Chapter 30: Cousins and Conflicts

~Edward~

Why Alice had decided we should try to play a game of beach volleyball was beyond me. There was a net, but unlike standard volleyball our teams stood far apart, and half the time the ball ended up in the ocean on one side of the island or the other. When that flopped, Emmett suggested clearing out some trees in the middle of the island, but when Esme caught wind she stopped his scheming. For the time being family sports were banned, at least it was for the adults. Lily expressed an interest in learning how to hit a ball so that when she was old enough she might be able to join us in our games. Two days later we had a bat her size and as well mitts that fit her hand. We also had one for Renesmee.

Having my daughter finding an interest in sports was a pleasant surprise. The first morning we headed out to the beach to practice, everyone else came along. While Alice helped Bella set up Anthony's tent, Renesmee was on my lap while I fit the catcher's mitt to her small hand. "I want to throw the ball," she said.

"You will be able to," I assured.

"I want to catch the ball and run just like you do."

"First we need to teach you how to throw the ball and catch," I answered once she was ready. Last night Emmett and I spent some time getting our girls' mitts ready for them to use, stretching them and folding them in. The mitts were ready much sooner than anyone else who had new gloves would be. Lily was quiet as Emmett and Rosalie helped her get her mitt on. She was worried about getting hit by the ball instead of being able to catch it.

"Daddy, all ready," Renesmee called out.

Leaving Emmett and Rosalie to take care of Lily, I followed my little ball player out to the beach with her ball in my hand.

"I want to throw it first."

I gave it to her and before I could give any instructions, Renesmee gave it a good toss. It landed two feet from her which was a great start for such a small little girl. "You did a good job," I said once I had the ball.

"Watched you and all of them playing."

When Renesmee put her hand on my cheek I saw our last game, which had been played a while ago. She had been paying attention to how Alice threw the ball and had mimicked her aunt fairly accurately.

On down the beach Emmett was trying to get Lily not to close her eyes when he threw the ball to her. The only thing that had kept it from hitting her head was Rosalie catching it. Lily was already starting to give up and her sad thoughts drew me over to where they were while Bella got up to help our daughter.

"I'm not good," Lily said throwing her mitt down as she headed for the house.

My brother hung his head feeling like he'd failed. "She's just afraid, I told him."

"Yeah, I know. Nessie's doing better," he pointed out using Lily's nickname for my daughter.

"Renesmee has seen us play and remembers."

We both quieted as Rosalie and Lily returned. "Hi Uncle Edward."

"Hello Lily. Are you ready to try again?"

Before she could answer a smaller set of hands were tugging at mine. "Daddy, I caught it."

I looked down at my baby and left Emmett and Rosalie to try again, hoping Lily would at least catch one to boost her confidence and self esteem. As we arrived back at our spot, Renesmee gave me the ball and backed a few feet away. I aimed for her mitt and she did catch it making me proud along with her Uncle Jasper who had been helping her when Bella realized she wasn't that great at throwing a ball.

When Renesmee threw the ball it didn't go as far, but I was able to catch it before it hit the ground and stayed there as I threw it back to her. I began to envision both of my children playing Cullen baseball when they were older, and was looking forward to it.

"I got it, I got it," Lily shouted.

As the rest of the family went to watch, I heard Renesmee's thoughts a moment before she turned to toss her mitt in the ocean. My daughter was still getting used to having Lily around to grab some of the attention and her old jealousy tendencies had shown themselves a few times.

"No," I said firmly without having to yell.

Renesmee halted the movement of her arm looking back at me with her lips puckered up. She was breathing heavily and I raised my brows keeping my eyes focused on her.

"I'm mad," she said as she panted.

"You need to cool off and not throw that mitt," I answered calmly while everyone else gave us our space.

"I want to." Her arm moved back and Bella leapt over her catching it before it hit the salt water and got ruined. Renesmee was caught by surprise watching Bella get her mitt, and sat down on the sand kicking at the water.

"Catch," Bella said and I held up my hand as she tossed the mitt to me before she picked up our angry child taking her inside to deal with Renesmee's defiance.

