"It seems you're comfortable with us now," Carlisle commented after seeing Serafina playing chess with Edward in the living room. It had been a month and a half since Serafina had moved in. She was, in fact, very much comfortable with them now.
"Sweetheart, I didn't take you for a chess player," Esme said in surprise.
Serafina calmly continued playing with Edward as she responded, "I have a couple of years of experience playing with a little genius back in Volterra. I had to play while entertaining a bossy little thing who still wanted attention, so I'm pretty good at playing without thinking."
"Multitasking," Esme nodded, "that's very impressive!"
Edward had his brows furrowed as he concentrated on the match. He would glance up at Serafina now and then as she spoke to the others. She was even braiding Rosalie's hair at the same time. Rosalie sat on the floor in front of Serafina so that she could reach her hair. The game was on the table to Serafina's left, so she could turn to the side and play when needed. Edward was incredibly frustrated. She was talking to the others while keeping her mind solely on Rosalie. She would pretty much only play in response to his moves. She was never thinking ahead, which he found incredibly annoying.
Jasper could feel his frustration. It was radiating from him. But he didn't even need his ability to know. He could just look up and see the glare he would shoot at Serafina. He felt immense satisfaction seeing Edward struggling at a game he typically dominated. Everyone else did too.
"Just admit you can't win unless you cheat!" Emmett called out while looking for a good station on the radio for them to enjoy. He was very much into jazz at the time. He settled on a station currently playing Nat "King" Cole. He danced back to his spot on the couch next to Jasper. His remark brought stifled giggles from everyone else in the room.
Everyone but Rosalie. She didn't even bother trying to hide her laughter.
"I don't cheat!" Edward growled back. He thought a moment before making a move that brought a smile to his face, "Check."
Serafina glanced at the board and quickly made her move, undoing his work in a matter of seconds, "Checkmate." She called.
"That's my girl!" Rosalie called, pulling Serafina's face down to give her a hard kiss. She ended it by giving Edward a mocking look, "Guess Emmett's right. You can't win unless you cheat."
"A genius and a bossy little thing?" Carlisle questioned, "You can't possibly mean-"
"Do you know the twins?" Serafina wondered out loud. She reluctantly turned her attention from Rosalie to Carlisle.
"Yes. They're not the friendliest of the Volturi, I noticed. Were you close to them?" Carlisle asked.
"Mhm. I guess you could call them my adoptive younger siblings. You guys should understand that considering how you all live," Serafina answered with a slight grin, "I love those kids. They're so fun."
"Aren't they the sadists you mentioned before?" Edward asked. He glared at the board, trying to see if Serafina somehow cheated.
"She didn't cheat! We all sat around you two and watched her make a fool of you," Rosalie argued. Upset at the insinuation. She stood up and took a protective stance in front of Serafina, "If anyone here is a cheater, it's you. Reading people's minds when playing so you always win."
"I never said she cheated," Edward replied, "and I don't cheat."
"You didn't have to say anything! Look at you-" Rosalie began.
Serafina could see Rosalie getting worked up. It seemed she was even protective of her honor in a small game against her brother. She reached out and pulled Rosalie to sit on her lap, holding her tightly around her waist until she finally relaxed.
"They're not sadists. They take pride in their work," Serafina defended the twins, "it helps that they enjoy what they do. I'm glad they like their work."
Everyone present, minus Alice and Jasper, had heard of what the twins did for the Volturi. They couldn't help but look at Serafina a little strangely. But they looked at each other as though unsure of how to proceed.
Serafina had seen their hesitation, "It's just a bit of torture. They hardly kill as much as Felix or Demetri while working. Hell, I may have killed more than them in my short stints with their guard than them. The twins don't like to get their hands dirty. They're usually the intimidation to get the ball rolling. See, they're not that bad." She shrugged.
This did not make the others feel better, but it did bring up more questions for the family.
"If you stayed with the Volturi, how come it took you so long to get used to us?" Emmett questioned.
"I didn't stay with them long. They didn't make me stay with their guard. I had my suite in the castle, away from everyone. When the twins were too busy with work, I'd usually leave. If I stayed in the castle when they were away, I'd usually kill some of their guards that bothered or startled me. I never really got in trouble for it. But after a while, Aro encouraged me to explore Europe alone when the twins were too busy for me." Serafina explained.
