Chapter 1
The dark clouds above provided the perfect cover for her as she strutted down the street in her perfectly pristine new heels. Not that she was surprised or worried. She had seen it coming days ago and knew that this was the perfect chance for her to venture out without her family questioning where she was going. The only person who knew where she was at the moment was her husband, and he was a man that could keep secrets easily.
The only other person who would have seen where she was going was hundreds of miles away in Brazil, and although she wished that he would stop acting so ridiculous and just come back to them, she was actually thankful that he wasn't there to interfere with her plans. Especially after the incident in Forks that caused them to have to relocate back to their old home in Chicago.
Alice was still convinced that Edward had overreacted to what happened on Bella's birthday, last month, but her family had voted, and, unfortunately, it was decided that they should leave. Even Jasper had voted that moving would probably be a good idea, but Alice wouldn't hold that against him. As much as she loved Forks and loved Bella, she had to go where her family did.
What she didn't expect was Edward's self exile and pity party that followed; that had definitely upset her. She loved her brother very dearly, and though it hurt her to see hi suffer so much, it angered her that he had the nerve to leave after convincing everyone that they had to move and that they had to cut all communications with Bella, including no longer watching her future. Of course, that meant nothing to the pixie vampire as she would routinely check up on her friend, though what she saw was not good. Bella was definitely not taking things well, but as far as she could tell, Bella was safe, so Alice could only hope that she would move on soon and find a way to deal with this.
Though Alice had made a mental note to chew Edward out and give him a piece of her mind when she saw him again, she couldn't help feeling a bit excited to be back in Chicago. The city had been her favorite city ever since they had first moved there in the 80s. Edward had told them of how wonderful the city had been during his "Rebellious" years, and Alice had been all for them spending time there.
Much like he had said, the city was beautiful from the art museums to the shopping and beautiful lake, Chicago was the place to be. After her first decade there, she didn't think it could get any better.
Much to her surprise, she had been wrong. Which, of course, was the reasoning that she was making her secret venture now while her family was busying themselves with other matters.
Alice was especially cautious about her intentions around Roselie; she hadn't been particularly happy with her the last time she had brought this up and knew for a fact that she wouldn't be any happier now. It didn't help that Edward bad been reading Alice's mind and ruined her plans by tattling on her to the rest of the family. Emmett liked the idea, being that he was more laid back then the rest of his family, and Alice was grateful to have at least one other person on her side.
Jasper, though supportive at the time, had also thought it was bad idea, given the risk involved. Of course, he'd do anything to see her happy. Esme had been sympathetic, understanding Alice's feelings on the matter, but could not bring herself to agree either. And then there was Carlisle, her father and patriarch of the family.
Though a man of great intellect and compassion, had forbidden Alice from doing this, shocking her at the harshness of his command. Much like Esme, he understood his daughter's feeling on the matter, but could not permit her to take this course of action. The look of hurt that was etched onto her face would haunt him for eternity; he had broken one of his daughters' hearts, something no father ever wanted to do, but he had to do what was best for everyone. Unfortunately, that meant that sacrifices had to be made sometimes.
"I hope Jasper can keep the others preoccupied for the time being," she mumbled to herself as she came upon her destination. The sign was familiar to her, having been etched into her perfect memory from the day she had first arrived, to the last time she had seen it.
The building was well kept, though she had known that since before she had even seen it. She didn't need to be a clairvoyant to have seen that.
The orphanage was beautiful on the outside, its brick structure having been renovated a few years ago. A beautiful golden plaque rested on the right of the entrance, engraved with lettering that read, "Paid for by anonymous benefactor, A.C."
Alice smiled, pushing the door open and walking in. One of the many perks of being a Cullen was the disposable income that she had access to. Though a good part of it went to shopping, Alice would make a very sizable contribution to the orphanage whenever it was needed.
Walking to the front desk, Alice cleared her throat, grabbing the attention of the woman behind the desk. She was an older woman, most likely in her mid-forties and had a few signs of aging; crow's feet, slight wrinkles to her skin and a few streaks of grey on in her hair.
The woman looked at her, gasping slightly at the stunning young girl in front of her. Alice, of course, was used to this reaction being that it came with a vampire, and waited patiently for the woman to take her all in so they could move on.
"Um, can I help you, young lady?" she asked, blinking a few times to regain focus and to ensure that she hadn't been just daydreaming.
