Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.

Lots of thanks to MelissaMargaret for making this pretty, and to anhanninen and xxluvCarlisleEsmexx for prereading.

This is a shorter chapter, but hopefully the surprise POV makes up for it. ;)


BPOV

"Eat just a little more," I said softly, pushing the rest of my muffin toward Lucy.

She was too small. I knew she was too small, but I'd been doing whatever I could to get her the best food. I was small too, but I didn't care. Lucy was all that mattered.

But she shook her head, pushing the muffin back to me. "Juice, Mama?"

I reached down beside my feet and grabbed her cup, being careful not to spill as I handed it to her.

Mrs. Cullen had been so nice to us today. No one had ever been this nice to us before. Not lately anyway. When people saw us, I knew they assumed the worst which was why I tried to not let anyone see. Lucy was all I had, and there was no way I'd let anyone take her away.

But Edward...he saw us and gave me money. I was always too afraid to beg for anything, but he just gave it to me. And now Mrs. Cullen was letting us stay in her office instead of out in the wind and snow. Except for the day when Lucy was born, this was the best day ever.

I knew it wouldn't last long though. Eventually, I'd need to find my way back to the shelter to make sure we'd have a place to sleep tonight. There was no way I was letting Lucy sleep outside. Her cough had been getting worse over the last few days, and I was worried. The cough syrup I bought with Edward's money wasn't helping either.

Maybe Mrs. Cullen would know what to do, but she wasn't back yet. I didn't know what they were doing. I just hoped they weren't really calling the police or someone like that to take my baby away. I wouldn't be able to escape without being seen. I held Lucy a little tighter as she picked at the pieces of muffin. That was all I could do.

When the door opened, I braced myself for whatever Mrs. Cullen would say next. But it wasn't Mrs. Cullen who came into the room. Edward was behind another lady, and she was smiling at me with her bright white teeth showing.

Lucy whimpered and coughed as she hid her face against me.

"You don't have to be afraid," the lady said, still smiling. "I'm Alice Cullen, and you just call me Alice. And you're Bella and Lucy?"

I nodded, not finding any words.

Alice Cullen. She was in Edward's family, too. I studied her as she kept smiling at me. Her eyes were the same, I decided. Pretty and green like Edward and Mrs. Cullen. And the rest of her face looked a lot like Mrs. Cullen, too. But instead of light brown hair, hers was dark. It was very pretty, and I wished my hair could look that nice.

"We're happy to have you here," Alice said. She sat in the empty chair and scooted closer. "Mom's gone to check the weather because the storm is getting worse. We might be leaving early today."

I nodded, turning my head so she wouldn't see how sad I was. It was one thing to think about having to go back outside. Actually having to do it soon was different. My stomach felt like it had big lumps in it. I didn't like it.

"Is it okay if Edward and I keep you company?" she asked.

Swallowing, I looked up and searched the room for Edward. He was leaning against a different wall now, and he gave me a little wave when he caught my eyes. I smiled, quickly turning to Alice. He made my stomach feel like it had swirly things in it, and I wasn't sure if I liked that or not.

"That's okay with me," I finally said. "But you don't have to. Your family's doesn't have to help us this much."

"But we really want to," she insisted. "It'll be nice to have another girl around. I'm outnumbered here, not counting Mom. Emmett, Edward, and Jasper like to gang up on me."

"We do not," Edward mumbled, shaking his head.

"Who are Emmett and Jasper?" I asked before I can stop myself. "Sorry...I didn't mean to..."

"No, no." Alice shook her head. "You can ask whatever you want. Emmett is my oldest brother. He works here too, in landscape. And Jasper is my husband. He handles most of the marketing and all of that other business-y stuff." She shrugged. "I don't really know how that works. I take care of web design and some fashion design on the side. You know, the fun stuff."

I didn't know, but I smiled and nodded like I did. Their family seemed so...big. All Lucy and I had was each other.

Alice seemed to be waiting for a response, so I swallowed again and cleared my throat. "That sounds nice."

"It is," she agreed with another wide smile. "It's annoying sometimes, but overall, I love working here."

"You have good food."

"Thanks," she giggled. "I hope they got you enough to eat. Would Lucy like anything different?"

I looked at Lucy, and she was still picking at the muffin. Not much was getting in her mouth, but she was coughing all the time. I kissed her forehead and shook my head. "No, she's...um...not feeling real good right now," I confessed. "I bought some cough syrup, but I don't think it's working."

