The glowing yellow of the lamps were only for show in the home as the curtains allowed the breath of light to be seen from outside in the dark of night.

Cleaning up after the night of partying was simple and easy for the young brunette as she commanded everything away and into their respective places.

It was a trick she could do, a gift as Carlisle had once called it. To give life to inanimate objects for a period of time, it was something that assumed Estelle to no end as a child - to have the furniture and dishes speak to her intelligibly.

They would move on their own, sprout tiny arms and legs, mouth and eyes, and would remain so until her control wore off.

With the speed at which she moved and the mess cleaning itself - it took her only a handful of minutes to have everything placed in the kitchen where she left them to soak for the moment.

She still had company, as it were, in the form of the Cullen's that lounged around her sitting room with the soft scratch of a record and gentle flowing music playing as the background to their conversation.

Hugo took the role of loud-mouth quickly as he blabbered about what they have been spending their years doing since having parted from Carlisle all those years ago.

The man had always been a good and dear friend to Hugo so Marion figured her brother must have been thrilled to see him again after so many years apart. Hugo was a good soul that cared deeply for his friends - never once allowing himself to lose a friend; though it was not often that he was fortunate enough to see many of his friends.

She smiled good naturedly, a little nostalgically, as she listened to them from the entrance of the room.

It had been years since she had last seen her brother so excitable over the littlest of things. Marion imagined that her little family was growing depressed - bored with life. They had spent quite a bit a time doing nothing at all other than pretend normalcy and if it was necessary for her to seek out old friends to return a sense of joy to them then she would. She refused to lose any of them.

"You are too excitable, Hugo," she grinned. "You will scare them away."

His responding laughter was booming. "I am not the scary one. It is you and ma nièce that are frightening."

Marion placed a hand over her heart, mouth falling open. "You claim that I am frightening?" She joke, a playful glint to her eyes. "I am aghast!"

"You were always one for the dramatics, mother," Estelle called as she slipped into the home, the french causing the few that understood to chuckle. "Leave my uncle alone, maman. You always pick on him."

Marion snorted. "Hardly."

"Do you see this? I must always deal with this!" Hugo cried, throwing himself back on the seat and drapping an arm over his eyes.

Both Dupuis girls rolled their eyes.

"You see, I must always deal with this," Marion spoke in a monotone and gestured dully toward him, unwilling to let her mask slip and ruin the fun she was having with her brother.

Carlisle shook his head, smiling gently as he took in the family that he had missed over the years. To Marion it was easy to recognize the pride and love he felt towards his family as she felt with her own - easy to feel pride for him and the life he had created as she suspected he felt for her.

Esme and Edward, the little she knew of them, were lovely individuals. Both rather suited her old friend's personality and worked well to keep him content. Carlisle deserved this, Marion believed, as he was truly the kindest man she had ever had the pleasure of meeting.

As it were, Estelle must have taken to them both rather well as her daughter settled between the pair and engage in quiet conversation with them - though it was sparse and filled with inconsistencies as they paused repeatedly.

"Where have you been as of late, Carlisle?" Hugo aksed, finally sobering. "We haven't seen you in Europe for years."

"I took a boat over to the New-World after I left you. Estelle was only eleven, I believe," he tells them, thoughtfully considering his past.

"Thirteen," Estelle remarks. "The men in the village were trying to convince uncle Hugo to agree to a marriage contract."

Marion hummed. "I believe they said that you were the most beautiful girl they would ever see. You left behind many broken hearts in each move."

"We were still quite rich at the time despite being in hidding. Estelle would have had quite the dowry," Hugo added.

Sniffing, Estelle turned her nose up. "I would have killed anyone to try and marry me for a dowry."

"Of course, mon petit chaton," the mother dismissed.

The girl groaned, sinking into her seat and crossing her arms moodily. "Je l'aurait fait."

"I know."

"Tell her uncle!"

"She would have killed them," Hugo said obediently.

Marion shook her head. "So I have heard."

The conversation continued late into the evening as they had much to catch up on. At one point Hugo had left, returning with wind swept hair and glowing topaz eyes that no one bothered to mention.

Marion knew that her brother always had a large appetite, similar to how Carlisle and she knew him to be as a human. His feeding habbits were surprisingly frequent - though she suspected that he must havr had some sort of obsession with it.

It was in the early hours of morning, just before the humans would be waking for a day at work when the Cullen's disappeared as the sun was threatening to rise over the horizon - departing with plans to meet up again soon for another evening.

It was then that Estelle approached the subject carefully, but rather bluntly.

