Every Time It's You 32

“Yay presents!!” Kate cheered as Isabella appeared suddenly in the living room of their home. Isabella took a second to get her bearings and when she looked around she noticed that it was filled with a lot of relieved looking vampires. Usually when she came back from her trip it was Tanya and Rosalie hanging out waiting for her but this time it was their entire coven plus Alec, Jane, Liam, Siobhan and even Marcus, Didyme and Sulpicia. Dropping her bags on the floor she was engulfed in a crushing hug by Tanya.

“You can’t leave me again.” Tanya sobbed.

“How long was I gone?” Isabella asked. She had never received this kind of reception when she came back from her previous trips.

“You have been gone 42 days.” Rosalie told her anxiously waiting for her turn to hug her friend.

“42 days. That doesn’t make sense. My watch said I was only gone for a little over two weeks.” Isabella held her watch up to look at it. It seemed to still be working just fine.

“I’m going to go inform the others that Isabella is back.” Alec said. He needed a minute to get his emotions under control. He and his sister had been overwhelmed with their grief as they both feared the worst had happened to their friend.

“I’ll go with you.” Jane wanted a moment alone as well. Isabella was one of her best fiends and Jane had been almost as frantic as Tanya and Rosalie as the days went by and she still hadn’t returned.

“So what kept you so long this time?” Emmett asked. He just like everyone else was happy Isabella was home. As the days passed with no word from her his mate had become almost catatonic. She got to the point of refusing to go hunting for fear of missing out on any news. Emmett had brought her back game to feed from and when she refused to even do that they had to force her to drink the replenishing liquid to make sure she didn’t starve.

“Sweetheart I’m alright.” Isabella was trying to reassure her mate but by the way her words just made Tanya sob harder she knew it didn’t work.

“I can’t lose you.” Tanya clung tighter burying her head into Isabella’s neck.

“You won’t lose me. I was able to prepare the others and we handled the danger easily. Why I didn’t even get to kill that many vampires.” Isabella told her.

Rosalie growled. “What do you mean danger? You said you were only going to deal with uniting mates not that you were going to deal with danger.”

“I did go to unite mates. After I finished that I was pulled to that dimension I told you about where I had to find everyone’s mates and teach them about their gifts and abilities. Their Isabella and Tanya were being hunted by a newborn army.” Isabella quickly added before the others could interrupt. “I am fine. We had not only the same group of vampires from the last time I visited but I trained the wolf shifters and they helped as well.”

“You got to fight with wolf shifters?” Kate asked.

“Yes by the time I was done with them they made it out of the fight with no injuries or death.” Isabella said.

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re home and you can’t leave for a long time.” Tanya pulled out of their hug and stepped back letting Rosalie have her turn. She may have been jealous over the other blond’s bond with her mate but she knew that Rosalie had been just as distraught as she had been.

Rosalie immediately rushed into Isabella’s arms. “You can’t go anywhere again. We can’t lose you.”

“I will have to go but I will always come back.” Isabella promised.

“Ok enough of this lovely dovey stuff. Let’s get to the bags you brought back.” Kate motioned to all the stuff Isabella had brought back. “Do any of those have presents for us?”

Sulpicia chuckled. “It’s good to see you are well Isabella. We will leave you to your reunion but please check in when you can. Athenodora, Caius and Aro would like to see for themselves that you are well.”

“Of course Cia. It may be a couple of days but I’ll be by. I have some things to give each of you.” Isabella pulled out of her hug with Rosalie and led her to the couch where Tanya immediately pulled her on her lap with Rosalie grabbing her legs and putting them on her lap.

“So tell us all about the newborn army.” Emmett was excited to hear about Isabella’s latest adventure.

“Well it was all rather boring if I’m being honest. None of the group knew how to fight so I had to train them and the wolves. That took a lot of time” Isabella said.

“I bet you were annoyed with that.” Irina knew how little free time Isabella had. If she had to train that many people to fight she probably didn’t get any down time.

