casting for Caleb
& Gianna

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"Okay, so I have our bags ready." I handed them over to Emmett. "I only packed for a few days. Well for us anyway. I packed a lot for Eli."

"Thanks, babe." He set out duffel bags down by the door and he followed me into the kitchen where the rest of the family was gathered. I grabbed Eli's lunchbox from the refrigerator and set it on the counter. I could hear Esme chatting with Carlisle quietly and I watched as Rosalie and Dom flitted around the room, packing last-minute items. "We won't be gone that long."

"Does your friend even know we're coming?" I asked him. I picked up an apple and bit into it, rolling my eyes as he shook his head.

"I would've called him but he's not exactly tech savvy." He smirked. "He's old-fashioned."

"Old fashioned or just old?" I joked.

"Both." He chuckled. I took another bite of my apple and he lifted me and set me on the counter. Esme gave me a teasing smile and I blushed and awkwardly slid down. Emmett puckered his lips into a small pout and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Later babe." He perked up and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, instead, blushing when Esme winked at me.

"Sam's here," Jacob said abruptly. We all turned to look at him and as we looked past him, we could see Sam's large body walking up to the house. We all went outside to meet him and Carlisle greeted him warily.

"This is for you." Sam's voice was raspy as he spoke and I could see him shift uncomfortably. This place was the last place he wanted to be. I shuffled closer to Emmett as Carlisle read the paper, a cool breeze making me shiver. "Alice asked me to give you that. She and Jasper crossed our lands to the ocean last night."

"Carlisle?" Esme asked in her usual soft tone.

"They've left us." He answered her unspoken question. I gasped and looked up at Emmett.

"Why?" Rosalie practically demanded.

"She didn't say."

"Can I see that?" Carlisle handed the note to Bella and I bit my lip nervously as she read it. I knew with Alice we'd have a big advantage over the Volturi and now that she'd gone, we lost that.

"She says we need to gather as many witnesses as you can. When the snow sticks to the ground, they'll be here." Carlisle nodded his thanks to Sam, who didn't hesitate to walk away.

"How could they just leave?" Rosalie bit out.

"Maybe she was spooked. Aro has always been after her to join him. Maybe she ran to avoid him." Esme suggested.

"That's always been apparent and she never left us before." Edward shook his head. "It doesn't matter now, they're gone."

"Clary, did Jasper say anything to you?" Dom spoke up.

I shook my head. "I haven't talked to him since before Alice's vision. They were supposed to come with us to North Dakota." I felt Emmett's hand grab mine, his cold touch soothing me.

"Let's not stress about it more. We need to get going." Esme approached Carlisle and gently touched his forearm. Everyone split up and I headed upstairs to grab Eli. He sat beside Nesmee on the couch, a book in the girl's lap as she read to him.

"It's time to go bub." Eli happily hopped up from his spot and I held my arms out expectantly. My body didn't flinch as his weight settled on me, his speed wasn't a surprise to me anymore. "Say bye to Nesmee."

"Bye Nessie." I chuckled at the horrid nickname. After Bella's awakening, we all tried to put an end to it but unfortunately, Eli picked it up, and as hard as we tried, we couldn't make him forget it.

On the way down the stairs, we passed Bella and she smiled shyly at me. "You going to be okay?"

"We'll be okay." She nodded. We exchanged smiles before going our separate ways.

"Are you ready?" Emmett met us by the door and I nodded. "Everyone already left. It's just us and them." He pointed to his right where Edward and Jacob quietly waited for Bella. I waved to them and with a small wave back, we were leaving. I settled Eli into his car seat and Emmett shut the door when I was done. "It's going to be okay babe."

"Can you promise me that?" I looked up at him, my eyes starting to water. "We've gone through so much, I just want this to all be over."

"Come here." He pulled me into his arms and I buried my face in his chest. His hold tightened around me, his arms practically smothering me. "I know I've done a lot of shit to make you doubt me but we'll get through this. I'm not letting anything happen to you or our boy."

"I believe you." My voice was muffled but I knew he could understand me. "Okay, let's go." He let me go and he opened the door to the jeep for me. "Our first road trip together. This should be fun."

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It was silent in the Jeep's we drove down the icy streets of North Dakota. Emmett seemed to know where he was going so neither of us bothered to turn on the GPS. Eli slept soundly in the back, his blue bear and firetruck on his lap. It was a quiet ride and I could only imagine how much talking was going on in Bella's car as they drove to Alaska.

"So you want to tell me more about your friend?" I asked Emmett quietly. "I don't want to show up and not know anything about them. Can I at least ask their name?"

"It's Caleb." He smirked slightly. "I met him sometime in the '70s. He was in a situation and I helped him out of it."

"That's all I get?" I deadpanned. "Geez Em, way to skimp on the details."

"Babe, there's nothing to it." He laughed. "Okay, fine. But you can't ask him about it. It's a touchy subject for him."

"I won't," I promised.

"I think it was either '73 or '74, but the guys and I were curious so went to one of those hippy festivals and we noticed Caleb there and Edward read his mind and he said that Caleb's mate was there and Edward being Edward wanted to stalk him so we did. And a good thing too because Caleb lost it and almost killed his mate. But he didn't. Once he stopped, Edward talked him into turning and her and when he couldn't, I did it for him."

"Wait- hold up." I sat up straighter and turned to face him. "You've turned somebody? How?"

"It's not that hard." He chuckled. "Just bite them and then boom. Vampire."

"So I wouldn't be your first?" I frowned.

"I mean technically, no." He grimaced.

"I'm letting Jasper turn me." I slouched and looked away from him.

"What? Babe, no! You said I could!"

"That was before I changed my mind." I glared slightly. "So you saved his mate. Then what?"

"They hung around with us for a while before they went off and did their own thing. I'm the only one who kept in touch. Caleb and Gianna wanted to live privately and they've been at their ranch since the 90s."

"And no one is suspicious of them?"

"The town's pretty remote. They have everything delivered so they never have to go anywhere. Plus it's not like they eat so you won't catch them in a supermarket." He joked. "He knows what it's like to almost lose the person you love, he'll help us."

"Do they have gifts too?" I glanced behind me at Eli and smiled slightly as he slept peacefully despite the looming doom over our heads.

"Gianna can sense what gift somebody has and Caleb's a tracker. That's partly why they stay hidden. Aro wants anyone with a gift and they've got good ones."

"So why do you think they'll say yes then? We're asking them to confront the people they're hiding from. That doesn't seem fair to them Em." I suddenly felt guilty for trying to convince two strangers to witness a kid they didn't even know. I didn't want to force them to see the people they spent years hiding from, my conscience wouldn't allow it.

"He owes me."

"That hardly seems like an even bet." I narrowed my eyes at him. "We're potentially ruining their lives."

"They'll agree babe." He tried to assure me but it wasn't working.

"And how are you so sure?" I asked flatly.

"Because I'm going to promise to make him the godfather of our next kid." He smirked.

"Who said we're having another one?" I gaped. "I almost died having the first one."

"But you didn't." He quipped. "Those seem like good odds to me."

"You're delusional." I glared at him. "You've gone nuts."

"We can do it." He reached for my hand and laced my fingers with his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of my hand as he smirked. "I've got high hopes baby."

"Yeah well, I don't so go find yourself a new baby mama and leave this one alone."

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q&a time!

if you had the chance to live in any fictional universe (such as mcu, dcu, hp universe,

vampire diaries universe, middle earth, twilight, teen wolf, etc) which one would you choose?