A/N Hello faithful readers, it's been a while, I hate to admit. Hope everybody is having a good week, and looking forward to an exciting story, because it's on its way! (At least I think so lol). I want to thank everybody who took the time to read this story, and a special thanks goes out to everybody who went so far as to review it. Helpful hints are exactly that—helpful.

Disclaimer: Non possiedo Twilight, i caratteri appartengono a Stephanie Meyer. And all Italian translations are compliments of Yahoo! Babel Fish, sorry I speak English and Spanish, not Italian :/.

And nooooow: Capitolo quattordici (Chapter fourteen)

Chapter 14- EPOV

It was nearly 11:30 a.m. and I felt dreadful about waking Bella, even if it was nearly noon. The problem was she was due for a treatment soon and it would be unwise for her to miss a single one while she was on vacation at my house.

"Bella," I whispered, stroking the dark chestnut hair which cascaded down her back. She was laying half on her side, nuzzled into me. She didn't even stir, so I tried again. "Bella, my love?" I beseeched, twirling a lock of her hair around my index finger.

"Edward," she sighed, "I thought you said you loved me?"

Startled by her question, I began to worry that perhaps she had allowed some of her fears about my leaving to haunt her dreams, "Of course I love you Bella. With all my so—being." I knew better than to say soul, there was only one of those in this room, and it certainly didn't belong to me.

"Then why exactly are you trying to rip me away from one of my most pleasant memory dreams?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that remark as the tension left my features completely, so she wanted to play coy today? Two could play at that game. "But Bella, why would you want to be stuck with your little fantasy Edward, when the real one is right here?" I teased.

She smiled a most heartbreaking smile, "While you make a very good point, I wonder a little at your self-assuredness," she trailed off innocently.

I simply cocked an eyebrow at her in response.

"I only meant to question how you were so certain that it was you involved in my memory dream," she said with all the seriousness she could muster.

My other eyebrow shot up to meet the raised one. "Why Bella Elena Rachel Meyer Marie Swan!" I ticked off her names disdainfully, "I insist you take that back."

"Or what?" she teased, finally sitting up in bed to look at me playfully.

"You'll see," I said sternly. Then before she could blink I effortlessly pulled her from between the sheets and gently tossed her over my shoulder. After quickly making sure she was completely secure I dashed down the stairs at lightening pace. With every hardly visible step I took, I made sure to counter the action with just enough force so that Bella wouldn't feel jostled as I sprinted down to the first floor then out to the front porch.

Outside, we were greeted by a cloudy sky which threatened rain, but I knew better, thanks to Alice. It wouldn't rain again until next week, so I placed Bella softly onto the recently refinished wooden swing which hung invitingly on the front porch. She looked dizzy from the short trip down from my room, so I stole the opportunity to tease her more, and perhaps make her rethink the decision to not reveal the contents of her dreams upon first inquiry.

"Care to disclose your dream to me now? Or shall we take a little jog through the forest?" I prompted, staring straight into her slightly terrified eyes. Secretly, I would have relished an exhilarating forest dash, something I hadn't been able to enjoy with her for fifty years, but I knew it made her a bit queasy, so I wouldn't pursue the activity today.

Her eyes narrowed a bit as she looked up into my face. "You really love running don't you," she stated, and I was certain my eyes were dancing a little at the thought that she had seen right through me, the way no one else could.

"It is rather high on my list of loves," I admitted, "Right behind you and the rest of my family," I joked lightly, "Well maybe slightly before Rosalie."

"So what's wrong with Rosalie?" Bella asked cautiously.

Of course she would look more closely into my joking and I began to wonder if she remembered at all the poor treatment that Rosalie had bestowed upon her, when we lived back in Forks. "We don't always see eye to eye on many subjects," I explained more solemnly, "But in all seriousness, I do love her just as much as I love anybody else in my family, though that still doesn't amount to how much I love you," I smiled.

Her breathing paused for a moment, then finally started again right before she was able to speak. I didn't even bother trying to decipher her change in breathing pattern, she had the most ludicrous reactions to me sometimes.

