Disclaimer: Stephenie owns the names, I own the plotline.

The second chapter, some parts of Bella's past revealed.

Someones from the Past

It's been a week since Bella received the mail, after that no other mail has come. Right now Bella is getting ready for going to the Cullen's. She couldn't get a chance to meet Esme as she was out of town for some business. Today, everyone at the 12th had been invited to dine at the Cullen's since it was the day the 12th was opened 10 years ago.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed as she tried the tenth dress. Nothing in her wardrobe is suitable for wearing to a dinner party. Since Bella doesn't like to go shopping so she is often at a shortage of dresses. Mostly she wears dresses lend to her by Angela but as Angela wasn't available, Bella was a mess. Just when she was reaching towards her eleventh dress she got an idea, it was almost like a bulb glowed in her head. She picked her phone and called one of the most fashionable people on this planet.

"Bella?" she picked on the first ring.

"Hi Alice, I need your help." She came directly to the subject due to the lack of time.

"I'll be there in ten." With that the line went dead. Bella wondered how Alice knows what she needed. Maybe she really is a physic. True to her words, the doorbell rang after precise 10 minutes from the call. Bella opened the door to find an armed pixie along with a blonde bombshell.

"We got to hurry." Alice said as she rushed inside and spread her supplies on the table.

"Whoa Alice, calm down." Bella said as she saw Alice working around like the lightning.

"I am calm." She shrieked.

"Did you have coffee?" Bella asked suspiciously. Once Alice had got a dare of drinking five double espressos. After that day, everyone kept Alice away from coffee in any form.

"Just four." She said so low as if talking to herself.

"Four?" Bella said in horror. She looked at Rosalie who shook her head in misery.

"Alright, now sit here." Alice commanded and Bella obeyed, very well knowing her hyperactive nature after a cup of coffee let alone four. "Good, now I have the perfect dress for you. So you just sit silently and let me do your make up while Rosie does your hairs." When she didn't hear any protests she smiled and went to work.

After an hour of hair pulling and intense pampering, Bella was finally ready.

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At the Cullen house everything was a mess. Thanks to the soccer game yesterday a lot of damage had been created and since Esme arrived around noon, not much time was left in her hands to clean up as well as cook.

Carlisle had called Esme the other day to inform her that Bella is in town. She was delighted to hear that since it's been years from when she last saw her goddaughter. But along with that he also informed her that it was the 10th anniversary of the 12th so there was a dinner party organized at their house. She took the next available flight and hurried home in order to make it on time. As Esme opened the front door she froze. It looked like a hurricane had swept through the house. Esme was mad, no she was furious.

"Carlisle! Boys! Down here!" but when they didn't come she became even more furious. "Now!" She exclaimed as slowly all four of them descended the stairs with their heads hung in shame and eyes clouded with fear. "What is all this?" she demanded with her hands on her hips as she glared at all three of them. In that stance she was looking so dangerous that even a lion can act as a cat for not coming under her wrath that moment.

"Sorry ma, we just got a bit carried away…..." Edward spoke but trailed away when he saw the dangerous expression on her face.

"What do you mean by 'got a bit carried away'?" she demanded furiously.

"We were watching the soccer game last night. At first we were sitting…..." Emmett started explaining but went off due to the lack of words so Jasper decided to rescue him from Esme's wrath.

"But when the game ended the house was a mess." He finished at which Emmett shot him a grateful smile. The Hale's and the Cullen's have been friends for ages. When Rosalie and Jasper first shifted to New York they lived with the Cullen's. As time passed Alice bought an apartment for herself and Rosalie moved in with her but Jasper stayed. Esme has always considered Jasper as her son so if there is any trouble, all three of the boys are punished equally.

"We even tried to clean the house, but it only made it worse." Carlisle explained, hoping that it would ease Esme's anger to know that they tried to fix but little did he know it only added fuel to the fire.

"Oh god!" she said as she pressed her hand to her forehead. "What am I going to do with you all?" she said looking around, examining the damage.

"Let us go without any punishment." Emmett muttered in a low voice but Esme heard him loud and clear.

"This is enough." She said "Every time you get out of this easily but this time you will be severely punished." She said in an angry voice. While the boy's eyes went wide, Esme thought of an appropriate punishment. "No more soccer for a month." She said in a determined tone.

"But!" the four of them winned. Even Carlisle was afraid of Esme and could not defy her final decision.

"No buts'!" she said in a tone that made them quite at once. "Another word and soccer banned for the whole year!" at this all three of them gasped but remained quite. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes" the answered in unison.

"Good, now all four of you grab a broom and start sweeping while I change and make dinner." With that she marched up the stairs with her luggage leaving the boys in defeat.

It has been an hour since Esme arrived, and since then the boys have been sweeping constantly in order to get the work done on time. They were wreaked.

