(Disclaimer: All these wonderful characters belong to the magnificent Stephenie Meyer! =).

(A/N: So I was getting a little bored with my other story ["White Wedding"] and decided to start a new one. I will continue that one too, don't worry hehe. I took a little different approach to telling the story and it will definitely get better in later chapters [that is if people even want me to write more chapters hehe.] Enjoy!! =).

Chapter One

It is approximately 10:05 on Thursday morning and I am in my bathroom brushing my teeth when I hear my daughter from somewhere downstairs.

"Mom! Where are the keys to the car? I am going to be late!" Serena yelled. Her voice was loud and demanding.

I take the toothbrush out of my mouth and spit the toothpaste into the sink, turning on the knob to let the water wash it away. I look up into the mirror to see my freshly washed face looking back at me. Things have changed so much over the past couple of years; I look so different. For one thing I look older, much older. It seems like just yesterday I was put into this body. I sigh, and turn my face from side to side, taking note of all the differences. I tuck a stray hair behind my ear, and slide my hand down my soft cheek. I stop when I reach my chin.

"Mom!" I jump and turn to the look at the doorway where Serena is standing with her hand on her hip, tapping her foot. She has long brown hair, dangling past her shoulders and her bangs cover part of her left eye. Her red purse is hanging on her right shoulder while her cell phone is in her hand, open. "I am supposed to be there in fifteen minutes! Everyone is already wondering where I am!" She screams, staring at the screen on her cell phone. She looks up at me, clearly annoyed.

"Serena, I already told you the keys are in my purse," I reply calmly, as I grab my hairbrush off the counter. "But if you give me any more attitude you are staying home."

She wasn't paying attention to what I was saying, however, as she was too absorbed into whatever she was reading off her phone. "No way!" She starts to punch a bunch of the keys fast.

I set my hairbrush back onto the counter. "Serena, did you even hear what I said?"

"Yeah, I can't drive unless I am accompanied by an adult," She says, still pushing keys on her phone. How she was able to focus on both conversations at once was beyond me. Talented kids these days. "So are you going with me, or is dad?" She looks at me for this last part, closing her phone and putting it into her pocket.

*Rrrriiinnnnngggg* *Rrrriiiinnnnggggggg*

I start to walk out of the bathroom. "I think your dad is taking you when he gets home, but you should double check with him," I say over my shoulder. I reach to grab the phone off of the night stand as I sit down on my bed. After living here for almost eleven years I am still not accustomed to having a bed that is the proper height. I was so used to a drop when I went to sit, now all I had to do was lean back and I was already there.

"O'Shea residence, Wanda speaking," I say into the phone in a friendly voice.

"Hey Wanda!" A loud female voice responds.

"Melanie! It's been a while since I've heard from you! How are you these days?" I scootback to get comfortable, leaning on my left arm. Serena takes this to mean it is going to be a long conversation and starts to leave the room.

"I'm doing fantastic! It's so good to hear your voice again. Listen I don't have much time to talk, Jamie has another game today. We are all going to watch him because it has been a while since we've seen a game in person. Did you know they are playing for the cup this year?" She sounded so excited.

"I did! Ian and Tyler have been watching all his games. And between me and you I think Ian is jealous that he didn't have the chance to go pro." We both laugh at this.

"Anyway, I just wanted to make sure we were still on for this weekend?" I hear her pacing back and forth.

"This weekend?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"Oh don't tell me you forgot! The anniversary!" I picture her shaking her hand at me.

"Oh! Goodness, how could I have forgotten that!"

"Eleven years on Saturday. Can you believe it?" Mel asks. I pause for a minute, I couldn't believe it. I am thankful everyday that I don't have to wake up in the dirty caves anymore. I honestly never thought I would ever get out of there, let alone to move into a beautiful two story house with the love of my life and our two kids.

A smile makes its way onto my face. "Wow. Eleven years. That is amazing," I say.

I hear a voice mumble something through the phone, "Yes, Kyle. I'll be there in a second." Melanie responds to the voice, who apparently was Kyle. "I better get going, but we will see each other on Saturday. Tell everyone I said 'Hi.'"

"I will. It was nice talking to you Melanie. Wish Jamie luck for me."

"Ok! Bye Wanda!"

"Bye Melanie." I set the phone back on the night stand and lift my body off the bed. I walk out of my bedroom and down the hall to the loft. Ian and Tyler are sitting on the couch staring at the television. Football is on, of course.

I make my way over to the couch and Tyler moves his body over to the end, making room for me, without saying a word. I take my spot between them.

"Did you talk to Serena?" I ask Ian.

He takes his focus away from the television for a second to look at me. "Yeah, she said she would just get a ride from her friend Kelsey." He turns his face back to the television. I stare at his profile. He looks the same as he always has: handsome. I move my eyes around his whole face, first looking at his short hair, then his faint goatee, finally looking at his lips. They are still as full and soft as always. Another smile creeps onto my face. He notices this and looks into my eyes, confused. "What?" He asks, smirking.

"I was just looking at how nice you look."

His cheeks start to turn a faint shade of pink as he replies, "You look gorgeous yourself."

Ian leans in to softly kiss my lips. We may be older now, but we still have our romantic side to us. We made a pact a while back to never lose our physical relationship, even after we have kids. I am so glad we did.

I take hold of his hand. "So Melanie called today. Did you know it is almost the eleventh anniversary of our moving out of the caves?"

His eyes went wide, "Really?"

"I know! We are having a party on Saturday to celebrate," I say excitedly. I have been looking forward to seeing the whole gang again. That is something I do miss about the caves, the friends I made. We all had our differences, but we all came together when it counted most. Those are the memories I will never forget.

"We don't have to listen to all the stories again do we?" He groaned.

"Of course we do Ian!" I say as I playfully shove him, "It is part of the tradition!"

Ian sighs. "Alright, but if I have to hear about the time when Kyle 'saved my life' again I am gonna scream."

I laugh. They do this every time we get together, tell embarrassing stores about the other one. It is actually pretty entertaining.

"It's not the same without Jodi," Tyler suddenly says from my left.

I look down at my hands. "Or Jared," Ian adds.

It's strange how quickly the mood in a room can change from excited to somber. One second you have a smile on your face and the next tears start to form in your eyes. This is exactly what happened. It's true, it wasn't the same without the two of them there. The truth was it hadn't been the same in quite some time. It had been three years since the whole group was together. We all missed them dearly, but there was nothing we could do to bring either of them back. Sometimes life just takes an unexpected turn of events. Some of which are good and some of which are bad.