DISCLAIMER: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, V.C. Andrews or anyone else important.

A/N: Sorry for the wait! But guess what? This chapter needs a sticker on it that reads WARNING: Long Ass Chapter Ahead. No one would shut the hell up. This sucker is 10,764 words minus my added notes.

Anyone have a better summary for Legacy than what I have? I sometimes think the reason why people put off reading it because of the summary. Thanks again for all the new readers—where ever you came from. I tried to contact you all via PM but a few of you came up with PM's disabled.

I thought I'd start adding the date to the chapters since timeline wise this can be confusing. Thoughts on that?

Mucho thanks as always to my beta, Bridget, and my pre-readers Liz and the newbies, Lisa and Anjie (also thanks for the "fuck and duck" Anj!). Uh, wait, that didn't sound right…

ONE LAST THING! PLEASE READ! If you read this note before December 10th at 9pm EST [-5 GMT], please consider going and nominating Legacy at The Eddie & Bellie Awards in the "Emmett You Want as Your Brother" category. With the way these award work – the more nominations, the better. If I don't have a bunch of nominations, I will not be able to pass through to the voting round. I know a few people have nommed me, but because Legacy isn't popular in the fandom, I'm kind of fighting an uphill battle. www[dot]thecatt[dot]net/tw/default[dot]aspx

Chapter 36: Bonding

Friday, December 26, 2008

Like most people, I moved during the night while I slept. When I woke up next morning I was lying on my side, feeling very refreshed and rested. My eyelids fluttered open, and I was slightly confused because all I saw was black. Then I realized that something was tickling my nose. The black moved, and I remembered that I now owned a cat. I was relieved that my face was buried snuggly in Sabrina's back and not something more gross.

"Mornin', girl." Sabrina's head shot up at the sound of my voice. "What are we going to do today, huh?" Sabrina rose from her position on my pillow, and she stretched and yawned before climbing on top of me and resting herself on my hip. Glancing at my alarm clock, I saw that it was now eight-thirty in the morning. "I'm sorry to break it to you, but I'm getting up and taking a shower. Don't know about you, but I want some food."

Gently rocking back and forth, Sabrina tried to dig her claws into my blanket-covered thigh but eventually gave up and jumped off of me. I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, my new little feline friend hot on my trail. She followed me into the bathroom, and I noticed that a litter box had been placed in there for her. Sabrina hopped into her litter box at the same time I, um, used mine, so to speak. While I took a shower she stood in the corner of the tub partially covered by the shower curtain, watching me with interest.

"Sabrina, don't you even think about reaching out and patting me!" I did not want my junk clawed and mangled by a kitten. "You are not allowed to play with Pogo. He's saved for Bella… and me, but when she's not around, ya know? It's not like I have calluses on my hands from whacking off that often. Why the hell am I explaining my sexual habits to a cat? You're just a kitten; you're too young to know this stuff anyway!"

Sabrina continued to watch as I brushed my teeth and dressed. Alice and Jasper must've brought all the cat related things into my room last night because sitting up on dresser were some toys and a note explaining where her food was in the kitchen. I decided to leave the toys there for now while I went downstairs to find something for breakfast. My little shadow followed me down the stairs, bumbling along the way as she tried to keep up. At one point she spotted her tail and tried to chase it, which caused her to fall down a few steps. The sight of witnessing her tumble made me laugh out loud, and when Sabrina landed on her back ahead of me, she looked up as if to say, "Hey, I meant to do that!"

In the kitchen I found Sabrina's food and put some down for her, along with some water, and searched through the fridge since we were out of my quick breakfast solution—cereal—so I opted to make pancakes. I made extra for the rest of the family and wrapped them in foil while my scrambled eggs finished cooking in the pan. I ate by myself at the kitchen counter with Sabrina trying to climb up my pant leg the entire time. "Nuh uh, you're staying down there while I eat."

After I cleaned up, I took my presents from last night—minus the digital camera—upstairs and grabbed a few of Sabrina's cat toys from my room. Back downstairs, I watched some TV and played with the little nut. The more I thought about it, the more thankful I was that Alice had given her to me. She didn't speak back, but much like the journal I had gotten from Bella, I could talk to Sabrina and she wouldn't judge what I was saying. She also made me laugh, and I thought that was a good thing considering everything that had been going on in my life. I was reading over the instructional manual to the camera when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Turning around, I saw Esme round the corner with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, Edward," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mornin'," I said. "I don't remember anything after my head hit my pillow."

"Me neither." Esme headed into the kitchen and then stopped. "Did you cook?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I could smell it."

I tried not to laugh at her comment but wasn't successful. I think what would be considered a snicker escaped from within me. "You sound like Emmett. I made some pancakes for breakfast and cooked extra. They're in the fridge."

While Esme fiddled around in the kitchen, Carlisle came downstairs and joined us. It was the most casual I'd ever seen Carlisle around the house—he was wearing only a beaten up gray t-shirt and pair of green boxers.

"Hey, Edward?" He walked over to me at the couch. "Could you go down and get the newspaper? I have to work tonight and I still feel like being lazy for a little bit."

"Sure, I'll go get it for you."

When he turned to go back to the kitchen, I caught sight of a design on the ass of his boxers. There were three round Christmas ornaments with the words "Nice Balls" printed above them.

"Nice balls? I could've lived without knowing that one," I said. "Who got you those?"

"First, thank you, and secondly, your mother."

"I wasn't complimenting your… them!" I shook my head at him. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Carlisle and Esme were both laughing as I bundled up and headed down the long ass driveway. Once back inside, I kicked off my boots at the door before removing my coat and handing the paper to Carlisle. "Thought maybe I'd have a bit to eat, read the paper, shower, and then I could go over your car with you."

"We can always do that another day," I said. "If you don't have the time, or want to just relax, or whatever today."

"I think I'd feel more relaxed knowing you're fully equipped to take your car out if you want." Carlisle sat at the kitchen table and spread the newspaper out in front of him. "It's Christmas break! I hope you don't just sit around the house until school starts again."

Pulling out a chair, I shrugged and sat down across from Carlisle. "Really never gave it much thought actually." I heard the tinkling of a bell and knew Sabrina was somewhere in the living room playing with one of her toys.

"You don't go back to school until the fifth, right?" I nodded absent mindedly. "Get outta here and do something."

