Chapter 9

Edward ushered me into the entryway of their home with his hand at the small of my back. At that moment, my palms started sweating profusely. We walked through a large doorway into a huge open living space with dark chestnut wooden floors, rich brown leather sofas and chairs. The walls were a warm golden color. There was a fireplace on the right side of the room with a huge mantel and family photos sitting atop it. There were plants and flowers displayed about the room to give it a feminine touch and a lived in feeling. There was glass in the back of the room that went from floor to ceiling. I suppose with a view like theirs and their home being as secluded as it is, the glass would be kind of nice to have.

Alice pulled me to a sofa and we sat down. We only waited a few moments and then I saw five beautiful individuals walk; no glide into the room. I stood and smiled in their direction. Alice said, "Lily these are my parents Esme and Dr. Carlisle Cullen. This is my sister Rosalie, my brother Emmett, and Jasper, my boyfriend. Everyone this is Lily Christensen." Edward went to stand by his parents and was looking intently in my direction.

Momentarily, I sort of felt like I was sitting under a microscope. Nerves and the intense feeling of how beautiful they all were had washed over me. Their beauty was unsettling. They all had similar eyes and perfect porcelain skin, but they all I shook hands with their parents. Their mother, Esme, said, "Please Lily make yourself at home. You are welcome anytime."

"Thank you for inviting me to your beautiful home," I said. I took a step back and bumped into an end table. A photograph in a crystal frame that was on it toppled over. Esme, made a move to try and reach it, but I turned and caught it before it hit the ground. Their big brother, Emmett, laughed at my clumsiness, but then he, well they all, took on a look of utter shock that I had caught it. "I am so very sorry."

"It's okay dear, it could happen to anyone," Esme said. She smiled, "thank you for catching my photograph before it hit the floor and shattered. You have good reflexes." She smiled warmly and then asked me, "Honey, would you care for something to eat or drink?"

I really wasn't thirsty or hungry, but I didn't want to seem rude, so I graciously accepted. "Yes, I would love that, but please don't go to any trouble on my account."

It seemed the whole family looked flabbergasted for a split second and then she said, "No trouble at all sweetheart." All of them, but Edward disappeared. "Was it something I said?"

He smiled and offered me a seat. He took the chair across from me and looked at me for a moment before answering, "No it was nothing you said, they are just being good hosts."

"Your mother and sisters are very beautiful."

He smiled in my direction and said, "Yes they are!"

"It must be really nice to have them beautiful both inside and out. It just radiates off of them, you can just tell." His smile grew deeper. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" I said shyly.

He appeared a little reserved, but said, "Sure, ask me anything."

"You all are adopted? I heard some of the kids in school mention it." I blushed crimson at having listened to the idle gossip from school.

He smiled that beautiful crooked smile of his and said, "Yes, that is true."

"You all are really lucky to have Carlisle and Esme be so selfless to open their lives to you all."

He smiled warmly and agreed with my statement. "I couldn't have asked for better parents."

He and I just sat thoughtful for a little while in silence.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I just sat there looking in her direction while having an internal conversation with my family members. They all left to get this human girl food in case she may be hungry.

Rosalie asked, "Did you see her catch that photograph? I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure it was going to shatter and cut her."

"Jasper, are you alright? Is the thirst to bad for you? I saw you keeping your distance from her," I asked.

"No, actually I am okay. The thirst is manageable," he said.

I could tell that they were all going in separate directions, if I weren't trying to have a conversation with them and sitting here alone with Lily; I may have found this situation very funny.

Alice is so excited to have a human friend again that her mind is running on overdrive. "Yes, some humans love Chinese food. I know she will love it," Alice chimed in.

Emmett and Jasper both are running trying to be faster than one another. If I didn't know better it was like they were sprinting for an Olympic trial. They both had the same idea in mind.

Esme and Carlisle both decided to go in different directions with the same idea for her, comfort foods. This was going to be hilarious when they all return.

Suddenly, she was right in front of me. I had to fight off the urge to wrap my arms around her. Quietly she asked me where the nearest bathroom was. I got up and walked her out the way we came and up the staircase to the second floor. I told her, "I will be back in the living room where we just came from. Take your time." Then I turned and started for the staircase.

I could hear her close the bathroom door and turn on the faucet. She was having a verbal conversation with herself. She kept saying to herself, "Everything will be okay. Take a deep breath. He is only a nice guy." Eventually, I could hear her washing her hands.

