When Jasper and I had blindly followed Alice to the Cullens, not knowing the future that awaited us, there were many times that I could see Jasper warring with himself, worried that the cons of the situation would outweigh the pros, that he felt he was allowing us to be led into danger. I'm sure that if Alice had given off one wrong emotion back then, one emotion to make him think twice about what we were walking into he would have grabbed me and ran without a second thought. But Alice's emotions had been so pure and so positive that Jasper couldn't help but believe what she told us; a life with a family that didn't live off the blood of humans.
I had watched Jasper struggle with his guilt and depression for far too long and I was willing to do anything if it would take that away even if it meant swallowing the nasty liquid that ran through the veins of the wildlife that I had lived beside for decades without so much as a single thought of taking a sip. I was doubtful that the picture Alice painted of our future, doubtful that reality was going to live up to the idyllic world she had 'seen'.
Jasper and I had both been wary about approaching the Cullens. Both aware of the reaction most vampires had to the scars that covered him. Alice suggested that she approach the family alone first, that she had seen them accepting us either way but that it would go smoother if she approached alone and told them about us before they saw us. Jasper had been conflicted, it went against his instincts to send a woman into possible danger alone, but logic won out when he thought about their possible reactions to seeing him without first receiving a warning.
Alice had all but skipped her way through the trees and up to their door to knock. We had arrived while Edward had been out hunting and they hadn't been forewarned of our approach, something I'm sure Alice had orchestrated. The family had been intrigued by the joyful little vampire and Carlisle had been all for teaching others about his way of life. Jasper and I had remained out of sight and downwind should the Cullens react poorly despite Alice's assurances. She all but bounced as she motioned for us to come closer so she could introduce us to the family.
I linked arms with Jasper and we slowly walked out of the trees side by side, a small show of trust despite Jasper's desire to pull me behind him with the presence of the unknown. Despite the warning and our slow approach, Emmett and Carlisle couldn't stop the instinctual steps closer to their wives. Carlisle did his best to play a gracious host as we came closer, stepping forward and offering his hand to Jasper. Alice was beaming brightly, likely seeing one of her visions coming to life in front of her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Carlisle, this is my wife Esme, our son Emmett and daughter Rosalie, we are missing one though, our son Edward is out for a hunt at the moment, though he'll likely be back soon." Jasper nodded to the others as he shook Carlisle's hand.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir. I do apologize for any disruption we have brought to your day." Jasper said politely.
"I'm Jasper and this is Abilene." He introduced and Carlisle smiled.
"It's always a good day when we meet others interested in our way of life. Would you like to come inside to talk?" Carlisle asked. I knew Jasper would struggle with the decision, thinking about the safety of going inside versus staying outside so I stepped in.
"That'd be lovely." I replied. Jasper looked to me uncertainly but I gave him a smile and rubbed his arm. We walked inside, Alice acting like she'd been there forever as she curled herself into the corner of the sofa and smiled, completely at ease with the new surroundings while Jasper and I were far more cautious as we too took a seat on the sofa. Carlisle told us the story of his change and how he had come to discover that vampires could sustain themselves on the blood of animals. I was rather intrigued by Carlisle's resolve, I remembered all too well the instinct when I was first changed, I hadn't even made the decision to attack, instinct had driven me to latch on to the neck and drink till the blood stopped flowing. I couldn't imagine having tried to fight it.
Edward had arrived after Carlisle's retelling, his reaction much more standard then his family's given his lack of warning to Jasper's appearance. I had ended up pressed into the corner as Jasper blocked me from Edward's view as the two snarled at each other. Carlisle had gotten in between and quickly calmed the two but it took a long time before Edward completely calmed in Jasper's presence. Despite Edward's reaction we were invited to stay and we did, though Jasper and I preferred to remain outside the house the majority of the time.
Adjusting to each other had taken a while, Carlisle and Esme taking to the three of us sooner than their 'children'. Alice didn't let the apprehension stop her from quickly making herself a part of the family, the three 'children' took to Alice easily and from there began to accept Jasper and I slowly, learning to look past Jasper's scars to the man that I saw.
After Carlisle and Esme, Emmett came around first. He thought it was great that he finally had someone to wrestle with that would fight back and he could have an even fight with. Carlisle was too much of a pacifist to enjoy the activity and Emmett called Edward's mind reading a form of cheating. Seeing the two roughhouse without Jasper trying to kill Emmett finally allowed Edward to loosen up and eventually he joined in, if only to test how Jasper did against his mind reading.
Rosalie came around as we stood on the sidelines watching the three men roughhouse. She claimed to see a kindred soul in me and unlike Alice was able to sit in silence while we merely enjoyed each other's company. My relationship with Rose had bloomed into something I had never experienced before. Granted I had become close with Charlotte, but this was different. I could only assume it was because of Charlotte's expectations from me. Charlotte's expectations of guidance had made it difficult to allow myself to relax, uncertain how she would react if given the wrong response where Rosalie looked to me for nothing, anything she could possibly look to me for was easily found elsewhere with other members of the family and I found that it allowed me to truly relax for the first time since Peter and Charlotte's arrival so many years before.
