AN: I'm sorry if this chapter is confusing. I actually confused myself writing it, but it has some important plot points so here you go. Read carefully and know that the Cullen part at the bottom takes place before the stuff in the top.

Once the family had finished eating (or drinking), Garrett carried the deer back while Bella grabbed the boys. Jasper wasn't thrilled about losing his perch on his daddy's shoulders, but he kept his fussing to a minimum on the run back home.

The boys were deposited on the porch to play with their toys while Garrett helped Bella skin the deer carcass, setting the hide aside to be processed later. They butchered the meat easily and then Bella cleared out a small area for a firepit to smoke the venison she wanted to preserve.

Garrett almost had a heart attack when Bella went into the cabin and came out with a match and some kindling. He zipped over to her and covered her hand with his. "What are you doing, sweetheart?"

Bella's eyes were wide as she stared up at him, startled by the way he'd moved over to her almost in a panic. "Um, I was going to start a fire?"

Garrett shivered, then pulled his little mate into his arms. He noticed the boys had run over—probably feeling either his panic or their mother's surprise. He supposed it was time for their first vampire lesson.

Leading Bella over to the porch, he sat on the top step and pulled Bella down beside him. The boys climbed up on their laps, and Edward reached his little hand up to ask his daddy what was going on.

"Okay, the first thing I need to tell you about vampires, is that the only way to hurt vampires is to burn them."

His matter-of-fact statement was met with wide eyes and three matching gasps. Bella's brow wrinkled and she started to shake her head, but Garrett tapped his finger against her lip and carried on, "If you want to destroy a vampire, they must be torn apart and burned. The venom that makes up our 'blood' is very flammable. It's like gasoline, or lamp oil."

Bella had shrugged at the first example, having no personal experience with cars or machinery that ran on gasoline. The McCarty family was quite large, but very poor. The Great Depression in the foothills of Tennessee wasn't exactly known as the height of luxury.

Seeing that they needed a demonstration, Garrett grabbed the kindling from her and held his hand out for the match. Walking over the fire pit she'd arranged, he deposited the kindling on top and then waved the family a little closer.

"Bella pick up the boys and stand over there so you can all see, okay?" Once she'd done as he asked, he gathered a mouthful of venom and spat on the kindling. Pointing out the shiny fluid, he said, "That's venom. I know the boys have venom too, because they wouldn't have been able to change you if they didn't."

When he was sure his family was far enough back to be out of harm's way, but still close enough to see, he dropped the match. The venom flared up immediately, burning through the kindling and setting fire to the wood underneath it. Bella jumped back at the initial fire, then looked curiously at the purple smoke it put off.

"Okay, but I'm out of salt so I still need to smoke the meat to dry it out—the boys are eating more but they can't eat a whole deer at once," Bella explained, tilting her head to the side as she gazed up at her mate. Garrett glanced from her face with those wide, guileless eyes, and over at the boys with their matching eyes in blue and green.

Shaking his head, Garrett glanced up at the sky and took a deep breath. "I just want you to be aware, and be extra careful when you have to deal with fire. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you now that I've finally found you."

Seeing the opportunity to be the one comforting him for once, Bella stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Okay, Garrett. We'll be careful," she told him, resting her chin on his chest as she looked up at him. "The boys already know not to play around fire, and I'll be more careful, too."

Hugging her back tightly, he finally smiled as the boys joined them. They were always up for hugs and affection. Once their group hug was over, Bella laid out the strips of meat to smoke, and laid a couple of the steaks they had cut on the rocks at the side of the fire pit so they could cook for the boys.

Garrett thoroughly enjoyed watching the boys devour the cooked meat, their tiny, sharp teeth tearing into it more effectively than even the mountain lion would have been able to. Seeing them fully sated of all hunger as they snuggled down for their nap made him feel warm inside.

A few short days later found the family sharing a tearful goodbye. Garrett was going to run to Richmond and gather some supplies to bring back. He and Bella had made a list of what they considered essentials, although Garrett had a few more extras in mind both for his mate and the boys.

He slipped into town, pulling his hat down low over his eyes. There was another advantage of switching to the animal diet—it would definitely be easier to blend in with humans if his eyes weren't red.

Heading to the general store, Garrett placed an order for salt and fabric. He also grabbed a couple packages of needles, knowing his sweet little mate would probably break them fairly often.