Esme came over with plates of food for her and Carlisle. She placed them down on the table and sat next to him. "Actually, I'd like to take Bella on a real date," I confessed to them. "You know, just the two of us without everyone else around, but I've never dated anyone. I don't know what to do."

"There's always the standard dinner and a movie deal to get you started," Carlisle offered. "You'll probably end up in Port Angeles. Just be careful and don't stay out too late."

"When there's no school, I'd like for you to be home or at least on the way by midnight." Esme turned to Carlisle. "Do you think that's fair?"

His mouth full of food, Carlisle nodded before speaking. "Check with Charlie about Bella's curfew."

"The Newtons just opened a bowling alley downtown, you could go there," Esme offered. "Do you know how to bowl?"

"The only thing I know about bowling is that the goal is to knock down all the pins." I had heard the terms "strike" and "split" but didn't know what they actually were. "Other than that, I don't know how the scoring works."

Esme leaned across the table toward me. "With technology nowadays, the score is probably taken automatically by a computer, but you don't have to pay attention to the score."

"Yeah, just go and have fun." Carlisle stabbed at a few pieces of pancake. "Sometimes keeping score only causes problems and you get into a competition and it can get ugly."

"Only when you're a sore loser," Esme glanced sideways at Carlisle and sighed. "And can't handle being beaten by a girl."

"You cheated." Carlisle said.

Esme took her fork and pressed it against Carlisle's upper arm. "I did not cheat."

Carlisle turned his attention to Esme. "Woman, don't fork me in front of our kids."

"I'll fork you any time I want!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay you two!" I was so close to putting my hands over my ears and humming something to stop from hearing their voices. "Enough! I asked where I should take Bella on a date. I do not need to know about you two and your… forking habits."

Carlisle turned back to me. "Bella has always seemed pretty laid back. I'm sure she won't mind where you go as long as you have fun and get to spend some time together."

"Whatever you do, don't take her cow tipping." Esme warned me. "So not cool as you kids would put it."

"I agree with your mother."

Esme gasped. "Someone call Guinness!"

Carlisle pretended to clutch his chest with his free hand. "I've agreed with you plenty of times!"

Their little spat, which I assumed was only for show, still made me nervous for some reason.

"Alright you two, no fighting!"

"We're not fighting," Carlisle said. "This is how we roll."

"This is how we roll?" Esme asked. "Seriously, Carlisle? This is how we roll?"

Carlisle shrugged his shoulders. "What?"

"Stop trying to sound cool," she instructed him. "You're not a kid anymore. The seventeen year old is across the table from you."

"The seventeen year old across the table from you is seriously starting to get creeped out over his parents' odd behavior." I directed a finger at them. "I think I'm going to go upstairs and call Bella." Pushing back my chair, I got up and heard Sabrina running toward me. She skidded on the hardwood floor and crashed into my feet. "Come on, let's go call Bella." From behind me, Carlisle made a noise that could've only been described as a whip. "Am not!"

I continued forward, making my way up the stairs, Carlisle and Esme's laughter echoing throughout the house. "No wonder Emmett is the way he is, huh, girl?" Sabrina just looked up at me with her big yellow eyes and yawned. "He's got crazy parents!" My words only brought more laughter forth from Carlisle and Esme.

I only talked with Bella for a few minutes. She told me that Charlie wanted to spend some time with her today. "I think he's going to drag me out ice fishing."

"I can picture it now," I laughed. "The two of you out in one of those fishing shacks all by yourselves with Charlie and his uncommunicative ways. Oh, fun times, love, fun times."

"Lemme borrow Carlisle, will ya? Your father is kind of cool. I can actually talk with him." I filled her in regarding the conversation downstairs with Carlisle and Esme only minutes before.

"Don't worry, they weren't really fighting. That's classic Carlisle and Esme. The two of them play around like that. I think your parents still have sex and stuff."

"That information is on a need to know basis and I do not need to know that." Bella started giggling. "Hey, I wanted to ask you something. What would you say to me, like, taking you out?"

"Elaborate more, please."

I had a feeling she knew exactly what I meant but was messing with me. "What I mean is, you know, I'd like to take you out on, like, an actual date." Why the fuck was I so nervous about asking my own girlfriend out on a date?

"I'll think about it."

"Bella."

I heard Charlie's voice in the background. "Crap, I'm being hauled off to the lake." She did not sound the least little bit enthused about her situation.

"Have fun!"

"Oh, shut it!" I started laughing at her. Or was that with her? "I'll talk to you later, Edward."

"Bye love, don't jump in the frozen lake or do anything rash."

"Don't gimme any ideas, Marcie!"

She hung up the phone before I could make an appropriate come back and was reminded that Bella, Carlisle, and Esme didn't have Peanut nicknames. We'd have to remedy that soon.

Sabrina and I went back downstairs, and we found that my siblings and their significant others had finally woken up and ventured into the kitchen and living room. The rest of the morning was spent tinkering around with some of our gifts, watching one last Christmas-themed movie (Home Alone), and then I brought up the subject of the Peanut nicknames.

"I was thinking about that myself," Carlisle said. "Jasper, I think you should concede Snoopy to me. You should be Schroeder to Alice's Lucy."

"Aw, man, but Mr. C, I picked out Snoopy first!"

"I know you love my daughter, but if you're Snoopy and she's Lucy then there's a bit of bestiality going on. I'd rather have a weird interspecies relationship happening. Esme can be Woodstock to my Snoopy," he said very seriously. "Besides, Snoopy is cool. I'm cool, the fore, I should be Snoopy."

"Okay, okay, but it's only because you're cool and let me live here," Jasper said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't give in."

"Jazz, that's going to go right to his head," I warned him, and I spotted Carlisle's tongue sticking out at me from the corner of my eye. "I'll have to ask Bella who she wants to be."

"Oh, I know!" Alice was sitting on the couch with her laptop. "Bella can be your Little Red-Haired Girl. She was a nameless character that Charlie Brown had a crush on. No one is Charlie Brown…and this is already messed up with you being Marcie, so she can be your LRHG."

After our Peanuts discussion, Carlisle took me out to the garage and showed me around my car. "I want to make sure you know where everything is before you take it out. There's nothing worse than driving a car you're unfamiliar with and not know where the windshield washer button is or something like that."

