ISPOV

            “Well, I certainly couldn’t leave without spending some time with my baby, now could I?” I told Bella. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Uncle Alex and I will be around for a bit.” I smiled when she looked relieved. “Besides, I owe someone a graduation present.”

            The look on Bella’s face was pure terror and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Now Bells, you know me better than that. It’s a nice, subtle gift, no party even.”

            “What is it?” Bella’s voice was apprehensive.

            “I’m going to talk to Charlie for you. About everything,” I said, shooting a meaningful glance at her currently bare ring finger as she blushed. “It’ll make things easier on you.”

            The genuine relief on her face was comical. “Oh, thank you, Aunt Izzy!” She threw herself into my arms for another hug and I chuckled.

            “You’re welcome, angel.” I looked to where Edward was getting impatient being away from her, even if it was only a matter of a few feet. I opened my mind to him. ‘Better get used to it; I’m staying with her tonight.’

            Edward’s eyes were wide. ‘What!?’

            ‘I’m staying with her,’ I repeated calmly. ‘She and I have some catching up to do and you’re not invited. Go out and hunt tonight, she’s safe with me.’

            ‘I know,’ he replied. ‘I just-’

            ‘Relax, Edward,’ I scolded. ‘She’ll be fine.’

            Reluctantly, he nodded. “Why do I have a feeling you two were talking about me?” Bella asked from my lap.

            I smiled. “Because we were. I was just telling Edward how I’ll stay with you tonight while he goes hunting.”

            Bella raised her eyebrows but didn’t comment.

            ‘Isabel?’ I heard in my mind. I looked toward Carlisle. ‘How long are you staying?’

            ‘Just long enough,’ I replied, projecting my voice into his mind and enjoying the disgruntled look on his face. ‘Don’t worry, it won’t be a short trip, but not too long either.’

            He nodded, satisfied. Bella got up from my lap and went back to Edward’s, who held her carefully against him and kissed her hair. A thought popped into my head suddenly and I made sure Edward was blocked from my thoughts before I imagined smacking him in the back of the head with a pillow.

            “Hey!” he yelled indignantly as the throw pillow dropped behind him. He looked around trying to figure out who had hit him, but everyone was sitting exactly as they were, all laughing hysterically. Finally, his eyes narrowed on me. “What was that for?”

            “All the times you spent being creepy and watching Bella and then not talking to her. For all the things you did that a mother would not appreciate,” I growled before winking playfully.

            Emmett cheered from the couch. “Yes! Izzy, you and I are so getting started on scheming!”

            Rosalie just rolled her eyes when I didn’t say anything.

            “Alright, Bella-boo, I think we should be heading back to Charlie. He’ll be expecting you.” She made a face at her nickname and turned to Edward. “I’m going to get the truck where we left it and I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said, standing and searching for my purse and keys. I looked meaningfully toward Edward. ‘I’m serious,’ I thought. ‘She’s safe with me tonight.’

            He nodded reluctantly and pulled Bella with him into a standing position before leading her off to his room. I looked after them after giving Edward another warning and turned to my brother hovering at my side. “Care to come with me to get the truck?”

            He grinned. “Of course.” We waved and then headed out, running at a decent speed. “So, Bella,” he started.

            “Carlisle, you already knew half of it,” I scolded, remembering the last time I’d seen him.

****

            “Bella, love, we’re going to have some visitors,” I said, poking my head into Alex’s study. Bella, as usual, was curled up in a chair three times her size with a book in her lap. “Bella. Bella? Isabella Marie!” I said, finally getting her attention.

            She looked up guiltily. “Sorry, Aunt Izzy, I found a good book.” She held up my copy of ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ I wonder what she’d say if I told her I’d known the author.

            “That’s a big book for a seven year old girl, don’t you think?” I teased, handing her a bookmark so she could put her book down.

            “I can’t help it, I love that time period.”

            “It was a lovely time,” I said wistfully. “Anyway, love, did you hear me earlier? We’re going to have company.”

            She looked nervous. “Who?”

            “My brother.”

            The tension on her face faded. “That will be nice; I’ve always wanted to meet him.”

            I blinked at her suddenly reformed mannerisms and chalked it up to the book. “Yes, well, why don’t you wash up? He’ll be here soon.”  Bella nodded and jumped up, heading off to the bathroom as I headed downstairs. I could hear Carlisle in the driveway.

