Satisfied she was beginning to adjust to my presence without being frightened of me, I finally greeted her with my charming drawl, "Hello, darlin'."
Chapter 19 - Baby Talk
"Ah. Ahba. Ahbaba. Ahbaba?" she responded, making random noises the way human infants do as they learn to speak.
I smiled and waved my hand. She looked from my face to my hand then looked down at her own hand lying on the bed. She moved her hand, lifting her arm to bring it closer to her face. She turned her wrist, looking at the difference between the palm and the back of her hand. She wiggled her fingers. Then, she waved her hand at a speed that would have been a blur to a human. She waved again, smiling at her hand, then looked over at me and waved again, smiling triumphantly. I grinned, seeing her joy in such a simple accomplishment. It was too cute for words, and I could tell most of the rest of the family agreed.
Edward was staring at her in disbelief, and I realized he never really believed what I was telling them, that she would be like a baby. He expected her memory loss, but still thought she would be more like the way Alice was when she first opened her eyes to her new existence, able to function more or less on an adult level. He had been through the newborn years with Esme, Rose, and Emmett, so he knew newborns tended to have mood swings, temper tantrums, and issues with blood lust. Despite my warnings, he still expected her to behave like a normal newborn, only without any memory of her human life. It was disturbing him greatly to see a body he was lusting after housing the mind of a mere infant.
Alice was dismissive of Bella and was tugging on Edward's arm, trying to get him to leave, but he was oblivious to her. I could feel his confusion, disgust, embarrassment, and self-loathing warring with his lust, longing, desire, hope, and love. I could also sense his desperation to move, to push me out of the way in an attempt to get to her. I hoped he wouldn't be that stupid, but based on his past actions, I couldn't be sure. I flooded him with lethargy and apathy, trying to keep him still, before he could do something stupid, like rush a newborn.
I took a single step toward her, and she continued to watch me curiously, not showing any signs of alarm. I wasn't sure how close she would allow me to get, but after a few seconds without protest from her, I took another step. She took her eyes off of me, only watching me out of her peripheral vision, and began watching her own hands again. She brought them to her face and sniffed them, starting with her fingers and working her way the middle of her forearm. We all watched her with quite wonder as she explored herself, more engaged in her curious investigation than any TV program we've ever watched. I felt the wave of amusement from the group as she stuck out her tongue, tasting herself. Meanwhile, I slowly shuffled closer, one step at a time.
"Bella," I cooed softly to get her attention when I was within three feet of the bed. Her eyes flew to mine, and her smile matched my own.
"Eh. Ehhh. Ahhh. Uhhh. Ehhh. Uhhh. Ehh-uhh," she practiced, attempting to mimic me.
"Yes," I encouraged, nodding my head.
"Hsssss," she hissed, then tilted her head in surprise. She tried again, "Hssss. Ehh. Hssss. Ehh-hsss."
I could feel the excitement building within the family behind me, as they all suddenly wanted to hear her say their names and other words. I smiled widely and nodded again. I was thrilled to be able to do this in a relatively safe and stable environment. Edward was a major pain in the neck, but he was still way better than Maria.
Bella attempted to nod, though it was a bit wobbly, with her head still slightly tilted. She then began moving her head around at different angles, in different directions, and at different speeds, experimenting with her body's skills and limitations. Her vampire brain was busy mapping out what each of her muscles did so she could duplicate the movement in the future whenever she wanted.
When she moved her head quickly side to side, her hair tickled her cheeks, causing her to freeze in surprise. She brought her hands up to touch her hair and her cheeks, feeling the difference in textures. She grabbed onto her hair with her fingers and pulled it over so she could examine it with her other senses. She sniffed it appreciatively, but made spitting motions after she tasted it, not liking the way it felt on her tongue. Suddenly, she pulled a little too hard, hurting herself in the process, which led to a small growl and a whimper. She dropped her hair and began waving her claws up behind her head, not yet grasping that the pain in the top of her head was a result of her pulling on her hair.
I reached out toward her, my hand outstretched to comfort her, when Edward suddenly lost it.
He came racing toward the bed, beaming widely, teeth unconsciously dripping venom, and exclaimed, "Bella, love!"
