As usual, I own nothing. I just like to take the characters out and play with them now and again. And another big thanks to Daddys Little Cannibal for giving the chapter a looksee before posting.


Esme had taken my news very well. She'd been putting together an elaborate gift basket to be raffled off by the ladies from the Garden Club (Esme does a very convincing job as the 'society wife') when I told her. She'd frozen perfectly still, the ribbon she was making into a bow held in each hand from under the basket, as she stared at me.

"You've seen Edward falling in love?"

I nodded. She sounded torn between disbelief and hope. After all this time she'd begun to wonder if perhaps Edward was what they call a 'late bloomer' when it came to things like romance; that he'd been too young when Carlise had changed him. It wasn't as though there hadn't been those who tried. The poor man couldn't walk down a sidewalk without half the women falling in love with him. Or at least in lust with him. He rarely noticed unless the girl was aggressive in her attentions, and those who were aggressive he let down in the most gentlemanly way possible.

"You're certain?"

"Well, the future's never certain. He'll either fall head-over-heels for her or eat her. It could still go either way." Esme made a choking noise, which I ignored. "But knowing Edward, love is more likely."

"Let us hope!" She quickly finished the bow atop the basket. "Who is she? What is she like?"

I perched myself atop a stool at the kitchen island where Esme was working. She set aside the finished basket and gathered what she would need for the next one. It really wasn't my thing, making baskets, but sometimes it was oddly comforting to do activities like this with Esme. She was the perfect mother figure for all of us, and even as cold and undead as we were, we all needed that little something she provided. Even Emmett. Making a gift basket for charity was a mundane, ordinary task that was rife with overtones of family bonding. I started tying a satin ribbon into a bow around the neck of a floppy eared toy dog.

"Her name is Bella Swan. Well, it's 'Isabella', really, but she doesn't like to go by her full name. She's Chief Swan's daughter."

Esme paused just a second before reaching for a package of pacifiers. The basket would have a 'baby boy' theme to it. "That… could be tricky." She was right, of course. I mean you don't just change the chief of police's daughter. It wasn't as though her family was someone no one knew or cared about. A cop's daughter would be missed. This would take careful planning. "What does she look like?"

"Very slender. Very pale, almost as pale as we. Surprising, considering that she's from such a sunny place, but she doesn't strike me as the kind of person who tans very well. And she's got long, dark hair. Dark brown, but I believe she has some red in it. I had a vision of her sitting with Edward in his meadow and I saw the sun glinting off of it. Definitely a little red in there." I placed the toy into the back of the basket. As the largest item it would show up prominently there without hiding any of the smaller gifts. "She has brown eyes and classical features. If you pinned her hair up she'd look like a cameo."

Esme was smiling softly to herself. "She sounds lovely."

"She is. Not in today's style, of course, but someone from Edward's time would have fallen all over her, provided she didn't fall over herself first. She's a bit clumsy. I was watching her yesterday and I don't think she could manage to walk over a flat surface without tripping." I started to fold up cloth diapers into little animal shapes. "I'm thinking that the wedding dress should be fashioned somewhat like the early 1900s. She could definitely pull off the look without trouble and she would positively floor Edward."

"Aren't you rushing things a bit?"

"These things take time to plan, Mom." She loved it when we called her 'mom'. Nothing softened her up more quickly. "And it's not as though I'm going to haul in the minister tomorrow. Not even we could pull that off. I suppose we'll have to at least let her finish high school." That would give me a good eighteen months at least. Plenty of time to make all the arrangements by then.

"Of course," Esme interjected, "letting your brother to have time to actually win the girl would help, too."

I felt my lips turn to a frown. She was right, of course. Edward would have to actually propose before we could have a wedding. "He can get started on that on Monday."

"Eddie can get started on what on Monday?" Emmett wandered through, his shirt streaked with dirt and grime. He'd been out in the garage helping Rosalie 'upgrade' her convertible.

I arranged my diaper animals artfully amongst cans of formula and empty bottles. "Edward's getting married."

Emmett paused in the middle of removing the soiled shirt. "Edward? Isn't he a eunuch or something?"

"Emmett!" Esme's voice was sharp and scolding as she frowned in his direction. I barely managed to keep from laughing. "Edward isn't anything of the kind and I can't believe you'd say that about your brother." I could. "Besides, Alice is getting a bit overexcited in this."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm right about this. He may fight it at first, but Edward's going to fall for her."

Emmett stripped off the shirt and tossed it on the back of a chair. He ignored the Esme's disapproving scowl. "Who's he falling for, then?"

"Bella Swan." I started to shimmy a cellophane bag over the basket to finish it off. "I saw it all when I met her in Trig. They'll look gorgeous together."

"Does he know?"

"Not yet. I sent him off with Jasper to hunt so he's in better control of himself when he meets her."

Emmett rubbed his jaw, his eyes speculative. "I don't know, Alice… Eddie's never really shown any interest in anyone before."

"This is different. He'll be interested in Bella." I tied a decorative bow onto the top of the bag, just like Esme had done with the one before.

"Enough to marry her?"

"Eventually." Esme took the finished basket and set it next to the other four she had made without my help. They were all quite nice, if you liked such things. The Garden Club should be able to get quite a nice penny for them once they auctioned them off. "What charity are these for, anyway?"

"The battered women's shelter in Olympia." Esme started to pick up the scraps and unused items. Her hand moved with blurring speed.

"Good one." I looked back at Emmett who still seemed to be digesting the information on Edward. "What?"

"Edward? Married? And isn't that girl human?"

"We all were at one time, Emmett, or did you forget that part? She'll have to become one of us, of course. Not right away, though. There's time." He still looked skeptical. "You don't believe me?"

Emmett hesitated a moment, then shook his head. "Nope. I don't think that I do."

I grinned and held out my hand. "Bet me."

Now my family - Emmett included - had long since learned that it was never smart to bet against me. However, Emmett liked to gamble so he was still an easy mark from time to time. He looked at my slender hand, less than half the size of those hams he called fists, and looked interested.

"What's the wager?"

"If Edward falls in love with Bella Swan, you have to get me a new motorcycle jacket. Leather." I paused to consider this a moment. "Yellow leather. With lots of buckles and zippers."

"Why do you need a motorcycle jacket? You don't have a motorcycle."

"Leave that to me. Is it a bet?"

Emmett looked very interested, now. "What do I get when I win?"

"I'll go with you to Vegas for a weekend and help you at the tables."

Like I said; Emmett likes to gamble. He grinned broadly and shook my hand. "It's a bet."

Silly Emmett.

Esme shook her head as Emmett left the room. "I worry about the pair of you, sometimes." She snatched up the discarded shirt out of habit.

I grinned and gave her a hug as I walked around the island. "It's all in good fun, Esme. It's either this or we have wrestling matches and wreck the living room again. I'm off. I'll be home later."

"Where are you going?"

"Over to Chief Swan's to see if Bella can help me with Trig." I didn't need the help, of course, but it was a perfect excuse to get to know my future sister. "And I want to invite her to Olympia with me tomorrow. Someone needs to show her around." Not to mention it would keep me out of the house when Edward and Jasper got home. Let Emmett run off at the mouth and tell our brother about his happy future first. He could take the brunt of the damage while I was seeing how big of a dent I could make in our bank account.

Perhaps Bella needed a new outfit for school Monday. Something in blue. I think Edward would like her in blue.