Chapter Warnings:

briefest mentions of injuries; Esme being and absolute sweetheart (read at your own risk)

A Warm Gift

It was one of the few occasions that Sascha found herself alone at the house. Carlisle had left for work that morning, the others for school, and Esme had excused herself as well before driving off. To the supermarket of all places. Sascha had only realised the absurdity of it when Esme was already far off the driveway.

Sascha reckoned it was probably to stock up for when Bella stayed over. In the meantime, she retreated back to Carlisle's office. After sorting some of the books she had read back to where they belonged, she browsed his shelves for a few more to follow up on. A specific book centring on the collection of vampiric gifts and powers caught her eye fairly quickly. With it, she settled down in the living room and got comfortable on the couch, deeply immersed in the recollection of many different gifts throughout the centuries.

Apparently, there were some theorists out there suggesting that a lot of gifts, especially those manifesting on the more physical side, could actually be rooted in the laws of physics. And, as such, could be studied and developed accordingly.

Fascinating.

The mere magnitude of different types of gifts had her mind swirling equally. So far, she had only come in contact with the ones Jasper, Edward and Alice had. And all of theirs were of the mental nature. Well… she did have an eternity to waste her time with. She would probably encounter one or the other vampire with a physically expressing gift.

She'd have to talk to her aunt's ex-wife, Maren, about this at some point. They had separated years ago, but still remained in good, albeit somewhat distant contact with each other, and in turn Sascha and her father had too. Maren had several PhD's in the physics field as far as Sascha could remember. Under the guise of being interested in theories in general, the chances were not low that Sascha could get one or two revelations out of her.

The sound of a car approaching got her out of her musings. Esme must be returning. It was too early for any of the others. It didn't take long before the woman in question really did step through the garage door into the house - and Sascha, deeply mistaken in her assumption the groceries being merely for Bella, immediately set her book down when she saw Esme gliding in with groceries worth for at least 30 people, bags expertly stacked on her arms.

„Oh my god, do you need help?!"

Esme's soft chuckle made Sascha realise that the question was technically obsolete. It wasn't like the items were actually heavy for her. Nevertheless, probably out of Esme's kind heart to spare Sascha the (unnecessary) embarrassment, she nodded.

„That would be great, dear. There are some more bags in the car."

Sascha nodded with a sheepish smile and sped over to the car, eyes widening a little more when she spotted 10 more bags on the backseat. Gathering them in her hands as well, she quickly made her way after Esme to the kitchen, the latter already unpacking heaps of vegetables and fruit.

„Esme?", slowly, Sascha set the bags down, confusion the only thing on her mind, „What is all this?"

Esme smiled warmly at her, not stopping with her unpacking. She was already placing specific items together in groups. „I've found I haven't quite lost my love for cooking not too long ago. Naturally, we can't eat it, and I could never let all the food go to waste just to fulfil a mere hobby either, soo", she stacked some boxes with fresh tomatoes to the side, „I made it a habit to donate it to the food assistance centre."

Sascha felt at awe at the woman in front of her, mouth agape in adoration. „Esme, that is… that is just beautiful."

Esme laughed softly at that, neatly folding some of the now empty bags. „You're welcome to help me, if you'd like."

„Definitely! I'd love to."

„I'm glad, dear", Esme's smile could put the sun to shame. „How does a round of sweet potato stew sound for the start?"

„Absolutely mouth watering."

Together, they unpacked the rest of the many bags and Sascha moved quickly to sort them according to Esme's instructions and meal planning. Esme said she'd always try to focus on preparing meals that could easily be re-heated or eaten cold, and contained lots of fresh and healthy ingredients to ensure a certain level of nutrition supply.

For that day, she had planned for the already mentioned stew, chicken soup, stir fries that would be left to be prepared by the people receiving the ingredients if they wished, vegetable lasagna, and apple and plum pie for the sweet tooth.

And while they peeled, cut and cooked together, they talked. Esme freely told Sascha a lot about her family. How, in the 1920s, Carlisle had turned her to save her from severe injuries she had sustained after an accident, although Esme had not disclosed the nature of that accident. How she then joined Carlisle and Edward in their little, patchwork like family. How she and Carlisle fell in love and eventually married. And so on.

Sascha found it rather interesting to hear the story she technically already knew, but from Esme's point of view. Like a puzzle piece to their story.

Sascha was in the midst of cutting up vegetables for the broth, mindful to not destroy the wooden cutting board, when a question popped up in her head. „So, what did you do before this life? When you were still human?"

„It's hard to say, I'm afraid", Esme admitted and set up a big pot with water, „It's all quite fuzzy from before I was turned. My memory. It was better right after I became this, but with the years passing, so did most of my memories. It's common for our kind."

Sascha nodded in understanding. „I think I read something about that in one of Carlisle's books. Only very strong impressions really ever stay, right?"

„Exactly. It's a shame really. I think I was a teacher at some point? Either that, or I wished for it a lot, maybe both."

„I can imagine you were a wonderful teacher back then." As a child, Sascha would've loved to have her as a teacher. No doubt.

Esme gifted her with yet another warm smile. „I'm honoured you think so highly of me, Sascha."

„You are preparing dozens and dozens of meals to help other people in need", Sascha breathed out a laugh, „You are an angel."

