A/N: Once again thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I love reading what you have to say!

I have to give a shout out to bluebaby3296, the idea for Jake was all her. So make sure you take a second when you're done reading to let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things twilight, I just own my copies of the books. No copyright infringement is intended anywhere.

A Day with Friends

BPOV

Feb. 6 1863

I know I keep writing about it, but Christmas was wonderful. My desk is beautiful, it has been the perfect place for me to write. Edward and I have settled into a comfortable routine and it always warms my heart when he comes home and showers me with kisses. His cold nose always tickles my cheeks. After supper, we either read together or sometimes I'll write and Edward will play the dulcimer. He has gotten quite good and has composed some songs as well. He always looks so peaceful and content when he's playing. It truly is a release for him.

And my release is writing, I have written many silly stories, but none that are worthy of anyone else's eyes. I know I'm my own worst critic but I know they're terrible. I'm just happy to be able to put on paper what swirls around in my head.

Snow has fallen, the ground is blanketed in white. I'm glad it's not deep though, we get a few inches and the temperature goes up enough for it not to last too long, then it gets cold again at night and more snow comes. Edward assures me that it won't be long before spring breaks through. I do so look forward to that time.

Life here on the frontier has really grown on me. I'm feeling much more confident in my household chores. I'm still not nearly as accomplished as I'd like to be, but for 2 months, I think I've done well. Esme has been such a huge help to me, she really has taken me under her wing. I can't wait for this spring when Esme shows me how to plant a garden. It really will be nice to have fresh vegetables. I am so grateful Edward saw through my lies, through my faults. I don't know what I would do without him. He IS the air that I breathe.

I closed my journal and placed everything back into my desk. I thought about my activities for the day and smiled. There was nothing that had me nervous or second guessing myself. The only thing I worried about was Emmett. He was still brooding and Edward was at a loss as to what to do for him.

Edward had left early this morning to head up to Carlisle and Esme's place. Usually I would've gone with him, but there was a lot to be done at our home so I opted to stay.

I went first down to the corral to check on Emmett. I pulled a couple of forkfuls of hay and alfalfa and put it into his trough. He slowly walked over and sniffed at the trough, but turned away and swung his head low.

He really did look so forlorn. I stood up on the lowest rail of the fence and clapped my hands trying to get his attention. He turned his head toward me and ambled over. He pushed up against the fence right next to me and just looked at me with his big black eyes. I began to scratch the curly patch of hair right between his eyes. He started to moo and paw his hoof a bit.

"Emmett, what's going on with you? Why so down?"

He closed his eyes and it almost sounded like he let out a sigh. Edward was right, he wasn't nearly as playful as he usually was.

I continued rubbing his nose and whispered, "maybe I can bring you a bit of company later on. Her name is Rosalie, and I think she's just the one who can perk you up. What do you think?"

For the first time in a long time, Emmett's head popped up and he started snorting and puffing himself up. I began to really think he was just lonely. I gave him one more pat and he trotted off, with a little more kick in his step. I would have to bring Rose down.

As I was walking back up the path I heard a strange noise just inside the tree line. I stopped and cocked my head toward the direction the sound was coming from. I listened carefully but the noise stopped. I shrugged and kept on walking when I heard it again. This time I stepped carefully toward the tree line and listened. I heard a rustling of the exposed leaves and then I heard a sad whine. "Ngnnnnn, ngnnnnn..." Definitely an animal of some kind.

Quickly I scanned the area but still didn't see anything. I picked up a long stick and began to sweep some of the brush and snow around. A little voice inside my head was telling me it's not a smart idea searching for a wild animal in the forest, but for some reason I just felt like I needed to find whatever was making that noise. It sounded like it might be hurt. As I came around a tree I nearly stepped on a pile of fur curled up under a pile of wet snowy leaves.

I kept my distance and tried to make out what I was seeing. The animal's head came up and I was met with a pair of deep brown eyes. It's fur was a russet brown with some grey speckled through it. It leaned forward and began licking it's paw whining again. As I looked more carefully, it looked like the pad of it's paw had been cut. It looked like a dog, but out here I was pretty sure it was a wolf. Edward had warned me that there were sometimes wolf packs that passed through the area. So I was a bit confused when I didn't feel the urge to run. Something inside of me just made me feel like this creature wasn't going to hurt me.