"Oh god! What bad have I done to deserve this?" Emmett exclaimed drmatically as he sat on the recliner, Jasper shook his head and muttered lazy. "Hey! I heard that!"

"Then stop being lazy and do some work, there is still loads left." Jasper scolded.

"Yeah, stop being dramatic and start sweeping." Edward scolded, too, while he cleaned the table. With a sigh Emmett got up and resumed his work.

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Bella sat on the couch, sipping coffee while she waited for the girls. After Bella had gotten ready, Rosalie and Alice started getting ready themselves, leaving Bella in the living room while they hogged the bedroom and bathroom. Bella was not at all surprised by Alice's ways. Back in school, Alice used to be the same. Always having the perfect dress for any event or outing, even as small as going mini golf. Alice's parents lived in Phoenix for about 2 years until they got divorced and Alice's mother got her custody and they moved to New York, Alice's city of dreams. The thing that surprised Bella the most was Alice's profession. She always thought Alice would want to become a fashion designer, but it was shocking for her to discover that she works with corpses. The small, sensitive Alice turned into a strong, independent Alice and Bella was immensely happy for her. But a part of it still seem weird which bugged Bella to no end.

"Ready!" Alice squealed as she exited the room with Rosalie in tow. "How do we look?" she asked excitedly as she twirled around so that Bella could get a better look.

"Perfect" was her simple reply. When Bella say perfect, she means it and Alice was aware of this so she squealed in happiness.

"Thanks. Now…..." But she was cut off by her phone ringing. "Oops, excuse me." She said as she went in the other room to answer the call leaving Rosalie and Bella together. They waited in silence, none of the two wanting to speak. A minute later Alice skipped into the room. "We have an emergency."

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They had just a few hours left and nothing was set. Due to the lack of groceries, Esme had to go on an emergency shopping trip which left her with limited time to cook. Besides that, the mess was cleaned but the house was looking empty and the boys couldn't understand how to decorate. After 15 minutes of discussion, more like argumenting, they gave up.

"What are we going to do?" Carlisle sounded afraid.

"It's an emergency." Emmett said.

"This calls for extreme measures." With that Edward got up and went in the kitchen with his phone on his ears. Carlisle shot confused glance to both the boys at which they shook their head, being confused themselves.

"Hello?" the phone was answered on the third ring.

"We need your help or Esme will kill us." Edward sounded desperate and needy.

"We'll be there in 20 minutes until then have these things ready." He quickly took the kitchen pad and started scribbling the items told.

"Alright, see you in 20." With that a click was heard and the call ended. He walked back to the living room with the list. "We need these things in 20 minutes." He said as he threw the list on the table so everyone could have a look.

"You called Alice." Emmett said the second he looked at it.

"Did you expect us to do it all by ourselves?" he challenged.

"No" he said getting up. They spend the next 20 minutes searching the house for the items on the list. In exact 20 minutes the doorbell rang. Jasper went to answer the door as a squealing pixie skipped into the house followed by a beautiful blonde and an amazed brunette. As they heard the arrival of the girls, all of the boys came and joined them. The sight of Alice and Rosalie knocked the breath out of Emmett and Jasper. To them the girls were looking nothing less than goddesses but they immediately covered their emotions with a poker face and tried to converse naturally. Edward too thought of Bella as beautiful but pushed the thought aisde.

"What have you guys been doing all this time?" Alice asked, looking around as she accessed the area.

"Cleaning" all of them answered in unison. Alice and Rosalie shook their heads, knowing the degree of mess they can cause.

"Huh?" Bella said in confusion.

"Later. We should get started if have to get finished on time." Alice said heading towards the table where the material she requested was kept.

"What? In that dress?" Jasper asked, eyeing their dresses skeptically.

"Yeah, by the time we will be finished we won't have time to change back." Rosalie explained as she joined Alice. "And we can always wear aprons" she added.

"Where's Esme?" Bella asked as she continued looking around the house. Bella found the house huge and beautiful. From the very first look of it, she could tell that it belonged to the Cullen's. It was not due to the size but the style that resembled Esme's.

"She's gone to get some groceries." Carlisle explained.

"Alright guys, take these" Alice said holding the decoration material "and wrap it around the banister." She handed the long purple ribbon to Jasper. While Alice explained the boys what to out and where to put Bella examined the house.

"You like the house?" Carlisle asked, seeing Bella look around.

"Yeah, it's really beautiful. "She replied as she turned around and smiled at him. "Esme's work." It was not a question but a statement.

"Yes, she really enjoyed decorating it." he said with dreamy looking eyes.

"When did you…..." She trailed off not knowing how to continue but Carlisle had a very good idea of what she was going to ask so to save her from the trouble of forming appropriate sentences he smiled and answered her unspoken question.

