Author notes:

Emm is my awesome beta --- she keeps me from doing really stupid things. Kisses to my DH - he has read the books and reads my story too - what a great guy.

Stephenie Meyer is the great creator of this wonderful vampire universe and I feel honored to dream here.

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We didn't go into the house just parked in the garage and started back around. Edward smiled a crooked smile at me and said, "Let's go for a run."

I nodded and followed him out through the trees. I lost myself in the feel of running, the wind blowing past my face, and just enjoying the movement. The exhilaration of running relieved the tension and stress of the past few days. We passed by one of the forts. In my mind, it seemed as though the game had happened another life time ago. The thought passed through my mind like water through a sieve and I continued to think of nothing other than the run.

While we ran, the air turned colder again and the rain changed to snow. After two more hours, we stopped in a beautiful clearing. The skies were dark, the forest so quiet, a few flakes drifted lazily to the ground. Edward pulled me close and kissed me hard, his eyes were dark and burned in a way I had never seen before. "We should take our clothes off so we don't have to run back naked," he whispered.

The look burned through me with I removed my clothing as fast as I could without ripping them. I turned to see his body in all the splendor of its natural glory and attacked before I could even think. We each gave ourselves over to instinct and animalistic urges - Growls, hisses and mewling howls reverberated through the forest.

When we finally collapsed, in a satisfied jumble, in the middle of the clearing, a few things caught my attention. First of all, several trees, previously standing tall and straight, were off kilter, leaning this way and that. There was one tree uprooted and a couple others that had snapped in half. I remembered Emmett's comments a few years ago, before our arm wrestle. So, that's how they destroyed so many houses, I thought to myself. I had to admit, letting go like that was completely exhilarating. I hadn't ever given my instincts total control like that and I had never seen Edward that way before - I confess - I liked it, very much.

The forest was quiet again, the snow was falling a little harder now but not much. Then I heard faint growls, they were getting louder as the animal neared. It was downwind so I couldn't smell it. Then my dead heart nearly restarted when, with the growls, I heard giggles. Edward and I both got to our feet in a vampire flash. He took my hand and dashed to the trees with our clothing. We hurriedly dressed so Jake and Nessie would not catch us in such an exposed state. I could tell they were coming from the direction of the reservation – I figured they were hunting. Edward and I agreed to wait while they passed us and then hunt our way back to our cottage. I held my breath to contain my nervous giggles while we quickly dressed and waited for them to pass us.

I could see them running towards the clearing. The big russet wolf chased the auburn beauty and then she chased him in an odd sort of leapfrog. Her run was more like a dance each leap was graceful, each step, elegant as she made her way through the forest. His run was so smooth and fluid it looked as though he were on flat clear ground rather than running through the rough terrain of the forest. I could see the air push through his fur. They entered the clearing and immediately began wrestling and playing around just like always. The sight made me smile - they were best friends as well as husband and wife.

Ness had nearly pinned Jake when Jake flipped her over in one lithe movement. I could see her there, her head between his front paws. He began to nuzzle her face and his figure shimmered just a little. Edward grabbed me and gruffly whispered, "We have to leave, now!" He was off like a shot and I followed a half second later, slightly confused. Why did we need to leave in such a hurry?

Worried about my husband, I tried to keep up with him but Edward was running at top speed. I went as fast as I could but I knew I wouldn't be able to catch up until he stopped or, at least, slowed down a bunch. It was not long before, he was out of eyesight. I followed his scent and wondered why he was not going towards the cottage. I followed him out to our meadow. He stood in the middle of the meadow still as a statue. I came to the edge and watched him. I was still confused, why the emergency? I walked slowly over to him. "What's wrong, my love?"

He took a deep breath. "Jacob's thoughts," he shuddered, "Renesmee's thoughts. It was too much - more than a father should ever see."

I couldn't resist…. I started laughing, I laughed so hard I couldn't speak.

"Oh, yea, it's real funny," sarcasm flowed freely. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry," I giggled."You act like the world is ending and it's just them…. They are married you know."

"I know they are married, but still - I don't want to know about it."

I regained my composure, "We were hiding from them and they thought they were alone – each was perfectly justified."

"I realize that, but I will never be able to forget it," He whined.

