okay, a shout out to j_e_s_s who's birthday was the 24th! and Happy Australia Day!
sorry for the gap between postings, but i happen to be on holidays and have a rather limited access to the internet! anyway, hope you enjoy this extra long one!!


part 3
“They look a bit surprised. Should I introduce myself?” I asked quietly.
When I pulled back again, my favourite smile in the whole world was wide across his face. I took that as a yes.
I looked back over to Edward’s coven, smiling sheepishly. After all, I was still crushed against him.
“Hi there.” I started lamely. Everyone still looked shocked except Alice, who looked like she knew exactly what was coming. I attempted a brazen smile.
“I’m Bella. Edward’s fiancée.”

part 4

Silence followed my announcement. For all of three seconds.
“YAY!!” Alice’s high pitched squeal caused Edward to lower me back down to the ground, but his arms tightened around my back. I leaned into his chest, trying to escape the sound. She sure had a big set of lungs for someone so small.
Rosalie was the seguinte to recover, shaking her head slightly.
“Fiancée?” she asked. “Since when?”
I looked up at Edward and smiled. His turn.
He chuckled lightly. His loving smile warmed my still heart. “I proposed on December 6th, 1917.”
I stood up on my toes, reaching upwards exactly like I used to. He responded like I knew he would, leaning down to kiss me again. This kiss was sweeter than the first, less urgent and mais comforting.
Our lips had only been together a couple of segundos when we were interrupted por the same voice as before.
“What?!” Emmett yelled, making me jump.
Edward laughed loudly at my reaction and if I still could still blush I would have been bright red. What was with me today? First I almost trip, and then I jump...
Jasper chose then to speak up. “How?” it was then that I noticed the scars. They littered every inch of his skin. How had he survived? Normally I would have been worried, but Edward trusted him so I did too.
Jasper’s pergunta was quite simple, but it had a very long and complicated answer. I looked up at Edward again. “I think I’d like to know the answer to that too.”
My Darling Edward opened his mouth to speak, but Alice beat him too it.
“Not here! Carlisle and Esme will want to know too!”
I heard Edward sigh slightly into my hair. “Okay Alice.”
I knew who Carlisle was. He was the doctor as hard as that was to believe. But who was Esme?
Edward leaned in closer to me. “Time to meet the rest of the family. So I guess that means it’s time to meet the parents.” He joked.
Family. That sounded so right.
I giggled slightly. “I hope they don’t bite.” I leaned into him again. Any distance was too much. I couldn’t believe this was happening. This morning I had been an emotional wreck who could barely force herself to school. Now I was happier and mais content that I had been in 90 odd years.
“I’ll protect you.” He whispered seductively in my ear. Well, it may have just sounded seductive to me.
“Are you asking me to skip school?” I asked, looking as innocent as I could possibly manage.
He chuckled. “I don’t think your education will suffer too much.” Then, so quickly it was a blur even to me, I was in his arms bridal style. I sucked in a surprised breath. I didn’t see that one coming.
“We’ll run. It will be quicker.” He said, speaking to everyone.
I pouted slightly. “What about my car?”
He looked down at me, smiling my favourite crooked smile. “We as in you and I, love. Alice and Jasper are going to take my car and Rose and Em are going to take yours. That way I can introduce you to Carlisle and Esme and maybe show you the house.”
“Okay...” I said a little doubtfully. I handed over my keys and they ran off to the car park, leaving Edward and I alone on the oval.
“I’d offer to race, but I can’t really bare to put you down right now.” He confided, smiling hugely.
“That’s fine with me.” I whispered, tightening my grip on his shirt.
He grinned before setting off at full speed.
Edward proved to be faster than I thought he would be. We made it to his house in under a minuto and that was with me distracting him no end.
When we stopped I was stunned por the beauty of the house. It was huge, three storeys, and it had the most breathtaking looks. The colours, all pale creams and whites, made it look amazing.
“It’s so pretty.” Was all I managed to get out. Edward looked at my spellbound face and laughed lightly. “Esme designed it.” He explained.
He put me down so I was able to walk to the front door myself, but he kept a firm grip on my waist like he thought I was just going to disappear. I felt the same way, but his warm and comforting embrace was a constant reminder that he was here and I wasn’t just delusional.
He walked through the beautiful door without knocking into an equally as beautiful entranceway. Everything matched perfectly and all the colours coordinated amazingly. I loved it instantly.
“Esme? Carlisle?” he spoke as if they were right seguinte to us, but they heard.
