Baby Steps

13

Grace age update: 6 - 9 years

As expected in England, it was snowing. It was Christmas, after all, and as always, Alice made a big deal out of it. She and Jasper took Grace out to go pick a tree, the biggest one, of course. Bella and Edward helped her decorate it, and Rose and Emmett let her wrap presents with them - not even caring if hers didn't look that perfect - while Esme let her bake gingerbread cookies with her. Jacob and Renesmee did their part and kept her well supplied with muffins and hot chocolate.

Demetri, Jane and Caius weren't familiar with Christmas at all, since they never celebrated many holidays in Volterra. Carlisle had to explain to them in very careful detail what the holiday was all about and how it was celebrated. Demetri was determined to make this the best Christmas for Grace and secretly went out to buy a few presents of his own. It was also to prove his loyalty to the Cullens, a coven he almost called family. In the half-decade he's been living with them, he's learned the true meaning of family. It was very different from the loyalty he had towards the Volturi.

So, the day before Christmas the guests Carlisle invited, arrived. He thought that it would be good to have the Volturi over for Christmas in attempt to strengthen the peace they've had for six years. None of the members in Volterra knew what Christmas was about, but what the Cullens didn't know was that Marcus actually did some research of his own, and told them all about the holiday.

"Aro, welcome." Carlisle greeted warmly when he opened the door to let the Volturi members in.

"Carlisle." Aro grinned and shook his hand in a well-mannered way, "Always a pleasure."

They took a second to admire Esme's fine indoor decorating talents, when the angel herself came to greet them with a welcoming smile, "Aro, Marcus, welcome. I hope you've enjoyed your flight?"

"Indeed we did," Marcus informed her.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Cullens and Volturi joined them. Demetri, Jane and Caius greeted their coven members, Demetri giving Felix a bro hug, Jane giving Alec a sisterly hug, and Caius only nodding formally at his brothers. They were just about to head to the family room to have a chat when an excited yell echoed through the mansion.

"Marco! Felly!"

Felix forgot all about his position as a guard and held his arms wide open for her to run into, "Grace!"

The golden-haired princess attacked him with a hug and giggled as he spun her around. After that, she ran to Marcus, who scooped her up effortlessly and gave her a hug that only a grandparent could give their grandchildren. That's probably how he saw her, as a granddaughter who he could spoil rotten.

Aro and Alec could only stare in complete and utter surprise at the strong bond the human child had with their coven mates, being the only two Volturi members who haven't come in contact with her unusual gift yet. Carlisle instructed Alice to show them to their rooms and then join the rest in the family room to catch up.

Grace curiously stared at the new guests, Aro and Alec, and took an immediate interest in them as she did to all the new people she met. The Cullens were all a little cautious to let her near them since they were both dangerous, but after Edward brought up how even Caius seemed to be under her spell, they eventually gave in.

While the ancients were speaking with Carlisle and Esme, everyone else was on their own missions in separate parts of the manor. Alice was planning the upcoming Christmas events as usual while Jasper was reading, Rosalie was surfing the web in the garage while Emmett was working on his Jeep, Jake was actually hanging out with Demetri and Felix as if it was the most natural thing to do, while Jane was flipping through one of Alice's magazines out of boredom.

Alec, on the other hand, was about to leave his room to join his sister when he received an unexpected guest. Grace skipped into his room without knocking and fell to her knees next to his bed, lifting the covers up and peeping underneath it.

"Why are you in my room?" Alec questioned sternly, but with a small hint of curiosity to how this human wasn't afraid of him.

"Checking for monsters under the bed." she answered and got up, "Jane told me to always check for monsters under my bed because they come out when I sleep and bite my toes."

He raised one eyebrow when hearing that his sister had told her that, "And did you find any monsters under my bed?"

"Nope, maybe they were scared off." she said and then broke out laughing, "You have a funny jacket!"

Alec would've been furious if anyone told him his cloak looked funny, but somehow he found the tiny person's humour quite amusing. What was her name again? Grace? Yes, Grace! It obviously suited her; she seemed very graceful all dressed in red and white for Christmas, her curly hair tied up in a high ponytail with two curly bangs hanging on either side of her face. She wore white flats with bells on the front that jingled as she moved.

The tiny person laughed as she jumped up and down while twirling at the jingle of the bells, and it was clear that she had no worry or care in the world. She was so carefree and bubbly, it was intoxicating. Not to mention addictive... Alec tried to keep a straight face, but just looking at her enjoying the small things, like jingling bells, made his mouth corner twitch up and he found himself smiling.

The whole house was gathered around the Christmas tree bright and early the next morning. Jacob, Renesmee and Grace each sat with a steaming mug of hot cocoa while they waited to start opening presents. Everyone was surprised when the Volturi also bought presents of their own to hand out, while Marcus smiled slyly, thinking back to when he told Aro what Christmas was about.

Even though there was barely enough room for a mouse underneath the tree, Grace still received the most presents. A miniature keyboard from Edward and Bella, the latest Barbie dollhouse from Rose and Emmett, a children's makeup set from Alice and Jasper, a beginner's baking set from Carlisle and Esme, an art set from Renesmee and a dreamcatcher from Jacob.

Surprisingly, the Volturi did some last Christmas shopping and could give her something small as well. A book of fairytales from Marcus, a vampire Monster High doll from Felix (which earned him quite a few glares from Rosalie), a music box from Jane which played a Disney song she liked, and a hair kit with a variety of hair accessories from Caius, since he figured she liked playing with his hair. Since Aro and Alec didn't know what she liked yet, they decided on giving her a present together and chose a bracelet with the Volturi crest charm dangling from it. Carlisle wanted to protest, but Aro told him there's enough room for the Olympic crest on it as well.

Finally, it was Demetri's turn. He handed Grace a tiny blue box, which she opened carefully. Her crystal blue eyes widened when she saw the heart-shaped necklace in it with the word "aliquando" engraved on it. The word didn't bother her much, for she couldn't read yet, but the mere sight of the necklace was enough to make her throw her tiny arms around Demetri's neck and hug him tight. He smiled satisfyingly, knowing that he's made her this happy. All he could hope was that someday she might understand the word engraved on it.