            “Excuse me, Doctor; I was wondering if you could help me?” I said in my best sultry voice, trying desperately to keep a straight face. “I have an ache right here,” I simpered, pointing to the top button on my shirt.

            “I’m sorry, Miss, but I’m a happily married man and I find that rather disturbing coming from my sister,” Carlisle shot back, his topaz eyes catching the fading Phoenix sun.

            “I thought maybe you’d miss it. You’ve been away from patients for a whole two days now.” I grinned as he held out his arms for a hug and I ran to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his stomach as he spun me.

            “No, I had a woman in the lobby that tried to choke herself just for my help,” Carlisle shuddered, putting me down.

            I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face. “You’re Dr. McDreamy, what can I say?”

            “I’m ready, Aunt Izzy!” I heard from behind me. I stepped back to allow Carlisle to come in and also show him why I was in Phoenix.

            “Well hello there, princess, who are you?” Carlisle asked, bending down to her level.

            My Bella was as shy as ever and hesitantly put out her hand even as she ducked her head into her shoulder. Her hair had been pulled half back so she couldn’t hide behind that. “Bella. Bella Swan.”

            “Well Bella, Bella Swan, my name is Carlisle. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, kissing her tiny hand.

            Bella blushed as usual and giggled. I smiled. “Carlisle, this is my goddaughter. Bella, this is my brother.” I held in a chuckle as Bella gave a little curtsy.

            “And how old are you, Bella?” Carlisle asked, and I could see the wheels working.

            “I am seven,” she pronounced rather happily.

            “Seven! Oh my,” Carlisle said in his best ‘impressed’ voice. “Don’t ask how old I am, I’m not sure you can count that high.”

            “I can count to 1,000!” Bella exclaimed. “Surely you aren’t older than that?”

            Carlisle chuckled. “You’d be surprised, my dear.” I gently nudged him with my shoulder.

            “Come on, I think I heard some strawberry lemonade calling your name, love,” I said, looking at Bella whose brown eyes lit up as she turned and headed to the kitchen.

            “Your goddaughter, hmm?” Carlisle asked.

            I nodded. “I’ll explain it all after she goes to bed.”

            Alex came home shortly after and we all stayed and chatted, Bella immersed in our stories as she cuddled on Alex’s lap. When her eyes started dropping, she gave us all a kiss goodnight and Alex carried her to bed. I knew that Carlisle would be curious about her story and when Alex returned, we told him everything about her being our family, and Renee and Charlie, to even what would happen when she moved to Forks.

            “Edward?” Carlisle asked, surprised.

            “Yes. She’s his mate. You understand of course that Alex will need to work his magic so you don’t accidentally slip around him, don’t you?”

            Carlisle nodded. “So he won’t be alone?”

            “Only for the next nine years,” I confirmed. Carlisle still had a bit of a glazed look on his face. “Trust me; it’ll be worth the wait.”

            He nodded and then smiled. “I look forward to it.”

***

            “It would have been helpful, however, if you’d warned me of the mountains to climb beforehand,” Carlisle said, breaking me from my reverie.

            “That’s part of it all,” I said simply. I slowed to a walk as we approached where I’d parked my truck.  “Besides, it hasn’t been all bad, has it?”

            “No,” Carlisle sighed. “It just would have been nice to have some warning that Edward was going to try to bolt as soon as he saw her, and then run away, and then try to kill himself….” His voice trailed and I nodded in sympathy.

            “Well, if it helps, I didn’t know all of that would happen; only parts. Besides, who had the broken hearted human on her hands, huh?”

            Carlisle chuckled. “Are we having a contest of who had the most depressed child?”

            I shook my head. “Of course not. Edward would win hands-down with his emo act there.”

BPOV

            “She’s not letting you come over tonight, is she?” I asked Edward knowingly.

            He let out a frustrated sigh and sat in a huff on the edge of his bed. “No. She’s forcing me to hunt.”

            I chuckled and brushed my fingers through his hair. “It’ll be okay, you know. She’s taken care of me longer than you have. Besides, it’ll be good to have some girl time with her. I haven’t seen her in so long.” I tried to keep the wistfulness out of my voice but I could tell he’d heard it.

