"Is this seat taken?" A soft voice asked hesitantly.

Edward glanced up from his phone to the woman in front of him. "No, go right ahead," he assured her.

The lady thanked him, and took the seat. It was then that he noticed that she had a little girl with her. The girl was about seven years old and while the woman was young, he assumed she was the girl's mother. They were at the airport, waiting at the gate to board their plane. It was packed full of people, nearly every seat at the gate had already been taken. The flight was delayed and left people milling around impatiently.

The little girl laughed loudly as her mother tickled her. The shrill laughter drew Edward's attention and he noticed that she had Down Syndrome.

While the noise had garnered the attention of several people, almost everyone looked away, all except two. A man and woman, who were sitting directly across from them, regarded the girl with what looked like irritation. Edward frowned, but said nothing, going back to his phone. However, out of the corner of his eye, Edward noticed the couple whispering between themselves, constantly glancing over towards the mother and her daughter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, flight 8413 to Kelowna has been slightly delayed due to our systems being temporarily offline. They are back online but there is a slight backlog. We will provide an update shortly," a voice said over the PA system.

Edward overheard the mother say that she was going to get a coffee, pointing to the airport cafè a few feet away. She told the girl to stay in her seat, and not to cause trouble; don't talk to anyone unless needed. The little girl heeded the commands and the mother left.

Edward attempted to subtly steal glances between the girl and his phone. The first five minutes she was alone, she played with her hands, mouthing something, maybe a song. The girl then rummaged through a glittery, purple purse that hung against her hip and pulled out a Barbie doll. She continued to sing quietly as she began to play with the doll.

The little girl suddenly realized she was being watched, glancing in Edward's direction. He smiled at her. The girl hesitated, before lifting Barbie's hand, waving it enthusiastically.

"Hi, Barbie," Edward spoke softly as he waved back.

Something else caught the little girl's eye and she lifted the doll's hand again. Edward followed her gaze to see the couple sitting across the aisle. The same couple who hadn't stopped staring. They gave no acknowledgement to Barbie's greeting and instead shifted in their seats, noses wrinkling as they looked away.

Edward sensed an air of pretentiousness from them and frowned at their rudeness. The little girl seemed unfazed by it though, going back to play with her doll. Edward pocketed his phone, then leaned across the aisle, towards the couple.

"Could I have a piece of paper?" He asked.

Both the man and woman were caught off guard. "Pardon?" the man prompted, taken aback.

Edward motioned towards the notebook sitting on the man's lap. "Do you think I could have a blank piece of paper?"

"Yeah, sure…" the man said, still bewildered. He tore out a blank page and handed it to Edward. "How about this delay, ay? You would think these fancy airlines –"

Edward curtly interrupted the man's attempt at conversation. "Thanks," then leaned back in his seat.

He smoothed the paper out against his thigh and began to fold it, then tore it so he had two equal sized squares. He began folding one square intricately, tearing off a small piece here and there, and then moved onto the second square and did the same thing. Edward knew he was being watched, by both the girl and the couple, but he remained silent and continued with his work.

Once finished, Edward joined all the elaborately folded pieces together and then rummaged in his bag for his Sharpie. With it he drew eyes, a nose, a mane of hair and a tail, before finally placing the origami horse on the armrest of the seat beside him, next to the girl. The girl picked it up carefully and held it with both hands. Her face lit up so brightly, it was as if Edward had given her a real life pony.

"Thank you!" The girl said to him, beaming happily.

"You're welcome," Edward replied. He caught the eye of the man from the couple sitting across from him. He gave Edward a flat look and then turned away, looking haughty and arrogant. Edward ignored him.

The mother returned to her seat, coffee in hand, just as a voice over the PA system announced that they could now start boarding. Edward stood up and began gathering his things.

"Bye!" The little girl said enthusiastically to Edward. She waved the origami horse at him. "Winston says bye too."

"Bye Winston," Edward echoed in amusement.

Edward boarded the plane and spent the whole five hour flight sleeping. He had awoken suddenly, when the plane landed with a hard bump. The airline had let him check in his duffel and suit bag so he headed straight for the airport exit when he left the plane. He took his phone off flight mode and within seconds, it began to ring.

