Previously - "He looked quite good wearing tie die actually." I whipped my head round to Alice, mouth agape.
"What!?!?"
"But he refused to wear – "
"Alice I let you dress me however you want, but I refuse –"
"But you looked so good – "
"Not this again!" Bella yelled. "I left this conversation behind forty years ago, I won't hear this again! Pease!"
They both grumbled their apologies.
"So you didn't wear tie die?" I asked Jasper.
"Only a few times. We all had to try to blend in a bit, but that was difficult. Alice and Rosalie had a ball most of the time – and so did Emmett even if he won't admit to that, but all the rest of us had a bit of a hard time with all of the crazy fashions."
"The eighties weren't so bad though. Some of the seventies was alright." Bella said.
"That just because you like the punk – mod look, though that time was fun. Most of the nineties were annoying though. I mean, overalls and half sweaters? Seriously girls?" Alice shook her head sadly, her little black spikes shaking round her head.
"Now isn't to bad though. Jeans and shirts with guys can work, and you can wear them everyday." Jasper nodded in satisfaction.
"I don't miss having to wear dresses and corsets everyday." Bella mused, looking up at the ceiling.
"You still like that stuff though." Alice said.
"On occasion." Bella allowed. "I had this one dress, it was absolutely beautiful. Not to fancy, but not to casual. It was blue and white and I loved it so much. I kept it in the safe in my dresser most of the time."
"Do you know what happened to any of your stuff?" I asked her.
"Carlisle and I went and got some of my things, but the bigger things like the furniture and stuff like that had to stay there. We had no more family and I was thought to be dead, so then that house was sold. I assume that the furniture was also sold." She shrugged.
"Wouldn't it be ironic – but cool – if we found something that belonged to one of us in like, an antique store or something like that." Alice giggled.
"Have you ever looked?" I asked them.
"We've all looked at stores but not really expected to find anything. I actually found the crib that Esme had built for her son after the change. I was back at Ashland for a few days, just packing up something and I saw E.E.P carved into the side. We ended up getting it, I think that it's actually up in the attic." Bella shrugged, gesturing up towards the ceiling.
"E.E.P?" I asked them, stupidly not considering the fact that she would have had another name than Cullen.
"Esme Evingston Platt. That was her name after she married."
"She was married!?"
"Of course. It was the nineteen twenties and she was twenty six, every respectable woman of that age was married."
"Right, sorry, it's just weird to think of her with anybody but Carlisle."
"That's true, I still have a hard time picturing that." Bella said, with Jasper and Alice nodding along silently.
Then I rethought her words. "Wait, her son?"
The others looked at each other, as if trying to decide what to say.
"She had a son, but that's really personal information to her. We should probably wait until she tells you." Alice said.
"That's alright." I nodded, understanding completely. It wasn't my place to demand that they tell my their mothers story.
We did our homework and assignments silently, but chatted while Jasper finished his history assignment. After an hour or so, he was done. I was definitely looking forward to being a vampire.
"So," He said after he closed his book. "Bella tells me that you want to know my story?"
"If you wouldn't mind." He nodded.
"Alright," He took a steadying breath. "I was born in 1847, in Huston Texas. I was from a big family, the oldest of five. When the civil war broke out, me and my three brothers all wanted to defend the south, but whilst our dad supported our wants, our mother was against the thought of her boys fighting. I was almost seventeen when I enlisted, but I lied to them about my age and claimed twenty – I was tall enough to get away with that." He paused again, considering what to say next, possibly remembering. "Of course, you already know about my military life from your history class, but I will go over some of the finer details. People always seemed to like me, they always agreed with my suggestions and I quickly moved up the ranks. By the battle of Galveston I was the youngest Major in Texas – that's not including my real age. You know that I died on the way back to Galveston, but you obviously don't know what really happened.
"I was racing back to the city, when I met three women. They were walking and I stopped to offer them my assistance. The fair-haired one leaned closer to me and inhaled. 'Mmm – lovely.' She spoke. The other one, she was even blonder still, she pulled the first one back. I realized again just how beautiful they were, but my instincts were screaming at me – they were telling me to go, to run. But I was trained not to fear women, but to protect them.
"'Careful Nettie, I like this one." The little brunette girl cautioned one of them.
"You think that he is special Maria?" The first girl, the one that smelled me said. Maria started to speak to her, but to softly for me to hear.
"Well than you should be the one to change him Maria, me and Lucy will go to hunt." The first girl, Nettie told her.
"Yes, I kill them more then I change them, we can go hunt." That Lucy girl grabbed Nettie's hand and tugged. I was shocked, they seemed so serious about killing. I wanted to leave them all alone, but my manners kept me there. Maria nodded to the other two and they turned and ran off. They glided away, looking like they were flying. Their white dresses flew behind them and I was awestruck. Maria snapped her fingers in front of my face and I turned my attention to her.
"What is your name soldier?" She asked me, battering her long eyelashes at me.
"Major Jasper Whitlock ma'am." I told her with pride.
