DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Cullen family goes on a little weekend trip together.

Family Outing – Part 1

"Damn it!" Edward snarled, throwing back the covers and leaping out of the bed. I sat up, wondering what was going on. Just as he reached for the door knob, the door swung open.

Alice danced into the room, tossing herself on the bed with me. "Good morning!" she sang.

Edward sat next to me on the bed grumbling and running a hand through his hair. "I guess there isn't much of a point in asking you to knock first."

"I'm all ready in here, silly," Alice teased.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" I asked, smiling at the little pixie that was my sister.

"Carlisle has made a decision," Alice chirped. "We are having a family outing. You both need to get dressed and get ready to go. You have fifteen minutes!" Alice glared at my husband and hissed, "Not a second more, Edward!"

"Out!" Edward ordered, pointing toward the door. Alice poked her tongue at him, but obeyed.

"She caught you off guard?" I asked, surprised.

"She made it seem like she was on her way to Rosalie's room," Edward sighed, pulling me against him. "Right until she started thinking about what to pick for you to wear."

"At least we were clothed this time," I chuckled. "We really have to start remembering to keep that door locked at all times." Locks did nothing to physically keep our family out, but we all respected each other enough to leave a locked door alone. And it was for our own personal safety that we left Emmett and Rosalie's locked door alone!

"As soon as Carlisle says you are ready, we are going away, just the two of us," Edward whispered as he kissed along my neck and jaw. "An entire month at the very least. No interruptions. No reason to even leave our room."

"Well that will depend on where we go, Mr. Cullen," I said softly. "If we are somewhere interesting, you will need to take me site seeing."

"Of course, but not right away," he breathed against my lips. "I want you all to myself first."

We spent a few minutes kissing passionately until Alice screamed my husband's name across the house. We chuckled as we broke apart and made our way to the closet. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a deep blue sweater and headed into the bathroom. I used my vampire speed for a change and showered and dressed in record time. I didn't want Alice barging in and dressing me herself. I had learned long ago that she would do just that if I took too long.

I gave Edward a quick kiss as I surrendered the bathroom to him. I ran down the hall and knocked excitedly on my father's study door.

"Come in," he called.

I rushed into the room and ran to his desk. I was having trouble keeping still and I must have reminded him of Alice because he suddenly started laughing at me. "Yeah, Edward says I spend too much time with her. But whatever! I want to know what we're doing today! Alice said you made a decision."

"Alice!" Carlisle called.

My pixie-like sister appeared beside me and we held hands and giggled as we gave our father our best innocent faces. "Please, Carlisle!" Alice begged.

"Please, Dad!" I pleaded.

Esme chuckled as she surveyed the scene before her. "I think you'll have to give them some sort of hint, dear. Otherwise, I'm afraid Jasper will have a very long day."

Carlisle looked past us and stared at his beautiful wife, our mother. "You are right as usual, my darling. These two will certainly torture him with their angst and curiosity."

Alice and I ran over and each kissed one of Carlisle's cheeks, saying "Thank You!"

Carlisle chuckled as he waved us away. "Try to control the giddiness as well, my daughters."

"We will," I promised, trying to hold Alice still by her shoulders.

"Your hint is that we are going out of town for the weekend to a place where Bella has never been," Carlisle said.

"Do you have any idea how many options that leaves me?" Alice whined.

"I could always change my mind and we could stay here," Carlisle warned. I knew he wasn't serious though. I could see the smile in his golden eyes. "I want all six of you to go hunt and come straight back home. No detours or excuses. And I specifically mean you, Emmett, Rosalie and Edward."

Alice and I snickered at the three worst offenders being signaled out. Carlisle was aware that Emmett and Rosalie needed no encouragement from the other to come up with reasons to disappear for a while. He also knew Edward only got me to agree after dazzling me. The two of us ran down the hall to Rosalie's room to see if she was ready. Rose was ready, but Emmett was still in the bathroom. I suggested we take off and leave the boys to go out on their own. Rose and Alice agreed. We hunted and were home in fifteen minutes. We were extremely impatient to be on our way by the time the boys returned ten minutes later.

As we headed out to the cars, Carlisle called out the seating arrangements. "Alice and Jasper will ride with us in the Mercedes. The rest of you will be in the Volvo. We don't have time for stops and I don't want a repeat of our trip to Denali."

"We weren't that bad, were we?" I asked.

