The Charmed Life of Thomas Cullen-Swan pt. 1
When Thomas Swan was a mere six months old, he had already been to three, very different, sets of nuptials.
The first was the enormous, expensive wedding of Jessica Stanley and Michael Newton, two students whom his mother had gone to school with. His mother hadn't wanted to go.
"You told her what?" his mother asked her fiancé.
"I told Jessica that we would be at their wedding," he said, looking a little chagrined.
"But you hate Mike Newton," his mom responded.
"Well, I hated Mike Newton when you went to prom with him, but he's grown on me since then," he responded, picking at an imaginary thread on the upholstery of his Volvo.
"How so?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Since he interrupted Jessica in the act of trying to pin me against the frozen poultry in the grocery store. She saidshe was trying to get a good look at Thomas, but…" he tapped his forehead. "So, when he brought it up, I thought it was a good idea to mention that my FIANCEE and I would be there."
Bella nodded, scowling. "Ok, but you are getting the gift, and don't even think about catching the garter." He shuddered and nodded quickly.
So Thomas, his mom and her fiancé, Edward, went to the 200-person event in Port Angeles, replete with four bridesmaids and a chocolate fountain. His mother tried the fountain. Her fiancé did not.
The second wedding that Thomas attended in the first six months of his extraordinary life was that of his mother's friends, Sam and Emily. It was held on the local reservation and, although his whole family was invited to attend, they were ill at ease the whole time: from when the residents of La Push met them at their cars, to when they congratulated the bride and groom, to when they were escorted back to their cars. Not that Thomas noticed the tension. He was similarly unaware that the smell of burning sage did little to prevent most of the wedding guests from looking as though they smelled something bad.
The third, and perhaps most important, wedding that young Thomas attended was that of his mother and his step-dad. The ceremony lacked the formality of the Newton-Stanley nuptials and it was even smaller than the informal affair at the reservation, but it was a happy occasion. His mother wore a dress that his Aunt Alice had found in an antique store in Paris, his step-dad wore an Italian suit that had cost more than he was willing to tell his new wife. His Grandma Esme held him during the short ceremony that took place in a small Episcopalian church in Forks, but his new stepfather swooped in and picked him up immediately after kissing his bride, and the three of them walked back down the aisle together.
They honeymooned in Niagara, something that appealed to his stepfather's Victorian era tastes. Thomas accompanied them, since he was still nursing, and, as awkward as it was to have an infant on a honeymoon, his stepfather still came back from New York state with the expression of one who has seen the light. He also came back several thousand dollars poorer due to expenses to the hotel for broken furniture. And a curiously shaped dent on the outside of their rental car. Also, a new door for their hotel room and several items of his wife's clothing that had gotten destroyed.
When Thomas Swan-Cullen was two years old, his mother insisted on putting him in daycare for part of the day, three days a week, while she took classes in Port Angeles. When his step-dad protested that they had no need to do so as they had plenty of baby-sitters at home, his mother explained that she wanted Thomas to be as normal as possible - and that included being around other children.
His mother worried that he would be unable to cope with not being the center of attention since he had been raised by a house full of doting, tireless adults. His mom said that he needed to know that he wasn't the center of the universe. His stepfather disagreed. He knew that his wife and son were, in fact, the center of the universe, but he saw that her plan had some merit and stopped arguing. The upside that he saw was that it bought his new wife and him more time alone together and he did his best to capitalize on that.
When Thomas turned three, he received a present from his godfathers in Italy, an exquisitely-made model of an ancient castle with furniture and little figures to play with. The figures that came with the castle were small, fancily-dressed, pale figures that all seemed to have been given tiny, oddly-colored eyes. His mother laughed and insisted that his step-dad put it up on a shelf where Thomas could look at it but couldn't choke on the tiny pieces.
"Don't those freaks know that thing is a huge choking hazard?" his Aunt Rosalie hissed when she saw it, picking up the phone to give the Volturi a piece of her mind.
"Yeah, Rose, they just don't have as much experience as you do with babies," his mother said, which placated his Aunt and helped the whole family to breathe a sigh of relief.
Thomas was disappointed that he couldn't play with the castle yet, but he could stare at it and imagine all the things he could do with it once he was big enough.
When Thomas was five he began to attend the local elementary school. He was a quiet but happy boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes who tended to get lost in the crowd of more rambunctious students. Several times his teacher realized that she had no idea where Thomas was, but when she called his name he was right where he was supposed to be. He drew a picture of his mom and dad on his third day there. Ms. Hazelwood, his teacher, laughed when she saw that he had drawn his dad with the silver crayon, making him appear to glow. She thought Mr. Cullen was so handsome that, if people could glow, he would. Then she was embarrassed by the thought. He was a married man, and a happily married one if the rumors about Thomas' parents making out in the parking lot of the Thriftway were true.
