We only get one chance in life to love ourself.

Writing my romance story Fat Chances came easy for me, not because I am overweight, but because I was self conscious about my hearing aid. Kids were just as cruel twenty five years ago as they are today. It's sad but true,  we live in a world where looks matters and it shouldn't be that way. Alot of teenage girls and boys struggle with everyday peers to become popular or 'just to fit in'. They are  either overweight, or have skin problems or speech impairment or because they are poor or live in a trailer. The list goes on and on.

Now that I am older and wiser(I'm complimenting myself here) lol, I see things in a different persepective.  Here's how I look at it. If we were all six foot tall with platinum blonde hair and crystal blue eyes and perfectly fit with a tight ass and stomach, the world would be awfully boring. Just imagine everywhere you look, it would look like Barbie and Ken working at McDonalds or Barbie and Ken at the checkout in Walmart. Barbie and Ken EVERYWHERE!!!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!

Damn!! I think I would rather look at Zombies!!!!!

So, what I am trying to say. Be proud of your five foot frame with brown hair and hazel eyes and those freckles across the bridge of your nose and shake that fat ass of yours and show them that you are proud of who you are. Learn to love yourself because we only get one chance in life to do it. Once we're dead, there is no second chance.

I don't care what anyone says....WE ARE NOT PERFECT!!!

So without further ado, here is my new romance story Fat Chances. It's available in ebook and paperback on Amazon, Nook and Smashword.



                                                              FAT CHANCES                                                         

Annie Powers is eighteen and overweight. When her twin sister, Molly talks her into going to a Zumba class, all Annie expected was a lot of sweat and sore muscles. But when she laid eyes on the very handsome and muscular Zumba instructor, Cory Shields, not only did he leave her gasping for breath from the exercises, but also from their kiss.

Dazed and confused, Annie struggles to understand why someone like Cory would be attracted to her. At the same time, Cory tries to make her understand that she is just as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside.

Annie knows she needs to learn to love herself before she can let Cory into her life. But can she?

Lily, My Fertility Drug

                                Lily, My Fertility Drug

It was January 1998 and I had just come back from one of those gourmet kitchen parties that was hosted by my very pregnant cousin. I remembered coming home and feeling very depressed. Three of my other cousins who were also at the party were pregnant too. It seemed like everyone around me was getting ‘knocked up’ and I wasn’t. What made it even worse was that my hubby and I had been trying for over a year and nothing.

I walked through the door and sat down on the couch with tears trickling down my cheeks. Our two black cocker spaniels, Annie and Jasmine knew right away that something was wrong as the two of them jumped on the couch and began licking the tears from my cheeks. They were our ‘babies’. I loved my girls, but I felt like something was missing. A child.

A few weeks went by and it was a typical day at my dog grooming shop. I had already groomed five dogs that day and was waiting for the last dog of the day. I was curious to see this ‘new’ client. The customer said she was a cocker spaniel also named Annie. What the customer failed to tell me was that she was “very” pregnant. She was due in a few days. Normally, I would have turned them away, but I didn’t know she was pregnant until she came through the door. The little ‘black bear’ was in dire need of a groom. All that kept going through my mind was that I had to groom her and get rid of the extra hair so the puppies could find her nipples to feed.

So as carefully and quickly as possible, I shave the little black cocker spaniel down. I say quickly because the whole time I was worried that she would give birth right on my grooming table. The owner came and was very pleased and promised to call me when the puppies were born.

Two days later, Annie had six puppies: five females and 1 male.

                                                          ***

Weeks went by and still not pregnant. I was getting more and more depressed. I had started to wonder if there was something wrong with me and strongly debated on whether I should go see a doctor and find out why I wasn’t pregnant yet.

It was the beginning of March when I got a phone call.

“Jamie! Hi, it’s me Brenda, Annie’s mom.” She said cheerfully.

“Oh, hello.” I tried to sound cheerful.

“I wanted to call and see if you would like to come and see the puppies. They are so adorable.” She said.

“I bet they are.” I said. I knew they would be adorable. I loved cocker spaniels, having two of my own, plus my parents had a buff colored boy name Milo. He was the man/mascot of my grooming shop. After all, it was named after him, Sir Milo’s Dog Grooming.

“Would you like to come up and see them?” She asked again. I could hear the puppies yelping in the background and my heart sputtered.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe.” I hesitated. She gave me her address and said I could stop by anytime. I thanked her then hung up the phone. For the rest of the day, all I could think about were the six little cocker spaniel puppies running around and playing.

