A very Happy New Year to all vampires, shape-shifters and humans. I hope 2011 proves to be a great year for you all.

Ryan was still studying the map when Jasper came over. Jasper, like all the vampires, had overheard the conversation between Ryan and Carlisle but only he had sensed the rising tension in the boy. He took care to scuff his feet a little as he approached the boy, who heard the noise and looked up.

"Looking at the atlas, huh?" began Jasper. For one who had been so charismatic a major, casual conversation was never his strong point. He could barely remember his human years yet knew that in order to rise through the ranks so swiftly, he must have been verbally adept. His time with Maria had crushed that out of him though, as opinions were swiftly countered with torn limbs and the withholding of precious blood to sooth the burn. Jasper soon learned to keep quiet and just follow orders. He still found it hard at times to be himself around others, and couldn't quite seem to find a happy medium between stony silence and overt aggression when he interacted with Carlisle. It was strange that he could be quite relaxed when horsing around with Edward and Emmett or teasing the girls and yet found it impossible to be the same way with Carlisle. He supposed it was because Carlisle was first and foremost the leader in Jasper's eyes though he was the polar opposite of the type of leader Maria had been. Jasper secretly craved Carlisle's approval and yearned for the day when he could prove his worth to the man who had become his father. He sat down at the table next to Ryan and studied the map with him.

"Carlisle showed you where we are?" he asked.

Ryan nodded. "He wanted to know where I'm from. Did you know about this fostering thing?"

Jasper smiled and debated whether or not to ease the boy's stress. "You know that none of us has been through official adoption channels, right? If we want to fit in then we need to have paperwork to back up our stories. It's no big deal."

Ryan nodded again and Jasper studied him.

"What's worrying you about all this?" he asked.

"Nothing, I'm okay," said Ryan quickly.

Jasper raised his eyebrows. "On a scale of one to ten with one being asleep and ten being about to crawl up the wall with nerves, I'd say you were a twelve."

Ryan chewed his bottom lip and frowned. "It's not that bad," he said.

Jasper sighed. "You know Edward can read minds, right?" he began. "Well I can read emotions. I can tell exactly what anyone is really feeling at any moment. I can feel how you do."

Ryan looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and exhaustion. Was there no end to the things these beings could do?

Jasper continued. "What I'm trying to say is, I can feel exactly how tense you are right now. It can't be easy trying to absorb what you've learned in the past twenty-four hours on top of whatever you were dealing with before." He paused. "If you want to ask about something then you really should; it might help take away some of your worries."

Ryan half opened his mouth to say something before clamping it shut again. He fiddled nervously with his hands instead.

Jasper decided not to push the boy and opted for distraction instead. Lord knows it helped him when negative thoughts were whirling so fast inside his mind that he thought his head would surely explode.

"Do you like books?" he asked.

Ryan looked up, nodding.

"Come on, we've got hundreds."

,,,

Jasper pushed open the door to his small study revealing shelves stacked high with numerous books. He'd always found enormous comfort in reading and sometimes, when if felt like he was barely clinging onto sanity, he would come and sit quietly in this room, breathing in the scents of paper and card and ink, and it would feel, for a while like he was wrapped in a protective cocoon. Maybe Ryan would feel some of that too.

"What kind of thing do you like reading about?" he asked.

Ryan ran his eyes along the spines and shrugged. "I don't mind really."

Jasper thought for a moment before springing up to retrieve a book from one of the higher shelves. He landed silently on his feet and held out the book; a beautiful glossy volume containing photos of magnificent animals from all around the globe. Ryan took it carefully as Jasper watched his reaction.

"Recipe book?"

There was a moment of absolute silence before Jasper's mouth quirked and he laughed out loud. Ryan's face lit up with pleasure at causing such mirth.

"You got a wicked sense of humour, kid," laughed Jasper approvingly. "Come on, let's take it downstairs."

,,,

Carlisle hummed to himself as he watched the final document emerge from the printer before adding it to the pile in front of him. There was now sufficient paperwork to explain Ryan's sudden placement with the Cullens, just in case an overzealous official made enquiries. It had not been difficult to add information onto the computer system in Oregon either; detailed enough to back up their story but vague enough that the source was untraceable. Not that Carlisle anticipated anyone looking into the case. Edward had already checked into any Jameson's in Gresham and found only four listings for them. One was an elderly couple, one an unmarried school teacher, one a recently deceased woman and the last a young family. No Ryan was mentioned in any of the data. Carlisle didn't doubt that Ryan was telling the truth; it wasn't often he used the full force of his vampiric charms to elicit information but when he did, he was fairly certain of the results.

He gathered the documents together and placed them into the purposely battered file. For authenticity, the Cullens had supplies of copier paper of varying ages and sometimes used slightly paler ink to add to the faded look. Ryan's file now looked as though it had been put together over a period of many months instead of a single hour.

Esme drifted silently into the room and gave her husband a loving peck on the cheek.

"All done?" she asked, wrapping a slender arm around his waist. Carlisle nodded.