"Yes, you can," she said, her voice coming out perfectly smooth like butter to the woman's ears. "My name is Mary. I'm here because I'm looking for information on a couple of children."
"Information? Are you looking to adopt?"
"Something like that," she said, pulling out a photo from her purse and handing it to the woman. The photo was of two small children, toddlers to be exact, one male and the other female. The boy, who had dark brown hair that was simple and straight, was holding the female tightly in his small arms, his fingers tangled in her blonde curls. Their twin blue eyes looked at the camera in wonder, signifying that they had been surprised by the person taking the picture. "My older sister, Alice, used to visit the orphanage and do some work around here before she passed."
"Oh, my, I'm so sorry for your loss," she replied, genuine sympathy in her voice. Alice would have laughed at this had she not had a purpose for coming up with such a made up story about herself.
"It was a terrible loss for our family, but we've been trying to do our best to move on and make our family stronger. Now, this is where things get a bit complicated. These two children, though not biologically related, are my niece and nephew," Alice said, seriousness in her words.
"I'm not quite sure that I follow," the woman said.
"My sister started working here because she needed to fill a void in her life; she had found out that she could not reproduce children of her own, felt that it would help her to be around children as she loved children very dearly. While here, she came across these two, just after their second birthday, and instantly fell in love with them. From that day on, she took it upon herself to care for and love these children as if they were her own, visiting them every day, and taking extra time and care to be with them."
"My, your sister sounds like she was a very wonderful young lady. If I may ask, and please let me know if this is too personal, but if she was so enthralled by these two, why did she not adopt them while she still had a chance?"
"She wanted to, she truly, dearly wanted to," Alice said, her heart aching at the memory. "She loved them very dearly, and wanted nothing more than to adopt them…but she couldn't because of her illness. She had been working here for nearly a year, and the two had taken to her quite lovingly as she them. She used to tell us all about them, and had planned on adopting them as soon as she could make the proper arrangements. My parents weren't exactly on board with the idea, worried that someone as young as her would have a difficulty handling such a responsibility."
This part, though slightly fabricated, still held a bit of truth to it. Carlisle and Esme were constantly worried that Alice, though very good at controlling her thirst, would slip up if she were around humans too often. But there was something about these two that just drew her back to the orphanage day after day. Almost like the pull of a singer to a vampire, if she were being honest, except she had no urge to drink their blood, simply to take care of them.
"My sister's resolve was strong though, and she continued her preparations to bring them into our family. But then, an unfortunate development happened; we discovered that she was very ill with a terminal disease. The doctors had only given her a month to live, saying that the disease had been eating away at her for so long undetected, that there was no way for them to stop it now. Because of this, she was forced to leave them behind."
Alice could still remember the day that she had been told that they were going to be moving. The fear and desperation she felt as she protested the move had been felt by all of her family, especially Jasper, who, of course, amplified her feelings. The others weren't budging though, no matter what she told them; Roselie's jealousy was too strong and Edward's resolve was strong. Alice knew that the two of them would be lost causes, but she had hoped that the rest of her family could see it in their hearts to at least give her this. She was, sadly, mistaken.
Jasper, although supportive and loving, couldn't find it in himself to agree with her. It wasn't that he disliked children, quite the opposite; he was worried that his control would not hold with being in such close proximity to them. Jasper would never be able to forgive himself if he hurt Alice, and this would have been the ultimate crime in his book.
Esme loved her daughter and wanted nothing more than to see her happy, but she too, could not bring herself to agree. Their lives were dangerous and ever changing. Not only that, it would be harder to keep themselves secret when raising children. The two would age, while they would not, drawing suspicion. Not to mention, eventually the children would take notice of this as well, and they would have to reveal themselves to them. They would be lucky if the children didn't fear or resent them as it was, but then there was the risk that the children would slip up and reveal them as well. As much as Esme would have loved to be a grandmother, she couldn't do it this way.
Carlisle, of course agreed with everything that his wife had said, and forbid Alice from continuing her pursuit of this venture. Of course, that did not prevent her from continuously pleading her case, until, eventually, Carlisle had dismissed the issue, telling her that she was not to bring it up again.
