I dont own...Edward's getting closer... :-)

Chapter 11

Meeting the Cullen's so called children:

"I totally beat you, Alice! Accept it already, woman," one of the guys said.

"No, you did not. You cheated like always, Emmett," the one called Alice said, giving him an angry glare.

"Oh come on! Tell her, Rosie, I totally won," Emmett said.

"Wait till Edward gets here you jerk. You just saved your behind for a while because he had to stop for gas. If he had been there, you would have had to buy a new Jeep because I'd have made sure he left it like scraps of metal!'' Alice said, looking furious.

"Calm down, honey, you know how he is; just forget it," a blonde guy said, taking her in his arms.

"Good evening, guys," Carlisle said, clearing his throat to get their attention.

Emmett's smile faded. Carlisle looked pleased. "Are you coming in, or are you going to keep your debate outside?'' Carlisle asked laughing.

"Guys, cut it out and come in,'' Esme said seriously, and they all entered the house and then I saw them clearly. They all came rushing through the door and sat on the sofa. Only Rosie had stayed standing with a hand on Emmett's shoulder. Emmett had muscles and his hair was brown and short. He was like the fighter type—the one you see in school bulling younger kids. He looked like he was the most fun of them all, the one that didn't care about the rules. But he also looked like a teddy bear.

The one called Alice was short in height. She looked so fragile and breakable. Her facial features were pixie like. Her hair was short, almost like a man cut, but she pulled it off perfectly; it actually suited her. The male sitting next to her was sitting very straight; only his hand was off posture because Alice was holding it. He was very slender. His hair was blonde and cut a few inches under his ear. His face looked wrinkled, like scarred somehow.

I then peeked to look at whom Emmett had called Rosie. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen on the planet. She was tall with a great figure, blonde with long hair and looked really beautiful, like one of those popular girls in school that every guy wants to take to prom, the one that makes the rest look pitiful. There was something in her expression that made her different; I noticed she was full of pride. She caught me looking at them from the corner I was hidden in and stared at me and then all of them looked in my direction.

Esme smiled and took my hand. She pulled me closer to them in the center of the room. I smiled shyly and was ready to introduce myself when Alice beat me to it.

"I'm Alice Cullen and this is my husband, Jasper Hale,'' Alice said stretching her hand out toward me. I shook it and then shook Jasper's. Alice took Jasper's hand and went to sit back on the couch and smiled at me.

Esme rolled her eyes at her antics and continued as if she hadn't interrupted her at all.

"Everyone we have a guest,'' she stated. Carlisle then placed his hand on my shoulder.

"This is Gabriella Swan," Carlisle said.

"We have been helping her for the past year and a half; she had a fatal accident while we were living in New York, and I took personal care of her and helped her adjust to our lifestyle," he said, and no one questioned him

In a movement so fast even for my eyes, Rosalie was in front of me. She looked me up and down and then extended her hand for me to take it. "I'm Rosalie and that nut head over there is my husband, Emmett Cullen."

Emmett stood up and shook my hand… Let me rephrase, he crushed my hand. "Nice to meet you all. Esme has been telling me all about you in this last year and a half," I said.

"Well, I hope she didn't taint our good name." Emmett smiled, and Rosalie hit him on the back of his head. I laughed.

"Don't worry. She just said you were a big oaf." I giggled and it seemed to be contagious since they all laughed with me.

"I hope you don't mind me staying here. I don't want to impose," I said.

"Don't worry, Gabriella. I'm pretty sure that we're going to be great friends," Alice said, her smile beaming.

"Where is Edward?" Esme asked.

"He had to stop for gas," Jasper replied.

We all sat in the living room, and Alice was talking about the trip and all of the places they visited. When she began with the part of the race they had on their way here, the sound of another car approaching caught my attention.

EPOV

We were finally going home at last; Alice finally told us that it was time to return. This meant that Gabriella was ready to meet me. I couldn't wait to see her. I'd been looking at her picture for the past six months. I had asked Alice to get me a picture of her.

Carlisle and Esme didn't know about the recent developments between Gabriella and me…well, Gabriella didn't know, either. Alice called Carlisle and Esme and told them about what she had seen. She had then asked Carlisle for a picture. He wasn't okay with it, but he agreed to get it. He talked with Alice for a few more minutes then ten minutes after they hung up, Alice's phone beeped with a new message. Carlisle had sent Isabella's picture. Alice printed it out and soon enough, I had it in my possession.

