When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee? – The Tyger, William Blake
It was your typical Forks day, at least for the humans. The rain was pouring outside, but Edward and I were watching Renesmee learn the art of chess from Jasper, and it was quite amusing.
"No, no, the knight can't go that way." Jasper stated, trying to move back Renesmee's piece.
"Can I do…this?" Renesmee managed to move the said knight and checked Jasper's king.
Jasper sighed, "Maybe I am teaching you too quickly."
Edward chirped in, "or maybe she is just too smart for you, just like her dad." Jasper gave Edward a dirty look, and to prevent himself from verbally berating Edward, he starting whistling The Grapes of Wrath, which he always does when he is frustrated.
"I'm getting mildly annoyed with 1800-era ballads, Jasper." Edward replied, pushing his buttons just a bit more than needed. Renesmee resumed playing chess, but she started a new game by herself.
Edward turned his head to the door suddenly, with Alice opening it as if on cue. "Hello all," she said, not even wet from the downpour, she kissed Jasper on the cheek, "We have news…and Edward, don't read my mind you'll spoil it."
Edward sighed, but nodded in compliancy.
"What is it Alice?" I asked, intrigued, but I knew enough from both Edward and Alice that it was nothing bad.
"We're going to have visitors," Alice smiled around the whole room, she was positively beaming, "Tristan and Adele are going to come." She was literally off the walls with this bit, bouncing on her feet at a faster than human speed, but then again we were vampires.
Three very rapid things happened in succession, Rosalie flew down the staircase and hugged Alice, and Emmet arrived from the garage and body slammed Edward. Lastly, my jaw fell to the floor; not literally of course, I was a little miffed that I'd never heard of these people whom seemed good friends of the Cullens.
Edward turned around to face me, grinning his lopsided grin, "Bella, Tristan and Adele are old family friends, well Tristan is –"
"—And Adele is Rosalie's onl-I mean best friend." Emmet just made a close save, so close in fact that Rosalie was fixing him his nicest glare.
Jasper frowned, "Do you know why they're coming?" Perhaps I wasn't the only one who didn't know them, because Jasper wasn't as elated as the rest.
Alice shook her head, "No, but you'll love them, and you too, Bella. They are great." I thought to myself, that if Alice loved them that they might be moderately tolerable.
I nodded, taking all of this in, and Renesmee smiled, "Where's Tristan from?" She questioned, wanting to know more about our guests.
Edward answered, "Somewhere in what, the British moors?"
"Yeah, I think that's it." Emmet answered, shrugging, "'Bout 1880's I think."
Rosalie added, "Adele is French, you'll love her." And I knew, deep down, that I could either love Adele because she was so likeable, or hate her because Rosalie liked her; I resolved mentally that it should be the first as opposed to the latter thought.
Alice rushed upstairs and downstairs again before I had time to blink, not that I needed it, but time wise, it was speedy even for her.
"Here, I've got a picture." Alice handed it to me first, and I looked down at it.
I saw the two typically gorgeous vampire people, but they were different. Tristan looked like an older version of Edward, except his hair was dark brown, and he was taller. His jaw was square, his eyes a chocolate colored brown, but his eyes…they had a look about them, something that looked as if he'd seen too much in his life. He was handsome, and I secretly thought that if I had never found Edward, he would be a nice substitute; he had striking similarities with James Franco, actually.
Adele was as beautiful was Rosalie. She was pale, with alabaster skin, but her skin had a slight tinge of color to it. Her hair was blonde, but it was a darker honey shade as opposed to Rosalie's lighter hair. Her eyes were deep blue, and reminded me of the ocean. She was tall, at least to Tristan's chin, and she had a cheery disposition in the picture. Maybe she won't be so bad…
"Hum, Rose, it looks like you'll be getting some competition." Jasper was peering over my shoulder, "She's almost as homely as you." Rosalie rolled her eyes at this, and chose to ignore it.
"Why are her eyes blue?" I piped in.
"Ah, I always forget…Adele doesn't look human, she doesn't look like a multifaceted diamond in the sunlight, she doesn't even smell like one. I think. It has been a while. And Tristan? He is a tracker." Edward glanced over at the picture.
Alice was sitting on the edge of her seat on the sofa, bouncing merrily, "We-met- them-in-France-in-the-1950s-after-the-war-when-we-took-a-family-trip. Adele-was-young-then-and-nicely-tempered-actually-Tristan-is-constantly-hounded-by-the-Volturi-to-join-because-he-is-better-than-Demetri." Alice prattled, all on about the speed of light, and I was positive it I hadn't been a vampire I would've heard her talking in tongues.
"Hounded?" I asked, glancing at Renesmee, "is that safe?"
"Yes." Emmet and Rosalie stated, at the same time, Edward managed a "no." I glanced at Alice. She sighed.
"Look, I can see the future, sometimes. Edward can read minds. Tristan is the best tracker out there, and they've been dodging the Volturi since forever. That is why they couldn't come when," Alice glanced at Renesmee, "anyway, the Volturi have other matters to attend to."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and relaxed, slightly. "When will they be arriving?"