"What don't you see eye to eye on exactly?" Bella pushed somewhat breathlessly, quite possibly trying to make me forget about her dream.

"Oh there are several things which two vampires can disagree on over the course of a century and a half's time," I answered vaguely. I still stood across from her and I continued looking down into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Like perhaps, the creation of additional vampires?" she asked softly, and her cheeks burned red. The blush was certainly tempting in far too many ways but I, for the most part at least, ignored it as I made my way over to sit by her on the porch swing. Her head was bowed and a familiar curtain of hair blocked my vision of her face. I was glad that Esme had had the swing refortified to the house so that it could support the weight of a vampire such as me.

"Bella," I sighed, pushing one of my favorite strands of her silky sweet hair behind her ear, "I'm not sure Rose and I have ever been of too different an opinion when it comes to changing you," I admitted, but I would allow her to interpret that as she may.

"Rose has changed a lot since last time I was around," Bella mused quietly, perhaps that was meant to be kept to herself.

"Indeed," I agreed, despite her quiet tone. It was unusual for a vampire to change, but I could see it on Rose's face as well as her mind, she was a new woman. Perhaps seeing me suffer for all those years had had some effect on Rose after all, because she was definitely a lot more caring for others than she had been when Bella was around the last time.

"In my dream, we were in a meadow," Bella began, swiftly changing the subject, much to my relief. I was glad she had abandoned the uncomfortable subject of vampire transformations and finally given up on her efforts to make me forget about her dream.

"And what is so special about this dream?" I asked, knowing full well that she was describing a monumental turning point in our relationship. As the sun continued to move across the clouded sky I let her tell me all about our day in the meadow just outside of Forks. She remembered everything so clearly, from the way the sun sparkled off my skin to the uneasy feeling she got when I ran through the woods with her on my back, even the kiss we shared, the first of many to come.

We only stopped talking so that she could take her medications which had been all but forgotten and then I convinced her to eat a late lunch. I felt bad about not feeding her earlier, but she said she wasn't hungry either way, much to my disbelief. Humans were supposed to eat three times a day at the very least, yet Bella seemed to be opposed to the idea of eating in general. Her lack of appetite seemed to be one of the only more obvious side effects of the disease and the medications she took to fight it off, I realized sadly.

Around three thirty, my siblings crashed through the front door after returning from school, all eager to see Bella. Alice was dying to hear about what I had mentioned to her last night, concerning Bella's actual first meeting with me, here in Chicago. I was impressed to discover that she really hadn't divulged what she knew to anybody else yet, even Jasper.

Emmett was the first to greet Bella today once we were spotted in the kitchen. "I hope you didn't do anything embarrassing or funny while I was away at boring school today," Emmett said as he accosted her with a huge bear hug, which was fortunately much softer than the previous one. Bella's face reddened again with Emmett's teasing, and I was relieved that my family members were all able to ignore it.

"Hello Bella," Rose addressed her still cautiously, "How're you feeling today?" I wonder what Edward told her last night, she seems okay. I can't believe how forgiving she is.

"Hi Rose," she smiled warmly, and Rose's features softened in response, "I'm feeling great, thank you for asking. How was school today?"

It was Jasper who answered this time. "Oh you know, same old school," he assuaged, sensing how much Bella wished she could go to school, "It just doesn't change very much in the course of eighty years, in fact you're lucky you don't have to deal with it these days with all the new technology around to distract us from learning," he finished maturely.

Emmett simply stared at him as if he had grown another head, "Jasper, I don't know what you're talking about with technology distracting you from learning," Emmett scoffed, "Playing with your technology is the only thing you do all day long. You just play on your little computer and send instant messages to Alice since you were able to hack the school mainframe and tamper with the blocks."

Rosalie swiftly smacked Emmett when Bella wasn't looking for his insensitivity to her situation. Anyone with eyes could see that even though Bella laughed at Emmett's comment, she missed going to school like a normal student, apparently Emmett was blind. Jasper answered through his teeth, "Not for me, Emmett, I simply meant that the other children have difficulties focusing when there are so many distractions."

