A/N:Thanks to Shug (SSHG316) who beta'd the original version of this story and a special thanks to Songster51 for beta'ing this revision. This is the last update until after Christmas. Here's wishing all my readers and friends a joyous holiday season!
Chapter 7
About fifteen minutes after midnight, Bella's cell phone buzzed. She might have left it to go to voicemail, but it was Angela. Ben had not proposed at Christmas as she'd hoped and she'd been devastated over that turn of events, to say the least. Bella had done everything she could to be a supportive friend, but it had proven to be difficult given her own family obligations and recent relationship status.
Bella clutched her phone and leaned in to Edward where they sat on the loveseat. "I should take this."
He raised one eyebrow. "Angela?"
"Yes," she said with an apologetic frown. "I'll just be a few minutes."
"Take all the time you need," he said with a gentle caress of her cheek. "Angela needs you." Edward liked Angela best of all her female classmates. Through her thoughts he'd determined what a genuine friend she was to Bella, which immediately endeared Angela to him. Edward smiled, stood, and gave Bella a hand up.
When she stood to exit, all the Cullen men stood, prompting Charlie to do the same. Bella felt like she'd been transported into some Victorian era novel. Her parents brandished nervous smiles, but then were drawn back into conversation with Carlisle and Esme.
She answered the call as the classical music from the Cullen family room faded into the background and she found her way to the powder room in the foyer. She made her voice upbeat, hoping to cheer up her friend. "Happy New Year, Ange!"
"Arghhhhhhhhhh!"
Bella almost dropped her phone. She had not been prepared for Angela's high-pitched scream.
"Are you okay—?
"Bella! Bella!"
"What?"
"Guess what I'm wearing?"
Bella's brow furrowed. Had Angela become an Alice clone? "Uh…A cocktail dress?"
"No, silly. On my hand—"
"Oh, Ben proposed tonight?"
"Yes! Oh, Bella it's sooo beautiful."
Bella giggled and sighed in relief all at once. "And, you thought he was just taking you to some crazy New Year's Eve party at the top of the Space Needle. See, I told you not to worry."
"And you were right. My prediction had taken away the element of surprise, and he wanted it to be special. I'm glad he didn't do it at Christmas now. This was way better."
"Congratulations to the both of you."
"Thanks, Iz. Hey, I'd better get back out there to my fiancé. I'm gonna text you a pic of my ring, okay? I'll show it to you in person tomorrow."
"Okay, text away."
~888~
On New Year's Day Bella spent some time at the Cullen's home getting to know them better. Carlisle and Esme were gracious hosts and went overboard in their quest to make Bella feel welcome. They offered her more food than she could consume in two days.
Edward finally told them, "Bella will eat when she's hungry."
"Forgive us, Bella," Carlisle said. "You've given us an excuse to use the new kitchen."
Esme gave her an interesting tour of the house. Bella found that vampire minds were encyclopedic in nature. Once they learned something, they never forgot it, and it made for a thorough discussion on any subject. This intrigued her from an academic standpoint. She thought of all the knowledge she could accumulate about the French language and literature above and beyond what she had learned in her three and a half years in college. The possibilities were endless. Then she remembered how she would be required to sustain herself were she a vampire and cringed. Esme mistook her shiver as a reaction to the painting she described to her, which was a rather gruesome depiction of a Salem witch trial.
Esme's eyes held concern. "It wouldn't hurt my feelings if you didn't want to hear all of this, Bella."
"No, it's been very interesting hearing the history behind the art you have here in the house. I was just thinking about—something else."
"Edward has assured us you aren't frightened by what we are, but I know our world has to be somewhat overwhelming for you."
"Really, it's not. I grew up reading fairy tales, and I've always been fascinated with mythology. It's…" Bella moved closer to Esme and whispered, mindful that keen vampire ears might be listening. "May I ask you a personal question? I would ask Alice, but she's been so preoccupied with Jasper since we've been back in the states."
"Why of course. You may ask me anything." Esme gestured down the hall. "Come, let's go into Carlisle's office; it's the one room in the house that comes closest to being soundproof to vampire ears."
Esme angled the armchairs facing Carlisle's desk so they were able to converse comfortably.
"What would you like to know?" Esme asked as they sat down.
"When you became a vampire was it difficult for you to consume b-blood? How did you get used to it?"
Esme leveled a serious maternal look at her. "Once the change happens, it's not a matter of you getting used to it. It's all-consuming in its intensity. The thirst for blood is stronger than anything else we think or feel, especially when we are newborn. You learn to control it for extended periods of time, eventually."
