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━━━━━━━━☆★☆━━━━━━━━
"What if they don't like me?" Shelley questions him as he drives to his home.
Esdras laughs heartily. "You're worried, not because you'll be in a houseful of vampires, but because you think they won't approve of you?"
"I'm glad I amuse you." She smiles and Esdras finally turns the car off the paved highway and onto a long serpentine dirt road, finally, it reaches a small meadow, in the centre of which sits a timeless graceful house. He parks the car and she climbs out, surprised. "It's… wonderful."
"You expected turrets, dungeons and moats?" He jokes and takes her hand.
"No… not moats." Shelley girdles herself before they head inside the house. Esdras guides her into the large, bright house. Walls of glass look out on the river. Everything's open and white. Historical objects are tastefully placed throughout. She is totally enraptured at the scene in front of her eyes. "It's so light and open."
"Thanks to the tinted windows… It's the one place we never have to hide." He says and she hears a clanging coming from the kitchen, making her raise an eyebrow. Esdras shakes his head. "I told them not to do this."
Esdras and Shelley, who enter to find the kitchen in full swing. Dr. Cullen, Emmett, Rosalie and Esme prepare elaborate platters of Italian pastas and antipasti. Esme rolls out a pizza dough and fans tomatoes around it in an instant. Rosalie stirs a pot, disinterested.
Shelley sees brand new cookware boxes in the corner as all of them watching an Italian cooking show on TV. Emmett hits the DVD remote control as he notices the human.
Esme sees her and stops, emanating maternal warmth. Her heart-shaped face and billows of hair are reminiscent of the silent-movie era. "Shelley. We're making Italiano for you."
"This is Esme, my mother for all intents and purposes." Esdras introduces his adopted mother to the human.
"Bon giorno?" Shelley asks.
"Molto bene!" Esme replies with a smile.
"You've given us an excuse to use the kitchen for the second time." Dr. Cullen says to the blonde.
"Second time?" She asks.
"Yeah. We had a guest the day before yesterday." Esme replies. "I hope you're hungry."
"Absolutely." Shelley says and takes a seat on the dining table. "Esdras kept me starving all this time."
"Hey! I wasn't the one who said no when I tried to take you to a restaurant!" Esdras complains jokingly while Shelley responds to him playfully sticking out her tongue at him. Everyone laughs at her childish behaviour, but something shatters.
