I do not own these characters, but like many here, I'm just playing with them.

EPOV

After driving about 14 hours straight, only stopping to rest a little and eat, I made an exit, only to take some back road that would lead me to my new house. I couldn't call it a home yet, it would take me some time to get used to the idea of living in the country. True to its nature, I had seen many farms while driving down here; there was nothing but greens, cows and horses. This was a big change from the cold winds of Chicago. I knew there must be some houses and building, but the ranches and farms were so big that my eyes couldn't see that far back towards the lands. After driving for another half an hour, I made my way towards the main street.

Ironic how it was named "Main St"; having only 4 streets in your town would certainly make the job of naming them easy. This was my first time driving here; though not my first time being here. I had bought my house with the help of the only real estate agent that was working around here. Esme was Carlisle's wife, he was the one that I had bought the place of my practice from; they were both close friends of my parents. Carlisle had planned to retire few months ago and there was no one to take over after his practice. His oldest son, Emmett was one of the few sheriffs around here and the youngest son, Jasper was the principal at the local high school. From what he had told me, none of his sons had ever shown interest in veterinary medicine and always had their own plans; can't say I was surprised to hear that, not many people are okay with being elbow deep in a cow's ass.

Now you might wonder why I would buy a place for practice in Destinville, right in the middle-of-nowhere-America. Well it wasn't exactly no-where; it was more like south Nebraska. I grew up in Chicago, but my parents were both born and grew up here. My dad had gotten a scholarship when he was in high school and left to Chicago for college, my mother followed him the next year. They managed to both finish school and have great careers. My dad was a well known attorney, practicing family law and mainly dealing with adoption cases and foster children; my mother was an ER nurse at one of the county hospitals.

Since both my parents were an only child, their parents also moved to Chicago few years later, when I was about seven or eight, to be closer to them. I remember my parents telling me about visiting here when I was about four, but since I was young, I have no recollection of it. Unfortunately, they couldn't visit more until after I was out of high school; it was difficult to schedule vacations with their careers and my school. However, they did make sure to keep in touch with their friends and when I started collage, my parents had more time on their hands and had came back few times visiting their old friends. They had nothing but good things to tell me about the Cullens and the Swans; they had met their children as well and would always tell me stories about them. Both sets of my grandparents have retired so maybe when I'm settled I can persuade them and my parents to move back here.

Two years ago, at the age of 26, I finished with my schooling and become a veterinary physician, after that I had spend another 2 years working with a great veterinarian; however, he had recently sold his practice and I had no desire to work for the new doctor. I had always wanted to have my own practice and when the opportunity rose, I jumped on it.

I knew I didn't want to stay in Chicago, I wanted to be in an area where I could actually work with different types of animals and not just cats and dogs and the accessional house-pig. Knowing this, my father had put me in contact with his old friend, Carlisle, who was a well known veterinarian in Destinville. After speaking with Carlisle, he told me about his plans of retiring and selling his practice, I made an offer, more like begged him, and he accepted.

Next thing you know, I was making some calls and got in contact with Esme, we got to talking and she told me about the plantation house that was on sale as well. She sent me pictures of both places, the house and the practice; the office was great, right on the main street; and the house was just amazing, it was big with plenty of rooms and more land to built on if you wanted to. Before long I found myself packing and sending my things to her

She was like the aunt I never had, since she was a close friend of my mother's, Esme was making sure all my belongings got there and were moved to the house before my arrival. I had always heard of the Cullens and the Swans; based on what my parents told me, the Swans still lived there and Charlie was in charge of the sheriff's department, while Renee owned the only bakery around here. According to my mother, I had met them and their daughter when I was four, and they were one of the few families, besides the Cullens and the Uleys, that I could trust around here

I followed the GPS and parked in front of her office, it seems like all the important shops were on the Main St; her office, the grocery store, the bookstore, a bakery and an empty building that I knew was my new office. As soon as I got out of my car, I could feel people's eyes on me; from their looks I was sure they didn't get many new-comers around here. I made my way to her door, opening it, I walked in. This place looked more like a living room, than a realtor's office.

