( outfit for
chapter above )

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chapter three
nature.

"Annie, come on, those are new shoes—" Christina sighed as she watched her six year old run around in the misting rain. She leaned her chin on her palm with a groan escaping her throat— Emmett chucking next to her. "I tried."

"You failed," he laughed.

She gripped onto the magazine next to Rosalie's chair before slapping his arm with it. The impact made the paper rip down the middle. Rosalie's eyes twitched at the sound.

"I'll buy you a new one," the mother muttered back, placing the ruined magazine back on the table. The blonde sighed in response.

"You know," Emmett started. "I'm glad you don't want to become a vampire— you'd be scarier than Rose when she's mad."

Both females turned towards the burly man with narrowed eyes. He immediately held up his hands in surrender, his grin falling off his face at the sinister eyes staring at him.

"Wanna repeat that?" Rosalie muttered, closing her magazine and giving him her full attention.

"What's that Jasper?" He called over his shoulder, backing away from the two sitting girls. "You want to go hunting? Sorry, I got to run—" He disappeared within a second in Christina's eyes.

She smirked towards the blonde— both of them matching amusement before she looked back towards her daughter.

It was the next morning after the Cullens tried to take down Victoria. Both the vampire family and the wolves across the river failed in taking her down. The family had came back disappointed— mostly Emmett and Jasper. Rosalie had told Christina this morning how Emmett got into a showdown with Paul. Christina wasn't light with her scolding when she saw him next.

"You got into it with Paul?" Christina crossed her arms over her chest as the boys walked back into the house after searching out the area; making sure Victoria wasn't lingering around.

Emmett eyed his wife standing behind Christina before giving the mother a sheepish smile. The family knew that Christina cared somewhat for the pack— mostly because Annie absolutely loved to hang out with them.

"What were you thinking?" The mother continued.

"Technically, I was going after Victoria— and Paul pushed me back into the river," he clarified. "It wasn't really a fight—"

Christina sighed loudly, rubbing the side of her head as she felt a throbbing pain start. She had waited up until the family came home with information on the redhead before going to bed. "I'm going to talk to Paul next time I see him— but you all need to learn to work together." Christina eyed all the Cullens that surrounded the living room; minus Edward. "Instead of fighting against them, maybe learn to fight with them, and Victoria won't be so hard to take down."

She eyed them one last time before bidding herself goodnight— missing the smile growing on Carlisle's face at her mothering instincts.

"When is your sister returning?" Rosalie asked, breaking Christina out of her thoughts.

"Should have been last night," she answered. She carefully picked her nail polish off her nails in thought. "I'd imagine she's at school now—"

Christina jumped as the front door slammed open. She glanced over her shoulder to see Edward pacing the living room. She shared a look with Rosalie— the blonde shaking her head before going back to watching Annie play in the mud.

The young mother sighed before going into the house, silently watching as the russet vampire paced the whole living room.

"How was the trip?" Christina spoke up, meeting his darken eyes with a raised brow. He huffed under his breath, ignoring her question. "I take it that Bella didn't take the truth very well."

"She left with Jacob to go to the reservation," he growled out.

The young mother didn't take his irritation to heart. She felt her lips twitch upwards before she nodding her head. "And the tantrums for...?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, stopping in the middle of the floor. "I'm not throwing a tantrum—"

"Aren't you?" She questioned, leaning against the threshold of the kitchen. "My six year old daughter takes rejection better than you."

Edward sighed heavily, and crossed his arms against his chest.

"Now, wanna tell me why your panties are in a twist about Bella being with her friend?" Christina pointed to the couch in the middle of the living room, not giving him room to reject her offer.

They both sat down on the sofa before Edward explained. "I can't protect her over there."

"What makes you think she needs protection?" Christina asked as she got more comfortable on the couch. She raised her left leg onto the couch, resting her thigh against her chest and slipped her right leg under her backside. "The boys can protect her just fine—"

"I don't trust them," he interrupted, narrowing his eyes to the ground in a glare.

Christina sighed. "You trust Bella?"

He nodded his head. "Of course I do—"

"Then you need to trust that she knows what she's doing," Christina advices. "You have to trust her enough to know that if she needed help, she'd come to you. Otherwise, she's fine and protected. You can't let this jealousy thing you have with Jacob interfere with your relationship. It's only going to push her away the more you try to control her life."

The mind reader stayed silent at Christina's words. She leaned over and patted his shoulder lightly before getting up from the couch. "Just— try, okay? I already told everyone last night that you all need to stop fighting with the pack— you all might learn a thing or two from each other."

She paused on her way out the door, not glancing over her shoulder as she mentioned, "who knows... one day, you all might have to rely on one another."

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        Christina silently stirred the pasta on the stove as Annie continued to play in the living room with Rosalie and Alice. The young mother had to admit that it felt normal to hang around the Cullen's household all day. There was always something to do— which was almost surprisingly. She figured with vampires that don't have to sleep, there would be nothing. But the mother easily found activities that kept her mind occupied.

"Family meeting!"