"Sometime tomorrow, right now I think they are in Sub-Saharan Africa." Alice stated matter-of-factly, she squinted, "Yes, it looks quite dry there. Hmm, I wouldn't mind a visit though…" Alice looked meaningfully at Edward, who frowned, but didn't say anything.
We sat around for a several hours, time is not really of the essence when one is a vampire, and eventually I went to put Renesmee to sleep with Edward. In our little cottage, I completely forgot everything about our new arrivals…until the next day.
By the time the sun had risen, the sun was bright in the sky. After we had went to the cottage, Esme and Carlisle came home with a wrapped present, and I am nearly positive Alice gave them the news first and they went to find something. Anyway, the house was more crowded than normal and everyone was excited to meet the new guests.
Esme had cleaned the already immaculate house, dusting every spare inch, and mopping every corner. The tiles practically sparkled, and Esme lighted a few lavender candles to prevent the house from smelling like Clorox.
Carlisle managed to get a weekend off because his 'niece' was visiting from Europe. The hospital didn't ask too many questions, but I heard enough of the conversation to know that Adele was Esme's sister's daughter from a previous marriage.
Emmet and Rosalie called dibs on taking Tristan and Adele hunting at the soonest opportunity, and I imagined they had something else planned too, but they failed to mention it.
Alice and Jasper were given the task of preparing the already prepared guest room, nevertheless, Alice felt compelled to redecorate in what must've cost thousands of dollars of French lace bed sheets, repainted the walls a lavender color, and bought several French items of clothing and stocked them in the closet.
Edward decided that since it was a special occasion, he composed a short song for our guests, in a Scottish-style. It was very upbeat, and wouldn't have sounded out of place between bagpipers. Renesmee was dancing around to it when Alice flew downstairs, "They're here."
Not that we needed the warning, a black Mitsubishi was coming into the driveway at that very moment, and I peered out of the window to catch a glimpse of the visitors. They waited in the car for a few minutes, and Adele got out first. Her shiny blond hair was pulled back into a French twist, but otherwise she was outfitted normally. She was wearing darkwash blue jeans and a black sweater. Tristan opened his door, and he was just as good looking in person as in the picture. He sped into the shade of the porch quickly, and I barely noticed the diamond-like glint of his skin in the sunlight. Adele followed at a slightly slower pace, glancing around her.
Carlisle opened the door to the couple, and though he and Tristan were no more than five years apart, their personalities proved otherwise. Tristan had a boyish grin, akin to Edward's, but there was something mischievous about it. Tristan shook Carlisle's hand and pulled him into a man hug, "It's nice seein' you then." Tristan grinned, and his Scottish-British accent sounded through.
"You too, have you had trouble? I was wondering where you've been." Carlisle smiled back, his smile reflecting responsibility more than anything. It almost seemed like a parent proud of his son.
"We stayed in Morocco until a spy came 'round. After that, thought we'd go traveling, and we decided to visit Russia. We managed fine, last time I checked they were looking for us in Hungry."
Adele had given Esme, Rosalie, and Alice the double-kiss on the cheek by this time. She was now talking in speedy French to Rosalie, and I noticed that even though she was barely across the room, Tristan kept his eyes on her for the most part.
Emmet clapped Tristan on the shoulder, hard, "You know, you never showed me the arts of playing soccer, I mean football."
Tristan clapped Emmet with an equally exaggerated motion, "Aye, and you've been promising to teach me baseball for how long now?" They both laughed at this, some kind of inside joke.
Adele had switched to English in her conversation, and was discussing Morocco, "Well, it was sunny everyday, which is always troublesome, but the nights were beautiful. Every single star shone, and I am no astrologer but I managed to find most of them, and the people! They were so nice, but I did meet a few off camel dealers…" Adele's English was perfect, but her accent was nearly nonexistent. She sounded a mix between English and American.
Edward coughed, and Carlisle steered Tristan and Adele towards me, Renesmee, and Jasper. "We've had a few additions since you've been gone. Tristan, Adele, this is Bella, Renesmee, and Jasper. Renesmee is Bella's daughter." Carlisle put an emphasis on the word daughter, but Tristan didn't seem too shocked by her.
"Now I'd heard about her," Tristan grinned at Renesmee, "but clearly she isn't an immortal child. Hmm, very curious, we've heard the rumors of course, but interesting to know about that bloke in the Amazon. He's been found by them all right, an' he was killed by the sound of it."
Adele had to turn her face to meet me, and she scrutinized me momentarily, "Bella? I've heard so much about you!" Very quickly, she gave me the double kiss, "Everyone keeps saying, 'the Cullens this, the Cullens that, did you hear about that girl, that Bella.' It was everywhere. Your reputation precedes you."
I managed a faint smile in return, "Uh, thanks," and before I could help myself, I asked, "Will you be staying long?"
Rosalie frowned at his. Emmet shrugged. Carlisle looked concernedly at Edward. Alice frowned at Jasper, and Adele looked confused. Only Tristan and Esme seemed to not notice the slight, as they both continued talking in energetic tones.
"Nothing is definite." Adele muttered, almost talking to herself, as she went back to the car to fetch her luggage.