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Chapter 22

I knew it couldn't be a dangerous situation or Edward wouldn't be giving me the option of how to proceed. Curiosity got the better of me. "Let's go inside. If we decide we don't want to stick around, we can leave later."

"Fine," he mumbled under his breath before whipping around the car to open my door. "I do have one condition, however."

"And that is…?"

"If Fred shows any sign of aggression or I think there might be danger, we're leaving," he said firmly.

"Fine by me. Despite what you all seem to think, I don't really enjoy the idea of a pointless death. I know danger seems to follow me around, but that doesn't mean I invite it along for the ride."

"Promise?"

"Promise that I'll leave with you, or promise I don't invite danger?"

He gave me his signature lopsided grin. "Both."

I rolled my eyes. "OK, fine. Promise to both."

When we walked into the house, the whole family was in the living room talking in bee-buzz. It seemed urgent, like something was up.

"Bella, sweetheart!" Esme sang out, rushing over to hug me gently. Everyone seemed so happy to see me, it was like we'd been apart for months instead of just one night. Even Rosalie said 'Hi' and gave me a little wave, which was roughly 100% more acknowledgment than she usually afforded me.

"So, what's going on?" I asked uneasily.

"Oh, nothing much," Emmett answered nonchalantly. "Fred and I went hunting, we played some X-Box, Aro called…"

"Aro called?" I was instantly alarmed.

"Yes, but there's nothing to worry about, Bella," Carlisle tried to soothe me, but it was Jasper's calming that actually helped.

"Maybe it's just a knee-jerk reaction, but whenever I hear Aro's name, I always assume it's going to be something bad."

"Well, it's not entirely good, either," Alice warned.

"No. Absolutely not," Edward blurted out. "Not happening."

"What?" I asked.

"It's not like we have a choice," Carlisle argued.

"A choice about what?" I questioned.

"We'll have to figure out something else. I won't allow it," Edward stated sternly.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded a little louder.

"What else are we going to figure out, Edward? Do you have some sort of magic plan you'd like to make us aware of?" Rosalie shot back.

"You stay out of this," Edward hissed at her.

"Don't you talk to my wife like that," Emmett reprimanded him.

"LISTEN! SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Instantly, the room became eerily quiet as I suddenly had the attention of all eight vampires there. "It's pretty obvious this is about me, so somebody just tell me!"

I saw Carlisle about to speak. "And don't sugarcoat it!" I warned him in advance.

He adjusted himself uncomfortably before attempting again. "Bella, Aro called for an update on Fred. He's very… interested in Fred's gift. He's becoming anxious to see him in action. He's not very patient when he wants something, and this may be the least patient I've ever seen him."

"So, why would Edward be upset about that?" It didn't add up. There had to be more to it.

"I'm not," Edward answered for himself. "I'm upset because Aro invited you to come, too."

"Oh. And I gather we can't just respectfully decline, right?"

"An invitation from Aro is the same as an order," Carlisle said ominously. "Nobody turns down an invitation. Ever."

"So why did he 'invite' me?" I made little quote marks in the air.

"I believe he's genuinely fascinated by you and wants to further test your abilities, while you're still human," Carlisle said.

I needed clarification. "Did he actually say that?"

"Not exactly, although it's often hard to get him to actually say much of anything, at least not directly. He did promise, however, that you would be completely safe. He would see to it personally."

"You might be willing to trust him with Bella's life, but I'm not," Edward spat.

"I hate to have to say it this way, son, but your willingness or lack thereof is immaterial. If you refuse, they'll just come and take her. At least this way we can all be there with her," Carlisle responded, trying to keep the situation calm.

Edward was still frustrated. "Even with all of us, we can't protect her."

"I can," Fred said quietly. Now it was his turn to be the center of attention. "I mean, I don't want to go either, but since we don't have a choice, exactly… I can protect us all. The bad part is, unless I can miraculously figure out a way to control my gift better, I'd have to put all of you down, too, but Bella won't get hurt and I won't let anyone near her."

"You'd do that?" I gasped. "You'd be making yourself an enemy of the Volturi."

"I'm already their enemy," Fred answered in a way that gave me shivers. "They just don't know it yet. Those bastards killed Bree for no reason. Now, before you say anything, Jasper, I'm not planning to attack or provoke them, but if I need to, I will defend myself… and my friends."

"Damn, Fred, were you reading my mind just now?" Jasper joked.

