*A/N: Any of you live in DF? Don't you just love the earthquakes every 5 minutes? Gets old, quick.

It has been pointed out to me that the past/present switching back and forth can be confusing and hard to follow. That would be my bad. I don't want to break the past ideas up into their own chapters, because our character's memories need to be revealed slowly, so that the story doesn't move too quickly. And, I'd hate to have such short chapters.

Also, another reader told me that it is very difficult to read this story, because this Seth is so unlike Seth. I couldn't agree more. It is difficult to read and it is even more difficult to write. When the idea first came to me years ago, I thought: Where did that come from?! But, I couldn't stop wondering what would happen if our kindest character became so mean. So, if you are reading the story, and it makes you cringe away from your computer, or makes you say, "No way! Seth would never do that!" That's good! That's perfect! That's what you are supposed to be thinking! For now. So, hang in there! We'll see if our Lizzie can save him and bring back the old Seth!

So, I'm going to try leaving larger spaces between the past and present paragraphs, with the hope that you lovely readers out there can differentiate the tenses with more ease. Hopefully that will make things clearer, but I also want your opinion! So, please review and tell me what you think! Should I make the memories their own chapters? Larger spaces between the paragraphs? Or, do you have another suggestion? I'm totally open! We have fifty years of memories to get through and we wouldn't want to miss them!

So, things have been pretty heavy for the first six chapters, so let's have some fun! Okay, I'm done rambling!

Chapter 7 – Camping

Elizabeth's POV

It had been almost a week since my birthday and the talk with Poppy. I was trying hard not to think of Seth. I'd promised not to contact him, but I hadn't said anything about not thinking about him. But, I didn't want to think of him. Thinking of him made it harder. Funny, huh? I'd never met the guy and yet, he consumed me. Honestly, I was starting to feel a little pissed that he had that effect on me.

"Lizzie! Let's go! Vamonos!" yelled Teresa, with her cute latina accent. Everyone else was already downstairs. It was Friday afternoon and the whole family was going camping for the weekend. Camping, hunting . . . whatever you wanted to call it.

"I'm coming!" I grabbed my bag and went downstairs to join the rest of the family. We all piled in three SUVs and headed out to the Berkshires, a breathtaking mountain range in Massachusetts. We'd moved to Boston about two years ago. I'd wanted to attend Harvard and of course, there was no way my family was allowing me to come alone. All of us girls went to Harvard, even Nana. She was tired of sitting home all the time.

It was fall and there is no place more beautiful in autumn than the Northeast: Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine . . . the fall foliage is truly spectacular and I loved it here. So far, we hadn't lived in any place that I liked as much as Boston. We didn't live directly inside the city limits. People tended to ask too many questions in the city. We were about an hour and a half or so away, but with the way my family drove we could be in Boston within 30 minutes.

Boston certainly wasn't ideal for my family. A cloudier, rainier area would've been better to conceal the vampires, but they worked it out. Grandpa Carlisle worked nights at the hospital and we girls took night classes. Uncle Emmett, Uncle Jasper and Poppy worked from their computers, some online business they had going and my brothers and father had started a construction business.

I had repeated high school twice before demanding to actually go to a college. I had two online degrees already: Finance (I'd taken those classes with Aunt Alice) and English (Grandma got one of those, too). I was happy to take online classes, but I wanted to go and sit in a college classroom – to have the whole university experience.

Well, as much as I could have while still hiding my family's secrets. That meant no friends. Acquaintances were ok. Study groups were acceptable. Sororities were quickly forbidden by Daddy and Poppy. Boyfriends were unacceptable. Dating was not allowed - anything that could mean someone coming to the house. E-mail was okay, but nothing with photos of the family. We didn't need virtual proof, available to the entire world, that we weren't aging. In the end, I was having my unique university experience. At times, I hated that it wasn't a normal one, but I also loved my life. I wouldn't want to trade my very weird family with a normal one.

So, we were off, all 17 of us. JJ, Leah, Masen, Samantha, Billy and Teresa piled into one SUV. Grandpa Carlisle, Poppy, Emmett, Jasper and Daddy went in another and I rode along with Mama, Nana, Grandma, Aunt Rose and Aunt Alice.

"Girl talk!" shouted Nana. I laughed. Nana loved girl talk, so did Aunt Alice and Aunt Rose. Grandma wasn't a big fan, but she played along. I think that's why she always insisted on driving, so she wasn't forced to participate. She listened and laughed along with the rest of us though. As for Mama and I, it just depended on our moods.

