So here it is! Finally! This chapter (as compared to every other chapter I've written in the past) is huge, and important, and I hope readers enjoy it. I apologise for it being so late, I will explain at the bottom if anyone wants to know why.
Thanks go Gaz, Theluckyturtle and TheMordernAthena for reviewing. And Thanks to Laura for beta-ing thing one for me.

Listening to:
Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen
Carry On My Wayward Son – Kansas
Runnin' – Jensen Ackles cover
I'm A Believer – The monkees
It's Time – Imagine Dragons

The white-painted aluminium shop shelves groaned from the weight of seemingly random objects messily stacked along them. There were clocks, enclosed in wooden houses, in stacks of 3 or 4 high, leather-bound cameras sat on a higher shelf, proudly showing their bellows. Other objects sat in piles and heaps all over the place; bowls, watches, cigarette tins, dresses, war helmets, furniture: it was a haven for antique collectors. The air was thick and heavy with the musty smell and the odd cloud of dust.

Esme was crouched down on the dark green carpet, looking through boxes of varying materials, filled to the brims with smaller objects.
"Don't you think you're going a little overboard?"
Esme's head snapped up and she smiled, "Not at all. It's rude to arrive at someone's house, and to be empty-handed." She beamed at her daughter, who smiled back.
"I know, but most people would bring biscuits or a bottle of wine," She pointed to the boxes, "You're in an antique store."
Esme nodded absently and continued searching through the boxes, so Alice continued, "It seems like you're trying to bribe the kid into liking you. But you don't need to bribe her, Esme, she'll like you anyway."

Esme looked up at her daughter again and grinned. She put her hand out, showing the little silver object sitting on her palm. It was a child's rattle; a design has been engraved onto it, vines twisting around each other, with flowers growing from them.
Alice nodded. "It's beautiful. What age is she?"
Esme put the rattle on the floor beside her and busied herself with putting the other objects back into the boxes, "She's fifteen." She stood up, brushed herself off, and picked up the rattle again.
Alice frowned at it. "She's pregnant." Alice stared at the ground behind Esme's feet and shuffled about slightly, "I thought you said she's fifteen. Why is a fifteen year old pregnant?"
Esme frowned at her daughter. "You're judging the girl before you've even met her. She could have been raped or be carrying the next baby Jesus for all we know!" Esme had her arms crossed over her chest.
Alice nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. So she's keeping the kid?"
Esme nodded, smiling, and walked to the till. She gave the woman the rattle and pulled out her purse.

"Is that all for you today?" the woman asked as she wrapped the rattle in bubble wrap and placed it in a carrier bag.
"Yes, thank-you."
Polite smiles were exchanged as the woman tapped some button on her computer. "That'll be $64.95 please."
Esme nodded, thanking her again, handed over the money, took the carrier bag, and followed Alice out of the shop.

Outside the antique shop, Alice stopped at turned to her mother. "Which shop now?"
Esme looked at her, and, pointing to a red and blue fronted candy store, asked, "How about there? We could get some nice chocolates for this evening." They turned and walked through the crowds towards the candy store.

*%*

"Aiofe, you wanna play?" Seth held out a PlayStation controller out to her.
Aiofe glanced at the TV screen. The menu screen of a racing game showed, and the cursor pointed to the word 'multiplayer'. "Yeah, sure." She took the controller from him, and watched as he pressed a few buttons on his controller.
"Okay," he pointed to the controller in Aiofe's hands, "this button is the accelerator, this is to reverse, you use this joystick to steer, that's it basically. Good luck!" He pressed another button and the race started.
A large number of uncounted minutes later, they were interrupted by a knocking on the door. "Mom! Charlie!" Seth yelled, "Could one of you get that?!"
Charlie appeared from the dining room, and glanced at the two teens sitting side by side on the couch, then he walked over to the door.

