Edward's Anatomy

by drtammy1511

"Edward's Anatomy" takes place 5 years after New Moon. Edward never came back, and Bella moved on, marrying Jacob. Now she has been accepted to medical school. What will transpire when she discovers that 2 "people" from her past will be in her class? How will her life be forever altered? (Be pre-warned: there is some non-cannon pairing before the promised HEA.)

11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns it all.

Chapter 11 – Seasons Change

Things seemed to get better after Carlisle had his talk with Mr. Barnard, and we had our little display in the hall. People started talking behind our backs. We became the topic of discussions, not all of them nice. Words such as incest and disgusting were thrown around. They had heard it all before. This was my first time, and at first, I held my heart on my sleeves. It bothered me. I didn't like that people were thinking that I was sleeping with my brother. In fact, it really bothered me to the point that I came close to telling them that we weren't adopted at all, that we were married and just lived with the Cullens and took their names. Alice saw it happening and stopped me before I could say it. Needless to say, I kept Alice busy for the first few weeks of high school.

Eventually, the other students began to leave us alone. We would sit together at lunch, at the table in the back of the cafeteria, away from the windows. We would still be stared at, but none were brave enough to approach us. My blood lust remained under control, and Jasper seemed to gain strength from me being around. I grew to where I could feed every other day, and then, every third day. My family was impressed with my progress.

I could now turn pages one at a time, and I could hit a baseball without breaking the bat. I could run the bases without running too fast, and I could sit in class and pretend to pay attention. My eyes were completely golden by now, so I didn't have to fool with the contacts anymore. That was a momentous day in my new life.

I subscribed to the "Forks Forum," the local newspaper, under a pseudonym. I had it come to a local post office box that Edward and I rented for mail that we didn't want to go to our address. I had to keep up with the local news. I had to know what was happening with those that I loved. It was one day in early October when I was scanning the prior day's newspaper in Chemistry class that I stopped cold. There, right smack dab in the middle of the "Society" page of the newspaper, was the wedding announcement for Charles and Sue Swan. They had been married the Saturday before in a small ceremony. Leah had been Maid of Honor, and Seth had been Best Man. It was official. My Dad was starting to get on with his life. He was taking on a new family, replacing me in his heart. I knew that I should feel joy for him, for his ability to move forward and be happy, but I ached to be his daughter again. I ached to have him hold me in his arms, the way that only a father could do.

As soon as the bell rang signaling the end of Chemistry and the beginning of morning break, I grabbed my books and ran out of the room, not waiting on Edward or Alice. I ran outside past the area where we usually took our break and into the woods bordering the school. Then I really began to run. I ran at vampire speed deep into the woods, running as fast as I could, running until I was in Canada. When I stopped, I collapsed onto the frozen ground. I pulled out the newspaper again and looked at it. There was a picture. In it Charlie looked happy. He was gazing down at Sue with love in his eyes. I stared at the picture trying to see the Charlie that I knew. He wasn't there. The Charlie that I knew never smiled that way. The Charlie that I knew didn't have dancing eyes like his were. This was a new Charlie. I folded the paper and put it into my backpack.

I climbed one of the tallest trees and sat there for the rest of the afternoon. I thought about what I was feeling. I thought about being jealous of Sue and her children. I realized that I was the one who had decided to leave Charlie. I was the one who decided to make myself dead to him. I wondered what I expected of him. Did I expect him to wither away and die? Did I expect him to mourn my loss for the rest of his life like he seemed to be mourning the loss of Renee'? Well, guess what Bella. Not only did he quit mourning your loss, he quit mourning Renee's. He pulled himself back together and fell in love again. Damn it, Bella. Get off of your pity party and be happy for the man. Realize that he needs human company. He needs human companionship. He needs to love and be loved. He needs Sue. Okay. I can accept that. He needs Sue. He replaced Renee'.