“It’s not that it was annoying, it was that I was hoping to come home. Waiting for the army to come was tedious. The fact that that dimensions Carlisle and Eleazar wouldn’t stop asking me questions made me want to leave them all to their doom.” Isabella quickly corrected herself.”Well maybe just the two of them. Everyone else was alright.”

“How long were you with them?” Liam asked.

“I was only with them for about two weeks. The dimension before only 4 days. I knew that time was slower in the first dimension but I think it may have been a lot slower than I originally thought. I will have to see if there is something is wrong with my watch. Maybe something interfered with it.” Isabella mused. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened as certain technology wasn’t compatible with each dimension.

“So what was the source of the newborn army?” Maggie asked. She was always fascinated with hearing about Isabella’s travels. She just wished that this time Isabella hadn’t been gone that long. They may not have been as distressed as Tanya and Rosalie but the four members of her coven had been beside themself on how to help out. Until this happened it didn’t seem possible that Isabella wouldn’t come back and the reality that it could happen had shaken up everyone who knew Isabella.

“Well you know that Laurent was claiming a false mate bond with their Irina?” Isabella smiled hearing Irina groan in embarrassment.” You weren’t alone in having a false mate claim. At least yours wasn’t with Edward.”

“That’s true.” Irina did feel better about that fact.

“So Laurent was working with Victoria who is the red head that is mated to the tracker James.” When the members of the room nodded Isabella continued. “Apparently James had got it in his head that hunting Bella was a good idea.”

“I’ll kill him.” Tanya hissed.

“That group did. That is why Victoria sent Laurent to our coven to get information on the Cullens. In her grief she figured she couldn’t take out the vampires by herself so she created a bunch of newborns to kill the whole lot of them.”Isabella explained.

“So you were pulled there to protect Tanya and Bella from a newborn army?” Rosalie didn’t like that. She knew Isabella could take care of herself but her friend was also known for protecting everyone. Isabella could have been easily hurt if she was trying to save another person’s life.

Isabella nodded. “We didn’t know where Victoria was keeping them so we couldn’t just go and eliminated them. Also with the lack of fighting ability a few of them would have probably died. They all were about a skilled as a bunch of newborns. Well Jasper, Liam And Siobhan had some fighting skills. It was just that they weren’t using their natural skills properly. Their Siobhan wasn’t even using her strength at all.”

“She doesn’t rely on her strength?” This surprised Siobhan because she was the strongest vampire she knew. It was her strength that made her the skilled fighter she was.

“They didn’t even know that vampire’s bodies could change.They were under the impression that they were frozen in the state they were turned.” Isabella told them.

“Do they not have scientist and other scholars like we do?”Maggie asked.

“I got the impression that the vampire community there didn’t do much other than try to blend in with the humans and not get on the radar of their leaders.” Isabella said.

“That’s kind of sad.” Irina couldn’t imagine just being content with not knowing what limits vampires had. Although Isabella had introduced them to many new things they hadn’t known about, the royals had researchers that spent their lives studying and finding different vampires to learn how they lived.

“It really was an unimpressive dimension. Their technology was primitive as well. Other than the video game system their Emmett sent our Emmett there wasn’t much in the way of tech to bring back.” Isabella told them.

“Emmet sent me something?!” Emmett asked excitedly. Isabella always brought them gifts when she returned but never had their other dimensional selves sent gifts to them.

“He did. So did all your other dimensional selves. Everyone in the room has gifts from their other selves. I also have some for the Cullens and Eleazar and Carmen.” Isabella didn’t look forward to having to visit the Cullens because Edward would be there but she wouldn’t deny them their gifts.

“Did you have to deal with their Edward again?” Tanya was of the same mindset as her mate. She didn’t want to have to deal with Edward or the way Carlisle and Esme babied him.

Isabella shook her head. “Ever since he found out Bella wasn’t his mate he took off and hasn’t been back since. Their Tanya is convinced he is planning something. Their Bella is human and we all know how he acts when I’m human.”

“Why haven’t they changed her yet?” Rosalie asked.

“Forget about that. Lets get to the presents. What did me give me?!” If Kate remembered right Isabella had told her their Kate had been just like her so she hoped it was something fun she sent.

