Lily Annabelle Cullen: A What If Story

Chapter 26: First Thanksgiving

(Edward's POV)

The whole family was running around getting things ready. Esme had let everyone know that Lily had never celebrated Thanksgiving before. While some of us weren't that surprised, we decided to throw a little Thanksgiving celebration for her. Esme did additional food shopping after Isabella Swan left with Lily. Me and Jasper were tasked with taking Lily out after she got back on our side of the boundary line. Carlisle and Esme let the school know that none of us would be attending school Monday and Tuesday to be preparing for our first family Thanksgiving with Lily. Hopefully Lily hasn't had a vision about this. She told me sometimes she has them without trying or being able to keep herself from seeing them. The three of us were to leave tonight.

Jasper and I are taking her to a corn maze out of state. Carlisle is going to call the Volturi to get Jane and Alec to come for Thanksgiving. They are two of Lily's favorite people in the guard. Things were set into motion immediately after hearing from Esme. Jasper and I were already packed up and were on our way to get Lily from Isabella's house.

"Do you think she is going to react well to this?" I looked over at Jasper confused. "She doesn't like her routine being interrupted. Plus she loves school and missed a whole week last week when she wanted to look for healthier snacks to eat." I nodded understanding his concern. "Also, though her mood has been a bit more stable lately, I don't know if she's quite ready for another sudden change."

"We can only hope for the best. She can't be home while everyone is preparing for Thanksgiving. She's very adept at knowing when something is up. Our mission is to keep her distracted enough that she won't have any visions or hear any stray thoughts that we don't want her to hear. We have to do our best tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday to keep her mind busy." He agreed but was still worried about how she would react to her schedule being interrupted again.

School was an easy transition for her due to her still adjusting to a new time zone. But if things at school didn't stay on track, she would have a meltdown. There have been two separate occasions where Esme had to pick her up from school early due to these meltdowns. A few times it has happened at her friends houses as well. The school wants her to get tested for autism but because of her unique genetics and abnormal upbringing, we are unsure if getting her tested will be accurate or not. Since she is really well behaved, everyone gives her a pass when she has those moments because they are few and far apart.

We soon pulled up to the house. I quickly got out of the car and walked up to the door. I heard Lily's laughter inside with Isabella and Chief Swan. I knocked on the door and heard Lily squeal. The door opened a moment later by Lily with Chief Swan and Isabella behind her. She opened a lot slower this time. "Hi Eddie. Where are we going?" I looked at her slightly confused. I caught a brief drift of Jasper's thoughts about a corn maze.

"That's a surprise." I looked up to Chief Swan and Isabella. "Thank you for looking out for her today. We worry about her when she isn't home because of her need to stick to her schedule."

"She was great. She went swimming with Jacob at the beach. I don't know how those two can deal with such frigid water."

"It wasn't that cold. It was very relaxing though."

"Did you wash off afterwards?" She smiled and nodded. "Okay. Say goodbye to Chief Swan and Isabella so we can go."

"I told you Eddie. She likes to be called Bella." Lily rolled her eyes and turned to face them both. "Thank you for having me today Chief Swan and Bella. Have a lovely Thanksgiving."

"You're welcome anytime Lily. A good kid like you is a joy to have around." Bella nodded, agreeing with her father.

"Yeah. You take care Lily." Lily smiled at her went to grab my hand.