"Well then Jasper, I truly do hope that you survive." Then she attacked. Before I knew what was happening she was at my neck and drinking from me. She pulled away and nodded to herself in satisfaction and I started to fall from the pain. She picked me up and ran with me, and I still remember that I thought that she had somehow turned into an angel or something like that, that she was taking me to Heaven. But then the pain started to get worse and that was all that I could think about. I don't know how I reacted but the next thing that I know I'm awake. I was so thirsty that before she could tell me anything I ran from the hut and killed three people. When of them was a little girl and I was horrified. Maria told me that I had done well, that I hadn't made a mess. She explained everything and I attacked her, horrified at what she had made me. Eventually the others there got to me to restrain me.
"What you need to get is why I was changed. Sometime ago, a vampire came up with the idea that if he and his coven were the only ones in a big area, then they could feed as often as they wanted and they wouldn't get caught. Eventually other people got that same idea, and of course everybody wanted a big territory for their coven. There were wars and fights, but people were always coming up with new ideas, new ways to win the battles and than to win the land, the most food. Eventually, this one vampire came up with a fool proof idea." He paused again.
I waited a few moments, absorbing all of this new information. Vampire wars? And then with this Maria woman leading him, I get the intense feeling that Jaspers 'upbringing' wasn't exactly like the rest of the families. I waited a few more minutes, before pushing him.
"Well, what was his idea?" I could feel Bella's eyes on me, watching me absorb all of this new information.
"His name was Benito and he came up with the idea of vampire armies – the new born armies. "
"The new born armies?" He nodded.
"Yer, he changed a lot of humans and took them to the city that he wanted. They attacked the two covens that shared that area, and they won. New born vampires are very strong. If given the chance they can easily crush an older vampire. But they usually aren't very skilled fighters, so they are beatable. When the other covens got wind of what Benito was doing, after he got another four or so territories, they made their own armies. There was constant fighting during the nights, vampires trying to gain more land. During the day there was complete planning, that was all that we did. Either planning our attacks or the attacks that would be made on us. By the time that I was changed, the Volturi had already intervened once. You know about the Volturi right?" I nodded. "Right, so the armies had gotten to big, too many humans were getting changed and then being fed off.
"Your histories actually say that a sickness plagued the cities – that that was the cause of the drop of the population."
"Wow."
"Yer. I was a member of the second wave. The Volturi had killed almost everybody from the first waves, there are few survivors and witnesses, but I have spoken to one man and his mate who saw the elimination of an army from a distance. The things that they saw – they are unspeakable. The Volturi members, some of them have no conscience, they get joy from killing not only humans but always the other vampires.
"During the second wave, people were being smarter about everything, they were making sure that they didn't create too many vampires at a time, and that they had some level of control over them before making more. If somebody got out of control, then the Volturi would step in again.
"Maria wanted a stronger army. There were a lot of vendettas this time round and Maria wanted her home town back. She only changed the men, she wanted soldiers. She picked us specially, if she thought that we would be strong or good fighters or have a special gift. We all fought against each other and I was one of the best – I was fast, quicker and better at combat. Maria was upset about having to replace everyone that I killed but she rewarded me greatly, which just made me stronger."
"Rewarded you how?" I asked him, thinking that I already know that answer.
"She would get us extra food, extra humans to feed from. So eventually she put me in charge of everybody, sort of like a promotion. When I said that we were ready for battle, we got her hometown back. But that made her greedy, we fought for more and more area's, and almost always won. After eighteen months, I was the only member of the original troops left. Eventually Lucy and Nettie turned on us, but we killed them too.
"There was one newborn, Peter, he hated the life that we lived. But Maria had told us that this was just the way that life was for our kind, and we all believed her. There was this one newborn, Charlotte, and they became quite close – I just didn't realize how close. Emotions like lust and love were foreign to me, I didn't know what I was getting. We were executing some of the older newborns, and when Charlotte got called he screamed at her to run away, that this was just a trick. He ran after her and than they left together. I could have caught up with them, but he was a good man and if I caught him then I would have to kill him. Five years later he snuck back, he came to get me. With one conversation, he had me convinced to leave this life behind and go to the north with them.
"He couldn't have picked a better time either. My depression was getting worse and worse, and Maria didn't understand what was wrong with me. She knew that I could control the newborns emotions, but she didn't know that I could feel them as my own. I could feel the thirst and aggression from everyone, and whenever I went to eat, I could feel the pain and fear of my victim. Maria didn't like my growing aversions to hunting and fighting and training the others. I think that she was planning on destroying me, even if she didn't want to – for tactical reasons.
"So I ran away with Peter and Charlotte and we traveled together for years. I got much better, but still, there was the depression. I felt like I was looking for something but I didn't know what. I stayed with them for 8 years, and left them in 1935 to travel on mine own. The depression didn't get better, and I avoided feeding as much as possible. But I couldn't avoid that could I, and at the time I didn't know that there was any other way – to drink from animal's just doesn't cross most vampires minds – including mine. I couldn't stand the life that I had been dealt but what else could I do?
"On August the 18th, 1952, I was wondering round Philadelphia when I felt drawn to this Dinner. When I walked in I felt the strongest emotions that I ever had." He reached over and grabbed Alice's hand. "Then I saw her and got shocked when the emotions that she was feeling became my own – not like when I was just feeling her, but I actually felt them. At first I didn't realize what we were feeling, but then she came up to me and said –
"You kept me waiting a long time."
