Chapter 7: Astound

as·tound [uh-stound] - to overwhelm with amazement; astonish greatly.

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The next day, the rest of the Cullens called in sick at both school and work; it was time for them to get to know their newest member, if they were going to be staying in the same house all the time, now.

Esme, Emmett, and Alice were by far the most excited. The others were happy, as well, but not to the same calibre as those three. Alice and Emmett were practically wearing a hole in the floor while they were pacing, waiting anxiously for their brother to bring down his young mate, and Esme was biting her lip in anticipation. Bella seemed like a sweet girl, and Esme desperately hoped that she would feel as if she fit in with their family. She wanted the young girl to feel welcome.

With Esme's motherly intuition, she had quite easily picked up on the difference in Bella's personality than her other children. Bella was calm, shy, and soft-spoken. She didn't like to raise her voice, didn't like attention, and didn't like to be surrounded by people. She was very much like a small child in that way; curious about everything, but not curious enough to want to know about it.

She knew that it would take a while for Bella to settle in with her family; they were all far different than her, especially Edward – who was, at times, loud and rough. Edward could become increasingly agitated at even the simplest things, where as Esme could tell that Bella had most likely never been angry in her short life.

Such were the differences between a lion and a lamb.

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Edward had heard his family getting up, and had heard his father making the necessary phone calls to ensure that the news of the Cullens staying home was known to everyone their absence from town would concern. Everybody understood, obviously. It wasn't so different than what other families did when welcoming a new member.

Bella had been making soft whimpering sounds, burying her head into his chest, making him purr slightly in satisfaction. He knew he wouldn't be able to get away with letting her sleep very much longer, which he regretted. She was very adorable when she slept; though, he greatly missed seeing her eyes.

He shook her gently, watching as she tensed up, and then relaxed when she recognized who was waking her. She stretched beside him on the bed, smacking her lips together before yawning and scrunching her little fists into her eyes. When she was done all that, she looked at him, cocking her head to the side in silent question: Why did you wake me up?

He smiled, brushing some stray strands of hair out of her face. "My family is quite eager to get to know you, love. We shouldn't keep them waiting very much longer." His smile widened when she blinked, slowly comprehending what he was saying. She nodded at him, but didn't move from his side; instead, she curled farther into his embrace, breathing his scent in deeply, as he did with hers.

And, though Edward and Bella wanted nothing more than to make a repeat of yesterday, Edward remembered that Bella needed to eat more often than he did, so he lifted her gently, setting her on her feet, and got up to stand beside her.

He was surprised when she reached up high to his shoulders, jumping slightly and climbing onto his back, but he wasn't about to ask her to get off; her warmth was pleasant, spreading around his back like this. He would have asked her stay like that for the rest of their lives, if he had been able to see her face. But, as he couldn't – and he knew that he would never be able to live without looking into her eyes again – he made due with the walk down the stairs.

Edward chuckled when he saw Alice glaring at him for taking so long, but stopped when he felt Bella tense up. He knew that she wasn't used to all the attention she had been getting lately, so he soothed her slightly by rubbing her arm that was grasped tightly around his neck. It soothed her quite easily – as he knew it would – and she relaxed against his back again, glancing shyly around his head towards his – their – family.

Esme spoke first. "Bella, dear; I think it's a good idea that we take some time to get to know everybody better, alright?" Her voice was slightly hesitant: she wasn't sure how Bella would react – but, overall, it was still very friendly and motherly. Bella noted, with a miniscule amount of jealousy, that Esme sounded more like a mother than Renee ever had; Renee had been born to be a child, not to be the mother of a child.

But, she hid these negative feelings; and, she did want to get to know her knew family better.

"Okay." Her voice was small and soft, everyone in the room straining to hear it. Esme put it aside, knowing that if Bella ever wanted to be heard in this family, she would have to learn to speak up. Though, eyeing the tiny, shy girl, she didn't believe that Bella would ever try to draw attention to herself – mostly, she thought, if Bella wanted to say something, she would have Edward say it for her.

Edward pulled her into his arms, sitting in the only available chair left in the living room. He placed his mate in his lap, pulling her firmly yet gently against his chest, and allowing her to get herself comfortable. Bella pulled her legs up, crossing them over Edward's, and leaned against him, sighing.

Alice, it seemed, had been patient enough for the morning. "So, Bella; you're from Phoenix, right?" At the girl's slightly confused nod, she continued. "What's it like there?" Edward sent her a thankful look, knowing that she was just trying to ease Bella into a conversation where she would be the focal point. He was glad that his family wasn't overwhelming his little lamb... yet.

He knew they wouldn't be able to hold back forever.

"Umm..." Her voice was quiet, but she seemed content enough to share some information with them. "Well, it's the complete opposite of Forks-" no one missed how her nose wrinkled slightly in distaste as she spoke the town name "- for example, the weather. It rains an average of about, 3 or 4 days a year; maybe more. And, there are hardly any trees, or foliage of any kind. Well, there are cacti, but that's about it. It's too hot and dry for anything else." Edward was slightly jealous; it was the most he had heard her speak, and his family had managed to bring it out of her. Maybe he would have to start asking her more questions... she didn't seem against it at the moment. For now, however, he was content to just listen to what his family had to ask her.

"So, does that mean you don't like Forks?" Jasper asked carefully. He wasn't quite sure how to act around someone as seemingly fragile as little Bella. She looked for all the world like just someone breathing on her could break a bone or two.

"No; Forks is nice, it's just different. It'll take some getting used to." She answered him, hoping that none of them would be upset about the way she thought of their town. She looked down at Edward's hands that were wrapped around her tightly, and started playing with his fingers, twisting and turning them in her little hands. Edward wasn't about to complain.

