The days became more predictable as the time went on. I would wake up, usually in my own bed. I was sleeping much better now that Carlisle had set up that star projector nightlight in the bedroom I shared with Nessie. Then Esme or Bella, or sometimes Carlisle or Edward, would help me into my school uniform and send me down to breakfast. I had to be careful to not spill anything on my uniform. Then I would brush my teeth, wash my face, and go to lessons. It was important to get there on time.
Schooling was incredibly boring. But, somehow, I was learning- so, so slowly. But I was learning. Even if I usually ended up in tears by naptime, I learned how to correctly hold a pencil. And then I learned a song called 'The ABC's'. Then I traced over letters. Then I learned how to spell my own name, and had even memorized a few letters.
'L' was my favorite letter. Because that was the first letter in the word 'Love'. But that was a secret. If anybody ever asked, I would tell them that my favorite letter was 'C'. For 'Camellia'.
History was my favorite subject. Renesmee hated it, but to me, it was like a bunch of stories mixed together, unrelated and yet somehow intertwined and ever continuing. I loved stories. And art was fun, too.
After lessons we had lunch and recess, which was when we got to play outside. Then we had to wash our hands and faces and take a nap. The rest of the day was for homework and freetime, and Jacob would usually bring Koda over to visit until it was dinnertime. Then it was bathtime and bedtime.
At night, Nessie and I would whisper to each other. She loved for me to tell her stories. But if we talked for more than a couple of minutes, an adult would come up and tell us to stop. Once, Edward even turned us both over and smacked us over our nightgowns. So I was careful, now, to start the story early- sometimes even in the bath, on the nights when Renesmee and I shared one.
Saturday seemed to approach quickly. The day of Takoda's birthday party.
I was nervous and excited as Esme pulled out a pink dress for me to wear. Renesmee was complaining a little bit about having to go, but I didn't understand why she would be upset about going to a party. She liked human food, and she liked being around people. Sometimes it seemed like her and Koda didn't really get along- it made me wonder if maybe they were forced together due to the circumstances of being the only supernatural children for so long. Maybe they would have never been friends under different circumstances.
"Are you sure you don't want me to wrap his gift?" Esme asked me.
I shook my head, allowing her to slip the dress over my head and tie the bow in the back. Even though Nessie had insisted that birthday presents needed to be wrapped, it seemed mean to put the ball of fluff into a dark box.
"I want to give it to him like this," I said, reaching to pick it up. "What if he doesn't like it, though? Maybe I should get him something else, too."
Esme reached to take the lamb from me. "Don't be silly, Darling," She reprimanded gently. "You designed this yourself, and helped me pick out the fabric before allowing me start crocheting it. It's a homemade gift, and comes from the heart. He'll love it."
My first real conversation with Takoda had been talking about names for my stuffed lamb. He had offered the name 'Cuddles', and after I said I liked it, he had explained that he liked other names better, but went with the one he thought I would like best. And I had told him I would get him a stuffed lamb to name 'Commander Lamb-Lamb' or 'Professor Bleepers'. He had seemed excited, but I was so new to being around other people- what if I had misread the emotion?
Of course an eleven year old boy didn't want a stuffed lamb. And I had even asked Esme to add a flower to the soft toy.
"Mama, why can't I wear my party dress?" Renesmee asked as we made our way to the front door. "I don't get to wear it much. And this is a party."
I wondered if I had a party dress. What made it special? Maybe it was fancier.
Bella put a hand on Nessie's shoulder, moving her on to the porch so she wouldn't be in the way as the door to the house was locked. "This is a children's party," Bella told her. "Not a formal gathering. You'll be playing and running around, and most likely eating some messy food. We don't want your nicest dress getting ruined, Honey".
The logic made sense to me- I knew that if there was any chance of me getting dirty or ripping my dress, I would probably end up finding it. But Renesmee still seemed to be in a bad mood. I wasn't sure if it was because of the party, or if she was just having a whiney day.
"Jake won't even be there," she complained, as she climbed into the back seat of the car.
That explained her bad attitude, then. Jake had been the reason she was okay with going in the first place.
"He will be there," Edward corrected. "Just later in the day. He promised to be there around the time the cake is cut".
He turned to look at me, probably overhearing my thoughts. I had never been in a car before. I hated it- it looked like a giant metal box. Why couldn't we just run? There was a good chance that I would jump out of the car and just make my way to the party myself.
"Carlisle," Edward called, his eyes still on me. "Can you bring Renesmee's old booster car seat, please? I think it would benefit Camellia."
