AN: Sorry for the delay! This chapter held me up a bit. It's a transition chapter and I struggle with those, but the boys have to grow up sometime! I have 3 or 4 chapters in the future already written and I can't wait to catch up to those ;)

Note the date- it's a bit of a time jump

1940

Northwest of Richmond, Virginia

"Boys! Come inside! I have your supper ready!"

Garrett shook his head and smiled to himself. Moments like this made him appreciate just how human his little family was. Without a sire's guidance those first few months, Bella had kept a lot of her human traits without even thinking about it. Just like the tendency to yell for the boys when their sensitive hearing meant she could have whispered for them.

Jasper and Edward were about twenty yards from the cabin, up in the tree house Garrett had built for them after they finished reading The Swiss Family Robinson. The boys loved the idea of living in a tree, and their daddy was more than happy to indulge their imagination.

At age five, the boys looked more like young teens. They had both passed their mother in height the previous year, though they were still several inches behind Garrett. They were both thin and had the oversized limbs of late adolescence, with none of the awkwardness that usually accompanied that stage.

Their voices were already deepening, making both their parents look back at their too-short childhoods with a pang of longing. At the rate they were going they would be fully grown in another year or two. Garrett and Bella just hoped they would stop aging at some point. If it looked like they were going to deteriorate rapidly, they had already discussed attempting to change them to full vampires.

Shaking those thoughts away, Garrett stepped over to the table where his family was seated. He pulled his chair out beside Bella and leaned over to kiss her softly as he sat down. Every time he tasted her lips it was like the first time he was granted that privilege.

Garrett thought back with a smile over all those months just sitting and holding his mate. He'd been surprised how open she was to him after their wedding. He'd been worried that she might struggle with intimacy after her experience with James. Instead, they had a very healthy sex life—whenever the boys slept long enough for them to have one.

Jasper grinned mischievously across the table—he had sat and listened avidly when Garrett talked to him about the changes his body was going through and how he was to learn to control those types of urges. While Bella had learned to shield Garrett's thoughts from Edward, it wasn't as natural to her to keep his emotions masked as well. So when Jasper caught those feelings from his father about his mother, he loved to tease him about it.

When Garrett had tried to talk to Edward on the same subject, his son adamantly refused to listen. He said there was no way he would ever do anything of the kind with any woman. No way. Garrett decided he would address the issue when Edward got a bit more mature. Maybe he was just a late bloomer.

Once the boys finished their dinner, Garrett reached for his wife's hand and looked at his sons. "I wanted to speak with the two of you tonight," he began, smiling when he saw Edward concentrating as he always did when he tried to read his father's mind. He knew Bella had him covered though.

"Your mother and I have been discussing this, and we have come to an agreement. If the two of you feel like you're ready, we are going to be moving closer to a human town, so that you can attend school."

The boys had very different reactions to this bit of news. Edward frowned as he looked to his mother for reassurance. He was less sure about the human world, preferring his own little home with his brother and his parents.

Jasper on the other hand was fascinated with humans. He wanted to know everything about them—how they lived their lives, what they did for fun, what kind of food they ate. He thought humans were delightful creatures put on this earth just for his enjoyment.

He jumped up from his seat and raised both hands in the air in excitement. "Yes! Let's go!" he shouted, causing Edward's frown to deepen as their parents tried to hide their laughter.

Edward actually spoke up for once. "No, thank you. I'll just stay here."

Bella sighed and reached over to brush his hair from his eyes. She knew her younger son was much more reserved than his brother, and he was very shy as well. She and Garrett had hoped that putting him in school with other children that it might bring him out of his shell a bit.

Looking to her husband, she saw that he had the same concerned look that she was probably wearing. He squeezed her hand and then stood to walk around the table. Squatting down by Edward's chair, he took his son's hand and looked up into his troubled face.

"What's wrong, Edward? What are you worried about?"

Edward looked between his parents and bit his lip, unsure whether he should actually voice his concerns. The worried look in his daddy's eyes decided it for him. Taking a deep breath, he glanced at his twin, then looked back to his parents.

"What if the other kids don't like me?"

Bella felt venom welling up in her eyes at his shaky voice. Edward was tall and looked much older than his actual age, but moments like this he was still very much her baby boy. She stood up and walked around to the other side of his chair, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Edward, I know you haven't really been around other people, and I'm sorry that we had to raise you that way," she spoke softly, soothing him with her voice and her arms. "That's a big reason why we want to do this now. We think y'all are big enough now that you can handle this and not make people suspicious, so we want to give you this opportunity."

Garrett wrapped his arms around both of them, prompting Jasper to run over and join in the group hug as well. "Come on, E," he said, his robust voice sounding eerily like his uncle's, "it'll be fun! We can make some new friends, and we'll learn all kinds of stuff."

Jasper could not understand why his brother was so hesitant. To him, this was the best idea ever. He would get to meet all kinds of humans, and see how they interacted with each other, and actually get to participate as well.

Edward listened to his brother's thoughts as well as his words. They just made him feel even more distant from his twin. Jasper was a typical McCarty male. He was loud, boisterous, and outgoing, even if he hadn't been in the situation to exercise that particular trait, other than when Garrett first showed up all those years ago.

It took more for Edward to open up—he had to feel truly connected to someone to share his true self, and he couldn't imagine feeling that way about anyone other than his family. And being in a room with a lot of new people was simply terrifying for him.

Jasper could feel Edward's nerves, but not the reasoning behind them. Thinking he would get more out of him if he didn't have to talk, he reached for his brother's hand and pulled him up out of his seat. "Let's go back to the treehouse, E. We can talk about this and maybe sleep out there tonight?" Jasper looked to his parents as he voiced the question.