Emmett looked back and forth between Jasper and Rosalie, finally catching on to the fact that they were trying to downplay anything to do with school as much as possible. Uncomfortably he added, "Yeah I guess it's kind of hard to learn something at a high school level when you've been to high school countless times and you hold multiple college degrees," he explained to Bella.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Exactly," I looked to Bella, "School is such a monstrous waste of our time, but we have to go in order to keep up appearances so that we can live in an area for an extended period without raising suspicion." Emmett was able to agree more easily with my latest statement. He was never one for hiding things, particularly from family members. It was a miracle really that he was able to keep his vampire identity under wraps as it was.

Oh dear, what does he have her wearing today? Is it too much to ask that he at least let her change out of her pajamas for once in her life?—Alice's thoughts caught my attention finally, she had been inordinately quiet, waiting to pounce on poor Bella and me for information.

I'm going to take her upstairs to change now, alright Edward? Can you let her out of your sight for half a minute, or is that too much to ask? I stared Alice in the face for a long moment before nodding my head in approval. Her sarcastic thoughts were far from unusual, but I worried that she would start hounding Bella for information about her actual first life. Not to mention the fact that, even half a minute was such a huge thing to ask when I only had a limited time to spend with Bella.

I wasn't sure I was ready to explain what Bella and I had discovered about her past. Bella had just forgiven me a few hours ago for the horrible mistake I made all those years ago, by leaving her in Forks. I wanted her to just take it easy now, no more potentially painful memories. Don't worry Edward, I'm not going to ask her about what you told me. It's hard to believe you find me so crass. When she's ready to share about whatever you know, then I'll listen attentively, but not before.

I let myself smile easily with her thoughts. Now that's what I like to see, a nice smile. I love seeing you smile Edward, and you smile so often with Bella around. I let my grin grow wider still, as did Alice.

I looked over to see Bella smiling as well, absorbed in conversation with Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper while I was listening to Alice. Her smiling face was so beautiful. I wondered if she had picked up on the fact that Alice and I had been having one of our silent conversations, something that used to be a lot more common between us.

"I suppose, I need to go change now?" she asked, looking back and forth from me to Alice. Nothing got past Bella.

"And when, pray tell, did you become the mind reader?" I joked, and she simply laughed smugly in response.

"Oh you know," she stated, nonchalantly, "I think I simply picked it up from you," she allowed her eyes to linger long enough to make my nonexistent blood want to boil, then followed Alice up the stairs to my bedroom and I was left alone with my three siblings.

"So Edward," Emmett began, clapping me on the shoulder with enough strength to stop a speeding super semi truck, I flinched a bit.

"Sheesh Emmett," I complained, "You could kill somebody doing that," I reminded him, thinking of Bella. Maybe I would keep her further away from him than I had planned, he could be downright dangerous sometimes.

"Oh quit your whining," he laughed. "I was just wondering how your day had gone with a certain clumsy, blushing human."

I couldn't help the beaming expression that spread across my face just thinking of her and the relaxing day we had. "That well?" Jasper taunted, feeling my emotions. Emmett gave him a sly smile, which he easily returned.

Rosalie glared at them both before allowing her features to soften when she finally settled on looking into my face. "So she forgave you for leaving her?" She asked bluntly, Rosalie was never one to beat around the bush.

I nodded sadly, "She shouldn't have. I don't deserve it."

None of us deserved it, she thought. "She forgave me so easily for how I treated her before," she added quietly.

"And she forgave me for trying to kill her," Jasper added, disgusted with the idea. By the way, Edward, is there any chance you know what Alice is so worked up about today?

I must have grimaced in response to that thought noticeably, because Jasper took that as an affirmative. So are you going to explain?

"I think when Carlisle and Esme get home," I answered, bringing Emmett's and Rosalie's attention back to me. "Bella and I have some news that…"

"You're getting married!" Emmett shouted excitedly, not letting me finish. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper all looked at me expectantly, their thoughts exploding in their heads, a mixture of confusion and excitement.

