Author's Note:

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the support of the prologue. I can't wait to share the rest of this story with you all. It's a wild ride;)

We will take it back to the beginning and work our way to where we left these two broken souls in the prologue…next chapter will explain Bella and Edward's lives before foster care. In this chapter, they are too young to fully explain their pasts. This chapter is wordy but is a lot of needed info…

Please let me know your thoughts….much love!

Copyright: I don't own Twilight or The Velveteen Rabbit


Age 4

Coming from an only-child household made Bella jovial seeing Edward, another little person. The excitement of being in a new space was palpable. Bella didn't know she was staying here for the unforeseeable future.

Bella also wasn't accustomed to such a strict and disciplined household. Her parents were free spirits and certainly didn't have a four-year-old cleaning the bathroom tiles with a toothbrush like she was doing as soon as she unpacked her small bag.

"Bella, you must put your items away and out of sight. I don't like clutter." Jessica pointed her finger at Bella and gave her a sharp look.

Bella was clueless as to why Jessica was acting so mean to her. She remembered how she was lovely when Mrs. Cope was still there. However, Bella couldn't come up with a reason for the sudden change.

"Yes, Miss Jessica." She gave Jessica a toothy smile and began unpacking.

Jessica went on her way to start dinner. Besides, she had to reprimand Edward for rolling around the floor with the little girl when he simply should've known better.

The quiet atmosphere of the New Jersey suburb was a change of pace for Bella, and she was used to loud and noisy New York City. Maybe I will learn to ride a bike. Daddy always said we needed space to learn, she thought optimistically. She pulled her belongings from her knapsack and arranged them on her bed.

Edward looked at Bella as though she was an alien. His foster brothers and sisters were all hardened by the lifestyle that came from being unwanted, so to see someone his age so happy made him curious. He was used to unhappy people, but this brightness and joy in Bella made him almost feel joy for the first time in his life.

Edward peeked into Bella's shared room, not knowing what to do. He just knew he wanted to be near the weird, happy girl. Edward looked around Bella's new room; he never frequented it since he wasn't a fan of his other foster sister who shared it.

Jessica decorated the small bedroom as crappy and basic as possible. The walls were bare apart from a black and white generic photograph framed next to the one window in the room. There were two twin bunk beds made of cheap cherry-colored plywood. The comforters on the beds were pale pink.

The only pop of color came from Bella's yellow blanket, embossed with her name in cursive— present from Uncle Jake from her last birthday.

"Edward. Oh, Edward." Bella had a flare for the dramatics. She pulled his hand, and Edward jolted backward, never one for being touched. "Look at my favorite book. It's the 'Velvetta' Rabbit."

The book The Velveteen Rabbit had become Bella's favorite story. It was also one of the few personal items she was allowed to take to her new home.

Edward took the book when she offered it to him and looked at it front and back; he smiled because she smiled. Neither one could read it, apart from Bella memorizing a few lines here and there. But it gave her comfort, and she would need all the comfort she could get.

"Nice," Edward said while itching the scars on his arms covered with long sleeves.

As dinnertime in the Newton household came around, so did the school bus dropping off the other children. Mrs. Newton would take in a hundred foster children if it meant getting a decent check for each of them.

Despite the extra check she was collecting for the addition of Bella, she had the kids eating no-frills pasta and frozen meatballs from the dollar store. There was nothing special for them; she and Michael would eat a different dinner, often a cut of meat from the butcher.

James was the oldest at eight, and Jane and Alec, the fraternal twins, were seven. James had shaggy, long blond hair and was gangly. He was in anger management due to his previous traumas. Jane was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed cherub-looking child, except her looks were deceiving. Jane was conniving and cunning. Alec was the polar opposite of his sister; he was a heavy-set brown-haired boy with blue eyes. He also was a mute and very rarely spoke, except to his sister.

They all sat down at the dinner table, waiting for Mr. Newton to come home. He was a refrigerator technician for a plant down by the highway. Too bad he spent too much time more interested in the strip club a few blocks from his job.

It was almost five o'clock when Michael Newton strolled into the small stucco home. He reeked of beer and cigarettes. As soon as Jessica went in for a "hello" kiss, she smelled the poor attempt at hiding the alcohol on his breath. "You fucking bastard! You went to the club again!" She grabbed him by his jacket lapels and pulled him toward her, sniffing him. "Pussy, I knew it!"

"Jess, please. You know we haven't done it in a week. I need my fix." Michael started off pleading, but then things escalated every time.

Jessica let go of her husband as the children watched the scene, each reacting differently. Edward covered his green eyes with one hand and pulled at his already untameable hair. Bella watched the scene wide-eyed and baffled. She had never heard these words before today. James smiled at his foster father, whom he admired, and gave him a cheeky wink, knowing what had transpired. Jane whispered how disgusting the pair of "parents" was to her brother while Alec ate a candy bar he'd stolen at lunch.

Michael eyed the kids as they judged him. "Scram!" After all, he was sick of the noise and sticky fingers all the made his way upstairs to try to escape his wife's banshee voice, but she followed him. The children lined up outside the bedroom and listened. Bella had no clue why they weren't eating and instead were sitting on the floor, but she figured it was okay if the other kids did this. She sat next to Edward and smiled at him. He wore a worried look, having gone through this situation too many times for his age.

