chapter 7 : The kids are great (Rosalie's pov)
I love kids, really I do. It's a shame I didn't have the time to have one of my own, but I have to say, first Nessie, now these two angels, it's more than I had ever hoped for in my first century. The only problem is they grow up way too fast, just like their mother. I mean I was expecting Michael, being half vampire, to be on the fast track, but Olivia grows up just as fast. According to Jacob it has to do with growing up around vampires, apparently when we settled around the quileute reservation it started an acceleration of their growth. And it seems the closer they are to vampires, the faster they grow up. It's official, being a vampire just sucks, I know it's an unfortunate choice of words but it's so true.
What am I whining about they're so cute, and they might be part wolf, but they don't even stink, seriously they smell kinda sweet. And Michael is just too much, making everybody relieve nice memories when we're playing with him. No really, right now life is good. The first days flew by, soon they turned into weeks then months, and before we knew it they were speaking, walking even running. The first 6 months were very uneventful, we had decided to go with the homeschooling charade. After a very careful observation and some pointed questions to Michael, Edward was certain that he could see any memory of the person he was looking at. But he had to be looking for the right thing, kinda like a search engine on the web, you need the right parameters to get the right result. And then if anyone in the vicinity has a connected memory they relieve it too, only Michael doesn't see it, but then Edward does, so it's the same really. The boys, Jasper and Emmet mostly, seem to think of it in terms of military tool, I mean seriously he's a kid. But I do like having a very pleasant memory popping in my head and knowing my soulmate just relieved the exact same moment, it's very blissful.
So it had been 6 months, the kids looked about 2 years old and their parents were seriously thinking about taking Michael hunting for the first time and starting him on his animal blood diet. Jasper, Emmet and Edward had been scouting the woods, and it seemed everything was clear, no bitchy self righteous vampire to report to Italy. But just in case they were keeping a lookout. Jacob had been shifting in front of his kids for the past few weeks, to get them used to it, and he had decided he was going with them in wolf form to make it into a game like he had done with Nessie. Alice, Esmee and I were staying with Olivia to play with her dolls, or at least it was the plan.
Jacob phased, Nessie told Michael ”Come on, we're going hunting, you'll see it's a lot of fun”
Bella started running to encourage him to follow her, and that's when it happened, both Michael and Olivia turned into the cutest little white wolves and took off running after Bella . I say little because I was used to the ginormous beast that is Jacob, but they were actually the size of a regular wolf 'Well it's a good thing their clothes get too small after one day anyway, because these are gone' I thought. Obviously Alice and I ended up following them, but 30 seconds later Edward showed up with a look of worry on his face, so of course we all stopped, and Nessie went ballistic.
”What is it dad, what's wrong?”
”What do you mean what's wrong, where are my grandkids? you know your children Michael and Olivia?” he asks clearly panicked.
”Oh, that's all, you had me worried for a moment, I thought Armageddon was coming or something. They're right here, you see the two beautiful white wolves. I honestly can't tell you which is which because they're identical, but they're both here.” Nessie answered with a big smile, pride evident on her face. 'Honestly, wolves that don't stink, it has to be a first. I mean Jacob is still repulsive, but even in wolf from these two smell sweet, or wait. One of them does smell kinda wolfish but really it's tolerable, the other one however, not at all. Huh, I guess there is your difference.' I thought, earning a glance from my eavesdropping brother who then said in a reproachful tone
”Why would you do this to me Bella? I was worried sick.”
”Do what? what did I do? I didn't do anything, what are you talking about?”
”You're shielding them of course, why do you think I came running? I suddenly stopped hearing them.” Edward clearly thought we were pulling a prank on him.
”Seriously dad, you think mom would do that kind of joke, knowing full well that you would come running, stopping your surveillance, putting my kids, her grandkids at risk? Of course she's not shielding them. You're not shielding them mom, right?” Of course while the adults were talking seriously, the three wolves were playing amongst themselves, completely oblivious.
”Of course I'm not, Emmet is the one who does stupid jokes and thinks later. But even him wouldn't have put their safety at risk. So you can't hear them honey, really?”
”No, I can't hear a thing from them. So it means they shield while in wolf form? Or Michael shields while in wolf form and Olivia benefits from it? Anyway it doesn't matter right now, the important thing is they're OK. And by the way I had the guys tighten the perimeter while I came to you so my absence wouldn't create any hole. So if you still want to take Michael hunting? I'm guessing Olivia is coming too. Oh and Rosalie, perhaps we should explore your theory as a way to identify them.”
”What theory, she didn't say a thing. Seriously Edward this is frustrating sometimes.” Alice said not liking being out of the loop. Not being able to see anything is hard on her.
”We'll talk about it at the house, now let's go hunting” 'now she'll see how we feel all the time' I thought with a smirk. And hunting we went, Michael didn't really hunt so much as scavenge his father's prey, He did pay attention though. Seeing how he learns everything at super speed, I'm guessing the next hunting trip will probably be very different. Olivia on the other hand didn't show any interest in the hunt whatsoever, she was just running around on all fours, rolling in the grass and occasionally jumping on her brother. At least I knew which one was which, the one that didn't stick its teeth in the dead animal when the blood started flowing was Olivia, and oddly enough she was the one not smelling wolfish at all. Who would have thought that the half vampire would be the closest to stinking.