She was absolutely beautiful. I didn't know how she had looked as a human, but vampirism suited her. When we transform, it enhances our assets. Her skin was flawless. Her brown hair looked full and healthy. Apparently her highlights were natural since they didn't disappear with the change. Her eyes were what shocked me the most. They were gold with a touch of brown, making them look amber, a light butterscotch color.

I couldn't stop looking at her. Some people may have thought that I was creepy, like Rosalie did when she knew what we had done, but I didn't care. I couldn't wait to meet her in person. She was my destiny, and I wasn't going to let anything take that away from me. No matter how long it takes me, Gabriella will be by my side. I wasn't going to hurt her; I just want to love her.

I had to stop for gas. I had been stupid enough to leave the airport and come straight here. Now, it would take me a few more minutes to get to the house and finally meet Gabriella. Alice sent me a text saying that she was there and that I also had to kick Emmett's rear when I got there. I actually didn't care for that last bit; if I actually kicked his butt every time he did something, he wouldn't have one by now. I paid and loaded the Volvo with gas. I sped out and hurried the rest of the way home. I needed to see her with my own eyes. I couldn't wait!

When I got home, I saw that there was a car parked in the garage, a Mustang convertible that was black and sleek. I knew this was Gabriella's car because Alice had seen when Carlisle decided to buy it for her as a gift last Christmas. Before going in, I approached the car and admired it. There was a soft sweet yet tangy smell around it; I sniffled. It was all over the place. I recognized it as Gabriella's scent. I sniffled again this time to memorize it.

I hurried to the stairs fast. When I opened the front door, her scent hit me like a ton of bricks. Everyone else's scents were there, but hers was the most prominent. She was sitting on the armrest of Esme's favorite chair. She was laughing about something. She looked radiant. She was beautiful and the most marvelous thing I'd ever seen. I had the picture of her in my mind, but that didn't do her justice. Her eyes were defined, long lashes framing them. She was wearing light makeup just to polish what she already had. Her hair was curled at the ends, framing her face, and her lips, so full, so tempting…

I gulped, trying to control myself. This wasn't the right way to do this, but the urge to touch and be near her was overwhelming. I got into Alice's head and alerted her of my presence. She looked up and smiled at me. She nodded her head. I exhaled and opened the door. I extended my hand to take hers. Electricity ran through me when our hands came in contact, but I also felt peace; she was home…although she didn't know that yet.

Back to Gabriella

We were all laughing to a joke that Japer had told us when I saw Alice nod her head toward the door. I followed her gaze as the front door opened and the last member of the Cullen children stepped into the house. He was like a god. His face was smooth, his hair bronze color, and his eyes were sweet and calm with a soft golden color. Alice ran to his arms, and he gave her a warm hug. Emmett punched him on the shoulder, and he raised an eyebrow at him. Emmett's smile faded. Alice smiled at this. Jasper patted his back. Rosalie ruffled his hair and moved out of the way to let Carlisle and Esme hug him. I sat there waiting and unsure for no reason. Alice took his hand and brought him to the middle of the room, close to where I was sitting.

"Brother," she stated. "There is someone you have to meet," she said smiling.

"Hi," I said. "I'm Gab…Gabriella Swan," I stuttered like an idiot.

He smiled at me and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Gabriella. I'm Edward…Edward Cullen," he responded. His voice was velvet.

My hand tingled at his touch as unnatural warmth spread through me. What was happening to me? I didn't know if he felt it too. It was very strange; it had not happened with any of the others. Why with him then? Not only did I feel the electric shock, but also a sense of belonging and peace invaded my mind as we held our hands together. Alice cleared her throat and he released me. I smiled regardless of what just happened. I shrugged it off to the back of my mind.

"Well, now that you are all here and the introductions have been made, why don't you all go unpack," Carlisle suggested.

"Bella, honey, why don't you stay with the girls and mingle? I can finish what we were doing alone," she said, patting my shoulder. I nodded and stayed, but then I remembered that all of my things where in Edward's room. I had to move out! I ran upstairs, and I started collecting my stuff. I was so hurried to get everything out that I didn't notice Edward standing at the doorway looking amused.

"Hello," Edward said.

"Do you need anything?" I asked.

"No, I just wondered why you were in such a hurry," he said in his perfect, velvet voice.

"I'm gathering my stuff." Wasn't it obvious?

"I can see that," he responded, humor in his tone.

"I'm moving out, so you can have your room back," I told him and started pulling my clothes out of the closet. I was going to need a digger to do that. I don't know how Esme fit all of it in here when Edward himself had a lot of clothes in there too.

He chuckled but didn't move to help or anything, "Have I asked you to leave?" he asked.

