Chapter 16: Supernatural
su·per·nat·u·ral [soo-per-nach-er-uhl] – exceeding the ordinary; pertaining to a god or deity.
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Having the daughter of the Chief of Police in the family was helpful; all Carlisle had to do was tell Charlie that the three were trying to attack his daughter, and the Chief was all for locking up the two that were still alive. Nothing would happen to the Cullens about the 'murder'; it was merely in self-defence, and Charlie supposed that anybody would react the same way when trying to protect their mates.
Charlie checked the Ids on the three, and shook his head, explaining when he noticed the confused looks he was getting from the Cullens and his daughter – who was still trembling a little bit.
"These three have been caught street fighting in abandoned warehouses up in the Port Angeles area; we've been trying to find a reason to bring them in for years." He watched as his partners loaded Victoria – who's left arm and a couple of ribs ended up being broken, and were now in casts – and Laurent into the back of a cruiser, while the body of James was being rolled into the back of an ambulance.
"I guess it's a good thing they came here; there's no way they could have beaten us, not with our numbers," Jasper mused, feeling slightly better about the fact that he had helped put away people who were bad news, and not people who were goaded into this.
"Maybe it is," Charlie smiled, looking over at his daughter and her mate as Edward soothed her. He sighed, knowing that there was little he could do to help her that her mate couldn't do, and knowing about the way a mate would do anything to make the other happy. Edward would take care of her; it was no longer his duty to do so.
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Bella watched her father talk to Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett, curling into Edward's chest more as the ambulance doors closed on one of the men who had tried to hurt them. She had stopped shaking as much, but every now and then a sound would send a memory of the man leaping towards her mate and she would cringe, sending a shiver down her spine.
Edward had been humming something into her ear, and when he saw that she was calm enough for now, he reached down beside him, plucking a flower from his mother's garden; she would understand.
He smiled, preparing to be corny; anything to make his girl laugh. "A beautiful flower for a beautiful girl," He whispered, and he was awarded with a slight chuckle, and a bright pink blush on her cheeks. She smiled when he pressed the flower into her hand, and brought it up to her nose and took in the fresh scent of the Marigold. Her smile grew as she smelled the flower.
Happy that she seemed to be fine now, Edward grabbed her hand and pulled her over to her father. He watched as she made a running leap, jumping onto his back and clinging to his shoulders. She seemed like a little child again, and he smiled at her innocence.
He knew that the idea that there were people out there that would attack total strangers to help out a friend would change the way she saw the world, if only slightly, and vowed to make her as happy as possible – not that he hadn't already been trying to accomplish that.
Watching his mate interact with her father – he had grabbed her off his back and was tickling her sides, causing her laughter to ring out over the yard – he smiled, making note of the ways to make her laugh.
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After the excitement of the day was over, the family congregated in the living room once again; the focal point of this conversation was some information that Carlisle had found on the internet, before the trio had attacked them.
"I didn't find much; as I'm sure you knew, you're position isn't something that has been heard of before," Carlisle began, focusing his eyes on the newest couple, who were pressed tightly to each other in a reclining chair. Bella's wide eyes blinked at him curiously, and he smiled. "However, what I can understand is that if there was a mated couple who were so different from each other – as you two are – then they will break the entire known dynamic. You two need each other, more so than other mates, and I don't think we should play around with that too much."
Jasper spoke up, then. "A theory I have, which is probably something that one of you has already thought of, is this: Edward, your body was built and designed for a mate who was a lion. You are strong, yes, and fast, but it wouldn't have been strictly necessary for you to defend your mate; a female lion would be able to defend themselves quite well. However, Bella is a lamb, not a lion; she is basically defenceless, though she might have ways to defend herself. I think your instincts picked up on the fact that your mate isn't the strong one that your body was designed for, so your need to protect her at all costs is larger. You need her alive, and don't trust anybody – even your own family – with her; you only trust yourself." Jasper paused, looking at his brother. "You may think you hid it well, but I didn't miss the way you tensed up when Bella's father was holding her; your instincts have simply been multiplied in order for you to protect Bella." He smiled over at his newest sister, and she returned it – of course, blushing.
Edward thought about what his brother and his father had said, watching Bella as she, too, thought about it. He smiled when she shrugged, and opened her mouth to speak. "I suppose that's fine with me; I mean, you are right, Jasper. I would never be able to defend myself very well – probably even less than normal people of my Tier in Geist. I don't mind having a mate who'll make up for my lack of defence." She smiled up at said mate, reaching her tiny hand to curl around his fingers, playing with them like a child.
Edward laughed, wordlessly agreeing that it was fine, and his family smiled at them.
It was silent, until Emmett decided the silence was both awkward and uncomfortable. "So, Bella, how do you like video games?"