"We adopted Emmett and Edward two years after we moved." He started as he walked "Edward was our first son. We didn't actually adopt him; he was the son of a very good friend of mine. When he died Edward had no one so Esme and I decided to take him in." he smiled sadly at Bella who nodded her head in understanding "Emmett came after. He was one of the victim's son. His parents had died in an encounter leaving him alone. When the case was closed Emmett was to be sent to the foster system. But during the case, Emmett became very attached to Edward and Esme who constantly used to visit me. So at the end Esme refused to send him to the foster system and we took him in." he finished. The thing Bella noticed was that both of them were involved in some kind of violence. From what she concluded, Emmett and Edward did not become FBI Agents to serve the country but to find their parents killers. Something Bella wanted to do but was stopped by her father. She was snapped out of her thoughts when the front door opened and entered a loaded Esme.

"Boys! Come and help me with these!" Esme yelled as she juggled two brown bags full of groceries in her hands. Soon all of them had a bag each which they deposited on the kitchen counter.

"Esme?" Esme heard an all too familiar voice and turned around only to come face to face with her goddaughter.

"Bella!" she squealed in surprise as she went forwards and hugged her. "How are you?" she asked as she pulled back.

"See for yourself." Bella teased.

"Oh my! Look at you. All grown and beautiful." Bella blushed but smiled otherwise. "What are you girls doing here anyway?" Esme asked in a suspicious tone.

"Emergency" Emmett said poking his head in kitchen.

"They called us for our expertise" Alice said as she dramatically waved her hand which made Bella giggle. Edwards head snapped at her, loving the sound.

"Whatever." Emmett said in a bored tone.

"Alright, we have a lot of work to do. So now chop, chop." Alice said as she pushed the boys back in the living room.

"Can I help you since I am not useful to them?" Bella asked.

"Sure, why not. I needed a helping hand anyway. And it's even better if an expert works alongside. Things will be done faster." Bella blushed at the compliment but started working anyway. "Alright, what do we have to make?" Esme asked as both of them started setting the menu for the event.

Meanwhile the decorations outside were almost complete.

"Where's Bella?" Alice asked.

"She's in the kitchen, helping Esme." Carlisle explained as he set the cutlery.

"She cooks?" Edward asked in surprise.

"Yes, Bella's a wonderful chef." Carlisle remembered with a smile. "You should eat her lasagna, it's the best. Even better that Esme's"

"Really?" this time Emmett was surprised. According to him, there was no match for Esme in kitchen.

"Yeah, but that was years ago. I am sure she's a better chef now." He finished his work and looked at everyone with a smile. "We done?" he asked Alice who was struggling with some decorations. Jasper stepped forward, took them from her hands and pinned it.

"Almost, thanks." She said with a smile which could melt Jasper like chocolate on a warm summer day. Jasper and Emmett always had a fancy for Rosalie and Alice but could never bring themselves to say it out loud in the fear of rejection. To them, it was their true love and if they lost it they might never love again.

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"How's Charlie?" Esme asked as she stirred the gravy.

"He's better since Renée came into his life." Bella said as she chopped the vegetables. They had the menu prepared in whole 15 minutes. Bella was making her famous lasagna on Esme's request.

"Renée?" since Esme and Carlisle shifted a long time ago they didn't know Charlie had remarried.

"Yeah, Charlie's wife." Bella explained, confused.

"Charlie remarried?" Esme dropped the ladle in shock. She always believed that Charlie could never get over the death of Clarice, Charlie's first wife and Bella's mother.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" now Bella stopped whatever work she was doing and turned around to face a shocked Esme.

"No, we shifted remember?" even though she never shifted willingly, but Esme still feels guilty for leaving Bella and Charlie in the time of need. Charlie completely understood that it was necessary for Carlisle or he would have lost his job but still it was heartbreaking to see Bella's face all smeared in tears when they left.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot." The truth was Bella never could forget the time they left, but so many years of suffering had made her strong enough to suppress that memory with all the painful memories.

"Tell me about her." Esme said changing the subject. Bella smile at her attempt.

"Renée's carefree. She's outgoing and braver than me." Bella explained, as she herself remembered how she met Renée. If it wasn't for her god knows were Bella would've been today. She was the reason why Bella and Charlie recovered from the loss of Clarice. "She's irresponsible and slightly eccentric, and a very unpredictable cook. But she's my best friend." She finished with a smile. "You must like her, she can get along with anyone and everyone." Bella said with a smile as she resumed her work. Esme had tears in her eyes but she quickly turned around and wiped them with the edge of her apron.

My sweet, loving Bella, Esme thought.

I know I am being mean by keeping you in the dark about Bella but I promise that it will soon be revealed. Also, like I said before I am not revealing who gets with who until it ends. Let it be a secret for a change. Let it give you a thrill of how it started and were it ended.

Also I am updating like I promised but you are not reviewing. So far I have gotten 3 PM's and only 2 reviews (thanks malshani). I need more in order to be continuing. So please do review and tell me how I am doing so far cauz this whole third person POV concept is new to me.

Bella