So, I really didn't mean to focus so much on them being five-years-old, but I feel like that's an important year when you're growing up. Here's one more chapter of them being in kindergarten. I'm not sure if I'm going to do another chapter of them in kindergarten or if I'm going to skip ahead a few years.

Thanks to Mrs-Cullen-410, Rosalie90, GODISAWESOME, and kwfreeman for you reviews! Also thanks to those who added me to their favorites and alerts!

Cooties and Carlisle to the Rescue

It was the Friday before Christmas break started and Bella and Edward were finally getting in their groove at school. They were both fairly popular seeing as they were friends with a couple of first graders and Rosalie Hale, the most popular girl in kindergarten. Angela Weber had come out of her shell a bit and also became a good friend to Bella and Edward. Although they were well-liked by everyone, Bella and Edward were still pretty quiet. They had their moments of exuberance, but they mostly stuck by each other…until one day when Edward was talking to Mike Newton during a game of Red Rover.

"Hey, Edward!" Mike said while waiting for the other team to decide who they were going to "send right over."

"What, Mike?" Edward said annoyed. He didn't really like Mike too much. Mike made Bella cry one day by making fun of her messy hair.

"Why are you friends with all those girls?" Mike asked. "They have cooties, you know. You can catch it if you hang around them too much."

"What are cooties?" Edward asked.

"It's a disease that girls give to boys. You can't get them from your mom or anything, so don't worry about that. I think they go away when you become an adult or something like that. That's what my cousin says anyway. I'm not going to risk getting them, though, so I'm going to steer clear of all girls until I get older," Mike explained.

Edward thought about what Mike was telling him. He had never heard about cooties. His dad was a doctor and never warned him about it. Surely, if there were some disease he could catch from Bella, his dad would have told him.

"Well, what about my sister? Can I get them from her?" Edward asked worriedly. "She's four."

"Hmmm…I don' know. I'll have to check with my cousin. I'm sure you're ok hanging out with her since you're related or maybe girls don't get the cooties until they're five," Mike reasoned. "Oh! It's our turn! Hey, guys, who should we send over?"

"I say Bella. She'll be easy to catch!" said Tyler one of Mike's friends said.

"What!? I don't think so. We might catch cooties, man," Mike said.

"Oh, yeah! I forgot all about that! Man, who knew? Cooties! I knew girls were gross and all but cooties? Oh, well! How about Ben? He's a little guy," Tyler said.

"RED ROVER, RED ROVER, SEND BEN RIGHT OVER!" Edward screamed with the rest of his team.

"Well, what exactly happens to you when you catch cooties?" Edward asked Mike once they captured Ben.

"I know it can make you really itchy. I'm not sure what else. My cousin didn't really tell me much. I didn't really ask…don't really care," Mike said shrugging. "All I know is I don't want it, and if you don't want it, you should stay away from all those girls," Mike advised. Edward just nodded his head and thought about the itch he had on his arm that morning. Hmmm.

By now, recess had ended and strangely enough, all the boys ended up on one side with the girls on the other. Renee and Elizabeth Masen, Bella and Edward's teacher, noticed this and figured out what was going on.

"I think we've got a cooties outbreak, Liz," Renee said to Mrs. Masen.

"You noticed that, too? Think we should talk to them?" Liz asked Renee.

"Nah. I went through this with Emmett last year. No matter how much I tried to explain to him that girls didn't have cooties, he still wouldn't go near them. I even had Carlisle Cullen talk to him. He wouldn't even believe a doctor. I felt so bad for Bella! Emmett wouldn't go anywhere near her. He made us let him eat in the living room so he wouldn't have to sit at the same table as her. I tried reasoning with him. I pointed out that Edward hadn't caught them, but he just said that it was because Edward was a girly-boy. It was almost five months before he would look at her without cringing! Then suddenly one day, it was like he didn't care anymore. Walked right up to Bella and gave her a hug and everything! They just have to figure it out for themselves, I guess," Renee said. Liz laughed and helped usher some of the kids into the school.

