*by Stephenie Meyer*



NEW MOON - chapter 2 - STITCHES


The game was still on; as soon as I walked through the front door I could hear the announcer rambling over the babble of the crowd.
“Bell?” Charlie called.
“Hey, Dad,” I detto as I came around the corner. I held my arm close to my side. The slight pressure burned, and I wrinkled my nose. The anesthetic was apparently losing its effectiveness.
“How was it?” Charlie lounged across the sofa with his bare feet propped up on the arm. What was left of his curly crown hair was crushed flat on one side.
“Alice went overboard. Flowers, cake, candles, presents - the whole bit.”
“What did they get you?”
“A stereo for my truck.” And various unknowns.
“Wow.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Well, I’m calling it a night.”
“I’ll see te in the morning.”
I waved. “See ya.”
“What happened to your arm?”
I flushed and cursed silently. “I tripped. It’s nothing.”
“Bella,” he sighed, shaking his head.
“Goodnight, Dad.”
I hurried up to the bathroom, where I kept my pajamas for just such nights as these. The shrugged into the matching tank superiore, in alto and cotton pants that I’d gotten to replace the holey sweats I used to wear to bed, wincing as the movements pulled at the stitches. I washed my face one-handed, brushed my teeth and then skipped to my room.
He was sitting in the center of my bed, toying idly with one of the silver boxes.
“Hi,” he said. His voice was sad. He was wallowing.
I went to the bed, pushed the presents out of his hands, and climbed into his lap.
“Hi.” I snuggled into his stone chest. “Can I open my presents now?”
“Where did the enthusiasm come from?” he wondered.
“You made me curious.”
I picked up the long flat rectangle that must have been from Carlisle and Esme.
“Allow me,” he suggested. He took the gift from my hand and tore the silver paper off with one fluid movement. He handed the rectangular white box back to me.
“Are te sure I can handle lifting the lid?” I muttered, but he ignored me.
Inside the box was a long thick piece of paper with an overwhelming amount of fine print. It took me a minuto to get the gist of the information.
“We’re going to Jacksonville?” And I was excited, in spite of myself. it was a voucher for plane tickets, for both me and Edward.
“That’s the idea.”
“I can’t believe it. Renee is going to flip! te don’t mind, though, do you? It’s sunny, you’ll have to stay inside all day.”
“I think I can handle it,” he said, and then frowned. “If I’d had any idea that te could respond to a gift this appropriately, I would have made te open it in front of Carlisle and Esme. I thought you’d complain.”
“Well, of course it’s too much. But I get to take te with me!”
He chuckled. “Now I wished I’d spent money on your present. I didn’t realize that te were capable of being reasonable.”
I set the tickets aside and reached for his present, my curiosity rekindled. He took it from me and unwrapped it like the first one.
He handed back a clear CD jewel case, with a blank silver CD inside.
“What it is?” I asked, perplexed.
He didn’t say anything; he took the CD and reached around me to put it in the CD player on the bedside table. He hit play, and we waited in silence. Then the Musica began.
I listened, speechless and wide-eyed. I knew he was waiting for my reaction, but I couldn’t talk. Tears welled up, and I reached up to wipe them away before they could spill over.
“Does your arm hurt?” he asked anxiously.
“No, it’s not my arm. It’s beautiful, Edward. te couldn’t have dato me anything I would Amore more. I can’t believe it” I shut up so I could listen.
It was his music, his compositions. The first piece on the CD was my lullaby.
“I didn’t think te would let me get a Pianoforte so I could play for te here,” he explained.
“You’re right.”