Bella

Edward took my hand and led me to one of the large, comfortable couches. He sat down to my left and Esme sat on his other side. She reached behind him and rested her hand on my shoulder. Jasper sat on my right and I was surprised and pleased when he took my right hand in his. I had been hoping to have a better relationship with him and it seemed like we were headed in that direction. Alice sat on the arm of couch next to Jasper and everyone else dispersed to the other furniture. For a moment I thought about how surreal it was to be the only human sitting with twelve vampires. Weird.

"So what are your plans now Edward?" Carlisle asked when we were all seated.

"Well, Bella has to be back for the beginning of the school year in three weeks. I plan on going back to finish out our senior year in Forks." I leaned against Edward's shoulder and reached for his hand. I had so much to look forward to now when my life had been so empty such a short time ago.

Edward turned and grinned at Jasper then raised my hand to his lips. I saw him look over at Emmett and roll his eyes.

"That is excellent, son. I will call the hospital and let them know that I want to come back. I don't think it will be a problem." Carlisle said.

Rosalie spoke for the first time. "I doubt it. You are the best thing that ever happened to that dinky little town. If they didn't welcome you back with open arms I would have some serious doubts about their mental capacity." Everyone laughed.

"I'm curious, Bella. How were you able to find Edward in a city as big as Rio?" Esme asked.

I felt my cheeks turn red when everyone turned to look at me curiously.

"It was just luck, really. I had a picture but I don't speak a lot of Spanish so getting people to understand what I wanted them to was kind of hard." Emmett laughed and I could not help smiling at him.

"I hope you didn't get too lost, little sister," he teased.

"Well, a couple of times," I said, blushing again.

Emmett was having a hard time staying in his chair, he was laughing so hard and I couldn't help joining in with everyone else when they laughed too. It was funny, now.

I calmed down a little before continuing. "I was lucky to find a woman who spoke English and who remembered seeing Edward. She told me where I was likely to find him and I waited for him. Then he showed up. That's all, really."

I was not going to tell them every single detail of the reunion between Edward and me. Rio was somewhere I would hold in my heart and it was no one else's business but ours.

I was surprised to hear Tanya speak. She had been quiet, watching Edward and I carefully. Her tone was almost too sweet.

"Bella, I'm curious, what caused you to go find Edward in the first place? We have all heard the story of what happened between you and Edward and I am surprised that you would do something like that after the way you were treated. It couldn't have been easy to go after him when he rejected you like that." I stiffened at the reminder of what had happened between Edward and me in the forest. I could not believe that a perfect stranger would bring up something that was so devastating and also none of her business. My cheeks were burning in anger and mortification. I did not like the idea of others knowing our past problems. Beside me I heard Edward growl softly in Tanya's direction. I felt Esme's hand on my shoulder stiffen and Jasper's grip on my right hand tightened.

Carlisle spoke. "Tanya, there is no reason to get into that. What's done is done and Bella's reasons are her own. We are just so happy to have both of them back with us." I could hear a touch of anger in his tone that surprised me. Carlisle was always so cool and collected. "Let's focus on the family being whole again and forget the rest."

Alice decided to break the silence that followed Carlisle's words.

"So, Bella, do you want to go shopping with me when we get back to Forks? You are going to need all kinds of new stuff to start the school year."

I groaned. Shopping with Alice was akin to shaving my legs with a rusty butter knife.

"I have plenty of clothes, Alice." I sighed. "Or at least I did until you stole them all."

Everyone cast startled looks in Alice's direction and laughed. She was unabashed.

"You stole her clothes?" Rosalie asked, shaking with laughter.

"Well, everything she packed was so unstylish and boring. I knew she would want to knock Edward's socks off when he saw her again. And it obviously worked because here he is." My cheeks reddened as I remembered Edward's reaction to those silky blue pajamas. I felt him shake his head and laugh next to me. Glad my wardrobe was so amusing.