"So, I would essentially be a blood-craving lunatic for a while, and finishing college right now would be impossible."
"Yes. You would need to stay away from densely populated areas in the first year or so. It's helpful not to be tempted with human scents until you've learned to control your thirst."
"I don't have a frame of reference for blood thirst, but I do have a frame of reference for being a blood wimp." Bella shivered again just saying the words.
Esme smiled, her eyes soft. "We'll ask Carlisle about it. He could give you a more definitive answer. Have you discussed your fears with Edward?"
"Yes, but he seemed to be relieved I didn't have an overwhelming desire to become a vampire right away."
"I'm not surprised," Esme said. "He and Carlisle have had this ongoing debate about the loss of the human soul upon becoming a vampire. Because he cares for you, he likely doesn't want you to experience the pain of the change, either."
"That's all very thoughtful of him, but I think I'd like a say in what happens to my body. I've been weak and sick for so long; I'd like some time in a healthy body before I commit to becoming a vampire, and I really don't want to leave Renee and Charlie, yet. They've sacrificed so much for me and I'd like to remain their human daughter for a while, and finish college, maybe go to graduate school. If I allow myself to be changed now, it'll be like they're losing me to death anyway, because they won't be able to see me again. If I survive the surgery, they'll get to see me all the time, at least for a few years."
"I see you've given this a lot of thought. I'll go out on a limb here and say, keeping yourself fed won't be a problem once you're changed. However, if you want to stay human for a few more years and experience all the milestones you wish to accomplish, I say do it."
"And it wouldn't cause problems for your family with the Vultures?"
Esme laughed. "You mean the Volturi?"
"Yeah, those predatory royals you guys have to answer to."
"I've never had the—pleasure —of meeting them, but we've been contacted by members of their guard from time to time. It could be a decade before they contact us again, so you need not worry. Because you are Edward's mate, you are part of our family, and we protect our family."
Bella smiled. "I'm beginning to see that."
Esme answered all the questions she had and then some about becoming a vampire. She decided she would talk to Carlisle about how her medical condition might affect her during the change, which would give her more than enough information to make an informed decision.
When the Cullen men returned from their meeting with Billy Black and the Quileute elders, the Cullens all sat around the table with her as she ate her dinner and debriefed the family on the new treaty.
"Billy was gracious to us," Carlisle said. "He said they would always welcome the coldoneswho helped them to keep their territory safe."
"This is good, right?" Bella asked, then took a sip of water.
"But he was not happy to know that the daughter of his best friend was in a serious relationship with one of our kind," Edward said with an apologetic frown.
Anger coiled in her gut. "He'll just have to get over it," Bella said, setting the glass back on the table with such force it splashed on the tablecloth. "The Quileutes don't get to choose who I love."
Edward slipped a hand under the curtain of her hair to calm her.
"Looks like you've got a 'Bad Ass' mate little bro," Emmett said.
"Babe," Rosalie mock-scolded.
"Just saying," Emmett said. "She's kinda like you in that respect." Rosalie smiled at Bella and gave her mate a peck on the cheek.
"Sorry about water-staining your beautiful table cloth, Esme," Bella said even as she grinned at Emmett and Rosalie.
Esme waved her off. "This old thing? Nothing a good washing and pressing can't fix."
"The Quileute elders have tied our hands on the issue of your change, Bella," Carlisle said. "The wolfpack would rescind the treaty and attack if you're bitten by one of us, which means we would have to leave the country immediately if it came down to us turning you."
"What if it's what I want?"
"Is it?" Edward was anxious. "I didn't think you'd made a decision about that yet."
She locked eyes with him. "If it looked like I wasn't going to make it through the surgery, I would want Carlisle to save me like he did you for your mother."
Edward swallowed hard. Bella could tell he was not particularly thrilled with her sudden pronouncement, but she would talk it over with him later.
"Alice," Bella asked. "What do you see? Will I survive the surgery?"
Alice concentrated. "Um…there's something clouding my vision," Alice said. "I'm sorry, Bella."
"The wolfpack has probably set up a perimeter patrol," Jasper said. "You've always had difficulty with your visions when they're around."
"I could talk to Jacob," Bella said. "He might be able to convince the Quileute elders to back off on the new treaty stipulation."
"It's really not safe for you to be around shape shifters," Edward said. "They have so little control."
"Edward, I've known Jacob all my life. He wouldn't hurt me."
"I'm not so sure he would be able to control himself. I read Billy's mind. His son still holds a torch for you, so he wasn't going to tell him about us."
