Hello again! Everyone still with me?

Chapter 7

BPOV

I whirled around, eyes wide, to look at Edward.

His eyes were still closed, and I could still hear his faint heartbeat. So there was no way for his transformation to be finished yet.

So how the hell did I just hear his voice?

"Bella, dear, what is it?" Carlisle's voice brought me back to the fact that he was still there with us.

I tried to find the words to tell him what was going on without sounding like a complete nut-job.

You're hearing the voice of your fiancée when he clearly isn't awake yet! How the hell else is someone supposed to react to it when you tell them you're hearing voices?

"Uhh, Carlisle, do any of you hear… voices? Like in your head?" I asked with trepidation.

"What do you mean? What voices are you hearing?" He looked completely confused.

Shit. There really is no way around this. Ok, suck it up and get on with it, Bella.

"I think I heard Edward's voice. But he's not awake, yet. So there has to be something else going on. I've been hearing these tiny, almost whisper-like, sounds since this morning. And I haven't been able to figure out what it means. Then just now I heard his voice, loud and clear. Am I going crazy, Carlisle?" I stood up and started pacing while running my fingers through my hair.

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"No, I don't think you're going crazy, Bella. It may have to do with your powers. Can you hear anything else right now?" He asked with a puzzled look on his face.

I listened all around me for anything that couldn't be heard normally. I heard the birds outside the window, animals scurrying around the forest, Alice and Jasper talking downstairs, Esme was humming something outside that didn't seem to be too far away, Rose sounded like she was writing something and Emmett seemed to be down by the river messing around in the water.

Other than that, I heard nothing like what I had heard earlier or Edward's voice.

I shook my head at Carlisle. He would surely think something was wrong with me.

"Hmm. You were touching Edward when you heard it, right?" I nodded. "Touch my hand and see if you can do it again." He held out his hand for me to take.

I slowly reached out my hand to his and took it. I tried to focus on him and listen for any sort of voice or sound, but I came up empty.

"I can't hear anything. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. I want so badly to hear his voice and I probably imagined it."

He looked like he was deep in thought.

"I don't think that it's your imagination. We need to keep an eye on this to see if it happens again and when it happens. What I want you to do is try it again with him. Remember what was happening when you heard it and try to recreate it." He observed.

Well that made sense, I guess. It seems like the best way to see if it can happen again.

I went back over to the bed and sat down by Edward's side, holding his hand to my face.

I wasn't hearing anything this time, so I thought about what I was doing during the time I heard it earlier. Before, I was telling him things, and thinking them. So I tried to do that again. I focused on that, and making it so we seemed to be the only ones in the room.

Then I started to hear it again. It was low, but then four words startled me.

Where are you, Bella!

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed.

Carlisle, I guess he was right outside the room to give me privacy, came running back in the room.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly.

"I heard it again! I heard him. He called to me. Ok, you didn't hear that?" He shook his head no. "And it sounded just like his normal voice so… What does that mean? Can I hear his thoughts or something?"

"I don't know, dear. We will need to see if it works with other family members first to make sure. But if it's not working with others, it might not be that. We need to wait for Edward to wake up before we can be sure of anything. His gift may have an influence on yours. We have no clue what any of your gifts are supposed to be. There have been assumptions, but no one has been able to say for certain. We need to know what his gift is before we can be sure of anything." Carlisle explains to me.

"What should I do? Do I try it with everyone else now, or do I try to do it again with Edward? Should I try to talk back to him?"

"Maybe… Let's try it with one of the others to see if it's possible. Who would you feel more comfortable with?"

Hmm, that's a good question.

"Esme." I said.

Within seconds, Esme was in the doorway looking at us.

"Why did my name come up, dear?"

I motioned her into the room to sit on the floor with me.

"I want to try something. This may be a long shot, but I want to see if what we found out works with someone else. I want to see if I can read your thoughts."

A look of shock crossed her face. "Ok. That would certainly be one of the protector's powers. It would fit to anticipate what others around you are going to do next. It would be quite valuable. Let's give it a go."

We got situated and I looked up to Carlisle who had sat down in a chair near us to observe. "How do we do this? I was focused so hard on Edward and I have no idea if I can focus that way with anyone else."

"With that sort of power, it will become second nature to you. Just like hearing me speak now. It will be an automatic function. Just focus the best you can, and see if you can hear Esme. You know the sound of her voice, so you would be able to recognize it in your mind."

Oh, this is going to be interesting.

