CHAPTER SIX:

"Something strange was going on in Forks"

For a week and two days Evelyn ate in the Cullen's barely used kitchen, Esme making her delicious foods, the likes of which she had never had before. She especially liked that she was allowed to eat as much as she pleased, unlike the orphanage which had to ration portions. But for some reason, even when Evelyn felt she had eaten as much as she could possibly fit inside her stomach and then some, she wasn't completely satisfied. Still, each morning when she woke there would be a table full of hot breakfast; pancakes with blueberry syrup were quickly becoming her favourite. Rosalie and Esme would sit with her, never eating, barely moving, just sitting and waiting for her to finish. Sometimes they would ask her questions but mostly they just watched, as if she were some rare jewel on display.

Carlisle would come into the kitchen every morning and say goodbye to his family. He would kiss his wife and place his hand gently on Evelyn's head before leaving for the hospital. After breakfast Alice would dress her up in outfit after outfit until she found one that was just right. Evelyn didn't mind, but sometimes she felt as if Alice was having more fun than she was. Jasper would sit on the couch and clap for her as Alice made her parade up and down the stairs like a run-way model.

Then she would be tired, after marching up and down the stairs a million times, and Edward would play her a lullaby on the piano. He was very good, Evelyn noted as she would nod off sleepy eyed beside Rosalie on the couch. Esme would wake her for lunch and then Bella would let her explore the library for books Evelyn had never read. Rosalie would sit with her and read away the afternoon, just the two of them lost in the worlds of adventure and fantasy. Sometimes Evelyn felt like she was in a dream; as if this couldn't possibly be her life.

Dinner would follow, Carlisle would return, then she would watch Alice and Edward play chess which was really strange because they only ever made one move and then someone lost, but Evelyn was intrigued by it just the same.

Sometimes after that Emmett would take her outside. The Cullen's had lots of space to run and play and Emmett would chase her until she was dizzy with delight and then she would just lay on the grass and wait for the stars to come out. Rosalie would carry her upstairs to get ready for bed and then tuck her in. It was a simple schedule, but one that Evelyn enjoyed, and it was quickly becoming apparent that the little angel-faced girl had carved out a niche for herself in the Cullen house.

"Charlie wants to visit," Alice said dancing down the stairs early one morning. "He's going to call any moment—"

The phone rang. Bella nodded, and then went to answer it.

"Hi dad," she said. "Good, everyone's good." She paused as Charlie asked her a question. No, she's still gone with Jake. They're visiting Renee."

Bella bit her lip. "I think Leah and Seth went down to meet them. Oh, Sue never mentioned it? Well you know how those things slip her mind. Leah and Seth are always getting up to something."

Bella chuckled under her breath, and then she nodded, expecting the request. "Umm…tonight?"

Bella looked out towards the living room. Rose sat with Evelyn on her lap. They had Romeo and Juliet open in front of them. It was the third book Evelyn had read through this morning. Emmett and Jasper were engrossed with something on the news. Carlisle had left early for his shift at the hospital. Esme, Edward, and Alice were gathered on the couch, looking at the baby photos of Renesmee trying to figure out a timeline for Evelyn's growth compared to Renesmee's. The girl seemed to change minutely every day, but it was such a miniscule amount that it was almost unnoticeable, even to a bunch of vampires, which was completely different from the way Nessie had grown.

They were all doing exceptionally ordinary things—watching TV, reading to a child, reminiscing over photos—and yet they were a completely extraordinary family. How could Bella expect that Charlie wouldn't want to visit?

Alice looked up and gave Bella an excited thumbs up.

"Yah, sure dad, tonight would be great. Why don't you and Sue come around seven?" She paused again. "Okay great, see you then. Love ya dad." Bella hung up the phone.

"What do we tell him about Evelyn?" Bella asked in a whisper, sitting beside Edward on the couch. She looked at Alice who shrugged.

"I don't come up with the details, I just see the outcome. But apparently whatever you decide is going to be fine," Alice said touching her temple. She got up and took Jasper by the hand. They were going to hunt if Charlie and Sue were visiting tonight. That way Jasper would be on his very best behaviour.

