Zombies

A futuretake from Around the Bend

Author Penname: Leelan Oleander

Rating: M (although really, it's a very low-grade M)

Summary: This is a reader-requested futuretake from my story Around the Bend.

Edward and Bella are babysitting for the weekend while A/J and Em/Ro are out of town for a funeral. They have their hands full with Emmett and Rosie's daughter Audrey, who is 7, Alice and Jasper's two kids, Sunny (10) and River (7), and their own daughter, Violet, aged 10 (who they adopted at the age of three from a Chinese orphanage.) This is a glimpse into the first night and a chance to get caught up with the gang.

AH-AU, Canon pairings

Beta'd by the wonderful Katmom and Minnakoda

Bella

"Are you sure about this, Bella? Edward? Having all of them together can be a real handful. Jaden and Lily have offered to come over and help if you need them," Rose asked, chewing on her thumbnail. "I know they all love you to death and respect you, but..."

"Enough, Rosie," I scolded as I moved to lean on one of the bar stools. "It's not like they're three! They're all well-behaved kids, and holy hell, woman; it's not as if we've never looked after them before."

"Yeah, but it's for a whole weekend and you're seven months pregnant. Do you really think it's wise—"

"She's fine. We're fine! Chill, Rosie!" Ah, Edward to the rescue. "Now go tear Emmett away from the kids and get the hell out of here. We've got everything under control and if we need you, we have at least a dozen numbers where you can be contacted. Now go before you miss your flight!"

Rosie exhaled loudly, shouted for Emmett and the kids, and grabbed her carry-on. "Emmett, say bye to the kids, we have to go."

Emmett picked up Audrey and nuzzled her neck. "Bye, baby girl. Daddy loves you. Behave for your aunt and uncle while we're gone."

"Daaaaaad," she lamented, pushing his face away. "I'm not a baby! I'm almost eight!"

He looked at us and sighed heavily. "They grow up so fast." Turning his attention back to daughter, he put on his serious face. "Okay, then, Audrey-who-is-almost-eight, I want you to behave for your Aunt B and Uncle Eddie while we're gone. We'll be back on Monday, okay? You can call us if you want, but keep in mind that we're going to a funeral, so our phones will be turned off most of Sunday. Just text us or leave us a message, okay?"

"Yes, Daddy, I know. Please give Grampa Donald a big hug for me when you see him, okay? Tell him I miss him and he should come visit soon."

Emmett smiled warmly at her. "I will, Princess. Now give me a hug and a kiss for the road before you go give sloppy seconds to your mom."

"Hey, now! I heard that!" Rosie objected.

Violet moved over to my side and rubbed my belly. "How's my baby brother doing today?"

"He's dancing around like a fool. Can you feel it?" I asked her, watching her beautiful brown eyes light up as she acknowledged the movement under her hand. I ran my hand over her silky straight black hair as she moved her head so she could whisper to him before River interrupted her.

"Auntie B, I want to feel too."

I took his dirty hands and placed them on my belly where I knew he would feel something, and sure enough, his giggles rang out like sweet music. "I feel him. He's funny."

"What's he doing?" Edward asked as he came up behind us. "Is he tap dancing?"

River laughed even harder, shaking his head so hard his long mop of sandy blonde hair bounced and shook, dislodging a twig and a leaf. Edward bent over to pick them up and laughed. "Were you guys playing in the trees again?"

"Yeah, we're building a fort so we can fight the werewoofs and bampires that live in the woods. We need to have a super strong fort for that," the little blonde boy said excitedly, without looking up from my bump. It was hard to hide the chuckle at his mispronunciation of vampire. "I can't wait for your baby to be born so there's another boy for me to play with. The girls want to make the bampires all sparkly and stuff. That's like making Goldiemort wear a pink tutu when he's trying to kill Harry Potter."

"Okay, we're out of here." Emmett looked at his eldest niece. "Sunny, keep an eye out on your brother and help keep him inline so poor, old Aunt B doesn't have to waddle after him. I'll give your grandfather your letters and cards, and yes, I'll remind your parents to bring you back something cool. Audrey, behave and go to bed when you're told, got it, kiddo?"

One more round of hugs was exchanged before Emmett and Rosalie finally left. I knew this trip was bittersweet for them, and frankly, I would have loved to have been there to watch them bury the wicked witch of the South.