After getting back downstairs I heard her phone ring. It kept ringing and ringing, so I went to her purse, opened it, and then pulled out her phone. I answered, "Lily Christensen's phone." I listened and heard nothing on the other end.

"Who was on the phone?" She had caught me and if I were capable of blushing I would be.

I handed her the phone, "Um...no one. Sorry for getting your phone without your permission." She just held up her hand and told me not to worry over it and smiled the most beautiful smile at me. If I could blush I would, again.

A deafening sound could be heard coming from outside. "Is that a scuffle I am hearing?"

"Stay here," I told her. I walked up to the glass window to see what was going on. Apparently, Jasper and Emmett had gone to the same Mexican restaurant and were fighting over who got there first and why the other one didn't find another place to go. A huge wrestling match had started.

Lily was looking in my direction with a look of concern. I had to use my hand to muffle the laughter that was trying to escape my lips. This was so funny to witness. The rest of the family had returned, as well and were in the kitchen. Alice came into the living room and grabbed Lily's hand and had her follow.

Carlisle smiled graciously at Lily and excused himself. I then heard him scold Japer and Emmett for their behavior. "There is a human girl in our kitchen right now and you two are brawling? Please come inside and show her, your mother, and your wives some respect. You can deal with this on your own time later."

The three of them came into the kitchen. Carlisle looked exasperated. Jasper and Emmett both had twigs, leaves, and pine needles in their hair and on their clothing. Lily asked, "Did you guys get into a fight with a chipper shredder and lose?" Alice and I were both howling with laughter. Emmett and Jasper both looked innocently shocked, but then laughed exuberantly with the rest of us.

Spread out before her was a veritable buffet, just for her. She breathlessly said, "I don't know what to say. I hope that all of this isn't just for me? Emmett you look like the kind of guy who has a hearty appetite you would help me eat all of this right?" Jasper slapped him on the shoulder and said, "Yes Emmett, you are such a great guy, you would definitely help a girl out." Emmett looked like he would die if he had to eat that and I didn't blame him.

There was Mexican takeout, Chinese takeout, Italian takeout, pizza, popcorn, every kind of soda known to man, milk, bottled water, chocolate doughnuts, cake, potato chips, and ice cream. Lily's eyes looked like saucers.

Rose had said she brought the Italian food. She was actually making polite conversation and told Lily she works part time with her friend Mercedes at the same daycare. She said she loves children, and if she could have kids she would have one or two of her own. Lily looked pained at hearing Rose's news. We all did.

Lily was making a plate with some of everything. She was exuberantly eating it. The faces she was making while eating was expressing everything she feels. Every once in a while she would moan, "Oh, this is so good." I could tell my family was trying their hardest not to make horrible faces while she ate her food. All of us with the exception of Carlisle were focusing on her scent. It seems with certain emotions part of her scent would be more prevalent. Right now she was emanating vanilla. I even caught Alice lean in and inhale deeply.

We were all making quiet conversation and that is when Emmett asked Lily if she loved Halloween? (The family groaned at this statement.) She answered, "Of course I do...it is one of my favorite holidays." Emmett and Alice both looked ecstatic.

Lily had finished her food and said, "Do you have any containers that I can put this food in. I would hate for it to spoil and it is the least I could do." Esme spoke up, "Lily, sweetheart, you are our guest and I wouldn't dream of having you put it all away. I will make sure that Edward deals with the leftover food." I looked pretty put out. I really didn't want to leave, but I had to dispose of all of this food. There was no way we would leave this in our home.

Emmett piped up and said, "I am going to get the home movies. Lily please follow me." With the exception of Esme and Alice everyone groaned and we all were now arguing with each other to see who was going to "put the food away."

Emmett could only show the home movies that did not show our vampire traits, well at least the obvious ones. He had filmed some of his Halloween pranks. She had started a conversation with Emmett about their favorite costumes and she laughed heartily at seeing Emmett's joke on the family last year when he tee-peed the whole house inside and out. She laughed exuberantly when she noticed he had managed to find orange and black toilet paper and the triumphant look in his eyes when he finished his "project". Hearing her laugh was contagious, it made me smile even as I was taking the food to the trashcan outside.

