AN: Hello again! If you haven't seen it yet, I finally finished Delinquent!

Here's a new chapter for this story, and I have the next one finished and the one after that almost done as well. Hopefully I'll be updating fairly regularly for a while.

I hope y'all have a Merry Christmas and get to enjoy some time in person, or remotely, with your loved ones.

Previously: 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.

After cautiously running for most of the day, veering east and north around human settlements, Bella found an old cabin that appeared to be abandoned. She couldn't smell any recent human scents, and when she asked Edward, he couldn't hear any thoughts nearby.

It wasn't as nice as their old cabin, but at least the roof was secure. She dropped their belongings on the porch and found a tattered straw broom to sweep out the leaves and debris on the packed dirt floor. The boys sat next to their pack and stared around wide-eyed as they took in their new surroundings.

Bella talked to them as she cleaned, telling them not to run off and that they could come in shortly. She tried to keep her voice from shaking as she pushed down thoughts of just how far away they were from everything and everyone she'd ever known. She wasn't even sure she was still in Tennessee anymore.

Once she had the little shack as clean as it could be, she brought their pack of belongings in and called for the boys to follow her. They held hands as they cautiously approached the door and peered inside at their new home.

Jasper's mouth dropped open in surprise, while Edward's little nose wrinkled in disdain as he took in the stale, musty scent of the one room cabin. Bella laughed and scooped him up when she saw his expression.

"I know, my darling, but it will take a few days to air out and then it will smell a little more like home, maybe?" She hugged him close as he tucked his head against her neck, and reached down to pat Jasper when he wandered over to hug her legs.

"How about a quick nap, and then we'll go find something to eat, alright?"

Bella laid the boys on the pallet she'd put together, then covered them with a soft blanket. It was a little cooler where they were now, a bit higher in the mountains. Her boys didn't seem to be too affected by the weather but she still didn't want them to get a chill.

As they slept, Bella unpacked the rest of their things, setting the boys' meager collection of toys that Emmett had carved for them along one wall, and stacking their clothes on a shelf near their makeshift bed. The family Bible was put on the other shelf.

After a moment, Bella pulled the Bible back out and opened it to the family tree inside. Next to Emmett's name, she had carefully added his approximate date of death—the same date she used for her boys' birthdate.

Reading over the other names, she couldn't help but wonder what Elliott had done when he found them missing from the cabin. Had he worried about the blood left from the boys' birth? He was probably confused, as he'd been at the barn dance the same as Emmett. He knew exactly when his sister was attacked, and he knew how long a pregnancy normally took.

Her family would probably come to the conclusion that she had lost her baby, and maybe even that she had died as well. It was probably for the best, since she could never go home again.

For just a moment, in the quiet of her new home, Bella let her defenses down and bowed her head to cry. This was not the way she had pictured her life. Of course, she knew she would have children some day—when some future beau would bravely face all her brothers and her father and win the right to court her.

She would help her momma sew hand-tatted lace on a new, or new-enough dress. Daddy would walk down the aisle of their country church with her on his arm and hand her off to her new husband. She would say the time-honored vows, accept a kiss from her groom, and walk back down the aisle with a new name.

That would never happen now. She would be a McCarty forever, and if all vampire men were like the one that sired her boys, she guessed she would never find a husband either. But that didn't stop her teenage, romantic heart from wanting the kind of love she'd grown up seeing between her parents, and her brothers with their girls.

Jasper woke from his nap first, his little throat working against his thirst, exacerbated by his brother's as well. He crawled off the pallet and over to his momma, patting her leg and reaching up for her to hold him. She cuddled him close as he slowly became more alert.

"I'm thirsty, Momma," he mumbled quietly, careful not to wake his brother. He knew Edward could be quite a grouch if he was roused from his nap before he finished sleeping.

Bella rocked him, running her hand through his blond curls as she absently noted that it was time for another trim. She couldn't bear to cut off all his curls, but she did try to keep it trimmed above his shoulders so he didn't look too much like a girl. Edward's hair had to be kept a bit shorter as it tended to stick out absolutely everywhere, resembling a lion's mane.

"I know, Jas," she soothed him quietly. "Just wait a few more minutes until your brother finishes his sleep, okay?"

Jasper growled softly, but settled down to wait. His mother began to softly sing a lullaby and he twirled his fingers in her hair as he drifted off to the sound of her voice. He rested another half hour or so until Edward woke with a soft cry, startled to find himself alone in the strange new bed.

Bella gathered both boys on her hips and stepped out of the house to go find them all something to drink. She moved a bit slower than usual, unsure of what she would find in the unfamiliar woods, but she was pleased to hear the sounds of many animals surrounding them.

She followed a small creek to a large meadow where several deer were grazing lazily, unaware of the predators watching them from the shadows. Her attention went to two young bucks that were currently fighting one another. It looked to her like they had gotten their horns stuck together, and they were wearing each other down trying to free themselves.

Setting the boys by a tree, she warned them quietly to watch for the other deer, as she knew they would scatter when she made herself known. With a soft growl, Bella shot out of the trees and landed right beside the two bucks. She quickly broke their necks, then waved the boys over to eat.

Jasper and Edward ran across the grass, laughing happily at the feel of the soft, cool blades against their bare feet. When they got close enough, Bella pointed them toward one deer, while she took the other.

The boys still weren't big enough to bite all the way through the animal's thick fur far enough to reach the blood, but Bella helped them out, then began to feed on her own. She never took her eyes off her boys even as she drank, so she never noticed that they had company with them in the clearing.

~oOo~

Garrett was traveling from visiting his friends Charles and Makenna in Ohio. He was headed to North Carolina, which was the last place he'd heard his friend Carlisle Cullen was residing. It had been a few decades since he had last seen Carlisle, and Charles had told him that Carlisle had found his mate, and there was a possibility of even another new member in his family. Something had caused him to leave New York rather suddenly, or so the rumors went.

Crossing through the forests north of Roanoke, Virginia, Garrett crossed a scent that had his instincts screaming at him. It was the most alluring, enticing scent he'd ever come across in all his hundred and fifty plus years as an immortal.

The scent, along with the two lighter scents that went along with it, called every one of his protective instincts into full focus. He was on the hunt, following the trail as it wound through the trees to a small cabin. Peeking inside, he saw evidence of humans, but no human scent. The baby clothes and toys were not accompanied with a corresponding human baby smell. Instead, there was the intriguing scent he'd been following along with the two lighter, distinctive, yet similar ones.

Since there was no one in the cabin, he turned back out the door and followed a separate, slightly fresher trail that led back into the trees. Running at full speed, it didn't take him long to come upon the clearing and a scene he never thought he would see. Despite the hints of baby toys and clothing in the cabin, Garrett was still shocked to see two tiny toddlers crouched, drinking from the neck of a fallen deer.

But more than that, the first sight of his mate—for that must be who this intriguing scent belonged to—was nearly enough to knock him off his feet. She was stunning. Her long brown hair blew softly in the breeze, bringing the full force of her scent to him where he hid in the trees. There was only one thought on his mind—MINE!

A growl from the darker-haired child was the only warning he received, before he found himself on his rear, with said child attached firmly to his ankle. A split second later, the blond child followed his brother, and Garrett now sported matching bite marks in each of his ankles. He was shocked by the fact these small teeth could penetrate his stone skin, but even more so when he felt the sting of venom following the bites.

"What the hell? I mean, I've heard of children referred to as ankle biters, but this takes it to a whole new level!"