Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, I just use their creations to have my wicked way with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

Many thanks to Jadsmama and Ladysharkey1, my amazing beta team for this story. You ladies rock!

A family tree of the Cullen family has been added to the blog. You can find the link on my profile page.

3.

The table

By the time he finally made it back to the house after having lost his way at least twice among the small, quirky streets of Forks, Edward's mind was still in tangles, trying to make sense of the situation he'd just stumbled into.

"You're late!" Esme scolded, the fragrant smells of home cooked Italian cuisine making his mouth water as they drifted towards him through the open back door.

"I lost my way," Edward mumbled, looking anywhere but at his sister for fear she might catch on to something. "Who would've known that was possible in a one-horse town like this?"

"Pfft!" Esme huffed. "I'm sure a prissy, little city boy like you could get lost in his own backyard if he didn't bring his GPS with him!" It was only when she looked up from her pans that she noticed the subtle changed in him. "You look flustered."

Just as he thought. Edward swallowed, remembering only in the nick of time that something else had happened apart from his unfortunate meeting with Mona Lisa, as he'd started to call her in his mind; the name referring not so much to the painting as to the Nat King Cole song. "You could have given me a little heads up before I went into town unprotected," he therefore grumbled, trying to push the thoughts of his mysterious girl out of his mind. "I felt like a fucking zoo exhibit when I stepped inside the 7Eleven!"

Esme snickered, arching her brow as her face disappeared behind the smoke of the boiling pasta water. "Jeez, Edward! Overreacting much?"

If only she knew. "I'm not overreacting, Es," he defended, running a hand through his hair as he tried to shake off the feeling of unease the whole supermarket debacle had left behind. "They were whispering! What the hell is up with that?"

Esme chuckled, inwardly trying to take stock of whoever might have been there at that time of day. Nora McCarty and Shelly Cope probably, maybe Donna Crowley and, of course, Rebecca Black behind the counter. "Have you ever read Pride and Prejudice?" she asked, knowing that to these ladies the arrival of Edward was the miracle they'd been praying for.

"Yeah." Edward frowned wondering what the hell his sister was playing at. "But what does that have to do with me?"

Esme chuckled, enjoying teasing with her little brother. "Well, to most of the women in this town, you're the closest to a Mister Bingley they are ever going to get; young, single rich surgeon, gracing the town with a semi-permanent presence…" Her eyes were dancing with mischief as she let her voice trail off, noting how her little brother was starting to look greener by the second.

"I'm not a piece of meat, Es," Edward groaned, "and if some of my former colleagues have their way, I won't be a doctor for that much longer either." It had stung to hear his former buddies, both residents he'd taken under his wing and attendings with whom he'd worked side by side on many patients, clamoring for his dismissal as soon as they found out what he'd been up to. He knew if the roles had been reversed he would have probably done the same but still…it stung.

"Doesn't matter," Esme snickered. "As long as you wear a white coat and show up at the hospital from time to time, most of the town won't know how close you came to losing your license." She held up her hand, stopping her brother before he would continue arguing technicalities. "The point is: unless you manage to conjure a Mister Darcy from somewhere, you're going to be the talk of the town and the wet dream, of every mother in town with a single daughter over twenty."

"If only they knew." Edward smiled ruefully. As soon as those women found out the dream doctor was nothing but a recovering junkie who'd left his hometown in disgrace, they wouldn't have been so quick to try and fix him up with their daughters.

"Yeah, well, they don't," Esme countered. "And I imagine them finding out would be even worse than being ogled like a juicy piece of man-steak, so you'd better keep your mouth shut."

Edward couldn't do anything else but agree, even though he did feel slightly nauseated having himself referred to as a piece of meat. He knew having people find out why he'd changed the hustle and bustle of the big city, and its renowned hospitals, for small town living and working in a no-name community hospital would probably be the end of his career. No one with half a brain would entrust their well-being in the hands of a recovering drug addict and his supervisors at Northwestern had been very clear in their terms….

No, people were better off not knowing. Or, in any case, he was better off if they didn't.

"Do you think I have time for a quick shower before dinner?" he asked, stealing a cherry tomato from the chopping board before Esme could stop him.

