Were these ankle-biters really only three-months old? I had been around Nessie at this age. She was a laid back little girl, carried around when she wasn't running, chasing Jake for all she was worth, but I couldn't remember her getting into trouble. Not kid trouble. Not like Aaron.

Oh my God, Aaron. I was so glad the vampires in our family needed little for their day-to-day activities in the house, because it looked like it had when Esme came to help decorate – stripped bare. That boy could climb a smooth wall. He could swing from a light fixture with no clearance. And worst of all, he could throw his sister out the second floor window. I don't normally hold with corporal punishment, but I phased and sat on him for an hour to make him see the error of his ways. It didn't help that Didi landed in the flowerbed with no more than a bruised tailbone yelling, "Again!"

Unlike Renesmee, we'd started the kids hunting off the bat. We filled cups for them for two weeks, until they were obviously up for crawling. Then they'd taken ptarmigan and puffins until they were ready to go for larger prey. Their physical development was astounding, crawling to climbing, walking to running all within days. Someone showed them how to play leap frog and Aaron turned it into a contest to see who could jump farthest. It was a good thing they could comprehend from an early age, because rules were coming down fast. They leaped right through town in four hops. Luckily, it was a cold night and the only person out was busy looking at the Aurora borealis, so they didn't notice.

Although they could comprehend as well as adults, neither was bookish. I kinda liked that. Renesmee had been such a scholar, I was afraid my kids would put me to shame before they were out of diapers. Aaron tore the first book I gave him, little brat. Didi enjoyed the pictures more than the words at first. Both enjoyed the television, the only appliance or electronic device Aaron appreciated enough not to destroy. They differed on watching preferences though. Aaron tended to the sports. Didi enjoyed educational programs. The result was that Didi got her way more often.

The family loved the new additions. Lucia and Ren were quick to outfit the pair with a full wardrobe up to children size seven. I begged them to stop there. If I remembered right, that was about the size they'd finally slow growing and maybe get to wear an outfit more than once. Aaron preferred to run naked anyway. It was nearly impossible to keep that boy in his clothes. He complained of being hot in the dead of winter. I tossed him in a snowbank.

After that first discipline incident, Alec offered his babysitting services. I was sceptical, but when I saw the terror sitting silently, unable to see or hear anything, I had a change of heart. That was a punishment that would work on him. Didi was sitting in Alec's lap reading aloud to him, while Aaron's breathing slowed and evened. When it was the same as Didi's, Alec lifted the veil that had blinded and deafened him.

"Are you going to try to bite me again?" Alec asked.

"No." Aaron pouted.

"Are you going to try to take the remote?"

"No."

"Good."

"Come read with me, Aaron," Didi offered. Aaron sighed loudly before climbing onto Alec's other knee.

I reeled again at how quickly they grew and changed. It seemed I would put them to bed only to have a child two inches taller and three pounds heavier bouncing to wake me in the morning.

"Mommy, Mommy, Daddy says to get up." Didi loved jumping on our bed. I grunted when she landed on me. "Did I hurt you?" she asked, concerned.

"No, sweetie, you're just heavier than I expected." I cuddled her up beside me. Was it really only six months ago she was inside me? She was warm. It was so nice. I'd gotten Marcus warmed up to good temperatures, but it was nothing compared to the body heat of one of my pack, or a hybrid.

"Are you sad, Mommy?" she asked, turning her blue eyes up to mine.

"Not really, Didi. I'm just thinking how much I'm going to miss you being small once you're all grown up."

She hugged me. "I'll always be your little girl, Mommy."

I kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, sweetie. You know just what Mom needs to hear."

Aaron came in then and ruined the moment by dropping a dead snow leopard on the bed. "Out!" I shouted pointing.

"But there isn't even any blood left," he complained.

"Out!" I said again.

"Fine," he grumped, dragging his kill behind him by the tail.

I gave Didi one more kiss before pulling off my nightgown to phase. I tackled Aaron as soon as we were out of the door. His black hair was slightly curly, unlike Didi's, but his eyes were just as blue.

"No! No, Mom, your tongue tickles!" He squirmed and laughed as I licked his torso. "Stop! Didi! Help!"