Mama Hale had died earlier in the week—very painfully and very much alone for most of her last days. Pancreatic cancer had reduced her to a wizzled old crab, and it was only out of some sort of divine compassion that Donald Hale had been there when she took her last painful breath. How he could do that, I couldn't understand, especially since he knew how her behaviour had impacted their children. He told Rosie on the phone the other night that he wanted to be there to be sure she was dead and that it was over.

I think that deep down he still loved her in some strange way and didn't want her to be alone when she shuffled off this mortal coil.

The girls all chased after them as they left, but River stayed behind. He looked kind of sad, so I suggested we go sit out on the porch swing, just the two of us, for a cuddle. Edward said he'd corral the girls out back and inspect the fort.

We sat quietly for a bit before River began rubbing my belly again. "Aunt B?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Was my Nana Hale really a debil bitch from hell?"

I choked on my shock at his statement. "Where did you hear that?"

"Mama said it the other day. She was mad that Daddy wanted to go to the funeral for the debil bitch from hell after all she had done to them. What did Nana do? Was she really a monster?"

My fingers ran through his unruly hair as I tried to come up with a way to explain things. "Well, sweetheart, your Nana Hale was a mean lady who never understood love because I don't think she ever had it when she was a little girl. She was happiest when other people were unhappy. She was a terribly miserable woman, though, and she didn't give very much love to your daddy or your Aunt Ro. She was mean to them, so you can understand why people would say mean things about her. I'm not saying it's right to call people names, but..."

The sweet little boy in my lap sighed. "I feel sad for her, Aunt B. How can she give love when she didn't have any to give?"

Seven years old and already a philosopher. I tried to find an appropriate answer, but he kept going.

"I think that when you're little, you get a lot of love, like from your mommy and daddy and aunts and uncles, but because you're so little there's no way you can use it all and you don't know what to do with it, so you save it up. It's the extra saved up little kid love that you use when you are a grown up, so I guess it makes sense that if she didn't have anything in her love bank, that she wouldn't have anything to give when she was a grown up. I feel..."

"You feel what?"

Big blue eyes looked up at me, one lone tear building up and falling slowly down his cheek. "I feel sad for her."

"Why, sweetie?"

"Because it must have been very lonely to live without love. Can I have a hug?"

I smiled down at the wise little angel looking up at me. "Of course, sweetie, we need to put some more love into your love bank, don't we?"

He sat up and tried his best to get comfortable around my belly. We rocked and I sang until he had fallen asleep. While Sunny was outgoing and hyper, like her mother; River was Jasper's son through and through. He was insightful, empathetic and calm, but for the most part he was still very much an inquisitive, excitable, seven year old boy.

River also worshipped his cousin Jaden, and Jaden was very good with the little guy. Since they were the only boys in a sea of girls, they bonded and spent a lot of time together, until Jaden moved out into his first apartment with Lily about a month ago.

We were all feeling the loss of not having him around all the time, but he visited often, with his fiancée in tow. There were wedding plans to make and this house had become wedding central.

Funny how Emmett and Rosie's house had become a second home to all of us. Even though we all lived nearby, we often crashed here, or the kids crashed here, and all group babysitting was done here. I guess it's because it's the most kid-friendly house in the bunch, what with the pool and the jungle gym.

A swift kick to my insides made me jump a little. I rubbed my hand on my belly and sang quietly to the little boy inside. We had given up on having a child biologically. We had Violet in our lives and we were happy being a family of three, but much to our utter surprise and delight, I got pregnant not long after we brought her home from China. I miscarried at twelve weeks and was devastated. I miscarried two more times in the coming years and was too heartbroken to try again; I couldn't handle the build-up to the breakdown. After the third time my body rejected the baby at twenty-five weeks, I fell into a terrible depression that only my husband and daughter were able to bring me out of. Her persistence and Edward's support helped get me to a therapist, one who deals with women mourning miscarriages and stillbirths, and within the year I was feeling better able to deal with it.

When I found out I was pregnant this time, I was afraid to be happy. Every week that passed only meant that I was one week closer to heartache. The doctors classified it as a high-risk pregnancy and were keeping almost constant tabs on me. It was at the five month mark that I finally allowed myself to be hopeful, to rejoice in the changes in my body and not curse them, to revel in feeling him fluttering around.

Everything was going well; he was healthy, looked good, and seemed strong. I was living in the moment instead of in fear of the future, and by choosing to live this way, I was enjoying my pregnancy and every cherished moment I had with him so that even if something did go wrong, I would have these happy memories. I had also read that a mother's mood and attitude can transfer to the baby—by means of hormones—so I only wanted him to have the very best.

