Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight, but not Merged Souls: Trying for Normal

Author's Note:

Chapter 7

EPOV

When the ladies left taking the children with them, they left a super charged atmosphere behind them. It felt like a fight could break out at any minute. Leave it to Emmett to relieve the tension.

"So Gideon how was it all those centuries living in the shadow of your wife? It must have been a drag. Hey you could get into all kinds of cool places without being seen or paying. Ooooh you could have changed the course of so many sporting events. Wait a minute what were you during the 1969 World Series?"

Gideon chuckled and said: "I'm a soccer fan Mr. Cullen perhaps you should ask what I was doing during the 1954 World Cup."

Emmett looked totally puzzled. "First just call me Emmett." Then he jerked his thumb toward me "That guy is Mr. Cullen." Then he started to laugh and I wondered if he knew Bella's and my little secret...well not that it's little because it most certainly isn't.

"And what the hell happened in 1954? Hey Eddie you had nothing to do back then but keep track of current events. What happened?"

Until he called me Eddie I might have been inclined to tell him, but instead I told him "Google it." And he took me literally and walked off into the dining room.

Gideon watched him leave. "Is he always so literal?"

"With Emmett you pretty much get what you see, except most of it is a veneer. He really is a very intelligent man and talented. He's an exceptional engineer and inspirational builder. And he also plays a one hell of a mean 'Wipe Out' on the drums." Gideon chuckled again and drifted off to sit in the window seat and look out into the garden. My mother had gone with the ladies and my father had followed Emmett neither one of them liked confrontation if they could avoid it.

Throughout our little exchange Wales glared at either me or Gideon. So as the last man standing in the parlour he huffed. "You're buying their story without any corroboration."

"Why not, we bought yours." He stood there with his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water "Look until they give us a reason to distrust them I'm going to give them the benefit of a doubt."

He huffed again and gave me a sardonic smile. "You Cullens are always so naive! Does stupidity run in your family or are you just more human than the rest of us. I don't know if I'll ever understand you! But Reagan trusts you and she never puts her trust in people when it's unwarranted so that's good enough for me, for the time being."

I shook my head, one minute this man is a pompous ass, then he seems almost human and then he's a pompous ass again. Maybe Bella's right that he's just immature. Suddenly Gideon's voice came out of nowhere. "Ah gentlemen you do know that I'm still in the room."

I looked around as did Wales and saw nothing; Gideon was nowhere to be seen. "Oh sorry, I've had to use my gift for so long that it's just second nature to me rather than the exception. So I apologize for eavesdropping, this being visible and having conversations with people is still new to me."

Before we could respond Emmett hollered out from the dining room. "Found it!" Emmett walked back into the room. "Germany beat Hungary it was a big upset ...haha the refereeing was apparently suspect and it was alleged that the Germans had been doping. Gideon did you run around needling all the German players?"

Gideon gawfed and we all started to laugh, Emmett rarely understands how often he saves our family from tense situations, or maybe he does and that's his gift. Perhaps I should discuss this with Emmett and Carlisle sometime.

The ladies came back inside it had started to rain again. Beth came to my side. "Emma, her Mom and Buttercup just left Dad. Emma's Dad showed up and Mom had to scare him away. He was mean and yelled a lot of nasty things Emma's Mom. I told Emma to put her hands over her ears and sing London Bridge so she couldn't hear him. Do you think Aunt Alice can check on their future Dad to make sure that he leaves them alone?

"I don't know honey? Aunt Alice doesn't really know them but it won't hurt to ask her." She kissed me on the cheek, "Okay Dad I'm going to email her and ask." Before she walked way I had to ask how Bella had scared him."Um Beth what did your Mom do to scare Emma's Dad?"

"Oooh Dad she pulled a you, it was awesome!"

"What?"

"You know how you get when Uncle Emmett and Jasper tick you off. Your eyes go all black and you growl real low and then your face gets all pinched up like you're going to explode? Well Mom did that and she told him to leave, she even opened his car door. Masen thought she was going to pull it off she yank on it so hard and fast."

"Really, thanks princess, why don't you go and email you Aunt Alice now." I looked over at my stunning wife. Rain drops sparkled in her hair as a stray ray of sunshine came through the window and caught her just right. She had a smirk on her face and her arms were crossed looking right at me with the same dark eyes but dark now for a very different reason.