I could see where he was coming from. The first time I drove Emmett's Jeep he was with me to point out where things were. "I don't want to be fumbling around for something and crash."

"That's exactly my point." Carlisle opened the glove box and waved a book at me before closing it. "The manual is in here if you ever have a question. If your seat is in the position you want it, check your mirrors to make sure they're set up correctly for you."

The seat felt fine the way it was, but the mirrors were off. I fixed them and then Carlisle asked me an array of car related questions like if I knew how to pump gas and check the air pressure in the tires. I informed him that I had learned how to pump gas quite a while ago; however, I wasn't one-hundred percent sure on the tire pressure. Carefully backing the car out of the garage, I successfully avoided hitting any of the other vehicles. We went for a drive into town so I could get the feeling of how the car drove. Carlisle pointed out where the bowling alley was located. We stopped at a gas station and he showed me how to check the air in the tires, how to add more if it was needed, and how to check a few things under the hood like the oil. On the way back to the house, we started talking about a varying degree of subjects.

I wondered how the car had gotten to the house and knowing that even Carlisle didn't own a magical transporter, I decided to ask. Carlisle explained that he was friends with the owner of the dealership, so Tony and his family had picked the car up yesterday morning on their ride to the house. Evidently, I came from a family of sneaky bastards.

"So, I want to take Bella out on a date, but it bugs me that I don't have any money of my own."

"Edward, technically you have money coming to you, it's just tied up for now," Carlisle said. "That's why I gave you the credit card to use. I don't want you to feel like you can't use it."

"It kind of weirds me out to use a credit card knowing I'm not responsible for paying the bill," I explained. "I'd always overhear Peter and Liz talking about the bills and how they were going to pay for such and such. They didn't use credit cards at all."

"You were unknowingly taught to be responsible with money while growing up." I never thought about it that way, but I guessed he was right. "You don't have to pay the bill. If it makes you feel any better, why don't we set a limit on what you can spend? Like a monthly allowance or something? Or maybe when everything is straightened out, you have to pay back what you racked up on the card."

The thought of paying back the money, even via the inheritance I was still confused over, somehow made the situation feel a little better in my book. Carlisle suggested a set monthly limit of two-hundred dollars, and I was sure I'd never go through that much on a regular basis. He said I was free to use more in times of emergency—like if the car broke down—or if I needed something such as for the holidays or for someone's birthday. Shit! I then remembered that Emmett and Esme's birthdays were in February. Maybe I'd have to explore online shopping more!

When we reached the house, Carlisle informed me that there was a remote in the car for the automatic garage door opener like everyone else. Nifty. I never had a car of my own before, and the old beat up station wagon wasn't worth putting in a garage when we had one.

"Have you thought of what you want to do after high school?"

"I had never given it much thought because I honestly never had many options before," I said. "I didn't even think I'd end up at a community college because of money issues."

"I think Emmett decided to take a year off. He was accepted at the state university and the local community college," Carlisle said. "Emmett doesn't know what he wants to major in though. He also wants to travel, maybe see Europe. I'm sure he'd be happy to have you join him."

"Wow, Europe, huh? I'd need to get a passport."

Carlisle started laughing at my asinine comment. "Yes, you'd need to get a passport. Why don't you take a few days to think things over? Don't take too long though. If you want to go to school, I think the deadlines are coming up in January for acceptance."

Our conversation had brought up a lot to think about. I never thought I'd end up at anything more than a community college. Actually, I would've been lucky to been able to afford even that. My grades were pretty damn good so I didn't think I'd have a problem getting into an actual four year college. I just never thought I'd have that option available to me. And traveling? Never in a million years did I think I'd ever get out of the states. It was never a choice before now. I'd have to talk to Emmett and see what he had decided on doing. It'd be really cool to see places in Europe I've only seen in books and on TV. What about Bella and Rose though? The thought of not seeing Bella for a long period of time made my chest feel heavy with… I didn't know what, but it didn't feel right.

We had gotten out of my car and were standing around in the garage when Carlisle dared to bring up another subject with me. "Are you and Bella being safe?"

"We're not cliff diving or anything."

"That's not what I meant," he said. "You know what I mean."

I was sure my entire face was flushed red with embarrassment because it felt like it was on fire. Staring at the shovel in the corner, I wished I could dig myself a hug hole to crawl into. I nervously scratched the back of my head. The look on Carlisle's face told me that he felt awkward about this conversation as well. Hoping he'd change the subject, I played dumb. "No, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."

"What do you think I'm talking about?"

"What do you think I think you're talking about?"

"What do you think I'm thinking that you're thinking that I'm… wait…crap…I confused myself." We both laughed. "Without getting into too many details, what exactly have the two of you been doing?"

Forget digging myself a hole; I wanted to hit myself over the head and knock myself out. "Bella has some… confidence and self image issues. I'm not pushing her into anything."

"Really?" Carlisle relaxed back against the car more. "I always thought I knew Bella pretty well, but I never knew she had those types of issues."

"Yeah, she thinks she's overweight and not as pretty as the other girls in school," I explained with a shrug. "I've tried telling her that I like her just the way she is. I don't know if she's been listening to me though."

"Sometimes, women have to be told something a few times before they start to believe it. It's especially so with those types of issues."

He paused for a moment and I knew he wanted to ask me something else. Or maybe he didn't believe what I had told him. Was I going to have to spell it out for him in dirt on the floor of the garage? I was ready to end this ordeal by taking a header into the concrete floor. "Yeah, we haven't done that."

"I'm glad you're respecting her wishes and not being stupid."

"Let's just say we've been… uh, handsie with each other. Can we please leave it at that?"

Carlisle's expression changed and he smiled broadly. "Well, hell, that's more than Emmett will tell me!"

"You faker! I thought you were all nervous and shit." I said, stifling laughter. "And here you are, playing me for the stupid fool that I am!"

"I know the girls have slept in your respective rooms. I have to make sure that you and Emmett are being gentlemen and aren't doing anything incredibly dumb with your girlfriends," he said. "I'm not sure I'm ready to be a grandparent yet."

"Bella ain't gonna get pregnant from what we've been doing." I said, leaving out "unless there's sperm in my fingers" for his benefit as well as my own.

"Anything else you'd like to talk about before we go inside?"