Edward secretly thought she was just using it as an excuse to get away from him. She was still throwing up some serious mental blocks and it was beginning to drive him crazy. In the last minute alone she had reviewed every piece of clothing she had ever put in Bella's closet, then compared it to every piece of clothing Bella had actually worn, which didn't take long, so she moved on to Renesmee. There was absolutely no reason to mentally catalogue the Cullen's clothing so Edward knew she was hiding something.

Bella groaned. "Well if I knew that, I would never have told him to come."

She broke Edward out of his own train of thoughts. "He's going to ask questions that we don't have answers to," he said simply, throwing a sideways glance at Rosalie. She was stroking Evelyn's hair, almost as if it was therapeutic, as Evelyn read quietly under her breath. It was almost a whisper but Rose could hear her perfectly.

"Well you couldn't just say no," Esme said defensively but her face was a mirror of calm. "He's your dad Bella and he's getting old. Now that he's retired he has nothing to do, the least you can do is have him and Sue over for dinner."

Bella sighed. Esme was right. But she didn't like thinking about Charlie that way, or Renee. Bella would be frozen forever, never growing older, but her parents had continued to age and were now in their mid-sixties. It was a strange feeling to know one day they wouldn't be here anymore. It was something she had accepted a long time ago but it didn't make her feel any better to know she would soon be without them. Death. It was just a human thing: an unavoidable fact of life.

Edward took his wife's hand. "Don't worry, darling, we'll think of something."

"Foster child?" Esme suggested offhandedly.

Rose shook her head from across the room, "Charlie was just here three weeks ago and there was no girl. How could it happen that fast?" Evelyn looked up, clearly noting that they were talking about her, but she didn't seem to mind. It was a long time since people cared enough to talk about her: even if one of the options that came up was hiding her upstairs. Rose shot that down so they were back to the foster child idea.

"Actually, it could work. Carlisle and Esme 'technically' adopted all of us, why couldn't they be foster parents?" Edward proposed.

Bella looked at Rose and shrugged.

"I guess we could say Carlisle met her at the hospital and we took her in," Bella suggested.

"Good idea." Esme nodded. "I'll call Carlisle and let him know."

Edward looked at Rosalie for a long minute. She had pulled Evelyn onto her lap and they began reading again after a conversation about why Romeo was a bad influence and Juliet was a fool. Rosalie definitely disapproved of the fictional characters, which made Edward chuckle.

"There's only one problem," Edward whispered to Bella.

"What?"

"Evelyn's attached to Rosalie at the hip. And Rosalie never lets her out of her sight. Even Emmett keeps tabs on her. They barely let the girl go to that bathroom on her own. It's going to look awfully strange if Carlisle and Esme are supposed to be her foster parents and yet Rosalie and Emmett are acting like her pare-" Edward trailed off. Then he smirked.

"What is it?" Bella asked.

"Nothing, I just have an inkling as to what Alice has been hiding from all of us."

And though Edward had figured out something, it wasn't the something Alice was actually trying to hide from him. He would learn of that vision later.

"And?" Bella asked.

"I don't want to spoil it. But I have a feeling Evelyn may be here to stay, if you get my drift."

Charlie and Sue arrived at exactly ten minutes past seven in the car Edward had bought him as a retirement gift. Since he could no longer drive the cruiser around town he needed another vehicle and Edward thought a lavish sports car was in order. Charlie tried to decline it but it was obvious that he really wanted it. Bella thought it might be dangerous for him to have access to so much horsepower. Even being a cop, Charlie was never exactly involved in a high speed chase. Forks wasn't the kind of place for that: just epic vampire battles and the occasional shape-shifting werewolf dispute. But Edward promised he would be fine.

"Hi Dad. Hey Sue!" Bella said greeting her dad and step-mom. Charlie Swan and Sue Clearwater had gotten married about twelve years ago and as far as Bella was concerned it was the best thing that ever happened to him. He was happier now than he had been when Bella told Charlie she was moving to Forks. Besides, now that Bella was out of the house, having Sue's kids Seth and Leah around, helped keep him young.

"Hey Bells," Charlie said pulling his daughter into a one armed hug. "Gosh, you're freezing kiddo," Charlie said, like every other time he came to visit, just for good measure. He shook Edward's hand cordially.

