FAMILY VALUES

Chapter 1: In the Beginning There was Darkness

2008, The Palmer House Hilton, Chicago

EJ was healthy as a horse. Dr. Gerandy was always going on about how amazing his health was. His heart was steady, his breathing easy, he had a bowel movement every day without problem, and he didn't need the Viagra his doctor prescribed. Usually. Hell he even had all of his hair.

Well, most of his hair.

The point was it was his eighty ninth birthday and he was celebrating it in style. A glass of good bourbon, a cigar, and his girlfriend flitting about in next to nothing while she looked for the flavored massage oil so she could rub his feet.

Holly would be twenty three next week, a little old for him, but she was the only one to get by the family screening process so she was worth keeping around. She was no Lillie, his first wife, or even a Catherine, his second, but she was sweet and kind and she had a great smile.

The two of them had been touring the world for the past three months, Chicago was the last stop of the trip before they finally headed back home to Forks tomorrow morning. It had been a great vacation, Holly had appreciated getting out of 'that bumfuck rainy little excuse for a town' for a bit, and even EJ could admit that the house got a little crowded sometimes, but he was ready to return now. He missed his family. Beautiful Isabel, his little protégé, all business in her classy suits with her perfectly coiffed hair, and Quinn the artist, her antithesis playing his violin in ratty old jeans and a heavy metal band t-shirt. Nessie was even coming home for spring break soon with her perpetual smile. He hadn't seen her in ages but she had called yesterday and told him she was bringing that beau of hers to finally meet Gran. Mike would be there for spring break too with his new girlfriend, though honestly EJ didn't miss Mike as much, and as always there was...

"Puddin'?"

EJ shook off his reflections and smiled gently at Holly.

"Since it's our last day can we go out and get some real Chicago deep dish?"

EJ's smiled turned into a full blown grin. "Go make yourself decent"

Holly gave a whoop as she hopped up and ran into the bedroom to change. EJ chuckled and hoisted himself out of his chair to go call his chauffeur to get the car ready.

After hanging up the phone EJ started across the room to freshen his drink. Halfway there the left side of his body went completely numb. Holly burst into the room at the sound of the glass breaking. She started to panic when she saw EJ slump to the floor.

His last thought before he slipped into darkness was 'God has that woman's voice always been so shrill?' but just before that he thought how ironic it was that he was going to die unexpectedly in the same hotel where he was unexpectedly conceived.

2008, Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix

"Final Boarding Call, flight 1632 to Seattle Washington."

"Damnit Nes, that's us, you've been looking through the books for over an hour. That is our flight we have to go."

Jake watched in exasperation as his girlfriend gave the shelf of smutty romance novels one last perusal before picking up The Very Virile Viking, the first book she had looked at when they walked into the store. She went to pay while Jacob collected their luggage and started heading toward the gate.

Twenty minutes later the plane was taxing down the runway and Jake, relieved of the 'we might miss our plane' stress was free to stress about other things like meeting Nessie's Gran. Jacob had lived less than 15 minutes away from Nessie his whole life. They had been friends since they were four and significant others since they were fifteen but he had never even glimpsed the beloved and mysterious Gran who had raised Nessie and two of her cousins practically from birth.

He had good reason to be nervous. The Masens' were notoriously devoted to their reclusive Gran. Isabel, Nessie's oldest cousin, had come home from Dartmouth a few years ago with a fiance she was absolutely gaga about, he had stayed at the mansion for a little over a week before he left in a huff and Isabel never spoke of him again. When Jake's father Billy asked her what had happened she had simply shrugged and said "Gran didn't approve" not bitter or annoyed, just accepting that Gran was the last word on these things and she couldn't argue.

Jake smiled over at Nessie, who had gotten five pages into the book she had to have to read on the plane and then had fallen asleep. He was so wild about her it wasn't really natural. Ever since he was fifteen he was obsessed with just being in her glorious presence. He didn't know what he would do if a few weeks from now someone asked Ness 'hey what happened to that Jake guy I thought he was surgically grafted to your hip' and she replied 'Oh that, Gran didn't approve' in the same indifferent voice as her sister.

