AN ~ As promised, chapter 63 :) I'd vow to get the next chapter to you soon but to be brutally honest, I doubt it'll be within the next few weeks. Sorry! Please stick with me; I am so SO thankful to ALL you readers, reviewers, subscribers and favouriters out there! *hugs*
Chapter Sixty Three: Isabella Marie Cullen
Emmett and Jasper stepped in front of me, shielding Alice and I, but Edward refused to leave Bella's side, even when she flipped off her back with an aggressive snarl and darted to the back of the room, in a defensive crouch.
Edward's face contorted with concern. Alice peeked around Jasper's elbow, grinning at Bella, but though she was watching us, most of Bella's now heightened vision was focused on Edward's face. She gasped, stammering over words she could not find. She straightened, and Edward slowly, calmly approached, as though Bella was a horse who had just spooked.
"Bella?" he asked in a low, calming tone, his arm still outstretched from holding Bella's hand. "Bella love? I'm sorry, I know it's disorienting, but you're all right. Everything is fine." He reached his hand carefully forward and stroked Bella's cheek. He let his hand drop just a little, and waited for Bella to speak. A moment later, her arms were around him and her face pressed into his chest.
"Um…carefully, Bella. Ow," Edward murmured. She pulled her arms away, horrified, and folded them behind her back.
"Oops," she mouthed. Edward just smiled.
"Don't panic, love," he crooned, lifting his hand again to gently touch her lips, and again his hand passed ever so gently over her cheek. Very slowly, Bella freed her right arm, and brought it up to touch Edward's cheek, staring in awe.
"I love you," she told him.
"As I love you," he replied. Still as careful as ever, he drew her into a soft kiss. Bella's reaction strengthened the kiss, and Edward was just as willing to carry it further. I looked away, and Alice mimed a gag at me before the grin returned to her face.
Thankfully, Emmett interrupted by clearing his throat. Bella's face contorted with embarrassment and she stepped away from Edward, but Edward went right along with her, keeping his arm around her waist. He looked smug, and slightly addled by the mind-blowing kiss.
"You've been holding out on me," Bella said, apparently trying to sound accusing. He laughed, not bothering to hide his relief.
"It was sort of necessary at the time," he explained. "Now it's your turn not to break me."
Bella frowned in such a perfect imitation of Alice that I couldn't help but laugh. Emmett and Jasper were laughing too. Alice prodded me forward, so I stepped around Emmett and approached Bella, carefully of course but buzzing with questions. My mind flicked through them all, trying to decide which to ask. Of course, the words that came out of my mouth were the most simple, yet probably the most important.
"How are you feeling, Bella?"
"Overwhelmed," she replied. "There's so much…" She drifted off, distracted.
"Yes, it can be quite confusing," I sympathised.
"But I feel like me," Bella continued with a nod sharper than she probably intended. "Sort of. I didn't expect that."
"I told you so," Edward whispered, squeezing her waist gently. Bella did not react with any of the sensuality I would have expected, nor with fright or defensiveness. I hope I did not look too shocked.
"You are quite controlled," I mused. "More so than I expected, even with the time you've had to prepare yourself mentally for this."
"I'm not sure about that," Bella objected. Perhaps there was more to her experience than she showed. More questions added themselves to a self-generating list in my head.
"It seems like we did something right with the morphine this time," I said, changing the topic – although it may be related. "Tell me, what do you remember of the transformation process?"
"Everything was…very dim before," she explained after a moment. "I remember the baby couldn't breathe…"
She glanced up at Edward, suddenly remembering.
"Renesmee is healthy and well," he promised her, with admiration in his voice and his eyes.
"What do you remember after that?"
"It's hard to remember. It was so dark before. And then…I opened my eyes and I could see everything."
"Amazing," I breathed, watching every facet of expression that wavered across her face. "I want you to think – to tell me everything you remember." I didn't mean to be so pressing; I was just so caught up in the moment. Bella grimaced, and I immediately realised how uncomfortable she must be.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Bella," I apologised, chagrin rushing through me. "Of course your thirst must be very uncomfortable. This conversation can wait."
