Chapter 2: Adopting Renesmee

Edward's POV

Pain and suffering. Two words that Bella and I have become very familiar with. That is all we've felt. How could we feel anything else? It's all we've felt since the day that Jacob lost Nessie. I remember that day like it was just yesterday.

FLASHBACK

We had just defeated the Volturi. We were happy that we coukd finally be a proper family again. "It feels so surreal. I can't believe they are gone" Bella said. "I know. I'm just happy that we can finally be a family, a safe and happy family without anymore fear of the Volturi" I said. She smiled in response, which made me smile. We shared one passionate kiss before we broke apart. Little did we know that this would be the last moment of happiness that we would ever have. "We better go find Jacob. He and Renesmee must be very close to the airport by now and maybe we can still stop them from leaving" Bella said. "Then lets go find them" I said. A heartbroken howl suddenly tore it's way through the woods. Bella and I looked worriedly at each other for a second before we were off running in the direction of Jacob's howling.

When he was pacing extremely fast in wolf form. It was the absence of Nessie that worried me the most. I could not smell her or hear her anywhere. "Where's Renesmee?" Bella asked sounding as worried as I felt.

Jacob left for a second before returning in human form. He looked very worried. "I don't know where she is. I just realized that she wasn't on my back anymore" he said. "What do you mean you don't know where she is?!" I roared. "How can you not even notice that she wasn't with you anymore?!" Bella screamed. We both threw ourselves at Jacob. He didn't even phase to protect himself. "What is going on here?!" demanded Carlisle. "This idiot lost our daughter" I stated. "Instead of fighting Jacob I suggest we all go look for her" he said calmly but with a hint of worry in his eyes. I guess he's right. Killing the mutt won't help Nessie.

END OF FLASHBACK

We looked and looked for her. Unfortunately we never found her. It was a mystery. What happened to her? How could she just disappear? Bella and I hoped with all of our hearts that she was somewhere safe, and that she was healthy, happy, and loved.

We had just moved again. After unpacking Bella and I decided to go for a walk in a nearby park. We were joined by Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. Jacob was the only one of us 'kids' that decided to stay behind.

Jacob has been with us for the past ten hears. I think it makes him feel closer to Renesmee. He passed on his duties as the alpha to Leah just so he would be able to move around with us.

I was drawn out of my thoughts when I caught the scent of a young girl. She smelled like Renesmee. I turned my head in the direction the scent was emanating from. I would have had a heart attack if it were possible. She looked just like me; only she was female. She had Bella's chocolate brown eyes that I loved so much. Eyes I hadn't seen in ten years. She looked beautiful as she sat there eating her foul smelling strawberry ice cream. I took another whiff and I froze. It smelled just like Nessie, except her scent didn't smell the same way as I remembered. Her blood smelled...tainted. I think that's the word I'm looking for. But how? A person's scent doesn't change.

She looked over Bella and she recognized her. This is when I knew, I just new that this young lady was our daughter. "Renesmee?" I asked slowly. She looked scared now and I realized that she didn't remember us. How did she recognize Bella then?

Without answering she suddenly got up and ran. We all ran after her. "Renesmee!" we screamed as we chased her. She disappeared for a second as rounded a corner onto a different street. We saw her for another brief second before she ran inside a building and slammed the door behind her. Curious as to why she would go in here we approached the building.

The sign on the building made me stop. 'Orphanage' that word struck something inside of me; sadness. My daughter didn't have a family to look after her. She didn't know what it was like to have the support, care, and love of a family.I fell to my knees and I started sobbing hard. A single pair of arms embraced me. Any other pair of arms I would have rejected, but not these. I hugged my wife back because she too was shaking from tears that she could no longer shed. All of these years of hoping that she was with a loving and caring family. All of these years, and suddenly reality slaps you in the face.

Everyone else looked sad too. "We can't leave her here Edward" Bella said. "We won't. We'll ask Carlisle and Esme to adopt her. That way she can finally come home where she belongs" I said.

"Why did she run off like that Edward?" Rosalie asked. "She doesn't remember us, but somehow she recognized Bella" I said. Bella looked surprised "How?" she asked. "She's dreamt about you" I said. "Oh my" she muttered.

"Is it just me or did her blood smell different?" Alive asked. "I noticed that too" everyone said. "It smelled bad. Like it was infected with something" Emmett said. "Is that something to worry about?" Bella asked. "I don't know, but the scent of someone's blood usually doesn't change" I said. This made her look even more worried if that was even possible.