"Nope, just getting to know how you think," Fred smiled, tapping his temple.

"Well, I can't say I exactly trust you either, Fred," Edward stated rather bluntly.

"Edward!" I exclaimed in disbelief.

He put his hands in front of him as if in surrender. "Let me finish. I still have my doubts, but I suppose given the choice, I'd rather take my chances with you."

"Wow, Edward. Thanks for the glowing report there, buddy," Fred dead-panned. "Maybe you could be my advocate when we face the Vultures. That would be great."

"You'd better stop calling them 'the Vultures' before we get there," Alice admonished him. "It'll be habit and you'll say it to their faces, which I don't think they'd find amusing."

"I would," Emmett chuckled.

"Of course you would," Rosalie scolded her husband. "But you think human flatulence is funny."

Before Rose could stop him, Emmett put his hand over his mouth and blew, creating a loud, booming, rather disgusting noise. "Ahhhh… that feels better…" he sighed, patting his belly.

Rosalie smacked the back of his head, which he appeared to be expecting, but another smack came right behind it. He turned to find the source of the second strike. "Esme! Why did YOU hit me? I thought you said no hitting in the house!" he wailed.

"I said you kids weren't supposed to be hitting each other in the house. I never said I couldn't."

I had to giggle. She was only a few human years older than Emmett, but Esme was definitely the mother figure of the house.

"OK, well, Rosalie hit me. She's one of the kids. Whatcha gonna do about that? Huh?" he challenged.

"Yes, you're right. You've got me there, Emmett," Esme sighed dramatically, turning to Rose to mete out her punishment. "Believe me, Rosalie, this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you."

She drew her hand back, then shouted, "High five!"

Rose smacked hands with her and we all laughed, except Emmett of course. "No fair! You girls always stick together."

"Rosalie is your wife, Emmett. I don't think I can punish her for hitting you. Besides, I'm pretty sure you vowed in at least one of your weddings to allow her to smack you when you said or did something stupid," Esme snickered.

"I was also wearing a baby blue tux with a pink ruffled shirt at the time. You can't take anything a guy says seriously when he's wearing something like that!"

"Oh, really?" Rose raised her eyebrow so high, I thought it was going to disappear into her hair. "So all that stuff you said about love, honor and cherish wasn't serious? Hmmmm?"

She turned on a heel and marched up the stairs. "Baby, no, that's not what I meant," Emmett followed her, apologizing profusely. He turned and looked scornfully at the rest of us. "Thanks a lot, Esme," he growled.

"You're welcome, dear. Anything I can do to help," Esme called back cheerfully. We all laughed at poor Emmett, but he did have it coming. He was lucky Rose didn't hold too closely to those vows or she'd be smacking him 24/7/365/eternity.

"So, where were we?" Carlisle asked rhetorically. Of course he knew exactly where he'd left off. "Bella, before you and Edward came in, we were talking about our impending visit to the Volturi. Fred is still concerned about Aro's motives. Fred?"

"Well, I think I've ruled out him wanting to kill me, or at least not right away. I mean, he knows where I am, so if he wanted me dead, he would just send someone to do it, right?"

"If that was his goal, yes, you would already be dead," Jasper nodded in agreement.

"Then he must be planning to make me join them." Fred was being much more reasonable than he was the last time we discussed this matter.

"Oh, I'm sure he wants you to join them, but you don't have to. He can entice you to stay, but it's against our laws for him to force you against your will," Carlisle explained. "I won't lie… it is possible he would try to blackmail you… if you refuse to join, he could say that you were part of an illegal newborn army, which is punishable by death, but since you didn't fight, he would be hard-pressed to make a convincing case against you."

Fred looked confused. "Wait a second. I thought he was like, the dude of dudes. Who would he have to convince?"

"I dare you to address him as 'That Vulture Guy, Dude of Dudes,'" Jasper laughed. Even Carlisle had to chuckle at the thought.

"I double dog dare you," Emmett yelled from upstairs, which was followed by Rosalie screeching like a banshee and a variety of heavy objects breaking against walls.

"Take it easy on my house!" Esme hollered up the staircase.

"They were… ummmm… just starting to make up. Let's just say Rose isn't exactly happy that Emmett was still paying attention to what's going on down here," Alice explained.

Fred winced. "Rosalie may be the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, but I think I'll just admire her from afar. A way far."

"Good choice," Carlisle agreed quietly.

