A/N: I am sorry that this chapter came up so late. Oh well...I can't help that my brain farted. Lol.
Jasper had a lot of work to do, and I was very glad that Edward asked to bring him along. A wave of calmness about two times as strong as the first came through, and Edward looked around, bewildered.
He climbed off of Jacob, and his eyes slowly turned back to their topaz color. He spit on the ground, no doubt getting rid of the excess venom in his mouth. As he walked, I could tell that it hurt him to loose control like that so close to me. I had been around him long enough to know that he was apologizing over and over in his head.
He returned to us, and from the look on Charlie's face, we would have a lot of explaining to do. Lovely. I instinctively reached for Edward's hand to comfort myself, but his hand wasn't there. He had his hands in his pockets, although I don't understand why.
Anyway, Charlie was standing on the porch with his arms crossed in an you have some explainin' to do, kind of like Ricky in I Love Lucy. I wasn't going to want to explain the reason my fiancée just pounced on an old friend was that they were blood enemies. Vampires and werewolves hate each other. That just wouldn't be a very good chat.
Jacob and Billy hurried away as soon as possible, so we could talk to Charlie alone. I wasn't looking at Charlie, but I could feel his burning gaze. I really didn't want to feel the wrath that could possibly come. I walked in first, behind my father, followed by Edward, Alice, and then Jasper. Since there was only a couch and a chair, there was only room for four people. Alice sat in Jasper's lap, and I started to sit next to Edward, but my father made me sit in the chair, all by my lonesome.
I had tried to hide my ring until we had finally told Charlie about the engagement, but that didn't quite work out. The seat was so uncomfortable to me, that the only way for me to actually be comfortable was to sit cross-legged. My left hand was on the arm to keep myself from falling into the seat, and my father saw the beautiful ring Edward bought me.
"Isabella Marie Swan! What is that?" he asked, pointing to my finger. Uh oh. We were in trouble now. I had never heard my father take that tone of voice with me. And I could feel that somehow, Renee would be dragged into this.
"Umm…it's a ring." I was scrutinized by his glare. It didn't make telling him the news any easier. I looked quickly at Jasper, and nodded so faintly that only a vampire with great sight would be able to see. I knew that he understood my meaning, because waves of feeling emanated from his body. Suddenly, I was feeling as if nothing could harm me, nothing bad was going to happen. Serene…very calm.
"Mr. Swan. I think what Bella is trying to say, is that I proposed to her." Edward smoothly cut in. He reminded me of my favorite superhero, always swooping in to save an innocent girl from mean people.
"And I said yes." I finished for him. I saw his eyes go from calm to pissed in 0.3 seconds. Edward noticed, and stood up quickly to come over to me. Comfort me, most likely. I wasn't about to complain though…but I'm sure Charlie was.
"Bella, honey, why?" he asked. Could Jasper send emotion waves at one person only? "Why are you throwing your life away for this boy?" Now it was my turn for my eyes to go from worried to pissed in 0.3 seconds.
"Charlie…Dad. Listen. Edward and I love each other…more than life itself. I believe it is fair to say I would die for him." I told my father. "And he would die for me." And that was a fair statement, since he did go to Italy in search of the Volturi, so they would kill him. "Really...I don't know why you are acting so upset. It isn't as if you can stop us or anything. I am rightfully an adult." I pointed out. That was so not a good idea. I mentally braced myself for the screams…but they didn't come.
"Okay, Bella. I thought I could talk some sense into you. Even Renee told me to make sure that Edward wouldn't break your heart, and talk you out of love. But, I just can't. I don't have the heart to break yours." he said, sounding like a sulking ten year old.
"Oh, daddy," I said, getting all sentimental. I went over and hugged him, and I could see Alice and Jasper shaking with laughter. I swiped my hand under my chin, telling them to cut it out. Charlie let me go, and traded me spots. I did essentially beg him to trade seats with me.
I sat down next to Edward, and he pulled me into his lap. Now we mirrored Alice and Jasper. I felt cold lips pressing kisses onto my neck, and I turned my head to make that a real kiss, when my father cleared his throat. We didn't do that while dating, and apparently, he thinks we shouldn't do that while engaged as well. My cheeks flooded with heat. Great, that is all I needed.
"When?" my dad asked. I had a feeling that he was talking about the wedding, but before I could say anything, Edward piped up.
"I was thinking sometime around September 13th." he said. I smell a conspiracy here. But, hey, I always wanted a fall wedding, so we're good.
