Ok luvies, here it is. The next chappie will not be out until about mid Oct…maybe sooner if I decide to make it a short one. Most likely it will be a Monday since I hate doing what I should be doing on Mondays. : )

As always I love to hear your ideas/feedback. Thanks to all of you who offered me condolences and expressed your support. I want you all to know that I do read the reviews and that I feel blessed by the whole lot of you. I am sorry I did not thank you individually as you each deserve.

(On a side note to all you whiny anonymous reviewers: Know that you make me laugh…no not in an evil way. It's just that I'm an equally whiny and impatient person so I understand. So if you want whine you don't have to do it anonymously; it does not bother me, nor will it change my opinion of you. If my Viking Edward was real I would send him after you and make you stop whining. Unfortunately he is fictional and so I am incapable of spoiling you in such a way.)

Luv u all (even you whiners),

Andi

Her brown doe-like eyes were ever present in my thoughts; so present in fact that I could not fall back to sleep when I returned to Edwards's quarters. Instead I snooped through his chest and mended a few of his ripped tunics with the sewing purse Alice had abandoned in the far corner of the room.

It was the summer I had just turn seven, that I lost my mother to the plague. My life changed that summer; I became the little girl that forever had tangles matting her hair. My dresses were always a little too worn; always a size too small and my mannerism were a bit to boyish. While my memories of her were few, my memories of missing her were far too many to count.

I remember envying my childhood playmates. At the time, I could not point out what it was, but something set me apart. My friends all knew how to sit, and talk how to hold themselves, while I exhibited all the signs of a motherless little girl; withdrawn and insecure. Perhaps that was why I felt so attached to the little girl. Or perhaps it was because how she clung to me for a brief moment, making me feel more significant than I had ever felt in my life. Either way my thoughts were consumed with her.

It was in the later hours of the afternoon that Edward returned. He had a stormy look in his eyes, but his expression softened as he entered the room.

"What are you doing?" he asked scrutinizing the pile of mending. I was on the last two tunics. He nervously took inventory of his belongings and looked back to me.

"Darning your tunics?" I answered cautiously, afraid that I had angered him. He chuckled in response then smiled to me.

"You need not Bella. Half of them do not even fit me anymore."

I looked again noticing the truth in his words. Many of them would not fit over his shoulders and were too short in length.

"If they do not fit then why do you keep them?"

"My mother made them. I can't simple throw them out, now can I?" He fought refolding the pile at the foot of the bed. I watched him as he went about his task. He folded each one meticulously then walked the pile over to his chest.

"Why are you staring like that?" he demanded chancing a quick glance over his shoulder.

"I'm not staring," I answered in a mumble; turning my eyes down to the seam I was stitching up.

"Does this mean you're no longer cross with me?"

"Would it matter if I was?" I asked tartly, not bothering to look up.

"Ha! No, you can be as cross as you like. It will not change anything." He said in an amused manner.

"Then why even ask how I'm feeling if it does not matter?"

He ran his hands through his copper locks and sighed in frustration. He seemed tired, probably all of that sneaking about in the early morning hours. He sat down on the bed next to me and put one hand over my work as if my stitching was distracting him from thinking.

"Bella, not tonight," he begged in a annoyed voice.

"You shouldn't be creeping about in the early hours of the morning, you act as if you could use the extra few hours of sleep," I commented dryly.

"I'm not the only one," he mumbled to himself. I laughed slightly at what his honest response.

Just then a soft knock rapped at his door and Alice peered in cautiously. Her eyes soaked the two of us up for an awkward moment, as if she was happy we were both present.

"Edward I deposited your things in your coffer; I know how you dislike packing," she explained with a weak smile. I looked at him again, my eyes searching his overwrought features.

"I'm going away with my parents for a time…three days at least. My father wishes to persuade the Denalis to attend the festivities. My parents seemed to have this idea in their heads that I must go too. We will be returning for Ostra if all goes well."

