A/N: Hey y'all! Just saw New Moon and it really got my wheels turning for this chapter! I guess it was just because I actually saw what happens here. Anyways, I'm thinking the next chapter may be a sort of filler, in between the two books, but more than likely I'm going to have perhaps a paragraph or two describing the in between before jumping right on into Eclipse (YAY!).

So I hope you like this chapter. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!

-Wish

Chapter 54: The Vote

It was sometime in the late night or early morning, depending on your perspective. I was in my office, doing paperwork as usual. I had to resign from the hospital in Ithaca, as well as sell the house and arrange for our most important property to be moved back here. Most of it would be sold. We weren't going to keep the house there and we already had furnishings here. And of course, all that took an amazing amount of paperwork, whether it was on my computer or by hand. I don't think I could've imagined doing all of this as a human, with normal human speed and an imperfect memory. It would've been torturous. I sighed and shifted in my chair when I smelled it. Or rather, her. Bella was here. Her scent was unmistakable, and what other human would come to our house with Edward in the middle of the night?

"Carlisle? Esme? Rosalie? Emmett? Jasper? Alice?" Edward called softly.

I was downstairs with them in a moment, the first to respond. Bella still looked tired, but she had a determined look on her face. Edward, on the other hand, looked resigned. But resigned to what?

"Welcome back, Bella," I greeted her. "What can we do for you this morning? I imagine, due to the hour, that this is not a purely social visit?"

Bella nodded. "I'd like to talk to everyone at once, if that's okay. About something important." She glanced over at Edward and I followed her gaze. What's this about, Edward? I asked silently. Is everything alright?

Edward gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. I doubted Bella noticed it at all, even though she was looking right at him.

"Of course," I told her. "Why don't we talk in the other room?" I turned and led the two of them through the living room and to the dining room. The rest of the family had arrived and followed just behind them. The dining room was, after all, where we had our most important meetings. And if Edward didn't think everything was alright, then we had best take what Bella had to say seriously. I held out my usual chair to her. Edward took the seat to her left and I sat down across from him. The rest of the family took seats around the table. Esme was seated next to me and she rested a hand on my knee under the table. I slipped my hand down and took hers gently.

Once everyone was present and seated, I nodded to Bella. "The floor is yours."

Bella swallowed hard, looking around the table. I imagine for her, it could be intimidating. This was a formal setting. Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea to bring her in here just yet.

"Well," she said. "I'm hoping Alice has already told you everything that happened in Volterra?"

"Everything," Alice reassured her from her spot down the table.

"And on the way?" Bella asked.

"That, too," Alice confirmed.

"Good. Then we're all on the same page."

She paused, seemingly trying to gather herself. I waited patiently for her to continue. The conversation we'd had only a few hours ago was already at the forefront of my mind. It had been a very tense, but necessary conversation. The whole family had needed to know exactly what was going on, despite Edward's reassurance that nothing would happen.

"So, I have a problem," Bella began again. "Alice promised the Volturi that I would become one of you. They're going to send someone to check, and I'm sure that's a bad thing—something to avoid."

Yes that was a very bad thing. The fact that we were the second largest coven of vampires, after the Volturi themselves, already set them on edge. And then there was our diet, which they didn't understand, and Edward, Alice, and Jasper's gifts. Not to mention the whole confrontation between Edward, Bella, Alice, and the Volturi just the day before. We were already walking on thin ice when it came to the Volturi. They were not ones to show mercy or make empty threats. The last thing we wanted, when tensions were so high between us, was them coming to Forks.

"And so, now, this involves you all. I'm sorry about that." Bella looked around the table. She met my eyes for only a brief second and in that second I tried to convey reassurance and confidence to her. She continued after looking away from Edward. "But, if you don't want me, then I'm not going to force myself on you, whether Alice is willing or not."

Esme tried to say something, but Bella stopped her. I squeezed her hand gently under the table.

"Please, let me finish," Bella said. "You all know what I want. And I'm sure you know what Edward thinks, too. I think the only fair way to decide is for everyone to have a vote. If you decide you don't want me, then…I guess I'll go back to Italy alone. I can't have them coming here."

Edward growled from his seat across from me. I could tell the others echoed his sentiments. I personally didn't want Bella returning to Italy any more than he did. Bella was trying to be brave and trying to protect us, even though she was the weakest of all of us, physically at least. She could die, easily. I knew just how simple it was for a human's heart to stop beating. There were so many different things that could go wrong, without outside forces acting on it.

Bella continued though, despite Edward's rebuff. "Taking into account, then, that I won't put any of you in danger either way, I want you to vote yes or no on the issue of me becoming a vampire."

Bella's lips turned up in a small smile as she gestured for my opinion.

"Just a minute," Edward cut in. "I have something to add before we vote." Bella sighed and glared at him.

