I don't know how long it took Bella, I and the Cullens to catch each other up on all what happened since the day the Cullens left town and from the day that I 'died'. It seemed as though we were up all night exchanging stories.

Bella, for the most part, seemed to be at a loss for words. Which was perfectly understandable considering that, as far as she knew, her cousin had just come back to life. Personally, I was a little intrigued with the love triangle she ended up finding herself involved in.

"A human, a vampire and a werewolf." I stated and then laughed. "You guys sound like the beginning of a lame-ass joke."

"I still don't completely understand what you are." Bella said, shaking her head in confusion and ignoring my jab. "What exactly did that scientist do to you? How are you different than you were before?"

"I don't even know all the ways." I admitted. "I feel like I'm discovering myself for the first time. Trying to figure out . . . what it is that I am, exactly." Gosh, it makes me feel so stupid!

"There's no reason to feel stupid." Emmett said, nonchalantly. "Nobody else knows what you are either."

"I don't feel stupid!" I denied. "What makes you think I feel stupid?"

"Oh, . . .uh . . . No reason." He stumbled. "It's just . . . that's the way I would feel."

"Well, now that you're here," Rosalie said, sounding like she was trying to quickly change the subject. "We'll all try to help you through this together."

"One thing I DO know . . is what I'm not." I said, bitterly. "I'm not gifted."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

"I mean I don't have any powers." I said with a pout."Like you guys."

"Powers?" Jasper repeated with a chuckle. "Oh, is that what you call them?"

"That's what they are." I told him. "Powers, gifts, abilities, talents . . . whatever they are. I don't have any!"

"Carlisle, Rosalie, Emmett and I don't either." Mrs. Cullen reminded me.

"They do too." I insisted. "Rosalie in insanely beautiful and Emmett has super-human, or should I say, super-vampire strength."

"Well, what about about Carlisle and I? We don't have anything that makes us extra special." Mrs. Cullen pointed out, trying to make me feel better.

"You don't need any." I muttered. As if the two of them weren't special enough already.

Mr. and Mrs. Cullen exchanged amused glances and then she pulled me close and kissed my forehead. "You don't either, Lanie." She said confidently.

"OK, I think we should do what I came here for." Bella said, suddenly appearing on the staircase with Edward behind her, who looked like he was going to be sick.

"You all know what I want and and I know how much I'm asking for." She began. "So the only thing I can think of for it to be fair is to just vote."

"You don't know what you're talking about . ." Edward interrupted.

"Just shut up!" Bella told him with irritation. I suppressed a laugh cause I'd never heard Bella talk to Edward like that before. I guess alot of things had changed since I left.

"Alice?" Bella asked. I knew she was asking her first knowing what she would say and hoping that would set the tone for the rest of the voting.

"I already consider you my sister!" Alice said coming up to Bella and giving her a hug. "Yes!"

"Thank you." Bella replied.

"I vote 'yes'." Jasper said quickly and earnestly. "I would be nice to not want to kill you all the time." Bella didn't really know how to respond to that and the expression on her face was priceless.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry to both of you for how I've acted." Rosalie began apologetically. "And I'm really grateful that you were brave enough to go and save my brother. But this isn't a life I would have chosen for myself. And I wish there would have been someone to vote no for me. So 'no'."

"I vote hell yeah!" Emmett said, coming up to Bella picking her up and twirling her around. "We can pick a fight with the Volturi some other way." Who the hell would want to pick a fight with the Volturi?

"I already consider you a part of the family." Mrs. Cullen told her. "Yes."

Slowly Mr. Cullen walked up to Edward, his eyes full of emotion. There seemed to be so much between them that had already been spoken at some other time.

"Whay are you doing this to me?" Edward asked his father. "You know what this means."

"You've already chosen not to live without her, which leaves me no choice." Dr. Cullen replied. "I wont lose my son."

Well, I guess that's settled then. I'm glad Bella's going to have this family to spend eternity with . . . I think I might be kinda jealous. A few of the Cullens made a passing glance at me and then quickly looked away when they saw me looking back at them.

"Lanie?" Bella asked, turning to me. "What about you?"

"Me?" I repeated in confusion. "Why would my vote count? I'm not a member of the family." Mrs. Cullen shot a sad look in my direction and then looked to her husband with concern.

"You will be with us for quite some time and this will affect you just as much as the rest of us." Mr. Cullen told me. "I think you should have a say in this as well."

All eyes were on me waiting to hear my response. "You already know what I have to say about it." I said. "I told that day in the truck at Jacob's house."

"You've told me what you think my parents would want you to tell me." Bella said. "I want to know what YOU think I should do."

"The reasons why I would vote yes would only be for selfish reasons." I said thoughtfully. "I think you should do whatever makes you happy."

