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Chapter 163

Home


Bella


The evening passed cozily. Finally with all the children, who were also all in a very good mood.

I was very glad that all was well again between Jake and Edward. I couldn't have stood it if my child had turned away from us because he felt unloved. Something I felt partly responsible for, even though Edward said Jake only had a problem with him.

I had withdrawn with Jake at one point and apologized to my son on my part because I had certainly neglected him as much as Edward had.

But Jake didn't want to hear anything about that. He forbade me to say anything, whirled me so wildly through the air that all the words stuck in my throat, apologized himself again and pushed me back into Esmé's kitchen, where they were just about to cover pizza dough rampantly.


Since the kids all had breakfast dates, I sat with Edward in our temporary room here at the house and had breakfast in bed.

But he had personally woken up the children with coffee.

Ced was lying in a thick pillow, just indulging in a little bottle of blood that Edward was holding for him. It was a cute picture how he lay stretched out on his belly in front of our giggling baby and tried to nibble on the cute little toes.

"Guess what he wants again," Edward prompted me as he set aside the empty bottle.

I narrowed my eyes and considered - briefly.

"Swim?" I asked indecisively.

Edward nodded with a smile, and I just shook my head as I leaned in to my baby and pressed a kiss to his bare belly.

"You'd think you were a little fish and not a little vampire," I smiled at him.

My son peeked quite skeptical. He put a hand in each of our faces.

'What is a fish?' he asked mentally.

I really couldn't handle it. He looked as if he couldn't count to three, uttered typical unintelligible baby sounds and then such precise questions came through his gift. He was still a baby! Even if he moved better than he should after eight days, crawled safely, everything else still seemed very babyish. Untrained and a little wobbly. He just looked like any other baby that had been in the world for a few weeks or even a few months.

Edward disappeared and came back with a book. He showed his inquisitive son what fish were.

Ced also looked quite interested and concentrated on the pictures and seemed to listen to Edward.

But no one knew how much he actually understood. Not even Carlisle dared to express any theories in this regard.

The kids stopped by our room together before heading off to their appointments for the day. The wolves were already hungry, of course, and shared the toast I had left.

We discussed the day ahead of us all while Ced crawled on the bed from one to the other wishing everyone a good morning and picking up a kiss from each.

He still didn't understand the meaning behind this gesture, but he liked it.

We were invited to Sonya and David's for dinner later, but I didn't know when the kids would be back from their trips. Neither did they themselves, apparently.

So they considered eating out directly.

"It won't be late with us, though. David has to leave for the airport early tomorrow morning," I indicated.

"Oh yeah. He has to present his program in Philly tomorrow," Leah remembered.

"Is he finished with it then?" asked Becky, playfully critical.

"That's why he invited us. So I could watch it again," Edward clarified and we laughed heartily.

Because that's really how it was.

"We have to go," Leah rose from the edge of the bed a moment later and sighed as she did so.

I could sympathize with her. Exactly this, just sitting or lying together without anyone having to leave, we hadn't had that for far too many days. But tomorrow, I thought with relief. Tomorrow we would make up for it. Tomorrow we would have a whole day just for us!

"We still have some time, and I could take us over on velvet paws," Jake looked questioningly at his star as he lay on his stomach on our bed while Ced sat happily on his neck, tousling his long hair.

Actually, he and Becky wanted to have Leah take them to his car at our house, but Becky nodded.

"Then we could still watch him while you take a shower," he opined afterwards, looking at Edward and me in turn.

"That's sweet of you, but you can ride with the two of them if you want. Ced wants to swim again, so there's no need for us to take a shower first," Edward said, however.

He was right, but it was actually a pity when I thought about it.

"What?" Jake stated in disguised shock and let his little brother topple down onto the mattress, swinging but careful. "You'll grow fins someday," he chuckled at him.

As if to prove him otherwise, Ced held his little feet with his own little fingers and stretched them out to Jake. At the same time, apparently to emphasize his point, he said a clear and unambiguous, "There!"

So the kids said goodbye and we went swimming again.

Ced truly did not tire of splashing around in the water. Only when Ced fell asleep in the water did we leave the pool. Before that we couldn't get him out of the water, to take a little breather, without him crying his heart out. So we took the opportunity.

We swaddled him, dressed him and put him in the bassinet.

Edward and I went to shower together after all, almost forgetting to wash the chlorine off our bodies.


"Your family makes themselves pretty scarce, don't they?" I asked as we stood in the kitchen ready to leave and I put away the dishes from my breakfast.

"They are busy," my angel merely purred and gave me a playful kiss.

We drove home to Saco.

Finally, again.

However, I had chores to do. Not many, so I insisted that Edward drive already without taking everything from me first.

Well, he brought down all the laundry baskets for me so I wouldn't tumble down the stairs. He had various things to do. For example, there was urgent shopping to be done. He also wanted to drive by Marcus' mother. Marcus had informed us by text that she would come here otherwise, in order to thank us for the surrender of the dwelling appropriately. She knew nothing about our little baby and that's how it should stay.

I called Zoey, who quickly showed up at my door with cake. She had not seen Ced yet, because we had fled wordlessly from our own party on New Year's Eve, and Esmé had withdrawn with Ced.

I had then called her yesterday only briefly to say that everything was okay and, if she had time, could come over today so that we could chat extensively.

She arrived right on time as Ced opened his eyes.

