Julia-Grace Elizabeth
Julie Cooper sulked sitting in yet another social worker's car, holding her stuffed bunny. It was one of
the few things she had from her birth parents. She had been adopted as an infant yet the parents suddenly were
expecting and couldn't keep Jules. A child who was small for her age with asthma and chronic ailments, she
was bounced for years. The Parkers were her last family, who had beaten her if she became sick. She was being
moved, again. Her 'best and most favorite' social worker wasn't on that night, and she had some random
person driving a teenager who was high on some pills he'd taken for fun, an 9 year old boy next to her who
would poke her or try and take Bella, her bunny, whenever he could. The boy, Justin, recoiled his hand when
Julie finally bit his hand to keep him from Bella. Few things were hers, and they were all in her backpack by
her feet. It was an oversized pink cammo backpack she had hooked her left foot around the bag's shoulder strap
to make sure it didn't go anywhere. There was enough clothes for less than a week, handed down, but there
were a handful of things that were hers. When she had nice fosters, she'd be allowed to get a new ensemble for
Bella for special days at the Build a bunny place, as she called it. A soft pink satin blanket from her birth
mother. A tiny photo book of people she cared about. Her hospital bracelet. A fairy princess figurine with her
birthstone embedded in it, wrapped up in bubble wrap she'd stolen from a store once to insure it's safety. A
sparkly pink nail polish, a pinkish glitter body wand, and lip-gloss from her last big foster sister's collection
who was suddenly "so over pink". Her pink tutu and ballerina slippers from Santa. She was never allowed
lessons, but she had them here and there, and loved to dance, practice her positions and twirl and prance about.
She remembered the amazing foster Dad she had who took her to the school's Sweetheart Dance and gave her
the ballerina items. She had never had a birthday party, but she'd been invited to a fancy princess party, and her
goody bag from there was full of tinker bell jewelry and pink wings. Somehow, her bag had 25 dollars in it, too.
The girl's mom knew Julie needed a little surprise. She also had a gold necklace with a cross on it from her
baptism at three years old. Her foster parents from the ages of 3 to four and a half were a minister and his wife,
until the minister had a heart attack, and the state deemed them unfit medically. Even the bag was special. Her
birth father packed up a few things in it, picking the pink cammo print because he was joining the Army to get
out of his bad situation, hoping the service was just what she needed. It was the week before Memorial
Weekend, and she'd spared her precious free money to buy a Poppy flower and it was entwined onto a loop.
The social worker hadn't expected to have to shuffle kids this late at night. He'd had a few shots at dinner and
was exhausted. The slippery twists of this little forestry road were getting to him. Julie was looking up, wide-
eyed, as the car veered off the road and into a thick patch of trees. She felt the car seat's straps bruise her deeply
as the car made impact with 7 trees. The windshield shattered and she screamed loudly. The two in the front
died on impact and the boy next to her had his eyes closed and was bleeding. Her tummy turned into a giant
knot, and she gasped in once and passed out. She felt as if her insides were broken. She her a black eye and
even in her state, she clutched Bella close.
