Out of the Shadows, Into the Light
Disclaimer: Me? Own Twilight? HAHAHAHA…no.
This chapter is dedicated to Pinetail Alice Cullen, xtwilightxchickx, Briony97, twilighter97, and k-pattttttttz. Just to let you know, this chapter's more of a family-fluff chapter.
Birthday
Since Alice was planning an all-day shopping spree the next day, the others helped Lily bring up a bunch of real paint, brushes, canvas, ladder, and planks of wood. Lily said she wanted to redecorate her room just a bit, so they left.
Lily locked the door to the room (even though she knew they could just break it down, but did it anyway to let respectful people know she wanted privacy) and set up the ladder. She set up the wood on the ceiling, like scaffolding.
After she mixed together the paints into the colors she wanted, she set up her artist's palette and started painting. When she was done with the ceiling, she took down the wood and started on the wall. When she was done with that, she got out the pocket-knife she had taken with her and started carving little pictures into the bookcase.
When she was done, the paint had all dried, so she cleaned up in a second and threw out the garbage then brought the rest of the stuff back to the basement. Alice was first to greet her when she came back up.
"Are you done with your room yet? Can I see?" she begged. Lily nodded, and she squealed. "Guys, come on, Lily's going to show us her room!" They were there in a split second. Lily opened her door.
The ceiling had been painted black from the end of the room near the bookshelf then lightened to midnight blue, then sapphire, then Egyptian blue, then cobalt, the indigo, and finally to the blue of the sky in the day at the wall. There was the moon and stars and shooting stars and comets and meteors and other planets on the ceiling.
On the wall was the sun, and there was a lush green landscape painted onto it. There were trees, and a white house with a black roof and dark green shutters in the center of the forest. The bookshelf had been carved with little intricate patterns of flowers, especially lilies, and animals, particularly tigers.
The Cullens and Jacob stood awestruck. Lily shifted nervously. "Is it that bad?"
Alice snapped her head toward her. "No! Of course not! It's absolutely awesome! Right, Jasper?" She nudged her boyfriend. He nodded, still staring at the ceiling.
Esme ran her slender fingers over the patterns on the bookshelf. "That's…amazing," she whispered. Carlisle agreed as he placed his arm over her shoulders.
Bella and Edward looked at the wall. "Is…that your old house?" Bella asked tentatively.
Lily nodded. "It's where I used to live."
"It's beautiful. You miss it, don't you?"
"I'm not sure," Lily admitted. "I know so much, but, at the same time, it feels like I know nothing."
Rosalie got up and hugged her. "It's alright. You're part of the family now." Emmett joined the hug, and then everyone else, including Renesmee and Jacob, did, too.
Lily had spent the night painting and watching. At night, her ceiling and wall looked dark, but as twilight approached, some shades of pink, orange, and yellow just like the sky outside appeared, then sunrise came and the room turned red-orange. When the sun was out, the room was back to normal.
Lily sighed and looked at her picture. She had cut a huge (and neat) rectangle of canvas from a clean part and used some oil paints.
Now it showed a family portrait, though no one had posed for it: there was the white couch in the family room that seated three people, with Bella on the left, Esme in the middle, and Alice on the right. Edward stood behind Bella, wrapping his arms around her. Carlisle was behind Esme, with his hand on her shoulder, her hand over his. Jasper stood behind Alice, with both of his hands on her shoulders. Emmett and Rosalie were next to Jasper, Emmett holding Rosalie. Renesmee was sitting in the couch-arm next to Alice, and Jacob was kneeling next to her, in front of Rosalie and Emmett (in human form, of course).
The floor was wooden, and there was a large window with just a bit of sunlight reaching in. Someone knocked on the door. Lily knew it was Alice.
"Come in," Lily said softly, her voice still like the light, musical, airy, yet slightly mysterious and haunting tone of a Chinese mountain flute. Alice came in, almost like she was dancing.
"The others are all ready to go shop –" Alice stopped and gaped at her portrait. "This is amazing! Like a photo, only better. But…where's you?"
"It's a family portrait," Lily pointed out.
"Didn't you hear Rose last night? You're part of the family now! You paint yourself in while I get you something suitable to wear." Alice danced out. Lily looked at the portrait. It wasn't that good…was it? And she only knew them for a day, so how could she be part of their perfect family yet?
But Alice would never stop harping her about the portrait if she didn't paint herself in, so she drew herself in the space next to Edward and Bella. She was trying to go for the blending in look, but she now stood out just as much as the Cullens and Jacob. But Alice was back, so she couldn't change anything now.
"Excellent!" Alice trilled. She blew on the painting then grabbed it and hurried downstairs, but not before shouting back, "Hurry up and get dressed!"
