TEN

We all stood there staring at each other in complete silence. It seemed like everyone was looking at me and it took me a moment to comprehend that they really were looking at me, waiting to see how I would react to this bit of news. "Um… Well," I stammered as I tried to put my thoughts together. I felt like the worst person in the world when Esme looked down at the countertop and it dawned on me that she thought that I was angry. "Esme?" When she looked at me with bleary eyes, I smiled. "I'm not upset. I'm just shocked. It's… It's a bit odd hearing that your father's mate is the woman you consider a mother and that she pretended for decades to be married to my mate. It's… unusual."

I shook my head as her lips curled into a small apologetic smile and she whispered 'I'm sorry'. "Don't be. Someone wise told me that you can't condemn the heart, for the heart cannot choose with whom it falls in love." I thought my words would have made her happy, but she still looked so unhappy. "What's wrong? Did you tell him yet? He overreacted, didn't he?"

She shook her head morosely, caramel locks falling around her face. "No," she murmured quietly. "It's the treaty. Sam only knows that your Carlisle's mate. While he may be willing to allow your change, I doubt he will allow a second. Your father is very close to Billy Black. The chances of Sam allowing Charlie to be changed in Washington are slim-to-none. And if we change Charlie, we can never come back."

To my surprise, when I stepped forward, Carlisle released his grip on me. He did, however, stay right behind me. His body was tense as if waiting to attack anyone in the room who might try to touch me. I leaned on the end of the counter while the family congregated at the other end and I glanced back to my mate to motion for him to stand beside me, which he complied with immediately. I stared at my family for a moment then let my chocolate eyes dart past them to the forest outside.

The past few days had been a whirlwind of activity and emotions.

My birthday party had been Tuesday night, the night my mate had told me about my bond. That night alone had been filled with more information about vampires than I could have ever imagined. Wednesday had been rough, as Jessica had spent half of the day trying to figure out what was happening or not happening between Edward and I. And due to a combination of my anger and haste, I had ended up in the emergency room, where I had lost my shit on her entirely, resulting in a rather fun romp in Carlisle's office… and giving Jessica ammunition to hate me. Wednesday night had not been bad, as my mate had found a possible loophole to the treaty. However, in our enthusiasm, our relationship had been witnessed by at least one of my neighbors, which in turn had resulted in the truth being spread like wildfire through the school by one Jessica Stanley, whom I desperately wanted to punch.

All of this had led to the two current issues: Carlisle's volatile instincts and Esme possibly having to choose between her mate and losing her beloved home.

I was surprised that my poor family had any sanity left.

"Well…" I drawled as I came to only one conclusion. "We can only take things one day at a time. These are very difficult circumstances that I don't think anyone could have possibly seen." I smiled reassuringly at Alice. "Not even you, Pixie."

I turned to Carlisle and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Will you get me something to eat?" I figured that if I could keep his instincts to take care of me distracted, being in the kitchen with the others might make things a bit easier on all of us, but mostly him. When he nodded and blurred around the room, I smile for a moment before turning back to the rest of my family.

It seemed that being the mate of the leader of this clan meant that in his unstable moments, I was the one that would be relied upon to handle things, and that did not bother me too much. I had always taken care of Renee and Charlie, and even though I was not a vampire and not completely aware of how the whole mating process worked, I was able to step back and look at things from a different perspective. While it was within my nature now to defend Carlisle, my drives and emotions were nowhere near as intense, so I was able to think with a much clearer head.

"Okay, let's take care of things in the order that they need to be taken care of." I looked at all of them questioningly, making sure that they were all right with me taking charge of things at the present. Four of the five looked at me expectantly – Jasper just grinned with a mixture of amusement and pride. When I looked at him expectantly, he mouthed 'later'. I shrugged and took a deep breath, launching into my thoughts about what we should do. "You said Charlie doesn't know about me and Carlisle and he doesn't know that you're his mate. Does he know that you are not married?"

She nodded and braced her elbows on the counter. "Yes. When I first entered, after getting over my shock, I told him that you had another small accident at school and that Carlisle was taking care of you." She smiled and blushed deeply. "He was not at all pleased with the mention of Carlisle, but that was more to do with the fact that he felt the pull, even if he does not realize what it is."

"Wonderful," my mate drawled sarcastically as he slid a plate with a gorgeous-looking, deli-style chicken sandwich on it. He continued to talk as I munched happily on my food, as this was the first thing I had since breakfast. "Now Charlie has two reasons to shoot me: his jealousy over his mate and I'm mating with his daughter."

I snorted with laughter along with the rest of the family and when I swallowed, I smirked. "I don't know who I feel sorrier for: you or him?"

He grinned playfully at me, his once-again topaz eyes glittering in amusement. "Bullets may not kill us, but that does not mean that they will not leave a nasty crack behind."

I winced. "Sorry," I mumbled before taking another bite of sandwich and waving at him to continue my thoughts, as it seemed he was back under control. "Hungry." I took another big bite as if to reiterate that I was through speaking, and he chuckled, wrapping his arms around me and pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Under normal circumstances, I would say that just Esme and I should go speak with Charlie," Carlisle said calmly. "But taking into account that I am not yet in complete control of harmonizing my emotions and instincts, I think we should bring the entire family. Jasper can come inside with us to help keep everyone's emotions under control and Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie can wait outside in case anything goes… wrong."

