"Oh Carlisle, this will all work out! I know it," Alice chirped.
"How could this possibly work out?" Edward interrupted. "Bringing in a human who has no knowledge of what we are, and putting her at a risk? Come on Carlisle, even you said yourself you have a difficult time controlling yourself around her!"
Alice rolled her eyes. "FYI, we've been in this situation before! We know how to prepare ourselves!"
Carlisle's head sunk into his hands. Telling his family of his offer to Ophelia turned out to be a very bad idea. Although, he was inclined to agree with Alice's point of view, having indeed handled a similar situation before, the paternal instincts within him yearned to protect Ophelia, thus compromising with Edward.
Rosalie scoffed at her sister. "That doesn't necessarily mean it is safe! Just because we didn't kill Bella at first doesn't mean that we'll show the same courtesy to that human!"
Carlisle heard a frustrated Edward mutter under his breath, "Thank you, Rosalie."
The Cullens all turned to look at Bella, who had been mindlessly twirling a piece of her hair between her bony fingers. Edward slipped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed them gently, prompting a dreamy smile from his wife.
"I've been thinking," she said, "and I think that Carlisle is right. She needs the caring that he can provide here. If not, she won't get any better."
"Bella, love, it's dangerous. We don't know how you'll fare with a human in the house."
"I realize that. But, we have to think of Ophelia first, and her healthy recovery should be top priority."
Edward rolled his eyes. "You can't save everyone on the planet, Bella."
"I'm sorry, Edward," she replied, standing up and moving over to sit next to Carlisle, "but I'm taking Carlisle's side. I'm going to help him help Ophelia."
Carlisle smiled appreciatively at his daughter-in-law and gratefully took her hand. She smiled warmly at him and gave an apologetic smile to Edward, who was fuming.
"Hey, people," Emmett called. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at the bulky teddy bear of the family.
"I have to say, I'm with Carlisle and Bells on this one. We need to start thinking of Ophelia, and not how her staying here will affect us. If we're so humane and compassionate, then why can't we open our arms to a human in need? I'm going to help them take care of her too."
Everyone stared wide-eyed at Emmett, mouths gaping a little bit. Rosalie felt a strong urge to envelope her husband into a searing kiss, and was thinking, Why can't he be like this all the time? She clutched the arm of her chair so to prevent anything from happening that she might regret. Carlisle and Edward had thoughtful expressions on their faces, as if Emmett's sudden behavior could be explained scientifically. Esme wore a huge smile on her face, and Alice was smiling smugly, knowing that this was coming. Bella had almost burst out laughing and had clapped her hand to her mouth hastily.
"You know, Emmett, that was actually a pretty thoughtful thing to say. Knowing you, I expected something along the lines of, 'Yeah, another klutzy human I get to watch fall down a lot; how can this go wrong?'" Jasper teased.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that I get to see another klutzy human fall down a lot?" Emmett laughed. Rose, Alice, Bella, and Esme rolled their eyes as Jasper chucked his shoe at Emmett, which he easily dodged.
"All right, all right," Carlisle shouted as the tossing of inanimate objects began to grow into something more physical. "I'm going to ask for the general decision. Can I bring Ophelia here and help her recover?"
At first, everyone but Edward and Rosalie had nodded, but seeing that they were outnumbered, unwillingly gave in. Carlisle sighed with relief and said, "Thank you. I am very thankful to have such a caring family."
Alice had been smiling with approval when her face went blank. She suddenly gasped and broke into an even wider grin than before, almost jumping up and down with excitement. Everyone turned to her with questioning glances, to which she just replied, "It seems Renesmee's going to get a new playmate!"
Bella's smile dropped almost instantly. "What did you just say, Alice?"
"Oh, I think you heard me," Alice replied smugly.
"No! Absolutely not! I am not letting my half-vampire daughter play with a human she could bite!"
Edward stood by her side, arm still around Bella's thin shoulders. "Love, you are being a bit hypocritical. If you're going to be taking care of Ophelia yourself, you are more of a danger to her than Nessie."
Alice nodded. "Plus, I've already seen that Nessie doesn't plan on biting Ophelia the first few hours, at least."
Bella moaned and trudged upstairs to her daughter's playroom. Edward chuckled and followed her. Rosalie and Emmett had disappeared to who knows where; a series of thumps from overhead confirmed everyone's suspicions, making them grimace with disgust. Alice skipped over to her husband and led him outside, leaving Carlisle alone with his wife.
"Well," Carlisle began after a few minutes of silence, "that did not go as I'd hoped."
"No, I assume not. But, the important thing is that Ophelia is going to get the care she needs," Esme said.
"I guess I shouldn't have expected everyone to be supportive of my idea, knowing how Edward and Rosalie share similar views on human interaction."