Edward rushed inside the classroom trying to stay away from Bella. Instead of sitting at his regular table, he sat down next to Ben Cheney, the small, quiet boy they chose during Red Rover in lieu of Bella. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her that she had a disease.

When Bella got into the classroom, she made a beeline for Edward. "Edward! What are you doing sitting over here?" she asked confused.

"Um…I just thought I'd sit closer to the board! I think I might need glasses or something. I haven't been seeing too well lately!" Edward said quickly thinking of an excuse.

"Oh! Why didn't you say something? You should tell your dad. Maybe he can take you to get glasses over break!" Bella said innocently.

"Oh. Yeah! I…I'll do that. I promise. I think you should go back over to your table, though. Way over there," Edward said pointing to their usual table in the back.

"Ok. I guess I'll see you after school after class, then. I have to get my duffel bag from my mom. Remember, Emmett and I are staying with you for three days! We can walk to your car together!" Bella said.

Edward could tell she was pretty upset with the idea of him not sitting with her for the rest of class. She walked back to her table with her shoulders slumped and her head down. It was kind of weird for him to not sit with her. "It's going to be a long time until we become adults. Forget that! It's going to be a long three days!" Edward thought.

Bella and Emmett were staying with the Cullens while their parents went to Seattle for a conference that Charlie had to attend for work. Renee wanted to do some last-minute Christmas shopping while they were there and figured Bella and Emmett would get bored, so Esme and Carlisle happily agreed to take the two kids. They were over at the Cullen home so much that it didn't matter to them.

When the bell rang signaling the end of school, all of the children screamed with glee. No more school for two-and-a-half weeks! Everyone would miss their friends and all, but Christmas break meant sleeping in and staying up late!

Edward saw that Bella was hugging Angela good-bye and decided to book it out of the classroom. He had to get to the car before Bella, so that he could get the seat in the back of the SUV his mom drove. It had three rows and most of the time Emmett sat in the back by himself with all the backpacks and whatever else Esme put back there while Alice, Bella, and Edward sat in the middle row. Edward was scared to be so close to Bella on the way home.

As Edward approached the SUV, he saw Emmett already opening up the back gate to crawl in.

"Hey, Em! I can sit back there today!" Edward said breathlessly. Emmett just looked at him like he was out of his mind.

"Why are you sweating so much? Did you run out here or something? Your face is all red, too. You ok?" Emmett grilled.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine! Great even!" Edward replied eagerly wiping the sweat off his face.

"Whatever, dude. I'm sitting back here. It's my seat. It's too crowded in the middle row. Go take your seat now, little one," Emmett said patting Edward on his head.

As Edward was rounding the car to open the back door, he saw Bella running up to the car. Bella caught her foot on a crack and looked like she was going to go flying through the air. Edward made a move to run and catch her, but suddenly held himself back and closed his eyes waiting for the fall. But when he opened his eyes, he saw Bella catch herself from falling. She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

Bella looked up and saw Edward at the back door of the car and frowned.

"I was looking for you! I thought you'd wait for me after class, so we could walk together. What happened? Angela wanted to say good-bye to you, too," Bella said with sad eyes.

"Erm…well, I, uh…I thought I'd walk out with some of the guys. I won't see them for almost three weeks, but I'll be seeing you probably every day! Figured I should say 'bye' to them. Yeah! That's it," Edward lied.

Bella narrowed her eyes at him. She knew he was lying. He was talking very quickly. He had a bead of sweat forming on his forehead and he was running his hands through hair. He was currently sporting hair that looked like devil's horns. How fitting!

"You're lying. I can tell. Why'd you run out?" Bella said getting angry.

"Kids, get in the car!" Esme called out of the rolled down window. Bella shot one last glare at Edward and crawled into the car next to Alice. Edward took a deep breath and sat next to Bella.

Esme was a good driver, but she was fast. At every curve, the kids were being thrown around in the back seat – especially Bella seeing as how she had nothing to hold onto. Bella kept bumping into Edward causing him to flinch. They were getting closer to the Cullen residence when Edward just couldn't take it anymore.

"BELLA! COULD YOU STOP TOUCHING ME!" Edward yelled.

