Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Of Smart Kids and Childish Tantrums

Hermione followed Edward and Tony to the bedroom. Bella or not Bella, she still needed to get ready for the day and she wasn't going to indefinitely postpone the confrontation with the Muggle girl for whom Edward felt he couldn't live without. She saw Edward glance at her when she entered the bedroom, the latter was sitting next to Tony on the bed. Her little prince was introducing Wolfie—his plush toy wolf—to Edward.

"I won't be long," she softly said.

"Take your time," replied Edward, turning to her. "Tony needs to tell me more on his wonderful friend, Wolfie," he finished smiling at his son.

Hermione frowned as she looked at Tony still in his Fitchburg Finches pyjamas. Finally remembering that Tony's things were in that storage box not far from her flat, she called for Winky. The house-elf popped into the room with a crack startling Edward and Tony.

"Winky," she started, "Tony will need a change of clothes for the day. I'll need you to go fetch them for him."

"You should bring all his things and yours," suggested Edward, looking between Hermione and Winky. "Since we don't know how long you'll have to stay in hiding here, it'll save Winky unnecessary trips and bring less attention on you."

Considering her present situation, Hermione agreed that it was a very sensible option. Still, at the back of her mind, she considered that moving all her things there was not a smart move. She still told Winky to bring everything in, the house-elf popping herself away at the confirmation.

"Won't she need help with everything?" asked Edward.

"Winky can do great magic, Daddy," supplied Tony, grabbing his parents' attention. Hermione smiled proudly.

"You're a smart little boy, huh?" smirked Edward, looking at his son proudly.

"Grandpa said I got my smarts from Mummy," shared Tony, looking at Edward directly.

"You know, Tony? Daddy is smart too. Maybe, you got some of your smarts from your Daddy too," informed Edward, smiling at his son.

Tony looked back at Edward with a speculative gaze and contemplated his father for what seemed like long minutes before shrugging. "Yeah, maybe," he said, his tone clearly suggesting that he doubted his assessment. "Mum's still smarter."

Hermione had to bite her tongue to stop from laughing at Edward's mock affronted look. However, the rest of the household wasn't holding back as she heard loud laughter pouring in through the open door. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, Hermione saw a red truck appear on the driveway.

She sobered up instantly and before she could stop herself, she glanced at Edward. The latter was no longer smiling but he was not looking out of the window but instead at her. Tony was now standing on the bed to be able to look outside. Hermione shrugged before she walked into the adjacent bathroom and closed the door.

There were few things in life that Isabella Swan was certain of. Firstly, she disliked her birth name and preferred it when people called her Bella. Secondly, she was madly in love with her fiancé—Edward Cullen—a vampire. Thirdly, she was gonna get married soon. Well, as soon as, Edward settled for a date. Bella reasoned that she might as well fix a date herself and be done with it. Fourthly, she'd royally screwed her relationship with her best friend—Jacob Black—a shape-shifter and with all the Quileutes at the same time. Fifthly, she had no care about that because she'd soon be a vampire herself.

Bella knew what was going to happen if she was not turned in a vampire and the implications of her being turned into a vampire. The Volturi and the Quileutes would act accordingly depending on whatever case scenario.

Because of Edward's attempt to be killed by the Volturi if he'd succeeded in exposing her in Volterra, the vampire kings had ordered that the Cullens either kill her or change her. If not done by whatever timeline the Volturi deemed appropriate, they'd come to Forks to severely punish the Cullens. The most probable outcome would be to have Esme, Emmett and Rosalie being killed since those three—exceptional as they were—still didn't have a special ability unlike Edward, Jasper and Alice. The three latter vampires would then be coerced to join the Volturi guard and would never be able to leave because of Chelsea's ability. Carlisle would be invited to the Volturi mostly because of his old friendship with the the Volturi kings.

But, when Bella would become a vampire—there were no if's in Bella's mind—the Quileutes would go to war with the Cullens. All this would be due to the old treaty between the native tribe and the vampires. It didn't matter to Bella since the Cullens planned to move anyway and it wasn't uncommon for newlyweds to want a place of their own. All in all, it was inevitable. Bella would soon be a vampire and that was the only certainty that mattered in Bella's mind.

Now, as she stood in front of the beautiful Cullen house, she knew what she had to do. She was gonna fix a date for the wedding and Edward had better agree. It was after all Edward's suggestion that they marry before she be changed. That was the deal between them anyway.

