Hello! Got a new chapter ready to go =)

Thank you all so much for your response, your reviews are awesome and they make my day brighter =D

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Annie

Enjoy!


Well this is not your fault
But if I'm without you
Then I will feel so small
And if you have to go
Well always know that you shine brighter than anyone does.

Brighter by Paramore


Chapter three


Both of them were staring at us intently. The guy was eyeing us skeptically; he also looked frustrated. The girl was bouncing on her feet, smiling brightly at us.

"Hello." I greeted lightly.

"Hi there. I'm Alice Cullen." The small girl introduced herself. She was really short, no more than five feet tall, with jet black short hair, which was carefully spiked up. "And this is my brother, Edward." She motioned towards the guy. He was tall and muscular, but not much. His hair was a strange reddish-brown color, and stood in disarray in his head. His face was perfect; he had high cheekbones and a strong jaw.

"Oh, I'm Bella." I introduced myself.

"May we sit with you?" Alice asked quite excitedly.

I motioned to the chairs with my hand, giving my approval. Edward must have sensed my uneasiness and sat down farther away from me than Alice. She sat herself by my side.

"And who is this cutie?" Alice questioned, looking at my daughter.

"This is Annabelle. Say hi, baby." I encouraged her. She smiled shyly at the two strangers and let out a low 'hi'. Alice cooed, still looking intently at us. I sighed, "Yes, she is my daughter."

"She smells strange." Edward said. His voice was nice, velvety.

I would have been offended by his comment, had I not known what he meant.

"Her heartbeat is quite fast as well. What is she?"

I didn't know if I could trust them. I didn't know them. They could go off to the Volturi and tell them about my daughter. We would be persecuted. On the other hand, they seemed friendly. They were the ones to approach me, and they followed my diet. And they said their last name was Cullen; they belonged to Carlisle Cullen's coven that Ryan had told me about.

I took a deep breath, and decided to go with my gut and trust them.

"She's a hybrid. Half-human, half-vampire." I whispered.

Both of them looked positively shocked.

"But that is impossible." Edward whispered, mostly to himself.

I shook my head. "Obviously it's not. She's almost one, even though she looks a bit older. She has the mentality of a ten-year-old."

"That is incredible." Alice exclaimed.

"You're still a newborn?" Edward asked. I shrugged my shoulders and nodded. "You have an amazing control."

"Thank you. I had to take care of my daughter; I couldn't afford to lose control." I explained. They both nodded.

"Are you by any chance part of Carlisle's coven?" I asked. They were shocked at first, but nodded.

"How do you know?" Alice asked.

"When I was human, I knew a vampire. His name was Ryan, and he told me a lot about your, our world. He mentioned Carlisle and his diet, and when I was turned I decided to follow it. You said your last name was Cullen, I just assumed. How many of you are there?" I asked.

"Seven." Edward said.

"Seven?" I repeated astounded.

"And in yours?" Alice asked gently.

"It's just Annabelle and I." I informed them.

"What about her father?" Alice asked curiously. My face fell immediately.

"I was… attacked." I told them. They got the meaning.

"Annie, can you talk?" Alice asked my daughter. Annabelle looked at me, silently asking for permission. I granted it with a nod.

"Yes." She replied. "Why did you call me Annie?" Alice looked shocked,

"Don't you have a nickname?" Annabelle shrugged her shoulders.

"Momma calls me different names sometimes, but not Annie." She told them.

"Well, can I call you Annie, then?" Annabelle looked at me again and I smiled encouragingly.

"Okay." She consented. Alice beamed.

"Would you like to meet the rest of our family?" Edward asked.

I looked at my baby, weighting my options. I hadn't come across any of my kind after my change and was scared of their opinion on Annabelle. She was a rare miracle. Not many vampires would be comfortable with her.

"I don't know." I replied cautiously. I was also a bit scared of being in a private place surrounded by vampires; male vampires at that.

"Please? We can talk more freely at home." Alice insisted.

I sighed and finally nodded. I should as well get it over with.

"Great." She exclaimed. "We'll meet you in the parking lot after classes."

I nodded my consent and put Annie's lunch away just as the bell rang. Our conversation went unnoticed by the humans nearby; we had our own way of talking that made humans unaware of it.

