A new home

Edward searched the minds of his family and as he expected they were all favoured in keeping Bella with them. Carlisle made the opposing arguments.

'My research has turned up nothing. It looks like Bella is truly alone. There are two options now. We could adopt her or we could let child services take care of her.' Alice wanted to say something, but Carlisle held up his hand. 'I know what you are going to say, Alice, but we should not make this decision lightly. If Bella moves in with us, we cannot make even a single mistake. Her life is precious and it will destroy this family if Bella got hurt because of one of us.'

Alice shook her head softly.

'I don't see that. All I can see is love. She fits in with this family.'

'Your visions are not absolute, Alice.' Edward commented.

'You are right, Edward. I cannot guarantee that Bella will never get hurt. The future holds too many possibilities for that, but what I can guarantee is that we will love and protect her. Isn't that enough?'

They were all silent. Esme took a seat next to Edward and caressed Bella's face.

'I think she should stay.' She simply said.

'Of course she should stay. I don't understand why we are even discussing this.' Rosalie said roughly.

Rosalie had a one-track mind. It was either her beauty, Emmett or something else like Bella, once she made up her mind, she could not be staggered. It irritated Edward.

'It is not that simple, Rose. What if one day you do not pay enough attention, while you are holding her hand. For only one tenth of a second you don't control your strength and crush every bone in her small fingers. How will you handle that? It is just as Carlisle said; even the slightest mistake could be catastrophic for her. Are we really allowed to put her through this risk?'

Rose glared at him and he could hear her insulting thoughts, but before she could voice them aloud, Alice spoke.

'Is that really so great a risk, Edward? I can't believe any of us would make such a mistake and even if we did, I will probably be able to see it and stop it from happening. From this moment on Bella will be my biggest priority. I promise.'

Her sincere eyes were on his, forcing him to trust her. Could he trust her in that? They always depended on Alice's visions, even more than they should.

'We should vote on this matter. This affects everyone in this family, so everyone gets an equal vote. Do we adopt Bella?' Carlisle motioned for Esme to start.

'Yes.' No surprise there.

'Absolutely.' Emmett shouted. 'She is my girl!'

'I never doubted it for a second.' Rose added.

'The future told me the minute Edward found her that she belonged with us. My answer is yes.'

Jasper followed Alice without further comment. He would never make Alice unhappy.

Edward was next. He knew what he was going to vote. One look at the sleeping girl in his arms and there was no way he could ever say anything else. His family stared at him, watching him carefully. They were all worried about his decision, except for Alice who had already seen his answer. His decision had been made long before he had realized it himself.

'Yes.' His voice was not more than a whisper, but he saw everybody relax. Carlisle was last.

'I say we will at least try. We owe it to ourselves to do that. We will not leave an innocent girl to chance and misfortune while we can help it. We all have to invest in this, but I have the fullest confidence in this family that we can adjust.'

He gave them all a proud look and Edward smiled. Carlisle's trust in them was endless.

Alice gave out an excited yelp and jumped Jasper. Rose kissed Emmett and Esme caressed Bella's cheek again.

'Don't forget we still have to ask Bella what she wants.' Carlisle warned. 'Her opinion on this matter is the most important one.'

Edward nodded, but Alice smiled knowingly.

'I have ordered her a bed, which will be delivered tomorrow morning. Regrettably, she will have to sleep on the couch tonight. It was the best I could do, this is Alaska after all.'

Although she seems to have found a very good place to sleep. She winked at him.

Edward shook his head. Alice was unbelievable.

'There is another issue, of course.' Jasper said. 'What should we tell her?'

'The truth.' Alice answered immediately.

She watched Edward, seeing if he was going to disagree, but this time he wasn't. Now that it was decided she was going to stay, there was no way around the truth. Living with her in the same house and keeping secrets was not only hard but also wrong. The secrets would stand between their relationships. Bella could never fully belong to this family without knowing the truth.

'I agree. We should tell Bella everything.' Carlisle decided.

The others nodded in agreement and there was nothing left to discuss.

It was almost diner time and Esme rushed to the kitchen to cook. It was lucky that she could, an inheritance from her human life. She had instructed Carlisle in the art of cooking and he followed to help her. Edward was debating if he should wake Bella. He would rather have the talk with her sooner than later. She was muttering in her sleep and it were all words like, no home or where should I live? Her insecurities pained him, but she was probably exhausted from her excited day, so waking her up was not something he liked to do. Rose was helping Alice unpack Bella's new things, but Emmett hovered around them, clearly hoping to be there when she woke up.

Half an hour later Alice walked back in.

'Bella is going to wake up in five minutes, which is good, because her diner is almost ready.'

