"Hey guyyyysss," Alice sang as they stepped through the front door. "Look who's heeeerrrreeee..."
She led them into the lounge where they were all sat down. Bella and Edward were on the love seat by the door, Carlisle and Esme were sat on the sofa with Jasper, Rosalie was sat on the sofa opposite and Emmett was on the floor by her feet. They all looked up to the doorway.
Jaq felt herself tense again. There were so many of them. She felt Nathan tense behind her too. Connor however, was completely comfortable.
"Have a seat." Carlisle gestured to the empty part of sofa next to Rosalie.
"Hello again." Bella smiled as they sat down.
"Hi…" Jaq said shyly. She was slightly more comfortable than she was yesterday. It was probably something to do with Connor and Nathan being with her.
"Hi," Connor smiled. "I'm Connor and this is Nathan." How could he be so relaxed?
"Hello Connor," Carlisle smiled. "and Nathan." He introduced the rest of the family. "I'm Carlisle, this is my wife, Esme, and this is Jasper, Bella, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett. We call ourselves the Cullen family around the humans but none of us are actually biologically related."
"There's … ahem… quite a lot of you." Said Nathan.
Carlisle laughed. "Yes, we do seem to have become quite a big group over time. But you mustn't feel threatened."
"Yeah…" Nathan murmured unconvinced.
"So where are you guys from?" Bella asked. "You don't sound American."
"England. We all came from the same area in fact."
"How long have you been in America?"
"Just under a year."
"Not long then?"
"No."
At that point there was laughter in the hallway and three other people walked in to the room. Two were very tall Indian boys probably in their twenties, one slightly taller and older looking than the other. The older looking one was carrying a young girl with coppery bangs. She looked about seven physically but her eyes seemed much older.
"Is this…?" The girl asked in a tinkling voice. Both Jaq and Nathan flinched at the sound. The girl had a very shiny yellow aura that sparkled gold in the light and she smelt weird – like nothing Jaq had ever smelt before. Jaq frowned. Was that a heart-beat she could hear? It couldn't be – it was too fast… like a bird's...
"This is Jaq, Nathan and Connor." Alice grinned jumping up. "I told you they would come, didn't I?"
The tall Indian laughed. "Wow the gypsy lady was right." Alice hit his arm with a frown. "Oww." He complained.
"You know you deserved it, Jacob."
"It was just a joke."
"Sure it was."
The girl laughed then turned to the others. "Hi, I'm Renesmee but you can call me Nessie," She grinned. "And this doofus next to me is Jacob." She joked in a way that no seven year old should.
Jacob made a theatrical gasp. "I'm not a doofus!"
Renesmee giggled.
"I beg to differ." Rosalie muttered.
Jaq watched Jacob - His brown-yellow aura was shimmering red. The other Indian boy's sandy coloured aura was the same. That was weird. She'd never seen that before…
"Jacob and Seth are werewolves," Edward explained. "Or shape shifters … to be more accurate." Obviously he had heard her thought.
"That would explain the smell…" Nathan said.
"Huh?" Smell? It was the girl who smelt … not the boys.
"How can you not smell that?" asked Nathan incredulously.
"Smell what?" Jaq asked confused. "What does it smell like?"
"It smells like…." He wrinkled his nose. "Wet dog."
Rosalie laughed.
Jaq shook her head. "I can't smell it."
"Wow…" Said Seth looking at Jacob. "That's weird…"
"Uhu…" he replied. "You can smell Nessie though, right?" He nodded towards Renesmee.
"Yeah, I can smell her…" Jaq said. "It's a weird smell though. I've never smelt it before." Renesmee laughed.
"I'm a half-vampire," She explained as her, Jacob and Seth sat on the floor by Bella and Edward. She pointed to the couple above them. "And these two are my biological parents." She laughed again at their confused expressions and, seeming bored of the conversation, began making faces at Connor.
"Oh." Jaq said surprised. Well, that explained the heartbeat.
"I didn't know you could even get those…" Nathan said next to her.
Bella laughed. "Neither did we."
"So, what about you guys?" Asked Emmett. "Which of you changed the other?"
Jaq laughed. As if she could've changed him…
"What's so funny?"
"Jaq isn't actually venomous." Nathan explained.
"Huh?"
"We don't know why." Jaq shrugged. "I was changed with venom… we just don't know where it went."
"Hang on," Emmett said frowning. "You can't smell the dogs and you're not venomous…" He looked at the others. "I don't think she's a vampire."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Ignore him." She said to Jaq. "He says that about me all the time."
"That's because you're too tame."
"So, how did you meet?" Bella asked ignoring him.
"She was lying on the road, dying of a stab wound." Said Nathan. He seemed calmer, though he did seem to be avoiding eye contact with the werewolves. Obviously he didn't trust them. It wasn't a surprise really – he'd never met one before. "So I changed her. I couldn't just leave her there..."
"Carlisle's like that." Esme said smiling. "He only changed us when we were dying anyway."
"You changed all of them?"
"No," Carlisle shook his head. "Only Edward, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett. Edward changed Bella and Alice and Jasper came on their own."
"I was gonna say…" Nathan muttered.
Jaq smiled and looked down to Connor. His stomach made a loud rumble. He grinned at her apologetically and she laughed.
"You hungry, kid?" Jacob asked him.
Connor nodded.
"Come on," He beckoned. "Let's go get something to eat."
Connor looked up to Jaq and she nodded. He ran off after Seth, Jacob and Renesmee.
"He's sweet." Rosalie remarked. "How old is he?"
"He's just turned twelve."
Rosalie smiled sadly. "Wish I could have children."
"That's the thing I wish I could get back." Jaq replied with a similar expression.
"Alice," Said Seth from the doorway. "Did you buy any ketchup?"
Jaq suddenly realised what Alice had been buying the food for – not for appearances at all.
"Yeah," Alice frowned. "I put it in the fridge. Is it not there now?"
"I'll go have another look." Seth said as he left the room.