I called the Cullen's the next morning. Esme answered. Carlisle was working and everyone else was at school.
"Well it was nice talking to you, Esme. Could you have Alice and Carlisle call me when they get home?"
"Of course. Is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure. We think there might be a blocker or something on my visions."
"Oh. Yes I will have them call you once they get home."
"Ok. Thank you. I will talk to you later."
"Bye."
After hanging up, I went outside to enjoy the nice weather. I was still amazed by the sparkling that my skin made in the sunlight. Alec was back at the castle to pick up a few more things that we had left there. I stayed home so that I could make the phone call and finish unpacking.
Alec came home as I was putting dishes in the cabinets. We kept up the human charade with dishes and other things. I'm sure that Ariana will be the only human here, at least for a while, but we would need them once the kids were here. Plus, it made the house feel more complete.
"Did you call them?" He asked.
"Yes. Esme answered. Carlisle is at work and the rest of them are in school. Esme said that she would have them call once they get home."
"Did you ask Esme about coming over?"
"No. I figured I would once I could talk to Alice and Carlisle."
"Hm. Aro says hello. And so does everyone else. They want to know when they can come visit."
"How about after the Cullen's. And if we find anything out about my visions, we can tell the counsel then."
"Sounds good. I'll tell them once you find out when the Cullen's will be coming."
"Alright."
We finished unpacking what we could. We wouldn't have any furniture for a few more days, but we cuddled under a blanket on the mattress in our bedroom. About half way through, my cell phone started ringing. Carlisle was on the other end of the line.
"How is the new home?"
"It's great. That was one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. We were wanting to know if you all would like to visit in the next couple of days."
"That sounds wonderful, Bella. When would you like us?"
"Well, anytime after Thursday, if that's ok with you guys."
"Sounds perfect. I'll have someone make the flight arrangements. Is there another reason you wanted to speak with me?"
"Actually there is. I think Alice might be able to help too. It seems that I can't get certain parts of a vision. Like with the visions about the kids, I can't see anything that might have to do with gender. I can't see shopping for clothes or calling their names. And I can see us walking into the adoption place, but not out. Alec and I were thinking that I might have a block of some sorts on my visions."
"Hm," he mused. "It does seem like it, although we can't be sure. I don't think that Alice has ever experienced anything like that. I could ask her when her and Jasper get back from hunting. But I can do some research. We can check on you when we come down there. Have you told the counsel about it?"
"No. We wanted to wait until we saw you and Alice. To see if we could figure anything out first."
"Yes, I will look into it. Have you got any other theories?"
"I don't. But Alec thinks that maybe it's because we haven't decided on the sex of the kids. We briefly discussed it, coming to the conclusion that we want the children that seem right for us, not just based on sex. He also thinks that it's probably a good thing that we don't know yet. It keeps things more exciting."
"Those are both good theories. Maybe your visions are a little more like Alice's than we thought."
"Perhaps." I sighed. I just wanted to know the reason for my visions not coming in completely. "But it worries me that, if the problems are directly tied to the children, that I won't be able to watch their futures completely."
"Bella, you can't always rely on your powers."
"Yeah. I guess I need to work on that."
"Yes you should. I will try to do as much research as I can and we can check some stuff out when we come in a few days."
"Ok. Thank you, Carlisle. We'll will see you soon."
"Goodbye. Rosalie just told me that we will be flying in Saturday morning. We'll see you then." We hung up.
I felt better after talking to Carlisle about the issue, but I wouldn't be completely ok until I was sure that nothing was wrong. It was going to be really frustrating if I couldn't see everything. Not to mention the things that could go wrong if I wasn't able to see it.
"Was that Carlisle?" Alec asked from beside me.
"Yeah. They're coming in on Saturday morning."
"What did he say about your visions?"
"He said that he would do some research. He would check it out when they came. He isn't sure what the reason could be."
"Did you talk to Alice?"
"No. Her and Jasper are hunting."
"Oh. We'll get this figured out."
Thursday came. The guys from the furniture store came and delivered our stuff. Alec and I spent part of the day rearranging furniture. The rest of the day and evening we spent hanging things on walls and putting things in their right places. The house was finally finished and complete. It felt nice to have a home of our own. It felt complete for now.
I talked to Aro earlier in the day. He said that they would be coming to see the house in a few days, after we had gotten to see the Cullen's. They were happy that we had gotten a place of our own. Not that they were happy that we moved out. But they were glad that we would be having a family soon and that we were happy together.
The Cullen's arrived on Saturday morning. Everyone made their rounds of greetings and made some small chatter. They loved the house and Alice was already declaring what she was going to design the kids rooms like.
Alice, Carlisle and I went into the bedroom. Carlisle had done as much research as he could, but he didn't find much. Alice seemed to agree with Alec in that maybe my visions were a bit more like hers than we thought. They told me to keep looking out for the kids to see if I could get anything else. That seemed like it was the only thing we could do for now.
The girls and I went shopping. I drove my car with Alice in the front with me. Esme, Rose and Tanya were in the back. The guys stayed at the house to watch a football game. It was nice to be able to catch up with the girls again. Talking to them was easy.
A thought swept across my mind and I wondered how Charlie was doing. I wanted to know, but I wasn't sure if I was prepared to hear what could be going on with him since I left. I decided to ask anyway.
"Do you guys know how Charlie is doing?" I asked.
Rosalie answered, "Bella, he's worried sick about you. He hasn't stopped trying to find you. Renee and Phil have been staying with him for a few weeks to help in the search. He misses you and he thinks that you might be in some sort of danger."
"And they have no plans of stopping." Alice interjected.
I felt guilty for what I did. I left him without the decency of a good-bye or a warning. I left a note for that. And now he was out searching for me to make sure I was safe and that I would come home. But I didn't want to go home. Home was here, now in Italy with Alec and the Volturi.
"How is Alec doing with the diet?" Esme asked.
"He's still getting used to it. We went to a store to get some paint. It was kind of hot in the store and I could tell that he was uncomfortable. I told him to get some fresh air but he stayed with me. And then we were on the way home and there was a car accident. There was a lot of blood and the smell was overpowering for him. He almost lost it there. He was gripping the steering wheel so hard that I thought it was going to break off."
"He'll get it. It just takes time. Jasper hasn't had human blood since we came here and he's still trying to adjust." Alice said.
We pulled in to the mall. We shopped for a few hours before deciding to head back home. The guys were playing a racing gamewhen we walked through the door. Emmett was winning, of course. When the race was over, he proceeded to jump up and thrown his hands up in victory. The girls and I proceeded to roll our eyes before heading upstairs to the bedroom.
The rest of the evening and night was filled with friendly chatter and games. Emmett decided that he wanted to play Quelf. This would be fun. Edward ended up winning. Some of the things we had to do were ridiculously random. Emmett had to pretend to be a cowboy trying to save a beached whale with his ostrich. It was hilarious.
All too soon, though, the Cullen's had to leave. I enjoyed having them here. They were always welcome, of course. They promised to visit again and said that we were always welcome to visit them in Boston, where they were currently residing.
Alice promised to keep an eye on Charlie and Renee for me. I wanted them to be safe. I wish they would stop searching for me. I told him not to in my letter. I know they did it because they cared, but I didn't want them to waste their time and energy. I couldn't see them anymore. It hurt that I couldn't see them anymore, but I don't think that I would go back after having this new life. Had I not left, I wouldn't have found Alec and I don't think that I could live without him.