“The cardboard box is yours Kate. I don’t know what’s in it though.” Isabella debated on whether she should send Kate out of the room to open it just in case it was dangerous.

Kate opened the box excitedly,confused when inside was 12 cans with a note on top that said aim for the head. Pulling out one of the cans she read the label. “What is silly string?”

“I haven’t a clue.” Isabella said.

“Huh.” Kate popped the top on the can, shook it and pointed it at Tanya.

“Kate don’t you dare.” Tanya began only to be sprayed by a stream of silly string.

“Oh man that is so awesome!!” Emmett cheered.”Can I try one?”

“Kate stop it right this second!” Tanya demanded as she tried to swat the string away from her body. All she was accomplishing was getting it stuck to her fingers. Deciding to kill her sister Tanya pulled Isabella off of her lap and rushed after Kate. “I’m going to kill you!!”

“Emmett you are not touching that.” Rosalie told him as she happily pulled Isabella onto her own lap. She wanted to take every chance she had to have contact with her friend because she knew Tanya would get the first few days alone with Isabella now that she was back.

“Well what did I get then?” Emmett asked.

“First off the backpack I was wearing is full of food that needs to be put in the freezer. I was introduced to new kinds of seafood that their Alice was kind enough to buy some to freeze so I could bring it home.” Isabella said.

“I’ll get on that.” Irina volunteered. She loved when Isabella brought home exotic foods from her travels. The fact that Isabella had found a way for them to eat was impressive enough but Irina and the others were grateful that Isabella went out of her way to get new things for them to try.

“Can you let me up?” Isabella asked Rosalie. Isabella sighed when Rosalie shook her head. “Then Emmett would you be so kind to bring me the bags.

“No problem.” Emmett grabbed the bags and handed the first one to Isabella.

Isabella opened the bag and handed it to Emmett. “This is from your Emmett. It’s called a Nintendo switch. He wanted to send you other game consoles but I wasn’t sure how we would be able to use them with our technology. This one you charge a battery for so I figured Rosalie could find a way to charge it for you.”

“Sweet.” Emmett rummaged through the bag looking at all the games inside. He also noticed a couple of books on the history of Nintendo and video games as well. “He got me a ton of games.”

“He was very excited about giving this stuff to you. I also promised him that if I had to go back I would ask you to give him a gift to send back in return.” Isabella said.

“No problem.” Emmett was already thinking of the many things he could send to the other Emmett.

“Thank you.” Isabella said to Maggie when she handed the next bag to her. Opening it she pulled out a book and handed it to Liam.

Liam read the title out loud.”The art of war. This looks interesting.”

“That Liam thought that if you were anything like him you would enjoy reading a book that had been written many centuries ago that was the basis for most warfare throughout the ages.” Isabella pulled out package this time and handed it to Maggie.

“This smells amazing.” Maggie said as she unwrapped her package. “Chocolate?”

“When I was eating with them Maggie mentioned that she had never had chocolate before because during her human years only the wealthy could afford it. Learning that we did not have the plants to make it she thought you would enjoy trying it.” Isabella had hoped to be able to get some seeds to grow the trees herself but wasn’t able to find them. Next time she went back she would have to get a couple immature trees to bring home for Tanya to grow.

“Well it smells amazing.” Maggie was going to wait to try it because she knew now that Isabella was back they would have a big feast to celebrate. She didn’t want to miss out on it.

“Yes it does.” Irina agreed as she took her seat next to Maggie. Isabella handed her a box which she opened to reveal a bunch of books. Looking at a couple of the covers she chuckled. “Lesbian romance novels.”

“Irina in that dimension was a hopeless romantic. I think she thought you were as well so she sent you some of her favorites.” Isabella was also reminded of Irina’s private request. “She also asked me to see if you would help me find the perfect engagement ring for her to give her Maggie.”

“I will happily help you with that.” Irina was touched that her counterpart trusted her with something so important.

“That means they expect you to go back.” Rosalie didn’t like the idea of Isabella going anywhere.

“She isn’t leaving again.” Tanya said as she and a very disheveled looking Kate returned. “I won’t allow it.

