13. Edward's Surprise for Bella

They arrived at the house at ten minutes after noon. Bella parked and stopped the car and looked over at Edward, who was staring at her intently. They sat there and stared into each other's eyes for five minutes when Alice came up and knocked on the window. They both looked at her and all three of them smiled. Alice opened up Edward's door and took his arm and pulled him out. Than she came around to my side and did the same thing. Only this time, she kissed my cheek. We both smiled at her and she smiled back in response. Finally, Edward broke the silence.

"You seem perky this morning, Alice. And more so than usual. Why's that? Did something happen?"

"Nope. I'm just extra happy, that's all. I almost thought that you weren't coming, Edward."

"Alice, it's only a quarter after noon! Did you honestly expect us here at the crack of dawn?" Edward asked jokingly.

"Well, no. I figured that we wouldn't see you two for another couple of hours, actually. I'm surprised that you're here so early. Did you see my hunger? And before you ask, don't ask why I'm hungry, because I don't know why. I know that I ate not that long ago, but for some reason I'm hungry." She winked at Edward. I think her hunger had something to do with my surprise. Edward smiled back at her. Than she came up to Edward and gave him a hug. He wrapped his marble arms around her and kissed the top of her head. They really did love each other. Edward was good to his brothers and sisters. Once he let go, Alice ran off into the woods and Edward followed. He stopped and looked back at me.

"Come on, Bella. Follow us." He started chasing after her again and I ran and caught up with him.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Do you two always chase each other?"

"Only before we go hunting."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know. I never really thought about it. I guess we just do it to get our blood flowing." He said the word 'blood' in a joking voice. I laughed and he stopped suddenly.

"Why did you stop? I don't see Alice anywhere."

"You're right. She's not around here. That's the idea. I kind of steered off from her. I wanted to get you alone." He leaned down and kissed me. The kiss was very passionate and lasted a long time. After awhile, I pulled away. "Why are you pulling away?"

"Well, we had all last night for this, and it's not that I don't want this, because I do, but don't you think we should find Alice?"

"Do you want to? If you do, we'll go find Alice. I don't care. It's up to you." I stood there and thought for awhile. After awhile, I nodded my head and we both started running again. We soon caught up with Alice. She was in a clearing sitting on a log. She looked up from the ground when we approached her. She sat up as soon as we came near the log she was sitting on.

"I thought I had lost you two," she said. We both smiled at her and looked at each other. "Oh, I see." She winked at the both of us. "I saw that, as I'm sure you're aware, but I just felt like asking." She laughed. We joined in with her laughing. "So, Edward, have you told Bella what her surprise is yet?" She looked from Edward to me. Edward looked down at me and shook his head.

"Not yet. I think she can wait a little longer, don't you?"

"Well, personally, I think she should know now, but that's just my opinion." At least I knew someone was on my side with this whole surprise thing. "I think you should've told her about this a long time ago." What was Alice talking about? Saying, "I think you should've told her about this a long time ago."

"Wait a second. Alice just said 'a long time ago'. What exactly does she mean by that? Is this surprise something that you've known for awhile?" They both looked at me and started laughing.

"Well, Bella, that's usually what 'a long time ago' means," Edward said teasingly. I glared at him and he stopped laughing. "Sorry, Bella. Alice is right, though. I should've told you this a long time ago."

"Well, tell me now. I'm all ears." Edward looked at Alice and sighed. He took hold of my hand and led me over to the log that Alice had been sitting on. Alice followed and sat down beside Edward, and he pulled me on his lap. He looked into my eyes and started speaking.

"Well, Bella, it's like this. It happened the first day that you came to Forks. It was than that we found out. And this reason, besides the reason that I already told you, is why I hated you the first day of school."

"Edward, I don't think you should use hated. You didn't really hate her."

"You're right. Hated isn't the word to use. More like, loathed or despised or something like that. Anyways, the reason for that was this: When you moved to Forks, we found out that we would have one more werewolf here in Forks." He waited for it to sink in.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'one more werewolf here in Forks' Are you saying that I'm a werewolf?"

"No, you can't be. I changed you into a vampire, remember?"

"Well than, what are you saying?" I asked angrily.

"I'm saying that you're half werewolf, half vampire. A hybrid, if you will."

"Hybrid? Wait, hold on here. I'm half werewolf, half vampire? How?"

"Well, that's actually what the secret was. We found out that your parents weren't going to tell you anytime soon. But, we thought we'd wait, just to see if they'd change their mind. But they didn't, and once I married you, I decided that I just had to tell you. Your parents are both werewolves, which means that you were born a werewolf. And when I turned you into a vampire, well that made you half vampire, half werewolf."

"But, I still don't understand. I thought you hated werewolves? Why did you fall in love with me, marry me, change me into a vampire, and protect my family?"

"Well, the falling in love thing, I just fell in love with you. We can't control who we fall in love with. Once I fell in love with you, something told me that I just had to marry you, not just because I loved you, but because I had to protect you. And, honestly, I couldn't marry a werewolf, so I changed you into a vampire, well, half vampire. I would've sooner or later, no matter how much you begged or didn't beg. And we protected your family because you asked us. And no matter how much we hate werewolves, I just had to do it for you."

"Wait, you said that you married me not just because you loved me, but because you had to protect me. Protect me from what, exactly?" They both sighed.

"I was afraid that you'd ask that. I was actually hoping that you didn't catch that. I have to protect you from your family. And before you say anything, I know it sounds complicated, but they know that you're a vampire now, well half vampire."

"How? Who told them?"

"Jacob did," Alice answered. She looked at me, and I, back at her. "You see, your dad has been in league with the werewolves here in Forks for a long while. But, we didn't know this until you moved here. We thought that once you made friends with Jacob, he'd tell you. Do you remember all those summers that you spent here when you were little?" Alice asked.

"Yea. What about them? Most of the time, dad went on fishing trips with Jacob's dad. And I was left with Jacob's sisters."

"Well, the only thing is, they didn't go on fishing trips. They went out to hunt vampires. We're lucky that we survived without them finding out what we are. But, now that Jacob knows and he told your parents, they know about us, and you. And, I know that you wouldn't think that they would do this, but, they're actually planning an attack right now. That's why Edward put away his petty differences, at least with one werewolf, and protect her once he fell in love with her."

"So, what you're telling me is this: Because I decided to move here to Forks, I became fixed up with vampires and werewolves, and even if I didn't move here, I would've because my parents are werewolves. And since I moved here, and fell in love with a vampire, my family and friends, that are werewolves, want to kill me. And my new family, my vampire husband and his vampire family, my in-laws, have to protect me from them. Is that about it?"

"That's about it," Alice responded. I got up off Edward's lap and started walking away. They both just sat there, staring after me, probably decided if one of them should get up and come get me or not. Finally, I turned around to face them again.

"Alright. I've taken everything that you've told me to heart, and I believe you. I mean, what reason do you have to lie to me? I know that you wouldn't just plan to kill my family unless you had a good reason. So, what are we going to do about it?" I walked back over to them and Edward grabbed my hand and pulled my down onto his lap and kissed my head.