Not So Simple

As I drove around my new home, I marveled in how new and exciting this all was. My entire life, I've lived in Waterford, and now, all of the sudden, I'm living in a small, rainy town in America.

"So what do you think, Deaglan?" I asked my son, peering at him through the rear-view mirror. He cooed, making me grin. "Now, let's go find a market."

Ten minutes later, I was pushing Deaglan in his stroller and carrying a shopping basket into the local market. I immediately started looking around for ingredients for pasta pomodoro. After I found my ingredients, I started looking around for enough food to hold my Da and I for a while.

I was in the cereal isle when I accidentally ran into someone.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" I looked up and saw a gorgeous girl around my age and my size.

"No, no, it's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going," I apologized shaking my head.

"I love your accent! I haven't seen you around, did you just move here?" she said excitedly.

"Aw, thank you! Yes, we just moved from Ireland a few days ago." I said, smiling. "My name's Caoimhe." I held out my hand, and she shook it.

"I'm Alice. And who's this little guy?" Alice crouched down in front of Deaglan.

"This is my son Deaglan. He's six months," I said, smiling as she played with his tummy, making Deaglan giggle like mad.

"He looks just like you!" Alice said, standing up.

"Alice! There you are!" I looked over Alice's shoulder and saw a group of people walking toward us. They were all just as breath taking as Alice. They all had extremely pale skin and the same gorgeous topaz eyes.

Alice waved them over. "Guys, this is Caoimhe, she, her dad, and her son just moved here from Ireland. Caoimhe, this is my family. My adoptive parents Esme and Carlise, and my siblings Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Raoul. And this is Edward's fiance, Bella. She's practically family already."

I took a moment to take them all in. Carlise was sleek, blond, and handsome. Esme had honey-brown hair, and a warm disposition. Edward was formal, and he was hovering protectively over Bella and Rosalie was strikingly beautiful and graceful. Emmett was hugely muscular and had a hint of mischief in his eyes. Bella was the most normal out of them all. She had sleek brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes.

And then there was Jasper. He was the most gorgeous of them all. He had dirty blond, curly hair. He had the same sculpted features, pale skin, and topaz eyes as his family, but somehow, he made it look so much better than the rest of them. He looked up and met my eyes. I could only stare back dumbly. A wave of emotions swept over me, most of them unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

"Um, hello," I said awkwardly. "Nice to meet you."

"It's wonderful to meet the girl that had set the town abuzz," Esme said warmly.

"When we moved here, I didn't know that we were going to be living in such a small town. It's quite interesting," I said, blushing. Just then, Deaglan chose that moment to start crying. I sighed and unbuckled him, lifting him into my arms. "Sorry, he didn't nap too well today."

"He's adorable!" Rosalie gushed. "How old is he?"

"Six months as of last week," I said proudly.

"He's precious," Esme said.

"Thank you." I looked down at my watch and gasped. It was already six. "I'm sorry, I have to get going. I need to get dinner started." I put Deaglan back into his stroller and buckled him in.

"Wait!" Alice pulled out a phone and thrust it at me. "Here, put your number in, and we can hang out sometime."

I grinned and accepted the offered phone, punching in my number. "Well, it was nice meeting you all. I'm sure I'll see you again eventually."

I gave Jasper one last glance and hurried away.

I'm not sure what it was about him, but somehow I knew we would be getting to know each other soon enough.