Did he replace me? Just because Seth was his Best Man and Leah was her Maid of Honor, does that mean that Charlie has replaced me in his life. I was gone to him. I was dead. I burned in a car accident. The fact that Sue had two children from a previous marriage that she was bringing into their marriage didn't mean that Charlie was replacing me with them. Seth was his Best Man because he was going to be his new step-son. Leah was her Maid of Honor because she was her daughter. That didn't mean that they were special to Charlie like I was. That didn't mean that they took my place in his heart. We had a special relationship. It was one built on trust and faith in one another. There was no way that either Seth or Leah could have that relationship with Charlie this soon. There was no way that they could have taken my place in Charlie's heart.

The more that I thought about it, the more that I realized that I was okay with Charlie getting married again. He needed to have that companionship in his life. I wasn't being replaced. I wasn't even being substituted. He was just moving on. That was okay. I got to my feet and started running back towards Wisconsin. I was following my scent back the way that I'd come. It was late by the time that I reached Black River Falls. The moon was high in the sky, and nobody was out and about. I made it back to the school parking lot.

Edward was sitting beside his car waiting on me to come back. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Charlie got married to Sue," I said as I took a seat next to him. "Seth and Leah stood up for them."

"Did you work it out?"

"I think so. I was so jealous at first. I felt like he was replacing me. I felt like he had forgotten that I ever existed, like he didn't care that I was gone. Maybe the fact that I was finally gone allowed him to get on with his life, like I was holding him back the whole time that I was with him."

"Bella, love, you have to know that isn't true."

"Yeah, I know. It took me a while to figure that out. I know that Charlie needs someone to love him, and Sue has been there for him when he's needed her. She was there for him during my funeral. I strongly suspect that she's been there for him even before then. He was just too chicken shit to tell me that he was dating again. Like I would have freaked out or something. I would have been so happy for him to have her in his life. And Seth and Leah, they're just his step-kids. They'll never take my place in his heart. Deep down, I know that."

"So, love, what do you want to do?"

"I want to give them a wedding gift, I think. I've thought about it. They both have homes that are already furnished. They both have vehicles. The only thing that they don't have, and knowing Charlie, they still don't have it, is a vacation slash honeymoon. I'd like to set them up with a nice cruise or something."

"That would be very nice. Where do you think that they'd like to go?"

"That's the hard one. Dad's never taken a real vacation. I'd like to send him somewhere where he can get in some fishing, of course. I was thinking of an Alaskan cruise with some side trips."

"I agree. That would give Charlie some time to fish, but it will also give Sue some time with Charlie. We can book Sue some spa time as well. Let's call our travel agent tomorrow after school."

"Thank you, Edward. Thank you so much for everything."

"What are you thanking me for. Of course I'm going to agree to give Charlie a gift. If I thought that we'd get away with it, I'd suggest that we give him several gifts or set him up a nice retirement fund."

"That would be nice, but I wouldn't want the money going to Leah and Seth if something happened to Charlie. I'm not that happy with them being my step-siblings. Maybe we can arrange vacations for him every year. Maybe we can arrange for Mr. Jenks to deposit money into his account every year until his death."

"I think that would be possible, love."

"That wasn't what I was thanking you for, though. I was thanking you for letting me be alone yesterday. I needed time to work through it for myself."

"Yeah. I figured that you would have pulled me with you if you wanted to talk with me. Jasper told me that you were feeling intense jealousy and sadness when you left. Alice said that you'd be back here about now, so I thought that I'd meet you here where we could talk if you were ready to."

"Edward, I miss Charlie."

"I know you do, Bella. I know. I wish that there was something that I could do to make that better for you, but you and I both know that nothing that I can say is going to make that any better."

"Do you think that I made the right decision?"

"I do, love. I really do. You would've hurt Charlie much worse if you'd just left him without him knowing what had happened to you. He would've spent the rest of his life looking for you. I don't think that you'd have been able to live with yourself knowing that he was going through that."

"Thank you again."

"For what, exactly?"
"For telling me what I needed to hear."

