Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Chapter 82 Skin or no skin?

"Let's go upstairs and make sure you keep that arm of yours. We can't possibly do without your playing around here."

Carlisle POV

I didn't want him to know just how worried I was about his arm, but I was certain he knew I was blocking him somewhat. I had taken time to make some phone calls and pour over ancient journals in my library during the night, and my fears were confirmed this morning when I saw that the arm had not yet healed . . . didn't seem to be healing much at all in fact and Edward was loosing a lot of fluids . . . well, fluid. The only liquid in our body was made of venom in one form of another.

Hearing him play the piano, only furthered my determination to help his arm heal. It wasn't as though he was human and in danger of infection or gangrene, or the arm causing the rest of the body to fail, it just wasn't healing and it was draining his strength.

"Isn't he amazing, Petal?" I said to Esme, my arm around her as we stood and listened to the sounds of Edward's life. His music had been just that, it had been his life for over 90 years and now it reflected love and hope and happiness. He used to use the piano and his playing for comfort, and I suppose he still did to some extent, but Bella seemed to provide everything that my son needed.

Thank God she had been found, escaped herself really. I suppose everyone helped to some extent, Edward forcing Victoria to allow him to speak to Bella every eight hours and draw out the ransom drop off at Alice's request, Sam and Jacob killing Victoria. Everyone played a part in her recovery of course, each of us doing all we could. Jasper had been amazing with his surveillance and expertise with the electronics.

"Edward is an amazing man, Carlisle, he is so much like you. You couldn't have chosen a better companion," she told me, her arm around my waist.

"She is just so perfect for him. I can't imagine our family without her, though she has been with us such a short time," I mused.

"Well, she'll always be with us. She wants to be changed and Edward agreed to do it. I'm not sure either one of them expected her to come through this pregnancy human."

"You're right, Petal. He was prepared to change her, he had venom in a syringe by the bed. I saw it and asked him about it when I first dressed his arm and he freely admitted that he had planned to change her if there was any indication that he might loose her. They are so in love, and now a baby . . . I had no idea, really. I know the legends, the incubus, but there is no discussion of the child that could result, only that the mother never survived . . . till Bella."

"She came through the delivery with flying colors, didn't she Carlisle?"

"She did, Petal. Edward did an episiotomy just to keep her from tearing so that she would heal better and he put the stitches in himself and delivered the afterbirth beautifully. There should be no complications from the birth for her. They could even have more children if they want to," I whispered as I kissed her forehead. She seemed surprised at the thought, as though this had been a one time thing.

"Carlisle! Do you think they might try and have another baby?" she asked anxiously. I knew what she was thinking, that we would all love another little one around, but there were so many unknowns. How would this baby grow, would it progress normally or at an incredibly fast rate, as it had in utero? Would it be immortal or just enjoy exceptional longevity?"

"Petal, you don't actually think that Edward would intentionally go through all the worry about Bella's safety again do you? He agreed to try and have this baby, only try. If there had been the least complication, they had both agreed to terminate the pregnancy. I just don't think they would knowingly take the chance again."

"Well, you had better have a talk with them before she gets the all clear to have sex again, Carlisle. I hope you've thought of an effective way to prevent her from becoming pregnant because as often as they . . . well . . . you know. I just don't see how they'll avoid it," Esme told me laughingly.

I walked over to Edward after the music had stopped and he shared a moment with Bella, suggesting that we needed to tend to his arm. He allowed me to lift Bella and carry her upstairs rather than doing it himself which only reinforced my feelings of how bad the arm really was.

We went directly into the bathroom off their room and Bella once again helped Edward to pull the shirt over his head without using the burned arm as much. Once over his head, she pulled the shirt slowly off of the damaged arm, the cellophane wrap staying somewhat intact. Once I unwrapped it, I was once again faced with the fact that the arm, though making some minor effort to heal, just was not significantly improving. It was still quite raw and draining, and I could see from looking at Edward that he was quite weak from the fluid loss.

