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Chapter 10

For a day the three vampires moved about the house, never straying far from Bella. Esme tidied things that didn't need tidying. Carlisle pretended to read. Edward paced the beach when he was told to step away for a moment, but the rest of the time he sat by Bella's side.

Her skin was already pale and physically she looked quiet vampirish. The wound had healed before they reached the coast and with the blood and dirt washed clean, there was no trace of it. But she was still silent and still, even as her heart pounded towards its completion.

The sun set and the moon rose. Carlisle left for the mainland after poking his head in the door to tell Edward goodbye. His son only nodded softly. Edward was aware of time passing, but nothing drew him from his vigil until Alice's excited voice echoed through the living room.

'Come on!' his small sister called, voice much louder than any other that had been spoken in the house since they arrived. 'You can leave her a few minutes, I promise.'

Edward rose, because he knew she would just drag him out anyways. He kissed Bella's cold forehead gently and then followed the pixie into the other room.

They had stopped on the way. That much was clear as soon as Edward saw his siblings. Their clothes were much too presentable for a multi-day race through the forest hunting members of the Bolivian drug cartel. There were also bags of what looked like shopping sitting by the sofa. It screamed 'Alice'. Edward was grateful.

'How did it go?' he asked, since obviously Alice had wanted him in the living room for a reason. He might have just listened in from the bedroom.

'All kidnappers present and accounted for. And mostly in jail,' she went on. Edward didn't need to ask what 'mostly' meant. The look on Rosalie's face – pure, unaltered satisfaction – was enough. 'We managed to retrieve the German's body from where they buried him. His brother was very grateful. He sends his condolences for your own loss,' Alice went on. 'And the Mexican woman, Marta, does too. They have all been put up in a very nice hotel in La Paz and the authorities are working to retrieve their belongings from the bus company. Everyone else on the bus reached Santa Cruz safely, by the way.' She was all but grinning that everything had worked out. 'And now we're all here and Bella will wake up in less than four hours!'

'Alice….' Edward started, because he'd been doing the same sort of thing since the day his prescient sister had walked through their door sixty odd years before. He couldn't not question her, especially where Bella was concerned.

'Not a word,' Alice countered, as she usually did. 'I've seen it; it's crystal clear, look yourself.' Edward did. 'Happy now? Three hours and fifty-two minutes. It will be fine. Trust me,' she grinned.

The last little bit of anxiety finally left him. Now there was only impatience for Bella's waking.

'I'm glad we've settled that, finally,' the pixie went on. 'Right, Rose and I will get Bella changed.'

'Esme already changed her,' Edward felt the need to point out.

'Into sweatpants and a shirt. Honestly, Edward, you think I'd allow my little sister to wake up in that?'

It was so very Alice. So very normal and funny and perfect. It was still a surprise when Edward laughed at her. 'Right, I'm sorry. Of course. Please put her in the designer dress you bought so that she can ruin it an hour later.'

'Thank you,' Alice preened. She and Rosalie grabbed up the bags by the sofa and disappeared down the hall to the spare room.

'Why do you even bother?' Emmett asked.

Edward shrugged. 'Habit,' he decided.

It seemed to take an inordinate amount of time for the two vampires to re-emerge from the bedroom. Edward began to wonder if they were trying every single outfit Alice had bought to see which looked best. He wouldn't put it passed his sister. He also knew better than to stick his head through the door and complain that Bella, hours away from her new life as a vampire and probably in agonizing pain, was not a Barbie doll for them to play with. He'd lose.

Finally, the two emerged. 'It won't be long now, Edward. Why don't you sit with her?' Alice suggested.

Inside, Bella lay against the pillows in the centre of the bed. She was dressed in a knee-length gown of soft pale green fabric. It looked ridiculously expensive. Her hair had been brushed and fell about her head in soft waves, the dark brown making her skin look even whiter. Her heartbeat was starting to struggling, racing fast, and then skipping beats. Alice had timed it well.

Edward took a seat in the chair they had placed by the bed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. And waited.

Outside his family waited too.

Edward didn't need Alice's excited thoughts in his head to know when it was time. They could all hear the sudden intense racing of the last human heartbeat in the house. It sounded like the muscles were stumbling over themselves attempting to beat quickly enough.

And then, suddenly, there was only silence. Edward leaned forward on his chair until his face was only a few feet from Bella's. He didn't want to crowd her. For a moment he tried desperately to read her thoughts – any thought, but heard nothing. They knew it was likely that her silent mind would carry over, but he had hoped, however impossible it seemed.

