A/N Lucky Number Seven takes place during the summer Edward turns seven, in the universe of Firefly in Summer. Edward is used to spending summers with his mom and dad, visiting Uncle Peter in the small beachside town of Summerside. This is the first summer he's there by himself, and the first summer without his mom, who died the year before.

If you've read Firefly in Summer, you may recognize The Man on the Beach, the Little Mermaid Girl, and The Drawing. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Twilight

Much love and many, many thanks to my red pen friends les16 and faireyfan, for reading through young Edward and mermaid girl at the last minute. Lemonade is on the house!

Lucky Number Seven

"Know what, Uncle Pete? Sometimes…"

"What's that, buddy?"

"Sometimes I wish you were my dad."

Peter nodded at him but took his time replying. Edward had just fought tooth and nail to come down here but the last thing Peter wanted was to try and replace Carlisle. Losing your wife was something Peter wouldn't wish on anyone; it was an all-consuming grief that sometimes pushed everything else in life away until you got your head on straight. And even then, your head was never quite like it used to be.

Carlisle needed to come back to earth damn quick, because this little boy shouldn't go one more day without his father.

"I get that, kid, you know? I understand. But deep down in your heart," he tapped Edward's chest, "right there, you don't want that, even if you think you do, right now. You'll figure that out more and more as you get older."

"But he frowns all the time and I have to eat dinner with old Mrs. Harper." Edward said with a sour expression. "I don't think he loves me anymore."

"Who's Mrs. Harper? The maid?

"Yeah, the cooker-cleaner lady."

"Come here, kid." He pulled Edward on his lap, hugging the thin little body to his chest before looking him in the eye. "What are you now… fifteen?"

Edward snorted. "I just had my birthday Uncle Pete. Remember? You told me seven was lucky."

"Oh yeah… got it. Seven is definitely the best age to be." Peter took a deep breath. "Alright, here's the thing, Lucky. Your dad is one of the greatest people I know. He loved your mom so much, bigger than the ocean right outside that window, bigger than the sky. When she went to heaven, she took part of his heart with her."

"Did she take it so she could remember him in heaven?"

"Nah. She doesn't need anything to remember us. She sees you everyday, you know that? Watching you grow up, big and strong. Lemme see those muscles." Pete squeezed Edward's bicep and got a smile in return. "Your dad, he gave his heart to your mom all on his own when they fell in love. So she's had it for a long time."

"Is it hard for him to breathe with only part of a heart?" Edward's eyes were wide, worried.

"Yeah, sometimes I think it is. That doesn't mean he's sick or going to heaven anytime soon, so don't worry about that… he's just… trying to figure out how to get along without her."

"Mama took my heart too. Sometimes it's hard for me to breathe. When I think about her."

"Me too, buddy. You know what helps me breathe?"

Edward shook his head.

"It helps me to talk about her," Peter said, hoping he was saying the right things.

"Dad never wants to talk about her," Edward whispered, the tears suddenly rolling down his cheeks. "It's like he wants to forget her. He works all the time, like he's pretending everything's the same and me and mom are just at home doing homework and watching TV and making spaghetti, waiting for him to come home," he took a deep breath, "but he never comes home, Uncle Pete. Because it's not the same. Mrs. Harper never lets me watch Pokemon." He sniffed and dashed at his eyes, hating all the crying he'd done in the last few months. "And her spaghetti tastes like shit."

Peter burst out laughing before he managed to look stern. "Watch that mouth, boy," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "If you start talking like that your dad might think I'm teaching you those words."

"I don't care." Edward's chin lifted a fraction.

"Well, you might care if he doesn't let you come down here anymore."

"Sometimes I forget that she's gone," Edward said, voice like a secret. "One time, at Mack's birthday party, we played laser tag and they had one of those big balloons you can jump on, those are so awesome, and I didn't think about mom for almost the whole party and then when Mrs. Harper came to pick me up I remembered. And then I threw up all over the front porch 'cause I felt so bad that I forgot her. Mrs. Harper said I'd had too much cake but I didn't. I really didn't. I hardly ate any."

"Aw, Lucky. That sounds horrible. I'm sorry."

"S'okay," he shrugged. "Though I wish I'd thrown up all over Mrs. Harper instead of the porch."

"So you're a smartass now."

"Uncle Pete," Edward slapped a hand over his mouth, giggling. "You're teaching me bad words again."

"Did I ever tell you about the time your mama got her mouth washed out with soap for saying bad words?" Peter grinned.

