Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the thing you don't recognize! Song credit to Linkin Park

Thanks for the response! I am slowly filling in the pieces to the puzzle, so while this may answer some of your questions, others are still left unanswered. Don't worry though, all questions you've had will be answered in time.

"I've become so numb

I can't feel you there.

Become so tired,

So much more aware…"

Numb

I woke up craving cookies. Usually I woke up craving breakfast items like bacon or hash browns, but never cookies. So I decided that instead of checking and rechecking Paul's business books, today I would make cookies instead.

I pulled the play pin from the living room and into the dining area where I could see Grace as I worked around the kitchen mixing up my ingredients for sugar cookies. At first I had planned on chocolate chip but when I found the bunny shaped cookie cutter that idea flew out the window. Grace loved bunnies, if the stuffed rabbit named Fluffy in her play pin was any indication. Besides who bought bunny shaped cookie cutters except for die hard cookie makers around Easter? This cookie cutter was obviously for Grace.

Grace was babbling to Fluffy as I rolled out the dough in the familiar fashion I had watched my Mom do as I grew up. Just the act of smelling the dough and the flour spread out on the wax paper took me back to memories of making Christmas cookies. So far back that I distinctly remembered the sound of male laughter echoing in the background.

I shook myself from my memories and started to cut bunnies into the dough. There was something thrilling about watching the dough take shape; the sound of the cutter slicing through the dough and the way the dough sometimes stubbornly clung to the cutter.

"I wonder if we have sprinkles." I mused out loud.

"There's no way you can have sugar cookies without sprinkles." Said a voice from the doorway.

I'll admit it, even though it was embarrassing; I let out a little shriek and dropped the cutter onto the dough with a low thud. Once that display of idiocy was over I looked up at the intruder. He was tall, just as all the men around the reservation were, but his build was different. While he was certainly well built, he did not have the distinctive physique that both Seth and Paul possessed.

"Who the hell are you?!" I said as I took a few protective steps over to the play pin.

The intruder ran a hand through his short black hair, an amused smile on his lips. I huffed, I'm glad he found the situation funny.

"I'm Hunter Richards; surely Paul has told you about me if you're here alone with Grace. Are you his girlfriend?"

It was my turn to laugh out loud at that question. How absurd, the two of us could barely go a few days without getting into some sort of argument; just the other day we had a small fight about what kind of baby food Grace should eat.

"No, I am definitely not his girlfriend." I replied. "Actually, I'm Paul's nanny slash finance lady, Sadie Harrison."

"Ah, you're Cady's twin…I can see it now." Hunter said with a small smile as his eyes roamed over my figure.

"You know Cady?"

"Not very well. I've only met her a few times, but I knew she had a twin."

"Well, that's me." I replied finally moving away from the play pin and back to my cookie dough.

Once I started pulling the cuts from the dough Hunter moved away from the door and headed over to the play pin to pick Grace up. She giggled loudly as he pressed her tight against his chest and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"She looks just like her." He whispered.

"Holly?"

"Yeah." Hunter sighed. "If you don't mind I think I'm going to take this little lady into the living room for some bonding time."

"Why would I mind? She's your niece." I answered. "I'll be in here making cookies if you need me."

I watched as he disappeared down the hall with Grace in his arms. There were bags at the door; obviously his. He must have finished his dissertation and was back to help Paul out with Grace. While I was pleased with that, what did that mean for me? Even though Paul and I didn't exactly see eye to eye he wasn't that bad to be around for short periods of time and I loved and looked forward to my time with Grace.

By the time the cookies were done, Paul had arrived back home. The reunion between the two of them was loud and I had to soothe Grace while the two of them slapped each other on the back and greedily grabbed cookies off of the platter I'd brought into the living room.

"So I see you've met Sadie."

"That I have." Hunter smirked. "She tells me there's nothing going on between you guys."

"Of course not!"

"I wasn't lying." I piped up from the couch where Grace was starting to fall asleep in my arms after the all of the excitement.

"Whatever you say, bro." Hunter winked.

What the hell? What was it with people making insinuations about Paul and me? Were they blind? It didn't take a genius to see that we mixed about as well as oil and water. In fact the other day when we had taken Grace to the department store and started a fight over a little dress, an elderly lady asked us why we had even bothered to have a child together. After we had calmly explained to her that she was not our child and that we were not a couple we'd left the store with our faces cast down, completely embarrassed.

"Anyway, what does this mean for me?" I finally asked.

Paul turned his gaze to me, "What do you mean?"

