So this is my first attempt at a fanfiction, well, not exactly first but first that I want to post and get out there. All feedback, positive and negative, is wanted and helpful so let me know what you think.

Chapter 1:

Esme POV

""Thump"..."Thump"..."Thump"...a pause? The man moves quietly, slowly, towards the door with a nervous gait. "Thump"...a step back..."Thump"...yes, it's getting closer. "Thump"...he stares at the door, trying to somehow see through it..."Thump"...he reaches slowly for the doorknob, hand shaking, no longer able to take not knowing..."Creak", a loose floorboard, near the door outside..."Thump", he slowly opens the door..." Eleazar finished telling the now terrified children the scary story by screaming which made tiny little Alice all but fall off the log she was sitting on backward and Irina's tiny eyes fill with tears.

"Eleazar!" Carmen gasped as she quickly took Irina in her arms as Bella did the same with Alice.

"Honestly Esme, how did you grow up sane with him around as your older brother?" Bella asked as she consoled Alice.

I giggled. "Whoever said I was sane?"

Carlisle leaned over and pecked my cheek. "It wasn't that scary of a story." Eleazar frowned.

"Speak for yourself." Alice squeaked from Bella's arms causing my brother-in-law, Edward to chuckle. "Daddy it's not funny!" Alice exclaimed.

Carlisle gave his brother an amused look as he held his arms out for our tiny niece who gladly left her mother to sit with him.

"Was Uncle Eleazar a mean uncle?" Carlisle joked.

"Yes! He scared me Uncle Carlisle!" My six year old niece complained.

"Yeah Aunt Esme, you should beat my daddy up!" Six year old Irina said as she climbed into my lap.

"What about you guys? Did I scare you all?" Eleazar asked the remaining nieces and nephews of mine.

"Nope sorry dad!" Ten year old Kate laughed.

"That story's for babies." Eight year old Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Yeah dad, it'll take more than that to scare us." Eight year old Tanya giggled.

"What about you pumpkin?" Eleazar asked his six year old son, Garrett.

"I wasn't scared daddy!" He told him.

"Yes you were Squirt; you were clutching my hand the whole time." Kate disagreed.

"Was not!" Garrett yelled at his older sister.

"Okay, and on that note, let's all go to bed." Eleazar said as he stood up and picked up his youngest before his oldest could cause her brother to get too angry.

I always enjoyed our family camping trips but sometimes, like right now, as I held little Irina in my arms, I felt sad. I could never have children; I could never give Carlisle, the love of my life, children. I could never complete our family.

"Aunt Esme, can I sleep with you and Uncle Carlisle tonight?" Irina asked.

"Yeah, me too!" Alice exclaimed. "Pretty please we'll be really quiet and go to bed and everything!"

Carlisle chuckled and nodded to me. "I don't see why not." I smiled.

"We should get you two in bed though, it's late." Carlisle told them.

"Okay." They agreed.

Carlisle kept Alice in his arms but picked up Irina in his arm not holding Alice. We bid the family goodnight and made our way to our tent. We had a king size air mattress so it wasn't like it would be uncomfortable to add two six year olds to our tent. Once they were both changed into two of Carlisle's t-shirts, they crawled into the middle of the air mattress with Carlisle on the far left and me on the far right.

"Uncle Carlisle?" Alice squeaked from her spot beside me.

"Yes Allie?" He asked gently.

"Will you protect us from the people in the story?" She asked nervously.

"It was just a story Allie but yes, I'll protect you." He promised.

"Okay, thank you." She told him, a smile evident in her voice.

It was quiet and I rubbed Alice's back as I began to doze off.

"Aunt Esme?" Irina squeaked.

"Yes doll?" I asked tiredly.

"Are you sure it was just a story?" She asked.

"Positive." I promised.

"Okay good." She said in tone full of relief.

It was quiet again; I was just about asleep when another little voice woke me up. "Aunt Esme, Uncle Carlisle?" Alice asked.

"Yes Allie?" Carlisle answered for us.

"I have to go potty." She squeaked.

"I'll take Allie to the potty, you stay with Irina." Carlisle told me.

I nodded and helped Alice climb over me as Irina scooted closer to me. I was about asleep again when another little squeak woke me again.

"Aunt Esme?" Irina asked.

"Yes doll?" I asked gently.

"I love you." She told me.

"I love you too doll." I smiled as I wrapped my arm around the sleepy child.

There were no more disturbances, except the minimal noise Alice and Carlisle made as they got back in bed, and before I knew it, I was in a peaceful slumber with the beautiful sound of nature acting as my own personal lullaby.

The next morning it was time to pack up camp. Bella, Carmen, and I had the job of packing up all our food and clothes and loading it in the cars, the men had the job of breaking camp, and the kids had the job of cleaning up trash. It had been a wonderful five night expedition, it was always sad to leave but I knew we'd be camping on fall break anyway. Our family loved camping, hiking, anything to do with nature really.

Tomorrow marked the first day of a new school year. I was excited to have a whole new group of students at Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic School. I loved teaching first grade and I wouldn't trade jobs with anyone in the world although that's how Carlisle feels about being a pediatric surgeon.

Our entire family is made up of doctors and teachers. My brother Eleazar is a pediatric anesthesiologist, and his wife, my sister-in-law, Carmen, a fifth grade teacher at the school I teach at. Carlisle's brother, Edward, is a pediatrician and his wife, Bella, one of the other two first grade teachers at OLOM. Our family was something special, I knew that. We were all very close; we'd walk through fire for each other. We might give each other grief, but at the end of the day, our family loves each other dearly.

Once camp was all broken down, we piled in the two SUVs, mine and Carmen's, the ones we had brought with us, and began the trip back home to Sleepy Hallow, a small town about an hour from Denver. It was a two hour drive and I luckily was in the passenger seat with Carlisle driving. Poor Carmen was stuck in the middle row between Emmett and Garrett. Alice and Irina were in the back. Lucky for us, the kids fell asleep fifteen minutes in.

Once back to Carmen and Eleazar's, where the other cars were, we got everyone in the appropriate cars and then Carlisle and I began our trek back to our home.

Our house was large, five bedroom. We built it around the idea of a large family before we found out that was impractical. "It's good to be home." Carlisle smiled as he plopped on our bed.

"Very good." I agreed as I curled up next to him. "But unfortunately, I do have an errand to do today."

"Setting up your classroom? I'd love to help." He decided. He really was the best husband in the world.

"That would be lovely but I think we both need showers, we need to wash nature off of us." I told him.

"Well Mrs. Cullen, care to join me for a shower?" He smirked.

"I think that's a lovely idea." I smirked back.

After our shower, we made our way to the school. The classroom didn't need much preparation; I just needed to add the new names tags to the cubbies and desks. My room resembled the forest; it was like a tree house in the décor.

"What can I do while you make those?" Carlisle asked pointing at the name tags I was writing. "I'm afraid your six year olds couldn't read my handwriting if they tried."

I laughed; he surely did have the doctor's handwriting. "Can you clean the boards and straighten up the toys and books?" I asked.

"Of course my love." He agreed.

I finished writing the last name tag and began sitting the children alphabetically. I found it was easier to remember names that way especially in the first few weeks. Carlisle and I finally finished setting up my classroom and we left the school to head home.