Thanks, Belladonna!  I am glad you are enjoying it.  I'm sorry it took so long to update.  The next chappie will be up Wednesday, but perhaps this preview will help:

“I was only made aware of the prophecy after my nephew was born.  He was around five at the time and still so innocent.  I saw what he was capable of once he reached adulthood and feared for my own children.  I promised my husband that I would do whatever it took to protect them.  And so began my lie.”

My eyes flew to Edward and I took a deep breath.  “My husband was Carlisle Cullen.”

As I suspected, Edward’s eyes narrowed.  “You lie.  He was married to Esme Cullen, my mother.”

I ran a hand over my face, casting my mask that I knew so well.  My eyes changed to blue and my hair instantly turned from blond to caramel brown.  I heard a sharp intake of breath from everyone.  “Hello, son.”

Thanks, Belladonna!  SO glad you are enjoying it.  Chapter 41 won't post until the weekend; I haven't been able to write and that pushes everything back.  :(

Here is your preview:

When we reached the Great Hall, I saw Alice and Rosalie squeal and run to Edward, nearly knocking him down in the process.  He laughed as he hugged both of them.

“I missed you too,” he said.  Rosalie broke from him and threw her arms around me, giggling excitedly.

“I can’t believe he’s back!” she exclaimed.  I laughed at her excitement and hugged her back.

“I know.  I’m still processing it myself.”