"Jasper and I are staying," Alice supplied. "And when you return brother, the halls will be prepared for the biggest feast imaginable."

"Alice, are you attempting to console me or torture me? You know that I detest playing host to these things," he growled at her. She pouted pitifully trying to gain her brothers approval. She tugged on his shirt as he attempted to brush past her.

"It will be practically painless, you will see. Bella and I will make it our most vital undertaking."

"No! Not your most vital," he corrected with a raised brow and a harsh tone. She looked pained for a moment as she cocked her head to get a better look at him. She understood him better than I had ever seen one person understand another. Alice knew where his heart was; he feared leaving her.

"I did not mean it like that. Trust me Edward; I will manage. Furthermore, Rose will return at some-point and help ease your absence. Nothing will be neglected," she promised, embracing him reassuringly. The tension in his shoulders diminished as she persisted in staring him down. Dejectedly, he raked his hand through his hair again.

"I'm entrusting you to Jasper's authority, not Alice's, I'll have you know!" He vented his frustration in the most volatile voice; a voice that seemed to be reserved just for me. I took a step back at his sudden outburst, surprised that it was directed at me.

"Jasper and I get along just splendidly I'll have you know," I snapped back. He looked at me for a moment, shifting from foot to foot, then turned sharply to leave the room. Alice sighed and looked at me pointedly.

"You should not snap at him," she said softly.

"He snapped first," I retorted plopping down on his bed.

"The strain of his circumstances weighs on him Bella. We have to have grace," she cautioned as if she was reciting a proverb.

"I'm not in the best of stances either Alice," I reminded.

"I brought you something Bella," she shared handing me a leather bound parchment book. "I figured you may wish to write."

I smiled at her thoughtful little gift. I never had much time for diaries at home, but now things were different. I needed things to distract me. I tucked it under my cot for safe keeping.

"Thank you Alice, I do appreciate you and all you do," I said kindly. "I think I'll retire early tonight, I'm awfully tired."

"Do not go to sleep now. Edward leaves with my parents before night fall and will wish to bid you farewell," she protested lightly, as I lay down on my cot. I smiled at the prefect reality that only she inhabited, the reality that severed as a lens that tinted the world a shade lighter than it really was.

Scoffing I turned stiffly on my side, my back now to her, "Alice, Edward does not bid me goodbye; he simply slams the door on his way out."

I heard her sigh in defeat, then she left me to my sleep.

That night, I dreamed of my mother: her flawless face, her wide smile, her melodic laugh. She was lovingly bandaging my knee and laughing as she pulled leaves out of my hair. She was so real I could almost smell her: a mix of lavender oil and cinnamon. I could feel her thumbing hot tears from my cheek as she hummed a lullaby.

Clasping my cheek I awoke, sitting straight up, as if somehow I could have preserved her touch forever. I pulled my hair over my shoulder and tied it into a quick braid as I thought. The dream was a recollection of the afternoon I had spent climbing trees with Jacob as my mother quilted with frail Sarah Black in the shade. It was one of my most vivid memories of her. The other memories were more fragmented and enmeshed. Her playing with me in the gardens behind our manor was the common theme of all my other recollections.

I sat there for a time trying to coach my sensible side to make an appearance but at last, I gave up.

Hastily I gathered one of Edwards's old tunics and stuffed it into the sewing purse before slipping out into the shadowy hall. It was early and no one was likely to be with her now. Most little girls would likely be sleeping at these hours, but something told me Nessie was not most little girls. From what I had noticed the prior day the child did not seem overly fond of sleep and her schedule seemed rather random. I found my way back to her door and slowly opened it to avoid any noise that might wake her if in fact I was wrong.

I was only slightly surprised when I found her in the corner of her room cradling her doll to her chest and humming lightly to it. I smiled to myself. She looked up to me for a moment then continued in her game of imagination.

"It is awfully early to be up," I told her as I found a spot beside her. "Why aren't you asleep?"

She offered me a pouty glare then shuffled a little further away, distancing herself.

