Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. The song Disco Duck belongs to Rick Dees, who performed the 1976 song with his band, The Cast of Idiots, and a Donald Duck impersonator. (I'm not sure anyone else wants it.)

This story takes place in an alternate universe and begins almost fifteen years after chapter three of New Moon. When Charlie called Renée to come to Forks, Bella went back to Jacksonville with Renée.

Thanks to Alphie, Be My Escape and Bronzehairedgirl for their help and patience with this story. They were all so much more than beta readers. And BHG is rubbing off on me. I've been beta-reading her story, The Greatest of These, and a bit of that story's philosophy comes through in Emmett. If you're reading her story, you'll know it when you see it. If you haven't read it, you should, and it will be obvious then.

Intervention

by silly bella

My brother was officially crazy. Granted, the situation was bizarre, but the solution was so easy. Change her. And when Marietta was old enough, change her if she wanted. If he didn't change Bella, eventually she'd die. That's what humans do. There was no way to stop it.

Sure, she was hung up on the age thing. Did it really matter that she was thirty-two and he was seventeen? She loved him. He loved her. That was what really mattered. How could she be so hung up on math when we were talking about forever? It wasn't that she looked so old. Let's face it, if people believed I was sixteen when we arrived in a new area, it wouldn't be that hard to persuade them that Bella was younger, too. Convincing Bella was the real challenge. Which was exactly what tonight was about. Convincing Bella. Once she came around, if Edward wouldn't do it, I think Carlisle might at least consider it. After all, he'd spent the last fifteen years with Edward, too. When Edward wasn't happy, no one was happy. The way he'd affected the rest of us made me really feel sorry for Jasper.

And what about Edward? We couldn't stay in Forks much longer. It was a miracle that no one had recognized us yet. Could he persuade Bella to come with us? Or would he risk everything to stay here with her? If it came down to leaving without her again, he'd disappear. It had been bad enough last time. I might not find him again. The memory of my brother in that hovel, hollow-eyed and totally empty, haunted me. He was my brother. Next to Rosalie, I loved him more than anyone in the world.

Why did they both have to be so stubborn? It was time for my family to be whole again. And if this worked…

So here we were, decked out in collegiate wear, chosen, of course, by Alice, who had also given Bella clothes to wear for our outing. Alice and I hadn't told anyone what this was about, and so far, we'd managed not to slip and think about it around Edward.

When we stopped at Bella's to pick her up, Marietta answered the door. "Em! Rosalie!" She tackled us both. "Come on in. Mom will be down in a minute. Please, please, let me go with you." She barely noticed Alice and Jasper and purposefully ignored Edward as they stepped inside.

"No can do. Tonight's agenda is not for thirteen year olds. But you, Rose and I can have a film fest at the house this weekend if it's OK with your mom. Fair enough?" I mussed her hair.

She made a face and grabbed my hand with both of hers to pull it away from her head. Then she responded, "Not fair. Not fair at all."

"Best offer," I countered.

A pout followed her sigh, but she gave in. "Fine."

"Did your mom like her wardrobe?" Alice's words rushed out in such a rapid flow they seemed to blur together. She was always excited to see her namesake.

Unfortunately, Marietta didn't share that enthusiasm. She just shrugged. Then she locked eyes with Edward, obviously sending him some sort of message. Edward stared back, his lips in a grim line, his expression otherwise emotionless. It was a familiar exchange. I'd have given anything to know what she was thinking.

Then Edward's lips parted and a smile spread across his face. Bella walked carefully down the stairs as Edward watched with reverent awe. I couldn't help speculating how big my brother's smile would have been if she were dressed up instead of wearing jeans and a tee-shirt.

"I'm not sure why it was so important for me to wear these exact clothes. You could have just said wear jeans," Bella laughed. "Although I don't own any jeans that fit like this." She frowned. "I can't imagine what's so important about wearing a University of Washington tee-shirt." She shook her head, clearly perplexed. So far, so good. I thought she might figure it out from the clothes.

Edward met her at the bottom of the stairs and kissed her. His fingers brushed her cheek.

