"Bella?" Carlisle called, hesitantly knocking on the door. "Do you mind if I come in? There's some people I'd like for you to meet..."

"Hi, Carlisle!" She sang. She was sitting cross legged on the hospital bed, a Barbie in her hands.

Nurse Johnson had brought her a pair of overalls and a TSHIRT from the gift shop. Alice took in a sharp breath.

"We are so heading to the mall after this." She grumbled, her eyes narrowing at Bella's unacceptable outfit.

"Alice." Carlisle warned. "Bella, you've met Alice, but this is my other daughter, Rosalie. Rosalie, this is Bella."

Rosalie moved around him to perch at the very end of the bed.

"Hi, Bella." She greeted shyly.

Bella studied her. "You're really pretty... Can I name my Barbie after you?"

Had vampires been able to blush, or cry, she would have. She reached out, wrapping her cool hand around Bella's warm one. "Bella, honey? How would you like to come live with us...?"

It was as if God had created Heaven, and then Earth, and then Bella. She glanced up at the blonde beauty, a small smile appearing on her face.

"You mean Carlisle would adapt me like he did with the pixie-girl, and all of you?"

Esme laughed. Bella Swan, (hopefully soon she would become Isabella Marie Anne "Bella" Hale-Cullen) was lovely, perfect, amazing, miraculous, a dream-come-true, stunning... She could go on all day.

"I think you mean adopt, honey." Carlisle chuckled. "And yes, sweetheart, I'd like for you to join my family... How would you like to become Bella Hale-Cullen."

Jasper shifted from one foot to the other. Upon entering the room, he'd had a feeling of overwhelming sadness from the little girl, now he felt a mix of excitement, and uncertainty.

"Really?" Bella's eyes lit up. "Bella Hale-Cullen? I..."

Her face fell as a realization hit her. She was... Different, as her mommy had once told her. Why would a nice family like the Cullens want to adopt a little girl who was different.

"Bella?" Rosalie asked. "Honey? What's wrong?"

"I'm different..." Bella replied. 'You don't want to adapt me..."

While her movements had been hesitant with the little girl before, Rosalie immediately grabbed her, placing the four and 1/2 year old and placing her on her lap. She hugged Bella, trying to whisper comforting things in her ear.

"Bella." Esme reached out to take her hand. "Of course we want to adopt you... Trust me, sweetheart, we understand that you're different... We're different too."

Bella stared up at Rosalie and thought for a minute. Her eyes widened, but she didn't shrink back in fear. Instead, she looked fascinated.

Was it possible for a four year old hybrid knew about vampires?

"You're different too." She repeated. "Mommy always made sure I knew that I wasn't the only one... Now I guess I have two secrets to keeps!"

Emmett and Alice shared a look. Their soon-to-be little sister was going to have plenty of opportunities to surprise them.

"Bella." Edward spoke her name carefully, he sounded surprised. "Do... Do you know what we are?"

"Vampires!" Bella replied brightly, leaning back into Rosalie. "I'm a hybrid, I know."

The Cullen Coven remained silent, everyone looking for the correct response. Nurse Johnson, poking her head into the room, provided the perfect distraction.

"Dr. Cullen?" She asked, nodding to his family. "A Social Worker is here to collect Isabella."

Bella shot him a pleading look.

"Show her to my office." Carlisle said, offering his new daughter a small smile. "Bella won't be going with her... She's going to be joining my family."

Emmett pushed past his brothers to grab Bella and spin her around in a circle. "Welcome to the family, Baby-Bell! I'm Emmett, your new big brother."

"Three big brothers!" Bella squealed. "Can we play football?"

Out of the three boys, Emmett was big-muscled, like a serious weight lifter, with dark curly hair. Standing at 6'5", he was the tallest of the Cullen's, towering over Alice by nearly two feet, he was physically the strongest of the family. But Emmett had a goofy side, only known to his family.

"We picked the right kid!" He declared, spinning her around again. "Hell yes we can, baby sister!"

"Please be careful with your sister." Carlisle chuckled. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a wad of cash and handing it to Edward. "Why don't you guys treat Bella to an ice cream to celebrate. Esme, would you come with me?"

"Always." She replied, taking his hand. She leaned down and kissed Bella on the forehead. "You listen to Rosalie, and Alice, okay, sweetheart? Be good."

Bella nodded eagerly. "Okay, mommy!"

Mommy.

If she could have cried, she would have. She took her daughter from Emmett, cradling Bella to her chest.

"You have no idea how happy that made me to hear you say that." Esme whispered.

She grinned and held her arms out towards Edward. Surprising all of his family, he bent down and swung Bella up into the air, slinging her onto his back.

"Let's get you that ice cream." He suggested. "C'mon, guys."

