It's Been a Lifetime Waiting

“Carlisle, you have a letter!” Alice called.

Carlisle looked up from where he reading to Veronica from an old medical journal, and frowned.

“Where did you get that? I already had mail this morning,” Carlisle said, confused.

Alice raised an eyebrow and flipped the envelope over, her eyes going wide.

“It’s the Volturi seal,” Alice gulped.

Veronica’s jaw dropped slightly, her heart starting to race. This couldn’t be good.

“Okay, call everyone to the living room. I’ll read it out,” Carlisle sighed, taking the letter.

Alice ran from the study, leaving Veronica and Carlisle alone.

“I know it’s March and all, but I didn’t expect the vision to actually come true!” Veronica whimpered.

“Don’t fret about it for now. We don’t know what Aro will say,” Carlisle reassured.

“How do you know it is Aro who wrote?” Veronica frowned.

“Caius doesn’t like letter writing and Marcus wouldn’t be interested. He hasn’t been interested in anything since his wife was murdered,” Carlisle explained.

“His wife was murdered?” Veronica gasped.

“Mmhmm, no-one knows who by, either. I have my suspicions that it was Aro even though Marcus’ wife was Aro’s sister. Aro didn’t want his brother to leave the Volturi, but obviously nothing was ever proven,” Carlisle nodded.

Veronica just gulped, following Carlisle out of the study. All the family were gathered now, and Veronica sat in Emmett’s lap, his arms wrapping round her automatically. Carlisle sat on the arm of the armchair Esme was sitting in, and opened the letter.

‘Dear Carlisle,

It has been so long since we conversed, old friend! Speaking of old friends, William visited us last week and shared some interesting stories of his travels. The most interesting story being of when he saw your family. Another human girl in your company that knows your secret! I hope you intend to keep to our rules, Carlisle. Especially for a girl with a talent for incapacitation like that. And her ancestors! That is very interesting. We will be visiting to meet her; she sounds most intriguing. Expect us in the next couple of weeks. I look forward to seeing you and your family again.

Aro’

“NO!” Emmett shouted.

“Emmett calm down, we knew it was going to happen,” Carlisle sighed.

“I should’ve known William couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He gossips worse than a middle-aged woman!” Esme said crossly.

“I’m sure it was innocently intended. William didn’t seem like the cruel type,” Veronica said quietly.

“He isn’t, he just talks too much,” Edward groaned.

“So what do we do? It’s not like we can make Roni disappear,” Rosalie sighed.

“Yes we can! We can leave, go to somewhere where they’ll never find us!” Emmett exasperated.

“That’s just cruisin’ for a bruisin’,” Lucas frowned.

“Lucas is right, Emmett. We can’t leave. Demitri would track us and that would only make it worse,” Carlisle pointed out.

“Aro comes on peaceful terms,” Esme insisted.

“They’re only coming to find out what her scream is like! I’ve never trusted the Volturi and I sure as hell don’t trust them now,” Emmett growled.

“As much I hate to agree, Emmett has a point. The Volturi have never been peaceful in terms of human/vampire relations and they won’t be now,” Edward muttered, taking Bella’s hand.

“We’ll have to make sure we’re well prepared then,” Jasper smirked.

“I’d rather we didn’t have to fight,” Carlisle pleaded.

“I’m not saying we have to fight, I’m just saying we should be ready just in case. Besides, if the mutts are coming then we’ll definitely have more than enough,” Jasper emphasised.

“Alice, can you tell who’s gonna show?” Lucas asked the pixie-haired girl.

“I’ll try to focus,” Alice nodded.

Alice closed her eyes, lifting her head back. After a couple of seconds, Alice opened her eyes.

“Aro, Caius, Marcus, Jane, Alec, Demitri and Felix are coming. That’s it,” Alice listed.

“Oh wonderful, Felix,” Bella grumbled.

Veronica sent her a confused look, earning back a weak smile.

“Felix has a strange obsession with me. When I first met him when I was human, he kept winking at me,” Bella explained, wrinkling her nose.

“Felix is the only vampire in the world who matches my strength,” Emmett added.

“So we’ve definitely got numbers on them, even with just our family. Add the Denali clan and Jacob’s pack, we’ve tripled them,” Jasper said triumphantly.

“I don’t want it to be a stand off,” Carlisle sighed.

“Hopefully it won’t be,” Esme reassured.

“Will you excuse me and Roni?” Emmett said suddenly.

Emmett didn’t wait for an answer before he stood up and grabbed Veronica’s hand, pulling the two of them out of the living room, up the stairs and into his bedroom. Emmett shut the door firmly behind them, hugging Veronica close to his body.

“Emmett, what’s up with you?” Veronica frowned, pushing away from him.

“The Volturi are coming, Roni. I’m...I’m...”

“You’re what?” Veronica asked as he trailed off.

“I’m scared for you, okay? I really don’t trust the Volturi, especially not Aro. Or Caius actually. Caius is just as cruel as Jane and Alec. I'm scared,” Emmett admitted.

“It’ll be okay, Em. We’ll have way more numbers than them so they won’t be able to get to me,” Veronica reassured.

“Doesn’t change the fact that I’m scared for you. I love you and I don’t want them taking that away,” Emmett grumbled, looking away..

But Veronica took his head between her hands, turning his head to face her.

“Our love isn’t going anywhere. No vampire can make me stop loving you, so don’t be scared,” Veronica said softly.

“I wish I knew that was true. I can’t bear the thought of losing you,” Emmett said sadly.

“You won’t,” Veronica insisted.

Emmett smiled weakly and kissed her deeply, an intense kiss that made her knees buckle and her hands cling onto his shirt. When he pulled away, Veronica’s eyes were still closed, her eyebrows raised in shock.

“Wow,” she whispered, fluttering her eyelids open.

Emmett chuckled and pecked her lips, before walking backwards to his bed, pulling her with him.

“I don’t think this is really the time for sex, Emmett,” Veronica mused, straddling his waist.

“I wasn’t actually going to ask for sex, babe. Knowing that you could be taken from me in the next few weeks kinda spoils the mood. I just want to hold you,” Emmett chuckled.

“You just want to hold me?” Veronica asked shyly, blushing lightly.

“Mmhmm,” Emmett nodded.

Veronica bit her bottom lip but swung her leg round so she could curl her legs under her body, resting her head on Emmett’s shoulder. His arms wrapped firmly around her and he pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead, resting his own against hers after.

“I will fight for you until they burn my body,” Emmett murmured.

“I wouldn’t ask for anything else,” Veronica replied softly.