She nodded. "Probably. Carlisle just texted to let me knowing he was leaving and picking up Jasper on his way home. I don't know about Rose but, after Carlisle's last lecture on punctuality, I don't think she'd dare getting home late again."

From what his sister had told him, Edward got the distinct impression that Rosalie pretty much came and went as she pleased, mouthing off at her parents whenever they cramped her style and listened only to her dad when she knew it was either that, or be grounded.

Chuckling as his sister tried in vain to swat him away with a sauce ladle before he swiped another tomato from the counter, he made his way back up the stairs to his half-personalized room. The empty shelves flashed by in transit as he crossed the space on his way to the small, functional bathroom to the back of his little apartment.

He was on his way back downstairs before twenty minutes had passed, feeling revived after a quick shower and shave, to catch the tail end of a conversation between Esme and Jasper as he reached the ground floor.

"…absolutely ridiculous. He didn't even show up for practice today and when Crowley, that fucking asshole, started goofing off in the back with some of the new guys, coach made us do laps around the field for the rest of training. I'm exhausted!"

"Watch your mouth," Esme warned him, Edward's lips pulled into a smile as he listened to his sister acting like a mom. It was weird to hear her like that, even though he'd always pictured his sister having kids some day.

Jasper muttered an apology as Esme consoled him with the hopes that next practice would probably be better.

"I dunno," Jasper muttered, his voice almost drowned out by the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen. "It's not as fun as it used to be anymore."

"Maybe Mike and Royce will quit altogether or the coach will have them kicked off the team. You said yourself that they skipped more practices than they've attended over the last couple of weeks," Esme offered, her eyes shining as she spotted Edward coming into view from the corners of her eyes. "Jazz? I'd like you to meet my brother, Edward." She patted his hand to get his attention, the boy at the breakfast bar slowly turning around to get a look at the new arrival.

To Edward, one of the great things about his temporary move to Forks was that he finally got to meet the kids Esme had been telling him so much about for the past couple of years. When his sister had married Carlisle about six years ago, they had still been living with their mother in California and when they did move, Edward had been in the final stages of his residency, leaving him with no time to think, let alone plan family visits across the country. Besides, he had a feeling Esme would know there was something wrong with him the minute she laid eyes on him and like any junkie, he didn't want to run the risk of being found out.

No, as little as he had seen of Carlisle over the past six years, he had seen nothing at all of Jasper and Rosalie. It had pained him to be so cut off from his sister; one of the few members of his family who actually gave a fuck about him, but it couldn't be helped. Her life was in Washington and his in Illinois and between both their jobs and their families, visits had been few and very far in between. Well, all of that was about to change.

Jasper Cullen was tall for his age, his long, lanky frame folded awkwardly on the kitchen stool as he hunched over the island, his deep blue eyes contrasting starkly with the half-long waves of greasy, jet black hair hanging onto his shoulders in messy waves.

Edward immediately liked him, though he couldn't tell why. Maybe it was the open, intelligent look in Jasper's eyes or the warm smile and outstretched hand with which the boy greeted him as he walked into the kitchen. "Hey, nice to have another man around here to even out the estrogen."

"Jazz!" Esme objected.

"What?" Jasper, replied innocently, smiling angelically at his stepmom. "With dad and him both being doctors, chances are I'm still going to be outnumbered at the dinner table again."

Edward had a feeling there was more to it and, knowing what he did about the infamous girl spawn, got the feeling that he was going to be a UN peacekeeper more than just a regular male role model to discuss sports and other manly things with. Not that he'd ever call himself a role model, though…

"Smart thinking," he nevertheless replied, not wanting to assume too much or make everyone else feel uncomfortable. "So, Esme tells me you're big on nature conservation?" He hopped onto an empty stool, chuckling as Jasper's eyes lit up while Esme shook her head, muttering something under her breath about not getting Jasper started on nature.

"That I am, sir," Jasper solemnly declared, pushing his hair back behind his ears. "You should see some of the stuff the local timber companies get away with, all in the name of 'nature management'." He huffed sarcastically, his eyes betraying his passion as he went on. "What the hell is 'nature management' anyway? I can tell you what it's not: it's not the cutting away of whole acres of trees that have been here for as long as anyone can remember and reducing a lively ecosystem to a barren wasteland."

