Bella's POV

Esme was delighted that I had changed my mind. She wanted to go shopping for the turkey and the other stuff right away.

"Thanksgiving is a week away. Today is Thursday, after all. I might as well buy everything now. Besides, I will have to start thawing the turkey on Tuesday afternoon," she pointed out.

"Yeah. So when will you go shopping?" I inquired in curiosity.

She glanced at the living room's clock. "Well, I was planning to go as soon as I could once you agreed to have the dinner. It's only a little after seven...you had finished your homework about an hour ago. I can head to the grocery store right now since it is still early."

Then she turned to me, her eyes lighting up. "Why don't you come with me? It has been a long while since we had some mother-daughter time together, baby girl."

"Okay. I would actually like that very much."

"All right. Let's get our coats, then, and don't forget to bring your keys."

"I won't."

When we had collected everything that we needed, Esme and I said good-bye to Carlisle and Edward before leaving the house.

The both of us talked as we strolled around the corner to the grocery store. Our conversation was mostly about how much food she would buy. She also told me that she was thinking of baking sweet potato pie for me since I didn't like pumpkin pie.

Minutes later, we were in the store. The first thing that we did was pick out the turkey. It was very easy to find one, much to our surprise. Neither of us expected to find one with Thanksgiving practically around the corner. Many other people were buy turkeys too, after all.

It did not take long to find one. Within seconds, we found a ten-pound turkey that would be more than enough to satisfy me and Carlisle. Carlisle would probably decide not to eat much of it anyway since he didn't eat human food.

Next, Esme walked further down the aisle to get the collard greens. Then we went to get the macaroni, and some white and yellow cheddar cheese. Esme also threw a bag of potatoes into the cart.

"I figure that you would like homemade mashed potatoes better than instant mashed potatoes," she remarked.

"Truthfully, I wouldn't. I always liked homemade mashed potatoes better. It has more flavor in it," I pointed out with a grin.

She ran her hand through my hair. "It really is good to see you smile again, Bella. I felt so sad when you didn't for weeks. I hope that you keep it up because I just want you to be truly happy."

I smiled once more as I embraced her. "I'll try hard to, Esme. For you and everyone else in our family. I don't like it when any of you are sad either."

After released each other, we continued our shopping. Esme managed to get the cranberry sauce and stuffing. She also found enough sweet potatoes to fill four pie crusts.

Once we had made sure that we had everything, we went to buy the food. Not many people were in the store, so the lines weren't long. Esme and I were walking out of the door in no time.

Carlisle and Edward were still in the family room when we entered the apartment. I greeted them before helping Esme put the food away. Then I sat on the couch next to Carlisle. Esme perched on Edward's lap.

"Hello there, beautiful. Did you and Esme find what you needed?" he queried, pulling me into him.

"Surprisingly, we did. They must restock often because it was easier to get everything than it normally is when Thanksgiving is a week away. But that's a good thing. It saves the irritation of having to go back," I responded.

"Well, that's good."

I relaxed in his arms and started to watch TV. Carlisle nuzzled me and kissed the top of my head.

The show wasn't one that I really cared about, but I did not feel like going to my room. I didn't want to leave Carlisle. I was too comfortable in his arms.

The show had just ended when Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie came in. They said a cheerful hello to us as they sat down on the loveseat or the floor.

Emmett settled himself onto the couch and grinned at me. "Alice told us that Esme is going to make a Thanksgiving dinner for you, and that Carlisle will join you in eating it," he declared.

I nodded. "Yep. He sure is. I told him that he didn't have to, but he insisted. So how could I refuse him?" I pointed out.

"You can't, straight and simple. We all know that you can't say 'no' to your dear soul mate," he teased with a laugh.

Rolling my eyes, I grumbled, "Shut up, Emmett."

Nearly everybody else chuckled along with him.

"But let me finish. When we heard that Carlisle was going to eat with you, we thought that the rest of us should too."

My eyes widened in amazement. "But why? None of you like human food either!"

"Well, we don't want you to feel lonely either, sis. Besides, this is something that we should all do as a family."

"And anyway," Alice piped in. "We figured out a solution so that we don't have to eat any of the food."

Jasper cleared his throat. "I believe that it wouldn't be a bad idea to obtain some animal blood the night before Thanksgiving. That way, everyone can have what they like."

