Yay! Two updates in two days! I'm so happy! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and gave me names to use! I finished this chapter and decided to post it, even though I didn't get to 58 reviews. :(

Anyway, happy reading!

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Chapter 10

Today was the day of doom. Everyone was to arrive today. The party was in three days. I was so happy we rented a hall for it because we would already have an over abundance of stuff at my house.

Edward was, of course, at my house. He helped me move my bags over to Alice's house and then we went to the meadow to get a little peace before all the havoc. He kept his arms around me as we lay in the grass.

"Do you think I'll be allowed to steal you away from your family at all?" he asked.

"I'd go anyway!"

"I'll try as often as I can without seeming stalkerish. What would they think of me then?"

"You're welcome all the time."

"I may take you up on that."

"Good!"

He leaned over and kissed me. After a few moments of peaceful silence he sat up. "Time to go. You wouldn't want to be late to see them, now would you?"

"Yes, I would if I get to stay with you. They can afford to wait. They can wait forever, actually." I put my arms around his neck and pulled myself up to him and kissed him. He kissed me back just as forcefully.

"Good to know," he said, a little breathless. "We really should go, though." He took my hand and pulled me back into the trees. I wish I could just stay out in the meadow with Edward forever.

"Fine. I'll go quietly."

"This is your family."

"Exactly why I want to stay away."

He drove us to my house. Oh boy! Someone was here!

"Quick! They haven't seen us yet! We can still make a run for it!"

Edward chuckled and walked over to my door and opened it for me. He held out his hand to me. I hesitated. I was seriously debating on running right now and not coming back until it was all over. The only thing that stopped me from doing that was Edward, standing here, waiting for me. I could never leave him. Unless he came with me…

"Come on, Bella. I'll be there with you. I won't leave your side once, I promise."

That won me over. I sighed and took his hand. We walked up to the door and I could feel the chaotic mood emanating inside.

I stopped Edward from opening the door. "Wait! One more! We won't be able to do it later!"

"Do what?"

I then kissed him with everything I had. If this was going to be the last for a few hours, well… that just wasn't going to work for me. This had to be it now, though. No way was my family going to see me kissing Edward. We'd just have to sneak somewhere. But where? There was no where 'safe' in my house. Alice's!!

"Thank you," Edward said.

"No problem," I smiled at him. "And now… time to face our doom!"

Edward and I walked in to a lot of shuffling going on throughout the house. My mom was doing last minute changes and a couple other people were helping her by the sound of it. They hadn't noticed we were there. Still time to run! I took a step back, but Edward, holding my hand, pulled me into the kitchen.

"Renee? We're back," Edward called to her.

"Great," my mom said. Then she yelled "Bella's here!"

Oh no! I felt my face get hot. Edward squeezed my hand sympathetically.

"Bella?" I heard someone say and was greeted by a pair of arms put around me. "Oh Bella! You're all grown up. Look at you! Wow!"

I snuck a look to see who it was. It was Grandma Carol; she was my dad's mom.

"Yup. It's me," I said.

"Oh!" she leaned in and kissed my cheek. "It's been way too long!"

"Bella?" I looked up to see my Aunt Liza coming up to me. She was also my godmother. She was the person I was looking forward to seeing the most.

"Aunt Liza!" I yelled. I let go of Edward's hand and threw my arms around her.

"Bella! Look at you! You look beautiful! Wow! You're so grown up!"

"I've missed you so much!" We both still had our arms around each other. "We really need to catch up!" She was the one person in my family whom I told everything. I knew that she would tease me the worst about Edward, but there was something special between us. We could tell each other everything.

"I can tell that!" she said, looking at Edward. I pulled away from her and went to take Edward's hand.

"This is Edward," I said.

Grandma went up and gave him a hug. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"It's nice meeting you, too."

Aunt Liza walked up to Edward and gave him a hug. "I'm so happy to know you! Well, why don't we go get caught up before everyone else arrives? You're going to have a full house!"

Don't I know it. "Yeah," I said. We walked to the living room and Edward and I sat on the loveseat. The TV was not on for once, since my dad was at the airport picking everyone else up.

