It was Monday morning, and Edward was forced to make a difficult decision. He was supposed to be at school in about twenty minutes time... but he wasn't sure if he could leave his siblings home without proper supervision.

Maybe sitting in their smelly kitchen would help him decide on what he wanted to do, he figured, but now that he was sitting here, he didn't dare to inhale the tainted air.

The things that happened when he only left the house for an hour or two were already bad enough, and now he feared it wouldn't be standing anymore if he spent half the day at school. Besides, they weren't listening to him when he was home, so what was he supposed to tell them to make sure they would behave when no one else was around?

Trying to explain to them what they should and shouldn't do was just a waste of time, because they were obviously educationally impaired.

While he sat there, contemplating what to do, his dear sister entered the room and immediately tzked as though he had done something wrong.

"Just leave, Edward," she groaned as she sat down on a chair opposite him and gave him an exasperated look. "We are perfectly capable of staying on our own."

Shaking his head, he leaned forward in his seat until his chest touched the edge of the table. "I'm not so sure about that... last time I left you home alone for a short while, that ended up in our house," he told her with a scowl and pointed at the kitchen cabinet that still held a tiny, female Douglas squirrel sitting in its own excrements and that had its tummy filled with chewed up babies.

Well, at least they didn't need to feed it...

"Would you stop?" she asked, sounding absolutely appalled that he would bring it back up. "Besides, I don't want to get blamed when you get in trouble at school for being late, so go."

Edward, however, still had one finger pointed at the makeshift cage and did not make a move to get up from his chair. "Will you throw it out? I want it gone by the time I come back home." And the smell would hopefully be gone as well. Breathing was a habit, and he liked to do it wherever he was - even in the kitchen at times. Now, however, he made damn sure to only draw a breath when it was absolutely necessary.

She glanced at the cabinet with a hint of disgust on her face, then clenched her jaw. "We'll see about that."

"Rosalie!" he gasped. "How come this is my job again? You two will be home for the next few hours, so take care of it!"

Rolling her eyes, she just waved her hand about as she looked at the clock hanging over the doorway. "Calm down, Edward. And now go."

That was so Rose... just ignoring the problem and letting him do all the work, just because she was being a baby and refused to touch anything that looked even remotely like a rat.

Okay... if it's still here when I come back, I'll make sure that Carlisle and Esme hear about the squirrel and then you'll regret that you didn't thrown it out of the house when I told you to.

He nosily pushed his chair back, then got up, grabbed his book bag from the floor and walked past her.

When he was at the door and was just about to pull it open to step outside, Rosalie called, "Oh, and Edward? Come home right after school. I need you to watch Emmett while I go into town to buy some fabric."

Watch Emmett... no, thank you. "I could buy that. I walk through town, Rose."

Immediately she shook her head to let him know that that was definitely not an option she'd ever agree to. "Yes, but you have no taste whatsoever. I will take care of it, you just stay home and watch Emmett."

His face darkened, and just as he was opening his mouth to yell at her that he had a great taste and decorating sense, and she should keep her mouth shut and watch her mate herself, she sighed. "Edward, I need to see and feel the fabric," she told him to make him understand that she really needed to be the one to go to the drapery shop. "I am going to sew new pillow cases and curtains. You cannot use any fabric for that."

"But I don't want to-" "Edward!"

Both Rose and Edward turned their heads in surprise and saw a scowling Emmett standing in the doorway. "Why are you still here? You are going to be late if you don't leave now. Do you want to be late?"

Um... "No."

"Then leave."

Great... was there any chance that this day could get any less frustrating? Rose was refusing to take care of the critter, he had to spend his afternoon watching a newborn and now he was even getting scolded by said newborn. School suddenly sounded like the most wonderful and peaceful place on earth.

"Sure," he pressed through gritted teeth. "You two - don't do anything stupid. I'll be back in the afternoon."

"Study hard!" Emmett called after him with a huge smile plastered across his face and waved him goodbye.