Carlisle rose an eyebrow and nodded thoughtfully. "That is actually a terrific idea."

I completely agreed with him. "Yeah, you should do that. I don't want any of you to be throwing up food. I just want all of you be comfortable and happy. And I don't like it when people worry over me."

Esme took my hand in hers. "Isabella Cullen, you might as well get it through your head that you are worthy the worry. Always remember that."

Not knowing how to reply to that statement, I just inclined my head.

"So!" Rosalie clapped her hands together. "Do we all agree that this is what we should do?"

"Of course." "Yes!" "Absolutely." "We certainly do." "You bet!" "Completely." "I agree with you." "So do I."

She beamed. "Then it is settled. That is what we will do. Is that fine with you, Dad?" she asked Carlisle.

He nodded with a smile. "It is perfectly fine with me."

XXX

The few days passed by quickly, and before I knew it, it was Tuesday. All of us kept ourselves busy with the Thanksgiving planning.

First, of course, there was food that needed to be cooked. Pies that had to be baked. Plus, we had to figure out how the party would go.

We already knew that we were going to play music and dance to it. This was something that they usually did.

Rosalie thought that the apartment could use some Thanksgiving decorations. Not too much of them, but enough to make it look nice. Both she and Alice decided to get them the next day. They were also going to help Esme and I prepare the big dinner.

Esme told us that she was going to thaw the turkey that night.

"I might as well. That way, I can season and cook it tomorrow evening," she added.

The guys were to retrieve the animal blood the next evening, except for Carlisle, who had to work. They would obtain some the next evening because none of them had their night classes.

There were so many things that we had to do that I couldn't think of much else. I was even too distracted to feel depressed.

When I was in school the next day, I was unable to pay much attention to anything. Consequentially, my teachers often called on me. It was lucky that I knew the answers to their questions. Otherwise, I would likely have ended up in some form of trouble.

Mrs. Davies felt worried about how I inattentive I was and made me stay after class. When everybody was gone, she told me to sit in the chair that she had placed beside her desk.

She eyed me in concerned after I had made myself comfortable. "How have you been feeling today, Bella?" she inquired in a low voice. "You seemed to be very distracted in class.

I shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I just have a lot on my mind, what with Thanksgiving coming up," I replied.

"Are you sure? I know that it still must be hard for you, dealing with the loss of your parents and your stepfather."

"It is, sometimes. I miss them so much."

She nodded. "I know that you must, and I understand how you feel. My father died ten years ago. You cannot imagine how much I still miss him. But I suppose that because I love him, I will always miss him."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I know that I am always going to miss my parents and my stepfather too."

We were silent for a moment, then she patted my arm.

"I will let you go now, Bella. You need to go to your next class. Let me fill out a late pass for you."

Once she had done that, she sent me on my way.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak to me, Mrs. Davies. It really helped," I said.

She smiled at me. "You're welcome, dear. And if you ever need to talk, you know that you come to me anytime."

"All right. Thanks again."

"No problem."

The rest of the day passed by without any more trouble. Pretty soon, I was heading home.

As soon as I entered the apartment, I could smell the turkey. Esme was turning down the oven while Carlisle was writing on a sheet of paper at the table. However, they looked up as I came in.

"Hi baby. How did school go?" Esme questioned brightly.

"School went okay, as usual," I responded. I went over to give her a hug and a kiss. Then I turned to Carlisle. "Hey, you. What's up?"

Even though I had accidentally kissed him on the lips, it didn't feel awkward to be around him or talk to him. I found that very odd because I knew I should be embarrassed about what I did. Then again, Carlisle and I were soul mates (of course.) Maybe that was the reason why I didn't, or why the kiss didn't feel or seem wrong.

He laughed gently as I pecked his cheek. "Just completing a form that my boss wants me to fill out. What about you? Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine. Well, I'm going to start my homework. A few of my teachers don't want us to have any fun during the holiday."

Carlisle and Esme snickered.

"Many teachers are like that. They don't want you to forget anything that you have learned. I should know," he declared.

I inclined my head. He had told me that he had been a teacher several times over the years. He taught night classes.

"Yeah. But I'll see you later. Mom, what time will you start preparing the turkey?"

Esme glanced at the clock. "About five o'clock. It should be ready by then. I will start making the pies too."

"Okay. See you then. Later, Carlisle."