"Wow ..." was her summarized comment to his bright green eyes.

My son first looked at the new face with plenty of skepticism and he asked me about his gift, whether he could do exactly the same with her.

I replied in the negative.

I didn't want to overwhelm or scare my best friend with this kind of thing.

After this was cleared up, however, the two became friends very quickly.

Zoey kept an eye on Ced as he crawled around and entertained himself while I kept up with household duties and repeatedly sat with her, sipping my coffee and eating a piece of my cake.

I had to - as one might guess by now - do laundry so that my kids had something decent to wear to school on Monday. The flowers could also use some water. I took the mail of the last few days out of the mailbox.

Bills. What else?!

I paid them directly online.

Zoey and I were not able to get out of each other's stories. We were wandering from topic to topic until her cell phone rang.

Alex was looking for his wife, who was supposed to pick him up from a game an hour ago. So Zoey set out hectically and almost took my son with her.

I had waited indulgently for when she realized of her own accord that she would have to leave him here. She only realized when she found no child seat in the back seat of her car. With very very raised eyebrows, I stretched out my arms for my baby.

"Oops ..." she said sheepishly, but handed him to me.

"Maybe you should think about expanding your family," I mused just loud enough for Zoey to hear. After all, she was my age.

She smiled strangely, somehow a mixture of flabbergasted and delighted. With this first-class smile she left my driveway.

Back in the living room, I first took care of Ced.

Changing diapers and feeding. Sleeping was one thing with him. It was no longer the case that he slept more than he was awake, but there was also no regularity. After the swim this morning he had slept quite long. After all, it had been exhausting. He often dozed off during the day, but he was always awake again very quickly. Now he was awake.

Probably too hyper from Zoey.

From his play corner upstairs, I brought down some stuff so that we could keep ourselves busy. When he was focused on something, I took the opportunity to put things away here and there without really letting him out of my sight.

I talked to Renée and Charlie on the phone. I sent my dad a few new pictures of his grandson on his cell phone.

Billy was just with him, which is why I also talked to him. At first I was afraid, but it quickly subsided. He also considered himself a grandfather. Charlie had infected him with his enthusiasm, as Sue subsequently made me understand.

I also talked to Milton Stewart on the phone at great length. I would be going back to him regularly starting next week to work on my dissertation. I asked him to email me my work so far to get me mentally back in tune and prepared.

Because I just couldn't even get the headline of my paper put together in my head.


By now it was dark, and I had done everything I had set out to do, but Edward was still on his way. I would be plenty early, but I still decided to go to my favorite neighbors already. I checked the contents of the baby backpack to make sure there was still enough of everything and put on Edward's babywearing sweater.

Freshly washed. Wrinkled ... "... but you certainly don't care, do you?" I asked the little angel and he giggled elatedly at the prospect of sitting in his shirt again.

And three houses down, they thought it was anything but bad that I was Wrinkly and actually there much too early.

"Oh, you're grilling!" I noted delightedly when I arrived in the living room.

His 'tools' lay on a sideboard near the patio door.

After everyone had greeted each other profusely, I was in the kitchen with Sonya while all the kids - including Ced and Cookie - romped with David in the living room.

I had taken Edward's sweater especially so that David could put it on. Not only did my son found being carried around like this totally great, David was also enthusiastic about it.

Sonya and I leisurely prepared the side dishes for the roast, which was comfortably simmering on the grill.

Actually, I had been invited to dinner instead of preparing it myself, I thought with a chuckle, but I enjoyed working with Sonya on some recipes. Like the sauce for the Pulled Pork, which had been a complete success.

I regularly admonished Sonya to sit down as well.

When Edward came through the door a little later, already with the smooch ball in his arms, I was sitting on the kitchen counter, practically hanging in David's arms, and there were tears in my eyes. I also had an ice pack on the back of my head, which David held on to the right place.

Admittedly, I could understand Edward's dismayed first look, but I still had to laugh. It was just tears from laughing that had rolled down my cheek. Meanwhile.

"Bella thought she had to crawl after the children. Unfortunately, she forgot that she is slightly taller than your son," David mockingly announced.

Of course, I saw Edward's exaggerated relief at this explanation and had to laugh directly again. But my little incident - first with a chair, then with the edge of the table - had only been bad at first. Nevertheless, my family doctor examined the bump on the back of my head. His cool gentle fingers slid massagingly over my scalp and very sensuously along my back of the neck.

"I should forbid you to become a doctor," I sighed. If he did that to other ladies, who knows what kind of immoral ideas they'd get. Like me right now.

It turned out to be a fun evening.

The food was fantastic - as it always is when David whips up something on the grill.

We sat among five children and a dog, three of whom fell asleep in the meantime, while dessert lay still on the grill and enjoyed the residual heat. Emma had fallen asleep leaning on Edward's shoulder and Deacon was lying across both his parents. Our males tucked them both into bed. Ced was in my arms, asleep.

Sonya also seemed quite tired, as I felt, but we would not stay much longer. Only until the dessert was ready.

'Bacon Donuts'. A new creation that had taken some of our patience to assemble. Edward's kit, of course, looked the most perfect. That was obvious, wasn't it?

David went right outside to the grill, but they would probably need a bit more. The bacon wasn't crispy enough for our taste yet. We had actually made too many to use up all the ingredients.

