Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

Chapter 17 – Family History

On the way back she drives with one hand, the other busy holding mine. She alternates gazing at the last remnants of blue lingering in the sky and the road with occasional glances in my direction. The speed is always steady, if a little faster than I would like, and she keeps perfectly centered in her lane. I guess she wasn't bragging when she said she could drive blindfolded.

"So, now I can ask you all my questions, right? Since I didn't run away screaming or end up as a vampire's meal." She chuckles and nods in agreement.

"Yes, but first I need to ask you a favor." She simpers a little.

"Shoot."

"Call Alice. I'll give you the number. My hands are occupied…"

"Okay. But I'll have to borrow your phone. Mine is at home."

She tells me it's in her parka's pockets, trying to keep a straight face. She fails; her exasperated amusement can't be contained.

I fish the device out, and find Lynn's sister in the contacts list. Alice answers immediately.

"Hi Brandon. I've been waiting for your call."

"So you know what this is about…."

"Of course. But first, how was your official first date? Was it good?"

"Don't you know already?"

"I know I'll see you again soon, Brandon, for something fun. I'm optimistic, but I want to hear your own report. So, let's try again, was it good?"

"That would be an understatement if I've ever heard one. It was awesome."

She laughs and gleefully relates to somebody, probably Jasper, that everything went just as she had foreseen.

"Can you rate it on a scale from one to ten?"

"Alice…." Lynn chides her

"Okay, okay. I give up, for now. Regarding the other matter, yes, I saw that at some point in the near future we will run into some drifters. Vampires who, unfortunately, do not share our qualms with taking human lives. They must be the ones whose minds you felt today. They are leaving, as far as I can tell, but they will return in the next month or so. It's hard to pinpoint the exact day."

"Okay." Lynn's jaw seems tense. "But you think there is nothing to worry about?"

"Not right now, no, but as you know the future is in constant shift… Maybe we should be on our guard, just in case."

"Okay, thank you Alice." Now that Lynn is done I tell Alice that on a scale of one to ten our date was a cool one hundred and I also thank her. She laughs happily and hangs up.

"Brandon. I think I won't allow you out of my sight for a while. Maybe until the drifters leave for good. Just to make sure you're safe. I don't want to be overbearing but….."

"Say no more. You'll get no complaints from me."

"So, where were we? You had questions, right? Where would you like to start?"

"You're seventeen in human years, how about vampire years?"

"Carlisle turned me in 1918, in Chicago. I was in a hospital bed, dying of the Spanish Influenza. My parents had already passed away. That's one of the reasons he saved me; nobody would notice my absence. Nobody would miss me."

"How did he turn you? How does it work exactly?"

"It's not easy to do. It takes great restraint. You see, when we feed we are taken by a kind of frenzy. Our instincts take over and only drive us to sate our thirst at the expense of anything else. However, if we manage stop while the human heart is still beating, our venom will, over the next few days, turn the recipient into a vampire." She stares out the window now, searching her memory.

"Do you remember much about your real family?"

"Not a lot. I remember my mother a little. Human memories fade quickly and that was a long time ago. Carlisle and the others have been my family much longer, and all my vampire memories are not as corruptible."

"You really love them…"

"Carlisle and Esme are the best parents anybody could ask for, and I love my brothers and sisters dearly."

"Wow, you've been alive for more than ninety years… But why did Carlisle save you? Many people must have been dying at that time…"

"Like I said, since I had no family left nobody would worry about my fate. Also, he was lonely. He had been lonely for a long time. He had never tasted human blood before, yet he managed to halt his feeding in time and give me my new life. His self-control defies description; it's practically legendary."

"How did it feel? Was it painful?"

"Yes. Very." Her eyes harden. "For three days, I felt like I was burning alive, eaten from the inside by invisible flames. For three days, I wished I would die. And then, when I came out of the darkness, for a year my unquenchable thirst was the only thing on my mind. Carlisle had to take me away from the cities, into the wild, to places where only animals could be our prey."

I think it's time to distract her from painful memories.

"So, how about the rest of your family? How were they turned?"

"After changing me, Carlisle had a daughter of sorts. He was pleased with me, and one day a woman whose family had succumbed to the flu fell off a cliff. When they brought her to him, she was barely alive but beyond his considerable skills as a healer. He decided to save her. He couldn't imagine that after recovering she would fall in love with him, and that he would immediately reciprocate her feelings. They've been together ever since."

