Bella Cullen

It had been two weeks since Lexi had come to live with us and her sisters still hadn't come to see her. I was starting to worry something had happened to them but Edward assured me that as far as he could tell the Nelifia didn't punish by association unless a mermaid had murdered another one of their kind. Her sisters were probably just scared to come visit her, maybe they wanted her to settle in before making her emotional, he wasn't sure.

Nessie and Eddie were still here and today was the day Esme and Carlisle were sailing in with a contracted builder to plan their houses on the island. I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited that my children were going to be staying with us on isle Isabella. Edward and I had been here on our own for too long, it felt like we were a family again, this time with 6 kids rather than just the 2. It was almost overwhelming to think about. I remember my human days when all I wanted was Edward, I didn't want children, I certainly didn't want 4 of them. Now I had 3 of my own and Lexi was more captivating by the day. Edward and I hadn't spent much time with her or her siblings before she came to us. They were Beth's friends and we trusted her to tell us if anything was wrong. The day Lexi was banished I felt an overwhelming urge to protect her and love her. Since then Lexi and I had bonded immensely. As Beth got to know her brother and sister, I got to know Lexi, she was such an enchanting little girl, so full of ideas and life. It was about a week after she started staying with us that I truly started seeing her as my daughter, she saw it too. Edward hadn't bonded with her as much though; it concerned me that he didn't see her as our daughter yet. I already loved her and would protect her with my life but Edward didn't seem to love her as much, at least not yet. I never imagined I'd adopt a child, especially when Eddie made it obvious we could have our own but I loved the experience.

Lexi seemed to settle into the human life well, she was excited to explore new things and although she was upset that she couldn't swim the way she used to she would often tell me that the 'human' world was so much more interesting and exotic to her. She had been arranged into a marriage the minute she was born but she was secretly glad that she didn't have to marry that merman, that she had a choice now and a chance to grow up. She wouldn't be pressured to bore sons, she would be able to live as a human, something she wasn't given the privilege as others of her kind were.

"Girls wake up, your grandma and grandpa will be here very soon" I said to Beth and Lexi who were fast asleep in Beth's double bed. Beth's eyes opened immediately, a huge smile spreading across her face and she jumped out of bed. She loved Esme and Carlisle, ever since she met them when she was four months old she had been asking me when they were coming back to see her. In fact she'd been asking me that about every family member she'd met so far, especially Esther. They had a bond I couldn't even begin to describe, the heart of that being that they were the only two female Luna Bambini to have ever existed.

Beth dressed and Lexi woke up lazily and got herself ready. I left the room to make Lexi, Nessie and Jake breakfast.

"Good morning momma" Beth said happily as she came over to the kitchen area.

"Good morning baby girl" I smiled and placed a plate of eggs in the middle of the island. She frowned at it.

"I wonder what happened if I ate that" she said.

"Don't do it little sister. Although it tastes alright you won't like the feeling of it leaving your body" Eddie said entering the room. She frowned at him deeper.

"Like pooping?" she asked. I couldn't hide my smile, Eddie laughed.

"No little sister, like puking" he clarified.

"Ew" she grumbled. "Yeah im not trying any of that"

"Our body doesn't digest it. Although it doesn't taste bad like it does to vampires it's definitely not compatible with our bodies. I think it goes back to the fact the witches that created us wanted to give us human food and for it to be compatible but it didn't work, they only made us like the taste of it" Eddie explained. "At least that's what Esther thinks, a lot of things went wrong with the witches spells; she remembers them shouting after all the tests they put her through"

"They made her do tests?" Beth asked her brother sadly, she clearly didn't like the thought of Esther in pain.

"Let's not tell the 6 year old horror stories at breakfast" Edward said coming into the kitchen, I involuntary smiled at seeing him, he had been swimming and his bronze hair was wet and messy on his head. I was suddenly glad I had a shield around my head as I mentally undressed him with my eyes. He caught onto me staring at him and raised his eyebrows in response. If I could have blushed I definitely would be scarlet. Luckily Lexi saved the day by walking into the kitchen asking for food. I looked away from my all too gorgeous husband and gave her a plate to help herself to the eggs and bacon on the table.

"Momma" Beth asked nervously.

"Yes sweetie?" I asked her with a frown, why did she sound nervous?

"I know you're probably going to say no but I promised Lexi I'd ask" she began; Lexi swallowed her food and looked innocently between us. "We were talking and we were wondering if you'd let us to go Rio." She said quickly.

"You mean go to the mainland?" I asked. She nodded slowly.

"Just for a day. I wanted to show her the lights and ive never really been there either, only to hunt and you always kept me away from the city. I thought maybe just a day or so and we'd be ok with you there" she ranted. I mentally panicked. My little girl wanted to go the main land? I thought she loved living on the island why did she want to go to civilisation where there was crime and abuse and nothing natural anymore? "I still want to live here momma; I just want to show her Rio. She's got to go there eventually anyway, it will be fun" Beth assured me as if she knew what I was doing in my head. She knew me too well. I knelt down in front of her, she rested her hand on my cheek and I was flashing back to when Renesmee was this small and the only way she spoke to me was by touching my cheek. Beth wasn't doing this to talk to me though; she was doing it to comfort me.