Car seat? But the car already had seats.
Carlisle looked at Edward, and then at me. "Edward, as long as she's in the back seat and buckled, she should be big enough to-"
"Not big enough to stay seated, though, it seems," Edward interrupted. "She wants to jump out of the car and take off into the woods by herself. Rather than setting her up for a spanking, let's just get her strapped in safely."
And so Edward the tattletale strapped me into a seat that buckled between my legs and over my chest. 'Strapped in' felt like the perfect term for the situation. There was no way I would be able to get out of the seat myself. While I was pretty sure the bright red button for the buckle between my legs was how I opened that strap, I had no idea how to undo the one across my chest.
Nessie was looking over at me when the car started to move. She leaned over and touched my hand, using her power to communicate silently with me.
'You shouldn't have been thinking like that,' she told me. 'I haven't used that booster seat since I was small. Now everyone will see you in it. I'll try to help you out of it as soon as the car stops, so the pack doesn't see, okay?'
I nodded, trying to smile at her. But I wasn't really worried about the pack seeing me. My focus was on the fact that I was in a giant metal box that was only able to drive down roads. If we had just run, not only would we be going faster, but we would have been able to take a more direct route through the forest.
"Don't you touch that booster seat, Renesmee," Edward scolded from the front seat. He turned to look at us. "You almost broke the chest straps last time you tried. I will take care of it when we get there."
His attention shifted to me. "There is nothing wrong with a booster seat, Camellia. This is your very first car ride. And we chose to take the car because it's less conspicuous. If someone pulls up to the house, we need to be able to explain how we got there. And Esme did some cooking, as well, that we brought along for the party. This is a far easier way of transporting it."
I nodded, looking out the window. Hopefully we would get there soon. I hated staying still.
The drive took significantly longer than my first trip from the wolves to the Cullen's area. We had to wind around the forest instead of working with it. I was tempted to use the wind to try and push the car faster, but Edward's warning glance shut that idea down quickly.
Annoying mind reader.
After a million years, we finally pulled up in front of a tiny little house, nestled in the middle of the forest. There were balloons tied to the porch railing, and some empty tables in the yard. The only table that actually had anything on it was one that had a few colorful boxes piled on top.
"Ammie, you're here!" Takoda came running out of the house in nothing but a pair of shorts, stopping as he reached the car. I struggled slightly against the straps of the booster seat, but had to wait for Edward to come around to my door and undo them for me. He lifted me from the car and placed me on my feet in front of Koda.
Takoda didn't even ask about the booster seat, despite Nessie's earlier implications that everyone would stare. He just pulled me into a hug, then grabbed my arm and began rushing me towards the house. "Come on," he said excitedly. "I want you to meet my family!"
I tried to stop, but Koda was pulling me along so quickly that he didn't even notice. The house was getting closer and closer now. The new people, closer and closer. I didn't know how to meet people, though! What if they hated me? What if they thought I was a savage and dangerous, like Edward had when I first arrived? What if they told me to stay away from Koda?
"No," I cried, summoning a huge gust of wind and shoving it between Koda and I. His hand was pulled off of me, and he stumbled backwards as I hit the ground.
The front door to the house began to open, and I scrambled to my feet, ignoring Koda's open mouthed surprise at me pushing him away. He recovered quickly, though, coming to stand beside me rather than pulling me along.
A woman appeared, coming to stand on the porch. She was pretty- her skin was the same kind of brown as Koda's, and her dark hair looked soft.
She also had scars that ran down the side of her face, covering part of her eye, all the way down to her chin. Like a pirate. Cool.
"Aunty," Takoda rushed, grinning happily as he looked at her and then back to me. "This is Ammie! Camellia, I mean. My imprint! Isn't she pretty?"
The woman smiled at me. "She is very pretty. Hello, Camellia. It's nice to finally meet you. I'm your Aunty Emily, and my husband is your Uncle Sam. He'll be out shortly."
I had an Aunt? And an Uncle? I hadn't known that.
Emily turned to look at Takoda, her face growing a little more serious as the smile dropped. "As for you, young man. Where is the shirt I told you to wear?"
Koda's shoulders dropped. "But Aunty, I hate wearing shirts. Especially ones with buttons."
Emily's hands moved, resting on her hips. I knew that look from Esme. It was a dangerous position- it was how adults sometimes stood before they smacked you over your clothes.