His outburst startled everyone in the car. Bella blushed and looked at Edward with tears in her eyes.

"I can't help it. There's not a lot of room back here," Bella said quietly.

"Dude, don't yell at my sister!" Emmett yelled at Edward.

Alice meanwhile was trying to comfort Bella. She grabbed hold of Bella's arm and said, "It's ok, Belly. You can sit closer to me." She then glared at Edward and pulled Bella closer to her.

"Edward, what's wrong with you?" Esme asked. "You shouldn't yell at people. You're all going to be touching back there. You're sitting right next to each other. Apologize to Bella! NOW!" Esme ordered.

"Sorry, Bells," Edward whispered.

"It's ok," Bella sniffled.

The ride up the long driveway was silent. Bella was quietly sniffling while Alice hugged Bella's arm and rested her head on Bella's shoulder whispering comforting words like "Don't pay attention to him, Belly. He's just being mean!" Emmett glared at Edward thinking of ways to get back at him for making his sister cry. No one ever made Emmett Swan's little sister cry and got away with it!

When Esme put the car in park, Edward bolted from the car and ran to the front door of the house while everyone else slowly made their way up. Esme unlocked the front door and let an impatient Edward inside. He ran up to his room, slammed the door, and locked it.

Esme looked around at the confused kids and said, "Well, let's just let Edward have some space. Hopefully, whatever is bothering him will pass. I can make a snack for everyone! Are you guys hungry?"

Everyone shook their heads sadly and frowned up at Esme – even Emmett.

"Why don't you put your bag in Alice's room, Bella. Emmett, you can put your stuff in the guest room. You might be more comfortable in there," Esme said trying to make everyone feel better. "You guys can go outside and play after if you want."

The three kids trudged up the stairs and put their stuff away. Bella threw herself on Alice's bed and Alice crawled onto the bed and lay down next to her.

Emmett walked into the room and sat on the other side of Bella. "The little brat won't come out of his room. I knocked on his door and he told me to leave him alone."

"I want mommy," Bella whispered. "I wanna go home!"

"NO, Belly!" Alice said. "We're supposed to have fun this weekend! Mommy said we can go to the children's Christmas party at the hospital and hand out presents. We'll see Santa there! Then, we're going to the Charles Dickens' festival again! I promise we'll have so much fun. Remember last year? Emmett drank so much hot chocolate and ate so many cookies, he puked on Santa Claus?"

"Yeah, Bells! I promise I'll do my best to puke on Santa again!" Emmett said laughing. "Besides, it won't be much fun with Mom and Dad. We can't go home. We'd have to go to Seattle with them. Mom will drag us shopping the whole time and Dad will be in conferences." Emmett looked at Bella's tear-streaked face and sighed, "I guess if you really want to, we can call Mom now. They're not leaving until Dad gets off from work."

"I guess we can stay," Bella resigned. She knew Emmett would rather eat broccoli than go shopping, and he wouldn't stay with the Cullens without her there.

"Come on, Belly! Let's go see if Mommy will make the cookies now! We can help decorate. They're for the party tomorrow!" Alice suggested happily.

Emmett beamed at the idea of cookies. "What are we waiting for? Come on!" he said running out of the room.

Meanwhile, Esme was downstairs putting things away when Carlisle called.

"Hello, dear," Esme said answering the phone.

"Hi! Everything ok?" Carlisle asked. He noticed the sad tone in Esme's voice.

"Well, not really. Edward yelled at Bella in the car for no reason. Bella kept bumping into him while I was driving and he told her not to touch him anymore. I have no idea what's wrong with him. I've never heard him yell at Bella before. He ran into his room and locked the door as soon as we got home," Esme explained.

"Well, with your driving it's understandable that Bella would keep bumping into him," Carlisle joked.

"Carlisle," Esme said in a warning voice.

"Erm…just kidding, dear. You know I love your driving. You're an excellent driver! Have I told you how much I love you?" Carlisle said.

Esme laughed.

"Hmmm…Edward yelled at Bella for bumping into him? Did you talk to Renee?" Carlisle asked.

