Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything related to it. I still don't own Turtle Dove, either.

Eight months. That's how long it had been since Carslile had welcomed Jasper and I with open arms. He had had two very simple rules for us. One was that we had to stick to the lifestyle of eating animals, not humans. The second had been that we had to follow the same charade as Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett. Carslile and Esme would be our 'foster parents', and we their 'foster children'. I had smiled and told him that those rules would be no problem to follow.

Our family had accepted all of us without any problem. Jasper had immediately become 'one of the boys', always doing something with Emmett and Edward during the day. At night, it was him and Edward, because Emmett was 'otherwise occupied' with Rose. Yet, that was alright, because I had been occupied with Kristina, and Carslile with Esme.

Eight months is also how long it had been since Kristina had joined Ephraim's pack. I smiled, remembering back to that night.

Eight months earlier, shortly after Alice, Jasper, and Kristina arrived in Forks, WA.

Kristina, Edward and I were standing on the edge of Quileute lines. We were going to try to get Ephraim to let Kristina to join his pack. She needed a pack, somewhere to really belong, people of her own kind. I loved her, loved having her around to love, but she needed a place to really belong, as much as she denied it.

We had Edward with us for two reasons. One was in case Ephraim decided to show up in wolf form. The second was so we didn't cross the treaty line and accidentally start a war.

We had been standing on the edge of treaty lines for about five minutes. In this time, the fall night had begun to grow dark. I looked to where Kristina and Edward stood to my left, Kristina's hand interlaced through mine. I squeezed it gently, and whispered to her.

"You ready?" Kristina had been looking worried since we, Carslile and I, had come up with the idea to do this. We both knew this could end badly, but the benefits outweighed the risked. She needed this as much as I needed her.

"Yeah." She whispered. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Edward took this as his cue to talk.

"Ephraim!" His voice rang through the night, clear and strong. Minutes later, I heard and smelled the wolf coming through the trees. Suddenly, the weight of the footsteps changed from soft and animal to heavier and human. Edward and I looked at each other and I knew that he had made the same assessment.

Suddenly, Ephraim was standing in front of us. His face was a look of steel at first, one I would be afraid to take in a fight. As soon as he smelled Kristina, though, his expression softened, looking confused.

Ephraim was tall, with long black hair. He had a toned and muscled body, it was obvious he did a lot of physical activity. His skin was almost the same shade of brown as Kristina's, although his was a bit darker. He was wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a thin shirt.

"How...?" He trailed off. I understood the unspoken questions. How did she get here? How is she who she is? How did he not know about her?

"Kristina, Ephraim. Ephraim, Kristina." Edward made the introductions. "Kristina is a ware wolf that Alice" He gestured toward me slightly. "picked up along her way. Kristina is from a tribe in Maine that does not seem too different from yours. But, due to circumstances, we believe she cannot go back. We were hoping that you could adopt her into your pack."

At this Ephraim started looking cautious. "Let me explain what we were thinking, then we can negotiate from there." Edward said the words, holding his palms out to Ephraim. "Our thought is that if she can simply be part of your pack, she can live with us. She seems to have taken a liking to us, especially Alice." At this mention, Kristina blushed. "But," Edward continued. "She needs a pack to belong to. She needs the sense of purpose." Edward put his hands down, letting Ephraim know he was finished.

Ephraim walked around Kristina, pushing between her and Edward, then her and me. I resisted the urge to hiss at him. In his push, he had separated our hands. Kristina made no move to re-link them, however, so I didn't either.

After Ephraim had seemed to finish his little assessment, he stood in front, just on the other side of the treaty line again.

He said no words, just held his hand out toward Kristina. She beamed at him, then me, and stepped over the line. It was a done deal.

Kristina had been wondering why she had not been aging in all this time. Ephraim had explained the confusion to Kristina. As long as she continued to phase, she would not age. As far as the pack knew, once we, the vampires, went away, life would go back to normal. He had no idea, though, what it meant that she changed. No idea at all.

