Chapter 7: Meeting the Parents
Bella was sitting in her Spanish class, half-listening to what the teacher was saying. Her stomach was doing gymnastics, making her feel totally ill. She closed her eyes tight, trying to push the nausea away, but the more she tried to ignore it the worse it got. She suddenly raised her hand. "Senora, may I please use the bathroom?" She asked.
"Spanish please," the teacher answered, without looking away from the board.
"Puedo ir el bano por favor?" She asked.
"Si," the teacher replied.
Bella got up and practically ran to the bathroom.
About five minutes later, Bella was lying back against the stall door, wiping her mouth and trying to calm her upset stomach. She jumped when there was a knock on the door. "Bella, are you in there?" Alice called.
"Yeah," she replied.
She flushed the toilet and came out. "Wow are you okay?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, just a bug," she replied, rubbing her stomach.
She walked over to the sink and washed her mouth out with the water from the sink. "Well, I wanted to deliver a message to you from Edward, he said that its okay for you to come over to our house tonight to meet our parents," she informed.
"Okay, that's good," Bella answered.
She pulled her hair back and looked at herself in the mirror to see her pale face staring back at her. "Wow, you look real pale, I mean paler than usual, are you sure you're okay?" Rosalie asked.
"Mm hmm, I'm fine," she assured them.
She leaned against the counter. "Just a little bug," she added.
"And you are in school because?" Alice asked.
"Because the last thing I need is explain to Charlie why I'm staying home from school," she replied.
The girls nodded and Bella went back to her class after a few more minutes.
Later that evening, Bella got out of her truck to find Edward there, waiting for her. "Ready?" He asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and went inside. "Mom, dad," he called. Edward's mother, Esme, came out of the kitchen with a smile.
"Hello," she greeted.
"Mom, this is Bella, Bella this is my mother, Esme Cullen," he informed.
Bella shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Cullen," Bella answered.
"Well, how formal but you can just call me Esme," the older woman assured her.
Bella smiled slightly. "Okay…Esme," she answered.
"Where's dad?" Edward asked with a smile.
"Well he should be around here…Carlisle!" Esme called up the stairs.
She looked over at Edward. "Edward could you go get your father?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure," he replied, going upstairs.
Esme led Bella into the living room. The first thing Bella noticed was that there were so many pictures all over the walls. She smiled to see a family portrait, that looked to be recent, having over the old fireplace there. "That was taken last year," Esme informed. Bella looked at the picture and then at the other pictures.
She saw the usual, like Carlisle and Esme's wedding pictures, pictures of Edward and his siblings growing up. The usual school pictures, there was a picture of Emmett and Edward at what looked like to be a softball game. There was another picture of Alice when she was a kid in a little pink tutu. Esme watched the young woman with a smile. "This picture, is my favorite," Esme told her, pointing to one of the pictures near the front.
Bella picked it up with a smile. "Emmett was seven and Edward and Alice were six," she informed.
"What was going on here?" Bella asked.
Esme smiled as she looked at the picture. "Carlisle had gotten vacation for the first time in a long time so he took the entire family to Hawaii for Christmas. They had so much fun, I think they had more fun with the fact that their father was spending time with them than the actual trip," she commented. Bella laughed slightly as she looked at the picture.
The entire family was sitting on a beach, Emmett was sitting between his parents. Edward was sitting in Carlisle's lap, Alice was sitting in Esme's lap. They were all smiles, the weather looked beautiful, and the ocean was behind them. It was the perfect picture, Bella could see why it was Esme's favorite.
They heard footsteps coming down the stairs and Bella put the picture back up on the shelf. "Bella, this is my father Dr. Carlisle Cullen, dad, this is Bella," Edward informed. Bella shook his hand.
"Just call me Carlisle," he informed.
"Okay," she answered.
They sat down and Edward held Bella's hand. "So, Edward tells us you're from Phoenix?" Carlisle asked.
"Yeah, I had just recently moved back to Forks to live with my dad. My mom had remarried and my stepfather's work takes him all over the place so I decided to go back to Forks so my mom can travel with him," she explained.
"Well that was generous of you," Esme answered, smiling.
"Edward has told me so much about you, I was kind of nervous about meeting you," she commented.
Carlisle chuckled lightly. "You have nothing to worry about Bella, as long as you stay honest with us you have nothing to be nervous about," he assured her.
"Okay," she answered, smiling slightly.
"Your father is Chief Charlie Swan right?" Carlisle asked.
"Yeah, that's my dad," she replied.
Edward smiled to see Bella having a good time with his parents.
Later that evening, Bella was talking with Emmett when she looked into the kitchen to see Carlisle walk up behind Esme and wrap his arms around her waist. "Don't worry, you'll get used to the lovey dovey stuff with mom and dad," Emmett commented. Rosalie rolled her eyes slightly.
"You seem to be feeling better," Alice commented.
Edward wrapped his arms around Bella's waist with a smile. Bella placed her hands over his. "Yeah, I'm feeling better," she answered. He kissed the back of her head with a smile.
"Dinner's ready," Carlisle called.
Edward took Bella by the hand and they went into the dining room.
