EJ became a central part of the family from the moment she was born, if not before. Her physical care was happily shared. She'd slept in the Hanover house with her parents - apart from their one night alone, after Bella's first hunt, when we babysat - but during the day EJ was everybody's pet project. Carlisle kept careful track of her growth and development. Her education was likewise shared. Having no idea what to expect, we tried to follow her interests and abilities. She learned walk, speak, and even read within a very short period of time. We learned to not to make assumptions about how much she could understand, and gauge her ability by the questions she asked.
She didn't like talking, at first, and only did so when it was impossible to touch the person she was addressing. She preferred to use her gift. Edward encouraged her to speak, and was able to persuade her to sing with him while he played the piano. She seemed to enjoy music, especially her father's music.
For my part, I loved dressing her up. Unlike Bella, she didn't mind being put in pretty clothes, and she was growing so fast, she needed new clothes on a weekly basis. Providing them was my very welcome duty. As her curly auburn hair grew longer and her features became more mature, she only became prettier.
EJ seemed to have a natural charm that nobody could resist. She was completely loveable, yet never seemed to become spoiled or petulant, in spite of being fawned on by all the Cullens, not to mention our cousins.
The cousins were, in fact, part of this process. Carmen and Esme had succeeded in finding them a house on eighty acres, and they now lived a short distance from us. We saw them most days. For one thing, they were fascinated by EJ and wanted to be in on her development; and for another, they missed seeing the rest of us. Bella, supremely confident in her new and beautiful Version 2.0, no longer felt any uneasiness around the sisters. She and Tanya even became good friends.
It was Tanya who finally asked the question I'd kept to myself since the day Bella turned up pregnant. One day, when Bella and Esme were out hunting with EJ, helping her find small and easily dispatched prey in an effort to wean her off donated human blood, a few of us were lounging around, talking idly of this and that. At some point, the conversation turned to weddings, and from there to honeymoons. Tanya took advantage of the opportunity. "Speaking of honeymoons, Edward, may I ask you a personal question?"
"Uh oh," Emmett said, grinning. Edward nodded cautiously.
"Bella became pregnant while you were on your honeymoon. While she was still human."
"Of course."
"It was my understanding that you considered this sort of thing far too dangerous. As someone with a lively interest in human-vampire relations of this kind, I can't help but be fascinated. What changed your mind, if I may ask?
Edward looked uncomfortable, but answered. "Bella did. She said she wanted to consummate our marriage before her change, to make it even more official, as she put it. I believe she wanted to impress on me that she truly did regard the marriage as genuine. It was important to her. It was the reason she secretly arranged for a traditional wedding, in contrast to her original plans."
"I doubt that was the only reason she suggested it," Emmett laughed. "She may not be as repressed as some people."
"And you agreed immediately?" Tanya pressed him.
"No, actually. I refused at first. On our wedding night, Bella was slightly unsteady from the wine she'd been given at the reception."
"That's a very gallant way to express it," Kate said, grinning. "The girl was nicely sozzled."
"Tanked," Tanya said.
"Three sheets to the wind," Irina agreed.
"In any case," Edward went on, "I thought it was both inappropriate and unsafe to proceed with her in that condition. I waited until she was clear headed."
"The following day?" Tanya asked.
"Yes, if you must know."
"And all was well?"
His expression became a little tense. "In fact, she experienced some slight bruising after the, er, first time. She convinced me, eventually, that it was insignificant."
"Bella does bruise very easily," I observed.
"Yes, so she said; but it was a shock to realize she'd been bruised by me. She insisted I put the matter in perspective, which I tried to do. And I managed not to injure her again, however trivially. Does that satisfy your curiosity?" he asked Tanya, arching an eyebrow.
"Not by a long way; but it's probably all the information I'm going to get from you."
"That it is."
"I'll just have to give Bella a try."
"Good luck with that," Emmett muttered.
Bella herself was every bit as happy in her new life as she'd appeared in my visions of her. She seemed absolutely thrilled with her new, stronger, faster body and mind. She was ecstatic to be Edward's equal and his true partner, and I gathered their love life met with her approval as well. She adored her daughter, and revelled in being a mother to the strangely endearing little hybrid. She was even delighted to be a part of the Cullen family - a genuine part, not just someone under their protection. Jasper loved being around her and Edward, basking in their intensely positive emotional climate. I suppose it made up for all the painful feelings he'd had to moderate since Bella had come into our lives.