Nessie mumbled something about comely wenches and shifted so her head rested on Jake's shoulder. He smiled and dropped a kiss on it, a little envious of her relaxed state of mind. Usually it was Jake who could fall asleep any time, anywhere, but today he was too worked up over the thought of losing her. Though to be fair he really had no reason to think Gran wouldn't approve. Ness wasn't nervous at all so that was something, and the two of them had been dating since high school so Gran had plenty of time to make her displeasure known. Besides he was completely devoted to his beautiful brown-eyed girlfriend, and he had read in a tabloid somewhere that Isabel's ex-fiance cheated on whatever heiress he ended up marrying. Calmed considerably he leaned his head onto Nessie's and tried to get some sleep himself, but after tossing and turning a bit he gave up. He twiddled his thumbs, listened to the crappy airplane music on the crappy airline headphones, and contemplated waking Renesmee up. He gave her a fairly hard 'accidental' nudge but all it did was cause her book to slide off her lap and half fall into the no-man's land between the seats. He gingerly picked it up, holding it at arms length as if it was going to bite him and looked at the cover. He scoffed at the fur loincloth wearing six-pack sporting blond on the cover staring back at him with penetrating eyes. On a whim he opened to the first page.

When Nessie woke up four hours later it was to find Jacob completely absorbed. Magnus Ericsson had whisked the comely Lady Asilane off in his long boat, but the lady's promised suitor was hot on their trail.

1917, Palmer House Hotel, Chicago

Isabella nervously pulled on her gloves as her best friend Angela fastened the single string of pearls around her neck. She did not want to do this.

When she had returned home after her final year of boarding school she had been looking forward to spending time in Forks away from the overcrowded hustle, but her mother, a Parisian socialite to the core, was hard set on her being the debutante and had whisked her away for three months of shopping in New York before arriving in Chicago just in time for the start of the social season.

Isabella knew her mother's hopes were in vain with the likes of "The Big Four" as they called themselves debuting the same year. She would be lucky to make it through her premiere ball without accidentally killing one of her dance partners.

Besides, she looked absolutely ghastly.

The white satin dress was beautifully cut and fit her like a dream, but set against her pale skin made her look like some sort of colorless spirit. The pearl accessories did little to relieve the monotony of her appearance, and the fashionable low heels her mother insisted that she wear made it hard for her to walk even without her signature clumsiness.

"They're almost ready for us, we should head down." Angela pinched Isabella's cheeks for her and opened the door.

Isabella smiled up at Angela as she carefully pushed herself away from the mirrored dressing table. If she absolutely had to endure this evening at least she had Angela. Angela was the one bright spot of the last nine years. Her first real friend since her first day at Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland.

The two girls descended the stairs and joined the growing line of debutantes waiting to enter the grand ballroom and be introduced.

Bella tried to hide her nervousness as she looked at the excited girls around her. She was envious of them all, Angela's quiet poise, Margot's boisterous sense of humor and daring (she had actually bobbed her hair!), and Edith's goddess like good looks. Next to them Isabella felt dowdy and churlish.

Angela's father took her arm and led his daughter down the center aisle to be presented to society and Isabella felt a stab of envy at her smooth elegance. She glided effortlessly down the aisle stepped away from her father and sank into a perfect, low curtsy, before seamlessly rising and taking the arm of her escort for the evening, Benjamin Cummings, allowing him to lead her to their table.

Isabella was next and so with no little amount of trepidation took her father's offered arm and concentrated very hard on her foot placement as she uneasily traveled down the center of the room, all too conscious of the many eyes that were on her.

"Presenting Isabella Swan, daughter of Charles Swan and Renée Swan née Beauchamp."

Isabella took a deep breath as her father released her arm and took one last step forward to make her much practiced curtsy. She managed it with surprising grace, but heady with success turned a little too fast and tripped on the hem of her gown. Trying to steady herself she veered offstage and nearly plummeted into the orchestra pit, the violinist continuing to play as he leaned away. Just as she braced herself for the inevitable face full of carpet strong hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her up, setting her gently on her feet before offering her an arm. She looked up gratefully expecting the dour face of Edgar Nevitz, her grudging escort, as she was led away from the presentation area but she gasped and her step faltered when instead of her Edgar's familiar blue eyes she looked into the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen laughingly admiring her.