As soon as the door closed, he could hear Em step up to Rose and place a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Children, huh? First they don't want to do their homework, and then they don't want to go to school. What's next?"

She snorted and patted his hand in agreement.

Even at school, Edward had spent most of the time worrying about home instead of paying attention to what his teacher was telling the class. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something's going wrong during his absence. While he contemplated leaving early, he also really didn't want to as he feared what he'd find once he returned home.

So it wasn't very surprising that on his way home Edward felt a heavy sense of dread. He just couldn't trust Rose to be firm enough with Emmett when he wanted something and he just hoped the boy hadn't found himself yet another pet.

And they definitely needed to be really careful now and keep a close eye on Em, because in just a few days time, Carlisle and Esme would come home and Edward wasn't interested in getting blamed for all the stuff Rose had let Em do.

He lifted his head as he drew a breath and smelled home, and immediately realised that he had already reached their garden gate. Wow... he had been so lost in thought that he had made it home without even looking up once.

The familiar rumbling sounds of Em running down the stairs and then wrenching the front door open sounded over to Edward, and he opened the gate and entered their front yard to get it over with quickly.

A big bear hug, the feeling that Emmett was breaking his arms and crushing his torso, and the complete absence of air from his lungs - yup, he was home.

"Em, come," Rosalie called over to her mate, who unceremoniously dropped Edward to the ground and ran back over to her.

Picking himself up from the ground and wiping dirt off his trousers, Edward glowered at his siblings for a moment before he realised that scolding Em or telling Rose that she should have held him back wouldn't change anything. He'd told them countless times already, but apparently he just had to endure it until Emmett wouldn't be a newborn anymore.

He walked up to them, feeling his mood decrease instantly, and it only got worse when Rose looked up at him and instead of a word of greeting, she just said, "I need money."

And as though that hadn't been rude enough, she now held her hand out and Edward had to fight the urge to spit a huge glob of venom on her palm.

"So?" He shrugged.

"Esme put money on the table and you haven't put it back yet. I need it."

He groaned loudly. "Rose, I won't give you that money because it wasn't meant for you covering up your mistakes."

Then he walked past his siblings and into the house, but Rosalie followed him immediately.

"You're just saying that because you want to spend it on sheet music for yourself!" she accused, her tripping footsteps drawing closer. "Don't be so egoistic, give me the money."

"Rosalie, no."

Blowing out a huff of air, she came to a halt in front of him, blocking his way so he couldn't disappear upstairs and lock himself in his room. "Stop acting like a child. Esme won't mind if I buy fabric with it. She likes it when I practice my sewing and if you are allowed to spend it on your hobbies, then I should be allowed to spend it on my hobbies as well."

"You don't even like sewing, and you are only doing it because you don't want to admit to your faults. "

"Edward, we've been over this before," she hissed. "And sewing is... fun."

He gritted his teeth.

Yes, he had also thought they needed to cover up the damage, but by now it was already too much to cover up! As if Esme wouldn't notice the hole in the wall or her ruined things, just because the curtains in the living room were brand new...

Squinting his eyes shut for a moment, he tried to decide what the best course of action would be now. Probably calling their parents and telling them that they were overburdened with a newborn Em and needed their help. But he didn't want to be the one to ruin their vacation and he definitely didn't want to admit that he wasn't capable of keeping order at home with them gone. He was the oldest here, he was more intelligent and mature than his siblings, and so...

All right, he didn't know what to do. He would just give Rose the money, because when Esme asked, she would have to do the explaining.

"Fine, I'll go get it," he grumbled and gave her a pointed look until she finally understood and took a step to the side, so he could walk past her and up the stairs.

Upstairs in his room, he looked for the pair of trousers he had worn the day he went into town to do some grocery shopping, and he reached into the right front pocket and pulled out a little purse.