"To answer your question, Fred," Edward interjected, "Aro maintains power essentially because everyone agrees to give it to him, making him, as you so delicately put it, the dude of dudes. His guard is extremely loyal, partly because a vampire named Chelsea can strengthen the relationship bonds amongst them, but also because he keeps peace in our world. If he suddenly disregarded the law for his own gain, it could cause anarchy. He'd have to come up with a very good reason to get others to think of you as a serious threat."

"What do you mean?" Alice piped up. "Aro disregards the law for his own gain all the time!"

"In practice, yes," Carlisle clarified. "In theory, no. He's quite careful to maintain the appearance that he's upholding the law. He relies heavily on popular opinion, so sometimes he has to be very crafty and twist the situation around so it seems legitimate, especially when what he's doing is solely for his own purposes."

"Actually, I'm still alive today because he manipulated the law," I realized. "Technically, I should have been killed for what I know, but because he's interested in my ability to block his mind-reading, he figured out a way to allow me to live by extending the time limits on the law a little."

"Exactly," Carlisle concurred. "And may I say for the record that I'm glad he did." He smiled warmly and Edward pulled me close, kissing my hair. I distinctly heard gagging noises from Fred, but when I whipped my head around to glare at him, he was preoccupied with some invisible lint on his t-shirt.

"There is another possibility," Jasper mused darkly. "He might be trying to size you up, in case you decided to become a 'Cullen' for all intents and purposes. He already considers our family a threat for some reason, even though none of our gifts are particularly useful in an attack. If you joined us and Bella got vamped, there would be nine of us, and five with distinct gifts, yours being the most dangerous."

Edward joined the conspiracy theory. "Yes, and add the Denali family and that's 14 with two more gifts. Kate's ability could be considered an offensive weapon, even though she can't throw it. He could think we're trying to covertly build a force large enough to bring down the Volturi."

"Hmmm… that makes sense, actually. They conquered the Romanians, so surely they know the same could be done to them, although it would be much more difficult," Carlisle thought aloud. "The Volturi are fortified in ways the Romanians never even considered."

"Which led to their downfall," Jasper added. "If I had a mind to take over the Volturi, I'd use Alec and Jane against each other. If I kidnapped Jane and took off her head, I'd have Alec under my control. Then I'd make him incapacitate the Volturi, kill Aro and Caius, then Chelsea so their relationship ties would crumble, and Renata so she couldn't shield anyone…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I've thought about letting Marcus live, but I guess I'd have to play that one by ear."

"Strange that Aro might think we could be a threat to the Volturi," Edward chuckled. "Obviously none of us has ever even given it a second thought."

"Yeah, I think you should just go up and give Aro a big handshake, Jasper!" I laughed. "Maybe even a hug! I'm sure your thoughts would make him feel MUCH less threatened by the hapless little Cullen clan!"

"Fine, so I've given it a little thought!" Jasper defended. "Thinking about it isn't a crime."

"Tell that to Aro," Edward teased. "I'm sure he'd be overjoyed to know he's first on your hit list."

"Well, if Fred could hone his power, I would wipe out Jane and Alec first…" Jasper continued a little too excitedly. "Then Aro and Caius…"

"Will you quit thinking about that kind of stuff?" Fred hissed. "He's gonna read you and then kill me, and I'm not even the one plotting his overthrow!"

Jasper had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "Sorry, guys. Too many years in military strategy, I guess."

Carlisle put his hand on Jasper's shoulder. "Fred's right. We should try to keep those types of thoughts to a minimum. Aro can tell the difference between random thoughts and things we've spent time thinking about. He's been doing this for a couple of thousand years now, so he can sort everything out fairly quickly."

"Well…" Jasper hesitated, "I think we should try to keep his hands off me then, because I've already thought about it too much to play it up like a passin' fancy."

"I don't know, Jasper. I can't imagine Aro being able to keep his hands off you. I know I can't," Fred teased, blinking his long eyelashes and reaching over to pat Jasper's knee.

"You'll have to fight me for him," Alice joked with her fists balled up, dancing around like an old-time boxer.

"Aw, no fair!" Fred whined. "You guys are all matched up around here and I'm the odd man out. Aren't there any nice single vampire women out there?"

"There's the sisters in Denali," Alice said coyly. "But I think they're probably too much for you to handle."

"Yes, and he specified 'nice,' so they don't qualify."

"Edward!" Esme scolded him. "You take that back! They're our friends and you shouldn't be talking about them like that."

