Bella and Edward left for their honeymoon around eleven that night, but most of the guests stayed for a couple hours longer, talking and mingling. I didn't get to bed until around two in the morning, absolutely exhausted.
I didn't wake up until around noon. Aro was the only one currently in the room. He was sitting at my desk chair, reading a book. Because of my shoulder, my mates were hesitant to lay with me while I slept for fear that I would move towards them and hurt myself or that they would do something to cause me pain.
I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "Good morning."
"Afternoon, actually," Aro said, closing his book. "It's about lunchtime."
"I'm starving," I said, sliding out of bed and collecting a fresh change of clothes before disappearing into my bathroom to change. I had gotten fairly good at dressing myself with only one functioning arm, and I emerged a couple minutes later.
"Let's get you some food, shall we?" Aro asked, opening my door.
"Hey, pipsqueak!" Emmett said when I walked into the living room towards the kitchen. "Welcome back to the land of the living! How did you sleep?"
"Like a rock," I said, grinning at him. "I've emerged from hibernation in search of food."
"Rose is making you something already, she heard you wake up," Emmett said.
"Thanks," I said, walking into the kitchen.
"I'm making you an egg sandwich, it's almost ready," Rose said.
"Where are Caius and Marcus?" I asked. It was odd that I hadn't seen them yet this morning.
"They're out speaking with your guard, ensuring that they're briefed on procedures once we leave," Aro said. "They should be back soon."
"When will you be leaving?" I asked. It was disappointing that they had to leave while I had to stay for a while longer, but it was best that I remained behind a few more weeks so that I was close to fully healed by the time I returned to Volterra.
"Tomorrow, most likely," Aro said. "With your added guard I believe you will be perfectly safe."
"I'm not worried about that," I said. Aro gave me a sharp look. "Oh, you know what I mean. I asked because I don't want you to go."
"You'll be back in Volterra before very long, mia cara. And rest assured that we will miss you, too," Aro said. He looked thoughtful. "With most of the higher guard temporarily absent, I suppose we'll have to bring up some of the lower guard to do their duties."
"Here you go, Rowan. And a glass of milk," Rose said, setting down my meal in front of me.
I smiled up at her. "Thanks, Mom."
"Of course. I'll leave you two to talk." She gave my good shoulder a gentle squeeze and walked out of the kitchen.
"I'm trying to figure out what to do for Christmas," I said.
"Christmas," Aro mused. "We don't often celebrate Christmas in Volterra, though some of the guard does get in the festive spirit."
"I want to visit my family for the holiday, but it would be really awesome to spend it in Volterra. I haven't decided what to do yet."
"It's barely the middle of August, so you have plenty of time," Aro said. "And here come my brothers."
"Good afternoon, Rowan," Marcus said warmly as he strode into the kitchen, Caius on his heels.
"Amore," Caius greeted, taking a seat at the table. Marcus did the same.
I took a sip of my milk. "Good afternoon. I'm not used to waking up this late."
"Well, you needed the sleep," Marcus said. "Yesterday was very busy and stressful for you."
"I definitely did need that rest," I agreed, finishing my sandwich. I swallowed before continuing. "Aro says you plan to return to Volterra tomorrow."
"Reluctantly," Caius said. "Though your guard should not have any trouble protecting you, if only because of the sheer number of them."
"I am certain that I'll be completely safe," I said confidently.
"Probably so. We just want to make certain of it," Marcus said.
I drained the last bit of milk from my glass. "No harm in being prepared. What are our plans for the day?"
"Whatever you'd like to do," Aro said. "Even something as simple as watching a movie is fine with us."
"I'd rather be doing out something," I said. Even the excitement of the wedding and our short venture to the rock pile had not abated my overwhelming urge to get out of the house.
"Choose whatever you'd like," Marcus said.
"I know exactly what we'll do," I said.
The day passed in the blink of an eye. Forks was going through a dry spell that was set to last several days, so Rose helped me pack a picnic meal and we went on a nice walk on one of Fork's trails. We put down the blanket on a damp patch of ground, enjoying the outdoors and each other's company and not returning to the house until around six in the evening.
The kings departed around eight the following morning. Under different circumstances, I might not have known what to do with myself, but with the Denalis still visiting I was left with no shortage of things to do or people to talk to.
The Denalis left about a week after the kings, and two days after their departure Carlisle said that my shoulder was finally healed enough to start working on gentle movement.
"It's healed remarkably well, but it is still incredibly tender and will cause you pain for as long as you're still human, especially during weather changes and strenuous movements," he said. "But don't let that discourage you. You'll regain full movement, just not right away."
"What sort of exercises do I have to do?" I asked as he carefully unwrapped my bandages. I had still been using the sling on his orders, but the bandages had been increasingly less restrictive as the days had passed.