Lickety-split Bella began growling fiercely as her body startled again. As soon as her eyes met his, she began screaming and flailing her arms and legs. She began desperately propelling herself away from him with such energy, she went right through the headboard of the bed and all the way through the wall to the outside, where she promptly fell to the ground below. She landed on her bottom, sinking into the ground, and started sobbing, whimpering, and wailing. Her face was a picture of fear, pain, and confusion.
"You're a bloody idiot, Edward!" Carlisle snarled angrily, expressing aloud what the rest of us were screaming at him in our heads. "Get the hell out of here and don't come back!"
Just couldn't fucking listen, could you, asshole? I mentally shouted, bombarding him with everyone's emotional disapproval, to go hand in hand with their verbal insults and accusations. I could sense his despair at such a blatant rejection, but believing he deserved every bit of it, I chose not to ease it any for him. He raced out of the room and up to his own room, where we could hear him throwing things into a bag. Good riddance.
Since Esme was already in the kitchen when Bella hit the ground, she was the first one to reach her. She was holding a bag of warmed blood in her hands as she raced out to comfort her crying daughter. As soon as Bella caught the scent of the blood, she stopped crying and grabbed for it. She brought it straight up to her mouth, but in her enthusiasm for her first feeding, she squeezed the bag too hard, and it exploded open as soon as her teeth touched the plastic. She was surprised by the noise and bewildered to find herself covered in blood, though it didn't stop her from drinking whatever remained in the bag.
Peter and Emmett started laughing hysterically as soon as they caught sight of her with blood in her hair, all over her face, arms, hands, etc. My instant initial reaction was amusement, but in less than a second it was replaced by a very different feeling instead. I found my animalistic side was aching, begging to go over and lick her clean. I figured it was the call of the human blood she was drinking. I moved slowly over to her side, drawn by the crimson covering her skin, my mouth watering in anticipation. Guilt fought against the longing, knowing my weakness for the 'good stuff'. My taste buds were tired of tofu and were craving steak.
I watched Esme flit back inside for another bag, knowing the amount Bella actually got in her mouth, instead of all over her body, wouldn't be sufficient to calm her thirst. She'd need at least five pints for her initial feeding, the normal contents of a single human body.
Once the busted bag was empty and licked clean, Bella threw it down with a disappointed growl. I lost hold of my control as soon as she began licking her fingers to get at the blood there. I moved the last few feet in a hurry and dropped to my knees beside her. The Major took over and licked up the side of her face, humming in pleasure at the taste of the human ambrosia mixed with the flavor of Bella's skin. She didn't seem to mind the attention, tilting her head to the side to allow me better access. I cleaned the side of her face, her ear, and her neck thoroughly as she continued to clean her hands.
Suddenly, she started howling, and I instantly drew back to see what had upset her. To my shock she spit out the top inch of her thumb into her lap, while cradling her left hand to her chest with her right, protecting the injured digit.
"Did she just bite off her own thumb?" Emmett asked in horrified disbelief.
"Oh, my poor little baby!" Esme gasped, returning with two more bags of blood. "She doesn't realize how sharp her teeth are!"
I heard Carlisle asking Peter and Charlotte if that kind of thing happened often, but tuned them out to take care of my sweet girl. I quickly grabbed the piece of her thumb out of her lap and reattached it to her hand, holding it in place so it could fuse back together. Esme knelt down beside us, clutching the bags in her lap. She lifted one up toward Bella, offering it to her.
Bella tried to grab the bag with her uninjured hand, but I restrained her before she could bust that one too.
"No, Mama hold it," I told her firmly.
"Mmmm!" she moaned hungrily, pointing desperately at the bag of blood in Esme's hand. Esme was frozen, watching us with wide eyes, unsure of what to do.
"Mama hold mmmm," I informed both of them. Esme nodded in understanding.
Bella looked at me, then reached toward my face. "Maahhmah?"
"No," I corrected, shaking my head and frowning. She frowned too, mimicking my expression. Releasing her wrist, I pointed to Esme's face. "Mama."
She blinked a few times, looking between us. Then she pointed to the red bags in Esme's lap. "Mmmm?"
"Yes," I agreed, nodding and smiling. She smiled back at me, then turned to Esme again.
"Mahmah?" She asked, pointing at Esme's face.
Esme beamed with joy, her utter bliss nearly knocking me sideways as it washed over me. "Yes!" Esme and I replied in unison, both smiling widely. Bella's smile widened accordingly.
