Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".

Author's Notes – Inspired by my dear friend Hollowgo.

Rating - Older Teen to Mature

By: WDG and Lash_Larue

The Garden of Four - Chapter Ten – Changes

Bella rolled over and groaned her body ached in ways she had never thought it would. Opening her eyes, she was glad that Carlisle had left the lights turned down low; she sat up in the bed and felt something slide out from under her pillow. Seeing the book, she looked around before pushing it back up under the pillow once more, she would look at it later, but for now it needed to be put back into hiding in so no one would come in and see it. She really didn't want anyone finding out the secret of the Cullens, or her new secret either.

Reaching for the little remote that would change her bed's position, she raised the upper part of the bed up to act like a back rest. Once it was up she looked around some more, looking for something to help her get out of the bed, because she really needed to pee. She was about to give up hope and page a nurse to come help her when the door to her room opened and in stepped her Dad and Carlisle. "Bells!" shouted Charlie, happy to see that his daughter was awake and doing well. Rushing to her side he hugged her to his chest and almost cried. "Oh, Bella, you have no idea how much I've been worried about you! When I find out who did this to you I will make them pay, I swear it baby girl, I am not letting you out of my sight ever again." Charlie hugged his daughter close to him and gently ran a hand through her hair.

He could not help but think about what would have happened if Bella hadn't had such a wonderful doctor as Carlisle to take care of her. Pulling back, he kissed her forehead, and then he sat down beside the bed in a small plastic chair. Carlisle smiled and walked over after Charlie sat down and did a quick checkup on her.

"How do you feel this morning? Is anything better or worse since we last talked?" Bella shook her head.

"No, But I really have to pee, so, uh, can I get a moment?" Carlisle nodded and helped her up and led her to the bathroom across the hall.

"If something happens, just press the button on the wall and I will be here before any of the nurses, okay?" Bella nodded and waited for the door to close before lifting up her gown a bit, dropping her panties to the floor and letting nature take its course.

Charlie fumbled with his hands as he watched Carlisle lead Bella out into the hall. All the time that Bella had been in the hospital he had thought about the things Renee had told him about Bella and her feelings towards women. Charlie had at first agreed with Renee; something was wrong with Bella for liking women, or that maybe it was her extra equipment that was making her feel that way. But Charlie had secretly been reading some books written by parents who had children like Bella, and it turned out that Bella's extra stuff had nothing to do with what gender she might like. It was just Bella. It wasn't some disease or sickness like Renee had said it was just his daughter falling for the gender or person she found the most appealing. Charlie smiled a little bit and thought "And if I am not mistaken, my daughter has a thing for a certain little pixie with black hair and gold eyes, with the last name of 'Cullen'." Smiling even more, Charlie could find nothing wrong with the thought of Alice and Bella being together, not as long as his child was happy.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Carlisle coming back into the room without Bella, and looking up at the doctor he paused briefly before standing and extending a hand. "I want you to know, Dr. Cullen that I will forever be indebted to you for saving my daughter's life, and I just wanted to shake your hand and extend my friendship to you." Carlisle smiled and shook Charlie's hand firmly, but carefully not using any of his vampire strength.

"I understand, Chief Swan, but please, if we are to be friends, just call me Carlisle." Charlie nodded and smiled.

"Then none of that 'Chief Swan' stuff, call me Charlie," both men nodded and sat down while waiting on Bella.

"So, uh, Carlisle, I don't know if you've noticed, but - uh - my daughter and your youngest daughter Alice..." Charlie paused; he really was new to this sort of thing but if it was for Bella he could adapt. "Well, they seem to, well, like each other, and as much as I think your daughter is a nice and very lovely young woman, I don't want Bella to get hurt. I am sure that you already know my daughter is different from most girls." Carlisle nodded and gave Charlie his full attention. "I just don't want Alice to get too close to Bella and then both of them get hurt when she finds out about, well, Bella's - well, you know…"

Carlisle grinned and said "Bella's penis, right?" Charlie turned beet red and coughed to clear his throat.