"Are you ready to head home? There are some anxious people waiting to see you."

"Yes, I am. Thank you for coming to get me."

"My pleasure, wife." I reached over and kissed him. He pulled me to my feet and walked me to the passenger side of the car. He opened the door for me, always my gentleman. I got in and got settled. He drove us home, and before he could park the car, the rest of the family was outside, on the porch.

I got out of the car, and we walked to the porch. Esme was the first to come up to me. "Are you okay, Bella?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you. I'm okay now. It was a trying day, but I've come to terms with it, and I'm going to be okay, I think."

"What happened?" Alice asked. "All that I saw was you reading the newspaper and then leaving. I didn't see what was in the paper."

"Why don't we all go inside and sit down. I'm sure Bella will explain what she is comfortable with telling us," Carlisle said.

I gave him a smile and followed him inside to the living room. Edward and I sat on one of the love seats, and each of the other couples claimed their own as well. I leaned back against Edward's chest, and he wrapped his arms around me. They all looked at me expectantly. "Once you guys all hear what set me off, you're going to know that I'm crazy. You won't be thinking it any more. Anyway, what happened. You all know that I've been subscribing to the "Forks Forum." I was looking through the most recent edition this morning during Chemistry when I came across a wedding announcement for Charlie and Sue Clearwater. It seems that my Dad got married. It hit me hard. He never even let me know that they were dating. I know that she was with him at my funeral, but that was the only time that I've seen them together. They must have been going out for some time if he's already married her. I felt hurt that he kept this from me. Then I felt that he was replacing me in his heart. He now has 2 step-children, Seth and Leah. I just felt like all of this is just happening too soon after my death. I went off to think things through. I took me a while, but I've come to grips with the fact that Charlie deserves to move on with his life. He can't mourn my loss forever, and if Sue makes him happy, then he deserves to marry Sue and be happy. I can't say that I'm happy that Leah is part of his family. I've never gotten along with her, but Seth is a wonderful guy. He'll help to take care of Charlie. So, that was my major crisis of the day. I'm going to be okay with this, but it's going to take some time. Edward has been super supportive, and I couldn't ask for a better family."

"Bella, it has been kind of strange for us, too. I was changed over 300 years ago. At the time, my father thought that I was dead as well. Times back then were so much different than now. Once I left my home, I never went back. I never knew what became of him. Edward lost his parents first and had no family left when I changed him. Esme had just lost her son when I changed her, and her husband had left her. Rosalie took vengeance on Royce and all of his accomplices, but she never knew what happened to her parents. Emmett never knew what happened to his parents after he died in the forest. Alice has no memory of her family. And Jasper had joined the military. When he was changed, his mother thought that he had been killed in action. He wasn't able to keep up with her life. So you see, Bella dear, you are the first one of us who is able to keep up with your former life after you have been changed. You are the first one of us who has had to deal with these issues. While it is nice that you are able to know that your father is living and working and loving, it is also hard on you to know that he is living and working and loving. It may have been easier on you to have severed all ties to your past permanently."

"I don't know, Carlisle. It may have been easier, but would any of you chosen to have left your past completely behind if you had the choice to know what happened to your past family?"

"I don't know if I can honestly answer that, Bella. I would love to know what happened to my family, not only my parents, but my sister as well. I would love to know if I had nieces or nephews or any descendants of my own, actually," Emmett said. "I wouldn't call me the most careful guy in the history of my town. My reputation as a ladies man was well deserved at the time. But, at the time, a clean break from everything sure made my new life easier to adapt to. There wasn't any going back, and I knew it. I couldn't let myself grieve over my past because I had this awesome future to look forward to. I had Rosie, and I had Carlisle and Esme, and yes, I even had Edward, though he was quite the douchbag then. I looked forward and have never looked back."