He picked up his head again and sniffed the air. I took a chance and inched a bit closer. The wolf uncurled a bit more and leaned his head toward my hand. He sniffed again and moved a bit closer to me. I could tell he was a young wolf, not full grown, but not quite a baby. Finally the wolf stood up and limped toward me a bit. I was careful not to move an inch; I didn't want to spook the animal and cause it to attack me. It looked kind of skinny, like it's injury had prevented it from eating well.

Now I felt the need to take care of him, to help heal his paw. "Come on," I urged, "I'm not gonna hurt you." Slowly the wolf took a few more steps and I could feel his cold wet nose in my palm. He turned his head and let me pet him a bit.

"Let's go get you some food huh?" I started to slowly back out of the woods, not taking my eyes off of the animal. Hesitantly he began to follow me. Once I was back on the path to the house I felt a little better, but still cautious. As the cabin came into view, the wolf slowed his step and stayed a good distance away. I went inside and got a bowl out. I put some leftover eggs from breakfast and some scraps of bread in the bowl. I hadn't finished my milk this morning so I dumped that into the bowl too. Slowly I approached the wolf, carefully I set the bowl down about 4 feet away from him, and then I backed off and sat on the porch.

He looked up to me and eyed the bowl. Then he inched forward, sniffing all the way, once he caught the scent of the food his pace quickened. He really was hungry, he began devouring the offering. Satisfied that he would probably stick around I headed into the barn. I didn't bother with the nasty chickens, I had already taken care of them before breakfast. That didn't stop them from squawking and hissing at me as I passed by, though. Mean little beasts...

"Good morning ladies? How are we today?" Edward had taken Jasper, leaving Alice and Rose at home.

Rose seemed to just shrug, she too, I had noticed was a bit more lethargic than usual. I think she might like to meet Emmett too.

Alice, on the other hand, seemed to be bouncing in her stall. "Good grief, Alice! You're going to break something with all that jumping around. How about we make you beautiful huh?" I shouldn't have said that. She got even more excited and worked up. Quickly I got the brush and began to work through her mane. Almost immediately she calmed down and began to relax into the pampering she was getting. I slowly brushed over her entire form and then set the brush down.

"Now Alice, if you hold still I'll put a pretty bow on you. Will you stay put?" She gave a quick nod and I pulled out a ribbon from my apron pocket. Holding the ribbon in my mouth I separated a chunk of her mane and braided it, securing the end with the bright yellow ribbon. It really stood out against her black coat. I smiled and wondered if Edward would notice.

I peeked out of the barn door to see if the wolf was still around. I could tell the dish was empty but he wasn't around the anymore. As I surveyed the yard, I noticed that he had followed me in the same direction as the barn. If he was going to stay, I would need to think of a name for him.

I turned back and got Rose ready for her milking. We had finally come to some unstated agreement, that made our working relationship much more friendly. As I sat down on the stool and began milking her I started humming one of the songs Edward had been playing lately. It seemed to calm me and I smiled as I thought of him. Rose must have enjoyed it too because she let out a soft moo and nodded in approval.

"So Rose how would you like to take a walk with me later on? There's someone I want you to meet." As I stood up to change sides, Rose turned her head to look back at me. She seemed to be asking me with her eyes who it was I was taking her to meet.

I sat down again and continued talking, "Well, he's big, very big and muscular. He has dark brown curly hair. And his horns are quite handsome. Very broad and not too much point, just enough to show that he means business." I smiled to myself as I realized that I had been drawn into Edward's crazy talking animal world. But Edward had been right, when there's no one else around, they really were good to talk to.

I set the bucket of milk aside and began to brush Rose. "If you're going to meet Emmett, we'll have to make you beautiful too." Rose was a Jersey cow, she had a lovely light brown, almost blonde coat and she had a tuft of hair right between her ears. I paid careful attention to that tuft and pulled out another ribbon from my pocket. She lowered her head allowing me to tie a bow and then she did something I did not expect. She licked my hand. Ugh, I guess she was saying thank you but still, cow tongues are gross.