"As far as anyone else will be concerned, Ryan was removed suddenly from an abusive situation. The social worker who dealt with the case had met us on several occasions when we lived in Portland and, knowing how we had successfully raised five wonderful adopted children," he paused to kiss his wife on the tip of her nose, "she wondered if we had room for one more. Naturally we said yes and so she drove up with the boy last week."

Carlisle perched against the edge of the table as Esme leant against his chest and rested her head against his shoulder. He ran his fingers softly through her gently curling hair and inhaled deeply as her delicious floral scent wafted up. Esme purred with contentment at the soothing caresses as she relaxed in her husband's embrace.

"I wonder what his real story is," she murmured. "The poor child must have been through some kind of terror with so many dreadful marks upon his neck." She wrapped her arms around Carlisle's back and drew him even closer.

"Hopefully, now that he has shared a little information with us, he will open up more and more. He already seems fairly comfortable in our children's company; maybe they will coax his background from him," mused Carlisle.

His hands left the softness of Esme's hair and began to trail down her spine, his fingertips creating tiny tickly paths which caused her to shiver with delight.

"I'm glad he took so well to Jasper," continued Carlisle. He chuckled. "Perhaps Emmett should consider a career as a peace envoy." His fingers were now definitely concentrating on the region below her waist and his mouth began to leave a trail of warm kisses down the side of her neck.

Esme pressed further against him, enjoying the thrill of power she always felt on feeling the increased swelling within his trousers. Her hands slid underneath his shirt and she delicately ran her fingers in swirls across his back.

"Edward suspects that he thinks we're aliens," giggled Esme, but Carlisle was no longer able to respond, for at that moment he prised her lips apart with his tongue and the two were lost in each other.

,,,

Ryan had been with the Cullens for several days now and an easy routine was beginning to develop. To help him feel like he had a role in the family, Esme allowed him to help in the preparation of his meals and the washing-up afterwards. He was still rather shy when everyone was together but interacted well with individuals. Esme decided to leave the décor as it was in Emmett and Rosalie's old room, as the neutral cream coloured walls and stripped oak flooring would go with whatever items Ryan chose to add later. The furniture arrived and Esme and Emmett waited until Ryan was occupied playing cards with Alice before installing it in his room.

Jasper watched, amused, as his wife played out a carefully orchestrated mixture of wins and losses leaving Ryan oblivious to the fact that she knew every hand before it was even dealt. Alice's uncanny gift for seeing the future had proven quite lucrative to the Cullens and the steady stream of successful stock market trades which she suggested, increased their already substantial assets considerably. Vast amounts of the wealth were anonymously donated to charitable causes on a regular basis, yet even with this they were still rich beyond belief. There was little the Cullens couldn't afford to purchase outright, even whole islands.

Emmett swung himself over the banister rail landing neatly on Jasper's back, knocking him to the floor. "C'mon Ry, it's ready."

Ryan watched as Jasper deftly threw his brother off. "What's ready?" he asked.

"Your room!" exclaimed Emmett excitedly. He reached out a hand as if to grab Ryan's arm, who promptly put his arms up defensively.

"Emmett!" hissed Alice angrily. "Stop being so physical all the time." She rose gracefully to her feet and offered a dainty hand to Ryan. "You have a proper bedroom all to yourself now," she said, beaming at him. "And you are going to love it." She linked arms with him and walked up the stairs at a human pace, marvelling at how hot humans always felt.

Esme was waiting nervously outside the door. Her family had always been nothing but delighted and appreciative of her design ideas in their homes over the years but this was the first time she had tried to please a human. She reminded herself repeatedly that everything was changeable if necessary and it wasn't to be taken as a personal rejection. She was suddenly reminded of her early days living with Carlisle and Edward. How she had agonised over every added doily or vase of flowers in case they hated it.

Carlisle had never willingly displayed disapproval at any of her alterations. It later transpired he had been just as fearful of upsetting her as she had of him, and several years passed before they felt comfortable at expressing themselves honestly with each other. Edward was rarely so shy in those earlier days, his boldness partly fuelled by adolescent pangs of jealousy at no longer being the sole focus of Carlisle's attentions. Sadly it took Edward's tragic disappearance from their lives for them both to fully appreciate just how difficult things had been for the young man. Not only had he suffered the devastating loss of both his human parents within days of each other, he had been forced to re-visit those feelings all over again with the arrival of Esme. Not that Carlisle had been neglectful of his son, quite the contrary. However, reality and perception are often quite mismatched and, though he would never admit it, Edward had secretly been terrified that Carlisle would reject him outright in favour of his mate. Thankfully, as decades passed, Edward had come to realise that his place within the family was rock solid and more and more enjoyed Esme's role as surrogate mother.

Ryan smiled nervously at Esme as she pushed open the door to the room. He could almost feel the excitement coming off of tiny Alice, who was gently propelling him forwards and, truth be told, he was rather curious himself. The little room downstairs in which he had slept so far was lovely enough; sometimes, if he woke up during the night, he would try to stay awake for a while just so he could lay there in the dark enjoying the warmth and quiet and security. The idea of a whole proper bedroom was quite beyond his imagination; a far cry from the dank mattress crammed into what should have been a utility room.