"Okay, so get this," began Aunt Alice, "last night Jasper and I were making out and he said to me, and I quote," she cleared her throat to make it sound all throaty like Uncle Jaspers, "'Hey baby! Will you pop, lock and drop it for me?" We all laughed together. Uncle Jasper was working on his slang. He wanted to sound cool and up-to-date, but he was still a several decades behind. I mean, that was something from the early 2000's!

While laughing Alice said, "I mean does he think that's sexy? Why not just ask if I'll dance for him?"

"At least he doesn't still ask you things like," Aunt Rose prepared herself to sound like Uncle Emmett, "Hey, Rosie. If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?" She was so beautiful and feminine, but she had Uncle Emmett's deep bass down pat! She sounded just like him and it was hilarious. "I mean the 1970's were hard enough to live in the moment! No need to relive that nightmare!"

"The Bellamy Brothers were good!" defended Nana.

"I didn't say the song wasn't good, but my goodness, you'd think the guy would be over that line by now," said Aunt Rose. I just shook my head in amusement.

"Your turn Bella!" said Alice. "I know Edward has to do something weird. He can't be as picture perfect as you make him out to be."

"I'm driving, Alice," said Grandma, as if that were some great excuse not to reveal anything about Poppy. Besides with her vampire senses, she could drive, and at the same time recite Einstein's Theory of Relativity with no problems whatsoever.

"So? Don't hide behind your steering wheel, Swan! Out with something! And it better be good!" Rose returned. My aunts sometimes called Grandma by her last name. After all, if you said "Cullen" in the household you got eight heads to turn.

Aunt Rose was so funny and laid back. I'd heard stories of a cold, stiff Rosalie before (no pun intended), but that had changed with the birth of my mother, and had only gotten better as my brothers and I came along. She now felt like she had a purpose and she adored each and every one of us. To Mama, my brothers and I, she was a second mother and when we needed one, she was a fun friend.

She even liked my Daddy now. They teased each other a lot, but it was all in good fun. The countless stories of animosity in the family were now only stories, memories. Don't get me wrong. We weren't all sitting around holding hands all the time, telling each other how much we loved the other. We had our moments of ups and downs. When you squeezed 17 vampires, shape shifters and a bunch of mixed whatever-we-were creatures into one house, even if it was a mansion, you were bound to get a little wound up sometimes.

Grandma hesitated about revealing sex secrets, but knew she had to give in eventually. "I guess we do have a long drive ahead of us," she reasoned. "Alright, alright. Edward . . . what about Edward that I haven't already told you in the last million girl talks . . . ," she thought for a moment, stretching out the word million.

Aunt Alice and Aunt Rose were bouncing in their seats, excited to hear juicy gossip about Poppy. I tried hard not to pay attention, while Mama literally hummed with her fingers in her ears. I'm sure she could hear anyway, but she tried hard not to. Nana's face was passive. She preferred girl talk to be about hair, fashion, makeup, etc., but she always allowed this part of it, too.

"Edward is so uptight in bed, but he is slowly learning to use the word 'screw' and not always 'make love,'" said Grandma.

"Wow," said Aunt Alice, her voice loaded with sarcasm, "that was really exciting, Bella. Meaning that it wasn't"

"Well, that's all you are getting," said Grandma. Mama relaxed beside me.

"Okay, Nessie. You're up!" said Aunt Alice. Mama looked at me, measuring my level of comfort with the current topic. I didn't want to know anything about their sex life, but I'd heard plenty in their heads anyway when I once looked into their minds at the age of 8, nearly scared me out of there for good. I smiled at her and she spoke next.

"Jake likes to play Little Red Riding Hood in the forest," she giggled. Aunt Alice and Aunt Rose burst into hysterical laughing.

"Okay! That's enough! Next topic please!" cried Grandma and I couldn't have agreed more. "Let's talk about something more educational and enlightened!"

"Oh, but we are learning soooo much!" shrieked Aunt Alice.

"Lizzie, how are your classes going?" asked Nana and I was extremely grateful for the change of conversation.

A while later, we arrived at our destination – a parking lot at the bottom of the Berkshires. We got out and unloaded the vehicles and headed straight for the deepest part of the mountain range. No one would find us there. We would have total privacy. Deep in the forest, in a bowl in the mountains, we made our campsite. We'd been coming to the same place for the last two years.

There were nine tents spread evenly around a freshly made fire pit, no fire just yet. One tent for each of the couples and one for me and mine of course, was pink and black. Uncle Jasper had found one on the Internet for me years ago and knew I'd just love it. I was thrilled the day he gave it to me. I laid out my stuff in the tent: sleeping bag, pillows (yes, plural, I loved my pillows!), bag of clothes, books and battery-operated lamp.

