Chapter 13

"Honestly, Alice, what the hell," Bella yelled.

"Now don't get your knickers in a bunch. I just need a minute or two with you guys and then..., well then you can do whatever you want," Alice snickered.

Jasper started to laugh and was followed closely by a chuckling Carlisle and Esme. The mortification that I was feeling was overwhelming. Bella had such a lovely blush about her. It was very alluring. I took her by the hand and led her to a couch against the wall. Everyone took their seats and Jasper started going through take-off procedures. Alice turned to talk with us and she was hiding a lot from me.

"What are you hiding from me? Is that really necessary?" I asked.

"Well suck it up!. Sometimes things need to be a surprise," she explained.

"Are we missing something," Carlisle asked with a smirk.

"Now, Carlisle, let's leave them alone. No one likes smartypants, dear," Esme softly chided.

"Y'all need to feel lucky you can't feel all the lust coming off them," Jasper joked.

Bella blushed and hid her face. Carlisle and Esme tried hard to hide their laughs. Alice busted into fits of giggles and I wanted to growl but just gave into the mirth that surrounded us. It was nice to have a few moments of levity when we had been surrounded by the heaviness of indecision that Bella had at the moment. Once this was all out in the open and Bella had spoken with her, hopefully, soon-to-be ex-husband we would be in the clear for whatever the future may hold. Right now everything looked absolutely the most promising than I ever dreamed it could be. I wanted everything with Bella. I wanted every part of Bella. Any fear that may I have had before have vanished in the years I had been away from her. I want this as much as I have ever wanted anything. Alice gives me a coy smile.

"Well, I can see that you two are not going to last much longer. Let me tell you what I have seen so far, well as much as I can see. The mutts have a way of blocking me that has never happened before," Alice begins before being cut off by Bella.

"Alice! You're talking about my friends. I still consider Seth, Emily, Rachel, and Kim to be friends. I realize Seth is the only pack member I mentioned because he is the only one I trust but he is still a friend nonetheless. I don't like 'mutts' any more than I like them calling you 'bloodsucker' or 'leech'. If I didn't want to make Jake angry, I would turn my head and bite my tongue to keep from going off on him. You have no idea how much I hated for any of them to say something disparaging. And they did it all the time. I think that just liked to see how I would react to it. I got harder and harder to be calm over the years. Especially after Charlie died. They got to be where any of them, including Jake, didn't care how they spoke of you. They didn't care that it hurt me. They wanted me to be angry because they felt that Charlie's death and some of the pack members' change was all your guys' fault, even though it had been years since you have been in the area. I hated last few years. Charlie, I don't know, always felt like the buffer. Once he was gone, the gloves were off," Bella explained.

I pulled her from her chair and sat her in my lap then I kissed her temple. "It's okay now, love. I'm here now, never to leave you again."

She leaned in closer, absorbing all the love I could give her. "I know. Thank you."

"Sorry, Bella, I wasn't thinking. What I have seen is that we will make it fine to the island with no inference from anyone. I have not seen any missing moments for as far as I can see which is a few months out. There are little glitches but nothing like fully blanked out spots. So I think that means that we are good for a while. Can you see what I mean, Edward?" Alice asked.

I looked and I could see all that she did see. There was nothing to be hidden. Her whole mind was open to me, as in regards to mine and Bella's life. It was calming and serene. I noticed that when it got to where the three-month mark would start, it disappeared or maybe she was making it do that.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing of importance. It would make no difference to anything at all. Don't worry. If I thought you needed to know I would tell you. God, Edward, you worry too much."

"So, for us who are not psychic or a mind reader, can you all let us in," Bella huffed.

"Sorry, love. At the three month mark, the vision disappears. Alice tells me that whatever happens is of no consequences to our lives," I explained to her and the rest of them.

"Oh. Well, if she says that we don't need to know then it's fine. Let's try not to worry about it," Bella remarked.

"I will try but you know that goes against my nature."

"I find that funny."

"What do you mean, love?"

"I mean for someone who reads minds and says that he can't help it but finds it frustrating that he can't read everything in someone else's mind. Do you know what I mean?"

The others snicker at this. She was right; it was a humorous observance.

"Yes, love, I can see how that would be hypocritical of me. Excuse me if I say that I can not help feeling that way. Would you deny me this little quirk?"

"No, I think it makes you all the more endearing," she said as she leaned down to lightly kiss my lips.

Jasper cleared his throat loudly before we could get carried away. Once again, we broke our kiss and looked to the family.

"Sorry to interrupt but I thought I would add that it appears to be smooth sailing into Rio. So you will know, Bell and anyone else that was wondering, we then will take a car from the airfield and then board our boat for a trip to Esme's private island," Jasper explained.

"I have already had the caretaker's stock in the kitchen and I made sure that you have all your favorites. They will come once a month and restock everything," Esme added.

"Fortunately, if needed, you have around the clock doctor," Carlisle added.

"And Edward too, although, have you ever practiced before," Bella asked.

"No, I never put it into practice."

"Two medical degrees and you have never actually been a practicing doctor?"

"No. I felt that I could not get past the blood that I would be around."

"I told him he was wrong," Esme replied.

"He has as much restraint as I do. I know he could do it," Carlisle added.

"I've seen him practicing in my visions. But he just cannot see it and he has it in his head that he can't do it so he can't," Alice remarked.

"I could help you with that, Edward. You know that, right," Jasper explained.

"Let me think about it. I would like to be able to help. It is something I have dreamed of. Something I am sure my long since dead parents would be proud of me for," I added.

"Edward, your parents were already proud of you. There is nothing extra that you would have to do," Carlisle mentioned.

I close my eyes and let this sink in. In my heart, I know this to be true and it feels to me with a sense of worth that I have not let myself feel for a very long time. "Thank you, Carlisle. It means a great deal to me to hear this."

"Edward, you had to have known that they were proud of you. You're their son and you are just perfect. I would love to tell them what a wonderful, kind, and thoughtful man that you are," Bella smoothed.

I sighed. Although I am abundantly grateful for our reunion and the praise I have been getting from the family, I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that my parents, Edward, Sr, and Elizabeth Mason, along with Carlisle and Esme, are not at all proud of my leaving my one true love, my soulmate. They, my real and adopted parents are very disappointed in me.

"I do appreciate your kind words but I can assure you that they would have not been happy with what I have done to us. I can guarantee that they would have been sorely disappointed in me as much as I am sure that Carlisle and Esme are," I chide myself.

AUTHOR NOTE: I can't let everything be smooth sailing. This is Edward we are talking about here. Hee hee.