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The remainder of the afternoon passed with Emmett teaching his youngest sister how to play games like Grand Theft Auto, Need for Speed, and Call of Duty. One thing Emmett had definitely appreciated about the times changing, was the advance in technology: he wasn't sure what he'd do if he didn't have things like television and his x-box to help soothe his boredom.
Bella laughed more that day than she could ever remember laughing, her body shaking in Edward's arms as he refused to let her go for more than a few seconds. His need to protect had heightened a little more, made aware that some one – Jessica Stanley – was willing to destroy his mate just to have him.
The family had told Charlie about what James had said about Jessica, and with a blank face and an odd glint in his eye; he had made his way to his cruiser and told them he had something to take care of. Edward and his siblings figured that it would be a long time until any of them caught a glimpse of Jessica Stanley again; you don't mess with the Chief of Police's daughter.
Edward had promised to himself that he would take Bella over to see her father more often, after he had seen how happy she was when she spent time with him. He knew that she still felt a little guilty, even though she hadn't exactly planned on meeting her mate her first day of school. She felt sad that her father had been so excited when she came to live with him, and she only ended up spending a week before her mate had come and welcomed her into his family. Edward knew that she loved living with him – truth is, he wouldn't have let her stay with her father even if she had begged, he needed her too much – but he saw how much she loved her father, and how much she worried about him. He didn't know of a way to make her stop worrying – she would probably always worry, until her father found his mate. She didn't want him to be lonely, and in turn, Edward didn't want someone who had helped create the most perfect person on the planet to be alone, either.
Edward was glad that Emmett had helped distract her a bit with video games, and though she seemed willing to stay and play with him all day, he had to practically force her away from the living room so that she could eat. They had missed lunch, and breakfast had been rather hurried – wanting to call the police right away and explain the situation – so she needed a nice dinner to make sure she didn't get sick.
Esme had already prepared some food – potato salad with macaroni lasagne – and the others followed Edward and Bella in as they entered the dining room.
Dinner was loud, as always, with Emmett making jokes about Bella's ability and knowledge – or lack thereof – of video games. She blushed as always, and for the most part seemed content not to say anything, until she surprised them by saying. "I bet if I put you in front of a stack of books you wouldn't understand what to do," her voice was quiet, but everyone had heard her.
Though it wasn't particularly funny, they were all glad that she had willingly joined in on the conversation, and so they laughed, causing her blush to deepen into a lovely rosy red. Emmett laughed the hardest, even though she had been teasing him.
"You're my favourite sister, you know that?" he asked her, causing Alice to stop laughing and lean over the table to smack him on the side of the head. "Hey! What was that for?" He whined as he rubbed his head; Alice could hit strong when she wanted to.
"You shouldn't have favourites; you should love us both equally!" Alice huffed; she glared at her brother, not really upset, but wanting to have fun with this.
"I'm sorry, pixie dust, but Bella is just more fun to be around; you hit me when I tease you, she just teases me back. I'm sorry if I prefer non-violence over violence," He said, not even worried about what she might do to them. The rest of them snorted, and, surprisingly, Esme was the one who commented.
"If you like being non-violent so much, then explain why I had to replace my coffee table twice last month? Or what about the walls; surely, if you enjoyed non-violence, you wouldn't goad your brothers into fighting you so often, now would you?" She asked her son smartly, smiling when he turned to her, looking like she had betrayed him.
"Mom! You're supposed to be on my side! I thought I was your favourite child!" He whined again, though this time the rest of the family was watching amused. Edward had wrapped his arm around Bella's shoulder, and paid more attention to her than to his family, but was still finding this 'argument' amusing; Bella found it cute, in a way; she'd never had siblings to act like this with, and her parents would never have joined in.
"Like Alice said, Emmett, you shouldn't have favourites, and I don't; I just like you all for different reasons," she teased him, at the same time dishing him out some more food. She knew that he would always eat more. Rosalie was rolling her eyes at her mate, though there was a small smile on her face as well.
"Besides, son; you are a little hard to put up with," Carlisle added, dodging as his wife went to lay a light slap on his arm. They all laughed as Emmett pouted.
"You're all traitors," he pointed to all of them, making it a point to look Bella right in the eye before he spoke again. "I'll make sure to get you back for this," he said, making it look like he was talking only to her.
They all laughed harder as she audibly gulped, her eyes widening in slight fear.
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Another chapter finished... wow. It makes me feel kind of... good. Review, and tell me what you think.
I might have another chapter, along with an epilogue, though this story is feeling a little stretched out, now, so I'll probably right a sweet little epilogue tomorrow, and then mark this story as completed. COMPLETED. I know, sad right?
"True love stories never haveendings" – Richard Bach