He looked up from the envelope in his hand, the ornate seal on it telling him what was inside without him ever having to open it. He did though, his finger slipping beneath the thick white flap to pull it open, the paper tearing easily in his impatient grip. He didn't want to read this, did he? He didn't want to see what was waiting for him inside. Looking up at the sound of footsteps running toward him, Emmett was almost certain he would catch sight of Lauren Mallory and Jessica Stanley going for their morning run. Instead, he found that it was Jasper running toward him, the envelope clutched in his hand similar to the one he held.

"You got one too?" Emmett asked needlessly as he glanced down at his orders.

"We've been out for almost two years, man," Jasper growled. "What the hell is this?"

Emmett pressed his lips together in a thin line, his brow furrowed with displeasure. Nodding for Jasper to follow him inside, he walked toward the house, cautioning his friend that his wife and daughter were still sleeping. He hated this. On a level that he couldn't quite explain, he hated it. He led Jasper into the kitchen, pouring his best friend a cup of coffee and sitting down at the round kitchen table with his own. They would need to tell their wives, tell their parents. Well technically, Emmett's parents, but they had adopted both Jasper and his wife, Alice, into their hearts years ago.

He'd met Jasper freshman year of high school. He'd heard all the rumors circulating about the new kid, the dangerous loner and had decided to find out for himself just why everyone seemed to be afraid of him. Jasper wasn't dangerous by any means. Emmett had found out that he was simply shy. His eyes had been haunted as well and at fourteen, Emmett had been old enough to know that it wasn't danger, but rather the inability to trust that held him back from being able to connect with anyone. He had asked Jasper if he had truly been in juvie as everyone had said he was.

Jasper had, of course, confirmed the rumor, but Emmett had been floored at the reasons. Jasper's parents had been killed in a car accident a little over two years ago and there hadn't been anywhere else for him to go at that time. His parents were both children of the foster system who had never had a real family which meant he had no relatives to go to. The closest available foster home was over five hours away and they couldn't pull him out of school. Emergency shelters had been out of room and so the state had sent him to the only place that still had room – juvenile detention.

Emmett had been upset by the story and when he discovered that Jasper had been tossed out by a mistake in the computer systems, Emmett had taken him home. To learn that the boy everyone had believed was dangerous was actually orphaned and tossed to the side because of system shortcuts had pissed him off. He had asked where Jasper was staying at the time only to see him shrug. When he had explained the story to his mother, Esme, she had taken Jasper in without question. They'd been inseparable ever since.

"Alice is gonna freak," Jasper said, his low voice colored by a soft Texan twang. "We promised them…"

"I know," Emmett sighed as he looked down at the paper in his hands. "Where are they sending you?"

"Joint mission between the Rangers and the Seals," Jasper said. "I'm going to Afghanistan."

"Well, at least we will be together."

Carlisle and Esme, Emmett's parents, had used their substantial pull within the town to have Jasper relocated to live with them permanently. An adoption had never officially been made, but news had flown around the school like wildfire that they had become brothers. Emmett and Jasper had spent their teenage years as brothers, living under the same roof and going to the same school. They had even played sports together, though Emmett had become the high school's varsity quarterback his sophomore year while Jasper had gone out for baseball.

Emmett still found it funny how he had met Rosalie when he had gone with Jasper to one of his baseball practices. She was the only girl on the team and could throw a fast ball with more punch than any of her male teammates. She'd even broken the coach's hand once and he'd been wearing a regulation mitt. She was the one who had introduced Jasper to her best friend Alice, the tiny girl surprisingly being the head cheerleader, and the four had become one solid unit. Alice, like Jasper, was an orphan though she had been one from birth. She'd been in more foster homes than she was years old and it had been Rosalie's parents who done the same for her that Carlisle and Esme had done for Jasper.

They had gone to the same college – University of Washington in Seattle. Alice had majored in fashion and business management while Rosalie had majored in mechanical engineering and accounting. The girls had gone into business together and ended up making more than they had ever anticipated. Jasper and Emmett had been the wildcards, the ones who had started college only to leave when they had felt the same calling. Jasper had gone into the Army and Emmett had gone into the Navy. Their graduation from training to officers had been bittersweet as they had both been shipped off to different parts of the world.