RosePOV

When we came back inside the men were all standing, Wales looked like his usual constipated self, Reagan went to him and gave him a hug and he relaxed a bit. My dear brother was standing in his usual holier than thou stance at which point he gave me the eyebrow, so I shouted out to him mentally 'get out of my head Edward' and he just chuckled. Yep Edward was the one that had pushed Wales buttons. I love my brother but I just knew he was the one that pissed of the Prince; my brother Edward was a master at it.

"Well gentlemen I suggest you all retire to your respective corners, and that we adjourn this little meeting and return to our respective abodes to pack and hunt. Jasper and Alice will be here in five hours roughly with our Lear Jet and we're all going to Italy."

And before you ask Edward, "Yes they know were coming, I spoke with Alastair. He and Aldrich are hard at it trying to locate Alger. Caius was apparently an avid writer keeping prodigious journals expounding on his genius and adventures ...Alastair's words not mine."

Gideon looked hopeful Roma or Ester not so much. "Rose we only ever saw Alger in the castle. We have no idea where he was living. I always assumed that he was moved whenever his human caretakers passed away. We weren't allowed to discuss where he lived or our visits would have been terminated.

Ester looked devastated. "Look Ester we're going to find him. He knows that you love him and that you'll come for him one day. "We did spend most of time with him trying to reinforce how much we loved him. Gideon was finally able to slip a few notes to him from time to time and was able to explain why we couldn't be with him.

"That seems a little sloppy of Caius."

"Oh, it only happened when Demitri was the guard on duty during our visits."

I couldn't help but smile so the hard headed Demitri really did have a heart even then, that was nice to know.

"Okay people off you go. Oh and by the way Edward's parents will be coming with us. Apparently the castle is booby trapped in places and they have volunteered to snoop around in those areas for us and help us disarm them without destroying anything or anyone."

I had to laugh at the look on Edwards face. "Rose, I know Alice thinks that they aren't bound to the house. But do you really think that their first excursion out should be a transatlantic flight and acting as our bomb squad?"

"Oh chill out Edward they'll be fine! Ester says their very excited and you can ask them yourself after they get back."

"Back, Back, from where?"

Bella looked guilty and was not making eye contact with me. "Your wife sent them with Emma's Dad to distract him a little."

Edward looked shocked and turned to Bella. "Bella, what did you do?"

I always loved this side of them it was like watching reruns of 'I love Lucy' without the Cuban accented Ricky.

BPOV

I'll have to thank Rose later for throwing me to wolves. Edward looked like he was about to burst, so I sucked it up and spilled. "He was just being so nasty Edward and saying horrible things in front of Emma. I just couldn't tolerate it. Your mother and father were so incensed that they hopped into the car with him. And I think I might have suggested a few things they could do... to get him arrested."

Edward was standing there just looking at me like I should keep talking until I hung myself so I obliged. Rose was giggling like a school girl. "Well he'd been drinking, you could smell it and when he said that he had never wanted Emma well I just saw red... maybe I was a little overzealous, but if gets picked up for a DUI maybe it'll teach him a lesson."

Rose walked past me to Emmett who was howling with laughter and high fived me. The kids were all giggling too and as Edward walked towards me I thought I was in huge trouble. But he pulled me into a hug so tight that I stopped breathing, he kissed the top of my head and said "Beauty and brains, how did I get so lucky."

Wales stood there awash in disbelief. "How can you justify meddling in human affairs? Why do you even care their just cattle?"

There he goes again! One of these times I was just going to let Edward pop him. But Edward didn't even react he took my hand and called the kids to us. "Let's go out for dinner then back to the hotel to pack. We'll meet at the penthouse in 3 hours and I'll have a car service drive us all to the airport. Wales you should give the goon squad some time off, we won't need them on this trip." And he pulled us out the door.

As we were walking down to the garden gate I felt his parents approach or I should say I smelt them approach. The kids reacted with giggles and touched their cheeks one after the other so I assumed Elizabeth and Edward Sr. had kissed them. Edward's hair made an attempted to smooth itself down so Elizabeth must be standing by Edward and I felt a brush of my cheek like a light kiss it must have been his Dad. Edwards face softened to the point that you could see the boy behind the man.

"Mom, Dad meet us at the hotel in 3 hours were in the penthouse. I hope you'll enjoy your first transatlantic flight...um you will be flying with us right? Or do you just pop in and out of wherever you want to go? We both heard a giggle and the wind chimes, Ester was behind us on the porch with Gideon. "They could pop over to Italy but it uses up a lot of metaphysical energy to travel great distances. Beside they want to spend time getting to know your family better."

"Okay guys see you all later! Mom, Dad you better pack light! He chuckled at his little joke. "I'm sure Alice will make an excuse to go shopping while we're there."

