My forever || Caius Volturi

Chapter 52

Juliana was playing with Elise in the living room. They were making a puzzle with flowers on it. The flowers reminded Juliana of the garden in the Volturi castle and of Caius. She missed him. She had only been living with Stefan and Elise for two days and she already missed him so much. It made her anxious when she didn't know how everything was going and how Caius was. Was he okay? Of course he is okay, he's Caius. Juliana was pulled out of her thoughts when Elise suddenly spoke up in her sweet voice.

"Are you like daddy?" She asked while looking up at Juliana.

"Yes I'm a vampire like your dad." Juliana nodded with a small smile.

"Your eyes are a different color than his. His are gold, yours are red."

"That is true."

"Why?" The girl furrowed her eyebrows.

"I eat different things than your dad so my eye color is also different."

"Oh, okay." Elise nodded and seemed to be satisfied with the answer.

Juliana was glad she was happy with the answer. She was sure Stefan kept all these blood things from her so Juliana really didn't want to go to that either and bring up questions or even possibly traumatize the girl.

"These flowers are pretty." Elise spoke and looked at the puzzle that was almost finished.

"They are. Do you know the name of that flower?" Juliana asked and pointed at one of the purple flowers in the picture.

"Yes." Elise nodded. "That's lupine. There are lupins in our backyard. Purple and light pink. Do you want to see them?"

Juliana smiled softly. "Of course. Show me the way."

Elise smiled and got up from the floor. She took Juliana's hand in her own and led her out of the house and to the garden. They walked to the other side of the house and past the garden.

Juliana furrowed her eyebrows. "Isn't the garden that way?" She pointed on the other side of the huge yard.

"Yes. But lupins grow here. At the side of the field. We didn't plant them. Daddy said they are wild flowers."

Juliana followed her and they took another turn when suddenly it was like everything turned purple. Juliana's eyes widened when in front of her opened an absolutely huge field of purple lupins. The tall flowers swayed slightly when the wind blew through them.

"They are pretty." Elise spoke.

"Very pretty." Juliana nodded, agreeing with the girl.

Elise turned to look at Juliana when the clouds parted and the sun was able to shine again. The rays of sun touched the woman's skin making it shine. A big smile formed on Elise's face. "Daddy's skin does that too."

Juliana teared her eyes away from the field of flowers and turned to look at Elise. She gave her a small smile. "Thank you for showing me this field, Elise. It's so beautiful. But I'm afraid we need to go back inside. Your dad is probably wondering where we went."

"Aww! Do we have to?" Elise pouted.

"Yes darling. Come on. I'll carry you." Juliana opened her arms and crouched down. Elise smiled, her upset long gone when she wrapped her small arms around Juliana's neck. Juliana picked her up as easy as she weighed just a couple of feathers and then started to slowly walk back towards the house.

"Can we come here again?" Elise whispered and rested her head against Juliana's chest.

"Of course. That would be fun."

"Can we have a picnic? Do you like picnics?" The little girl's voice grew tired.

"I love picnics. We can definitely have one."

"By the flowers?"

"Sounds perfect. Do you want to invite your dad too?" Juliana asked.

"Yes." Elise yawned. "We can have a proper p..."

Juliana glanced down and saw Elise fast asleep in her arms. She carried her back inside and upstairs to her room. She set the girl on her bed before carefully taking off her shoes and cardigan before tucking her in under the blankets for a nap.

"Sleep well." Juliana placed a gentle kiss on Elise's forehead before walking out of the room.

"Juliana?" Stefan walked up to her from his study. "Where's Elise?"

"In her bedroom. We went outside to see the lupine flowers on the field behind the house. I carried her back inside and she fell asleep in my arms. I tucked her in."

Stefan smiled softly. "Thank you. Join me downstairs."

The two vampires walked back downstairs and to the living room. Juliana looked at the puzzle that was still on the floor almost finished. Stefan saw her look and spoke up. "It can stay there. I'm sure Elise wants to finish it later."

Juliana nodded slightly and sat down on a couch.

"How are you Juliana?" Stefan sat down as well.

"I'm okay. But I can't lie, I miss Caius. Very much."

Stefan nodded understandingly. "I know."

"It's just... that I don't know if he's okay. What he and the others were going to do is so dangerous. No one really likes the Volturi and if the vampires are battling against each other... it can't be pretty when they arrive."

"We both know Caius. You, better than me. He won't get hurt."

"I know. But I still can't help but worry."

"I understand. I don't blame you. But my brother is the most stubborn and annoying man I have ever met. No offense." Juliana cracked a small smile at that. "But he would crawl up from the bottom of the ocean to get back to you. He will be just fine."

"Daddy?" Elise's shout was heard from upstairs.

"Excuse me." Stefan stood up.

"Of course." Juliana nodded and smiled softly. She watched him walk out of the room before looking down to her finger. The ruby on her ring sparkled slightly when the light touched it. She brought her hand up to her lips and placed a small kiss on the ring. "Please come home safe." She whispered a small prayer.

"Sorry. Elise had a bad dream." Stefan walked back to the room with teary eyed Elise in his arms.

"Oh my. Did you?" Juliana asked, making Elise nod while Stefan wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"Mhm." Elise nodded her head. "Daddy wasn't here. I couldn't find him."

"Don't worry sweetie. Your dad is not going anywhere." Juliana smiled softly.

"Definitely. I will always be here. Always." Stefan hugged the girl, making her giggle.

Juliana watched their interaction with a soft smile on her lips. She was so happy that she was able to meet them both. She got two new members to her family and she couldn't be happier.

"Do I have to go back to bed?" Elise turned to look at her father with a hopeful look on her face.

"No, darling. You don't have to. It's almost dinner time after all."