Bella could believe that. Jake had always been a hot head. Now she understood why he'd pushed her away when they were in high school, but she realized what she'd felt for Jacob paled in comparison to her feelings for Edward.
"I just hate the idea of doing nothing," she said softly. "I won't talk to Jacob, because it would make matters worse. I see that now."
They were in Edward's car in her parents' driveway, she reeling from his devastating goodnight kiss, when he broached the subject of her change again.
"Bella, I love you too much to subject you to the agony of the change. I don't want you to lose your soul and become a monster like me," he said.
She could see the pain in his eyes, but she wasn't convinced what he believed was true.
"You know the consequences all too well, I'm sure of it. I could die and go to heaven at any moment, but it wouldn't be heaven for me without you. I'd live as a soul-less predatory monster if I could do it with you, forever."
Edward's laugh was part growl and part sob, then he kissed her again. It took all the willpower she had and Edward's insistence for her to leave the car that night, and he didn't join her in her room later. He did, however, call to tell her it wasn't safe for them to be in the same room overnight, and he would patrol outside the house as she slept.
~888~
The day before they were to move to Seattle, Bella and Edward said goodbye to Ben and Angela who were headed back to Stanford for their final semester.
Bella leaned into the car on Angela's side while Edward and Ben chatted on the driver's side of vehicle.
"So, I'm expecting you to be my maid of honor," Angela said.
Bella's face split into a goofy grin, and she hugged her friend through the window. "Gee, thanks, Ange."
"Who else would I choose, bestie? Anywho, we have a little while before we need to do anything. I can't even think about planning the wedding until after graduation."
"I hear you," Bella said. "That's going to be quite time-consuming."
Bella wondered if she'd even be alive for Angela's wedding. Carlisle had told her sometimes even venom couldn't overcome certain conditions. He surmised that her weakened heart muscle might not be strong enough to go through the change, but if it was, her transformation would take much longer than the average three days.
Angela squeezed Bella's hand and her eyes misted a bit. "You keep me informed about the surgery, okay? Ben and I will come back for it."
"You don't have to do that," Bella protested.
"Yes, we do," Angela insisted. She turned to the other side of the car. "Edward!"
Edward poked his head into the window from Ben's side of the car. "Yes?"
"Call us when the surgery is scheduled, okay? I can't depend on this one to do it."
"You've got it," Edward said with smile.
When Ben and Angela hit the road, they drove to Forks Hospital where Carlisle retrieved a copy of Bella's medical chart and performed a preliminary evaluation of her heart using the facilities courtesy of Dr. Gerundy. Dr. Gerundy was pleased to see that Bella was still well, all things considered. After Dr. Gerundy left, Carlisle briefed Bella and Edward on her condition and the probable treatment they would be seeking for her at Seattle Grace.
"Bella has a marked vascular murmur which is a result of stenoses, or severe narrowing of her heart valves. Sometimes this is experienced in other heart conditions, but the rheumatic fever damaged all four of her valves to some degree, which makes it tricky to do a simple valve replacement, because the heart muscle is so degraded," Carlisle said gravely. "It might even be difficult for a heart in this shape to endure the change, because it literally isn't strong enough to move the venom through her limbs.
"Dr. Burke, the Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Seattle Grace will be able to determine the extent of the damage more fully after his examination. And he should be able to let us know fairly soon after if Bella is a candidate for his high-risk valve replacement surgery. He has achieved results in multiple-valve replacements that his peers are afraid to touch."
Edward smiled at Bella to reassure her, and then posed a question. "How successful has he been with these high-risk replacements? Give us a percentage."
"Ninety-percent and a few of these were more serious than Bella's condition. Dr. Webber, Burke's Chief of Surgery assures me this physician is the number one cardiothoracic man in the nation. Everything I've read convinces me he's right. What he's achieved as a human physician is remarkable."
"So these valves would make a transplant unnecessary?" Bella asked.
"Yes," Carlisle said. "Essentially, they would correct the blood flow problems. Then, the cardiac stem cells which harvested from your heart for the transplant would be used to reduce scarring and strengthen the muscles surrounding the valves, thus strengthening your heart."
Encouraged, Bella smiled. "How long would it take for me to recuperate?"
"After the incision heals in about eight weeks, you would begin a regular regimen of drug intervention and cardiovascular exercise to strengthen your heart further," Carlisle said.
"The condo in Seattle will have a state of the art gym for your personal use," Edward said with a grin.
Bella's eyes misted. "Thank you, Edward, Dr. Cullen—"
"Carlisle," he said with a warm smile.
"Carlisle, thanks for everything."