"EC! It's Jake." Edward grimaced, and held the phone slightly away from his ear. Jake had a habit of yelling into his cell as if it were a tin can on a string. "Where are - oh! I see you. Stay put." He demanded, then hung up.

Edward stood off to the side and waited. He spotted the little girl and mother again from earlier and the girl saw Edward too. She smiled widely, waving Winston the horse at him again.

Edward laughed and started to wave back but was tackled in a hug from behind.

"Hey Jake," Edward greeted with a laugh and the two wobbled slightly from the force of Jake's hug.

"Hi EC." Jake ruffled Edward's hair. Edward pushed him away but was still smiling.

They chatted as they made their way out of the airport and into the parking lot. Jake pointed a remote to a black sedan, it unlocked. He put Edward's bag in the trunk and lit a cigarette, grabbing something from the backseat.

"I have something for you." Jake got into the car and handed Edward something. "I was going to wait until all you guys were all in the same room, but you can have yours now since you're my favorite," he stated and winked at Edward.

Edward glanced down at the box in his hands, then to the backseat to see five identical sized boxes, leather bound and caramel colored. He opened it and inside were a pair of gold cufflinks.

"I know you like it when I buy you pretty things," Jake joked, glancing sideways at Edward's wide eyed gaze.

Edward said nothing, still stunned. He noted the well-known brand name embossed on the inside of the lid and glanced at the backseat to the other boxes. Edward was in Jake's bridal party: he was best man, his two brothers, Jasper and Carlisle were groomsmen along with another guy that worked with Jake.

That left one extra box of cufflinks. "Five boxes?"

"One's for Pete," Jake answered and he exhaled a stream of smoke out the opened window. "The cuff links were supposed to be a gift to you guys. But now they've sort of turned into a bribe."

"What did you do?" Edward asked immediately.

Jake shook his head. "Not me - Pete. Alice let him have a mimosa this morning."

"She did?" Edward was surprised.

Jasper and Alice were Peter's parents. They met during senior year of high school, got married in their first year of college and being a honeymoon baby, Pete was born nine months after that. When Pete was six years old, Jasper and Alice announced that they had been separated for over a year and were filing for divorce.

It was a shock to everyone. Particularly when Jasper and Alice had always known to be a happy and loving couple. But that changed somewhere along the line and the pair became angry and bitter, constantly sniping at each other. Their divorce was long and drawn out, both Jasper and Alice wanting full custody of Pete. With their constant fighting and bickering, Edward along with Jake, Carlisle and – at the time – their girlfriends, Jessica and Esme, stepped in to look after Pete.

For nearly a year, they took turns taking him to school, helping with homework, and having sleepovers at their respective houses – shielding Pete as much as they could from the unpleasantness at home. All this done with the two girls working full time jobs, Jake and Edward still studying and Carlisle in medical school.

Once a custody deal was agreed upon, things got better – as long as Alice and Jasper weren't in the same room together for too long. Before the divorce, Alice was a part of the family and had always been nice and friendly to the others. She was still invited to big family events, hence why she was at Jake and Jessica's wedding.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, at the breakfast thing this morning. Pete picked up a glass, thinking it was just OJ, then Jess pointed out to him that it had champagne in it. He put it back down but Alice said 'Oh, let him have it,'" Jake mimicked in a high pitched tone. '"He's old enough now.'"

"He's thirteen," Edward pointed out, indignant. Jake hummed in agreement. "JC wasn't around?" he added.

Jake scoffed, cigarette between his lips, using both hands to make a left turn. "Hell no. I think Alice let Pete drink it because she knew that it would piss JC off."

Edward sighed. "Of course she did. But I guess," he added thoughtfully. "One glass isn't so bad?"

"I said Alice let Pete have one glass of a mimosa," Jake emphasized wryly. "Then he knocked back three glasses of straight champagne when he thought no one was looking. Stupid kid needs a lesson in subtlety."

Edward groaned in response. "JC's going to kill us."

"I'm too young to die, EC!"

"I'll look after him," Edward assured. "I'll get CC to help too. Two sets of eyes are better than one."

"Good idea."

"I can't believe Alice gave my thirteen year old nephew his first taste of alcohol," Edward said bitterly.

