Bella's POV

Charlie had spent several hours at the Cullens' house the day he brought Lizzie over, talking through what our next steps would be. It was a confusing plan, but it was honestly the best thing we could come up with, short of faking my death, which we couldn't do without faking Lizzie's, too—and I'd absolutely put my foot down on that. The plan was for Charlie to explain, if anyone asked, that when I'd left Lizzie with him on the twelfth, I hadn't told him where I was going, just that I needed some time alone and would be back later that day. Then I'd made a decision about needing more time by myself, but Charlie hadn't gotten my message, so when I didn't come home, he'd thought something had happened to me. He'd finally reached me when I'd bought a charger for my dead cell phone, but it had taken a few days.

We'd also decided on a way to explain why Lizzie and I were moving away from Forks, including the return of the Cullens back into my life. It all seemed kind of complicated, but my dad had promised he wouldn't have a problem, and Alice had assured us it would work. She'd been able to see that, while there would still be some curiosity about why Charlie had thought I was missing, most people would blindly accept the lies.

When he left late that morning to go to work, he'd taken Lizzie home to Sue so nothing would seem amiss, since I was supposed to be gone. I would be "coming home" today and then would be moving as soon as possible. Since I would be renting a furnished apartment—that was the story, anyway—the only things I would need to pack were Lizzie's things, my clothes, computer, and a few other odds and ends.

The morning after plans were made, Rose and Alice had gone to Wisconsin with Esme to buy the house and get it ready for our arrival. They would be gone for a week, and I was planning to spend most of my time with Charlie and Sue. Their house would be packed full when we visited, I knew, since not only would Edward go over with me every time, but Emmett and Jasper were insisting they go, as well. Charlie seemed very interested in speaking further with Carlisle—my dad was very interested about Carlisle's history in particular—so with Jake, Seth, Quil, and Embry wanting to spend some time with Lizzie and me before we moved, I knew the house was just going to be wall-to-wall bodies. Luckily, my shield would be in place for when Sue was home or when Emily stopped by, which she'd assured Jake she was going to do at least once. Edward had promised that the smell of all the wolves would help mask the scent of the humans as well.

It was Thursday, and I was supposed to call Charlie and let him know I was home later that afternoon. I needed to hunt, but since I had Lizzie with me, I wasn't sure what to do with her. I was still trying to figure it out when Edward's voice reached me.

"Dammit, Emmett," he growled, shoving his brother through the doorway. "I liked this shirt."

I had to laugh when Edward followed behind him, holding his dirty and ruined shirt in his hands, the fabric in tatters. He smiled at me and then ran up the stairs silently, leaving me with his brothers.

"What in the world?" I asked, giggling quietly so as not to disturb the baby in my arms—she was currently drinking her formula, which had smelled foul even before my change.

Jasper, who'd come in behind Edward, rolled his eyes. "Emmett got a little...exuberant while wrestling."

"I can't help it!" Emmett exclaimed loudly. "Been a fucking long time since Eddie felt like having fun."

Lizzie, who'd been startled by Emmett's outburst, let the bottle slip from her pursed lips and began to wail.

Piercing him with a glare, I patted Lizzie's diapered bottom gently and hissed, "Watch your language, and keep your voice down."

Emmett immediately looked chastised, holding his hands up, palms out in surrender. "Sorry, Bells. I wasn't thinking."

"Damn right," I huffed, unable to stop a hint of a smile from curling up the corner of my mouth. Looking back down at my daughter, I sighed. "I need to hunt."

"Here, love," Edward said as he walked back into the room, tugging a new sweater over his head. He'd put a dark blue, long-sleeved T-shirt on first, contrasting nicely with the cream-colored sweater that looked so soft and fuzzy. "Let me have her. I'll finish feeding her and watch her while these dolts take you out."

With a grateful smile, I transferred the baby, blanket padding and all, to his waiting arms. Handing him the bottle, I kissed his lips once, murmuring, "Thank you," before brushing a soft kiss on top of Lizzie's head and turning to Emmett and Jasper. "Come on, you two. You can show me your favorite places to catch some deer."

Before crossing the threshold, I looked back to see Edward rocking gently back and forth on the balls of his feet, coaxing Lizzie gently with quiet words and soothing tones to finish her bottle. Smiling, I left the house, closing the door behind me.

~*~*~FC~*~*~

Edward's POV

Bella left the house with my brothers, and I cradled Lizzie to my chest gently as the baby sucked greedily at the nipple I'd slipped into her mouth. She was protected from most of the coldness of my skin by the two layers of clothing I wore, but the blanket Bella had given me was also keeping her warm and safe against my hard body. I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing—the only practice I'd ever had was in my head as I saw other people and from watching Bella with her—but Lizzie seemed to like the gentle sway of my body, so I rocked her in my arms as I walked.

