Chapter Eight

Carlisle Cullen was only a little surprised when he saw the small child on their doorstep, and the twins that accompanied her. "You came early than we were expecting." He opned the door wider, and watched them escort the girl inside.

"How fast we came is our discretion." Alec replied. He set the child down. "Brittany, this is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He and his family are going to take good care of you." The boy turned to Carlisle then. "Isn't that right?"

"Of course, of course." Carlisle crouched to Brittany's level. "Hi there."

"Hi...." The child moved closer to Alec. Carlisle watched Alec pick her up gently. He stayed back while Alec and Jane talked to her quietly, though he could still hear everything. "I don't want stay...."

"I know, but it's going to be okay, Brittany." Alec hugged her close. "Remember that I said I will be writing everyday? And I'll make sure Felix writes too."

Carlisle turned as Bella came to stand near him. "This is Brittany. She's been staying with the Volturi for a while."

"She's so young..." Bella's tone was full of concern. "They want us to take care of her?" Carlisle had informed the family that the Volturi had requested a favor of them, but he hadn't gone into detail about it.

"Yep." Carlisle spoke up to the group in the entrance hall. "Why don't we show her around?" He watched as the twins confered with each other, and then moved towards him. "Well?"

"We have to get going, but Brittany has given us her word that she will behave herself." Jane spoke up now. Brittany was standing between them, looking very discontent. Carlisle decided he would have to get Jasper to lend a hand after Jane and Alec left. Jane knelt once more to Brittany's level, and hugged her gently. If Carlisle hadn't witnessed it himself, he wouldn't have believed the kidness Jane was showing the little girl. Alec took his turn, and it was very clear to Carlisle that Brittany was even more attatched to Jane's twin than to Jane herself.

"Now remember,picolina. I'm only a letter away if you need anythig." He patted her on the head. "Come on, Jane. We should go."

Jane turned once more to Carlisle and Bella however. "Remember. This is only temporary. We will be back for her some day." Her tone suggested that she meant business.

"Of course." Carlisle closed the door behind them, and then turned his attention to Brittany. "Well. I'm sure you must be really confused right now, huh?" He smiled warmly, and held out his hand to her. He took her to the dining room, where the rest of his family were waiting. "Brittany, this is my family. We're going to take good care of you, okay?"

Brittany made a consentual noise that sounded more like a whimper than actual words. Carlisle felt her grip on his hand tighten as Emmett stood up. "Mm...."

"It's okay. This is Emmett. He's a really fun guy." Carlisle watched as Emmett knelt to her level. "She's been living in Volterra castle for a few days. Aro finally contacted me. He was afraid some less careful of their group would decide to hurt her." He said this last part softly. "Jane and Alec found her, and sort of took her in as their little sister."

"Amazing." Edward muttered. "You wouldn't think that Jane and Alec would be that compassionate." Carlisle smiled faintly at Edward's observation. He was busy watching Emmett with Brittany, an idea brewing in his head.

"You remind me of Felix." Brittany spoke softly. She was sitting akwardly in Emmett's lap now, studying him, and the others in alternation.

"He's better than Felix." Rosalie spoke up. "He's nicer."

"How do you know?" Brittany challenged. She didn't look like she was going to believe anything they had to say about the Volturi unless it suited the picture of what she had been exposed to.

Carlisle shook his head at Rosale, signaling for her not to get into it right now. "Why don't we take her up to her room? She might enjoy seeing that." The doctor could feel without being empathic Brittany starting to resist them already. He turned to Jasper then. "You should go with Emmett and take her. She's a little nervous."

"I know." Jasper smiled as Emmett came over to them with Brittany at his side. Carlisle took it as a good sign. If Brittany wanted to compare Emmett to Felix, they would do well to let it go for the time being.

***

Emmett was glad when he and Jasper were left to take care of Brittany alone. He felt as though having her meet them in such a large group had intimidated her. He followed Jasper up to the room they had been preparing for the girl. Carlisle hadn't said much about the circumstances by which they were coming to be in charge of a human child, but now Emmett thought he understood it. "How was it in Italy? Did they take good care of you there?"

"Uh huh...." Brittany was eyeing Jasper. "Especially Alec and Felix. We had fun."

"Oh." Emmett wasn't sure what to say to that. He was sure Carlisle was going to be on a mission to keep the innocent girl away from the Volturi now, and that would mean her never seeing them again. He glanced over at Jasper, who shrugged. He imagined Jasper was, like him, thinking of their own encounters with the Volturi. None of them had been pleasant at all. He shook his head. "Well, hopefully, we'll have some fun times too." He let go of her hand, and watched as she explored the room with wide eyed curiosity. He turned to face Jasper. "Do you think they gave her toys or anything?"

"I doubt it..." Jasper was watching the girl too, and Emmett could tell he was keeping tabs on her emotions from the way he didn't lose sight of her. "She's a little confused, and she feels abandoned." They watched Brittany explore for a little while in silence. When she started going through the books, Emmett stood up and wallked over to her. "Careful, Emmett," Jasper warned.

"I know." Emmett smiled at Brittany. "How did we do?"

"You did alright...." Brittany smiled at him. "I like this house...." Then she frowned. "Are you going to lock me in like Jane and Alec did?"

"What? No way. That's not cool." Emmett smiled gently. "C'mere." He knelt to her level as Brittany came over to him. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Uh uh. Jane and Alec didn't let anyone hurt me at all." Brittany met his eyes for the first time, and Emmett was reminded of how young she actually was. Her eyes were wide, curiosity and uncertainty plain. It was going to be his and Rosalie's job to make her feel safe and comfortable. "They said they had to lock me in, because it was safer for me."

"That may be, but it still wasn't a good thing to do..." Emmett stood up, and held out a hand to her. "Come on, I want you to meet my wife properly. I promise she won't say anything mean." Without waiting for her to reply, Emmett took Brittany next door to his room. Rosalie was brushing her hair. She turned around and smiled.

"Hey, Emmett." Rosalie's gaze went to Brittany then. "Hi there. Do you like your room?"

Brittany's grip on Emmett's hand tightened considerably as she studied Rosalie. "Uh huh. It's very nice." Emmett smiled gently and watched her visibly relax. He lowered himself to her level, and smiled.

"Rosalie helped us pick out the colors." He let her go, and watched as his soon to be adopted daughter wandered their room, getting a feel for it all. Emmett felt another set of eyes watching them, and he turned around. Edward was in the doorway. "Hey."

"How is she?" Emmett figured his brother didn't want to freak the young girl out by voicing her thoughts aloud. Edward smiled at Brittany, who was now resting on his and Rosalie's couch.

"She's fine." Emmett smiled, watching her relax. "Let's let her rest, okay?" He turned to the young girl then. "You feel free to come down and see us when you're ready, okay?"

"Okay." Brittany offered him a relaxed smile, and turned to curl up on the couch. Emmett led Rosalie and Edward out of the room, and closed the door.

(A/N: Thanks for the patience as you wait for my updates. There will be a much longer wait period now as I begin NANOWRIMO. I will not be updating fanfiction until December. Thank you!)