"About the danger Bella's referring to, I don't think we need to be overly anxious." Edward set his hand on the table, leaning forward as if he were going to jump out of his seat. "You see, there was more than one reason why I didn't want to shake Aro's hand there at the end. There's something they didn't think of, and I didn't want to clue them in." He was grinning now and I honestly couldn't understand why? I didn't know what he was referring to, but I waited for him to continue.

"Which was?" Alice asked.

"The Volturi are overconfident, and with good reason. When they decide to find someone, it's not really a problem. Do you remember Demetri?" he asked Bella.

She shuddered a bit in her chair.

"He finds people—that's his talent, why they keep him.

"Now, the whole time we were with any of them, I was picking their brains for anything that might save us, getting as much information as possible. So I saw how Demetri's talent works. He's a tracker—a tracker a thousand times more gifted than James was. His ability is loosely related to what I do, or what Aro does. He catches the…flavor? I don't know how to describe it…the tenor…of someone's mind, and then he follows that. It works over immense distances.

"But after Aro's experiments, well…" He shrugged.

"You think he won't be able to find me," Bella finished.

"I'm sure of it. He relies totally on that other sense. When it doesn't work with you, they'll all be blind."

An interesting theory. Bella seemed to be immune to most other types of mental gifts, such as Edward and Aro's mind reading or even Jane's…gift. It was certainly an interesting proposition. I wouldn't be surprised if it worked too.

"And how does that solve anything?" Bella demanded.

"Quite obviously, Alice will be able to tell when they're planning a visit, and I'll hide you. They'll be helpless. It will be like looking for a piece of straw in a haystack," he said triumphantly.

Emmett smirked at him. My strongest always enjoyed a fight, for any reason. It didn't actually matter to Emmett that there was just cause for a fight, only that he got to be a part of it.

"But they can find you," Bella protested.

"And I can take care of myself," Edward replied smoothly.

Emmett laughed loudly and reached his fist across the table. "Excellent plan, my brother," he complimented.

Edward grinned and returned the gesture.

"No," Rosalie hissed.

"Absolutely not," Bella seconded.

"Nice," Jasper said. Obviously he appreciated the strategy as Emmett did.

"Idiots," Alice muttered from her spot next to Jasper.

My Esme actually glared at her son for even thinking of such a dangerous plan.

I personally didn't like it. It was too risky, and too confrontational. The Volturi were a formidable presence, and not one you wanted to have as your enemy, even if you had twice as many members as they did. They were cunning and ruthless when it came to those who broke the law. And since they technically were the law, going against their orders and not changing Bella would be a direct violation. They wouldn't hesitate to kill us all. And although I was confident my family wasn't weak, we weren't strong enough to fight the Volturi and come out with no losses, if we came out at all.

"All right, then," Bella called, bringing everyone back to attention. "Edward has offered an alternative for you to consider. Let's vote."

She looked over at Edward now. His answer would probably be the most obvious, next to Alice's. "Do you want me to join your family?"

"Not that way," he replied. "You're staying human."

Bella nodded once and moved on. "Alice?"

"Yes," she trilled.

"Jasper?"

"Yes," he replied, seriously. I was actually surprised at Jasper's reply. I thought he might've been one of those against Bella's transformation, since he had been for killing Bella before.

"Rosalie?"

Rosalie didn't answer right away, instead biting down on her lip. I recognized that expression. It had become familiar the last couple days, after Rosalie's mistake with Edward."No."

Bella accepted her opinion and turned to move on to Emmett, but Rosalie stopped her.

"Let me explain. I don't mean that I have any aversion to you as a sister. It's just that…this is not the life I would have chosen for myself. I wish there had been someone there to vote no for me."

I suppressed a wince. I knew Rosalie didn't want to be a vampire. I knew that, out of all of us, she was the most resentful of this life. And I knew that a part of her was still resentful at me, for choosing to give her this life.

Bella simply nodded, though, and moved on to Emmett.

"Hell, yes!" he exclaimed. "We can find some other way to pick a fight with Demetri."

Bella frowned as she looked to Esme next.

"Yes," my angel replied. "Of course, Bella. I already think of you as part of my family."

"Thank you, Esme," Bella replied. She finally turned towards me.

I torn. I knew that Edward didn't want this for Bella. I knew he thought he would be ripping her soul apart and damning her for eternity. But I also knew that logically, this was the proper path to take. With Bella changed, it would solve so many of our future issues. We wouldn't have to worry about when we moved again because we could just take Bella with us. She and Edward could always be together, as they wanted, and we wouldn't have to worry about the Volturi because we would be obeying their orders.

I turned to Edward, giving him an apologetic look. "Edward."

"No," Edward growled back at me. He was grimacing.

"It's the only way that makes sense," I tried to explain to him. "You've chosen not to live without her, and that doesn't leave me a choice."

Edward got up suddenly and left the room, growling lowly.