"Mostly just practicing using your shoulder. Rolling it, lifting your arm and moving it different directions, movements like that. It will be stiff and probably painful at first, so we'll have to start small," he explained.
"It doesn't look bad," I said. I still had stitches, but the wound was almost completely healed.
"I'll be able to take the stitches out by the end of the week, I believe," said Carlisle. "You shouldn't be doing any exercises that will rip them open. I'm going to stop wrapping it and instead use a different sort of bandaging that allows for more movement, so you'll have to be cautious going forward."
"I understand. Can we start now?" I asked, impatiently excited. I knew it was going to be a rocky road to recovery, but I was eager to regain use of my arm.
"Yes, we can begin now," Carlisle said with a chuckle. "I'm going to be moving you arm to start out, just to get a gauge of how everything is moving and how much pain certain movements cause you. You certainly shouldn't feel enough pain to make you dizzy or faint, but if that does happen, you need to tell me immediately."
"I will," I promised.
"Good. I'm going to start by just lifting your arm slowly in front of you. Let me know how much it hurts or if the pain becomes unbearable," Carlisle said. He gently began raising my arm. My shoulder twinged at the unfamiliar movement, but it was nothing more than a dull ache until he got it roughly halfway up, when the pain flared unexpectedly.
"Ouch!" I hissed.
"Alright, so that's your limit for now," Carlisle said, carefully lowering my arm. The pain ebbed. "Now I want to try raising it to the side. Do you feel alright enough for me to do that?"
"Yeah, I'm good," I said. The pain had vanished nearly as quickly as it had come.
"Good. Let me know when to stop," Carlisle said. This time he barely got a quarter of the way up before I yelped and he lowered my arm again. "Alright, so about what I was expecting. Your range of motion is extremely limited since you're still healing, but it will improve over the next few weeks."
"What specifically should I do for exercises?" I asked.
"Just practice raising and lowering your arm as far as you can without causing yourself excess pain, and don't overdo it," Carlisle said. "Sound reasonable?"
"Very reasonable," I said.
By the end of the week, Carlisle had removed my stitches and I no longer needed the sling. I was regaining strength, albeit slower than I would have liked, and my return to Volterra was planned for midway through the following week.
That was before the family began acting... strange.
"I think you're well enough to return Volterra presently," Carlisle said the day after my sling had come off. He and Esme had called me into his office to speak with them.
"What?" I blinked. "I don't know, Carlisle, I'd rather have you around for the next few days while I'm getting more motion back, in case I do something wrong."
"You'll be fine," he assured me. "Alice has already arranged with the guard for you to fly out tomorrow."
"What? Since when? Are you kicking me out?" I was beyond confused. I thought the Cullens were happy that I would be staying a few more days.
"No, of course not," Esme soothed. "But we know you're anxious to see your mates and thought this would be a nice surprise."
"It is," I said, my eyebrows furrowed. "But-"
"Good. Rose is waiting to help you pack your things," Carlisle said. I could tell that the conversation was closed.
I walked out of his study feeling confused and slightly hurt. Rose was already in my room, some unreadable expression on her face as she got clothes out for me. Emmett was standing in my room, his arms crossed. Unlike Rose, his face was easy to read, and he wasn't happy.
"What's going on?" I demanded. There was something happening, and for whatever reason they weren't telling me.
"Nothing. We're just sad to see you go so soon," Rose said. "Why don't you get what you need from the bathroom?"
"Okay," I said uncertainly.
"What if Rose and I came to Volterra with you for a while?" Emmett suggested.
I lit up. "Yeah, that would be-"
"This isn't the best time," Rose interrupted, her tone clipped as she sent Emmett a glare.
"Oh," I said quietly.
In the end, I was happy to leave.
"Do you know what's going on with my family?" I asked my guard once the jet had taken off.
Santiago shrugged. "Not a clue, kid. All we know is the psychic, Alice, asked if we could fly back with you early, and we said we could."
"They've been acting weird. It's like they kicked me out," I said, puzzled.
"Maybe Bella was changed," Felix suggested.
"Why wouldn't they just tell me that, then? It's not like I don't already know your secret," I said.
"Who knows? Look, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can't possibly be upset about returning to Volterra," Demetri said, taking a seat beside me.
"Of course I'm not upset about that. It's just... odd. That's all," I said.
"I'd be willing to bet that Bella was changed. I'm sure that's all it was. Newborns can be hard to handle, they're probably just stressed about having one in the house," Afton assured me.
"How about we put on a movie, take your mind off things?" Renata suggested.
"Oh, Predator!" Demetri said, grinning.
"No!" The rest of the guard spoke in perfect unison.
I laughed. "How about Iron Man?"