We went back to the house as fast as we could and called a family meeting. "What's going on?" Carlisle asked. "When we were in the park we came across Renesmee's scent in the park" I said. He was definitely not expecting that. "You came across her scent?" he asked once he regained his composure. "Yes, we saw her there" Bella said. "You found Nessie?" Jacob asked as he walked through the door. "Yes, but she didn't remember us. She ran back to the... orphanage" I had trouble even thinking that word let alone saying it. "Orphanage" Esme sadly. "We were hoping that you two would be willing to adopt her just so she can finally come home" Bella said in a teary voice. "Of course we will" Esme said. "We'd do it in a heartbeat. We'll go down there first thing in the morning" Carlisle said. For the first time in years Bella and I smiled.

The next morning Carlisle, Esme, Bella and I went down to the orphanage. We didn't want to overwhelm Nessie to much so it was just the four of us.

There was a receptionist there. "Hi, my wife and I were hoping to adopt one of the kids here" Carlisle said. "Okay, what age range?" she asked. "We're actually looking for a teenage girl that our kids met. Her name is Renesmee" Esme said.

Her whole attitude changed. "Oh. You don't want that girl. She's just riddled with problems and would be nothing but a burden" she said. I had to bite back a growl threatening to erupt from my chest. Meanwhile Bella was bared her teeth.

"What kind of problems?" Carlisle asked sounding calm even though his thoughts were the same as mine. "She has been adopted numerous times but she has been returned to a local orphanage each and every time" she said as if wasn't such a big deal.

She was returned to an orphanage numerous times. That hit me even harder than finding out that she lived in an orphanage. Why? Why would someone do that to a kid? Why would someone do that to her? She's never had a stable loving environment.

"I guess no one can handle a sick kid like her" she said. My head snapped up when she said that. "What do you mean sick kid?" I growled. "She's had leukemia since she was six years old" she answered.

Silence. No one said anything or moved. Leukemia. It can't be. No. My girl, my innocent little girl. Battling such a deadly illness with no family to support her or help her. How can someone just get rid of her for this. How could a family do this to her when she needs the most love and support she can get.

It was a wonder that I wasn't on the floor sobbing again. Bella had her face in her hands and her entire body was shaking. I went over to her and held onto her.

Now it made sense how Nessie's scent was different.

"Does she get any kind of treatment?" Carlisle asked. "No" the lady answered. "Honestly, I wish one of her families would have kept her. She's way too needy because of her illness. She needs things that we just can't afford here; such as treatment" she said. It took everything in me not to lunge at her right now and everyone else felt the same way.

"She's stupid too. She can't even do math" she said. All I could see was red now. One more comment about my daughter and not only would I knock her into next month, but she would also be picking up her teeth across the street.

By the look on Bella's face I could see she felt the same way. "How can you even have the nerve to call her stupid?" Carlisle asked. Even he was losing his usually calm demeanor."She's always mixing up her numbers. A 13 will suddenly become a 31. Or she'll be doing a problem such as 12 divided by 6 and it will suddenly change to 6 divided by 12" she sneered. "Have you ever considered that maybe, oh I don't know, that she might have a learning disability!" Esme yelled. She was even breathing heavily, and she didn't even need to breathe!

Then another guy came in. "Renesmee is refusing to do her chores" he said. "What's wrong with her now?" she asked. That's it! I got up and started walking over to her but I was held back.

"She's complaining of not sleeping well because she's been in pain all night" he said. That broke my heart to hear, but unfortunately pain is part of the reality of her illness.

"Remind her of the consequence then" the receptionist said. "I did, but she would rather have the consequence" he said. "Okay then" she answered.

"What consequence?" Bella asked. "Nothing" she replied. "I can't exactly say that the consequence is that she won't get breakfast today" she muttered to low for a normal human to hear.

"That's it! We want her now!" Carlisle thundered, which was just an echo of my own anger. "Why?" the stupid lady asked. "You refuse to feed her because she won't work when she is complaining of tiredness and being in pain. You're calling her stupid and a burden! It's clear that she needs to leave this place as soon as possible because she isn't getting the proper care that she desperately needs!" Carlisle screamed at her taking her by surprise. "Fine, you and your wife need to sign these papers first and then she's all yours" she said.

Fifteen minutes later Renesmee came out. Actually she stumbled out. She was having a hard time walking and Carlisle and Esme had to help her walk to the car after they introduced themselves. She never spoke, not once. I wish she would talk. I want to hear her beautiful voice again. She never did. Instead she fell asleep on the way home.

I carried her all the way to the guest room like when she was little. I know I looked ridiculous carrying her considering she was the same height as me now, but I didn't care. I changed her into some pajamas that Bella had so she'd be more comfortable. A locket fell out of her pocket and I realized that it was the same one that Bella gave her all those years ago.

She looked peaceful as she laid underneath the blankets on the queen sized bed. She was hugging that same stuffed wolf that Jacob had made her all those years ago, just like she did when she was little.

I kissed her temple and watched her sleep.

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