I looked at Edward, and he was smiling; whatever was bugging Alice amused him.

"Jerk," Alice said and Edward just smiled at her.

Edward had more than enough camping gear to choose from - props in the human charade; the Cullens were good customers at the Newton's store.

"Oh... so someone is finally going to use some of that stuff," Emmett said.

He grabbed a down sleeping bag, a small tent, and several packets of dehydrated food - grinning when I made a face at them - and stuffed them all in a backpack.

Alice wandered into the garage while we were there, watching Edward's preparations without a word. He ignored her.

When he was done packing, Edward handed me his phone. "Why don't you call Jacob and tell him we'll be ready for him in an hour or so. He knows where to meet us."

Jacob wasn't home, but Billy promised to call around until he could find an available werewolf to pass the news to.

"Don't you worry about Charlie, Bella," Billy said. "I've got my part of this under control."

"Yeah, I know Charlie'll be fine." I didn't feel so confident about his son's safety, but I didn't add that.

"I'm sure that Billy is confident that his son will be fine," Carlisle said.

"I wish I could be with the rest of them tomorrow." Billy chuckled regretfully. "Being an old man is a hardship, Bella."

Emmett laughed at that. "I'm sure that's what Bella wanted to hear."

The urge to fight must be a defining characteristic of the Y chromosome. They were all the same.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Emmett laughed harder.

"Have fun with Charlie."

"Good luck, Bella," he answered. "And . . . pass that along to the, er, Cullens for me."

"Huh?...I didn't expect that one," Jasper said.

"We're fighting on the same side," Carlisle smiled. "Of course they would want us to win this time."

"Plus, they wouldn't want the other vampires to get around us so they could hurt either the wolves or the people that they're trying to protect," Edward added.

"Okay, that makes more sense," Jasper smiled.

"I will," I promised, surprised by the gesture.

As I gave the phone back to Edward, I saw that he and Alice were having some kind of silent discussion. She was staring at him, pleading in her eyes. He was frowning back, unhappy with whatever she wanted.

Jasper laughed loudly at this and everyone looked at him questioningly. "Sorry... it's just that... well, Edward and you wouldn't be able to get away that anymore, with Bella having her keen eye on you."

"Yeah, no more silent conversations between you two freaks," Emmett added, now laughing hard too.

"We'll just have to tune things up a little when she gets here," Alice shrugged, non-phased by their laughter.

"Billy said to tell you 'good luck.'"

"That was generous of him," Edward said, breaking away from her.

"Bella, could I please speak to you alone?" Alice asked swiftly.

"You're about to make my life harder than it needs to be, Alice," Edward warned her through his teeth. "I'd really rather you didn't."

"Butt out of this Edward. This is between me and her," Alice said.

"Er... aren't you going to be talking about my wedding with Bella?" Edward asked.

"Probably," Alice said in a tone that said 'and what's your point?'

"Right." Edward just rolled his eyes.

"This isn't about you, Edward," she shot back.

He laughed. Something about her response was funny to him.

"It's not," Alice insisted. "This is a female thing."

He frowned.

"Let her talk to me," I told him. I was curious.

"You don't know what you're asking for," Emmett chuckled.

"You asked for it," he muttered. He laughed again - half angry, half amused - and strode out of the garage.