"You are going to need to feed again today, son. You are loosing everything you're putting in right now and you need to keep your strength up."

"Are the stem cells not working at all, Dad?" he asked, concerned.

"Somewhat. It's definitely better this afternoon than it was this morning, just not significantly better. I was hoping to see healing occurring. It's helping, though, and I have a few more treatments available, courtesy of your wife and son," I said, smiling at Bella. She looked so worried, and though I was worried as well, she needed to rest and not be stressed right now after just having given birth.

I needed to take her mind off the arm, so I brought up the new song he had composed, "Your mother and I loved the new piece you played, did you compose it recently?"

"It had been running through my head for awhile, Dad, and I tinkered with it the last month or two at night while Bella slept. I wanted it to be a surprise for her," Edward smiled, squeezing the hand he held of Bella's.

"Well it was just beautiful. Your compositions continue to amaze me son, each one even more complex and beautiful than the last though each time I don't think it possible to improve on any of them," I frowned reflexively, a habit I did not normally indulge myself in, "I don't see how you managed to play with this hand, though. You need to stop using it so much and let it heal." The arm really was burned quite badly and truthfully, I didn't understand how he had managed to burn the arm to this degree yet the rest of his body was unharmed.

I washed the arm, I suppose you'd call it debriding the burn but there really wasn't anything to remove other than fluid. I took another syringe full of the cells I had obtained from Bella's afterbirth and coated the arm and hand with it, making sure this time to wrap the hand as well to deter him from using it as much.

"That's it for now. Take it easy son, and you need to feed. I'll go and get you something, meet me in the back yard in half an hour, alright?"

"Thanks, Dad," Edward said as he followed Bella back into their bedroom.

"You, young lady, need to rest," I said looking at Bella pointedly, "Masen has eaten and is being occupied downstairs and Edward is about to have an afternoon meal. I'd like you to take a nap. You'll need your rest if you're determined to nurse this baby. New parents are up at all hours and while Edward doesn't need any sleep, you do."

I walked toward the door to leave, Edward tucking her into bed as I exited the room.

Jake had just returned and wasn't willing to talk about what had occurred with Sam except to assure Emily that he was alive and well and that they would both speak with him tomorrow.

As I walked through the living room, there was a heated discussion about the pros and cons of circumcision going on. Jasper was arguing that it was a mutilation of the body and detracted from the male having all the pleasurable sensations that God intended for him to have and Emmett was insisting that though he was circumcised, he had all the pleasure he ever needed. Well, we would need some facts to go on to settle this I supposed, so I took the liberty of going into the library to access the internet.

I stopped abruptly in the doorway to the library. I should have known, of course, but it just never occurred to me to think about it. The mock control room, rivaling anything NASA ever put together was gone. Gone. There was no trace of the tables and massive screens and surveillance stations. Only the two desks, each with a lap top on it remained . . . the way Edward had set it up when he furnished the house originally. I moved to sit at his desk and clicked on the screen. I wanted a history of circumcision in the US, just to check the reasons and facts behind the procedure. It would be a moot point, the final decision rested with Bella and Edward.

"Boys," I called. Emmett and Jasper were by my side instantly, staring at what was before them on the screen.

1901 "Another advantage of circumcision ... is the lessened liability to masturbation. A long foreskin is irritating per se, as it necessitates more manipulation of the parts in bathing ... This leads the child to handle the parts, and as a rule, pleasurable sensations are elicited from the extremely sensitive mucous membrane, with resultant manipulation and masturbation. The exposure of the glans penis following circumcision ... lessens the sensitiveness of the organ ... It therefore lies with the physician, the family adviser in affairs hygienic and medical, to urge its acceptance." Ernest G. Mark, Circumcision, American Practitioner and News, vol. 31 (1901): pp. 121-126.

Let's look at this from a medical and historical point of view, shall we. Edward was born in 1901, and these were the views of the times. Only 15% of males in the United States, other than people of the Jewish faith, were circumcised. This was mainly because most babies were born at home, not in a hospital and home births did not include the baby being circumcised, unless they were Jewish and the Rabbi did the procedure.

