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Rosalie POV
I wake up with a gasp.
Although I had just had another great day, my mind decided to dish out my daily dose of misery in my dreams. My nightmares had been plagued with memories of Royce.
Luckily I don't scream, and I decide that I should be perfectly capable of calming myself down on my own without waking up everyone in the house. I know Carlisle has to work early in the morning and Esme will most likely be up with him, and that everyone else would be returning to school.
"You're okay. You're okay. You're okay." I reassure myself, rocking back and forth slowly, repeating the mantra over and over again until my words become jumbled and incoherent.
After a few minutes I'm calm enough to stop rocking back and forth. Unfortunately that also means I'm calm enough to remember the events of my nightmare and cry.
I hear my door open and I slap my hand over my mouth, shutting up. It's Jasper, looking like he has just rolled out of bed (which he probably has.)
"Rose? Are you okay?" His voice is faint, but his words sound through my ears like thunder. Bringing me back to reality.
"I'm fine." I respond, doing my best to keep my voice steady. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."
"It's okay, I couldn't sleep either. I miss my mom." He answers, walking further into my room.
"What was she like?" I ask, sitting up and scooting over so Jasper can sit next to me on the bed. My racing heart seemed to have returned to its normal pace.
I run a hand over my hair to smooth it. It was hard to look pretty when wearing polkadot pyjamas. I wasn't all that great at being comforting, but I decided that I could try to be for Jasper.
"She liked to sing and bake chocolate chip cookies. She had brown eyes and hair the same colour as yours. Oh and her favourite colour was blue. Not the same colour of blue on my pjs, the type of blue that's in the sky." He explains.
"She sounds really great." I tell him.
For a moment we both sit in silence, each lost in our own thoughts.
"Rose?" Jasper breaks the silence.
"Yeah?" I respond, my voice hoarse with exhaustion.
"Do you like living here with my family?"
"I like it very much." If he only knew just how much.
"Do you miss your family?" Jasper asks.
I open my mouth to respond, then shut it before I say something stupid.
"You should get some sleep. You'll be tired at school tomorrow." I lightly suggest, successfully avoiding the conversation.
"You're probably right." Jasper says with smile, walking towards the hallway.
He doesn't hover or push me on the topic. That was one of the things I liked about him.
"Jasper?" I call out
He turns around to face me halfway through the doorway, staring at me expectantly.
"I do miss my parents. They weren't the best parents, but they were mine- or at least they used to be."
I think I'm more shocked then Jasper at the words that leave my mouth, but I don't take them back because they're true.
Jasper doesn't look at me like I'm crazy, or call me a moron, he simply says "good night Rose," and heads to bed.
I lie down and pull the cozy covers on my bed up to my chin, attempting to close my eyes and get more rest; though sleeping is pretty much the last thing on my mind at the moment.
Esme POV
I peck Carlisle on the lips and hand him his coffee thermal before he rushes out the door. I resist the urge to chuckle at the minor case of bed head Carlisle has caught overnight. (Although I must admit my husband looked good at all times, even with the 'I crawled out of bed five minutes ago' look.)
"If you need anything- literally anything, call me. Tell Rose when she wakes up that I love her, and that I'll be back." Carlisle babbles. It was kind of unbelievable he could perform surgery on a patient and not break a sweat, but was basically a nervous wreck at the thought of leaving Rose with me for the day.
"She'll be just fine, we both will. I'll take good care of her." I assure pushing him lightly out the door.
"I love you." He says. Finally caving and slipping into the black Mercedes.
"I love you too!" I shout after him; waving as he pulls out of the drive way and heads towards the highway.
I slip back into the house and close the grand door behind me. I walk back into the kitchen and stifle a yawn as I dish out the oatmeal into bowls for the kids.
"Ten minutes until the bus comes. Try to eat your food quick guys," I tell them.
"I don't want to go to school mom, I want to stay here with Rosalie." Emmett whined
"You were looking forward to it yesterday." I say.
"That was yesterday." Emmett says with a sigh.
"You can hang out with your friends at school. Maybe we can go out for ice cream after school!" I suggest, regardless of the time of year ice-cream was always a family favourite.
Emmett and Edward perk up at this.
"Did someone say ice-cream?" Jasper asks as he sits down at the table and grabs his bowl.
"Uh-huh, I was thinking we could go out for some after school today. I'll ask Rosalie when she gets up. She must be tired, this is the latest she's slept in since coming to live with us."
"Where's Alice?" Jasper asks.
As if on cue Alice bounces down the stairs.
"Here!" Alice chirps, wrinkling her nose but eating the oatmeal anyways.
"While I'm glad at least one of you is excited." I say.
"I love learning! I know all the colours of the rainbow AND I can count to one hundred." Alice brags between mouthfuls.
"Nerd." Edward taunts.
"Am not!" Alice shouts.
"Are to."
"I am not a nerd!" Alice shrieks.
"Shhh, you'll wake Rosalie up. No more arguing. The bus will be here any minute, we don't want to miss it!"
The fighting is forgotten as everyone rushes to get their shoes on.
Rosalie cautiously comes downstairs shortly after ten, already fully dressed. The teddy bear Carlisle had bought for her at the hospital clutched tightly in her hands. We'd given her plenty of other toys-but the bear remained her favourite by far.
