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Carlisle POV
The two days since Rose had woken up had been quiet. We had heard nothing at all from the police, so we still had no idea who exactly had kidnapped her...and why. The Oregon police department claimed they didn't want to "set any facts about the case in stone" until after they'd talked to Rosalie. My guess was that they were just as stumped as us.
It would be very hard on Rosalie when the police questioned her. But the two detectives conducting the interview said that I could stay in the room with her. I was relieved I could be there to support her, but was not that she had to go through more trauma. They wouldn't talk to her for another couple days, I was grateful when Dr Bonner told the police and media that Rosalie needed time to heal before she answered any questions. The media had been circling us like vultures since Rose went missing, and maybe even more so since she was found.
Esme and I continued taking turns looking after her, and we both were considerably more happy knowing she was awake and on the mend. Although her anxiety was off the charts, Rosalie's body had started to recover slowly.
This morning I ended up having to crawl into the hospital bed myself to hold her in order to calm her down after a nightmare. She'd been having bad dreams every night again. The scariest ones were the ones where she couldn't even realize when she'd woken up.
After recovering from this mornings nightmare the first thing out of my little girls mouth is, "Is Esme coming to see me today?"
"She is, she's excited to see you again." I tell her. Esme and Rose had grown even closer in the past couple days. They really seemed to click.
My phone vibrates and thinking it is work I want nothing more than to ignore it and focus on Rosalie but I check it anyway. "Opened gifts this morning with Alice, she loved barbie house the best." The text is from Esme, and I'm glad I took the time to read it. My mind shifts to my daughters fifth birthday; I couldn't believe how fast she was growing up.
"I hope Alice likes my card." Rosalie says, as though she's read my mind. Despite being in the hospital and being unable to see Alice today she had wanted to get her little sister something for her birthday. Last night I'd helped her make a card and took pictures of different things in the hospital gift shop for her to pick Alice's gift from. She'd decided on a pink teddy bear.
"She's going to love it." I reassure.
I had truly hoped we would be home with Rose for Alice's birthday, but the big day had come even quicker then expected. Esme and I had luckily done our gift shopping months in advance. Since I would be spending the rest of the day with my other children I was determined to make Alice's birthday a good one. Rosalie would be very well taken care of by Esme.
I grab the styrofoam cup of water from Rosalie's night stand and hold it against her lips for her to drink. She gratefully takes a sip. Although she hadn't been eating solid foods yet, the feeding tube was giving her enough substance to function. She'd been drinking lots of water, and fluids were given to her so she wasn't dehydrated anymore. It would be a while before she recovered fully but I was so proud of the little progress she'd already made so far.
"Am I ever going to be able to use my arm again?" Rosalie asks, staring at the limp arm with a sad expression.
The brace wasn't helping ease any of the stress off her shoulder, so it had been removed. Though her arm was still completely useless. Rose was having a hard time having to ask for help all the time. She preferred taking care of herself.
"You just have to give it time." I say as I kiss her forehead. Even the slightest move of her arm right now was excruciatingly painful for her. They could not preform surgery on her shoulder until she was older as the operation would be too dangerous for her at such a young age.
"Will I still get to play baseball with Emmett?" She asks hopefully. I'm reminded of of how young Rose is by the almost achingly innocent question.
"You'll be good as new in no time." I tell her. "Emmett will be excited for some real competition, he always wins against me!"
Rosalie smiles, not the big happy smile she sometimes does that lights up a whole room. But it's a smile nonetheless, and her happiness reminds me there isn't a single place in the world I'd rather be in this moment.
/-/
"Happy birthday Alice!" I shout as soon as I enter the hotel room.
"You didn't forget!" She cheers. I hear her tiny footsteps before I see her run toward me. The three boys wave at me in greeting but are all entranced by whatever cartoon is currently playing on TV.
"How could I ever forget about my little munchkins birthday!?" I scoop my little girl into my arms; feeling guilty she had been worried I would forget her birthday.
"Mommy made me cupcakes. They have pink icing. I love my gifts." She tells me excitedly.
I look at the tiny kitchenette in the hotel room and am reminded of how truly amazing my wife is. How she managed to make two dozen cupcakes in the tiny area was a mystery. Either way Alice is grinning from ear to ear and I'm overjoyed she's satisfied with her make shift birthday.
"So, what do you want to do today birthday girl?" I ask, tickling her stomach until she giggles and squirms away from my touch.
"Can we go see Rosalie?" Alice asks seriously, her giggling stopped.
"We can go see her in a couple days, you know the doctor isn't allowed to let you in the ICU."
Her lower lip starts to wobble and I feel terrible for upsetting her. But rules were rules, and there was nothing I could do.
"I'm sorry baby. The doctor says if Rosalie keeps healing she can be put in a regular room in a week." I say, trying my best to sound optimistic.
It wasn't everyday the hospital received child stab victims. Doctor Bonner was still nervous about her body coping through all the trauma it had endured. My heart ached at the thought of how fragile her little body was, and all it had to recover from. Although she would make a full recovery, it would be a long and hard journey.