"Man, that many little dudes never had the flap removed? That just sucks, Emmett sighed.

"It so does not suck, Emmett. Can you not read right there that removing that flap, as you call it, lessens the sensitivity of the organ," Jasper gloated, "That means I get more pleasure out of sex than you do!"

"Damned if that's so, brother, and it sure as hell didn't stop me from jerking off as a kid. Hell if I had jerked off any more often the damned thing would have been raw," Emmett exclaimed. "Did not being circumcised cause you to jerk off a lot, Dad?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know if I'm a good indication, Emmett. My father being a Vicker and preaching about God and penance day and night and the sins of the flesh may have unduly influenced my actions, though I have little memory of it," I told them. "Let's see, here is a clip from a couple of years before I changed Edward. It doesn't look like the attitude towards it had changed any."

1915 "Circumcision not only reduces the irritability of the child's penis, but also the so-called passion of which so many married men are so extremely proud, to the detriment of their wives and their married life. Many youthful rapes could be prevented, many separations, and divorces also, and many an unhappy marriage improved if this unnatural passion was cut down by a timely circumcision." L. W. Wuesthoff, Benefits of Circumcision, Medical World, vol. 33 (1915): p. 434.

"What kind of a stupid attitude is that?," Emmett continued. "Rosie, come in here, you gotta see this shit."

"What, Emmett?" Rose said, reading the screen.

"They sound like women didn't like or want sex in 1915, what kind of shit is that?"

"Emmett! Language!" Esme scolded as she entered the room.

"Sorry, Mom, but this is ridiculous, These articles are making it out to seem like women don't enjoy sex and that men wanting it ruins marriages," Emmet exclaimed.

"Well, you know, proper ladies were taught not to act in a wanton manner, Emmett," Esme explained.

"You don't want me acting in a wanton manner, sweetheart?" Alice asked as she walked in and stood beside Jasper, her arm around his waist and her eyebrow cocked as she tilted her head to stare at him.

"Course I do, darlin'. Men wanted it back then as well," he added, "They just didn't speak of it in polite company."

"That's true. Women were taught that sex was something they had to endure if they wanted a husband and family," Esme added.

"That's just archaic," Alice added.

1941 "[Routine Circumcision] does not necessitate handling of the penis by the child himself and therefore does not focus the male's attention on his own genitals. Masturbation is considered less likely." Alan F. Guttmacher, Should the Baby Be Circumcised?, Parents Magazine, vol. 16 (1941): pp. 26, 76-78.

"I don't think that being circumcised helped one way or another. I used to care for young boys in our town and they seemed to always be sneaking their hands down their pants whether they were circumcised or not," Esme added, "It's just a natural thing for boys."

"Hell yea it is," Emmett expounded.

1971: 90% of the U.S. male population circumcised "There are no valid medical indications for circumcision in the neonatal period." Committee On Fetus and Newborn. Standards and Recommendations for Hospital Care of Newborn Infants, 5th edition. Evanston, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics. 1971. p. 110.

"Look at that, it wasn't till '71 that they were really willing to admit that there was no medical justification for circumcision unless the foreskin would not retract," I pointed out.

"How are you supposed to get a blow job with all that on there?" Emmett asked, concerned.

Alices eyes twinkled, and Jasper said nothing, but smiled. Esme, however was not so discrete.

"I don't think having foreskin or not having it makes any difference for that, boys."

"Mom!" they both said in unison.

"What?" she exclaimed, "It isn't as though all of you aren't privy to listening to everything we do! You have all done it because I've heard you over the years."

"Mom!"

This time all of them, Rose and Alice as well chimed in. It wasn't as though they didn't know . . . vampire hearing left little to the imagination and as hard as we tried to ignore things we heard, we heard them none the less.

"Well, the foreskin retracts and stays behind the back ridge of the gland when an erection is present, so it would present no problem for any of the things you all are considering right now," I told them.

