Alice steered the six year old around the airport, but the girl continuously looked around for her parents. So far she had definitely decided she did not like airports. They were too big and too crowded and she was small. All she could see was legs in every direction she looked and people had become sky scrapers in their close proximities.
"Alice, where's Mommy?" Lily complained softly, afraid to let go of her sister's hand.
Rosalie fell into step beside them and Lily frowned at her when she realized it was not her mother. Rose chuckled lightly and shook her head. "Mom and Dad are waiting for us at the terminal. I promised them that you'd get something to eat while they checked in luggage."
"But I'm not hungry," Lily said before suddenly getting picked up and placed on her older brother's shoulders. The girl physically relaxed now that she was able to see more than a few inches in front of her. Jasper smiled as he patted her on his shoulder.
"I think you were getting a little claustrophobic," Jasper explained to her as she rested her hands atop his head and looked around at the buzzing airport. Alice's hand slipped into her husband's as Edward and Emmett stayed on either side of the family. They stayed close to each other, especially with so many humans. While they could barely smell Lily's scent anymore, hundreds of humans in one place could be a little much for them, especially Jasper.
That was part of the reason it was thought to be a good idea that Jasper stay with Lily. He was better when he had to focus on his little sister and keeping her safe and calm.
"You sure you're not hungry?" Emmett asked his sister, poking her in the side. She yelped as he continued to tickle her as she squirmed on Jasper's shoulder's. If it wasn't for Jasper's firm grip, even with one hand, it was no doubt that Lily would have fallen. Still, they were drawing a fair amount of attention.
Five beautiful being walking through the airport together with a child on one of their shoulders giggling uncontrollably. Lily was quite beautiful herself, for being a human anyway. Her bright blue eyes and dark curls made her a curiosity to look at. Plus she had a certain innocence about her that drew people to her.
"Okay- I'm hungry!" Lily giggled and sighed when Emmett finally stopped tickling her. "But not really hungry. I want soup."
"I think we can do that," Alice said with a nod. "There's a place just up from our terminal."
"Then we see Mommy and Daddy?" Lily asked insistently looking at her siblings.
"Of course," Edward promised, knowing just how much his little sister had a tendency of clinging to her parents. It wasn't as bad as it used to be when she first came to them, but it was still a bit on the unhealthy side. Yet, he never judged. He had seen her thoughts way too many times to know that two people in the world that made her feel completely safe was a reason for Lily to cling.
"I think they'll be seeing us there," Alice said with a smile that Lily returned brightly.
The moment Carlisle caught a glimpse of his little girl an unmistakable smile spread over his face and he jumped to his feet. Esme found it completely adorable when Carlisle got just as excited to see his little girl. It wasn't uncommon by any means but it was a joy to watch.
"Daddy!" Lily called when her eyes landed on him sitting in the restaurant. Jasper easily lifted her off his shoulders and she took off running through the crowds of people toward him.
The little girl through herself into her father's arms and she smiled brightly at him. "Hi Daddy," she giggled as he caught her in a hug. There was the sound of a few awes from human specators at a father/daughter reunion and Carlisle rubbed his nose against his daughter's before kissing her forehead.
"You act like you haven't seen me in days!" Carlisle teased, knowing that his time working at the hospital had been hard on her. That was part of the reason they were taking a trip.
"But Daddy, I haven't! I missed you!" she said happily unwilling to be put down yet. "I've missed you a lot."
Carlisle held his daughter close as Esme appeared next to him. "What? You didn't miss me?" she teased.
Lily smiled happily and reached for her mother. "Of course I did Momma."
Esme happily accepted her into her arms and kissed her daughter's face. "Did Alice and Jasper tell you where we're going?"
Lily's smile faded a bit when her feet touched back on the ground as she tried to remember. "Edward told me we are going to Vacation."
Edward smiled a bit as he listened to her child like train of thought. In her sweet innocent mind "vacation" was a place. For all she cared they could have been going to Antarctica. As long as he was with her family, she would happily go anywhere. She held onto Esme's hand as they walked toward the restaurant. As people whispered and started at the seven stunning beings sitting in a restaurant watching Lily eat.
"Slow down there. The plane is not going to arrive any faster if you slurp down your soup like it's going to disappear, Lils," Rosalie told her little sister as Lily devoured a bowl of chicken noodle. The girl smiled sheepishly but quickly went back to eating.
"I think she's going through a growth," Esme told her.
"About time too," Carlisle said softly. "I was beginning to get concerned about her size. She's the smallest girl in her class."
It was a common conversation, but it was already decided that Lily was going to be small for her age. It seemed to just be the matter of how small was a healthy small. At size she was now, she would probably be around Alice's size when she was grown.
