[Geek]

So it began, the babysitting of the Blue eyed vampire. Or as Emmett referred to me “The Cullen family pet”.
I required one vampire at all times to make sure I was not going ballistic. The rest of the Cullens would secure the safety of my human family.
All of their lives were put on hold, except Carlisle, who kept his position at the hospital. I felt a little guilty, but I needed my family protected and I was far from being capable of entering society.

Esme’s time with me was spent reinforcing vampire manners, the concept which made me laugh when she first mentioned it. She tisked me into listening.
“If we ever get separated, Sasha, you might need to know any or all of this to survive with hostile vampires.” That comment scared me sober, so I listened. I was grateful for my brand new infallible memory, I now had no need to take notes or do special mental gymnastics .
According to Esme, I was not to interfere in another vampire’s feeding. I should only hunt on land that I knew was safe to do so. She told me to always act like a vampire is friendly and more seasoned then I am, even if I suspect differently.
She peppered her warnings with assurances of the skills I would acquire with time.
Esme emphasized that time was the trick to becoming a successful vampire.
After she covered vampire manners, Esme switched over to hints on being a vampire that is pretending to be a human. I now had to make reflexes that were no longer involuntary seem as if they were just that.

We practiced pretending to eat and drink, when actually, nothing was actually consumed. She thoughtfully added common touches I might encounter, like handshakes and hugs. We spent a whole day learning how to decline, politely, or when necessary, getting in, committing the act, and having a stock excuse for the chill of my skin.
Esme’s babysitting times were upbeat and encouraging. I could see why she was considered the mother figure for the clan. She was so easy to love.


Jasper was by far the most intense babysitter. He spent much time preparing me for a battle. Although he would quickly promise that it was all a safety precaution, I seemed to be training for the fight of my life.
He would “play attack” me from all sides and when I least expected it. I was to fight back, but only going through the motions, not actually physically harming him.
I learned that vampires attack mentally at least half the time. Brain fighting was a perplexing concept for me. Jasper was forced to explain various powers he had come across during his time training newborns to fight. As he rambled through an alarming amount of tricks, (Brain shaking, seeing only mirror images, perceived electrocution), I paid closer and closer attention to his lessons. He admitted that almost all the newborns he created were meant to die soon after they were made, but his was taking extra care to try and prepare me to live a nice long life.

Alice bustled in the penthouse with bags, boxes and hangers every time she entered. With her, I had a break from all the vampire preparedness. She spent hours upon hours twirling my long hair into curls or braids. Our girly time had reached epic proportions when we were both in pajamas, pretending to sleep with teddy bears. Jasper had mentioned to me when he was mock ‘pulling my head from my neck’ that Alice had missed out on her girlhood and longed for a friend to pal around with. I made an effort to be at least half as excited as she was about all our poufy girl time.

Rosalie was, at first, the most uncomfortable. I would spend time in my room and she would huff and puff in the main part of the penthouse. The hours with her dragged on like a pap smear. After four of these uncomfortable episodes, Rosalie entered for her shift a few minutes early. I was on the couch in the penthouse watching A Baby Story on Lifetime. Instead of huffing, Rosalie sat on the other end of the couch. We watched wordlessly until the end of the show, when the happy couple named their new bundle of joy “Elmered”. Rosalie and I both snorted in disgust. That simple noise opened a floodgate. Rosalie began questioning me about babies. Had I held any recently? What were the children in my class like? Had I ever shopped for a baby in Toys R’ Us?

I answered her questions honestly. I had babysat an infant while in college, to make extra money. I was as descriptive as I could be. I launched into stories about the kids in my classrooms, stories about younger cousins, and even random babies I had seen in stores.
“I always wanted one.” Her enchantingly beautiful face flickered with such intense longing, I felt like an intruder just seeing it on her face.
“So, no babies for the vampire ladies, I take it.” I was surprised at the sadness in my own voice. I had always seen motherhood in my future. Time seemed so flexible before and now that it was endless, the prospect of never bringing children in the world hit like a ton of bricks.
Rosalie stood and looked away. “No, not for us.” We were quiet together until she left. When she tossed a quick, “See ya next time.” over her shoulder, I knew something had changed for us.
Carlisle raised an inquisitive eyebrow as he heard Rosalie’s friendly sounding departure. I shrugged. I hoped the frosty, huffing Rosalie was in the past.


Carlisle’s part in my development was somewhat medically based. He spent ungodly amounts of time looking into my eyes with a light muttering things like “Eye muscle test.
 Visual acuity test.
 Refraction assessment.” At first I tried to act interested, but gave up eventually and started day dreaming about the enchanting Edward while Carlisle poked and prodded. He was intensely interested to see what drinking human blood would do to my eyes, but agreed with Jasper that testing me with a little drop of human blood would be too risky. In between the eye prodding, Carlisle took it upon himself to catch me up on vampire history. We were currently enjoying a fairly stable period. Most vampires were wanderers that, for the most part, adhered to the niceties that Esme had detailed for me. The clans that lived together were few and far between. The largest being the Volturi, in Rome.
I couldn’t help but picture him as a college professor during our sessions. He was an engaging speaker. He would make a great teacher. I told him as much one rainy evening.
He laughed and confessed “I thought you would make an excellent vampire when I first met you as well.”
“Your thoughts are more powerful then mine, I see.”