DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.

I could tell Carlisle was waiting for me to say something, so I asked, "Is it…difficult for you to be near me?"

"Not anymore," Carlisle answered, "when I first brought you home…I must admit, it was difficult, you're scent is like…" He trailed off.

"What?" I questioned.

"Well…Edward, when Bella was human, compared her scent to a drug, or an alcohol, to show how addicting her scent was…I'm trying to think of a different comparison." I waited patiently, a small smile crossing my features. The way he was acting made it seem like nothing had changed and that I had never found out that I was living with a coven of vampires. Finally, he said, "It's like you with pizza."

That explained it right away. I'm a pizza addict! "So, my blood is to you what pizza is to me?" I wanted to be sure I had it right.

"Yes," he smiled slightly, most likely because I wasn't running from him in terror at having my blood compared to food.

He then frowned, "I'm glad that you're not terrified of me anymore, but in some ways I wish that you were afraid, it would…reassure me a bit."

"Dad, I'm not following," I admitted. I had no idea what he was talking about.

Carlisle smiled at my confusion, "You've never been afraid of what we are, not even when you were a baby."

"I was afraid when I first found out," I reminded him.

"That's true," he laughed softly, "but you have no aversion to our kind."

"Should I?" I questioned, "I mean, it seems like a lot of the stuff I read on the internet was false, apart from the one about good vampires."

Carlisle's gaze became serious, "We…vampires, are the deadliest predators imaginable. Our scent draws our prey to us, surely you've noticed that?"

I nodded. He was right, I had noticed there scents. Each of my family had their own unique scent, but all of them smelled pleasant.

"The only thing that detours our natural prey is our cold skin…but you never seem to notice it," he shook his head in bewilderment.

That was also true. To me, all of my family's skin felt pleasant to me…except during the winter, then it was WAY too cold!

"A vampire's venom also immobilizes our prey, making it easier to feed," he continued, "not that we need any of that." Carlisle rose out of his chair, "You wouldn't be able to overpower a vampire." He easily lifted his desk with one hand. This was no small feat; considering his desk had many medical books in it and several other heavy objects. He set it down again, and glanced at me, "You wouldn't be able to outrun me either."

Those words set a chill down my spine. My mind whirled desperately, why did he change his sentence structure from "vampire" to "me". His eyes locked with mine, they were black. I'm so dead!

I blinked, and felt my body fly backwards on its own, a cold weight on my left shoulder. When the motion stopped, I was pinned against the wall, several picture frames digging into my back. I was close to hyperventilating; I could feel Carlisle's teeth pressed against my throat.

Moving slowly, Carlisle pulled away, and released my shoulder, "Seeing if I could get a reaction out of you…" He shook his head back and forth, "I would have preferred it if you had screamed."

I said slowly, my heart still trying to find its natural pace again, "You weren't going to hurt me."

"That's right, but I still wish you had a, for lack of a better word, normal reaction," he said.

Though my heart was still slowing down to its normal pace, I walked over to him and hugged him. He had suddenly put everything into perspective when he pulled away from my throat instead of drinking my blood when he was obviously hungry. That brought another question to mind, "When your eyes get darker does that mean you're hungry?"

"You're very observant," he commented before answering my question, "Yes. When our eyes get darker it means we're hungry, but we don't hunt humans, we hunt animals. We consider ourselves vegetarians."

I snorted, trying to retain my laughter as Carlisle laughed softly. It was a funny kind of way to look at things.

He picked me up, and walked over to his chair, sitting down. He kissed my forehead and asked, "Is there anything else that you want to talk about?"

I kissed his cheek, my anger from several days ago gone, now it seemed like things were back to normal…at least as normal as they could get when living with vampires.

I thought of a question after several minutes, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three," he answered right away, "Though I'm pretending to be thirty-eight going on thirty-nine."

"That's not what I meant, Dad," I chastened.

"I know," he sighed, "I'm three hundred and seventy-eight, soon to be three hundred and seventy-nine."

To say the least, I was flabbergasted. My father, Carlisle, was nearly three hundred and eighty years old!

Carlisle chuckled, "Didn't you wonder how the cross out in the hallway was older then I was?"

"No, can't say it did," I answered truthfully.

"My father carved that cross," he said, smiling.

Now that my shock had worn off from finding out that my father was three hundred and seventy-eight years old, I asked, "How did you become a vampire, Dad?"

"My history is on that wall," he gestured to the door.

It's amazing that I had somehow missed seeing that the walls near the door were plastered with paintings, all of various sizes, colors, and themes.

His gaze seemed to be seeing something that only his eyes could see, "I was born in London sometime around the sixteen-forties, time wasn't something we kept track of. A day was just another day. I know that it was before Cromwell's rule though."

I listened intently. I felt like a little kid being told a bedtime story. Which I somewhat was, it was close to when I would usually go to sleep.