Suddenly, her hand flew up to her throat, and her face contorted with the pain she must have been trying all that time to oppress.
"Let's hunt, Bella," Edward suggested, taking her free hand and tugging gently, ushering her after him. She looked bewildered, and Edward smiled encouragingly. "It's quite easy, love. Instinctual. Don't worry, I'll show you – I was under the impression that you'd always wanted to see me hunt."
She laughed, the sound so different to her human laugh and yet similar, but again seemed distracted by something. I was still trying not to look too embarrassed about letting myself get carried away. Edward reached up and took Bella's other hand away from her neck.
"Shall we?" he invited.
"I'm fine," Bella murmured absently. "Wait. First."
"Yes?" I prodded.
"I want to see her. Renesmee."
As if struck by a terrible revelation, her hands dropped to her stomach, searching for the physical proof of her daughter. I wanted more than anything to reunite the mother with her daughter, but it was for the best that we put it off. I glanced at Edward to make sure he understood.
"What?" Bella demanded, apparently having noticed this.
"Bella, that's not really a good idea," Edward said gently. "She's half human, love. Her heart beats, and blood runs in her veins. Until your thirst is positively under control…you don't want to put her in danger, do you?"
Bella hesitated, taken aback, much as she had been when I asked her about Edward's soul – had it only been a year ago? It was so strange, in a way off-putting, to see such a creature of perfection resemble her red–faced, shy human embodiment of the past.
"Where is she? Is Rosalie with her?" Bella asked.
"Yes," Edward replied curtly. Rosalie and Jacob were both downstairs, but Esme was the only one available to stop a fight right now, and she was on the telephone with a very frustrated Charlie.
"Wait," Bella said again. "What about Jacob? And Charlie? Tell me everything that I missed. How long was I unconscious?" Edward shot me a wary glance that I returned, both of us suddenly realising the same thing: Charlie would insist on seeing her.
"What's wrong?" Bella whispered, her eyes flickering to my face.
"Nothing is wrong," I assured her, trying to bend the truth enough to avoid hurting her or making her angry. "Nothing has changed much, actually – you were only unaware for just over two days. It was very fast, as these things go. Edward did an excellent job, quite innovative – the venom injection straight to your heart was his idea." I paused for a moment to smile at Edward; I had never told him just how ingenious that was. But the moment couldn't last, of course. I sighed, and forced myself to continue: "Jacob is still here, and Charlie still believes you are sick. He thinks you're in Atlanta right now, undergoing tests at the CDC. We gave him a bad number, and he's frustrated. He's been speaking to Esme."
There. I said it. I told her about Jacob and about Charlie. Would she be angry or upset for the way we had handled things? No, apparently not. She reacted just as Bella would have: thinking only about the others.
"I should call him…" she mumbled to herself. Then: "hold on – Jacob is still here?"
It will still be too dangerous, I warned Edward. Jacob may have imprinted on Renesmee, but that didn't make him suddenly one-hundred-percent happy about what had happened to Bella. There just might be a fight, and I didn't want to risk that.
"Bella," Edward said quickly. "There's much to discuss, but we should take care of you first. You have to be in pain…"
"But Jacob-"
"We have all the time in the world for explanations, love," he reminded her.
"Okay." Bella finally gave in. This time it was Alice who interrupted.
"Wait, wait, wait. You promised I could be there the first time! What if you two run past something reflective?"
"Alice-!" Edward protested.
"It will only take a second!" Alice insisted, running from the room.
"What is she talking about?" Bella wondered.
Alice came in then, carrying Rosalie's mirror, and Jasper drifted to her side, keeping his eyes locked on Bella. He still thought Edward and I were being ridiculously reckless, allowing so many of us to be so close to Bella when she was so unstable.
"Edward gave me grief for not getting you to a mirror before the wedding," Alice explained, setting up the mirror. "I'm not going to be chewed out again."
"Chewed out?" Edward repeated skeptically, an eyebrow raised in disbelief.
"Maybe I'm overstating things," Alice murmured absently, trying to control her grin as she turned the mirror to face Bella.
"And maybe this has solely to do with your own voyeuristic gratification," Edward countered. Alice just winked at him.
