A/N: I'm sorry I took so long to update this, but I do have a life away from my computer. As you can see, this is now longer, but there is no new chapter. This is because I originally intended this to be a one-shot, but I didn't finish so I just posted what I had. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, I never have, and I never will. I just like to play with her characters.

"Bella, I know you're hiding something from me," my mom stated upon seeing my new appearance. How right she was.

I didn't answer for a moment.

"Honey, please, tell me!" she pleaded, taking my silence as confirmation. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

I finally relented. "Yes, I know… it's just that… I don't want to put you in danger, Mom."

She appeared startled at the mention of danger. I heard her heart rate pick up immediately. "D–danger?" she stuttered. She stumbled over her words, unable to comprehend my meaning. "Bella, w–what are you talking about?" Her voice now had a hysterical edge to it. "Please, tell me!"

I looked pointedly at Jasper and a wave of calmness washed through the room. I mouthed the word "thanks" and turned back to my mother. She seemed utterly confused by our silent exchange, but after scrutinizing my every movement for a few seconds, she shook her head and continued with her pleading.

"Bella…" she started, but then trailed off.

I knew it was pointless to continue resisting; knowing my mom, she would never let this go. I sighed and threw my hands up into the air in defeat. "Alright, I'll tell you!" My tone was a little bit harsh, and I instantly regretted snapping at her when the shock and hurt flashed in her eyes.

"I'm sorry about that." I threw her an apologetic look. She seemed to understand and accept this. I took a deep breath and started again. "Okay. Mom, do you believe in the… supernatural?"

She looked even more confused by this, most likely wondering how this could possibly be relevant to the conversation. "What do you mean?" she asked warily.

"You know, like werewolves, witches… vampires," I cringed internally at the word, "and all that great stuff?" It came out sounding like a question in my failed attempt at nonchalance.

"Um… I–I try to keep and open mind, why do you ask?" she replied, laughing nervously. I could tell she was struggling to contain her immense curiosity.

"Well this is harder than I thought it would be," I muttered under my breath. "Um, Mom, let me start over. What I'm about to tell you is completely unbelievable, surreal even, and yet all of it is absolutely true. And you can't tell anyone," I started, emphasizing the last word.

My mom sighed impatiently. "Just say it, Bella."

"Okay, I'm going to start from the beginning." I prepared for a long explanation. "Carlisle was born in London, sometime in the mid-sixteen-forties."

At this first piece of information, Renée's jaw dropped. I decided to wait and let that sink in.

She was quick to recover. "Um… honey, that would make him over three hundred years old. That's impossible. He's what, twenty-five, thirty?"

I suppressed a sigh of relief when Carlisle decided to intervene. "No, she's right. I really am three hundred sixty-four years old, give or take a few years." Renée turned her incredulous gaze to Carlisle.

"You're kidding, right?"

-Several hours later, after having told the stories of all of the Cullens-

"And you knew all along? You knew the entire time and you didn't care. Wow. You must really love Edward," said Renée. For the mind- numbing amount of information

she had just taken in, she didn't react very strongly. Of course, she didn't yet process exactly what all of this entailed. "Wait. So that means you're a-"

"Yes," I cut her off before she could say the word.

"Wow. My daughter. A vampire." At this revelation, I expected something more. She was very calm and collected, a difficult feat for my mother.

That was when the flood of questions began.

"So how can you come out during the day? Do you all sleep in coffins? Can you turn into bats? How do you become a vampire? Why can't I tell anyone about this?" If not for my enhanced hearing, I would not have been able to distinguish Renée's words at all, and even now I was having trouble keeping up.

I couldn't keep from laughing at her sudden enthusiasm. "Slow down, Mom, one question at a time!"

She reluctantly complied, starting over with the barrage of questions that I gladly answered.

Now that this weight was lifted off of my shoulders and my mother was in on the secret, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. The Volturi would not be a problem for the years to come, of that I was sure. For once, I was completely satisfied.

A/N: Thank you to the four people that reviewed this story, chocoholic4eva, Horsecrazygal21, katekate376, and TwilightGamer. Your praise made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and reignited my determination to finish this thing. Thank you so much for reading my story! You guys rock!