"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's creepy watching someone while they sleep." Bella said as she opened her eyes the next morning finding Rosalie laying on her side looking at her.
"Pfft, as if you would be interesting enough to watch sleep." Rosalie stroked the kittens sleeping on Bella's chest. "I was watching our children sleep."
"They are cute aren't they?" Bella asked.
"I hate saying this sweetheart but they are much cuter than you are in tiger form." Rosalie told her.
"I'll give you that" Bella agreed. "but what about my human form?"
"Wellll." Rosalie said.
Bella reached out and tickled Rosalie's side. "I'll show who's cute!"
"Bella, stop!" Rosalie begged as she laughed. "You could hurt the kittens."
Two newly awake sleepy faced kittens look at the pair. "I bet they're hungry. Let's get dressed and feed them."
"I really don't want to leave them all day." Rosalie said as she lifted the kittens off of Bella and set them on the bed.
"I know Rose, but we can't take them with us everywhere we go." Bella told her. "Beside it's not like they will be alone. Charlotte and Esme will be here all day and we both know they won't let these two out of their sights."
Rosalie huffed as she pulled on a pair of jeans. "That's not the point Bella. I'm just going to miss them."
"And they will be here when you get home." Bella reminded her. "Now come on let's go feed both them and me and get to school."
Picking both Kittens up carefully Rosalie cradled them to her chest as she followed Bella down the stairs to the kitchen. Charlotte was already there placing a platter of various breakfast foods at the kitchen bar. "Good morning Charlotte. Do you think you could warm up some milk for these two?"
"Of course, Rosalie. I wouldn't want to put them down either if they were snuggled up to me like that."Charlotte said as she began heating up the milk. "Bella dig in, I made three different types of frittatas for you to try."
"Charlotte I was wondering if you would mind babysitting Anne and Joe today while we are at school?" Rosalie asked.
Charlotte gave her a bright smile as she placed a bowl of milk on the counter. " I would love to spend time with these little guys. It's so wonderful to be able to be around animals again. I grew up on a farm and we always had some type of barn cat around the entire time I was growing up. Having a cat was one of the things I missed most about being human. Cats have such pure souls and they always know when you need them the most. I remember when I was ten I had an orange cat named Buttons that was like my best friend. Even slept in bed with me not caring at all about my mother making a fuss when he did.I loved that cat. He was my best friend."
"Well you have Anne and Joe now and I'm sure they will adore you just as much as Buttons did." Rosalie said, surprised that Charlotte shared that memory.Vampies didn't like talking about their human life as it was often painful. This was because most were turned due to horrific circumstances and more times than none without consent. The thought of being able to do simple things such as pet a cat and all the other little things you took for granted while you were alive that once you turned you could never do again was at times devastating. It wasn't uncommon to hear of recently changed vampires trying to destroy themselves because they couldn't deal with the loss of the life they had to give up. After she had her revenge on Royce, Rosalie herself had thought about it. If it hadn't been for Esme and Carlisle she would have. Looking at Bella now, as she was eating the last of her breakfast,Rosalie sent up a thank you to whatever deity that may exist for sending her the people in her life at the times she needed them the most.Without them ,both the good and bad people, she wouldn't have found Bella.
"You ok?" Bella asked, Rosalie had a far away look on her face and hadn't chimed in on the conversation for awhile.
"Yeah I'm fine." Rosalie gave Bella a kiss on the cheek. "Just thinking about how much I love you."
"I love you too." Bella promised.
Noticing Charlotte no longer in the room Rosalie asked. "Where did Charlotte go?"
"Oh, she left while you were staring at me with that dreamy look on your face." Bella told her with a chuckle.
Rosalie rolled her eyes and threw a napkin at Bella. "It wasn't dreamy. I was simply wondering why when you are in tiger form you can fight, kill and then eat a bear without getting so much as a drop of blood on your fur but as a human you get food everywhere. Like right now, you have hot sauce on your cheek."
Bella wiped her face with the napkin. "Did I get it?"
"Let me have it." Rosalie took the napkin and cleaned off Bella's cheek. "I honestly don't know how you managed to survive before you met me."
"It was a miserable existence that's for sure." Bella said taking her plate to the sink and washing it." We need to get going if we don't want to be late. Grab Anne and Joe and we will give them to Charlotte."
Rosalie picked up the kittens and carried them into the living room where Charlotte was sitting on the couch reading a book. "We have to head out, can you take these two."
"Of course," Charlotte said as she grabbed a blanket to put over her legs. "What do I need to know about taking care of them?"
"The have a litter box in my room. It's just a box with sand in it for now. We are going to go pick up all the supplies we need after school so that will have to do for now." Rosalie explained. "You can give them some more warm milk when they get hungry."
"I think I got it." Charlotte reached for the kittens. When Rosalie didn't hand them to her she promised. "Rosalie I will guard these kittens with my life. No harm will come to them while you are away."
Bella wrapped an arm around Rosalie's waist. "Rose, you can trust her. Not just because of who she is, but also because who in their right mind would harm the children of the Great White Tiger's imprint."
"I just want to know they are ok." Rosalie said defensively as she set the kittens on Charlotte's lap.
"I promise to send you text updates along with pictures through out the day.I will make sure my phone is completely charged and never leaves my side." Charlotte offered. "That way you can know about their wellbeing anytime you want."
"Ok." Rosalie grumbled as she snuggled into Bella's side.
Noticing Rosalie was beginning to get emotional and knowing Rosalie would hate for anyone to witness her in a state Rosalie considered weak, Bella guided Rosalie out of the house. This time she was the one to open Rosalie's door. After sitting in the car for a few minutes and Rosalie not making a move to start driving Bella asked softly. "Rosalie what's wrong? Are you really that worried about the kittens because I'm sure Charlotte will take care of them just fine."
"No it's not about the kittens." Rosalie huffed at herself. She was being silly and she knew it. She just couldn't help herself. "Well it is kind of about the kittens. They are the first living thing that I am completely responsible for."
"What do you mean?" Bella asked.
"It's just, I've always wanted to be a mother ever since I was human, you know." Bella nodded for Rosalie to continue. "I was never even responsible for a pet in my human life and the closest I've come to having children as a vampire is having Alice and Emmett in my life. So I feel scared that something is going to happen to those beautiful little souls and it will be my fault. If something goes wrong and I'm not there it's means I've let them down."
"Rosalie look at me." Bella gently grabbed Rosalie's chin and turned her face so she could see her eyes. "Bad things are bound to happen. That's just life. What matters is how you react to those bad things. You can do everything right and still something could go wrong. You can't spend all your time waiting for the other shoe to drop. You need to enjoy the time you have with them while you can."
Rosalie fell into Bella's arms. "I know I'm being a baby but I just want them to be safe and happy."
"And with you watching out for them, they are guaranteed to be just that." Bella told her, kissing Rosalie's hair and stroking her back. "Now we need to get going, we are late and I can only image the teasing we are going to get because of it."
Rosalie groaned and turned the car on. Bella was right, she couldn't control everything. It would just take away from the time she could spend enjoying life and a life besides Bella for the rest of eternity didn't sound quite so bad she thought to herself.