She flew out of her truck and ran to the door of the Cullen half-expecting Edward to be waiting for her at the door. She stumbled once but wasn't faltered on her way. She banged on the door and waited for someone to come open.

Rosalie opened the door with a scowl. "What do you want, Bella?" she barked.

"Good day to you too, Rosalie," she replied, faux-cheerfully.

It was evident to Bella that there was no love lost between Rosalie and herself. It was mostly due to Bella's choices regarding her mortality. Bella walked-in when Rosalie moved out of the way. She was about to go directly to Edward's room when she realised that the Cullens had guests.

Curious by nature, she entered the living-room to greet Esme and Carlisle. Alice waved at her from the other end of room and resumed her hushed conversation with Jasper. Bella stopped walking completely when she saw Emmett sitting on the couch with a ten-year old boy with curly dark brown hair and dimples dozing in the burly vampire's lap. If Emmett ever had a son, she would probably say that the boy looked exactly how she would have pictured the latter's son to look like.

"Had Emmett had an affair behind Rosalie's back and was that the reason why Edward hadn't joined her last night? Had it been a family emergency?" she asked herself.

She glanced at Rosalie who'd carefully and gracefully sat down next to Emmett in order not to wake the boy. "But that was supposed to be impossible, right? Vampires can't have kids?" she questioned.

She moved again to greet Esme and Carlisle and was reminded of the two guests she'd seen from the entryway. Having said good-morning to the parental figures of the Cullen household, she turned to look at the two guests. One man and a woman who were strangely dressed, the woman's attire was however standing out.

She had waist-length, straggly, dirty blonde hair, somewhat protuberant grey eyes, and faint eyebrows. Her large eyes gave Bella the impression that the blonde stranger was surprised to see her there. The blond tilted her head to the left examining Bella unashamedly but the dangling earrings caught her attention. "Are those earrings in the form of radishes?" thought Bella. The bright turquoise dress that she was wearing along with a simple pair of yellow spaghetti strapped sandals completed the look. Bella thought that the strange woman was wrongly dressed for the weather of Forks. It had started snowing rather early in the season and it was still cold.

The young man was also blond, with soft baby blue eyes and had a round shaped face. He was quite tall and could probably measure up to Emmett. He looked quite confident. As Bella's eyes moved to him, she was surprised to see that the latter was also observing her with a somewhat critical eye. Unlike the woman, the man was dressed impeccably for the weather. He had grey slacks, a navy blue shirt and a thick reddish-brown coat with an emblazoned R and G was what he was wearing. A simple pair of polished black shoes completed the look.

"Isabella Swan, please meet Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom," Carlisle introduced, after what seemed like long minutes of mutual observation between the two strangers and Bella.

"Bella, only Bella," corrected Bella automatically, glancing from the Cullen patriarch to the newly introduced pair.

"Oh, I rather think we'll prefer sticking with Isabella, if you don't mind?" inquired Luna, in a lilting British accent. She turned to Neville next to her, "Don't you agree?"

"Yes, I agree completely with you there, Luna. Isabella it is, Isabella it shall be," answered Neville, not taking his eyes off Bella.

Well, Bella did mind but she wasn't going to say otherwise and thus only shrugged in response.

"Perfect," said Neville, his eyes finally leaving Bella's face to look at something behind her.

Bella turned around to see a new woman upstairs. She was exiting the guest room adjacent to Edward's room and as if feeling eyes on her, she looked down fixing her gaze on Bella.

"What was it with these strangers and their constant staring?" Bella thought.

The young woman peaked into the guest room door just as she heard Edward and a child laughing. A pop was heard and the woman said, "Winky, please take care of the unpacking for Tony and Teddy. Once this is done, I want you to go to Grimmauld's Place for the time being. I'll call for you if necessary."

"Yes, Mistress Hermione," Bella heard a squeaky voice reply.

The woman Bella now knew as Hermione glanced over her shoulder to look again at Bella with a speculative gaze before turning back to talk to—Winky—that yet unseen woman. "Please stay in here, Winky. There are things that are still hard to explain."

She closed the door before turning and walked down the stairs. "So, are we ready to go?" she asked, as she walked into the living room. "I don't believe I have the pleasure of knowing you. Hermione Granger," she introduced, thrusting her hand in the air for Bella to shake.

Bella stared at it before shaking it hesitantly. "Bella Swan," she said to the woman.