Bella was also the most perfectly self-controlled newborn anyone in our family had ever seen. She could turn away from human blood as easily as the most experienced of vampires, almost as easily as Carlisle. It was a shock to us all. Carlisle speculated that it was because she'd been so thoroughly prepared for her new life. Jasper thought it might be a secondary gift. We kind of set that aside after a while, hoping we'd be able to figure it out eventually. It was one more thing Bella was happy about: that she didn't have to be concerned over the possibility of taking down a Boy Scout troop or something in a weak moment.
Only the prospect of a few unavoidable duties marred the experience. A couple of weeks after her change, Carlisle tactfully brought up the first of these.
Bella had just finished sending an email to her mother, providing carefully edited information on Hanover and the coming semester at Dartmouth. "Bella, you realize that it's likely not possible for you to actually attend classes," Carlisle said. "Not for some time, in any case." Her eyes were still crimson. Nowadays she could always claim she was wearing novelty coloured contacts, but we didn't like to press our luck.
She turned away from the computer. "Yes, I know."
"It would eventually get back to your parents that you are not among the Dartmouth student body." She looked at him, suddenly serious. "It's time, Bella."
She froze a moment, then relaxed again. "Yes. Okay."
Carlisle gestured to the dining table, and we all joined him there, EJ watching solemnly from Rosalie's arms. Carlisle addressed us. "We have to make arrangements for Bella's disappearance. Any suggestions for a plausible story?"
"A death would be the least likely to cause suspicion," Jasper said, "if it were one where no body was expected to be found. A drowning at sea, for example."
"Bella, do you have any preference?" Esme asked her.
"I'm not sure. Mom and Charlie are going to be upset no matter what approach is taken." She looked sad, for the first time since opening her new, red eyes.
"I'm afraid that's unavoidable, dear."
"Yes. Is there any way I could disappear and never see them again, but for some good reason? Something they could accept without too much trouble?"
"Witness Protection Programme?" Emmett suggested.
"That sounds good," Rosalie objected, "but Charlie's a cop. I suspect he'd try to track her down, or at least find some record of the crime she witnessed, and it would get awfully complicated."
"I suppose it would," Bella agreed. "Well, by the same token, we shouldn't have me be kidnapped or run off and join a cult, or anything else that would give Charlie the idea he could track me down. He'd probably go on looking for years, and I don't want that. I want him and Mom to be able to put it aside and move on."
"Death might be the better option, in that case," Carlisle said.
We batted ideas back and forth a while, coming up with nothing better. Suddenly, I made a connection in my mind. Something I'd seen while looking into the future weather in Hanover, and had dismissed as irrelevant. "Wait! I think I've got something." I started scanning ahead, looking through the details.
"That would be perfect!" Edward said.
"Yes, wouldn't it? Everything falls into place."
Emmett threw up his hands in disgust. "Would you two mind discussing this out loud? For the benefit of the mind-reading impaired?"
"Sorry," Edward said. "It's a fire in an unoccupied house."
"A fire?"
I explained. "Two…no, three kids broke in to smoke some cigarettes they'd swiped. There was some kind of accelerant being stored inside." I looked more closely. "Butane! Somebody was using the house to manufacture…well, that's beside the point. They started a fire, the whole house went up like a matchstick, and none of them escaped."
"That's awful!" Bella exclaimed. "When was this?"
"Eight days from now."
Edward smirked at me. "Future tense where appropriate, please, Alice."
"Right. Three kids will break in and set a house on fire, and burn to death. Unless, of course, someone like Bella heroically rushes in and saves them."
"And dies in the process," Jasper concluded. "Very nice. Will it work?"
"I can't know until Bella actually decides to do it."
Bella looked around the table. "What does everyone think? Carlisle?"
"It seems ideal. While your parents would still grieve, the fact that you'd died saving children from a horrible death would certainly ease their pain, and make the loss easier to accept. In addition, of course, to the added benefit of actually saving the children."
"Eight days?" Bella asked. "What would I do?"
"Just happen to be in the area at the time, and run in and drag the little brats outside. Make sure there are witnesses that can confirm what you did."
