DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the new characters and the plot twist. Any original characters, music, famous people, places, or items (unless otherwise mentioned) are not mine. Read on. :)
BPOV ~ Present Day
A soft smile graced my lips as I crossed the room and gently touched Gen's shoulder, trying to snap her out of it. She blinked a couple of times blankly, and then looked me in the eyes, as if registering if I was there for the first time. Luckily I had realized she was zoning into a flashback and shielded her from Edward, otherwise some major trauma would have been in store. I figured they would have recognized her by now but apparently not.
From what I could tell, Edward couldn't even remember that she existed, and Carlisle had been traded to the families doctor in the following week of her visit, so he wouldn't even have known of Genevieve's being alive either. The fact that she eventually became a vampire, and my adoptive mother… And Destiny's grandmother? What else could it be but destiny itself, working and weaving its way into our lives? Of course, Edward would have never seen it that way. He never did as it was. I wonder what will happen once we get upstairs and the entire family story unfolds…
I feel a set of eyes on the side of my head and I turn slowly to meet his gaze. I don't bother turning away, because I know that he will. Sure enough he does. I turn away and look at Genevieve. "You okay?" She nods and I go slowly up the stairs, Nicholas still trailing beside me. I set Destiny down and they stand together. I crouch slightly. "Meet us at the library, okay?" They nod simultaneously and run up the stairs, disappearing from sight.
I stand up and Toby is beside me. He smirks and tugs his fingers through his already messy hair, messing it up further. I laugh as Sam steps up behind him and takes his hand, he half turns and scoops her up as I start to step up the stairs, heading up to the first landing. Aw, the relationships in this family. Cute, yet sometimes so nauseating. I don't have to see them on the road, but when we're home they're so obvious. I shiver and turn onto the second upward staircase, up to where I can already hear the kids.
Leaning over the banister a bit, I can see everyone following me. I jog the last few steps and hop right to the double doors… I touch the Masen crest on one and sigh, twisting the large brass knob and pulling it open.
The plush chairs gathered around the big table around the middle have always reminded me of the knights table. I always remembered that's one of the things I loved most about the original house back in Tennessee. The library. It felt most like home, even more so than the room they gave me at first. I spent so many nights curled up by the fire in a chair with a big book. Many of them dozing off. I looked around slowly, I always felt that this was my sanctuary (in the original house) much as Matilda felt that her library was her sanctuary.
I looked for the children… they were easily spotted. Already poring over an album at the table in the middle. Good. Everything we needed was already there. All of our documents, such as copies of adoption papers, and passports, and things of Gen's and Leo's.
And then there were the photo's, photos of all of us kids growing up, and then of the couple, as they lived through the eras, until they found us. And of course photos from when they lived as humans as well. Those were really the most treasured, as there were so few of them.
I moved to the table, noting how much Destiny was acting like me in this moment. She was sitting cross-legged, wearing a turquoise and white striped shirt, black knee length tutu, turquoise knee length leggings, black glittery flats with little turquoise bows, and she held her little stuffed rabbit in her lap. That thing was so worn and soft, with her love, I was surprised it wasn't falling apart yet. Nicholas slowly turned the pages in the album, and they looked at the pages, commenting quietly at what they saw.
I took a seat near them, hovering as the guys might say, but whatever. Protecting them is in my nature. It has been since I met Nicholas, and since I got pregnant with Destiny. Des turns to me, "We're finally hearing the full family history right? No more bits and pieces of the story." I chuckle and nod. "No more bits and pieces." … I feel a gaze on the back of my head and turn, to see Edward leaning on the doorjamb, of the now open double doors, watching in the partial darkness. He stands fully as I turn, approaching us. I turn back around and focus on the emblem carved into the dark wood of the table, the same crest as on the doors, only much larger.
I touch the large hooves of the horses nearest me on the crest as I hear him pause behind me, and then inhale to speak, only to have him move suddenly. I realize why a brief second later. Families trickle in quickly now. Two, three people at a time. What's the matter? Can't speak in front of people? I smirk to myself as he moves and then stops, almost abruptly. He stands almost across from me at the large window in the room, reminiscent of the windows in the bed rooms from the Secret Garden. I can see his reflection, and he stares outside ominously, his arms folded over his chest, his face pretty much reflecting the gray storm clouds.
I think for not even a second, before I mentally speak to him… "You brought it upon yourself you know…" His eyes widen in his reflection, and then his gaze meets mine, without even turning around. He knows better than to do so, I think. In this room of full people. But he did recognize my mental voice. That's a start. I eventually break the look and turn to Destiny who is watching me. I smile at her and open my arms. She smiles back and climbs into my lap. I squeeze her and look up as Genevieve and Leonardo gathers everyone around the table, though they don't sit yet.
Nicholas scoots over a seat so he's beside me again, and watches his grandparents, and that's where Destiny looks as well. I rest my chin atop her head as I get comfortable. I suppose I'll be asked to tell my part of the story… Since I am considered a large part of the family… being the leader of the band… and Destiny's mother. I squeeze her again and kiss the top of her head.