"Well, now that Hunter is home you really don't need me."

"You should keep her around Paul. I love Grace, but I don't have all the time she needs me to give her. I have to find a job."

"Then I'll keep you." Paul told me. "But our deal with the organizing still sticks. And don't go trying to mess with Hunter's things unless you ask."

Hunter looked confused, "What are you guys talking about?"

"She likes to organize things." Paul rolled his eyes and then in a stage whisper said: "She made me get rid of my porn."

Hunter gasped, "You got rid of your porn?!"

"Like he needed to have porn around with a baby in the house." I inserted with an eye roll.

"Who'd you give it to?"

"Embry."

"Oh man, I'm not ever going over there again; who knows what I'll see or hear."

* * *

It was a dark and gloomy day; the kind of day I was afraid of because it usually meant a thunderstorm was on its way. I knew my parents were sick of me joining them in bed when the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, but not even my own sister could provide me enough comfort on a night like that.

I stared out the doors that led into our elementary school, Cady at my side. She kept glancing at the clock on the wall and back to the little strip of parking lot where parents picked up their children. We were the last ones there; it was already three forty five and school had let out at three o' clock.

"Girls, I can't seem to get a hold of your Mother." Mrs. Jenkins, the nice secretary that always gave out suckers, told us from the front desk. "Is there someone else I can call?"

"No, we'll just go ahead and walk, Mrs. Jenkins." Cady replied.

I turned wide eyes on my sister. I didn't want to walk home with the chance of a thunderstorm hanging over our heads. We lived at least ten or more blocks away and I had a feeling that in those ten blocks it would start raining or worse… start storming.

"Girls, I can't let you do that."

"We don't live that far; only a few blocks." Cady lied.

"Alright, I'll try your Mom again and try to let her know you guys are walking home." Mrs. Jenkins nodded. "Who was supposed to pick you guys up?"

"Our Dad." Cady replied.

We waited a few more minutes while Mrs. Jenkins tried to call Mom again, but she had no luck. Cady smiled at her and told her thank you before she grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the school into the windy April day.

"We could have waited for Mrs. Jenkins to offer to take us home!" I yelled once we were away from the front of the school.

"She's not allowed to without permission from our parents, Sadie."

We walked along in silence for what felt like a long time, cars passing us on the road paying no attention to two seven year olds walking home with purple backpacks strapped to their backs. Four blocks later the first raindrop fell on my nose.

"It's raining." I hissed.

Cady didn't reply, instead she made me turn around and pulled out the umbrella I kept in the front zippered portion of my back pack. Then she popped it open and handed it to me before she pulled out her own umbrella.

We were fine for four more blocks until the wind started to pick up and the first flash of lightning lit up the sky followed by the far away sound of rolling thunder. My pace immediately picked up as I hurriedly pulled down my umbrella; we had to beat the storm home.

"Slow down, Sadie!"

"We're going to get struck by lightning!"

She rolled her eyes at me but kept pace with me anyway. The sound of thunder was getting closer and closer and I knew it was only a matter of time before the storm was right on top of us. We still had two blocks to go and my heart was racing with the thought that we might not make it in time.

Lightning ripped through the sky again followed by the loudest boom yet. I lost my footing, distracted by counting how long it had been in between the lightning and the thunder.

"Sadie!"

"Sadie! Sadie, wake up!"

My eyes snapped open just as lightning lit up the living room of Paul's house. It was late afternoon, so much like that day years ago. My heart was racing and my breathing was heavy.

"Are you alright?" Hunter asked as his eyes scanned my face for any sign of distress. "You were tossing your head back and forth. What were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing."

"I'm not stupid, Sadie. Your heart was racing a few seconds ago."

I waved him away, "Is Grace alright?"

"She's sound asleep."

"Good." I sighed as the thunder rolled in the distance.

He opened his mouth again, but snapped it shut before he could say anything else. I was thankful for that; I didn't want to talk about what I had just dreamt of at all. It was bad enough that it was more than just a dream; it was a memory…a memory that I was sure would haunt me for a long time to come.

* * *

We were going shopping for some honeymoon clothes for Cady today. Paul and Hunter had been fine with me taking Grace along, strapped into her stroller, her faithful bunny, Fluffy tucked in the seat next to her. Every now and again she'd stick one of his ears in her mouth as her big eyes looked all around the store.

