A/N: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
This is just the prologue. Will be predominantly Jasper/Bella along with some other couples. Enjoy!
Sulpicia yearned for a child.
She wanted one more than anything, it had been her dream since she was a little girl to be a mother. One Christmas – the best Christmas of her young life – she had received a babydoll, just what she had asked Santa Claus for. She cherished that toy more than anything in the world.
She treated the babydoll as if it were an actual baby, she fed it and changed and doted upon it. Her mother had tried to maybe get her to detach from the doll, but Sulpicia's adoration unwavered.
When she was seventeen, she fell in love. His name was Aro and he had slick black hair and hazel eyes and the most charming smile she had ever seen.
Their love story went pretty fast, five months into dating, he asked her father if he could marry her. They were married and it was perfect and they went on their honeymoon and it was perfect. The first couple of months were blissful. Aro was taking over the family business from his father.
Everyone knew who Aro was, and who the Volturis were and what they did. But it wasn't something anyone discussed. It was the family business and it was left at that.
Aro wanted to set up business across the country so they settled in Seattle, Marcus stayed in New York, holding base there. Caius and his wife, Athendora, went with them to Seattle and they set up their business. They bought a beautiful house, Sulpicia teasing Aro that they have four bedrooms to fill with children.
Once they were settled, Sulpicia and Aro decided it was time to expand their family.
They tried. And they tried and they tried.
Every medicine, every hormone, every prayer didn't work and a year after no results, the doctor told them that it probably wasn't going to happen.
Sulpicia didn't eat for a week, she only slept, the dreams of her holding her dream baby were much better than the harsh reality that she was barren.
Barren.
That word teased her mercilessly in her head.
He would leave her.
He wanted a child too, someone to carry on his legacy and the family business. She was useless to him.
He would find another woman, who was fertile. Who could provide him with a child, with an heir. She went over it in her head and realized that would make him happy, so she pushed him away.
He knew what she was doing, Aro assured her that he wouldn't leave, that he loved her – baby or no baby. He loved her, and only her, but he could admit that he was sad and angry that they wouldn't have a child. Not at Sulpicia, never at her, at God, at the world, at fate for not granting his wife what she desired. Something that no matter how much money was in his bank account, no matter how many people he killed, he couldn't give it to her.
He took his frustrations out at work.
Everyone knew why he was angry, but they wisely kept their mouths shut. Well, that was after one person had recommended that Aro take a lover and impregnate her, to secure the family's future.
That man had luckily walked away with a rearranged face and some broken teeth courtesy of Aro's .357.
Things got pretty bad when Athendora hesitantly announced that she was pregnant, with triplets. It was a joyous time in her and her husband's life, but she had witnessed what her dearest friend was going through and thought that by telling her, it would be a torment.
You could see the flash of pain on her face when they told her and then it was gone and Sulpicia smiled and hugged her friend, congratulating her. She wasn't so bitter that she would be unhappy at them, but she was jealous. So jealous! Not one baby, but three! She was going to have three babies. It wasn't fair!
When she got home, the dam broke. She screamed and cried and wailed and cursed and broke in Aro's arms. This catharsis turned out to be what Sulpicia needed. She decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and what was never going to come and dote on Athendora and the three little ones who were making her arrival. She was going to be the godmother she could be.
The three girls arrived – Tanya, Katrina, and Irina – and Sulpicia doted on them and spoiled them rotten. She was content.
The good Dr. Cullen was an old friend of Aro's having met in Italy while Carlisle was studying abroad. He was one of the reasons they chose Washington to settle in and grow their business seeing as how his old friend had a home about three hours away in a quaint town called Forks.
Knowing of the couple's misfortune, he thought he might have a solution to their problems. He informed the couple of a parentless baby at the hospital he worked at. The baby's parents had been involved in a car accident that killed the father instantly, the mother was forced into early labor and died giving birth. No other family to speak of.
Sulpicia looked at Aro with tears in her eyes at the story, the thought of that poor baby all alone in the world and also what Dr. Cullen was implying.
A call to their consigliere and a good amount of money later and the adoption was settled. Aro and Sulpicia went to the hospital, the latter in a complete daze. She was about to become a mother. It was finally going to happen, and she had a brief moment of panic.
What if her being barren was God's way of saying that she wasn't fit to be a mother? What if she was supposed to be childless her whole life because she would be terrible at it? What if she ruined the baby? What if she did everything wrong? Was it too late to back out?
Then she saw her, and all those fears fell right to the floor. She was so tiny, laying in the NICU. She was two months premature and would need to be monitored for a bit before they could take her home.
Those two months, the Volturis visited her as she grew bigger and stronger. The doctor's said she would be able to come home soon and Sulpicia could not wait.
When Athendora and Esme Cullen, the good doctor's wife, had heard the news, they dropped everything to help prepare. Most people had nine months to get everything a baby needs together, they only had two.
Esme was a part time interior designer, which she was good at so she took over creating a beautiful nursery in the Volturi house while Athendora was a self declared "professional shopper," which Caius would grumble she was a little too good at, so she took over buying what the baby would need, taking that stress off the new parent's minds. Fortunately with having triplets, she had mountains upon mountains of baby girl clothes.
The Volturi's had the support of the families, and the time to bring the baby home was looming, but the baby still wasn't named. Sulpicia knew that this would most likely be her only child, so she wanted to think long and hard on the name - which turned out to be a very obvious choice.
"Isabella," Sulpicia murmurred, mesmerized by the baby. She stroked her fine dark hair with a feather light touch. "After my grandmother."
Aro was staring at the child – their daughter – in awe. His gaze shifted back and forth between the baby and Sulpicia, seeing his wife falling in love and he smiled. That smiled hadn't graced her face in a while.
Today was the day that they were taking the newly named Isabella home with them.
Sulpicia had walked into their house to see practically everyone she had ever met, who came to see the baby. The women cooed at the baby, the men lit cigars and congratulated Aro. It was a celebration and the new parents were besides themselves with happiness.
Athendora doted on her goddaughter, showing her off proudly to all the guests. The triplets were fascinated with their new cousin, so excited to dress her up and play with her. Caius and the men proclaimed that she was going to break a lot of hearts when she gets older and they'll most likely have to break a lot of faces.
"I would like to thank all of you for coming today to welcome our daughter Isabella into the family. She truly is a blessing to Sulpicia and I," Aro started, looking into the crowd to see his mother and mother-in-law fussing over Isabella. Sulpicia just beamed at him and a lump caught in his throat at how beautiful she looked, soaked in happiness. He raised his champagne glass, "To Isabella!"
"To Isabella!" the crowd echoed, taking a sip of their champagne.
The families had come together for the baby's debut. Aro had flown in his and Sulpicia's parents in from Italy to meet their grandchild. The other families from across the country came to the party to toast the heir, everyone across the globe had heard of Isabella Marie Volturi, and everyone knew that this child was important – a Principessa – and this child would be protected, given anyone tried to harm her.