And hummed... A melody began to take shape in my head, soft, gentle, flowing as quick as her thrumming heartbeat, as delicate as her soft skin. As I composed the melody aloud, I continued to gaze at the wonder I held.

She was an adorable baby. She had her tiny fingers wrapped around one of my own, and as she ate, she kept her focus up at me, her eyes lighting up every time I made a silly face. When I laughed at her reaction, she grinned and laughed, nearly choking on the formula she was eating.

When she finished the bottle, I raised her to my shoulder, patting her gently—always aware of my strength—until she released a small gas bubble above and below.

"Whew, Lizzie," I said, grinning as she laughed a sweet baby laugh.

I moved to the floor near the diaper bag, continuing to coo at her and revel in the way she didn't want to release my finger. Slipping it out of her grasp, I set about changing what I could smell already was a full diaper.

Damn, that's nasty, I thought, quickly cutting off my breathing as I cleaned her up and changed her into a new outfit that hadn't gotten soaked through. Through it all, I was amazed that she never once flinched at the temperature of my skin. Like mother, like daughter, I supposed.

Leaving Lizzie on the floor in the living room, I ran out to the small garbage can we'd put out beside the house. We could still smell it from inside, but it wasn't as overpowering. One of us would run it to the dump later.

I was back inside to the baby within seconds. Strapping on the infant carrier Charlie had dropped off with the other things Bella would need, I lined it with a blanket to ward off any extra chill and then carefully scooped Lizzie up, buckling her in so she was secure to my chest but my hands were free.

By this point, she was beginning to whimper unhappily. Unsure of what else to do, I moved to the piano and sat down. Bella had told me she'd been playing her lullaby for Lizzie since before she was born, so I hoped that a live performance would calm her much like the recorded version.

"Shh, Lizzie girl," I murmured, bending to brush a soft kiss to the top of her head.

With light fingers, I began to play.

~*~*~FC~*~*~

Bella's POV

As soon as I closed the door quietly behind me, I was tackled by a huge, speeding locomotive—or what felt like one, anyway. Even though I was a newborn, Emmett had taken me by surprise because my attention was still focused on Edward and Lizzie, and he still had tremendous strength and speed.

His hit knocked the two of us all the way to the edge of the yard, where we slid into the forest, gouging a rut into the dirt and forest floor before toppling over a small fir tree. Laughing, Emmett jumped up, brushed himself off, and then offered me a hand.

"Laugh it up, bear boy," I told him teasingly, picking some of the leaves and clods of dirt out of my hair. "That's the only time you'll beat me for a year." My tone and words were cocky, I knew, but hopefully, my newborn strength would back up my statement.

"Aww, c'mon, Bells," he whined, holding his hands up. "You know I was playin'!"

Jasper strolled up, grinning, and shook his head. "Face it, Em. You know she's right." He turned to me. "You okay there, Bella? Got a little smudge..." He reached over and brushed at a large clump of dirt and grass on my shoulder that I'd missed while swiping at my clothes.

I laughed. "I'm fine, Jasper. Now, I thought you boys were gonna show me where to hunt?"

If Emmett could look any more excited, he'd have looked like a ten-year-old boy that was going to meet his favorite comic book hero come to life. His grin was so huge, I couldn't help but smile.

Then his smile turned into a frown. "So apparently I don't get to teach you about hunting bears, huh?" he asked, sounding almost wounded.

Laughing again, I said, "Well, I don't think Seth or even Edward knows as much about hunting bears as you do, Em, so I think we're good."

His grin returned, and he actually clapped his hands in excitement, reminding me of Alice when she got her way with something she was really wanting. "Okay, good. Well, in case you don't know..."

I half-tuned him out as the three of us started walking deeper into the trees. He explained that the bears in the area were the American black bear, that most males would weigh around three hundred pounds at this time of year, and that some would have cubs already—quickly going on to explain that they avoid separating a mother from her young, whether it be bear, deer, or anything else they might want to have for dinner.

"Most are just now coming out of hibernation," he continued, "so they can be quite cranky."

I giggled at his gleeful expression. "Got it. No hunting mothers or babies. Try to find ones that are itching for a fight."

Emmett nodded. "Are you ready?"

Looking at Jasper, who just smiled and rolled his eyes, I turned back to Emmett and grinned. "Show me how it's done."

Watching Emmett hunt one of the large black bears was definitely an experience. The phrase "playing with your food" had never been more apropos. There really was no other way to describe it.

"Come on, take a swipe," he growled at the bear, dodging a big claw as the bear did just that.

Jasper and I were far enough away so as not to disturb or distract Emmett's prey, but close enough to see the action through the trees. We were in silent hysterics as Emmett caught the bear's paw at the next swipe, rolling with it through the dirt.

