Chapter five: Esme's Moment

Alice's eyes suddenly flew open, as quickly as they usually did when she recovered from a vision. The last tendrils of thoughts remained in her mind, the sight of Jasper and she peering in huge containers filled with what seemed to be filled play-doe. They were all different colours, yet some seemed to be covered with dirty specks. The lights had been bright, cheerful; the colours of the wall a sickening bright blue.

It took a brief second for her to realize that the images hadn't been from a vision at all.

She had a dream.

A smile made its way onto her face, realizing that this had surely been the way she had gotten her premonitions as a human. She had dreamt things that came true. Surely, it had been enough to send someone away to an asylum; when a kid tells you of a dream she has, and it actually comes true, any sane parent would get frightened.

She pulled away from Jasper's chest, ready to share this new piece of the puzzle that was her ancient life with the love of her current one.

She stopped, though, when she realized that he was still sleeping.

The thin curtains at the window flew around lightly in the cool breeze, letting the thin rays of sunshine enter their room. It was still somewhat dark, and shadows played around their furniture, yet she could see the handsome features that she knew so well.

His eyes were still closed, and he breathed deeply, his lips only parted lightly. His face wore an expression of peace that she rarely saw upon him, and so she took a second to study him. Even though she had promised to wake him up if she would happen to be up first, she let him sleep a while longer. He had told her the truth, though; she felt eager, energized, and ready to face a new day.

The alarm clock, with most functions unused, read 6:40. Her face fell lightly, disappointment filling her as she realized that they had slept a little bit over eleven hours. So much time had been wasted, and she only had a half-day to spend.

Time to wake up her husband.

After a light chuckle, she reached over and carefully pressed her lips against his. The contact made him crack his eyes open, before shutting them back. He groaned, though a small smile brightened his face, and rolled away from her lazily. Yawning, he stretched, the bones cracking as they fell into place. After placing an arm over his eyes, he stayed still, obviously intent on sleeping some more.

Alice grinned and snuggled closer to him, placing light kisses on his neck. "Wake up, baby. It's almost seven."

He sighed and answered in a tone that was slurred with sleepiness. "You know, it's perfectly normal for a teenager to sleep until ten or eleven."

Alice pulled away and grinned as she sat up. Annoyingly, she poked at his ribs lightly, intent on getting him to get up. Teasingly, she said, "It may be acceptable for teenagers, Jazzy, but you're almost a hundred and fifty years old. Get up!"

Chuckling, Jasper finally opened his eyes. They followed his wife as she jumped out of bed and flitted across her room, then got dressed into some of her favourite clothes; a short jeans skirt with a beautiful lavender and silver blouse. Obviously not trusting her imperfect balance with a pair of her many heels, she slipped into black flip-flops to complete her attire.

Naturally, like she did most mornings, she began to sift through their closet in order to find him an 'appropriate' ensemble to wear for the day. Very early in their relationship, she had discovered his bland sense of fashion; as long as it covered him the way clothes should, he was happy. He had long ago given up on making trendy outfits, and as long as it gave Alice some thrill to dress him up every morning, he'd let her do it.

Once she was done picking out his clothes, she moved to her vanity. Sitting down, she vaguely noticed in the mirror that Jasper was now getting dressed. Smiling, she peered in the mirror; her first real look at her human self.

Her face was definitely pinker, her eyes a brilliant shade of green. She looked a bit more alert, more playful, and yet there was a definite sense of the cruel beauty, which all vampires possessed, missing.

For the first time since she could remember, Alice took time to prepare her hair and makeup. As a vampire, she almost never got dishevelled, and never used any makeup. It would only decrease her beauty, rather than enhance it, and now that she could pamper herself, she definitely took advantage.

After about fifteen minutes, she grinned at her reflection, satisfied at the way she looked. Jasper suddenly appeared behind her, bending down to press his chin against her shoulder as they looked at the other's reflection in the mirror.

"You're beautiful," he whispered seductively, smiling.

"Thank you," she grinned, looking up at him. "You're very handsome yourself, Mr. Whitlock dash Hale."

He was about to reply when the sound of a musical voice reached their ears. The woman's voice was gentle, caring, yet held a tone of command that neither could ignore. "Get up, everybody! Breakfast is ready!"

Alice turned to look at Jasper, and noticed that he had the same big smile as she did glued on his face. He took her hand and the two thundered their way downstairs, where most of the family was gathered.

Carlisle was sitting at the head of the table, flipping through his latest -and incomplete- homework assignment. Edward was seated across from Bella and besides Nessie and Jacob, who were both anxiously peering towards the kitchen.

Alice plopped down besides her brother, and Jasper sat beside her. Before anyone could say anything, though, she stared pointedly at the empty seats. "We've got some people missing, I think."

The aforementioned pair then trudged in the kitchen, interrupting the conversation as those present started to laugh.

Rosalie, who usually was beautiful even when at her worse, looked undisputable broken. Her hair was dishevelled, unbrushed, and her face was drawn. Yawning, she sat on the nearest chair, her oversized t-shirt and shorts only adding hilarity to the situation. Emmett was following her and sat beside Jacob, his eyes closed through the entire thing. Once seated, he folded his massive arms on the table and dropped his forehead on it.

