*All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer and everything expect for the plot, the twist and other people, setting, and things*

Looking for Love, Family, and a Home

Salvation

It was a dreary day in Forks, as the roads were still wet after the morning rain. Carlisle was on the road again to pickup his wife's prenatal vitamins. In just a couple of weeks, twins were going to enter Esme and Carlisle's life. Since they already had three children, they thought it best to send the three of them off to summer camp.

The first of their three children, Emmett Christian Cullen or better known as McCarthy by his schoolmates, was a total sports fanatic. Since October of the previous year, he had begged and pleaded with his parents to let him attend a special sports camp for the summer. So instead of having their son beg for the following seven to eight months, they made an agreement. If Emmett could keep his grades above a B average or in the 80th percentile and had only three more detentions for the remainder of the year, then he would be allowed to go. Miraculously, he was able to keep up on his end of the deal. So, Emmett headed off to camp to meet the likes of Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, and so many more sports stars during those couple of weeks. Each week would bring a new star for a new sport in order to have a little bit of everything for the kids.

Now the twins, Alice and Edward, they were a different story. They wanted to spend the summer vacation together, as an entire family. But when their mother announced that she was pregnant with twins in April, they understood why they were being asked to go to summer camps. Edward was the first of the twins to find a camp he was interested in - Julliard. The school had a summer camp for geared for young children that were gifted in the arts. His parents knew he was a shoe-in for the camp after his audition in New York City. After playing a piece on the piano, he left the whole room in silence. Three more encores would ensue as per the judges request, and one encore he even completed with his eyes closed. The judges acclaimed him a pianist prodigy and gave him a golden ticket into their accelerated program. Then they spoke with Esme and Carlisle about how Edward would also have an opportunity to attend the pre-college program if his music continued progress.

Edward couldn't wait to go to camp now and "finally be around people that appreciate good music and not want me to play such ridiculous things like the pokemon theme song." He also saw the came as an opportunity for him to improve his song writing capability for he wanted nothing more than to compose a lullaby for his new baby brother and sister. Unlike Emmett, Carlisle and Esme didn't have to worry about making any deals with Edward about school since he was a perfect A+ student. However, they did make their son promise them to make friends over the summer instead of just sticking to himself. After promising to try, Esme and Carlisle sent off the paperwork to enroll their son in the camp.

Having finalized both Edward and Emmett's security in their chosen summer camp, the Cullens still had to look for a camp that was best suited for their daughter. The question was, where do you send a young girl that loves to spend her time giving people makeovers, going shopping, and is nothing but a ball of energy? Esme finally found the answer to that question after doing some research - fashion, art, and design camp. After faxing over some of Alice's sketches of clothes, Alice filled the last remaining spot in the camp. Of course, it helped that Carlisle was able to happily contribute a large donation to the camp, better known as a bribe. But it didn't matter for the last of their three children now had a camp to attend. Now, all Alice had to do was keep to the promise that she, Esme, and Carlisle had agreed to. All Alice had to do was keep her fashionisata ways away from her brothers; which meant that she could no longer force them into wearing any girls clothes or have them wake up in the morning with their toes and fingernails polished just so that she could test out a new color.

Right after school ended, the family rushed to get the children's things packed and ready to go. But it was on this dreary day in Forks, that Carlisle had thought back on those past few months of making sure that camp assignments were finalized. He was now at that pharmacy trying to decide whether or not to buy the organic vitamins or an Omega-3 vitamin pack. Suddenly he heard the pharmacist yell, "Hey you, come back here!"

Carlisle turned to see who the pharmacist was yelling at when a small body collided with him causing him to take a couple of step back. It was then that he saw the young, blonde girl with bright blue eyes looking back at him. With a look of terror plastered across her face, he held out his hand to her, but she just slapped it away. She stood back up and ran out of the pharmacy with medicine boxes cluttering her arms. As the door slammed shut, the pharmacist yelled, "Hey, stop!"

Carlisle looked at the pharmacist and said, "I'll go get her and your stuff. Just wait here, and I'll be back."

While Carlisle was running out, he heard the pharmacist mumble, "Damn ungrateful child….belong in a zoo or should be put on a leash like the animal she is for coming in here and stealing from my store."

　His voice slowly was drowned out as Carlisle silently tracked the girl down the alley.

But as the alley cats and rats ran about his feet, he found it difficult to keep his presence a secret from the girl. He continued down the way and found that the apartment buildings and the clothes lines hanging from the fire escapes were making his quest a little difficult since those things were blocking out the sun's rays. But he pushed his way through the hanging clothes and continued to quietly and quickly keep up with the young girl. As he continued walking, Carlisle began to wonder where the girl was actually, and if the person she was bringing the medical supplies to was badly hurt. Suddenly, his questions would soon be answered when he saw the little girl stop where a bunch of wet cardboard boxes were stacked up to resemble a small house. The makeshift house had been taking a beating though with all the bad weather that had been passing through the town of Forks.

