Chapter 18: Meet the Parents.
The car ride back to Alice's house was full of sweet smiles and holding hands. Bella and Alice both were so happy. When they pulled up to the house, Bella starred in awe. It was ten times bigger than her house and it was covered in glass and wood making up the frame of the house. White paint covered the main rooms and she couldn't see the rest of the house but she had a feeling that white was the main color of choice. Alice looked over to her girlfriend and smiled before kissing her on the cheek. Bella jumped at the contact, momentarily forgetting who she was with, and looked at her beautiful vampire. "You wanna go inside Bella?" Alice giggled as her human blushed, getting caught starring open mouthed at the house. The human ducked her head and looked at the floor of the car as she fiddled with the edge of her shirt. "I'm a little nervous Alice." The pixie looked at her with a confused look on her face and she tilted her head to the side ever so slightly. "Why? You don't think they're gonna eat you, do you?" Alice giggled. "What..." Bella had a hard time getting the question out of her mouth. She knew it was a stupid question but she had to ask. "What if they don't like me?" The pixie vampire just busted out laughing at the question. It was loud but it sounded like music or wind chimes. Bella wanted to look at her with an angry face but she knew she could never be angry at the girl next to her. Alice stopped laughing when she looked over at her girlfriend and found she was serious in her question. "Oh Bella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. It's just, you're about to walk into a house full of vampires and you're afraid they're not gonna like you." Bella nodded and looked at the floor once more feeling very silly. Alice didn't want to lose sight of those beautiful eyes for one second. She took off her seatbelt and turned to her mate. She touched the soft skin of Bella's cheek to get her to look at her once more. "Bella I promise you, they'll adore you. I've already told them so much about you." The human looked at her skeptically. "All good things I hope." Alice shot forward and lightly kissed Bella on the lips. "You know it babe." She got out of the car and blurred over to the other side of the car and opened the door for her love. Bella had already taken off her seatbelt ready to venture into the house. Alice held out her hand for her to take. "Ready?" Bella looked into her girlfriend's eyes and saw nothing but love and confidence in them. She grabbed the hand offered to her and kissed her lightly much like Alice had done just two minutes ago. "As ready as I'll ever be."
The two girls walked up to the front door of the house at human speed. Alice opened the door and called out. "I'm home!" They both heard a pair of massive footsteps come down the stairs. The bear vampire Emmett came rushing to Alice and gave her a huge hug. "Hey pixie!" Bella laughed at the brotherly love displayed here. She herself had always wanted a brother; big or small it didn't matter to her. "Hey Emmett." Alice ground out as her brother squeezed her and spun her around in his arms. "Uh Emmett, could you put me down for a sec? I have a few things to tell you." The man put his sister back on solid ground and turned his sights to the human next to her. "BELLA!" He screamed in excitement before picking her up in a bear hug much like the one he had given Alice. "How you doing squirt?" He asked as he put her down on the floor and mussed her hair. "I'm doing really good Emmett." Bella and Emmett had gym class together and she had a feeling that he was keeping an eye on her too. The bear and the human became good friends and they joked and laughed a lot during class. Not far behind Emmett, Rosalie came blurring down the stairs from their room and gave Bella a big hug. Almost as big as her husband's minus the picking her up and swinging her around part. "Hi Bella. I'm Rosalie. I hope Emmett didn't squeeze the life out of you yet." The two girls laughed and another blonde blur came rushing up to the group. "And I'm Tanya, Edwards's wife." Tanya put out her hand for Bella to take and when the human did, she brought her in for a hug. Bella was surprised for a split second but hugged Tanya back. The human looked at her vampire girlfriend and smiled. Alice nodded back and smiled widely. "Hey Bella." A gruff southern accented voice called out to her. "Jasper!" Bella called out to the blonde empath. Tanya released the girl and she walked over to him. "Does Angela know?" The boy ducked his head in shame. "Not yet. I can't be the one to tell her without getting our family into trouble. She has to find out on her own like you did." Bella turned around and looked at Alice. She walked over to her and took her hand. "Your family isn't going to get into trouble because I know about you are they?"
Alice was about to speak but a voice interrupted her. "Thankfully, no." The group looked towards the stairs and saw Edward walking down to the main room. "Technically, we can't get into trouble because we didn't tell you exactly what we are. You found out for yourself. I just pray that Aro doesn't find out." Edward crossed his arms over his chest as Tanya went over to his side. Then a soft, comforting motherly voice came over the crowd. "Now Edward, that's no way to treat our guest." The bronze haired boy uncrossed his arms and bowed his head as a woman around her late 20's to her early 30's walked toward the human. "Welcome to our home Bella." The woman wrapped her arms around the young girl's shoulders in a warm embrace. "My name is Esme. I believe you already know my husband Carlisle." After Bella released the motherly figure from the hug, she looked behind her and saw the doctor standing by the stairs. He walked over to them and held out his hand. "It's nice to see you Bella. Thank goodness it's under better circumstances." Bella smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "It-it's nice to finally meet all of you." She stuttered slightly and grasped Alice's hand. "Yeah it's about time we met the girl Alice has got her panties all in a twist for." Emmett chuckled. He got a slap to the back of the head from his wife. "Don't tease the girl dear. She's already nervous as it is." Esme spoke up with a question on her mind. "Are you hungry Bella? I can fix you something for lunch." Bella looked to the rest of the group confused. "I thought you guys didn't eat regular food, if you don't mind me saying." Esme just chuckled and replied. "It's fine dear, I always try to keep my skills sharp in the kitchen. Don't want to get rusty. I am a mother after all. Is there anything I can fix you?" Bella's stomach growled in response. The group of vampires laughed, even Alice couldn't hide her slight laughter. "I'll take that as a yes. I'll make you whatever is in the cupboard dear. Alice, why don't you take her on a tour of the house? I'm sure she'll enjoy it." Alice nodded her head. "Of course Esme. We'll be back down when everything's ready."