So after work, I drove to her house. My heart was beating a mile a minute as I walked up her front porch then knocked on the door. Brenda greeted me at the door with a smile on her face.

I followed her through the dining room then into the kitchen…and there they were; playing in the middle of the kitchen floor. I gasped at the sight of them. Four of them were black and two were white with brown spots. I giggled like a little kid as I sat on the floor. I opened my arms and began cooing at the four week old puppies that barely had their eyes open.

First a chubby black one came over to me. I picked her up and rubbed her tiny fuzzy face in mine. Brenda stood by the counter watching and laughing. I carefully set the black one down then turned to the small white and buff colored puppy. I lifted it up to see what gender it was.

“You are a little girl.” I laughed as she looked at me with her dark round eyes. I studied the cute little ball of fur for a moment and said, “you look like a Lily.”  

“Yes, she does. She does look like a Lily.” Brenda agreed then came over and sat on the floor beside us. She stretched her little neck out and licked my nose as I held her face close to mine.

“Awww, I love puppy breath.” I cooed as ‘Lily’ continued to lick my nose.

“If you want her, I can hold her for you.” Brenda said. My eyes shot open as I turned around to look at her. “Oh no, I can’t get another dog. We already have two at home. Bob would divorce me if I brought home another dog.” I replied. I glanced down at the sleeping puppy as I cradled her in my arms. She does look like a Lily.  

“Well, if you change your mind, call me.”

I carefully laid ‘Lily’ beside her mother and thanked Brenda for letting me see them. I went home that night and told Bob about my little puppy visit.

“We don’t need another dog.” He bellowed.

“I know, I know. I was just telling you how cute she is and that she looked like a ‘Lily’ is all.” Tears welled up inside me as I turned to go to the bathroom.

Two weeks went by and all I could think about was her cute little face and her sweet smelling puppy breath. I got teary-eyed every time I thought of her going to a home and being neglected.

“Jamie, what’s wrong?” Bob asked one night during dinner.

“Nothing.” I sniffled. I knew if I brought up the puppy again he would get pissed. I also knew that part of my depression was me not getting pregnant and having a puppy…well…I would have someone to baby.

“It’s about Lily isn’t it?” I shook my head, no.

He sighed heavily then shook his head.

“Go get the damn dog.” He said. My eyes shot up as I wondered if I heard him right. “What?”

“I said, go get the dog. If all you are going to do is cry then you might as well get her.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I jumped up from the seat and grabbed the phone book and called Brenda.

Lily was seven weeks old when I brought her home to meet her new family. Jasmine took a liking to her right away, but Annie (our first ‘baby’) didn’t care too much for her. It took two months for Annie to come around.

I took Lily to the shop with me every day and like a proud mamma, I showed her off. One guy saw me walking her along the street one day and stopped an offered me five hundred dollars for her. Of course I said, NO! She was my baby.

More weeks went by, and all I had time for was working and fussing over my new ‘baby’. As she grew so did her nicknames: Lilypad, Pick, Pickles and Lily lily pick a dily. Of course we could have called her shithead and she would have come to us.

It was April and the grooming business was starting to get really busy. I had called Missy, a friend of mine to come and help me.

While Lily lay in her cage, sleeping, we were busy bathing and grooming dogs.

“So, are you still trying to get pregnant?” Missy asked. I grabbed the poodle from the table and handed him over for her to bath. “Yeah, but nothing has happened yet. I’m beginning to think that these child bearing hips that I inherited from my grandmother are defective.” I laughed lightly.

Just then the phone rang. I grabbed the phone and my appointment book and walked out front to where it was quieter. As I stared at the dates, something seemed off. I quickly made the appointment with the customer then hung up. I started back tracking the date to when I had my last menstrual cycle then gasped. I was late. Not by much, just a few days, but I was late. And I was never late, so this was HUGE. I ran to the back room and grabbed my purse.

“Missy, I will be right back. I’m going to the pharmacy down the street.” I ran out the door, to the drug store that was only 4 buildings down. My heart was racing as I stared at the small selection of pregnancy tests. I grabbed the most expensive one and a bottle of Mountain Dew.

“Jamie, what’s going on?” Missy asked as she began to towel dry the poodle. “I’m late.” A huge smile grew on her face. I pulled the pregnancy test out of the bag and went to the bathroom. I was anxious and scared. I had been down this road so many times and ended up disappointed. I knew if Bob ever found out how much money I had spent on pregnancy tests, he would shit himself.