I did need to ask him something and was too embarrassed to do so in front of the others. "Actually, I had a question for you."

"Shoot." He leaned back against the side of my car.

"How did you tell Esme you loved her for the first time?"

Carlisle's leaned forward slightly and started to open his mouth before quickly closing it. He stared at me for a moment, his hands now clasped together in front of him. "I so did not expect that from you. I didn't know you and Bella had gone that far emotionally."

"Bella thought I was asleep and she said she loved me," I said. "Now I'm all worried and nervous about how and when I should tell her how I feel."

"First, I have to say how happy it makes me that Bella means something to you. She's a great girl and when you two first started dating, I wondered about your attachment but I think that had to do more with how you drooled after her more than anything. I'm glad that your feelings are sincere and that she's not just some… oh, what do you kids call it now? Um, a fuck and duck." He seemed embarrassed to say those words in front of me.

"No, Bella is definitely not a 'fuck and duck' and you call it," I said. "She's important to me."

"I thought I was ready to tell your mother how I felt about her, but I was wrong. I ended up blurting it out during dinner in the middle of a conversation revolving around something completely different." He closed his eyes for a moment and laughed. "Damn verbal diarrhea. Let's just say Esme wasn't overly impressed with my words of love at that moment. You know, you'd think a woman would want to hear that, but it didn't fit into the topic of her father's hernia surgery."

"I'm trying to picture that." I really did picture it in my head. The two of them out at a nice restaurant, sitting close together over a nice meal. Esme was probably worried about her father's surgery and was looking to Carlisle for comfort. In the middle of everything he blurts out "I love you!" and then changes the subject back to her father. "Did she slap you?"

"No, she didn't, but later that night, after she was done worrying about her father, she told me that she loved me too." Carlisle had an enormous grin on his face, and I knew I had seen the same grin plastered on Emmett on various occasions. "Don't be so nervous about how and when you tell her how you feel. As long as you mean it, let it come naturally. Even if you screw it up, if she feels the same way about you, she'll forgive you. It still makes me feel all gushy when your mother tells me she loves me."

"Anyone would be a fool to believe that the two of you weren't in love," I said. "I knew it before I really knew you."

Carlisle had an expression on his face that screamed "Aw, shucks" and then we went inside. I could've sworn he was blushing too! It always felt like I had a lot to think about after I talked with Carlisle. The entire college conversation boggled my mind still while our other topic of conversation kind of soothed me.

Esme looked up from the couch where she was playing with Sabrina. "I was wondering if you'd like to do the lunch and haircut deal tomorrow?"

"Sure," I walked over and joined her on the couch. "I don't have any plans."

"I wanted to warn you that my parents are coming in to visit on Sunday." Her words came out nervously.

"What are their names?"

"Frank and Irene," she supplied. "I also have two sisters, Shannon and Lisa, and a brother, John."

Sabrina clawed her way up my leg and onto my lap before laying down for her thirtieth nap of the day. Curious about Esme's side of my family, I leaned back against the couch to be more comfortable. "Where do they all live?"

"My parents are down in southern California but are thinking of moving to Arizona. They want to be somewhere warm, and California is getting too expensive for them."

"I hear Arizona is the new Mecca for old folks." Esme laughed at my words. "Sorry, I don't know how old they actually are."

"They're in their early seventies actually, and yes, Arizona seems to be the new Mecca for old folks," she said. "They don't like Florida but don't like cold weather at all. Never have. Coincidently enough, Shannon and her husband live in Florida and I think is annoyed that our parents won't go and be closer to her. Lisa and her husband live in Las Vegas, which is even too hot for our parents."

"What about your brother?" I asked. "What's his name again?"

"John," she said with a sigh. "He and his partner moved to Vermont around the same time you arrived in Forks."

"Partner?" I asked with a raised brow. "Are you saying he's gay?"

"Yes."

"Now, Esme, don't go giving the boy the wrong impression," Carlisle chided from the kitchen table. "Explain the situation."

"I don't care that John is gay," she explained. "I've never had a problem with his lifestyle, and I helped him come out to our parents. What I'm worried about is the fact that he met Harold at the very end of August."

I scrunched my face up. "And they moved away together in the middle of September?"

"Yup."

"Holy moving fast, huh?"

Esme laughed. "You have a way with words, Edward."

"He takes after his old man!" Carlisle said as he sat on Esme's other side. "Right, son?"

"So I'm told. Verbal diarrhea and all."

She placed one of her hands on mine and turned to face Carlisle. "Still love you both anyway." Esme let go of my hand before turning back to me. "I do fear they're moving too fast. They moved to Vermont because it's one of the few states that allow gay marriage. I don't want John to get his heart broken."

The three of us sat on the couch together for a while. Esme told me some more about her family. Carlisle even described them as more "down to earth" and "blue collar" than his family. The word redneck even snuck into the conversation, which Esme quickly shot down and Carlisle laughingly reinforced with a crazy ass story.

Jasper and Rose had to go and visit their parents, so I went upstairs with Sabrina for some sibling time with Emmett and Alice. We ended up in Emmett's room, sprawled out on the floor while they looked through the album and baby book I had made for Esme for a second time. Alice had gone downstairs to get some albums Esme had made with their pictures.

"Sabrina, you can't lay on top of the pages while I'm looking through it!" I moved her off the album and off to the side for the… I didn't know, I had lost track of how many times I had moved her.

"Dude, she's a cat, she's not going to listen to you," Emmett said. "She's like, worse than a little kid."

"She just wants attention." Alice said, moving her hand fast across the carpet which caught Sabrina's eye, and she started chasing after it. "Are you okay with having a cat? I liked the idea, thought you might, but was worried you'd want to take her to the humane society or something."

"Nah, I like her," I said. "She amuses me."

"I'm glad."

"I just talk to myself a whole helluva lot more now."

Emmett started laughing. "The cat is making you more insane!"

"Ah, shut it, you big oaf!"

Somehow, my comment started a conversation on nicknames Alice had given Emmett over the years. Her favorite had been Hightower until a boy with the same last name moved to Forks. When Alice called out "Hightower," the boy thought she was calling him and not Emmett. It didn't help that the boy had a crush on Alice and went over to her every single time she made the mistake in his vicinity.

"Can I ask you two a question?"

