AN: i am happy to say that i was able to get this chapter written and posted alot fast then the other chapters and i hope to be able to keep posting a lot more often the what i have been in the past. this chapter as you will find is the longest so far at over 7,000 words and just over 22 pages long. (atleast in my word program that is). also i am going to be working on reviewing and fixing my previous chapters as i get a chance inbetween writting more chapters for this story. i am still not sure how long it will be though expect probably atleast 30 or more chapters.
i want to say thank you to all that have read my story so far and to ask everyone to bare with me as i try and fix any grammer and spelling errors in previous chapters. please i ask that if you would, review my story, you dont have to review every chapter but to review on the last chapter that has been posted to date and to please tell me what you think. all i ask is that if you dont like it to be polite in saying so.
again thank you all so much and with out further adu here is chapter 11
sincerly,
Anna
As morning came Anna looked over at her children knowing that they would be awake soon and that she would need to see about making breakfast for them. Anna found that just like when her children were first born she was completely fascinated watching them sleep and could not help the soft smile that curved on her lips. She found that as she tried to remember things that had happened in the past they kept slipping away until only memories of her children were clear and even then most of them were of the more recent ones of the last couple of years, she found that she could only vaguely remember the face and name of her late husband who she knew had died a couple of years ago. Sighing Anna pushed those thoughts aside, Carlisle had told her that most if not all of her human memories would fade and or be gone altogether before too long. Looking back at her children Anna forced herself to only think about one thing; they were safe. All that mattered now was that her and her children were safe and far away from the monsters that had done this to them. That now they had found people who were like what she now was though not like the monsters who had done this to her and they were helping her and her children to adjust to this new life and to start fresh. To even possibly have a whole family that Anna had only ever dreamed of having. Looking over to Anna smiled at Carlisle and Esme who had not left her side throughout the entire night, she knew that they wanted her to be as comfortable as possible and to make sure that she knew that she was no longer alone. Anna could not help but to have her smile turn shy as she turned back to her children, the actions and sincerity coming from the two older vampires were a huge comfort and reassurance that Anna was not used to but welcomed whole heartily none the less.
All through the rest of the night Carlisle and Esme had not left Anna's side and continued to talk with her, she truly was thankful for their presence and help. She could still hear the others down stairs talking or what sounded to her as playing video games though she had heard a car leave a couple of hours ago and knew that no all of Carlisle and Esme's children were home. She wondered just how it was that they spent all of their time. One of the things that Anna had learned while talking to Carlisle and Esme the last couple of hours was that vampires never slept. Ever. It was a strange concept to hear let alone get used to, but she found that even as she thought this that she was not in the least bit tired. It again made her wonder what everyone did in their spare time, what she would now do in her spare time.
Looking from her children, as she did so often trying to reassure herself that they were alright, Anna turned to Esme. "Would it be possible for me to make them some breakfast when they get up Esme?" Anna asked quietly before turning back to look at her children. She hated having to rely on others, especially with no means at the moment to get everything that she and her children needed let alone the means to pay back those that were helping her. She needed to talk to Carlisle about how or even if she could get some of their things or at least be able to get the money that she had saved in her bank account. She did not even know and would also have to ask Carlisle about how they would explain their disappearance, or death, or if to just say that they moved away. There was still a lot of things that needed to be discussed and Anna did not want to do it with her children present but she would not leave their side so she resigned herself to wait until probably the next night to talk about everything.
Hearing Esme Anna looked back over to the other woman. "Of course there is Anna, we keep human food in the house for Bella and it would be no trouble at all for me to make the children some breakfast. Is there anything in particular that they like to eat?" Esme said smiling softly at Anna.
"No please, you don't need to do that. I can make them something to eat Esme, I could not ask you to do that after everything that you have already done for us." Anna said hurriedly, she did not mean to make Esme think that she was asking for 'her' be the one to cook, just if there was something in the house that Anna herself could cook for her children. She did not know if vampires kept 'human' food around sense they did not eat it.
"Please Anna, it really is no trouble at all, I am sure that they will be awake soon and you will want to be with them so I can go down in just a bit and start cooking so that when you are all ready to come downstairs that everything will be ready and waiting for them. Please dear it is no trouble at all; I want to do this for you." Esme said while standing and walking over to Anna.