“Edward? What are you doing início from school?” a woman appeared at the topo, início of the stairs. She had the same golden eyes as the rest of her family but she was softer somehow, motherly. Her soft caramelo coloured hair fell in gentle waves past her shoulders and she was a bit taller than me.
Finally she noticed Edward was not por himself. mais specifically she noticed the grip Edward still had of my waist.
Her hand flew to her mouth and she stared questioningly at Edward.
Edward leaned his head onto mine. “Esme, meet Bella.”
I smiled shyly. What if she didn’t like me?
I needn’t have worried though. Esme ran down the stairs stopping in front of me and embraced me into a warm, motherly hug.
“Oh, Bella! Thank heavens he’s found someone!”
She pulled back but kept her hands on my shoulders, a huge smile on her face.
“Carlisle!” she called excitedly and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Carlisle appeared at the topo, início of the stairs just like Esme had. His bleached blond hair was slicked back away from his face and he had a look of someone of authority. He took in the situation in front of him, and he too broke into a huge smile.
Then he faltered, surprise and shock clouding his features. He looked at Edward behind me and I felt him nod into my hair. I turned slightly to look at Edward, raising an eyebrow. He grinned at me momentarily before his expression changed dramatically.
“I can’t hear you.” He said, tilting his head to one side.
“Huh?” I said stupidly. What was he talking about now?
He took my shoulders, turning me towards him so he could stare deeply into my eyes.
Carlisle appeared seguinte to me. “You can’t hear her thoughts?”
Okay, now I was really confused.
“You can hear thoughts?” I’d met vampiros with special abilities, but nothing like this.
“Usually.” He muttered, still looking deeply into my eyes. “But I can’t hear yours.” He looked slightly frustrated.
I heard the sound of cars coming up the driveway, mine in front.
“We can talk about this later.” He whispered, his smile returning. “I want to hear your story.”
He turned me back around again, his arms snaking around me.
“Welcome to the family, Bella.” Carlisle said quietly, smiling. Still slightly confused, I just smiled back.
“This way. We can talk in the lounge.” Esme led us through to a spacious room that had a completely glass wall. Again the colours were light and the furniture tied it together beautifully. Then I remembered my manners.
“Your house is amazing.” I complemented Esme.
“Oh, thank-you dear. Aren’t you sweet.” She still had a smile on her face and kept sending glances to Edward. She looked so happy.
I sat down seguinte to Edward in an effort to be polite, but he wasn’t having that. The seguinte thing I knew I was sitting on his lap. The strangest sense of déjà vu hit me, like this had happened before.
Esme sat down opposite us, pulling the chair closer. “So, Bella. When did you and Edward meet?”
It was then when I realised that Esme would have thought that we had met today. This was going to be embarrassing.
Edward laughed rather loudly and I threw an accusing glance his way. It so wasn’t funny.
Before Edward could reply, Rosalie and Alice ran into the room, the boys following behind. The smile on Rosalie’s face was blinding.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had an engine like that under the hood?” she exclaimed. “It was fantastic! It beat the Volvo easily, I was so surprised!” she seemed ecstatic.
I laughed at her reaction. She must like cars.
“Well, it was bad enough I had to sell my Z4. I didn’t want some slow truck that could barely reach 60 miles an hour.” If it was possible, her smile grew wider.
“So, Bella?” Esme asked gently and I realised how rude I was being.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Esme. Edward and I have known each other for a rather long time.” I said, trying to avoid the question.
Emmett chose that point to come in. “Yeah, like 100 years. Dude, I can’t believe you never told us you had a girl.”
Esme’s mouth opened in shock. Thanks a lot, Emmett.
I cringed back into Edward as the room exploded into laughter at Esme’s reaction. If I had been human I would have been tomate red.
Alice’s chirpy voice filtered though the snickers still going around. “Okay, that’s enough. I want to hear the story!”
“As if you haven’t already.” Edward said, leaning his chin on my head, his arms so tightly around me that if I hadn’t been a vampire I would have had a couple broken ribs.
I was confused por their exchange. Was I missing something obvious?
Carlisle noticed my look. “Alice can see the future, Bella.”
“Oh.” Was my brilliant response. “Anything else I should know about?”
“I’m an empath. I can change or control your emotions.” Jasper said quietly.
I nodded silently. It made sense; he was the quietest of the bunch and somehow the most soothing. He was like the older brother you could go to for anything.
“I want to hear everything.” Esme said with Carlisle nodding behind her.
Rosalie and Emmett sat together as did Alice and Jasper. Carlisle moved to sit on the sofá seguinte to Esme. Normally I would have been jealous that they all had partners, but Edward’s arms pulling me tighter against him made all the difference.
