THE WRAITH / J. HALE

5 / Bella Plays Umpire

CHAPTER FIVE
BELLA PLAYS UMPIRE

꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷

WHEN SHE WAS STILL HUMAN, Sabine was an excellent cook. Not to play into misogynistic stereotypes, but she was. I mean it was the 1910s, so what more was she allowed to be good at?

Not the point. Point is, is that she made some mean meals. And she enjoyed it; she enjoyed the process, the smell, the excitement on Edward's face when she entered his hospital room with a steaming plate. After he died, she spent three years slaving in the kitchen for a man who was too drunk to eat whenever he got home, and after she died, she never got to experience the joy of watching someone eat one of her dishes again.

Until now — because Bella was coming over for dinner. And as much as Rosalie and Jasper hated the idea, Sabine couldn't help but grin as she pottered around the kitchen, humming an old tune. Carlisle had asked if she needed a tutorial playing, but she shook her head and said she'd even grab the groceries herself. She was so excited.

"I didn't know you could cook." Jasper said, walking in and leaning his elbows on the other side of the island.

"I didn't know you could play the guitar." She butted back, raising both brows at his shocked face. "Alice told me."

"Ah." He clicked his tongue and pushed himself up, "It's a shame we can't eat it. Smells good, for human food."

"Wanna help with the salad?"

He shook his head, "Going on a small hunt with Alice. Preparing myself for...Bella."

"Right." She nodded, "Yeah, of course, that makes sense. I'll...see you later."

He grinned before jumping onto the branch that led into the forest. She stayed there for a moment, smiling like a school girl with a crush, before shaking herself out of it and shouting in Rosalie to help her instead. She did, albeit reluctantly, as did Carlisle and Esme. They stuck on some music, and soon enough we're cooking like a real human family. Like her family used to, before her parents died.

They heard the door open and close downstairs, and tried not to listen in on the conversation, instead sharing secret grins. Rosalie didn't look to happy, and Alice and Jasper were still out, but the rest of them were rather excited. Edward had never brought a girl home before.

"Dude, have you ever grated cheese before? Holy shit." Sabine muttered when she caught sight of Emmett's truly awful cheese grating technique. Too rough, the cheese breaking at the edges into chunks and falling on the counter.

"Oh, sorry I'm not a Michelin star chef, boss." He snarled. The two began to quietly bicker until they caught the familiar scent drifting up into the room.

"Get a whiff of that." Rosalie smirked, "Here comes the human."

Esme grinned and stepped to them, meeting them as they rounded the corner, "Bella, we're making Italiano for you."

"More like Sabine is making it and we're just doing what she yells at us to do." Emmett smirked.

"Oh." The human muttered.