"Look at Camellia's pretty dress," Emily said, gesturing to me. "It isn't formal, but it's nice. She wore nice clothes and came all the way over here to come to your party. You need to do the same, and go put on your polo shirt. It'll look lovely with your khaki shorts".
Koda looked at my dress, then down at himself. I wasn't actually sure I had ever seen him wear a shirt. Nessie had told me none of the wolves really liked shirts because it made it harder for them to shift.
Koda probably wouldn't be shifting at his party. So it made sense to me that his Aunt would want him to wear a shirt.
"But..." Koda hesitated, seeing the impatience growing on Emily's face. "Today is my birthday. Maybe part of my present can be not having to wear a shirt?"
"Or maybe," A big man said, coming out of the house and putting an arm around Emily. "Part of your present can be heading over to that birch tree and getting a switch for talking back to your Aunty".
Takoda's face paled. "No!" He begged. "Not in front of Ammie. Uncle Sam, I'm sorry!"
Sam raised his eyebrows. "Am I the one you should be apologizing to?"
Koda fidgeted with his fingers, looking back at me before dropping his eyes to the ground. "I'm sorry for talking back, Aunty," He said quietly. "I'll go put my shirt on".
He begrudgingly made his way into the house, and I stood awkwardly. Was I supposed to follow? Or did I need permission to enter someone else's house?
Nessie, thankfully, came to stand next to me right then. She paused beside me for only a moment before she ran up the stairs, throwing herself into Emily. "Hi, Aunty!" Emily's arms came around her, squeezing her tight before handing her off to Sam. He hugged her, too, then grasped her shoulders as he held her at arms length.
"You've grown... what, two inches since we've last seen you?" He asked her, moving a piece of hair out of her face.
Nessie grinned. "2.39 inches, actually. I asked Grandpa to measure me before we left this morning".
Renesmee pulled away, coming to stand beside me again. She must have realized how uncomfortable I was, because she looped her arm through mine and pulled me close. "This is Ammie," She introduced, not aware that we had already met. "Ammie, this is Uncle Sam and Aunty Emily. They aren't related by blood, but none of our other family is either. Except my parents."
Sam stepped down and held his hand out to me. "It's nice to meet you, Ammie."
I stared at his hand, then looked back up at his face, baffled.
"Sorry, Uncle Sam," Nessie interjected. "She's never really been around people." She turned to look at me, grabbing my hand and placing it in Sam's. "Now you close your hand around his and move it up and down," she ordered. "It's called a handshake."
I allowed Sam to do all of the work, glancing at Nessie oddly. What a strange way to greet someone. Somehow, even with me not liking to be touched, hugs seemed like a better alternative.
Takoda finally came back outside, cautiously scooting around his Uncle, as if worried Sam would still smack him. But there was no reason for him to be in trouble- he was now wearing a light blue polo shirt. Even as someone who wasn't very familiar with fashion, I recognized that he looked nice in the casual shirt.
"Takoda, come here," Emily ordered. Koda froze, glancing at me nervously before turning back to the stairs.
"Am... I in trouble still?" He hedged.
Emily shook her head, stepping forward. "No, but this needs to be tucked in, Hon."
He crossed his arms, glaring at the ground as she tucked his shirt into his pants and fixed his hair. She finally allowed him to step away, and he immediately bolted to my side. "Come on," he said, pulling me away again. "I want to show you something".
Esme handed me his gift as Koda and I raced around the side of the house. Nessie didn't follow, choosing instead to sit on Emily's lap as Esme sent Emmett and Jasper to start unloading food from her car.
"Look," Takoda hollered, pointing at a tree. "I asked Uncle Sam for it for my birthday. Because I knew you would like it!"
There, about thirty feet above us, stood a treehouse. It was fairly simple- just a box shape- but it had windows and a door and a rope ladder dangling down.
But Takoda didn't like heights, or even trees, as much as I did. Had he really wasted one of his birthday gifts on something for me?
"Do you like it?" He asked, looking at me hopefully.
I nodded.
"Well come on, then!" Takoda reached for the ladder and began climbing up. I followed after him, easily scaling the ladder, even with one hand still wrapped tightly around the stuffed lamb I had gotten for him. Koda paused twice on the ladder, looking down before squeezing his eyes shut and forcing himself to climb up the rest of the way.
Inside the treehouse was pretty simple, too. There was a faded rug on the floor- it had probably served its purpose in the house, and was permitted to be put in an outdoor fort. There was a small table with a few stools. And there was also a small bookshelf. The bottom shelf had a few comic books in a pile, with a water gun and soccer ball next to it. The top shelf was empty.