Inside of one of the boxes, Carlisle saw a brunette girl dressed in clothes that looked too big for and completely worn out. Even with the distance separating him from the two girls, he could see that the little brunette had a badly scratched up arm with dried blood mixed with what seemed to be dirt all around it. He instantly knew that the girl needed to be attended to quickly as to stop the wound from getting infected. Carlisle then looked past the brunette and blonde girl to see a young, blonde curly-hair boy sitting beside them.

The young boy was looking over the brunette's wound with a worried look on his face. As the blonde girl kneeled closer to the brunette, she said, "Hold still Bella. I have to put this on you, whether you like it or not. That cut you got from when you tripped over the metal fence when we were trying to escape the ACS (Administration for Child Services) gets worse and worse as each day passes.

"I know Rose, but it hurts when you put that cut cleaner on it. What's worse is when it starts to itch real bad afterwards. Jasper…help!" Bella whined while struggling to break away from Rose's grasp.

Jasper calmly stated, "I know it hurts Belly, but you know this will make your arm feel a little better. At least until we have to move again."

As the two of them tried to reassure Bella that this was the only way, Carlisle began to worry. With that worry came a lot of questions he wanted answered. Such questions - where are these children parents, why are they living out here, and how hurt was the little girl? But his thoughts were interrupted when an alley cat jumped off the top of his head to continue chasing after a rat. After he screamed an "Ouch," all three of the children turned to see where the noise had came from. When they didn't see anyone at first, the two blondes curled up together in front of the brunette. Jasper yelled, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

Carlisle looked over at Jasper - whose expression screamed "Stay away from me and the girls, and nobody will get hurt!" Right away Carlisle put up his hands in surrender and said, "Look, my name is Carlisle Cullen, and I have nothing against any of you. But, I am a doctor and could see from over there that the girl behind you has a broken arm. She needs more help than what that medicine you are giving her is doing. I will help all of you, free of cost, if you let me. No strings attached. Just let me help her before it gets worse."

Rose rudely butted in and said, "How can we believe you? I mean, you almost got me caught by the pharmacist guy in the store when you bumped into me."

As Rose held her stance in front of Bella, Bella began to look shyly look around to see the doctor with her own eyes. Carlisle said, "I swear and promise to you that all I want to do is check out your sister…"

When Carlisle saw Jasper nod his head yes, he continued, "And hopefully you two as well. If that's alright?"

Rose bluntly stated, "Well, your help wont be…"

Jasper cut her off before she could finish and sternly said, "We have to talk this over together."

Rose and Jasper turned to see that their sister was shivering from having to sit in a cold, wet cardboard box. Jasper said, "See, I told you that something worse than scratches. I knew it looked broken."

He gently lifted Bella's arm causing her to moan in pain. Rose angrily retaliated, "And what are we supposed to do? Go into a hospital and say 'Hello there, we're orphans that have been living off the streets for a year and a half now. When some Child Protective Service cops chased us down, our seven year old sister got hurt.' Yeah, that would go so well for us."

Bella then chimed in, "Well, I think we should trust him. He sounds like a nice person, and that's a lot coming from me since I don't like doctors."

"No offense Bella, but anyone that nice always wants something in return. Plus, who knows what he'll do after he patches up Bella here. He might call ACS or CPS. Or even worse, that sweat factory of an orphanage like that police guy did back in Minnesota,"

Rose said while quickly looking over her shoulder at Carlisle.

Jasper quietly said, "Well, I say that we should let him take care of Bella. When she is all patched up, we leave quickly and discreetly. So, let's just get his over with."

Jasper then turned to Carlisle. With his fists clenched and proudly standing tall, he said,

"We'll go with you but understand this Dr. Cullen…as soon as you are finished with Bella, we'll leave and be out of your life and out of your way. Hopefully, you won't have to meet up with us again, and you'll go back to your wonderful and happy life that you had before you met us. Understand!?"

"Okay, but I hope maybe down the line tonight that you will reconsider that and live with my family. We are good people and…" Carlisle tried to finish but was cut off by Rose.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…and you'll love us like your own," she then yawned and continued, "blah, blah, blah. Look sir, we hear that line before. So could we please hurry this along so that we can ALL get back to our lives?"

Rose then lifted Bella up, using only Bella's good arm, and grabbed Jasper's arm to drag them pass the doctor towards the open street. Once all four of them emerged in the sunlight of the open street, Carlisle directed them to his car. Carlisle left them to get situated in the backseat while he went inside to deal with the pharmacist and pickup his wife's vitamins.

While the doctor was away, Jasper leaned his head up against the window of the car to think about what had just happened. He thought, "The doctor seems really nice, even though Rose was really mean to him. I wonder what his family is like. I bet it would be really nice to have a family. But he looks so nice. He wouldn't want messy kids like us as part of his family."

Jasper's thoughts were soon interrupted when his felt Bella's head against his shoulder. However, never once did the doctor look down upon the three children. He never saw them as poor or as runaways. He just saw them as children that required help and guidance. Even though he knew nothing of them, he wanted nothing more than to just offer them his home. Carlisle returned to the car after thirty minutes of him answering questions and explaining to the pharmacist that he would take care of everything, and that the police need not be informed of the incident. Once the pharmacist agreed, Carlisle got everything he needed and headed back to the car.

