Author's Note: Hey people! Happy early Thanksgiving to you all! In case you are wondering, I will be posting more often, but with shorter chapters because that is what won the poll! I am currently out of town and internet connection is hard to come by, but I found a way, just for you guys! Thanks to my reviewers: Jasper's Gurl, faerie kitten, firenzxox, ninja-forg101, Bookits, ShadowsDaughter, debbie-lou, VampireKa-Lyrra, wingedvampiregrl, EdwardsGirl1010, evwannaB3, Unerose93, wolfla101, '.Lamb, Unicorns4774, FRK921, and Kiren-Dar! You guys are amazing!

In two minutes and twenty-eight seconds the group came to a sudden and complete halt. I almost ran into Jasper in front of me in my attempt to stop. That would not have been good. Sometimes I thought a mistake had been made when I had been chosen as the Protector. Really, I could trip over air, how in the world was I going to last anywhere else?

"Well, here it is." Carlisle spoke, still looking forward through the overgrowth of trees. The house had been built right in the middle of the forest, I assumed it was for hunting, as well as the fact that very few humans would stumble by this place, hidden as it was.

Where I had halted, any view was obscured by the tall, lanky form of Jasper in front of me, revealing only trees in my line of vision. It was sometimes annoying, being so small, or perhaps it was just that Jasper was so tall. Both, I guess, were true.

On the left of Jasper, Alice stood, waiting impatiently to go inside. It seemed she was somewhat annoyed with her lack of visions. I guess I couldn't blame her, I didn't know how I would fare without my powers, even for only a minute. Though I attempted not to use them very often, the security was what I could not live without. As much as I hated to admit it, I had become very reliant on my powers, no matter if I was using them, or not.

For a brief moment, I wondered what a vampire house would look like. From the book, I knew the traits of vampires somewhat, though some areas were still foggy. Such as, I knew they didn't sleep, but did they ever use coffins at all? Or was that just another Hollywood myth set to distort reality.

Finally, Jasper moved out of the way, revealing a large, mansion for lack of a better word. The place was huge, like a place a royal family would occupy; it stood out in complete contrast to the dense forest.

My eyebrows raised of their own accord, this was most certainly not what I had expected. To my extreme embarrassment, I heard a chuckle from in front of me.

Somehow, during my gazing, Edward had reappeared, and the others had gone inside the house. Had I really been gawking that long? I was mortified, if that was the case, resulting in my face turning an even deeper shade of red.

"Not what you expected, is it?" He questioned, his voice smooth as the finest silk. I almost swooned as the sound reached my ears. A crooked smile lay on his face, the smile I was already in love with.

For a moment, I forgot how to speak, I had lost all form of coherency. When I regained the use of my vocabulary, I was only able to stutter my attempts at speaking, "Um, no not really." Wow, Bella? Is that really all you can say?

For some reason, Edward thought that my reaction was funny, and I heard another chuckle from him. Though I tried to pretend that I didn't care what he thought, my blush revealed my true thoughts. I hated how it always gave me away, it was like I was an open book.

"Come on, I will give you the grand tour." Edward said, beckoning me to follow him up the stairs into the large house. Even the door was ornate, it seemed the Cullens were much wealthier than I had first imagined at school.

As we entered the mansion, I was once again shocked. Were these people trying to give me a heart attack? I silently laughed to myself, as if that could ever happen...

The place was as far from hollywood's version of a vampire house as a grasshopper to an eagle. They were polar opposites.

It was an open, airy place with lots of windows. I stood in awe, looking around. The decorations had been expertly picked out, by someone with obvious taste. For all the modernness of the house, there was a slight tint of an older era still present.

"Home sweet home." Edward said, watching me. He was leaning against the brown doorway, his arms crossed across his chest as he surveyed me. He looked like he was trying to look deeper than the surface though, like he was still attempting to read my mind. Or perhaps I was just an anomaly.

"Its beautiful." I said, as I walked toward a piano in the entryway. The black instrument stood in contrast to the pure white of the tiles. I gently grazed my hand over the top of the keys, without adding enough pressure to make a sound.

"Do you play?" I looked up to see who spoke, a minute ago, only Edward and I had been here. Now, as I looked up, Carlisle and Esme stood at the foyer; it had been Esme who spoke. I vaguely registered that the other kids weren't here. They were probably up in their rooms somewhere...

"No, not at all." I stated as I looked at the instrument, enchanted. "Do you?" I asked the Mother figure of the family, looking back up. Or maybe no one played, it seemed this family was loaded with money, and a piano would certainly go in place with the rest of the house.

She smiled at me, "No, I don't, but," She nodded her head toward the vampire standing at the back of the room, "Edward does." Somehow, that didn't shock me, he certainly seemed good at everything so far. He was the fastest, and certainly the most gorgeous. "Perhaps he will play sometime for you." Esme finished.

"Perhaps," Edward answered softly. "But now," he said, walking forward toward me, "I believe we were going to go on the grand tour."

With that, he grabbed my hand, and led me up the stairs, leaving behind a smiling Carlisle and Esme.

Author's Note: Okay, so you thought the lullaby was going to be there right? Well, so did I, but then I realized Edward has known Bella for, like, a day, so he hasn't come up with a song yet. Eventually, Edward will play her the lullaby, don't worry :-) Next chapter will be Carlisle's library! I only got 16 reviews for this last chapter, about half of what I got for chapter 8 :-( it made me sad, so ppplllleeeeeaaaasssseee review! More reviews= faster updates! And I could hold the next chapter for awhile and not post it....thats a thought :-D lol, until next time

~Dreams of Bubbles~