Here we go, another chapter. I'm running short on time so this isn't going to be too long...my A/N that is. The chapter is very long. I hope you enjoy it. Tensions rise farther, and the Cullens make an appearence, only to actually all come back in the next chapter or so.

Review!

-Jenn

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked, even though I knew I didn't. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Megan was shaking, and looked terrified.

He smiled easily, a smile that was supposed to put me at ease, but didn't. "No, we've never met. I recognized you from your family photos. I'm an old family friend. I'm Carlisle Cullen." He held out his hand and I shook it, but ripped my hand from his. His hand was so cold.

"Nice to meet you then." I said politely.

He looked from me to Megan, "Well, Miss Clearwater, what seems to be the matter?"

She didn't say anything, and i wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible now, so I nudged her forward, "She thinks she's pregnant."

He nodded, motioning her up onto the table before the gentle questioning began, "Jenna? Are you alright?"

The doctor was talking to me, and I realized that ten minutes had passed, Megan was standing next to me, "Jenna, he asked if you would bring me back tomorrow for the results."

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I can do that. Come on, Megan, we should get back to the Reservation."

She had her arms wrapped around herself, looking warily at the doctor, but followed closely behind me as I practically ran to the door, "Jenna?" A man walking through the door said, and I stopped against my better judgement.

The boy talking to me was just as handsome as the doctor, bronze hair and caramel colored eyes, he had to be the doctor's son, "Yes?"

He smiled, "I'm sorry to startle you, it's just been such a long time. I'm Edward Cullen. You and I used to play together when you were young. I recognized you..."

"From family photos." I finished for him, "I'm sorry, really, I'd love to chat, but I need to take my sister home."

He smiled and it made my skin crawl, "It's all right, my family and I will be coming to the bonfire tonight. Have a safe drive."

I nodded, grabbing Megan's hand and pulling her out to my ancient truck. We drove in silence, and I went straight to the kitchen when we arrived home, "Mom? You need more help?"

She came from around the corner that led to the laundry room, "Not unless you want to get your brother ready. He's being a bit stubborn about getting out of his pajamas. I think we're entering the rebellious stage a little early with him." She smiled warily and I hugged her, "Oh!" She exclaimed, but ran her fingers through my hair anyway, "Are you alright, Jenna?"

"Yeah, Meggie and I got through our stuff. I think things will be better now." I released her, "I'll go take care of Rafe."

"Thank you, Jenna!" She call out after me as I trotted out of the room, trying to appear more at ease than I actually was.

Rafe was still sitting in the front room, looking out the window like he saw something no one else could see. "Rafe? Are you ready to go get dressed?"

He looked at me straight on, "Are you going to leave tonight?"

I shrugged, thinking of my little sister, of him, of Embry, of my parents, and the Cullens. "Not tonight, Rafe. I'm going to stay tonight at least. Will you go get dressed?"

He nodded, and flung himself at me like I had just done to our mother. I grabbed his legs and lifted him up onto my hip. He kissed my check, "I missed you, Jenna."

I ruffled his dark hair and took him to his room, waiting at the door while he pulled on a polo over his Iron Man pj shirt. I arched an eyebrow at him and he giggled, pulling both shirts off and replacing the polo. He was cheeky, but it made us love him all that more. If I ever did have a family of my own, I wanted a son as innocent and funny as my baby brother.

"Ready, Rafe?" I said, once he had changed pants too.

He nodded, throwing himself back into my arms. I grunted under his weight, and he looped his arms around my neck, "Can I ride with you?"

I shrugged, carrying him down the stairs, "I don't know, why don't you ask Momma?"

When he yelled right in my ear I winced, and our mother laughed at my face, "MOMMA! Can I ride with Jenna?"

She stifled a laugh, "If she can hear anymore."

"I'll take him, Mom." I said, putting him down, "You're too big for that Rafe. You're going to break my back. Go put your shoes on." I took his coat off of the rack next to the door, "I'm going to go ahead and go, if that's alright with you."

My Mom looked up the stairs, "Megan! Do you want to go to Emily's with your sister or come with your father and I?"

"I'll go with you guys!" Megan called from our room, her voice was stronger, but still had a bit of a waver to it.

