a/n Okay the only thing I'm going to say is, cut me some slack on my "scientific" explanation. You'll know what I mean when you read it. Thanks!

Chapter 10

Bella ended up sleeping straight through until dawn, comfortably curled around my body, a constant rumbling purr in her chest. I knew I had an idiotic smile on my face the whole time, but I couldn't help it. The sound of Bella's grunts and moans still lingered in my ears, as I reminisced about our time together earlier. A dirty thought had been spinning through my mind on and off during the night, which revolved around getting Bella comfortable in a harness. Because if she was going to insist on our mating this way, I'd need to find a way to work with it.

With a loud yawn Bella finally awoke, stretching in her usual full body posture. When she saw me watching her, she smiled and tapped her lips. Giggling I leaned in and kissed her deeply, enjoying how easy this action had become for us.

"Good Morning Bella. How are you?" I asked when we finally parted and Bella blinked away the glazed look in her eyes.

"Good." She said, still smiling widely. We both looked down when her stomach growled and I darted to my backpack for a couple containers of food for her. Bella devoured her breakfast with even more gusto than usual and then managed to drag me into a game of…tag, I suppose you'd call it. Although, rather than tagging it was more like pouncing. Too quickly, the morning passed and we were running back towards the house.

Esme and Carlisle were sitting at the kitchen table when we walked in and I raised an eyebrow. "Were you waiting for us?"

"Actually, yes. I wanted to talk to you about the test results."

"OH! Okay, umm….just one second." I said, holding a finger up to my parents before pulling Bella into the living room with me. Edward was lying on the couch reading a book and I smiled at my luck. "Bella! I think Edward wants to play Candyland! Don't you Edward?" I asked, letting him know with my eyes that this wasn't really a question. While I didn't necessarily need to distract Bella while I talked to Carlisle, it would still be easier and faster if I spoke to him alone.

"Alice…" Edward started to protest, sitting up on the couch.

"Please Edward, just play with her for like ten minutes." I pleaded. Bella's eyes were darting between the two of us, unsure what was going on. Sighing Edward finally got up, but the smile on his face said he wasn't really annoyed at all. He liked spending time with Bella. Even if it was playing a mindless board game.

"Fine. Come on Bella. I'll even let you be Blue." He said, shuffling over to the cupboard and pulling out the game. As soon as she saw it, Bella's eyes brightened and she immediately found her seat at the coffee table. Kissing her briefly on the cheek, I left with one last grateful smile to my little brother.

Darting back into the kitchen, I noticed that Esme had made herself busy fixing lunch for Bella, leaving just Carlisle waiting for me at the table. Quickly taking my seat, I folded my hands in front of me, waiting for whatever news he had.

"Okay, first of all, shortly after I started analyzing Bella's DNA and blood samples, Astor finally returned my call. I believe you remember I told you he was the foremost expert on supernatural beings and worked for the Volturi a long time before I first arrived there?" It wasn't really a necessary reminder, since a vampires brain was like a limitless computer for storing information and recalling it instantly. A handy gift when you live forever. "His insights actually proved very useful in ascertaining exactly what I was seeing in Bella's samples. Do you know the science behind how a werewolf or werecat transforms?" Carlisle asked, his expression obviously excited about sharing this new knowledge. I shook my head. I figured it was magic or something. What other explanation could there be? "While the big how and why of the ability are still unexplained, the basic mechanics of the shift are known. Essentially, when a werecat is bitten, there body creates an alternate string of DNA. Whichever string takes the dominant role at a given time shapes the creature, as either a human or an animal. Therefore, if you look at the DNA of someone who is a werecat, you will notice that it appears as if they were born of one complete cat and one complete human, but a human and a cat didn't mate to create them. Their human DNA still retains the combined traits from two separate human parents. While the cat deny does not. Do you understand?" Carlisle asked, practically bouncing in his chair. I stared blankly at him.

"Not really?" A quick frown came upon Carlisle face, but quickly faded back into enthusiasm and he leaned forward in his chair.

"Okay, think of it like percentages. Actually yes! This will be much better!" My father exclaimed to himself. I heard Esme's quiet chuckle from the kitchen and couldn't help smiling a little. "Okay, two lions mating creates a cub that's 100% lion." I nodded. "Two humans mate and create a 100% human baby." Again a nod. "Now what would the offspring be if a human and a lion were to mate, if that was conceivable?"

"A baby that's half lion, half human? Bella's mom had sex with a lion?" I shrieked. Carlisle who had been nodding at my first conclusion became startled with my exclamation.