"You're welcome Rose, now let's take you down to meet Emmett shall we?" I looped the leading rope around her neck and tightened it a bit. She seemed more than willing to follow me so it wasn't difficult to walk her down to the corral. I opened the gate and removed the rope and allowed Rose into the area where Emmett was penned. I made sure to close the gate and then I gave a whistle to call Emmett. He came out slowly at first, but when he spotted Rose, his whole comportment changed.

I almost had to laugh, he was such a...male. As soon as he spotted Rosalie, he puffed himself up and began trotting around the corral. I just shook my head and watched a bit from the fence. Rose watched as Emmett bounded around. This was the old Emmett, the one I had first met. He would come up to Rose and nudge her and then trot off again. Rosalie, she seemed to be sizing him up. I could tell she was enjoying the attention just from the way her eyes sparkled. Finally she moved toward Emmett. He stopped dancing around and moved toward her as well.

They circled one another, sniffing back and forth. After a few minutes of that Emmett began to nuzzle into the side of Rose's neck. She reciprocated and they continued their "dance". It was actually kind of sweet. I was about to turn back up to the house when I noticed Emmett rear up on his hind legs and begin an entirely different kind of "dance" with Rosalie's hind end.

My eyes bulged out of my head and I began to blush. I don't know why, but this wasn't exactly what I had expected to happen. Quickly I turned my back and began to head back to the cabin. I was going to have some explaining to do when Edward came home. Still, though, they seemed so much happier than before. Halfway up the path I heard a chorus of moos, but I didn't dare look back. I just shook my head trying to get the previous image out.

As I was heading back up to the cabin I began to think about names for the wolf. Buck? Wolf? Jake? Hmmm, Jake seemed to fit. I kind of liked that name, and it just felt like the right name. I decided that I would call the wolf Jake. He had curled up near the porch and was licking his paw again. I would try and see if I could take a closer look at it.

I went back and picked up the bucket of milk. Alice looked over her stall at me and I shook my head. "I don't think Rose will be coming back up here until Edward gets home." Alice's whinny sounded almost like laughter, and I couldn't help but join her.

I poured some of the milk into the dish I had given Jake earlier and took the rest to the cold house. When I came back, Jake was laying down lapping up the milk. I grabbed a rag and dipped it in some water and slowly moved up next to him. He looked for a moment and then returned to the milk. I began to run my hand over his fur and was speaking in low soothing tones.

"Alright Jake, I just want to look at your paw, I'm not going to hurt you." I slowly moved my hand toward his paw and surprisingly he let me pick it up. I gently turned it over and finally saw what was causing the problem. There was a large thorn stuck in his paw and it had cut through some of the skin between his toes. "Ngnnnnn, nnnnnn," he began to whine again and I knew what I had to do. I just hoped that he wouldn't bite me.

"Jake I need to take this thorn out but you have to hold still. And you can't bite me." I looked deep into the creatures eyes, trying to gauge what his reaction was going to be. He just seemed to be in so much pain.

"Alright, here we go," I braced myself and got hold of the thorn in one hand and held his paw still with the other. In one swift motion I yanked the thorn out and Jake let out a piercing howl. He sprang up and began limping away toward the direction of the forest. I sighed and gathered up the rag and the bowl. I guess he just wanted to get that thorn out. I was glad I could help, but I kind of wished he would stick around. I pushed the thought away and headed inside to start preparing the evening meal, Edward would probably be home soon, and I wanted to have some food ready for him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The days were certainly shorter, it was almost completely dark when I heard Jasper trotting down the lane. It was only a few moments later when Edward came through the door wearing his usual lopsided smile.

"Welcome home, my dear." I smiled and reached my arms around his neck.

"And what a welcome it is," he said.

I had already made sure to have the food away from the fire so we could take our time with the welcome scene. Edward took his coat and hat off and swept me up into his embrace. We kissed and hugged and whispered sweet nothings in each others ear. Edward's stomach began to growl and he set me down. I chuckled, "someone sounds like they're hungry!"