"I think it will be good for them" Edward said to me, I looked up at him standing behind Beth. "It will help in school too; if they've been to the city it will be easier to teach them. Call it a field trip Bella" he assured me. When he put it like that it didn't seem so bad.

"Ok" I sighed. Beth smiled widely. It was inevitable that the girls had to leave the island; Beth had only left a few times to hunt. She preferred Edward and I bring her back blood in bottles so she could drink from the fridge but she had been on the main land of Brazil before, she's been in the outskirts of Rio, just not in the centre of the city.

"Can we go today momma?" Lexi squealed, it took me by surprise that she called me 'momma'. Her excitement dropped and her face fell as she realised what she said. "I mean- I mean Bella" she said extremely quietly and looked away, she looked like she was about to cry. I was immediately at her side.

"You can call me momma if you want sweetheart. You're already my daughter" I told her and kissed her temple. She looked up at me in surprise.

"Really?" she asked her voice sounding happier.

"Of course baby girl" I smiled warmly at her. She reached to hug me and I lifted her from the chair and into my arms. As much as I wanted Lexi to feel comfortable and to see me as someone who takes care of her I felt slightly guilty that she was calling me momma already, it was almost disrespectful to her real mother. I knew she'd never see her birth mother again but even if I couldn't see Renesmee for 100 years, I would always be her mother and would be hurt if she started calling someone else 'momma' instead of me but at the same time grateful that someone was taking care of her.

"My real momma was never really a momma to me, when I was physically 4 she stopped feeding me and I was forced to take care of myself. That's what happens to us, when we don't need our mothers to take care of us, we take care of ourselves because our mothers are often having more babies and they need to take care of them instead. My daddy was different though, he took care of me when my momma didn't, like he knew she didn't have the time so he made up for it" she told me leaning back to look at my face, I smiled at her. From what she had told us so far her father seemed like such an amazing man, to have gone against his tradition and the law to protect his daughter. Her mother didn't seem quite as caring and it made me feel a little less guilty about my earlier worries. If Lexi's mother had stopped caring long ago it wasn't such a big deal that she was calling me 'momma', in fact I think all Lexi ever wanted was a mother.

"You can share my momma Lexi, I already told you you're my sister" Beth smiled up at Lexi in my arms. Lexi smiled down at her just as the doorbell went.

"Grandma!" Beth called. It was just as Nessie walked out the door, I smiled as her face lit up, it wasn't just Beth that ran to the door, both Nessie and Eddie did too. I was giggling when Eddie opened the door and all three of my kids collided with Esme. A smile lit up on her face and she laughed as she hugged them back tightly and kissed all three of them over and over again. I let Lexi down and Edward and I slowly walked over to the door as Nessie moved over to hug Carlisle. As the hugs went around I noticed Lexi was standing back from us so I walked over to her and I took her hand.

"It's ok, come meet your new grandparents" I smiled at her. She looked up at me as if she was nervous. "Don't be scared. Esme is the sweetest woman you will ever meet, trust me" I told her.

"Sweeter than you?" she asked as if it wasn't possible, I chuckled.

"Yeah" I smiled and brought her over. Esme and Carlisle were smiling widely as they interacted with Nessie, Jake, Eddie, Chloe and Beth. Esme saw me coming back over and her eyes fell to the child at my side.

"Oh this must be Little Lexi" Esme said softly, she knelt in front of Lexi, who was slightly behind my leg. "You are such a beautiful little lady." She cooed and Lexi's face lit up into a smile. "My name is Esme, or just grandma. I am sorry to hear about what happened to you but im so happy that you are finding happiness in our family." She added, Lexi dropped my hand and took a step away from her security and into the arms of Esme. Esme smiled wider and hugged her new granddaughter.

After a few hours of catching up with Esme and Carlisle they got down to planning the houses for Nessie and Eddie.

"Girls do you want to go into Rio?" I asked them.

"Yes!" they both shouted in unison. They rushed off to their bedroom to get ready and I turned to my other children.

"Are you coming?" I asked.

"Nah Im helping Esme plan our house" Nessie smiled.

"I hope it's not going to be a mansion" I laughed.

"Not at all Bella, they will be cottages, this house will still be the main house" Esme answered.

"We're ready, we're ready!" Beth called and they both skipped into the room with shoes on, it was strange to see them both with shoes. I had never seen Lexi with them and im sure she was probably uncomfortable wearing them and I knew Beth absolutely hated wearing things on her feet, she went everywhere bare foot. They also had little purses which made me smile a little, they looked so grown up. They were hand in hand and seeing them next to each other like that, they could easily be siblings, not in the way that Renesmee and Beth were clearly sisters; Lexi and Beth didn't look alike but the way they acted together was like they had known each other their entire life. Lexi also looked older than Beth but I knew that would change this time next year. Lexi would look like the younger sibling.

"Edward" I called and saw him and Jacob talking with Carlisle, I hated to break up the bromance.

"Coming" he said and walked over to us.