As the door opened and he stepped forward, his first thoughts were of how clean and fresh it all smelled. Light poured in through the large open window and reflected off the polished wooden surfaces and the bright cream coloured walls. In the centre of the room was a large bed made of rich dark walnut wood and dressed with a luxurious midnight blue quilt which reached almost to the floor. Next to the bed was a small table with a bedside lamp and a cream rug. There was a writing desk in one corner of the room on which Jasper had thoughtfully put the animal book. Two other doors led off the room and Ryan wondered what lay beyond, though he didn't feel confident enough to just go and see.

"What do you think?" asked Esme cautiously. "It can easily be changed, I mean we can repaint the walls, maybe a shade of blue or green, and new bedding isn't a problem…"

"It's beautiful."

The whispered response wiped away Esme's worries and she hugged the boy gently.

"You have your own bathroom through here," she said, opening one of the doors. Ryan peeped in and saw the clean white lines of a large tub and walk-in shower.

"This will be the best bit though," added Alice, tugging him gently towards the other door. She tapped it open with her toe revealing a huge closet with numerous rails and shelves and drawers. A mere fraction of the space was taken up by the possessions he had acquired thus far and Ryan couldn't imagine ever coming anywhere near to filling the space. Of course at this point he had only known Alice for a few days.

"You must make this room your own though," insisted Esme. "You can put up pictures and move things around if you like. You aren't a guest anymore."

"Ha!" laughed Emmett. "That's Esme speak for you gotta clean it yourself."

Ryan smiled. "I want to keep it nice; I want it to stay just like this." He ran his hand admiringly across the quilt and tried to resist the urge to check if the little bump up near the pillows was Blue. He reassured himself that if it wasn't, then the toy must surely still be in the other room; they wouldn't have thrown it out. Would they?

Temptation overwhelmed him and he tweaked the cover just enough to reveal the matted blue fur before tucking it back, relieved.

,,,

As Ryan walked across to the window to peer out at the view, the others drifted away. Edward, in the neighbouring room, heard them leave and slipped out into the empty hallway and towards Ryan's room. He knocked softly on the door frame.

"May I come in?"

"Course," replied Ryan.

Edward held out the small book he was clutching.

"This is for you," he said. "It's nothing much but I thought you might like to have it."

Ryan took the book carefully and studied it. It was a beautiful journal with a soft leather cover, fastened by a strap across the front. The pages were of smooth cream parchment lightly edged in dull gold.

"Edward, are you sure? I mean, this is really expensive."

Edward chuckled; for the Cullens there was no such thing as 'really expensive'.

"I'm positive," he said. "I have dozens of them." He frowned as a thought occurred to him.

"You don't have to write in it if you don't want to. I just thought, maybe," suddenly Edward felt awkward; he wasn't trying to buy the child's friendship was he? Good grief, Edward, what have you come to!

Ryan fingered the supple cover thoughtfully. "Can I draw in it? I sometimes like drawing things."

Edward grinned; pleased his gift had been accepted. "Wait there," he said suddenly. He flew to his room to rummage at the back of a desk drawer. With a blur he returned.

"Here, you're going to need something to draw with." He held out a lovely set of various HB pencils and a rainbow of colours.

"Can I ask you something, Edward?"

He took Edward's silence as a yes.

"What's really going to happen to me?"

"What do you mean?" asked Edward.

"Well I can't just live with you forever." His tone of voice clearly expressed his sadness over this fact.

"This is true," agreed Edward. "One day, no doubt, you will fall in love and get married and have children and…"

Ryan sniggered. "You know what I meant."

Edward tipped his head and looked at Ryan quizzically. "Why do you imagine you can't stay with us until that time? If you want to, that is. Carlisle would never force you to stay if you didn't want to, regardless of…" he hesitated.

"Of what?"

"You possess rather a lot of information about us. Should that information ever become public knowledge our very existence would be threatened."

Ryan frowned. "I already told Carlisle I won't say anything, and it's true. I'm not stupid; I know I'd probably be dead if he hadn't brought me here. I'm not going to repay that by getting you all in trouble, even if I wasn't allowed to stay."

Edward took a deep, unnecessary breath. "Hmmm. So you do want to stay?"

Ryan nodded. "But only if people want me to, not if they feel like they have to."

"Well then it's settled. You're here until the day I get to be best man at your wedding," concluded Edward triumphantly.

,,,

Carlisle and Esme listened shamelessly to the gentle banter between Edward and Ryan. They had both been worried at how Edward might take to yet another addition to their family but the fact that he had chosen not to skulk in his room was an extremely positive sign. His spirits would be lifted even further when he found out that Valeska was planning to visit.

"Speaking of Valeska," said Carlisle. "I really need to get those blood tests completed on Ryan. I know she will respect our wishes but there's no sense in leaving anything to chance."

Esme agreed. The greatest risk to Ryan at the moment lay with others who did not follow the Cullen lifestyle.

Hmmm, now who, I wonder, is Valeska? A smattering of reviews and I might be persuaded to reveal all. x