"We'd have to provide a corpse," Jasper said casually. "One that could be taken for Bella, at least in a burned condition."
"Won't they check for DNA?" Esme asked.
"That wouldn't be done unless the person's identity was in question. We can make sure it's not." Jasper ran through the process quickly: leaving Bella's ID in the substitute's pocket, altering her dental records to match those of the purloined body, even making sure eye witnesses saw Bella inside the blazing house as it collapsed.
The future event was becoming clearer by the second. "Yes! Everything goes like clockwork. Only one problem. The rescue will get media attention. Bella will have to stay under the radar for a while, completely out of sight."
"I think I'll be doing that in any case," she said. Besides still being red-eyed, she found adapting to the vampire life and caring for EJ a full time job. She also wasn't yet perfect at appearing human. She'd adapted amazingly well, but she wasn't ready to go out into society just yet.
"Do we have a plan?" Carlisle asked. It seemed to be unanimous. We set about making the necessary preparations.
During the week, Bella sent one more email to her mother, and one to Charlie. She was warned not to get suspiciously affectionate or nostalgic; just write casually about the weather and which classes she'd be taking. Bella looked very solemn after sending them, and Edward held her a long time, murmuring reassurances.
She also sent a short, cryptic email to her friend Rachel Black, using the new email address associated with her new self. She showed it to us for approval before hitting Send.
Hi Rachel,
This is the address you should use from now on. The old one will be discontinued shortly. Please remember to delete my messages after you've read them.
You may hear a rumour soon that I've left the area permanently, so to speak. Obviously, you'll know it's not true, but please keep that to yourself. Tell Paul if you want to, but nobody outside the pack.
I know you and Sue and Seth will keep an eye on him. I'm going to try and make it easy for him, as much as I can.
Love,
B
On the day of the fire, Bella set out for the neighbourhood in question. She wore tight jeans and a particularly eye-catching blouse which I provided for the occasion, and brown contact lenses. People would remember her later. She carried a purse with a shoulder strap. On our instructions, she stopped at a nearby bookstore, paying for the books with a debit card and presenting her student ID in order to receive the student discount. She did the same at a coffee shop around the corner, where she pretended to consume a small chai latte and received 10% off by showing her student card. I saw her do it all, from my hiding place on the upper floor of the doomed house, next to Jasper and his silent friend.
From there, as the sun began to set, she proceeded around the corner, checking her watch and slowing down her pace a little. As she approached the house, there was a muffled explosion, and a burst of flame shot out a broken ground floor window. Jasper glanced at me. I nodded. The chain of events had to be timed perfectly, and so far it was going smoothly.
A second explosion sounded, and the rear exit was blocked by a wall of flame. The three boys were panicking, running back and forth in search of a way out. We heard people start to gather on the sidewalk. Has anybody called 911? a voice asked. I did, a woman's voice answered. I smelled Bella as she arrived in front of the house and stopped beside the others.
The boys managed to get to a front window, and could be seen by the crowd, struggling to open it. It was painted shut, and before one of them could find something to smash the glass, the fire pushed them back.
That was Bella's cue. "Oh, no!" her musical voice cried from the front sidewalk. "Those poor kids are trapped in there!" I rolled my eyes, and Jasper grinned. Bella was a horrible actress. She got everything else right, though. She ran for the house, dropping her shoulder bag on the grass as she went, ignoring people yelling at her to stay away. Grabbing a broken chair from the back yard, she smashed through a window and climbed inside before anyone could stop her.
The boys were choking on the smoke by now. They had very little time. Bella deftly grabbed two of them around the chest and forcibly dragged them to the window, dropping first one, then the other the short distance to the ground below. Spectators got a good look at her as she brought the kids out, then ran back inside.
The third boy was losing consciousness and had some burns on his hands and arms, but I could see he would be all right after medical treatment. "Get the timing of this last part just right, Bella," Jasper warned her in an undertone, and she gave him a quick thumbs up. She carried the third boy to the window and, pretending to drag him with difficulty, lifted his limp body out the window and let it drop. Jazz and I got ready. Spectators ran to pick the boy up and carry him away from the burning house, so they were able to get a good, clear look as Bella, preparing to climb out the window to safety, was suddenly struck down when a burning timber fell directly onto her head. Another small explosion erupted near the window and flames shot up, cutting off their view.