Seth couldn't see Charlie or the person at the door, but he could hear their conversation.
"Hey there, Chief. I'm sorry to disturb you on your Saturday off, but this dog was found at the park where the shooting was the other day. His tag says he belongs to a J Harley, so I searched the records to find the guys phone number. Apparently Joseph-"
Charlie butted in, "Joseph Harley was killed in the shooting. I'll take the dog, I know where his daughter is, maybe she'll want him."
"Joseph has- had a daughter?!" The surprise in the man's voice was evident. "How did he manage to keep a person a secret? Do you know what age she is?"
"I don't know how he managed to keep the townspeople from knowing about her. She's 15."

Seth paused the game and stood up, motioning for Aiofe to follow. She put her hands behind her and pushed herself off the couch and onto her feet. She followed closely behind Seth as they walked to the door.
Charlie's head turned at the sound of their footsteps as they approached. "Hey, kids." A chocolate Labrador sat on the floor at his feet, when it caught sight of Aiofe, it bounded towards her with its tail wagging wildly, and tongue out. Her eyes widened in surprise and she smiled.
"Hermes!" Aiofe delightedly scratched his ears and patted his head. Seth knelt down and enthusiastically clapped the dog. Aiofe watched as he kissed the dog's blocky head and rubbed his sides.
"I have to go now, Chief. I'll see you around." The man with black hair waved and headed back to his car.

Charlie shut the door behind him and look at the teens. "Well, you two. If you want to keep that dog, you had better feed him. Seth, there's some dog food at the bottom of the larder cupboard. And you will find a bowl there too. Aiofe, what kind of food does he eat?"
Aiofe looked at Hermes, "Uh, he usually eats that smelly stuff in the tins, with some of the dry biscuits. He's not a fussy eater, he'll eat anything."
Seth wandered into the kitchen with Aiofe and Hermes on his tail. He opened the larder cupboard and dug around in the bottom of it, then pulled out a tin of dog meat and a bag of mixer. He then pulled out a china dog bowl and looked at it for a moment before placing it on the breakfast bar. He was looking away from Aiofe all the time he made the dog's dinner, so she couldn't see his face. But when he bent down to give the dog his food, she could have sworn she saw a dampness on his cheek.

"Hey, Seth. You okay?" She awkwardly placed a hand on his arm, trying to comfort him. "What's wrong?"
Seth straightened up and looked at her, choosing not to answer. "What do you say we take Hermes for a walk after he has eaten?"
Aiofe nodded and watched him put away the food, her brows creased in confusion.

"So, Seth, if you don't mind me asking, why were you upset?" Aiofe shut the front door behind them and jogged to catch up with Seth.
"I don't mind you asking. I was upset because my dog, Samson, died a couple of weeks ago. I still miss him is all." He had a distant, fond look on his face.
She looked at him. His eyes were still tinged with red from his tears earlier but he was crying no more. "Oh. I don't really know what to say to that. I've never really had anyone I love die, well, except my brother, but that doesn't count."
He looked at her curiously as they entered the forest and started to follow and well-worn, frost-coated path. "If you don't mind me asking," he parroted at her, making her smile, "why doesn't that count?"
Aiofe looked at his face again, seeing it showed worry. He genuinely cared. "My brother, he, uh, he might not exactly be dead. I don't know."
"Oh. What do you mean?" She looked away so he couldn't see the tussle of emotions playing across her face.
"He went to Afghanistan five years ago, and never came back. But nobody ever told me, uh, that he was dead, so there's no proof, that he's actually dead."

Seth was quiet for a minute, thinking. "That must be hard to live with, you know, wondering. So, do you, um, think he's still alive?" He looked at her, his warm eyes earnest.
Aiofe turned and watched Hermes jump over a tree branch that was lying in the dirt. "I don't know. I hope so. Well, nobody wants their own brother to be dead. But I kind of also want him to be, because if he is alive, then he abandoned me."
He looked slightly taken aback by her blunt words. "I don't know what to say to that. You're right, though. I understand your logic. So, do you have any other family? What are they like?"