"I think I'm going to throw up. Can you do that somewhere else?" Marietta made a gagging noise.

"Wishful thinking," Rosalie muttered, much to Marietta's amusement.

Bella took Edward's hand in hers and led him toward us. "You sure you're all right on your own here tonight?"

Marietta rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom. I'm not a baby."

"We may be late," Bella pointed out.

"I'll be fine, Mom," Marietta whined.

Bella still didn't seem certain. I tried to conceive what it must be like to have so much responsibility for another life. I loved Rosalie. I would protect her, or anyone in my family, at any time. But I knew it wasn't the same. None of us, not even Carlisle and Esme, really knew what that was like. Esme had some idea; she did have a child, but he didn't live long enough for her to really understand Bella's responsibility – a responsibility that clearly terrified Bella.

It was strange to see her like that, the girl who wasn't afraid of vampires scared…of what? It was as clear as ever that money was tight. Nothing in that house was really new. The house itself was meticulous and well maintained, but it obviously hadn't seen any unnecessary upgrades since Bella had lived here with Charlie. Bella's laptop was ancient. Edward wanted to take care of her, of both of them. But Bella was as stubborn as ever about gifts. It was more than finances that scared Bella. The blatant fear on her face the day she'd brought Marietta to our house in a panic; her own distress while Carlisle explained what we were to her child; that wasn't about money. That was some sort of dread that made no earthly sense.

True, Marietta was a human and vulnerable – as vulnerable as Bella. I had no doubt why Bella hesitated to leave her alone while we went to Seattle for the night. It was more than that, but that I could help.

"Marietta, you have my cell number and Rosalie's, don't you?" I asked. She nodded in response. "If anything happens and you need us, you can call." I watched for Bella's reaction. Before she could say anything, I added, "And Bella, you can call Marietta to check on her as often as you like. Will that make you feel better?"

She smiled at me, grateful, and I winked back.

Marietta followed us to the door, staring wistfully as we climbed into the SUV. Everyone in the car was happy enough about something: Edward was happy about sitting with his arm around Bella, just as Bella was happy about being with him. Rosalie was happy Edward had abdicated the driving to her. Alice was just naturally happy and Jasper was as happy as I was that everyone else was happy. Probably happier, all things considered.

"So what exactly are we doing tonight?" Bella asked.

Rosalie glanced in the overhead mirror. "You know, I was wondering the same thing. They've all been so hush-hush about it. I can't figure out why. I mean, we're all wearing jeans. It can't be that special."

"It's a surprise, Rosalie," Alice hissed.

"A surprise for whom? You know. Emmett knows. Jasper knows. Edward knows. The only people who don't know are Bella and me. I'm driving and I have no idea what we're doing. All I know is where we're going. Or at least, where I'm supposed to park."

Edward cocked an eyebrow. "I don't know. They've managed to keep it a secret from me. Alice has been doing complex math in her head for the past week, and Emmett's been singing Disco Duck constantly. Trust me, I'm trying to stay away from those thoughts."

From the back seat, Jasper coughed quietly. "I don't know, either. Alice never mentioned it."

Rosalie frowned. Edward's eyes flashed from me to Alice and then back again. The words to the song banged through my head. "All of a sudden I began to change. I was on the dance floor acting strange. Flapping my arms I began to cluck, 'Look at me… I'm the disco duck.'"

"Emmett, Alice, what's going on?" Edward demanded. "And stop singing that stupid song in your head."

"It's not a stupid song. It was number ninety-nine on the top one-hundred songs of 1976. It was in Saturday Night Fever, even though it didn't make it to the album. Rick Dees got gypped." Anything to keep him from figuring out the truth.

"And you can't figure out why I didn't like music in the seventies." He rolled his eyes and shuddered with revulsion, then pulled Bella closer to him.

"Disco, Disco Duck." Everyone in the car stared at me.

"It's one thing to sing that song in your head to keep Edward out of it," Rosalie said sternly. "It's another to sing it out loud. Stop singing, Emmett, or we're going to have an intervention."