A new day would bring a new Cullen. Serafina went to their home and prayed it wouldn't be Emmett's day. She still really disliked him but not because of the first meeting. She got over that after seeing him and Rosalie interact. He was the epitome of an annoying little brother. She mainly saw annoyance on Rosalie's face when dealing with him, which made her incredibly happy. What she disliked about Emmett now was how he intentionally annoyed her in some of the worst possible ways that put himself in danger. She didn't understand. It was as though he had no fear. She didn't know if he was brave or stupid. She was leaning towards stupid.
She got to the door and sighed. No matter what, she knew she would have to deal with Emmett anyways. She knocked and waited for him to answer. But even waiting, she began to get annoyed. He was usually right at the door for her knocks. He must've been playing mind games with her now. Her brows furrowed as she glared at the closed door in front of her. She knocked again, and still no answer, but she knew vampires were there. Of course, she did. She could sense them. What kind of game was he playing? She felt herself heat up, and she pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers as she closed her eyes. If she kept glaring, she might set the door on fire.
The door swung open, and she let out a shaky breath as she tried to calm herself down, "You're lucky you opened when you did, or I would've burned that door down and blamed it on you. Now get out of my way, or I will kill you." She gritted out as she extended her arm and pushed him out of the way. As soon as her hand made contact with the figure in front, she froze and opened her eyes.
There stood the father figure with a look of surprise as he looked down at her hand spread on his chest after he was pushed to the side a bit. Thankfully she stopped the aggressive motion as soon as she noticed the difference in the man's slimmer physique. She immediately withdrew her hand. But aside from feeling horrified at having done that to Rosalie's father, she was also incredibly disgusted at the fact she touched him in general. It seems she was getting used to Emmett but not the others yet. She lit her hand on fire behind her back to disinfect it. Then gave an apologetic smile to Dr. Cullen, who began chuckling at her actions.
"I am so sorry," Serafina began.
"It's quite alright. I'm sorry it took me so long to get the door. We discussed last night that we would have someone else open the door for you, but it still took us a while to keep Emmett in check, as you can see." He gestured behind himself where Serafina could see straight through a window to the backyard where she could see the siblings trying to restrain Emmett. Alice had Emmett in a choke hold while dangling from his neck while both brothers had one of Emmett's arms. But Emmett still managed to drag them continuously closer to the house.
"They made a bet to see who could get a deer first. Emmett can get pretty competitive. They managed to get him a good distance away before he remembered you were coming. As you can see, they did their best to hold him back. But Emmett is powerful," Esme said with a loving smile as she watched the teens try to keep Emmett outside. While they all looked out, Rosalie slowly crept over to Serafina and held her hand as they stood at the door, looking towards the window.
Emmett managed to drag all siblings inside with a grin. The others finally let go knowing there was no use trying anymore. They just looked at Carlisle, "at least you managed to get to the door instead of him." Edward shrugged as he turned around to leave. Alice and Jasper also took their leave after giving Serafina an excited wave and a brief nod, respectively.
"Drat! Opening the door is my favorite part!" Emmett remarked after seeing Serafina standing at the door, "Oh well. Did you see how I managed to overpower the three of them? Impressive, right?" He asked the room while flexing his arm muscles.
"Very," Esme nodded in agreement, "but now I need your help."
Emmett eyed her suspiciously, "Really? Or are you just trying to get me to go to leave Miss Hart alone?"
Esme laughed, "Both! Carlisle's day is today, he traded shifts at the hospital, so he won't need to go in until tonight. So, yes, I was hoping you could leave her alone. But I also need your help, please. You, Alice, and your brothers. Carlisle and I have an idea we want your help with."
"Sure, what is-" Emmett began.
"Yes! It's going to be so much fun! Let's go now!" Alice said excitedly as she ran into the room and skidded to a stop in front of Esme.
"If Alice's vision pans out, it does look like fun. Let's go," Edward said as he walked into the room behind her.
Esme looked over to Carlisle with a surprised look. They both chuckled, "I don't know if we'll get used to that. But I'm glad you two like the idea."
"That isn't fair!" Emmett scoffed, looking at his siblings with envy, "What is it? Tell me!"
"We're destined to forever be in the dark. The only thing I know is they're excited." Jasper said as he entered.
