Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The days that followed the battle did so in a blur. I didn't speak, I barely moved. I know the whole family was concerned and desperate for extra help, but I felt like I was watching all of this concern from afar, a spectator not part of the "play".

Right after the battle, Emmett brought me into the house and gently put me on the couch, Esme was right behind him. She had insisted that Carlisle go check on Jacob, promising him that her and my siblings would take care of me until he got back, he was reluctant, but complied.

There wasn't much for them to take care of though, they tried everything to get me to acknowledge them, talk, even look at them instead of staring straight ahead at the wall. Believe me, I wanted to. I wanted nothing more than to accept Esme's arms around my shoulders, lean in close to my mother, and be comforted.

The problem was, I couldn't move, I seriously had no control over my body. My mind was there, but that was it. Even when Emmett stepped in front of me trying to catch my attention, I stared right through my brother as if he wasn't there. Jasper must have tried reading my emotions because I could see the frustration on his face…he got nowhere either.

Let me tell you it sucks seeing all this going on around you and not being able to react, not being able to do anything. I'm not even sure how it happened or why.

In the end, Esme put on a cricket match and sat with me on the couch as we waited for Carlisle to get back. Every once in a while she would reach over, tuck a piece of my unruly hair behind my ear and cradle me close,

"Christian, sweetie, talk to me please?" Esme cooed "please Christian, come back to me."

I'm trying mum, I really am, I thought, it was all I could do.

Everyone took time to sit with me, giving Esme a break. Carlisle tried everything he could to break my space out, but he realized quickly that this wasn't one of my normal space outs, nothing he did could snap me back.

This went on for nearly a week. Nothing changed and it reached the point where the concern for me was so overwhelming that my parents drove me north to Alaska.

Despite our disagreement regarding the pack, Tanya's only concern was for me. Even Irina was able to put aside her anger, especially after the desperate phone call they must have received from Esme about what had happened. Though Irina was nowhere to be found when we arrived, she had sent her sympathies to Carlisle to give to me.

Esme kept me held close as Tanya pulled open the door. Whatever she had been expecting, was not what she was presented with as she stared at my dead expression. She reached out to hug me and for the first time in knowing the Denali clan, my body flinched at her touch, as if I had been burned as if Kate had shocked me with her ability. That was when Tanya realized that Esme and Carlisle had not been exaggerating, that something was in fact seriously wrong.

Esme guided me into the house and sat me down on the couch. Tanya quickly joined us, putting me in the middle of them. Tanya continued to glance at Esme for an explanation. I don't know how much the Denali clan had been told, but the whole story was about to come out

Eleazar glanced my way first cautiously, before turning to look at Carlisle, who stood near the open fire, his hand on the mantle, staring into the flames.

"Carlisle, what happened, friend?"

As Carlisle began telling the whole story, Tanya moved closer, hugging me tight. Kate and Carmen stood behind the couch and kept their hands on my shoulder, while Carmen kept one hand on Esme's shoulders.

For their own reasons, our cousins have more hatred towards the Volturi then we Cullens could even imagine having. Granted we disliked the Volturi's means of authority and power hunger, even their methods for how things are handled, but up until now, we did not hate them.

Carmen and Eleazar had experienced the Volturi's ruthlessness and cruelty first hand and Tanya, Irina, and Kate had been orphaned by the Volturi when their mother had been executed for creating and sheltering an immortal child, long before Carlisle had met the girls.

"Oh Chris," Carmen cooed, she leaned over and hugged me tight. I couldn't return the gesture I wanted to, but it felt like all the strength had been sucked from my body.

"That little bitc-" Tanya started to say when Esme and Carmen shook their heads, but she wasn't going to apologize, she was being blunt and it was necessary. "She did it only to hurt him, to cause this, exactly what he is going through right now is more than she can ask for. Uphold the law bull. If she can't have Chris's love then no one can, and she is perfectly happy with causing him as much pain and grief as she can, she's punishing him. Aro's friendship with Carlisle is the only reason she hasn't tried to eliminate all of you, or even just one of you. That would be the ultimate pain and she knows he would never recover from that and that would be her greatest victory."

I felt Eleazar coming closer to me and he looked into my eyes, the normal Chris would have wiggled away from his gaze, or averted his eyes…sometimes the best way to profile someone is by studying their eyes, and since I try to avoid letting people profile me, I get uneasy about letting them look into my eyes and avoid it. The me that was sitting here didn't do any of that, I couldn't for that matter, I seriously had no control over my own body, I was running on autopilot.

"Carlisle, how long ago was the battle?"

"Nearly a week,"

"He hasn't hunted I'm assuming. His eyes are nearly black, I don't think I have ever seen them get this dark blue before."

"He won't move, he hasn't spoken since that night." Esme sobbed "we've tried everything we can think of, but we can't reach him."

"He loves it up here, Alaska has always been one of Chris's favorite places and we hoped that by bringing him here it might help, it's some sort of shock, I've never seen anything like it and I…I do not know what I can do to help him," Carlisle added.

I could hear it in his voice, he felt helpless, I never meant for my father to feel that way, I never meant to hurt my parents…I was the one being selfish now…

Carlisle, I'm sorry, dad please, I'm so sorry this isn't your fault, please…please forgive me. I'm here, I'm trying to come back.

In my mind, I yelled this to him, but of course, my body didn't respond, it wouldn't respond, I felt like I was trapped in my own body…not a pleasant feeling

"He was willing to join the guard to protect the girl," Esme added pushing back my bangs. Eleazar looked at Carmen and Kate, Carmen must have understood Eleazar's silent command, because she stood up and looked at Kate.

"Kate, why don't we take Chris upstairs. We have a room all set up for him, it overlooking the mountains we know how much he loves them." Carmen suggested and Esme nodded. I felt Carmen's arms under my own as she pulled me off the couch. Esme held onto my arm for as long as she could, before I was finally out of her grasp.

Carlisle POV

I watched slowly as Carmen and Kate led Chris up the stairs, watching him move so painful was agonizing, especially knowing that there was nothing I could do to make it all better. My son needed me to step in and fix everything and unfortunately I could not.

"Carlisle, I did not realize how serious this was," Eleazar said softly I looked at the fire once more, before turning to my old friend.

"Can you tell us what happened before the Volturi showed up?" Tanya asked, I glanced over at Esme who was focused on the stairs. I know she wanted nothing more than to rush upstairs and hold Chris, try to comfort him. Unfortunately, we have not been able to succeed, it was necessary to let the Denali's have a go, Esme knew that, but it still was not easy for either of us.

"The girl, she couldn't have been more than fifteen…" Esme murmured "an innocent child."

Tanya reached over and hugged Esme as we moved towards the couches and chairs.

"Emmett and Chris spent the fight working together as they normally do. We had most of the newborns destroyed, the wolves." I paused hesitating "did more than their share of the work and one of them even saved Chris when one of the newborns had him pinned. The girl… she was hiding throughout the entire battle, none of us even noticed her. Chris must have gotten too close to her hiding spot because she bolted from it. I don't think she meant to run into him, she must have panicked and instinct took over, kill or be killed. Chris was able to calm her, convinces her to surrender."

"When she looked at him, her eyes told it all." Esme started "all she saw was him, she would panic when any of us blocked him from her view, she was so calm, he had saved her life he was her knight in shining armor."

"Her prince charming…" Tanya guessed and Esme nodded

"Very much so."

"He just wanted to protect her, that's all he was trying to do. Like she was his responsibility…" I added, pausing briefly "We knew she had to be completely subdued before Bella arrived. Chris allowed Jasper to use his knowledge of newborns to handle her. She panicked again when he separated her from Chris, but she must have realized Jasper's authority and submitted quickly."

"Rosalie suggested we bring the girl back to the house before Bella came. But Chris insisted that she had to grow accustomed to Bella's scent and Jasper agreed." Esme added as I continued

"We didn't see any danger in it, she had not been a danger to any of us and she was so focused on Chris and he on her that we didn't think there would be a problem. The Volturi would come, see that the army had been destroyed and that there was nothing left for them but to return to Volterra. Yes, they would see that Bella is still human, but we could give them a date a set date." I paused and rubbed my temple "I should have separated them…If I had just let Jasper stand with the girl and kept Chris away from her, Jane wouldn…"

Esme reached over and took my hand

"It wouldn't have mattered friend." Eleazar said leaning close "it appears that Chris has inadvertently made an enemy of Jane and Alec. She would have seen the girl and would have reacted the same way, even if Chris showed no interest in the girl at all even if he had no feeling for the girl, Jane would not be able to see past that. She would see a girl about their age, see a potential mate for Chris and the end result would have been the same. Tanya was correct in what she said. Jane is set to cause Chris as much pain as she believes he has caused her by rejecting her feelings towards him. Jane has long lost that part of her humanity, the ability to recognize true love, what she believes is a connection to Chris is a projection. Aside from Alec, Chris is the only male vampire physically her age she has ever encounter on a personal level. She has realized what Chris knows and what Alec knows, the three of them are a rarity, and therefore finding their other half, their true soul mate is not an easy task. How many other vampires Chris's age have you seen Carlisle? In your three hundred years how many?"

"Only three, Chris, Jane, and Alec, and two others I have only heard of, the young ones who Siobhan created, two girls, about Chris' age. But I have not spoken with Siobhan and Liam in many years."

"Chris has two problems working against him here," Tanya spoke up "Jane feels that if she were to lose Chris to his true soul mate, she may never find hers, Alec feels that if Chris accepts his sister, then he will lose her in that regards. Both have taken issue with Chris and it was unfortunately only a matter of time before it came to light."

I rubbed my chin sighing. This was my fault. Aro had insisted I bring Chris to the Volturi, I gave in and brought him, putting my son in this situation. If I hadn't put Chris in this, Jane wouldn't have reason to hate him.

Esme reached over and took my hand, shaking her head. My wife knows me better than anyone she knew what was on my mind.

"Carlisle, Esme," Eleazar spoke up "you are family and I apologize for us not being there when you needed us. You have always been there for us. But we promise, Jane and Alec will not hurt Chris again, we are all here to protect him and you."

We nodded, thankful for our friends. We both looked towards the stairs, hoping that soon…however long it took, we would have our son back. We both missed him so much.

Xxx

Carmen helped me over to a window seat in their guest room. It's always been one of my favorite spots in the Denali house, it's a perfect view of the mountains and sometimes, on a really clear night, I can see the northern lights. Its always calmed me down, I've never known why, but I always feel comforted, at ease when I can just sit and watch the lights.

"Chris," Kate said, clearly not expecting an answer "Chris we're here, we want you to come back. I know you're in there and you're trying to come back, but only when you're ready. You have to decide when you're ready, but know that we're here for you."

Carmen brushed my hair back

"When Carlisle brought you here to meet us I was so excited for him and Esme. You bring light to the family Chris and I don't know if you realize it, you bring humor, you bring childhood and adulthood to our lives all rolled into one being. A life that completes the family. Someday soon you'll find the one who completes you. Christian Usted encontrará que usted compañero del alma Primo pequeño. You will find your soul mate little cousin."

"I promise you Jane will not hurt you again, we won't let her Chris," Kate added.

I didn't answer her, not that they expected an answer, but Kate did give my hand a squeeze and Carmen kissed the top of my head. I was already starting to feel at ease, maybe it was the mountains or maybe it was just a change of scenery, but I could already feel myself fighting to come back, it was just going to take a while.

xxx

I stayed with the Denali's for about a month, maybe a few weeks over, they did everything they could to break me out of my space out. I don't know how they did it, but they did. They brought me back nearly to myself again, it sounds odd, but even so, I wasn't the same person I had been in the hours leading up to the battle with the newborns. Somehow in that timeframe, I became a different person, I grew up a little I guess.

After the Volturi killed Bree, I had felt like nothing would ever feel happy again. It actually had very little to do with Bree's death surprisingly. I felt for her, we definitely had a connection and under different outcomes, there would've been the potential for the protection I felt for her to move into more.

The depression was more connected with the realization that I was the cause of Bree's death. It showed that I was powerless to protect anyone, I was weak and had no control. I may be able to predict what could happen in the future, but I wasn't able to stop it when it really counted.

It also showed me that the world I've viewed as safe, well safe in the mindset of our family unit, nothing could really hurt us as long as we were together, well that wasn't entirely true.

Even with the fight with the newborns that feeling didn't waver. It wasn't until the Volturi Goon squad showed up, that's when two worlds literally collided. The world of the Volturi that had once scared me, but was on the other side of the world far from me, was now in my own backyard, and able to reach out and kill.

With Bree, I knew that had I not shown an interest in her, had I not stood my ground and protected her, Jane might have just let things go. I was the idiot, I got Bree killed, not only that I put my family at risk, they might have been killed just so Jane would have the satisfaction of watching me squirm.

Killing Bree had brought me down, both mentally and physically. Jane could only imagine what destroying my family would do to me, and if I've profiled Jane well enough, she's got a pretty damn good imagination.

By the time I was ready to go home, Tanya and the others were all in agreement that I was ready. I love the Denali clan, they're our family and I was grateful for all they did to help me out, but I was ready to go home. I missed my parents, my brothers and sisters, Bella, and Chap of course.

Carmen and Eleazar drove me home and stayed for a few hours visiting with the family, as well as recapping how I was doing. Most people would feel this was kind of invasive, but believe me, it wasn't, everyone was concerned and everyone wanted reassurance that I was slowly returning to myself.

After hugs and a few kisses and thank you wishes to Eleazar and Carmen, I wandered up to my room. It hadn't changed which I was thankful for, but Chap was missing…I felt panic wash over me.

"Don't panic Chris," Alice's voice came from my doorway, I turned around quickly, she was standing there smiling at me, sitting on her shoulder gnawing on a sunflower seed was Chaplin.

"Chap," I said, his ears perked up and he scampered off of Alice's shoulder, down her body to the floor where he ran up my leg and onto my shoulder "Aw buddy I missed you too."

"I kept him in the family room that way he'd have company while you were gone, he missed you."

I gently rubbed Chap's head and walked over to my sister, hugging her tight, she hugged me back and kissed the top of my head.

"Thank you, Alice, I owe you,"

"You owe me nothing Chris, I missed you, we all did. I'm just glad you're back."

"Backish," I replied "may need a few more sessions on the couch before I'm back 100%" I added grinning, Alice reached over and hugged me again

"How are you feeling?" she asked, in a serious voice

"Better than I was Alice I promise."

"I'm sorry Chris,"

I raised an eyebrow and slid Chap back into his cage.

"For what?"

"I should have seen it coming Chris, warned you…I feel responsible for what happened and what happened afterward."

I put a hand on my sister's arm and stopped her right there

"Alice, it wasn't your fault." I explained "none of it." I paused "I don't even blame myself anymore…" Alice looked at me expectantly "not entirely, there's still enough blame on me, but none on you or any of you for that matter, just on me."

"Chris, it wasn't your fault," I nodded but wasn't going to argue with my sister, it's safer that way. "can I tell you something?"

"Sure,"

Alice looked so defeated so hurt I didn't want her to tell me anything, it was clearly hurting her.

"Chris, before the Volturi came, I…" she sat down on my window seat and couldn't look at me. I sat down next to my sister timidly and put an arm around her shoulder

"Alice you don't have to,"

"Chris I saw Jane's decision, I knew nothing would change that, there was nothing I could do, nothing any of us could do. But I couldn't tell you, you looked so happy so content I've never seen you look that way and I didn't want to end that, even though I knew it was going to end. This was my fault Chris and I am so ashamed."

"Alice, please" I hugged her tight "please stop blaming yourself. Even if you did see what was going to happen you just said it yourself you couldn't stop it, I was an idiot to try and choose my own happiness over my family." I took a deep breath "and Jane was right, sorta."

"Chris no she was never right about anything."

"She was about one thing, Bree wasn't my one, I know that now, she might have been eventually, but the…whatcha call it, the moment you knew Jasper was the one."

"Chris that was a vision,"

"Yeah, but it was a vision of Jasper, just like that moment Carlisle knew Esme was the one, the moment Edward knew Bella was the one. That kind of thing. What is it that you guys are always saying about each other? you knew it instantly. I didn't feel it with Bree. It was more of a… protection I think, she was my physical age, she was brought into this life without her consent and something about that really hit a chord with me so what I thought was love was as Jane said a projection."

"Chris are you-"

"I'm sure Alice, it took me an entire month to figure it out, but of everything that happened that night I am most certain of this stuff. I wanted to protect Bree, help her. Do what Carlisle…literally what being a part of a family did for me." I paused "it just wasn't mean to be and I know that know." I shrugged "anyways, seriously enough about my depression extravaganza. What's been going on around here? What have I missed?"

Alice smiled wide, she reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope. Inside was an invitation, for Bella and Edward's wedding. I knew they had been talking about it, and I knew that my brother had proposed before the battle.

"This is going to be so exciting!" Alice exclaimed, "and you know what the best part about it is?"

I looked at my sister carefully and I could read exactly what the 'best part' of it was, it was written all over her face and her body language.

"Bella made the amateur mistake and gave you full control over her wedding?" Alice's grin told it all, I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "She has no idea what she's in for huh?"

"Oh of course she knows and it won't be as bad as you think Christian."

I grinned

"Now are we talking Emmett and Rose's twentieth renewal/second wedding or their thirtieth?" Alice couldn't look me in the eyes as she rocked back and forth, trying to look innocent. "oh god…not their fiftieth! That was insane. Please don't tell me you're going that route." She still wouldn't answer me and I groaned, trying not to laugh, Bella was not going to like Alice's plan at all, in fact, there was seriously a good chance our future sister was going to kill Alice. But on a positive note, it would be fun to sit back and watch the entire wedding event unfold, this was going to be hilarious nonetheless.

Alice hugged me once more

"glad you're home Chrissy, we really missed you." She kissed my cheek and skipped out of my room before I could answer her.

I looked over at Chaplin who was watching contently on my desk. He had moved from my shoulder at one point and was gnawing on a sunflower seed.

"Well, I see she fattened you up nicely, been spoiled Chap?" Chaplin looked up at me and squeaked a little before returning to his sunflower seed. I looked around my room again and sighed "definitely good to be home."

Chapter Text

One of the obvious downsides to my lengthy space out was hypervigilance and overprotectiveness that came from my family over it. Any headway I'd made getting my family to not baby me went out the window and I knew I deserved it. From my siblings constantly asking if I was okay to Esme coddling me every time I stood still long enough.

At one point a week or so after coming home I needed a break so I told Esme I was going for a walk and would be home in a few hours. In the past, she would've just said okay and reminded me to be careful but she followed me to the front door asking over and over if I wanted company or if I wanted one of my siblings to go too. Again I knew I had certainly earned this over coddling so it was just in my best interest to go with it and simply explain and remind my mother that I was okay.

As soon as I was outside I took off running to the woods. It felt good to just run as fast as I could nothing to slow me down.

I didn't even pay attention to where I was running. I just ran.

About ten-fifteen minutes in I stopped short, I could smell wolf and groan. I was not over the line I wasn't even close to it. I wanted nothing to do with the pack I wasn't in the mood.

From around the bend, a shaggy sandy-haired wolf cautiously stepped out. It was Seth...the jerk that had attacked me for no reason a few months earlier and the one who stayed with Bella and Edward up on the mountain during the battle.

I'd gotten the impression early on that he's physically about my age. Give or take a year or two. The second time we met, which was in the field before the battle, when we were just training and the wolves were watching, I got the feeling he was extremely curious about us, me especially, someone about his age. That doesn't mean I'm ready to let my guard down around him. He did attack me for no reason and I think I was in the right to hold a grudge we Scots are not known for forgiving easily at least not the Callaghan clan.

Instead of looking ready for round two or even trying to be tough, Seth gave me this doopy and I mean doopy grin, and to see that kind of face on a wolf especially on a wolf that a few months ago tried to eat me, is well weird.

"Er, hi," I said cautiously, I could feel his emotions he was content like he had just run into an old friend. His tail even wagged a little, now this was too bloody much "right I'll just be going on my way."

His eyes went wide and he quickly darted back around a tree, emerging seconds later human and pulling on a pair of shorts.

"Wait up a sec Chris," he said cautiously "look..." He paused "sorry about y'know"

"Going American werewolf in London on me and trying to eat me?" I asked his eyes went wide as I shrugged "it's okay, believe me, I know 'bout instincts taking over. No hard feelings."

That seemed to be the last thing on his mind now.

"You've seen that movie?!" He exclaimed in surprise

"Well duh" I replied "and the sequel too" I shrugged again "not the best movies in the world but I've seen worse."

"You like horror movies?" Seth asked clearly surprised by that

"Who doesn't, well okay I guess I can add my sister to that she hates them especially vampire-based ones," Now Seth just looked at me in disbelief. "What just cause I'm a what do you guys call us 'bloodsucker, leech, flea?' I can't enjoy a good vampire flick? I mean you ever see the original Dracula? We're talking 1930s Bela Lugosi or the original wolfman movie? Lon Chaney Those guys were masters, unbeatable."

Seth still had a blank look on his face I don't know if it was he didn't know the names of some of the greatest actors to grace the silver screen or if he was still dumbfounded that a vampire enjoyed vampire flicks.

"Dude let me get this straight you watch horror movies about your kind, and you enjoy them?" I nodded "isn't that like an oxymoron or something?"

"Er, dunno about an oxymoron, but I was a fan of the genre before I became a vampire. My human dad took me to see the original Dracula story when I was little, Nosferatu, silent film, awesome, still a classic."

"Silent?"

"Yeah as in no words, only music, and movie, with dialogue appearing on black slides to read."

"Sounds…kinda boring to be honest," Seth admitted and I shrugged

"Wasn't back then, that was quality cinema when I was a kid. And in my personal opinion, a helluva lot better than anything Hollywood is producing nowadays."

"How old are you anyway?" Seth asked cautiously, like I said before he seemed genuinely curious about me and to be honest I wasn't as afraid of him as I had been. I think the pair of us were still kind of cautious with one another, but it wasn't as bad as it had been. Was there a serious potential for a friendship to emerge here?

"I'll be eighty in December," I explained

"Holy crap," he breathed "I knew you guys were old, but"

"Hey!" I exclaimed and he got this scared puppy look in his eyes like I was about to beat him with a rolled-up newspaper. "Kidding Seth," I replied and he relaxed a little. "Besides, compared to the rest of the family I'm the baby…literally. Carlisle we're talking over three hundred, and Jasper just over a hundred and fifty."

Seth whistled

"Wooow," he breathed, "so you really were around for World War II?" he asked and I nodded

"I wasn't just around for it I lived it. I was a kid in London during the blitz," I paused "it's actually because of that bloody war I'm standing in front of you." Seth looked confused again "no war, no building falling on top of me from a German bomb, no reason to be brought to the hospital nearly dead. Also no war, no reason for Carlisle to be in London at that particular time." I shrugged "things happen for a reason."

"Dude next time I have a history exam can I bother you?" I looked at him, trying to determine if he was serious and the scary thing was, he really was serious. "I mean I studied the Second World War in school, but dude you lived it."

"Right, Seth I don't think you can use me as a source though." I grinned "I can see the work cited page now 'quote on page two from a random kid who happens to be a vampire and lived it.' really don't think that'll go over well with any teacher."

Seth took a timid step forward and held out his hand,

"Speaking of going over well…look man I am sorry for attacking you. Can, can we call a truce?"

I looked down at his hand for a second

"Were you out here in the woods waiting for me or something?" I asked he shook his head

"I was doing patrols about a mile back, I caught your scent and came to investigate. I didn't realize you were back,"

"Back?" I asked

"Yeah, heard you were up in Alaska for the last month."

I narrowed my eyes a little

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Edward, I was asking if you wanted to maybe exchange video game information and hook up to play online. Edward said you're a huge gamer and you have a few sweet systems. So I thought maybe we could do that, but then when I asked your brother he said you were in Alaska for the month." Seth explained cautiously, it made me wonder how much Edward had told others about what had happened to me. "he called me the other day to say you were back home and were around if I wanted to exchange stuff."

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair,

"Right," I said, Seth's hand was still extended, waiting to shake. He was being the mature one here, apologizing for attacking me and I knew I wasn't completely innocent in the whole thing either so I slowly held my hand out and we shook hands for a brief second before dropping them.

"So, what's your video game of choice?" Seth asked changing the subject and I had to chuckle, I thought I had a short attention span

I shrugged

"Emmett likes Halo, but I can take it or leave it. I like the old school stuff, but we did get a Wii while I was away."

Seth's eyes went wide again, I swear if they kept doing that his eyes were going to bug out of his head, he already looked like a deranged Chihuahua or something.

"Dude, that hasn't been released yet! How'd you get one?!"

"Carlisle has connections," I replied

"Man, all I've got is a PS2 and a GameCube," Seth grumbled a little and I chuckled. I couldn't believe what I was about to do.

"Anytime you want to come over and check it out…" I took a deep breath "you're more than welcome, besides, we're pretty well stocked on the video game basis, I think we even have Pong and an Atari floating around somewhere in the house. Not entirely sure where the systems are but I can check. But you're more than welcome over."

Seth's surprised look changed from bug-eyed Chihuahua back to nervous puppy about to get hit with a newspaper.

"Uh, er," he stuttered and I chuckled again

"Right, vampire-werewolf rivalry, me of all people should know that."

"No, it's not that, I don't have a problem with you guys, Edward and I've become pretty good friends while you were gone. We saved each other's butts up on that mountain a couple of times." I nodded "it's just, are, are you seriously asking me over for a playdate?" he asked and I burst out laughing.

I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time, it was so bad I actually fell to the ground laughing. It took Seth by surprise as he stared at me dumbfounded for a second before he started laughing too. Our laughs echoing through the forest, I swear I heard all the small animals in the area making a break for it.

When we finally calmed down, we looked at each other then burst out laughing again. It felt really good to laugh this hard.

"I…" I started to stutter trying to speak around my laughs "I guess I am, Seth, would you come over to my house for a playdate? Or do you have to ask your mum first?" I snorted before laughing again. Then Seth snorted and it just started us all over. It literally took I think fifteen minutes to calm down to the point where we could actually talk.

"So glad I didn't eat you, you're all right." Seth breathed leaning against a tree for support.

"Right, you're not so bad yourself, for a wolf…but I'm pretty sure I could've taken you," I shot back grinning

"Yeah right, there's nothing to you, one chomp and that be it you'd be a goner."

"If I was a goner from you, it be because you smell like a wet dog in the summertime. I'd be dropping dead from the smell…oh wait." I put a hand to my wrist and grinned "too late, already did."

Seth returned the grin

"You don't exactly smell like a patch of daisies there Flea."

"Oh really," I replied "that's the name you're giving me. Flea?"

"Yeah, whatcha going to do about it?"

I thought that over and my grin got wider

"Wanna race?"

"I think I can take you, Cullen,"

I shook my head

"Not a chance, but that's not the kind of race I'm talking about," I nodded over my shoulder "we've got Mario Kart at my house and I've got a whole room set up on the third floor." Seth grinned, like he kind of wanted to accept the invitation, but he hesitated and looked behind him, something only he could hear.

"I would, but I have to get back on patrol, we're kinda shorthanded right now."

I raised an eyebrow, there was a lot in the pack, I mean a lot of members, it had grown significantly right before the newborns had shown up.

Seth nodded off my confused look

"Shorthanded?" I asked

"I've been covering for Jacob, he kinda took off."

"What do you mean took off?"

"Him and Billy got an invitation in the mail that kind of set him off."

I understood instantly

"Oh, right, that invitation."

Seth nodded

"We got one too, I mean, my mom, sister, and I. So we're going, if Jacob doesn't go we're taking Billy."

"Where'd he go?" I asked and Seth shrugged

"Wherever he went, it's far enough that our telepathy is out of range. He was really pissed."

"I bet,"

"Anyways, I gotta get going, I just wanted to make sure we're cool."

"Yeah, we're cool." I replied, "you got a cell phone?" Seth nodded "what's your number."

Seth got this blank look on his face as he tried to remember his own number, I chuckled and he gave me a half glare.

"What are you laughing at?" he growled

"You, forget your own number?"

"I don't call myself," he argued shrugging. I rolled my eyes

"Fine, mine's 206-926-2540." Seth looked confused as if he was trying to remember the number "want me to write it down?"

"Pockets are kind of hard to come by in wolf form." He explained and I nodded

"Right."

"But I think I got it, I've got a pretty good memory. Besides I have Edward's number in my phone."

"Wow you and my brother really have become buddy, buddy."

Seth grinned and shrugged

"He's an okay guy, kinda stiff,"

"Try living with him, I've been dealing with that stiff pun intended for over six decades,"

Seth chuckled

"We'll definitely set something up I'm stoked to see an actual Wii, still can't believe you guys have one."

"Sounds like a plan," I replied

Seth gave me a wave and headed back to the bushes. There was a 'pop' noise and his shaggy wolf form came around the tree. He gave me a goofy puppy grin, wagged his tail, and bolted into the woods, leaving me standing there, wondering what the hell had happened.

I didn't have long to contemplate that as my phone started ringing. My first thought was that it was Esme, calling to check on me, I seriously knew I earned the babying, but I also knew it was going to get old real fast.

It wasn't Esme's number or anyone else in my family for that matter, it was Bella. I was a little surprised she was calling me. Bella had been over the house a couple of times since I came home. She was excited to see me and had even given me a tight hug asking if I was okay. But even so, I didn't understand why she was calling me.

I flipped my phone open

"Er, hi Bella,"

"Oh, Chris I am so glad you answered." She sounded out of breath and I wasn't exactly sure why, she didn't sound panicked or in trouble, just a little testy.

"Bella, are you okay?" I asked

"Chris, I didn't want to call Edward he'd just go on the 'I told you so' streak he's so good at."

"Yeah, I know that much, been on the receiving end of that annoyance. But what's wrong?"

"My truck just died."

"Like died, died?"

"Like completely gone, won't turn over nothing."

"Is it even trying?"

"No, Chris you're the only one I trust with my truck."

I sighed

"Okay, where are you?"

"I was heading to work, I'm about two miles from my house."

"Okay, I'll be there in like ten minutes, is the truck off the road?"

"Yeah, out of the way."

"Good, be there soon."

"Okay," Bella said, "and Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"Chris thank you."

"Don't thank me yet Bella," I replied hanging up with her. Her truck is ancient and though I have done my best with the maintenance…there's only so much I can do, so much anyone could do. There was a good chance I was going to get to Bella's truck and there be nothing I could do for it, which really made me sad, I love that truck, probably even more than Bella.

Xxx

I ran home as fast as I could, Esme was surprised to see me back so soon, but I must have looked calmer because she smiled at me, hugged me tight then asked what I was up too. I quickly explained about Bella calling me about her truck, she was obviously concerned, but kissed the top of my head and sent me off to play mechanic.

Running would have been faster no doubt about it, but that option wasn't a possibility so I took my dirt-bike. In theory at least the Forks world theory I'm still a few months short of getting my permit, so there would be no driving my mustang to Bella just yet. But Chief Swan or any of the Forks cops wouldn't pull me over for my dirt-bike, provided I had my helmet on which I did.

Bella wasn't too hard to find, for one thing, you can't miss that big red hunk of metal and two, she was leaning against it, waiting for me, she started waving her hands madly and flagged me down as soon as she heard the roar from my bike.

I slid to a stop, sending some gravel flying as I pulled up alongside her truck. She looked extremely relieved and literally hugged me as I shut my bike down and pulled off my helmet.

"I am so glad to see you!" she exclaimed and I chuckled

"So what happened?"

"I have no idea, I was driving along, it sputtered, the gas pedal went all the way to the floor, and bam, nothing."

"Right," I replied, "okay do me a favor, go into the driver seat, I'll pop the bonnet and have a look."

Bella chuckled a little

"Bonnet Chris?" she asked, "how long have you been in the states?"

"It'll always be a bonnet to me Bella, no matter what you Yanks say," I replied lifting the bonnet to her rust bucket. I could smell something hot coming from the engine, it wasn't something I've experienced often, but I did recognize the smell instantly. Her engine was blown, completely gone and it was extremely hot, I could see the steam pouring off of it. Damn it.

I took a deep breath and laid down on the ground, sliding myself under the truck, it was even hotter under the truck and the smell was even worse. I had to get the truck back to our garage, I might have a chance to bring it back to life, but I definitely couldn't guarantee it.

"Is it the oil Chris? I don't remember when Charlie changed the oil." Bella asked as she stood near my feet, I pulled myself out from under the truck and dusted myself off as I stood up shaking my head.

"I changed your oil two months ago Bella, you don't do much driving so trust me your oil is fine." She stared at me and I grinned "who do you think has been changing your oil, checking your battery, your tires, and replaced your brake pads all those times?"

"Charlie,"

"Eer" I replied mimicking a game show buzzer "wrong, yours truly,"

Bella went a little red and she smiled at me.

"Well, thank you, Chris, um, at this point in time is there anything that can be done?"

"Right at this moment? No, I need to get it back to the house and get it up on the lifts, I've got the proper tools back home. I'll do what I can Bella."

I pulled out my cellphone and called Emmett, asking him to bring the flatbed truck. Him and I bought it a couple of years ago and it comes in handy every time. It helped us move the Mustang when we first bought that and it brought Alice's Porsche home when Edward was still trying to surprise her. The flatbed was in pretty rough shape when we bought it from the local Forks mechanic, cost us two hundred bucks and it was well worth the investment. Took Rose and me a week to get it road-worthy and now it's a lifesaver.

While we waited for Emmett to show up I wandered around the truck, trying to figure out what might have caused it to die. I've been really meticulous with the upkeep on Bella's truck. It's a classic example of American automotive ingenuity.

"I'm sorry for bothering you Chris," Bella spoke up catching my attention I looked over at her confused "I mean, I know you just got home and your still…" her voice wandered off and I smiled gently at her

"It's okay Bella, I was just hiking in the woods, it always calms me down. I told you early on if you need anything I'm around."

"So you're doing okay then?" she asked cautiously and I nodded

"Pretty good, are you okay?" I asked and she looked confused, but I had to ask, I knew the battle and the aftermaths had probably been tough on her as well and of course there was the whole Jacob thing that Seth had mentioned

"I'm fine."

"Right, so why'd you call me instead of Edward?" she narrowed her eyes at me and I pretended to jump back in fright "oo, the epitome of 'if looks could kill' what did my brother do this time?"

"He didn't do anything, but you know he's been after me for how long to get a new car. He hates this truck and has just been waiting for it to finally kick the bucket so he can buy me something obnoxiously expensive."

I grinned, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Edward had Bella's new car stashed in the garage under a tarp, waiting for the day the Chevy dies. He hates the fact that I've been keeping it running and he just wants it to die so he can give her the Mercedes Guardian he's got stowed away.

As nice as that car is, it is nowhere near as cool as the truck so I will do all I can for as long as I can to keep Bella's truck alive…though seriously looking at it now, my fight might be nearing the end, which will make my insane brother happy.

"So you called me?"

"In the hopes that you could get the truck up and running and Edward can be kept out of the loop for as long as possible. I like my truck Chris, I don't want a new car."

"Have you ever considered, I don't know, telling Edward you don't want a new car or at least not buy you one?"

"You've known him longer than I have Chris, has that ever worked out for you?"

"Nope, never," I replied thinking of my first Christmas/birthday with the Cullens, I had insisted, pleaded, even threatened Edward to convince Esme and Carlisle to NOT do anything for me, I wasn't in a celebratory mood, to begin with, and I hate being showered with gifts, especially since I was still getting to know the family, it was awkward.

Edward didn't listen to me of course and let Carlisle and Esme go ahead with their plan. Even though I felt incredibly guilty about the whole thing, I had to admit, I understood how lucky I truly was and that I had been brought into such a wonderful family, not so much different than the one I had left behind in England.

"Then you understand why I refuse to argue with him, it's a waste of breath. But I can show my contempt, it's my only weapon."

"Good luck with that one," I replied

"Anyways you subject changer, you are doing okay right?" she went back to the original conversation, I sighed and slid my hair back under my hat.

"I'm doing much better Bella, I promise. Getting away, going up to Alaska really helped." In the distance, I saw the flatbed coming our way. I looked at my future sister and gave her a half-smile "thanks though Bella, for asking."

Emmett had the truck parked and was sliding out of the driver's seat before Bella could reply to that. He had the biggest grin on his face and I knew what was coming

"Well, well, well, Bella did that hunk of rust and duct tape you call a truck finally kick the rust bucket?" he asked snickering.

Bella crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him and he had the same reaction I had, only his was serious,

"Yikes. Rose really has taught her well huh Dr. Doolittle?"

"Apparently" I replied grinning "help me get the truck on the flatbed." I climbed into the driver seat as Emmett lowered the flatbed to the ground. After a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching. He went to the back of the truck

"Ready kid?" he called, I slipped the truck out of park and slid it into neutral

"Go for it!" I shot back, Emmett gave the truck a good push and we started rolling towards the flatbed. I steered it carefully as Emmett pushed it up the bed with no effort.

"Nice work!" Emmett exclaimed slapping me on the back as I hopped off the back of the flatbed and grabbed my dirt-bike. Bella climbed into the cab and Emmett joined her.

"Meet you guys at home," I shouted, I slid my helmet on and kick-started my dirt-bike. Bella gave me a wave but jumped when Emmett blasted the truck's horn. I snorted back a laugh and zoomed off for home.

Edward was waiting for me when I pulled up the driveway, his arms crossed over his chest with a look on his face that actually made me snicker as opposed to being afraid.

"Sup bro?" I asked, shutting my bike down and sliding my helmet off.

"Bella called you?"

"Yup," I replied

"About her truck?"

"Possibly,"

"Is it dead?"

"Not if I can help it,"

"Where is she?"

Just as I was about to answer Emmett sounded the truck's horn again, blasting it. It echoed through the clearing and the birds in the trees took to the air like a scene from Hitchcock's The Birds. Emmett pulled the truck to a stop in front of the house and Bella slid out, before Emmett backed the flatbed up to the garage.

I climbed up onto the flatbed and tried to reach the steering wheel as well as maintain control of the truck as it slid down the back of the flatbed. Emmett went to the back of the truck and acted as a buffer helping it move right into an empty spot in the garage, right on the lift.

"Perfecto!" I exclaimed Bella looked at me carefully then at Edward who was rolling his eyes. "It'll be a little while, Bella, I'll come inside when I have something for you." She nodded and followed Edward into the house.

"Want help kid?" Emmett asked. I looked the truck over and rubbed the back of my neck, this was not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. I didn't even know where to begin, but Emmett's pretty good with cars, Rose was out with Alice for the afternoon, so hopefully they'd be home soon so Rose and I could work together, but Emmett was a good replacement.

We set to work, I was under the truck trying desperately to figure out why it had died, Emmett was online. Rose and I are licensed mechanics and have access to all the same databases that actual auto body shops and car dealerships have access to and it has come in handy more times than I could count. This was no different, Emmett was able to pull up some information that someone had uploaded to an antique car portion of the site.

"Chris I can't find anything…"

"I think I have it, hold on," I pulled a couple of wires and I could hear a clicking noise, which I took as a good sign. "Em, try turning it over, do it slowly, and pump the clutch, 'careful you don't flood the engine."

Emmett did as I asked, I could hear the engine trying to turn over, it wanted to. A few seconds of Em doing this, I heard something else click and the engine sputtered to life.

"SWEET YOU DID IT!" Emmett exclaimed, but his victory was short-lived as the engine sputtered, then died…again.

"Bloody hell," I grumbled, and I swear I heard Edward inside the house mutter 'yes' excitedly. "Bloody prat," I said hoping he was listening.

"We'll get it, Chris, you almost had it," Emmett tried to reassure as he went back to the computer.

"Let me see if Rose is back yet. I'm lost on this one." Emmett stared at me and I shrugged "yeah I know, I just admitted I'm out of my league here."

Inside the house, everyone was in the family room watching TV. Alice and Rosalie had returned from their shopping trip and were looking their plunder over, Edward, Bella, Jasper, Carlisle, and Esme were on the couches and chairs. All looked up at me when I walked into the room, the smirk on Edward's face was annoying.

"Having fun?" he asked smartly

"As a matter of fact, I am." I replied just as smartly "Rose, I know you're kind of busy, but I could really use your help."

She nodded and followed me out to the garage. As we headed out there I quickly explained what I thought was wrong with the truck and what had been going on with it.

"Chris go underneath, I'll poke around, let me know what you hear and see. We'll see what we can come up with," she suggested I nodded and slid under the truck.

Ten minutes later, I could hear a clanging noise as Rose tapped something with the wrench.

"Rose, what are you tapping?"

"Nothing, you hear tapping?!" Rose exclaimed

"Uh, yeah, I thought you were hitting something with the wrench, you're not?"

"No Chris, I'm not."

"Oh, bloody hell," I muttered

"Chris you might want to come out from un-" Rose started to say, but it was too late. Whatever was wrong with the truck was a number of things, but one of those things was about to make its presence known and I had no chance to avoid it.

Minutes later, with Rose trying not to laugh and Emmett failing miserably, I walked towards the house. I made sure to stay on the tile of the kitchen as I leaned into the family room. Edward's grin was huge and he was laughing behind his hand, Bella looked horrified, Jasper and Alice looked dumbfounded before they started snickering.

Esme and Carlisle exchanged a look and were clearly trying not to laugh and even I recognized the humor in the situation. Whatever that clanging noise had been, it was not a good noise because the truck's oil reservoir, dumped its contents all over me, coating me in oil, hence why I was staying on the tile and not moving towards the white carpet.

I gestured for Carlisle to come over and shaking his head, he complied.

"Yes Chris?" he asked

"Carlisle," I whispered, "you're a doctor, what's the best way to tell someone that their family member didn't make it."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow and blinked as if he wasn't sure he had heard me correctly.

"Er, Christian do I want to know?"

I nodded towards the garage and Carlisle understood instantly, around him I could see Edward practically patting himself on the back, ecstatic that Bella's truck had finally bought the farm.

"So, the best way?"

"I think I'm staying out of this one," my father replied he made a move to pat my shoulder but realized the oil drenching my clothes and thought better of it. "You're on your own Chris,"

"Right." The entire family was watching me closely as I gave Bella a sympathetic look. "Er, Bella, I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but…look we did everything we could to save your truck. It fought a bloody good hard battle, it went down fighting."

"About damn time," Edward muttered and Bella made the mistake of elbowing him in the ribs and I saw the pain on her face as he rolled his eyes.

"Sorry Bella," I finished, shrugging.

Shooting a glare at Edward, Bella walked over to me and gave me a smile, I could see she was sad about her truck, but appreciated what Rose, Emmett, and I tried to do for her.

"It's okay Chris, you tried, so thank you." She went to hug me and like Carlisle looked me over and thought better of it "I'll hug you after you're de-oiled." She added smiling gently.

"Christian Aiden Cullen" Esme spoke up, finally getting over her laughter as she tried (keyword tried) to be authoritative between her chuckles of course. "I don't care how you manage to get up there, but you are to get cleaned up, upstairs now." I started to step towards the rug and she gave me the death look "away from my carpet you." She ordered pointing towards the garage.

The whole family burst out laughing and I grinned, heading back towards the garage to take the backstairs up to the third floor. As I passed by Bella's truck I patted the bonnet, it was sad to see it go, it was a good little truck.

xxx

Chapter Text

"Really, come on Seth you're going to send your stupid little monks onto my land and try to convert MY minions. Dude, not going to happen!" I exclaimed into the headset as Seth's red monks waltzed through my gate and made a beeline right for my peasants who were mining gold.

"Should've locked your gate!" Seth replied. "Serves you right for being too trusting, you're like a hundred years older than me you should know better."

"First of all I am not a hundred so there's no way I can be a hundred years older than you, and secondly we're allies, which means we're supposed to work together for a common goal!" I shot back and I could hear him snickering over the headset.

We'd been at this game for two hours, it's a computer game I found last year, and normally it's a fun one-player game against the computer. But I discovered that you could do a two-player VS on it, hence what Seth and I were doing.

It takes place in the middle ages sort of, actually, you can utilize different environments and conditions to play with. For example, Seth and I were on opposite ends of the 'Black Forest' we were allies trying to defeat the computer player, but it would seem Seth decided to take what's mine.

Seth was the French, I was the Celts, and we were originally trying to kick Edward the Longshanks of England's butt before Benedict Wolf changed his mind.

"Hey! Who said you could kill off my peasants!" Seth exclaimed, "why are they dropping dead no one touched them!"

"Your peasants?" I replied, "they're mine and I upgraded my monastery just in case you decided to pull something like this."

"To what, self-destruct, where the heck is that button?"

"It's an upgrade you goof, in your monastery, haven't you been upgrading that?"

"No, I was upgrading my castle and my army. The only upgrade I did on the church thingy was 'convert enemy units.'

"well you should've kept upgrading it, then you might have realized that with certain upgrades, converted units kick the bucket!" I shot back and laughed evilly

"Dude, that was just pathetic."

"So is going, turncoat."

"Darwinism at its finest Chris, survival of the fittest."

I was about to answer him when my bedroom door burst open and Alice stood there, arms over her chest, looking scary.

"Er, hold that thought, Seth, my sister is glaring at me for some odd reason."

"What did you do now?"

"Shuddup," I shot back "what's up Alice?"

"Forget something Christian?" she asked tapping her foot

"Er, not recently why?"

"You, Emmett, Jasper, wedding?"

Quickly I glanced at my calendar making sure I hadn't lost a few days and missed the wedding, I didn't see how that was possible, Jasper and I were supposed to be going to the airport the morning of to pick up Bella's mum and step-dad.

"Alice I just got invaded by the French when we're supposed to be working together, please no cryptic messages …"

She rolled her eyes at me

"You are supposed to be downstairs helping Emmett and Jasper set up for the ceremony. The tables and chairs just arrived, the alter is coming in an hour, and you are sitting up here playing computer games."

"It's a really important battle, it'll go down in history as a famous battle that never occurred."

"because the Celts chickened out and waved the white flag to go play wedding!" Seth said over the headset I rolled my eyes at him even though he couldn't see me.

"Shuddup," I shot back before turning to my sister "fine let me just kick his French butt and I'll be down,"

Alice shook her head and glared even more

"No Chris, now!"

"But,"

"No buts!" Alice shot back "don't make me call Esme," I winced, Esme was out with Rosalie picking up the flowers for the wedding, disturbing her for something like this would not end well for me.

"Fine, fine," I grumbled "Seth, you win this time only by default. Next time you won't be so lucky."

"VICTORY!" My friend exclaimed clearly not winning gracefully "who's the man, I da man,"

"You the dead man if you keep it up," I growled, trying not to laugh as I hit the 'surrender' key. I heard scuffling over the headset and Alice raised an eyebrow silently asking me what the noise was. I shrugged, I had no idea what wolf-boy was up too until I heard the scratchy noise of a radio being turned on…there was a clicking noise, followed quickly by the song 'we are the champions' by Queen. Really!? Now he was pushing it. "You are seriously a horrible winner. Bloody hell."

"Whoa," Seth exclaimed turning the music down and pulling the headset back on.

"Whoa, what?" I groaned, Alice tapped her wrist trying to get me to move along, I shrugged and nodded at the headset.

"You Brits really do say bloody?" he asked, clearly dumbfounded by this, I rolled my eyes yet again.

"Yeah we do, now seriously Seth, if I don't go with my sister right this moment she's going to kill me, you're not seeing this look of death."

"Right, right, use your sister as an excuse. I'll talk to you later, you gonna be on?"

"Can't tonight, it's Edward's bachelor party," I grinned

"Dude seriously? How is that going to work? Don't you need to" I could practically hear him smirking over the headset "to be a grown-up to go to one of those places? I know you can get away with driving and stuff, but how the hell are you going to a strip club?"

"Yeah, well see, us Cullens have our own version of a bachelor party, it involves a few mountain lions, some bear, hopefully, some moose"

"Oh," Seth replied "oh okay I get it.

"What'll happen is, it'll start as a typical hunt, and will as it always does turn into one big wrestling match." I paused "anyways, gotta go, later," before he had the chance to respond I disconnected the headset. Alice's eyes narrowed "what, I'm off, sorry it took so long."

"When you four get back from hunting tonight."

"Tomorrow," I corrected grinning

"Tomorrow morning, you guys better be ready to go for the ceremony, and if I find any mud or anything out of place…" Alice stopped and I grinned as if leaving that threat unfinished was really going to work against me. I remember Jasper's party, it started out as just a hunt, but then Emmett, er…tripped into a mud puddle, completely by accident of course, which in turn led to him retaliating. For some reason he thought I was responsible for his clumsiness so he tackled me or tried to and failed, landing back in the puddle.

By the time we returned home with an hour to spare before the ceremony, Emmett, Edward, and me, and even Jasper were all covered in mud, literally walking mud men.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine, we're going to have fun, brothers' night out and we'll get Edward back to the house in plenty of time for the ceremony." I paused "come on sis don't you trust me? I mean, we got Jasper back in plenty of time didn't we?"

"You guys came home covered in mud! It was like you went for a mud bath at a spa or something," Alice reminding

"Oh, right, forgot about that, well, in all fairness it had rained the night before so the mud was kinda unavoidable."

Alice shook her head

"Esme brought your suit up, we had it dry cleaned and pressed so you have no excuse little brother."

I wandered over to my wardrobe and groaned when I looked inside, yep, there was the suit.

"Oh goody," I replied

"The only thing you have to do is wear it tomorrow Chris and yes it has to stay on all day. No changing into jeans and a tee shirt after the ceremony."

"Would I do that?" I asked and Alice just gave me a look and pointed outside. "Right, of course, I would."

I was really not looking forward to dressing up, I hate it to begin with, and unfortunately, I couldn't just blend in with this wedding. When Alice and Jasper got married, it was pretty simple, I mean tradition-wise, Jasper chose Emmett to be his best man, Edward was a groomsman, and thanks to Alice I was the ring bearer (trust me I was not happy about that one). Rose was Alice's maid of honour of course.

Emmett and Rosalie's first wedding I wasn't with the family yet, but the pickings were slim so Emmett went with Edward of course and Esme was Rose's matron of honour.

Since that wedding though, Rose and Em rotate through us siblings as far as the roles. I've been Emmett's best man twice now. Edward had spent a long time deliberating on who he was going to pick, when it came down to it though, we all knew what his decision would be and it made perfect sense. Edward had picked Carlisle to be his best man, with Jasper, Emmett, and I as his groomsmen.

Carlisle was actually stunned when Edward had asked him and it was amusing. Emmett and Rose renew their vows with massive ceremonies every decade or so, but Alice and Jasper stuck with one ceremony and Edward and Bella planned to do the same, hence why Alice was going all out on the wedding. It would be a one-time thing, and at this rate, probably the last 'first-time' wedding of the family.

Alice gave me a look as if she could read my mind and heard that last statement. I shrugged, it was a fact that was pretty much set in stone, nothing I could do about it.

"Christian," she growled

I grinned, rolled my eyes, and headed out to the little balcony on my window, and jumped gracefully out, landing on my feet. I looked back up at the house and Alice was leaning out of my window shaking her head.

I shrugged and gave her a wave, before darting off to find my brothers.

Neither were hard to find and they were doing about as much work as I had expected them to be doing, IE nothing. Instead, I found my brothers out of sight of the house looking over a map.

"This has got some great mountain lions for Edward and according to the web there have been some mooses" Emmett paused thinking that over "is it mooses? Or Moosi?" he asked and Jasper shrugged "what do you call a herd of mooses? Anyways, a bunch was spotted so Dr. Doolittle will be happy."

"Wow, and here I thought I was being a prat for not helping you guys and making you do all the work when in reality you're ordering off the menu," I spoke up, leaning against a tree behind Emmett. He turned and grinned

"Ah there's the Brit I wanted to see," Emmett exclaimed, he reached over and grabbed my shirt, pulling me down on the rock he was sitting on.

"And Em, I think it's just moose, so a herd of moose, no extra S in there."

"Yeah, whatever,

"So what I do?"

"We're discussing Edward's last night as a free man party."

"Right, Alice threatened life and limb if I didn't come out here and help you guys set up for the wedding." I looked around "so exactly what have you been doing?"

"Absolutely nothing," Emmett replied grinning "and doing it well."

"So what was Alice talking about?"

"She wants us to set up because she thinks we'll know better where things go than any of the guys bringing the stuff." Jasper explained "but they've already set most of it up and there isn't anything left for us to do,"

"Except sit here and literally do nothing," Emmett added

"You mean I accepted defeat against wolf boy and had no reason to?!" I exclaimed

Emmett and Jasper both raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look

"Accepted defeat?" Emmett asked

"We were playing a computer game with Alice came up and said you guys needed me out here to set up. She had the look of 'I'm going to kill you if you don't obey me' so I complied. I had to surrender right when he was invading me. I'm never going to hear the end of it."

"Well kid, you win some you lose some," Jasper reminded and I shrugged

"He was trying to cheat anyways." I paused "anyways, we going up north?"

Emmett nodded his grin getting wide

"I was just on the web, they're closing one of the areas because of an influx in mountain lions,"

"Excellent and what did I hear about moose?"

"Well, there was supposedly a migration moving through that same spot, at least according to a hunter's blog. I know it's not a moose, but I figured you'd be happy with an elk at least."

Jasper and I exchanged a look

"A hunter's blogging site?" I asked, "since when do you blog Em?"

"I don't blog," Emmett argued, "I was surfing the net and it led me to a blog for avid big game hunters."

"Sure you were," Jasper replied elbowing me in the ribs, the pair of us chuckling as Emmett growled at us.

"Anyways, when are we heading out?" I asked changing the subject, Emmett had this look in his eyes that was making me nervous, like he was going to throw me or something, all in good fun of course, but seriously something I didn't want to deal with at the moment.

"As soon as we get Eddy boy out of Bella's house."

I looked around at the setup, everything was seriously done, the chairs were in place for both the reception and the ceremony, the archway for the ceremony, everything was ready for the wedding, there wasn't anything left for us to do except show up.

"Is Carlisle coming?" I asked hopeful, he had a shift at the hospital but had promised he would try and be out in time to run up north with us.

"He's going to meet us back here, we'll grab Edward and swing back here," Jasper replied. I looked at my watch and grinned at my brothers

"Should we go spring, Ed?" I asked, Jasper and Emmett, exchanged a look and nodded, Emmett gave me a shove and took off running

"See ya squirt!" he shouted I grinned at Jasper who shrugged, returning the grin. I don't know why Emmett thinks he can outrun me, I may be smaller than him, but I'm seriously faster

Xxx

I beat Emmett to Bella's by a good two minutes and he nearly tackled me into a tree when he came whipping around the corner, but I was laughing too hard to care. We could hear Edward groaning up in Bella's room as he realized we were there.

"oh for the love of all that's holy!" he muttered and I burst out laughing

"What's wrong?" Bella asked

"You don't have to call my brothers. Apparently, Emmett, Chris, and Jasper are not going to let me bow out tonight."

I looked at Emmett and Jasper and the three of us snickered

"Who the hell does he think he's talking about here?" Emmett asked, "let him get out of tonight is he nuts?"

"This is Edward we're talking about here," I replied, "I've been dying for him to undergo psychiatric evaluation for a while now."

"Shut up Chris!" Edward hissed

"Have fun," I heard Bella say reluctantly. Emmett grinned and nudged my ribs before he climbed up the tree next to Bella's house, the one that led right to her bedroom window. He winked at Jasper and me and ran his nails across her glass window

"If you don't send Edward out," he called, his voice was malicious, but the goofy grin on his face wasn't helping his argument, at least not from our point of view, "we're coming in after him!"

I jumped into the tree and made my way up the branches, settling in on the other side of Emmett.

"Yeah," I called, Bella's face appeared near the window and she rolled her eyes at me "I know all the weak points of your house I've studied the foundations and I've studied the blueprints, I know which brick to kick to bring it down."

Bella started laughing,

"go," she said, "before they break my house!"

Edward shot Emmett and me a glare as appeared in the window. Emmett and I groaned and pretended to fall out of the tree in shock

"Dude put on a shirt no one wants to see that!" Emmett called, Edward rolled his eyes and shook his head at us

"Get to sleep." He whispered to Bella, trying to ignore us. "You've got a big day tomorrow."

"So do you, lover boy!" I said, clearly he was trying to ignore Emmett and me and failing miserably because he kept glaring at us.

"Thanks!" Bella groaned "That's sure to help me wind down."

"I'll meet you at the alter," Edward replied

"I'll be the one in white," Bella said, now Emmett and I gagged, Emmett decided to escape all the sappy banter that was going back and forth, he jumped out of the tree landing next to Jasper. I stayed though, just to make sure Edward was coming.

Still ignoring me, Edward chuckled at Bella's reply

"very convincing," he said vaulting out of her room past me. When he hit the ground he slammed into Emmett with a thud.

"Damn it!" Emmett exclaimed loudly and I burst out laughing, preparing to lower myself to the ground with my brothers.

"You'd better not make him late," Bella murmured giving me a look. Jasper scaled the tree and took Emmett's spot, looking into Bella's window carefully. He really has come a long way with Bella, his will has gotten stronger and I'm really proud of my brother

"Don't worry, Bella. We'll get him home in plenty of time." He reassured our future sister. She didn't look convinced, but slowly her face and body language relaxed as Jasper used his ability to calm her.

She looked at both of us quickly, as if she was confused by something.

"Jasper? What do vampires do for bachelor parties? You're not taking him to a strip club, are you?" She looked right at me "I mean how would you, er, you guys look old enough, but what about Chris?"

I rolled my eyes

"I am older than I look," I reminded her grinning but before Jasper or I could elaborate, even if it was to freak Bella out, Emmett spoke up

"Don't tell her anything!" he growled from below followed by another thud as Edward hit him again

"Oops," Edward said, "sorry Em, didn't see you standing there."

"Relax," Jasper explained "we Cullens have our version. Just a few mountain lions, a couple of grizzly bears, a moose or two for Chris. Pretty much an ordinary night out."

"The club comes later!" I added grinning

"Chris!" Bella exclaimed, her voice shocked,

"Kidding Bella, kidding." I replied, "get some rest, see you tomorrow!" I added dropping down next to my brothers, Jasper joined me and we all gave Bella a wave and took off for home.

Carlisle was waiting for us in the driveway. Looking forward to the night out as much as we were. It isn't very often, especially lately that Carlisle gets all four of us together for a Cullen boys' night out.

"So, bets?" I asked as we bid the girls goodbye for the night "I'm listening for wagers here,"

"Well it's Edward's party so I think it's only fair he gets the first critter," Carlisle reminded us and we nodded.

"so no bets?" I asked looking at my father with a pleading look. Edward chuckled and raised a hand

"I've got one, first one to the hunting spot gets the keys to the Martin while Bella and I are on our honeymoon and the first one to take down a mountain lion is allowed to drive it."

Now I grinned, it was a ridiculous bet in all reality, but it was still going to be a lot of fun, anytime I get to annoy and instigate, and just have fun with my brothers and father is fun.

Xxx

Chapter Text

Emmett has this strange belief, really an obsession, that if he keeps trying, he'll eventually be able to either scare me or catch me off guard in some way. He spent all of Jasper's bachelor party trying to knock me into the swamp we found and ended up falling in it more times than he'd like to admit. It was one of the things that made Jasper's bachelor party bloody brilliant.

I didn't think anything could top that, but given Emmett's obsession, I knew Edward's had potential. Especially since Carlisle could make this one. He wasn't able to go to Jasper's because the hospital he was working at had a major emergency when a mine shaft collapsed.

Carlisle will never admit it aloud, but he finds Emmett and I's antics hilarious and he had been disappointed that he only got to see the end result of Jasper's party. IE the four of us walking into the yard covered in mud and Alice, Rosalie, and Esme yelling at us for our immaturity, more Alice and Rosalie than Esme, I think our mother just couldn't believe us.

So after we had our fill of critters, Emmett started in, there were no mud puddles or anything of that sort in the general area, but there is a river and we were heading that way.

Emmett tried to grab me a few times and I easily maneuvered away from him each time. My brother has the attention span of a squirrel and the patience of one as well, so he gave up annoying me pretty quick, at least for the time being as he went for an easier target. He decided to go for Edward.

Edward, who was clearly overthinking his upcoming nuptials was deep in thought and didn't even notice Emmett's maniacal grin nor did he notice our brother slip off the path as we walked towards the river to go clean up a little bit.

Of course, Emmett was so concerned with tackling Edward he neglected to notice I had slipped into the trees. Carlisle glanced up and chuckled when he spotted me jumping from branch to branch, just above my brothers.

We reached the river and as Edward bent over to wash up, Emmett took his opportunity and pushed him into the river. Edward came up spurting water and glaring at our brother

"Em what the hell!" he shouted as Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett started laughing.

"You were looking a little stiff, thought you might need to cool off."

"So you push me into a river?"

"Ye-" Emmett was about to reply when I jumped out of the tree, landing on his shoulders and taking the both of us into the river next to Edward.

"Mwahaha!" I shouted when I came up, I grinned at Edward "see Ed, I've got your back."

"Dr. Doolittle!" Emmett shouted, he reached over and pushed me under "you little traitor!" he kept me under for about thirty seconds before letting me back up, when I came up and took a mouth full of water and shot a stream of it at him.

"That's a good look for you Emmett, the drowned rat look," Jasper said with a grin as he and Carlisle began laughing again.

Emmett, Edward, and I exchanged a look and looked to the top of Emmett's head. A pile of wet leaves was sticking in his hair. I looked around and realized the river was full of them.

"Shuddup," Em shouted at Jasper, then he took his hands, held them together, and whipped his arms around, grazing the top of the river and sending a wall of water at Jasper and Carlisle.

"Overkill much son?" Carlisle asked as the water dripped off him

"Er, sorry Carlisle," Em replied

"Don't worry dad I've got him!" I exclaimed and jumped onto Em's shoulders again, taking him. "For England! For King and Country! Rule Britannia! The British shall never surrender!"

"Get off me, you little twerp!"

"We shall never surrender, especially to you Yanks!" I replied. "Long Live Briton! Scotland Forever!"

While Emmett and I were arguing back in forth, Edward returned to the shore, trying to dry his drenched clothes. I knew I could count on Jasper to side with Emmett and me as he grinned at Edward and shoved him back into the water.

What really surprised us though was Carlisle, who as soon as Jasper pushed Edward in, tackled Jasper into the river.

Now all five of us were in the river, we were soaked, and we were having a great time with it. Emmett sent a wall of water at Edward and me, we both saw it coming and ducked so it sprayed Carlisle again.

Jasper swam under the water and grabbed Emmett's leg, pulling him off balance and sending him under the water. As he went down Emmett grabbed my shirt and the pair of us went down together.

It's been a while since the five of us have had this much fun, certainly before the battle with the newborns, even further back than that. We're talking years since we've had this much fun, not a care in the world, just four brothers and their father having a good time.

We knew the girls would kill us if they had seen us swimming around in our clothes like this, but none of us cared. This bachelor party was quickly shaping up to be better than Jasper's. I climbed out of the river, scampered up the nearest tree, and inched my way out on the thick branch. I made sure to aim and jumped off the branch, tucking my legs under me,

"Cannon Ball!" I shouted landing right in between Emmett and Edward, drenching my brothers.

"Wow, that was mature," Emmett muttered

"What's the matter Em, can dish it out but can't take it?" Jasper asked pushing him a little, Emmett grinned and moved to tackle Jasper into the deeper part of the river, but Jasper knows Emmett's moves and easily sidestepped so our brother went face-first into the river. He came up laughing and that got the rest of us going.

We were having such a good time just pushing each other into the water and wrestling that we didn't even notice the sun starting to come up. Not until Carlisle cleared his throat and nodded at it.

We exchanged a look and grumbled that our fun had been cut short. None of us wanted to admit it, but we did have a lot to get done for the wedding. It wasn't like Jasper and Alice's wedding or any of the renewals for Emmett and Rose, there was actually stuff us guys were responsible for other than just showing up, that was Edward's job for the day.

Jasper and I had to drive to pick up Bella's mum and step-father, and Emmett was in charge of directing the catering people where to go for the reception.

I still think Alice was insane to put him in charge of that, but it's not my wedding and I'm not in charge. I've got my assignments and will complete them as expected.

We began the trek back and to be honest we took our time. Carlisle, Edward, and Jasper walked ahead of Em and me. About half a mile into the walk, Emmett gave me a gentle nudge with his elbow.

"What's up?" I asked and he smiled at me "what?" I repeated raising my eyebrow "what's that look for?"

"Missed you kid,"

"I've been right here Em," I replied

Emmett kind of sighed, he looked at our brothers and father for a second, before looking back at me.

"We really thought we lost you, kid," he explained, Emmett doesn't do serious, it's never fun when he does and it kind of freaks me out because I'm not used to it.

"Em, it's history, just forget about it." I said "please,"

"It's not that easy Chris, do you realize how freaked out we were that night."

I winced, everyone had made it a point to NOT talk about that night around me, after all, that had to happen to get me back here, back to normal in some sense, no one wanted to make me go back there.

The problem is, aside from Esme going overboard in the mothering department, and my siblings and father constantly asking if I'm okay, no one has looked me straight in the eye and asked me about that night, not even the Denali clan.

Deep down I've known that the discussion would probably rear its ugly head, but I was also hoping that it wouldn't. The whole Lion King idea, Hakuna Matata, it's in the past deal.

"Look, Em, I'm sorry, I'm sorry about everything. Seriously can we just." Em shook his head and I sighed, running my hand through my damp hair "fine, yes I know how freaked out you guys were, I wasn't so gone that I couldn't hear you guys, couldn't see you guys. I just…I just couldn't do anything."

"While you were in Alaska, we tried to go as if things were business as usual, but it was impossible because a big piece of the house was missing. You."

My shoulders slumped and I lowered my head

"Em, I really don't want to do this, I don't want to hear this" I muttered, "please Em, just let it go."

I felt Emmett hesitate, like I said he doesn't do serious and I could see how uncomfortable he was with this, probably even more than I was.

"You know I carried you home? You couldn't even walk, you weren't even moving, I've never seen that happen to anyone, let alone…let alone my little brother. I've never really felt fear Chris, even the night that Rosalie found me. Dealing with a pissed off bear wasn't a new thing for me and I was so out of it after he attacked me I didn't really feel pain or fear, especially after Rosalie came into my line of sight." Em paused "but a few months ago I got a taste of real fear, my little brother who is just as tough as me was suddenly laying on the ground defeated. I looked in your eyes Chris you were gone, I didn't see any life in your eyes at all." Em paused and nudged my shoulders again "I'm not telling you this kid to bring you back down or guilt you."

"Then why Em, I've moved past what happened, why are you dredging it back up again after I've tried so hard and come so far to forget."

"Because I don't ever want to see you go through that again." Em grinned at me gently "I know I'm the goof-off of the family and I don't take much serious, but there are a few things. My relationship with Rose is certainly one of those, our family is another, but you know what comes right after Rosalie?"

I shrugged

"No,"

"Being a big brother, especially to you. And that night I felt like I failed as your brother. I couldn't protect you."

Now the level of uncomfortableness had spilled over for both of us. But I could also see that Em wasn't going to let that stop him from saying what had to be said.

"I don't blame you Em, I don't blame anyone except J…" I started to say, the name caught in my throat, Bree's face flashed in my mind, the sound of her terrified screams, the fire devouring her, Jane's satisfied laughter.

I'd spent months trying to forget, why was Emmett making me remember? Emmett of all people, of all my family, was the last one I'd expect to do this to me.

"Chris," Em whispered, he put a hand on my thin shoulders "oh kid I'm sorry I seriously didn't mean it."

"It…It's okay Em," I took a deep breath "it sucked for me, I…I didn't even think about how you guys felt, what you guys went through. I'm sorry."

"Okay, I think both of us are going to a depressive place we shouldn't be."

"Agreed,"

"I'm sorry for bringing it up kid."

"It needed to be said I guess. It was kind of the elephant in the room…" I looked around "forest, whatever" I paused "just out of curiosity, why did you bring it up now? I mean we're talking a couple of months later here, why now?"

Em took a deep breath

"All of us goofing at the river, it reminded me of how things have always been. But you were only half into it."

"So you decided to bring up my long term space out as a way to complete the half?" Em looked at me panicked for a second and I grinned "just kidding,"

"I just don't want to see you like that again Dr. Doolittle,"

"Believe me I don't ever want to be like that again myself," I replied

"That's good to hear kid because you were starting to act way too much like Edward, I was getting really concerned."

My eyes went wide

"dude not cool!" I exclaimed

"You were. Seriously I'm outnumbered if you go to the dark side." Emmett's grin widened "I'm just hoping the honeymoon is going to de-tense our brother."

"Lovely thought," I replied

"Emmett shut up!" Edward shouted from up ahead as he read Emmett's thoughts.

"It's really too bad you guys aren't going to Hawaii," I added and Edward's glare intensified, Carlisle and Jasper exchanged a look, unsure what Emmett and I were up to, but both knowing it wasn't a good thing.

"And why is that Chris?" Edward growled, Emmett looked at me his eyes full of pride as he waited for my answer too.

I sighed, Carlisle was not going to like this, but I couldn't disappoint Emmett, not when he looked like that.

"Because at least in Hawaii you get laid," I said as quickly as I could, Emmett burst out laughing as did Jasper, Edward I'm sure if we were able to would be turning bright red, and Carlisle seemed stunned for a second as his eyes went wide.

"Really Chris?" he muttered

Emmett slapped me on the back

"He said it! The Brit said it! Way to go, Chris, welcome back!"

"I'm going to kill you both!" Edward shouted, running at us.

Emmett looked down at me with a panicked look, he reached down and lifted me up under his arm like I was a football and bolted into the woods, all of us except Edward laughing. I'm not entirely sure why he picked me up, I'm way faster than he is, but I wasn't going to argue, not with Edward barreling after us.

Xxx

Edward stopped short behind us as we jumped over the river, crossing into our backyard where Esme was standing there, arms folded over her chest, tapping her foot. Of course, Emmett had put me down halfway home so I bolted ahead of him, but I screeched to a stop when I spotted our mother so Emmett rammed into me, when he was unable to stop.

Edward managed to stop before hitting either of us, but all three of us had the same deer in the headlamps look in our eyes. I didn't think it was possible for Esme to look THAT menacing, but she did.

"It's so nice of you boys to show up." She explained another crash in the woods alerted us to Jasper and Carlisle's arrival. All five of us trying not to look sheepish as Esme looked at Carlisle disapproving, but I could see the twinkle in her eye as Carlisle smiled at her.

On the porch Rosalie stepped outside, she had the same look on her face as Esme, even more so when she spotted the fact that we were all still soaked.

"Now what did you guys roll in?! Last time it was a mud puddle."

"Er," I started, looking at my brothers and father for help.

"Emmett?" Rose demanded

"The river," he admitted looking everywhere but at his wife.

"Honestly, the five of you are ridiculous."

"It was a bachelor party!" I exclaimed "and an awesome one at that."

"You know we were this close to sending the dogs after you guys?"

"Bloodhounds or shape-shifting wolf pack?" I asked seriously, Rosalie growled at me and I winced back. "Er, never mind, not important."

"Good choice," she paused and threw her hands up in the air "honestly," she added before heading back into the house.

Esme rolled her eyes at us and pointed to the garage, none of us were going in the house the front door apparently, not even Carlisle.

"Chris, Jasper you both have to pick Renee and Phil in an hour and get them back here, driving human speed, I highly recommend you both change and leave, NOW."

Jasper and I exchanged a look, grinned at our mother, and headed for the garage to use my back stairs to get inside. Just as I was heading to the stairs, Edward grabbed my shirt collar and I winced.

