Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer is the rightful owner of Twilight.

~.~.~

She's a Cullen.

"Family picture!" Emmett yelled as he charged towards them with a huge grin on his face as he plopped himself next to Esme.

Ava was too shocked to go ahead and give him some witty remark or even shove him off. She felt Esme's lips on her head as her arms were around her, holding onto her as if she were to fall over but still felt the warm embrace that she was known for. Her fingers loosening around the paper work that declared her theirs.

"I-I'm a Cullen now?" Ava croaked out, still looking over the stack of papers on her lap.

"You've always been since the start, love. Now, you're just officially a Cullen much like the rest of us." Esme pressed her lips to her temple as she took on of Ava's hands and holding it tightly without hurting her.

Ava wrapped her own hand around hers, as she looked over at Carlisle who was beaming down at her, with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. "You guys really want me? We only briefly talked about this last week?" Ava asked, a small smile creeping on her face at the thought that they really wanted her.

Carlisle nodded hugged her a bit closer. "Of course, we do! I act- "

"He's been working on it since I saw that you decided to stay, then he expedited the process just last week. We know a guy." Alice interrupted as she danced her way to them with Jasper in tow, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Looking at Alice with her smile growing she finally looked at Esme. "I have a family." Her voice soft, as she tried to compose herself as much as she could. "I have a family. I'm part of a family. Oh my God, I have a family!" Ava exclaimed happily, looking at everyone who was making their way towards them.

"Okay, family hug. Let's go." Emmett teased but Esme pulled Ava to her feet, Carlisle following behind. Emmett embraced Esme and Ava, as he felt Ava's small arms wrapping around him. Carlisle going ahead and hugging the two woman "Finally, I get to initiate you into the family!"

"There's no initiation." Rosalie scolded as she went over to stroke Ava's hair with a soft look on her face.

Edward and Bella walked up to them with Nessie a few steps ahead wrapping their arms around wherever they would fit, along with Alice and Jasper. Eleazar got some really got some really good pictures of the family hugging each other for what seemed the longest ever. Everyone was smiling and laughing which made her feel truly happy and wanted.

This is all she's ever asked for. To be part of a family, a family that loved her and thankfully this is what she got.

"Que bello." Eleazer said before setting the camera in his hands in the casing, as Carmen clutched at her heart, with a look on her face as she looked at the family in front of her embrace each other with so much love.

"I honestly forgot today was my birthday." Ava admitted a bit sheepishly.

"We didn't." Esme sang, pulling from the embrace, a cue for everyone to let go as well. "I never forget your birthday, and now with more reason I won't ever forget." Esme hugged her close to her body, finally having her daughter all to herself now.

"There's one more gift." Carlisle spoke up, as he put a hand on Ava's shoulder.

The family walked inside the house as Esme gave Ava an excited look as she squeezed her shoulders slightly, before following the family, Carmen and Eleazar into the family and out to the front driveway. Confusion struck Ava, as confused to what her present was that she had to come outside for.

Before she had time to question further, Emmett pulled out of the garage with a car she's never seen before, a white Mercedes with tinted windows that were almost black. Emmett excitedly turned off the car and swung the door open as he stepped out of the car throwing his arms wide open, gesturing to it. "Catch!" He yelled before tossing the keys in the air towards Ava. Surprised, she reached into the air catching them above her head.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." Carlisle whispered as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I thought you were buying the car for Esme?" Ava asked confused, twirling the keys in her hands.

"Nope. It was for you all along. I figured you'd quickly get annoyed of hitching rides with the other kids or borrowing Esme's. Also, it'd be very helpful when you go to school." Carlisle chuckled as the look of realization hit her face.

"That's why Alice picked me up. I can't accept this gift, Carlisle." Ava shoved the keys at him, overwhelmed already by the news of being a part of the family but now this over generous gift.

"Ava, take it." Esme pleaded.

Nodding slowly, she smiled at Carlisle and hugged him. "Thank you, Carlisle." Ava laughed out, letting herself enjoy every single moment.

He pulled away, holding her at arm's length. "Honey, you can call me dad, if you'd like." Carlisle soothed, reaching one hand to stroke her hair as she stared at him.

"Dad." The word foreign on her tongue. The word finally having meaning, as to her wanting to call someone dad for so long.

~.~.~

Emmett, Alice, and Nessie practically begged Ava to take her car on a test drive. They drove all the way into Hartford, as the city began to come to life as the sun was beginning to set in front of them.

"Ava, step on it!" Came a cry of desperation from the backseat, the voice belonging to Emmett.

"Seriously, Mamma Esme drives faster."

"I don't like driving fast!" Her hands tightening around the steering wheel, making a sharp U-turn as she headed back to the house before she kicked all three of them out.

"Carlisle has gone like maximum speed with his car, please." Alice pouted in the seat next to her as she sat up on her seat.

Sighing, Ava noticed they were entering the forest and smirked, raising an eyebrow and looking at her most impatient passengers through her rearview mirrors. "Maximum speed coming up." Ava smirked before stepping on the gas.