I squatted on the toilet and peed on the little white stick then carefully laid it on a paper towel on the back of the toilet. I walked out into the grooming area where Missy was waiting for me.

“Well?” She asked, anxiously.

“It says to wait ten minutes.” I sighed heavily.

“Missy, I’m going to take Lily outside to pee. Will you keep an eye on the test for me? If it says positive come outside and find me…if not…” Missy smiled, “Sure.”

My hands were shaking like a leaf as I walked Lily down the street. Her little black nose and her white stub of a tail moved vigorously as she searched for the perfect place to pee. After about five minutes and finally peeing, we turned around and headed back towards the shop. I looked up and saw Missy standing outside the door, waving her arms. “IT’S POSITIVE! YOU’RE PREGNANT!” She hollered.

I looked down at my little white/brown cocker spaniel and patted her head and thanked her for being my fertility drug.

My Crazee World of Dogs and Writing

If any of you have read my biography on my website (www.jswilsoncroft.com) then you would know that I am a dog groomer. Yes, dog groomer, author, mother, wife, cook, cleaner, chef, sister, daughter, friend, pooper scooper, dishwasher and so on and so on. You get my drift. hehehehe

I have been grooming dogs and a few cats (not crazy about grooming cats but I will do it) for over 17 years and BOY OH BOY, could I tell you some crazeeee ass stories. Give me a minute and I will. Hehe...WARNING THOUGH, IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ IT!!! Bahahahaha.

Hmmm...where do I start? Okay, well....once I was grooming a cocker spaniel and the poor guy was nervous as can be. His brown little legs shook while I was shaving him and he was also scared to take a bath, but when it came time to blow dry him....well let's just say...he gave the new meaning to SHIT FLIES!!! I had my head turned while blow drying him and when I glance back he started crapping all over the grooming table. I immediatly panicked and leaned over to turn off the blow dryer but not before I accidently aimed the hose at the shit and it literally flew all over the wall. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I did both. I ending up calling my mother and crying to her about the shit all over the wall. She laughed, "What the hell do you want me to  do? Come up there and clean it?" Even though I didn't admit it, but deep down, I think I was hoping that she would have. Needless to say, I felt like a giant shitball all day and probably smelled like one too.

One evening after dinner, I sat down next to my husband. I said, "Guess what?" He looked over at me and said "What?"  I laughed and told him that a tall dark handsome man was hitting on me while I was work today. His blue eyebrows raised, "Really? Who was it?"  I laughed playfully. "Oh, no one you know." I teased. He turned around and gave me a peculiar look. "What's his name?"  He asked. I told him his name was Max and how tall dark and handsome he was. He had big dark eyes and was hung like a horse. My husband's eye grew wide. I laughed and proceeded to tell him the rest of the story. Max was a black lab mix. He was standing on the grooming table being a good boy while I was shaving him. He was tall so it was easy for my short 5'0 frame to reach under him and shave under his chest and belly. Well...while I was shaving under him, I felt this thumping on the back of my head. When I turned around, his big ole' hicky do was pointing right at me. I yelped and immediatly stood up. The horny guy was humping the back of my head while I was shaving him. My husband laughed so hard.

But grooming dogs has not been all fun and games. Besides getting bit a few times and nearly clawed to death by a few cats the best and worst part about grooming is falling in love with them. I have groomed many dogs for many years and it's easy to become attached to them and their owners too. When I get a phone call from a customer telling me that they had to put their dog down, a little piece of my heart shatters. *Sighs* Okay...enough of that!!!

Well...after 17 years, I can honestly say that I will never quit my day job as a groomer. Believe it or not, my dogs inspire me. For some ODDDDDD reason....all my story ideas come to me while I'm in the middle of grooming a dog. I was grooming a shih-tzu when the idea for The Unfaithful Widow popped into my head.  I was grooming a poodle when Remembering Zane came pouring through. GO FIGURE!!! But all in all....I LOVE GROOMING AND WRITING. Many of my stories have dogs in them...only one didn't have a dog and that was Remembering Zane but the rest of my stories...always expect a pooch somewhere in the story. I guarantee you will fall in love with the dog as much as the characters. I did. :)

There's a potatoe in my hair soup!

Let me guess. You are cocking your head to the side, cringing your face and saying "EWWWW....HAIR SOUP? WTH?  