"I, on the other hand, have looked back. I have traced my family tree down through the present. I have nieces and nephews through my brother's family. As far as I can tell, I have no children of my own. I know when my mother, God rest her soul, passed away. I know where she is buried. Every so often, I take a trip to Texas to lay flowers on her and my brother's graves. If I could have, I'd have kept up with my family. However, with me being in Maria's army, there was no way that I could ever see them. If I brought any attention to them at all, they would have been massacred. I could have never held that on my conscience. Therefore I stayed as far away from them as was feasible. I don't blame you for a second for wanting to know about Charlie and wanting to take care of him, Bella," Jasper said.

"I've never looked back, and I never want to. When my husband left me after my son died, it broke my heart. I don't care what happened to him. I have my husband now in Carlisle, and I have my children in you six. My family is complete," Esme said.

"I've never looked back, either. My parents lost everything when they lost me. I don't know what ever happened to them. I'm sure that they died in each other's arms. That is the way that I've always pictured it. That is the way that I want to remember them. So, no, I don't want to look back. Bella, for someone who has so desperately wanted to join this family for so long, it is strange seeing you having regrets," Rosalie said.

"No, you misunderstand. These aren't regrets at all. I don't regret that I've been changed. In fact, the new world that I've been born into is more spectacular than I even imagined that it could be," I said.

"All that we've heard from you is complaints. You are bored with the long nights. You are bored with school. And now, you are hurt that your father has gotten re-married and moved on with his human life after you insisted that you fake your death to set him free. We have done everything your way, Bella. We have moved on account of you. We have started over because of you. What else do you want from us?" Rosalie asked with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Rose, that isn't necessary," Carlisle started to say.

"Rose, we don't need that attitude," Alice said at the same time.

"Rose, if you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything at all," Esme said, also at the same time.

"Rose, how dare you," Edward started.

"No, Rose is right. I can see her point very clearly. I have had a harder time adjusting than I thought that I would. I did think that those conversations were between my husband and myself when I was having them, though. I really didn't mean to take my frustrations out on the whole family. I was just discussing with Edward those thoughts that have been running through my mind. I don't know how I thought that I would feel about Charlie. I don't know if I expected him to just live his life the same way that he always has, or what, but the last thing that I expect was for him to get married and have a new family to take care of."

"I think that we can see how that would shock you, especially if you didn't know that they had been dating for the better part of a year," Esme said.

"Almost a year! No, he never told me. He never said a word. I was in my final year of college and didn't get home as often as I could have, what with me commuting almost 4 hours each way 3 days a week. Then, I lived on the reservation. But so did Sue. You'd have thought that Jake and I would have heard that Sue was dating Charlie. We usually heard all of the gossip on the reservation."

"I'm almost positive that Jake knew, love. He was thinking that at least Charlie had Sue at your funeral. It wasn't like it was a surprise that she was with him. I'm sorry that I didn't mention it at the time. I guess that I thought that you knew," Edward told me.

"It's okay. I've come to terms with it today. I just needed some time to work through it, time to myself. I want Charlie to be happy, and if Sue makes Charlie happy, then I'm all for them. Charlie has spent too much of his life alone. He deserves to spend his twilight years with someone who loves him and will take care of him. It's not like Charlie has a lot of money for her to marry him for," I said.

"Well, Bella. It's good to hear that you are okay. I was honestly getting worried when you didn't come back sooner. I was about to send Carlisle after you," Esme said.

"Thanks for caring, Mom," I said.

"Do you realize that that was the first time that you have called me Mom?" Esme asked.

"No, I don't guess that I realized it. It is strange calling you and Carlisle Mom and Dad when my Mom and Dad are still living. I guess that I have to get used to it, though. We do have the student teacher conferences tomorrow night, don't we?" I asked. "We're supposed to have been adopted for the past several years, so I'm supposed to be used to it by now. I'll work harder on it."

"Yeah, it is easier for the others. We have been their only Mom and Dad for going on 50 years for Alice and Jasper, the last to join us. Edward has known us as Mom and Dad for the past 70 years," Carlisle said.

