Twilight: But it's a Thriller and I Never Read Twilight

Chapter 42: The Bell Jar Room

When we returned to the SeaTac airport, Alice was already waiting for us. It seemed, she knew the exact moment we had decided to come home and had come to meet us to make sure we didn't arrive alone. She stood before the baggage claim as we stepped down the escalator wearing a pure white ensemble like she had come from a baptism to greet us.

Edward directed me toward her, pressing his palm against the small of my back to lead me across the busy floor. I had spent the flight in a dizzy state of discomfort, and I was still discombobulated with the change of time zone and the change of temperature. I stopped before Alice, folding my hands in front of me.

"It's good to see you back," Alice said. "I'm sure you're looking forward to getting home."

Nothing about her seemed to give anything away. If she knew about the fetus, she didn't say anything. I leaned forward into her hug, placing my chin against her shoulder so I could reach her ear. "Do you know if there's..." I couldn't finish the question. I didn't know what to say. How should she know I was pregnant before I did, but that was Alice. She knew everything.

Slowly, she pulled me back, keeping her arms firmly on my shoulders. There was a sad look in her eye, and I couldn't figure out if that meant she knew I was pregnant, or she knew I was not.

"I can't see you right now, Bella," she told me. "Whatever is happening is something I cannot see."

I stared at her, hoping she was joking or that she would see something right then as she was looking at me, but her expression didn't change. We were all in the dark now. Edward came up behind me as we stood, contemplating a future Alice couldn't predict. He held my arm to keep me close as the crowds parted around us.

"I'll take your bag," Alice told me. "We'll get this all sorted out when we get home."

Home. I let her take my bag and followed close behind as Edward kept in line with me. After all this time, we were going home, back to Forks where I belonged. I knew that no matter how scared I was of what I thought was in my gut, I would have a family, a home to surround me. I'd have that forest where my heart rested.

Edward drove us home in the Volvo, Alice next to him in the passenger seat and me in the back, holding my belly where that thing rested. I closed my eyes for the long way home and found time passing at a snail's pace. It was nearing late afternoon by the time we passed into the forest I called home.

As those trees rose up around me, I felt a warmth I hadn't felt in all the time we'd been on the isle. Forks brought a peace into my thoughts that nothing could match. Even Edward's usual presence didn't have the same calming effect. In fact, Edward sent my head and heart into a frenzy that couldn't easily be recovered from.

I watched every inch of those trees as we drove through them, to old streets and through Forks. The old town looked just the same as I had left it, but something was so very different now. All the places I'd known had an old sheen to them like they were pictures in a history book. I looked at this place that held so many memories for me and it felt like I'd already lost it. Nothing had changed in Forks, but I had. I was a different person entirely.

The woods past Elk Creek held that same tint. I watched them, wanting to reach out and touch their needles and leaves as I sat trapped in the confines of the car. When we finally pulled into the driveway of the Cullen house, I was near to bursting at the seams. I'd missed this place, the smell of this place, and I hadn't realized how much I loved Forks until I'd come back, having been without it for weeks.

I opened the door as the car was parked, but Alice was already there to help me out. She offered me a hand out of the vehicle and up to my feet. I took it, letting her guide me up the path toward the big glass doors. Before we reached them however, there were already people stepping out to meet us.