At twenty years old, they had both returned home after two years spent away at war. Both had feared the time away would lose them the women they loved and both had been surprised to find them standing with Carlisle and Esme when they arrived home. Letters had been sent between them, though nothing serious had ever been discussed and it had been a mix of joy and sorrow that had colored their return. Neither man had thought to wait or to feel things out, instead asking their loves to marry them the moment they had held them in their arms. A double wedding had occurred less than a month later and almost thirty-six hours after their vows, Emmett had been called away once more to war.

Emmett and Jasper had made a deal with one another and a promise to their wives. They would give the military eight years and put in for discharge at the end of that time. They would be twenty-six at that time and would be able to settle down and start a family. Both had advanced quickly through the ranks, both becoming Special Forces – Jasper an Army Ranger and Emmett a Navy Seal. True to their word they had requested their discharge papers at their eight-year mark. It had been funny to them that their wives had both become pregnant at almost the same time. Emmett's daughter would turning five in three months and Jasper's son would be turning four, the children only four months apart.

"Daddy?"

Emmett and Jasper turned their attention toward the door at the same time and greeted the little girl with a smile. She walked toward Emmett and he immediately lifted her up to sit on his knee. He chuckled at the sight of the bunny tucked in her arm and kissed her hair as he held her. She knew he was upset. She always knew when anything was wrong and though most of the time she stayed quiet, this time she did not. Tugging on her father's sleeve to get his attention, she asked why her father was upset and Emmett sighed sadly.

"Daddy's got to go away, Princess," he told her, a frown pursing his lips.

"Because of the letter?" she asked and reached for the paper on the table. "Can't you tell them no?"

"Aw, Bella." He hugged her close. "I wish it worked that way, Princess."

"But you promised no more leaving," she said and turned her heart-shaped face up to him, her mahogany eyes large in her tiny face. "You're home now. You promised you'd stay home."

"I know, baby." He tried to soothe her upset. "But they need Daddy."

"Are they taking Uncle Jasper, too?" she asked and turned her attention on the blond man seated across from them.

"Yeah, pumpkin, I'm going too," Jasper answered her, his expression one of regret.

"What about Edward?" she asked Jasper, her expressive face displaying her upset. "You promised him you'd stay too!"

"I know, Bella," Jasper said sadly. "We promised a lot of people we'd stay."

"Then why are you leaving?" she demanded an answer, her young mind not able to understand that they weren't choosing to break their promises.

"I'd certainly like an answer to that," Rosalie said from the doorway, her blonde brows pulled together in a delicate frown. "Does Alice know?" she asked Jasper.

"No, not yet," he replied with a shake of his head.

"I'll call her," Rosalie said as she took out her cell phone. "You may as well stay for breakfast; Carlisle and Esme were coming over this afternoon. We need to talk about this as a family."

"I'll call Dad," Emmett said as Rosalie waited for Alice to pick up her phone. "I'll see if they can come over early."

"We've been out for two years," Jasper protested the orders again before rubbing his hand over his face. "I don't understand why they're calling us back now."

"Neither do I," Emmett said before turning his attention to his phone. "Hey Mom," he greeted her with a sad smile. "Do you think you and Dad could come over a bit earlier?"

"Emmett?" Esme's voice was filled with concern. "What's wrong, I can hear it in your voice, something's wrong."

"Jasper and I received orders," he said and rubbed Bella's back as she sniffled and hugged him tight with her small arms.

"We can come over now, son," Carlisle's voice came on the line. "We should be there in twenty minutes."

"Thanks, Dad," Emmett said and lowered his phone when the call ended.

"Alice and Edward are on their way over now," Rosalie said as she gathered items from the fridge to begin making breakfast. "You two should call your COs – they'd know about this right?" she asked as she turned to look at her husband.

"He might, but it's a long shot," he said as he glanced up at Jasper and found his brother holding his phone to his ear.

"Hey, Gunny," Jasper spoke and chuckled at the man's tone. "Yeah, I know it's early…No, there are no fires. I was just wondering…Yeah, the orders. I just got them this morning…Ok." He paused, his brows pulling together in a frown. "No, I understand. Thanks."