"Well, I'll watch what I say. I'll try to do better on all accounts. I've wanted to be a part of this family for so long, I didn't think that it would be this much of an adjustment. Please, all of you, just bear with me a little bit longer. I know that I can adapt to this family and your way of life."

"We know that you can, too, love. We have faith in you," Edward said as he took my hand in his and pulled me up. "Right now, though, I'm going to take you upstairs and enjoy some private time with you. I've missed you today. Besides, you have homework to do."

Sluggishly, I followed him upstairs. He pulled out our books from his bookbag and told me what I'd missed in the classes that I'd missed. I made quick work of the assignments. We repacked the books, and he reminded me that I'd need a note to get me back in school tomorrow since I'd left without checking out. I listened for Esme's voice and heard her and Carlisle in their bedroom. I didn't want to disturb them, but Esme had heard Edward saying that I'd need a note, and she said, "It's okay, Bella. Come on up. You won't be disturbing anything."

I took a piece of paper and a pen with me. When I arrived at their door, I knocked. Esme called out for me to come in with laughter in her voice.
"I told you to come on up. Why did you knock?" Esme asked.

"I always knocked on my parent's door before I entered," I said with a grin on my face.

"Okay, thank you for your thoughtfulness. Now, let's get that note." I gave her the piece of paper, and she wrote a note that said that I had to leave school due to a family emergency. When I asked her what kind of family emergency I could have been called out for when Jasper and Rose were able to stay at school, she looked at Carlisle, and he looked at her. They thought for several minutes and then Edward's voice rang out.

He said, "She had to sign some papers dealing with her trust that was set up by her parent's estate. They were time sensitive, and had to be signed by end of business yesterday. She still hasn't dealt well with the death of her parents and had a mini-meltdown after dealing with the attorney and had to be sedated."

"That'll work," Carlisle said.

"Okay, thank you," I said, as I left. I closed the door and headed back downstairs to our room. When I shut the door, Edward met me and turned me around, shoving me back up against the wall. "Anxious are we?"

"Mmmmm, yes," he murmured as his lips pressed against mine, his tongue seeking entry, and accomplishing their goal. His kiss was needy, seeking out all of the recesses in my mouth, searching for hidden coves, exploring every micrometer as if had been centuries since it had been there. I kissed him back, allowing my tongue to tickle the roof of his mouth, a spot that I, and only I, knew that he was sensitive at. He jerked back, and with a gleam in his eyes, he picked me up and carried me to our bed.

"You're going to pay for that little indiscretion, Mrs. Cullen," he said in a whisper only I could hear.

"What is my punishment going to be?" I whispered back to him, taking his face in my hands and pulling him into another kiss, this time, my tongue entering his mouth, searching every crevice for a new area that may have appeared since the last time that I had explored him.

"You'll see soon enough," he whispered into my ear, pulling away from my kiss and starting to pull off my clothes slowly, baring my body one small piece at a time. As he would remove an item of clothing, he would bring his lips to that area, kissing it, sucking it, paying it attention with his hands, massaging, teasing, or tickling it. I started to help him; he was going way too slow. I was getting so wet from his ministrations, and I wanted him to go faster, but when I tried to speed things up, he slapped my hands away. "I am doing this. Hands down, or you will make your punishment ten times worse," he whispered.

I put my hands down, but as he leaned over to suckle my breasts, I pushed my hips against his body and started moving against him, trying to get some well needed friction. He pulled his body away from me, but his hands started to unbutton my pants. He proceeded very slowly, letting his hands rest between my legs, my hips bucking against them. Then he moved his hands to my waist, gripping my pants and started to pull them down. His lips followed my pants down my legs, and he kissed them, down to the calves and back up. When he got to my hips again, he pressed his hand up against my panties.