"And I ducked my head and said "I'm sorry ma'am." And than I took her hand and I felt hope. Then I realized that I was feeling love, and we never looked back."
He kissed her soundly, and I looked towards the window to give them their privacy.
"So," He started up again. "We then set off to find the Cullens, after we got to know each other that is. She had me hooked on everything and I agreed to follow her and to trust her.
"But changing to the animal diet was harder for me then the others. With the amount of time that I had feasted on human blood, animal blood pales in comparison and you don't get nearly the rush – mind you I never really got that particular rush. You don't feel as strong with the animal blood and the thirst is never really gone.
"This life is full of repetition, thirst, hunting, school than moving. Over and over again. But having a family and a mate, well that make's everything worth it. I would love to be a human with Alice, but that can't happen. I'm happy like this, and if Alice says that you will like this life, than I still trust her, so than you will. Plus, we will all be here to help you along. Even if you slip up a few times, nobody will hold that against you. They all moved for me and Emmett whenever we need to, if we ever slipped up. Rosalie acted to vampireish when we lived in Toronto one time, so than we left. We've moved for everybody, so we can leave for you too." He finished with a nod.
"Thankyou." I smiled at him, and he grinned back.
"We should play poker." Bella chirped suddenly. I threw her a questioning glance, and she shrugged. "I am a poker junkie, and what?" I laughed at her, as Jasper flashed from the room and back again in moments, holding a pack of playing cards and a little metal case that I presumed had the chips.
"Texas hold em'."
We spent the next two or so hours playing poker. I called my mother and told her that I would be later home, and she said that that was fine. We, or I, was having dinner, using the coffee table to put the plate with the creamy chicken dish on it. They were telling me stories about their past adventures, including the times that they got arrested. For the life of me I still couldn't comprehend why Emmett would feel the need to break and enter a food store, specializing, ironically, in dairy products. I almost chocked on the piece of chicken that I was eating when they told me that story.
"Ohh, I think that I hear Carlisle." Esme jumped up, walked towards the door that lead to the garage.
"Is he here?" I looked up towards Bella. It was getting close to eight and I needed to get home soon. Plus we needed to explain everything to him. Esme had said that it was fine for me to stay but I was still going to ask him anyways. She nodded at me. A few moments later Esme walked through the door way again with Carlisle's arm wrapped round her waist.
"Hey guys." He looked up from his wife to smile gently at us. We all returned the greetings
"How was the hospital?" Bella asked.
"Fine, Jessica Stanley's dad fell off the roof at the Newton store. When she's spreading his life altering story round the school tomorrow, don't be surprised." He rolled his eyes Carlisle new about Jessica and her gossiping tendencies, as both Lauren and Tyler's mothers worked as nurse's at the hospital, Lauren's mother was just as bad and was always using the hospital phone to call Jessica's mother. Plus Rosalie bitched to no end about 'the irritating humans at her school'.
Bella snorted.
"Pfft, don't be so nice Carlisle, you and I both know that Jessica doesn't know big words like that. The word 'alter' isn't in her vocabulary." Alice teased lightly. Carlisle rolled his eyes in response but didn't say anything else.
"So Edward's going to skip school with us for the next three said to go 'camping'. He's going to stay the night – "
"If that's alright with you and Esme." I interjected.
"I already told you that that's fine." Esme told me as she ran her fingers through my hair whilst she walked past the table that I was sitting next to to get to the arm chair.
"Of course Edward, you know that you're welcome here any time." Carlisle smiled at me as he walked over to Esme and sat her on his lap.
"But we still need to ask his mother, we were wondering if you could take us back to his house and tell her about what we will be doing, or what we're meant to be doing at east. Jasper has to come to so that he can convince her." Bella said.
"That's fine. Will she say yes?" Carlisle replied, looking at his newest daughter.
"If Jasper goes than yer, everything will be great. The baseball game will go smoothly but I still can't see who wins."
"If you saw who won, that would take away the fun." Rosalie retorted.
"Whatever blondie."
"Your husband's blonde."
"I said whatever." I had to smirk at their banter, at the off hand way that Alice sometimes spoke to Rosalie.
"We should actually go now," Bella spoke up. "It's just past eight."
"I'm coming too!" Alice cried.
"Why?" Bella laughed.
"Because I want to meet Mrs. Mason, she's going to like me."
"Oh really?" Bella crossed her arms and raised and eyebrow in mock sternness.
Alice nodded enthusiastically.
"Well she practically has a crush on Bella so she'll probably love you too." I told Alice. The two girls laughed.
"Edward's got competition." Emmett sang.
"Hey!"
I stood up, as did Bella, Jasper, Alice, Esme and Carlisle. I picked up the plate but Esme took the china from my hands and danced to the kitchen.
"Thankyou Esme, it was delicious." I gave her a hug when she got back and got my bag from the floor.
"Good night dear." She said back before walked up the grand staircase to her office, with Rosalie following her talking about the new aspects of Alice's closet, which they were just finishing off.
The remaining of us piled up into Carlisle's car. Carlisle drove slower than the others, if only just slower, but always went even slower when I was with him. He always made everybody put their seatbelts on – indestructible or not. I guess that he had seen to many injuries from car accidents. Even though he logically knew that his family would never get hut by something as mundane as a swerving car, those images stuck with him.
