The second chapter today! Weeeee!

In case you don't like it: patz13 is to blame :-P (Just kidding! You know that, right?)

Carlisle was not looking forward to go home that day.

He loved his wife and his children with all his heart, his beautiful house and being able to live inconspicuously in this little town called Forks were additional gifts to his eternal life.

But today ... today was a day that damped his spirits.

It started in the morning when his youngest daughter wouldn't get ready for school. He got a bit antsy - being late was something he detested, for himself and for her.

She had behaved weirdly since the night before when he and Esme caught her and Edward fighting.

But he figured she was just upset about having to clean up her room - she hated that.

Unfortunately, it was something way different.

Something worse.

Before they had reached the school, he noticed that something was wrong with her hand, and he wasn't willing to ignore it. Maddie was still so young and strongly influenced by her human memories, that he wouldn't put it past her to lie about her own injuries.

And he was right.

He pulled duct tape, yes, duct tape off her index finger and saw, that she had obviously tried to tape said finger back onto her hand.

That was such a ridiculous idea that he needed a moment to digest it.

His daughter had taped her finger back onto her hand.

What exactly had happened?

Why did her hand needed to be fixed in the first place?

Who did this to her? She certainly wouldn't rip her finger off herself.

Or was it possible that this was self-mutilating behaviour? Carlisle was worried about his daughter to say the least.

Then he put two and two together: Strange behaviour since the day before ... Edward and Maddie fighting ... she had screamed ... taped finger.

...

If his daughter wouldn't have had to endure such great pain, he would have spanked her right then and there for trying to hide this injury from him and Esme.

Maddie hadn't told anyone - not even Rose or Emmett! Yes, he just assumed she hadn't, because Rose would have told him immediately. She was too concerned about her little sister's well-being that she wouldn't have tried to hide this from him.

He couldn't even be angry while he patched Maddie up, he was just so incredibly disappointed in Edward and was too concerned about her.

She was young and confused and harmed herself severely by keeping her injured hand a secret.

But Edward watched and let it happen.

How could he? They had spend so many years together and Edward had always seemed so responsible and more or less self-controlled ... and yet, he let his little sister walk around hurting. And it even appeared to Carlisle that Edward was the one who injured her.

But ... maybe he wasn't to blame that he had kept it a secret.

Maybe Maddie had made him remain silent about it.

It wouldn't be unlike her to make the wrong choices while panicking.

So here he was, driving home slower than usual, all the while pondering over what he was going to do.

He had called Esme three times that day - to make sure Maddie was doing good, and to tell her he wanted Edward to stay home once he came home from school.

Carlisle was so deep in thought that he didn't even realise that he was already driving down the winding path that let to their house.

Pressing the button for the garage door to open and waiting for a moment, he then steered his car into the garage, where he parked it next to Edward's silver Volvo.

He took a deep breath and loosened his tie, before getting out of his Mercedes.

Carlisle then retrieved his black bag from the trunk and walked up the single flight of stairs and into the kitchen.

Esme greeted him immediately, pressed her lips to his and lingered for a moment longer.

When she pulled away, the look in her eyes seemed sad.

"What is bothering you, my love?" Carlisle asked while letting his hands run up and down his wife's upper arms in a comforting manner. Of course, he knew already what had taken place this morning, but maybe something else had happened on top of everything else.

"Children were arguing. You should have seen Rose, she nearly attacked Edward physically, that's how angry she was."

"Oh dear." He sighed. "Did they fight?" That was the last thing he needed today.

"No, no. I stepped in before it could get out of hand. But she gave him a tongue-lashing, that I am sure of."

"Well then, how is Maddie doing?"

Esme hesitated, but then answered, "She's fine. Just a little upset about what Rosalie said about her."

"What Rosalie said about her? I thought Rose was arguing with Edward?"

"Yes, but Maddie was present. Apparently Rose called her a 'little girl', which irritated Maddie a lot. She feels like nobody is taking her seriously."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"I have. I think she just needs a moment to get over it. She already knows that Rosalie sees her that way, but she didn't like hearing her say it out loud. Especially not, because Emmett backed her up by calling Maddie 'young and inexperienced'."

Carlisle sighed at that. "I can imagine that she didn't like that."

"There is something else I really need to talk to you about. Maddie didn't tell us about her severed finger, because she thought we would be mad at her," Esme said carefully and waited for her husband's reaction.

"Mad at her? You mean, because we might have thought she got into a fight?" Carlisle didn't quite understand.

"No," Esme replied, "she honestly thought we would be infuriated about her telling us that she was in pain."

Carlisle's eyes popped out of his head. "Are you sure that is what she said? It is quite ... odd."

"Yes, I am. She didn't even know why she thought we would react that way. That's when I urged her to go on telling me what happened yesterday, so she wouldn't get a chance to think about it too much. I do hope the human memories that can be connected to that idea have faded completely. I cannot imagine what had happened to her back then." Esme shook her head lightly while explaining everything to her husband.

"Esme, my love, she is here with us now and we will do everything in our power to make sure she's having a happy childhood. Luckily she has the best and most loving mother any child could ask for, darling."

Esme smiled and was embraced in Carlisle's strong arms. The love of his words radiated through her and made her feel deeply grateful to have such a loving husband and wonderful father to her children.

"What do we do now?" Esme asked and looked up into her husband's caramel-coloured eyes.

Carlisle sighed and let his fingers run through his hair. "Will you take Maddie out today? While I talk to Edward?"

