Chapter 8

EPOV

That night with Bella was perfect. I no longer had to hold back for her safety. I can't believe I ever wanted to keep her human. We could do so much more when she was a vampire as well. I could truly show my feelings for her without worrying about hurting her. I should have given into her earlier.

I caught my selfishness after a few minutes, but the damage was done. I was taking Bella's immortality for my own gain. I didn't even think about her and the pain she went through.

She caught me moping as we walked downstairs to meet my family.

"What's wrong, Edward?" she sounded concerned.

"Nothing, I just realized exactly how selfish I really am." She punched me lightly on the arm.

"You are the least selfish person I know, Edward. Would you stop getting down on yourself? I asked for this. It's not your fault."

"If you say so, love." I mumbled. My family was walking in the door as we headed down the stairs.

"Hey Edward, how was your alone time?" Emmett waggled his eyebrows at us and looked pointedly at our rumpled clothes.

"Perfect, thank you." I smirked. Emmett almost burst into a fit of hysterics, but Alice stopped him. She poked him hard in the ribs and he shut up, but he couldn't get the stupid grin off of his face.

"Hey Alice, did you guys get it figured out wit Charlie." I asked. I was afraid she would throw another tantrum, but she smiled at me genuinely. Apparently, she had forgiven me for what happened to Bella.

"He's calming down a little bit now. I think he finally got it that Bella's a vampire when he saw her."

"I knew he didn't believe me earlier." I shook my head. Charlie was notorious for being stubborn, almost as bad as Bella, actually.

I heard Alice's thoughts try to catch my attention. You owe me, Edward. I cleaned up your mess, like always.

I simply nodded at her. It wouldn't work to whisper since Bella would be able to hear it now.

Bella had wondered over to speak with Esme and Carlisle so I decided to join her. I gently wrapped my arm around her waist and she leaned into me.

"How is she getting along, Edward?" Carlisle asked me.

"I'm actually shocked." I responded. "She has better self control that I did when I first became a vampire. Actually, she probably has better self control than I do right now."

Carlisle smiled at my joke and looked at Bella.

"You say you have been able to push your bloodlust to the back of your head?" He asked her.

"Yes, it's just like another wandering thought in my head. It's actually extraordinarily easy." I gaped at her. She really was the most amazing woman I had ever known.

"Fascinating, you show the control of a full grown vampire. It's almost as if you skipped the newborn stage." He contemplated her.

"I don't know. It's just like resisting the urge to eat more than I should. It's almost natural for me."

"That's absolutely astonishing." Carlisle muttered to himself. I could hear him pondering this in his thoughts. I knew it would probably be the only thing that occupied his mind for some time now. Whenever Carlisle found something that fascinated him, it was his sole topic in life until her figured it out. That's just the way my father worked. Probably came from being alive during the Enlightenment.

"Edward, Bella, we have a surprise for you." Alice chimed from beside me. I swear she was quiet enough to sneak up on even me.

"Alice, you know how I hate surprises." Bella sighed. I took her hand and led her to Alice.

"It won't take long. She's carefully guarding her thoughts, but I was able to hear how she will be back by seven thirty. It's seven now." I said glancing at my watch.

"Let's go then." She sighed.

Alice led us all to the garage and had Bella and I sit in the back of her Porsche. The others hopped in Emmett's jeep to follow us.

Alice drove to the main highway and drove towards Port Angeles. Right before we entered Port Angeles she pulled onto a small driveway that led back into the woods. We drove for about a half mile before she stopped and made us put on blind folds.

"Alice, do we have to?" Bella whined.

"Yes, put them on now." Alice demanded. Reluctantly, we covered our eyes and she continued to drive for a few minutes. I felt the car stop and she came around to let us out. She stood in between us and held both of our hands like she was a small child, and she probably looked like that next to us.

She pulled us forward and stopped a few feet ahead.

"You can take off the blind folds now." She practically squealed. I could see the excitement in her mind. I took off my blindfold and reached over to pull Bella's off.

In front of us stood a light blue cottage with a swimming pool in the back.