„Truth be told", Esme grabbed the bowl of freshly cut soup greens and stirred it into the then boiling water, „I seemed to have been quite the troublemaker in my youth. At least if I trust the words of my dear husband."

Sascha gasped lightly. „He knew you?"

„He was a doctor already back then. He admitted to me decades into our relationship how a certain young girl had been brought to his office one day, a broken leg from trying to climb a tree."

„And that was you", Sascha concluded with a smile.

„And that was me", Esme nodded fondly, „Hadn't Carlisle said anything I would've never remembered. After he mentioned it, some of it came back to me, but not more than a weak brain fog."

„Did Carlisle ever remember anything from his time as a human?"

Esme gave a sympathetic shake of her head. „Not much either. He got turned in England back then, which has him quite certain that he is originally from there. Travelling across the oceans, or the continents, was not the norm for people back in the 17th century."

„Makes sense", Sascha moved to cut even more vegetables for the stir fry then, portioning them in separate Tupperware containers, „It really is a shame… to have so many years of your life fade away?"

„Do you still remember a lot?"

„As clear as ever. I was already confused when I read about this 'phenomenon' in the books."

„It does take some time, dear", Esme reached a hand out to softly brush across Sascha's cheekbone with her knuckles, „Your own blood is still fresh within you, so are your memories. How about you start a journal soon? Write down your memories from your human life and preserve them."

Sascha smiled at the thought. „That's a good idea."

„Is there anything you hold in particularly fond memory?"

Sascha appreciated the elegance of her question. Interested, but not invasive to a specific thing. She did find it extraordinarily easy to talk to Esme, her warmth and comfort made it so. It was a gift entirely on its own.

„Hm", she considered for a moment, „It must be the day my father took me to his workshop for the first time. He let me collect and sort out all the different kinds of nails and bolts. He is a carpenter."

Esme hummed in reply. „You are quite close with your father." It wasn't a question.

„Yeah", Sascha was glad the thought didn't make her sad at that moment. „We had our rough patches, but always got through them eventually. Now, we're actually quite a good team."

„That is wonderful to hear, Sascha." Esme added a bunch of different spices to her soup with calculated precision. „So, is your father the reason for your affinity of sculpted art?"

Sascha snorted out a laugh at that. „I wouldn't call it art yet but-"

„-Nonsense! I've seen you work on them so carefully these past few afternoons. What you manage to carve out of a mere stone," Esme breathed out an almost dreamy sigh, „it's truly beautiful."

„Thank you", Sascha finally accepted, a small, content smile on her face, „I do feel like I'm just starting to learn it again, to be honest. It's different now than it was before I- you know. It does help me to focus though. It calms me down."

Esme nodded in understanding. „I can imagine."

Sascha stilled her knife for a moment. „And yes, my father was the gateway, if you will", they shared a laugh, „I would always steal spare wood or scraps that came from his works and spend my time in his workshop with him. It resulted in forgotten homework quite often."

They kept talking for hours, eventually cooking through all of the bags Esme had brought back to the house. By the time the others got back from school, Sascha was pulling out the last pies from the oven, more than excited that she was able to do so without any oven gloves.

„Look at you being a wonder in the kitchen, Sherlock."

Sascha had to shake her head with a smile when she heard Emmett's booming voice behind her.

Esme playfully flicked a kitchen towel in his direction. „She was of tremendous help", she scolded with a smile.

„I wouldn't dare to discredit her."

Sascha carefully placed the pies on the stove to cool off and turned to make a face at Emmett. „Of course you wouldn't."

The others watched in amusement, Rosalie pulling at Emmett's waist with the ghost of a smile, raining him in. As if that were possible.

Sascha noticed Edward's absence then. Before she could ask however, Alice already raised a dainty finger.

„Bella will be coming over with Edward soon, do you want to join us for a hunt?"

Made sense. Both Alice's and Jasper's eyes were dipping to the blacker side, rather than golden, as must her own. Better not have a human come over in that state. It was more comfortable for everyone involved. „Sure, let's go."

Alice clapped her hands together excitedly and leaned over to link her arm with Sascha's, obviously very ready to go.

„Have fun", Esme smiled at the group in front of her, and affectionately pushed a strand of Sascha's hair behind her ear, „Thank you for your help. I enjoyed having your company."

Sascha felt warmth spread in her chest once more. It had been a while since she had been able to spend time with a motherly figure such as her. „So did I."

End Notes:

This chapter was a late addition, actually. And I like it a lot. I wanted to bring in some home-y, comfort-y, borderline cottage core-esk mood in between? I guess? I know it feels like a filler chapter, but I felt like doing a little more character building.

I don't remember where or when I read about this head-canon of Esme cooking for food support centres, but it really stuck with me and I absolutely adored it. I can't take credit for coming up with the general idea myself. So credit where it's due. However, this scene, is from my feather hahah

I am visiting family and won't have wifi or time much tomorrow, so I'll give this one to you a night early.

To be entirely honest, I can't wait to post the next chapter. It's one of my favourites so far. I am already curious how you'll like it. BUT, not to get ahead of myself, I am currently curious what you thought of this one. Feel free to leave me a comment or send me a DM with your thoughts.

Take care and have a good day~

Posted: 10.02.23

Last Edit: 10.02.23