A/N:
Well, they're in Calgary now, and for those of you who've read my other Origins stories, you'll know what's about to happen.
But first, some romance and happiness :)
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 27
SUNDAY, AUGUST 20th 1950- FRIDAY, AUGUST 10th, 1951
The large bed cover billowed as I whipped it up in the air and allowed it to float back down, then smoothed out the wrinkles in the fabric, and with that, the room Jasper and I would occupy in this temporary home Esme had found for the family to rent in Calgary was done.
It felt nice to know that this room was ours only and didn't come with huge amounts of guilt because of my lack of foresight of social norms and etiquette. This house was big enough for everyone to have their own space and a little bit more. Technically, it was too much space for us, but considering the short amount of time that had passed since it was decided we had to move, Esme had achieved an outstanding feat in finding the property.
I felt Jasper's presence approaching even before I heard his footsteps in the hall outside our room, but I didn't turn and allowed him to walk up behind me to sneak his arms around my waist.
"It looks lovely, darlin'," he said with his cheek pressed against my temple.
"I'm glad you like it," I said and wrapped my own arms around his. I knew my personal interior style steered more toward the soft and feminine, but because the room was for the both of us, I mostly did my best to tone the colors down so Jasper would also be able to spend his time in there without feeling out of place.
"I like it when you're happy," he said. "That's all that matters to me."
I let out a soft laugh. "As sweet as that is, this is your room as well, and I want you to feel that it is."
Jasper pulled his arms back and turned me around so he could see my eyes. "Alice, I've spent most of my life in abandoned and dilapidated houses, and then outside in the wild after that. My livin' quarters means very little to me, but as long as I have you close by, I will feel happy and content. You and I could live out the rest of our eternity in a dank cave, and I'd still be happy. That's what your presence does to me."
His love radiating from him amplified my own emotions and made me feel warmer than if blood had still been pumping in my veins, and I reached up to kiss him.
"Mmm," he hummed against my lips before releasing me. "There's only Carlisle's study left to unpack. I came to fetch you."
I weaved my fingers through his, and we went to the aforementioned study together where we could already hear the rest of the family busy at work.
In the five months that had passed since Jasper and I wandered into their backyard, I had learned more about each family member than I ever could have figured out through my visions, but just as I had predicted, we fit in with the others seamlessly, almost as if there had always been a void there that Jasper and I were meant to fill.
I had always known that Carlisle was the indisputable leader and father figure whose thirst for knowledge was never quenched, but I never would've guessed he also had a mischievous side that he occasionally let out when the situation allowed it. Mostly when he knew it would put a smile on Esme's face.
It shouldn't have surprised me since he was, physically, only in his early twenties, but it was easy to forget with his vast life experience and wisdom residing behind his eyes.
Edward turned out to be a hopeless romantic, which I thought was really sweet even though he never admitted it out loud. He only claimed to be traditional because of his upbringing, but I could detect so much more in his music and the books he preferred to read. If they weren't biographies or strictly non-fiction, they were filled with poetry and tales of romantic woes.
Another unexpected surprise was realizing how deep and meaningful Rosalie and Emmett's relationship was. The couple they were on the surface was nothing compared to the depth of what they meant to each other, and it was eye-opening to witness how different they were around the family and when they were alone.
But Esme was, by far, the one with the most unsuspecting personality trait of all. With her gentle and care-giving nature being so effortless, very few people were aware of the hardened woman deep within.
Similar to Carlisle, it was easy to forget how difficult Esme's human life had been and how she ended up in Carlisle's care where he then changed her because she didn't wear her bitterness on her sleeve like Rosalie did, but she had every right to be equally as resentful. She just chose the other path.
But as she, Rosalie, and I started to loosely plan the foundation and future charities and shelters, her toughened interior seeped out for us to see. It wasn't unexpected that both she and Rosalie would feel passionate about the project since they had memories of their abuse.
"It was sweet of Edward, in a very macabre way, to end Charles for me," she had admitted through a veil of guilt. "I don't ever wish for the life of any human to end, but he was different—as I'm sure every wife of an abusive man would say. And Edward told me about his obsession with finding me again, so I'm telling myself his death was necessary to protect us."
"You don't have to justify your feelings toward a man who hurt you the way he did," I told her fervently. "You have every right to feel what you feel."
"And you have nothing to feel guilty for," Rosalie pointed out with a shrug. "His blood is on Edward's hands, not yours."
Jasper and I immediately got busy with helping the others with the voluminous amount of textbooks dating from late 17th century up to the present day, tools, and sentimental memorabilia Carlisle had collected and kept safe over his very long existence.
