DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Cullen family and the Denali Coven play baseball.

HAPPY SATURDAY, FRIENDLY READERS!!!! IT'S A SPECIAL TWO CHAPTER DAY SINCE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING PATIENTLY SINCE FIRST YEAR TO SEE BELLA PLAY VAMPIRE BASEBALL! HOPE YOU ALL LIKE THE WAY IT TURNED OUT!

Baseball – Part 1

"I've got jerseys!" Alice sang.

We all collectively rolled our eyes at her. She was singing Emmett's favorite country song in her head to block me out. I wondered what she could have possibly done now.

"Is that what you went to the store for?" Jasper asked.

"Yep!" Alice chirped. "I ordered them when you guys found the field. The teams are the Lions and the Lambs."

"Alice!" Bella groaned. "Why?"

"Because it's cute and it makes a little jab at Edward and you," Alice chuckled.

"The Lions will be Emmett, Carlisle, Carmen, Eleazar, Irina, and me!" Alice announced as she handed out their shirts. "The Lambs will be Edward, Bella, Rosalie, Jasper, Kate, and Tanya. Esme will be the referee. Go change and be ready to leave in half an hour!"

Emmett held up his jersey for inspection. The lion jerseys were gold with black lettering. A relaxed lion adorned the back of the shirt. I held up my own. The lamb jerseys were dark blue with white lettering. On the back of them was a little, white lamb that was sleeping.

Bella and I went to our room to change. She sat on the bed and watched me as I put on an older pair of jeans. I made sure to put on the black tank top that had distracted her last time we played. I saw her smirk from the corner of my eye and grinned. I yanked on Alice's jersey, chuckling at my sister's idea of a joke.

I turned to Bella and smiled. "Why aren't you getting ready?"

"I will in a minute. Can you explain the game to me so I won't make a total fool of myself?" She was wrinkling her nose in the way she always did when she was nervous or embarrassed.

"What do you remember from watching the baseball games on TV with Charlie?" I asked. I didn't know if she had noticed yet, but more of her human memories that didn't involve me had faded.

She shrugged. "Not much."

"It'll be easier to explain it in the field."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," she muttered.

I pulled her into my arms. "You, my silly Bella, worry too much. Emmett and I will explain the game to you while everyone is getting ready."

"Alright," Bella sighed, giving me a small smile.

I kissed her forehead. "Change."

"Help!" Bella chuckled.

"I think not," I laughed. "Change and meet me in the front yard."

"Don't leave! Compromise! I'll behave and go into the bathroom to change."

"Fine, but get a move on! Or Alice will be pounding at the door." I sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard.

Bella grabbed her jeans from the closet and ran into the bathroom. "Edward, do you think Alice will let me get away with a ponytail?"

"Put your hair up however you want, Bella. We'll deal with her reaction later."

"Remember you said that," Bella warned. She came walking out of the bathroom a few minutes later.

I sucked in a breath at the sight of her. She was breathtaking! Her jeans were low on her hips and tight on her legs. Her jersey was too big, showing off her creamy white skin and a strap of the blue bra she wore underneath. Her hair was pulled up behind her, showing off her neck and heart-shaped face. Her golden eyes twinkled with nervousness and excitement.

I jumped up from the bed and pulled her into my arms. "No matter what you wear, love, you look absolutely amazing."

"You're looking pretty nice yourself, honey. I saw you put that tank top on."

"I know," I chuckled as I kissed her neck. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be!" Bella took my hand in hers and squeezed tightly.

We left our room and headed out to the front yard. Emmett and Rose were already waiting. Rose had tied her jersey back, making it more like a half of a shirt. She was also wearing what could only be considered the shortest pair of jean shorts in history. And that was saying a lot for Rosalie. I chuckled at my sister.

"Come here, Bella," Rose called.

I watched as my sister unbuttoned the bottom of Bella's jersey and tied it the same as hers, revealing a good two inches of Bella's flat stomach.

"Now you look like a Cullen woman," Rose said with a smile.

Bella spun and faced me. "What do you think, Edward?"

"I think you spend too much time with Rose," I smirked.

"Ignore him, Bella," Rose said. "He's just teasing." 'You know you like it.'

I might have liked it, but I wasn't going to say that. It would just lead to trouble. It was hard enough to keep my hands to myself without my sisters making my wife even more appealing.

Bella wrapped her two arms around one of mine. "Can you and Em start explaining now?"

"Explain what?" Emmett asked, as he walked over to us.

"How to play the game properly," Bella replied.

"Nervous, Picky?" Emmett was grinning widely as he bumped his shoulder against Bella's.

She nodded, giving him her best pleading eyes. Emmett melted at the sight of her. I chuckled too low for them to hear me.

"It's okay, Bella. It's not hard at all. We have the four bases and we take turns batting until we get three outs," Emmett explained.

"Yes, but how do you know which way to bat and who to throw the ball to and stuff?" Bella questioned.