They didn't have time to react as Ava sped through the forest, faster she's ever driven. The foursome laughed and cheered their way back to the house, the windows and sunroof open as they let the last few sun beams infiltrate the car, their exposed skin shining when it did come in contact with the sun. Nessie excitedly got up from her seat and climbed up and stuck her body out the sun roof.

"Nessie!" Ava and Alice laughed as they pulled up the gravel driveway, every room in the house was lit. As Ava pulled into the garage that took a lot of space, she shoved the keys into her purse, as she followed her siblings and niece inside, only to find no one in there.

"Are they outside?"

Alice nodded as she headed out the back where they once were before her surprise. Outside they found all of them sitting around the lit fire pit on the sectional or on logs of wood that someone must have brought in from the forest. It was a sight that Ava loved to see, her heart soaring with delight as she knew that they were her family. Sure, she's been living with them for a little over a month, but something about being officially part of their family – her family – makes her feel wanted and validated.

"How was it?" Carlisle pulled her out of her head as she was just standing by the doorway, watching how they all interacted with one another. Esme gently patted the spot next to her coaxing her to come sit with them.

Ava pursed her lips before rolling her eyes teasingly. "They said I drove slower than mom." Ava scoffed sitting down next to Esme, the fire lighting up her face with tones of orange and yellow, giving some color to her face.

Carmen and Eleazar sat across from her as they cuddled against each other. Carmen's eyes were slightly closed as she hugged Eleazar, his arm wrapped around her in a loving way that was similar to how Carlisle holds Esme, but in Ava's eyes, no other couple compares to how they look at each other and interact with each other.

"So, Ava, I hear you have a gift." Eleazar casually blurted out as he studied Ava as she crossed her legs in front of her, pulling them underneath her after Rosalie handed her a blanket, even though she didn't need it.

Her eyes wide she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I do."

Eleazar nodded cocking his head to the side before smiling at her. "You have a remarkable gift you know. I've only heard of it a handful of times, and only seen three times with my own eyes."

Ava looked at him with curious eyes, wanting to know more, as she's never known of anyone with her power before. "Really? I only know about it because some nomad told me about it, saying she reads powers told me how to use it and everything." With a shrug, Ava looked down.

"Not only can you help other people who would want to expand their family, you also can have children if you would like."

"What?" Rosalie, Esme, and Ava both asked in unison.

Carmen looked at the three with a soft look as she straightened up from her seat. "Really, amor? That can happen?" Her eyes full of questions, not for her but for the two women she knew have always longed to have children.

"Yes, it can happen. It would only work if you want it to work, Ava." He said quite confidently.

Carlisle and Esme shared a look, wondering if the same thing could happen to them. Ava saw the look they gave each other, a glimmer of hope in their eyes. "Would it work if I used it on vampires? My gift, I mean." The desperation in her voice quite apparent. She wanted nothing more than give back to the two people who have given her what she needed and beyond that. Besides the desperation in her voice, there was something else. Something else she couldn't pinpoint.

Alice and Jasper shared a knowing look, as if they both knew something the rest didn't, Edward's mouth forming into a small smile as he saw what Alice and Jasper were thinking. Their luck was turning.

Eleazar stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, every pair of vampire eye staring at him intently, waiting for his next response, wanting to know what he was going to say next. "It can happen, yes. However, it's a strange conception."

"Strange how?" This time Bella spoke up, wondering how strange it can be compared to her pregnancy.

"Well, when the vampire conceives, they will carry the baby full term like a human pregnancy. The body will adapt to cater to the baby, and so you will also acquire human traits that will only last through the pregnancy and until the child is weened."

Ava looked shocked, a little taken aback. "Yet, Nessie over here popped out within a month of conception, and she aged like seven years in a month and only wanted blood." Ava retorted with a smirk. "How is that even possible?"

"See, that's the thing. You give the gift of conception, the conception of a normal pregnancy. That baby will have human traits, can get sick, eat, sleep, you name it." Eleazar expanded as everyone in the room was looking at him intrigued, their eyes roaming back and forth from him to Ava. "The baby will be more or less like Renesmee. Will age like a normal child if not, just at a bit faster speed but nothing like Renesmee.

"Will it be safe?" Esme questioned, as her hand went over to grab Ava's.

Eleazer sighed as he looked over at his mate, while she gave him an encouraging nod. "Relatively safe, yes."

Rosalie gasped with happiness, while Carlisle kissed Esme's head with the happiest eyes, something compared to when the day he met Esme.

Abruptly, Ava stood up and walked up to her room.

~.~.~

Throwing her heels to the other side of the room and stripping herself from the clothes she's only been wearing a couple of hours. Standing in the middle of the room in only her undergarments, she took in a deep breath, and let a sob out of her body. In the midst of the excitement and happiness that the last two hours brought her, she couldn't help but feel used right now.