Pale eyelids blinked open. He saw the bright red irises focus on the smooth wood ceiling. A second later they shifted sideways to meet his. Edward held an unnecessary breath.

'Bella?' he whispered after a beat.

She moved like lightening. It was no quicker than the average vampire, but Edward was so used to her clumsy human motion that it caught him off guard. She was pressed back against the corner wall before he could blink, crouched in what his brain told him was a defensive position.

He stood up, but remained on the far side of the bed. 'Bella?' he tried again, almost desperately.

Red met gold and then she relaxed. 'Edward?' she asked, the most beautiful, clearest voice ringing out of her mouth. It sounded like the most beautiful music he had ever made on his piano.

'Yes, Bella, I'm here. We're all here.'

She stood slowly, still in the corner. Slowly she held each hand out in front of her and then ran them over her face and hair; touching, exploring, understanding.

'I know it's a shock. I don't know if you remember what happened…' he trailed off.

Her eyes met his again. 'Yes. I…we were at the camp and…' her hand went to her knee, perfect and whole. 'It was too late?' she asked.

Guilt shocked him to the core. 'Yes, I'm sorry. There was no choice.'

She looked at him for a second longer and then she was over the bed and in his arms, wrapping so tight it physically hurt and he didn't care at all.

'Careful Bella, he's the breakable one now,' Alice's voice cautioned from the doorway.

If she had still been human, she would have blushed. The look she gave her was still adorable. 'Sorry,' Bella said and relaxed her grip, but she didn't let him go completely.

'Don't apologise. You won't actually break me. Just…you're stronger than all of us now. Probably even then Emmett. You just need to be aware of it.'

'I will be,' she promised.

'Uh, Jasper would like to see you,' Alice interrupted and then stood aside for her husband.

Bella had never seen Jasper so…wary. 'Is everything alright?' she asked.

The southern vampire blinked at her, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. 'How do you feel?' he finally asked.

'Strange. Everything is so…clear. And easy.'

He frowned. 'Are you thirsty?'

Bella considered that a moment. There did seem to be a strange burning tickle in her throat. 'I guess? I guess that's what I'm feeling.' She paused. 'Are we on the island? There's no humans here?'

'None,' Edward assured her.

She seemed almost hesitant to ask her next question. 'Then I think I'd like to go hunt if, if you'll come with me,' she said to him.

'I'm not going anywhere without you for a very long time,' her fiancé promised.

Bella smiled. 'Then can we go hunting? You'll have to show me what to do.'

'Just follow your instincts,' Alice suggested.

Edward took Bella's slim, perfect hand in his. She was the same temperature now. He pushed open the French doors that led onto the deck and the sound of the ocean crashed over her. 'It's so beautiful here,' she exclaimed.

'Thank you,' Esme put in. The rest of the family had joined them in the bedroom.

'Come on,' Edward prodded. 'That thirst must be unbearable by now.'

Bella shrugged, the motion graceful and easy, just like it was for Alice and Rose and Esme. 'Not really. I mean, it's there, but it's not driving me nuts or anything.'

Jasper frowned behind her.

'Still, let's find something to eat,' Edward said again and pulled gently on her hand. Bella followed him out the door into the waning moonlight. 'Just follow my lead,' he said and then he was off. To human eyes he would have been a blur in the darkness, but Bella could follow the motion easily now.

Smiling, she looked back at Alice. 'A dress? Really?' she asked and then she was off after Edward, laughing at the sheer novelty of it.

'Don't overthink it, Jasper,' Alice turned to her husband. 'It will all be fine.'

'It's impossible,' he reiterated. 'No newborn has that sort of control.'

'Bella does,' the pixie stated as a matter of fact. 'Just go with it.'

'Well I think it's pretty awesome!' Emmett shouted into the answering quiet. Rosalie rolled her eyes. 'Come on, idiot. They'll want some alone time when they get back. Let's go to that rock we like.'

That was really all it took to get Emmett's attention most days. He followed after her into the darkness eagerly.

'Rosalie has a good point. Let us give them some time together,' Esme reasoned. She took her quiet husband's hand and led him back to the living room.

'There's that tree…' Alice said, tongue between her teeth suggestively. Jasper was clearly still distracted by the whole conundrum of Bella-the-new-born, but that could wait. A very long time, if necessary. Alice knew everything would work out fine. 'Jasper,' she whined at him and finally he followed after her.