Happy Holidays! Sorry for the late post! I was so busy yesterday! I finally found time to update! I'm updating my newer story as well! Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Nine

I watched silently as my mother left the apartment. I wanted to stop her and figure out what she meant by her cryptic words. After a moment, I let out a sob and crumbled to the ground. I heard Edward move off the couch and pulled me into his arms.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"I just… I don't even know what to do anymore." I sobbed.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Edward whispered against my ear.

I groaned, "I'm so conflicted."

He leaned back, adjusting me so he could look at me. "Conflicted with what? What do you want to do?"

I looked down at my hands before letting out a sigh.

"This is just some stupid, childhood stuff," I said, roughly swiping the tears off my cheeks. "It's just stupid."

"No, it's not," He said, kissing my cheek. "Tell me. I won't judge you."

"You know, growing up, I was so lonely," I said. "I had my dad, and he was amazing, but you know, he was single parent, and he loved his job and his hobbies. And I always told him to just go because I didn't want to hold him back. He was great, but I still spent a lot of time alone. Growing up I always wished I had siblings or even cousins I could bond with. My dad's parents died when I was young which sucked because I loved my nana and pop-pop and they helped me feel not so lonely. And my mom was in and out of my life for whatever reasons she has, so, I just grew up feeling like I was missing out."

"Yeah, it sounds like it," He said, gently wiping my tears away. "I'm sorry you went through that."

"The only real connection I have in this world is my dad." I said. "I wish I had more family. To be honest I'm kind of jealous of your family. You guys are so close and it's obvious you love one another. It makes me jealous, and it makes me wish I had that."

He smiled. "Well you know my parents adore you, as does everyone else. You're pretty much apart of our family, until you don't want to be."

"Or until you don't want me to be."

"That'll never happen," His smile widening, "I like you way too much for that."

I rolled my eyes. "We're in our honeymoon stage. It'll change I'm sure."

"Oh no, never," He chuckled. "I definitely know you're it for me. I think about you constantly. I go out of my way to remember important things about you. And, as much as you're opposed to this, I do think about me and you together. In the future, you know."

I blushed. "Shut up."

"I know, you don't like mushy-gushy crap, but I'm a hopeless romantic."

"I know." I said, leaning my head against his chest. It was somewhat uncomfortable, but I just enjoyed being close to him.

We cuddled for a few moments before my phone buzzed. I sighed and looked at the message. It was from a number I didn't recognize.

Bella, I know this might be too soon, but I'd like to extend the invitation to you. My family is having a get together tomorrow night. Your uncles and cousins are flying in. I'd love for them to meet you and you to meet them. If you wish not to attend, I completely understand. But you are more than welcomed. I sincerely hope you come. You can bring Edward if you'd like. – Aro

I sighed heavily and showed Edward the message.

"Is it weird that I really want to go?" I shook my head. "Something is wrong with me isn't it?"

"No, no," He said, "Nothing is wrong with you. Nothing at all. You want to know your family. It's completely normal."

I was quiet for a moment. "If I go, would you go with me?"

His silence made me look up at him and a horrible fluttering feeling settled in my stomach.

"I'm sorry," He said, shaking his head. "If you go, I go. I just, sorry, I just got horrible flashbacks of Felix."

"Aro's son? The one who jumped you?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I haven't honestly thought about it in years. It just literally popped into my mind. I'm not sure why." He tried to chuckle.

"It was traumatic." I said, stroking his cheek. "It's okay to be afraid."

"I am not afraid of him." He said, nostrils flaring.

"I didn't mean it like that," I said, putting my hand on his chest. "But you obviously do have trauma when it comes to Felix. I'm not putting you through that."

"Bella you want to go, and I'm going to support you—,"

I cut him off with a kiss. "No. I'm not going to make you relive your trauma. I can either go by myself or Jasper can come with me. I don't want you upset."

"No, I can go." He said. "It's not a big—,"

"Don't say it's not a big deal," I pressed my fingers over his lips. "You're not allowed to go. You have a business meeting, okay? You have trauma that is very valid."

He sighed heavily. "I'm being a pussy. You shouldn't go by yourself."