"No. I was going to call her after I finished putting things away. I didn't want to bother her because I know she's finishing some work up at the school. Then she has to rush off to pick up Charlie so they can go to Seattle. Why?" Esme asked.

"Well, around this time last year, Emmett heard about the cooties. Renee had me talk to him. That kid was pretty hilarious when he told me about the cooties. According to him, you start foaming at the mouth and go into convulsions when you catch it. I didn't know they still believed in cooties anymore! I told him about the cootie shot and he went running from the office clutching his bum! Wouldn't let me anywhere near him! I guess he was still traumatized from when I had to give him a shot in his bum," Carlisle said laughing.

"Oh, no. What do I do? Should I talk to him?" Esme asked.

"I can talk to him tomorrow. Hopefully, I can just tell him the cooties aren't real and I won't have to tell him about the shot. He won't let me give him a shot without Bella there to hold his hand. Last year, Bella had to sit behind a curtain to hold his hand because he didn't want her to see his bum, but he wouldn't let me give him the shot without Bella there. I don't think he'll let her near him this time! I'm not getting home until late tonight. I have to go to work pretty early tomorrow to check up on a couple of patients, so I'll probably just talk to him when you bring the kids by for the children's Christmas party. Hopefully, Emmett won't puke on Santa this year!" Carlisle said.

"Ok. I'll try and keep him calm until then. They won't have to see each other until dinner really. How did Emmett finally get over it? Maybe Emmett can talk to him," Esme said.

"One day a few months later, I tackled him while he was playing a videogame. I gave him his 'shot.' I'm not sure he's the best person to explain the cooties to Edward, though. I kind of have a feeling he still believes in them. Can you imagine? Edward might be scarred for life," Carlisle said laughing.

"I guess you're right. Ok. I'll see you tonight when you get home. Have a good night, Dear. Don't forget to eat dinner!" Esme said.

"Give the kids a kiss good-night for me," Carlisle said hanging up the phone.

The next day, Carlisle went to the children's wing of the hospital and looked for his family. Just as he entered the room where the party was being held, he saw the kids and Esme. Bella was sitting with a little girl and helping her open a present. Edward and Alice were helping Esme hand out presents. Emmett was handing out cookies and sneaking one from the plate.

"Hey! I was hoping to catch you here!" Carlisle said approaching everyone. Alice squealed and hugged his legs. Emmett raised a fist for Carlisle to bump, and Esme gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Bella! Edward!" Carlisle said. Bella smiled and Edward grunted out a hello.

"Hey, Edward. Can I talk to you for a minute? We can go up to my office," Carlisle said.

"I guess," Edward said following his dad into the elevator. The two were silent until they reached Carlisle's office.

"So, how's school? Things going ok?" Carlisle asked when they got into his office. Edward was sitting in the chair and Carlisle was resting against his desk.

"I guess," Edward said.

"Son, have you heard about the cooties?" Carlisle finally said.

"Why didn't you ever tell me? I'm your son! Bella could have given me a disease, Dad!" Edward said quickly realizing that his dad did indeed know about the disease.

"Edward. The cooties aren't real. It's something little kids made up a long time ago," Carlisle explained to his son.

"Not real? I don't think so, Dad. Everyone knows about them. Mike Newton's cousin told him about them. His cousin's seven. Besides, why would anyone make up a disease?" Edward said with a scowl on his face.

"So, you believe a seven-year-old over your father who's a doctor?" Carlisle said laughingly.

Edward thought about it and came to his final conclusion. "Yup!"

"Alright. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Now, I have to warn you. This won't hurt, and it's not in your bum. There's a cootie shot. It protects you from the cooties, and you and Bella can play again. All you have to do is give me your arm. You can close your eyes if you want," Carlisle said.

Edward just stared at his father. He was thinking over the options in his head. He could get a shot which might hurt or he could avoid Bella until they were adults.

"Humor me and trust your old man, huh?" Carlisle said when he saw the indecision in Edward's eyes.

Edward gave Carlisle his arm.

When Edward closed his eyes, Carlisle pulled up Edward's sleeve. Edward could feel a tickling sensation and heard his father say, "Circle, circle, dot, dot. Now you've got your cooties shot!"