Edward only decided to make it worse.

"Good morning, you two! Quite the rays of sunshine, I see?" he taunted.

"Shut up, Edward," Emmett retorted in a muffled voice.

Rosalie only shot him a hateful glare, her bright blue eyes tired. Once again yawning, she brushed her eyes tiredly and stretched.

Esme thankfully kept the conversation from escalating into a feud as she came in, balancing various plates on her arms. A few seconds later, the previously empty table was completely filled. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, ham, cereal, toast, pastries, and dozens of fruits were all ready to eat.

"Wow," Jasper said, his eyebrows raised with surprise. "You really outdid yourself, Esme."

The brunette beamed at her family, then moved around to kiss the humans on the cheek. "You all deserve it."

Carlisle, from his end of the table, chuckled lowly. He threw down his papers and crossed his arms, his eyes shining mischievously as he looked at his wife. "She enjoyed it way too much. This wasn't a chore at all."

The woman sat down, smiling shyly. "When else will I get the chance to cook for my children, then wake them all up to tell them to come eat?"

"Never again, probably," Emmett grunted. He was already chewing down an omelette, with a piece of toast hanging from his left hand.

Alice grinned at her stronger brother. "You really are grouchy in the morning, aren't you?"

"Human trait," he shrugged.

Rosalie took a tentative bite from a strawberry, then closed her eyes in bliss. "I remember the tastes... This is so strange."

Alice, meanwhile, was staring curiously at the copious amounts of food in front of her. While the humans -or wolf, in Jacob's case- filled their plates hungrily, she could only stare. She had no memory of what she liked or didn't like, and felt once again the embarrassment at her lack of knowledge. She had, of course, cooked for Bella before, but only by her tastes.

Instantly, Jasper sensed her discomfort, just as Edward seemed ready to intervene. A silent exchange passed through both men, and the bronze-haired brother turned to his daughter to ask her a mundane question, drawing attention away from the humans.

The blond male then reached over to a pancake, placing it on his plate. After drizzling imported Canadian maple syrup on top, he carefully cut up a piece. Then, after turning his fork around so it wouldn't drip, he looked over at his disheartened wife and teasingly whispered, "Open up."

She looked at him curiously, then obeyed, too struck to do anything else. Carefully, Jasper placed his fork in her mouth, smiling as she closed her lips over the metal and plucked the food from the tip. She pulled away from the fork and chewed, her eyes widening at the sudden taste.

It was wonderful.

Hurriedly, she grabbed one of the remaining pancakes and reached for the syrup as Jasper laughed softly.

"Don't forget to taste the rest, love," he whispered, balancing his fork between his fingers.

As they resumed eating, now with Alice happily jumping in, Carlisle spoke up. "How are you all feeling, as humans?"

"I miss the health," Emmett muttered. His pale face was slowly getting colour in it as he ate, and his cheerful attitude also worked its way in. Nonchalantly, he picked up a cherry, staring at it before plopping it in his mouth. "And I miss the nights. It feels weird to have an intact bedframe, right bro?"

Jasper shot him a pointed look, clearly not even considering to answer.

Rosalie suddenly glowed. "It feels so amazing, Carlisle. I spent almost a half hour feeling my pulse. I still can't believe it."

"I'm proud of you all," the doctor said gently, smiling. "No blood lust must feel great, right Jasper?"

Before the blond could put in a word, Emmett piped in, "He feels other kinds of lust. He could barely make it up the stairs last night."

"Stop it," Jasper growled playfully. "As you can see, Carlisle, vampire or not, some people don't change." He shot another glare at Emmett before returning his attention to his father. "But I haven't been around any real humans so far, so I'm not sure how I'll react when I will be."

Alice was just finishing her plate, as was he, so she dropped her fork on the white ceramic. Her eyes shone as she stood up and grabbed his hand. "Let's go then!"

He stood up obediently, ready to follow her out the house, before a mischievous look crossed her face. After winking conspicuously at Edward, who was smirking at her thoughts, she jogged around the table. Then, she threw herself at Bella, jumping onto the most recent vampire's lap.

"I missed you, Bella!" she chirped, hugging her best friend tightly. Her eyes shone as Bella attempted to pull away without hurting her, her eyes suddenly draining from golden to a murky brown.

Alice then hopped from her knees and danced back to Jasper, fitting her hand in his once more. They exited just as Emmett cheered, obnoxiously shouting, "It's all about payback, Bella! All about payback!"

A/N: Hi!

First things first; I do believe that Canada has the best maple syrup ever. XD Hence why the Cullens have some in their reserve... Ya know, the kind that's like 10 bucks for a tiny bottle... Mmmm...

I have to say thank you to my anonymous reviewers... Even though you guys don't have accounts, and I can't reply to know, know that I appreciate them greatly!!

Just to let you know, my ISU is due May 26th, and I need to present my seminar on the 27th. -Insert nervous giggle-. Um, I absolutely need to work on it. A lot. Hard. Which means I might need to put this story on a tiny two-week hiatus. I always have a oneshot written in advance, so that will come out sometimes in the middle so it will give you guys something to read and won't forget me... ;)

Thanks for understanding, guys and gals.

Take care!