Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 3: Bella

Esme was just getting off the phone with Carlisle. She looked at him, and he could see that Carlisle had said yes. Her eyes had a kind of golden honey rim whenever she was happy.

"Rosalie, Jasper, as I'm sure Alice and Emmett have told you, Carlisle and I are going to be keeping a new girl with us. Her name is Isabella Swan. She's fifteen, the same age as Edward and Alice."

Esme paused and then spoke her next words carefully.

"We're going to have to all be very careful around her. She's very distrustful and afraid of people, from what Mrs. Cope said, and it's difficult to communicate with her because she doesn't talk. She came into the foster care system not speaking, so Mrs. Cope is unsure of when she first stopped. She has been taken to a doctor, and the physician assured Mrs. Cope that there was no physiological reason why she cannot speak, which forces us to assume that it is because of her past. Because of this I find it very unlikely that she will tell you her story herself. Mrs. Cope has told me a little of it, and I can understand why it would be painful for her to speak of it," finished Esme.

Esme had started out talking very calmly, but by the end of her little speech there were tears in her eyes, and the happy little golden rim around them had vanished.

"Much as I hate doing this, I think I need to tell all of you a little bit of her story, just so each of you will be prepared. Suffice it to say that Isabella's father died many years ago. Her mother is in prison right now after killing her stepfather, who apparently was quite abusive. Mrs. Cope told me that her mother could be a poster girl for battered women," Esme said with the faintest edge of bitterness in her voice. "She allowed herself to be beaten over and over until one day she just snapped."

Esme stopped suddenly and then continued, "There is evidence that Isabella was abused herself, so I wanted to ask each of you to take care in your actions around her. Make sure your movements are non-threatening and slow. Do not try and touch her unless she initiates," said Esme.

Everyone shifted a little uncomfortably on the couch. He was feeling a little nervous. Even though they had all come from horrible situations, no one except Rosalie had been abused, and Rosalie certainly hadn't been abused on a long-term basis like it appeared Isabella had been.

"Mrs. Cope assured me that although Isabella is very nervous around people, she is very kind and anxious to please those around her. I'm hopeful that with time and love she will find a measure of peace and healing here," Esme finished softly.

"Now, Isabella is at Mrs. Cope's office right now, so there is very little time to prepare for her. Rosalie, I would like for you to set up another bed in the girls' room. Move the bunk bed against the wall. There's an old metal frame bed out in the garage that you can push beneath the window. The mattress and box springs are in the attic. Emmett can help you get it set up. Clear out the top drawer of the dresser and some room in the closet for her things," Esme cleared her throat and looked at Alice and Jasper.

"Jasper, I'd like for you to run to store on your bike and pick out some bed things and maybe a welcome home present for her. Alice can help you if Rosalie doesn't mind taking care of the room with just Emmett. I'll give you some money on my way out," Esme said.

She laughed at Alice who was dancing around the room at the chance to go shopping with Jasper. Trust Alice with her sunshine nature to break the solemnity, although he couldn't tell from her eyes which made her happiest: shopping or being with Jasper. Something about Jasper's slow smile told Edward that he knew which made Alice happiest.

Esme turned to me, "Edward, I'd like for you to go with me to pick up Isabella. You can help me with her luggage … I would like for her to get used to seeing you kids very early. I want for her to be comfortable around everyone. I wish everyone could come with us, but there's just too much to do…." Esme's voice trailed off.

"Besides, except for Alice, you're the youngest, and I think she would be the least threatened by you," said Esme to me again.

"Yeah, Emmett's so big, he'd probably scare her," said Jasper in his deep voice. He was usually so quiet, but he and Emmett loved to dig at each other. Emmett looked slightly crestfallen at the news and Rosalie tried to cheer him up by putting her head on his shoulder and saying, "I like how big Emmett is."

Emmett was appropriately cheered up.

He could tell that Emmett was excited about the news of a new little sister. The more kids in the house, the happier Emmett was. It reminded him of his home in Tennessee. He had loved taking care of his brothers. He had apparently all but forgotten the grimmer parts of his childhood and held on to the positive sides as best he could.

Leaving the other four busily preparing for Isabella's arrival, Esme and Edward walked out to the garage, got into the car, and drove out to the Mrs. Cope's office.

Esme had called earlier and told her that they would be coming to pick up Isabella. Mrs. Cope had been very relieved, and he found himself shifting nervously again. Although he knew Isabella would be quiet, he was afraid.

They all circled around each other anyway … never really talking about their individual pains…. Now someone was coming who could not talk at all. Would the silence just cement?