With the mitt in hand I joined the rest of my family. Lily wasn't as confident as her cousin but she loved being able to catch the ball and try throwing it. When Esme brought Anthony over he leaned out of her arms wanting the ball. My niece saw what he wanted and brought it to him. She was on cloud nine as the rest of the family praised her, though she was also worried about her cousin. "Why does she do that?" Lily asked as Jasper and Emmett left with the ball once Anthony was tired of it. They were ready to play catch, just on a grander scale.

"She's used to getting most of the attention and she is still young enough not to understand how to handle the reasons why she can't get so angry when things don't go her way," I answered as Lily nodded.

"I got angry some and I hurt Anna and Claire. If I get angry and I hurt someone will I be in big trouble?"

"Yes," Rosalie answered glancing away from Esme in the midst of talking.

In her mind, Lily was thinking about the times she had gotten in trouble with Emmett and Rosalie. Those times were sad and no fun, so Lily decided she wouldn't ever hurt anyone again, and I was glad. "Will you help me make a sandcastle, if Momma says yes?"

"I would love too," I answered, while monitoring things inside the house, making sure Bella had things under control.

.After a full day of play the girls and Anthony were in bed before the sun set. No one had planned any sort of family meeting, but we all gathered in the front room, all sitting next to our spouses.

"I think we have two budding ball players in the making," Esme said to no one in particular. It kind of broke the ice, and from everyone's thoughts, I knew no one really wanted to discuss what was needed.

"They both caught on fairly fast," Rosalie agreed as she leaned into Emmett's embrace.

For a while we talked about the day's events. It was only when Carlisle lightly cleared his throat that we all looked over to where he and Esme were seated on one of the white sofas facing the sliding glass doors.

"I believe we all have had a chance individually to talk about what we want to do as a family." Before he went on, Carlisle glanced to his left over at Alice and Jasper, "We also fare better staying together, though that leaves some concern over how to keep the children safe. I've had a chance to talk to Eleazar and he believes as I now do that Renesmee, Anthony, and Lily be kept secret from the Volturi. Knowing Aro the way I do, he would jump at the chance to take them away and observe them, using them as bate against us." Carlisle had gotten permission from Bella and me as well as Rosalie and Emmett to tell him about our children. Eleazar had been very interested in what my father said in their conversations and agreed for now he wouldn't tell any of the other members of his family.

"What have we done," Rosalie asked, her mind filled with angry thoughts.

"Our Coven is one of the larger ones. Our way of life and our family bond makes us strong. I think that scares them, more so Caius than Marcus or Aro. If they find out about the children, we become more of a liability in their eyes," Carlisle explained. His thoughts were jumbled, and I knew it hurt him to admit this. After spending a couple of centuries with them Carlisle should have earned their respect, at least in my eyes.

"So where do we go from here?" Emmett asked.

"Our house in England might serve as a better place for keeping the children safe. It's more centralized to the areas we would need to start scouring for any signs of Joham. From everything you have observed about Lily," Carlisle said looking directly at Emmett and Rosalie, "I think he might very well be in Europe someplace, or maybe further away in Russia."

Everyone was beginning to agree with Carlisle. Bella dropped her shield and her thoughts drew my attention to her. She wasn't happy about taking the babies so close to the Volturi, and while our group sat talking about other possibilities, I stood and took her hand leading her outside to the small patio. "The house is very secluded, even more so than at our home in Maine.

"And what about our home?" she asked, frustration lacing her voice.

"We will go home first, gather the smaller things we will need. Our family attorney will take care of finding a service to maintain the house in our absence."

My wife sighed, shutting her eyes. "It doesn't feel right Edward. How will Lily react, especially if that's where Joham last had her, maybe not in England, but close enough? You said she's not using her ability to disappear, but what if she starts doing that again, or runs away?" Bella had brought up some valid points and we would have to prepare Lily for that.

"What do you suggest?" I wanted my wife to have as much input as the rest of us.

"I don't know. You all know the world far better than I do. My only time out of the country was that once, and maybe it would be easier to handle things. Are Carlisle and Esme going to Denali?"

