Disclaimer: I in no way own copyright to the Twilight Series; I am not claiming to be Stephanie Meyer. Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and its sequels.

To make the paragraphs longer, make the page size smaller. :) They look a lot longer on a word document... then I upload them here and they look so short. : (

IMPORTANT NOTE: After re-reading several more adoption stories that I read before writing this fic, I realised that I have been subconsciously copying some of their minor plotlines and features. I promise you that it was entirely subconscious and unintentional, but if you are concerned that your story/part of you story has been replicated in There's a Light just tell me.

Rooms are mentioned in CHAPTER ONE if you want to go back and check.

ONE MORE THING: Do you think I'm making Emmett too old for seven? I didn't think so myself, I've known quite a few bright seven year olds, but I want your opinions. Please tell me in your reviews.

So… to start today's chapter…

Following on one day after last chapter:

EsmePOV

Carlisle had stayed over at the hospital; at around four o'clock he'd ordered a cab for me. At the same time a young woman I didn't recognise took Emmett back to the children's home. Today was Thursday, around one p.m, and the team inspecting the house was due any minute. I was standing by the front door and shifting nervously from foot to foot. I was desperate for this inspection to be over, but also dreading the verdict. I was on the verge of having a breakdown when the doorbell rang.

I rushed to answer the door, and was greeted by three smiling people. Emma was standing closest to the door, and she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 'Emma,' I said, hoping the expression on my face was warm, inviting and including a smile. It probably wasn't.

'Good afternoon, Esme. This is Mr. Parker,' she said, beckoning forward the man in a brown pinstripe suit. 'This is Ms Jones, the inspector.' She stepped aside so I could see a slim black woman, perhaps forty, in a suit.

'Afternoon, Mrs Cullen,' she said. 'Are you nervous?'

'Yes.' My voice was shaking slightly, and she laughed. She was carrying a professional looking briefcase, and she opened it to reveal a clipboard. I was starting to really hate those things. 'Why…?'

'It's just got a checklist, dear, nothing to be afraid of. How about we do a tour, and then we can all sit down and ask questions.' I nodded, to intimidated to do much else. I walked down the hallway, while Mr Parker and Ms Jones whispered to each other.

I was about to walk past the entrance to the lounge when I realised that the probably needed to see it. 'This is the lounge.' I said slowly, feeling more then a little stupid. I pushed the door open slightly and blushed; I'd left a plate of biscuits out on the table. Luckily, none of the inspection team noticed.

'Clean,' Ms Jones said approvingly. 'Not too small, not to big. Breakable china on high shelves, nothing to trip on.' She walked over to the bookshelf. 'Good. Children's material on lower shelves, clear indicators of where adult reading starts. Most books that contain adult material or references on top shelves. Well done, Mrs Cullen, you've noticed a lot of things that many prospective parents don't.'

She smiled warmly and I stared at her in shock, I hadn't considered the arrangement of books at all. 'Thank you.' I stammered. She looked around the room, nodded once, and noted a few things down on the clipboard. I went back into the hall and led the group to the kitchen. She made a couple of comments, and we moved on to the next room. This continued until I led the team back to the steps near the front door.

'Upstairs we have two bathrooms and four bedrooms.' I said, slightly nervously. The three nodded, and I climbed the stairs. 'This is the master bedroom, which Carlisle and I share.'

'Carlisle is Mr Cullen, right?' Mr Parker, a social worker, asked.

'Yes,' I said, feeling my cheeks go crimson.

Ms Jones nodded absently and took down a couple of notes. 'That door leads to a walk in wardrobe, which leads to the en-suite.' I said, trying to be helpful.

We left that room, which left us with a landing, two rooms across a very short hallway, which also led to a bathroom, and at the end, the guest room.

'This is Alice's room,' I muttered as we entered a small princess themed room. I turned around to see Ms Jones's face lit up.

'I love it, my dear! You must have spent ages on it!'

'Well yes.' I said, blushing deeper, 'But…'

'It's so beautiful, Alice will love it. Now, onwards to Emmett's room.'

'It's just across the hall.' I said. 'Carlisle and I went with ocean themed because we weren't sure about the interests of boy children these days.' We all trooped across to Emmett's room, and Ms Jones gasped in delight.

'Mrs Cullen, it's wonderful, just as good as Alice's. Full marks.'

'Thank you,' I said, surprised. 'Do you think the jellyfish lava lamp is a hazard, though?'

'Not at all. Emmett should be responsible enough to look after it, and it high enough up so tiny little Alice can't reach it.'

'Good,' I gushed. 'Thank you, Ms Jones, you've been so, so kind.'

She checked the bathroom, and I hurriedly explained my concerns that the three children would have to share one bathroom. She looked at me in surprise.

'I don't she that being a problem until Alice is a teenager, and then Edward will be gone, possibly Emmett… no, unless boarding school… anyway, it shouldn't become an issue.'

After a few minutes chatting about the tour so far, we proceeded on to look at Edward's room. 'This was previously the guest room.' I explained, as the looked over the plain bed sheets and small amount of books. 'I'll do it up when I know Edward's tastes.'

We walked back to the lounge and began to talk. Ms Jones commented on how she liked my tastes in colours and patterns, but Mr Parker was more serious. 'Mrs Cullen, I've noticed a lack of games for the children. I thought perhaps they might be in the bedrooms, but nothing other then books and dolls.'