"And I won't. Jasper can come with me. It's no big deal." I smiled at him. "This is me taking care of you, so suck it up buttercup. Accept my care."

He laughed. "Fine. Fine. But look, if you need me, I want you to call me. Please. And know that the only reason I'm not coming is because you're making me stay home. I do want to be there for you."

I kissed him. "I know. Thank you."

"God my stomach is killing me!" I complained as the car pulled to a stop.

"Hey, we can turn around and leave," Jasper said.

"No, no. I already told Aro I was coming."

"Yeah, and thanks so much for volunteering me as your escort." He got out of the car and walked around the other side to open the door for me.

"Hey, you can leave if you want." I said as I stepped out of the vehicle. "I can do this on my own."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I'm going to let you walk into the Volturi's house without an escort. Especially with your hot temper."

I looked up at the large Brownstone. It was a beautiful townhome, very large to. There was a large set of stairs leading up to the dark wooden, ornate door.

Aro must've been waiting on us because he threw open the front door. He was smiling widely as he welcomed us.

"Bella I am beyond happy you decided to come." He said, "I'm just sorry Edward couldn't make it."

"Yeah, he had a very important business meeting tonight that he just couldn't skip," I explained. "But I brought my good friend, Jasper Whitlock."

"Yes, I'm familiar with Jasper," Aro said, taking his hand. "How are you, boy?"

"I'm good," Jasper nodded. "Nice to see you again."

"Wow, I didn't think New York was so small," I chuckled. "Um, I brought wine. Edward told me you'd appreciate this?"

He pulled the wine out of the bottle and laughed hysterically.

"Oh, your boy is certainly something." Aro said, shaking his head. "Well come in, please. Everyone's upstairs."

My stomach started hurting again. "Yeah, I'm super nervous."

Aro chuckled. "Oh don't be nervous. They're just curious. Your cousins didn't even realize you were a real person."

"I'm sure having an illegitimate granddaughter is not really a casual topic of conversation."

He placed a hand on my shoulder. "You are not illegitimate. I am extremely happy you were born. And I am beyond ecstatic that you decided to see me again. I was worried you would not want to see me after last night."

"Well, if I'm being honest with you, our conversation last night was not the worst one I had."

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow look. I shook my head.

"It's fine." I said. "It's probably the biggest reason I came."

"Troubles with you and Edward?"

"Oh no, not at all. Edward and I are great. It's nothing."

Aro brought us to an elevator. I was shocked that there was an elevator in a house, but Aro obviously had money, so this probably wasn't the craziest thing in his house.

The elevator brought us up to a large living room where several people were milling about, snacking on appetizers laid out on silver platters. They all stopped talked once the elevator doors opened. The sick feeling in my stomach showed up again. I did my best to smile.

Two small children, probably around eight or nine, ran to Aro. They were dressed in very nice clothing, the boy in a dark blue suit and the girl in a dark blue sparkling dress.

"Papa, is this our cousin?" The girl asked; she was missing a front tooth.

Aro chuckled and picked the girl up, placing him on his hip. "Yes, this is Bella. Your cousin. Bella, these are my other grandchildren, Jane, and Alec. They're my eldest son's children."

"Nice to meet you," I smiled at them.

"Are you a bastard?" Alec asked.

"Alec!" A somewhat smallish man chastised. He wore an expression of pure horror. "Bella, I am so sorry, my son speaks before he thinks."

I shrugged. "Didn't hurt my feelings. You're Aro's son?"

"Yes," He said, his face red. "I'm Demetri and this is my wife Heidi. And you've met our very lovely children, Alec, and Jane."

"Nice to meet you, don't be embarrassed," I smiled. "This is an awkward situation."

"Yes it certainly is," He chuckled.

"It is nice to meet you Bella," Heidi said in a thick accent. "It will be nice to have another young woman around. Maybe I can rope you into babysitting."

I chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, you might not want me to babysit. I'm not very good with kids."

"It'll be good practice." Heidi said, looking at Jasper. "You two make a lovely couple."