"Well yes, I mean, like I said, Alice is a nice girl, but if she freaks out from learning Bella's secret it could break my daughter's heart."

Carlisle walked over and patted Charlie's back and said, "I don't think you have to worry about that, my Alice is a very smart girl and she knows better than to judge people, besides, she already knows. It seems that she and Bella have already had a little chat about it." Carlisle lied just a bit, yes. Alice knew, but he didn't think Charlie would like to hear about just how Alice had found out.

Charlie nodded and blushed a little bit, (Bella got that from him) and he felt proud of his daughter for telling someone her secret. He even felt truly happy that Alice knew her secret and didn't mind that Bella had a little more then most girls. Bella pushed the button on the wall once her hands were clean to page Carlisle to help her back to her room. Carlisle felt his pager go off, and looking up he said, "Excuse me for a moment Charlie; I must go and help Bella back to the room."

Once both of them were back in the room and Bella was back in her bed, Carlisle left them alone so that father and daughter could have some time together. "So…uh, Bells, do you remember anything about what happened to you?" Bella felt a little guilty for what she was about to do, but she knew it was for the best.

"No, sorry dad, I guess whoever they were snuck up on me while I was in town and out of sight of anybody, and they hit me in the head so I got knocked out….but don't worry, they didn't rape me or anything, I just have a few cuts, bruises, and broken bones." She pointed to the ace bandage around her ankle and the wraps on her arm.

Charlie nodded, but he wasn't about to forget the attack on his child. He meant to find whoever did it. "I see, well lets get off such bad topics for now, how do you feel? I mean, I know you told Carlisle you were okay, but are you, really?" asked Charlie as he scooted his chair closer and held his daughters hand in his. Bella smiled and squeezed her dad's hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine Dad, I swear." Charlie held her hand throughout the whole time he spent with Bella as they talked about everyday things, and it had been a whole thirty minutes when Charlie finally said -

"So, you and Alice... you seem to be getting very close." Bella felt her entire body tensing, and a flash of hot fear coming to her face. The only thought going through her mind was, 'Oh God, please, no. Don't let him make me stay away from her, I don't care if he treats me like Renee as long as he doesn't make me stay away from her,' butbefore Bella could even open her mouth to tell her dad that he was wrong, she felt his warm hands cup her face and she saw him smile.

"Hey, Bells, it's okay, I know I haven't been the best parent when it comes to this kind of thing, but I am learning to accept that this is just who you are." Charlie stood up and hugged his daughter once more, feeling her shake a little in his arms. "If you like girls, so be it, and if you and Alice want to date that's okay too. Just please, no grandkids for a while, I'm old, but not quite old enough to be a granddad yet, okay?"

Bella felt a weight lift off her shoulders and back, and such relief washing over her system that she thought she might actually float. 'He doesn't mind! He won't take her away from me, thank God, thank you so much for understanding, dad, thank you so much!' she thought while hugging him harder. Charlie chuckled, and then the chuckle changed to a gasp as Bella's arms squeezed the air from his lungs. She hastily released him.

"Jeez, Bells, what kind of dope have they got you on? When did you get so strong?"

Bella quickly went over the things that Carlisle had explained to her about the changes that would come over her, and she remembered how to explain this particular change.

"Sorry dad, Carlisle said that my adrenaline level is like stupid high, it's just my body's way of reacting to the attack and the injuries. It's all mixed in with how my chromosomes are kind of different. He said not to worry, it will get back to normal."

"Oh, okay, I guess that makes sense, but take it easy on the old man in the meantime, okay, kid?" Charlie asked, his eyes crinkling in a grin.

"Sure dad, I don't want to break those brittle old bones." They shared a laugh at that, it had always been Bella who broke things.

"Now as sorry as I am to say this, I have to get to work, so I want you to avoid hurting yourself even more while in the hospital, because we both know how clumsy you can be, kid." Bella blushed and fiddled with her blankets and then nodded "Good, now I am going to go, so behave yourself, and hopefully you won't be stuck in here for too long, okay?" Charlie kissed Bella on the forehead one more time before letting himself out of the room.