"Er, yes Ed?" I asked he rolled his eyes at me and gave me a gentle shove.

"Get laid?" he asked "really was that necessary?"

I shrugged

"Seemed appropriate, I watch the travel channel, as soon as you land in Hawaii they put those lei things on you, isn't that called getting laid?" I grinned mischievously

To my surprise, Edward smiled

"Emmett's right you know, welcome back Chris."

"Thanks, Edward," I replied.

Xxx

The half-hour drive to the hotel was relaxing. Jasper let me drive, he had drafted up a permit for me which gave me full legal permission to drive Esme's Audi with my licensed brother. This was seriously our only job for the wedding besides showing up at the alter with Edward as his ushers.

"Do you think Edward is nervous?" I asked Jasper, it wasn't really a question more like a statement, we both could see that he was as nervous as they come, Jasper could sense it and I could read it on our brother.

"I was," Jasper replied, he looked over at me as I pulled off the highway towards the hotel "and you will be too."

"You're starting to sound like your wife, I hope you realize that," I said

"and you're starting to sound like Edward." Jasper shot back

"Touché," I replied

"Nerves are a good thing, Chris, it happens to everyone. I bet even Emmett still gets nervous each time he and Rosalie renew their vows."

"I bet no one is as nervous as Bella," I added grinning

"You felt it too?" Jasper asked

"Felt it, heck no I could smell it, though I think Alice had her locked in the bathroom doing who knows what to her, so that could've been where the fear was coming from."

I pulled the car down the road and around the circular driveway in front of the hotel. We both stepped out and waited patiently for Bella's mum and step-father. Neither of us had met them, so we weren't really sure what to expect.

With all the wedding planning that Renee, Alice, Esme, and Rosalie have been doing throughout the house, I've made sure to make myself as scarce as possible. So when Renee and Phil flew in a few days ago, I wasn't around to meet Renee. Besides, I could tell just from how Bella was acting, she wanted to spend as much time with her mum as possible. Of course, I knew why she was trying to say her goodbye and realizing that it was tougher than she realized.

I knew that Phil was a baseball player for some minor league team in Florida and that Bella's mum had many different career and hobby interests, but had been a teacher and was a current substitute teacher.

"Oh, you must be Jasper and Chris!" Renee exclaimed coming out of the hotel, trying to balance in her heels, while carrying her dress. Phil came right behind her, already in his suit and carrying a small bag as well as a gift. "It is so wonderful to finally meet you, boys." She said hugging me first and then Jasper, catching my brother by surprise. I glanced at him carefully just to make sure he was okay, but surprisingly he was doing really well.

"Er hi, Mrs….Dwyer," I started when she let Jasper go, Phil held out his hand to Jasper first and Jasper shook it, then he did the same to me.

"Wow, you guys must have the AC blasting in there, your hands are freezing."

I nodded

"Mum doesn't like us running the AC too much so I blast it when I get the chance." I replied "I like it cold,"

"Bella was right you do have an accent!" Renee exclaimed hugging me again "oh it is so adorable. Chris what part of England are you from?" she asked as Jasper and Phil put the small bags and the dress carefully into the boot."

"Er, I was born in Scotland, just outside of Glasgow, but we moved to London when I was about three or four," I explained sliding into the driver seat, Phil and Renee went to the back seat.

"Phil and I are planning a trip to Europe next year, during the offseason. I've heard England is so beautiful."

"It is, but Scotland more so," I exclaimed as we pulled out of the hotel and towards the highway.

"So tell me, boys," Phil said leaning forward between us "you guys like baseball right?" Phil grinned

"We both do," Jasper explained "Chris is more of a Cricket fan though," Jasper gave me a sly grin

Phil however looked confused

"Cricket?" he asked "like the bug?" that got Jasper laughing as I rolled my eyes, my poor sport gets no respect.

Chapter Text

I was just adjusting my bowtie in my room when Esme poked her head in. I've never been good at tying them and my mother must have timed her visit perfectly to check on me right when I needed her the most.

"Oh my goodness Christian Cullen you look so handsome!" She exclaimed coming into my room.

I glanced over at her and my mouth dropped open

"Mum, you look incredible," I said, she really did and I think if our bodies were able to, she would be blushing.

"Oh Christian," she said reaching for my bowtie

"No mum you really do," I grinned "absolutely beautiful" I took her hand, kissing it gently.

Esme smiled and tried to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear, of course, it didn't stay before she kissed my cheek.

"You are such a darling." She replied reaching for my bowtie to fix it "I do not understand for the life of me how a boy who will be eighty in a few months cannot tie a bowtie."

"I blame Carlisle," I guessed grinning as she fixed it.

"I suppose he's a good choice since he can't tie them either." Esme paused "Edward is going to have to watch out, you may very well steal the show today, Christian."

"Come on mum," I replied as she put on the final touches "it's Edward's day." I grinned

"Well, that may be true, but will you at least save one dance for me?"

I nodded

"Of course mum. I'll always save a dance for you."

Esme tapped my nose and kissed my cheek again

"That's my son," she whispered, "the Denali clan just arrived, they're asking for you."

"Really?"

"Irina came too Chris, but she doesn't seem like her old self, she's distant sweetie, not making eye contact."

I read between the words, my mother was warning me that Irina had still not gotten over the wolf incident with Laurent.

This could be a bad thing…Irina blamed the wolves for destroying her potential mate, she refused to see that he was infatuated with Victoria, that he was following her orders on everything, and that he had nearly killed Bella and would have if the pack had not intervened.

None of that would matter to Irina, I also knew how she probably felt, like we had betrayed her by not taking out the pack, by siding with the pack, choosing our enemies over our family. She wouldn't see that it wasn't personal; that we did what we had to because it was the right thing to do.

"Is anyone from the pack coming?" I couldn't remember who Bella and Edward had invited, at least not completely. The invitations had gone out while I was still in Alaska.

"Well, the Blacks received one of course,"

I nodded

"Jacob's father will still come probably, even if Jacob is AWOL."

"And Bella's father is bringing Sue Clearwater, so I believe Seth is coming as well."

I grinned a little, that could work in my favor, if the party started getting boring maybe Seth and I could make an escape to the loft and play video games all night.

"Cool,"

"Which doesn't mean you and Seth can make yourselves scarce Christian."

Bloody hell her motherly intuition scares me sometimes.

"Wasn't planning on it,"

"Christian Cullen I can see the plan unfolding in your eyes. You and Seth and your brothers for that matter are all to remain at the party, the entire time." Esme scolded gently "anyways that is not the point, I just want to make sure you're aware-"

"To keep an eye on Irina especially if anyone from the pack shows up, because she may not be able to control her anger in that instance." I finished for my mother and she nodded, the worry in her eyes was overwhelming.

"Yes, that would be the reason. I'm letting Emmett and Jasper know as well. I hope I am just being overly cautious, but I was not expecting Irina to look so angry,"

"You don't think she blames Bella too do you?" I asked Esme looked at me in surprise as if she hadn't even considered that

"Oh Chris…" she said

"Don't worry mum, we'll take care of it. It'll be fine don't worry."

Esme nodded, she looked up at my hair as if she had just noticed it.

"Oh Christian," she mumbled

"What?"

"Your bangs are sticking up honey."

I reached up and tapped the bit of hair that was sticking up

"Oh well, it happens,"

"Not today it won't, I want you to go to your sisters and see if Alice or Rose can take a moment to wrangle down that mop on top of your head."

"I'm sure they're too busy dealing with Bella," I explained, "I'll just wet it down with some water, it'll stay."

Esme shook her head

"Go to your sisters, they'll take care of you." I rolled my eyes course they will, I'll be lucky to get out of there with any of my sanity I thought. "Christian," Esme warned as if she could read my mind

"Okay, okay, I'll go"

"After that head downstairs and mingle sweetie, I know Tanya is especially eager to see how you're doing."

I nodded and kissed my mother's cheek again

"You look, beautiful mum," I whispered heading out of my room. As I passed his cage, Chap gave a loud protesting squeak, he was not pleased with this being locked in a cage bit. "sorry Chappy, I'll unleash you later I promise," I said to him, focusing on his emotions to try and calm him down a little. It worked as he decided to make himself a nuisance on his wheel, which was better than nothing.

I headed out of my room and down the first flight of stairs, I could hear all the random noises coming from Alice's room, it's a place I tend to avoid like the plague for obvious reasons. But I did make the brave move and I poked my head in, just to see what all the noise was.

I was hoping to look in, make the decision that my sisters were far too busy to help me out, and then just find a way to take care of my unruly hair on my own.

Alice was running back and forth to the bathroom, I could see Rosalie in the bathroom, she was doing Bella's hair.

Bella's mum was also in the bathroom, that bathroom on a normal day is a scary place, today however it was literally the scariest thing I had ever seen, with all the tools of hair destruction or reconstruction, whatever, scattered around, there was so much chaos in there, I could barely see Bella.

"Oh good Chrissy!" Alice exclaimed when she spotted me, damn it…busted. She reached over and grabbed me, yanking me into the room.

"Alice, what's up?" I asked nervously

"You're hair, for one thing, honestly Christian how is it possible that that one clump of handstands up so much?"

"I don't know," I replied "it's the Callaghan genes I suppose,"

"Well, whatever it is it is obnoxious."

"Er," I started "sorry?"

"Rose," Alice called "do you have a moment to work on our brother?"

"Still finishing up with Bella,"

"Finishing up with me?" I heard Bella ask with kind of a squeak, I snorted back a laugh "shush Chris," she shot back

"I can work on his hair," Bella's mum spoke up "I have just the thing to get that hair to stay down."

I looked at my sister quickly and she clapped excitedly

"Oh, Renée that is a wonderful idea! Thank you so much. He is such a pest sometimes."

"I am not a pest," I explained, but Alice went on as if she hadn't heard me

"This one clump of hair always stands up and we can never get it to go down, of course, if he would just let us cut his bangs there wouldn't be a problem."

"No one is coming anywhere near me with a pair of scissors," I argued and everyone chuckled.

"No scissors involved I promise Chris," Renée explained, she put a hand on my shoulder and guided me over to Alice's vanity, and gently sat me down. "Just a bit of hairspray and some good old fashion styling." She wrapped a towel around my shoulders to protect my tux.

I nodded

"Okay,"

As Renée set to work, I nervously glanced at the doorway, just waiting for one of my brothers to stumble in. I knew I was safe from Edward, he wouldn't dare come anywhere near Bella until the ceremony, Alice and Rosalie would kill him and he knew it, but Emmett and Jasper weren't bound by that same rule.

Both my brothers were still acting as gophers for my sisters, they would be right until the ceremony, and could appear at any moment.

It didn't matter which one caught sight of me having my hair done, I'd never hear the end of it, Jasper would tell Emmett, Emmett would definitely tell Jasper, it would be a nightmare.

Renée looked down at me and followed my gaze at the door, she smiled warmly at me, as she combed down my hair.

"Do I need to be concerned about someone coming to visit you?"

"Huh?" I asked

"You seem to be looking out into the hallway a lot." Renée explained, "Chris can you close your eyes for a second, I need to use hairspray." I did as she asked and closed my eyes, I could hear the spray moving around my head, "okay, you can open them. So do I want to know?"

"Know what?"

"What has you so worried?" Renée asked and I chuckled a little

"Just my brothers," I explained, "we tend to tease each other a lot and they know Alice's room scares me a little." I grinned "if they find out I came in here because E...Mum wanted my hair fixed, I won't hear the end of it."

Renée chuckled

"Brothers are like that I suppose. Teasing younger brothers is part of the package isn't it?"

I nodded

"Unfortunately,"

"Well, I won't say anything to them about it." She promised, "so Chris, Bella tells me you're quite the mechanic, kept her truck running for a long time."

"I guess so," I replied shrugging "I like tinkering around," I nodded towards the bathroom "Rosalie is the real mechanic, she taught me everything I know." Indiscreetly I looked over at the bathroom, I could see Rose in the mirror as she continued to style Bella's hair, my sister smiled at me, silently thanking me.

"Really?"

"Yup," I paused and shrugged "I was pretty homesick when I came to live with my godparents, missed my real parents and my home, everything was different here. Rose was only ten at the time, but she was pretty good at tinkering with cars, dad would let her help him change the oil in his car and do some of the basic repairs on it, she was really interested in that so she started reading all about car repair. When she saw how homesick I was, she showed me some of the different parts of the cars she had learned about, I liked what she showed me and started looking at the books she had. It was a way to fit in with my new siblings."

"That is sweet," Renée said. She put the finishing touches on my unruly hair "and you are good to go."

I looked into the mirror and grinned a little, not only was my hair not sticking up like it usually is, but I actually looked a lot older thanks to Renée's styling.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Dwyer,"

Renée returned my smile and actually reached over to hug me tight, careful not to wrinkle my tux. I was a little taken aback, and I could hear Alice and Rosalie giggling softly.

"Your brother is about to marry my daughter, that makes us family Chris, please call me Renée."

"Er, okay, thank you Renée, I appreciate this."

she nodded

"You're very welcome Chris,"

"That was excellent timing Renée," Rosalie called from the bathroom "I just finished with Bella's hair, it's time to move her into her dress."

"And that would be my cue to exit, stage left," I added

"ten-minute warning," Jasper called from out in the hallway, he knocked on the doorframe gently then looked suspicious when he realized I was in the room too. "Er, Chris?" he asked, "what are you doing in here?"

"I was…er…just…"

"He was just coming up to see if we needed anything else," Renée explained, "thank you very much, Chris, we're all set."

I nodded,

"Right, come on Jas, let's go take our place," I added nudging my brother as I left the room. We met Charlie in the hall, he looked as miserable in the suit as I felt "Hi Chief Swan," I said carefully

"Hello boys," he replied in almost a sigh before heading towards the room to collect Bella to escort her down the aisle.

Jasper and I headed downstairs, meeting up with Emmett and Edward who was trying his best to not appear nervous, but I'm a profiler, I could tell, my brother was a nervous wreck.

"So what were you doing up there?" Jasper asked "really?"

"Up where?" Emmett asked grinning a little

"I caught our little brother in Alice's room, he claims to have been checking on the girls to see if they needed anything, but I know he's not being entirely truthful."

Emmett got this gleam in his eyes

"Oh really, so Chrissy, something you want to tell us?"

"Nope, 'cause there's nothing to tell," I replied "Esme asked me to go check on them to make sure everything was okay, everything was fine so I was just leaving when third degree over here showed up."

All three of my brothers exchanged a look, even Edward's nerves calmed for a second. He could read my mind, he knew exactly why I had been in the room, but unlike Jasper and Emmett, Edward doesn't really delight in teasing me, even though he gets it enough from me and Emmett, he rarely turns it around on me. And this was one of those times, he simply shrugged and grinned a little.

"The kids telling the truth," he explained

"You boys better be heading outside!" Alice exclaimed from upstairs "NOW!"

"Come on lover boy, let's get you hitched," Emmett said throwing a massive arm around Edward's shoulders.

We moved outside to where the backyard had been transformed. White chairs were on either side of a long aisle, that lead to a large arch, where Angela Weber's father was officiating the marriage. He was already standing there with Carlisle waiting for us. This was huge for Carlisle and we all knew it, I said it before, but I'll say it again he was really surprised and humbled that Edward choose him to be his best man.

"You guys look great," Carlisle said "very proud of you boys," he added as Emmett, Jasper, and I moved to his side and Edward moved to his rightful spot near Mr. Weber. I glanced out at the guests and saw a lot of familiar faces.

The Denali clan waved at me and I winced, I had forgotten to go talk to them before the ceremony, the whole getting my bangs to cooperate had taken longer than I had expected, none of them looked mad though, I knew they'd catch me later and I'd be in for it.

Irina didn't look as mad as I expected her to be, but she wasn't herself either, just like Esme had warned me. She was staring off into the distance, looking at something only she could see and that worried me, a lot.

I also saw some of Bella's friends, Angela had made it of course, as had Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley, and a few others from their graduating class. I hadn't invited any of my friends even though it would've made the party a lot more fun.

I was still in debate whether I would be returning to Forks high school in September, it had been a decision that had been put on hold after the whole newborn incident, but was slowly creeping back into my thought process and I knew I was running out of time to make the decision.

Up near the front on the bride's side was Renée and Phil, with an empty seat nearby, also seated nearby was Sue Clearwater, Seth, and Billy Black, the wolf pack was represented and I realized that Irina hadn't noticed them yet.

I was surprised, no offense intended to Seth, but I could smell him, Irina wasn't that far from them, I was surprised she couldn't smell them, that none of the Denali' could. But maybe that was a good thing, it meant there wouldn't be any trouble.

Seth looked up when he felt my eyes and he got this enormous grin on his face, he started to pretend to laugh at my tux and making all sorts of idiotic hand gestures. Finally, his mother caught him and gave him a look that stopped him cold.

Now it was my turn to laugh, but I stopped when I felt Esme's look on me. I was still trying not to laugh though, the fact that two supernatural beings were just put in their place and scolded by their mothers was comical.

We also didn't get the chance to continue this laughing at each other bit, as Rosalie began playing Wagner's traditional wedding march. All the guests stood up and we waited patiently as Bella and her father walked towards the canopy.

I swear I heard Edward stop breathing and I looked over at my future sister and understood his gasp, she did look beautiful. Not the same Bella I'd come to know, not the same Bella I had once been afraid of. Regardless of who this Bella was, she was beautiful and though she looked scared, just as much as Edward did, she was ready for this.

Emmett was watching her intently, before the wedding he had placed a bet that she was going to stumble halfway down the aisle and that the only reason she wouldn't actually go flat down, was because her father was going to be there to help.

It was one of the few times I thought my brother's bet was a little cruel. So I refused to get in on it, Jasper too. So it would appear he decided to go with the bet all by himself (not entirely sure how that payday was going to work).

Bella didn't fall, she didn't even stumble, she walked smoothly and carefully down the aisle until she and Charlie reached the altar, where he kissed her cheek and gave her hand to Edward.

The ceremony itself went off without a hitch, as a groomsman, I really had nothing to do but to stand off to the side. Once the rings had been exchanged, the 'I do's' and the kiss, the area erupted with applause and cheers.

Bella and Edward went through the guests, being greeted and hugged by each one. Emmett, Jasper, and I stood off to the side as Alice skipped to Jasper's side and Rosalie joined Emmett, the four of them walking towards the other side of the yard where Alice had constructed a massive reception area, dance floor, tables, catering, a live band…it was kind of insane, but this was my sister. I expected nothing less.

I felt a little left out, I started to follow them when I felt arms wrap around my shoulders, someone pulling me close into a hug, it was Bella, she was crying tears of joy.

"Congrats Bella," I said softly as she hugged me tighter

"Thank you, Chris," she replied, kissing my cheek gently, before moving towards Seth, Sue, and Billy.

I'm not one for parties, as with the graduation party I try to stay out of the way. I had an excuse with the graduation party, my friends were over, here I had no choice but to stick around. So I kind of stayed off to the side, just kind of taking things in, and people watching.

I was seriously contemplating sneaking into the house, figuring no one would miss me when I smelled someone come up behind me…wolf smell. I turned around and caught Seth, his mum, and Billy Black in his wheelchair.

"Hey Chris, great party huh?" Seth exclaimed

"Little boring for my liking, but I'm under strict orders to stay. Mum threatened to ground me if I tried sneaking up to my room." I replied with a grin, I didn't miss the surprised look on Sue Clearwater's face when she heard that.

"Oh, so Chris this is my mom and this is Ja…Billy Black," Seth introduced, clearly trying not to say Jacob's name. Neither adult looked comfortable with the situation, in fact I was pretty sure that Sue wanted to move away from me, she was clearly very uncomfortable with the fact that her son had become friends with a vampire.

When I looked over at Billy Black, I expected the same, but I could profile him and he seemed intrigued for a moment, he held out his hand cautiously.

"Nice to finally meet you, Chris," he said I looked down at his hand, wasn't really expecting that, but I nodded and carefully shook his hand, he seemed to flinch a little, whether it was the coldness of my hand or the fact he was shaking hands with a vampire I wasn't sure which, but he didn't pull away.

"You too Mr. Black," I replied, then turned to Sue Clearwater, she was less eager to shake my hand but she nodded and did smile a little. "nice to meet you too Mrs. Clearwater,"

"Seth has told us so much about you, something about you both expelling the British?" she asked with a slight smile, Seth grinned

"Game mom, and the other night I kicked his butt,"

I rolled my eyes

"Again, I had to leave, that doesn't mean you kicked my butt, anyways you cheated."

"Did not,"

"Did too," I shot back,

Billy started laughing and though it took a moment, Sue did too as Seth and I exchanged a sheepish grin.

"It was a wonderful ceremony, Bella looked beautiful," Sue commented and we all nodded.

"She did," I replied, I paused when I felt eyes on me, when I followed the feeling, I realized it was the Denali clan. Irina had moved off somewhere, but Tanya, Kate, and Carmen were standing there, watching my interaction with the Quileute'.

Ironically, they had the same look in their eyes that Sue had with regards to me, they did not like me standing so close to a member of the wolf pack and his family. They thought I wasn't safe and were debating on whether or not to interfere.

Seth followed my look and did a double-take when he saw them, his mouth dropping open in shock.

"Whoa, friends of yours?"

"Family," I explained "cousins from Alaska."

Edward and Bella moved closer to them and Edward broke their stare, to introduce Bella. Tanya whispered something to Edward then nodded at me, for a second I thought she was asking if I was safe, but then I realized what she was saying.

Being a profiler, you learn a few things when it comes to reading body language and one of the things I'm pretty good at is reading lips. Tanya was saying 'The Cullens are almost all evened up in numbers now. That just leaves Christian, speaking of which, Edward, our little Englishman seems to have gained a new pet?' she asked as carefully as possible

'No Tanya,' Edward was saying 'a new friend, a pretty good one at that.'

She seemed to accept that and smiled at Kate

'Kate I think it's really time we started playing matchmaker for him, and do much better at screening first. Then perhaps it will be our turn eh?'

'Keep the dream alive.' Kate replied 'Chris first, we can't let the Cullens stay uneven like this.'

I groaned and Seth started laughing, he had no idea what I was groaning at of course, but whatever was annoying me had to be funny.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked between laughs

"It's not important," I replied grumbling, wishing my family would just accept the inevitable, I'm probably not going to find someone, it's just not my future.

Before I had a chance to really contemplate that or growl at our cousins, the band started up and we all moved closer to the dance floor.

I hung out with Seth, Mrs. Clearwater, and Billy for a while as Edward and Bella had their traditional first dance, followed by the father-daughter dance, and of course the mother-son dance before the band opened the dance floor to everyone.

After a couple of fast-paced songs, a slow one came on and I left the Quileute' to go find my mother, I had after all promised her a dance. I found her off to the side with Carlisle talking to Angela's parents.

I waited for a second then gave a cough, the four adults turned to me and smiled, I held out my hand to Esme and bowed

"May I have this dance?" I asked grinning, Esme smiled at me and took my hand, allowing me to lead her to the dance floor.

I'm not very good at dancing, it's never been something I'm fond of and it's not something I'm good at. I've always been positive I have two left feet even though both my human mother and Esme have argued that I'm a wonderful dancer.

I'll stick to the slow swaying stuff though and we got through that pretty easily. Esme looked down at me and made a move to fix my tie.

"You looked so handsome standing up there Christian," she cooed "I am so proud of you my little one."

I heh'd it's always kind of embarrassing when Esme calls me her little one, but thankfully (and I'm pretty sure there was a threat made about it) none of my siblings have ever commented on it.

"Thanks, mum," I replied, leaning up to kiss her cheek as the song ended. Carlisle came over, he patted my shoulder and asked to cut in which I obliged.

Then I spotted Emmett dancing with Bella, he was being as gentle as he could and I could see Bella laughing and blushing a little.

I took a deep breath and headed over to them, I tapped Em on the shoulder and grinned at my brother.

"May I cut in?" I asked, Emmett, rolled his eyes at me and gave me a gentle nudge with his elbow as he let me cut in.

I timidly took Bella's right hand with my left and put my right hand on her waist like Esme and my sisters have taught me. I still argue that I'm no good at this dancing stuff, but Bella didn't seem to mind.

"Are you having fun?" she asked and I nodded

"You?"

"Can't wait to get out of this dress," she admitted and I grinned

"Yeah I can imagine, did Alice sew you into that thing or something?"

Bella shook her head

"No why?"

"Because it looks like she did." I paused and looked at Bella with a serious look on my face "hey Bella,"

"Yes?" she replied

"I'm sorry,"

Now she raised her eyebrow in confusion

"What are you sorry for Chris?"

"For being afraid of you…when Edward first met you…and I found out how your scent had literally appealed to him so much that he high tailed it to Alaska…you…you well scared me, I was afraid to meet you afraid to profile you…I didn't want to get to know you. Wondering what kind of person could have such a pull over my brother."

"I never realized that Chris," Bella admitted

"I tried hard to make sure no one did. I'm not exactly one who likes to admit his fears Bella and Edward was sworn to secrecy…"

"You intrigued me, Chris, from the first time I saw you, your eyes pulled me in and your aura too. You're a good person Chris, I'm so glad to be able to officially call you my brother." Bella paused "and someday soon I know you'll have someone in your life you'll have your happiness too because you deserve it."

I shrugged, more embarrassed with this conversation than Esme calling me little one. As the song ended I kissed Bella's cheek gently

"Welcome to the family sis," I said softly then let Edward cut back in to dance with his bride.

Bella had terrified me when she first came into our lives, but she's grown on me over this last year or so…and I was happy to have her as my new sister.

xxx

Chapter Text

You'd think that after the bride and groom left the party would pretty much scatter. That's not how Alice runs a party though and the party was still going strong as Edward and Bella drove down the driveway heading for the airport to take them on their honeymoon.

The party had taken a turn for the interesting when Jacob, who had been MIA for weeks randomly showed up, dressed for the occasion. However, the reunion didn't last long. He was dancing with Bella and something, who knows what ticked him off. It got tense for a moment, none of the human guests seemed to notice, but we Cullens did as did Seth who tried to play diplomat with his friend.

Sam and the others who had been watching from the woods, I think to keep an eye on Seth came out and led Jacob away before he could get any angrier.

We could all see it, he had nearly transformed out of pure anger. I had thought it was a little ridiculous for the pack to be babysitting Seth, but I was actually kind of glad they had been there.

Surprisingly, even after that incident, Mrs. Clearwater let Seth stay with us for a little while longer after Jacob had been escorted away, and after Bella and Edward made their grand exit. She took Billy Black home not long after Bella and Edward left, but Seth wanted to see the Mustang so she let him stay, I offered to drive him to the treaty line, she really wasn't to crazy about that, but she didn't argue. Once his mum and Billy had left, I led Seth to our garage.

I swear he was practically drooling when I pulled the cover off the 'stang. He walked around it trying not to touch it.

"Well?" I asked grinning

"This thing is yours?"

"Mine and Rosalie's. We rebuilt it. It was in rough shape when we got it, really rough shape."

"Do you have any pictures?" Seth asked, out of the corner of my eye I saw him wipe his mouth with his sleeve.

"Of course," I replied I lifted myself up onto the workbench and pulled down the first picture of the Mustang we ever took once we got it home. I still have the original pictures that Dr. Snow took of the car to show Carlisle…go ahead and laugh but Rose and I have a photo album of the 'stang as it went through the restore process. It'll come in handy if we ever decide to take it to a car show.

"It's beautiful…how much did it cost you?"

"To repair it?" I asked "repair I'd say about five thousand went into it, the body was completely rusted over we had to strip it and repaint it. It was originally a hardtop, but we turned it into a convertible. The engine was shot and had to be replaced, the entire init was like I said Seth in rough shape. It had been sitting outside in the elements for years."

"How much did you buy it for? Edward said you bought it off of a doctor at the hospital?"

"We did, Dr. Snow, he sold it to us for a hundred bucks."

"A hundred bucks?!" Seth exclaimed, the soda he was drinking almost shot out of his nose and I burst out laughing. I handed him a paper towel. "A hundred bucks?!" he repeated

"Yeah, Dr. Snow didn't think we'd be able to restore it so he basically sold it to us for nothing."

"My dad would've loved this, he loved old cars."

I nodded, unsure really how to respond to that. I knew Seth's dad had died of a heart attack last year, supposedly it came from the shock of Seth and his sister Leah transforming, at least that was the rumor Jacob had told Bella.

"So…your dad was a car guy?"

"He thought he was," Seth replied laughing "but he couldn't change a tire if someone offered him a million bucks." He paused and took another sip of soda "he admired them from afar."

"What was his car of choice?" I asked

"Pontiac Firebird." I chuckled "what? What's so funny?"

"That's Em's favorite car too, he had one back in the seventies and loved it, it was a piece of junk though, Rose and I were constantly under that thing trying to get it to run properly." Seth's eyes bugged out of his head, you would think that would actually get old, but it still cracks me up every time he does it.

"The seventies?!" he squeaked

"Dude, when are you going to finally understand that I'm going to be eighty in a couple of months?"

"Eventually I guess, still shocks the hell out of me," he admitted and I grinned

"Yeah, I hear you, still shocks me too. Especially when you're sitting in a classroom and you open your textbook to see a picture of a time you remember, a place you remember a picture that could've been of you." I paused "or when you go to a cemetery that you know your parents are buried at and see your name on the headstone with them."

Seth kind of shuttered at that

"You saw a headstone with your name on it?" he asked sitting down on my workbench, nursing his soda.

"Last fall, Rose, Emmett, and I went to Europe for a week or so, we went to Scotland so I could pay my respects to my parents. The last time I was there my name was on the headstone, but there was no death date, everyone was still under the assumption that I was simply missing. It was only a few years after the war…but I guess enough time had passed for my family to declare I was dead."

"That's creepy,"

"Extremely." I replied, "let's get to a non-creepy subject."

Seth nodded and hopped off the bench, he began wandering around admiring the cars we have, I could hear him gasping and sighing every few seconds.

"Is that Alice's Porsche?" he asked nodding to the yellow blob that lives in our garage.

"You know about that?"

"Edward told me about it, it's a beauty." He grinned "how fast is it?"

I returned the grin

"Fast as all hell," I replied reaching into the workbench drawer "wanna go for a spin?" I grinned waving the keys at my werewolf friend. His eyes bugged out and he returned the grin

"Seriously?"

"Seriously, Alice won't even notice it's gone, she's having way too much fun out there, Edward's not here to read my mind and know what I'm up to. It'll be perfect."

Seth looked torn like he really wanted to do this but still wasn't sure. He looked between the car and the car keys dangling from my fingers.

Before he could decide I felt a wave wash over me, someone was coming into the garage from the kitchen and it wasn't my sisters.

"Málo bratranec' where are you trouble maker? I thought Alice and Rosalie threatened life and limb if you came out to the garage."

It was Tanya, I winced and looked over at Seth who had caught her scent, his whole body was stiff, a mix of fear and protectiveness weighing in his eyes. He was either going to panic and bolt or transform to protect himself.

"Easy Seth, Tanya is family, she's my cousin, sorta. She won't hurt you I promise." Seth didn't calm down, he backed up as far from the door as he could possibly get. "Out here Tanya," I called softly.

She walked in, a big smile on her face

"You owe me a dance Christian Cull-" she stopped mid-sentence as her own instincts kicked in and she recognized Seth's scent. I could see the worry on Tanya's face, her need to protect me from a danger that wasn't there, it was all she could do to not stand in front of me, grab hold of me and protect me. "Málo bratranec' what is this,"

"Just hanging out," I replied cautiously "I figured everyone was too busy enjoying the party, they wouldn't notice if Seth and I snuck away to check out the Mustang." I glanced over at Seth who was breathing heavy, his fists were clenched like he was trying to stay calm. "you know me, Tanya, I'm not a party guy."

Her expression softened just a bit, but only towards me, she was still looking at Seth with daggers in her eyes.

"(I don't like it Chris,)" she said in Slovakian, I can only speak a little of it, the Denali girls taught me over the years. I'm way better at French than it, but I know the basics.

Seth, who had backed into the corner as far as he could go, suddenly got this confused look on his face, I gave him a quick grin and he relaxed a little

"(it's okay Tanya, he's a friend, he won't hurt me)" I replied, stumbling over some of the words.

"(I don't want anything to happen to you little cousin, just be careful. Laurent may not have been innocent, but remember what…those creatures did to him, what they are capable of doing.)"

"I know," I replied, leaving the Slovakian behind "and thank you, but it's not the same. I'll be fine."

"Will you at least come out and dance with me like you promised?" she asked and I nodded.

"I'll meet you outside,"

Giving Seth one last glare, Tanya tapped my nose and left the garage. Seth literally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Holy crap…" he muttered

"Sorry about that,"

"What's her problem? I mean is it the whole werewolf thing?" Seth asked coming back over to me and returning to his spot on the workbench.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.

"It's a little more complicated than that," I explained, Seth tilted his head to the side, like a curious puppy. "There was a vampire named Laurent, he was with two nomads who came here last spring. Nomads come into the area from time to time, they don't usually go to your side of town, and they tend to migrate towards us, curious about a large coven living so close to humans. This wasn't any different except for one thing, Bella was with us when they arrived. It would've been fine, but one of the nomads is what we call a tracker."

"A tracker?"

"They're special gift is stronger tracking senses than most of us. My ability allows me to be a pretty decent tracker, but tracking isn't all I'm able to do. This one nomad, James he lived for the hunt, he focused on it, the more thrilling the hunt the better the kill and he set his sights on Bella." I paused and lifted myself onto the hood of the Volvo, knowing its owner was on his way to Isle of Esme and couldn't do anything about it at the moment. "This tracker, he actually knew Alice, we can't be sure, but we're pretty positive he's the reason she was turned."

"He did it?"

I shrugged

"We don't know, he confessed to knowing Alice on camera, but aside from that, we can't be sure. My best guess is that he tracked her and a vampire took pity on her or wanted to protect her so he turned her to save her."

"Oh," Seth said softly

"Anyways, when we realized what James was and how much danger Bella was in, we decided to send her to Arizona with Alice and Jasper, while the rest of us went after James and the female that was with him,"

"Let me guess, that redhead one, Victoria?" Seth guessed and I nodded

"Got it in one." I replied "yeah, so Laurent decided to supposedly turncoat on his friends. He gave us information on James, then we recommend he go north to Denali. None of us trusted him, I could profile him and knew he wasn't with James and Victoria for friendship but for convenience, but if he could turn on them so easily there was nothing to stop him from doing the same to us. We wanted him as far from Forks as possible and we wanted him with someone who could control him, Eleazar, we figured he'd be well controlled up in Alaska and he did seem genuinely curious about our way of life."

"Wait, did he have dreadlocks?" Seth asked and I nodded "I remember Jacob, Sam, and the others taking out a lee- vampire with dreads last year."

"That would be Laurent. He was working for Victoria the whole time, in fact, he was hoping that if our coven could take out James, then he'd have a better shot at Victoria. It never happened of course, she had eyes for James, even after we destroyed him, Laurent meant nothing to her, he was just a puppet."

"Okay, so I get all that, but what does that have to do with the scary hot Russian chick?"

"Slovakian," I corrected grinning a little "and watch it Seth they're family, they're like my cousins."

"Right sorry,"

"Irina is what this all has to do with, she's Tanya's sister and fell in love with Laurent. She was hurt by the fact he left her, but she was even more hurt by the fact that the pack killed him." I paused "but don't think we agree with her at all. Laurent tried to kill Bella and you guys saved her, Laurent got what he deserved. But Irina doesn't see it, she's blinded by the love she thought her and Laurent had together. I was actually surprised she came to the wedding."

"And her sister?"

"Tanya's protective of her sisters, they've had a tough life. Their mother, their creator Sasha was killed by the Volturi because she broke one of the laws."

"You guys have laws?"

I nodded

"And to break them usually results in death. The three leaders of the Volturi, Aro, Marcus, and Caius were actually convinced that Carlisle had broken one of our most strictest laws when he created me. It all ties into the same law, keep our existence a secret. Sasha changed a little kid, a toddler, they're known as immortal children and are extremely dangerous."

Seth had a confused look on his face

"Er, how can a little kid be dangerous?"

"It's kind of a long story," I replied "let me go keep my promise to Tanya before she comes hunting me down again. We can swipe Alice's car and I'll drive you to the line, I'll explain then okay?"

Seth nodded

"I'm going to stay here and drool over your mad impressive vehicles."

I chuckled

"Yeah okay, you do that."

I left the garage quickly and made my way through the crowd searching for Tanya. She wasn't hard to find, she was off to the side of the dance floor talking to Carlisle and Esme, along with Eleazar and Carmen, Kate and Irina were nowhere to be seen. I quickly realized why though, Irina had decided to head back to Alaska and Kate had gone with her to make sure she didn't take a detour along the way.

I hated the fact that our friendship with the wolves, really our alliance with them, was jeopardizing our relationship with our cousins. It scares the hell out of me that we might have to choose between the two groups, I just hope it never comes to that.

Tanya looked over Esme's shoulder and smiled happily when she spotted me, she wagged her finger at me accusingly.

"There he is, Emmett has been influencing you way too much Christian Cullen. This whole disappearing stunt is something he would pull not you."

I shrugged and smiled at Tanya apologetically

"Sorry Tanya," I replied before bowing, I took her hand "may I have the pleasure of this dance m'lady?"

Tanya giggled like a little kid as she accepted my hand and followed me out onto the dance floor.

"So Chris, do you want to explain your new furry friend?" she asked softly as we swayed to the music

"Sorry?" I asked

"You heard me perfectly well Christian, those creatures are dangerous. If anything, what happened with Laurent proves it."

"They're only dangerous if provoked or if they have reason to protect. They really helped us out when the new…newborns attacked. I don't think we could've handled ourselves against them without the pack." I paused "and Jacob did save me, he could've let me handle it, but he risked his own life to jump in and save me."

Tanya stiffened a little, she had forgotten that or tried to block it out. Even I hate to admit it, but had Jacob not jumped in at that moment to pull the newborn off of me…well let's just say I don't know how much longer I could've gone against it. The newborn was bigger and stronger than me and profiling could only get me so far.

"I know Chris," she finally said hugging me closer "and I'm grateful, but I also see the effect their presence had on Irina and-"

"Tanya you don't have to explain anything to me," I replied "believe me I get where you guys are coming from and where Irina's heart is, and if the relationship hadn't been completely one-sided I wouldn't be so quick to forgive the wolves. But Laurent brought it on himself, he was working for Victoria he was on her side the entire time not on Irina…Bella was innocent and he tried to kill her, but the wolves were there to protect her, just like they're meant to. It's why they're able to become wolves in the first place, it's so they can protect their people." I paused "we don't have to be enemies with wolves, this isn't Hollywood, just because historically and movie speaking vampires and werewolves can't get along and are natural enemies, doesn't mean we have to be bound by the same rules."

"You're starting to sound like Carlisle Chris. You're growing up, I still say that Emmett has been influencing you way to much, but he's not the only one."

I grinned and shrugged

"I guess,"

Tanya hugged me tighter as the song ended and she kissed my cheek.

"I love you, little cousin, just be careful please?" she paused "we nearly lost you once, none of us could bear if we truly lost you, in any sense of the term."

"I'll be fine Tanya, but thank you for your concern." I kissed her back and we headed back to the table where my parents and Eleazar and Carmen were still talking.

Esme reached up and pulled me close as I came near, hugging me.

"Having fun Christian?" she asked

"You know me, mum," I replied

"Oh he is getting snarky isn't he?" Carmen asked, she reached over and pulled me over

"Just a bit," Esme replied, "Chris where's Seth?"

"He's in the garage drooling over the cars, I'm going to give him a ride home if that's okay."

Esme exchanged a look with Carlisle who nodded, Carmen looked a little nervous, however.

"Is that the wolf?" she asked and we nodded.

"It's fine Carmen." Carlisle spoke up "the boys have become very good friends and I think both of them needed this friendship. Seth is…well was the youngest of the pack and he lost his father last year."

Carmen still looked nervous, but Eleazar shrugged

"It's definitely something new, I don't think it's ever occurred before a friendship between our kinds."

"It really started with Edward, him and Seth became friends first. Seth and I just have more in common than him and Edward." I explained "anyways is it okay if I drive him?"

Esme nodded

"Just be careful, Charlie just left, he may be heading home, but try to go the speed limit, Chris. I don't need you getting pulled over for speeding."

I grinned wide

"Aw, you mean I can't do ninety down the highway?"

Esme sighed as the others all laughed

"Oh yes, definitely been hanging out with his brothers' way to much," Tanya spoke up and they all nodded in agreement.

I nodded to that and kissed Esme's cheek, hugged Carmen and Tanya goodbye, and shook Eleazar's hand. Carlisle patted my shoulder as I grinned at him, heading back to the garage.

Seth was sitting in the Mustang's driver seat, clearly pretending to drive it like a little kid. I burst out laughing the second I saw him and he jumped a mile in the air, it was a good thing the top to the 'stang was down or he would've gone through it.

"Dude…don't sneak up on me like that!" he exclaimed

"You couldn't smell me?" I asked in confusion

"well, I mean sorta, but there's so many lee-…bloo-…vampires around here I'm having trouble telling your scent from someone else's."

"Right," I said not getting it at all "anyways you set to go?"

He nodded

"Yeah, I guess it's about that time, before my mom sends a search party or worse, the pack looking for me. She's probably afraid you guys ate me or something."

I grinned wide

"Naw, we're all well feed, Edward's bachelor party was a success." Seth went a little green "sorry,"

"It's okay." He looked over at the collection of cars "so what are we taking?"

I reached into the workbench drawer which has all the spare keys and I pulled them out one by one. Of course, Edward had taken the Aston to the airport so that one was out which sucked, but that still left a lot of other cars to choose from.

"Well, we've got the Porsche, the jeep, the Mercedes, the Audi, Mustang, the Volvo, my Kawasaki, the Beemers out, unfortunately."

"Why no Beemer?" Seth asked looking over at my sister's red BMW.

"It's Rosalie's and she's beyond anal about it, it's the one car in this entire garage I'm not allowed to touch without permission."

"Oh, that's okay."

"So it's your choice, pick your ride,"

Seth looked up and down the line of cars, I could see the wheels turning as he tried to decide.

"Can you really take the Porsche?" he asked carefully and I held up the key to Alice's car. "sweet." His grin widened "can I drive?"

"Hell no, I'm going to be in enough trouble when Alice finds out I took it out, if she finds out I let someone else drive it, especially a kid, she'll kill me." I paused "or worse,"

"What could be worse than death?"

"With my sister? She'll make me go clothes shopping."

"I do have a learners permit," Seth argued, "so you're not exactly letting a kid drive."

"Right that makes me want to let you drive my sister's Porsche even more, you really suck at making arguments you know that right?"

Seth shrugged and grinned

"I've been told that,"

"Right, get in before she sees." We slid into the car and I started it, backing it slowly out of the garage "I'm banking on the fact she can't see you guys, hoping that maybe she won't see this whole thing happening."

"Glad I can be helpful," Seth replied chuckling as he pulled his seat belt on. "Locked and loaded captain, we're ready for takeoff."

I laughed a little

"It's not a plane,"

"Use your imagination and it is,"

"Yeah if I'm going to imagine anything, the last thing I want to picture is a bloody plane."

Seth's grin got even wider, as he seemed to realize something.

"Why Chris, are you afraid of flying?" he asked, "a vampire afraid of flying, wow, that's kind of shocking."

"Dude, you do realize that we don't transform into bats and fly around right? That's all legends, most of which was started by our kind to keep humans from discovering what we really are."

His face kind of fell a little

"Aw man, I was hoping to see you go batty."

I gave him a gentle shove

"Shut up!"

As we headed down the driveway, the party was still going strong and I could see in the distance Alice and Jasper on the dance floor. They weren't even really dancing just swaying to the music, in complete sync with one another. Neither one was leading but knew where and how to move with the other. It's always fascinated me how they move around each other, it was creepy in the beginning when they first joined the family, but it shows how perfectly matched they are. Alice and Jasper, like Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, and now Edward and Bella are the very definitions of soul mates.

"Hey, Chris?" Seth called bringing me back to the present.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for this, not just risking your life taking your sister's car, but giving me a ride home. I really wasn't ready to go home with my mom and Billy." Seth paused and took a deep breath "Billy's not really a lot of fun to be around right now, not with Jake gone. I was actually surprised he wanted to come tonight."

We pulled out onto the main road heading towards the treaty line, it would be a quick drive and despite Esme's warning, I wanted to have fun with the car. Seth hadn't even noticed that the speedometer was quickly going up, it had moved past fifty and was making its way towards seventy.

"Did you guys know he was coming tonight?" I asked, "like did you hear from him before?" I tapped my head and Seth shook his

"No, not really. I heard there was a chance he was going to show up, but I seriously didn't expect him to." Seth looked out the window and literally sighed "sorry,"

"Hey don't be sorry. I'm just sorry he's going through such a crap time."

Seth was about to answer that when he leaned over and looked at the speedometer, which by this time had hit 100.

"Holy crap!" he exclaimed, "doesn't this thing have a governor or something?"

I grinned

"Those are illegal." I replied and he raised his eyebrow "in any Cullen car there is to be no governor."

The grin on his face was great

"Dude then floor it!" he shouted rolling down his window and actually howling out of it. "WAHOOO!"

"You are a bloody nutter," I shouted back but did as he requested and gave the Porsche a little more gas, sliding it up to 125 as we screamed down the highway.

"What the hell is a nutter?" he asked

"You are," I explained easing up on the gas as we neared the treaty line a line that despite our friendship I still could not and would not cross. "It's just a phrase meaning you're insane. Certifiable, straight jacket material."

"Says the guy who looks like he's fourteen, is really eighty and is going 125 down a highway where the speed limit is 55." I grinned and shrugged, slowing to a stop right before the line. "Aw man," he grumbled, "that was awesome, like a roller coaster or something."

"So glad I could entertain you." I replied, "next time we take my Mustang, or even better my Kawasaki, that sucker is mad fast."

"Sounds good to me," Seth said sliding out of the car, he leaned back in "hey when do you go back to school? I mean you guys go to school right?"

I was taken aback by that, not by the question, but by the reminder. School would be starting in just a few weeks and I still hadn't made the decision if I was going back to Forks high or not. I was still enrolled, that hadn't changed, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back.

"I don't know." I admitted, "I haven't decided if I'm going back or not."

"Man you are lucky I wish I could decide to go to school or not."

"We don't attend school for the education Seth, we do it to keep from going nuts. Do you realize how boring it would be if we just sat around all day and all night? I love reading and watching movies but there's only so much of that you can do before cabin fever sets in."

"I didn't realize that,"

"It gives us something to do. It gives some normalcy to our lives."

"So are you going back?"

"Dunno, not sure yet. Why?"

"Just wondering," Seth paused "I see my mom's headlights thanks for the ride Chris, I'll catch you later, great party."

I nodded and waved bye to my friend before doing a three-point turn in the road to head back to my house. As I drove I thought school over. Before the whole newborn incident, I had been anxious to return to school. Granted it wouldn't be the same with Marie gone, but I was still willing to give it a chance, I still had friends at the school.

But I've come to the conclusion I've changed a little bit since the newborn battle, maybe I grew up a little bit or something, but I wasn't as anxious to return as I had been. I had been emailing my friends from Forks, but stayed off the face to face contact, just in case I did go back, but it's the whole growing up thing, I wasn't really ready to return to the day to day school life. It may keep me from driving my family nuts like I had done when Edward first brought me home.

I remember how caged I felt how antsy I was, just from being stuck in the house. I've never been able to get over that and I still get kind of 'bounce off the walls' like when I'm forced to stay inside for extended periods, like when the suns out so I don't think I could handle that twenty-four, seven.

Besides what kind of excuse could my parents concoct to explain why I wasn't returning for my sophomore year, especially if we stayed in Forks? That was another thing, would we be staying in Forks?

When did Edward plan on keeping his promise to Bella? When would she become one of us? If it happened after they returned from their honeymoon that would mean we'd be moving on pretty quickly.

We wouldn't be able to risk Bella being seen by anyone, so maybe it was best to just cut it now. The story to cover Bella's abrupt departure was that her and Edward would be attending college together up in Alaska, so their sudden departure wouldn't be suspicious, so it did make sense for me to just cut ties now, leave it be and let my friends get on with their lives. We wouldn't be here much longer anyway.

As I pulled down our driveway the headlamps shined onto a figure standing in the middle of the driveway, tapping her foot, arms crossed and looking ready to kill.

"Hi Alice," I called waving carefully

"Don't you 'hi Alice' me Christian Cullen, how in the world did you get my keys?" Alice growled

"It's better if you do not know," I replied putting the car into park and sliding out of the driver seat. "It needed to stretch its tires, you've been so preoccupied with wedding planning you've neglected it. It was begging me to take it out."

She rolled her eyes and held out her hand for the keys which I dropped into her waiting hand, not wanting to even argue with her.

"I appreciate you looking after my car's mental well being." She replied and kissed my cheek "you're just lucky that I'm in such a good mood even you grand theft auto-ing my car isnt going to change that. But payback will come at you little brother, mark my words." Alice took my place in the driver seat and patted her car's steering wheel, examining it to make sure I hadn't been too cruel to her "baby". "Mark my words." She repeated as if that would have a better chance of being a threat.

"At least I stayed in the Penguin suit!" I argued and Alice glared at me again.

"If you hadn't you would be in so much trouble!" was the only answer I got as she put the car into drive and headed towards the garage, leaving me to take the rest of the long driveway home, without wheels.

I looked down at my attire and sighed, Alice didn't want the suit ruined she shouldn't have left me stranded. I slid off the shoes and socks and carrying them under my arm, ran towards the house, where in the distance I could still see lights and could still hear the music of a party still going strong.

Chapter Text

A week or so after the wedding, I was basically living in the garage. Now that Bella and more importantly Edward weren't home it gave me a chance to get to work. Bella was under the impression that we had hauled her truck off to a junkyard once I realized there was no saving it. However, what she didn't know was that it was in fact still at the house, hidden in the back yard out of sight under a tarp.

It was my goal to restore it, I just needed time and with the two of them off on their honeymoon, I had that chance. The work wasn't the issue, if I could restore the Mustang given the rough shape that thing was, Bella's truck shouldn't be so difficult. The body was in perfect shape, the interior was fine. Both of those took out steps right there. The Mustang's body was decrepitated and the interior was virtually non-existent.

The main issue was finding the engine. No matter where I had called, no one seemed to have the exact engine and I wanted a full restoration.

It gave me something to do because I had decided that I would not be returning to school. I had already talked to my Forks friends and explained the situation. The reason I wouldn't be going back was the real issue. I may be pretty creative, but I was drawing a blank.

Esme came up with the excuse in the end. She explained that I would be taking courses online because I was going to spend a semester in Scotland with my relatives over there. It wasn't enough to sway my friends who I talked to. They were disappointed and wanted me to change my mind, but I couldn't, I couldn't go back. Maybe in a few years, maybe when it came time for Bella to join us at school I would go back. But going back to school right now went against every instinct in me.

I've learned to listen to my profile very carefully and though I may take it with a grain of salt, this time around I trusted it. I saw that I needed to do this. Give myself a break from school, from that part of human life. Mentally I knew I needed that break.

I was just going over the schematics for the truck, I had found them online, the same site that had the information for the Mustang. I put the plans down when I heard footsteps in the woods, just outside the garage.

I was the only one home surprisingly, it never happens; Esme and the girls were in Seattle shopping, Carlisle had a shift at the hospital, and Emmett and Jasper had driven to Port Angeles to go see a movie, a movie that I had no desire to see. Snakes on a Plane. Yeah no, I am not an idiot, I am not going to go see a movie that involves a plane. So I opted to stay home.

I slid off my stool and cautiously walked towards the door, I didn't smell anything out of the ordinary and didn't see anything to explain the footsteps I clearly heard.

What the hell, I thought

"Hello?" I called, no one answered, not that I expected an answer, it was strange, but it wouldn't be the first time I've heard things. Shrugging it off, I went back to the stool and turned my radio on, just for some background music while I worked.

It didn't take long before I heard the footsteps again, this time however they were accompanied by a voice.

"What the hell did you do to that truck you little Flea,"

I went stiff, recognizing that voice and unfortunately that scent…unsure how I missed it before I growled a little.

Jacob.

"I beg your pardon?" I replied turning to face the much bigger teen that was leaning against the doorframe of the garage, he was glaring at me and looked disheveled, like he hadn't slept in days, I don't think he'd bathed in those few days either, he looked like hell. Worse than he had at the reception.

"I spent years working on that truck, then you come along and kill it. What the hell?"

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "for your information, the truck died on its own accord, I had nothing to do with it, in fact, if anything I did all I could to save it." I paused "and for another thing, how is it, we can't come onto your lands and we honour that, and yet you can waltz onto our private property?"

Jacob didn't answer that right away, he just glared at me some more.

"That's the original engine in that truck, if you killed that you're going to have to find a replacement." he finally said and it was all I could do not to give him a 'duh' face

"No really?" I said, "wow, I never would've guessed it considering how many times I changed the oil and did repairs on the bloody thing." I looked at the truck as if I was admiring it "and you say it really needs an engine to run, holy hell I never would've guessed that."

"So it is true you leeches kill everything you touch huh?" I rolled my eyes "takes a lot of skill to kill an antique truck,"

"Hey, Judge Judy, before you go accusing me of anything you outta know that Bella called ME when it died, since you were MIA she called me to come and check the truck out. I did what I could to revive it but the engine is shot. Whoever restored it originally did a pretty crappy job."

Now Jacob moved away from the doorframe and inched towards me, a look of pure hate on his face.

"What did you say you little Flea?"

"You heard me." I replied "doesn't matter now, it's dead, I have to rebuild it from the engine up. Replace all the parts to get it running again. Sometimes old things just die and there's nothing that can be done to save them." I paused and crossed my arms. "So is there something I can help you with Jacob, or did you just feel the sudden need to visit?"

Jacob didn't answer me for a moment, shame had replaced the hate on his face. Granted he was trying to hide it and to someone who couldn't profile, hate was the only emotion, but I saw the shame, the guilt, even the fear.

"I was in the neighborhood, heard that Bella's truck had kicked the bucket and came to see exactly what you did to it."

"Let me guess Seth was thinking about him and I going to Portland next week to look at an engine?"

"So that's true?"

"Uh, yeah it's true, not that it's any of your business. And he did ask his mum for permission, again if that's any of your business. Seth knows a thing or two about cars, and anyone tries to stiff us 'cause we're a couple of kids, Seth can go all Lon Chaney on them." I added joking about that last part, but Jacob didn't seem to find it funny.

He growled a little and I wondered for a second if he would be this brave, this intimidating if I wasn't home alone. He really didn't take me seriously, didn't think I was a threat.

"Have you heard from your brother?" Jacob growled and I rolled my eyes "I said have you heard from your brother?"

"I heard you just fine Jacob, there's nothing wrong with my hearing, yours maybe, but not mine."

"Have…you…heard…from…him!?" Jacob repeated, spelling it out for me as if I needed that.

"You're like a broken record you know that? Emmett and Jasper are at the movies, they don't call to check-in."

"Not them, have you heard from…Edward." He managed to spit out

I sighed, I knew who he was talking about of course and I knew why. But it was definitely more fun to annoy him, especially knowing full well, he wouldn't hurt me, he couldn't for that matter and we both knew it.

"Edward is on his honeymoon with his wife as you know. He doesn't check in with us." I explained, I lifted myself up onto the workbench table. "But if he does I'll be sure to pass any messages you have for him on."

"Where did they go?"

"Somewhere tropical." I replied "somewhere private,"

"You know where they went flea?"

"'Course I do, I've been there once or twice. But I'm not going to tell you. 'Cause, you'll go do something stupid. Leave them alone, let them enjoy their happiness."

"You're a stupid little kid you know that, stupid or just blind."

"I'm neither Jacob and if you opened your eyes and thought about someone else's happiness for once instead of wallowing in your own self-pity, you'd see the happiness. You'd see that after a hundred years of loneliness, Edward finally has his other half, you'd also see that Bella is happy with my brother."

"Shut up," Jacob growled

"Need I remind you, Jacob, you're on private property, which brings up my original question? How is it, that it's not okay for us to cross over the treaty line just to go swimming at First Beach, and yet it's perfectly acceptable for you to waltz onto our private property and try to raw with me for no reason."

Jacob started to argue with me when his face went extremely confused, his eyebrow went up.

"What the hell is trying to raw?" he asked, his voice wasn't angry, it was curious and I chuckled a little, relaxing.

"It means you're starting a fight with me," I explained

"So why didn't you just say that. You Brits really are weird." Jacob said he paused "so what exactly happened to the truck? Did you figure it out?"

I studied Jacob's face, trying to see what he was up too, was he just trying to get me to drop my guard, or was he really asking about the truck instead of accusing me of killing it?

"It wasn't intentional," I said pointedly

"Sure it wasn't, but makes no difference who did it, at least you didn't give up on it."

"I couldn't give up on it. Thought maybe I could restore it and give it to Bella as a birthday present." Jacob nodded "and it'll annoy Edward in the process. For me it's a win, win."

"Annoy Edward?" Jacob asked

"If I wasn't a hundred percent sure that Bella's truck just reached its end, I would have guessed that Edward did something to it, just to be rid of it." I paused "but I went through the entire truck, it was just time."

"So what happened?"

"Bella called me up said the truck was puttering along then it just croaked, no explanation, nothing. I did all I could to examine the engine, I could hear it trying to turn over, but it wouldn't do it. I don't know exactly what happened but the stupid thing exploded."

Jacob's eyes went wide, he looked the garage over as if he was looking for the damage leftover by an explosion."

"Uh," he started to say

"Not that kind of explosion, it was just a Mount Vesuvius eruption of oil. I didn't even think the truck had that much oil in it."

"Must've been hell to clean up,"

"Considering most of it ended up all over me, yeah as a matter of fact it was, mum wouldn't even let me into the living room."

I heard snickering, it was coming from Jacob, he was actually trying not to laugh, I don't think I've ever seriously heard him laugh. His attempt to not laugh failed pretty quickly as he burst out laughing, it echoed through the garage and I joined him.

When our laughter finally calmed down, Jacob took a small step into the garage towards the truck. I could see he didn't want to invade my space and was actually being respectful of it, which surprised me.

"So what's the plan of attack Fl…Chris." He finally said. I nodded my approval, calling me by my name is a rare thing, I've always been referred to as Flea when it comes to most of the pack, Seth excluded from that.

"I've got some of the basic parts on order, I got an email from some guy in Portland said he has the original engine, Seth and I were going to take a road trip next week to go check it out." I paused "it's all interior that has to be repaired, the body, the cosmetic stuff, everything else is fine. Y-you did a nice job with the repairs Jacob."

"Was that a compliment?" Jacob asked

"Take it however you want, but regardless of the truck's current status, it was a good vehicle and I'm going to do whatever I can to get it back into that state."

Jacob wandered through the garage and stopped in front of the Mustang.

"You restore this yourself?"

"Me an' Rosalie." I said "took us a few months to restore it. But it's something that we're good at."

"Blondie is a car chick?" Jacob asked, clearly surprised by that "no way."

"She's more than just a 'car chick' Jacob." I explained "everything I know about cars, rebuilding them, repairing them, everything is because of my sister. She taught me everything I know."

"I don't believe it."

"I was edgy after Carlisle changed me. You have to imagine what it was like for me Jacob. I was thirteen, nearly fourteen. I had just faced death, was turned into a creature I had once believed was simply fiction…simply legend, I was brought from a city ravaged by nightly bombings to a tranquil and calm place. The very opposite end of the spectrum I had come from, I had left my parents to endure."

Jacob moved towards one of the portable raisers we have in the garage and plunked his butt down.

"Your parents?"

I nodded

"Yes, my parents, my father was a medic, he was killed a month or so after Carlisle saved me, saving St. Paul's Cathedral from German firebombs. My mother died shortly after, just gave up on life." I paused "I've got a short attention span Jacob, an extremely short one. Within a few days of living in the Cullen's house, not allowed to venture outside without someone with me, explosions from the mine occurring on a daily basis, reminding me of the bombings in London, I was going mad. Rosalie had to do a tune-up on Carlisle's car, to take my mind off everything she asked me to come out to the garage and act as her assistant. I think at that point I was driving the whole family bonkers, pacing back and forth like some caged animal."

"I still can't believe it was Blondie." Jacob replied "but go on,"

"Rose would tell me what tool she needed and I was to hand them to her, easy enough. From the moment I started helping her out with just that simple task I felt calmer, I started asking her what each tool did, asking her all sorts of questions about the car and automobiles in general. My father had taken his car off the road early on in the war, stripped the tyres, and siphoned the gas and the oil all for the war efforts. I'd been interested in cars before the war, but not as a hobby, more of general curiosity. Sitting there handing tools to Rose I was able to use my ability to profile the car, I knew something else was wrong with it, I could just tell, Rose listened to me and checked where I thought there was a problem and found out I was right. I didn't know exactly what the problem was, I just knew there was one. After that, she started teaching me everything she knew about cars, I picked it up pretty quick and it wasn't very long before I wasn't Rose's assistant, I was her partner."

"A girl and a Brit working on classic American cars, if that's not a strange story I don't know what is"

"Hey, watch it," I shot back "I'll have you know that not all cool cars are American, point in fact some of the best cars are foreign. Porsche, Audi, Maserati, Ferrari, and for your information the Brits do know something about automotive endeavors, ever heard of an Austin Healy."

"Yeah of course, who hasn't?"

"That's a product of the good ol' United Kingdom."

"Okay kid I get it, you know cars." Jacob paused and stood up dusting his hands off on his jeans "think you can actually get it up and running?" he asked nodding at the truck

"Before Bella's birthday?" I asked, Jacob, nodded "I don't know, I'm going to try, I'm going to work my arse off to get it finished in time, but if not it'll have to be a Christmas present."

Jacob took a deep breath, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and looked the truck over carefully.

"Look I did a lot of the work on the truck. It was my dad's and was supposed to be mine, but Charlie mentioned that Bella was going to be living with him and she would need a car, so I finished working on it and we sold it to Charlie."

I nodded

"Yeah, I know,"

"So what I'm saying is if you need help with it, or suggestions on it, let me know. It's not that I don't trust your mechanical skills-"

"I know it's not I get it. Extra help isn't a bad thing. I'll just think of you as a consultant. If I need help on something I'm stuck on or Rose is stuck on we'll call in for a second opinion."

"Yeah, that makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. I'm going to get called in by a vampire for consultation, like some deranged game of doctor."

"Could be worse," I replied and Jacob looked at me "there could be a vet involved." I grinned wide and he seemed taken aback by that for a second.

"Right, I'm leaving now." Jacob started to leave the garage, but he paused "how long were they going to be gone?" he asked

I shrugged

"I really don't know Jacob, I'm not my brother's keeper, I don't keep track of him. I may know where him and Bella are on their honeymoon but I have no idea how long they'll be there. Alice and Jasper were there for a month after they were married."

"A month!?" Jacob kind of squeaked

"Oh chill," I replied

"This sucks," he muttered and headed out into the woods disappearing into the thick forest.

I sighed, that was definitely interesting, to say the least. I heard the sound of rubber on the rocky dirt of our driveway, it sounded like the Jeep, not the Audi or the Mercedes, so I knew my brothers were returning home from their movie. This was confirmed when Emmett came whipping around the bend and slammed on the brakes right in front of the garage, sending little rocks flying into the air.

"Dr. Doolittle!" Emmett exclaimed as he jumped out of the Jeep "dude you missed a kick-ass movie!"

Jasper who was not as excited as Emmett nodded quickly in agreement with him. He was grinning as he walked over to me.

"It really was Chris, plane aside I think you would have enjoyed it."

"Yeah it's still about a plane, I saw the trailers guys, bloody snakes get loose on a bloody plane, start eating people, big ass bloody python is involved, and Samuel L. Jackson saves the day. Did I get the basics?"

Jasper and Emmett exchanged a look

"It's not the same as seeing it though," Emmett argued

"It involves a plane I don't want to see anything that involves aircraft with the potential to crash."

"You watched Airplane and liked that," Jasper pointed out

"Comedy knew it wasn't real." Was my reply, my brothers exchanged another look and sighed.

"You're impossible, when it comes out on DVD we're renting it and you will sit your… how do you say it, arse down and watch it." Emmett finished

"Keep telling yourself that," I replied, my brothers grinned at each other and started walking into the house when Jasper stopped short, he gave the air a sniff and gave me a puzzled look.

"Was Seth here?" he asked, clearly recognizing the scent, but not sure entirely who it belonged to.

"No," I started taking a deep breath "Jacob,"

Now Jasper went from curious and confused to stiff.

"What the hell did he want Chris?"

"To know when Bella and Edward were coming home,"

Emmett didn't seem to care about the tension, he grinned wide and nudged Jasper in the ribs.

"They're on their honeymoon, who knows how long they'll be gone right?" he asked "they've got a lot of getting to know each other to get done huh? It could take weeks, months, years." His grin widened "it could be decades before we see the lovebirds."

Jasper ignored Emmett's ribbing and looked at me sternly.

"What did you tell him?"

"That I don't keep track of Edward's schedule and I don't know when they'll be home, that they're enjoying their honeymoon. He also wanted to know where they went, wouldn't tell him that either."

"Can't let it go can he, what is that guy's issue?" Emmett asked coming out of his joking mood

"Who the bloody hell knows," I replied, "he also accused me of purposely killing the truck after all his hard work."

Jasper rolled his eyes

"idiot." He muttered

"Come on Jas, it's over and done with, he's gone."

"I don't like it Chris, I don't like him coming over here, especially when you're the only one home."

"I can take care of myself," I reminded my brothers as we headed into the house

"I know you can Chris, but how come he is allowed to just waltz onto our property uninvited, but we are bound by a treaty to stay off of their lands.

"Ironically, I asked him the same question, actually I didn't get an answer and I'm still curious."

"That fact aside, I just find it interesting that he decided to come over now and ask about Edward and Bella. He wouldn't have dared do that when we were all home, he waited until it was you."

I rolled my eyes at my brother's paranoia

"Jasper,"

"It's not being paranoid Chris, I'm being cautious. Especially around the fact that someone who has made it clear he doesn't like nor trust us, came onto our property without permission and interrogated you while you were the only one home. The feeling and distrust Jacob has for us is mutual, your friendship with Seth aside, which is also toeing the line, I do not like Jacob nor do I trust him. I don't trust him around anyone in this family, but I especially do not trust him around you, Bella, or Alice."

"Hey!" I started to exclaim, I did not like Jasper putting me in a category with Alice and Bella, I knew why he wouldn't trust Jacob around Bella, she's human and therefore frail.

Alice, he still fears for her safety because of her size and the fact that around the wolves her vision is blind. But he should know better than that, Alice and I may be the smallest in the family, but we are nowhere near the weakest.

We can take care of ourselves with no problem, even against the pack. Especially me, I mean pack wide I'm not their favorite person…vampire, whatever, but Seth has become one of my best friends, and friendship has to be based on mutual trust and we definitely have that. He trusts that I won't go Dracula on him and try to kill him and I trust him not to pull a Wolfman and eat me.

"Let me finish Chris, it's not because I believe you and Alice cannot take care of yourselves, we all know you can do just fine. But Jacob clearly sees you both as the weaker members of this family and therefore he thinks he has a chance to intimidate you. Bella, he seems bent on controlling for whatever reason. Sooner or later he's just going to have to realize that it's over and he needs to let go."

"Yeah, that'll happen." I replied, "not." I paused "there's something about Jacob, when he looks at Bella I can see it, I can profile it, I'm not quite sure what it is exactly, but it's there. Like he has the need to protect her, the need to just be around her. It's the strangest thing."

We walked into the house and Emmett turned to me, he had been deep in thought for a while now and he seemed to have a revelation.

"Maybe he did that, whatcha call it…impersonate her?" he asked, "no, wait that doesn't sound right…impollenate, is that even a word?"

I chuckled

"I think you mean imprint,"

"Yeah that's it, maybe he imprinted on Bella and that's why he so freakishly attached."

I shook my head

"I don't think it works that way Em, I've been talking to Seth, he kind of explained it to me, I don't get the technical stuff with it, but I think if Jacob had imprinted on Bella, Edward wouldn't have had a chance in hell. Bella would know it and so would Jacob."

"So there's more to it?' Emmett asked switching on the TV for a football game "man talk about confusing as all hell."

"You're telling me."

"So when are the girls due home?" Jasper asked and I shrugged

"Dunno, they just said they'd be gone for a few hours, but think about who we're talking about here."

"Good point," Jasper replied he grinned a little at Em, then looked at me "was Edward's party the last time you went hunting?"

I nodded

"I was going to go later on,"

"How about now?" Jasper asked and I grinned

"Sure sounds good to me, Em? You in?"

"Oh come on, the Seahawks are about to crush the Giants, I've been waiting all week for this game." He whined

Jasper and I exchanged a look and chuckled

"It'll be on again Emmett, come on, come hunting with your brothers," Jasper said grinning, Emmett grumbled a little bit more, but caved and shut the TV off.

He grumbled the entire way towards our usual hunting spot, one that has never let us down it usually has an abundance of mountain lions and a few bears every once in a while. Emmett's mind was clearly back home on the game which considering it was a pre-season game I'm not entirely sure why he was so concerned about it.

However, his grumpy demeanor quickly changed after we had all had our fill of critters. Jasper who wasn't even trying to alter his emotions made the first move and tackled Emmett into a fallen tree. Stunned for only a brief moment, Emmett retaliated and it didn't take long for me to join in as the wrestling match reached epic proportions. Going even more insane and fun than Edward's bachelor party. It was just us having fun.

Of course, none of us are psychic, so not one of us had any idea that this would be our last brotherly fun outing for a while, none of us knew that our lives were about to change forever…

Chapter Text

It's amazing how your world can go into a different orbit altogether with one single phone call. Sometimes when the phone rings, it's bringing the most amazing and even surprising news, but on the opposite end of that spectrum, it can bring surprise, amazement, and dumbfounding news.

Rose and I were in Seattle at a BMW dealership picking up parts for her car. I was drooling over the latest model when Rose's phone started ringing. I've never felt such urgency in a phone's ring. It washed over me and hit deep in the pit of my stomach and I didn't know why.

I looked over at Rose as she answered the phone and her face went from confused, to suspicious to horrified. I moved away from the car I was looking at and walked over to my sister.

I could hear a voice on the other end of the phone, a voice I didn't expect to hear that sounded desperate and afraid…Bella.

"Rose?" I whispered, she shook her head

"I understand, yes of course Bella." She hung up the phone and grabbed my arm. "we need to get to the airport now."

"The airport? What's going on, is Bella okay?"

"Not here," Rose replied pulling me out of the dealership, she wouldn't say another word until we were in her car.

"Rose, seriously what is going on, I know something is wrong and it's serious, come on don't keep it from me."

Rose pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road, a few seconds ticked by before she finally looked at me and sighed.

"Bella…Bella is pregnant."

Even though I had heard the seriousness and fear in Bella's voice, even though I saw the same emotions on my sister's face, I didn't believe it, how could I? It wasn't possible.

"Wha-what?!" I was lost for words "it's impossible…and please don't try explaining the birds and the bees to me Rose, I don't need to know that. How the bloody hell is Bella uh…y'know!?"

She shook her head

"I don't know, but we have something more serious to contend with."

I coughed

"How the bloody hell could there be something more serious?"

"Chris come on, enough with the bloody hells. Edward and Bella are on their way home now because he wants Carlisle to…to…" she paused, stumbling over her words, my sister was usually better at explaining things than this so I knew there was more to it…it took me only a few seconds to profile what was really going on.