"What'd yours say?" Emmett asked, his own call not yet made.

"The whole unit's been reactivated," Jasper said and looked up at the sound of the front door opening.

"That's it?" Emmett asked as a short bronze-haired boy came running into the kitchen and made a beeline for his father.

"He said he couldn't say any more over an unsecure line," Jasper said before looking down at his son. "Hey, Edward." He lifted his son to sit in his lap.

"I thought they couldn't do this," Alice said, her normally cheerful demeanor gone as she looked at her husband, tears glistening in her eyes. "They had you for eight years," she said as the crystalline drops spilled over her cheeks in anger and fear. "You're supposed to be mine now."

"Aw, darlin'," Jasper stood from his chair, setting Edward down in his seat, and went to his wife immediately. "I am yours, baby," he promised as he enfolded her in his arms. "The papers say it's only for six months. That's not so long."

"You're supposed to be mine now," she protested, her face buried on his shoulder as she cried.

Emmett looked back at Rosalie before glancing down at their daughter. She refused to move from his lap, her little arms wrapped over his arm that held her on his knee. She was leaning against him, her grip on him desperate as she tried to make him stay. She wouldn't let him go; she couldn't let her Daddy go again. It was too hard; it hurt too much to see him leave. What if he didn't come back? She looked up when he touched her hair and saw him frown as he reached out to smooth the tears from her face.

"I'll come home, Bella baby, I promise," Emmett said as he lifted his daughter and hugged her against his chest.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as her legs went around his waist and Emmett stood with her in his arms when he realized she wouldn't be letting him go. One arm went around her legs, holding her beneath her bottom as he walked to the front door and welcomed his parents inside. He could see the concern on his father's face, the worry and fear in his mother's. He hugged them both, the greeting one-armed and slightly awkward for the child still wrapped around his chest. His father's corn silk blond hair was beginning to color at the temples with silver-grey, reminding him that his parents were growing older.

He didn't want to leave, didn't want to be called back to the war, but he and his brother had a duty to uphold. Rubbing his daughter's back as he led them into the kitchen, he wasn't surprised to see Alice go straight from her husband's arms into Carlisle's, Rosalie doing the same. His father had been their rock while he and Jasper had been serving actively in the military and, more often than not, they would spend weeks at a time living in his parents' house.

"Hey Mom," Jasper greeted Esme as she stepped up and wrapped him in her arms.

"You will come home to your family, Jasper Monroe Whitlock," she told the son she had adopted into her heart. "Or I will go out there and search for you myself."

"I know you will," he chuckled and kissed her cheek when she stepped back.

"How long will you both be gone?" Esme asked as she stepped up to the stove and took over cooking the food.

"The letters say six months," Emmett said and Carlisle turned his attention on his son.

"You don't sound so sure," his father said and watched as Emmett held Bella tighter when she buried her face in the curve of his throat.

"Last time I got orders like this that said six months I was gone for two years," Emmett replied with a frown. "Let's just say I don't trust the time tables they print."

"Sit down," Esme commanded them, her gentle tone infused with worry. "Bella, honey, you need to eat," she said as she set plates down on the table.

"Not letting go of Daddy." Her small voice was muffled as she refused to lift her face from Emmett's neck.

They gathered around the table, food and drink set before them as a new pot of coffee was set to brew on the counter behind them. They talked about the letters, discussing the seriousness of the orders that had been sent while the children listened on with fear in their eyes. Edward was four months younger than Bella, but in ways that little boys did, he understood the cost of his father's uniform. It scared him to know that his father was being called off to war again and he looked up at his mother.

Alice reached down to the chair beside her and pulled her son onto her lap as the plates were cleared from the table. She held her son tightly; unable to say much for fear that she would begin crying again. They had finally been able to move off base, to have real homes near Carlisle and Esme, but now it felt like it was all being taken away. She looked at her mother-in-law, the woman who had become a mother to her as well and wished that she had the power to make them stay. Esme had influence and power; she was an architect who had designed everything from state buildings to celebrity homes. Her husband was a doctor who, after years spent working in the ER and doing more than one go around with Doctors Without Borders, had opened his own OB/GYN practice. They both had power and influence, they knew mayors and senators and congressmen, but even they lacked the ability to make Jasper and Emmett stay home from war.