1994: 60% of newborn males in the U.S. circumcised "Circumcision causes pain, trauma, and a permanent loss of protective and erogenous tissue ... Removing normal, healthy, functioning tissue for no medical reason has ethical implications: circumcision violates the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 5) and the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 13)." Leo Sorger, To ACOG [American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology]: Stop Circumcisions, Ob Gyn News, 1 Nov. 1994, p. 8.

"Ouch! I'm glad no one ever did that to me," Jasper winced as he apparently thought about it, "It says right there that it causes so much pain that its traumatic."

"I can promise you that's true," Edward added, stepping into the library to join us. "What happened to lunch?" he asked sheepishly, one hand in his jean pocket.

"Sorry son, Jasper and Emmett were arguing the pros and cons of circumcision so I thought I would pull up a few historical medical thoughts," I explained. Edward stood and read the data we were viewing.

"How the hell would you know if it was traumatic or not, Edward? It's not like you remember being born and having it done," Emmett chuckled.

"That's true," Charlie added, entering the room to join in the discussion. "I know you guys say that you don't remember much about being human, but I don't remember anything about being circumcised, I was too little when they did it so I don't think it traumatizes them," Charlie added.

"Guys, there are not many things I remember from being human, but being circumcised was a requirement for going into the army when I was alive, and I wanted to be a soldier. WWI was well underway. I was circumcised when I was 16 years old and I still remember that it hurt like hell," Edward revealed.

"Dude! Holy shit, you had your junk cut on as a teenager! I bet it hurt like a son of a bitch!"

"Emmett! Language!" Esme exclaimed, cuffing him on the shoulder.

"Language or not, I bet that hurt like hell," Jacob added as he joined the discussion, "They had to have held you down or something, didn't they?"

"No, it had to be done for me to be accepted into the army and I wanted nothing more than to be a soldier . . . so I willingly had it done," Edward shrugged his shoulders, wincing as though he was remembering it.

"Surely they deadened it, Edward, a shot of Novocaine or something?" Carlisle asked.

"They did. Think about it, a needle several times into the head of your penis?" Edward elaborated as every male in the room winced. He looked around at all their faces, "Yea, that's what I thought."

"Eddie, after all these years, why didn't I know that about you?" Jasper asked, puzzled.

"I doubt we had any reason to ever discuss it," Edward answered, his eyebrows lifted and a questioning look on his face.

"Yea, it's not like we ever whipped out our dicks and compared! We never even go to the bathroom, so we could never have accidentally looked over at each other and noticed the differences," Emmett commented.

"Dude, if I was human and I caught you staring at my junk, I would end you," Jasper warned.

1998 Perpetrating sexual surgery on healthy non-consenting minors, under the legal age of informed consent or refusal, to purportedly prevent an unlikely and curable future infection, is unacceptable. Intentionally amputating healthy erogenous genital tissue from tethered, protesting infants is a surgical act of sexual sadism. Eileen Marie Wayne, MD, Letters (Circumcision - sexual sadism?), Infectious Diseases in Children, Vol. 11, No. 2, February 1998.

"Wow, that last little bit of information on screen is pretty definite. Abuse and mutilation huh?" Emmett questioned, "So you're saying I'm mutilated, not a whole man?"

"Emmett!" Rosalie screeched.

"The real question here guys is if Bella and I want Masen to look the same as his father, which would be a decision she and I have to make," Edward said.

"True, son, but how would you do it if you decided that it needed to be done?" Carlisle asked.

"All that talk about having to bite it off was just kidding, wasn't it?" Charlie asked, horrified.

"No, Charlie. That would be the only way I know of that it could happen," Edward told him.

"What about wolves?" Jacob asked. We all turned to him. Werewolf teeth certainly cut through vampire skin, but I tried to understand Jacob's point . . .

"Jacob, dude, you're not offering to chew that skin off the baby are you?" Jasper asked, smirking. He could feel the disgust rolling off Jacob, that much I was sure of.