I focused on Esme as hard as I could. I pushed everything else away from my mind to listen for those little sounds I had heard before with Edward. But I couldn't hear anything. We sat there for an hour with me trying to go at it from different angles, but nothing was working. I was becoming very frustrated. Along with a string of other emotions, I wasn't sure why, were coming up.

"Ah, there she is. I was wondering when you would let those emotions loose." Rose said, walking into the room. I snapped my eyes open to look at her. "Whoa, what the hell?"

"What? What did I do?" I didn't know what she was talking about.

She had a look of total shock and confusion on her face.

"As soon as your eyes opened, I was cut off from the emotions you were feeling. I've never seen anything like that before." Rose explained.

"Are you sure, Rose? I've never known your gift to be cut off from someone's emotions." Carlisle wondered.

"I'm positive. It's just like it was when I couldn't get a read on her before. Did you hear anything, Bella?" Rose asked.

"No. Right towards the end there, I was getting frustrated and then I was feeling a lot of other emotions that I shouldn't have at the time and then they just went away when I lost my focus when I heard you come in."

Rose and Carlisle both furrowed their brows. You would swear they were really related by how they act sometimes.

"I felt her emotions pop up, too. It was for a split second, but it was there." Jasper said in his southern drawl as he appeared in the doorway.

"This is very odd." Carlisle took in a deep breath. "Ok, Bella I want you to try it again. See if you can pinpoint anything you see, feel or hear."

I nodded to him slowly. This could end up being something I never wanted to know about.

I focused back on Rose. This time I took her hands in mine and went through the same process.

After about half an hour, I started feeling some of the same things I did earlier. There were no voices. It was feelings. They weren't mine, either. I tried to not let this go yet. I wanted to know exactly what the hell it was I was dealing with.

It was hard to get an exact target on the emotions, but most of them seemed to be positive. There was one though that crept up and almost knocked me on my ass. It was pain. Immense pain. Like the kind of pain I just went through a few days before.

I pulled my hands away from Rose's like I had been burned, and gasped.

"…You felt it, didn't you?" Rose spoke up.

"What?"

"You felt Edward's pain. What he's going through right now. You felt it. I could sense that you were feeling more than your own emotions and then something huge hit you before you pulled away. It was Edward's pain that I let slip through."

"Wait, how did you know, Rose?" Carlisle asked, becoming shocked.

"It was just what I was feeling from her when I could breach whatever was holding me back from sensing her emotions before. Somehow she is able to tap into my gift and feel the emotions around her, too." Rose explained, like it was something normal.

I sat there wide-eyed and gaping at her. How the fuck am I able to do that?

"What do you suppose it is that keeps her emotions from you two, otherwise?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm not sure. It could be anything… I'm going to go get Alice, and see if the same thing happens with her gift…" Jasper started to go to the door but Alice was already standing there.

"No need. I'm already here. So what's going on? Did you guys figure anything out?" Alice asked, coming further into the room.

"We're slowly learning, but not entirely sure what to make of Bella's gift. She could hear Edward's thought, somewhat. And she could feel some of the other emotions around the house when she focused on me. So we want to see if it's the same with your gift. Do you mind helping us with this?" Rose asked her.

"Oh! Not at all! I'd love to help. This is going to be so much fun!" Alice started bouncing on the balls of her feet. You would think this girl has an IV of caffeine going in her arm with the amount of energy she has.

She danced over to where we were sitting and gracefully sat in front of me and held out her hands. I took her hands in mine and repeated the same process once again.

This time, it didn't take quite as long as it did with Rose the first time. It was about twenty minutes later, and I was bombarded by images. Images of me, Edward, and a little girl.

Olivia

I gasped as I saw them.

Me and Edward holding her in our arms not long after she was born, the three of us walking hand in hand through the woods when she's about five, her running around this house with the rest of the family.

And she looked… she looked absolutely perfect. She was so much like Edward and I. The bronze hair, that was the exact same shade as Edward's, I know was what I saw from when I was changed. It flowed down her back. Her eyes were deep brown, like mine. She had my nose, and Edward's jaw. My God, she was so unbelievably beautiful.

A sob broke free from my lips and I pulled my hands to my mouth, and Alice mirrored my motions. A look of wonder and excitement in her eyes.

"Oh God! She was perfect." I sobbed.

DAMNIT, why can't I cry? I hate that.

Alice wrapped her arms around me tightly and rocked me back and forth.

"Shh, it's ok, honey. You'll get that soon enough. She'll be here before we know it." Alice soothed.

"What happened? Who is 'she'?" Carlisle asked.

I gathered my nerves up and faced Rose, Jasper, Esme and Carlisle. Alice still had her arms around me. It felt nice to have the support.