Aiofe laughed as she kicked a stone away with her holey, battered Converse. "Isn't that a silly question? Would I be staying with your family if I had my own? My mum died when I was a baby, she was murdered- by my father. So then it was just me, and him. My brother was 22 when I was born; he was in the army even before then. And I have Junior, but if I have any other family, I've never met them. What about you?"

"That's one heck of a life story, Aiofe. My dad died a few years ago, he had a heart attack. So it was just, me, my mom, and Leah, until mom got together with Charlie. Then he became part of the family. You've not met my sister yet, and believe me, you probably don't want to. She's moody, really moody, and mean." He laughed half-heartedly.

"That's not a life story, Seth, that's not half of the story. Sorry 'bout you dad. Your sister can't be that bad, the rest of your family are really, really nice."
"Really? Dare I even imagine the entire life story? And Leah, she's a bitch, seriously, you don't want to get on her bad side. But if she ever tries to bully you, I'll protect you." He patted her shoulder and grinned cheekily at her.
"Oh, gee, thanks. Good to know I have you as an angel on my shoulder to protect me from your sibling's harsh words."
"I mean it, Shorty. If anyone, ever tries to bully you or make you miserable, tell me, and I'll try to help you. Seriously." There wasn't a hint of joking on his face, and Aiofe felt a surge of affection for the boy.

"Thanks, Seth. That's good to hear. Is that a swing?" Aiofe pointed ahead of them.
"Where?" Seth looked around, still not seeing anything. Aiofe pointed again.
"Over there. Look, on that big oak tree." He followed the direction of her finger, and spotted said swing. "Oh yeah, it is. It looks quite old though, it's probably not safe."
Aiofe squinted at it as they got closer. "Nah, it's been built by someone who knows what they're doing, and that's good, thick rope." She started to walk in the direction of the swing.
"I'm still not sure you should try it." Seth said doubtfully. "What if you hurt yourself?"
Aiofe turned and glared at him. "I'm pregnant, not a china doll."
He nodded and looked down to avoid her glare. "I know, it's just, I can't help it, okay. And my mom will kill me if you get hurt and she knows I let you do it."
Aiofe shrugged. "Then, if I do hurt myself, which is highly unlikely, then I'll say you tried to stop me. Easy."
"Aiofe-"

Aiofe ran forward and jumped onto the swing before he could stop her, planting her butt firmly onto the wooden seat. "See! It holds my weight! It's fine." She shouted.
"Just be careful!" He called back at her.
"I always am!" She began to kick her legs to make the swing go higher.
"That's not being careful." Seth walked over and stood behind her, off to the side slightly, watching.
"That's having fun." Aiofe shot back.

He stepped closer and when she got close, he pushed her, rocking the swing.
"What are you doing?"
"Hold on, I'm pushing you." He shoved her again.
"Why?"
"Because I need something to do, and it was tempting." He pushed against her back again.
"Oh, okay." Aiofe agreed.

"Shouldn't we be walking the dog?" Seth asked a while later. His arms must have been starting to ache from pushing Aiofe on the swing.
"No, look, he's running around, exercising himself. He's really stupid." Aiofe pointed out.
"He's not stupid. Dogs are very clever, especially Labradors." Seth argued.
"Really? Well I guess Hermes is kinda clever. How come you know so much about dogs?"
"I'm a bit of a big dog fan, I suppose." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh, I'm not really. I like Hermes, probably because he belongs to Arden, my brother. But I'm not really a dog person, probably because most of them like to bite me, and try to eat me. That's happened a few times. I have a few scars from dogs, mostly German Sheppards, I especially don't like those."

