Disclaimer: I own nothing, especially anything related to The Twilight Saga.

A/N: Here it is, the sequel to "The Long Weekend." You may want to read the original story first, or some of the references to earlier events, the time frame and my interpretation of certain things may not make too much sense. This chapter is entirely in Bella's perspective.

A/N 2: Okay, so it's spring, almost summer now, and I'm writing a story that I meant to finish this winter, as it's a snow/winter-themed story. Bad, bad author.

Chapter 2: The Unexpected

When I woke up the next morning, I was immediately aware of how warm I was. I rolled over onto my stomach and propped myself up on my elbows. Edward lay next to me, his back facing me and Alice was stretched out at his feet, her head resting on his legs. I could hear Charlie banging around in the kitchen, which must have prompted the change in sleeping positions. I slumped back down on the floor and buried my face in my pillow. I was so not ready to get up yet. The tell-tale floorboard at the living room door creaked. I opened one eye to see Charlie's head poking in the room.

"You guys awake?"

"No," I stage whispered. I closed my eye and drew the sleeping bag over my head.

Beside me, Edward and Alice remained perfectly still, their breathing slow and even. To anyone else, it would seem like they were soundly asleep.

"C'mon, I made breakfast."

My stomach rumbled in response, the traitor. "But it's cold out there," I whined, getting up anyway. I shivered in response to the change in temperature.

"Should we wake them up?" Charlie asked, inclining his head toward Alice and Edward.

I laughed inwardly at how awkward that breakfast would be. "Nah," I said, "let them sleep. I'll make more breakfast when they get up."

Charlie and I went to the kitchen, the heavenly aroma of pancakes and sickeningly sweet syrup hanging in the air.

The four of us sat around the breakfast table, trying to think of something to occupy us for the day. Without the freedom of not acting human, this was much more difficult than it had been this weekend. After kicking around several ideas, Charlie decided to shovel the rest of the driveway and sidewalk.

As he was preparing to go out into the frozen tundra, he called to us, "You know, I think I still have our skis from the honeymoon. You guys can dig those out of the basement if you like." With that, he went outside, pulling the door shut behind him.

Charlie skis? I thought to myself. Well, that's certainly unexpected. I never in a million years would have thought my father would be one to ski, let alone that my sun-loving mother would agree to going skiing on their honeymoon.

"We could do skis," Alice began. "All we have to do is level out part of the backyard, build up some hills and…" she trailed off as she switched to her mental voice, speaking only to Edward now.

Edward smiled as he looked at me. "Like this?" he asked her.

I looked back and forth between them, my head twisting from side to side like I was watching a tennis match. Their silent conversations never ceased to amaze me. Edward was apparently envisioning their plan for how the backyard should look and what we would do while Alice looked ahead to see if that was what she wanted to happen.

"Too elaborate. Charlie would never believe the three of us could build that." Alice shook her head.

As they returned to their silent conversation, I got up to wash the breakfast dishes, rolling my eyes at the occasional "pshaw" or other derisive sounds that escaped from one of the slightly annoyed vampires behind me. The warm soapy water sloshed around in the sink as I washed the plates from breakfast, imagining what it would be like to be pushed around the backyard on skis. I could practically feel the cold air stinging my cheeks and hear the swooshing sounds of the skis sliding over the undisturbed snow.

"Perfect!" Alice and Edward exclaimed in unison.

Shocked by the sudden verbal outburst, I dropped the plate I'd been scrubbing back into the sink, splashing myself with dishwater. I looked down at my soaking wet pajama shirt, horrified to observe that it was quickly developing some interesting see-through spots. Lovely. I let out an exasperated sigh and looked up at the ceiling as if the answer to my luck might be written there for me to see.

"What could possibly be perfect—No, wait, tell me after I change clothes," I corrected myself as I shivered under the wet shirt. "I'll be right back."

As I turned from the sink to go upstairs, both Alice and Edward looked at me curiously, no doubt wondering why I was suddenly concerned with my clothes. They seemed to register the wet spots at the same time. Alice's expression changed from shock to one of amused understanding. I could have sworn I heard her snickering laugh. Edward's eyes widened to the point where I wondered if they could fall out of his head before he ducked his head to stare at the table as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

Right, I thought. Clothes. Now.

A few minutes later, I was coming downstairs again, two piles of clothes in my arms. Charlie had apparently pulled some extra clothes from his closet for Edward to wear and I had done the same for Alice, choosing what I thought would be the least offensive to her.

Before my foot hit the bottom stair, I heard her.

"You owe me so big, Bella," she threatened.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Whatever."

Edward simply met me at the bottom of the stairs, holding out his long hands, shaking his head. I dropped the jeans and plaid flannel shirt into his hands as he brushed past me to change upstairs.

Not even a complaint. I love that man. I smiled to myself as I continued to the kitchen, my grin becoming uncontrollably goofy.

Alice, like Edward, shook her head at me, but could not resist protesting the loaner outfit, rather loudly. I didn't catch all of it, but I heard her muttering something about destroying evidence and secondhand but not vintage.

Later that afternoon, the three of us were in the backyard, Alice and I with skis strapped to our feet and Edward standing behind us. We were squatting down as much as possible, almost to a sitting position.

"Who's first?" Edward asked.

