"Oh... uh..." Carlisle stutters.

I immediately take my hat from my head and stand up, he soon follows suit.

"Oh... god... uh... sorry." He mutters, ducking from the tent.

"Uhm... in that case... I can go see about getting you dresses."

Alyssa looks up, biting her lip, looking on the verge of tears.

"Aren't you mad?"

"Well... shocked, yes. Surprised, defiantly. But not mad. Why would I be mad?"

She holds her sister in her lap, leaning over her protectively. Now, looking closer, I can identify hits of curves at the older one's waist that the baggy clothes had masked before.

"Because I lied to you."

"For good reason. You stand a much better chance on the streets if you look like boys, but you're fine here, no one will try to... uh... bother you."

Alyssa blushes again, though not as deeply as before.

"So, would you rather see if we could find you two dresses?"

"Where would there be dresses at an army camp?"

"I know someone who may have some. I'm not sure if they'll fit very well though."

She nods, looking down at her sister.

I lean over and scoop Samantha into my arms, one arm under her knees, the other her back.

"Come on, let's see what we can find."

She silently gets up and follows behind me, out the flap and into the street.

"Emmett!" I shout across the camp to the mess unit.

"I swear, I didn't do it!" He calls back, jogging over to our tent. "You can't prove anything."

"Emmett," I sigh, "I-"

"Really, you can't."

"I don't care about that right now Emmett. I just need to know where Rosalie is."

He smirks, a billion comments swimming through his mind.

"Don't even think of saying any of those."

He glares at me.

"I dropped her off in the mess tent last night. She's probably sleeping though, we got back pretty late."

"Okay, thanks Emmett. And, by the way, it was you and I can prove it."

"Wait, wait, what's that supposed to mean? I didn't leave any evidence. You can't prove anything."

I start walking away, as he stands at the entrance of the tent, fuming about how he's sure he didn't leave any evidence.

"Miss Rosalie?" I call into the tent. and I set Samantha

I look around and see her sleeping on a cot in the corner of the mess tent, a makeshift wall blocking her view from the entrance. There is an extra cot on the other side of the tent and I set Samantha on it, then walk over to where Rosalie is sleeping.

"Excuse me, Rosalie, wake up."

I shake her shoulder. Her eyes slide open and she gasps, sitting straight up, he blanket falling to her waist. I feel my face turn red and turn my back to her, taking several steps away from her. Noticing her condition she screams and presumably pulls the blanket up over her.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry Miss." I stutter.

She mumbles something unintelligible, then asks me to hand her the dress on the cot next to Samantha, who is looking down at the floor along with her sister. I hold it behind my back and she takes it.

"Excuse me, Miss, but in a camp full of men, why did you decide to go to sleep without clothes."

"Ask Emmett." Is all she says.

I close my eyes and let out a long breath, running my hand over my eyes and down my chin.

"Would you like me to tell him to leave you alone?"

"No. I don't mind Emmett. It's Laurent you need to talk to. He doesn't know how to take no for an answer."

"I'm sorry, I will."

"You're Jasper, right? You're the man who shares a tent with Emmett?"

"Yes, I've known him since we were children."

"Mmm."

She walks around to stand in front of me, looking from me, to the children, then back to me.

"Who are they?"

"Alyssa and Samantha. I found them while posting notices for the evacuation. I was wondering if you had any spare dresses they could borrow?"

"Uh, yeah. How old are they?"

I look to them, unsure.

"I'm twelve, my sister is eight." Alyssa says.

Rosalie nods, looking at Alyssa.

"I have a few dresses a bit small on me. I think I know one that will fit you."

She pulls a trunk out from under her cot and flips it open, fishing through it's contents until she pulls out a pale pink dress with a sage ribbon around the waist and two hair ribbons the same color. She holds it up in front of her, nodding to herself and setting it on the cot, latching the trunk and sliding it back in place.

"And I have a daughter about your age, I think her dresses will fit you." She looks a Samantha.

"You have a daughter?" I ask, unaware of this.

"Who's cot do you think this is?" She asks, patting the bed Samantha is on.