Anna could hear in Esme's voice that she meant everything that she had just said, that she truly wanted to help. She could hear the words that were left unspoken, that she wanted to help make everything easier for not only Anna but her children as well. To make them feel welcome, to feel safe, to feel like they were home.
Anna felt a comforting hand on her shoulder as Esme came to stand in front of her. For a moment it felt like a mother comforting her child, the look in Esme's eyes was one of a mother and it made Anna pause for a moment. She had never really had a mother's touch herself, her own mother was never there for her and she had been on her own sense she was quite young, something that she always vowed to never do to her own children. For that moment Anna herself felt like a child and though she thought it a bit strange and seeing as she did not know Esme that long she still closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, excepting the touch as if it was a mother to her child. Realizing what she was doing Anna opened her eyes and smiled a bit sheepishly up at Esme and felt the need to apologies but before she could Esme smiled down at her and told her with her eyes that she had nothing to apologies for.
As Esme left the room to go down stairs Carlisle stood from his chair. "We will wait for you down stairs Anna. When the children wake up please come and join us. There is a bathroom through the door there for the children." Carlisle said smiling as he gestured to a door against the right wall that Anna had assumed to be a closet. With that Carlisle also left the room and Anna sat in silence just listening to the sounds of the house and of the breathing of her children as she waited for them to wake. She did not have long to wait as she could see the dawns first light already coming in through the window that sat to her left. Twenty minutes later, after Carlisle and Esme and went down stairs Anna heard the change in Sam and Ben's breathing and knew that they were waking up.
Walking over to the bed Anna saw Sam's eyes open just before Ben's did; smiling softly Anna sat on the edge of the bed and ran her fingers through their hair. "Good morning my angels." Anna said as she leaned down a kissed both of their foreheads.
"Good morning mommy." They both said while rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Smiling Anna carefully helped them both out of bed and led them over to the bathroom thinking to herself that she had to do something about getting them some cloths so that she could give them baths and have fresh cloths to change them into.
Instead Anna told Sam to go to the bathroom while she found a washcloth and helped Ben wash his hands and face before having them switch so she could wash up Sam as well. Once that was done she took both of their hands and walked back into the bedroom, she wanted to talk to them for just a bit before going downstairs.
"Hey babies, mommy needs to talk to both of you for just a bit ok." Anna said as she led them back to the bed where she sat down, Sam sat next to her while she pulled Ben up into her lap. "Sure mommy." They both said at the same time.
Anna smiled down at both of her children; she knew that as long as they were together that they would get through anything. Taking a deep breath Anna slowly let it out. "A lot has happened in the last couple of days and I want to make sure that you guys are ok." She started while looking at her daughter and then at her son. "A lot has happened and a lot has changed but I want you to know that no matter what happens mommy will always be here for you. Mommy loves you both very, very much, never forget that." She said as she fought back a sob that tried to break free from her throat.
At that moment both of her children hugged her tightly. "We know that mommy, we love you to." They both said as they pulled back enough to look at her. "Don't be sad mommy." Ben said as he placed both of his hands onto Anna's face. Anna could not help but smile softly at her son and daughter. They were two of the most amazing children that she had ever known and she was so very happy and proud that they were hers.
Hugging her children to her, though careful to not put too much strength into it, Anna kissed the tops of their heads again before she continued. "How would you both feel about staying with the Cullen's for a bit?" Anna said while looking between both of her children.
Immediately both of her children perked up with smiles on their faces. "Can we, can we, can we mommy, please, please, please!" Both of her children said at once while beginning to jump up and down where they sat.
Anna smiled and could not help but chuckle at her children's enthusiasm, they always had a way of knowing and being able to read people and ever sense the moment in the forest when they first came across Edward and Bella and then a few moments later the rest of the Cullen's her children had taken an immediate liking toward them. "There is a lot of things that need to be worked out and a lot of things that the Cullen's have to help mommy with, but I wanted to talk to the two of you about it to see what you thought." Anna said.
"We like it here mommy," they both said. "They can help us mommy, we just know it." They said smiling. Pulling Anna down Sam whispered into her ear, "Esme and Carlisle," she said quietly. Anna looked down at her children with puzzlement on her face. "What about them baby." She said. Again Sam pulled Anna down farther, "They feel like," here Samantha scrunched her face a bit in thought. It was her brother that answered for her. "They feel like family, like how a grandma and grandpa should feel." He said, proud that he was the one to say it out loud. "Exactly," Sam said. "They all feel like family, like they are our aunts and uncles mommy. They feel like you mommy, safe and family." Samantha said and once again Anna was struck by how her children could read people the way that they could. There were times when they talked as if they were adults yet they still held their innocence behind the words they spoke.
