Chapter Text

1. The Knock.

Elder Meyers hung back as his mission companion strode confidently up the bark-strewn drive to the house with no address in the woods outside of town. They had been forced to abandon their transportation up the road, as the thick roots of the ponderosas, firs, and hemlocks made the attempt impossible by bicycle. It had been then that the rain had started, and Elder Meyers floated the idea of just heading back rather than showing up to Dr. Cullen's looking like drowned rats.

Elder Stephens had nixed the suggestion at once, laughing and quoting, "Good timber does not grow with ease. The stronger the wind the stronger the trees."

So now they approached, their white shirts and white garments below clinging and transparent, their hair a mess, and Elder Stephens' tie missing after an unfortunate tumble off a log during an attempted "shortcut".

"I did this on Trek, no problem!" He had said just before crashing into a thankfully lush undergrowth of ferns.

Elder Meyers had pioneer ancestry as well, but had never felt <em>less</em> the heir of those stalwart pilgrims of Deseret than he did now. He was eighteen, away from the high desert of his home, and hadn't listened to the radio, read a newspaper, or watched a movie in months.

'A young priesthood holder's Mission is the best time of his life,' he'd heard again and again. 'You have two years to serve and the rest of your life to think about it'.

Right now he just wanted to be home for family game night, dominating a Pictionary game with his mom, his younger siblings too easily distracted by the fun of drawing to score very well.

He straightened his tie, then realized he'd do better to wring it out completely. He plastered his hair down and to the side and shook the water from the hems of his black pants. Elder Stephens did his best to look presentable as well, and they nodded resolutely as they played a quick game of rock-paper-scissors to determine who would ting the bell. Maybe it was childish, but it was their tradition, one Elder Stephens had started with a previous companion, and it would feel strange to leave it out.

Elder Meyers rang the doorbell of the large mansion, all large windows and dramatic angles set in the trees. They could hear the tones repeating in various places of the house, but no footsteps before the front window darkened and the door swung open to reveal a beautiful woman with long, caramel -colored hair and striking amber eyes.

Her eyes brightened, then took in the state of their clothes and hair and immediately changed to concern, amusement, concern again, and determination in the blink of an eye.

"Hello, my name is Eld- . . ." Elder Meyers began, then gasped as he was physically lifted and deposited on a smooth tile floor, squeaking unmanfully as he was wrapped in a towel so large and plush it was like getting a hug from an enormous, soft creature.

"Hey bros, wet day. What 'cha doin' hiking without a jacket, dude?" A friendly male voice teased from the other side of the bath sheet.

Elder Stephens recovered first, escaping from his large rose-colored cocoon before Elder Meyers could claw his way out of his steel gray one.

"We'd like to, um, thank you, Ma'am, I've got it, really. We'd like to share the word of Jesus Christ with you and your family." Elder Stephens managed.

"Of course, dears." The low, smooth voice of the woman replied. "But we need to get you out of these wet things first. You're shivering!"

Elder Meyers pulled the towel close around him as the big man, easily a head taller than himself and as wide across as three of him, began to loosen his tie and remove his name tag.

"I've got it!" He insists, moving the man's hands away from his buttons.

"No worries, bro!" The wall of muscle and smiles says.

He is shuffled into a bedroom and offered a dizzying variety of clothes by yet another handsome family member, this one closer to his own age with a bouffant of brown-bronze hair and the same eyes as the big man and the woman at the door.

"You're going to get sick if you don't get into something warm, and Esme will worry over you until you're safe and dry." He says with a bit of a smile.

"Even the underwear. You can wrap up in these . . ." He pulls out a pair of underwear, a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and a bathrobe, all in the dark colors Elder Meyers would have chosen for himself for a lazy Saturday morning back home, enjoying waffles and cartoons with his younger siblings. The boy gave him a bit of a knowing look, as if he could sense what Elder Meyers was thinking.

Elder Meyers had a moment's fancy that meeting the Prophet would be like this, with his Gift of Discernment. Though he hoped the Prophet wouldn't see his shameful fumblings at night and in the bathroom to quiet his wicked mind. That's the sort of thing that can get you sent home early to face the shame and judgement of the whole stake. He hoped the boy didn't see his blush.

"I'm Edward, Dr. Cullen's adopted son." He said, sticking out his hand, then retracting it before turning his back to allow Elder Meyers his privacy.

"I'm Elder Meyers. From the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

"Nice to meet you. If I know my brother,- that's Emmett, the big one- your companion will already be dressed and towel dried, and being cajoled into a game of Dance Dance Revolution."

"Oh, we're not supposed to play video games. Or listen to pop music. We're on our Mission."

"Heh. I'd better get out there then. Emmett's getting out the VR headsets." Edward says, then disappears with a barely audible click of the door and no footsteps he could hear.

In only a few moments, Elder Meyers returned to the large living room to see a lot of people, all similar but not quite enough to look related, filling the space like beautifully curated models.

Edward had already tucked himself in, unchastely close to a pretty brunette wearing a wrist brace. Emmett was, indeed, attempting to put a headset on Elder Stephens, who was dressed in laughably large basketball shorts and a sweatshirt he could have taken on his Trek as a tent. The lovely woman who answered the door was in the kitchen, taking a singing kettle off the stove and a blond man was smiling at the chaos in the living room over her shoulder. A younger blond man sat looking intently at Elder Stephens from a loveseat, with a pixie-like girl with short hair beside him smiling as if it was her birthday.

"Ok, bro. We'll save the game for later." Emmett conceded, a smile showing his dimples.

"Welcome to the Cullen home, Elders." Said the blond man in the kitchen.

"You've met Emmett and Edward, and my wife Esme. That's Jasper and Alice over there, and my other adopted daughter, Rosalie, should be around here somewhere."

"And of course, Edward's girlfriend Bella Swan." Esme added, turning around with a massive tray full of steaming mugs in her hands, carrying it as if it weighed nothing.

"Let's get something warm into you both before you tell us all about yourselves ."

"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am, we don't drink coffee." Elder Stephens said, handing the controllers in each hand back to the enormous but friendly Emmett.

"We don't either, we just like to have them as hand warmers." Said Alice, her amber eyes twinkling.

"Oh. Why don't you just use hot water, in that case?" Asked Elder Meyers, thrown off by the strange idea of making a whole pot of coffee they didn't intend to drink.

"Well, it would look weird to sit around with cups of hot water." Emmett responded, as if that was obvious.

Stranger than sitting around holding cups of coffee? Elder Meyers thought, but was soon ready to refuse the offered mug from Mrs. Cullen, until he saw it was a pale green-yellow tea.

"Chamomile and lemongrass. Caffeine free." She assured him, and Elder Meyers felt his fingers warm around the curve of the beautifully thrown mug.

"Can't have you catching cold on our behalf." She smiled maternally.

He looked at Elder Stephens, trying to tell where to begin to bear their testimony. It was uncommon enough to be let in, let alone to have their clothes dried for them and having an entire family's attention at once.

"Have you heard of the Prophet Joseph Smith?" Elder Stephens began, accepting the mug of herbal tea and standing, the more experienced of the two.

"Oh, yes, how is that all going? Last I heard the Deseret settlem- I mean, the state of Utah was going well." Dr Cullen said.