"No, no NO! That's just . . . no. Not happening. I was thinking though, werewolf claws might work pretty well," Jacob suggested.

"You know, that would work, Jacob. A claw could be used like a scalpel," I mused.

"What the hell? You going to hold his paw and guide the claw?" Emmett guffawed, "His paw is almost the size of the baby's head! You're likely to slip and cut his junk right off."

"No, Emmett, of course not," I scoffed.

"If we cut one of Jacobs claws though . . . ," Edward had a thought. "Jacob, is it like cutting a nail, it grows back?"

"Yep. Grows back. I'm game to try it if you're game to try and cut one of my claws after I phase," he added, chuckling to himself.

"That would take some balls, cutting a werewolves nails, kind of like a wild version of a pedicure," Rosalie laughed.

"Alright, well, those are the medical facts and I guess the decision can be made in a day or two. It would probably be a good idea to try and get that claw, Jacob, to see if it would cut our skin . . . that is if you're willing," I said. "It would have to be sterilized and we couldn't do that if it was still attached,"

"Sure doc, let's do it after we bring gimpy here some lunch though, okay? I don't want to be chasing deer with a limp," he laughed.

"Tell you what, you guys try declawing the werewolf out on the patio and Jaz and I will go get lunch for brother dear," Alice suggested.

"Fine, fine, but take Rosalie along as well, Sam is out there somewhere and three of you together makes me feel much more comfortable," Carlisle added.

"Oh no! I'm not missing seeing the mutt loose a claw," Rosalie insisted, a horrified look on her face.

"I'll go with them, dear. I don't really want to be around when you do that to Jacob and I would enjoy getting my son dinner," Esme added, hugging Edward around the waist. "Sue is enjoying some time with Masen right now anyway."

Esme, Alice and Jasper immediately took off to hunt and bring Edward something to drink. Jacob had suggested that we get a hacksaw or something to cut the claw and Rosalie had darted up to her garage saying something about a diamond carbide. Edward, Emily, Emmett and I walked out to the back patio, Emily ran to grab a coat because the snow was still quite thick on the ground and it was freezing outside. Power had not been restored to the area and we were still running the house on generator power to keep lights and heat for the humans.

Jacob stepped into the cover of the woods to phase and walked back shortly, growling in the direction of the woods . . . no doubt something to do with Sam. I wasn't worried about Sam's actions now that Jacob had phased because I knew he could hear Sam's thoughts and Sam had to obey him.

Rosalie ran back, a hacksaw in hand and Jacob put a paw up on the patio table, expectantly. I had never noticed before, but his claws were at least an inch and a half or two inches long and looked razor sharp.

"Use the left paw, Rose. He writes with the right hand and we don't know if this will make his hand sore or not when he phases back," Edward suggested.

Jake shook his head and huffed, but switched to have his left paw on the table as Rosalie brought the hack saw towards it.

"He wants you to use the forth finger, Rose, on the outside. He says it won't matter to him if he runs if that one is missing, in case it takes some time to grow back," Edward told us.

"Would he like color and polish with the pedicure?" she teased before switching nails and fairly easily cutting one of the huge claws away from his foot, the vein in it getting nicked and some blood escaping as Jacob flinched. He ran off into the woods, muttering something unintelligible about a blond bloodsucker, presumably to phase back to human.

"If we can cut through it, why would you think this will cut our skin, Carlisle?" Rosalie asked, still amused that the slight nicking of a vein bothered Jacob.

I took the claw and made a cut across one of my fingers. It cut easily and healed instantly, leaving a small line of a scar. "I have no idea why it works, Rosalie, but it does. Mythical creature, remember?" I suggested, shaking my head.

"Well?" Jacob asked as he approached.

"Cuts us like we were butter," Edward told him as a wide smile crossed Jake's face.

"Told ya," he said grinning, sucking his wounded finger into his mouth.