I took a deep breath and wished I could relieve some of his heart ache. I hated to see him so upset, even if the reason had made me giggle. We started walking back home. He was still visibly disturbed and I wanted to help so badly. The only thing that would help is if he could forget. Vampires never forget – they are worse than elephants, I reminded myself. For a moment, I wished I could go back in time so I could block him – so he would hear those thoughts. If I could erase that one small memory, I would. I sighed.

Edward gave me a funny look. "What?" I asked him.

"I don't know," He looked very puzzled.

It was odd but I didn't really think much about it and I started to think about my dad's house. We would need to start cleaning it out. I was trying to decide whether or not to fix it up before we put it on the market. Either way, the selling price would be about the same. Esme might like to fix it up anyway, just for fun. I smiled at the thought and started considering what could be done to make the house look nicer.

I could see our house way off in the distance; it looked like somebody was sitting on the step. I narrowed my eyes, but I still couldn't see who. Edward noticed my expression. "It's just Alice," he said smiling. I was glad he was smiling again.

When she saw us she danced out to greet us. "Guess what," her eyes twinkled.

"Well, I would guess it doesn't have anything to do with "The Song of the South," Edward chuckled.

She stuck her tongue out at him and smiled at me. "Angela and Ben are moving to Forks."

Angela and Ben had gotten married a few years ago just after they had both gotten their bachelor's degrees. Angela had been working as a nurse, while Ben finished up a masters degree in computer science. He was looking to be a special affects/ computer animation kind of guy so I never expected they would be back. I blinked and looked back at my pixie friend. "OK?"

She grinned, "Ben's job is telecommuting so, they can live wherever they want. And, Angela's pregnant – well, she will be soon. "

I thought about it for a second and smiled, "Do they have a place to live?"

"Nope." She popped the P.

"I was hoping that's what you'd do," she gushed. "I'll go talk to Esme. You two get cleaned up and come up to the house we've got to get this all planned." She danced away.

Edward pulled me close from behind and whispered, "You are so kind and generous, in every way. It makes me love you even more, every time I see it." He pulled my hair to the side and placed gentle kisses around the back of my neck just above my shirt collar. It sent chills down my spine.

"Well, I've always felt bad about missing their wedding. Giving them the house is just a belated wedding gift," I smiled. It wasn't until then that I noticed what a mess we were. We must have dropped our clothes in a mud puddle back in that clearing. We had a delightful shower, dressed and made our way back over to the main house.

I went into the dining room to see Esme and Edward went to find Jasper and Emmett. It sounded like they were playing Wii again.

Esme was sitting at the huge table drawing up plans. She had fabric samples and paint chips all organized according to color scheme. I loved the glint in her eye when she was working on a masterpiece. You could see how much enjoyment she got from beautifying everything. "She didn't look up from the plans she was drawing. "Bella, do you want to add on to the house?"

I thought about it for a minute. "Hey, Alice," I said in a regular voice. I couldn't see her but I knew she would be able to hear me.

"A girl and twin boys," the answer floated down from above us. I smiled - I just loved her.

"Yea, can we add a master bedroom to the upper floor, expanding the kitchen and putting a family room on the main floor?"

Esme nodded, "That's kind of what I was thinking. Just give me a couple of minutes and I'll have the rough draft drawn up."

I went to find my love. He was laughing at Emmett who was losing a rousing game of ping pong to Rosalie. I didn't know she played. Edward continued to chuckle.

"OK, I won," Rosalie huffed, "now you will…" she trailed off with a look in her eyes that told me Emmett knew exactly what he would be doing. I shielded Edward as fast as I could and gratitude washed across his face.

"Thanks," he mouthed. I smiled.

Emmett looked incredulous. "But you've never played before – how could you win?"

"It's not rocket science." Rose flipped her hair and examined her nails.

Emmett followed his wife outside looking dejected. I was sure it was only because he had lost the game and whatever bet… I was so glad I was not Edward. I really didn't want to think about what Emmett and Rosalie would be betting about. I kept my shield around him for a few more minutes until I was sure they were out of his range.

I pulled my shield away and Edward smiled, "Hey, the newlyweds are here." Edward jumped up to the front door and met them in the yard. My mouth gaped as I watch Edward joke around with Jake. Hadn't he just been so mad with Jake - he couldn't even run slow enough for me to keep up? Now, he was all happy to see Jake. What had happened? I ran the last couple of hours through my mind. I didn't know what had made this difference but Edward seemed just fine with Jake right now.

"Bella," I heard Esme from where I stood on the front porch. I slipped inside, filing the thought away for future pondering.