Four months after he entered kindergarten, his mom went away on a trip, communicating with Thomas through Skype and phone calls. His father stayed with him, but even a five year-old could see that he was miserable without his wife. His Aunt Alice had suggested that his mom send him items of clothing to sleep with, and when a green cotton sweater arrived his father gave off a choking laugh and then convinced Thomas to share the sweater with him.
His mother was gone for three months and, when she returned to an enormous party with cake that only Thomas would eat, his entire family hovered between the two of them carefully.
His mother glared at them angrily and then embraced Thomas carefully, her body shaking with unreleased sobs even as her face lit up with an incandescent smile.
If Thomas noted any changes in his mother, it was only that she seemed more like the rest of his family - paler, faster, better-smelling - and he assumed that this was a change that adults experienced.
Then he examined his other grandfather and his teacher carefully. He decided that it was something that only someadults experienced.
The summer after kindergarten, Thomas accompanied his parents to Italy to see his godfathers; Aro, Marcus and Caius.
The three of them were like no adults he had ever seen. It was like being in a play, with their dramatic movements and funny clothes. The people who lived in the castle that Thomas had been playing with for several years now moved around each other carefully and never seemed to smile. But Thomas quickly found he could make them smile by telling them the adventures that he had sent their dolls on, especially when they had beaten up another doll. They also really liked to pick him up, always making sure to ask his parents first.
Felix was his favorite, because the enormous man would let him ride on his shoulders as he ran through the castle; but he also liked Demitri, who played the best games of hide and seek with him and helped him sneak up on Jane, who had the funniest scream when they surprised her.
"Great," his mother said on the flight back to Washington. "Another group of adults to fawn all over him. He's going to be a little monster." His father laughed and poked himself in the chest.
"He gets his charm from me," he said, grinning at her. "They can't help themselves."
His mom laughed and redoubled her efforts to get Thomas to spend time around "normal" people.
When Thomas was eight, going on nine, he asked his mom if his friend Ethan could spend the night for his birthday. His mom was reluctant, trying to convince Thomas that a big party with his friends at the zoo or a pizza place would be more fun. His dad stepped in and tried some more intense bribery, mentioning the words "Disneyland" and "more allowance", but Thomas had gotten it stuck in his head that he wanted Ethan over.
"Honey, it's just not a good idea. What if I call his parents and see if you can go over there?" His mom wrung her hands and her pale, beautiful face took on a rare sad expression. His dad put his hands on her shoulders and seemed irritated at Thomas for upsetting her.
"But my toys are here and Uncle Emmett is here and I thought Uncle Jake could come over, too." Thomas knew he was whining, but what good was it having the funnest, most awesome family in the world if he couldn't share it with his best friend? His mother looked at his father, biting her lip, and turned back to him with a look that Thomas knew meant "no." It was the same look she gave Uncle Emmett when he proposed taking Thomas up to the nostril of Teddy Roosevelt so Thomas could pretend to pick the president's nose when they had visited Mt. Rushmore.
"It's not like he's going to be able to tell you guys are vampires!" Thomas yelled at his parents, a last ditch effort. His mom's eyes went wide and his dad looked like he was choking on his gum. But he didn't chew gum.
"What are you talking about?" His mom looked at him in shock. Thomas shook his head with all the disdain that an eight-year old could summon.
"Felix told me last summer," Thomas said. The big vampire had also told him not to tell his parents or anyone else but thiswas an emergency. His birthday party was at stake.
"I will kill that…" his mother mumbled. "Thomas, you haven't told anyone about this, have you?" his father asked nervously.
"Of course I haven't. Felix told me I couldn't tell anyone or Uncle Aro would hurt them."
Thomas was able to have his friend over for his birthday that year, but he had to have a long, boring talk with his parents about secrecy and vampires and sparkling and how to answer certain questions. It was all worth it to see Ethan's face when he saw Uncle Emmett's game systems.
When Thomas was thirteen, his Aunt Alice announced that they had stayed in Forks for as long as was possible and that it was time for them to move. After his obligatory visit to see his godfathers in Italy, Thomas entered high school as a freshman at George Washington High School in Farmington, Maine. He quickly decided that he was actually the unluckiest freshman in the history of freshmen, having the singular displeasure of having his parents attending high school with him.
It wasn't bad enough that he had to listen to the other students talk about how hot his "sister" Isabella was. It wasn't enough that the junior and senior girls flirted with him in an attempt to get invited to his house to try to get closer to his dad and his uncles.
The worst part was that his father had the most frightening glare in the world when he thought someone was messing with him, and his uncle Jasper had to pay visits to more than a few students and one teacher after they upset him.
