A/N:
Throughout this story, I've always done my best to make Alice a character people can relate to more, and not just a one-dimensional bubbly manic pixie who's only interest is fashion, and who discards everyone's feelings as long as her visions come true.
Like, that's not a very likable character.
The way it was described in Eclipse how all of Edward's things were just tossed into the garage when Alice and Jasper joined the family always rubbed me wrong. I've tried to make it make a little more sense here, and show how I want to believe it would've happened.
Title: Origins: Living in my Future
Author: MarieCarro
Beta: Alice's White Rabbit
Pre-reader: BitterHarpy and brierlynn03
Genre: Supernatural/Mystery
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Mary Alice Brandon had always been different. She seemed to know things that had yet to happen, and the people in town avoided her at all costs. But the cries of 'Witch' or whispers of 'Changeling' wasn't her biggest concern. Someone much closer to her than the townsfolk couldn't accept her differences, and it put her in life-threatening danger.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
CHAPTER 24
FRIDAY, MARCH 10th – TUESDAY, MARCH 14th 1950
"I never dared imaginin' true peace existed, so when Alice told me about this family, I didn't believe her at first. And, honestly, a part of me still didn't believe it until the second you three stepped outside, and I could personally feel your emotions," Jasper said as he neared the end of his story. "Even under the mix of caution and confusion, your most prominent emotion is love and sympathy. The complete opposite of what I spent my life surrounded by."
Carlisle and Esme had relaxed back into the sofa, his arm was comfortably slung around her shoulders, and she was nestled against his side as they listened.
"That was the last and only time I met Aro here in America," he said, connecting his own life to the nightmare Jasper had described. "After the First War, he thought it an opportune moment to see what kind of life I'd built here in this brand new country, but the things he described to me about what he'd seen in the South were impossible for me to imagine even though I'd seen a battlefield up close and personal only a few decades earlier. And you've lived through it." Carlisle shook his head in awed disbelief. "You're a lot stronger than you've given yourself credit for, and now, you've embarked on the challenge that is our diet. I'd say that's quite remarkable."
Jasper attempted a small smile, but I could see he found it difficult to accept the praise, especially from a man as accomplished as Carlisle. "That's very kind of you to say," he said, but then fell completely silent. He'd said what he needed to say and was satisfied with that.
I gently rubbed his forearm comfortingly—always doing everything I could to get him used to affectionate touch—and steered the conversation back to us being there and why. "We know it's a big ask, especially from two strangers you have no previous connection to, but I've considered you all my family since the beginning, and I've practiced this lifestyle for just as long. Jasper's still learning, but he's doing exceptionally well, and we'd both love it if you were to allow us to join you."
All three of them exchanged contemplating looks, and I knew they were all thinking they'd wished Edward and Emmett had also been there so they could've made a collective decision, but ultimately, it was Carlisle's call, which sort of meant it was also Esme's. He would never invite us into the family if he thought it would make Esme uncomfortable, but she was such a loving person that she couldn't even consider turning others away.
I'd already seen the outcome. I knew they would accept us, and I wanted nothing more than to jump out of my seat and give them all a hug, but I was still keeping my excitement on the downlow since I wanted them to know me before I released my full personality onto them.
Then, Esme finally uttered the words I was anxiously waiting for.
"I don't see why not. I believe both of you would make wonderful additions to this family."
My façade broke, and I smiled my widest smile yet. "Thank you so much," I said and felt my eyes sting uncomfortably as they did whenever I got extremely emotional, and I knew it was because vampires couldn't cry. "Can I just ask for one more thing?"
"What?" Esme asked sweetly.
"Can I hug you?"
Esme's expression softened with a gentle, compassionate smile. "Oh, come here, sweetheart," she cooed and stood up, her arms invitingly open, and I immediately moved to meet her in the middle, wrapping my arms around her middle.
Even though both of us were as unyielding as stone, the pure kindness in Esme made me melt into her embrace and feel almost warm as she ran her hands up and down my back.
Jasper stood up and reached out with his hand for Carlisle to shake, who accepted it with a friendly smile.
"I do hope this is a step toward the quiet life you're looking for," he said, and Jasper nodded in agreement.
"I definitely think it is. It's very gracious of you to welcome us so readily into your home and lives, and we're eternally grateful."
Esme and I parted, and I turned to Carlisle, my question clear in my eyes, and he happily pulled me to his side to give me the warmest, most fatherly hug I'd ever experienced—even though it was technically my first—including the one in my vision so many years ago.
"I've wanted to do this for so many decades," I said softly, and Carlisle's hug tightened the tiniest bit, making an electric surge of happiness shoot through me. When we stepped apart, I held his gaze for a long moment. "Even though you weren't aware of it, I have to thank you for everything you helped me with. Your words to the others gave me a lot of comfort during my time alone."
