As most of you who have read my work know. I do not own these characters because I am not the amazing Stephenie Meyer. I wish so much that I was though. She is awsome.

Chapter 8: Meeting

IT WAS A LITTLE INTIMIDATING WALKING OVER TO A Table OF VAMPIRES THAT WERE ALL WAITING FOR ME. THEY COULD HAVE started without me. They would know better that I would what needed to be done. I took my seat and looked at Edward. I had no idea what we were going to do.

"As we have discussed, we were all to take some time and relax. With that we were also to think about what we are going to do about Carlisle's disappearance. Bella and I have talked over a couple of solutions and feel comfortable with one more than the other," Edward said as he took charge of the meeting.

I looked from him to Alice. I was wondering what she would think. I also wanted to know if she had seen anything.

"What is your idea for how we should proceed?" Emmett asked.

Edward looked at me then at everyone else. I nodded to him to tell them because I didn't want to say anything. "Bella and I are willing to change her before the wedding. That way when they show up for the wedding Carlisle will be ours again and there will be no reason for anyone from the Volturi to stay. However we want to know what you all think becau…"

I looked up at Edward to see why he had stopped. He was looking at Alice. She had slipped into one of her trances and Edward was waiting for her to come back so that he could finish what he was telling everyone. A few minutes later Alice came too and smiled at Edward.

Edward finished what he was going to say in double time because he wanted to know what Alice had seen, "Because Carlisle is your family too and if you want something done sooner than tell me what you propose to do." As soon as he finished the comment he turned to Alice and without a word looked at what she had seen.

Jasper was impatient to find out and so while Edward was looking he asked, "What did you see? Is Carlisle ok or does Edward and Bella's plan work?"

Alice smiled at me then and waited a moment more before answering. By the time she started Edward had his arm around me and he was smiling also. "Edward and Bella's plan is perfect. Although I think you should change her sooner than you plan to. That way she has more time to become accustomed to our way of life and will not be as anxious on her wedding day. That and if you do it soon enough word will get to the Voturi by way of the spy they have in Forks and Carlisle will be back."

Everyone smiled at me then, everyone but Rosalie. I wondered what was going through her mind. She must want to have Carlisle back and the only way was if I changed. I knew about her reservations and surely she would put them aside if that meant having Carlisle home soon. I could tell that I was going to have to talk to her about this.

Edward seemed satisfied and said that everyone could go and relax. I remained in my seat and let everyone else leave. Rosalie was ushered away from the table by Emmett. I knew he was going to try and talk to her about how this had to happen. I would let him do what he felt he needed to do first. I would wait to talk to her until this evening.

After everyone had left I looked up. Edward was still there waiting for me. I gave him a weak smile and he took me in his arms and carried me to the piano. He sat me down and started to play the familiar tune. It was my lullaby. I felt better and when he finished I kissed him. He slid off of the piano stool and took me in his arms. He carried me up to our room and without taking his eyes off of me set me down on the bed. He then went and chose a cd from the shelf and turned it on. He turned the volume up so that we could talk without the others trying to listen.

"Alice wants me to change you two weeks after we get back. That way you would have a month to become accustomed to our way of life and settle in with your new life. I want to know when you want me to change you though. I saw the look on your face when Alice said she thought I should change you sooner than we planned."

"I don't know. Part of me wants you to change me right now and another wants to wait as long as possible. I am worried about Charlie. You said that I will be stronger than all of you when I am changed because of the blood that will still flow through me. What if I were to go after him? Would you be able to stop me? I just don't know if it is a good idea for me to stay with him after I am changed."

"Bella, my love, you need to stop worrying so much about this. Everything is going to be fine. Alice has seen what is going to happen and she wouldn't make any suggestion that would change that outcome. You won't do anything to hurt Charlie. In fact you won't do anything to hurt anyone. It amazed me when I saw it in Alice's mind."

"What do you mean I won't do anything to hurt anyone? Am I not normal ever? Are you saying that I will be a freak as a vampire too?" I don't know why this worried me any normal person would be overjoyed that they wouldn't be a threat to those they loved. I was upset though.

Edward looked at me like I was crazy and I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. Why did I want to be normal when that kind of normal was monstrous? He took a moment to compose his face again and then he answered my questions.

"You are not going to desire human blood. I don't know why I only know the theories that everyone has come up with since Alice's vision this morning. They all know what exactly she saw now. They talked about it after they left the table. They all seem to think that you will be different because you are choosing to join us. I don't know if that is true or not but we don't have Carlisle here to ask so we will have to wait. As for being a freak we all are. We are Vampires how much freakier can you get."

