A fire brewed in a pit not far from the back of the house in back of the Blacks' yard. Tables were set up, and it appeared to be a late-autumn barbeque type of setting that was overly welcoming. Men, women and children all aided in finding chairs and bringing different dishes to the tables.

Sam escorted Carlisle, Esme and the rest of their group into the back yard through a wrap around fence that was complete with a collection of home-made spears that stuck out from all angles.

He glanced over at everyone's widened eyes as they approached.

"We've all taken most of the daylight hours making this fence," Sam explained. He ran a hand along one of the wooden spears, "It keeps them out."

"Why haven't we thought of this?" Emmett asked aloud to no one in particular. He glanced at Carlisle, "We gotta get on this."

"It's taken weeks," Sam told him, "Lots of hands on deck in making this. The girls took the time to sharpen most of the spears and we set it all up.

"Does this go all the way around the yard?" Carlisle asked, peering out towards the woods behind the house.

He nodded, "The back yard, yes."

"Keeps them out?" Edward asked.

"Worked so far."

Jasper looked amazed and nodded to himself in approval. "Must have taken a lot of long hours."

Sam nodded again, "What else is there to do, right?"

"Right."

"This is really impressive," Carlisle added with a nod. He glanced down and reached for Esme's hand as Sam lead them inside.

"We've had a couple of outdoor events," Sam told them, "But nothing major. Emily thinks this will be nice, and she seems happy about it so I'm all the more for it."

A young man walked toward their group with a wide smile on his face. He held out a hand. "Hey, you're, uh, the Cullens right?"

Carlisle smirked and nodded with a shrug. "That's right."

"Seth Clearwater." He shook Carlisle's hand first and then went around to the rest of them. "Thanks for coming."

Esme looked at the young boy, who she thought couldn't have been more than fifteen years old, if that. She couldn't believe how so full of joy he was, and how there seemed to be a slight twinkle in his eye despite their terrible surroundings. She also felt bad knowing that he, like Edward, had hardly gotten a chance to experience life and now they were stuck in this.

"Thank you so much for having us, Seth," Esme said to him with a sincere smile.

"Of course," he continued to smile, showing off his boyish smile, "Hey it saved us from going out in the woods to hunt since the big man brought the deer." He motioned to Emmett who smirked and snickered.

"He doesn't hunt that much." Jacob joined the group with a smile, something that was very uncommon for him in the recent weeks. "Thanks for coming."

Everyone seemed outwardly surprised by his cheery nature, but welcomed it with open arms and followed them all over to where people were busy setting tables.

Esme, Rosalie and Alice immediately aided in laying out plates and setting things up.

Emily got them acquainted with everyone in the immediate area, introducing herself to them in the process.

"I've only really met Carlisle," she explained, "I assume you're Esme..."

Esme nodded with a smile, "Yes, and congratulations, Emily."

"Thank you." She smiled and put her hands on her stomach, "It's what's keeping me going."

Rosalie and Alice introduced themselves, and then went about their business in laying down utensils.

"Dr. Cullen." Charlie approached the small group of men and extended his hand. "I wasn't sure what happened to you," he admitted, "The hospital was..." he shrugged and shook his head.

Carlisle nodded, "Yes. I was very lucky to get out. Esme and Edward came for me. It was close."

The two men shook hands and Carlisle extended his own thankfulness in Charlie being alive.

"My daughter, Bella, just moved up here with me this week," he explained, shaking his head. "The poor kid doesn't know where her mother is, or even if she's..." Charlie changed his thought, "Her mother lives in Phoenix, Arizona. I like to think by some miracle they aren't experiencing what we are here."

"I'd like to thinks so, too." Carlisle nodded.

Charlie sighed. He looked at the rest of them, only recognizing Edward.

"How are you, Edward?"

He gave a closed-mouth smile, "I'm doing okay..." His eyes drifted over Charlie's shoulder toward the fire where Jacob and Seth were talking and laughing with another teenage girl. They passed around a half-eaten bag of marshmallows, and Jacob laughed as she tossed one at him.

"Who's that?" Edward asked, unable to keep the question from rolling off his tongue.

Charlie looked over his shoulder and the rest of them followed his gaze. "Bella..." then added, "My daughter."

Edward continued to stare while Carlisle carried on the conversation. "This is Emmett and Jasper," he pointed to the other two young men, "We came across them in our travels. They're good people."

The two of them nodded and shook hands with Charlie.

"Let's get this meat cooking," Billy Black said, wheeling up toward the fire where Jacob, Bella and Seth still were fooling around.