"Oh, good God!" a disinterested groan sounded from behind them. "Is he going on about that again? I'm going upstairs to change." Edward turned around just in time to see the last locks of pale blond hair disappear out of sight as Jasper's sister stormed upstairs.

"I think she was switched at birth," Jasper smirked as he followed Edward's gaze, the sound of loud rap music blaring from upstairs soon after they'd heard a door slam shut. "There's no way 'that' could ever be related to me."

"Jasper!" Esme scolded him, placing a bowl of artfully decorated salad on the counter. "That's no way to talk about your sister."

"You should hear what she's saying about us behind our backs!" Jasper huffed, disrupting Esme's careful craftsmanship by picking a piece of cucumber out of the bowl. "I think it's more than fair if we get to return the favor every now and then."

Esme sighed, pouring the pasta into a colander. "Just go get your dad, will you? He should be in his office."

"Where else?" Jasper muttered, gliding of his stool and trudging out of the room.

"Ready to bail yet?" Esme grinned apologetically, setting the bowl of pasta next to the salad before turning her attention to the parts of the dish which still needed completing.

"Nah," Edward shrugged. "Your family's interesting, though."

His remark caused Esme to laugh out loud, her slender frame doubling over as the bread she was slicing was momentarily forgotten. "That's certainly an apt way to describe us!" she finally panted, holding her sides as she slowly started to recover. "I'm afraid this is nothing, though. You should see them around Thanksgiving when Rosalie wants nothing but cookie cutter traditionalist while Jasper fights to free as many birds possible from ending up on the dinner table."

Edward shook his head, laughing as he grabbed a bowl and followed his sister into the dining room. "It's almost like being back home," he grinned.

"No way!" Esme gasped. "Even if the kids are flying at each other's throats and Carlisle never gets to leave his OR again, this is so much better than being back in Chicago. At least here I don't have to stand by and let some trust-fund baby feel me up for the good of the company."

"It wasn't that bad!" Edward muttered, never quite knowing how to react in situations like those. He knew Esme hated the life she'd lived in Chicago with a passion, and had spent many years trying to 'reprogram' herself but to him, it had always been home; the only sort of home he'd ever known. Sure, it may not have been the warmest nest a young boy could land himself in but it had been his.

Esme, meanwhile, knowing Edward's conflict even without it ever having been discussed between them, took great care to avert her face. It was better if her brother never learned what had really gone down while he had been safely tucked away at his expensive boarding school. Knowing just how far their father would go to protect the family's interests…it would destroy him. Especially given the state he was in.

"Edward." At the mention of his name, Edward looked up to find a man who could only be his sister's husband, even if Edward didn't remember him from the few times they'd met over the past couple of years, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He looked like both his kids; his frame as tall and slim as Jasper's and his hair and eyes the same color as what Edward had seen of the girl. "It's nice to see you again." There was something in Carlisle's eyes that made Edward wonder if the man was, indeed, as happy to see him as he claimed to be; a tension in his smile as he reached out and shook Edward's hand, slightly too firmly, in greeting.

"How are you doing?" Edward answered, trying not to over thinking the situation. After all, it could be nothing more but the strain of long workdays and difficult cases.

"Busy," Carlisle chuckled, stealthily herding his family into the dining room, "but you'll see all about that tomorrow."

"Ah, yes," Edward nodded. "I really appreciate this chance you're giving me."

"It's hard work," Carlisle replied, the tension back full force. The tone of his voice once again made Edward wonder if Carlisle was really behind the offer to have Edward serve out his probation at Forks General or if he'd merely been doing his wife a favor, "and, of course, there will be certain restrictions…but let's not talk about that today."

Again, Edward nodded, quietly finding his seat at the table in between Carlisle at the right hand head of the table and Esme on the left; Jasper impatiently eyeing the fragrantly smelling dishes on the table across from him as they waited for Rosalie to arrive.

