Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, Stephanie Meyers does. I do own this plot and storyline. I own my own original characters and a sweet little Chromebook I just love. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 9: Welcome
EPOV
As we slow down, a beautiful house comes into view. This place is huge, I think to myself as I try to take in as much as I can. Standing three stories high and made of stone and wood, it fits the setting perfectly. The surrounding sprawling pastures compliments it, bringing out its natural beauty.
We pull into the circle drive that has a fountain in the center. As we unload from the bus, we're greeted by the cutest little girl who has big blue eyes that are the shade of water, and the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. She's wearing tight jeans and a black t-shirt with a big smile on her flawless face.
"Welcome to Texas and Swan Lakes Ranch, where the ice tea is sweet, the air is dusty an' the people are friendly," she says with the sweetest southern accent. "Grab your stuff and come on in," the lady, who I assume is Bella, welcomes us with a wave of her hand.
We pick up our bags that Jacob has unloaded, and follow her into the house. By the time I make it in the door, my dad and mom are both hugging the woman. I notice the little girl is just looking at everyone with wide, confused eyes while never letting go of the woman's hand.
As we move into a really large living room, the woman turns to everyone, "Welcome to my home. I'm Isabella Swan, but please, call me Bella. This sassy little thing here, is Cassandra or Cassie," she introduces motioning to the little girl. "Now, I know Carlisle and Esme, so why don't cha introduce yourselves," she finishes, her tone welcoming.
"I'm Emmett Cullen, and I want to know when I can drive that cool looking motor thingy out there?" my dufus brother exclaims. It's obvious that he forgot to pack his verbal filter in Seattle.
"Well Emmett Cullen," Bella replies with a giggle, "That motor thingy's an XUV, or cart, as we tend to call 'em round here. And, you can drive one when I know you can operate it safely."
"Sorry about the big kid here. We would've left him at home, but the last time he was unsupervised there were police involved," Rose announces. "I'm his wife, Rosalie Cullen. But please, call me Rose."
"Jasper Cullen, and my wife, Alice, Ma'am," Jasper states while Alice bounces in place next to him. She finally finds her voice and squeaks out, "Nice to meet you."
I hear the others continue to introduce themselves as I continue to look around, taking in the sheer size of the place. The walls are wood, stone and sheet rock, decorated in a country motif. There are lots of windows that allows the natural light to add to the overall openness of the home. I'm brought out of my internal rambling by a clearing throat.
"And you are?" Bella asks and I turn to her. She is even more beautiful up-close.
"Edward Cullen, and you're beautiful," I divulge while my family laughs. "Sorry, I mean you have a beautiful home." I drop my eyes from her in embarrassment. And here I was mentally bashing Emmett for not having a filter.
"Well thanks Edward. You're sure the charmer," she replies with a giggle as a slight pink hue graces her cheeks, adding to her beauty.
"Well, I'm sure y'all wanna clean up, so why don't I show ya to your rooms," she states waving us toward the hall leading to a beautiful stone staircase. "This will give ya a chance to stow your stuff and get settled in for a bit. Just meet back down here in about twenty minutes. I'll take ya on a tour of the ranch before the work starts."
"That sounds perfect, sweetheart," my father agrees.
"Oh," she utters suddenly, coming to a stop and turning back to us. "I've got one major rule in this house, and it's very important that ya don't forget it," she instructs us, her tone taking on a more serious nature. "You'll notice gates around the house, please make sure you close them behind you. They're safety gates to protect this little darlin'."
My mother turns to look at us all with a raised eyebrow, daring one of us to forget to close the gates, while Bella walks to a speaker system on the wall and pushes a button, "Jessica, can you come watch Cassie for a few minutes, please?"
A soft, 'Sure,' is heard from the speaker.
Soon after, a short, dark blond-haired woman walks into the room, armed with a sippy cup in her hand, smiling at us all. "Jessica, this is Carlisle and Esme Cullen. I'm not sure if you remember them or not," Bella explains as Jessica hands the sippy cup to Cassie.
"I do," Jessica confirms. "Glad y'all are here."
"These are their sons, Emmett, Edward and Jasper and daughters in-law, Rose and Alice," Bella introduces, pointing each of us out.
"Nice to meet 'cha," Jessica greets sincerely.
"Everyone, this is Jessica Newton. She holds many titles; Cassie's aunt, my assistant, and all around lifesaver. She is also the office manager here at the ranch," Bella introduces in more detail. Jessica takes Cassie's hand leading her to the couch as Bella motions for us to follow her upstairs to our rooms.
"You'll be on the second floor and down this hall. Carlisle and Esme, you are in the master bedroom at the end, and the rest of ya' are in these three other bedrooms.
"Each room has its own bathroom and you can choose among yourselves. They're stocked with clean towels and anything else you may need. If you don't have somethin', just let me know. I'll give y'all some time, and just come back down when you're settled," she tells us with a warm smile before turning around and going back down stairs.
"Smooth Eddie, real smooth. Did you forget your filter in Washington?" my idiot brother asks laughing.
Ignoring him, I walk into the first room and drop my bag on the bed. Looking around, I take in the room that will be my home next few days. Home. This does feel like home to me. The walls are painted green with brown accents and accented with dark wood furniture. The ambience of the room is very calming to me, and I instantly feel comfortable in this space.
After unpacking and cleaning up a little, I go back downstairs. Bella is sitting on the couch, talking softly to her daughter. She doesn't notice me standing there, so I listen quietly to her sweet voice explaining to Cassie that we're friends and that there is nothing that she should be scared of. Soon, everyone else starts down the stairs and Bella looks up smiling. She takes her daughter's hand and leads us outside.