"I saw… I guess it was visions that Alice had of me, Edward and our daughter, Olivia. She was… amazingly beautiful. I can't wait to have what those visions showed. That's what I've always wanted with Edward. A family to run around with and love passionately. Alice, please tell me those were real?" I asked, hoping and praying it was real.

She took my face in between her hands and looked me in the eye. "Yes, they were real. Those were the first visions I've really had of your future. The only other one I've had was before you were changed when you guys had the accident that you would become one of us." She said, then pulled her hands away. "And then there was the day you woke up and I had a glimpse of the 'powerful one'. But this is the first that I've actually seen you and Edward and your baby. And those were just small glimpses, too, but it was enough to see a clear future. Now, that's not to say that something won't happen between now and then to alter them. But it's at least something. It's more than we had before. Don't worry too much. We'll be there for you guys, as long as you're willing to have us."

"Of course I want you guys in our lives. Are you kidding? Did you not see that vision? How happy we all were? I've never had a big family before. Neither of us really has a family anymore anyways. Edward lost his family years ago, and a couple of years back, my dad died. I have no idea where my mother is so it doesn't bother me as much. You're a real family. And I'd be so happy to stay with you all, if the invitation is still open." I said, deep emotions coursing through me at the possibility that we were going to still have a fulfilling future.

It was Carlisle that spoke up next. "Oh sweetie, of course we want you to stay. We wouldn't feel right having you and Edward face what's coming, alone. We won't force you all to leave. It WILL be your choice, in the end, but we would never make you leave." He said with a genuine smile.

It made me feel happy that we had somewhere to stay. But then something hit me.

"MONKEY!" I shot up from the floor and started pacing. "Oh my God, I forgot all about our cat! He's probably starved to death by now. And what about our apartment? We've lived there for over two years. What do we tell our landlord? I…" Alice cut off my rant.

"Bella, Bella! Calm down. We'll figure out what to tell your landlord about your 'deaths' later. We went by your apartment, and have been feeding your cat. We went by there the night of the accident to check on things and saw him by his food bowl. He's actually a really sweet animal. Most animals freak out around us. Carlisle, do you think we could keep him here, if Edward and Bella are careful around him? Cats don't usually have a really appealing scent to them, so it shouldn't be too bad. What do you think, Bella?" Shit, she talks fast.

But that made me feel better knowing he was ok. I miss my little guy. Even Edward blaming things on the cat, I missed.

"It's ok with me. As long as everyone can be comfortable around it, I don't see why we can't have him here as well. Bella?" Carlisle looked over to me.

"Yes. I'd really appreciate it if we could. We got him not long after we moved in together and he's been a part of our family." I put my hands on my stomach. "Well, our growing family, now."

They all had sympathetic looks on their faces. But Carlisle was the one to speak up.

"Don't worry, Bella. He'll be awake soon. We'll have better answers then and we can move forward to help you prepare for the baby. Which reminds me, I need to go see what other research I can do on the three of you. There could have been something I overlooked, but I want to be as informed as I can be. Will you be ok for a while here, Bella?" He asks.

I nod to him. "Yeah. I'm going to see if I can hear Edward, again." I stood up to go back over to the bed, and sat down with Edward.

He and Esme walked down the hall to, what I found out was, Carlisle's office.

"Do you want us to stay in here for a while, Bella?" Alice asked from her spot still on the floor.

"Umm, yeah, actually. I want you guys around to see if we can experiment some more. I just want to see if you can feel anything from Edward," I looked at Rose and Jasper when I spoke, then turned to Alice, "or if you're able to see anything from his future. Or if it's just me that's causing things to be off. It'll help us figure this out with all of us in here to work on it."

Alice stood up, and walked over to the leather chair that Carlisle was sitting in earlier. Rose followed and sat in the window seat, next to the chair Alice was in. Jasper stood by the doorway, I guess not wanting to push his composure too much.

I turned to face Edward and went back to what I was doing earlier when I heard him.

A short while after I sat down, I started hearing him again. This time he was a little more frantic.

BELLA, baby please! Tell me where you are! I need you!

A sob left my lips again.

"Bella? Was it him again?" Alice asked quietly from in the corner.

I nodded, trying not to lose the… connection, I guess, I had with Edward so I could try to respond to him.

Edward, can you hear me? I tried to ask in my head. I prayed he could hear it.

Bells? Baby is that you?

Oh God! He could hear me!

Bells, was that you?

Wait, he could hear that too?

Baby, what are you talking about? I heard from him again.

SHIT! Edward, can you hear me? Tell me if you're ok.