Esme snorted, managing to make it sound like a quiet giggle. "Which I still can't understand, seeing as they've seen how rewarding human interaction can be!"
Carlisle smiled grimly. "You know as well as I do that being close with humans doesn't always work out the way we hope it will. Just because Bella turned out all right, doesn't mean that Ophelia will."
Esme walked gracefully to her husband and wrapped him in a loving embrace. She placed a tentative kiss on his pearl-white throat and whispered, "We'll just have to wait and see then, won't we?"
Edward watched his wife silently as she played checkers with her daughter, chuckling quietly when Bella would groan at Nessie taking another one of her pieces, and then again when Bella would scowl at him for laughing at her. It had happened at least five times when Bella exasperatedly said, "Fine, I give up!"
"Yay, I win!" Nessie cried happily.
Bella shook her head and sighed as she stood by Edward. "I can't believe I'm still getting beaten by a four year old!"
"Technically, she's only two months old," Edward whispered.
Bella slapped his shoulder with mock annoyance and rolled her eyes. Edward chuckled and pulled her into a chaste kiss, which she then deepened quickly. Edward had to pull away fast before it got out of hand; even though Nessie was smarter and more mature than the average toddler, there were still a few things he wouldn't dare let her see or know about. Bella understood only too well and unwillingly settled for a hug.
Edward soon felt a tug at his shirt and looked down into the large and warm brown eyes of his daughter. He leaned down to her level and allowed her to place her hands to his cheeks, and closed his eyes.
Vivid images swirled in front of his eyes, all of them of different-looking girls. After Nessie had shown him the twentieth image, he understood and smiled. Nessie took her hands off and engulfed him into a strong hug. Edward only laughed gaily and spun Nessie around in a circle.
"What? What did she show you?" Bella asked.
"Our daughter is curious about Ophelia, and she's wondering what she will look like," Edward replied.
Bella laughed at the simplicity of the child's thoughts. She joined her husband and daughter in the center of the playroom and hugged the both of them. "I'm sure Ophelia will be as beautiful and fun as you are, Nessie," she said.
Nessie giggled and said, "I want her to play with me and my wolf! We'll have so much fun together!"
Bella laughed, but then straightened up suddenly. Her eyes had glassed over, and a pondering look was evident on her face. Edward quickly grew concerned and whispered, "Nessie, please go to Aunt Alice and play with her for a little while, okay?"
Nessie nodded and ran out of the room. Edward turned back to Bella, who was in the process of smiling. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, waiting patiently for his wife to clue him in to what she was thinking.
"Edward, I'm beginning to only be surer of Ophelia coming to stay here every minute!" Bella exclaimed happily.
"And why is that?" Edward asked cautiously. Bella had seemed to have forgotten that he was no more supportive of the idea than before.
"Let me ask you something first," Bella ignored his question. "Do you think it's possible for a werewolf to…un-imprint?"
Edward was as confused as ever by the sudden inquiry, and was seriously trying to think of a suitable answer. It took a few more moments for him to understand the basis of Bella's question.
"Bella, love, please don't tell me you're going to try to match Jacob with Ophelia."
"Who said I was even thinking of it? I was just curious."
"Look, I'm no happier about his imprinting on Nessie than you are, but it's not something he can just switch off. He is going to be with her his entire life, and you need to start accepting that."
"It's not as easy for me as it seems it was for you! He was my best friend, damn it! I almost dated him for crying out loud, and now he's in love with our daughter! Our four year old daughter! I'm going to try as hard as I can to make sure that Jake ends up with Ophelia, whether you like it or not!" Bella shouted.
Edward calmly waited for her to finish ranting, and then placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "Bella, listen to yourself. This isn't you; you are being completely and utterly selfish right now. Jacob isn't yours to control and tell who he can love. The situation with Nessie is one that we can deal with as time passes, but you're not taking into account how Ophelia would feel about this. She might not love Jacob as much as you wish she would."
Bella's shoulders slumped and she leaned into Edward for support. Edward ran his fingers through her dark brown hair until she had calmed down, and just held her. He didn't know how long he did, but it felt like a long time. They stayed still for so long, Edward forgot where he was and just dreamed off into space with his lovely Bella, never wanting the moment to end where he'd have to release her from his hold.
Bella stirred from in his arms, snapping Edward back to the dainty playroom. She had turned her face up to look at him; she had no reason but to look upon the beautiful, god-like face of the man she loved and thank the heavens he chose her.
Edward placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and whispered, "Better?"
"Mmm-hmm," Bella affirmed.
She suddenly moved her face upward, catching Edward's lips with her own. Soon, they were caught in the act that they had desperately tried to cover up in front of Renesmee, and were lost in their own world of peace and love.