I sat there, biting my lip, unsure how to start.
“Do you want me to begin, love?” Edward asked, beijar my neck. I nodded, leaning into him.
He thought about it for a segundo before starting. “I met Bella in January of 1917. I was out shopping with my mother and father when I happened to notice this beautiful girl with gorgeous brown eyes. Bella was very clumsy as a human, always tripping and dropping things.” He smiled at the memory. “I was walking past when she managed to trip on her own feet, dropping the three large bags she had been carrying. Of course I went to help her. I picked up her bags for her then introduced myself. She had the most adorable blush and I was hooked immediately.”
I smiled too, remembering the moment. “You offered to walk me home,” I continued. “And I said yes. I wanted to know mais about you so I grabbed the opportunity.”
Edward squeezed me gently. “As it turned out, I lived just six houses away.”
“Awww...” Alice sighed. “That’s so sweet!”
Edward chuckled. “That’s what our parents said too. We were constantly together and I knew I would never want anyone else, so I asked Charlie, Bella’s father, for her hand. He agreed wholeheartedly, after all I was everything he had wanted for his daughter. A week later, on the 6th of December, 1917, I proposed when we were both 18 years of age.”
My turn. “I said yes instantly and we organised our wedding for the 1st of March.”
“But that’s today!” Carlisle said quickly.
I went on nodding. “Everything was organised and going perfectly. That was until Edward’s parents went to Chicago for a week on business.” I stopped, my voice going quiet.
Edward noticed my break. “They got quite ill with the Spanish Influenza. I went to Chicago to say my goodbyes, but I caught the disease too. Carlisle was my doctor at the time and he changed me because I was dying.”
I looked into his eyes, my saddened expression clear in the reflection. “I wasn’t allowed to go with you. You said I would get sick.”
His expression changed to match mine. “I know. It was my fault. If I had just been mais careful—”
I put my fingers on his lips, silencing him.
“Don’t you dare blame yourself, Edward Mason. Oh, well I suppose its Cullen now.” I corrected myself.
He chuckled and the mood brightened instantly. “Go on, your turn.”
I bit my lip again. “I waited for you. The encontro, data of the weeding went por with no word from you and I was desperate for news. Then, the dia after the wedding I received a message from a doctor at the Royal and General Hospital in Chicago. He told me you had died.” I stopped for a second, unable to go on. Momentarily I was consumed por remembered grief, the pain I had felt. Edward tucked my head under his chin as I struggled not to sob.
Suddenly I felt calm. I didn’t know what could have done that until I remembered Jasper’s ability. I smiled shyly in his direction, a silent thank-you.
“He told me you had died,” I repeated with mais volume. “And I was crushed. I looked for a way out.” I admitted guiltily.
“Bella.” Edward whispered heartbreakingly.
“I couldn’t deal with life without you. If I had actually gotten the chance to end my life, I don’t know if I would have taken it. What would have happened to my parents?” Edward rubbed soothing circles into my back. “Before I had the opportunity to do anything, James found me. I was only three streets away from my house. He changed me and when I woke up he told me why. He was creating an army so he could take control of the area. He told me I was different, that’s why he chose me.”
“Its okay, Bella.” Edward whispered lovingly into my ear.
“I ran away. He wanted me to drink from humans and I said no. I was surprised he never found me, after all he was a tracker. Maybe that’s what he meant por I’m special. Anyway, that’s pretty much it. I’ve been moving through schools all around the country for 50 years. It was just luck that we both happened to choose Forks.”
“Oh, sweetheart. That’s terrible!” Esme whispered, moving over to where Edward and I sat on the couch. She wrapped her arms around me, even though it was a bit awkward. Edward was still holding onto me tight, planting kisses in my hair.
“Maybe that’s why Edward can’t hear you.” Carlisle mused, his eyes alight with excitement. “Like some kind of shield.” He started talking with Jasper and Alice about this new possibility while Emmett and Rosalie made out on the sofá across the room.
“We’ll have to come up with an excuse as to why you guys aren’t at school...” Esme started, but tactfully moved away when she realised that Edward and I were not really paying attention.
“Oh, Bella. I had no idea.” He muttered, leaning in to kiss my nose.
“Don’t blame yourself, please. It was my stupid idea.”
He smiled light-heartedly. “I thought I would never see you again.”
“Me too.”
“You do realise I’m never going to let you out of my sight?” He asked, completely serious.
“Good.” I whispered, leaning in even closer to his face.