I apologize for the lack of update. I will post a 'bonus chapter' that was a oneshot I wrote a while ago but never posted in addition to this chapter. All the characters—except Ian, who will come back eventually—belong to either Stephenie Meyer or Meg Cabot.I do realize this chapter isn't very exciting, but it's more to set the stage for future chapters.
Suze P.O.V.
They look at Carlisle for a moment before Carlisle says something. It's quiet, so I don't hear it, but everyone else scowls—except Jacob—scowls.
I go in and take the lasagna out of the oven. It's really hot. "What do you all want to drink?" I call.
As I turn around Jacob snickers. "They'd all like Bloody Marys." Bella whacks him. Hard. I hear the thump from across the room. "That didn't hurt." He says grinning. "I know you can hit me a lot harder than that, too." Bella just glares. But the entire exchange is kind of surprising. I didn't know Bella could be so violent.
She looks at me and says, "Don't worry. None of us drink alcohol. Not even Carlisle or Esme. The Bloody Mary comment is an inside joke."
Edward P.O.V.
Not a joke exactly. More of a play on words. Not even that, really. It's kind of the same things as us calling ourselves vegetarians. We all follow Suze into the dining room where a steaming pan of lasagna sits on the table. Gross. Well, I have eaten food before. For Bella, and she already knew the truth, so it wasn't as if I was hiding anything. It's just kind of… unappetizing.
As we sit down, I catch a glimpse of Jesse's thoughts, which he then speaks. "I don't mean to be rude, Carlisle, but your family reminds me my family. You're all so old-fashioned."
"This is true." Carlisle laughs, placing a piece of the food in his mouth and swallowing.
"What's wrong, Edward?" Bella whispers from next to me. My confusion must be showing on my face.
So I say, "Could you tell us a little about your families, then?"
Suze looks at Jesse quickly before saying, "Sure. I grew up in New York with my mom, after my dad died. Then she remarried Andy, who has three sons. There you go."
When it looks as if they aren't going to tell us about Jesse's family, I say, "What about your family, Jesse?"
"Well," he said, "I had five sisters, but now I am the only one left."
"How'd that happen?" Bella looks startled.
Jesse looks at her for a moment before saying, "Don't ask, don't tell."
Bella nods. I sense that this conversation is not over as it seems. Because going through Jesse's mind are the deaths of every one of his family. And they all died of old age. The reason this confuses me is that he seems so young, early thirties at the latest. I know my looks are deceiving, but he isn't a vampire.
By now, Jacob has eaten almost half of the lasagna, and the rest of us have barely touched our food. Suddenly, Suze addresses Carlisle, "How did you and Esme come to adopt and foster so many teenagers?"
"Well, Alice was the first we adopted. She was Esme's niece. Then we adopted Jacob; his dad was a friend of mine." At this, I hear Jacob snort, but luckily Jessie and Susannah don't. "When Bella and Emmett's parents died, Jacob asked if we could adopt them; he was friends with Emmett. Then there wasn't any particular reason we decided to foster Rose and Jasper. Edward and Nessie have an interesting story. Edward, do you want to tell it?" I see the story in his mind, and wish I had the ability to blush, simply because that's what a human would do at this point.
"Sure. We were being fostered by another family in the area. Then they started having financial difficulties, and could no longer take care of us. I was dating Bella at the time, and didn't want to leave. So Carlisle talked to the social worker, and was able to convince them to foster me and my younger sister Nessie."
"She doesn't look much younger."
"I am." Nessie assures them, grinning at Bella and I. "And, no offense, but I can't eat any more of this." And she pushes her barely touched food away from her.
"Did I leave something out? Does it not taste good?" Suze wonders aloud.
"It's wonderful." Jacob says, his mouth still full of food. "It's just, other than me, this family is pretty picky. And Nessie doesn't like Italian."
"Oh. Would you all like something else to eat? What would you like?"
"Don't ask, don't tell." Bella says.
"About food?" Suze seems kind of confused.
"Yes. Don't ask us about our diets, because that is one of the most central components of our lives, that we can't tell anyone about. Let's just say, we're vegetarians. Except Jake. That is the reason we didn't exactly want to eat the food you prepared."
Jesse raises his eyebrows but doesn't say anything, just continues eating. Suze however says, "I'm sorry that I didn't fix something that you could eat."
"It's fine," Carlisle replies, "We'll just eat when we get home."
They finish eating, Jesse wondering the entire time when a good moment to tell Suze his thoughts would be. They seem to revolve around the fact that we don't eat food, we all have the same skin and eyes despite not being related, and that most of us remind him of one particular point in history, based on the way we act and our manners. This doctor De Silva is very perceptive. I need to talk to Carlisle about him sometime. And soon.
Suze cleans up the plates, refusing the help both Bella and Esme offer. We then all go back into their living room to talk.