Horse Play and Siblings

I do not own any of the characters in Twilight.

EPOV

Several days had passed since our whole family rejoined in Vermont. Rosalie and Emmett were pleased to be back and provided us with tales from their latest honeymoon adventure. They seemed to enjoy their time away; they simply doted on one another since their return.

I was right being among all the couples in my family was a struggle, but Alice was doing her best to keep me from feeling out of place. Esme, Carlisle and Jasper were pleased to see that Alice and I were working out our differences.

Jasper hadn't given up hope of having horses, so we had been spending our time reviewing some horses that were for sale locally. It was easy to find local farmers who were willing to sell their prize horses to us, between Jasper's, Alice's and my talents combined we were able to purchase 5 horses for reasonable prices.

Aside from working on the livestock situation, Jasper was also looking into the colleges within Burlington. We hadn't decided if going back to school as full time students was what we wanted or if we wanted to attend night courses. I was leaning towards the night courses; the idea of spending my days in classes once again had lost its appeal about 50 years ago.

Carlisle had joined the hospital staff and was welcomed with open arms. Of course those open arms were primarily the women, but all the same the staff was happy to have a doctor as accomplished as he was on board.

Alice and I were spending a lot of time together hunting and discussing various topics. Of course some of those topics did concern Bella. She kept trying to convince me to return to Forks to, at the very least, check on Bella. I was refusing her attempts, but I wouldn't stop her from returning if that's what she wanted to do. I knew by telling her that she could return it would show her I was serious about everything I expressed when we spoke.

She didn't want to return without me though, so for now she just continued to bring the subject up. I was working hard at keeping my anger at bay during these discussions. It was really a struggle, but I was determined. If Jasper was around when the subject came up, he felt my anger and would assist in helping me to keep it in control. Her persistence was starting to really grate on my nerves.

Today Alice brought up the subject again, I started feeling my anger swell but kept control by balling my hands into fists. "Alice, my answer has not changed what so ever. Please stop bringing this up, you know my feelings please respect them."

"Edward, I know Bella would be happy to see you. There isn't a doubt in my mind," she sang.

I stopped short from running and turned to her, "Alice you haven't been having visions concerning Bella, have you?" I scanned her thoughts to make sure she wasn't holding back anything. There was nothing to concern me that she was seeing anything regarding Bella.

"No, I just know Bella loved you with all her heart. There's no way she's moved on, and Edward if you were honest with yourself you haven't either. You're just doing a better job of conducting yourself with civility" she said keeping her tone light.

I chuckled, she was right of course. I would never move on, not for the rest of eternity. But it still didn't change anything, Bella was still human and there was no way I would take her soul by turning her into a monster. Shaking my head at her, "Alice, I'm not saying you can't go, I just don't think it's a good idea for me to return. Since you haven't been having visions we have no idea what she's been doing. It would be best to just let her be." I said with finality.

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Just think about it. What if she had moved on, who in Forks would you want Bella to date, Mike, Eric, Tyler?" She grinned at me knowing this was the one thing that would make me crazed. The thought of Bella being with another man was too much for me, especially someone I knew, someone whose thoughts had invaded my head. I heard myself growling.

She laughed and said, "See, that's what I'm talking about Edward. Bella deserves better than what Forks has to offer. You were meant to be together. I'll drop it for now and let you calm down, besides we need to check on Jasper's horses." She took off on a run, knowing I'd quickly catch up and surpass her.

As we approached the paddock we saw Jasper had just finishing getting our new horses settled in. Emmett was clapping his hands together excitedly. "Jasper, which horse is mine?" he asked barely containing the excitement in his voice. Oh this would be funny!

"Emmett, I think you should take Cottontail here. He's the biggest so he'll be able to hold your weight, but he's also the most gentle. Since you've never ridden before, I'll give you a few pointers on how to ride and then you'll be on your own. Take the trails around the lake so Cottontail gets familiar with the grounds." He was smiling during his explanation to Emmett.

Alice was jumping up and down by my side, clapping her hands. I just looked at her with my eyebrow raised. 'Edward this is going to be so good. Cottontail is gentle, but he doesn't like to be led on his rides. He's been known to throw a rider or two.' She could barely control her giggling.

After saddling the horses, we mounted and Jasper gave Emmett the final instructions. Rosalie opened the paddock gate so we could exit. Jasper, Alice and I kicked our horses to begin a full run and Emmett followed suit. Cottontail took off at full speed as Emmett tried his best to control the horse by pulling on the reigns. We stopped and watched as he yelled to the horse, "Whoa, whoa…where are you going…. slow down." Cottontail had taken off at full speed and started heading towards the stables, Emmett was sure to get thrown from the horse shortly.