Well...if you are a dog or cat owner you would understand this completely. LOL
Yes...I own 3 dogs, 4 if you want to count my Dad's dog, who is living here temporarily. I also groom dogs out of my home...so yes...there is HAIR!!! No..my home doesn't look like the inside of a kennel. I clean my home on a regular basis. I have to when you add two children to the mix. :)

So anyways....back to the soup. How many have you ever sat down at the dinner table and pulled a hair out of your spaghetti? If you said never...then you're lying. I know it sounds repulsive, but seriously...if you know that it's your spouse's hair, then what's the big deal, right? He or she showers everyday..it's not like you are at a restaraunt and it belonged to some Joe Blow behind the counter who has been sweating all day over the grill and who the hell knows how long ago he has showered.

One evening during my first year of marriage, I made a nice dinner for my husband. I served ravioli's, garlic bread and a salad and one long hair. My husband pulled it out of the sauce and ran to the bathroom gagging. At first I was pissed that he would act that way over my hair, but then I saw that the hair was black, the same color as our precious cocker spaniel, Annie. I laughed so hard that I nearly peed my pants. A few minutes later, my hubby walks into the kitchen. His face was flushed.

I patted him on the back and said, "Honey, if it makes you feel any better, Annie just got a bath today." He shook his head and sat back down at the table. Well, that was nearly fifteen years ago and many hairs later......he still get grossed out, but he doesn't run to the bathroom gagging anymore.

So as a pet owner...finding a hair in your soup...well....that comes with  the territory. Whether it's my spouse's hair or my yappy chihuahua...I gonna keep smiling and eating my dinner...because a little dog hair isn't gonna kill me.

TURNING 40 GRACEFULLY

Well...hells bells...I just looked at the calendar today and noticed that it was January 11th, one month before my 40th birthday. HOLY SHIT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  UGH!!!!!

I knew that this day would come eventually...unless the good Lord has other plans for me. But 40????? I remember turning 30 and saying "Oh, I could be 50 tomorrow and it wouldn't bother me." Well WRONG-O!!  Now that I am near the big 4-0 it is terrifying. I am near the age now, where our bodies start to fall apart. Yippee!!  Our weight, vision, hearing (no luck from day one in that department) our hair and some of us unfortunate ones, start to shrink at this age. UGH!! For those that don't know me, I am a chubby woman that is only 5' tall and once osteoperosis kicks in...I AM SCREWED!!!!

People would say that once you reach 50 you are over the hill, but lets get real folks.....its 40. Thats when the grey hairs really start sprouting, sprouting to the point that we have to spend $50.00 or more every six weeks to keep our natural looking hair color and buy facial cream to keep our skin smooth and to keep those small wrinkles around our eyes and mouth from showing. Unless you are one of those freaks who dont age until your 60. I dont even want to hear about it. lol

I remember watching my mother, sit in front of the vanity mirror and cake her face with Oil of Olay. She would rub the cream all over her face and neck and arms. I never understood why she used so much cream.....until now.

Men...are lucky...(well most men) as they get older they start looking more distiguished, with their grey sideburns and beards. Women....we are no longer the fresh, firm, ripe peach.......but a shrivled up one with peach fuzz hair all over our body. Men would say that women as they age, are like fine wine..... Come on now....give me a break!!! What wine was he drinking? I thought most men only like drinking beer anyways????? LOL

Well....I know turning 40 isn't all that bad. I get to look back on my life and see all the wonderful things that I have accomplished. I have a wonderful hubby, two beautiful children, 3 dogs, a job and have just become a published author and I also have my health, even though I don't look like no spring chicken anymore...my hubby still loves the way I look. And lets face it...each grey hair that I  have..I earned it (whether I wanted it or not) lol

So the question is....Will I turn 40 gracefully? Truth??? Time will tell.  LOL    Maybe a with a few whiskey sours drinks, I won't mind it so much. hehehehehe