"Sure." They both responded at the same time.

"Do you mind me being here?"

Emmett sat up from his position on the floor. "What the fuck are you talking about, dude?"

Alice raised herself on her elbows before quickly sitting up as well. "I second that question, Eddie."

"I don't know, I…" How did I explain myself when I wasn't even sure what I was asking? "I know my existence came as a shock to both of you. I know I've done some stupid shit and I didn't mean it. I'm sure I've taken time away from you with Carlisle and Esme. But like, are you okay with me being here?"

"Eddie, you dumbass, we love you," Alice scolded me. "Why would you even question that?"

"Yeah, what she said." Emmett nodded in Alice's direction with a frown on his face. "Why the hell would you question that?"

"I don't know really." My eyes nervously darted back and forth between them. "It was just a stupid question that popped into my head."

"The only thing I'm not okay with is the time we missed out on with you." Emmett's voice was sad and low. "I could've had another partner in crime."

"Maybe you could've saved my Barbies for me." Alice glared at Emmett, who quickly looked away from her.

Remembering the day I had found one of Alice's headless dolls in the tree house, I decided to question Emmett on his and Jasper's motives behind their Marie Antoinette haircut of poor Barbie. "Why the hell did you behead her Barbies anyway?"

"How'd you know what they did to my Barbies?" Alice's attention was now focused on me. "You weren't here."

"I, uh…." I trailed off as Emmett glared in my direction. He was going to disown me! "Sorry, man! You left her there all alone and I found her!"

"You found one of my Barbies recently?" Alice asked with a hand over her chest. Okay, now she was being overly dramatic. "Where?"

"I was walking in the woods one day and found Emmett and Jasper's old tree house." I remembered that entire day a little too well. My visit to the Masen house, finding the tree house, and then Esme crying out on the back porch crying because she thought I left. "I went inside and was looking around and… sorry, bro, but I found one of your decapitated Barbies in a shoe box."

"You fink!" Emmett leaned forward on the palms of his hands. He reminded me of an animal ready to rush.

"You freakin' decapitator!"

Emmett looked away from me and toward Alice. "Your boy Jazzy did it too!"

"Okay, you two, knock it the hell off! Emmett, apologize to Alice for ruining her Barbies." At that moment, I thought I saw what my role in the family would've been had I been around. I would have been the one to accidently bring up shit only to have to diffuse the situation. Kind of like the peace maker, only much dumber since I had originally brought up what they were now arguing about.

"You want me to what?" Emmett asked.

"Oh, be a big boy and apologize to your sister for ruining what I'm sure was one of her favorite toys," I instructed him.

Emmett glared at me again, and I was glad that I knew the real Emmett. Anyone that didn't know him would think that they would be beaten up at any moment. Truthfully, I knew I had a good chance of ending up in a headlock. "Fine," he said. "Alice, I'm sorry we decapitated your Barbies. I don't even remember why we did it."

"Thank you," Alice lay back down on the floor. "I'm glad you've outgrown messin' with my shit."

"You've messed with my shit too, sister dear," Emmett said. "Who ran over one of my Transformers with her bike so many times that it wouldn't transform anymore?"

"I'm sorry, but I only did that to get back at you for all my headless Barbies." It was quite funny to see Alice trying to look up at Emmett from the floor. Her neck was probably tired from glancing up at him already. "You pissed me off one too many times with that shit."

"Yeah, yeah." Emmett rolled his eyes and groaned. "Ah, hold on, wait a minute." He rose from his position on the floor and headed toward his closet. Opening it up, he moved things around as if he was searching for something. Whatever he was looking for, it wasn't on the top shelf. He knelt on the floor and searched some more until I heard his muffled voice from within the closet. "Found it." Closing the closet door, he headed back to us and handed the plastic shoe box over to Alice.

Clearly confused, she glanced at the box before sneaking a peek in my direction. "Don't ask me," I told her. "I've never been in his closet before."

"For that alone you should be glad," she said. "It stinks to high heaven in there."

"Does not!" Emmett said defensively.

"It did when you trapped me in there for three hours back when I was ten!"

Emmett threw his hands in the air. "What the hell did you expect? You pissed yourself!"

"I only pissed myself because you trapped me in your closet for three hours." Alice had placed one of her hands on her hip while the other held the box. "What the hell did you expect me to do? I had to pee! Your closet stunk before you trapped me in there, doofus."

"Okay, okay, it's in the damn past." I needed a fucking whistle and a black and white striped t-shirt around these two. "Quit arguing."

"What the hell did you give me?" Alice slowly opened the box and then dropped it at her feet. "Emmett, you sick fuck! You kept them like trophies!"

The contents of the box spilled over onto the floor. Headless Barbies and mismatched heads lay on the floor at my feet. It was like a damn Barbie battlefield. "Alice is right. You're one sick fuck."

I kneeled down on the floor and picked the heads and bodies up and put them back into the shoe box. Standing up, I took one of the bodies and examined it. "Well, the good news seems to be that they didn't do anything gross with them. No strategically located holes have been drilled into Barbie. No extra orifices. We can wait until spring and give all the Barbies—and their heads—a proper burial or we can see if she's recyclable."

"I think I'd like to see if she's recyclable," Alice said sadly while picking a head from the box. "She was one of my favorites!"

Emmett reached into the box, grabbed one of the Barbies bodies, and held it in Alice's direction. "Here, make a new damn favorite."

That's when Alice beamed Emmett in the forehead with the Barbie head she was holding. He got pissed off and split the body he was holding into two pieces with his bare hands. And the two of them started arguing for a good twenty minutes. I sat down on Emmett's couch with my head in my hands, contemplating if I should walk out and find Carlisle to diffuse the situation, continue to ignore them, or run to my room and wait for them to notice I had left. My chest felt tight and my stomach was queasy. I almost felt the same way downstairs when I thought Carlisle and Esme were fighting at the table.

Suddenly it was quiet and I felt a presence nearby. Looking up, I found both Emmett and Alice standing in front of me. "What's wrong, Eddie?" Alice asked.

My gaze wandered back down to the floor. "Please stop fighting. You're making me nervous."

They both sat down on either side of me. "He would've been breaking up our fights all the time, right, sis?"

"We don't mean anything by it, Eddie." Alice wrapped her arms around from the side. "We've always been like this. Stupid sibling shit, you know?"

