Author's Note: In this chapter, there's a time jump. I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. The main part of the story will probably be throughout the Twilight series, so it was necessary. If you want me to write some one-shots of what happened in between time jumps (because believe me, there will probably be more), just say so in a review. As always, reviews are highly appreciated.
Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine. Mallory is. Don't sue me.
oOo
A few months had passed since the lake incident. Mallory had settled in comfortably with the Cullens and had even gotten around to calling Carlisle and Esme by their names instead of Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. She was still being taught piano by Edward, and loved it. During the summer, the Cullen kids helped her learn how to swim. In the fall, she had started kindergarten. Now it was spring, and Jasper had promised Mallory he would teach her how to ride the bicycle she'd received from Alice that past Christmas.
That morning, Alice had skipped down the stairs grinning. "Something wonderful is going to happen today!" she sang.
"There's a sale at your favorite store?" Emmett guessed.
Alice rolled her eyes and didn't reply.
Rosalie walked in. "Who wants to go hu-" she paused, having spotted Mallory, and continued, "Hiking? Who wants to go hiking?"
"Oh, I will!" Emmett said loudly. "Maybe we'll spot a grizzly." He winked at Rosalie, who slapped him upside the head.
"I'll come too," Esme offered. The three of them grabbed their hiking boots and left. Mallory had gotten used to these random hiking trips. The Cullens were outdoorsy people, even when it was raining cats and dogs.
Mallory finished her cereal, placed her bowl in the sink, and turned to Jasper. "Ready?" she asked eagerly.
Jasper smiled at her eagerness. "Ready when you are."
Mallory practically dragged Jasper out to the garage where her bike was. It was her favorite color, green, with black handle bars. Rosalie had already taken off the training wheels. Jasper pulled the bike out and Mallory got on.
"You'll be behind me, right?" Mallory questioned, suddenly nervous.
"Always," Jasper replied.
Taking a deep breath, Mallory pushed down on the pedal. The bike wobbled, but she steadied it by pushing down on the other. After that, it was easy. Jasper jogged behind her as she pedaled down the driveway.
Then came the turn.
Mallory had turned on a bike before, but that was with training wheels. This was different. She turned the handle bars slightly, but the bike tilted, and suddenly she was on the ground. It hadn't hurt, but she scraped up her knee. A bit of blood oozed from the cut. Mallory winced. "Ouch," she muttered, and looked up at Jasper.
He was standing very still, eyes wide. He bared his teeth and an unearthly snarl ripped from his throat.
"J-Jasper?" Mallory whispered.
Jasper lunged at her.
"NO!! JASPER, STOP!" Alice screamed as she slammed into him. It sounded like thunder. Edward appeared out of no where, trying to hold the frenzied vampire back. Mallory got up and tried to back away slowly. Jasper growled viciously at her, teeth snapping, eyes blazing with an unquenchable thirst. He broke free of Edward and Alice's hold, charging straight at Mallory. She had no time to move, frightened as she was.
There was a sudden wind and Mallory found herself swept up in Carlisle's arms. The doctor's own eyes blazed, not with thirst, but protectiveness. Jasper was still growling, but was now being held back by both Edward and Emmett, who had returned unexpectedly with Rosalie and Esme. The three women were crouched in front of Jasper, growling also. Confused and shocked by these sudden events, Mallory turned to Carlisle. "Daddy?"
Everyone froze, including Mallory, who just realized what she said. She immediately flushed with embarrassment.
Jasper dropped his defensive crouch. Looking horrified at himself, he turned tail and ran into the woods. Alice and Edward followed him.
Emmett dutifully picked up the bike and returned it to its place in the garage. He glanced at Rosalie, and both of them headed into the woods also, but in the opposite direction of Jasper.
Mallory was left alone with Carlisle and Esme. The doctor carried her into the house at human speed and set her down on the living room couch.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Mallory nodded.
"Jasper didn't hurt you?"
This time, Mallory shook her head. She bit her lip, and looked up at Carlisle. "Was Jasper mad at me?" she asked in a whisper.
