The Cullen House, Later That Night

Max

"Seriously Paul?"

Groaning, I dropped the last empty container of sweet & sour chicken on the counter to glare at the obnoxious beast sitting at the table, licking his fingers clean of the sweet, greasy residue of one of my favorite food groups.

"One piece? You couldn't even save me one…lousy…piece?"

Paul shrugged unrepentantly. "Fast and the hungry Donovan. Fast and the hungry."

His wife slugged him in the shoulder.

"Pig," Rachel said primly when he gave her a wounded look."

"Aw, c'mon Rach," he whined, rubbing his shoulder. "She ate more than I did."

"Not a chance," Rachel said dryly. Then she looked over at me. "But A for effort. I think you're the first person-from ANY species-that's actually given him a run for his money."

The entire kitchen burst into laughter. I just rolled my eyes, turning back around to survey the wreckage. Empty take out containers were stacked two deep from one side of the counter to the other. The pizza boxes sitting on the sink were empty too.

The smell of sauce, meat and grease still hung heavy in the air, but there wasn't another drop of food to be found.

"Damn it," I grumbled, poking hopefully at a container of rice. "I'm still hungry."

"Bella told me stories, but I didn't believe it!" laughed Francesca, looking around the room in wonder. "I didn't think it was possible for anyone to eat that much! How on earth do you manage to keep enough food in the house?"

"We're on a first name basis with every grocer in a thirty mile radius," said Bella ruefully from the corner where she'd been bouncing Jenny. "Sorry Max. I tried feeding them first. It didn't help."

"Never does," said a dry voice from the corner of the kitchen. "I swear to God, it goes out of us just as fast as it goes in."

"Real nice Em," said a second voice, dripping with feminine disdain. "I'm sure that's exactly the mental picture they wanted in their heads while they're trying to eat."

Surprised, Bella and I both turned toward the door. Holy crap, that was who I thought it was. There stood Andy, comfortably wrapped in a pair of brown corduroys and a green fisherman's sweater that dipped on one shoulder, stretched halfway down to her knees and was clearly too big to be hers. Behind her stood Embry, two coats draped over one arm, his wife's hand firmly clasped in the other.

No way. Andy turned her head and met my eyes, a little defiantly, and I couldn't help but grin. Bella gave me the run down on what happened the day of the snowball fight, but I hadn't seen Andy since the day she tossed her cookies all over Carlisle's guest room. Since I knew Embry was still living with Jake and Bella, I figured they were still trying to get it together. Looked like things were doing alright.

The room, which had been so noisy you could barely hear yourself think just a second ago, fell dead silent. Every face in the room, with the exception of Francesca and Giovanni, was gaping at the couple. Our Italian friends just looked very, very confused.

"What?" Andy grumbled irritably, nonchalantly tossing her hair back over her shoulder while she walked over to set a huge, grease-stained white bag on the counter. "You all act like you never saw Chinese food before. Although knowing Paul, that might be true." Tugging her fingers gently away from Embry, she cleared a small hole on the counter, set the bag down and started to unpack. "Given his whole, 'Eat first, ask questions later' policy, it's amazing you guys don't spend more time pumping his stomach than you do."

I was dying to be nosy and ask what was going on with her and her husband, who had stepped away to start cleaning up the trash (a minor miracle in and of itself), but there was a kitchen full of people…and I had more important things to worry about.

"Tell me you have sweet and sour chicken in the bag, and anything you want is yours," I promised, walking over to peer over her shoulder.

"You name it, we bought it," Andy replied, passing me an entire unopened container that smelled amazing. "I figured you guys would probably be up to seconds by the time we got here."

"I love you."

"I know." She grinned brattily, then grabbed two containers in her own hands and walked over to give Jake a kiss on the cheek. "How's it going bro?"

"We're good." Jake finally managed to stop staring long enough to give Andy a quick hug, then stand up and offer her his seat. "Didn't know you were going to be here." He gave Embry a meaningful look. Embry just shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets and beaming at his wife.