"So," Aunt Liza said, smiling a not-too-innocent smile. She wanted the 'dirt' on Edward and me.

"Umm… this is Edward," I said, my mind going blank.

"I realize that. Anything else?"

"Uh…" I looked at Edward.

"I'm Bella's boyfriend," Edward said for me.

"Cute!" she squealed. "How'd you meet?"

Once again, Edward had to speak for me. "Well, I moved here almost ten months ago, and my brother instantly became friends with Bella's friends. I kind of kept to myself. When Bella came home from boarding school, they all went out to dinner to celebrate and I got pulled into going, too. I didn't have a good time until Bella got there! We've been together for months now."

"They're inseparable!" my mom said. "You will never see just one of them. I hardly ever do, and I live here!"

"Really? Well, Edward, you're one lucky guy."

"I know that!" Edward said. He squeezed my hand.

"Aww! You guys are so cute!"

Then, the front door burst open and I swear, a stampede came through and into the living room. Four of my younger siblings were arguing about where they'd sleep. Elise, Veronica, Alex, and Sophia all turned to Aunt Liza and threw their arms around her. She was a favorite to all of us. They went to Grandma, then Mom, and then I was tackled with four different pairs of arms. They were all under ten, so they still looked up to me.

"Bella! Bella!" they yelled. Edward chuckled. "Who is that?" Elise asked.

"Edward is a friend of mine."

"He looks like Prince Charming!" Alex, the youngest said.

"He totally is!" I replied. They all got back to arguing over where they would sleep. Aunt Annie told them they were all sleeping on the floor when she walked into the room. All my other family members came, too.

Finally, Dad walked in with his cousin Al and his wife Emily. Dad introduced me to them. Apparently they had two sons named Quil and Embry. They were my age, and absolutely loathed Edward. I think they were just jealous because he's so amazing.

Quil and Embry also had an adopted sister named Tanya. She was my age, as well, and kept eyeing Edward. There was no way she was going to get him, though. He was all mine.

Edward was extremely polite to everyone. They seemed to like him, too, thank goodness or I would have to personally make them like him.

Of course I got teased by Uncle Rich and my other uncles. That was expected, though.

Jacob came around four o'clock. Apparently he was so close he was considered family. He seemed to get on extremely well with Quil and Embry. It was probably just their dislike of Edward that united them.

Jacob just ignored Edward and me the whole night. I was very happy about that.

The evening wasn't that bad. Edward stayed good to his promise and never left my side once.

Unfortunately, embarrassing stories of my childhood were told. Edward laughed at them, but I wasn't offended or too badly embarrassed. They weren't as bad after what happened with the bath picture.

Edward and I left after dinner. He walked me over to Alice's house then put his hands on either side of my face and kissed my cheeks. "I've wanted to do that all evening," he told me. "Seeing you blush constantly with those stories and all the attention, it nearly killed me not to."

He slipped his arms around my waist and I put my arms around his neck. He pulled me to him and our lips met. It wasn't just a soft, innocent kiss. We put every care for each other into it.

We broke apart to breathe; we were both breathing heavily. He leaned his forehead on mine. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Of course!" I told him. "Same time as usual: bright and early. Just pick me up at Alice's house instead of mine."

"Good," he said. "Sweet dreams."

"I love you, Edward."

"I love you, too, Bella, more than anything."

I smiled and gave him a quick kiss before ringing the doorbell. He walked back to his car then.

"Goodnight Bella!"

"Goodnight Edward!" I called.

The next morning, I woke up early. Alice was still asleep so I got ready very quietly, then snuck out the front door to wait for Edward on the front porch. I waited over an hour, but he never came. I got very worried. What if something happened to him?

I tried calling him many times, but he never picked up. I was really panicking now.

He finally came around noon. I threw my arms around him as relief flooded through me. He stiffened and then pulled away.

"Bella, we have to talk." Oh no! This did not sound good. "Well, you remember your dad's cousin's daughter Tanya, right? Well…"

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Sorry! It's such a bad place to end it!

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