"Good morning Rosalie."
"Hi," she responds quietly.
"Did you sleep okay?" I ask her, undeterred by her quiet response.
"Yes."
"I'm glad. Everyone else left a little while ago, they'll be back before dinner. Does a quiet day at home sound nice? Or would you like to go out?" I hoped that doing something fun would bring her out of the distant state she seemed to currently be in. I guessed it was partially because she was stressed that Carlisle wasn't around.
"You can choose." She answers.
"I can make you some pancakes, or how about waffles? I still haven't eaten either. Are you hungry sweetie?"
She hesitates for a moment before replying. "Can we please have waffles?"
"Of course. How about some orange juice, does that sound good?"
I don't wait for a response. Rosalie-although not much of a eater-had developed a liking to fruit. Her favourite drink in the morning was orange juice. Sometimes when Rose has a bad day me or Carlisle will give her juice and rock her in the rocking chair to help soothe her.
There are no clean plastic cups left, so I grab one of the glass ones from the cupboard. Making sure to pile some of the used cups and plates from this mornings breakfast into the dishwasher.
I set the cup down in front of Rosalie, who murmurs a 'thank you.'
I'm only turned away from Rose for a matter of mere minutes while I mix ingredients for the waffles when I hear a crash from behind me.
At first everything is frozen. I stare at the smashed glass and the puddle of orange juice accumulating on the floor the same moment Rosalie does. When her brain registers what has happens she instantly falls on her knees next to the mess and begins attempting to pick up the shattered pieces of the cub with her bare hands.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She's muttering over and over again, desperately picking up the shattered pieces of glass.
"Stop it!" I yell in shock, staring at her blood covered fingers in horror.
Rosalie recoils. She stares up at me from the floor, her eyes wide with terror.
"I'm sorry," I apologize. "I didn't mean to yell sweetie. I just didn't want you to cut your hands anymore trying to pick up the glass." I say guiltily, torn between comforting her and risking freaking her out further or giving her space to get up on her own.
She looks down at her hands with an unreadable expression. Usually situations like this could be cured with a hug and some bandaids. The reaction Rosalie was giving me-or therefore the lack of one-was unsettling.
"Can you stand up? I can sweep all the glass up with a dustpan; that way neither of us will get cut picking it up." I explain, pulling the dustpan out from under the sink.
She stands slowly, stepping out of the pile of shattered glass and spilled juice and turning to face me with a expectant expression.
"Would it be okay if I cleaned the cuts on your hands, just to be sure they don't get infected?" I ask, looking at her hands worriedly.
"Is it bad if they get infected?"
"It is, that's why we put bandaids on cuts to keep them clean so that they can heal properly." I explain with a smile.
"Oh, well I don't want them to get infected." Rosalie decides, holding her hands out to me.
I pull out one of the tall cushioned dining chairs and ask her to sit down on it while I get the first aid kit out of the bathroom down the hall. I grab a wash cloth and soak it with warm water to clean the cuts with. When I get back she's sitting exactly where I left her, looking more like a wax figure then a person.
"I didn't move. I did what you asked." Rosalie tells me.
"That's really good, thanks Rose." I smile at her.
Rosalie keeps staring at me as I paw through the first aid kid, attempting to find bandage wrap. When I do I set it to the side and gently take her hands in my own, dabbing carefully at her cuts with the washcloth.
"Did I dent it?"
"Dent what?" I ask, reaching for a bandage wrap.
"The hardwood floors, did I dent them? I'm sorry if I did, I'm really really sorry."
"The floors are fine, trust me more cups have broken on these floors then you can ever imagine. It's not a big deal, and you are not in trouble."
"You aren't angry?" She asks, eyes filled with disbelief.
"Not even a little bit." I promise, finishing gently wrapping her hands up in the bandages.
"You won't hurt me?"
"Never." I respond firmly. "There is absolutely nothing that would ever make me hurt you."
"Even if I did something really bad?" She asks, her eyes downcast.
"Not even then." I promise, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Esme?" Her eyes meet mine for the first time that morning.
"What is sweetie?"
"You're a really good mom."
It is moments like this, when I realize just how lucky I am
Carlisle POV
With a sigh I continue to fill out patient reports. Since it was still early in the morning we hadn't had too many people into the ER with serious injuries, so I had the time to do my least favourite part of my job...paperwork.
My mind wanders while I work. I couldn't seem to calm the protective instincts I felt towards Rosalie, who was still bruised and scarred from the first time I'd met her. I knew I was being ridiculous and that Esme was perfectly capable of looking after the little girl, but still I worried about them both.
I sigh and continue with my work, spending my day worrying wouldn't help anyone. My phone rings after a few minutes and I quickly answer it, thinking its Esme and that something is wrong.
"Dr. Cullen, this is officer Grant. I'm not sure you remember but we spoke earlier."
"Yes, I remember. You're the detective working Rosalie's case. Is everything alright?" Alarms go off in my head danger danger danger. We were supposed to call him in a months time to give him an update on Rose and tell him if she'd shared anything with us, it was too early for him to be calling already.
"Not exactly. There's something we need to talk about."
Thanks for everyone's continued support, it means a lot to me! I read each and every one of your reviews and every single one of them is greatly appreciated. (The next chapter is already partially in the making, so the wait hopefully won't be as long.)