"Yep, and I'm as healthy as a horse," Bella replied like always. Charlie had a pretty good understanding that something strange was going on in Forks, mainly because Jake had once stripped down naked and phased into a massive mangy dog right in front of him, but he wasn't given any other details because for his safety it was better he didn't know about the existence of vampires or that half of the Quileute tribe were shape-shifting werewolves. It would give him a heart attack. Charlie could continue thinking Jake was the sole oddity in Forks, which was fine with Bella. Though she knew Charlie often wondered about the fact that she had not aged in nearly twenty years, just like the rest of the Cullen's. This wouldn't have been a big deal, except for the fact Charlie constantly harped about the fact that Carlisle still looked like a young male model and he was a grandpa too, who should be in his early fifties by now. Carlisle blamed good genes and a rare diet. Charlie pretended to buy it, but he knew better.

Carlisle came out of the kitchen with a glass of wine for both Charlie and Sue. He greeted them pleasantly and showed them to the living room. Charlie saw that the floor was littered with crayons and brightly coloured papers, which was odd because Renesmee outgrew her colouring stage a long time ago. Then he saw the blonde, green-eyed child lying on the floor beside the coffee table. She was humming softly to herself as she scribbled on the paper in that way kids do, making squiggles and mismatched shapes into intricate images from their imagination.

"Who's this?" Charlie asked dumbfounded.

"Oh, forgive us Charlie, this is Evelyn," Carlisle said. The girl looked up and smiled at Charlie and his heart seemed to skip a beat. She had the same strange beauty as Renesmee. Oh no!

"Hello," Charlie said. He looked puzzled and Edward seemed to understand his thoughts.

"She's Esme and Carlisle's foster daughter," Edward said, clearing up whatever confusion Charlie was experiencing. Being a seasoned mother to two supernatural kids Sue wasn't surprised by much and nodded warmly. Charlie sighed in relief.

"Geez, Bells, for as second I thought you were going to tell me you had gone off and adopted another kid. I always seem to be the last to know these things."

Edward and Bella laughed nervously. There was no doubt that Charlie loved Renesmee as his own biological granddaughter, which she was, but for Charlie's piece of mind and the fact that Renesmee had an accelerated birth, the technical story was that Edward and Bella had adopted Edward's niece. But there was no mistaking the family resemblance. She had Charlie's curls for crying out loud. That was just one of those things that Charlie was told he didn't need to know so he accepted that and was just happy to have Bella and her family in his life.

"No, Carlisle met her in the hospital. And they hit it off so she's come to stay with them for a while," Bella said, selling the story they fabricated earlier that afternoon. She hoped Charlie didn't ask too many questions because they didn't have much more than that.

"Esme's just starting dinner," Edward said, gesturing to the kitchen, catching most of Bella's thoughts as she threw down her shield again. "I think we're having Italian."

"Sounds wonderful, c'mon Charlie, we'll help," Sue said dragging him along. Charlie looked nervous; he wasn't what one would call kitchen savvy. Evelyn followed behind, taking her seat at the table beside Jasper who was mulling over a newspaper looking particularly human.

"Charlie," he said nodding.

"Hi, Jasper, and where's your-"

At that moment Alice walked into the kitchen. "Hello Charlie, hi Sue," she said. "It's good to see you."

"Alice!" Charlie said pulling her into a hug. Of all the Cullen's Alice was his favorite. He liked her even more than he liked Edward, though Edward had grown on him, being married to Bella and all. Charlie looked around for the big guy—Emmett—and his wife Rosalie but they were no-where to be found. The Cullen's had decided it would be easier to keep up the Evelyn charade if Rosalie and Emmett were not doting and checking up on her every two seconds like a couple of first time parents. It would be too hard to explain that, so they had gone hunting for the evening, reluctantly to say the least.

"I hear you're helping with dinner," Alice said amused.

"Apparently Sue thinks I need to learn a few things," Charlie nodded and so did Bella from behind his back.

Alice laughed, "Well then we'll put you to work. How are you at chopping onions?" Charlie shrugged. He was the retired chief of police; of course he could chop onions.

Edward chuckled under his breath.

