Forever Young

Chapter 21

Over the next few days, Mato became a regular guest at the house. He always waited until after Takoda had gone home for the day, which upset Koda, who still didn't trust Mato with me. But Emily was insistent on Koda getting home right after lunch and recess, because apparently he was expected to do chores and complete his homework before dinner.

So my afternoons were spent with Nessie and Mato, who were slowly growing closer to each other. They still had frequent arguments- Mato never wanted to play what Nessie did, which left me in an awkward position in the middle. There was usually something I could suggest, though, like tag or hide and seek, that they could both agree on. 

And Mato almost never had his mean smile on his face around me anymore. Even if he wasn't laughing at the moment, he would usually look fairly peaceful. Until he remembered he had to go home.

"Does Mato not like his family?" I asked Nessie one day, as we were tidying up our room before bed. She was crumbling up some paper to throw away, some doodles that she had made earlier.

She paused at my question, not seeming sure how to respond. "Well... he... likes them, I guess. But his Mom doesn't really seem to like them. She doesn't even talk to them. And if she does, it's meanly. Uncle Sam and Aunty Emily have both tried to get Mato to come live with them. And Grandpa Carlisle even offered to build an extension to the house, so they could come stay here. He even offered Mato his own room. But Mato is just too... proud, I guess. He hates people helping him. You saw how long it took for him to stop complaining about having to eat dinner with us".

It was true, that the first three days had been rough. Every time he sat down at the dinnertable, Mato would make a scene, going on about how Esme didn't need to feed him. And every time, Esme would slide a plate in front of him, reminding him that it was her responsibility to make sure any children who were at her house at dinnertime were fed on time.

And Carlisle and Esme would always pretend to not notice the way that Mato always tucked away some of the food into his napkin and shoved it into his pocket. I had asked him about it once- he had said he was saving it for his brothers. When I asked him why he was saving it for them, even though Emily and Esme always sent him home with food, he just shrugged, saying he just wanted to make sure they weren't hungry.

Maybe it was true that they would have been better off coming to stay with us- especially if Mato got his very own room. I thought that it should have been enough to persuade him, but he still shook his head against the idea, too proud to ever admit if he wanted to. 

Of course, Renesmee couldn't just leave it at that. "Not that it's fair that Grandpa said Mato could have his own room," She tacked on, glaring at the injustice of it. "Not when me and you have to share, and he has a bunch of little brothers who would have to share, too."

"Maybe he could share with us, then," I said, smiling at the idea of getting a bunkbed and me having the top bunk. 

Renesmee hated that idea- she made a face and huffed away.

The next day, though, was the first day Mato hadn't seemed offended at being given dinner. That may have just been because it was fish, though- he loved fish.

On Saturday, neither Koda or Mato got to come over. Apparently, for Renesmee's birthday months and months ago, Alice and Jasper had offered to take her to any musical she wanted. The one she had chosen wouldn't come to Seattle until this weekend, so this gift was eight months in the making.

Somehow, they had managed to get me a seat with them on short notice. Nessie had told me once that Alice had no qualms about buying her way, and I was sure that this was her doing.

But Seattle was more than a three hours drive away, which meant we had to leave right after naptime to make it there on time. Which also meant Esme put Nessie and I down for naps early, so we would have time to put on nice dresses and have our hair brushed- apparently theater was a formal event. And Carlisle also justified the extra long nap by reminding us that we wouldn't be getting back until after bedtime.