I smiled at him knowing that he was just trying to make me feel better. It worked though. My mood was much lighter now and I felt like joining everyone else. We left our room to go see where everyone was but we found no one except for Esme. Edward listened for his brothers and sisters then and quickly grabbed me and told me to say something. He must have stumbled upon something he didn't want to. Esme and I just laughed.

"It serves you right for prying into their thoughts. You should have known better when you couldn't find them," Esme said in her motherly tone.

Edward looked at me and then scooped me up and took me to the basement. He must have really wanted to get away. It was too bad that it was sunny or else I would have suggested going to our place. We turned on the tv so that there would be some kind of distraction but I could tell that Edward wanted to talk. I never gave him a straight answer about when I wanted him to change me.

It didn't take him long to ask again, "Bella, you never gave me and answer, not a real one."

I decided to be coy and asked as sweetly as I could, "What question would that be?"

"Alice wants me to change you in two week's I want to wait four weeks. When would you want me to change you?"

I was silent for a while and Edward didn't say anything to rush an answer from me. He could see I was thinking about this very hard. When I did answer I was very quiet.

"Edward I don't know when I want you to change me yet. Let me think about it for a day or so."

"Bella, I don't know how much time we have to decide what we are going to do. Alice's vision was of me changing you but it didn't show where. The sooner we decided this part the sooner her vision will become clearer. I don't want to push you…"

"Let me go to our room by myself. Give me an hour and then come up. I will give you my answer then."

I got up then and walked to the stairs. I turned and smiled at Edward to let him know that I wasn't upset with him. I then walked up the stairs. As soon as I got to our room I turned on the music and pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil.

I started to make a list of the pros and cons to changing now verses when we got home. That didn't take me long. There weren't many pros for either one. Though, the pros to here kind of outweighed the pros to wait until we got home. If he changed me here it would seem right. This was my home, my house that Edward bought just for me. It would be romantic in a way.

I decided I needed to take my mind off of it for a little while so I went into the bathroom and started to run the water so that I could take a shower and relax. I quickly undressed and was about to get in when I heard a quiet knock on the door to my bedroom. I ignored it. Whoever it was could wait. I needed to take this time to relax before Edward came up and I told him my decision.

The knock came a little louder this time. I still refused to answer it. Whoever it was must not be getting the hint that I needed to be alone right now because then there was a third knock and this one was on the bathroom door and not the bedroom door. There was also a voice to accompany it this time.

"Bella," that all too familiar female voice asked quietly, "can I come in? I need to talk to you before Edward comes up."

The next thing I knew the door was opening and Alice was walking in. Of course she knew I would let her in so she didn't wait. I didn't say anything and just let the water run over me.

"I know this has been a hard decision for you but everything is going to be ok. I have seen it. You don't need to worry."

"Thanks Alice. I am just a little scared that is all. I don't do well with the smell of blood ask Edward."

"Bella, it is going to be fine. You will be ok and I think that doing it here is terribly romantic. I had a feeling you would choose to change here so I packed you something to wear during the change I will get it out for you later."

"Ok," I replied and then she was gone.

I got out and toweled off and then I got dressed. There were a couple of things I needed to talk to Edward about. First, I was going to insist that we be married before this took place. Second, I wanted to try and do what we had talked about doing before I change and last, I wanted to have him change me here in our room with everyone around us.

I finished dressing just as Edward knocked on the door.

"Come in," I called as I walked out of the bathroom.

Edward came in and sat down on the bed. I walked over to where he was and sat down with him. He pulled me into his arms and just held me for a little while. I looked up at him and smiled. This was my favorite place to be. I was safe here, I felt love here.

He loosened his grip on me and turned me so that he could look into my eyes. "Have you made a decision?"

I nodded my head but said nothing.

"What do you want to do?"

"Edward we need to talk. I don't want you to change me without being married. Like I said I want to tie myself to you in every human way before you change me. That means we have a busy day tomorrow. We have to go get a marriage license and find a judge to marry us. Then tomorrow night I want us to try. You can change me here in this room on Friday morning. That way I will be past the pain when we leave on Monday."

Edward didn't say anything. Obviously he hadn't seen this when he saw Alice's vision this morning. He wouldn't have though this decision wasn't made then. I had made the decision to be married only minutes ago.

"If that is what you want love then that is what we will do. We need to go talk to the family now. Alice is going to have a fit if we don't come down soon."

I took his hand and we got up. We walked together to the stairs and then he picked me up and carried me down. He didn't use his vampire speed though. This was a moment that he didn't want to rush. It was one of the last we would have while I was still human.

When we got to the bottom of the stairs Alice was waiting for us and she looked mad. I gave her a look that was meant to say go sit down and we will explain, well more that I would explain. She seemed to get the message and she led the way to the table. The only regret I had right now was that I had not talked to Rosalie before this. I had no idea how she would take this.

