Chapter One

Amber Cullen had never possessed what might be considered a normal family, she had never considered her family normal, but she had seen truly dysfunctional families and always thanked her lucky stars she didn't have one of those to contend with. She did have some odd cousins, but every family had that one strange branch off the ol' family tree. Hers happened to share her last name. At the rare family reunion that the Carlisle Cullens happened to attend, Amber was always mistaken for one of that clan and not her own smaller clan of five. They only mistook her as one of Carlisle's children because her eyes were the same shocking shade of topaz/gold and her skin the same porcelain pale. The only problem was that they never seemed to age and Amber, like any human with a normal mortal lifespan, aged at a fairly general rate of speed. It was one thing to have older cousins, quite another to have older cousins who never seemed to get any older. She had fond memories of her cousins from childhood, among her most favorite were memories of her cousin Emmett, who always seemed so huge. Amber had loved nothing more than climbing her bearish cousin like a giant human tree, especially if Emmett was on his knees and she could climb up his back. Sometimes he would get down on his knees, tell Amber to grab hold of his arm, then stand up and let her hang five feet off the ground. Alice had always been her second favorite cousin, she liked modern art and second-hand clothes almost as much as Amber.

But never had Amber considered she would ever end up living with her eternally youthful cousins, until her mother fell ill and the doctors diagnosed ovarian cancer when she was seventeen years old. Arrangements were promptly made to send Amber to the United States to live with her cousins for an indeterminate amount of time.

"Uncle Carlisle?" she asked again, as though that made it any less of a reality, "Why can't I stay with Grand Mary or Aunt Beth?"

"Grand Mary lives in a retirement home now and Aunt Beth has six children to look after." Her father scolded as he rifled through her closet for clothes to pack, "Besides, I thought you loved them?"

"I do, but…I don't want to be an imposition."

"You won't be any such thing. They already know you're coming and Esme called this morning, they're absolutely thrilled." He tossed out several pairs of blue-jeans and a handful of tops, which she sorted through before adding them to her luggage. She was taking everything she owned, or at least what could fit into a backpack, a small suitcase, a medium-sized roller, and a large duffel. The rest would be shipped as she needed it. The phone rang as she was fighting with the zipper of the roller suitcase, and she kicked aside a stack of tee-shirts and boxers in her haste, rolling half off the bed to grab the phone. The screen showed Cullen followed by the phone-number. She answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Amber."

"Uncle Carlisle!" she almost fell off the bed as she tried to see her alarm-clock. It was almost five o'clock in the afternoon, her flight left in two hours. She arched an eyebrow and did some quick math in her head, "You do realize it's midnight in your time-zone?"

"I wasn't sleeping and thought I'd call my niece."

"Thanks, Uncle Carlisle. We're almost ready to leave over here."

"Good. I'll have the boys pick you up at the airport."

"Oh, no, I can easily take a cab. Don't bother coming to get me." she hated to think of them going to all that trouble to pick her up at the airport, especially since her flight got in at ten in the morning.

"It is no hardship of ours, Amber." Carlisle promised. Amber's dad was tapping his watch, time to go. She frowned.

"I've got to go, Uncle Carlisle, I'll see you when I get to Forks."

"We'll be here, kid. Safe flight."

"Thanks." She smiled sadly and hung up, finished packing, and loaded her bags into the trunk of a cab. She said goodbye to her siblings and promised to call her mother from the airport. Then it was off to leave her whole familiar life behind.

The drive to Heathrow seemed to go far too quickly, and the cabbie got her a trolley for her luggage so she wouldn't have to figure out how to drag everything to the ticketing counter. Getting her boarding pass and checking two of her four bags was easy and quickly accomplished. The ticketing agent wished her a pleasant flight and she trekked her way through Heathrow's security checkpoint. Once clear of security, she slipped on her shoes and headed for the tram that would take her to her terminal. She dug out her cell-phone and checked for power. She had enough to make one call. Grimacing, she hit 5 and waited.

"St. James Center for Cancer, this is Roger. How may I direct your call?" a nasally voice answered her call and she frowned.

"Room 104, please."

"Right away, ma'am."

"Thank you." She exhaled slowly and leaned against the wall of the tram as it pulled away from the station. Finally, the line was picked up again.

"Hello?" it was her mother's nurse, Vickie. Amber looked out the window as the walls of the tunnel flashed past.

"Vickie, it's Amber. Is my mom awake?"

"Oh, hi, darling! Yes, she's right here!" Vickie sounded far too cheerful to Amber, "We've been waiting to hear from you."

"Sorry to keep you waiting." She muttered as the phone was handed off to her mother.

"Berry?"

"Hey, mom! You sound great!" she tried to sound cheerful, her mom really did sound good, better than she had in months, "I'm at the airport, if I loose you its because I'm on the tram."