"Ninety years or so. Amazing. My parents' marriage didn't last three years."

She smiles, but can't quite bring herself to laugh. A shadow taints her expression.

"You really didn't have an easy childhood, did you?"

"It was fine, don't worry about it. I want to hear more about your family now."

"Well, next Carlisle saved a dying young man's life; he was in his twenties, a talented painter we had met before."

"An artist? You mean Jasper then?" Appearances deceive, but Emmet doesn't look very artistic to me.

"Actually, you haven't met him. His name is Valerian. He's not in Forks at the moment. He shares our morals and doesn't hunt humans, but he prefers a nomadic lifestyle and he roams the world with his partner, a beautiful Japanese girl called Ayami. He visits once or twice a year, if he can. To be honest, I think Carlisle was hoping Valerian could become, for me, what Esme was for him. His intended matchmaking didn't work out; we only loved each other as brother and sister."

"And next…."

"He turned Rosalie. She was also beautiful as a human, maybe too beautiful for her own good. Some men assaulted her, brutally, and left her for dead. She was in such a rough shape only a vampire could have saved her, and Carlisle did. He was feeling sorry for her. She was the one who later found Emmet, up in the mountains. He had been fighting a bear and things were not going well. Rosalie fell in love with him right away but she didn't think she'd be strong enough to turn him on her own, so she brought him back to Carlisle and begged him to do it. She carried him for miles; she can be stubborn too. They've been together, and sickeningly in love, for the last sixty years."

"Hold on. So, does a human have to be dying to be turned?" It's too early to talk about the implications of all this, but I have suddenly realized that there is a chance we might truly be together, someday. I want to know what it entails.

"No, that's Carlisle's policy, so to speak. He only turns people who have no other hope of surviving, no other choice. He has never killed a human; the only time he tasted people's blood it was to turn them."

"So, what about Jasper and Alice?"

"Their story is really quite different. They weren't turned by Carlisle, even though he loves them like he loves all of his children. As I told you, Alice can see the future, er, possible futures to be exact…."

"Yes." I'm mesmerized. This is better than most movies. I didn't know reality could be so fascinating.

"She foretold the possibility of encountering our family, and Jasper, among many other paths, and chose to find him and join us. You can imagine how surprised we were when a strange little girl knocked on our door and started talking like she already knew everything about us…." She smiles at the memory. "They've been with us ever since and they're the best siblings I could ever ask for. Alice has also been very supportive throughout my recent bout of madness. I really should thank her."

"She predicted you would…" I think of her words in the parking lot; it was just a few days ago or a short week ago but it feels like a memory from a previous lifetime now. Maybe it is….

I still have many questions, but we have made it back to my place. It's a little later than expected and my dad's car is already parked in the driveway.

"I don't want you to leave." I tell her.

"Can I come in? Do you think your father is ready to learn about us…?" She looks almost shy again, even unsure.

"Sure. Come in. He already knows I like you and he'll be happy to see we are together. Join us for dinner…. At least I already know you won't like our cooking; the pressure's off." I grin.

She laughs and we both step out of the car.

"Besides," I add in a conspiratorial tone, "a formal introduction will make things easier if you're around here often." I hope she cannot sense the fear of rejection thickening my voice. It's waning, but it's still there.

There is no moon in the sky but one does surface in her smile.

I open the door. Dad is in the kitchen.

"Brandon?" He shouts.

"Yes, dad," I yell back. Who else would it be?

"But I'm not alone." I walk in still holding on to Lynn's hand.

"Good evening, chief Swan. I'm Lynn Cullen. We briefly met at the hospital but we were never properly introduced. It's a pleasure to meet you again, sir."

Dad's mouth gapes at us for a few seconds.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Cullen."

"Please call me Lynn."

"Okay. Lynn it is…."

He casts an appraising glance at the two of us, especially the identical crescent moons on our chest and our interlaced fingers, then beams like he hadn't done in years, if ever.

"Brandon, I thought you were meeting your friend tomorrow?"

"Er, she persuaded her father to let her hike with me today instead. She can be very convincing." She casts a quick, amused glower in my direction.