Bella nodded and brushed his curls out of his face. Jasper had been keeping his hair around chin-length since his growth began to slow. It really suited him, making him look like an innocent angel, when his mischievous streak meant he was often anything but that.

Edward's hair was a bit shorter than Jasper's—longer on top, but trimmed shorter on the sides. He tended to run his hands through it whenever he was worried, or distracted, or just thinking, so it stood up on end most of the time.

Out in the treehouse, the boys laid down on their quilts, and Jasper reached for brother's hand again. "You gotta talk to me, E. I'm not the mind reader. I know you're nervous, but I don't know why."

He really didn't. Jasper couldn't understand what was so nerve-wracking to his twin. This was the promise of a great adventure, something he'd been dreaming of from their first exposure to humans. The softer humans smelled really good, but he was able look past his thirst and see them as people.

Edward took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He would share what he was thinking with his brother, but he couldn't look him in the eye as he did so. Using his gift, he pushed his half-formed worries and imagined horrors to his twin. He showed him the fear of standing in a group of young humans with them all pointing and laughing at him, or everyone turning their backs and ignoring him.

Edward had seen kids tease other kids on the few trips to town when his father had taken him along. He didn't understand the thoughts behind their actions—they were usually full of conflicting information. A boy teased a girl while thinking she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Another boy teased a younger boy because he was jealous of the nice shoes the boy had. Humans made no sense.

Jasper took his twin's thoughts into careful consideration. He thought he understood a little of what Edward feared. While he personally wasn't concerned about what other kids thought—he knew they would love him, after all—he could see why it would worry Edward. He would just have to make his twin see.

"Look, E, I know the humans are gonna love us. We ain't goofy looking like some of them boys—we are handsome little guys," he stated confidently. "I'm not just saying that because of what Momma says—I've seen it when we go to town. People are gonna be drawn to us—we're irresistible."

Edward sighed and stared at his brother sadly. He could tell this was one battle he was not going to win. He was going to school with the humans.

~oOo~

Forks, WA

"Emmett, may I speak with you for a moment?" Carlisle was hesitant to interrupt his son's rather uncharacteristic quiet contemplation, but he thought it would be a good moment to broach the subject that Rosalie always tried to brush off.

Emmett jumped a bit, actually startled by the older vampire's approach. He had been taking advantage of the quiet house—he thought he was home alone for once—and he was desperately trying to remember anything new about his human life.

Rosie kept him pretty well occupied—and satisfied—but when he was alone he couldn't help but wonder about the life he'd left behind. He still couldn't remember anything concrete, but he had a hazy picture of a young girl with big brown eyes, and the odd sensation of his hands on a distended stomach. He was secretly worried he'd left a pregnant wife behind when he became a vampire.

Shaking his head, he looked up at his vampire mentor—his father in almost every sense of the word. Carlisle had guided him, taught him, even disciplined him when he went against the family's way of life. Emmett didn't want to hurt humans, but he just couldn't help himself sometimes. They smelled really good.

"Sure, Pops. What's up?"

Carlisle sat down on the chair adjacent to where Emmett was lounging on the chaise. The delicate furniture didn't look like it would hold his son while he was still human, much less in his larger vampire form. However, Esme had a knack for finding sturdy furniture, and Emmett had a knack for repairing it when it broke.

"I have been reading a new psychology textbook recently, and I wanted to try an exercise with you, if that's alright."

Always up for trying new things, Emmett nodded and sat up straighter. Carlisle reached out toward him and shook his head. "No, just relax back the way you were. You need to close your eyes and try to clear your mind."

Emmett followed the directions and settled back. It was uncomfortable to his vampire instincts to close his eyes, but he reminded himself that Carlisle had saved him and he was safe with the man.

"Okay, I'm going to say a series of words, and I want to say the first thing that comes to mind," Carlisle spoke softly, evenly, and waited until Emmett nodded his understanding before saying the first word, "Sky."

Emmett responded, "Blue."

"Grass"—"Green"

This went on for a while, and then Carlisle began to shift to more personal things.

"Wife"—"Rose"

"Home"—"Tennessee"

"Brother"—"Twin"

"Sister"—"Bells"

Emmett laid there as still as a statue, except for his eyes moving rapidly behind his eyelids. Carlisle didn't say anything else, as he'd obviously found a trigger. He waited patiently for Emmett to finish processing his thoughts.

The first breath Emmett took in sounded like it was pulled from him painfully. He sat up slowly and covered his face with his hands, groaning deeply. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten so much—forgotten her, especially. His Bells. His little princess.

The longer he thought, the more he remembered, though his memories were still hazy and disconnected. He remembered his family—all his brothers, and his twin, Elliott. He remembered his sister—holding her when she was born, helping her take her first steps, walking her to school, and then the dance.

He remembered an attack, and taking his sister up to his hunting cabin. That vague memory of his hands on her swollen belly. She was pregnant. For some reason he thought there were two babies. He'd told them to behave when he went out to hunt, and then he never came home. He left her there alone, about to give birth, and he never went back for her.

Carlisle rose and went to sit by his son when Emmett's broad shoulders began to shake with the force of his sobs. He was still hesitant to speak, but he knew Emmett was never one to be short of words.

When he finally realized that sitting there crying wasn't helping his sister at all, Emmett jumped up and looked at Carlisle. "I have to go! I have to go find her!"

Carlisle panicked for a moment, knowing there was no way he could stop Emmett by himself if the larger vampire decided to make a run for it. "Wait a minute, son, who do you need to help?"

The misery in his normally jovial face was heart-wrenching. He wiped his hand across his face and sighed heavily. "I have to find Bells! She was pregnant when I left! I need to help her with the babies!"

Carlisle felt his silent heart stop. This was worse than he had imagined.