It was still daylight out, but we all knew that after we set up our site, it was time for Nana's List-O-Fun. Nana always brought a list of activities with her. Although why she wrote it down, I never understood. Her memory would've worked just fine. The activities were always family-related and beyond cheesy. We humored her and truth be told, we each had a good time. I, especially, liked the camping trips.

"Okay," shouted Nana. "Everyone come close." Everyone, besides me, could've been half a mile away and heard her just fine, but again we did what she asked. "So, here's what we are going to do. We will start with a good hunt, so everyone has full bellies. Nothing makes a Nana happier than seeing her babies with full bellies. Then, we'll come back, build the fire and that's when the real fun starts!"

There was a small sigh of "okays" as everyone conceded. Grandpa Carlisle was grinning from ear to ear, happy to see his wife so happy. And she was. Nana lived for her family.

"Okay, so go out there. No humans! And remember, most importantly, be safe!" shouted Nana. Uncle Emmett laughed. The thought of anyone hurting any of them was just hilarious.

So, they headed out, Mama and Nana with jugs and supplies to retrieve me some blood. I couldn't go. Any animal could outrun me. If I could get my hands around them, I could snap their necks and then feed, but catching them was impossible. My brothers and I all craved blood to some extent, I more than they. They preferred human food. I always chose the blood. Like Mama, we could survive on human food or blood, but the blood did make us a little stronger, especially me. My eyesight and hearing always improved after feeding. The limp never went away.

My Daddy stayed with me. That was our tradition and we both enjoyed it. It gave us some alone time. Daddy and I sat down on one of the logs the guys had pulled over to put around the campfire. "So. How you been, kiddo?" he asked.

"Okay. You?" We engaged in small talk for about half an hour, before the conversation turned a bit more serious.

"Your mother's been driving me insane since last week," he said. "She won't shut up about Seth, or the birthday party or you. She's convinced you're depressed."

I laughed. "I'm not depressed, Daddy. Mama just worries too much," I paused for a moment. "I'm sorry about your party being ruined."

He smiled, his white teeth glowing against his russet skin. "It was your birthday party, too, Little Gift."

"I know, but I didn't really want it anyway. I don't like the attention. Makes me uncomfortable to have so many people staring at me."

He nodded. He already knew that. He knew me well. I didn't mind attention or getting gifts, I just didn't like everyone giving me those things all at once. "Anyway, don't worry about the party. It all turned out okay," he reassured me.

I had to ask. "Will you ever call him back?"

He sighed with sadness. "No, honey. I don't think so, but then again, we will have a lot of time here on this Earth. No need to rush things and as they say, never say never."

I looked him in the eye, shook my head and responded quietly, "You can't know that for certain."

He looked confused. "Know what?"

"That we'll have a lot of time here. We might not age, but we can die. Maybe you should call him. Maybe he needs you."

"Lizzie he insulted me. He insulted you!" He responded, not angrily, only trying to make me see reason.

"Maybe he needs someone to feel as bad as he does. Maybe, in that way, he doesn't feel alone," I reasoned. Daddy didn't say anything for a moment. We sat there for a moment, just staring at each other. I think he was about to say something, but Mama and Grandma came back then, jugs of blood in hand. They always hunted for themselves and me quickly, not wanting to keep me waiting. I immediately jumped up, and felt my mouth begin to water.

Grandma held out a jug with a kind smile, "Black bear. You're favorite!"

"And a deer," Mama said, setting the other jug on the ground. I didn't even bother grabbing a cup, just tipped the jug of black bear up to my lips and started chugging. And I was quickly sucked off the face of the Earth and soaring in Heaven. Every drop of blood tasted divine and I could never get enough. I always had to stop myself or I'd drink too much and throw up.

After I'd finished the jug of black bear and about half the jug of deer, I stopped. I looked up to see Mama watching me with a huge smile on her face, "Good?" she asked.

"Mmmhmm," I confirmed, wiping the tiny dribble of blood that was running down my chin. I immediately noticed and felt a change in my body, the blood making me stronger. I felt so satisfied, so complete.

Daddy laughed and asked, "Alright, which cooler has the hot dogs for those of us who prefer the meat to the blood?"

Mama giggled. She was smitten by everything and anything Daddy said and vice versa. "In the blue one, by JJ's tent, of course."

