In two words, the Cullen household was 'open' and 'warm'. It was bright, beautiful, and airy. There was plenty of space for activities, with high ceilings and large windows. And yet, the décor, the colours, the furniture, made it feel warm, homely, comfortable. There was a myriad of artwork on the walls that I could see, and even some taped architectural sketches on a pane of glass far away from the entrance. There was a large sweeping staircase, and on the main floor, a gloriously large and ornate grand piano. Carlisle and Esme Cullen were standing beside it.
Good morning, Bella. Carlisle signed. I'm sure my mouth fell open in shock.
"Good morning." I signed, and spoke. "Thank you for having me here." I looked at Esme. She was almost the physical embodiment of this house. Warm, bright, open, happy.
"You're always welcome. We're so glad you came." Esme said, making sure to speak slowly and towards me. Carlisle raised his hand to catch my attention.
"How are you healing up?"
"I'm fine, thank you, again. I'd honestly forgotten about it." A small tap on my shoulder had Edward gently peeling my coat off of me. I slipped gracelessly out of my boots, and tucked some stray hair behind my ear. Edward too, shrugged out of his coat and shoes. A flash of movement in my vision caught my attention. Carlisle had waved at me again. I blushed. I was not used to so many people effortlessly remembering how to talk most effectively with me.
"If you don't mind Bella, Jasper and I would like a quick word with Edward."
Edward stiffened awkwardly beside me.
"Yeah, of course. Go for it." I folded my hands together, and fiddled with the rings I was wearing. Edward and Carlisle both began walking away, up a grandiose set of stairs that I would be clinging to the banister with. Edward's lips were moving quickly, tersely, and Carlisle was facing away from me. I let my eyes wander back to Esme. She was watching my hands.
Beautiful rings. She signed. I held out my hands, to show her. One was a silver turtle ring, the other was a simple pearl in a silver band. I wore them beside each other, on my forefinger and middle finger. I used to listen to the sound of them clicking together. Now I didn't hear that sound anymore. I idly wondered if the clicking annoyed anyone.
"Thank you. My mother bought me both. One for my 16th, one for my 18th. I can guess what I'm going to get for my other milestone years." I laughed. Esme stretched out her arm.
"Carlisle bought me this for my fiftieth." A beautiful, and simple silver chain bespeckled with what looked like emeralds wrapped her wrist. "And this for my seventy-fifth." She showed me a ring that matched. "I too, can guess at my future milestone years." She smiled and beckoned me towards the piano and the living room. She didn't look, or seem old. And yet, somehow she did too.
"I keep forgetting how many years you've all got on me. It's funny. Normally I feel like the old one in a crowd." We walked towards the living room, and the architectural sketches on the far window drew my attention.
"Edward said you designed houses…" I gestured towards the sketches. I hadn't realised it was possible for Esme's face to light up any more than it was already glowing, but she managed it.
"I do, would you like to see?"
She began to describe a restoration she was working on, as we walked towards the white paper taped to the windows, of one of the houses they used to live in. She was modernizing, while keeping some beautiful original features, like a rich gold crown moulding. As she explained, her words got faster, and her basic signing increased in speed too. I was about to ask her to slow down a little in her explanation when I saw a white reflection creeping up on me. Behind him was another one. Edward and Carlisle had returned. I spun around, and smiled at him.
"Everything okay?"
"Everything is wonderful with you around." He responded promptly. His mother bit her lip beside me, no doubt restraining a laugh.
"Except for your stomach of course. Always grumbling around me from what I understand." I signed 'yum yum' and he rolled his eyes.
"Actually it's more of a sore throat." Edward smiled, caressing my own throat. I wrinkled my nose.
Sorry. "I'm sorry you all felt you had to hunt to make me more comfortable. Or to make yourselves more comfortable. Either way I'm sorry I'm…"
"Please for the sake of my remaining sanity, do not apologize for being human." Edward pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Bad news then? You weren't this irritable a few minutes ago." I raised an eyebrow accusingly. He leant his head against mine. I felt his breath against my lips, and could feel the pauses that indicated speech. I pulled away quickly, staring at his lips. "Pardon?"
"I said that you're unbelievable."
"I'm the unbelievable one? Have you looked in a mirror lately?" I whispered to him. He smiled again, and pulled me towards the stairs. I started to look back apologetically towards Esme, but she was following us, Carlisle in tow.
Alice and Jasper were descending the stairs. Jasper had – what I thought at first was a reassuring grip – a tight restraint on Alice. From what Edward had told me, I would have expected this to be reversed. As we got closer, he let go, gingerly and she sprung forward in a flash, faster than I could have even imagined. Her arms were suddenly wrapped around my shoulders in a gentle but firm hug. I patted her back with a timid smile. Well that answered that question.