In the beginning I would often wonder if Alice had found something more with her arrival. She and Edward seemed to become close after her immediate interest in music that Edward was more than happy to indulge, but nothing ever became of it other than a fast kinship. Edward was not looking for love, if anything Edward was simply content to no longer be the only single member of the family and Alice seemed more than content with just being a member of a family.
I had particularly enjoyed Alice's enthusiasm in learning to play the piano. It didn't take more than a couple days before Alice was proficient enough a pianist that she could play songs meant for those a little more accomplished than amateurs. One night, Edward had begun teaching Alice a song that sounded familiar. I pulled Jasper closer to the house, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he too recognized the song. Jasper and I joined Carlisle and Esme on the sofas and watched the lesson till Alice managed to play the song to completion. The fours of us clapped before Jasper requested that they play it through one more time.
Alice beamed and twirled, posing her fingers before letting them glide over the keys. Jasper's hand found mine with the first stroke of the keys and pulled me to an open portion of the room where the furniture wouldn't obstruct our movement. I smiled happily as Jasper pulled me close with his hand at my hip while his other hand entwined with mine. As Jasper and I danced I could see Esme beaming as she watched us dance and listened to Alice and Edward play.
The memory played fondly in my mind as Alice joined Edward at the piano once he finished the song he had composed for Esme. Jasper's head perked up from where he had been playing a complicated game of chess with Emmett as Alice began the opening chords of Heart & Soul. It was one of her favorite songs but it had become tradition when she joined Edward at the piano because of the reaction it caused from Jasper and I.
Emmett was already rolling his eyes before Jasper abandoned their game and pulled me from my place at my easel. I smiled as he twirled me around the room, just as he had all those years ago and has many times since to this very song. Sometimes Rosalie and Emmett would join us, other times Carlisle and Esme, but more often than not it was just us. We'd dance as if no time had passed, as if it was still 1939 in a dance hall surrounded by oblivious humans while too absorbed in each other to even notice the passing of time.
Jasper still wore that closed lip smirk whenever we danced, always so pleased with himself that he had introduced me to something that brought me so much joy. He had made it a point while we traveled with Peter and Charlotte that we went to a dance hall in every city. We had danced to many kinds of music and learned many different styles of dancing as they evolved through the years. Even after we joined the Cullens Jasper and I would often disappear for the night to go dancing, occasionally Rosalie and Emmett would join but not often. Going out dancing had been our 'thing' or so Emmett had later declared it, stating that they almost felt like they were intruding when they tagged along.
As the song came to an end I let go of Jasper's hands and cupped his face, pressing my lips to his for a sweet kiss. I pulled back after a moment, smiling at the love in his eyes before pressing one more chaste kiss to his lips and walking back to my easel. Jasper turned, watching me go before returning to Emmett and their games. Emmett was waiting impatiently though I could see his smirk. He knew better than to say anything, he knew he was just as bad when it came to anything that made Rose happy.
Jasper would still often tease me about my affection for my two 'human distractions'. Despite Jasper's excellent work at teaching me to read and write I still wasn't fond of activities that required them and though I had overcome my hatred of humans as a whole, I still was adverse to many of their practices. That being so, I was slow to invite human innovation or adopt their means of entertainment and hadn't expanded my hobbies like Jasper and the Cullens did. There were some that I tolerated but I still mostly clung to the things that had brought me comfort since my change. My rock face had been exchanged for an easel but I still painted to find contentment and solace, the music and style changed but Jasper and I danced to bask in the love we had found in each other.
Despite their more accepting nature the rest of the family did the same in their own ways. Carlisle still cherished the large wooden cross that had hung in his father's church, still clung to the moral beliefs that had been taught to him since childhood, those beliefs manifesting in his desire to preserve human life which had driven him to become a doctor while fighting against the nature of what he had become. Esme was ever the home maker, seeing to the many homes we traveled between and the family like a mother despite the absent necessity for the action. Edward immersed himself in music, whether it be listening, playing or composing. Rosalie found her solace in mechanics, fixing and tuning the vehicles that took residency in the garages. Emmett and Alice were much alike in the sense that they seemed happiest while in the presence of others, almost seeming lost when left to themselves and tended to seek out the rest of us to draw us all back together. And Jasper, his solace was being needed. Since he was human he'd moved from one cause to another that needed him, in his childhood he and his siblings were needed to aid their parents in running the ranch, when he'd become a man he was needed by the confederacy, he fought for Maria because she told him she needed him, he was lost for a time when he first left Maria and joined Peter in a life without war, but then he'd once again found himself needed when I needed someone to stand beside me to teach me how to live.
I hadn't realized how lost I was in my thoughts till Jasper's arms circled my waist and his head rested on my shoulder. I smiled at him, pressing a kiss to his cheeks before returning my attention to the canvas in front of me. I had started this painting the night before as Jasper had been sitting in the armchair by the fire place. He had been lost in a book with an expression of complete contentment, the scene was my definition of idyllic and I wanted to capture it. Now, like in that moment, I felt the swell of happiness in my chest where my heart once beat. Jasper turned his head, his nose nuzzling the juncture of my neck and shoulder with a hum.
"What are you thinking?" He asked softly. I knew he could feel it, knew how much I loved him, but it didn't change the fact that he loved to hear it.
"That I love you." I replied before kissing his now smiling lips.