"I grew up by myself," I explained. "Peter and Liz didn't argue in front of me. I didn't have anyone to argue with and avoided having friends so there was no one for me to argue with. I don't like it."

"Sorry, man." I felt Emmett's hand patting my back. "Alice and I did this type of stuff all the time. We didn't realize it would upset you like that."

"Hell, I didn't either."

Alice released me from her grasp but continued to lean against me. "Thanks for recommending recycling my old Barbies."

"Do you want the headless one from the tree house?" Emmett asked.

"Yes, please."

"I'll try to run out and get her for you before it gets dark."

"I would appreciate that, but you can wait until tomorrow during the day when it's warmer."

I felt my chest rise up and down as I started to laugh. "Now you're over doing the goody routine with each other."

Emmett lightly smacked me in the back of the head. "Picky mother fucker."

The three of us continued to sit on the couch in Emmett's room and talk. They regaled me with stupid but hilarious stories from their childhoods. Their memories—and laughter of their times together—made me want to make a time machine. I wanted to flash back to the past I was supposed to have experienced with them and see it firsthand. Listening to them reminisce would be the closest I would ever get to seeing their past. At first I was sad, but then I remembered I did have a future with my siblings. While I didn't experience a past with them, the three of us could make new memories together.

Alice's cell rang and Emmett not so kindly told her she had to leave if she continued to talk on the phone. "You know I can't stand all that girlie chit chat gossip crap."

"Yeah, it can get annoying," I said. "Hey, Em, I was talking to Carlisle earlier about stuff. What did you decide to do after graduation?"

"I don't know what I want to do with my life, so I'm going to travel and take a year off," he said. "Why? What are you doing?"

"I don't know actually. I've got the grades for college, but before Carlisle had mentioned it, I had forgotten I now had a chance of even attending."

"What did you think you'd be doing with your life?"

"Honestly?" He nodded for me to continue. "I thought I'd end up doing something blue collar like Peter or Liz. Cashier, bagger, retail maybe. I've always known that I have the grades, but we didn't have the money for school. A lot of scholarships require students to be full time. If I couldn't get a full scholarship, I'd need to work and I didn't think I could do everything at once."

"If you had the opportunity to do anything you wanted to do, what would you choose?"

"Really? To be honest?"

"Yeah," Emmett said. "What would your dream occupation be?"

"I don't know." I paused trying to think of a way to explain myself. "I've always been interested in medical stuff. I've always been good in science and math, but I've liked music too. Because I never thought I had a chance to go anywhere in my life, I never tried to concentrate or push myself into a certain area, you know what I mean?"

"You didn't go to the library and check out books on medicine and music just for the hell of it?"

It shouldn't have surprised me that he understood what I meant. "Not since I was ten and forced myself to stop being so damn dumb."

"Now you can stop being dumb and start exploring a whole world of opportunities." I blinked about four times to double check that it was actually Emmett who was sitting next to me. "You can do what the hell ever you want."

"I don't know what the hell I want to do."

"Me either." Emmett had a wide smile plastered across his face. "Why don't you travel with me?"

"Are you sure I wouldn't be in the way?"

"In the way? Why would you be in the way?" He tried to suppress a laugh but was unsuccessful. "What would be better than to have my brother at my side, traveling and keeping me company? Jazz was going to go with me for a while, but that changed once the stuff went down with his parents. I offered to pay, but he's too proud to let me."

"What about the girls?"

"I've thought about that actually." Emmett turned toward me, running his hand through his hair.

"When I first came up with my little world traveling plan, I wasn't with Rose. I don't know about you, but I'd miss my girl if we were separated for a long period of time. I can't see being away from Rose for an entire year."

"An entire year away from Bella?" I shook my head several times. "I seriously don't think I could do that."

"So, let's alter my plan a little bit, shall we?"

"Whatcha thinkin' of, bro?"

"Why don't we go somewhere for a few weeks and then come back?"

I nodded with understanding. "See our girls, the fam, and then go and back on the road again?"

"My thoughts exactly."

That would work out better than the two of us being away for an entire year. I wasn't sure Esme could handle the two of us being gone for a long period of time. "I'd still miss Bella like hell, but seeing her every few weeks would make it easier."

"We can take our laptops!" Emmett exclaimed. "We can get webcams and then we can see the girls on Skype?"

"On what?"

"Skype," he explained. "It's a program where you can talk to a bunch of people at the same time via the Internet, but you can also video chat one on one."

"If we're sharing a hotel room, you're not fucking having video sex while I'm in the same room!" I warned him. "I'm not watching or hearing you get off with Rose."

Emmett started laughing. "Oh, hell no you ain't! We'd have to give each other privacy for shit like that."

I heard the distinctive sound of Sabrina meowing in the hallway, so I went and opened Emmett's door so she could see where I was. As soon as she spotted me, she ran in my direction.

"Aw, ain't that cute? She must have escaped when Alice left and she missed her poppa," Emmett said. "She's going to miss you when you're gone."

"Truthfully, I'll miss the little runt too." I scooped Sabrina up with one hand and held her in my arms. "I'm gonna go do some shit."

"Think about where you'd want to go." Emmett reached out and rubbed Sabrina's head. "What you want to see and stuff. I didn't have a set itinerary or anything. Now I'm getting kind of excited about this summer."

"Yeah, me too. Thanks for letting me tag along."

"Hell, I'm looking forward to the trip more now that it's going to be the two of us!"

With Sabrina still snuggling in my arms, I headed up to my room. I actually needed to do some laundry, so I gathered it up and took it downstairs to the laundry room, Sabrina trailing along behind me. When I got there, I looked at the washer and realized I didn't know how to use it because it was one of those fancy new front loader ones. I found Esme and Carlisle in the living room, snuggling on the couch watching a movie. When I asked her if she could show me how to use the washer, she offered to outright wash my clothes. I didn't mind doing laundry, I just didn't know how to operate their… er, our appliance and didn't want to break it somehow. Or put way too much detergent in and walk into a roomful of bubbles. How "I Love Lucy" would that be?

While my clothes danced around the agitator, I went back up to my room. Now that I had made the decision to travel with Emmett, I had to figure out how to break the news to Carlisle and Esme. Especially Esme. I wasn't sure how well she'd take it. Maybe if she knew that we'd be back she'd be okay with the news. Emmett and I would be together and we'd be stopping in for visits. That'd be better than going off for an entire year, right?

