So sorry for the long delay in posting, being a pediatric nurse is kind of nuts in September where I'm from, when the kids go back to school. Combined with my sister's wedding plans and our building being sold, I was exhausted and had no time for fun.

Twilight doesn't belong to me, but this glorious show of language and grammar, placed in sequence to convey ideas and imagination, is all mine!

I sat in the back seat snickering while Emmett and Rosalie bickered over the radio. Their back and forth reminded me of myself and Edward. I caught myself reaching next to me for his hand but came up empty. I felt a little prickle in my chest. "So where are we headed?" I asked to distract myself.

"To the Junkyard." Emmett said with a grin, "Rosie's going to start a new restoration project."

"I thought you might be able to help me pick out a body and chassis, since you seem to have a love for older things. Like Edward." Her smile was playfully gorgeous, and not at all standoffish, as she had been with me in the past. I couldn't help smiling back at the lighthearted barb.

"That sounds fun, actually. Sure, I'll help." It will help to be distracted, I reasoned.

"Sweet! Rose has done quite a few of these restos, sometimes she donates them to women's shelters, or other charities for auction. Jasper has a 67 firebird stored in Ohio, and Carlisle has a green 1971 Jag in Rochester."

"Wow, really? Do you ever keep them for yourself?"

"You've seen my Mercedes," she shrugged, "it's more the tinkering I enjoy. Don't get me wrong, I love the smooth lines and the glossy paint, but the mechanics of it, the way I can make the pieces fit together to create smooth combustion and rotation. It's a bonus if I can bring satisfaction to someone else too."

Emmett reached over and touched her face, then turned his eyes back to the road. Rosalie then turned around and winked at me conspiratorially, like I was in on some secret with her, then reached over and flicked the radio station again.

After about another half hour of driving, the area we were in began to look a little run down, dusty driveways and brick buildings dotted the sides of the road. Eventually, we turned onto a road with a clapboard fence edging one side, containing behemoth piles of twisted metal. The car slowed in front of a rusty chain link gate with old metal roof sheets welded between the gaps. Just past the gate was a large barn. Next to it, a jobsite trailer with metal bars attached to the windows, which looked like the office. Emmett jumped out and knocked. After a moment a man in his forties opened the door and invited him in. Soon they both emerged with the man pointing off in the distance. Emmett nodded, and got back in the car.

"Alright girls, Jeff said we can park over there to the left, and if we follow that row back we'll find a bunch of old cars. Some with motors, some without, most of them with pieces missing."

We walked along the row looking at cars from every decade, in every sun-faded color. Sometimes Rosalie would knock on a fender, lift a hood, or crawl on her hands and knees to look underneath. She and Emmett patiently answered my questions about what they were looking for, and how to spot a good project car. They continued in front of me, looking along the row, but I was curious to see what was down the row to the left, half hidden by a tidy pile of tires taller than Emmett. I figured if I lost them they could follow my scent to find where I'd wandered off to. There were 5 cars parked next to each other, in a neat row. All of them looked especially old amongst the others we'd passed over. All had white walled tires and huge rounded wheelwells, one with what Rosalie told me had "suicide doors," once they had figured out where I was.

She said, "If it wasn't missing the hood and left fender, it would be a done deal."

"You can always order the missing pieces, babe."

Rosalie nodded and said, "That's an option," but continued down the row. Next to it was a car covered in a tarp. She and Emmett lifted the front, "Oh wow, this is nice."

"What is this, 1940's Rosie?"

"Yep, you can tell by the grill."

They continued to chatter and point at their find while I walked around to the rear of the car. There was a bit of dark blue paint that I could see. I lifted the tarp and saw a familiar boxy shape. "It's a truck," I announced. It had wood slats bolted to the top of the truck bed that were partially rotted, tiny round tail lights and a bulbus, curved rear fender.

"Really." Emmett said in disbelief.

Rosalie's face brightened as she walked back to where I stood. "The 1940 Fords had similar front ends whether it was a sedan, or a truck. Trucks like this in good shape are hard to find." She then proceeded to uncover the car and inspect it. The tires were rotten, she said, but there wasn't so much rust around the fenders and frame that it couldn't be repaired. The seats were chewed and shredded but all the glass was intact. "What do you think Bella?"

"I think it looks really cool, I'd like to see something like this driven again." I smiled up at her.

She slowly, slyly, smiled back.She then looked to Emmett, who apparently knew the drill. He paid for it, and set up delivery through a local tow service.

"It's scheduled for the day after tomorrow. I figured you'd want the family there when it arrives, and since half of us will be gone hunting all day tomorrow… " Emmett winked at his wife.

"I'm sure Carlisle and Esme will be able to appreciate it as we do, maybe even Edward," she mused.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it, of our early days together?" Emmett turned to me and said, "That's when she got into cars you know, during the World War 2 effort."

I looked at her to confirm, but she was looking at the ground as we walked back to the SUV. She shrugged and said, "All the men were gone. Cars needed fixing, and women were joining the workforce."

"What was that like?"

"Hard. But we all made sacrifices. Good thing Carlisle is a doctor. He signed off on Edward's and Emmett's papers. They were able to join up without physicals."

I looked to Emmett then, "You guys fought in the war?"

