Gwendolyn

I felt like I was being watched as I started up the staircase. I glanced back at the living room to see Carlisle sitting with a tablet, speaking into it.

"It's good to hear from you. How are things in Manhattan?"

"Good, I hear from the beast that we should be expecting literary questions from the lady of the house soon," a female voice said. I paused, who on earth was the beast?

"I cannot believe Em would do that," the woman laughed. "Wait yes I can. He reminds me of Evan when he was told no about visiting his crush Alexandra in Palermo for their tenth birthday."

"Why on earth would he dream that your mother of all people would allow such a journey?"Carlisle laughed raucously for a moment before regaining his composure.

"His prefrontal cortex was skewed from so many biking accidents."

"Carlisle?"I asked hesitantly.

He glanced up, "Yes Gwendolyn?"

"Who are you talking to and who is the beast if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm talking to one of Rose and Jasper's cousins. She's older than them by about five years and married. The beast is her sister-in-law. They call her that because she has a fierce temper when upset and can be dangerous if not given time to compose herself and rationalize. You might meet one of them while you're here or at least Jamie. She's my oldest daughter's closest friend and if she decides to visit while you're here Jamie will no doubt accompany her."

I was dumbfounded. They had yet another child this one grown?

"Where does your oldest daughter live if not in Iowa?"

"Vanessa worked as a doctor in Washington for a number of years before she and her husband Jacob moved their family to Caracas so that she could teach there while working in a free clinic."

"Oh, well I hope I have the pleasure of meeting her, soon. Excuse me."

I found the lot of them on Jasper's floor. "You could have knocked," Rosalie said glancing up from the board.

"I'm an adult. I may enter a room as I please."

Rosalie muttered something that made the others laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"It occurred to me for the first time in a while that if we'd opted to live with my other aunt and uncle in New York after our parents passed we'd be being raised by my cousins now, since my aunt and uncle died some years ago. But we'd be afforded the same privacy Carlisle and Esme give us within a larger family." Rosalie smiled as Alice nudged her.

"Well I'm sorry if your parents give you such unhealthy lenience, Ms. Cullen but while I'm here you'll likely receive considerably less."

"If you say so," Alice snickered. "It seemed like you had something to ask when you came in here. What was it?"

"I wanted to know what your lives were like before you were adopted."

"My biological mother was unreliable but loving; my father was reclusive and caring. They died from heart attacks on opposite sides of the country while I was visiting a college in Texas. They were divorced and I lived with my father once I turned twelve," Bella said coolly.

"Did they have custody problems?"I asked.

Bella rolled her eyes and gave Emmett a smirk. "No, my mother wanted to travel since my stepdad was a minor league ball player. I offered to move in with my dad so she could. It was good for all involved. That's all you need to know about my life before."

"So Jasper, why did you two decide to live with Dr. and Mrs. Cullen?"

"Our aunt Miranda had seven children with her husband and Esme and Carlisle had none. They never disagreed about it and we saw them enough to satisfy all parties. It just worked for all involved; everyone had a happy home like they deserved," Jasper smiled wanly.

"Alice what about you?"

"I was in an orphanage in Biloxi until I was ten. My parents had taken my sister on a trip to the aquarium in Tennessee and left me home because I was sick. They got into a car accident in Memphis and my grandparents were all dead. Carlisle treated me for bronchitis and Esme spent her Sundays with me. Sometimes she brought Rose. We all got along so, they adopted me."

"My entire family died in a house fire when I was eleven while I was fishing with my uncle because my brother started cooking fish on the stove and it got out of control. There were also lit candles around the house so everything went down. My aunt and uncle knew Esme from her charity work and she and Carlisle opened their home," Emmett smiled.

Edward ran a hand through his hair, "My parents died of the flu but had sent my sister and I to stay with our grandmother who was too old to care for us beyond a few months. She knew Esme's mother so she asked her if they'd keep us until she could make arrangements and she never had too. She passed away shortly before the adoption was finalized. We've been with them since I was six."

"You all really seem quite happy here," I managed.

"We are," Emmett said.

"If you're finished evoking painful memories we'd like to get back to the game at hand," Rosalie said curtly.

"Just one more thing. What do you intend to do tomorrow?"

"You'll see, if you don't sleep through it," Bella said.

"There's no way she can Bells," Alice grinned.

A/N: Palermo is a Sicilian town where Rose's biological maternal grandparents are from. Evan's her cousin and is mentioned in Remembering Rochester. If you guys review I'll feel inclined to post a short tale about Rose and a certain musician's son from her childhood. :D If you review you'll get to contribute to a Holiday Megastory!