When I held out my arms, my wife walked into them. I held her close shutting my own eyes, "They haven't decided. It would help if we gained support, but that may mean revealing more to them than we want."

"If it would help, then let them. You have known Tanya and her family for a while," Bella began. I could tell by the way her body stiffened against mine, that she wasn't all that comfortable with the idea. Tanya had once tried to seduce me, though she never succeeded. Because of that my wife worried.

"You don't need to be concerned about Tanya. She may have wanted us to try a relationship once upon a time, but now that you and I are together, she respects what we have," I reassured, remembering her thoughts at our wedding. She had been sad to see me go off of the market, as she thought of it, and was also happy to see me find someone who completed me. "Telling them about the children is something we will have to do carefully," I continued thinking of their mother who had created an immortal child.

"They would think we created immortal children, maybe sharing with them wouldn't be the best idea, though you did say that Eleazar took the news well."

"Yes, though some of that has to do with his time spent with the Volturi. He never agreed with how they handled the situation with Tanya's mother when he later found out what had taken place, and he knows our situations, ours and Emmett's and Rosalie's are not the same. When and if we do bring Tanya, Kate and Irena into this his voice will be the one to help them understand that our children are not a threat." I sounded more confident than I felt and when Bella gazed at me it was evident by the way she slightly puckered her lips that she knew how I felt.

"It's all happening so fast," she breathed as I pulled her into my arms. "How soon do we need to start packing to leave?"

"In another week, long enough to finalize our plans and get the children ready," I answered resting my chin atop her head.

~Emmett~

There wasn't any real privacy on the Island, and it made it hard not to hear the words my brother was saying to Bella. Everything was happening fast, and I wasn't looking forward to moving this time. Even with the lack of privacy, our Island was relatively safe and it was the first home Lily had known with us. As I lay next to her listening to her heart beating and her gentle, slow breathing, I tried thinking of how to tell her we had to leave, and what measure of comfort we could give her if she knew where London was and associated that place with Joham. In my eyes and in the eyes of my wife, that man had only donated his seed. Lily's biological mother gave her life and now she was ours in every way, a child of our hearts.

"Daddy, I liked playing catch today," Lily whispered.

I pulled her closer to me as she snuggled against my chest at the same time. "I liked that too. We can try some of that tomorrow."

"I want to play some with Nessie too, and I think we need to get a mitt for Anthony."

"Shh, we can think about that and discuss it later. You need to sleep."

For a few moments Lily was silent. "I had bad dreams. He's still wanting me back and I see him when I dream, looking for me because he's mad."

There wasn't any need for Lily to tell me who the he was in her dreams. "He won't ever take you away from us. I swear to you."

As Lily sat up a little looking at me, Rosalie came into the small room and sat down on the edge of the mattress. Our daughter put her hand on my cheek. "You shouldn't make promises that you won't be able to keep. He's got lots of baddies who will help him find me and hurt you." Lily blinked at me unafraid, and Rosalie leaned in hugging her as I sat up and hugged both of them.

My wife began to hum something and after a while Lily relaxed against my chest falling back to sleep. Once she was, and we tucked her in, Rosalie and I took a walk out on the beach letting the warm waters wash over our bare feet. "She's wise beyond her years," I said, not liking how grown up she had been just a little while ago.

"She still has so much anger and pain in her. I think she's afraid to believe what we say about keeping her safe because of how hard her life has been. Do you know how much I just want to take her with you and run to the far ends of the earth? I love our family and I don't want harm to come to them, but I don't want to lose her or you."

My wife put her arms around me first and mine went around her soon after. We stood in the surf as still as two statues in the darkened world, both lost in our thoughts, both scared of what the future would bring.

The next morning Lily was happy and sat with Renesmee in the family room working a puzzle. She hadn't brought up what she said last night and I hoped that she had forgotten.

"No Anthony," Lily said drawing my attention from the conversation Rosalie and Bella were having. The rest of the family had gone out to the other end of the Island, discussing more plans away from the kids.

After leaving the table, I walked over to where the girls were trying to work on their puzzle and sat down, seeing that my nephew had taken a handful of puzzle pieces away for his small plastic wagon. "Hey there Anthony, why don't we find something better to pull around?"