"Alice!" I blurted without hesitation. There was no way I was going to try this, sight unseen.

She clapped her hands then threw her arms out to either side, holding them parallel to the ground. "C'mon Edward, I want to fly!"

I shook my head. What I wouldn't give to already be as indestructible as them so that I could give in to my more reckless tendencies. I could hold out until after the wedding, sure, but it wouldn't be easy.

Edward laughed, "Not our kind of fast…but I can make do with what we have." At that, he placed his hands on Alice's back and took off at a speed that would break any track star's heart.

The two of them raced around the backyard and over the hills at the back of our property. I watched carefully, trying to judge where I would be most likely to fall over or otherwise injure myself. It was impossible though, not to smile as I listened to the two of them laughing wildly.

Edward gave her a final strong push as they came to the hill nearest to me. As Alice sped down the hill she stood up slowly, then whizzed by me on her skis, headed right for the front yard, just as Charlie came around the side of the house.

He never saw her coming. Her outspread arms expertly caught hold of his shoulders—she couldn't change her course direction fast enough as a human—and the two of them went down.

I felt my jaw drop. Charlie and Alice were tangled in a mess of skis and arms as they both tried to stand at the same time. There was no way he could not notice how different that impact must have felt compared to how it felt to collide with another human. The secret was going to be out.

Then I heard it, something I never would have expected in a million years. My father was giggling. I expected it from Alice, whose peals of wind chime-like laughter were ringing out clearly, but Dad? No, Dad doesn't giggle, I thought. But he was.

I continued to watch them as I began to awkwardly clomp over to them. Every time they tried to stand, they fell again, which only made them laugh harder. Snow had gotten in their hair, was soaking their clothes, but it did not seem to faze them. Tears were rolling down Charlie's face from laughing. Edward had caught up to me by now and the two of us finally reached them. I noticed Edward reaching toward his pocket surreptitiously and a gleam caught the corner of my eye.

I cocked one eyebrow as I turned to look at him. He winked as he aimed a small camera at my dad and Alice and took a picture of them.

"Hey!" they both shouted in mock anger.

Alice then snaked a ski-clad foot out and hooked the long board behind Edward's leg, pulling him to the ground, too. She yanked the camera from his hands and tossed it to me. I caught it by the wrist strap and snapped a couple of pictures of the three of them in a heap, covered in snow.

"You have to be in these pictures too, kid," Charlie called. He had raised himself to a sitting position and was sliding backward in the snow to get free from the two "clumsy" vampires, before standing up.

"Oh no. No, no no. I am not going down." I began inching backward, as quickly as I could, still wearing skis.

Alice and Edward had gotten up as well, and the three of them advanced on me, waving their fingers in the classic "I'm going to get you" way.

Edward reached me first. I covered my eyes, not wanting to see what I was in for. He plucked the camera from my hands, then spun me around. My hands were gently pulled from my face as he looked at me too innocently.

"I was only going to give you your turn, Bella. Sit down."

I measured his words against his expression and he smiled my favorite crooked smile. That darn vampire was dazzling me. And it was working. I sat.

We were off, tearing across the backyard at a full sprint. I hate to think how fast we'd be going if he didn't have to act human for Charlie, because I already felt like I was flying. Just like sledding a couple of days ago though, the speed was exhilarating. I didn't want it to stop, even though my hat had blown off and my pants were covered in snow, which was now falling into my boots. The last hill was coming up.

"Here you go, love. Throw one ski…to slow down," he said, part of his words drowned out by something Alice was shouting as he was giving me the final push.

"Move it how?" I tried to ask, but my question was cut short by my own squealing. The wind rushed by and like Alice, I spread my arms out wide.

Luckily he didn't push me as hard as he did for his sister and I felt myself slowing down as I got closer to Charlie and Alice who snapped a few pictures before catching me and guiding me to a stop.

I stood, brushing myself off, just as Edward joined us, standing next to Alice. Charlie motioned for the three of us to move closer. Edward put an arm around each of us as Charlie took a group picture, all of us with big doofy grins.

"That's going to do it for me, guys. I'm heading inside," Charlie said. "You all have fun." He turned and headed back for the house.

"So, do you want a turn?" Alice asked, looking curiously at Edward. She looked confused.

"No…not a turn…" He moved so quickly that he looked like a blur. In less than a second he had gathered a handful of snow, formed it, and lobbed the ball at his sister.

Her return fire was swift. I managed to sneak in a couple of pictures as they continued their impromptu snowball fight. I glanced at the small screen to see the pictures.

A huge snowball smacked me square in the forehead, falling into my eyes and sliding down my nose. With a plop, more snow fell onto my jacket as the snowball continued to melt and slide down my face. I closed my eyes and ground my teeth together. I could not even speak, yet I felt my face reddening. I flicked the rest of the snow off my face.

I opened my eyes.

Alice had her hands over her mouth. I couldn't tell if she was shocked or trying not to laugh.

Edward raised his hands in surrender, his eyes wide with guilt. Seeing my expression, he took a step backward, then another. He stopped. He stuck out his bottom lip, making it quiver a little bit, in childlike guilt-innocence. He looked like an angel who'd just been told that puppies don't go to heaven.

"I love you, Bella," he said in a saccharine voice.

That did it. That pushed me over the edge. I launched myself at him and in his shock, I tackled him to the ground.