I had to stop that, and quick, "No!" I shouted. I heard Alice snicker from somewhere upstairs. Look alive Edward, we're heading downstairs in t-minus 14 seconds, she warned, always so precise.

"No, Emmett," I stated more calmly, "It's more of a new development that could be, well, important."

Bella and Alice were now on the first level, Bella dressed in another one of Alice's tasteful outfits, one which made her look simply stunning. Bella's smile grew as soon as she saw me and I knew mine was a mirror of happiness.

"Bella, you are so beautiful," I complimented softly, my voice hardly able to leave my throat.

"Yes, yes, she's always beautiful," Alice grinned, "But she should especially be now that she's wearing a complete Versace sweater outfit, only available in Europe I might add," she bragged happily. You know you like sweater dresses, Edward, she teased.

"Oh Alice, you've outdone yourself," Rosalie praised. The outfit was definitely gorgeous on her, but I didn't particularly care for the specifics. It was blue, and the pants were beige, there was a brown belt wrapped around her tiny waste which accentuated her curves in a way that should be illegal, and were those high heeled shoes that Alice had forced my poor Bella into?

Bella caught my staring and blushed, only making her more beautiful. I knew she hated being the center of attention, but I could hardly quit my ogling. "Don't ask me why Alice decided it was a good idea to fit me with these death traps," Bella almost groaned, motioning to her scantily clad feet. So I turned to Alice.

"Do you really find those necessary?" I questioned, actually a bit curious to hear the answer.

"Oh Edward, don't even pretend you don't like the way they look," Alice carped.

I heard Emmett's thoughts before he could speak them and I rushed over to stop him before he could say anything. Clapping a hand firmly over his mouth, Emmett's thoughts screamed at me while his words came out muffled, Oh come on Edward, you are absolutely no fun at all! All I was going to say was that if she fell, you would be right there to catch her! That's all, that's not bad at all! You can release me now! Don't make me make you let go of me, because believe me, I'll do it!

Bella watched our antics with an amused expression as she began walking down the steps. She should have been watching where she was walking in her high heeled shoes though, because I first saw the vision in Alice's mind before it began playing out in real life. She had caught the edge of her shoe on the back portion of the stairs and she had of course tripped.

The vision in Alice's mind changed just as quickly as it had formed as I rushed over to save Bella from a potentially dangerous fall. Alice would have easily been able to save her herself, but she sensibly stepped aside so that I could do it myself.

I caught Bella in my arms and steadied her as I easily lifted her off the ground. Clasped securely in my arms, she buried her face in my shoulder and I delicately stroked her hair. For the moment it was just her and I locked in our own little world, that is until Emmett's loud guffaws finally stole the moment from us. "You, you ran and, and—," he tried to phrase a coherent statement but he was hard-pressed to find sensible human sentence structures when he was so distracted by laughing.

Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice had all joined in Emmett's annoyingly contagious laughter as well and when I glimpsed Bella's face, it was red enough for the both of us. It wasn't that funny, so I rushed over and nearly pushed Alice out of the way to save Bella who had tripped over her own feet. It was actually a very serious situation, if you asked me. "Oh Bella, I'm so sorry," Alice lied. Jasper and Rosalie were wisely trying to contain their laughter as I glowered at the lot of them.

Emmett finally managed to choke out an apology as well, "I'm sorry too Bella. It's just that Edward was trying to keep me from saying that if you fell, he would be more than happy to catch you, but he went ahead and proved my point for me," he explained, to my chagrin.

Bella cracked a little bit of a smile for Emmett, and I allowed my features to soften as well as a half grin contorted my mouth. I could hear the thoughts of Carlisle and Esme coupled with the soft purr of Carlisle's Mercedes as they pulled into our long driveway. I realized we would be unable to put off the inevitable revelation any longer with my parents' return, so I gently placed Bella on her own two feet and stage whispered into her ear, "Shall we tell the family what we discovered yesterday about your past or did you want to wait and do it later?" I asked, somewhat hoping she would choose later.