"If you wish to be alone with him, I will take all of them with me," Esme offered.

"I'd really appreciate that. Love, I just don't know what got into that boy. Hurting his little sister and not even telling us about it? He left her alone with her pain, I cannot accept that. And I have disciplined him before for harming a member of this family; so why would he do it again?"

"I haven't talked to him about that yet. I sent him to his room as soon as he came home from school."

"All right. I'm going upstairs now to look in on our youngest. After that you could go to the movies or shopping while I talk to Edward."

"Good. I'll let the others know."

Carlisle made a stop in his and Esme's master bedroom. He changed into more comfortable clothes and took a moment to sit on the bed, close his eyes and just take a couple of deep breaths.

Then it was time.

He swiftly made his way to the top floor and knocked on Maddie's door.

She allowed him to enter and so he did.

Sitting on her bed cross-legged and hugging a big, fluffy pillow to her chest to rest her head on, she looked up when Carlisle walked towards her.

"Hey Daddy," she said softly, feeling uneasy about what he was going to do now.

"Hello, honey," he replied, ruffled her hair softly and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Let me see your hand. Does it still hurt?"

She held it out for him to see and said, "It's healed, you can take the bandage off now."

Carlisle sighed. "Sweetie, is that true? You don't feel anything anymore, or are you just tired of having a bandage around your hand?"

She smirked - he got her there. "Okay, it's throbbing a little, but it really is just a little."

"I'll go get my bag and then I will put a new bandage on, a lighter one. Is that all right with you?"

She made a face, but then nodded her head. He would do it one way or the other, so there was really no use in protesting.

He was back in a minute and carried his black bag into the room, putting it on the bed next to where he seated himself.

Maddie scooted closer to the edge of the bed, so her father would have an easier access to her hand and she could swing her legs back and forth while he fixed her up.

Carefully removing the white gauze, he took her hand in his to look the wound over. It still looked like a cut that ran all around the base of her finger, but it was healing all right. He didn't want to press down on her finger to check if the bone had yet mended, but it was definitely better.

So he applied a new bandage, then looked up.

"That is better, isn't it?" he asked her.

But Maddie pouted. "When can I take it off?"

"I will take it off tomorrow," he corrected and answered in the same phrase. He put all the utensils he had just used back into his bag, shut it and then turned to face his daughter once more.

"Now, can you tell me something?"

"What?" She bit her lip.

"Why did neither you nor Edward tell us about your hand? I really want to understand, sweetie."

"Because I didn't want you to know. I thought I could take care of it myself," Maddie explained.

"You haven't kept your brother from telling us, am I right?"

"You think badly of me, Dad," she remarked. Then she muttered, with a sarcastic undertone detectable, "Thanks."

"I am not accusing you of anything, dear, I am merely asking you a question that I would like to have an answer to."

"Well, what do you think?" she challenged.

Carlisle just sighed. "Madeline, please, it is a simple question."

She rolled her eyes, then answered, "I didn't keep him from telling you. I just asked him not to tell you."

"I value your honesty," he replied and hugged her tightly. "Now, how would you like to spend the evening with your mother and siblings? Maybe a visit to the movies? Or some shopping? Whatever you like, princess."

Maddie stared at him, dumbfounded. "Huh?" was all she managed to say.

"I would like to talk to Edward about what happened. Therefore I would appreciate you spending some time away from home for a while."

Maddie didn't want to ask, but she had to. "What about me?" She was in trouble, too, right?

Carlisle saw that asking this question made his daughter uneasy - she played with the hem of her shirt and didn't look up.

"You and I will talk later. But don't concern yourself with this, I want you to loosen up and have some fun now. Can you do that for me?"

He put his index finger under her chin and lightly pushed her head up until she was looking at him.

The warm smile he gave her made her smile, too.

She hugged him and let her head rest in the crook of her father's neck. He immediately put his hand up on the back of her head and stroked her hair.

When Maddie pulled away, she looked more at ease.

"Do you talk to Edward now?"

"Yes, as soon as you all have left the house," Carlisle confirmed.

"Okay." Maddie stood up and walked over to her desk chair, where she found the black leather jacket that she loved so dearly.

She put it on - it was easier with this lighter bandage - and turned back around, chewing on her lip once more.

"Don't be mean to him, okay? He didn't know what he did was wrong."

Carlisle frowned. "Why are you saying this, honey?"

"Well ... I mean, you said it was wrong not to come to you immediately because I was hurt. You said next time I'm in trouble if I don't see you straightaway. But Edward couldn't have known."

This girl had some logic. She figured that just because he had told her today that she must find him when she is hurt and she hadn't known before that, that Edward couldn't have know either. Maddie always forgot that the rest of her family was older than her, more experienced. And she obviously didn't know that her dear brother had already some experience with severed extremities, seeing that Edward once ripped Emmett's arm off in a fit of anger.

"Your mother is waiting, dear. Why don't you go downstairs and find her?"

Maddie noticed that he didn't comment on what she just said about Edward.

The look she gave her father was skeptical, but then she shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay. Bye Daddy!" she exclaimed, hugged him real quick and skipped from her room and down the stairs.

Carlisle sat on his daughter's bed for a while longer, trying to collect his thoughts and waiting for his wife and children to leave the house.

The roar of Emmett's jeep a moment later indicated that he and Edward were alone now.

So Carlisle stood up - determined not to waste any time.

What do you think?

What is going to happen?

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