The only other thing in question was my visions. Since I had met Kristina, I had not had any. Not a one. Carslile thought that it was because I had never been a ware wolf, so I couldn't 'see' them. His theory says that I can see humans because I was one, and can see vampires because I am one. It makes sense, somewhat.

Now, I was sitting on top of a hill waiting for Kristina to finish rounds. This hill had become my favorite spot in Forks, simply for the view. From on top of it, you could see everything. The bustling main street was visible below, as were many if not most of the houses. The small school Kristina, my new siblings, and I attended during the day was also plainly visible from the top of the hill. Kristina, Edward, and I were currently sophomores. Someday, we would have to leave Forks. But we'd cross that bridge when we came to it.

The mountains in the distance were also visible on top of the hill. Sometimes, I would also swear a person could see the ocean. It was gorgeous.

Just then, Kristina walked out of the trees. I turned to her and smiled. Her hair was full of leaves and other things, the dress she wore had small holes in it from running around on her ankle all the time. Still, she looked gorgeous. We embraced, and then shared a prolonged kiss.

Have I forgotten to mention? Eight months is also how long Kristina and I had been dating.

We then sat on the ground, looking at the view. I was, anyway. Kristina's head sat in my pretzel style lap, her legs off to my right. Due to this, my hand was playing with her skirt hem. One of the many times a day we were content.

I looked down at her to realize she was dozing. Ephraim always worked her and the rest of the pack hard. I smiled, knowing she was 'just resting her eyes', as she called it.

"What do you dream about?" I asked the question without meaning to. Kristina smiled up at me though, letting me know the question was alright to ask.

"Well..." She began "I used to have nightmares. Sometimes things I never saw would chase me through the woods. Sometimes I was lost. Other times, I would be trapped somewhere, yelling to be found. And I was always under some strange impression, like I was waiting for something. Not like it was stated in the dream, it was just an understood that I was waiting, and that this thing I was waiting for was going to make my life better and I knew it."

A tear fell down her cheek, and I wiped it away with my thumb. Her eyes were filled with tears, and I knew these nightmares really scared her.

She continued. "I used to wake up screaming from some of these, others I would just curl up and cry from." I propped her up so I could cradle her in my arms. It hurt to see her cry, to hurt so much.

Kristina buried her head in my shoulder and I let her cry. As she cried, I sang softly. It was a song that I remember from my human years, but I don't know from where. I do know that it used to be sung to me, and it always made me feel better. I just hoped it would do the same for her.

"So fair thou art my bonnie lass

So deep in love am I

Though I never will grow false

To the bonnie lass I love

'Till the stars fall from the sky my dear

'Till the stars fall from the sky."

After a few minutes, she sniffled. Then she picked up her head from between her knees and looked me in the eyes.

"Now, though," She began again "I dream of beautiful things. I dream of my future. I dream of you." Her hand caressed my cheek. "I dream of spending endless nights with you. I dream of whacking Emmett of the back of the head after he makes some comment about two hot girls together. I dream of Rosalie smacking Emmett after I do, then her smiling at us knowingly. I dream of trying to block Edward from my head after an especially noisy night." She blushed a little as she said this. "I dream of a day that I can watch you dance down the aisle toward me, in a beautiful white dress. I dream of exchanging vows, of you being mine to have forever. I dream..."

She had been gaining momentum through what she had been saying, and I stopped her with a kiss. She melted into me, then softly and playfully pushed me back.

"Let me finish. You made me loose my train of thought. Let me finish first, then we can have a little fun. Where was I? Ah. Yes." She grinned wickedly at me, and it made my heart jump. "I dream of a long and happy life with you and our new families. I love you. Okay."

That was all the permission I needed. I kissed her, with all the passion within my body.

We spent a little more time on top of the hill, then started wandering back home, hand in hand. I knew our family would be waiting.

I had it all. Family, love, hope, and a future to look forward to.

Eight months, and my life had become perfect.

A/N- Hey all! I won't be one of those wicked authors who says she won't update without reviews, though they would be nice.

Any questions, PM me or leave it in a review.

So no one is curious about the title? Hmm... you might be soon.