"See you at five, sweetheart." He embraced me with one arm.

I gave him one more kiss before heading to my room.

Carlisle's POV

As Bella was leaving the kitchen, I had to control the erratic fluttering that surrounded my heart.

I had been feeling more peculiar around Bella than usual ever since she had kissed me by mistake last week. Whenever she was around, I found myself growing warm, as if I were blushing. At the same time, I would become jumpy.

This was just like the day I had first met Bella, only it was five times crazier. It did not help that I thought about the kiss more often than I would have liked. There were times when I had even caught myself daydreaming about it.

For the life of me, I could not understand why I could not just move past this whole affair. The kiss had been an accident, so why did I think about it so much?

Maybe it is because it would not have happened if I had prevented Bella from doing so, a voice in my head had remarked once.

That was likely true, and yet...I did not feel guilty that I had not stopped her. This fact alone made me feel ashamed. What made matters even worse was the question that had been swirling through my subconscious lately.

Did I secretly like the kiss that Bella had unintentionally bestowed upon me? Was that the reason why I thought of it so often?

I chose not to allow myself to find out the answer to this question. I did not know how I would deal with it if turned out that I did.

Shaking myself, I initiated a conversation with Esme to distract myself from. "She seems to be a little more happier lately," I observed.

"Mm-hmm. I'm glad that she is. She deserves to be. I pray that her happiness lasts because I do not want her to sink into another depression. I cannot bear to see her in that state," she murmured.

I exhaled deeply. "Neither can I. But if she continues to feel happy, she may recover from it eventually."

"I hope so. That is what I really want...for Bella to heal."

"So do I, Esme."

Fifteen minutes later, Alice and Rosalie came in. Both of them were holding a large bag which were full of decorations for the apartment.

I scowled. "What did you buy all of that for? I am certain that we do not need quite that many decorations."

Alice pouted. "Yes, we do, Dad. We are going to cover just about every surface of the apartment with them! You know how important I think it is to show your holiday spirit."

Snorting, I remarked in a fervent voice, "Yes, I do. All too well."

My mind went back to last year's Christmas season. Alice had put paper snowflakes on every wall of the apartment. She had even glued some onto the windows, which she had also sprayed fake frost onto!

Even though I had told her that it was unnecessary to do this, she would not listen to me. She insisted that it made the place look festive. It did not help when I complained either. In the end, I just let her have her way.

I knew that it would be in my best interest do the same now, I waved my hand in resignation.

"Fine. Have it your way. You are going to do what you want to do regardless of what I say," I noted.

"Yay! Thanks, Carlisle! You're the best dad ever!" she exclaimed before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

I rolled my eyes in feigned exasperation.

Pretty soon, the Thanksgiving decorations were all over the apartment. I had to admit that they did make it look festive. My daughters had done an excellent job.

Grinning at them, I commented, "Everything looks wonderful, girls. Thank you."

"No problem, Dad," Rosalie said.

"I knew that you would like it," Alice remarked with a wink, which meant that she had obviously seen that I would.

Shaking my head at her, I chuckled a little.

After that, it became quiet. Esme and I joined Alice and Rosalie in the family room. The girls had a lively discussion about tomorrow's party as I read a new medical journal. Then I moved on to the newspaper.

The next hour went by smoothly. Before I knew it, it was five o'clock. I heard Bella put something away and leave her room.

Esme turned to look at her when she appeared. "Hi Bella. I was actually to see if the turkey is finished warming up. Would you like to join me in the kitchen? We can talk as I prepare the turkey and start on the pies. It seems as if it has been a long while since we had just sat down and talked," she added.

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that," Bella responded with a smile.

"Okay, then. Let's get this show on the road."

I watched as Esme pulled the turkey out of the oven. She nodded in approval as she examined it. "Well, this is definitely ready. Bella, could you get the seasonings for me, please?"

Bella opened a cabinet and took out the black pepper and two different kinds of salt. She placed them in front of Esme.

"Thank you, baby."

"No problem, Mom."

Esme took her time removing the turkey's body parts as she chatted with Bella. They laughed occasionally, which filled me with joy. I was happy to see that Bella was. She was beginning to smile more too.

Minutes later, Esme was seasoning the turkey and putting it in the oven. Then she started to mash the sweet potatoes for the pies. Bella insisted on helping her, but Esme said no.