"How many people do you think you've killed?" Emmett asked curiously.
"Emmett! That's not exactly appropriate. I'm sure Serafina doesn't like remembering those things," Esme scolded lowly.
"Doesn't bother me. Hundreds. Maybe a thousand? I had no problem killing groups when necessary. If you count vamps and 'others' as people, we're certainly over a thousand now." Serafina answered.
Although most of the family frowned upon murder, Rosalie was impressed. Serafina didn't seem to murder for fun, so she believed she had done it for a reason. She also knew a good amount of the kills had to have been from feeding. This new train of thought caused her to grow concerned. Serafina hadn't fed in the time she'd been with her family. It had been almost two months now since she came back. How could she broach the subject?
"You hungry Serafina? When was the last time you fed?" Edward asked. This brought a glare from Rosalie. But Edward didn't care. She was a danger to the town if she hadn't been feeding. A possible exposure risk. He had to think of the family.
"I'm alright. I don't need to feed as often as you all. Not entirely sure why. But I'm good, don't worry. It's more likely that you'll get a massacre from Jazz over there than myself," she gestured with her chin in Jasper's direction.
"It wouldn't be a massacre. Possibly just a small killin' spree until my thirst is sated," Jasper answered with a slight grin. His answer made everyone but Carlisle, Esme, and Edward chuckle. He noticed their reactions, "I'm sorry. I was kiddin'. I think I'm good. I think my thirst is under control." He reassured them.
"He's much better! I don't see him hurting anyone anytime soon. Serafina, either!" Alice chimed in.
Alice's sudden exclamation startled everyone present. She had been reticent lately, and they weren't entirely sure why. She especially disliked being in the same room as Edward recently. Edward knew she was hiding something but couldn't figure out what.
Carlisle asked, "Now Alice, you've been quiet recently. Is everything alright?"
"What? Quiet? Me? No, that's ridiculous," she chuckled awkwardly.
The family couldn't help but give each other unbelieving looks.
"Alice, you know I find you adorable," Rosalie started.
"Annoying," Serafina corrected.
"But adorable!" Rosalie nodded seriously.
"Horrible liar, though. I can help you with that," Serafina offered.
"Girls," Esme chided. She gave both women a stern look. But she smiled lovingly at Alice, "Is it something dangerous? Or bad?"
Alice shook her head as in no.
"Is it a good thing?" Esme continued.
Alice couldn't hide her smile and began to nod vigorously.
"Then it's a surprise! Everyone, leave Alice alone. Let her enjoy her surprise," Esme nodded. Grabbing Carlisle's hand as she walked to the backyard—her word ending the subject.
"We'll be in the garden out back if you need us. You're all more than welcome to join if you want. Those Middlemist Reds are thriving. We're considering rearranging the layout to give them more of a central focus," Carlisle extended the offer to them while being led away.
As soon as the parents left the home, the teens turned to Alice.
"I'm not telling!" she yelled as she bolted out the back door and ran past their parents into the forest.
"Get her!" Edward called as the rest of the teens followed.
All teens followed, curious as to what Alice was hiding. Esme and Carlisle just shook their heads as they ran past.
"You really don't know what she's hiding?" Emmett asked Edward as they ran, "You losing your ability?"
"She must've had the vision while away from us. Otherwise, I see them the same time she does and would know. So, she probably saw it before and then did everything she could to think about anything else when around me." Edward defended.
"She's only been around you a few months, and she already knows how to avoid your invasion of privacy. I'm starting to like Alice more and more," Rosalie grinned. She then threw her attention to her mate, who was just behind her, "How are you doing, Sera?" she called.
Serafina had a branch smack her in the face as she ran behind everyone else. She disliked running. It didn't hurt. But it was still a literal slap in the face. She was furious. But she was curious about Alice and knew Rosa was interested too, so she hid her discomfort, "I'm fine. But the sooner we catch her, the better." She answered.
"What's the plan for when we find her? Torture? We'll make her listen to Edward play all that boring classical music he likes. I think that'll get her to talk," Emmett suggested.
"Hey! I like that music sometimes. It can be relaxing," Serafina argued.
"It's relaxing because you can't sleep. If you could sleep, it would put you to sleep," Emmett explained.
Serafina had to admit that made sense, but she didn't have a chance to dwell on it when they heard Rosalie, "She's just up ahead."
