Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

What I do own 2 miniature dachshunds, a husband, my iPod and laptop.

I need to thank bigblueboat and Lyta7 from ProjectTeamBeta for their superior comma skills.

Posted 05/19/13

Chapter 1 - Plans

The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy!

-Robert Burns To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough

APoV

We were settling into our new home quite nicely. The friendly folks from Forks all thought we were in Hanover preparing for our freshman year at Dartmouth well Edward, Bella, and myself. The rest of us kids Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were at Cornell, and while the hospital had been loath to lose Carlisle a second time, the administrator understood that Esme wanted to move to the East so she could be closer to all of us. About a week after Edward and Bella left for their honeymoon, three of the wolves along with Billy came to the house. I smiled as I recalled the shocked looks on their faces as they realized we were in the process of packing and closing the house in Forks. Jacob looked like he was about to be sick ; Paul had an angry look on his face, and we didn t need Edward there to know he wanted to tear us apart (I found this amusing as there were six of us and only three of them well two, Jacob would most likely protect his father if things got out of hand).

Sam walked over to Carlisle. We know it is only a matter of time before you break the treaty. Even though Bella has chosen this life, or existence , whatever you want to call it; it doesn t exempt you from the treaty. Your kind will no longer be welcome here, and yellow eyes or red, we will end you. Paul cracked his knuckles in anticipation ; Billy and Sam were scowling and Jacob just looked at the ground.

At the implied threat, Jasper and Emmett both started growling low in their chests as they pulled Rosalie and me behind them. I rolled my eyes; it wasn t like we were breakable like Bella was, and we were both quite capable of taking care of ourselves. Carlisle had pulled Esme closer to his side and nodded at Sam.

I am sorry you feel this way, Sam. I had hoped after working together against the newborns, and you acknowledging our bonds as mates were as strong and as compulsory as your imprint bonds, you would understand and allow this one exception to the treaty. Like you said, Bella made her choice ; she chose Edward and us, and I can t help but think this is guided by nothing but petty jealously. My family will agree to your demands with one caveat: we will be in attendance of Charlie s funeral; and after the funeral, Bella and Edward will be allowed to return to the area up to four times per year. His birthday, the anniversary of his death, and twice at her discretion. We will, of course, call a few days prior to our arrival, and for overnight stays will stay either in Portland or Seattle. In the future, we will not settle in Hoquiam, Forks or Port Angeles , however we will not avoid the entire state of Washington or the Pacific Northwest. If you cannot agree to this, and feel the need to attack, then we will have no choice but to defend ourselves and our family. Good-bye Sam. He turned pulling Esme with him and walked back into the house.

I was shocked. We all knew Carlisle abhorred violence of any kind. It was one of the reasons he had left the Volturi, their dietary choices another. Jasper had told me that Carlisle had wrestled with his conscience when we began hunting James. Up until he saw the seriousness of Bella s injuries, he held out hope that James could be reasoned with. Once he saw Bella though, he had wanted to remove James head himself; it was the need to save her that overrode his desire to end James. I had told Jasper that it was good that Felix had executed Bree after the newborn battle. I had seen that Carlisle would have had to end her after she attacked Bella multiple times, the last attack being the one resulting in Bella being turned.

Unlike our previous moves where we had simply closed out our houses and moved on with our personal and sentimental items, we donated everything. With a few minor renovations for us, the house became The Platt Home for Women and Children. The garage and a small cottage on the property were renovated for this purpose as well. Rosalie undid all the modifications to the cars and they were donated also. All the cars with the exception of Emmett s Jeep were auctioned off and the proceeds were donated to local charities, including the VA hospital in Seattle, and Wolf Haven International* to name a couple. Emmett decided to donate the Jeep to the Forks Police Department. Charlie was surprised but then admitted it will come in handy when we get called out to rescue idiot campers and hikers that stray from the marked trails.

