I don't own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.
Cheryl, Noles, and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and April, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.
Waring: There is mention of the sensitive subject of child abuse in this and the next chapter.
Ch. 1
I peered through the small window nervously. I wasn't sure if I should go inside or not. Last time he was in the hospital, I wasn't welcomed or allowed. With a deep breath, I pushed open the door.
The only sounds in the room were from the machines. I approached the bed and sat gingerly in the seat. I breathed in sharply as I took in all the wires and bandages. I could barely see the face of the man I had loved since I was five.
I gently picked up his hand and was quiet for the first few minutes. Talk to him, they had encouraged. He could hear you, and it might be of comfort for him to hear your voice.
"You've always been the stronger one of the two of us. How many times over the years had you been my personal hero? Do you remember when we met?"
Hero
Daddy pulled up to a white house with two floors. "Here we are. Home sweet home."
I pressed my nose up against the window. "It's so big."
"It looks small to me. Am I going to have to share a room with Bella? She's a baby." Emmett, my older brother, asked.
"Am not." I pouted.
"Are too," he retorted.
"Kids, enough. There's a room for each of you. A friend of mine helped me decorate them. But if you don't like it, we can make changes," Daddy said.
"Daddy, does this mean you have to sleep on the couch?" I asked.
"That's a stupid question," Emmett huffed.
"Emmett," Daddy said sternly, turning in his seat. "Please, be nicer to your sister. This is a difficult situation for all of us, and you're old enough to know better."
"Yes, sir. Sorry, Bella," Emmett said softly.
"I have my own room too, sweetheart. No one will sleep on the couch unless they want to. But I have to warn you, it's lumpy and smells like pizza." Daddy wrinkled his nose, making his mustache twitch.
"I like pizza," I announced.
"Me too, can we have it for dinner?" Emmett's mood brightened.
"Maybe tomorrow night. Tonight, we're having dinner with friends of mine. They have a boy your age, Emmett. And you two will be going there when not at school while I work," Daddy explained.
Emmett and I were moving in with daddy. Mommy couldn't take care of us anymore. Our apartment had one bedroom, and Emmett and I had to share a bed, while Mommy slept on the coach. She often left us alone at night while she worked—once it was for a full week. When Daddy found out he got really mad at her, and he said she was drinking too much. He came to Florida and said we were coming to live with him.
"Shall we go in?" Daddy asked.
We both nodded our heads. Emmett jumped out first, then Daddy opened the trunk for our stuff.
"Emmett, here's yours." Daddy handed him the bag.
"I've got mine." I tugged on the strap but couldn't move it. "It's stuck."
Daddy chuckled. "I think it weighs more than you. I've got it." He ruffled my hair.
The first floor of the house had the biggest TV. There was another chair beside the pizza couch. I could see the kitchen down a hall, but before I could go see, Daddy went up the stairs.
Upstairs, Daddy opened the first door on the left. "Emmett, this room is yours."
The walls were blue, white, and a neon green with football and bird pictures all around. Emmett stepped in and spun around in a small circle. He dropped his bag on the rug and looked confused.
"This isn't the Bucs, what team is this?" He frowned.
"Seahawks is the team around here. You'll like them, I promise," Dad said. "Bells, your room is right across the hall. The bathroom is across from mine."
I rushed into my new room and saw the biggest bed I had ever seen. I ran over to it and started to bounce. Looking around the room, I saw a lot of purple with unicorn decorations. There was even a huge purple stuffed one with white horn, sitting on a rocking chair.
"I love it," I exclaimed excitedly.
"I'm glad but stop bouncing before—"
I slipped, and Daddy caught me before I hit the floor
"Before you get hurt," he finished. "No, bouncing. Let's put your clothes away."
He helped me unpack and put them into drawers. There was still plenty of room. Daddy looked unhappy again.
"Looks like we need to go shopping for more clothes. You both don't have very much, and it gets cold here in the winter." He glanced around the room. "Perhaps some toys too."
"Can we get some books…please?" I asked shyly.
"Sure, sweetheart, whatever you want," he promised.
"Can I get a football?" Emmett asked from the doorway.
"Yes, just as long you promise not to tackle your sister for it." Daddy gave him a pointed look.
"I won't," Emmett said with a large grin.
"Emmy won't hurt me," I started, and he grumbled because I forgot he hated to be called Emmy. "I mean Emmett."
"I know he won't. It was only a joke." Dad smiled. "Are you guys ready to go to my friends' house?"
