Hey guys! I just got my first day of classes over, thank goodness. I think this year is gonna be a good one!

Anyways, I'm back with another chapter for you. I was really happy to see all of the new readers this fic has gained. Again, I have to thank all of you, because I really do appreciate it. You'll probably get tired of me thanking you, but I feel it's the least I can do. I was so excited to get some more reviews, too! I think I got back to anyone who had a question...but if you have one you didn't ask, don't be afraid! You can leave a review about anything, though. I love hearing from you guys.

Okay, I'll shut up and give you a new chapter now.

chapter seven - new

"You're gonna be fine, Lindsay," Jesse assured me. "You're not going to hurt her."

I glared at him. Not because I was angry, but because I was so damn nervous.

"You don't know that," I said.

"I don't know that, you're right," Jesse said. "But I know you enough to know that you wouldn't harm an innocent baby."

I kept my eyes set out the window. It was a warm summer evening in the city. Lots of families were taking advantage of the weather, spending time together in Central Park. Soon enough, there'd be another addition to our special sort of family.

"You don't know who I've killed."

"Lindsay!" Jesse exclaimed incredulously. "I know you haven't killed any kids or any babies. You might feed off of humans, but you have some standards when it comes to picking your meal."

I turned back to him. His eyes were liquid gold. Unlike me, Jesse had been a vegetarian since day one, by choice. Samuel struggled with refraining from humans, but Jesse took to it with ease. He took trips up to High Peaks every couple of weeks (or to Kisatchie when we were in New Orleans) to hunt wildlife and he never strayed from his diet. The only time he'd ever bitten a human was when he bit Anna, and somehow he managed to keep himself from drinking her blood. He'd only bit her to change her.

Without having tasted human blood, Jesse didn't have the temptation. I did. I had it bad. I fed twice a week or so, on humans. So the idea of bringing a human baby to live in a house with me was asking for trouble.

"The Volturi wouldn't have allowed Elisabeth and Samuel to adopt a baby if they didn't think we all were in control enough," Jesse continued.

I rolled my eyes. "No, they allowed Elisabeth to adopt a baby because they thought it would be easier to get me to join them if she had a replacement for me."

"Lindsay…."

"It's true," I said. "I know it is. No need to be polite about it."

Jesse didn't say anything, because he knew I was right. He knew the Volturi, specifically Aro, had been doing their best to recruit me into their ranks ever since that first meeting in New Orleans. They also knew that I was incredibly bonded with Samuel and Elisabeth, who had taken me in as an adopted daughter. They had thought of me as their own since day one. They treated me like their own, especially Elisabeth. She'd always wanted a daughter of her own to dote on, and Anna was older and more adult than I was, being turned at sixteen. So I had become the dream daughter Elisabeth and Samuel had always wanted.

The Volturi were well aware of this. They knew they wouldn't be able to separate us so easily, and they also knew that simply killing Elisabeth and Samuel wasn't going to work either. That's why they finally gave Elisabeth the okay to adopt a human baby like she'd been trying to do for centuries. They hoped that by giving her a baby like she'd craved, she'd be able to let me go. Of course, there was a stipulation - the baby had to be turned as soon as they turned eighteen years old.

"No one could ever replace you," Jesse told me, taking me up in a brotherly one-armed hug. "Whoever this baby turns out to be, they're not going to be as stubborn, rebellious, sarcastically hilarious, or weird as you."

I laughed. A big, hearty laugh, like I hadn't done in years. Jesse was probably the only person I'd ever met who got me to laugh like that.

"Thanks, Jess," I said. I hugged him harder. Lovingly, of course, but harder.

"And the Volturi aren't going to get you away from us as easy as they think," Jesse continued. "We don't want you as part of the family because you're the 'baby' or whatever - it's because you're you."

I wished I could cry. I'd be bawling my eyes out if I could. I was full of all kinds of love for Jesse and for my family. My adoptive family, but my family nonetheless. Jesse, Anna, Elisabeth and Samuel were truly my family. They were the first people to treat me as such. They made me feel loved and accepted, something my real biological family had never bothered to do.

A knock came at the door, soon followed by Anna's voice.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. "Is Lindsay ready?"

Jesse looked to me. I nodded.

"I'm ready!" I shouted back.

Anna opened the door, soon followed by Samuel and Elisabeth. The three of them all looked happier than I'd seen them look in a while. They were so happy that at first I missed the baby carriage that Elisabeth pushed into the apartment. But once she did, I was taken by it.

I could smell the baby in there. Brand new baby smell, one I'd never come across before, even as a human. New human blood. Tiny heart beats, little breaths.

Jesse peeked into the carriage before I did, and I could tell he was immediately enamored with the baby. Elisabeth lifted the little bundle of blankets out of the carriage, carefully handing her to Jesse.

"She's beautiful," he said, stroking the baby's forehead.

"I know," Elisabeth said.

"What'd you decide to name her?" Jesse asked.

"Nevaeh Grace," Anna said. "My suggestion. Elisabeth and Samuel were happy to have the baby, so they didn't care what she was called."

"Well, she's absolutely beautiful," Jesse grinned.