He smiled gently and nodded. "I'm glad I indirectly helped you. It feels good to know you found consolation in that. And, please, from now on, don't hesitate to come to me about anything you might wonder about, okay?"
"Okay," I agreed eagerly, then my eyes fell to Rosalie, who held up her hands to stop me.
"I'm not quite ready to hug yet, but you seem to be an okay person, so let's get to know each other a bit more first?"
"As you wish," I said with a light giggle.
As the puzzle pieces settled in place, a vision showed me the room Jasper and I would share, decorated perfectly after my own taste, with the most stunning view from the floor to ceiling windows and small doors leading out to a small stone balcony.
"Oh," I sighed before my joy climbed again. "Jasper, we'll have our own room, and it's gonna be beautiful!" I pointed toward the hall where the stairs to the second floor were. "Can we look around?"
"Of course," Esme said and gestured openly for us to explore. "This will be your home now, too."
A small thrilled sound burst out of me, and I grabbed Jasper's hand to drag him with me up the stairs so we could see the rest of the house. "C'mon, Jazz! Let's find our new haven!"
My overflowing emotions affected him, and he let out a freeing laugh as he allowed me to pull him behind me. However, when I'd reached the landing, I stopped us with him a couple of steps below so we were, for once, level with each other.
I reached out and cupped his cheek, wanting us to take a moment and just revel in finally being where we were supposed to be, surrounded by the people I knew would help Jasper in ways I was certain I would never be able to do alone.
Here, he'd have brothers, a sister, and parental figures who would remind him of the beauty that was family.
"How do you feel now that we're actually here?" I asked him, and he leaned into my touch.
"Much more at ease than I thought I would," he said and held his own hand over mine on his face. "They're exactly like you described them, and it's wonderful to feel welcomed despite bein' a stranger."
I mirrored myself and brought my other hand up to cup his other cheek as well, then gave him a small, soft kiss. "We won't be strangers to them for long. Once Edward and Emmett come back, you'll see how perfectly we'll fit in."
"I'm excited for it." He took both my hands in his and gently removed them from his face. "Now, let's find that haven you were talkin' about."
We walked through the house and glanced into each room, finding Carlisle's study, the master bedroom he shared with Esme, the oasis Rosalie had created for her and Emmett's room, the bedroom that had been redone to an art room where Esme's supplies tastefully occupied the space, and then, there it was.
"This is it," I said as I stepped into the room, immediately identifying the windows with the stone balcony. "This is the room I saw, Jazz! Our room."
He followed me inside and looked around at the current decór. "Darlin', I love your enthusiasm, but I believe it's occupied."
"Yes, but it's the room in my vision, which means he'll be okay with it," I said confidently as a new vision of myself and Edward laughing together about the matter. I crossed the room and pulled the door to the balcony open. "Jasper, come here and look at this view! Isn't it beautiful?"
"You're right," he said. "Must be the best one in the house."
We heard Esme coming for us before we saw her, and we turned around just as she appeared in the doorway.
"What do you think?" she asked, and I immediately went up to her and grabbed both her hands in mine.
"Everything is so much better than my visions could ever show me. This house is more than beautiful. You've done wonderfully with it."
"Thank you, Alice, that's very nice to hear."
I let go of her hands and spun around. "This is the room I've seen me and Jasper in. Can we please have it?"
Esme's smile fell into a contemplative mask. "Oh, well, this is Edward's room at the moment. Once he's back, we can rework my art room into his new space, so I'm sure he won't mind."
"Thank you so much!" I said happily and gave her a tight, grateful hug. "Jasper and I will, of course, help with moving everything. Are there any boxes we can place his things in so nothing happens to them?"
"Boxes?" Esme asked and looked between us.
I nodded. "Yes, I know he's very protective of his music collection, so I wouldn't want anything to be damaged."
"No, of course, we don't want that," Esme agreed. "I'm sure we have some in the garage, but—"
"Perfect! Don't worry about getting them for us. I should be able to find them," I said since I didn't want her to feel obligated to help us. Then I skipped past her but made sure to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're all so good to us. We can never thank you enough."
I hurried down the stairs and back outside to find the garage where all the cars were, and I took a moment to admire them. Neither Jasper nor I had a driver's license, but it was definitely something to pursue once we'd settled in with the family. It would be nice to know we could travel more inconspicuously in a car rather than run everywhere as we had for the last two years.
Once I found the boxes, I returned inside and found Esme still standing by the door, her arms crossed and appearing somewhat uncomfortable while Jasper stood close by with his hands in his pockets.
"Is everything okay?" I asked with concern, not at all wanting Esme to feel out of place with us.
Jasper turned from her to me. "Actually, Alice, we can't—"
"No, it's fine," Esme interrupted to reassure us, then looked at me with a small smile. "Everything will work out once we're all gathered again."