Bella watched him go with a smile on her face, and she had been sitting there for a minute or two when her stomach let out a grumble. Blushing, she was about to look around for the nurse paging button when Carlisle walked in with several containers of what smelled like food.

Carlisle was smiling when he walked in, he had heard Bella's stomach growling on the way into her room. Setting the containers down on the table that was used to serve patients their food, he asked, "Hungry, are we?" Bella nodded and looked at the containers with puppy dog eyes. "Well, no need to keep you waiting then, Esme made you quite a lot of food, but I am sure you will eat every last bite." After opening one of the containers he shoved the wheeled table over to her and gave her a fork. "Go ahead, dig in, I'll just sit here and look over some things while you eat."

Bella looked at all the food and felt her mouth water, there were eggs, bacon, toast, some gravy and biscuits, and a huge stack of pancakes with syrup, and a cup of apple juice. Licking her lips she picked up the fork that Carlisle had given her, and wasting no time she dug in with gusto. She finished the food in a very short time, and taking the last drink of her apple juice she sighed and then sat back and patted her stomach. She felt full and warm. Esme was such a great cook, she would really have to thank her when she saw her again.

Carlisle chuckled from his spot beside the counter where he was writing down some reports on Bella's eating habits and other such things. It was best to keep track of how much food intake the girl would need now that she wasn't completely human anymore. He cleaned up and took the containers back to his office, and then returned to Bella's bedside. "Are you feeling better now?" he asked her.

"Yeah, that was great, please thank Esme for me. I can't believe that I ate all that, even Charlie wouldn't have eaten that much," she answered; feeling a little bit embarrassed and a little bit impressed with herself.

"You are going to have to get used to that, I'm afraid," Carlisle told her, "I can tell you more about some of the things you are going to experience over the next few months, are you ready to hear about them?"

"Might as well get it over with, at least if I freak out I'm already in the hospital," Bella was trying to be brave, but of course Carlisle could tell how frightened she was, and he took her hand to support her.

"It's not all bad, Bella, you might even like some of it."

"I'm not counting on that, but go ahead, like the man said, 'give it to me straight, Doctor, I can take it'," she even managed a smile.

"I know you can, Bella," Carlisle returned the smile, and for a moment he just sat and admired the strength that the young woman in front of him had displayed. Not everyone could handle finding out that she had romantic feelings for a vampire, much less being bitten by a werewolf on top of that. "I have already told you about your increased strength that is always the first change that results from a werewolf bite. You aren't nearly as strong as you will get, though. You are also going to get taller, the tests I've been running show that your entire endocrine system is working overtime. That's why you are so hungry, so when you are hungry, eat, you need it, and there is just no way in the world you are ever going to get fat. You don't need to worry about that," he promised.

"Well, that's pretty neat. I guess I should tone it down in front of people as much as I can though, huh?"

"Yes, you must start now acting in ways that will keep your secret, but you already have plenty of experience in that." Bella nodded.

"No shit," she thought.

"You can eat all that you need to when you're at our house, Esme will be thrilled to feed you. And don't worry about what your father will think about you spending a lot of time there, we've already had a talk about you and Alice and he's fine with that, and of course Esme will be there to chaperone." Bella rolled her eyes. "Just keep your grades up and that will take care of itself. And speaking of that, you will find that your mind is going to get sharper, quicker, it has to, in order to accommodate your heightened senses; smell, hearing, vision, touch, even taste is going to be affected." Carlisle focused carefully on Bella, gauging her reaction to all of this; he was pleased that she was fairly calm. "I'm afraid that you will also find that your temper gets a bit short, especially as the moon time approaches, and you must be very, very, careful of that. Even in your untransformed state you will be much stronger than any human and could easily seriously injure or even kill someone. Not Alice," he hastened to add, correctly interpreting the fear that showed on her face when he said that, "not any of us. During the three days of the moon, when you are sooner or later going to transform, you might be able to harm us, but we know how to handle that sort of thing without anyone getting hurt. Besides, we just aren't very breakable."

