Pots and Pans

Yellow sunlight broke through the stone-coloured clouds of Forks for the first time in weeks and showered the room with light; Alice's vision had been right — the weather man was wrong. Stretching my arms, I yawned and patted the satiny comforter, feeling for Edward's body, only to come in contact with his amazingly comfortable bed. I frowned and kicked the blankets off, throwing my legs over the side of the bed, and slid into a pair of fluffy slippers. As I made my way over to where he had been when I'd fallen asleep the night before, I noticed a little piece of paper folded in half. I smiled to myself as my eyes made their way across it.

Good morning, angel. If you are reading this, it means I am not home yet, and for that I sincerely apologize. I wish I was with you, holding you as you opened your beautiful eyes and smiled up at me. I'm out hunting, but Esme is downstairs making you breakfast. I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you, Bella. You are my everything.

— Your Edward

I sighed and traced the elegant letters with my finger, reading the words over again. No matter how many times he told me he loved me, I would never understand; now I had his feelings in writing, a declaration almost. I lightly kissed the paper, imagining Edward doing the same as he left it on his pillow and gently pushed my hair out of my sleeping face. Every second away from him was a second wasted.

The heavenly smell of freshly cooked bacon drifted up the stairs, and my stomach grumbled. I threw a fluffy pink robe over my tiny, Alice-approved chemise and stumbled downstairs, rubbing my eyes, trying to wake up. Like Edward had predicted, Esme was in the kitchen in a ruffled apron, bustling around with pots and pans, her skin shimmering in the sunlight. When she saw me, she stopped and grinned.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She hurried over to me and sat me down in a stool at the island, producing a glass of orange juice from the fridge. I smiled in thanks and stifled another yawn.

"Morning, Esme." I glanced around the messy kitchen. "What's all this?" Her smile widened as she made me a plate of food and placed it in front of me. "Thank you."

"No problem, dear," she responded, wiping her palms on her apron. She took a seat opposite to me as I ate a forkful of pancakes. I moaned in delight.

"Esme," I sighed, savouring the flavour of the food. "This is delicious. I've always wondered how you are such an amazing cook. I mean, you haven't eaten human food in decades, and I'm guessing you don't have guests to cook for much. Is it just another thing that all vampires can do?"

She laughed and tossed her head back, billows of caramel-coloured hair spilling from her loose bun. "Have you seen Emmett in the kitchen? It's surely not a vampire skill, Bella, although your Edward is quite the chef." Your Edward.

"I'm not surprised," I mused, dousing the cakes in syrup. "He can do everything."

Her eyes twinkled as she watched me. "I remember you said that the day we met, when you found out he was musical."

I shrugged. "It's true. He really can do everything. Sometimes I swear he's not real." My eyes widened and I blushed, realizing what I'd just said, and to whom. "I, um…"

"It's okay," she replied, placing her cold hand on my arm. I relaxed, looking into her motherly eyes and feeling perfectly at ease. "I feel the same about my husband sometimes, and then I remember; he feels the same way about me."

I sighed and felt tears well up in my eyes. "It's an incredible feeling, and I just don't feel like I deserve it sometimes. What did I ever do? Why does God love me so much?" I wiped them away as they rolled down my cheek, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," I whispered, hiding my face in my hair. "It's a ridiculous thing to cry about."

"Oh, Bella." Her soothing voice made me look up, and her eyes made me smile. "It's only ridiculous to those misfortunate enough to never feel it." We sat in silence for a moment, pancakes and bacon forgotten, until my stomach let out another roar. We both burst into fits of giggles, and I picked up the sticky fork handle. Esme watched me eat, her nose slightly wrinkled — it must have smelled foul to her. That must have made it harder to cook, not even knowing if it smelled good to humans. Her voice broke my musing, but her words answered my questions.

"I have practice with cooking," she said softly, lost in her own thoughts. "Sometimes I make food and bring it down to the shelter. The house stinks for hours, but it's worth it to see those people so happy." My lip quivered with emotion, and I bit down on it, careful not to draw blood. I was overcome with admiration towards my second mother, the only one who'd ever really taken care of me.

"Can I…" I trailed off, looking down at my empty plate. Esme took it placed it in the sink, murmuring something about Emmett's punishment for breaking the coffee table. She returned and sat in front of me, taking my hands encouragingly. "Can we make something today? I mean, Edward is out hunting, and Charlie's not expecting me home until dinner, so…"

The joy on her face spoke wonders, and she squeezed my hands. "Of course we can, sweetheart. That would make everyone so happy. And what fun! Alice never wants to get her clothes dirty, and Rosalie is more into cars than cooking. Oh how I have wanted to share this with a daughter, and now I can!" Daughter… and mother. That was what we were.

"What should we make?" I asked, exchanging my robe for a sunflower-patterned apron. After tying it for me, Esme disappeared behind the counter and emerged with a book the size of every book in the Harry Potter series combined. It made a great plop as it landed on the island, and for a moment I wondered how someone as small as Esme could carry such a thing — if she wasn't a supernatural being, I was dubious she would be able to. With a heave, she opened the book to the middle and gestured towards it.

"Let's start looking," she replied, brushing imaginary dust off of the page. I looked at her, mouth agape with incredulity. Was she serious? She gave me a small smirk, a kind one. Everything she did was kind.

"Well," I breathed, fingering the edges of the paper. "At least we have options."