"Bella?" Edward whispered from beside me. "Are you awake?"

I opened my eyes and smiled at my incredibly beautiful husband, whose unruly hair was blazing in the waning sunlight. "Yes. We're just having a quiet moment. How are the girls?"

"They've tired of their vampire game and are watching a movie down in the mancave. Jaden called and said that he and Lily were going to pop over with pizza for supper. They'll be here any minute." He smiled as he looked down at River, who was still asleep with his head on my bump. "Want me to carry him in?"

I shook my head. "He'll wake up the second he hears Jaden's car pull in. You know how much he misses him."

"Mind if I join you?" he asked quietly, eyeing the empty spot to my right.

"Please do."

Edward sat beside me and before he even had a chance to settle down, his hand was on my belly, rubbing gently and smiling. Seeing him so happy really did something to me, and his joy was contagious. Although Edward was profoundly devastated with each failed pregnancy, his outlook was always bright; the fatalistic Edward of the past was long gone. Although I loved broody Edward, I truly and honestly adored my ray of sunshine. Violet had really changed him, opened him up further, allowed him to let go of the pain of losing Emma so he could focus on our new daughter.

Of course Emma was never far from our thoughts. She would always be our sweet little angel, and we still commemorated her birthday and our wedding anniversary each year by releasing purple balloons and telling Violet about her older sister. And every spring, Violet and Edward planted a sunflower garden to remind us of the loved ones we hadn't just lost, but who we love even as we miss them so much.

A honk alerted us to Jaden and Lily's arrival. River's head popped up and turned in several directions, confused. Finally he spotted Jaden and took off. "Jaden!"

The now six-foot tall Jaden set the pizzas down on the top step to bend over and scoop up his favourite cousin. "Hey, kiddo! How you doing?"

River's arms went around Jaden's neck and he squeezed. "I missed you, Jay."

Lily grabbed the pizza boxes as she made her way over. Her walking had improved so much that you could hardly tell that she had ever had a devastating brain injury. "H...hi Bella, Edwaaard. H...hope y...y...you're hungry. We b...brought lllllots."

Edward got up and took the boxes. "Thanks, Lily. I'll go get the girls set up with supper. Come on, River; let's get you some food before those crazy girls eat it all before you. The rest of you come on in when you're ready."

She sat down beside me and looked at my belly, then at me, silently asking if she could touch. I nodded and braced myself for more cold hands, but they were surprisingly warm. "How're things going, Lil?"

"Mmmom ssssent a cheque. Daaaad's pissed," she replied, not looking away from my belly.

Lily's Mom had run out on them when Lily was a baby, her only remaining presence in their lives were the cheques she sent for birthdays and graduation. She had sent a sizeable amount when Lily started university to help with tuition and dorm fees, and had Lily not intercepted the envelope, Peter would have sent it back. She pleaded with him often to see the logic and usefulness of this extra money, regardless of where it came from. And then she asked if she could meet her mother just once.

I went with her that day. Peter really couldn't bear seeing Lily's disappointment if her mother showed her true colours and Lily didn't want to go alone. I was both terrified and honoured when she asked me to go with her, surprised that she hadn't asked Jaden or even Rose to go, but she said that she felt the most comfortable having me there. So we went and met her for lunch, and I have to say that she was a very lovely woman. She answered Lily honestly when she asked why she left them, and I could see that Lily was satisfied with the answer.

"Www...why do y...you send m...m...money?"

Jane smiled warmly. "I wanted to make sure that your father had enough to get you what you needed or wanted. It's the least I could do. Even though I haven't raised you, you are still my daughter and it's my responsibility to make sure you are provided for. I knew your dad wouldn't take monthly payments from me, but he'd allow for birthday gifts. And, believe it or not, I set up a college fund when you were born. I've had money going into that account every single paycheque. I may not be able to provide you with the love and compassion that your father can, but I can make sure that you can go to school and don't have to work to make ends meet like we did."

Lily thought it over and nodded in agreement. "Th...thank y...you f...for letting m...me live wi...with Dad."

Again, Jane smiled warmly as she pushed a piece of blonde hair behind her daughter's ear. "I knew he would be very good to you. He was always so wonderful to me, even when I didn't deserve it. He raised you well, darling. I am so very happy with how you turned out.