Perfect.
Jasper and I emerged from our hiding place as Bella got to her feet, brushing soot from her hair and clothing. "Everything's still according to plan," I told her. She handed over her student card with its magnetic strip identifying the owner as Isabella Swan, and Jasper tucked it into the back pocket of the decedent's jeans, which were identical to the ones Bella herself was wearing. In fact, all their clothing was identical, just in case any of it remained intact. The counterfeit Bella was then carefully laid down, her skull was crushed by the burning timber which would be identified as the immediate cause of death, and she was left to burn beyond recognition.
Sirens could be heard in the distance just as the ceiling began to collapse. The three of us waited until the fire brigade pulled up in front of the house, causing spectators to move closer to the anticipated action. As soon as the coast was clear, we leapt out an upper floor window into the surrounding shrubbery and disappeared, followed by the sound of one last explosion.
The next day, news reports were full of the fire in what turned out to be a private meth lab, the near-miraculous rescue of three children from the burning house, and their rescuer's tragic demise. The young woman was easily identified as Isabella Swan, eighteen, a girl from a small town in Washington preparing for her freshman year at Dartmouth. Bella's photograph, the embarrassed-looking school picture that was framed and set out in Charlie's living room, appeared on TV reports across New Hampshire and, because of the connection with Chief Swan, in parts of Washington. Depending on the TV station or web site, various reports emphasized the fact that drug dealers were ultimately responsible for the fire; the selfless heroism that saved three children from certain death; or, because plenty of exciting film footage was available, the struggle of the fire fighters to get the fire under control.
Bella's supposed remains were rather redundantly cremated, sealed in a container, and sent to Charlie for whatever final resting place he found suitable. After some discussion, it was decided that Carlisle and Esme would fly back to Washington and attend the funeral. It made sense for Edward to be there, but Bella wasn't ready for travel, and the two of them couldn't face being apart for even the short time required. Dr. Cullen reported that young Edward had succumbed to something highly contagious and debilitating and had to be left at home. We sent floral arrangements, one from Edward alone, and another from the rest of the family. Carlisle reported that members of the Quileute tribe were present, and looked daggers at him and Esme.
"And Mom and Charlie?" Bella had asked hesitantly. "How are they doing?"
"As well as can be expected," Carlisle said. "Your mother was both distraught and intensely proud of you. She spoke at the funeral, saying your actions would not surprise anyone who knew you well." Bella looked uncomfortable. "As for your father, he was…unhappy. His friends are providing a great deal of support, and he's no longer living alone, which must be a comfort right now."
"He's not?" Bella asked in surprise.
"No. He's moved in with Sue Clearwater."
"Oh. Well, I thought that would happen sooner or later. I'm glad he's not on his own."
As a precaution, Edward packed up the house in Hanover and left it behind. If asked, his story was that he was moving back in with his parents to grieve the loss of his sweetheart. In fact, Esme had finished fixing up the cottage, and Edward, along with the technically nonexistent Bella and EJ, moved in there.
A few weeks later, Charlie Swan and Renee Dwyer each received a cheque in the mail from the Pacific Northwest Trust. The enclosed letter provided a complicated explanation of why Isabella Swan's grant had been forwarded to her next of kin upon her death, half to each of her parents. The letter also invited Chief Swan to nominate any deserving student in need of college funding, provided he or she was from the immediate area. As it happened, Charlie was in regular contact with one or two. Seth's and Leah's education would be provided for.
We all gave Bella a little space after the funeral. She accepted the necessity of it all, but making people she loved unhappy went against the grain for her. Kate decided to distract her by bringing up, once again, the idea of working to expand her gift. It was something she could work on while confined to the home compound, and take her mind off things. They met every day in the wood lot behind our house, to practice.
Bella seemed skeptical at first. She was not aware of any shield, could not imagine doing anything with this supposed shield. For days, Kate could get nowhere. Then she tried a kind of visualization exercise, in which Bella imagined her shield as an actual, physical object which she could move and manipulate with her mind. Bella sighed and made another attempt, and suddenly froze. "I can feel it!" she said.
"You can?" Kate asked excitedly. "Keep with it! Use your mind to push it away from yourself."