At that moment Anna heard first Ben's and then Sam's stomachs growl with hunger. Smiling softly Anna looked at her children. "How about we go and get you two something to eat than shall we." She said only to have both of her children jump from her lap and the bed and grab her hands to pull her up. Laughing softly Anna took their hands and led them from the room and down the stairs.
Unbeknown to Anna the rest of the Cullen's down stairs could hear the conversation that she was having with her children. Shutting off the TV, Edward, Jasper and Emmett all went into the kitchen where Carlisle and Esme were. Esme was just finished the children's breakfast when they heard Anna talking to the children after getting them washed up in the bathroom.
They all knew how hard this was on Anna and what she must be going through, having both her and her children's lives so uprooted and changed the way it suddenly was. Hearing her talk to her children and asking them how they felt about staying with them they could not hide the soft smiles that came to their faces. It was the children's last statements that really threw them though. They felt the same upon seeing them in the clearing yesterday, that sense of family and belonging, that Anna and her children belonged with them in their family. To hear that the children had felt it to made the five vampires in the kitchen gasp softly.
Esme brought her hand to her mouth in her shock causing Carlisle to move quickly around the island and wrap his arms around her. "They feel it to." She said softly. Carlisle held her a bit tighter and kissed the top of her forehead. "So it seems." He said while looking over the top of Esme's head to Jasper and Edward, both had smiles on their faces while their eyes were closed. Carlisle knew that they were concentrating on the three people up stairs.
Jasper was the first to open his eyes and look up to his foster father, next was Edward. "They really do feel that way Carlisle, they can read people very well and their feelings are that of familial, contentment and joy." He said to all those around him though he kept his voice to but a whisper.
Edward nodded his head. "I have never heard minds quite like those two children's before." He said quietly. "The really mean what they say, they have no fear of us at all and seem to know that we really do want to help. They also seem to know that we want them in our family and they feel the same way. It is amazing the way that they think, perceptive, honest and yet still very much so innocent." He said as he looked over to see Jasper nodding his head to what Edward had just said. Next to them Emmett was pumping his hands up into the air with barely restrained excitement he was getting a new little sister as well as a niece and nephew.
Carlisle also could not help the smile that spread across his face as he heard not only the children talk but also to hear Edward and Jasper confirm what they were thinking and feeling. Esme still hand her hands to her mouth and though she was smiling from ear to ear everyone in the kitchen could tell that if she could still cry she would have had tears of joy streaming down her face.
Looking to the stairway the five vampires in the kitchen all smiled as they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Smiling brightly, Edward, Jasper and Emmett all hurried and sat down at the kitchen table while Esme took two plates of food and Carlisle two glasses of juice to the table to await the children. After finishing everyone looked over to the entrance of the kitchen to see the three newest family members.
Entering the kitchen Anna smiled softly at seeing the three 'boys' sitting at the table with anxious smiles on their faces and Carlisle and Esme standing near the place settings that they had done for her children. Looking down Anna heard her children exclaim their joy and run over to the table that held their breakfast before she had a chance to take them there herself.
"Please don't run." Anna exclaimed as she hurried after her children. Anna found that even with how fast she could move now that by the time that she got to the table her children were already eating their food just as fast as they could put it into their mouths. "Slow down or you will choke babies." She said though she could not stop the soft smile from appearing on her face.
Sitting down next to her children Anna turned to Carlisle and Esme. "Thank you, you did not need to do this, I did not mean for you to have to go through so much trouble Esme." She said as she put her head down shyly.
Esme walked over to Anna with a smile on her face. "Please," she said "it was not trouble at all, I was more than happy to do it." She said giving Anna a reassuring smile as she put a hand on Anna's left shoulder before turning to Sam and Ben and watched as they laughed at the funny faces that Emmett started to make.
"Thank you again, for everything that you have done for us." Anna said with a smile to both Esme and Carlisle before turning her attention back to the table, also watching Emmett interact with her children.
Smiling Anna cleared her throat to get her children's attention. "What do you say to Esme and Carlisle for making your breakfast?" She said trying to make sure that they remembered their manners.