"Let's start with the batting first," Emmett explained. "The batting depends on the pitcher and the outfielders. If Alice pitches, she'll try to strike you out. But with your height, if you bend your knees enough, you can turn her strikes into fouls. You can get four fouls in a row before you get one strike. Or if you're really brave, you can step into the pitch, letting it hit you and – "

I interrupted Emmett before he could say anything more. "She willnot be doing that, Emmett," I glared at him.

Emmett waved his hand at me, completely ignoring my death stare. "Of course she won't, Ed. Anyways, Picky, if you think you'd rather hit the ball, make sure the bat hits the ball dead center and you should be able to get to second or third base if not a home-run."

"What if someone else pitches?" Bella asked.

"You'll have to wait and see if that happens. If they pitch as fast as Alice, just do the same things. If they pitch slower, you might want to think about bunting. Don't ever bunt towards first base. Always go the opposite direction. A good bunt aims between home and third without going out of bounds," Emmett explained. "Now, onto catching and throwing. Whichever base you are playing, you always throw to the left if the runner hasn't passed you. If the runner has, then you throw it to the base they're running towards. So if Carlisle bunts this time, you're going to throw it to your first base team member. Never throw to the pitcher."

"I think I can understand all of that," Bella said.

"Edward, we have to teach her to slide when we get to the field," Emmett exclaimed. 'It'll be fun! And she'll get dirty and it'll drive Alice nuts!'

"We'll see," I told my brother. I winked at him so he would know I was saving my decision so Alice wouldn't see it.

"Bella!" Alice called as she and Jasper came out of the house. 'I can't believe she's trying to get … oh!'

I lifted an eyebrow, waiting to find out what had stopped my sister's tirade.

"I was going to fuss to you about the ponytail, but since you let Rose fix your shirt, I'll let it slide."

"Gee, thanks!" Bella said, rolling her eyes.

Once everyone else joined us, we set off for the field my brothers and I had found for baseball. It wasn't too far from the lake. Carlisle marked off the bases, as he always did.

"The slide is a very important part of baseball, Picky," Emmett said, as he rested his massive arm on Bella's small shoulders.

I chuckled at the sight of them together. Emmett was beaming and Bella had a very serious look on her face as she focused on his words.

"You want to get yourself a good head-start. Then you'll turn to your side, land on your leg and slide feet first. Always feet first, Bella. Some folks will do the hands out front, but that's for sissies. And we know you aren't a sissy."

Bella nodded her head gravely.

"Edward, you guard first." Emmett started walking Bella toward home plate. "Slide feet first and aim for Edward's ankles. If you take him out and make him drop the ball, he can't tag you out. Got it?"

"Feet first, ankles, drop ball," Bella repeated. "Got it!"

"Go get him, Picky!" Emmett said, patting her hard on the back.

I knew she wouldn't slide into me. I would move before she could. Bella was faster than our siblings, but I was still faster than her. I watched her turn to a blur as she ran toward me. I was impressed when she turned and landed correctly, locking her legs together.

"Eddie!" Emmett yelled. I looked up as I always did when someone called my name. 'Gotcha!'

His thought hit me at the same time Bella's feet did. I fell over her legs and hit the ground hard. I looked up to see Bella completely shocked and Emmett rolling on the ground laughing.

"I hit you!" Bella cried, her eyes wide with disbelief. "How did that happen?"

I laughed as I pulled her into my arms. "Emmett distracted me to make sure you would be able to."

"Wow!" Bella sighed. "You're okay, right?"

"Of course, Silly Bella!" I chuckled. I kissed her nose. "Are you okay?"

"Never been better," Bella said with a smile.

"Is that because I'm holding you or because you really didn't hurt yourself?" I asked.

"Help me up and let's find out," Bella chuckled.

I jumped up and pulled her up with her hands. She stood still for a moment, checking herself.

"I'm good."

"Bella!" Alice sighed, shaking her head. "Just look at your clothes!"

"It's baseball, Alice," Emmett laughed. "You're supposed to get dirty!"

Alice glared at him, but then her shoulders slumped and she just shook her head. "Okay, people!" she called. "Lions have first bat. Lambs, you can take a few minutes to figure out who's going to play which position."

We separated into teams and our group moved toward the pitcher's mound.

"Jasper, how should we do this?" I asked him.

"Rosalie, do you want the pitching honors?" Jasper questioned.

"Absolutely!" Rose grinned.

"Great. I think Tanya should play first base. Edward, I want you at third. I'll take second," Jasper explained. "Kate, would you mind playing home?"

"Not at all," Kate replied.

"Bella," Jasper said with a smile. "You'll be short stop again, but this time, I want you between second and third so you can help Edward and me. I have a feeling Emmett and Carlisle are going to try a lot of bunting to mess with you. Does that sound good to everyone?"

We all nodded our heads.

"Let's play some ball then!" Jasper exclaimed, sharing his excitement with all of us.

"Is everyone ready?" Esme called. There was a resounding 'yes' throughout the clearing. "No cheating and try to keep the name calling to a minimum. Now, let's play ball!"

I smiled as Alice came up to bat first. She winked at me. 'I'm going to hit it right over your head, brother. You won't catch it this time.' I politely smiled at her. We would soon see if she was telling the truth or not.