"Yes!" Bella seemed to be making a tremendous effort. "It's moving! No, wait. It's gone again."
They tried to work past these limits for several days. Bella only made a breakthrough when Kate casually took EJ in her arms. "Let's try a little experiment, shall we? Would you like to help your mama, little one?" EJ nodded enthusiastically. "Very well. I'll hold you in my arms like this, and when I start to touch you, your mama will use her shield to protect you from my shock. All right?"
What?" Bella exclaimed. EJ grinned expectantly at Kate. Bella reached for her. "Kate, give her to me!"
"In a minute," Kate said, eluding Bella easily. "First let's give this a try"
"Don't you dare hurt her!" Bella lunged at Kate furiously.
The rest of us watched nervously. "Kate," Edward said, "you do realize how old she is? Do you really want to risk inciting a newborn?"
"All she has to do is extend her shield," Kate insisted, "and little Elizabeth will be fine. Ready?" She danced nimbly out of Bella's reach. "One, two…" She placed her hand just over EJ's.
Edward gasped. "Bella…"
"Three!" Kate touched EJ's little hand. Nothing happened. "Well, well! Bella, you can do it after all."
"Give her back to me!" Bella insisted.
Kate complied. "You know I wouldn't really shock the little girl, don't you?"
"But you tried to!" Bella said, still furious.
"No, actually, I didn't. I just wanted to see if the right motivation would help."
"So I didn't really extend my shield?"
"But you did!" Edward said. We all looked at him. "Bella, when Kate threatened to hurt Elizabeth, you shielded her from where you stood."
"How do you know?" Tanya demanded.
"Because her thoughts were suddenly cut off. I couldn't hear her."
Bella stared at him. "So I really can…?"
"Think about exactly what you did before," Irina advised. "Try to replicate it."
"Um, okay. I'll try to shield Kate." She frowned, concentrating, but Edward shook his head.
"Well, we have to go with what works," Kate said decidedly. She walked over to Edward. "One, two…"
"You're not fooling anybody, Kate," Bella scoffed.
"Three!" She touched Edward, and he fell to the ground as though shot. Bella dashed to him in a panic, but he recovered and stood up seconds later. Bella approached Kate with fire in her eyes.
"Fight! Fight!" Emmett chanted, amused.
"All in a good cause, Bella," Kate said, backing away. "Oh, Alice! Can I use you as a guinea pig?"
"Uh…" I wasn't too keen on the idea.
"Do what you have to, Bella!" Kate called out, and darted forward to touch me. I braced myself.
Nothing happened. "Are you doing it?" Bella asked.
"Yes! Bella, you've got it!"
"Okay." Bella was panting, working hard to maintain the shield.
"Try to extend it a little further. Shield me as well," Kate instructed. Bella frowned, concentrating.
"That's it," Edward told her. "Now I can't hear either Alice or Kate." A moment later Bella lost control of her shield, and they began again.
It was a start. In the days that followed, Bella slowly gained more control over her shield. Soon she could shield one person at a time, or the entire family at once. With practice, she found she could expand or retract her shield at will with less and less trouble. "I had no idea any of this was possible."
"Most of our gifts develop and increase after the change," Jasper explained. "This will gradually become easier for you."
The breakthrough Edward seemed most pleased with happened weeks later. He kept it a secret from the rest of us for a few days before spreading the word: Bella had acquired the ability to remove her shield, to lower it and uncover her mind at will. Edward told us about it one morning, after they returned from their cottage with EJ
"So you can read Bella's mind now?" Irina asked, as we gathered in the house, EJ napping in her mother's arms as we talked.
Edward smiled at Bella. "When she removes her shield. She can only do it for short periods of time."
"You're progressing amazingly fast," Esme said.
"It's quite impressive," Eleazar agreed. "Would you be willing to remove your shield right now?"
"Now? Um, sure." Bella stood still, frowning, as if concentrating hard on something. Eleazar watched her intently until she gasped. "Sorry! That's as long as I can hold on."
"It's fine, my dear. That was ample time. I could perceive your shielding ability very clearly."
"But what about the other thing? What everybody's been wondering about?" Emmett asked. "This weird self-control of hers. No newborn is like that. Is that a gift, too, or just training and preparation, like Carlisle says?"
