I could watch Jackass all day, every day. And Sweeney Todd.

I don't. Stephenie does.

Bella.

"Hi, I'm Cooper Cullen; welcome to Jackass!"

The tiny daredevil braced himself on the fourth step of the stairs, bent his knees and jumped. As he landed he rolled onto his back - very theatrically - and lay there for a minute as he gathered his bearings. Ellie made a strange noise in my arms; like she was laughing at her silly older brother.

"What are you doing, Coop?"

"Duh, Madre - I'm being Johnny Knoxville!"

I cocked my eyebrow, unsure of how safe that was. "You be careful, okay? I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I won't." He seemed so sure of himself. "They say not to copy the stunts 'cause, y'know, they're all professionals, so I'mma just do kid ones, 'kay?"

Thankfully he listened to my warning, and not even half an hour later he had all the couch cushions in various places around the living room. I was seated with the Twins on a couch at the end of the room - with view to watch everything.

Cooper faced an imaginary camera and introduced his next stunt - "My name is Cooper Cullen and this is cushion jump madness." As expected, he leapt from one cushion to the other, some further apart than others. I didn't understand the 'madness' part to the title, but I didn't tell him that.

When his 'stunt' came to an end, he leapt onto the seat beside me; lightly jolting Marco from his peaceful sleep. As Cooper relaxed back in his seat I noticed his hand clutching between his legs. "Do you need the toilet, Coop?" Because usually he stood there holding it before practically pissing his pants.

"No," he shrugged, "but whenever Johnny (and Steve-O, Pontius, Bam…) finish their go they always hold onto their nuts and wiener, so, y'know. Oh! I watched a funny clip once where… where…" he broke into a fit of giggles, "where Pontius had this aeroplane and tied string to the plane and his… and his wiener… then flew it!"

As he laughed his socks off, I sat there in shock.

"Cooper, that is not something you should be watching."

Oh, my God… how did he watch this stuff? I thought Edward had put a parental lock on the internet…?

"Why not? it's not something I haven't seen! I have a wiener too! Marco has one, Padre has one (but you know that…)"

Ellie finished off her bottle of milk as her eyes began to close.

"That isn't the point; what they do is very grown up, rude and not something I want you to copy. So, by all means, you can continue these kid stunts, but please stop watching those clips. Okay?"

"Okay, Madre. Um, one last thing.. when are we leaving to see Grandpa Chief?"

Esme had organised a Halloween party as a fun family get together, but by the sound of things, Coop was more excited about seeing Charlie.

"When Dad gets home; he shouldn't be too much longer."

"How much longer?"

I glanced at my watch and saw the time was nearing four p.m - we had a long journey a head of us, so I, too, hoped it was soon.

"Hopefully before five; in less than an hour. Before Dad gets home make sure you're ready, yeah? Have you got everything packed? What about the animals?"

"Yep! Tony Bear is waiting by my bag and I have everything I need for my costume. And the animals… all I need to do is feed them and let Flash in the backyard for a poop."

"Okay, you go feed them now so we're completely ready."

Without any more encouragement, he was off the couch and the up the stairs, cheering happily as he went.

0-0

Our drive to Forks went smoothly without any mishaps or complications and we arrived in Charlie's drive not long after nine p.m. He had offered to let us stay with him for the generation of our visit only if Coop didn't mind sleeping on the couch - of course, the boy was only too willing to 'camp out'.

The front door opened before we got there and Charlie's beaming smile welcomed me home. I missed my old man.

"Grandpa Chief!" Cooper bellowed, dropped his bags on the soggy grass and raced across the lawn with Flash close behind him. My Dad can seem like a hard nut, but deep down, he's a real softy. "I missed you Grandpa Chief!" He happily welcomed the little boy and his dog.

"I've missed you too, young man. How'ya doin'?"

"Fine! Hey, Grandpa Chief, d'ya have anything I can do stunts with?"

Edward put a stop to that before Charlie could think of a response. "No, no, Bud; I thought Bella said you weren't allowed to do anything dangerous?"

"Yeah, but even Johnny Knoxville did kid stunts once!"

"Let's just get inside first, okay? It's good to see you again, Sir." Both men shook hands in greeting.

"You too, Edward." Charlie nodded, then crouched to the ground to meet the Twins who were sleeping in their car carrier. "Wow, they sure are getting bigger."