"On Bella's birthday?" Alice squeaked. That would change her vision, because now she would end up seeing leaves on the ground…or snow if it was cold enough. She froze up, getting a vision, right in front of Charlie. I saw worry flit over his eyes when Alice seized up.
"Is she okay?" Charlie asked. Would we have to tell him that the Cullen family is a bunch of vampires? I sure hope not. That would probably not turn out well. Yeah, we'll just say to him. Charlie…Edward's family is a bunch of vampires. Some of them have special powers. Alice's is to see in the future.
"She's fine, trust me." I said, and Alice relaxed.
"Bells…you need to tell Renee about this. Charlie said. I raised my hip slightly off of Edward's so I could get to my new phone (courtesy of Edward), and flipped it open. Quickly, I found my mom's name in my little phonebook, and pushed 'send'. When she picked up, I put it on speakerphone, so Charlie could back me up with anything I might say.
"Hello?" her voice said from the phone.
"Hey, mom!" I said. That sounded kind of cheerful. Maybe too cheerful.
"What is going on?" she asked. She was onto me. I'd have to take this slow…or extremely fast.
"Hey, mom, you remember Edward, right?" I asked her.
"Yeah, isn't he that boy that said he loved you, then ran off, and left you heartbroken for nearly a year?" she said, reminding me of a time I seriously do not want to remember. Apparently Edward didn't either, because when I looked at him, his eyes weren't topaz, but it wasn't because of hunger.
I rolled my eyes before I answered. "Mom! He won't leave me again, I know it!" I almost screamed into the phone. "We love each other too much to leave again."
"Yeah, so I heard." She said. "So…have you had sex yet?" I was so not having this conversation with my boyfriend, father, brother- and sister-in-law in the same room. I quickly turned the phone off of speaker to the laughs and smirks from the vampires in the room. Charlie just looked plain embarrassed.
"Mom, no, we have not." I told her. Even though I wanted to, really bad, Edward was afraid he'd hurt me.
"Good, because if he got you pregnant…" she let her threat float violently in the air.
"Mom, seriously. Can we get off this topic? Besides, even if we did have sex, he can't have kids." I told her. It was true. Vampires couldn't have kids.
"So…I thought you'd like to know that Phil and I are coming up to Forks next week to visit with you and Charlie. And Edward." she said, tacking him on at the end.
"Mom…EdwardandIareengaged." I said quickly. This wasn't going to be pleasant. "And before you ask, Alice had a vision about it. It will happen!" I blurted before I realized what I said. Eight eyes turned to me, six of them had incredulous look in their eyes. Charlie just looked confused.
"A vision? What is she, a psychic?" my mom said, laughing. I realized what I had said, and told her to hold on. I handed the phone to Charlie, and dragged the vampires off with me.
"Did I just say what I think I did?" I asked. I sure hope that I wouldn't have to tell my parents that I was marrying a vampire…at least not before I was one as well. But right now, that was the least of my worries. Edward looked furious.
"Yeah, Bella, ya did. Now you will have to tell them earlier than I expected. Probably as soon as we go back downstairs." he said. It hurt me to see him so angry. "I wanted you to tell them after I'd change you, but now we have to let the cat out of the bag early."
"Edward, calm down! You don't need to yell at Bella. We were going to have to tell them sooner or later. Better sooner than later." Alice said.
Tears started to fall from my eyes, I was so upset. I felt horrible. No, I felt worse than horrible. When Edward yelled at me, I felt like nothing more than a speck of dirt on his shoe.
He must've felt bad for making me upset, because he wrapped his cold steel arms around my body, and kissed the top of my head to comfort me. Edward's head snapped up, and then I heard Charlie knock on my door.
"Bella, Edward, Alice?" he asked. He didn't include Jasper, since he didn't know who Jasper was. "Are you all okay, because Renee is having a fit out here. She wants to know what that whole little 'scene' (her words, not mine) was."
"Yes, we are fine, Mr. Swan." Alice piped up. Good, maybe I won't have to explain too much to them.
"And she wants to know if the Cullen family is mentally unstable." he said, unable to hold back a chuckle. I laughed, and so did everyone else in the room. Finally, Charlie walked in. I wasn't out of it anyway.
"Don't worry, Bella. Charlie won't do anything too drastic." Alice whispered to me. Never bet against Alice.
"Well, let's start from the beginning. I do believe that Edward can handle that, can't you?" I asked him, knowing that a dare would make him say it.
"Yes…I do believe I can," he said.
A/N: Hee hee…you'll get a nice conversation chapter, and a nice Charlie fainting kind of chapter next. I think it might come out quicker than this one.