Chapter 3… Goodbye to Forks

By the end of the second week, the apartment was finished and some of our new furniture had arrived. The delivery men couldn't believe their luck when delivering to the Cullen's place. The minute a truck arrived, Edward, Jasper or Emmett would be waiting on the verandah for them.

"Just put it on the verandah, we can take it in," Edward had told the first of many.

A generous tip and a short delivery run no doubt made their day, and ensured that we didn't all stand around looking impatient while the delivery men took the normal amount of human time to bring the items inside.

Edward had been especially excited when a van from an audio visual company arrived. They brought with them an oversized television of a European brand I had never heard of for our living room, with a matching one for Jake and Leah's place.

Apparently the large number of boxes labelled with high end brands included not only the television. Emmett whooped as he unpacked the latest game station and another box filled with computer games. Even though my new lack of clumsiness meant I wasn't in danger of causing damage any of Edward's expensive toys, I still shuddered at the thought of touching them, just as I had imagined breaking his stereo the first time I had been in his room at Forks. After Jasper and Emmett finished playing on the roof while setting up a satellite dish, Edward informed me that it could all be controlled from one remote. At least I could manage this without too much danger.

Renesmee's furniture had also arrived, although we had made sure of this by ordering it before we have left Forks. Since Nessie was the only one in our family who needed sleep, I wanted to make sure she was comfortable in our new house. Tanya and I had painted her room a soft green and Esme has ordered hot pink curtains and matching bedding. The white sleigh bed with matching desk and draws were perfect for her new room and she slept in her new bed for three nights before we flew back to Forks.

Edward and I had kept the same white that Esme had used in our cottage, this time with a luxurious rug on the polished floors and the iron bed from his old room. The other guest rooms had taken on a colour theme similar to the house on Isle Esme, one was Wedgwood blue, one was burnt red and the other cheery yellow. The furniture for these rooms wouldn't arrive until after we returned although Alice had already purchased the pillows and bedding – silk of course.

We locked up the house the day we were due to fly back to Forks, giving Nessie and me two more weeks with Charlie before Edward and I started college. He and Sue had promised to come over during the holidays, so our parting was not going to be permanent.

Renee, on the other hand, was still a problem. I had managed to dodge her calls for me to come down to see her during the summer as I told her we had to set up the house before College started. She had mentioned flying up to Forks herself to see us before we moved, but I had managed to convince her that Phil would miss her too much and that we would try for next summer. I was sure to come up with some excuse then.

I sat in the airport lounge watching my beautiful daughter, who currently had her nose attached to the window as she watched the planes and other activity at the airport. This was going to be her first flight which exciting her greatly. It was also the most humans she had ever been around, hence my focused attention on her. I felt, rather than heard, Edward walking towards me, and moved my gaze from Nessie to the lounge entrance. The rest of the family and the wolves were walking towards me. I noticed how much other people in the lounge stared at the imposing group. Edward reached me first and from the look in his eye, he was annoyed.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"There are way too many men in this lounge, who don't seem to be able to keep their eyes off my wife."

Emmett rolled his eyes, "Not as many as I have to contend with." He grabbed Rose and pulled her closer to him. Her eyes met with mine and we grinned while ignoring our husbands. I didn't mind Edward being a little jealous, after all, he truly knew he had nothing to worry about, but I decided I didn't mind keeping him on his toes.

"Look Momma," Nessie said excitedly, "see the size of that plane, is that one ours?"

I shook my head as I didn't have the answer, so Edward walked over to the window and he and Nessie fell into a one way conversation about planes. Another sign Nessie had her father's passion for all things fast.

We only had a short wait before we boarded our flight and once on board, a steward handing out activity packs asked Nessie if she would like one. Renesmee had more than mastered the basics of colouring in well before now; however Edward and I, with the benefit of a number of children's television shows, had briefed her about this sort of human interaction.

"Nessie darling, you need to remember that out in the wide world, you look like a human child and most human's aren't going to realise you are as clever as we know you are. When we get on the plane, you have to behave like a normal little girl, like we watched on TV."

She had nodded her head and placed her palm on my cheek. Through the connection I could see a number of children playing from one show she had seen, and she was asking me if this is what she had to do.

"That's exactly it, we know you will be perfect," I praised her. Edward and I had sat either side of her however and we still kept a close eye on her. It was a difficult experience for me, being surrounded by the strong scent of humans for some many hours even though Edward had taken the precaution of hunting with me the last night.

"Even though you are especially brilliant at being a vegetarian vampire," he had laughed, "it will definitely help if we hunt tonight, just to make tomorrows flight easier for you."

I had readily agreed, the most people I had been around were during a couple of Alice's forced shopping trips and these didn't compare to being surrounded by several hundred enticingly scented passengers.

Our flight finally ended back in Port Angeles, Charlie had driven his cruiser and Sue driven Edward's Volvo out to meet us. Rachel and Paul had also come out and they greeted the wolves enthusiastically. We all piled into the cars and were soon pulling up outside our Forks house.