"Alright then, Edward. It would seem that we have a way of circumcising your son, if you and Bella decide that you want it done," I told him, twirling the claw in my hand. I looked over to Jacob's hand where the claw had been and gestured to him to let me see it. We watched as the nail grew almost before our eyes, and once I wiped away the small spot of blood, no trace that we had taken a cutting remained at all.

"It doesn't hurt, guys. No big deal. Just do me a favor and never tell Masen that it was my nail that allowed you guys to do that to him . . . if you do it. I say leave him the hell alone, I never had any problems not being circumcised, and neither do the rest of the guys in the tribe," Jacob shared.

Alice danced into the clearing, Esme behind her and Emmett followed carrying a terrified looking buck, almost larger than he himself was.

"Thought you might be really thirsty, brother," he said, placing the animal down and holding him by the horns till Edward walked over. We all tried to discretely line up in front of Emily, humans didn't really need to be near when we fed, but she realized immediately what we were doing and looked around us to see Edward snap the bucks neck and bite into it, dropping to one knee beside it to feed. Luckily he was faced away from us and still some ten yards away. A feeding vampire is not something that a human should ever witness, though I knew that Bella had watched him feed on their cross country trip.

Edward dropped the buck and drug it over to the table that he had set up for Charlie back at Thanksgiving when Charlie had thought we used it to dress animals when we went hunting with bow and arrow and rifles during hunting season. There was meat already in the smoker that Charlie had been tending all day, and now he would have yet another to cook for tomorrow. I was quite sure there was far more meat than Charlie would want to use, but it could be frozen for Bella's use later.

Charlie had chosen to stay inside with Sue and the baby, opting not to take part in any more things involving mythical beings than he had to. He knew Jacob transformed into a werewolf, but he didn't want to see it or be there and though he knew Edward and the rest of the family fed from animals, he was far from ever wanting to watch. The less he knew the better as far as he seemed to be concerned, and that was fine with me.

~oooOooo~

Charlie POV

"He's a cute little thing alright," I said to Sue. We were sitting on the sofa, minding the baby while the others carried on some kind of shenanigans, something about a claw from Jake when he was a werewolf so that they could circumcise Masen. Huh. Whatever it took I suppose, the boy needed it done.

"Seth and Leah turn into werewolves, too huh?" I asked her as we continued to play with the baby.

"They do, Charlie. They have since just after Harry died a year or so ago. I never see them like that, though. They always keep to themselves in wolf form," she told me.

"Well, that's something I suppose. Werewolves, huh," I mumbled. I looked into her eyes and asked the question I had been thinking since I got here and found out about the Cullens, "Did you know that Edward was . . well . . . did you have any idea that . . ."

She cut me off, "Yes, Charlie. I knew that Edward was a vampire. I have always known it." She looked down, kind of like she was embarrassed or something. "I talked with him that night at your house, you know, when they came to visit. I was afraid of him, of what he was. He assured me again that he would never hurt Bella. He brought up something that I, having grown up with all our tribal legends and hatreds, had never considered before."

"What did he say that made it easier for you?" I asked.

He said,

"I never asked for this, Sue. It isn't a life I chose. I was 17 years old and dying of Spanish influenza when I was changed. I would have died otherwise. I have human feelings and emotions, just like you do. I was a 17 year old HUMAN male."

"I had just never considered how they got to be vampires, just that vampires, cold ones, were evil. I never thought about them not wanting to be vampires and having been human at one time," she told me.

"Huh. Guess that's right, I know that's right. That Edward, he's good to her, Sue, and she loves him. Now this," I said, gesturing to Masen. "Somehow he just cements it, doesn't he?" I laughed.

Masen smiled at us, every tooth in his mouth showing as he seemed to be exceptionally happy. I had never seen a tiny baby with teeth, but then I had to remember that he was half his father's son, and there were going to be some differences . . .

"There is a big buck out there for you to butcher, Charlie, if you want it," Edward told me as he came into the living room.

"Yea, yea I do," I told him. "We can put some of it in the freezer. I need to go out and check the smoker, anyway. Dinnertime will be here before you know it," I said as I got up, grabbed my coat and found a sharp knife before heading out the back door.