He found a few pairs of ready made dungarees, for both Bella and the boys, and the cutest little baby shoes he debated buying. In the end he grabbed two pairs, planning to have them bronzed on his next trip to town once the boys had inevitably outgrown them. Just because they wouldn't stay babies for long, it didn't mean they couldn't still mark their infancy. As soon as they were up for it, he planned to bring them to town for a family portrait.

Garrett made a few more stops, getting a new mattress ticking for the boys, and a pair of spinning tops that he thought they would enjoy. For Bella, he chose a drawing pad and some pencils, along with a few books for her to read. She'd told him how much she loved reading before she was changed.

He was careful to only buy as much as a pack mule could feasibly hold. He'd "borrowed" one from a farm on his way into town, and he would return it once he was out of sight of the curious humans. He could carry his packages much easier than any animal could.

As he was picking up his order at the general store, Garrett heard a voice he hadn't heard in years, and one he wasn't thrilled to be hearing. He sighed and turned with what he hoped was a natural smile. "Hello, Carlisle. Didn't expect to see you here…"

The blond vampire smiled happily as he recognized his old friend. "Garrett! This is a surprise! Do you live around here?"

Shaking his head and glancing around to be sure he hadn't been overheard, Garrett gestured for Carlisle to head outside. Sniffing the air, Garrett didn't sense any other vampires around.

Looking over his packs, he made sure there was nothing sticking out that would indicate that he was shopping for kids or anyone human. It was all covered well, except for the chisel he'd picked up on his way out of the last store.

As he stowed it in one of the bags, Carlisle noticed of course. "I see you still enjoy woodworking? Are you selling any of your pieces around here?"

Sighing as he thought back to the rough-hewn table he'd just started for his family, he couldn't help but smile. "No, I've been working on some little things. I'm just passing through, looking to hunt a bit before I go, unless this is your territory of course." Garrett gave Carlisle what he hoped was a wicked looking smile, trying to throw off any suspicion.

Carlisle smiled softly as he looked back down the main street. "No, my family is just passing through as well on our way out west. We have a new member and he is having a bit of trouble adjusting to our diet. We're taking him a bit further from civilization until he settles down."

Nodding while he tried to think of the best way to get out of there, Garrett knew he had to be careful not to lead the other vampires anywhere near his home.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I better finish up here so I can see to my meal."

Carlisle didn't seem to sense anything out of the ordinary, and he shook Garrett's hand as he glanced toward where his own family was waiting just out of town in their new automobile. "Well it was good to see you old friend. I'm in a bit of a hurry myself so I wish you well and maybe you can meet my mate and family sometime in the future."

Garrett nodded, mind firmly fixed on his own mate and family. "Maybe someday, Carlisle. Maybe someday…"

~oOo~

Cullen home, North Carolina
A couple of weeks prior:

"Carlisle, we're going to have to move sooner rather than later," Esme's voice was barely a whisper as she spoke into her husband's ear. Their newest family member had taken off again while on a hunt and Rose had to distract him in her own way.

Carlisle sighed. While he was happy his daughter had found her mate so quickly, the boy—man—wasn't adjusting quite as quickly as they would have liked. He kept trying to move back in the direction where he'd been found, and he had already killed two humans that happened to get in his way.

It was disappointing to be sure. Esme had slipped early after her change as well, but Rosalie was stubborn enough to resist human blood—even though she did seek revenge on her rapists. He wasn't quite as upset about that, despite his own personal vow to do no harm.

Thinking over the past several months, he realized that despite what Emmett could remember, or rather not remember, he must feel some unfinished business from his human life. He was a strong, robust man of at least twenty, and it was very likely he'd had a sweetheart, possibly even a family waiting for him before he changed. While he couldn't articulate that feeling, something was drawing him back toward his human home.

There was nothing to be done about it. Emmett was nowhere near ready to be around humans, and either way it was too dangerous to let him back around those humans that knew him. They would just have to take him somewhere else until his newborn period was over, and then maybe they could check on his human family and see if there was anything to be done for them. If he could remember his last name, or hometown, that would help.

Shaking off those thoughts, Carlisle looked toward the sunset. "Well, my darling, what do you say we work our way west? We can spend a year or two in the wilderness, and then settle in Oregon, or Washington State? We can find an area that has more cloud cover so you can have more of a social life. If we live far enough from the human settlements we can give Emmett some more time to settle down and adjust away from temptation."

With that, the Cullen family began to head toward Forks.