The wolves had gone straight home as the rest of the pack was throwing them a farewell party that night. They had extended the invitation to us but we thought they would probably have a better time without our presence. Charlie and Sue had decided to head to Charlie's house once Edward and I assured them we would bring Nessie around once we were unpacked.

I looked around the town as Edward drive at a speed that no longer frighten me, and I tried to focus on the way I had first seen my move to Forks. I had come to love the fact that everything was green and wet, and although I would always want to return to places like Isle Esme, where it was hot, I had come to appreciate the cloudy, raining weather that suited my new family so much. Edward noticing my reflection, caught my hand, and looked at me, wanting to know what I was thinking. I effortlessly lifted the shield and shared my thought with him. He gently squeezed my hand as we shared my thoughts. "I am certainly grateful that you unselfishly moved yourself away from Phoenix," he told me as he brushed his lips against my fingers. I revealed in his touch and felt more content than I was sure anyone had the right to be.

I realised as I watched Renesmee play with her Grandpa later that afternoon, that Sue was making a big difference in his life. It wasn't so much the cooking, although Charlie could definitely use all the help he could get in this department, it was that, like Renee and Phil, Charlie had someone to share his life with. I no longer worried about deserting him. I knew how much this last year had meant to him, spending time with Nessie and I, and despite the fact that Nessie was almost always shocking us with her speedy development, he had loved every minute with her, once he stopped questioning it.

"So Dad, do any fishing lately?"

"Billy and I went out yesterday and got a bag full, I can put some of for you if you like?"

I grimaced out of his line of sight, "Thanks Dad, but we're not hungry at the moment."

I am still not sure what he thinks we are but I certainly wasn't going to put him in danger by asking. He knew we weren't werewolves, after all, the wolves couldn't stop eating whenever there was food on offer, but I wasn't sure what he suspected. Perhaps he had suspended belief all together and just accepted that we were around for which I was grateful.

I gave him a gentle hug as we left that evening and he made plans to come over the next evening. "We'll be here until next Friday, so we can see each other every day until then," Edward told him.

"Great, see you tomorrow."

Our remaining time was filled with final packing and other arrangements. I took a trip with Edward to Seattle to see J regarding some updated paperwork we needed. "Mrs Cullen, I mean Bella," he corrected himself as he came out to greet us, "and you must be Mr Cullen?" He looked slightly nervous when he shook Edward's hand and ushered us towards his office.

"So what can I do for you both today?"

"We are moving to New Hampshire, so we just need to get some papers organised for Nessie."

"Of course, of course, anything you need."

Edward outlined that Nessie needed a new birth certificate and a passport in her name. My passport also needed to be updated as I looked too dissimilar to the old Bella for passport control. Esme had suggested that we might all take a trip to her Island soon and I loved the idea of Nessie getting the chance to learn to swim.

We left a short while later, with J's assurance that he would post everything on to our new address. We ended up walking towards the water, watching the wind whip up white caps on the ocean before us. Edward then suggested we walk to the main shopping area and as we got closer he was looking particularly excited. It was the sort of look he got when he was going to give me a gift so I stopped and refused to move until he told me what was going on.

"Come on Bella, I saw something in a shop window that I really liked and wanted you to have for our anniversary. I know how you feel about gifts however, so I thought I would show you first, then convince you to let me get it for you. Please?" he begged.

"Oh, all right," I muttered although not all that miffed, "lets go then." He halted in front of Tiffany's no less and pointed to a stunning diamond necklace on display.

"It isn't as beautiful as you, of course, but it will look beautiful on you, and it will make me happy if you let me buy it for you," he murmured in my ear as I looked at the necklace. What could I do but let him buy it for me when he made me feel so loved.

"Okay, but you have to let me buy you something equally excessive then," I laughed as I leaned up to kiss his perfect lips.

"It's a deal," he replied and pulled me into the store.

Half an hour later we walked out with my neck adorned with sparkling diamonds and Edward's wrist featuring a shiny new watch. I was also carrying another small bag with a lovely bracelet we felt Nessie would like.

"Ready to go home?" Edward asked.

"Yes please," I replied.

Nessie had loved her new gold bracelet and had to be persuaded with to remove it at night when she went to sleep. The last two weeks few by, with us spending our last days in Forks with my father and saying goodbye to everything I had known for the last few years.

"You know that we will back at the mid year break and we will see Charlie and Sue before then," Edward reminded me as we drove away from my father's house for the last time.

"I know but it just feels so permanent to move away. Not that I am worried about that," I smiled at him and squeezed the hand that held mine. "I guess I have just come to love Forks and all the squishy green stuff. I feel sad to leave it all behind."

The following day Jasper and Emmett pulled out of the drive sitting behind the wheels of two huge trucks filled with the contents of the Cullen's home. The rest of us, with Jake and Leah in the Rabbit, took up seats in the remaining cars left in the old Carriage House. We slowly drove down the drive and I could sense everyone's sadness to leave behind the country town we had called home, but as we pulled onto the highway and picked up speed, my thoughts turned to the next part of my life and college.

Thank you for reading and please review... sorry it has been so long between drinks!