I woke up in the morning face down in the pillows, and with a very full bladder. I tried to push myself up to go to the bathroom, but found that there was something heavy on my back, holding me down. I began to shake, trying to wiggle myself away from whatever was on top of me, but it was no use. I was terrified, and couldn't stop the tears that sprang to my eyes.

"Oh my God! I am so sorry," a girls voice broke through my tears, and the weight was suddenly gone.

I immediately rolled over and saw Bella Swan standing beside me, her face full of concern. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, trying to stop my sobs. "I'm fine. Really I am."

"What's wrong?" she asked, trying to sit back down. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," I let out a choking laugh. "No, I'm extremely claustrophobic. I fell in a mine shaft when I was little, and a piece of timber fell on top of me so I couldn't move. It was three days before anyone found me."

"That's horrible!" Bella covered her face with her hands. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," I smiled at her. "You didn't mean to." I felt a telltale tingle in my lower belly, and I jumped up. "I'll be right back."

I headed towards the door, but then stopped. "Um…where is the bathroom?"

"The door right at the top of the stairs," Bella replied. "I don't think there's anyone in there."

I ran down the hall to the bathroom, and slipped inside. When I walked back to Bella's room, I realized that we weren't alone, anymore. Edward was sitting on the bed beside his girlfriend, holding her hand in both of his. They both looked up when I walked in, and he grinned. Immediately, my hand went to my hair, and I blushed.

"Good morning," Edward greeted me. "Or rather, good afternoon. How would you like to meet my family today?"

Afternoon? I looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was, indeed, after lunch. Wow, I must have been really tired last night.

"Um…yeah, sure," I agreed. "Do they want to meet me?"

"Of course they do," Bella replied, smiling. "Alice and Emmett, especially."

"Oh, God," Edward shook his head slowly, grimacing. "Maybe we shouldn't take her after all. Alice is going to go nuts with her."

"Going to go nuts with me?" I looked at him, but he ignored me.

"How do you know?" Bella asked him.

"Look at her," he motioned to me with his hand. "She's like her perfect Barbie doll."

"Oh she is now, is she?" Bella leaned back and looked at him with an arched eyebrow.

"I said Alice's perfect Barbie!" he said quickly. "Not mine. I already have mine." He took her hand and kissed it gently, making her blush.

I felt like I was intruding on their space, but they had just been talking to me, right? So I sat on the chair in the corner and waited until they noticed me.

"So yes?" Edward asked, returning his attention to me after a moment. "You want to come?"

"Yeah, for sure." I smiled politely at him. "I just have to do something with my hair and fine something decent to wear."

"Don't bother getting pretty," Bella said dryly to me. "Alice is going to give you a makeover, whether you want one or not."

"Oh, really?" I was kind of excited about that. "That's fine; I actually love getting my hair and make-up done."

"She is going to love you," Edward laughed. "Well, I'll go downstairs to let you girls get ready. Don't take too long, Alice and Esme are both really anxious to meet you."

"Esme?"

"My mother." he replied. And he left us to get ready.

Bella took her clothes and headed to the bathroom to change, so I closed the door and quickly changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a white long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of red converse. I pulled my hair up into a loose bun and grabbed my toothbrush. As I was walking down the hall, Bella came out of the bathroom, and I was relieved to see that she wasn't dressed any better than I was.

I brushed and flossed my teeth quickly, and then ran downstairs. They were both waiting by the door for me. I pulled on my sneakers, and we all went out to get into Edward's car.

We drove for a few minutes, talking about nothing in particular. Then we pulled off the main road and onto a small dirt road that was almost completely hidden by trees. I didn't realize until we got to the end of it, that it wasn't a road at all, but a driveway. We pulled into a huge yard and I finally saw the house.

"Holy shit!" I gasped. "This place is amazing."

"Thanks," Edward laughed, pulling up beside a Mercedes. "It's home."

"This isn't a home," I said, crawling out of the back seat. "This is a mansion. How many people live here?"

"There are seven of us," he said, taking Bella's hand and leading us towards the house.