"Be there in a minute; let me get this thing started first!" I heard Esme from the other room.

"It's Edward, Esme. Take your time." I let her know. It was just after 10 A.M. so she must have just gotten to her office.

As I sat down on one of the comfortable couches, I looked around. On the coffee table in front on me was a plate of cookies just sitting there, now I have never shied away from baked goods and wasn't about to start now. I helped myself to one of the huge chocolate-chocolate chip cookies, it was heaven with a mixed of….shredded coconuts? I was about to finish my second cookie when Esme walked in, I shoved the cookie in my mouth and stood up, wishing I had acted more like a grown man than a 7 year old boy.

As soon as Esme saw me, a smile formed on her lips, "I see you found Renee's cookies! I swear there is nothing better than her baked-goods and a cup of coffee." She walked towards me and I extended my right hand, but she surprised me with a big hug.

"Oh dear, we don't shake hands with family; we give hugs" she explained, once seeing my surprised face.

"Thanks for doing all the work for me before I got here, I saw the office down the street, would it be ok if we stop at the house first and then I can move in to the office in few days once I'm settled?" I asked her.

"Sure! No problem. Let me get my keys and we'll get going." She turned around, grabbed her bag and keys and we walked out of her office.

"Here are the keys to the house and the office, why don't you follow me in your car? This way I can come back when we are done at your place."

She handed me a set of keys before getting into her car. I followed her in my car for the ten minute drive to my new house. I had seen many pictures of the house that she had send me and my mother had made no secret that she remembered and loved the place; but seeing it up close was something else. This place was amazing; it had three stories, big windows and a wraparound porch that I knew would have a great view of the grounds early in the morning. I also noticed the balcony that was supposed to be connected to the master bedroom. The best part of the house was the pool. It wasn't huge, it was just the right size to have few people over and have an easy day. I opened the door and walked in looking around; I found my boxes stacked up on top of each other in every room.

"I had the movers put away the boxes according to their labels; it should make your job of unpacking a little easier." Esme explained.

"Yeah, thank you so much for doing that. It really did my job of unpacking easier." I thanked her.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then. You have both my and Carlisle's numbers, call if you need anything." She said and walked to wards the door, "oh, before I forget, you're coming to our place for dinner tonight, here is the address and we eat at 6, so don't be late!" she told me while handing me a piece of paper and walking out.

"Oh! Thanks for the invitation, but I actually just wanted to take a shower and rest to get an early start in the morning." I told her, I really did want to just rest, I was dead tired. My plan was to get something to eat from the grocery store and put my new microwave to good use.

"Oh, honey, that wasn't an invitation," she said with a smile in her face, "see ya at 6, don't be late, because it's hard keeping Emmett away from the food. Plus you'll get to meet my boys, their wives and kids too." She explained. That made me smile, I knew she was just looking out for me, and meeting her sons would be a good start.

"Ok, yes, dinner would be amazing, and I look forward to meeting everyone. Should I bring anything?" I asked her, I would have taken a bottle of good wine, but wasn't sure if the town grocery carried any.

"Nope, I love to cook and we have the best cheesecake from Renee's bakery!" Let it be known that I would do anything for a good piece of cheesecake.

"Great, and thanks again for everything and I will see you at 6." We said our goodbyes, and I was left alone with all these boxes.

First thing: take a shower, but before that I had to find my bathroom supplies. I walked into the master bedroom and was in awe of the view, one of the walls was all glass and it was connected to the amazing balcony. By the time I found some of my clothes and put them away and took a shower it was around 1 pm. I put some sleep pants on and made sure to put my alarm for 5 o'clock and since my bed wasn't set up yet, I crashed on the couch.

I really wish I could tell you that I woke up at 5 by the sound of my alarm going off; but no, I woke up less than 2 hours later, to the sound of a gunshot.

A.N. This was a story I wrote years ago, I thought it was time I changed it a little and post it again. Please be kind! Thank you