"I had an idea earlier," Carlisle said to garner the attention of all of us. "We never really had a good explanation about Jasper and Alice joining us. I told a few colleagues that Alice was Edward and Emmett's second cousin, and Jasper was her fiancé, but they weren't fully convinced." He looked between Rosalie and Jasper. "You two resemble each other enough to pass for fraternal twins. If Jasper would agree to change his last name to Hale, it would be even better."
I saw Jasper shrug from the corner of my eye.
"I don't mind," he said. "I left my own name behind decades ago anyway. I think I could get used to being Jasper Hale."
As if he didn't love it when I called him by his full name, even more so when I included his military rank in it. But perhaps that was something he was satisfied to keep just between him and me.
I didn't have much time to consider my train of thought further before a huge vision swiftly seized me, and I gasped at what I was seeing in front of me.
Jasper was wearing a tuxedo, and he was smiling, his soft golden eyes relaxed and brimming with found peacefulness and affection as I vowed myself to him.
"I, Alice Cullen, take thee, Jasper Lee Hale, to be my wedded husband; to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health; to love, cherish, and to obey, 'til death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I give thee my troth."
I knew the actual words meant little because death would never part us—at least, not in the traditional sense—and the names were mere aliases, but knowing we'd have a ceremony to remember and cherish was enough for my giddiness to burst forth like a giant wave and envelope me in pure light and joy.
In the vision, he placed a delicate silver ring on my finger and returned my vow.
"With this ring, I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
Jasper and I were getting married.
I had always known we would eventually, but the yard outside was unmistakable. It would happen here, so that meant soon.
As he often did when my positive emotions ascended higher than usual, Jasper was pulled to me by his desire to share my feelings. "Whatever could you possibly be seein' to cause such happiness, darlin'?" he asked, reaching for physical connection since that amplified his ability.
Meeting his eyes, I didn't want to just say it. "I want to tell you, but I don't want to ruin it," I said. Jasper had always been wonderfully supportive of my visions. Never once had he said he felt I was being intrusive or that I saw things he'd rather I didn't, but I also knew that if he had planned a proposal, and I took the opportunity to surprise me away from him, he would be nettled by it. "I want you to know that when you decide to do it, I'll still act surprised if that's what you want," I continued, hoping it would reassure him.
But he just appeared even more confused by my statements.
"What are you talkin' about?"
"I ..." I sighed and just told him. "I saw us getting married in the backyard."
His confusion morphed into a pleased smile, once again letting me silently know he truly didn't mind that I knew our future before he did.
"Did you see when it would happen?"
The green grass and the trees in bloom had been clear enough, but as to exactly when, that was something I didn't know, so I shook my head. "Only that it must have been summer or spring."
Before I even comprehended it, he had reached into his pocket and presented me with the tell-tale box balancing on his flat palm. "How about next summer?"
I squealed in genuine surprise. The last thing I had expected was that he'd already purchased a ring, and I didn't even need to look at it to know I'd love it because it was from him, and it was the symbol of his love for me—not something I had picked up, and he just bought. He had taken the time to go out into the human world where he wasn't yet fully comfortable in order to find the ring he thought suited me best.
Nothing would ever mean as much to me as that did.
"Yes!"
He confidently caught me when I jumped up to kiss him, holding me tight against his frame as my feet dangled in the air. I wanted to wrap myself around him, but we were both very aware of our family surrounding us, and we rarely showcased our physical affection toward each other around them.
Emmett exclaimed happily about the pending wedding planning we had in front of us, which dissipated the somewhat uncomfortable tension that had started to grow as Jasper and I got swallowed and involved with each other, but I didn't pay him much attention. I was still focused on Jasper.
He opened the small box so I could see the ring he'd chosen, and it was perfect. Platinum for its durability, pavé-set sapphires mounted between two rows of brilliant-cut diamonds. Not exactly simple but understated enough that I'd never have to take it off. Perhaps I'd switch fingers when I played an age much too young to be married, but it would never, from this moment, leave my hand.
"I love it," I said softly and held out my hand for him to put it on me.
"And I love you," he said and slid it into place, then delicately lifted my hand to kiss it where the ring now had its home. "Only a couple of years ago, I never would've thought I'd have this moment. To share a love like this with someone like you. Now, no one can tear me from your side." He stroked my cheek with his knuckles. "You're stuck with me, my darlin' Alice."
I giggled and leaned into his touch. "You were already stuck with me, Jasper Hale."
{=LMF=}
Everything was perfect and exactly as I had envisioned it. The flowers were crisp and blooming, the chairs were set out, the arch under which Jasper and I would stand tomorrow was decorated tastefully, and the cream-colored canopy was carefully placed to prevent all direct sunlight during the ceremony.
The few human guests we'd have would be served a feast of food claimed to be delicacies and the best kind of wedding food, and everyone in the family were well-fed to such a point some of us felt a bit sloshy.