At Aiofe's words, Seth frowned. "You've been attacked by a German Sheppard? That must have been terrifying!"
Aiofe gave a small shrug. "Yep, twice. I think it was, I can't remember it too clearly, the first time I was a tiny baby, and the second time I was two, or almost two."
"Wow. I used to say that my life was hard and bad, but I never will again. I'm realising that I don't even know what a hard life is, but you do. It makes me feel sorry for you; I want to help you, and to make sure you don't have to go through anything like that again."
She laughed, it rang through the trees like church bells at a wedding.
"You're so sappy. That's not my whole life story, Seth. But, since that upsets you, I won't tell you the rest. What about you? What's your life been like?"
"So what if I'm a wuss? If I'm mushy and caring and gay? My life, so far, has been great. Full of love and care. White picket fence. I had a bitchy sister, who was hardly ever home anyway. Lots of friends. I'm great at school. Then my dad died. And then, two years later mom found a new boyfriend, and I like him. He can't replace my dad, but I do love him."
"There's nothing wrong with being kind. You have a great life, when you got to `white picket fence' I thought I might be jealous, but I'm not. My life, so far, might not have had anything to do with white picket fences or love or care, but if I could, then I wouldn't change it. Because good things did come out of it; my relationship with Arden, Hermes, but most of all: Junior." Seth nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Junior is a good thing. If you don't mind me asking, how did Junior come around? I don't mean to pry, but you're fifteen, I don't want to offend you, sorry if I did."

Aiofe sighed. "You didn't offend me there, Seth. Junior is a good thing, but how he or she came to be isn't so. I was, uh, I was raped."
Seth blurted out "Oh. I'm-" but Aiofe interrupted him.
"Please don't say you're sorry, there's nothing to say sorry about. I'm not sorry. Not at all. Junior is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

He was silent for a few moments. "You're really confident and sure about this. That's really brave." She laughed. "I'm not confident, or sure. To be honest, I don't have a clue what to do, and I'm not even that sure what's happening to me. Well, obviously I know that I'm going to get fat then have a baby, but surely there must be more to it than that."
"Didn't your doctor tell you, and give you details, or leaflets? I thought that's what they usually do." His tone was worried again. Aiofe sighed.
"I've never been to the doctor, I was too afraid of my father finding out, and of what the people in the hospital would think of me. I thought about going, but I wasn't brave enough. But Charlie's friend, the doctor, is going to take me on Tuesday."
Seth nodded.
"I don't blame you, I would have been too afraid to go if it was me. You mean Carlisle? He's really nice."

Aiofe frowned. "Why would you ever be in that position? Unless you're secretly a girl! Are you?"
"No! Of course not." He laughed, the sound melted into Aiofe's laughter as it rang though the trees once more.
"Yeah, sure… Can you stop pushing me? I'm gonna get off."
Seth let his arms drop down by his sides and stepped out of the way. "Yeah, good idea. We should probably head back now, Mom will be getting worried."
Aiofe grabbed one of the ropes of the swing and held onto it as she swung herself around to jump to the ground. Seth rushed forwards and took a hold of her arm to steady her.
"Pregnant; not a china doll!" Aiofe snatched her arm back and glared at him.
"I know! I'm just being helpful." He held his hands up in defeat and followed her back to the path.
"Hermes! Come here, boy!" Aiofe called, and the dog bolted past her like a bullet shot from a gun, "Go on, that way. On you go." The dog bounded ahead of them on the way back to the house.

"How long does it take to walk a dog? You said you would be back before me; I've been back for over ten minutes, and I was running late, Seth, do you have any idea how worried I was?!"
Seth shrank back slightly from his mother's harsh words and sharp tone. "I'm sorry, Mom. We got talking and lost track of time." He bent down and unclipped the dog's collar, and Hermes ran into the kitchen to the water bowl.
"It's okay. You had better get going, son, you're late. Aiofe, sweetheart, could you go upstairs to my room and wait there? I'll be up in a minute, I just need to find something first." The smile on Sue's face was a genuine one.
Aiofe nodded and plodded towards the stairs. On her way, she passed Charlie kneeling at a chair, polishing his work boots. He grinned at her and she smiled back at him.