H
His friends' house was right next door to ours; we went through a gate that connected the back yards. In their yard was a swing set and a trampoline. I stopped and Daddy tugged on my hand then looked down at me.
"Look, Emmett, they have their own playground." I pointed at it.
"Cool." He looked at it curiously.
"Can I jump on it, please?" I asked, eyeing the trampoline.
"Perhaps, after dinner," Daddy told me, then looked up at the house where a man was standing next to a smoking metal thing and called out to him. "Cookout?"
"I thought steaks would be a nice way to welcome everyone. How do you kids like your steak?" the man asked.
I shrugged, not knowing what steak was.
"We never had it," Emmett answered for me.
The man nodded. "That's okay. You can try it and if you don't like it, I can make hot dogs too."
I hid my frown by pressing my face into Daddy's leg. I hated hotdogs—we had them all the time. But I didn't want to say anything and make him angry like Mommy.
"I hear voices out here." I heard a woman speak.
I peeked out and saw a pretty woman with reddish brown hair. She was very pretty and looked friendly. Behind her stood a boy. He was very cute, and I hoped he would be my friend.
She came down the steps and came over to us. "You must be Emmett and Isabella."
"Bella," I whispered.
She tilted her head and knelt down. "Hi, Bella. How old are you?"
"Five," I answered her.
"My name is Esme, or you can call me that or Mrs. Cullen, whatever you're comfortable with. This is my husband, Carlisle. Most kids call him, Dr. C."
"Are you going to give us shots?" Emmett interrupted, looking at the man with a scowl.
Dr. C shook his head. "Not today. But I can't promise I won't ever."
Esme turned and motioned to the boy to come to her. "This is our son, Edward. Emmett, you and he will be in the same grade. Edward, can you take them to your room so the adults can talk? We'll call you all when dinner is ready."
"Yes, Ma'am. Come on, it's this way." He ran back to the house.
I tried to follow them, but I fell behind. When I got to the kitchen, Emmett was waiting for me with his arms crossed.
"Don't follow us. Boys only." He ran off before I could answer.
I stood in the kitchen, not knowing what to do. Emmett was being mean again, and Esme said the grown-ups had to talk. I glanced around the kitchen and spied a big chocolate cake. I tiptoed closer to get a better look. The adults' voices carried through the window.
"How bad was it, Charlie?" Esme asked.
"Bad… neither of them barely has anything to call their own. A half a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, hot dogs, and a few packages of Ramen was all the food they had in the apartment. Both of them are skin and bones. God knows what Renée did with the money I sent every month that was supposed to be for them. Fuck…excuse me, Esme…I do know, she drank and gambled it all away. I have failed those kids," Daddy said.
"You haven't failed them, Charlie. You got them out, and we'll help them. You couldn't have known, you said it yourself, you always met her half-way for visitations. How could you have known it was this bad?" Esme asked.
"I should've made more of an effort to call more. Renée always claimed due to the time differences they were asleep half the time. My heart dropped when Bella told me Renée had been gone for days and Emmett was in charge. He's only seven, he shouldn't be looking after a five-year-old. Emmett admitted to me Renée told him to lie, and this hadn't been the first time. I never would've found out if she hadn't forgotten her phone," Daddy told her.
Dr. C spoke. "Esme is right. The blame for this is on Renée. They're here now. It won't take Emmett long to catch up on their weight with a proper diet. Though I am more worried about Bella, she is significantly smaller than kids her age—she looks the size of a three-year-old. Is it possible—"
"Bella," Esme said loudly, making me jump, and Daddy and Dr. C stopped talking. She stood in the doorway. "Sweetie, what are you doing here?"
"Emmett said boys only," I told her in a whisper.
One of her eyebrows raised. "Oh, he did, did he? Well, I'm afraid my house, my rules, not Emmett's." She walked across the kitchen to the other door. "Edward, down here, please."
She turned back to me, smiling as she came closer to me. I was glad she wasn't mad. "Do you like chocolate cake?"
"I think so. I had a chocolate cupcake once. Is it like that?" I asked.
"Even better since it's bigger." She winked at me as Edward came into the room.
"Yeah, Mom?" he asked.
"Please take Bella with you. You boys will have plenty of other times to be boys only, and Bella and I can have girls only time. But tonight isn't one of them," Esme told him.
He nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. I thought she was behind us."
I followed him to his room, it was blue, but instead of sports, he had superheroes. I recognized Spiderman and Hulk. His bed was up high, and underneath was like a tent with pillows and blankets. Emmett was sitting looking at a comic book.