"He's right, though," Jasper joined in. "I like them and everything, but they aren't exactly nice girls, Esme, and I dare you to say they are."

"I double dog dare you!" Emmett yelled from upstairs again, followed by more crashing and screaming and apologizing.

"Do you think he'll ever learn?" Carlisle sighed heavily. We all just laughed.

Our reverie was disturbed by my phone ringing.

"It's your mom," Alice announced before I could even pull the phone out of my pocket. Of course she was right. "Just be up front with her and don't back down."

"So it's going to go well?" I asked timidly.

"Oh, heaven's no!" she said with a tittering laugh. "Don't be silly. But you'll get through it and it'll work out in the end."

"You'd better answer or it's going to go to voicemail," Jasper advised.

"I know. That's sort of my plan."

Edward took the phone from my hand and set it on the table. "If you're not ready to talk, just wait. There's time."

The phone stopped ringing, but I knew she would call back.

"Sorry, guys, but could I have a little privacy?" I asked, feeling a moderately guilty for kicking the family out of their own house.

"Of course, Bella. It's time for us to go practice with Fred anyway," Carlisle said with his always-reassuring voice. He turned to Edward and Alice. "Are those two done upstairs?"

"Oh, great. Now you've made me look! I've been trying to keep them out of my head and so far it's been working. Thanks a lot…" Edward grumbled.

"And…?" Carlisle prompted.

"Yes, it appears Emmett's last outburst ended their 'make-up' session, so they've made up as much as they're going to for now, thank heavens."

"Rose, Em, get down here!" Esme ordered as my phone started to ring again. "And this time make sure you're wearing clothes, Emmett. I'm warning you."

I picked up the phone, biting my lip before finally flipping it open. "Hello?"

"Spill it," Renee said quickly.

"Don't I even get a hello?" I asked as I waved goodbye to all the Cullens and Fred. Edward started to go, too, but I grabbed his shirt and shook my head at him. When I said I needed privacy, I hadn't intended to include him, which I assumed he would know.

"Of course you do. Hello. Now spill it!"

I sighed. "OK, are you sitting down?"

"Are you about to tell me that I'm going to be a grandmother?"

"NO! You're just as bad as dad! Geez!"

"You mean you've already told this 'news' to your father and not me?"

"Mom, slow down! We weren't planning to. It just sort of slipped out. We were actually hoping to tell you together." I caught a chagrinned look from Edward and squeezed his hand, letting him know once again that it was OK.

"Well, are you going to tell me? Are you and Edward moving in together? Because if that's it, I hope it's because you're going to college and not…"

I cut her off abruptly. "Mom, Edward and I are getting married."

There was silence. A long silence. A very long silence.

"Mom, are you still there?" I asked timidly.

"You're getting married?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, and before you say anything, I'm sure this is what I want. Edward and I are in love, but even more than that, we're committed to each other, no matter what. Mom, I know how you feel about marriage, and I even agree with you, but I can't deny that Edward is my other half. I didn't know this was possible, but I'm more 'me' with him than I am without him. I hope you can understand that."

More silence.

"Bella, my beautiful girl, I don't know what to say except… I'm so happy for you!"

Now I needed to sit down. Edward steadied me as I slumped into the closest chair. "Wait. What did you say?"

My mother laughed. "You heard me. I said I'm happy for you! What did you think I would say?"

I could feel tears welling in my eyes. "But you've always been so vehemently opposed to people getting married too young!"

"That's because most young people are too stupid to know what they're getting themselves into. But you're not like that. You've never been a giddy, silly teenager. And I know how you feel about marriage, so if you really believe this is right, I can't very well argue the point," she said, sounding entirely too logical to be my mother.

I decided to question that fact. "OK, who is this and what have you done with my real mother? I want to speak with Renee Higgenbotham Swan Dwyer, the one who raised me to despise marriage and puppy love and throwing my life away on some crazy we'll-be-together-forever fantasy that doesn't really exist except in Disney films. Where is she?"

Now my mother laughed in earnest. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm right here. And I take it back. You are a silly teenager! Did you really think I didn't see this coming? Of course, at first I was worried and nervous and maybe even a bit angry, but Phil was the one who brought me around. He was watching Edward like a hawk when you were here, and after you left, he told me he thought the two of you would be married within the year and he couldn't be happier with your choice. I'll admit, we had a couple of arguments over it, but in the end, I had to agree that the two of you were destined to be together. I've just been waiting for the announcement."

