Disclaimer: Twilight's still not mine.

A/N: Yeah, I know, it's been way more than a month since I updated... I'm sorry. I really thought that this would go much more quickly than it did.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I felt like a convict: Jasper and Emmett stood on either side of me, dripping watery mud and debris. Carlisle stood across from us, looking like a forbidding one-man firing squad, his revolver replaced by a green garden hose dangling from one hand while the other was poised on the brass knob jutting out from the side of the house. His gimlet eyes rested on us. A distant thought crossed my mind: So this is how a reprobate toddler feels.

"You boys brought this on yourselves. You're not stepping foot into that house until you're at least somewhat clean. And don't get anythinganywhere or your mother will kill us all."

"Why'd she paint everything white again?" Emmett mumbled rebelliously. "I mean, really, with a perpetual teenager like Edward around…"

My hand smacked into the back of his head; he stumbled forward and turned to glare at me. I smirked cheekily, suppressing laughter at the thoughts going through his head. He launched himself at me again, catching me around the middle and driving me to the ground. I groaned—he laughed. Jasper plucked him off of me, chuckling. "Come on Emmett, we've really got to let him get cleaned up. Bella will have our heads if we're the reasons he's late, and he really needs to clean himself up," he said, wrinkling his nose in my direction, "And really, Edward, you smell…bad."

I growled at him, picking myself up from the ground and preparing to attack: then a stream of water hit me in the side of the head, driving thought from my head. Carlisle laughed as he directed the hose at me: "He's right, you know: Bella will want to see you soon. And even an old relic like me isn't so dense as to believe that she wants you showing up on her doorstep like that." I looked down at myself: truly, I was in worse condition that any of the others. I'd lost my shoes and one sock somewhere while running, my pants were torn and stained, and my shirt hung off of one shoulder, stretched from Jasper pulling on it in an effort to slow me down. Random blades of grass clung to me, along with bits of forest debris. I grinned: "You know, I really think she'd still take me."

"Edward, you look like a pile of yard waste," Jasper said, raising one eyebrow at me.

"A thoroughly pummeled pile of yard waste," Emmett added.

"I'm still more handsome than both of you!"

"You wish. You look like you have a mop on your head."

I opened my mouth to retort, but found it filled with water instead. I gagged, instinct forcing me to cough up the liquid. Carlisle's expression was just a bit too innocent. He was, however, stern as he commanded us to stop bickering and told me to take a lap around the yard: running at full speed would dry me enough that I would not have to worry about the consequences of tracking mud all throughout the house. I sped off, smiling. Although an outsider might think that we were all mortal enemies, a careful observer would see that every word was only playful banter. That we truly were a family, despite a lack of biological ties.

I leapt to my feet, sprinting away: their thoughts still followed me. The mental voice that was distinctly Emmett's rang through most clearly: You know, I bet Bella would enjoy playing our little games. I don't think that I could pick a human that I would like to have as a little sister more. We all like her—even Rose is coming around. And you know how hard it is to get her to do that. Just think about it—what it would mean to all of us. And to her.

My feet hit the ground a little faster, driven by the desire to leave behind the thoughts—the temptations. I knew every aspect of Emmett's argument: After all, it was one that I had used against myself many times. Now, at this moment, it was not something I wanted to think about. Instead, I wished to dwell on the intense joy I felt at being alive—something I had never felt in such a manner before Bella came into my life.

It didn't take me long to dry off, shower, dress, and get ready to go. Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmet were just coming inside as I dashed down the stairs, eager to be going. Carlisle caught me by the shoulder as I was about to leave, a smile on his face. "I don't think you know yet—but one of Esme's paintings got accepted for the premiere of a little gallery in Seattle. Why don't you see if Charlie will let you take Bella? It's April seventh, seven o'clock—that's this weekend. And congratulate your mother when you get home."

I was dumbfounded—I hadn't even known that Esme had been painting anything but old houses in the past few months. A small wave of guilt swept through me: this was one more piece of evidence of how distant I had been from my family. "Thanks, Carlisle," I said, smiling gratefully. He rolled his eyes at me, his thought coming across clearly; Go see Bella already—She has to be impatient to see you by now. A smile flashed across my face as I darted out the door and I raced to my car, eager to see Bella again.