4. Home- Carlisle's POV

"This place is $1,500 a month?"

"Yes," said the woman, acting a little offended.

I signed. This was the cheapest place I have seen all day.

The carpets smelled like cigarettes and drugs, despite the landlady claiming this was a non smoking building. It would take me over 2 hours to get to NYU on the subway, and the nearest grocery store was a 20 minute walk.

But what choice did I have? I saw hundreds of children leave the hospital with people who should not have been allowed to be foster parents. I couldn't let that happen to these two kids.

This place had two bedrooms, and I could easily fit bunk beds in the smaller room. I could see Alice and Edward playing on the floor if I managed to clean the horrible stench out of them.

The social worker told me I would get approved quickly. She said that right now with all the orphans the city suddenly had, they would approve anyone without a criminal record. I tried not to think of all the children who would be going to families who were just in it for the small cheque from the government.

"Okay" I said to the landlady, "I guess I'll take it"

"Perfect" she smiled at me with teeth that were yellowed from cigarettes.

My next stop was to the local elementary school. I needed to get them registered in school. I went to the school beside NYU and hoped they would let them in

There was a beautiful woman sitting at the front desk. Her caramel coloured hair framed her heart shaped face. Her name plaque identified her as Mrs. Evenson.

"How may I help you?" she said to me in a soft voice.

"Um… Hi" I said, trying to remember how I should explain the situation. Her light brown eyes and beautiful face was certainly not helping me.

"I have two kids… Kind of"

"Kind of?" She tilted her head to the side

"They are going to be in my care as soon as they are out of the hospital. They were in the twin towers"

"Oh my goodness," Mrs. Everson said in a gasp, "And you're taking care of them?"

"Yes. I found them 4 days after and there is not anyone who can take them"

She collected herself, "How old are they?"

"Alice will be 5 on January 1st, Edward will be 4 on December 31st"

"So they will both be in preschool. Which days would you like to register them for?"

Preschool? Oh no. I didn't even consider that they wouldn't be old enough for full day school.

"T-They cant go to kindergarten?" I asked wryly

Mrs. Everson smiled, "No. I'm afraid they are both too young"

I sighed. I needed them to be in school all day. I couldn't have them in preschool for only a few hours a day

Mrs. Everson glanced up at me, "You look like you could sit down. Are you okay, Mr…"

"Carlisle"

"Mr. Carlisle"

Now I felt stupid.

"No, I'm sorry. My name is Carlisle Cullen, but please just call me Carlisle"

She smiled at me despite my awkwardness. She probably thinks I am a trainwreck.

"You must be stressed"

"Like you wouldn't believe. I'm in medical school at NYU and I found these two kids and one of them almost died and then I accidentally fell in love with both of them and.."

I stopped myself. She must think I am insane now.

What was I thinking? I couldn't take care of two children. Everyone could see that.

Mrs. Everson got up and pulled out two kindergarten registration forms.

"I'm the kindergarten teacher. I'll keep an eye on them" she winked at me.

I gasped when I realized what she meant.

"Thank you, thank you so much Mrs. Everson. I promise they are good kids. They won't cause any trouble"

"You can call me Esme" She smiled, "here is my phone number. Call me if you need help"

As she reached forward her sleeves moved, uncovering a bruise that was in the shape of fingers. She immediately pulled her sleeve back.

I swallowed hard. "Thanks, Esme"

"You cannot adopt two babies!" My father yelled at me through the phone. I knew this was how this conversation was going to go, but I hoped he would be reasonable.

"You are going to be a surgeon!" He continued

"Dad, I cannot abandon them. They are little kids"

"You don't have a choice. You cannot take care of two children who will probably have that thing soldiers get"

"PDST" I corrected him and I rolled my eyes

"Well I refuse to pay for your school if you take them in!"

I froze. I couldn't pay for medical school and afford rent. My father knew this.

"Now son, you know how proud I am of you for going into medicine, and two children cannot derail that. You only have one year left until you are a resident. Then-"

"The nothing. Keep your money. I can do this" I shut off my phone.

I looked down at the ground. No I couldn't. How could I make enough money to do this?

Tears began to roll down my face. Now I lived in a smelly two bedroom house, and had to pay for my next semester at NYU. And to top that off, I was taking home two children.

I stopped my pity party when I realized I was having one. I only had one semester to pay for. I did not just watch my parents die in a terrorist attack. I wasn't in the hospital healing from broken bones. And I could get a job, if I could find someone to watch Alice and Edward.

I walked towards their room. It wasn't so much a room as a bed with two sheets separating it from the other patience, but it was a room to them. The hospital was so crowded that they had to share a bed, but neither of them ever complained about it. I could hear Alice giggling, and I watched as the other patients automatically smiled.

"Hey kiddos!" I called to them

"Carlisle" they both tried to say

"Look! Edward can sit up without throwing up!" Alice said gleefully as she pulled Edward into a sitting position.

Edward's emerald eyes locked into mine. He was probably the most beautiful I had ever seen. His eyes were deep, and much too knowledgeable for his age. His hair was a vibrant red colour when he first came into the hospital, but it had become darker almost every day he was here. His cheeks were full of dark freckles, and his lips and eyes were huge compared to the rest of his face.

Alice's black inky black hair was cropped short, barely fitting into the two tiny ponytails she insisted on wearing every day. Her facial features were perfectly in balance, as if she had plastic surgery done. She was quite tall for her age, and I could easily see her passing as 5.

The two of them could easily pass as siblings. They both looked like tiny porcelain dolls, despite their different facial features.

I had to do this. I had to be the best I could be for them. They needed me.

Both of their legs were still elevated. I was glad the doctors fought to keep Alice here a little longer. Her injuries were not as bad as Edwards, but her leg was broken in three different places and it wasn't healing as fast as expected. I knew they also fought to keep her here because they wanted me to keep both of them.

Kebi came into the room, "So how are my two favourite patients doing?"

I tried not to roll my eyes at her. Just a few days ago she said (rather insensitively) that both of them had lost their parents. It was already confirmed that Alice's were gone, and early this morning it was confirmed Edward's were gone too. Nobody had told them yet, and I was not ready for either of them to know.

"We are good. Edward didn't even throw up today" Alice said cheerfully

"Really?" Kebi said, "That's-"

She was stopped as Edward projectile vomited across the bed, directly onto Kebi.

I tried my best not to laugh at her expression. She looked at herself, embarrassed, and turned out of the room.

"Did you do that on purpose Eddie?" Alice asked

"No," He snapped, "My name is Edward, Not Eddie"

"Sorry," she sighed.

It only took a few minutes for them to fall back asleep.

Edward's broken ribs were still making it difficult for him to eat solid foods. When he sat up, the ribs pressed against his stomach. Today was the longest he has gone without getting sick, but it would still be awhile until his ribs were healed.

Tomorrow I had a full day of school, and then at night the social worker was coming over. Usually I could run back to the hospital between classes, but tomorrow would be impossible because I had a midterm. I felt guilty leaving them here, especially since neither of them were feeling well.

I went to my bachelor pad and packed up everything I had. I was relieved I had next to nothing; it made moving easier. My friend Siobhan lent me her truck for the night, as well as her carpet cleaner. It took only one trip to get everything to the new place.

I spend the rest of the night putting things away and cleaning the carpets. Alice and Edward's room was still bare, but I was hoping the social care worker would understand that I could only do so much in a limited time.

I signed as I looked out the window. The whole New York skyline was visible.

But two of the most special pieces were missing.