The letters had come via military couriers. Rosalie looked at her husband; her hand gripped tightly in his, and took in a shaky breath. The last time he had been deployed she had buried herself in her work and designed two new sports cars that even Ferrari was envious of while Alice had designed enough clothing that they were able to have a dual fashion and car show to reveal their work. The public believed that they weren't affected by their husbands' deployments, but the truth was, the reason they were more productive was because they couldn't stand the worry that came with being still.

"When do you have to leave?" Rosalie asked softly, her voice steady even as her eyes revealed her emotions.

"Tomorrow," Jasper answered, his jaw tight with displeasure. "We're Spec Ops, Ali," he said in response to his wife's fearful gasp. "They never give us very much notice."

"Don't they understand that you have families?" she fumed quietly.

"I know it's hard, baby," Jasper said as he pulled Alice into his arms, his family held in his lap. "I promised you that I will always always come home. I'll come home this time too."

"What do you all want to do?" Emmett asked as he looked around the table at his family. "Today will be for us, just for us. We can do anything," he assured them.

"Anything?" Bella asked with a sniffle as she lifted her small face from his neck.

"Anything, princess," he promised his daughter and smoothed his bent fingers over her downy cheek.

"Can we take Leah and Seth to the park and have a picnic?" she asked, her tiny fist rubbing against her eye.

"Well what do you think of that?" Emmett asked as he met his wife's eyes and then each of his family's in turn.

"I think it's a perfect idea," Esme praised her granddaughter and looked at her husband. "Do you want to help me get a basket together?" she asked Bella and smiled when the little girl turned her face back into her father's neck. "I guess that's a no."

"I can get Seth and Leah," Edward said and looked up at his mother.

"You're not walking over there alone. I don't care how close our houses are," Alice told her son and Carlisle smiled.

"Would it be ok if I walked with you?" Carlisle asked and watched as Edward gave him a small smile and a nod. "Ok. Come on buddy let's go."

It didn't take them long to walk back over to Alice and Jasper's house and return with the two Siberian Husky-Grey Wolf mixes. The puppies were more wolf than they were husky, but Leah had somehow managed to have one gold eye and one blue where her brother had two brown eyes. Carlisle was carrying the unattached leashes in his hand while the puppies ran on either side of Edward. As soon as they were in the kitchen, Seth moved to Emmett's side and stood on his hind legs. His large front paws rested on Emmett's thigh as he rubbed his nose against Bella's leg and the little girl gave a soft laugh as she turned toward the animal.

"Hi Seth," Bella greeted her puppy and turned imploring eyes on her father.

Emmett met his daughter's eyes and gave a soft chuckle at the sight of her wide-eyed sad face. She had somehow mastered the art of the puppy face and whenever she turned it on him he was unable to say no. Reaching down beside him, he lifted the four month old pup onto his lap and watched as his daughter wrapped the dog in her arms. Turning his attention on his wife, he saw the way her brows furrowed even as she tried to remain impassive and he reached out to touch her cheek. It had never been easy on her when he went away to war.

"I'm sorry, baby," he spoke to her softly when she looked up at him.

Rosalie closed her eyes as she leaned forward and touched her lips to his. The strong façade she had kept in place fell and her lips trembled against his as she began to cry. He had promised her, he had promised them and while she knew it wasn't his choosing to go back to war, it still angered her. They were supposed to be a family now, a real family, not a family separated by war. She couldn't stop her tears, couldn't hide her upset, and a sob broke from her as she wrapped her arms around her husband and daughter.

Emmett's jaw tensed as he held his family close, his wife and daughter wrapped in his arms. He didn't quite know how he found the room, but he moved Rosalie to sit in his lap while still holding onto Bella and Seth. The puppy could feel the sadness, the heartache, but didn't understand it and was doing his best to cheer up his family with kisses. The feel of the animal's tongue on her arm only made Rosalie cry harder and Emmett opened his eyes as he looked at his father.