She looked at me confused for a moment before nodding her head in approval. I entwined our hands together enjoying the warmth of her sweet skin as I led her to the couch in the living room. Alice pranced along on Bella's other side and the others filed into the room after Alice.

Immediately sensing our congregation in the living room, Carlisle and Esme arrived shortly thereafter and took their seats in the main love seat facing Bella and I. They looked at us expectantly, and I looked to Bella. She was looking straight back at me, her eyes wide and her face regaining a little too much color as she began to realize that once again she was the center of attention.

Are you going to tell us what's going on? thought Carlisle and Esme almost simultaneously. The thoughts of the rest of my family were just as confused and Alice was looking even more impatient than Emmett.

"Alright, I suppose I'll begin," I started, eyeing each member of my family individually before finally allowing my eyes to rest on Bella's deep brown ones.

What the heck is going on Edward? I heard the timbre of Rosalie's thoughts, filling my drawn out pause. She was stationed on Emmett's lap in the large chair next to Esme. Jasper was perched on the edge of Alice's end of the couch, absorbing the eagerness in the room, and Alice sat sandwiching Bella between us. For a coven of immortal vampires, they really lacked a proper comprehension of patience, of course I was no better, yet still one would assume they could wait five minutes for an explanation.

"It's ok, I'll explain Edward," Bella piped up with a small voice, her cheeks coloring yet again. I nodded in encouragement. She had no reason to be nervous about speaking to my family, they were just as much hers as they were mine.

"What is it dear?" Esme asked kindly, allowing the warmth of her voice to melt Bella out of her slightly rigid pose.

Bella gave my hand a squeeze then finally spoke again, "When I met you all and Edward back in Forks, well—," she paused to glance at me and I kept the proud smile glued to my face, "I just don't think that was my first life," she stated. I didn't realize that this statement could come off ambiguously until I heard the confusion in the thoughts of my siblings. They assumed Bella didn't believe us about having a previous life in Forks.

"No, that's not what she's saying," I answered one of the more troubled thoughts which Emmett had, "What we're trying to say is that Bella met me another time, before we ever knew her in Forks, Washington."

Carlisle's interest level, though previously high, had just skyrocketed. He lived for new information, particularly when it dealt with the supernatural. "When?" he asked slowly, you never mentioned meeting Bella before and with your vampire memory, you couldn't have forgotten, so was it before?

I nodded toward Carlisle, grateful for his quick comprehension. Carlisle gasped in astonishment, and the rest of my family including Bella looked at me expectantly once again. "It was before I met Carlisle," I explained to everybody's astonishment.

Rosalie was first to respond this time, "You mean you met her when you were human?" she clarified, Oh this is so much more complex than I even thought, what does this mean?

Bella answered this time, "Yes and I was remember what happened. My name was Elena and I was with my Babbo one night outside of a concert hall, the Chicago City Orchestra Hall?" she verified, and I smiled at her excellent memory of such minor details. "My Babbo was the driver for a horse drawn carriage, and I saw Edward's family, the Mason's leaving the Hall after a concert. I asked them if they needed a ride home, and they agreed," she gave me a beautiful smile which I easily returned then she added quietly, "He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen."

Unfortunately, though her comment made my grin grow, it also allowed a smile to find its way onto each of my family members' faces since they were able to hear her just as well as if she had yelled it. Realizing her mistake, Bella's face colored even more, and I wrapped my arm around her small shoulders to comfort her.

Alice's confused thoughts once again made their way into my consciousness, Oh my gosh Edward, ooh my gosh, oooh my gosh! She kept repeating, with more and more enthusiasm. Jasper was uselessly trying to calm her, as a vision of Bella as a vampire played out once again in Alice's mind. I tried not to groan at the sharply clear image, somebody had just decided something about Bella's future, and it wasn't me.

"Bella, is there anything else you can tell us, when did you first have this memory?" Carlisle asked, trying to piece things together. I envied his constant logical state, I was still distracted by my family's thoughts, attempting to determine whose mind had just recently changed.