Lily looked at the clothes Alice left. There was a sleeveless silver shirt with silver sequins on it, a pair of silver jeans, and a pair of silver slippers. Did Alice predict she was coming and decorate everything silver…? Oh, well. She put them on, placed her other clothes in the laundry bag, and went downstairs.
To Lily's dismay, Alice had passed her portrait around already. Esme was already moving the genuine Leonardo Da Vinci painting off the wall and measuring the spot for Lily's. "No, please don't," Lily moaned as Esme sent Emmett to hang the Da Vinci in the downstairs bathroom (though no one used it, really).
"No, I insist! This is the only family portrait we have. We haven't managed to do one after Renesmee was born, but this is just…fantastic!" Esme exclaimed as she scanned the portrait again. "Hmm…I think a gold frame would work well with this."
Lily sighed. She wasn't going to win this battle. "Alright, then should we go now?"
Alice squealed, "Yes, finally!" She pulled Lily out of the door. Edward and Bella climbed into the silver Volvo, Carlisle and Esme into the black Mercedes, and Emmett and Rosalie into the red convertible. Alice shoved Lily into the backseat of Rosalie's BMW M3 then hopped into the yellow Porsche with Jasper. Four very fast cars sped down the highway.
Lily fidgeted a bit in the car. Emmett turned around from the front passenger seat and beamed at Lily. "Hi, Lily!"
Lily stared back in shock. "Um…hi?"
Rosalie laughed as she drove. "Emmett, don't scare her!"
"Sorry," he muttered. Then he piped up again. "What do you want for your birthday?"
"Um…" Lily thought for a bit. "I'm not sure."
Emmett laughed. "Aren't you supposed to know everything?"
"I only know…well, facts. I don't know opinions."
"Well, Alice is going to be buying your wardrobe, and Jasper will be getting a book most likely. Carlisle and Esme will probably get you new art supplies. And Edward and Bella…well, I'm actually not sure," Rosalie admitted.
"So? What do you want?" Emmett asked eagerly.
"Er…I saw this Narnia movie poster. I could try archery," Lily decided.
"Okay!" Emmett seemed satisfied. So they went on talking until they got to the mall, which only took a few minutes, considering they drove very fast.
Now Bella and Edward were talking to Lily as they entered the mall. "So, Lily, what's your favorite music?" Bella asked.
Lily pondered the question. "I don't know what I liked before the transformation, but I did see this show while I was traveling. It's not really a kind of music, but I love Riverdance now. And their dancing is just so awesome! And I…" Lily blushed. "I broke into a music shop, so I pretty much know all the instruments, but I can't play piano except for Riverdance." Now she was spinning and twirling a few Riverdance moves.
"Why not the piano?" Jasper asked curiously.
Lily made a face. "I just can't concentrate on two different pieces of music."
"It's the same music, just different –" Edward paused. "Oh. I guess I see your point."
"But you're still awesome at the piano," Bella laughed. Emmett and Rosalie headed towards the sports department, Edward and Bella headed towards the music and dance department, and Carlisle and Esme headed towards the art department. Alice dragged Lily off to all of the clothing stores while Jasper trailed behind but pausing at a bookstore.
Alice began tossing various items at Lily as they moved through the stores while she talked about this and that. They paid and were joined by Jasper, who was carrying a bag from the bookstore. He waited outside while Alice pulled Lily into another store to buy makeup and hair products.
Finally, hours later, the Cullens left the mall and headed home. Jacob had been playing with Renesmee the whole day, but now they distracted Lily while the others went at vampire speed wrapping the gifts and decorating. After saying hi to Renesmee and Jacob, Lily was called to the living room.
"Happy birthday!" they shouted. Lily smiled as she looked around. There were silver streamers, silver balloons, and the gifts were wrapped in silver wrapping paper.
"Mine first!" Alice shouted. She pulled Lily upstairs to her room with her. Alice proudly opened Lily's closet door, and Lily gasped.
Alice had filled every single bare spot with everything she'd bought earlier that day. Everything was organized by type of clothing, brand, then color, then shade. Alice had also stuffed the vanity full of the makeup, also organized the same way as the clothes, only first by type of makeup. Alice let it all sink in before dragging Lily back downstairs.
Jasper handed Lily a square package with a "Happy Birthday". Lily unwrapped it and gasped again. Jasper did get her a book, but it was an electronic book, meaning it was shaped like a book only metal and electronic with practically every book every written downloaded onto it and she could pick any story she wanted (AN: I REALLY wish this existed! Well, maybe it does, but it'd be very expensive). The font was adjusted so the story took up the exact amount of space in the book.