"As you father, and leader of this coven, I forbid you from doing this, Alice. I will not risk everyone's safety and exposure for this, and I will hear no more of it," Carlisle declared, a tone of finality in his voice. Alice wanted to continue to convince him as well as the others, but knew it was pointless when Carlisle put his foot down like that. Never, in her eternal afterlife, had she felt her heart ache as much as it did that day.
It took nearly a while year before she could bring herself to talk to anyone other than Jasper and Emmett, her only other ally in this venture. Edward would continuously mutter that he thought she was being overly childish while Roselie would state that she was just being unrealistic, but Esme would quickly shush them, not wanting to hurt Alice anymore then she already had. It broke her heart that Alice would distance herself from them all, but having lost her own child before gaining all of the ones she had now, she understood the pain Alice was going through.
"I see," the woman said, holding back tears that Alice could smell instantly, their salty aroma reach her nose.
"Thank you for you kind words," Alice said gratefully. "My sister would appreciate them."
"I'm glad. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I can help in anyway," she said sadly. "I've never seen these children here at the orphanage in my years of working here."
"I'm sure you haven't because they're no longer children," Alice said, shocking the woman. "My sister passed away thirteen years ago; these two are sixteen years old teenagers."
"My goodness, thirteen years ago? But, you're so young yourself. Your sister must have been quite a bit older then you to have been considering adoption."
"Yes she was. She was nineteen when she passed, and I was six. Indeed an age gap between us. Never the less, I always, in the back of my mind, remembered all the joy and happiness that these two children brought my sister, and vowed to find them again someday and show them that they did indeed have a family, one that they have always been a part of."
"Well, I must say, you are quite young yourself. Providing for children, especially teenagers, can be a lot of work and expensive."
"Thank you for your concern," Alice said sweetly, trying not to roll her eyes. "However, my husband and I are very well off and can easily provide for them. After all, we do send a sizable donation here every year, being that we are its top benefactors."
The woman's eyes grew wide once more at these words, wondering if the girl's words were true. Though logically, she should be inclined to ask more questions and get more information from her, something about being in the girl's presence compelled her to trust her. Opening up the files on the computer, the woman turned back to Alice, hands at the ready.
"Do you know anything about them? A name perhaps?"
"Cecil and Cleopatra Caesar," Alice said with a smile, though it faltered at the frown that came to the woman's face as she typed away. "Is there a problem?"
"No, of course not, it's just…" the woman paused, trying to find the best way to explain this to the girl without hurting her feelings. "The Caesar twins are known for a lot of things around here, for their…discrepancies."
"And what do you mean by that?" Alice said, venom lacing her voice.
"Thay're…troublemakers," she said carefully after seeing that she had angered the girl. "The two of them get into fights and things of that nature all the time at school, have been arrested numerous times by the police, and have been caught doing many heinous things, including stealing, cheating and tampering with other people's property. Yes, the Caesar twins have made quite the name for themselves here."
"I see," Alice said, trying to hide her annoyance and shock at the way the woman talked of them. If she were being honest with herself, she was also upset with herself; she should have seen these things in her visions, but not long after they had moved, she had forced herself to stop looking at their futures because anytime she did, Edward would get on her case or send Carlisle to talk to her. Because of this, Alice could do no more then check every so often on them by contacting the orphanage and being sure that they were being well taken care of, but that was beyond difficult as the orphanage could not legally give her any information on them. It was then that Alice began to anonymously send a sizable contribution to the orphanage, going out of her way to be sure that she was there for them in some way.
"For yours, and your family's sake, I think it'd be best to not pursue them. I understand the connection that you feel to them and your sister, but-"
"I thank you for your concern, but this really doesn't concern you," Alice interrupted, startling her. "Now, if you would be so kind, I'd like to find them as soon as possible."
The woman was quiet for a moment before typing at the computer once more, finding the file with the twins names on it. Scribbling down their info, she handed it to Alice.
"This is the last known location of their residency. They were taken in by a foster family, but we haven't had any updates since they were taken in eighteen months ago. That is all I can do for you."
"Thank you," she said sweetly, taking the paper and turning to leave without another word. Although this didn't go as well as she had hoped, it was a step in the right direction. Now that she knew where to look, Alice hoped that she could use her visions to see them, and if so, she would be able to find them much easier now. Of course, that too was not guaranteed, but even so, Alice knew she would stop at nothing to find her kids.
A smile graced her lips once more. "Mommy's coming home, just you wait."