Jasper and I exchanged a look. "This is actually my friend. Jasper Whitlock. My boyfriend couldn't make it. He had a very important business meeting."

"How is my old friend?" A very large man said, quickly getting up off the couch. "I was hoping he'd be here. We go way back."

I immediately knew who this man was. I smiled at him. "Unfortunately he had business to take care of. You know, running a few different companies is very time consuming."

"Ah, well, I guess we can catch up another time," He said, extending his hand. "I'm your uncle, Felix, but I'm sure you've heard about me."

"Felix?" I said, faking stupidity as I took his hand, "Hmm, no I'm sorry. Edward's never mentioned a Felix. Don't take it personally though, he only talks to me about people who are really important to him. Sorry."

Felix matched my smile. "I'm sure."

His hand flexed around mine, squeezing uncomfortably tight. I kept my composure before ripping my hand from his.

A tall, blond woman said as she moved around to see me. "I am just so glad I'm finally getting to meet you! I heard Edward was in another relationship and that it was going well. I'm just glad I get to meet the woman who's making my Edward so happy."

"Your Edward?" I asked.

"Yeah, I hope he's talked about me a little. I'm Tanya." She smiled widely. "It's so nice to meet you."

"O-oh," I said, blushing. "You're Tanya."

She laughed. "I see he's mentioned me."

"Tanya and Felix have just started going out." Aro said, placing his hand on my back. "They're very new. I only met her a week ago."

I nodded. "It's nice to meet you."

"If you want, you can call me uncle," Felix grinned in a menacing way that was masked with kindness. I could see right through it.

"Oh, no I can just call you Felix." I said.

"Hopefully before you call anyone else by their family nickname, you'll have gotten comfortable enough to call me papa." Aro chuckled, smiling widely at me. "But of course that's your choice and I am not offended by it."

A man with dark brown hair, very similar to mine, peeked around the crowd and smiled softly at me. He waved.

"Bella, this is your great-uncle, Marcus." Aro said before pressing his lips against my ear. "He's deaf, so he doesn't communicate often."

"Does he know sign language?"

"We discourage it," A man called from across the room. He was staring hatefully at his glass, refusing to look my way.

"That man, over there, is your other great uncle, Caius. And please forgive his rudeness." Aro said sternly, shooting a glare his way.

I looked at Marcus and smiled widely before signing to him.

I know basic American Sign Language. I will have to practice more so we can talk properly.

Marcus smiled very widely.

It is so nice to meet my niece. I have seen your pictures. However, I am glad to finally meet you.

I made a face and signed some of the signs I didn't know. Marcus laughed and pointed to the wall that was just covered in a variety of pictures.

"He is saying that he has only ever seen your pictures, but he's happy to meet you now." Aro said.

"You have a picture of me?"

"Quite a few, actually," Aro blushed. "You—,"

"Yeah you're everywhere. Your papa's favorite." Jane said sourly.

"Jane," Demetri warned. "Stop."

"It's true!" Alec said, crossing his arms. "Papa talks about you all the time."

Demetri sighed heavily. "Bella, I apologize. They're being silly. They only learned about you a year ago."

"Yeah, well they're not exactly wrong," Felix said. "I mean, dad, how much money have you given—."

"Enough!" Aro snapped. "What I do with my money is my business. None of you need to worry about anything I do for my first grandchild."

I looked to Jasper, who was trying to contained an uncomfortable smile. I shook my head at him, encouraging him to keep it together.

"Bella I apologize for yelling," He said. "This dinner is supposed to be a nice dinner to welcome Bella into the Volturi family and show her that we're not as bad as she can imagine. I'm sad that some of you showing her such poor hospitality."

"Aro," A woman with long black hair said, placing her hand on Aro's shoulder. "It's alright. Bella is tough, you work as a nurse in a men's prison, correct?"

"Yes I do," I said.

"Then I'm sure you've seen much worse." She chuckled.

"Oh you have no idea."

She smiled widely and extended her hand. "I'm Sulpicia, Aro's wife."

"Nice to meet you." I smiled.

"Let's move this to the dining room. Dinner is ready." She looked at Aro and whispered something in his ear. He sighed softly and nodded.