"My father was an Anglican pastor, while my mother died giving birth to me. My father was an intolerant man. He was very enthusiastic in persecuting the other religions when Protestants came to power. He also believed in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves…and vampires."

I watched his expression, expecting to see some sort of anger towards his father, but there was none; making me feel ashamed of hating him for those few days.

His gaze still was focused on something only he could see, "Many innocents were burned at the stake; none of them were the real thing. The creatures he sought would not be caught so easily.

"When he was too old to lead the hunts, he placed me in charge of them. I was obedient and did as he said, but I was not quick to accuse, to see demons where they did not exist; my father thought I was a disappointment.

"I did discover a coven of real vampires though. They had been living in the sewers of the city and only coming out at night to hunt. Many 'monsters' lived that way back then.

"The people gathered their pitchforks and torches and waited where I had seen the monsters exit into the street…eventually one of them did emerge."

His voice had become soft and quiet; I could barely hear him, I had a feeling that this was something that he did not like to talk about.

He did continue to speak though, "The vampire must have been ancient, and weak with hunger. I heard him call out a warning in Latin to the others when he caught the scent of the mob I was leading. He ran through the streets and I, the youngest and fastest of the group, was in the lead of the pursuit. The creature could have easily outrun us, I know that now, but he must have been very hungry. The vampire turned and attacked, falling on me first. The others of the mob came near and the vampire turned to defend himself. He killed two men and made off with a third, leaving me, bleeding, in the street." Carlisle paused and looked at me, seeming to be measuring how I was taking all of this before he continued, "It was very painful, I felt as if my body was on fire, but I knew what my father would do. The bodies would be destroyed, burned, along with me. Anything infected by the monster would be destroyed, that was his philosophy, and he would not hesitate for me.

"I acted on instinct. I managed to crawl away from the alley while the mob followed the vampire and his victim. I managed to find a cellar and I buried myself in the rotting potatoes for three days."

I couldn't help interrupting, "If you were in such pain…how did you stay hidden? Didn't you cry out in pain?"

He turned his gaze on me, "I wanted to stay alive, at the time. To scream would have meant certain death, so I stayed quiet."

"What do you mean by you wanted to stay alive at the time?" I questioned.

"I'm getting there," Carlisle said with a small smile. "When the burning finally stopped, I realized what I had become. I was no longer human, but a creature that needed human blood to survive. I was a vampire…a monster."

I was about to interrupt my father. I didn't think of him as a monster, even when I had been angry with him. I had simply not liked the thought of him keeping the fact that he wanted her blood a secret.

Carlisle picked me up and walked over to the wall and pointed at a picture, this was a simple picture, a small square of oil painting in a plain frame. It didn't exactly stand out, but it was painted in varying tones of sepia; it depicted a miniature city full of steeply slanted roofs, with thin spires atop a few scattered towers. A wide river filled the foreground, crossed by a bridge covered with structures that looked like tiny cathedrals.

"This is London in the sixteen-fifties, the London of my youth," he smiled slightly.

I didn't press him to continue the story, even though that's what I wanted to do. I figured there was a reason he had paused in the middle of his story.

He pointed to another painting; this was a large landscape in dull fall colors—an empty, shadowed meadow in a forest, with a craggy peak in the distance. "When I realized what I had become, I tried to destroy myself. But I soon learned that that was easier said then done. I jumped from great heights, I tried to drown myself, I tried many things to no avail. All the while, my throat burned, I was beginning to feel starved for blood, but I figured I would be able to starve myself at the very least, at least I would be destroyed then. I did not count on how powerful the instinct could be to get blood though.

"I was very weak and I was as far away from any humans as I could get. I loathed myself, but I was not about to put others in danger.

"One night, a herd of deer passed where I was hiding. I didn't even know what I was doing, but I attacked the deer without a second thought and quenched my thirst. That was when I realized that I didn't have to be a monster, I could still be, to some degree, human. I had eaten animals in my past life, so I didn't see why I couldn't do it in my new life. I began to have some hope again.

"I decided not to waste any of the time I now had, even if it was unlimited. I studied by night and planned by day. I swam to France and –"

I interrupted him, "You swam to France?"

"People do it all the time," Carlisle said smiling slightly.

I grumbled, "Probably not underwater the whole time."

He blinked in surprise and said, "That's true. But continuing."

I snuggled closer to him as he gestured to another painting. It was very elaborate and by far the largest. The canvas overflowed with bright figures in swirling robes, writhing around long pillars and off marbled balconies, I recognized a figure in a sedate corner and asked softly, "Is that you?"

"Yes, Solimena enjoyed painting myself and my friends, but we're not there yet in the story," Carlisle said.

"I'll be quiet," I murmured.

He smiled, "I swam to France and continued on through Europe, to the universities there. By night I studied music, science, medicine – and that's where I found my calling, my redemption, in saving human lives. It took me two centuries to fully master control over my desire to drink human blood, now I'm all but immune…you're the exception though. If I'm away from you for longer then a day, you're scent hits me as if I was a newborn vampire again, but I quickly adjust."