The moment he'd apparently decided he'd had enough playing and grasped the bear's neck, snapping it and sinking his teeth in, I smelled some deer just to the north.

Without looking at Jasper, I took off. Remembering Edward's advice, after zeroing in on the small herd, I swooped in from the side silently, catching them by surprise. I took down one of the largest bucks, absently noting Jasper on the other side of the herd with his own.

When I finished, I dropped the deer and stood, swiping at a few drops on my chin. It wasn't nearly as good as the bears I'd had, but it would do.

I was still standing there when Emmett came running up.

"Nice, Bells!" he said, looking at my still-clean T-shirt. "Took me a while to be able to do it without getting it all over myself." He laughed. "Rosie hates it when I come home like this"—he waved at his own shirt, which had clearly gotten caught by one of the bear's swipes—"but I just tell her 'at least I'm clean!'"

Laughing, I shook my head and then leaned down to pick up the body. Emmett beat me to it, hauling it over his shoulder to where Jasper had a spot ready for our kills. Once the bodies were taken care of, we started off for the house.

We were quiet as we walked, but apparently, Emmett had more to say. "You know," he started, more serious than I'd heard him in a while, "none of us truly wanted to leave. We all thought Edward was wrong for leaving, but none of us knew what he'd told you until later. I'm sorry we weren't here."

I was shaking my head before he'd even finished. "I know, Em, really. I was hurt for a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, it's something I just had to get over."

Jasper cleared his throat before he, too, joined the conversation. "Bella, I never did really get a chance to apologize for what happened on your birthday." He stopped abruptly, forcing us to stop, as well. "I know that's really what prompted Edward to leave, and I know it'll be hard—if not impossible—but I hope with time, it's something you can forgive."

I'd had no idea he was still feeling guilty about jumping at me the way he had after the paper cut incident on my eighteenth birthday, but I knew he had no reason to. I walked up to him, forcing him to look at me so he would understand what I was about to tell him.

"There's nothing to forgive, Jasper," I said honestly. When he started to protest, I held up a hand to stop him. "Let me ask you a question..."

He nodded. "Go on."

"Before I cut my finger, what were the emotions in the room?"

Raising an eyebrow, he answered, "Embarrassment from you, excitement from Alice and Esme, worry and apprehension from Edward."

"And you and Rose?" I prompted.

"I was nervous, and Rose was..."

I chuckled. "Angry?" I guessed, grinning when he nodded. Rose and I had already made our peace with one another, so it was no surprise. "Okay, now, what were the emotions after I cut my finger?"

Without any extra time to think, he immediately said, "Fear and hunger—bloodlust."

Nodding slowly, I said, "And who felt every single bit of all of those emotions—including the bloodlust—from not only himself, but every other vampire in the room?"

Jasper took a step back before thrusting a hand through his curly mop of hair, looking up at me with understanding. "None of us have ever thought of it that way—that I was feeling my own in addition to everyone else's. I wonder if that affected..." He shook his head, as if he were having trouble wrapping his mind around it.

"It had to have played a part, don't you think?" I asked, looking between him and Emmett, who'd been silent while Jasper and I spoke.

Emmett nodded. "She's right, man," he said, looking at his brother. "Take what you were feeling and add in all of ours? It's no wonder you jumped."

Jasper still looked shell-shocked, for lack of a better description, so I wrapped one arm through his and said, "Come on. Let's go home. You'll feel better if you talk to Ali."

He gave me a grateful smile, and together, we continued the journey back through the trees to the house.

When we got to the edge of the woods, he said, "I'm gonna stay out here and call Alice. I'll be inside in a bit." Kissing my forehead, he said, "Thanks, Bells."

I smiled and waved him off, letting him know it wasn't a big deal.

When I turned back to Emmett, I had to hold in a laugh. "What put that look on your face?"

His nose was scrunched, as if he'd smelled something truly awful. If a vampire could look green with nausea, Emmett would've been the color of pea soup.

"What in the hell is that smell?" He gagged a little, making me giggle.

I took a deep breath in and realized he was smelling a fresh dirty diaper. Edward must've changed Lizzie and put the diaper outside recently.

Pointing to the trash can I could see just around the corner of the house, I said, "Diapers."

"Oh, man, that's rank!" Emmett groaned. "I'm gonna go take care of that now. I can't be smelling that for hours."

I snickered and told him where to take it before opening the door to the house. Walking quietly through the kitchen, I stopped in the doorway to the living room in time to see the most adorable sight.

Edward had a quietly fussing Lizzie in the baby carrier strapped to his chest, and he was just sitting down at the piano.

He hushed her and leaned down to gently kiss the top of her head. Then he closed his eyes and put his fingers on the keys, and I heard the first notes of my lullaby as he began to play.