"This is your shelf," Koda explained, pointing to the top shelf. "You can put anything you want on it. I have an extra water gun, if you want it. Then we can each have one. And the top part isn't really a shelf, since it doesn't have sides, but I thought that that could be where we put stuff we get together. Like if we go to the beach and find a seashell. Or to a meadow and find a flower. Or even just if we find like... a cool rock. I don't know. Is it okay?"
He had put so much thought into this. And for the first time in my life, I had a real treefort. Or half of one, at least. It wasn't held together with mud and sticks- it was made with boards and nails, and it had windows covered by curtains, and a table and a shelf for toys.
It was real and long-term, and wouldn't fall apart at the first windstorm.
"Koda, it's perfect!" I threw myself into him, pulling him into a tight hug without even thinking about it.
He laughed as he hugged me back, seeming just as excited as me. As I pulled away, his eyes moved from my face to my hand, looking at the stuffed animal I was holding.
"Oh," I rushed, embarrassed. "Um... this is your gift. It's silly. But, remember, I said I would get you a lamb, and you could name it-"
"Professor Bleepers!" Koda pulled the lamb away from me, holding it in front of his face. "You remembered!"
I sighed with relief. At least he didn't hate it. "Yeah," I said. "And... I also asked Esme to add a flower. To its head. It's supposed to be a camellia. Since it's from me. Do you get it?"
He nodded, gently touching the flower with his fingers. He was still smiling, then sat down on the carpet with the stuffed lamb in his lap. "Thank you, Ammie. I love her!"
That hadn't been so bad. Maybe I had been stressed for no reason.
Koda and I talked for a while- most of it was me questioning who else would be coming to the party. He explained that he had only really invited the pack- they would likely bring their imprints, and that would be it. He told me that his little sister had gotten into trouble and was taking a nap, but would be woken up for the actual party. There was another girl names Claire, who a pack member had imprinted on. She was good friends with Koda's little sister, and would keep her mostly occupied.
"My sister is so annoying," Koda told me, leaning dramatically against the wall. "She's only six, but wants to follow me around everywhere and do everything I do. She goes to this kids therapist place, and her doctor says it's probably because of our Mom. And then it got worse when Grandma died. Attachment issues or something."
That sounded pretty serious to me, but Koda just rolled his eyes. "That's why I asked for a rope ladder, and not a normal one," he explained. "She can't climb up here. It's just for me and you."
I went to say that, just maybe, we could be nice and let his little sister come up with us sometimes. But Emily was calling us before I could, and we rushed down the ladder. I noticed that Koda had gently placed his stuffed lamb on his shelf, making sure it was carefully sitting up straight, with its flower on display.
"So... your Aunt is also my Aunt?" I asked quietly once we were on the ground, wanting to figure the relationship out before we were back within Emily's earshot.
Takoda nodded. "Yeah, basically," he said. "You are sort of part of the Cullen family now, right? And Sam and Emily have always been sort of like family to the Cullens. So if they're Aunty and Uncle to Nessie, they are to you, too. How come they don't make you call Rosalie and Emmett and everyone by title? Even for Esme and Carlisle, you don't even say Mrs. Esme or Doctor Cullen. I've never seen them allow a kid to call them by their first names."
I shrugged uncomfortably. My relationship with Esme and Carlisle was one of the only things I was fairly confident in. Was I doing that wrong, too?
More people were gathered in the front yard now, and Emily and Esme had filled the table with snacks. Takoda started pointing to people, explaining to me who they were. I forgot almost all of the names immediately. Collin, Brady and Mato were the only names I remembered. Those were the boys who looked young, too, as if they might be just a couple of years older than Koda.
"Brady and Collin are nice," Takoda whispered to me. "But Mato is sort of new to the pack. He still relies on his instincts a lot, and doesn't like vampires at all. Stay away from him."
I nodded, and the fear must have shown on my face because Koda rushed to reassure me. "He won't do anything," he promised. "I won't let him- I'll stay right next to you. And he's really scared of Uncle Sam. He got whipped bad last time he was mean to Renemsee".
Koda tried to fight back a smile at the memory. He must have really hated Mato.
Emily insisted that Takoda go around and thank everyone for coming to his party, and he pulled me along with him. Everyone seemed nice as he introduced me, but I stopped when we got a little too close to Mato.
