They were all waiting in the huge white living room; when I walked through the door, they greeted me with a loud chorus of "Happy birthday, Bella!" while I blushed and looked down.

Alice, I assumed, had covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses. There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's grand piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents, and Alex's present too, I almost forgot about it.

It was a hundred times worse than I'd imagined. Edward, sensing my distress, wrapped an encouraging arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head.

Edward's parents, Carlisle, and Esme - impossibly youthful and lovely as ever - were the closest to the door. Esme hugged me carefully, her soft, caramel-colored hair brushing against my cheek as she kissed my forehead, and then Carlisle put his arm around my shoulders.

"Sorry about this, Bella," he stage-whispered. "We couldn't rein Alice in."

Lucia and Emmett stood behind them. Both of them shared wide grins.

"You haven't changed at all," Emmett said with mock disappointment. "I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced just like always."

"Thanks a lot, Emmett," I said, blushing deeper.

He laughed, "I have to step out for a second" - he paused to wink conspicuously at Alice - "Don't do anything funny while I'm gone."

"I'll try."

Alice let go of Jasper's hand and skipped forward, all her teeth sparkling in the bright light. Jasper smiled, too, but kept his distance. He lean, long and blonde, against the post at the foot of the stairs.

During the days we'd had to spend cooped up together in Phoenix, I'd thought he'd gotten over his aversion to me. But he'd gone back to exactly how he'd acted before - avoiding me as much as possible - the moment he was free from that temporary obligation to protect me. I knew it wasn't personal, just a precaution, and I tried not to be overly sensitive about it. Jasper had more trouble sticking to the Cullens' diet than the rest of them; the scent of human blood was much harder for him to resist than the others - he hadn't been trying as long.

Then there was Rosalie, Rosalie didn't smile, but at least she didn't glare. It had been months since I'd seen her; I'd forgotten how gloriously beautiful Rosalie was - it almost hurt to look at her.

"Time to open presents," Alice declared. She put her cool hand under my elbow and towed me to the table with the cake and the shiny packages.

I put on my best martyr face. "Alice, I know I told you I didn't want anything - "

"But I didn't listen," she interrupted, smug. "Open it." She took the camera from my hands and replaced it with a big, square silver box.

The box was so light that it felt empty. The tag on top said that it was from Emmett, Rosalie, Lucia, and Jasper. Self-consciously, I tore the paper off and then stared at the box it concealed.

It was something electrical, with lots of numbers in the name. I opened the box, hoping for further illumination. But the box was empty.

"Um... thanks."

Rosalie actually cracked a smile, just a little one. Jasper laughed. "It's a stereo for your truck," he explained. "Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it."

Alice was always one step ahead of me. "Thanks, Jasper, Lucia, Rosalie," I told them, grinning as I remembered Edward's complaints about my radio this afternoon - all a setup, apparently. "Thanks, Emmett!" I called more loudly.

I heard his booming laugh from my truck, and I couldn't help laughing, too.

"Alex's next" Alice said handing me the only box that wasn't shiny or silver. It was still as heavy as earlier and I dreaded what it could be. With a sigh and a glance at both Edward and Alice, I assumed would know what it was, but they both held the same expression of excitement. I opened the box. I couldn't see what I was looking at until I started sifting through it.

There was a jar of dirt, with a tag that said, 'ingredients'

A stick, with a not that said 'greatest weapon'

Written on the box was 'transportation'

Then a toy truck with a note that said 'in case spaceship isn't enough or real truck fails'

Finally, there was a piece of paper 'Congratulations, you've just been given the greatest thing in the world. The best toys a child could ask for'

'p.s. Age is just another level, you can always be a kid at heart, it's all about perception'

At this Rosalie actually smiled, like a full smile, the others chuckled as I held up the toy truck that was almost an exact replica of my own. I couldn't help but to smile as well, I did say no presents, but I think this might be one of the best.

"Open mine and Edward's next," Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. She held a small, flat square in her hand.