The hospital. Even the thought of starting there tomorrow brought forth such a flurry of emotions that Edward had trouble keeping himself in check. In his heart, there was nothing he wanted more than to be back to what he did best. His mind, however, was very weary of the dangers his return to practicing medicine would pose. After all, wasn't the hospital, though not this very hospital, where everything had gone wrong? Would he be strong enough to resist the temptation of falling back into his old habits? Could he make it work?

God, he wanted to!

"Daddy!" Again, the girl flashed by him too fast for Edward to get a look at her, her face hidden behind her hair as she hugged her father as if he'd been away for years instead of hours, before taking up her seat next to him.

It was only then he got his first look of Rosalie Cullen, though with a sharp intake of breath he realized that 'first' might not be the proper phrase. He may not have known it was her at the time but as she looked up at him, her eyes widening with surprise, there was no mistaking the identity of the girl sitting across from him.

It was her; the one who'd called his Mona Lisa a whore.

Had it not been for the presence of others, Edward would have laid into her like a roaring lion but being as it was, he just had to content himself with glaring at her from across the table as he filled his plate with food and tucked in. He wouldn't do anything to embarrass his sister or cause an upset on his first night there. Later.

"How was everyone's day?" Carlisle asked, as he buttered a piece of bread. "Jasper told me football practice wasn't all that great?"

Jasper snorted, quickly emptying his mouth before he answered his father. "It wouldn't have been so bad if half the team hadn't been slacking off. I seriously don't know if we're even going to make it to play off's this year if King and Newton don't get their act together soon."

"It's not Royce's fault that you all suck so badly!" Rosalie argued, flashing her brother a look of disdain. "It's very hard for him to work with a team that's so much worse than him."

"Thanks for the compliment," Jasper sneered sarcastically. "And just so you know, we wouldn't be all that bad if your boyfriend could be bothered to keep his tongue in his own mouth for a few hours every week and show up for practice. We might actually start acting like a team if everyone was there."

"Jasper!" Carlisle scolded as Rosalie muttered a pissed off 'whatever' under her breath. "Please remember your manners at the dinner table."

"Let's all just eat?" Esme offered, passing the bread to her brother. "We wouldn't want Edward to start thinking we're some sort of horrible family who only yells at each other."

"No." Rose's eyes were gleaming dangerously as she kept her voice so low only those closest to her could hear. "We wouldn't want precious Edward to be getting the wrong ideas."

If Esme had been able to achieve anything, at least it was the momentary cessation of hostilities, everyone fixing their attention to the meal as a tense and fragile truce hung above the dinner table.

After about five minutes of tense silence only broken by the exchange of small talk and the sound of silverware scraping plates, Esme had seen enough.

"Okay, is anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on?" she snapped, stabbing a meatball onto her fork with a violence that made all three men at the table cringe inwardly.

Rosalie snorted disdainfully, one lip curled slightly upwards as she glared at her stepmother. "Like I'm under any sort of obligation to tell you."

Carlisle chose that moment to finally speak up. "Unless you want to find yourself grounded yet again this weekend, I suggest you apologize to Esme immediately."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Rosalie snapped back, her eyes blazing with rage. "I never did anything wrong. She's not my mother and she never will be. I will never take orders from a woman who ruined a marriage."

Edward had heard enough at that point, the insults that little snake was firing off at his sister, as if it was the moist normal business in the world, stirred up his protective side. "No, you think cornering an innocent young woman in a back alley is the right way to go," he sneered, his eyes narrowing as they met Rose's flaming glare. If he had been in a more rational state of mind he might have found it odd he was sticking up for a girl he hardly knew but, at that moment, Edward was beyond that. All he could see in front of him was the scared look and the frail beauty of a young woman cornered by a gang of useless brats; one of them sitting right in front of him. He wanted – no needed – to protect and defend her, some strange primal urge taking possession of him as soon as his mind wandered back to her.

For a moment Rosalie's blue eyes widened with surprise, the young girl for some reason never having considered that the new guest might betray her to her parents, but in a mere moment the rage was back, multiplied by an acute sense of betrayal. "Isabella Harrison an innocent young woman?" she cried, chuckling coldly. "Don't make me laugh! That's like calling Osama bin Laden a naughty boy. She's a whore and everybody knows it."