Edward and Emmett ran side by side, matching speeds. Edward wasn't going full speed, and Emmett was pushing himself to try and get to her first. But while running, Edward had a startled look on his face, "Traitor!" he yelled as he sped up, narrowly avoiding being tackled by Jasper. The tackle instead made an impact with Emmett, who crashed into several trees as Jasper quickly got up and chased the rest.
"Thank you, Jazz!" they heard Alice giggle in the distance.
"What the hell, Jasper?" they heard Emmett call from where he had landed. No one bothered to check on him as they kept running and began to listen more clearly to ensure Jasper wasn't on their trail.
"Don't worry, Rosa, he won't get close to you," Serafina promised, "you just keep pumping those gorgeous legs of yours."
Rosalie chuckled in front of her, "So that's why you haven't caught up with me. Enjoying the view?" she called.
"Please, for the love of God, stop," Edward groaned from ahead. But he sighed, "She's not wrong, though."
"What the fuck?" Serafina and Rosalie both asked at the same time. Anger in Serafina's voice, while Rosalie's only expressed her disgust.
"What?" he asked but heard their thoughts. He knew they misunderstood, "Wait? What? No! Ew! I meant Serafina is right that you would be safe. Jasper wouldn't go after you, Rosalie, not with Serafina so close. He wouldn't risk angering her. So, I'm going to have to step this up a notch. Don't worry. I'll get her." He said before he accelerated.
"Not if I make him feel he has no hope of catching her," Rosalie and Serafina heard from their right as Jasper began to catch up to them.
Both women laughed as they noticed Edward's speed slow down just before Jasper tackled him. The two women continued chasing Alice until she suddenly skidded to a stop. Rosalie crashed into her, with Serafina just behind as well. All three fell into a pile on the floor, laughing.
Rosalie smacked Alice's thigh, "We caught you! Now tell us what you've been hiding." None of the three bothered getting up.
"Did you catch me? I think I stopped because we finally reached our destination," Alice grinned.
"Our destination?" Serafina whispered, looking at Rosalie with confusion.
"Why did you make us go in a big circle?" Emmett asked. He ran out of the forest with the two other men, pushing and shoving while they laughed.
Only then did Rosalie and Serafina look up and notice they were back at their house. They looked at Alice, who had her little mischievous grin. Jasper walked over and helped her as Serafina got up and helped Rosalie to her feet.
"I just needed to waste time," Alice grinned, "this was more fun anyways! Right?"
"Hell yeah!" Emmett laughed as he bounced over, "What's going to happen? Can you tell us now?"
Then they all heard multiple cars with several people coming down the long driveway. Edward looked at Alice, and she finally allowed him to see into her mind. He grinned as he signaled for them all to go inside.
Esme and Carlisle had heard the cars as well. Although confused since they weren't expecting company, they still went inside to wait. Once they listened to the kids return home, they looked at them to see if they knew what was happening. Their faces landed on Alice. Seeing her excitement, they at least knew it wasn't anything bad. They relaxed.
The door was knocked. Emmett was always the one who was most excited about receiving company, so he immediately ran to be the one to open it—calming himself down before opening the door with an easygoing smile on his face, "Hello, how can I help you?"
"Good afternoon, sir. My name is Robert Snyder. I was hoping I could meet with La Doña. Speak to her privately," a man in a very well-tailored suit introduced himself.
"I don't know what that is," Emmett answered in confusion.
Jasper immediately ran over, "One moment, I'll get La Doña for you," he said as he put a hand on Emmett's shoulder to pull him back.
"Please let her know I will wait for her in the driveway," Snyder said, giving the two a small nod before turning around and going to the driveway.
Serafina ran upstairs to change and get a cover for her eyes. She saw the family curiously looking at her, minus Edward and Alice, "you guys can come outside," she said with a grin before going out.
The family immediately followed and waited near the door. They saw two nice black cars in front and a large truck where several men were working to unload a rather large item. Serafina walked over to Snyder.
They could all hear his accelerated heartbeat at her presence. He even gave her a small bow which was very strange to see. He was nervous as he whispered, "Doña, I'm so sorry for how long this has taken. When I phoned the home office and told them of your request, they insisted on sending some of their artists to the factory to customize your request further. They said you would like it. I explained it would be a gift, but that didn't stop them. Please forgive me."
