My Life, Their Family & Our Destiny

Seann charaid dhomh

As I took a seat beside Rhona, I could Hear Edward whining about his hand and how come Carlisle had never told him about me, but he had Jasper. The Major suggested actually talking to Carlisle instead of raking through his mind and getting everything out of context, and then maybe he'd give up more information to him freely.

I felt pity for Carlisle if that was his firstborn. The good Doctor and I had met in 1693 approx, during 'The Nine Years War', while he was still a young vampire of only thirty years. The Charles Swan, I was watching over at the time was a Pastor and had been wounded fairly seriously. A hack of a doctor that was attending to him wanted to chop off his injured leg and it would surely have killed him if Carlisle hadn't stepped in and helped me stop him.

It took a long time to heal but eventually it did. Leaving Charles with only a minor limp, this didn't do him any harm, with the ladies. Carlisle and I became good friends, well as good as two immortals can be and he is aware that I am more than a shield but not what exactly. But we lost touch when the Swans left for the new world many years before the Doctor obviously decided to come.

So I haven't heard from him in over two hundred years. This in an immortal's life is nothing. It will be nice to catch up and find out about his coven or family as they like to call themselves, I read this from Edwards mind too. The rest of the school day passed without any more drama, but Edward not being there probably had something to do with it. Therefore, I had lifted my shield from Rhona after lunch. As we were leaving the car park The Major spoke to us.

"Goodbye Bella, thank you for helping us today. Is this your sister?" he said smirking at me.

"No, no this is my cousin Rhona" I replied introducing them.

"She has lovely, pure, calm emotions" he murmured in an aside to me. Alice looked like she was going to talk to her too.

"She will be having a vampire-free life Alice, don't attempt to get attached" I warn her, so she just smiles grimly and waves to us both.

This is not the first time I've warned off supernaturals whilst living in Forks, The Quileute's from the reservation were the first. If I remember correctly Ephraim Black did mention something about vampires living here before, this is a direct quote:

"Cold One with gold hair and eyes made treaty and lived here for short time with coven" he was never comfortable with English.

Much preferring his native tongue which he taught to me, only so we could converse freely with few others outside the tribe understanding. So that was Carlisle, he was talking about. The swan's moved here when the city was established in 1945 although there had been a logging community for a lot longer and Ephraim was still phasing then, he was the last member of the pack of shapeshifters of this time.

But as I didn't affect them due to my human side he eventually stopped. I lived in the forest then and was so happy when Charlie was born in 1964 as Helen and Geoffrey thought they could not have children. As Charlie became friends with the tribe I suggested quite adamantly that he didn't need to know anything about the supernatural and they agreed.

The present Chief is Billy Black, Charlie's closest friend. He used to believe the tribe's history were just stories until he became Chief and a member of the council. This reminded me I should warn them the Cullens are back, so they can prepare for the possibility of a new pack. This was all running through my head as we drove home. Well, all I have to do now is wait for Carlisle to get in touch, it won't be long I shouldn't think.

I expect he will be livid about Edwards' hand, but not with me. This might be an eye-opener for the boy, to find out there are more important people out there than him. I think Carlisle may have overindulged him a tad. So after getting Rhona settled to do her homework, I phoned down to La Push Reservation. I allayed Billy's fears, explaining about the Doctor and his family and their eating habits.

Telling him Carlisle was a good and trusted friend and if he was good enough for Ephraim to be friendly with, so that should be a clear and given recommendation to the new pack when it arrived. I started to prepare food for the three of us; Charlie was working but would eat when he finished his shift. He was the Chief of Police for the city of Forks and the surrounding area.

His wife and Billy's had both died in a car crash several years ago when Rhona was eleven and Billy's son Jacob was nine. But both men had managed to cope with being single parents and it had cemented their friendship even more. Rhona and I had just finished eating when the phone rang, so I left her to the clearing up and went to the sitting room to answer it.

"Hello, Swan residence, Bella speaking," I say.

"Hello Iseabail, how are you, my dear friend?" Carlisle replies.

"Well, Carlisle and you? It's been a while since we last spoke" I tell him.

We chat for a few minutes about the past, before he begs my forgiveness for Edwards appalling behaviour. Asking me if I would like to come to his home to talk more privately and meet the rest of his family. Agreeing I tell him I'll be there soon, that I'm looking forward to seeing him again. Quickly changing and telling Rhona I'm going out for a couple of hours,

She nods but is already lost in another book and won't really miss me. Automatically I wrap her in a bubble from my shield and send out another to cover Charlie and Kelly at work. Over the years, I have been able to stretch it further and further, as well as utilising separate parts when I'm not near family members. It only takes ten minutes to reach the Cullen house; I just followed my nose so to speak.

It's a large imposing house on the edge of Forks, backing up into the forest and on the bank of the nearby river. This should be an interesting evening I think to myself as I exit the truck in their driveway. The whole coven is lined up on the veranda in front of the door, Carlisle hasn't changed a bit obviously and neither have I except for the mode of dress.

"As handsome as ever Carlisle, but I miss the britches and hose!" I say laughing as he steps forward to embrace me.

He introduces me to his mate Esme and the two others I haven't already met, Emmett and Rosalie also a mated pair. He explains that Jasper and Alice are mated and this does surprise me, as earlier she seemed unaware of her mate's importance. He also states that Edward is the only unmated one in the family.

"That doesn't surprise me with his attitude, who'd want to put up with all that whining!" I tell him.

Everyone but Edward laughs; Carlisle and Esme try hard not to but fail miserably. They usher me into their home which I tell her is beautiful. Turns out Esme has a flair for interior decorating, so I ask if she has her own business because if she's this good it's a waste to just do nothing but their own properties when she could bring joy to many others as well. She looks very contemplative and I think I've got her interested in the possibility.

Seann charaid dhomh - Old friend of mine (Scots Gaelic)