Luckily Esme was so very caring that she had left them more money than necessary - but he had already spend more than half of it. He had no idea how far Rosalie would get with the rest of it.

He stepped out into the hallway and held the purse out for Rosalie to take. She had followed him upstairs like she didn't trust him to give her everything, but he would just let her have all of it and then lean back and watch her get into even deeper trouble with their parents.

Carlisle and Esme would probably reward him once Rose would start her lies and he'd tell them what really happened. She didn't know it yet, but she was definitely going down. Ha.

Yes, that thought was the only thing that kept him sane at the moment.

She opened the purse and looked inside, then lifted her head and turned her narrowed-eyed gaze on him. "That's all?"

"Yes, and now get out of my sight."

"Where's the rest of it?" she queried.

"That's everything that's left, and now go."

He could see a fire blaze up in her black eyes, and then she angrily threw the purse at his chest, before she spun around and marched down the hallway, only to vanish into her room and slam the door shut.

He looked after her with his mouth hanging open. That little...

Fine, no money for Rose.

He shoved the little leather purse into his trouser pocket, then pulled his room door closed and headed for the stairs to see where Emmett was and what he was doing, but something made him stop dead in his tracks.

Oh what a brat!

No, only over my dead body, Rose!

"Rosalie!" he shouted and felt his lips curl back over his teeth in anger, "have you lost your mind?!"

"Leave me alone," she shot back through her closed room door.

"You cannot be serious!"

She wrenched the door open, then glowered at him through dark, fiery eyes. "Fine then, brother, give me a better idea."

The look in her eyes became challenging, and she crossed her arms while she leaned against the door frame with her shoulder and waited.

"So?" she queried after a few moments of Edward just staring at her in disbelief, a small smirk appearing on her pale face.

Unbelievable. "That is stealing, Rosalie! You can't just take something that doesn't belong to you!"

Neither his shocked tone nor his appalled facial expression seemed to faze her all that much. "As though the stupid humans would ever know we did it...," she snorted and held up her right hand to look at her fingernails.

"We?! I am not going to steal something with you or even for you, and I most definitely won't let you break into that shop at night and steal it!"

"Are you done?" she asked like he was starting to bore her.

"Haven't you learned anything the last time you-"

She lowered her hand and gazed at him while shaking her head. "That was different and I didn't break in. And that wasn't stealing - it just wasn't paid for yet."

"You know exactly that-" "Esme was being silly."

Trying to reason with a stupid girl seemed pointless and Edward immediately turned to the side, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes in an attempt to keep the frustration at bay.

It took a moment until it worked, but when he felt at least a little bit calmer, he removed his hands and looked at her with wide, desperate eyes. "Don't you have any money left?" he asked quietly.

"Sure," she replied, "but it isn't all that much."

"Who cares? Together with the money in the purse it will be enough, and let me remind you: You said you'd take care of the living room - do it. And don't you dare steal anything."

She took a few steps back into her room, picked up a scarf from her bed and draped it around her neck while she walked back over to him. "Did you give a wrong answer at school or why are you so grumpy today?"

At that moment, Emmett started plonking random keys on the upright piano downstairs, and it sounded horrible. Edward really didn't want that thing in the house anymore, but if Em suddenly started to like music, then he couldn't get rid of it.

And no, school wasn't what was grinding his gears lately, no.

"Go get the fabric and come straight back home, Rosalie," he told her in an exasperated tone of voice and fished the purse from his pocket. "I'm not in the mood for watching Emmett all day."

"Be nice to him, he took care of the squirrel," she informed him and flipped her hair up before she pulled the scarf tighter around her neck.

Edward gaped at her. "He did?"

Now that were the first good news in forever. Finally that episode was over and the newborn had understood that he couldn't have a pet, yes!

"Sure, you can ask him," she said with a weird gleam in her eyes, before she ripped the purse from his hand and walked past him. He wanted to ask her how and when to be able to draw the scene from her head as he couldn't imagine how she had managed to make Em see reason, but unfortunately she was only thinking about the shop she was heading for.