"I was asleep but then my baby woke me up," she explained in a frustrated voice. She shook her head at me as if the question itself was foolish and I should have known.

"You should have told her to go back to sleep," I supplied lightly.

"That was what I was doing before you inter…inter…interrupt-tid me."

I laughed softly at her and leaned against the wall. For a few moments, I watched her hum and rock the rag doll, trying to not disrupt.

"You seem to be a very good mother," I told her. She sat up a little taller at my words and smiled sweetly at me.

"I am," she whispered softly, turning her eyes back to her doll. "Do you want to play with me?" she invited in a small voice, suddenly shy. She peaked up at me to gage my reaction. "You can play with your doll and I can play with mine." Her face lit up at the thought of making a playmate out of me.

"I don't have a doll," I shared in a whisper.

"If you don't have a baby then you have no reason to be up," she admonished in a matter-of-fact way, turning the tables back on me. Her simple logic made me smile.

"I suppose I could make a doll," I said depositing the heavy sewing purse in my lap. Her eyes widened and she abandoned her rocking to see what I had.

"I can help. I help my aunt make dollies. I'm very good at choosing the right colors," she confided confidently, leaning into me as if she was sharing a secret. She now was sitting on my right, practically on my lap.

We developed our own customary routine; I would work while she tended to her sleepy but defiant doll. She would carefully select my thread colors, at times resting her sleepy head against me to watch the rag doll take form. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her struggle to keep her heavy eye-lids open and to keep her yawning at bay. After a while I smiled to myself and turned to her.

"Your baby will almost certainly sleep more soundly if you move her up into your bed," I told her plucking her limp body off the ground and situating her and her doll under the bed linens. "And I even know a lullaby that I can teach you, for your dolly of course." I promised sweetly tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "Would you like to learn a new lullaby?"

She nodded her heavy head in silent response. Gently I sat next to her and began the melody that I had known since my nursery days. "…Golden slumbers kiss your eyes, smiles await you when you rise. Sleep, pretty sweetling, Do not cry, And I will sing a lullaby."

Softly I recited the tune to the semi-conscious child who was watching me with perceptive eyes. She blinked several times, and then looked at the doll tucked in beside her.

"Do you think my dollie is English?" she asked curiously.

I stifled a laugh at her question. I had forgotten that while I had been speaking to the child in her own tongue, the lullaby was in my native tongue. I was not sure if she understood its meaning, but she had at least recognized it as English.

"Perhaps," I answered.

"No wonder she wouldn't sleep," she reasoned in a drowsy voice. She sank deeper under her quilt and snuggled closer to my thigh. "You know an awful lot about dolls," she remarked as her eyes fluttered closed. Her little breaths slowed confirming her slumbering state. Afraid that rising would jostle her from her slumber, I just sat there perfectly motionless.

Alice came in the door just as I was going to fall to sleep.

"Bella, you're not to be here," she admonished softly.

"Hush, Alice I just got her down."

"You're one of the few who can then," she shared in a newfound state of reverence; gracefully taking a seat at the foot of the bed

"She needs to be outside, Alice. Being too stagnant in the day is not good for a child. She should be running and skipping and making friends, not staying in her room all day."

"I know Bella," Alice admitted guiltily. "Believe me when I say I've fought for that. But she is stubborn about not leaving and since it serves to keep Edward's anxious fears at bay; outside play has yet to happen."

I sighed to myself, keeping my eyes fixed on the little one to my right.

"Anyhow, you should be leaving here shortly. Jasper will be coming for the rest of the afternoon, so I can see to preparations. I would not want him to find out about your visits," she whispered to me, raising a single arched brow in mock sternness.

"Jasper is going to keep her company?" I asked with a smile and a small laugh, imagining her tall husband play baby with Nessie.

"Yes," she giggled. "Sometimes I walk in on them dancing; he denies it of course but I know the truth. Nessie loves her time with him."