Mom gave me a questioning look, "Don't worry, everything is better now. I think she was still getting something to wear."

"You going to change?" She gave me the same look I had given Rafe.

I blushed, and grabbed one of Megan's cardigans from the laundry room and put it over the tank top I had put on under my hoodie that morning, "Better?" I asked, meeting her again by the door.

She smiled, "Much." She straightened the pink fabric, and brushed my hair with her fingers, "You're so beautiful. I'd almost forgotten." She must have been feeling nostalgic, so I hugged her.

"I love you mom."

"I know. Now, you be careful with your brother. Don't let him drive." She said with a smile, helping him into his coat.

"I will. It's not that far you know. Just a few minutes." She was going to say something else but I opened the door. "By mom, see you soon."

I helped Rafe into his seat and drove to Emily and Sam's. It was a cute place, with stairs that made you feel like a princess when you walked up them. Once I stepped onto the landing, I was engulfed in a giant body. "Jenna!" It was my Uncle Sam. He, like my parents, held onto me like I was going to run away.

"Hi Uncle Sam. How you been?" I said, my voice muffled by his rainproof jacket.

He moved fluidly from me to Emily, his wife. "We've been pretty good. How's our college girl?"

I shrugged, walking inside with them, holding Rafe by the hand. "It's been pretty good. My classes our kind of tough, but I'm managing alright." I let Rafe go join our younger cousins in the living room, the shrieks of happy children filling the house like it always did.

Emily hugged me, "It's so good to see you. Come on, help me take these things outside." She handed me a slow-cooker filled with what looked to be some sort of lasagna. "Go on, you need to get used to working again! How long are you home for?"

She followed me outside to the tables that were lined up against the porch, "I have three weeks off, but I was thinking about going back early."

"Why?" She asked, straightening a table cloth.

"Oh, just Megan and I fighting. I didn't really want to deal with it, but we seemed to have made up today. I think things are going to be better, so I'll stick around for a little longer." I said, going back inside with her.

"It's good that you two made up. I remember the days when you two were inseparable, it was really cute." She said, looking out the window, "Hey, your folks are here."

I went outside to greet my parents. I was instantly aware at how tired my father looked, "Dad?"

He smiled weakly, "Hey, baby doll."

"Are you okay?"

He nodded, "Just had a rough day at work."

"I'm sorry." I said, "Are Aunt Leah and Uncle Stone coming, I saw Catori and Kaden, but I can't find their parents."

"They're on a little vacation, they should get back not too long after dinner. I know Leah can't wait to see you again." He hugged me, kissing the top of my head before heading to talk to Sam.

It was wonderful to see all of the kids again, they were so sweet, and were all really happy to see me. Rafe stuck pretty close to me, as if to show all the other little ones that I was his big sister. As if they needed any reminder, I had babysat most of them up until I'd gone to college, our cousins 'Tori and Kaden especially.

Embry, was luckily down the road with Billy, our tribal historian.

I kept a close eye on Megan, she sat on the porch in a rocking chair after dinner, her legs up against her chest. I watched Emily tap her on the shoulder, and beacon her into the house, leaving me alone outside with Sam.

I smiled at him, and folded up some of the table clothes, throwing the ones that had been stained in a pile to be washed.

Sam suddenly looked serious, "We miss you here." He said, eyes down

"I know. I miss everyone too. You guys are my family."

"Exactly, that's why you should stay home." He said, looking stern.

"Why? It's not like I've gone that far away!" I said, half laughing, heading up the steps into the house.

Sam grabbed my arm, stopping me in the doorway, "You need to come home. You should have never left."

I clenched my jaw and set him with a dark look, "Sam, let go of me. If you hadn't noticed, I am grown now, and you are not my father."

"I am the leader of this tribe, you will listen to me." He said, not coddling me like he had when I first left.

I was so tired of people treating me like a child, "Sam," I began, dropping all pretenses of formality, "you know I don't believe. We live in a new age. You don't own me or my family. Let me go."

His response was covered up by an obscenely loud motor running, one I knew all too well. I sighed in relief and turned towards the noise. A thin body swung a leg over the side of a sleek black motorcycle. As she pulled off her helmet, blonde hair fell in waves down to her shoulders in pigtails. "Jenna!"