Knowing that I'd get lost in my research, I set a timer on my cell while I Googled various destinations in Europe. I hadn't been anywhere, so I was up for anything. It all sounded equally interesting and entertaining to me. England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, Germany… hell, I was up for all of it. I thought it would be best for us to stay out of communist countries and the Middle East. Knowing my big mouth, I'd say something wrong and land us both in jail. I so did not want to spend next Christmas in front of a firing squad or something.

I went downstairs and put my laundry in the dryer and then I continued to browse through information on locations. Puerto Rico, Barbados, Bahamas', Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Japan all held my interest. Christ, the world was huge. Even though I had lived in so many states, I hadn't even seen much of my own country!

The timer on my cell phone rang, alerting me to the fact that my clothes should be dried. I ran downstairs and grabbed them out of the dryer and dragged them back upstairs. Since I hadn't been doing anything in particular that was important, I went ahead and put my clothes away. Standing in the doorway to my closet, I pulled the clothes toward me to see what I had already inside. I wasn't used to having so many clothes. Alice had ordered me a lot and I wondered if I should give back Jasper some of the ones he had given me. I hung my t-shirts in the back of the closet since I wouldn't need them much in the current weather. When I spotted the blazer I remembered I had technically borrowed it from Jasper. He wasn't home at the moment, so I went to move it to the back of the closet as well, but when I picked up the hanger, it felt weird. I removed the blazer from the closet and took a look at it. One side was slightly heavier than the other.

The throw away camera from the dance Liz had given me. It was there in one of the pockets.

I dug it out and placed the camera on my dresser and continued to put my clothes away. Oddly enough, it felt like the camera was watching me. Liz had taken pictures of me and Emmett that night and then Emmett had taken pictures of me, Peter, and Liz. I desperately wanted to take the camera to Chinook to get it developed but felt bad about wanting to do so. There were no ulterior motives behind my yearning. I wanted to see the pictures that were taken on the camera that night. Would it hurt Esme if she knew that I had gotten pictures developed? To some degree, probably. I didn't have to let her know about them though, right?

I immediately regretted that thought. Hiding the picture with Peter and Liz was what caused our big fight. How could I explain to Esme my need to have the pictures from that night? The last night I thought of Peter and Liz as my parents? Before my life changed so damn dramatically? I'd have to explain them to her eventually, but I was clueless as to how.

When I finished putting my clothes away I stuffed the camera into my back pocket. Sabrina looked at me from her spot on my bed as I headed toward the door. "Stay here, I'll be back." I heard a vacuum running and found Esme in the back room. Catching her attention, I informed her that I was going to run to Chinook and asked if she needed anything.

"No, dear, thanks for asking," she replied. "Carlisle went over everything in your car with you?"

"Yup, we went over everything," I said. "I think I'll be okay driving into town on my own. Is Carlisle here?" I thought maybe he could offer me some advice on how to mention the pictures and my intent to travel to Esme.

"No, he left already to go to work. He said he had some other errands to run before heading to the hospital."

Shit, well, that ruined that, now didn't it?

I drove to Chinook and filled out the information on the envelope for the camera. It was too late for the one hour photo to actually process the film today, and I'd have to come back and get my pictures another time. At least I'd have some more time to figure out how to tell Esme about finding the camera and getting it developed.

On the way home I swung by Bella's and was happy to see that she appeared to be home. I parked in the driveway, and as I walked up the short distance up to the door, I suddenly stopped and turned. Oddly enough, it felt like I was being watched. Charlie wasn't anywhere in sight that I could see, so who would be watching me? I shook off the feeling and continued onto the porch and knocked.

Oh, God, heaven help me, Charlie answered.

"Good afternoon, Charlie," I said as politely as I could muster. "Is Bella home?"

"Didn't I just see you yesterday?" He leaned back into the house and yelled inside. "Bella! Edward is here!"

Faintly, I heard her yell back at him. "I'll be down in a minute!"

"Come on in, unless you want to pay for my heating bill." Charlie spotted my car parked in the driveway as I stepped inside the house. "Did Carlisle go over your car with you?"

"We did that earlier," I said. "So I know where everything is and he went out on a test drive with him."

"Good, good." Oh, Bella, hurry the hell up, Charlie is not great on small talk. "What day did you buy those Seahawk tickets for?"

I nervously shuffled in place. "I believe it was for January third, why?"

"I was thinking of maybe seeing if I could pick up an extra ticket and go with you."

Oh, fuck me. "Carlisle has the tickets; you should double check with him. Maybe he could see if there are any seats near us still available." Did I just suggest he go with us?

"I should give him a call about that."

"He already left for work," I said. "He had some errands to run. Maybe try him, um, tomorrow afternoon?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll do that."

I was never more thankful to hear Bella's footsteps slowly approaching our direction from the staircase. Charlie excused himself and went back into the living room.

"Edward!" Bella flung herself into my arms.

"I see you survived ice fishing with Charlie." I breathed in the scent from her shampoo. Or maybe it was her neck. It smelled like that Pearberry stuff I had gotten her.

"We spent three hours on that damn lake and didn't catch a thing!" Her arms wrapped themselves around my back, and I could feel her fingers twisted into the belt loops on my jeans.

"At least you didn't freeze to death." I wrapped my arms around her as well. "I thought I'd stop by for a few minutes. Have you given any thought on what I asked you?"

"What did you ask me?"

"Bella, stop playing hard to get!"

"Bella! You better keep playing hard to get!" Charlie's voice bellowed from the living room.

"Eavesdropper!" She nodded her head toward the kitchen, and we let go of each other long enough to walk there. Bella pulled out two of the chairs from the kitchen table, and we sat down next to one another.

Pulling her hands into mine, I rubbed them gently because I was nervous and didn't know what else to do. "Bella, would you go out on a date with me?"

"We've been on a date before."

"I don't know if I want to count that night." The one and only time Bella and I had been together before I had been a Cullen was the night of the dance when everything changed. While I had some good memories, there were also some very bad ones. "I want to take you out where it's just the two of us and we can spend some time together."

We once again heard Charlie's voice from the living room. "Oh, Jesus, just say yes so he stops begging like a puppy dog!"