Rosalie and Emmett gave Lily pretty much every archery related thing. There were multiple targets of different sizes and shapes and colors, and some were mechanized to move by themselves. They'd gotten her a steel bow, an iron bow, and a bunch of other bows made out of other metals and woods. Then there were the arrows. There was practically an endless supply of them, and in different styles, shapes, lengths, different ends at the arrows, and all that good stuff.
Carlisle and Esme gave Lily an artist's dream come true. There was canvas, oil paints, water colors, paper, brushes, pencils, markers, pastels, chalk, charcoal, clay, a potter's wheel, and anything else an artist would need.
Edward and Bella gave Lily all editions of Riverdance CDs, DVDs, and books. They'd also given her a lot of dancing shoes in different colors and styles that all perfectly fit her naturally tiny feet that were shaped like a "Golden Lily", which was a shape all women in Ancient China wished to have when they bound their feet, though Lily's feet were natural.
"We also got Alice's attention while you were in the changing rooms," Bella told Lily. "She helped us pick out all the outfits there suitable for Riverdance, for both genders in case you decide to teach someone."
"I really don't deserve this," Lily said tearfully.
"Too bad, it's all yours," Alice said jokingly. Lily smiled.
Renesmee was bouncing up and down. "It's Jacob's and my turn!" she shouted. "Mommy and Daddy called while you were shopping and told me something we could do," she told Lily as they and Jacob headed to the living room. Lily stopped and stared.
Renesmee and Jacob had found all the instruments in the basement and set them up, good as new, around the room so it looked more like a music room what with a piano there already. There were parts of some instruments, like rosin or reeds, that needed to be renewed and other instruments they didn't have so Jacob and Renesmee also went shopping for a bit, too.
Lily gasped and ran her fingers on the cello. "Thank you!" She hugged both Renesmee and Jacob.
"And this is from all of us." Carlisle held out one last tiny box. Lily carefully unwrapped it. Inside was a gold silk ribbon hair-tie with a stone with the Cullen crest on it as the centerpiece.
"This is to show you are in the family now. We all have them. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett have theirs on leather bands on their wrists. Alice has a small one as a necklace. Rosalie has hers on a chain. I have mine on a ring. Esme has hers on her bracelet. Bella has hers on a pin. Renesmee has hers on earrings. Jacob would have one, but he doesn't want it yet."
Lily smiled. Suddenly, she felt a wave of confidence wash over her. "Jasper, was that you?"
Jasper shrugged. "Sorry, but you were feeling all undeserving."
"Just wait until I get back at you," Lily muttered.
Emmett laughed. "Oh no, we have a Triple V in the house!"
"A what?" Bella asked. Edward groaned and Lily frowned. She did "know".
"Triple V means Very Vengeful Vampire." Emmett looked so proud of himself. And he was emanating waves of cockiness – too much. Jasper glared at Emmett.
Emmett frowned. "It sounds stupid." Then he started dry sobbing. "I am such a horrible person!" Then he cheered up. "Well, now I know how stupid I can get!" The rest of the family was laughing. Jasper joined, so now Emmett was free. He glared at him now, and then got a sneaky look on his face. Jasper clapped his hands over his ears.
"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. Then he groaned and fell to the floor. Edward was torn between amusement and disapproval.
"Emmett, stop torturing them and keep one emotion," he said, finally taking a side. Emmett frowned and stopped, but then ran off before a very moody vampire could get up, but he chased after him, anyway. The rest of the family could hear, somewhere very far away, Emmett shrieking. Rosalie sighed and ran after them before her husband was torn to pieces.
Thank you for reading, people! So please, vote on the poll in my profile. And read my other stories, too, please! Oh, and I have been thinking up other story ideas that aren't on the poll, but I've been typing them up, too. Here's the summary of one of them. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 !-- /* Font Definitions */ font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ , , {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} 1 {page:Section1;} --
When Esme Platt moves to Forks to escape her abusive fiancé, she didn't expect to fall in love with the mysterious doctor. But what happens when said ex-fiancé shows up?
So it's really Carlisle and Esme taking Edward and Bella's spot. I've seen ones where Alice and Jasper take their spots, and one Emmett/Rosalie, but never a Carlisle/Esme, so I thought, why not? If you want to read this, tell me. If I get enough people who want to read it, I'll post it soon. If not, I'll just leave it lying around until after Valentine's Day when I set up a new poll and put this is one option, then wait another month or so when the poll closes and see if this story won. If I don't post it, I'll try to send an excerpt of it to people who do want to read it. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! And spread the word if you really want to read it. Just don't take my idea, please. It makes me feel sad. :-(