An hour later, we were dancing around the kitchen, music blasting through the open halls. With a spatula as my microphone and flour caked on my hands, I twirled around the room, giggling hysterically and leaning on Esme's shoulder. We were like children, carefree and happy, and I had almost forgotten about Edward — okay, I hadn't forgotten even a little, but I was still having a good time.

Suddenly, the door opened with a loud bang, and in strolled the three brothers, two sisters, and their father. Amusement as well as shock lit up their golden eyes, and they stood in the doorway, watching us. Dramatically, Emmett began coughing and dropped to the floor.

"My god," he groaned. "What on earth is that awful stench?" I raised my eyebrows and flicked a piece of batter at him. He dodged it and pouted at me playfully, but it hit Jasper straight in the nose. They all exploded into laughter as he clenched his jaw and glared at me. I smiled apologetically.

"Sorry Jazz. Wasn't aiming for you. As for you, Emmett, that smell is food. Some of us don't eat bears for lunch." Edward grinned at my wittiness and appeared beside me, giving me a chaste kiss that made me flush an undiscovered shade of red. Emmett's pout turned into a wolf-whistle.

"Hi," I breathed out, staring into his freshly golden eyes. What an intelligent thing to say, Bella. How original. He laughed as if he could read my thoughts, but we both knew he couldn't. Still, he could guess. I was as open as Esme's cookbook on the counter.

"Hi," he responded in a cute voice, placing a light kiss on my nose. Gagging noises came from the foyer, and I glared at Emmett.

"You," I pointed my finger at him, "take off your shoes. They're filthy. Now come inside and help us bake cookies." Begrudgingly, he did as instructed and waddled into the kitchen, bare-footed, wiggling his toes. Rose came up beside him and smiled hesitantly at me, sensing the ease between us. Alice and Jasper joined us, Jasper's frown having turned playful. As did Carlisle, striding over to Esme and greeting her in the same manner as Edward had with I. I smiled, remembering our conversation from before, revelling in the love that filled the room. Edward's arm wrapped around my waist, and he nestled his head in the crook of my neck, kissing the soft skin there. I shivered.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here this morning when you woke up," he whispered, despite the face that his family could all hear him — well, if they weren't wrapped up in their own loves, they could have. "But in my defence, I knew you would have fun with Esme."

I kissed his nose. "Well, you were right."

"Still, I missed you every second I was gone," he added. His eyes were smouldering, burning against the cold of his skin, absorbing the heat that was radiating off of me like a hearth. I grasped the hair at the nape of his neck, tugging him towards me, and caught his lips in a fiery kiss. After a moment, he pulled away and said, "There's sugar on your lips."

"Sorry." I frowned and went to brush it away with the back of my hand.

"No, wait," he breathed, catching my arm. His eyes fell to the white crystals on my mouth. "It's… sweet."

I gasped lightly, darting my tongue out over my lips. Sure it was sweet to me, but to him I had expected it to be repulsive. "Really?" His eyes darkened again at my actions, and I flushed again. "Well," I began, reaching into the bowl and coating my finger with sugar, "maybe we need to try it again." I rubbed the crystals over my mouth slowly, never breaking contact with his eyes. He snapped and kissed me again, pressing me against the counter. We kissed for what could have been hours until we were broken apart by a fit of coughs and turned around to see his entire family watching us with curious eyes. I swear I'd never been redder.

"Ah… uh…sorry," I sputtered out. "Just… ugh." Edward hid me in his shirt, sensing my embarrassment. "Gah," I muttered, my voice muffled my the fabric. "Kill me now."

"Come on," Esme interjected, dragged Carlisle to where we stood. "Let's make cookies." Looking sideways at her, I mouthed thank you. She smiled.

Soon we were like a well-oiled machine, a cookie making machine, and all awkwardness had been forgotten. Esme and Carlisle were in charge of making the batter, Alice and Jasper rolling it into balls, and Edward and I were in charge of the oven and putting the freshly baked cookies in transportable boxes. Rose watched us from the counter, as content as I'd ever seen her, and Emmett, grumbling, was stuck doing the dishes as punishment for breaking Esme's coffee table the day before. He'd been upset at first, but eventually he made a game out of it, as always. To be fair, he only broke, like, a dozen bowls and folded six forks into triangle shapes. That must have been a new record.

Once we were done, we had dozens of cookies loaded into the back of Carlisle's Mercedes. Esme took the wheel — not without having to coax the keys out of Carlisle, of course — and Edward helped me into the passenger seat with a sweet goodbye kiss, remnants of sugar still stuck to my lips.

Esme and I set off for the shelter, a new bond between the two of us, and I realized that I had learned two things today.

The first was that I was unconditionally and irrevocably attached to this family, my family, and I'd never been happier. This was the most incredible gift anyone had ever received from God, and I was the most grateful. They could never get rid of me now, I realized, and I could never get rid of them. We were one family, bound together by love, as cheesy as it sounded, and that was the way we wanted to be.

And number two? Esme was just as crazy a driver as Edward, if not more.

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading my story. It's supposed to be a oneshot, but I might add more if requested. I hope you enjoyed reading and appreciated the focus on Esme and Bella's relationship. I couldn't write a story without some Bella/Edward fluff, too. Anyways, thanks again and don't forget to review!

If you want more of this story, go vote on the poll in my profile! If you don't... vote anyways! Hehehe...

If you liked this story, you might like some of my others! For more Esme-centric, check out Loved and Lost, and for Bella/Edward, there's My Pale Skin.

XOXO, Author

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Twilight is the property of Stephanie Meyer, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain from this, nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. I do not own anything that bears a resemblance to Twilight or any other story on this site.