"The emblem in the middle of the table is our family crest. Bella likes it, obviously. She has used it in several designs in her home, but this is a design that was in our original home, and the emblem itself was on an heirloom from Genevieve's family. Gen?"
I started lifting books and closing them, to get them out of the way. My siblings realized what I was doing and did the same after approaching the table and sitting, stacking them so the crest was uncovered. I pulled out the book that had what the meanings meant and slid it down the table to my parents and Gen smiled, flipping it open.
"Thank you. Well, after eventually finding this book I discovered what each symbol meant. The horse on each side means excellence in equestrian ability, the castle in the bottom right corner means safety, the sword and shield in the upper left means justice and defense, a squirrel in the bottom left which means lover of the woods, and a swan in upper right which means lover, light, grace, and sincerity. The colors behind the images themselves have meaning too. The silver means peace, and the navy means truth and loyalty. Of course once I had it all deciphered I decided to show it to Leo…"
"And since I hadn't had as much luck in finding items from my past, or not even a crest, I decided to use hers as ours. Especially since at the time we were living under her maiden last name. It had such good and hopeful meanings behind it after all, meanings that already had to do with our family. Why not use it?" He took her hand and she squeezed his, smiling at him lovingly.
We finally finished clearing the books to reveal the entire crest, including the elegant scroll at the bottom, spelling out 'Masens' in a curvy cursive script. The near deafening silence in the room seemed to echo, as one person approached the table further. Esme. She leaned over it to inspect the coat of arms even closer and then looked up at Genevieve.
"How old is this, do you believe? … And where did you find it?" Mom looked up at her easily as the Cullens slowly approached the table, surrounding it, and taking seats, after my siblings.
"Hard to say really… I had some collegiate professor's look at the original ones I found, there were around… four? I think." Genevieve looked down as if to study it, as if she hadn't already done the same over a thousand times, then looked back up at her. "In my youth's human family homestead. One was a tapestry, the second was on the lid of an old steamer trunk, another was painted above myself and my family in a family portrait, and the fourth was on the cover of my father's family bible. Sad to say the only ones in color were the tapestry and the painting, and those were the most worn and the largest ones. The professor estimated the tapestry to be, what was it darling? … Oh yes, from around the 1630's. Quite interesting really, that the tapestry, all rolled up like a rug, in the eaves of the house, was an old family heirloom."
Quiet chuckles through the room, surprisingly from both groups, as the atmosphere relaxed a bit, and Leo and Gen looked at each other. "Leo, you start?" "Alright hun. Well, from what I remember… I was raised by a well-to-do, middle class family, out in Mississippi, back in what the kids like to call the pioneer days." A lazy smirk from a couple of the guys as they either lean back in their seats, or lean forward, propping their heads up on their arms. "It must have been, oh, around, 1870? I was the eldest son, and there was a daughter at thirteen, and a baby brother, at barely five. Pa decided to move 'out West' as he called it, and since my sister was still too young to marry, she had to go along. Ma had wanted me to go along the journey so badly with them, for a few reasons."
"Being twenty-seven, you would think, at that time especially, I would have settled down with my own family already, and started having children. But no. I had somewhat dedicated myself to a higher purpose, studied the word of the Lord, and had moved on from that, was willing to be pastor, or minister to whatever town my family came to, and settle down with a nice girl in said town. Or even with a girl that we met along the way. I wasn't a strict person of the church; I still could have rowdy moments, and didn't wear my collar outside of my duties, or really outside of my previous training. I behaved the exact same way at home as I did before, and there wasn't a difference that I could see. I still laughed and played with my siblings, helped my father in the fields, helped my mother cook, hunted with my dogs, rode horses, and did everything I used to do. But back to our journey…"
Both Destiny and Nicholas watched and listened with big, round eyes. I carefully pulled out my phone and snapped a few photos of them silently, and went back to listening.
"For almost a month, they stocked that wagon, and then Pa went and sold the majority of his herd, except one heifer, and her calf. And of course kept two strong horses as well, to pull the wagon. Eventually they gave the house to distant relatives, and helped them settle in, and then one night, we lived in that wagon. The house wasn't ours anymore. Pa and I spent most nights up on the bench on the front of the wagon, with Ma and the young'uns in the back, with the lantern. My dog, an Aussie Shepherd that I called Blue, because of his eyes, such a bright blue that seemed to glow in the dark. We kept the baby calf tied up in a crate, attached to the back, and the mama cow would always follow, but just in case she was chained on as well. "
"All I remember… is that eventually we got somewhere near where Kansas is today, and we were in a wagon circle, with a bunch of other travelers when we got attacked. It was in the middle of the night. And we didn't hear a single thing, and the next thing we knew, we were being ripped from our beds, and there was blood."
A/N: :O SO LIKE There's some interaction between Bella & Edward?! OOH! :D And some storytelling I could totally see Bella leaning to the side and taking pictures like that xD Its something I would totally do in real life. Anyway. KEEP THOSE REVIEW COMING! I LOVE THEM and yeaaaaa :) If you guys have any questions or comments leave them in the reviews too. I'll try to answer them in the next chappie for you guys! Xoxo Tiffany