            “I could never deny you some girl time,” Edward smiled as he kissed my forehead.

            I leaned into his side as he wrapped his arms around me. “Thank you. All this time I’ve really needed to talk to someone, but who could I tell about the whole wolf/vampire thing? Not Renee, certainly.”

            “You know you can always talk to me, don’t you?” Edward said, looking into my eyes.

            I chuckled. “Would you like me to gush about this gorgeous undead man I met and love more than life itself?”

            Edward raised his eyebrows. “I see your point.”

            “It’s different talking to Alice, too. I just need my maman.”

            “Maman?” Edward asked. “I didn’t realize you spoke French.”

            “We went through different languages when I was younger,” I explained. “We’d learn a new phrase every week. I started calling Aunt Izzy maman to differentiate between her and Renee since they were both essentially my mothers. Aunt Izzy took care of me instead of me taking care of Renee. It was nice to have a mother all the time instead of just in spurts. And I knew it would hurt Renee’s feelings if I called Aunt Izzy ‘mom’ so we compromised.”

            Edward pulled me into his arms as he fell back onto the bed. “I am very grateful you have her in your life. She’s an amazing woman.”

            I merely nodded, rubbing my nose into his shirt. We lay there until Edward groaned and I could hear the sound of a vehicle coming up the driveway.

            When we reached downstairs, everyone was out on the porch looking at Aunt Izzy’s new vehicle. “Nice truck,” Emmett boomed as Aunt Izzy and Carlisle hopped out.

            “Emmett!” Aunt Izzy scolded. “This is not a truck!” She walked over and ran her hand lovingly over the hood. “It’s a Silverado 1500LTZ! It’s an orgasm on wheels.”

            “Gross,” I muttered. Edward looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “There are some words you just shouldn’t hear coming out of your parental figure’s mouth,” I answered.

            Edward looked to where Carlisle was chuckling and repeating “orgasm on wheels” to himself and quickly agreed.

            “Well, sweetheart, are you ready to hit the road?” Aunt Izzy asked me. I nodded and turned to Edward to give him a quick kiss and a promise to see him as soon as I could. Uncle Alex was getting a suitcase out of the cab. “You aren’t coming?” I asked.

            “Nope, I’m staying here. It’s just you and Isabel tonight.” He gave me a kiss. “Besides, I think it’s time for me to have a heart to heart with Eddie-boy here,” he said with a glance his way. “I promise he’ll be back in one piece.”

            I rolled my eyes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Behave!” With a wave, I jumped into the truck where Aunt Izzy was caressing the steering wheel. “Seriously, this needs to stop,” I said.

            She giggled. “I’m not too much of a car person, but I love this truck.” With a kiss to the steering wheel, she spun the tires and sped off down the driveway. “Did I mention I got the optional off road package?” she grinned.

            I just shook my head, but by the time we made it back to Charlie’s I had to agree it was one amazing truck. She effortlessly jumped down and grabbed her bag from the back and together we walked in. Charlie, as usual, was sitting and watching sports. “Bells, is that you?” he asked.

            “Yeah, Dad. Hey, listen, can I have someone spend the night tonight?”

            Charlie never took his eyes off the screen. “Who?”

            “Surprise, Charlie!” Aunt Izzy said next to his ear.

            Charlie jumped up. “Isabel! What are you doing here?”

            “I missed graduation so I had to make it up sometime,” she replied as Charlie swept her into a hug.

            “I swear, you never age. You look exactly the same as when I met you.”

            “It’s the plus of being in Europe so much. The anti-aging creams are amazing over there. Just don’t ask what’s in them,” she winked.

            “Where’s Alex?” Charlie asked, looking behind us.

            “He stayed behind with my brother. Bella and I are having girl time,” she replied with a wink.

            “Well, I’ll leave you girls to it, then. We’ll have to go out for breakfast tomorrow,” Charlie replied.

            “I think I’m going to take a shower,” I spoke up, knowing this would give Aunt Izzy and Charlie the chance to catch up. Charlie just nodded and Aunt Izzy sat down beside him as I ran quickly up the stairs.

            I took a quick shower while thinking about all that had happened today. The knowledge that Aunt Izzy was a vampire was more astounding than the fact she was my grandmother. The two of us were so similar that it seemed natural we’d be related somehow. Why I didn’t figure out she was a vampire after knowing about Edward’s family is beyond me. She and Uncle Alex both looked just like the Cullen’s.