Bella looked admiringly over her reflection for a while, but her face suddenly went blank with horror.
"The eyes?" she whispered hoarsely. "How long?"
"They'll darken up in a few months," Edward assured her. "Animal blood dilutes the colour more quickly than a diet of human blood. They'll turn amber first, then gold."
"Months?" Bella squeaked, panicking. Jasper took a wary step forward, but Bella quickly composed herself.
"No, I'm fine," she promised. "It's just…a lot to take in." Jasper's brow furrowed.
"I don't know," Edward murmured, pondering Jasper's question.
"What question did I miss?" Bella wondered.
"Jasper wonders how you're doing it," Edward explained.
"Doing what?"
"Controlling your emotions, Bella," Jasper answered. "I've never seen a newborn do that - stop an emotion in its tracks that way. You were upset, but when you saw our concern, you reigned it in, regained power over yourself. I was prepared to help, but you didn't need it."
"Is that wrong?" Bella asked fearfully.
"No," he said, but he sounded uncertain.
"It's very impressive, Bella, but we don't understand it. We don't know how long it can hold," Edward reasoned gently.
"But what do you think?" Alice asked, sounding a little irritated that her big moment had been taken.
"I'm not sure," Bella replied reluctantly.
Edward gave a tired sigh.
"Disappointed?" Bella murmured.
"Yes," he replied quietly. Bella looked shocked, and a little hurt. I rolled up onto my toes when Alice snarled. Jasper crouched, waiting for Bella to give a definite physical reaction. Edward, however, ignored the tension; he wrapped his arms tightly around Bella's hips from behind her, kissing her cheek.
"I was rather hoping that I'd be able to hear your mind, now that it is more similar to my own," he explained. "But here I am, frustrated as ever, wondering what could possibly be going on inside your head."
"Oh, well," Bella said lightly, suddenly relieved of her concern. "I guess my brain will never work right. At least I'm pretty."
"Bella, you have never been merely pretty," Edward murmured in her ear. Jasper fidgeted uneasily. "All right, All right," Edward muttered.
"What?" Bella wondered.
"You're making Jasper more edgy by the second. He may relax a little when you've hunted," Edward explained.
"Okay, let's hunt," she agreed. She twisted away from the mirror, keeping one of Edward's hands in hers. He let her over to the window. Bella stared down the daunting two stories and shivered. "The window?"
Esme darted to my side, already grinning at Bella's shocked expression.
"It's the most convenient exit," Edward explained to Bella. "If you're frightened, I can carry you."
"We have all eternity, and you're worried about the time it would take to walk to the back door?"
"Renesmee and Jacob are downstairs…"
"Oh."
Esme leaned back against me, frowning slightly as Bella's face dropped with shame and sadness. Her hand searched for mine and squeezed it tightly, upset that Bella could not yet see Renesmee though she understood perfectly why.
"Is Renesmee…okay…with Jacob there?" Bella asked at last. "He doesn't like her much."
"Trust me, she is perfectly safe," Edward replied, though he was reluctant to release the details of it. "I know exactly what Jacob is thinking."
"Of course," Bella murmured, warily eyeing the ground again.
"Stalling?" Edward challenged.
"A little," Bella admitted. "I don't know how…"
Emmett chuckled under his breath, and Alice scowled at him. Only now did I notice what Alice had dressed poor Bella in: a tight blue dress and high stilettos. I shook my head in pity for Bella, biting my lip against my laughter.
"Watch me," Edward instructed, letting himself drop out the window. Bella clenched her teeth and followed him, dropping gracefully to the ground with an even softer thud.
"Right. Easy," she concluded.
"Bella?"
"Yes?"
"That was very graceful, even for a vampire," Edward praised.
"Thank you," Bella said warmly. A moment later, a pair of silver shoes came flying through the open window. Esme jumped forward to catch them.
"Her fashion sense hasn't improved as much as her balance," Alice grumbled. She took the shoes from Esme and whisked them away, still muttering about that obstinate Isabella Marie Cullen.
"Pot kettle," Emmett coughed. Even Jasper laughed at that.