"No, but we have a long weekend ahead and I think it's best if we keep you and Alice calm for as long as possible," Carlisle chuckled. "It seems to be easier to do that when you two are separated."

"Come on, Dad!" Emmett teased, hugging Alice and me to him. "Don't break up the band."

"Do you all want to go on this family trip or not?" Carlisle asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes!" we all replied repentantly.

"Carlisle," Esme said softly, putting a hand to his shoulder. "The children are excited. It's our first trip as a complete family."

I smiled brightly at my mother's words. "The seating arrangements are fine! Besides, Edward hid my Ipod. Let's just get going!"

We climbed into the cars, with Edward following Carlisle as we sped down the highway. After about a half hour, I realized where we were headed. I called Alice.

"I know, Bella! But I don't think that's our final destination," Alice chirped.

"So if not Anchorage, where do you think?" I asked.

Alice let out a big sigh. "Carlisle says to hang up the phones and stop guessing."

As soon as my little blue cell phone was closed, Edward swiped it from my hand. I glared at him, but he only shrugged. "Carlisle said to take it."

"Fine!" I said, crossing my arms over my chest and staring out of the window.

"Don't be upset, Picky!" Emmett teased, poking me in the side. "You don't want to sulk and ruin our ride."

"Let's play a game!" Rosalie offered.

I turned around in my seat so I could see them. "What kind of game?"

"Secrets and Lies!" Rosalie grinned. Emmett smirked and rubbed his hands together.

"I don't know that one," I said.

"You have to make a statement and we have to guess whether it's a secret or a lie," Rosalie explained.

"And if we get it right, then you have to say something else. If we all get it wrong, you pick who goes next. If only one of us get's it right, that person can pick who goes next," Emmett added. "Want to play, Squirt?"

I looked up at Edward and he just shrugged. If he wasn't worried about it then it couldn't be that bad. "Okay. Let's play!"

"I'll go first," Emmett offered. "I once put shaving cream in Mike Newton's gym locker."

"Lie!" I called. I was sure I would have heard about that if it had happened. I'd had gym with Mike after all.

"Secret," Rosalie said, her eyes twinkling. I started getting a little nervous.

"Secret," Edward replied. I looked up at him and his lips were twitching. I was wrong. Crap!

"Bella!" Emmett teased. "It's your turn."

"When and why did you do that?" I asked.

"Explanations aren't part of the game," Rose said.

"I'll answer the Squirt's question," Emmett replied. "I heard about how he hit on you even when you weren't … feeling well. I snuck into the school and made his day."

I snorted as I looked at the silly grin on my big brother. "Thanks for looking out for me, Em."

"No problem," Emmett said, ruffling my hair. "Now play!"

I couldn't think of any secrets that I would be willing to admit to, so I came up with a lie. "I had a boyfriend in Phoenix named Joe."

Emmett and Rosalie chuckled. Edward shook his head, remembering the last time I had brought up Joe. All three of them said "Lie!" at the same time.

"Fine!" I huffed. I took a moment to think about my few secrets. I couldn't tell them about my power for their own safety. I couldn't tell Rosalie about my involvement in the hair-dye scheme months ago. I really couldn't tell Emmett that Jasper and I were the ones to break the record on his video game. What could I tell them? I thought of something that I hoped Edward didn't remember. "I once ate dirt." I saw Emmett open his mouth and quickly added, "It was on purpose, not because I fell."

"Lie," Rosalie said quickly.

Emmett eyed me warily for a second. "Lie."

Edward grinned at me and replied, "Lie." I could tell from the way he was looking at me that he knew.

I stared at him. He was cheating for me! Should I do the right thing and fess up, or take this opportunity to get out of the line of fire? Crap! I was going to fess up. "Edward," I sighed. "Thank you. It's very sweet of you. I really appreciate it too, but I don't want to cheat. I'll just go again."

"So, wait!" Emmett chuckled. "You really ate dirt once?"

"Yeah," I said. "It was on a dare."

"Well, since Edward lied and you admitted it," Rosalie said. "I think Edward should have to go now."

Edward nodded his head in agreement. We waited for him to think of something. "I once kissed the back of Mrs. Cope's hand."

"No way!" Emmett snorted.

"Disgusting," Rose said, wrinkling her nose. "That better be a lie."

I studied my husband's face closely. "Secret?" I said, but it came out sounding more like a question.

"Who's right?" Rosalie demanded.

"Bella," Edward replied, looking down on me. "How did you know?"