Carlisle and Esme were driving back from a far off hunting grounds. The camping area was closed
because the surrounding woods had several grizzlies were coming too close. They'd found the bears' home and
hunted, for the first time in a few weeks. Emmet was less than thrilled with his parents for not taking him
along, but they hadn't had time alone in weeks. Esme looked up at her husband, and smiled at how mussed his
hair was. He was always so perfect looking. He actually looked his age tonight; jeans with a knee torn up from
the hunt, T-shirt from the concert he'd recently taken Esme to, a Northface fleece, and a pair of blue Chuck
Taylors. She reached up and took a twig that embedded itself into his blond locks and crushed it in her petit
hand before tossing the dust out the window. She leaned over and kissed his neck and as he slowed at the stop
sign, he turned and kissed her passionately on her mouth, tasting her sweetness mixed with the slightest remains
of the blood of the hunt. His eyes suddenly narrowed as he scanned the woods to the northwest, and was
thankful he had his son's Jeep. Throwing the Jeep into 4 wheel drive, he took off as far as the offroader would
drive. "There's an accident…stay here my love," he warned, smelling death and blood. He heard the
tiniest, faintest heartbeat still and was determined to help if he could. As he ran he cursed himself for not
bringing his own car with a medical bag in tow. He came to an old Ford, and looked inside at the four
passengers. He smelled death, and knew the three gentlemen were too far gone. His eyes came upon Julie-
Grace, where her heartbeat faintly registered in his ears. He removed the car's door in a single swoop, and
pushed the thoughts of the driver's alcohol scent away and pulled her out in her car seat. She somehow kept her
bunny close, and he was in such a rush to get her away from the car, he let her foot hold onto the pink bag. He
carried the seat effortlessly and ran far enough away in case the car caught fire for this precious child's safety
and his own. Fire could do damage to him, one of the few things that could. He carefully set her down, and
Esme came running to him. She looked at the little angel in front of her, auburn hair with curls here and there,
the ends of her long hair ending in a ringlet. Her skin was so pale it couldn't be natural. She had grabbed
Carlisle's bag before they took off, knowing it was her husband's "security blanket" as she teased him about so
much about his need to have it with him. He'd usually swat her bottom teasingly and call her his little naughty
little minx, in his best British accent she loved. There was no teasing tonight, or time to be playful. Dr. Cullen
was suddenly on duty and had serious work to do. He was busy injecting medicine into the child's wrist into a
vein. Her blood pressure was so low, without his vampire sight, the vein wouldn't had been found. He started
an IV of basic fluids in her other wrist. As the pain lifted, she opened her golden brown eyes and looked at the
people in front of her. The moonlight made their skin glow. "Help….me," she uttered as she succumbed to
the powerful, sedating medicine. Dr. Cullen tore her dress off if her for access to examine her. Even a human
could had torn this threadbare dress, he thought. This had to had been handed down to a dozen children.
Carlisle looked up at a bright light. He looked up as Esme did and the shimmer form of a woman
appeared in front of them. "Save her, Dr. Cullen. Save her as only you can," she demanded. The man's
shimmery form stood next to her. "Help her, Dr. Look at how happy our Eddie is. You must.", he implored as
they turned and disappeared.
"Carlisle…," Esme looked at him with venom tears in her eyes. "You have to," she said so
convincingly that he looked at his wife in her eyes before he heard the heartbeat begin to fluttery erratically. He
said a silent prayer that this wouldn't turn into a nightmare as he bit the child's neck, crook of her elbows,
wrists, and thighs, where he knew the blood would flow fastest. All of her bleeding was internal, so he felt
Esme could handle being near the child. He waited for the piercing screams, but they didn't come. Did the
medicine he'd injected work? He prayed to his heavenly father it had. "Stay with her," he ordered his wife
using his "doctor voice" as his kids called it. He ran back to the car, shuffled through the driver's paperwork,
and saw nothing was there about this little girl. He smelled a variety on the older boy of uppers and downers,
wishing that he could had helped him, too. Help them all. He'd helped many youth in the ER who thought that
parents' medicine cabinets were a candy store. Mixing certain things could cause brain damage or bleeding
issues. Knowing that the authorities needed to be called, he slipped on a pair of gloves, found a cell from one
of them, and he dialed 911. He knew the phone's GPS was enough help. He ran at full speed to his wife and
she already had the girl in her arms lovingly. Not taking time to process his own thoughts, he grabbed the coat,
cheap car seat .and pink bag and child's stuffed bunny and they ran to the Jeep. Esme laid the child down on the
backseat and smoothed her auburn hair gently as Carlisle drove 90 miles an hour away from the scene. They
arrived at the Cullen's home within 90 minutes. As Esme carried the child upstairs to their master bedroom and
put the little princess on the bed and sat with her, Carlisle checked his text messages. Edward, Isabella, and
Neisse had gone to Oregon where Bella's godparents lived and wanted to see her. Alice, Rose, Emmet, and
Jasper had gone hunting. Emmet was determined to find more bears than his "old man" did, the message said.