"It sounds like it's going to work, but I still want it to be a surprise, so please help your mother," Carlisle said to the teens. They nodded and left, following Esme to the woods. Then Carlisle turned his attention to Serafina and Rosalie. He only just noticed Rosalie snuck over to Serafina's side. He didn't mind; he just thought it was cute how their relationship was still developing. He remembered how it was with Esme; once things settled, he'd take her for a trip just for the two of them. She deserved it for putting up with a house full of teenagers.
"Now I want to know," Rosalie mumbled as she watched her family leave.
"Me too," Serafina nodded.
Carlisle chuckled, drawing both women's attention as they had momentarily forgotten about him, "Now Serafina. I was hoping to speak with you if you don't mind."
She looked to Rosalie, who nodded as she released her hand. Serafina was apprehensive as she thought about what this talk would be about. Didn't fathers typically threaten their daughter's suitors at some point? Her father had. Was this that talk? She didn't like the idea of anyone threatening her, but she couldn't kill Rosalie's father. She would probably be upset. She had to deal with it.
"Oh no, Rosalie, it's alright. You can come along too. She'll probably feel better with you there since I'm taking her to my study. Being surrounded by my scent will probably put her on edge. But once she's over that and we speak briefly, I hope she gets used to my presence quickly. Then we can join the others," Carlisle smiled at the two women as he gestured for them to take the lead. Rosalie nodded and retook Serafina's hand as she led her to his study and took a seat on a sofa he had in the corner that was usually reserved for Esme.
As soon as they entered, Serafina was immediately on alert. Carlisle was right. His scent was overpowering in the study. At least for the rest of the house, it had everyone's scent mixed in everywhere, so none overshadowed the other. But in this room, it was as though it was his alone, and she bristled at the thought of being surrounded by his scent in his territory. But then she caught a slight scent of Rosalie near a desk with two chairs. One chair was more prominent and plusher, the other smaller but still very comfortable looking. She assumed Carlisle's and then a smaller chair next to it might be Rosalie's. She wanted to sit in the smaller chair, but Rosalie had taken her to the sofa. She did relax a bit after noticing Esme's scent on the couch, but when they sat down, she couldn't help but look at the chair.
When Carlisle followed them into the office, he saw them on the sofa but noticed Serafina staring at Rosalie's chair until he thoroughly walked in, and she focused on him. He could tell she felt somewhat cornered from how she was clenching Rosalie's hand, and Rosalie also tried to relax Serafina subconsciously while looking at him. "I have an idea," he said as he walked to his chair at the desk and put it in front of the sofa. Then he grabbed Rosalie's chair and sat it next to the couch opposite his chair. "Serafina, please take that seat. Rosalie, move to the end of the sofa beside your chair, and you can still hold Serafina's hand. You'll also be beside the door, which we'll leave open." He finished while looking at Serafina with his gentle smile.
Serafina immediately felt guilty for forcing him to rearrange his office to accommodate her, "sorry for the trouble." She mumbled as she moved. But she did feel so much better being engulfed by Rosalie's scent from the chair, still holding her sweetheart's hand, and right next to the door, able to scoop her away at a moment's notice if necessary.
"No trouble at all," he smiled back, "now Serafina. I'm told you have incredible restraint when it comes to human blood. For our cover, we do put you all into school. I already spoke to Jasper and Alice. Alice does think she can handle it but is still a little unsure. Jasper doesn't trust himself at all yet. Do you think you'd be able to handle it?"
"If you're asking if I can be near a large group of humans and not attack, maim, or kill from draining them on the spot. Yes, I can do that. No problem. But if you're asking me to go to school, I don't know. Education was vastly different from when I was young. I only learned to read, write, and do some basic math. I don't think I could keep up with modern education now." She answered, somewhat embarrassed. She tried to avoid Rosalie's eyes as she spoke. She could tell Rosalie was brilliant just getting her scent in this study. She must come here often. She didn't want Rosalie to know she was a fool. But here she was, only a few days into their courtship, and she already knew. She slackened her hold on Rosalie's hand in case she wanted to let go. But she received a tighter grip from Rosalie in return.
"No problem, we can teach you if you want," Rosalie said as though it were no big deal. Serafina looked at her in surprise. "We can home-school. Esme can help teach you primary and middle school education to help you build a solid foundation. Then Carlisle can guide you with the more complicated stuff like high school and college. I can help too." She spoke confidently, even though she never consulted with Carlisle or Esme to see if they were available.