With a wordless photo, he invited our children to the rehearsal meal.

They immediately replied that they would come, but it might take a while. In the midst of this pure pleasure - woah, were these donuts delicious - David's cell phone rang.

Since we were yakking quite loudly, he went into the kitchen.

"Vanessa?" he almost shouted when he recognized the caller.

I choked in shock. Sonya clumsily slammed her glass down on the table. Edward's head turned directly to the side. Only the two children continued to eat unconcernedly. They had probably not listened properly or understood it comprehensively.

"Daniel," David returned to the living room.

The boy looked up. Currently still in a good mood.

"Your mother," he now held the phone towards him.

"My ...?" he began to say questioningly, looking at Sonya. "... mother!" he seemed to realize after a moment.

He slumped his shoulders, stood up and picked up the cell phone, with which he trotted into the kitchen.

David and Edward looked at each other in silence, whereby there was an entreaty in David's eyes - coupled with a hint of fear.

I knew Vanessa. From former times. From college. When she was together with David. She was a cunning bitch who had deliberately let David impregnate her in order to live off his support.

"When was the last time she saw Daniel?" I asked quietly, because Luces was sitting between us. I knew that they hadn't told Vanessa, yet that David was now living here. Close to his son and also brought him to stay every weekend.

"Months ago," Sonya gulped, suppressing the obvious annoyance at the state of affairs.

How a mother could have so little interest in her own child was something that neither of the two of us could comprehend at all.

David tried to follow the phone call without seeming too curious. He didn't really succeed when there was a knock on the patio door.

Our four teenagers were here.

Luces immediately opened the door for them and greeted them with nine-year-old coolness that made me smirk. Cookie also jumped up to greet his lead dogs excitedly.

Edward had told me how unimpressed the little puppy had been with the huge wolves.

"Where's there any food around here?" asked Jake with a grin.

Edward went to meet his children and pointed to the grill. Plates were already ready, so they stood outside at the grill for a moment. Edward seemed to explain to them that Daniel was just on the phone with his mother, because when they came back inside, they were hogging Luces. Edward took advantage of the moment Luces was distracted by this and pulled David back from the door to the kitchen.

"He doesn't want to go back where she could show up at any time to talk some stuff into him about you. He wants to stay here ... with his parents!" said Edward gently.

David ran his hands through his hair laughing euphorically and Sonya had a tear glistening in her eye.

They had been waiting for this for weeks. A sign from Daniel. They had mentioned at the beginning that Daniel could move here at any time, but they didn't want to press the boy in any case. After all, as long as Vanessa wasn't with her parents - and she wasn't most of the time - it was a really lovely family that Daniel lived with and had grown up with like his own child. But it was only his grandparents and his uncle and aunt with their children. Daniel had always been aware of that. But here he felt at home. He called Sonya by her first name, but he had forgotten that she was not actually his mother.

The two immediately went to the kitchen.

I didn't hear what the three of them were talking about there, but paid attention to the kids here in front of me. How they were taking in the 'Bacon Donuts'. The melted cheese, the pineapple slice on the inside, the crispy bacon around it, the different spices. They were thrilled.

Cookie sat tail wagging in between, probably hoping something would accidentally drop, but the chances of that were pretty bad.

We said goodbye, but Edward took David's work laptop with him. They arranged that Edward would bring it to him on time early in the morning.


It was still quite early, so the wolves went running once again, which they had done only irregularly throughout the vacation.

Edward took care of Ced, but then accompanied them. The baby bottle was given to him by Becky, which Ced once again commented with a very charming smile.

In comfy clothes, we spread out across the couch and watched a movie while the creatures of the night made the forest unsafe.

I only noticed at the edge of my perception that they were back at some point. They seemed to be discussing something animatedly, but when the voices were close enough to understand, everything was quiet again. I snuggled into the cold arms that carried me to bed.


The next morning, my jaw wouldn't come up in amazement as I walked down with Ced.

Edward had woken me up, temporarily brought Ced to Leah so we could get ready in peace and had now gone ahead as our predators started to move.

Our dining room looked like the breakfast buffet of a five-star hotel. The selection of pastries alone! Buns and croissants. As always, but today in mini format. Small pancakes and waffles, French toast, pretzel pastries, butter croissants, raisin and chocolate wedges.

"... and this evening I will accompany you again!" promised Edward just now, while he hugged the twins warmly.

He received a kiss on the cheeks from both of them at the same time.

I put Ced in the infant carrier and wished all four of them extensively a good morning.

We enjoyed the extended breakfast in the midst of our family. And it lasted. It was wonderful to be able to really take our time again. There was not a trace of jealousy in the air while Ced happily switched from one arm to the other. Everyone tried to make something of the extensive buffet palatable to him.

He thought scrambled eggs were great. Closely followed by yogurt. Chewing was not yet his thing, so he could not really do anything with the piece of wafer. But the taste probably appealed to him.

We constantly changed places and chatted the whole time.

We sat in the dining room, at times on the sofa, occasionally on the floor at Ced. Cold cuts, fruit and the like that needed to be refrigerated had ended up in the fridge in the meantime, but were gradually brought out again. At some point we had also reached for Emmett's yo-yos and practiced diligently.

After all, we only had two days until his 'yo-yo' championship was scheduled.

"I wonder if Emmett will disqualify us if he hears we're practicing with Becky?" pondered Marcus in our clumsy attempts, which were steadily getting better.

