Carlisle started by opening and closing his mouth several times, as if he were a fish out of water. In normal circumstances, it would have been extremely amusing to watch. Finally, he took a minute to properly compose himself and began. "Bella, the explanations from my family have caught me off guard, I never knew they felt this way. For me, I truly thought you and Edward were mates. He told me all of the right feelings for a mate, and I had never seen a vampire/human mating pair. With that in mind, I thought some of his more, Carlisle took a second to think of the right word, tilting his head back and forth, possessive behaviors were normal. We vampires, as a species, are possessive beings, and being with a fragile human, I believed it was amplified. When he told me we needed to leave for your wellbeing, I told him it was a bad idea, but he insisted, and as your mate that was his call to make."

In the end, Carlisle looked like he believed every word he was spouting out, but I had learned, looks could be deceiving. Apparently, I was not the only one not completely convinced, as my mother made her presence known.

Positioning herself now slightly in front of me, in a protective gesture, Sulpicia began her questioning of the man I once believed would be my vampire father. "While that all sounds well and good Carlisle, I seem to have trouble with some of the points. For one, while you spent time here centuries ago, there were a few human/vampire mating couples roaming about the castle. There is no way you should have forgotten, as we have perfect memories. Secondly, you should have known human or not that no set of mates can purposely hurt one another or leave each other. And when I say you should have known, I mean that you do know."

With each point being made Carlise looked increasingly uncomfortable. He started shifting his weight from foot to foot, and was darting his eyes around, as if looking for a possible route of escape. Too bad there are none. As his eyes rested on Sulpicia once more she completed her rant, during which, she was slowly losing her calm composure. Becoming angrier and angrier with each passing moment.

"Lastly, you are a 557 year old vampire, who is the head of a large coven, and you let a 117 year old vampire make decisions for you? You know that is not how our world works. I think you have let Edward play you like a fiddle Carlisle. You have been too soft on him, treating him as some sort of golden progeny, just because he was your first. Well, let me take off your rose tinted glasses Carlisle. Edward has the personality of a narcissistic asshole mixed with a spoilt little brat, who never grows up. He refuses to take responsibility for his actions, and continues to claim Isabella as his, even though she is not property, and most importantly not his mate. Tell me Carlisle, when you see a spoilt child in the supermarket throwing a massive temper tantrum, do you blame the child or the parent?"

Every single being in the room pondered that for a moment. Sulpicia had a massive point. If a child acts out regularly, and the parent only indulges in these temper tantrums, the child is going to continue to have them. If a kid throws things, and gets a candy bar right after, they are going to continue to throw things. With this logic blame would be laid at the parent's feet, and not the child's. Or in Sulpicia's point, Edward's actions can be, at least in part, laid at Carlisle's feet.

It seemed everyone reached the same conclusion around the same time. All eyes turned to Carlisle, as we waited with baited breathe for his response. Acting completely human, Carlisle indulged in nervous habits of fidgeting and pulling at the collar of his shirt. When he finally responded his voice came off as shaky and unsure. "Well I suppose that even though most of the blame still goes to the child, a very small part of it can be laid at the feet of the parents."

I could feel Heidi let out a small chuckle next to me, as it was obvious to everyone there that Carlisle did not believe his own words. It was even more obvious though that he was never going to admit just how wrong he was with Edward. Instead of waiting for there to be hours of long argumentative discussions I put a calming hand on my mother, and tried to convey what I needed. In the last few hours I had learned so much and needed some time to process. Preferably while cuddling with Heidi.

Feeling my hand Sulpicia turned around to face me and scanned my emotions swirling behind my chocolate brown orbs. I am positive she could see the feelings of being overwhelmed, conflicted, and tired at the forefront. She did not need Jasper to tell her those things. As I felt an arm wrap delicately around my waist I could tell Heidi sensed this as well. A few moments of nonverbal communication passed and Sulpicia addressed the room once again.

"While it is clear that we still have much to discuss." Sulpicia took a moment to turn her glare solely on Carlisle. She looked at him with so much contempt that I was surprised he didn't spontaneously combust into flames. "I feel as though we all need a break to process the information that has been given today. Jane, Alex, Felix and Demetri, if you could escort the Cullens to their rooms that would be appreciated, everyone else is also dismissed."

In mere seconds the only beings left in the throne room were myself, Heidi, Sulpicia, Aro, Caius, Marcus, Athenadora, and Didyme. The next thing I knew, I was being surrounded by the kings and queens of Volturra, as I was pulled into a warm embrace by Heidi. Looking up I could see everyone smiling, which made me confused. Sensing my question Aro answered for me.

"Isabella, honey, you handled yourself wonderfully. We couldn't be more proud of you. You heard them out diplomatically without allowing them to walk all over you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling tired honestly. I think I am just really overwhelmed with everything and need a little while to process everything I was told today. This just reaffirms what you've all been saying about Edward all this time. And honestly, I think I am finally starting to accept that I was never his mate, and maybe he was never even in love with me." The last part took a lot for me to say out loud, but Heidi's comforting motions were enough to make me feel like it was safe to say.

I looked at everyone who had become so important to me, in such a little amount of time and took in the warmth and comfort their gazes held. "Is it okay if I go lay down for a while?"

Sulpicia immediately nodded before amending her consent. "You can lay down as soon as you eat something Isabella. It's been hours since your last meal. I know you probably don't feel hungry, but please eat something."

At Sulpicia's words my stomach made itself known and confirmed to all the vampires in the room that I did need to eat. It also served as a good way to get everyone to laugh when I commented "I guess that's a yes."

