After a week, the car Carlisle ordered for Esme showed up. Everyone gathered and took turns riding in it with Esme to get a feel for the new vehicle. It was beautiful. There were only praises being thrown out about it. Mostly from Rosalie, who thoroughly enjoyed inspecting it and getting rides with Esme.
Serafina held in her bitterness. She ordered the car for Rosalie first. Why wasn't it there yet? She had seen the happiness on Esme's face. She had seen the hug and kiss she gave to Carlisle in gratitude. Esme even knew about it in advance, and she was still excited! It should have been her and Rosalie. The happiness would have been so much more because it would be a surprise. It wasn't fair.
Serafina tried to minimize the chances of Rosalie finding out she was upset and jealous by telling her she didn't care for car rides as much. Rosalie was disappointed, and when she tried to tell Serafina that they didn't have to go for a car ride, Serafina would push her to the vehicle and ask her to enjoy herself. Although she tried to hide her jealousy, she couldn't hide it from her two new brothers. Edward and Jasper cornered her on Serafina's third day of her, making Rosalie go alone with Esme.
"What are you doing?" Edward asked.
"You're makin' her sad when you tell her to go alone," Jasper said, "You've been upset for a while now. What's goin' on? Who are you jealous of?"
"Jealousy?" Edward thought momentarily, "Carlisle and Esme. The car they ordered got here before yours. Really? Because of the car?" he asked incredulously.
"I ordered mine first!" Serafina finally complained, "It should have been here by now! It's been two weeks! Carlisle's came last week! This is ridiculous. Don't they show those cars off because they already have some built and ready for sale?" Serafina's fingers began twitching from her anger.
"Why don't you call and find out? Maybe the order wasn't placed properly?" Edward asked.
"No, the car will get here. They know better." Serafina muttered. She glared at a fallen tree and finally vented her anger in the only way she knew how. She set it on fire. Edward and Jasper backed away as they watched.
"Tryin' to feel better?" Jasper asked, "Just give it time. I'm sure it'll be here if you trust you completed the order. Did you ask for any customizations? Maybe that's what's holdin' things up?"
Serafina looked up with a thoughtful expression. She did ask for red. Could that be the reason for the delay?
"It was probably that! Most cars nowadays come in those light pastel colors or black. Even the white was pretty rare." Edward expressed after reading her thoughts on the color.
"Rare, but it still got here pretty fast!" Serafina huffed, "Where is my Rosa's car?" she turned and threw her hand out in frustration as she burned another downed tree. They were near the area where she had sparred with Emmett before. Plenty of downed trees were nearby from when Rosalie chucked Emmett into the forest.
While Serafina released her anger upon the forest, Rosalie sat in the car with Esme. Not as happy or excited about the ride without Serafina.
"Are you alright, Rosie?" Esme asked, seeing that Rosalie wasn't as curious or happy about this ride as she was before, "you seem a little quiet."
"I think something's wrong with Serafina. But she won't tell me what." Rosalie sighed, "Do you think it's me? She only became this way when she moved in. Maybe she doesn't like staying with us? With me." She trailed off, crossing her arms and playing with her hair.
"What? That's crazy. Of course, she likes staying with you!" Esme comforted.
"Does she? Maybe she wasn't ready. She rushed to live with us because I was pressuring her. She probably hates me." She groaned, moving her hands to her face.
"She doesn't hate you. She can't hate you. Have you asked her what's wrong?" Esme asked.
"Yes, she keeps insisting it's nothing, and she'll put a big smile on her face," she explained, "but then she doesn't want to be with me."
"She says she doesn't want to be with you?" Esme asked, taken aback.
"Well, no. She told me to enjoy myself and pushed me to come with you. But she didn't come with me! She always comes with me. I like when she's with me." She finished sadly.
"I noticed. You two have been joined at the hip since she got here," Esme smiled fondly, "I'll check on her. See if I can find out why she's been withdrawn." She offered.
"No, thank you. I don't want her to think I'm gossiping about her behind her back." Rosalie answered.
Esme gave her a slight look.
"Well, I don't want her to know I'm talking about her behind her back," Rosalie rolled her eyes, "I think I just needed to get it off my chest. I'll try to speak with her again later."
The two sat in silence as they continued their drive. Due to Rosalie's dour mood, they were going around less than they had the days before. Esme was concerned but knew the two needed to figure things out independently.