"I know," Elisabeth nodded, leaning into Samuel. I knew that if she had been able to cry, she would've been crying the happiest damn tears anyone could've cried. "She's perfect."

Turning to me, Elisabeth asked, "Do you want to hold her, Lindsay?"

My eyes widened. "You trust me enough to hold her?"

Both Elisabeth and Samuel nodded.

"We trust you," Samuel said with the utmost confidence. "And if you were going to do anything, it would already be done by now."

I took a breath. "Okay."

I felt nerves bubble up inside of me as Jesse approached me with little Nevaeh in his arms. She was wrapped in soft cream and pink blankets that Elisabeth had crocheted herself as soon as she found out the baby was going to be a girl. She was dressed in the outfit Elisabeth had bought specifically to bring her home in - a pink floral onesie with lace around the collar, and a tiny hat to match, a hat which her curls were escaping out the sides of. She was a beautiful baby, with a skin color caught somewhere between Elisabeth's and Samuel's, very similar to Jesse's. If Elisabeth and Samuel had been able to have their own child and it had been a girl, this would be what I would expect her to look like.

Carefully, Jesse transferred her to my arms. She was warm from being all wrapped up. She stirred ever so slightly with the movement. I looked down into her tiny face. This was the first time I'd ever held a baby. I hadn't held one before I was a vampire either.

She yawned, revealing her toothless little mouth. She opened her eyes, which were clear blue, much like Elisabeth and I's had once been. And as soon as she opened her eyes, I was in love with the little girl.

I knew, as much of a monster as I had become, I could never do anything but love her.

High school in Forks turned out to be even more boring than I recalled it being in New York. Maybe part of it was due to the fact that I was in Forks. All of the kids looked the same to me, blurring together to one plain-faced teenager. They all dressed the same, too.

Like the rest of the Cullens, I stuck out like a sore thumb despite my best attempts. Everyone stared at us, which was understandable. Humans could sense that we were different, despite not exactly knowing how we were different. Also, I was the newest adopted Cullen, which made me an object of even more interest and the subject of even more whispers. It was weird, hearing people refer to me as "Lindsay Cullen." It'd been weird when I'd taken on Samuel's surname, Hawley. Even with everything that had changed in my life, I still tended to think of myself as Lindsay Ebbers.

Throughout the morning, Edward, who I had most classes with due to us both being 'juniors,' kept reminding me to make it look like I was breathing or to switch positions every once and awhile so I didn't look so stoic. He was getting on my nerves with all the reminders. I knew he was trying to be helpful, but it still got a bit annoying. Then again, it wasn't as annoying as him reading my thoughts and responding to them.

I didn't notice he was listening to my thoughts at first, until we were in American History, in second period.

"You'll see Alice in gym," he muttered. We were supposed to be reading the syllabus.

"What?" I asked.

"Sorry," he replied. "You were wondering when you were going to see Alice again. We'll meet up with her again during gym."

"Oh," I said. "I forget you can -"

"I know," he smiled slightly. "You'll get used to it soon enough."

We went on to English with the balding Mr. Mason, who was very enthusiastic to tell us about all of the Shakespeare we'd be reading. After English, it was off to Gym with Coach Clapp and Alice, who was as happy to see me as I was to see her. Well, she was happier to see me. I'd admit that.

"How's day one been?" she inquired, bouncing over to Edward and I as we entered the gym.

"Honestly?" I asked. "Boring."

Alice laughed. "I figured you'd say that….has she been good, Edward?"

"Perfect," he nodded. "No dangerous thoughts whatsoever."

"See, I told you," Alice teased.

Like the rest of the kids, we took seats Indian-style on the wooden floor to listen to Coach Clapp go over the rules for the year. You must bring change into your gym uniform for class, no heavy perfumes or body sprays in the locker rooms, and no boys in the girls' locker room. He then had girls line up on one side and boys on the other, as he handed out gym uniforms.

"Another Cullen, huh?" he remarked when it came to my turn. Based on his scent, I could tell he didn't have the best diet. I didn't really need to smell him to figure that out, though. He didn't exactly have a gym teacher's physique. "What size do you take?"

"Medium," I answered. I tried not to react too much when I heard myself referred to as a Cullen. It was still weird.

"There you go," he said, handing me a uniform in a Ziploc plastic bag. "Next!"

Alice stepped up after me.

"Extra small, right, Alice?" he asked, fishing for the correct size in his cardboard box.

"Yes please," Alice answered. "Thank you!"

With our uniforms now stuffed into our backpacks, we were free to leave the gym and head off to lunch. I could only imagine what gym class was going to be like - playing sports at turtle speed with one one hundredth of my actual strength to keep appearances. That was going to be the most painful part of this whole thing.

Edward laughed, prompting me to ask, "You're reading my thoughts again, aren't you?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "And you're hilariously accurate. Also, you've become the newest object of all the teen boys' fantasies around here."

I looked around and caught a dozen or so of them staring at me as I walked down the hall between Edward and Alice. As soon as they saw me looking back, they ducked their heads or desperately attempted to redirect their gaze. One of the even walked into an open locker.

"Damn," I giggled. "There's a lot of hormones raging around here, aren't there?"