Edward wanted to abort the baby.

"Bloody hell," I said under my breath and Rose glared at me "sorry," I paused "is Edward really going to try and have…" I couldn't even say it. I mean this debate has been on the news for a long time and I never really paid attention to it 'cause it never affected me. But now it did, now it had a bearing on my life and I really didn't know where I stood.

"And Bella wants my help to protect him."

I blinked in confusion

"Him?" I asked

"Yes, him,"

"I'm assuming by him you mean…"

"The baby Chris,"

I thought this over and rubbed the back of my head

"Wait I am confused about something, I paid attention in health class and biology, sorta. How the heck does Bella know it's a boy?" I paused again "no wait, that's not important at this moment, how does Bella even know she's…er…a…"

Rose rolled her eyes at me

"Pregnant?" she asked annoyed

"Yeah, that,"

"They've only been gone what, two weeks, doesn't it take a little longer than that to, uh come to that conclusion?"

"I don't know Chris, I honestly don't know. All I know is that Bella is asked for my help and I'll be there to help."

I took a deep breath and ran my hand down my face.

"I'm with you," Rose looked at me quickly "what? I'm on your side." I gave her a look "seriously why wouldn't I be?"

"Because this may go against Edward, but Chris, it may go against Carlisle too, if he sides with Edward."

"The only reason Carlisle would side with Edward would be if Bella's decision puts her life in danger. Again I paid attention in health and biology, getting pre…" I winced "that is, for the most part, a normal thing isn't it." I thought that over "I really don't want to go into the logistics of this whole thing because…yeah."

I was extremely uncomfortable with this whole thing, I mean for one thing how in the bloody hell did my brother, a vampire get a human girl, eh pregnant…call me immature or childish if you want too but I was uncomfortable even saying the word or even thinking it.

I come from a generation that just didn't talk about this stuff. Sure playground talk had its dirty moments, and you could be looking at recognition in the highest form if you had the gaul to say obscenities or dirty words, impressing not only your mates but potentially getting in trouble for it.

A few raps on the knuckles for cursing was considered a badge of honour among schoolboys. But that was when we were younger, by the time most of us hit our teen years, even eleven or twelve it reverted back to being embarrassing and just something that wasn't talked about. I mean I was a doctor's kid, my father had his blasted medical charts, books, and diagrams scattered throughout the house so I knew a lot more than I'd really like to admit about the human body, just from stumbling over the crap.

But I'm not Emmett, I'm uncomfortable making jokes or even talking about something that is private like that…my joke about Edward getting laid is probably as close as I have ever or will ever come to that line.

Rose reached over and took my hand, giving it a squeeze, she looked as confused as I felt and just as worried.

"I really don't know Chrissy,"

As we headed towards the airport, apparently to help Bella and Edward or whatever I stared out the window. My mind was racing full speed and I didn't know what was coming, it really floored me and what made it worse was the potential that I was going to choosing sides again, only this time it would be against my brother and father.

Being against Edward in an argument I'm used to, especially in the last year or so it has become a regular monthly occurrence. However, defying Carlisle is something new altogether, in my entire time in this life I have only question Carlisle's decision once, but I never went against him I have never been on the opposite side of Carlisle in a disagreement and I hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Xxx

Bella looked like Bella when the plane finally landed. Bella moved right towards Rose and Esme both began guiding Bella down the steps even though she looked okay. I could see a small bulge in her clothes and winced a little.

She smiled weakly when she saw me and gave a wave. Carlisle and Edward started to carry the bags down the steps and Edward basically threw one of the suitcases at me.

"Good to see you too," I muttered under my breath putting the bag down on the tarmac and holding out my arm for Bella to take when she hit the bottom step.

"Hi Chris," she said softly

"Hi Bella," I replied, "how are you feeling?" I wasn't entirely sure if that was an appropriate question or not, but she smiled again and nodded

"I'm okay, honestly I am." I looked down at her stomach even though I was trying not to. She smiled at me and patted her belly "you're going to be an Uncle Chris, isn't that great?" behind me Edward coughed his answer to that, but I ignored him.

"It's certainly new Bella, are you sure you're okay?"

"I will be," she took my hand off her arm and placed it on her stomach, I cringed at this move. "Do you feel him kicking around?" the bulge felt strange under my hand and after nodding my answer I quickly pulled my hand back. I looked over at Esme who had a worried look in her eyes, her concern was focused on Bella. "Did you feel it, Chris,"

I looked up at Bella, into her eyes, she was happy but exhausted, she was already feeling the drain of this and it had only been a few days. Which also didn't make any sense, she shouldn't be showing this quickly I'm no doctor and despite what my human father thought I had no plans of becoming one, but I know basic stuff.

"I, er, uh," I started to say, I'm usually better with words than this

"It's okay Chris, it's a little scary, but it will all work out, it's beautiful too."

I sighed and exchanged a look with Carlisle, then looked at Edward, even though I disagreed as usual with what he wanted, I had to admit I felt for my brother, he looked miserable, exhausted, defeated, and most of all guilt-ridden. He started to glare at me when he read my mind and my profile, but he stopped as if he knew I was right.

It'll be okay Edward I thought and he lowered his eyes, the guilt was practically pouring off of him as if he truly believed that no it wouldn't be okay, none of this was okay.

Esme helped Bella into the backseat of the Mercedes, Edward started to sit in the back seat with her, but Rose beat him to the other side of the car and growled fiercely at him when he put his hand on the handle.

"Rosalie," Esme said in surprise

"I'll ride in back with Bella," Rose replied, her tone soft with Esme, but still giving Edward a death glare. She looked over at me and reluctantly threw her keys to me, she was willing to let me drive the Beemer, this was serious.

Esme seemed torn for a moment when she realized that Rose was not planning on giving up the backseat to anyone, not even her. She wanted to be there to comfort Bella and be with her, after all, she's the only one in the family who really has experience with babies. Rose's experience comes from her friend's baby, Carlisle's experience is obvious as a doctor but that's about it.

Me? All my little cousins went bonkers when I held them as babies, we're talking full-on screaming, wailing. Some reason little kids, they just don't like me, never have so I don't go anywhere near them just to avoid the hysterics. And Edward has even less baby experience, so we all knew that Esme would be the best person for Bella to have.

But Rose was taking the 'be Bella's bodyguard' thing very seriously and she wasn't going to budge, even for Esme. Bella didn't seem to notice, but the rest of us did. Edward looked at Carlisle expectantly and our father sighed, he handed Edward the keys to the Mercedes and followed me over to the Beemer, reluctantly.

"Do you want to drive?" I asked him as we neared the car, he gave me a forced smile and shook his head.

"No Chris, you don't get the opportunity to drive the BMW that often I'd enjoy it while you are able to." He explained sliding into the passenger seat, watching the occupants of the Mercedes the entire time.

I started the Beemer up and slowly edged it behind the Mercedes, following the black car out of the parking lot towards the freeway.

We drove that way in silence, I hadn't even put on the radio even though I wanted to, the silence in the car was painful. Carlisle was staring out the window, deep in thought and I hated to interrupt that with my stupid questions, but it was reaching the point where not only was I going nuts from the silence, but my questions were getting more and more difficult to ignore properly.

"Dad?" I asked softly, it took a second or two, but slowly Carlisle looked over at me and acknowledged me.

"Yes Chris?" he asked

"Have you ever heard of something like this happening?" There it was again, that worried look on my father's face, the look that made him appear older, the one I hate seeing on his face. "Sorry," I added

"No Chris, it's okay son, I think we all are thinking the same thing, asking the same thing in our minds." He paused and rubbed his chin sighing "and to answer your question, no, I have never heard of something like this happening. I do not know how it is possible and I do not know what will happen as things progress."

"Does Edward really want Bella to…" my voice trailed off

"It might be for her own good Christian," Carlisle explained "this unknown it could be potentially dangerous. It has only been a few days that Bella noticed the difference and already she is beginning to show. Things are progressing very quickly and that may cause problems." He paused again "I won't know details until I can give Bella a full examination and even after that we may not have any answers."

"Oh," I didn't have much more of an answer than that.

"May I ask Christian, what does your profile say about this whole thing? I know you must have come to something of a conclusion."

I nodded, my father knows me well, he knows how my ability works and how I process situations, and knew this would be no different.

"Bella is happy, it isn't that she does not see the potential danger, she sees it and knows she should be afraid, but her joy is overtaking that fear, it's like she thinks this is meant to be or something, fate." I winced and looked down at the wheel for a moment before glancing back at my father "do you think she will be okay?"

Carlisle reached over and patted my shoulder gently, the worried look was still on his face.

"I honestly do not know Chris, hopefully, we will have some answers soon."

I nodded, there wasn't much else we could do on that front, Carlisle was right, he'd have a better idea what we were dealing with if he could examine Bella, maybe do some research as well, that's something I'm pretty good with so I would volunteer to help with that. But I also knew my first priority was Bella's wellbeing and her will. I don't know why I felt such a strong need to protect Bella and her decision, but I did, it was my profile it was practically screaming at me that I was doing the right thing, that my place was protecting Bella and the baby. I love it when my ability understands something before I do…it's really creepy I'm not going to lie.

Xxx

Within a week of Edward and Bella coming home, our house had turned into a mini-hospital clinic, sort of. Bella spent most of her time on the couch and she never ventured far from it because she was so weak she needed support to get anywhere like the bathroom. She relied on Rosalie, Esme, and I, which angered Edward and annoyed Alice, the last few days Alice had gotten this look on her face like her head was hurting or something.

Jasper had tried his best to alter her emotions, but it had no effect on her, she sat on the steps, head in her hands, basically sulking.

I was never far from Bella, like Rose and Esme we were only concerned about Bella's wellbeing. That and her determination to protect the…baby. It had literally divided our family, Rose was taking her protection seriously and Emmett wouldn't go against Rose so he was on her side, protecting Bella. Esme was on the same page as Rose and even though Carlisle was unsure about the situation and was concerned for Bella's health, he was not going to go against Esme.

Alice for whatever reason was on Edward's side, I couldn't be completely sure, but something told me that Alice was facing blockages with her visions. It might have been because of the baby, but she wasn't admitting anything so I have no idea if I'm right or not. But the point was, Jasper was on Alice's side of course, so that made it Edward, Alice, and Jasper against Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett.

Then there was me, I was concerned for Bella's health, I could see how sick she was, how weak she was becoming. But my profile looked beyond that, I could see the happiness that was on Bella's face, I could look beyond the deteriorating health, the weakness, how nauseous she was every second of the day, how she barely ate anything, and I could see pure joy, she was going to be a mother and it was a happiness I had never seen on her, on anyone for that matter.

I've seen pure happiness and love that circulates my parents, my siblings, but this was a different happiness and that was what solidified my profile, my decision. I would protect Bella and her baby no matter what.

Bella was sitting on the couch her knees awkwardly as close to her body as possible. She had already made a couple of trips to the bathroom and it reached the point where I just got her a bucket, she was barely making it to the bathroom and I felt bad every time we had to move her, it just made it easier on her if we had the bucket.

She was doing okay for the moment, but a feeling washed over me and I knew things could possibly be changing.

I exchanged a look with Edward who had gone stiff, he looked over his shoulder towards the window, we could all hear the sound of rubber on gravel. Our biggest concern since Edward and Bella came home had been Charlie storming the house to get to his daughter. He had been told she was sick, extremely sick, and extremely contagious, having contracted something while they were down in South America.

We're pretty sure he wasn't buying it but was agreeing with Carlisle for the moment, but when I sniffed the air, I didn't smell human…bloody hell I smelt wolf…Jacob.

Edward's eyes bugged out when he read my mind, Carlisle saw the exchange between us and looked to us for an answer. When he sniffed the air and realized what we already knew he gave Edward a look, telling him to stay put. I however stood up from my spot and started to follow my father, after making sure Bella was okay. She knew something was up, but didn't ask.

Carlisle put his hand up to stop me, but then realized I wasn't going to listen on this one. He sighed and nodded, letting me follow him to the front door.

There was Jacob coming towards us, trying to look menacingly and definitely looking pissed off. He looked ready to kill and didn't care about the consequences.

He was taken aback by Carlisle and me, he also seemed a little disappointed like he wanted it to be Edward who greeted him.

"Hello, Jacob," Carlisle said gently "How are you?"

Jacob winced and growled softly. But I could profile him, the main reason he was disappointed was because he had hoped to take us all out. Well, Edward especially, but Carlisle was different, he saw Carlisle as the most human of all of us and that's pretty legit, Carlisle had saved Jacob, healed him after the newborn fight, so whether Jacob wanted to admit that or not, he was in Carlisle's debt.

But then Jacob looked at me, I was on the same level as Carlisle, not because I had saved him or anything, if anything he actually saved me during the newborn battle and I still owed him for that. But I reminded him of Seth, to him killing me would be like killing Seth and he'd never be able to do that.

"I…I heard that Bella made it back alive," Jacob said monotone, Carlisle looked down at me, then back at Jacob

"Er, Jacob, it's not really the best time," Carlisle replied, "could we do this later?"

Jacob looked at him stunned for a moment, he looked at me quickly, like he was asking me if Carlisle was serious, but I didn't give him any answers. I kept my face like stone.

"Why not?" Bella asked from inside the house and I saw Jacob's spirits lift a little "are we keeping secrets from Jacob, too? What's the point?" Jacob looked at us, still dumbfounded "come in, please, Jacob?" Bella called, insistently.

Carlisle stiffened, but slowly sidestepped to let Jacob in. I didn't move from the doorway. Jacob gave me a glare and I stared right back at him, I could smell the anger on him, even the relief, but he wasn't going to fight me, so I did the mature thing.

"Excuse me," Jacob said and I sighed, letting him pass into the house.

We followed Jacob into the house and I watched as his body language went from angry to concerned when his eyes finally fell on Bella.

She smiled weakly at him which lasted for a second as Rose made a move to grab the bucket so Bella could get sick. It took a few seconds of her heaving before she looked back at Jacob.

"Sorry about that," she whispered. Jacob slowly started to move towards her, as if he was a robot following a command.

Rose hissed at him, making sure she was in between Bella and Jacob.

"Rose, don't" Bella whispered, "it's fine."

Rose reluctantly did so, but she was still close by Bella, protecting her.

Jacob was on his knees, as close to Bella as possible leaning over the back of the couch across from Edward.

"Bella, what's wrong, are you all right?"

I snorted back a sarcastic laugh and Carlisle shook his head at me. That was the stupidest question I have ever heard and I was satisfied when I saw Jacob's face and he realized his question was stupid too.

"I'm so glad you came to see me today, Jacob," Bella replied. Edward gave an inhuman moan.

"What is it, Bella?" Jacob insisted, taking her hand and holding it. I did all I could not to growl, I did not like this at all and Bella really wasn't in a non-biased position here.

Bella didn't answer him, instead, she looked around at all of us, one by one carefully. Then she looked at me, then at Rose.

"Help me up, Rose?"

"Uh, Bella, I don't-" I started to say, but Bella's look went pleading. Rose growled at Jacob, she did not agree with any of this, then again neither did I.

"Please?" Bella begged. Sighing, Rosalie leaned over and started to help Bella up

"No," Jacob muttered "don't get up,"

"I'm answering your question," Bella snapped and I grinned a little at her tone and Jacob's reaction to her tone. But that was nothing compared to his reaction to her appearance. Initially, it was amusing, the shock and literal dumb look on his face, but quickly that look changed and that's when things changed quickly.

I saw the look in his eyes, the pure hate, the desire to kill. It wasn't directed at Bella, it was directed at the baby…and at Edward. Quickly both Edward and Jacob were on their feet, sizing each other up.

"Outside Jacob," Edward snarled.

"Let's do this," Jacob replied

A fight was coming up quick, all of us sensed it. Jasper, Emmett, and I were behind Edward, ready to defend our brother. Jacob didn't seem to care, but then his look went around the room, he was looking right at Alice and Esme, my instinct to stand with my brothers was quickly overtaken by my instinct to protect my mother and sister.

I didn't like him looking at them like that, as if he was sizing them up, debating on how quickly he could kill them. Oh, bloody hell no.

I moved away from my brothers and stood in front of Esme and Alice, he wanted to hurt them he'd have to get through me first. But that look changed as if he realized that he would be dead before he got to either of them and he seemed okay with that. But then he looked at Rose, and he looked at her a little too long for my liking.

I growled loudly, catching everyone's attention, and moved back over to my sister. She was still holding Bella up, not paying attention to Jacob, but I was and I moved right in front of her, protecting my sister.

Jacob was taken aback by that, as if up until that moment he didn't understand just how my profiling ability works, I may not be able to read minds like Edward, but I could tell what Jacob had been thinking about my sister just from the look on his bloody face.

"No," Bella gasped as she started to walk towards Jacob and Edward, but Rose held her carefully, letting her move, but still holding her firm.

"I just need to talk to him, Bella,' Edward growled "don't strain yourself. Please rest. We'll both be back in just a few minutes."

"Behave," Bella replied as Rose helped her back to the couch. "and then come back."

Despite the fact I had promised I would protect Bella, I couldn't let my brother face Jacob alone, I knew Edward wouldn't like it, but I made sure I wasn't for the most part obscure from my brother's ability as I stayed near the doorway. Straining to eavesdrop on my brother and Jacob, just in case.

Edward was actually pouring his thoughts out to Jacob, going over everything that had occurred in the last week.

"It's killing her right? She's dying?" Jacob guessed and I felt my stomach drop. I knew it was true, I've known since two days after Bella and Edward returned home. I've never felt so torn in my life about something. Bella's life is in danger, but this is her decision and I'd made the decision to stand by her and protect her, just like Rose and Esme, but I knew the danger and it made me feel guilty over my part in this whole thing.

"Chris? Can you get me another pillow please?" Bella called, she must have realized I was following Edward and Jacob and was trying to keep me out of it, keep me safe.

"Of course Bella," I replied taking a deep breath. Edward looked defeated and Jacob instead of looking smug like one would expect, he looked just as defeated, I gave them one last glance and sighed. I knew my decision wouldn't change anything, Bella's mind was set, but it really did make me question, was I right or would I regret my side in this?

Chapter Text

I wasn't to crazy about letting Bella and Jacob speak alone, I knew Jacob wouldn't hurt Bella intentionally, but I also knew the potential was there that he might lose it.

"We're going to let Jacob and Bella speak privately," Edward explained cautiously, eying everyone in the room.

"Over my dead pile of ashes!" Rosalie exclaimed, she moved closer to Bella, hovering over her protectively. I couldn't help it, I snorted back a laugh at what Rose had said, it was…well it was too funny not to laugh at and I haven't really had much to laugh at the last few days.

Edward seemed to ignore both of us though, my laughter and Rose's protectiveness, he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"Bella," he said "Jacob wants to talk to you. Are you afraid to be alone with him?"

Bella had a confused look on her face, she looked over at me and seemed to read my face, more than that it was as if she could read my mind like she knew I shared my brother's concern regarding Jacob. She understood Rose's feelings on the matter, but she couldn't believe I shared those feelings.

"Rose, it's fine. Jake's not going to hurt us. Go with Edward." Bella said softly, she looked over at me again "you too Chris, it'll be okay."

"It might be a trick," Rose growled looking at me for confirmation, something I sadly couldn't give her, I understood my sister's concern, knew she was just looking out for Bella's wellbeing, but I knew this was not a trick.

This whole thing made my insides twist a little if that is physically possible, the family was literally divided here, and what made it worse was the fact Rose thought for even just a second that Carlisle and Edward would resort to tricking Bella in order to achieve what they felt was necessary. It suddenly felt that our years as a family meant nothing, that we were strangers to one another.

"I don't see how," Bella admitted gently.

"Carlisle and I will always be in your sight, Rosalie, Chris will know if we are planning anything," Edward pointed out. Rose sighed "We're the ones she's afraid of."

"No," Bella whispered. She was crying and I winced. "No, Edward. I'm not. . ."

"I didn't mean it that way, Bella. I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Edward smiled gently at her and then looked at the rest of us, literally Bella's army vs. Edward's "Everyone," Edward said, his hand stiffly motioning toward the door. "Please."

The others all followed Edward's order swiftly and for the most part, so did I, sort of. I made it as far as the doorway, waiting for Rose to follow. Edward gave me a look, only instead of his usual glare, this was him literally pleading with me

"Rose," Bella spoke up "I want you to go, it's okay. Please."

Rosalie looked towards the door, she glared at Edward and made a hand gesture, ushering him out first, and I felt my shoulders sink, Rose and Edward rarely get along, but this tension was on a whole new level, I hated to see this happening. Rose gave Jacob one last glare once Edward left, she walked over, put her arm around my shoulder and we left the room. Leaving Bella and Jacob to their discussion.

I honestly tried not to eavesdrop, and for the most part, I succeeded, but Jacob's voice was loud enough that it carried through the house and I couldn't help but wince at the conversation.

Even as I sat at my computer, staring at the blank screen with Chaplin perched on my shoulder, I was torn with my decision and my role in what could be Bella's death. I heard Jacob's heavy footsteps on the floor, heading for the front door, it slammed, and I waited to hear his bike roar to life, but I didn't.

I moved to my window and peered out into the yard, catching a glimpse of him as he headed towards the woods, his bike abandoned. Chaplin squeaked and moved to my other shoulder to see what I was looking at, I sighed and rubbed my temple, this wasn't going to end well.

I knew one of two things were certainly going to happen. First and more likely Jacob would come back with the entire pack ready to take us on to "rescue" Bella. Or second and what I honestly was hoping for, Jacob would finally accept defeat and leave and never come back.

I felt bad for him I really did, but I didn't want a fight with the pack, and though I felt kinda bad for Jacob, especially since we kind of connected via car talk I'd rather he give up entirely and never bug us again then a war with the pack.

Hours ticked by, I kept half my ability in tune to profiling Bella making sure she had EVERYTHING she needed, and the other half preparing for a pack of raging werewolf emotions coming to attack.

I hoped that I would sense their emotions long before they got near our property I was hoping Edward wasn't so focused on Bella that he could keep an ear out so to speak for them, I hoped Alice's visions were working well enough that if any part of our future vanished she'd know it and we'd have that advantage over the pack.

I was trying to keep my concern in my mind only, trying to make sure Bella didn't see my concern, not Esme. I wanted both of them kept in pretty much ignorant bliss. All of us have enough to worry about right now, my mother and Bella especially.

Edward's movement caught my attention and I looked over at my brother quickly. He was reading my mind and gave me a quick nod of appreciation, for what I'm not sure but I nodded back.

Bella had fallen asleep, but judging from her moments it was not a peaceful sleep, and I wondered what kind of nightmare was plaguing her mind. Did she know my concern in spite of our attempt to shield her from it? Or was it Jacob's words?

Edward walked over to his wife and placed a hand on her forehead, I twisted around from my perch on the floor next to the couch to watch carefully. It took a few seconds but Bella's body relaxed, her mumbling ceased and she moved into a calmer slumber.

I wish you could read her mind, I thought looking at my brother, I wasn't accusing or reprimanding him, just stating a fact. He seemed to accept that and nodded.

"You and I both." He replied softly "I wish she would listen to reason, to understand..."

I took a deep breath and patted my brother's arm

"She understands Edward, I can profile that much, and she isn't doing this to punish or hurt anyone, she's doing it because she feels it is the right thing to do. There is something about this...baby that is more important to her than her own life. Do I agree with it, no? But I can't deny what I profile Ed, what I see when I look at her. I see happiness."

Edward sighed, not liking my profile, but he wasn't going to argue with it, instead, he looked towards the window.

Hours ticked by, Esme and Carlisle reluctantly left to go hunting, neither had done so since Edward and Bella had returned home so both needed it. In all fairness, we all did, but that's the way things were currently working, I didn't want to leave Bella's side, even to sate my own hunger.

Rose had already made it clear that she wasn't going anywhere, Edward wouldn't leave either. I think based solely on principle, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice wouldn't go anywhere either.

Bella's sleep calmed a little and I felt more relaxed when her body seemed to do the same.

For a brief few minutes, things seemed to be calming down completely, then… Edward went stiff. His eyes went wide and I swear I saw a fear in his eyes that I had not seen in a very, very long time.

"Edward?" I whispered, slowly standing up "what's the matter?" he didn't answer, instead, he moved to the front door.

Emmett, Jasper, and I exchanged a look before following him out there. In the back of my mind, my fear of Jacob returning here, only with the pack, ready to kill us, kept playing in my mind and I wondered if that was just fear talking, or an actual prediction of a coming event.

I climbed onto the overhang of the porch, my usual perch. It gives me a better vantage over the yard, and I can use the position to my advantage. I've done it many times play fighting my brothers. I'm smaller than they are, and I usually end up behind them in most scenarios, being on the overhang puts me on the same level as my brothers.

To my surprise though, Jacob and Seth came barreling through the woods in wolf form towards us. I could sense their panic, their fear, something was wrong, very wrong, the look in Seth's eyes was a kind of concern I'd never seen on my friend.

"Jacob? Seth? What's going on?" Edward asked, reading their minds.

Jacob began to pace back and forth in front of us, and behind him, Seth was literally whining.

"Guys?" I whispered

"They want to kill Bella?" Edward suddenly snarled.

Friend or not, those five words were the only thing I needed to hear to literally spring into action. I was off the overhang and guarding the front door in seconds, growling. If Jacob and…Seth, wanted to kill Bella, they'd have to get through me first. I was not going to move.

Emmett and Jasper were by Edward's side instantly, baring their teeth, ready to take on the wolves if need be.

To my surprise, Seth's fur stood on end, he was not expecting this reaction from us and it made me realize, Edward didn't mean Jacob and Seth…my best friend looked at me, as if he was trying to get me to understand.

"E…Edward?" I said softly, Edward looked at me and our brothers quickly, realizing that something was indeed up, but it was not Seth or Jacob.

"Em, Jazz, Chris, not them! The others. The pack is coming."

"Oh bloody hell," I hissed, "no…" The bloody pack…wait, that meant they were coming through the woods. Carlisle, Esme…they were still out there.

Out of the corner of my eye, I swear I saw Jacob exchange a look with Seth, a strange look between the pair of them which was then exchanged with Edward. Something else was up with them and I didn't like it. I waited for them to involve me and tell us what was going on, but they didn't, no one said anything else.

Emmett and Jasper exchanged a look, and Emmett moved closer to Edward to speak to him, but Jasper stayed rooted in the same spot, staring hard at the pair of wolves.

"What's their problem?" Emmett demanded, he looked over at me, nodding for me to come closer, but I wouldn't move, I was not leaving the porch unless I had to.

"The same one as mine," Edward hissed. "But they have their own plan to handle it. Get the others. Call Carlisle! He and Esme have to get back here now."

Jacob whimpered, realizing that the family was separated.

My stomach twisted again, my parents were out there, if the pack was in fact coming here to attack us…they were in danger, my parents may potentially run into the wolves out there and be…

If there was a reason that would get me off that bloody porch, it was my parents being in danger. Esme had practically begged for me to go hunting with them, I needed to go, why didn't I just go with her and Carlisle, the three of us. But Bella's wellbeing in my mind took priority, so I politely refused my mother's offer. Bloody hell, now I regretted that, I should be out there, with my parents.

Edward read my mind and looked at Emmett quickly, just as I jumped off the porch, ready to bolt towards the woods. Emmett realized what was going on and he reached over just as I ran by, grabbing me around the waist and lifting me off the ground.

"Emmett!" I growled "let me go, I'm the fastest, I can find them and bring them home quicker than any of you! Lemme go, lemme go!"

"They aren't far," Edward explained to Jacob and reminded me, I growled again, only this time at my Edward. He shot me a look and Emmett tightened his hold on me.

"Chris, no, it's not safe."

Emmett didn't realize it, but his words didn't help reassure me, if anything it made it worse. My parents were out there in the woods, with a pack of vampire killing werewolves out there too, ready to kill my parents without a second thought, it wasn't safe for me to go running out there, it wasn't safe for my parents to be out there unaware of the danger they were in.

My mind flashed, I could practically see the scene playing out, my parents returning home, taking their time, trying to enjoy the peaceful one on one time, unaware that following them was a killing machine, ready to pounce…rip my parents to shreds…bloody hell, I could practically hear the terrified screams…was that Esme? God mum, dad… I had to help them. Why did I stay home, how stupid was I?

"NO!" I shouted "Let me go, let me go! We have to help them, we have to warn them!" I exclaimed, struggling to get out of my brother's steel grip.

"Chris, no," Emmett said through gritted teeth, I've never been able to really give my brother a reason to use full strength, even as a newborn I was never stronger than him, just well, equal to him, but even then he never used full strength, afraid to hurt me, afraid that I was as frail as I appeared to be. This time was different as he held me tight, lifting me off the ground.

Jacob and Seth exchanged a look, a thought going between the two wolves, Edward reading their minds, had a look of concern on his face. Seth looked at me, nodding slowly like he wanted me to know something, understand something.

"Will you be in danger, Seth?" Edward asked. And I stopped struggling, just for a moment, my friend being in danger was nearly as painful as my parents being in danger…was this it? Was this the fight that was going to destroy us all? I would lose everyone?

I stopped fighting Emmett's grip, I went limp, I wasn't ready to accept defeat, but the reality of this, the pain of this was too much.

Seth gave us all one last look, he tried to give me his usual doopy grin, but it was really forced.

Still holding onto me, Emmett pulled out his cell phone and called Carlisle. I knew he'd have his phone on him, he usually didn't when he was hunting, but things had been different with Bella's condition, he wanted to be fully prepared to come home if he was needed.

Alice came out of the house, she looked at Jacob carefully, then moved to Jasper's side. She looked over at me and held out an arm to me. I was still eying the woods, ready to bolt the minute Emmett loosened his grip on me

Alice nudged Jasper and he nodded, before reaching over and grabbing me from Emmett's arm, Emmett looked over and nodded letting me go to Jasper. Clearly, my brothers weren't going to let me run off. Once I was with my brother and sister, Alice moved so I was in between them, there was no way I was going to the woods. Damn, I hate being babysat.

"This isn't the first time I've owed you my gratitude, Jacob," Edward whispered, we could still hear him though. "I would never have asked for this from you." He paused as Jacob responded telepathically. "I suppose you're right about that. Right," he murmured.

I growled, I was not liking this one-sided conversation, Alice squeezed my shoulders tighter.

"You really need to start conveying the other side of this Edward," I managed to growl out. Edward shot me a look and shook his head. He looked back at Jacob, and let Jacob continue his discussion. "I know. I never really believed she would. But . . ." Edward paused and let Jacob ask something, "worse, she finally fell asleep, but it's restless."

"Jacob, would you mind switching forms?" Alice asked. "I want to know what's going
on."

"Yeah," I added in a growl "what the bloody hell is going on?" I glanced towards the woods, following the same path my friend had gone with my eyes. Anxious for him to come back, anxious even more so to see my parents coming through the woods. God could time move any slower?

In answer to Alice's question, Jacob whimpered and shook his head, and I understood instantly, he couldn't transform because he would lose his link with Seth.

"He needs to stay linked to Seth," Edward explained

Alice hugged my shoulders tighter, trying to calm me down, it wasn't working, as each second ticked by my anxiety level grew. I could hear the clicking of my watch's hands, the louder clicks of our large grandfather clock…

"Well, then would you be so kind as to tell me what's happening?" Alice replied

Edward took a deep breath and sighed, he exchanged another look with Jacob and again I swear I saw a thought passing between them, a thought that they clearly didn't think the rest of us needed to be privy to.

"The pack thinks Bella's become a problem. They foresee potential danger from the... from what she's carrying. They feel it's their duty to remove that danger. Jacob and Seth disbanded from the pack to warn us. The rest are planning to attack tonight."

Alice hissed, and I felt my shoulders drop as Edward, confirmed my fears. Emmett and Jasper exchanged a look, then looked down at me, the three of us exchanging a look before we looked out towards the trees, each one of us expecting to see at least a dozen pairs of glowing yellow eyes staring back at us, massive hounds of Hell ready to destroy us.

"Carlisle and Esme are on their way," Emmett spoke up, giving me a reassuring look. "Twenty minutes tops."

"Twenty minutes?!" I squeaked

"Kid, chill they will be fine," Emmett replied trying to reassure me again "if Jacob's right then the packs coming here, they won't be interested in Carlisle and Esme."

My brother had a point, but again I saw a strange look pass between Edward and Jacob when Emmett said that, and I really, really did not like it.

"We should take up a defensive position," Jasper said in his usual militaristic style and I nodded.

"Let's get inside," Edward replied. Jacob nodded and stared at Edward hard, my brother nodded "I will," he said as Jacob turned on his heels and bolted into the woods, taking the same path Seth had taken, the same path I was still in my mind, fighting to go on.

Now that he was off the phone, Emmett resumed his original duty and took control of me as I was literally transferred from one brother to another.

"You're hearts in the right place Dr. Doolittle, but Esme would kill all of us if we let you go running through the woods with a pack of rabid villagers coming here with stakes and pitchforks," Emmett explained as he guided me into the house. I know he was trying to get me to laugh with his Frankenstein reference, but I wasn't laughing. He sighed "look kid they'll be fine I promise, they aren't that far and they're in the opposite direction of the reservation, the wolves would literally have to go out of their way to meet up with them.

Bella had woken up at this point, with all the commotion and whimpering outside I would've been surprised if she was still asleep. She was groggy and clearly not understanding what was going on, which was for the better, at least I thought so. I didn't want to be the one to tell her that her friends, the wolf-pack we had shared an understanding with an alliance with, had turned on us.

Bella had enough on her mind to contend with as it was, she did not need this worry on top of it. Besides, martyr Bella would probably do something drastic to protect us. But whatever she did would put the baby in danger as well so I wasn't entirely sure how that would work out.

Minutes began ticking by, even slower inside than they had out on the front lawn. Rose was trying to get Bella to choke down some soup, but like everything else we had tried, she wasn't able to keep it down, throwing it up quicker than she was eating it.

I really felt torn, I had been spending most of my time on the floor near the couch, within arm's reach of Bella if she needed me, but now, with the added worry of Esme and Carlisle's safety on the line, I wasn't sure where to be.

I wanted to be near Bella, helping Rosalie care for her, letting her squeeze my hand when she needed to, but I also wanted to be by the large window, watching the woods for signs of my parents…or signs of the wolf pack's attack.

I saw the tree line shift a little and I held my breath, praying in my mind that it was my parents. When I saw Carlisle step over the line and help Esme over a fallen tree that Emmett and I had 'accidentally' knocked down a few months earlier, I couldn't help my sigh of relief.

Before anyone could stop me I bolted to the front door, threw it open, and made a beeline for my parents. Esme saw me coming and held out her arms as I fell into them, holding her tight.

"Christian, sweetie?" she said softly hugging me

"We were worried about you is all," I explained, Carlisle reached over and joined the hug

"We're fine little one, I promise," Esme replied

"We ran into Seth but he was in wolf form so he wasn't able to explain anything and Emmett was slightly cryptic on the phone. Is Bella all right?" Carlisle asked as we moved towards the house. Edward was waiting for us on the porch.

"She's about the same," I explained "she did manage to sleep a little,"

"That's good," Carlisle replied rubbing his chin "has she tried to eat anything?"

"Rose is feeding her now, she still can't keep it down,"

Carlisle and Esme exchanged a look, then saw Edward. Edward was about to explain things when a loud howl erupted through the forest, I'll admit it, it made me jump up in fear.

"Edward?" Carlisle said, "what is going on son?"

"That's Seth!" I said louder than I meant to

"Edward, what is going on?" Carlisle repeated more insistently

"Chris, Bella is asking for you," Edward said quickly,

Esme slowly let go of my shoulders as I reluctantly moved towards the stairs, wondering for a moment why Edward wanted to explain the situation to my parents without me present. He was trying to get rid of me and not being exactly subtle about it.

When I walked back into the family room, Bella looked up at me weakly, she looked even more exhausted than she had before her nap, she held out her hand to me. I walked over and took her hand gently as she squeezed it.

"Are you all right?" she asked softly and I put on the bravest smile I could, nodding.

"'Course," I lied smoothly "are you feeling any better?"

"Much," she lied, I looked up at Rose whose eyes were full concern, over Bella's head she shook her own. Bella was getting worse, every day I could see it.

I heard the howl again and went stiff. I was trying so hard to make sure Bella didn't see it, but I didn't have to worry about that, her eyes had closed and she had drifted off again.

Before I had time to panic, Edward, Carlisle, and Esme walked in, the whole room was stiff as we waited for an explanation.

"That was Seth," Edward explained "he just wanted to let us know everything is in the clear, he ran into Leah, apparently she has joined their pack."

I sighed and nodded, the odds were definitely better now, three wolves running the perimeter as opposed to two, but still, I'd seen how big the pack was, how strong it was, we had all seen it in action against our kind. If the pack decided to attack, would we have a chance against them? We were already outnumbered, even with Jacob, Seth, and Leah.

I tried to keep the thoughts in my head private, but I knew Edward saw my profile…if the pack was to attack, right now…we'd be done for. There was no chance of survival.

I looked over at Bella, who looked so frail, so weak, my eyes shifted to my sisters, my brothers, and my parents, before moving outside to where Seth, Jacob, and Leah were. It would be a losing fight true, but I knew we wouldn't just take it.

Chapter Text

There was no attack thankfully and a day or so later, we started to feel a little more at ease, we knew we weren't out of the woods yet, no pun intended, but I think we all felt somewhat safer with Seth, Jacob, and Leah. Not that any of us would admit it out loud. Seth, Leah, and Jacob took turns running the line watching for signs of trouble.

Bella knew something was up, it was impossible to keep that from her, but she didn't mention anything. Mainly because she was still so weak, each day that passed she was growing weaker and weaker and there wasn't anything we could do about it, which sucked, and left an atmosphere and smell of death in the house, something that had never been in our house before.

Having the wolves around made things a lot better, okay I'll rephrase, having my best friend around made things a lot better. He was still doing his duty, running the line, keeping an eye out for the pack, but unlike Jacob and certainly Leah (who was not only refusing to be human around us, but was also refusing to come near the house at all), Seth kept venturing into the house to hang out when he could, or meet me in the garage where we'd play video games up in the loft of the garage, just trying to keep some normalcy and sanity to what was otherwise an insane situation for both of us.

I felt bad for them, Seth especially. I couldn't even imagine what he was going through, I've never been away from my family for an extended period of time, even when I was up in Alaska, I was still with my family, friends are great, but you feel a helluva lot better when you're with family and all three were away from theirs'.

Seth and Leah's mum must've been going bonkers with worry about them and I can imagine Mr. Black was too.

I mean they had given up their pack to protect Bella and in all reality us, they were in danger from retaliation from the pack, and it wasn't fair to them. It was cool having my best friend basically living in our front yard and in the house, which made things a lot easier and less stressful when it came to Bella's roller coaster health, but I still felt bad.

The day after the initially planned attack, Bella's condition hadn't changed, she was no worse, no better than before. Prior to this, I wouldn't have even considered leaving the house for any reason, after all, I had refused to go hunting with my parents because I did not want to leave Bella's side.

I do not, however, handle being cooped up very well, I have a short attention span to begin with and well, I get edgy very easily. I needed an excuse a reason to get out of the house, away from the property for a little while.

So I didn't think twice about taking my dirt bike into the town of Beaver to the mini-mart to pick up some junk food for Seth, Jacob, and Leah. I figured this was safer and less conspicuous than going into Forks.

Esme has been making sandwiches and other meals for the wolves, Leah wouldn't touch any of them, but Seth and Jacob willingly wolfed them down. But still, it's all pretty healthy stuff that mum is getting from cookbooks and the cooking channel. I figured junk food was a necessity here.

I wasn't entirely sure what constituted junk food though. I mean I've seen the crap my friends at school ate, so keeping that in mind I went shopping. I figured sugar was number one so I loaded up on candy bars.

As I was filling the basket I actually stopped and questioned myself. My friend was for all intents and purposes a wolf, therefore a canine. Weren't dogs allergic to chocolate, I mean a wolf logically would be too? But I've been wrong in the past and like Carlisle constantly tells me in regards to Chaplin, he's not a vet and neither am I.

So I grabbed a few Hersey bars for the heck of it; if they were, in fact, allergic to chocolate I just hoped they'd have the good sense to you know not to eat the chocolate, besides, Hersey bars are one of the few candies I remember from my childhood, it was off ration during the war of course, but even now smelling it triggers some pretty good memories of my father sneaking it into the house when I was younger, before the war.

It just sucks that I couldn't enjoy it, but at least my friend, his sister, and Jacob might be able to and I could still smell the bloody thing so that worked in my favor too.

Just in case my assumption about the chocolate allergy turned out to be true, in addition to the chocolate, I got soda, chips, and as a joke, a rubber chew toy for Seth.

In my opinion, he was lucky on that front, there was an entire aisle of canine-related items I could have purchased, including this clicker device used to train dogs to obey commands, give the command, click the device, give the dog a biscuit if he completes the command properly. Believe me, I was very tempted to buy this device, but I did the decent thing and left it alone. Maybe April fools would be a better time.

Once I paid for my purchase I shoved them all in my backpack, hopped on the dirt bike, and headed for home.

I was just pulling down the road that leads to our drive when I felt a wave of literal cold wash over me. I could smell wolf, not just one, a few, the emotions were strong, and it was all anger and determination.

I saw a flash of fur out of the corner of my eye through the woods and instantly I realized what was going on.

Bloody hell I was being hunted. The pack was seriously taking this whole thing too far, two days of virtual quiet, no sign of the pack, now all of a sudden they want to attack? Come on, this was ridiculous.

I gunned the engine picking up speed. Though in the back of my mind I knew there was a chance and a crappy one at that, that I may have to dump my bike and go on foot, like it or not the wolves are fast as hell, they could easily outrun my bike. I'm pretty fast myself and I might be able to beat them on foot, but it was a risk.

I could see one of them preparing to make a move, thankful for my ability in a rare moment, I did the most logical and probably the riskiest thing I could've done, I gunned it and headed towards the woods.

I know the paths pretty well, for the most part, my dirt bike can handle any terrain path or no path. This was no different as the path soon faded out leaving just the forest floor. It's the quickest way home.

I could feel the emotions of the wolves, they were stunned at my reckless move because it literally brought me into their line of sight and in their path.

But it's quicker than staying on the road, and I used their surprise to my advantage. I zipped through the forest zinging around trees and hurdling over downed ones. I could feel the wolves gaining on me, clearly getting over their shock pretty damn quick.

I could feel my dirt bike losing momentum, and taking a deep breath, I got ready to jump off. Before that thought had even crossed my mind, I felt another set of emotions and could profile something else coming.

It was Jacob, followed quickly by Leah, both were racing towards me as the other three wolves were also closing in. Jacob leaped over my head and landed behind me blocking his former packmates from pursuing me.

Instinct took over and I ducked, losing control of my bike for a moment as the front wheel turned back and forth, sending dirt, leaves, and pine needles every which way, I hate to admit it, but I nearly dumped my bike, by accident this time.

Suddenly Leah was there too, only instead of joining Jacob, she gave me a death glare and ran alongside the bike as if she was protecting me. I skidded to a stop and she growled at me, no translation needed, she was telling me to keep going.

"We gotta help Jacob!" I exclaimed dumping my bike. I started to go towards him but Leah jumped in front of me, baring her teeth.

I wasn't about to listen, Jacob had now saved me twice and I wasn't about to let him get hurt on my account, I owed him that much and a Callaghan always pays his debts.

Leah wasn't having any of that, she growled again and pushed me to the ground with her paws. She stood over me snarling, making sure I understood her perfectly clear, she put most of her weight on the paws that were on my chest holding me down to the ground, I could feel the weight crushing my chest and for a brief moment, my mind flashed back to the night I was nearly killed, the night that brought me to Carlisle in the first place. I could feel the building weighing down on me, crushing me.

It took a few seconds for me to call myself back to the present, literally yanking my mind out of the past, remembering there was a giant wolf sitting on me, growling.

I growled back, but I wasn't in the mood to get eaten by my friend's sister so I gave in reluctantly. Believe me, I wasn't happy about it. I don't like being held down or trapped like this and it went against every part of me to NOT fight her.

All of a sudden the growling from Jacob and the others stopped. One of the wolves not sure who snorted his answer glared blatantly at me baring his teeth before they both turned and went the other way.

Jacob trotted back over to me and growled as Leah let me back up. I don't speak canine, but I can read their emotions, and Jacob was PISSED.

He nodded violently in the direction of home and gave me a look that clearly said NOW.

I hesitated and he growled louder, showing his teeth. Grumbling I picked up my bike and jump-started it, my own personal furry bodyguards, on either side of me, escorting me home.

When I got back home Edward was on the front porch waiting and he was not a happy camper.

"What the hell were you thinking Chris?!" He hissed looking towards the house making sure Esme and Carlisle were not in earshot. "What were you doing!?"

Jacob darted behind a tree and changed back to human as he stomped towards me, if I thought he looked scary mad as a wolf, it was almost as bad as a human.

"Being a damn idiot is what he was doing and as far as thinking he clearly wasn't doing that either!" He shouted "you almost got yourself killed you stupid little flea! I should've just let them eat you!"

"Hey don't go all rabid wolf on me." I shot back "I was handling myself just fine."

"Yeah would've handled it fine as a meal."

"I don't know why they were after me anyways. I thought they want Bella. What the hell did I do to 'em?" I argued.

Seth came jogging around the corner of the house when he heard all the commotion. His eyes went wide when he saw my bike and my overstuffed backpack.

"Oh crap," he muttered

"Oh crap is right Seth, your stupid buddy here decided to go for a bike ride and almost got himself eaten," Jacob growled at him and Seth's head dropped in shame, like a little kid getting scolded by a teacher.

"Hey!" I exclaimed "I didn't do anything to them! I was minding my own business! Who declared it 'randomly attack the vampires?! You guys said there hadn't been any sign of the pack. Forgive me if I took that meant going the opposite way of the reservation to a completely different town was a stupid idea."

Jacob looked at me in shock then at Edward

"You didn't tell him?!" He exclaimed, accusingly.

"Tell me what?!" I said loudly

Jacob groaned and glared at Edward

"You really are a piece of work," he muttered, "you're dumber than junior here."

"Hey!" I growled

"I didn't tell him because I didn't want to worry him or make him do something stupid. Clearly, the latter happened." Edward replied shaking his head at me.

"Look someone better explain to me what the bloody hell is going on!"

Seth winced and stepped closer to me.

"Chris," he said carefully "look, there's a big reason why I left the pack and came with Jake."

"Go on," I growled glaring at my brother and Jacob. I knew they had both kept something important from me and I didn't like that at all. And to know that Seth, my best friend had kept it from me too, that was the last straw.

I've gotten used to Edward trying to keep things from me, Jacob I trust him about as far as Bella could throw him, so betrayal from those two doesn't surprise me, annoys me yes, but no surprises.

But Seth and I are friends, we've become best friends in the last few months and there's a trust developing between us that only comes from friendship and the very basis for that friendship may have just been broken.

"When Sam found out about Bella he began formulating a plan of attack. How we would take out Bella and her baby."

I nodded we all knew that, well 'cept Bella herself, Edward was making sure to keep that from her though Bella is not an idiot I'm sure she knew something was going on. Seth, Jacob, and Leah being around, yeah she knew, I know why Edward was trying to keep it from her, but I also know it's pointless.

"Yeah your point?"

Seth looked miserable telling me this like he thought he was betraying our friendship somehow.

"Chris the truth is Sam wanted to use me to get you to drop your guard long enough for him and Leah...to...to" he stumbled over the words but I figured them out.

I dropped my bike to the ground and followed it down, sinking to my knees in disbelief. Seth seemed unable to continue so Jacob picked up.

"Sam knew you could manipulate our emotions, he knew you'd be the most dangerous one to the mission, make the pack vulnerable, make it so we wouldn't want to kill Bella, because of that Sam wanted you eliminated first."

"Bloody hell," I muttered. Because of my ability, it takes a helluva lot to surprise or even scare me, but this one definitely did.

"I couldn't help kill my best friend," Seth explained "and I wouldn't let anyone else do it either. So I came with Jacob to protect you guys."

"You're still priority number one kid, Sam still figures they take you out, their job will be easier. They've practically got a bounty out on you. Not to mention, he figured aside from your changing our emotions, you'd be the easiest to take out first, easiest to get to that is."

I growled, I hate being reminded of my size, especially compared to my brothers, I know Jacob wasn't trying to be cruel with his words, but they seriously weren't helping his case either.

Edward walked over and took my backpack. He opened it up and rolled his eyes, before his face went sympathetic.

"I'm sorry Chris," he said "this was my fault."

"Don't apologize Edward, it means nothing, the truth would've been more affective. You should have bloody told me!" I growled at him. "You shouldn't have kept that from me, I'm not some stupid little kid who needs to be babysat and I'm not some reckless nutter who will go looking for a fight, I thought you were my brother, I thought you'd at least know me well enough to tell me, to bloody trust me."

Edward's face went stiff and his shoulders dropped a little when I mentioned him as my brother, he's felt so guilty the year or so when it comes to our family, mainly because of how many times he's turned his back on us over Bella.

"Chris don't be like that,"

"Don't be like that?! You bloody lied to me Edward, in trying to protect me you could've gotten me killed, you're making me look the fool." I paused my anger swelling faster than I could contain it. "Do mum and dad know?" I managed to growl out between gritted teeth, I wasn't sure I really wanted an answer to that one, it was bad enough to know that my brother hadn't trusted me and had lied to me, to know that my parents had done the same thing was not going to help.

"Carlisle does yes, we figured it was safer if we didn't tell Esme." Edward paused "now I'm thinking telling mom might have been a good idea if it kept you home."

"Right yeah let's tell mum, let's tell Alice, Jasper, Emmett, the whole bloody world, let's tell Bella for Christ sake, but make sure we don't tell Chris, clearly he can't handle this. Clearly we all think he's mentally unstable." I growled.

Jacob had averted his eyes, like he was uncomfortable to be in the middle of this, Edward was trying to regain some ground, but he was failing miserably, and Seth, Seth looked ashamed and apologetic, but wasn't getting the bigger picture here.

"You're safe only if you're here, out in the woods you're fair game Chris." Seth added

"Right," I muttered "fine," I grabbed my bag back from Edward and tossed it to Jacob, hard. "Anyone needs me I'll be in the garage. An' no one better need me!" And with that I picked my bike up and wheeled it towards the garage. I could feel the three of them staring at my back but I didn't turn around. I wanted nothing to do with any of them at that point.

I felt betrayed and honestly hurt, I was also afraid if I stayed and talked to them, I'd say something I would regret. I didn't understand why they hadn't told me, why they hadn't trusted me. Did Edward really think that I was stupid enough to go out and annoy the wolves just because?

I may joke around and take risks, but that was a risk I wouldn't have taken had I known. It didn't matter how many times they apologized, I wasn't going to accept their apology right away…Scottish pride, it goes a long way and well takes a long time for that wounded pride to heal.

I honestly don't know what made me feel worse, the fact that my best friend and my brother had kept something this big from me or the fact that I was on a werewolf pack's hit list. Edward had said that Carlisle knew, so that was one more person who had kept this from me.

I felt my anger growing, I had known something was up, the look that Jacob kept giving Edward that first night they came running into the yard. I blame myself on that particular one though, I was too focused to properly profile, I had purposely ignored the looks because I was more concerned with Bella's safety.

I glanced towards the door that leads into the kitchen, speaking of Bella, her and Rose were probably wondering where I was. I hadn't told anyone I was going into town, I hadn't wanted to worry them…but was there more to that, had I known deep down that leaving our property was a bad idea? Was I just kidding myself into thinking it was safe?

That didn't change the fact that I'd been lied to, that something extremely important had been kept from me.

This just made me more angry, I could feel it swelling up inside me and I seriously wanted to hit something, I don't have a temper, at least I've never thought I did, but this whole thing had made me hit my breaking point. I knew I had to focus on something else, had to find a quick shift into something that would calm me down.

I knew instantly what would calm me down, I wanted to go to Neah Bay, I wanted to look out over the ocean from my favorite cliff, jump off that cliff into the ocean and go down as deep as possible…stay there until I could calm down.

I knew this was out of the question, the wolves were still out in the woods, lurking, waiting to destroy us, well, apparently me. I knew that meant I was going to be housebound. Instead of calming down because I was picturing my favorite spot in the world, it had the opposite affect and I felt my anger swelling up again, this time because I was under house arrest, all because of the bloody wolves.

"Bloody hell," I hissed, instead of punching something like I really wanted to, I settled for kicking something.

Rose had left the metal raisers out, we use them when Emmett's not around to get the cars up quickly, without using the lift. They were also easily replaceable so I had no qualms about kicking one of them as hard as I possibly could, sending it flying out of the garage towards the woods. It's better than kicking one of the cars or kicking my large tool chest out into midair.

"HOLY CRAP!?" Seth's voice exclaimed as he peeked around the corner of the garage, "dude that thing almost hit me, I had no idea this was a fly zone." I didn't answer my friend, at least not with words, I growled at him and turned my back on him. Pretending to be fascinated with the hood of Edward's Volvo. "Chris come on please don't be mad, look I wanted to tell you, but Jacob thought it was better if it came from Edward or Carlisle, and they were afraid if you knew, you'd…you'd well try to keep the pack away from here, by any means possible."

"I'm warning you Seth, leave me alone," I replied

"Why, you going to kick me like that metal thing?"

"Maybe," I growled back "keep bugging me and we'll find out."

I could practically feel Seth roll his eyes at me.

"Come on Chris, I'm sorry, I'm apologizing here."

"I don't want to hear it right now, you guys lied to me, you guys shouldn't have kept that from me…you shouldn't have kept that from me."

Seth was quiet for a few seconds, and if I couldn't hear him or smell him for that matter, I would have sworn he left the garage. I slowly turned around, Seth was sitting on the floor, like he was sulking and suddenly I felt really bad for snapping at my best friend. Granted I was still pissed as all hell at him, but I hated to see that literal pathetic puppy face.

"I wanted to tell you, believe me, but Jacob and Edward, what they said made a lot of sense, that telling you would be a bad idea."

I sighed and leaned against Edward's car

"Go on," I said softly, giving him the chance I had been refusing to give moments before. I took a deep breath "why me?" I finally asked "why would Sam figure I was a bigger threat than Emmett or Jasper. Sam has seen them fight, he knows how strong they are, both of them have a stronger battle sense than anyone in our family, he knows that doesn't he?"

Seth didn't reply for a second, then he nodded

"He knows, but he also looked at the bigger picture,"

"The bigger…picture?" I repeated "what bigger picture?"

"Your ability, he knows you can sense our emotions when we're wolves, he also knows that given the chance you can alter those emotions."

"Yeah maybe on one or two of you and only for a brief moment, I could certainly never handle the entire pack."

"Sam figured it was to much of a risk, if you had the chance to change even one of our minds about attacking…B-Bella, you had the potential to do the same to the entire pack. In Sam's mind, you're the biggest threat of the Cullen family, at least to the pack." Seth paused and let that sink in, "I-I'm sorry Chris," he whimpered a little and I knew how hard this must have been for him.

"Look, Seth I'm still pissed as all hell that you didn't tell me right out, but I get why you didn't and…you were only doing what you were told, it's Edward, Jacob, and even Carlisle who I'm really pissed at."

"If I tell you something, you promise not to get mad at me again?" Seth asked cautiously I shrugged it was the best answer I could give because I wasn't making any promises "Sam had this whole thing planned out, and think you should know how it was supposed to go down."

I had a feeling I wasn't going to enjoy this at all, but I also was grateful that Seth was willing to repeat the earlier discussion, I was way too pissed off outside to listen properly and I knew deep down I really needed to know exactly what the pack was planning.

"Go on," I replied and Seth nodded

"Sa-Sam was going to use me as a distraction, he figured you'd let your guard down around me, that would give him and Leah the chance to come at you, then the three of us would take you out."

I slowly slid to the floor, my knees buckling from under me as Seth's words played over and over in my mind.

"Seriously?" I asked slowly and Seth nodded

"Yeah, Sam wasn't taking any chances, you were priority number one, take you out, then the rest of the pack could focus on everyone else." Seth paused "I wasn't going be to be used as a tool to kill you and I wasn't going to kill my best friend. When Jacob managed to break from Sam's orders, I didn't even hesitate to follow him." He paused again "I'm sorry I didn't tell you and I'm sorry Edward and Carlisle didn't tell you either, they were probably trying to protect you, they just didn't think it all the way through."

I ran my hand through my hair and sighed

"I think I'm going to stay out here for a little longer, I'm not ready to face my parents, and I'm certainly not ready to forgive my brother."

Seth looked out towards the woods for a second before he came back in and tossed me my backpack.

"What the hell is in that thing anyways?"

I slowly stood up, walked over to the bench and dumped the contents out, Seth's eyes went -wide and I swear I saw him drooling a little as his face broke into a huge grin and he smacked his lips.

"I felt bad for you guys so I figured I'd go into Beaver and pick up some junk food for you."

Seth literally slapped his forehead

"You idiot," he mumbled, but I could hear the joking in his voice,

"We've already determined that," I reminded him

He pulled out the giant Hersey bar and ripped off the wrapping, shoving the whole thing in his mouth

"I gotta say," he mumbled around the candy bar "you stupid move is delicious."

"Thanks," I replied dryly, watching him eat

"Oh dude, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be eating this in front of you, I mean you guys can't eat human food right?"

I chuckled

"We can eat it to keep up appearances, but it doesn't go anywhere, we have to er…hack it up somehow eventually." Seth's face went green and he stopped mowing down the chocolate bar "sorry," I added shrugging

"That is so nasty," he replied and went back to eating his chocolate bar "so you don't want any then?" he asked and I shook my head

"Er, definitely no, human food has no taste for us other than gross. Believe me if I could I would join you, I loved Hersey bars as a kid." I paused "and you can eat that right, like you're not going to drop dead of anaphylaxis shock are you?"

"Ana who?" Seth asked

"You know, have a severe allergic reaction to that chocolate and drop dead on me."

"Why would I drop dead from eating chocolate?" I raised my eyebrow and waved my hands gesturing to what I thought was pretty obvious, it took Seth a few seconds to understand what I was talking about "ohhhh, the whole wolf thing, yeah no I'm a chocoholic, haven't dropped dead yet.' Seth explained, he eyed the bag "dude did you get rice cakes?"

"Uh, yeah, they were in the snack food aisle."

"No one eats rice cakes willingly."

"But they were in the snack aisle," I repeated "why put them there if no one is going to eat them. Seems like it be a waste of space."

"It was a trick, so suckers will think they taste good. You seriously need to get out more,"

"Yeah I'll work on that."

"But seriously, thanks Chris, you didn't need to do this."

I shrugged

"Yeah whatever," I replied "just enjoy them so I know my sacrifice wasn't in vain."

Seth grinned and nodded as he dove into the bag of Doritos. I rolled my eyes and was about to put on the radio to work on the cars and take my mind off of everything when the garage door flew open, there was Esme standing in the doorway looking madder than I have ever seen her. Seth looked up when the door opened and exchanged a horrified look with me.

"Christian Aiden Cullen, we need to talk. NOW."

"Oh hell," I muttered, sliding off the work bench and heading slowly towards my mum.

"Nice knowing you," Seth whispered.

"It was nice to be known." I replied following Esme into the house.

Chapter Text

Needless to say, Esme laid into me pretty good. Sometimes a few short sentences, and an overpowering look of disappointment and concern are all that is needed to lay down the nastiest guilt trip known to all mankind. It is also all that is needed to put the guilty party under strict house arrest, IE, Esme grounded me.

Seth did his best to keep a straight face when I returned to the garage and explained that in a day or so I'd be allowed back into the garage, but for the time being I was to stay in the house. I was impressed, he kept a straight face all through that, but when I explained I was well, grounded, that did it, he burst out laughing and literally hit the floor he was laughing so hard.

Of course, he wasn't laughing when he realized that my grounding at least initially meant I wasn't even allowed in the garage, I was just out in the garage long enough to let him know what was up. I knew Esme would slowly let me back into the garage as this whole thing blew over, she just wanted the backlash from my decision to be felt hard and quick.

Giving him a quick shoulder shrug, I headed back into the house. Bella in the hospital bed Carlisle had brought in, wrapped up in all the blankets we have in this house, which is to say, not many. She was kind of staring at the TV screen, but not really seeing it when I walked in.

The couch had quickly become non-productive to Bella's care, the hospital bed made her as comfortable as she could possibly be in given the situation. It also allowed us to control the heat and keep her as warm as possible, she was so weak her body was having trouble controlling her temperature and even the mild temperature of our house might as well have been the artic.

I was trying to be as quiet as possible, but she still looked up the moment I neared the bed. She gave me a weak smile and held out a hand to me.

"Chris are you okay?" she asked, her words forced as she tried to ask that simple question. I quickly gave her a reassuring smile

"Of course Bella," she raised an eyebrow "why would you think otherwise?" now she took my hand and held it tight.

"Christian," she said, Bella only used my full name maybe once, twice in the time that I've known her so it was a little weird to hear it now. "Come on you can tell me,"

"I swear Bella, nothing is wrong, I'm just worried about you is all."

"Liar, what did Esme have to talk to you about? She sounded upset."

I winced, Esme and I had both been under the impression that Bella had finally managed to fall asleep, even so, Esme reprimanded me in a low tone hoping that she wouldn't wake Bella, clearly, Bella hadn't been as sound asleep as we thought.

"I did something stupid and childish," I admitted, "so Esme kind of grounded me, which is fine because I wasn't planning on leaving the house anyway."

"What did you do?"

I sighed, I wasn't really used to Bella being this prying, maybe it was the hormones, talking, I'd heard that term used in the past, it sounded like an apt description of what was going on.

But that look in Bella's eyes, a look that hadn't been there before, a look I'd only really seen on…on mothers in my life, my own mother, my aunt and grandmothers, my mates' mothers, Marie's mum and grandmother.

Bella now had that same look, she'd always had a caring look about her, a protective caring look, but this look was way different. In fact even her tone, she wasn't talking to me as a friend or even as a brother, she was talking to me like a mother would talk to her child.

The look was insistent as Bella's eyes narrowed a little, expecting an answer and I really didn't want to give her one. I didn't want to stress her more than she already was, worry her more than she already was. But I couldn't fight that look.

Thankfully her eyes went wide and she smiled weakly at me, placing her hands on her stomach gently.

"Bella, are you okay?" I asked getting to my knees to get a better look at her, she nodded

"He's moving around a bit," she replied "here you feel," she took my hand and carefully put it on her stomach, I made a move to squirm away, afraid that I may hurt Bella or the baby, but at the same time I was seriously curious, so my initial uncomfortableness only lasted a second.

I could feel something moving around and it was a little freaky. My mind flashed back to when my aunt was pregnant with my youngest cousin Lucy, all my other cousins I really don't remember before they were born too well, we were all fairly close in age, except for Lucy.

I remember her kicking my hand and being weirded out back then. It was just one more excuse I was able to give my father about why I had no desire to be a doctor when I grew up.

But this time, I didn't feel weird, I felt like I finally got it. All this time I've been protecting Bella, on Bella's side because my profile was telling me it was the right side to be on.

The baby, was just that a baby, sure it was the whole basis for this thing, but I hadn't really thought of it in the being sense.

Now suddenly it was no longer an it to me, it was he, it was the baby. I slowly grinned and looked up at Bella who weakly returned the smile

"Whoa," I breathed

"I think he likes the sound of your voice Chris, he seems to move around a lot more when you speak." I rolled my eyes at that "don't roll your eyes, Chris, it's true, you're going to make a wonderful uncle." She insisted. I heard Rose giggle a little and saw her nod in agreement, and Edward snorted and his snort was definitely sarcastic so I glared at him, still refusing to speak to my brother. Bella saw the look pass between us and clearly wanted to know what was going on, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she let go of my hand "believe what you want Chris, I know it is true."

Bella's words moved deep in my mind and throughout my body, one word in particular, the word uncle. It wasn't something I had really thought about since we found out Bella was pregnant, the idea that when this baby was born, whether it was a boy like Bella was sure or a girl, this would for all intents and purposes make me, Jasper, and Emmett uncles…that was something I had never expected in my life, not my human life, and certainly not this life.

I was an only child, there wasn't really much chance for me to be an uncle, but as a kid you don't think about that unless you're put in the situation where it happens. Becoming a vampire it was also never part of my thoughts, it wasn't something that was important, nor was it something that could actually happen anyways.

But now, hearing Bella say that one word, 'uncle' it gave me a funny feeling, kind of a chill mixed with pride.

"Right," I said softly to Bella's expectant look

"You are so stubborn Chris," Bella replied

I was about to argue with her when Rose who had been reading a book and half-listening to the conversation not far from us looked up, just as Edward stood up as if he had heard something that caught his attention.

I gave the air a sniff and realized that Jacob was close by, like right outside close by. He must have been out on the front porch with Carlisle or something.

"I'll be right back, Bella. I want to speak with Carlisle for a moment." Edward said, not even looking at me now and it was all I could do not to growl, he was mad at me? What the bloody hell, it should be the other way around here. Bloody Prat. "Actually Rosalie would you mind accompanying me?" he asked

I exchanged a suspicious look with Rose who shrugged, I started to stand up as well, but Edward's glare told me all I needed to hear, I was to stay here, it was just a matter of if I was going to listen to him or not.

"What is it, Edward?" Bella asked, still very much aware that there was serious tension between Edward and me.

"Nothing you need to worry about, love. It will just take a second, Chris stay with her please. Rose would you mind?"

Rose sighed and gave me a comforting smile, like the rest of the family had heard about my adventure and of course the backlash that came from it, and believe me I was not exactly out of the woods just because Esme had already laid into me. Rose, Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle are all waiting to give me a talking too, and even Emmett backing Rose up on that.

"Esme," Rose called patting my shoulder as I sunk back to the floor "Esme could you mind Bella for me?"

I snickered back a laugh at the idea of Bella being minded, Bella shook her head at me

"Hush," she replied softly as Esme came down the stairs

"Of course," she said, she gave me a gentle look, silently asking if I was upset with her and I shook my head, no matter what I could never be mad at my mother, annoyed at being grounded like a kid yes, but not angry, I deserved this punishment and we all knew it.

Carlisle pushed open the front door and exchanged a look with Jacob who looked confused, Carlisle however did not. He may not be a profiler, but he seemed to know what was on Edward's mind.

I looked over at my mother, as the trio joined Jacob on the porch shutting the door behind them, and she nodded, I moved closer to the door to listen in better, they were talking in such hushed voices even with my hearing it would have been difficult from the couch. So I moved to the front door and knelt down, listening carefully.

"Carlisle," Edward started

"What is it, Edward?"

"Perhaps we've been going about this the wrong way. I was listening to you and Jacob just now and when you were speaking of what the…fetus wants, Jacob had an interesting thought."

I blinked, an interesting thought? What kind of interesting thought?

"Me?" Jacob kind of squeak, which was pretty comical in my opinion. I could hear it in his voice, he wasn't sure what thought he may have had that might interest Edward.

"We haven't actually addressed that angle," Edward went on. "We've been trying to get Bella what she needs." Duh, I thought "and her body is accepting it about as well as one of ours would. Perhaps we need to address the needs of the…fetus first." It wasn't lost on me how much my brother was struggling even with that word, and I realized I had not heard him refer to the baby as such or anything else besides it or even this stretch of calling the baby a fetus. "Maybe if we can satisfy it, we'll be able to help her more effectively."

"I'm not following you, Edward," Carlisle admitted and I sighed, I seriously had thought that Carlisle maybe knew what Edward was going on about, but my father was just as confused as the rest of us.

"Think about it, Carlisle. If that creature is more vampire than human, can't you guess what it craves-what it's not getting? Jacob did."

"Oh Bloody hell, you've got to be joshing!" I hissed, forgetting momentarily that I was not technically supposed to be privy to this conversation. I heard a growl outside the door as Edward threw it open, glaring bluntly at me, Rose, however, quickly stepped in front of me and pulled me to my feet, dragging me out onto the porch with them.

The confused look on Jacob's face should've been amusing, but all I could really think about was what I had just figured out…Edward wanted Bella to drink blood.

Slower than I expected Carlisle finally understood what Edward meant as well, he looked over at Rose and me and sighed.

"Oh," he said, "you think it is…thirsty?"

Rose hissed, but it wasn't an angry hiss, she seemed pleased, she seemed to be accepting that this was the answer.

"Of course," she muttered "Carlisle we have all that type O negative laid aside for Bella. It's a good idea, she added, refusing to look at Jacob or at Edward.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I spoke up and Edward growled at me

"You're not even supposed to be out here for this conversation," Edward spoke up "aren't you supposed to be grounded to the house?" he pointed out, and I didn't miss the sneer nor the tone in his voice. I growled back, moving slightly towards him, even though he wasn't fazed. Rose putting an arm around my shoulder, she gave Edward a look that clearly said 'stop instigating him,'

Carlisle however was so deep in thought he hadn't even noticed our little exchange as he rubbed his chin.

"Hmm," he muttered, "I wonder…and then, what would be the best way to administer…"

"Carlisle you can't be serious, there has got to be another way,"

"Chris, we've exhausted all avenues except this one, we have to at least try,"

"We don't have time to be creative," Rosalie spoke up shaking her head "I'd say we should start with the traditional way,"

I felt a cold wave rush over me, something that as vampire I'm not really used to happening.

"Wait a minute," Jacob whispered "just hold on. Are you-are you talking about making Bella drink blood?"

"It was your idea, dog," Rose shot back.

Jacob seriously looked green and I didn't blame him, it is one thing for us to drink blood, it is what we are designed to consume, we're not human once the venom completes its work on our bodies so drinking blood as unfathomable as it is in the beginning, is soon replaced by instinct and that instinct is to drink blood. But Bella is human, despite what the baby she is carrying may be, Bella herself is human and it made my stomach hurt a bit thinking of her drinking blood, especially human blood.

"That's just," Jacob started to say

"Monstrous?" Edward suggested "repulsive?

"Pretty much,"

"But what if it helps her?" Edward explained, in probably the gentlest tone I have ever heard him use with Jacob

But Jacob wasn't about to be soothed

"What are you gonna do, shove a tube down her throat?"

The image of that flashed through my mind and I stopped breathing, my body tensing. Rose felt the tension and hugged me a little tighter.

"I plan on asking her what she thinks. I just wanted to run it past Carlisle first." Edward explained

Rose nodded

"If you tell her it might help the baby, she'll be willing to do anything. Even if we do have to feed them through a tube."

"Rose you can't be seriously going with this," I said softly "we're talking about Bella drinking blood, a human drinking blood, for the baby or not, the repercussions of this…" I stopped, realizing I had just stepped in front of a fork in the road and I wasn't sure if I was making the right decision or not, my profile was no help because it kept telling me, I was right.

I saw Edward nod at Jacob and I wondered for a second what the pair of them were thinking and agreeing about, then Edward looked at me, his eyes not as hard as they had been, he was asking me if I thought Bella was strong enough mentally and of course physically to do what we…they were about to ask of her.

My brother for all his mind-reading greatness has no access to the mind of his own wife and I know that frustrates him, especially given the fact that thanks to my ability I can get a more accurate read of Bella than he can.

I glanced back at the house and sighed. I remembered Bella's issue with blood, how she could smell it and went green at the smell, and nearly swooned at the sight. It was something that had been a pretty lengthy discussion between Emmett, Jasper, and me.