Edward opened his eyes when it was over and said, "That's it? I'm protected now?"

"Yup! I promise. It's a secret cooties protection shot that doctors came up with a long time ago. I had one when I was about your age. Cooties-free for my entire life!" Carlisle said with a smile.

Edward was still a bit suspicious.

"Let's go downstairs. You can give Bella a hug and if you break out into the cooties, you can ban me from your life forever!" Carlisle said.

"Alright," Edward said. He took Carlisle's hand and together they went back to the party. He spotted Bella over in a corner playing with the girl she was helping earlier. He looked up at his father uncertainly. Carlisle smiled at him encouragingly and squeezed his hand. Edward screwed up his face in determination, let go of Carlisle's hand, and walked over to Bella.

When he reached Bella and the little girl, Bella looked up confused. Edward reached over, hugged her, and waited. Nothing happened. He wasn't itchy or anything like what Mike said. He looked over at Carlisle and smiled.

"Hey, Bells. Sorry about yesterday," Edward said.

Bella was just happy Edward was back to normal and didn't say anything but, "It's ok." They spent the rest of the party singing carols with all of the children in the hospital.

After the party ended, all of the Cullens plus Bella and Emmett headed to the Charles Dickens' festival. They were going to have lunch there and check out all of the activities. They sat near a bunch of other kids from their school in the eating area.

They were waiting for Carlisle and Esme to bring their lunch when Bella asked Edward why he was so mean the day before.

"Cooties, Bella," Edward said simply.

"Cooties?" Bella asked.

"Yeah. It's some disease girls give boys. Don't worry, though. My dad gave me a shot to protect me," Edward said smiling.

At this point, Lauren Mallory passed by their table and overheard the conversation.

"Girls can get cooties from boys, too, Bella. You shouldn't get so close to Edward," Lauren warned loudly in a nasally voice.

Carlisle and Esme had just reached the table when Lauren said this. All around them kindergarteners were talking in excited voices about the cooties.

Carlisle whistled loudly getting all of the kids' attention.

"Alright," he said. "Everyone who's scared of getting the cooties, raise your hands." All of Bella and Edward's classmates present at the festival raised their hands while the parents laughed.

"Ok. I want two lines – one for boys, one for girls. There's something called a cooties shot. It doesn't hurt! Edward can tell you," Carlisle said looking over at Edward.

"It doesn't! I promise. And it's not in your bum, either! It's in your arm. It just tickles a bit," Edward said smiling.

Bella started the girls' line and Mike Newton started the boys' line. All around them parents looked on and smiled remembering their own cooties shots.

Angela's dad, a minister, was overheard saying maybe the cooties weren't such a bad thing. It would keep the boys away from his little girl. He eyed that little Ben Cheney boy who was talking to Angela earlier. He thought the kid looked kind of shady for a five-year-old. His wife just laughed and smacked him in the stomach drawing laughter from all the other parents.

Bella bravely walked up to Carlisle behind the Christmas tree where Esme set up a makeshift examination area and stuck her arm out. "It won't hurt, right? And I'll get to play with Eddie and not get this cooties disease?" she asked.

"I promise it won't hurt, Bells. After this, you won't have to worry about the cooties ever again," Carlisle said smiling.

Bella closed her eyes and laughed at the tickling sensation as Carlisle recited, "Circle, circle, dot, dot. Now you've got your cooties shot."

She looked up at Carlisle when he was finished and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Dr. Cullen!" She walked out of the "examination room" and announced, "It didn't hurt!"

She ran off and sat down next to Edward. They ate their chicken nuggets and fruit cups contentedly watching Carlisle give the rest of the kids their shots. Rose was just finishing up her shot when Edward suggested they go talk to her.

Edward fell down when he tried to take a step. He looked towards his feet and saw that the laces of his shoes were tied together.

"That's for making Belly Bean cry, Eddie-kins!" Emmett said laughing.

Bella looked at Edward and shrugged. "That's my brother. Don't make me cry again," she said simply as she helped Edward with his shoe laces. Alice jumped up to give Emmett a high-five.

Thanks for reading!