"So when is the next moon?" Bella asked.

"Two weeks, and I do not expect you to transform then. It takes time for the infection to make enough changes in you for that to be possible. But you have to be with us during those times, at least until we see how you respond to the change, see how much control you have when in your wolf state." Bella nodded. "Just a little bit more information today, then. You remember that I told you that you do not smell like a 'normal' Lycanthrope to us, don't you?" She nodded, in fact she remembered absolutely everything that had happened since she regained consciousness. Carlisle was right about her mind. "My theory is that this is because of your somewhat unusual chromosomes, I'll keep an eye on the changes, but so far you are not a standard model werewolf," he said with a grin.

"That's Bella for you, nothing normal about her," Bella muttered, "I can't even be a werewolf the right way."

"No, Bella, you aren't normal. You're very special, either as a wolf or a human, and I'm thrilled that Alice has you for a friend. I know this is scary; I was terrified when the change happened to me. I'll tell you that story sometime if you like, but not now. Since you are unique, one or more of us will be keeping an eye you at all times. In fact we've been doing that for a while because of the injuries you had when you got here, the difference is that soon you'll be able to tell we're around."

"How?"

"It's possible that you'll hear us, but not likely, we can move silently, I expect that you will simply smell us. Werewolves have wonderfully keen senses of smell."

"Alice smells great! Oh, should I not have said that? I mean, you are her dad and all," Bella asked anxiously.

"Don't worry about things like that, all of us understand, you smell good to her too. And Alice can do whatever she wants; you do realize that she is much older than she looks, don't you?"

"Oh, right, how old?"

"In my day we never discussed a lady's age. Ask Alice, she might even tell you. The next thing I have to tell you, you must keep to yourself. You can never talk about it with anyone at all other than my family. Will you promise me that?"

"I will, I do. I promise never to tell anyone outside of your family, Carlisle," Bella said solemnly.

"Of course, we're your family too, now," he told her with a smile, but then his face grew very grave. "Some of the Quileute's are shape-shifters, you saw that in your book, right?" Bella nodded. "They acquired this power long ago, because of vampires. They transform into huge, powerful, wolves that truly are capable of killing vampires. My family has a treaty with them because we do not hunt humans, we stay off of their land and they stay off of ours, but it's safe to say that they don't like us very much. I'm not really supposed to tell you this, but I do regard you as one of the family and I think you need to know this because you're sort of caught in the middle. Charlie has friends in La Push, and some of them know about us."

"Wow, the world is really just not what people think, is it? So they're werewolves like me?"

"Not really, their transformed state is much like yours will be, but they can transform at will after they grow accustomed to it, gain control over it. When they are new they are extremely dangerous, they have little control of their tempers and powers. I'm afraid that you are not going to have a choice in the matter, Bella. Once the change manifests, you will change on the three nights of the full moon, and before you ask, no. Clouds and eclipses won't stop it." Bella sat silently for a while, and Carlisle just let her work through it.

"Well, that kind of sucks, but no use bitching about it. Get it? Wolf, girl, bitch? That was funny, right?" Carlisle took Bella in his arms and kissed her cheek, and if vampires could cry, he would have been crying.

"It was very funny, Bella, and I am so proud of you for being this brave. Do you have room for one more bit of information today?"

"Why not?" she said, she was so warmed by his praise that she figured she could handle anything.

"When you transform, Bella, especially the first few times, it is going to be very painful. I know that you are no stranger to pain, but this is going to be a different thing altogether..."

Bella shrugged, "No sense worrying about what can't be changed, I know all about that too. Thank you for telling me all this Carlisle, at least I know what to expect, and I'll get to spend more time with you guys. Heck, maybe once I'm all strong and wolfy and stuff, I can beat Emmet at Halo!"