I stood up carefully and slung, what I now considered, my bag over my shoulder, stowing my half finished doll inside. When my hand was on the door Alice stopped me.

"I'll come fetch you when I'm able to leave here," she promised me sweetly.

Once in Edwards's room, I decided to tidy up the space, running a rag over any the dusty surface that I found. I made a mental list of things I wished to see to later: the rugs needed to be beaten, the linens re-washed, the floors swept. Thoughtfully I placed the sewing purse under the bed where it was likely to be left alone.

Just as I was doing that Alice slipped in.

"Bella you really need to be more careful. You can't be visiting her like so. If someone were to find out it would be both our hides," she counseled. I understood what she was saying but a part of me did not care. Nessie needed someone to coax her out of her shell and as of yet her family had failed her. I could tell that Alice recognized that she would not be receiving any oaths from me on the matter, for she cocked her head to the side and stared at me.

"What do we need to do today?" I asked dryly pulling out my boots and lacing them tightly.

"We have to open the main hall. Take down the drapes and air it out. We'll need to see that more benches are brought in. We then need to gather the mead and horn cups from the storehouse, along with setting up the games. "

"Games?"

"Yes Emmett is big on the games," she said with a roll of her big green eyes. "Every year it becomes more about what Emmett wants and less about what the rest of us want. He's been trying to make it a week of tournaments, instead of a day for years now." She said in a whine that only Alice could pull off as pleasant. "Horrid games!" She muttered working herself up by just thinking about it.

"What sort of games," I asked confused.

"Wrestling, archery, the axe throw and the fish toss. Oh and rope braiding. For the woman we have a weaving competition but I find it dull and overly finicky."

I smiled at my sweet friend and followed her as she darted out of the room.

Taking down the drapes was more problematic than I could have ever imagined. They were dense and massive; Alice and I had to work together to lift even one cuff off the clasp. After several hours we had two sides taken down and the other two sides simply drawn back. She then set to arranging the extra benches to her liking.

Alice had a group of loyal followers at her beck and call; she simply had to order them about. A group of men brought up the barrels of mead and horned cups. For a few moments the room seemed to dissolve into pure chaos, with people coming and going in hordes all with their hands full. Some simply stood about in line waiting to talk to Alice. That took the majority of my afternoon. In truth I felt like a waste of hands, but not wanting to appear so I dusted off the horn cups with my apron, despite the fact they did not need it.

When I felt a set of eyes boarding into me like a cutting knife I tried to appear even more consumed in my task. But the eyes did not take note of my cold-shoulder, instead they watched unhindered. Somewhere within me alarms went off sending a wave of cold shivers down my spine.

"Hello Bella," breathed the balmy voice upon my ear.

I pulled away and tried to mask my distress, smiling politely at the person over my shoulder. Turning around I recognized him as the slave I had encountered on washing day, James it was. "Do you remember me Bella?"

I nodded courteously but did not offer him more; there was no invitation for further conversation. He smiled showing a set of yellow teeth.

"I hope these heathens are treating you well," he said sweetly. "I've been here for seven years now so I know how ruthless they can…"

Just then I felt a large hand cuff around my upper arm and pull me away, nearly yanking my feet from beneath me. I knew better than to think it was Edward; he was leagues away. Yet the grip was undeniably similar. When I finally recognized who it was that was hauling me away Alice already was intervening.

"Jasper where are you taking my friend? I need her; she has been a tremendous help," she scolded with a pout fixed firmly on her face.

"Bella and I are going to have a talk. Then she will be going to her room," he announced in a tone that bore no argument. Alice paled then squinted at her husband as if trying to read him.

Internally I cringed. Alice's husband always had a serious nature about him but now he seemed irate. Immediately my thoughts went to Nessie; he knew and now he was livid. He was going to thrash me to pieces, rip me limb by limb.

His steps quickened as we left the hall and before I knew it we were in front of Edward's chamber. He pushed me in front of him, my back against the wall and quickly looked me up and down as if assessing me.

