Aro's Baby Girl

Her Firsts

1963 - Volterra, Italy

Aro Volturi

I looked out of the window.

Sigh.

Mi figlia is getting older. She wasn't as small as the first time I held her in my arms anymore. I wasn't sure, have time really pass so fast? Or have I simply enjoy watching her growing up so much?

Being a vampire, does, have some perks. My photographic memory allows me to remember Isabella's birth just as if it happened yesterday. I remembered every single little detail of that night. One of the most beautiful day in all of this millennia I've lived. The night I became a father, and held my little daughter for the first time.

This year, my Isabella turns four. Tough physically, she already resembled a six year old child. And her mental capability was most interesting. She is far more intelligent than any normal human child. She, in a way, reminded me of a sponge. Absorbing all information she could get around her.

Her growth, for the record, did slow down as time passes. Ah. I suppose that was one of the downside of having a half-vampire baby. They grew up so fast. It sometimes become worrisome to me. I often felt like she would grow a feet taller if I look away for a second. Whereas I'd like to keep her small as long as possible. But considering the fact that I was very lucky on the first place to have a child, I am very grateful.

There was also the matter of her 'gift'. Yes. Isabella was, indeed, gifted. In her young age, she already displayed a powerful talent by blocking me out. Actually, she was able to block me since she was a mere fetus in her mother's womb as I heard nothing from her mind that time. She was also the first to be unfazed by the twins' gift. Absolutely remarkable. I believed that she eventually would be able to control her 'shield' and maybe even project it to protect others.

Her ability gave me a peace of mind. At least if something ever happened to our family, she would be able to protect herself from the enemy's gift. She would get a rather higher chance to survive. Of course, she would be trained to fight. Her mate and I would make sure of it.

Another worrisome thing, her existence was yet to be revealed to our fellow kind. Sulpicia and I has yet to find the perfect time to announce that our family has expanded. Also, Isabella is still growing. Announcing her existence now would likely cause unnecessary uproar because we believe that many would saw her as an immortal child. And creating an immortal child is one of the unforgivable crime. Of course as the law enforcer we are also expected to abide to the laws. Some covens already saw The Volturi as a threat because of our unusually massive numbers. We certainly do not need to add another reason to that case.

We recruits new members each year, and usually loose them not long after that. To be a part of our coven a vampire must join certain trainings. After those trainings, the head guard would choose who would be allowed to join our ranks. Those system were created by our head guard after far too many came to the castle wanting to join our coven.

The Volturi coven consist of The Family, The Elite, and The Guards. The family as in my brothers, their mates, my daughter, my mate, and I. The Elites, those who has served our coven for almost as long as it existed. All of them are gifted. And lastly, there's the guards. Both The Elites and The Guards are commanded by The head guard. Essentially, he is the one who control all of the guards, from their initiation to their placement and maintain the training system.

I looked at the paintings on my office. On the center was a portrait of my little family. About two years ago, I asked Marcus to paint a portrait of us. It was a beautiful portrait. There was also a portrait of Isabella wearing her favorite blue dress, clutching flowers on her right hand. She appeared to be offering her flowers to the artist. But I know exactly who she was offering those to. Her expression was the true definition of delight. She was smiling brightly, showing her little dimples, and her hair was framed like a halo on top of her head. On some particularly hard days, I usually stopped my work and just sat there staring at that painting.