Sue and Charlie's room was unchanged since the last time Aiofe had been in it, all chocolates and creams. She sat on the backless stool and fiddled with the loose threads around a hole in her jeans. A minute later the door opened and Sue wandered in, carrying a few plastic shopping bags. "Hey, sorry for the wait, I couldn't remember where I put these." She put the bags down and started rummaging through them; she pulled out a pair of thick grey tights and put them in a pile with a thick tweed skirt, a long sleeved top and grey wool button up jumper that was lined with fur. "Could you put these on? They should fit you." Aiofe nodded, picked up the pile of clothes, and started to head towards the bathroom.
"Aiofe, Charlie's in the shower, if it bothers you, I can leave the room while you change?" Aiofe shook her head,
"No, it's alright, I don't mind." She set the pile of clothes down and pulled off her jeans and socks, then picked up the tights, made sure they were the right way round, and put them on. Then she pulled her over-sized Avengers t-shirt over her head and pulled on the off-white t-shirt. The neckline was slightly lower than she would normally wear, but it wasn't overly revealing, and it was warm and soft. She picked up the skirt next; it had an elastic waist, so it would fit her. She put it on and straightened it. She never had been a girly girl, and she never liked skirts. All the other girls her age wore skirts that were way too short, and very tight. But she liked this one, it came to just below her knees and it was loose. She knew that if she spun around, it would flare out.

"Thanks, I love it." She grinned at Sue; then reached for the jumper.
"You would be better not putting that on just now; it might get in the way." Sue advised. She pointed to the backless stool and Aiofe sat on it. Sue picked up a hairbrush from the dresser and started to brush Aiofe's curly, untamed locks. She started from the bottom so it would hurt less when the brush snagged. She hummed quietly while she was working, and Aiofe recognised the tune, but she couldn't quite remember what it was. She sat, deep in thought, until it came to her. Song Of The Lonely Mountain, she started to sing along in time with Sue's humming. "From long ago when lanterns burned, until this day our hearts have yearned, her fate unknown, the Arkenstone…" She sang quietly, and shyly.

Once Aiofe's hair was brushed and tug-free, Sue plaited it into a tight French plait, leaving her fringe down. She reached behind her and picked up the jumper. She handed it to Aiofe, who put it on, leaving it unbuttoned. Sue made sure Aiofe's outfit was straight and neat and tidy. "Okay, you're ready." She smiled at Aiofe and made sure her hair was sitting nicely.
"Ready for what?" Aiofe sat back down on the stool, facing Sue, who sat on the foot of the bed.
"You remember Charlie's friend, Doctor Carlisle? Well, tonight he's coming over; he's bringing his wife to meet you. And they'll decide if they want to adopt you." She smiled comfortingly, and Aiofe nodded.
"Okay. Do you think they will want me?" She chewed on her lip as she stared at Sue with big, dark eyes.
"I think they will. They have lots of children, all older than you, and they are all adopted. And Carlisle really likes you." She turned towards the window as the sound of car tyres crunching over gravel reached Aiofe's ears, "And that will be them. Are you ready, Aiofe?" She looked back at the girl on the stool, who nodded slowly. She stood up and Aiofe followed. Together, they walked through the door and down the stairs.

There was a knock on the door as Aiofe and Sue were halfway down the stairs. From the dining room, Charlie shouted "Come in!" He emerged from the dining room as the door opened and a red-headed girl ran in, "Papa!" She ran towards Charlie and jumped into his waiting arms.
"Hey, sweetheart! I wasn't told that you were coming, I would have gone out and bought some nice cake! Although, I might have some in the cupboard… Do you want to go and check?" He grinned at her and she nodded, her curls bouncing. "Yes! Thanks Papa!" She ran away into the kitchen.