Jasper started to hum along to one of the songs on the radio and I threw him a questioning glance.
"You're not really humming to Brittany Spears are you?" I questioned him , hoping that he was actually humming to something in his head.
"Yes." He replied, no shame on his pallid face.
"Why?" I gasped, was this really the vampire soldier that I had been speaking too ten minutes ago?
"Alice." All three of them replied monotonously in unison, but Alice giggled.
"What about her?"
"She plays all of this catchy shit in our room all of the time – gets stuck in my head." Jasper shook his head, incredulous. "I've become house kept."
"Aww, like a little pussy cat." Bella leaned forward a ruffled his hair.
"Shut up Swan." He didn't even bother pushing her hand away. She huffed and sat back in her seat, not liking being called her old name. She muttered something under her breath, which made the two men in the front seat chuckle. She scowled.
A little later than usual, we pulled up at my house. The living room light was on and I could see the flashing colours of the T.V. We all went up the stairs and I opened the door, stepping over the threshold and than opening the door for them to walk trough, whilst calling to my mother. She walked past the couch but stopped when she saw the crowd at the front door.
"Oh hello!" She smiled at my Bella, Carlisle, Alice and Jasper, even if confusion clouded her eyes when she looked at the last member of our party.
"Hello Ma'am, I'm Jasper, Bella's older brother." He stepped forward to shake her hand. He had a slight smile on his face but wasn't showing any of his razor sharp white teeth.
"Hello dear, it's so nice to finally meet you." She shook his hand.
"And I'm Alice! Bella's favorite sister!" Alice bounded up and hugged my mother, who looked a little shocked at the exuberance displayed by the little pixie.
"Hello Alice." She laughed lightly at the beaming little girl.
"We were wondering if we could talk to you about Edward for a few minutes." Carlisle said as Jasper stepped back. He quickly explained further when my mother looked at him, frantic, obviously expecting something bad. "Oh, don't worry nothings wrong, we just wanted to know if he would like to join us for a small trip." She nodded her head, not really covering up her surprise.
"Would you like anything to drink or eat?" She asked as she walked back to the living room.
"No thankyou." Carlisle said as the other two shook their heads.
"So what is this trip?" She gestured for the others to sit, and she took a seat on the couch. Bella and I sat next to her, Jasper on the loveseat with Alice sitting next to him and Carlisle on the arm chair.
"We're just going camping for a few days, but we're leaving tomorrow. He'd miss the next three days or school and we would be back some time on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the weather."
"Oh."
"As a rare event, it will be sunny for the next three or four days. My family and I enjoy hiking whenever we get the chance and this proves to be the perfect opportunity." I could feel the persuasion coming off of Jasper and found myself nodding along, before I caught myself and stopped, straightening up.
"Where could you be going?" I could see her starting to warm up to the idea.
"The Goat Rocks wilderness." She looked confused. "It's not to far from here, just a couple of hours."
"And you're sure that you're alright to have him?" She said after a pause.
"Of course! Edward is always welcome with us."
She turned to me. "You'll catch up on your homework?"
"Of course."
"The teachers are really good about it, they give us the notes that we missed and everything." Bella nodded at my mother.
She bit her lip, a habit that she had picked up from Bella; I told you that my mother loved spending time with her. "Alright you can go, but be good and do whatever Carlisle tells you." She pointed at me, and I nodded. I could hear Jasper snort lightly but doubted that my mother could.
"What time does he need to be at your house?" She asked Carlisle.
"We can pick him up about eight, if that's easier." He shrugged. I wondered why so early but figured that the sun would come out shortly after that.
"Alright then." She nodded again and Carlisle smiled, standing up.
"Well we should get going, we need to get some good sleep and I have to help the wife finish packing."
We all said goodbye and my mother talked to Carlisle as I walked with Jasper and Bella to the car.
"What's she asking?"
"If we're sleeping in the same tent." Bella responded, smirking slightly.
"Ahh the irony." I laughed. Alice giggled. "Will you stay tonight?" I asked quickly as Carlisle walked back to the car. She nodded.
"I'll run back after we get around the corner."
"I'll see you tomorrow." I said a bit louder for my mothers benefit, kissing Bella's cheek.
"Tomorrow." She nodded. She waved at my mother, who waved back and then they drove away.
"You'll be sure to stay safe right?" She asked worriedly.
"Of course mum, you know that Dr. Cullen won't let me get hurt." I assured her.
"Oh I got a letter from your aunt Caroline today." Mother said as she started to walk back to the kitchen. I heard a light thump from my room and wondered what was wrong, Bella never made anyway noise.
"Oh really, is she well?" I asked, edging towards the stairs.
"Yes, she wants to plan a get together in a few months time, after she gets back. I need to find that file that I kept her itinerary in."
"Alright, cool. I'm going to go upstairs and try to get some sleep, big day tomorrow." She nodded her acceptance and I made my way upstairs. Bella was on her back, her leg stuck in the arm hole of the shirt that I had thrown over the hook next to the window, the one that usually held the curtains back. I rushed over to her, that irrational panic flooding through my body.
"Bella!" I said too loudly but my mother probably didn't hear. She would just assume that I was talking on the phone. "Are you alright?!"
