A/N: Thanks for reading, please remember to leave a review - they make my day! Here we go - the kids are arriving.

(Previously):

After Alice had finished explaining about the cabins, Sue slowly nodded her head, processing everything she had said. "All right…well that's just fantastic! I guess Chief Swan was right about you kids – you go all out," she chuckled. "Wait – where did you get all that paint?"

Alice merely shrugged. "We found it in the maintenance shed. One of the previous workers must have ordered it and had a project in mind that they never got around to," she said rationally.

"Huh. I guess one of these days I really need to check that place out – I have no idea what's in there," Sue murmured. "Anyway, great job - now let's get you all ready to meet your campers!"

Chapter 5:

When the first car pulled up, Edward exhaled loudly - it was obviously his first camper. When a sandy-haired kid exited his parents' car, Edward stepped forward, introduced himself, and murmured something that made the boy smile. It must be nice to be able to read minds to know what to say - it sort of seemed like cheating to me.

Other cars continued to arrive, and we all began greeting our campers. Emmett had looked a bit uncertain at first, but when his first kid hopped out of the car and high-fived Emmett, he looked more at ease. After that he enthusiastically greeted every one of his campers the same way.

Alice was steadily circling each of her campers that arrived, periodically kneeling in front of them while whispering something. I couldn't imagine what she was doing, but fortunately it didn't seem to faze any of the little girls, who were all oddly enough sort of bouncing in anticipation.

Edward was trying to split his attention between his newly arrived campers and me, his glance continually sweeping back and forth. When he turned to his group and answered "We'll be leaving for our cabin shortly, and after that we'll be going to lunch. Until then just get to know one another," to an unspoken question, all of his kids looked up at him curiously, then shrugged and began to greet one another.

What was perhaps the most disconcerting was that Rosalie was practically unrecognizable to me. She was amazing...as each of her campers arrived she embraced them lovingly, and made some sort of meaningful comment to them based upon their 'fact sheet' history. Whether she commented about someone's pet cat or someone's favorite color, she was prepared - and happy about it. I could tell immediately that each and every little girl was in complete awe of Rosalie. When one particular little girl arrived – Emma – I noticed Rosalie kept her gaze on her almost continuously. I wondered what her fascination was with the child – she was just like all the rest, except that I remembered hearing something about her being a foster child. Rosalie must have wanted her to feel 'extra special.'

One of Emmett's last kids had arrived, and Emmett approached him and tried to give the kid his token high-five, but the boy wasn't interested, and instead stared down at his feet sniffling. He kicked the gravel stubbornly and then wandered over to a bench off to the side and sat down. Emmett looked confused for a moment, then followed him and leaned over to talk to him.

"What's the matter little dude? Why are you crying?" Emmett asked, distressed.

"I miss my cat, 'Boots.' I've never been away from him, and he won't know where I am," the kid answered, his voice trembling. "There was only so much room in my bag, and I had to fit other things in…"

"Oh…well, maybe he knows your on vacation – didn't you tell him? It'll be all right, man. I don't think it would have been a good idea to bring him with you," Emmett said, his brow furrowed.

"They don't know what we're saying, they don't speak like us. Have you ever had to leave pets behind?" the boy said in response, looking up at Emmett with tear-filled eyes.

Emmett suddenly looked upset. "You know what? I have... You make them your friends, then you're forced to get rid of them – it's not right or fair," he said, his voice becoming unstable.

"I kn-kn-kn-oh-oh…." the boy cried. Emmett sat down next to him, dropping his head into his hands.

Jasper, who had been standing off to the side, suddenly crossed over to where they were sitting and sat beside Emmett. He threw his arm around Emmett's shoulders, and likewise buried his head in his hands too. A horrible sense of sadness began to creep over to me when Rosalie snapped her head up and stomped over to the three of them.

"Emmett – knock it off. Jasper – get a grip, would you?" she hissed, and then knelt down in front of the little boy. "Hey sweetheart, don't worry. Your pet will be all the more happy to see you when you get home, ok? Maybe you can get your parents to stop at a store on the way home and pick it up a new toy – I bet it would love that."

The beauty and sincerity of Rosalie pulled the boy from his sadness, and Jasper jumped up and hurriedly moved to the opposite side of camp, looking irritated he'd been drawn into the whole situation to begin with.

As far as my group went, well, I did what I could. I was so nervous that I can't say I did well, but I don't think my campers hated me. I greeted them, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, but still doing my best. Most of my campers seemed fairly shy and quiet, and they looked content that I was similar as they glanced in fear over at Alice, who was still bouncing through her group assessing every detail about them. After thinking about it, maybe Charlie did know what he was doing when he filled out those personality traits on the applications.

Mike was doing all right with his group; his kids seemed pretty happy with him. Angela and Jessica were present, but stood off to the side – they were required to show up for the kids' arrival, but since they weren't counselors, their participation was limited.