The adults and Aiofe were sat around the living room when she returned with a sliced chocolate cake on a plate, the put the plate on the coffee table and took a piece.
Aiofe was sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, the fire was burning, but the mesh guard had been put in front of it. She loved the smell of the fire, and the noises it made.
"Aiofe, there's a space on the sofa if you would prefer a more comfortable seat." Aiofe leaned forward to see where the voice came from; there was a pretty caramel-haired woman with kind, light brown eyes sitting on the couch beside Carlisle. "I'm okay, I like sitting near the fire. Thanks for the offer though." She smiled as politely as she could.
The red-headed girl sat down next to Aiofe. "Hi, I'm Renesmee. I already know who you are, you're Aiofe. It's nice to meet you, Aiofe." She pointed to the couple on the couch, "That's my Gran and my Grandpa, Esme and Carlisle. And Charlie is my other Grandpa, but I call him Papa." She grinned at Aiofe, who didn't know how to reply.
"It's nice to meet you too, Renesmee. So you have a big family then?" Aiofe turned to face the younger girl, the better to engage in conversation. "Yeah, I have two aunties and three uncles, they all from my Daddy's side of the family, my Mommy doesn't have any brothers or sisters, neither do I. Me, Mommy, Daddy, all my aunties and uncles, Grandpa, and Granny all live together, it's really fun." She shot Aiofe a dimpled smile.
"Wow; that does sound fun. You have a very big family. I've never had a big family; it was just me and my father, and sometimes my brother." Aiofe smiled to herself, what if these people did adopt her? She would have siblings, real siblings.
"Don't you have a Mommy? And where are you Dad and brother now?" Renesmee watched Aiofe with wide, curious eyes. "My mom died when I was a very little baby, I was just two weeks old. I don't remember her at all. My father died a few days ago. And my brother is in the army, he went to war a few years ago and never came back." She felt more than one pair of eyes on her, so she looked over her shoulder to find the kind woman, Esme, looking at her sadly, obviously having overheard all of what Aiofe just said. She shot her what she hoped was a reassuring, kind smile and turned back to Renesmee.

"Aiofe? I was out shopping earlier, and I saw this, and I really liked it, so I bought it for you." Aiofe looked over; Esme was holding a neatly wrapped box in her hands, holding it out for Aiofe. She stood up slowly, and carefully, and she plodded over. She stood beside Esme as she carefully unwrapped the box. And she opened the lid and her face lit up when she saw what was inside. She lifted the little rattle out of the box and couldn't help but smile at it. "It's beautiful. Thank-you. I'm sure Junior will appreciate it." She grinned at the kind woman, who smiled back.
"I'm glad you like it. You call the baby Junior?"
Aiofe nodded and giggled.
"Yeah, I call him or her Junior. I don't know why, or when it started, but it's better than calling it him for months then it turning out to be a her, or vice versa." She patted her enlarged stomach fondly. Esme smiled, squeezed Aiofe's shoulder, and walked in the direction of her husband as he called on her.

Esme walked into the dining room where her husband and Charlie were seated, talking. She sat down on the wooden chair beside the one that Carlisle was seated on. "So what do you think?" Charlie looked at her as she sat down.
"About what?" She leant forward, leaning her crossed arms on the table.
"About Aiofe." Charlie was fidgeting with his pen, clicking it and tapping it against the dark, wooden table. Esme nodded,
"Aiofe is an amazing young girl. She is trying to do the best for her baby, in every situation, she puts the baby first. I really respect her for that, and she's incredibly brave, to go through all this, and still want to keep her baby. And she's very kind, friendly and polite. I like her a lot, and would be thrilled and proud to have her as my daughter, what about you, Carlisle?"
The men nodded in agreement, "I have to agree with you. I get the impression that Aiofe is a kind-hearted girl, the kind of girl who will accept our strange family for who we are. I think that she is very courageous, and strong as a person. I would like to help her, and give her a home and a family, I think we should do this, Esme, do you agree?" He looked over at his wife and smiled at her.
"Of course, I agree with you. But we will have to ask the others what they think, if they want another little sister, it is a big change for them after all." She looked at her husband and he nodded, then he addressed Charlie.
"We're going to discuss the matter with the kids tonight, and if they are positive about it, then we will bring the forms back to you as soon as possible, and if they aren't very happy about it, then I'm afraid we will be forced to say no."
Charlie nodded, "I understand. Thanks for doing this. So here are the forms, I've already signed all of the parts that I can sign, and filled in all of the details that I can, the rest is up to you. All you have to do is fill in your details on these pages, and sign here, here and finally, here." He put the document into an envelope and handed it to them across the table.