He and Jasper had a bet going on how many people Bella would kill in her first year as a vampire and I really didn't agree with that particular bet, especially since Jasper was wagering high numbers. I was pulled into the bet by my brothers and simply declared that Bella would come close to slipping, but she was actually stronger than my brothers were giving her credit for and would be able to stop herself.

But the whole blood thing was also a topic the three of us had discussed intently. Would Bella's aversion to blood continue into her vampire life and if so would that be her ability? The first vampire to actually have the ability to faint at the sight of blood? It was comical at the time, but now our conversation gave me the creeps, especially with the very real possibility that Bella might be drinking blood…as a human.

Where did I stand on this that was my biggest question? I had made it my mission, my duty to protect Bella because I could profile her, and knew she wanted the baby, she was willing to do anything for it…to protect it, and being able to see that I stood by her. But now the very thing that I was on the opposing side against my brother and even my father for, was inadvertently destroying Bella, slowly.

I didn't know if drinking blood would solve anything, but I knew I had made a silent promise that I would stand by Bella and her decision, and if drinking blood, as much as I hated to admit it, was the answer, if it would save Bella's life, then I had no choice but to go along with my brother and father's decision.

"Well, we don't have time to sit around discussing this," Rose spoke up bringing me back to reality "what do you think Carlisle? Can we try?" she asked

Carlisle looked just as uncomfortable with this prospect as I assume I did. He took a deep breath

"We'll ask Bella," he said.

Edward and Rose headed into the house first, up the stairs towards the family room, followed by Carlisle. I looked over at Jacob, expecting a death look or something, instead, he kind of gave me a half-grin.

"Thanks for the snacks kid," he said "and I'm sorry no one told you what was going on, it was a judgment call."

I shrugged

"Whatever, don't worry about it." I paused "and it really should be me thanking you," I added and he raised an eyebrow as we began taking the stairs after my family. "You've saved my arse twice now and somehow I will find a way to repay that debt."

Jacob really looked confused now

"Twice?" he asked

"The first time was when we were fighting the newborns, one of them had me pinned, you jumped in and tore him off of me."

"Oh yeah, forgot about that,"

"I didn't,"

"Look kid it was nothing, we were all helping each other out, it looked like you could use some backup so I gave it. And as for this last time, Seth went out to the garage to ask you a question and realized you weren't there, he came to find me to ask if I'd seen you and when we realized your bike was missing we knew you might run into the pack. Anything happens to you I'd be a dead man, between Bella, your parents, Seth, your siblings." Jacob paused

"Seth?" I asked,

"Seth acts all goofy and full of life, but losing his dad was tough on him, then this whole wolf thing and his sister joining the pack. He's one of the youngest in the pack, besides Brady and Collin, but he's still two years older than them, he really doesn't have anyone to talk to. But you two have a lot in common and you're the kind of friend he really needs right now, and from what your brother and father have said, you were pretty much in the same boat, looking for a buddy."

I shrugged

"Yeah, I guess so,"

"Besides, if you did get eaten who is going to help me fix Bella's truck, it's gotta be the one who killed it, to begin with."

"For the last time, I did not kill her truck, and another thing you're helping me fix up the truck, not the other way around. My garage, my tools, my rules." I added, walking into the family room, leaving Jacob on the landing.

I walked over to Bella who had her hand protectively over her stomach. She looked at me, then at Rosalie for an answer,

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"Jacob had an idea that might help you," Carlisle explained, "it won't be…pleasant, but-"

"But it will help the baby," Rose interrupted "we've thought of a better way to feed him. Maybe."

My stomach turned again, I still wasn't completely sure on this whole thing, it still made me feel uneasy.

"Not pleasant?" Bella coughed out a weak chuckle and that was enough for me, uncomfortable with this or not, if it helped Bella, it had to happen. "gosh, that'll be such a change."

I know Bella was trying to make us laugh, trying to help ease the tension in the room, but Rosalie was the only one who laughed.

"Bella, love, we're going to ask you to do something monstrous," Edward said, taking Bella's hand.

"How bad," she asked

"We think the fetus might have an appetite closer to ours than to yours. We think it's thirsty."

Bella blinked as she comprehended that.

"Oh, OH,"

"Your condition…both of your conditions…are deteriorating rapidly." Edward explained though I knew for a fact Bella really didn't need that explained to her, she was quite aware of her situation. "we don't have time to waste, to come up with more palatable ways to do this. The fastest way to test the theory-"

I winced as Bella nodded

"I've got to drink it," she whispered "I can do that. Practice for the future right?" she tried to smile at Edward who couldn't smile back. "So, who's going to catch me a grizzly bear?" she asked, looking over at me "you or Emmett?" Edward and Carlisle exchanged a look and I ran my hand through my hair, here it comes, moment of truth. "What?"

"It will be a more effective test if we don't cut corners, Bella," Carlisle explained

"If the fetus is craving blood," Edward explained, "it's not craving animal blood."

I looked over at the door, my instinct…my profile was now telling me to get out of the room, to find another spot in the house somewhere. I was so uncomfortable with this, and reminding myself that it was a way to save Bella's life was the only reason I hadn't thrown my two cents in to argue against it.

"It won't make a difference to you, Bella. Don't think about it." Rose explained

Bella looked over at Jacob

"Who?" she asked

"I'm not here as a donor, Bells," Jacob grumbled, "sides it's human blood that thing's after, and I don't think mine applies."

"We have blood on hand," Rose explained, interrupting Jacob. "For you…just in case. Don't worry about anything at all. It's going to be fine. I have a good feeling about this, Bella, Chris does too."

I looked at my sister quickly, I hadn't said that at all, I never once should that I was behind this whole thing, or that I had a good feeling about it. But Bella looked at me expectantly and I forced myself to smile weakly and nodded, reminding myself, it might help Bella, it might be the way to save her life.

"Right…Rose," I grumbled

"I think the baby will be so much better," Rose added giving me an expectant look.

"Well," Bella said softly, rubbing her stomach carefully "I'm starving, so I'll bet he is too. Let's go for it. My first vampire act."

I groaned and tried not to slap my forehead at that. Carlisle and Rosalie bolted out of the room, rushing to get the blood prepared for Bella and I winced at that. As much as I wanted to be here for Bella, I had a feeling when it came time for her to drink, I was leaving the room. Esme, who was watching from her favorite loveseat walked over to me and held me tight.

"I'm sorry I got angry with you Christian," she whispered and I nodded

"It was entirely my fault mum, I shouldn't have been so reckless." I didn't mention that I still thought Edward, Carlisle, Seth, and Jacob should've told me.

"I don't know what I would do if I lost you, Christian, that is the only reason I was so angry, I was frightened that you came so close to…" she stopped unable to finish that sentence and I put my head down.

"I'm sorry mum," I replied, hugging her tight "I'm really sorry,"

"I know you are." She whispered "and I know you were just trying to help your friends, just like you have been helping Bella. You've been such wonderful support for her, I know she appreciates it and I know Edward does as well."

I heh'd on the mention of Edward, I didn't think my brother appreciated anything I'd done in the last week or so.

I winced when he looked up, reading my mind and I wanted for the glare or the nasty look, but it didn't come, instead, Edward nodded at me, telling me he agreed with everything Esme had just said.

"I do," he whispered, so low that only us vampires and probably Jacob could hear.

"See," Esme replied squeezing my shoulders, "told you so." We both turned as we heard Rose and Carlisle returning, with Bella's drink and I shuddered. Esme felt the shudder and looked down at me carefully "Christian are you okay sweetie?"

"I'm really not sure if this is a good idea, or if it's even going to work," I admitted, "and I'm not sure I feel okay with Bella drinking…bl…blood." I stuttered and Esme nodded her understanding.

"Sweetie if you don't want to stay, I'm sure Bella will understand. I'll come to find you when it's all over. Okay?"

I took a deep breath and looked over at Bella, before I nodded, accepting Esme's offer. I knew I would be able to handle the blood in front of me, hold my breath, close my eyes, no problem. But standing there, watching Bella drink human blood was beyond my threshold level. Especially when I saw Rose walking into the room, holding a plastic cup, impossible to see the contents, but with a straw sticking out of the top of the cap…

That was my cue to exit. I glanced back at Bella one more time and silently prayed to myself that this would work, that Jacob's idea was valid and this was exactly what Bella needed to do, to get better.

Chapter Text

I'll admit I was skeptical about the whole Bella drinking blood thing. Skeptical and a little okay grossed out. It's one thing for us as vampires to do it and that still has its moments where it's kind of gross, but Bella is still human.

I went up to my room, to escape the scene, as much as I wanted to be there for Bella, even I have my limits, and watching her drink human blood through a straw was definitely my limit, it worked out however because Chap was ecstatic to see me and he squeaked loudly when I walked in.

"Hey bud," I said with a smile, I popped open his cage and he ran up my arm, settling on my shoulder. "Sorry I haven't really been around Chappy," I whispered, as if he could actually understand me, Chap gave a quick squeak, sitting on his hind legs looking me square in the eye.

I felt bad, with this whole pregnancy thing I haven't really been attentive to Chap. Aside from feeding, watering, and changing his shavings, I haven't really let him loose in the house, let him just have fun. Granted it's only been a few days, but Chap is an extreme people rat, he loves human contact in pretty much any form. It's even gotten to the point where he'll hang out with my brothers, three people he was terrified of in the beginning.

I'm pretty sure it is all because of Charlie's death and my own neglect after that, something I'm still trying to make up for.

I reached up and gently ran my finger down his back and he gave a twitch of his whiskers, clicking his teeth together, his own rat version of a purr. I was about to laugh at him when a sound broke through the woods, two distinct howls, I recognized Seth's easily and just assumed the other belonged to Leah.

I heard the front door slam open; quickly and gently I put Chap down on my desk and ran to my window, just in time to see Jacob transform and take off towards the forest.

I scooped Chap up and deposited him back in his cage, bribing his return with a handful of sunflower seeds (my rat can be bought apparently) before heading back downstairs.

Bella was still drinking and seemed completely unaware of Jacob's swift exit. Edward, Rose, Carlisle, and Esme on the other hand were stiff, clearly, they were trying to pretend nothing was wrong for Bella's sake, but it didn't fool me.

As much as I hated to, I looked at Edward

What's going on? I thought staying out of sight of Bella. I did this for two reasons I still didn't want to see her drinking blood and two I was afraid I would alarm her with my sudden reappearance.

Edward glanced over at Bella and sighed

"Love, I'll be right back," he said softly, stroking her thinning hair.

She looked up at him and took his hand

"Are you going to speak to Chris?" she asked and my eyes went wide, how the bloody hell did she know I was back down here? "Because I think you should, I know he's mad at you for some reason, I think you both should talk it over I hate to see you two fighting." She said slowly, she put the cup on the table and closed her eyes a little.

What the hell Edward? I thought and he glanced over at me, shrugging, just as dumbfounded as I was. Did you tell her? I got my answer pretty quick as Edward used his eyes to reply 'No, I have no idea'

"He probably won't listen right now, but for your sake, I'll go try," Edward replied carefully and Bella smiled a little bit. Which was perfect because I shot my brother a glare at the little jab, but didn't say anything. I didn't want to argue with him right then, especially not in front of Bella.

Rose came up and sat down next to Bella, resuming her spot as Esme walked over with a plate of scrambled eggs for Bella.

Edward stroked her hair once more, before walking over to the doorway where I stood as hidden as possible. He nodded for me to follow and we walked upstairs to his room. I jumped onto the bed and sat Indian-style on it watching as my brother took his desk chair. The bed definitely made his room a lot smaller and it was tough to get used to it.

"So what the hell was up with Jacob?" I asked quickly as soon as he sat down, he ran his hand through his hair and sighed again.

"The pack," he started to say, and instantly my body went stiff

"Are they coming? Do we need to get ready for a fight?" I asked quickly and Edward shook his head

"I managed to get a bit of information from Jacob's mind before he took off and a bit of Seth's even with the distance. I don't think we need to worry about an attack, at least…I don't think…so."

This was one of the only times I have ever seen my brother unsure about something. He's always been pretty sure of stuff, whether it was correct or not, he makes my stubbornness and pride look minimal in comparison. If he thinks he's right, he is right and there is no point in verbally arguing with him. In those cases, we have a system, well at least Emmett, Jasper, Rose, Alice, and I do, we call him an idiot and ignore him.

But this look was new and as much as I knew in normal circumstances I would be pleased with the turn of events, just for the satisfaction of seeing him unsure, it didn't feel right and there was no pleasure in this at all.

It also made me feel kind of guilty that I was so petty and short-sighted about my own feelings, that I was seriously neglected how this whole thing was affecting my brother. Not just the wolves, but Bella, the baby, everything, I hadn't even considered the possibility that my brother wasn't the selfish one, that I was.

"You're not Chris," Edward spoke up, bringing me out of my thought process, sometimes it really sucks having a brother that's a mind-reader. "This whole thing is bringing out the best and even the worse in the entire family." He paused "it's no one's fault, least of all you."

"I am sorry Ed," I muttered, "for blowing up at you outside, acting like a little kid and crap."

Edward chuckled a little

"How'd that feel saying?"

"Like a kick to the teeth," I admitted rolling my eyes "how does it feel for you to admit you're not so sure about something?"

He grumbled a bit

"Pretty much the same,"

I ran my hand down my face

"This whole thing bloody sucks,"

"Couldn't have said it better myself Chris, but you better watch your mouth, you're already on Esme's hit list."

"Thanks to you," I reminded my brother and he winced "kidding Ed, seriously."

"Chris, look I'll do my best to stop keeping things from you, especially,"

"Especially when it's about me?" I added and he nodded

"Especially then,"

I glanced at the window, towards the woods

"So, what's going to happen now?" I asked and Edward gave me a shrug, I really do not like this new version of my usually know-it-all-brother. He gave me a look and I shrugged "well, you are, you've been a know-it-all since day one at least to me."

"Well, I'm not Chris,"

"Yeah whatever," I replied and Edward groaned "so, just out of curiosity how the hell did Bella come to the conclusion that I'm mad at you? I didn't say a word and I'm assuming, and of course, correct me if I'm wrong on this, you didn't say anything to her either, aside from the glare I gave you."

"She's gotten extremely observant Chris, I can't explain it." I chuckled a little "what?"

"Maybe the baby's got a little more of you than we original thought, maybe he can read minds too,"

Edward went stiff for a second as he looked at me hard

"Chris you can't be serious,"

"Of course I'm not serious," I replied "it was just a thought, something that could serve as an explanation. I may not have gone to medical school, but I'm not an idiot Edward, even if the baby takes after you," my brother's glare intensified "I'm pretty sure this early it wouldn't be apparent."

Edward sighed

"There is nothing about this pregnancy that is normal and it is only going to get worse." He mumbled, "at this point, I'm just lost."

"Join the club," I replied, sliding off the bed "all of this is deranged, Bella being pregnant, us being protected by three rogue wolves, prisoners in our own house. Bella drinking…" I couldn't even say that part, it was still eesh, on me.

Instead, I took a deep breath and without another word, left my brother's room and headed to check on Bella, wondering how she had handled the blood dinking thing.

I was surprised to see that it seemed to have a positive effect because within the few minutes Edward and I were upstairs talking, she started to look a lot better, she was less pale, her breathing and heartbeat went from shallow and quick to steady.

The change was so significant that Carlisle felt comfortable temporarily removing Bella's IV and let her actually sit up.

I walked into the living room and slid to the floor in front of the couch she reached over slowly and ruffled my hair, Edward was right behind me and went to his usual spot.

Bella was still pretty weak, which all things considered is pretty understandable, drinking that blood clearly had the desired effect on her, the baby seemed happier too, at least according to the mummy it was, Bella really seemed in tune with the baby.

"How are you feeling?" I asked carefully and Bella smiled

"Surprisingly much better. What about you are you doing okay?" Ah, there was the old Bella, deflecting questions about her own situation with concern for someone else's. "did you and Edward talk?"

"We're fine Bella, I promise, Edward is the oldest brother and I'm the youngest, we tend to quarrel more, it's a normal thing." Bella looked at me like she didn't believe me, something I've gotten quite used to, unfortunately.

"Right," she said softly so I went the subject changing route.

"Did you drink the blood?" I asked, knowing full well it was a pretty stupid question, after all, I could tell she had, her overall appearance aside, I could practically smell the blood on her breath and that made me feel funny again.

It was one thing to imagine her drinking the blood, it was an entirely different matter to know she actually did it. I know it helped her, there was no denying that fact.

"I did Chris, as long as I didn't think about what I was doing it was okay. It helped too, I can feel it and I know the baby can feel it too."

"Right, uh, do-do you want me to get you anything?"

Bella reached over again and brushed my hair

"Would you get me another blanket, Chris? I hate to ask, but I'm still a little chilly." I nodded

"Blanket got it, whatever you need Bella, seriously. Do you want me to get you a couple of heating pads?"

"No, just some blankets will be okay, thank you, Chris."

"Got it," I replied getting to my feet, I wandered to the hall closet where I knew Esme had stored some blankets. Unfortunately, they are in the back of the closet, which meant I was climbing into the closet to get them, I almost hit my head on the shelf when I heard giggling behind me.

"Christian, sweetie, what are you up to?" Esme asked carefully

"Bella asked for some more blankets," I replied, sliding out with a small handful of the blankets. I looked up at Esme and blinked "mum are you okay?" I asked

"Sweetheart I am so sorry I was so angry with you."

"Mum I-"

"I shouldn't have taken it out on you, I just, after everything that happened over the summer. Christian, I do not know what I would do if anything had happened to you."

"Mum," I said a little firmer, standing up so I was somewhat eye level with Esme. "Mum, I was the stupid one, I wasn't thinking and that was on me. You had every right to be mad at me," I paused "and even the grounding thing I deserve."

"Well, this is me un-grounding you Chris, but would you do me a favor sweetie?"

I shrugged

"I suppose,"

"Please stay close by, at least until we can come to some peaceful resolve with the wolves. I know you mean well, but do it for me?"

"They should have told me," I muttered giving my mother a shrug and Esme looked at me carefully

"Edward, Seth, and Jacob?"

"Dad too," I replied carefully I understood the practical reason why my father and brother decided not to tell me, but I didn't understand the why at least not really, I still felt a little betrayed that they possibly didn't think I was mature enough to handle the fact that the wolf pack had me marked.

"Chris I'm sure they had their reason, but don't forget they didn't tell me either. You can be mad at them if you like, but remember they did it not to hurt you or to make you mad. They must have thought it was the best decision." She paused "believe me I was not happy that they kept that from me,"

"That makes two of us." I replied sighing

"Why don't you go pull Seth in, go to the loft and play some video games? I'll sit with Bella."

I shook my head

"It's okay mum, I don't mind staying with her. I think Seth is out running patrol anyways."

Esme nodded she held out her arms and I instinctively walked to her as she held me close."

"Please don't be mad Chris," she asked and I nodded

"Only for you," I replied and she kissed the top of my head

"Better than nothing right now, I'll take what I can get." She smiled at me "did you and Edward talk?"

I rolled my eyes

"Yeah, we talked, sorta,"

"I hate seeing you mad, at anyone, and you are really not good at it Christian,"

"Guess I'll have to try better," I replied and Esme shook her head at me

"you are so stubborn sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Alice asked as she walked by "try all the time,"

I rolled my eyes at my sister and she stuck her tongue out at me. So I did the mature thing, I did it back.

"Really?" Esme spoke up "how old are the two of you?"

We exchanged a grin and shrugged

"Mentally or physically?" I asked

Esme sighed and laughed a little

"At this point both," she replied hugging both of us, before heading back down the hall. I gave Alice a half-smile and headed back to the family room.

Bella smiled at me as I walked in, Edward had rejoined the group, as had Jacob I gave both of them a look as Edward held his hand out for the blankets, I tried not to growl at him as I handed him the pile of blankets.

Our little talk upstairs wasn't really the heartfelt apology I had been hoping for, but it was a start, I knew it was going to take a lot of work and a lot of time for the brotherly relationship to be rebuilt.

Jacob came and went, giving in to the clothes that Esme had gathered for him, Seth, and Leah, she felt bad that there wasn't much else she could do for them, but Jacob seemed appreciative and that was a start.

I went back to my spot alongside the couch, where I could keep an eye on Bella and be there in case she needed anything. I'm not entirely sure how much time passed, I'm pretty sure Bella fell asleep a few times, then woke up softly asking for more to drink. She was still so weak, even the blood wasn't helping her regain her strength. But at least the baby was satisfied enough to allow her to eat, she had managed to keep the scrambled eggs that Esme made her, down which was a first.

Of course, things going smooth as they were, it was inevitable that something crappy was going to happen to change that. I was only half paying attention to whatever programme Emmett had left on the television, my concern was still on Bella when I felt a wave wash over me like something was coming and I've learned it's always best to listen to that particular sense.

I heard a strange cracking noise coming from behind me and I wasn't entirely sure what it was or where it was actually coming from. I'm pretty sure I was just blocking out the fact that it had to be Bella. I felt her wince behind me and heard the sharp gasp of pain.

I turned to check on her and my eyes went wide at the look of sheer pain she was in. Edward was by her side in an instant as I scrambled to my knees, he had been outside speaking with Jacob when Bella's cry happened. Rose slid in between us all and cradled Bella close, Esme and Carlisle rushed to join us, Bella reached her hand out and grabbed for my own, holding it tightly, she squeezed my hand in correlation to the pain.

Jacob kind of shuffled in, as he stared in shock at the scene.

"Give me a second, Carlisle," Bella panted, squeezing my hand tighter each time.

"Bella," Carlisle said anxiously, "I heard something crack. I need to take a look."

"Pretty sure"…pant… "it was a rib. Ow. Yep. Right here." She pointed out, and I saw the angry look on Jacob's face, he didn't need words, I could read it all over his expression about the baby breaking Bella's bones.

"I need to take an X-ray. There might be splinters. We don't want it to puncture anything." Carlisle explained, but Bella hesitated looking skeptical. She squeezed my hand again and I patted hers gently

"It will be all right Bella," I whispered to her.

Rose reached over and lifted Bella up before Edward could and I don't think anyone missed the move Edward made to argue with her, but Rose growled at him, and even I winced a little.

"I've already got her," Rose explained between growls. As soon as she was off the couch, Bella reached out for my hand and I gave it to her, no questions asked.

It was awkward, to say the least as Rose carried Bella up the stairs and she held onto my hand tight. I also didn't miss the hurt in Edward's eyes at the fact that his wife was clutching my hand so tight her knuckles were turning white as opposed to his.

As we headed up the stairs I gave my brother a shrug

Sorry, I thought even though I knew it really wouldn't make a difference, Edward was hurt and he had every right to be.

Our loft is divided into two sections, one is directly over the garage and that's basically my second room. Okay, it's more of the guys' room, the man loft whatever you want to call it. I fixed it up last June to have a place for my friends and I to hang out during the graduation party and it kind of just exploded from there.

Now anytime one of us wants to have the large screen TV to ourselves or want to throw the ultimate super bowl party up there we've got that option.

But the other half was mainly for just storing junk, Jasper also kept some of his forging equipment there, but when Bella and Edward came back, Emmett, Jasper, and I cleaned out that side of the loft to clear the way for the medical equipment Carlisle brought home to treat Bella.

Over the last few days, it had kind of multiplied to a small hospital in our loft, complete with a hospital bed, surgical equipment, and yes a radiograph machine. Being the son of a doctor and the adoptive son of another I have a slight fascination with the medical field, it's genetic I think. Granted I have no, nor have I ever had a desire to become a doctor, (despite my real father's insistence), but still, it's kind of cool having this equipment to play with.

But this was no game. I followed Bella and Rose over to the radiograph, (not that I had a choice on that, Bella was still clutching my hand tight). Rose was being as gentle as she possibly could, but I could still hear the crunching and clicking of Bella's broken ribs and I did my best not to wince, in fact, I was doing my best to keep my face as expressionless as possible. I didn't want Bella (with her sudden powers of observation) to have more to worry about than she already did.

Rose gently put Bella down on the table as Carlisle got the machine ready. Rose slowly moved away from the machine, but Bella was hesitant to let go of my hand. I glanced over at Carlisle who nodded and I looked down at Bella and gave her a half-smile. Bella looked over at Carlisle

"Is it okay?" she asked weakly, wincing a bit as her ribs shifted

"It is fine," Carlisle replied

"Yeah, I don't think there's ever been a case of a vampire turning radioactive," I added trying to lighten the whole thing, Bella chuckled a little then cringed

"Ow, ow,"

"Don't make her laugh Chris," Rose reprimanded horrified as she moved to Bella's side.

"Sorry," I replied and I felt bad I really did, but I was trying not to laugh, Bella was clearly trying not to laugh, which in turn was making me laugh. Bella gave my hand a tight squeeze and smiled at me

"Chris thank you for being here for me, you know I appreciate it, but-"

"I should probably let those with medical training take over for a while," I finished, looking at the three members of the family who have a background in medicine, IE Carlisle, Rosalie, and Edward.

"I'm sorry Chris," Bella said softly

"No problem," I replied "I've got to check on Chap anyways, he's not to happy with me right now."

As I headed towards the door, Edward gave me a thankful nod, Esme squeezed my shoulder, and Rosalie and Carlisle, even though they were preparing the machine and Bella for the radiographs, both looked over at me and gave me grateful smiles.

When I hit the second-floor landing I caught the smell of a wolf hovering near the front door. I knew Jacob was upstairs with my family and I was sure that Leah and Seth were running patrol so I couldn't help the tense feeling. It took me a second or two to recognize the scent it was Seth.

I went to the front door and opened it to see him standing there a goofy grin on his face and wearing Emmett's jeans and one of my tee-shirts that Jasper and Emmett got as a joke because it's three times my size.

"Hey, how's grounded life?" he asked with a cautious grin

"Prat," I replied "and I'm ungrounded for your information,"

"Really? Sweet,"

"Yeah still have to stay near the house," I explained, "so I thought you were running patrols?"

"Naw, Leah's taking care of that," Seth said "I came to see how Bella was doing, did you guys really have her drink bl-blood?"

Seth looked pretty green and I could relate

"It was a last resort Seth and…believe me I had my reservations about it, but it helped a little, she's feeling stronger somewhat, she managed to keep some breakfast down too, which is a first."

A loud growl erupted from Seth and his ears went red

"Sorry,"

"Speaking of hungry," I raised an eyebrow at my friend "I gave you guys enough food to feed an army, getting sick of those marshmallow things already?" Seth looked up at the sky "dude did you really polish off that whole backpack of food? That was like a hundred bucks' worth of snack!" Seth shrugged "bloody hell," I rolled my eyes at Seth who gave me a sheepish grin "come on in then, I'll see if Esme or Edward can make you something to eat."

"What's the matter you don't cook?" Seth asked as he followed me into the house.

"Dude I wasn't allowed to even enter the kitchen with the intent to cook when I was human, my mum was pretty set on that rule, I was lucky to make a sandwich it was that bad."

Seth burst out laughing

"That bad huh?"

"If only you knew," I replied, "if only you knew."

Chapter Text

I try to make it a habit to make fun of my brother on a regular basis, just trying to get him to loosen up a little. I can tease him relentlessly especially when it concerns something that he's doing that isn't really normal, and for the most part, he knows I'm only kidding, but I will admit one thing and even though I make fun of him for it, he knows his way around a kitchen and that fact kind of frightens me.

Seth was hungry, I swear if I didn't know any better I'd say there was a hungry bear in our house the way his stomach was growling. He'd been running patrols and swung in looking for Jacob, that was when his stomach began shaking our house, so Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast and Edward offered to fix him something.

Ever since Bella and him started dating, Edward has had this weird obsession with the cooking channels, forget the channels, any cooking show in existence, he watches them regularly; all those cooking shows he never misses, I swear I've caught him watching Top Chef and Chopped, two shows Emmett and I make fun of on a regular basis.

So I wasn't surprised when Edward came out with some fancy steak and eggs, toast, bacon, concoction, Seth's eyes went wide and I swear he was drooling. I'm pretty sure the only reason Jacob woke up was because of the smell of food wafting around our family room, though the loud rumbles from Seth's stomach might have done it too, somehow managing to compete with the very loud snores coming from Jacob.

My human father didn't snore, but my uncle sure did, I swear his snores were famous in the village and probably drowned out the air raid sirens throughout Scotland…let's put it this way, Jacob's snores rivaled my uncle's and that takes a lot of skill.

Rose had taken my spot on the floor near Bella and Alice was also on the floor, as close to Seth as possible, leaving no space for me. So I settled in next to Edward, still within reach of Bella, but not sitting directly next to her.

The armrest of the couch was as close as I could get and I was pretty happy to take what I could get. I knew I'd hear it from Emmett later on, but it was actually pretty comfy sitting on the armrest, mainly because I'm small enough that I was able to sit Indian-style on it. Seth had taken up residence on the other side of Bella and was using one hand to chow down on the food, while his other arm was around Bella's shoulders, built-in heating pad.

"Hey, Jake's coming around!" Seth pointed out using his fork to gesture towards Jacob's slow-moving form.

"Bout bloody time," I muttered with a grin and Jacob blinked a little as his vision focused on the scene before him, he was stunned about the entire situation and looked towards Edward for an explanation.

"He came to find you," Edward explained

"And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast." I added grinning at Seth "you don't say no to mum, it's a dangerous chance to take."

Seth grinned back before he finally noticed Jacob's dumbfounded expression and hurried to explain himself.

"Yeah, Jake…I was just checking to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I told her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang," he took another bite of the bacon and a look of pure joy came over his face "man you can cook."

I snorted a laugh as Edward replied softly:

"Thank you."

Seth looked over at me again

"Dude, what is that you always say…bloody?"

"Bloody Hell?" I asked wincing as Esme shot me a warning look

"Yeah that," Seth grinned again "Pardon my British, but Bloody Hell is that good."

"Seth," Esme warned and I tried not to laugh as my friend was reprimanded by my mum for an infraction I was famous for in the house.

Jacob's eyes drifted towards Seth's arm, the one that was around Bella's shoulders. Despite all the progress we'd made, she still could not get warm, no matter how many blankets and heating pads we had going, we had even turned on the heat in the house as well as got two fires going in our two fireplaces, nothing was warming her up, so when Seth came around looking for Jacob and technically for some food we decided to put him to good use and it was working, Bella was feeling a bit warmer, it was a start. Jacob however did not seem to be thrilled with our decision.

"Bella was cold," Edward explained,

Whatever thought crossed Jacob's mind hit Seth pretty hard because he took his arm back to eat, wincing a bit.

"Leah running patrols?" Jacob asked and Seth nodded,

"she's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours."

I chuckled wondering if Seth could hear the overwhelming pride in his own voice. Bella reached over around Edward and tapped my arm

"What?" I asked grinning

"Leave him be." She reprimanded gently

"I didn't say anything,"

"I may not be able to read your mind Chris, but I know what you're thinking, be nice."

I rolled my eyes but stopped when Bella winced a little

"Are you okay?" I whispered and she nodded, putting on a brave face and I held out my hand, which she took, giving it a quick squeeze.

"I'm okay Chris, he's just adjusting a little, must be getting crowded in there," she explained taking her hand back and patting her belly gently. She seemed at ease about it, but it just added to my growing worries.

I know the baby is just doing what babies do, it's testing out its surroundings. The blood that Bella had drank had really helped the baby feel stronger, which technically in turn helped Bella feel better because the baby wasn't basically sucking the life out of her. But it's like that saying 'when it rains it pours,' or something like that, the baby was feeling strong enough to act like a normal baby only clearly this baby had our strength, not a good thing in an already weakened and frail person like Bella...

The further along Bella's pregnancy got, the more we figured that this baby was more vampire than human if it wasn't already obvious. The blood thing and its overwhelming strength, made me wonder if this baby really had any human attributes to it at all.

Bella's ribs were all slowly cracking because the baby kept kicking and I wondered how long it would be before more vital parts of Bella's skeleton would be in danger, if the baby could break her ribs, I could only imagine what it might do to her spine and that frightened me a little.

The main thing that was weighing on my mind was the inevitable scenario that was going to play out. Bella would have to give birth at some point, would she as a human survive something like that, if this baby was doing this kind of damage right now, what would the delivery be like.

I shuddered, I'd been trying to keep that thought out of my head, not only for my own sake, but for Edward's as well, but it was like an annoying tune it kept making an appearance in my mind, playing with my ability, tempting me to come up with scenarios for it.

Edward and Carlisle had been discreetly doing research on this type of situation, it's been documented in legends of course, but nothing concrete. Legends can be altered and recreated, look at all the stories about vampires, most of those legends were made up by our kind to deter humans.

Some of the more popular stories, most used by Bram Stoker for his novel Dracula, were rumors spread by the Volturi themselves; things like lack of reflections, sunlight burning us to a crisp, turning into creatures like bats, wolves, and of course my favorite of all the aversion to holy water and holy relics. If that one isn't hilarious nothing is, I still wear the cross my human parents gave me for my First Communion when I was six, I never take it off, it's like my Cullen crest, they're part of me.

My cross was my first fear when I woke up from being turned, it confused me why it wasn't burning me up to touch it, of course, Carlisle explained things as well as all the legends about vampires I'd grown up with because of my folklore, horror story, etc genre obsessed human father.

But because of legends, we tend to take things with a grain of salt and this whole thing was no different. I'm glad though, because my father, hoping to get my take on the whole thing and hoping to use my ability, had included me in some of their research, and believe me, I'm praying the legends are completely wrong on this one.

There's been a few pretty convincing legends that match this situation fairly accurately, but the end result involves the baby…chewing its way out of the human mother's stomach. Vampire venom is pretty powerful and can work miracles, Emmett, Esme, Edward, Rose, and I are prime examples of this, all five of us were as close to death's door as you could possibly get.

Not to put myself on the spot, but I think of the five of us, Esme and I were certainly in the worst shape when Carlisle changed us. Esme had been brought to the morgue under the assumption that she had been successful in her suicide attempt so she must have by all appearances been dead and I've profiled enough on Carlisle to know that if he hadn't started the process right there in the hospital, even the venom wouldn't have saved my life.

So needless to say our venom is powerful, it has amazing properties in the healing department, but after hearing the legends, confirmed by not one or two, but a number of different stories, I knew Bella's life was hanging by a very thin line.

There would be a very, very small window of a chance to deliver the baby safely and save Bella's life. No question about it, Bella's human life has been dying since the baby was conceived. I hated to think otherwise, but I constantly had a thought and a pray in the back of my head that when Bella's human life ended, her life as one of us would have a chance.

Believe me, having this thought weighing on my mind has made me question my position in this whole thing. I sided with Bella's decision not as a way to annoy Edward as many would think, but because my profile told me it was the right decision. I've always questioned my profiles, they're usually pretty accurate, but it's not an exact science and I have been wrong before. I just hoped I was wrong about the worst-case outcome of this whole thing.

I was so deep in thought about this whole thing, I hadn't noticed that Carlisle was standing with Jacob. His movement towards Jacob and Esme leaving the room caught my attention and I glanced over at my father and Jacob to listen to the conversation, just out of curiosity.

"Speaking of hunting," Carlisle said carefully "that's going to be an issue for my family. I understand that our previous truce is now inoperative at the moment, so I wanted your advice. Will Sam be hunting for us outside of the perimeter you created?"

I didn't miss Carlisle's slight glance my way, I guess I had kind of proven that they were willing to hunt us no matter where we were, but I was grateful that Carlisle just left it as a question, without drawing too much attention to me and singling me out.

"Er," Jacob started to say, but Carlisle raised his hand asking for permission to finish his question.

"We don't want to take a chance of hurting any of your family- or losing any of ours. If you were in our shoes, how would you proceed?"

Jacob definitely looked taken aback by the question and I didn't blame him one bit, but Carlisle was right to ask the question, especially of Jacob. My profile can only tell us so much about the security of our property, Jacob knew what Sam would be expecting and what he would be planning. Even if they didn't have access to the pack's mind anymore because of their defection, Jacob was a natural leader, he'd know what the leader of the pack would do.

There was also another issue…Carlisle's mention of hunting made me remember how thirsty I had become in the course of the last few days. I'm smaller than the others minus Alice, I've got I guess it's a faster metabolism than the rest of my family, so I was really getting thirsty.

I'd been able to ignore it because of everything that had been going on, able to focus on what I considered more important issues. I've got a pretty good tolerance even though I technically should be hunting more than the rest of my family. Even with Bella drinking the blood I was able to ignore it and my own thirst. But now that Carlisle had mentioned hunting, it sparked something in my mind and I felt a burn in my throat, one I hadn't felt in a long time.

I clenched my fists tight, trying to act as if I was okay, I couldn't believe how thirsty I suddenly was…Bella glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow, she clearly didn't know what was the matter, only that something was. She reached over and took my hand giving it a squeeze, trying to calm me down.

"It's a risk," Jacob finally said after a few seconds bringing me back "Sam's calmed down some, but I'm pretty sure that in his head, the treaty is void. As long as he thinks the tribe, or any other human, is in real danger, he's not going to ask questions first, if you know what I mean."

"Damn it," I muttered under my breath, Edward was the only one who heard me, he discreetly reached over and patted my shoulder, trying to reassure me.

"But, with all that, his priority is going to be La Push. There really aren't enough of them to keep a decent watch on the people while putting out hunting parties big enough to much damage. I'd bet he's keeping it close to home."

Carlisle nodded, thinking this over, he glanced over at Edward and me, checking with our thoughts on the matter.

Edward seemed to be contemplating how this would work, but my thoughts were on the rest of the family. We all needed to hunt, it had been over a week, nearly two since any of us had gone hunting. If I was in need I could only imagine the rest of my family.

I glanced over at Jasper, he had been doing well with this whole thing considering, he'd made himself scarce anytime Bella drank any blood, but his eyes had gone black, so had Emmett's, even Esme's had grown a dark yellow. We were reaching our limits and we needed to hunt soon.

That left a big issue, some of us would have to go, but we couldn't leave Bella unprotected, even with Jacob, Seth, and Leah here. Edward wouldn't leave Bella's side and I knew for a fact Rose wouldn't either. None of us would want to leave Bella, we would all be doing so because there was no other choice.

Carlisle as much as he would want to stay to treat Bella, he needed to restock our medical supplies, blood included so he would reluctantly join us on the hunt, Esme would feel the same way, she would want to be here to care for Bella, but she needed to hunt as well.

Emmett would hate to leave Rose, but it was clearly him and Jasper needed to hunt. Alice would go too, reluctantly, but she would need to hunt as well as get away from the situation for a little while. She was trying to hide it, but I could see she was in pain, or at least our equivalent to pain, she was used to being blocked from seeing the wolves' future, but she was not used to Bella's future being obscured from her.

Somehow the baby prevented Alice from seeing Bella's future, which was not only frustrating Alice but tiring her as well. She had been using Seth and Jacob as walking pain relievers, preferring the normalcy of their future's being blocked to this new one, but even that wasn't really enough. She needed to get away from the house to clear her head, literally.

That left me, I knew I needed to hunt, but I had made a promise to Bella that I would stay with her. Every time she was in pain it seemed to be my hand she grabbed and squeezed, I don't know why me or if I was actually helping or not, but I didn't want to abandon her.

I also didn't want to be far from her side, Carlisle had done another exam on Bella and was estimating that Bella would probably go into labor in four to five days. He wasn't able to be completely certain which I know was frustrating my father, but the ultrasound wasn't able to get a lock on the baby, it was literally impenetrable, so Carlisle was doing something he hated to do, he was guesstimating.

It would be the moment of truth if we could save her or not if vampire venom could perform an extreme miracle. I wanted to do what I could to help and knew I wouldn't be able to do that if I wasn't here.

The problem is, I knew Esme and Carlisle would not let me stay, they would insist that I go hunting, even with this very certain event, I knew I would fight it, I would not give in easily.

"So I guess I'd say, go out together, just in case. And probably you should go in the day, 'cause we'd be expecting night. Traditional vampire stuff. You're fast…go over the mountains and hunt far enough away that there's no chance he'd send anyone that far from home." Jacob explained.

I winced, there was still a chance that we could be attacked. That made me question my initial decision, if I was with my family I might have a chance to not only profile a coming wolf attack and help us avoid it, but I would have a chance to possibly alter the emotions of the wolves, give us a chance to get a head start from them.

Carlisle must have been thinking along the same lines because he looked right at me and said

"We've got some extra abilities that will even it up. If Edward and Chris go with two of the three, they will be able to give us a few miles radius of safety."

Edward and I exchanged a look, I was still hesitating to abandon Bella, but I wasn't keen on abandoning my family either…but would Edward be able to make the same decision? I seriously doubted it. He clearly did not like Carlisle's plan to go on this hunt, there was no way Carlisle would be able to convince Edward to leave Bella, for any reason.

I would feel okay going…only if I knew Bella was safe, and knowing that Edward, Rose, Jacob, Seth, and Leah were protecting her, I knew she was safe. I had to protect my family, I had to go with them.

Edward looked at me again

"I don't like it," I muttered to him

"I'm sure there are other ways too," Carlisle said, though I'm not entirely sure if he heard what I said to Edward, he looked at Alice "Alice, I would imagine you could see which routes would be a mistake?"

"The ones that disappear," Alice said, nodding "Easy."

"Christian, how far can you sense the pack do you suppose?" Carlisle asked me and I thought it over.

"pretty far I suppose." I said thinking this over "I could feel their emotions last night when the three of them came to the edge of the property line. That's what a good four miles out maybe five? I think it would be fine, we still have to be cautious though." I paused "but if they're in hunting mode I think I'd be able to sense them a lot quicker, it would be a stronger emotion, easier for me to single out, even at a good distance."

Carlisle nodded, he glanced over at Edward, before turning back to Jacob. But my attention went to my sister. None of us missed the unhappy look on Bella's face when Alice had spoken.

I knew that Alice had felt hurt that Bella had turned to Rose for help instead of her and I know that Bella among all the other things she was dealing with, felt incredibly guilty about excluding Alice. I felt bad for Alice, I really did. It had taken me a while to figure out Bella and Rosalie's sudden closeness, a lot of profiling the pair of them and it really came down to the baby, something that was confirmed when Bella and Edward came back from their honeymoon.

Alice was on Edward's side, she had already admitted she could no longer see Bella's future because of the baby, Alice is not accustomed to being blind like that, and I didn't blame her for being frightened about Bella's uncertain future. She didn't blame me for siding with Bella, nor did she try and change my mind, we both know that we rely on our abilities to make decisions, my ability is not obscured by the baby's presence, and because I can profile Bella's outlook on the pregnancy and how happy she is.

Do I have reservations about Bella's future? Absolutely, especially as things move further along, but I have to look past the future my ability has profiled and focus only on the fact Bella needs support and supporting her as this felt like the right thing to do.

Jacob turned to Seth and said something about him getting some rest before he was to relieve him for patrols. Seth looked over at me and shrugged as Jacob left. I looked back at Bella and hesitated going back over to her, I knew she was falling asleep, her eyes were drooping.

"Chris, you okay?" Seth whispered moving carefully so he didn't move Bella "you seem kind of out of it man,"

I forced a grin and nodded

"Yeah, I'm good," I turned to the hall where Esme had disappeared into the kitchen, "get some rest, remotes on the table if you want it." I looked at Bella "she'll sleep through whatever you put on."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, she's been pretty drained and crashes on and off. It's something we really hope for, she needs it."

"I bet,"

I gave Seth a nod and headed towards the kitchen where I could hear pots and pans clanging together. Esme was cleaning up from the werewolf brunch party, scraping leftovers into various Tupperware containers we have never used, and stacking the plastic containers in the fridge we rarely if ever use. We don't own a dishwasher, why would we? We have no need for one when we don't have dishes to wash, so all the plates, cups, and silverware were piling on the counter nearest the sink.

Esme had her back to me as she was playing Jenga in our fridge you wouldn't think a family of vampires would have a full fridge, but between the food we had stocked up on for Bella and now the leftovers, there was a chance we were going to need a bigger fridge.

Without saying a word, I walked over to the sink, rolled up my sweatshirt, and started to wash the dishes. Esme turned when she heard the water running, she must have been so deep in thought she hadn't realized I had come in.

"Sweetie, are you all right?"

"Fine, I heard the clanging and wanted to give you a hand. Cleaning up." I added, "how much food did you guys make?"

Esme closed the fridge, put the containers on the counter, and walked over to me. She reached over and pushed my hair back.

"Sweetie, you are going to go hunting with us yes?" I nodded "Christian?"

"I will, I promise,"

Esme looked into my eyes

"You need it," she explained, "you're doing so much for Bella, I know she appreciates it Christian, but you can't neglect yourself."

"I'm not mum, I promise." Esme narrowed her eyes, Edward may be able to read my mind and know when I'm not being truthful, Alice can usually spot my 'fibs' as can Jasper, but Esme without any special gifts aside from being a mother always knows when I'm not honest.

"Christian," Esme warned

"When the time comes for us to go hunting I will go."

Esme reached over and hugged me tight

"Okay sweetie," she smiled "do you want to wash or dry?"

I shrugged

"Whatever you'd like me to do mum, I'm here to help."

Esme smiled, she took the towel and gently whapped me on the head

"What I'd really like is for you to stop being so stubborn,"

"That'll never happen," Emmett said poking his head into the kitchen

I took the towel from Esme, balled it up, ran it under the faucet, and chucked it at my brother's head, For some reason, he didn't expect it and it hit him with a smack.

I heard a snicker from Esme, it took only a few seconds for that chuckle to turn into a full-on laugh, something I hadn't really heard from Esme in a long time. Emmett and I exchanged a surprised look and joined her laughter.

"I think you two should go find something to occupy yourselves, I'm not going to get anything done with you boys around," Esme concluded between giggles

Emmett took the towel and tossed it to me, I put it on the counter and stepped back from Esme, she waved for Emmett to come closer and she reached over to hug both of us tight, before turning back to the sink.

"Come on kid, I've got the football, I need to get out of the house and you're not grounded anymore let's go toss it around okay?"

I nodded

"Sounds good to me," I replied following my brother out, we haven't tossed around a ball just the two of us in a while, it would certainly be nice to focus on something as fun and effortless as playing catch with one's brother.

Chapter Text

The garage has always been my quiet place, I can get work done and it usually calms me down, helps me focus on something else for a change. The Mustang was fine, it didn't need any work, so I kind of went hunting around my bikes looking for a problem. I found one, the suspension on my Kawasaki Ninja needed some adjusting and I knew that would keep me occupied for a good while.

Throwing the football around with Emmett had killed some time, but we still had a while till it was all clear. Even if Jacob came in right this minute, it wasn't necessarily okay to go, Leah, Seth, and Jacob still had to do a few more patrols before they could be sure that there was a clear path for us.

Jacob had been back and forth to the house a few times but hadn't given us the go-ahead just yet. I wasn't sure what was taking so long and in all reality, I wasn't really sure I wanted to know, I've learned in my nearly eighty years on this planet that sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I was so focused on the bike that I only partly heard Carlisle come in and even then I was so deep in thought I didn't look up, not until he cleared his throat catching my attention.

"Oh, sorry dad," I said sitting up, Carlisle smiled and nodded, walking into the garage, he knelt down next to me and the bike. "Everything okay?"

"Jacob is on his way back from doing a patrol, Edward believes he's coming back to let us know it's clear."

I took a deep breath and wiped the grease off my hands.

"Oh," I replied, not really sure how to answer that. I had made a promise to Esme and a silent one to myself that when the time came I would go with my family and hunt, I needed to protect my family and in all honesty, I did need to hunt, I knew I was getting close and the thirst was reaching a painful point, but truth be told I was seriously debating my accompanying them, I was still torn, especially after the discussion Carlisle and Edward had only a few hours before, about Bella's due date.

It was of course impossible to really pin down when she would go into labor, this wasn't a normal pregnancy where Carlisle could run all sorts of tests and get an exact time and date, but at the rate, Bella was going, he was sure the baby would be born in a few days, four to be exact and I know Carlisle was anxious to go, get the supplies we needed, quench our own thirst, and be back in time for the delivery.

This brought with it, its own set of problems. Emmett and Jasper and me on occasion when I felt Bella was well off enough, were all hard at work researching this whole thing. Not an easy task even for someone who loves history and loves mythology. From what we could figure out, most of the myths regarding a human carrying a vampire baby were pretty much localized in South American lore, not entirely sure why, but again…ignorance is bliss.

The problem was, the legends all pretty much had the same outcome, at least for the mothers. According to the stories, when the babies would come to full term and were ready to make their grand exit, they did so not in the traditional way, but by literally ripping through the mother.

Of course in all of the legends the mothers died, I mean who wouldn't, as for the babies, they typically didn't last long either because midwives or whoever was present to help the mother had a plan B to destroy the infant before it could pose a problem to the rest of the village or what have you.

Legends are rarely pleasant, you want happy ending stories read a comic book, or watch a Disney movie. Legends are the basis for stories that followed them and boiled down to their original state they are not happy. They inspire more familiar stories of today, take Fairy Tales, for example, there are two versions of them, the watered down, politically correct, Disney-like versions and the real versions.

Legends, stories, mythologies, things of that nature are told and retold so that people can learn from them, long before anything was written down they were passed down orally from generation to generation so that the incoming generation could take the lessons from them and not make the same mistakes.

These South American legends about human mother's carrying vampire fetuses are no different, they're still continuing to provide lessons, but I can guarantee those that first started telling the legends, had no idea that the stories would be used to try and predict and alter this particular pregnancy, to change how the legend is written and hopefully save both mother and baby.

I wasn't really sure how much help I would be with the whole thing, I'm pretty sure my ability will be useless in that particular situation, but I still felt like I should be there with Bella and Edward for at least emotional support. Rose too, because I knew for a fact that there was no way in hell she would leave Bella's side, even to sate her own thirst.

"Chris," Carlisle started to say

"Look, Dad, what if…what if Bella goes into labor while we're gone, I know Edward and Rose both think they know what to do, but I mean…this is way different."

"Chris, I understand your concerns, believe me I share them with you. We need to hunt, that is undeniable, we also need some supplies that will help Bella when the time comes, all of which we need to leave the property to acquire. Now, hopefully Jacob returns soon, the earlier we leave the sooner we can be back."

"I don't like it…there's way to many what-ifs and possibilities here, I can't sort through it all."

"It will all work out Chris," Carlisle said, even though his voice was assuring, his eyes were not. My father was just as worried, just as concerned about this whole thing as me, and what scared me the most, he was just as uncertain.

"How can you-" I started to say when we both heard Bella gasping in pain, we looked at each other and winced. This bone-breaking thing was becoming more frequent as the baby tried to stretch and adjust to its tight quarters and I could only imagine what the baby had broken this time around "Do you need me?" I asked putting my tools down, Carlisle gave me a weak smile and patted my shoulder

"only if you're up for it."

I nodded

"Always," I replied, following my father out of the garage. Edward had already brought Bella up to the exam room up on the third floor, it had literally been turned into a full-scale ER up there, complete with a radiograph machine. Bella was laying on the table, wincing in pain, but clearly trying to mask it. She smiled when she saw Carlisle and I.

"I...I'm fine," she managed to say, as whatever was injured shifted wrong causing her to wince again.

"Liar," I said coming up to her, she held out her hand and I let her take mine, while Edward held the other one, giving Carlisle and Rose the chance to set up the radiograph and take the x-ray.

The layer protecting the baby is amazing, in a creepy sort of way, nothing we've been able to throw at it has been able to penetrate the thing, it's like Fort Knox or the Tower of London in all honesty. Needles, sonograms, even radiographs have had no luck.

We're really lucky with the fact that still get fairly accurate images of Bella's bones, which is when Carlisle was able to check on them. Thankfully this time around, nothing had been broken, but I could see by the way Bella was wincing and the angle she was laying, the baby had taken a shot at her pelvis.

Rose looked at Edward smugly, gesturing to the image of Bella's weakened, but unbroken hip.

"See, I told you I didn't hear a crack. You need to get your ears checked, Edward." She hissed and I rolled my eyes.

"Better to be safe than sorry," I reminded my sister, Bella gave my hand a squeeze, as if she expected me to instigate an argument with Rose.

Edward was ignoring the two of us as he gathered Bella up in his arms gently and started carrying her back downstairs, Rose followed and I helped Carlisle straighten up the equipment before we headed down ourselves.

The second my foot hit the stairs I could smell wolf and knew Jacob was back, here to give us the okay to leave. Now, more than before I was hesitating to leave and it wasn't just over Bella. Concern for Edward, Rose, Jacob, Seth, and Leah came into my mind as well.

We leave the property, perhaps Sam and the pack let us just waltz out, after all their real target isn't us, it's Bella. We would be leaving them here, unprotected, at least with all of us here we stand a chance against the pack…but two vampires, three werewolves, and a very weak human was not exactly a world-class army.

Jacob was at the bottom of the stairs, he moved to the side to allow Edward and Bella to pass as Edward put Bella back on the couch as gently as possible

"Carlisle," Jacob said. "We went halfway to Seattle. There's no sign of the pack. You're good to go."

Carlisle and I exchanged a look, then the pair of us looked at Edward who was sitting on the floor next to the couch, listening intently to the conversation.

"Thank you, Jacob. This is good timing. There's much that we need." Carlisle replied, patting my shoulders, we both kind of eyed the cup in Bella's hand, her blood cup. We needed more blood for Bella and the baby, that was most important, secondly was hunting for us as well as some other medical supplies we would need as the due date crept closer.

"Honestly I think you're safe to take more than three. I'm pretty positive that Sam is concentrating on La Push."

Or on coming here once the majority of us are gone, I thought, I didn't mean for that thought to enter my mind and once it did I tried to get it to go away before Edward heard it, but he did, unfortunately. He looked at me and shook his head carefully, silently telling me not to worry, that things would be okay.

Carlisle however didn't notice the exchange between Edward and me and nodded at Jacob carefully.

"If you think so. Alice, Esme, Jasper, and I will go. Then Chris can take Emmett and Rosa-"

"Not a chance," Rosalie hissed, oh gee, who saw that coming?… I thought and to my surprise, I saw the corner of Edward's mouth give a twitch, as he fought a small smile "Emmett and Chris can go with you now."

"You should hunt," Carlisle reminded her gently

"I'll hunt when he does," Rose replied shortly, gesturing at Edward

Carlisle sighed, he had to have expected this kind of resistance, so I wasn't really sure why he was so surprised. I hated to add to it all, but the words came out before I really knew what I was saying

"If Rosalie is staying and Emmett is going with you I'll stay as well," I spoke up, positioning myself on the back of the couch where I could see pretty much everyone perfectly. Carlisle rounded on me quickly, he wasn't angry nor was he disappointed, but he was going pull rank here.

"Out of the question Chris, you are going hunting."

"I'm fine Carlisle," I argued looking at Rosalie then Edward, hoping one of my siblings would back me up, I was really counting on Edward since he could see why I was so reluctant to go "It isn't safe to leave Bella here with just two to protect her..."

"Hey what am I kid? Chopped liver?" Jacob interjected, I winced and gave him a shrug as an apology.

"That's not what I meant Jacob and I apologize if that's how it sounded. It isn't pertinent that I go it is, that I say here." I paused, trying to add merit to my pretty pathetic argument, I didn't get the chance, however, because I heard Bella calling my name.

"Chris…" Bella called softly, I looked down at her curious, she reached up and stroked my cheek motherly. It was still a strange gesture, it was one thing for Bella to hug me and stuff, but she had moved way past that. "Chris,"

"Bella, come on," I said, shaking my head. I knew what she was going to say and I was so torn. I wanted to go with my family and protect them if need be, but half of my family would be here and I could protect them as well.

"Chris, I will be fine for a little while, I appreciate all you have done for us." She added resting her hand on her stomach "but I need you to take care of yourself right now. Go hunt, it will not help me any if you are so thirsty you can't concentrate. Please? For me?"

I sighed, she was applying the guilt…man she was getting good at that. I looked over her at Edward and he nodded, telling me to go.

"All right I'll go." I finally accepted, this was literally the saying stuck between a rock and a hard place, neither decision felt right and I hoped that by giving into this one, I hadn't made the wrong decision. Esme held out her arm for me to join her and I slowly did so, as she put her arm around my shoulders, hugging me close.

In literal seconds Emmett and Jasper were down the stairs with us, followed quickly by Alice. Esme and I moved to Alice's side and waited for Carlisle by the door.

Carlisle walked over to Jacob and put a hand on his arm, I could see the tension in Jacob's expression, he wanted to pull away, uncomfortable with a vampire, even Carlisle touching him. But he didn't, clearly he didn't want to hurt Carlisle's feelings so he didn't flinch.

"Thank you," Carlisle said, he looked at us and gave the nod we needed. Esme reluctantly let go of my shoulders and let me join Jasper and Emmett up front, just because Jacob had given us the all-clear did not mean we were going to let our guard down until we were far from Forks, just in case the pack was waiting for us.

Xxx

I guess you really don't know how desperate you are for something until it is placed right in front of you. I may have been hesitant to leave the house, worried about Bella's wellbeing. But the minute I was in hunting mode all that changed. I was extremely thirsty and needed to hunt, even if I had been reluctant to admit it.

We didn't stop running, not until we were far from Forks. At least a day's run from home. Jacob had been right there was no sign of the pack, not even a whisper of one member. Still, I didn't let my guard down until we were beyond the realm of them following us…hunting us, and even then, I was still cautious, still on guard.

The woods have always felt safe to me, no matter where we are, I see forests and they automatically give off the aura of protection. Of course, the ocean is always first off, followed by pretty much any body of water, lakes, rivers, what have you those come right behind the ocean and its calming effect on me. But the woods, forests, surrounded by all the trees, and just untouched nature it has it's own security effect.

Now however I was on edge, every crack, every sound that I wouldn't have given a second thought to before, now caught my attention, even when we had put so much distance between us and the pack.

After all, they had been willing to attack me just for running to the market, who was to say that they wouldn't attack us for 'escaping' and who also wasn't to say that they wouldn't follow us just to take us out, just for the fun of it, just to finally be rid of us.

I hate to dwell on this kind of thing, but it was in the back of my mind. Another branch cracked deep in the woods and I put the brakes on to scan the forest. Of course, this came with its own problem because Emmett who was also on edge and not paying attention to the path in front of him barreled me over.

"Ow!" I exclaimed as Emmett tried to get off me and kept falling back down.

"Kid I am so sorry, dude you need brake lights or something," Emmett said quickly, he finally managed to get up and pulled me to my feet. I dusted off the dirt from my jeans and looked at my brother "are you okay?"

"Yeah…just feel like I got hit by a Mack Truck," I explained, I had literally gotten the wind knocked out of me that time

"What did you stop for?"

"I heard something," I replied nodding towards the path as Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, and Esme joined us.

"Something like what?" Jasper asked as Alice brushed off some of the dirt and leaves from my back.

"I don't know," I admitted, "it came from over there and it was loud like something big was crashing through."

"I don't hear anything now sweetie," Esme said gently, putting a hand on my arm, but just like that it came again, louder, something was definitely out there and coming this way.

"See, not crazy," I said to Emmett as we all braced ourselves for whatever was coming. The trees gave another rustle, I could hear sticks cracking, branches breaking…

Revealing a small doe who stopped and stared at us in shock as if she hadn't expected visitors, she was stunned we were stunned. We all stared at each other for about thirty seconds before the deer bolted back into the woods.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think we all breathed a sigh of relief that it was only a deer. We were all so on edge, so worried about an attack that we were paranoid. I should've been able to profile that it was only a deer, but my mind had become hardwired for danger lately that's all I had come to expect.

Slowly we all exchanged a look, Esme let go of my arm, she had been gripping it tightly and hadn't even realized it.

Emmett started it first…he began snorting back laughter, which in turn got Alice going. Esme and Carlisle held it in as long as they could, but they gave in as well and started laughing. Jasper and I exchanged a look, he kind of grinned at me a little and we both joined our family, we burst out laughing

"Bloody hell," I breathed between laughs, I winced the second those words came out of my mouth and glanced at Esme, but she smiled and shook her head at me.

"I'll let it go for now Christian, only because I believe it was warranted this once, but mark my words young man I don't want to hear it again today got it?" She said sternly, but I could see the smile on her face and in her eyes so I knew she was only half-serious.

"Got it, mum," I replied, she hugged my shoulders and returned to Carlisle's side, he hugged her tight reassuringly.

"Well I guess that means there's a herd nearby," Emmett pointed out and Jasper elbowed him grinning

"What was your first clue Em?" Jasper asked

"Bambi's appearance?" Em suggested "hey Dr. Doolittle go scouting will ya? Find the rest of the herd, bring them here so we don't have to go looking for them."

"Do I look like I'm in tune with all the critters in the world and can magically summon them like the Pied Piper?"

"On occasion," he replied and gave me a gentle shove "come on kid let's go find us some venison." He started walking towards the brush that the doe had emerged from, but something stopped me.

I gave the air a sniff and grinned at my brother

"Hey Em, hold up for a second, take a deep breath," he looked at me funny "just do it,"

Emmett rolled his eyes at me and gave the air a sniff, his eyes went wide and his face broke out in this monster grin.

"No," he said in surprise "no way,"

Now Jasper gave the air a sniff and he nodded, a smile appearing on his face as well.

"How many do you suppose?" He asked me

"At least three," I paused "and there's definitely one big guy, and" I closed my eyes and tried to sort through the animal emotions I could feel around us, it took a few seconds, but I was able to zero in on our target "he is not in a good mood."

"Oh hell yeah!" Emmett exclaimed louder than he meant to as he slapped his hands over his mouth.

Carlisle came over to us, followed by Alice and Esme, he looked at us confused, looking at each one of us for a quick moment.

"Boys, what's the matter?"

"Dr. Doolittle is on the hunt," Emmett explained and Carlisle looked at me, clearly Emmett's explanation did not really help explain anything.

"On the hunt?" Carlisle asked me

"Bears dad," I explained, hoping I was doing a better job than Emmett "there's a small group over there,"

"Ah, that certainly explains your brother's excitement," Carlisle replied rubbing his chin, Emmett looked like a little kid at a fair waiting to be given permission to go on a certain ride, and believe me, I've seen that look on my brother before, for that exact situation.

It was a year after the Japanese surrendered, finally ending the Second World War. At the time we were living in Maine and a carnival came to town. Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward were ecstatic and made plans to go. Even though we were going on five years since Carlisle changed me, my parents still erred on the side of caution, sort of, we all went. Truth be told I think Carlisle and Esme were looking forward to it as much as my siblings.

I had a little tougher time getting excited, mainly because I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure I had been to festivals of sorts in Scotland, the Highland Games and harvest festivals, I had been to the circus before as well, but I had never been to what my siblings were describing, especially the ride aspect.

Then of course there was the game aspect, which my brothers seemed especially eager for. Apparently, they created their own game to go along with the different midways that were scattered throughout the carnivals. Edward would use his ability to pinpoint an operator who was using some kind of trick in the game to cheat people, making it impossible for them to beat his game. Then Emmett would come in and beat the game based on Edward's instructions.

Carlisle has some moral issue with it, but in the end, my brothers never keep their winnings. Sure Rose gets a stuffed animal or two, but for the most part, anything Emmett and Edward win from the vendor is donated, which helps soothe over Carlisle.

Anyways, the carnival up in Maine was no different and my brothers dragged me to different midway games. Some were based on brute strength, like a strongman thing with a hammer, the guy was using counter weights in the machine to make it nearly impossible to beat. Edward figured it out, clued Emmett in, and bam he won himself a stuffed bear thing.

Some of the games however were not about strength and were definitely up my alley. There was one game that was all about profiling. The carnie bet a certain amount that he could guess someone's exact age and birthday just by 'Profiling' them.

To make it supposedly fair so that the person just didn't lie about their birthday and age, the carnie guy insisted that the person whisper the information to a total stranger, who would, in turn, hold onto that information to confirm or refute the age.

What most people weren't realizing, mainly because he was drawing such a large crowd, is the guy had someone walking through the crowd, pretending to be a casual observer. This person however was listening very carefully to the age and birthdays that were whispered and managed to give the carnie a signal that clued him into the information. I watched the duo do it twice, just to be sure. Before I knew I could outsmart him.

I had to put down a certain amount of money to participate and I put down a good amount, so the guy automatically thought I was a stupid kid, especially when he heard my accent, so I was a stupid British kid who was about to lose his money. When my turn came, I whispered how old I was to the person furthest away from the carnies buddy and so softly that the person almost didn't hear it. I could see the frustrated look on both the carnies face and his accomplice, realizing they actually had to guess my age.

Of course, the carnie figured it was easy enough, I couldn't be more than ten or eleven so that was what he guessed. He also guessed that my birthday was in July.

Needless to say, the crowd dispersed when my confidant relieved that I was actually thirteen and born in December, the carnie was not very happy about the whole thing, but Emmett, Edward, and I walked away with thirty bucks from him. Other games were suited for my ability as well, there was a game of Yes and No, which was a game I loved playing with my family.

As much fun as I had righting wrongs with my brothers, my main reason for agreeing to the carnival was the rides, one ride, in particular, the Ferris wheel. I don't understand it, when I was a kid I hated heights of any kind, I wouldn't even climb a tree, that's how terrified I was…but since becoming a vampire that's changed, there are two places that really calm me down, being in or under the water and being up high. Not in a plane mind you, I still don't like flying, but I'll climb to the top of any tree, cliff, what have you and be very happy.

I had been just about to head towards the rides when a sniffing noise had caught my attention. Near one of the games was a girl a few years younger than my physical age. She was crying quietly and I could see the worry and annoyance on her face as well as the satisfaction and overall smugness of the vendor. His game was as simple and un-riggable as you could get, it was literally a matter of skill.

You're given three small rings and the goal is to toss the rings into a fish bowl, you get even one of the rings in the bowl, you get the fish, as simple as one could get and at first, I wasn't sure why the girl was so upset. No one could have that bad of aim that they couldn't get the ring in the bowl. Then I realized what the deal was, she had been trying for one particular goldfish. It wasn't the point that all the fish looked alike, this one's bowl was tied with a yellow ribbon.

The girl had literally wasted all of her money trying to win that one stupid fish. She was worried that her older sister who had come to the carnival, was going to be mad that she had wasted all of her money, had none left and would tell their parents.

Against my better judgment, I intervened. I simply asked the girl which fish she was after, tried not to roll my eyes when she confirmed that she was after just one particular goldfish, and with my family watching walked over to the vendor.

Like the age-guessing carnie, the minute this guy heard my accent he smirked, especially when I asked for only one ring. I only needed one, it was an easy enough toss. He complied, gave me the ring, and without any fuss I nailed the yellow ribbon bowl with the ring and won the girl her goldfish.

The girl was pretty stunned, she went on and on saying she'd repay me, she kept asking my name and where I lived, promising me she would return the favor, but I told her not to worry about it as I rejoined my family Esme and Rose were ecstatic with my behavior since it went against how I had usually been back then, Carlisle mentioned how proud he was of me, and Edward and Emmett were teasing me relentlessly.

All and all it was pretty typical, but it gave me the chance to head towards the Ferris wheel, Carlisle reiterating that I had most certainly earned as many rides on it as I wanted.

"Chris?" I heard my name being called "earth to Chris, come in Chris?" I blinked and looked around, Jasper was waving his hand in front of my face, with everyone looking at me expectantly "kid where did you go?" he asked and I shrugged

"Just thinking," I replied, Esme, reached over, taking my hand to give it a squeeze, just to make sure I was okay "I'm fine mum, I promise, just got lost in thought for a moment." I grinned at Emmett "come on, let's go annoy the bear for you,"

"Chris, Emmett, Jasper stay together okay, I think Alice, Esme, and I are going to follow that deer herd," Carlisle explained, we nodded "we'll meet you boys back here in a few hours."

We nodded again, the six of us splitting up, Carlisle, Esme, and Alice went one direction, towards where the deer had run to and I followed my brothers towards the bear scent. All of us were eager to just relieve our burning thirst, maybe have a little bit of fun, and just for a brief moment forget everything that was going on around us.

As we headed towards the bears, who were scattered around a very small area, none of us, not even me and I'm sure not even Alice, had any idea that in a few short hours the phones would start ringing…that we would be needed back home, but would not be back in time.

Chapter Text

Two days into hunting it really felt like nothing could go wrong. Of course, I know from experience when something feels like it's perfect and nothing bad will happen, that's usually when Fate decides to be the cruelest she can be and screw it all up.

I hate to say it or even think it, but while we were hunting that was what we were focused on, everything that was occurring back home was pushed to the back of our minds. That is until I felt a wave of emotions wash over me, it was nothing like I had ever felt before, it was fear, sorrow, pain, all bunched together.

I'm not psychic, I've never claimed to be nor do I want to be. But there are times when a profile, a hunch really is so powerful it behaves like one of Alice's visions and this was certainly one of those times.

Something was wrong, something very wrong was about to occur, I could feel it taking hold of me, forcing me to pay attention. It was so powerful, it literally brought me to my knees.

Emmett and I had been goofing off, really just letting off steam, he made a move to tackle me, but before he could I was brought down.

Esme at first made a move to reprimand Emmett for being too rough with me, but she quickly realized my brother had nothing to do with.

"Christian!?" she exclaimed rushing to my side, "sweetie what is it?"

I looked at her briefly, before looking at Alice. She can't see the wolves and for some reason, the baby has blocked her visions as well, but my reaction set off her visions, she knew something was about to happen as well.

"Kid what's the matter?" Emmett asked, trying to pull me to my feet, but I pushed him away, my gaze moved from Alice to Carlisle, staring at my father.

"Chris?" he asked carefully, "son are you all right?"

My eyes moved from his face to his jacket, staring at the pocket that held his phone. I can't explain it, I've never been able to explain how my ability works, how some things just pass me by while others don't. I can't explain how I knew, but I knew his phone was about to ring and it would be Edward on the other end.

"We have to go home, now, something's wrong, something is very wrong." I tried to explain, when my family looked at me confused, I raised my hand and pointed at Carlisle's pocket, just as it began vibrating.

Esme wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me close. Carlisle's exchange on the phone lasted less than thirty seconds and when he hung up his eyes told us all we needed to know.

We did need to get home. Bella had gone into labor early, Edward was doing what he could but there was something wrong. Without another word we took off for home, running faster than I think any of us have ever gone. I know I was running harder and faster than I had ever done.

I knew we wouldn't make it home in time to help with the delivery, but hopefully, we would make it home to celebrate Bella's entrance into this life and the birth of the baby…and not be making it home to plan a funeral.

Xxx

The minute we crossed onto our property I knew we were in trouble. I could smell wolf, which of course had become a normal thing; Seth, Jacob, and Leah's scents had pretty much for lack of a better word, permanently permeated all around our property. This scent however was added onto theirs. It was the pack.

I was running as fast as I could, in the distance I could see flashes of fur and a flash of…Edward, Edward was fighting off the wolves by himself. My worst fear had come, the wolves attacking while we were gone.

I picked up speed as one of the bigger wolves tackled Edward to the ground pinning him.

It was Carlisle however who bypassed me and tackled the wolf off of Edward. Emmett, Alice, Jasper, and I surrounded Edward as Esme helped him up.

The wolves hesitated a little now that the fight was less uneven, but that hesitation didn't last long as they attacked in full force.

The biggest problem is we didn't want to hurt them, yes they were attacking us, yes they were coming to kill Bella, kill the baby, kill us. But this was still Jacob, Seth, and Leah's family, they were our friends and allies once and were just doing what they felt was the right thing to do, it may be the wrong thing and we had to protect our family from them, but it felt wrong fighting the pack.