He shook his head and reached out for more puzzle pieces just as the girls moved them away. "No no," he said stepping after their retreating hands.

Before things could get ugly, Bella came over with a sippy cup and Anthony reached for that as he backed up and plopping down on my lap. I leaned back as he drank, wishing life could always be this simple. Eventually we would secure a better future for us and all of the kids, though right now I decided to take things as they came.

"All done," Lily announced as Anthony still drank from his cup. "Daddy, may I go outside with Nessie, just me and her?" Renesmee stood up joining her cousin; both of them staring at me with their lips drooped slightly down.

Remaining seated as I was with Anthony still on my lap, I glanced over at my wife and Bella. Both of them had stopped talking and were watching me. "So moms, what do you think?" That got a few giggles from the two little ladies standing close by.

"If they promise not to get in the water and stay in the sand close to the house, I think it will be fine," Rosalie said glancing over at Bella who nodded in agreement.

The girls cheered a moment before they ran to the door opening it quickly and shutting it behind them as they ran off laughing.

Anthony who had remained still through all of that struggled to his feet dropping his cup as he too made a beeline for the door. When Bella got to him and picked him up his head began to shake. "No no no," he called out. His frustration quickly turned to laughter as Bella cradled him in her arms nibbling his neck and ears.

With nothing else to do, I walked over to my wife helping her to her feet and then into my arms. "We should take this opportunity to check out the bathroom," I whispered glad when Bella took Anthony to the master bedroom.

My wife gazed up at me and I lowered my head kissing her lips once then again while at the same time hearing Nessie and Lily playing outside, glad they were happy for the moment. When I kissed my wife again I pulled her against me and picked her up groaning into her mouth as she wrapped her legs around my waist. It wasn't easy being a parent, and having to think of Lily first when all I wanted to do was rip Rosalie's clothes off and have my way with her. What didn't help was the way she thrusted her hips forward pressing against me in ways that made thinking difficult. With very little effort I got us into the bathroom, shutting the door with my foot before backing my wife against the tile wall, hearing something rip as my lips devoured hers. Feeling her hands going between us and dipping into my shorts was the last thing my mind registered before there was nothing else but our bodies moving together, and the quieter sighs and sobs coming from either one of us.

~Bella~

There was no mistaking what Emmett had in mind and after getting Anthony into his trunks and getting a few toys, I joined the girls out on the beach. Neither one of them seemed to notice I was there, and it was nice to see them getting along.

"Ma ma ma," Anthony said getting my attention. He was standing in front of me and reached out tugging my long hair with his hands.

"What are you doing my funny little man?"

He laughed and let go of my hair as I tickled under his arms and sat down in front of me before he began to scoot away.

"Don't touch it," Lily said, getting my attention fast. I looked up and over to where they had been, finding them gone and out of sight.

"What is it?" Renesmee said. I scooped Anthony up and followed their voices.

"It's a Jelly fish, and they sting people."

"But that won't hurt us," my daughter pointed out as I ran and Anthony laughed, not aware that I was slightly distressed. I found them almost a half a mile down the beach looking at two jelly fish that had washed up on the beach.

"Who wants to explain why you two are this far away?"

The girls glanced over at me and Renesmee backed behind Lily.

"I won't let her get hurt Aunt Bella. I didn't let her touch the fish and we didn't get in the water just like my Daddy said," Lily pointed out.

I found my frustration reaching new levels as Anthony began to struggle in my arms, likely wanting to have a look at the Jelly Fish.

"You know you're not supposed to go away from the house, not this far."

Lily looked down. "I feel safe here and I was alone before and didn't get hurt," she whispered.

"That doesn't matter," Rosalie said as she arrived by my side.

Anthony started to fuss, and Renesmee clung to her cousin, knowing she was in trouble. "Come on Renesmee," I said holding out my free hand. For once my daughter did as she was told, and I led her back to the house.

"Am I getting spankings?" As she asked that I was playing back what had happened with the girls. They hadn't planned on going so far out, not from what I heard in their conversations, which I hadn't really listened too because I'd been too focused on getting Anthony into his trunks and outside to play.