"I know; it's scary how much their growing."

"I still remember Bells being this size."

"I'm not your little girl anymore, Dad."

Charlie put one arm around my shoulder, "you'll always be my little girl. It's good to have you home, Bells - you live too far away now."

Once settled inside, Charlie congratulated us again on our engagement - "You look after my girl now, ya hear?"

Edward patted my left hand, not even phased by Charlie's tone. "You have my word, Sir."

"Um, um…" Coop adjusted his butt on his seat and flipped back the blonde bangs that sat over his eyes slightly. "Grandpa Chief, are you 'cited about Bella becoming my Madre?"

"Well sure, kid; weddings are always exciting things."

The young boy jumped from his seat, plodded over to Charlie and put one arm around his "Grandpa"'s shoulders. "But you're more real 'cited about me being your grandson, right?" Coop speaks so quickly it was always a mumble of words when he talks, and unless you were used to his speech, the only word you would have understood in that sentence was 'right'.

So with that in mind, Charlie sweetly tapped the tiny hand which cupped his shoulder, winked, and replied with: "you got it, Buddy."

0-0

Once again, Esme had outdone herself with the festive decorations; variously- carved Jack O'Lanterns were plotted in separate parts of the lawn with burning candles glowing their insides. Wrapped around the wooden beams of the porch, fake cob webs hung with the odd plastic, black beast looking as though it was ready to pounce from its' hiding spot.

"Look, Padre! It would be better if they were real, right?"

I shivered away from their talk, but being the animal fanatics that they are, obviously Edward only built up the conversation more. "They look a bit like mouse spiders, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah!" Coop agreed and rose on his tip-toes to take a better look, "except sometimes they have red fangs, right?"

"Well done, Bud; the male ones have red fangs and blue butts."

The word 'fangs' had shivers run down my spine. "Okay, let's end this conversation, yeah?"

"You're not scared are you, Madre? You don't need to be 'cause mouse spiders live in Australia. But then again, you can find the brazilian wandering spider here and they are real real venomous."

Thanks…

Fortunately, the front door was opened before I literally lost my shit. Esme greeted us with open arms. She and I were both dressed as witches. I switched Ellie to my right side to accept Esme's hug. "You're looking very well, Dear."

"Thank you; so do you."

She wore one of her famous smirks, "that might be true, but I haven't been a new mother for, oh, near enough thirty years now! You, on the other hand, are glowing! And Elizabeth, baby, how you're growing!"

Zipped up in her fleecy elephant onesie, Ellie outstretched her pudgy arms to greet her Grandma. Edward brought over Marco, who, like his sister, was in a fleecy monkey onesie. Esme happily cradled her grandkids.

"All I need now is my Coop."

On hearing his name, Coop cleared the porch steps in one leap and collided into Esme's knees. "Hi, Nanny!"

"Goodness me, you're becoming a tall young man, Cooper."

"Really? Padre said I've grown since my last doctors appointment!"

Said appointment was last month, and Cooper is now 45.6 inches, which means his 9-year-old self is approximately the size of your average 6 year old.

"That's excellent news."

We were led inside where more decorations were found, hanging from the ceiling in the form of 'Happy Halloween' banners and cut-out skeletons were tacked to doors. A soundtrack of creaky doors being opened, the faint sound of screaming and high winds were being played from a iPod adding great affects to the house.

We were taken through to the living room where everyone apart from Carlisle had arrived. We were all sent emails saying there would be a prize for best dressed. So we had Jasper and Alice being Jack Skeleton and Sally; Jasper had mastered the white face, black eyes and crooked grin. And Alice had drawn stitches over her body using a black eyeliner, to go with the patchwork dress. Their daughter, Little Lottie, was a baby ghost, who, I assumed, was meant to be Jack's dog, Zero.

Because I was a witch, Edward came as a warlock - a long red cape, a red, pointed hat and a wooden stick.

Emmett and Rosalie had gone very creative - they went as each other. Rose tied her hair back and had it tucked inside a navy blue beanie. She wore Emmett's shirt - tied at the side with an elastic band -, and his jeans which were so large on her, even with a belt on tight, she continuously had to pull them up. She, too, used a black eyeliner to dot a stubble across her jaw line. Emmett had squeezed his muscled torso into a pink tank top and matched that with black yoga pants and a long blonde wig. I couldn't tell whether I was disturbed or amused at the sight of Emmett in the tightest clothes possible. I think it was a tie.