She jumped on my back, her little teeth biting my ear. I turned my head tossing her next to her brother and licked her face. "Ack! No! Dad! Help!"

They were both squealing when Marcus came and lifted them, one over each shoulder. "Did you get their feet?" he asked me.

I barked with laughter, licking their soles while they giggled.

Marcus took all the pride and pleasure in fatherhood any man could. He liked to carry the twins although they hardly needed it. He'd wrap Didi in the crook of his arm and held Aaron by one ankle, just as Nessie had when he was born. He tucked them into their matching wolf beds. He made them toys. He played with them for hours.

I continued to work, but since all his crafts came from the house, Marcus was able to spend all his time with them. I envied him. I had taken most of that first year off – Canadians have awesome benefits – and spent the days with them, but when the time came to return to my clients, I dragged my feet the first few days. It helped that by that point their growth was slowing. They didn't seem to be changing daily anymore, just weekly. It also helped that my clients needed me. I did enjoy my work, and since I didn't have any more bloodsuckers to work with, the humans were satisfying the need.

Anytime I didn't spend with Didi, Suplicia was at her side. After all, she got along fine with Marcus while I wasn't home. Didi never understood why I didn't get along with 'Plicia, as she called her.

Marcus answered for me. "Suplicia and your Mom are the same end of a magnet." He grabbed a couple of fridge magnets to make his point. "They naturally repel each other. It's a part of each of them."

"So why doesn't one of them turn over?" She continued to demonstrate, flipping one of the magnets over.

He smiled broadly at her. "Which one do you suggest?"

Her eyes went wide. "Oh. I understand." She smiled and giggled. I fumed a little. They were saying I was stubborn. It was true, but I didn't like hearing it.

We kept the kids inside or in the yard as much as possible the first couple years. When anyone asked, they were our niece and nephew, or our cousin's kids. We didn't have a lot of friends who would want to come looking at our babies. When clients asked, I showed baby pictures. We had plenty of those. By the time they turned three though, Didi and Aaron were growing only slightly faster than human children. That was when they finally got to go public, if they wanted. Didi jumped at the chance. They couldn't attend school, their changes would be too obvious there, but she did play with the kids after class, not that there were many of them, and she would sit on the swing Marcus had put outside the hotel, waiting for tourists with children to come through. Even though she was brighter than any of them, she had no trouble interacting with other children.

Aaron, on the other hand, and probably for the best, did not rush out into town. He was still the wild child and preferred to run naked, climb cliffs, swim in the bay, ride polar bears – I nearly took a piece out of him myself when he did that. He missed Didi when she left though, and eventually donned shirt and shorts and went to join her. Then he was grounded back to the house again after breaking another boy's arm. He knew he was stronger; he knew the human wouldn't heal like us, and he had done it anyway. The boy was looking at Didi wrong.

"Well, guess what, little man, you don't get to break bones. Got it? Now you are not to go back into town for a month, and starting tomorrow you aren't to go outside the yard for a week. So you'd best go hunt with your father tonight if you don't want to be living on 'Mommy food' for the next week."

I resented that normal food was 'Mommy food' and looked down upon by both my children. It made a certain amount of sense. I wasn't the best cook in the world, and I never did anything flashy because it had always only been for me. Still, it made me feel, inferior - like my way was less correct than theirs. Didi, of course, noticed.

"Mom, can I help you?" she asked when I was grilling a sandwich in the kitchen. She was the size of a ten year-old although she wasn't even three yet.

"Sure sweetie. Put the meat and cheese between those slices there." I pointed.

"Why do you cook it?" she asked. She popped a slice of onion in her mouth. "It's better like this."

"Because I like it better this way," I explained flipping it over. "It's softer, warmer, and cooking changes the flavor."

"Yeah... it's not as good anymore."

I made a note to look into raw food recipes.

Marcus did a great job teaching the twins basic lessons. They were pretty much high school graduates by age five. Well, Aaron was a high school drop out. He knew it, but never ask him to show you, he'll spit in your face. By five they were also both obviously adolescent. Didi had her first cycle and she and I had a girls' party together. She knew how important my cycles were to me when I had them, so unlike some girls, myself included, she wasn't embarrassed or uncomfortable about hers, she was ecstatic.

