"A hummer limo? Bella you got us a hummer limo?" Alice asked incredulously.
"Well we needed a car big enough to hold all of us and this is the largest one so I thought Emmett would be more comfortable." Bella replied sheepishly.
"Oh Bella bear's looking out for me. I knew I was your favorite." Emmett said.
Alice glared at him. "You are not Bella's favorite as her best friend I am her favorite. She simply got a car big enough for all of us not to be crammed in next to your huge body."
Emmett flexed his arm. "My body is huge."
"Anyway."Rosalie cut in. "Thank you Bella for thinking of all of our comfort. Everyone get in the car."
Bella handed the driver a key card. "Please use this to open the gate when we arrive."
"Yes Miss. Shurlong." The driver took the card and closed the car door after everyone got in.
"Why does everyone call you Miss. Shurlong? I thought your last name was Swan?" Carlisle asked.
"I never officially changed my last name. Charlie insisted I keep it to honor my grandparents as the last of the Shurlong line. In Forks I go by Swan as it's my father's last name. No one has ever asked for name change documentation so Charlie and I never thought to correct them." Bella explained.
"So your actual name is Bella Shurlong not Bella Swan?" At Bella's nod Rosalie asked. "Why didn't you tell me that? I would of liked to know your real name."
"I honestly didn't even think about it. It's never really come up." Bella replied.
Rosalie thought about this. Is was true she never asked Bella outright what her name was but she would have liked to know her mates identity." Who named you Isabella?"
"Isabella was Gorgen's wife's name. She was the matriarch of what is now the Shurlong dynasty. My grandparents thought it fitting to name me such because of their belief I was destined for greatness." Bella explained.
Before Rosalie could inquire further Emmett's voice caught her attention."Jesus Bella you're a high roller. Look at this place."
Rosalie looked out the window and noticed the gate they were pulling up to. It was iron with intricate S's woven into the bars with a large crest overlapping the meeting of the two sides. As the driver stopped the gate swung open causing the crest to spilt in half as the gates fanned out.
"Is that your family crest?" Esme asked.
"Yes that is the crest that has been with my family throughout all of our generations." Bella said.
As they pulled to a stop in front of the house there were three people standing outside waiting for them. Rosalie looked to Bella and noticed the smile on her face indicating she knew the people.
Bella followed by the rest of the Cullens filed out of the car. A women who looked to be in her mid fifties gave Bella a hug. Rosalie fought back a growl. She knew it was irrational but she didn't like people touching her mate.
"Isabella it's so good to see you. How are you doing?" The woman asked.
"I'm well Beatrice and you? Keeping the house nice and neat?"
"Of course!" Beatrice sounded offended. "It's nothing less than perfect. I had the rooms you asked about opened and I personally opened the original house for you myself."
"Thank you." Bella turned to the two men standing beside Beatrice."Reginald how are the buildings and the grounds? Any problems I need to address while I'm here?"
"Bella has a staff that consists of Beatrice and Reginald? What's the other guy's name Archibald?" Emmett grunted as Rosalie elbowed him in the side to shut him up.
As Bella spoke with her staff Rosalie took in the massive size of the mansion in front of her. She had thought it would be big but this was even bigger than she imagined. She estimated that it was larger than the White House. It was built in almost the same design but then again at least one president probably had lived here at some point so it seemed fitting.
Bella waved them forward to follow her into the house as the staff went on there way."I hope you don't mind I told them we would take care of our own bags.
"That's quite alright dear. We don't expect to be waited on." Esme reassured her.
"It looks like a southern plantation mansion inside." Jasper exclaimed as they walked into the main hall.
The entire room was made out of cherry wood while a large stained glass skylight adorned the ceiling. The glass depicted scenes of tigers playing in the jungle. Along the walls were various pictures depicting the different stages of construction of the house. The main feature was the grand staircase that started in the middle of the room and fanned upwards to two different hallways. A large glass chandelier hung at the top of it.
Esme was the first one to break the awed silence." This place is gorgeous. Why did they model it after the White House?"
"It was a joke. My ancestor thought it only fitting that future Shurlongs live in this house so they would have practice for when they became president." Bella explained.
"That is kind of funny."Alice said. "Can we look around more?"
"Yes, I had specific rooms for each of you to check out but you will be free to go in any room your keycard opens." Bella told them handing each of them a key card and an American flag pin." The pin is a tracking device in case you get lost you can use an intercom and I will help you."
"It will also let me know where each of you are at all times." Rosalie eyed Emmett and Alice." You are not to take them off. The second you do I will deny access to everything and you will be spending the weekend outside."
"We can be trusted." At Rosalie's disbelieving look Emmett put the American flag pin on. "Fine we won't take them off. Now Bella show us around."
"I'll take you to the room I had opened for Emmett first." Bella said leading them further into the house stopping outside a door she used her key card to open it.
Emmett gasped as he entered the room. "Holy Fuck. It's a freakin arcade."
"Emmett language!" Esme scolded.
"Sorry but come on. This has more games than any arcade I've ever been to. Look at this one it must be from the 1800's." Emmett said pointing to a wooden horse race game.
"It is. The room is set up by years. The oldest start on that wall and then the rows work themselves up to about 7 yrs ago when I moved out. I haven't updated the collection since." Bella explained pointing to the different rows.
"I could totally help you with that if you want but I mean I don't see a game you don't have. What was this room originally?" Emmett asked.
"It was used as a meeting hall. My great grandfather started the collection in the 70's for my grandfather. He had a thing for pinball as you can tell by all the machines on the far wall. A friend of his gave him a Frogger game in the 80's and he started the rest of the collection from there. They didn't have grand meetings here anymore so he converted this room to hold his collection." Bella explained.