"I want to make to this dinner for you. This is the first time that I have made a Thanksgiving dinner for my family in a long time. Please let me do it for you," she begged in a gentle voice.

Bella sighed, but nodded in resignation. "All right. But are you sure that you don't need a hand? I don't mind helping you out," she added.

Esme patted her arm. "Yes, I am sure. I appreciate the offer to help me, though. Truly, I do. But I hope that you understand why I want to do this for you."

"Don't worry, Mom, I do. Trust me."

It was not long before all of the pie crusts were filled. While Esme put the pies in the oven with the turkey, Bella came to sit on my lap.

"Hi Carlisle. Did you miss me?" she queried playfully.

"Yes, I did. I was beginning to wonder when I was going to spend some time with you," I replied, grinning widely.

She snuggled into me as I kissed the top of her head. "Well, I'm here now. So, what would you like to do? Did you have something in mind? Anything in particular, perhaps?"

I pulled her into me. "Just sit here with me for now. I just want to hold you."

"Okay. That definitely won't be a problem."

Bella pecked me on the cheek and laid her head on my shoulder again. I ran my fingers through her soft, curly hair. She closed her eyes lazily in contentment.

"Carlisle, I love you. More than you can imagine," she whispered.

Another smile spread across my face. I was so touched. "I love you too, Bella," I murmured.

She raised her head to look at me. Then, for reasons I could not understand, the atmosphere in the room changed. The very air felt heavy with something that I could not describe or name. In addition to that, Bella was peering at me with such intensity that I could do nothing except gaze at her in return.

Bella leaned upwards, as if she had a secret to tell me. I was unable to move. I could only sit there as she moved closer to me.

However, before I could say anything, she blinked as if she realized something. She seemed embarrassed and frightened as she climbed off of my lap.

"Um...I'll going to go to my room. If anyone needs me, you know where I am," she told the room at large.

Everybody inclined their heads except for me. I could only stare after her in deep confusion as she left the room.

What was that all about? I thought to myself.

Bella's POV

I kept my eyes glued to the floor while I hurried to my bedroom. Shame coursed through me as I laid face-down on my bed.

I had nearly kissed Carlisle. I almost kissed him. For something unexplainable reason, I had the urge to feel his lips on mine again.

What the hell was wrong with me? Why couldn't I just resist myself around Carlisle like Esme told me to do?

Because he is your mate, a voice in my head responded. You will never be able to help how you feel about him. You are always going to have the urge to kiss him no matter what Esme, Edward, and Carlisle tell you.

I obviously knew that. Still, how in the world was I suppose to keep myself in line over the next few years? I could barely do it now! Something had to be done about this!

Abruptly, there was a knock on my door several minutes later.

"Who is it?" I inquired loudly, turning towards it.

"Me," I heard Alice yell. "May I come in, please? There is something that I need to give you."

"Yeah."

I sat up as she came in. She offered me a folded-up piece of paper.

Taking it, I frowned at her in curiosity. "What are you giving me this for?"

She gestured to it. "Just read it. You will see."

Narrowing my eyes at her, I bobbed my head slowly. "Okay, if you say so."

"Yep. Well...I'll talk to you later, I guess."

"All right, then. See you."

She waved before leaving me to myself. When the door was closed, I opened the paper.

Bella,

I would have normally told you what I am about to write to you, but I didn't want anyone to overhear us.

There is nothing wrong with the way you feel for Carlisle, even though you are only fourteen. In fact, it isn't even wrong that you have the urge to kiss him. (I saw that you wanted to kiss him in the living room.)

I know that what I am going to tell you will upset Edward and Esme, but you should be more than a sister to Carlisle. Just don't get too physical with him, if you know what I mean. You are too young for that right now. When you are 16, you will be old enough to, since that is the legal age when you can change someone into an immortal in the vampire world.

The only thing is that when you and Carlisle move forward into your new relationship, you have to keep it private. You two can only be a couple inside of the apartment. In public, it will be a different story. If you do that, then everything will be fine. Trust me, I have seen it, so I know this for a fact.

I will talk to Carlisle about this myself. Don't worry, he will understand and feel okay with it after I explain this to him. So will Edward and Esme. Neither of you should hold back how you really feel for each other. Carlisle even feels as if he's more than a brother to you. He hasn't told me this, but I know that he does. Trust me.