I turned to give Edward a basilisk glare. "You promised."

Before he could answer, Emmett bounded through the door. "Just in time!" he crowed. He pushed in behind Jasper, who had also drifted closer than usual to get a good look.

"I didn't spend a dime," Edward assured me. He brushed a strand of hair from my face, leaving my skin tingling from his touch.

I inhaled deeply and turned to Alice. "Give it to me," I sighed. Emmett chuckled with delight. I took the little package, rolling my eyes at Edward while I stuck my finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape.

"Shoot," I muttered when the paper sliced my finger; I pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut.

It all happened very quickly then. Edward turned towards me; his face feral. Lucia pushed me back into the table, it fell, as I did, scattering the cake and the presents, the flowers, and the plates. I landed in the mess of shattered crystal.

Lucia slammed into Edward pulling him back, Esme helped while Rosalie and Emmett restrained Jasper. The sound was like the crash of boulders in a rockslide.

There was another noise, a grisly snarling that seemed to be coming from deep in Jasper's chest. Jasper tried to shove past Emmett, but Emmett had him in a massive steel grip. Edward was likewise in a similar position with Lucia holding him. Which seemed impossible since she was just as small as me.

They struggled on, Edward more so; his wild, empty eyes focused only on me. Beyond the shock, there was also pain. I'd tumbled down to the floor by the piano, with my arms thrown out instinctively to catch my fall, into the jagged shards of glass. Only now did I feel the searing, stinging pain that ran from my wrist to the crease inside my elbow.

Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm - into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires.

Carlisle was the only one who stayed calm. Centuries of experience in the emergency room were evident in his quiet, authoritative voice.

"Emmett, get Jasper outside."

Unsmiling for once, Emmett nodded. "Come on, Jasper."

Jasper was stopping his struggle to get to me, it seemed he was fighting against himself more than Emmett's unbreakable grasp.

Edward was twisting around, reaching toward his sister with his bared teeth, his eyes still past reason. Rosalie, her divine face strangely smug, stepped in front of Edward - keeping a careful distance from his teeth - and helped Lucia wrestle him through the glass door that Esme held open, one hand pressed over her mouth and nose.

Carlisle knelt beside me, leaning close to examine my arm. I could feel the shock frozen on my face, and I tried to compose it. "Here, Carlisle," Alice said, handing him a towel, she was the only one still in the house.

He shook his head. "Too much glass in the wound." He reached over and ripped a long, thin scrap from the bottom of the white tablecloth. He twisted it around my arm above the elbow to form a tourniquet. The smell of the blood was making me dizzy. My ears rang.

"Bella," Carlisle said softly. "Do you want me to drive you to the hospital, or would you like me to take care of it here?"

"Here, please," I whispered. If he took me to the hospital, there would be no way to keep this from Charlie.

"I'll get your bag," Alice said. Carlisle, lifted me effortlessly, keeping the pressure steady as he carried me to the kitchen table.

"How are you doing, Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm fine." My voice was reasonably steady, which pleased me. Alice was there. Carlisle's black bag was already on the table, a small but brilliant desk light plugged into the wall. Carlisle pulled up another chair. He went to work at once.

A numb, dead feeling was spreading through my arm.

Though it erased the sting, it reminded me of the gash, and I watched Carlisle's face carefully to distract me from what his hands were doing. His hair gleamed gold in the bright light as he bent over my arm. I could feel the faint stirrings of unease in the pit of my stomach, but I was determined not to let my usual squeamishness get the best of me. There was no pain now, just a gentle tugging sensation that I tried to ignore. No reason to get sick like a baby.

If she hadn't been in my line of sight, I wouldn't have noticed Alice give up and steal out of the room. With a tiny, apologetic smile on her lips, she disappeared through the kitchen doorway.

"Well, that's everyone," I sighed. "I can clear a room, at least."

"It's not your fault," Carlisle comforted me with a chuckle. "It could happen to anyone."

"Could" I repeated. "But it usually just happens to me."