Chapter 12

"There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained" -Winston Churchill

Fred walked into the cabin with an armload of wood. Cocking his head, he noticed something was...different. He took a deep breath and it hit him.

Human.

The scent was there, and he could knew it, the venom pooling in his mouth, but he breathed a sigh of relief when that was all it was. No raging need to devour, no thoughtless, mindless killing machine; it was a nice change.

He dropped the load of logs in the pile next to the fireplace, and listened to see if he could hear any of his new family. Kate was out on the porch, so he headed to the front door.

He opened the door, just as she was trying to hold the box and fumble with the latch at the same time. The weight wasn't the problem, but even vampires only have two hands.

She walked in with the large package. "We got a delivery! Good thing you were out, Fred," she chuckled.

"So, that's why I smell human," he commented, looking over her blonde head to see what the box was about.

"Well, unless you know of a vampire Fed-Ex man, yes. Well, looky, looky...It has your name on it, Fred." Kate shoved it across the floor with her foot, watching it stop at his confused feet.

He stared at the tag, and could see the return address of the Cullen's in Forks, Washington. What he didn't understand was why it said Fred Sorensen. Sorensen was his maternal grandmother's name.

"I don't get it, Kate; that's not my name."

Kate's laughter tinkled through the open space. "Well, you can't really go by Fred Burch, now can you? He's dead. You can go back to it in 50 years or so, but for now, you need to have another name. Be happy Jasper likes historical research, if it'd been Emmett to give you a last name, you'd have something like Fuzzinutt"

Fred groaned. "Thank you, Jasper—whoever you are." Fred started opening the box. On the very top was a silver cell phone on top of a white envelope with the words, "read me" scrawled on it. He cautiously opened the envelope, and skimmed to the bottom to see that it was from Bella.

His heart tightened in his chest at her thoughtfulness. It seems one of her...sisters—he was still getting used to the idea of vampiric families—was a shopaholic, and went on a bit of a spending spree, getting him clothes that would actually fit. He dug around, finding a number of denim jeans, some nice slacks, thick flannels, sweaters, and a few button downs. From the tone of Bella's note, she'd had to severely rein in her sister Alice.

The next comment in her letter was about a folder. Inside were new identification papers and a credit card with his name on it. Bella had explained that the families pooled wealth; as the Cullens had more to do with humans than the Denalis, and with Alice's ability to see the future, well, the stock market wasn't much of a challenge. Jasper made sure all the paperwork was in order

She also added that she had had a real problem accepting the Cullen generosity herself, especially when she had first met them, but hoped that he would know it wasn't meant to offend him. He was family now..

She had added the phone herself, writing how, since he had yet to call her. Fred smiled at that and noted that she had programmed all the family's numbers in it-even the ones he didn't know yet.

He chuckled when he saw a note pinned to a creamy fisherman's knit sweater. In dainty handwriting, it said "Wear me first!"

He looked at Kate, having nearly forgotten she was there, with a wide smile on her face.

Fred looked at her, flabbergasted, and asked, "Is this normal?"

"A welcome to the family box? Well, besides Bella, we haven't really welcomed anyone new. They already knew Garrett and since he had his own clothes, all he had gotten was the file folder." She chuckled.

"They're very...thorough, aren't they?"

Kate sat next to him and nudged him. "Don't you think they have to do be, to live among humans?"

Fred stilled for a moment, then nodded. "I can't imagine how careful they must be."

"Oh, they've made their mistakes, trust me!" Kate nudged him again.

Fred flipped open the phone, and looked through the listings, and smiled wistfully at the built in family he had fallen into. If he were still human, he would cry. He didn't deserve this family when he'd taken such poor care of his human one, but he would try to be worthy of it, just the same.

He clicked the dial button, and smiled at the thought of his long-distant sister.

"Hey, Fred! I'm so glad you finally called!" Bella's voice came through teasingly.

"Bella, I don't know what to say except thank you. It is so generous and thoughtful," Fred said emotionally.

"I was lucky, Fred. When I was changed, I was surrounded by people who loved and supported me. My family made everything so much easier. I'm just paying it forward."

"Well, I'm giving you a huge big brother hug next time I see you."

He could hear her smile over the phone, "I thought I was the big sister? Anyway, Alice wanted me to tell you that the sweater she put the note on?" she said with a mischievous tone to her voice.

"Yeah?" concern colored his voice.

"She says be careful with it; It's going to be one of Tanya's favorites," Bella giggled.

"Brat," Fred muttered.

"Maybe, but you love me anyway. Alice says you won't have time now for a heart to heart, but you and me, we're gonna have a chat soon about that," Bella warned.

"You really are like a big sister. And you're right, I do love you. Which is why I can't just tell you to go to hell, and that it's none of your business."

Bella laughed loudly. "As if that would stop me! Now, don't be a stranger. Alice says the rest of the family will be coming back in only a few minutes, so I'll head off."

"I won't be. Talk to you soon." Fred closed the phone and tossed it on top of the pile in the box. He hefted it up in one arm, and gave Kate a one armed hug. "Thanks…really."

Kate just smiled at him as he walked away.

Fred dropped the box on his bed, pulling everything out, only to find that clothes, papers and phone weren't the only generosity, but also a laptop and...books.

Never mind a big brother hug, he was going to kiss his 'sister' when he saw her next. Much as he loved his new family, the only one who really liked reading much was Eleazar, who preferred to read in Spanish when possible. Garrett liked reading now and then, but being so new to the family, he hadn't had time to really build up a library, and Fred had already read everything of interest in the first week.

God Bless her, was all he could think.

He quickly put everything away, except for the specified sweater, a pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers that were included, and headed to the bathroom for the shower he had promised himself.