"What? No! No, of course not!" He said, laughing a bit. I huffed, not appreciating my ignorance being a point of amusement for him. "But that is essentially the DNA make up of a werecat. They have their combined human parental DNA and then a solid cat DNA from their maker, provided through the bite. So if you then mate a werecat with a human, you would logically get a child who is a quarter cat."

"Okay, first of all, Bella wasn't bitten. We already confirmed this. Second of all, what's your point." I asked, feeling what little patience I had to begin with wearing thin. Carlisle gave me a stern look for interrupting and ruining his fun.

"Please just let me finish, Alice." He said, while I fell back against my seat, crossing my arms. "What I was going to explain was that because the cat DNA never had two sets to draw from in creating an offspring, any child born to a werecat and a human wouldn't receive any cat DNA and therefore would simply be like any normal human. It is because Bella has no bite marks that I was curious if there would be anyway for her to be a born werecat, but it seemed unlikely when I was provided this information from Astor. This is why werecats are so rare. They do not breed other were cats nor do they frequently bite humans. They are notoriously aloof creatures, that tend to bond more easily with their inner cat, making them less susceptible to forced transformation where the beasts instincts completely take over. A werecat, who keeps their mind about them when transformed, wouldn't bite a human, unless for some sadistic pleasure."

"Carlisle, I'm still not really seeing what your trying to say about Bella. What is she? Cause it seems like you telling me its impossible for her to be a werecat, and at the same time hinting that she is." I said, my frustration evident.

"Bella is truly unique. I'd wager that there are few if any like her to ever be born." He started quietly, urging me with his tone to just listen. "Her DNA shows that she is half feline, as you would expect a werecat to be, but both sets were formed out of different parents. To someone unfamiliar with the supernatural, it would look like she had four parents, two human and two cat, but in reality…"

"Both her parents were werecats?" I asked. Carlisle nodded, a wide smile on his face.

"Astor didn't know of any mated pairs. Because they're so rare, they can spend many lifetimes never seeing another of their kind."

"Okay, so where are they now?" I asked, my smile falling when I realized Bella had in one way or another been separated from her parents.

"I'm not sure. There's countless possibilities for why Bella is here on her own. It may simply be that she'd grown up and felt the need to separate herself."

"I don't think so. If her parents were both humans originally, why didn't they teach her how to be human?" I countered and Carlisle nodded.

"I concur with that judgment. If I were to speculate, I'd guess that either her parents had completely renounced the human world and stayed in cat form, which, while uncommon, is not completely unheard of for werecreatures. The other, more likely possibility is that she was somehow separated from them at a very young age, before she'd really developed enough to learn lasting human lessons." We both considered these theories for a few minutes before Esme finally interrupted the silence, placing a plate of cut up apples and slices of flank steak on the table.

"Bella! Lunch!" She called, before turning to me. "Alice, Carlisle and I were thinking that perhaps after lunch today we could all take Bella out for a while." I looked at her anxiously, then to the quickly arriving form of Bella who had taken up her seat and started ripping apart the food.

"She hasn't been around a lot of strangers before. Or any actually." I cautioned, worriedly watching my girl obliviously eat her lunch.

"Well this could be like a practice run. We were thinking of taking her to Sally's and if she did well maybe one of the other little stores in town. It's hardly ever crowded there during the week, even in the summer." She qualified. I still wasn't convinced. Sally's was a possibility, I suppose. It was a tiny little ice cream and snack shop tucked just slightly in the woods, right outside our small main street. It marked the entrance to several hiking trails and a dirt road that led out to the beach. Commercialization on the beach itself was restricted, so anything you might need you had to pick up in town or at Sally's before heading out. It had a small picnic area near by, that was out of the way of any through traffic and since today was mostly overcast with scattered showers, I figured it wouldn't be very crowded. Regardless, putting Bella in any kind of stressful or dangerous situation was directly going against my instincts to protect her.

"Well I suppose we could ask her." I suggested, thinking that at the mention of other people Bella would say no. Unfortunately, once again, I found I didn't know her quite as well as I thought.

"Bella." Esme coaxed her to look up from the last bit of food she was scrounging off the plate. Her cheeks still full, Bella paused, meeting my mother's eyes. There was hardly any anxiety in her features anymore, which pleased me greatly. I hated her being afraid. "Do you want to go with Carlisle, Alice, Edward and I to the town. We can get some ice cream outside."

Bella's eyes lit up at both ice cream and outside, mostly outside. For a minute I wanted to accuse Esme of tricking her, by making her think she'd be going to the woods, but I suppose, technically we were going to be in the wilderness.