"I didn't either," Andy said shyly, following Jake's gaze. "But Bella's told me so much about Francesca, it didn't feel right not to at least stop in and say hi. Embry was nice enough to give me a ride up."

Jake was clearly dying to pump her for more details, but she cut him off by turning around to the other couple. "It's lovely to meet you. I'm Andy."

"I thought you might be," said Francesca, smiling and holding out her hand. "Jake and Bella spoke of you often."

"I promise you, only half of it's true."

"Oh, so you didn't buy Jacob a studded dog collar for Christmas."

Andy snorted, choking on a bite of the fried rice she'd just stuffed in her mouth. "Alright, that part's true. But I bet he didn't tell you what he did to deserve it."

With that she was off and running, swapping horror stories with Francesca about the horrors of older brothers. Apparently Francesca had five, all of which lived to make her life hell. Laughing, I scooped half the chicken onto a plate and passed the rest over to Embry, stretching up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Good to see things are working out," I said softly.

"Yeah, we still have a little way to go, but…we're getting there." Embry blushed, looking down at his feet. "She told me you guys talked. I think I owe you a thank you-I'm not sure we would have ever gotten this far without someone…" He trailed off, and I laughed.

"You mean without someone giving that girl of yours a kick in the ass? Don't worry about it." Grinning, I walked out of the kitchen and headed upstairs, plate firmly in hand. I needed to peek in Kara, Jeremy and Billy, and there was no way in hell I was leaving my food unguarded. I hadn't made it more than halfway down the hall before someone called my name.

"Miss Donovan?"

"Only if you're in trouble," I said cheekily, turning around to find myself face to face with Francesca's fiancé. "Or tied to my bed. The rest of the time I'm just Max."

Giovanni grinned shyly, his cheeks staining a deep red, and I had to laugh. He was just so cute, from his dark hair to his round cheeks to the slight beer belly he'd confessed to trying to lose before the wedding.

"Bella was right. You're incorrigible," he said with a laugh. "I was hoping I might be able to convince you to show me where Carlisle has placed Francesca and I for the night. Rosalie was trying to explain earlier, but this house…"

"Yeah, no problem. It's really something, isn't it?" I laughed, looking around and trying to remember what it had been like to see it for the first time. "I need to check in on the kids really quick first. We have the intercom on, but it's not quite the same."

"Ah. Bella didn't mention you had children." Giovanni fell into step with me as we walked down the hall toward the clinic.

"I don't. Well, I didn't," I amended. "They're foster children. Right now it's just temporary, but I'm hoping to adopt. They're in here." Peeking around the door, I smiled at the sleeping faces illuminated by the nightlight's soft glow. Apparently at some point Billy had woken up and wandered down the hall. He and Jeremy were curled up together, each clutching a bear from Jeremy's toy pile-which made me wonder what they'd been up to when I couldn't hear them, since I know Jeremy hadn't had one when he went to bed.

"They're very sweet," said Giovanni with a smile. "I cannot wait until Francesca and I have bambinas of our own. Is this where you sleep as well?"

"No, I'm in the room to the right," I said, gesturing. "It has a connecting door. Most of the time they use the guest rooms in this hallway for company, since it's so close to the front of the house. Alice put you and Francesca in Edward's wing to give you a little more space."

"Carlisle, he built this house for family," said Giovanni, obligingly following me as I headed for the stairs.

"And I've been blessed with more of it than I ever expected."

I jumped. "You know," I said, turning around to grin at the man himself, "I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to you sneaking around."

"It's not my fault you weren't paying attention." He looped a casual arm around my waist and pulled me tightly against him before turning to Giovanni. "Francesca mentioned you were having trouble finding your room. I thought I'd see if I could be of assistance, but it looks like Max beat me to it."

"Miss Donovan-Max," Giovanni amended with a smile, "has been most helpful. She mentioned we were near Master Edward's rooms?"