We did what we could to dodge their attacks, at one point Emmett had to tackle a wolf who was heading straight for Alice, the wolf I think it might have been Paul shook the dirt off his fur, turned, and apparently assumed it was me because he turned and jumped at me teeth bared.

I jumped and hit the closest tree, climbing as high as I could, seconds later on a separate branch Emmett joined me. The problem was the branch he had chosen wasn't strong enough to support his weight so it began to buckle, a little at first then the entire tree began to lower itself within biting distance. Two wolves jumped into the air, teeth snapping waiting for the moment we were within reach.

Emmett reached up and grabbed ahold of me literally throwing me over the pack towards the first step of the house, where the driveway meets the house. I slid on the gravel driveway and made a move to launch myself back into the fight.

Seth and Leah had joined the fight by this time. Leah actually jumped up as I was going overhead and scruffed one of the packs with her teeth, yanking him back to give me plenty of space. Emmett jumped after me, landing next to me. Esme, Carlisle, Alice, Edward, Jasper, we were all there as the pack moved closer, heading towards the house.

We knew what they wanted, all of us could hear the faint heartbeat of a tiny being. It explained why Rose hadn't come out, she was protecting the baby, but it didn't explain where Jacob was. Maybe he had given up, assumed Bella was dead, and had given up the fight.

Seth and Leah moved in front of us, trying to protect us, but it was no use. The pack was surrounding us, moving in from all sides. They had only sent out a few to attack Edward, more had joined as we had emerged, the less than even odds were now stacked against us.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, trying desperately to calm the pack, or at least a few of them hoping that maybe the calm feeling would influence the rest of them. It wasn't working, there were too many of them for my ability to handle, and they were too focused.

They bared their teeth as they moved closer, this was it…we were going to be eaten by a pack of wolves who only months earlier we had fought alongside. Bloody hell.

I closed my eyes tighter, waiting for the attack, I hated to give up, but we were outnumbered and seriously outfought here. I wouldn't move and just let them into the house, but I was not seeing a good outcome here. We would all have to go down fighting

Suddenly I felt my profile telling me to turn around. Jacob came rushing out of the house. He looked awful, but in his eyes, I could see a determination that hadn't been there when we left. He got in between us and the pack and Sam growled at him, no translation was needed for that one, he was telling Jacob to move or he would be killed.

Jacob didn't move,

"You can't kill her," he shouted at the pack…her? I thought, Bella? Was he talking about Bella or…the baby, the baby was a girl, all that time Bella thought she was having a boy it was actually a girl. "You kill her, you will have to kill me too," Jacob growled, Sam didn't seem to care as he moved closer, ready to pounce.

Suddenly Jacob's clothes were shredded into pieces as he transformed, standing over Sam.

In all the times I've seen them together, Jacob always acts as the beta in the pack, Sam always has this air of authority and power so it made sense he was the alpha, but now I saw a different side of Jacob, he was the alpha, he was putting Sam in his place.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" I hissed, Edward looked like he was going to either be sick or kill someone…it had nothing to do with Bella at the moment, it was about the baby…

"Jacob imprinted." Edward sighed, we all turned and looked towards the house. "he imprinted on the baby." All of the pack winced in unison, but slowly following Sam's lead they turned and headed off into the woods. "it's one of their most sacred laws, once a member imprints, no matter who she is, the pack can't harm her, they have to help shield her."

I looked over at Seth and he nodded, I ran my hand through my hair, Jacob imprinted on the baby, oh Bella definitely wasn't going to like that.

Xxx

A few hours later I peeked into the makeshift hospital room. I had been in my room for a little while, trying to sort everything out. The original goal was just to go up there and get a clean, none shredded tee-shirt. The wolves had certainly done a number on one of my favorite tee shirts. But I had to spend time with Chap, I had to feed him and reassure him that I wasn't going to leave him again for a while. I was avoiding, I'll admit it, I was avoiding both the room where Bella was and avoiding the downstairs where Rose was with the baby.

It was a lot to take in, especially in such a short amount of time, and my profiling ability needed time to sort things out. Besides, I wasn't exactly in high demand at the moment.

But it reached the point where curiosity got the best of me, curiosity and a desire to check on my brother and make sure he was doing okay.

Carlisle and Edward were cleaning Bella's body up, removing all the signs of the violent delivery she had just been through. She was so still that if it wasn't for her heartbeat I would've sworn she was dead…really dead.

I remember my own transformation and the pain of it, I couldn't have imagined being that still. The burn is still very vivid in my memory, as it is for most of us, you wither around and cringe trying to escape the pain that is inescapable because it's inside you, literally burning you from the inside out.

"Are you sure she will be all right?" Edward asked, stroking her head. "She's so still," apparently Edward and I were on the same page.

"It's the morphine, Edward."

"But are you sure she'll be all right?"

"Listen to her heart, Edward. It's stronger than even Emmett's was. I've never heard anything so vital. She'll be perfect." Carlisle reassured my brother, Edward sighed

"And her…her spine?"

"Her spine?" I whispered, my father and brother looked up, neither of them had realized I was standing there, they were so focused on their work.

Carlisle gave me a quick smile, gesturing for me to come closer, I only took a few steps in, I wasn't ready for more. Bella looked awful, aside from her deathly still posture, her face was sunken in worse than it had been before we left, she was so drained skinny wasn't even an appropriate term to use.

I had seen this same figure on people before…the first time shocked the hell out of me, and even to this day when I see the image, the film played again, the shock factor is still present. It was right after the European theater had ended, the war in the Pacific was winding down as well, but Germany had surrendered, Hitler was dead along with a number of his closest allies.

I had gone into town to catch a new film and of course, the newsreels were playing before the film itself. With the war over, most of the footage to be expected was war-torn Europe, bombed out buildings so similar to what I had witnessed on a daily basis in London, innocent civilians trying to find loved ones and recover what was left of their lives. This newsreel was different however, it was something that I hadn't seen and even all these years later haunts my memory.

American GIs and British soldiers had liberated some of the concentration camps scattered throughout the Reich. They filmed what they found there and I saw many leave the theater, unable to take the images of literal living skeletons that had survived the camps.

Rumors had been abound regarding Germany's camps, but it was so horrifying, so out there that most did not believe it was possible. Even I shamefully admit I had some doubts, I had seen part of Germany's cruelty, the Reich's disregard for life, but even this was beyond anything I could fathom.

I didn't leave the theater like some of my fellow patrons, but it did leave me shaken up, I don't even remember what film I went there intending to see, I just remember it ending and heading home. Trying to make sense of what I had seen. To this day I still cannot make sense of it, I don't think anyone ever could.

Carlisle's voice brought me back to the present, as he was continuing to reassure Edward, I'm not entirely sure it was working.

"Her injuries weren't so much worse than Esme's and certainly no worse than Chris. Remember how badly crushed Christian was? The venom will heal her as it did Esme and Chris."

I walked closer to Edward and patted his shoulder, he looked over at me with a grateful look on his face.

"She'll get through this Edward, she's strong, she's got a fight in her that's not going to let her quit. She's got too much to live for in her new life for her to give up." I said carefully I gave him a gentle grin "trust the profiler."

He nodded and for the first time in my life my brother reached over and hugged me, I mean really hugged me, not a quick shoulder hug a genuine hug.

"Thank you Chris," he whispered

"You're welcome," I replied hugging him back as I backed out of the room, leaving them to their work. Carlisle gave me another smile, this one told me everything in just that one facial expression, he was reminding me how proud of me he was.

Xxx

When I walked into the family room, Rose was holding the baby protectively. She looked up when I walked in and smiled gently.

"Chris, do you want to hold your niece?" she asked and I blinked in confusion. My niece. It was such a strange and new concept. Even when Bella was pregnant, the fact that I would be an uncle never really crossed my mind. I had trouble visualizing the aftermath of the pregnancy, especially as Bella's condition deteriorated and even more so after the legends that Jasper, Emmett, and I had found.

But for a split second that was the last thing on my mind as my thought process caught up to my profile and I realized what Rose had just asked me.

"Hold her?" I sputtered "like hold her hold her?"

"Yes, hold her," Rose repeated "there is no other definition of it." she smiled and started to walk towards me and I took a step back.

"Uh, yeah no I'm good. I'll admire from afar." Rose raised an eyebrow "babies don't like me."

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked taking another step closer, holding the baby out to me.

"They never have. When my cousins were babies I couldn't go anywhere near them. Even if I was in the same room as them, they'd cry, scream, the whole blo-…" I paused for one of the first times minding my language. Baby or not I didn't want to teach her to swear before she was even two days old. "The whole lot. When my best mate's sister was born, same thing, it's like dogs. Some people dogs absolutely love and others they can't stand and want to eat every chance they get."

Rose rolled her eyes

"Are you seriously comparing a baby to a dog?"

"No, just that they can smell fear."

"Get over it Christian." She said shortly, pointing at one of the armchairs "sit, now."

I've learned to pick my battles carefully when it comes to my sisters. Some things just aren't worth fighting over, save my sanity, and saves my breath. She would see what I was talking about the second she put that baby in my arms.

The screaming, the crying would all commence, everyone would come running and that be it. I'd be off the hook and on it at the same time.

I braced myself for the screams as Rose gently put the baby in my arms. It wasn't as if I don't have any experience with babies, I do know how to hold them, they just don't like me. My arms accepted the fairly large newborn and I winced as she studied my face.

Here it comes, I thought bracing for the screaming.

"Chris, meet your niece, Renesmee."

The lack of screaming distracted me, but only for a moment as I heard the baby's name for the first time.

"Ren…what?!" I repeated and Rose gave me a look. Yeah, that name was too ridiculous to use all the time, I would not be calling her that.

"Renesmee," Rose said, making sure I heard each syllable

"Right," I held back my chuckles as I looked back at the baby in my arms "um, hi," I said carefully.

I was fully prepared for the backlash, the screaming, but it never came. Her face broke into a smile, she cooed and reached for my face, her tiny hand brushing against my cheek.

Before I could question it, a flood of images filled my mind. Everything I had said Bella throughout her pregnancy, my protectiveness of her, everything. But what really stood out to me was my accent, among all the other voices, it stood out, not just because it's my own, but because it gave me a warm comforting feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time. But I realized it wasn't my feeling about it, it was coming from the baby.

Bella had been right, the baby liked my accent, she liked the sound of my voice, not just liked it, she was calmed by it.

"So what was that about scaring babies?" Rose asked knowingly. "I think you were just being chicken."

"There's still time," I whispered, I was trying like hell not to move Renesmee, afraid that any movement would trigger the crying. "Um, Rose, dumb question but just out of curiosity-

"She showed you something didn't she?"

I nodded

"Showed me?" I asked

"She has a gift, she's using it to communicate with us."

"It's kind of freaky," I admitted, giving the newborn the half-grin that always seemed to coax a smile out of her mother, clearly the same worked on Renesmee because she gave me a giggle.

"No more so than your gift, or Edward's or Alice, or Jas." Rose reminded me and I nodded. I glanced down at the baby and she smiled at me again and I smiled back, I couldn't help it.

"Good point," I admitted.

"Have you been up to Bella?"

"A little while ago, Carlisle was checking on her. It's almost done. I could hear her heart, it was slowing."

My nose crinkled a little as Jacob walked in. Speaking of freaky, Jacob imprinting on the baby was pretty much beyond the freak factor. Jacob got off really easy with regards to Edward, he was just stunned, and really who could blame him, Bella would be the scary one.

"So, the flea finally decided to introduce himself?" Jacob asked with a grin

"I could respond to that Jacob, but it would be pretty irresponsible of me to use such language in front of Ren-" I paused and looked down at the cooing infant in my arms.

Nope.

Wasn't calling her that, if I was an uncle then I had some say in nicknames, my uncle had one for me and my father had ones for my cousins. Renesmee would have one from me, but what could be played on the name Bella had given her…Slowly my grin got wider as I thought of the perfect name.

"What are you grinning at Flea boy,"

"First off I am not a blo…b-l-o-o-d-y flea so stop calling me that. Second of all, I'm trying to get to know my niece Nessie so if you'll excuse us."

Jacob stared at me, unsure how to respond to that for a few seconds while Rose shook her head annoyed by the nickname.

Nessie however cooed and profiling her I could tell she approved of her nickname. Suddenly Jacob burst out laughing and I stared at him, confused. Nessie also looked at him and actually giggled as Jacob began grinning at me.

"Nessie," he repeated "I like it, kid,"

Kid…not leech, flea, or Count Dracula Jr. A normal non-vampire-related title, I was in shock.

"I try," I paused as I heard movement upstairs, I could hear Alice, Carlisle, and Edward talking. I glanced at Rose as Alice said

"Soon. I'll go get the others. Should I have Rosalie and Chris…?" her voice faded for a second. I heard the floorboards creak a little as Carlisle moved.

"Yes…" he said "keep the baby away. But have Christian come up, I feel we may need his abilities up here more than Rosalie and the baby need him downstairs."

I glanced down at Nessie, she was…she was actually falling asleep in my arms. I looked over at Rose who was smiling as if she was not surprised by this at all. Carefully I stood up and moved to hand Nessie to Rose, but Jacob stepped in front of her

"My turn, you've been hogging her enough blondie."

I rolled my eyes and gently passed the now zonked-out baby to Jacob's waiting arms. Just as Alice came down the stairs, she scanned the family room and then spotted me.

"Chris, Chris we need you upstairs." She called, I gave my sister and even Jacob a half-grin as I followed Alice upstairs.

Emmett and Jasper were already there, standing in the doorway and I knew why I was needed. Emmett and Jasper were the muscle in case Bella needed to be restrained, I was there to profile this before it happened to warn my brothers. Using her body language I would see danger before anyone else. I surveyed the room to get a first impression.

Bella was no longer laying down on the hospital bed, she was moving uneasily around the room, helped by Edward as she got used to her new senses. She was no longer a living skeleton, she looked like the old Bella, the one who said 'I do' to my brother.

The only difference was her movements and of course, her eyes, that familiar blood-red tint to her eyes was startling even though I expected it. It's not something you really ever get used to seeing.

Jasper's body was tense beside me and even Emmett wasn't his calm self. Alice peeked around Jasper's elbow to look in on Bella and we exchanged a look.

Bella wasn't a danger to anyone, least of all us, she was unsteady which was understandable, but she was handling herself. She hadn't even realized she was thirsty, she was too fascinated by the sights, the sounds, all seen in a new light. Her gaze across the room stopped at me for a second, she understood why we were all standing there. She also looked a little frightened, which was understandable, it's overwhelming.

Suddenly you can hear sounds miles away, you can see details on things you ordinarily couldn't see, you can smell a deer deep in the woods. It's amazing and overpowering at the same time.

She looked at Edward for a moment,

"Bella, love? I'm sorry, I know it's disorienting. But you're all right. Everything is fine." Edward reassured, it took only a second, but Bella threw her arms around Edward hugging him close.

The sudden movement made Jasper tense up even more, but the look on Edward's face had Emmett reaching over to nudge me. Bella's newborn strength was apparent because Edward was hurting just a little as she squeezed him just a little too tight.

"Um... carefully, Bella. Ow." Edward said, wincing a little as he tried to gently back away from Bella's embrace without hurting her feelings.

She jumped back immediately and adopted the look of a child who had just gotten reprimanded for doing something wrong. She even had her arms behind her back and her shoulders were dropped.

"Oops," she said softly and Emmett and I exchanged a look, both of us trying not to laugh. This was Bella all right, stronger and more like us, but she was still the Bella we had grown to know and care for. And she was definitely more amusing now. Though Emmett I both silently agreed, we missed her tendency to blush at the drop of a hat, that was in the past now.

"Don't panic, love," Edward replied, both of them clearly forgetting that they weren't alone in the room "You're just a bit stronger than I am for the moment."

"She's gonna kick your butt, twenty bucks says you're down in thirty seconds or less" I whispered to Emmett and he looked at me quickly, then looked at her sizing her up.

"Naw, I think I can take her," he replied flexing his muscles a little, Jasper who was super tense this entire time, looked over at Emmett and shook his head.

"I will have to side with Chris on this one," he said "I think for the moment you may have met your match this time around."

"The kid didn't kick my ass," Emmett shot back nodding at me

"I took you out a couple of times, I think you're memory is going,"

Before Emmett could come back on that one, Carlisle stepped around him and moved towards Bella and Edward. I started to move with my father, but Jasper put his hand on my chest stopping me in my tracks as he followed Carlisle; expertise in newborns definitely took precedence over the ability to profile.

"How do you feel, Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"Overwhelmed." Bella admitted, that was pretty obvious "There's so much. . . ." she paused, uncertain

"Yes, it can be quite confusing," Carlisle explained

"But I feel like me. Sort of. I didn't expect that."

"I told you so," Edward whispered to her,

Carlisle looked back at me for a moment as I studied Bella, I looked at my father and anticipated what he was about to say to Bella, he was about to comment on her control and I had to admit that was a little amazing in itself. I could see she was thirsty, but it was as if she had separated herself from it. The moment it was mentioned or the opportunity presented itself she was in for a powerful blow.

"You are quite controlled," Carlisle said more to himself than to Bella. "More so than I expected, even with the time, you had to prepare yourself mentally for this."

Bella didn't seem so certain about that as she shifted uncomfortably

"I'm not sure about that." She admitted and Carlisle nodded, I could practically see his curiosity. Esme may be right that I have enough curiosity to kill a cat ten times over, but she needs to take a look at where I may have picked it up from.

"It seems like we did something right with the morphine this time. Tell me, what do you remember of the transformation process?"

"Everything was... very dim before. I remember the baby couldn't breathe. . . ." it was the mention of the baby Bella's body went stiff, a look of fear washing over her face as she looked right at Edward, I could see the panic in her body language.

"Renesmee is healthy and well," Edward reassured her and I tried not to chuckle and tried to keep Nessie's nickname to myself for a little while longer, I wasn't sure how Edward would feel about the nickname, but I had a feeling Bella would not like it. "What do you remember after that?"

"It's hard to remember. It was so dark before. And then... I opened my eyes and I could see everything."

I looked at Bella hard, she was lying on that aspect, she remembered everything, her mind was clear, and the memory as frightening as it was strong in her mind. She was just obviously a little frightened by it and wasn't ready to relive it, hence her lie.

"Amazing," Carlisle said softly and I exchanged another look with Emmett, Carlisle was so fascinated by this whole thing, I didn't really remember him interviewing me after my transformation was complete, but the moments after he convinced me to open my eyes are kind of a blur so he might have. "I want you to think-to tell me everything you remember," he insisted and I sighed.

As much as I hated to interrupt this whole thing, Bella was getting more and more thirsty, I could see it, she hadn't realized it yet and though I hated to be the one to remind her, it had to happen

"Carlisle," I spoke up and suddenly all eyes were on me "she's thirsty, extremely so. She's holding her own well enough, and she doesn't even realize it, but she's uncomfortable. I can see it in her body language, in her eyes."

For a brief moment I saw Bella smile at something only she knew, it was weird, but it was the same look that Nessie had when I spoke downstairs. Clearly, the apple didn't fall far from the tree on that one.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Bella," Carlisle apologized immediately. "Of course your thirst must be very uncomfortable. This conversation can wait."

"I'll take her," Edward said holding out his hand which Bella took, squeezing it a little too hard as Edward winced again. She smiled at him apologetically before letting go.

"Be careful," Carlisle instructed

"Do you want one of us to go with you?" I asked, even though I knew the answer to that question, it would be no, Edward had nearly lost Bella, he would want some time alone with her. He looked over at me and gently shook his head, silently thanking me for the offer as he took Bella's hand again and the two of them carefully jumped through the window and took off into the woods.

"I can't get over the control," Jasper breathed "it's unnatural,"

"I don't think it controls Jas," I spoke up and he looked at me "its focus," I grinned a little "you know how all those teachers and administrators told Carlisle and Esme I probably had ADD or something?"

Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and even Carlisle all exchanged a look before looking at me curiously.

"And your point Dr. Doolittle?" Emmett asked grinning

"my point Emmett is that maybe all of us vampires have ADD that's why we have trouble focusing" my grin got wider "Bella just has the gift of having a full dosage of Ritalin running through her system giving her perfect focus."

Emmett hooted a laugh at that one, then Jasper and Alice joined him, it took Carlisle a few seconds of rolling his eyes at us, but he joined the laughter too.

Suddenly Rose appeared in the doorway glaring at the group of us,

"The wolf just got Renesmee to go down, if the five of you wake her up you are all in so much trouble."

Carlisle smiled gently at Rose and nodded, gesturing for us to quiet down as he headed downstairs, followed by Alice.

Jasper and Emmett lingered for a moment

"So kid, Jas and I were discussing a bet being in the works."

I grinned at

"how Bella's going to react to Jacob imprinting on Nessie?" I asked, they looked at each other for a second in surprise

"Nessie?" Jasper repeated

"You really think we are going to call her Renesmee all the time, it'll take forever to say. I figured shorten it, Nessie fits her so much better don't you think."

"Oh someone is definitely going to die, I'm just not sure if it's going to be you or Jacob." Emmett said with a grin "but you're right kid, Nessie does have a nice ring to it."

"So about this bet, fifty says that Bella tries to kill him?" I asked

"Fifty huh? Let's make it a hundred that she hits him with a rolled-up newspaper."

"Hundred fifty says she literally puts him outside," I replied.

"I'm with the kid," Jasper spoke up and held out his hand as the three of us shook on it.

Silently though, we knew that we wouldn't let it get to the point of Bella killing Jacob, as freaky as it was that he imprinted on a baby, that whole thing made him family I guess and we'd have to help protect him. For Nessie's sake anyways and for Bella's, 'cause she'd never be able to forgive herself if she killed wolf-boy.

Chapter Text

I walked past the family room where Rosalie was rocking Nessie. The now much larger infant looked up quickly realizing that I was there, she cooed and reached for me. Rose turned and smiled.

"I think someone wants to see you," she said smiling, as she walked towards me. I winced, but I know better than to argue at this point, still not entirely sure why this baby was taken with me, it didn't make any sense.

"You want me to sit or something," I asked

"No it's fine, just hold her like this, she can support her upper body pretty well" Rose demonstrated before passing the squirming newborn to me.

Instantly Nessie was calm as I held her awkwardly, still waiting for the complete 180 of her going from happy go lucky to screaming child. But none of that happened, she actually giggled at me.

"Is it just me or did she get bigger?" I asked carefully, I didn't want to say heavier because I wasn't sure how either of them would take that. But there was definite weight to the baby that hadn't been there earlier and two nearly three days old and she could already hold herself up? Bloody hell.

"She grew," Rose explained and it was all I could do not to give my sister a 'duh' look "it's amazing, Carlisle's been documenting her growth, but it's like when she was in the womb, she's growing at a remarkable rate."

"Amazing and remarkable are both pretty big understatements. I mean, she's only two days old and she's pretty big. When my cousin Olivia was born, my parents and I didn't get up to Scotland to see her until she was at least a few month old because of da' schedule, Rose Nessie feels like Olivia did at two nearly three months old. How is this blo-possible?"

"I don't know, none of us do, not even Carlisle, but he's guessing she'll be walking in at least a month if not less than that."

I looked down at Nessie and she reached up to pull on my bangs gently. A month before she'd be walking, that was crazy.

"Chris, she needs her bottle,"

My eyes went wide as I read between the lines on that one, what she was really saying was 'I need to get the bottle ready and you're watching the baby while I do it, not the other way around.'

"I can get the bottle," I offered quickly "I can, honest I know what to do." Of course that was complete B.S., I've never made a bottle in my life, but how hard could it be to figure out, it's what heated up milk? Rose however just smiled and shook her head.

"No Chrissy," she said sweetly "I've got it, you two need to spend more time together, I feel like I have been hogging her all to myself."

"Well, maybe wolf boy wants a turn," I suggested

"Wolf boy is out in the garage with Emmett, he was with her for her nap a little while ago."

"Right," I sighed. Rose chuckled and walked out of the room. After she left the room, Nessie and I stared at one another, me apprehensively, this was the first time I was alone with her and I was just waiting for the screaming to start.

This was a perfect time, we were alone it was seriously bond to happen. I started to move towards the chair, but stopped, should I sit down or keep standing? Rose had rocked her, should I try that or stand still? Bloody hell I'm not meant to be an uncle…I'm barely big brother material.

Our eyes met and I saw a look of comfort and security wash over her face, I could profile it all over her. She trusted me, she knew how nervous and unsure of this whole thing I am and she still trusted me to hold her and not drop her. I was totally out of my comfort zone, but it was as if she was telling me 'you're doing fine, I trust you'

I sighed again

"Do…do you like stories?" I asked, wondering for a second if that was a stupid question…and also wondering if she even knew what a story was. But the look in her eyes changed to one of curiosity, she wanted to hear the story, whatever it was she wanted to hear it. "Right, okay, my gran would tell me this story when I was little an' my mum would tell it to me when I was homesick for Scotland, there's hundreds of Scottish Fairytales Nessie girl, but this one is my favorite. I don't know why. I just hope I remember it well enough," I walked over to the chair and carefully sat down, cradling her in my arms as careful as I could.

"Once there was a couple who were getting on in age and found that they could no longer care for their beloved farm as they once had, their children had long left for the big city and rarely visited their aging parents.

Chores were done but only partially; gardens half planted, animals only barely cared for, the house fell into disrepair, it was not that the couple was lazy, but simply too old to carry out the demanding tasks. Land prospectors became a constant visitor offering the couple a petty sum for what the land was truly worth and though the couple were reluctant to sell, it was clear to both it might be their only option.

The night before they would make the decision, the farmer cared for animals as best he could and slowly limped home.

When the couple awoke the next morning, prepared to accept the final offer, the wife was surprised to find the kitchen, previously unkempt was in pristine condition as it had been when she first stepped foot in the house as a young wife.

The farmer, surprised as his wife, hurried outside to find not only the house painted, the shutters repaired, but other chores he had been unable to do were done to the standards he had once held in his youth.

The joyful couple turned away all land suitors and found they had renewed spirit in keeping their farm to the standards of its glory days.

What the couple did not know, was that their good fortune was done by a helpful little Brownie, who loved the land as much as the couple did and did not want to see it be destroyed by greed. He had watched the couple since they moved to the land, built their home with the land rather than over it, he had watched them age and their children grow up. He became close to the family and fancied himself part of the family. So secretly he began to help the couple while they slept; repairing, cleaning, whatever needed be done on the farm.

But a fellow creature, an evil little imp grew tired of the Brownie's good deeds and lack of self-credit, and decided to have some fun with the couple.

One night, after the Brownie had completed his tasks and long after the couple had retired, the imp snuck quietly onto the farm and undid in a matter of hours all the good the Brownie had accomplished in the week or so he had helped the couple; the kitchen was trashed, the gardens torn up, the shutters destroyed, the cows were chased out of their pens, and the sheep and goats ate the remnants of the garden.

When the couple awoke to find their farm nearly destroyed they were heartbroken and when the Brownie heard their cries, he appeared to admit his good deeds and attempt to make amends for what his kin had done.

But the couple took no notice of the Brownie's apologies, instead blamed the creature for the evil deed, and chased him off their lands promising him regret if he dared to come to them again.

Prepared to face the farm's end, the couple cleaned what they could before dusk fell on the farm and returned to bed, the farmer promising to fetch the buyers in the morning.

The Brownie, still pitying the couple and still in love with the land, returned while they slept and restored the farm once more, knowing it could be the final time he would do so.

When the couple awoke to find the farm once again repaired, they realized their error and pleaded with the Brownie to return to them so he could be properly thanked.

Months went by, with no sign of the Brownie, meanwhile the farm grew prosperous once again, the old couple soon had enough money to hire farmhands to tend the fields and the animals. With this new rise of income, the farmer purchased sweets and trinkets, hoping to use these gifts to thank, apologize, and reward the Brownie.

That night, the farmer was preparing a basket of these gifts, when his wife, remembered a story she had heard as a young child about Brownies. The one thing that everyone needs to know about them is, they do their good deeds for the sake of making people happy, they ask nothing in return, if you leave them gifts and trinkets they will leave and never come back.

If the old couple wanted to reward and thank their Brownie friend, they had to leave something else out for him…a bottle of milk is all a Brownie will accept as a gift.

The husband called her foolish, but the old woman begged and pleaded with him to give it a try. Fearing his wife had taken leave of her senses, the old man complied, placing a single bottle of milk from the fresh supply of dairy-"

I stopped when I felt the floorboards creak as Rose returned with the bottle. Nessie got this pouty look on her face as I carefully handed her back to Rose for her bottle.

"See that wasn't so bad you wimp," Rose whispered

"Yeah I know," I replied, I looked over at Nessie who was I swear was still pouting "I'll finish it later," I promised

Her eyes lit up and she cooed happily, Rose looked at me confused

"Finish what later?" she asked suspiciously

"You said to bond with her, I bonded," I grinned "she likes sìobhrag sgeulachd." I added and Rose's confused face grew more so.

"Sio what!?" she asked

"Fairy stories," I explained "she likes fairy stories," I looked back at Nessie "next time I'll tell it to you in Gaelic, you'll really like it then,"

Nessie cooed again and I swear she was smiling. I glanced out the window, Bella and Edward would be on their way back soon.

"She's going to want to see her now," Rose sighed "and I think Renesemee is just as anxious to meet her mother as Bella is to meet her."

I nodded, I swear Nessie was in agreement with us. Rose had grown attached to Nessie, I mean we all would be, but Rose had literally been with Nessie the moment she was born so they've definitely bonded and I know she was worried on two fronts, first that her bond with Nessie would interfere with Bella bonding with her own daughter and on that same level, she couldn't help but worry about losing the bond with Nessie.

"She'll be fine Rose. The control she has, it's amazing, honestly it really is. Her control makes you and Carlisle look like Emmett when there's a bear in front of him." I added, trying to give just a little bit of humour to the situation,

Rose really didn't look all that convinced

"Are you sure she'll be ready."

I took a deep breath and nodded slowly

"Yeah, I think she will be, you should've seen her upstairs she was freaked out, but she was so controlled so restrained. I mean it wasn't until we mentioned her thirst did she even realize that she was thirsty, that she was in pain. It was amazing."

"You profiled all that?"

I nodded

"Uh huh, I've got faith in her Rose." I looked over at Nessie as Jacob walked into the room. He went right for Nessie and held out his arms for her expectantly and wordlessly. Rosalie rolled her eyes and handed the baby over.

"You're not gonna let her near the baby," Jacob hissed. It started out feeling like a question, but quickly changed to a stern statement.

"She has the right to see her daughter," I reminded Jacob as gently as I could, really made me feel like I was talking to a little kid, honestly not the first time in my life, especially lately. "Especially considering she nearly died to bring her into this world."

"It's too soon Chris," Jacob argued and for the first time EVER, Rose seemed to be in firm agreement. But neither one of them can profile, see what I can see, the look on Nessie's face when Bella's name was mentioned, and the look in Bella's eyes when she first got over the initial shock of her new look and abilities…

I know that look, that pained longing look, I'd seen it before, with my own mother. The night Carlisle went to her, to tell her I was dead and I had followed him, guarded by Edward of course and watching from a nearby tree branch. There are certain looks you never forget and the look of longing for one's child and the look of hurt are two of them, especially when they come from a mother.

Don't get me wrong I realize the danger and the risk that we'd be putting Nessie in by allowing Bella to see her, but not fighting for her to see the baby went against my profile, it felt wrong.

"Too soon for her to see Nessie or too soon for her to know that you imprinted on a two day old infant?" I countered, Jacob went pale and seriously who could blame him

"One hurdle at a time," Carlisle called, coming into the room behind Esme, who smiled at Jacob, moving towards him and Nessie.

"Doc, you can't possibly agree with this. Didn't you say that newborn lee-" Jacob paused and changed his sentence "vampires are dangerous. Come on give her a little more time to sort things out."

Carlisle looked over at me for a moment, as Jasper entered the room with Alice. Jasper gave Alice's shoulders a squeeze and walked over to Carlisle, who gestured for me and Jacob to come closer. Jacob looked reluctant to hand over Nessie, but Alice gave him such a pleading smile, that he caved and gently passed Nessie to Alice, before walking slowly over to us.

"Let's discuss this out in the hall." Carlisle suggested and we followed him out, Emmett was coming in from the garage, he was wiping his hands on a cloth and I noticed that the cloth was covered in black.

"Emmett," I hissed "do not tell me you changed the oil in the Jeep." He rolled his eyes at me and reached forward to smear the substance on my nose, it was paint…bloody paint.

"I was cleaning up some of the paint cans that got knocked over, the ones that Esme ordered for the cottage? One of them spilled."

"Oh,"

"Boys?" Carlisle spoke up clearing his throat with a slight smile "shall we?"

"What's up?"

"The little Flea thinks it's a good idea to let Bella and the baby spend some quality time together." Jacob said before anyone else, I growled, guess I was back to the title of flea, fine I could deal with that.

"Chris I do see Jacob's point," Carlisle said carefully, he looked over at Jasper "Jasper your thoughts?"

"I'm at a loss for words regarding this whole situation. I have never seen anything like this before, have you?" Jasper asked and Carlisle shook his head. He looked at me and smiled gently

"Chris, even your time as a newborn was not as controlled as Bella's. It is very…well out of character. I have never seen anything like it and I am utterly perplexed."

"Do you think we should avoid it?" I asked "I mean I want to protect Nessie too, I'm not suggesting we put her in danger. But at the same time I'm not suggesting we keep Bella from her, she's going to come back from hunting and now that her thirst is taken care of she's going to want to see Nessie, am I wrong?"

We all nodded, that we could agree on. Emmett seemed deep in thought and he looked at me, looked at Jacob and sighed.

"I think there's only one way to deal with this thing." He said in a serious tone. I hate when he gets serious like this, but he clearly was about to suggest something that all of us had been either avoiding suggesting or hadn't even wanted to think about. We all looked at Jacob and he nodded.

"I can agree to that," he said "Bella has to be okay near me before she gets anywhere near Nessie."

I heard tree branches shifting, they were coming back. Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper followed my gaze and Jacob followed suit.

"They're coming," I said softly

Carlisle put a hand on Jacob's shoulder and though I expected him to wince away from his touch, he nodded, accepting and even thankful for the gesture.

"We'll be close by," he reassured Jacob who nodded again and started walking towards the door. I followed him, when he reached the door he turned and looked at me

"Pretty sure I don't need a bodyguard, at least according to you, aren't you sure that this whole thing will go off perfectly?"

"I didn't say that Jacob, I simply said that Bella is going to want to see her daughter and should have that chance. And it doesn't mean I want to see you get hurt. Hence why I'm going to be on the porch, watching the whole thing and profiling her, I see any danger you'll be the first to know okay?"

Jacob nodded and actually gave me a quick grin

"Whatever you say Flea," he replied, but this time there was humour to the tone, like he hadn't meant it as an insult, but a playful nickname. I just couldn't figure out if it was better or worse than Dr. Doolittle.

I followed Jacob outside and stood on the porch as he headed towards the edge of our lawn, where the forest began, just as Bella and Edward came out of the forest. I couldn't help, but grin at seeing Bella, she looked so much better, even back to her old self, I also had to laugh at the fact that Alice was going to kill her, her dress was ripped and covered in dirt and dried blood. Why Alice dressed her in that fancy thing anyways was beyond even my ability.

"Careful, Jacob," Edward said. I glanced behind my brother and sister-in-law, I could hear Leah growling low. Apparently she disagreed with both meetings as well.

I glanced towards the garage and Seth walked out in wolf form, there to help Jacob if the test went south. I was there to profile it happening and let my best friend know before anything happened.

"Yep, got it," Jacob replied

"Maybe this isn't the best way-" Edward started to say

"You think it would be better to let her near the baby first?" Jacob interrupted. He glanced behind him at me "your brother seems to think she'll be okay, I have my doubts, no offense Bella. So I think it be safer to see how Bella does with me. I heal fast."

Edward looked up at me and I nodded quickly. I hated to admit that Jacob was right about something, after the reemergence of the Flea comment. But this was necessary, controlled or not, we had to make sure Bella would be okay with someone who was flesh and blood before we let her near Nessie.

"It's your neck, I guess." Edward sighed.

Bella looked beyond confused, and a little annoyed. She couldn't figure out why Jacob was not only still here, but why he was literally protecting Nessie.

Jacob put on a brave face and tried to make light of the situation, we all saw him shuddered slightly though. "I gotta say it, Bells. You're a freak show."

I saw Edward frown and heard his low growl

"Watch yourself, mongrel." He hissed, but Bella grinned happily, clearly feeling better about the situation, the familiar banter with Jacob seemed to ease her concern. She took a deep breath.

"No, he's right. The eyes are really something, aren't they?" she admitted

"Super-creepy. But it's not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Gee – thanks for the amazing compliment!"

While the pair of them bantered back and forth, Edward looked up towards the porch at me. Silently asking me how I felt she was doing, was she truly safe. I glanced behind me, I could hear Nessie's heart beating as Rose tried to calm her, she was squirming and getting fussy. Could she really hear Bella's voice? All that way inside, how much like us was she, really. It was amazing.

Edward could read my mind and I saw his expression soften a little as my mind showed him my experiences with Nessie. I grinned and shrugged, but we were both pulled back to the present when Jacob spoke up again.

"Thanks," he said. "I didn't know if you'd be able to keep it from her, promise or

not. Usually, you just give her everything she wants."

I swear Edward and I rolled our eyes at the same time,

"Maybe I'm hoping she'll get irritated and rip your head off," Edward suggested.

Jacob snorted and I chuckled a little.

"What's going on? Are you two keeping secrets from me?" Bella demanded

"I'll explain later," Jacob replied, he glanced back at me, making sure things were still running smooth. Bella was frustrated, that was certain, but not frustrated to the point where there was any danger. "First, let's get this show on the road." He finished, walking towards Bella and Edward, Bella looked more confused than frustrated now. We all heard the whine coming from the tree line on the other side and the garage. Seth and Leah, Leah especially had been against this whole thing, Seth was a little more willing than his sister, but he too was nervous about this situation.

"Cool it, guys," Jacob ordered. "Stay out of this."

Neither one of them listened as both came closer, Seth however joined me on the porch, still in wolf form, he looked up at me and whined again.

"It's okay,"

"C'mon, Bells. Do your worst."

I saw understanding wash over her as she finally got what we were attempting to achieve here, not only that, but she accepted it.

"I'm getting older here, Bella," Jacob taunted, Seth and I exchanged a look and rolled our eyes in unison. "Okay, not technically, but you get the idea. Go on, take a whiff."

"Hold on to me," Bella whispered to Edward, wincing as she held him tight, Jacob moved closer, he was only a foot or so from her now, close enough for her to get a good whiff of him.

"Moment of truth," I whispered to Seth, who nodded, he gave me a look that clearly asked 'are you sure it'll be okay' I nodded "yeah." We watched as Bella crinkled her nose and jumped back a bit.

"Huh. I can see what everyone's been going on about. You stink, Jacob." She exclaimed. Edward burst out laughing first, but Seth quickly followed suit and his laughter sounded so ridiculous coming from a wolf, I really couldn't help but join them.

"Look who's talking," Jacob chuckled

"Okay, so I passed, right?" Bella said carefully. "Now are you going to tell me what this big secret is?"

Jacob's shoulders kind of dropped a little, he looked back at me. It was weird, him looking to me for guidance and information, he was always so sure of himself and such a know it all.

"It's nothing you need to worry about this second..." he said carefully, behind me inside the house Emmett was laughing at something and I'm pretty sure it was Jacob's continuous attempt to keep his imprinting on Nessie from Bella for as long as possible and seriously, who could blame him.

Bella's body went stiff as she heard Nessie's beating heart, could feel her presence in the house. Now she was remembering what was most important to her, why we were putting her through this test.

"Renesmee," she whispered and the panic on her face put the danger into perspective and a realism on the situation.

"Come and see," Edward replied looking at me and I nodded, "I know you can handle this."

"And Emmett and Jasper – just in case?" she paused and looked at me "and Chris? Is he profiling me?"

"He has been this entire time. He has complete faith in you as do I." Bella looked at him and then back at me and I grinned and waved "We'll take care of you," Edward assured "Don't worry, we'll be ready. None of us would risk Renesmee. I think you'll be surprised at how entirely she's already wrapped us all around her little fingers. She'll be perfectly safe, no matter what."

Bella took a step forward and Jacob went stiff, he still wasn't sure, even though Bella had passed his test, he wasn't ready to let it go. I took a step off the porch, Edward looked over Jacob's shoulder and shook his head at me, inconspicuously gesturing for me to go inside and check on Rose, make sure she was ready with Ness. I wasn't happy with that, but I agreed without putting up a fight.

She was still in the family room, Alice and Esme were nearby, Jasper and Emmett were within reach of Nessie and Rose, preparing for Bella's entrance. Carlisle was also nearby and he actually looked worried. He had obviously heard the conversation outside and that had eased his worry a little bit, unfortunately now that the moment of truth was drawing closer.

"Chris?" he asked as I walked in

"She passed, flying colours, no problem at all." I replied looking at Rose and Nessie. Rose really didn't look convinced

"Chris are you sure?" she asked, I nodded and looked towards the door as Jacob came into the house, he moved right towards Nessie and Rose as Edward and Bella followed.

I had gotten a pretty good look at Bella out in the yard, I had to, to profile her efficiently enough, but this was the first time I was looking at her, even just for a moment, as Bella. Unlike upstairs when she first opened her eyes, this Bella seemed sure of herself, more relaxed, even though the one upstairs, the unsteady, timid Bella was the one I was so used to seeing, this new Bella seemed to fit better in her surroundings. Maybe she was right, maybe she was meant to become one of us.

Jacob was between Rose and Bella, but still Nessie twisted her head around Jacob to look at her mother, and she looked happy to see her…okay happy is an understatement, she looked thrilled.

"I was out just two days?" Bella gasped, clearly unable to believe the size of her baby.

Nessie reached up to Rose and placed her hand on her neck, asking her something as she looked back at Bella curiously, as if she wanted confirmation that yes, that was her mother standing there.

Rosalie patted her hand and whispered

"Yes, that's her."

Bella took a step forward, drawn to Nessie's presence as we all had been. But her sudden movement caught everyone's attention quickly.

Suddenly Emmett and Jasper were right there in front of her, side by side, ready to grab her and hold her back if need be, I could see Edward's grip on her arms tighten, holding her back. Carlisle and Esme moved closer to her too, while Rose took a step back, clutching Nessie tight as Jacob moved in front of them, shielding them.

Alice and I exchanged an annoyed look, before looking at the rest of our family, rolling our eyes and groaning.

"Oh, give her some credit," she scolded "She wasn't going to do anything. You'd want a closer look, too."

"Don't worry, she's not a threat. She's in perfect control." I added, I felt eyes on me and turned to look, Nessie was cooing and waving at me so I made a goofy face and waved back, which got her giggling. Bella who wasn't sure if she should move or not, seemed surprised, yet pleased by my exchange with Nessie.

"I'm okay," Bella said softly, I could feel her hesitation as she looked at the rest of us, "Keep close, though, just in case." She added to Edward who nodded.

I don't think I've seen Jasper so tense in a long time, he was literally stiff, but he also had a look of confusion which he was trying to keep from everyone, but he couldn't really keep it from me. He didn't understand Bella's control, he had been hoping, secretly of course that she wouldn't be so controlled.

He really was tired of being what he calls the 'weakest' one of the group, he's not, sometimes I really think my brother is the strongest of all of us, even stronger than Carlisle. His will to not go on a feeding frenzy every time he sees a human is amazing, considering his upbringing in this life and why he was turned in the first place.

Bella's control maybe astonishing, but it is nothing compared to the control and strength Jasper has, I just wish he knew that.

Nessie's voice caught all of us, she was pulling and straining to get to Bella, I could see the frustration in her eyes at not being allowed. Edward saw it too, I could see the decision weighing heavy on his mind as he looked at each of us in turn, then at Bella, then at Alice and me.

'Are you sure?' he asked silently, I glanced at Alice, she saw the same thing I did, no danger, there was risk of course, but neither of us could see anything happening, the future was clear for the moment and I could profile that Bella's only thoughts were on her daughter. So, we both nodded at the same time, reassuring our brother.

She's got this Ed, I thought trust us, she's fine. Jazz and Em are just concerned, Jazz especially. You can see into his mind, you can see the concern and confusion.

Edward took a deep breath and nodded, before looking at our brothers.

"Jazz, Em, let us through. Bella's got this."

"Edward, the risk-" Jasper started to say, but Edward put his hand up, stopping him. I saw the hesitation on Edward, something had happened on the hunt, something that had concerned him at first, but only verified what Alice and I already knew. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to tell us.

"Minimal. Listen, Jasper…" It's rare to see Edward so unsure of his words, it's pretty freaky to experience it now. "On the hunt she caught the scent of some hikers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time..."

Carlisle literally gasped as Esme's face was a mix of concern and comfort. I felt my body sink a little, had my profile been that wrong, had I truly not seen the actual danger. I had bet with my brothers that Bella would come close to slipping, but she wouldn't actually go through with it and that had been profiling her as a human. Was Bella as a vampire so different from Bella as a human? Had I royally screwed up like this?

Jacob looked completely grossed out and Emmett and Rose seemed less concerned, actually Rose was more focused on the baby than anything else. But it was Jasper who caught my attention was trying so hard to keep the look of satisfaction off his face and he was doing a pretty decent job, but I could see it in his eyes as he nodded, he was ashamed at his satisfaction and seemed glad that no one noticed, until our eyes met and he quickly looked away.

Just as I predicted outside, Alice was eying Bella's dress intently, looking at the ruined material and silently reprimanding her. But before I could make a joke or tease my sister, Carlisle stepped forward.

"Edward!" he chastened. "How could you be so irresponsible?"

Edward lowered his head, ashamed for a moment

"I know, Carlisle, I know. I was just plain stupid. I should have taken the time to make sure we were in a safe zone before I set her loose."

Despite the situation, I had to hold my breath to keep from laughing at Edward 'setting Bella loose'

"Edward," Bella whispered, oblivious to my poor attempts at withholding my laughter, Alice saw it though and gave me a warning look, which only made me struggle harder to not laugh.

"He's absolutely right to rebuke me, Bella," Edward reassured her "I made a huge mistake. The fact that you are stronger than anyone I've ever known doesn't change that."

"Tasteful joke, Edward." Alice spoke up, rolling her eyes at him and at me for the quiet snickers that were escaping me.

"I wasn't making a joke. I was explaining to Jasper why I know Bella can handle

this. It's not my fault everyone jumped to conclusions."

"Wait," Jasper gasped "She didn't hunt the humans?"

"She started to," Edward said, a huge grin on his face, he was having way too much fun with this.

I read between his words, she hadn't gone through with it, she had stopped herself before attacking the hikers, bloody hell.

"What do you mean she started too?" I asked louder than I meant to,

"She was entirely focused on the hunt." Edward explained

"What happened?" Carlisle interrupted and I snorted back another laugh because it was seriously a repeat of upstairs, when Carlisle was asking Bella about her transformation, he had the same curious puppy look that he did upstairs.

"She heard me behind her and reacted defensively. As soon as my pursuit broke into her concentration, she snapped right out of it. I've never seen anything to equal her. She realized at once what was happening, and then...she held her breath and ran away"

Emmett and I exchanged a look, both of us a little dumbfounded

"Whoa," Emmett murmured. "Seriously?"

"He's not telling it right," Bella muttered, her embarrassment rising, it was too bad she couldn't blush anymore, because I know she would redder than a tomato at this point. "He left out the part where I growled at him."

Now Emmett joined my poor attempts to not laugh and we both burst out laughing, picturing Bella growling at anyone, but especially Edward.

"Did ya get in a couple of good swipes?" Emmett asked eagerly, he nudged me in the ribs and we both laughed harder at the horrified look on Bella's face

"No! Of course not."

"No, not really? You really didn't attack him?" Emmett pushed, his grin getting wider the more he pushed

"Emmett!" Bella protested

"Aw, what a waste," Emmett groaned. "And here you're probably the one person

who could take him – since he can't get in your head to cheat – and you had a perfect excuse, too." He sighed. "I've been dying to see how he'd do without that advantage."

"I would never." Bella growled, glaring at him, which just made it even more hilarious in all honesty, there wasn't anything about Bella at this point that was threatening.

Edward grinned at Jasper who was still in shock,

"You see what I mean?" he said nudging Jasper

"It's not natural," Jasper muttered.

"She could have turned on you – she's only hours old!" Esme scolded, putting

her hand against her heart, I hate to say it but it was nice to see Edward getting scolded and not me for a change. "Oh, we should have gone with you."

Bella however had moved past paying attention to any of us, as she strained her neck to look at Nessie and Nessie was waving and pulling away from Rose to get to her mother.

"Edward," Bella begged. "Please?"

Jasper hesitated, he was so unsure of this and who could blame him, this was new for all of us, but especially for him.

"Jazz, this isn't anything you've seen before," Alice said quietly. "Trust me." Jasper's gaze turned to me, Nessie had caught my attention again and I went back to making goofy faces at her, which she seemed to really like, I crossed my eyes and she giggled happily, the rest of the family was watching, especially Bella who was completely amazed.

"Chris?" Jasper asked and I looked up, Emmett snorted back a laugh at the faces I was making.

"I said it before, she's in perfect control, its unbelievable yes, but I do not profile any danger from Bella. Ne…Renesemee is in no danger from her." Like Carlisle said, one hurdle at a time. We all knew Bella was going to have a massive reaction to Jacob imprinting on Nessie, who knew how she would react to the nickname, even if it was from me.

Jasper He nodded slowly and moved to let Bella pass, but he kept a hand on her shoulder as she moved. Bella was checking each and every step she took, as if she was maintain herself control with each step.

Nessie's whimpering caught my attention, she was desperate for Bella to hurry up, she didn't like this waiting thing. It only took a few seconds before Nessie began wailing. Instantly we were all over her, trying to comfort her and sooth her tears. No one seemed to understand the source of her crying, not even Jacob. Bella however had frozen the second Nessie began wailing, but she also looked stunned that Jacob was part of the consoling party, she also seemed stunned that Rose was whispering to Jacob, promising him that Nessie was fine.

"What's the matter? Is she hurt? What happened?" Jacob said anxiously, holding his arms out for her as she willingly went to him. Bella's stunned face was even more so at this point

"No, she's fine," Rosalie reassured him. Nessie snuggled to Jacob for about thirty seconds, before she went back to squirming and pulling to get to Bella "See?" Rosalie told him. "She just wants Bella."

"She wants me?" Bella whispered and I grinned

"Of course she wants you," I replied

"She's been waiting for you for almost three days," Edward said carefully walking Bella closer. Jacob was clearly nervous about this whole thing, he kept looking at Edward, Jasper, and me, waiting for any one of us to clue him in on any danger. We all watched as Jacob reluctantly handed Nessie over to Bella, but he wouldn't let go of her, he kept a hand on the baby while Jasper and Edward kept a hand on Bella. Nessie reached up to Bella's throat and I watched as Bella's face told us everything we needed to know, Nessie was showing her all she could.

"What... was...that?" Bella gasped in shock

"What did you see?" Rosalie asked curiously, "What did she show you?"

"She showed me that?" Bella whispered.

"I told you it was hard to explain," Edward whispered "But effective as means of communications go."

"What was it?" Jacob asked

Bella wasn't sure how to answer that at first, as she sorted through what she had just seen.

"Um. Me. I think. But I looked terrible."

"It was the only memory she had of you," Edward explained "She's letting you know that she's made the connection, that she knows who you are."

"But how did she do that?"

Edward shrugged, he looked at Alice, then at Jasper, then at me.

"How do I hear thoughts? How does Alice see the future? Chris profile?" Edward asked rhetorically, "She's gifted."

Edward and Carlisle began bouncing ideas back and forth about the nature of Nessie's ability, which was amusing in its own right. Bella however was just mesmerized by Nessie, completely in her own world with her daughter.

"She's fine," Alice murmured to Jasper, who was only slightly relaxing, he was still stunned and unsure of this whole thing, it would take a lot longer before he was calmed.

Jacob took a deep, nervous voice, I could profile the stress rising on him, he was done with this much 'testing'

"Haven't we experimented enough for one day?" Jacob asked, his voice shaking as he looked at each one of us, trying to find one of us that would back him up on this. "Okay, Bella's doing great, but let's not push it."

"What is your problem, Jacob?" Bella demanded, pulling Nessie closer to her body as Jacob stepped closer, refusing to let go. I looked over at Emmett he didn't need to be a profiler to see the tension and what was coming.

"Just because I understand, it doesn't mean I won't throw you out, Jacob. Bella's doing extraordinarily well. Don't ruin the moment for her."

It was coming, we could all sense it, Bella was about to find out that Jacob had imprinted on Nessie and it was either going to end badly or be very tense.

"I'll help him toss you, dog," Rosalie promised, "I owe you a good kick in the gut."

Jacob ignored that comment, his eyes were focused on Nessie, staring at her, ready to protect her. It only took Bella a few seconds of looking at Jacob's face to understand fully what had happened.

"No!" Bella exclaimed, Edward and Jasper tightened their grip on Bella and Jacob had Nessie out of Bella's arms in a quick second

"Rose," Bella hissed "Take Renesmee." Jacob handed Nessie to Rose and I moved closer to Emmett. He had been so insistent about coming up with a bet for how Bella would react to Jacob imprinting on the baby, but I think seeing it now in action, both of us regretted even contemplating the reaction, but Emmett wasn't really about to let go of the bet, unless there was the possibility of actual bloodshed, which, given the look in Bella's eyes, it was pretty damn possible.

"Edward, I don't want to hurt you, so please let go of me." Bella begged "Go stand in front of Renesmee," Edward did so reluctantly as Bella crouched down, glaring at Jacob. "You didn't," she snarled

Jacob had gone into passive mode, he had his palms up, trying to calm Bella

"You know it's not something I can control."

"You stupid mutt. How could you? My baby."

He was backing up, heading towards the front door, trying to keep a distance between himself and the oncoming Bella

"It wasn't my idea, Bella!"

"I've held her all of onetime, and already you think you have some moronic wolfy claim to her? She's mine"

"I can share," Jacob pleaded, we moved in unison towards the door, ready to break up a fight if need be, none of us wanted to see Jacob hurt, especially at Bella's hand. She'd never forgive herself.

"Pay up," Emmett whispered to me "she's going to kill him unless we step in, that's as good as her actually going through with it without Jacob getting massacred. So I win."

"Not yet," I replied "you heard Edward, she stopped in mid hunt and didn't kill the hikers, ignoring her most basic instinct, I think she's just buggered right now, but I don't think she'll actually try and hurt him."

"Sure about that? You don't sound all that confident Dr. Doolittle."

I sighed, Emmett was right of course, I wasn't sure that Bella wouldn't actually hurt Jacob at this point.

"How dare you imprint on my baby? Have you lost your mind?"

"It was involuntary!" he insisted, backing into the trees.

Now Leah appeared, followed by Seth. They both looked at me as I moved closer, Seth was stunned as he tried to get an answer from me, but I could only wince and nod at Bella and Jacob. Between the yelling, the growling and the tension, both Seth and Leah figured out pretty quick what was going on

"Bella, would you try to listen for just a second? Please?" Jacob begged. "Leah,

back off," he added looking at her, but Leah didn't move, if anything she lowered her body down into a pouncing stance, her lips curling over her white canines.

"Why should I listen?" Bella hissed

"Because you're the one who told me this. Do you remember? You said we belonged in each other's lives, right? That we were family. You said that was how you and I were supposed to be. So... now we are. It's what you wanted." Jacob tried to argue carefully

"You think you'll be part of my family as my son-in-law." Bella screeched and Emmett burst out laughing, but he stopped quickly when Esme shot a warning look at him, before she looked at Edward with concern. I had to agree with Emmett though, it was kind of comical to think of Jacob as Edward and Bella's son-in-law, quickly I shook my head as Edward glared at me.

"Stop her, Edward," Esme murmured. "She'll be unhappy if she hurts him."

I moved towards my mother, still keeping Bella in my line of sight, she reached over and hugged me close.

"I think it'll be okay," I whispered "I still don't profile any danger, I think Bella is unintentionally giving Jacob a good scare. I don't think she'll hurt him." I added, hoping that my profile was right and that this new Bella didn't confuse my profile more.

"No!" Jacob insisted "How can you even look at it that way? She's just a baby, for crying out loud!"

"That's my point" Bella yelled.

"You know I don't think of her that way! Do you think Edward would have let me live this long if I did?"

"I'm still debating here," Edward muttered

"All I want is for her to be safe and happy, is that so bad? So different from what you want?"

Bella let out a loud high pitched shriek that made me wince a little,

"Amazing, isn't she?" Edward pointed out, so this is what he had experienced in the woods, this was the control that Bella was displaying, because lets be honest here anyone else in her place would have probably killed Jacob by now.

"She hasn't gone for his throat even once," Carlisle replied, his voice stunned, I looked over at Emmett and crossed my arms, he grumbled and nodded

"Fine, you win this one," he said reluctantly

"Told you I would," I replied "We've been over this for how many years Em? Don't doubt the profiler." I managed to say, I felt Edward look over at me, both of us knowing that I had doubted my profile many times since he and Bella had returned home from their hunt.

I was so focused on my profile that I almost missed the one thing that would push Bella over the edge.

"C'mon, Bells! Nessie likes me, too," Jacob insisted and I winced,

Oh crap I thought, Edward looked down at me again and this time he gave me a sympathetic look, one that clearly said 'she's not going to like that, and she's not going to be happy when she finds out it was you.'

"What...did you call her?" Bella sputtered in shock

Jacob was moving back again, wincing, he looked over at me and shook his head.

"Well," he mumbled, "that name you came up with is kind of a mouthful and, well Chris thou-" apparently Bella missed the part of the conversation with my name being involved because her eyes went wide

"You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?" she screeched, lunging for Jacob's throat.

Oh bloody hell, I managed to think before we all reacted.

Chapter Text

Before anyone could stop him, Seth jumped in front of Jacob, protecting him from Bella as she lunged at him, I didn't even think twice as I jumped in to protect my best friend, Emmett however grabbed me and pushed me back.

Everything seemed to happen so fast, that before we knew it Bella had stopped herself from continuing the onslaught…mainly because she heard Seth whimpering as he limped off.

In the flash of a moment she had lost control and as she lunged at Jacob, she sent Seth flying as he tried to stand between her and Jacob. Not to fight Bella of course, but to try and reason with her. But she was so focused, she didn't understand his motives, until it was too late.

Bella and Seth collided and she sent him flying with a single backhand, we all heard the snapping of bones.

"Seth!" I shouted darting towards him "bloody hell are you okay,"

"Ow," he muttered, I could hear it in his voice, he was basically in shock.

"Oh Seth I am so sorry," Bella cried moving towards him, but she stopped, clearly ashamed by her action. I could see her eyes darting around, debating whether or not to run off. Edward read my profile in my mind and put a gentle hand on Bella's arm

"Love," he whispered "breathe, it's okay," Edward looked at Seth sympathetically "Seth I am very sorry, I should have been closer." he said, completely ignoring Jacob.

Seth was still kind of stunned and unsteady on his feet, he didn't even acknowledge Edward's apologies, either because he didn't think Edward had anything to apologize for, or he was still out of it. That blow definitely knocked the wind out of him so I was going with the latter. He put a hand on my shoulder trying to steady himself as he cradled his other arm close to his body.

I'm not a doctor, but I know I've said this before, my human father was a doctor and I've spent the last seven decades or so as the adopted son of another, given those two factors I know enough to recognize a broken collarbone and shoulder when I see it, and that was exactly what had happened to Seth.

Jacob stood up and moved towards Seth quickly,

"Seth," he started to say, but Seth shook his head at him

"Fo..get it," he managed to say. "I'm…o…okay."

"How can it be okay, Seth I am so sorry I-I-I didn't mean it, it was-"

"It was an accident," I finished for Bella, she looked at me in surprise, then hung her head again in shame.

"Come with me Seth," Carlisle "let me see what is broken before your healing factor sets in."

Seth made a face and looked at me expectantly and I shrugged

"Don't look at me, you're the one who decided to play knight in furry armor to Mr. Big Mouth over there."

Jacob gave me a look, but it was a weak one, he was shaking a little. I'm pretty sure wolfboy saw his life flash before his eyes for a few moments there. I knew I would have to fess up eventually and admit to Bella that I was to blame for the nickname that ultimately pushed her over the edge and not Jacob, but in the mean time I was more concerned with my friend and his injuries, than a spat between Bella and Jacob.

Carlisle got Seth settled in on the couch and had to set his bones quickly to make sure they healed correctly. By the time this was occurring, Bella and Edward had joined us in the family room, Bella was sitting next to Seth, but as far as she could be from him on the couch, as if she was afraid she would hurt him again. Edward however was in full swing, trying to be in the thick of things, apologizing over and over to Seth about what had happened.

Seth kept looking at me and rolling his eyes as I channeled surfed, looking for a channel that met his approval since he was going to be crashing on our couch for a few hours, Carlisle was bandaging and wrapping Seth's arms and body and I could hear Seth taking sharp breaths every once in a while, even though he was clearly trying to hide it.

"I'm so sorry, Seth. I should have been closer." Edward said, starting in again.

"Really-" Seth started to say

"I should have done more Seth," Edward interrupted not even letting Seth get a word in, I snorted back a laugh and Seth looked over at me and mouthed 'help me'. I shrugged, I wasn't getting involved in that one.

It was however Bella who caught my attention, she was sitting next to him but she looked so upset, so ashamed that she might as well have been across the room, and I think she would rather be at that moment.

I could practically see the wheels turning in her mind as she contemplated how to handle what had happened. Finally it seemed like she couldn't take it anymore and looked at Seth.

"Seth, I – " she started to say weakly

Seth looked at her and gave his typical toothy grin

"Don't worry about it, Bella, I'm totally fine," Seth said at the same time that Edward said:

"Bella, love, no one is judging you. You're doing so well." Edward interrupted again and again I rolled my eyes, yes she was, but Edward didn't realize that his attempts to reassure his wife was actually having the opposite effect on her state of mind. Bella's shoulders fell, she was still so ashamed, even with Seth's attempt at reassurance.

Carlisle gestured for me to come over, helping him to secure another piece of the brace to Seth's arm, and Seth winced.

"Oh come on that didn't hurt you wimp," I muttered to him with a grin

"Yeah, let's see you break your collar bone and how happy go lucky you are afterwards"

I grinned even wider and looked at Carlisle

"Not entirely sure, can't really remember but was that on the list of busted bones?" I asked my father. Carlisle didn't answer me at first, he was so focused on his work, he paused when he felt all of us looking at him.

"What's he talking about Dr. Cullen?" Seth asked wincing again. Carlisle sighed and rolled his eyes at us.

"I will let Chris explain that one at some point," Carlisle replied "but no Chris I think your collar bone was one of the few bones that were not broken then. Surprisingly."

Seth still looked confused and I grinned

"I'll explain later," I promised and he nodded,

"Good, 'cause I'm assuming there's a great story to go along with th-." Seth gasped a little as Carlisle tightened the bandage as gently as he could and Bella's face shifted back and forth from concern to shame.

"Sorry, sorry!" she mumbled

"Don't freak, Bella," Seth said, patting her knee with his good hand. "I'll be back to normal in half an hour. I mean anyone would have done the same, what with Jake and Ness – " He stopped and looked at me giving a half grin, I had promised myself and silently promised Jacob that I would admit to Bella in the near future that I was the one responsible for Nessie's nickname, but it was something that could definitely wait, as long as a certain someone didn't spill. "Anyways," Seth continued "at least you didn't bite me or anything. That would've sucked."

"Pun intended?" I asked and he reached his foot out to kick me, missing.

"Shut up," he shot back

"I'm a bad person." Bella moaned

"Of course you aren't. I should have-" Edward started to say, but Bella cut him off.

"Stop that,"

I sighed.

"You're not a bad person Bella," I spoke up and she looked at me carefully, looking for hints of sarcasm or deceptiveness "remember Bella, always trust the profiler, we give it straight." She sighed and nodded

"Lucky thing Ness – Renesmee's not venomous," Seth said after a second of awkward silence. '"Cause she bites Jake all the time."

Even though I had been given the opportunity to observe that hilarious event before, it still cracked me up. This whole Nessie on a massive growth spurt meant she was actually started teething and those suckers were coming in fast, I was just glad I wasn't on the menu, I didn't want to find out it her teeth were strong enough to break our skin.

Bella looked shocked by this though

"She does?"

"Sure. Whenever he and Rose don't get dinner in her mouth fast enough. Rose thinks it's pretty hilarious."

"She's not the only one," I added grinning

"Well, Seth," Carlisle said, finishing up. "I think that's as much as I can do. Try to not move for, oh, a few hours, I guess." Carlisle chuckled. "I wish treating humans were this instantaneously gratifying." He rested his hand for a moment on Seth's black hair. "Stay still, Chris can find something on TV for you if you'd like."

"I can probably manage sitting still for a while," Seth agreed as Carlisle walked away towards the stairs. Seth looked at me "Haven't you found anything yet?" he asked with a grin

"What am I, the help?" I asked and his grin got wider

"If the coffin fits," he muttered as he let out a huge yawn

"Funny," I shot back, going back to flipping channels, I was in the movie channels by now when I spotted something that could annoy Seth and amuse me; Dances With Wolves. It took Seth a few seconds to realize what was on and he groaned

"Hell no!" he hissed

"You asked if I had found something, I found something."

"No way Chris, come on," Seth shot back, even though I could see he was trying not to laugh.

"What, it's a great movie." I replied shrugging Seth yawned again

"Aw leave it on if you want…" he muttered, I exchanged a look with Edward, then Bella as Seth's head went back and seconds later he was snoring.

I stared at my friend, dumbfounded.

"How the hell can he fall asleep so fast?" I mumbled, mainly to myself rhetorically, but Edward felt the need to answer

"It's one of those wolf things we will never understand." he said and I rolled my eyes

"Yeah it was a rhetorical question Ed," I answered grinning at my brother. "I'm going to go check on Chap, let Dances with Werewolves there sleep." That got a grin out of Edward, but Bella for whom the joke was intended just whimpered a little, clearly still upset about the whole incident.

As I walked past her I patted her shoulder and gave her a half smile, it took a few seconds, but slowly she returned it

"Chris?" she said softly

"Yeah?"

"You're okay right?"

"Of course, why?" I asked,

"Just making sure"

I sighed and looked at Edward,

Is it okay to tell her? I thought and he gave me a nod with his eyes, my ability reading between the simple blink. Thanks

"Bella," I started and she looked at me "I'm sorry," now she looked completely confused and looked at Edward for a moment trying to get an explanation from him, but he shook his head and nodded at me.

"Chris why in the world would you need to apologize, you didn't do anything."

"Er, I'm not entirely innocent here." I paused and took a deep breath "Jacob isnt completely to blame for Renesmee's, er um…nickname."

Now Bella raised her eyebrow, still confused, but I could see she was piecing the puzzle together.

"What do you mean?"

"To be honest I wanted her to have a nickname. My uncle gave me one when I was little and my father gave my cousins each one. It was kind of I guess an unwritten tradition in my family. And…well, as nice as her full name is, it's pretty lengthy to say. I didn't mean for her to share a name with the Loch Ness Monster, honest, the name just kind of popped into my head and she seemed to respond to it and like it."

Bella hadn't said a word, nor had she moved from that spot, I couldn't profile any outright anger, more like surprise mixed with a bit of contemplation. She glanced over at Edward as if she was looking for confirmation and Edward nodded.

"She does seem to be fond of it love." He said carefully

Bella sighed and smiled a little

"You're forgiven Chris, for now," she finally said and I nodded, returning the smile. "But don't think for a second you're completely off the hook."

"Right," I replied grinning "I'll keep that in mind," I handed the remote to Edward and headed towards the hallway,

"Chris?" Bella called softly and I turned around, she walked over to me slowly

"Yeah?"

"You said that your uncle gave you a nickname when you were young, that it's a tradition in your family." I nodded "what was your nickname, just out of curiosity?"

I took a deep breath and slowly gave Bella a grin, I hadn't thought about my nickname in years and when I say years, we're talking decades here, but now that I had mentioned it all sorts of memories came flooding back.

The first time my uncle ever used his nickname for me I had to be about three or four years old and my memories of the event are pretty vague, but I do remember that I was spending the weekend with my aunt, uncle, and my younger cousin Greg was two or just about. His baby brother and sister, James William Jr. who would always be known as Billy and Livia, the twins, they were only six or seven months old. This was of course long before my parents and I moved to London, so a visit to the family farm for the weekend was a much easier trip back then.

I remember, Greg and I wandered out to the barn, Uncle James had clearly been in the barn, but must have taken some of the sheep out to pasture, he hadn't had a chance to sweep up the hay from the animal's morning feeding.

I wanted to help my uncle and Greg basically followed my every move so together we swept up the hay. Granted I think we made more work for Uncle James by 'helping' but that's beside the point.

When we heard him coming towards the barn, his boots crunching on the rocky pathway we hid in the hayloft, pretending to be spies.

He walked into the barn and we heard him chuckling to himself. I know now he knew we were in the barn and I know he knew that we were responsible for er…helping, but he didn't say a word about our presence. Instead he rubbed his beard, looked around and beamed.

'Well, tisnt this a pleasant surprise. Auch, I thin' I mus' 'ave been visited by a wee pair of Brownies, what a beautiful job cleaning up they've done fer me.' I remember him saying, it didn't click with my four year old brain back then, but looking back he was clearly trying not to laugh. "Wha' tae do now, I cannae let such a wonderful gift go without thanks, but Brownies' cannae accept certain gifts, don' want to offend 'im now. Ooch I know, a wee bit of milk fresh from Dapple might do the trick.' I remember Greg and I exchanged a look and giggled, not only because of his father's silliness, but because we were both milk fiends.

Just as Uncle James was putting out a pitcher of milk, Gage lost complete control of his giggles and ran down the ladder, yelling 'papa, papa,' and I followed close behind him. Uncle James scooped us up in his arms

'Ah these aren't Brownies, tis me own son Greggory an' me own nephew Christian. Did you boys sweep up the barn fer me?'

'Yes Uncle James' I remember exclaiming.

"Chris?" Bella's voice brought me back to the present and I shook my head, trying to focus away from the memories. It's amazing how my uncle's face, even my cousin's face has pretty much faded away. I hate to admit it, but it is seriously getting tougher and tougher for me to recall my family. But this memory, the faces may not have been clear, but the voices were clear and echoed in my mind.

Edward looked at me and gave a sympathetic smile, he had seen all I had seen and knew how I feel about memories regarding my family.

"Yeah, sorry Bella," I replied

"Are you okay?" she asked and I nodded

"Just thinking, it's nothing." I paused "he called me Brùnaidh," I said softly "that was my uncle's nickname for me,"

Bella looked over at Edward, clearly confused as she looked back at me.

"What?" she asked and I gave her a half grin

"It's Gaelic Bella, it means Brownie," I paused "my uncle called me Brownie because when I was little, I would do small chores around the farm and then deny that I did them and between my cousin Greg and I we played some pretty good pranks on my aunt and little cousins." I explained "In Scottish folklore, Brownies' are like elves, they attach themselves to a piece of land or to a family and basically help the family out. They fix things that are broken, care for animals, tend to gardens, things like that. But they do it not for recognition, but because the property they're attached to is so important to them. But to reward them with anything other than milk or produce from the farm is like paying them for their services and they don't like that. They get offended and won't return to the farm." I shrugged "there's a whole story behind a Brownie and what they do, it's one of my favorites." I paused "anyways, I'll be up in my room if anyone needs me."