The only reason why he chose to be like a brother to you is because he thinks that it will be in the best interests of the both of you. It was also because I thought that it would be safer. I think that you can understand why. Everyone else does too.

However, my opinion has changed. If you two don't allow yourselves to give in to how you really feel about each other, you will both go crazy somewhere down the line. All of the conflicting emotions will drive you nuts. You do NOT want that to happen. Believe me, I've seen it.

So just go with the flow, Bella. Everything will be all right. We will all accept your new relationship without a problem. (Well, your parents won't at first, but they will be fine with it after I explain everything to them. Even Carlisle will after I talk to him.)

Good luck and have fun with the new changes in your life!

Love,

Alice

P.S. You owe me one.

Laughing to myself, I hid the note in my side-table drawer. After lying back down, I mulled over what Alice had written to me.

Did she really mean it when she said that it would be okay for Carlisle and I to have a new relationship with each other? If so, that would be more than perfect. I was tired of holding back my feelings for him. I didn't want to do that anymore. I knew that I was nine years younger than him, but I did not care. I knew that Carlisle would care at first. However, he probably won't when we begin our relationship.

I just hoped that Edward and Esme wouldn't take everything too hard. Then again, why should they? It wasn't as if Carlisle was some guy I met in school...he was their father. They knew that they would have nothing to worry about when it came to Carlisle. They knew that he has taken good care of me ever since he and I had met. Plus, he had saved my life.

However, Alice promised that everything would be fine. She would know better, since she was gifted with visions of the future. So how could I not trust her?

With this in mind, I relaxed considerably. I did not know if Carlisle would decide to start dating me in secret. But whenever he was ready, I would be right here waiting for him.

Carlisle's POV

I was still wondering why Bella had left the room so suddenly when Alice came into the room.

"Dad, may I talk to you in private? It's important," she declared with a serious expression on her face.

"Of course you may. Esme? Rose? Would you mind leaving the apartment for a bit?" I asked my other daughters.

They shook their heads and went to get their coats out of the closet.

Rosalie turned to us. "We will be in the forest with the others if you need anything," she stated.

Alice nodded. "Okay. I will join all of you soon. Esme, I need to have a private word with you after I speak to Carlisle, along with Edward."

"What about?" Esme questioned with curiosity.

"The same thing that I am going to talk to Carlisle about. But I won't tell you what it is with Rosalie here."

"If you say so."

Both she and Rosalie left with a wave.

Alice sat on the couch and gestured to the spot next to her. "Come over here with me," she said.

I did as she requested and made myself comfortable. "Okay, Alice. What's up?" I inquired.

"Something very important. It involves the relationship between you and Bella," she replied.

I rose an eyebrow. "What about it?"

For a moment, Alice bit her lip. It was obvious that she was trying to figure out how to answer this question.

When she had, she laid her hand on mine. Her gaze became quite serious.

"Dad...I know that you are going to think that I have gone insane when I tell you this, and you will not agree with me about it at first, but I have to say it," she insisted.

"By all means, tell me what it is. No matter how crazy it sounds, I will definitely hear you out," I promised with a wry grin.

Inclining her head, Alice sighed. "Thank you. Well...I have seen that it would be better if you and Bella were more than brother and sister to each other," she declared.

My eyes widened as I began to understand what she was implying. "W-WHAT?! Alice, have you lost your mind?! You know that it is out of the question for me to cross my boundaries!" I nearly yelled.

"Shhhhhhhhh! Dad, please calm down. I am not saying that you two should go the whole nine yards and mate with each other," she explained in a placating voice.

I blinked. "O-Oh. What are you trying to tell me then?"

"What I am telling you is that you and Bella can both act as mates, just without having sex. She is too young for that. However, you two can still "go out", so to speak. You can have dates, hold hands, kiss, cuddle, whatever. But you won't really mate with Bella until she is sixteen at the earliest.

"The only thing is, you two can only date each other while you are in the apartment. To the outside world, you and Bella will still have to act like you are still brother and sister."

"You know that I know that, Alice. But I don't understand why we should do this. Bella is only fourteen! She is too young to have this kind of relationship with me, let alone have sex."