Carlisle sighed. He knew this day would come – when one of them lost control. He just hadn't expected it so soon, as all of them had been doing so well. He glanced at Esme and she nodded encouragingly before slipping into the kitchen. He turned back to Mallory. Sitting down beside her, he began, "Jasper is not mad at you. He just…had a lapse in his control." At Mallory's confused expression, he explained, "You see, we aren't like other people. We aren't human." He paused, letting that sink in.
Mallory looked at him warily. "Then what are you?"
"We are vampires."
In a flash, Mallory had leapt up in surprise and fright. "What?!"
Carlisle stood too. "But we don't drink human blood. We're vegetarian, for lack of a better word."
"Vegetarian?" Mallory repeated, confused again.
"Yes. Instead of drinking human blood, we drink animal's blood. This is why our eyes are gold, not red."
Mallory seemed to relax a little at that. "So that's why Jasper went…crazy? Because I fell?" Mallory questioned.
Carlisle nodded. "Speaking of that, I'll get a bandage for your knee." He zipped off to the bathroom, returning a second later with a Band-Aid and Neosporin.
As he rinsed the cut and applied the Neosporin, Mallory asked, "How do you stand it? You're a doctor. That means you're around blood a lot."
"I've had a lot of experience," Carlisle replied, smiling a bit. "Years and years of it."
Mallory frowned. "How many years?"
"Let me show you." Carlisle led her upstairs to his study. It was one part of the house that Mallory had never been in. She looked around in awe.
"Wow."
Carlisle chuckled and walked over to a wall covered in paintings. He picked Mallory up so she could see better. "See this?" he asked, pointing to the Waggoner. "This is a painting of London in the sixteen-fifties. The London of my youth."
"Sixteen-fifties?" Mallory echoed in an amazed voice. "But you hardly look thirty, let alone three-hundred!"
"Vampire venom stops aging," Carlisle explained. "I was twenty-three when I was changed, thus I still look twenty-three."
"And the others?"
Carlisle went on to explain how he created Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmet, and how Alice and Jasper had found their way to the Cullens. How they hunted, how they couldn't go out in sunlight, how they had to move every few years so to not arouse suspicion, how Edward, Alice, and Jasper had gifts. When he finished, Mallory looked up at him with wide blue eyes.
"Da – Carlisle, can I be a vampire?" she asked.
Carlisle sat down on his desk chair with Mallory on his lap. "First of all, you're allowed to call me Dad or Daddy. I don't mind. Esme wouldn't mind if you called her Mom either. Secondly, no, you can't be a vampire. At least not now."
Mallory looked hurt. "Why not? I want to be with you guys forever."
Carlisle smiled at her. "As do I. But you see, there are laws for vampires."
"Vampires have laws?"
"Yes, and that includes laws about immortal children," Carlisle replied, and explained everything that had happened in years past with immortal children and the Volturi.
"Oh," was all Mallory said at the end. "So I could be a vampire when I'm older?"
"We'll see," Carlisle murmured and looked up at the door. "I think you siblings are home."
Siblings, Mallory thought with glee. I have siblings!
Mallory and Carlisle made their way downstairs slowly. Everyone was there. Esme was waiting at the bottom of the staircase. Rosalie and Emmett were standing at the doorway, having just came in. Jasper was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Edward and Alice stood beside him. Alice was grinning as she looked at Mallory, while Edward was barely suppressing a smile. Both had heard the previous conversation, Alice through a vision, and Edward through her mind.
Alice immediately engulfed Mallory in a hug. "I have a little sister!" she exclaimed.
Everyone followed suit, except Jasper. He looked guiltily at the floor as Mallory approached him. "I'm sorry, Mallory," he said quietly. "So very sorry. I should've controlled myself better. You must think I'm a monster."
"It's alright, I'm fine. No one's perfect, not even vampires," Mallory replied. With that, she hugged him tightly, taking Jasper by surprise. The vampires around him stiffened, but he simply smiled and returned the embrace.
"See," Alice said smugly. "I told you something wonderful would happen today."