Gentle Reader,

Thank you for sharing your love and support of our story of how we came to be blessed with our miracle. It is thanks to your support and encouragement that we have decided to present the whole story of how this miracle came to be and our ongoing adventures since the miracle arrived. What we have presented so far was just scratching the surface. Here is the whole story.

Love,

Carlisle, Esme, and our miracle

Carlisle's POV

"Uncle Emmett! Put me down!" squealed my granddaughter as we ran through the rainforest.

"You can't keep up, squirt!" Emmett disputed with a laugh.

"I was doing just fine!" Renesmee argued back.

"You were slowing down and you know it!" Emmett teased.

"They're going to scare away every creature in the forest for miles," Jasper muttered under his breath.

"Emmett, Renesmee, calm down," Bella said firmly, sounding like a stern warning.

"But Uncle Emmett started it," Renesmee protested.

"And I'm ending it!" Bella replied tersely. I looked to my side and saw Esme suppressing a smirk. It still often amused my wife and I when we heard Bella or Edward taking on the authoritative tone of a parent.

Edward was in the lead, but he suddenly slowed to a stop and we did as well. "They're not far. I can hear them."

"Told you so," Alice said triumphantly.

"You're as bad as the six year old," grumbled Rosalie.

"I'm developed to the age of 14 or 15," Renesmee griped.

"Nah, I say 13. You're only five and half," Emmett provoked.

"Uncle Emmett!" shrieked Renesmee.

"They heard that," Edward said with a sigh. "Nahuel thinks it sounds like Ness. They are all coming to investigate."

"Who is 'all'?" I asked Edward, but before he could respond he gestured to my right.

"Carlisle?" I heard a very heavily accented voice ask with surprise. I turned to find Zafrina.

Before I could even get a word in my energetic granddaughter was squealing like the teenage girl that she was and bounding toward the Amazonian. "Zafrina!" The wild looking woman's reserve broke as a smile lit across her face as she caught Nessie in a hug.

"My Nessie! I wasn't expecting to find you in my forest today, but what a happy surprise!"

I looked past her and found the answer to "all." Senna and Kachiri were there along with who we were seeking, Nahuel and Huilen. There was an unknown woman standing a few yards back past Nahuel. There's a faint resemblance to Nahuel, her eyes are dark brown, and I could hear her heart. I realized immediately that she must be one of his half-sisters. I was guessing by her slightly darker, but still pale, skin tone and the shape of her face that she's his Algerian descent one, Maysun.

Controlled chaos quickly began to occur around us as our party of ten was welcomed by their group of six, well, five. Maysun sunk back a bit further beyond the tree. As I watched her Nahuel began approaching me. I saw Esme had not missed the new member of their party, and had begun to walk toward her. Nahuel quickly sidestepped to greet my wife. Esme happily greeted him, but her eyes wandered over to the unknown figure.

"Please, Nahuel, introduce me to your new companion," Esme invited.

All eyes turned to the stranger who looked at us with trepidation. My children that could possibly have given me some insight thanks to their gifts were not in my line of sight. If she was a threat in anyway though, Edward, Jasper or Alice would have alerted us immediately.

Nahuel kept a hold of Esme's hand as he escorted her over toward the woman. I stayed close on my wife's heels. The woman didn't move as we approached, but moved her gaze to Nahuel searching his eyes for something. When we were just a few feet away, Nahuel spoke.

"Esme, this is my half-sister, Maysun. Maysun, these are the Cullen's, the vampires that keep one who is like us, and this is their female leader, Esme."

Esme radiated her usual warmth that makes anyone feel like the best moment of their day would be in her presence. She greeted her in Arabic, one of the native languages spoken in Algeria, which seemed to relax Maysun slightly.

"My English is pretty good, I think, but thank you for the gesture, Esme. It is nice to meet you," Maysun spoke slowly, but clearly.

Renesmee had come beside me and reached her hand into mine. I looked over at my granddaughter and found her eyes wide open and staring at Maysun. We had tried to track down Nahuel's half-sister, Jennifer. We knew from Nahuel that Jennifer spent most of her time in Ohio where she was born, but either she didn't want to be found or was out of the state during our search. This was the first time we had met one of Nahuel's half-sisters, and the first time we had seen another female vampire/human hybrid.

I squeezed Nessie's hand, and gave a light tug to pull her forward. Nahuel reached out a hand to her, and she dropped my hand to hug her companion. Renesmee and Nahuel had a very special bond. As few vampires as there were compared to the human population, the vampire population seemed vast compared to the amount of vampire/human hybrids. As far as we knew there were five in existence and three stood before us.

"She's so young!" Maysun exclaimed and took a step toward them, but stopped abruptly as Edward surged forward and placed himself next to Ness. If Edward saw there was some danger in Maysun he was leaving Esme who stood closest to her exposed. Edward stared at Maysun with hostility, and a bit of fire was returned in her eyes. "I mean her no ill will."