I promise you I'll take care of them, his father's eyes seemed to say and Emmett nodded once as tears filled his own eyes. He'd had two good years with them, twenty-four months completely uninterrupted that he was able to stay home and be with his family. The success of their wives' business meant that he could be a stay at home dad and spend as much time with his daughter as he wanted. It also meant that when he needed a distraction, he was able to be a test driver for the cars his wife created. It had been heaven to stay home with them, to be with them and leaving them for war felt as though an anvil had been pressed upon his heart.

"The basket is all packed and loaded into the car with a blanket," Esme said as she stepped into the kitchen and placed her hand on her son's shoulder. "Carlisle and I brought the suburban, there's enough room that you and brother won't have to worry about driving," she said and looked at Jasper.

"Thanks Mom," Emmett said as he looked up at her and smiled when she kissed his forehead.

"I'm proud of you both, you know that, right?" she asked as she looked between her sons.

"We know, Mom," Emmett assured her as Jasper gave a small crooked smile.

"If you boys don't come home, I will go out there and bring you home. Don't think that your commanding officers can stand in my way. I'm your mother," she said and Emmett laughed.

"Yeah, I think you're the only person who can actually scare my C.O.," Emmett told her as he chuckled.

"Does anything else need to be loaded in the car?" Rosalie asked as she sat back from her husband and wiped away her tears.

"No, everything's done," Esme assured her. "Come on, let's get in the car. I moved Bella's car seat into the back, Emmett. I didn't think she'd be letting go of you and I trust you not to let anything happen to her."

His lips pulled up to one side in a grin that was equal parts sad and amused. Rosalie was the first to get up, Seth jumping to the floor next and Emmett stood up after. He asked Bella if she needed to use the potty before they left, but his daughter shook her head as she wrapped herself around him tightly. He kept his arms wrapped around his daughter's back, holding her close as he walked next to his wife. Jasper walked behind them, Edward's small hand clasped in his as his son walked next to him. Alice was still crying silently as she walked next to her husband, the puppies on their leashes as she led them outside.

The large vehicle held them all easily, the two bench seats in the back holding each of the young families as Carlisle and Esme sat in the front. Once inside the car, Edward's pride fell away and he wrapped his tiny body around Jasper the same way that Bella was wrapped around Emmett. Slipping the silver key into the ignition, Carlisle started the engine and looked back at his children and grandchildren through the rear view mirror. For two years his sons had belonged to no one other than their families. This deployment would be harder on them, he feared, than any of the rest had.

The almost hour long car ride was spent in silence, save for the soft music pouring out of the radio. The puppies lay sleeping on the laps of their human mothers, Leah on Alice's and Seth on Rosalie's. Where Rosalie had been content to let the puppy lay in her lap, Alice was holding onto Leah in much the same manner that her son was holding onto her husband. Each and every time her husband went off to war she became terribly afraid that he wouldn't return. They were both orphaned children and it terrified her that he may not come home again.

Carlisle parked the car and shut off the engine. Tucking the keys in his pocket and unbuckling his seat belt, he turned to look back at his collected family. His smile was sad as he asked them to remain where they were while he and Esme set up the picnic area and no one raised their voice to protest. Emmett sighed as he closed his eyes and laid his cheek on Bella's warm soft hair, the soft strands tickling his stubbled cheek like feathers. At some point during the ride his daughter had fallen asleep, but even still he was unwilling to relinquish his hold on her.

He looked up as his parents returned to the car and smiled when his mother opened the door next to Rosalie. His wife stepped out of the vehicle with Seth in her arms and set the puppy on the grass a few moments later. They didn't need the leashes here, the park was huge and wild, an untouched spot of land that his parents had found and purchased when Emmett was younger than Bella. They never developed the land; never touched it and it retained its wild beauty. Moving to the area covered by blankets, he smiled at the collection of four giant quilts that were placed corner to corner to form one large square.

Moving to kneel on one of the blankets, Emmett rolled to lie on his back and kept Bella on his chest as he stared up at the cerulean sky. The air was warm with a slight breeze, the scent of flowering trees and fruits carried in the wind. Closing his eyes, he allowed the warmth of the day to soothe him into a light slumber. It was almost an hour later that his wife roused him and encouraged him to eat or drink something. He met Rosalie's gaze and cupped her cheek in his hand as she nuzzled her face in his palm. They had made it through eight years of deployments before and he knew they would make it through this.