Carlisle smiled proudly at Rosalie. It was simple and well thought out. He could see Serafina's embarrassment at her lack of education, but Rosalie treated it as no big deal. She did not want to hit Serafina's pride. But still tried to cheer her up, knowing she felt terrible about this. She was very much aware of her partner's feelings. Rosalie didn't like to dwell on emotions, whether hers or someone else's. But she was very good at it now that she had a mate. She catered to her without even realizing it. "She's right. We could. We could do home-schooling if you want for a few years." He said with a gentle smile back on his face as he looked at Serafina.
"Yes, please," she answered firmly. Although she was terrified at the thought of them knowing how far behind she was, she knew she needed to do this. She wanted to be on equal footing with Rosalie. She didn't want to cause her mate embarrassment from her lack of schooling.
"Then that's settled. Home school it is," he said with a large smile. He thought momentarily, and his face turned a bit solemn, "We will still have to go to town on occasion. Brush our faces with the townsfolk. Due to the circumstances, we may need to give you a bit of a tragic history. We don't want them to raise too many questions. I am sorry about that. But it will be the safest bet."
"That's alright. We can think something up later," Serafina nodded, not caring about a fake past she'd only have to remember for a few years.
"Now that that's out of the way. Let's go meet the others, "Carlisle said with a mischievous grin. Both women looked at each other and then back at him as he sped from the house, "Beat you there." They heard just as he exited the house. Both women dropped their jaws as they got up and raced after him.
They trailed behind him for a while until they picked up on the presence of the others and made a beeline for them, barely beating Carlisle as they did so.
"Looks like we beat you, old man," Serafina laughed as she skipped over to Alice to see what she was doing.
"Oh ouch," Carlisle feigned hurt as he looked at Serafina but couldn't hold back his smile for long.
Esme smiled at the interaction as she walked over to him. His arm naturally hugged her shoulders as she put hers around his waist. He gave her a quick kiss on her temple, "You alright, old man?" Esme whispered low enough for only him to hear as she looked up at him with a smile. She then turned her attention back to the teens explaining what they had been doing to Serafina and Rosalie.
"Yes, she's getting there. She'll get more comfortable with the family sooner than we thought. And for sure, they're good to each other. They don't even realize they're opening up to each other more and more. It's natural." Carlisle whispered back.
Before they could continue, Rosalie sped over to them excitedly as she looked at them. "You're making a baseball field?" Rosalie couldn't help her excitement. Serafina was watching her from afar with a smile. But as she watched, she noticed the smile slowly slip from Rosalie's face, "Can we play?" she hesitantly asked, gesturing to herself, Alice, and Serafina.
Edward heard her thoughts. Rosalie's parents were pretty strict with gender roles. Sports weren't very ladylike, so Rosalie wasn't allowed to play or sometimes even watch. Carlisle had remembered meeting Rosalie and her family while she was human and had a faint guess in his heart why Rosalie suddenly asked. When he looked at Edward, he saw him nod and couldn't help but want to sigh. He refrained from doing so as he didn't want Rosalie to know that he and Edward were discussing her in their thoughts, "Of course. We're making this so we can all play as a family!" he said with a smile.
"Teams would be a little uneven if you didn't play," Edward said snarkily, hoping to bring her out of that vulnerability he didn't like to see on her, "You know what? I'll bet you're trying to get out of playing with us. You don't want us to see how horrible you are at playing baseball."
Rosalie flared up as she took the bait, "You know what? I bet I can play so much better than you!"
Serafina saw the vulnerability. She knew Edward had seen whatever caused it and was doing what he did to bring her out of that dark place. She was grateful. She could tell that Rosalie's current family tiptoed around some things with her. And all had different methods for getting her out of her dark thoughts. She wanted to be able to help, but she didn't know what triggered her. She wanted to ask but didn't think it was her place to do so just yet. She could only provide comfort with her presence for the moment, but she didn't think it was enough. Little did she know that was all Rosalie wanted. So, when Serafina instinctively returned to her side and held her hand, she was already much better.
"I'll help her beat you! You're going to wish you never messed with us! But you all have to teach me to play first," Serafina said with a fierce look as she glared in Edward's direction. She could not keep up the aggressive look as she realized how ridiculous she sounded, "please," she added with an eye roll.
Everyone burst into laughter at her. Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, and Esme admitted to not knowing the game well, either. They agreed that once they finished the field, they would learn the rules and teach each other to play before becoming more competitive. Emmett volunteered to do the teaching, but Carlisle assigned Edward to assist. Then they began to clear the field to Esme's specifications since she had done the research for the field beforehand. Carlisle smiled as he watched them all help each other, including Serafina.