It was my turn to be silent. I didn't know what to say. Of course, it was then that I realized Alice had set me up to believe this conversation was going to be horrible. She would pay.

"I do have to say I'm disappointed about one thing…" mom interrupted my plot for revenge against my future sister-in-law.

"What's that?"

"Phil and I had a bet about when you would get engaged. He said this year, so that means he wins."

"What does he win?" I asked.

"I could tell you, but I don't think you want to know," she answered with a grin in her voice.

"MOM! Gross! I don't even want to know it's something I don't want to know!"

"Oh, Bella, you're going to be a married woman soon."

"I don't care how married I am!" I huffed. "Nobody wants to think about their parents having sex. That's just… disgusting!"

"Phil won't think so," she taunted. Edward was chuckling along with her. I couldn't glare at her, but I could at him. He just shrugged and kept on laughing.

"Is Edward there? Can I speak to him?" mom asked.

"Yeah, he's here. Just a second," I answered. I covered the receiver and hissed "Behave!" which only made him laugh more.

"Renee? It's Edward. I can't tell you how happy I am…"

My mother cut him off. I knew because she was talking so loudly, I could hear every word, even with my human ears. "You listen to me, boy," she started. "If you ever, and I mean EVER do anything to hurt my daughter, I'll kill you. Even if it's after I'm dead and gone, I'll come back to haunt you. Don't forget that Bella's father is in law enforcement and her stepfather is pretty good with a bat. I also have her friend Jacob's number, and according to Charlie, he's not your biggest fan either. I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking out some revenge if I asked him to, so don't mess with me. If you're not one-hundred-thousand percent sure Bella is the one and only one for you, for the rest of your life, you'd better think about it some more. Even if you say you're sure, you'd be wise to think about it some more. I'm very serious here."

Edward's eyes were a big as saucers and his mouth had dropped open during Renee's speech. It took him a few extra seconds to gather his thoughts. "Yes, ma'am. I see that now. I fully understand."

"You'd better. I know I have a reputation for being flighty, and maybe it's well-earned, but not about this. We're talking about my baby here. You WILL treat her right or there will be consequences. Now, I'd like to speak to Bella again."

Edward wordlessly handed me the phone. "Mom?" I spoke anxiously.

"Yes, darling!" she answered, sounding as chipper and cheerful as a kid at the circus. "So, have you set a date? What can I do to help? I imagine Edward's mom and sisters will be doing most of it, since they're there, but I'd like to be as involved as I can."

"Slow down, mom!" I laughed, bewildered at her dramatic change of mood. "We haven't set a date yet, but we're thinking about mid-August."

"So soon?" she questioned. "Are you sure you're not pregnant?"

"Wow. Even dad only asked once," I grumped. "Since you're so eager to talk about sex, I'm still a virgin, mom, so I'm reasonably sure. Unless there was a random bird or bee you forgot to tell me about during the talk-from-hell when I was 13. Which remains one of the most horrifying conversations I've ever had in my life, thank you very much. Second only to Charlie trying to have the same talk with me."

"Oh, that would be horrifying," she agreed. I could tell she was wincing along with me.

"Apparently he didn't think you'd done enough damage to my psyche."

"Well, in our defense, we both worry about you. No matter what else happens, you're our baby girl. Just remember that and it will explain a lot of our seemingly random behavior," she laughed.

"OK, mom. I will. I suppose I can cut you and dad some slack, but don't let it go to your head!" I giggled along with her.

"Alright, my darling girl, you keep me in the loop and have Edward's mother call me. Charlie really likes her, and his father. And you tell Edward not to forget what I told him, OK?" she said sweetly.

"OK, mom, although I doubt he'll forget anytime soon."

"I'm glad to hear that. I love you so much and I'm very, very happy for you!"

"Bye mom. Love you, too!" I slowly closed the phone.

Edward and I stared at each other, somewhat relieved that it was over and somewhat confused by how it turned out.

My phone rang again, only this time it was Alice. I opened the phone and started to give her a piece of my mind, but she preempted me.

"When you asked if it would go well, I said it wouldn't, but I didn't mean for you! I meant for Edward!" Alice burst out laughing. "And he believes I can't keep my thoughts from him. HA!"

"What am I thinking right now, Alice?" he asked menacingly.

"That's easy! You're thinking you couldn't possibly have a better sister than me!"