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Beta'd by melanieintn
BPOV
Thanksgiving had been one of the best days ever. I had a wonderful time; and then on top of that and once we were home, Edward and I got to show each other how thankful we were for having our other halves in each of our lives. I slept peacefully and dreamless in his arms all night; that was until a short little pixie came bursting through the front door and started banging on our bedroom door at 3:30 in the morning.
"What the hell is she doing here at this time of day?" I asked, rolling over and reaching for my robe.
"I hear you; I know you are awake, Bella. It's time to rise and shine; we have shopping to do today," Alice called out.
"Woman, do you know it is 3:30 in the damn morning and how late it was when I went to sleep last night?" I asked her.
"I warned you that we were getting up early this morning; you should have skipped or shortened being so thankful last night," she said brightly.
I growled low and walked over to open the bedroom door, and she came bouncing in.
"Okay Miss Thang, you are a full vampire and not pregnant on top it and no longer a newlywed; so let me ask you, would you have cut it short had you been in my shoes?" I asked her with smug look on my face.
"I get your grumpy because I woke you up, but you know you will have a good time today. So just put your glad pants on and come on; we are even stopping at IHOP just for you," she said.
Edward laughed when my stomach growled at the mention of food. I shot him a glare, and he quieted down quickly.
"Yes love, I apologize; what would you like me to do first?" he asked me.
"Give me a good morning kiss; then, for you to join me in the shower, as soon as pixie here goes about her little Mary Sunshine way," I answered in reply.
"We don't have long to tarry, so be quick; we're leaving in the next hour. At least, I did let you sleep until now. Esme, Rose, and I have been getting ready since just after one," she told me, and then she was gone.
I loved her, but I wanted to choke her sometimes too. I went into the bathroom where Edward was getting the shower ready for me. Given that as I was still sleepy and a bit unsteady on my feet, Edward stayed dutifully by my side in the shower, according to my request. He helped me wash my hair and then washed the rest of me as well. Once I was out, I was more awake and alert; so while I brushed my teeth, Edward picked out my clothes that I asked for.
"Love, I know you are doing really well about not letting yourself get too tired, but don't let Alice push you past your limit today. If you get tired and feel like you need to come home, you tell mom and call me as well. I will come and get you," Edward told me.
"Thank you, honey; that is very sweet of you. I'm sure that I will be fine though. I will stop and rest at different intervals; I promise," I replied with a smile.
How wonderful it was to have such a loving husband to care for you. I was so lucky and so blessed. Just as Edward and I arrived at the main house, Cora was pulling up. We had invited her along with us today as well. I wanted to have some more time with her before we had to move away. I wanted to be sure my dad would be in the best hands possible. Once everyone was ready to go, we got in the cars. Esme and Cora were going to drive in Esme's Escalade, while Alice, Rose, and I were going in my car. According to Alice, we would have maximum shopping capacity. Okay, whatever you say sister dear.
We said goodbye to our men, who were all going to be quite busy decorating yards and the exteriors of houses for Christmas, and got on our way. With vampires behind the wheels, it took no time to make it to Seattle.
I got a good premonition of what today was going to be like today; when we passed the Walmart shopping center, and there was already a wreck going into the lot. I had to ask myself, was this stuff really that important? I just shrugged my shoulders and shook my head at how crazy some people acted at this time of the year.
We finally got around the wreck and pulled into IHOP. We went in and were met at the podium by a waiter who showed us to a table, after he looked us all over with a roving eye. I was glad Edward was at home, so he couldn't see this happening. He would be ready to explode.
Once we got seated, another person was sent over; thank goodness, it was a woman. She took our drink orders and left; then, she returned shortly with our tray of drinks. We ordered our food, and then she left again.
Esme, Rose, and Alice all ordered fruit, so they could make it look like they were eating; plus, I picked things off their plates to make it easier on all of us as well. The farther along that I got, the more my appetite increased; and everything looked so good. I wanted some of it all, so they helped me out by ordering what I liked along with their fruit; and I helped them, by making it appear that they had eaten. I didn't know who would handle that, once I was no longer human at all.
Our food was soon gone, and we were paying the check. We got back on the road and drove on to the mall. We pulled in and had to drive forever looking for a decent parking spot. We wound up parking on the very top of the parking deck; but at least we got close to the elevator, so that helped.
By the time we got to the mall entrance, it was packed solid with people waiting for them open the gates. This was going to be a long day.
"Bella, what would you suggest I get your dad?" Cora asked me.
"Oh, he's not picky; you could get him anything, and he will love it. You could get him a new t-shirt or some new fishing lures; he would love that. It would fit with what all of us Cullens are giving him," I explained.
"Oh that sounds great, thank you; I will do that. I have noticed some of his t-shirts are getting a little worn; do you think that is too personal of a gift, considering how long we've been dating?" she asked.