He let Dr. Snow know that he had come down with the flu that everyone in Forks had, except for the Cullen's.
He was in for a hellish three days, but no where nearly as bad as it would be for the little one. Esme and Carlisle
talked in hushed voices, watching the child. Had a child ever survived a change? Would she hate them? Was
this the right choice? Finally, Esme looked at her husband's worried eyes. "Tell me who those people were,"
she said. "You will never believe me, love," he said feeling exhausted so his British accent was coming out in
his voice. Esme loved his accent, and resisted the urge to kiss him. "Yes, I will," she said simply. "They were
Elizabeth and Edward Anthony Masen Sr. She is the one who convinced me to change Edward. I wonder if she
had our son's gift as well."
Julie was in a world of her very own. She had no idea where she was, but she felt safe and loved laying
still as a statue between the two glowey people who had helped her. She didn't feel pain, she felt as if her blood
flowed between her veins was tap dancing and flying like a ballerina. It tingled, and she didn't really like it, but
she didn't hate it. It confused her. She saw so many colors and butterflies and fairies and angels dance about
her, in her slumber. She knew the car crashed, and she didn't know how to wake up. She clutched her bunny
someone had put in her left arm. She wondered if this was heaven. Things were floaty here, like in the movies.
Everything was pretty and she felt the two people next to her, thinking they were angels. They were always who
she wished could adopt her, two loving people who didn't look at her as a bother. She knew only babies were
adopted. But maybe heaven was different, She had been to church lots before, and they always talked about its
perfection. She wondered where the guy was with long hair who was always quoted as saying 'Let the little
children come to me'. Maybe he only wanted babies too. They were the littlest and most wanted, after all, in
Julie's world before the accident.
Twenty four hours after biting Julie, Carlisle's children and granddaughter all tumbled into the big
house, after Alice insisted on going home, all of them. Everyone knew not to argue with the pixie after she saw
something, and when Edward tried to, Jasper just about took his head off. Finally, Nessie pounced into her
Daddy's arms and placed her hand on his face with a little too much force, and let him know she wanted to go
home and see if it were true, if there were a new baby Cullen. She liked the idea of a little girl to play dollies
with and ballet with and who liked stuffed animals. Living in a world of teenagers got old at times. Nessie was
the size of a 9-year old. Nessie grew rapidly for her first year and was the size of a five year old on her first
birthday, then slowed to a more normal growth pattern. Jacob saw a very long wait before she would grow up
past seeing boys as "gross". Plus, she really wanted to go home and see her pet horse from her Uncle Jasper.
Jasper was the only Cullen who could go anywhere near a horse, so he had been giving his pipsqueak lessons
since her last birthday. All animals seemed to flee from the Cullens yet Jasper could see ride horses when he so
chose. The biggest fight Jasper and Alice ever had was over making Nessie's horse into a unicorn. Jasper
respected the poor horse too much to attach some ridiculous horn atop its head just to make Alice smile, and he
did a lot to see that pixie smile. Nessie missed Butterscotch, who was named for the perfect dark blond
coloring.
Edward listened carefully and heard his parents in their bedroom, thankful it was okay to be listening.
He sensed a child with them, as crazy as it seemed to him. They all walked upstairs and knocked quietly before
Esme silently told him to bring everyone inside, and be quiet. Nessie was riding atop Uncle Emmet's shoulders
and was the first to react with a shocked gasp. "Lemme down! Now!" she demanded in a fresh tone hitting
Emmet on his shoulders and kicking his ribs.
"Renesemee Carlie", admonished Bella, shocked at her daughter's behavior. She was not going to raise
a brat. Raising her spoiled was inevitable in the Cullens world, but she and Edward had been strict about Nessie
having class and manners. She took Nessie in her arms and insisted she apologize . Nessie sulkily put her hand
on her Uncle's hand to silently say she was sorry. "I don't think so young lady. Out loud so I can hear you."