Edward laughed. "No way. Mom never said stuff like that."

"Well, I got news for you, pipsqueak. She was a lot like you." Peter hugged him, amazed that the kid could be crying one minute, laughing the next. He carried him inside, and shut the backdoor with his foot.

"She was? Really?" Awe unfolded in Edward's chest, wanting, craving more.

"You'd better believe it," Peter laughed. They settled into the big leather chair together, propping their legs up on the ottoman. "Boy, I could talk for days about your mom."

(¯`·._.·(¯`·._.·(¯`·._.· ·._.·´¯)·._.·´¯)·._.·´¯)

It was kind of an unspoken rule that if you weren't renting one of the houses, then you didn't use the beaches. Edward knew all the renters this week. They were regulars. So that's how he knew that the man and the little girl in the water didn't belong here.

"Uncle Pete, there's some strangers on the beach," he said darkly. "You want me to go tell them to leave?" Edward crossed his skinny arms over his chest. Rules were rules, after all.

Pete glanced up from inventory with a dubious look. "Now why you wanna be rude like that? They just had ice cream over at the Cope's store so they're just fine where they are, y'hear?"

"Well, I didn't know!" Edward scowled and glared out the window. "That little girl is almost a baby and that guy's letting her swim all by herself."

"Go on out there, Mr. Lifeguard, if you're so concerned."

Edward pretended to be picking up shells but he was really watching the little girl in the ocean. He casually made his way over the to the man.

"Is that girl your daughter or something?" He squinted at the man, almost eye to eye with him, since he was sitting and Edward was standing. "Aren't you afraid that… I don't know, I mean… I guess she's a good swimmer and stuff but… aren't you worried about her out there, all by herself?" When the man didn't reply right away Edward pursed his lips, following his gaze, "Well, I guess it's pretty calm out today."

"Oh, I've got my eye on her," the man's mustache twitched. "Don't you worry."

Edward shrugged and plopped down on the sand beside the man. "Hey, whatcha drawing? That's kinda good."

"Aw, I'm just doodling some," the man smiled as he talked, but his eyes didn't leave the little girl in the water. "You staying in one of these pretty houses over here?"

"I'm staying the whole summer with my uncle." Edward said proudly, and he gestured behind him at Pete's house. "I'm really from Chicago, Illinois, but I spend summers here. I flew all by myself this time, 'cause my dad didn't feel like coming this year. But he might come next year." Edward nodded, staring out at the waves. "He might come next year."

The man glanced over at Edward. "You flew all by yourself? How old are you?"

"I just turned seven a month ago. The airline says you gotta be eight, but my dad knows those people that make the rules, I guess. My dad knows lots of important people." Edward couldn't stop looking at the man's drawing. Now he could see that it was of that girl, his daughter. "Man, that's really good. You're probably an artist for your job, huh. My dad's a doctor."

"That so?" The man's eyes crinkled at Edward a moment before he waved the little girl in. She dove under and Edward tensed for the several seconds it took for her to surface. Then she popped up out of the water and skipped up the shoreline, all sway-backed and elfin, her long dark hair streaming behind.

She stopped a few feet away from her father, just out of his arm's reach, in case she decided to make a run for it back to the water. "Daddy," she said simply, in a high and soft little voice. "Not ready yet."

Edward stared at the girl, a little fascinated. She looked like some kind of a mermaid girl, and he felt with sudden agonizing certainty that she knew his mom somehow. That the warm emerald water simply chose to unite some people, and not others. Edward loved swimming in the ocean, but he was never a part of it, like this girl was.

She leaned in toward Edward, gaping at his mouth. "My sister lost her teef too," she said, patting her lips. "Just one though, just one toof." She stared at him for a beat waiting for some sort of a response. When nothing was forthcoming she turned back to her father.

"Can I draw too?"

The man was signing his drawing. "How about in the car, Starfish?" He gazed at her, his contentment obvious.

"How old are you?" Edward blurted.

The little girl held up three damp fingers. "How old are you?" She parroted back.

"He's lucky number seven," her dad said with a smile and a wink at Edward.

Edward scrambled to his feet when the man pulled himself up out of the sand. Suddenly their leaving was the last thing he wanted. "Are you going for real? Are you on a trip or something?"

"We're gonna visit my grandma in Walleezeeanna," the girl confided as the three of them walked up toward the dunes. She had a tight grip on her father, her whole hand wrapped around a single finger.

"Let's go find your mom and sissy, okay?" The man murmured. "Then you can change in the car and we'll hit the road."