"Carlisle is right. Bella's restraint is not a special talent."
"I guess that settles that," Emmett concluded.
"But I am rather curious," Eleazar went on. "Why is it you've never mentioned her other gift?"
Talk about your attention-grabber.
"'Scuse me?" Emmett said. "Other gift?"
"But I don't have any other gift," Bella said.
"Perhaps it was hidden or inactive while you were human," Eleazar suggested. "That is very common."
"We haven't noticed any other particular talent," Esme said. "Are you sure about this?"
"Very sure. It's quite clear. The gift is subtle and probably not very powerful or consistent, but it is definitely there."
"What kind of gift is it?" Carlisle asked him. "Another aspect of her shielding ability?"
"No, it is completely separate. In the Volturi's system of classification, it would be designated a gift of perception."
"Perception of the future?" I asked hopefully. It would be cool if Bella and I shared the same talent.
"No, not the future specifically. It is…" He paused, tilting his head thoughtfully. "She has a kind of insight. She can discern hidden truths, unseen connections. She sees, so to speak, the heart of the matter. It may tend to appear in its clearest form under stress. Have you never known her to apply this gift?"
We looked at each other. "Your description is a little vague," Carlisle said. "Can you give an example of how the gift might work?"
"Well, for example…there may be a situation in which seemingly unrelated things were actually connected, or resulting from a common cause, and no one was able to see this except Bella. Or in which she saw past someone's lies or facade into their true intentions. Or where the results of an action would have consequences only she predicted - that might actually look like a prediction of the future, although technically it is only an analysis of the present."
Bella began shaking her head, but Edward seemed struck by an idea. "There was the time Bella figured out the connection between Victoria, the newborn army, and the stranger who broke into her home. None of us had realized it was all part of the same scheme. But this was while she was still human."
Eleazar nodded. "Yes, that's the kind of thing I mean."
"She also figured out the truth about Edward," Emmett pointed out, "without much to go on. And it's not like she believed in vampires to begin with."
"But," Bella protested, "I heard about the Quileute legends from Jacob."
"True," Edward said, "but even before that, you were closer to the truth than you reasonably should have been. I recall your telling me, 'I'm trying to work out what you are.' You also concluded I could read minds, and that your own mind was exempt, and there was no reason you should have drawn that conclusion so easily." He turned to Eleazar. "She's always been surprisingly perceptive."
Bella shrugged, unconvinced. "A lot of that came from dreams. I used to sometimes have dreams that helped me work things out in my mind. Doesn't everyone?"
Carlisle smiled. "No, actually."
"I know one!" Emmett said. "When she was pregnant with EJ and starving, she woke up from a nap one afternoon and a dream had given her the idea that she needed to drink blood. It worked, too."
"Oh, and when Edward left after her last birthday," I gave them a glance of apology for mentioning it, "Bella had some kind of weird revelation, and understood that he'd lied to her."
Suddenly we all had examples to share. Surprisingly astute observations about the werewolves, clear insights about confusing situations, remarkably good guesses with minimal data - we realized Bella had done it on a regular basis, now that we thought about it.
"I thought she was simply observant," Esme said. "Maybe there's more to it than that."
"The dream aspect of it is interesting," Eleazar said.
"Yes, but…" Bella looked down at EJ, sleeping in her arms. "If I got most of these ideas from dreams, doesn't that mean my talent should have ended when I was changed? I don't dream any more."
"Not at all. The ability would work through different channels. Whatever mental calculations were accomplished through your dreams would simply be reassigned to your transformed neural functions."
"I see." Bella still seemed a little shocked by the whole idea. "Actually, there was one dream…"
"Yes?" Eleazar said eagerly. "When was this?"
"The night before our wedding." She looked from the baby to Edward. "Can she hear us?"
"No, not at all," he assured her.
"Well, I dreamed about a little boy, with green eyes and reddish brown hair. I was responsible for him, for protecting him from some terrible threat, but I didn't feel strong enough to keep him safe. I made some connection in my mind with the Immortal Children. I loved the little boy, but other people had good reasons he had to die. It was frightening."
Edward looked very somber. "Is that why you were so certain Elizabeth would be a boy?"