"Bella are you alright?" he asked firmly.

I nodded hesitantly. His facial features softened and he released a sigh.

"Bella you should not be talking to the likes of him. He has been known to stir up trouble. I do not know so for a fact, but there are many disturbances that he could be responsible for. I will make it clear to him that he is not to talk with you. Alice has been warned to avoid him and now so have you. I do not want to see you within arms length of him again. Do we understand each other?"

What I had assumed to be Jasper's rage was really Jasper fulfilling his brotherly duties? I blinked away the shock and merely nodded.

"Your word Bella, I want your word," he chided with a raised brow, and a tapping foot.

"Yes I understand," I supplied in confusion. He stared at me for seconds more then opened the door with a key he pulled from his pocket. I followed him into the room, but noticed that he propped the door open on the way in. He motioned for me to sit on the bed and awkwardly I did so.

"Bella, I do not think you someone to entertain a conspiracy or to show disloyalty, but rules such as these are there for a reason. Alice has them as well, but for her they are a bit different. Because I have already claimed her as my own, my beloved, men recognize that boundary. But with you, some may attempt to woo you, to win you over; the boundary is not firmly set. Honorable men will recognize you as taken. But I cannot guarantee everyone who crosses our threshold is honorable"

I sat there on the bed's edge like a girl receiving a tongue-lashing. Jasper simply paced in front of me stopping when he wished to see me nod. For the second time since I had known him, I felt as if Jasper was extending his brothering to me as well.

"A rule of thumb is if you haven't permission to speak to a man then do not. Emmett and I of course you may talk with, but others require Edwards's permission. You are not forbidden to talk to men, but keep in mind in the conversation turns in a questionable way, it will always come back to why you were talking in the first place and you will earn yourself a beating, a hard one at that."

I could feel blood gently staining my cheeks at what I could tell was no more than a threat. I opened my mouth, but Jasper gave me a preemptive look as if to dissuade me from contradicting him. Rightfully apprehensive, I turned my eyes away from him, and then glanced up. I could tell he felt poorly for scolding me so. He even looked guilty for a moment, as if he really did not feel convicted in his own words. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, an action I now saw as a family trait.

"Bella I'm only trying to do right by you," he said defensively, as he patted my shoulder in a comforting manner. "My brother would murder me, if under my care; you were jeopardized because I kept silent. Also we must keep in mind that you are one of us now. It is not asking too much for you to learn our ways. After all you are a bright woman…..despite the fact that you're English and Christian. " He added as if it was a miracle that the traits could coexist in a single person.

I smiled. "Thank you Jasper," I said, recognizing it as his way of complimenting me. He nodded and smiled lightly, then stood there for a moment caught in a deep train of thought.

"I'll charge Alice with the task of teaching you. She will help keep you in line and make certain you understand the rules," he suggested thoughtfully. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stifle the laugh that was growing within. Not wanting him to feel that I did not appreciate the offer I was going to say something. But as I turned to thank him I noticed that he was wearing a wide grin.

"Let me rephrase that. Alice will teach you the rules and the safest way to break them," he said lightly as he stood up. "Either way you will be kept from trouble. Alice is a master at the art of manipulation."

He departed from the room swiftly, but poked his head back around the doorframe as if he recalled something he left out.

"What Alice doesn't understand is that her husband is of equal or possibly greater talent," he bragged plainly. I could tell that he was amused with something as if he knew a secret I did not. I fidgeted nervously as he grinned unashamed.

"You can't bribe a child with two pieces of sweet bread, at least not where her favorite Uncle is concerned. She's expecting that doll done by tomorrow. And don't forget the eyelashes or she will make you start over," he said with a handsome wink.

Then he disappeared again, not before silently laughing to himself and shaking his head. While I remained sitting there jaw hanging open, I tried to take in his words. I could not help but laugh allowed as consciously reevaluated the nature Edward's brother. As I thought I pulled out the doll, starting first by adding eyelashes above the set of ginger-brown eyes.