"Of course Dr. Burke will make the final determination whether you're truly a candidate for the surgery, but from everything I've studied, the odds are in your favor."
"That's great," Bella said. "Sounds so much better at the moment than me writhing in pain for several days and then a year or so of blood lust until I learn to control my thirst."
"Bella…" Edward began, but Bella placed her fingers on his lips.
"Edward, I understand your misgivings, but I'm going to become a vampire someday. There is no way I'm going to grow old and die when we could have forever together like your parents and siblings."
Carlisle slipped out as they began the argument they'd been having since Bella's heart-to-heart with Esme. While the Cullens had been in Forks, she'd interacted with the three Cullen couples enough to see that what they had was special. She wanted that with Edward, without him thirsting for her blood, without him having to worry she could be harmed or killed, and without him having to guard her like a personal bodyguard all the time.
"You could wait a couple of decades or more, and then decide." Edward said.
"And have me look forty-three while you're still twenty-three? No thanks!"
"Is it all superficial to you? I will love you no matter how old you look."
"I will not be relegated to becoming a vampire cougar."
"Well, five years. Can't you wait five years?"
"I'll be finished with my Masters in two years. That will give me plenty of time to say goodbye to my parents and then I'll be ready."
"What about your blood aversion?"
Bella cringed, but forged on. "Carlisle has promised to help me overcome it, and he's 99.9% sure the bloodlust will handle the rest."
"Is there anything I can say that will change your mind?" he implored.
Bella leaned in and kissed his cool lips. He was unresponsive only for a couple of seconds and then she felt his soft, cool tongue seek out her warm one, and for the time being the argument was forgotten.
~888~
Seattle was a beautiful city on the bay with views of majestic snowcapped mountains, and the crystalline waters of Puget Sound lapped gently against its shores. It was a city of infrequent blue sunny skies and copious grey skies pregnant with rain. The constant smell of the sea lingered in the air. Bella would come to know it as her personal Emerald City where she would petition the great and powerful Oz of her prayers for dreams she'd never known she had to come true.
Charlie was a little upset when Edward had shown up to drive her back to UW. Bella'd discussed it with Renee who helped her pack up her room. She had even gone to the lengths of confiding in her mother that she would be living with Edward for all intents and purposes for the semester.
"Be safe, sweetie," her mother warned. "Do we need to make a trip the drug store before you leave? Edward seems responsible, but..."
"Mom!" Bella admonished.
Her mother looked both matter-of-fact, and like she was about to burst into tears. "I-I only say this because a pregnancy would complicate your medical condition."
"You really don't have to worry about that—yet," Bella said. "Edward is extremely—old school.
"Oh," Renee said, and flashed a relieved smile.
Bella knew they were both clearly not the types to live together outside of marriage given normal circumstances. Perhaps it was just the fact that she was so sick and they wanted to spend as much time as they could together until her fate was known. Since Edward had told her he watched her sleep most nights, she didn't see a need for them to live separately in Seattle. He would just beat a trail to her dorm room every morning to take her to class and every night to watch her sleep, anyway.
It was on a crisp, cold Sunday afternoon that they arrived at their new condo near UW. Bella wasn't surprised to find it was already furnished and Edward's things from Montreal were all unpacked. He did all the heavy lifting for her and had her meager belongings unpacked and put away in a matter of minutes. It was a thing of beauty to watch him flit around in vampire speed. It took him a fraction of the time it took her to do such mundane things. She laughed when Edward opened the case with her underwear and toiletries in it and realized he'd picked up a lacy bra and panty set. With a profuse apology, he closed it so fast his hands blurred, and left it for her to unpack at her leisure.
She went to him, slid her arms around his waist and laid her head on his stone chest. His arms went around her shoulders, and he held her gingerly in his arms. "Is my big strong vampire afraid of the wee little lingerie?" she teased.
"Not afraid-just taken by surprise." He might have blushed if he had blood in his veins.
"If that surprises you, wait 'til you see me in them," she said, pushing things just a little bit further.
"Bellaaa…" he groaned.
"Okay, Mr. Prim and Proper, I'll stop." Bella gave him a peck on the cheek and turned back to her suitcase on the bed, opened it and put the last of her things away. She knew he was tentative around her still. He held back whenever they kissed. She had to get to the bottom of it.
"I know it's still difficult for you to be around me." After she put another stack of lingerie away, she paused in front of the dresser to look in his eyes. "Does my body not hold any appeal for you?"
"I may be a vampire, but I am very much a man. Rest assured, I want you in all the ways that a man desires a woman."
