That it's not nice," Jake responds begrudgingly, eyes downcast as they begin to brim with tears. After being chastised by the girl he likes, I can't blame the poor kid. Still, they continue to gape at her as she turns her back on them once more to tend to me.

"Uh... I'm doing good here, Bella, really," I put in quickly, before more fuel is added to the fire. "You should fix things with your friends..."

"But they were mean to you," Bella points out, getting this stubborn look on her face.

"It was only a suggestion."

"I don't want to."

"You're the birthday girl..." Bella beams at me like I've just gotten with the program.

"Come here Jake," Angela soothes and little Jake goes willingly, swiping at his runny nose with his arm and making it worse as Edward puts an arm around his 'frenemmy' consolingly. "It's okay, Belly's just made a new friend, it's all..."

"But- But- But..." he stutters between sobs, "I dunn like 'im. He's meanb..."

"I know..." Angela consoles, glancing meaningfully at Bella who nods at her. "But he'll be Belly's friend just for today, did you know?" Jake shakes his head. "Well, it's just for today."

"Really?" he asks hopefully, his face showing that he's seen the light at the end of the dark tunnel of his existential crisis.

"Really, really."

"I guess if it's just for today..." Edward muses. "Right, Jake?"

"Right."

"Well..." I say, clapping my hands together. "What do you all say? How about we all get back to the party, since your mom is really worried about you?" I ask. Getting no reply, not even from Bella, I add, "You still owe me a dance, Princess Swan."

"Okay," Bella squeals excitedly and claps her hands with a little hop that makes the ringlets of her hair scatter and gather like a halo around her shoulders for the span of a moment.

"Okay," Edward and Jake are momentarily dazzled by the sight of Bella's joyful smile before coming down to reality and echoing her words with little to no enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Angela simply nods her consent and starts leading the way with Jake holding her hand and Edward following close behind, but not before giving me a warning glare.

That leaves Bella and me to follow.

"After you." Looking to Bella, I motion for her to take the lead with my hand. A gentleman 'til the end.

As I follow behind Bella and the chatty toddlers ahead, I take out my phone and send a quick text to Emmett, saying:

The Little Swan is on her way. Tell Momma Swan for me?

Thanks, Cuz.

________________________________________

…

________________________________________

A moment later, my phone buzzes and I smile, shaking my head as I read:

The Little Swan is Flying. I repeat, The Little Swan is Flying.

NP, Cuz.