He and Jake were once again engaged in a personal competition. That would never stop between the two of them!

Time was ticking away until Edward and I withdrew briefly to get something. When we returned to the dining room, we had to laugh.

Ced was sitting on Leah's lap and had hogged all of our yo-yos. He was tying himself up, with Leah making sure he didn't accidentally strangle himself. It took us a while to untangle all the cords and my baby.

We handed out to the young people what we had taken.

The bracelets that Edward had been able to pick up yesterday. My Christmas present from him, which he had also given to himself. The leather bands with silver rings around them. With names, birth dates, and pictures of my family. A separate ring for each. Jake, Leah, Ced, Edward, and me. Edward had ordered five more bracelets for our children and had it expanded by two rings each. For Marcus and Becky. And because of practicality for the wolves, all the bracelets now had snaps to close them.

Couple by couple, we put them on and then reached out our hands, standing in a circle, with the new piece of jewelry. Only Ced used his as a rattle. We put his in our display case until he would be big enough.


It was approaching the afternoon. Ced was asleep in his cradle. Edward and the girls had a lively exchange about the correct posture of the yo-yo, and I discussed 'Romeo and Juliet' very seriously with the boys. There was a remake, but Jake and Marcus didn't even think to consider watching this tearjerker - as they disparagingly called it.

"You will take your princesses out for a fancy dinner and then take them to the movies!" I commanded them with a raised finger.

"Is that an order?" the two of them looked at me, puzzled.

"Yes, it is!" it sounded relentlessly behind them.

From the said princesses!

While the boys were admitting defeat and hugging their girlfriends, our phone rang.

Edward answered and I ate a last bit of a small roll.

"Our house is ready!" he beamed afterwards.

It took me a few seconds to comprehend those words.

We were in our house after all. But then I understood. Edward's house was ready.

Curiosity tingled in me and apparently I was not alone.

Quickly we cleaned up.

"I'm driving!" I then heard very quickly from Jake.

I rolled my eyes and slapped a hand against my face.

With the cars for the twins, we had created new potential for conflict. It was no longer a question of who was allowed to drive the Audi and who would have to take the disdainful Golf. Now it was about who should drive his new Mercedes in general, when the same destination was planned for the teenagers. After all, we didn't all fit in one car.

The twins were already discussing loudly when Edward interfered.

A tentative attempt to end the quarrel. He suggested that they could run after all.

I chuckled.

In all other families, this may sound like a small punishment or a threat if the nagging would not stop. With us, as you know, it was different. On it they agreed.

Edward and I secured Ced in his baby carrier and took ... the Jag.

My fiancé's new favorite car!

"I think I need a new car," my angel reflected during the drive.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Why is that, please?" I asked condescendingly.

"We need another family carriage where everyone can fit," he chuckled.

Well, what could I say to that?


The kids got there before us, of course, but they were waiting for us at Carlisle and Esmé's house, where all the vampires welcomed us.

All of them had contributed something to the rebuild, which is why they had been so occupied over the past few days. They presented each of us with a key. Even Ced got one, who had just woken up again. However, he had no more interest than to stuff the little box into his mouth.

The vampires stayed behind as we set off on foot in family unity to the house.

Better said, they had thrown us out. It would be our house and we should discover it without disturbing visitors.

I had objected, not that anyone was interested. But actually I thought it was quite nice that they let us go off on our own.

Edward already knew our house. By his own admission, he had not yet seen it rebuilt, but he had helped plan it. However, he did not reveal a bit to us.

The carport next to the house was bigger. Five cars now fit under it instead of just one. I could already see that on the way. But other than that, I didn't see any change at first.

I was not particularly surprised. Edward's house stood parallel to the Saco River, or rather to the large lake-like basin that the river ran through here. In this respect, the house was, so to speak, at an angle to our direction.

Edward and I turned the key in the lock together to open the door.

I blinked a few times and put my hands over my mouth.

There were actually things I recognized. The staircase just opposite the front door, the passageway next to it to the fireplace room, and a lone white beam in the room.

End of the enumeration! There were otherwise two beams, weren't there? The second had probably become superfluous after a wall now ran to the left of the door.

We took a few steps inside.

Once we would now have stood directly in the living room, today it was a kind of reception area. A spacious wardrobe with two cupboards for shoes, jackets, caps and the like. A key board caught my eye. The seven hooks on it had names on them, all in different fonts.

I immediately hung mine under the sweepingly written 'Bella'.

Jake helped Ced hang his one up. It wasn't so easy, because Ced didn't want to give up the box at first and then kept trying to take the silver metal part down.

It was spacious. The mother in me already saw from experience the stroller, a bike, roller skates, the ever-growing diaper bag, satchels, and such carelessly standing and lying around here and was very happy with the space available for it. Nevertheless, it would eventually become tight, I chuckled and gave a few life experiences with pubescent twins to the best. How often I had stumbled over some shoes or bags in the hallway!

I was very interested in where our living room was now hiding, but the new wall just enticed me more. The left part of the former living room had otherwise housed Edward's grand piano and his desk. The desk - or rather secretary - was still there, but now seemed more a place for homey decor. A pretty flower arrangement was on it.