"That I am and supper smells delicious."

We served the food and enjoyed a few minutes of silence when Edward broke the quiet with a question. "So how was your day today, love?"

I sat for a moment pondering how I should answer that question. "My day was rather...interesting."

Edward lifted one eyebrow and put his fork down. "How so?"

"Well, I think Emmett is feeling better...but we might have a baby Emmett or a baby Rose in a little while." I squinched up my eyes waiting for his reaction. Slowly I peeled one eye open to test the waters a bit. Edward's brow was a bit furrowed, but then he looked up at me. "I really think that Emmett was just lonely," I offered.

Edward began to chuckle and I knew he wasn't too mad. "So what exactly happened?" I explained how I had gotten Rose ready and took her down to the corral and how after just a few minutes Emmett had gotten frisky with Rose which brought on even more laughter from Edward.

"What?" I demanded.

"So you 'dressed' up Rose the cow, to meet the lonely Emmett and watched as he proceeded to mount her? That's one thing he is very skilled at..." Edward trailed of still shaking with laughter.

"Well at least Emmett is happier now. But I'm not sure if we're gonna be able to get Rose back into the barn."

"We'll see what we can work out," he said shaking his head. "So other than animal love connections, did anything else interesting happen?"

This bit of my day I knew Edward was going to give me hard time about. I had to tread lightly but I knew he wasn't going to be very happy about what I had done with Jake. I bit my lip as I tried to think of the right way to phrase what I had to say.

"We might or might not have a guest around the homestead."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I found a young wolf with an injured paw, so I gave it some food and helped pull the thorn out."

"Bella!" Edward's eyes were blazing with worry and concern, "I have warned you about that, how could you get so close to a wolf of all things! Do you have any idea how dangerous young wolves are?"

"I know Edward, and I'm sorry, I just had this feeling deep down that Jake wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

"You named it?" He spat the words out with more venom than I'd ever seen before.

"Yes," I whispered sheepishly. He just rolled his eyes as I continued, "it really doesn't matter because as soon as I pulled the thorn out he took off back into the forest."

"Good riddance. I don't want those animals anywhere near you or our home." His voice was low and filled with contempt.

I frowned, he just didn't understand. Jake wouldn't have done anything to me. Now, I secretly hoped that he would come back. Not really to spite Edward, but to prove that Jake was okay.

"Let's just drop it, it's over and done with. Do you want my help to get Rose back up to the Barn?"

"No, I'll take care of it." Edward grabbed his jacket and stalked out the door down to the corral.

I had this awful feeling in my stomach. It just nagged at me the whole time I was cleaning up. Was this our first fight? I thought to myself. I didn't like fighting with Edward, it made me feel sick inside.

When Edward finally came back inside, I had already gotten ready for bed and was curled up on top of the covers reading a book. "Did you manage to get Rose away from Emmett?"

He sighed, "No, I think you're right about those two. He kept charging me every time I tried to put the lead rope around her neck. We may need to move the milking stool down to the shed by the corral." I chuckled at the success my playing cupid had.

I watched as he shrugged out of his outside clothes, leaving him in his long red underwear. I couldn't help but admire the chiseled shape of his legs, my eyes drifting toward his firm rear end. He caught me gawking, "You know it's not polite to stare," he said with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it with such a nice view." He harrumphed and I sighed. "Edward, I don't want to fight. I'm sorry I didn't think more carefully about what I did today."

"Bella, I just want you to be safe. What if something had happened? I was miles away. There's no way I would've known you were in trouble until it was too late? I couldn't live without you Bella. You mean far too much to me. I can't stand the thought of you taking such a dangerous risk." He had sat down next to me and was rubbing small circles over my hands with his thumbs.

I could really sense the genuineness of his feelings. He had, what was in his mind, a valid concern. And I really couldn't blame him, I felt the same way about him.

"I know Edward, I will try and be more careful. I'm sorry," I looked up with my sad eyes and pouty lips. I knew he couldn't resist it when I did that so I decided to use it to my full advantage.

"Ahhh Bella, what you do to me!"

"I love you Edward."

"I love you too, goodnight love."

Review please! More drama is coming up...