The brunette turned her head to look into the living room, quickly noticing Edward and Bella rushing in. She sighed lightly before shutting off the stove.

"Annie, come eat." She waved her hand over to the island.

"Okay!"

The Cullens surrounded the living room, waiting for Christina to join them as she served a plate to her daughter. She lightly rubbed her hair and walked into the living room. She quickly wiped her hands on her pants as she joined Bella and Carlisle's side.

Bella immediately grabbed onto her sister's hand, lightly squeezing it for comfort.

"There was a visitor at the girl's house," Edward started, making everyone in the room tense up. "Whoever it was didn't attack Charlie."

"Let's try to track the scent," Carlisle spoke up. He put his hand on Christina's back, slightly easing her discomfort. "See if we can find whoever it was."

The men all nodded their head, quickly disappearing from view. Bella tightened her hold on Christina.

"I'll be back," Carlisle muttered, landing a kiss on the side of her head before disappearing as well.

Rosalie and Alice stayed behind, both of them muttering to themselves.

"Hungry?" Christina asked. She pulled gently on Bella's hand, bringing her back into the kitchen to wait for the boys to return. "I made pasta."

Bella's lips twitched. "Thanks."

The girls ate in silence— small smiles gracing their face as Annie kept them entertained for the majority of the time. The six year old slurped up a noodle, the end of it hitting her forehead; leaving a spot of sauce in it's absence. Bella laughed as Christina rolled her eyes with a smile, handing over a napkin.

Edward and Carlisle entered from behind the girls. Both men immediately went to their girls side. Christina looked up into his golden hues and bit her lip at the look of concern.

"No lead?" She muttered softly. He shook his head, holding out his hand to take. She gripped onto it lightly and he pulled her up from the table and they both walked into the living room.

"Who was it?" Alice asked as everyone took their seats in the living room. "Someone we know?"

"Just a stranger," Edward answered. "I didn't recognize his scent—"

"I did," Carlisle interrupted, making Christina's heart drop. She glanced up at him from his seat on the arm of the chair next to her. He looked down at her with concern. "It's the same scent that took Annie."

"But his scent didn't come from his room," Edward muttered, a frown etching his face. "It was only in Bella's room."

"Do you think it's a nomad passing through?" Alice asked, looking at the concern on everyone's faces. The psychic was upset she didn't see him coming both times he visited.

"A passed-by wouldn't have left Bella's father alive," Rosalie pointed out. The blonde gripped onto Christina's shoulder in comfort, knowing the worry the mother is going through.

Christina kept her bottom lip between her teeth as she stayed silent during the conversation.

The front door opens as Jasper and Emmett come back from their hunt. They both walk towards their wives side as Jasper spoke up, "his scent disappeared about five miles south of their house."

Edward paced the floor. "Someone's orchestrating this."

"Victoria?" Carlisle asked. He continued to rub soothing circles on Christina's hand as he heard her heart rate fluctuate.

"Momma?" Annie called coming into the living room.

"In here, baby," Christina said, poking her head around the corner. She opened her arms as Annie climbed onto the couch. The dark hair girl snuggled into her mother's arms, closing her eyes softly as Christina ran her fingers through her hair.

Carlisle's lips twitched at the sight before his attention was brought back to the conversation.

"It has to be the Volturi," Edward commented. He stopped his pacing in front of Bella, the young girl gripping onto his arm for comfort.

"I don't think it's the Volturi either." Alice shook her head. "I've been watching Aro's decisions, too."

"So, we keep looking," Emmett grumbled.

Carlisle nodded his head. "We also take shifts, guarding the Swan residence."

"Another protection detail?" Rosalie asked, crossing her arms over her chest with narrowed eyes.

"Rosalie," Carlisle sighed.

"No, she's right," Christina spoke up finally. "You all are wiring yourselves thin."

"You can't protect us, watch our dad... search for the intruder— and for Victoria," Bella said, shaking her head.

"And keep yourselves fed," Christina added, staring pointedly at Edward's darkened eyes.

"We're not leaving you all defenseless," Edward muttered back, missing Christina's pointed look— even if he saw it in her head.

"Well, we're not going to let you starve," Christina argued back.

"We're not going to starve," Carlisle said calmly.

"Besides," Bella started. "We won't be unprotected, we'll have..."

Edward narrowed his eyes at the missing part of her sentence, "what?"

Christina giggled into Annie's hair at Bella's answer, "the pack."

Edward's eyes darkened further.

"I'm not going to say I told you so," Christina jokes lightly. "But..."

"No way," Edward snapped. "Absolutely not—"

"Edward," Carlisle interrupted. "If it means more protection for the girls. Christina's right— we have to learn how to get along."

Christina smirked lightly towards Edward's disgruntled expression. "So, it's settled. We'll go to the pack whenever you guys need to hunt," Christina said, standing up with Annie fast asleep in her arms. She struggled with the weight, but managed to keep her balance.

"I don't like this," Edward muttered.

"You don't have to," Bella snapped. "You just have to accept it."

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