In the space where Jake had parked the bus, there is now the coolest vehicle I have ever seen. It's camouflage with nine seats and looks somewhere between a Jeep and a Hummer. Bella helps her daughter climb in the front seat and straps her into a harness seat-belt type thing. She turns to us once she's done, "Load up and strap in."
I think Emmett is going to explode with the excitement he's trying to contain, and pushes by everyone and hops in right behind Bella. "This is freaking awesome! It's an off-road limo-jeep!"
Soon the rest of us are strapped in and on our way.
She explains to us about the ranch as she drives, "The ranch consists of twenty-seven hundred acres with multiple lakes, creeks, streams and a river. The main house here has seventeen bedrooms and ten bathrooms. There's a fifteen car garage around the back of the house, guest house and private pool.
"Are those recent additions?" my father asks. "I don't remember."
"Daddy had the guest house built for Billy and Sarah," she explains. "They just like the cabin so much they never moved into it. The garage and pool are pretty recent, I had them built 'bout a year ago.
"Throughout the property, there are twenty cabins that we use for camp accommodations. There's a utility building, hay barn, mare breedin' barn, horse barn, holdin' pen, ridin' arena and a rescue/quarantine barn."
"Wow," Alice states in awe. "I can't wait to see all the horses. It sounds like an awesome setup."
"Also, there's an activity center with a therapy pool and pavilion. Behind the main barn is a bunk house, which is the livin' quarters for the ranch hands."
"You really built on to the place since we were here last, sweetheart," my father comments.
"Yeah," she answers. "We were runnin' out of space for the breedin' program. Gonna have to expand again, soon."
We all turn to look at Jasper, my eyebrows raise as if to say 'I told you so.'
Bella continues to drive by a huge lake, not any the wiser about our family's non-verbal communication. This part of the ranch is actually quite beautiful and peaceful. I notice some cattle grazing in the distance.
"The main lake has a shed, gazebo, boat dock and fishin' pier. You'll see windmills, which helps to supply the electricity to the entire ranch. We have our own satellites for phone, internet and cable services. The ranch office is attached to the main barn. There's two first aid centers, one next to the office and the other at the activities building.
"We have three gardens, which we change throughout the year, based on the season and one garden that we keep year round. We also have a greenhouse and a root cellar or storm shelter, whatever you want to call it, since basements aren't standard in Texas. If you have any questions, let me know, otherwise just sit back and enjoy the view," she finishes, taking a deep breath and a drink from a bottle of water, then offering it to Cassie.
I notice her daughter is really quiet and that surprises me. I didn't think a child could go so long without making a sound. Rose catches me staring at Cassie and whispers, "She's nonverbal."
"What?" I ask her in confusion.
"Her daughter, she doesn't speak or, at the very least, she has a hard time speaking," she explains quietly.
I'm sure the shock is written all over my face as I turn back to the front. My heart breaks for Bella and her daughter. We ride around the ranch for over an hour and I'm positive we didn't see the half of it.
Bella finally pulls up to a barn where a group of people are standing around talking to each other. As soon as we stop, Jacob has Cassie unbuckled and is swinging her around in the air. It's then I hear her sweet giggle and a smile lights up Bella's face. Right then, I could easily tell that Cassie's happiness is the sole reason that she overcame all the darkness my father told us about.
"Come on everyone and meet these goofs," Bella says as she climbs out of the XUV.
"Well, look at you old man! Did ya break out 'cha boots?" an older Native American man asks my dad as he pulls him in for a full on hug while laughing.
"It's been too long Billy, way too long," my dad replies as he is released from Billy. He then turns and kisses an older woman on the cheek. "How are ya Sarah? Been keeping this big oaf in line?"
"I just send him to sleep in the bunk house when he acts up," she responds laughing at Billy's expense.
"Esme, dear, it is so good to see ya," she states turning to my mother and giving her a hug. "Maybe you can help me get this lot in line while you're here."
"I'd be happy to," my mother warns looking over at us. "You'd think the way these three act sometimes that they were raised in a barn."
"Well, I already know that you two are gonna be trouble," Bella laughs at my dad and Billy as they banter with each other. "Why don't cha introduce your family Carlisle, and Billy can introduce everyone else."
"Sure, sweetheart," he starts as my mother just shakes her head at him smiling. "Everyone, this is my beautiful wife, Esme."
"Here, we have my oldest son, Emmett, and his wife, Rosalie. My middle son, Edward, and my youngest son, Jasper, and his wife, Alice," he finishes smiling at us proudly. A chorus of howdy's and greetings are heard from those that work on the ranch.
"Well, my turn," Billy states punching my father jokingly in the shoulder. "I'm Billy Black and this here beauty's my wife, Sarah. You've already met our son, Jacob," he points to where Jacob is chasing Cassie around a bale of hay while she giggles. "This is his wife, Leah."
"Seth Clearwater, and those two yahoos goofing off, are Tyler and Eric," he finishes pointing at the two guys who are play pushing and shoving each other.
We all shake hands as they each welcome us to the ranch. I notice that Jacob is now sitting on the bale of hay holding Cassie's hands and just talking quietly to her. During this whole exchange, Bella never takes her eyes off them.
"Carlisle," Billy starts and you can hear the emotion in his voice. "I speak for everyone here when I say, 'It's good to have ya home.' You've been sorely missed." Billy wraps his arm around my father in a man hug and my father returns it, his face full of sadness.
I notice that Bella turns away and wipes her eye as discreetly as she can. I could only imagine that my father's presence brings back some memories of when he was here last. I couldn't fathom losing both my parents at such a young age. According to my dad, she only lost her father a few years ago.
I'm brought out of my thoughts by Billy clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. Bella looks up and notices me staring at her, giving me a small smile.
"Hope you left ya slickers at home," Billy boasts. "Cause ain't nobody ever drowned in sweat.