"I realize you don't want a regular mother/daughter relationship with me, and frankly, I think we're beyond that at this point, but what I would like is for you to feel free to call me to go for coffee if you ever want to talk. I don't deserve your friendship, but I'd love a chance to get to know you."

That meeting began a monthly ritual of the two of them meeting up for coffee or dinner. They weren't ever going to have a typical relationship, but it was great for Lily to have another strong female role model in her life.

"How's your dad doing, Lil? We haven't seen him in ages."

Lily giggled as she looked at me. "H...he's in l...l...loooove."

"I take it things are going well between him and Amanda, then?"

She nodded, giggling again. "Reaaaal, good. Jay and I f...f...found them...um...they were...th...they were d...doing it on the k...k...kitchen floor."

"WHAT!" I shouted. "Oh dear lord, Lily, you must have wanted to burn your eyes out."

Jaden walked over and sat on the swing with us, River no longer clinging to him. "Hey, Aunt B, I take it Lily told you about finding Peter and Amanda on the kitchen floor?"

"Well, at least he's found someone. It's about time," I said, grinning. Rose, Alice and I had plotted to get those two together. Rose still saw Amanda from time to time when she was struggling with things, and she had sort of become more of a friend to her than a therapist. So, when her last boyfriend had cheated on her and she was about to swear off men forever, we introduced her to Peter and they hit it off like gangbusters. Lily was pretty sure that her father would get married shortly after her wedding to Jaden in a couple of months.

As for the two of them being caught on the kitchen floor, well, Peter better hope Emmett doesn't catch wind of it because he will tease him into celibacy again.

"How's school going? You think this semester is going to be a good one?"

"We've both got pretty heavy loads, so I don't think we'll be around much," Jaden said, sighing. "Please promise you'll bring the little guy over for visits so we don't study ourselves into zombie-like states. Oh, and food. You can always bring food."

Lily sighed dramatically. "He's aaaaaa...aaaa bbbbbbottomless pit. It'sss haaard to keep gro...gro...groceries in the hhhhouse."

I laughed as I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. "You'll get used to it, sweetie. All of these men are the same. I'll remind the girls of that so you two don't go hungry. So, why are you guys overloading this semester?"

Jaden squeezed in beside Lily, placing a kiss atop her blonde hair. "We want to get the majority of our coursework done this semester so we have more time to focus on the wedding stuff next semester. I'm also thinking of getting a job."

Edward walked out at that moment. "A job? Are you sure you have time for that? If it's money..."

"I don't want any handouts, Uncle E, besides, it's school related—one of my professors is going to hook me up with a job playing piano at a classy bar. He said he'd give me extra credit, on top of the hourly wage and tips I'd be getting. I figure with a few months of that before the wedding, I can at least pay for my tux or the honeymoon."

"Have you talked it over with your dad?" I asked.

"Not yet, Aunt B, it's not a done deal yet. I don't think he'll say no, though. I mean, hell, I'm 19 now, so he can't really stop me. As long as I don't consume any alcohol while I work, it's perfectly legal, not to mention this is pretty much a school-sanctioned thing. Every year this professor picks a student for this job, so it's kind of a big deal."

A horrible wailing noise came from inside the house. Jaden jumped up before anyone else could react. "That's River. I'll get him."

I sighed before trying to get up. Edward immediately ran over to help. "Here, baby, take my hands."

With a big tug, I was on my feet and we were on our way into the house to see what was going on.

Edward

I was not expecting to find Jaden trying to wash pizza out of River's hair when we entered the kitchen. "What happened?"

River turned his head and I saw his bottom lip quivering and big tears spilling down his cheeks. "Sunny..."

He was cut off by a very angry older sister who yelled from the table. "TATTLETALE! You wanna know why we don't like playing with you, River? You're a big, fat, tattletale. Uncle E, I..."

"Sunny, do you expect me to believe that River put pizza on his own head?"

Her cheeks flamed under my scrutiny. "No, but..."

"But what?"

In true Alice form, her defence was made very loudly and very quickly. "He was being a pest, Uncle E; he was making boy noises and flying his pizza around like a plane. I told him to stop, and he didn't. I was only trying to stop him, but he started with the airplane thing again and I hit him by accident."

"No she didn't, Uncle E," River protested, "she was being mean. I don't like her. I don't want her to be my sister—she makes me sad."

