**This story is AU and Rosalie is definitely OOC. I'm also changing the age that the Cullens/Hales were changed, simply because having to repeat high school every 10 years sounds like hell on earth. This will also be a femslash story, so if that is not your cup of tea, you may want avoid this story. I've always wanted to really dive into the character of Rosalie, so this will be from her point of view. I hope you enjoy!
***Oh, and I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. I also don't have a beta so I take full responsibility for my mistakes!
Rosalie was sitting in the living room looking out the window but not truly seeing anything. Alice approached her and gently spoke, "Rose, it's going to be okay. I promise you are doing the right thing."
Rosalie scoffed, "The right thing for whom? If I go through with this I will be putting them all at an unnecessary risk; and for what?" She looked down and inspected her fingernails attempted to hide her torment with the vain gesture. But when she looked up and met Alice's eyes she could not hide. "What if I am not strong enough?"
Alice took an unnecessary breath and replied softly, "You are strong enough. And you will change those lives for the better. I have seen it." She placed a soft hand on Rose's arm to pull her focus. "I would never put you in a position where you would hurt someone. Please trust that this is the right thing to do." Rose knew that her enigmatic sister was hiding something. She also knew that it was pointless to try and get the pixie to fess up to her plans so she remained silent.
As Alice pulled her hand away, Esme entered the room and sat down next to Rosalie pulling her into an embrace as she settled. As she held her she whispered in her ear, "Rosalie, you deserve this. You have spent the past 50 years working toward this. You are the strongest of all of us. Please allow yourself this happiness."
Rosalie felt her resolve strengthen with the encouragement from both her mother and sister. She pulled away from Esme's embrace and smiled slightly. "I guess I should go get ready for my first day then?"
Alice grinned and bounced up out of her seat. "I'll help!" she yelled out while racing up to Rose's room.
Rosalie took her time getting ready. She showered first, letting the warm water wash away her worries. As she was washing she remembered all that she had done to prepare. She had worked alongside Carlisle at various hospitals to test her control. She never slipped. She could operate and deal with blood even when she hadn't fed in weeks. When she finished and was drying she allowed herself to hope. This was an opportunity for her to get part of what she had always wanted. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was close. She was going to get to be around children and make an impact in their lives. She took a deep breath and let the sense of peace and happiness flood in. She could do this.
After Alice assisted in picking out the "perfect first day" attire and fixing her hair and makeup to perfection, Rosalie was finally on her way to the center. She pulled into the lot and parked in the space marked, 'Director'. Then without any further doubt she got out of her car and walked into the facility. Before making her way to her office she took a moment to admire her surroundings. The center had just been built the year prior and sported all of the latest security features. Each room was carefully designed to allow natural light to flood in, not that they would get much sun in Seattle. The walls were painted a neutral color but contained large framed pictures of children and their artwork. The grounds were breathtaking. The play equipment was built into the landscaping and everything was maintained immaculately. Rose was reminded of why this center was so exclusive with such a high cost and long wait list.
In the center of the lobby sat the assistant who looked up and smiled when she caught Rosalie's eye. "Welcome, Ms. Hale," the assistant said while standing to shake her hand. "It is good to see you again, Megan, please call be Rosalie," the blonde responded kindly.
After they pulled away from the friendly handshake, Megan continued, "here let me show you to your office and we can go over the schedule for the day."
Megan led to Rose to a large glass walled office just off the side of the entrance. Rosalie smiled at the thought of getting to watch all of the children come in the morning. Megan allowed Rose to get settled and then briefed Rose on the center's day to day operations. The center was designed for the care and schooling of children aged 6 weeks to 5 years. The center was built to cater to the children of the parents who worked at the University. Therefore, there was an emphasis on education. Each class was allowed a small group of children of the same age with two teachers in every room.
Rosalie would spend most of her first few weeks learning the curriculum covered along with meeting the teachers and children. While she had already read through and memorized all of the children's files and the teacher's lesson plans she made sure that she scheduled time to spend in each of the rooms so she could get to know everyone face to face. She had degrees in early childhood education and child development so she was ready to assist the teachers in created the best possible learning environment. She also wanted to ensure that while learning was a priority that the children were engaged in play and had fun.
Megan finished briefing Rosalie on the day to day mundane tasks and then proceeded to discuss medical issues. "So, we do have a handful of kids that get medicine here at the center. Most cases are minor, like allergies and we have a couple of kids with asthma. And then there is Elliot." Rosalie watched as Megan smiled brightly when she mentioned the boy. "He has a heart condition and is monitored pretty closely."
Rosalie remembered this child from the file. He had a rare condition that she had never encountered in all of her years as a doctor. She had of course read all the case studies, but she had never had a patient with the condition. She was definitely curious about the boy. "I remember reading his file. He seems to be doing well?" she hedged lightly.
"Oh yes," Megan exclaimed. "You would not know it from looking at him. He is a precious little guy too. You will love him, everyone does."
Rosalie smiled at the obvious care that the workers had for the children here. "I noticed that there wasn't a picture of him in the file," she noted off-handedly.