"No, I think he would love it; as a matter of fact, why don't you and I go look for some now?" I asked. They had unlocked the gates, while we were talking; and the people were filtering into the mall.
Cora smiled, and we let the others know where we were going; then, we were off to the sporting goods store. I shopped here for my dad all the time. We looked around, and we found some t-shirts that had funny sayings on them.
"What do you think of this one?" Cora asked holding up a green one.
It had a fish skeleton on it and below that it said 'OCFD' Obsessive Compulsive Fishing Disorder. It was really cute and looked like it was made for my dad.
"Oh yeah, that one is made for him," I told her with a smile.
We shopped in there for a while, and then we made our way to the counter to pay for everything; then, we went back to find the others. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about really shopping for dad this year because I was in on the family gift we had planned to give him.
EPOV
I was missing Bella, but all of us men were busy decorating the outside of houses and yards as we had been instructed by our women. Since everybody was already at the main house, we started there.
We went to the garage and pulled out all the lights and yard ornaments that mom had stored there. We fixed the manger scene first and had to do a little landscaping and moved the boulders next to the driveway. Emmett played like he was Atlas, as he moved them out of our way. We put up the stable and then arranged all the pieces like it should look. We put lights on the big pine tree and maple tree that were right next to the house. We then moved on to put the icicle lights all around the house and placed a large wreath on the windows above the front door. A few blue snowflake solar lights were placed in a few of the windows as well. Once the yard and the outside of the main house were done, we went to the cottage and put multi-color icicle lights around it and a lighted wreath on the front door. Bella didn't want anything in the yard.
After there, we moved on to Charlie's house. Cora had picked out some lighted wreaths to put on the windows and an archway to place at the beginning of the walkway to the house. It lit up and had Happy Holidays written across it. We also put up an outdoor Christmas tree.
When we were finished at Charlie's house, we went to Cora's. She had given Charlie the key to her tool shed and told him where to find her yard decorations. We got them out and put them up for her. She had one of those Santa Claus and snowman figures. We strung the lighted garland she had around the posts supporting the porch roof first. We put up the clear icicle lights around the edge of the roof. She had some of lighted candy canes and we put those on one side of the walk way.
We were finally finished with all the work, so we went back to our house and hung out playing pool in the game room and waited on our women to come home. Emmett and Jasper were playing first. Dad, Charlie, and I were standing back waiting to see who won because one of us would play the winner.
We were talking amongst ourselves, and I noticed Charlie was nervously twitching. I tuned into his thoughts and had to fight back a smile. He wanted to get Dad's advice on what to buy Cora for Christmas, and he was nervous about asking.
"Charlie, are you alright; you seem on edge," dad stated, with concern in his voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay, Carlisle; thanks for asking. I um...," he said, trailing off.
"Well alright, but I'm here if you want to talk about anything," dad told him.
"Yeah thanks, I appreciate that," he replied and continued watching the game.
"Edward, what's wrong with him?" dad asked in a volume too low for human ears.
"He wants to ask your advice on what kind of gift he should get Cora for Christmas," I replied.
"Ah, I understand, but wouldn't you be a better candidate to ask than me? You are the mind reader, after all," he said.
I smiled, but didn't reply. We stood watching as Emmett sunk his last ball and was going for the win. He shot and missed, leaving Jasper grinning like the cat that ate the canary.
"I see that shit eating grin Jasper; don't count your chickens before they hatch though," Em warned with a grin.
"We shall see, brother," Jasper replied, also grinning.
Jasper took his shot and made it, plus sunk another of his balls as well. Now, it was down to the winning shot for him.
"Eight ball in the left corner pocket," he said and took aim.
He made the shot and won the game, and Emmett spent the next five minutes pouting.
"So, have you boys thought about what you're gonna buy your wives for Christmas this year?" Jasper asked.
Of course he had heard what I had told Carlisle, and this was his way of opening the door for Charlie to open up and ask for advice.
"Well, there are some new books on the market; and they have them for the Kindle, so I'm getting a card so she can purchase them. Ever since she saw that IPAD, she has talked about getting one; but hasn't made up her mind for sure, so I'm going to surprise her with one of those as well," dad replied.
"Well, ever since Edward and Bella came back from their honeymoon and talked about how beautiful it was, Alice has been wanting to go; so I'm gonna take her there in the summer, but I'm giving it to her as a Christmas present. That way she will have plenty of time to shop," Jasper explained.
"What about you Charlie? You're awfully quiet over there?" Em asked.
"Huh, uh, oh yeah, I um, well, I'm sort of…. what do you kids say these days, clueless," he answered nervously.
"You've known Cora for a long time, but only just started dating; so I would guess that knocks out the really personal gifts, like clothes and jewelry huh?" Jasper asked.