I bid them both goodbye and headed towards the lockers yet again, leaving the leftovers of lunch inside and making my way to Biology.

I got surprised to see Edward sitting there. He smiled lightly at us; the teacher signed my slip, handed me a book and directed me to the only free seat, next to Edward.

I almost froze for a few seconds. I had a really hard time trusting people after what happened to me, but I told both Cullens my deepest secret without even thinking about it. I felt calm around them, and my somewhat irrational fear of men didn't hinder me from talking to Edward.

I took a deep breath, and once again decided to go with my instinct and trust him. He was not Ryan and he was not the unknown vampire that did this to me. He was different and I felt I could trust him.

"Hi, Annie." He greeted my daughter once we sat down. During lunch, he had barely interacted with her; I felt it strange he was doing so right now. I pushed it aside though when Annabelle smiled and stretched her arms towards him. He looked at me alarmed, but I gave him an encouraging nod.

He picked her up gently, cradling her in his arms. He caressed her hair softly before looking at me, beaming. I couldn't help but smile back.

"She likes you." I told him. I saw Annie give me a nod. "See?" I pointed at her.

"She's very warm." He pointed out quietly. The classroom was filling up quickly.

"I think it's because of her speedy heartbeat." I whispered my theory. He nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He let out a deep sigh after a few seconds. "What?" I asked.

"I'll tell you later." I gathered it wasn't something he was comfortable discussing among humans, so I let it go. Annie reached out for me again, and I placed her on my lap, handing her one of the crayons.

It was a quiet class. The teacher didn't make me introduce myself, thankfully. His lecture was interesting, even though I had learned it before in Phoenix. When the bell to my last class rang, Edward offered to walk me to the gym. I accepted.

I got to sit out for the class because there was no uniform for me. I was glad, because I had no idea how I'd go about playing sports with humans; I was scared of overdoing things and hurting someone. I ended up playing with Annie throughout the class. Her giggles could be heard over the noise of people yelling and everything else, and it was contagious. Soon I was laughing along with her.

I carried her on my back, her arms tightly wrapped around my neck, while walking to my lockers for the last time. I grabbed all my books and the leftovers and placed them on my backpack, carrying it all to my car.

I saw Edward and Alice leaning over the shiny Volvo, and waved to let them know I had seen them before going towards where I had parked my car, three spots over. Alice followed me and I saw Edward take off. I quickly strapped Annabelle on her seat and looked at Alice.

"He went ahead to warn everyone. I thought I'd come with you to direct you to our house, but if you feel uncomfortable, I can tell you how to get there and run home." She said uncertainly.

"It's okay, Alice. You can come with us; I'm terrible when it comes to directions." She laughed.

Ten minutes later we arrived at one of the most impressive houses I'd ever seen.

It was Victorian, three stories high, and painted a serene white. The house was deep into the woods, giving them their privacy; there were no neighbors for miles. I could see from my point of view the back of the house, which was made completely of glass.

"It's beautiful." I marveled. Alice giggled before letting herself out of the car. I picked Annabelle up and followed her towards the front porch.

"Family, we have a visitor." She yelled once she opened the door. I entered the house apprehensively, clutching my daughter to me. She buried her face on my neck, hiding behind my long hair.

Six vampires were sitting in the living room. I did notice the whole interior of the house was also white, but I couldn't see anything else; I was assessing the family carefully.

Alice walked in front of me, going straight towards one of the other three guys in the family. He was really muscular, with honey blonde hair and scars all over his face; his appearance scared me a little. His blonde hair reminded me of my attacker.

There were two other couples; a blonde girl that looked more like a goddess than a vampire sat alongside a huge, extremely bulky guy with curly, brown hair and a scary demeanor. The other couple consisted of a slightly older blonde guy with gentle eyes, who had his arm wrapped around a woman with caramel colored hair and a kind face.

Edward sat alone on the couch, smiling when he saw us. I gave a tentative smile back before slowly making my way to them.

"Come sit by me, Bella." Edward invited, sensing my uneasiness. I shot him a grateful smile before sitting down on the couch. "This is our family." He said. "Carlisle and Esme, our parents." He pointed to the kind couple in the left. I gave them a small nod in acknowledgment. They smiled back at me. "Rosalie and Emmett." The blonde goddess and the scary guy. Emmett waved enthusiastically while Rosalie nodded my way. "Jasper; and you've met Alice already."