Jacob immediately helped his father the rest of the way and set him in a spot where he could feel the warmth from the flames.

Emmett accompanied Sam and a few of the other boys before they had all the deer meat ready to be cooked and prepared. The rest of them gathered in small groups, either around the fire or at the picnic-style tables that had been set up.

"We even have barbeque sauce," Paul Lahote gushed, drawing a hard smack on the shoulder from Jared.

"Dude!" he shook his head with both a scowl and a smile, "We're suppose to save that for when it's just us."

Carlisle looked at Esme, who stood across the fire from him and they shared a smile.

"You don't have to share it with us," Carlisle told the boys with a laugh.

"Yes they do." Emily gave her friends a look, raising one eyebrows as she smiled.

"You're not my mother, Em," Jared shot back, scrunching his nose. He quickly passed by her and placed a soothing hand on her stomach to show his affection despite the brotherly teasing and made his way toward the tables to pick on some food.

"They're crazy, but ya gotta love them," she said to Carlisle and Esme, shaking her head. "I'm outnumbered by men here... or boys I should say."

"You were correct the first time," Paul said, throwing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

Everyone mingled with one another, attempting to escape their surroundings, even if just for a night. Every so often the growls from beyond the fences brought them back to reality, though the friendly nature of the get-together helped to push the walkers out of their minds.

Bella stood closely with Jacob for the first part of the night before making a brief moment of eye contact with Edward.

"Hey," she tugged on Jacob's sweatshirt, "That... that's Edward, right? I didn't introduce myself to all of them."

Jacob's smile faded for a moment as he looked in Edward's direction, who abruptly took a sip from the cup he was drinking out of and looked the other way.

"Yeah, that's Edward Cullen," Jacob explained, "He's Carlisle's nephew or something."

"Carlisle's the doctor, right?" she asked, "The one my dad knows."

"The blond guy, yeah."

"Sam's wife must feel lucky that he was so close."

Jacob nodded and took a swig from his red cup. "Yeah." He smacked his lips as he finished the sip.

Bella continued to look in Edward's direction, sensing he was glancing at them out of the corner of his eye. She was about to ask Jacob another question, but the tapping of a glass caught everyone's attention.

"Hello! Hey! Everyone..." Emily stood up onto a chair and Sam nearly sprinted in her direction to make sure she was stable. "I'm fine," she whispered, still grinning. "I'd, um, I'd like to make a toast... to all of us... to Thanksgiving and to new friends. Yes, life kind of sucks compared to what it used to be, but we can make the most of it being with the people we love and care about. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, so I think the trick is to concentrate on today and to live in the moment. To our new friends, Carlisle, thank you for supporting us, and for helping me through this blessing that Sam and I are about to welcome into the world. Emmett, Edward... thank for you bringing such a wonderful, delicious meal for all of us to share." Emily raised her glass, "To old friends, new friends and family."

"Amen, sister!" Jared called out, drawing whistles from a number of the other boys.

Emily laughed and looked down to Sam, who stood below her with a half-smile on his face and helped her back down. The two of them shared a kiss and a few of their friends began to clap.

Sam looked around the crowd, catching a quick eye of Leah Clearwater, who was perhaps the only one without a smile on her face. She paced back out toward the fire and cracked open a beer. She slumped down into a lawn chair and sat by herself seemingly unnoticed.

Emmett wandered up to Rosalie, who was standing by Carlisle and Esme, and nudged her, "Feel like a beer?"

She smiled and bit her bottom lip before nodding, "You buying?"

He held out his arm, "This one's on me."

Rosalie linked her arm through his and the two of them shared a look before wandering toward a small stash of alcohol that the Blacks had been nice enough to share for the occasion.

Esme turned to Carlisle, "What do you think?"

"About what?" he pressed his eyebrows together.

She snickered, "About Rosalie... and Emmett?"

Carlisle still looked confused and Esme laughed again, this time to her thought of how smart her husband was though the little things she noticed on a day to day basis went right over his head.

"Oh..." he nodded and looked over his shoulder where the two of them were pouring drinks and talking closely, "Who knows..."

Esme leaned into Carlisle and he kissed her temple. He noticed Alice and Jasper sitting beneath a blanket together by the fire, looking more relaxed than they had since arriving on their doorstep. Edward stood alone with one hand in his pocket and the other around a plastic up. Carlisle followed his eyes, and there was one thing he had noticed. Edward hadn't taken his eyes off of Bella the entire night.