She smiled a wide beaming smile. "Then someday, we can be together in that way, eventually—right?"
He moved close to her again and took her into his arms. "Your blood still calls to me like a siren's song, but I resist because I love you more than the lust I have for your blood. I want us to experience everything that people in love experience, but we need to get you healthy first. Even then, we would have to proceed—cautiously ."
"I hate that you have to be in pain to be near me. Maybe I should have just moved into the dorm," she said with a small frown.
Edward kissed away her agitation with his cool lips. "The closer you are, the more quickly I can become desensitized to your blood."
"Then I hope you'll become very desensitized very soon. I don't want to die a virgin."
"You're not going to die—not this year—and, if I have anything to do with it, never from rheumatic heart disease," he said. "We have an appointment with Carlisle and Dr. Burke tomorrow afternoon. With a successful procedure, we could both rid ourselves of this pesky little virginity thing within the year."
~888~
Edward sat in a corner of Bella's room as she slept, listening to her heartbeat, noting the lilting stutter it contained as a result of her damaged heart valves. He had read her entire medical chart while she'd napped earlier in the afternoon. When she was five she'd had strep throat which was misdiagnosed due to the many unfortunate mishaps she'd experienced as a child. Her mother had taken her to her pediatrician suffering from a sore throat and then a painful, swollen and red knee.
She presented a few times after that with the same problem in other joints—ankle, elbow and shoulder—but it always went away after a few days, and was relegated to clumsiness. Because she had always tripped or banged into things, this symptom was most likely overlooked. By the age of ten, she'd had half a dozen sprains, a broken arm, various cuts, contusions, and a concussion.
To say that she had been a clumsy child was an understatement. He wished he had found her sooner so he could have protected her from some of the things that had happened to her. The accidents became fewer and farther between as she'd entered adolescence and progressed into early adulthood. Her lone hospitalization of the summer before stood in stark contrast as the incident which changed her life forever. From that point, her chart was filled with notes of her diagnosis, treatment, and bleak prognosis.
Her parents were part of a standard HMO, which had many limitations. However, when you had access to the vast world medical fraternity, as his father did, there was no shortage of new medical procedures at their disposal. Most weren't widely practiced and available to the masses, and thus not covered by insurance companies. Money leveled the playing field for the wealthy, who spared no expense for cutting edge treatment. This is what he and Carlisle would do for Bella: get her the best medical care money and considerable influence could buy.
Bella stirred and murmured what sounded like, "Shakespeare." Edward smiled and walked over to the bed. She was beautiful as she lay in repose, dreaming of the Bard, perhaps because they had read some of his Sonnets before she fell asleep.
He recited the last two lines of Sonnet Eighteen to her sleeping form.
"Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, when in eternal lines to time thou growest: so long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this and this gives life to thee."
~888~
On Monday afternoon after class, Edward and Bella found themselves in the fully functioning office of Dr. Carlisle Cullen, which had been provided by his old friend and colleague, Dr. Richard Webber, the Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital. Having met and worked with Richard some thirty years earlier, Carlisle had contacted him this time as the son of the Carlisle Cullen he had known so many years before.
Carlisle sent his credentials to Seattle Grace as soon as Edward had informed the family of his intentions regarding Bella. His credentials had been verified, and he had been granted active membership status, his admitting privileges at Seattle Grace immediately conferred. Like Edward, Carlisle had also read and committed Bella's full medical chart to memory and was eager to discuss her case with the Chief and his premier cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Preston Burke.
Carlisle held a stethoscope to Bella's heart after a cursory examination as the Chief and Dr. Burke arrived, although, it really wasn't necessary because of his keen vampire hearing. He was always careful to do so when he was in a medical setting, because he didn't want his colleagues to grow suspicious. After they were all introduced, Dr. Burke performed a precordial examination to determine the extent of Bella's cardiovascular pathology. Upon completion of the examination, Dr. Burke adjusted his wire-framed glasses and looked squarely at Bella.
"There are some bruits, or unusual blood sounds that can be attributed to vascular stenoses, resulting from the narrowing of your blood vessels. There is also evidence of some vascular regurgitation, or blood spilling back into your valves," Dr. Burke said. "I'd like to schedule you for a battery of tests in the morning to confirm the diagnoses with some medical imaging. Once I've been able to study the results, I should be able to let you know in a few days if you are indeed a candidate for the surgery. Do you have any questions, Bella?"
"If I am deemed a good candidate, what are my chances for a successful valve replacement?" Bella asked.