"He's newer, so he missed the class photos. We have a photographer come out every 6 months to take class photos and I believe that Elliot came just after. Just wait until you see him though," she gushed. "He is a doll!"
Rosalie chuckled, "I look forward to it."
"Okay, so where would you like to start?" Megan asked while rising from her chair.
Rosalie followed her lead and stood as well. She felt the nervous excitement flutter in her chest. She smiled and said, "Let's start from the youngest and work our way up."
Rose followed Megan as she led her to the first infant room. This room housed 6 babies ranging from three months to 8 months. She met with the teachers and just spent time watching how the babies interacted. She was pleasantly surprised that even at this young age the teachers spoke did not hesitate to teach the children. They talked about colors and textures and made sure to sit of the floor and engage with where the children through song and gestures. She treasured her opportunity to hold and feed one of the littles and could not wait for the opportunity to come back.
After visiting a second infant room she made her way to the toddler and then the two year old room. In the two year old room she met Elliot. The instant she saw him, she was drawn to him. Megan's words could not begin to describe how adorable this child was; olive skin, deep grey eyes, and dark curly hair. He tumbled his was over to her and Megan and grinned up at the pair. When he smiled she noticed that he had the most adorable pair of dimples. She was absolutely smitten. His face lit up and he shouted, "Megan!"
Megan scooped down to pick him up to give him a hug and then she braced him on her hip while retuning his eager greeting, "Hey little guy! You want to meet someone special?" She turned them both toward Rose and said, "This is Ms. Rosalie." Elliot's eyes lit up and he lunged for Rose.
Rosalie quickly reached out and took him into her arms. In that moment she felt so many things. First, she felt an extreme love and almost ownership. It was as if holding this child made her more whole. She felt instantly protective of him. It was as if all she wanted was to make sure that he was loved and cared for. She couldn't help but wonder if this is what mothers felt when they held their child for the first time.
She also noticed a couple of idiosyncrasies with the boy himself. She was overjoyed that this child took to her so quickly, but it did strike her as strange that he showed no alarm of the vampire. He jumped into her arms with no hesitation and showed no fear of being close to her. Then she noticed that while she could smell his blood, it wasn't appealing in the slightest. It wasn't as though the child smelled bad, it was simply unappetizing. He smelled clean, like a fresh rain or soap. And while she appreciated the smell of clean, she did not want to eat it. She loved that she could hold him and not even feel the slightest burn in her throat.
She was so curious about his scent that she almost failed to notice the ache that settled in her heart. It was faint, but it was as if something was missing. As though his presence somehow triggered in her a desire for something she had never had before. She brushed it aside as sentimentality and simply enjoyed the child's presence. She was about to speak to him but was interrupted.
"Come on munchkin, we are about to start circle time," one of the teachers said while approaching the trio. She turned to Rose and stated with a practiced smile, "You must be the new director, I'm Caitlin," Then she extended her hand. Rose took it and shook and exchanged the usual pleasantry. There was something about this woman that Rose did not like. She seemed pleasant enough and she had heard nothing but praise about the young teacher but her instincts were telling her that this woman was a threat. The vampire in her started to feel unsettled. She was quite practiced as steeling her emotions, so she took a breath and forced herself to ignore the warnings. It wouldn't do to get her hackles raised so early on the first day.
So she reluctantly set Elliot down and he scampered off to join the other teacher and the rest of the class. When she righted herself she turned to the woman and gave a pleasant smile and stated her well-rehearsed line, "I am looking forward to observing your class for a while today, I am sure that we will have a lot to learn about and from each other."
Rosalie settled in to watch the circle time portion of the class. The group reviewed colors and shapes and talked about elephants. Interspersed throughout the lesson were various songs that they would all sing together. Rose was paying close attention to Elliot and loved watching how animated he was and how his face lit up when he sang along. Caitlin pulled Elliot over to her lap for the last song. He happily cuddled into her and giggled when she tickled his side. Rosalie narrowed her eyes and evaluated the woman before her. She was young and attractive and clearly had a bond with the child as evidenced by the way they interacted. One the one hand Rosalie was glad the boy had an attachment with the teacher, but on the other she could not help but feel something was off.
Then Caitlin looked up to glance at Rose. If Rose had been human she would have missed the subtle possessiveness that was woven into the woman's glance. She was challenging her. Rose raised her eyebrow at the women, she would not cower. Before she was allowed to engage further, it was time to move on. Rose was able to rein her instincts in while she spoke briefly to the second teacher in the room and then she met the rest of the children. She gave one more parting glance to the little boy that stole her heart and then left the classroom with Megan.
"So what did you think?" Megan asked cheerfully, completely oblivious to the emotional rollercoaster that Rosalie had just experienced.
Rosalie never faltered and began to discuss with Megan all of the positive things she saw in the class. She swallowed her pride and admitted, "Caitlin seems to work really well with the children."
"I know we are lucky to have her. She is the best!"
Rosalie smiled politely then added somewhat playfully, "And you were right about Elliot. He's a charmer."
"I told you, such a sweet kid and a looker to boot. It must run in the family. Just wait until you meet his mom."