"Thank you grandma and grandpa." They said as if it were the most natural thing to do before shoving more food into their mouths. At this Anna was quite shocked to say the least. She knew how they felt from their talk upstairs but could not believe that they would be so forward, especially to someone that they had just recently met.
"Samantha and Benjamin, you cannot be so forward babies. Their names are Mr. and Mrs. Cullen or Carlisle and Esme if they tell…" Anna went to say but was stopped by Esme who knelt down between Anna and Samantha.
"Please, if it is alright with you Anna we do not mind if the children call us grandma and grandpa." She said as she placed a hand on Anna's knee. "We could not help but hear you and the children talking upstairs and we know that we have just met, but we cannot help but feel as the children do." She said with a reassuring smile.
Carlisle walked over to Anna and placed his hand upon Anna's shoulder, the same shoulder that his wife had placed her hand on not but moments before. "I know that you have just come into our lives Anna, but all of us feel the same. That you and the children are a part of our family. Please if you do not mind we would love to have the children call us grandma and grandpa, we do not mind in the least. We have always wanted to have grandchildren, but if it is upsetting to you we will understand, you do not have to do anything that you do not wish to do, we do not want you to feel that you have to do something that you are not comfortable with." He said with a reassuring smile.
Anna was not sure what to do or what to think but before she could say anything it was her children that spoke. "Please mommy." They said with pleading looks on their faces. "We have never had a grandma and grandpa before and they would be the bestest grandparents in the whole world, we can tell." Said her daughter with her hands folded out in front of her. "Yeah mommy please, I want them to be our grandma and grandpa mommy." Her son said with the same look and expression on his face that his sister had.
Opening and closing her mouth Anna did not know what to say and before she could even try there was once again more protests, though these were not from her children but from the other side of the table. "Please Anna." Said Emmett with the same look and expression that her two children had with his hands folded in front of him in a plea. "We would be the bestest of uncles." He said using the same fraise that her daughter had.
"We really do feel as if you are already a part of our family Anna." This time it was Jasper who spoke. "I know that you are confused and it is hard to explain but from the moment that we met you in the forest it really has felt as if it is right to have you and your children here." He said as he used his gift to send Anna all of the feelings that he and his family were feeling toward her and her children.
Gasping Anna put her hand to her chest. She knew what each of their special talents were from the night before when they were all talking but she could not believe the feelings that were coursing through her at the moment. Anna looked at everyone around the table before turning to Jasper. "I wanted you to feel what everyone of this family feels for you and your children. We were being completely honest when we said that we feel as if you and your children were meant to be here, that you are already like family." He said with a soft and sincere smile on his face.
Anna was not sure what to think but she looked around at the faces that were around her and she knew that they were completely sincere and honest in both what they were saying and in the feelings that were being shared with her through Jasper. With the soft smiles on their faces she knew that the feelings that she was feeling were not false. Slowly she took a deep breath to feel for herself and found that they were completely being honest, she saw no deception in their eyes and knew that they also felt like family to her as well though she still could not explain how in such a short amount of time that they could feel so connected. Turning back to her children she could not help the small smile that came to her face as they still help the same expressions that they did moments before. "Please mommy?" Samantha said. "We can finally have our family whole again mommy." She said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
Looking around to everyone one last time she finally came to rest on Carlisle and Esme. "Are you sure you do not mind that my children call you grandma and grandpa?" She asked as she looked to her children one more time before turning back to Carlisle and Esme.
Smiling Carlisle squeezed Anna's shoulder in reassurance. "No Anna, we do not mind at all. And perhaps when you are comfortable and ready we would be just as honored if you thought of us and perhaps called us mom and dad as well. That is if you want to, again there is absolutely no pressure Anna; it is only if you feel comfortable." He said again with a reassuring smile on his face and once again Anna could tell how much he truly meant the words that he was telling her.
Turning back to her children Anna smiled softly. "Alright babies." She said and that was all it took and both of her children started cheering and thanking her before going back to eating, though they could not stop taking excitedly in between bites and at times through the bites of their breakfast.
On top of her children's cheering, as soon as her words left her mouth Anna was startled as Emmett jumped up from his chair whooping and pumping his fists in the air. "Yes, I'm an uncle. Ha-ha I am going to be the bestest uncle that these kids will ever have." He said laughing as we went behind his two brothers. "I will be their favorite as they will like me more than you two." He said slapping both Jasper's and Edward's shoulders.
