Home Sweet Home

Carlisle's POV

We were almost home. Home sweet home. I was anxious to get Bella set up in her new room. Alice and Esme had designed it for her. They had done a great job. It had a beautiful maple bedroom set; including a king size four poster bed, a dresser, two bed side tables and a computer desk. It had a plush white carpet and they painted the walls a soft lavender color. They had put up white curtains in the two large windows. They left the room simple, with minimal décor, so Bella could decorate it to her liking. We bought her a desktop computer with a good sound system so she could listen to music and etc. Alice was already planning a shopping trip with her.

Alice and Esme couldn't wait for Bella's arrival. Rosalie on the other hand, disagreed with what we were doing. She quite vocally expressed her disapproval. She'd come around eventually, I was sure.

My biggest concern now was how to explain her disappearance to her parents. Originally, we planned on discussing it with Bella, hoping she would be able to help us come up with something her parents would believe and eventually accept. Now that we know her father lives in Forks, well, that changes everything. It might be an advantage or a disadvantage. I haven't decided yet. We'll have to work something out.

I looked over at Emmett and whispered so quietly Bella would not be able to hear. "Emmett, do you think Rosalie will be alright?"

Emmett didn't look over at me; he kept his eyes on his Sports Illustrated. "She'll deal. Bella seems like a sweet girl, and she doesn't deserve any cattiness from Rose, I'll try to keep her in check." Emmett, looked over his shoulder at Bella. I glanced at them from the rearview mirror. Jasper had picked up a novel, while Edward and Bella looked out the window. Edward was pointing something out to Bella, she smiled and nodded. I turned my eyes back to the road. I was right. She did have a beautiful smile.

I had a feeling everything was going to work out just fine.

Balloons, Streamers and Surprises

Alice's POV

I could hear the Volvo SUV coming up the road; they would arrive in a few minutes. I couldn't wait! The last few months have been stressful for me. When the visions of the vamp/human war started, I was terrified and sickened. I consider myself to be a pretty easy going, perky and generally good humored person and I don't like having knowledge that something terrible might happen. As you can imagine, it puts a damper on things.

The moment we decided as a family, (well, except for Rosalie) to go get the girl, my visions changed dramatically. The Volturi will lose interest in her, and the war will be avoided. This girl was going to change our life, especially Edward's. I chuckled to myself. Oh poor Edward was in for a pleasant surprise. I thought about telling him beforehand but changed my mind. I love surprises!

I looked around the house, Esme and I had put up balloons and streamers. This morning we went and got groceries for the girl. We weren't sure what she liked so we stocked up on everything. I was already planning a shopping trip for her.

I could hear the Volvo coming up the driveway now. Esme and I went out onto the porch to greet them.

The Welcoming

Bella's POV

"We're almost home." Edward looked down at me and smiled again. I wondered if I would ever stop blushing when he smiled at me. I'm sure he noticed. He probably got a kick out of it. That's probably why he kept smiling.

Carlisle turned onto a narrow road which I hadn't even noticed until we were already turning onto it. We drove a little while longer, and then finally came upon the house. I had to admit, the property and the house were beautiful. It was a large three story home, with a lovely porch, where two women stood waving. It was an old white house, but it was charming.

Carlisle pulled up alongside the garage, and turned off the vehicle. I stepped out of the vehicle and they all looked at me to see my response. Before I could say anything, one of the women that were standing on the porch ran down to me and gave me a big hug. She was tiny little thing, with a short dark hair and the same topaz colored eyes. For such a tiny little thing she hugged hard.

"Hi, I'm Alice. I'm so glad your home. You'll be so happy here, and trust me, I know!" She spoke so fast I could barely keep up. "We're going to be the best of friends! Do you like shopping? Well, of course you do. I'm taking you shopping so we can buy everything you need." Shopping? God, I hated shopping. "Wait until you see your room. You'll love it! We painted it lavender. But if you don't like lavender than we can repaint it any color you like, green, blue or even black, whatever you like! Come inside, so I can show you!"

The little pixie ran off onto the porch waiting for me to follow, when Carlisle spoke up. "Hold on Alice, we haven't even finished introductions yet. Where is Rosalie? I asked her to be here."

The other women walked up to Carlisle and gave him a hug and a soft kiss on the cheek. "Rosalie went out. She'll be back later." Then she turned to me. "Hi, I'm Esme, Carlisle's wife, and this little motor mouth is Alice, Jasper's wife. We'll introduce you to Rosalie later she had to go out."

I smiled. I couldn't help but like these two women, even with Alice's threats of shopping trips. Esme was beautiful and she seemed kind and almost motherly. Alice was a little firecracker, full of energy. Her good humor was contagious.

"Hi, I'm Bella Swan. It's nice to meet you." I wasn't sure what else to say. It was a pleasure to be kidnapped and brought here, or it was a pleasure to watch vampires tear each other apart in order to stop some war and save my life.

They led me into the house and I was amazed at how bright and cheerful the house was. It was really very pretty. I almost laughed out loud. They had hung balloons, streamers,

and a big welcome home sign!