Chapter Four: From Bottles to Lions.
I was sitting in my room trying to relax, but Alice's comment has been bugging me for the past few days, what could she possibly know and not tell me? I can read minds for crying out loud! You can't keep secrets from me, it's just not probable. Charlie only masked the family's thoughts for a few hours when he first came here to show me how it would be like to not hear anything. Sure I enjoyed only hearing my own thoughts and not feeling crazy for hearing voices twenty-four/seven, but I miss the mindless chatter of the ones I love; especially when I get to hear my little angel.
We found out that the reason I could not hear Isabella in the beginning was because of Charlie's gift. We believed it was only nature for him to shield his offspring that he didn't even realize he was doing it half the time, but as soon as he trusted the family he lowered his shield. In the beginning I could hear her constantly, but as she aged she became more aware of her second ability and was now learning to control it. As a result, I can only hear her when she becomes extremely excited or frightened beyond belief.
As for her shield, she takes after her father in more ways then one. With her shield, she can disable any gift a vampire might have; however, unlike her father she can not copy said gift like he did with mine when we first met the Swans. Carlisle believes that in time she may be able to, but seeing that she is still a young child, that she may not have developed certain areas of her brain that control her powers. Personally, I could careless, the bugger is just fine the way she is. As long as she's happy, I'm happy.
"Edar?" Isabella whispered as she crawled up on the couch into my lap.
"What sweetie?" I asked as I swept her messy hair out of her face. It was obvious that she just woke up.
"I thirsty." She whispered while wrapping her arms around my neck and started sucking her thumb. I shifted her a little so that I could stand, then she wrapped her legs around my waist so that she could rest her head on my shoulder.
"Edward I made her a bottle, she's not going to be awake for long so it will work better than the sippy cup." Alice thought to me from the living room. When I made it down stairs I sat down and adjusted Isabella so that she was lying in my arms and Alice gave her the bottle. Within minutes she was softly snoring while Rosalie came in to take a few pictures.
"You know, soon we are going to have to teach her how to hunt. She can't go drinking bottles her whole life." Carlisle mentions to the room at large, but mostly directed to Charlie. Charlie looked horrified at the thought of his baby girl taking down an animal no matter the size.
"Isn't she a bit too young for hunting, she's only three months old." Charlie asked.
"That may be, but she's almost two years in appearance. She can handle hunting, plus it's not like the animals could do much harm." Carlisle responds.
"What about what happened last month with her arm? What if a lion takes a swing at her? What if it breaks her skin? Causes her pain?" Charlie ask slowly starting to panic.
"And what if she does perfectly fine? Charlie I understand you don't want her harmed, that she's your little girl but you have to let her grow-up. Plus how long do you think her drinking the bottles are going to last? She's a growing girl and a bottle of blood isn't going to satisfy her much longer? We're already giving her five a day." Carlisle answers while trying to claim not just Charlie's worries but everybody else as well.
"Fine, but if she gets even a scratch I'm calling it off and ripping off your appendage between your legs and burning it.
"Wouldn't have it another way," Carlisle replies all while thinking about how painful it will be if it doesn't end well, "How does tomorrow sound?" Personally, like a good day to keep my penis… crap… Edward, STOP LISTENING! Having enough respect for the man that sired me, shifted over to another member of the families mind.
'Darn, Carlisle better hope the kid can hunt or Esme is going to be looking for another man.'
'Edward, why is Emmett putting out waved of humor? A fellow man losing the family jewels is not funny!' I got to agree with you there man, Emmett has one twisted sense of humor.
'Does this mean I can't feed my baby before she goes to sleep?' Why Rosalie thinks Isabella is hers is beyond me, but I'm not going to correct her.
'Jeez, you'd think we live in a house full of pessimist. She's going to be fine tomorrow, her clothes are another story. But yay! I get to go shopping.' Crazy Pixie, it's always about clothes. I wonder how she would handle it if somebody cut up her credit cards. I should try - 'Do it and I'll kill you!' Or I shouldn't.
'I smell blood, I wonder if Uncle Carly is home!' Tiny foot steps could be heard on the third floor and within second a squeal of joy was released.
"DADDY! UNCY CARLY! You're home!" Isabella screamed while jumping into her fathers arms.
"Hey sweetie," Carlisle replies.
"How is my little angel?" Charlie ask at the same time receiving more giggles from the little munchkin.
"Good, Aliwe and Rowie played dress up with me today."
"Really?"
"Yeah-ha. We made Emmie pretty."
'Umm… Edward do I want to know?' And to that I shock my head, nobody needs to see Emmett in another dress for the next fifty years.
"Sweetie, what do you think about going hunting with us tomorrow?" Carlisle asked.
"Reawy? You mean I can bag a lion just like Ewar?" She asked while everybody laughed.