Alice pursed her lips. "I understand why you are saying this, Carlisle. I really do. However, you are forgetting how mature Bella is. Well, when she is not jealous or sulky anyway," she added with a giggle. "You know that she handles just about everything responsibly. Besides, she understands the boundaries that your new relationship is going to have. She will do nothing to mess it up or land you in trouble. Believe me on that."

Leaning forward, I demanded, "What do you mean, 'she understands'? Did you talk to her about this as well?"

"Not really. I did give her a letter explaining all of this, though. I didn't want you or Esme or Rosalie to hear me telling her about it. I felt that it would be better to keep it private so that she could have some alone time to think all over this over."

"...I see. But Alice, I still do not understand why Bella and I should change our relationship."

She held up her hand. "I am about to get to that right now. You need to change it because it's not fair to either of you to keep going at your brother-sister pace. I know that I told you that you would be a good brother to her, but you would be better off together as mates. You owe it to yourselves to be. Bella is not six years old, Carlisle. She is fourteen and very mature for her age. Truthfully, she's more mature than a lot of people her age. Above all else, she has a good head on her shoulders.

"If you keep prohibiting yourselves from expressing your true feelings for one another, it will eventually drive you both insane. You need each other. Besides, think about what happened last week. I am not saying that Bella didn't kiss you by accident-because she did-but once she had started to, she couldn't stop or move away. And I am very sure that you've noticed that everything hasn't been quite the same since then."

I nodded in complete agreement. Nothing was quite the same anymore.

"Exactly. Bella almost kissed you tonight too, but she stopped herself before she could. I don't know if you had realized it."

"No...but I had noticed that the atmosphere around us changed dramatically."

Alice smiled. "Then you did notice something, and that leads me to another thing that I was going to tell you. Things like this will keep happening if you don't do anything about it soon. I know that you will not want to keep dealing with that.

"The best way to prevent it is to just let it be. Allow yourselves to feel the way you truly feel about one another. Allow yourselves to express those feeling towards each other. Nothing is wrong with it, even if Bella is fourteen. Remember...you are soul mates. It is not wrong for you to be together, especially when you know that you are destined to be."

I bowed my head, not knowing what to say or how to feel about everything that she had told me. I understood what she was saying, and all of it made perfect sense. Still, I did not know if it was good idea to begin that kind of a relationship. Besides, I had never been in one of that kind. I did not know how to be a mate or a boyfriend to anyone. What if I was terrible at it? I did not want Bella to suffer because of my lack of experience.

Alice placed her hand on my shoulder. "I know that you are uncertain about all of this, Dad. I do not blame you for feeling this way. You will not have to worry, though. Everything will be fine. You are going to be a wonderful mate to Bella, and she to you. I have already seen it. Besides, you are already good to her. Just follow your heart; I know that you will always do the right thing for Bella," she remarked.

She wrapped her arms around me, and I hugged her back. Then she stood up. "I'm going to join the others in the forest now. I need to speak to Edward and Esme about this too. Just let what I told you sift around your head for a while. You will figure out how you want to do things, then."

"Okay, Alice. I shall see you later. Good luck in getting through to Edward and Esme," I stated with a laugh.

"Thanks. It will be hard to at first, but I will eventually."

We embraced each other one last time before saying another good-bye. After she left, I paced the length of the family room, mulling over the conversation that he just had.

It did not take long for me to agree that Alice was right about Bella and I changing our relationship. Doing that would likely keep a good number of things that we did not want to happen to occur. We would be free to share the bond that we had.

Yet, it still seemed wrong to in some ways. Bella was fourteen, after all. This could not be denied. However, it was also true she was very mature most of the time. With the way she held herself and took care of her business, one would think that she was an adult. But that would only be because they did not know her.

None of this should matter, though. And truthfully, it did not. We were soul mates. We had the right to properly act as such, minus the sex. She was still too young for that. And it wasn't as if that would be involved anyway. A normal boyfriend-girlfriend relationship (without the mating) could definitely take place. Bella and I did owe that much to each other.

We will just have to wait for Edward and Esme's approval. Well, I was not certain if I had to, since I was their father. But because Bella was their daughter, she will certainly have to. From what Alice had promised, however, I knew without a doubt that Bella would receive it.

On that note, I decided that if Bella was willing to, we could start our new potential relationship. It did not matter when we did, but it would have to be very soon. Perhaps almost immediately if not right away. Alice had warned me that it should.

