When Dawn Breaks Chapter 14

"Do you think we could get away with skipping school and claiming you needed the day to prepare for your talk?" Rosalie asked Bella as they lay in bed the next morning, both of them on their sides playing with the kittens that were on the bed between them.

"We probably could if you really wanted to, but I think Mr. Regen would panic if we didn't show up." Bella said.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "He would probably drive straight to your house to make sure you were alive and when he didn't find you there he would make the police search for you."

Bella laughed. "He is rather keen on making tonight happen."

"Can you blame him?" Rosalie asked. "The event is sold out and he even sold standing room only tickets. The man probably has never seen that much money in his whole life."

"I'm kind of wishing I just made a donation and said no to this whole thing." Bella told her.

Rosalie reached out and pushed some of Bella's hair behind her ear. "Are you having second thoughts about doing this? We can cancel if you don't feel comfortable."

"No, it's not that I don't feel comfortable, it's that I don't like all the attention. We have more than enough to deal with being the White Tiger and now the humans are taking interest, I feel like we are just going to get busier." Bella explained. "I just want a second to breath. We need a better way of being a part of the human world because us trying to live like normal teenagers isn't working."

"Then we need to tell Charlie." Rosalie said.

"We need to tell Charlie." Bella agreed.

"When do you want to do it?" Rosalie asked.

Bella thought about all they had going on. "Let's do it on Sunday. We have the event tonight and date night with Alice and Jasper tomorrow but we have Sunday free."

Rosalie reached for Bella's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Should we do it alone or do you want to involve Billy?"

"I think I should do it alone." Bella said. "He may feel cornered if anyone else is there."

"You don't even want me there?" Rosalie asked feelings hurt.

Bella leaned over the kittens to give her a kiss. "Of course I want you there but will that be the right way to handle this? He might feel unsafe."

"He won't know what I am and he could need someone he could speak to verbally." Rosalie pointed out. "And I don't want you doing this alone."

Bella sighed. "You're right. It would probably be better to have someone there who can talk him through what's going on."

"I remember when I woke up and Carlisle explained to me about vampires. I felt scared, but having Esme there as support holding my hand and reassuring me everything was going to be alright, really helped me out. I don't think I would have made it through those first few days without turning into a blood thirsty monster without her constant support."

Bella smiled."I'm glad you had her and you turned out the way you did."

"Me too." Rosalie looked at the clock. "If we don't want the principle to come looking for you, we need to get dressed and leave soon."

Bella groaned. "I'm going to shower. Do you want to join me or get the kittens set up with Charlotte?"

"If I join you we will not only be late but probably not even make it to your event tonight." Rosalie told Bella as scooped up the kittens.

"That wasn't a no!" Bella called to a laughing Rosalie as she walked out the bedroom door.

Reaching the kitchen Rosalie found Charlotte putting what looked like a dozen burritos on the kitchen bar. "Morning Rosalie. Is Bella coming down, her breakfast is ready."

"She's in the shower and should be down in a minute." Rosalie told her. "Are you up for babysitting duty again today?"

Charlotte gave her a bright smile. "I'm always up for spending time with those two. What are you going to do tonight when everyone is at Bella's talk?"

"I don't like it but they are going to have to be left alone." Rosalie snuggled the kittens closer. "I found some special playlists online that are said to be soothing to animals, Bella seemed to like a few,so I’m going to leave them in our room with the radio playing so they will be comfortable."

Charlotte laughed. "You tried out animal soothing playlists with Bella?"

"Well she is a cat and understands them on a level we don't so it only seemed right that she ok them first." Rosalie said defensively.

"No, I totally agree with you. Bella would be the perfect person to make sure the kittens were comfortable." Charlotte agreed.

"What would Bella be perfect for?" Bella asked as she walked into the kitchen and sat on a stool in front of the plate of food.

"You would be perfect for everything,my love." Rosalie told her as she kissed Bella on the cheek. "I'm going to go shower and get dressed while you eat."

Bella took a bite of her breakfast. "This is delicious Charlotte, thank you."

"No thank you, Bella." Charlotte said."We are honored that you invited us to come to your event tonight."

Bella waved away her thanks."You are family and as the rest of the family is going it is only fair that you and Peter join us if that is your wish."

Charlotte smiled.”Who would have thought that the White Tiger would consider us family."

"Even with Rosalie's feelings towards you, you have more than earned the titled, but when you stood by my side and helped protect my imprint you earned my respect. After that, calling you family is the least I could do." Bella explained. "Plus I've grown to like you and Peter."

Charlotte laughed.”We've grown to like you too."

Rosalie walked into the room and picked up the kittens off the counter, where they were eating their food, and kissed each on the head. "Mommy loves you two. Be good for Aunt Charlotte and we will see you later."

"They are always good." Charlotte promised handing Bella her lunch cooler. "And just like yesterday I will send you pictures and updates."

"Thank you, Charlotte." Rosalie said as she set the kittens back down near their food bowl.

Bella smiled as she watched Rosalie interact with them. Rosalie's mothering instincts were on full display lately not just with the kittens, but also when dealing with the coyotes and recently with worrying about the wolves. "Come on let's get going. I’m sure the principle is already pacing by now."

Rosalie pet the kittens one last time and waved to Charlotte on the way out the door. Opening Bella's car door for her she asked. "Are you sure you just don't want to skip? It may be kind of fun to see how far the man will go to make sure you make it tonight."

Bella laughed."Although it would be funny, I don't want to cause the man heart problems."

"Spoilsport." Rosalie grumbled as she pulled out of the driveway.