CHAPTER FIVE

PLANNING

Carlisle was sitting quietly on the couch as we walked into the living room of the main Cullen house. We had decided to meet here after we had let Charlie, Jake and Nessie know the news. The site of him by himself was unusual, and made me wonder what the new place was going to look like. I guessed it would be flash, especially since some of the others had left early to get things ready. The Cullen’s had a tendency to be a little too humble about certain things such as material items, so I guessed that get ready meant major renovations.

“So how did Charlie take the news,” he asked casually, before fully turning around to face us.

“Rather well,” Edward announced, whilst glancing at me as an indication to explain further.

“Ah, yeah!” I said, as pumped sounding as I could be. I was surprisingly tired, which was weird considering I didn’t need to sleep. “Charlie has accepted a new job in a town that will only be two hours away from us,” I explained. Feeling emotionally drained from everything over the last two days had made me numb, and Charlie’s announcement
hadn’t really sunken in yet.

“That’s great news!” Carlisle said, smiling at me in particular, “and what about Renesmee?” he continued.

“She needed some space,” I replied. “The concept is totally foreign to her.”

“And it didn’t help that she overheard some of the conversation Bella and I were having about it this morning,” Edward added. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was feeling the same way as me – tired. It was turning out to be a long day, and I really hoped that there would be no more draining emotional situations for a while. We sat on the couch opposite Carlisle.

“We still need to go through things with Nessie,” Edward said.

“Yes,” Carlisle replied. “This is going to be something quite new for her.”

The more casual conversation was a nice change to how the earlier parts of the day had gone. I hated the way we were forced to tell Nessie this morning, we barely had the chance to discuss things with her; and whilst the visit to Charlie’s was exciting and more positive, my brain really was overwhelmed with excitement about having the chance to continue to see him like I could in Forks. I was simultaneously trying to figure out the depth of his relationship with Sue, as the way he talked gave the impression that she would be coming as well. Seth was about to leave home for university, so I got that she no longer had any commitments to her children in this way, but I really hadn’t gauged the depth of their relationship – Charlie was all-so private.

“Esme tells me that the renovations to the house in Seward are going well, but they still have plenty to do as the place is rather run-down” Carlisle said; “she’s grateful for the extra time you guys are taking to get there.”

That word renovations reminded me again of the Cullen’s wealth, my wealth, “what is the new place like?” I asked.

“Its an old boarding house, built in the early 1900’s. Its similar to this place in that its more secluded from the rest of the city, on the outskirts of a small district just outside of Seward called Bear Creek,” he replied.

I was caught-up by this - boarding house; surely this meant it was going to be rather large. My mind began generating different images of mansions, with many rooms, but I really didn’t know what to expect. I couldn’t imagine actually living in a place larger than our addressed home in Forks.

Before I could dwell on this any further I heard the engine to Jacobs Rabbit – his pride and joy of a car – coming up the driveway to the house. I glanced up at Edward, and he smiled at me; “she is rather excited about things now,” he whispered.

This was an unexpected relief. I wasn’t sure how long it would take Nessie to come back to her usual, over eager, optimistic personality – but I didn’t expect her to do so this quickly!

“I think the three of us should drive somewhere tomorrow, Seattle perhaps? It would be nice to be able to relax and spend some quality time with Nessie, plus we can discuss some things about high school life with her. You and Jacob will be fine as you’ve both very recently been in this environment, but its still so new to Nessie,” Edward said.

“That’d be great,” I replied, smiling at him. It felt like it had been a long time since we had spent some decent quality time together, just Edward, Nessie and I; and we needed it. especially considering the news of moving that was sweeping in on us extremely fast.
“Hey guys,” her voice chimed as she entered the front door, interrupting my thoughts. Jacob was next to her as they entered the living room together, and seemed to be filled with equal enthusiasm. “So what this place like?” she asked.

“Well, its similar to Forks,” Carlisle answered, “approximately 3000 residents, it has similar in weather – its by the sea though, so there is a fishing community, but we will be living further away from this and closer to the wildlife parks in Bear Creek, just outside of Seward.”