He didn't look too scary. He was taller than me, but thin. He couldn't have been more than maybe thirteen, or just barely 14. But he had a scowl on his face, making it clear that he didn't want us to approach. So we didn't. Koda just nodded at him from across the yard, then turned me around and led me back over to Brady and Collin.
"Hey guys," Koda greeted. "I told Ammie I would teach her how to play soccer. Want to come?"
We spent a while kicking the ball back and forth, and they taught me how to dribble. Renesmee even made her way over after a while, but she didn't go as easy on me as the boys did. Eventually, though, I managed to run with the ball without tripping over it, and I even managed to kick it past Koda twice. But I think he let me do that, because the other kids laughed at him when it happened. He must have been an amazing soccer player, because none of the other boys could keep up with him.
When Emily said that it was time for cake, I didn't really care much. It wasn't like I really ate normal human food. But Takoda and the other boys rushed over to the table, so I had no choice but to follow.
Koda pulled me to his side, making sure that I was sitting right next to him. Before I could wave Nessie over, Brady came to sit on my other side. I stiffened. Glancing at Renemsee for help, I realized that she wasn't even looking at me. She was sitting beside Jacob, excitedly moving her hands as she spoke.
The cake seemed to be homemade, and had letters written across it. For the first time, I was able to recognize some of them as more than just scribbles, but found that the words were too long to sound out.
"Aunty, can Ammie have that piece?" Koda asked, pointing to the plate being put in front of him. Emily paused, the plate hovering just over the table in front of him.
"Koda, this is the piece you always want. You always want your name, and a candle on it."
He shrugged. "Yeah, it's the special piece, so I want her to have it."
Emily smiled and shook her head, but still moved the big piece of cake to in front of me. "Thank you," I said quietly, despite my anxiety. I hated human food. And now I had this giant piece of cake in front of me, that Koda thought was somehow special. I would have to eat all of it.
A little plastic fork was handed to me, and Koda looked over, waiting for me to take a bite before he would. I didn't move.
"Oh, you take the candle out first," he said, thinking that was my problem. "Look, you pull it out like this, and you can suck the frosting off the bottom. But don't bite into the candle. Try it!"
With Koda holding the candle right in front of my face, I had no real options. I carefully took the candle from him. I tasted a tiny bit of the frosting, and it wasn't... that bad.
I used my fork to pick up a tiny bite of cake. It had a red streak down the middle that sort of looked like blood, but I knew it wasn't by the smell.
"It's raspberry filling," Koda told me. "It's my favorite!"
Raspberries were good. I didn't even need blood to eat them. Carefully, I placed the bite of cake into my mouth, and was amazed by how good it was. It was sweet and soft, mixed with the slightly tart flavor of berries.
I wondered if Esme and Carlisle would let me eat birthday cake all of the time.
After I managed to finish my entire piece of cake, without adding blood, it was time to open presents. A lot of the stuff was handmade- a dreamcatcher, a beaded bracelet, little wooden carvings, a rough version of a boomerang. Esme had made him a quilt, with different designs on the patches. Koda was excited to realize that it was similar to mine- little colored squares all mixed together. While mine was made up of pinks and oranges and soft blues, his had reds and grays and dark blues and greens.
Brady and Collin had combined their money to get him some model airplane that he could build. After several minutes of him going on and on about the quilt, he seemed pretty excited about the plane, too.
His sister was up from her nap now too, and she had painted a rock for him. She said that it was a wolf, even though it looked more like a blob with stick legs. He still thanked her, though.
None of the other gifts got him as excited as he had been about the stuffed animal I had gotten for him, though.
After all of the presents were opened, the cards read, and everyone was individually thanked, we were allowed to get up and go play, again. Takoda picked up the boomerang that he had gotten from Seth, and we were trying to make it work. Every time we threw it, though, it would veer slightly off course, and never returned to us.
We all flinched when I threw it and it swerved towards the house, but thankfully it disappeared around the corner, with no following sound of a window shattering.
"I've got it!" I hollered, running towards the direction I had last seen it. There were patches of tall grass around the back of the house, and it took me a few moments to catch sight of the wooden boomerang. As I bent to get it, though, I felt something I hadn't experienced since moving in with the Cullens.
Eyes were on me. Threatening eyes. My body was screaming at me to be on alert, falling back into the survival mode that I had once relied so heavily on. And despite all the time that had passed, filled with baths and naps and playing, my animalistic nature returned to me easily.
I was the Queen of the Forest. I wasn't afraid of anybody, or anything.
Dropping the boomerang, I spun around, my teeth bared as I came face to face with Mato.