It was twilight. Isabella Swan stared out her window in awe of the beautiful sky. She was seventeen with thick, brown hair and brown eyes. Her skin was extremely pale. All in all she wasn't all that extraordinary looking.
"Bella! Come down here, please!" her mother called.
Bella jerked back in shock. "C-coming, mother," she responded, heading toward her door. She carefully walked down the stairs. She almost tripped twice but managed to catch herself before any serious injuries occurred. She rounded a corner into the kitchen where her mother was washing some fruits.
"Mother?"
"Sweetheart… you know that Phillip isn't your… real father…" Bella nodded slowly. "Well… your real father… ehem… he didn't know… ehem… about… you and… umm… he just recently…" Renee coughed nerviously, "found out… about you… and well he… wants to… meet you…"
Bella stared at her mother for a long moment. "Umm… you want me… to meet this man? My father?"
"Well… we don't have much of an option. He is… sort of demanding that you meet him…"
Those particular words caught Bella off guard. "Demanding? Who has the right to demand to meet me? I mean unless he's the king." Bella laughed at her own joke… but her mother… didn't.
Bella gave her mother a weird look. "This is wehere you laugh and say 'that's ridiculous dear'. Why are you not laughting?"
"Well… when I was just barely eighteen I caught the eye of who was then the prince… now the king… and we… had an… ehem… affair for a while but… I eventually found out I had become pregnant and I was afraid that someone would do something in order to get rid of an illegitimate child of the heir to the throne… so I… broke it off with him and hid out until I gave birth. By that time my father had arranged for me to marry Phillip, who was willing o marry me despite you. Phillip has always considered you his child and I had managed until recently to keep you hidden from your real father. But last month at the market… he was there and he saw the two of us together. He asked some questions through his guards and found out your age. From there he did the math…"
"I see… so… why does he want to meet me?" Bella asked. She wasn't particularly panicked about her newly found royalty. Well, really, lack of royalty since she was illegitimate.
"I honestly don't know, darling. But you're meeting him tomorrow on the outskirts of he village… where no one can see you. I'll be close, so don't worry," Renee said gently.
Bella nodded carefully. "I'll… go…wash my hair…"
Renee smiled gently. "Thank you for not making a big fuss, darling. I know this must be a shock…"
"Just a bit… but it doesn't matter. What could it possibly change anyway? Everything will eventually go back to the way it was. Right?
*BREAK*
"Carlisle? I wasn't expecting you until next week," Charlie said as he looked at his old friend… well old didn't really describe Carlisle, but that wasn't the point.
"I know, Charlie, but some people found out the date we were traveling so we had to change the date. You know how that can be, I'm sure," Carlisle said in his perfect voice.
"Of course. And I see you've brought your family with you. Esme you haven't aged a day since I last saw you," Charlie said smiling.
"Thank you. It appears you are doing well also?" Esme murmured.
"Yes, verymuch thank you." Charlie reached out a hand toward the bronze haired young man to Carlisle's left. "How are you, Edward?"
"Fantastic," Edward said pleasantly. "Thanks for having us."
"Anytime, my boy." Charlie turned to the bear-like boy next to Edward. "Emmett, if I didn't know better I would say you've actually grown."
Emmett laughed boisterously. "Well I'm fairly certain that didn't happen. Maybe you've shrunk, Charlie."
Charlie smiled. "Maybe." He looked at the gorgeous blonde who was at Emmett's side. "Of course I remember you, Rosalie. More beautiful than I remembered."
Rosalie smiled beautifully. "And getting more beautiful," her voice turned threatening. "Right, Emmet, darling?"
"Right, Rose," Emmett squeaked.
Charlie wandered over to the pair on Esme's right. "I don't think we've met."
Carlisle took over from there. "These are the newest additions to my family." He motioned to the pixie-like, black-haired girl, "And this is Alice."
"It's very nice to meet you, Jasper, Alice," Charlie said.
"It's nice to meet you too, Charlie," Alice said, smiling. "I'm sure we'll all get along quite well."
*BREAK*
The Next Day
"Charlie, where are you going so early?" Alice asked. She was perched up on a counter.
"To meet someone," Charlie responded.
"Your daughter?" Alice asked pleasantly as though she ought to know this information.
Charlie stopped short. "How did you know that?" he questioned suspiciously.
Alice smiled. "I saw her in a vision. Can I meet her later?"
Charlie stared at her for a long moment. "Come to the outskirts of town, west side in an hour and I'll introduce you," he relented. Alice took the information very well.
"Oh yay! Can I bring Edward?"
That caught Charlie off guard. "Well… I suppose, if Edward wants to come."
"Oh, he will," Alice chirped.
Charlie had always chosen not to ask about the special talents that seemed to plague the Cullen family but now he was beginning to wonder if he ought to ask a few more questions on the subject. He stepped out the doorway and set off to meet his daughter.
Isabella
*BREAK*
Bella sighed as she finished getting ready. She had gladly repressed all the ideas of what could go wrong but that didn't stop her from being a little nervous.
"Bella! You have fifteen minutes! Please don't be late!" Renee called.
Bella's repression couldn't stop Renee from being a lot nervous either, it appeared.
"Alright mom, I'm going now," Bella called. She ran out the door and walked quickly toward the designated meeting place.
She knew her mother would soon be as close as she could get the meeting place without causing any trouble.
Bella barely avoided running headlong into a tall, gorgeous, bronze haired boyu as she rounded the corner. And that was more him than her since her clumsiness didn't help her much in situations like this one.
"I-I'm so sorry!" Bella said, looking down because she discovered quickly that looking at him made it difficult to form coherent sentences.
When he didn't respond she looked up. He was staring at her incredulously with a hand over his nose and mouth.
"Are you alright?" she gasped, wondering if she had somehow run into him after all.
He nodded but his eyes closed tightly and he looked as though he was in immense agony.
The next instant Renee rounded the corner followed by Mike, who was obviously pestering her about Bella.
Mike's eyes widened almost as much as Renee's did when they saw Bella standing only inches away from the bronze haired young man.
Mike was the first to respond. "Hey! Who are you?" he demanded. "Get away from her!"
The boy's golden eyes shot open and he turned a full force glare on Mike.
"I," he said, removing his hand from his mouth, "am Edward Cullen. And you," he gave Mike a reproachful look, "have the most annoying voice I've ever heard."
Renee barely fought down a chuckle and Bella didn't even try to fight the fit of giggles that Edward's statement had sent her into.
Mike, angry about being made a fool of, immediately retaliated. "Who do you think you are? You're not so great! Stay away from Bella!" he ordered.
"Bella?" Edward murmured thoughtfully. "As in Isabella? Are you Charlie's daughter?"
Mike obviously didn't get it but Renee and Bella both froze. "How did you know that?" Bella whispered.
Edward shrugged. "I hear more than the average person. You should hurry or you'll be late."
Bella jumped slightly at the realization. "Thanks, Edward," she shouted as she ran by him.
She made it just seconds before Charlie arrived.
*BREAK*
A/N: Okay, so this is my first Twilight ff. Please comment. Tell me what you think and such. Thanks.