We got into the car and proceeded to argue all the way to the restaurant about what ghosts could possibly pack or want to buy for that matter. It was actually pretty funny and we had all dissolved into giggles by the time we arrived at the restaurant.

When we arrived at the private hangar Alice and Jasper had already refuelled and guess who was tagging along for the ride Seth. He had finished school in an accelerated program and was anxious to see some of the world before he started at UDUB in the fall. Sam felt it was in the best interest of the pack to be aware of what was going on in the vampire world now that the balance of power had shifted. He didn't exactly trust Wales, but he did trust us.

The triplets were thrilled to see an old friend, Wales not so much. At best he had only ever tolerated the shape shifters and they would never be friends. Seth greeted us with the warmest smile but when I asked him about his Mom it all slipped. "She tries, Billy says there are days he's actually seen her smile. But Leah and you guys are forbidden topics of discussion. It's not that she hates you she just can't talk about you and not think about Leah. Billy actually invited Shawn to the lodge to see if he could help my Mom. He offered her a job instead, counselling can you believe it? And she's considering it! I hate to think of her offering herself up as a potential snack on that island."

"Seth I doubt Shawn would have her on the island. He runs a half way house and foster homes for hybrids. He believes that more interaction with humans will allow for a smoother integration into the human world. Your Mom's help would be at that last stage before of that integration. Her help would be invaluable since her knowledge and experiences bridges the human and supernatural worlds."

"Whatever you say Bella, but I'll wait and see. I can't thank you guys enough for letting me hitch a ride. I want to spend some time with Mom before she gets too involved in work and I get started at UDUB."

So Seth spent the flight listening very closely to our conversations, grilling Emmett and Jasper in the cockpit and asking Edward heavily veiled questions about Volterra. Edward finally got tired of it. "Look Seth that's enough cloak and dagger." Seth stopped in mid sentence with his mouth open. "What is it? Do you really think that we're hiding something or are you guys just bored now that the vamps are moving out?"

Seth chuckled. "A little of both I guess, but more bored than anything. Some of us have talked about moving to Canada with you but Sam won't allow it. He is considering extended our patrol area and perhaps allowing for long range reconnaissance but not across any international borders."

Before my husband could answer I jumped in. "And he's right Seth, Sam knows that if we need each other all we have to do is call. It's time for you to move on with your life, get and education, fall in love, marry and have a family. The tribe is going to need strong and intelligent leaders in the future and you should be one of them. There are a lot of changes coming and greater prosperity for your people and you helped make that happen. Now you need to see it through."

My husband was smiling warmly at me with pride. He nodded and punched Seth in the shoulder. "How about we have a game of chess Seth?"

"Forget it Edward, not unless Bella will block your mind reading voodoo!"

"Sure I've got nothing better to do. But Seth he's been playing for over a hundred years and mind reading or not he's still a very good player. But go ahead and knock yourself out."

Seth went to take the seat across from Edward but jumped liked he'd been goosed. I had become use to the scent of Edward's parents and we hadn't mentioned them to Seth and he hadn't said anything, so now we had to let him in on another family secret. I leaned towards the seat he was going to take and said: "Sorry we forgot to tell him about you two.

Seth was standing in the aisle with a WTF look on his face and then out of his mouth came "What the fuck?" Edward took it upon himself to conduct the introductions and the explanations. Seth skittered around and took the window seat next to Edward it looked like chess had been forgotten. If Seth's eyes had gotten any wider they would have rolled out of his head and despite all of his questions. And I was a bit sad that Edward was true to his word and did not share Alice's vision of Leah and the others.

While they continued to chat I went forward and sat with Gideon and Ester. Gideon looked very nervous so asked. "Afraid of flying?"

Gideon looked up at me as I sat down in the seat across from them. "Me? Oh goodness no. It's just that I'm not used to being expose this long it's going to take some getting used to. I feel kind of naked just sitting here for everyone to see." Ester chuckled and lovingly patted his arm.

I looked at both of them and saw a lot of Edward and me in them, like we were after we had first gotten back together. The hesitant touching and at the same time falling into each other's eyes like they were drowning. I guess so much of the time their lives had been controlled they weren't sure how to act even around each other. "It must be nice to relax now without someone monitoring your every move. I couldn't imagine having every minute of my married life scrutinized. It's bad enough sometimes living with people that you love but who can hear every intimate moment you share."