Instantly both of the other boys were out of their chair and began to chase the now running and laughing Emmett out of the kitchen, all the while protesting of how they were to be the favorites and not Emmett. Anna could not help but to laugh softly at their antics. They really were like the crazy brothers that Anna always wished that she had. A small frown came to Anna's face, but just as quickly was replaced with a smile.
Carlisle and Esme noticed the slight frown immediately but before they could say anything it was gone and replaced with a smile. Sitting down next to Anna they could not help but watch as the children finished eating everything that was on their plates. Esme was not sure what they would have liked and was afraid that she had given them to much food but thought that they could just eat what they wanted and not have to eat it all.
Esme was just about to say something when Anna spoke. "Thank you, to the both of you." She said only to then lower her voice so that the kids, who were still sitting right next to them would not here what their mother was saying. "I could never express how much it means to me for all that you have done for us. I mean…" here Anna looked to her children once more before turning back to Carlisle and Esme. "I have never really had a family before and….. Thank you again for everything that you have done. But please, you don't have to do all that you have. You don't..." Before Anna could continue Esme raised her hand.
"Please Anna, we would not have said anything if we did not mean it. We really would like for you to stay and be a part of our family. You already feel like a daughter to me and we can help you to get settled into this new life and to adjust as best as possible and to be able to have the help you need with Sam and Ben for when you must hunt." Seeing that Anna was about to object Carlisle decided to interject. "Please Anna; it is no problem for the boys to go hunting for you until you feel comfortable doing so for yourself. More importantly for when you feel comfortable and ready to leave your children to go and hunt, though they will never be left alone and we would never let anything ever happen to them. We will not rush you into anything, though eventually you will need to learn to hunt on your own we completely understand that it will be a long while yet before you are comfortable leaving your children especially because of what has happened so recently. It will take time to adjust but we will be here for you every step of the way. I am also sure that if you would like Bella would be able to help with the children as well." Carlisle said as he remembered how well Sam and Ben had gotten along with Bella the night before. Smiling softly Carlisle took Anna's hand into his own. "You are not alone anymore Anna."
Anna did not know what to say as she fought back a sob that started to form in the back of her throat. She had never really known this type of kindness before, only one other person had shown this type of kindness and want to help and Anna found that she could barely remember him, her late husband, who was also her best friend. Before she could say anything though Anna felt a tug at her sleeve, turning she saw her daughter looking up at her.
"Mommy, aren't you going to eat breakfast?" Her daughter said in a worried tone. Her children were always worried when she did not eat, course there were many a times when there just was not enough food and Anna would go without to make sure that her children had enough. Not that she would ever tell them that, she would usually make and excuse saying that she was not hungry or that she would eat later. Fortunately or at times unfortunately her children were always very, very perceptive.
Smiling down at her daughter Anna looked at both her and her son. "No babies, mommy already ate while you two were still sleeping. I am still very, very full." She said with a soft smile on her face. She could not help as her smile grew while she watched her daughter put her hands on her hips. "Honest baby, you can even ask Carlisle and Esme." Anna said before getting interrupted by her son. "Grandma and grandpa mommy." "I mean grandma and grandpa." She said with a slight smile, still not completely sure how she felt about those titles though she still could not shake the feeling that she belonged here and had known the Cullen's for years when it had been only days. "I really did eat while you two were sleeping." She said.
Eyeing her mother for a moment Sam smiled before turning back to finish her juice, satisfied for the moment that her mother was telling the truth. Anna had to smile; sometimes her children were just to observant.
Picking up their dishes Anna took them to the sink but before she could do more then put them down Esme was at her side. "Please Anna, I can do these." She said making her tone leave no room for argument. Before Anna could even begin the protest that was on the tip of her tongue both of her children were up from the table and grabbing her hands.
"Come on mommy, we heard Between the Lions, hurry, hurry." They said as they began to pull her toward the living room where sure enough Anna could hear the opening song for their favorite show that they very rarely got to watch. Coming into the living room Anna saw Jasper and Edward sitting on one of the couches and Emmett jumping up and down in the middle of the room before sitting down, legs crossed just like a child.
"See, I told you I could find something better for them to watch." Emmett said proudly as Anna watched both Sam and Ben sit in the middle of the room right next to Emmett, sitting the exact same way as the big vampire with all three of them having their legs crossed, hands in their laps and leaning forward towards the TV just as far as they could without toppling forward. Anna could not help the smile that came across her face. Looking to her left she saw Carlisle, who had just come into the room while holding Esme in his arms look at the scene in front of them with the same fond smile on their faces as her.