"Oh so you made it safely?"

"Yep. I'll call again from Washington if it's not too late, you need to sleep more."

"Oh don't bother with that, darling! I'd love to hear your voice! And do give Carlisle and Esme my love, won't you?"

"Of course I will." she smiled, "I will also thank them for putting up with me for so long."

"It was very good of them to take you up like that, so you be good for them."

"I will, I will. I promise." She studied her fingernails, "I think I'm about to loose power, so I'll hang up."

"Alright, sweetie. Be safe."

"Bye, mom. Love." She hung up the phone, turned it off to save her battery, and tucked it into her pocket. When the tram reached her stop, she scooped up her other carry-on and headed for the stairs leading up to the concourse. From there she headed for her gate, but not before stopping in one of the souveiner shops to pick up gifts for her cousins. She bought sweat-shirts for the boys, buying extra-extra-large for Emmett, a paper-weight for Uncle Carlisle, and gift-sets of soaps for Aunt Esme, Rosalie, and Alice. After making her purchases, she tucked them into her backpack and went in search of a bookstore. After purchasing a book to read during the flight, she got something to eat and went to her gate to sit until her flight was called.

Parking herself along the wall of glass looking out over the runway, she plugged in her phone to power it up before the flight, and dug out her iPod and headphones. sticking the buds in her ears, she settled on a mix-list and hit "shuffle songs". The Beatles filled her ears as she cracked open her new book and ate. Her phone rang again and she picked it up. Same number as before. She rolled her eyes and answered.

"Hello?"

"Cousin!"

"Oh, hi, Emmett." She had to smile.

"Your favorite color is red, right?"

"Yes, and you already knew that."

"Ju-ust double-checking."

"Oh, Emmett, you didn't buy me something, did you?" she could only imagine a few reasons her cousins would have to know her favorite color and none of them were easily swallowed.

"Just a little homewarming present. Nothing big."

"For some reason I don't believe you, but that's okay." She tried to imagine what they might have bought for her, "Is it something I can use?"

"Yes."

"Every day?"

"Yes."

"Emmett, stop talking or you'll ruin the surprise!" Alice called in the background. Amber laughed.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop asking questions. I bought you something, too."

"Ooh, goodie. I like presents."

"I just hope it fits." She wrinkled her nose, "You wear 2-X, right?"

"I do, I do."

"Excellent! So, who's coming to pick me up?"

"My most excellent self, of course."

"Of course. And?"

"Edward's coming along, naturally, and Alice."

"Sounds like a party." She looked over her shoulder, "I haven't even left the airport and I'm already homesick."

"Aaww, don't be sad, Berry. We'll take good care of you, I promise."

"Thanks, Emmett." She sniffled and leaned her head against the cool glass, "What's the weather like out there?"

"Cold, rainy, and wet."

"The usual. My kind of weather." She smiled sadly and closed her eyes.

"Brighten up, Moody Blues, it's a new beginning! Nothing bad about that!"

"I'm sorry, Emmett, how could I ever be sad when you're around to make me smile?"

"I'm flattered."

"You're weird, that's what." Amber sighed, "Well, I guess the next time I talk to you it'll be face to face, huh?"

"Sure will be. Be happy, cousin!"
"I'll try, Emmett, I really will."

"Promise? I don't want you comin' off that plane all moody and gray."

"Yes, I promise, you impossible creature."

"I lo-ove you, Berry!"

"I love you to, Grizz. See you in Seattle."

"Hey, that rhymed!"

"You're right."

"Bye, cuz." Emmett signed off with a flourish, he always did. Amber turned off her phone and cupped her hands under her chin. Checking her watch, she figured she had fifteen minutes left until boarding and decided now was a good time to hit the bathroom before a nine-hour flight took her from England to America. Taking all of her stuff, she headed for the bathroom and used the sink to brush her teeth and wash her face. Amber also gave herself a critical once-over. For the purposes of comfort on the nine-hour flight ahead of her, Amber had settled on a pair of well-loved Moonshine jeans from French Connection, her Ugg Kohala slide-ins, and a white baby-doll tee screen-printed with the Union Jack layered over a red crew-neck shell. She had a white hoodie with her school emblem and name if she got cold. Leaving the bathroom, she got into line for boarding. When she finally reached the front of the line and handed the stewardess her boarding pass, she boarded the plane with a sense of relief and sadness. Amber found her seat and stuffed one bag into the overhead and kicked her backpack under the seat in front of her as she sat down. After lift-off and they had reached cruising altitude, Amber ate supper, flicked through her playlists to a mix Edward had made her for, turned up the volume, adjusted the angle of her seat-back, and slept for most of the flight.