"I guess you know my vote," I sighed, looking over at Bella.

She was still watching the doorway Edward had just disappeared through. "Thanks," she replied.

There was a crash from Edward's direction. I wasn't sure what he had broken, but I had a feeling Esme and I wouldn't like it.

Bella flinched. "That's all I needed. Thank you. For wanting to keep me. I feel exactly the same way about all of you, too."

Esme moved to Bella's side, pulling her into a hug.

"Dearest Bella," she whispered. Bella wrapped her arms around her, returning the hug, before releasing her.

"Well, Alice. Where do you want to do this?"

Alice's eyes grew to caramel orbs at Bella's question.

"No! No! NO!" Edward roared, rushing back into the room. He stopped in front of Bella, his face only inches from hers, though he was still yelling. "Are you insane? Have you utterly lost your mind?"

Bella cringed, clapping her palms over her ears.

"Um, Bella," Alice said anxiously. "I don't think I'm ready for that. I'll need to prepare…"

"You promised," Bella insisted, meeting her gaze around Edward.

"I know, but…Seriously, Bella! I don't have any idea how to not kill you."

"You can do it," Bella assured her. "I trust you."

Edward growled, furious.

But Alice shook her head, the panic written all over her face.

"Carlisle?" Bella asked, turning to face me. But Edward physically grabbed her face and turned it back to him. His other hand he held up to me, as if he were going to ward me off.

I ignored it, answering Bella truthfully. "I'm able to do it," I replied. "You would be in no danger of my losing control." I wasn't so sure it was a good idea to do it tonight, but I would, if we agreed to.

"Sounds good," she said, her words slightly distorted because Edward was still holding her chin firmly in his hand.

"Hold on," Edward insisted. "It doesn't have to be now."

"There's no reason for it not to be now," Bella replied.

"I can think of a few."

"Of course you can," Bella shot back. "Now let go of me."

Edward removed his hand from her chin and lowered his other hand that had been outstretched towards me. He folded them across his chest defiantly. "In about two hours, Charlie will be here looking for you. I wouldn't put it past him to involve the police."

"All three of them," Bella said sarcastically. But her expression fell.

Edward looked to me. "In the interest of remaining inconspicuous, I suggest that we put this conversation off, at the very least until Bella finishes high school, and moves out of Charlie's house."

I was thankful that Edward was finally thinking rationally. "That's a reasonable request, Bella," I advised her.

Bella's lips tightened. "I'll consider it."

Edward visibly relaxed, his expression becoming softer.

"I should probably take you home," he said. "Just in case Charlie wakes up early."

Bella looked back to me. "After graduation?" she asked.

"You have my word," I assured her. That was a more reasonable request. After graduation, Bella could move out, give Charlie some closure before she had to completely sever ties with him. And there would be a good excuse for it too. She'd be moving on to "college".

Bella sighed and smiled before turning back to Edward. "Okay. You can take me home," she conceded.

Edward was sure to leave quickly, taking Bella home before anyone else could say anything more.

I left the dining room to rejoin the others in the living room. They were scattered on the chairs and couches around the room, the TV playing but none of them really watching. I joined Esme on the loveseat, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her closer to my chest. She laid her head on my shoulder with a sigh. "I'm glad Bella is going to be part of the family," she whispered, probably too low for the others to hear. But it wasn't a problem for me, with her so close.

I nodded agreement. "It's the right thing to do, I think. It's obvious the two of them can't live without each other. And Bella's right. She can't stay human with the Volturi coming to check on her. Maybe for a few years, she could, but not for longer than that. And I think Aro would be particularly keen on following up with her, because of what she can do, or rather, what he can't do to her."

Esme nodded. "You made the right decision. And waiting until after her graduation will give us as well as her, time to prepare."

And Edward time to get used to the idea, I added silently. With Edward driving Bella home, my thoughts were my own.

"I think I might try to give her some sort of painkiller," I commented. "Perhaps it will help. I've never actually planned this before. You, Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett were all split second decisions."

"Do you think it will help?" Esme asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I'll have to run some tests."

Esme flinched. "Please don't hurt yourself," she pleaded.

"I'll be careful," I assured her, placing a light kiss on her hair and taking a deep breath. Even after so many years, I was never bored of her cinnamon sugar smell. I loved her even more than I had the day I married her back in 1921. I didn't regret changing her one moment. She was the reason for my entire existence. I knew I could not live without her any more than Edward could live without Bella. And I also knew that one day, Edward would be thankful that we changed Bella. Maybe not the day it happened, whether it was after graduation or even later than that, but some day, he would.

A/N2: And just a friendly reminder, there's a new poll on my site, asking you guys which of my stories you like best. You can vote for up to two. Tell me what you think!

Also the "Outtakes" are under way and the firs should be up next weekend or so. I have a feeling it's going to be a lot better.

Thanks for reading and REVIEW! Please?

-Wish