"I don't know if I'm going to get to even look at all these games let alone play them in just one weekend." Emmett mumbled under his breath.
Bella chuckled. "Then why don't we leave you to get started."
"Where is the room you want me to see Bella?" Alice asked as they left Emmett to play.
"It's right down here." Bella stopped them in front of another door and used her keycard to unlock it.
"What is this place?" Alice asked in awe.
"When the house was first built there weren't many tailors or dressmakers around so my ancestor employed their own." Bella told her. "Even after the area around here was more heavily populated many generations kept them on payroll. This is their shop."
Alice looked around. The room was covered in dressmaker dolls and rolls and rolls of fabric lined the walls. Several tables were spread out around the room.
"I took the liberty of having my staff unlock all the cabinets. You will find everything you need to make whatever you want plus there are buttons and accessories in those cabinets over there." Bella pointed to a bunch of cabinets near the center of the room.
"What do you mean?" Alice asked confused.
"Well I thought since you sometimes design your own clothes you would appreciate a chance to do so in here. If you don't like the fabric in here there is a storage room I can show you that has more of the older stuff that went out of style in it." Bella explained.
Alice threw her arms around Bella. "This is amazing!! Thank you Bella."
Rosalie grabbed Alice by the back of the shirt. "Thank her from a further distance"
Alice's smile never dimmed. "Jazz do you want to stay here with me or do you want to see what Bella has for you? You have a room for him right?"
"I do. I was actually going to bring him to it next." Bella told her.
"I'll go with Bella but meet up with you later."Jasper said giving an already distracted Alice a kiss on the cheek.
Bella led them to a double set of doors. Instead of a keycard she punched in a code on a keypad and used a thumb scanner to unlock it.
At Rosalie's confused look Bella explained. "Valuable historical artifacts. I'm the only one who has access to this room.
Rosalie nodded in understanding and followed Bella into a room that would fit best in a museum.
"This is what we call our war room. So many members of my family fought for one cause or the other and saved a lot of their possessions from that time. This room is original to the house. There is actually an additional empty room that is to be converted as space is needed." Bella explained. "But this is what I wanted to show you."
Bella led Jasper to a large case full of civil war memorabilia. She used a regular key to open a wooden file cabinet next to it. After a minute of going through the files she pulled out a picture causing Jasper to gasp as she handed it to him.
"Is that? It that from the battle of Port Lavaca?" He asked breathless.
"Yes. Alice told me you fought there against one of my ancestors." Bella pulled a book out of the cabinet and handed Jasper another key." This book has an inventory of all the civil war items we have here. This key will unlock the battle archives. There you will find all the paperwork for the battles the general was involved in. I'm not sure how much they have on that one but I think you should at least be able to find some more pictures."
Jasper took the key from Bella and in a choked voice he said." Thank you Bella. You have given me a great gift allowing me to see this."
Bella gave him a smile." Enjoy and if you want copies of anything set them aside."
"That was really kind of you to give him access to such important family artifacts Bella." Carlisle told her as Bella led both him, Rosalie and Esme outside. "He has always taken great pride in being a soldier. When he was turned he had to leave all his possessions behind and I know it pains him greatly not having any reminders."
"It's no problem. That stuff is just sitting there." Bella said as she led them down a path to a log cabin."This is the original house. It's not that big. The White House was finished being built 10 years after this one."
"It's like stepping back in time." Esme exclaimed as she entered the house. " I could imagine a young man coming home to his wife after a long day working on the railroad sitting at that very table eating the meal she cooked over that wood stove."
"That's pretty much how it went." Bella told her. "My family was involved with the railroad expansion. As financial backers of course.But the time spent living here was overseeing the building of the White House. My how many great grandfather employed the local Native American tribe and any one who needed work."
"Did they not have any slaves?" Carlisle asked as he looked through the books on a bookshelf near the fire place.
"No my family never owned slaves. As shifters we were always afraid of being caught and controlled and it was the mind set that all men should live a life safe and free that followed throughout the generations." Bella explained.
"Interesting." Carlisle replied.
"I have something for you also Carlisle I just have to retrieve it. Would like to stay here while I grab it? Unfortunately I don't have a room for you to explore." Bella told him.
"That's quite alright Bella. You have given my family such happiness being here. " Carlisle said.
"I'll be back in a second. Then we can go to the secure wing." Bella told Rosalie as she exited the house.
"What do you think of the place so far?" Rosalie asked Esme.
"We've seen three rooms,endless hallways and this house. I can honestly say I am in love with this place. There is so much to see. I know we won't have time to explore even a quarter of it this weekend." Esme gushed.
"Here we are." Bella said walking in the room.
"That was fast." Rosalie said checking her watch.
"I ran." Bella gave her a shy smile. " I didn't want to be away from you that long."
Rosalie pulled Bella in for a kiss. It was meant to be chaste but the jealousy she had been feeling the past few hours fueled her need to claim her mate. A clearing of a throat caused her to pull away.
"Sorry." Rosalie apologized to a grinning Carlisle and Esme.
Bella handed Carlisle a very thick old book." I want to thank you for not pushing to go through my shifter history. However I thought there would be no harm in you having access to this book. It's a book about vampires dating back to the 1400's. I'm not sure who wrote it or how accurate it is but I thought it might interest you."
"It does indeed. I've never had access to anything this old about our kind." Carlisle looked as though he were about to cry. "Thank you Bella. I promise I will take great care of it."
"I know you will." Bella gave him a smile as he reached out and took her hand." We are going to leave you guys now but if you need anything use the intercoms as there is no cell service in the secure wing."
Rosalie grabbed Bella's hand and pulled her out the door not even waiting for their reply. She had shared her mate enough, now it was her turn to get uninterrupted time with Bella.