"It's nice to meet you all." I said. "I'm Isabella Swan, but I go by Bella. And this is my daughter, Annabelle." I introduced us.

"Biological?" I heard someone ask. I turned my face to see Rosalie staring at us.

"Yes, she is my biological daughter." I answered.

"She doesn't smell like a human, though." Emmett pointed out. I explained it all to them; how she was a hybrid, and I was human while I carried her.

"Her father is a vampire, then?" Carlisle asked. I lowered my head and nodded. "How did he manage?" He asked curiously. I sighed, and decided to trust them all with my whole story. I didn't know if it was a good idea, but I needed to get it off my chest.

"I'll have to explain my whole story for it to make sense, if that's okay?" I directed the question at Carlisle. He was the leader after all. He nodded in consent.

So I told them about my dad and my mom, what had happened to them. I told them how I came to know about vampires through Ryan. They were taken aback by the friendship I had formed with the vampire while still human. I explained he was my only companion besides my mom, and that he helped me when she passed away.

"One night he was gone, and didn't come back. A few days later, another vampire showed up in my house, demanding I tell him about the vampire that was there; Ryan's scent still lingered in there. When I refused to say anything, he attacked me. Roughly three months later, Annabelle was born."

I heard a gasp, and looked up to see Rosalie staring sadly at me. It looked like she could relate.

"How did you get changed, though?" Jasper asked.

"Ryan had saved some of his venom in a vial; he said all I had to do was put it in a syringe and find a big vein. We had discussed immortality before, and I was depressed; he was scared I'd try and kill myself one day. He wanted to protect me with what he could; I saved the venom and once I found out I was pregnant, I carried the syringe with me at all times. Once my baby was born, I basically stabbed myself in the neck with the needle and went through the whole changing process."

Everyone was looking at me intently. They all looked sad, though.

"You had no one with you through all that?" Esme asked. She seemed concerned about me.

I shook my head.

"I was alone, but I found my will to live in Annabelle. She's my whole life and I would do it all again for her." I said firmly, hugging Annie close to me.

"Can we see her?" Rosalie asked gently. During the whole thing, Annabelle stayed in the same position in my lap with her head hidden behind my hair. I nodded before smiling apologetically,

"She's just shy." I nudged her gently, urging her to look at me. "Baby, there are some people that want to meet you." I whispered gently. She looked around quickly before asking,

"Who are they, Momma?"

"The Cullens. They're Edward's family." I explained. "This is Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper." I introduced them quickly. Esme and Rosalie were looking at Annabelle longingly. "Why don't you introduce yourself, baby?" I asked gently before kissing her hair lightly.

"I'm Annabelle. It's nice to meet you." She told them. Rosalie got up and asked me silently if she could join us in the couch. I nodded, watching her as she sat down next to me.

"Hi, there, Annie. I'm Rose." She asked me if it was okay to hold Annabelle, to which I said she should ask my daughter. She was fully capable of deciding who she could trust.

"Is it okay if I hold you, sweetie?" Her voice was gentle and inviting. She would have been a good mother. Annie just nodded her head and stretched her arms signaling to be picked up.

Rosalie sat her on her lap and lightly stroked her hair. "You are the most beautiful baby I have ever seen." She whispered while looking down at my daughter. "You look just like your mother." At that, Annabelle beamed. She loved that she looked like me; she knew her father was a 'bad guy' and she didn't like being reminded of him.

Esme then came over to us and knelt down in front of Rosalie.

"You truly are exquisite, my child." She said, gently running a hand through Annie's cheek.

Annabelle looked at me and grinned, loving the attention she was getting. She was a shy child by nature, just like me, but she liked the fact that people other than me knew the truth about her.

For hours, we stayed talking to each other. I found out Carlisle was a doctor and that he was really interested in Annabelle. He wanted to study her, to make sure she was healthy and everything; I allowed it after a bit of persuasion on his part.

Edward told me why he was so frustrated in school. He was a mind reader and he couldn't read mine nor Annabelle's. He got scared for a moment when he first realized our minds were blocked, but he got over it. He'd have to rely on conversations to be able to know me.