Nessie sighed. "Now or you're going to the corner, little girl," Bella warned. She hated having to be bossed
around. It was like being the only kid in a world of adults who could do anything they chose, in her eyes. She
looked up at Bella with a defiant look in her brown eyes, and Bella informed her do as she was told or go to the
corner. "Yes Ma'am….Uncle Emmet I'm sorry for being rude and kicking you and stuff", she said with an
embarrassed blush on her perfect face. Emmet messed up her hair and hugged her as tightly as he could for
Ness. She was still somewhat breakable, after all. "You're forgiven baby bear", she said a nickname he had for
her, of many. "Just listen to your Momma, okay?" he said gently, as she nodded and curled up into his arms.
She hated having to wait, and it usually brought out her bratty side. She wanted to know who this kid was , and
why she was here, and what she was, and if she could play and…the questions raced through Nessie's mind a
million miles an hour. Edward listened to her and told her "We find out at sunup your Aunt says." Nessie
yawned. She was also confused about *her* Grammy and Granpa spending time with another child. She was
their baby, after all. Esme slipped away from the bed to find her granddaughter's favorite stuffed animal, a
stuffed swan, and hand it to her with a kiss on her forehead. "I missed you, Nessie", she told her. Carlsile made
sure he reached his arms out to Nessie and she cuddled in his lap for a little bit before the yawns got deeper and
more often, and he handed the little princess back to her Uncle Emmet. She seemed more settled and less
insecure once her grandparents made sure to give her some of their attention. It had been a long night of
traveling rushing home. Emmet began rocking Nessie in his arms slowly. He'd always been able to get her to
sleep, no matter how cranky she was since she was a baby. After a few minutes, she was sleeping in his arms,
her mouth forming the perfect little "O" it always did when she had happy dreams. He walked over to the
loveseat in the corner of his parent's room and gently laid her down putting a white and champagne hand sewn
quilt on her. He placed her hand on his face and saw her dreams of riding Butterscotch and playing with the girl
on his parent's bed. Whatever her name was! His mind raced so much he grew confused, not an easy feat for a
vampire. He sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall as his Rosie sat on his lap.
Sunrise finally came as all of the Cullens moved about, waiting for it. Esme and Carlisle sat next to the
tiny child, not wanting her to feel alone for a moment. "She's waking up in 4 minutes and 37 seconds, Mom
and Daddy", Alice quietly said from the chase lounge where she was laying with Jasper.
"She can't, Alice, it takes three days!", Carlsile answered her back. He'd personally changed most of his
family, watched the changes in many during his days in Volturi, coached his son to have him ready to change
his wife. He felt secure in his knowledge as a doctor of humans and a doctor of sorts to vampires. He'd
reattached many limbs of his son's that another son had ripped off in anger. His bank of information was being
questioned in his head and he grew more confused. Esme had given the child a sponge bath, discarded the old
dress, and found some of Nessie's old things on her. A long sleeved set of white pajamas with muli-colored
pj's replaced the dress and some too big underwear, but it was better than the child's torn, filthy clothes. She
had tiny scrapes and contusions everywhere. But even if her organs healed themselves, every hour Dr. Cullen
would check her, and her scrapes, black eye, and bruises from the awful car seat still remained. He felt car seats
were needed, but the fit of a seat, just as bike helmets made them safe, they were not one size fits all. He gently
took the cuffs of her sleeves and folded them up perfectly, and did the same to her pant legs. He tried to analyze
something he studied in Voltura, the prophecy children, and block out his son Edward. He kept giving Edward
a stern look every time Edward opened his mouth to ask about it.
Six twenty seven finally came as the streaks of the sun's rays filtered through the skylight of the master
bedroom. The tiny child who'd been still let out a tiny whimper and pulled her knees up to her chest. Was this a
whimper of sleepiness, or pain they all agonized. She reached up and rubbed her eyes and started to sit up.
Esme braced the girl's shoulders as her golden brown eyes opened.
