Birds Without Wings
Chapter Three: Trust and Time
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Jasper locked eyes with me the second we entered the house. Sometimes, with Jasper, I felt like I adopted Edward's mind reading gift. I always knew what he was trying to say, or what he was thinking, and somehow, he knew the same for me. That's why now I knew exactly what he was asking me. How are we going to get rid of her?
"She's staying." I told him firmly. Everyone stared at me. I looked at Carlisle, "If that's okay with you?"
"Of course, Alice." Carlisle said hesitantly, looking at Jasper, "She's very welcome here."
Jasper looked at me with an expression on confusion and hurt on his face, before disappearing out the door. "Jasper!"
I followed him, forgetting everyone else as I saw him walk away from me. I caught up with him near the edge of the forest, and fell into step with him. "Jazz?"
"You didn't think we should discuss this?" He asked, not looking at me, "Before you invited a stranger to come live with us?"
"She's my daughter." I reasoned. Jasper stared at me.
"You've only known her for a half hour." He said, "She just turned up out of the blue, and we have no proof she's even telling the truth!"
"She is." I said, "I know she is."
"You know she is?" Jasper asked, his voice rising, "You didn't know who the hell she was this morning, and now you're positive that she's been your daughter for the last century?"
"Don't yell at me!" I said, raising my own voice to match his.
Jasper's eyes softened, and he took both of my hands in his, "I'm sorry, darlin'. This is a lot for me to take in."
"I know it is." I said, "But I need you to support me on this." Jasper didn't say anything, "Can you do that?" Still nothing, "For God's sakes Jasper! I'm not asking you to be happy about it, I'm not even asking you to accept it, I just want you to try and understand a little!"
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Jasper asked, "Sorry if I'm a little confused, Alice, but when I met you I thought you were single and childless, and now look what's been thrown in my face!"
"That's not my fault!" I protested.
"Who's fault is it then?" Jasper asked. A rustle in the trees made us both stop.
"Pause." I said, and Jasper nodded. That was what we did in arguments - we were allowed to pause them at any point and carry them on another time. We didn't like to argue in front of people, and we'd both agreed it was a pretty good method for ensuring our arguments stayed private.
A second later, Esme appeared next to us. "Are you kids okay?"
I smiled at Esme, "We're fine, Esme."
Jasper nodded. Esme beamed, "This is so exciting! Who would have thought you had a daughter, Alice!"
"Is she back at the house?" I asked, suddenly remembering that I'd just left my new daughter at the mercy of my family.
"Yes, everyones making her very welcome." Esme told me.
"Which means I need to go and rescue her from Emmett." I said, with a roll of my eyes. I took Jaspers hand and followed Esme back to the house. Sure enough, when we got there, Emmett was interrogating Evelyn.
"Favourite football team?" He asked.
"Don't have one." Evelyn answered.
"Favourite basketball team?" Emmett asked.
"Don't have one." Evelyn said again.
"Favourite baseball team?" He asked.
"Look, I'm not really into sports." Evelyn said, "I don't see the point."
Emmett looked like someone had shot him. He looked up at me. "You didn't raise her right."
I rolled my eyes, "Leave her alone Emmett." I turned to Evelyn, "Did you bring a lot of stuff with you?"
Evelyn shook her head, holding up a small bag. "I travel pretty light."
I turned to Carlisle, "I'm sure we can find somewhere for you to keep your stuff?"
"She can stay at our cottage." Rosalie said, smiling at Evelyn, "Our famly can be pretty overwhelming, and it would be somewhere private for you to go. We hang out here most of the time anyway, but you can keep your belongings there and go there whenever you need some space."
"That sounds great." Evelyn said, returning Rosalie's smile.
"I'll take you there." I said, whispering my thanks to Rosalie as we passed.
The walk to the cottage was relatively quiet, because what are you supposed to say to someone you haven't seen in almost a century? I snuck a couple of glances over at Evelyn every now and again, and I began to notice things about her that gave away the fact that we were related. Her pixie-like facial features, her large sparkling eyes, and the gentle curl of her long hair that reminded me of my own before it was cut.
Similarly, I caught her looking at me a few times. She didn't look shy or embarrassed when she realised I'd seen her looking, but instead she just smiled at me.
We reached the cottage and I pushed open the door, revealing the cosy little home to Evelyn. I showed her around and told her that - for her own sake of mind - she should avoid Rosalie and Emmett's bed.
"Do you want me to stay whilst you unpack?" I asked.
"I'll be fine." Evelyn said, smiling and shaking her head.
"Come back to the house when you're ready, we'll all be there." I told her. She smiled again and thanked me. I felt like I should stay with her, but I reminded myself that whilst she looked sixteen, she was in truth almost a century old and she could look after herself.
I made my way back to the main house, and found my family sat around discussing none other than Evelyn.
"I'm just saying that we know nothing about her! How do we know we can trust her?" Jasper asked. I rolled my eyes as I entered.
"We can trust her." I said. Jasper stopped talking when he saw me, obviously not wanting to argue in front of the family.
"We'll soon find out if we can't trust her." Rosalie pointed out, "Until then, innocent until proven guilty, right?"
"Yeah," Emmett agreed, "And if she does turn out to be an evil mastermind, I'm sure we can take her, bro."
Emmett nudged Jasper in the ribs, but Jasper just looked annoyed.
"You could start talking about her like a normal person." I said, annoyed at my family and particularly at Jasper being annoyed.
"We're just a bit cautious of her, Alice." Edward said.
"She's family!" I argued.
"You've barely known her ten minutes!" Edward said.
"She's my daughter; my family." I said, "If I'm part of this family, then so is she!"
Edward and I stared at each other for a moment before Esme broke the silence. "Of course you're part of this family, Alice!"
"Then all I ask is that you accept and welcome Eve into this family." I said. I knew it would take time for my family to fully trust Evelyn - heck, I wasn't even sure that I fully trusted her - but I also knew that if she gained their trust, they would have all the time in the world to love her as one of their own, "Can you guys do that?"
There was a series of nods around the group, but I couldn't help noticing that Jasper didn't join in.
~o.O.o~
Evelyn came back to the house half an hour later, smiling at the family and oblivious to the fact that half of them didn't trust her.
"What do you want to do, Evelyn?" Esme asked.
"I don't mind, whatever you usually do." Evelyn said, "You don't have to do anything special for me."
Esme smiled, and I could tell that she already loved Evelyn.
"Eve, we're about to go hunting," I said, "Do you want to come with us?"
"No thanks." Evelyn said, "I hunted earlier."
The black growing in her eyes told me that she was lying. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she smiled at me. Then, something weird happened.
Evelyn's lips didn't move, she didn't speak, and I didn't hear any of her words; but somehow I knew what she was trying to say with that smile. It was like it had somehow been put into my head - not actual words, but the idea.
Evelyn knew I needed time to be with Jasper, and to talk to him. She was giving me that opportunity.
How I knew, I wasn't sure - but I was absolutely certain that this was what she was trying to do. Giving her one last look, I didn't wait around for an explanation as Jasper led me out of the house and into the woods.
A/N: Hello again :) Sorry it was a while since I've updated, and this chapter was kinda short.
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