Perspicuous (J.HALE)

03

"Bella?"

Her head popped up over the edge of the bed, hair ruffled, and cheeks flushed from rootling around underneath it. I held up a dusty DVD case.

"Keep?"

"Keep."

I tossed it into the box labelled 'Movies' in patchy marker pen. She had left all of her packing to the last minute, so we were spending her hen night boxing up her childhood. Charlie was avoiding us, obviously preferring to watch the baseball than to risk getting emotional, and Bella was a little stressed.

"Okay," she huffed, getting to her feet and placing her hands on her hips. "Do I need all these blankets?"

"Yes," I answered. "You're basically marrying a block of ice. Insulation is necessary."

She shot me a look.

"What? Am I wrong?"

She folded the blankets and dropped them into another box.

"You know Alice probably already has a wardrobe stocked for you?" I asked as I taped up a box of clothes. "You could donate all this and save us the trouble."

"I refuse to let Alice dress me," Bella mumbled.

I snorted. "It's hilarious that you think you have a choice."

"Let me dream, Imogen."

A high-pitched hiccup caught my attention from across the room. Ethan, sat in his carrycot, gurgled and clenched his fists, mashing his lips together as he looked around Bella's bedroom, wide-eyed. I moved over to him and picked up his stuffed polar bear, wiggling its arms around in front of his face. He let out a shrill sound and flung his arm in the direction of the toy. I smiled and placed it on his tummy.

"I'm proud of you, Im."

I blinked and straightened up. "Huh?"

"Sometimes I forget you're younger than me," Bella said, smiling. "You're doing really well with the whole parent thing. I could never do it."

I smiled. "I'm an old soul, apparently."

I watched her face for a moment as she surveyed her room for what to pack next. She seemed subdued—not that excited, despite getting married in the morning—and calm. If it were me, I would be an anxious mess, running around trying to get everything sorted in time and triple checking that everything was ready and paid for. But Bella moved with enviable easiness, carefully thinking about each thing she did without any distraction. Or, at least, that's how she seemed.

"I have a question," I announced.

"Shoot."

"Why are you and Edward getting married so young?"

There was a beat of silence.

"I mean," I continued, "he's immortal and besotted with you, so it's not like you're in danger of him jumping ship."

She straightened up and paused, brow crinkling. "It's, uh...part of a compromise."

My eyebrows flew up. "Getting married is a compromise?"

"I agreed to marry him," Bella said, taking a breath, "and he agreed to change me. Into one of them."

I blinked.