Having arrived at this conclusion, I stopped pacing and made my way to Bella's room. We needed to discuss everything that Alice told us and come up with a plan.

Bella's POV

I was still thinking about what Alice had written in her letter when there was another knock on my door.

"Bella? Are you busy?" Carlisle's voice questioned.

"No. Why?" I returned.

"We have to talk about something very important."

He did not provide an explanation, but he did not have to. I already knew what the topic was.

"All right. Come on in," I said.

Carlisle entered the room and sat on the bed next to me. Then he gave me a small smile. "I suppose that you have an idea of what I want to talk to you about?" It was almost a statement, but it ended as a question.

I bobbed my head. "Of course."

He exhaled deeply. "Well, then I guess that I do not have to explain anything that Alice has told us."

"No. I clearly understood what she had written to me."

"Mmm."

We grew pensively quiet for a moment. I tried to figure out what to say next, but nothing came to mind.

Finally, Carlisle spoke. "We should think about how we are going to do this, then. Does the idea of changing our relationship bother you in any way? If so, I can understand why."

I shook my head after thinking it over. "Honestly, it actually doesn't. It's not as if this wasn't going to happen eventually. I just didn't expect this to happen so soon, but that doesn't bother me either."

He studied me closely to see if I was being truthful before nodding. "All right. I just do not want you to feel uncomfortable. That is the last thing that I want."

"Don't worry about that, Carlisle. I would really love it if we were together. I would like to be with you."

"Are you sure about that? I had already mentioned to you before that I have never been on a date with someone. I do not know if I will be suitable enough for you at first. I want to do everything right by you, but I am not certain if I always will."

Chuckling softly, I assured him, "You will do a perfect job. I know that you will because you are already so good to me. And you rarely ever upset me. I don't think that you need to stress yourself out too much. And don't doubt yourself because I certainly don't doubt you."

"But I do a fair job when we are brother and sister. Everything will be different after we start our new relationship," Carlisle pointed out.

"That's true. A little more intimacy will be involved. Plus, we will be expressing how we truly feel for each other deep down inside."

He inclined his head once again. "Yes."

I ran a finger along a stitch of red thread on my blanket. "Well, you already know how I feel about you. How do you feel about me? Not in a brotherly way, I mean, but in-"

"You do not have to explain yourself, Bella dear. I understand what you are asking me, and will definitely show you and tell you how I feel about you from now on. I will admit right now that when we had first met, I had feelings for you that were not brotherly, but they were not in a perverted way, so to speak. In this case, it isn't perverted at all, although it would be if it were any other case.

"I still have this attraction to you...it is just that I did not allow myself to because you are considerably younger that I am. I thought it was wrong to have them. However, I know that they are not anymore because you are my true other half."

My eyes widened at this new piece of information. "You...you did? Why have you never told me this?" I demanded in shock.

"Because I did not know how you would feel about me being attracted to you. I am a grown man, after all. I did not want to risk making you uneasy and disgusted. That was something that could have possibly happened," he replied.

"That is true. I can agree with you on that. Anybody who is my age would probably feel that way. But you are so handsome that I can't be too sure about that. I know that some people would be thrilled if you were attracted to them."

We shared a hearty laugh.

Carlisle nodded minutes later, still chortling. "I believe that you may be right about that."

After we had settled down, I grinned at him. "Did you really mean what you said, though? Are you really attracted to me?"

He became solemn. "Yes, I am. In fact, I will let you in on a little secret."

"What? Tell me!"

Smiling at my eagerness, he leaned close to me. "When I had first laid eyes on you, I thought that you were so beautiful. You are the most beautiful being that I had ever seen in my existence. I believe that you were descended from a goddess, in fact," he mumbled in my ear.

It felt as if my cheeks were going to burn off of my face. I did not think that I had ever blushed so hard in my life. "R-Really?" I breathed.

"Really."

I turned away to hide how pleased and giddy I was. When Carlisle began to talk, I refocused my attention on him.

"And you are right. I do know how you feel about me. I heard you telling your friend Gabrielle that you have a crush on me the morning after I took you in," he smirked.

"Well, I'm not surprised that you did with that vampire hearing of yours. But if I had known that you could hear me then, I wouldn't have told her anything about how good-looking and sweet you are," I stated, reddening once more.

