AN: Hi! Remember me? Sorry again for the ridiculous delay. I have a million excuses, but that doesn't really help anything. I'm trying to get back in the rhythm of writing more but here's a new chapter to help tide you over ;)

Bella sighed in relief when the dilapidated cabin came into view. She had no idea what to do now that she was officially on her own, but having a place to call home was a good start.

The boys had fallen asleep against her shoulders as she ran, and she was faced with the conundrum of what to do with her now-clean, sleeping babies.

The bed was out of the question, filthy as it was, so she reached for a small baby quilt she'd put aside, carefully wrapping it around her boys as she settled herself down against the wall. It was the first minute of peace she'd had since she woke to her new life, and she closed her eyes to try and get some sleep as well.

The boys were breathing steadily, deeply, and perfectly in sync. Every once in a while one would wiggle a bit, or sigh, but for the most part they just relaxed in their mother's arms.

Bella tried to match her breathing to theirs, enjoying their sweet scents, and she found it disorienting when she didn't have a heartbeat to calm as well. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but she just couldn't make herself fall asleep—she didn't even feel sleepy.

Huffing quietly, she shifted her weight and opened her eyes. Her new expanded mind could process so many more things at once. Without her boys keeping her grounded, it would've been easy to get overwhelmed.

She looked around the room, taking note of what she'd need to clean. The mattress was a lost cause, unless she could somehow get the ticking clean enough to re-stuff. She needed something for the boys to sleep on since they were obviously capable of sleeping.

Clothing was her next hurdle. She thought she could still fit in the pants and skirts she'd brought with her—ones she hadn't been able to fit in for the last few weeks of her shortened pregnancy. She'd been wearing Emmett's oversized shirts as makeshift dresses, but she might have to continue wearing them until she could find new shirts that fit her newly enhanced figure better.

She had a few gowns for the babies, along with diapers that they apparently didn't need. As they grew she would need to alter her old shirts to make bigger clothes for them. Good thing they'd packed her sewing kit. She'd just have to hope she wouldn't snap the delicate needles.

Turning her attention back to her boys, she studied their sleeping faces. Their eyelids were a soft lavender color, and as she saw Edward's eyes moving, she shifted her hold so that she could pick up his hand and bring it to her face.

Edward's dreams were more disjointed than the thoughts he actively chose to share, but Bella couldn't help but smile as she saw her face, and Jasper's, memories of their hunt, and the stream, and even her awakening.

Then a soft red covered his thoughts, along with a feeling of softness and warmth. She gasped when she recognized Emmett's voice, muted in an odd way, and it only took her a moment to realize this must be how he sounded to the babies when they were in her womb.

"Once upon a time, there was a brave hunter… hey boys...knew y'all were smart little cusses...gentle with your momma...you're just too big for that now...be good for momma. No more bruises. Real men don't leave bruises on girls, and I know you want to be real men, right?

"Night boys."

Bella dropped his hand as carefully as she could manage and covered her mouth to quiet her sobs. She had no idea her boys had been that aware when they were inside her, but it was clear they had formed a bond with her big brother as well. Now that he was gone, she wouldn't be the only one mourning him either.

Holding as still as possible, she gave herself over to her grief. When Jasper began to whimper, she picked up his hand, curious to see if he had the same talent as his brother.

Bella didn't see anything different from Jasper, but she felt like her grief had doubled all at once. She was aching deep inside from her loss, and her eyes stung with the effort of trying to produce tears.

As she tried to calm her emotions, the boys both woke up crying. It wasn't an angry, or hungry cry—they sounded completely heartbroken as they sobbed in her arms. They clung to her tightly, as if they were worried she would be ripped away from them at any moment.

After a moment, her vampire brain made a giant leap of intuition, and she stared down at Jasper in an odd combination of awe and horror. She didn't know how, but she was sure her son could somehow sense and possibly influence her emotions, as well as his brother's.

Guilt washed over her as she tried to soothe her crying babies. How on earth was a baby supposed to handle his mother's chaotic, traumatic, new vampire emotions? Advanced as he was, he was simply not equipped to handle the complex nuances of all she was feeling. She wished she could protect him from that.

As soon as she thought it, Jasper collapsed against her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. The waves of pain his mother had unintentionally been sharing with him were cut off abruptly. Edward reached for his brother's hand and cooed softly in agreement to his relieved thoughts, resting together for a few moments as they enjoyed cuddling in their mother's arms.

