One year later…
It was that time of the year again. On the same date of every year, the Cullen family would move to a new location and resituate themselves in an environment that was most favorable to their nature. They couldn't ever stay too long in one place or they'd risk the chance of being discovered, and that was entirely against the law that they had to abide by due to their very nature. Only insensible vampires would ever put themselves in harm's way by risking their exposure to the curious humans. Usually, the Cullens would reside in one place for at least two to three years before leaving for a new town, but ever since they've adopted Isabella, Alice had requested that they didn't stay too long in one place to avoid further suspicions. A big part of Alice was scared and felt inexplicably uncomfortable about staying in one place for too long, and everyone had tried their best to convince her otherwise, but they had all failed. It was a lurking feeling she felt, and Alice knew somewhere deep inside that she couldn't ignore the feeling and take any chances, not when it comes to her Bella. As odd as the request was, the family finally gave in and agreed that whatever she felt was best for Bella would also be top priority for the family as well.
After discovering Bella in the small town of Forks in 1987, the Cullens had moved to Seattle after only one month of being there. It was still in the same state, but definitely a little further away from where Alice first found the infant. Two months after Bella's second birthday, they moved again to Halle, Germany, where there was only 1,544 hours of sunshine of the 8,760 hours in a year. Their third stop was Lima, Peru, when Bella was a little past three-years-old where there was even lesser sunlight, around 1,424 hours of sunshine that year. By 1991, they were already relocating back to Europe in Edinburgh of Scotland a few days after Bella had turned four. They had moved a little earlier, since the family had grown tired of the populated place of about six million residents in Lima, Peru.
They have spent about a year and four months in Edinburgh, Scotland by now and it was of course that time of the year again. The family had gathered the day prior and it was Carlisle's turn to pick a location. According to him, their next destination would be Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada near the Atlantic Ocean. It was considered one of the foggiest places on Earth and it had a pretty huge moose population. There was a consensus amongst all the family members, and the little human joined in as well by remarking that her daddy always made the best decisions. Little did all but Edward knew that Carlisle had really chosen the place because Newfoundland and Labrador were the first to vaccinate for smallpox and it was actually the first place to discover proof of the theory of continental drift. The large moose population and it being one of the foggiest places anywhere on Earth were just some extra attractions of the location. A small piece of information Edward decided to keep to himself even though it wasn't that big of a deal. They had a place to hunt without worrying about endangering the species and the weather forecast was perfect. What more could they ask for?
Alice was about to leave the house to go to her office at the fashion bureau she was working for under a short one-year contract and decided to stop in the kitchen where Bella was having breakfast before she left. Bella, being the usual sweet tooth, was releasing an abundant amount of maple syrup all over her pancakes topped with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar.
"Nuh uh, you stop that right now, Isabella." Alice scolded her as she swiftly walked over and took the bottle of syrup away from the little human. Bella pouted before looking over to Esme who was cleaning up a mess at the sink, but the family's matriarch only shook her head back and forth while smiling at the small child. Bella's shoulders dropped with all hopes lost of ever getting back the bottle of sweet goodness.
"This is syrup, loaded with more grams of sugar than you actually need for a day, Bella. Do you remember what happened the last time you over-indulged in sugary sweets?" Alice placed both her hands on each side of her hips as she lectured her little rug rat.
"I got sick…" Bella responded as she dropped her head and looked down at the small fingers twisting back and forth in her lap.
"Yes, you got sick and you were bedridden for almost two whole days." Alice made sure Bella understood the consequences of consuming excessive amounts of sugar. Bella stayed quiet and Alice sighed and walked over to where the little girl sat and lifted her up from the seat to hold Bella in her arms.
"Bella, look at me." Alice said in the gentlest voice she used only with Bella. The little girl slowly lifted her head and took a small peek at the vampire from beneath her eyelashes. Bella blinked several times and looked down again before she felt a cold sensation under her chin that forced her to elevate her gaze up to Alice's eye level. Bella stared into Alice's topaz eyes, and Alice witnessed the remorsefulness in the little brown orbs staring right back at her.
"I only want what's best for you, Isabella. Have I ever done anything to purposely hurt you?" Alice lightly asked. Bella took her time to shake her head back and forth, and then pursed her tiny rosy-colored lips. Bella breathed out through her nose, and then her features began to relax.
"I understand." Bella whispered before wrapping her small arms around Alice's neck and laid the side of her head on Alice's cold hard shoulder. Alice let out a sigh of relief, not knowing if she was going a little too far with the small scolding until now. She was fairly glad she didn't.
"I'm glad. I only do these things out of my love for you, Bella. You've been my best five years, and if you don't stop with all this excessive sugar consumption phase, how can I possibly have more than just five years with you?" Alice spoke softly into Bella's ear.
