Disclaimer: The characters, over-arching plot and even the settings belong to Stephenie Meyer. Good thing too.

AN: I can't tell you how much fun I had with the house...

Chapter 2

They arrived in Vermont three days later. Alice had, of course, booked First Class for the five of them; a fact for which Bella was growing accustomed, even if she still groused about it.

There was a rental car waiting at the airport; a large SUV instead of one of the usual Cullen type sports cars. It almost looked like the type of thing a normal family would drive, if they needed the space. Edward took the wheel, which meant Bella automatically got shot gun. Esme, though she drove when necessary, had never really come to enjoy being behind the wheel of a car. Bella already knew this about her and thought it was a bit funny, especially when Carlisle had regaled her with the tale of trying to teach his wife to drive in 1922. Esme was about the only one in the family who didn't have a car obsession. It was probably one of the reasons that Bella liked her so much.

Edward hadn't lied. The house lay barely half an hour south of the city, at least with a Cullen at the wheel. As they drove out of the airport, Edward promised to return and show her the Vermont campus later in the week, since Bella had been denied that visit due to being stuck in a hospital with broken ribs in November. He said so with a slightly long suffering tone of voice, which clearly meant that he was doing it only to make her happy and he would much rather Bella just accept Dartmouth and be done with it.

The area they drove into, south of the city, was heavily treed with winding country roads leading off from the main highway. After a while, Edward turned down one, marked with a string of numbers, rather than a name. Bella had never really understood the penchant for numbering, instead of naming, roads in North America. Names were much easier to remember than digits and cardinal directions. It was not a long way down the road before Edward brought the SUV to a stop on the gravel shoulder.

'We're here?' Bella asked, surprised. But then it had only been thirty minutes.

'Well, it's another two miles down the driveway, but this is the entrance,' he replied.

Esme had already hopped out of the back to survey the property entrance. It was as nondescript as the highway turn off to the Cullen's house back in Forks. But there was a signpost standing on the right side, back near the trees. It lacked a sign, however.

'We'll have to have something made. Perhaps we should name the house?' Esme suggested. 'We've not done that in years!'

'Yes,' Alice agreed, climbing out of the car too. 'I don't think putting a sign out here that says 'Cullen' is a good idea, but we should have a name for the place. People do that all the time around here. We can think about it this week.'

'Don't you already know?' Bella wondered aloud.

Alice smiled cheekily. 'I don't know everything, Bella! And besides, no one's made the decision yet. There are quite a few options.'

'We'll find something that's just perfect and that everyone likes,' Esme butted in; the mediator as always. 'Now, I want to see the house!' she told Edward.

Smiling, he climbed back into the driver's seat. 'Bella, why don't you let Esme up front for the last bit,' he asked, though Bella had already had the thought herself. She climbed into the back with Alice and Jasper, letter their pseudo mother sit up front.

It was a winding drive through the forest, much like in Forks, but the trees were certainly different. The constant rain in Washington State left moss growing on everything and created an almost rainforest type look to the woods. Here, the underbrush was much dryer and the tree branches started higher from the ground. As such, the forest on either side looked more open and welcoming. They finally took a sharp corner and emerged into a cleared area. It wasn't as big as the meadow of the house in Forks, but it could be considered expansive. The house looked the same as the picture Bella had seen at Christmas, though she couldn't really remember it in exact detail. It did, however, look even bigger.

The SUV stopped in front, on a paved circular drive and they all got out.

'Oh, Edward,' Esme was the first to speak. 'The pictures don't do it justice. It's absolutely perfect,' she said and reached over to hug her son.

'It seemed to be, when I found it. I didn't even need to ask Alice for help,' he explained, with a wink at his sister. 'Oh, you'll need this,' he said, stopping his mother as she started towards the front door. Esme turned around to find him holding out a key.

'Thank you,' she laughed, and with the air of a child, bounded across the drive to the door and unlocked it.

Edward wrapped an arm around Bella's waist as they followed Alice and Jasper to the entrance. 'I've not seen her this happy about a house since we found the place in Forks.'

'But that was only a few years ago,' Bella reminded him.

Edward's sudden look was indescribable. 'Actually, we purchased the house in Washington about a decade ago. We usually purchase houses ahead of time. We bought that one before we moved to Alaska and Esme spent some time renovating it while we were there. No one in Forks knew, of course; it's not exactly on the main street.'

Bella had no response to that, so instead she moved on to an exclamation of surprise as they passed through the front door. 'Wow,' she said.

Edward laughed. 'It's different,' he admitted.

It really was. The house had an aristocratic feel to it and the front entranceway didn't disappoint. A large two story area was filled on one side by a dark wood staircase. Above them, from the ceiling, hung an antique looking chandelier. To the far right, an archway led to what looked like a formal sitting room, and a similar one on the left led to a presumed dining room. Ahead and to the left, a smaller entryway disappeared down a hall, probably to the kitchen area. Above, the stairs ending a wood railing that ran nearly entirely around the front entrance, stopping only when it reached the very front wall of the house. Off it, Bella could see doors, but the most impressive one was the double carved wood doors at the very top of the stairs.