"Daddy! Daddy! I can have babies!" She ran out of the bathroom to tell Marcus. I desperately wish I'd been home to see his face. I only heard about this incident that night. Of course, I wound up spending part of the night talking about boys and sex with my five year old daughter. It would have been more awkward if I hadn't been old enough to have a teenager, which I certainly was. As it was, it was just disturbing because she was so young! The boys around Churchill tended to be transient, so she didn't have any boyfriends per se. That was probably for the best. Aaron would likely have killed anyone she had managed to bring home.

Adolescence brought the other big change to our house and household. I was sitting, reading, in our bedroom when I heard a wolf howl.

Groaning I looked outside. Sure enough, there was a gigantic black wolf with blue eyes. "Damn it, Aaron, could you be a little less like me?" I shouted at him. Then I phased to share his mind.

He was as predatory on the inside as the outside. It scared me a little. Fortunately, it seemed, of our pack of two, I got Alpha duty. Good thing, I wasn't about to take orders from this brat. I would kick him out of my range first. I loved him to death, but he was as hot-headed as they came.

He also loved me to death. That was good to know. He didn't show it well, but in his head he couldn't hide the love he had for his family. He was protective of all of us, especially Didi. He thought of her as an extension of himself, not really a separate person, just more of him. All the nice parts of him. Not a bad description actually. Except that it wasn't true. Aaron had nice parts, he just hid them. And Didi had angry, primal parts, she just fought them. Still, it was obvious they were opposites as much as they were twins.

I found my first grey hair the day after Aaron phased the first time. I was shocked. I blamed him entirely. Of course, phasing to stop him from being a punk had halted the process again so I actually should have been thanking him; that wasn't going to happen.

Marcus took the hair and coiled it on his Wei Ha for safe keeping. I didn't understand why he would hold it dear. I figured it would scare the crap out of him. I mean, it was proof I was still mortal – durable, but mortal.

The next grey hair came two years later when Didi went to University in Winnipeg. Not when she went, but while she was there. Aaron wasn't about to sit in a classroom, so he was still at home with us. I went into his room and found him unconscious on his bed. Now, for a shape-shifter boy, that's a pretty common sight. Not so common was his breathing, one breath a minute, or his heart-rate, that normally thrummed at near 160 beats per minute, that was currently under 60. I burst to his side, instantly afraid.

His eyes opened quickly. "Easy, Mom! I was just with Didi."

My brow furrowed and he pulled me outside, indicating he wanted to show me rather than tell me. I stripped down and phased beside him. The memory of him and Didi, bodiless, talking about their day, how the family was, her boyfriend – that pissed Aaron off, as I had known it would – and any number of other topics.

How long?

Couple months. Didi found me first. Usually we meet in the morning while everyone thinks we're still asleep. Her roommate found her the one time...

I saw Didi's memory. Her roommate trying to shake her and getting no response at first. She had reacted similar to how I would have if Aaron hadn't opened his eyes so quickly. She had dialled 9-11 and then had to explain that her unconscious roommate just 'woke up' and she didn't need an ambulance after all.

So, you two have telepathy? I really didn't understand.

No. We can leave our bodies, become spirits. Talk to other spirits, like the animals.

I remembered the legends, the spirit warriors, Taha Aki and Utlapa.

Yeah! Like that!

I howled. That was dangerous; it was forbidden. It was impossible, wasn't it?

I don't know if it's impossible, but I can do it. So can Didi.

Wait, can Didi phase to a wolf?

No. She doesn't shape-shift. She just leaves her body, but we can hear each other even this far away. I miss her.

I know you do Aaron. I'm worried. This isn't safe.

What's going to happen to us? We're both in our beds when we do it.

I didn't know what danger there might be, but I worried all the same. At the same time, I didn't have a way to stop them.

We'll be careful. Don't worry.

I phased back to human, not wanting to share any more with him just now. I was scared. I wanted him cautious, not afraid. I also wanted to call my daughter. First, I would tell Marcus. If Aaron hadn't told him already, he needed to know.

This will bring us pretty close to the time when Didi goes to La Push to visit Seth. (To read about that, see Ephraim.) Thanks for keeping up with me.