"Yeah, you're right Jasper; I wouldn't feel comfortable giving her stuff like that. What would you guys suggest? I mean, what would you do if you were in my place?" he asked.
"Well, do you know if she likes to read? If she does, you could get her a gift card for somewhere like Books-A-Million," I suggested.
"I know she likes cookbooks; she collects them. She also collects those little crystal figurines," Charlie said.
"Well, you could get her something to that affect; I'm sure she would love anything that comes from you, Charlie," dad said with a smile.
Charlie blushed and cleared his throat. By the time our women got home, we had moved on to other things. Dad was teaching Charlie how to play chess, while Jasper and Em played a game on the X-BOX. I went to the music room. One of the things I was working on for Bella was a classical piano version of her favorite Christmas carols. I was playing and recording them on CD.
...several weeks later
BPOV
It was now a couple of weeks before Christmas; my mother and Phil were arriving in about twenty minutes. Edward and I were at Sea-Tac waiting on their plane to arrive. I was so excited to see my mother, whom I hadn't seen since the wedding.
"Baby, you need to calm down," Edward said as he grabbed my knee to stop it from shaking.
"You are shaking this entire row of seats; the people on the end are beginning to think we are having an earthquake," he said, chuckling at me.
"Sorry, I am just so excited. I haven't seen her in three and half months; we didn't know I was pregnant the last time she saw me, and I have changed a lot since then," I told him.
"I know," he said, taking my hand and pulling me up from my seat.
"Let's walk around and get rid of some of this nervous energy you have," he said.
I nodded my head in agreement, and we walked around the airport waiting for her arrival. When we saw that their plane had arrived, we went to the gate to wait. I spotted my mother immediately when she came through the door. It took her a second to see me; then, when she did, it took another second for her to recognize it was me. When it finally clicked, she screamed and ran for me, causing several people in our vicinity to stop and stare.
"Oh Bella, look at you, sweetheart. You look so beautiful," she said as she hugged me and rubbed my tummy affectionately.
"Edward, how are you doing?" she said, giving him a hug.
"I am great Mrs. Dwyer, thank you. How was your flight?" he responded politely.
"It was wonderful, Edward; and please call me Renee. Thank you for upgrading us to first-class. I don't know if I will ever be able to fly coach again," she said and laughed. Just then, Phil walked up with their baggage.
"Well, look at you Bella! Married life certainly agrees with you," Phil said, as he gave me an awkward hug. I liked Phil; he and I had just never been very affectionate toward one another.
"Thanks Phil," I said, as he shook Edward's hand.
We made our way out of the airport and to my car. After Edward and Phil loaded their entire luggage in the back, we headed back to Forks. We all chatted easily on the way back home; Phil told some stories of this baseball season, and Renee filled me in on some of her latest hobbies and projects. I couldn't help but get tickled when she revealed she had gotten frustrated when she was trying to knit the baby some booties. She finally gave up and bought her a pair.
When we arrived at the house, Edward helped Phil carry the luggage up to our old bedroom. They were staying at the main house since we didn't have a guest room in our cottage.
"Oh Esme, this room is beautiful. I love the colors and the bedding," my mother gushed to Esme.
"Thank you Renee, but Bella helped me decorate it," Esme smiled warmly at me and put her arm around me.
"Well it looks beautiful, you two," mom said, as she winked at me.
I was sitting on the bed while Mom and Esme started unpacking, when Alice zipped into the room. She wasn't moving at vampire speed, but she was moving quicker than anyone should be able too. We had decided to let little things slip, so I guessed Alice was starting.
"Esme, there are some boxes that just arrived; where do you want me to stack them?" Alice asked, and my mom jumped in surprise. Alice winked at me.
I opened my mind to see what Mom was thinking.
"How in the world did that little thing move so quickly?" Mom was wondering.
"I have never seen someone move so quickly. It must just be my imagination or jet lag." She mused to herself.
CPOV
Later that night, long after Edward and Bella went to their cottage and Renee and Phil went to bed, we were going about our daily lives. We had the TV turned down, so we wouldn't disturb our human guests; but we weren't hiding the fact we were up. We all heard Renee get up a couple of times during the night.
"She is peaking around the corner at the tops of the stairs at everyone. Just act like we don't know she is there," Alice told us.
Jasper and Emmett were playing video games. Es and I were playing a game of cards, and Rose and Alice were looking at baby clothes online.
"Okay, she is going back to bed. We need Edward or Bella, so we can know what she is thinking," Alice grumbled.
"Bella is getting some much needed rest. She may be turning into a vampire; but she isn't there yet, and she is carrying a baby. We can ask Renee how she slept last night after Bella and Edward arrive for breakfast. She will most likely begin thinking of what she witnessed last night," I told her. Her eyes went blank as she peered into the future. She smiled, satisfied with what she saw.
