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DISCLAIMER: I OWN NUTHIN...

*TISSUE WARNING*

That´s What Little Girls Are Made Of...

Chapter One-Oh-Nine

BPOV

Oh Esme, what did you ever see in me?

Isabella Swan, who was a socially-awkward, slightly clumsy, plain, and introverted-bookworm; there was nothing special about me.

But yet, there I was, with this beautiful, immaculately dressed woman, who had the eye of every child and adult in the room on her.

Why me?

Why out of all the nicely dressed little boys and girls in the room did she choose me?

I remember, after a week or so of spending time with Esme, asking her that very question.

"Es," having been instructed to, I called her. "Why do you bother?" I had never been one to mince words, so I didn´t waste time beating around the bush.

"Bother with what, Dear?" Es asked with a slight smile in her voice.

"With me," I slapped the book I´d been reading against my lap in frustration.

"Why not you, Sweetheart?"

Again, a question with a question!

I was getting completely and utterly frustrated with the whole damn thing! "Because," I said not able to come up with anything else, "it´s been a week, Es, a week, and nothing´s changed, and, it´s not going to either!" I whisper yelled, hating the fact that my little breakdown was garnering me attention. "Every day, I have to endure the stares and whispers of everyone" I sniffled, ducking so that my face was hidden behind my hair and she wouldn´t see my tears. "I´m plain, nothing special, not pretty like...like Lauren, Jessica, and the rest of them are."

Feeling the beanbag I was sitting dip, strong, motherly arms wrapped themselves around me. "That´s exactly why I bother," Esme crooned, pulling me into her warm embrace. "You, my sweet Isabella, are all those things and more, yet, you don´t seem to even realize it. Most people don´t bother to get past your shy, quiet demeanor to see just what a wonderful little girl you are." Giggling softly, Esme continues, "Your spunk and sass only enhance the package. So again I say, why not you, Sweet Girl?"

Moving to gather her things to leave, she extended a hand to help me up. Nothing more was said, as we made our way to the front of the school in companionable silence.

I looked up seeing Charlie out front in the cruiser.

This was it, the moment of truth.

I´d be lying if I said that I wasn´t nervous.

Thinking, finally I´ve let my mouth write a check that my ass couldn´t cash. Truth be told, I looked forward to my time with Esme, and if she took me up on my offer of spending her time with Jessica, Lauren, or anyone else for that matter; I´d be devastated.

Steeling my resolve, I squared my shoulders and prepared myself to apologize, grovel even, if I had to. "Mrs. Esme," I said, toeing some dirt with the end of my shoe. "I´m sorry if I was rude and disrespectful and I´d really like it if we could still be friends and hang out together after school."

"Oh, Sweetheart," Esme gasped, gathering me in her arms. "You were no such thing! And don´t you dare start with that Mrs. Esme crap or I will be mad." Esme looked at me and grinned, totally negating her statement. "You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me in challenge.

"No, Ma´am," I grinned bashfully. Looking up from under my lashes, I said, "So...see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, Sweet Girl, I´ll see you tomorrow," Esme confirmed before giving me a tight squeeze and a kiss on the head, then shooing me off to a very impatient looking Charlie.

"Oh, and Bella," Esme called just as I opened the car door. "For the record, Angel, I didn´t choose you, we chose each other."

That day marked a turning point in our lives. Esme got the little girl she always wanted and deserved, and after I tore down the walls I´d built around my heart, I got the best mother-figure a girl could ever have.

No, scratch that, I got the best mother that a little girl could ever dream of having!

Memory after memory came flooding my mind unbidden, and before I knew it, gut-wrenching sobs wracked my body. "Oh God, oh God…" I wailed loudly. "They´re gone, Edward! They´re really gone! I don't know how to live without them. I don´t know how to be happy without them. They´re gone, Edward...everybody´s gone! And they´re not coming back, Esme, Carlisle, Charlie, Renee, none of them...none of them are coming back! We´re all alone now," I wailed, holding on to the only tangible thing I had left in my life. The only person that I knew without a shadow of a doubt would always be there for me.

"God, Iz," Edward crooned, crushing me to his chest. "Let it out, Baby Girl! You can´t keep holding this in, let it out, Baby."

And that is exactly what I did.

Geez, that was so hard to write and I shed quite a few tears right along with Bella. Leave me some love, and I´ll be back later!

Krazi

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