I followed the new wall. Edward pulled away a huge sheet that had apparently served as a curtain and I didn't know what to say. The door to the kitchen had become a wide doorless passageway that was also closer to the front door than the door had been before, and behind it was a spacious eat-in kitchen. The previous kitchen was still there as I knew it, it only stood differently. It had been extended by a long sideboard. Before, there had been a table at which just four people could sit. Now it was a long table and behind the stove there was a counter with bar stools.

It was exactly how I would have wanted it if I had told this to anyone. Enough space for my family. Even baking with over ten people would be easy to do here without it getting too crowded. Like the weekend after Thanksgiving when Edward was hunting with Jazz and Emmett.

Edward hugged me backwards, but I turned to face him.

"A little dream that's coming true?" he asked.

I just nodded and hugged him tightly.

"How did you know?" I mumbled, while fighting against moved tears. A fight I could only lose.

"I am very attentive when it comes to my angel," was all he said, kissing my tears aside.

The wolves inspected the cupboards and the refrigerator. They were obviously satisfied with the result and were already eating again.

We went on to the fireplace room.

It was beautiful. Not the slightest bit was changed in here, which made me very happy. The room was already perfect.

Edward directed us up the stairs.

"What's behind there?" asked Leah before curiously, pointing to a fabric curtain hanging in the entryway.

There, where the outer wall from the living room had been, but I doubted that the house would still end at that point.

Up the stairs, on the left. Our bedroom.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Here, too, everything was still as I knew it.

Then to the right of the stairs came ... drum roll please - Edward asked for it - ... the laundry room.

I looked surprised.

My fiancé now owned a washer and a dryer. Thunderous applause ensued! Figuratively speaking. Not literally.

Behind the next door had once been a guest room.

"I think I want to be ten years younger again!" stated Jake dryly as we entered the room.

Honestly, that's what I was wishing for right now. Only that I couldn't get there with ten years. Thirty years younger would apply better to me.

The room was not very large in terms of floor space, but was now quite high. The ceiling was gone. Instead, one could see the roof gable covered with wood, through which some crossbeams stretched and in which there were now windows. The two windows to the side were still there, but covered from the outside - if that was still an outside wall - with sheets. At the far end of the room, there were two floors, so to speak, with a narrow staircase leading up the wall. Edward explained that at the top there should be a bed at some point. This left the lower part free for playing - or for whatever our son planned to do with his time later. The lower area would then also have enough space for a desk where Ced would do his homework. In the back right corner, an artificial tree had been created. From the floor to the gable of the roof. Some of the roof beams were disguised as matching branches. Downstairs it concealed the door to the adjoining bathroom, upstairs to some storage space. He knew our twins' rooms, after all. Space was in short supply there. Hanging from the 'branches' of the roof gable was a large nest swing that I could comfortably lie in, and which dangled quite low above the floor.

I also tried it out directly. I moved a pillow under my head and stretched out my hands to my son. I also reached the floor with my feet to give us some momentum alone.

Ced smiled gleefully and we were given gentle momentum from all sides.

Of course, there were other things here in the nursery.

The usual inventory - changing table, closet, a large armchair, colorful pictures on the walls, shelves.

And a baby cradle.

I thought it was great. It was very old. And it wasn't just trimmed to look old, it was really old. The dark wood showed some signs of use, scratches, and discoloration. The construction design was timeless. Classic, without a lot of frills. A wooden box, so to speak.

One could rock it, but the mechanism was just fixed by a bracket that did not fit the time of the cradle. On the elongated sides on the right and left, wooden rods held the rounded top edge. Fabric was draped between the bars, giving the box something homey. At the slightly higher ends at the front and back, a heart had been milled out in each case. At the head end was a rack for a bed canopy, which was made of the same fabric as the one around the bars. Only the interior seemed to be up to date. A perfectly fitting mattress filled the box. Not too hard and not too soft.

Ced felt very comfortable in it and examined the animal garland that was attached between the bars.

"Mom," Jake addressed me, pointing to a spot on the cradle.

I stepped around the little bed and saw what he wanted to show me. There were letters burned into one side at the lower edge.

E. A. M. - Edward Anthony Masen.

I ran my index finger over it and again a tear rolled down my cheek.

Edward silently took me in his arms and hugged me to him.

"Carlisle brought it in. It was in my parents' house in the attic for all those decades. We cleaned out most of the house together back then, or put what was left of the inventory in the attic. I had almost forgotten about it," he whispered to me. "If you were still that age, I probably would have remembered the cradle sooner and brought it here for you," he still said to the twins.

Ced reluctantly detached himself from his little bed, but we still had a bit of house ahead of us.

Stubbornly, Edward stood in front of us as we would continue down the hall after Ced's room.

I already saw that I would not be able to see anything from here. Fabric hung in our way.

"Close your eyes!" he commanded us with a stern and unyielding face.

We reluctantly followed the request, but Edward didn't look like he would let us talk to him. But we were just curious.

"I'll notice if you cheat!" he threatened. "And I'll pay special attention to you!" he whispered to me.

I snorted in offense.

As a polonaise, we moved on blindly, whereby I completely lost my orientation.

Right, left, turn around, forward, back. At first I had the feeling that we were marching toward the front of the house, but now I was completely in the dark.

And I mean literally!

Edward led Jake and Becky past me, Leah and Marcus back a bit.

"Eyes open!" my angel smirked.

I looked directly into his eyes, and he was leaning against a dresser. Pretty much the only furniture in this hallway.