"Where is the other man?" Edward barked.

Jacob growled. He would be ready to step in to defend Renesmee in anyway, but Edward had made it very clear to Jacob early on that he was her father and until she was of age, he was to remain the most important man in her life, and her ultimate protector.

"What are you talking about?" Maysun said defensively, her eyes wide open.

"Maysun," Nahuel said soothingly. "This is Renesmee's father, Edward. Remember what I told you about his gift. He can read minds." He began to point toward each of my family members as a way of introduction and reminded her of Alice and Jasper's gifts as well. I took a moment to look at Alice and her facial expressions were not unfriendly, but they weren't giving anything away either. Twice Jasper's eyes flickered to her face. Something was amiss. I was brought back to the situation before me as Nahuel said my name. "And this is Carlisle Cullen, their leader. He is a healer of humans, a doctor. He's a great man." I was flattered by his introduction and nodded my head at the strange woman. "And this is Renesmee, who is like us."

Ness was grinning at her, and Maysun couldn't help but return her smile, but Edward put an arm in front of his daughter when they made a move toward each other.

"Dad!" Ness said dismissingly to her overprotective father, and tried to bow under his arm to get to Maysun, but he grabbed her. I could seem Esme was worried by Edward's reaction, but she also felt no threat from Maysun and took her hand.

"Mom!" Edward said, now playing the role of child.

"She's Nahuel's sister. She is not a threat," Esme said.

"There's someone else here and she's hiding him," Edward insisted.

"Edward, please, calm down. There's no threat," Nahuel interjected.

"He's right, Edward," Maysun looked desperately toward her sibling as she spoke, "Nahuel and I, thought it best to explain my being here before meeting the others. Nahuel has told me much about all of you. He says that you are good and understanding. That you are not like other vampires. You are a large coven, but power and control are not what you seek. You believe in love and family."

"There is no threat here, Edward," Zafrina clearly stated.

I spoke up. "If Zafrina and Nahuel say there's nothing amiss, Edward, then they deserve our trust."

Edward still looks wary as he lowered his hand, and Ness raced over to Maysun.

"It's nice to meet you!" she says with a giggle. Her enthusiasm bordering on contagious as Maysun's lips began to turn into a grin. "I've been longing to meet one of Nahuel's sisters. We've tried tracking down Jennifer, but haven't been able to find her. I have so many questions for you!"

"As I do for you young one, but I think we should settle down, and have story time with your father and mother," she said with a nod toward, Bella, "to ease his mind."

"You say others, but I heard just one other," said Edward.

"All will be explained. Please, sit," said Maysun.

The spot was as good as any. We gathered around to hear Maysun's story, and why there were others hiding in the woods instead of with us.

Ness stayed by Maysun's side as they sat. Edward wedged his way in between Ness and Nahuel, while Jacob, still in wolf form, laid down behind Ness. She reached back and gave him a gentle pat, before turning back to Maysun. Esme sat down on the other side of Maysun, and I placed myself beside her.

Maysun began to speak, "I know Nahuel has told you our origins and about our father, Joham, so I will spare you the repeat of that tale. I know Nahuel is less fond of Joham than I am, but I am less fond of Joham than our sisters, Jennifer and Serena. Nahuel and I have always gotten along, and I favor his opinion. I trust him, and I have trusted him now with a secret that I've hid from my father for decades.

"You know of my father's curiosity and his precursor to experiment, which is how we came into existence. Lives were lost along the way beyond just our mothers'. While there have been times when I have spent many years by father's side, I have more often than not taken to the world alone. I blend in among humans, and have enjoyed at times living among them as your family does. When vampires come upon me they know that I am different, and will approach me out of their own curious natures.

"Sixty years ago I was approached in Cairo by a male vampire named Chisisi. As with other's he felt some draw to my blood, but wanted to know what I was. I found myself opening up to him about my existence more than I had with any other being, and we soon found ourselves in love. I left the human-like life I had in Cairo, and began to roam with him. We were nomadic. I had never had intimate relations with anyone before, but we desired each other and gave into our feelings. We were happy together.

"We were together for a little over a year when we noticed a change. My appetite was different and I sometimes felt ill, which," she looked at Nahuel and he nodded, "We never feel. Chisisi with his vampire sight noticed the changes in my appearance before I did. I was growing. My body was filling out. As my stomach began to round we couldn't deny what was happening to me any longer. I was expecting a baby."

Esme's nails dug into my palm.

Author's Notes

Thank you again for your support and encouragement to continue this story. Please visit my profile page to check out the link to TwiFicDataBase's recent review when Miracles and Mischief was chosen as the Pick of the Week. Also, they conducted an author's interview with me focused on Miracles and Mischief - you'll find the link to the interview on my profile as well.

Thank you to my betas on this story, December LeNoir and sweetishbubble!

So now that I've finally started the expansion of this story, please let me know what you think! XOXO