The pixie vampire grabbed her girlfriends hand and took her around the house, starting from downstairs. She showed Bella the family room first. This was the place where Emmett and Jasper would settle their differences, by means of competitive video games. They saw the two boys on the edge of their seats on the couch their thumbs fiddling with the joysticks on their controllers. "Your televisions huge." Bella stared at the high definition screen. It made everything look so real. "Yeah, one of the perks of your dad being a doctor." Emmett smiled at the human. "Hey Alice, don't do anything I wouldn't do ok?" He winked and chuckled at his sister. He got a slap once more from his wife which resulted in his loss of the round. "Dang it Rose, I was only teasing." The two girls heard as they walked away to continue the tour. Alice shook her head as she looked at the floor in embarrassment. "That Emmett I swear, you would never know that he was over a hundred years old from the way he acts." Bella just chuckled and walked with her love up the stairs to the bedrooms.
She started with Rosalie and Emmett's room. It was all a mess and Alice could only guess what the two had been up to prior to their arrival. Then it was off to Edward and Tanya's room. This room was so big that it had a big grand piano right in front of the window. Bella stared at it in awe. "I've always wanted to play an instrument, but I know I wouldn't have the patience for it." The last room was Alice's. Bella looked into it and smiled warmly. The colors of the walls were all fluorescent blue and purple with a lace wallpaper trim by the ceiling. She stood there in the doorway staring at the room. There was a canvas on an easel by the massive window facing the woods. The view was amazing. Bella saw Alice slip passed her and sit on her bed. "It's not much, but it's home." The pixie said as she smiled at her girlfriend. Bella went over and sat next to the girl and leaned back on her elbows. "I think it's awesome. Much better than my place." They laughed and Alice wound up on her back and the two faced each other to look into their eyes. There was a long silence during this time. Neither one of them wanted to disturb the moment by saying anything.
After a while, Alice decided to speak up before anything got hot and heavy. "Bella, there's something I need to tell you about us." Bella picked up her head and rested it on her arm. "You can tell me anything Alice. What's on your mind?" The pixie thought about how to say this for a moment. "Well...my family and I have certain abilities that make us different from each other." The human girl sat up and looked down at her girlfriend with an interested look on her face. When Alice got no response from the human, she continued. "Edward has the ability to read people's minds, Emmett has an immense amount of strength, and Rosalie and Tanya possess beauty that rivals that of Aphrodite herself." Bella interrupted the girl with a quick peck on the lips. "Um I'll be the judge of that Alice." She giggled. The pixie was silent for a moment, still reeling from the quick kiss. "Carlisle has the ability to heal, Esme possesses motherly affection, Jasper is an empath and he can manipulate other people's emotions. And me...I can see the future."
Bella, after hearing this information, was a little surprised. "So that's why you were there that night in Port Angelus." It was a statement, not a question. Alice nodded her head slowly while she waited for her girlfriend to continue. "Have you seen all of this happen Alice?" The pixie sat up and faced the human. "Yes but, my visions are fueled by a person's choices. Like back in the forest, I saw what you were going to do before you did it. " Bella touched Alice's face and looked at her with loving eyes. The pixie giggled and went on. "There is one vision I will never forget though." The human tilted her head to the side and asked. "What one was that?" Alice looked into her mates eyes and got up from the bed. She went over to the closet where she stored her paintings and took out the one of Bella when she first saw her. The human gasped at the likeness of her in the portrait Alice drew. "That was when I first saw you in the cafeteria." Bella got up and went to get a closer look at the picture. The piece of canvas itself was quite old. "How long have you known about me Alice?" She asked, still staring at the picture. "I've known about you ever since I first came into the Cullen family my Bella. That was about 90 years ago." The human gasped at this new piece of information. "Wow. That's a really long time." That was the only thing she said. "Your drawings are beautiful Alice. Can I see more of them?" Alice smiled and nodded her head. "Yes Bella, anything you want, but I think Esme's about to call you down for lunch any minute now. So we better get down there." Bella asked, "Did you see that in a vision?" Alice giggled and said, "No silly, I can smell it already." The two girls laughed and Alice went to put the picture back on the bed, hoping to find a better place for it after she dropped Bella off at home. She walked past the girl and when she was by the door she heard Bella's voice ring in her ear. "Thank you Alice." the pixie giggled and turned to face her mate. "For what Bella?" "For trusting me." Was all the girl said before they both headed down the stairs and into the kitchen.