There were windows behind me. There was one window next to another along the entire long side. I could see Rosalie and Emmett's house some distance away. It was an idyllic landscape. It seemed so quiet and peaceful, if you disregarded the excited shrieking of my children.

"What have you done?" I asked the very satisfied looking golden eyes, in which there was not a hint of naughtiness.

But I trusted the twins' freak-out bluster rather than that charming eye look.

So I followed my daughter's cheering cries while he went to Jake himself.

I stopped in the doorway and swallowed. Right next to Marcus, who apparently hadn't really moved yet either.

Wow ...! The room was large, spacious and bright. No wonder. The opposite wall was a complete glass facade. I briefly calculated how long I needed to clean ONE window and how long it would take NOW in total, got a mental heart attack and immediately pushed this task to Edward. Without a guilty conscience!

On the floor lay dark parquet, which gave the room a cozy aura. The walls were light gray, almost white, broken up by a few irregular-colored accents of mint, pink and dark gray, and here and there a single strip of modern wallpaper. On the windows, heavy black curtains could be drawn, but that would take away from the incredible view over the Saco River basin. The doorway I was still standing in was hemmed in by floor-to-ceiling walls. I stepped forward and turned around.

Practical! was my first thought.

On one side, between this wall and the other, there was a wardrobe with sliding doors. The niche on the other side of the door was certainly three meters wide. A desk top was mounted between them.

Enough space to make a mess of school supplies. My children's specialty. Still at the same time I rebuked my fiancé.

Two discreet black boxes were also on the desk.

New PCs with monitors mounted on the wall. Above them, a shelf with all kinds of books. Leah's favorite novels, but also a great selection of biology works, Native American legends, books about the school material still to come, and sports books. The latter probably more for Marcus.

Shaking my head, I turned back around.

In front of my feet was a round carpet, with a low table on it, adjoined by a cushy sofa. Across from the sofa, a flat screen hung on the wall, with direct access to Edward's high-tech music system below it, and a phone lay in its charging station. In the back of the room stood a bed. Not oversized, but still marriage bed proportions. Black and inviting, with countless colorful pillows, matching the wall decor, of various shapes and sizes. Small chests of drawers to the right and left of it and a wall decal above it.

Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful of your life!

Opposite the bed was another door. When I walked through it, I briefly got an earache and covered my ears.

Leah shrieked.

A walk-in closet. Filled. Most of what I saw right away was unfamiliar clothing. Alice!, I cursed mentally.

Marcus was with us in the meantime and had apparently recovered from his first shock when he already got the next one.

Leah looked in every drawer and pushed all the sliding doors back and forth.

Alice had also thought of Marcus when she had stocked the closet.

And here another door went off, which I walked towards while Leah was still busy with her new clothes.

I swallowed as a precaution when I held the knob in my hand.

A bathroom came into view. It was quite small, but very pretty. Across from me stood a bathtub across the wall. A whirlpool bathtub. Right next to me was a shower, then a wide sink, and toilet. Everything there that was needed. Also already equipped for Leah and Marcus accordingly.

Living and sleeping areas were separated in the room from each other by a spiral staircase.

Tensely, I climbed the stairs and came thereby closer to my daughter, who was already freaking out again.

Wow ... Even the roof was made of glass. Like the attic over by Carlisle.

Even the interior was very similar. A small dresser on the side with a speaker on it. Above it only a smaller TV, but mounted on the wall like a floor below. On one side of the staircase a fluffy carpet. Various beanbags and the like lay around small tables that could be positioned however one wanted. On the other side, Leah was just rolling around on a huge lying surface. Blankets and pillows were spread over it.

"It seems to me you like it here," I asked my 'little daughter'.

She grinned.

"Oh nope," she said, making a throwaway hand gesture and continuing to grin.

She couldn't get out of her delirium of joy, I should say.

There was also a door up here that my curiosity could not ignore. I found myself in a kind of intermediate room. To my left was a guest bathroom.

Only shower, sink, and toilet. The vampires must have thought that the twins would be here with their friends, but those guys then didn't have to go through the closets of the two.

On the right side were cabinets and a refrigerator.

Lemonade, water, juice. Sweets of any kind and other food were in the cupboards, in the very likely event that our predators threatened to starve in the short term, and a shelf with extensive games. 'The Settlers', cards, dice, 'Twister' and so on. I also found 'Monopoly' there and chuckled about it.

I went down again.

I shook my head in thought.

Leah could change floors INSIDE her room!

In the hallway, Edward approached me with Ced.

"May I make a point in my defense?" he asked.

"Forget it!" I stated and continued into Jake's room.

The twins' rooms were basically identical, only mirror-inverted. There were color differences. What had been pink in Leah's room was blue here. Sapphire blue. Above Jake's bed was emblazoned a different saying.

Don't dream your life. Live your dream!

I smiled.

After the kids eventually calmed down and jumped into Edward's arms, literally covering him in kisses for their new rooms, we moved on.

That was not all. I still missed a living room. Preferably with a black grand piano in it.

Instead of going back to the stairs, we continued down the narrow hallway. There was also a staircase there.

We reached between two rooms that lined the stairs, an incomparable living room.

The large room had several walls that always extended only a few meters into the room and in which bulges were left like windows. Static reasons, as my angel explained. From the stairs I could unobstructedly see the grand piano. There was a small landing on the opposite side. It seemed much brighter there than in the rest of the room.