"Did you guys have a good time?" He seems uncertain about whether he should feel proud or worried. I'm sure he's happy I have a girlfriend, but maybe he thinks he's too young for grandchildren. He doesn't know that's not in the cards for Lynn and me.

"Yes, it was great dad." I reply, bashful.

"Your son is a good hiker, sir, and the weather was really nice. It was a perfect day for a walk in the forest."

"Call me Charlie, please. Your father and I are good friends. He's a fantastic doctor."

"Thank you, Charlie. I will."

"Will you be having dinner with us, Lynn?"

"If I'm not imposing…."

"Not at all." He says with a joyful grin, cheered by the prospect of having a pretty girl keeping us company for a change.

"Yeah, but I got to warn you dad; Lynn always eats very little. Don't take it personally. I'm starving, so I'll help her out if needed."

"Well, son, today the fish was catching. You guys go and sit in the living room and I will call you when the salmon is ready. Tomorrow you're on mess duty though. Don't forget."

"I won't, dad."

Lynn and I sit on the sofa. I fall again into the bottomless waters of her iris and lose my train of thought. A while later, I remember something.

"Lynn, come to think of it, all the people in your family have been in committed relationships for, well, a long time…" I look toward the kitchen, mindful that we can't talk freely with humans other than me in the vicinity. "That sounds very different from what goes on in our muggles' world. One of my mom's brothers has a different girlfriend every time I see him….."

Lynn looks away for a second, but then frowns.

"Let's talk about this later." We are both whispering, but my dad could come by any time, especially if he doesn't even hear our voices.

"Okay," I say, louder this time, before asking her a few questions about the area where we went hiking or other spots she knows. We only keep up the chat for dad's benefit.

At dinner, dad and I rarely talk much. Today, with a guest present, he makes an effort to be a little livelier. Lynn, polite, smart, and dazzling, has him wrapped around her finger in no time. And he must notice, I hope, how close she is to me, how we often just look at each other wordlessly, how I blush uncontrollably when he brazenly asks her what her family thinks of her new boyfriend.

"Dad…" I snarl.

"Actually, Charlie, they would be delighted to meet him. In fact, I was wondering if he could spend tomorrow afternoon at my place before he performs his tour of duty in the kitchen. I'd like to officially introduce him to my parents. We are a little old-fashioned, as you know. Alice really likes him; I'm sure everybody else will too."

I know she can be a charmer when she wants to, but I look at her surprised, and a little worried. In front of my father I cannot point out that they probably won't approve of a human boyfriend. It would complicate things immensely.

"Sure, Lynn, it's probably a good idea." He agrees promptly.

We chat a little more, and when I ask him about his day he tells us he had to return home a little earlier than planned; two hikers went missing between Forks and the Mount Olympus area. They'll go search for them tomorrow and he had to make a few calls to coordinate efforts to find them; they will need volunteers to scour the woods close to town while park rangers will search the trail where they were last spotted. I remain impassive at the news, but squeeze Lynn's hand; this could be related to the other vampires whose presence she felt. I hope those two only lost their way but I don't think that's the case.

Dad doesn't seem too keen on discussing work matters in his free time, so Lynn chats with him about sports, especially baseball and football, and even manages to hold her own; I can tell he's impressed. She adds that the sports' fanatic in the family is Emmet, one of her brothers. Dad remembers him as the biggest guy in the local high school. Meanwhile, I devour my food and she deftly hands me some of her portion so I can help her make it disappear. My dad's cooking skills are limited but he can make a pretty mean baked salmon. It's all tasteless to her, unfortunately.

When our plates are empty I help dad clear the table and then take on dishwasher duties. Lynn wanders closer to the two framed pictures on the wall behind our dining table. In one of them, younger versions of my parents smile at the camera all decked in wedding gear. In another, my father's eyes sparkle with glee as he holds a pinkish, hairless baby, later named Brandon, in his arms. I blush a little, realizing she's looking at my old photo, but nobody pays me any mind.

Dad notices her interest and saunters closer to her.

"It was just a small ceremony…" He mumbles, embarrassed. "After what I believe some would call a 'whirlwind romance'. Our families were not thrilled either, and mostly decided not to attend." The sadness in his voice betrays the true nature of the hurt he tried to hide with casual words. Lynn just smiles at him, sympathetic and possibly worried about making him feel more miserable.