In the end we decide to check out the zoo. Alice is very fascinated by the animals and so are the rest of my children. By far the birthday girls favourite exhibit is the monkeys. Emmett and Edward like the tigers. While Jasper loves watching the giraffes.
When we go to visit the lions Alice is a little too short to see over the cages wall. I'm about to lift her up onto my shoulders but stop when Edward beats me to it.
"Thanks Eddy." Alice says, her eyes filled with wonder as she stares at the large animals inside the cage.
Edward had really stepped up when it came to being a big brother. When Rosalie had gone missing he'd done everything possible to look after his other little siblings. As much as it was amazing to see how much more responsible he'd become in such little time, I wished it had been under different circumstances.
Eventually we get hungry and I buy everyone hot dogs and fries for lunch from the zoos concession stand. We spend the remainder of the day exploring every inch of the zoo. We stop at an ice cream stand on the way back to the hotel and I let Alice pick out an ice cream cake (her favourite) to have later on and buy everyone cones too.
It's the most normal day we've had in weeks and the only way it could have been better was if Esme and Rosalie were there too.
Esme POV
After watching Rosalie attempt to stifle her fourth yawn in a row I decide to read her a book to help her fall asleep. She was definitely sleepy.
"Are you sleepy Rose?" I ask, running a hand through her blonde hair lovingly.
She opens her mouth to deny it, but looks at me and nods. She looks anxious as she awaits my reaction to this and I smile at her in an attempt to calm her nerves.
I pull out stack of books I'd taken to bringing with me to the hospital for Rose and ask her if she'd like me to read to her. She smiles at me and nods. I'm overjoyed to see the expression. Rose hadn't done much smiling recently.
I spread the books out so Rosalie can see all the different options, I have to stifle a laugh as she looks at them all for a few minutes before finally deciding. She picks up the book The Cat In the Hat and hands it to me hopefully.
I sit down next to her and she cuddles into my side as I begin reading. When I finish the book Rosalie is already fast asleep. She looks peaceful, and I pray she won't be disturbed by any nightmares.
Realizing I need to go bathroom I get out of the hospital bed as I quietly and gently as possible. I decide if I go to the washroom quick Rose won't even know I ever left. I open the door softly and am almost run into by a lady nose deep in a clip board.
I close the door behind me and the woman stops seconds before she smacks into me, though she doesn't acknowledge me in any way.
"Can I help you?" I gently ask the woman as she scribbles something down on a clipboard.
She raises a pudgy finger in a "one moment" motion as she continues writing. She looks up from the paper with a annoyed smile.
"Are you Esme Cullen?" She asks, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Yes, I am. Sorry; but I'm not sure I know who you are." I say. Holding out my hand for her to shake and offering a warm smile.
"Edna Ross." She explains, frowning at my offered hand until I let it drop back to my side. "I'm here to talk to Rosalie Hale."
"Oh," I say. "She's just fallen asleep. What did you want to talk to her about? I might be able to help."
"I guess I'll wait. I'm Rosalie's social worker, it's important I speak to her." She says; sighing impatiently as she checks the time on her watch.
"Social worker?" I ask curiously, not sure I've heard her right. All our other children had the same social worker before we'd adopted them, a bubbly woman named Renee who had tons of experience and was extremely understanding of our family. Carlisle and I had never dealt with any other social workers, so we had assumed that Renee would be in charge of Rosalie's case as well.
"Yes. Which is why I need to talk to her." Edna quips, glancing at the watch on her wrist a second time.
"I completely understand. My children are all adopted. But Rosalie has had a pretty rough time, and I'm not so sure you talking to her is the best idea." I explain. If a social worker started talking to Rosalie, she'd most likely panic and assume we were getting rid of her.
"I'm afraid I'm unable to talk to you and your husband about the matter. As you are the ones being investigated." I don't like the accusing tone to her voice, but since Rosalie was technically our foster kid visits from CPS were a mandatory but rare thing.
"Is there anyway you can wait until she's feeling better? With the police investigation still going on its been crazy." I ask politely. If it was just a standard check up on her well-being it shouldn't be a long process.
"It's not that type of investigation Ms Cullen. This is a very serious matter. Not only could you and your husband lose custody of Rosalie, but your fostering licenses could be revoked as well."
"Lose custody? Why would we lose custody?" I can't hide the shock in my voice. Who cares about our fostering licences when we could lose our kid!?
"With all the injuries Rosalie has gotten during her time with you, you should consider yourself lucky you still have custody! Especially with all the suspicion surrounding her kidnapping." The social worker says with narrowed eyes.
I could tell the lady was trying to get a rise out of me, but I focused on staying level headed. Injuries? We had never and would never hurt Rose in any way. Obviously this lady had been listening to the rumours going around the news. The fact that people thought we had been involved in Rosalie's kidnapping made me feel like throwing up.
"Do we need to call our lawyer?' I ask, struggling to keep the exasperation out of my voice. They wouldn't go as far as taking us to court over custody of Rosalie, would they?
"I would strongly suggest it Mrs Cullen." Her expression is unapologetic, and I decide that I really don't like this woman.
It's my birthday tomorrow :) so worked hard to get this up before the day. Leaving a review or adding this story to alerts makes me very happy and more eager to update asap.