Alice and Edward exchanged a glance. I couldn't read it at all, but I knew I didn't like it.

"What's that all about?" I asked. "That little exchange there?"

"Nothing," Edward said quickly.

The smirk disappeared from his face. Though I wanted to ask more and get an answer, I didn't. I knew better. I knew it was going to be a waste of time.

The three of us entered the cafeteria along with the rest of the school. Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper all caught up to us, and we joined the queue of kids waiting to fill their lunch trays.

"How's your day been, Linds?" Emmett asked, attempting to fill the silence emanating from the other two. I liked that he'd taken to calling me Linds. It made things feel more comfortable, more familiar.

"Pretty uneventful, if I'm being honest," I answered. The lunch lady scooped tater tots onto my tray, eyeing me with some apprehension. "Thank you."

She didn't reply. I followed Alice down where we got our drinks. I opted for a bottle of water, the least offensive choice, at least when it came to smells.

"You can sit next to me," Alice said, as we came to a table in the corner by the window.

Emmett took the seat on my other side, filling the gap between Rosalie and I. Edward and Jasper filled in the other seats.

"Everyone's staring at you," Rosalie said with some disdain.

It was true, they were. I imagined there wasn't a lot of excitement here in Forks, and the new girl - the new Cullen - was as exciting as things were going to get for a while.

Edward and Alice exchanged glances again. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you two do this all the time?" I asked.

"Yeah," Emmett answered for me. "They do. It's what happens when Alice shows him her visions, especially when they sync up with what Edward can hear in people's thoughts."

"That's annoying," I said.

"You're telling me."

I noticed Jasper stabbing his salad like it had just insulted his mother. Edward absentmindedly ripped apart an apple.

"Do you guys actually eat this stuff?" I asked.

"Oh hell no," Emmett said, as if the suggested offended him. "Strictly for appearances only."

I frowned down at my cafeteria tray. I'd never had a cafeteria tray before. When I had gone to school, I'd gone to one of New York's finest private schools, Visser Academy. There wasn't a cafeteria there - there was a dining hall and a catering service.

I picked up a tater tot, holding it between my thumb and forefinger. It didn't smell bad, but it didn't smell like anything I wanted to eat. For some reason, though, I was intrigued. I hadn't had human food in twelve years. Could it be as bad as it smelled?

"You don't want to do that," Edward warned. "It's like eating dirt."

I ignored the warning and ate the tater tot. Edward was right, of course. It was exactly like eating dirt. Tasteless with a weird texture. As disgusted as I was, the others laughed at my expensive. Even Jasper. Okay, not Rosalie. She wasn't amused. But I had a feeling she wouldn't be amused by anything I did except if I left.

"I'm starting to like this girl," Emmett chuckled. Looking to me, he said, "You're kind of a weirdo, aren't you?"

I laughed. "You could say that again."

Lunch ended, and like the rest of the Cullens, I dumped the food in the trash before returning the tray. Unlike the rest of the Cullens, I'd gone through and tried everything on my plate. None of it was good.

My first school day ended after Biology (dreadful) and Spanish (slightly better, as Emmett joined us). After that, I was free to leave and climbed back into the front seat of the Volvo for the drive back to the Cullens'. I was glad the day was over. I hated the realization that this was going to be my day in, day out routine for an indefinite amount of time. I was used to doing whatever the hell I wanted with my time, and high school was, well, almost the complete antithesis of that.

Once we were back at the Cullens', Rosalie and Emmett went to get ready for their little date night. Esme and Carlisle weren't home, with Esme off at a renovation job she'd taken near Port Angeles and Carlisle still at the hospital. Edward retreated to the piano, where Alice informed me he'd likely stay for hours. She went off into the office to work on some of the family's investments. She told me she played the stock market for them, since she always knew how to invest.

I took a seat at the dining room table, which obviously wasn't used much. I decided to work on the bit of homework I'd gotten. I figured I'd get it out of the way.

"Mind if I join you?" asked Jasper, approaching the table with a book in hand.

"No," I answered, pulling my backpack closer to me.

There was a pause as he settled into his seat and I started reading the first chapter of my history book.

"I'm sorry if I've come across as cold or less than friendly," Jasper said.

"You haven't," I said.

I mean, sure, he was less friendly than Alice and Emmett, but he wasn't anywhere near as bad as Rosalie. I chalked it up to differences in personality.

"I feel I have," he replied. "It's just, with my gift, it's sort of….hard to be around you. No offense."

"None taken," I said. I couldn't say it surprised me.

"You have a lot going on with your emotions," he said. I felt his golden eyes examining my face.

"Trust me, I know," I said. My eyes dropped down to the book in front of me.

"You've been through a lot," he continued.

I felt my body tense up. "Yes."

"I'm sorry," Jasper said. "I can tell I'm upsetting you."

"It's okay," I assured him.

Just as I'd felt my body tense up, I felt it suddenly begin to relax, as well as my thoughts.

"You're doing that," I said, remembering the other part of his gift.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I thought -"

"It's fine," I repeated. Gathering my things, I said, "I'm just gonna go to my room."

He didn't try to stop me. Part of me wished he had.