My forever || Caius Volturi

Chapter 51

"It's nice to meet you Stefan." Juliana smiled.

"It's good to meet you too Juliana. It's good to meet my brother's mate and from what I've heard... soon to be wife." He winked.

Juliana nodded her head. "You have heard right. I guess we will be family then."

Stefan nodded and continued driving. "That's right. It's nice to be able to talk to you and get to know you while you're staying with me. So Caius left to go somewhere. Texas was it? And why didn't he take you with him?"

"He said it's too dangerous. But I understand him and his worry. It wasn't too long ago when I was... killed. He only got me back. I understand that he doesn't want to take any risks. It could be dangerous."

"I guess we have a lot to talk about this week. Many stories." He chuckled.

"I'm sure we do."

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the place where he lived. It was a beautiful mansion by a lake in the middle of nowhere. But that was fine. The peace and nature was perfect and it was great that you were able to sit outside in the sun without having to worry of someone seeing you.

The house was made of this light beige stone and it had many big windows. The mansion was clearly old but in an amazing shape.

"The owner before me renovated the house into its old beauty. The house is two hundred years old. So younger than me. How about you?"

"I was born in 1845." Juliana answered.

"Oh, right. So the house is a bit older than you but not much." Stefan nodded. "Let's go inside. I will give you a tour of the house and introduce someone very special to you. Later I'll give you a tour around the grounds."

"Sounds perfect." Juliana smiled and followed Stefan inside the house. He carried her bags inside and set them down on the floor by the front door.

The house was big. Two floors and a wooden grand staircase leading upstairs. It was beautifully decorated. Big old looking paintings and some vases full of flowers by the staircase. It could be easily seen that Stefan had money. A lot of it and the decorations were looking like that. But it didn't feel dreary or cold. The feeling when you stepped inside the house was warm and homey.

"Stefan? Can I ask?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a mate?"

"No. And I don't really feel like I need one." He shrugged and flashed her a smile before leading her into the living room.

Both Stefan and Juliana sat down on a set of white armchairs decorated with gold details.

Juliana looked around the room and couldn't help but see a small basket full of colorful blocks, a green ball and two dolls in one of the corners of the room.

"Your home is lovely. Have you decorated it yourself?"

"Thank you. Most of the decorations were here already when I arrived all those years ago. The previous owner had passed away and the seller sold the house with everything coming with it. But it was only good. It was beautiful and I didn't need to start renovating or decorating. I just bought the house and moved in. I only renovated one of the rooms in the house later.

"Do you ever get lonely?"

"No." He smiled softly.

"Daddy?" Suddenly a small voice was heard.

"Come here darling." Stefan smiled and opened his arms.

Maybe a six year old blonde little girl ran into the room and then in Stefan's arms and sat on his lap. She shyly glanced back towards Juliana.

"This is Juliana. She's your uncle's fiancée." The girl gave him a questioning look, maybe not understanding what he meant. "They are going to get married soon." Stefan explained which made the girl's eyes widen slightly.

"She's a human." Juliana spoke to Stefan.

Stefan nodded. "Her name is Elise. She's six and in a few months turns seven. I adopted her two years ago."

"Is that... is that allowed?"

"She's a human child. Not an immortal child, so it's okay."

"Does Caius know?"

He nodded while gently stroking Elise's hair. "He does."

"And how did he take it? When you told him."

"He took it surprisingly well. Have you ever thought about what it would be like having a child?"

"Well I have thought about what it would be like to be a mother. But I don't really want to be. Even if I could, I still wouldn't want to."

"Can I ask why? I'm not judging at all. Just asking."

"I like peace." Juliana answered feeling slightly awkward. To her relief, Stefan just chuckled.

"Being a mother isn't everyone's cup of tea. And that's completely okay. If you want to, I'm sure you would be a great aunt."

"You want me to be an aunt to Elise?"

"Yes. Only if you want to. I think she would like some girl time once in a while."

Juliana smiled softly and looked at Elise who had now got off of her father's lap and walked to her toy basket. She picked up her blocks and set them on the floor and started to build a castle.

"Guess what Elise?" Juliana spoke in a sweet and gentle tone.

"Yes?" The girl looked up at her.

"I can see that you're building a pretty castle. Guess what? I see a castle every day."

"You do?" Her eyes lit up.

"Yes." Juliana nodded. "You see, I live in a castle."

"Uncle Caius lives in a castle too!"

"He does. I live in the same castle as he does."

"Are you a queen?"

Juliana smiled softly. "Well... not yet but when your uncle Caius and I get married, I will become his queen."

"Can we build your castle?"

"Of course." Juliana got up from the couch and sat down on the carpet with Elise. "I haven't built castles before but I can see that you have. Can you show me how to build one?"

"Yes!" Elise started to excitedly build the castle and explain every window and tower in it to Juliana.

"I'm glad that you're here although it wasn't your choice and you would have wanted to be with Caius instead. I'm glad that I got to meet you." Stefan spoke up with a small smile.

"Me too. And I'm glad I got to meet both you and Elise. I'm sure we're going to have a lovely week." Juliana looked at him and smiled.