Once it got dark, though, I left with Annie. She was almost asleep, and I needed to bathe her before she went to bed.

In a little under half an hour, Annabelle was tucked in bed sound asleep.

For the whole week, I went to the Cullen's home after school and spent the afternoon there. On Friday, Esme took me aside while Rosalie played with my angel.

"How do you do when you're in school?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm… she's going with me, but I only had permission to do it on my first week. I don't know what to do on Monday." I told her truthfully. Esme reminded me a lot of my own mother in a way. She was caring and gentle. But while my mom was scatter-brained and a free spirit, Esme was the opposite; calm and collected.

"I don't want to push it, but I could keep an eye on her for you. I don't do much around here during school hours since I am home alone. I could take care of her." She told me.

I thought it trough and decided to agree on that. Just as I was about to speak out, she continued her rambling.

"You are so young to have such a responsibility. You shouldn't be alone in this world." She said compassionately while caressing my cheek.

"I'll take you up on that offer." I whispered. "At least I'll know my little angel will be safe here with you." I told her. She beamed at me and gave me a tight hug.

I spent the whole weekend with Annabelle, and on Sunday night I told her she wouldn't be going to school with me anymore. She cried a little, but she was so tired she didn't have time to throw a fit.

On Monday morning I drove us to the Cullen's first. Esme was already waiting in the doorsteps. I looked over at Annie and gave her a lingering kiss on her forehead; we had never been apart for such a long time.

"I don't want you to go, Momma. I wanna stay with you." She started crying. Her tears almost broke my resolve, but I wasn't allowed to bring her to school anymore.

"I know, baby. I want to stay with you, too, but I have to go to school. I need to finish it before I can find a job and we can live wherever you want, okay?" She kept crying and buried her face on my chest.

"Shh, baby, Momma will be back soon." I tried to calm her down, but she tightened her grip on me.

"How about we compromise?" I tried a new tactic. "I'll call you during my break at ten, and I'll come home earlier at noon. How is that?"

She sniffed and gave her consent. "Okay." She said shakily.

"Good girl." I whispered. "Momma loves you." I said while lightly pecking her lips.

"Love you, too, Momma." She whispered and let go of my neck. I handed her to Esme, who immediately started rocking her gently to calm her down.

I drove to school quietly. My heart felt heavy. I went through my first two classes in a daze, till it was finally ten o'clock. I dialed the number to Esme's cell phone, and Annabelle picked it up after one ring.

"I miss you, Momma," was the first thing that she said. My heart clenched a bit more.

"I miss you, too, baby. How is everything?" I asked, trying to entertain her. She told me how Esme let her draw, how she taught her how to write her name and mine and how Esme had brushed her hair and put it in pigtails.

"That's good, baby. Are you being good?" I asked. She replied with a yes.

"Good. Listen, Momma's got to go, but I'll be there at noon, okay?" I reminded her.

"Okay, Mommy. I love you." She whispered.

"Love you, too." I replied before hanging up.

The next two classes were also hard, and I counted down the time for me to leave. I got myself excused for the last classes of the day and headed straight to the Cullen's place.

As soon as I left the car, Annabelle ran to me.

"Momma!" She exclaimed loudly. I picked her up and breathed in deeply. Her scent was one of the few things that calmed me down.

Esme came out a few seconds later, smiling at us. She told me she was just finishing Annie's lunch and that I was welcome to stay. I nodded and carried my baby back inside.

She ate earnestly and then dragged me to the living room to show me what she had done. She had indeed learned how to write her name, and all the others in the house as well. I thanked Esme for teaching her, to which she replied she was more than glad to do so. She also said she could teach Annabelle a few things while I was at school. I gave her my permission.

When everyone else arrived, Annabelle all but forgot about me, favoring Rosalie and Emmett. He made her laugh loudly, and she loved how caring Rosalie was.

Alice had made me promise I would let her take us shopping one day, and apparently, that was today. So she, Rose, Esme, Annie and I headed to Port Angeles to fulfill Alice's needs.

I had a feeling it would be an interesting trip.


Hope you guys liked it! Next chap will take a while longer, I'm still in the process of writing it =)

Reviews are better than grilled cheese =P