"I know!" Jake gestured with his hands to the space between them. "That should've been our job."

"And his first drink should've been a beer or a whisky or, I dunno...a scotch."

"Totally," Jake nodded, "those mimosas were actually pretty good though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. The juice was, I dunno, some passionfruit, orange thing? They added strawberries too."

"That sounds kinda nice," Edward admitted.

"It really was," Jake said.

"Do you think they'll still have them tomorrow?"

"I don't think so. It might have just been for this morning's breakfast."

"Damn."

"Christ, he weighs a ton. What the hell does Alice feed him?"

"Just be thankful he hasn't passed out. Then he'd be a dead weight and we'd be screwed."

A groan escaped from Pete as Edward and his other brother, Carlisle, held him up from either side, dragging him along.

"I can't believe I used to think you were cute, Pete," Carlisle muttered, then asked,"EC, what are we going to do with him?"

"I don't know," Edward admitted. They were in the outdoor area where the ceremony had been held an hour before. He then spotted the table and two chairs where Jessica and Jake had signed their marriage certificates. "Let's put him down over there."

Carlisle and Edward placed Pete on the chair, then the two stepped back, breathing hard.

It turned out Pete was a quiet drunk, but walked around like a newborn giraffe. He had made it through the ceremony okay, but that was mostly due to the fact that he got to sit down for most of it. The bridal party photos had just finished, and it was now Carlisle and Edward's job to babysit Pete while the bride and groom took their couple photos before the reception.

"What now?" Carlisle asked. The wedding was being held at a winery with the reception in a big tent in an open field. The rest of the wedding guests were in the tent, having canapes and drinks, and the sounds of glass clinking together with conversation could be heard faintly in the distance.

"Well, there's forty five minutes till the reception," Edward said. "Then we can just stash him in a corner of the tent."

Carlisle rolled his eyes. "He's not a dirty coat."

Just then, Pete let out a wet burp and Carlisle turned to Edward with wide eyes.

"What if he vomits all over the dancefloor or accidentally knocks the cake over?"

"Shit," Edward muttered. "We could..." he shrugged. "Sober him up?"

"How?"

"Aren't you the doctor?" Edward joked. "What are they teaching you in that hospital?"

"Shut up," Carlisle retorted but he was smiling. Carlisle was fresh out of medical school and six months into his residency at the local hospital. He fished his phone out of his pocket. "Let me Google it and see what comes up."

"Hey."

Both brothers started, Carlisle nearly dropping his phone and whirled around. A woman was standing behind them and furrowed her eyebrows at their reaction before pointing at Pete.

"I need to pack those up."

"What?" Carlisle prompted and then must've realized how rude he sounded because he added, "I'm sorry?"

"The table and chairs," she told him and jabbed a thumb behind her at a pickup parked a few yards away. Its tail gate was down the chairs from the ceremony lying flat on the bed of the truck. "The table needs to be dismantled and then put back into the truck with the chairs."

Edward winced. "Right now?"

"Well…" The woman hesitated, glancing at Pete, slumped in the chair and Carlisle jumped in.

"Can you give us forty five minutes?"

"No way," she said immediately with a laugh. "I need to be out of here in twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes then," Edward said.

The woman paused, regarding them. "Fifteen minutes. If," she emphasized when Edward opened his mouth to protest. "You help me dismantle the table and the arch." She pointed to her left at the arch that Jake and Jessica had stood under at the ceremony.

"Deal," Carlisle said quickly. She nodded once, moving toward the arch and he glanced at his phone. "I'm going to get some coffee."

Edward stared at him. "Huh?"

"To sober Pete up," Carlisle explained, waving his phone around. "Coffee is one of the things listed on a 'Get Sober Fast' webpage."

He left in the direction of the other guests and Edward bent down to look Pete in the eye, one hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?"

Pete smiled goofily and swayed slightly as he gave Edward a thumbs up. Edward rolled his eyes and went over to help the woman with the arch. Flowers intertwined around the archway and Edward copied the woman's actions as she undid the flowers first, dumping them into a large bag on the ground. They stood on either ends of the archway, she was on a small step ladder but since Edward was taller than her he could reach the top flowers a little easier. He was trying to think of a conversation starter when she spoke first.