Suddenly I felt her freeze.  I pulled away and noticed that she wasn’t looking at me, but outside in the distance.  I followed her gaze and sucked in a breath.

~~~~OOO~~~~OOO~~~~

Seth Bonus Scene #4~

"That human, I swear," Seth grumbled as he returned back to his kind.

"Problems, my friend?" Gideon questioned as he glided next to him. Gideon was quite pleased with the events of the day. Young Edward did exceptionally well for his first foray at Cullen Publishing as the new and improved Edward Anthony Cullen. He had also been happy to see that Jasper, Emmett and the others seemed to be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt...for the time being anyway.

He still had such a long way to go and so much to do.

Seth said, "Hmph. No, not problems per se. I suppose he did well today, but there is still so much for him to come to terms with. He's been so convinced he wasn't worth loving that finding out there are a whole slew of people just waiting for a chance to show him is going to be a lot for him to handle."

"Isn't that the truth? Just look at what happened with Jasper today, not to mention how excited Emmett was about the invitation to have dinner with Edward and Isabella," Gideon replied.

Seth let out a loud, booming laugh when he thought about the effervescent Emmett Cullen. He had to be one of the most happy-go-lucky humans he'd ever come across. That was not to say that Emmett wasn't serious when he needed to be, as evidenced by the meeting today. Beneath his happy, jovial demeanor lay a sharp mind. Emmett Cullen was loving, kind, and gentle, but Lord help anyone that hurt his family. Family was the most important thing to him and when they hurt, he hurt.

He'd hurt a lot when it came to his brother over the years.

Seth turned his ice blue, troubled eyes toward Gideon as his many thoughts raced through his mind. Sure Edward had a good day today, but what happened when he stumbled, as he was sure to do? His instinct to hide and protect himself was strong...deep, and it would only take the merest hint of trouble to send him into a tailspin. Isabella was his rock, his anchor, and it would take everything she had to reach him if his walls went back up again.

"Seth, what is it?" Gideon questioned softly...well, as soft as his kind was able to.

Seth floated to and fro for a bit, trying to come up with the right words to express what he was feeling. He was really angry today for some reason, and he didn't understand it...not at all. He'd been an angel for a long time now, he'd seen and done many things, helped numerous people, but for some reason, Edward Cullen and the rest of his family had touched him in a way he hadn't expected. They'd been watching for a long time, even before the events that took place when he was fourteen. It went against his nature to sit and watch, day after day, as Edward's spirit broke, as the light dimmed in his eyes until it was distinguished completely.

They had all hoped that Esme and Carlisle, along with Emmett, would be able to bring the light back, but they hadn't. Instead Edward retreated farther and farther until he was practically unreachable. It wasn't until Isabella entered his life that any of them had had any hope of bringing Edward back.

"He has so much to give, so much love. I just don't understand why he had to suffer the way he did, why we waited so long. We could have spared him so much pain," Seth said sorrowfully.

Gideon sighed mightily, for this was the one aspect of being an angel that Seth had the most trouble accepting. Being an angel was wonderful, but it had its difficult moments as well. Watching humans hurt each other was just one of them.

"My friend, you know the answer to that. Our job is to guide, it's not to interfere. Humans have free will, which means that yes, there are times they have the free will to hurt others, either intentionally or unintentionally. I know this is hard for you Seth, I know how much you have come to care about Edward and Isabella, and the rest of their family as well," Gideon responded, ever patient as always.

"He could be so happy if he'd just let himself," Seth said with a heavy heart.

"Well, maybe the dinner with Emmett and Rose will open the first of many doors for him," Gideon said hopefully and then the two beings looked in on the aforementioned couple.

"Babe!" Emmett called as he bounded through the front door. He couldn't wait to tell Rose about the invitation to dinner at Edward and Isabella's on Thursday night.

Rose smiled when she heard her husband's voice and bent down to pick their daughter, Emma, up from the floor and carried her to meet him.

"Daddy's home," she said and laughed when the little girl clapped and smiled. She sure loved her daddy.

"Ah, there are my two favorite girls," Emmett said happily and kissed them both. He plucked his daughter from his wife's arms and swung her up on his shoulders, just like he did everyday when he got home from work. "Jack is in his room I suppose?" Emmett asked, checking on his son.

Rose rolled her bright blue eyes but smiled and shook her head when she said, "Down in the game room. Something about challenging Noah to the baseball game of the century or something like that on the XBOX."

"Cool, I'll have to go see if he needs help," Emmett said as his eyes danced in excitement. He loved playing XBOX Live, especially with Jack.

He ran around the room for a few minutes, delighting in Emma's happy squeals before he lifted her from his shoulders and set her on the ground. "You're never going to believe what happened today, babe."

"Edward decided to take the stick out of his ass?" she quipped.

"Rose," Emmett huffed, even though he had to admit his uptight brother probably deserved the comment. "No, but, well, maybe you're right," Emmett continued as he thought about Edward's actions at the office.

"Em, just tell me what happened," Rose said as she walked toward the kitchen to finish making dinner.

"Edward invited the four of us to their house for dinner on Thursday...and I, um, well, I told him we'd be happy to go," Emmett answered his wife, bracing for the wrath he'd been expecting all day.

Instead of that he got a sad sigh. "Are you sure you want to do that, Emmett?" Rose questioned softly.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but she didn't want to see Emmett get his hopes up...again, only to have Edward crush them...again. It was a never ending cycle it seemed like, and she couldn't watch her husband reach out only to have Edward slam the metaphorical door in his face.

"Rose, you should have seen him today. He smiled, he joked around with me, he seemed...happy. I don't know what's going on, but something's changed," Emmett trailed off.

"I don't know, Em," Rose said slowly. She wanted to believe her brother-in-law was being honest and sincere, but she'd seen him act cold and distant too many times to take anything at face value when it came to Edward.

"I miss him, Rosie. I love him and I want my brother back. If he's going to reach out and try, I'm going to do whatever I can. I want my brother back," he said again.

Rose knew she couldn't tell him no, not that she really wanted to anyway. Her husband was one of the happiest people she'd ever met, in everything except when it came to Edward and the rest of his family. He was heartbroken over the distance between them all and he would do anything he could to fix it. If he was willing to give Edward another chance, she had to as well. Emmett deserved her support and she hoped against hope that Edward was really going to make an effort this time.

"I know you do, Em. Fine, let's have dinner with the Iceman and Isabella, but I'm warning you right now, Emmett, if he pulls that asshole shit again, I'm going to go off on his ass," she promised him.

"That's my girl. Now, I'm going to go help Jack kick some ass. We'll be up for dinner in a bit. Love you, Babe," he said and ran down to the game room.

"Edward, you'd better not blow it," Rose said quietly before she turned back to her dinner preparations.

"See, Seth," Gideon said with a smile. Rosalie Hale Cullen was tough as nails, but beneath that hard outer exterior was a soft, loving heart. "Even Rosalie wants to give him another chance. He'll get there, my friend. He has to."

Gideon floated away, leaving Seth to ponder his words.

Edward had no idea how much was riding on his shoulders. Seth only hoped he was able to help him carry it all.

So much to do...so little time.

~~~~OOO~~~~OOO~~~~

Soooo...what did you think? I know lots of you have been dying to see the others so there is your first peek at Em and Rose. The start of the dinner is coming up in the next chapter as well as a few other very important tid bits of information. We're getting there, I promise. Charlie, Renee, and Nonna will be the next Bonus Scene and I'm dying to get that one to you all.

If you've reviewed and haven't gotten any of the previous bonus scenes, send me an email, a PM, or a DM on Twitter and I'll send them. And...because it's that time of year...if you've only reviewed Chapter 9 and didn't review 6, 7, or 8 and want the Bonus Scenes, let me know, and you can have them! I'm feeling generous! Again, I hope you all are enjoying these extra peeks into the others, I'm really enjoying writing them.

If you haven't done it yet, be sure to check out Dr. Cullen's Love Shack and look at the write-up Andi did for The Greatest Gift. The site is really great so take a few minutes and go look! Thanks again, Andi, what an awesome surprise!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter...les_sh_16

Have a safe and Happy New Year and I'll see you all on Sunday!

Hugs and Love,

Erin~ (les16)