Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

AN: This is a sort of "testing the waters" prologue for a story that has been nagging my soul to be written and published. It is a Jasper/OC and partly a James/OC and does involve heavy stuff. This however is a preface/prologue that I want to see if anyone is interested in reading. So please, give it a chance. If this was okay, then the story will get better. I promise.

PREFACE

"Now remember, Bells... your cousin is coming down to stay with us and it'll be some changes around the—" Charlie abruptly paused, shaking his head. He grabbed his toothbrush, applying the minty, Colgate paste before guiding the bristles up and down his teeth, all while staring into the mirror. "Hey, Bells! Remember your black cousin through marriage from your uncle? Well, things happened back in Georgia and she's coming to stay—" Too straight forward... Gotta ease' Bella in... he thought himself, combing fingers through his graying hair and rinsing his mouth.

"Wait... why would I say black cousin? Bella knew and still is aware that her cousin's black..." Charlie said, thinking out loud. Charlie thought back to the skinny, tall Dawnette with a head full of kinky, black curls and the tiny freckles adorning her brown-skinned and heart-shaped face. When he told her and Bella whenever they'd visit and play down in La Push with all the other kids, 'no re-enacting the civil rights times!'

That's right, Charlie chuckled to himself. I wonder if little Dawnette is still the Zulu-nation'* spokesperson? Memories of the little ten year old girl down in La Push came to his mind.

All of the La Push children she and Bella used to play with sitting down on the beach, a nice bon-fire brewed and caramel-toned Dawnette—Dawn, she liked to be called, standing over the children, piece of driftwood in her hands like it was a septor and the little mouth of hers running on and on about complexion; how they were all the same and color didn't matter. "The Militant Midget" everyone in La Push liked to call the young girl.

Shouldn't be that hard... Charlie beamed internally. Bella could use a spunky figure to bring her outta' that shell, anyways.

"Yeah," he nodded with a smile, straightening the collar of his shirt. The chief police officer of Forks holstered his pistol to his waist and grabbed his gear for a day on the force. "I can do this." He nodded once, giving himself a once-over before deciding his appearance was good enough. "Nothing but two teenagers living under one roof with ya'..."

Yeah, two completely different teenagers... he corrected himself. But they're cousins, Charlie—by marriage... and they practically been hangin' out since they were in diapers... it should all be fine.

"Wait..." Charlie muttered to himself just as he was about to exit out the bathroom. What if they don't get along like old times? And... Bella's got that new boyfriend, er... what's his face?—Edward... and they're just so... different. Style-wise and ethnic-wise... maybe this wasn't such a hot idea—

"Charlie, are you still in there?" The middle aged man was snapped out of his thoughts once there was a light knock on the bathroom door. He quickly straightened his collar once more, huffing out a big wheeze of air before opening the door. "Mornin', Bells."

The brunette eyed her father curiously for a second before letting a light shrug play on her slim shoulders. "Good morning, dad." - "Um, is everything okay? You were in there... talking to yourself... for a while." Bella awkwardly sighed, biting her bottom lip at her father's ditzy gaze.

Charlie, mustered up all the strength he could, retorting to his daughter, "Everything's fine, Bells... but I have something important—major to tell ya', uh... sweetie."

Raising an eyebrow, Bella nodded once. "... OK? Go ahead, shoot."

Here goes... Charlie mentally kicked himself, sighing heavily.

"Bells—remember Dawn? You know, little Dawnette? Your cousin by marriage through your uncle and his wife, Aunty Bunchies?"

"Of course, dad. How could I forget her?" It was true; how could the brunette forget her father's brother/ her uncle's African American wife, Ms. Bunchies a.k.a Aunty Bunchies? Caramel-complexion, big afro and large hips, tiny waist? Then her cousin—Aunty Bunchie's daughter tied to Bella by marriage. Dawnette. Not only did she make mud-pies with Jacob down in La Push—add on Dawnette and you had the three musketeers of Forks, Washington. There was no way she could forget the girl that rescued her from the brute child named Paul whenever he'd yank her pigtails. And that self-proclaimed attitude of African-pride Dawnette had. Uneasily forgettable. "We used to play all the time down in La Push with Jacob and the others... she was my favorite cousin—what about her?"

Charlie scratched the nape of his neck, continuing on, "Well, you see... she's coming down here to Forks..."

"Oh, that's great Charlie. When and how long does she plan to visit?"

The chief of Forks contained a smile, before telling her, "... Well, that's the thing. It won't be for a week or two—try the rest of her high school years until whatever she decides to do for college, Bells." Charlie braced himself. He had no idea how Bella would react to the news, especially since she herself had just arrived and only been there for a good three weeks. He waited, holding his breath before Bella's thin lips curved into a small smile.

"Cool, dad." Charlie breathed out at the response. "It would be great to see her again. When does she come up here?"

"Tomorrow, actually." He was relieved, to say the least.

"That's fine. I'll make sure not to have anything planned for tomorrow after school." Bella's phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her jeans' back pocket. "Charlie, that's Edward... do you mind if I get a ride from him to school?"

What a major relief... Charlie sighed in his head. And here I thought she'd freak on me. He eyed his blushing daughter for a second before nodding once. "Sure thing, Bells."

Bella kissed him on the cheek before waving a bye and rushing down the stairs and out the door.

"That was easy..." Charlie muttered to himself with a small smile. Let's hope tomorrow is even easier.

* — references in a chapter

When Charlie refers to our unintroduced female Dawnette into being the spokesperson for the Zulu nation, it's a joke made by him because of her personality toward humanity. She has a zulu-nation philosophy —Zulu philosophy "Ubuntu", that directly translates to "humanness", or "human kindness." This philosophy promotes the showing of love, mercy and kindness regardless of a person's background, colour of skin, and origin.

Hi, welcome to the preface/prologue. I had conflicts about posting this but the journey of this story has been nagging my mind forever and I even went as far as to writing out a 26 chapter plan with details and everything else. So as you can see, I'm super excited for this story.

I hope this was some good—it gets better, I promise. Please give it a chance.

If this is any good and worth starting, a full A/N will explain most things and the story will officially begin. So please favorite, follow, or review and let me know!

Thanks for reading!

You all know what to do!

Kumi-Chan/Tobi-Is-Fluffy-Chan