"Not this time, but you two both need to watch what you're doing," I said glancing to my left at where my daughter walked next to me.

"Do Jelly fish hurt?"

"For people like Charlie and Sue, yes, I'm not sure about you or Lily. What I want you to do is to leave them alone if you see another one, just in case it can hurt you."

My little girl nodded and Anthony lifted his head from my shoulder. When I put him down he grabbed his sister's hand. "Sis sis," he said and my little girl laughed following him over to his little tent. Rosalie and Emmett weren't too far behind and they were still talking to Lily about the rules she had to follow, something she was still struggling with from the way she walked stiffly behind them.

Renesmee and Anthony had been asleep for a half hour when the rest of our family arrived home. I had taken a book and was sitting out on one of the fluffy beach towels when I heard my husband trying to sneak up on me. I'm pretty sure he knew I was aware of his approach, though I decided to ignore that fact as I set the book down in front of me and stretch my arms over my head. When I tilted my head back shutting my eyes, there was only a breath of a moment before I felt his lips molded against my own. Without opening my eyes, I grasped my fingers into his hair and pulled him closer to me, parting my lips as I darted my tongue out running it along his.

I opened my eyes as his lips left mine, smiling up at him. "Welcome back," I whispered.

"That was quite a welcome."

"We could always continue," I said not caring at that point if someone happened upon us. Lily was inside helping Rosalie start dinner, grounded for today's earlier misadventure.

That was right when we heard fast approaching footsteps along with Emmett's growl. Edward stepped away from me and a moment later both of them were rolling on the sand. It appeared I had distracted Edward enough for Emmett to sneak up on us, though not fast enough to carry out his plan. A few seconds later Emmett was sailing through the air landing far out in the ocean with a large splash. My husband turned around to face me dusting off his hands even as Emmett made his way back to us for a second round.

"They never grow up," Alice said as she sat next to me while Jasper joined in. It was nice to see this side of things, without the stresses of life, or the plans we had to make to try and find Joham and at the same time rally other Vampires to our cause.

"I'm not sure I'd like it if he was always so serious," I said leaning back with my sister, both of us wearing bikinis.

"We could always surprise them and join in. You're still the strongest member of our family," Alice whispered. "And Edward would never hear you coming," she pointed out as I caught the drift of what she wanted. For a second I listened inside hearing my babies still sleeping and Esme helping Rosalie and Lily with supper. Carlisle was somewhere in the house on his laptop, which left Alice's plan a go.

We sat up watching the men in our lives wrestling around. I waited until Edward was backing away from his brothers and launched my attack. My husband never knew I was coming until I was on his back and he was going under the water. I laughed as he fought to get a hold of me and as Alice joined in, able to dart away from Emmett who was trying to get her and either dunk or toss her.

"You aren't having all of this fun without me," Rosalie yelled before she joined us. The women were against them men and I had the upper hand with my newborn strength, even managing to dunk Emmett and throw him once or twice with everyone laughing.

Edward finally managed to snag me away and instead of dunking me he cradled me in his arms before going under. I opened my eyes and his lips came down on mine. My lungs wanted to fight for the air I didn't need and once I realized that I'd survive, kissing my husband under water was something I liked very much. When we came up, we were pretty far out and away from the rest of our family. Edward floated on his back bringing me along his side. "I'm not sure I liked your attack," he began.

"To bad, you'll have to pay better attention," I answered.

"I can do that easily," he whispered as his lips sucked my left earlobe into his mouth and nibbled.

My growl of pleasure was all he needed to continue. Somewhere along the way we found our footing on a sandbar not noticing much as we pleasured each other with the touch of our hands and mouths.

AN: I'm sorry for the long wait, and hope this chapter was worth that for all of you. I know there are a few POV's to read through, but everyone needed a say in this, so I hope you don't mind and that it wasn't too confusing to read through. Lily's age is right around nine or ten but given all she's gone through she's very smart and world smart at that, more than she's letting on now. That's all I'll say about her for now too. Thanks for all of the reviews and Adds and now onto the next.

~Ella~