I do not own Twilight, no disrespect is intended.

Sorry everybody, its been a long time and this chapter is short, I messed up my hand when I took a dive out at the bar...I am embarrassed to say, but I had surgery on my right hand and so I haven't been able to function very well as a lefty, but I have gotten better at it. I have the next chapter written in my lefty scrawl but I still have to type it with one hand and do some editing, so the next chapter will be up next weekend...and it is twice as long as this chapter. Next Chapter is the ball! I hope you all still love me enough to read and review. Thanks!

Chapter 12 Irena's POV

I was a little mad when Sophie walked straight over to Laurent, when I told her we were going to go to the states so she could meet the rest of her family. But I was pleasantly surprised when Laurent asked me to put off going to the states to stay for some kind of grand masked ball he had been planning to attend with Sophie. The ball was only a week away and this allowed me more time to come up with an explanation to Tanya and the others about Sophie. I had told Tanya the short version of the events over the phone the same night I apologized to Sophie for attacking her, but Tanya was quick to ask a lot of details of which I didn't have the answers then. I wanted so much to get to know Sophie better and be a real mother to her, but honestly I didn't know where to start.

The first thing on my list was to find us all costumes for the ball, but Sophie did not seem pleased as I dragged to her from store to store trying to find the perfect dress for her. It was soon clear to me that shopping was not her favorite thing to do. Unfortunately, there was such little time to find an outfit with the ball being only days away and take into account the fact we can only shop at night or when it's cloudy and that seriously cut down on the opportunities we had to accomplish our mission. I tried to do all kinds of things with Sophie in order for her to open up with me, but I was short on luck with that plan as well. It seemed that Sophie was not a big talker; she kept to herself and did not openly share details of her previous life with me. I actually spent a number of hours trying to ask her questions about what she remembered about being human and she shot me down on every personal question I asked. She told me she couldn't remember all of her life, but the things she could remember seemed too painful for her to recall. I could see she was really uncomfortable to talk about her past and the more I pressed her for details the further away she kept herself from me.

I was quick to figure out that Sophie must not have had a very good life as a human or something terrible had happened to her. When I asked Laurent he said he never got the full story from her either, but she has always been very quiet and reserved with him. The only detail Laurent was able to fill me in on was that she didn't really have a family or that they had abandoned her. He said that when he found her she was sad and had asked for death before she had even bitten her, which was part of the reason that had compelled him to keep her. He didn't want to abandon her like her other family had done, when she was so special. I had been pushing her so much, to do things with me, to tell me about her life and none of it was what she wanted. I needed to just let her be and maybe she would come to me.

Laurent's POV

Irena had made it clear that she wanted all three of us to return to the states to spend time with the rest of her family. Ultimately, this was my plan all along, however I had never discussed this with Sophie. She had seemed content enough to stay with me even though we both knew she could always over power me if she ever really wanted to leave. In all of my questioning, when I first acquired Sophie she had admitted that the Cullen's left her. The way she reacted when she divulged this information, lead me to believe there was more than she saying. Her whole persona was different from how I remembered her in my perfect memory that day in the baseball clearing. Amongst the Cullen's that day she looked as she belonged, no different from the rest. Victoria was so quick to label her Edward's mate, but he abandoned her. I did not understand, surely if she was his mate he would have taken her and made her one of us, but he didn't. She was a human he knew his true potential…exactly how deadly he could be and she risked it all to be with him. I know from experience that we can draw in our prey with one look but for her to stay after realizing the danger was almost inconceivable.

Sophie had always be withdrawn and guarded around me, but I had nothing to compare this behavior with. Clearly, she could have not been this way always or the Cullen's would never have taken any notice of her in the first place. The only thing left for me to connect this behavior with is the departure of the Cullen's. Perhaps the fact that Sophie was still human when she met Edward did not make his bond as deep as it would be if she were a vampire. No vampire would ever leave a mate behind like that. I had been in agony without Irena, but the idea she may reject me for my sins was stronger. It allowed me to bide my time while I figured out a solution to this sin to make sure I kept her.