The ride back to the doctor's house did nothing to relax the thoughts running through Jasper's mind. Trust and communication were the thoughts that continuously ran through his mind as he listened to Carlisle explain about what happened in the store with the pharmacist. But then Carlisle moved on to asking the children simple questions, such as favorite color, food, etc. As the car was making its way down a secluded dirt path, both Rose and Jasper could see flickers of a big, white mansion between the trees. The mansion suddenly came into full view after the doctor parked his car in the driveway. Rose and Jasper just gazed at the house's many windows and beautiful flowers that surrounded the outside of the house. Jasper then said, "Okay Belly, we need to get you inside so you can get checked out."

After a couple of shakes, Bella nodded slowly and yawned as she began to wake up. The three of them slowly got out of the car, and they latched their arms together as they headed towards the entrance of the house. Carlisle stood at the front door and patiently waited for them to enter. He then shouted, "Honey, I'm back, and I have some guests with me."

Carlisle shut the door behind them and went to pick up his jacket. The three children just stood in awe at what was before them. They had never seen such a house, and they were just scared to touch anything in fear of breaking it. As the four of them made there way into the living room, a female voice questioned, "Oh, did you get the vitamins honey?"

The children looked over to see a woman with long, honey-brown hair coming down the stairs. The light coming in from the windows was reflecting off of her crystal grayish eyes that seemed to change colors just like a prism would when the light reflected off of it.

Underneath her pink robe and purple nightgown, the children could see that she was going to have a baby. Once she took notice of the three children, she cheerfully said, "Oh, I'm sorry. It's so nice to meet you; I'm Esme Cullen."

The children were so shocked by her soothing personality, that they didn't even notice that she had extended her hand out to shake theirs. Carlisle questioned, "Dear, why don't you sit down and let me fix you a cup of tea so you can take your vitamins. Do any of you kids want anything to drink? Or to eat?"

The three kids shook their heads no, but Esme insisted that Carlisle bring out a slice of the ice-cream cake she had been making for the past two days. She also asked that he bring out either some hot chocolate or warm milk for them to drink. Once Carlisle was out of the room, Esme turned her attention back to the three children standing before her. Rose then bluntly asked, "Why are you smiling at us? Are homeless children funny to you? Cause I don't think….OOPS!"

She quickly covered her mouth with her hands after realizing that she had said something that could jeopardize her, her sister, and her brother's safety. Jasper watched as Esme's eyes widened in disbelief, and he said, "Sorry madam. My name is Jasper. These are my sisters, Bella is the injured one and the big mouth is my sister Rosalie. Ma'am, I apologize for my sister's rudeness and want you to know that after your husband there fixes Bella, we'll be out of your hair. And please don't pity us. We get enough of that when we try to attend school, the playground, or the library."

　As Esme listened to him talk, she could hear a slight, southern accent emerge within his voice. But she composed her face and wanted nothing more than to jump up and envelope them in a hug. The only thing she wanted more than that was for the three children to become part of the family. However, she sat still and calmly said, "Listen, I don't care that you think that. I'm not going to rip out my hair because you are here. Honestly, I felt like the three of you were my children from the first moment that I saw you sitting here. Nothing would make me happier than if you would stay here for a while and allow us the opportunity to show you what a real family is like. Then, if you would like, we could see about the three of you becoming a permanent part of the Cullen family. All I ask is that you consider that because I just know that you three would really enjoy being a part of our family, if you would just give it a chance."

As tears threatened to expose themselves from Rose's eyes, she quickly wiped them away, and her defense mechanism was once again triggered as she sat there in disbelief. Jasper felt a sharp shot of hope shoot through his darkened heart. The part of his heart that always yearned for love and acceptance from adults was overtaking his defensive side as he let a small smile overtake his face. Bella, on the other hand, did something that none of them had expected. She walked over to Esme, gave her a tight hug, and whispered, "Thank you for calling us your family."

Carlisle came back into the room and almost dropped the tray of food and drinks when he saw Bella in his wife's arms. He said, "Well isn't this a sight."

He put the tray of goodies on the coffee table and started to make his way over to his wife. But his approach made Bella stand up and walk back over to her brother and sister.

The kids began to eat and drink what was on the coffee table in front of them while Carlisle and Esme engaged them in a small talk. After they had cleaned their plates and finished off their drinks, Carlisle said, "So Bella, let's head up to my office to take a look at that arm of yours. You guys can do whatever you like…maybe even take a bath. I hear there's a storm rolling in tonight. So you guys can wash up and rest here for the night. Choose whatever guest room you like."

Carlisle then disappeared with Bella. "That's an order. So you two go ahead and wash up. I'll go get some clothes and bring them to you," Esme said while leading a still fearful Jasper and Rose up to the guest bathrooms.

So that's it

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