Charlotte was right. The Black Forest was gorgeous. The evergreens blocked a good portion of the sun that shined above as we remained in the densest portions of the mountain range. The moss was thick enough to act as a cushion as I sprawled out, enjoying the heat from the few rays that managed to make their way through the canopy.
It was so much different than the forest I called home but it had its own charms. In some ways it was similar to the forest surrounding Forks while still remaining so different. The range was strewn with streams and ravines, all which managed to remain the purest blue while the water in Forks and my home were both murky; Forks from the constant rain and home from the loose soil of the river beds.
I had already finished several landscape paintings for Esme. Like with our siblings Esme encouraged all artistic hobbies; Edward's music, Alice and Rosalie's designs, my painting, Emmett's wood carving. While Rosalie's love of mechanics and Jasper's books weren't artistic, Esme still went out of her way to find Jasper the newest publications and to compliment Rosalie's work though she knew little about what Rosalie was actually doing to the cars.
Since Jasper and I joined the family Esme had made sure that at least one of my paintings was in every home that they owned. In fact, she was the reason I started painted on canvas at all. I had been content painting on cliff faces and in caves like I was accustomed to and had continued to do so till Esme and Carlisle stumbled upon my work. She hadn't said anything, instead the next time she went into town she bought supplies and left them in Jasper's and my room. At first, I had been confused, then Rosalie had explained that painting on canvas made it possible to hang the paintings on the wall to display and Esme was trying to silently encourage me to paint in a way that she could display. She also explained that Esme was truly a mother at heart and she liked to display the work of her 'children' as a humble brag to show her pride. The change had been gradual and I did it mostly for Esme, the cliff face closest to the house in Forks was still littered in scenic pictures till the rain managed to wash them away and then I would start again.
Emmett liked to joke that someday humans were going to find my paintings in the more sheltered locations and they'd appear in their high school textbooks as 'ancient art'. He liked to theorize that they'd be studied like some cave he'd read about in France that had cave paintings from thousands of years ago. 'Abi, you might just ruin everything the humans think they would about ancient art' he'd cackled. I didn't see how my paintings would be able to do such a thing but the thought seemed to bring Emmett enjoyment so I let him be.
I sighed as I felt Jasper lay down beside me on my bed of moss. He was still for a moment before I felt his arm tuck under my shoulders so he could drag me closer. I let out another contented sigh as my head came to rest on his chest. The last couple weeks had been nostalgic and I'd felt more peace than I had in months.
"I'm starting to remember why it was so hard to leave." Jasper mused and I opened my eyes to see Jasper's eyes closed as he too soaked in the sun, his skin casting off beams of light in a beautiful display. I smiled and closed my eyes again.
We'd left Forks the last day of June and joined Peter and Charlotte in England for a week before the four of us made our way here. Peter and Charlotte stuck around for a couple weeks and it was like old times, but Charlotte got bored quickly and they decided to move on to visit France while Jasper and I decided to stay behind. It was freeing to just be the two of us, to be without constraint and to not have to worry about anyone but ourselves, I felt like I could truly breathe for the first time since Bella had walked into our world. I knew it wouldn't always be like this, that eventually things would settle and the tension and drama would no longer be thick enough to cut with a knife, but I was also aware that such a time was not in the near future.
My only regret was that we had promised Alice that we would be back for Bella's birthday in September. That had only given us two months to roam before we'd have to go back and unfortunately our plane tickets were for next week.
"I'm going to miss this." I said and curled more into Jasper side.
"We could always pick another destination, maybe somewhere with a little more sun and take off till Christmas."
"I'm sure Carlisle could suggest somewhere." Jasper hummed and we lapsed back into our comfortable silence for a little while longer.
"Why does Alice want us back for Bella's birthday?" I pondered. In the time that we had been with the Cullens, birthdays were a rather arbitrary event since we didn't truly age. Emmett and Rose were the only ones that took note of each others' birthday in more than a passing fashion, with gifts and sweet words while the rest of us seemed rather oblivious to the occasion, likely because Emmett and Rose were the only couple to both remember when they're birthdays were.
Alice had no recollection of her human life and had only recently started to discover more through research. Carlisle was from a time older than mine that didn't note the day of birth but instead the date of christening which wasn't commemorated yearly. My birth was likely documented but my mother had never shared the date with me. Jasper only vaguely remembered a celebration of birth during the winter months and he wasn't certain that it was his birth that was being celebrated.
Esme remembered her birth date but thought it unfair to celebrate when Carlisle didn't know his. Edward knew his, but saw it as yet another symbol of the damnation of his soul to vampirism that the date was truly meaningless as he didn't age and therefore saw it unfit to celebrate. This all made Alice's decision to celebrate Bella's birthday all the more strange to me.
"It's likely just an excuse to put together a celebration and to bring us all together. You know how Alice tends to enjoy the trivial aspects of humanity. She's likely taking the opportunity to once again live vicariously through Bella while she remains human." Jasper replied and I hummed in understanding. It sounded like Alice and yet still seemed so pointless.
"Do you believe Bella will make the year?" I asked and Jasper shifted as he opened his eyes to look at me.
"In what sense?"
"As in remaining human. You heard Edward's discussion with Alice as well as I did. Bella wants to be changed and she doesn't want to age beyond Edward. She's only to become more persistent as time goes on." Jasper nodded his understanding and thought for a moment before speaking.
"I believe Edward will insist that she wait till after graduation at the very least. Waiting till we can tell the humans that she's gone off to college would be best and would give us the chance to remove ourselves from Forks before her change in a way that the tribe can't be outspoken about. I imagine she would be turned next August at the earliest and that's only if Edward can't convince her to actually take part in the college experience."
"I don't think she'll be convinced. She has all of eternity to go through school as many times as she pleases and she knows it. I believe he's going to have a very hard time getting her to wait past graduation." I predicted and Jasper shrugged.
"Ultimately, we'll be there either way."