Back in the forest, Jasper sat on a downed tree, and Edward leaned against a standing one as they watched Serafina raze the forest. She made a small trail and debated extending it to the Cullen residence. While she stood and debated with herself on whether to continue or stop, she suddenly remembered Jasper's words.
"I'm making her sad?" she suddenly exclaimed, startling the two men.
"What?" Edward asked.
She ignored him as she turned to Jasper, "You said I've been making her sad with how I've been acting?"
"Ye-Yes," he stuttered, looking up at her as she stood over him. He was slightly confused but still reasonably sure he knew what she was talking about.
Serafina hung her head. Upset at the fact that she hurt her mate's feelings. She raised her head and smacked her forehead, "I'm an idiot." She sighed, "I just didn't want her to know I was jealous. She's so smart. She'd easily figure out why if I told her. It would ruin the surprise! Ugh! What do I do?" she began pacing, trying to think of a solution.
"Are you burning down the whole forest?" a soft voice asked.
Serafina looked over and saw her beautiful tall blond mate coming out from the shadows of the trees. She got a smile on her face. The same one that always graced her face at the sight of Rosalie. Rosalie loved that smile. Serafina always reserved that gentle smile for herself. She smiled back.
"We'll leave you two ladies alone," Jasper said as he stood and left with Edward.
Rosalie watched them leave. She waited for them to be far enough away so they couldn't overhear them. Serafina was doing the same. As soon as they could no longer feel the men's presence, they turned to each other, "are you okay?" they asked simultaneously. Both voices were laced with concern. They both chuckled at the other. Serafina gestured to Rosalie to continue.
"I wanted to see how you were. You've been a little off lately. Are you upset with me? Did I do something?" Rosalie shyly asked.
Serafina's frozen heart ached. She didn't want Rosalie to feel that way. She could never be upset with her, "Oh mi hermosa Rosa. I'm not upset with you," she made her way over to her and grabbed her hands, looking into her eyes. "I was just upset because of something stupid. I didn't want to tell you because I'm embarrassed. It shouldn't upset me, but it does." She sighed.
"What is it?" Rosalie asked.
"Nothing," Serafina tried to skip over herself, "what about you? How are you?"
"Not good because you're keeping things from me," Rosalie brought her hands out of Serafina's as she gave her a hurt look.
Serafina watched as Rosalie took a step back from herself. Her fingers twitched as she stopped herself from reaching out to her, "Rosa, it's nothing bad. I'm just being childish. I don't want you to think badly of me. Please let me keep this secret for a bit longer. I'm trying to work it out of my system. But I promise to tell you why when I'm over it!" she decided to use her big sad eyes to try to help herself.
Rosalie was already weak to the big sad eyes. It wasn't fair. She rolled her eyes as she looked back at Serafina, "you're not upset with me?" she asked.
"Claro que no," she answered.
"You know I only got the 'no' out of that, but that's okay," Rosalie said as she slowly walked back over to Serafina putting her arms around her shoulders, "You promise to tell me what's going on when you can?"
"Yes. Then you can laugh at me for how stupid I was being. I promise," she answered, putting her hands on her waist.
"I won't laugh at you," Rosalie said.
"I know you won't, but I'll feel better if you do," Serafina said, giving her a quick peck to her lips.
"Is it that silly?" Rosalie asked. She then gave her a quick kiss back.
"So silly," Serafina laughed, squeezing Rosalie's sides while repeatedly kissing her face. Rosalie couldn't stop her laughter as she pushed Serafina away.
"Fine, I'll leave it alone for now," Rosalie laughed as she looked back toward the ashes on the forest floor, "but what was all this about?" she asked, gesturing to the smoldering ashes piled in a strange pattern.
Serafina walked up behind her, putting her arms around her waist and her chin on her shoulder. Looking at the destruction she had caused, "I was upset," she mumbled.
"This upset, and you can't even tell me about it," Rosalie shook her head as she put her hands over Serafina's that were wrapped around her.
"Yes," Serafina simply answered.
"Since I know you're upset about something. Even if I don't know what you're upset about," Rosalie hesitantly began, "does this mean you'll stop avoiding me? I won't ask if you're upset anymore." She finished, not noticing she had gripped Serafina tighter while asking her question.
Serafina noticed, "I'm sorry I avoided you. You're so smart; I didn't want you to know I was upset. But because you're a genius, you knew anyways. I hated being away from you." She said, planting a kiss on her shoulder.
"I missed you," Rosalie whispered.
"I missed you too. Probably more than you," Serafina said.
"Impossible," Rosalie answered, her mood picking up.