Ester looked perplexed. "Bella I think you're under a misconception, until just very recently Gideon and I were never allowed to live as husband and wife. Our missions were timed so finely that we could barely sneak in time for a kiss and even then we were only occasionally alone the last one to Ireland had been the first in decades.

I stared at this couple thinking about hard it was to keep my hands off of Edward even for a few hours and the thought of never having sex again except on our wedding night was inconceivable. These poor people have been celibate and in love with reach of each for centuries!

I had to shake my head to clear it since Ester was still talking. "And I am sorry for what we did, I know she was family and I hope that you can forgive us. But I must tell you that she was in league with Caius. She did not repent what she tried to do to you or your family. She actually thought that the Cullens had sent us! I couldn't believe some terrible things she said and I will not repeat them. But if anyone that we have ever killed truly deserved it, she did."

I had tried to think nice thoughts about Tanya since she had died but I could never quite get there so I couldn't say that I was sorry even now. Rose came over to sit with us at that point. "Damn right Roma, I mean Ester. Bells Tanya was a piece of work and in the days when I wasn't very friendly towards you she...and I would plot about how to get rid of you. I'd like to think that I was just venting but she was deadly serious. And I'm sorry for letting it get out of hand."

"Rose you hated my guts at one time because you thought I was a threat to your family and I get it, so were okay. But how can you seriously blame yourself for a wacked out Tanya? You never did anything to help her and she was determined to kill me to get to Edward, besides you wouldn't have been able to change her mind."

Gideon and Ester looked at us both shocked. "Mmm yeah that's kind of a long story I'll tell you some other time." They both nodded.

Rose got up, "Well I'm going to relieve Jasper for the rest of the trip and we'll talk later. You'll soon find that the Cullens have some royally fucked up moments of their own."

I turned back to Gideon and Ester "So once we find Alger do you have any plans?"

Gideon perked up at that, "Yes we have well at least a few. We couldn't help but hear you talking to your friend Seth about the Irishman Shawn and his work with hybrids. We were wondering if perhaps he had something similar for vampire hybrid families. There was so much we missed with Alger but we want to be good parents and if not that at least friends with our son. Perhaps we could even go to school together like our family has in the past."

That brought a tinkle of laughter from the Pixie across the aisle. She and Jasper turned their seats to face us, Edward had moved forward to sit with me leaving Seth at the back, he was of all things talking to Reagan and Wales and no one was snarling. Alice sat smiling at Gideon and Ester, Edward smiled and shook his head saying: 'Go ahead it does sound like a good idea."

APOV

"I think that it would be perfect if you moved to Canada. There will be two vampire hybrid families in the area; Marcus and his mate Sabina with their adopted hybrid daughter Ruby, and Marcus's son Simon. And then there's us we'll be looking after Charlotte the foster daughter of another couple while they're on the lecture circuit trying to save the Amazon basin."

Ester looked abashed, "So many of you in one area, is that safe?"

"Actually yes the only thing we have to watch for is that we are supportive of the environment and don't over hunt but there's an abundance of wildlife and we are surrounded by some pretty trackless wilderness so minimal risk of human encounters. A few Nomads may pass through but no other permanent residents of our kind other than us and were on friendly terms with the nomads that do frequent the area."

Gideon sat forward in his seat and asked, "What about integration with human society?

This was so much fun and I was really getting into this but Jasper spoke up first. "Well with Edward being in everyone's head and me being an emotional sponge plus I'm not as solid with the veggie diet as my siblings so we tend to locate in smaller communities to give us a break. High school is a challenge for us, with the out of control human hormones and fantasies but in a smaller general population we survive. University is more fun for us but presents its own set of unique challenges because you usually a more aggressive student body than High School. And you always have to take into consideration the proximity to a non human food source the closer you are the less likely you'll slip. Urban living is doable but requires too much pretence even in your own home it gets nerve racking having to remember to be seen bringing in groceries, taking out trash, the list can be quite long depending on the setting."

Gideon took in everything. He and Ester had amassed small fortune despite Caius and were wondering about the things they'd never had to consider before such as identities, day to day finances and other stuff. "Really if you want my opinion you should stay with us, we'll hook you up with our Lawyer Jenks or one of his associates. In the mean time Jasper and Emmett can advice you legally and financially."

Once again Gideon looked incredulous Edward chuckled and said: "Carlisle, Rose and I both possess several medial degrees, including doctorates in most of the other physical sciences. Rose is also into mechanical and biophysical engineering. Esme and Alice possess many degrees in fine arts, interior design, architecture, and fashion design. Alice, Emmett, Jasper and I all have several post graduate degrees in computer science, as well as philosophy, anthropology and archaeology. Emmett and Jasper have MBA's and law degrees from all the Ivy League Schools, as well as Cambridge an Oxford. Emmett and Carlisle also have doctorates in Divinity and I have two degrees in Musical Composition and Performance and a degree in Political science and we all speak several languages. So you see integrating with humans is not without its rewards."

