Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is a little bit of filler. Enjoy! Please leave feedback. The good parts are coming up next.

P.S. Is anyone else having problems with the traffic stats and hits on their stories?

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Walking into the house, I could hear Nessie already scouring the cupboards for ingredients. It was easy to tell when she was having more human moments than vampire. The decibels of noise grew exponentially when she decided she was going to act human.

What is all the noise? Esme's sweet thoughts crossed my mind before she entered the kitchen. I leaned against the counter, gesturing to the little girl half hidden in the state of the art refrigerator only she and the pack of werewolves ate from. Food spoiling in this house was never a problem with them around.

"We're going to make cookies!" Nessie gushed excitedly, pulling the eggs out and placing them next to me. I looked down at my feet, not wanting to make eye contact with Esme. I could tell from her thoughts that she was watching me carefully.

She and Bella don't know, do they? I shook my head quickly. Are you going to tell them? I didn't respond. If they ask? Will you be able to keep it from them? I shook my head again. If they asked, I would tell them. I had kept it a secret for too long.

"Grammy, do we have chocolate chips?" Nessie asked, interrupting our silent conversation.

"There should be some in the freezer, unless the boys found them last time they were over."

Alice saw that we needed them for some reason. I never expected that to be the reason. I should have warned you Edward. To give you a little time.

"It's alright Esme, it's about time I let it go." I said quietly, so Nessie wouldn't hear. But over the noise she was making with the cupboard doors, I wouldn't be surprised that anyone could hear. Esme took my hand and gave it a little squeeze.

Everything happens for a reason, Edward. Think of all that you wouldn't have, if that had worked out. She wasn't right for you. But Bella has been your destiny.

"I know." Squeezing her hand back, I gave her a little smile. It had taken decades for me to accept what had happened back then, and several more decades to block the thoughts entirely. Until I met Bella, I thought there was no happiness for the monster I was.

"Okay Dad, I have everything." Nessie said aloud, to pull me out of my thoughts again.

"I'll leave you two to your fun. Don't burn down my house." Esme kissed Nessie and I both before going back upstairs. Looking at the counter, I inspected the ingredients that Nessie had pulled out of the cupboards. There was a lot more here than needed, but for her first cooking adventure, she was off to a good start.

"Let's get started." I smiled down at her, and pushed the sleeves of my shirt up. I didn't need Alice's gift to foresee that this was going to be extremely messy.

"Have you ever made cookies before?" Nessie asked as she read the instructions on the back of the chocolate chip bag. Her level of focus was entertaining, reading intensely to make sure she didn't make a mistake.

"Yes, back when I was human." I handed her the sticks of butter to warm between her hands.

"Really? Were you any good at cooking?"

"Not really," I laughed, thinking back to those blurry memories. Miranda was always the one cooking, trusting me occasionally to stir.

"You're doing it again." She sighed, placing her hand on my cheek again to show me in a thoughtful daze.

"I'm sorry. Cookies make me a little nostalgic to my human life." I explained, picking up the measuring cup for the sugar.

"What were you like when you were human?" Dropping the sticks of butter into the bowl, she looked up at me curiously.

"Well, it was right before the first World War when your grandfather changed me. I was a typical teenage boy for that decade. I loved my family, and did anything I could for them. My father was a lawyer, and I helped him in his office as a messenger boy."

"Like delivering letters?"

"Yes. We didn't have fax machines, or email, so to get a message somewhere fast, they would send boys down the street to other office buildings or to the post office." I explained to her.

"Did you have a girlfriend?" I was starting to believe she inherited ADD from her mother, always quickly changing subjects and not able to stay on a certain topic for very long. Her thoughts were centered around Jacob, and a faceless figure. She did not know of her destiny to be with Jacob, and it was only reasonable for her to test out others before knowing he was the best option for her.

"Yes, in a way I did. Dating back then is not the same as it is today. There were a lot more rules involved." I dumped the sugar into the bowl, and reached over for the eggs. At least eggs brought back good memories of Bella, and our honeymoon. The old memory I associated them with was one I always wanted to forget. Egg shells and yolks splattered on the floor, tension thicker than fog.

"Mom says you were very old fashioned when you dated."

"It comes with old age, but I still believe all women should be treated that way. It shows respect and love."

"Jacob always holds the door open for me, like you do." She gushed, her thoughts pushed the faceless figure out, and was replaced by warm feelings toward Jacob. By trying to block her thoughts, my own cloudy memories were starting to surface.

"What was your girlfriend like?" She asked now, seeing that I was back to daydreaming.

"She was very kind. Her name was Miranda. She worked in her parent's bakery that was next to my father's law office." I told her. Finally revealing these memories to someone other than myself felt like the darkest areas of my mind were beginning to lighten. Would I finally be free of the monster I thought I was by revealing the past?

Nessie's thoughts interrupted my own. She was staring down at the cookie ingredients, but picturing my face back in the cottage when she first mentioned the idea. We don't have to make them.

"Darling, it's alright. I want to share this with you. I just wish you were the one that could read thoughts, it would be easier that way."

"Grandpa says that nothing worth doing is easy." She said quietly, looking up at me with innocent eyes. Just like her mother, she was hard to say no to.

"Well," I said slowly, "make yourself comfortable and I'll tell you the tale of Edward Masen and his first love."