God, this was going to be a long weekend. "Okay, here's the deal. Sunny, I realize you think it was an accident, but you had your hand up to stop him, so it was premeditated to some extent. For that, I'm giving you dish duty tonight, and I want you to lay off your brother. River, buddy, you can't play with your food like that, got it?"

"Yes, Uncle E," they chorused sarcastically.

"Is everyone finished eating?" I asked, taking note of a very hungry looking Bella. "If not, can someone make some room for Aunt B? She looks like she could eat a niece or nephew...or two."

The kids all laughed, even River, and suddenly the heavy mood was lifted. The girls made room for Bella and Lily to join them while we men sat at the breakfast bar. River was in much better spirits now that there was no longer any pepperoni in his hair.

After Sunny begrudgingly did the dishes, the girls all dragged Bella and Lily up to Audrey's room for makeovers, while we boys went out back and played laser tag until it was time for River to go to bed. I decided to give him a bath because the poor kid was filthy, but Jaden stepped in and offered to do it. He knew where all his good bath toys were stashed, so I didn't complain. Secretly, I think Jaden just wanted to play with his old toys.

Bella and Lily looked like two-dollar hookers by the time the girls had finished with their makeovers. It was hard not to laugh at them as they did the walk of shame. Bella rolled her eyes and mouthed at me to behave when she reached me. Well, that just about did me in. "Wow, Bella, you're...wow..."

I felt a tug on my shirt. "Daddy, doesn't she look beeeyoootiful?"

I gave Violet a hug. "Yes, xin ai, she's always beautiful and you girls just enhanced it."

"Why does Aunt B and Lily look like clowns?" River asked from the hall.

Audrey, whose maturity level was more sophisticated than her cousin of the same age, shook her head and muttered "boys" as she did so. "You wouldn't understand, River, because you're a boy. Now go play trucks or something."

Jaden laughed as he entered the room. "You girls should go easier on River." He turned to Lily and gave her a kiss. "Mmm, strawberry."

Poor little River stomped off toward Jaden's old room and slammed the door. I figured I should go and have a chat with him. I found him curled up in the big egg chair, his favourite blanket pulled up over his head.

"River, buddy, you okay?" I asked, approaching him. "Want to talk?"

The blanket moved a little before I heard a sad sigh come out from underneath. "It's not fair, Uncle E."

"I know, kiddo. It's hard being the only boy in the crowd."

His little blond head popped out from under the blanket. "It's not just that. I'm the same age as Audrey and the big kids don't talk to her like she's a baby. Why can't they treat me like a big kid too?"

"Well, River, I'm going to tell you something that will come in handy for many years to come. Boys and girls are different—"

"I know about baginas and penises, Uncle E, and how girls have innies and boys have outies and we're not supposed to look at them or touch them until we are grownups because if we do babies will pop out."

WHA...? Where the hell was this kid getting his facts? "I don't mean biologically, River, I mean, girls tend to grow up a little faster than boys, they mature, which means they start liking older person stuff before boys do."

"I want to mature too! It's not fair. I never have anyone to play with."

Jaden joined us at this point. "River, being a boy is soooo much better. We get to play with our toys a lot longer than girls do. They play with make up and do their hair and stuff, which really doesn't seem fun to me, but we get to play first with dinky cars and Lego and stuff. Then we get to play with stuff with motors, like RC cars and planes, then there's video games, and when we have kids, we get to do it all over again while the girls don't! Being a boy rocks. Every time they treat you like a little kid, just remember that sometimes being a boy and being a kid isn't so bad. They don't know what they're missing."

My god, Jaden was a wise one. I smiled at him, thankful that he'd stepped in because I don't think I could have put it any better than he did.

River got out of his chair and hugged Jaden. "Thanks, Jaden. I feel a lot better now."

"Yes, Jaden, thank you. I feel a lot better too."

"Can I come stay with you tonight, Jaden?" River asked quietly.

"What? And leave poor Uncle E here all alone with all these girls? Who will defend him when they try to give him a makeover?"

The little boy giggled as Jaden picked him up. "You should probably stay here, since this is where your mom and dad think you are. Maybe you can come over next weekend for a sleepover. Would you like that?"

"Yes, please!"

"Awesome. Well, I have to go. Lily is getting together with Sam and Gabriel to work on something for the wedding. We're already running late."

We said our goodbyes and I managed to get River in bed with the promise of half an hour of playing on his handheld game before heading over to herd Audrey into doing the same. Luckily Bella had thought to slowly get the girls to wind down, even the older girls, and I found the four of them curled up on Audrey's bed watching some Disney channel boy band concert.