"I knew it must have taken more than your normal charm to get the same schedule as me twice in the same year," I chuckled. I hugged him around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for doing that."

"Anything for you, love," he replied, smiling brightly. I believed him too.

"Okay, Bella," Emmett said, rubbing his hands together. "Pick someone."

"Rosalie," I replied.

"I once …" Rosalie started.

"Not that one," Edward interrupted her. He used his most forbidding tone. Whatever Rose was about to say was a secret and one that Edward didn't want revealed.

"Fine!" Rose sighed. "I once kissed Alice on the lips to freak out Lauren Mallory."

"Secret!" Edward, Emmett and I yelled.

"It's not a secret if you all know about it!" Rose yelled. "How do you all know?"

"We didn't," I shrugged. "But we all know how much Lauren aggravated you."

"I really hope Carlisle lets us have a few years off from school," Rose sighed. "Of course, Bella is throwing off the curve!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Rosalie?" I asked, putting my hands to my hips.

She leaned really close to me and smiled wickedly. "Our little Picky Eater doesn't seem to have problems with humans. That means that as early as this fall, Carlisle can decide to enroll all of our butts in school."

"Crap!" I shouted. My hands came away from my hips and my shoulders sagged. "I'm going to be starting college soon aren't I?" I looked up at Edward. His lips were fighting a smile and my heart sunk. "Crap! Dartmouth?" The twinkle in his topaz eyes confirmed my suspicions. "Fine!" I huffed, crossing my arms. "But I get to see Charlie and Renee first! If I'm well enough to attend school and suffer through classes, I can at least see my parents."

Edward grabbed my hand and pulled my arm towards him. He kissed my palm and gave me a sad smile. "I will see what I can do."

I sighed and nodded. "That's all I'm asking for." I knew it would only be another year or two before we faked my death. I would be lucky to see my parents a handful of times between now and then. It was important to keep my distance so they wouldn't hurt as badly.

Edward tugged at my wrist gently. I looked up to see him nod slightly. He gripped my hand and I could hear him right away. 'Why do you look so sad?'

'I was just thinking of how little I'll see them before we fake my death.'

'I'll hold off as long as it's safe. You know that.'

'I do. Thank you. But I would never be selfish enough to put our family at risk. I know it will happen in the next year or two. I've accepted that. I just worry.'

'I know, love. I'm here for you. Our family is here for you. We will do all we can to help you.'

'I appreciate that. Do you have any idea where we are going?'

'None. Carlisle is blocking me.'

'He's blocking Alice too. Edward, will it even be possible to visit Charlie?'

'I don't know. Carlisle said he would handle it and not to worry.'

'Ha!'

Edward's face broke out into my favorite smile. 'Of course! Who are we to ask the mighty Isabella Cullen not to worry?'

I snorted as I stared up at him. 'Old habits die hard, my sweet husband.'

Edward glanced up into the rearview mirror and grimaced. He quickly turned his eyes back to the road. 'It's a really good thing you're blocking me right now. I would suggest you not turn around anytime soon.'

'They wouldn't!'

'Not completely, no. But enough to make me wish I had a divider in this car.'

'Maybe you can get Rose to install one when we get back.'

'Are you feeling okay?'

'Perfectly fine. Why?'

'It may be a while before it's safe for you to unblock me.'

'Oh, the horror! Sharing my thoughts with my husband who I love so deeply. Yes, it will be quite unbearable for me.'

'You really like letting me hear you?'

'Of course! And I know it's something you've always wanted. We're getting really good at it too. We hardly ever give away that we're doing it anymore. I'm much more confident about it all now than I was at Christmas.'

'I love you, Isabella. I'm very grateful that you want to share this with me.'

'I love you, Edward. There's no one else I would ever let in.'

And that was the absolute truth! Even if I could allow anyone else in the world into my thoughts and memories, I would only ever pick to let Edward in. No one else would ever understand me the way that Edward did, not even Alice or Jake. Of course, no one else had ever seen just how deep the hole inside my heart had really gone. A few nights after our trip to Denali, I had taken Edward into the woods. I had been bothered by his reaction to Carmen's statement and I wanted to put his guilt behind us once and for all. I made a deal with him that if I showed him that time and his return from my point of view, he was no longer allowed to beat himself up about it. It had been hard for me to do and harder for him to see. He'd had to hunt for me afterwards. But when it was all done, he seemed to have finally closed the hole in his own heart. His peace of mind was worth that and more. It always would be.