Disclaimer: SMOT. ( Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.)

Chapter One: Traumatized

Carlisle POV

"No, Ross. I'm not going to quit. You know how Caius is." I said, brushing the blond hair out of my eyes.

"Yeah, Carlisle, I know, but you know he's a money gaining doctor bastard," Ross said. Ross was a police officer and one of my good friends. We had been talking about my job – I was a clerk for the only doctor in our hometown, and also happened to own a ton of money. I had been the doctor's secretary for a while now, a couple of years, and though the job paid decently, Caius treated me like shit and everyone knew it. Today, Ross had been dropping me off to some address to leave a letter for one of Caius' friends.

"Thanks again, Ross. Now make a left here – yeah, right here. OK, this is the street. Wait outside, will you?" I said, as Ross parked on the street. I opened the car door and stepped onto the street.

It was a decent neighborhood, but seemed to be deserted. There was no one living in any of the houses. I wondered faintly what had made them move away. I looked at the address Caius had given me, and then checked the label on the street.

"Ross, sorry, you had to make a right, not a left." I said, making my way back to the car.
Until I heard a scream.

The thing that made my stomach cold, and my spine melt. Because it wasn;t a normal scream. It was the scream of a child. I dropped the envelope that I had been holding, and I faintly heard the sound of Ross's car door open. I was already blindly running toward the sound.

The scream led me to a garage, and I could visible see my feet pounding as I ran towards the garage. The door was open, and my hand fumbled for a light switch in the dark.

As soon as the light turned on, I was frozen in shock.

A boy was there. Blood matted his features, and his blond hair was matted down to his forehead. It was clear from the dirt marks on his cheeks and the fresh scratches on his arms that his face had been pushed into the gravel of the garage. He was looking toward me in a almost numb face. There was a blond man standing over him, hand poised as if to hit him, ready to strike. The man's eyes were bloodshot and angry, and I wondered briefly if he was mental. My heart called out to the little boy on the ground, who looked like he was dead, and had been for a long time. I walked over to the boy.

"You're safe now," I said, too quietly for even me to be sure if I was saying the word aloud. The blond man started cursing, and as I looked at the resemblances between him and the boy, I realized with a start they were most likely a father and son. I heard the pound of footsteps nearing the garage.

"Carlisle? What the hell of a stunt was that and – what the hell?" Ross surveyed the scene before him and suddenly I felt the police officer in Ross come out. He turned to the blond man.

"You're under arrest for counts of child abuse." He said, already reaching for his handcuffs. The man's response scared the hell out of me.

He laughed.

"Damn! I'm under arrest! Ha! Well, Jasper, those years were good weren't they? Well, now the final game's ended, Jasper! You've finally won! Finally! Damn! I should've killed you when I had the chance!" Ross, trained to handle this type of situation, handcuffed the guy and called backup almost immediately. In a few minutes, I heard the wail of sirens approaching. The boy – his father had called him Jasper – was still in my arms, and with a start I realized he was shaking. I tried to put my arms around him to steady the shaking, but he flinched away like it was a reflex. I looked over at Ross.

"You know what I want to do," I said to Ross. He looked up at me.

"Five, now, eh, Carlisle? Fine, but I'm not sure Esme will be happy," he said, looking over at Jasper. I looked up at him.

"Just do it, Ross," he said. Ross sighed.

"He's going to be yours officially by tomorrow, probably, with the connections I have," he said. Then Ross looked at Jasper, who was still shaking like a leaf caught in a terrible wind.

"Hey, buddy," he said, making his voice terribly soft. "You're okay, now, all right? You're just going to need to come with me for a couple of questions, ok? Or maybe – yeah Carlisle's going to take you first. I really don't want to traumatize you first thing. Just – don't be scared. You're safe." He finished. We looked quietly at the boy, and for the first time I realized he looked emaciated, and I wondered how much he'd gotten to eat in the last few days. He looked up suddenly, and hugged his knees to himself. His next words chilled me to the core.

"I won the game," he said, and his voice was quiet and soft, with a hoarse whisper layered underneath it. Ross looked over at me.

"Phil will drive you over to your house. You can take him with you," he said. I nodded, and held out my hand to the boy.

"Can you come with me?" I asked, reaching for his right hand, which was curled around his knees. He looked apprehensive, and after a few seconds he stood up, and limped his way over to me. I made a further thought to check out his ankle, and watched as Phil came over and ushered both of us to his car.

"Carlisle, you're going to take that one, too?" he said. I nodded, already wondering how Esme would take the news that we now had five kids.

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I held open the car door for Jasper, after thanking Phil for the ride. Phil smiled and wished me a good day, and I shut the door behind me. Jasper was staring up at the house.

