Sequel to Broken
SUMMARY:
It's been 3 years since the Cullens let Bella get taken away and they can't take it anymore. They have to get her back! So they do, but they didn't expect for things to have gotten worse. But Bella's life has taken a nose dive since she left the Cullen home. Is it too late to fix her and give her a normal life?
Esme's POV
It has been three years since we let Edward convince us that Bella would be better off in foster care than with us. Bella, who was 8 when we got her and 8 when she was taken away. Bella, who was younger than 8 when her first foster father, James, touched her sexually and scarred her. Three years since our family fell apart.
We were in Arizona now. Edward shrunk back into himself, the way he was before we got Bella the first time. He was hostile and bitter. Emmett lost all of his playfulness, and everyone else was just depressed. And one day I just snapped.
"Enough is enough!" I snapped. "I'm calling a family meeting! Now!"
The entire family was down in a flash, sitting around the table used solely for this purpose. They were all watching me except for Edward. He was staring at the wall behind me.
"Look at us, we aren't a family anymore" I said softly. "Losing Bella is killing all of us! We are the right family for her! We need to go get her and bring her home."
"For all we know she has moved on and she is happy with her new human family, where she belongs." Edward said emotionlessly.
"For all we know she hates them and she wants to come back!" I snapped.
"She doesn't belong in a house full of vampires" Edward sighs.
"YES SHE DOES! SHE BELONGS WITH US" Alice screams at him.
"This is her home" Rosalie says.
"In a short amount of time we have all grown to love and need her, even you, why can't you accept that" Emmett said seriously.
"You were happier when she was here" Jasper pitched in.
"Son, I have to agree with everyone, everything was better with her here. We need her and she needs us." Carlisle sighs
"So you will tear her away from happiness with a human family for your own selfish reasons?" Edward asks incredulously.
"We will go check on her, if she is happy then we will leave her and never bother her again, if not then she's coming home." I say seriously. "Everyone in agreement?"
Everyone says yes and Edward nods reluctantly.
So we set everything in motion. The next day while the kids are in school Carlisle and I drive down to Forks and straight to the foster agency Bella was with when they took her.
"We need to see the case worker Mr. S" I tell the receptionist.
She taps some keys on her keyboard.
"Mr. S is no longer with us, transferred two years ago."
"What happened to his cases?"
"They went to different workers" She said. "Are you here looking for your child?"
"Our old foster daughter, we would like to regain custody of her."
"What is the child's name?"
"Isabella Swan"
She taps on the keys and her eyes widen.
"Yes, yes, Isabella Swan. Please have a seat and I'll let Mr. Brown know you are here…"
"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen" I finish.
She nods.
Carlisle and I exchange glances and sit as she calls this Mr. Brown over the phone. He comes out a few minutes later.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen" He calls, we automatically get up and follow him into this office.
He is a tired looking man, hair turning grey from stress, on the heavy side.
"So you're here about Isabella Swan?"
"Yes, I am Carlisle Cullen and this is my wife Esme Cullen." Carlisle takes over. "Three years ago we were granted temporary custody of Isabella Swan and then we lost it. She got hurt when my son scared her. However, we are here to try and regain custody. We live in Arizona on private property."
"Well I would have to see the house and see if you're capable of taking on another child, but this sounds wonderful. We are actually looking for another home for her, it is a little urgent, how soon are you prepared to take custody of her."
"Immediately" I say.
"Can I set up a visit to see your home tomorrow? If everything is okay we can have her there tomorrow"
"That is perfect"
Carlisle took the paper and pen Mr. Brown offered him and wrote our address. We shook hands and we off.
"That was easy" I say.
"Almost too easy" Carlisle says. "Why do you think they need such urgent housing for her, she's still of the age where housing shouldn't be too hard to come by."
"I don't know but we need to set everything up for tomorrow"
We sped home and made it there before the kids were even out of school. I spent the day fixing up the room that would be Bella's and wishing I knew what she liked. I set the room up with a king size bed covered in royal blue sheets. I had the cable set up in her room and bought her a laptop, knowing kids nowadays liked to be online.
When the kids got home we told them everything the case worker had said and that he should be here tomorrow at 12. They all began to wonder why it was so urgent to get her a home and we knew we would find out soon.
The next day Carlisle calls out of work and gathers all of the paperwork he suspects we will need. Ownership papers, bills, pay stubs. I spent the day food shopping and over stocking the cabinets, freezer, and fridge. At exactly 12 the bell rang.
"Good afternoon" Mr. Brown said reaching out to shake Carlisle's hand. "Have you spoken to your other children about Isabella coming back?"
"Yes, and they are all very excited" I told him as he walked through the house.
Just like I knew he would, he checked the cabinets for food and asks to be shown to where Bella would be sleeping. We took him to her room and he nodded in approval.
"You have a beautiful home" He says as he sits on the couch. "Your children are in school I presume"
"Yes" Carlisle answers.
He asks for all the papers Carlisle suspected he would and looked grateful that we had them all on hand. Finally he hands them back and sighs.
"We have to discuss a few things that you should be aware of." Mr. Brown says.
"First, we would like you to know that we would like to adopt her."
"Really?" He asked. "Well you would have to bring papers to court and go through them, I can attest to you all being fit to take care of her. But I have to inform you of certain requirements. Medically for example. She is starting on Doxycycline which will be taken twice a day an hour before she eats. She is also on Prozac twice a day, morning and bed. She has Xanax, used on a need base. And last Ambien before bed every night."
"Oh dear, what are all of these for, she's only 11" I cried.
"The Prozac is to control her anxiety disorder, the Xanax is used if she is having a panic attack, but those are coming less frequently. The Ambien is to help her sleep, she has severe insomnia. And the Doxycycline is for, I don't know how to tell you guys this since you clearly care for her so much. Isabella's foster father raped her and gave her gonorrhea, this will clear it up."
"WHAT?" I yelled.
"I'm sorry, she didn't tell me and the doctor didn't find out until she was tested last week."
"We'll take care of it" Carlisle said seriously.
"You still want to take her?" Mr. Brown asked.
"Of course. We will be filing for permanent custody as well. Thank you Mr. Brown"
"No, thank you. You two are clearly amazing, loving people. I will return with her in about an hour. But I have to warn you. She doesn't speak much and she absolutely hates being touched. She also is very short tempered and can be quite irrational when she's upset."
He left and I finally let myself cry over what happened to my sweet Bella.
I know this chapter was kind of long but I didn't want a bunch of chapters before Bella got to the house. How do you guys think she'll react to being back with the Cullens? I hope to see some familiar names up here.