We ran to each other, and I hugged Vitalia like it had been months since we'd seen each other, not just three days, "Vi! I'm so glad you're here!"

She laughed, "You invited me," she looked around, "but it looks like I missed dinner."

"Yeah, but we can get you something inside. There's plenty of..." I looked at her and then to the motorcycle, realization hitting me, "You stole his bike again?"

She beamed, "He was being slow, running through his checklist. I was ready to go. Don't worry, he and Luca are just a few miles behind me."

I shook my head at my best friend, grabbing her arm, "Come on in, I want you to meet my family."

On the way into the house, she asked me about Megan, and I just told her that I would explain later but I wouldn't be going home with her. She had just smiled and straightened her shirt. All eyes were on us as we entered the living room, "Jenna." my father began carefully, "Who is this?"

Before I had the chance to speak, Vi put an arm around my waist, "I'm her girlfriend."

The expressions were priceless.

Vi laughed, and shook her head, letting me go so quickly that I stumbled a few steps to the side, "I'm just teasing. I'm her best friend and roommate." She held a hand out to my father, her expression set on intense, her grey-blue eyes unflinching, "My name is Vitalia Moretti. You must be Jenna's father, she looks just like you." She smiled at us both, and thankfully my father responded semi-cordially.

"Yes, I'm Jenna's father, Seth Clearwater."

Vi shook his hand, "If you don't mind me saying, you seem more concerned with the fact that I'm here than with the fact that I was just joking about dating your daughter."

I was rather proud of my father's response, "I'll be honest with you...Vitalia... Jenna's never brought a friend to the bonfire. We're all just a little surprised."

"That's understandable. And, please, call me Vi. I'll make myself as little of a bother as possible. I'll just blend in. You guys won't even notice I'm here." I didn't have the heart to tell her that as a tall blonde, she had no chance of fitting in with my primarily Native American family. Even I stood out, with my caucasian mother and resulting lighter skin tone. I was by no means as pale as my mother, but I was a good four or five shades lighter than the rest of my family.

My father just looked at me, and I knew that I was going to get a talking to...until almost all of the men in my family suddenly stood and looked towards the road. There was a strange noise that filled the air, a growl almost, something I remembered as if from a childhood dream, familiar but distant. My mother was at my side before I could remember exactly where I'd heard that sound before and what had made it, "Jenna, why don't you take the kids and your friend down to Billy's? Tell him we'll all be there once we've taken care of some things."

"Okay." I said, noticing already that some of the mothers of the tribe were putting their kids into the bed of my truck and others were driving away in their own cars with their kids.

My mother kissed my forehead and nudged me towards the car, "There's going to be some family friends down at Billy's. They're a little strange, but I'd like you to get to know them. Watch your brother."

"What about Megan?" I asked.

My mother looked torn over something. Megan came to my side though, giving our mother an odd look, "I'll go with them. If that's okay."

"Okay, just go." She replied, pushing us both towards the truck. I made sure the kids were safely in the bed, with Megan to make sure we didn't have any of them fall out. Vitalia, Rafe and I got into the cab.

I was just on the road when another car appeared behind us down the dirt road. It was a car I recognized, and stopped my truck. Vi and I jumped out. I couldn't remember if that was her car or not, but from her reaction to it, it had to be.

Several things happened at once. All of the adults that had stayed behind formed a semicircle around my truck, putting themselves between us and the other car. "Jenna, what are you doing? Go!" My father yelled, pushing me against the truck.

The other car slowed to a stop and Vitalia tried to move between my parents to get to it. "Stop, you need to leave, now. You don't know who that is."

Vitalia looked like she understood why they were all freaking out, even if I didn't, "I'm sorry, but I do know." She pulled a hunting knife out of it's holster around her waist, and held it towards my mother. "If you don't get out of my way, I'll slit you from ear to ear."

I was nearly frozen in confusion and terror, but my voice still remained, "Vi! What are you doing? That's my mother!"

She looked back at me sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Jenna, I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have come if I'd known."

The door to the other car opened, and Vitalia ran between my distracted parents. They were all stunned when she threw herself at the man that pulled had himself out of the car. He wrapped his arms around her protectively, and, impossibly fast, he turned, throwing her into the seat he had just vacated…behind bullet proof glass.