            I sighed, shutting off the shower and getting into pajamas. I’m sure there was a reason.

            As I headed to my room, I could hear Charlie and Aunt Izzy talking and I couldn’t resist pausing to listen. Apparently I either had good timing or she knew I was listening because I heard Aunt Izzy change topics. “So, Charlie. What are Bella’s plans after graduation?”

            “Well, she got accepted in Dartmouth, actually. She’s going there. Got a ton of scholarships. The only bad thing is the Cullen boy is going too.” I heard the grimace in Charlie’s voice.

            “Yes, Edward told me. It’ll be nice for the whole family to be together again and going through college together. Carlisle’s thinking about transferring over that way for a few years, maybe coming back after the kids are graduated.”

            I heard the pause as Charlie digested. “I didn’t know you knew the Cullens.”

            “Carlisle’s my brother.”

            There was silence. “So you know Edward.” It was a silly question, I thought, but Aunt Izzy didn’t mention that.

            “My nephew, naturally.”

            “Why didn’t you tell me the boy currently dating my little girl and who broke her heart so bad you had to fly out and try to put her back together was your nephew?” Charlie’s voice was even, but I heard the frustration.

            “When would you have liked me to?” I could hear the raised eyebrow in her tone. “When she took off because of him and he went after her and she landed in the hospital? When they moved and he thought the best way was to break her heart to have her move on, not knowing it almost killed her? Or when he came back and you put her under house arrest? When would be the best time to inform you the boy you hate so much is one of the other pride and joys of my life?” I heard a clink and realized they must have been drinking coffee.

            “Look,” Aunt Izzy said. “When they first started dating and she went back to Phoenix, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know how long it would last.” Liar. “I didn’t even know until Renee called and told me about this utterly devoted boy that had attached himself to Bella and refused to leave her room and his hot doctor dad. Seriously, who else in Forks could she have been talking about?” she snickered. “I wanted to lay low on it, see where it would go. Then they moved and we all know how that went. I made a visit to my dearest nephew when I came home and almost demanded to know what he did, but when I got there, he looked as bad as her.” That made me pause; had she’d seen Edward? He told me he’d been tracking Victoria.

“He told me how he broke her heart intentionally, hoping she’d move on and find someone better than him. He thought that way it would be easier on her. Remember, Charlie, he’s still just a boy. A stubborn one at that. He truly thought that was what was best for her. I tried to give him some advice without telling him about Bella. He didn’t know until today that I knew her, so don’t feel left out,” Aunt Izzy tried to soothe. “He just kept making himself believe it was for the best, until Alice couldn’t take it anymore and came back for a visit. Then Rosalie twisted around what Alice had told her and said that Bella was suicidal. Edward flipped out and called, only Jake was here and answered the phone and said you’d gone to the funeral. Edward, in a panic, thought Bella had really killed herself and freaked out. He almost killed himself, too, until Rose told Alice what she’d done and Alice left with Bella. There was no doubt in Bella’s mind Charlie, she had to save Edward, even if he didn’t want her. They came to L.A. and everything was straightened out. Bella and Edward fixed things, Charlie. They both realized they’d done some crazy things, but they’re kids. They don’t intend on leaving each other any time soon.”

I could almost hear the wheels turning as Charlie picked up on Aunt Izzy’s subtle implication. “What do you mean? You make it sound like they’re getting married.”

Silence.

“You’re kidding, right?”

More silence.

“Please, tell me you’re kidding, Is,” Charlie pleaded.

Aunt Izzy sighed. “Nothing is finalized. Yet. It’s a very real possibility, Charlie.”

There was a faint thud and I thought Charlie may have gone down, but then I realized he had just stood up. I could hear him pacing. “She’s too young.”

“She’s not pushing for it.”

I heard Charlie stop. “What do you mean?”

“I talked with Edward. He wants to marry her. She’s hesitant. She’d just as soon live with him.”

I could hear Charlie making some sort of choking noise but reasoned with myself that Aunt Izzy wouldn’t tell him anything that would cause him to die.

“What do you mean ‘live with him’?” Charlie demanded.