"Then you know what that means." She smiled. "But what do you mean 'for selfish reasons'?"

"I want you to stay here with me so I'll have family with me until I get to go home again." I explained and then tattled. "Especially since the Cullens wont let me see Jacob or any of my other Quileute friends."

She laughed. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Edward wont let me see Jake either."

"Lanie," Rosalie asked me hesitantly. "What 'home' are you talking about?"

I turned around from facing Bella to answer her and it was then that I noticed all the Cullens looking at me curiously, apparently all wondering the same thing as Rosalie.

"My home. Ya know, with my parents and Clark in Kansas." I said with exasperation. What other home would I be talking about? "It's not like I can stay here forever. I mean, as soon as they wake up from their coma, I'll be headed straight back. Boy, I bet they and Clark sure will be surprised to see me. I look so different, they probably wont even recognize me at first! I guess I'll have to go back to Volterra ever now and then. I'll just have to think of a reason why I need to go to Italy. That'll be hard considering I'm only twel . . . . thirteen."

I paused my rambling to respond to the undiscernable looks of the people around me. Just all just stood there, their expressions ranging from puzzled to sadness to concern. "Oh, don't worry! I wont tell them about you!" They don't actually think I would betray them like that do they? Especially after what I went through with Mr. Bennett.

Mr. Cullen let out a long exasperated sigh which I could only guess was a leftover habit from when he was human. "Lanie, do you remember a few minutes ago when I said that you would be with us for quite some time?"

I nodded. "Yeah, about that. . . . Exactly how long are we talking about?" I asked. "I didn't figure I'd ever see my family again while I was living with the Volturi, but now that I'm here . . .Oh, and how are they doing? I want to be sure and be ready the second they get better!" I can't wait to see them again!

"Your mother and father are stable." Mr. Cullen replied, plainly.

"What's the matter?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. "Am I missing something again?"

"Come sit with me." Mr. Cullen said, solemnly pulling me over to the sofa to sit between him and his wife who put her arm around me in comfort. I started getting worried when everyone began to tactfully leave the room. What's going on?

"Lanie, I'm going going to be honest with you. There's no other way to say this but to tell you tell plainly." It sounded like he didn't want to tell me what he was about to say and that it hurt him to do so. Then he changed his approach. "Let me ask you something. Do YOU think it would be wise to go home to your family, knowing that almost the entire vampire population knows about your blood and will be wanting to taste it for themselves?"

Why is he asking me this!? I thought long and hard about it. He was right, of course. But I couldn't just leave my entire life behind me. On the other hand, I didn't want my family getting hurt. But how do you say good-bye to everything and everyone you've ever known. Then I pictured my family's farm being visited by a bunch of red-eyed vampires and shuddered. Why is he making me think about it!?

"But they'll be wondering where I am!" I argued, grasping for straws yet knowing it was pointless.

"Your uncle will tell them you died of cancer in the hospital, just like he has everyone else."

"What do you think I should do, Mr. Cullen? Honestly." I asked numbly.

"I don't think you should go back, Lanie. . . ever." He said, as sincerely as possible.

I started crying, lightly at first and then ended up sobbing uncontrollably. "Where am I suppose to go? Where am I suppose to stay?"

"Oh, baby! You know you'll always have a home here with us." Mrs. Cullen said, sounding as if she were wanting to cry right along with me.

I already knew that, of course. But I needed her to say that out loud to me. I also needed some time to think. I got up from where I was sitting, ran past a few people on my way outside to sort through my thoughts and feelings.

"You know Aro wouldn't allow her to go anywhere else." Jasper said to Dr. Cullen, having overheard the whole conversation. "Why are you pretending like there is another option?"

"Yeah, it's not like she could go back whether she wanted to or not." Emmett added."Why are you going along with it?"

"I think that it would be best for her if she believes that it is her decision." Mr. Cullen said looking out the window to the tear-streaked girl sitting down on his back porch.

"She's hurting deeply and it will take awhile for her to move on."Jasper commented. "I would go and help her through this, but it would only be a temporary fix. She would still have to deal with it eventually."

"Just like we've all had to." Rosalie agreed. "But fortunately, besides Carlisle, none of us had to go through it alone." She added, walking out to where Lanie was.

Rosalie sat down next to the newest addition to her family and put her arm around the somber child in comfort. There was so many things she could say to Lanie, but instead she decided that it would best to just listen.

"I thought people were suppose to lose some of their memory after their transformation. But I remember everything." Lanie said in between sobs. "I remember the way my dad sounded when he came home from working out on the farm all day and I remember how it felt when Clark used to throw me up in the air when we were playing outside and I remember all the freckles on my mother's face and how the kitchen used to smell every evening at dinner time."