As was expected by everyone else except him, Charlie chopped the onions with some difficulty. He was never really the cooking type and he couldn't seem to get the knife cleanly through the vegetable. Sue had shown him twice how to slide the utensil through so the slices were nice and even but Charlie took to just stabbing at the onion until it fell apart in pieces. It was a hard job that only became more difficult as his eyes filled with tears. He had forgotten that onions made you cry. His work became sloppier and that's when the knife slipped.

Jasper had been watching Evelyn colour quietly at the table. She was so content and Jasper was enjoying her happy emotions so much, the girl was literally glowing with satisfaction, that he registered the sharp contrast in her mood instantly. At first her wide eyes and hungry desire confused him. But then Jasper smelt the blood. He turned to see Charlie across the kitchen with a towel pressed against his finger. Sue was telling him to put pressure on it.

Bella gasped from the living room, her nostrils filling with the scent of her father's blood, and Edward registered the thoughts rushing through Evelyn's head.

She was thirsty.

And Charlie smelt really good.

Too good in fact.

It was a sickly sweet smell but she was uncontrollably drawn to it.

Edward was in the living room; too far to reach her without using his vampire speed. Carlisle and Esme exchanged a worried glance assuming it was Jasper they had to be concerned about because of all the Cullen's he was the one who still struggled with self-control occasionally.

They began jogging towards the kitchen, slow enough that they didn't drawn attention though they were moving slightly faster than the average human, but they were too late. Evelyn sprang from her seat at the table and lunged for Charlie whose back was turned. Jasper sprang too, reaching for Evelyn, whose eyes were wide in a crazed frenzy, and locked his arms around her stomach. He caught her in midair, landing silently on the balls of his feet like a predator, and instinctively Evelyn sank her teeth into the hard marble that was Jasper's arm.

He couldn't help but gasp as a shooting pain travelled up his arm. He whisked the girl from the kitchen and up the stairs before Charlie had a chance to look up and notice that anything had happened. Alice met them in Carlisle's office where he placed Evelyn on the desk. Her hands shot up to her face and her eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry," she squealed. "I didn't mean too."

Alice looked at Jasper's arm. The bite was already fading. She had barely broken the skin.

Jasper chuckled, "No worries. Better me than Charlie."

Evelyn felt horrible and she buried her face in her sweater. Bella was going to hate her now. She had almost killed her father. And she hurt Jasper. His incredibly smooth southern accent called to her, but where it usually made her feel calm and content, all Evelyn felt was a rotten turning motion in the pit of her stomach.

Carlisle and Esme excused themselves on the pretense of putting Evelyn to bed as Edward took over holding a cloth to Charlie's hand which was bleeding profusely. He had really done some damage.

"I'll take a look at that when I come back down," Carlisle said to Charlie. "And if need be I'll stitch you up. I have a suture kit here in the house."

"Don't worry about it," Charlie said waving him off. "Paper cut." Blood bled through the cloth as he shook his hand.

Sue grimaced. She was pretty sure Charlie just sliced off the tip of his index finger.

"Dad, what are we going to do with you?" Bella asked lightly. She smiled but held her breath just in case.

"So I guess I'm fired from kitchen duty?" Charlie asked, shrugging weakly. He looked slightly defeated but then tilted his head. Maybe he was taking it as a sign. He was not meant to cook, unless it involved zapping frozen dinners in the microwave.

"No, just from anything that involves knives," Sue said. "How did you ever survive before Bella moved in," she mumbled.

"Take-out," Sue and Bella said together and they laughed at Charlie's expense.

Esme arrived in the office first and found a hysterical Evelyn. Alice and Jasper had been trying to no avail to calm her down but she was so upset that she seemed to have run out of tears and was now just shuddering. Esme wrapped her arms around the girl as Carlisle appeared.

"Is everyone okay?" he whispered grabbing Jasper's forearm to inspect it. The bite mark was already gone.

Jasper nodded, "It was an accident. I don't think she's been hunting in a long time."

Carlisle nodded, "Evelyn, it's okay. Look, no harm done. Jasper is fine, see."