I walked slowly toward the grand piano while taking in the rest of the room. To the Saco River, as above, it was a single window front. A stunning view, also as above. The room was quite wide overall. So, of course, a TV had to be appropriately large. The entire HiFi-area was framed by walls. As was the extensive sofa area on the opposite side. Between two other wall niches were bookshelves. A large round dining table was in one area. In the largest alcove was a spacious play area. The floor covered with soft colorful rubber plates. A playhouse that you could climb up to, with a slide on it. Under the house a pool full of balls. A Bobby Car. A snake in which you could hide. Colorful chairs and a child-sized table. A children's board with chalk and magnetic letters and numbers. A marble game was attached to a wall. Everywhere stood or hung some storage possibilities, which were also already equipped. Balls, stuffed animals, pencils, plasticine, games. Everything that a child's heart could desire in the course of time.

Ced crawled unerringly into his corner and would probably be busy discovering for the next few days.

"There one could be envious," Jake stated amusedly.

"The slide should be sturdy enough for full-grown predators," Edward countered, and poof, the four teens began climbing up to the little house.

As the four of them then sat in the ball pit, it then looked a bit tight.

Edward, however, forbade them to get up already and suggested that I slide as well - with Ced, of course.

I did it, but preferred the stairs instead of the climbing frame.

Ced squealed happily as we slid the short distance and were met by his siblings. And Edward had his camera in hand. He immediately showed us the shot on the device. It had turned out really nicely and everyone demanded a print to hang.

"Well, follow me," the angel smirked mischievously.

We moved away from the grand piano, which we had almost reached after all. We walked back through the living room to the two rooms that framed the new staircase.

The one on the right was just a small cozy guest room with an adjoining bathroom. The other, on the river side, was a study. Two pretty desks stood with their head side against each other. On both a small PC, one of which Edward immediately switched on. I walked around the tables, sat down on the swivel chair that seemed to be waiting for me there in front of the other table, and looked around.

A nice place to work, I realized for myself. Here one would certainly be able to work well on it. The chair was very comfortable, and the table had a nice size. A picture of Edward and me stood there, neatly next to the mouse and keyboard. A pencil cup. A blank writing pad. A large printer on the wall next to me, into which Edward put paper from a cabinet. Photo paper, I could tell by the box he pulled it from. Folders stood on shelves. Some of his school supplies, which he usually kept in his secretary, I also saw. Behind me, once again, only glass.

"Do you like your side of the study?" then Edward sat on the edge of my desk while I was still looking around.

Puzzled, I turned the chair in his direction.

He smiled mischievously.

"Yeah ... And what am I going to do here?" I asked. After all, I no longer went to school or would study, so such a place was actually superfluous for me.

"Write your dissertation?" stated Edward. "Or maybe study again. You tinker with digital photo albums. Or you could start writing ... I'm sure you'll find something that won't make your desk seem useless," my angel reflected.

Write? Me? What should I write? A novel, or what? Who did he think I was? J. K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer, who just pulled bestsellers out of their sleeves? Stephen King? Mmm ... There was actually enough potential for horror stories in my family. Objectively speaking. Spirit Warriors, vampires, hybrids. But I didn't see all that as a basis for horror stories. Rather the opposite. That actually gave me a little idea ...

Edward, meanwhile, was sitting at his desk.

By the way, the monitors were positioned so that we could look at each other.

How should one be able thereby to concentrate on something else than on his angelic face?

Edward explained to the kids - to me, too, but his face distracted me from listening closely - that the devices were just little dummies that could only connect to the server at Carlisle's house. The accounts for each had been set up, and the password was their respective birth dates. The data from their PCs at home had already been transferred over. Had been done by David in return for Edward's help with the program and he would still set up this access to the server from their home computers as well, so they would have access to the same data from anywhere.

Edward logged in, connected the camera, and immediately started the print job for the photos as we requested.

"The TVs work similar to this, unless you want to watch regular TV programming," Edward then began to say as we walked through the living room again, stopping in front of the TV. "As you may not have noticed, there are no DVD or Blu-ray players connected to the sets. Neither here, nor upstairs in your rooms. Use this button to access our own media library. You can choose from a wide selection of movies, series, and documentaries. And via this button you can access the usual pay TV."

"Dad?" asked Leah dryly. "Don't you have a headache?"

"Why should I?" asked Edward, confused.

"Because you just think of everything all the time! Watching TV would be about the last thing on my mind in our rooms right now!" replied Jake.

After this was also clarified, my curiosity drove me now nevertheless to Edward's grand piano. Completely finished, I finally sat on the small bench behind it and looked around me.

"This is incredible," I tried to put it into words somehow.

The area where the platform stood was triangular and sort of the connector between the old house and the new house. Our house now sort of went around the corner so the entire east side had the gorgeous view of the Saco River basin. The wide side of the triangle in my back - facing Rose's or even Carlisle's house - was all glass. In front of it, in the apex so to speak, was a seating area of armchairs. But the most impressive thing was that the ceiling was the gable of the roof. Made of glass. It was a room from the floor to the roof. The second floor had flowed in as a gallery. It was around this railing, which I could now see from here and encompassed the entire triangle, that Edward had led us astray with our eyes closed earlier. At the top left, on the wall behind the railing, I saw the two windows to Ced's room, which had, after all, been covered with sheets. So we didn't get to see this gallery, the heart of the house, too soon.