I jumped and my mind snapped back to the present as something brushed against my side. I looked down to see one of my campers – Sophie, I believe – shyly glancing up at me. When I met her gaze she hurriedly looked back at her feet, one of her little hands tugging uncertainly at her hair.

"Is there something wrong, Sophie? Did you need something?" I asked. This was going to take some getting used to. Cautiously, she reached up with her tiny hand grasped at my own. Shocked, I stared back at her for a moment before I found the ability to speak again.

"Oh – is that all you wanted?" I asked quietly.

The little girl just nodded her head and kept smiling at me. Is that something kids do? Just hang onto you for no apparent reason? Huh. I mean, it didn't bother me, it was just...new.

"All right, everyone. Now that you've got all your campers, it's time to take them back to your cabins and get them unpacked and settled in. After that, we'll meet up in the Mess Hall at noon for lunch," Sue announced.

Everyone did as they were told and we all made our way back to our cabins, our kids in tow.

It didn't escape my attention that Edward's group was right beside mine so he could remain close by. Halfway down the pathway, I was glad that he was - little Sophie's toe caught on a rock and she began to tip forward. As I was currently still connected to her, I began to stumble as well. Neither of us had the chance to hit the ground before Edward's hands were steadying us, one on each of our backs. From the back of the group I heard Emmett snort in laughter.

Feeling rather foolish, I glanced appreciatively back at Edward, who merely smiled. Then I looked over at Alice - surely she could try to keep a better eye on things knowing my history, and now having all these kids to care for. My irritation went unnoticed though; Alice was completely focused on her kids.

Sophie looked humiliated, and I could certainly sympathize. "Don't you worry about that, Sophie. It happens to me all the time," I whispered, which made her little smile reappear.

Amazingly, the unpacking went without further incident. I allowed the girls to choose their own bunks, and they each unpacked their belongings and I helped when needed.

From what I could tell, I seemed to have a pretty good group. They were getting along fairly well, and mostly just seemed happy to be here. I guess camp was a big deal at their age.

As I sat on the edge of my mattress and allowed the girls to get to know each other, Sophie came shuffling over to me. She looked embarrassed again, but I couldn't imagine why. Before I could ask, she reached out and handed me a folded up note.

Upon opening it I saw that it was from her mother. It read: "Dear Counselor, My Sophie is a bit accident prone...well, that's really somewhat of an understatement. She tends to be quite clumsy, and I'm just writing this to alert you. You may need to take extra precautions with her."

Oh my...well this would be interesting. She was just like me, only smaller, and she was under my care? It would be a miracle if she survived this... I didn't want to concern the poor girl though, so I merely smiled and put the note in my pocket. "That's no problem, Sophie. You'll be just fine. Now why don't you go make some friends?"

"My mommy told me to stay with my counselor at all times. She said I should hang onto you," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Well, I don't think she meant it so literally...don't worry, I'll be watching you the whole time - go on, make some new friends," I encouraged.

Sophie smiled at me, and nodded. She looked happy at the idea of making new friends, and went to mingle with the others.

I was getting antsy, wondering when it would be time to leave for lunch when a gentle knock at the door alerted me of Edward's presence. He was precisely the reason I was getting antsy - I missed him.

"Bella, my group is just outside - I thought perhaps you could bring your group out too and they could all get to know each other," he said, grinning crookedly at me. He must have been feeling anxious from being away from me, too.

I agreed, and quickly led my girls outside where they still talked among themselves - they didn't seem to want to have much to do with Edward's group, and vice-versa. It didn't bother us though - at least we could still spend time together.

"So how are you handling things so far, Bella?" Edward asked as we sat on the benches that were cut from logs, both of us keeping one eye on our kids.

"Well, it seems as though I have a bit of a clumsy camper on my hands...that should be interesting," I replied, glancing back at Sophie.

"Yes, I noticed that as well...perhaps we could have Alice or Rosalie switch one of their girls with Sophie? I do worry about the times when I'm not able to be around you..." Edward trailed off, his gaze resting apprehensively on Sophie.

"Absolutely not! Sophie is not going to be taken out of my group - first of all, the poor girl would wonder why she was being moved to someone else's group, and she already seems insecure as it is. Second of all, I can handle it - I'll just have to be extra careful around her," I huffed in defiance. It was one thing when I was questioning my ability to care for the girl, but when the possibility of Sophie leaving my group came up, I suddenly felt defensive. I knew what it felt like to not really fit in, and I couldn't help but feel a bit protective of her even though I knew perfectly well that Edward was merely worried about our safety.

Edward didn't look convinced, but knew better than to argue with me when I was like this. Instead, he pursed his lips as he studied Sophie, most likely trying to come up with some sort of plan to protect both of us.

A/N: Please review!