"Yes." Bella managed once she'd swallowed the food in her mouth. She turned to me smiling widely. Taking her hands I tried to get her to think about it more.

"Bella. There's going to be other people there. Not family. And no cat." I explained, watching Bella's smile dampen dramatically. "Do you still want to go. I promise we'll be safe. Nothing bad will happen." I promised earnestly. I was torn really. I didn't want Bella to go, if it would cause her discomfort, but at the same time, I could see where it would be good for her. She needed to get out of the house more. I didn't want her to feel trapped.

"Bella go." She stated, causing Esme and Carlisle to smile happily before leaving the room to get ready. I could hear Edward already changing upstairs after he'd put away the board game. Once Bella had literally licked her plate clean, I dragged her upstairs for a quick shower and dressed her in her most conservative clothes: a pair of basketball shorts and a thick strap tank top. I looked down at her feet and realized it might be strange for her to go with no shoes. Frowning I considered the options and ran back into the closet, pulling out several of the pairs I'd bought for her.

I figured flip flops would be the least inhibitive, so I tried those first. Slipping the thong between her toes, I looked up at her from my place kneeling on the floor.

"Okay Bella, try those. Go walk." I reiterated when she didn't move. Bella took a couple steps, looking awkward and unsure. Turning back to me she frowned.

"No Liss." She said simply, rather than tearing them apart, which I figured was an improvement.

"At least give them a real try Bella." I darted over to the other side of the room. "Come here." I urged, opening my arms. Bella's face scrunched up, but she tried to move towards me, She looked like a gangly deer taking it's first steps, lifting her feet extra high. It all went to hell when the flip flops actually started performing their namesake. Bella didn't like that at all. Her eyes widened and she jumped trying to run towards me, only making the sounds at her feet louder. "Liss! She screamed. And I had to hold back my laughter at how adorable she was. Swiftly moving towards her, I wrapped her in a hug.

"Oh, honey. It's okay. It was just the shoes. Here." I smiled, bending down to take them off her feet. Bella glared at them hatefully as I tossed them away from us. "Let's try something a little quieter, huh?" I asked, as Bella retook her seat on the edge of my bed. Looking down, at my selection I sighed. Sneakers? No, probably not. Boat shoes? Maybe? If not them, all I had left were another pair of sandals that had straps so it wouldn't slap against her feet. I ended up trying the sandals first, but the thickness of the soul was a little too unsteady for Bella and she looked even more awkward in them.

"Alright, last try." I told her, slipping the thin cloth Sperry's into place. Pulling Bella to her feet, I led her forward a few steps. "What do you think?" I asked. Bella glanced down, her knees bowing out to the side as she looked at her feet. "Bella?" I asked again. She still didn't answer, but took a few more steps on her own before turning back to face me with a neutral expression. Moving towards her, I wrapped my arms around her waist. "What if I throw in an added incentive?" I whispered before capturing her lips in a lingering kiss. When I pulled back, it was apparently too soon, since Bella just followed, retaking my lips and forcing her tongue into my mouth. I moaned when I felt her hands move to my sides, clutching my hips firmly and pulling me to her tighter.

"Edward? Alice? Bella? Are you three ready to go?" Esme's voice called up from downstairs. Pulling away from Bella I rolled my eyes. I swear she does this on purpose.

"Are you okay, Bella?" I asked quietly, glancing down at her shoes. She followed my eyes briefly before shrugging with her hand. I suppose that was the best I'd get.

"Taking her hand I led her down the stairs to the foyer where Esme and Carlisle were waiting, wearing slightly formal clothes for a casual outing by today's standards. Esme was in a short sleeved blouse and pencil skirt, her make up light and natural. Carlisle was wearing khaki pants and button up shirt. He rarely wore anything elaborate, except for special occasions with Esme.

"Where's Edward?" I asked, curiously, noting his absence.

"He said he was just getting changed, but he's been in his bathroom for quite a while. Perhaps you should check on him, Carlisle?" Esme suggested, with concern, looking to her husband. Not a second later we heard the telltale movement upstairs and moments later, Edward was making his way down the stairs towards us. My eyes widened in surprise before narrowing suspiciously.

My baby brother, while not completely hopeless with regards to fashion was similar to Carlisle in his tastes. Plain, boring, traditional. So when he came down the stairs looking like a punk version of the models in an Abercrombie and Fitch store, and smelling like one too, my curiosity was immediately raised. The dark maroon button up shirt he was wearing was left open bearing his sculpted (for a fourteen year old) chest. He was also wearing black cargo shorts and sneakers, but had spiked his hair with gel and wore shades over his eyes. The most absurd and blatant additions were a choke collar and two leather bracelets, meant to look badass I suppose, but on Edward's preppy-self it just looked ridiculous.