Cooper, on the other hand, practically pissed his pants with laughter. "Uncle…Uncle… Uncle Emmett!" He spluttered between giggle fits, "you make a very beautiful lady!"

Emmett flipped the blonde wig behind one shoulder, "Why thank you. And look at you, Sweeney Todd! Excellent costume!"

Last week, Coop came home from school and asked Edward who Sweeney Todd was - apparently his little friend, Mitchell, had mentioned it -, and on hearing a basic summary - missing out the part where they put people into pies -, he decided straight away what he wanted to be for Halloween.

In a thrift shop we found a white shirt and black pants, which we adjusted for his size and rubbed dirt into to make them look old and well-worn. A red neckerchief was found in his dressing up box - meant for a cowboy outfit, but it worked. And in a costume store we came across a black, leather, trench coat and the perfect wig - a black bouffant with a white streak on the right side. The store also sold plastic meat cleavers which Cooper held proudly in his hand. Unfortunately we couldn't find plastic razor blades…

"At last!" He acted dramatically, in a dark, deep tone. He held the cleaver up to the ceiling with a straight arm. "My arm is complete again…"

0-0

"So!" Alice skipped into the room holding a glass of champagne; her red wig flew behind her. "Not only are we celebrating the night of the living dead, we're also celebrating something super super special!" Her bouncing caused Lottie to giggle. "Soon there is going to be a wedding!" Edward leant over the arm rest between us for a quick kiss. "I think we should all raise our glasses to Edward and Bella!"

In unison, everyone rose for the toast, "to Edward and Bella."

"To my Madre and Padre!"

Once settled again, Alice came flying over. "Okay, okay, spill! Have you booked a date yet? What about venue? Do you have any ideas where you'll want to have it? What about next summer? And dresses! Oh, my God! Have you looked at any yet? Don't worry, we'll help you… or I could make your dress! Oh, my God, can I make your dress?!"

I literally had to hold her down. "Alice. Shut up. No, we haven't discussed most of what you just rambled, but yes, if you would like to, I would be honoured to wear your dress."

"Aaah! Rose! I'm making Bella's dress! You have to help me plan it! Don't worry, Bellsy, you'll look stunning."

Edward took my hand and spoke quietly in my ear; "don't let my sister force you into anything you're not comfortable with, Love. I don't care if we do it right in this very room and wearing our pyjamas - just as long as you become my wife; that is all I want."

Always the charmer. "We're only going to have this day once, and I'd love to look back and know that Alice made it, so the pain and suffering she's undoubtedly put me through will be worth it."

A loveable grin crossed his perfect features, "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you, too. I never thought I could feel this happy, but it's because of you that I do."

I settled against his shoulder and watched the carry-on before us; Edward threaded an arm around my back, his hand stroked my waist gently.

If it wasn't for the Twins demanding my boob, I could have happily sat like that for the entire evening. We were trying our best to wean them off breast milk, they were only 7 months old, but we both thought that, seeing how demanding our jobs were, it would be best they could happily take a bottle and if I had to work all day, Edward could look after them and not worry about feeding; or anyone else for that matter. But they still took the boob a few times a day, and that moment was one of the times.

Esme said I was free to take the dinning room where I could feed them in a calming environment. I took Marco first, and as he fed, a lock of my hair was clutched tight in his tiny palm. His brown eyes drifted shut towards the end of his feeding, and he was fast asleep by the time we went back through.

The evening took a relaxing turn then; we were all cozied up on seats and couches. As we caught up on the news and ate a variety of junk food, all the kids fell asleep; even my eyes started to close at one point.

I thought that nothing could have soured our mood.

But I spoke too soon…

0-0

Arriving home in Seattle the next evening our plan was to get the Twins bathed and into bed, then make dinner for ourselves and do the same with Cooper, but that vanished the second Edward checked the voice message we'd received on our absence.

The first few seconds of the recording were silent with only a faint, indescribable noise being heard in the back ground. But then the voice cut in.

"Hi Edward, this is Garrett Pace calling," you could have heard a pin drop in the silence we created. "I have tried my best to keep quiet but my patience is wearing thin. All I ask is for some sort of reasoning; one chance to see Cooper and see the boy he has become - if, like last time, I don't get a response, I will take this a lot more seriously."

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