'It's a wow,' Bella corrected him, not at all ashamed that she was staring. Alice and Esme seemed to have similar facial expressions.

'Shall we explore?' he asked, offering a hand.

Smiling, Bella took his cold grip in her own and dragged him to the right towards the sitting room first. There was no furniture, of course, but the walls were still decorated, quite tastefully, if a bit old fashioned even for her senses. Esme would probably want to modernise the place. The sitting room was extremely traditional, with very elegant style wallpaper in blue and white on the upper half of the walls. There was what looked to be an original fireplace on the far wall, however, which Bella took an instant liking to.

Bella could hear Alice and Jasper above; they must have taken the stairs, and Esme was probably doing her own exploring. Indeed, she and Edward ran into her in the kitchen behind the sitting room. It was a beautiful and very open space, quite recently redone, but clearly dating to the old days when it was the servants who cooked and not the house owners. A wood door led to a herb garden and a wide lawn that ended in the forest.

'This is really beautiful, Esme,' Bella told the vampire, who was exploring the separate pantry.

'Isn't it? Edward chose very well. This reminds me of the houses when I was young. Carlisle is going to adore it!'

Bella smiled at that. She had an inkling that Carlisle had never not adored a single house they had lived in, as long as it had Esme's presence in it.

They wandered down the side hall to where the dining room should be, and Bella noticed the door that led in at the back. 'For servants?' she asked Edward.

'Yes.'

'Will we use it as a dining room?'

He smirked. 'Well, you have to eat. We'll put a table in, for appearances sake, but I expect you'll spend most of your time eating in the kitchen.'

'Yes please,' Bella agreed and turned to draw her vampire upstairs.

The double doors were now open, leading into an opulently decorated, and completely overdone, master suite. 'Guess this will be the first room that gets decorated,' she decided.

'Quite,' Edward agreed, trying to ignore the forest green walls and gold detailing.

They found Jasper and Alice in the room on the right. The walls were done in heavy gilded wallpaper that Alice was already hard at work to remove, with only her fingers for help. She'd managed half a wall already. Jasper was standing there regarding her with a bemused expression.

'She hates it,' he told them unnecessarily.

'It's a crime to interior design!' Alice whined, ripping through a large swatch of gold floral print. She was angrier than Bella had ever seen her.

'We'll...leave you to that,' Edward decided, with a pitying look at his brother.

Jasper sighed deeply.

'I think that means the room across the hall is ours,' Edward turned to Bella.

It was slightly less criminally decorated then the other room, but only slightly. Bella could see her chosen colours of blue and chocolates working well here. There were three large windows that let in a lot of light, two of which faced over the garage annex.

She frowned.

'What's wrong?' Edward immediately asked.

'It's just that I see a problem.'

He quirked an eyebrow. 'Well, yes, there are only three rooms.'

There was a long pause before Bella blushed. 'Um, that's not actually what I meant. God, don't tell Rosalie I forgot about them.'

With a laugh Edward came to stand at her side by one of the windows. 'Then what's the problem?'

'It's awfully small,' she said, gesturing to the white building outside.

'You're worried that the garage is small?' he asked in disbelief.

'Well, I wouldn't want you arguing over who gets to park inside!' she said, indignation for not being taken seriously in her voice.

'Oh, Bella,' Edward said, ignoring her annoyance. 'We are planning to build a larger garage over there, by the tree line.' He pointed further away from the house. 'We'll have to clear a bit of the forest, but if it's out of sight, so much the better. Emmett and Rosalie will have a suite in the upstairs. That way, they don't have to bother the rest of us.'

'That's a good plan,' Bella agreed. 'A very good plan. It's a very nice house, but now that I see it, I don't think it's as big as the one in Forks.'

'Actually, it's about the same size. We'll add to it, though. Esme already wants a sunroom off the kitchen and there's free space over the garage here that Carlisle can have for an office. There's a back stair from the kitchen to it. He might find it a bit quieter there. And we can build the other garage as big as we need, with workshop space for anyone who wants it.'

Bella attuned her ears across the hall to hear Alice still ripping at the walls. 'Yeah, the garage is a good idea,' she reiterated.

Edward snorted softly into her hair. 'So, do you think this can be home?'

It was a long moment before she turned in his arms to look at him. 'Yes, I think it can. I think it already is. Home is where you are,' she told him.

'How can I love you more and more every single day?' Edward asked in wonder.

'I don't know,' Bella admitted. Edward looked concerned for a passing second before she smirked. 'Maybe we should ask Carlisle if there's something wrong with you. I thought vampires couldn't change,' she teased.

'I suppose I'm an oddity then,' he agreed.

'Well, you're my oddity. And since I'm a bit bonkers myself, I think we make a pretty good pair.'

'Mad as hatters,' he laughed.

'At least!' Alice called from across the hall, her figure framed in the opposing doorway. 'Stark raving mad is more like it!'

'Love you too!' Bella called across to her.

'Children!' Esme's crystal clear voice rang out from the floor below. 'You aren't five, so kindly stop acting like it!'

Bella buried her face in her boyfriend's chest and laughed.