She didn't miss the shudder that shone on Hermione's face at hearing her name for a flicker of a second before it morphed back to an amiable one.

"Isn't your name, Isabella? I believe I'll stick to Isabella," Hermione simply said.

"Not this again," thought Bella.

On the couch, Emmett had shifted himself and Esme had picked up the little boy before she slowly walked up the stairs and disappeared from view.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Isabella," Neville said. "How about we get this party moving?"

"Yeah, let's move," Emmett agreed.

He moved to Rosalie and placed a light kiss on his mate's forehead. Bella watched as Jasper moved away from Alice's side before joining Emmett at the back-door.

"You'll be careful, Hermione?" asked Carlisle.

Bella was surprised by the tender look on Carlisle's face. It was almost fatherly, just like how Charlie looked when she began dating Edward. It was a bit disconcerting really. She'd noticed Carlisle's odd behaviour when she was around. Each time, she came around Carlisle would either exit the room pretending he was needed somewhere else or that he was going to work. Sometimes, when Bella's visit had been announced in advance, Carlisle would work overtime and not be back until Bella was gone. Bella had the odd feeling that Carlisle had been avoiding her since her return from Italy.

She had no idea why though and hadn't voiced her observations to Edward. The mind-reading vampire would probably already know the reason behind the odd behaviour but had not shared his findings to Bella.

"Yes, I will. Don't worry, Carlisle. You know that I can look after myself," replied Hermione, looking at the Cullen patriarch with affection.

"I know that but please still be careful. okay?" insisted Carlisle. At Hermione's nod of acquiescence, Carlisle turned to his two sons—Emmett and Jasper—and to Neville and Luna. "That also goes for the four of you," he directed.

A chorus of agreements later, the two vampires, the two women and the man exited the house through the back door before disappearing from view in the dark forest.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?" Bella nearly yelled in frustration after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"There we go again with the childish tantrum," sneered Rosalie, still standing at the kitchen door but glaring hard at Bella.

Edward heard Bella's outburst clearly. He'd heard everything that had been going on in the living-room without difficulty. The super-hearing he had as a vampire was useful in that sense and with his mind-reading ability, he'd been able to read his family's thoughts and see for himself how it was going on. He wasn't surprised that he wasn't able to delve in Luna and Neville's minds.

But it was a very different feeling from what he went through when he tried reading Bella's mind. Each time he tried to read Bella's mind, he got nothing. No sound or whisper was heard. He knew from reading Aro's thoughts that Bella was a natural shield and would probably get a similar ability if she was a vampire.

However, when he tried reading Luna, Neville or Hermione's minds, all he got was static. It was like a wall was built around their minds shielding those thoughts from his view. He knew the thoughts were there but no amount of concentration could breach those walls. All sounds came out muffled when he was able to concentrate. Even Tony seemed to be immune to his ability. Edward was however able to read his son's thoughts when he tried hard. Though each time Edward tried, it seemed to become tougher to do that.

Tony was telling him about his favourite sport. Quidditch seemed like fun. He could imagine Emmett whooping if they ever watched a game played on flying brooms. Apparently, Hermione's family and friends were big fans of it to Hermione's dismay. There was even a World Cup being hosted in the country that year and Tony seemed to want to go watch it.

"Daddy," started Tony, grabbing Edward's attention, "why don't Mummy and you live together? Like Grandpa and Grandma?" he asked.

"How could he answer that?" thought Edward. He looked down at his son sitting down in his bath and who was looking up at him with his beautiful green eyes.

"Your mum has a very important work to do but we'll be living together soon. I promise you this, Tony," replied Edward, in earnest.

"Okay," accepted Tony, turning back to splash a little more in his bath. He turned again to look at Edward before asking, "Does that mean that Maximus isn't going to be my new daddy anymore?"

Edward blinked. "Who?"

He didn't get his answer as Bella's voice was heard through the house.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?" yelled Bella.

Edward sighed as Tony's head snapped to the door. "Who is that?" he asked moving to get out of the tub.

Edward picked up his son and placed him down on the floor before grabbing a towel to wrap around Tony.

"Will you please keep it down?" asked Rosalie, advancing on Bella. "Or I swear to God that I'll silence your loud mouth permanently myself?" his sister warned.

Rosalie was afraid that Bella's yelling would wake up the grieving Teddy sleeping upstairs in her room where Esme had put him. She didn't want Emmett to be mad at her again after she'd sided with Alice earlier.