Dinner was uneventful. Carlisle and Edward had gone upstairs to tend to that arm of his and they came back downstairs, Carlisle carrying Bella and not letting her walk down the stairs yet. I knew she hated it, but she put up with it. Huh, it wasn't as though Edward was going to give her a choice. I only thought he was protective of her before, now, well I would be surprised if she got to go to the bathroom alone. It had been like pulling teeth for Carlisle to keep him down here long enough to get something for him to eat! Edward had the baby in his arm, so I guess she had taken care of nursing him while Carlisle had worked on Edward.

There were lots of questions about Sam at dinner, the Cullens sitting down with us, though they didn't eat anything. Jake had refused to answer anything, just saying that Sam was still being an ass, and Emily looked like she was going to cry a few times. I think that Jasper was doing that calming thing because each time she teared up he seemed to concentrate on her and she recovered herself.

Rosalie sat off to one side of the table and fed the baby a bottle and you could hear him sucking and slurping loudly.

"He has a good appetite, doesn't he?" Alice asked, but it was more of a statement,

"He really does. He is just as noisy when I feed him, except that he purrs," Bella told us.

"He purrs?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes," Bella blushed, turning a color that was totally not normal. I looked at her, silently requesting an explanation and she looked to Edward. He smiled at her and hugged her to him, staring at the table before meeting my eyes, "Charlie, Bella says that when I'm content that I purr. Apparently it embarrasses her to think about it."

I must have looked at him like he was nuts because he looked away and back at Bells, exchanging glances with Carlisle in between. "Well, that's somethin' that is, Edward. I've heard of grown men sucking their thumb in their sleep, but not purring," I laughed. The rest of his family, especially Emmett just howled and Jasper was laughing so hard he was holding onto his sides.

I helped Sue and Esme clean up after dinner, Emily excusing herself early and going to bed. I think she was just really upset about Sam and wanted to be able to cry alone without it being noticed.

Everyone watched one of those real old movies like Casablanca and the girls loved it, the guys playing cards at the kitchen counter. Well, except for Edward and Carlisle. Carlisle sat on the love seat with Esme and Edward, well he sat in the recliner with Bells siting between his legs and leaning back against him with his arms around her. They took turns holding Masen, as he slept. After awhile, Edward said that Masen was hungry and Bells wanted to nurse him. Carlisle carried her back upstairs and I gave them a little while before I went up to say goodnight. Carlisle was still in the bathroom working on that arm of Edwards and Bells was sitting in the rocking chair, holding the baby.

I knocked at the open door and walked in. "I just wanted to say goodnight, Bells. I love you," I said putting a hand on her shoulder and gazing down at the spitting image of Edward in her arms.

"I love you too, Dad. I'm sorry I worried you," she said. I sat on her bed in front of her, clasping my fingers together with my elbows on my knees. I stared at her when I asked the next question. "How long have you known about all of this?" I asked, gesturing towards Edward.

"You mean about the Cullen's being vampires, Dad?" she clarified.

"Yea."

"Since just after I moved to Forks to live with you. Jake told me the tribal legends and I figured it out," she explained.

"And you really want this, Bells . . . I mean, you really are happy, right?" I had to ask.

"I really am happy, Dad. Really happy. I love Edward more than I thought it possible to love anyone, and you see how he is over me. He's all I ever wanted . . . and now we have the extra added addition of Masen. I love them, Dad, so much!" she said softly, tears forming in her eyes.

"I see that, Bells. I really do see how the two of you are over each other. I saw him while you were being held, remember. Never saw anything like that in my life, and being a police officer, I've seen a lot of people in bad spots and grieving, Bells. The boy is head over heals in love with you, and that's a fact. The question is, if he's immortal . . . are you planning to become what he is to stay with him, Bells?"

She looked at me with those beautiful deep chocolate eyes and I had my answer before she ever opened her mouth.

"Yes, Dad. I need to be like Edward so that I don't have to ever loose him."