"Wow," he whispered. I could see where he got that. Esme's parents were rich, but after she had ran away with me, they had cut off most of their connections with her. Esme visited them a couple times a year with the kids, minus me. This house was their gift after our first year of marriage, showing they sort of accepted me. We now lived in this house, though a whole decade's salary wouldn't be enough to buy at least half of it.

Jasper didn't seem to realize that I was walking toward the front door. I looked over at him.

"Come on, Jasper," I said. It was the first words I'd spoken to him since we were in the garage, and he limped quietly over to me.

"You're going to meet my family," he said. He didn't say anything, and I walked over to the house, looking back to make sure he was following me. I opened the mahogany door, and walked in to the living room.

Edward and Rosalie were bent over what looked to be a crossword puzzle, and Rosalie clapped her hands delightedly, and I guessed she had found the answer.

Emmett was doing some of his homework, and his brow was furrowed as he tried to figure the problem out. Alice was sitting at Esme's feet, talking animatedly about an event that had taken place today. I shut the door behind me, and everyone looked up to see me.

"Carlisle!" Alice squealed, and she ran up and laughed as I picked her slight frame up.

Esme smiled at me, and I smiled back. Edward waved a hello with Rosalie, both automatically turning their attention to the puzzle.

"Carlisle, can you help me with this problem? It's confusing," Emmett said, walking up to me. He stopped in confusion, and I wondered what he was looking at. Then I turned around.

Jasper had stopped next to me, and seeing Emmett looking at him, had dropped his gaze to the thick carpet beneath us. Esme looked up at me quizzically and then she realized what I had done.

Edward lifted his bronze curls to look at Jasper.

"And that makes five," he whispered. I felt more embarrassed than anyone else, and I looked down at the carpet, too, wondering when anyone else would say anything. It was finally Rosalie who spoke.

"What's his name?" she asked.

"Jasper," I responded. I looked at Jasper as if to confirm this; he had raised his head at the sound of his name.

Rosalie climbed over Edward to skip toward me. She tossed her long, golden curls behind her and looked at Jasper expectantly. She stepped one step forward. He took one back. She cocked her head curiously.

"Does he talk?" she asked. I nodded.

"He's just – shy." I said. The whole family had proceeded to crowd in a small semi circle around Jasper, Alice – who was still in my arms, and me. Emmett scratched his head.

"Why's his skin funny?" he asked. I looked down at Jasper's arms, which were littered with fresh bruises and old scars. I pretended to shrug nonchalantly while looking over at Esme, who had a knowing look on her face. I decided to speak to Jasper.

"Jasper? These are my children, and if all goes well, your brothers and sisters," I said. He didn't seem the least bit curious or anything, for that matter.

I pointed to each of them.

"Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, and my wife, Esme," I said, still waiting for him to say something. He instead took one more step near the door.

Alice hopped down from my arms and stood in front of Jasper. I had to try to hide my smile. Jasper was already tall for his age, and Alice looked like a little fairy. She cocked her head up to see all of him, and he bent a little down. I smiled softly while Jasper frowned at something, I didn't think to ask.

"Make him feel at home, okay?" I said, and walked over to the kitchen. I soon heard footsteps behind me, and Esme shut the kitchen door behind her, hoisting herself up onto the marble counter.

"Explain," she said softly. I smiled and leaned down and kissed her once, adding a little passion to the kiss, too. After she broke away, she smiled.

"Distractions won't work, Carlisle," she said. I sighed and took her hand in mine, tracing the skin.

"I found him," I started off.

"Yes?" she said. She gasped at all the right parts when I told the story.

"Who was it?" she asked, a little breathless that a parent could do those things.

"Ross told me the guy was spilling his guts over at the station. He said the guy might be a bit mental." He said. I looked at her softly saying

"I'm sorry," I whispered. She looked at me, bewildered, and raised my face to even hers.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You know that I'll always take a child in." she said. I sighed and kissed her quietly, reveling softly in the quietness of the kitchen.

The quiet never lasted for long.

There was some sort of whoop from the other room, and Esme hopped off the counter, walking with me to investigate.

Jasper was on the floor, somewhere between a jump and a crouch. His eyes looked different, negative somehow, and for the first time in my life, besides Rosalie, I was scared of one of my kids.

Emmett had grabbed Alice and put her behind him, ever the protector, and Edward had nearly jumped on Rosalie in trying to get her to stop running toward Jasper.

"What happened?" I asked, lowering my voice to make it clear I was a bit upset.

"I touched silver chain thing. And then he jumped – actually, flew is more like it – over there. All I wanted was to see what it was." Emmett said. Jasper had not moved from his spot on the floor. Esme sighed.

"Did anyone think that it's not good to touch other people's items without asking? Does Edward like it when you touch his piano without his permission?" she asked, putting on her disapproving look. Emmett walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Sorry, Esme," he said. She smiled slightly and ruffled his dark curls.