"Yes, this way." With his arm still around me, Carlisle headed toward the stairs. I looked longingly at the plate in my hand, then quickly set it down on an end table so I could tuck my arm around his waist. Hopefully it would be safe enough until I got back, because I was starting to feel really awkward carrying it around.

Carlisle lightly squeezed my waist. "I don't mind if you abandon me to go finish your dinner Maxine."

"You sure?" I hedged, looking at my plate, then looking at him. Hard to tell which looked more yummy at the moment. But chances were I wasn't going to be able to pick up where we'd left off with Giovanni standing right there, so…

"I'm sure." Carlisle leaned down for a quick kiss. "Let me show Giovanni to his room and I'll be back down to join you."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Laughing, I stole another quick kiss, amused by the surprise on Giovanni's face. "Don't be too long."

True to his word Carlisle quickly returned, Giovanni in tow. Jasper and Emmett broke out the poker cards, and everyone settled in for Texas Hold 'Em. Francesca had never learned how to play, and it was adorable watching everyone falling over themselves to teach her. She really was a sweet kid, and I was thrilled I'd had the chance to spend some time with her before I had to go. Maybe I could talk Giovanni into spending a day or two in Seattle before they went home…

We were right in the middle of a hand (which I was about to win, no matter what Emmett thought) when a soft, squeaking noise came over the intercom. After almost an hour of fussing, Bella had finally gotten Jenny down in the Porta-Crib we'd very quietly snuck into Kara and Jeremy's room, and she looked over in dismay.

"So much for that," she grumbled, pushing away from the table…and the impressive pile of chips she'd actually managed to accumulate. Given that Bella was a horrendous poker player most of the time, it seemed a shame to stop while she was ahead. Grinning, I pushed my take toward Jasper, who'd offered to be banker for the night.

"I'll get her Bells. I've about hit my cap for what I can take off Jazzy boy for a night without feeling guilty anyway."

"Thanks," she said with a grin, settling back into her chair and smiling when Jake wrapped his arm around her and squeezed. Carlisle, who was sitting next to me, shook his head with amusement.

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked softly. I shook my head. "No, have fun. I'll get Jenny changed and bring her back out here so she can get a head start figuring out how to fleece her parents. Gotta learn these things young, before people start talking about things like allowance."

The table laughed, then went back to play. Shaking my head, I headed down the hall to the kids' room, reaching out to shut off the intercom so I could talk to Jenny without everyone overhearing. It was loud enough that even with supernatural hearing, we could have a little privacy-which meant I was totally free to sound as ridiculous as I wanted.

"Hey beautiful," I murmured to the little girl staring sleepily back at me. God she was cute, with Jake's tan skin and big brown eyes and Bella's bouncing curls. "What's got you up, huh?" I had my answer as soon as I picked her up. She reeked. Naturally. Laughing, I cleaned her up, shaking my head when she fell back to sleep before I was even done changing her.

"Well, that was easy." Apparently, I wasn't interesting enough to stay awake for. Figures. Nothing keeps you humble like a kid. Amused, I laid her back down, then patted her back until she started snoring again. Turning, I jumped in surprise. (Seemed to be a lot of that going around this evening.)

"Giovanni! What are you doing here?"

"Nicholas was going to come check on you, but I was ready for a break, so I offered to come instead," said the man can into shadow by the hallway light. "We were worried when you were gone so long."

"No problems, just a poopy diaper and a little girl that decided once she didn't smell worse than tuna surprise she didn't really want to be up after all. All done now." I started walking toward the door, smiling when Giovanni stood back and bowed. Italian men. All about the drama.

I didn't see the chemical soaked cloth he pressed over my face until it was far too late. Too late to fight, too late to yell for help. Too late even to panic-fear was quickly wiped out by a spinning, dizzy sensation. Woozily dropping to the floor, through tunneled vision I saw Francesca come down the hall-and Giovanni strike her over the head before she could scream.