"Look how wet you are for me," he whispered before taking the sides of my panties and ripping them apart. He pulled them off of me, and then he leaned down and spread my legs. He pressed his mouth to my wetness and licked the juices from between my lips. I groaned and bucked my hips into his face. "You like that, love?" he whispered. I nodded, and he used his tongue to flick the wonderful bundle of nerves between my lips. Then he caught it between his teeth and very gently bit it. I screamed his name as my orgasm took me. He looked me directly in the eye and grinned. Then he entered me using his tongue. He thrust his tongue as deep as he could get it to go. I thought that I was going to lose my mind. His fingers gently searched out my nerve bundle, and as his tongue made love to me, his fingers started to massage the nerve bundle, sending me over the edge with my second orgasm. I shook all over, crying out Edward's name, over and over again.

Then, Edward, pulled himself up to kiss me again. He entered me with his fingers, using them to stroke my walls, curling them against me when they were in me all the way. He was stroking that area that was super sensitive. He was moving so slowly, in and out, being sure to hit that spot, the one that made me lift my hips to meet him every time that his fingers hit it. Soon, I was meeting his fingers with every thrust. It didn't take long before my walls were clenching again, this time around his fingers. My third orgasm took all of my air away from me. I was gasping for air, trying to get a breath, when he entered me. I immediately went back up. My orgasm which was on the way down, peaked again when he removed his fingers and entered me with his manhood. He took me slowly, taking his time, making love to me passionately, entering me deeply, pulling my legs over his shoulders to give him better access, allowing him to get deeper within me. I called out his name, several times, as my orgasm peaked in intensity, sending me soaring over the world, out of my body, and into oblivion. When he came within me, his body shook, and then he collapsed onto me.

We just lay there for hours, until sunrise, each of us holding the other, neither of us having the energy to move. When the time came for us to get ready for school, we begrudgingly got out of bed and headed for the shower. We showered together, washing each other in the hot water, then we got dressed. I dressed in something that Alice would consider nice, and Edward dressed as he always did, beautifully. We went downstairs and joined the rest of the family. Our "siblings" looked at us with grins or smirks on their faces. If I could still blush, I would have.

"Edward, I just have one question," Emmett said. "If you were a virgin for 107 years, how the hell did you learn to pleasure a woman like that? Ow!" he said as he was hit in the back of the head by Rosalie, Alice, and Esme at the same time. We ignored Emmett's outburst and got into our cars. We arrived at school, and Edward walked me to the office to turn in my excuse.

"How can I help you?" Mrs. Copeland asked as we moved to the front of the line.

"I have an excuse for missing school yesterday after second period," I said, handing her the note from Esme.

"So, you are the only one of the six of you to have a family emergency?" Mrs. Copeland asked.

"Yes ma'am. It had to deal with my parents' estate. Jasper and Rosalie have already taken care of what they needed to take care of. The attorney needed me to take care of some things yesterday," I said. "I didn't handle it very well."

"Okay, take this slip to every class that you missed and have the teacher sign it. Turn it in at the end of the day," Mrs. Copeland said.

"Yes ma'am," I said.

Edward and I walked to our first period class. I could feel all of the guys looking at me for some reason. Edward seemed to tense up. We took our regular seats, and I looked at him with concern on my face. He just shook his head at me, so I turned to pay attention. We had left Lord of the Flies and had moved on to Oedipus. We were still reading it out loud in class. It was one of my favorite of the classics. It reminded me of watching History of the World Part I, the movie with Mel Brooks in it. I remember watching it with several friends who had gathered at Jacob's and my house. We were drinking, and most of us were drunk. I was the only one who laughed when Mel Brooks came upon the person who was playing Oedipus at a crossroads and said, "Oedipus, how are you doing you mother-fucker!" I remember thinking how sad it was that nobody else in the room got it. After all, Oedipus was the tragic hero who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Therefore, he was the penultimate mother-fucker of all time. I stifled a laugh just thinking of it.

We made it through the rest of the day. I turned in the classwork that I'd missed and the assigned homework. I got the paper signed for Mrs. Copeland, and we returned it at the end of the day. When we went to the parking lot to leave for home, there were several guys around our car. Emmett and the others had already left. Edward and I looked at each other.