Oh thank God! I've been looking for you for so long. Where am I? I can't feel anything but this burning fire all through my body. It hurts so much, Bella. He thought, and he sounded like he was desperate to get out of this painful process he's going through and be anywhere else.

"Alice, can you see anything?" I asked, trying my hardest to not lose him.

She looked like she was concentrating really hard, with her eyes closed.

She shook her head. "No I can't see anything yet."

"Rose? Jasper?" I asked.

"I could feel him earlier, Bella, but right now… I think you're blocking him. It's almost like it is with you, but not quite as cut off. It's the most bizarre thing…" Rosalie said, looking contemplative.

Shit. Well, then maybe I need to try something else.

"Umm, what do you guys suggest?" I asked, looking over to the three of them.

Alice stood up and walked over to where we were on the bed and sat on the edge. She moved her hand over to us and looked like she was debating who to touch first. But she decided to touch Edward first, I'm guessing to see if it is really me blocking him from her visions.

The second her hand touched his arm, her eyes kind of glazed over. She was that way for several minutes, but I was starting to hear Edward's voice again.

Bella? Who is that touching me? It feels like it's more than you touching me.

"Jasper? Is she ok? Does this happen a lot?" I asked while I tried to figure out how to respond to Edward.

"Yeah. She's having a vision, or more than one vision. Sometimes they're fast, other times they take a while for her to absorb. Just give her a minute." He said as he came over to observe what was happening.

I nodded to him, then turned my focus back to Edward.

Yes, Edward. I'm touching you and… so is Alice- I started, but he cut me off.

Wait, who the hell is Alice? I don't know any Alice. He was kind of frantic at this point.

I'll explain everything when you wake up. Well, actually Carlisle might be able to explain it better than I can, but I don't want you to worry. I know you're in a huge amount of pain right now. I was too. I went through the exact same thing. But it's been to save you. Please don't be mad when you wake up. I love you so much. I thought to him, then kissed his hand.

He was silent for a while and I didn't know if I lost him or if he was just letting it all sink in.

Wait, Carlisle? The guy I talked to at the children's hospital? What does he have to do with any of this, Bells?

Edward, I promise it will all make better sense when you wake up. I'm still adjusting to things myself, but we'll be fine. I promise. I wanted to reassure him as best as I could.

I love you, Bella.

Alice yanked her hand back from Edward. There was no expression on her face. It kind of worried me when she wasn't bubbly all the time. That meant that something was wrong.

"Alice? What is it?" I asked, trying to hide any panic.

She then had a puzzled look on her face. Jasper came up behind her and tried to sooth her.

"Ali, you gotta tell us what it is." He said, worry seeming to be in his voice.

"… I… think we may have a timeline for when the baby gets here…" She said, still looking puzzled. Then I noticed her eyes were on me. More or less, my stomach.

"What? You're starting to freak me out. Tell me what's going on." Seriously, what the hell?

"Bella, have you looked in the mirror at all since you've been changed?" Rosalie asked, with what looked like a glint of mischief in her eyes.

Oh not good.

What's not good baby?

Motherfucker!

Babe, you're really starting to worry me, now. I need to shut my mouth sometimes… well, my brain, in this case…

This is so hard to keep straight, sometimes.

Umm, don't worry about it, Edward. I'm talking to someone. I'll be right back. I promise. I need to go take care of something.

Bells, please don't leave me here. I could just imagine his pout and his eyes begging me.

I won't go far, baby. I just have to figure something out.

Ok. I love you Bells.

More than anything. Then I took my focus away from Edward and turned back to Rosalie.

"Ok, so what the hell are you talking about now? No, I didn't look at myself in the mirror. I figured I probably look like hell. I didn't want to see it. Why?" I asked.

Alice held her hand out to me. "Come on!"

Grrrrr. Bossy ass.

I took her hand and she led me into the bathroom attached to Edward's room. She pushed me in front of the mirror and forced me to look at myself.

What I saw, floored the hell out of me.

My skin was paler, my face was much more defined. I tapped my finger on the counter once and heard rock against rock.

Whoa.

Then I tapped it again and chipped away a small piece of the marble counter.

"Oh shit." I muttered.

Then I looked back up into the mirror and saw my eyes. They were red in color and very frightening looking.

I brought my hand up to cover my mouth at how shocking it looked.

I looked further down my body and let out a squeal.

"HOLY SHIT!"

A/N: So, anyone have theories about what's happening? Some of these things do differ from the original version of this story, but it still works into it.

Leave me some feedback! I love hearing from y'all!