She started to laugh, hiding the sound with her palm. "How did I manage to do that!" She laughed more. "I'm fine Edward, just…." She started to laugh more. "I told you that I was clumsy!" She started to giggle wildly and I sighed in relief. I stood up to untangle her from the shirt and then helped her to stand up. She dusted herself off and looked up at me. "Oops." She said, starting to giggle all over again.
"Did you go hunting and drink from a squirrel on crack or something?" I asked her as I stretched on my bed, putting my hands behind my head.
"No, I just haven't tripped that badly in a while. Just funny is all." She came over and curled up next to me after kicking off her shoes. I wrapped one of my arms around her, holding her tighter to me, unwilling to let go of her again.
"So where will we go for the baseball game?"
"There's a clearing a few miles away from the house. There aren't any trails round there so the area is usually free from the humans, except you." She grinned up at me.
I laughed. "Except for me."
I got up then to go and have a shower, rushing through the routine so that I could get back to her. We spent the rest of the night mostly in a comfortable silence, kissing lightly and touching innocently.
"Happy anniversary Bella." I muttered into her neck.
"Happy anniversary Edward." She whispered into my hair, kissing it again.
"I love you." I whispered as I let sleep consume me. I briefly heard her whispered,
"I love you more." Before I was swept away by the dreams.
/*&*/
"Edward, come on wake up or you'll be late for the Cullen's." Somebody was shaking my shoulder.
"Edward," I reached round the bed looking for Bella, but I couldn't find her. I started to panic.
"Edward now!" The voice that I now recognized as my mothers broke through my consciences.
"Where's Bella?" I asked, opening my eyes and looking round the room for her, not yet awake enough to realize that my mother had no idea, and couldn't know, that Bella and I spent practically night together, only a few feet away from where she herself slept.
"Bella's not there yet sweetheart, but she will be waiting for you if you don't get up now!"
"Right." I pushed back the covers and marveled at the not-so-coldness of the day, the weather wasn't hot or humid, not at all, but there was no mist or fog on my window and I didn't have goose bumps.
"Get up, breakfast is almost ready." And with that she turned and walked from my room. I moaned and rolled over, still smelling Bella's scent on the pillow and knowing that she couldn't be far. I shoved my hand under the pillow, attempting to get the fabric closer to my face, when my hand met with something that felt like paper.
I pulled the paper from under the fabric and rubbed my eyes with my spare fist.
Edward, so sorry but Alice came and got me, or else your mother would have seen me – don't ask me how that would of happened, I have no idea. I'll be back at eight to pick you up.
Love Bella.
I grinned at the paper and shoved it in my bedside table draw, where all of her notes where. My mother never looked in there, I think that she thought that I had porn there or something but whatever. I grabbed my clothes for a shower, not hurrying because it was only seven twenty-eight. When I got back to my room I packed the clothes that I would need for the next few days, a book, my IPod, phone and both charges, just incase. I went to the kitchen to find my mother eating eggs and bacon at the table with a spare plate next to her.
"Good morning." I said cheerfully.
"Morning, you'll need to hurry, you only have ten minutes."
I nodded again a dug in, eating as fast as I could without choking. At exactly eight, there was a light knock on the door and I started to do the dishes. My mother went to open the door and I heard her greet Bella and Carlisle. They walked up the hallway and joined me at the kitchen.
"Hey!" Bella said as she came up and stood next to me.
"Good morning." I said as I leaned over to give her a light kiss. "Morning Carlisle." I said to him as I turned my head around.
"Good too see you Edward." He nodded at me. They adults made small talk about where we were going and swapt phone numbers, whilst Bella dried the dishes for me.
I hugged my mother goodbye, feeling bad about the way that she clung to me just before I left.
"Love you mum, I'll be fine."
"I know dear, love you too." She let go of me and let me walk to the car. I slid in next to Bella and grabbed her hand. The two of them looked at me, maybe expecting me to say something as Carlisle started up the car and pulled away from the house.
"So, camping?" I asked after a pause, causing the two of them to break the unusual tension by cracking up laughing. I grinned at the sight, seeing Bella cover her mouth with her spare hands and Carlisle shake so hard that if he were human he wouldn't of been able to drive. We made small talk until we reached their house, Carlisle pulling up in the garage just before he hit the wall. It was only then that I realized the partially opened cupboard in front of his car, and a box with a sticker proclaiming that it was a tent on it.
"Umm, guys?"
"Yes?" They said together.
"Why do you have a tent?"
Bella giggled. "We have many tents, and sleeping bags."
"And any other things that you could come up with when you think about camping." Carlisle finished.
I threw them a questioning glance.
"People just might get suspicious if we keep on going hiking and camping but we never buy the supplies."
"Oh well that makes sense." We walked through the garage door, the one that lead to the living room, and I noticed the box full of aluminum steel bats and another smaller box of baseball's. "For tonight?" I asked.
"Emmett got excited." Bella giggled. "He misses not being able to play sports all the time."
"Hey Edward!" Alice thrilled as she walked from the second story with Jasper trailing behind her.
"Hey Alice, hey Jasper." I smiled back at them.
They told me that Rosalie, Emmett and Esme were all hunting, and Carlisle ran from the living room and towards the forest to join them, he had gone longer than the rest and didn't want Jasper to feel his thirst.