"What importance is Rosalie that I needed to ensure she got home safely?" Estelle asked, following her mother into the kitchen and watching as Marion studiously washed the dirty dishes at a slow and methodical pace.

"You know of blood singers, my dear. You heard of it briefly while we were in Italy, remember?" Marion began, speaking as though it was a common story being told.

"La tua canta - I remember. Aro spoke of the rarety of the perfect blood for a vampire," Estelle shivered uncomfortably as she reminisced of the creept man.

"Oui, they are like the perfect specimen. It was like this with Rosalie," the brunette whispered. "She smelled so perfect, comme des fleurs au printemps."

"She did not smell that way to me," Hugo remarked as he joined the pair in the kitchen, seating himself on the counter.

"That is because it was peculiar only to myself. She will be normal to you both but special to me," Marion explained.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Estelle leaned against the counted next to her uncle - a small frown painted on her lips.

It was the look the girl had whilst thinking, the mother observed. When something did not quite make any sense.

"Then why did I need to see her home?" The daughter pushed, eyes narrowing at her mother.

"Because for some, and this is even rarer than la tua canta itself, some find their mate in their blood singers-" She placed the last of the dishes on the rack with the others and grabbed a dry cloth -" Rosalie could very well be my mate. There is a deep longing when I think of her, so it is very possible that she is."

"She's human," Estelle spat.

The brunette hummed, a soft smile curling her mouth into a pleasant, loving expression. "Yes, quite a wonderful human."

"What good is there in loving a human when she will not live? They are wretched and greedy creatures that killed my papa and had you hunted," Estelle ranted. She began to wave her arms about angrily, pacing the floor in an agitated manner than reminded her of a caged animal.

Hugo flinched, shifting on the counter nervously as he took in the two women. Perhaps this is what he meant by them being frightening, Marion pondered, as she was always calm and controlled in her emotions as Estelle was violent and let them consume her completely.

"I was wretched and greedy by raising you myself. Had I been a better mother I would have given you a better life with someome who could give you what I could not - a life where you did not know of what I was and would have grown human," Marion retorted as she dried and put away dishes.

Estelle bristled. "I am happy with what I am, maman. I wanted this!"

"Would you have wanted this if you knew not of what it was?"

"I regret nothing!" The blonde exclaimed. "I have no remorse and would choose this life a thousand times over."

"Then do not speak of humans as though they are so below us as I was more wretched than so many of them," Marion defended, tone tightly controlled.

"How can you think yourself wretched when I gave you no choice?" Estelle whispered. "I wanted nothing more than this, maman."

Marion remained silent as she put away the last of the dishes, flashes of her sweet Estelle writhing in pain because of the bite she had given her haunting her thoughts.

"Would you give your human a choice then?" The daughter spoke tenderly, steering the topic back to that of Rosalie.

"No, she will not know of what we are. She is with that Royce fellow."

"Royce was a complete cretin from what I could tell," Hugo added, lips puckering in distaste. "I would not trust him."

Marion could not help but agree. "No, I suppose not. I will look into him to be of sound mind concerning Rosalie's well-being."

She moved from the room, intending for it to be the end if the conversation but Estelle followed.

"And what then? You will never speak to her again?" The girl badgered. "You said yourself that she could be your mate. She would hold so much happiness for you. You've always wanted to find your mate."

The woman stopped, lightly gripping the upper arms of her daughter and holding the girl still.

"That was before I knew she was would be a human, sweetheart. I could not steal this life away from her," Marion whispered, tenderly kissing her daughters forehead. "I will be fine. Perhaps we will return to Europe sooner than planned."

"But-"

"Shh," she pressed a finger to her daughter's lips before she parted quickly and locked herself into her room.

What was the good of loving a human? Very much was good in it but it was of never use to her kind. Estelle did not understand, did not care for human's as Marion and Hugo did.

So used to the girl's antics, it was clear to tell when her daughter was upset over one thing or the other. Estelle grew angry frequently but it was not for nothing. There was something that her daughter was not willing to share, amd for that she would wait.

As she would wait for the moment in which she could flee as being near Rosalie only tempted her to stay. It would br easy to fall in love with the human, a dangerous thing that was.

"I do not like human's, maman, that you know, though I would put aside my beliefs if it meant tou were to be happy," Estelle muttered, her voice carrying from the kitchen.

Marion didn't respond as she sat silently in her room, her wedding band in hand and gaze settled on rose bushes that belonged to her neighbor.

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Ma nièce: my niece
Mon petit chaton: my little kitten
Je l'aurais fait: I would have done it
Commes des fleurs au printemps: like flowers in srping

Unedited

2018-03-05