When they actually boarded the plane, Lily shifted nervously as Esme buckled her belt around her waist. She had been on a plane once before, when they moved almost right after taking her in. The entire time she could have not been pried from Carlisle's arms. She was too afraid to let go of him even long enough to go to Esme, so instead preferred to keep her in sight the entire time.
Some things didn't change. Carlisle had even brought her tattered Kitty along in hopes it would calm her nerves now that she had to sit in her own seat. Carlisle was in the seat behind her with Edward and Esme was right beside her.
Though it took Jasper's talents for Lily to not to climb into her mother's arms and hold on for dear life during takeoff, they arrived at the Denali's with fairly few hiccups. It was time the rest of the family met Lily, though it did not take a mind reader of an empathizer to know that Esme was going to be on edge.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Lily asked her as Esme traded seats with Edward and joined her daughter in the back seat with Emmett.
"Nothing, flower," Esme said softly, pulling her daughter closer to her. Carlisle glanced in the rearview mirror to catch her eye, attempting to reassure her that everything was going to be alright, but Esme was very uneasy about the whole thing.
"We're going to go see your cousins," her father explained as Lily rested her head on Esme's chest.
Alice and Rosalie arrived before the others, and though Alice had a fairly good idea of what their reactions would be. It would be hard to convince them, but not impossible. Yet, Alice held the information that would convince them otherwise.
"Alice, Rosalie, Jasper!" Tanya greeted with open arms, embracing both of her cousins. "Carlisle called, but I did not expect you three to be so far ahead."
Rosalie was bristled. She was as nervous about bringing her little sister around other vampires. Though they were vegetarian and had been vegetarian for a long time, like the rest of her family Rosalie was not sure if this was a good idea. Sharing secrets could get someone in trouble and the Volturi could find Lily and kill her, if not punish the whole family.
"We have come to ask your understanding," Alice said quickly, yet calmly as she heard the car getting closer in the distance. Jasper stayed a few paces back, feeling his need to protect his sister very evident in this instance.
Tanya and Kate both looked at each other as Cameron and Eleazar joined hands. It was easy to see that whatever was bothering the Cullen Coven, it was something serious.
"We want you to meet our sister," Alice continued glancing behind her toward the road, hoping Edward was close enough to hear her thoughts of needing them to slow down even more.
"Sister?" Cameron asked, seeming almost excited by the idea. Carlisle was very cautious with his coven and that was very true with who he allowed near them. His coven was more of the family than a true coven. He and his mate did watch over their members like parents. "This is great news! I'm sure Carlisle and Esme are very happy."
"They are," Rosalie confirmed. "But we need you to understand something before you meet her." The Denali coven all stared at them. "She's human."
Everything got a little more tense. "A human?" Eleazar asked.
"A child," Alice said slowly.
Tanya put her hand over her mouth. "Not an-"
"No-no," Rosalie said quickly. "She's a human child."
"But one day she will be one of us," Alice said as she took a deep breath. It was the first time she admitted she had seen such things and she hoped that it would be a while before Carlisle and Esme heard that. It's not something they can help. It will eventually happen no matter what they did. She had seen it multiple times.
"So, she's going to be a vampire?" Eleazar said quietly seeming to question and seemed intrigued. "A human being raised by vampires, how... intriguing."
"She's very... sensitive. She has a poor background," Rosalie tried to explain. "But she's very important to Esme and Carlisle. To all of us really."
The entire Denali coven was hesitantly interested. Still, they were nothing compared to the feelings Esme had bouncing through her body as they pulled into the Delani drive. Jasper's skills would prove unable to calm his mother as they arrived.
Carlisle put the car in park and Esme did not take her eyes off the five vampires standing in the yard with her older children. Edward got out first, then Emmett, but Carlisle and Esme stayed put for a second. Lily was cuddled on her mother's chest, sensing her mother's worry. Carlisle turned to look at his wife.
"Edward wasn't hesitant and Alice seemed comfortable. Nothing will happen," Carlisle tried to assure her, but Esme was still not sure. "Esme..."
"Mommy, I wanna meet my cousins," Lily told her crawling toward the other door but Esme pulled her back. "Come on, Mommy."
Carlisle smirked at his daughter and raised an eyebrow at his daughter. "She knows she's safe with us. You know that too," he told his wife.
As nervous as she was, she agreed. Carlisle's hand slid around her waist as Esme held tightly to her daughter's hand. Kate stepped back as Lily stuck closely to Esme's leg.
Eleazar on the other hand, smiled at her when he looked at the small child. His eyes lingered on the girl and she shifted under his gaze. Not because she was afraid, but more because she was not used to someone looking at her so closely that wasn't her family. It was like he was trying to see something in her.