We watched a movie with Jasper and Alice before, at ten o'clock, Alice told Bella that we should go now. I was confused until Bella, who ad taken me with her to the kitchen, grabbed a backpack off of the counter and placed drink bottles and a few sandwiches into it. "We're going for a walk." She smiled at me lightly.
"And you'll show me what you look like in the sun?" I asked excitedly. I had been waiting for this for a while now, but I still couldn't manage to conquer that irrational panic that told me not to let her get hit by the natural light.
'She won't combust or anything, she will glitter.'
"Yer, if you still want that."
"Of course!"
"Alright, can you put this on your back please?" She handed me the backpack that she had been stuffing food into and but it on my back. She turned in front of me and I knew that I had to get on her back. I did , wrapping my arms and legs round her waist and neck. She took off from the kitchen, thrum the back door and to the forest.
"The others are hunting nowhere near where we are going, I made sure of that." She told me. The sun was barely visible just yet, but I knew that sooner or later the light would make an appearance. I just couldn't wait.
"Where are we going?"
"There is a little meadow not too far from here, I like to go there sometimes. I think that this will be the perfect place to show you everything." I nodded against her neck.
She stopped after a few moments and let go of my legs. I stood on my own two feet again and took her hand. We walked through the few ferns and my eyebrows raised at the sight before me. The meadow was beautiful, almost perfectly rounded and with little purple, yellow and white wild flowers all over the place.
"Wow, it's beautiful."
"I think so."
"I can only imagine how it would look in the sun."
"Well you won't have to wait too long for the sun light now." She lead me to the middle and pulled the blanket from the bag on my back. I took the backpack from my back and held onto it. We sat together on the blanket, facing each other.
"Do you miss the sun?"
"Yes, sometimes."
"I don't like that I could that the ability to live somewhere sunny away from you."
"Bella," I said, cupping her face in my large hands. "You know that I would rather live in rainy towns with you than someplace as sunny as phoenix without you."
"But you shouldn't have too."
"But I can, and I want to." The sun started to break through the clouds than, only lightly but enough for us to notice. She let go of my hand and took off her jacket. She had a thin white singlet top on and I marveled at all of the new skin that me eyes had access to. The sun broke through the clouds more and there was a definite difference to her skin. There was a light glitter there.
But then the sun broke through completely, bathing s and the meadow in the wonderful sunlight that I had craved to see her in for so long. And she…….. sparkled, glittered, shone. All of those things. Her skin looked like the diamonds that were allowed to see the sun light and she looked more beautiful than ever.
"Bella…….." I breathed.
She looked up at me, frightened of my reaction. I was sure that my heart was racing, but she was probably taking that the wrong way.
"You're just so…….." She moved further away from me.
"Beautiful." That made her stop. She looked up at me and smiled at me again.
"Really?" She whispered.
"Of course." I raised my hand and softly stroked her soft, glittering cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Two hours later found me lying on my back, on hand behind my head and one hand stroking Bella's hair. Her head was resting on my lap. My head was on the backpack, my hand on top so that I was still comfortable.
Part of me wanted to close my eyes, to let the sunlight warm me and my eye lids. But the bigger part of me, the part that was unwilling to tear my eyes from her, made me keep them open, hesitating even to blink. I sighed, she was just so beautiful, and I was looking forward to the day that I could glitter with her. Would she think that I, too, were beautiful?
She looked up at me in response to the sigh. She smiled at me, taking in my lazy smile.
"Are you getting hungry?" She asked me.
"A little actually." I said after I thought.
She sat up and I sat up. Se got the bag from where I had been resting my head and pulled the food that she had packed from the bag.
"So I made some sandwiches, and packed some of those packet chips and some water. Is that alright?"
"That's perfect." I leaned over to kiss her. She hummed against my lips and I smiled again in contentment.
We made small talk while I ate, nothing of great consequence. She told me stories of their previous baseball matches because I wasn't speaking much, what with the eating and all.
By the time that she had finished talking I couldn't wait for tonight's baseball game.
Three hours later, five hours after we had gotten to the meadow, the sun retreated to behind the clouds and we started to pack up. According to Alice, the storm would be starting about five. That gave us another two hours to get back to the house, get ready and get to the field.
She ran back to the house with me on her back, clinging tightly and enjoying the sensation of being so tightly pressed up against her. The others weren't back by the time that we got home but Alice and Jasper were lounging round the T.V.
"What do you think about the whole glittering thing?" Jasper asked me, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I don't know what he thought that we did there, but obviously we didn't.
"It was awesome, ha ha you sparkle like a diamond. That's real manly Jazz." That wiped that smug smile off of his face. We spent the day reading, watching movies and T.V and talking. They started to tell me stories about the past, things that I missed but now wished that I was there for. They were halfway through telling me the story about Emmett swimming in a lake full of piranhas after he had lost a bet when the others got home.
We greeted them but continued the story after they went upstairs to get cleaned up and changed.
"We should get up and get changed, the thunder and the lightening will start up soon and we want to play for as long as possible." The other two ran upstairs to get changed and I turned to Bella. She threw me up into her arms and before I knew what was happening I was in her room.