Rosalie took the mound and stared hard at Alice. 'Edward, fast and inside or slow and outside?'

Rose and I had developed a system for dealing with Alice over the years. I would tell Rose what pitch to go with and she would force herself to think of a completely different one to confuse Alice.

I held two fingers against my knee. As Rose turned to ready her pitch, she glanced at me and grinned. She'd seen my call. I watched as the ball went wide and barely missed the tip of Alice's bat as she swung. I kept the smirk from my face. I was sure Alice had an idea that Rose and I worked together to fool her, but we'd never given her proof of it and I wasn't going to start now.

"Strike one!" Esme called.

Rose smiled triumphantly as Kate tossed the ball back to her. 'Down the middle or too close for comfort?'

I held a single finger against my knee. Rose gave a slight nod as she threw the ball. Alice must have been expecting another outside pitch because she didn't even swing. She would probably have had a home-run with that ball.

"Strike two, dear!" Esme announced.

"Come on, Alice!" Emmett whined. "Don't get out on our first bat! It just sets a bad tone!"

"Emmett," Alice said, much too sweetly. "Back off."

We all snickered at the look on Emmett's face. Emmett could be really goofy, but he was smart enough to know when to back off. And to be perfectly honest, few things were scarier than an angry Alice.

Rose pretended to be rotating her pitching arm. 'High and wide or low and middle?'

I moved a second finger down to my knee. Rose wound up for the pitch, smirked and let the ball go. Alice moved to bunt at the last second. The ball flew past Rose and headed straight for Bella. I crossed my fingers for her, hoping she wouldn't get nervous. Bella moved gracefully forward, scooped up the ball and tossed it to Tanya in a perfectly fluid motion. Bella stood stunned as Tanya caught the ball and Esme proclaimed Alice out.

Jasper ran forward and picked Bella up, swinging her around twice. "Look at that, Picky!"

She laughed as she hugged her brother tightly. He put her down on her feet and she ran to me, jumping into my arms.

"Did you see that?"

I kissed her forehead. "Of course I saw. Good job. Now they'll think twice before bunting it to you again."

"How did I not see that?" Alice yelled.

"Because I hadn't decided I could do it until I'd already picked up the ball," Bella informed her.

"So much for psychic powers," Emmett chuckled. "We'll have to win this one with good old-fashioned teamwork. Now get back in position! It's my turn!"

Rose smiled wickedly. 'No help necessary, Edward. I know just what to do with him.'

I chuckled and Bella gave me a confused look. "You'll see," I told her, showing her, her favorite smile.

Rose turned into her pitch, lifting her leg much higher than necessary. Emmett was still focused on her legs when the ball sailed past him.

"Strike one!" Esme called out.

Emmett shook his head and grinned. 'She thinks she's so smart.'

Rose returned his grin. 'He thinks he knows what I'm going to do.'

'She'll throw fast and inside now.' Emmett

'He thinks I'll throw fast and inside this time. I'll give him slow and high, right down the middle.' Rose

I watched Rose throw, true to her thoughts. The ball was high and slow. Emmett tipped the ball with the edge of the bat. It went straight up in front of him and Kate caught it with ease.

"Two outs!" Esme called.

Eleazar batted next. He ended up hitting a nice pop-up that Tanya barely missed. He made it to first base without trouble. Carlisle batted after that and tried bunting between first base and the pitcher's mound. Rose was able to get the ball, but Carlisle chose to slide and managed to get past Tanya. Eleazar made it to third base while everyone was focused on Carlisle.

Irina was up next. As she readied herself to bat, I noticed Carlisle was inching away from first base.

"What's he doing?" Bella asked me.

"Getting himself in trouble," I chuckled.

Suddenly, Carlisle took off running for second base. I watched proudly as Rosalie spun around and tossed the ball to Jasper. He smiled wickedly at Carlisle, who was just a foot away from the plate. Carlisle turned to run back to first base, but Jasper tagged him before he'd really even moved.

"Three outs! Change up!" Esme called out.

Our team stood around and waited to see how Alice would position everyone. She took pitcher as I thought she would. Emmett was put at second base. Carlisle took first base. Eleazar was put at home plate while Irina took over third base. Carmen played short stop for Emmett and Irina.

"Are you having fun?" I asked Bella, as I pressed her back against my chest.

"Yep! Much more than I thought I would. And I haven't messed up yet," Bella replied.

"Our batting order will be me, Edward, Rosalie, Tanya, Kate, and Bella," Jasper announced. He stepped over to us and lowered his voice so only Bella and I would hear. "I saved you for last so you can watch how Alice pitches and decide on how you'd like to bat."

"Thanks, Jazz!" Bella grinned.

"Not a problem, little sis!" Jasper said, as he ruffled Bella's hair. He picked up the bat and went to face his wife. "Take it easy on me, honey," he teased Alice.

"Of course, Jazzy!" Alice giggled. I could tell from the look in her eyes she was only pretending.

"I don't think she means that," Bella whispered.

I laughed and hugged Bella tighter. "You always were much too observant."