She released me and backed up, instantly signing something far too fast for me to read.
"Woah, what? Slow up. I don't actually sign that well."
"I'm sorry. I said it's a pleasure to meet you finally. I've been watching you from afar for a while now." She beamed at me, signing and speaking at a speed I could handle. I saw Edward place his hand in front of his face again. No doubt he was worried that Alice's creepy statement would be taken in a negative light. In reality I found it hilarious. She looked so unassuming and honest that I couldn't have taken it any way other than that which she meant it. She'd been looking forward to meeting me. I was honoured, if a little baffled.
Thank you. I signed at Alice, and then looked bemusedly at Edward.
"I'm not sure exactly what lies he's been telling you, but I'm glad to be here, and I look forward to knowing you all better. Thank you for letting me into your home." I'm sure my voice was barely above a shy whisper, but they all beamed. Alice caught my attention and I looked over to see her begin talking.
"To be honest Bella, I'm glad it's you, but we'd all have been happy if Edward had brought home an alien. He's been alone for far too long."
"And today I learned the sign for alien. Who knew today would be so filled with learning?" I laughed.
"Do you have any other signs you'd like to know? I've become quite proficient in the last few weeks." Alice smiled again.
"I can't even begin to explain how much that concerns me. How much time have you all spent on this? I've inadvertently stolen all of your free time apparently." I looked around at the faces, which all began reassuring me that they hadn't spent much time on it, and that Carlisle and Edward had previously known how to sign.
I should have probably felt more embarrassed about the entire situation but I could only manage a relaxed calm and joy. I cocked my head suspiciously at Jasper, but didn't have time to ask him about it. I was distracted by Edward guiding me towards the giant black grand piano.
"This is my other love in life. In fact, before you, music was my only delight." Edward explained. A pang of sadness slipped through the comfy happy bubble that Jasper had created for me. It must have shown on my face, as Edward halted, and smoothed away a frown on my brow with his fingers.
The thing you love most I'll never be able to fully share with you. I rested my hand gingerly on a segment of keys and began twitching my fingers across them – without playing – in the upper hand of a Christmas song.
"First of all…" Edward guided my face to look at him fully so I didn't miss anything. "I will give up music this instant if it makes you sad. Second… that looked like a practiced hand. What tune was that? Can you play?" his face was stoic, but his eyes were alight with excitement. I idly wondered if anyone else played, and I turned to look, but they had gone.
Privacy. Edward signed. And tilted his head. Sort of.
"Sort of?" I asked.
We, I'm sorry to say, have really good hearing. It makes things almost impossible to be actually private. Between Alice seeing things, me hearing things…
"And Jasper sliding in some warm happy feelings." I interjected.
"Caught that did you?" he chuckled.
"I understand the lack of privacy. It's a nice gesture though." I stared out of the window for a few moments. "And to answer your piano question… yes. Sort of."
"Sort of?" He responded.
"Ask me again at Christmas." I avoided, smiling in a coy fashion. Edward looked mildly dissatisfied and then his head tilted up towards the ceiling. His eyes focused far away, as if he'd been called. Whether he'd been called mentally, or otherwise, it was inaudible to me. He looked down at me, and glanced quickly at his phone.
"Am I keeping you?" I asked with a laugh.
"Actually – Alice has informed me that for dramatic effect, we are on a suddenly tight schedule." He suddenly swooped me into his arms and I am ninety nine percent sure that a small scream of surprise escaped my lips before I clamped them shut. He waited until I was gripping firmly onto his shirt before he began walking us upstairs.
"I'm capable of climbing stairs you know." I muttered.
"Are you now?" He challenged.
"Hilarious." I scowled back. This felt very much like being driven places and I wasn't comfortable. Edward set me down gently on the top of the stairs. We had ascended far faster than I would have been able to. He guided me forward past some closed doors, until we reached the ajar one. I pushed the door open. We were entering what I could only assume was Edward's bedroom.
It was a messier space, with what looked like musical pages, CDs and books left in absentminded places. It was still cleaner than my room. There was an entire wall of CDs, from ceiling to floor, and another wall of vinyl records. The single couch was black leather, the rug a rich golden colour. The two remaining walls were mostly windows, overlooking a short grassy expanse, and then the forest. The view was beautiful.
What about that tight schedule? I asked Edward, looking back at his nervous expression. He pointed outside. I turned to look and two things occurred simultaneously.
Beyond the pine trees, thick with greens and browns, and in the overcast grey sky, a small cloud decided to vacate the space it had been in, and the sun came out. And Edward's bedroom exploded in rainbows.