Bella was still startled by their abrupt mood swings, and slightly terrified of their apparent talents. As if it wasn't hard enough to raise half-human, half-vampire babies, she now had to figure out how to raise talented half-human, half-vampire babies. All alone.

Before she could sink too far in her musings, Edward captured her attention with his hand on her cheek. He patted her cold skin with a hopeful smile as he showed her replay of their earlier hunt. She noticed Jasper rubbing his throat and wiggling in discomfort, and realized that Edward was effectively translating for him. Well, that was one advantage to their gifts.

Glad to have an immediate purpose, Bella stood and walked over to the flour sacks that were holding the clothes she'd brought with her. She reached in and pulled out two small gowns that were well-worn by countless McCarty boys—along with herself. She felt her eyes sting as she took in the careful stitches placed by her grandmother and mother, glad that her boys had some small tie to her human life, even if her human family would never meet them.

The boys wore identical frowns as she slipped the soft cotton over their tousled heads, and she couldn't help but laugh at their expressions. They were McCarty boys alright—much happier in their birthday suits than anything else.

"Frown all you want to, boys, but you better get used to wearing clothes. I'm not letting you run wild out here like little hooligans," she laughed, kissing their chubby little cheeks. "Now sit here for a minute while Momma changes, okay?"

~oOo~

The next couple of months passed as quickly as the boys seemed to grow. Bella was constantly busy, chasing after the twins who learned to walk a mere three weeks after their birth. Luckily for her, she was an immortal who did not require sleep and was quite a bit faster than her little twin terrors.

Their days were spent hunting, as well as working on chores around their little homestead. Bella discovered that the boys could eat human food, but they much preferred blood over the biscuits and jerky she offered them. While the boys tended to stick close together, they quickly developed their own personalities as well.

Jasper was the louder twin. He said his first word (Mama) only a day after Bella awoke, and spoke his first sentence at just a week old. In contrast, Edward relied heavily on his gift to communicate, and would only speak aloud if he was not within reach of his intended audience. Bella read to her boys out of the tattered family Bible, and told them stories about their uncles and grandparents back home. She also finished the drawing she'd started when she was still human, and she used the precious paper to introduce the boys to their extended family.

It was a peaceful day when the boys were about two months old when their world changed again. Spring had given way to the early days of summer, and Bella had noticed an increase in the number of humans traipsing through their area. She tried her best to stay far away from them, not wanting to put her or her boys in temptation's way.

She was out behind the cabin one windy afternoon, hanging the wash she'd just finished on the line to dry. The twins were playing a game they'd concocted that seemed to involve a lot of running in circles and falling to the ground with a laugh. Bella couldn't keep the smile off her face as she hummed softly, glancing between her boys and the laundry. However, Edward's uncharacteristic startled cry of "Mama!" immediately brought her running.

Eyes scanning their surroundings, she backed slowly toward the cabin with her babies in her arms. She couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary, until Edward patted her cheek and almost violently pushed his thoughts to her.

The voice she heard nearly sent her to her knees. While Edward had initially been confused by the familiar tone and inflection that sounded just like his beloved uncle, Bella instantly recognized Emmett's twin.

"Elliott."

Her unbeating heart froze as conflicting emotions held her captive. Longing, hope, terror, regret—all fought their way to the forefront in her expanded mind. She didn't know what to do.

Bella didn't realize how much she missed her family, until she was faced with one nearly in reach. At the same time, she couldn't bear to be the one to tell Elliott that his brother was never coming home, while holding her own inseparable twins safely in her arms. It just wasn't fair.

As her panic and guilt rose to new heights, she made a split second decision. Dropping her boys inside the back door, she instructed them to gather their toys inside and put everything on the quilt. She then turned and gathered all the clean laundry into a bundle and followed her boys inside. Tying all of their belongings into a pack with the quilt, she then grabbed her boys up and took one last glance around the cabin.

The stained mattress made it clear she had given birth, but there were no other clues for Elliott to find that would tell him where she or Emmett had gone. She hated leaving her family with a mystery, but it was too dangerous for anyone to know what really happened.

Stepping away from their sanctuary, Bella hugged her boys and headed north. With countless miles of mountains and forest, she was sure to find somewhere they could be safe. Her heart ached as she ran from her family, and from the memory of her brother who gave everything for her and her children. She would never let her boys forget their uncle.