He made his way downstairs, following after Rose who started running the moment she reached the bottom of the stairs. She followed the noise and found her mate as expected sitting at the piano, and she gave him a sweet peck on the cheek and told him she'd be back soon.

He nodded his head and told her to hurry, and she let her fingers run through his dark hair before she turned around and headed for the front door.

"He wants to learn how to play the piano, maybe you could teach him," she suggested as she glanced back over her shoulder at Edward, her hand on the door handle.

"I don't think he-" "All right, bye!" she called and pulled the door closed behind her.

What a rude little...

Turning around, he made his way over to where Em was.

"Emmett."

"Huh?" he asked as he heard his brother's voice, but continued to hit the keys with outspread fingers like he was actually playing a difficult piece - but it only sounded like a lot of noise.

"Emmett," Edward said again, then stopped and frowned when he saw how many keys the newborn had already broken. He would definitely never ever let him anywhere near his baby grand, ever. He could keep this horrible sounding thing and pretend that he's a famous concert pianist.

"Sounds good?"

"Wonderful."

"What do you think? I'm hitting the keys just like you do."

"I can see that...," he mumbled and suddenly grew worried if he really looked like an overgrown toddler hitting random keys and humming along off tune. At least his tongue wasn't poking out of the corner of his mouth like Emmett's. That would be embarrassing. "It looks... really good."

Emmett grinned, then stopped playing, put his hands on his knees and turned to look at him. "What is it? Do you need help?"

That was absolutely snort-worthy. As if he, the extremely talented and brilliant Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, would ever need the help of a less than smart newborn vampire. "Help with what?"

"Your homework." He shrugged like he thought it would be obvious.

Ha! Hahaha! "No, but thank you."

"It's no shame to ask for help," Emmett told him and gave him a smile of encouragement.

"That's true... but Em," he said and cleared his throat. "How's Archie?"

Emmett's eyes widened, before the corners of his lips pulled down and he exhaled heavily. "Ooh..."

That didn't sound too good... well, depending on the point of view. "Did something happen?" he asked innocently, but inwardly whooped with pure joy.

"I just wanted to hug him and play with him..."

Placing a hand on Em's broad shoulder, he gave it a squeeze and nodded his head. "And what happened?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out something furry and slightly squished looking.

Edward's jaw dropped. "What... what did you do?"

"I picked him up like this," he said and showed his brother how he had held the squirrel in one of his big hands, "and then I shook him a little and told him that eating your babies is not okay... and then he hung his head."

"He hung his head," he repeated slowly.

"Yes," Em said and looked down at the once living being in his hand, shaking it a little like he was trying to get it to wake up. But there was no chittering or breathing sounds and definitely no heartbeat.

The head lolled from one site to the other, back and forth, and Edward scrunched up his face at seeing how his brother still held onto this plushy meat puppet.

"I thought he's just ashamed of what he's done... but he don't move no more."

"That is indeed very sad, yes."

"See?" Em asked and stretched his arm out before he opened his hand, revealing a squirrel with finger-shaped dents around its middle.

It looked like Emmy must have squeezed it to death and broken its neck at the same time.

Gross.

"Yes, yes, I see," he replied hastily and pushed Em's hand away. He didn't want to look at dead squirrels at the moment, thank you very much.

"Maybe squirrels aren't the best pets...," Emmett said sadly and looked down at little, deformed Archie.

"Yes, I think so, too," Edward told him.

"Maybe a bird would be a better pet."

And Edward's jaw dropped for the second time. "No! No, I don't think birds would make good pets, Em, no."

"Hm... are you sure?" he queried, lifting his head to look him in the face again. "A duck would be excellent. Everyone likes ducks."

"That's not true."

"But I know Mom likes them! There are duck feathers in all our pillows, and she crocheted a blanket with a little duckling on it for the neighbours' baby before we moved."