We were surprised to see he held tight and even managed to duck in time as Cottontail entered the stables. The three of us dismounted and headed towards the stables laughing the whole time. We found Emmett hanging onto one of the beams at the entrance. As we entered laughing, he jumped down and turned on us. "Oh I see how it is, you gave me that horse because you knew he couldn't be controlled. Very funny, well forget it. I don't want to ride; besides I prefer running myself. It's definitely faster." He stalked out of the stable to join Rosalie by the paddock gate.

Rosalie slapped him on the back of the head. She turned to us and said, "Nice, the three of you are real responsible. You know for vampires that are well over a hundred you'd think you could conduct yourselves with a little more maturity." They both stalked off into the house as the three of us burst out laughing again. I heard her thoughts as she was entering the house, 'He's a vampire, one of the biggest vampires around and a horse scares him, pathetic.'

"You know, they're currently planning their revenge." Jasper said between laughs.

"It's okay Jasper, I'll see what they have planned and whatever it is, we'll know it's coming." Alice said calming down her giggles.

"Let's not forget Emmett usually forgets to block his thoughts, so I'll be able to hear what's being planned long before it comes." We all nodded our heads laughing as we entered the house.

A typical day in our house was usually filled with some sort of activity that had one of us as the brunt of a prank. We had to do something to fill the endless hours of a day. Our pranks would sometimes get out of hand but that was usually when Esme stepped in and made sure we calmed down. Today's prank was one of our more mild ones, so Esme remained upstairs working on restoring an antique wardrobe she had found in Burlington.

We decided to head downstairs to our entertainment room and while away some hours playing video games. Initially I thought that playing a game with Jasper and Emmett would be fun, but I quickly got bored and decided to head upstairs and play my piano.

I hadn't played since leaving Forks although it was the one thing that eased me during trying times. Most of the music I had last composed was due to my relationship with Bella, so this kept me away from the one thing that had brought me the most joy during my time here on earth. I sat at the piano and loosened my fingers, I began slowly moving my fingers across the keys softly. Soon I felt the music flowing through me and I closed my eyes and let it carry me away. It felt so good to let myself get carried away with the chords, I played song after song. I did not play the songs I had composed for Bella that would have been too much for me to bear.

When I had finished, I heard the thoughts coming from Rosalie, 'Edward, that was beautiful. I was wondering if we would ever hear you play again.' She came and sat on my piano bench. 'It's so good to have you back again. We've all missed you.' She smiled as she finished.

"Thank you Rosalie. I'm glad you are happy." I smiled at her but raised an eyebrow questioning her motives. Rosalie always had motives, so this should be interesting. "It took me a while to come back and I'm still working on it, I hope my family is able to me in the process."

'Well, I for one will definitely help. You know how I felt about that silly human girl from the beginning. I'm just glad you have come to your senses and have stopped brooding about her.' I felt my fury building, but didn't interrupt I wanted to hear every word she had to say.

'You know when Emmett and I were traveling; we met a few vampires that share our diet. And, well one of them, she was great. I'm sure you would just adore her, she's not as pretty as me, but she's definitely in your league.' She smiled at me as if this was the best news I'd heard in months.

It started slowly; my growl was building in my chest. Rosalie's face changed to one of shock, to one of impertinence quickly. "Rosalie, my dear sister, it's so nice to have you home again. It's refreshing to see you have not changed one iota. As far as my 'brooding' over Bella, that is none of your business."

She interrupted at this point screaming, "It damn well is my business Edward. You've been so pathetic to be around, the family couldn't stand being under the same roof with you. We were all wondering when you would just get over it. I mean she was a human for god's sake. What interest could she possibly hold for you? Maybe I was wrong about you, you aren't interesting at all, you're just a depressing vampire with nothing of value to offer anyone except a human."

It was at this point I reached out to slap her, when I felt someone grab my hand. Alice appeared at my side and was holding my arm so I didn't strike Rosalie. She wasn't looking at me though she was glaring at Rosalie. "Rosalie, not everyone agrees with your assessment of Bella and Edward's relationship. In fact, you are the only one in this house that feels this way. You know I love you, but most of the time you can be an unbearable snob. Your shallow behavior has always been a nuisance, but we've ignored it."

She dropped my hand at this point; she could feel the tension had drained from my body. I was actually in shock over her words to Rosalie; I had never heard Alice utter unkind words to anyone in the family.

She continued in the same quiet tone, "The issue you have with Bella is because you are jealous of her, not because you feel she's beneath us. You wish you were Bella and that bothers you more than anything. How could beautiful Rosalie be jealous of a mere human girl? How could someone like Edward be attracted to her, when he blatantly dismissed you when you were turned? These are the things that bother you Rosalie, not Bella. These are your issues and you should work on overcoming these petty thoughts." She stood glaring at Rosalie, her whole body was poised for a fight but she remained by my side.