Alice went to sit next to Jasper and Edward placed me in the chair across from her. He then positioned himself in the seat next to mine and took my hands in his. I looked to every person's face before Edward and I told them what we had decided to do. Emmett was all smiles as he usually was when I saw him. This was only because he was curious what kind of crazy human thing I might do next. Rosalie was surprisingly calm, though I could detect a hint of hurt at the same time. Jasper and Esme wore similar looks. They both seemed worried about what we were going to do. Jasper though also looked like he was trying to keep Alice calm. I didn't have to look at Edward because I knew he was feeling the same way I was. We both looked at Alice. She had the face I knew she would. She was furious and looked as though if I didn't talk soon she was going to murder someone.

I obviously took too long because Alice started to interrogate, "What are you thinking getting married tomorrow? You don't need to be married to change Bella."

That was when everyone's expressions changed to ones of shock and love and panic all at once. It was a pretty amazing sight to behold. I had no idea that a person's face could contort the way all of theirs had. I knew then that an explanation was in order. How was I going to start this one? I thought carefully for a moment and decided I should start from the beginning.

"I guess a full explanation would be the best way to go about this. Please try not to interrupt me and be patient. You can ask any questions you might have after I finish." I looked to everyone to make sure that they understood and then I continued. "You all know how much I love Edward. I made a promise to him that I wouldn't change until we were married. That was the one thing he asked of me when he agreed to change me instead of Carlisle. Then when everything happened with Victoria a few weeks ago I decided that I did want to be united with him in every human way possible before I became a vampire. It is for that reason that I want to be married before he changes me. I want to spend one night with him married before and so I have decided to let him change me on Friday. That means we have things to do tomorrow. We need to get married tomorrow and I know that there are things that need to be done before that can happen. Alice don't worry you will still get the wedding in August because we will tell no one about this wedding. To everyone concerned that will be the only wedding we have. Only you and Carlisle when he gets back will know the truth. We won't even tell Charlie. That way he can have his goodbye."

As soon as I finished Alice smiled at me. She seemed to be happy with my decision about how to go about everything. Then her smile changed and I knew what that smile meant. She knew why I wanted one night with Edward. I felt the blood rush to my face and turn it red. Emmett looked like he was going to burst. Edward turned to me and whispered to me that he would send the family to hunt that night so that we could be alone. I nuzzled into him and nodded.

Jasper broke the silence, "Bella, are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yes, it is what I want. Edward and Alice assured me that everything will be ok when we get home and that I don't need to worry about hurting Charlie or Jacob so I am perfectly at ease with this decision."

Everyone seemed satisfied with my decision but I could tell that Kasper was hurt that I wouldn't have the usual hard time that every other person who became a vampire had. I felt guilty that I wouldn't have a hard time at that moment. I knew how hard things were for Jasper still and I wanted to be able to help him.

Alice started to speak, "Ok if we are going to have a wedding tomorrow then we have a lot to get done tonight. Bella Rosalie and Esme come with me. Jasper you and Emmett take Edward and go do whatever it is that guys do before a wedding."

At that I was pulled up the stairs to Alice's room. As soon as all of us were in her room she closed the door and pushed me onto the bed. I looked at her very confused.

"Bella, don't be so naive you have to have a bachelorette party. I had a feeling this might happen so I brought the stuff we needed for it with me. This will of course only be a 'practice' party we will have to have another before the wedding back home. Don't worry we will have fun."

At that she popped a CD into the CD player. When it started to play I wanted to run from the room. It was a bunch of seductive love songs. I was wondering what Edward was doing with the guys and if he was as uncomfortable as I was with the girls. Esme and Rosalie asked Alice if they could leave for a moment because they needed to go get things from their rooms. Had Alice warned everyone about what I decided? Alice let them go and pulled me from the bed and blindfolded me. I was truly scared now. Why in the world would she need to blindfold me?

The next thing I knew Rosalie and Esme were back and asking Alice what was going on. Alice whispered something to them so fast that I couldn't understand a word of what she was saying. Five minutes later the blindfold came off. There were candles everywhere and the mirror was covered in fabric. The room looked so beautiful and romantic.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

Alice pulled out a bag and set it on her vanity. She opened it and I saw that it was full of makeup and hair products. There was also a wig in the bag. I was really worried. Alice started to do my makeup and I noticed it was a more formal than usual. She also put a very strong perfume on me. As she did this Rosalie was pulling my hair up. Then they sent me to change my clothes. Alice said that what I was to put on was hanging in the bathroom. I wanted to know what was going on.