Before we even got to the top of the stairs, the door was pulled open, and the smallest girl that I have ever seen stood there, smiling widely at us. Or, was it aimed specifically at me?

"Hi!" she cried, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm Alice."

"Oh, hi," I replied, rubbing my ribs. "I'm Kate."

"Oh, I know," she said in her musical voice. "Edward told us that you were coming here today. I think we're going to be great friends."

I nodded dumbly, not really knowing what to say.

"Alice, you could have waited until we got in the house before you attacked her," Edward sighed behind me.

Alice giggled and moved out of the doorway so we could walk into the house. There I stopped again. There were five others standing in the living room, and I immediately felt underdressed.

"Hello." A tall, blonde man walked up to me, his arm around the waist of a beautiful woman with caramel coloured hair. "I'm Carlisle, Edward's father. And this is my wife, Esme."

"His parents?" I asked in shock. Neither of them looked like they were older than twenty-five.

"Adopted," Edward clarified from behind me.

"Oh, okay." I blushed. "It's nice to meet you."

"And you," Esme smiled. "It's always a pleasure to meet Edward's friends."

"This is Jasper," Alice said, taking the hand of another blonde male. I couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be in some kind of pain.

"Hi," I waved lamely.

"Hello," he said softly.

"I'm Emmett," said a boy from the back. I was a little intimidated; he was easily the biggest person I had ever seen in my life. But he smiled happily at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. "And this here is Rosalie."

As I looked at the entire family, I couldn't help but notice that, despite the kids being adopted, they all shared some pretty obvious traits. Like the pale skin, and the strangely coloured eyes. And the fact that they were all the most devastatingly beautiful people that I had ever seen.

"Hi," I nodded to them. "It's good to meet you."

"Whatever," Rosalie snapped. "I've met her; can I go now?"

Esme sighed sadly, but Carlisle nodded. The beautiful Rosalie turned on her heel and stormed from the room. Emmett sighed, and followed her out.

"Now, let's do your makeover," Alice cried, taking me by the hand. I was surprised by how cold her hand was. But then again, she didn't have a whole lot of body fat to work with; maybe she was just always cold.

Two hours later, I emerged from Alice's bedroom. Bella gasped, Edward smiled, and Emmett wolf whistled, much to Rosalie's displeasure. She got up and left the room. Emmett shrugged and followed her.

"I look okay?" I asked hesitantly. I had never had so much done to me in my life, and I felt mildly uncomfortable.

"Amazing," Bella smiled. "You look way better than I ever do."

"That's because she doesn't squirm and complain the whole time," Alice told her, grinning. "But yes, you do look amazing. Best I've ever done, I think."

"You look beautiful, dear," Esme smiled. "You really do." Carlisle nodded in agreement.

I looked down, at the clothes that I now had on. I was dressed in an above-the-knee blue silk dress that hugged my hips perfectly. It had a sweetheart neckline and thin spaghetti straps, and it shimmered in the light. On my feet, which were freshly pedicured, were a pair of simple black peep-toed pumps with a small black satin bow on the top. Alice had washed, dried and styled my hair, so now it hung down my back and over my shoulders in sweeping auburn waves. My makeup was natural, but I had never looked so good in my life. I don't know how Alice managed to do it all, and in such a short time.

"What do you think?" Alice asked me nervously as I studied my reflection in a mirror.

"I look amazing," I muttered, not sure if she would hear me or not.

"Of course you do," she cried, hugging me again. "I worked my magic, again."

I laughed with her, and Edward shook his head, grinning.

Bella's phone rang loudly, scaring me. She fumbled in her pocket for a minute before answering it.

"Hello?" she said, walking away from us. "Jake! Hi, how are you?"

I noticed Edward's expression darken, and he looked at the phone like he wanted to take it from her and smash it. Instead, he just followed her into the kitchen.

"Thank you, so much, Alice," I said, smiling broadly at her. "I really appreciate this. I've never looked this good before in my life."

"It was fun," she replied. "And, really, you are one of the most stunning girls I've ever worked with. Even without the make up."

I blushed, and smiled at her. "Well, thank you."

"You look lovely."