Esme eagerly held the bag up to Bella's mouth, allowing her to bite and feed without destroying the bag in the process or making a mess. I leaned over and began cleaning her arm while she drank from the first bag. It didn't take her long to drain it, and Esme lovingly gave her the next bag, while I moved around to clean up Bella's other side. I was only vaguely aware of the other family members hanging around and watching us.
I was suddenly hit with a massive wave of jealousy and looked up to see Edward staring as I licked the blood off Bella's neck.
Go away, asshole. She doesn't love you anymore. She's scared of you. The very sight of you causes her pain. That's all thanks to you and your decision to break her heart and then leave her behind. So get lost! I sent to him angrily. How dare he be jealous when he was the one who caused this mess in the first place?
Edward sent me a jolt of hatred, before turning and running away. Alice turned to follow him, but he rejected her, telling her he wanted to be alone for a while. Reluctantly, she agreed to give him some space, but headed into the house to begin packing her own bags. I was relieved to know she intended to follow him within the next day or two. Even Esme couldn't bring herself to be sorry to see them go.
As Bella finished with the bag Esme was holding, I released her injured hand, her thumb having fully knit back into place. The good news was that it wouldn't scar, since the wound only contained her own venom. Only the venom of other vampires could scar our bodies, including the venom of our sires. That's because each person's venom was unique, as it bonded with the person's DNA. The venom produced in the mouth was pure, with only a trace amount of the vampire's DNA included, unlike the venom in the rest of the body. That venom was integrated into the person's human cells, adding to and replacing portions of the human DNA to produce the physical changes.
Bella reached up to grab the empty bag and shook it, staring at it sadly. Her bottom lip poked out as she began to pout. She looked up at me through her lashes and moaned, "Mmmm?" showing me the empty bag. I had become immune to Alice's pout and puppy dog eyes decades ago, but Bella's made my heart melt in a puddle of goo.
I was ready to jump up and get more for her, but Char and Rose suddenly appeared a few feet away, each holding a bag for her.
"Mmmm!" Bella squealed excitedly, pointing to them. Esme reluctantly moved to the side as Charlotte glided over and knelt down in front of Bella where Esme had been. Bella looked at Char in question. "MahMah?"
Esme opened her mouth to respond, but Char beat her to it.
"Yes, Bella," she confirmed, with a nod and a smile. "I'm yer Mama too." She paused and pointed to Bella's face. "Bella." She pointed to her own face and said, "Mama." Then she pointed to Esme's face and reiterated, "Mama." Next she pointed at Rose and raised her eyebrow.
"Mama!" Rose announced firmly, her excitement palpable. Her eyes were shiny, but her entire countenance appeared lit from within. Rose pointed to herself and said it again, maintaining eye contact with Bella. "Mama."
Bella stared at each of them, before pointing to her own face and testing out the sounds for herself. "Eh. Beh. Behhh-uuhhh. Beh-uh. Beh-uh?"
"Yes! Bella!" I exclaimed, gently stroking her now clean cheek. She smiled widely at me, happy and proud of herself.
She then pointed to each of the women in turn and named them 'Mama', receiving smiles and nods of encouragement each time. Finally, she turned to me and poked my cheek in question.
"Jasper," I told her. "Jaassperrr." I sounded it out slowly for her.
Her brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to duplicate it. "Aahh. Hsss. Grrrr. AhHssGrr!"
Emmett and Peter burst out laughing at her attempt at my name.
"I love the way she uses a hiss and a growl to make the sounds," Emmett remarked gleefully. "It matches your character, dude."
"Just be glad she doesn't shorten your name like Malice likes to do," Peter teased. "Otherwise, you'd just be AhHsss."
That set the two of them off laughing hysterically again. Emmett was having so much fun, he didn't even notice Peter sneaking up behind him until he'd already been knocked on his ass. Their loud laughter had caught Bella's attention and she giggled at their antics, the sweet, innocent sound tinkling through the air.
xxxxxxx
AN: So, Eddie's run off to play the melodramatic fool, and Alice will soon follow. Don't worry, they'll get what's coming to them. Meanwhile, the women are in heaven, the guys are having fun, and Jasper is cleaning Bella up with his tongue, like a mama cat or something. Hmmm . . . Never a dull moment with Bella around.