Walking slowly into her bathroom she stared at herself in the mirror. The uncanny resemblance between her and her mom. The way her hair flowed around her face and down her back. The way her dimples made an appearance when she smiled or laughed when something happened that she deemed delightful. Her passion for the arts and nature shined through. Her love for human life, only killing people she knew were horrible people to quench her thirst. Going days or weeks until she could find an abysmal human.

Esme wanted a child of her own more than anything in the world. Here she was. A family was all she wanted. Somehow, she felt as if they were doing everything possible to keep her to give them everything she wanted. Esme wanted a baby with Carlisle. Not a grown vampire who she gave birth to ninety-eight years ago with the man who made her four years of marriage with him a living hell.

Turning the knobs for the shower, she let the hot water run. The room slowly filling with steam, fogging up the windows and the glass. Stepping into the shower with a shaky breath, the water slowly soaking her hair, sticking to her back. Would she give them what they wanted? Stay and know that they only really wanted her to stay to give them what they wanted.

The loofah was quickly in her hands as she slowly scrubbed the day away. Her birthday was the best yet, but now as the night had turned to the next, everything was back to normal. Her feelings of despair and unwanted. They didn't abuse her. Perhaps she was so used to being neglected and unwanted that she couldn't accept the fact that people love her. Paul was right, being close to people scared her. The idea of being in a family forever scared her. It scared her, but excited her. What feeling should she let overpower the other? The excitement or the fear?

Letting all the soap wash from her hair and body she turned off the water and wrapped herself in the fluffy towel Esme once wrapped her in. Throwing on leggings and a sweater, she let her hair air dry, as she walked down the hallway trying to find Rosalie. A sound caught her attention, and slowly ascended the staircase, to Carlisle's and Esme's floor. As she walked up the hallway, she noticed the door to Esme's studio was open and the light was on. Peering in, she saw Esme go through the camera a small smile on her lips as she leaned on her desk. Esme had dressed out of her outfit as well, wearing a blouse and leggings with flats.

"Are those the pictures?" Ava's soft voice swirled the air as she had a hand on her doorframe, before setting a tentative foot in the room.

Esme looked up, a grin spreading across her face as she sat up straighter in her chair. Ava walked in and took a seat across from Esme. "Yeah, Carmen lets me choose the pictures I like best before she starts to edit them. Not as if they need any editing." Esme winked at her as she noticed her peering over slightly, trying to get a better look. "Look, I like this one." Turning the camera towards Ava, there was a picture that Ava loved.

The picture showed the three of them; pearly white smiles in the camera. Ava was in front of Esme, with Esme's arms around her shoulders, her face next to hers while Carlisle was sitting next to Ava holding her hand. "I like that one too."

They sat there in silence, as they went through the pictures together. "Mom, um Eleazar said that conceiving would be safe, right?" Biting her lip, her eyes roamed the room, anywhere she could besides her face.

Esme looked up at her through her eyelashes, as she noticed Ava avoiding looking at her. "Yeah, that's right. Carlisle trusts Eleazar." Esme whispered turning off the camera and placing it back in its case. "We don't have to do it if you don't want to do it." Esme whispered, trying to ease her daughter who looked scared.

Ava got up from her seat and kneeled in front of Esme. Ignoring Esme's stammers and protests to see what she was doing; Ava placed a hand on where Esme's uterus should be. "Ava?" Esme asked a little louder, surprised as she felt her hand on her skin.

"Shh." Shushing her, she closed her eyes and reached for Esme's left hand. The last time she did this, she had to be discreet, so, she decided to do it when her friend was sleeping. Ava closed her eyes and took a deep breath before concentrating, and suddenly, the warmth she was searching for appeared.

Esme gasped at the sudden feel of warmth radiating through her pelvis and up her arm. Her eyes wide as saucers, she looked over at Ava who looked content. The warmth soon left her body around the same time Ava retrieved her hands from her body. "There." Ava whispered as she sat back on her legs before getting up. "Now, you just have to do your thing."

With a wink, Ava sat up and kissed her moms head, oddly comforting for her. Closing the door behind her, Ava tried to compose herself as she walked down the stairs and back into her bedroom. Walking towards her closet, she dug out one of her backpacks, and slowly packed it with a few clothes and items that meant something to her. She kept her brothers socks with her always.

Esme's Cardigan.

"That's a pretty cardigan." Ava commented as Esme sat down on the couch by the fireplace as they both drew on their sketchpads, sketching each other as they tried to pass time.

Esme grinned and slid it off her, her sketchpad laying on her lap. "Have it, darling." Esme handed it over, Ava taking it from her with a grateful smile.

Carlisle's piece of shirt she had ripped off by accident when he was trying to control her bloodlust the first time. It was the first time a male had cared for in such a manner.

Zipping her backpack up she sighed and tucked it under her bed.

Just in case.

I had originally planned for Ava to leave; however, I don't know if I should have her leave or just shut everyone out for a while.

Thank you all for all your love & support, it means the world to me. I feel like I sound like a broken record sometimes, but it still has the same sentiment.