"It's alright. They know me rather well. I'm sure they made it worth the wait," Serafina answered.
He sighed in relief as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket and extended his hand to Serafina. She didn't even put her hand out to accept. He was confused as he looked back up at her.
"I thought you said you knew it was a gift?" she questioned.
"My apologies!" he exclaimed as he stood up straight, walked straight over to Rosalie, gave her a small bow, and offered her the keys instead.
Rosalie gave Serafina a questioning look. Serafina smiled and gave her a nod of reassurance as she accepted the keys. She thanked him as he returned to the men at the truck. Rosalie looked at the keys in her hand and saw Serafina call her over to herself. She walked over and stood at her side and watched the men work.
The workers at the truck finally unloaded the large item and gave Snyder a nod as they began packing up. Snyder approached the covered item and signaled the men to remove the tarp revealing a gorgeous red BMW hardtop convertible.
The family gasped at the sight. It had a beautiful white interior, but a red rose was embroidered on each of the two front leather seats. Rosalie's jaw dropped.
"Please take a look and make sure it's up to your standards," Snyder gestured for the women to inspect the vehicle.
They went over and took a look at it in greater detail. Red exterior. White interior. Red rose designs on the two front seats and red trim were in the perfect spots to keep it classy. When they reached the back of the vehicle, they noticed a white design in the center of the back—Serafina's design from her coins. She couldn't hold back her grin as she ran her hand over it.
"It's perfect, Snyder," she grinned, "yes, it's perfect. You may go now."
He bowed again and signaled for everyone to leave. They hastily left, allowing the family to make their way over to the car.
Serafina looked over to Rosalie to see her reaction when Rosalie suddenly jumped into her arms and gave her a deep kiss. It turned into several kisses.
"Did you like your surprise?" Serafina finally breathed out, pulling back from the kisses Rosalie gave her.
"I can't believe you did this," Rosalie said, kissing Serafina all over her face as Serafina held her up.
"It's beautiful," Esme said, looking it over with the others.
"Let me take it for a spin!" Emmett shouted excitedly.
"This is Rosalie's car. You need to ask her permission first," Esme scolded.
Hearing the others fawning over her new car woke Rosalie up. She realized she was probably being too affectionate in front of them all. She became self-conscious and tried to get down.
"Oh no, I like this," Serafina gripped her tighter, "you stay like this, and I'll take you to look at the car again."
Rosalie laughed and pushed Serafina with a stern look until she was finally put down. She then ran over to the driver's side and sat down, turning it on. She remembered where everything was from when the salesman explained the vehicle to her. She got the top down, and she squealed in excitement.
"Too bad you can't take it for a spin since you don't know how to drive yet," Edward shrugged.
Serafina was confused. Didn't Rosalie love cars? Why would she love them so much if she couldn't drive yet? She gave Rosalie a questioning look. Rosalie didn't notice as she ran her hands over the steering wheel in awe.
"We did say we would start your lessons. Seems like the perfect time, right?" Carlisle said with a smile.
"And when he's too busy with work, I can give you lessons," Edward grinned.
"Or I could," Esme offered, causing Edward's grin to disappear.
"Ouch. You know she'll pick Esme over you any day," Emmett laughed as he clasped Edward's shoulder, "Looks like you'll never get to drive it."
"You either," Edward replied, smacking Emmett in his stomach.
"Hold on," Serafina finally couldn't stand it, "Mi hermosa, you can't drive?"
"Not yet! But you can bet I'll do my best to learn as soon as possible!" she smiled back.
Serafina was in shock. But she shook that from her thoughts. At least Rosalie enjoyed her surprise. Now everyone gathered around her car as they admired it. Rosalie was incredibly proud. But she would show her child-like excitement as she grabbed Serafina's hand and pointed out things in the vehicle that were upgraded from the stock version that they had seen at the car show.
Everyone was very happy for Rosalie, aside from when Serafina had moved in. This had to be the happiest they had ever seen her. It was good Serafina had moved in. She did everything she could to make Rosalie happy. What they found adorable was how seeing Rosalie happy made Serafina happy too. The family smiled as they watched Rosalie drag Serafina around the car excitedly. Carlisle offered to begin their lessons immediately. Due to Rosalie's excitement, those lessons started that day. It was a fun day for all.