"Edward! What are you wearing? Go change and take that gunk out. Why would you do that to your beautiful hair?"

"Honey…" Carlisle started at the same time Edward whined an accompanying, "Mommmm."

"No, we are not leaving here if you are going to look like a hooligan. I don't want people to think we're raising you poorly." She said, pointing back up the stairs. I caught Edward's eyes flash towards Bella before he crossed his arms.

"No. I'm going to wear this or I'm not going." He argued stubbornly.

"In that case you can just stay in your room until we return and your father can speak to you about your behavior." Esme led the way out the door, Carlisle following behind her.

"Just who were you trying to impress Eddie?" I questioned, my eyes still narrowed at him, while pulling Bella closer to me by the waist.

"No one! Just forget it!" He muttered stomping back up the stairs. "And don't call me Eddie!"

"Come on Bella." I said, tugging her out of the house.

"Dee go?" She asked, looking back towards the stairs.

"No, honey. Dee's an idiot, so we're going without him." I know she didn't really understand because she just looked at me confused, but I didn't bother to explain it any better. Esme and Carlisle had already pulled up the Navigator and I helped Bella into the back of the truck, immediately putting down both windows around us.

It only took a few minutes to get into town and find a place to park along the main street. Like I'd suspected, the weather had deterred most people from window shopping or hanging around outside. Only a few moved along the street between shops and cars.

"This way." I sang, happily pulling Bella away from the main strip in town and towards the end of the road where the sidewalks turned to simple paved paths on the ground. When we finally reached the little shop in the woods there was only two other people outside. A little boy and a man I suspected was his father were sitting on the tailgate of a pick up truck enjoying a cone each. It looked like they'd just returned from fishing somewhere.

"Well good afternoon! It's sure nice of you folks to come out here, even with it not being the nicest of days." Said the older gentleman manning the shop. He had a friendly smile and eagerly ushered us all inside. "What can I getcha today?"

"We're here for your famous ice cream." Carlisle said, happily engaging the man in conversation with Esme, while I led Bella over to the glass case showing the flavors. She'd only had vanilla before, so I figured that was a safe standby, but she could try something else if she wanted.

"What's that?" She enunciated perfectly, pointing to the tub of pink. Reading the sign, I confirmed it's flavor.

"Strawberry."

"Bree?" I nodded. "That?" She asked again, pointing to the dark brown substance.

"No, Bella. That's chocolate. You can't have chocolate." I reminded her, giggling when she scowled at the ice cream. "Look Bella! They have Peanut Butter Ice Cream!" I said, pointing to the tan tub next to vanilla.

"Nutter?" She said a little too loudly, attracting the store owner's attention. He just smiled over at us.

"Have you young ladies made your decisions?" I nodded giving him one of my most charming smiles as he moved behind the counter. "Okay, what'll it be?" He asked, taking a scoop out of it's warm water dish.

"She's going to have a scoop of the peanut butter ice cream in a dish please and I'll have the same but strawberry." I told him, figuring Bella could try both this way. After he'd gotten our selections, he turned to my parents.

"And how about for your folks?"

"We'll share a dish of vanilla. Two scoops please. Thank you." Carlisle said, while taking out his wallet to pay.

"Coming right up." The older man said, whistling as he put two generous scoops into a third bowl. "That'll be six dollars even." He said, pushing the bowls out to us and handing Esme four spoons. During the whole time, Bella had watched our interactions silently, while remaining glued to my side. Thankfully, she didn't look fearful at all, only curious, and a little anxious once she saw her bowl up on the counter.

"Liss…mine." She whispered to me, pointing at the bowl with her ice cream.

"Mhmm, that's yours." I confirmed, squeezing her side affectionately, before taking our two bowls and leading her outside. The truck had left while we were still inside, leaving the picnic area empty. I took a table just out of sight from the front windows of the store and put the bowls down. Bella shuffled onto the bench next to me, reaching for her ice cream, but was stopped by the arrival of Esme and Carlisle.

"Uh uh Bella. Spoon." Esme said, smiling and handing me two plastic spoons.

"Here sweetie." I said, scooping some of the ice cream onto the spoon and handing it to her. She immediately flipped it up to put in her mouth like she does regular peanut butter and a melty clump of it slid down her wrist and onto her thigh. "Oh Bella." I sighed, wiping off her leg. I was preparing to clean my hand off on a napkin, but before I could, Bella grabbed my wrist, pulling the creamy finger into her mouth and sucking on it vivaciously.