Edward said that he had maintained the windows so that it would not be too dark due to the crossbeams in his room. Against these beams could have been done for structural reasons only if he had demolished half the house.

At the top right, Leah's room adjoined the gallery.

And there was something else to notice.

From this exact spot, Edward could see everything. All the doors and walls, the protrusions and windows in the walls, were arranged so that Edward could overlook the entire downstairs when he was playing. One could see my desk, the book nook through a corresponding window onto the sofa, Ced's play corner, the dining room table, and even the kitchen on the other side, toward which he was now pulling the sheets away.

Then Edward began to play on his instrument.

My Lullaby.

The acoustics were overwhelming and made me tremble. Each note seemed to go through my body, to bring my innermost being to pulsation. The melody changed to our new song, but he didn't quite play that either. It transitioned smoothly. First into Jake and Becky's song, then into the melody for Leah and Marcus.

Luckily, there was a graceful little table behind me with a tissue box, which I immediately passed on to my girls.

The guys seemed just as moved, even if one didn't necessarily see it at first glance.

Even Ced, who was sitting on the bench in front of me, didn't make a sound. He watched his daddy in awe as his slender fingers glided over the keys.

When he finished playing, we remained silent for a long time.

"Do you think you will be comfortable here?" my angel broke the silence, in a velvety contemplative voice.

In response, there was a collective hug.

In the meantime it had become dark, and Edward showed us various interesting lighting possibilities. From bright as day to dim twilight, everything was there.

It should work similarly upstairs in their rooms, but the twins would certainly figure that out on their own.

We then inaugurated our new/old kitchen in detail. Esmé had filled all the pantries, so we could conjure up a feast.

Jake tried his hand at operating Edward's music system. It was new, which I took note of with a roll of my eyes.

It worked in principle like his old one, which was already too high for me.

I simply missed the compartment for the CDs, but my angel no longer owned something as old-fashioned as sound carriers, as he teasingly explained to me.

However, after this statement, I pointed to an antique record player that stood in the area of the book corner - along with its many records.

The discussion about how new and modern didn't always equal better had already been lost by Edward a few months ago - when I had first seen this thing in one of the living room cabinets. But so finally discreet jazz music was playing in the background, which caused that in the kitchen was danced at times.

While the food sizzled away, I leaned against the secretary and surveyed my new home.

It was so typical of Esmé. So coherent and harmonious. But I also recognized Edward in the furnishings and layout. Only one thing bothered me, but it took me a moment to realize what it was.

"The walls seem so empty somehow," I noted as Edward hugged me from behind.

I heard a musical smile, he kissed me on the back of the neck, took my hand and walked with me into the study. In one corner there was a large cardboard box, to which he directed me. A whole box full of empty picture frames of various sizes, colors, and shapes.

"So that you'll have something to do tomorrow when I'm in the woods with our wolves," he smiled and sat down on my desk. He reached out a hand for me by which he pulled me toward him. "So that our home will also bear your trademark," he corrected himself and kissed me.

"If I now admit that the house is perfect, what are my chances of hearing your defense announced above earlier?" I asked. So purely hypothetically.

But I received it.

"This house is set up in such a way that we could live here immediately and for eternity. Except for our personal things, everything is there that we or the children need. To host friends here, to study for school, to spend time as a family or just in pairs, to write your dissertation ... I wanted to make sure that everything was already here. I started from almost the worst-case scenario. The possibility that you would survive the birth only as a vampire and thus would have had to turn your back on your home. Moreover, it was not possible for me to buy your house, so I considered the eventuality that they could terminate our lease. One day - or even surprisingly at short notice ... Even though the house is now ours and you are still a human being, we still can't weigh how long we can stay in Saco with Ced. If he continues to develop so quickly, we will soon have to hide him. While not from Charlie or from David and Sonya, but their children could become a problem. Ced could catch up with Emma in just a few months, and that even Emma would notice," he said, explaining his reasons.

I loved my house in Saco. The twins had grown up there. So his words made me a little sad, because he was absolutely right. It wasn't even sure if we could stay there until the summer - until the children finished school.

But I smiled anyway.

"I love you, Edward. I don't care at all where I spend eternity with you. This house may not be as cuddly as it was before, but it's beautiful. And it's ours. As far as I'm concerned, we can pull up stakes in Saco as soon as there's no other way. I'll shed a tear for our home either way, but I'm still happy to have found a new home here with my family," I tried to explain somehow. I wasn't sure if I had succeeded understandably.

"I will also miss our house very much. There I met you again and we have experienced very many beautiful moments together and will certainly experience some more. But I think this home provides a beautiful foundation for our future together. We could even continue to extend. In that direction we would have several hundred square meters of space. For our grandchildren," Edward told me and pointed in the direction in which we could expand.

Along the Saco River shore.

"I feel a bit like a princess. You're the prince who might not have arrived on a white horse, but you did arrive in a silver Volvo. And instead of a glass slipper, I got a glass house," I stated, clarifying my overall situation.

"What do you want with just ONE slipper?" he opined teasingly.

I stuck my tongue out at him in offense, but he pulled me close and took my face in his hands.

"I love you, Bella. My one and only in this beautiful world!", he whispered velvety soft and kissed me in an incredibly forbidden way.


Thank you for reading!