Chapter 2:

The rain was falling at a steadier rate as I approached the wrought iron gates. Thirty seconds left until my circus arrived. I leaned against the wet metal as I counted down. Ten. Nine. Eight. A car pulled up and a streak of blond came at me.

“Hey mom. You’re early.”

She laughed and cupped my face, “You always count down don’t you?”

I nodded and smiled, “Yeah. Who came with you guys? I mean, obviously Aunt Alice, and if she came then Uncle J. came too….and dad, obviously…?” I trailed off as my father approached me and grabbed me into one of his famous bear hugs. “Hey dad!” He put me down and wrapped his arm around mom. “I can’t even tell you how great it is to see you guys! I mean, I’ve been stuck here… but I can’t really complain. It was my choice, after all….”

“You CAN always come home though… Forks High is looking pretty inviting nowadays… or you could go to school on the reservation. I'm sure Seth would love that.” I rolled my eyes as Emmett continued to elbow nudge me.

“So who else is here?”

“So we wouldn’t be good enough?”Alice’s voice rang out from behind me.

“Alice!” I gave an unusual girly squeal and launched myself at her and the tall blond man standing beside her. My umbrella lay forgotten on the sidewalk as I was embraced in a multi-armed hug. “It is so great to see you!”

“I could hardly get her to keep the speedometer under 100…” Jasper joked and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“So I was thinking that we could all go out to lunch? I mean its raining and the cafeteria food is ridiculously horrible….”

“Sure. Absolutely.” As always my father was my greatest ally.

My mother picked at her salad while my father played with his soda. “Not hungry” they had all claimed while I went ahead and ordered a burger, shake, and my favorite sweet potato fries.

“So we’ve been thinking, Rhino…” my father used his pet name for me that he’d been using since I was four and he found me hitting my head against the tree outside because I had been mad that Seth wasn’t there to play barbies with me. [Seth had been in Canada and I had always counted on him to be my ken doll. (What I hadn’t realized at the time was that Seth had imprinted on me as a newborn and that he was kinda sorta compelled to play with me. What normal boy would have just played barbies with a four year old willingly?)]

I looked up from my shake that I had been sucking down hungrily, “Hmmm?”

My mother frowned at my bad manners but I could tell that much more was troubling her. “We want you to come home. We meant it when we mentioned Forks High or the Res. It’s not anything that you’ve done, but your father and I…. we feel that we will be able to settle as a family once again in Forks… and we want to be a whole family. We know that Carlisle would have to present himself as your father since, well, we are way to young looking to even be considered as your parents… Carlisle agrees as well… he has grown fond of the Washington area. And, you could reunite with Seth? He has been longing to see you, you know?”

My mouth fell open and my cell phone vibrated with a text message. I looked down and saw that it was from Carla:
Who’s the tall, muscular guy?
He is so hot! Is he with anybody?
How do you know him?!?!?

I shuddered at this, only Rosalie took this as my reaction to their proposal. I just was refusing to listen to my parents at this point. I couldn’t get over the fact that Carla thought my father was hot and wanted to date him. I under stood that, yes, I came from a rather beautiful family, but my dad? I could only think of him as the man that had run around the house with me. Only I was the one screaming, “I peed! I peed!” the first time I went potty in the big girl toilet. This was seriously perverse world. My mothers nudging brought me out of my silent freak-out.

“So…Rhine?” she sounded tentative, which was unusual since normally she was very clear in her instructions. Something else had to be going on. Something had to be worrying her that was larger than our small family. So I said the only thing that I knew would maker her feel better.
I said okay.