He shook his head, "We couldn't fight. Too much blood. But we joined up. It's not like I could fake a heart defect or asthma, and I didn't want to fake a limp for who knows how many years, I mean look at me!" He said, spreading his smile and his arms wide. He was a truly huge vampire. "It felt wrong to lie when our country and the world needed us, so I became a blacksmith; mostly making parts, because the horses didn't like me much. I still use those skills on occasion around the house and garage." He said before we all climbed into the car and left the junkyard.

"Edward joined up too? What did he do?"

"He was a Ritchie Boy." Emmett smirked, "Edward had traveled the world looking for the worst of the worst when he went off on his own, including in Germany, so he was familiar with the language, customs, and mannerisms of Germans and Austrians. He was sent to Camp Ritchie and specially trained. He ended up working in counter-intelligence. We were both sent to England. A friend of Carlisle's helped arrange it."

"Where was Carlisle?"

"He was stateside, stamping papers and working in secondary hospitals. He managed to believably fail a physical with a distracted colleague. He was a civilian doctor, hired by the military."

"What about Esme?"

"You know Esme," Rosalie answered, "She Volunteered for everything. We were living in Northern Maryland at the time so there was lots to do. Anything she could do to help, she did it."

"So how did you get into cars?"

"Necessity. Esme's car would turn over, but it wouldn't start. The local mechanic was drafted so I had to figure it out. I stole into the DC patent office and looked up the engine, and then I looked up other engines too. I found it all very interesting. I fixed Esme's car the next day, and sought out the mechanic's wife not long after. She was over the moon to have the shop reopened. She had no other income," she took a breath, "and with Emmett gone, I didn't have anything to do. I fixed cars during the day, and researched engines at night. Martha could feed her kids, Ruth and Little Artie, and I felt useful." She was quiet for a minute before she added, "Martha was as close to a human friend as I've ever come, besides you. She died in 1995… she was 78."

How sad. "She sounds great Rosalie."

"She was," she nodded, "she was ecstatic when the war was over and Arthur came home. Emmett and Edward came home around the same time, and we all moved to Michigan. Those were happy times." She said, patting Emmett's shoulder.

"Yeah they were, No more having to fake being human! Winning the war was pretty great too!" he chuckled.

We made it back to town shortly after. The shopping center was in the next town over, between Cornwall and wherever the junkyard was located. It was a mini-mall of sorts, with stores both on the inside and the outside, and parking all around.

"Do you want to eat lunch first?" Rosalie asked.

"Not yet, let's get some of this done first." I was already annoyed by the prospect of clothes shopping.

"Don't sound so excited."

"Zero chance of that happening, no worries." I deadpanned.

She and Emmett laughed at that, "She's got a smart mouth doesn't she, Em? Do you talk to Edward like that?"

"When afforded the opportunity," I smirked.

"I'll have to pay better attention." She said in an appraising tone.

We found what we were looking for pretty quickly. Alice had made a list for us to work from of what to get, and where to get it. Emmett carried everything and politely sat outside certain stores on benches, that were scattered throughout the mall, when told. This was to avoid embarrassing me, though he did make up for it when he yelled through the mall, "Did you get enough underpants Bella?" Mortifying.

Camis, socks, underthings, workout clothes, running shoes, a bathing suit and sleepwear were all on the list. Most of that was found in the inner areas of the mall, which was convenient because the sun came out shortly after we arrived. Avoiding it was as easy as staying indoors and avoiding the skylights built into the ceiling. We finished up, and by that time I was famished. Emmett checked the time and they agreed the sun should be gone for the next hour and a half. They walked with me to a chain restaurant and I ordered a soup and a sandwich with lemonade. They pretended to sip coffee while I ate.

"So Em, we have to make a detour on the way home," I smiled. "Edward has a surprise planned for you, and we have to pick it up."

He sat up and his entire face brightened, "Shut up! What is it?"

"That would be cheating. You'll have to wait and see."

"You brat! Are you done? Can we go now?" He was like a child.

"I'm ready," I said, stretching. We walked back to the car and drove to the other end of the shopping center. "It's in there," I pointed to a big blue and yellow electronics store sign. He met my smile with a wide vampire grin.

We had just enough time to pick up the order, load up and climb in the SUV before the sun made another appearance. We made it home in less than 20 minutes, thankfully, because I was exhausted, and I'd had enough of this dull ache in my chest. I knew I'd be going home to Edward, but I did not enjoy the separation. It almost felt like panic, and I had to remind myself that we were ok.

Emmett didn't stop talking about the components he'd need to upgrade his system the whole way home, which was fine because that meant I didn't have to speak. I was truly happy to see him excited, and not for the first time I considered how lucky I was to have him for a brother. He was still talking when we climbed out of the car, and while his back was turned, Rosalie and I made eye contact before she rolled her eyes dramatically. I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile. Before I had time to consider the possibility that Rosalie and I had turned a corner, I was met at the door by Carlisle.

"Bella, I think it is important that you check on Edward immediately. He is unwell."

Bit of a cliffy! What's going on with Edward, I wonder??

I cooked up that bit of backstory because I couldn't find a dang thing pertaining to what the Cullens were up to during WW2. And gods did I look. I've wondered over it for years, truthfully. (If anyone has cannon info, I'd love to hear it, PM me.) I've also been looking for what sparked Rosalie's love of engine repair. These are the questions SM never answered for us. These pesky little questions that keep you up at night.

Please PLEASE tell me what you think. I'm dying to know!!