"Most simple valve replacements are fairly routine, and barring any complications, the success rate is close to 100%. When a heart has sustained as much damage as yours, a transplant is generally recommended. Due to the amount of time that has elapsed, the fairly regular congestive heart failure you've experienced, and the number of replacements and repair you need, we couldn't go with the non-invasive replacement procedure. A multiple valve replacement of this complexity would be a fairly risky procedure for an average surgeon with a heart as compromised as yours. So, I'd say your chance of survival of a successful valve replacement in my care is approximately 80%."
Bella looked up at Edward, who had come to her side and put his arm around her. She could only see love and support in his eyes. He looked to Dr. Burke with a question of his own. "If Bella opts to go with the surgery, how soon would we be able to schedule it?"
"If I determine she's a good candidate, I'd say within the next three weeks, as I'm booked until at least then. Any further questions?" Dr. Burke asked, looking from Bella to Edward.
"No," Bella said with a smile. "Thank you, Dr. Burke."
Dr. Burke smiled, finally showing even white teeth that looked even whiter against his ebony skin. "I'll meet with Dr. Cullen in a couple of days, and we'll call you back in when a firm prognosis and course of treatment is determined."
~888~
In the week or more they had been living together, Bella was surprised to find that they fell into an easy routine without much manipulation or disagreement from either of them. Edward adopted the roles of protector, provider and caregiver with ease. Having enrolled himself in all of Bella's classes, Edward shadowed her everywhere. They left in the mornings for campus together and returned at lunch, where he prepared low-sodium meals for her and made sure she took her medication. Edward decided he would leave during the night only when she was in a deep sleep to hunt for his own sustenance. Bella thought it was too much.
"You know, I am not so sick I can't do some things for myself. I won't be a kept woman, Edward Cullen, not even for you," she teased.
He looked wounded. "My immortality lets me to do these things for you without tiring, but my love for you makes me happy to do them. Please don't take that away from me."
She couldn't refuse the forlorn, little boy look on his face. "Okay, but you've got to promise me, when I'm better, you'll let me to do some things for myself. You'll spoil me rotten."
His face lit up with one of those million megawatt smiles which never failed to totally disarm her, and he took her gently into his arms. "I like that you now say 'when' and not 'if' you get better."
"Your positive outlook has rubbed off on me, I think," she said, matching his smile with one of her own.
It seemed as if it had been months since they had left Montreal, and she was still in awe that she had found someone to care for her in the way she had always dreamed.
Edward bent down and buried his face in her hair, then bent further and ran his cool nose over her throat as he had grown accustomed to doing. Bella loved it because he liked to refer to it as "savoring the flavor, but refusing the meal." It had become sort of an inside joke between them, but she knew this exercise was critical to his desensitization to her blood.
When he had sniffed as much of her fragrance as his cold dead lungs could hold, he punctuated this whiff with a kiss on her pulse point. His cold lips made Bella tremble, but not from the temperature. She pressed her body closer to his and was surprised to find he did not move away immediately, as he so often did.
As they embraced, their eager hands found purchase in feather light caresses, exploring planes and curves that had heretofore been taboo. Bella was elated. She caressed the sinew and muscle of stone on his back through the fabric of his shirt, and reveled in the perfection that was like a living sculpture. Edward kissed a trail from below her ear, across her jaw, to her lips, and as he claimed her mouth, Bella brought her arms up and laced her fingers through his unruly silken hair.
In the boldest move he'd ever made with her, he cupped the cheeks of her bottom and hoisted her to his waist, where she instinctively wound her legs around him, feeling the proof of his arousal throbbing at her center. Supporting her effortlessly with his hands and not breaking the kiss, he walked them to her bed, where he sat, pulling her down onto his lap.
Emboldened by his actions, Bella took one of his hands and placed it on her breast. He moved as if to pull his lips away from hers, but Bella cupped his cheeks between her hands and held him there. Edward must have realized what she wanted, because he relaxed as she kissed him until she had no choice but to come up for air. His cool hands cupped her breasts, and her nipples pebbled in response through her shirt. She didn't know what this did to him, save the appreciative bulge in his pants, but every nerve-ending in her body screamed for release.
"Can you handle this?" she panted, her breasts rising and falling with each breath. Bella could see desire in his hooded eyes, but he was apprehensive. "Above the waist," she clarified. His answer was a kiss that took her breath away, and her hands went immediately to the buttons on his shirt. When she unfastened the last button, they broke the kiss as she lowered the shirt over his shoulders and slid it off his arms. His chest was smooth and cold as stone, but the contours of amazing pectorals and chiseled abdominals were a work of art. Bella splayed her palms over his chest, her thumbs finding his nipples and fluttering over them. Edward's golden eyes rolled, and a groan escaped from his beautiful mouth. She captured his bottom lip between her own and sucked it gently.
