Chapter 2
***EDWARD’S POV***
Once I was sure my venom was inside her, I pulled away using all my strength.  I even stopped breathing, so I could resist.  Plus, I had sheer willpower on my side-- I could never allow myself to kill my Bella, no matter how thirsty I was.  Which I wasn’t; I had gone hunting to satiate my thirst before changing her.
Carlisle helped me pull away from her; his gentle hands on my shoulder guided me out of the room.  “Can you and Alice go get her things from her house?” he asked me.  Just then, Alice was there beside me.  She had a smug, I-told-you-so look on her face.  “We need to be in Alaska before she wakes up,” he continued.  “That will make it easier on her.”
“Can’t Alice and Jasper go?” I asked warily.  I didn’t want to leave Bella, not even for a moment, not even if she was unconscious.
She’ll be fine, Edward, Carlisle told me in his thoughts.  The rest of us will watch her.  Don’t worry.
I sighed and sulked off with Alice.  We swiftly walked out of the house, and then we were running.  There wasn’t many things to get from Charlie’s place; most of Bella’s belongings were already at our house.  I consoled myself by the thought that we probably wouldn’t need to be in there more than a minute.
I told you that you would change her, Alice taunted me in her mind. And you didn’t believe me!
I growled at her.  “Don’t give me any of your crap right now, Alice,” I warned her in a low voice.  “You have no idea… no idea at all… how hard that was for me! To take away her life like that!”
Alice gave me a sympathetic look.  “Edward, I know.  But you know that this is what she wants.  And even if you never admit it, I know you’re happy, too.  Now we’re all equal.  Now we’ll all be together forever.  You’re not the only one who loves Bella, Edward.”
I sighed reluctantly.  “You’re right.”  And she was right; there was a bit of happiness in me, despite my better judgment.  My Bella, my love, was now just like me.  And I could be with her forever.  Even if I couldn’t hear her heartbeat that I’d come to adore.  And, for a while anyway, she would still have some blood in her body, so I could have her scent.  Even though it was already embedded in my memory, another few months of it wouldn’t hurt.
We had reached Charlie’s house by then.  Alice and I climbed through Bella’s window-- well, it wasn’t her window anymore, but still-- without saying another word.  But, of course, Alice’s thoughts were going five hundred miles an hour.  I was relieved to know that Charlie was asleep, though there was no chance of him hearing us anyway.  We both grabbed an armful of things; clothes, books, and other miscellaneous items.  And we were faster than I’d hoped. We were out of there in no more than thirty seconds.
We ran back to our house, and I didn’t bother to let Alice keep up with me this time.  I sprinted ahead of her, all the sooner to see Bella again.  But I could hear her complaining in her thoughts.  I ignored her.
I burst into the house, dropping Bella’s things at the doorway.  I hurried up the stairs, followed by Alice.  When I got to my bedroom, I sighed in relief.  Bella was still asleep, apparently pain-free.  The whole family was in the room.  They all had different opinions on my changing her, without telling them exactly when.
…I wonder if there’s a chance she’ll still be clumsy, Emmett was thinking.  She was so fun to watch… I tuned him out, annoyed.
…and now Edward will be so happy, I just know it…  Esme was smiling.
…I should have known it, Rosalie was thinking bitterly. I should have guessed there would be no way she would take my advice.  Well, this bites…
…we’ll have to make sure there aren’t any humans around…  Jasper was obviously thinking about Bella being of a newborn status; he knew the newborns so well.  I would have to remember to ask Jasper for advice if the need arose.
…it was her decision.  I hope she made the right one… Carlisle was debating with himself internally.
I didn’t bother to listen to Alice.
“So,” Carlisle said aloud.  “We need to get everything around.  We’ll definitely need to be in a remote area of Alaska, and we need to be there before she awakes.  I already know of the house we’ll be using, and we can make more than one trip.  The first trip, we will run.  We will carry some of the furniture and other small things.  Edward, you will be carrying Bella.”
“Yes,” I agreed, continuing the plans I had already seen in his head.  “And then I will stay there with her.  The rest of you will make repeated trips with the rest of the furniture, then, when everything’s here, Carlisle, Rose, Alice, and Jasper will come back to get the cars.”
Alice pouted.  “Why do you get to just hang out there with Bella while we do all the work?”
I glared at her and continued.  “Then, when we’re all there, we’ll wait.”
Jasper looked at Carlisle.  “How long will it take her?”
“There’s no way to be sure,” Carlisle replied.  “But we’ll wait at least three days; and if we stop hearing the heartbeat, we’ll wake her up.”
I stiffened.  I was definitely going to miss her heartbeat.
“Well,” Emmett said, excited.  “Let’s go!”
“Yes, let’s,” I agreed. “The sooner the better.”
And so, each member grabbed some random furniture from the house; we let Emmett carry the piano.  I pulled Bella into my arms, carefully holding her and the gas tank at the same time.  With one final glance at my home in Forks, I started to run.
It took maybe an hour to run to the house I had seen in Carlisle’s mind.  It was a large house, almost identical to the one at home, though the back wasn’t all glass.  Alice, carrying my sofa, was the second to come; she was the second fastest.  She set the sofa in the room that would be mine before anyone else was there.  But as soon as I had Bella laying down, everyone else was there.  They all set their item in various places and left immediately.
I let Bella have the sofa so she could be fully laying, while I sat on the floor in front of her.  I never took my eyes off of her.  I was always on edge, watching for some sign of a problem.  But her face and body remained calm, while hour by hour her skin went paler.
It only took two trips per person to get everything here; then they got the cars.  I tuned out all of their thoughts, giving all my attention to my unconscious wife.  A random family member would sometimes come in my room, asking a question about Bella’s condition.  I would answer them without looking up.  Some came into my room more than others.  It seemed that Alice was constantly coming in and out, never ceasing.
It was a very long three days; I had lost track of the time.  So it caught me by surprise when Carlisle was suddenly kneeling beside me, his eyes telling me what he wanted to do.  I double checked, unsure.  I very gently leaned my head against Bella’s chest-- no heartbeat.
“It’s time,” Carlisle said.