He pecked my temple. "You do not have to feel guilty about that. I am very pleased that you think that I am."

"I'm happy that you think that I am beautiful too. However, I would be creeped out about it if you weren't my soul mate."

"Undoubtedly."

Carlisle wrapped his arms around me, and I snuggled into him.

Neither of us said anything else for a while. If he was mulling over the conversation that we had just now, then we were both doing the exact same thing.

Eventually, Carlisle sighed and moved back to look me directly in the eyes. "Well, I suppose that we need to figure out when we will move on into our new relationship. When would you like to, Bella?" he queried.

I bit my lip. "It doesn't really matter to me. We can start whenever you want to," I responded.

"In that case, we had better do it almost immediately if not soon. Alice had practically indicated that it will be better if we do," he explained.

"Oh. Well, if that is what she said, then I guess that we should heed her advice. She would know better."

"Yes, she would. Following her advice is going to be the wiser course. She has already foreseen what will happen if we do not. Having said this, I will give you two options. We can either start our new relationship now, or soon after Thanksgiving when everything settles down a little. I will be fine with whatever you choose."

I was taken aback. "You would be willing to start now?"

He nodded. "Certainly, if that is what you decide. If you wish to start after tomorrow, then I will be willing to start then also."

Laying my head on his chest, I whispered, "Maybe we should began the relationship now. The easier things are for us, the better. It will keep situations that would have been awkward for us from happening too, as well as accidents that could pop up suddenly."

"I think that you are right about that. But are you sure that you want to now? You do not have to because you feel as if you are being pressured. We can always wait."

"I don't feel pressured at all. I just want to do what might be in our best interests. That's all."

Laughing gently, Carlisle stated, "How thoughtful of you. If that is what you want, then you shall have it sweetheart. We will start now." He caressed my cheek with the back of his first two fingers. "We will go slow, okay? There is no need for us to rush into this. We have forever to establish everything."

Forever. That sounded more than fair.

I bobbed my head while leaning into his touch. "Sure. That won't be a problem. Carlisle?"

"Yes, Bellissima?"

"...Kiss me...please? If you don't want to, I'll understand. But I really want you to."

He looked embarrassed. I was pretty sure that he would be blushing if he could "I have never kissed a woman before, much less a girl. What if I am terrible at it? I would feel bad if you didn't like it."

Shrugging, I remarked, "It won't matter to me since I know that this is your first kiss. You'll get better at it." I laid my hands on his shoulders. "Please, Carlisle?"

At first, he did not move. It was obvious that he was thinking about whether or not he would be able to. Then, to my astonishment and delight, he bent forward to place his cool lips tentatively on mine.

Carlisle's POV

When my lips touched Bella's, I felt electric radiating in every vein in my body.

Oh my God...her lips were so soft...and so warm. I could not move away from her even if I want to. Of course, I did not find myself wanting to at all. I did not understand how I could have wanted to. They felt entirely too heavenly.

Bella started to kiss me back, moving her lips against mine. I laid one hand on her hair and the other on the small of her back.

It was not long before our lips became more skilled. As they did, the kiss became more passionate. Not too passionate, but passionate enough that it did not feel wrong.

Eventually, however, I stopped the kiss so that Bella could get some air in her lungs.

Her eyes were as bright as stars. "That was...indescribably wonderful," she breathed.

"You have no idea," I agreed with a smile, pecking her lips. I just needed to feel that warmth again.

She exhaled deeply. "Well...I guess that we are officially together now."

"Mmm-hmm. But you must remember that we have to keep this a secret. We cannot afford to risk being found out," he warned.

"I will, Carlisle. You don't have to worry about me letting that happen, though. I'm smarter than that, and I can keep secrets."

"Oh, I know that for a fact."

We kissed one more time, then cuddled into each other.

My cell phone rang a second later. I took it out of my pocket. On the screen was a text message.

It's about time! Good job, guys. *Thumbs up*

-Alice

Oh, that little pixie...what would I do without her?

(A/N: Sorry for the long update. I tried to have this finished much sooner than this, but no luck for me. Anyway, how did you like the chapter? Were you okay with how I let the relationship come to be, or no? If not, I understand. I don't know if I am always good at starting relationships in stories. Still, no flames please. Constructive criticism will be accepted, though. PLEASE REVIEW, and let me know what your opinions are.)