He took a moment, contemplating what it was that he thought we should and should not do while talking to Charlie, and after a few moments, he looked at Esme sadly. "I do not think we should tell Charlie that you are mates just yet. Even telling him of what we are is a break in the treaty, and while Sam is a very fair leader, I doubt the rest of the pack will stand behind him if the breach is on our part. We are due to meet Sam tomorrow evening, so we can take the whole family and explain the situation then. Once Sam knows that you are mates, while he may deny us changing Charlie in Washington, he is not cruel enough to actually deny your mate knowledge of us and your bond. And I know this is our favored home, but I also know there is not a member of this family that would see you suffer the denial of your mate over something as trivial as a residence."

"Thank you, Carlisle," Esme whispered, golden eyes glittering with unshed venomous tears. She turned her tender gaze to me. "Are you all right with this, Bella?"

I laughed lightly and nodded. "Yes, Esme. I'm sure it will be a bit… awkward at first. But I and Charlie will get over it. You deserve to be happy."

When she blurred toward me and hugged me tightly, I could feel Carlisle tense, but to his credit he suppressed all sounds. After a moment, she released me, still smiling, and bowed her head to Carlisle and flashed back to the other end of the room.

I turned to see Carlisle taking deep breaths, but his eyes were still a golden color. Sure, they were a bit darker than the usual bright citrine, but they were still obviously yellow and nowhere near black. I smiled up at him and pulled him close to me. "I am so very proud of you, Carlisle Cullen." I pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and gasped against his mouth when he deepened it, stealing my breath away with his passion.

He pulled away only to nuzzle my ear with his nose, purring contentedly. "Grazie, la mia. I truly could not survive this without you, m'amore."

"You do know that I love you right?" I questioned suddenly.

He took a small step backward and gazed into my eyes, raising his hands to brush back my chocolate hair. "Sì, mi diletta. I know that it is difficult for you to say so as thing have happened so quickly, but I feel it. Every time you look at me, touch me, speak my name, I feel it pouring from every fiber of your being, Isabella. I could taste it in your blood, cara mia. I do not doubt, not for a single moment, that you love me." He bowed his head, pressing his forehead to mine. "My only hope is that you are aware of how deeply my love for you runs, Bella mia; for I love you more than my own existence."

"I know, Carlisle," I whispered softly to him. "I can feel it in my heart and in my soul. I can feel it, because you are my heart and soul. I have never felt anything as strong and pure as the love you have for me."

He pulled me tightly back into his embrace, purring his adoration, and I realized the family was still watching. I almost felt badly for them, knowing how our display of emotions must be affecting them, or at least Jasper, who had the dorkiest looking grin on his face that I had ever seen. "I do love you, Carlisle Cullen." I stepped back so he could see my eyes and smiled tenderly at him. "I just have one question."

He titled his head, curiosity flickering in his eyes. "What is that, cara?"

I grinned mischievously. "Can I finish my sandwich, before we go see Charlie? I don't want to die with an empty stomach."

.

By the time we walked out the door, I at least had the comfort of knowing that I would not die hungry. And while my mind and soul might not be so at the present, my stomach was incredibly happy! It had immensely enjoyed the sandwich that Carlisle had made. It still amazed me that a group of beings who had not eaten for decades, or in Carlisle and Jasper's case for centuries, could cook so well. It occurred to me that if Charlie did not shoot Carlisle, Carlisle did not kill Charlie, and Esme did not in turn kill Carlisle, that I would have to ask them where, and more importantly why, they had learned to cook. As I was pondering the thoughts of the Cullen's culinary skills and smiling at the memory of that delicious chicken sandwich, I suddenly was shocked to hear my iPhone blast out 'She fuckin' hates me! Trust – she fuckin' hates me!' I glanced at the caller idea, hit reject, then whirled around to smirk at Jasper. "Seriously, Jasper? You put 'She Hates Me' as Jessica's ringtone?"

The Texan looked at me with utter confusion in his topaz eyes. "Bella-darlin', I haven't put anything on your phone."

I blinked at him for a moment, thinking he was joking, before realizing that Jasper had no clue. "But… you gave me the phone. You didn't…" When he shook his head firmly, a blond curl falling over one of his eyes, I turned back to stare at the road. "Then… Emmett?" No. Because ever since my birthday party, he had not been near me or my phone, until he rushed in and was put into the wall by–

I slowly turned my head, my lips pursed into that bemused smirk that everyone had when they were trying so desperately to be pissed off but couldn't be because whatever was going on was just too damn amusing to stay pissed at. "Carlisle, my darling mate," I drawled ever so sweetly, "you would not happen to know why my phone has ringtones such as 'She Hates me' and 'Doctor, Doctor' on it, now would you?"

Before he could answer, my phone started singing 'Every breath you take and every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watchin' you'.

Alice burst out into giggles. "Nice!"