"Um, no?"

"Then why are you?" he asked.

"Because this is your room and now that you're here there is no use for me to keep occupying it when I can take the other room." I pointed out.

"Point taken. You win." He said, his smile broader.

He helped me, and in a few minutes, I was moved to the other room. The scent of the girls was noticeable but old. I put the box with my stuff on the bed while he placed my clothes at the end of the bed.

"Thanks, Edward," I told him

"Don't worry. My pleasure," he said, polite. All of a sudden, he stiffened. I looked around the room to find the source that made him do that, but the room was empty.

"Has someone else been here?" he asked, sniffling around.

"My friends," I stated.

"And they're all vampires?"

"Yes."

"Where did you meet them?" he asked.

"At Dartmouth. Two of them are my roommates. The other I found in the woods while she was hunting."

"Hunting what?" he asked.

"She had taken down a rather large fox when I interrupted her."

"And the other two?"

"nOe of them is a human drinking succubus." I smiled at the thought of Akilah.

"A succubus, really? I thought they were extinct." He pointed out.

"Well, she is a rather old one." I added for his benefit.

"The only ones I know are our cousins in Alaska," he said.

"Yeah Carlisle told Akilah and I about them a few days ago," I replied. "Yeah, but they follow our diet," he stated.

"Cool," I said.

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't, I started taking my things out of the box while he stood there.

"I'll let you settle in now. See you around?" he asked.

"Yes," I said as he left the room and closed the door.

I sat on the bed and started unpacking again, when I heard a knock on the door.

"It's me, Alice, can I come in?" she asked.

"Yes come in," I responded.

"Do you mind if I help you?" she asked.

"No, of course not," I told her, and she smiled.

She opened the closet, and I began to give her my garments.

"Who got you all of this stuff? It's neat!" she commented.

"Esme did, but some I picked out."

"Online?"

"No, they took me to a mall in Seattle. It was a test to see if I could resist human blood," I said nonchalantly.

I started arranging the picture frames I had on the nightstands while she worked on my shoes, not that I had too many of them; there were like twenty pairs or so.

It'd been two days since the Cullen children returned. We had just hung out and gotten to know each other better. Two days together, and as I suspected, Rosalie wasn't that bad after all. She was a genius with cars, Emmett was a goof off, and Alice was out of this world. Jasper was quite interesting and kind of weird. Edward on the other hand was very polite and quite a gentleman.

Alice and I were doing the laundry while all the boys were playing video games and Rosalie and Esme where reading catalogs. Alice told me that all of them had extra powers. I asked her if I had a power but she told me no, she didn't sense anything.

She told me that maybe I was a regular vampire like Rosalie and Emmett, although he had super strength, or maybe I was just plain like Esme, which pissed me off; all Alice did was laugh. I smacked her arm, and she winced. Maybe I was super strong too.

She told me that her power was seeing the future, but that her visions were subjective, that if the decision changed the whole vision changed.

"Jasper's power is controlling emotions. This means that every emotion that you're feeling he can feel it, and he can make it expand to all of us, and he can also calm down a whole room. It takes a little bit of concentration, but he's mastered it," Alice said, excited about her husband's power.

"But…" she looked straight at me with her voice merely a whisper. "The power you have to be careful about is Edward's," she said.

"Why, Alice?" I asked, curious but a little afraid I had to admit.

I mean what could Edward do? He couldn't have a bad power, but what if he did? What if he used if for evil and wasn't as nice as I thought he was? All these questions popped to my mind at once; thank god Edward wasn't at the house.

I remained silent.

Alice looked at my face and laughed before she finally answered.

"Because he can read minds," she told me.

"And there's nothing to worry about, silly girl. So change that frozen dead fish face you have, or mom will repress me for scaring you." Alice added with a giggle, and I smiled at her relieved. She had just been mocking me. I smacked her again in return. she hissed at me this time.

Snow got thicker and it stuck to the ground. This meant that Christmas was near. We were going to decorate the tree that the guys had to go pick up later today, and then we were going to finish decorating the rest of the house. Esme and I had done a pretty good job, but according to Alice, there were things that still needed to be placed.

I had to buy all my Christmas gifts. I was pretty sure of what I was going to get for everyone except for Edward…I couldn't figure out anything about him yet. It was not that he was being closed off or anything. It was just that he hadn't been alone with me the way that everyone else had. He was around when there was more than just me in the room. I didn't know what to think of it. If I didn't have a gift in mind for him by the end of the week, I was going to ask Alice for help.

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