Surviving the Teenage Dream

Burnt Birds and Broken Bones

They survived falling in love and having four (count 'em, FOUR) children. Now, Geekward and Nerdella are parents of teenagers. Say a prayer for them for they are in for a bumpy ride. Kyra is being a brat, displaying actions akin to her uncle who is nearing the end of his life on death row. Owen is a geek, like his dad. Then there is Mia and Masen, the twins. They're still cute and adorable. Well, as cute and adorable as twelve year olds can be.

Let's not forget Alice, Jasper, Adam, and Gianna (the Whitlock's), Justin, Alex and Demetri (the Volturis), Esme andMarcus (the Volturis), Tim, Rose, Ava and Lucas (the Napletons) and our antagonist, Jacob Black. Emmett will also make a brief appearance in this story, too. But he's not causing drama. His final goodbye, as it were.

Up next will be Thanksgiving to Christmas-ish. We're also going to hear from Emmett, too. He's due to be executed right after the first of the year and well, Edward wants some closure (next chapter will be an EPOV). Also, who would be interested in hearing from Kyra or Owen? Leave me a review with your opinion on that.

Chapter Six: Burnt Birds and Broken Bones

EPOV

"Dad, is it wrong that I'm afraid to go to Aunt Alice's for Thanksgiving?" Masen asked as he shoveled the snow off our driveway. We were battling the second major snowstorm of the season. Bah! It's only NOVEMBER! Craptastic.

I snorted. "Why?"

"Have you had her cooking? My shoes taste better," Masen deadpanned.

"Yes, I've had her cooking. Aunt Alice is not the best cook but your mom and Nana will be there to help her out, I think. Thanksgiving dinner will be edible. I promise you, bud."

Masen sighed heavily. "Thank GOD. I don't think my stomach could handle raw turkey. Yours either, old man."

I nodded and pointed to the shovel he had in his hand. It was a few days from Thanksgiving and it had snowed again. I was so over winter and it hadn't even officially started yet. We were working on clearing the driveway. My other children were otherwise occupied. Owen was staying after school to get some extra help for the district festival which was taking place the following weekend. He was up for concert master of the district orchestra. He wanted as much help as he could get before the competition. Kyra was at work. Mia was at cheerleading practice. Bella was out with Steve, waiting to pick up our children while I worked from home. Casey was in the apartment, going over some security protocols. Masen came home on the bus and we had been tackling the driveway ever since. Well, mainly Masen. My back was hurting.

Getting old sucks, my friends.

"Your Aunt Alice may be a bad cook but that's because she doesn't know how to do it. We've tried to teach her. But, she doesn't want to learn. Uncle Jasper handles all of the cooking for their household. Not that he's much better," I said as I put my shovel back into the garage. "Now, Grandma Renee is a bad cook because she puts random ingredients together. It's nasty, I tell you. I always fake having food poisoning or the stomach flu to avoid eating at her place in Phoenix." I shuddered at our last visit to Renee's. Nothing...absolutely NOTHING was edible. Bella dragged all of us out to some barbeque place to feed our hungry bellies.

"Mom mentioned something that Grandma Renee made her eat deep fried bananas with tartar sauce?" Masen blanched. "That's disgusting."

"Imagine eating that on a daily basis," I chuckled.

"No wonder Mom is so skinny. I'd rather starve than eat that crap," he shuddered. Biting his lip, he turned to me. "Do you want to make dinner for the family? Do something nice for them? Make something edible?"