When I left to go to the bathroom I could hear Edward protesting whatever was going on downstairs. I wanted to run down and save him but Alice yelled at me to get my butt into the bathroom then. I went in and there was a skin tight high neck long sleeve blue sweater hanging in there with a mini skirt and a pair of thigh high black boots. Rosalie had pulled my hair into a French twist on my head. I got dressed and went back to the room. When I got back I noticed that Alice and Rosalie were wearing identical outfits to mine and had the same perfume on. The only difference in our outfits was the height of our heels. Alice had made it so that we were all the same height. Esme was laughing. Alice must have told them what was going on. Rosalie took one of the wigs out of the bag and put it on me. It was long and had soft flowing curls. Alice's wig was shoulder length and flipped out. Rosalie's wig was mid back and black like mine and Alice's but it was pin straight. I took one look at her and prayed that I would look like that when I became one of them. Alice called down to Emmett then and had him come up. When he got to the top of the stairs he took one look at us and smiled.

"Perfect," was all he said.

He led us all down stairs. I noticed as we got to the bottom that Edward had his back to us and was blindfolded. I had a sinking feeling that I knew what was going on. He was going to have to figure out which one of us was me but he wasn't going to be able to see or talk to us. He had to go totally by feel. That was why we were all dressed alike and why they had put a wig on me.

As soon as Emmett had us in place he told Edward what was going on. He was not allowed to use his power. He was not allowed to touch our faces. He could ask each of us one question and only Esme was allowed to answer. That way he didn't hear our voices. As he told Edward that we each were handed a pad of paper. Then they took Edward to the first girl. It was Rosalie. He first felt her hair and then her shoulders. He was obviously trying to get an idea of her height.

He thought for a moment and asked, "How did I find out you liked me?"

Rosalie would know this one. Alice had asked this question on the plane ride.

Esme read her answer, "You listened to my conversation with Jessica through her mind."

Edward then moved on to the second girl which was me and did the same thing. The question he asked me was one that I had side stepped on the plane.

"What happened on the mountain that made you think I would be mad at you and not want you anymore?"

I wrote my answer and Esme read it, "I wanted to make sure that Jacob wouldn't kill himself so I asked him to kiss me. He kissed and I kissed back so that he would fight and protect himself."

He seemed satisfied with my answer and moved on to Alice. Again he felt her hair and then he put his hand on her shoulders.

"What is your one request before I change you?"

I went red and Alice wrote her answer.

Esme said, "I just want us to try. If it doesn't work it doesn't work but I want to at least try."

Emmett and Jasper looked at me and I went even redder. They turned Edward away from us and asked which one he thought was me.

"I think Bella is the third one."

I wanted to laugh. Alice had done a good job at trying to be me. Maybe she did too good a job. They placed Edward in front of her and asked if he was sure. He said that he was and they took his blindfold off. Everyone started to laugh including me. Alice smiled and skipped over to Jasper. I was worried about what was going to happen next.

There were two chairs next to each other and Edward and I were told to sit in them. I guess that they decided to combine the parties this time being as it was a practice party after all.

"It is time for gifts," Alice announced.

Edward and I looked at each other. How embarrassing would this be? I was hoping that since Esme was going to be present they would tone down their gifts.

Rosalie and Emmett's gifts were first. Edward opened his first. It was a bottle of flavored bogy oil. It was my turn. I opened my gift and it was a red nightie. The top of it was lace and tied shut. Alice and Jasper went next. If that was how the gifts started I was scared to continue. I was already red. Were they trying to see how red they could make the human turn? It was my turn to go first. I slowly unwrapped the box and as soon as I saw where it was from I wanted to stop. Alice told me if I didn't open it she would. I opened the box and sure enough my face flushed even more. Edward looked at me and got an impish grin on his face. I pulled out the white intimates. They were shear with marabou feathers on the bottom. The top part was shear with ribbon bands. There was also a short robe to match and a pair of marabou feathered heels with it. Edward then opened Jasper's gift. It was a pair of deep blue silk boxers. Esme was last and she handed each of us a package along with a look of I'm sorry but this was Alice's idea. We looked at each other and decided to open them at the same time. That was a big mistake. Esme's gift made me blush the reddest of all. She had gotten Edward a set of candles and silk red sheets for the bed. For me she had gotten a black corset number that was all lace and had the clasps for thigh high socks, which she had also gotten for me. She also had gotten a pair of black elbow gloves and a pair of black heels.

Edward started to glare at his brothers. I didn't understand they hadn't said anything. Then they had the same impish grin that Edward had been wearing only a moment ago. I wanted to run from the room. Alice and Rosalie must have known what they were thinking because they started to apologize profusely for their husbands. Alice even hit Jasper upside the head trying to knock him back into his right mind.

When the party was finally over I went up to go to bed and Alice came with me. I asked where Edward was and she said that he was going to stay with Jasper tonight so that she could help me.

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