"Oh, uh... she's here? At this camp?"

"Yes, she's in town right now though, she spends most of her time there with some old friends of mine. I don't necessarily want her around some of the men here if you know what I mean."

"Uh... yeah."

She pulls a trunk out from under her daughter's cot and looks through it. It is filled with dresses and dolls and ribbons and a slate and chalk. Even for a well off child, she had more stuff than most her age. Rosalie must have noticed me looking in the trunk and offered an explanation.

"Gifts. Mostly from Emmett. He loves her."

I nod, but wonder when he's even met her if she spends so little time at camp that even the commanding officers didn't know about her.

"Here, this should fit." She pulls out a pink dress covered in little flowers.

I go around the makeshift wall and look outside so they can change. I guess they must have thought I had left, because shortly after Rosalie asked what the girls thought of me.

"He seems nice." Alyssa says.

"Nice is an understatement. He could have any girl on the island but he wouldn't even consider it. Not for a second."

"Why not?"

"Maria. They're supposed to get married. When he gets back from the war he's supposed to propose to her."

"What do you mean supposed to?"

"Their parents planned it all out. They've basically been engaged since they were like five."

A heavy silence follows. Before Samantha asks for help standing. A few minutes later the three of them come around the corner of the wall.

"Oh, uh... Major Whitlock. I didn't know you were still there."

"You can call me Jasper."

"Were you, uh... listening?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh."

"Is it true?" Samantha asks.

"Samantha." Her sister scolds.

"It's fine. It's true. Our parent's made a deal before we were born. I've never met her, she's from Tennessee."

"If she's from Tennessee then how did your parent's know them?" Rosalie asked.

"We're cousins. I'm assuming that Emmett told you about her?"

"Yes, he obviously didn't say much though."

"Yeah, well, our mother's were pregnant at the same time but both with boys. Technically it was supposed to be first born son and daughter from each family, but my mother died a few hours after I was born and Maria's mother had three boys before she was born. She's five year's younger than me. I was supposed to propose when she was fourteen, but I was here."

"She's only fourteen?" Rosalie asks.

"Um, yeah. I don't intend to marry her until she's sixteen, but our parent's had something in the agreement about the engagement. I'm supposed to propose as soon as possible."

"I'm sorry." Rosalie says, patting my shoulder.

"No, it's fine. I intend to go through with it. A promise was made on my behalf, even if I didn't know about it."

Maria. My fiance who I had never met. I fully intend to marry her once she has turned sixteen, but I'm not so sure if she wishes the same of me. She doesn't necessarily have the power to call off the wedding, but I do. The honorable thing to do would be to go through with it as I plan to, but if she would rather marry someone else then I don't want her to feel obliged- though technically she is.

"Can you walk?" I ask Samantha, trying to change the subject.

"I don't know. When I'm holding on to someone I can."

"Do you think you could make it back to the tent?"

"I'm not sure."

"Do you want to try?"

"Yes sir."

I hold her under the arm and start at a slow pace in the direction of my tent. After a few steps Rosalie rushes up behind me, grabbing me by the shoulder, yanking me to a stop.

"Wait, here, this is for you." She bends over and puts a doll in Samantha's hand.

It is fabric, not china, but it looks well made and it had a beautiful face painted on it and long, dark hair made of yarn. Deffinatly homemade, but done very well.

"Thank you!" She hops up and gives Rosalie a hug around the neck.

Rosalie hug's back, lifting her into the air and setting her back down on her good foot. I take her by the arm again and we hobble off to the tent Emmett and I share.

"Alyssa, you can have my cot, and you can take Emmett's, Samantha. I'll see about some slightly more permanent arrangements. I may be able to get an extra tent for y'all so you won't have to cram in there with Rosalie and her daughter."

They don't say anything, but each sit on their respective cots.

"I'll leave you be, y'all should probably get some sleep. I need to go see about the first evacuation train, I'll be back by lunch though."

"Yes sir Major Whitlock." Alyssa says.

"I told you you could call me Jasper."

"I-I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

I drop the flap of the tent and turn to look at her.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?"