The arrival of the Blacks to Bedford only amused two persons: Charlie Swan and his old Godmother Sara. They even had a wager on which boy Bella would choose.
Bella was shocked when they arrived expecting her to remember them, especially Jacob. When Charlie mentioned that Billy used to change her diapers Bella was about to throw him a pillow. Who remembers all the strangers who cuddled and cooed on them when they were babies? But it seems it was important for them, so she acted like she remembered.
The days in Bedford became interesting for any person who wrote comedy because there's no other way to describe the show of testosterone witnessed by Bella. Jacob was a younger kid, but he was almost as tall as Oliver, and he was quite muscular. So he liked to flex his arms or loose his shirt whenever he thought Bella was watching, making Billy cheer for his son. Oliver was smooth and brought Bella flowers he picked from the garden or discussed the latest news with her, always using his charming smile and his most tantalizing voice. Maggie always fanned herself and claimed he was just like his father. Bella only mumbled her apologies and ran to the kitchen, much to Charlie's delight.
On the afternoons it was quite entertaining to watch TV on the parlor with three of them on wheelchairs, Maggie on the side of the couch, Bella almost hiding under the coffee table and Jacob and Oliver trying to outshine the other.
The straw that broke the camel happened one day when an amused Sara witnessed Charlie poking to both boys' ego.
"I know Bella loves peaches and I just saw a few yummy ones right at the top of the tree in the yard. But maybe is a bit high for you..." Charlie was tasting the fruit in his mind, knowing Bella disliked them with passion, but knowing the boys would find a way to climb the tree and bring the peaches...
Sara just shook her head but mentioned that Bella could bake a pie.
Bella watched astounded how Jacob ran and tried to climb the peach tree while Oliver went to the shed for a ladder. Both boys glaring at the other. She knew of Charlie's delight for peaches so it wasn't difficult to find out his nefarious plan.
"Wait! Stop it!" She ran to the tree, but the boys were determined to get the peaches. So when both got to the top and threw a few peaches down, they managed to knock Bella out.
That's when she decided to call reinforcements. It wasn't a far-fetched decision, Renee was wondering if she could come to visit Charlie. And just to keep him on his toes, Bella cooked him steamed vegetables so he would learn his lesson.
xxx
With each day, Edward's absence was undermining the mood at the Cullen's household. Alice noticed that the sadness was almost a living, breathing entity. Jasper loved to stay away because sometimes it was unbearable.
"Alice, how did you manage to get Celia naked in his bed without Edward noticing?" Carlisle was tired of all the drama, but his enquiring mind still struggled with the way Alice set her plans to work.
"I read in one of your books that the mating bond rules reason when lust intercedes. If she was his mate, the vision of her body would... would..."
"You expected him to jump a poor girl?"
"Hmm, it was kind of her idea. She isn't as innocent as she seems."
"Alice, what did you tell her about us?"
"Oh, nothing! Just that I dreamt about her a while ago. That I knew she would be perfect for Edward, and well, she was fascinated by him. We all noticed it."
Jasper cleared his throat. Sometimes he wished Alice took the time to consider the blank areas in her visions.
"It was infatuation for her, not true love. Alice, you know the bond appears immediately and is irrevocable. Did you expected her attraction to grow?"
Alice nodded. "I fell in love with you just by your image in my mind. I knew it before I met you and it grew every day until I found you; and we know how stubborn Edward gets, even if it hurts him."
But when she looked around the room, Esme's sad eyes, Emmett half smile and Rosalie's glare and her voice repeating 'I told you so' were getting too much for Alice. She had to fix it. First she had to find Edward and apologize. And to Celia. When she thought about her, the vision of her with Edward was still strong... wait a minute. This wasn't Edward, the eyes were wrong. It was another guy! But where to find him?
xxx
"But Mom!"
"He's so handsome, I'm sure girl's are throwing themselves at him wherever he goes. You can't miss this chance, Bella. The other one is just a pup, he still has so much to grow... emotionally."
Bella nodded at her mother's dismissal of Jacob, poor guy lately was giving her the puppy eyes whenever he saw her. Oliver was the difficult one, she didn't want to lose his friendship.
"Yeah, girls follow him but it isn't like that for me. He's a friend. And I think he's beginning to feel something I'm not sure I'll be able to return to him. That's why I asked you to visit."
"Bella, I would be here just for Charlie you know it. Sure we are divorced, but I care for him. Now once I found him recovering, my priority is your happiness; if you don't like him... are you into girls? Because if that's the case is fine for me. I totally understand and I support you."
"No! I mean, I don't like girls that way. I just don't find Oliver attractive"
"Ah, and did you make it clear for him that you see him only as a friend?"
"Sure... well, I think so. He hadn't been so forward of his feelings lately, so it's just an understatement."
"Well, now you found the next step. Talk to him. Sure, he will feel dejected but if he values your friendship, he will still be close."
Renee's visit was fast, but she found a way to get sure Charlie and Bella were fine, and that's what she cared about. Bella drove her to the airport but a storm was coming.
The roads weren't blocked but the traffic was difficult. They would miss the flight! Bella decided to take a little detour, going through a little unknown road. But the storm got worst and before she noticed it, the road got slippery and she crashed into a tree.
Edward heard the crashing and when he noticed the only mind in the car was Renee Higginbotham's he ran to the accident. To his utter surprise, he found two women injured one was Renee the other one was...
"Impossible! Celia? I thought you were..." He said while lifting a beautiful girl, she looked like Celia but there was something different...
"Hmm, Oliver? But your eyes... are you an angel?" The sweetest voice Edward ever heard asked.