“Did you really think they would be apart at college? The whole family is going to be there. They’re renting a house. How long do you think they’d keep separate bedrooms?” I heard the teasing in Aunt Izzy’s voice even as I blushed and Charlie sputtered.

“Bella-”

“Is a young woman who is with the man she loves and intends to spend forever with him. She sees no reason to wait. She also has an unhealthy fear of marriage. Edward wants to marry her for all the right reasons, but Bella is scared, Charlie. She’s seen you and Renee, and God knows Renee hasn’t helped matters by telling her to wait until she’s 30.”

“It’s a good age.”

“30 is a fantastic age, however, do you really expect them to be together for over 10 years and do nothing?” Again with the sputtering. “It’ll happen one way or another, Charlie, I just think you would be more comfortable if it happened within the bonds of holy matrimony. That’s all I’m saying.”

There was more silence and then a sigh and the chair squeaked as Charlie sat back down. “I know you don’t want to lose your little girl, Charlie, but you’re not. She and Edward have the type of love people will be talking about for years. They’ll be happy.”

“At least she had one good role model growing up,” Charlie said, his voice gruff. “I’ll always be thankful for you and Alex taking care of her so much.”

“Don’t speak of it; we love her as if she were our own. Are you okay with this? I don’t want you to be blindsided.”

“I wish I had more time with her. But it’d never be enough, you know?”

“Edward will take good care of her, Charlie. He’ll be well able to provide for her and he loves her more than anything. He only wants what’s best for her.”

“Yeah, he’s a good kid. Did you raise him, too?”

Aunt Izzy’s lilting laugh filtered through the house. “I had a hand in it.” I heard her chair move back. “I’m going to check on Bella. She’s probably stuck in a book. I’ll see you in the morning, Charlie.”

“Night, Is.”  I scrambled into my room, trying not to get caught by Charlie and knowing it was already too late for Aunt Izzy. Sure enough, she came in with a smirk. “Haven’t I told you it’s rude to eavesdrop?”

I at least had the good grace to blush. “Sorry.”

She waved her hand dismissively and rummaged through her bag until she pulled out some pajamas. I looked away as she changed and then back up as she sat on my bed with me. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

At first, I didn’t think there would be too much since we connected regularly with email, but once I started talking, it was difficult to stop. I told her about everything from graduation and how everyone suddenly we decided we were best friends to how I feared I never would have gotten in to Dartmouth if Edward hadn’t bribed them to how scared I’d been today with the fight and the relief I’d felt at finally having Victoria, James, and Laurent all gone and how worried I was about Jake being injured, though everyone assured me he was fine. From there, I went on to discuss my feelings about Jake and how I loved him but not how he loved me and certainly not the same way as I loved Edward. I told her how Jake had helped me out when Edward was gone and how naturally I was grateful and affectionate about that but when it came down to it I always knew who my choice was. Aunt Izzy shared a similar story about when she was human and she’d thought Uncle Alex had been killed and how her best friend had offered to step into the role of husband for her, but she’d turned him down and then Alex came back and a few years later her friend had found the love of his life. It was nice to have someone who could relate and I didn’t have to make up something to cover the mythical aspect of my situations. Of course, from Jacob we hedged into when Edward was gone and I’d asked if she really had talked to Edward and she told me no, as it wasn’t feasible and I felt better that he really had been unreachable. And from there, we went on to how I’d felt at that point and she managed, unlike any other, to get out one of the main reasons I’d been so bad was the fact that there was nothing left for me to remember him by. She explained that was most likely for Edward’s selfish inner conscious, not wanting me to move on and then she became angry that he’d denied me a box. When I questioned her, she informed me that every girl needs a box to get over their heartbreak of a first love. If I’d had a box, she reasoned, I could have had a girl’s night and gotten over it much quicker. 

“That’s it!” Aunt Izzy exclaimed.

I shrank back a little. “What?”

“We’re having a late tradition. I’ll help you properly mourn for your break up with Edward. Don’t give me that look. Trust me, you need this. And yes, I know you and Edward are together now, but trust me. You can’t move on properly. You just can’t. And it may help you with Jake, too. Now go to sleep; we’ve been up for hours. I’ll plan everything.”

With that on my mind, I figured I’d have a heck of a time getting to sleep, but talking about everything left me spent and I barely felt Aunt Izzy pull the blanket more snug around me and kiss my forehead before I passed out.