"How can he still hear us?"

Bella exhaled loudly. "Turn the TV back on or I'll drag him upstairs to my room!"

"Oh, no you don't!" The TV flicked back on and I heard an announcer's voice.

"Bella, will you go on a date with me?" I asked the question once more so she couldn't pretend to forget again. "Don't make me go all puppy dog on you. You know I can. I've seen Alice do it. I'm sure I can emulate her."

"Only if you agree on two conditions."

"Lay 'em on me." I was actually surprised at myself that I didn't slip and say "Lay yourself on me" 'cause that'd be fun but highly inappropriate with Charlie in the next room.

"The first one is that when we go out, you don't go overboard on me." I rolled my eyes at her, and she pinched the top of my hand.

"Ouch, woman!"

"I mean it!" She rubbed the spot on my hand where she had pinched me. "No going crazy on me. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

"I was talking to Esme and Carlisle and they suggested bowling, but I wasn't sure if you'd want to do something that like. The Newtons just opened an alley downtown," I said. "Or we can drive to Port Angeles and do dinner and a movie. We don't have to go to any place expensive. That Applebee's place was good and they didn't cost too much." Leaning forward, I placed my lips against the skin at her neck and a sigh escaped her lips. "Bella, it's not like I want to get airline tickets and fly off somewhere with you," I whispered into her ear. "I honestly don't care where we go. As long as we're together. We can go to Wal-Mart and barricade ourselves into a tent for all I care."

"I don't think they'd have tents on display still."

"Fine, we can stuff ourselves into one of those electronic trains or cars out front for kids and be the unpaid Wal-Mart greeters for the day." I'd have to get a few rolls of quarters so they had no excuse to call the cops on us.

Bella rested her forehead against my chest and sighed. I hoped it was a sigh of defeat. "There's a second condition."

"Go on."

"Call Esme and ask if you can stay and have dinner over here with me and Charlie."

"Will Charlie have to use a knife during the meal?" If he did, I'd have to keep my smart ass comments to a minimum.

"Unless he feels like picking up his steak with his bare hands," Bella replied with a wide smile. "And I highly doubt that."

I had no problem with her first condition. While I wasn't a cheap ass by birth right, I was still a cheap ass. Hell, if she told me that Charlie was working some night and she wanted to cook me dinner and rent movies, that'd be fine with me too. Well, kind of. I did want to take her out because she was important to me and I wanted her to have fun. And if agreeing to have dinner with Bella and Charlie meant that she'd go out on a date with me, then so be it. "Just remember, if I'm stabbed to death at your kitchen table, it's all your fault."

"Keep your big mouth shut and we won't have a problem, mmm?"

I called Esme and while she sounded surprised over my question, she was fine with it. She had planned on having leftovers to clean out the packed fridge. While I had her on the phone I also asked that someone put some food down for Sabrina since I wasn't there.

Dinner with the Swans went well and I somehow managed to keep all my appendages. I swear to God, I didn't know how the hell I did it. Making small talk with Charlie or with Bella with Charlie in the room wasn't the easiest thing to do. After dinner the three of us sat in the living room and watched something called The Blue Collar Comedy Tour. What the hell ever it was, those four comedians were funny as hell. Bella and I were on the couch, holding hands, while Charlie was in his recliner. As soon as the DVD ended and his attention was no longer focused on the screen, I let go of Bella's hand so I would be able to keep it attached to my arm.

"Okay, Edward, say good night." Charlie announced.

"Good night, Charlie."

"No, I meant to Bella," he said. "It's time for you to mosey on home now."

"Oh, gotcha." I rose from the couch and Bella followed suit. "Good night, Charlie. Thanks for allowing me to grace your presence during dinner."

"Yeah… well, it made Bella happy." His gaze was trained on the newscast on the TV. "Later, kid."

We both grabbed our jackets and pulled them on. Bella followed me out onto the porch; the bitter December air stung my cheeks. "So when do you want this date to happen?" Bella shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and jumped up and down in place.

"I promised to hang out with Esme tomorrow and then I'm meeting Frank and Irene on Sunday, so… Monday?" I asked. "Is that good with you?

"Monday is fine, and I hope I get to visit with Frank and Irene too," she said. "Your grandparents are really nice people."

Bella was still shivering so I stepped forward and held her in my arms. "You'll have to come over while they're visiting."

"Speaking of relatives visiting… my mother and Phil are flying up in a few days." I didn't fail to notice that she had gripped onto my arm at the mention of her mother. "I'd rather not be left alone with the two of them for any extended period of time."

I leaned down and met my lips with hers. "We'll figure something out, okay? I don't want to ignore Frank and Irene while they're here, but I don't want to seem like I'm interfering with your time with your mother. Does Charlie know how you feel?"

"Oh, yeah, he does, I made sure he knows," she said, squeezing me tighter against her. "He's going to try to be around as much as possible."

I made Bella promise to call me if Charlie left for work and she felt awkward with Renee and Phil and then shooed her inside to the warmth of the house. I drove home, wondering how I was going to balance my family and Bella in the next few days. I wanted to try harder with Esme and to meet her parents, but I knew Bella was going to need me too. When I arrived home I found Esme asleep on the couch with Sabrina curled up at her side. Removing the blanket from the back of the couch, I unfolded it and placed it over Esme. Sabrina moved once the blanket was over her and wiggled her way down to the floor without waking Esme. I went upstairs to my room, Sabrina following close behind me.

I had the urge to write in the journal Bella had bought for me, but was too tired to do so. Curling up in bed with the book she had given me, I fell asleep with Sabrina sleeping near my head and dreamed of experiencing adventures with my brother in faraway lands.

A/N: I forgot to mention in the last chapter that Legacy celebrated its first birthday back on October 29th.

In regards to the Peanuts, the Little Red-Haired Girl was, for all intent purposes, nameless. It's stated in a Wiki article the character was named Heather in two specials, but even Peanuts creator, Charles M. Schulz, who wrote the screenplays, did not considered them to be canonical. en[dot]Wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/Little_Red-Haired_Girl

I'm taking part in a new blog and podcast entitled 7Stories. Feel free to check out the link on my profile for more info.

A link to a picture of Carlisle's "Nice Balls" boxers can also be found on my profile.