I grinned with barely controlled enthusiasm. "Oh, I can't wait to meet Edward and Emmett when they get back home. I know they'll accept us in no time." I gave Esme a playful wink, then placed the boxes on the floor. "Jasper, we need to be very careful with the phonograph records from the 1910s. They're from his family home in Chicago."
"You really do know everything about us," Esme pointed out in awe.
A slightly embarrassed giggle escaped me. "At least, as much as you've told each other out loud. My visions don't allow me to read minds like Edward, so all of those secrets are most definitely safe from me."
"But you do know how I became a part of this family. And Rosalie. And Emmett."
I paused what I was doing and looked at her with all the sympathy I felt for how her life had led her to the moment when she decided to end it all. "I do, and I can't even imagine how painful it was for you to lose your baby, but can I tell you something?"
She nodded slowly.
"My visions aren't fixed. Most of them are subject to change, depending on each person's decisions, but there are a few things in life that I want to believe are just meant to be. Like my first vision of Jasper that placed me on the path to find him, Carlisle being at the hospital you were brought into, Rosalie saving Emmett from that bear. As dark as some of our histories are, I believe they happened because we were all meant to find each other."
Esme mulled over my words for a moment before smiling. "That's a nice thought. Thank you for that, Alice."
She left, and Jasper immediately pulled me into his arms. "The way you spread optimism and positivity around is so admirable, my darlin'. Please, never ever stop bein' you."
I leaned my head back to meet his eyes. "I'll do my very best."
{=LMF=}
"I like what you've done with the place," Rosalie said and casually leaned against the doorframe to take in the changes I'd done to the room. "Edward's never really cared about doing anything special with his rooms and usually finds them quite boring, so this is refreshing."
"Thank you," I said, also quite pleased with what I'd been able to accomplish in four days. "It feels nice to finally have a space that's not a moldy attic to call my own."
"I'm sure it is," she said and stepped inside only to sit down on the bed. "And your Southern gentleman won't mind all of these floral patterns?" she asked as she stroked the new bedspread.
I shook my head with a smile in her direction. "No. He said himself that as long as I am happy, he's happy."
"In other words, real husband material."
"We're not married," I said and sat down on the bed next to her. "At least, not yet. I've had a couple of visions of myself in a white dress but nothing solid. I want it to be Jasper's choice. He's the one who needs to adjust the most since his life's taken such a new turn from what it used to be, and I don't want him to feel pressured."
"Emmett proposed after four months," she said, as a soft, reminiscent smile grew.
"I know," I said. "I saw it, and it was so adorable how nervous he was. As if you would've ever said no to him."
"Yeah, Emmett turned out to be, surprisingly, everything I wanted and needed. I never would've believed that as a human." Her smile fell, and her eyes darkened as her mind, without a doubt, took her back to her last months as a human, and the despicable man she'd called fiancé.
"Royce never deserved you," I said and attempted to reach out and place my hand on hers, but she pulled away.
"Did you see what he did to me? What he encouraged his friends to do?" Her voice had taken on a darker intonation than before, and I knew I had to tread lightly lest I stepped on a landmine.
"I did, and I can only say they all got what was coming for them when you took your revenge. If it hadn't been you, they would've paid for their crimes sooner or later anyway. At least, that's what I want to believe."
"In an ideal world, I'd want to believe that too, but I don't, and that's why I killed them," she said, but then she pushed the darkness away with a deep breath and stood back up. "Edward won't be happy about this change, but I only see that as a bonus." She smirked, but her statement made me instantly worried.
"What do you mean? Do you think he'll be mad?"
She scoffed. "I know he'll be mad. That's his thing. To be annoyed and frustrated with everything and everyone. He'll, no doubt, see you taking over his room as some grave injustice done to him."
"Oh," I said and felt the guilt slowly build within me. "I guess I should've waited to do all of this until he came home. I don't want him to be mad at me."
Rosalie waved my concerns away. "He'll get over it once he's moped for a couple of days, don't worry about it." She steered toward the door but turned around before she'd fully left. "I didn't say it when you two first arrived, but welcome to the oddest family in the world."
I laughed at the joke. "Thank you, Rosalie."
"You can call me Rose," she said and disappeared around the corner.
A/N:
Well, obviously the room debacle was a big misunderstanding with some huge miscommunication happening. The reason Esme didn't say anything is because she doesn't know Alice yet. She doesn't know how to rein in Alice's enthusiasm, and she's always a chronically polite character.
In short, she didn't want to hurt Alice's feelings and she didn't know how to politely reject her wish.
So, it happened the way it did.
Rosalie who is a bit more blunt doesn't have the same problem and her personal goal is sometimes to get back at Edward in a slightly more hostile sibling manner.
Tomorrow, Alice and Jasper will meet Edward and Emmett!
Until then,
Stay Awesome!