Forever Young

Chapter 5

Bathing, I learned, was a very boring thing. Everything I did was followed by a scold or rebuke.

"Hold still."

"Stop leaning away, you need a good scrubbing".

"Enough, that's too much splashing, Sweetie".

Esme's gentle but bossy voice was getting on my nerves. What did it matter if she scrubbed my face twice for good measure? I was just going to get dirty again. What did it matter if she put softener in my hair?  My curls were so wild, they would tangle up again before my hair even fully dried. And why were they so concerned with splashing? It was just water. It wouldn't leave a stain, or smell bad, and it would even evaporate, cleaning itself up. 

I struggled against the washcloth that was coming at my face again. I couldn't take any more scrubbing or rubbing or washing! I had already lost my woodsy scent that I loved so much, the smell of dirt and pine being replaced with softer scents. 

When Bella moved to pull me closer, I lashed out, shoving at her arm and sending a big slosh of water over the side of the tub, just barely missing Bella's shirt. I watched as it soaked her feet.  Good, I thought. Serves her right.

A hand suddenly shot out from behind me, gripping my upper arm and pulling me to a standing position. I quickly tried to move my hand to cover my body from Bella's view, but before I could, a sharp pain shot through the very top part of my thigh.

"Ow!" My shriek echoed through the bathroom as my free hand moved to rub at the pain. That hand was restrained, too, though, as Esme landed five or six more hard smacks to the same spots on my upper thighs. 

My hands flew back to cover the stinging area as soon as I was released. Turning to stare at Esme with wide eyes, I fought back tears. Her face was sterner than I had ever seen it. 

"That is quite enough of that," She warned me seriously. "You sit down like a good little girl and finish being bathed so we can get you into bed." 

I lowered myself into the tub again, swiping at a traitorous tear. Doing everything I could to avoid eye contact with Bella, who I was sure would have a smug grin on her face, I looked down at the bathwater. Even in this big tub it looked murky, calling attention to all of the mud that had come off of me. 

Finally, Esme pulled me up to stand and poured a final pitcher-full of clean water over me. She wrapped me in a fuzzy towel before lifting me over the edge of the tub, rubbing the towel back and forth over my head to try and dry my hair. I wanted to just use my power to control air to dry off, like I usually did after a bath. But I found that there was one distinct difference between swimming in rivers and sitting in a bathtub- the cool water of a river woke me up, making me hyper and in the mood to play and swim and dive. 

This warm bath water left me weak and drowsy. I didn't even try to debate my ability to dress myself as Esme reached for the clothes on the counter. She picked up the bright pink cotton first.

"Here, Darling, step into your panties." I did, one foot at a time, not mentioning that I never bothered with such things. It was much more convenient to just wear shorts. Underwear served me no purpose- they didn't keep me warm and they provided almost no coverage, so they were just pieces of cloth that got in the way.

"And here is your nightgown. Arms up." I did as instructed, allowing the dress-like garment to be pulled over my head. Though the fabric was soft and cozy, it just seemed inconvenient. It trailed all the way down to my ankles, which would no doubt limit my movement if I needed to run suddenly.

Maybe that was their plan.

With my hair dried and me dressed in what they considered to be appropriate nightwear, Esme led led me to a bedroom. It wasn't Resesmee's room, as I had hoped it would be. This room was bigger, more mature. It was what I was sure a royal bedroom would look like, and it held the same gold and white theme as the bathroom. Whoever this room belonged to must have designed both of the rooms.