They hovered over her and true to Alice's prediction Bella opened her eyes exactly five minutes later. She blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Edward almost laughed aloud, because of the funny picture of three vampires hovering over a waking girl as if she was the most interesting being in the world. To them and their rarely changing lives she probably was. Alice scooped her from his grip.

'You are probably hungry, aren't you?'

They were not used to the feeding schedules of 'humans', so she was unsure.

Bella nodded shyly. Alice rushed her to the kitchen where everybody gathered. Nobody wanted to miss anything and they were going to talk to her about staying with them.

'Hello sweetheart,' Esme said, 'you are just in time for diner.'

She put down a plate in front of Bella, who had an ecstatic face. They all laughed.

They watched her eat for a few minutes, until Carlisle sat beside her.

'We have something very important to discuss with you, Bella.' He began.

She looked up from her almost empty plate and Carlisle had her full attention.

'We are a very unusual family in more ways than one. Everybody in this family is not related by blood.'

'You mean that you are not their real mommy and daddy?' Bella was clearly very confused. 'You look so much alike and you live together.'

How to explain this properly? Carlisle was pondering.

'Sometimes families are not bonded by blood but by the heart. Do you understand?'

He waited patiently for her answer.

'Yes, I think so. You all love each other and that's why you are a family.'

Carlisle was very relieved she understood so quickly, but Edward was simply amazed. Was this girl really only four years old? It seemed too much for such a young girl to understand. Esme took the lead next.

'I know we just met you, Bella, but we already feel the same for you. That's why we want you to stay with us.'

Stay, please. Were her finishing thoughts.

'You want me to stay with you?'

She looked at each of them and they all nodded encouragingly. Tears were running over her cheeks again, but this time she smiled through her tears.

'Really?' She asked again. 'I can join your family?'

'Yes, we would like that very much, but before you do, Bella. We have to tell you something about us.' Carlisle's tone was serious.

'We let you in on The Cullen Secret.' Emmett said with enthusiasm, lightening the mood again.

Bella's eyes brightened.

'You will tell me a secret?'

It was clear she very much wanted to know.

Score! Emmett thought, very smug with himself.

Carlisle gave Emmett a warning look.

'It is a serious secret. You can't talk about it with anybody outside this house.'

Bella's face became serious too and she nodded. Edward braced himself. What if they scared her so much that she didn't want to be near them anymore? It would be a normal reaction. They all looked worried, except for Alice and Emmett. Alice was very secure about their future with Bella and Emmett just thought their secret was the most exciting thing ever.

'You have probably noticed that we are different for others, haven't you?' Carlisle asked carefully.

'Edward is very fast and Emmett is very strong.' She answered proudly.

Edward and Emmett both smiled broadly.

'We all are strong and fast. We are not human.' Jasper stated.

She didn't look that surprised or stunned. Edward pressed that advantage.

'Humans call us vampires. Do you know what that means?'

Her look got confused again and she sadly shook her head. The next hour they carefully explained to her the inns and outs of being a vampire, without scaring her too much and without all the gory details. To Edward's surprise, she seemed to accept everything they told her.

'Are you alright, dear?' Esme asked her worried.

'Yes, you are not bad.' She stated it as if it was obvious. 'So it doesn't matter what you are.'

Is this kid for real? Emmett

See, she belongs with us. Alice

Her acceptance is amazing. More proof that she is not human, but what else can she be? Carlisle

I have another daughter. I am so happy. Esme

This is not natural. I wonder... Jasper

I am going to do her hair every morning. Rosalie

Edward's own thoughts were struggling. He was very happy she was not afraid of them, but on the other hand, he was worried about her very strange adult reaction. He needed to remind himself of her playful and careless laughter when they played with her. She could act like any other little girl. Alice broke off his thoughts.

'I have bought some DVD's for you. You want to watch one?'

'Do you have Cinderella? I really like her.'

Alice, who of course had checked her preferences beforehand, showed her three versions of the Cinderella story. Bella jumped up out of excitement with a gleeful expression. Yes, she could act like a little girl.

Rose and Alice pulled her between them on the couch and started the movie (she picked the Disney version). Edward watched her from a small distance. She was completely engrossed by the story. Her expressions went from anger at the mistreatment of the girl to happiness when she met the prince. She was living the story, singing along softly with her lovely voice. She got his full attention; it was a lot more fun watching her than watching the story. At the end of the movie, her eyes began drooping and she soon was asleep, falling half in Rose's lap. Rosalie was very happy with that. Alice brought her a big soft pillow and some blankets. Together they tucked her in, making her as comfortable as possible on the couch. Edward smiled at the immense care that spoke from their thoughts. Bella really brought out the best of them. He sat down at her feet and watched her sleep for the rest of the night.