"Maybe so, Bella, and now that you are full and those things have been taken care of, I will be heading off, my dear, but I wanted to tell you that Alice said she would be dropping by to see you as soon as she can. Until then here is the remote to the TV up there in the corner so you don't get too bored." After kissing her on the top of her head he left and closed the door behind him.

Bella turned the TV on and flipped through the channels for a while trying to find something good to watch, and trying not to think too much about what was happening to her. "Nope, Nope, Nope, seen it too many times, too stupid to watch, too boring," Bella continued as she flipped through the channels until finally - "Ahhh, sweet, catdog is on." Bella set the remote down and got comfortable to watch the show.

It was not too long before the smell of honey and fresh snow slowly began to fill Bella's senses, and then there was a soft knock on her door before it opened to show Alice standing there. Bella smiled upon seeing the shorter girl, and turned the TV down. Alice walked into the room and shut the door before moving quickly over to Bella's side and pulling the girl into her arms, and holding her close, breathing in her scent.

"Oh Bella, you have no idea how worried I was, I knew you were trying to get answers about what I told you, but then I couldn't see you anymore when you entered La Push. I was so scared I almost went down there and broke the treaty between my family and the Quileute tribe. Then you did appear, and I am sorry I didn't get there in time to stop what did this to you, but I had to watch where I was going or I would have really broken the treaty." Alice pulled back and ran her hand through Bella's hair and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I found you unconscious and barely breathing, Bella, do you know how that made me feel? It made me feel like my world was coming to an end, I don't know what I would have done if you had died." Alice sat down on the bed beside the girl and kept hold of her hand while she spoke.

Bella felt a little ashamed for just running out on Alice and letting all this happen to herself. "I am sorry, Alice, I shouldn't have tried to avoid you, but you found out my secret and then you told me you were a vampire, and I just…I just didn't react in the best way." Alice nodded and moved to sit beside Bella so that she could cuddle up next to her and hold her. Bella blushed a little "I am still a little confused though, what did you mean by 'you couldn't see me'? I think it's weird you would say that, I mean, of course you couldn't see me, I wasn't anywhere around you. So I have no idea why you feel that it's your fault, Alice," said Bella as she wrapped her good arm around Alice's waist to keep her close.

Alice almost didn't hear Bella because of the warmth Bella was letting off as she held her, and the way Bella smelled made Alice almost purr. But she did catch what Bella had said, and shaking her head a bit to clear her mind of Bella's alluring scent she looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Oops, guess I forgot to mention that some of my family members have special powers, as well as just being vampires." Bella nodded and looked at her in wonder, ready to hear all about it. Alice smiled and began to speak. "Well, Edward can read minds, everyone's but yours, that is. Jasper is an empath and can feel other people's emotions, and mess with them as well, he can make you feel calm, or happy, just about anything, and I can see visions of the future. It's pretty useful, but the visions change if the person they are about changes their mind, the future just isn't set in stone."

Bella whistled. "Wow, so you're like super vampires, then." Alice giggled.

"No we're not super vampires, we're just 'gifted', I guess you could say." Alice began to curl her finger through Bella's hair, gently twirling it around her fingers as she spoke. They had spent what felt like hours just talking and being held in each others arms, when Bella asked...

"So….what are we exactly, Alice, I mean, I know what I want us to be, but what do you want us to be?" Alice turned to stare at Bella, and tried to look into the future, but couldn't. Sighing, she licked her lips and turned to meet Bella's eyes.

"To be honest, Bella, I want us to be the best of friends, and more. I want to be the person you spend forever with, I want to be able to do so much with you." Alice kept her gaze locked on Bella's and continued, "I want to hold you, hug you, kiss you, and much more. I want us to be lovers. Because, Bella, I love you with all of my body and soul."

Bella gulped and licked her lips before taking a deep breath. "I...I want that too, Alice, I want that too, but I want to go slow. I want to get to know you, I want to know what your favorite color is and what your favorite book is, I want to know everything. I want to be with you forever," Bella declared courageously. Alice felt a smile come to her face, and she knew that if she had a beating heart that it would have melted at Bella's admission that she loved Alice too.