I walked a little carefully over to Jasper. He spoke first.

"None of them touches it." He said, with so much authority and confidence, I knew now that this "sliver chain thing" was possibly the only thing he cared about. It was so different from the broken boy in the garage. I nodded.

"Agreed. Is it special?" I asked.

"It was my mother's," he said, so softly, I could barely hear the words as they were spoken. I nodded again. Nobody moved.

Rosalie finally broke free of Edward's iron grip and walked over to Jasper.

"Are you any good at crossword puzzles?" she asked him. He stared blankly at her, taking two steps back. She took one step forward.

"Well, if you are, can you help me with this one? A child whose abuse and neglect are started from a early age from a parent or a parental figure will be this word for the rest of his life. 11 letters. Ends with 'd"." She looked at him expectantly.

Jasper fled from the room.

When he was gone, everyone's silence got louder. I closed my eyes and whispered the word.

"Traumatized," I said. Rosalie looked at me.

"What?"

"Your word. It's traumatized." Rosalie wrote it in.

"Yeah, you're right." She bit her lower lip and looked up at me.

"What did I do?" she asked softly. Rosalie vulnerable was a rarity, and I kneeled down and encased her in a soft hug.

"Nothing, Rosie, nothing. Jasper just needs…time. You see, in this world, there are certain parents who don't treat their children…right. Like the way Esme and I do. Jasper grew up in one of those families, so he's…different." I tried to severely edit my explanation, but add in so she would understand. I knew she did when I felt her hug me back.

"Then we'll just have to make her feel at home, right?" she said. I nodded into her hair and took my face out of it. I looked at both Edward and Emmett. Neither of them would like this.

"Guys…Jasper needs a place to sleep. Now, Rosalie and Alice are already bunking together, so I need one of you to let Jasper stay in your room. One of you can't have an individual room anymore," I explained. I waited carefully for the rain of shrieks to come down but they didn't.

"Sure, no problem," Emmett said and the exact same time Edward said "I never really liked having a room to myself anyway." I felt a surge of pride for both sons, and I looked over to Rosalie. She was grinning, obviously happy that someone wanted to accept this stranger. I looked over to Alice, who was looking over to me. Esme cleared her throat.

"Well, Alice is bunking with Rosalie, so Edward is bunking with Jasper, and Emmett gets his own room." Everyone silently accepted the remark, and I wondered to myself where Jasper was.

"He didn't run away, did he?" I asked. Esme nodded a no, shaking her head, and motioned quietly to the window overlooking the doorstep.

There was Jasper, angling his face, closing his eyes. I realized that he was feeling the rain come down on his face, and it might have been a luxury for him. Esme grabbed her coat and went outside to talk to him. I looked at the rest of my children.

I didn't give my children a bedtime. I gave them more liberal freedoms than any normal parent usually did. I allowed them to stay home by themselves when Esme and I were out, and I let them have free reign of when they wanted to do homework or go to bed. I saw Alice merrily skip off.

"Well, Carlisle, I'm going to bed!" she sang out. I smiled as Rose followed her. I looked toward Emmett, who had left also.

"And then there was one," I said to Edward. He looked up at me.

"I'll go when Jasper comes in," he said, and I nodded.

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Edward, true to his word, only retired after Jasper had taken a bath and found the right clothes to fit him temporarily. Finding clothes for Jasper seemed to be a problem. I was right before when I said he was emaciated, you could see the muscle and bone underneath his pale skin; he was skinnier than both his brothers. But, Jasper was also taller, so that changed things. I ended up just giving him a shirt of Edward's and a pair of Emmett's pants. He looked small underneath the mounds of cotton.

Feeding Jasper proved to be a problem, too. He had said he didn't need it, and when Edward had purposefully put a piece of bread in front of him and said for him to eat it, Jasper had whispered he would throw up if he did. Edward didn't believe him, and under Edward's hawk like gaze, Jasper slowly ate the bread.

Jasper was not lying. Since his body had not been accustomed to this much food, he had retched in the downstairs bathroom.

Edward and Jasper had just recently gone to sleep, even though the most Jasper had said through this entire night was about five lines. I hoped Edward wouldn't be too scrutinizing. I looked over to Esme, who had just finished her chores, and was wiping her hands on the white towel in front of her. She looked over at me.

"I wish they get along," I said. She didn't say anything, just looked at me for a second.

"The Volturis are coming tomorrow." She said. I groaned and she laughed, then walked up and pressed her face to my chest.

"He's traumatized," she said, and I could feel her lips moving through my shirt.

"I know," I whispered, and slowly ran my fingers through Esme's caramel hair.

The moon whispered silently along, secretly bringing a promise of tomorrow.

So, what do you guys think? I've had this idea rotating around in my brain for quite a bit, so I just decided to write it down. Reviews are greatly appreciated!