"That's enough! Isabella Harrison is one of the most admirable young women I've ever met and you'd do well to learn some lessons out of her book." Even Edward was shocked at the anger in Carlisle's voice, his fist slamming on the solid oak of the dining room table as he stood up and fixed his youngest child with a look that would have startled anyone. Except, it seemed, for Rosalie.

"It's true!" she screeched. "Her passport doesn't say Harrison, it says Swan. Royce said it himself and he knows because his mother saw it with her own eyes when she opened her account."

"Yeah, and she shared all of that wisdom with her son," Jasper chimed in, his voice dripping in sarcasm as he deftly avoided the poking elbow of his sister. "How convenient of her."

"Are you calling me a liar?" she hissed, looking more and more like a cornered animal. A rabid, ferocious cornered animal.

"I am calling you grounded," her father interrupted before the two children could break out into another fight. "Indefinitely."

Rosalie huffed loudly, her eyes narrowing into tiny slits as she assessed the situation, weighing all the possibilities in her mind. "I'd watch out if I were you, Esme," she finally sneered, slamming her napkin on the table, the chair nearly toppling backwards as she rose abruptly from her seat. "From the looks of it, the competition is hard at work pulling the rug out from under your feet. I wonder how long it will be until Jazz and I will be greeting another new 'mommy'?"

Carlisle and Esme were both too shocked to say anything, their silence creating the perfect opportunity for Rosalie to make her dramatic exit.

"Now will you send her to military school, dad?" Jasper groaned, spooning up the remnants of sauce that lingered on his plate with the last piece of bread. "I told you she was out of her mind!"

"She's just going through a tough time at the moment," Esme spoke, her face red with embarrassment as she molded her hand over Jasper's. "I think we all have to cut her some slack."

Edward looked at her incredulously, wondering how in the world anyone could cut a raging psycho like Rosalie Cullen some slack. He refrained from commenting, though, feeling it was neither his place nor the time to come between a child and her parents. Besides, he'd already caused more than enough trouble to last him a lifetime. There was no need, nor a desire on his part, to add to that.

"I'm sorry this happened," Carlisle finally spoke, his previous calm, good-natured face now betraying his silent rage. "I swear my daughter's not usually so poorly behaved. Even still…she had no right to act the way she did and I'll make sure she will be sorry for it."

Edward nodded, his fists clenched in his lap as he remembered some of the hateful things that little piece of shit had yelled at his sister. She should be sorry.

Jasper merely shrugged, his carefree nature making him avoid all strife when possible. "So, what's for dessert?"

And just like that, the natural order of things had been restored, all further conversations passing amicably as Edward got to know the two Cullens a little better and they, in turn, formed a clearer picture of the man who would be living under their roof for the next months.

Edward soon surmised his initial observation about Jasper had been pretty close to the mark; the younger Cullen displaying great intelligence and, most of all, commitment to society and nature that were rarely ever encountered in guys his age. Though Edward didn't fully share his extreme views on forestry and politics, he knew that with Jasper, he'd probably never want for a topic of discussion.

Carlisle was, in many ways, the older version of his son, both sharing a contemplative nature, though perhaps the older Cullen more so as age had mellowed the extremity of his youth, both intelligent and avid avoiders of difficult situations. His work had been his driving passion in life, taking up time he knew he should be spending at home with his wife and kids and never leaving his mind, not even when the demands of his body or government regulations did manage to have him amongst his family.

There had been times when he had felt the guilt about it very fiercely, especially when his first marriage started to show signs of breaking. However, his dedication to the sick and the needy had always won out. He knew that, though his children and his wife needed him, his patients needed him more. Lives depended on him.

Nevertheless, he also knew Rosalie had crossed a line; his youngest always having been the more headstrong and seditious of his brood. The things she'd said about his wife and the young woman he had come to admire so much over the course of the last few months being so inexcusable that he needed to act, and swiftly too, before his daughter would be beyond his reach. And so, after taking Edward aside after dinner to get the full story about what had passed earlier that day, he excused himself to go upstairs, determined to have a long and difficult conversation with his little girl, while Esme and Edward busied themselves with the arduous task of cleaning up.

