Happy Sunday! I thought I would post as I am bed-ridden (I think I bruised my ass. Sadly, I wasn't doing anything exciting at the time.) and my beloved Seahawks are losing. This chapter is being brought to you by the beta talents of the lovely beachcomberlc, who has agreed to help me out. She's a doll and even has the next three chapters back to me already.

I don't own Twilight. I am praying to god and superman, to let my Seahawks win.

Chapter 5

Carlisle begins to explain to everyone that though he knows of Isabella, he has never actually met her, until now. She had been living in Seattle when her parents passed away, and though she attended the funeral, and Esme and Carlisle had seen her there, they hadn't stayed for the reception afterwards.

"I had dealings with Chief Swan on a weekly basis at the hospital. Domestic abuse, car accidents, and locals just being stupid… there were so many times I spoke to him. He didn't speak much of his daughter though." Edward sees visions in Carlisle's mind, flitters of past meetings and interactions with the Chief, and Edward recognizes the man, even though he rarely goes into the town of Forks anymore, as he prefers his anonymity far too much.

Carlisle discusses what he knows of the Chief's history with his family. He's divorced, his daughter moved in with him for her final year of high school back in 2004 after her mother passed away. "So, she's known in town then?" Jasper adds as Carlisle nods his head. "I guess this means we're moving, again?"

"I think it's a little premature to make that assumption," Esme states firmly, after she had just finished putting a diaper onto the baby before she grabs a can of formula and heads into Edward's unused kitchen to try and make a bottle for the baby, who is now fussing slightly in Rosalie's arms.

"If I'm not mistaken, once she went off to college, Charlie tended to visit her in Seattle." Carlisle easily recalls a conversation prior to Thanksgiving 2006 where he discussed visiting with his children for the holidays, as most people in town assumed that the Cullen children were off at college, and Charlie had confided in visiting his daughter at the University of Washington.

"All of this begs the question, what was she doing in Port Angeles?" Jasper adds as they all look around the room, wondering the exact same thing.

"Well, until she's awake and we've had time to discuss everything with her, we're not going anywhere. Esme, is the formula done? I think little Lily would like some," Rosalie states as she rocks the child more, trying to calm her. Esme returns moments later with the completed bottle and when Rosalie offers it to the baby, slipping the nipple against her lip, the tiny girl takes it eagerly.

"Uh… she's named Lily?" Emmett questions, as Rosalie shrugs her shoulders slightly before sitting down on the couch. Most women would get a sore arm from clutching the baby in the same position for so long, but not Rosalie. She looks completely at home holding the small girl in her grasp.

"I thought it was fitting."

"Don't you think that's for Isabella to decide?" Edward snaps.

"I would say the same thing about her being transformed into a vampire, but she didn't get the chance to decide," Rosalie responds through clenched teeth. Carlisle comes to her side and grips her shoulder tightly, causing her to turn to face her father.

"I think it's for the best that we just call her 'baby' or 'little one' for now. Edward is correct that it should be Isabella's decision on what to name her daughter. It's too late to give her the choice to change into one of us, but we can at least give her this, Rosalie." Everyone nods solemnly and the room grows quiet, except for the baby who is happily sucking at her bottle.

Edward stands, and immediately heads into his bedroom, wanting to see Isabella again for himself. Rosalie is right, he took a very important decision from her in impulsively deciding to change her, but even now that he knows who she is, he doesn't regret it. There's a tiny baby in the other room who needs her mother, regardless of that fact that she may need to stay clear of her for the first little while, until she's no longer a danger.

"Can you see anything?" Edward asks, as he hears Alice approach him. She stands anxiously behind him and when she reaches out to grab Isabella's hand, she begins to shake her head.

"Nothing. Usually when I am this close to someone, I can read almost every aspect of his or her future. With this girl, it's like she doesn't have one, even though I know she will."

"It's frustrating as hell, Alice. I've come to rely on your sense."

"As I've come to rely on yours and even Jasper's."

"Yeah, we might want to keep him handy when she wakes up, so he can calm her down. Surely she will be out for blood."

"Literally, right?" Alice laughs lightly as Edward rolls his eyes. "Maybe when she awakens things will be different, but right now there's nothing I can tell you that you don't already know."

"Thanks anyways." Edward sighs and reaches out tentatively for the hand of the girl draped against his bed. He can see a grimace on her face, no doubt from the pain she's currently suffering, but she's tranquil otherwise. It reminds him of when she was lying lifeless in the alley just a few hours earlier.

When Edward first decided to be this anti-hero vigilante that he has become, he never expected to turn anyone. In fact, he feared trying to kill his prey, only to have them turn around and become a killer vampire. He knows there have been some which the Volturi, the governing body of vampires so to speak, have had to take care of, but he takes great pride in not having bitten any of his victims.

Most of them are strangled. Some have had their neck snapped. For others, he makes it look like an accident of some sort. He's even left a few unconscious in front of police stations with notes affixed to them detailing their crimes, because he truly believed they could be converted from their life of crime. Not Marcus though. There was no redemption for his sick and twisted soul.

It's almost an hour later when Edward steps from his room and finds the house is almost empty. Rosalie is tending to the baby, who is fast asleep in her arms, and Esme is pulling tags from all the purchases she made in Portland.

"She's really sort of beautiful, you know?" Edward says, as he looks down at the cherubic little girl rocking tightly in Rosalie's arms.

"That she is," Esme concurs. "I hope you don't mind, but I ordered a bassinet from an online store. It will be delivered in two days. We're not sure when Isabella will wake, and Rosalie can't stay here and hold the little one on a permanent basis, so we needed to make some sort of concession."

"That's fine."

"Would you prefer we kept her up at the main house… in case things get a bit out of control when Isabella wakes up?" Esme asks. She'd always been one to err on the side of caution, Edward muses to himself as he smiles at his mother.

Though Edward came to join Carlisle a few years before Esme did, from the moment she joined their family he always thought of her as a mother figure. She was concerned when he first began his mission to rid the world of parasites like Marcus, but she no longer voices her concerns. After all, Edward has heard them hundreds of times before. However, this was something he thought Esme was right about.

"We should probably separate them a little closer to the time when we think Isabella will come to." Rosalie agrees with them both, but Edward does a double take as he looks back at his sister, something in her mind calling to him.

"What were you just thinking?"

"Just that… she smells odd… the baby that is."

"Why would you think that?"

"It's nothing to be concerned about, Edward. I just thought that maybe she would smell a bit more…tempting… but she doesn't. If anything, I'm a little repulsed by her scent," Rosalie adds simply. Edward knows she harbors no ill-will or desire for the baby's blood, but he still finds the concept rather interesting. However, none of them have been in such close proximity to a newborn to test this theory out…except Carlisle.

"Maybe she just needs her diaper changed?"