"Then tell me what's happening here? What is it you're hiding from me again?" insisted Bella, in a calmer tone. She'd been shocked by Rosalie's threat and by the fact that no one had rebuked Rosalie.

"Not everything is about you, Bella," sneered Rosalie.

"Bella, you must understand that this not our secret to tell," tried Carlisle.

"We can't tell you, Bella," mediated Alice. "There are secrets that not even us can share. It wouldn't be a secret after all."

"But who were those people?" asked Bella, with insistence.

Meanwhile, Edward had moved to the bedroom with Tony and his son wanted his Chuddley Canons shirt. It was apparently his uncle's Ron favourite Quidditch team. Edward had stared at the bright orange shirt and shook his head. He finished dressing up Tony and told the latter to stay in the room with Winky.

It was time to deal with Bella. Like a band-aid.

He walked out of the bedroom and silently walked down. Once, he was standing next to the couch and facing Bella, he said, "You need to go."

"What?" choked the brunette.

"I said that you need to go, Bella. Never come back. This is over. What we had is over," he breathed out.

"You're not doing this again, Edward?" asked Bella, holding onto a chair for support.

"Yes, I am and this time, it is definitive," Edward announced.

It wasn't as difficult as it seemed to Edward. He heard Tony bouncing on the bed upstairs and giggling as Winky was reprimanding the little boy. He smiled.

Bella's eyes darkened as she saw Edward smile. "So, this is how it is? You're gonna end this—us—with a big fat smile?" Bella said, in disbelief.

She stayed silent for a few minutes looking at every member of his family and then stared at back at him. She then glanced up to the guest room before frowning.

"Is it because of that woman? Have I shook hands with the woman who's gonna be the end of my world?" questioned Bella.

Edward saw Rosalie roll her eyes and his sister thinking that Bella was over-dramatic.

Looking back at Bella, Edward simply uttered, "Yes."

"WHAT? YOU ARE LEAVING ME FOR THAT STRANGE WOMAN? DO YOU FORGET OUR DEAL OR EVEN THE VOLTURI? YOU DO REMEMBER THAT, DON'T YOU?" yelled Bella again.

Edward heard Rosalie sigh as they heard two doors open upstairs and the distinct pitter-patter of two young boys. The Cullens and Bella looked up as Teddy walked onto the landing and Tony peered down at them over the railing.

"Now, you've done it," snapped Rosalie, in aggravation.

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT TWO KIDS!" answered Bella. "MY LIFE IS..."

Whatever was happening to Bella's life, the Cullens would never know because Tony chose that moment to voice out his opinion.

"Don't you yell at my Daddy, strange lady. My mummy is gonna take care of you," he announced.

Bella's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she took a good look at Tony before she stumbled and knocked herself out by hitting her head on a side table.

"Pathetic," sniffed Rosalie.

Author note:

Here you go, the ninth chapter of this story. I know it's still short but I hope you'll still like it.

Personally, I don't know if I managed to fully comprehend the psyche of Bella Swan. I don't know if she's really in character or if this was a bit too much of a character bashing. I've always disliked character bashing in stories and I wouldn't want to do just that here.

While I wonder if I might have overdone it here, I still think that Bella wouldn't take kindly to secrets being kept from her again by the Cullens. She'd feel like she had every right to know who were Hermione, Neville and Luna. I don't doubt that if someone told her that the Cullens couldn't share the secret with her because it was the law and there would be repercussions, she'd understand. But, that can't be done because of the International Statute of Secrecy and Bella—at least in this chapter—isn't in the right state of mind and is bound to loose steam one way or another.

Add in the fact, that she'd just seen a woman exiting the same room where she knows Edward is in, there's appropriate reasons for misunderstanding and her own insecurities to show up.

If there's any indication of her character in the books, it was how she handled the first breakup. How desperate, dependent and clingy she was. So, now that Edward is breaking up with her for a second time, I don't believe that she would have taken it in stride or even the same way as the first. So, that's why I think an appropriate reaction would be anger and since she can't hurt Edward, she can still yell at him and curse his bollocks in one go.

But, anyway, that's just my way of thinking and what's done is done.

Thanks again to all those who have reviewed this story, followed it or placed it in their favourites. Please know that all support, whether good or bad is still well received. They are the fuel that keep me moving and gong forward in my stories.

Have a great day and take care.

Cheers,

Ludo13