"I'm sure I missed you more! Because while you were apart from me. You got to spend your time with Esme enjoying her new car. While I was apart from you, I hid from your annoying giant of a brother. A brother who just repeatedly asked if he could call me by my first name." Serafina complained, "and he's very good at hide and seek apparently because that giant kept finding me!"
Rosalie couldn't hold back her giggles.
"That's not funny," Serafina whined.
"Did you give in?" Rosalie managed to ask after controlling her laughter.
"No, I just hid better," Serafina said proudly. But her smile soon disappeared, "are we okay?"
Rosalie turned in her arms and kissed her, "Better than okay." She smiled. She loosened Serafina's grip on herself as she grabbed her hand, and they walked home. Both women were smiling ear to ear from their being together again.
As both women entered the home, they were too lost in each other that they didn't realize someone was hiding a bit inside from the door. Emmett immediately jumped out from the other side just in front of them, startling them. As soon as he jumped out, Rosalie and Serafina slapped him in the face seconds after each other. But at the same time, Serafina shifted their positions, so as soon as her hand impacted Emmett's face, she managed to move Rosalie behind herself in the same instant.
"Ow! What is wrong with you? Why would you slap me?" he complained aggrievedly, rubbing his cheek to ease the pain.
"What's wrong with us?" Rosalie began to argue, stepping around Serafina as though about to slap him again.
"Emmett, leave your sisters alone!" Esme yelled from the other room.
"Why am I getting in trouble? They're the ones that hit me!" Emmett yelled back.
"Because I'm sure you deserved it!" Esme answered. Her response caused the other teens to laugh as he walked back into the room with them. Rosalie and Serafina followed behind.
"I warned you not to scare them," Alice grinned.
Emmett glared at her. The glare soon changed to a look of realization, "You saw that happen! Why didn't you tell me they'd hit me?"
"It was a group decision," Edward answered.
"After that result, I believe it was the right decision," Jasper added. The group burst into laughter again. Serafina and Rosalie had joined in on the laughter as well. They made themselves comfortable on the sofa opposite Esme.
"Stop teasing your brother," Esme said with a small smile.
"Thank you, Esme! I'm glad someone cares about my well-being," Emmett said as he went to sit next to her. Then he looked at Serafina, "Can I call you by your first name?"
"If I let you, I'll have to let the others. It'll be a whole thing. I don't think it's a good idea," Serafina lazily said, making herself comfortable using Rosalie's lap as a pillow. Rosalie began to massage her scalp gently as they just sat there together.
"Wha- Alice already calls you by your first name! And so do Rosie, Esme, and Carlisle. It's just us that can't!" he said, gesturing to himself, Edward, and Jasper, "Is it because we're men? I'm starting to think you hate men."
"Does Carlisle not count as a man?" Rosalie pointed out.
"Well, he is, but he's an old man. So I thought that was why he got to say her name," Emmett answered, "Respect for your elders and all that."
"He's not an old man," Esme scolded as she glanced over at him from browsing her furniture catalog.
"Wasn't he born in the 1600s or something?" Emmett asked with slight confusion.
Esme put her catalog down and looked at him, "Yes, but he was only 23 when he was turned. So he's not old."
"He did not age very well while human, did he? He looks like he's 26 or 7. No more than 30, but I would not have guessed 23," Serafina mumbled. This caused Esme to toss a throw pillow at her, which made Serafina laugh as she apologized.
Edward sighed, "Are we having this debate again?"
"I don't remember how old I am," Alice randomly chimed in. A brief awkward silence ensued.
"I think we're as old as we were when we were made. I'll forever be 18," Rosalie stated, continuing her massage for Serafina.
"So, we are having this debate again," Edward rolled his eyes, "the years still pass. We still have birthdays. We've had a lot of them."
"You, Esme, I'd guess 23," Serafina said, ignoring the conversations around herself.
"Not exactly. I was 26," she smiled.
"How do you not remember how old you are?" Emmett asked Alice.
"I don't remember much from when I was human. I just remembered my name," she shrugged, not even being bothered by it.
"Well, you're tiny. You were probably 16 when you were turned," Emmett suggested.
"No," everyone said at once.
"She's petite but doesn't look young young," Serafina interjected.
"I'm petite and am definitely not young. I can tell she's the same," Esme pointed out.
"I agree. She was probably 17 or 18 when she was turned," Rosalie added.
"That sounds about right. Maybe even 19," Jasper said, agreeing with Rosalie.