"What do you think of this?" Esme pointed to her drawing as I entered the room. "I enlarged the bedrooms just a bit and moved the bath room over to make room for a hall to the master bedroom. It is a good sized master bed room but nothing too over the top," She smiled. "Then on the main floor, we have enough room to double the size of the kitchen add a bit to the living room , give a good sized family room and a small office for Ben . We can keep the fireplace just where it is."

"Oh, it's perfect, a great family home. I'm sure they will love it."

"If you want we can make a fenced area of yard with a swing set and maybe a detached garage back here," she pointed towards the back corner of the house plans.

"Can we get it all done before they need it?"

"You bet!" Alice danced in. "They don't even know they are coming, yet. We will be able to have it all done just in time. They really don't even have any furniture to speak of so we should furnish it, too."

"You don't think that's too much?"

"Absolutely not, if we do this for them Angie will get to be a stay-at- home mom just like she wants."

If the gift we were giving their family was a great mom to raise great kids, I would agree to it any day. I knew Angela would be the best mom any little kid ever had.

"Hi, Mom," Nessie came over and gave me a squeeze. "What are you guys working on?"

"Well, I thought since we had fixed your place up on the reservation that I would give Charlie's house to some friends of mine who are starting a family and we are talking about how to fix it up." I was suddenly concerned Jake and Renesmee would want the house. I wondered why I had not considered it before.

"How wonderful!" my lovely daughter exclaimed, "It's a perfect idea."

I was instantly relieved of my brief panic. Of course, Jake would want to be on the reservation I reasoned. Esme showed Alice and Ness the plans and they offered input. This house was going to be amazing; Angela and Ben would have everything they would need.

"We should go over to the house and start going through things," Alice said quietly. She knew that it would be a difficult process.

I took a deep breath and said, "Alright," at the exact moment as my daughter and in the same tone. Alice shook her head and laughed. We followed her out to let our husbands know where we were going.

Renesmee had a hard time entering the empty house but once we were inside she seemed O.K. Ness picked up a bunch of Charlie's fishing gear and set it aside to take home with her. We gathered things to be given to Goodwill and other things to just be thrown out. Alice decided we would need a dumpster and a U-Haul and made two quick phone calls. I insisted Ness take the rocking chair and she agreed.

I hoped she would be rocking those grand babies soon, I doubted she would have many fertile years. I had discussed the possibilities very briefly with Carlisle. The thought almost made me laugh - I could possibly be the world's only 18 year old grandmother or even great grandmother. I found several boxes of pictures and set them aside.

We found my crib in the basement. It was in very good shape and up to safety code so we decided we could give it to them, too. A nursery would be set up in the smallest bedroom. Esme had decided to go with a neutral theme. The walls would be painted sky blue with white fluffy clouds and pastel balloons floating through. Pastel balloons would decorate everything else. It would feel like you were floating in the sky. It would feel calm and not too girly – a lovely nursery.

I heard Jake's car pull up outside. Renesmee and Edward had given Jake a classic Mustang to rebuild a few years ago. He had finished it just before he and Nessie were engaged. It was a candy apple red 1968 Mustang GT Fastback. Jake's loved it almost as much as he loved my little girl.

I walked into the kitchen. Nothing in the house had been too difficult to deal with until now. The yellow cabinets filled me with sadness. I had not talked to my mother in four years. Phil had a huge falling out with Charlie over me. They had come to visit for the first time since my change. After what, I thought, had been a lovely dinner, both Phil and Renee were very sure something was wrong with me and insisted that Charlie convince me to leave Edward. He tried to convince them how very wrong they were but they would not be deterred.

If he wouldn't talk to me, they decided, they would. Charlie stopped them; they left the next day without saying good bye. Not one of them had told me of the problem until Mom and Phil left and I insisted Charlie tell me what had happened. Charlie spilled the whole thing right there so fast he hardly took time to breathe. I felt bad about the whole situation. I tried several times to call and they never answered. Eventually, the line was disconnected.

Not wanting to think about the situation one minute more, I moved over to the font room and looked out the window. Ness was bending over the back of the Mustang putting the fishing equipment in. Jake and Edward were standing off to the side. Jake was watching her closely. Edward growled a feral growl and pushed Jake hard back into the trees.

I shook my head and laughed. I figured if I was going to spend eternity with Edward I better have a sense of humor. He sure didn't have one right now.

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