"Still loose manliness after you do that." I stumbled a bit after she put me back onto my feet and she giggled. "Why do you all have to get changed?" I thought that jeans and a t-shirt would have been fine to play baseball.
"We all have a baseball outfit from when we were changed, except for Carlisle, Jasper and Alice. Those two have ones from the fifties, when they joined us, and Carlisle had one from 1918, just like I do. That was the first time that he really got to play."
"So you woke up as a newborn and the first thing that you decided to do was play baseball?" I asked sarcastically.
"No." She said blankly. "The first thing that I did as a newborn was get shocked at everything that was new, proceeded by ripping the throats from three very scared dears. Baseball was a way that Carlisle help me to get me strength in check." Well I hadn't been expecting that.
I knew that that thirst must have been had, but I still don't think that I grabbed just how strong this was, the force behind it.
"How did baseball help?"
"Well first I had to stop turning them to dust whenever I held one." She said as she walked to the closet. I sat on the couch because she was probably going to get dressed there. "Then we worked on me throwing and catching the ball, making our way to a human speed. That was one of the things that we tried." She came back to me from the closet in an old fashioned baseball shirt that was a little bit to big for her and tight leggings that reached just past her knees. How she could wear something so simple and still look like a model was stunning.
"Did you do that with everybody?" I asked after I finished (noticeably) gawking at her.
"Yes and no. We always did activities, but we changed what we did. Carlisle choose baseball with me because he had just started to watch some games and was excited that he finally got what was happening." She laughed lightly. "Yes Carlisle, I'm making fun of you!" She said at the same pitch. He walk through her door.
"Well that's just mean, you have no idea how long that took me." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "And the whole theory worked didn't it?" He smiled lightly. He was wearing a shirt the same as Bella's, but larger, and white cotton pants. Both of their shirts were from the Chicago team.
"Yes, your magical idea worked, even if we destroyed at least a hundred baseballs."
"Yes well." He looked bashful. "If you hadn't threw some of them at me when you got angry."
"You were annoying me!"
"Still, they were too hard to catch without destroying."
"Well then maybe you shouldn't have been annoying."
He snorted at that, a sound that I wouldn't have expected coming from him.
"Not my fault that you were being irrational." He shrugged and left the room laughing.
"Let's go." She grabbed my hand. "I don't want to throw anything else at him." I laughed and walked with her to the kitchen, where everybody else was waiting in similar outfits, but depending on what team and at what age they were bought.
"Are you positive that nothing is going to happen?" Esme asked Alice.
"I'm sure."
"Great." Emmett picked up the bats and Jasper got up the balls and they ran together to the forest. Alice sighed and ran after them muttering something about the male gender and impatience. That was rich, coming from her. Rosalie spun on her toe and strutted from the room, breaking to a run after she reached the threshold. "We'll see the two of you later." Esme grabbed Carlisle's had and the two of them smiled at us before sprinting off.
I turned to her, absorbing her bright gold eyes and light smile. "So how far away is the field?"
"Not to far, just a few miles really – we can get there in no time. Want to get on my back? I'm not quite sure that going at this speed is healthy for your legs if I carry you." I nodded, walking behind her and jumping up on her back, wrapping my legs round her waist and arms her neck.
"Go." I said in a steely voice, pointing forward. She snorted and wrpped her hands round my legs before sprinting through the glass door. I was getting used to the feeling of the wind and the sight of the trees. I laughed at the freedom of it all and saw her smiling up at me.
"You like this?" She asked me.
"Yes, it's just so exciting."
"Well than you'll love it when you're a vampire." I stilled on her back, feeling first the shock and than the joy build up inside of me. "Edward? I'm sorry – "
"You just agreed to changing me!" I thrilled.
"Na-ah!"
"Ya-ha! You just said, quote, 'when you're a vampire'. Agreed!"
"Well I never said no." I smirked at her, even though she couldn't see.
"You're right though." I said.
"About what?"
"I think that I will love it, we can run together."
"Yer," She said after a moment, wistfully. "I think that I would like that, running with you."
"You're running with me now." I didn't want to ruin the now romantic moment, but that one was just too easy to pass up. I could practically feel her rolling her eyes.
"You know what I mean love."
"Yer, I know what you mean." I pressed a kiss to her hair, hoping that that brought back some of the romance. We ran for a few more moments before we entered the clearing where the rest of the family was waiting. She slowed than took me off of her back. I took her hand and than together we made our way towards Esme, Emmett and Rosalie. They were sitting together on a cropping of the rocks. Esme and Emmett stood up to walk towards us, Rosalie sat still. Carlisle was setting up the bases, way further away than they could possibly be if they were humans that were playing that game. They must hit really, really hard. Jasper and Alice were throwing a ball back and forth, I think at least. Their hands and the white spot flying between them were just a blur.
"Sup kids!" Emmett boomed, acting as though we hadn't just seen each other just ten minutes ago.
"Hey Emmett."
"Do you know the rules of baseball Edward?" Esme asked me sweetly.
"Yes."
"Would you mind referring with me?"
"You don't play? You don't have to stop just because of me."
"Oh, I always referee."
"She thinks that we cheat." Emmett rolled his eyes.
"That's because you do." She didn't take her eyes away from me. The others gathered round us now.
"I call Jasper!" Alice chirped.
"Well I call Bella." Emmett retorted.