I headed towards the stairs, but stopped when a sound caught my attention. It was the vibration of a phone. I peeked into the kitchen and saw Esme looking at a cell phone, she looked uneasy and a little saddened as she put it on the counter as the vibrations subsided. She glanced up when she heard the floors creak.

"Chris?" she called

"It's me mum," I answered

"Are you okay sweetie?"

I walked into the kitchen and she reached over to hug me tight

"I'm fine mum, are you okay?" she nodded "who was that?" she winced "it was Chief Swan wasn't it?" she nodded

"He has been calling nonstop. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I am at the end of my list of excuses. That poor man, when the time comes I do not know how we will break the news to him, however we decide to do so." She sighed and hugged me again "How is Seth doing?"

"He's crashed on the couch. Dad fixed him up, just got to wait for his healing factor to kick in."

"And Bella?"

"She's doing better I guess. I'm pretty sure that Seth fell asleep for the sole purpose of avoiding her apologies." I looked at my mother carefully "are you okay?" I asked, she gave me a gentle smile and nodded

"Better than some at the moment Christian." She explained, "Sweetie, Emmett, Alice, and I were going to go put some finishing touches on the cottage, just for a few hours or so before we bring Bella out there to surprise her. Did you want to come with us? Get out of the house for a little while?" she finished pushing my bangs back gently.

I took a deep breath and thought it over, before shaking my head

"No, I'm okay mum really. I have to spend some time with Chaplin before he thinks I abandoned him or something. Plus his cage is really beginning to stink so that's gotta get cleaned at some point." Now Esme smiled, and even chuckled a little "see you noticed it too."

"I wasn't going to say anything, but yes, your little friend has made quite a odorous situation in the house." She paused "Jasper and Rose are going to need to hunt in the near future, promise me you will go with them when the time comes?" I nodded "good." She leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

"Sounds good to me."

I left the kitchen and headed up to my room. Chaplin of course was thrilled to see me and was even more so when I opened the latch to his cage and let him loose in my room as I dumped the shavings from his cage into a large trash bag. He squeaked a little and ran to my desk, watching me from his perch.

"I'm cleaning, I'm cleaning," I answered his look with a laugh. I rolled the top of the bag to keep it from spilling and put it near the window before grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds and putting them in front of him. His eyes went wide with excitement as he happily picked through the pile and while sitting up, began gnawing on the seed.

I refilled the bottom of the cage with fresh shavings, dumped his food into the trash bag and refreshed that as well. Chaplin finished picking out his sunflower seeds and with his cheeks bulging, wandered to the edge of the desk, carefully climbed down, and headed for the table his cage sits on. He slowly scaled my pant leg and made his way towards his cage.

Chap is pretty easy going for a rat, in fact between him and his brother Charlie, he was always the calm, low key, go with the flow kind of rat, while Charlie I swear liked chaos and it was always a tough call between causing chaos or sleeping through it.

It's been more than a few months now since he Charlie died, but Chaplin and I still miss him and his personality. Even my siblings miss him, even (though she'll never admit it aloud) Rosalie misses him.

Once the cage was clean and Chap was checking out the fresh dish of food, I latched his cage and headed towards the window. I didn't want to drag the trash bag full of dirty shavings through the house, adding more of a stink so I figured it would just be easier to go out the window.

I threw the bag out the window and then jumped down after it. Since trash pick up this far out of town is non-existent, Carlisle purchased a dumpster for us, we keep everything in there then drive it on the flatbed to the town dump on the other side of town. So that was where I threw the bag of shavings.

Now that, that task was completed, I headed back towards the house, walking in as quietly as I could. Esme, Emmett, and Alice were nowhere to be seen, so I knew they had gone to the cottage we've been working on for Edward and Bella.

We actually started it before the wedding and then worked on it piece by piece while they were on their honeymoon. But of course work on it was put on hold when they came home, but now that things were slowly and somewhat back to a normal situation, Esme had insisted we start working on it again and in all fairness it was nearly done.

Just a few more finishing touches that were all up to Alice; Emmett had gone along just to lift things and Esme went to keep Alice on a short leash regarding the decorating.

I looked into the family room, Seth was still asleep, and snoring to boot. Edward was watching TV and Bella was as well, but her attention really didn't seem like it was on the programme. Movement caught my attention and I sighed, Jasper was keeping a close eye on Bella and hadn't faltered in that duty since the whole Jacob incident, I had a feeling it wouldn't be stopping for quite some time.

I didn't see Rose, Jacob, or Nessie anywhere, but I just assumed Jacob and Rose were fighting over Nessie somewhere in the house.

I headed towards the stairs and was just heading up them when I felt someone coming towards me, at first I assumed it was Jasper coming to get a profile from me, but quickly I realized it wasn't…not even close. I held my breath as a new scent entered my nostrils, speaking of smelly. I turned to face Jacob, who to my surprise had Nessie in his arms, not only that, but she was reaching for me.

I looked at Jacob with a confused look and he rolled his eyes, shrugging.

"She wouldn't go Blondie, she won't stay with me, every time we try she whines and pouts. She has to take a nap and won't go down for either of us. When I mentioned that maybe the Flea might have to tell her a story or something she quieted right down." Jacob explained, my eyes went wide as I stared at Nessie, who cooed and reached for me.

Oh brother, I thought

"You've got to be kidding," I said aloud and Jacob shrugged again

"Hey, with what happened earlier I'm running out of vamps I truly trust with her. For now Bella is definitely out and I don't trust Edward to be clear headed with this. Esme, the Hulk, and the Pixie are going out, she won't stay with Blondie for whatever reason, Dracula is watching Bella like a hawk, so that leaves my favorite little Flea."

I couldn't help it, I growled a little

"I really wish you would stop referring to me as a flea."

To my surprise and certainly to Jacob we both looked down at Nessie who was giving Jacob an actual expectant look, like she wasn't pleased with him calling me a flea either. I grinned and tried not to laugh, it took a few seconds, but Jacob began chuckling too.

"All right I'll try to knock off the flea comments," he said "I can't make no promises though."

"Any," I corrected

"What?" he asked

"You can't make any promises, not you can't make no promises, that a double negative sentence."

Jacob stared at me confused

"What are you the grammar police?"

"Perhaps," I replied as he gently handed Nessie to me.

I held Nessie up so we were eye level. I mean in just a few short days she was strong enough to hold her head up and only be a matter of time before she could sit up, hell she's be walking before we knew it.

"Just out of curiosity," I said as Jacob reluctantly turned to go. "Where is Rosalie?"

Now Jacob began laughing a little

"You really are freaked out by little kids aren't you?"

I groaned

"Little kids no, babies yes. I'm not sure why Nessie liked me but past experience has taught me that babies do not enjoy my company. My own little cousins threw a fit when I tried to hold them. Well, two of them did, I honestly don't really remember when the other three were babies. One was only two years younger than me and the others were four years younger than me."

Jacob whistled

"Big family," he said and I shrugged

"Would've been bigger, but my aunt lost her first baby. It would've been the older kid in the family, beat me by six months."

Nessie reached up to my throat and gently out her tiny hand against it, she was asking in her own way if I could tell her the story again and she wanted it soon. I could see how tired she was getting. She was fighting it, but it was pretty obvious.

"Yeah she's going to need a nap soon," Jacob replied as if he was reading my mind. Yeah not liking that idea.

"I'll come get one of you when she crashes," I said softly.

"Won't be too far kid. I think I may crash in your loft for a while."

I nodded and carried Nessie up to my room, still unsure why she was fascinated with me so much. I walked into my room and immediately Chap went nuts. This of course caught Nessie's attention as she looked around trying to figure out what was making the racket. Chap's nose was going a mile a minute as he took in this strange new scent.

"Sorry Chap," I called "you've already been out. You can come out again in a little while."

Nessie looked at me then looked around again. I wasn't entirely sure how to explain a rat to a baby so I figured I'd cross that when she was a little…er…bigger.

I sat down in my rolling chair and carefully held her at arm's length looking at her right in the eye, trying to understand this very happy, but still very tired baby.

She cooed and giggled at me and I sighed.

"What is it about me huh?" I asked, not expecting an answer of course, it really was a rhetorical question "don't you know babies aren't supposed to like me?" She giggled again which quickly turned into a yawn. I rolled my eyes. "You're crashing aren't you?" I shook my head "why am I asking you all these questions like I'm expecting an answer, see I'm no good at being around babies, you're picking the wrong person in this family to be attached to." Now Nessie gave me a look that (and I'm not kidding) said 'give me a break'. "I suppose you want to finish the story huh?" she smiled at me and I nodded "okay."

I sat her in my lap and she leaned against my chest, snuggling close. I started gently spinning my chair back and forth, I remembered my aunt rocking my cousins like that and I know I saw Rosalie doing it to Nessie so maybe it would get her to fall asleep faster.

"Okay, where was I…oh yeah.

'And the old couple knew what they had to do, the imp had tried to trick them into leaving gifts and stock from the harvest for the Brownie as a thank you, but the one thing you need to remember about Brownies, they do their good deeds for the sake of making people happy, they ask nothing in return, if you leave them gifts and trinkets they will leave and never come back. If the old couple wanted to reward and thank their Brownie friend, they had to leave something else out for him. Do you remember what it is? What's the one thing you can leave a Brownie?" Nessie slowly reached up to my neck and rested her hand there for a moment, I grinned as the images her mind had concocted for the story flooded my mind; she had remembered what I had told her about the rules for Brownies. "Hey you remembered! Right milk or other is the only gift you can give a Brownie. So the old couple did just that, one bottle of milk was left out. And though they never saw the Brownie again, chores around the farm seemed to get done overnight mysteriously and every so often a bottle of milk left outside on the step would be empty the next morning. And so it continued for many years, a unbreakable friendship between the three, the imp was never see again."

I heard the steps creak and I winced as I realized that not only Bella, but Edward too had come upstairs and were basically spying on me.

"She's so calm with him." Bella whispered, why she was bothering to whisper I have no idea, it's not like I can't hear them.

I sighed, I wanted to try something to get Nessie to fall asleep, something that always helped me fall asleep when I was a little kid, but I wasn't sure I wanted to try it with an audience. "Chris and Renesemee have bonded pretty tightly. She has apparently decided she doesn't want to go to sleep until he tells her, her story." Edward explained

I looked down at Nessie, she was looking at me expectantly,

"I guess I can't avoid it huh?" I sighed "Okay, you win Nessie girl." Even knowing I had an audience, I figured I couldn't avoid this. She clearly knew I had something on my mind for her and wanted to know what it was. "Okay you need to go to sleep for a little while. I know your tired come on stop fighting it."

She gave a little pout and I couldn't help but smile at it.

"Wait for it." I heard Edward say and I groaned a little, wishing he would get out of my head.

"My mother would sing it to me every night before I fell asleep. To remind me of Scotland and where I came from, it was to remind me of warriors I descended from and the great chieftains. It's the beauty of Scotland and the strength of it. And now you're a part of it, you are a part of Scotland little Nessie" I paused and took a deep breath

'Sleep little one and peace attend thee, All through the night Guardians the Gods will send thee, All through the night Soft the drowsy hours are creeping Hill and vale in slumber sleeping, a loving vigil keeping All through the night. While the moon her watch is keeping All through the night While the weary world is sleeping All through the night O'er they spirit gently stealing… The ol' man's been stealin', she's 'oldin' 'er grievance fer a 'undred odd years. We all keep believing, tha' 'istory repeats itself year after year. All I fear's tha' the future is worse, we 'ave to give in to this 'undred year curse. Sweat in the sun like we're diggin' a grave. Dig deep enough an' our fortune we'll save. If only if only the woodpecker sighs, the bark on the wood was as sof' as the skies. As the wolf waits below, 'ungry and lonely, 'e cries to the moon, "if only, if only. I'm a sword but I find myself blunt And that is no use when I'm fighting my history, I have no blade, I'm more like a feather. That is no use when I'm fighting my history. But I can't fly away when I'm fighting myself "If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs, "The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies," As the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely He cries to the moon, "If only, if only." "If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs, "The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies," As the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely He cries to the moon, "If only, if only."

My voice trailed off as the lullaby ended and I looked down at the baby in my arms. I couldn't believe it, she was sleeping. I had actually found a way to get her to sleep. She was cuddling against my neck and was giving little sighs as she breathed.

I looked up and saw the look of surprise on Bella's face, she had apparently heard from Edward of my chorus days as a kid, but hadn't really known what to expect nor did she ever expect to ever hear me sing. Which is fair enough, I try to avoid putting myself out there like that. Granted I liked being part of the chorus when I was a kid, but it was literally a different life. But for Nessie I was willing to make an exception.

I stood up and carefully moved towards the door. Bella and Edward stepped aside to let me pass, and I ducked my head, embarrassed as I headed towards the stairs.

"She loves her uncle Chris." Edward explained with a grin "and he loves her, even if he doesn't admit it."

I groaned softly and made my way down the stairs. Seth was still sacked out on the couch, but Jacob had infiltrated the living room as well and was watching a college football game. He glanced over and his eyes went wide as he spotted the sleeping baby in my arms.

"Holy hell how did-" he started to exclaim and I shot him a glare

"Shut up!" I hissed "it took a story and a lullaby to get her to fall asleep. Do not wake her up!"

"Blondie was right you do have the magical touch."

"Magical touch?" I repeated

"Yeah, she said Nessie really likes you and seems pretty calm by you."

I have no idea why, I thought as Rose came into the room smiling

"Aw Chris she did fall asleep for you," she said softly "here I'll take her if you want," I nodded and gently handed Nessie to Rosalie, she didn't wake up which was a plus. "You did a nice job with her," Rosalie whispered "told you that you are a wonderful uncle." I rolled my eyes and backed out of the room as quickly as I could.

I could see Bella and Edward coming down the stairs and I made a beeline for the kitchen and therefore the garage. I didn't want to explain anything or have Bella gushing over me, I needed some alone time working in the garage.

x-x-x-x-x

Chapter Text

Not long after Bella's transformation, the phone which had been pretty insistent before, now became incessant, to the point where we were all tempted to take the phone off the hook. The only reason we avoided this drastic move was because of who was on the other end of the line; Charlie.

He of course was concerned for his daughter's wellbeing and since we hadn't given him a straight answer as to her condition, he wasn't about to let us be. The discussion of course came up what we were going to do, IE, did we stick around and wait Charlie out, or take the more drastic avenue, and move.

Charlie's situation reminded me in every way of my own mother's and Carlisle giving her the news of my death. This was way different though, my mother as far as I know hadn't demanded to see my body and it was pretty fathomable that my body was lost amongst the chaos that was the Second World War.

Would Bella be able to handle being at her own funeral? Would she be able to stand Charlie and Renee's anguished cries, her friends' mournful tears? I'm not a psychic, but I am a profiler and I know Bella, as strong as she is and as strong as she thinks she is, I cannot picture that ending well at all.

It ended up being Jacob who forced our hands. The minute he heard that we would most likely be moving the only thing he could think was that we were taking Nessie from him so he decided to clue Charlie in on the fact that the world he thought he knew was just the tip of the iceberg.

The idiot morphed, transformed, went wolfie; whatever you want to call it in front of Charlie. If that wasn't bad enough he mentioned to Charlie, that Bella wasn't quite Bella anymore. To top off his insane move, Jacob clued us in on all of this five minutes before Charlie was coming over…talk about last minute planning.

Luckily we always tend to have backup plans and Alice is the biggest planner of the whole family so she had every scenario covered, even this one. She supplied Bella with contacts that were as close as possible to her original eye color and set the rest of us to kind of instruct Bella on the methodology on a vampire pretending to be human, well, technically she asked Esme to do it and the rest of us kinda threw our two cents in.

We gave her all sorts of advice that helps us get through a typical day pretending to be human.

"The main thing is not to sit too still or move to fast." Esme told her

"Remembering to move is one of the only things we really have to work to remember." I advised "even if you don't like sitting still anyways like me its easy to forget that you have to move to keep up appearances."

"Sit down if he does," Emmett offered. "Humans don't like to just stand there."

"Let your eyes wander every thirty seconds or so," Jasper added. "Humans don't stare at one thing for too long." He paused "right Chris?" he nudged my shoulder and I rolled my eyes,

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"

Jasper grinned a little

"No shiny objects," he added

"Aw, leave me alone Jaz," I grumbled,

"Cross your legs for about five minutes, then switch to crossing your ankles for the next five," was Rosalie suggestion.

"And blink at least three times a minute," Emmett added. It was at that point he noticed I had put on a cricket match, granted it was a rerun, I'd watched this match live weeks before. But it was a great match I didn't mind watching it again.

"Damn," I muttered.

Emmett frowned and shook his head,

"nope no baseball knock off." he walked over to the remote and changed the channel, settling on the easy chair.

I started to protest but decided not to fight it, I could just watch the match online if I really had to. I would be chucking a cricket ball at his head at some point though.

Jasper ignored the pair of us as he continued to make suggestions, his quick jab at me being distracted by "shiny things" was his one spur of the moment goof off, he went right back to being serious. Of all of us, Jasper has had to work the hardest to act human so in all reality he is the expert at this.

"Move your hands, too. Brush your hair back or pretend to scratch something." He recommended.

"If you're standing up remember to shift your weight every once in a while." Was the last bit I added, at least before Alice stepped in and put a stop to our suggestions, apparently we were bombarding Bella with too many suggestions.

I didn't agree, she looked fine to me and actually seemed like she wanted to know more, but we did stop and let her grasp everything. Just by profiling her I could tell she would be fine, Bella's willpower seemed to be her own gift in this life and I hoped my profile was right and that would continue.

So I wasn't surprised that based on our suggestions and her own strength Bella did a pretty amazing job when Charlie arrived and Charlie himself wanted to be on a need to know basis with all of it so he didn't ask too many questions.

Even his meeting Nessie, held close in Bella's arms as a means to keep calm, went pretty smooth. He did question Nessie's origins and just judging from his voice, wasn't entirely convinced. Emmett and I weren't eavesdropping I swear, just listening from afar to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

Well, I was paying attention, Emmett was focused on the football game. He was still sitting in the easy chair closer to the TV while I was sitting Indian style on the back of the loveseat which is usually next to the couch, but in anticipation for Charlie's arrival, we flipped the couch around and moved some of the other furniture, which put the loveseat in close proximity to the easy chair.

Why wasn't I sitting in the loveseat itself? Part of it was to keep everyone in my line of sight. The loveseat has extremely squishy material and I tend to sink right down into it to the point where I wouldn't be able to see the couch and its occupants.

Sitting on the back of it would allow me to profile and give Edward and Jasper any notice if things didn't go as planned, especially with Alice's sight being blocked because of Bella holding Nessie…however that was only part of my reasoning, the other part I think was sheer survival.

Emmett tends to flail his arms about when he's watching, well pretty much anything. I've been on the receiving end of that motion during many sporting events, hell he even did it to me last December when we went to the Patriots game. Luckily because we were trying to blend in with the crowd and that meant bundling up because of the frigid New England cold I was layered and therefore protected from his unintentional attack.

My profile was going into overtime with the crowds and the game itself so I hadn't even noticed that Emmett switched seats with Jasper, then switched seats with Carlisle, removing the two bodies in between Emmett and I ratio.

I have asked Emmett many times if he was sure his family wasn't Italian somewhere along the lines. Emmett is usually pretty quick witted, for some reason that particular joke goes right over his head.

Anyways, Charlie wasn't completely believing the whole 'Nessie is Edward's niece and him and Bella were adopting her' scenario that Edward was feeding him. But in true Charlie fashion he repeated the phrase 'need to know' and left it alone.

The whole 'Grandpa Carlisle and Grandpa Charlie' thing was pretty funny, but we knew it wouldn't take Charlie long to notice the resemblance between Nessie and Bella. After all, I've seen baby pictures of Bella. Nessie is a dead ringer for her mother so Charlie definitely noticed that not to mention from a vampire perspective Bella resembles her father in a lot of ways so naturally Nessie inherited a lot from her father, a lot from her mother, and even a bit from her grandfather.

I think the only time this meet and greet took a tense moment was of course Emmett forgetting that said meet and greet was going on. He tends to um, get into sporting events more than anyone else in the family, I mean I will match him on certain occasions, but an event like this one when things are already tense, I'm able to control my excitement, Em, not so much, the arm flailing is just the beginning.

It also depends on the game he is watching, it could be a baseball, football, hockey, you name it if he's only somewhat invested in the team he'll cheer on a good play but that's about it. But if he's insanely obsessed with the team it gets noisy in our house and this was no exception.

College football was on and it was the Florida Gators a team that he can't get any more obsessed with. I was paying more attention to Bella, Charlie, and Edward than I was the football game, but my profile is always on high alert, so when I felt a wave wash over me, I knew something was coming.

I looked down at Emmett, he was on the edge of the chair, getting closer and closer to the edge as the running back made his way down the field towards the end zone. I could see where this was going, I knew he was going to score, but there was no way to warn the others and certainly no time to remind Emmett not to:

"WAHOO! Go Gators Go!" his voice boomed throughout the house.

Us vampires all froze, I mean literally froze, Charlie and Jacob both jumped at least a foot in the air and poor Charlie looked as if he were about to have a heart attack.

"Emmett!" I hissed and he also winced realizing his mistake.

Seconds ticked by as we all stared at each other, you'd think that the air would feel so tense, so thick it be suffocating, but it wasn't. I looked over at Charlie, he was tense for a moment, but I saw his body relax, he looked over his shoulder at Emmett and gave a slight smile

"Florida winning?" he asked and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just scored the first touchdown," Emmett exclaimed. He gave Bella a mischievous look and I winced, hiding my head with my hands. I glanced up only for a second as Bella looked at me suspiciously. 'Bout time somebody scored around here." He added and I slapped my forehead. Bella looked furious, but Charlie seemed completely oblivious. He stood up and took a deep breath before walking around Jacob and headed towards us. He looked at me confused as he passed by

"Is that really comfortable?" he asked me

I nodded and grinned

"Comfortable and safer."

"Safer?" he asked

"And that's the extra point!" Emmett shouted throwing his arms in the air. "Heck yeah!"

"Safer, trust me on this" I repeated nodding at him, Charlie seemed to understand my meaning. I slid off the back of the loveseat and gestured for him to take it, which he did, giving me a nod as a thank you.

"Well," he said turning his full attention to the game he sighed, "I guess we should see if they can hold on to the lead."

Bella stared at her father in shock for a second, she looked over at me and I shrugged, giving her a grin, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing and I had proof, because Charlie ended up staying for two games and the after-game commentary. All before Seth had to remind him that he was having dinner with Seth's mum and Jacob's dad.

Bella offered to walk her dad out and took Nessie with her. We could all hear them talking as we drifted off doing our own thing, Bella even managed to give her father a hug and let him hold Nessie. It surprised even me. I knew she was doing excellent, but I didn't think she knew just how well she was doing, I didn't think she'd chance something like that, but it was nice to be surprised.

With my ability, I'm not use to being surprised and so it shouldn't be that interesting to learn that I don't much care for surprises when they do occur, but this was one surprise that I could get behind and enjoy.

Jacob headed into the kitchen to go raid the fridge and the rest of us meandered onto other things. Alice and Jasper were sitting together on the steps, Carlisle was in his usual chair engrossed in a book, Esme was sketching, Emmett and Rose were building a house of cards under the stairs, and I gravitated towards my chess set, a gift from Aro that also serves as a creepy reminder of my own Volturi experience, both my first as well as my much less pleasant recent encounter.

Believe me, there was a few times after I returned from Alaska where I was tempted to send the set back to Aro, but I couldn't do it…even so, I haven't touched the set in a long time, certainly not since the events with the newborn army. My fingers gently curled around the onyx carved knight. Come to think of it, I haven't played chess in a while either, certainly not on the board anyways I don't think the battle with the newborns really counted as a chess match.

I glanced over at Jasper hoping he could play, but I decided to leave him and Alice be, Edward had gravitated towards his piano and was playing it softly. I heard more rustling coming from the kitchen as Jacob went about making some sort of dinner for himself, I wondered for a moment if he would play a game with me. I didn't have long to contemplate that as I heard Charlie drive off and Bella let out a smooth 'wow,' whisper. Instantly Edward was behind her, I could hear the two of them talking as they headed back towards the family room.

"You took the word right out of my mouth." Edward explained

"Edward, I did it!" Bella replied, still in disbelief, I exchanged a look with Emmett and we both chuckled a little.

"You did. You were unbelievable. All that worrying over being a newborn, and then you skip it altogether." He laughed quietly. "I think you did even better than Chris," Edward looked over at me "no offense Chris,"

I shrugged

"None taken,

"I'm not even sure she's really a vampire, let alone a newborn," Emmett called, winking at me from under the stairs. "She's too tame." He added "even Chrissy boy wasn't this tame."

"Don't forget who put you on yer blo-" I paused with Nessie, I've definitely become more aware of my language and making sure to take care with how I speak around her.

"Go ahead Chris, say it, you know you want to," Emmett taunted with a grin, I glanced over at Bella and more specifically Nessie and was relieved to see the baby was sacked out in Bella's arms.

"Don't forget who put you on yer b-l-o-o-d-y… a-r-s-e after you teased and taunted me for six hours straight until I finally agreed to wrestle with you?"

Edward and Rose chuckled, remembering that, Esme however looked up in shock, and I winced, I had forgotten Esme had no idea about that whole incident.

"Boys," she called

"Don't worry Esme," Rosalie spoke up "Chris put Emmett down pretty quick,"

"The little twerp cheated, playing all weak and frail." I rolled my eyes, Em paused and looked at Bella mischievously "anyways at least we could be sure you were a newborn, still doubting super woman over there." I snorted back a laugh as Bella actually snarled at Emmett. He laughed it off. "Oooo, scary," he added.

Now Bella hissed at him, this woke Nessie up a little, she yawned, looked up at her mother and placed her hand on Bella's throat

"Charlie will be back tomorrow," Bella assured her and I chuckled, it was nice to see that Nessie was taken with her grandfather.

"Excellent," Emmett said, Rose looked over at me and we both chuckled a little, both of us knowing that Emmett was asking for trouble and was about to experience it for himself.

"Not brilliant, Emmett," Edward spoke up, he held out his arms towards Bella, silently asking for Nessie. Bella looked at him confused, but handed Ness over.

"What do you mean?" Emmett asked, still confused. I couldn't believe he couldn't see it, I mean I get that I can profile and that others cannot necessarily see what I can, but he was being so dense it wasn't even funny, he was going to get his arse kicked and it was actually pretty funny.

"It's a little dense, don't you think, to antagonize the strongest vampire in the house?" Edward asked

Edward snorted his laughter

"Please," he shot back

"Bella," Edward whispered to Bella, Emmett listened closely and even I leaned closer to listen "do you remember a few months ago, I asked you to do me a favor once you were immortal?"

It took Bella a moment or two as she thought back to her human time, then suddenly her eyes lit up as she remembered what Edward was talking about. I remembered it too, Edward told me all about it. It was definitely going to be amusing to say the least.

Alice started laughing and Jacob poked his head around the corner from the kitchen, his mouth stuffed with food.

"What?" Emmett asked, he was completely confused as to what was being plotted around him.

"Really?" Bella asked Edward, he looked over at me and I studied Emmett's body language and the more I profiled on my brother, the more I was confident that Bella would not only whoop his butt, but it was going to be funny as all hell. I nodded at Edward, this would work out exactly as he thought it would.

"Trust me," Edward said, grinning at me.

Bella looked really nervous as she took a deep breath.

"Emmett," she called nervously "how do you feel about a little bet?"

The word bet always catches Em's attention, he was literally on his feet in a split second, eyes bright and excited.

"Awesome. Bring it." he smiled manically as Bella sized him up, she looked up at Emmett and I could see the wheels turning, she wanted to back away. Emmett is the biggest goofball there ever was, but there's no denying his size plays into how most people react to him, he's intimidating.

I know I was scared of him when I first joined the family, I literally clung and stayed as close to Edward as much as I could until I got more comfortable with Emmett and realized he wouldn't hurt me.

"Uh," Bella started to say

"Unless you're too afraid?" Emmett suggested. Bella's confidence seemed to get the needed boost, she stood straight and looked at him.

"You. Me. Arm-wrestling. Dining room table. Now." She insisted and Emmett's grin got wider.

"Er, Bella," Alice said quickly, "I think Esme is fairly fond of that table. It's an antique."

"It is!" I spoke up reminding Emmett "it's over 150 years old," he shrugged and nodded at Bella.

"Thanks," Esme mouthed at Alice.

"No problem," Emmett said spoke up, he looked at her with a gleaming smile. "Right this way, Bella." He nodded for her to follow and as she did, the rest of us joined them, mainly out of curiosity. Emmett led Bella down towards the river over to a large granite boulder he placed his elbow on the rock and waved Bella forward.

Now that this thing was happening, Bella's nerves were at an all time high, she was eyeing Emmett's muscles and his maniacal grin apprehensively. She looked over at me and I grinned and gave her a thumbs up. She took a deep breath and looked back at Emmett,

"Okay, Emmett. I win, and you cannot say one more word about my sex life to anyone, not even Rose. No allusions, no innuendos – no nothing." She ordered nervously, Emmett looked over at me now and his grin got wider.

"Deal." He said "I win, and it's going to get a lot worse." Bella's eyes went wide as she took that in, she looked over at Edward and clearly wasn't sure if she should accept this bet, Edward was grinning, he clearly thought she'd be okay, but he was biased so Bella looked at me. I gave her a nod, she could be him, it was a typical Emmett situation, he was being over confident and being over confident against a newborn. "You gonna back down so easy, little sister?" Emmett taunted. "Not much wild about you, is there? I bet that cottage doesn't have a scratch." He laughed. "Did Edward tell you how many houses Rose and I smashed?"

I slapped my forehead, only Emmett.

Bella was un-phased at this point and more determined than before. She reached out and took Emmett's hand

"One, two- " she started to count, closing her eyes as she went

"Three," Emmett exclaimed and basically met with a brick wall. He had assumed it would be easy to move Bella's hand, but her hand wasn't budging. Emmett was pushing as hard as he could, he was trying desperately to move Bella's hand even a little, but it wasn't happening. Bella seemed like she was getting bored and I saw her hand give a twitch and Emmett's hand moved half an inch. Bella laughed, but Emmett growled,

"Just keep your mouth shut," Bella spoke up, before pulling Emmett's hand down against the boulder, breaking the boulder into pieces. Emmett kicked the fragments across the river, creating a domino effect with some of the trees.

"Rematch. Tomorrow." He growled

"It's not going to wear off that fast," Bella told him. "Maybe you ought to give it a month."

"Or two," I whispered to Jasper who nodded

"Tomorrow." Emmett insisted

"Hey, whatever makes you happy, big brother." Bella added looking at me, she was smiling and I smiled back.

"He doesn't listen to reason Bella, you're not going to change his mind." I explained. She nodded and reached down to the stone, suddenly realizing the strength she has as the rock crumbled to pieces.

"Cool," Bella mumbled, she grinned wider, whirled around and literally karate chopped the rock with her hand, splitting it in two. She began to laugh, I mean full on laughing. She was having fun just letting go and clearly she needed it. We were all chuckling and enjoying Bella's amusement, when Nessie let out an actual laugh, not her usual baby/toddler giggle that she'd been doing, but an actual child like laugh.

"Did she just laugh?" Bella asked, taking a break from her rock smashing fun as we all stared at Nessie.

"Yes," Edward said.

"Who wasn't laughing?" Jacob muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Tell me you didn't let go a bit on your first run, dog," Edward teased gently as if he was teasing one of us.

"That's different," Jacob said, and I couldn't help the chuckle at Bella's shocked face when Jacob mock punched Edward's shoulder. "Bella's supposed to be a grown-up. Married and a mom and all that. Shouldn't there be more dignity?" now I snorted "what's so funny flea?"

"Who wants to have dignity and be boring?" I asked

Renesmee frowned, she looked at me for a second and I grinned, profiling my niece and how much fun she was having watching her mother have fun. She reached up and touched Edward's face.

"What does she want?" Bella asked.

"Less dignity," Edward said with a grin. "She was having almost as much fun watching you enjoy yourself as I was."

"Aren't we all?" I asked, looking at my watch for a moment. As amusing as it was to watch Bella take out the rock and the fun Nessie was having and was about to have, I had something important to tend to in the garage.

I slipped away from the family and headed towards the garage, I glanced over my shoulder, no one questioned where I was going, even Nessie was preoccupied which was fine with me. It gave me time to work in peace, something I hadn't been able to do in a few weeks.

It was Bella's truck that pulled me away from the entertainment. I had to put working on it on hold for a while, but I could see a lot of free time coming where I might be able to get it running. Of course my original plan had been to get it running in time for Bella's birthday, but that was impossible on so many levels, most importantly of all how much work it was going to take to get the old Chevy running again.

The engine, among other things was completely blown out, that alone required me to find a replacement and that was going to take time. The new plan was to have the truck ready for Christmas and I was pretty confident that would work.

It was because of the engine I left everyone and returned to the garage alone. After Bella and Edward had left for their honeymoon I started emailing around to different places, I was beyond determined to get the truck restored for Bella.

I even posted on a car restoring message board. I listed the details about Bella's truck, what was wrong with it as it stood and if anyone out there potentially had the parts I needed, more specifically, an engine. I hadn't had any replies and I had pretty much given up on the message board. No one seemed to have one and believe me it was frustrating as all hell. Then two days ago someone responded to my post, my inquiry about an engine for a 1953 Chevy pickup truck.

This guy in Portland said he was rebuilding a 1970s Ford truck and a buddy of his had an extra engine that he sold him for like fifty bucks, turns out the engine was too old to fit the year of his truck and since he was fully restoring it to bring to car shows, it wouldn't work, he was looking for someone to buy it.

The pictures he sent me matched the engine from Bella's truck, perfectly. I knew just by looking at them that it was within a five year span and would work.

So I responded to the guy, gave him my email, we started emailing back and forth and then I emailed him my cell number, and just waited for the call.

So when my cell phone went off I jumped on it. Everything about Bella's truck was easily replaced, except the bloody engine so I was really hoping that this guy and I could work out a reasonable deal.

"Hello?" I said answering the phone

"Hello, is Chris around?"

"Hi, Karl?"

"Yes this is Karl, is this Chris?"

"Yes, hi, how are you?"

"Not bad, yourself?"

"Can't complain," I responded, even over the phone I could hear and feel the hesitation in Karl's voice. Try as I might, I can't mask how young I actually sound, especially over the phone or so I've been told, so Karl obviously wasn't sure he wanted to work with a kid. So to be honest I wasn't surprised when the question regarding my age came up pretty quick.

"So, Chris I have to ask, and please don't take offense to this, but how old are you? I mean your emails and posts make you sound pretty mature, but man I got to tell you, you sound like my thirteen year old son."

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.

"Yeah I get that a lot, to be honest Karl, I'm fifteen going on sixteen. But I'm pretty mature, I even have a mechanics license. My older sister and I work on and restore cars as a hobby and the truck that I'm restoring is actually a gift for my older brother's wife. It, uh, belonged to her father and he gave it to her when she started driving, it's a tradition in her family to pass this truck down. It ran pretty well up until a few months ago when it just died. I was with it for hours trying to revive it, but I couldn't." I finished, I've gotten really good at, erm, storytelling, part of that was the truth, but of course some of it was fibbing.

Karl didn't say anything for a few seconds as he was taking all that in. Finally I heard him chuckle.

"It's great to know that kids are still into fixing up old cars. My buddies and I used to love tinkering under the hood of my father's Pontiac when I was a kid." I grinned, and we have acceptance. "So yeah, about the engine, my buddy sold it to me for about fifty, you willing to pay that?"

"Yes sir" I replied "the engine has to be the toughest thing to find right now. I even tried contacting some of the Chevy dealerships in the area and a couple car museums and no one could point me in the right direction for this engine, I'm hoping to have the truck fixed up and running by December."

Just then, I heard footsteps coming towards the garage, I had been keeping an ear out just in case Bella wandered in, I didn't want her to know what I was up too and I certainly didn't want Edward to figure it out either, he was convinced that the truck was sitting in the junk yard for scrap.

Luckily he's been so preoccupied with Bella and Nessie that he hasn't been snooping in the garage. But I knew this wasn't Bella and it wasn't Edward, I got the whiff of dog right after I first noticed the footsteps and knew it was Jacob.

He poked his head into the garage and looked at me curious as I finished explaining my position to Karl. There was a brief pause and I could practically see him nodding,

"This truck you're working on, is it your first restoration?" Karl asked, Jacob walked over to my work bench and sat himself down on it watching the phone call play out, I rolled my eyes at him

"No, second actually, last year my sister and I restored a 68 Mustang from the frame up." Jacob looked over at the Mustang as I said this, he hopped off the counter and walked over to it checking it out.

On the phone, Karl whistled

"Impressive, I'm a Ford guy myself, not much of a Chevy man, but they do have some sweet trucks though. What year did you say this truck is?"

"53," Jacob called from the driver seat of my Mustang, I covered the mouth piece of my phone

"Shuddup," I hissed and he grinned and laughed at me. "It's a 53," I replied to Karl

"How's the body?"

"Bodies in pretty good shape, it's all internal that seems to be the most issue. Though I probably will repaint it, the rust on it is pretty nasty." At that point Jacob picked up a loose lug nut from my toolbox and chucked it at me, not hard, I know he was joking and it was easy enough to catch even though he was aiming for the back of my head. The only reason I didn't flick it back at him was I was afraid I'd hit the Mustang or worse…Rosalie's BMW.

"Well, I hope this engine works out for you, you said you folks are up in Forks?"

"Yeah, just outside of town,"

"And your parents are okay with you making a deal like this?" I tried not to laugh as I rolled my eyes, but Jacob was literally on the ground laughing his head off, I had to move towards my loft to get away from him.

"Yeah, they trust me and my brother or my sister usually go along with me."

"Well, in that case why don't you folks come down to me, I've got some other parts that might fit the truck and I can bundle them up for you."

I grinned, that definitely made things a lot easier and I could get Emmett to go along and maybe even see if Jacob or Jasper were up for a road trip.

"Sounds good to me," I said

"You got a paper and a pen? I'll give you my address, can you come down tomorrow? My wife's been on me to get the engine out of our garage, apparently she'd like to start parking her car there before winter comes."

I laughed

"Not a problem, we'll be down say around 1?"

"Perfect, good talking to you Chris, look forward to meeting you," Karl paused "I don't suppose you could bring some pictures of that Mustang? I'd love to see it, told you I'm a Ford guy."

"Sure, I'd be happy too," I replied "see you tomorrow," and with that I flipped my phone closed and returned to the first level of the garage where Jacob was waiting for me, still laughing a bit, but with a look of expectancy on his face. "Can I help you Jacob?" I asked

"What's the deal with the engine?" he asked

"Don't you know it's impolite to answer a question with a question?" I asked

"Nope," he replied and grinned "so engine?"

"That was the guy who responded to my post,"

"Sweet," Jacob exclaimed "he's got one?"

"Hopefully what we need, I looked at the pictures he emailed me and they look about right." I paused "he asked us down to Oregon to his house to check it out and take it. Fifty bucks and he might have some of the other parts we need as well."

"Okay," Jacob replied as if he wasn't sure where I was going with this "so?"

"So, normal circumstances I'd take Emmett and Jasper along, but I was wondering if you'd like to go with Em and I. Jasper will be preoccupied with following Bella around and I know you'd probably want to stay around Nessie, but since you're the one who originally fixed the truck up, I'd really like your input on the restoration."

Jacob seemed taken aback by that statement. He actually stared at me in shock for a moment or two, before he recovered.

"Seriously?"

I shrugged

"Only if you want too,"

He scratched his chin

"Throw in lunch and you've got a deal."

"Lunch?" I repeated "who said anything about lunch,"

"One McDonald's quarter pounder and I'll be happy."

I rolled my eyes again and sighed

"Fine, lunch." Jacob nodded and started for the garage door, he paused and turned back to me. "Something else I can do for you?" I asked

"Look Fle-…Kid," he started, then nodded at Bella's truck "it's a nice thing that you're doing for her, she was almost like her old self out there and I think having this back will really do the trick. You're a pretty good kid…for a leech." He added with a grin

"You're not so bad yourself hairball." I shot back "and you better watch it…someday I may be your uncle-in-law."

Jacob pretended to shudder at that as he headed out into the woods, leaving me with a lifeless truck and a lot of work to get it running.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, when things are going so smoothly, so carefree, it's easy to get into the mindset that all is well and will continue to be all well and good, even for a vampire this is possible.

The weeks following Bella's transformation and Nessie's birth literally flew by. In a matter of just weeks, Nessie grew from an infant, to a toddler, able to pull herself upright and even walk around timidly. Carlisle spent every moment he could documenting this growth spurt. By the beginning of October, even though Nessie was physically about one or two, she didn't act like it nor did she speak like it, she could speak and was very articulate, but she preferred to speak to people in her own way.

She still wouldn't sleep without a Celtic fairy tale and me singing to her, which meant I was trucking my way down the path, through the woods to Bella and Edward's cottage every night.

I didn't mind it though, complain as I might, Nessie and I had grown extremely close and I loved spending time with my niece. We had bonded tighter than I ever thought I would.

During this rapid growth, while Edward, Carlisle, and Bella were discussing plans to return to Brazil to follow up on some legends that might explain Nessie, the Volturi sent their 'wedding' present.

The gift was presented in an ornately carved, ancient wooden box inlaid with gold and mother-of-pearl, ornamented with a rainbow of gemstones. The box itself was pretty specular, but it was the gift inside that made Carlisle and I gasp in shock, mainly because we both recognized the jewelry that was inside. It was part of a set from the Crown Jewels.

"I always wondered where the crown jewels disappeared to after John of England pawned them in the thirteenth century," Carlisle had said. "I suppose it doesn't surprise me that the Volturi have their share."

I'm not entirely sure, but the idea of the Volturi laying claim to something that rightfully belonged in England really ticked me off. I mean not only did this exchange happen centuries before I was born, but it occurred when my country was being ransacked by the English and my ancestors were trying to save themselves from being exterminated by the very sovereign that had pawned the jewels. Regardless of that piece of history, it only added to my growing contempt of the Volturi.

Little did I know, that the missing piece of the crown jewels and the Volturi having their grubby paws on them was about to be the least of all our worries. The amazing thing is, it all started out so innocent, so ordinary. Unfortunately if there's one thing I have learned, it's when things are the calmest, the most at ease, that's usually when all hell breaks loose.

I was up in the loft above the garage, kicking Seth's butt on Mario Kart, this was our third race and we were neck and neck, he had won the first race, I won the second and now this was for bragging rights.

"You're going down this time Wolf Boy!" I shouted throwing a red turtle shell at Seth's race car. He tried to dodge it, but it knocked him off the edge of the road, and since the deciding track was Rainbow Road, he went sailing off into oblivion giving me a new lead.

"Dude!" He exclaimed "not cool!"

"All's fair Seth!" I replied, he managed to get a bullet which put him up only a few cars behind me, but I wasn't going to have any of that so I was ecstatic when I got another turtle shell, only it was a green on this time. These ones of course don't target like the red ones do, but Seth has this paranoia that the green shells are out to get him and I guess it's kind of understandable, they always manage to nail him when we play, they're like Seth seeking missiles and it's always hilarious.

"Seriously!" he growled as he tried to avoid the three green shells that came flying at his car, he managed to miss the first two, but the third smacked right into his car and knocked him off the bridge again.

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing, he reached over to push me, but didn't have a chance as I gracefully crossed the finish line in first, by the time his car was rescued and he was put back on the track, the race standings were determined.

"Sorry, Seth, better luck next time,"

"Oh it's on Chris, rematch, I DEMAND a rematch!"

I rolled my eyes at my best friend and chuckled

"Don't you have to be home for dinner or something?" I asked and he shook his head

"My mom's out with Charlie for dinner tonight, I'm in no hurry to get home," he grinned "why? Afraid that I'll win the next round?"

"Over my undead body," I shot back "you pick the track this time, do your worse." I added as he went through the possible tracks looking for the nastiest one he could find. Rainbow Road is considered one of the toughest courses of the game, but there are a few that are just as tough. So I wasn't surprised that Seth picked one of the old school haunted house themes. Not exactly challenging, but if you don't watch your speed you can go flying off the edge and the car that Seth had chosen had a terrible draft.

"This is it Chris, winner take all, mono eh wolfie,"

"Mono eh wolfie?" I repeated "that makes as much sense as your shell conspiracy," he looked at me with a serious stare

"it's no conspiracy," he whispered, making it so it honestly was hard to tell if he was serious or just joking "they're seriously out to get me, it doesn't matter if I'm playing this with you or Brady or Collin, or whoever, those stupid green shells always hunt me down."

I sighed, no point in even trying to reason with him, if he wanted to be crazy and paranoid I wasn't going to argue with him.

"Right,"

The lights began to count down and it had just turned green when I felt a cold wash over me. I froze, unable to move, my car sat idling as Seth shot off like a rocket leaving me in a trail of dust and still I didn't move. He had rounded the corner when he looked over and saw me sitting there stiffer than normal, so he paused the game and poked me in the shoulder.

"Chris?" he whispered "hello earth to Chris?"

"Som-Something's wrong," I muttered

"What do you mean?"

I didn't know…I honestly couldn't explain my sudden cold, I stood up and walked to the window of the loft, Bella, Nessie, and Jacob in wolf form were heading towards the woods so that Nessie could hunt. Nessie must have felt someone staring at them because she turned and looked up at the window. When she saw it was me she grinned and waved quickly, slowly and weakly I returned the gesture, whatever it was…it had to do with Nessie, Bella, and Jacob going hunting.

Seth came up next to me and followed my line of sight, then he looked at me still confused as to my strange behavior.

"Bye Uncle Chris! Bye Seth!" Nessie called as Bella scooped her up and put her on Jacob's furry back, Bella turned and gave us a wave as well, before the three of them disappeared into the tree line.

"Seriously what's up with you?" Seth pushed

"I don't know, just felt cold all of a sudden," I explained

"Uh, not to burst your happy bubble there, but isn't cold a normal sensation with you?" he asked and I sighed

"Not like this, this is a different cold." I paused "you know the expression 'made my blood run cold?'" Seth nodded "that's how best to describe it. It's not a cold sensation like you're standing in the ice chest, it's knowing something isn't right, something frightening is coming." I paused again and pushed my bangs back "it usually happens when my profile is trying to tell me something."

Seth tried to hide the concern on his face,

"Did you profile something happening?" he asked, Seth has a basic idea on how my ability works, I think he's reached the point where he doesn't want to know details, but he is slowly figuring out that when I have a hunch about something, it's best to listen to me.

"No, that's the problem. I have a feeling, a hunch…but nothing concrete, nothing solid." I looked out towards the woods "the bloody problem is I have a bad feeling that it has something to do with Nessie, Bella, and Jacob."

"Do you think they're in danger?" Seth asked quickly, getting himself ready to go and fight if need be."

But I shook my head

"No, but seriously something isn't right…" I growled a little bit, my ability is helpful in a lot of scenarios, but it's not perfect and certainly not precise, it was leaving gaps and holes and not giving me a full explanation and I don't like that at all.

"Do you want to keep racing?" Seth asked, when I didn't answer him he waited a few seconds then elbowed me gently "Chris?"

"yeah?" I responded, not really paying attention to my friend "yeah, sorry Seth what were you saying?"

"I was asking if you wanted to keep racing, but I have a feeling I know the answer."

"Sorry," I replied "rematch later okay?" he nodded "thanks,"

"Anytime. I think I'll head downstairs, see what your brother has on for a game, you going to come or you do want to stay staring out the window until they get back?"

"I'll come down," I said with a sigh and reluctantly I followed my friend down the steps towards the first floor where we could hear Emmett watching a rerun of a football game, it was as good a distraction as any…I knew Nessie was safe, Bella and Jacob would see to that…I just couldn't shake my feeling of animosity, it just wouldn't go away.

Of course about fifteen minutes after my initial wave of coldness, Edward's phone went off. Emmett had changed the channel from a football game to hockey and was attentively egging on the players in a fight. Seth and I exchanged a look but neither of us had the heart to remind Emmett that the players couldn't hear him shouting 'fight, fight, fight' incessantly at the screen.

Seconds before the phone actually rang I felt the coldness wash over me again and I knew exactly where to look this time as I turned in my seat to face Edward who was heading into Carlisle's office. He paused and looked at me for a split second, before answering the phone.

"Come, bring Carlisle," I could hear Bella explaining, even over her voice I could hear breathing, two different inhales and exhales so I knew Nessie and Jacob were within range and listening to Bella's end of the phone call. "I saw Irina, and she saw me, but then she saw Jacob and she got mad and ran away, I think. She hasn't shown up here – yet, anyway – but she looked pretty upset so maybe she will. If she doesn't, you and Carlisle have to go after her and talk to her. I feel so bad." Bella finished, Edward and I exchanged a look.

What purpose would Irina have with us right now? She was still angry at the wolves and certainly unhappy with us and our decision to defend the pack.

"We'll be there in half a minute," Edward told Bella and instantly I was on my feet as he called to Carlisle and quickly explained what had happened.

"I'm coming too," I said, it came out sounding like a request even though it was intended to be a demand. "I might have a better chance to talk to her, and certainly a better chance to catch up with her."

"But we do not want Irina to feel overwhelmed," Edward explained gently and I shook my head ready to argue, when Carlisle stepped in.

"Chris is correct, Irina may respond easier to him." He replied "come on."

Edward didn't wait for Carlisle to approve, he bolted out the front door and Carlisle and I followed in suit, leaving a confused and dumbfounded Seth and Emmett.

Seth's confusion didn't last long though because seconds later I heard the shredding of clothes and felt the pounding of paws on the ground as him and Leah came up behind us, as we made our way to the meadow.

Nessie looked nervous, she was clearly feeding off of Bella's guilt and Jacob's alertness, he didn't like this situation at all. Of course, even if Jacob and Bella managed to hide their feelings from Nessie, the fact that all of us showed up with one phone call was enough to worry anyone.

"She was up on that ridge," Bella explained "She looked... really upset. She growled at me."

"What?" Edward said angrily and I rolled my eyes

Carlisle put a hand on Edward's arm, silently telling him to calm down a bit.

"She's grieving." He reminded all of us "Chris and I will go after her." and I nodded.

"I'm coming with you both," Edward insisted.

Carlisle looked at me for a moment and I sighed, Edward was irritated with Irina, but perhaps it would be good if the three of us talked to her, true she was grieving, but this whole 'be angry at the Cullens' thing was getting old, it was time to put it to rest.

Without a word, Carlisle nodded and the three of us took off, me in the lead following Irina's distinct scent.

Her trail wasn't hard to follow at first, but it didn't take me long to realize what direction she was heading towards and made me lose a lot of hope that we'd catch up with her or even follow her trail for that matter. Mainly because once she crossed the sound, that was it, our chance went down the drain.

As we stood on the shore looking out at the sound, we exchanged a look, the three of us clearly thinking the same thing.

"I'm checking the other side," I spoke up, it came out sounding like I was asking Carlisle for permission, even though I really meant it to come out as a declaration, Carlisle nodded though, he patted my shoulder

"We'll all go," he said softly. I pulled off my sweatshirt and we piled the cellphones and other non-water friendly items in it, hiding it under a bush out of the way of foot traffic, not that the area we were in received much foot traffic anyways. We exchanged on last look, before the three of us headed for the water.

Of course we didn't find her scent on the other side, there was literally no sign of Irina anywhere, so after searching the immediate area on the other side of the sound, I think we all had accepted defeat, well, at least to ourselves. I wasn't ready to give up and wanted to keep searching for her even though I knew it was pointless. In the end, my brother and father convinced me to give up, at least for the time being.

When we returned home, Bella looked miserable, she was clearly blaming herself for the whole incident. She wouldn't listen to reason that it was no one's fault, least of all hers. I kept it to myself, but I was at the point with Irina where I knew our cousin had to make peace with this whole thing and basically swallow her pride.

I knew she wasn't listening to anyone regarding Laurent and his true intentions and it wasn't like we all hadn't tried to talk to her about it, I know for a fact that Eleazar had literally sat her down at one point to discuss the whole thing, but she wouldn't listen us, she wouldn't even listen to her own sisters.

We all knew enough about Laurent that he had underlying motives for going to Alaska. Even if he had the slightest feeling for our cousin, it was overshadowed by his loyalty and his desire for Victoria, there was no two ways about that, problem was Irina was just to blinded by his 'charm' to see it.

As soon as we got home, Carlisle called Tanya with the new development regarding their sister. Tanya and Kate hadn't seen her since the wedding, I was closer to Carlisle during the phone call than anyone else and I could hear the anguish and worry in Tanya's voice as she relayed that to Carlisle. It was devastating to them to know that Irina was so close, yet still hadn't come home and who could blame them.

I looked at Edward as this conversation was occurring, remember his disappearing act just last year, his lack of communication, our constant worry about his wellbeing, the frustration that he put on the entire family, and more specifically the hurt he put Esme and Carlisle through. As these thoughts moved through my mind he looked up at me, reading each one and I winced a little.

Sorry I thought, shrugging as I hoped my apology sounded sincere in my thoughts as it would had it been spoken. My brother gave me a weak smile and nodded, letting me know I had nothing to apologize for and that I was right in my thoughts and even my comparison to what Tanya and Kate must be feeling to what we had gone through with him.

Of course Alice tried to get a pinpoint on Irina's future, but she couldn't get a solid fix on her. Her future kept jumping and the one thing that Alice was sure about was that Irina was not going back to Denali and we all were disappointed by that vision, it would have made things a lot calmer if we knew she was heading home, at least then we could hope that our cousins could talk some sense into her.

As I listened to Carlisle's frail attempt to reassure Tanya, I felt someone come up behind me and tug on my sweatshirt, I knew who it was of course, but pretended to be surprised when I turned around and found Nessie staring up at me.

"Hey Nessie girl," I whispered, kneeling down so I was eye level with her. The main problem with that is the fact that soon I won't have to kneel to be eye level with her, now she stands just at my waist and still growing.

"Uncle Chris?" she started to say, she hesitated, then put her hand to my face, asking her question in her own way. Instantly my mind filled with images of Chap, scurrying around his cage, begging for sunflower seeds, and riding perched on my shoulder.

"You want to go play with Chaplin?" I asked and she nodded

"Please?"

I grinned and turned my back to her, nodding for her to hop on, I heard her giggle as she climbed onto my back, wrapping her legs around my waist and holding onto my neck tight.

No one really seemed to notice us as headed towards the stairs, with Nessie riding on my back, Bella looked up as we passed and gave us both a weak smile, which we returned.

Once we had reached the third floor, Nessie finally spoke again. I could feel the question that was eating her up the entire walk up from the family room. She just wasn't sure how to ask the question, as smart as Nessie was and as fast as she was growing it was easy to forget how old she actually was and even how old mentally she was.

"Go ahead Ness, what's on your mind?" I prodded as we walked into my room and I knelt down so she could slide off my back.

"Uncle Chris who was that that mommy and Jacob saw, why did we have to stop hunting?"

I chuckled a little

"Knowing you as well as I do you probably weren't doing much hunting but you were probably doing a decent job of stalling."

She pouted for a moment, but it was nowhere near being serious and it was done within seconds of it starting.

"There were snowflakes, they were pretty," I chuckled "they were Uncle Chris, they were really, really pretty."

"I'm sure they were," I replied with a grin

"Was she someone mommy knows?" Nessie asked, one track mind child, clearly she did not suffer from short attention spans like I did. "She looked angry,"

I took a deep breath, really not sure I wanted to explain to a three month old albeit a rapidly maturing one, who Irina was and why she would show up out of the blue like this. Granted the latter part I was still having trouble answering myself, why had Irina come? Was she coming to apologize? It was the only thing that made logical sense, but she had to know that by coming here the potential for running into one of the wolves was greatly increased. Our desperate phone call back in the beginning of summer should've been enough to clue our cousin into the fact that we were working with the wolves and that we were allies. An alliance that had become so much more because of Nessie.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts as I glanced down at Nessie who was looking at me expectantly.

"That was Irina, she's…she's our cousin from Alaska."

"Oh," Nessie said thoughtfully "but why'd she look so mad?" Give the kid that much, she was observant…almost more observant than me,

"She wasn't mad Ness, she was afraid, Irina is afraid of…of…"

"Wolf-people like Jacob?" Bloody hell this kid was good.

"Yes Ness, she's afraid of them because she doesn't understand them," okay so a little fib is warranted every once in a while, she didn't need to know the truth, at least not like this, hopefully not ever. "It'll be okay though, we'll figure things out. Don't worry about it okay?" she didn't answer me at first, clearly deep in thought, "Nessie," I prodded nudging her shoulder gently "Reeeenessme!" I called emphasizing her name and she finally couldn't hold the smile back anymore and started laughing, I'm the only one who can't call her by her full name. For one thing it's way too much of a bloody mouthful to say and two I've been calling her Nessie for three months, I think I've made it so she pretty much expects to be called Nessie by me, Jacob too, but that's because we're the only two not afraid to call her Nessie in front of Bella. I've come to the conclusion that the rest of my family is a bunch of chickens on that matter because when Bella's around most of them (Emmett, Jasper, even Carlisle) call Nessie by her full name, but rarely use it when Bella's not around.

"No fair Uncle Chris," Ness exclaimed jumping into my arms as I hugged her gently "no fair being silly."

"If I can't be silly what's the point?" I asked with a grin and thankfully she didn't have a comeback for that one. "Come on you, I've got to clean Chap's cage anyways," I smiled "do you want to watch him while he goes for a swim?" she nodded quickly

"Yes please!"

Chap was at the top of his cage watching this exchange intently. If Jasper had confused the heck out of him due to his scent and if Bella was even worse, Nessie was the ultimate for Chap. She was thrilled about him and had been from day one and he's so bloody curious that he wanted to know all about this strange smelling creature in his room and well the two became good friends.

I'm pretty sure Alice has encouraged the relationship by teaching Nessie the finer points of spoiling my rat, because Nessie always makes a beeline right for the treats and Chaplin has learned that this tiny human creature will always have a sunflower seed in hand no matter what. Despite what was going on downstairs, and despite my uneasy feeling that had refused to go away, I felt a little bit better, just being with my niece and sharing our silliness.

A few days passed by, I think we all tried to put Irina out of our minds at least somewhat. I know Bella was still dwelling on it, still feeling guilty even though she had no reason to feel that way. Nessie had put it to the back of her mind, at least I hope she did, it was difficult to tell sometimes.

Besides, we had other things to plan for, Bella was going to go to Italy to present herself to the Italians and prove to them that she was one of us. I know none of us were comfortable with her going and especially since she planned on going alone. It was killing Edward and I had made the offer several times to go with her.

I knew her reasoning for wanting to go alone though and though it made me nervous, I could certainly see her point. The Italians were the last ones on Earth any of us would want to know about Ness and Bella is the only one in the world (presumably) whom Aro's mindreading ability has no affect. He couldn't read her mind last time they met and we know for a fact that Edward has never been able to read her mind. Jane's ability has no effect on Bella and Demetri, the Volturi's vampire lo-jack can't track her.

Her mind is completely shielded from any abilities that play a part to the mind. Abilities that are purely physical in nature such as Jasper and I are not shielded. It's an amazing thing, but is the reason Bella was going alone. Bella's thoughts would be safe and therefore her thoughts of Nessie would be safe. No matter how hard any of us tried, we might not be able to block Aro's mind probing regarding Ness…so regrettably only Bella could go.

Once she returned though we would be off and running together. Edward and Carlisle's research regarding those like Nessie had not slowed, if anything it had increased. They had found some stories in South America and hoped that Carlisle's friends in the Amazon might be able to shed some light on the stories. Jacob of course would be going, we all would.

Nessie had fallen asleep on the sofa while the rest of us puttered around finding ways to occupy ourselves. Emmett, Jasper, and I were discussing the potential critters the Amazon presented. I had my heart set on a jaguar, but my insane brother was dead set on finding an anaconda and wrestling with it.

I think Jasper and I were ignoring him at that point, but secretly we were both clearly thinking the same thing, how much money would we put down that we would find a very fat snake with the outline of Emmett in its middle, as our brother ending up having to bust out of the snake like in the movie anaconda, only if I remember right the victim in that didn't have the opportunity to bust out of the snake, considering they were dead when the snake swallowed them whole.

This was all in joshing fun, I really didn't want to explain to Esme that an anaconda ate Emmett, but I was pretty sure he was going to meet his match there.

Alice was kind of meandering around the family room aimlessly, cleaning that which did not need to be cleaned and straightening things that were already straight.

Nessie and Jacob both put massive holes in her visions, always forcing her to find ways around them, like trying to drive a car and avoid a road with random potholes everywhere. I could tell by her face though, she was searching for Irina and getting nowhere which was frustrating my already pretty tightly wound sister.

I didn't like seeing Alice like this, it actually made my stomach hurt. If anyone in our family needed a vacation, it was certainly Alice. Finally Jasper left Emmett and I and walked over to his wife, he kissed the top of her head gently, the atmosphere in the room changed as he tried to reassure and calm her.

"Let it go, Alice; she's not our concern," Jasper said softly and she stuck her tongue out at him, before lifting the crystal vase, filled with roses, moving towards the kitchen with it.

"Hey kid, you know what I was thinking would be fun to do," Emmett spoke up as we turned away from our sister.

Emmett was talking, but I barely heard him, I felt a cold wave wash over me and my profile was screaming at me, telling me something was about to happen…it was overwhelming and it didn't take much information to know it was warning me about Alice…I looked up at her, just as the vase slipped from her fingers, shattering into ten thousand diamond shards, bouncing every which way and sounding like millions of marbles clattering to the floor…like hail on a tin roof.

I didn't move, none of us did, aside from staring at Alice's back, dumbfounded by what had just happened and I knew…even without seeing my sister's face…even without knowing what her vision had been, I could see it in my mind, I saw danger I saw…death. Only that kind of vision would have made Alice freeze to the point where she would drop something.

Jasper was at her side, shaking her, trying to get her to speak as Edward gasped…he had seen what was going on and the look on his face confirmed for me what I was already fearing, I have only seen my brother be truly scared a few times in this life and this was the most fear, the most scared I have ever seen him.

"What?" Jasper growled, "What Alice?"

Emmett headed towards the window, looking for an attack, completely on guard, but I was getting enough from my profile to know that the danger was bigger than just an attack, at least in an attack we had hopes of defending ourselves…what could make my brother and sister so afraid like this. I stopped breathing, my stomach dropping as my profile finally sorted things out, only one thing could put this kind of fear into their minds, the Volturi.

I winced as Alice confirmed my profile, even though I was praying to god that she was wrong, that I was wrong.

"They're coming for us," Alice and Edward whispered together, perfectly synchronized. "All of them.

The room was dead silent for a second, before I breathed out a groan, that in some way sounded like a 'no'

"The Volturi," Alice moaned.

"All of them," Edward groaned at the same time.

"No…bloody hell no," I said, this couldn't be happening, I had to be imagining this whole thing.

"Why?" Alice whispered more to herself than to the rest of us "How?"

"When?" Edward whispered as he searched through Alice's vision trying to pull out that information,

"Why?" Esme echoed, she moved away from Carlisle and pulled me close, basically dragging me over to my father so she held both of us tight

"When?" Jasper repeated Edward's question

"Not long," she and Edward said together, as my brother finally found the information he was searching for. Alice didn't seem to notice her and Edward speaking in sync as she continued.

"There's snow on the forest, snow on the town. Little more than a month."

"Why?" Carlisle asked

"They must have a reason. Maybe to see ..." Esme started to say, but Alice cut her off.

"This isn't about Bella," Alice explained, her voice ringing of emptiness, something I had never heard from my sister before. "They're all coming – Aro, Caius, Marcus, every member of the guard, even the wives."

"The wives never leave the tower," Jasper contradicted "Never. Not during the southern rebellion. Not when the Romanians tried to overthrow them. Not even when they were hunting the immortal children. Never."

I looked over at Carlisle for confirmation and the worry lines on his face told me all I needed to know, Jasper was correct and if he was correct and if Alice was correct, this was just snowballing out of control.

"They're coming now," Edward whispered.

"But why?" Carlisle repeated "We've done nothing! And if we had, what could we possibly do that would bring this down on us?"

Carlisle has always tried to give his Italian friends the benefit of the doubt. Certain ones he does not trust, like Jane, especially after the summer battle. But Aro he has always tried to defend, tried to see the good in him. But that respect was dying and it was dying fast.

"There are so many of us," Edward answered dully. "They must want to make sure that..." He didn't finish.

I looked over at Nessie, then out the window…this wasn't random not at all and I knew the answer, I knew why all of a sudden all of the Volturi were coming…I hoped I was wrong, begged and pleaded with my profile to be wrong…but with how smooth everything had been going, there had been only one upset in our routine…Irina's unexpected visit.

I remembered how quick to judge my existence the Volturi were, they had assumed without even meeting me that Carlisle had broken one of their most crucial laws, the law forbidding immortal children and if Irina saw Nessie, her first thought would understandably be that she was an immortal child…something that the Volturi would not let go easily.

Bloody hell that explained so much and yet, I prayed I was wrong.

Deep down however, I knew I wasn't wrong.

Chapter Text

x-x-x-x-

"That doesn't answer the crucial question! Why?" Carlisle asked, I'm pretty sure more to himself than to the rest of us. I had a feeling I knew the answer to his question whether it was rhetorical or not, but I couldn't give my reasoning, I was off in my own world. Even when Jasper begged Alice to find the trigger, I knew the trigger, it was just a matter of time before my family knew it too.

Alice couldn't give Jasper an answer, at least not the trigger answer he was looking for, she looked over at me for a brief second as she shook her head, shoulders sagging.

"It came out of nowhere, Jaz." She explained "I wasn't looking for them, or even for us. I was just looking for Irina. She wasn't where I expected her to be..." Alice trailed off, her eyes drifted off, staring at something only she could see…this didn't last long however, because she suddenly looked back up and Edward who was reading her mind literally stopped breathing for a second.

I winced and took a deep breath before looking at my sister. Edward looked at me, he had been so focused on Alice and her vision he hadn't been paying any attention to my mind and now he did, he allowed the briefest glimpse into my mind and closed his eyes weakly.

"Alice?" Esme called gently

"She decided to go to them," Alice said. "Irina decided to go to the Volturi. And then they will decide... It's as if they're waiting for her. Like their decision was already made, and just waiting on her..."

Of course they were, I thought growling under my breath

"Can we stop her?" Jasper asked.

"There's no way. She's almost there."

I couldn't help it, I felt a wave of guilt wash over me, I had given up, I had given up the chase for Irina and if I hadn't I might have caught up to her, explained Nessie to her…Bloody hell I was an idiot.

"No Chris," Edward whispered, Carlisle was asking Alice questions, trying to get more information of her vision, but Edward must have read my mind, saw the guilt there. "This was not your fault,"

It is Edward, I knew I could catch up with her if I just had the chance, I gave up to easily. I thought and he shook his head, but he knows me well enough to know there was nothing he could say or do to change my mind…even I can admit that I'm a stubborn arse.

"Her mind was set the moment she saw Nessie. I don't think anything could have changed her decision." Alice explained, she looked right at me and I looked away quickly.

"What is she doing?" Carlisle asked,

"It's so hard to see," Alice explained, "she's upset and determined, that much I can see."

"I don't get it," Emmett growled softly "why…what's the de-"

Bella was laying over Nessie, protecting her as she slept soundly through all of this which was good, the longer she slept, the less she knew about what was going on the better. As mature as she was becoming she was still a little kid and we needed to keep her that way. Bella was deep in thought, but she looked up suddenly, joining the conversation quickly.

"Think of what she saw that afternoon," she said in a low voice, interrupting Emmett's rant/question. Emmett was beginning to say. "To someone who'd lost a mother because of the immortal children, what would Renesmee look like?"

I couldn't look at anyone, Bella had figured it out pretty quick. Esme came over to me, I felt her behind me and she hugged my shoulders.

"An immortal child," Carlisle whispered, he looked over at me for a moment, both of us clearly remembering my own experience with the Volturi, when they assumed I was an immortal child.

"But she's wrong," Bella continued "Renesmee isn't like those other children. They were frozen, but she grows so much every day. They were out of control, but she never hurts Charlie or Sue or even shows them things that would upset them. She can control herself. She's already smarter than most adults. There would be no reason..."

She was trying to justify it, hoping that maybe by talking like this it would make her words true, like she was preparing a defense for the Volturi. None of us really had the heart to bring her down. It took Edward a few seconds before he couldn't do that to her, he couldn't lie to her.

"It's not the kind of crime they hold a trial for, love," he said quietly. "Aro's seen Irina's proof in her thoughts. They come to destroy, not to be reasoned with."

"But they're wrong," Bella said stubbornly. She looked at me "and besides, didn't they believe Chris was an immortal child?" she asked "they didn't condemn him right away, they realized their mistake."

"They won't wait for us to show them this time." Edward explained "it was only rumors with Chris, Aro gave Carlisle the benefit of the doubt. This time he has a witness who yes is mistaken, but it is what Aro can see."

I saw the pain in Bella's eyes, the pain in Edward's voice…Edward wasn't giving up per say, but he was running out of ideas quickly and for once, he wasn't sure how to fix this.

"What can we do?" Bella demanded. There was a long pause, no one in the family had an answer…at least not at first. Emmett looked around, he looked at me, then at Carlisle.

"We fight," he said calmly. I'm used to Emmett's first reaction being to fight and usually even in a serious situation it's comical…this time he was completely serious and as much as I hated to admit a fight was our only alternative and in all reality it was pretty much a lost cause…but it was a die trying kind of thing, I felt sick.

"We can't win," Jasper growled, reminding us.

"Well, we can't run. Not with Demetri around." Emmett retorted. "And I don't know that we can't win," he added he looked at me "we've got enough warning here, we can at least try." He paused "besides, there are a few options to consider. We don't have to fight alone."

Bella didn't like that at all, she thought she saw where Emmett was going, she thought he meant the wolves.

"We don't have to sentence the Quileutes to death, either, Emmett!" she growled at him,

Emmett gave her a slight smile, trying to reassure her

"Chill, Bella." He said gently "I didn't mean the pack. Be realistic, though – do you think Jacob or Sam is going to ignore an invasion? Even if it wasn't about Nessie? Not to mention that, thanks to Irina, Aro knows about our alliance with the pack now, too. But I was thinking of our other friends."

Carlisle shook his head,

"Other friends we don't have to sentence to death."

"Hey, we'll let them decide," Emmett replied "I'm not saying they have to fight with us." He made a face as he tried to find the right words. "If they'd just stand beside us, just long enough to make the Volturi hesitate. Bella's right, after all. If we could force them to stop and listen. Though that might take away any reason for a fight..."

"Witnesses," I whispered, more to myself than anyone. Behind me I felt Esme nodding, she kissed the top of my head.

"Yeah, what the kid said, "witnesses"

"Yes," Esme said eagerly. "That makes sense. All we need is for the Volturi to pause for one moment. Just long enough to listen. Witnesses."

"We'd need quite a show of witnesses," Rosalie said, I could tell she was trying to keep the harshness out of her voice, but she was failing, because there was a distinct bitterness to her voice, not directed at anyone in particular, but still there.

"We can ask that much of our friends. Just to witness." Esme responded, as if she hadn't even heard Rose's bitterness.

"We'd do it for them," Emmett said.

"We'll have to ask them just right," Alice murmured. "They'll have to be shown very carefully."

"Shown?" Jasper asked, I'm not used to seeing Jasper confused and it's not something I want to experience again.