"You shouldn't blame Rosalie too much for the things she said," Esme spoke, breaking a silence that had become too tense for comfort. "This is a very difficult time for her."

"Oh, please!" Edward huffed, still not quite understanding how his sister could forgive her stepdaughter so easily for the horrible things she'd said. "Are you really going to let her get away with this so easily? I thought you, of all people, would have had more fight in her."

"Of course I'm not letting her get away with it 'just like that'!" Esme scolded him, pursing her lips as, for a moment, her attention became fixed on scrapping plates. "I'm just saying that this is probably the worst I've seen her to date, so no matter what I've told you before or what you've heard tonight, please don't think this is what she's really like." She sighed, her hands dropping by her side as she stacked the last empty plate on the counter. "I'm afraid it's her mother talking."

Edward looked up from his task of putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher, his brows furrowing as he stared at his sister, trying to remember if she'd ever told him something about the woman. "Her mother?"

"Lillian," Esme nodded. "Rosalie spent most of her summer with her, though Jasper chose to remain in Forks." She let out another deep sigh, leaning listlessly against the counter as she went on. "Rose and Lillian have always been very close, which is why it's very hard for her to live here, hundreds of miles away from where she wants to be and with a woman she despises for no other reason than she sees her as the deciding factor in the demise of her parents' marriage."

"But you're not, are you?"

"No." She shook her head, sipping from the half-empty glass of wine she'd brought with her from the dining room. "By the time I met Carlisle, there was no saving their marriage. In fact, I think Lillian may have already had her eyes on the position as a marine biologist that would condemn Rosalie to living with her dad."

Edward knew he'd heard something about that before but with everything had been going on at the time and afterwards, he had a hard time recalling just what. "She started working on a research ship, didn't she?"

"I can't believe you remember all that?" Esme sounded pleasantly surprised, making her brother, in turn, flash a smug smile. "She did, which means that for most of the year, she gets to forget she ever had kids, while Carlisle and I are left to pick up the pieces."

"But then what's with the whole 'stepmom issue'?" Edward asked, still not quite understanding why Rosalie would hate Esme so much when it was clear his sister was the only one who could be bothered to actually do some parenting.

"I guess I forgot to mention that Lillian is a master manipulator," Esme chuckled wryly. "For the weeks she gets to spend with Rosalie, she makes sure she's completely available and the perfect mommy-figure for Rose. I don't know how she does it but every time Rose goes out there, she comes back thinking I'm the devil and behaves completely abominable for a couple of weeks until somehow Carlisle and I managed to wear her down again. I'm afraid you got caught in the middle of that tonight."

Edward nodded, the whole episode starting to make more sense to him now that he had the whole picture, though he still retained his very low opinion of the girl. The silence that settled in after that was much easier to bear; both siblings working side by side until the question that had been burning in Edward's throat ever since he got back from his walk, managed to spill out in an unguarded moment. "So, you know this Isabella Harrison?"

Esme grinned, wondering where this sudden fascination of her brother's came from. "Not that well. She lives with her uncle outside town and neither of them seems to be too big on socializing. I've seen her around town a few times, though."

"Oh." Edward nodded, slightly disappointed his curiosity remained insatiate.

"I could ask Carlisle, though?" Esme suggested. "I think her uncle is one of his patients."

"Nah, never mind." Edward shrugged, trying to hide his true feelings behind a mask of indifference. He had a feeling Carlisle didn't have a really high opinion of him to begin with. Fishing around for information on patients' family members would only get him deeper into trouble.

And God knew he needed no more trouble than that which had already landed on his plate.

He sighed, shutting the dishwasher door as his sister operated a sleek state-of-the-art coffee maker. He had to be on top of his game, proving to his new colleagues he was more than the scandal that had followed him to Forks and, slowly but surely, try to earn their trust. He needed distractions, especially when they came in the shape of a woman who appeared to be at least ten years his junior, like he needed a hole in the head.

No. He would be better off forgetting all about that girl.

Please review.