AN: Twilight and all of its characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

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O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O

I wanna take you with me
To life with no more yesterdays
We can start again awake and so excited
And change the way we always push
We always pull

I'll open up and be your parachute
And I'll never let you down
So open up and be my human angel
And we'll only hit the ground
Running

Parachute ~ Train

O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O

Prologue

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Taking a deep breath in through her nose, Bella pulled over to the side of the road just before a long driveway. Glancing in the rear-view mirror, she gazed at her eight-year-old son. His leg was bouncing as he stared out of his window, a nervous trait that he'd picked up from her. He ran his hand through his mop of unruly brown hair, which had bronze highlights running through it. His emerald green eyes flicked towards hers quickly, before glancing back out the window. She knew the kid like the back of her hand; he was her best friend, after all.

"Jack? Are you okay?" Bella asked quietly.

He nodded swiftly. "Just nervous, Ma, you know?" he responded, glancing back at her.

Bella nodded in understanding. More than halfway across the country was so far away from home. Here, just miles outside of Chicago, was a family that Jack hadn't seen in over five years. Neither of them knew what to expect, since she'd been too nervous to call and speak with anyone. This whole trip had been on the spur of the moment. As soon as the private investigator that was hired, Jay Jenks, had found the Cullens, Bella booked their tickets to Chicago, not thinking things through thoroughly. Now, she was riddled with doubt.

Maybe it was better left alone, she wondered. Jack was legally her son. There was no way to prepare for what might happen when they knocked on that door. Could she share him? Could she give him up?

Bella's heart instantly started to hammer in her chest and knew that the last one wasn't an option. She couldn't survive without him; he was her life.

Turning the ignition and putting the car back in drive, she was tempted to just turn back around, head to the airport and fly them right back to their little, cozy three-bedroom house near Seattle. But she knew she couldn't do that, and Jack deserved to face his past and reconcile it with his present. She turned up the mile long driveway and pulled up to the front of the enormous three-story house. With another deep breath, Bella turned off the car and unhooked her seat belt, as did Jack. After climbing out of the driver's seat, she walked over to where her boy was already standing by the rear passenger door.

He reached out blindly for his mother's hand, unable to take his eyes off of the house. She wrapped his small hand in hers and started to walk forward, up the stairs that led to a large porch which held a swing on either side. The house was white with blue accents, having a very Southern feel to it.

"Are you ready?" Bella asked, looking down at Jack.

He nodded nervously. "I feel like I'm going to puke though," he groaned lightly.

She chuckled, thankful for the small break in tension.

"Here we go," she whispered and she pressed her finger to the doorbell.

This was the beginning. Their lives would change drastically after this; she was sure of it. She prayed it was for the better and not the worse.

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O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O_o_O
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AN: 5/29/11, in honor of Parachute's one year anniversary, the lovely HolletLA is re-beta'ing our lovely story from the beginning. I'm not sure how long the process will take, but I'll leave a little mark ( ~O.o~ ) at the end of the most currently Beta'd chapter!

If you're reading this right now, I thank yu in advance and hope you enjoy the story!

~Shel~