"Bella…" he moaned her name, then impatiently claimed her mouth again. Bella felt his tongue massaging hers in lightning fast flicks that zipped like electrical pulses. She was consumed by a lust she had never felt before. "Oh… Ed… ward…" she moaned into his mouth. When he deepened the kiss, she was lost. She wanted him so badly, she couldn't think straight. Her next sounds were whimpers of need she had never experienced. Edward broke the kiss, cupped her cheeks with his cool hands, and looked deep into her eyes.
"Are you okay, love?" he asked; his velvet voice was husky with desire.
"Yes… more okay than I've ever been," she said through ragged breaths. She gave him her most seductive smile and crossed her arms to grasp the hem of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. Edward helped her arms out of the sleeves, and in one fluid motion, dropped her shirt on the bed next to his. She wore the lacy bra he had recoiled from when they'd moved in. A smile graced his lips as he recognized it. "Remember this?" she taunted.
"Absolutely," he whispered. "You're so beautiful…"
Bella kissed him almost before he could get the words out, and at the same time, she wove her hands behind her back and unfastened her bra. She wriggled out of it, letting it fall in their laps between them. Her nipples hardened as she threw her arms around his neck and her breasts grazed his cool chest. They shared a simultaneous gasp as she scooted forward and their upper bodies made contact for the first time without clothing. Winding her arms up and around his neck again, her lips never leaving his, he caressed her warm skin with his cool hands.
Bella felt like she was falling, even as he held her on his lap. In an instant, the vertigo she felt became more pronounced, and she realized he had lain on the bed on his side and maneuvered her on the bed facing him. His cool hands softly cupped her breasts again, sending chills throughout her body. In another instant he hovered over her, kissing a trail from her mouth to her neck. Bella couldn't help but think , for a 108-year-old vampire who had never made love to a woman, he was pretty talented. When his lips closed around one of her peaks, she arched her back involuntarily and held his head between both her hands. This time her eyes rolled in the back of her head.
"Mmm," she moaned. "Oh…" Her next words were lost because Edward moved so fast he stood a few feet away from the bed. "What?" she said.
"Alice and Jasper are coming," he whispered. Anger robbed him of his usual lithe movements. At vampire speed, he retrieved their clothing and handed her shirt and bra to her, as she sat up on the bed. "You would think they might phone before showing up unannounced."
His shirt was on and buttoned before Bella could get her bra through one arm.
"I heard that, Edward." Alice said matter-of-factly in her head as she ceased reciting the French poetry to hide her true thoughts from him. "We'll give you guys a few minutes to make yourselves presentable." She went back to her recitation.
"One of the hazards of having a clairvoyant sibling," Edward mumbled, frustrated.
"Oh," Bella said absentmindedly as she struggled to get her shirt turned right side out so she could put it back on. She didn't want to think about what Alice must have seen on their way over to visit them.
"Here, let me help you," Edward whispered, his voice now soft. He had her shirt over her head and her arms through the sleeves before she could blink. He forced a tight smile then caressed her cheek before he turned to the door. "I'll let them in."
Bella scooted off the bed and followed him into the living room. Alice and Jasper had already arrived when she got to the living room, sitting on the sofa and smiling as she entered the room and stood next to Edward.
~888~
Edward desperately tried to glean something from their thoughts, but both Alice and Jasper recited mundane things in their heads to keep him out. He scowled at them. Bella gave him a weak smile and tugged on his shirt, trying to disquiet the anger she could feel exuding from him.
"Bella!" Alice said, moving to embrace her. "You guys seem to have settled in well."
Bella colored with a slight blush. "Y-yes, we have. How about you guys?"
Edward could see Bella was a bit embarrassed. She seemed to be struggling to wrap her head around the realization that her new vampire family had little to no secrets from one another. He was sure Jasper and Alice knew full well what he and Bella had been up to when they'd shown up at their threshold. This was one of the reasons why he had opted to have a separate residence from his family with Bella, despite Carlisle and Esme's generous offer of a room in the new Cullen mansion.
"It's like we've been here for months," Alice said. She turned to Jasper. "Right, honey?"
"Yeah," Jasper agreed from the sofa, a safe distance away from Bella's scent. "Esme and my little yellow rose have worked wonders on the new house."
Edward moved to Bella's side and slid his arm around her waist possessively. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Why are you really here, Alice?" Edward was uncharacteristically impolite. It angered Jasper and stunned Bella.
