empathy

TWENTY

„I cannot believe you talked me into this," Jasper mumbles, following Anastasia and Antonina into the woods. "I didn't talk you into anything," Ana quickly defends herself. "No, you sent your sister and looked at me with puppy dog eyes," he counters.

Rolling her eyes, Anastasia glances at Antonina, who nods happily and kisses Jasper's cheek.

"Tag, you're it," she calls before running off, her sister following her example. Jasper watches them for a moment, still not entirely happy with having agreed to join them before running after them.

They play for ten minutes straight until it's Jasper's turn again. He was mostly too unmotivated to run away when they chased him, especially from Antonina. Though, he quite enjoyed the way Anastasia chose to tag him. A kiss to the cheek, jumping on his back and kissing the back of his neck, a slap to the ass. He especially liked the wink she sent him whenever she ran away again.

But seeing Antonina grow tired, he cheats and runs ahead of her, slowing down before she can see him speed, and grabs her in his arms. She giggles as she hangs over his shoulder, her arms dangling down his back and one of his hands barely holding onto her ankles.

"Let me down," Antonina giggles, trying to poke his sides in an attempt to tickle him. Anastasia joins them, smiling to herself as she sees them two. She's glad they're getting along this well. And she's quite happy with the way Jasper seems to open himself up to the idea of Anastasia.

"Wanna go back and get dinner?" Ana asks her sister, who tries to look up, the hair in her face kind of in the way. "Can we make mac and cheese?" Nina grins excitedly. "Sure thing, sweetheart."

Jasper adjusts Antonina so she is sitting on his shoulders instead and they head back to the Cullen house. Anastasia isn't the biggest fan of staying there but for Jasper's sake, they are. He missed his family, whether he admits it or not. They've been by his side for most of his vampire life and they helped drag him out of the hole Maria buried him in. He needs them and Anastasia refuses to be the one to keep him form them.

He would stay away from her, she knows he would, but he wouldn't be happy with it. And other than Bella, she actually cares about what he wants and not just what she herself feels comfortable with and wants.

She isn't that selfish. At least not when it comes to him.

"Does Esme still keep food around?" Ana asks him and he nods. "She went to get groceries for Nina the moment they came back." "Good."

Antonina eagerly helps Anastasia cut the carrots, broccoli and corn for the vegetable mac and cheese. Although Ana leads her hand with the corn, so she doesn't hurt herself. And once Ana has put it all in a bowl, Nina spreads the cheese all over it before mixing it together and adding another top layer of cheese.

"Alright, go get cleaned up," Anastasia points at her little sister and the girl hops off the counter and runs upstairs.

"You're back already?" Emmett strolls into the kitchen, ruffling through Anastasia's hair, which earns him an elbow into the side that nearly has him flying through the room as he barely caught himself.

Jasper smirks at that.

"No, we're just an image of your imagination, wannabe Hulk," she rolls her eyes at him.

Stupid questions deserve to be answered with sarcasm.

"Haha," Emmett deadpans while Antonina is already running down the stairs. Taking two steps at the time. "Nina," Emmett narrows his eyes at her, not mad, just to make a point and Antonina seems to get it as she slows down and rather takes one step at a time.

"She likes you," Anastasia observes the obvious, the conversation she had with Jasper earlier that day coming to her mind, making her sigh to herself. "What's not to like?" he wiggles his brows in return. "Looks, voice, attitude, character... take your pick," Ana shrugs.

He once again goes to ruffle through her hair, but she quickly ducks out of the way, glancing over to a giggling Antonina.

"Are you joining our tea party?" Nina asks her sister. "Oh, it's your tea party now?" she glances between Emmett and Antonina. "He's my peasant," the little girl states proudly.

Jasper chuckles at that but Emmett ignores him. "That I am, Milady. That I am."

Jasper's arm wraps around Anastasia and she leans her head against his shoulder, watching Emmett interact with her sister.

"See? She's okay." "Yeah..."

"Where's Rosalie?" Anastasia speaks up with a sigh after a second. "Upstairs, why?" Emmett turns to look at her again. "Mind if we talk? While she has her dinner?"

Emmett's heart sinks at that, dreading what they'll most likely talk about, and all the way upstairs Rosalie is feeling quite the same.

The next minutes are tense for all of them other than Nina, who seems oblivious to it all.

"I, uhm," Anastasia clears her throat as Rosalie and Emmett watch her closely, their hands intertwined as they basically cling to each other. "It's alright, you're alright," Jasper pulls her flush against his chest, his thumb drawing smooth circles over her belly under her shirt.

"I've asked before and I really hate to ask again," Ana's pained eyes fly to her sister, who is happily munching away. "It's just... I don't know hoe to care for her anymore. I'm still struggling with all of this and I'm constantly afraid I'll freak out when I'm around her and end up hurting or even killing her."

If Ana could still cry, she probably would, but she can't. So, she simply stares sadly at her sister, who is still oblivious to all of this.

It's true. Despite being more confident as a vampire and having Jasper help her take control, Anastasia is constantly cautious around Antonina. The little girl can be quite reckless when playing around and even the slightest of blood can have her lose control. And Jasper isn't always around to help, it isn't responsibility but still, without him Ana feels more lost and helpless than she'd like.

He doesn't only calm her blood lust but whatever it is that sets her gift off as well. He helps her control, he's the only one capable of doing so and it has made her rely on him more than she should.

Still, even with him around, Anastasia doesn't feel safe around Antonina. She isn't safe from herself and that scares the shit out of her. She never wanted to be the reason her sister gets hurt or scared, she has sworn to protect her from anything doing her arm or making her feel afraid.

Jasper's arms around her tighten and he kisses the back of her head soothingly.

"You know I've never noticed how fragile humans actually are until I first saw her after I turned," she scoffs out a laugh.

"Ana..." Rose trails off, doing something she usually wouldn't. She pulls the girl into a hug. "We'll keep her safe for as long as you need us to."

--- -- -

We've reached the end of New Moon!

What do you think of the story so far?

Personally, I can say I didn't expect Anastasia to turn out the way she did but I'm still quite happy with her character developement. And I think it didn't come too sudden, did it?

Anyways, let me know if you have any thoughts, critic or anything else you might want to say. I love reading your comments!