At their cottage they never got any TV reception being up in the mountains and Anna could never afford to have satellite or anything so it was a real treat for her children to be able to watch the shows that they loved on TV. Don't get her wrong, Anna did have a small TV and an old DVD player and this last Christmas she had gotten on DVD some of her children's favorite TV shows like Between the Lions, Go Diego Go, Dora the Explorer and Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids. Though they had them on DVD Anna still never let her children watch too much TV, only every other day for about an hour. She liked for her children to read books or for her to read them if they were a bit more advanced for them. Though her daughter could already read at a fifth grader's level and she was only at the age of first grade, Ben being the age for a kindergarten was at the reading level of second grade. As they were about an hour from the closest town Anna had chosen to home school her children and she was glad for it as she could teach them at her own pace, or rather their own pace and they had already surpassed any child their age. Though she did not push them hard, she still did not want to hold them back and in the process have them get board, which was what would have happened if they had lived closer to town and went to a public school. Anna would often read to them books like The Hobbit, or Romeo and Juliet (changing it slightly of course to make it more age appropriate) and then they would have fun by making it into their own little play and acting out different scenes in the living room. They also loved the classic children's stories and would act them out as well, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, they loved to read and or be read to and to act out each and every story that they read.
Anna could not help as the smile on her face began to grow bigger and bigger as she thought of all the things that her children and her loved to do, all in the name of learning. She had worried and worried as the days past on and she grew more sick that she would not be able to do everything that they were used to doing. She knew that her children knew that she was sick though she always tried her best to hide it, and how she had worried every single day of what might happen to them if and or when she could no longer fight the sickness that was in her body and it took her away from them. There was no one that she really trusted to take care of them and she did not under any circumstance want them to be in foster care.
Smiling Anna thought that there was always a silver lining to any and all situations and even though it was the stuff out of horror films that had happened to them, she was at least glad or rather extremely grateful that she was no longer sick and could never get sick again, that she would always be strong and healthy for her children, to be able to teach them and play with them but also to be able to protect them.
Edward could hardly believe the changes that his whole family seemed to be going through, even his 'Queen of Bitches' sister Rosalie was happy with the possibility of their family getting larger and having a new sister and a niece and nephew. A part of him wished that his all of his family would except Bella the way they seemed to be excepting Anna and her children, well mainly Rosalie and Jasper though with what Anna had done for Jasper he hoped that his brother would be able to get to know Bella better now that he seemed to have a block or filter for human blood but he knew that Rosalie would be a lot harder in her acceptance. He knew that deep down she, like the rest of his family wanted him to be happy but he also knew her reasoning, in a way, for not liking Bella or rather not being excepting of her.
Though thinking of all of this Edward did not hold anything against Anna and her children, quite the opposite really, not only did he understand where she was coming from having seen all that had happened to her and her children in Alice's mind after they had come home from first meeting them in the forest but he too had felt the connection to the new vampire and her children. He too felt as if they belonged with them, a new sister to him and his siblings, a new daughter for his mother and father as well as having a niece and nephew.
When he had been sitting in the kitchen watching Esme cook for the two children he had heard along with his family the conversation going on up stairs as well as being able to hear the thoughts of the six and seven year olds and it just amazed him how they could be so excepting when especially children usually would run away screaming from them, not knowing what they were but being able to feel more acutely then adults that there was something wrong and 'off' about them. So to be able to hear quite the opposite from them was a big shock but in a good way. Another thing that had thrown him was that he could hear the children's thoughts very clearly but he could not hear their mother very well at all. Anna's thoughts most of the time did not come in or if it did was only a word or two here and there. He knew that she was not doing this on purpose nor did she even really know that she was doing it at all so he could not fault her for it.
When he had come into the living room with his two brothers Edward had decided he wanted to try and find a TV show for the children to watch, it was just for a moment when they had all come down the stairs to go into the kitchen that Ben seemed to have seen the TV in the living room and had thought about a couple of shows that he really liked to watch and that Edward got the feeling that they did not get to see often. It was Emmett that was triumphant in finding a children's show and it just happened to be one of the ones that he had seen in Ben's mind.