After another hour or so, everyone else began to return as well, complaining about not being at the campsite with all the other campers. Nana hadn't allowed us to camp near humans since the unfortunate trip to a campsite in Canada a decade or so ago. There, we had cabins and the vamps stayed inside while the sun was out. Uncle Emmett had insisted on being right with all the other campers. Grandpa Carlisle doubted, but soon my brothers and even Uncle Jasper, began insisting. No one could've guessed they would've embarrassed the family so badly.

They'd taken with them many more bags than usual, but no one seemed to ask why. Unbeknownst to the rest of us (well Poppy knew, but kept quiet) the guys had desperately wanted to mess with the other campers and literally drive the poor people crazy with their pranks and jokes. We'd taken that trip while Mama and Daddy had gone to celebrate their 30th anniversary in Europe and Grandma and Poppy had returned to Isle Esme for a little alone time. It was just us kids, the aunts and uncles and Grandpa and Nana.

I couldn't help but laugh as I remembered the trip . . .

Eleven Years Ago . . .

Uncle Emmett started the whole thing. He put on a ranger uniform and went around asking people if they'd seen the camp mascot, a large, brown bear that had "escaped from the camp observatory."

"You lost a bear?!" cried a man, holding onto the shoulders of his wife and son. "Are you serious? Well, it won't come here; right, with all these people, lights, noises?"

Uncle Emmett tried for his best Canadian accent, "Well, you know. He ought to be really hungry aboot now. He missed his breakfast this morning." The man and woman looked terrified. "But, it's okay! If you see him, you just keep calm and give him something to distract him until I can get here."

"Like what?!" shouted the man, incredulous.

"I don't know, man. A piece of meat or something and just talk to him. He likes soothing voices. He answers to Yogi," Uncle Emmett told him, without a hint of a smile. Totally serious.

The man laughed, "Yogi? Are you kidding me? Yogi?"

Uncle Emmett pretended to get upset, "Yeah! Yogi Our bear Yogi. You got a problem, mister?" This went on and on until he'd convinced nearly the entire site of a runaway, brown bear named Yogi. The entire campground was talking about it.

"Do you think that it'll come here? For God's sake, what if it hurts or worse, kills someone?" asked an elderly lady, surrounded by the other campers who'd made a large circle talking about the escaped bear. It had already turned dark by then.

"Oh," started Uncle Jasper, walking up to the group in another uniform, "I wouldn't worry aboot that, ma'am. Nope, I don't think that bear will be hurtin' anybody. No, no one's been killed here since 2025, since that serial killer came through here." Uncle Emmett walked up to Uncle Jasper.

"How many bodies did they find that year?" Uncle Emmett asked Uncle Jasper.

"Well, from what I've been told, they weren't too sure. They tried to put the pieces back together, but in the end, they had a lot of parts leftover and that killer, never did find him." That had a couple of people already leaving to go pack up their bags.

Carlisle joined the two of them at that time, "Rangers? May I have a word with the two of you?" He pulled them off to the side and he and Nana told them both to knock it the hell off.

As the campers began to disperse from their little meeting, more disturbed than ever, I heard Billy scream and run through the crowd holding his arm, dripping with fake blood. I laughed. They were so immature, but this was priceless.

"HELP!" cried Billy, but he kept running past everyone and straight into the forest behind them. That's when Masen came out with a chainsaw and a hockey helmet, looking just like Jason Voorhees. He pretended to hit JJ with the chainsaw and JJ started to spurt "blood" all over the campers. Uncle Emmett and Uncle Jasper, "the Rangers," pretended to be shooting at him with some impressively believable guns from some store in Hollywood, and telling all the campers to "run for their lives."

Needless to say, the campers left the site and their belongings behind quickly. The real Rangers showed up and we were asked to leave and never return to the campsite again. I'd never seen Nana so embarrassed and later, so angry.

Back In the Present . . .

Still smiling from the memory of the best camping trip ever, I listened as Nana explained the next activity for the evening: Dinner Theater. While Daddy and the wolves ate some more roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, some couple would put on a dramatic role-playing act from a favorite book. This was always fun, unless it was Poppy and Grandma's turn to do it.

"Now," continued Nana, "this time . . . let's see. Whose turn is it? Ah! Yes! Edward and Bella you're up!"

Everyone, including myself, sighed an "Aw, man!" Poppy and Grandma always did a scene from the same book: Pride and Prejudice. While I loved the story, they just did a terrible job of acting it out and it got old pretty quick.

Thirty minutes later Grandma finished the story up by accepting "Mr. Darcy's" proposal and kissing him. We all clapped and cheered for it to be over. Grandma and Poppy never seemed to care that we all hated it. They just stared at each other, grinning from ear to ear, completely pleased with themselves and each other.