"Can you hear what they're thinking?" I asked him in vampire volume.

"Yes, they want to ask you to the Halloween party. They think that with Emmett and Jasper gone, they will have a chance with just me being here," Edward said. "They don't think that we're really together. They think that it is just something that we've made up to keep guys from asking the three of you out."

"Weird. What in the world would ever give them that idea? Have we ever given them anything to think that we aren't together?" I asked.

"Not that I can think of," Edward said. "I can't see anything in their minds that would make them think that."

We continued to walk towards our car. When we got close to the car, the boys started to walk towards us. Edward moved in front of me to keep himself between them and me.

"We'd like to talk to Bella," one of the boys, I think his name was Joey, said.

"Okay, talk," Edward said.

"Privately," the boy said.

"Not going to happen," Edward said, holding out his arm to keep them away from me.

"Why not? We're not going to hurt her," another boy said.

"I'm not going to leave her. Anything that you have to say to her, you can say in front of me," Edward said.

"This is a private conversation. She doesn't need her brother to protect her," the second boy said.

"He's not my brother; he's my lover. Anything you need to say to me, you can say in front of him," I said.

"We understand that you are supposed to say that. It's taken us a while, but we've finally put two and two together. It doesn't make sense that the three of you girls would be with the three of you boys. The chances of that happening must be a million to one. This must be what your parents came up with to keep you from dating," the first boy said, coming closer to me.

"No, it isn't. Edward and I have been together for the past 5 years. He is my lover, and Mom and Dad know all about our relationship. They haven't tried to break any of us up. We even share a bedroom and a bed. We might as well be engaged," I said. "Now, if you will excuse us, we need to get home so that we can get our homework done before the teacher conferences tonight. Because we are new, our parents have to attend." I started to walk through the wall of boys towards the passenger seat. Edward walked with me, opening the door when we got there. Then he walked around to his side, and we drove off.

"Was that all right?" I asked him. "Did I say too much?"

"I don't know, Bella. I've never been in this situation before. We've never had this much attention," he answered me.

When we got home, we told everyone about the confrontation and what we'd told them. They were shocked that people have decided that our relationships that we've tried so hard to establish are being viewed as just farces put on by us to keep people from asking out on dates. Even Esme and Carlisle were in shock. This hadn't ever happened before.

Edward and I went upstairs with Alice and got all of our homework done. To say that none of us had learned anything so far this year was an understatement. I felt like I was losing my edge. I asked Edward if he thought that I would get into any trouble if I took his biochem book into class to read instead of just sitting there twiddling my thumbs. He said that it may look suspicious, but if I could do all of the work in class then I shouldn't get in trouble for it.

When a quarter of seven slid around, we all piled into our vehicles and headed back to the school. Carlisle and Esme started with Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper. Of course we could hear every word that was being said about our brothers and sister. Emmett seemed to have a problem with paying attention in class. He really didn't have any problem with having the answers when they were able to get his attention. Nobody really had to tell Carlisle and Esme that Rosalie or Jasper were telling him the answers.

Rosalie was doing well in her classes. She completed her assignments, and her grades were good. She seemed to get along with her classmates. We all burst out laughing when her teacher said that.

Jasper was doing well in all of his classes except American History. He was continually getting into arguments with the teacher and causing disruptions in the class. Carlisle and Esme asked Jasper to leave the room for a minute. Then Carlisle told his teacher that Jasper was a historical prodigy. While he couldn't condone Jasper disrupting class, Jasper was usually correct when it came to American History from the Civil War forward. It was a passion of his, and he was actually published on the subject. There were certain battles of the Civil War in the Western Front on which Jasper is recognized as the leading expert in the country. The teacher may want to listen to Jasper when he speaks.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, may I speak to you for a moment?" one of the boys from this afternoon said as Carlisle and Esme came down the hall from speaking with Jasper's history teacher. They had walked up to Edward, Alice, and me where we were waiting in front of Mrs. Anderson's door.