Alice looked Nessie over carefully, then she looked out at something only she could see, her mind scanning the future.

"Tanya's family," she said naming off the potential witnesses, ones who we could almost count on wanting to help us. "Siobhan's coven. Amun's, possibly Samuel and Julianna. Some of the nomads… Garrett and Mary for certain. Maybe Alistair."

"What about Peter and Charlotte?" Jasper asked weakly

"Maybe."

"The Amazons?" Carlisle asked. "Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna?"

Alice was deep in her visions, trying to see our allies and who would be most likely to not only come, but to help us. Alice shuddered a little.

"I can't see." She admitted, but I could read her body language, something was up, something definitely wasn't right, but I couldn't figure it out.

"What was that?" Edward asked, his voice tense. "That part in the jungle. Are we going to look for them?"

"I can't see," Alice repeated but she couldn't meet Edward's eyes and he looked confused, like with Jasper I'm not used him being confused either. "We'll have to split up and hurry – before the snow sticks to the ground. We have to round up whomever we can and get them here to show them." She was out of it again. "Ask Eleazar. There is more to this than just an immortal child. There is so much. We have to hurry," she whispered.

She was panicking, I was right something was wrong, I could see her face shifting and I could smell Jacob's scent in the air, but he was only part of it. Alice had seen something, something that had frightened her. Whatever it was, she was blocking it from Edward, he couldn't read that part of her mind.

"Alice?" Edward asked. "That was too fast – I didn't understand. What was-?"

"I can't see!" she exploded at him. "Jacob's almost here!"

Rosalie made a move towards the front door.

"I'll deal with-" she started to say, but Alice cut her off

"No, let him come," She said quickly, she grabbed Jasper's hand "I'll see better away from Nessie, too. I need to go. I need to really concentrate. I need to see everything I can. I have to go. Come on, Jasper, there's no time to waste!" Jasper looked just as confused as the rest of us as Alice pulled him out of the house and into the night

"Hurry!" she called back to us. "You have to find them all!"

"Find what?" Jacob asked, letting himself in. "Where'd Alice go?" None of us had an answer for him, we were all still trying to figure out what had just happened in the sudden hurricane that had rushed through the family

"Hey, Bells! I thought you guys would've gone home by now..." he exclaimed with a grin, but slowly that grin faded away, he realized something was going on. "What?" he asked flatly. "What happened?" but no one could answer him, slowly he moved towards Bella and Nessie, concern washing over his face "Is she okay?" he demanded, touching her forehead, "Don't mess with me, Bella, please!"

"Nothing's wrong with Renesmee," Bella said softly

"Then who?"

"All of us, Jacob," Bella lowered her voice, Esme moved towards Carlisle to speak to him, Rose and Emmett held each other. I backed away, moving towards the stairs, sinking down to the first step as I tried to not only wrap my head around all of this and what was to come.

"I don't get it, what's going on?" Jacob said.

I tried to wrap my head around Alice's quick departure something about that was more than just her needing to clear her head, I just couldn't figure it out. My profile was at a standstill and I hate being in the dark like this. Of course my mood wasn't lightened by Bella's explanation of what was going on to Jacob.

"It's over. We've all been sentenced to die."

Jacob's face went pale and I put my head in my hands, defeat washing over my body. Hearing it repeated literally grounded all of us, I haven't felt this helpless in a while, the summer's experience was nothing compared to this.

No one moved, we stood in silent as Carlisle explained to Jacob what was going on. But as he explained I felt myself moving towards my room. It was as if I had no control over my body and before I knew it I was climbing out on my balcony, before scaling to the roof. I knew there was a possibly that Esme would be looking for me, but I wasn't ready to face anyone, especially my mother, horrible as that sounds. I had to get away, calm myself down, clear my head, whatever it was.

I stared out at the night, it was a clear night, I could see the stars perfectly and that's a rare thing. Nights are typically clear around here, I mean we're far enough away from any city lights, but usually there's that thin layer of fog that prevents us from seeing the stars from the roof of our house.

I've always been comforted by the stars, never really got to see them well in London even though one of my classes I had to take as a kid was astronomy and it was interesting, but London as I said is not the ideal place to stargaze. All that changed coming to the US, especially when we were far enough from city lights.

I can remember when I first looked up at the stars and the northern lights in Alaska and being just mesmerized by them.

I felt my stomach sink a little as that memory clicked…I closed my eyes and drifted back to when I first heard of the Volturi.

"The Volturi…what could they possibly want?" I heard Esme ask, her voice just barely above a whisper. It was the tone in her voice that caught my attention; seven, going on eight years as a vampire I was still fascinated with my extraordinary hearing. Though my adoptive parents were in Carlisle's office, with the thick oak door closed tight, I could hear them perfectly.

I paused at the door and stood waiting for Carlisle's answer, curious as to who the Volturi were and why my mother's voice seemed so anxious. I heard my father sigh, before clearing his throat and I made myself comfortable on the steps that ran along the wall of his office. I'm not one to eavesdrop, and I certainly do not make it a regular habit, but I had also grown accustom to my new abilities, one of which warned me with a feeling that I needed to listen to this and like my family I had learned not to doubt my ability, but I could not shake the uneasy feeling, as my adoptive parents argued, the first argument I had ever heard between them.

"To meet him…" was all Carlisle could say. A few tense moments passed with silence between them, before Esme spoke again; gone was the anxiety in her voice leaving only anger. An emotion I had never heard from Esme, ever.

"Meet him?" she hissed "you have said it yourself Carlisle…friends or not, the Volturi do not simply extend an invitation at random. They want something." There was another pause "oh Carlisle…you don't…you don't think they believe him to be…"

"One of the immortal children? I do not believe so, how could they even come to that conclusion, there is no ground to base it on."

"You cannot take him to Italy,"

"Esme I do not have a choice. Aro and Caius have sent out the 'invitation,' they are allowing me to bring him on my own terms. If they feel the need to ask again, it would mean we have something to hide which we don't. I cannot chance them coming here. He'll be safe Esme, I swear to you,"

"It's not polite to eavesdrop." Emmett had interrupted at that point, I didn't get the rest of Carlisle and Esme's conversation…but I did get my answers and it also solidified my decision to go to Volterra alone.

Of course Carlisle, Emmett, and Edward caught up with me before I got too far into Alaska, and certainly before I hit the Bearing Straight. It had been my first brush with death as a vampire and though I was afraid to go to Volterra and I was afraid that Carlisle and I wouldn't be leaving alive. Though I feared for my own life, I honestly was willing to give up my own life if it meant Carlisle would be safe.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and stared through the woods. There would be negotiations this time, no second chance…except our friends, witnesses. If they came they might help in our defense. That's what Alice had seen and my profile accepted that, I knew it was a good way to go and it gave us a chance, albeit a slim one, but still a chance to live.

Alice…I looked back into the woods again where the bloody hell was she? Her and Jasper had been gone for hours now, it wasn't like them.

Once again that wave of uncertainty washed over me, something didn't feel right, no…not didn't feel right, something wasn't right.

But what was it? What had Alice seen that was clouded by Nessie and by Jacob? Was it a complete vision or had she only seen a bit before she had to go clear her head. It had been hours though, what could be taking so long? I scanned the forest, hoping and even praying for a flash of movement anything that would signal the return of my brother and sister, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

My mind shifted from Alice and Jasper back to what had started all of this in the first place…Irina betraying us.

The thought still sounded obscene in my mind, no matter how I tried. I couldn't believe Irina would betray us like this. I think that hurt worse than the actual death sentence.

After all the Denali clan was family we had stood by them and them by us through many difficult times, it was inconceivable to imagine any of them would betray us, turn us in like we were enemies, not cousins.

What made the betrayal doubly painful was the fact she didn't even give us the benefit of the doubt, the fact that her first instinct was to go to the Volturi, seal our death certificate, this was the worst part of this whole thing. She could have gone back to Alaska confronted her sisters, Eleazar, and Carmen and as a family decided what should be done, this would have been the way the old Irina would have handled things. She would be calmed into at least hearing us out before condemning us, but this new Irina was bent on revenge, trying to avenge the life of someone who only used her, but she was blinded by this vendetta.

It had been just sad at first, we felt for our cousin's pain and heartbreak, then it turned worrisome, especially when Tanya informed Carlisle that the only way they would help us against the newborn's in the summer was if we gave permission to take out the pack. Of course we would never have agreed to such a thing, the wolves even then were our allies and now they are more than that, they are close friends, hell in Jacob's case they're family.

I know we were all a little worried about the reaction from Irina (if she came) in regards to Bella and Edward's wedding, she did come and certainly wasn't herself the entire time, but it had gone off without a hitch, even with Seth standing right there with me, even when Jacob arrived out of the blue after being AWOL for a few months.

It had led me to believe, apparently foolishly, that things would be slowly getting back to normal, that maybe Irina had forgiven us or at least was willing to see our side of the whole Laurent thing. That was what it was all about, she had fallen in love with the nomad, he didn't share that same feeling, came back to Forks on behalf of Victoria his true obsession, and had been destroyed by the wolves in order to protect Bella from him. It had not been the wolves betraying anyone it was Laurent betraying Irina's feelings and our trust.

That alone however shouldn't have given Irina cause to just accept betraying us, branding us to die. Even if this was about Nessie appearing to be an immortal child, why would Irina assume the worst, even if Nessie's existence is hard to believe. But did she really think Carlisle, hell any of us would break one of the Volturi's strictest of laws?

Yeah Carlisle has technically toed the line as far as changing people goes. Hell, I personally knew I was a risk, I could have gone either way, and the only thing that stopped me from going the wrong way was my self-control, mindfulness and of course my family constantly reminding me that even though it would be tough they were there to help me.

I've always believed I owe a lot of my control to my family's strong support, but I also owe it to my ability, what if I didn't have that, I could have turned out like one of the immortal children. Edward may have seen my mind before Carlisle decided to change me, but was no guarantee that once the transformation was complete I would still be whatever thirteen year old kid Edward had seen. It could have made me do a complete 180, I could have lost any humanity and become like Jane and Alec, like the immortal children.

I think because of our ages, Jane, Alec, even Bree I'm sure had she lived, we all teeter on that edge of how close we can relate to the Immortal Children, we're older than those children who were put to death centuries ago, but we are closer to them than most adults of our kind.

It's why Aro, Marcus, and Caius had been so quick to condemn me before even meeting me, it was why they accepted Irina's story without investigation…Carlisle had already come so close to that line of changing a child, it was very fathomable in Aro's mind that he would do it, especially to save a life.

I sighed, there had to be more to it, Aro may be quick to judge, especially on the prodding of Caius, but he is still one of Carlisle's oldest friends and usually has the sense to give him the benefit of the doubt. What was really going on with this?

I don't know how long I was up on the roof, it must have been hours though, because even as the night began to fade and the first bits of dawn began to appear, I stayed on the roof. I knew I'd eventually have to go back inside, especially before Esme sent an Emmett like search party. But I didn't want to move, instead I watched the sun come up, my eyes focused on the same area of woods.

I would have probably stayed there until the sun set again. At least I would've, but…a different wave hit me…my profile calling for my attention, begging at first, then demanding it.

Alice would never be gone this long unless…the thought, profile whatever it was, it was caught in my throat. I had to check on my family.

I didn't even bother going through my window, I simply let myself drop to the ground from the roof.

I ran to the porch and pushed open the door, everyone looked up expectantly as if they assumed I was Alice coming back. I didn't even take the disappointment to heart, I knew it wasn't personal and besides there wasn't time.

"Some…something is really wrong," I hissed, Edward exchanged a look with Carlisle, Bella was on her feet in a second, they all must have been discussing the same thing, which explained my profile's high demand for my attention.

"Stay with Renesmee!" she shrieked at Jacob, and my first instinct was to follow her and the rest of the family as they sprinted towards the door, but I glanced back at Jacob and Nessie, something inside me told me not to leave them. It was one of the rare times I really doubted what my profile was telling me.

"Chris?" Edward started to say when he saw me hesitate I nodded

"I'll stay with her and Jacob," I replied softly

Edward gave a nod of thanks as he bolted with the rest of the family. Jacob looked stunned as he watched them vanish into the woods.

"What the hell just happened Flea!?" when I didn't answer him he came up behind me "Kid, what the hell is going on?"

"Alice and Jasper, they've been gone too long," I said monotone "something's not right."

"Kid go with them, I can handle Nessie solo."

I shook my head, I don't like being left behind and I definitely do not like our family splitting like this, but in all reality the minute Jasper and Alice walked out that door, our family had split up a bit, not permanently, at least I hoped not, but it had done so. But keeping Nessie safe was important and even though I knew Jacob was capable of protecting her, I didn't want him going at it alone.

"No, they have enough back up with them, you saw Bella's strength, Emmett's just as strong and Edward's ability will be useful for this. I'm…I'm better off here."

I knew I was lying through my teeth just then, I don't like to brag, but because of my ability I'm the tracker of the family, everyone is capable of finding a scent and following it, but my ability is designed to amplify that track and it rarely if ever fails me. But Edward's ability can work the same way, even if it's just a little bit and he really has to think about it…

"Kid, what did Alice see, before she left?"

"I don't know exactly, she was talking about getting witnesses, saying something about pulling some of our closest friends, asking them to stand by us and bear witness to the Volturi that Nessie is not an immortal child,"

"A what!?" Jacob asked

"Long story…" I replied

Jacob gestured around at the nearly empty house, towards the woods where my family had gone in search of two of our own, and to the toddler sleeping soundly on the couch, unaware of the massive changes that had occurred while she slept.

"I think we've got a little bit of time Chris," Jacob said and I sighed, running my hand through my hair

"Point taken. The immortal children were around centuries ago, I think even before Carlisle was born. Back when wars and battles for territory among our kind was a more common thing. You already know that we are frozen at the age we're turned right?" Jacob gave me a 'duh' face and I couldn't fault him for that, it was a pretty stupid question, but I had to be sure he understood that part. "A few coven leaders decided for whatever the reason, to turn kids."

Now Jacob's confused face had returned and he was looking right at me expectantly.

"Um, no offense, but isn't that what you are?"

"I was thirteen, nearly fourteen Jacob, I was only a month away from my fourteenth birthday. A year from being able to lie about my age and join the British Army." he stared at me dumbfounded "but that's beside the point. It is rare for there to be vampires my age, aside from Bree; Alec and Jane are the only others I have ever met who are my age physically. We teeter on the line of being immortal children because of our physical age, but it's our mentality and self control that separate us from them. They were literally children, in every sense of the word, you could even go as far and say they were babies." I looked over at Nessie

"Baby vampires?" Jacob repeated "that's gotta be adorable," he added with some sarcasm.

"Oh yeah, adorable, ever seen the movie Pet Sematery?" Jacob looked confused for a second "how about Children of the Corn?" still nothing "seriously am I the only one in this state that watches horror movies?"

"You watch horror movies?" Jacob asked

"Dude, focus will you, what about the Omen?" Now Jacob nodded "about time," I paused "anyways, all those movies have something in common, crazy, creepy, killer kids, especially Pet Sematery. But that's what these kids were like, they were every horror movie depicting kids. They were uncontrollable. Carlisle said that a single tantrum could potentially destroy an entire town. You saw how uncontrolled and savage the newborns were right?"

Jacob nodded rubbing his ribs absentmindedly as he remembered the pain from his own newborn encounter.

"Not something I'm likely to forget," he admitted

"Yeah, well now picture that same strength, that same mindless killing machine only trapped in the body of a toddler, Nessie's size. Doesn't look very threatening or dangerous, but that's one of the big reasons why they were so hazardous, they looked innocent they looked harmless. But they weren't, people let their guard down, intuited" I paused "in my own perspective it was cruel. I mean who wants to spend eternity in the body of a three year old."

"Who in their right mind would change a damn toddler. I mean did they try to kill them first and then just decided to turn them?"

I raised an eyebrow

"Huh?"

"Or did they just happen on a dying little kid on the side of the road and go what the hell let's make Jr. a blood sucker?"

I'm not used to being confused but damn it I was this time around. It took me a few seconds, but I finally had at an idea about what he was talking about.

"They weren't dying, least not they I know of they were purposely turned."

"Wait I thought you guys had to be dying to be changed. Look at Bella,"

"Oh," I breathed "I get it. That's just our family," I explained "Carlisle's preference. He'd never change someone that had a chance to survive. Bella would've been the first and an exception, even though he was hesitant. Emmett, Esme, Edward, Rose, and me were all dying or near death when Carlisle changed us. Most of our kind don't think like that, most newborns are created by accident, sometimes they start out as a meal that gets interrupted, sometimes they are created on purpose, but the former is more likely."

"So someone made these kids into vampires just because they could?"

"Yeah and it turned out to be an epidemic, ancient covens were turning these children and hiding them away, but they couldn't control them, it got out of hand very quick. They came so close to exposing our kind it put the Volturi on alert. Carlisle told me…a long time ago when I was faced with the same accusation from the Volturi."

"This has happened before?" Jacob asked, I could see renewed hope in his eyes and I winced, hoping that I wasn't getting his hopes up, but also praying a little that maybe we could come out of this.

"Only once, about eight years after I joined the family. I guess rumours had made their way to Italy that Carlisle Cullen had added another member to his coven, only this one was younger than the others, much younger. We never did learn who alerted my existence to the Volturi and it doesn't matter. They demanded to see me in person, determine if I was capable of maintaining control. Aro has known Carlisle for many years, they mutually consider themselves friends, he knew he had uphold the law, but at the same time, he wanted to give Carlisle the benefit of the doubt. Something they didn't give those who created the Immortal Children."

"How come?"

"An attempt was made to study them, to see if they could be taught to maintain our secrecy. It wasn't so the Volturi made the decision to destroy them. Carlisle told me that the oldest of the kids was maybe four or five when she was changed, they never lost their newborn instincts, some even attacked their creators." I paused, glancing back at Nessie, Jacob had sat down on the chair near the door, but I hadn't moved from my post, standing near the glass sliding door, watching the woods as I told Jacob the story.

"So these nut jobs in Italy, they thought you were one of these kids?"

"Pretty much. I was pretty naïve back then, I'd never heard the term Immortal Children, nor had I heard of the Volturi. Emmett and Edward explained as much as they could, Emmett inadvertently letting me know what had happened to not only the kids, but to their creators too. He didn't know what I had overheard between Carlisle and Esme, when Carlisle received a telegram from Aro demanding that I be brought to Italy. Emmett thought I was just asking out of the blue. I made the decision that night that I wouldn't let Carlisle or the rest of the family be put to death because of me, so I tried to make it to Italy alone, to present myself to the Volturi and let them decide my fate, hoping to keep Carlisle and the others out of it."

"So what happened?"

Nessie gave a little sigh and curled up tighter on the couch, she would be waking up soon and I wasn't sure how Jacob and I were going to explain this all to her.

"Carlisle, Edward, and Emmett caught me before I got to far and Carlisle and I went to Italy together. The rumours were put to rest and the Volturi concluded that I was more adult than child and therefore I was not a danger to our kind." I paused "that's why this whole thing is so confusing, so frustrating."

"What do you mean?"

"Even if Aro saw in Irina's mind Nessie and assumed like Irina did that she is an Immortal Child, he has never given Carlisle anything but the benefit of the doubt. He would demand to see her like he did with me, he wouldn't automatically sentence us to death without investigating. He sees Carlisle as a friend, not to mention it would be a waste. Aro's been determined to get Edward, Alice, and I to join the guard. It started when I first met him and it only increased when he met Edward and Alice last year. Our abilities fascinate him, especially Alice's so he would…" my voice trailed off, my profile finally helping me understand everything, Alice's strange behavior, the coming Volturi, everything suddenly made sense.

"Chris what's the matter?"

I looked back at him for a second, then at the woods

"Alice and Jasper are gone…because the Volturi is coming to destroy us."

"Yeah we've already established that," Jacob reminded me gently

"The Volturi are coming to destroy us, but not all of us, Aro wants Alice under his control, wants her ability in his collection, he knows if he destroys us, destroys everything that Alice loves it will leave her no choice and if he can get Edward and I as a bonus then so be it, but he really wants Alice."

Jacob went pale

"Kid you need to catch up with the others, let them know what's going on."

"No point," I replied "they're going to find out soon. That's why Alice ran, she's trying to protect herself and Jasper."

"Are you sure?"

I sighed

"Yep, I'm bloody sure, the others are going to figure it out soon too."

"So what does that mean for you guys?"

"We do what Alice suggested, we find as many friends willing to stand with us and testify that Nessie is not an Immortal Child. We do all we can to protect her and ourselves."

On the couch Nessie, stretched, yawned and looked up at Jacob and I,

"Hey there Ness," Jacob called kneeling down next to the couch, she grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him tight.

"Morning Jacob, morning Uncle Chris," she beamed "uncle Chris, where's mommy and daddy?"

I exchanged a look with Jacob who gave me a shrug,

"They had to run some errands with grandpa and grandma, so they told me and Jacob to spoil you rotten." I paused, feeling guilty that I was lying to her "do you want some breakfast?" Nessie made a face "I'll make chocolate chip pancakes," I offered, Jacob's ears perked up and I rolled my eyes, he leaned over and nudged Nessie gently

"What do you say Ness, let's watch your uncle make a fool of himself in the kitchen,"

"Don't be mean Jacob," Nessie scolded and in spite of the fear and pain I was feeling, and the fear and anxiety that I know Jacob was feeling, we both gave a grin and had to laugh at that. As Jacob carried Nessie to the kitchen, I slowly moved away from the door to follow them. I could practically see the looks on my family's faces when they realized what I had just figured out. Desperation washed over my whole body, we would have to go search for the witnesses, which meant…we would have to separate. I didn't like this…not at all.

x-x-x-x

Chapter Text

x-x-x-x-x

I couldn't help myself, I did what has always made me feel best, I paced, I know it drove Jacob nuts, but I couldn't help it. After it had gone on for a good ten minutes, Jacob finally threw one of Nessie's toys at me, of course I profiled him doing that and I saw it coming out of the corner of my eye, so I was able to duck as the teddy bear hit the window and bounced off. I turned and looked at him, grinning halfheartedly.

"You missed," I said softly

"kid you're making me nuts with the pacing thing, you've got to stop." He said, his own way of apologizing.

"Sorry," I replied shrugging

"I thought you guys have to remind yourselves to move around and stuff,"

"Most of our kind do, I'm not one for sitting still,"

"You're so weird, even for a leech, you know that right?"

"So I've been told," I replied with a sigh, Nessie came skipping in and she came straight for me jumping into my arms.

"Uncle Chris you're not weird," Nessie informed me

"Thanks Ness," I paused "hey I have to clean Chap's cage, do you want to help me?"

Nessie got the biggest grin on her face, she absolutely loves Chap and is constantly asking to take him out and play with him. Besides, I needed a break, I needed a distraction, I didn't like how long the family was gone for and it was stressing me out.

Jacob gave us a funny look

"You really like that rat thing?" he asked Nessie who nodded quickly, I grinned a little, a weak one, but still a grin

"You know what Nessie? I think Jakey is scared of rats,"

Nessie looked at him quickly as if she was surprised

"Are you really scared Jacob?"

He rolled his eyes at me and turned back to the TV flipping it on, I'm pretty sure he wasn't watching it any more than I would be, but it served as a subject stopper. I knelt down so Nessie could climb on my back. She was quiet as we headed to the stairs, but as soon as we started up to my room I heard her sigh.

"What's the matter Ness?" I asked even though I knew exactly what was on her mind. It was so hard to remember that Nessie is still a baby, she looks like she could be a small five year old or a big two year old, but she's so intellectual and so articulate you tend to forget how old she really is.

"Is Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper coming home soon?"

"I…I don't know Ness,"

There was a long pause, even as young as she was Nessie wasn't used to me being unsure of something.

"Is something bad going to happen?" I tried not to wince, but she clearly noticed my hesitation "is that why they left?" she asked

We had reached the landing by now, so I carefully swung Nessie off my back and placed her gently on the floor, before kneeling down so I was eyelevel with her.

"Nessie, I don't have all the answers, I wish I did. but I swear, nothing will happen to you, you will always be safe. You have so many people who love you, your mummy and daddy, grandpa and grandma, Jacob, grandpa Charlie, aunt Rose and uncle Emmett," I paused "and me,"

"are you going away too?" Nessie asked, her bottom lip quivering

I took a deep breath, I knew we would have to do what Alice had asked, we had to call on our friends to act as witnesses and to do that we would have to leave for a short time. Nessie would have to stay behind, same with Bella and Edward, so it would leave Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, Rose, and I to gather the witnesses. I wouldn't lie to her, even though in that moment I wished I could.

"Just for a short time Nessie girl, but mummy and daddy and Jacob will be here with you and soon you won't believe how many visitors you get. Our cousins from Alaska are coming tomorrow to meet you and all sorts of friends behind them." I kissed her forehead, "can I trust you to do something Nessie?" she looked up at me, her eyes perking up a little "I need you to look after Chaplin okay? You have your mummy and daddy and Jacob looking after you, but Chap is going to be very sad with Alice away and me away, so you're in charge of taking care of him, can you do it?" I added knowing full well she was more than capable.

"I will Uncle Chris, I promise."

x-x-x-x-x

Rose and Emmett returned home shortly after my conversation with Nessie, followed quickly by Esme and Carlisle. Confirming for Jacob and I what we feared, Alice and Jasper were in fact gone. They had actually asked Sam for permission to cross into their territory on the way to the ocean. It also confirmed our plan, we were going to get the witnesses.

"I think Chris you should go north with Emmett and Rose." Carlisle said as we looked over the globe.

Esme and Rose had changed clothes and were ready for a great deal of running, Emmett and I were already dressed for that occasion as was Carlisle, but I still ran back up to my room to grab a sweatshirt and a hat. Chaplin began squeaking loudly the moment I stepped in my room, despite coming out to visit with Nessie he clearly knew something was up and was not happy with it.

I knew Nessie would take good care of him, but what about later…what about when the Volturi arrived. I'd been trying to avoid thinking about that particular future, but now I couldn't help it as reality finally hit me. Alice and Jasper were gone, was it to protect themselves from the Volturi or did Alice have a method to her thinking, both were probable and to be honest I was praying for the latter.

We knew for certain thanks to Alice's vision and to her and Jasper's departure that the Volturi were indeed coming to Forks and they were certainly not coming for a reunion, they were coming to pass judgment on what they believed to be our sin.

Our entire existence erased all due to a misunderstanding. Thinking about death in this life has never been even a whisper, I had put death behind me when Carlisle explained what I had become and even with the threat of the Volturi the first time I met them, I don't think I truly related death in this life to something that could actually occur. Not until last summer when I faced it head on did I have a respect for it and even a fear of it.

There isn't much I have come to fear in this life, sure Bella's hold over Edward spooked me, but actual death has never been a contender for my fear threshold and it's not fear of my own demise, it's watching my family die, it's hearing their screams like the newborns last summer. My imagination began to run rampant and I did not like where it was heading…

Quickly I shook my head. Chaplin gave another squeak and looked up at me, I reached into his cage and ran a finger down his back, he stood up on his hind legs and put his front paws on my hand.

"Be good Chap, I'll be home soon okay? Nessie will take care of you," I swear if he could talk Chap would be begging me not to go, just from the look in his eyes. But I had no choice.

Bella and Edward still weren't home by the time I got downstairs and though I was certainly curious and a little concerned, I knew I couldn't dwell on it for the moment. Jacob sat on the couch, holding Ness in his lap watching the whole scene as we mapped our routes. They both looked up at me as I came into the room and I gave them what I'm sure was a pretty pathetic smile.

Esme and Carlisle were heading to Europe, then to Africa, before finally stopping in Japan and Korea where they have friends and acquaintances who might be willing to help us. Edward, Nessie, and Bella would stay here to receive anyone we sent back.

It was necessary to keep Nessie here because everyone needed to see her and learn about her, it would be the only way the witnesses if we could get any would accept that we were being falsely accused and desperately needed help, not to fight the Volturi but also be there to help us defend ourselves.

Emmett, Rose, and I were hitting North America and South America. The Denali's were on their way here and would be the first of our witnesses to arrive.

Esme did not like us splitting up like this, but our time frame was short, we could cover more ground separated, I had even gone as far as to volunteer to hit Montreal while Emmett and Rose go down south to locate one of Carlisle's oldest friends Garrett. But Esme made us promise we would stay together and none of us were ready to break that promise.

"Are we really going to try and get Julianna and Sam?" Emmett asked

Carlisle sighed as he debated that

"Chris," he finally said after a few moments "I am almost certain you will not be able to convince Samuel and Julianna to come." He paused "we all have much to lose and they are no different, but in some ways they have much more to lose, please tell them we do not fault them if they decide the risk is too great."

"Of course," I replied, Carlisle's French Canadian friends Julianna and Samuel were great friend of ours and always welcomed us when we were in that part of Canada. They had known Carlisle and Esme for many years and were one of the few who like us and the Denali clan who fed on animals and maintain home, albeit a very secluded one where they didn't interact with their human neighbors like we did.

I've met them many times and they love me because I speak fluent French. Carlisle is pretty fluent as is Esme, but none of my siblings really are, even though Edward claims to be, he's not.

Julianna is also gifted, with a gift that the Volturi would probably kill to have under their control. It's almost like the power of suggestion only there's no fighting it, she can almost hypnotize someone and they will do what she asks. Thankfully she's one of the good guys because that power is scary, if the Volturi were to get their claws on it though it would be basically the end of free will for anyone vampire, human, won't matter, the Volturi are already power hungry they do not need that added to their power.

So I was pretty sure asking Julianna and Samuel to join our cause was pretty much the biggest shot in the dark ever seen, but I also knew we had to try, we had a list of names to go by and any of them that were willing to at least come and hear us out was a step in the right direction.

By the time Edward and Bella returned everything was pretty much decided. However looking at Bella face I knew something else was up, Alice and Jasper's disappearing act aside, she looked in deep thought about something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Whatever it was, it had something to do with Jacob and Nessie, that much I could tell, but I decided to keep it to myself, we all had enough to worry about right now and whatever Bella was hiding, I knew it would come out sooner or later.

Bella looked at the globe as if she was contemplating where her and Edward would be going, before Edward read Carlisle's mind and a flash of anger washed over my brother's face.

"We're to stay here?" Edward asked, looking at Carlisle.

"Alice said that we would have to show people Renesmee, and we would have to be careful about it," Carlisle said. "We'll send whomever we can find back here to you – Edward, you'll be the best at fielding that particular minefield."

"There's a lot of ground to cover." Edward pointed out nodding at the globe. We exchanged a look, before Emmett spoke up

"We're splitting up," he explained "Rose, Chris, and I are hunting for nomads and hitting Montreal to talk to Samuel and Julianna, we're hoping Rosetta stone over here can convince them." He added nodding at me playfully,

"You'll have your hands full here," Carlisle told Bella and Edward. "Tanya's family will be here in the morning, and they have no idea why. First, you have to persuade them not to react the way Irina did. Second, you've got to find out what Alice meant about Eleazar. Then, after all that, will they stay to witness for us? It will start again as the others come – if we can persuade anyone to come in the first place." Carlisle sighed. "Your job may well be the hardest. We'll be back to help as soon as we can."

He walked over to Bella and Edward, kissed Bella's forehead and hugged Edward's shoulders. So this was it, this was happening so fast, but it was time to give our goodbyes.

As we said our goodbyes to Bella, Edward, and Nessie, it really felt like we were never going to see them again. It wasn't my hunch or anything, this was just concern for my family, normal, human like emotion and worry.

Bella hugged me tight and Nessie wrapped her tiny arms around me as I lifted her up rocking her.

"Don't get it much taller on me Nessie girl," I whispered to her "at least not while we're gone. Stay little okay kid?"

She nodded and pawed at her eyes, our conversation earlier playing through my mind and I know it played through hers, the questions she had asked and the answers I was unable to give.

"I won't get any bigger Uncle Chris," Nessie said sniffing "I promise."

"And I'm trusting you to take care of Chaplin while I'm gone okay, remember you promised."

She nodded

"I will!"

I kissed the top of her head

"Tha gaol agam ort Nessie." I whispered (I love you), she leaned up to kiss my cheek and nodded.

"Tha gaol agam ort uncle Chris!" She exclaimed as I handed her off to Emmett who gently threw her into the air much to Esme and Rose's horror.

When I turned back Edward was standing In front of me looking somewhat solemn, and I winced not liking that look.

"Ed, please don't look at me like your standing over my casket," I whispered, trying to be lighthearted about the whole thing, even though we both know I was full of it, my humour and grin said I was fine, but my body and my mind betrayed how absolutely terrified I was about what was to come and in all honesty his look of a funeral director didn't help.

"Sorry Chris," he replied "look," he started to say, pausing for a moment as he sorted out his words, this just made it even worse because I felt like I was getting sent off to the front lines to die. He winced as that thought entered my mind and he gave me an apologetic smile. "I know we've had our fights and disagreements," he continued and I held up my hand

"Doesn't matter anymore Edward," I interrupted "you're my brother, brothers fight and disagree,"

"What I'm trying to say is no matter how stupid I've been or even-"

"Moody?" I guessed and he rolled his eyes. "Well you have been,"

"Anyways," he could continued "you've always stuck by me and gave me a second chance when I probably didn't deserve any of them."

"Again it's what brothers do." I reminded him, shifting uncomfortably.

He didn't answer that, instead for I'm pretty sure the first time ever, Edward reached forward and hugged me tight

"Be careful kid," he whispered even though everyone not only saw the scene unfold (which was good, I needed witnesses for future proof) but everyone heard our conversation. "I'm not saying this because I have no faith in this whole thing, but because...you're my little brother and I want to make sure you know that I do care about you even if I don't always show it."

I rolled my eyes and the urge to make a joke out of this was overwhelming, I don't like these kind of situations, they make me extremely uncomfortable and I'm never sure how to respond.

"I...I know Edward," I replied "and trust me as annoying as you can be sometimes, I wouldn't trade having you as a brother for anything in the world." I paused "so when this whole things is over with and things go back to normal, just remember you're going to owe me big time" I added with a smirk as he let me go.

"That was so touching I think I'm going to cry," Emmett called as he passed Nessie to Rose. "I've got to admit though, I feel left out, would you trade me in Dr. Doolittle?" He asked coming over to us

"Not in a million years," I exclaimed, I looked at Edward "we'll be fine, this whole thing will be fine," I said, hoping that I could convince him enough. I backed away, as Edward moved towards Emmett and spoke to him in a hushed voice.

Even though I could hear it, I ignored it, Edward's words had hit me and Esme must have sensed that because she came up behind me and pulled me close. I could profile her own uneasiness and even pain that was emitting off my mother. With Alice and Jasper leaving us, for whatever reasons they had, regardless it hurt my mother and the last thing she wanted with two of our family MIA was to have the rest of us separated.

After good byes were shared and final rounds of hugs with Edward, Bella, and Nessie and even a handshake with Jacob, we headed towards the woods, we would split up as soon as we crossed the wolf line, which had been temporarily dissolved as both sides prepared for what was coming, Carlisle and Esme would be heading towards Alaska to cross into Russia, while we would be heading the opposite way towards Montreal.

We dashed into the woods and as soon as we were out of sight of the house we slowed down and made our way to the line. Esme was walking with Rose now, taking time with each of us as much as she could while Emmett and I walked with Carlisle,

Esme hugged each of us in turn, whispering something to Rose, then hugging Emmett and whispering something to him, then it was my turn, she pulled me close, rocking me a little, more times than not her overprotectiveness and constant babying of me gets a little embarrassing, but this was one of those times I welcomed it.

"Be safe my little one," she whispered

"You too mum" I replied hugging her back. "It'll be okay," I added "I know it will,"

Esme nodded, but was clearly unsure and unwilling to let us go.

"I love you," she said softly,

"I love you too mum,"

Slowly she let me go as Carlisle hugged Rose tight and kissed the top of her head and then hugged Emmett, Esme taking time to hug Rose then Emmett with more 'I love you's' being exchanged.

Carlisle turned to me, the pain on his face was like a punch to the gut, he saw the concern on my face and smiled gently, trying to wash his own concern and pain from his face.

"What your mother said goes for me too, be safe Chris, look after your brother and sister," he said

"Why you think Emmett is going to get into trouble in Canada?" I asked seriously

"I don't expect any trouble anywhere, just for my sake and your mother's please be careful, just do what you can and come home safe. Find and convince who you can. Your ability will help, you'll be able to read people and determine how best to approach them. But if you cannot convince someone it is all right."

I nodded

"We will dad," I promised, Carlisle put both his hands on my shoulder leaning down a little so we were exactly eye level

"And stay together understand? Most important please stay together." There was such a desperation in Carlisle's voice I couldn't argue with him, not that I would; I saw his point, there was definitely safety in numbers here. The Volturi could use Demetri to track each one of us down and I wouldn't put it past the Volturi to use that method.

"I swear, we'll stay together."

Carlisle took a deep breath

"I'm proud of you Christian," he whispered

"I know," I replied giving him a weak smile, I glanced at Emmett, but he was preoccupied with Esme hugging him and Rose as tight as she could, "Love you dad," I whispered and Carlisle looked at me in surprise and who could blame him I don't think I've ever said those words to him.

I've said them to Esme many times, but in my time it wasn't done. Fathers and sons simply understood that they loved one another but the words weren't typically exchanged especially from the kid's perspective.

There might be a 'I'm proud of you son' or a 'let's go toss 'round the cricket ball da' but I can't remember the last time I said 'I love you' to my human father, I know he said it to me when he left for the front and I know I said something along the lines of 'aye you too da' but that was it.

Again, it just wasn't done, especially in front of one's mates. I know it's something I've regretted for many decades and it is just something I will have to live with.

Carlisle smiled, his surprise waning a bit as he reached forward and hugged me tight

"I love you too Chris." He replied "we will see you three home soon." He added, letting me go to rejoin Esme.

Both our parents seemed really reluctant, but none of us had a choice here. So with a wave, Carlisle and Esme went one way, Emmett, Rose, and I headed east.

We had been running for a while, long enough that at least a day if not two passed, me in the lead, with my brother and sister close behind when Emmett sped up a little to slow me down for a moment. I slowed to a stop and we took the opportunity to get our bearings, we of course had no need to rest or catch our breath, but it still felt good to take a break.

"We're nearly there right?" I asked Emmett as he pulled out a map, he nodded

"Another hour, maybe two." He explained "your French all ready to go?"

"Oui," I replied and he rolled his eyes

"Carlisle really doesn't think they'll come?" he asked, sitting down next to Rose on a fallen tree, I leaned against a nearby tree and took a deep breath, before shaking my head.

"They're two of Carlisle and Esme's oldest friends," Rose reminded me "why are you and Carlisle so sure they're not going to come?"

"Julianna's gift," I said pointedly "somehow her and Samuel have remained off the Volturi's radar for centuries, the last thing they want to do is expose themselves to Aro and Caius, do you think Aro would let a gift like Julianna's just walk away?"

"I didn't think of that,"

"It's okay Rose, I'd be worried if you did start thinking like that, me thinking like that is my ability talking." I paused and pushed my bangs back under the brim of my hat "but we have to at least try, give them the option to say no."

"What about Garrett, do you think he'll agree to come?" Emmett asked and I thought that over, Garrett's a tough call, for one thing he might be more apt to agree if I wasn't part of the trio asking him, we don't get along and I blame him. He never shuts up about the tyranny of England and the whole revolution thing. He acts like I was alive back then and part of England's "enslavement" of America, just because of my accent.

When he found out I'm actually Scottish and that I just grew up in London, he made it seem like that was even worse, like I was somehow a traitor to rebellious causes everywhere, something about Scotland giving up too quickly in our own attempt at independence.

Trust me I've tried talking to the nutter, my family may have been mostly famers, but we came from a long line of Scottish pride, my ancestors fought along William Wallace and Robert the Bruce for Scottish independence, but apparently because they didn't succeed it didn't count.

"Probably, in fact he'll most likely be the easiest of everyone to enlist, provided I'm out of sight" I grumbled, Emmett looked at me and chuckled

"Come on kid he's not that bad,"

"Emmett he called me a red coat last time and started chanting 'all hail King George,' in a really bad British accent."

"Good point." Emmett said thoughtfully "but then again, that was a few years ago and we weren't facing total annihilation. Don't worry, it'll be fine."

I shrugged

"If you say so, but I'll be the first to say I told you so when he starts his longwinded 'tyrants' speech and he's looking right at me."

"Come on you two, let's keep going," Rose called running ahead of us.

x-x-x-x

Julianna and Samuel had made some changes to their house from the last time we were here just two years ago. It had gone from being a simple log cabin with one room to a massive two story structure.

Samuel had taught himself computers early on when they first became available to the public and he's prided himself on being somewhat of a IT guy. It's his way of staying busy, he works over the phone or through someone's internet to fix their computer issues or a company network. He's good at it, very good at it.

"Business must be bombing," Emmett breathed when we crossed the property line and stared up at the mansion like cabin in front of us.

"Bloody hell just a wee bit," I replied

"It's beautiful," Rose added

We started walking towards the house when the front door swung open and Julianna came out looking concerned at first, before her face broke into a smile and she waved us forward.

"Sam," she called back into the house in French. "Sam you'll never guess who is coming for a visit,"

I chuckled and looked over at my brother, Rose knows some French since she has taken it a few times in high school and spends so much time in Paris with Alice during fashion week, she can speak it somewhat but doesn't really understand it, but Emmett on the other hand he literally knows one or two words and it has always amused me.

As we moved towards the house, Julianna's face went back to concern as she realized it was just the three of us. I could read her body language, she knew there was nothing social about our visit, mainly because this was the first time so much of the family was absent from the visit.

Samuel joined her on the porch and immediately came to the same conclusion his mate had, they exchanged a look and he put his arm around her shoulders protectively.

Sam is a big guy, towering a few inches over Emmett and well built, he's told us he was a French fur trader and a lumberjack before he was turned and it's very believable. In the years I have come to know him, Samuel has always commanded a presence, somewhat unintentionally. The ironic thing is he's very soft spoken, which is not what one would expect. Julianna is the opposite of her husband, she's not as tall and not as soft spoken, it's amazing, but they really complete one another. They are also two of Carlisle's oldest friends having met when Carlisle first arrived in the Americas after he left Italy and the Volturi.

Their story is pretty neat too, Julianna's father was French colonist turned fur trapper just outside of what's now Quebec, her mother was Algonquin acting as a translator for French trappers and Indian allies, they met, fell in love, married, and had Julianna.

Samuel who is about the same age came over from France and tried to get into the trapping trade, he met Julianna when they were both still human and like Julianna's parents, they fell in love. When the French and Indian war came, Samuel enlisted along with several members of Julianna's tribe, he was separated from them at one point and almost became a meal, but he was so imposing I guess, that the vampire didn't finish him off, he just let Samuel turn and went off searching for an actual meal, meanwhile, about a week later Julianna's village was attacked.

No one is exactly sure who attacked them and the story is that it was the vampire who turned Samuel and left him, but there's never been any solid proof. Anyways whoever it was, they massacred the entire tribe and leaving Julianna near death herself. Samuel who had just finished in transformation somehow managed to get home to discover the destruction and somehow he was able to fight through the newborn thirst when he found Julianna near death, he turned her and walla, they've been together ever since.

Sure some of the details are kind of vague and the truth's probably been stretched just a little, but in all honesty Samuel and Julianna are like family to us so the how they came into this life isn't as important.

"hello," Sam called waving to us, bringing me back out of my thoughts.

"Good to see you Sam, Julianna," Emmett replied, "been a long time,"

"Ah, oui, and it would appear your French has not improved Emmett," Julianna said gently as she hugged Rosalie, then Emmett, before turning to me. "hello Christian, where are the rest of the Cullens?" she asked and I looked at my brother and sister

"I take it this is not a simple social call my young friends?" Samuel said

"Believe me I wish it was," Emmett started "it's kind of a long story,"

"Well, come inside and make yourselves at home," Julianna replied, she held Rosalie's shoulders and guided her into the house. Emmett and I started to follow, but Sam stopped us before we could,

"Before we go inside, is the family well?" he asked "Carlisle and Esme?"

"They're fine," I explained slowly "but we may not be soon, it is why we have come." I paused and exchanged a look with Emmett "we're in grave danger."

Sam took a deep breath and put an arm around both Emmett and I's shoulders, guiding us inside.

Carlisle had told us not to spend a lot of time trying to convince anyone, there wasn't time, he did not want the family to be separated for a long period of time. Alice had given us a vague time frame of when the Volturi were most likely to arrive, but that wasn't set in stone and with her and Jasper gone, that meant the Volturi could come tomorrow for all we knew.

Even with this warning in the back of my mind, we spent a longer time than we should've trying to convince Samuel and Julianna to help us even though in the end, we all knew it wasn't going to happen. Julianna tried to push Samuel to go back to Forks with us, so we'd at least have that security, but he looked so reluctant to leave her I was the one who put a stop to it.

After hugs and good byes, Em, Rose, and I headed back towards the woods to find Garret down south, but as we were leaving Julianna stopped us, speaking only in French.

"Christian, I am so sorry, she said putting both hands on my shoulders so we were eyelevel with one another. "Please forgive us,"

"There's nothing to forgive Julianna, this is a lot we are asking of our friends and the risk is great," I replied, she took a deep breath and looked back at Samuel, thoughts seemed to pass between the pair of them and he nodded.

"Carlisle and Esme have always been there to support us when we called upon them," she said softly "where are you heading now?"

"South," I explained "to find Garrett and some of the other nomads," I could read Julianna's body language, her loyalty and friendship with Carlisle and Esme was overpower and I could tell Sam felt it too, I had been convinced that our Canadian friends would not be joining us, but I relieved to be proven wrong as Julianna nodded

"We will leave after you and join you in Washington, we cannot promise that we will stand when the Italians come, but we will do what we can," she finally said and I couldn't believe my ears

"Julianna I know this is asking a lot of you and Samuel, and there is nothing in the world that will be able to repay this,"

"Nothing to be repaid Christian, Carlisle and Esme are dear friends, whatever reason the Volturi have for their accusations will not be upheld." and with that she gave my shoulders a squeeze, before returning to Samuel, so they could prepare to make the trip across the country to Forks.

I slowly returned to my brother and sister who had been watching with looks of confusion.

"What was that all about?" Emmett asked "way to much French all in one sitting." he added

"They…they're coming," I said softly, still a bit stunned by it all, so much that I didn't even give a smart ass reply to his French comment like I would usually do.

Emmett looked back at Julianna who was now on the porch with Samuel waving at us. I could see it even with the distance their friendship and love for Carlisle and Esme was the push to leave their Volturi free sanctuary and risk exposure to help us.

Emmett and Rose put their hands down and without even looking and without hesitation grasped each other's hand, Emmett giving Rose's a gentle squeeze, then Rose reached over and put her free hand on my shoulder. We silently headed back into the woods, all three of us painfully aware of the huge sacrifice our friends were making for us, the reality of the situation finally setting in.

We headed south next to find Garrett. The last most of us had seen him had been decades ago just outside of Jamestown, Virginia, don't ask me why he was hanging out there. But last year while Edward was tracking Victoria, he actually ran into Garrett just outside of New Orleans so apparently he's moved down the east coast and has settled in Mardi Gras Central. It's probably a good place for him, but it certainly wouldn't make finding him easier.

I started tracking him the moment we crossed into Louisiana and it took me some time to get the scent of one of our kind. The smells and sounds of the Big Easy are overwhelming even for a vampire so I really had to concentrate on everything I remember about Garrett; his habits, his movement, his tastes, and especially his scent.

We found him just a little past midnight, down a back street in New Orleans, away from party atmosphere that is the typical makeup of the city. He was stalking this guy carrying a guitar and singing. The guy was clearly smashed because he couldn't walk in a straight line and kept stumbling on the sidewalk, Emmett was heading the other way and I nudged him calling his attention, he grinned and chuckled.

The guy, who had been singing an unrecognizable tune, changed tracks apparently because he started singing the Walrus song from the Beatles. I am not a fan of the Beatles, to me it was just more annoying music that my sisters were obsessed with and more music guys for them to gush over. The early Elvis years in our house was a nightmare and the Beatle years was no better.

Rose winced a little as the drunk butchered one of her favorite Beatle songs and we all watched as Garrett made a annoyed face at the drunk. In a split second he rushed the guy, pushing him into the alleyway and had him in the air pinned to the wall by his neck. The guy was so bloody smashed I don't think he even realized he was in danger as he kept singing the song:

"I am (hiccup) the um walrus, I am the goo go (hiccup) I'm crying, crying Lucy flying in the sky," he sang.

"I'm pretty sure those aren't the words," I muttered to Emmett who chuckled a little

"Yeah judging by the look of horror on Rose's face I'm guessing they're not." Emmett whispered back as we moved closer to the alley.

"Oh shut up!" Garrett hissed at the drunk "I hated the first British invasion, I hated the second one even more," he growled and I sighed looking up at my brother,

"What?" he said

"I rest my case," I replied "he's a prat."

"Maybe, but he's a friend so play nice," Rose spoke up hugging my shoulders tight.

"I will if he does,"

"British invasion?" the drunk asked Garrett grinning stupidly "g'day mate!" I slapped my forehead and waited patiently for Garrett to just finally eat the guy.

"Really Garrett," Emmett called, "you hate the Beatles? How can you hate the Beatles?"

Garrett looked away from the drunk, finally realizing that we were standing there, he grinned at Emmett and Rose then spotted me and rolled his eyes.

"Something about that blasted accent really gets on my last nerve," he replied "and old habits die hard."

"Yeah," I muttered "and some are just bloody stuck in those old habits that it makes them look daft."

"I heard that you little Red Coat," Garrett called with a grin, honestly even though I can profile him and know for a fact he is still stuck in the whole revolution thing, I really don't think he hates me as much as pretends.

"We need your help Garrett," Rose interrupted gently "please, we're in danger."

Garrett's expression instantly softened

"Of course anything you need, let me finish my meal and I'll hear your story."

I winced as he slammed the drunk to the ground. I'll admit to it, I looked away, trying to block out the sound of the drunks muffled cries and the slurping noise from Garrett as he drained the man.

When he was finished, he picked up the body and gestured for us to follow him as he headed for the docks.

"How long have you been here Garrett?" Emmett asked walking with him, "Edward said he ran into you last year."

"Not long, the hunting is always decent, especially around Mardi Gras and there's enough crime in this city that goes unsolved that a body once in a great while doesn't arose suspicion."

"Sounds lovely," I muttered walking behind Garrett, Rose, and Em

"Oh it is," Garrett replied with a grin "so young friend from across the pond," he added, his grin getting bigger "isn't a pretty special holiday coming up for you?"

I exchanged a look with my siblings as Garrett heaved the body into the river with no effort and little splashing.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" I asked

"You forgot?" Garrett asked with astonishment "your forefather's must be so ashamed, how on earth could you possibly not remember the greatest tea party in history?"

I groaned

"Oh shut up," I grumbled

"Wait am I missing something?" Emmett asked,

"He's talking about the Boston Tea Party," Rose reminded Emmett who burst out laughing as loud as he dared

"Of course Rosalie, it's soon isn't it, the anniversary?" Garrett asked "day after tomorrow if I'm not mistaken, planning on celebrating your nation's eventual defeat?"

I started to reply but thought better of it, I wasn't going to sink down to his level, mainly because I know he enjoys this way too much, instead I looked at Emmett

"And you thought I was overreacting?"

"Anyways, even though it's always a pleasure to bug the Brit,"

"I'm Scottish," I growled "and need I remind you Carlisle is English,"

"Yeah but he's just not as much fun to make fun of, the reactions just aren't the same." Garrett reminded me "so what has you coming to me?"

I was all set to just go on our way and leave him out of this entirely, but unfortunately I know he's an asset to this whole thing, even if he's more of an ass than an asset.

"It's the Volturi Garrett," Emmett explained

"They've sentenced us to death, Alice had a vision of it and they're coming to issue judgment." I added "we've been running all over the continent trying to pull in friends who can act as witnesses for us. To stand with us when the Volturi come and give their own testimony to them that we did not break any law."

Garrett looked confused

"What reason could those dictators have to pass judgment on the Cullens?" he asked and I couldn't help my half smile as Garrett called the Volturi what I always call them, it was amusing and scary at the same time that we were on the same page like that. "what law do they believe you broke?"

"It's a long story," Rose explained "and it's something you need to see for yourself and make your own judgment."

Garrett rubbed his scruffy beard thoughtfully

"You've got it," he finally said "are you still in Washington?"

"Yeah," Emmett said "Forks, near the Olympic mountain range,"

"Excellent, I'll head up that way." Garrett paused "who else have you found?"

"Samuel and Julianna," Rose replied "we're sure they're coming, we were heading to South America to try and find some more nomads."

Garrett chuckled

"Don't bother with the Amazons," I looked at him suspiciously "they're already on their way to your place. Least that's the rumor through the grapevine, a few others are heading that way as well."

"Other nomads?!" I exclaimed

"Isn't that what I just said Scottie?" Garrett said

"We should get home." I said softly, I felt a sense of relief washing over me, Emmett and Rose exchanged a look for a second, then Rose leaned down near me

"What's the matter?" she asked, worry in her voice

"It's Alice and Jasper," I smiled a little "they're sending other nomads to us, they're gathering witnesses for us," I paused "they didn't leave us out of fear, they're carrying out their own mission." I looked at my siblings "we have to trust them, we have to trust that Alice has a plan." Rose nodded and hugged my shoulders "they're going to need us at home to help welcome the nomads."

"Well if that's the case," Garrett said with a smile "how about a race to Washington, see which side of the pond is faster," he added looking directly at me. I rolled my eyes at Emmett who chuckled and took off heading north, I gave Garrett a ten second head start and then enjoyed the pure astonishment on his face when I passed him.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chapter Text

x-x-x-x-x-x

I slid to a stop just over the property line. A wave of unfamiliar scents hit me and it was massively overwhelming. I felt my body instinctively tense up, true I knew those inside the house were all friends and had come to help us, but it was difficult not to be tense. As much as we hate to admit it, we have a lot in common with the wolves, our instincts may not dictate our everyday life like theirs do, but we're not in complete control of them either. It goes against our instincts to be comfortable with this many of our kind in one place, family aside this was a lot of vampires in one place and it not a normal thing.

It had been over a week since leaving to find witnesses, Garrett had gone on ahead of us, because Rose thought it might be worth a chance to find Mary and Randall, two more of Carlisle and Esme's nomadic friends.

I knew they would take the longest to find because despite a kinship and a great similarity, they are not a pair and travel separate, reconvening once in a great while. It had taken a few days to track them down and a few times we almost gave up because the trail had gone cold.

Believe me it was a relief when we finally found Mary who told us exactly where we'd be able to find Randall, they did not take much convincing and headed for Washington. But not before Randall asked about our wolf situation, apparently rumors among Carlisle's friend's travels fast, but we assured Randall, that the wolves were our allies and played a vital part in the whole situation.

I can only imagine everyone's reaction to our canine friends. I figured Seth had probably steered clear for a little while, but I knew for a fact that Jacob was still in the house, protecting Nessie.

Rose and Emmett headed into the house and after a moment of hesitation I started to follow. But not before glancing back through the woods, speaking of wolves, I could only imagine what our wolf friends were going through with all the vampires showing up around here.

I remember Seth telling me that a few of his younger friends had turned when the newborn army was getting close last spring, so I was just assuming that more Quileute's were turning into wolves and it was probably a lot of the younger kids. I wondered for a moment how young they'd start turning, Seth was fourteen, nearly fifteen, but I'm pretty sure one of his friends is thirteen and the other is only twelve.

I took a deep breath and cleared that thought from my mind for a little while, I had other things to focus on right now. There were friends in that house that I had never met and I wasn't sure how I was going to handle them all.

I glanced up onto the porch, Garrett was standing there, a stupid grin on his face, clearly he believed that regardless of my actual participation in the race, he had beaten me. I was definitely going to have to contest that and deal with bloody Yankee Doodle.

The first thing I noticed when I walked through the front door was the packed living room. Not since the wedding had there been this many individuals in the house.

I spotted Peter and Charlotte straight away, they were kind of hanging back from rest of the gathering, but Charlotte's face lit up a little when she saw us walk in. She pulled Peter away from their display like spot and came over to me, we hadn't seen Peter and Charlotte in nearly two years, but for some reason it felt like it had been decades.

"Chris, how are you?" she asked hugging me

"Well," I paused "considering,"

Peter nodded and shook my hand

"Understandable," he said

"She's remarkable," Charlotte added looking over at Nessie who was hugging and kissing Emmett and Rose. I had to do a double take, she'd grown a bit, instead of resembling a toddler Nessie now looked the age of a five or six year old.

"Very remarkable, and never ceases to amaze," I replied with a weak grin. Nessie looked over the crowd and spotted me, she wiggled out of Emmett's arms and made a beeline, flitting around our friends and cousins like a pro.

"Uncle Chris!" She exclaimed, I moved away from Peter and Charlotte as Nessie ran over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, I could feel dozens of eyes on us, but it was only a brief thought in my mind which was focused on Nessie.

I couldn't believe the growth spurt, she now came up to about my mid drift and it had only been a short amount of time. I wondered for a moment how long it would be before she looked the part of a preteen…then a teen…god how much longer would she be a little kid, how much longer until I was looking up at my niece.

"Hey Nessie girl," I said carefully, trying to keep that thought away from my mind. "Having fun?"

"Yes Uncle Chris, wait till you see what Benjamin can do!" she giggled and I knelt down so she could climb onto my back.

"Who?"

"Grandpa's friend from, E…E" she paused and I could feel her struggling with the word, though I kind of guessed she was trying to say Egypt.

I glanced up at her and she pointed to a couple I had never seen before huddled close, the man acting as if he needed to protect the woman from the gathering, his eyes darting around taking in everyone, assessing each possible threat

Not far from them stood a younger pair, a girl physically about Edward's age and a boy a year maybe two years older than me physically. They seemed more at ease than the older pair and when they felt Nessie and I looking, both smiled at us and waved.

"Benjamin?" I guessed whispering to Nessie who nodded "I think they're from Egypt, Nessie girl, that's the Egyptian coven."

"Oh, okay…that's Tia," she nodded "they've known each other a very, very, very long time."

"And the other two?" I asked

"That's Amun and Kebi, Amun is scared and isn't happy with grandpa for convincing them to come,"

In the back of my mind I wondered why they did come if they were so scared, but looking at Benjamin I kind of got the idea of the situation. Amun may be the leader of the coven, but Benjamin is in no way bound to obey him, if I didn't get a sense of how old Amun is, I would have put the creator as Benjamin, he's not timid at all. I could see that he respects Amun in the same manner I respect Carlisle, as a father figure, but I got the feeling based on my profile that their relationship was not so easy going as my own with Carlisle.

"So you've been making friends I see," I said with a grin and I felt Nessie nod, but before she could reply Benjamin and Tia walked over to us, Amun cleared his throat and started to move as well, but Benjamin just rolled his eyes at his creator and walked over to us.

"You must be Christian, we've heard a lot about you," he said holding out his hand "Benjamin, and this is Tia,"

"Chris please," I replied shaking Benjamin's hand then Tia's "and it's nice to meet you guys, welcome to Washington."

"It is a nice change of scenery, to be quite honest I'm hoping for a snow storm." Benjamin said with a grin "we do not get many chances for snowball fights where we come from."

"I can imagine," I replied politely, but in the back of my mind, probably for the first time in my entire existence, I was praying that the snow would never come, because with the snow the Volturi were that much closer to arriving.

"Benjamin and I always assumed we were the youngest," Tia spoke up "but it's so amazing to see so many our age here, you were turned young too? Fifteen?" she guessed and I shook my head

"Close thirteen, a month short of fourteen." I paused and grinned "and if I may say, I already owe you a debt of gratitude,"

Tia and Benjamin exchanged a confused look

"How so?" Tia asked

"You have got to be the first person to ever assume at first glance that I'm older than I really am. Most people assume that I'm younger. We are a rare commodity though," I admitted "there's really only a handful of us under the legal age to drive. And of course you have the-" I paused again and glanced at Nessie who was looking around for her mother, as soon as she spotted Bella she tugged to get down which I obliged, letting her carefully slid off my back and scamper off to her mother. "The twins from hell are our age as well," I finished now that the little ears had escaped "Jane and her brother Alec, they can't be more than thirteen either."

"Yes," Benjamin said softly, glancing at Amun "believe me we've heard of them,"

"But there's also Maggie and Fiona as well," Tia interrupted, changing the discussion away from the coming Volturi. "The Irish coven came right before we arrived, it's been nice having other girls to talk to."

"So trust me friend you're saving me here, for nearly a week I have been subjected to all this girl chatter."

I looked over to where Benjamin was nodding, near the fireplace, stood a coven that screamed Irish. From Carlisle's description I recognized Siobhan and Liam. Liam reminded me of Samuel the way he stood, imposing and still, tufts of his brown hair stuck out from under his cap. Siobhan was not much different than her mate, with long black hair, her face was stern, but I could see a gentleness in her eyes.

Nearby sat two girls, both physically my age give or take, both were about my height and seemed to be polar opposites. The first had bright red hair bouncy from the curls and maintained a knowing almost giddy smile as she observed the room taking it all in.

The second girl had brownish almost copper coloured hair, she seemed shyer than the other girl and just as quiet as Liam appeared to be, while the other girl resembled Siobhan in body language. It was an amazing family, if they ever tried passing for human like us Cullens they'd succeed with no problem.

The shyer girl had at some point discovered the vast Cullen library and was nose deep in a book. I had to look carefully to see what she was reading and I was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't one of the hundreds of classics we have stacked around it was actually one of my collections of haunted house stories; a thick mass market book full of ghost stories from around the fifty states.

She was so engrossed in the book she hadn't noticed the changing atmosphere as Rose, Emmett, and I returned home and our close friends and family shuffled to greet us, but the red head noticed us, she began nudging the bookworm trying to get her to look up.

"Fiona," she hissed "trus' me on this, look up from that ruddy book, something far more interesting has walked in."

It seemed like Fiona was reluctant to do so as she shrugged Maggie away several times, before Maggie finally just took the book away from Fiona.

"Maggie I was nearly done with that chapter, what for goodness sake could be so urgent that you'd inte-" she started to complain but then looked where Maggie was nodding and our eyes met.

Bloody hell she was beautiful, not just her physical features, but internally beautiful as well, she was kind…I could see the empathy for others written all over her body language.

Suddenly there was no one else in the room, I was pulled into a depth I'd never known. It was the strangest feeling I'd ever experienced, it was beyond a level of the protectiveness I had felt for Bree, it was even past the level of protectiveness and care I had for Marie. I actually felt warm for the first time in decades, a warmth that blanketed my whole body, but I couldn't explain it. What the hell was this?

Our stare down lasted literally two seconds as shyness kicked in for both of us and we looked away in a hurry.

I took a deep breath and slowly glanced up again, she was doing the same exact thing and again the moment our eyes met we averted them. I felt someone staring at me hard and at first I thought it might be Fiona, but when I looked towards the hard stare I was met with the disapproving glare of Liam, I knew that look all too well.

When I was human, there was this girl who lived on our lane named Helen, she was a sweet and kind hearted yet tough as nails girl who was a year younger than me and my mates, but she was what would be called a tomboy nowadays, she was the only girl I knew who was a bloody good bowler, having played some simple games of catch with the cricket ball in the park.

Her father didn't like her playing with us, especially me, he made it perfectly clear that he did not like Scots. So most times when I knocked on the door he wouldn't even answer it, but when he did answer it, we'd be met with the stern disapproving look from him and in my case actual hatred, usually Helen would simply skirt by her father reassuring him that all was well and that he'd be able to see us the entire time as their flat was just across from the park.

Then one day even Helen's persuasive reassurance didn't work on her father as he wouldn't let her even come to the door. The very next day we heard that she had been sent to boarding school in France.

When the war came we all assumed that she'd be coming home, but never heard from or saw her again, though many of us who lived on the lane heard our mothers talking about poor little Helen's boarding school had been shut down by the Germans, but no one knew where the students had gone to when the Nazis invaded.

Up until the day I "died" no one ever heard anything else about her or what had happened. Her parents boarded up their house after the invasion of France and left without a word. Even my mother's best friend, the lead gossiper of the street couldn't give my mother an answer. Like so much of my childhood I had pushed the memory of Helen deep into the back of my mind. Now all these years later I truly wanted to know what had become of her.

But that look Helen's father always gave me, the look of disapproval and even sometimes hatred was the same look I was met with when I looked at Liam.

Before the stared down could go any further, I felt arms around my shoulders as Esme swallowed me up in a tight hug.

"Christian, welcome home sweet heart!" she exclaimed "you three did wonderful," she added gesturing to the groups of nomads that Rose, Emmett, and I had hunted down, I however didn't see Samuel and Julianna, my shoulders sank.

"Not entirely," I replied, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice,

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked coming up behind us, he hugged my shoulders gently

"Samuel and Julianna," I explained "they promised they'd come, they were reluctant, but said they'd come, I just thought…they seemed so sure that they'd be here."

Carlisle smiled and nodded towards the front room where Edward's piano sat, there sat Julianna, Samuel's hand on her shoulder standing behind her as they chatted with Randall and Mary.

"What were you saying?" Carlisle asked a knowing smile on my father's face and I shrugged

"It's been a long few days apparently" I replied, "and if I have to listen to one more tea and crumpets joke from Garrett I may reenact the Boston Tea Party for him and throw him overboard." I grumbled good natured and Carlisle chuckled

"Garret has always had that off putting humor," Carlisle explained "believe me I had to endure it for many years when we first met, he's actually matured a bit regarding that."

"Clearly he still needs to speak to someone about holding such a ridiculous grudge, I don’t think it is good for one’s psyche." I looked around and spotted Garrett, chatting it up with the Denali clan, more specifically Kate and I chuckled "looks like he did just that,"

Carlisle followed my gaze and nodded

"So it would seem,"

I scanned the room again, but for some reason my eyes drifted back towards the Irish Coven, mainly at Fiona, I half expected her to be back to her book, but she was staring at me, quickly looking back down at the book when I looked at her.

"Christian, is there something you'd like to tell us?" Esme asked with a smile and I shook my head

"No, 'course not," I said quickly, though I didn't miss the exchange between my parents. "Who else came?" I asked changing the subject looking around "Garrett said the Amazons were on their way?"

"Yes, I suspect they will be arriving soon as well," Carlisle replied "Alastair came, I hoped he would come with Esme and I, it took some convincing."

I had heard stories about Carlisle's most elusive friend and to be honest I was actually surprised he had come, since based on all of Carlisle's stories he's the most like Count Dracula than any of us.

He had apparently refused to touch Nessie. Like Amun and Kebi he took Carlisle at his word about her. He had been spending most of his time in our attic and the moment I had heard about that I instantly pictured him hanging from our rafters upside down wearing a cape like Count Dracula, but I maturely kept that to myself. I was curious by the fact that he had crept down to see who had arrived and stared at me suspiciously.

Carlisle waved at him, gesturing for him to join us and when he didn't move, Carlisle put a hand on my shoulder and guided me over to the stairs where Alistair stood, I didn't miss the awkward glances and even suspicious glances from many of our guests towards him.

"Clearly the apple didn't fall from the tree," Alistair commented sizing me up. I read between the lines, even though he believed Nessie was not an immortal child, he apparently saw why the Volturi would make that assumption and I rolled my eyes at that. He saw my eye roll and seemed to study me.

"This is Chris," Carlisle introduced

"The profiler." Alistair said, it was more of a statement than a question and Carlisle nodded

"And you're a tracker," I replied, not appreciating the tone in his voice when he pointed out my ability, labeling me like my ability defined who I was, I won't deny it's part of who I am, but it will never be my entire existence, it is one of my major and original reasons I dislike and distrust the Volturi.

Alistair seemed surprised for a brief moment, but he glanced at Carlisle

"I see you've kept your coven informed," he pointed out "especially on so called friends."

Carlisle shook his head

"With the basics only, friend."

I frowned at Alistair's words, knowing I really shouldn't take it personal what he was saying, but I felt I had to defend my father and myself.

"I wouldn't need Carlisle to tell me that you're a tracker, it's in your eyes, your body language, the way you carry yourself and move. It's like you're always looking for something, in this case a way out of this whole thing. You're an open book and I can read you just as easy as if I was reading a simple comic book." I tried not to wince, wondering for a moment if I had gone too far, but I actually saw the corner of Alistair's mouth twitch a little, the slight mark of a smile, before it disappeared just as quickly.

"Interesting talent you have here Carlisle," he said before vanishing back upstairs. Carlisle sighed and shook his head

"Sorry," I spoke up

"For what?" Carlisle asked confused

"I instigated,"

"I would expect nothing less from you Chris and believe me, for Alistair that was impressive. He was curious about you and came down to quell his curiosity. I also think you impressed him a little there, he is skeptical about talents and abilities, he believes many of them are just exaggerated and the works of the imagination." Carlisle paused and smiled at me "in some ways you two are similar. Up until a few moments ago, he did not believe your ability to profile was anything but over observance, much like you often insist."

I rolled my eyes, that was certainly true, I've lost count on how many times I've insisted my profiling ability is something others can achieve if they just use the senses that we're all born with. It was a little bizarre to hear that Count Alistair and I were on the same wave length.

"He didn't believe I could profile him?"

"No he didn't and you just proved him wrong." I took a deep breath "Chris, what's on your mind?"

"He's not going to admit it aloud, but there's something you should know dad. When I said he's looking for a way out of this whole thing?"

"Yes?"

"He was looking for a way out so he doesn't have to watch the Volturi destroy a man he sees as more than a friend, but as a brother. He's scared, not for his own safety, but yours, he's afraid you won't see the danger the Volturi can bring until it's too late and he doesn't want to stick around to watch that." I said softly,

Carlisle seemed stunned for a second, then glanced up the stairs towards the attic where again I believe Alistair was probably hanging from the rafters. He rubbed his chin, then reached over and hugged my shoulders

"What is the Scottish word for proud?"

"Ardanach." I replied and sighed reading my father and where he was going with that question. "And you don't have to say it," I added "I know you are."

"Good, glad we're on that same page," Carlisle said and hugged my shoulders again as we walked back over to Esme

"Have you had a chance to meet everyone?" She asked and Carlisle and I exchanged a goofy look with each other before looking at Esme knowingly. She should know me better than that and the minute we exchanged a look she caught on.

"I started to introduce myself," I admitted, I nodded towards Benjamin and Tia, "not my fault I didn't get very far,"

Carlisle chuckled and Esme sighed

"Oh what am I going to do with you both?"

"What? What we do?" I asked

"You sweetie. You seem to think that you're some kind of recluse in this family. The moment a new situation arises or someone new walks into our lives you disappear into this shell you've built around yourself to avoid facing it."

"I do not," I argued gently even though I knew she was kind of right

"So does that mean I'm innocent in this?" Carlisle asked giving me a wink

"Oh no Mr. Cullen you are just as guilty as Christian, because you let him get away with it," Carlisle and I exchanged a look again and he shrugged, telling me I was on my own for this. "And sometimes I need to step in. So Christians lets go," Esme added grabbing hold of my hand and dragging me off.

Of course I as I had just informed my mother, I had already introduced myself to Benjamin and Tia and I had said hi to Peter and Charlotte of course, but apparently my mother wasn't letting me slide with just them, there was many new faces in our house. She walked me over to Amun and Kebi.