"You don't have to come" I said "I can handle it" I told him, I was lying slightly, honestly I was petrified of going on my own but Carlisle and Jacob were two of his closest friends who he hadn't seen in a while.

"Of course I do, family day out" he grinned at the girls. "Any of our other children coming?" he called a little louder, I heard a laugh from Eddie who just walked into the room.

"Father, this island is awesome; I haven't been here since we made Teddy. I want to go explore" he told him, he earned a slap from Chloe as he said 'made Teddy'. "It's true" he rolled his eyes. "And we didn't do much exploring" he said with a raise eyebrow. I think Chloe would have blushed if she could, I giggled.

"Alright then just the four of us. Are you ready?" I asked them.

"Yes!" Lexi shouted excitedly.

By the time we reached the dock in Rio it was midday and Lexi was hungry for lunch, they were both ridiculously excited as Edward tied the boat.

"Girls girls, calm down." I told them. "Listen to me" I added. "You mustn't ever run off understand?" I asked them as we climbed out the boat; they were both brimming with excitement and nodded furiously. "Im serious" I glared at them. "And hold our hands" Lexi grabbed mine and Beth took Edwards as they bounced on the spot.

As we got closer and closer to the city I could see the excitement on the girls faces light up even more; that alone made the entire trip worth it. Just to see them so happy and excited, even though I was scared, they definitely weren't.

"Everything will be fine" Edward said and kissed my temple. The girls were holding hands between us but he reached across them and they giggled when they got squashed together. After we bought Lexi some food we gave the girls some money and let them lead us into every shop possible. Lexi couldn't speak Portuguese; she had forgotten how to speak languages when she was made completely human. She was given the ability to speak English but if she wanted to speak any other language she'd have to learn the old fashioned way but Beth could speak it fluently thanks to Edward so Beth did all the talking to the shopkeepers when Lexi bought something. The bags were then handed to Edward and I to carry.

The day went surprisingly fast and I learnt to relax quite quickly. I had been irrational with my worries, the girls loved the experience and it wouldn't be so bad to come back again; if they wanted to go shopping again, I would let them be ordinary little girls. We were on the island most of the time, I was giving Beth the childhood I always wanted for my children and there was no harm in the odd 'field trip' as Edward called it.

It was getting dark and all the lights and music had started in the streets. Edward and I walked behind the girls, my arm wrapped around his waist and his around my shoulder as we watched the girls enjoying themselves. I laughed when Lexi dared Beth to go up to a random person and say 'I love you' in Portuguese. Best part was she actually did it. Luckily it was to a little boy though, he just looked incredibly confused and a little bit flustered; Beth wasn't exactly an ugly child. Lexi was laughing for a good 10 minutes as we made our way further into the musical streets of the city. People were dancing around us and singing and kissing and just having a good time and the mood was infectious. Edward and I were stealing kisses every time the girls weren't looking; we were always touching each other but keeping our eyes on the girls. It wasn't until Edward groaned impatiently and pulled me into his chest that my eyes left the girls for the first time since we arrived. As Edward kissed me, my mind went blank, it only lasted for a few seconds but it was enough. By the time we had pulled away we were both laughing, I expected Beth and Lexi to be laughing too or at least shaking their heads in disgust like children do when they saw their parents kiss but they weren't standing at our sides like they were meant to be doing. I scanned the busy square and I couldn't see them, if my heart could beat it would be pounding in my chest. Both Edward and I looked around frantically but neither of us could see them.

I went into full scale panic mode. Beth was not prepared to look after herself, Edward and I had sheltered her so much on the island. Sure she could survive in the woods, on an island on her own or in the wilderness, in fact that's where she thrived but in the middle of a city? Right in the middle of civilisation where there were no trees or animals only people and buildings? No way, Beth wasn't prepared for that. And Lexi, Lexi was barely human; she had been human for two weeks and never even seen a city before let alone been in one. She had been in our care for two weeks and she was already in trouble.

"Beth!" Edward screamed, some people looked over to us like we were crazy. I started breathing faster, despite the fact I had no need for it. It was out of habit. I felt my shield flutter anxiously. I hadn't felt myself lose control of it like this in decades but it was a result of my fear. Edward gripped my hand in support and we tried to push our way through the crowd to find our daughters. It was seconds before I saw Beth's unique colour hair, it couldn't have been anyone else with that blonde and red hair. I ran to my child in desperation.

"Momma!" Beth squealed in shock when I grabbed her.

"Oh my god Beth" I sighed in pure relief as I hugged her. "Why did you walk off? I told you not to walk off, where is Lexi?!" I asked her, more relieved than angry with her.

"I don't know, I was watching you kissing daddy and she was gone so I tried to find her but I couldn't" she explained as she hugged me. "Sorry I made you scared momma" she said into my neck.

"It's ok baby girl but we need to find Lexi!" I said, my panic returning.

"I'll find her" Edward said strongly. "Just don't let go of Elizabeth"

"I wouldn't dream of it" I answered and held Beth even tighter to my chest in despair.

Very short chapter but it ends on a cliff hanger so I will be updating soon to make up for it :)