I turned and saw Jasper walking down the stairs. He smiled at me, looking me directly in the eye. I looked away quickly, not being able to handle people looking into my eyes.

"Thank you," I murmured. "Alice did a great job; she's a miracle worker."

"I just add to what's already there," Alice said sternly. "You really are a beautiful girl."

I grinned back at her, but was prevented from thanking her again by Bella and Edward coming back into the room, arguing softly.

"Oh, come on, Edward," Alice called, skipping over to them. "Just let her go this once. I mean, it's not like she'll be alone, after all. Kate will be going with her."

"Going where?" I asked, frowning in my confusion.

"To a bonfire and barbeque," Alice explained. Edward frowned at his sister, but didn't say a word. "Bella's friend Jacob invited you guys, but Edward doesn't want her to go."

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Because he never wants her to go," she replied. "He's a little overprotective."

"No," I clarified quickly. "That her friend called? How did you know that?"

"Oh," she giggled. "I'm psychic."

It was quiet for a moment, the only sound being Edward's low groan, and then I couldn't help it, I burst into laughter.

"A psychic?" I laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." No one else was laughing. I stopped, still grinning. Edward was glaring at his sister, and Bella was giving me a sheepish look.

"Alrighty, then." I stopped, and looked at my hands folded in front of me. "Well, why don't you want us to go?" I looked at Edward.

"Because I don't like Bella being around them alone," he almost growled. "I don't trust them, Jake especially."

"Well, then why don't you just go with her? It would be better than trying to make her not go at all."

"We're not allowed in La Push," Jasper said from beside me. "We don't really get along with the guys down there."

"Oh," I was shocked. "You mean, there's like a restraining order."

"Yeah, something like that." I looked at Jasper, and saw that he was smirking about something. Weird.

"But, we can go, right?" I said, breaking a moment of silence. "I mean, I'll be there, so she won't be alone. And I won't let her get hurt."

Edward laughed harshly. "Sorry, but I don't think you'd really be able to do anything against these guys. They're pretty tough."

"Don't underestimate her, Edward," Alice admonished. "I can see that she's a pretty tough person, herself. I think she would be okay, going with Bella."

Edward looked right at me for a moment, and then shook his head in defeat.

"Fine," he snapped. "You can go." Bella grinned and hugged him, and I clapped happily. "But," he continued, "I am driving you there, and picking you up. And if anything happens, anything at all, I want you to call me immediately. Understand?"

"Completely," she smiled, kissing his cheek. "I promise we'll be alright. And nothing worth mentioning will happen tonight."

"You can't know that," he frowned.

"Ask Alice," I joked.

"I can't see them," Alice said quickly. "I don't know why," she looked between the other in the room, "but I can't."

"Oh, sorry."

"So when are you going?" Alice asked.

My stomach growled angrily, breaking the tension in the room and everyone laughed. I blushed madly.

"Now, I guess," Edward chuckled. "It sounds like Kate's pretty hungry."

I smiled embarrassedly, and nodded. "Yeah, I didn't get a chance to eat this morning."

"Are you going to wear that?" Bella asked me, nodding at my outfit.

"Oh, no, I should change," I said, turning to go back upstairs.

"Wait!" Alice stopped me. Her face was a little blank. "I think you should wear this."

"But I'm going to a bonfire," I argued. "In April. It'll going to be cold."

"I'll give you a sweater," she grinned. "But you have to wear this. You'll understand later." She ran up the stairs with inhuman grace.

"Okay?" I was confused, but I let Alice the Psychic do her thing. A moment later, she was back, a plain, black cardigan in her hands.

"Here." She helped me into it, and she looked me over. "It looks better without it, but there's nothing we can do about that now. You have to get going."

Bella took my arm, and led me to the door. Edward took a bag from Alice that had my old clothes in it. She grabbed his arm and held him there for a moment. I blessed my strangely good hearing when I heard her say, "I can't see her anymore, Edward. You know what that means."

I frowned, but shook the thought from my mind. I liked Alice, she seemed really sweet, but she thought she was psychic. How weird was that? And, for some reason, the rest of the family, Bella included, believed her. Maybe they were just humouring her? Yeah, that must be it.