Snuggling closer, Alice said, "Then my dear Bella, would you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend and mate?" Bella nodded her head.

"Yes I would, but what's a mate?" Alice giggled.

"Oops, I forgot to tell you that as well, to a vampire, a mate is basically a vampire's soulmate. When a vampire falls in love, they fall in love only once, and that is to their soulmate, their other half. It's like when you put the pieces of a puzzle together, and it makes it complete. That's what you do for me Bella, you make me complete. Just being near you makes me feel so alive and happy inside," said Alice. She knew that she would need to talk about this more with Bella later on, when the time was right and Rose and Victoria were with her, but this would do for now.

Bella felt her heart swell. "Then that's what I will be, your girlfriend and your mate, as long as you will have me." Bella smiled and was about to ask for a kiss when Alice said -

"Silly Bella, we're together now, you don't have to ask to kiss me," leaning over she laid a soft kiss on Bella's cheek. Bella blushed and looked away.

"You saw me asking you that in a vision, didn't you?" Alice nodded and snuggled closer.

"Yeah, I did, and I mean it, too. Whenever you want to kiss me, you can; anytime, anywhere." Bella grinned and made a quick decision with Alice so close to her; turning her head she caught Alice's lips with her own.

Alice was caught off guard for a moment before responding, and she gently held Bella close. Bella, feeling a little braver, opened her mouth and probed at Alice's lips softly with her tongue. Alice was a little shocked, but gladly opened her mouth and met Bella's tongue with her own. The kiss was amazing to both girls; like tasting the sweetest thing in the whole word. It began to climb in passion, Alice moved to straddle Bella's waist, basically sitting in her lap, while Bella moved her hands to hold Alice's hips as the kiss grew hotter. Alice let out a whimper when she felt something poke at her butt, and then moaned when she realized what it was.

Bella could feel herself stirring as well, but the friction Alice's jeans were causing wasn't enough, she needed to get closer. She shifted her hips and moved one of her hands to tangle in Alice's short hair, Bella pulled her lips away from Alice's briefly, going back for more after she caught her breath. Alice had begun to slowly rock her hips back and forth when Bella pulled away abruptly and held tightly to Alice's hips, stopping the motion. Alice looked at Bella's face, it was twisted into a look of pleasure. 'So why did she stop?' Thought Alice. "Bella, are you okay, did I hurt you?"

Bella shook her head "No, you didn't hurt me, I just - things were going too fast, I shouldn't have let it go that far. I just meant to kiss you, but one thing led to another and ….and you felt so good, but I don't want our first time to be in a hospital bed with me all bruised up and stuff." Bella opened her eyes and smiled. "I want our first time to be more romantic, you know, candles and roses and all that great stuff." Alice smiled and moved to sit back down beside Bella.

"Yeah I can understand that, and you're right, we were moving way too fast, we'll go as slow as you like, Bella."

After a time of just laying in each others arms and cuddling, Bella finally calmed down her lower region and was in a world of bliss in Alice's arms. "Oh, that reminds me, when you get out of the hospital me, you, Rose and Victoria are going shopping for some new clothes for you," said Alice with a grin. Bella groaned.

"What? No way, I hate shopping, Alice, besides there's nothing wrong with the clothes I wear." Alice smirked.

"Oh yes you are, now that you are my girlfriend you have to come with me to go shopping, and yes the clothes you wear are alright but you could do so much better, and I am going to be the one to help you with that. And soon you aren't going to have a choice anyway, Carlisle told me that you're going to grow some. " Alice leaned close and whispered, "Plus, if you don't go I then won't kiss you again until you do." Bella grumbled and submitted.

"Fine but nothing too frilly, or too girly, and nothing that looks like it might itch if I wear it." Alice grinned and kissed Bella.

"You have a deal."

END OF CHAPTER TEN

No Notes from the Author this time, expect hope ya'll like the update.