I've never seen two vampires more unnerved than Gideon and Ester "I'm sorry. Edward and I have a tendency to get ahead of ourselves what with his mind reading and my visions. I can see what you were worrying about and decisions that would have to be made. He was reading my mind and yours so that's why we answered you before you asked. And I have habit of running on sometimes so I'm just going to shut it for now. Hey why don't we girls go rescue Reagan and Edward's Mom and send the guys forward to do some male bonding. It'll be nice to sit with an interpreter so Elizabeth can contribute more. How do you do that anyway Ester, talk with ghosts I mean?"

The rest of the trip went pretty well, none of the guys hit each other, though if they had been so inclined I'm sure that Wales would have been the primary target. Chess was the game that soothed the savage beast and Bella threw in a block against Edward's mind reading just to keep the peace. When the kids tired of watching the grownups behave like idiots they reverted to being kids, reading, listening to music watching a videos or even napping.

Seth got off at Heathrow. I saw Edward put a wad of cash that would choke a horse into his backpack. He shook hands or hugged all of the Cullens and said he hoped to see us again soon. I could tell he was fishing for an invitation to Volterra. Edward had decided and rightly so that Seth and Volterra would not be a good mix. He'd seen my vision us in a hospital in Florence talking about Seth and a fight he'd with two vampire employees. So Seth was not going to Volterra.

AlastPOV

"Oh for christ sake give it here Aldrich, your education must have be sadly neglected if you can't even read Latin!

"Listen you ancient relic I had the finest education available at the time. But fuck it! I was a knight, not some monk sitting in his Abbey with nothing better to do that split verbs or whatever. I was fighting to keep that monk's ass safe!"

"Oh I haven't heard such drivel in centuries. Knight be damned you people only entered the fight once the common soldier had been mowed down and the archers were pin cushions. Ha! And you weren't very good at the political intrigue were you, not even able to dispose of an unpopular king!"

"You filthy little bastard, and where were you when we were fighting? Hiding under some rock? Oh wait, you were already a vampire then you must have been feasting at the trough of the dying!"

There was a cursory knock then door banged opened. "Stop it! Stop it now! For heaven sakes I've never seen the like, centuries old creatures such as your selves always arguing for the sake of arguing. You're driving everyone else crazy! Get it together or we're all going to quit, do you understand! And do not even think of debating Scotland versus England again; get over it Alastair Scotland lost, and Aldrich it's not cool for the victor to gloat."

"Yes well, thank you Penny for bringing that to our attention, your right of course. But how did we ever think that we could work together ..."

"We didn't I was volunteered by Esme Cullen, because no else would do it!"

Penny spun around before going out the door. "What did I say old man? Stop it, and I mean now! Oh and by the way the Cullens should be here in a couple of hours so you better be ready for show and tell. She went to walk out again then spun around once more. "Hey guys, is Edward Cullen really as hot as they say he is?" Aldrich grimaced and looked at me and we both shrugged, she finally marched out the door with a, "Thanks a lot for nothing!"

Penny was a heavy metal vampire with piercings everywhere. The fact that the original holes had healed on her transformation had pissed her off to the point that as newborn she had enough control to go out and steal a diamond bit drill without feeding on a single human. She then restored all her piercings and never looked back. She was an amazingly intuitive vampire with a knack for sorting through the piles of Volturi minutiae and finding the valuable as opposed to the trash.

Aldrich threw the Latin document he'd been holding onto the table. "She's right this is getting us nowhere bickering all the time. Why don't we split the work I'll take the people and you take the dusty records?"

I was ready to argue that he was getting the easier task. But early on we had decided I was the academic not suit to interaction with live specimens and he well for lack of a better word sucked at research. "Yeah okay fine but I thought you had talked to everyone. The Cullens won't tolerate any strong armed from you tactics so why not wait for Edward and let him get into their heads."

"He's not Aro! He can only hear and see what their thinking about at the time. I have to find our potential interviewees and put them in the right frame f mind for him."

"And how pray tell are you going to do that?"

Aldrich smirked. "Spook them into thinking he's just like Aro only worse."

He left the dungeon "Great now he's gone off to tell the faithful that Edward Cullen is the boogeyman.