A New Cullen Life

Chapter 6

"Amelia! I can see you!" exclaimed Esme, abandoning the pot of vegetables that she was cooking along with Emily and Sue and Samantha. Chuckling wryly, Sue took over stirring the big pot as the Cullen matriarch shot over to her daughter. Never one to use her speed unless absolutely necessary, the mother in question was all but a blur as she engulfed her no-longer human child in a vampire-strength hug.

"I do believe I am visible again, yes," came Amelia's muffled voice.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" she admonished, letting go of her daughter to glare at her fiercely through tearful eyes, before holding her close again and inhaling deeply. She was instantly soothed by Amelia's lavender scent, which was more powerful now that it did not have the underlying essence of salt and decay any more.

"I'm sorry Mom," Amelia apologised, "I didn't expect this to happen, and I got scared. I heard Rosalie and Emmett calling for me and I called back but I know now that they didn't hear me. You always told me that if we ever got separated, I should stay exactly where I was and one of the family would find me. So I did, and Leah and Seth found me. I am really sorry for all the worry that I caused everyone."

"I forgive you," stated Esme, "please don't do it again without warning me!"

"I didn't know I could become invisible," stated Amelia quietly.

"Neither did we," stated Samantha brightly, glancing up from where she was preparing a salad.

"Meat's defrosted!" hollered Jacob, entering the kitchen with half of the shifter pack in his wake. Apparently Esme was using their body heat to defrost the meat. Outside, Sam and Paul were preparing a barbeque to feed the humans and wolves. It was promising to be a serious feast. Knowing how much Esme cooked, the boys had come prepared with Tupperware containers to take home the leftovers seeing that the final human of the Cullen family had been turned.

"Thank you, Jacob," smiled Sue, taking the meat from the boys and unwrapping them, before basting them and sticking them on a massive plate.

"Mia, could you take these out to the boys, please?" asked Emily, holding out three cans of cooldrink. Amelia took them obligingly and joined the boys outside.

"Mia!" they chorused. Sam affectionately ruffled her hair before blowing a kiss to Emily, who shook her head in mock exasperation from the kitchen.

---

"You look thoughtful. What's going on in that head of yours?" queried Jasper, coming to sit alongside his baby sister when the pack had finally departed. For the first time ever, they could embrace without reservation.

"It's nice to be able to hug you properly," remarked Amelia. Jasper always remained so fearful of his control around Amelia, even although he had been the one responsible for aiding her during a rather spectacular nose haemorrhage.

He'd smelled the blood and had come to investigate. They'd sat in Amelia's bathroom for a good thirty minutes, with Jasper dutifully applying pressure to the bridge of the ailing human's nose while Amelia had pressed a towel to her nose to stem the flow of blood. It had seriously compromised Amelia's ability to breathe as her nasal cannula had become obstructed due to the blood, and a face mask would block off her access to her nose as well, but they had survived regardless. Amelia had been as calm as anything, quite accustomed to her body's idiosyncrasies, and fortunately Jasper had allowed himself to be calmed by her.

He'd had to hunt afterwards, and had hoped the entire time that Alice would see them and come to their rescue – he and Amelia were the only two at home, aside from Jemima, who would not have been any help either. He'd been surprised by the feelings of pride that were emanating from his human sister, and even more surprised to realise that they were aimed at him. Amelia was always acutely aware of his struggles around her, and felt guilty for bleeding, but that was completely overshadowed by her pride in her elder brother for his control.