She opened her eyes, and he found the depth on them so enchanting, almost as if they were reaching for his soul. This was what finding your mate mean. He couldn't hear her mind, so he would have to make her talk. Jesus, he finally found her.
"You're an angel!" The enticing creature said.
"You're perfect!" The enamored vampire answered.
Bella thought she died and went to heaven, he was the most handsome man she ever saw, more handsome than Oliver, and his concern about her was clear in his voice.
"Are you hurting sweet girl?" His voice was soft as velvet, nothing like the sensual rehearsed tone Oliver used when he tried to charm her.
"Not now that you're here." She blushed because she said that without thinking. Damn, he made her lose her verbal filter! "Oh, my mother!" Bella wondered what happened to Renee, and the boy had a questioning look but he stood up and ran to get her.
xxx
Alice felt in her heart, rather than watching it in a vision, that something important happened to Edward. But one look around the room reminded her that no one would follow her in her plans. She found Rosalie and Carlisle particularly hostile after Esme's latest meltdown.
Sighing, she left the house for a walk, but when she was far enough a vision came to her. It was the same as always but now she noticed those pesky details she saw blurred last time. This time, she saw Edward lifting the girl but there was something different in him, concern, maybe a tiny hint of... could it be possible? love.
If only she could find him...
This time determined to fix things, Alice parted to the highway which was the last thing she could discern from her visions. Half an hour later, she found that Esme was following.
"It wasn't only you, I also pushed him too far. It was my eagerness to set him up what made him leave."
"Oh, Esme!"
Alice tried to comfort Esme, but again, she had a vision. Edward's mouth got closer to the girl's neck...oh no! He was about to drink her!
"Esme, we have to find them quickly!"
xxx
Edward took Renee out from the car, she only had a minor cut on her head. The smell of blood shocked him for a second, but the worried look from Bella made him hide his thirst.
"She'll be fine. Just a concussion. How are you?" Edward asked, trying to distract himself because now he became aware of the sinful scent of the girl. "What's your name?"
"Bella," she answered shyly, "and yours?"
"I'm Edward. So Renee Higginbotham is your mother?" Edward was a bit shocked by the way Alice's vision found a way to became true.
"Yes, but now she's Swan; sorry, Dwyer. It's her second marriage. Did you meet her before?"
"She was... one of my father's patients a long time ago."
"Oh." Her sweet eyes held Edward's intense wistful look and soon both got closer.
Her sweet eyes held Edward's intense wistful look and soon both got closer. His eyes went from hers to her mouth, if only she would let him have a little taste of her lips...
Bella wasn't a religious person, but if only God gave her the chance to give him one tiny kiss...
Their faces were so close he could feel her hot breath, she closed her eyes and Edward was thanking God, the angels and everything living above for giving him the chance to finally find what his siblings had.
His lips touched hers softly, Bella felt she was in heaven. But suddenly something pushed her back, something small and freakishly strong.
"Nooo!" Alice would never give Edward the chance to lose his happiness, least for the two minutes gratification he would get on drinking the girl's blood.
"Alice! What the hell are you doing here?" Edward never felt so frustrated at Alice like he did now.
"I'm stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how it would sound to the poor girl.
"Is this your girlfriend?" Bella felt truly ashamed. It was just her bad luck to finally find the one man of her dreams and finding out he was a cheater.
"She's my annoying sister." Edward huffed and huffed once more when he saw Esme cuddling Renee's head. "Gee Alice! I left because you don't respect my wishes and now that I finally found the girl of my dreams you had to come here and ruin everything!"
Alice got ashamed once she realized Edward wasn't trying to drink from the girl. She asked for forgiveness and helped Edward to fix the mess she caused.
xxx
Two months later...
"Are you sure Edward?" Bella asked, trying to hide her face with her hair. As much as the Cullens promised to never leave her alone, she felt nervous on her first day at Forks High.
"Of course! I'll be just right behind you."
"And you will tell me if anyone thinks ill of me?"
Bella found the Cullens were vampires after one week with Edward. Certainly the reaction of the Blacks to him helped a lot. Billy pleaded Charlie to go back to Forks and because he was feeling better and a bit guilty about Oliver's broken heart, he acquiesced. Then she found about Alice and Edward's gifts as she found her closet full with beautiful clothes as the pantry was full with Charlie's favorites. Clearly Edward was trying to win his approval.
"Bella, just ignore them. You'll see this is going to be the best year of your life." Edward winked and tried to kiss her. A safe way to ease her mind.
"More like the beginning of the best years of my life." Bella smiled and kissed him eagerly, ignoring the general gasp emitted by the teens on the parking lot.
They would be adrift on the first hour because Alice, as a penance, was setting the last details of the magical encounter she set for Celia and Oliver. How could she be so blind to not notice Oliver was the man for Celia? Clearly, as Edward told her, she took one vision out of context.
Well, that's all of this story. I hope you liked it.
I'm still ashamed because FFN still doesn't let me get to the reviews, but know that I'm extremely thankful for the reception to this story. Also, my story 'The lighthouse' is nominated on the 'Top ten completed fics on December 2015' in TwiFanfictionRecs. Go vote, there are a lot of great stories nominated too.
Next week I'll be finishing 'A mother's advice', and somewhere before Thursday, I'll post the first chapter of 'Between women' (it won by two votes). I still have another story from my old notes, but I think I'll post it next weekend; it will depend on how stressful work gets this week.
vampireGIRL1 you always rock, thanks for being my friend and listen to me.
Let me wish a very happy 2016 again. It wouldn't hurt to send you my good vibes again ;)
See ya.
May