"Your friend ditched you."

"Friend?" Edward repeated then realized who she meant. "Oh. That's actually my brother, Carlisle. And he's gone to get some coffee to sober up my nephew, Peter. I'm Edward, by the way."

The woman looked over to him but then her eyes shifted to something over Edwards shoulder. "Your nephew fell off the chair."

Edward turned sharply to see that Pete was now on the floor. He swore under his breath, rushing over to straighten Peter up. Getting him to stay upright took a few minutes and by the time Edward had gone back to help the woman, all the flowers had been taken down. She instructed Edward on how to take apart the archway - twist lightly and pull up - and place the parts lying down in back of the truck bed.

"So was getting your nephew drunk one of those stupid groomsmen pranks guys do?" the woman asked.

"What? No," Edward answered in alarm, his eyes wide. "No way. Getting a thirteen year old drunk is not funny." The woman nodded in agreement and he continued. "Pete did that to himself." He shrugged. "His dad is my other brother Jasper and his mom, Alice...well, long story short: they don't get along too well."

The woman hummed and glanced sympathetically at Pete and Edward took the opportunity of her looking the other way to take her in.

She was quite pretty. She looked to be the same age as him, with brown hair pulled back in a high ponytail that fell down her back like commas. She was dressed in all black that wasn't quite a uniform but she did wear a black cap that had 'A Perfect Event' stitched on the front in white.

Carlisle came into view, holding a cup and jogged toward them. "Got it," he declared triumphantly.

"I'm going to need the table and chairs now," the woman told them, walking toward Pete and the two brothers turned to each other.

"He's just going to have to sit on the ground," Carlisle said.

Edward nodded to the woman, who was twisting off the legs of the table. It seemed like the four legs of the table and the top were separate. "You help her dismantle the table and I'll handle Pete."

Carlisle and the woman carried the top part of the table to the truck together, as Edward tugged Pete down toward the grass. He struggled to get him into a sitting position - Pete was also a squirmy drunk - but managed to get Pete to sit eventually.

"Thanks for your help." The woman approached them and Edward stood up. Carlisle was loading the table legs into the truck and she handed him the coffee cup. "By the way, I don't think the coffee will do much," she added, gesturing to the coffee. "If anything, it might just make him vomit...which may be better in sobering him up."

"That's true," Edward admitted as another woman appeared from the direction of the reception tent.

"Hey," she greeted slowly. She seemed to be another worker, also was dressed in all black with the same 'A Perfect Event' cap on but she was blonde with blue eyes. "You loaded the truck already?"

"I had elves to help me," the other woman joked, waving a hand at Carlisle and Edward.

"Great, then we can head back," the blonde held out her hand. "Can I have the truck keys?"

"You can," The brown haired woman began to say, taking something out of her pocket. "But I turned them into coins because I needed some for the parking meter."

"Bella," the blonde said warily, looking at the coins. "You did not turn the keys into coins."

Bella, Edward wondered. Was that her name? She never did introduce herself.

"I did too," Bella countered. "Watch."

There were three coins in her palm, all different sizes, and she closed her fingers around them tightly. With that one hand, she began to rub her fingers against her palm and then after a moment, stretched out her hand.

"Holy shit," Carlisle remarked in awe. The coins had disappeared, a set of car keys on a keyring in its place.

"How did you do that?" Edward asked her, just as amazed.

She didn't say anything, just smiled at him and tossed the keys to the blonde, who caught it mid eye roll.

"Thanks again for the help," Bella told them and turned away toward the truck.

Edward wanted her to stay and talk to her more. He wanted her to smile like that at him again.

"Seriously - how did you do that?" he called after her.

It sort of worked. He heard her laugh before she stepped into the truck.

"That was…" Carlisle trailed off as the two brothers watched the truck drive away.

"Interesting?" Edward offered.

"I guess that's one way to describe it."

Edward realized he was still holding the coffee cup. It was cold but he still crouched down next to Pete, Carlisle on the other side.

"Hey buddy. Have a si -"

He suddenly jumped back as Pete heaved, vomiting right where Edward had just been.