"Okay, you win." Bella surrendered and Alice smiled triumphantly.
"Okay, you two! Break it up! You need to head to the office and collect your things, shorty. We have a plane to catch in six hours and twenty-two minutes." Emmett tried heist best to sound serious. Bella lifted her head off of Alice's shoulder and looked over at the kitchen entryway to see Emmett with his arms crossed against his chest and a smirk plastered on his face.
"Emmy, you look like a nutty boogeyman with your face like that." Bella said before a childish pout appeared upon her features. Emmett's smirk faltered a little before his eyes lit up again. Unbeknownst to Bella, Emmett used his vampire speed to zip across the room to where Alice was.
"I'll show you what a boogeyman looks like." Emmett quipped before tickling Bella's sides. Bella began to giggle hysterically before her breaths became shallower and her little heart pounded frantically beneath her chest.
"Em – Ah! Stop! Stop it! No!" Bella cried as she continued to laugh wildly in Alice's arms.
"Emmett Cullen, you stop that right this instant, young man." Esme ordered him from where she stood at the sink. Alice smiled as she idly watched the interaction between her family members while being in the middle of it all. Alice couldn't remember a day being any happier without Bella in their lives, and she wish there wouldn't ever be a day where she'd have to know it at all in the future.
"Al, why are there mirrors in this elevator?" Bella asked curiously as she looked around the spacious compartment that was lifting them up to the twenty-third floor level. Alice looked down at the little girl holding her hand and smiled before glancing around at the golden reflections that casted back mirror images of the two of them.
"Well, I suppose it's part of the decorative design around here. People like to look at themselves in the mirror whenever they see one, Bella. So someone probably thought they might as well place some mirrors in here to let people entertain themselves while the elevator raise or lower them to different floors." Alice answered.
"I see." Bella stated before going back to observing the platform.
After the small good-natured banter between Emmett and Bella took place back at the house, Alice went on to leave but Bella whined and tried her hardest to hold her back. Alice told Bella that it was important that she go get the things now before they left for Canada, but Bella kept on begging to come with. Alice finally gave in after the little girl started to pout and threatened to not eat her breakfast. She waited for Bella to finish her pancakes before dressing up Bella to come with her. Alice had buckled her up in the kid's seat in the backseat of Carlisle's car, and then it was a good half an hour drive before they got to the fashion bureau.
The platform came to a stop at level twenty-three and the doors slowly slid open. Alice led Bella out of the elevator and walked down the hallway towards her office. She had to stop a few times when some of her colleagues tried to say goodbye and told her what a shame it was that she was moving away so soon and how they'd all miss her. Alice tried to keep the conversation short and nice before leading a quiet Bella into her private space on the entire floor. Alice closed the door behind them and let out a breath before rolling her eyes, and the little human grinned as she took in the vampire's stance.
"Be nice, Alice." Bella said as she shook a pointing finger at Alice. The vampire giggled and crouched down to scoop the little girl up into her arms. Alice nuzzled her face into the crooked of Bella's small neck and inhaled her cotton candy scent as a wave of calmness washed over her.
"It's all your fault, Bella. Why do you have to be so darn popular today?" Alice whined before pulling back and giving Bella a peck on the cheek. Before Bella could open her mouth and tell the older vampire to behave again, a knock at the door caused the both of them to whip their heads towards the entrance of Alice's office. Alice sighed and muttered a few curse words under her breath too fast for Bella to hear before setting the little human down in her armchair behind her desk. Alice strode across the spacious room and opened the door, revealing a good-looking brunette in his early thirties. Alice's heaved another sigh too lowly for him to hear and put on a fake smile.
"Hello Alice, I heard that you were in the building to pick up your things. I thought that I would come over, seeing that a little pretty lady like you could use all the help one can get." the Scottish man offered flirtingly before letting his eyes wander down her lithe form. Alice terribly wanted to roll her eyes at his antics, and she tried her hardest at collecting herself before giving him a polite response.
"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Taylor, but I brought my own little helper today, so I'll be fine." Alice tried her best to keep a well-mannered composure since he was her ex-boss after all.
"Now Alice, how many times have I told you to call me Nick?" the man said flirtatiously before glancing over her shoulder to see who the little helper she had mentioned was. As much as Alice wanted to close the door on his face, she knew that it wouldn't be a very wise decision to do so. Alice opened the door wider for the man to come in, seeing that he was pretty adamant about not leaving anytime soon by way that he was standing at her door.
"Come on in," Alice said well mannerly even though the words were strained, before walking over to the armchair where Bella sat.