"You didn't have quite the same transformation as us. Besides, it's different for everyone." Rosalie said. "For example, I remember quite a bit but Alice doesn't remember anything at all."

"I can't decide which is worse." Lanie shared. "I'm scared of forgetting, but it hurts too bad to keep thinking about. But I have to! If I don't, they'll be forgotten forever!"

"I'll tell what . . . We wont let you forget!" Rosalie said, hoping to cheer Lanie up.

"Huh? How do you mean?" I sniffed.

"We'll remind you of them all the time." Emmett joined in. "Maybe we'll even sneak over to your house and take a few items that wont be missed. Things that will help you remember."

"Really!? You would do that?"

"Of course!" He said with a half-smile. 'You know, it's not that difficult when you can run faster than a car."

Lanie wiped her eyes, looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks, Emmett!" He's gonna be great to have around!

Emmett smiled back. ""Sure, kid."

"Ya know, this wouldn't be so bad if you guys would just let me go see Jacob and Embry and Quil and Jar . . ."

"Oh, don't start that again!" Emmett sighed dramatically and falling backwards onto the floor.

"What?" Lanie asked with a pout. Maybe if I try to put them on a guilt trip, they'll feel bad and let me go. "He was there for me when nobody else was . . . even when they PROMISED me they would be."

To her surprise, Emmett let out a laugh. "Oh, so you're going to try to pull that, huh? Don't bother!"

"I'm not trying to pull anything!" Lanie said, acting innocently appaulled. "I'm just saying . . . he was there when no one else was."

"I am so sorry about that, baby!" Mrs. Cullen said coming outside where her family began to recongregate. "We did everything we could think of to keep that happening. I could hardly bare the thought of you having to die alone! "

Oh, crap! I didn't know she was going to hear that! I sure didn't mean to make her feel bad! "Oh, that's perfectly alright, Mrs. Cullen!" I tried reassuring her. "I know you couldn't help it. Besides, I didn't die alone. Like I said, Jacob was with me."

"Come again?" Rosalie asked voicing the confused looks on her family's faces.

"Jacob took me, put me on the raft he made and floated me down the river just like I always wanted." I explained. "What's wrong?"

"Alice told us you died all alone in the hospital." Jasper spoke up. "Her visions of you stopped the second Bella walked in . . . "

"Oh, I see!" I exclaimed."You stopped seeing my future the instant Bella and Jacob came into my hospital room to see me and so that's when you thought I had died!"

"Ugh!" Alice said in disgust. "I forgot about those muts messing with my visions!"

I let out a long, wistful sigh. "Jacob . . . I guess he really is the only family I have now."

"He is not." Jasper protested. "We're all here for you."

"He's right, Lanie." Rosalie agreed. "We can be your new family now . . . in every way possible."

"Yeah?" I asked, hopeful. I can't believe they would just adopt me like that!

"You know Esme and I have always considered you to be our daughter in a way." Mr. Cullen spoke up.

His wife smiled and nodded in agreement. "I'm a little ashamed to admit once when I had taken care of you I remember telling Carlisle, 'I wish she was ours'." Mrs. Cullen confessed. "I never thought it would actually happen."

"Besides, I think it would be cool to have a baby sister." Emmett joined.

"You have Alice." I reminded him.

"She's my little sister. You're the baby." He returned with a grin.

"Why else do you think I gave Esme that gift?" Alice asked rhetorically.

"A thirteen-year-old is NOT a baby." I insisted, clossing my arms.

Jasper chuckled, "When you compare your ages to ours . . .trust me, you're a baby."

"Up til now, I couldn't decide. . . whether have the best luck or the worst luck in the whole world. Now I know." I confided, looking at each and everyone of them. "I've been given two great lives and for each life I've been given, I've also been given the best families anyone could ever ask for."

"Welcome to the dark side." Emmett joked in a low, scary voice. "We've been expecting you."

Mr. Cullen smiled, kissed my cheek and said, "Welcome to the family."

"Thanks, Mr. Cullen." I said, wrapping my arms around him.

Mrs. Cullen got up and gave me a hug and kiss to. "We love you so much, darling. We always have."

"I love you too, Mrs. Cullen." I returned the sentiment.

"There's just one problem left, though, if we're going to make this work." She said, changing her tone.

"What is it, ma'am?" I asked, trying to figure out if I was forgetting something.

"Well, I don't anyone else who refers to their mother and father as 'Mr. & Mrs.'. . . "

In case you didn't notice, the words in bold italiac are Lanie's thoughts. ;)
Should I continue? YOU decide! PLEASE write me a review and tell me what you think of it! Can't tell you how much I enjoy knowing that other people are enjoying my story. =D The more reviews I get, the more likely I am to post another chapter!