Isabella held back her reply as she knew that her mate was emotional from her long absence. Taking the next bag from Maggie Isabella opened it and handed it to Tanya. “I picked these out for you my love.”

“Thank you sweetheart.” Tanya kissed Isabella softly as she looked through the bag and saw a box of seeds and books on plants laying on a pile of clothing and other small boxes.

“Their Tanya also sent you a letter that is in there.” Isabella told her.

“What did you get me?” Rosalie asked.

Looking through the other bags putting aside the ones that weren’t for Rosalie Isabella settled on the last on. “This is a gift from your Rosalie.”

“Beginning robotics.” Rosalie chuckled when she pulled out a box. “It’s so primitive.”

“They were a little to interested when I told them about the robots I brought back for you. Rosalie actually wants me to bring her back some of the research.” Isabella wasn’t keen on the idea and wasn’t sure she would fulfill that request.

“Well you don’t have to worry about disappointing her because you will never be going back.” Tanya said as she put her bag down and pulled Isabella back onto her lap.

“Yeah and it definitely wouldn’t be fair if you gave strangers the blueprints to make killer robots when you refuse to let us even play with the ones Isabella gave you.” Kate had tried everything she could to get Rosalie to let her have one of the robots but she had been denied each time. The one time she had tried to steal one she was without her hands for a week.

“No one is getting that information away from me and I told you Kate when I finish working on the robotic dog you can play with that.” Rosalie was very close to perfecting the prototype and predicted she would have a working model within a few weeks. Her plan was to sell them to the public eventually but first she had to secure a few patents on the robotic technology she was using.

“Can the dog shoot fire though?” That was the only way in Kate’s mind it would actually be cool.

“No but it will be programed to do tricks.” Rosalie told her.

“I’m sure it will be amazing.” Isabella said cutting off Kate’s argument. She had no doubt that Kate would fall in love with the dog and want a whole pack of them for herself.

“Now that I have shared her with the rest of you it’s time for me to get some alone time with my mate.” Tanya had waited long enough. She needed to connect with her mate and reestablish their bond.

“How long will you be?” Rosalie didn’t want to be away from Isabella now that they just got her back.

“I’m not going to voluntarily travel anywhere for at least a few months. I promise. We will have plenty of time to spend together.” Isabella knew that everyone was feeling a bit on edge do to her disappearance and time spent together would be the only way to reassure them that she was alright.

“Ok.” Rosalie didn’t like it but knew it would just cause problems for Isabella if she fought Tanya on who got to be with Isabella first.

“While I’m away why don’t you go through the rest of your bag. I picked out some things for you as well.Also one of the other bags is filled with clothes that are for anyone who wants them so you can pick out what you want.” Isabella told them.

“Sweet.” Kate jumped up and made her way over to the bag Isabella pointed at. “I hope some are as outrageous as what you got from the mere people.”

“Kate those are for everyone. You will share.” Isabella knew that if Kate had her way she would take everything for herself. Even items that didn’t fit her.

“Yeah, yeah I know.”Kate was still going to make sure she got the best stuff. She along with everyone else knew that Isabella personally picked out clothing for Tanya and Rosalie and set it aside so it shouldn’t matter who got what was left.

“Anyway we will see you in a couple days.” Tanya impatiently pulled Isabella towards the staircase to lead them to their room with Isabella waving over her shoulder as she followed.

“Ok so usually if she is away for a long time we don’t see them for at least four days when she gets home. How long do you think until we see them this time?” Kate asked as she held a shirt up to look at.

“Leave them alone Kate.” Irina scolded her as she and Maggie took the bag of clothes from Kate to look through themselves. Isabella had impeccable taste and always brought back the best garments for them.

“I hope they aren’t gone for to long.” Rosalie grumbled. She needed to be around Isabella to reestablish her bond as well. It may not be romantic but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt as much if not more than when she was away from Emmett. She was actually ashamed to admit it did hurt more. Not that Rosalie would tell her mate that. Sighing she went back to the bag Isabella brought back. If she couldn’t be with Isabella it was at least nice to know she thought about Rosalie when she was gone.