"I doubt Esme would want to have a living, quacking duck in the house... or any other animal at that."

Now the newborn looked a little sulky. "Maybe I'll let Momma choose then."

"That's a fabulous idea, Emmett, I think you should do that!" he praised and half-mocked. It would be great if the newborn would stop bringing animals - dead or alive, it didn't matter - into the house, at least for the next few days until Carlisle and Esme would come home. As soon as they were back, he didn't care anymore what Em would drag inside or hide in the cupboards, because it would most definitely be the last time Em would ever do something like that.

"I'll go get a few, and then-" "Em, how about you ask her what she likes first and then you two can go look for that animal? I bet she would love watching you catch it for her, before you find a name for it together and bring it home."

Internally he laughed about what he was doing to poor Esme at the moment... she would have a hard time trying to keep her exuberant son from dropping half the forest wildlife at her feet for her to choose from. But maybe that would finally push her over the edge and make Carlisle take him in hand. He sure needed it.

"Do you think? It wouldn't be a surprise anymore."

"No, but that way she would be really, really proud of you. Watching you find the pet is so much more exciting than a boring surprise."

He looked like he thought about it, then eventually smiled and nodded his head. "I'm sure she'd like that."

Phew. "Wonderful."

Suddenly the newborn grew sad again and looked down at the crushed squirrel lying on his palm. "I'm sorry about Archie. I know how much you liked him, but I guess it was his time to go."

Apparently the idiot still hadn't realised that the poor thing hadn't died of a natural death but that he had killed it...

"I... liked Mister Archie a lot, yes. But it's okay, I'll get over it. Time heals all wounds."

Emmett nodded like he had just been about to say the same, then he stuffed it back into his pocket and started torturing the piano again.

Edward just stood there, staring at him. "Um... what will you do with the squirrel now?"

"Keep him save in my pocket," the newborn said over the noise.

Okay... "Well, don't lose him then."

"I won't."

With a nod, Edward turned around and walked over to the shelves from which he quickly chose a book to read while Rosalie would be gone. He would try not to leave Em unsupervised, even if that meant having to endure his horrible attempts at playing the piano or listening to his inane chatter until she would be back.

And Rosalie really took her time... almost three hours they had to wait for her.

When they could finally hear the front door open and then her soft footsteps in the foyer, Em shot up from his seat and hurried from the room to greet his wife who he had missed so much that Edward had to concentrate hard on blocking his thoughts so he wouldn't have to see Rose even when she wasn't even here.

"Em!" she laughed in between nasty kissing sounds. "Come, let me down!"

"I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Emmett," she replied to that and Edward could hear his brother set her carefully back on her feet.

"Took you long enough," he commented when she entered the living room a moment later and sat down next to him, a big brown bag in her hand.

"Oh, hello Edward. I missed you too, of course," she said with a fake smile, then reached into her bag and pulled out a bundle of folded cream-coloured fabric.

"Rose pattern?" he asked sceptically when he saw what exactly she had chosen.

"Personal touch. And Esme likes roses, they are her favourite."

"No, they are not."

She rolled her eyes. "Pfft, what do you know? Go do your homework or stare at the wall... just don't bother me."

"Great, I'll be upstairs. Keep an eye on your husband... and the squirrel."

"Found it?" she asked absent-mindedly while she unfolded her purchase.

She let her mate carry around a dead animal in his pocket, just to get back at him? "Something is really wrong with you, Rosalie. I mean it."

He stalked from the room and climbed the stairs, heading for his room - his oasis of calm and idiot-free. Rose was back and now she could watch Em, as he had already helped her more than enough.

Yes, the squirrel is dead. I have the feeling that Cumor squeezed poor Archie to death and then quickly shoved her back into Emmy's paw, yup. I just can't prove it... yet.

But I know Em would never do such a thing, he's gentle!

Oh well, at least he won't be sad for long... :D

Thanks for reading and reviewing guys!