Car tyres crunched against the gravel driveway before the Mercedes drove smoothly into the garage. Door opened and slammed shut again, footsteps lead up to the door, which opened, revealing Carlisle, Esme and Renesmee.
"How did it go?" Alice jumped up from the couch as Renesmee ran past her towards her parents, chatting excitedly.
"It went well; we want to tell you all together, could you round everyone up into the dining room?"
Alice nodded at him and ran off, calling names and instructions. Esme and Carlisle walked into the dining room, hand in hand, and in his other hand, the adoption forms and a copy of Aiofe's file. They sat at the head of the table and their family came into the room and sat around the table with them.

With their family surrounding them, waiting patiently for them to begin talking. Esme gave her husband's hand a gentle squeeze under the table and he started talking, "As you probably all know, we are considering adopting a child, well, a teenager. It's something we've never really considered before, but Charlie is doing his best to persuade us, he believes that we are her only option. He's asked everybody he thinks would be possibly suitable, but we were the only people who said maybe. We met the girl, Aiofe, today and she's very nice. But Aiofe has quite a complicated back story, her mother died when she was a baby, her father died in the park shooting the other day, and her only sibling, nobody knows where he is. Aiofe was raped a few months ago by her boyfriend at the time, and as a result, is pregnant. I can't offer you any more information on that, because, quite frankly, I don't know anything else, but I've told her I will take her to the hospital with me on Tuesday to find out how far along she is, and make sure everything's okay. When I met her today, I thought she was very kind, caring, and she got on very well with Renesmee, which is great. But I didn't give Charlie an answer before I spoke to you all." He looked around at the thoughtful and solemn faces looking back at him, and watched the expressions change to ones of enthusiasm.

He passed around Aiofe's file for his family to read, and while they were reading, Esme took that time to speak, "When I met Aiofe today, I spoke to her about her baby, who she calls `Junior', and she wants what is best for her baby, and she is willing to go very far, and try very hard to make that happen. She clearly loves her baby. She seems to me to be a very kind, caring, and strong-willed girl, she's not very self-confident I noticed, but she's a happy and intelligent. Renesmee liked her too, didn't you sweetie?" She smiled at her granddaughter, who nodded,
"Yeah, she was very nice to me, and she's pretty, and she has a cool accent." She giggled and went back to talking with her father.
Alice smiled and bounced in her seat slightly. "What does she look like? Have you got a picture?" This grabbed people's attention and curiosity, they watched Carlisle keenly. "Yes, I do have a picture." He pulled a piece of A4 paper from the stack on the table and turned it so they could see, a picture of Aiofe faced them, dark, bright green eyes and very dark brown, long, curly hair, thin lips and pale skin.
Bella nodded, "She is pretty, has a pretty name too, Aiofe's a British name, right?"
Carlisle nodded, "It is an Irish name, Aiofe's British, she's from Scotland, she moved to America with her father when she was ten, after her brother went to Afghanistan."

Emmett laughed heartedly, "I've always wanted a British baby for a sister, British people are great. I'm definitely in favour of this, what about everyone else?"
Renesmee nodded and gave the thumbs-up.
Alice grinned and nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, myself and Bella are for this, it will be good to have another sister, just hopefully Junior will be a boy so us men aren't hopelessly outnumbered," Edward grinned, his arm around his wife's shoulders. Rosalie nodded and smiled, "I agree, we should help this girl, and give her a home and a family, and it will be good to have a baby in the house again." She laughed and ruffled Renesmee's hair.
Carlisle nodded, "Okay, that's good, is anybody against having a new sister?" he looked around the table, his eyes stopping on Jasper, who spoke up, "I'm not against having another sister, I'm just not a hundred percent sure, a pregnant girl needs a home where it is quiet and calm, so does a baby, and our house is none of those things, it's always busy, and we're not a very calm household, I know us boys are very boisterous and playful, especially Emmett. I don't want to see her, or the baby, get hurt. But on the other hand, we've had a pregnant woman, and a baby living in this household before, and they both turned out fine. And the fact that you are a doctor, and there are a lot of women in this house will be a good help to the girl. And, if we are the only people who said maybe to taking her, a home is definitely not the place for her to be. I think we should take her in, and I want to help her."