Making my way downstairs, I thought about how adding another boy to our family would change things and I wondered if he'd be a mama's boy or daddy's boy? Since Violet had been a complete and utter daddy's girl until she discovered makeup, I thought maybe it would be an even trade off when he comes. Bella could nurture Violet and her new-found girlie nature and I could hang out with my little guy.

My little guy. God, the next couple of months were going to drag on endlessly. I couldn't wait to hold him, to see him, to fall in love with him the moment I laid my eyes on him. I couldn't wait to watch him bond with his mother, to watch him staring at her with blind newborn eyes as he suckled for the first time.

I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, I just want him to come out healthy and for Bella to get through this with no problems. To lose another child, at this late stage, would kill her.

It was almost ten o'clock when Bella finally emerged from Audrey's room.

"Are they all asleep?" I asked, pulling her toward me to sit in my lap. "Do we actually have some peace and quiet now? No more arguing? No more picking on River? No more washing marinara sauce out of anyone's hair?"

"All out like a light. Actually, they fell asleep a while ago and I might have dozed off myself." Bella blushed at her admission before nuzzling into the crook of my neck. "Sorry about that."

I pushed her hair aside so I could place a kiss on her forehead. "Don't apologize for getting some sleep, love, for all too soon, we'll both be sleep deprived parents of a newborn. I won't begrudge you a nap—ever."

"I love you, Edward; you're too nice to me."

Moving my head down lower, I took her top lip between mine and began to kiss her slowly, lovingly, so she'd know without words the extent of my admiration and devotion. Of course, the kiss began to escalate into something much more.

Four whispered words undid me, and it didn't matter where we were or whose house it was. Four whispered words set my brain and my cock on autopilot.

"I need you, Edward."

Violet

I was having the best dream when Audrey kicked me.

"Ow, Auddey, why'd you do that? I'm sleeping."

"Did you hear something?" she whispered as she snuggled in closer. "I heard something."

Sunny grunted on the other side and mumbled something about vampires, which automatically set Auddey into a fit. I knew we shouldn't play vampire with her—she's too young. Now we'll never get any sleep.

I looked at the glowing alarm clock on her nightstand and sighed. It was only 10:30. We had only been asleep for about an hour. It was going to be a long, long night.

"Vi, I'm scared. Can you go get your mom and dad to see what's going on?"

Sunny grunted again. "Auddey, chill out, okay? You promised not to get freaked out by playing vampires and what are you doing?"

It was hard not to laugh at her quiet reply. "I'm freaking out over the vampires. But, Sunny—"

A hand shot up from under her sleeping bag as Sunny mocked Auddey by pretending her hand was a puppet. "Yak, yak, yak, Auddey. Come on, me and Vi won't play big girl games with you anymore if you're going to act like this."

The room got quiet for a minute until I heard Auddey sniffling in her sleeping bag. As much as I love Sunny, sometimes she can be such a witch to Auddey. It's not her fault she's younger than we are. It's the same with her baby brother, River. She's kind of witchy to him too and he doesn't deserve it at all. I like River, he's more like me; quiet and artistic. Sunny and Audrey are the wild ones, and there are days when I'm glad that even though there are a few years between them, that they get along as well as they do. I know that Sunny gets annoyed with me when I spend a lot of time with Daddy working on my music, but it's hard sometimes to find time to play with my friends and do what I really love, and that's playing my cello.

People laughed when I chose the cello because I'm kind of small and it's kind of big, not to mention the whole stupid stereotype about Asian kids being good at playing string instruments, but I LOVE the sound it makes—it's so deep and full and I remember the first time Daddy took me to the symphony so I could see what instrument I wanted to learn and I knew the first moment I heard the bow pulled across the strings that the cello was it for me. It spoke to me more than the other ones. River likes to come over and listen to me play while he colours, and sometimes I'll let him put his ear to the shiny wood body while I play so he can feel it deep inside. He says I paint stories with it.

Auddey's whimpering and sniffling was getting louder, so I crawled out of bed and knelt beside her. "Auddey, I'm going to go see my mom and dad. Stay tight and I'll be right back."

"But...but what if there's a vampire out there?" she whispered.

I got closer to her face and gave her my best serious look. "Then I'll look it in the eye and stomp on its foot and swear at it in Chinese. Vampires hate Chinese swear words."