From here we all dispersed with Heidi giving me a piggyback ride to the kitchens. She carefully sat me down and kissed my forehead before asking me what I wanted to eat. It was no surprise when I said I wanted something Italian. Heidi whispered for me to relax before going to the pantry and beginning to get the necessary items for whatever meal she was cooking.

I put my head down and let the comfortable silence wash over me. It must have been insanely comfortable because I must have dozed off. There was no way Heidi could make an excellent chicken fettuccini in two minutes. Not even vampires could make food cook faster, and Heidi's small smirk told me everything I needed to know.

The meal was eaten in companionable silence, as Heidi sat next to me with her hand on my upper thigh tracing light patterns with her thumb. When I was done Heidi washed the dishes at vampire speed and crouched down in front of me. "Was the meal delicious Isabella?"

Seeing the playfulness in her eyes I decided to play the game with her, instantly uplifting my mood. "Hmm, I don't know. I think I've tasted better things in my life."

Heidi gave a mock hurt face as she heard the teasing in my voice, and amusement in my eyes. "And just what tasted even better than my phenomenal cooking?"

Using my new found boldness I stated. "If I had to list some things off the top of my head I would say pizza, chocolate, oh and your lips."

I could tell I had caught my mate off guard when she almost fell backwards out of her crouch. It was easy to see her get right back into the role when the smirk, which I love, came to adorn her face. "Well baby, if you wanted to taste my lips, all you have to do is ask."

Instead of asking, I opted for a more forward option. I leaned forward and captured Heidi's lips with my own. Once again sparks flew as I kissed my mate. At first it was just long, hard kisses. Somewhere along the way Heidi shifted our position and I was seated on the countertop with Heidi in between my legs. If I didn't know any better I'd say my mate had some sort of fetish with me and counters.

I continued to take charge though as I lightly bite Heidi's bottom lip, allowing me entrance into her mouth. Our tongues battled for dominance, and I eventually won, using my victory to explore. When we did finally pull apart, so I could breathe, I was completely flushed. Heidi looked to me and smiled, not smirked, but smiled.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected. Feel free to be that bold whenever you'd like mi amore. But just to warn you for the future, I will fight you harder for dominance. I do enjoy being in charge."

Before I could process the wink my mate had sent my way she had initiated another heated make out session. One in which she picked me up from the counter and pressed me against the wall on the other side of the room. She had both hands on my ass, gently massaging it as we aggressively made out.

This time when we pulled back, Heidi started to attack my neck, lightly nipping and sucking, causing me to moan loudly. With this I realized that every time we started some sort of make out session in public we always got caught, and I was positive someone must have heard me moan. I swear with a vampire mate you would think she was purposely letting us get caught. "Heidi, babe, please."

With this she looked up at me with amusement in her eyes as she moved one hand from my ass to my breast, gently grouping it. She seductively leaned for and whispered in my ear "please what mia cara? Please more?"

Just before she returned to my neck I managed to breathe out "can we please move this to my room?"

This caught my mates attention, as it seemed she realize what I did as well. Looking around she finally settled back onto my eyes and nodded. Heidi gently let me down from the wall. I was scared to look in a mirror. I could already tell that my shirt was untuck and wrinkled, I could feel Heidi's lipstick all over me, and I did not want to know what my hair looked like. It must have been something as Heidi let out a small giggle. "Maybe we should clean you up a bit before we walk into the hall. I'd hate for Aro and Sulpicia to see you right now."

"Well maybe if you didn't insist on wearing bright red lipstick we could be a little more discreet." I shot back playfully.

It took us about five minutes to truly clean me up enough that I could make it through the maze of hallways without blatant displays of my actions not ten minutes prior. Heidi meanwhile looked smug about the one piece of evidence she did manage to leave. It would be the decent size hickey she managed to leave right at the juncture of my neck and collarbone.

We made it back to my suite without any incidents and I crawled straight into bed. Heidi went to the closet first and got me a hoodie. I looked quizzically at her, as I had assumed we were going to do what we had been doing in the kitchen right away.

"As much as I would love to ravage you right now, you need some rest. You've had a rather hard day and if you cuddle with me in that shirt you're going to make yourself sick."

A smile made its way onto my face as I once again realized just how well Heidi knew me. Many times she knew what I needed before I did. She came onto the bed and I threw on the hoodie and cocooned a blanket around myself as Heidi positioned herself to be the big spoon. Just to be cheeky I asked "and what if I wanted to be the big spoon?"

Heidi looked to me with amusement shining through her eyes. "Darling, I let you take the lead in our first little make out session in the kitchen. Plus we both know, I'm six inches taller than you, making me the big spoon and you the little spoon."

I turned to face her as I laughed at her response, causing a smile to grace Heidi's face. "Oh you let me huh? And there was nothing little about our make out session!"

The indignant look on my face was too much for Heidi as she let out a loud laugh. "Oh Isabella, don't you realize when you're turned that will be equivalent to a small kiss for us. There are so many perks to not having to breathe, and I can't wait to show you all of them." She paused briefly as she took in the blush that violently took over my face.

"But for now it's time for my mate to get her rest, and when you wake up we can talk through what you heard today if you'd like. I'm sure Aro and Sulpicia will need to speak to you as well." At the end Heidi left a gentle, chaste kiss on my forehead and turned me around so my back was pressed into her front. She then began to sing a song in Italian, lulling me right to sleep with a content look on my face.