A Christmas Memory

I was nine years old with blonde hair, hazel green eyes and teeth that looked like Bucky Beavers. A face only a mother could love; my mother, Joyce.
My mother loved Christmas and always made sure that it was magical and special. Of course to any nine year old, everything about Christmas was special and magical. The music, the bright colorful lights, the smell of baked cookies and of course Santa and his presents. But it wasn't all those holiday treats that stuck out most in my mind. I don't remember what present I got for Christmas that year or what cookies I ate. There was one fond memory that forever took a spot in my heart and I will cherish it til the day I die.
I remember coming down the stairs after taking a bath. I was wearing my long pink nightgown. The smell of popcorn lingered throughout our two story house, making my mouth water.
"Here Jame, grab the bowl of popcorn on the counter." My mother said with a big smile on her face. I smiled back, eagerly waiting to see what she had planned for the evening. She grabs two big glasses of soda then walks towards the living room with me trailing behind her.
My father, Jim, was already in the living room, setting everything up. My eyes grew wide as he turned off all the lights except for the Christmas tree lights. Mom had laid out two large blankets across the living room floor, right next to the stereo.
I copied her as she laid down onto her stomach, facing the tree then began shoving handfuls of popcorn into her mouth. I looked up to see Dad standing in front of the stereo. Soon, the voice of Merle Haggard filled the living room as he sang "Santa Clause and popcorn, Jingle bells and reindeer horns."
I laughed as I watched and listened to mom and dad sing along to Merle. Soon, after swallowing a mouthful of popcorn, I joined in. The three of us lied on the floor for hours, eating popcorn and listening to some good ole fashion Christmas music.

My mother is gone now. It will be four years ago on December 21 and I still laugh and cry when I hear Merle Haggard's "Santa Clause and Popcorn" song. I thank my mother for giving me such a wonderful childhood Christmas memory. Love you Mom!!!!

A Cullens Thanksgiving

Here is a special treat in honor of the Twilight Saga and Thanksgiving.  Enjoy!!

                             Thanksgiving with the Cullens

                                                            

"Come on Dad!" Reneesme squealed pulling Edward’s arm. Edward followed along willingly with a huge grin across his stone face as I followed closely behind. Reneesme was excited that Thanksgiving was just a few days away. She wanted to show us where she and Jacob had found a flock of turkeys that were deep in the woods. "Shhhhh!" She whispers putting her tiny little finger to her lips. Even though this was her second Thanksgiving, it really felt like her first. With everything that had gone on in our lives last year, the Volturies, we really didn't get to celebrate the holidays the traditional way. Edward and I and the rest of the family, including Jacob, made a promise that we would make this a special holiday for Nessie. I watched my beautiful daughter as she gracefully walked through the woods. Her deep brown eyes glistened with delight as she spotted a turkey. I stood back, watching her and Edward pointing and whispering to each other about the turkeys. Nessie lifts her head up, sucking in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the wild bird. "Hmph! They don't smell too good do they?" She whispers to Edward. Her little nose crinkled in disgust. He chuckles quietly. "Most birds don't my love. But they do taste pretty good. Eating just one isn't very filling though." I laughed under my breath at his comment. Edward turns to look at me with his smoldering golden eyes, making my stone cold heart jump out of my chest. I gave him a wink then a smile. "Daddy! Look! Look at that big one there." She points at a turkey that stood in the middle of the flock. It stood at least a foot taller than the rest of the turkeys. "That one will fill you, Daddy." Nessie speaks louder, scaring the turkeys. We watched as they all flapped their wings and flew for safety. "WOW!" Her eyes lit up with amazement. We all held hands together as we walked back to the cottage.

           Alice was busy decorating our cottage for Christmas. She wanted it to be a surprise for Nessie. I was really looking forward to decorating as a family, but of course, Alice always gets her way. I did make one request. That Edward, Nessie and I decorate the tree. She put her lower lip out, pouting, but then she agreed. Of course, Edward was standing there glaring at her. I'm sure that made a difference.

Nessie let go of my hand to run ahead of us. Edward and I watched her as she happily skipped through the forest with her long bronze hair blowing gently in the wind. Edward's laugh was like a sweet melody to my ears as we watched Nessie continuing skipping through the woods, punching a tree here and there, knocking them to the ground. She turns to smile, exposing her pearly white teeth, as dimples formed around her little mouth. Even though she was just born last year, she has already grown to the size of a 5 year old. And her intelligence was way beyond our imaginations. Carlise was still studying about this. Wondering if this is also one of her many gifts that she already possessed.

          "Mommy! Look!" I looked up to see what Nessie was pointing at. A bright light was glowing ahead in the woods, in the direction of where our cottage stood. "Ugh! Please don't tell me that Alice has built a winter wonderland theme around our home." I moaned. Edward looked at me with a nervous smile. "Ugh!" I moaned again low enough so that Nessie wouldn't hear me. Nessie took off running at full speed. So we followed closely behind.