"Yes." She looked off to the left for a moment, as if trying to remember something. I'd seen that look before. "It was the wrong day."
Eleazar became very alert. "The wrong day?"
"Yes. The little boy would have been…" She seemed to suddenly become self-conscious.
"Would have what, my dear? You're among friends."
"Well, I can't really explain how I know this, but...he would have been, er, conceived on that same day. On my wedding night. Only he wasn't, because, well, I had a little bit too much to drink at the wedding, and the baby wasn't made until the next day. The next day, it was an X chromosome. The day before, it would have been a Y."
"I understand," Eleazar said, looking quite intrigued. "That is the kind of thing I mean," he told Carlisle.
"Yes, but I have no idea how I know that," Bella objected. "It's just something that came into my mind. How do you know it's true?"
"On this occasion, we do not; but there have been situations in which your insights turned out to be accurate, no?"
"Definitely," Rosalie said.
"And you feel certain that they are true, do you not?" Eleazar pressed.
Bella shrugged. "Yeah. Sometimes I think of things, and they just feel like facts. I don't know why, though. I always told myself it was just my imagination."
"So you experienced this sort of thing before?"
"Sometimes. Mostly from dreams, sometimes just things that came into my head," she admitted. "But I never took them seriously."
"Perhaps you should begin to take them seriously," Eleazar suggested. "Have these convictions changed in any way since your transformation?"
"There haven't been very many, but…they're sort of clearer than before. Harder to ignore."
"That makes sense. You may want to pay attention to these experiences, and learn to distinguish genuine insights from random thoughts. You may find you can learn to control them, as you have your shielding ability."
Kate rubbed her hands together. "Another talent to develop! Bella, you're going to be a busy girl."
Carlisle turned to Eleazar. "Have you ever encountered someone with more than one gift?"
"No, not until now."
"Her father's mind is partially shielded," Edward mused, "and her mother is exceptionally intuitive. Perhaps they combined to give Bella a version of their own talents, an amplified version."
"That could be," Eleazar acknowledged.
"What did you say about Charlie?" Bella asked. "You had trouble reading his thoughts? Why did you never mention that before?"
Edward gave her a sheepish smile. "You were so pleased to be the only one whose mind was closed to me. I could read Charlie's thoughts, but they were partially obscured. I suppose your gift must have a hereditary component."
EJ woke up at that moment, and the conversation took a different turn.
Later that night, after Edward and Bella had taken the baby back to their cottage for the night, we switched on the news, scanning through various news stations as usual, monitoring various regions. A news item came on that caught our attention at once. The owners of the drug lab were working their way through the legal system, and the news was rehashing the whole story. This time, they included a short interview with the father of the 'heroic co-ed' who had died in the 'inferno.'
The camera showed us Charlie, standing next to Sue Clearwater. Sue was holding his arm and looking a little bit like an overly suspicious security guard. Jasper chuckled. "Protective. You can read it from here."
"Charlie doesn't look so good," I observed. Partly it was the gloomy weather in Forks, but he also looked like he was just out of the cancer ward.
The news anchor, a handsome, vacuous looking man in a well cut suit, assuming a properly sober expression, spoke to Charlie. "Have you heard that the owners of the drug lab have been arrested?"
"Yeah, I heard that."
"As a police officer, I'm sure that gives you some satisfaction."
"Some, yeah." Charlie seemed to make an effort. "I mean, at least they can't do it again to someone else, right?"
"The parents of the three children who were saved from the fire have expressed their undying gratitude to your daughter." Probably not in those exact words. When Charlie didn't respond, the suit added, "Are you proud of your daughter's actions on that day?"
"Of course I am!" Charlie snapped. "Who wouldn't be? It was the bravest thing I've ever heard of, from civilian or police." He stopped, clenching his jaw.
Sue spoke for the first time. "Charlie's always been proud of Bella."
"That's true," Charlie said. "She was the best daughter a man ever had. She didn't have to run into a burning building to prove that." He broke off, his face working pathetically in the manner of a stoic man who wasn't used to crying, and Sue put an arm around him as the camera cut away to footage of the burning house.
We sat in silence for a moment. I said, "They might be replaying that news spot tomorrow, maybe for another day or two. We have to make sure Bella never, ever sees it."
The others agreed wholeheartedly.