"Jasper is the fastest, but Bella is a close second." Esme explained to me and I nodded. "Emmett is the strongest but you probably already got that." She giggled.
I just nodded again.
"We get Carlisle!"
"Well I get Rosalie." She was glaring at her husband, obviously pissed that Bella had been picked before her. I got that vibe that Rosalie didn't like to be picked last at anything.
They all ran away than, Emmett's team towards the field and Alice's to the bats.
Rosalie pitched the ball, Emmett stayed in the infield and Bella want long.
Alice batted first whilst Jasper caught.
"Watch this." Esme commented to me after we had sat on the rocks that her and the others had been sitting on earlier.
Rosalie took her stand, and than threw the ball, blindingly fast, and Alice got the hit on the first try. They huge bang sounded like thunder and I immediately got the need for the thunder and the lightening. We started to run towards the first base and Emmett started to trail her.
"That has just got to be a home run." I muttered.
"Just wait a moment, Bella just might get it yet." Than I noticed that Bella was missing.
She immerged just moments later with the ball clasped tightly in her hand, her smile reflecting the light.
The game continued, the score points going back and forth. Bella was amazing, as fast as the lighting that boomed round us. They had been playing for about a half an hour and Alice's team was up by two, Carlisle had just scored another home run.
Then everything changed. Alice gasped, Jasper whipped his head round at the noise and at her emotions than ran to her side, taking her in his arms and wrapping her tightly in his embrace. The others, except for Esme ran to her side. They spoke together for a few moments before Esme gasped.
"What, what happened?" I asked her. But than Bella ran to my side, wrapping her arms protectively round my waist.
"Can I run with him?"
"No, they are too close, they could catch his scent." Alice told her.
"So what, they have no chance against the lot of us." Emmett told her.
"We want to keep the peace for as long as we can, we don't want to start a fight." Carlisle said, the voice of reason.
"So we just let him stay here!" Bella cried.
"Yes, we can try to confuse them, we can stick together so that they don't know who the human is." Rosalie said, surprising me.
"He's tan and bright green eyes and has a heartbeat, there is no chance that they will not know who the human is." Bella retorted.
"Well I was just trying to help." Rosalie said defensively.
"But are they thirsty?" Esme asked Alice, clinging to my right arm. Alice's face went blank for a moment before she came to.
"There not thirsty, but they do know that Edward is a human. I can't see what is going to happen, but…." She trialed off, but the intent was clear.
They continued to speak to fast for me to understand but Bella was mostly still.
"How could I have let this happen?" Bella groaned and I put my spare arm, that Esme let go off, on her face, cupping her cheek.
"I am so sorry, I should have seen this sooner." Alice muttered. Jasper put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"This isn't your fault Alice, they didn't decide to come until they heard us playing."
"So we have no idea what they are going to do after they see Edward?" Bella asked her again.
"No there are too many possibilities, to many things that could influence their decisions." Bella nodded again.
The others separated slightly, forming a loose circle round me and Bella either to give us some privacy or to protect the two of us.
"The others are coming?" I asked her but already knew.
"Yes, I'm sorry, so sorry." She bit her bottom lip and I ran my fingers threw her hair.
"Everything will be alright."
"You can't know that."
They all tensed again and turned to the west. The formed a protective triangle against me. Carlisle was at the front with the two boys flanking him. Rosalie flanked Emmett and Alice flanked Jasper. Esme stood next to Rosalie on the inside and Bella did the same but with Alice. I stood between the two girls.
They immerged from the forest, on the other side of the field, but I couldn't miss them. They flashed to about two hundred meters from us, walked the rest of the way at a human pace. There were three of them, two males and one female. The first male, the one that was leading, had an olive tone under the chalky pallor of his skin. I had dreadlocks that went to halfway down his back. He was wearing a white shirt, a ripped jacket and blue jeans.
The other male that flanked him on the left was as pale as the others with light brown hair that was tied back at a ponytail at the base of his neck, nice like Jacob Black. He was only wearing blue jeans and a white singlet shirt. He looked really shifty, and immediately I didn't trust him.
The third one, the woman, had flame red hair – it was about as long as the man's with the dreadlocks. There were twigs stuck in her hair and that made her look or the more wild. She was wearing light blue skinny jeans, a blue shirt and a white jacket that looked to be a men's size.
They were different from the Cullens. They had scarlet eyes, eyes that were all staring at me. They could obviously see the protective circle that had been formed round me, my tan skin, my bright green eyes, my racing heart beat.
The male, the pale looking one, was staring at me intently, looking first at me and than at Bella, and than back at me. He was planning something, I was sure of that. But the way that Alice, Jasper, Bella and Emmett had stiffened up was what scared me the most. The was that the two boys seemed to be just radiating hatred towards the coven, the way that Bella slowly went to a more defensive position, as if she was preparing for an attack. The way that Alice seemed to shrink back, as if she were scared too. Jasper reached his hand back, not taking his eyes off of James, and Alice took it, seeming to need the comfort. The other members of the family had noticed the behaviour of their loved ones too, and they too straightened up and shifted slightly, as if about to take a blow. The pale one smiled, looking back at me, than Bella, than Alice and than back at me again. This vampire was up to no good. That one was planning something that was going to change everything.