He could not help but smile as he saw his brother and the children sit down next to each other in the exact same position with their entire focus on the TV. It was funny to see a vampire as big as Emmett acting like a child, 'course he usually always does'. Edward thought to himself. 'Now he just has an excuse.' This thought almost made him laugh out loud.
Looking over at his other brother Edward could see that Jasper had a smile a mile wide that he could not hide even if he wanted to. The emotions in the room, Edward knew, were running very high and currently in 'happy mode'. Just as Edward was turning to look back at Emmett, Sam and Ben, all of whom had not moved a muscle it seemed sense the show had started, so intent they were on the what was going on in front of them, Edward picked up on completely clear thoughts that he knew were coming from Anna.
Turning to look at her Edward found that not only were there thoughts that he was picking up loud and clear from the new vampire but also there were images as well. It was the first time sense Edward had met Anna that he could hear her thoughts this loud and clear though most of what he was hearing and rather seeing were images. Edward saw images of Anna laughing with her children as she sat on the floor and her children stood on the couch or trying to stand tall on the floor in what appeared to be a reenactment of plays or books and try as they might they could only be serious for a few moments before one or all three would break down into fits of laughter. He could not stop the smile as it grew on his face or the laughter that soon bubbled up in his before bursting out as he laughed at the images that he saw.
At this Jasper, Carlisle, Esme and Anna looked at him, three with confused expressions on their faces and one that went from a bit shy to a smile just as wide as his as he knew that she had figured out that he had seen what she was remembering. He watched as she looked around at the three that were still completely quiet only to see that her children and Emmett were completely oblivious to what was going on around them, so intent was their focus on the show before them.
"Edward must have seen what I was thinking." Anna had said as all Edward could do was nod his head, still not completely recovered from his bout of laughter. "I am finding that the more I try to remember the more most things keep slipping away. But I do remember that we never had TV, we had a television of course and an old DVD player and this last Christmas I did buy the kids some of their favorite children's shows on DVD." Anna explained. "But mostly we would read books. Are favorite thing to do was to act out the different books that we would read and would put on our plays I guess you could call them, though it would usually end in all of us falling down laughing." Anna said still smiling as she turned to look at her children.
Edward could see that Anna was one of the best mothers that he had ever seen in all of his long years. The only ones that could rival with her for the most loving and devoted were Esme and his birth mother. Turning to see that the show was over Edward watched as neither Emmett nor the children moved from their spot on the floor as the next show came on, he could see that it was something to do with dinosaurs and was amazed that Emmett was just as intently focused on it as Sam and Ben were. It was then that he heard a car pull into their mile long driveway and could pick up the thoughts of his sisters coming back from their shopping trip.
Anna could see that Between the Lions was over and the 'Dino Train' was starting. She could not help the soft giggle that came from her mouth as not only her children had yet to move but neither had Emmett, he was just as focused and amazed at the children shows as her own children were.
Turning she looked at Carlisle and Esme who were looking at the three on the floor with an affectionate smile on their faces before they looked over at Anna. Before Anna could think about what she was doing she found herself walking over to the pair and wrapping her arms around them as a soft yet happy sob escaped from her mouth before she could stop it. As soon as she had put her arms around the older pair of vampires Anna could feel their arms wrap around her as well and she could feel the maternal and paternal love coming from them and could hardly believe that it was for her as she had never had that before in her entire life. "Thank you so much. For everything that you have done for us Carlisle, Esme." Anna said trying to get her emotions under control. It was then that she felt a calming feeling wash over her though happiness was still very much present at the for front. Letting go of her hold on Carlisle and Esme Anna smiled over at Jasper who merely smiled in return before going back to watching the children's show with his brother and new niece and nephew.
Still smiling Anna looked back over to Carlisle and Esme and it was then that she heard a car coming closer to the house. She had noticed that both Alice and Rosalie were not in the house when she had come down stairs though she did not know where they had gone nor why and with everything that had happened so far that morning she had not had a chance to ask. Now she could only figure that it was them coming home from where ever they had gone.
Looking over Anna could see Edward stand up and walk slowly over to her, before she could say anything however Edward smiled at her and whispered a brief "you may want to sit down for this," before the car had come to a stop out front and in a flash the two missing female vampires where coming through the door carrying at least a dozen shopping bags in each arm.
AN: again please review and let me know what you think of my story so far. please as i would love to get more feed back.
thanks,
Anna