The girl looked up from where her face was buried in Esme's shoulder. Her eyes were bloodshot and her lip was quivering. Jasper smiled at her and sent her a big wave of calming energy. Evelyn sat up a little straighter and tilted her head as if confused. She still didn't know Jasper could toy with people's emotions. And something about Carlisle's tone made her want trust what he was saying, plus he was a doctor. He knew what he was talking about. Right?

"Does it hurt?" Evelyn asked shyly.

Jasper shook his head. The burning sensation had disappeared almost immediately. Jasper rolled up his sleeve, revealing the many bite wounds that had now healed into pale scars against his skin from his time fighting in the vampire wars that had ruled the south at one point in history. Evelyn gasped. But Jasper smiled. "I've had much worse and lived to tell," he joked. Vampires were harder to kill than that.

Evelyn forced a smile. She knew Jasper was trying to make her feel better but she didn't. If anything she felt worse. She had come this close to hurting Charlie and the only thing that stopped her was Jasper. If he wasn't there she would have killed Charlie. Something came over her when she smelled the blood and she knew she wouldn't have been able to stop on her own. Her stomach cringed with guilt. She couldn't put these people in danger. She thought it was better here but she had been wrong. She was surrounded by vampires but she was still the monster.

Carlisle and Esme had put Evelyn to bed, promising that everyone was okay. She smiled and nodded; knowing very well that it wasn't okay, especially since Jasper was no longer there to meddle with her emotions, but she let them leave thinking she was fine. As soon as the door shut Evelyn jumped out of bed, changed into something warmer, found a pair of old tennis shoes at the bottom of one of Renesmee's closets, opened the door to the walkout balcony and climbed down the decorative fencing that surrounded the house. She could have jumped. It wasn't that high. But she didn't want to risk hurting herself. It would make running away a lot more difficult than it already was. She didn't even get to say bye to Rosalie or Emmett and that hurt the most.

"Come on Charlie, I'll take you to the hospital. I think you might have nicked a nerve and I want a friend of mine to look at it before I sew you up." Carlisle was lying but they were trying to get Charlie out of the house. Tonight had not gone as planned and leaving a bleeding human with a bunch of vampires, no matter how much self-control they had, was just not a good idea.

"I don't want to bother you Carlisle. It's late, I can get there myself."

"Nonsense, it's no trouble Charlie," Carlisle smiled.

Bella shot Sue a help us look. She nodded. "Come on Charlie, doctor's orders. Let's get you looked after." Sue winked at Bella.

Charlie slumped. He leaned over to give Bella a hug. His one arm was slightly heavier than the other which made him lopsided because the cloth was now fastened to his finger tightly with half a role of electrical tape.

"Sorry Bells, sometimes I think you got your clumsiness from me; though that doesn't seem to be a problem as much anymore." Charlie stared quizzically for a moment.

"No problem dad. We'll have to reschedule. Go let Carlisle take care of you, please." Bella kissed her father on the cheek then ushered him off after Carlisle who was driving him to the hospital. Sue would follow in Charlie's car.

The door shut and Bella let out an exasperated sigh. "That was close. What the heck happened?"

"Apparently we've been depriving Evelyn of her inner thirst," Edward shook his head. "A house full of vampires, two of which who raised a half-vampire daughter, and we didn't once think to take Evelyn hunting." He was flabbergasted. "It's just sometimes she seems so much more human than vampire."

Bella groaned, "I hope she's okay. She probably feels horrible. I should go talk to her."

Edward grabbed her waist. "In the morning love; she's sleeping peacefully. I can't even hear her thoughts."

Bella nodded as she and Edward joined Jasper, Alice, and Esme in the living room. Carlisle returned an hour later after ensuring Charlie made it home in one piece, all stitched up.

Later that night Emmett and Rose returned and were filled in on the night's events. Rose was repulsed by the fact they were too dim to see that the poor girl needed to hunt. Evelyn had never even said anything about being thirsty to them, but still. How hard was it to remember that even a half vampire could get thirsty? Emmett was just excited at the prospect of taking Evelyn hunting, Cullen style. Rose had to argue with him so he wouldn't wake Evelyn to take her hunting right at that very moment. With some difficulty Rose and Esme managed to wrestle Emmett onto the sofa, promising that as soon as the sun rose he could wake Evelyn and christen her as an official 'vegetarian' vampire.