Esme gasped at the display, while Carlisle looked torn between laughing and looking embarrassed.

"It's okay, Esme. I don't mind." I said, looking at my girl through half-lidded eyes. Taking my cold fingers back from her warm mouth, I used two to scoop up some more of her ice cream and brought it to her lips, our eyes never breaking eye contact. "Open wide." I teased. Bella's mouth eagerly enclosed my fingers again. It wasn't until we'd finished her bowl and started on mine that I realized Carlisle and Esme had left. I heard them speaking animatedly with the man inside the shop, most likely acting as a distraction so he wouldn't come outside.

"Did you like them." I asked Bella, my voice slightly raspy with arousal when she'd finished the bowl of strawberry. She nodded, slowly licking her lips of any remnants left from the sweet treat. I couldn't resist the temptation of her tongue and immediately attacked her mouth. We only parted when there was a clearing of the throat, announcing Carlisle and Esme.

"Here you go dear. I suppose we'll need some more practice with silverware." Esme said, smiling at Bella as she handed me a wet-nap packet to clean my hands on . "Shall we try a store? There's a new antique shop that I've been wanting to look at not far from where we parked." I looked to Bella noting that she seemed fairly content and decided it would be worth trying.

It was a short walk to the shop and Esme and Carlisle entered first while I held Bella back.

"Bella if you get sad or want to go, just tell me okay? Just say go and we will. Remember, no cat." I reminded her gently and waiting for her nod before leading her inside. Her eyes widened taking in the chaos of the store. There were things everywhere, without any organization, it seemed. There was an old juke box beside an easy chair and table holding a furry lamp. Across from those monstrosities sat a small porcelain doll collection, some with scratched or worn faces.

"What's that, Liss?" Bella asked, putting her hand against the juke box where it's neon lights had attracted her attention. Before I could answer her, a middle aged woman came around the corner smiling.

"That, my dear, is a 1015 Wurlitzer. It was built in 1948 and sat in a diner from the 1950s through the mid-seventies. It's in great condition considering how much use it got." She explained to Bella who stared at her blankly before turning to me.

"Music, honey. It's a music box." I told her quietly.

"Moosic? Liss, no moosic." She asked quietly, obviously noting that it wasn't playing any sounds. At her pronouncement and careful inspection of the neon border, the sales woman looked taken aback before something akin to realization dawned on her face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that she had a disability." She told me, suddenly acting as if Bella wasn't present at all. "A friend of mine's nephew has retardation."

"Bella is not retarded!" I shouted angrily, pulling my girl away from the woman, while glaring at her. I could hear Esme and Carlisle take our place, as I marched Bella down the aisle of junk.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend…" The lady sputtered.

"It's okay. Alice is a little overly sensitive about Bella. She really doesn't care for the word retarded." Carlisle stated, trying to calm the unnerved lady.

I was fuming when my parents caught up with us a few minutes later. Before I could speak, Carlisle was quick to explain himself.

"I know you don't like it, but the truth is, it's easier to explain that Bella has a developmental disability than that she's been living in the woods like an animal most of her life. Please, just try to look at this practically." My father pleaded. A glance at my mother told me she wasn't exactly fond of this solution either, but had resigned herself to it.

"Fine. Whatever." I grumbled, noting that Bella was tugging on my hand. I turned to see her looking at a small porcelain figurine of a lion.

"That's Bella!" She exclaimed, picking it up and turning to show me. I smiled, taking the offered item.

"Oh, it's so pretty Bella. Shall we get it?" Esme cooed, looking at the piece over my shoulder. The figurine was very beautiful. Pure white and detailed exquisitely. Bella nodded and I handed it to Esme to purchase. Once she'd paid, she met us back at the door of the store and handed the cat to Bella, who immediately turned to me.

"For Liss." She said softly, pushing the figurine into my hands.

"You got this for me, Bella?" I asked, smiling widely at her adorable blush. Her cheeks were just a faint pink, but she looked so bashful, I couldn't help leaning in to give her a kiss. "Thank you baby. I love it." I told her, clutching her gift to my chest. She beamed at me and led us back outside where Carlisle and Esme were waiting in the car. Esme looked like she wanted to cry and Carlisle was watching us happily. "Ready to go home, Bella?" I asked as we climbed into the back of the truck. An answering yawn was her response and I happily let her rest her head on my lap for the short journey back to the house.