"I didn't want all these fucking brats. Mouths to feed…"

"If you didn't spend all your money on strippers and booze…"

"Maybe get a real job instead of fostering rejects!"

"I knew I should have stayed with Eric! You always were worthless!"

"Why don't you use that mouth for something useful?"

"Why did you get a speeding ticket on the turnpike, too busy dreaming of hookers?"

They went back and forth like this for hours. Bella was horrified; she had never heard people screaming with such force before. While her father had been stern with Bella throughout the years, saying not to shove peas in her nose or climb the kitchen cabinets, this type of behavior was foreign to her. Bella was terrified, and looking at Edward made her feel uneasy. He had his hands over his ears at this point. Bella mimicked his actions, figuring it was safe if he was doing it.

Eventually, Jessica came out of the bedroom, and everyone hurried away from the door. Unfortunately, Bella was unaware of the protocol and got stuck outside the bedroom, despite Edward's failed attempt at pulling her away. Bella gasped at Jessica's change in appearance; her face had marks and her arm was bleeding from scratches up and down. Jessica didn't pause to comfort Bella, obviously shocked at seeing and hearing this type of display for the first time in her life. Bella cried, feeling sad and lonely. She eventually was summoned to eat dinner.

While Bella wiped her eyes, attempting to stop the tears, Jessica and the other children were eating their spaghetti and meatballs. Thankfully a chair was open next to Edward.

Jessica wanted to salvage some of Bella's first day, just in case Mrs. Cope came by this week with a prospective family. The last thing she needed was the girl complaining to Social Services.

"Let's go around the table and talk about our days. Jane, why don't you start?"

The girl's eyes narrowed, hating when things weren't done on her terms. "It was fine."

"Just fine, Janie? Anything interesting happen in school today?" Jessica's patience was on its last leg. She got up from her chair and made her way over to the bar cart, pouring herself a glass of vodka. "Go on," she urged as Jane pursed her lips, wanting to start a fight.

Jessica skipped over Jane, knowing her game and not wanting to give her the satisfaction.

"Alec?" Jessica pleaded with the little soft-spoken boy.

"Good day." He passed her a piece of paper that he was hiding in his hoodie.

"101 on a science quiz. Super!"

Alec was in the gifted and talented program at school. It was his one break away from his twin, and he relished in not having to listen to her.

James didn't even wait for Jessica to call on him. "My day was great. First, Alexander Fulton taught the boy's locker room what a handjob was. Then Martha offered—"

A cracking sound rang out in the room as Jessica slapped James on the head and muttered, "Knock it off."

It was Edward's turn next. He played with his hands and looked down. "I cleaned everything you asked." He gave a small smile and looked over at Bella who was still teary-eyed. The more she looked at Jessica's bruised face, the more unsettled she became.

Jessica looked at Bella, and Bella didn't understand what she was supposed to say. Nobody addressed her specifically, and she was too distracted by the craziness.

Jessica's expectant stare made her uncomfortable, so she moved as close as possible to the wild-haired little boy.

The chair screeched and it was jolted back in the direction Bella had moved it from, and Bella got dragged away from Edward.

"Don't move the chair, you little brat! Eat your food. This entire mess is all your fault anyway."

Bella looked at Jessica, puzzled. Then she crossed her arms defiantly and blew a raspberry. Jessica was not attempting to hide her disdain for the new little girl.

"I don't want p'sghatti. I want to go home! I want my mommy. And my dad and Uncle Jake!" Bella was now sobbing uncontrollably.

"Eat you little…!" Jessica screamed before continuing, moving her head to look the terrified little girl in the eye.

Splat Splat Splat

Spaghetti landed in Jessica's hair, on the floor, down Edward's shirt, and even a little stuck on the ceiling.

The other children looked on in horror. Edward cringed and put his head down on the table. Bella kept throwing spaghetti until Jessica grabbed Bella's wrist and hauled her to her new room. She locked the door and walked away, ignoring Bella's pleas for the light to be turned on or to be let out.

A little while later, Jane entered the room, taking inventory of Bella's appearance. But instead of providing sympathy, she scoffed and climbed up to her top bunk. Bella hated the dark and had never been without a nightlight; she was too scared to ask Jane, becoming paralyzed with fear of getting out of bed in the darkness.

Creek, the door peeled open to reveal a flashlight and a figure walking toward her bunk. She hid under her blankie. Her breathing became irregular, and she was shaking like a leaf.

Once the lighted figure came closer, she peeked one eye out from the blanket, revealing it was no monster but a pajama-clad Edward, tiny flashlight in hand. He sat next to Bella on the bed and held her hand. Edward didn't know what he was doing but he knew he didn't want to be apart from this strange, brave little girl.

A brave little girl who could be a friend; he never had one of those before.

Bella showed him her Velveteen Rabbit book, which had become somewhat of a security blanket for her on top of her actual security blanket. The unlikely pair snuggled on the bed, flipping through the pages. Bella fell asleep quickly, whereas Edward was always a night owl. Bella's blanket fell to the floor as she rolled into a comfortable position. Edward tugged it gently back on the bed and pulled it over Bella's small frame. He smiled—this was the start of something beautiful and real.

The page that lay open on the bed read:

"I'm afraid," said Rabbit.

"What are you afraid of?" asked Bear.

"I don't know," replied Rabbit. "I just am."

"Then I will sit with you until you're not afraid anymore," said Bear. "We will face it together."