That last part was for Jasper's sake since we wanted him to feel as relaxed as possible on his own wedding day, and the last thing he should have to deal with was sensing the thirst of six other vampires on top of his own.
He was even taking extra precautions by staying out of the house and hunting small game until just before he'd have to return and get himself ready, basically gorging himself on excessive volumes of blood.
My dress was pristine and wrinkle free, and his tuxedo was pressed. There was nothing more for me to fix.
Except one thing.
"Edward?"
"Yes, Alice?"
I entered his room, scissors in hand and a pleading look in my eyes. "Can I, please, give you a haircut for tomorrow?" My dear, mind-reading brother had never bothered to follow the evolution of style as the years passed, and his long, penny-colored hair always fell into his eyes, causing him to constantly have to brush it back with his hand.
It had driven me to insanity a couple of times, and I knew once he'd gotten the chance to get used to the new style I could give him, he'd appreciate it as well. I just needed to persuade him first.
He immediately zeroed in on the scissors and grimaced with distrust, which made me sigh in annoyance. He had no reason not to trust me because not only could he read my mind and I only blocked him on very special occasions but also because doing stupid permanent changes to him that he'd then have to live with for giggles wasn't my humor, and it never would be.
I had first-hand experience with traumatizing haircuts, and I'd never subject another vampire to the same experience with the inability to grow it out.
"I'm not asking you to tear off a limb and wrap it up to be my wedding gift here," I said. "Why are you so scared of a haircut?"
"I'm not scared. I just don't see the necessity of it. It hasn't grown in over thirty years," he said, perfectly pointing out the very reason he should trust me.
"But that's the problem," I pressed, hoping he'd see why I was pushing it. "Your hair is exactly the same cut it had to fit a teenage boy of your time. You look closer to fifteen than seventeen when you're wearing it like that."
He cast a quick glance at himself in the one mirror he had in his room before defiantly turning back to me. "There's nothing wrong with my hair. It's a classic male haircut."
"It's too long and falls into your eyes," I said, and the next moment, I saw Edward staring at his reflection in horror with only one eighth of an inch left of his hair. But I wasn't the one who'd triggered that vision. He had because that's what he genuinely believed I'd do to him if it was the current trend of the decade.
It wasn't, and he was being ridiculous, but it also made me realize how deep his distrust ran after Emmett had joined the family, and he started to pull our poor brother into his various "jokes".
"Oh Edward, have some faith in me, will you?" I complained and narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm not going to shave it off. I would never subject you to endure being bald for all eternity."
As if on cue, Emmett's laugh resounded from downstairs. "That would have been so epic though!"
I ignored him and focused only on Edward. "I just want to freshen it up a little bit and style it to fit the times." I didn't want to push my luck too much, but as my eyes wandered over his old-fashioned choice of clothes, my next words involuntarily slipped out. "And not to take any liberties or anything, but have you considered changing up your wardrobe?"
He immediately glared at me through the reflection in his mirror. "One thing at a time, you little gnat."
I clamped my lips shut and held up my hands in surrender, but he could see the glimmer of amusement in my expression. "Fine. I won't tell you how completely unfashionable you are wearing that."
Truthfully, his clothes weren't awful. They just belonged on a fifty-year-old gentleman rather than a supposed teenager in 1951.
He grumbled a bit but let his guard down. "Settle for the haircut now, okay," he said. "But know that I'm only agreeing to it because it's your wedding day tomorrow. I don't like being bossed around."
His words said one thing, but the visions I then got said something else. He wouldn't only allow me to give his style a complete overhaul, he'd even help me clean out his closet when the time came.
"If you say so," I said and turned him away from his mirror and started to recite every date I'd lived alone without Jasper backward to keep him out of my thoughts so he wouldn't see the cut until it was done.
It didn't take me a long time to fix it, and I barely shortened anything. Only just enough to keep it out of his eyes, but then I combed and styled it the way the actor, James Dean—currently one of the most popular actors among women—wore it in the magazines.
"Huh ..." he said when I revealed the look.
"Well? What do you think?"
He turned to me with an impressed smile. "It looks great, Alice. Thanks."
Pride and joy swelled within me. "I'm glad I could help," I said, loving that I could put a genuine smile on Edward's face. But then, I couldn't resist the opportunity one of my visions had shown me. "Now … about that wardrobe of yours—"
"Alice!" he exclaimed to stop me, and all I could do was laugh and give him a hug before leaving him in peace.
A/N:
Poor Edward. Emmett's really traumatized him xD
If you're interested in seeing the ring-inspiration, let me know and I'll post it in my FB group :)
Until tomorrow,
Stay Awesome!