Esme grinned at her husband, who kissed her forehead before turning to their teenage sons and daughters, "I guess it's settled then, you're getting a new little sister." He grinned and put his arm around his wife, "Now you had all better give us some peace and quiet to fill these forms in." He grinned at his family as they trooped out of the room, excitedly talking amongst themselves.

Charlie sipped his sweet coffee as he laughed at the movie playing on the TV in front of him that he was watching with Sue, his arm around her, and a blanket over the two of them. The room was dark, the only lights coming from the TV and the lamp on the table beside the sofa. "I can't concentrate on the movie, I can't stop thinking about whether or not they will adopt Aiofe." He took another swig of his coffee, and Sue nodded in agreement, "Me too, I think they will though, you know their kids will be up for it." She picked up the remote and paused the movie, a noise could be heard coming from up the stairs, "Is that Seth snoring?" Sue laughed, "He's probably keeping Aiofe awake with that racket."
Charlie laughed along with her. Sue stood up,
"I'm going to go check on Aiofe, then going to take a nodded and went to turn off the movie. As he was putting the disk back into its case, there was a knock at the door, "Come in!" he hollered.

Esme stuck her head around the living room door hesitantly, "Hi, I hope I've not come too late, I was going to wait until tomorrow to give you the forms back, but I was too excited, and I couldn't wait." She smiled sheepishly, holding out the envelope with the forms inside. "They said yes?! That's great, I can't wait to tell Aiofe in the morning, I'll bet she'll be really pleased… Unless you wanted to tell her yourself, that is?" He was smiling, his brown eyes crinkled at the corners.
She returned his warm smile, "I don't mind either way, I would like to see her reaction to the news though, is she awake?"
He followed her gaze to the stairs. "I don't know, but if she isn't, I'm sure she won't mind you waking her, that would be a nice way to tell her the news actually. She's in Bella's old room, last door on the left, if you want to tell her." She nodded and jogged silently up the stairs, following his directions to the bedroom door.

Esme knocked quietly, and when there was no reply, she pushed the door open slowly. In the dull light from the moonlight shining through the curtains, she could see Aiofe asleep on the bed, on her side, her long hair behind her, with some stray strands laying on her face, and her long eyelashes resting on pale cheeks. Esme flicked on the beside lamp and sat on the edge of the bed. She took a moment to look at Aiofe before she woke her, she pushed the stray strands of hair from her face gently, and she noticed a scar on the side of the girl's forehead as she did so. She gently shook Aiofe's shoulder and green eyes fluttered open.
"Es- Esme?" The hand that had been resting on her stomach came up to rub her eyes, heavy lidded with sleep.
"Hi, sweetheart. Sorry to wake you but I have something to tell you, and I was too excited to wait until tomorrow."
Aiofe pushed herself into a sitting position, facing the kind woman, "What is it?" Her voice was thick with sleep.
"I wanted to tell you that my children agreed, the forms have been signed, you're legally my daughter now." She smiled at the girl, and Aiofe's face lit up with a bright, wide grin.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.

So this chapter was quite late, I'm sorry about that. My reasons: holidays, school, too much homework, Supernatural, and my laptop breaking for a few weeks, and beta-ing time.

COMING UP!
Aiofe meets the Cullen family.
Carlisle takes Aiofe to the hospital.
Aiofe makes a new friend.

Don't forget to review!
~Skylair xoxo