          "WOW!" She hollered so loud that it made Emmett's booming laugh sound like a whisper. Carlise, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie and Jacob were all standing in the yard in front of the cottage, chuckling. Nessie ran up and gave each and every one of them a hug, thanking them for the wonderful surprise.

Yep, I was right. Alice had built a winter wonderland. I glared at Edward for not stopping this but when I saw the look on Nessie’s face, how excited she was. I shook my head and bit my tongue. Alice turned and laughed at me then proceeded on to give us a grand tour. We all walked in a single file line with Nessie and Alice being first of course.

There was fake snow spread out all over the yard, front and back. The whole cottage itself was lit up, changing colors from blue to red to green to purple then back to blue and so forth. A real life-like Santa Claus was sitting in a sleigh with eight tiny reindeers in the front. It pretty much took up the front yard. “Ugh”. I moaned. Edward squeezed my hand, leaning down to kiss my hair. I wrapped my arms around his waist, as we continued to the stroll inside the cottage. Nessie with her mouth open wide, walked slowly soaking everything. Everyone else seemed entertained by Nessie wondrous reactions. I looked over at Jacob, he too was just as excited as Nessie was, as if it was his first Christmas too. I could feel a smiling cracking through my stone cold face.

          "Mommy! Daddy! Quick! She grabs our hands leading us towards her bedroom. A small gasp escaped my lips when I walked into her room. I had to admit I had never seen anything like it, except maybe on television. Her room was truly magical. Christmas music was playing softly in the background. There were red and white lights streaming from the ceiling from one end of the wall to the other. A huge spruce tree was in the corner of her room, decorated in a candy theme. An electric train chugged around the room with little puffs of smoke shooting from the steam engine. Nessie ran from one end of her room to the other looking and touching everything.

"Hahahaha, look at the train, there are little presents on the flat cars." She squealed.  "Nessie dear, those are real presents for you, one for each day of December for you to open." Alice's purred. Jacob sat on the floor to get a closer look at the train. He looked like a giant lying on the floor beside the small train and it's little presents. Nessie walked over and sat down beside him, both if them watching the train chug past them, making a circle around the tree until it came back again. Edward and I quietly walked out of her room to let her play. We continued to tour the rest of the house. I was relieved to see that she left our bedroom alone. The living room was decorated in maroon and gold. I had to admit everything looked very elegant, although it was too fancy for my taste, but I bit my tongue. I did notice that an eight foot spruce tree stood bare in the corner of the room. "Thank you." I whispered in Alice's ear as I hugged her.

          Thanksgiving Day was finally here. We all dressed up for this special occasion. Nessie was exceptionally darling in a sparkling purple dress with matching shoes. Purple was her favorite color, for now at least. She changes it about once a week. Last week it was lime green. Whatever is her favorite color is, Esme, Alice and Rosalie take her shopping and buy her a week’s worth of clothes in that color. I told them that they were spoiling her, creating a monster but that just brought on a roar of laughter.

Edward walked into the living room wearing a dark blue Armani suit. It still took my breath away when he came toward me. He wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up to put his lips to mine. Nessie giggled as she watched us kiss. I grudgingly agreed to wear a Vera Wang sparkling blue dress. The strapless dress was a little too provocative for my taste. Naturally, Alice was the one who picked it out. Edward seemed to like the dress more than I did as ran his the back of his soft hands down my shoulder to my wrist, sending tingles through my body. "Behave! We have a dinner to attend." I whispered, nuzzling his ear. "Hmmmm." He moaned.

          This was all new to us, spending Thanksgiving the traditional way or the Cullen's way. The ten of us, including Jacob, went hunting for turkey. Nessie was the first to bag a turkey. Jacob went next, then we all followed. I had to laugh watching Emmett chase after a turkey. He couldn't decide which one he wanted. He ran around like a chicken with his head cut off. Of course, Edward got the big turkey, Nessie made sure of it. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as I stood back, leaning against a tree, watching my new loving family play hide and seek with my daughter. Memories of my own Thanksgiving weren't this happy. But that was okay, as long as Nessie was having the time of her life, that was all that mattered to me. All because of Nessie, we started a new tradition today. I smiled knowing there was going to be many more new traditions in the Cullen’s house.

          "Bella love. We got to get going. Charlie will be expecting us soon."  Edward's sweet breath whispered to my ear. We all walked back to the Cullen's house laughing and singing. I was truly blessed. I would have given up my soul a thousand times over for this moment.

I WISH EVERYONE A SAFE AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!