"Finally, a decent suggestion," Santiago drawled.
The rest of the flight passed in an uneventful fashion, and with the companionship of the guard it didn't feel like very long before we had arrived in Italy. My spirits had greatly lifted despite my unceremonious sendoff.
The kings met me outside the castle, all three in good humor. "We weren't expecting you so early, tesoro! But we are glad to have you back here," Marcus said.
"Plus, no sling!" I said cheerfully. "I don't have a full range of motion in my shoulder yet, but I'm getting there."
"That is good news!" Aro said. "And we have some good news for you, as well! Your wing of the castle is finally complete!"
"Really? Let's see it, then!" I exclaimed.
I filled them in on what had been happening during their absence as we walked, including Carlisle's instructions on how I was supposed to exercise my shoulder and the odd behavior of my family that occurred shortly before my departure.
"Felix suggested that Bella was turned, and that's the most probable answer, but I don't understand why they wouldn't just tell me," I said. "It's not like her being turned is a bad thing. It's what she wanted and was bound to happen eventually. It just doesn't make any sense."
"I doubt it's anything more than that. Odd behavior for certain, but I don't think it's anything to fret over," Marcus said, soothing my worries only slightly.
"Don't take what I'm saying the wrong way, I'm thrilled to be back here with you," I continued. "But the way they turned me out was slightly... hurtful?"
"I'd be happy to give them a piece of my mind," Caius said.
I glanced at him, unsurprised that he was completely serious. "I don't think that will be necessary. But I appreciate the sentiment."
"Here we are," Aro said, moving ahead of his brothers to fling open two ebony wood doors. "Esme helped with the design, she offered when she heard of our plans. It was very thoughtful of her, and as she knows you so well we were certain she would design a plan you'd like."
"I'll have to be sure to thank her as well," I said. Hopefully she prevented them from going too over-the-top in their plans.
The doors opened into a gorgeous sitting room with a TV, couch, and loveseat. To the left there was a small kitchenette with a sink, microwave, and minifridge, along with a table that had four chairs gathered around it.
"We decided against a full kitchen since you'll be changed in the next few years anyway," Caius said.
"I love it," I said with a grin.
"Through here is a study, and the room next door is empty so you can convert it into whatever you'd like," Marcus said, opening the door to a room that contained a desk and many bookshelves, most of which were empty.
"We wanted you to have room to build your own collection of books, though you're of course free to borrow from our collections as well," Aro said.
"Your bedroom is through this door over here," Caius said, and I followed him across the living room to another door. My new bedroom was a little larger than the study and covered in soft ivory carpeting rather than hardwood, which I would no doubt appreciate thanks to the coolness that came from being underground.
A king-sized bed was positioned in the middle, blanketed by a vibrant comforter. The walls were painted a light gray and despite the lack of any natural lighting, the room didn't feel constrictive. There was another desk and a bookshelf, along with a loveseat and a recliner arranged by a gas fireplace.
"And through here is the bathroom and closet," Aro said, pushing open the double doors that lead into the bathroom, which along with the closet could have been a separate room itself.
"This is amazing," I said. "I love it. Thank you."
"Of course. You deserve nothing but the best," Caius said. "The guard will deliver your luggage shortly, but they've been ordered to wait until you had been given a tour."
"Well, while they do that, I want to take a trip to the kitchen for a proper meal. I'm starved," I said, deciding to finally quit ignoring the hunger that was gnawing away at my stomach.
"We need to hold a short meeting with the guard, now that everything has returned to normal, so we'll let you eat your meal and meet you back here in roughly an hour's time," Aro told me.
"Sounds good, though I can't promise I'll still be awake. I'll probably eat, change, and crash," I said. "It's been a long day."
"That's completely understandable. I believe we have a trial at midnight, which is in just a few hours, so perhaps it would be better if we left you in peace for a while and checked in after," Marcus said as we walked out of my wing of the castle.
"It's whatever you choose," I said. Jane and Alec were standing outside either side of the door, hands neatly clasped in front of them.
"Jane, Alec, you will keep an eye on Rowan while we speak with the rest of the newly returned guard," Caius ordered. "You will be brought up to speed when Demetri and Felix relieve you."
"Yes, Master," Jane said, inclining her head.
"We will see you again soon, amore," Caius said, pressing a kiss to my cheek. Aro and Marcus did the same before the three disappeared, leaving me with Jane and Alec as my ever-loyal companions.
"Let's go, shall we?" I asked, and they broke away from their positions to walk at my sides. "Are you happy to be back in Volterra?"
"It is nice to be home. But we enjoyed the time away," Alec said.
There was a thoughtful pause before I spoke again. "You're right, Alec. It is nice to be home."
Edited 6/26/2021