"Bella, say hi to Mr. Taylor." Alice introduced the two. Nick looked at the little girl in confusion but then realization set in as he figured out that this was Alice's little helper. He hadn't actually expected it to be a little person. In fact, he had suspicions that Alice was mentioning about one of their co-workers. Good, he thought to himself, time to get reacquainted.
"Well, hello there, young lady. It's so nice to meet you!" Nick overplayed the introduction. He's tried many times but failed to get Alice's attention, and now was probably his chance to impress the girl by showing her how conscientious and caring he could be through the use of this child.
Bella observed the older man in his stylish tailored suit and thought he was a pretty handsome man, but out of the corner of her eyes, Bella saw clearly that Alice did not seem happy with this good-looking man around. Bella noticed that he was staring at Alice in the way that everybody else had, except it had a little bit more intention than people usually had for her Alice. Bella refocused her attention on the man who seemed to carry himself with extreme confidence that didn't appear very inviting to her. After much deliberation, Bella decided that she didn't like the man. He simply smelled like a walking bottle of overpriced cologne, and that had cost him all the brownie points Bella could've given him if he'd walk in without wreaking the air with his pungent smell. But even then, she didn't like him by the way that he stared at her Alice. He would've never gained any points with her anyways.
"I don't like you." Bella simply stated as the other two gasped in response. Of course, Alice did it for show while Nick was seriously surprised at the child's way of behaving towards him.
"Excuse me?" Nick questioned before raising an eyebrow at the child.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Taylor. Bella didn't mean that now, doesn't she?" Alice pretended to apologize and played along.
"I don't like him, Alice. I don't like the way that he looks at you." Bella explained before the man started laughing. For what reasons? They both hadn't a clue. Alice wondered whether she's to laugh along with him for show or give Bella a kiss for telling him off for her, but before she could do either, the man's mouth decided to go off again.
"Oh Alice, this child you have here is quite a handful. How ever do you manage?" Nick joked, but little did he know, it had hit the wrong nerve. Both Alice and Bella were now glaring at the oblivious man, and if the human knew any better, he should be leaving immediately before Alice decided to decapitate him for saying the things he did about her Bella.
"Mr. Taylor, I really don't care for your advances towards me, but please, keep your indecent thoughts about my Bella to yourself. I believe I don't have to show you where the door is. Please escort yourself out." Alice announced his departure for him. Nick's chuckles immediately stopped and he looked incredulously from the little girl to Alice who was standing protectively near her. Fortunately for him, his subconscious instinct picked up on the danger that flooded through the room that told him to leave. Nick nodded curtly and wished her bon voyage before he stepped out of her soon-to-be old office and then quickly closed the door behind him.
"He's a jerk!" Bella remarked while still glaring at the door as Alice began to chuckle beside her.
"I don't know, Bella... Maybe he's right. How do I ever manage with a child like you?" Alice teased the little human. Bella let out a huff while crossing her arms and turned her face away in the opposite direction. Alice immediately zipped to the other side of the armchair and crouched down, before leaning in and gently nudging the tip of her nose against Bella's little one. Bella's lips slowly curved into a smile before she leaped up from the chair and jumped into Alice's arms as she wrapped her small ones around Alice's neck.
"You're a jerk…" Bella murmured into the crooked of Alice's neck. The vampire chuckled and put a hand behind Bella's head to run her fingers through the soft wavy brown hair that had grown past her shoulders.
"And you're a twerp." Alice teased again before running her hand up and down Bella's small back to soothe her little girl. After a few minutes of silence had gone by with Alice rocking back and forth while running her slender hand along Bella's spine, she pulled back and looked intensely into Bella's eyes.
"Don't ever leave me, okay? I don't think I could ever manage without you." Alice confessed. Bella looked at Alice in confusion but Alice just leaned in and let her cold lips linger against Bella's forehead.
"Please don't ever leave me." Alice whispered against Bella's temple.
"Okay." the five-year-old whispered back to reassure her.
Bella still couldn't understand the meaning of Alice's words, but she knew that Alice needed to be comforted more than anything at the moment. So Bella offered what she could to ease the vampire of her fear.
"I'll be here forever." said Bella.
Little did Bella know, the words would always be remembered by Alice, for it was the simple things the child says that instilled a hope in Alice that'll last for an eternity to come.
"Come on, let's put these picture frames and other memorabilia into the empty box so that we can finally leave." Alice said before she leaned in and gave Bella a peck on the cheek.
"For good?" Bella asked as she reached for a picture of her and Alice and placed it gently down in the small cardboard box.
"Forever." Alice smiled at her little soul mate.
A/N: This is one of the longer chapters, because I thought I'd include some additional background information. :) Hope everyone enjoys the update, and have a beautiful day ahead! ;)
Disclaimers: I do not own Twilight.