"We were reading comic books," Edward explained to me.
"She can't read, and I don't feel like reading to her," Emmett announced.
"I like looking at the pictures. I'll be really careful," I promised.
"Who's your favorite superhero?" Edward asked, sitting and pulling a big stack toward him.
"Wonder Woman." Naming the only female superhero I knew.
"I don't have her. I have some other comics with girl superheroes. Do you like X-men?" Edward flipped through the comics.
"I don't know them. Is that Scooby?" My eyes widened.
"Scooby Doo isn't a superhero," Emmett argued.
"Yes, he is." I bit my lip, trying not to cry.
"What superpower does he have?" Emmett crossed his arms in front of him.
"He's pretty fast, and he's a talking dog. Besides not every superhero has superpowers, and they are still just as great at saving the day. Scooby saves his friends a lot," Edward answered him, then turned to me. "Would you like me to read to you?"
I nodded, and he moved to my side and flipped it open. I noticed his eyes were the same shade of green as Shaggy's shirt. Edward was a great reader and tried to sound like the voices of the characters. After a while, Emmett joined us, reading Freddy and the ghost's voice. After the first one, they started a second one before we were called to dinner.
"Kids, come on down," Esme yelled.
Emmett raced ahead, but Edward ran to his closet. He came back with a stuffed Scooby and held it out to me.
"Here, he can protect you when you sleep at night," he explained.
"Thank you." I hugged Scooby to me then Edward.
"You're welcome. Let's go before Mom calls us again." Edward led the way.
He even held my hand when I had trouble with the stairs. I decided he was the nicest boy, and I was going to marry him someday.
When we got to the table, I saw the steak and pizza on the table. My eyes lit up and my stomach growled. I took my seat and sat Scooby beside me.
"We get pizza?" Edward looked happy.
"Yes, as a special treat to welcome our new friends." Esme placed a slice on my plate.
"Yes, no hot dogs." Emmett took a large bite out of his.
Dr. C laughed. "We thought you and Bella may be tired of them. However, you still need some vegetables too if you want cake later."
"Tomatoes are a vegetable," Edward said.
"Tomatoes are fruit. But still more than the sauce." Dr. C shook his head, smiling.
I ate a slice of pizza and a few carrots. I hoped I'd had enough so I could get a slice of cake. The adults had been talking about places to go swimming and where to find clothes for me and Emmett. Esme told Daddy she was more than happy to help. She also said I needed a good brush and conditioner.
"Bella, drink your milk, please," Daddy said.
"But I thought drinking was bad?" I frowned confused.
"That's alcohol, dummy," Emmett said to me with mouthful of pizza.
"Emmett, don't call your sister names," Daddy ordered.
"Sorry," he grumbled.
"Bella," Dr. C called my name. "You're partly right. Drinking too much adult drinks with alcohol in them is bad for you. It's only meant to be an occasional drink. Milk and water are perfectly good for you to drink because they're healthy. Milk will help you grow strong bones. And it's also okay for kids to have juice and soda sometimes."
"O-kay," I reached for my cup.
"You know I think the best thing to go with milk is chocolate cake. So maybe it's time for some. Would you like to help me in the kitchen, Bella?" Esme winked at me.
I nodded, and she grabbed my cup with one hand and held out her other to me. She brought me into the kitchen and helped me into a very tall chair.
"I'm going to cut the boys some slices and bring it to them. Then I think you and I can eat ours in here to have some girl talk."
"Am I in trouble?" I asked.
"No, sweetheart." She gave me a smile as she sliced a large piece for me.
When she came back, she sat next to me. "Before Edward was born, I was what you call a therapist. I talked mainly with children, whose parents were divorced or having a hard time at home. I helped them feel better about the situation they were in. I want you to know you can always come to me if something is bothering you. Your secrets will be safe with me."
"All of them?" I asked cautiously.
"Maybe I should rephrase that. Most. If there is someone who is hurting or in danger, then I would need to tell your father. But it would be for your safety, and you won't be in trouble. No one should be allowed to hurt you and get away with it. Does that make sense?" she asked.
I nodded slowly. "Mommy, didn't hurt me. The police lady asked."
Esme smiled. "That's good to hear. But what about her male friends?"
I bit my lip. "None of them hurt me but…one wanted to play doctor. Emmett got mad at him and pushed him. He hit Emmett."
Esme closed her eyes tightly then opened them. "Did your mother know?"