The next morning we were all sitting around the breakfast table chatting with Bella while she ate.
"Well, how did it go last night?" Bella asked.
"She woke up several times last night, and each time she peaked down and saw us going about our business. She never came down, so I am curious as to what she was thinking," I said to her.
"That is good; she will see that you never sleep. Now today maybe we can show her that you never eat. My mother is very intuitive; it won't take her long to realize something is going on," Bella said.
Just then, Renee and Phil walked into the room.
EPOV
"Good morning, mom; did you sleep well last night?" Bella asked, as she stood up to give her mother a hug.
"How do I tell Bella her in-laws never went to sleep last night? Phil already thinks I am crazy for thinking this." Renee thought.
"It was fine, sweetie. That bed was so comfortable; it was much more comfortable than a hotel mattress. I hope I didn't disturb anyone last night though. I had to get up several times for water and such," Renee said, trying to act innocent. I saw now where Bella got her acting skills.
"Let's see what they say about this!" She thought slyly.
"Oh Renee, you didn't bother any of us. Don't worry about it," my mother said sweetly.
"Hmmm, well. That didn't give me any answers." She thought grumpily.
"See what I mean babe, she is fishing for answers. I just hope she takes the news well." Bella thought to me. I just grinned at her and winked.
"Bella, is something wrong with your eyes, sweetie?" Renee asked Bella. We didn't realize while we were having our silent conversation that Renee was studying Bella. Bella looked startled for a moment.
"My eyes, what do you mean Mom?" Bella asked confused.
"Your eyes, Bella, are changing color. They have all these golden flecks in them," she said, then added in her thoughts. "Almost like your husbands."
"Oh, Carlisle said it was my pregnancy that is changing my eye color. Isn't that weird, mom?" Bella said and Carlisle nodded his head in agreement to her.
"Oh yes, it is very weird," Renee murmured.
"There is something weird going on with my daughter's new family, and I am going to find out what it is." Renee thought.
"Great, Renee is going to have me up at all hours tonight spying on these poor people." Phil grumbled.
"This is going great Edward. Bella is brilliant. This is exactly how Renee and Phil need to figure this out." Alice squealed in her mind.
After breakfast, we took Renee and Phil to our cottage; they loved it and thought it was perfect for us. Renee went on and on about the murals in ours and Ren's bedroom. She loved the fact that we were naming her after all the grandparents; she said it was such an honor.
Over the next couple of days, Renee and Phil did spy on us. We made sure to let little things slip. We all moved quicker than possible, and we made sure she realized we never ate or slept; they were both getting very suspicious. The slip they couldn't ignore finally happened on the third day of their visit. We were all sitting around and watching the morning news; and Emmett, being Emmett, got bored. He picked up a heavy glass figure off the coffee table. He was twirling it around in his hand; when he suddenly chucked it at Alice, trying to catch her off guard. It was a split second decision, but she did see it and caught the figure without looking up from the magazine she was reading. Renee gasped and stood up from the couch she was sitting on with Phil.
"Alright, that does it! I can't ignore this anymore. I know there is something going on here and I want some answers now!" she demanded. Phil tried to pull her back down to her seat, but she jerked her hand away.
"Not now, Phil. I want to know what is going on in my daughter's life right now. You people never sleep; you never eat; you move faster than anybody I have ever seen; and just now Emmett threw an extremely heavy glass figure at Alice, and she catches it without even looking up," she said, her voice rising now.
"They had better give me some answers and not try to sweep this under the rug." She thought, and that was my cue.
"Renee, just sit down. We will give you answers and not sweep anything under the rug," I told her with a knowing look. She just gaped at me for a few seconds, and then silently sat back down beside Phil.
"How?" she asked.
"Mom, before we tell you, I want you to know that I knew all this before I married Edward. I love him and my new family very much; and they love me too," Bella said.
"Okay, now I am really worried. What has Isabella gotten herself into?" She wondered to herself.
"There is no need to worry Renee, and Isabella is very aware of our situation," I said.
Renee got a confused look on her face.
"There is no way! Edward can you read my mind? Of course you can't; I am completely losing my mind." She thought, laughing to herself.
"Oh, but I can read your mind, Renee. You are not losing your mind," I said; and at that declaration, Phil finally came out of his shocked silence.
"Alright, you had better tell us what is going on now!" Phil thundered.
Bella then reached over and took Renee's hand; she looked her straight in the eyes.
"Mom, Phil, Edward and his family are vampires," she said.
A/N: Please leave us a review, and let us know what you think of our story. Check out our blog to see pictures and hear music at http:/ /coconspirators2011 .blogspot .com/. This chapter has lots of pics. Please go to our profile page to participate in our poll about authors responding to reviews.