Carlisle and Esme watched in amusement as their six children left the room, laughing at the adorable newest addition to the family.

Hand in hand, they made their way towards his vast office. Bella's Social Worker, a single woman in her forties, was sitting on the other side of the desk.

"Dr. Cullen?" She asked in a bored tone, turning to face them. Her eyes widened, and a smile immediately appeared on her face. "I... Ugh..."

"We wanted to see about adopting Isabella." Esme told her. Jealously was one emotion she hadn't been able to lose, even after becoming a vampire. She hated it when women hit on her husband. "Are you who we need to talk to about that process?"

"I... Ugh..."

Carlisle dropped down onto his desk chair. "Are there any papers we can sign now, so Bella could come live with us as soon as tomorrow?"

The woman reached for her briefcase, yanking out crinkled papers one by one. She passed them off to the beautiful, blonde man, before finally regaining her composure.

"You're sure you want to adopt Isabella?"

"Who better?" He replied, glancing down at the mountain of paperwork. "We adopted all of our other children. Bella will have three older brothers, and two older sisters.'

"Six..." She didn't look convinced. "You want to have six children? Are you sure, Dr. Cullen? I mean, it's very generous, and kind of you to want to take in an orphaned little girl, but are you sure you're not biting off more than you can chew?"

He shot her a hard look. "I don't really think that's any of your business, but since you asked... No, I don't think I'm taking on more responsibility than I can handle. My wife and I love all of our children, and we plan to love Bella just the same. So if you're done making accusations, I'd like to sign the papers, and take my daughter home."

Without another word, he and Esme began to tackle the mountain of paperwork, scribbling their signatures flawlessly.

Application For Adoption

Petition for Isabella Marie Swan to become Isabella Marie Anne Hale-Cullen

Adoptive Father: Carlisle Cullen

Adoptive Mother: Esme Cullen

Adoptive Sibling: Emmett Cullen (Brother)

Adoptive Sibling: Rosalie Hale (Sister)

Adoptive Sibling: Jasper Hale (Brother)

Adoptive Sibling: Alice Cullen (Sister)

Adoptive Sibling: Edward Cullen (Brother)

"Isabella will be able to move in with you as soon as she is released from the hospital." Her Social Worker said. "I'll have to make a few visits to make sure the home is a good fit, but I'm sure that little girl will be very happy with you, and your family."

She let the door slam shut behind her.

Esme squealed, throwing herself at the man she loved.

"Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you so much for this beautiful gift, Carlisle. I promise that I will always protect her."

He opened his mouth to reply, but the door swinging open cut him off. Alice stood there, her eyes widened.

"Carlisle..." She drew out. "Someone stopped us in the hallway... They saw us with Bella, and they said they're going to fight the adoption process..."

Carlisle and Esme were at her side within seconds, following her down the hallway in inhuman speed.

Bella was in the arms of a heavyset man, with a deeply wrinkled face and dark russet skin with black eyes. She didn't look frightened, instead, she looked thrilled to see him.

"Carlisle!" She cooed. "This is by daddy's bestest friend, Billy! And Sarah, and Becca, and Rach, and Jake!"

Billy Black finally placed Bella on the floor, she took off running towards the five year old boy.

"I understand from your..." He trailed off, glancing up at Carlisle. He was Quileute, he knew exactly what the Cullen's were, and he would be damned if he was going to let his best friend's daughter grow up in a houseful of vampires.

"I understand from your children." Billy continued. "That you want to adopt our Bella."

Carlisle nodded. "Yes, we do. In fact, we've already signed the paperwork. We were just about to take our daughter home, actually."

Sarah Black gripped both of her daughters hands. "Don't think we won't fight you on this, Dr. Cullen. Bella belongs with us, not with a bunch of-"

"Do you really think you'd win?" Edward demanded, chuckling darkly, "We've got the money, the room, and the time to raise her. I highly doubt your tiny, three bedroom house would be the ideal place to raise a forth child. Go ahead, take us to court, but we'd have custody of Bella by the end of the week."

Bella blinked, surprised by her new brother's outburst. She loved the Black's, they were apart of her family. She'd known Jacob since the day she was born, though she couldn't really remember that far back. But if she had to pick...

"Stop it." Rosalie growled. "Just stop it, you're going to upset her! Everyone just take a deep breath, and let's sit down and figure this out."

Billy nodded hesitantly. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten Bella. "Sarah, honey, why don't you take the kids into the lobby to play, while the... While Dr. Cullen and I talk about what to do."

Sarah bent down to lift the brown haired, brown eyed girl into her arms. Bella's head rested heavily on her shoulder as she was carried away,

"My office?" Carlisle asked, nodding towards the door.

"After you." He replied, his voice tight. "I really do hope that you'll see things my way, Cullen."