"Okay! What's next?" Nana asked herself, although she already knew. "Sing-alongs!" she shouted and we all bowed our heads in defeat as Grandpa Carlisle whipped out his guitar. We all agreed to do sing-alongs, as long as they weren't the cheesy ones. So, Grandpa broke out a chord for Pearl Jam's "Black."

Looking around the campfire at that moment, I knew that I didn't need any man to make me happy. I mean, yes, I wanted that great love, but I could wait for it.

I looked across the campfire at Nana and Grandpa, already singing. I wanted a man like Grandpa: a man who helped others and selflessly loved- a man with an unlimited amount of compassion.

Next to them, sat Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper. I wanted a man like Uncle Jasper: ready to fight and kill for me at any moment- a man with a need to protect me.

I looked at Uncle Emmett: Someone who can always make me smile and laugh – a man with a great sense of humor.

Poppy: Someone who would always challenge my mind - a man with great intelligence.

And, Daddy: Someone who would always cherish me – a man with an appreciation of the woman I am.

This was what great men were made of. This was what I wanted. This was what I would wait for.

A little after midnight, we finished Day One on Nana's List-O-Fun and we all retired to our tents. I put on my pj's and quickly put in my earphones. The couples never got loud or wild during the camping trip, but they weren't perfect angels either. I turned on my little lamp, slipped into my sleeping bag, put on some soft classical music and picked up my worn out copy of The Catcher in the Rye. I had to read every night before going to sleep, or I just couldn't sleep.

Less than five minutes later, Mama opened the tent slightly and asked if she could come in. I told her yes. She was wearing some fuzzy pink pajamas and had a package of Oreos in her hand, along with her sleeping bag and pillow. We didn't like a lot of human food, but chocolate was never turned down. I smiled at her, pulled the earphones out and turned off the music.

She sat down and said, "Can I stay with you tonight? We could have a sleepover like we used to." Bless her heart. She was desperate to spend some alone time with me. She really was worried about me.

I put my book down and told her, "Of course, Mama." We made room for her things and spread her sleeping bag out. Then made ourselves comfortable, sitting and facing each other with the package of Oreos between us. We small talked for a while and eventually, she reached her hand out to me and I knew what she wanted, so I leaned in. She touched my face and I saw myself in the vision. It was from last week, when I'd yelled at her. She wasn't angry with me, just wanted to know why it had happened.

I would've responded out loud, but with so many ears around, I decided to use her gift to show her. So, I pulled her gift out of mind and raised my hand to her face and touched her left cheek. She smiled widely, showing all her teeth. She loved it when I did this. She always got so excited. I guess she liked seeing her gift used. I had to smile back. I told her how sorry I was and how ashamed I'd felt when I'd raised my voice at her. Then I showed her that I'd been embarrassed by something. I wasn't about to actually show her the bathroom scene, so I went with the walk with Poppy and the talk we'd had. I showed her how I was trying to forget him and how I'd decided just earlier that evening that I'd be okay without him.

"I see," she said, understanding. I cringed back from her, afraid of her response. Her feelings and thoughts came rushing through her hand that was still on my right cheek. She felt many things, but mostly she felt excited for me. She understood my attraction to Seth. She showed me many things from her past with him and I was shocked to learn that she and Seth had such a strong history. She shared intimate secrets with me: things she was ashamed of, too. She'd loved Seth too at one point and he'd loved her.

And, isn't obvious, honey, she spoke in her mind. It wasn't me loving Seth. It was always you. I felt her relief, years of confusion finally making sense.

And, she felt my irritation. Damn It! I showed her. Just when I'd decided to let him go!

*Aw! Wasn't that just so sweet? Too cheesy? I hope not. This family truly understands the idea of family values. Does this even exist anymore? Anyway, at least we got to know where the Cullens are living, what they are doing in life and a little mother-daughter time. Hope you liked the light chapter, because in the next chapter we have to turn the lights back off, and go back in the dark!

Oh, and the story about the boys' jokes on the campers: In college, I actually had some idiot guy friends who did this. It wasn't in Canada, but you get the idea. They weren't just slapped on the wrist, though. They had to spend a night in jail for disturbing the peace.

I want to thank those of you who've reviewed and/or sent private messages! I am grateful to those who've given me their opinions and I truly appreciate your help in making me a better writer!

I don't know when I'll update next. Vacation is coming to an end and I definitely won't be able to write like this once school starts back up. Someone has to teach! But, who knows? So, thanks for still reading and if you have five more seconds, please review!