Emmett put his hands up in defense, "It was just a thought. Calm down."
"You wanting her to be 19 is just wishful thinking since you were 19," Edward grinned.
"I was 20! So far, I'm the third eldest in this family. Remember, you have to respect your elders, Serafina," Emmett said with a grin, looking at Serafina, who was still enjoying her massage. Her eyes shot open as she turned a glare at Emmett for calling her by her first name.
"You don't know how old Ms. Hart was when she was turned. She could be older than you," Jasper said.
Serafina didn't want Emmett to have been older than her when she was turned. She thought about lying.
"She was 18," Edward said, giving Serafina a wink as she glared at him.
"Who brought up this old debate?" Carlisle said, walking into the home and making his way to the other side of Esme. Kissing her on her temple as he sat and made himself comfortable.
"Do you count seniority by age when turned? Or just by counting time as usual?" Serafina asked.
"Well, physiologically speaking. Our bodies are the age we were turned. Did I hear right? You were 18 when you were turned?" he asked Serafina. She nodded. "Well, then you are 18. When were you born?"
"1800," she answered.
Emmett let out his low whistle, "Sorry, grandma."
Carlisle reached behind Esme and smacked him upside his head, "That's rude. You don't comment that way about a lady's age." He scolded, allowing his arm to settle around Esme's shoulder. He then looked back at Serafina, "Do you feel 150 years old?"
"No," she looked at him incredulously.
"And you never will. You'll just be 18 forever." Carlisle shrugged.
Rosalie and Edward seemed a little down after hearing it. But they didn't comment. Serafina didn't notice since she was looking over at Carlisle and Esme. But the parents had a good view of Rosalie's and Edward's expressions. Although small, they still noticed the slight frown.
"Can I get all ages from everyone, please? I'm curious about everyone's date of birth and age when turned. Plus, I think it'll help us familiarize ourselves with each other. It can also help us figure out ages to express to others when we move to new towns," Carlisle stated, starting for everyone with his date of birth and age when turned.
They continued debating age well into the night. Emmett finally gave up on trying to get permission to say Serafina's first name by being older. He demanded he be allowed to say her first name just because he was bigger than her. She was so annoyed she gave in and allowed everyone to say her first name all they pleased before she retired for the night with Rosalie. Although everyone was given permission, Emmett took it as a personal victory and gave everyone else a bow before going to his room.
"You shouldn't be so proud," Edward scoffed, stopping before he entered his room, "you only got your way because you're annoying."
Emmett tutted him as he stopped from entering his room. He walked over to Edward and clapped his hand on his shoulder, "Edward Edward Edward. You're wrong." He said, looking at him disappointedly, "I'm not proud because I'm annoying." He shook his head, "I'm proud because I'm the most annoying." He said, turning the look of disappointment into a large grin. This caused Edward to chuckle as he shoved him back toward his room.
"Claiming to be so old, and you're one of the most immature of the bunch," Esme complained from the opposite end of the house, in her room with Carlisle.
"Huh, older but still immature. Sound like someone else you know, Jasper?" Edward called out from his room.
"I may know of someone else like that," Jasper agreed from his room with Alice. Everyone could hear her giggling.
"Who?" Emmett asked.
"Oh, you weren't there, were you, Emmett? Alice probably saw. But yeah, our new sister threw a small tantrum earlier and almost burned the whole forest down," Edward answered.
"Shut up, Edward," Serafina warned.
"For a ridiculous reason, too, huh Jazz?" Edward continued.
"Wait, you know why she was upset?" Rosalie questioned. Her question brought the house into total silence.
"Oh shit," Jasper muttered, "Ed, I don't think she told her."
"Yeah, I know that now," Edward answered, "Sorry! Goodnight!" he called out.
Emmett's and Alice's laughter rang through the house.
"Oh my god, she is going to kill you two tomorrow!" Emmett laughed.
"Emmett, it's no fun if you warn them! Didn't you learn anything from your surprising them earlier?" Alice joined in.
"Hey, that's right!" Emmett answered, remembering his slaps, "They deserve it!"
Serafina and Rosalie had stopped listening as soon as Rosalie heard that her brothers knew why Serafina had been upset earlier in the day. She gave Serafina a look as she crossed her arms and turned away from her. Serafina began whispering low so only the two could hear, apologizing and letting her know they had guessed why she was upset while she didn't actually tell them. All while murdering the two in her head and trying to think about it loud enough for Edward to hear.