EARTH, rosalie hale [2]

7.

CHRISTMAS was spent cozy. On Christmas Eve, Austin and Elexia had the Swans over – including Bella, who was actually starting to seem slightly better, very slightly. On Christmas Day, Amethyst, Emmett, and Rosalie spent the day with the Reedus family. It was Elexia's first Christmas without her mom, and even though she missed her, it was honestly a holiday well-spent.

The new year rolled in very quickly – Elexia was almost eighteen, and Gaia was growing more and more each day. It scared Rosalie a little bit, how fast the baby seemed to be slipping through her fingers. Elexia felt similarly, although she loved to discover new bits of her daughter's personality that could only be achieved with time.

Elexia's birthday was a few days away, and she was in the living room discussing plans with Austin and Rosalie.

"I don't know, Lex. I just think you should go see your mom, is all." Austin shrugged. "You know I love you and Gaia and Rose, but I have had you for Thanksgiving and Christmas and the birth of Gaia. Shouldn't your mother at least have your birthday? I know it makes her sad."

"I just.. I don't know, Dad." Elexia sighed. "I don't really want to go back to Baltimore."

Elexia took note of Austin's eyes flickering over to Rosalie for a brief moment before focusing on his daughter again. Ever since meeting the Cullens, little details became extremely apparent to Elexia. Nothing escaped her sight. She looked at her girlfriend, crossing her arms, as if to tell her to speak.

"Well, Lex, I actually reached out to your mom last week and we talked about going on a trip to California, just you, her, me, and Gaia. You know I hate the heat, but Los Angeles isn't extremely sunny in January and we wouldn't go to the beach. I think it would be nice. Just a moms trip. We found a nice little place on the marina for a few days. We don't even have to go out." Rosalie said.

You know I hate the heat was code for I cannot be in the sunlight without shining like a mirrorball. Elexia contemplated the information and ultimately decided that it would be a good idea. She did miss Abbie an awful lot.

"Okay." Elexia nodded, giving Rosalie a small smile.

"Yeah?" Rosalie grinned, making Elexia's cheeks flush. It made the former so unbelievably happy to see Elexia get to have fun and enjoy life a bit. It's why she appreciated Melody so much – she got her girlfriend to open up more.

A couple of days after the conversation, it was time to leave. It was 2:30 in the morning when Rosalie came to wake Elexia and Gaia up so they could begin the four hour drive to the airport. The flight was just under three hours, so they would get to California at around eleven o'clock. Abbie was already awake and getting on her flight– she had called Rosalie to let her know– and she would be landing a couple of hours before them in Los Angeles.

Elexia carelessly put her hair in a bun and put on sweatpants and a t-shirt. Seeing as they were going to be traveling for many hours, she didn't care to wear anything nicer than that.

She ended up sleeping the entire car ride and for half of the plane ride, too. Rosalie found it beyond hilarious and when Elexia did wake up, she teased her for it until they landed, just so she could see Elexia's cheeks flush that particular shade of pink each time.

"Hey, Mom. Just calling to tell you that we landed and we are getting into a taxi now, so we'll see you soon." Elexia spoke into her phone as Rosalie went to get them a ride.

"All right, honey. I'm so excited! I can't wait for you girls to get here," Abbie said, clapping her hands excitedly, which made Elexia laugh slightly.

Elexia couldn't explain why, but for some reason, she had an almost-but-not-quite nervous feeling in her stomach. She had not seen her mom in a year, which was crazy for her to think about. She felt so guilty. She called her every single day, but the fact that they hadn't seen each other in person for so long ate up at her insides. Abbie hadn't even met her granddaughter.