This surprised me. My father was immune to all human blood but mine…life's not fair.

He didn't notice the scowl that had appeared on my face as he continued, "I was studying in Italy when I discovered a more civilized and educated coven of vampires. It was a stark contrast to the ones back in the London sewers." He pointed to the three vampires in the painting next to him, "Aro, Marcus, and Caius, they were the nighttime patrons of the arts. They never left Italy either, they were there even before I arrived and they remained there for many millennia. I stayed with them for only a short period of time, just a few decades. I admired their civility and their refinement, but they tried to cure me of my aversion to 'my natural food source' as they told me. We tried back and forth to convince the other to change their ways, but to no avail. I decided to try the New World then, hoping to find others like myself…I was very lonely in my new life.

"I didn't find anyone but as the tales of vampires and werewolves fell away into the distance I found that I could interact with humans as if I were one again. That's where my medicine practice began. But the companionship I sought evaded me and I couldn't risk familiarity, not when I didn't age and others did."

I kept silent even though I wanted to ask him why he remained in Forks then when he was obviously not aging.

He seemed to sense my question, "We've remained in Forks for so long because it is the easiest place for us to interact with you without taking you to Alaska."

I had to admit he was right. I could not picture myself in Alaska.

"There was an influenza epidemic that hit Chicago and I was working the hospitals at night. I had been turning over an idea for some time about creating a companion since I could not find one, but I was hesitant. I did not want to steal someone's life as mine had been stolen. With that frame of mind I found Edward and his mother. His mother was very persistent that I save her son by any means necessary. She seemed to know that I was not human and that she would not make it through the epidemic. She was right. Edward was dying and no one would notice if I wheeled away both of them. I first wheeled away his mother and then I came back for him. Once we were in the morgue I took him to where I was staying, and I decided to try and make myself a companion…I tried to duplicate my wounds but I regret doing that now since it was unnecessary… After that I found Esme who had fallen from a cliff and I changed her…" he smiled as he trailed off but he began again, "I never thought I would find someone who I would want to have constantly by my side… Then I changed Rosalie after I found her dying in the streets. She then brought Emmett to me and I changed him. Bella came many years later and since she had fallen in love with Edward she bore him a child, Renesmee, before she was changed by him into a vampire and - "

I interrupted, "Wait, wait, wait! Aunt Renesmee is really my niece?"

"Yes, but since she is older then you, it was easier to say that she was your Aunt," Carlisle said.

My head was beginning to hurt, "So how did Jacob end up in all of this?"

Carlisle looked nervous then, "Jacob is a shape-shifter, but all of the Quileutes that can transform choose to transform into wolves. So they consider themselves to be werewolves." He paused to see my reaction, my head was really hurting now, but I kept quiet. "The werewolves imprint on people, it's like true love at first sight, and that's what Jacob did with Renesmee when she was born, and since she aged quickly, being half human and half vampire, she was an adult within a two year span of life, but that was enough for Jacob, they've been together ever since. And now we're full circle. I don't really believe you want to hear how we brought you into our family."

"No…but Dad?" He turned to look at me as I asked, "When I'm eighteen…will you really turn me into a vampire."

"If that's what you want, then yes. If not…we'll find a way to keep you hidden from the Voltouri," he answered his gaze fatherly as he looked at me.

"If I asked to be changed now…would you do it?" I questioned.

"No. You are still very young. You're only going to be fifteen, even Alice is older then that," he answered.

I squirmed out of his arms, and he gently set me on the ground before I could do anything to harm myself. I said as I walked to the door, "Thanks for talking with me, Dad."

"Anytime…are you going to bed?" He questioned

I smiled, "I thought I'd go torment Edward first."

He smiled, "All right, just don't torment him too much."

"Sure!" I said happily as I bounded down the stairs and ran right into Edward. Now my head really hurt!

Edward placed a hand on my shoulder so I wouldn't fall over, "If you really want to torment me you're going to have to follow me to my room."

That was okay by me, so I followed him to his room. Edward walked over to his CD player had hit the play button, before he sat down on his couch and I joined him there. He said as I sat down, pointing at the CD player, "That's music."

I rolled my eyes at him. I liked the kind of music he listened to, I just like my kind of music better.

We sat there in silence listening to the music as song after song played. Edward broke the silence, "I thought you were going to torment me."

"I changed my mind," I answered

His gaze stayed on me for several seconds before he sighed, pulling me into his lap, "You just want to spend some time with your older brother, huh?"

"Yeah," my eyes were beginning to droop.

Edward's gaze stayed on me, "All right, you can stay for the night."

I blinked gratefully at him as I closed my eyes. I needed to feel like barely anything had changed. I needed to be reassured that we were indeed a family, even if I was the only human in the bunch. My eyes closed as sleep overcame me.