"Sure.....," Carlisle said.

"Joey. Joey Covington," he said.

"Sure, Joey. What can we help you with?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, a couple of the guys and me were wondering..." Joey began.

"I, a couple of the guys and I were wondering," Carlisle said.

"Yeah, I, a couple of the guys and I were wondering if we had you permission to ask Bella out. I know that she says that she and Edward are together. In fact, today she said that she and Edward are lovers and share not only a room, but they share a bed under your roof. But we suspect that they are just making that up to keep the other guys away. There isn't any way that you, as parents, would let two sixteen year olds sleep together in your home."

Edward pulled me into his arms. Carlisle looked at us and sighed. Then he turned to Joey and said, "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Joey, but everything that Edward and Bella have told you is true. They are together, and they do share a room and a bed in my house. They have been together for about five years, not all of them intimately together. That has just happened within the past four months, but you can rest assured that their relationship is no trick to prevent you or any other boy from dating Bella. Bella is officially off of the market, as is Edward."

"You're not joking?" Joey said.

"No, I'm not joking. Edward and Bella are definitely together," Carlisle said, "as are Emmett and Rosalie and Jasper and Alice. Now, if you'll excuse us, we are late for a meeting."

Esme put her arm around my neck, and we went into Mrs. Anderson's room. She was staring at us as we entered and sat down in the chairs in front of her desk. "Mrs. Anderson, we're here for the conference about Edward, Bella, and Alice."

She shook her head and her eyes focused on her grade book. "Yes, Dr. Cullen, I'm sorry, but did I just hear you right? Your children are in relationships with each other? They are actually sharing a bed in your home?"

"Mrs. Anderson, yes, our six children, no teenagers, are in relationships with each other. They were neighbors before we adopted them. They started seeing each other about 5 years ago, and they developed close relationships. Emmett Cullen is with Rosalie Hale. Alice Cullen is with Jasper Hale. And Edward Cullen is with Bella Hale. Emmett, Alice, and Edward are my natural cousins. They lived next door to the Hales. Their parents were the best of friends. Their parents went to a social function together one night, and they were all killed in an automobile accident. We were the closest relatives to my cousins, and the Hales didn't have any living relatives. Instead of seeing them put into foster care and split up the relationships that were already formed, we, my wife and I, adopted all six of the kids. We have no intention of splitting up their relationships just because we've adopted them all."

"What a sad story. I can understand why you wouldn't want to break up their relationships, but to condone sexual relationships between them, allowing them to share rooms, isn't that just a little bit out of the ordinary?" she asked.

"Maybe a little unorthodox, but once you get to know these kids and get to know their maturity levels, you might understand the decisions that Esme and I have made. Now, about the kids?" Carlisle asked.

Mrs. Anderson began to talk about our grades. It seems that we all had perfect grades in her class. My writing was gifted in her words. She didn't know how the three of us could do so well in her class when none of us seemed to pay attention to what was going on. She said that she wanted to call attention to our inattentiveness, but when we were always prepared, she couldn't do it in good conscience.

Our meetings with our other teachers went just about word for word the same as the one with Mrs. Anderson. We were doing great in their classes. Our grades were perfect. They couldn't challenge us. We seemed perpetually bored. We could answer any question put to us. Our Algebra II teacher admitted to trying to stump us. She said that she caught us not paying attention, and she wrote a problem on the board that was several chapters ahead of what we were working on. Then she called on Alice to work it. Alice took one look at the board and worked it in her head, giving her the correct answer. She said that she almost fell out. We didn't tell her that Alice has two Master's Degrees in Mathematics. Alice probably has a more extensive math background than she has.

All in all, our reviews went very well. Carlisle and Esme both said that we needed to try to pay more attention in class. We all groaned. We knew that we wouldn't be paying any more attention than we were paying before. As long as we could answer the questions when asked, we felt that we were achieving enough by being there. Our day was finally over. Little did we know that events put in motion tonight would be affecting our lives for days to come.