"Wait! She can change in my bathroom, if she wants," Edward hopped up and down in the sand. "My house is right here. C'mon…" he held out a hand to the little mermaid girl, not sure why he wanted to take care of her but going with it just the same.

The girl immediately let go of her father's hand and gripped Edward's, surprising the man. He contemplated them a moment, bemused. "Alright then," he said gruffly, "I'll get her clothes and run them in to you. Be just a minute." And he gave a solemn nod to Edward, sizing him up, as if trusting the little girl to his care was an important thing, a thing not to be taken lightly.

"Yes sir," Edward nodded back, straightening his shoulders. He turned to the girl, intending to help her up the steps, since he was so big and she was just a baby.

"Quit," she said fiercely, "Imma big girl." And she pushed his hand away only to search for it again when they reached the top.

The man snorted as he turned to fetch her clothes.

Edward stopped her at the door. "Hold on," he said, "let me get you a towel, 'kay? You'll be cold if you come in all wet like that."

He ran full tilt to the laundry room, knowing the towel he wanted because he'd just folded them last night. Uncle Pete was a big believer in earning your keep. They didn't have any Ariel towels since he and Uncle Pete were boys, and mermaid towels weren't something boys had just lying around.

The one he had in mind though was blue striped, all turquoise, sky and navy with one beautiful bit of red running though. It was just like Ariel without being too girly. And it was perfect for her.

He wrapped it around her and led her inside and down the hallway, while Uncle Peter moved to meet the little girl's father at the door. He dropped to his knees and rubbed the towel over her head.

"You might know my Mama," he whispered in a rush, because he'd die if anyone else heard him say this. "She's a mermaid. Have you seen her?"

A look of adoration came over the girl's face, as she searched him for some sort of worthiness that she evidently found. "Maybe," she whispered back. "Is she pretty?"

"Oh, yes," Edward nodded adamantly. "And her eyes look like mine."

The girl reached up and patted his cheek, right beside his freckled nose. "Pretty," she smiled and cocked her head to the side. "You got green water eyes, like sunshine when it's sparkly, like when I can see all the way down to the bottom." She wrinkled her brow, searching for the words to show what she meant.

Edward swallowed, hard.

"I have seen her," the girl said formally with a nod of the regal sort. "She's the queen because she's the beautifulist, and because she's the fastest swimmer."

"Yes," Edward breathed. "That must be her."

She leaned toward him conspiratorially, and whispered in his ear. "I'm not really a mermaid, but they say words to me some. She told me to tell you hi."

"When you come back, tell her…" he gulped, "tell her I miss her, okay? Just… tell her that." And they stared then, brown to water green, each recognizing something in the other that was indefinable, elusive, as hard to grasp as the most beautiful dream you yearn to remember minutes after you wake.

"I will," she murmured as she hugged him impulsively. "I'll come back. I promise."

He stood up as another girl walked through the doorway, one his age, or just about. Corn silk hair waved softly down her back. She smiled prettily at him, dimpling.

"Hi," she said brightly. "I'll help her get changed. I'm her sister."

Edward shrugged. "No problem," he said, feeling so much older than the little mermaid girl suddenly, and silly. He looked down but his striped towel had already grabbed her clothes, and was headed for the bathroom door.

"GO 'WAY," she shrieked at the bigger girl. "Don't need your help."

"Mama said to help you," her sister snapped at her, stomping her foot.

At that, Edward slid back into the barroom, and fixed two lemonades to go, with just enough ice, and extra lemon slices.

Later, as he played basketball by himself in the driveway, waiting on Mike's mom to pick him up to go to the movies, he realized he'd forgotten to ask the mermaid girl her name. He couldn't believe he hadn't asked that most important question… that totally outranked the question of how old you were.

"C'mon Edward!" Mike yelled from the window of his mom's van. "Mom said we gotta get our butts in gear if we want popcorn!"

Edward dropped the ball and pounded on the door to let Uncle Pete know he was going.

"Hi, Edward," Mike's mom smiled as she watched him buckle himself in. "Anything interesting happen today?"

"Nah," he replied. "Same old, same old." But he was quiet as they sped down the highway, thinking of all the blue stripes with the red, and the press of her fingers on his shoulder as the mermaid whispered in his ear.

A/N Walleezeeanna is Mermaid Girl's special way of saying Louisiana.

Thank you to the Fandom4Storms crew for all the tremendous hard work needed to put this together.

Thank you to all the authors who contributed.

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