I had no idea why I said that, but it worked. I managed to get a giggle out of her, and that was good enough for me. I slipped on my fuzzy slippers and pulled on my matching robe and walked quietly out of her room, making sure to close the door so Auddey wouldn't freak out anymore.

The hall was quiet so I thought that Mom and Dad must have gone to bed. I tiptoed down to Uncle Emmett and Aunt Ro's bedroom and pushed the door open a bit. "Mama? Daddy? Auddey's freaking out."

Nothing. I tried again. "Mama? Daddy?"

Silence. Hmm. I pushed the door open further and saw that the bed was empty. They must still be downstairs. They must be making the noise. Phew, at least I had something I could tell Auddey that would make sense.

"Auddey, they aren't in bed. They must be downstairs and they must be the ones making the noises."

"Can we please go make sure it's them?" she asked quietly. "I'll sleep a lot better if I know it's just them."

"Since we're going down," Sunny mumbled as she poked her head out of her sparkly purple sleeping bag, "we might as well get a snack. I'm hungry."

We made our way to the hallway where we were stopped by a sleepy River who stood in the doorway to Jaden's old room rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?"

Auddey tiptoed over to him. "We heard a noise..."

"YOU heard a noise, Auddey, we were happily asleep," Sunny interrupted.

A sound coming from downstairs stopped us all in our tracks. It sounded like a groan.

"It sounds like a zombie!" River quickly hid behind his sister, who for once, decided to act like a big sister. "They walk around and say ooooooh, and ohhhhhhh, and mmmmmmm. We should tell Aunt B and Uncle Edward."

I looked over at him and frowned. "Mom and Dad are downstairs."

Tears started running down his cheeks. "What if the zombies got them? What if they're zombies now? Oh no! Poor Aunt B and what about the baby? Will the baby be born a zombie? What if the bampires come? Oh no! We need to save them."

Before anyone could stop him, River ran charging down the stairs. We followed quickly behind him because if in the off chance that my parents were now zombies, they might try to eat him.

River stood frozen in the kitchen door, his mouth wide open as he pointed at something.

Sunny squeaked and I...I...oh my god...are they...what is Dad doing to Mom over the table? Why aren't they wearing pants...oh...wait...

"Why is Uncle Edward bumping his penis into Aunt B's bum?" Audrey asked quietly.

River looked down at his pants and then back at my parents. He was too young to understand, but I wasn't. I figured out what was going on before anyone else did and I wanted to burn my eyeballs out of my head. Sunny wasn't long in figuring it out, either, and I saw her cover her mouth.

"We need to get the kids upstairs, now!" I whisper-shouted to Auddey.

Before I could stop him, River stepped closer and cleared his throat. "Aunt B, Uncle Edward? What are you doing? What happened to your pants?"

Mom and Dad screamed before jumping away from us. Mom pulled the tablecloth off the table to cover them, thank god, because no one wanted to see their private parts. We had all seen too much already.

"Kids! Um, can you go upstairs and we'll be right up," Dad said as he tried to stay covered, "to um, explain this?"

I pushed the kids toward the stairs. "No, it's okay, we don't need to know..."

"I wanna know. What happened to the zombies?" River said, poking his head around me.

Mom laughed. "Zombies? Do I even want to know?"

"So, kids, you saw us in...we were...there was..."

I sat and watched as Dad tried to explain something very awkward to kids who really didn't understand it anyway. I wanted to tell him to just make something up because River and Auddey would believe pretty much anything and Sunny and me were old enough to know.

River was curled around Mom's belly, his head resting on it so he could feel my baby brother moving around. "We thought you were zombies."

"Why, sweetheart?" Mom asked as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Because you were making zombie noises; you were saying wooooo and oooooh and ohhhhhhh and mmmmmmm."

I don't know what was funnier, listening to River making "zombie" noises or watching Mom and Dad turning red from embarrassment. After a while I felt bad, so I told River to stop and I decided it was time for me to save my parents.

"River, Auddey, my mom and dad were downstairs doing grown up things and even though they should have done it in a private place because it's a private thing, sometimes grownups make mistakes. It's nothing to worry about and some day you'll understand."

He pouted. "Aw man, I was kinda hoping they were zombies."

Yeah, me too.

There is one more futuretake I'd like to do when I am inspired to get it out. A lot of people wanted to read about Jaden and Lily's wedding, and I want to write it. I just need to get my head back in the game.

Happy New Year everyone.