A/N: You guys are awesome! Just an aside, I wanted to write Rose differently in the last chapter because I wanted to reflect that Bella has changed her, hopefully it wasn't too unbelievable.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. The story and characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Also, I apologize for any errors. I don't have this story beta'd (mostly because I am unsure of how to even go about doing that), so the errors are my own.

Chapter 11: Family Vacation

A few months passed and the family was still stronger than ever. Esme had taken to having weekly chats with Suplicia. The desire to become friends, as Suplicia had indicated during their first conversation, was coming to fruition. At first the women talked about Bella, but then their conversations shifted and they talked about anything and everything. Esme found herself cherishing the newly developed friendship with the Volturi queen and looking forward to their conversations together.

As Esme reflected on her new friendship with the queen, she also reflected on her relationship with Bella. Over the past few months they had gotten closer and closer. She truly felt as though Bella was her daughter and that she had spent more than a mere five months with her. She also noticed that Bella was beginning to pick up some of their mannerisms and her accent was slightly less prominent than when she had arrived. She marveled at the thought that some of her upbringing was being influenced and directed by her family. She hoped that Bella would look back on her time with them with fondness and she desperately hoped that she would carry them in her heart when she left.

Esme had taken to looking at the pictures Emmett was amassing in the mornings while she waited for Bella to wake. She noticed that as time had passed so had the happiness grown on the faces of each of her family members. She noticed that Edward, in the earlier photos would only be seen smiling in a couple of the photos, now, it seemed as though the smile never left his face. His music also took on a happier air. Instead of being filled with dark and heavy tones in minor keys it was fuller, richer and brighter. She also noticed a drastic change in Emmett. Yes he was always ecstatic when Bella was around, but Bella actually seemed to mature him somewhat. He seemed to want to protect her more and on more than one occasion he was the one who would sooth her worries and stress.

Esme was smiling as she started to think about the other changes she had seen. But before she could reflect more she was pulled from her thoughts by Alice calling for her from Bella's room. Alice had gone to wake up Bella as she normally did every morning. Her smile immediately dropped. Esme rushed up the stairs and was by Bella's side in a second. What she saw lying in the bed broke her heart. Bella's face was pale and her hair was damp and plastered to her forehead. Esme knelt down and placed her cool hand on her forehead. Bella was burning up.

"Go call Carlisle, tell him to come home." Esme instructed Alice.

Esme bent down and cooed softly to the child, "Oh baby, I'm so sorry." She continued to stroke the hair away from her face while she waited.

Alice quickly called Carlisle and he arrived home a few minutes later. He entered Bella's room with concern etched on his face. While his relationship was not as close as Bella's and his wife's, he still loved the little girl deeply and hated seeing her in pain. He quickly performed a checkup and left to run to the pharmacy. Before leaving he instructed Alice to get Bella something to drink to keep her hydrated.

After Carlisle left, Bella looked up at Esme, "I don't feel good, mommy." Esme's heart broke at the sight of her distressed child. "I know baby. Carlisle went to go get you something to make you feel better. He will be back soon." Bella nodded her head and moved to cuddle up with Esme. Esme was surprised that Bella would want to snuggle into her when she was already suffering from chills, but apparently Bella needed the comfort more.

Esme continued to comfort Bella until Carlisle returned and administered the meds. The child fell asleep shortly thereafter and Carlisle spoke softly to Esme, "It is just a cold Esme, she will be okay. We just need to keep her hydrated and well rested." Esme appreciated his comfort but wanted to voice her apprehension in hopes that he could comfort those as well, "I just feel so helpless. I just wish I could take away her pain."

Carlisle looked to her sympathetically, "So do I, love. I'm going to go make her some soup. You should stay here in case she wakes up and needs anything." Esme knew that they would hear Bella if she woke up and would be able to reach her before she even called out, but she realized that Carlisle asked her to stay for Esme's own sake. He knew that she couldn't bear to leave her child's side.

And Esme didn't leave Bella's side until she was fully healed. When Bella was awake she would read to her or they would play a game together in her bed. When Bella was asleep she would hold her and hum softly. The rest of the family took turns visiting with Bella until she recovered. Obviously Rose was the most frequent visitor; she would often join in with Bella and Esme to play a game.

The mood in the house while Bella was sick was somber for the first time since she arrived. In truth, most of the vampires were beside themselves with concern despite Carlisle's reassurances that the girl would be fine. Most couldn't remember being sick during their human lives and therefore didn't understand that humans got colds occasionally and got over them easily. Her sickness also served as a reminder that Bella was so fragile, and this fact scared them deeply. When Alice announced that Bella would be completely better soon and mood lifted considerably.