Three weeks later, we were putting the finishing touches on our new home. Esme had really outdone herself, and when it finally came time to leave, we would all be deeply disappointed. Emmett and Carlisle had been the ones to discover the property, 25,000 acres of unspoiled wild beauty. The nearby town of Cookshire-Eaton, Quebec was not that much bigger than Forks, and the number of sunny days was about the same as well.

The house had similar features to most of our other homes. There were floor to ceiling windows on the south side of the home with reinforced steel shutters in the unlikely event we came under attack. On the first floor there was a small kitchen (for appearances only) off to the side of a large dining room. The majority of the first floor was comprised of the living/family room. Esme placed several sofas in colors of beige, taupe, and cream throughout the room to break it up into several seating areas. There were two big screen TVs, one of which Emmett had already hooked up to his and Jasper s gaming consoles. On the opposite wall there was a large fireplace that had a small furniture grouping to provide a cozy spot to curl up and relax with a good book. There was also an office for Carlisle and a study for Jasper on the first floor.

The second floor consisted of bedrooms for Esme and Carlisle and Rosalie and Emmett. Both rooms had a small sitting area as well as a walk-in closet . Each room also had an adjoining bathroom with whirlpool tubs and large walk-in shower. The third floor had rooms for Edward and Bella, and mine and Jasper s room. Esme had included a reading nook for Bella that was stocked with first editions of her favorite authors and books. There was a design/sewing area off my room. I was going to take up fashion designing while we waited out Bella s newborn period.

We added a soundproofed and fireproof basement to the house that would serve two purposes. It would be used for Bella s transformation as well as a storage vault. From here, we would be able to forge any documents we did not get from Jenks. We also stored our photos here as well. If anyone did manage to access the basement, unless they were vampire or brought a ladder with them, they would be unable to get out.

The last two buildings added were a fully stocked garage for Rosalie and an art studio for Esme. A music room was planned for Edward in Esme s studio so she could listen to him compose and play while painting.

Ironically, this time around Carlisle and Esme were playing the parts of students. They were newlyweds and would both be attending Bishop s University. Carlisle, of course, would be taking pre-med classes while Esme would be working on her degree in Fine Art. Jasper was planning on writing another book either on military strategy or Civil War, while I was going to be doing fashion design under my label Queen MAB.** Rosalie and Emmett had not decided on how they were going to spend their time.

Carlisle and Esme were posing as Mr. and Mrs. Brandon (I was secretly thrilled that I now had a last name to contribute to the pool). Rosalie and Jasper Whitlock were twins, children of Carlisle s deceased sister. They chose to live with Carlisle and Esme as he was their only living family member. They were using the name Whitlock because Jasper had challenged Rosalie to a game of chess with the winner choosing their last name. Emmett was dating Rosalie and Jasper and I were recently engaged. Edward Masen was Esme s younger brother and Bella was his new bride.

Bella and Edward would be arriving home tomorrow , and after a few days to settle in, she would be changed. We were all getting excited, and I had even seen Rose giving Bella tips on controlling her bloodlust and teaching her about cars. Things were finally going as planned, but you know what they say about the best laid plans.

A/N:

*Wolf Haven International is an actual wolf conservation organization. From their website .org – "The mission of Wolf Haven International is to "Conserve and protect wolves and their habitat." Wolf Haven accomplishes this mission through providing sanctuary, education and conservation. We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that has worked for wolf conservation since 1982. We rescue and provide sanctuary for displaced, captive-born wolves, offers educational programs about wolves and the value of all wildlife, promote wolf restoration in historic ranges and work to protect our remaining wild wolves and their habitat."

*I chose Queen MAB as Alice's fashion label because the books use the word pixie to describe her a lot. What better name for a label than the queen of fairies that also happens to be her initials?

Please leave feedback. I won't hold chapters hostage for them, but I do use them to know how I can better myself as an author.

I will also leave at least one story recommendation with each chapter. For this chapter Once Bitten by TwiLoverSue (really all of her stories are good :D)