"Oh, poor baby." Alice frowned and leaned forward to be closer to Lucy. "I'm sorry you don't feel good, sweetheart." Lucy pressed herself closer to me and didn't respond, but it didn't seem to bother Alice. "We can ask Mom what to do when she gets back," she suggested. "I don't know much about kids, but Mom definitely does. So does Dad. He's a pediatrician."

"Pediatrician?"

"A doctor for kids," she explained. "He's really good, too. The kids all love him."

My eyes widened. I knew what a pediatrician was. A doctor. Those were important. What if the doctor called the police? If Lucy was sick, I could probably be arrested because it was my fault. I had her outside for the past two days, and that had to be why. I was trying the best I knew how, but I just kept failing.

Closing my eyes, I held on to Lucy as tightly as I dared. This wasn't the best day ever anymore. I could hear Alice still talking, but I couldn't understand her. Nothing mattered except my precious baby.

Everything was fuzzy, until I felt a hand on my arm.

"Bella...Bella, darling, you're all right. Take some deep breaths for me, okay? You're fine. I promise we won't hurt you."

I shook my head, trying to get away from whoever was touching me, but I couldn't move anything other than my head.

But suddenly, Lucy was being taken from my arms, and I gasped as my eyes popped open. "No!" I protested. "Don't take her. Please don't. Please."

I quickly looked around, seeing that it was Edward who had Lucy. But instead of leaving, he sat beside me on the couch. "I'm not taking her," he said. "But you need to breathe."

"Breathe?" I asked, then felt the tightness in my chest. I was gasping and couldn't seem to stop.

"Bella." I turned to the voice this time, finding the worried face of Mrs. Cullen. "Sweetheart, can you breathe for me now? In and out…slowly. Watch how I'm breathing."

Watching her chest, I tried to copy the movements until finally, I succeeded. My chest still hurt, but it wasn't as tight. Now I was tired.

Before I knew it, Mrs. Cullen had her arm wrapped around my shoulder as she pulled me to lean against her. I had no energy to fight her, so I relaxed.

"I'm sorry if we've upset or scared you," Mrs. Cullen said softly, running her hand down my hair. "We don't mean to. And I promise...I promise that no one is going to take Lucy from you. It's not even in our minds at all."

"Yeah, I only have her now because you couldn't breathe," Edward added. I glanced over and was surprised to see Lucy so calm in his lap. He didn't look calm, but at least she did.

"Can you believe us?" Mrs. Cullen asked.

"Yes," I whispered, relaxing just slightly. I believed them...for now.

"Thank you, Bella," she said, patting my arm. "Now, I have some news. The weather appears to just be getting worse, so we'll be heading home before lunch. And I'm hoping you'll come with us." Immediately, I started shaking my head, but she spoke again before I had a chance. "Just listen to my offer. Please. We have more than enough space for you and Lucy, and I already talked to my husband. He agrees that we'd be so happy to have you. It'll be warm and dry, and hopefully comfortable enough for you."

"But we've taken so much."

"You can't take what's given to you," she said simply. "And we're giving this, but I do want to request one thing."

"What's that?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, as Alice told you, my husband is a pediatrician, and he'd like to have a quick look at Lucy. I know she's been coughing, and I'm sure he'll know how to help her. Then she'll feel better, and the two of you can enjoy your time with us. What do you say?"

I didn't know what to say. The offer sounded too good to be true. Mrs. Cullen would let us stay at her house, and the only thing we had to do in return was let her husband look at Lucy? And he'd make her feel better?

I turned my head to look at Lucy again. She gave me a small smile and reached for my hand. I offered mine, and she held two of my fingers tightly as she leaned against Edward's chest.

Lucy trusted him, and I was pretty sure I did too. He hadn't tried to take her while I was in the bathroom. I'd hated lying to the people I'd just met; Lucy really didn't mind small spaces all that much. I'd just needed a few minutes to try to catch my thoughts and took a chance with Edward. And he didn't do anything bad. And Mrs. Cullen...she'd been so nice so far. Alice too. Maybe there wasn't much of a choice to be made.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "Okay, Mrs. Cullen. We'll go. I just want Lucy to get better. Please help her."

"We will, darling," Mrs. Cullen promised. "You won't regret this. And please...call me Esme."

"Thank you, Esme," I said, turning to smile at her. "Thank you for everything."


A/N: When I first started writing, I planned for this to be all Edward's POV. But then Bella decided she wanted to talk too. I hope you enjoyed this short first visit into her head.

Thank you guys sooo much for being patient with me. School is insane, but all of your sweet reviews definitely make my days better.

I'll try my best to not fail at posting a teaser on twitter this time. I'm KelleyRachelle there.

Thanks again for reading!