"Thanks a lot, Alice. Good to know how boring my clothes are. What did you do with them anyway, after you snuck them out of my suitcase?"

I didn't like the expression on her face. She looked chagrined and I had the sneaking suspicion that I would not like what she was going to tell me. It was confirmed when Edward laughed and then quickly smothered his amusement with his hand. His other hand squeezed mine in encouragement. This was going to be bad, I knew it.

"Well, really Bella, everything you had was so two years ago, and I knew that you could look so amazing in some of the newer fashions. I will help you pick out plenty of new stuff and you will never miss the old ones."

"Miss them? Alice, what did you DO?" My voice rose on the last word. Emmett was gasping for air, laughing.

"Well…I kind of…well… gave them to charity." She cringed when she said it.

"WHAT?? ALICE!! HOW COULD YOU?" I was screaming now but I didn't care. Edward was whispering something in my ear but my blood was pounding so hard I couldn't hear it. I felt wave after wave of calm hit me and knew Jasper was trying to calm me down. It had very little effect. I felt myself shaking in anger and my fists were balled up tightly. One of them anyway. I had a death grip on Edward's hand.

"I will buy you brand new ones, Bella, I promise." Alice exclaimed. "You will never miss your old ones, really." Her voice was pleading and I knew that I had to calm down. I was livid but I knew that being angry wasn't going to help me deal with Alice. I felt Jasper hit me with another wave of calm and it helped a lot more this time. I felt the angry tears in my eyes and I could not quite find the ability to speak yet.

"You should not have done that, Alice. Bella has a right to wear whatever she feels comfortable in. Giving away all her clothes was inexcusable." Esme said reproachfully.

Alice hung her head but I could still see the excitement in her eyes. She was itching to play Dress Up Bella. Edward rubbed his hand on my back soothingly and I looked up at him. I was trying to stay calm but I told him with my eyes that Alice would have hell to pay for this. He seemed to understand.

"So…Did you enjoy Rio, Bella?" Carlisle asked. Poor Carlisle. He was always trying to play peacemaker.

I had to take a deep breath before I could reply. "Actually I did, once I found Edward that is." I smiled up at him. "He gave me a tour of the city and there was just so much." I could hear the enthusiasm in my voice. "We went to an open air market and there were so many things to see. There was even a monkey I thought about bringing home to you Emmett; you two seemed so similar I thought the two of you might get along." I couldn't help grinning at Emmett as I teased him. He laughed loudly then he was suddenly standing before me. Before I could even blink he lifted me up under my arms and was swinging me around in a circle.

"Good to have you back with us, little bit," he said, his laughter booming. I couldn't help laughing too. I had really missed Emmett.

"Put her down and stop being such a jackass Emmett, if you can that is." Rosalie was standing next to us and I saw with relief that she was smiling a little. I was not Rosalie's favorite person.

Emmett lowered me to the floor and turned like a cobra strike and picked Rosalie up. He twirled her around too. She was laughing softly.

"Put me down you big ox! Sheesh, if I didn't know better I would think you were twelve years old." I could tell she was amused despite her words.

I sat down next to Edward again and took his hand in mine. Jasper reached over and took my hand again and when I looked at him both he and Alice were watching Emmett play, big grins on their face. Carlisle came over to stand by Esme and she stood up and wrapped her arms around him. They both looked so happy and content. I could tell they were enjoying the carefree atmosphere that Emmett had created.

I felt Edward brush a kiss against my forehead and I looked up at him and smiled.

Everyone sat back down again and to my utter mortification my stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly. Twelve heads turned in my direction. I felt my face burn so hot I thought I might burst into flames.

"Sorry," Edward said. "I keep forgetting to make sure you eat." I looked up at him, embarrassed beyond words. Esme came to my rescue.

"Come on, Bella. We have plenty of food in the kitchen." She stood and reached for my hand and I took it, relieved.