"Okay, well... do you like shopping?" Alice asked, not being able to stay off the topic of spending money any longer. The family snickered at her, while Bella just looked at her a little fearfully – Alice was, of course, bouncing in place on the couch, excited about the idea of having a new shopping partner.

"Oh, uh... not really" Bella whispered, hoping that she wouldn't hear; she didn't want to disappoint her new 'sister', or make her angry. Against her wishes, though, Alice did hear, causing her to go into mild shock for a moment, before shaking herself out of it.

"What? How can somebody not like shopping?" She screeched, not even trying to keep her voice down anymore. Bella winced, covering her ears slightly; Edward glared at his sister warningly, willing to do anything to protect his mate.

"Not everybody enjoys spending money on things they don't even need, Alice." Carlisle answered, trying to calm his son down before he did anything rash. Edward was known in the family as the one to lose his temper quickly. Jasper eyed Edward, making sure he wasn't planning on attacking his mate for something as silly as talking too loudly; though, admittedly, her squealing had even made his ears ring slightly, despite the fact that he had gotten quite used to her thriving personality over the decades they had been together.

Edward held himself back, knowing that if he tried to attack his sister now, he would only end up hurting his lamb. He made do with sending her warning glare, along with a slight growl, which caused Bella to shiver. It was quite amusing how fact his expression changed when he realized that she was cold. He coddled her like a little child, grabbing a blanket that Esme passed to him, knowing that he would want it. After Bella was wrapped up snugly, still lying in his arms, the questions continued.

They varied from 'What's your favourite colour?' to 'Have you ever been drunk?' – the latter courtesy of Emmett, of course. Some questions made Edward tense up, but mostly he was just curious to hear how what her answers would be. He relished in the fact that he was learning more and more about her every time she opened her mouth to talk.

It was a pleasant night of bonding.

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Angela Webber had been one of the many students to witness Edward Cullen mate with the newest member of the Forks population, Isabella Swan – or Bella, as she had corrected anyone to call her by her first name.

Jessica and Lauren, two people whom Angela spent a lot of time around, since the three had known each other since they were born, were major gossips. So, of course, the news of their mating had already been spread all over. Not one to take part in their silly games, Angela kept out of it. From what she had seen of Bella, she seemed like a very sweet girl, if not a little too shy. She had smiled when she saw how the tiny girl had practically melted into Edward's side.

Even though she wasn't a natural gossiper, it didn't stop her from being shocked about their unique situation. She wondered how it would work out; wouldn't Edward eventually end up hurting her, even if it was an accident. Surely, being much stronger than the little lamb, he would end up holding her too tightly. Angela, whom had never spoken to the girl before, found herself worrying about her well being. She knew, of course, that Edward would never purposely hurt his mate; it was practically impossible for someone to even think about injuring their other half.

Sighing, Angela resided herself to just watching out for the girl, from a distance. It was the most she could do for the girl she would probably never get to know. The Cullens weren't known for their great socialization skills... and Bella would probably never be separated from Edward's side.

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Even though his daughter had only been in town for a week, Charlie Swan found himself getting lonely without her. He had gotten used to her cooking the meals, and helping out around the house. He had gotten used to their small and quiet conversations, which were quite often meaningless.

In short, he had gotten used to having the company. And now, with his little girl running around with some boy, he knew he wouldn't see her very often. It would be like she had never came to Forks in the first place.

That first day after meeting Bella's mate, he had spent the day looking up the Cullens in all of the files he could get his hands on. He wasn't sure whether to be pleased or disappointed that they didn't have any marks against them.

On one hand, it meant that Bella was in good, capable hands.

On the other, it meant she would probably forget about him, in time; as much as she could forget about her father, anyway.

"Oh, Bells." He said, wistfully as he held up a picture of her from when she was seven. Renee had sent it to him, thinking that he would want to be as much a part of his daughter's life as he could. And she was right. He had enjoyed getting the little videos and pictures every month – for she would send him a little package of updates on his daughter monthly. He had been very excited when she had decided to come live in Forks with him. He remembered the phone call easily.

"Daddy?" She asked in her innocent, childlike voice.

"Yes, Bells?" He hadn't been expecting her to call him – usually she called him on the weekends, but today was Thursday.

"Um, I was wondering if I could come live... with you... in Forks?" She asked hesitantly. Charlie had always secretly wondered if something had happened to her to make her seem so afraid of angering everybody, but also knew that such was the personality of a lamb. Besides, Renee and Phil had hardly ever let Bella out of their sight, knowing how weak and fragile she is.

Excited now, he answered happily "Sure." And that was that. Nothing more needed to be said; Isabella Swan would be moving from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington, just like that.

It had taken her a month to get everything settled down and packed, before she called telling him when he could pick her up from the airport and such. Renee had shipped up Bella's vehicle, not wanting her to ever have to accept a ride from anybody – who knows what kind of people they could turn out to be?

Setting the picture down, Charlie whistled to himself, heading into his living room and turning the TV on – there had to be something of interest to watch.

He didn't want to be alone with the thoughts of his little girl, who was now all grown up, any longer.

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AN/ So, mainly the parts that focus on Charlie are just showing you what he feels know that his daughter had basically moved out of the house, and she's only sixteen, with the fact that he only just got her back.

I think next chapter I'll add a part with Renee, and another with Phil, describing their thoughts. Wouldn't want anybody to be left out, now would we? And, of course, the two gossip queens – Jessica and Lauren – will be added in, as well as Mike, Tyler, Eric, and the wolves... and, probably, various others.

Enjoy, and review!

Sorry for lack of updates lately, but I'm writing now, aren't I?