Baby Steps

15

It's been one hell of a debate whether Grace should be home-schooled or to go to an actual school.

Edward and Bella voted against school, along with Rosalie and Emmett and Demetri. Renesmee, Jacob, Alice and Jasper, along with Esme voted yes, saying that it will be good for her to start socializing with other kids at a young age. She's never met a normal human being in her entire life, shockingly.

There was still one problem though: explaining to Grace about vampires and werewolves and how they should be kept secret. She recently started asking the questions the whole family feared to answer. Why do they never sleep? Why do they never eat? Why are they so fast and strong? Why are they so cold? Why do they sparkle in the sunlight? Grace compared them with herself, what they could do that she couldn't or the other way around. She was smart for a small child. Everyone pointed fingers at Carlisle when they voted on who gets to tell her about vampires and werewolves.

He spent the whole day talking to Aro about telling Grace at such a young age, and the leader of the Volturi decided he should be present when their secrets are revealed.

Grace was currently sitting on the chair at the other side of the desk when Aro took the seat next to her. She immediately decided that the chair was no longer comfortable enough and hopped onto Aro's lap, which he actually allowed. Sometimes, when she was close to him, he would take her hand unnoticeably and read her thoughts since he found them both interesting and entertaining. Since the two of them became so close, he didn't mind at all when she randomly hopped onto his lap or tackled him with hugs. Aro wrapped his hands around her tiny ones and quickly stole a glimpse of her thoughts before Carlisle started his speech.

"Grace, daddy wants to talk to you about something important before you go to school in a few days." he started off to get her attention, "You've been asking questions to why we don't eat or sleep, why we are so fast and strong and why we sparkle in the sun."

She nodded to show that she was still following.

"Well, Aro and I decided to tell you." Carlisle glanced at Aro before continuing, "We're a little different than you, sweetheart. We never get tired, we don't really like sunlight and we have special powers that humans, like you, don't have. And..." the moment he feared since they adopted her, "... we drink blood."

Grace's heartbeat sped up, though not in fear, "Daddy is like Dracula! Do you say bleh bleh bleh?"

He made a mental note to thank Jacob and Renesmee for showing her Hotel Transylvania later, "No, sweetheart. But we do have sharp teeth and we never grow old."

Grace turned to Aro and stuck her fingers in his mouth, searching for his so-called sharp teeth. Aro let his fangs grow for a mere three seconds, just to prove to her that Carlisle was telling the truth. She gasped and withdrew her fingers out of reflex, laughing when Aro grinned at her.

"But no one must know about this, Grace." Carlisle got to the most important part, "Not all people know us like you do and might be afraid of us. We don't want to scare them. So you must never, ever tell anyone about this, alright, love?"

Grace nodded with big eyes, "Yes, daddy. Why am I not like you?"

He smiled, "That's a story for another day, angel. I think it's time for lunch. Go see if your mother needs any help, please."

Since that uncomfortable task was completed, only two remained: telling her she's adopted and the story of the birds and the bees...

That Monday was her first day of school.

Esme checked to see if Grace had everything a total of five times before she was satisfied. Lunch box, jacket, backpack, scarf and gloves, all check. Her little girl was finally ready to go to school the very first time! It was indeed a very emotional morning for her and she didn't want to let Grace go. Eventually, Carlisle got her in the car and drove off to drop Grace off at school. He and Esme also decided to start working again once she's going to school. He landed a high paying job at a good hospital, while she focused on her architecture and indoor decorating career.

"Is this really, really necessary?" Demetri asked as he watched Carlisle's car, with Grace in it, fade out of view, "Who'll look after her there? What if she gets in trouble? What if there are people that want to hurt her?"

Esme sighed, "I had to admit, sending Edward to school the first time didn't hurt this much."

"That's because I was, and still am, seventeen, and you didn't get to raise me as a baby." Edward smirked, "Don't worry. I read Grace's thoughts and she's excited. Everyone will love her."

"Everyone loves Grace," Alec muttered from the stairs.

After Christmas, he and Aro stayed behind while Caius and Jane returned to Volterra. They didn't want to leave, though, and Grace's tears when they drove off didn't make things any easier. But she quickly accepted the fact that they had a second home and grew used to Aro and Alec being around. She especially liked hanging out with Alec, since he treated her like a second sister. Something in her blue eyes and golden hair reminded him of Jane when they were still human.

Aro, on the other hand, found her extremely interesting. He admired her for surviving with vampires that long, but what moved him the most was her innocence and how she has awoken strange emotions and feelings inside of everyone she came close to. Everyone loves Grace indeed.

"Don't get your fangs in a twist." Alice said and helped Esme clean up the kitchen, "School isn't that bad. There are lots of new friends, fun activities, cool teachers. Yeah, every class has its bullies, but as Alec said, who doesn't love Grace?"

Demetri wasn't satisfied at all and had this strong urge to follow Carlisle to keep an eye on Grace until she gets home.

On the very first day, Grace received her very first homework. She was so excited that she couldn't finish lunch soon enough to let Esme help her with it. The simple stuff like learning to write basic words, learning to read basic books with big letters, basic math with 1+1 and 2+2, and, finally, basic creative writing to practice the words she learned. Esme was surprised when her daughter almost cried when all her homework was completed.

The next day when she left for school, Demetri almost lost it, "How much more of this torture?!"

"Well, twelve years at the least." Jasper answered honestly, "If she passes every year."

While she was gone, Demetri watched a random movie on TV to keep his mind off of her, which turned out to be the saddest movie of all times; Hachiko. Somehow the dog waiting for his owner at the train station resembled him waiting for his Grace day in and day out. Aro joined him at the beginning of the film and seemed immediately interested in it.

However, the leader of the Volturi seemed truly shocked when the dog died at the end and had to call Marcus for comfort, "Marcus, brother!"

"What is it, Aro?" he spoke tiredly through the speaker for every vampire to hear.

"The dog died at the end of the movie I watched!"

"My condolences."

"It was so sudden, Marcus!"

"How horrid." the other leader replied in boredom.

Emmett snorted a laugh but covered it up by coughing. Aro was too upset to notice and kept staring at the credits rolling on the screen. Demetri sighed and leaned back against the couch. How will he cope with this loneliness for twelve more years?