Two Days Old...
She's your responsibility Edward. Keep her alive.
Damn it! I kicked my night stand. Centuries of work, and now I'm stuck as some humans wet nurse.
"Are there a bunch of Elephants in your room?" Emmet walked into my room.
"Very funny." I growled. "What do you want?"
"The kid is crying. Can't get it to shut up." He replied.
"What the hell do you want me to do about it?"
"Rose thinks that she'll stop crying if you hold her. Rose says she likes you."
"Do me a favor and leave me alone." I got up and held the door open, gesturing for him to leave.
He sighed, "Please Edward. Rose can't get it to stop and it's eating her up."
I squeezed the bridge of my nose, trying to get rid of the headache that's not really there. "Fine."
We made our way to the nursery. Rosalie was trying to soothe the baby, rocking her back and forth, whispering loving things into her ear.
Seeing Rosalie, the most menacing female vampire in the coven taking care of the child almost made her look human.
Rosalie looked up at our arrival. "Thank God."
"What do you think I can do Rosalie. Maybe it's hungry. Did you ever think of that?" I argued.
"Yes I did." She glared at me. "You came in with her, not crying, I might add. Hold her and she'll stop."
She put the baby into my hands and smiled smugly as it stopped crying.
"Why don't you put her down for a nap. We'll be in the dining hall when you're done." Rosalie said, eading Emmet out of the nursery.
I sighed. I really am her wet nurse.
She grabbed the edge of my shirt and crumpled it in her fist like a vice. I tried to yank it out of her hand, but she held on tighter. Great.
"Your going to be trouble I can already tell." I don't know if she understood me or not, but either way, she giggled.
Four Years Old...
"Eddy...Eddy...Eddy..." She jumped up and down, wanting me to pick her up.
"Princess, your too old for that. Walk just like the little lady I know is in there somewhere." We weren't allowed to address her as 'Isabella' or 'Bella' (I call her in privacy), the only person who can address her informally is James, her future mate and
leader of the Coven.
"Please Eddy." I knelt down to look at her, eye-level.
"If you make me a promise I'll carry you."
She nodded her head enthusiastically. "I will...I will...I will."
"Okay. If you promise not to call me 'Eddy' anymore, I'll carry you." She smiled and shook my outstretched hand.
She wrapped her legs around my torso and her arms around my shoulders. "I love you Eddy."
I shook my head and smiled.
Six Years Old...
I heard her coming before she even got out of bed.
"Edward. It's happening again." She stood at the foot of my bed, holding Boots her stuffed rabbit.
"Come on I'll take you back to bed." I stood and walked over to her, but instead she ran to the opposite side of the bed. We've played this game before and she seems to always fprget that I have the speed to catch her no matter how fast she runs.
"I wanna stay here with you tonight." She cried. "I don't like the noise."
I sighed, "Bella, you're six years old. You can't sleep with me every time you get scared."
Her face fell like she was going to cry. "But I heard them screaming."
I couldn't look her in they eye. She was too intuitive for a six year old, and she would know I was cracking.
Tonight was feeding night, the other Guards rounded up the humans from different cities and put them in the Great Hall to be slaughtered like cows. Every feeding, Bella stays in my room.
"Fine, but this is the last time." I said, not too seriously.
She broke out into a smile and I couldn't help but smile back.
She snuggled under the covers as I climbed back into bed.
"Where's Boots?" I asked, while she snuggled closer to me.
"I don't need Boots to protect me when your here." She lay her head on my chest and in moments was asleep.
Eleven Years Old...
"'She looked out the window at the beautiful view...'", Bella stopped reading long enough to ask, "What's a window?"
I sighed. James' main concern was Bella being influenced from the outside world. Windows were already boarded up since she came here as a baby. She's never been outside, never talked to another human, never even saw the sun rise. She's a
human raised a Vampire.
"A window is used to look out of." I told her.
"Why would you want to look out a window?" She asked.
"To see what's outside." She still didn't understand. "Come with me."
I led her up the stairs to my room. I pulled the hinges off one of the boards of the windows. I double checked the time, making sure the sun was down.
"This is a window." I told her.
The view outside was the same as every night. The trees were blowing in the breeze and the moon made the lake shine.
I looked to her and saw no expression on her face. "Bella you can't tell anyone that I showed you this."
She nodded, "I want to go outside." She said, fingering the glass.
We both didn't speak at the impossibility of her words.
Sixteen Years Old...
"I don't understand why I have to dress like this." Bella argued from behind the screen, "It's not like I'm some queen."
I smiled at her choice of words. By definition Bella may not be a queen, but she would be soon. "You'd better get used to it."
"I'm coming out now. You'd better not laugh." She scolded.
When she stepped out from the privacy of the dressing screen I was shocked. Just a few years ago she was waddling around in diapers, and now she looked like a young woman. Her black silk dress hugged her hips and daintly hung from her
shoulders. The hem line dragged in the back, but a slip to the knee left her legs visible.
"You look beautiful." I told her truthfully.
She blushed, "Thank you."
She sat next to me with a worried look on her face. "What's wrong?"
"I'm scared." She didn't hesitate.
"You've been preparing for this all your life. You'll be fine." I said, not really believing it myself.
"I was raised to be some Vampire's mate, like a dog. I've barely spoken two words to James in my whole life and in two years I'm supposed to be his 'wife'." She quoted using her hands.
"Bella, you'll do fine. James is a good man. And if you need a friend I'll be here. For eternity."
She smiled, "I don't know what I'd do without you Edward."
I don't know why her words made me so happy.