Over the last few days, Sophie seemed to have accepted Irena, but would not connect with her. I was worried what effect the rest of Irena's family would have on her. I had clearly used some creative outlets when telling Irena the story behind Sophie, but would Sophie ever reveal the truth. For that matter, underneath her sleeves there was proof of my creative licensing. It did not go unnoticed that she hid her scars from the world, but would the rest of the Denali's catch on? I had been eager for Sophie to meet Eleazer so that he may explain her gift better, considering his own gift and the experience he had with the Volturi; but now I was unsure, how Sophie would come off. Would the rest of Irena's family so readily accept my version of the events or would they be suspicious of me. I saw what conclusions, Irena came to in my absence, so I couldn't help but wonder what they would be thinking.

What worried me most, was the fact that the Denali's considered themselves family of the Cullen's. Someday and I hoped that day would not come soon, Sophie and I would come face to face with them again and where would Sophie's allegiance fall then, would she so readily accept them back if they asked her? I did not see them passing her gift up after looking at the other talents they already possessed. Not to mention they would most definitely set the Denali's straight on who she was. Going to Alaska was beginning to sound more and more dangerous as I pondered the future. Knowing that I needed to speak to Sophie alone before we headed to Alaska I let Irena go shopping for our costumes without me, in the hopes that I could get my thoughts together on these matters and approach Sophie on her opinion. I found Sophie sitting in the front window that overlooked the property that sprawled out behind the estate with a book in her hands.

"Yes?" Sophie spoke without even looking up from her book. I hesitated momentarily trying to collect my thought on how to approach this subject.

"Sophie, I have some concerns about going to spend time with Irena's family in regards to your background" I said matter of factly.

"I was wondering whether you were going to consult me on the story, or if I would have to learn my whole life story from eavesdropping on what you tell the others" she said as she looked up from her book. "I don't want them to know about Bella, she is…dead. And I doubt that showing off any of my arms would play nicely into the story of what you have already told Irena."

"You aren't upset, for what I told Irena already then?" I asked amazed.

"No, and they don't need any more of an explanation then what you have already provided, because you should know nothing of my human life."

"Well I am impressed, it sounds as though you have already put some thought into this, thank you for making this much easier than I had anticipated. But there is one more thing we should discuss…the Cullen's." I watched as Sophie shuttered when I spoke their name, but she didn't skip a beat.

"I want nothing to do with them and if they came within one hundred miles of me I would disappear. I don't know if they would be pleased that I found myself into this life without them or not, but I don't want the chance to find out. I do not want them to find me. Am I clear?" she hissed.

"Crystal clear, but if they do come; myself and Irena would not let you leave on your own. We are a family now and we will stick together." Suddenly, I was scared I may lose her and that was not something I was prepared for. She seemed to be debating something internally, which made the silence last forever, but finally she spoke.

"As you wish… father" she spoke almost in a whisper; her eyes conveying an emotion I did not recognize. I was stunned by her words, but suddenly felt content by her remarks.

"I am touched…but Irena…she wants to be close to you. She doesn't think that you like her, because you don't spend time together. Please try to let her in somehow, it would mean so much to her." Sophie stared back at me but made to effort to respond to my request and the minutes passed by while I watched her.

"I found you both the perfect outfits for the ball!" Irena suddenly squealed as she came into the room. "Oh we are going to have so much fun tomorrow and Sophie you will be so beautiful in what I have picked out for you" Irena smiled as she dropped the bags at my feet finally noticing the almost tense stance between me and Sophie. "What's wrong?" Irena asked.

"Nothing is wrong my dear, Sophie and I were just talking about your family. Sophie does not know much about them, but I think she is afraid they may have the same reaction you had towards her when you first saw her" I said as I turned away from Irena to see Sophie's mouth hanging open at my reply. I almost laughed, but she closed her mouth a second later before Irena could see her expression.

"Oh Sophie, you have nothing to worry about. I have explained everything to my sisters and they passed that along to Carmen and Eleazer. They will have no choice, but to love you as I love you" Irena grinned.

"Thank you. May I see what you got for me?" Sophie said as she smiled back at Irena. Irena was beaming as she took the bags and Sophie by the wrist before running out of the room. I smirked to myself as I sat down listening to Irena go on and on about why it was the perfect dress for Sophie.