'Oh!' I said, surprised. 'We have a few children's board games in the family room, and we were going to buy Alice a dollshouse for Christmas, but…'

'It's alright,' Ms Jones said. 'Give the girl some time. I loved the house, my only concern was that Edward would have some trouble with the stairs, but seeing as he won't be moving around much, he'll be fine. Patient Transfer services can probably help you get him up there from hospital anyway, so congratulations, Mrs Cullen. Your background checks, home checks and adoption requests have all been approved. As soon as you arrange a date for signing paperwork, you are free to take the McCarty kids home.'

A huge grin plastered itself across my face. 'Oh my god! Thank you so much!'

EPOV

I lay on the hospital bed staring up at the ceiling counting cracks in the plasterwork. One hundred and one… One hundred and two, one hundred and three… One hundred and four.

The door to my room was pushed open, and I glanced towards it.

'Dr Cullen.'

He ran his fingers through his blonde hair, and came a few steps closer to my bed. 'Please, Edward, call me Carlisle.'

'Carlisle.' I repeated.

'Look, I know you feel sick, but can you sit up?'

'Yeah, sure.' I mumbled, struggling to pull myself into an upright position. 'What time is it?'

He checked his watch. 'Half one, why?'

I shrugged, and then winced. 'Ouch. No reason.'

'You seem a little… grumpy today, Edward. Are you alright?'

I was about to snap an answer at him, when just for a moment I was back in time. I was five years old, an only child, and staring up at my real father. Not the horrible man who had married my mother when I was twelve, and not Carlisle, but the man who had looked after me. The man who had kept my family whole. I was staring up at him with tears in my eyes, and clutching my wrist close to me. I whimpered: 'It hurts.'

Then, back in the present, just like so many years ago, I stared up at my current father figure and whispered, in a voice aching with a deeper, emotional pain, 'It hurts.'

Carlisle's expression softened. 'Oh, Edward.'

I looked down at my lap, embarrassed. I wasn't five any more, I was fifteen. I didn't have to go crying to anyone. I could deal with a little bit of pain.

'Edward, you can tell Esme and I anything, you know.' He paused. 'We are going to be adopting you, you and Alice and Emmett.'

I sniffed, trying to stop the tears pooling in my eyes. I stared at him. He thought my future was magically going to work itself out. Yeah right. I'd have to catch up on schoolwork, graduate, finish college, and heal from my injuries. I'd always suffer underlying health conditions, and emotional harm. I'd always be a social freak too, the boy who was abused. My life would never be a happy one. My stepfather had made sure of that. I looked at Carlisle, and letting a tear run down my cheek I whispered, 'I want to die.'

The look of shock and pain on his face made me regret my words immediately. He probably thought I meant that I would rather die then be adopted by him, which wasn't true. 'Edward…' he whispered softly.

'I didn't mean- I didn't – Honestly, I meant to say-' I stammered, trying to cover up my mistake. This was a man who had dropped everything, him and his wife, to help three children they didn't know.

'Edward.' He cut me off. 'I know you're upset, and I know you're in pain, and watching you suffer pains me, but sometimes you have to keep fighting. Everyone goes through low points in their lives; I've had a few in mine. But no matter what, you can't give up.'

'What kind of low points?' I muttered suspiciously, sounding like a six year old being convinced that it didn't matter his share of the cake had fallen on the floor.

He looked away then, his eyes distant. 'Like when Esme lost my son.'

'What do you mean?' I blurted out.

'She was seven months pregnant. Everything was going well, but she was admitted into hospital. There was a complication and she lost the baby- he was born dead.'

'I'm so sorry.' I whispered. 'I didn't know.'

'Of course not,' Carlisle said, smiling again, a sadder smile then before. 'Very few people are told.'

I bit my lip, and he looked at me. 'You see, Edward, I've already lost my only birth son, so when Esme and I plan to adopt children- we already consider you our children- we were so happy to find a group of kids who had gone through something so terrible, yet were still willing to trust and forgive and be happy and move on. Then when one of you tells me you want to die…'

'I'm sorry.'

'Yes, I am too. It just brings back memories, of burying a dead child, and Esme and I, we wanted to die then. Especially when Esme was told that the miscarriage had affected her ability to conceive more children…'

The look of pain on Carlisle face was so intense, that I flinched myself. 'Anyway,' Carlisle said. 'Some things are better left buried in the past, eh?'

I nodded, and whispered in a tiny voice. 'Yes.'

Carlisle smiled and moved further away from my bed, then, making me jump, his cellphone rang. 'Sorry, Edward,' he said, checking the display. 'It's Esme.'

He took the phone call, and, after a few seconds, his face lit up. It shone with such pure joy that I shied away. 'That's brilliant,' he said happily. 'Okay, love you too, Esme. Bye.'

I blinked and looked at him cautiously. 'What?'

'The last of the checks- the home checks- has been completed. We've been approved to adopt.'

'So…?'

'As soon as Esme and I sign the last bits of paperwork, you officially become our son.' He paused, beaming. 'And Alice will become our baby daughter, and Emmett our younger son.' His smile was so joyful, it was almost scary. Then his pager went off. 'Ah, sorry, my break is over. I'm need in OR seven. Goodbye.'

'Bye.' I muttered as he practically danced out of the door. Then I slumped back on the cushions. 'Where was I?' I mumbled to myself. 'Ah, yes.' One hundred and five… One hundred and six… One hundred and seven…

Ta da!!!! Anyway, please review if you like the story. :) Reviews are like… my life force.

:)