A low growl escaped Jasper's lips as he moved involuntarily to the edge of the sofa. Alice flitted over and placed her hand on his shoulder in an unspoken effort to calm him.
"Edward, please," Bella said. "Alice and Jasper are the first guests in our home, and Alice has done so much to make it comfortable for us here." She laid a hand on his chest where his heart might have been beating were he still human. Her eyes beseeched him to play nice with his siblings even though he was livid that they interrupted the first significant expression of intimacy they'd shared since they'd been on their own.
His first inclination had been to send them away without inviting them in, but he had known that would only upset Bella, but here he had gone and upset her anyway. Taking the hand she'd placed on his chest, he raised it to his lips and kissed it, and when he looked in her eyes again, he was careful to show her only tenderness and love. She smiled her approval, and then he was able to look at his siblings without any animosity.
"Alice, Jasper, please forgive me," Edward said. He hoped his sincerity was clearly conveyed in his voice and his manner. "As you well know, this is new for Bella and me. I… she… we are not used to the lack of privacy that comes with vampire abilities."
"Apology accepted brother," Jasper hastened to say. "You know we wouldn't have intruded if Alice didn't have something pressing to share with you."
Edward looked at his sister, whose earlier worried frown had turned into a tentative smile. "Alice…?" Edward said. He was not altogether sure if he was ready to hear what she had to say that brought Jasper here with her in support.
"Dr. Burke is going to accept Bella as a candidate for the surgery," Alice said without preamble. "But Chief Swan and Mrs. Swan will be opposed to her having the surgery."
"Why?" Bella asked.
"Because you're their only child, and they are afraid. Your physician in Forks will tell them it's an extremely risky procedure for you with as much damage as you have to your heart." She turned to Edward. "They'll want to hold out for a transplant because they believe her heart is too damaged for the valve replacements to work," Alice recounted from her visions.
"While that may be true in most cases," Edward argued, "Dr. Burke is the best cardiothoracic surgeon in this country. He has the best mortality rate in the world."
If Bella were to become a Cullen in every sens of the word, a high risk surgery might not have been necessary in the first place, Jasper thought.
Edward grimaced at Jasper and shook his head imperceptibly and replied to his brother in vampire speed. Carlisle wasn't sure her hear would be able to sustain the change, and if it was, she might languish for days or weeks in agony. Thankfully Bella was preoccupied by what Alice had said about her parents.
"I'm an adult. My parents can't prevent me from having the surgery if I want to do it," Bella said. Her brow crinkled as it often did when she was agitated.
"Would you defy them? Even if they felt so strongly about it?" Edward asked.
Bella looked torn. It pained him to see her look so uncertain and sad. Edward looked at Alice again. "Alice, can you see the outcome of the surgery? Maybe if they met with Dr. Burke and heard firsthand about his success rate…"
Alice assumed her trance-like state and looked into Bella's future after the surgery. Edward saw it as it played in her mind. Her parents wouldn't budge.
"Then maybe Carlisle can convince Dr. Gerundy and he could reassure them. Alice?" In this scenario, Edward could see through Alice's vision that only Renee was won over, but Charlie still seemed to have his heels dug in.
"What does Alice see?" Bella asked.
"Your father still does not agree," Edward said resignedly. Then he got an idea.
"If the decision were removed from them completely, how would that affect our odds?" Edward inquired of his sister. Then allowed her to see his thoughts. How would things change if Bella and I were married and told her parents?
"As far as I'm concerned, the decision is not theirs. I need to talk to them, make them see this is what I want," Bella said.
Edward smiled a reassuring smile at Bella. He was desperate to make this surgery for her a reality without her parents' objections, and if he could make her his permanently in the process, that would be an added bonus. His love for her was absolute and would never change, only grow stronger with time.
Alice concentrated again, and her vision yielded the desired result. Success! Edward immediately took a knee in front of his beautiful speechless girlfriend, his soulmate, as Alice and Jasper looked on. Waiting to propose at a more romantic time might make for a better memory, but he wanted forever with her beginning now.
"Isabella Swan, I love you more than my own life. You have changed me irrevocably. Would you do me the extraordinary honor of becoming my wife?"
In anticipation of an answer in the affirmative, Edward swiftly stood, picked her up and cradled her in his arms as she wound her hands around his neck and said, "Yes… yes, absolutely yes."
E/N: I promise the story hasn't jumped the shark, ya'll. The next chapter will further explain both Edward's and Bella's motivations for rushing headlong into marriage. Impending death has a way of making preliminary stuff rather superfluous, don't you think? Review and tell me what you really think.