While Lily was with Alice, Esme and Emmett; Rose, Jasper, and I were outside quite a ways away discussing our revenge on Emmett. He gets one or all of us just about every year. We were going to prank him, but good and it wasn't going to be pretty.

At around 10:00 Lily said she needed to get home because tomorrow was a school day. She said her goodbyes to my family. Then Alice, Rose, Emmett, and I all drove her home. We walked her to the door and she invited us in. Emmett whispered to me that "his" scent was only lingering; he was not here any longer.

Lily said, "I had so much fun tonight. I really loved meeting everyone." She hugged Alice tightly. "Well, I will see you tomorrow at school."

Alice replied, "We aren't going to be there. We are going camping for the rest of the week." Lily looked disappointed, but told us all to have a great time. She then hugged Rosalie and Emmett, too.

I don't know what came over me, but I pulled her into an embrace. She stopped her breathing for a moment, stiffened her posture and her heartbeat accelerated. It was the most beautiful sound, something I had not heard so close in many years. She then wrapped her arms around me and relaxed. It felt natural to hold her. We said our goodbyes and that we would see her next week, but we weren't far. We were watching, listening.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I called mom on the phone and on the third ring she answered, "Hello?"

"Hi mom. I made it home safely."

"Oh honey, did you have fun tonight?"

"I had the most fun. Their family is so very nice. I watched home movies and heard funny stories. You were right Dr. Cullen is so handsome and nice. You should definitely meet Mrs. Cullen, mom."

"What about Edward?" She said.

"Edward is the nicest boy I have ever met. We can sit in the same room alone and be comfortable being there without talking, you know? He is very easy on the eyes, too! I love who he is. He can be very easygoing, but at the same time he can be intense. There is just so much depth to him."

"I am so glad that you had fun and that you like Edward, Alice and the rest of the family. Well I have to get back to work sweetheart. I will see you in the morning." With that we said our goodbyes and hung up. I went upstairs and got ready for bed.

Ripping through the quiet darkness the phone in the house was ringing. Rolling over and peering at the clock I rubbed my eyes, when they focused the clock read that it was 3:00 in the morning, "Seriously?" I hovered between annoyance and worry walking through the darkness down the staircase to answer the phone. Nobody ever used this number at night. All of my friends and even my mother and father know to use my cell.

"Hello?" On the other end was silence. "Hello?" Again silence. "Oh forget it, I am hanging up now."

Slamming the phone down in its cradle I started to worry about my mother and father. If something had happened to my father the Navy would send a messenger to the door in person, so that worry was dashed. My mother would have spoken to me when I answered, so again no real worry there. The only thing that came to mind was a stupid prank phone call. I had made it up to my bedroom when the phone rang again. All I really wanted to do was to get back to sleep, exhaustion enveloping every muscle in my body. Turning to go back down stairs cursing whomever was on the line I walked back down to answer the phone. I thought I saw a shadow as I got to the phone, but dismissed it. "Hello?" Still no answer. Fuming, I answered again, "Hello?"

"Lily." Jack said.

I was starting to panic. If he could find my number here he could find my house, too! "Jack, how did you get this number?"

"When you want information, ask the right people, and do whatever is necessary to get that information; it can come pretty easily. Think about that," he said in a calm manner.

My mouth was suddenly dry and I had started to sweat profusely. I fumbled to find any kind of purchase, my mind creating images, horrors beyond comprehension that I didn't really want to see; and closing my eyes hoping those images would disappear.

Barely in a whisper, I asked, "What did you do? Oh God, did you hurt anyone?"

"If I did it would be all your fault, you know,"

Maniacal laughter echoed through the phone. "We will speak again Lily. I just wanted to hear your voice. Goodnight."

The click sounded so terribly loud to me. I found my legs and went to the doors and made sure they were secure. I needed to tell someone, but really did not want to tell my mother unless I had to. Any unnecessary fear would not be good for her, especially if it was really nothing. I also did not want my mother or anyone else to have to get hurt in case this did turn out to be more than a horrendous phone call. I couldn't get a hold of my dad without it taking a while for him to get my message. It was an irrational thought on my part, but waiting struck a chord; so that is what I will go with.

Ascending the stairs as slowly as possible, I listened for any sounds. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Finally, making it to my room I fell into bed trembling from what just took place and I prayed for deliverance. Slowly darkness swept over me and I fell into unconscious sleep. The memory of this incident settled into the farthest recesses of my mind.