Amun did not look amused, he really was not happy he was here. If Alistair was against this whole thing, Amun was practically standing with one foot out the door, I just couldn't figure out what was keeping him here. I couldn't tell if it was a friendship with Carlisle or if it was something else. Esme however being Esme looked past that and continued as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Esme," Amun replied curtly

"Amun, Kebi this is Christian, our youngest son,"

"Pleased to meet you," I said politely holding out my hand.

It took Amun a few seconds before he reacted and reluctantly shook my out stretched hand Kebi didn't say a word nor did she shake my hand. But she did nod a 'hello' type response and I think she smiled.

Satisfied with that, Esme pulled me over to the Irish clan and I started to put on the brakes here. For one thing Liam's death glares had not stopped, in fact they had only gotten worse when he heard me speaking.

Clearly the guy had an issue with me though I couldn't tell if it was my English accent that was offending him or if my Scottish accent that makes an appearances quite often was doing the damage. I'm well aware of the Irish are not big fans of either. I know my own human father had a patient walk out on him because he refused to be treated by a Scottish physician, so I'm seriously used to it.

But more importantly than the accent issue with Liam. I couldn't help looking over at Fiona who in turn was trying not to be obvious that she was staring at me too. I didn't want Esme to notice because she would blow it out of proportions unintentionally of course and besides every look I sent over to Fiona, I could feel the daggers from Liam.

"Liam Siobhan this Christian," Esme introduced and like with Amun, I politely extended my hand to Liam first. He acknowledged my hand with a grunt and kept his arms crossed, Siobhan however shook her head at her mate and took my hand in hers smiling,

"Good to meet you Christian, Carlisle and Esme have told us so much about you." her voice sang as she shook my hand.

I chuckled a little, if there was any doubt about where she was from it was completely eradicated when she spoke. Though the accents were different, the way she spoke and her warm smile reminded me so much of my aunt Wendy a woman who has faded the most from my memory. It's only bits and pieces of her being I remember and her similarities to Siobhan were definitely the strongest ones I was experiencing.

"And it's a pleasure to meet you ma'am sir." I replied and I swear to god I heard Liam snort back his displeasure the moment he heard my accent.

"Girls," Siobhan called and the two girls came over quickly "girls this is Carlisle and Esme's youngest son Christian,"

"Chris pleased," I interrupted politely and Esme smiled

"This is Maggie and Fiona." Siobhan introduced.

I gently shook each of the girls' hands; Maggie first, then Fiona, the minute I took Fiona's hand we both looked into each other's eyes and I felt that warmth envelope me again. Her eyes were as red as could be but I couldn't stop staring into them until I literally had to pull myself away and we both looked away shyly.

"It's nice to meet you both," I replied and looked at Liam carefully he disapproving frown was not among the situation any less uncomfortable.

"Hi Chris!" Maggie bubbled

I was right in my earlier profile she's a lot like Siobhan outgoing going to tell it like it is and not quiet.

"Hi," Fiona added smiling a little, she was timidly standing as close to Maggie as possible and I gently returned the smile, but before the conversation could go any further I heard my name being called, no not called, bellowed as Nessie came running through the crowds hunting me down.

"Uncle Chris Uncle Chris!" She exclaimed jumping into my arms she smiled shyly at Fiona and Maggie and both girls waved at her and she waved back.

I think at this point she just wanted to make sure she was near me as much as possible, she didn't like the family being away like that and with Alice and Jasper still missing she was strategically checking on each member of the family, being in their arms and being comforted by their presence. Nessie put her head on my shoulder for a moment then put her hand to my throat

'Do you like Fiona?' She asked in her own way and I sighed at my niece, wondering if it was just obvious to Nessie or if I was an open book for the entire room to read. I also knew there was a possibility of Nessie repeating her question only out loud, time to get away from this entirely.

"Chris?" Esme said softly "are you okay?"

I smiled at my mother and at the Irish clan

"Please excuse me," I said politely "apparently my brother needs to talk to me," I didn't miss the look Maggie had on her face, she knew I wasn't being truthful and I was starting to get a good idea about what Maggie's ability was, she was a lie detector,

Esme rolled her eyes at me because she knew I was full of it, but she didn't say anything and let me go, I knew I'd get it later.

When I glanced back at the Irish clan Maggie gave me a sympathetic smile. Clearly the Irish lie detector was amused at my apparent shyness around her sister. Esme stayed to chat with the Irish clan as I carried Nessie away from the group.

"Uncle Chris," Nessie declared very confused "daddy did not send me over to get you and Uncle Emmett didn't either. Did you tell a lie?" She asked in shock

I groaned and nodded

"Yes Nessie. It's what is called a white lie. It's a lie that is still a lie but no one gets hurt when you say it, but it's something you need use only when it's really super important."

"But I thought lying was bad, like with Pinocchio."

I thought this over, its so hard to remember that Nessie is in all reality a baby albeit a super smart baby who looks more like a five year old, but she is still only a few months old. And if I remember anything about little kids based on my experience with my own cousins and my human friends' siblings they tend to be brutally honest no matter what. Lying isn't even on their radar till they're like six or at least that's my understanding.

"Sometimes a white lie is told so you're not being rude. I was feeling uncomfortable because I had to meet new people and I really don't like to. So I told a white lie to politely excuse myself and do it in a way that wouldn't seem rude. Do you think it would have been nicer if I had said 'I don't want to talk to you anymore? And walked away?'

Nessie shook her quickly

"That would be very, very rude to say," she concluded and I nodded

"See, I told a white lie so I could be polite and not hurt anyone's feelings. Lying isn't good thing, but sometimes a white lie every once in a while is okay."

Nessie nodded but she still seemed confused about the whole thing, especially one particular something

"But Uncle Chris, why didn't you want to keep talking to them? Everyone is very, very, very nice, especially Fiona and Maggie, Maggie told me a story about Ireland and a fairy. I like the way they talk, they were talking in another language and it sounded like how you talk sometimes, but I think the words were different. How come?"

"That's just the way things work sometimes, not everyone speaks the same language even if the languages sound a little alike," I said hoping that explained enough "does that make sense?"

"A little," she paused and I winced "Uncle Chris, can I ask you another question?"

"Always Nes,"

"why did you feel uncomfortable? Maggie and Fiona, and Siobhan and even Liam are very, very nice,"

I sighed, this kid was killing me, absolutely killing me, but before I could respond, I felt my brother's footsteps on the carpet and turned to meet him.

"Because Uncle Chris is shy." Edward replied coming up behind us.

I am not shy, I thought, hoping my grumbling could translate in my thoughts, it must have, because the look I got from my brother was one of 'you are so.'

"Uncle Chris you're shy?" Nessie asked and I shook my head

"No Nessie, your dad is being silly," I replied for once in his life I added in my thoughts and he rolled his eyes at me.

"so what are you teaching my daughter now"

"Uncle Chris told me when it's okay to lie and when it's not,"

Edward groaned and Bella joined us, she reached over and hugged me tight Nessie used the exchange to climb from my arms to her mother's like a little monkey.

"What's this about you teaching our daughter to lie?" Bella asked

"I…er…um," bloody hell I couldn't even defend myself on this one.

Bella and Edward exchanged a look and Bella kissed Nessie on the top of her head and gently set her down.

"Go see Aunt Rose okay?" she whispered and Nessie skipped off through the gathering. "Now what are you up to?" Bella asked, her voice still forceful, but with a hint of gentleness to it.

"Esme wanted to make sure I met everyone so she brought me around on a meet and greet and there is only so much social interaction I can take. So I told Esme and the Irish clan that you wanted to speak to me, I explained to Nessie that it was a white lie so I wouldn't appear rude."

"And you didn't want to be rude because a certain Irish girl was making you uncomfortable?" Edward asked not as gentle as his wife.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked even though it came out more as a squeak.

"I said-" he started to repeat and I shook my head

"No I heard you the first time, what makes you think Fiona is making me uncomfortable?" I asked and Edward grinned a little

"I never said Fiona," he replied "so you really do like her huh?" he added knowingly.

Bella however wasn't going to give into the teasing and gave Edward a stern look before turning to me

"Chris is that true?" she asked

"What? No, 'course not!" I deflected "look I…I've got to check on Chap, he's probably going out of his bloody mind with all these new smells."

Before the two of them could argue with me I bolted towards the stairs, following the same path that Alistair had taken, I wondered for a brief moment if he needed company to hang out with up there.

As I turned onto the landing and headed towards my room I sighed. I've always tried to make sure that I'm impossible to profile. I don't wear my emotions and I think I've done a pretty damn good job making sure that no one can profile me, granted certain family members it's nearly impossible, Esme and Carlisle for instance and Edward of course, but was I losing my touch so much that even Bella could zero in when something was different?

My thoughts were interrupted by movement down the hall towards the attic doorway, standing there was Alistair, arms crossed and looking at me once again with suspicion.

"So the profiler becomes the profiled?" he asked and I looked at him confused, but before I could respond he disappeared back into the attic, just as I heard the stairs from down below creak a little. Friend of Carlisle's or not, he is definitely bloody bonkers.

Shaking my head on that thought, I turned to look who was coming up the stairs since I'm the only one who really has any reason to be up here besides Count Dracula in the attic. So I was a little surprised to see Maggie, with Fiona in tow. Maggie smiled warmly at me and gently pushed Fiona forward.

"Fi was wondering if she could borrow another one of your books, she finished this one."

"Maggie, I can speak for myself, thank you though" Fiona said gently stepping forward timidly "I hope you didn't mind, your brother showed us the library downstairs and your collection of books up here and said it would be okay if I borrowed as many as I'd like. You have a lot of wonderful books, it's been tough deciding which ones to take."

I almost didn't respond to her, I was still in shock that they were here, up on the landing, and actually speaking to me after how, let's face it rude and pretty moronic I had been downstairs.

The girls exchanged a look, giggling a little to themselves

"Uh, Chris?" Maggie called, louder than Fi could ever hope

"Uh, right sorry," I stuttered and they giggled again, there was more footsteps coming the stairs as Benjamin and Tia somehow snuck away from Amun and joined us up on the landing.

"Well, this certainly looks like the party place," Benjamin commented looking around, Fi seemed to shrink back in her shyness and moved closer to Maggie. "it's a good thing Fi," he added smiling gently at her "you have to admit, things were getting pretty dull downstairs all everyone is doing is standing around talking."

Fi nodded

"That's why I was reading," she said softly holding up the book she'd been reading downstairs.

"So Chris what do you do for fun?" Tia asked, I glanced towards my room, I really wasn't sure how Chap would react to so many new faces and smells so I was hesitant to let everyone into my room.

"Read mostly, video games sometimes," I replied with a shrug "movies. That's of course when we're not in school, homework and projects sometimes kill some time." I glanced at my door again and Benjamin grinned

"Oh if you're worried about Chaplin don't be, we've become best buds, Nessie introduced us when we arrived," he explained and I looked at him in surprise before looking at Maggie and Fi who nodded in agreement.

"Well in that case, come on in to my room, there's a lot more to do in the loft over the garage, but you guys are welcome in here too." I replied opening my door as the four of them walked inside, this was something I had never experienced before. I mean thanks to Marie and Sarah I had friends here in Forks which was a real first and of course I have Seth as a best friend and we hang out, but I have never had vampire friends physically my own age who I could be friends with.

Even though all of these friends and family were here for the purpose of bearing witness for us to the Volturi, I couldn't help but feel a little comfortable with the fact that I was actually surrounded by friends whom I could relate to in every sense of that word.

Chapter Text

x-x-x-x-x-x

My room is not that big, I've never needed a lot of space, enough room for me and my rats has always been all I've needed. Now suddenly every spot available was occupied, Maggie and Tia had taken over my window seat, Benjamin was sitting in my computer rolling chair, I had reluctantly taken my easy chair, which left Fi without a place to sit but Fi was completely distracted and admiring my shelves and shelves of books.

Maggie looked over at her sister and rolled her eyes giggling a little

"She's is such a bookworm!" she explained "if she could spend all eternity with her nose in a book, the wee girl would do it."

"I am not a bookworm," Fi replied, with her back to the group "there's nothing wrong with reading Maggie," the words sounded argumentative, which coming from Fi was kind of surprising, but even with her back to me, I could see that Fi and Maggie are just doing what Em and I tend to do, pester each other, acting exactly like siblings.

Strangely enough, even with all the gentle teasing Maggie was doing, I could see just how protective she is of Fi, she sees Fi as her little sister even though physically they are maybe a year, two years apart. My curiosity started to pester, I wanted to know about their past, actually I wanted to know about everyone's past. Benjamin and Tia had clearly known each other for a very long time, Fi and Maggie while vastly different from one another, were clearly very close and loved each other like sisters. How had each of us come into this life? I didn't even know how old each one of them were. I mean downstairs I kind of assumed Benjamin had some pull in the family dynamic of the Egyptian coven, but I was also right to assume even with that pull, he was not the leader of the coven, he was not the oldest, not physically and not in reality.

In a bizarre way, I'm sure they others were wondering the same thing about me, but I've never been a good conversation starter, so I was relieved when Benjamin spoke up first, literally breaking the ice. He glanced up at my mounds of books, notebooks, and other school supplies and smiled a little.

"So, Carlisle was mentioning that you attend school I did not believe him, but now I see that he was telling the truth."

Fiona's ears seemed to perk up a little as did Maggie's.

"You go to school boyo?" Maggie asked in surprise "how do you manage that?"

I shrugged, uncomfortable with being put on the spot like this

"Better than the alternative," I replied "it makes the days seem less tedious and mundane."

"Is it just you or-" Tia started to ask

"No, it's all of us, plus Carlisle has his practice and Esme does restorations, she actually rebuilt this section of the house when we first moved here. It was one big room and Edward and I refused to be roomies so she added that wall there," I added pointing at the wall where my desk is located, right where Benjamin was sitting.

"That is…" he started to say

"Amazing," Tia finished for him "we're lucky if Amun lets us outside," she added growling a little

Benjamin however laughed loudly

"We, what's this we you speak of?" he asked he looked at me "so you are English?" he asked

"Scottish," I replied "but I grew up in London, why?"

"Just curious, you have a similar accent to Carlisle, but it's not quite the same."

I nodded

"So, what's Egypt like?" I asked 'aside from being hot," I added laughing a little, the others all did too

Tia and Benjamin exchanged a look and smiled

"You have never been?" Benjamin asked and I shook my head "to be honest Chris that surprises me a little,"

"My father was a doctor, he went to Egypt a few times in his career, he had his own private practice, but he also volunteered his services with the Royal Medical College, which sent him all over the British Empire, including India, Hong Kong, and Egypt." I explained "I do remember him writing to my mother and I and telling us about his experience riding a camel passed the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx." I paused "does that count?"

"Someday my new friend you must come visit us and see the Egyptian nightlife," Benjamin replied a wide grin "if I can get Amun to what is the term, chill out."

"I think I would like that," I said "it's better than my brother's idea of touring Vegas,"

Benjamin winked

"I've heard there's a fine nightlife there too," he paused and looked at Maggie and Fi, Fi had selected another one of my books and was causally. "Ireland as well hm?" he asked Maggie and Maggie shrugged giggling a little, Fi turned around and joined her sister in the giggles as she nodded.

"My…" she said softly "my older sister went out all the time, of course I was sworn to secrecy, our parents never knew. There was a place she would go with her friends every Saturday night, right up until her boyfriend proposed."

There was a long pause, I think Fi's words about a sibling and parents dug deep into all of us, I swear you could hear a pin drop and minus the crinkling of paper turning and the low whispers from downstairs it was pretty quiet.

Benjamin broke that silence. He looked over at me and rubbed his chin thoughtfully,

"So, Carlisle really did not have time to tell us much about the family, I am curious Chris, how is it you were turned? What is your story?" he asked politely and then looked at Maggie and Fi, "and you both, here we've been chatting for a few days now and yet I feel like we are so unfamiliar with each other."

Tia sighed and gently knocked her head on Maggie's shoulder

"You are so nosy," she reprimanded and he shrugged

"It's in my nature I can't help it,"

"So this is our plan for the afternoon?" Tia asked "telling stories of our past lives?"

I took a deep breath

"Well, normally I'd suggest watching TV in the loft, but it's football season and therefore Emmett has seized control over what is technically my TV."

Now everyone laughed though they knew I was being truthful, even I had to laugh because I knew how ridiculous it sounded to suggest TV to a group of vampires.

"I don't mind stories," Maggie admitted looking at Fi who gave a small shrug, "I think we're all curious about each other, even if we're not as forward about it as Benjamin."

This time Fi nodded as she picked out a book from the shelf and looked for a place to sit, I didn't think twice, I jumped out of my easy chair and offered it to Fi. She looked embarrassed for a moment as she slowly sat down

"Th…thank you," she said softly

"My pleasure," I replied, trying to ignore the giggles coming from Maggie and Tia, they were seriously worse than my sisters.

"Do you agree Fi?" Maggie asked her sister and Fi slowly nodded, she looked up at me quickly and then just as quickly looked away.

"Well, as I said before," Benjamin spoke up "no offense to you two," he said to Maggie and Fi "and don't worry we'll all have our moment to share, but Chris, you said you were thirteen, it's so…"

"So young," Tia finished for him and I shrugged "we've all heard that Carlisle will not change anyone who has some other chance for survival. Is that true?"

I nodded

"It's true,"

"Then how did it happen," Maggie asked,

"You can thank Adolf Hitler and his Luftwaffe for that," I replied "Carlisle was a visiting doctor to London during the Blitz, I was walking home from school, got caught during an attack and didn't make it to a shelter in time. I was nearly crushed by a falling building and brought to the hospital that Carlisle was volunteering at, he took one look at me and realized that I wasn't going to survive, Edward was with him, told him that I was strong enough to survive the change and mature enough to handle the aftermath. Carlisle explained as quickly and as best he could. I mean it was my only alternative to death and I accepted it." I explained and everyone nodded "Alright next," I added looking to the others who exchanged a look, silently deciding who would go next.

Hearing the stories of my new friends was pretty amazing. Maggie had been around during the Great Famine, which had driven a lot of Irish immigrants to America in the 1840s. She was only fifteen, two years older than me and her family basically abandoned her and her grandparents.

Her gift for knowing truths and lies apparently frightened many around her and she was sure that was one of the reasons she was left behind. Siobhan and Liam had found Maggie dying from starvation on the side of the road and Siobhan without consulting Liam changed her, but he quickly accepted her.

I had to admire Maggie and even relate to her, our abilities are similar. To determine a person's honesty whether that be speaking or by action she can tell if they are being truthful or not just be studying them. Meeting someone who has an ability so similar to my own is comforting because it gives me someone to talk to about it, if I needed to.

Benjamin and Tia as I had guessed knew each other before and like Maggie and I would later learn Fi, Benjamin was fifteen when he was changed. Benjamin and Tia are related somehow, but neither are very sure how, distant cousins perhaps. Both were born around 1790 into the first few years of the 1800s so again I was correct that they were much older in reality than myself or even Maggie, I did not expect them to be older in reality than Jasper so this in itself was interesting.

Both had been raised by an uncle who used the kids to bring in money; dancing, singing, selling, pick pocketing, what have you. In Benjamin's case it was his ability to control fire and do tricks with his ability.

Benjamin and Tia became very close and had decided early on that they would run away from their uncle someday, together. During one of his performances, when he was fifteen, Benjamin had no way of knowing that sitting in the audience was Amun, who had heard about his strange talents. He kidnapped Benjamin and killed the uncle when they were walking home.

Amun kept him hidden underground for five years, growing his ability and feeding him stories about the Volturi (none of which I might add are false). Benjamin respects Amun as a father figure, but he was desperate to find out what became of Tia, who was only twelve when he went missing.

So apparently (and this cracks me up) he waited until Amun went out hunting, caused a minor cave-in to trap Kebi, and went out searching. He found her and reunited with her, explaining his new life and what had become of him. Seventeen year old Tia apparently decided that she wasn't going back to her much older husband and instead ran away with Benjamin who changed her and brought her to Amun and Kebi, who were angry at first, but accepted Tia's presence because she was Benjamin's only tie to the human life he'd left behind.

Fi it turned out had a similar upbringing to me, aside from two different countries and two different decades, we actually had a lot in common. Her father was a doctor too, a veterinarian actually. Fi was born in Ireland in 1957 and lived with her parents and older sister.

Ireland has always been a rocky place even when I was a kid we tended to look down on the Irish because they were seen as fools and drunkards and even violent.

Brits at the time looked down on both the Irish and Scottish, but more the Irish, it was just the way things worked. But there was always trouble going on over there, from the IRA to religious skirmishes, to poverty.

My father due to his medical practice was constantly going to Northern Ireland because it was and still is considered British and he told me he had been shocked to see the destruction, poverty, and unhappiness that was Ireland and this was back in the thirties.

Apparently not much changed, because in 1972 a riot broke out across Northern Ireland, between oppressed Catholics and the British Army. It became known as Bloody Sunday and though a majority of the fighting was confined to Londonderry Ireland, it reached across Northern Ireland with fights and riots breaking out throughout the country.

Fi's family minus her sister who was living in London at the time with her husband, was on their way to church when the rioting started. They were Protestants, but were not deeply religious at all, again another similarity to my own family, attending church every Sunday was the biggest extent of their religious endeavors. However that particular Sunday when the fighting broke out, Fi's family was caught in the crossfire.

Fi told us all she really remembers about that day was the explosion, someone had set a car bomb off which in turn set off a chain reaction of them, Fi's dad tried to shield the family from the blast and died as a result, she wasn't entirely sure what became of her mum, all she remembered was her mother telling her to run, but she is convinced her mum tried to get to her father and died in a secondary blast.

I guess Fi ran further than she expected and didn't stop running until she was collapsed a good mile or two outside of town. It was here that Siobhan stumbled on her, she took pity on Fi and without consulting Liam or Maggie, changed her. The reaction from Maggie and Liam was not what she expected as Maggie excitedly embraced her new younger sister and Liam accepted her without any fuss or arguments.

Fi's voice trailed off and we all kind of sat (or in my case stood) in silence for a few moments. I looked around at the faces of my new friends and saw the same sadness on each on. Telling stories about how we came into this life helped us get to know each other true, but I could read into it, it also brought back memories of our past that we had tried to either forget or in my case put in like a scrapbook, there and not forgotten but also not weighing me down. For those few moments the only noise was Chaplin chewing on his salt wheel, I don't think any of us were even breathing at that point.

I was desperate to break the silence but I've never been good at instigating conversation, luckily I didn't have to as a commotion from down in the yard caught our attention.

Fearing the worst I bolted over to my window seat as Maggie and Tia jumped up away from it. Clearly we were all on edge with the Volturi threat. I took a deep breath and looked down into the yard, the commotion wasn't the Volturi thank god, but new additions. These additions needed no introductions I could see who they were from my window on the third floor. It was two of three members of the amazon tribe. Where their sister was perplexed me a little, but I did feel relieved that Alice and jasper has sent them to us.

Slowly I slid off the cushion and turned to my friends, each one had a look of panic on their faces.

"Chris?" Maggie whimpered and I was honestly surprised about the tremble in her voice

"It's okay it's just two of the Amazons."

"They came?!" Tia exclaimed "Amun was sure they wouldn't,"

"Wait only two?" Benjamin spoke up joining me at the window, "I thought they always stayed together, the three of them."

"I know," I replied "that's what Carlisle told me too.

We must have looked ridiculous kneeling side by side leaning on my window sill.

"Amazing," Benjamin said softly to me "they are the beings of legend, beautiful aren't they?"

I have to admit I'd never seen anyone quite like the Amazon coven. They towered over most of my family, the taller one was just short of eyelevel with Emmett, they were imposing commanding a presence similar to Samuel's. Their attire was shocking too, all animal skins like something out of a movie; animal hide vests, animal hide pants you name it. But their attire wasn't all that caught my attention, aside from their beauty (which was just breathtaking) I was drawn into their profile, especially the taller one.

Looking at her I could read her body language and it told me such as story. The way she stood and carried herself, she had an ability. I wasn't sure what it was, I just know it existed.

It's something I've noticed with our kind that has abilities, without meaning too, at least in most cases, such as myself, Alice, jasper, Benjamin, Edward, Katie, even Maggie the way we carry ourselves is in itself a confession of our gifts.

All of us have come to rely on our abilities to protect ourselves and our families and that shows. I know for a fact though that myself and those I mentioned as well as others do not do it on purpose it's just part of our being; people like Aro, Jane, Alec, other members of the Volturi guard and even James from a few years ago, they carry themselves with an air of arrogance because of their ability, they feel it entitles them and so they act like it, the flaunt their supposed superiority, seeing those who do not possess such abilities as weaker members of our kind.

Looking down at the Amazon at least at the tall one had that same posture, it wasn't an air of arrogance, but it was the look of protection, her instinct to use her ability to protect her companion. She glanced up to the house and our eyes met briefly, she smiled gently and Benjamin and I exchanged a look.

"I'm going down there," I said softly, not really expecting an answer from the others as I pushed my window open and scaled out onto the roof before dropping down onto the ground below.

Carlisle, Esme, and Edward had beaten us out there as Benjamin followed my gesture, Fi, Tia, and Maggie apparently decided to take the mature exit and went through the house, all three watching curious from the porch.

"Carlisle," the taller Amazon spoke, greeting my father with gusto

"Zafrina and Senna! Welcome." Carlisle called to the pair, even he seemed surprised by their appearance, but it was more the lack of a trio. "Where's Kachiri? I've never seen you three apart."

"Alice told us we needed to separate," Zafrina replied. My ears perked up at the mention of Alice and exchanged a look with Edward who nodded, he could see the whole scenario playing out in Zafrina's mind. I didn't know if it made me feel relieved or even more worried hearing that the Amazons had been in contact with Alice and presumably Jasper, while we were still unsure where exactly they were or what they were doing. "It's uncomfortable to be away from each other, but Alice assured us that you needed us here, while she very much needed Kachiri somewhere else. That's all she would tell us, except that there was a great hurry... ?"

Her voice trailed off a little as Bella came out onto the porch with Nessie in her arms, instantly both Zafrina and Senna stiffened, they looked from Carlisle back to Nessie, their eyes full of concern and even a hint of curiosity. Zafrina however despite her initial fear, reached her hand out to Nessie with absolute curiosity as Nessie placed her hand to Zafrina's throat and told her story in her own unique way.

When Nessie was finished Zafrina took a step back, clearly in shock, but she turned to her sister and whispered quickly that there was nothing to fear with the child. It was then Edward stepped forward and introduced himself to the Amazons, as if to reply, Zafrina seemed focused on something, Edward's face went from surprised and amused to back to surprised and I wondered what Zafrina was doing to my brother.

As if she could read my thoughts I felt Zafrina's attention turn to include Benjamin and myself, suddenly we weren't standing in my backyard, but rather a rainforest, well, I saw we, but when I looked around I was all by myself, it was the most amazing and somewhat terrifying things I've ever experienced.

I took a deep breath and looked around, desperate for an escape when somehow I spotted Benjamin, doing the same thing I was doing, looking around.

"It's an illusion," I whispered to Benjamin and he nodded

"Must be, interesting,"

"It looks so real, yet my mind is telling me it's not,"

"It must be our abilities," Benjamin replied "because I can sense that what I feel for elements cannot possible exist here, your area of the world certainly has a different feel than my own and even this scenario."

Slowly the rainforest faded around us, returning Benjamin and I back to my backyard. Zafrina smiled at the pair of us and winked, before turning her attention back to Edward and Bella. Bella however just looked confused, and I could see why, she couldn't see anything, how ever Zafrina's gift worked, Bella wasn't affected by it.

"It's a very straightforward illusion," Edward explained "She can make most people see whatever she wants them to see – see that, and nothing else. For example, right now I would appear to be alone in the middle of a rain forest. It's so clear I might possibly believe it, except for the fact that I can still feel you in my arms." He finished hugging Bella gently. Zafrina's mouth gave a twitch as she smiled and focused on something else, Edward slowly returned the smile and nodded "Impressive," he said.

Nessie being the curious baby/toddler/preschooler that she is moved closer to Zafrina, bravely approaching the Amazon

"Can I see?" she asked.

"What would you like to see?" Zafrina asked.

"What you showed Daddy," Nessie seemed to stare off at something, then her face broke into a huge smile, completely dazzled by whatever she saw "More," she commanded and I burst out laughing at her insistence.

Zafrina smiled and obliged, she also looked at Benjamin and I expectantly. I read her body language and anticipated her question, quickly shaking my head.

"No thanks I'm good, once was enough,"

"I agree with Chris," Benjamin replied "fascinating though."

Zafrina nodded and returned her attention to Nessie, clearly Nessie had found a source of entertainment. I think Bella was relieved somewhat. She had continued her demand that Edward teach her how to fight and I was sure that wasn't going to go well.

However, as all this pretty picture thing with the Amazons was going on, I did a quick headcount and noticed that Fi had disappeared. I looked to Maggie who was intently watching Zafrina, she hadn't even noticed Fi's departure.

I quietly snuck back into the house. Everyone else inside was doing their own thing some had even discovered our entertainment center and were actually channel surfing. Garret seemed to be hovering around the Denali clan more specifically Kate.

None of them noticed me as I walked inside. I wasn't exactly sure when or even why Fi had come back into the house it was obvious how shy she is so I hoped she hadn't been spooked or intimidated by the Amazon's ability, but I got the feeling Fi isn't a scaredy-cat, she's just quiet.

Though, if I didn't have my ability telling me the illusion I had just experienced was just that, an illusion I might have been spooked by it. So maybe that was it, maybe she had also been pulled into Zafrina's illusion and had left the scene to escape the sudden change in scenery. So I thought about myself and what I would do in that situation, I looked in the obvious spots first, i.e. our library.

I was not surprised to find her curled up with a book in one of the thick leather chairs. Esme wanted the library to look just like a movie mansion library so the chairs were included in the design, the library was a necessity to hold all the books my family has acquired in our lifetimes.

Carlisle has books that are over two hundred years old including some very rare first editions. Even some of my books from London are stored in here mainly because Alice thought they would look nice displayed in the library instead of hidden away in my room.

Fi was deep in a book, one of our older pieces of literature because I could see the leather binding. She looked up embarrassed when she heard the door open and looked up to find me in the doorway.

"Hi," I said softy

"Hi," she replied, her voice sounding like a kid who had been caught doing something they shouldn't be. "Maggie looking for me?"

I shook my head

"No, I…" I stopped midsentence unsure how to explain that I has been the one to notice she had left. I didn't want to seem creepy like I was stalking her or something. "I...I I was on my way back to my room and saw the light on in here."

"I hope it's okay." She replied "it's just I've never seen so many book in one place aside from a library. My...my village had a small library of course, but there was a great big bookstore a few villages over, even that didn't have as many books as your family does. But I still road my bike there with my friends." She smiled a little laughing at the memory "got in so much trouble when I came home, mum was furious but da had the car and mum was at work when I left, no one to take me. I did leave her a note."

I moved into the library and sat crisscross in the other chair to talk to her properly, this was the most I'd heard her stay aside from telling us her story.

"I did that once," I admitted and Fi looked at me in surprise

"You did?" She asked and I nodded

"Well, sort of, I was in Glasgow visiting my aunt and uncle for the summer holiday, this was 1934 I think so I was nearly eight my cousin he was seven. Anyways my uncle had to go into the village with some supplies. We loved going with him on his deliveries and this was no different. My uncle had a truck but he rarely used it, he always said there's nothing stronger than the trust between a man and an animal and what are we saying to animals if we replace them with a piece of machinery." I paused and grinned "so when we got into town my uncle sent my cousin and I off to explore while he unloaded the wagon, I think if we were older he would have insisted we help. I don't even remember how it all came about, but my younger cousin noticed the train and since he was going through a train phase where he wanted to be a conductor and was begging my uncle to buy him a train set for Christmas. He made a beeline for the waiting train and climbed onto one of the boxcars. Not even sure how the little bugger did it but he got inside and of course I was the older cousin so I was responsible for him and knew my uncle would give us both a tanning if we left so I climbed up to try and convince my cousin to get down and go back to his father, but before we could the train started to move and that was it, we were stuck aboard."

Fi's eyes went wide with amazement.

"What happened?"

"One of the shopkeepers, she noticed the train leaving with us hanging out the doorway and ran to fetch my uncle. We were of course on our way to the next station by the time she did so. The conductor on the platform phoned ahead to the next station to alert them to our presence and my uncle headed that way to pick us up. "

"I bet he was furious huh?"

"More relieved than furious at first, believe me we got the first half of the lecture on the two hour ride back to town and then the rest of it on the hour ride home." I paused "I got more of the lecture because I was the oldest, but I will give my cousin credit he actually spoke up and admitted to his father that it had been his idea and I had just been trying to get him off the train. My cousin and I were super close, so I made sure we both took the blame and not just him, like I said we were only a year apart, we were more like brothers than cousins." I looked at Fi carefully "what about you, you said upstairs you had an older sister right?" Fi nodded "what about cousins anyone you were close to?"

"I had a couple of cousins I was friendly with. But none of us were very close like you seem to be with yours. A lot of my cousins I never even met, my mum came from a large family but they weren't close. Her older brother and his family moved to the United States when my mum was just a wee lass of nine. Once my grandparents died there was nothing keeping most of her siblings in Ireland and most packed up and left either for the US or for London, I think even one of my aunts moved to Australia."

"How many siblings did she have?" I asked curious,

"Mum was one of eight," Fi explained and I stared at her in shock

"Eight kids, bloody hell," I muttered "and they weren't close?"

Fi shook her head

"Not at all," she said with a shrug "My mum always felt disappointed and sad about it. She made my sister and I promise that we'd never do that to each other. How big was your family?"

"My dad came from a small family just him and my uncle and my mum had two sisters and a brother, but my uncle I never met, he died during the First World War, my mum's younger sister died of pneumonia when she was a baby leaving just mum and her older sister, my aunt. I met her a few times but she lived in Paris and rarely if ever returned to the UK. We visited her a few times when we were vacationing in Paris, but I never knew what became of her when the war broke out."

"I keep forgetting how old you really are Chris," Fi said shyly

"I'm not World War One old," I replied with a grin "just World War Two," Fi giggled a little "anyways, you're more than welcome in here, you can stay as long as you want." I replied "just out of curiosity what were you reading?"

She looked back down at the book, then back at me

"Tale of Two Cities," she said with a smile "Maggie wasn't entirely wrong when she called me a bookworm." She paused "I must come off as pretty rude huh?"

I quickly shook my head

"No way," I said "that's the last thing I would consider you, you're not rude. Trust me, if anyone is rude in this house it's me,"

"You?" Fi asked confused "you're not rude,"

I chuckled

"Believe me I've been called close to that many times, anti-social is more like it. I've always been one to kind of sit back and observe rather than participate. Trust me if I had my way I'd spend all of eternity in this room." I finished gesturing around "I've been a member of this family for over sixty years and spent the first few years housebound. Even then I didn't make a dent in Carlisle's collection." My grin widened "I don't think anyone has including Carlisle himself. But Tale of Two Cities, that's one of my favorites, that's a first edition."

Fi looked down at the book quickly

"Really?" She asked

"Aye, it belonged to my grandfather, he gave it to my father who in turn gave it to me." I explained

"You said it's one of your favorites, just out of curiosity, do you have an absolute favorite story?" she paused "I know it's tough to pick one…at least it is for me,"

"My absolute favorite?" I repeated her question and took a deep breath "promise not to laugh or worse get mad?" I asked seriously and she looked at me confused, but nodded

"I promise,"

"Dracula," I explained and Fi's eyes went wide

"I wouldn't laugh at that or get mad, it's certainly interesting that it's your favorite,"

"It was when I was a kid, my father and I loved spooky stuff; monsters, ghosties, things that go bump in the night." I grinned "who would've ever thought I'd eventually become one of those creatures of the night," Fi laughed a little nodding "so I've told you mine, what's your favorite?"

"It's kind of silly," Fi admitted shyly

"No more sillier than a vampire who loves reading Dracula." I reminded her and she nodded

"Good point, well it's actually the Secret Garden,"

I raised my eyebrow, that title didn't sound familiar to me and it surprised me, I'm usually pretty good with most literature.

"Secret Garden?" I repeated "I'm sorry I've never heard of it,"

Now Fi smiled a little wider

"Well I'm not surprised, it's more of a girl's book." She paused "but it's about this girl named Mary who has to go and live with her uncle after her parents die. Her uncle owns a large manor on the moors, but he's is rarely home, unable to stay for very long on account of his sadness from losing his wife and the house and the grounds are not well kept, they are sad and dreary like the uncle's mood. Mary is a spoiled brat basically when she first arrives, but then one day while she's out exploring the grounds she discovers a locked door, she finds the key and gets inside and finds it's a garden. With the help of a local boy they begin to restore the garden. While this is going on, Mary finds out that she has a cousin who is bed ridden and believes he will die soon, he is more spoiled than Mary was, but the two become close." Fi paused again and winced "sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on. Like I said it's one of my favorites, my mum bought it for me when I was little and I read it every night before I went to bed. I lost count of how many times I read it. But I haven't read it in a long, long time. Summarizing it helps me remember how much I love it."

"Don't apologize," I replied "I think it sounds fascinating, you said it takes place at a manor?"

Fi nodded

"Yes Misselthwaite Manor, Yorkshire I believe."

I chuckled

"Well, it be a perfect setting then, I've been to Yorkshire, it's beautiful there." I paused, taking a deep breath "have you ever read the Sword in the Stone?"

"I saw the movie when it came out,"

I shook my head

"Read the book, it's a great read that I loved as a kid."

"Well, then you really need to read 'From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,"

"Wow, that's a title and a half,"

Fi nodded

"It is, but it's a brilliant book, it's about these two kids who run away to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City-" Fi started to explain and I sat there and listened. It didn't matter what anyone else was doing, her and I were enjoying ourselves, I had finally found a fellow bookworm whom I could bounce recommendations off of and receive some great ones in return.

Any shyness seemed to fade away from Fi as she clearly became more comfortable, we'd found our connection. I still had the same feeling I'd experienced when I first saw her and I knew it wasn't going away anytime soon and to be perfectly honest? I hoped it never did.

x-x-x-x-x

Chapter Text

Fi and I must have spent hours possibly an entire day in the library swapping book titles back and forth, I was honestly surprised no one came looking for us, but that was actually the least of my concerns, I was trying to keep a mental list of all the titles Fi was recommending me as well as not appearing to be uninterested in the conversation, believe me I was fascinated with the conversation, but it was hard to concentrate because I couldn't stop staring at her.

"You know what's another one of my favorite, it's actually a more modern favorite?" I asked trying to maintain focus,
Fi looked at me expectantly

"What?"

"Well, first I've got to ask, what's your feeling on horror? I mean I saw you reading my haunted America book, so I guess that's kind of a stupid question,"

Fi ducked her head a little like she was embarrassed "I like ghost stories," she admitted "I'm not a fan of other horror things, I never really liked vampire stories, I don't like zombies, and… and don't think less of me, but I hated Frankenstein."

"Really?" I said "why, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I felt bad for him," she admitted laughing a little "even when he killed the little girl, I felt bad for him and I didn't like the story after that."

"I wouldn't think less of you, especially for that, there's been books I've hated because of how certain characters were treated." I paused "but that book you were reading about haunted houses? It's actually a whole series of them."

Fi's eyes lit up

"Seriously?" she asked and I nodded

"I wouldn't lie," I started to say when the door to the library flew open reveling Emmett who burst out laughing the moment he saw the pair of us.

"So this is where you two have been hiding out?" he asked "I should've guessed. Figured it was too obvious so I didn't check here first."

"Can I help you with something Emmett?" I asked pointedly and my brother's grin got wider as he winked at Fi

"I just thought I'd let you know that there's been talks of arranging a search party for you two as well as the fact that Bella's testing out her shield and it's hilarious,"

I glanced at Fi who shrugged

"Her what?" I repeated, the image of Bella holding a real knight's shield flashing through my mind for a moment.

"Oh yes that's right you've been acting anti-social for nearly a day and weren't aware of what's been going. Bella's been able to block the Amazon's picture show, but she's practicing stretching her shield to protect from Kate's shock waves. Again, it's pretty funny."

It suddenly made so much sense, (not us being here for nearly a day,) I glanced at my watch and winced as I saw Emmett was right on that, but what really hit me was the shield, it explained so much…Edward not being able to read her mind, Aro and Jane unable to reach Bella, but the fact that my ability as well as Jasper and Alice's could affect her.

Our abilities are physical not mental; Jasper doesn't make you think you're calm and relaxed he literally puts you into that state, my ability isn't reading someone's mind it's all physical reading of their body language and their environment. Bella's ability is to shield her mind…fascinating.

"Is it working?" I asked

"What protecting from Kate?" Emmett asked and I nodded "it's hard to tell, Kate doesn't think Bella's got enough motivation."

I winced a little, I have experienced one of Kate's electrical shocks, just so she could explain her ability to me a little better, and I never want to experience that again, but Emmett was right, if we would use Bella's shield to defend against attacks from Jane or even Alec, she needed to have it tested at the highest level.

"What kind of motivation is she thinking of?" Fi asked timidly and Emmett glanced over at her in shock.

"She speaks!" he exclaimed and Fi looked at me and I shrugged "anyways she's trying to convince-" he started to say and my eyes went wide

"Bloody hell they're not thinking of using Nessie are they!?"

Emmett shook his head

"They weren't before I came in here looking for you two…but they've got a pretty good crowd out there watching,"

I looked at Fi and gave her an apologetic smile "Sorry Fi, but I've got to go out and watch this," Fi nodded and gently put the book on the chair "you can stay here and read if you want, you don't have to come," I added and she gave me a shy smile

"I want to," she replied and followed me to the door, Emmett burst out laughing again and we headed out of the library.

Emmett hadn't been kidding when he said they'd gathered quite an audience; Elzeazar, Carmen, Tanya, Garrett, Benjamin, Tia, Siobhan, and Maggie were all gathered around watching.

When we walked out of the house I felt a shadow move above me and glanced up to see Alistair was watching from our third floor window.

"Hey," Edward was saying, clearly trying to hide the discomfort he was feeling, keeping it from his voice. I don't know who he was trying to fool on that one, it was clear he was hurting a bit. "That one barely stung. Good job, Bella."

"Again, Kate," Bella growled through clenched teeth.

Fi and I pushed gently through the onlookers and settled in next to Siobhan, she glanced over at us and smiled knowingly

"Where have you been Fiona?" she asked

"The Cullen's library," Fi admitted

"Of course," Siobhan replied with a chuckle, Fi looked at me and shrugged as she smiled.

Meanwhile, Kate, Edward, and Bella were at it again, Edward cringed, preparing for the shock as Kate pressed her palm to Edward's shoulder.

"Nothing that time." Edward breathed with relief Kate seemed disappointed and Emmett nudged my shoulder laughing, Kate raised an eyebrow.

"That wasn't low, either." Kate explained "Good," Bella growled, and Kate grinned wide "Get ready," she said, reaching for Edward a second time, this time there was no mistaking the fact that he felt the shock.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Bella repeated over and over.

"Fifty bucks says Kate puts Edward down on his ass," Emmett whispered to me.

If Siobhan heard him she ignored it, but Fi looked between me and Emmett quickly.

"A bet?" she asked

"It's kind of a Cullen boys tradition," I explained

"Come on kid, fifty bucks," Emmett prodded, he looked at Fi mischievously "you want in Fi Fi?"

Fi looked at me again, as if she was unsure how to respond to that and I rolled my eyes. I elbowed Emmett in the ribs.

"Knock it off," I hissed

"It's okay," Fi said "really, I'm used to nicknames like that, my older sister used to call me Ri Ri,"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion

"Ri Ri?" I asked "I don't get it,"

"It's my middle name, sort of," Fi explained "my middle name is Larissa and my sister didn't want to call me Fi or Fiona since everyone was calling me that, so she created her own nickname.

"Ri Ri?" I repeated and Fi shrugged

"I never bothered to ask," she replied laughing a little "it was just one of those things that kind of stuck,"

"Kind of like Dr. Doolittle!" Emmett exclaimed, he paused "Anyways, now that's sorted out, back to my question," there was a definite gleam in his eyes that actually frightened me a little "fifty bucks says Bella's shield slips a little and on his how do you say it Chris…Arse our brother goes."

I sighed and ran my finger's through my hair trying to buy myself time before answering him. I could see how determined Bella was, how confident Edward was and how equally determined Kate was to test Bella's ability to the highest degree. But I could also see the frustration building up around Bella and the problem with being frustrated is sometimes you lose your focus.

"You're doing an amazing job, Bella," Edward said, trying to reassure her "You've really only been working at this for a few days and you're already projecting sporadically. Kate, tell her how well she's doing."

Kate however didn't look as convinced as Edward, she glanced over at us quickly before looking back at the couple, pursing her lips as she went "I don't know. She's obviously got tremendous ability, and we're only beginning to touch it. She can do better, I'm sure. She's just lacking incentive."

Bella seemed stunned by that and even snarled soundlessly a little it. But all around me the audience that had gathered seemed to agree with Edward, that Bella was doing really well considering the limited time she'd been at it.

Jacob's scent hit my nose followed quickly by Nessie and the Amazons. Nessie had apparently been spending most of her time with Zafrina and Senna, fully enjoying the pretty pictures Zafrina showed her. But looking at Kate's face I instantly knew what she was thinking and felt my stomach drop.

"Kate," Edward warned, confirming what I had profiled. I knew it would be the ultimate incentive for Bella, but I wasn't about to let my niece experience that.

I however didn't get the chance to react, as Kate shot along the river towards the trio and the tailing Jacob.

"Nessie," Kate said "would you like to come help your mother?"

"No," Bella snarled, shaking off Edward's attempt to hug her, Nessie ran right towards her mother "Absolutely not, Kate,"

I wasn't surprised however to hear Nessie disagree with Bella's decision, as she gave a gentle pout.

"But Momma," Nessie said firmly "I want to help,"

I started to move towards them, but Emmett put a hand on my shoulder stopping me.

"Bad idea kid," he reminded me "come on your profile's gotta tell you that."

"Believe me I know, but it's hard to not get involved."

"Stay away from us, Kate," Bella warned Kate who was walking towards them, it's hard to see Kate being intimating to anyone, but this time she was focused and was pretty scary.

"No." she argued, moving closer

I could see the rage building up on Bella, it was pouring off of her, she had shifted Nessie so she was on her back, leaving her hands free to defend, but at the same time I could also see her focus, this was exactly what had been the goal of these exercises with Kate in the first place, to strengthen Bella' shield and even though I couldn't see it in a physical form, Bella was doing exactly that, she was tapping into this shield thing and using it to blanket herself and Nessie.

Kate took another step forward and Bella let out another growl.

"Be careful, Kate," Edward cautioned. Kate took another step towards Bella, but stopped, she seemed to realize the same thing I had just profiled. She looked back towards Edward, but my focus was on Bella who looked ready to pounce if need be.

"Can you hear anything from Nessie?" Kate asked Edward, who moved in between Kate and Bella.

"No, nothing at all," he answered. "Now give Bella some space to calm down, Kate. You shouldn't goad her like that. I know she doesn't seem her age, but she's only a few months old."

"We don't have time to do this gently, Edward." Kate reminded him "We're going to have to push her. We only have a few weeks, and she's got the potential to- "

"Back off for a minute, Kate."

Kate frowned at that, but did as he asked, a minute ticked by and Bella took a deep breath before facing our cousin again.

"Kate," she growled. "Again, Edward only."

Kate rolled her eyes at Bella's request, but accepted that, putting her palm against Edward's shoulder, I watched my brother carefully and sighed with relief when his face remained the same, no sign of pain or anything.

"Nothing," Edward said

"And now?" Kate asked.

"Still nothing."

"And now?" I could hear the stress in Kate's voice, she was at her max for her ability.

"Nothing at all." Edward replied with a smile Kate grunted a little, she turned and scanned the crowd and spotted Emmett and I, I felt a twist in my stomach because I knew what was coming.

Fi looked at me carefully

"You okay?" she asked

"We'll see,"

"Chris, Emmett come here for a second," Kate growled Taking a deep breath I moved towards Edward, Bella, and Nessie. Bella looked at Kate suspiciously.

"You're touching Edward," Kate explained 'I want to try something,"

I looked over at Bella and gave her a reassuring smile, she looked panicky at this perspective, Edward had volunteered to be the practice dummy for this training session, Emmett and I had not. But I also didn't want her to lose that edge, her adrenalin seemed to be fueling the shield more, if she lost that adrenalin or that confidence she'd lose that shield.

"We trust you Bella, you've got this," I told her, Emmett looked down at me like I was nuts, he trusts Bella, but he knows how much Kate's ability hurts.

"Go for it," he grumbled to Kate who stepped in between us and put a hand on our shoulders. I tensed, expecting to feel the pain from her ability, but I didn't feel any pain, if anything I felt a sense of calmness a sense of safety, almost like being wrapped up in a warm blanket on a cold wintery day.

This lasted only a few seconds, I felt Kate's hand leave my shoulder and I looked back at Bella, it had worked, she was pushing her shield far enough that she was able to protect both Emmett and I from Kate's direct touch.

Kate grumbled, accepting defeat as she walked over towards her sister and Garrett. Ruffling my hair, Emmett headed back to his spot as well and I followed him, Fi gave me a reassuring smile when I stepped next to her.

Now Zafrina stepped in she smiled at Edward

"Can you see this?" she asked

"I don't see anything I shouldn't," Edward replied

"And you, Renesmee?" Zafrina asked. Nessie shook her head. I looked at Bella, she was losing her concentration, not from willpower of course, but from exhaustion, this shield while having a lot of strength against attacks, is not friendly to it's wielder.

"No one panic," Zafrina warned the group. "I want to see how far she can extend the shield." Within seconds of her saying this, my sight left me, I could hear what was going on around me, but I couldn't see anything, despite what Zafrina said I did nearly panic. My ability is based on my senses, so when one sense is taken away from me, my other senses go into overload to try and protect me and this was what was happening, I was looking for a way out. "Raise your hand when you get your sight back," Zafrina instructed, my ability combated Zafrina's ability. Zafrina's gift is all illusion, a very good illusion, but an illusion all the same.

I just had to use my ability to focus on what I knew to be real and what was not, so it only took me a few seconds at most to fight through it and get not only my bearings, but my sight back as well.

Slowly I raised my hand, wincing as Zafrina nodded, she seemed to understand how my ability worked and how it could fend off her illusion, it wasn't an easy thing to do, her illusion was very strong and it took a lot of concentration on my part to fight it, concentration I usually did not possess.

I was at least able to fight it, but the others, Elzeazar, Carmen, Tanya, Garrett, Fi, Benjamin, Tia, Siobhan, and Maggie stood there with the blank stares, their bodies clearly prepared to panic.

"Now, Bella." Zafrina continued "See how many you can shield."

I watched as Bella's face contorted, her teeth clenched as she focused on spreading this shield over the group. Kate was the closest, so her hand went up fairly quickly.

Edward was muttering something to himself, but I don't think Bella was paying attention to him, because she moved her attention towards Garrett, whose hand went up slowly not long after Kate's had.

Edward couldn't see it and I doubted Bella realized it either, but something was wrong, she was over extending herself, I could see the pain that was about to come, but there was nothing I could do to warn anyone, it was just going to have to happen. Even if Edward had managed to take his concentration away from Bella to read my mind, I doubt it would make a difference.

"Very good," Zafrina complimented "Now-"

I don't know exactly what happened, but Bella's face twisted in pain and what was just as troubling, the fear that washed over Nessie as she trebled against her mother's back. The shield had been stretched to it's breaking point, like an rubber band and it had snapped back at its wielder and it went from protecting at least Edward and Nessie to protecting no one, hence the look of fear and panic on Nessie's face.

"Can I have a minute?" Bella asked, clearly out of breath.

"Of course," Zafrina said, releasing her hold on everyone. I think everyone was feeling the same sense of relief as sighs went around the entire group, so I was not surprised when Fi grabbed hold of my arm, as if she needed reassurance that things were back to normal.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She whimpered a little and nodded

"I…I, I've never felt like that before. I couldn't see anything, just black."

I nodded

"Yeah, it's pretty freaky," I hesitated for just a second before patting her on the shoulder, instead of shying away from me, Fi actually leaned closer to me as if she was hiding from another wave of Zafrina's ability.

"I…I think I'm going to go back to the library," she said softly and I nodded, I was about to follow her when I spotted something that I knew I had to stick around to watch what was occurring between Garrett and Kate. "Are you coming?" Fi asked shyly and I nodded again.

"I'll be there shortly, but I've been waiting to see what's about to happen for a long, long time." Fi looked between me and then towards Garrett and Kate, she was definitely confused and who could blame her. "It's a long story," I explained "but that yank needs a good dose of his own medicine and the doctor has arrived."

Fi chuckled a little, she still didn't understand what was going on, but decided it best to just leave it along for the time being, clearly hoping I would explain later on. Siobhan who it seemed recovered from her blindness pretty quick raised an eyebrow at the pair of us, but she was smiling.

Fi looked shyly at her adoptive mother and quickly flitted into the house. Siobhan's smile grew when she looked down at me "Interesting," was all she said, "very, very interesting." And with that she walked away, down the path towards the tree that Liam was leaning against.

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to Garrett and his pursuit of Kate. I looked up at Emmett who was only slowly recovering from his blindness, it's rare I see my brother unnerved by something, but this had done the trick.

"You okay?" I asked

"That was some freaky ass stuff," Emmett replied taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, I know," I didn't mention that I had managed to shake it off "anyways, looks like Yankee Doodle over there is putting the moves on Kate."

Emmett instantly recovered as he grinned wide

"So it would seem,"

"He's going to ask her to zap him,"

"Why the hell would anyone ask for that?" Emmett exclaimed, again he's been zapped by Kate at least once as have I, it's not a pleasant experience that either of us are anxious to repeat and that had been on Kate's lowest setting. I know we were both thankful that Bella's shield had worked when Kate had been using full power.

"Because he fancies her," I explained

"Poor fool,"

"I have no sympathy for him," I replied "it bloody well serves him right for all the bloody Red Coat comments,"

"Wager?" Emmett asked

"Wager," I replied "fifty bucks says he gets put on his bloody arse, with one finger touch to Kate and her using hardly any energy, two seconds."

Emmett rubbed his chin thoughtfully

"I think it might take more than that, fifty bucks says he'll make it ten seconds before she drops him."

"I wouldn't, Garrett," Edward cautioned as Garrett made his way towards Kate who looked at him expectantly, she clearly knew his feelings for her and was not going to admit it that easily. I was proud of my cousin.

"They say you can put a vampire flat on his back." Garrett said carefully

"Yes," Kate agreed, then she wiggled her fingers at him "Curious?"

Garrett shrugged.

"That's something I've never seen. Seems like it might be a bit of an exaggeration... " he admitted.

"So he thinks now," I muttered to Emmett who burst out laughing

"Maybe," Kate said, her face going suddenly serious. "Maybe it only works on the weak or the young. I'm not sure. You look strong, though. Perhaps you could withstand my gift." She stretched her hand out to him, palm up, a clear invitation. Her lips twitched, she was literally hustling Garrett, bloody hell do I love our cousins.

Garrett despite all his wisdom and worldly experience, fell for it, believing her innocent smile. Very confidently, he touched her palm with his index finger and that was all it took, because with a loud gasp, his knees buckled, and he hit the ground.

No I don't take pleasure in another being's pain, but seriously it was nice to see Garrett's over confidence in his charm be thrown back at him. Bella however looked horrified at the scene unfolded in front of her.

"I told you so," Edward muttered

Garrett didn't seem phased as he pulled his wits together, staring up at Kate "Wow," he said.

"Did you enjoy that?" Kate asked sarcastically.

"I'm not crazy," he laughed, slowly and clearly weakly getting to his feet "but that was sure something!"

"That's what I hear." Kate replied,

I was about to comment and remind Emmett that he owed me money now, when I felt a shiver go down my spine. Something was happening up front, I could hear Carlisle's voice, it wasn't the same tenor in his voice that had greeted most of our guests, Carlisle was unsure and even a little intimidated, something I wasn't used to.

"Did Alice send you?" he asked,

Edward and I exchanged a look and I bolted inside, him and Emmett right behind me, with the others including Bella still carrying Nessie on her back, following us.

I stopped short when I entered the house and saw our guests, even without introductions I knew who these two vampires were, these were the Romanian vampires Stefan and Vladimir, two of the oldest vampires in our history and longtime rivals of the Volturi, given the fact that they were overthrown by Aro and the Volturi for control of the vampire world. I remember hearing stories of them from Carlisle, he was acquainted with the Romanian vampires and had met them a handful of times. I knew them only from Carlisle's description of them, I knew their names were Stefan and Vladimir and I only had to guess who was who.

They were slight and short, one dark-haired, this was Stefan and the other with hair so ashy blond that it looked pale gray was Vladimir, their skin was paler than any of us, almost powdery white, the only other beings I'd ever seen with skin like that was Aro, Marcus, and Caius. Their sharp, narrow eyes were dark burgundy, with no milky film.

My instinct to stand with my father became overwhelming and I slowly moved towards him. Esme was standing off to the side with Rose, not far from them stood nearly all of our other guests, all watching the Romanian pair with intensity and even fear.

"No one sent us," Stefan replied, monotone Carlisle's voice was shaking, I wasn't used to this and it only solidified my decision to stand with my father. He glanced down at me as I slid in next to him, our new guests stared down at me as if they were studying me, but Carlisle looked relieved a little, he gave me a small smile, before looking back at the Romanians.

"Then what brings you here now?" he asked

"Word travels," Vladimir replied "We heard hints that Volturi were moving against you. There were whispers that you would not stand alone. Obviously, the whispers were true. This is an impressive gathering."

In a different situation I think I would've laughed at the Romanian's accent, when Stefan had spoken the accent was barely noticeable, after all he only said three words, but now hearing the other one speak it was like hearing Dracula standing right in front of me. I kept waiting for one of them to blurt out the line 'I vant to suck your blood' any minute.

I had been raised as a vampire knowing that the myths and legends humans believed about our kind were spread by the Volturi, but seeing basically Dracula and his brother standing here, I was starting to wonder if the legends and myths were based on the Volturi's encounter with the Romanian vampires, therefore the two standing here in front of me were the muses for some of my favorite stories…mainly Bram Stoker's Dracula.

"We are not challenging the Volturi," Carlisle explained "There has been a misunderstanding that is all. A very serious misunderstanding, to be sure, but one we're hoping to clear up. What you see are witnesses. We just need the Volturi to listen. We didn't-"

"We don't care what they say you did," Stefan interrupted. "And we don't care if you broke the law."

"No matter how egregiously," Vladimir added, looking directly at me "though clearly it is not the first time,"

I resisted the urge to growl.

"We've been waiting a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged," said Stefan "If there is any chance they will fall, we will be here to see it."

In the past I would've loved to hear someone else speak down on the Volturi, Garrett's take on them, calling them dictators had been okay, I'll use the word, cool.

It was nice to see that even though Garrett and I disagree on a good number of items, we both have that shared feeling on the Volturi. But hearing a similar tone about them coming from the Romanians was not as refreshing, it literally sent chills down my spine.

"Or even to help defeat them," Vladimir added, it was as if they spoke as one individual, with no pause to finish each other's sentences. "If we think you have a chance of success."

Edward looked at our new "guests," then looked at me, I could read his body language, he could see their claims in their minds, but wasn't entirely sure they were as sincere as they were claiming to be.

They were easier to read than I really thought, they may be ancient but they have the same need for revenge that they've been carrying with them for centuries. Would they help us? I couldn't be sure on that one, part of me said they would, but the other part said their personal agenda would overshadow the right thing to do. This wasn't like Alistair, these two had no personal interest in the Cullen family. We were just means to an end, the end being the fall of the Volturi.

So when Edward silently asked me if I thought it was safe to bring Nessie out, I allowed him to see my profile and let him make the decision, there was no harm in it, not that the Dracula twins would have a chance to do anything, everyone in the room, even Amun and Kebi would protect Nessie. No one in that room was welcoming to the Romanian vampires and all were motionless, glaring at them.

Taking that assessment and whatever he read in Vladimir and Stefan's minds, Edward sighed, he looked towards the doorway.

"Bella?" he called. "Bring Renesmee here, please. Maybe we should test our Romanian visitors' claims."

Slowly Bella entered the room, Nessie still clinging to her back. I was impressed, but not entirely surprised as a shift occurred, nearly half of all standing in the room (aside from our immediate family who were already in position) moved to protect Nessie, building a wall around her.

"Well, well, Carlisle. You have been naughty, haven't you?" Stefan chided, he looked from me to Nessie as if he knew exactly what Carlisle had done, he assumed that both Nessie and I were immortal children.

"She's not what you think, Stefan." Carlisle spoke up "nor is Christian."

"And we don't care either way," the Vladimir responded. "As we said before."

"Then you're welcome to observe, Vladimir, but it is definitely not our plan to challenge the Volturi, as we said before." Carlisle reminded "Then we'll just cross our fingers," Stefan replied "And hope we get lucky," finished Vladimir.

The pair refused to touch Nessie, which I was pretty thankful for, I know Bella and Edward probably felt the same way. Instead they found their own corner of our house to occupy and it didn't take long before their discussion which they were holding within earshot of everyone, turned to how they would overthrow the Volturi and restore their own power.

Deciding that things were calm enough for me to make a break for it I headed for the garage. It's always been one of my calming areas and this was no different, besides unlike the loft this was completely free of lone vampires excluding myself of course.

I pulled off the tarp to Bella's truck and went to work on it. Despite not having a lot of time to do much, it was coming along pretty nicely and I actually had high hopes of it being finished for Christmas, which was only a few weeks away.

The engine had been a pain in the arse to replace, but it had been my biggest obstacle, with Jacob's help (though since Nessie came along he's been tough to call in for a consult) the body was in great shape, I'd even managed to fix the indent from the accident which not only nearly killed Bella to begin with, but had also exposed Edward to her.

I was just rewiring the battery when I heard the door to the garage open, I froze, worrying I had been caught by Bella, but when I sniffed the air I quickly realized that it wasn't Bella coming to the garage…it was Fi.

She smiled shyly as she walked in

"Sorry Chris, I…I know you're working but I'm trying to avoid the newcomers, they wandered into the library while I was in there."

"Tweedle Dracula and Tweedle Orlok?" I guessed and she chuckled, nodding "that's the reason I'm out here as well. I may like vampire movies, but seeing those two reminded me why most people hate them."

Fi looked at Bella's truck in awe

"Is this yours?" she asked and I shook my head.

"Nope, it's Bella's," I grinned and wiped my hands on a cloth "can you keep a secret?" I asked and she nodded "this was Bella's truck when she was human, her dad gave it to her as a homecoming gift when she moved up here from Arizona. Edward hates it and has been praying for it's demise since he and Bella started dating, but I've been keeping up on the maintenance and keeping it running, until this summer when it finally kicked the bucket." I paused "so Edward thinks it is sitting in a junkyard about to be turned into scrap, but Jacob and I have been rebuilding it and we're going to give it to Bella as a Christmas gift. Luckily Edward's been so preoccupied or else he might have figured out what we're up to."

Fi stared at it

"That's amazing," she said softly

I shrugged

"That's the plan anyways, it's almost done…just a few more quick fixes."

Fi nodded and looked around the garage, I had forgotten she hadn't seen this part of the Cullen house, in fact I'm pretty sure none of our guests had.

"What about this, is this is yours?" Fi asked looking at my bike in surprise.

"Birthday present last year," I explained shyly. "The mustang I share custody of with Rose, but the two ATV's and the dirt bike over there are mine." I hoped I didn't sound like I was bragging, but Fi didn't seem to mind. She leaned closer to me timidly.

"You're an amazing character Chris," she whispered.

"You're pretty amazing yourself Fi," we both leaned closer and closer I held my breath was this it was I really about to have my first kiss? We were so close nearly touching when I quickly pulled back, suddenly afraid to go any further than I already had.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I shouldn't ha-" Fi stuttered.

"No, Fi no it's not your fault it's mine. I don't want to offend Liam."

Fi looked confused

"Offend Liam?" She repeated "how could you offend Liam?"

"Did Carlisle and Esme explain my ability?"

"A wee bit," Fi admitted

"Basically I can profile people. I know how they feel about some things by how they carry themselves the look in their eyes and on their faces" I paused "I think think works similar to how Maggie's ability works. Only instead of lies I can see the basics. But I'm really good with facial expressions."

Fi laughed

"Oh that gruff look of his is normal, don't read anything into it."

I sighed but didn't argue with her. I knew Liam's feelings on me and I knew I was easily his least favorite person of the Cullen clan. I glanced at my bike then back at Fi.

"You wouldn't want to go for a ride would you?" I asked Fi looked surprised for a moment but slowly nodded. I pulled down my helmet and my spare and handed mine to Fi who giggled a little.

"Necessary?" she asked

"Believe it or not yeah. Bella's father is the chief of police and he has a real issue with motorcycles. I don't want him to pull me over for not wearing a helmet." I explained now Fi laughed loudly as if she didn't believe me.

"No way," she breathed "you're making that up!"

"I swear on my family's honour whether that be Cullen clan or the clan Callaghan." I grinned mounting my bike "that's why I never ride through town," I held out my hand and helped Fi slide onto the back of my Kawasaki, once she was on I slid my helmet on and she did the same. "Ready?" I asked and Fi nodded "let's rock and roll,"

I kick started the bike and it roared to life, I know it's an inanimate object but I swear it felt like my bike was saying 'it's about bloody time mate, I've been stuck in this box for too long rubbing tyres with that stupid Volvo.'

Fi wrapped her arms around my waist and held on tight leaning as close to me as she could.

All my nerves faded away as I felt content with her hold on me. I coasted the bike out of the garage and once we were clear from the building I reved the engine again as we headed down the drive.

When we reached the end of the winding drive I gently came to a stop Fi leaned around me, confused.

"Chris?" She asked and I grinned lifting the visor of my helmet up. Now if looked suspicious. "What are you up to boyo?" She asked I grinned.

"So you Irish really do say boyo? I thought my father made that up."

"Well, I guess it's the same lines as you, that you Scots really have trouble with your 'h's and you say aye a lot"

"Aye we do, so I guess we'll never be far from our countries tics huh?"

"Guess not,"

"Anyways, do you trust me?"

"Trust you, why wouldn't I?"

I winked and pulled my visor down and reved the engine a few times before releasing the break and skidding off down the road heading for the highway. I could feel Fi's grip around my waist tighten as we picked up speed moving 50, 60, 70 miles an hour.

This was a long windy stretch of road but my bike and I were used to it, it was I admit a little awkward to have the extra weight on the bike though, not that Fi adds much weight anyways but I'm used to leaning and maneuvering with my bike, she isn't.

But I give her a lot of credit she didn't panic and as I had hoped, trusted me, so when she felt me leaning she followed in suit and by the time my bike hit 85, she was riding like a pro. To the point where I almost forgot she was behind me and the only reason I didn't was because I could feel her arms wrapped tightly around me and her squeezing me every once in a while when a particularly sharp turn came about.

Once we were clear of the curvy road and on the long stretch of highway that goes along the sea I eased up on the accelerator just to give Fi the chance to look at the ocean as the sun was just beginning to set.

"It's gorgeous," she breathed "oh Chris I've never seen something so beautiful."

"Wait," I replied "you haven't seen anything yet," I paused "ready to go faster?"

"Faster?" Fi gulped "how fast were we going before?"

"Not too fast, 85,"

Fi seemed to pause for a second and I worried she night be getting nervous about the speed. I had always assumed the speeding thing was our kind, that we all have this deep pull to go as fast as possible. But maybe it wasn't internal maybe it was just a personal preference. Like how flying doesn't bother some people but I'm terrified of it.

I felt Fi sigh and she tightened her grip around my waist. "Okay," she said "do your worst"

"If I'm going too fast and you don't like it please Fi tell me, I want you to have fun with this, not be scared."

"Okay Chris I...I will."

"You trust me right?" I asked and I felt her nod, she squeezed my waist again, but this time wasn't from fear, it was from trust, even faith. She not only trusted me but was prepared to have fun.

I reeve the engine a few times and picked up speed, going faster and faster.

"You okay?" I called

"This is great!" Fi exclaimed her voice still shaking a little but I could tell she was having fun.

We shot past 100 and it didn't take long for before up ahead I could see the lights of Neah Bay, I drove up to the parking lot of the lookout spot and parked the bike. When I shut it down, Fi slid off and took her helmet off, looking very perplexed.

I pulled the keys from the ignition and slid my own helmet off.

"Was that okay?" I asked and Fi nodded

"That was actually a lot of fun," she replied a grin making its way slowly across her face "how fast can it go?"

"I'm not sure, never fully opened it up. I know it can go at least 200." I paused "having my ability or driving with my brother Edward or my sister Alice makes it a lot easier to go as fast as the vehicle will allow, but when it's just me I have to be careful. Speed limits are enforced around here, unfortunately." I paused with a grin, "someday I'd like to take my bike to Germany,"

"Germany?" Fi repeated "why Germany?"

"One word Fräulein," I paused "autobahn!"

"Isn't that just a motorway, what American's call a highway?"

"It's more than that, it has no speed limit and for the most part it's a straight flat shot. I would love to drive it someday." I shrugged "it would be fun anyways."

I nodded for Fi to follow me and headed for the trail, it's not a steep hike, even for humans but it all dense woods until you hit the clearing, where I was taking Fi. I found this spot purely by accident back in the 1940s and the overlook further up the trail is a spot no human could climb without proper climbing equipment. We stepped onto the clearing and I heard Fi gasp in surprise.

"This...this...this is gorgeous," she breathed, "it's so beautiful." she was awestruck and I don't blame her. "I never thought anywhere could be beautiful, I mean I always thought Ireland was, before I was old enough to understand the troubles…but this, this goes beyond that beauty."

I felt the same way when I first found this spot, it looks over Neah Bay harbor and if you time it right you can watch the fishing boats coming and going from the harbour. It was my calming spot after I was done with house arrest. Anytime things got overly stressful at school or I started getting homesick I had three ways to calm down; movies, going underwater, or climbing up on the highest cliff and looking out over the ocean.

"I know, I always thought the same thing about Scotland." I said softly, sitting down on the edge of the cliff, slowly she sat down next to me, gazing out at the harbour, the sun was just about to set and the lights from Neah Bay, lights that hadn't been there when I first discovered this spot, began to turn on, some illuminating the harbour, with the boats returning. Since it was close to Christmas at this point, I could see Christmas lights twinkling throughout the town. "I used to come to this spot a lot when I first joined the Cullen family, it's my calming spot," I explained "sitting here, all is right with the world, there's nothing bad going on." I paused "there was no war when I sat here…it was just a distant memory…a nightmare really. I'll always say that Scotland has a beauty that's unmatched, but this doesn't come in far behind it…at least in my opinion."

I felt Fi's hand take my own slowly and timidly and when I turned to look at her she smiled at me gently. My previous worries in the garage shifted quickly to the back of my mind, then exited just as quickly as I leaned closer to Fi and she leaned closer to me…we were both so new to this, unsure about what was about to happen, but for a brief moment that didn't matter nothing as we kissed our first kiss… It was brief, but it felt like it could last forever and when we pulled apart, Fi looked at me, smiling a very shy smile and I returned that smile.

We didn't say a word, just sat there looking out at the water and the lights, it started to snow and she leaned closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder and I timidly wrapped my arm around her. I felt like I had been transported back in time, back to when I first discovered this spot. There was no war, no bombs being dropped on innocent civilians, there was no Volturi coming to pass judgment, there was only this moment, something I never really expected to feel...I was at peace...

x-x-x-x