"You're not going to buy lingerie are you? That's the whole point of a bachelorette party." I stated as I followed alongside Cady, pushing the stroller that contained Grace. I'd already gotten quite a few comments on how cute my 'daughter' was, mostly from old ladies. Instead of correcting them I decided it was just easier to say thank you and continue on shopping.

"No, I'm going to buy a few bras for everyday wear. I'm not about to walk around in a see threw bra all day." Cady replied.

"Hmm Seth seems like he'd be the kind of guy to appreciate something less obvious."

"He is."

Cady continued flipping through the bras until finally she pulled out one and held it up for my inspection. It was black and lacy, and it closed in the front.

"Here, this is perfect for you, Sadie." She grinned.

"What do I need a sexy bra for?" I remarked.

She just continued to grin at me in reply before after a few minutes she asked, "Remember when you always had to have front loaders because you couldn't figure out how to hook it in the back?"

"Shut up, I was thirteen."

The two of us were quiet for a minute before she finally spoke up again, "So, tell me about Hunter."

"My information on him is limited." I replied.

"I actually saw him the other day; did he get a job yet?"

I nodded, "Yeah, he just got a job at the hospital in Forks. He's working in the clinic and as the grief counselor for the hospital."

"You know, Sadie. When I was at school they provided us with free access to counselors and I found that they really helped me a lot. Maybe you should-"

"I'm fine."

"You may think you are, but I know you're not truly fine."

"What an adorable baby!" An older lady cried, effectively cutting off the conversation I did not want to be having with my sister.

I looked down at Grace who was staring up at the lady with huge brown eyes, Fluffy's ear still in her mouth. She did look adorable and I couldn't help the smile that came to my face at the sight.

"Thank you." I smiled.

The lady didn't notice that Grace looked nothing like me, but that didn't seem to make a difference to her as she smiled down at her before she walked away with her purchases in hand.

"I find it funny that none of them notice that Grace looks nothing like either one of us." Cady chuckled.

I shrugged, "So, what bra are you going to get?"

* * *

"Sadie!"

I immediately froze as I recognized Paul's angry voice. I could hear his footsteps approaching so I pulled my hands out of the dish water and rinsed them off just as Paul stormed into the kitchen with Hunter following behind him curiously.

"What?" I asked sweetly, as if I didn't know what I had done.

Paul's eyes narrowed, "Don't give me that. Why the hell did you do that to Grace?"

"I think she looks cute, don't you Hunter?"

Hunter's eyes widened as both Paul and I turned our eyes on him. He looked back and forth between us for a minute before he replied, "It's different, but I don't see a reason to be angry about it."

"Her ears are pierced! You had no right to have that done, you are not her guardian."

"Okay, I will admit that I was in the wrong and if you want I can take them out."

"No leave them in, Sadie. Paul is just upset that you have questioned his authority."

Paul glared at Hunter, "Don't go into therapist mode on me, Richards."

"I think what matters is Grace. Is she in pain?" Hunter asked.

"She cried a little when it was done, but five minutes later she was fine. And I'll let you know that I cried when I had mine pierced when I was seven."

"See she's fine, Paul."

"Hunter, shut up." Paul snapped. "Sadie, you are my employee. What have I told you about asking permission?"

"I know and I said I'm sorry!"

I watched as Hunter shot Paul a look and tried to contain my smug smile.

Paul kept his mouth shut but sent us both glares before he stormed out of the kitchen. Hunter and I exchanged looks and flinched when the front door slammed. I shrugged my shoulders and stuck my hands back into the dish water to finish washing up the dishes that had been left in the sink overnight.

"I guess I have just witnessed one of your infamous fights." Hunter chuckled.

"That was pretty tame compared to some other ones we've had."

"I think I know what the problem is between the two of you."

"Yeah?"

"Well, at least part of it anyway."

"And that is?"

"Sadie, your sister has talked to me and asked me to try and convince you to talk to me as a therapist."

My hand stilled on the pan I was scrubbing as his words sunk in. I closed my eyes for a minute, collecting myself, before I turned my head to look at him.

"What makes you think I need to talk to you?"

"The other day when you had that dream…it reminded me a lot of post traumatic stress disorder. You can have PTSD without being a veteran you know."

"What does this have to do with Paul and me?"

"The two of you both need to talk to someone and unfortunately you both seem to be stubborn about it." He replied. "I'll let you think on it, but I hope you'll come to me some time soon."

With that said Hunter sent me a gentle smile before he turned and walked out of the kitchen. A moment later I heard Grace's happy cry and Hunter's laughter.

I had been fine for years, so why did everything have to come back into the open again?