His mother actually had to explain to his father, in a way that he would appreciate, with a list, that a) he was attracting attention to them and b) she wanted Thomas to have as "normal" an upbringing as possible, which meant being a lowly freshman and being scared of his teachers. He saw her point (he usually did) and tried to relax when Thomas was faced with the normal ups and downs of being a teenager. Not that his mother didn't feel equally protective.
When Thomas was fifteen he was asked to go to Homecoming by Melinda Parsons, a popular junior. His mother insisted he refuse, convinced that the girl was just trying to use the least intimidating of the Cullen family to get close to one of them, probably her husband, who looked pretty good for an old guy.
"Why? Because it's not possible for a girl to like me for who I am?" Thomas yelled at his mom.
"Sweetie, I just don't want you to get hurt," his mom responded. At that point his father interjected.
"Honey, we've got a bunch of bubble wrap from Emmett's new stereo. We can wrap Thomas in that and then we can have a therapist follow him around to help him to emotionally process when the cafeteria is out of meatloaf."
Thomas and his mother stared at his father for a moment and then they both burst out laughing.
"You're right," his mother said apologetically to Thomas. "I'm sure she really likes you, Thomas. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."
The thing was, Melinda really didlike Thomas. Aside from his awkward combination freshman/new student year, he made friends easily, much more easily than his pale, frighteningly perfect family. After Melinda came Leslie and then Rachael and then Amy and so on. It wasn't that Thomas was promiscuous. He was incredibly respectful of the girls he dated. It's just that he was looking for something. Thomas wanted what his parents had, even if his dad warned him that it had taken him a century to find his mom.
The summer Thomas was eighteen he flew to Europe, on his own this time. His parents were anxious, but they had gotten better at trusting him (and his Aunt Alice's visions). He had the most amazing time backpacking through the European countryside, never suspecting that his godfathers had members of the guard following him at a distance. He never knew about the man in Paris who stole his wallet; when he was reunited with it at "Lost and Found" at the Louvre he was surprised, but not unduly so. He would never know about the woman in Bucharest who was planning on luring him back to her place and letting her jealous boyfriend beat and rob him. It was an excellent trip. As usual, he made friends everywhere he went.
When Thomas got back to the U.S. he enrolled in college, independent of his family. Thomas was lucky he was a bright student since, for the first year, he majored in parties and college girls. Once his mother insisted that he settle down and concentrate on his studies he decided to study history, since he figured he could always get help from his family if he got stuck.
"I don't think he's lazy," his father said to his mother. "I think he's really interested in history from all the stories we've told him."
His mother smiled indulgently. "Thomas has never had to work for anything. I feel bad that we've made thing so easy for him."
"Well, it's a good thing that we'll always be around to enable his laziness, then, huh?" His father gave his mother a crooked smile and she forgot her concerns about her easy-going son for the next few hours.
When Thomas was twenty-three he graduated with a degree in History, took a few journalism courses and managed to parlay all of that into a dream job: writing articles for a travel magazine about visiting historical sites.
Thomas Swan was a charming, relaxed, happy young man who only took one thing seriously: his family. He wasn't given to bouts of self-doubt or brooding despite his close relationship with the seventeen/one hundred and thirty-something year-old vampire he considered to be his father, a creature with a virtual monopoly on self-doubt and brooding.
So it was surprising when, at the age of twenty-five, he decided to do an unusually long (for him) bout of soul-searching and decided that he didn't want the life his mother and father offered. When he told his parents, he could see that they were saddened by the thought of watching him age and die, but his mother quickly reminded him that no matter what he chose they would always love him and would always find a way to be part of his life.
Thomas watched his mom comfort his dad and he knew, without a doubt, the reason his mother had chosen to be changed. His father had been changed young and had been alone for many years. It had made him insecure. Whenever his mom had gone away for more than a day his father had been miserably sad and would think of any reason he could to contact her. Thomas knew that his father wasn't as strong, as confident, as himself in some ways.
Becoming a vampire was the only way his mother could assure that she would never abandon either of them. He could live a long and happy life and, when he passed, away his mother would be devastated; but if something were to happen to his mom, his father wouldn't want to live.
Thomas knew that his family understood the reasons for his decision and they hoped that he would marry and have a family, that he would do all the things that they hadn't had a chance to do.
But then, when Thomas Swan-Cullen was twenty-seven years old, he - like his mother before him - fell in love with a vampire.
a/n: Betham is my lovely and talented beta and she informs me that Merriam-Webster says that epilogues are supposed to be one part. So that's it.
Just kidding. Part 2 will be out next Wednesday. Thanks for reading and reviewing! xoxo JuJu