“Wow!” Renesmee’s jaw dropped, “so we can hunt bears easily then, as well as access the sea? That’s awesome!”

We all laughed.

“Why don’t you both come take a seat?” Edward said, “what else do you two want to know?”

“What’s happening with school? How does that part all work,” Jacob asked.

“You and Nessie will be in the same year group,” Carlisle answered, “with three years to go until you leave high school.” Renesmee and Jacob grinned at one another. “Edward, Bella and Alice will enter at two years left, and Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper will be in their senior year.”

“Will we be living together? What about the fact that I look a lot different to you guys?” Jacob questioned, sounding a little sceptical now.

“Well, here in Forks people believe that Esme and I have adopted our children, and we intend to do the same in Seward. This seems to be most effective judging from all the other places we have lived as well,” Carlisle said.

“Cool,” Jacob said, and he turned to face Nessie, “I guess I can beat you up now sis,” he joked.

“I’ll beat you any day,” Nessie replied, with an even bigger grin on her face than before. It was really nice to see them both happy about the situation now.

“Well you two wouldn’t be siblings;” Edward said, smiling - I guessed at their joy as well. “Jacob, Charlie is moving as well, to another town which happens to be near Seward, so we won’t be coming back to Forks at all really; however, how would you feel about flying back to see Billy every second weekend? That way we could introduce you Carlisle’s friend’s son who has been sent away from home for discipline reasons or something – it would justify anyone wondering why you left the area, and you would be able to see your Dad more.”

Jacobs face went serious for a moment as he processed what Edward had to say. “That, ah, sounds great,” he said, “I didn’t think I was going to be able to see him anywhere near that often; thanks!”

I squeezed Edwards’s hand. I was so happy at this; for the first time since this news had been broken I felt one-hundred percent, genuine happiness towards the idea. “This is going to be great!” I said. From the way that everyone smiled back at this I could tell that we were all feeling the same. Renee always use to tell me that change is always a good thing, it usually doesn’t seem like it at first though. She was right! For the rest of the afternoon and late into the evening we discussed our future together in Seward, and listened a lot to Carlise about what the place was like. Finally, life seemed to be back to normal, we were able to relax and simply enjoys one another’s company.

When we were back at our homely cottage that would always be my favourite place, and Edward and I were alone in our room, he lifted my chin towards his face so he could kiss me. We kissed softly at first, but his taste, his smell was so delectable that I wanted more. It was familiar yet somehow new at the same time. I felt electric sparks penetrate throughout my body, and my desire for him became an intense need. Our kiss became more passionate, and Edward pulled me closer against his body with sudden fierceness that would have broken my bones if I were still human. I could tell that we were both feeling the same feelings, love, relief, happiness; it felt completely new, like the first time Edward and I entered this house, our second honeymoon and our first chance to be together both as vampires. As we continued kissing I ran my hand through his hair and gripped a bunch of it. I heard my clothes tear as Edward ripped them off my back, and I did the same to his only to feel his soft skin against mine, no longer cold, but perfectly balanced in temperature. He pulled out of our kiss for a moment.

“Bella you are gorgeous,” he murmured.

I didn’t respond to this through words, instead I pushed him to the floor next to the white bed and continued to kiss him. He was my very own perfect god, my perfectly sculpted statue. I felt as though I couldn’t get close enough to him, and our passion and desire for each other only became more intense as the night wore on. I loved that I could have endless love with Edward as a vampire, and that I didn’t tire from physical exhaustion. I was lost in my desire for him, and more than willing to be lost in passion with him for eternity.

When sunlight began to fill the sky Edward slowed things down, bringing me back into reality. He ran a finger lightly down my cheek and circled it a little on my neck. He lightly kissed me again on my neck ending with a single kiss on my lips before we moved from our position on the floor. We got dressed for the day, then I lay with him on the white bed in a state of pure bliss until we heard that Nessie was up.

© Copyright to Jonathan Cameron