"I love you, Sleeping Beauty," he told her softly and she gave him a laughing sob.

"I love you Prince Eric," she said and he smiled.

"You always did love him more than any of the other Disney Princes," he teased.

"He fought for her," she said with a shrug. "He knew Ariel even without her voice. He knew the real her and nothing could take that away."

"Break my heart," Emmett teased her quietly and she smiled.

"Mama sing?" Bella asked as she turned her head to look at Rosalie.

"Yeah, Auntie Rose," Edward looked at her, his green eyes impossibly large in his small face. "Sing?"

Rosalie sighed. "Well if I'm singing, so are you," she informed Emmett and he chuckled as he nodded for her to continue.

Alice smiled as she looked at her friends. She knew exactly what song they would be singing, what song the children were asking for and leaned against Jasper as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Carlisle and Esme looked on curiously. It was rare that they heard the couple sing, the pair only doing so when it was the children's bed time and Esme looked forward to the unexpected musical treat. She turned her head as Jasper began to hum low and frowned curiously before remembering that her son was most likely filling in for the guitar he would normally be playing.

Rosalie's voice sounded a few moments later, a smile on her face as she stared at her husband with love in her eyes. Esme's hand lifted to cover her heart as she leaned into Carlisle's side, tears forming in her eyes as she recognized the song instantly. She felt her husband wrap his arm around her as he kissed her hair and smiled when Emmett's voice lifted to sing as Rosalie sat quietly, Alice and Jasper humming in the background. To hear them singing I See the Light from Disney's Tangled made her cry and Esme couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

:::::

Bella hadn't been able to stop crying. From the moment she had come into the kitchen and seen her father dressed in his desert fatigues to now, as she walked beside him, her tears had cascaded down her cheeks. Her chin trembled, her eyes full of sadness and fear as she clutched his hand tightly in hers. In her other hand she held a tiny American flag. She wanted to support her father, wanted to show him that she loved him even as he was going away, but she couldn't let go of him. She looked up at the other men in the line, her eyes watering as they neared the plane that would carry him away.

No one had moved to her, no one had even tried to separate her from her father and she was grateful for that. Even Emmett hadn't tried to disengage her hand from his, content to keep her with him as long as he could before he had to leave her and her mother behind. A man stepped up to them as her father came closer in the line to boarding the plane and saluted to Emmett before kneeling down in front of Bella. His midnight hair was cropped short, his blue eyes shining like ice.

Smiling kindly at the child he held out his hand for her to take and watched as she shook her head miserably. He spoke to her gently as he told her that she had to let go, had to let her father board the plane. She couldn't go with him and his words, kind as they were, made Bella sob brokenly. He had known the girl since before she was born, Emmett and Jasper two of his good friends. At one point the three men had even taught a class together at Quantico, and though he was no stranger to the child, Bella still backed away from him as she tried to hold onto her father.

"Master Aro, you can't take my daddy away," she cried, her voice choked by tears and the man felt his throat constrict.

"You always forget the 'Sergeant'," he teased her as he lifted her into his arms. "I know you don't want to see him go, Isabella, but you can't go with him."

"Then don't make him go," she begged as she watched Emmett board the plane over Aro's shoulder. "Daddy!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he soothed her, rubbing her back as he carried her over to Rosalie.

"Thank you," Rosalie said as she took Bella into her arms and held her sobbing daughter close.

"We'll see you in December," Master Sergeant Aro promised before jogging back to the plane.

Rosalie covered her mouth with her hand as she watched the ramp door close, her husband hidden from view. The tears gathered in her eyes spilled over her cheeks as she sobbed. She felt the hand on her shoulder and turned, burying her face in Carlisle's shoulder as he held both her and Alice in his arms. Kissing each woman's hair, he looked up at his wife and then out at the plane. He would walk the ends of the earth for his children, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't keep them home from the war. Lifting his eyes to the cloud covered sky; he watched as the first few drops of rain began to fall and knew that the sky was crying with them.