"She got mad at Emmett for chasing the guy away. That's when she left for a while and Daddy got mad and came for us," I told her.
Esme looked unhappy. "Does your dad know the man hit Emmett?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, are you going to tell my daddy? Emmett will get mad at me again."
Esme frowned. "I don't want Emmett mad at you, but I think your dad should know. No one is allowed to hit Emmett either."
I stared at my plate, knowing Emmett was going to be even more upset with me. I looked back at Esme. "Mommy does."
Her eyes closed shut then she looked so sad I thought she was going to cry. "Was it once or a lot?"
I bit my lip. "A lot. She hit him when the guy got mad and left. Then there was a time I spilled my juice, and Emmett took the blame, so she hit him saying how expensive it was. There were other times too, I forgot how many."
"Please, don't tell Daddy. Emmett is already upset I told. He's afraid when Mommy takes us again, she will be mad we said anything." I started to get worried.
Esme reached over and touched my hand. "Bella, honey, I'm going to let you in on a secret. Your mother will never be able to take you away and hurt either of you—I promise. Your father is a good man and won't let her. And Dr. C and I will do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen. Your mom needs to get a lot of help to get healthy before she can even see you. If she does come here, you must tell an adult immediately and not go with her no matter what she says. She is the one in big trouble, not you or Emmett. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," I answered, feeling better.
"Good. And I will talk with Emmett too. I don't want him to think he did anything wrong either," she promised. "Now for happier news. I'm so glad you came here. It will be nice to have another girl around. If you like, I'll take you shopping for clothes. I bet I know what girls like better than your dad; then we can eat lunch out, would you like that?"
I nodded. "Can it be McDonalds?"
"Yes. And I can help you with your hair, I bet it hurts when you try to brush it." She finger-combed through it and got caught.
"It does," I agreed. "Can you teach me how to make a cake?" I pointed to it.
She grinned. "I can. And if you'd like to learn I can teach you how to bake other things or cook."
"What's Edward's favorite cookie?" I asked her.
"He likes M&M. Why?" She seemed curious.
"Cause I'm going to marry him some day, so I should know," I told her.
Esme covered her mouth with her hand before moving it to over her heart then gave me a large grin. "You are?"
"Uh-huh. He's the nicest boy. He read to me and held my hand. He also gave me Scooby to protect me at night." I pointed to the stuffed animal. "And his eyes are the color of Shaggy's shirt."
She giggled. "I see. Well, I'll be happy to have you join my family one day."
"Mom, we're done, can we play outside?" Edward came into the kitchen with Emmett behind him.
"Actually, I'd like to get to know Emmett for a few minutes. So why don't you and Bella go play on the swings," Esme said.
"Okay," Edward agreed.
"Am I in trouble?" Emmett frowned, looking at me.
"No, not at all." Esme helped me down and he took the chair. "You two go play; remember no trampoline without an adult outside. Emmett will join you in a few minutes."
Edward and I played on the swings until Daddy came outside with Emmett and said it was time to go. I didn't want to go, but he said we had a long day and I needed to sleep. Emmett was quiet on the way home and didn't say much.
H
Later that night, I was lying in bed unable to sleep. I clutched the Scooby but still felt all alone. I'd never slept by myself, and I missed Emmett's snoring.
I tiptoed out of bed and across the hall. "Emmett, are you awake?" I whispered.
"Yes." He sat up in bed. "I can't sleep."
"I miss you. Can I sleep with you?" I pleaded.
"Come on." He moved to the side.
I climbed in next to him and he adjusted the covers around us. I was closing my eyes when he called my name.
"Bella?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry for being mean to you. Esme told me what happened wasn't our fault. She also said Mom won't be able to take us away from Dad."
"She told me that too," I whispered. "I don't want Mommy to hit you anymore."
"Is it wrong to be happy? I like Dad better," Emmett said softly.
"Me too. And Esme…and Edward, I'm going to marry him," I announced.
"You can't. He's going to be my best friend," Emmett huffed.
"Well, he can do both," I argued.
"You're crazy because you're too young for him, go to sleep, Bella." Emmett sighed.
"Am not. Good night, Emmy." I rolled over, snuggling under the covers.
"Good night, Belly."
Hero
"I still have Scooby to this day." I glanced back at the bed and sighed when there was no response.
A/N: As you can see Bella and Emmett had a rough start before they got to Charlie. Answers will come as the story goes on to why Edward is in the hospital. Meanwhile Bella will give you a glimpse of them growing up. I will be updating every Friday.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.