"I had the memory dream yesterday when I was napping in Edward's room, after he played Claire De Lune for me on the piano," she explained, "It triggered a memory of me outside the concert hall in my first life, when I first heard it, and when I first met Edward. Oh, and I also remember Edward had these beautiful green eyes," she added making Esme's smile broaden to the size of the cliched cat's which swallowed the canary.

We're not going to let her go, no matter what, Esme thought innocently, but her thoughts were loaded with meaning. What Esme meant more clearly was, 'we're going to change you into a vampire so that you can stay with us forever'. Apparently it had been Esme's decision which caused Alice's vision to clear up so much. That was unexpected to say the least, I needed to pay closer attention to her thoughts.

"Anything else?" Carlisle prompted, searching for more details to complete the puzzle.

"Well, I gave Edward a bouquet of flowers," she stated uncertainly.

"How about your father, your Babbo you called him? What can you tell me about him?"

"Well he wasn't very good at English, so I was usually the one to speak to the customers," she continued to explain thoughtfully, "But he thought Edward's family looked very nice and extremely dignified, so he addressed them himself. Like I told Edward, he called me his Bella Elena, or sometimes simply Bella for short," she finished.

Carlisle found that last thought very interesting, "So three times you've been alive, that you can remember," he began, "And all three times you've come in contact with Edward at least once, and all three times you've been nicknamed Bella?" he surmised.

"Interesting coincidence," she mused, her face blank.

"I'm not so sure I believe in coincidences," he said pointedly, staring back and forth between Bella and myself.

"I don't either," she said in another soft whisper which was easily heard by everyone in the room.

I was alarmed at first when the thoughts in Carlisle's head switched to Italian, "Ora me dite che Bella, però capite l'italiano?" he said with a perfect Italian accent. Luckily, I was could teach a native born Italian to speak the language myself, so I understood that he said, Now tell me Bella, do you still understand Italian?

Bella looked at me bewildered for a moment, and I worried what she thought about my father speaking in tongues. There was no way she could understand, she hadn't spoken Italian in about a centuary and a half. "Sì, suppongo che faccia," she said with ease, (Yes, I suppose I do). Now it was definitely my turn to stare in bewilderment. Emmett was in a state of shock so severe that it was almost funny.

She speaks Italian! Even I don't know Italian! Rosalie had sensed the thoughts of her husband, the only one in this room who didn't speak Italian, and she laughed humorously at him. We had never lived in Italy, so he never felt the need to learn it. The rest of us simply learned it because it was so similar to Spanish.

"Unbelievable," Carlisle remarked, staring at Bella with awe written all over his face. "So you must have lived in Italy at one point, before you came to Chicago," he stated, giving us all a better understanding of Bella's past.

"I wonder why you moved?" he asked, mostly to himself.

Bella simply shrugged, "Lots of people were moving to America around that time period, right?" she seemed to be a lot more curious about her move than she was letting on though, and so was I.

Maybe it was fate, thought Rosalie.

Destiny, thought Alice.

What if they'd never met that first time, thought Jasper.

How did she die the first time? Wondered Emmett, and I had to admit, his curiosity on the morbid subject stirred my own.

Third time is the charm, thought Esme.

The questions and thoughts of my family were all very relevant and important for figuring out Bella's story, but Carlisle's seemed to be most essential to me for some reason. I couldn't quite grasp why it was so important that I have that information about why Bella first came to America, where we met. Maybe there was some trigger of fate which would be revealed if I discovered the answer to that one question, maybe then I would understand how big the idea of Bella's and my life together really was. Then again, the answer could serve as nothing more than a temporary cure to my curiosity. Regardless, I planned to find out, the only thing I was unsure about was how to go about discovering that information.

A/N So many questions to answer! And I so didn't want to stop, but this chapter was getting rather lengthy. I'm getting impatient in my own story because I know what's going to happen, I'm just not certain how exactly it's going to happen. I'm not trying to buy time by including these filler chapters which don't reveal nearly enough, these chapters are necessary, and I'm growing to accept that lol. Until next time, best regards! :)