"You must be Lily," the man said kindly and her big smile made him laugh lightly.
"Hi!" she said happily, still holding to her mother's hand and staying close to her daddy. Her eyes studied him just as his had studied hers. "Daddy says that you're his cousins."
Eleazar nodded. "And you are a very strong little girl. Do you know what fear is?"
Esme shifted uncomfortably, unsure of where the conversation was going but Carlisle pulled her a little closer to him.
Lily nodded an answer to Eleazar's question. "It's when I get scared and Daddy reads to me or Mommy hugs me real tight." Lily wrapped both hands around her mother's and leaned into her legs.
Eleazar smiled at the definition, but then his smile fell a little. "But you know what real fear is, don't you? The kind of fear only a child can feel."
The smile faded away and Lily nodded again. Suddenly Edward stepped forward and looked at Eleazar. "Don't make her think about it," he told the older man gruffly. "She's just a little girl."
"A little girl who has a very unique skill," Eleazar explained. "But just as she has seen the worst of the world, she has seen the best. She has a fear and desire illusion ability. Something that is every bit as powerful and feared as Jane's. Aro would love to have a power like hers."
Esme pulled her into her arms at the idea and even Carlisle took a step forward as though to prevent anyone for getting to the girl. "Aro will not have any knowledge of Lily," Esme said sharply, holding her daughter away from prying eyes.
"Esme, we won't hurt her," Kate said. It was so obvious the love that was held for such a small child. The entire Cullen coven would go to great lengths to protect this child. That was plainly obvious.
"The Volturi will not find out about her. The law you are breaking will be amended according to Alice and even Aro cannot punish you with that evidence," Tanya added as Carlisle looked over his little girl. She didn't seem terrified, but she looked fairly nervous. There was quite a fuss being made and she didn't understand what it was about, only that she was involved.
"Daddy, I'm sleepy," she said quietly, resting her head against Esme's shoulder.
"Alright, flower."
Everyone took the hint that the conversation needed to end until Lily was put to bed. The poor thing seemed completely out of sorts with what was going on and Edward could see her mind wondering to what Eleazar had said.
Irina directed Esme toward a private room with a couch for the girl to sleep on. Carlisle stood at the door, watching as Esme settled the girl on the couch and spoke gentle words to her. The strong ears of the vampires could hear the mother whispering comforting words to the girl, and words of love.
"Mommy?" the little girl spoke softly, trying to be sure that no one could hear her except the person she was talking to. She proved to be overly accustom of living with vampires because the Denali's all shifted toward the door trying to hear.
"Yes, my love?" Esme replied, louder than the girl so Lily could hear her.
"They look at me different," Lily replied uneasily. "They know that I was sad, Mommy."
Esme shushed the girl gently and brought her closer to her chest. She rubbed her daughter's back and kissed her nose. "But you're no longer sad, and Daddy and I don't want you to be sad anymore." Esme noticed Lily tug on her right ear and she took her hand away. "Does your ear hurt?"
Lily nodded as her eyes fell closed and she took a deep breath of her mother's scent. "Will Daddy fix it?"
Carlisle looked down at Esme and he nodded. "Of course. Go ahead and sleep first and Daddy will look at it when you wake up," Esme promised her daughter.
Tanya watched as Esme rocked the little girl back and forth, everyone quietly listening to the girl's soft breathing. There was a twinge of jealousy in her but it was a feeling that was new to her. Though she wanted a mate, she had coped with the idea of not having children many centuries ago. Just seeing Esme hold that girl so close and the child love vampires with such endless purity as rather amazing.
"She carries a darkness with her," Cameron commented as they all watched at the door.
"But that darkness will produce a very unique gift. I worry when she's a newborn. She may hurt someone, and your mate may be the one to be hurt with how close she willing gets to the human," Eleazar said looking at Carlisle.
"Despite what Alice has seen, Esme and I have decided nothing on whether or not she will become one of us," Carlisle said firmly.
But Alice silently shook her head, earning all their attention. "It's going to happen and she's going to be young when it happens. Maybe fifteen or sixteen. But I've seen it over and over again, Carlisle."
Esme looked at her husband as she continued to softly rock their daughter. There was a look in her eye that said she was terrified by the conversation. Obviously, somewhere in the future, they would mess up and not be able to keep their little girl safe.
Still, everyone knew it would be best to end the subject of conversation. Soon Esme would rejoin them and force themselves to find their normal socialization that would be interrupted by the sound of Lily's contagious giggles. The conversation couldn't be put to rest forever, but it could be avoided for the time being.