He was also worried because Rosalie had almost driven all of them to their limits, and none of them wanted a repeat of that experience. What if Mrs. Cope had been intentionally optimistic about Isabella's kindness in order to put the best gloss on the whole thing?

He worried all the way to the office.

Esme pulled into the parking lot and looked at him.

"I think it would be best if I went in and got her," she said. "That way Isabella doesn't feel threatened by meeting too many new people at once."

He nodded and Esme got out of the car and walked inside. It was a foggy, dreary fall day, but he got out of the car and leaned against the door anyway. He knew Esme would have to fill out paperwork so it would be a little while before she would get out.

In restless dreams I walk alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone…

______________________________________________________________________________

He thought about how different it would be to have a new sister in the house. It would make the girls happy, but he was worried about what Isabella's coming would do to the equilibrium in the house.

He wasn't quite sure, but he suspected that the others were beginning to pair up.

He shook his head.

It was less of a suspicion and more of a certainty in Emmett and Rosalie's case. Emmett couldn't be shy if he wanted to, and had told Edward and Jasper once when they were playing Halo that Rosalie was hot.

He thought that Emmett's open, unchanging, and unflinching admiration would be just the kind of love Rosalie needed. Emmett had a compulsion to care and protect those he loved that maybe would cause Rosalie to finally rest with him. He hoped she could stop fighting her mad battle with the whole world then. And Emmett would never leave her. He was too loyal for that.

With Alice and Jasper he wasn't quite as sure.

Alice could talk about nothing but Jasper, but that in itself wasn't hard proof because Alice never shut up anyway.

He honestly felt a little more positive of Jasper's feelings. It was odd, but it was like he oriented himself around Alice. She danced and twirled around the house and he followed her with his eyes. It was the only time Edward ever saw his eyes without that opaque film. They were rimmed with that same yellow band that Esme had whenever she was happy. Jasper seemed to instinctively know where she was at every moment.

It gave Edward the feeling that even though Alice moved and Jasper was at rest, for Jasper she was the still mid-point of his universe, the sun around which he moved and revolved.

His thoughts were interrupted when Esme walked outside with Isabella.

His breath caught.

He had never seen anyone so very frail before. Even Rosalie at her most starved and brittle emanated strength, if only the intense strength of will it took to fight her battle with the world.

Isabella was so different.

Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent. He could see the thin blue of her veins like slim spider-weave beneath the surface. Her hands were fine-boned and delicate.

None of them would need any more warnings from Esme about touching her. She looked so fragile that he was afraid one harsh move would break her.

Her long mahogany hair hung softly around her slender neck. She walked with her thin shoulders hunched forward, her eyes pointing to the ground. He could not read her eyes to find out what she was thinking.

She had her arms crossed tightly across her body. Her head kept flicking back and forth from side to side as if she was watching for sudden movement … for people. It was almost like she felt threatened by the overhanging fog around the car because it limited her sight. It was like she wanted wide open spaces in order to see everything….

Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow…

______________________________________________________________________________

"Isabella," said Esme softly.

Isabella looked up and he saw that her eyes were a deep brown. They were like doe's eyes, large and fearful … but strangely blank. It was odd, but they reminded him of Rosalie because they were the complete opposite of how Rosalie's eyes had looked when she came.

Rosalie had been at war with the world – but to be at war with the world meant that she had to engage with the world.

Isabella looked like all she wanted to do was disappear. She was only reacting to the world by habit; her watchfulness was a habit ingrained by many years of abuse. She watched because she had to – it was as instinctive as a bird's instinct to migrate.

She flinched slightly when Esme called her name.

"Isabella" – that same flinch – "This is my son Edward. He is another foster child that I and my husband Carlisle care for. You will be able to meet the other four when we get to the house. Maybe you'd like for Edward to tell you about them in the car, that way you'll get to know them a bit before you meet them," Esme said encouragingly.

She nodded to Esme to show that she wouldn't mind me telling her about Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice.

He had watched her carefully while Esme spoke. There was a raw edge around her blank brown eyes.

"Hello, Isabella," he said. He cocked his head at her when she flinched again.

"Do you not like the name Isabella?" he asked softly, trying to account for her reaction.

She looked at him in surprise and a little bit of fear and slowly shook her head.

He guessed that he was the first one to ever notice that about her.

"Let me try that again, then," he said in the same soft voice. "Hello, Bella."

He waited for her reaction carefully. She didn't flinch again. He looked at Esme and she smiled a wide smile at him, her eyes rimmed in honey.