"She lived in Seattle with her parents, but moved to Forks to be with me, despite their disapproval. Maybe they knew better. Maybe they could see that no amount of love could keep two individuals as different as we were together. Maybe they knew we would just crash and burn." Dad adds in a voice fraught with painful nuances.

But I know there is one memory from that time he often loves to share, despite the bitter ending that eventually followed.

"Dad… Lynn is too polite to ask but I think she'd like to hear how you two met…. "

She frowns at me, but plays along.

"Brandon is right. It would mean a lot to me. But if this is something you don't wish to talk about I'll understand." Her smile is so sweet he feels obliged to comply despite his misgivings; I warned him she can be very persuasive….

"Well," he says, cheering up a little. "It is a funny story, or so I'm told. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"I'm all ears." She really is.

"In a nutshell, I arrested her." He says, and guffaws loudly when he sees my girlfriend's stunned expression.

"She was in the area for some music festival just outside of town, camping out with some hippies. On the last day they left without her, for whatever reason, and she found herself stranded here with no money and no friends. She tried to sleep on a park bench and some locals reported her. I wasn't the chief then, of course, I was just a rookie and I was sent over with a colleague. I took her in for vagrancy and she spent the night in a holding cell. I was also at the station, on the night shift, and we started talking to while away the time."

"That's my dad's idea of courtship." I quip. "Hit on a girl that can't possibly run away. Not a bad strategy…."

We all laugh.

"You should have seen her…" He resumes his story when the hilarity dies down. "There she was, sleeping on a park bench like a bum, all decked in a hippie style outdated for years. Her long hair was braided and sported so many beads she couldn't take a step without clacking like those plucky accompaniment instruments they use in South America. And she was wearing so many layered paisley shirts and skirts that looking at her could induce vertigo. She even gave me some rambling speech about the police serving as a tool of the right wing." He pauses and shakes his head, still shocked and amused in equal mesasure.

"But she had a good heart and I felt drawn to her carefree spirit. The next day, I offered to buy her a bus ticket to Seattle so she could go back home. She never got on that bus and one year later Brandon was born."

His eyes seem to go out of focus and grow brighter as he quietens down, his smile fraying at the edges; I guess weepiness is a family curse. Lynn, to avoid him further embarrassment, just studies the pictures a little longer and decides to steer the converstaion in a different direction; to my extreme displeasure, she remarks I was a beautiful baby.

Dad still looks a little distracted, but he perks up a little and leads us to the living room, where he digs a photo album out of one of the cupboards while I sit with her on the sofa. He opens it on the coffee table, from his comfiest armchair, and joyfully regales her with a series of stories from my childhood that almost make me wish I'd never been born at all. I'd never heard him talk so much, and the minutes pile up and become a full hour. While they talk, I hold Lynn's hand and try to hide how peeved and discomfited I feel. I also can't help wondering whether dad was ever taught the meaning of the word 'discretion'.

Eventually Lynn tells my father she should go home, and thanks him profusely for his warm hospitality and his willingness to share some of his family history with her. She seems truly moved.

Back to his usual stolid self, he reminds me I should take care of my homework tonight if I'll be out most of tomorrow. I scowl at Lynn when I remember she cornered me into going to her place. I like her family and I'm glad I'll get to know them better; I just think she should have asked me about it in private. I have more immediate concerns. I still don't want her to leave and as I walk her out to the car I tell her so.

She responds with her trademark impish smile.

"I could come in through the window, if you like…. We'll have to be quiet until your dad is asleep…"

"Okay. I will see you upstairs." I promptly agree. Two inches of charged air separate us as the usual electric current flows between us. "Lynn, aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?" She frowns, puzzled.

"A first date like this should definitely end with a good night kiss."

"But I'm not really leaving…" She still seems confused.

"I know that….. But my father doesn't, and he might be watching us….." I wink, and leer exaggeratedly. She laughs and gives up.

"Okay, but be good."

"Okay."

Those inches become nothing and our lips resume their reciprocal exploration; the world becomes a distant memory for a few ecstatic moments. When we separate, we lean so that our foreheads touch and close our eyes for a brief instant. I let her go for now, just in case my dad really is watching us from the living room's window, and stumble back home.