I stared at Carlisle's profile and he stared straight ahead, the corners of his lips twitching, while the rest of his face remained completely frozen.

'Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys…'

I dropped my phone into my lap and muttered, "Oh this is ridiculous!", while trying my best to ignore Jasper's chuckles. Apparently, the rest of the Cullen clan, who were riding behind us in Emmett's jeep, found my annoyance at their little inside jokes to be oh-so-hilarious because almost instantly my phone was ringing 'Rose Garden' followed by 'I Get Knocked Down' and 'In My Daughter's Eyes' – Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme's respectively. I had to admit that I found Esme's very touching.

I started searching through my phone to see what other hidden jokes Carlisle had placed into it, and found myself rolling my eyes at most, especially at Charlie's ringtone, 'Cleaning this Gun' by Rodney Atkins. When I stumbled across a familiar acronym repeated several times with the one-word titles beside them, I gasped. "Carlisle…How-how did you…?"

"How did I what, mi diletta?" he questioned, not being able to see what I was looking at.

Alice leaned forward and peered over my shoulder at my phone. "SNSD?"

I nodded. "It stands for So Nyuh Shi Dae," I explained, still confused at how Carlisle would know this bit of information about me when I had never even told Edward about my love of the Korean girl group. "It's a K-pop girl group. In English, they go by SNSD or Girl's Generation. If you don't know what they're saying, some of their music can sometimes come across as a bit perky, but it really is good."

This seemed to excite the pixie. "Bella, you speak Korean?"

"No." When the dark-haired girl dropped back, looking highly disappointed, I laughed. "I've been thinking about learning it, though. I figure that I listen to enough K-pop, so why not."

She perked up again. "Oh good! We could learn it together!"

I shook my head in amusement then glanced at Carlisle. "So… how did you know that I like SoShi?"

He looked away, biting his lower lip. It was a sign that he was blushing. "Edward was not the only one that has entered your room while you slept. On nights that Edward would go hunting…" He trailed off, shame written on his face, before he glanced back to me. "You were having a nightmare about the ballet studio. I slipped inside to see if I could calm you. I noticed that your iPhone was syncing – honestly, mi diletta, The Titanic?"

I laughed, "It's funny!"

He rolled his eyes and chuckled for a moment before the beautiful topaz again became tinged with worry and shame again. "Edward was never keen about you being around our family and it distressed me to not know my own mate, so I was curious to know what types of music you took the most pleasure in. I frequently had suspicions that you were not as quite as fond of classical music as you led Edward to believe. Might I ask you something, bella mia?"

"You just did," I said with a smirk. "But you can ask me another one."

The corners of his lips twitched with amusement. "How often did Edward allow you to listen to the music of your choosing?"

I blushed. "I... I just let him listen to whatever he wanted to." My mate growled slightly, pulling out his iPhone and tossing it to me, and I was very surprised to see practically every single one of my albums downloaded onto his. "Carlisle…" I stared at him, my mouth hanging open slightly, before I recovered and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Never feel ashamed of wanting to be near your mate, of needing to feel what I feel and wanting to know who I am. I'm touched that you would want to make sure that I was all right."

He purred as I nuzzled his jaw before taking my hand in his when I slipped back down into the seat. When I went to search through his playlist, I was surprised to find that he had deftly retrieved it from me and that 'Right Here in my Arms' by HIM had begun blaring through the speakers. I shook my head, smiling and mouthing 'thank you' to him as I settled back into the seat, singing and dancing along with the music, much to my mate's amusement.

When we arrived at Charlie's, I could almost feel my stomach hit the soles of my feet. Maybe it would be better to let him hear by rumors because then he could scream at me and I could scream at him and storm out appropriately. I voiced my opinion but was outnumbered by those who were thinking logically. We slowly approached the house, Esme leading the way with Carlisle and I trailing behind, his hand resting on my lower back as he walked next to me. Jasper brought up the rear.

I took a deep breath when the matriarch politely knocked, mentally pausing for a moment as I thought of the humor at waiting to enter my own home. When Charlie came to the door, he seemed surprised that I was waiting outside but recovered quickly, tersely inviting everyone into the kitchen. His eyes darted from one Cullen to another but I noticed that when he gazed at Esme. There was a familiar look in his eyes and I knew this had to be the look that I had given Carlisle the night of the party, a longing and subconsciously encouraging look.

This was the look that had broken my own mate's will and led him to claim me as his own. As I saw it in my own father's eyes, I was not at all surprised that Carlisle had finally given into his desire and admitted our bond to me after having spent so long denying it. It was like you could see the deepest part of a person's soul pleading to be joined to their mate and I agreed with Carlisle's words. However many good memories had been and could be made in their Forks home, it was not worth the pain of the separation they would feel.

I felt Carlisle's thumb begin tracing small circles on my lower back and I glanced up to see him give me a slight smile. I whispered beneath my breath, "Are you okay?", and saw him give me the barest of nods, before I turned to see my father watching us like a hawk.

.

TBC

In the words of Bob Ross:

They say everything looks better with odd numbers of things, but sometimes I put even numbers just to upset the critics.