Rosalie stood still, stunned by Alice's words. At first her thoughts were defensive, 'How could this little pixie say these things to me? How dare she take the side of that human drone against me, her own sister!'

Quickly her thoughts turned though, 'How could she know these things? She's right about my feelings, but how could she have known? I never thought about these things in the open when Edward was around, I was careful about making sure he was nowhere near me.' Rosalie looked from me to Alice and then turned and ran to her room without saying one word to either Alice or myself.

I turned to Alice, "How did you know what she thought? Have you picked up a new talent? Are you mind reading as well now?" I said teasingly as I smiled at her.

She just raised an eyebrow at me, "Edward, I don't need to read minds to know what a woman thinks, especially a woman like Rosalie. She's not as unpredictable as she thinks she is!" She smiled and continued, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for stopping me from hitting her, I really couldn't restrain myself after she said everything." I sat down heavily on the couch, "I've been trying to keep my anger in check, but she really pushed every button I have."

She sat beside me, "Edward, this isn't over. You need to get her to talk to you and resolve this. We need each other; the family needs to be whole. Think of Esme and Carlisle. The only reason I said all those things was so you would understand Rosalie's true feelings. Now that you know, I think you should go talk to her and work this out." She stood and went back down with Emmett and Jasper.

I ran my hands through my hair as I sat on the couch thinking about everything Alice had said. She was one smart vampire; between her and Jasper they were a formidable team. They both could read people's emotions, although Jasper's was a talent, Alice's ability was more related to her loving nature.

This did need to be addressed; I couldn't leave Rosalie in this state. As much as she disturbed me on many levels, she didn't deserve to be left alone to wallow in self-pity. We are a family and she's just as important to the family as anyone. I stood and headed up the stairs to resolve this latest conflict.

Knocking lightly on her door, she didn't answer at first. I knocked again, harder this time and her thoughts came to me, 'Go away Edward. I'm in no mood to discuss this with you. Your little sidekick said everything that needed to be said.' "Rosalie, open the door right now or you force me to knock it down and Esme wouldn't be happy with either of us if I did that." I said with force.

I heard her slowly rising and unlocking the door; she walked back to her bed and sat on the edge. I opened the door and entered standing just inside the entry. "Rosalie, I came to apologize to you." She just glared at me but her thoughts were far from angry, 'Apologize, why would you apologize?'

"I'm apologizing because you should know we didn't mean to hurt you Rosalie. The things you said against Bella are the reason we get upset and then in turn say things we shouldn't. If you don't mind, now that Alice has said all those things, I'd like to discuss them with you. Would you mind?" I said as I gestured to the chair in the room. She nodded acknowledging me.

"Is it true Rose, were you really jealous of Bella?"

She nodded again without looking at me.

"Rose, you shouldn't let jealousy get in the way of becoming friends with someone. Especially someone like Bella, she could have brought you so much joy when she was with us. You had to see for yourself how everyone in our family embraced her?" I leaned forward in the chair hoping she would understand what I was trying to tell her. She needed to understand she was alienating herself from many people by her jealous behavior. I stopped speaking so I could hear what her thoughts were, but she was blocking me.

She sighed and turned towards me, "Edward, I'm sorry. You should know that in spite of the fact that Bella was human, even I could see the joy she brought into your life. When you decided to leave her, yes I thought it was best. I thought you would be able to move on and that's why I brought up the other vampire. When I heard you playing again, I just assumed you were truly over Bella. I had no idea you were still harboring feelings for her."

She stood and walked over to the window. "I do understand love, Edward. If I were to loose Emmett I would die inside. So I know what you've been going through. When we returned from our trip and you were here, acting as you used to, I just thought that perhaps you had turned a corner. I know it was silly of me to think that way now, but it's what I thought at the time."

She turned back to me with her arms across her chest, "Edward, this will sound hypocritical coming from me, but I'm going to say it anyway. You need to find Bella. She's the love of your existence and you may be putting up a good front, but you need her. You need to find your other half."

I stood and approached her and pulled her into an embrace. Kissing her on her forehead I told her, "Rose, coming from you it almost sounds plausible. But Bella is better off without me, I couldn't possibly return and beg her forgiveness. She would never accept my apology and it would kill me to have her walk away." I pulled away from her and smiled, "Thank you though, what you've said means a great deal to me."

"Okay Edward, have it your way. But vampires cannot live on blood alone dear brother." She smiled at me and we walked downstairs to our siblings.