In celebration of her recovery, the family had another movie night. It was the first time in the week since Bella had been ill that the whole family had gathered together. The entire family seemed to be refilled with contentment as their lives fell into place once again. None of the vampires wanted to consider what would happen when Bella left to return home. In preparation all of the Cullens, sans Rose and Esme, made cookies and treats for Bella when she came down. When Bella arrived she was overwhelmed with the selection and she didn't even know where to begin. Alice aided her decision and scooped her up to sit next to her, "You want to start with the chocolate chip." Bella smiled and dug in, Alice was right, she loved the chocolate chip.

About half way through the movie, Alice grabbed the remote and hit pause. She waited a brief moment and said seriously, "I have an announcement." She waited until all eyes turned toward her and then she continued. "We are going on a family vacation." She then un-paused the movie and looked back to the screen. The rest of the family remained staring at Alice. Rose, took the remote from Alice's hand and pressed pause again. "Okay Alice, we all applaud your theatrics. Now would you be so kind and fill us in on what you are talking about?" Rosalie said with a huff.

"Don't you want to finish the movie?" Alice asked innocently. While her tone was innocent, none of the family actually believed that she was. Bella, instead of playing into Alice's plot, decided to return the favor.

"You are right, Alice. We should finish the movie first. We can wait, right?" She looked to Rosalie who noticed her game straight away. Rosalie gave her a quick grin and then started the movie with a smirk. Bella gave her a sly smile and pretended to turn her attention back to the movie.

Alice began to ruffle. It wasn't common for her to be had and she wasn't dealing well with the feeling. The rest of the vampires were doing their best to hold in their laughter. They kept looking from Bella to Alice to Rose waiting to see who was going to break first. They didn't have to wait long.

"Alright, you got me!" Alice raced up and paused the movie again.

The rest of the room broke out into the laughter they had been holding. Emmett managed to speak through his, "Hah, Alice, now you know how it feels!"

Alice crossed her arms in a huff, but then chuckled along with the rest of them good naturedly. She then ruffled Bella's hair and Bella looked up and gave her a grin.

Esme spoke next, "Okay, tell us dear. What is this vacation we will we be going on?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Alice questioned, "Bella here," she looked down and winked at Bella, "is in the states for the first time. Don't you think we should show her the most magical place on earth?" She finished her question and looked around as though she had just said the most obvious thing.

Bella looked to Alice in confusion. Then Emmett's eyes lit up, "I know!" He clapped his hands loudly together and looked at Bella, "You are going to love it!"

Bella looked to Rose and gave her a questioning look. Rose placed her arm around her and pulled her close, "I believe Alice is referring to a place called Disneyland."

Bella's eyes widened, "I have heard about that! Really, are we going there?" She first looked to Alice, but then quickly sent a questioning glance toward Carlisle and Esme.

Carlisle, instead of answering Bella, spoke to Alice next, "Alice I am assuming that you have been careful to check the weather. From what I know of California, it is usually sunny."

"Of course, Carlisle. I know for a fact that it will be unseasonable overcast the two weeks we will be there."

Carlisle then looked to Bella and smiled, "Yes, we can definitely go." Bella grinned excitedly and Rose hugged her a bit tighter as though wanted to share in her excitement.

"When do we leave?!" Emmett asked excitedly.

"A week from tomorrow." Alice responded simply.

The family continued to discuss what all they would be doing during their vacation. Alice discussed all the places they would be visiting and what preparation needed to be completed before they left. The movie lay forgotten.

For the next week the family set out to pack and make plans. The night before they were set to catch their flight Bella was having difficulty sleeping. Esme had tried everything, but the child was simply too excited to calm down. Finally, she called in Rose. Esme had continued to notice that Rose and Bella had something that she couldn't comprehend. They seemed to be able to communicate on a level that just didn't reach Esme. She felt happy for Rose. It was as if Bella was healing Rose from wounds that she didn't even know she had.

The next morning in a flurry of excitement the Cullens and Bella made their way to the airport. Bella was riding in the car with Carlisle, Esme and Edward. Carlisle looked in his rearview mirror at Bella and smiled at the excitement that seemed to be radiating from her. He spoke through his chuckle, "Bella, just a reminder, you should refer to us as Aunt and Uncle the whole time we are on vacation." Bella looked down for a bit and then looked up and met his eyes in the mirror and gave a small nod.

Carlisle was stricken, in a matter of seconds Bella had gone from bursting with excitement to being dejected and morose. He didn't know what caused the change, but felt terrible for the fact that he was clearly responsible for her sudden sorrow. He wished Edward could read her mind so that he could know how to fix his mistake. Esme, unable to stand the sight of her little girl filled with heartache turned gently in her seat and reached out to touch her knee in reassurance. "Sweetie, what's wrong? Is everything all right?"

Bella didn't raise her eyes to meet Esme's. Instead she kept her head hung and nodded.

"Please, sweetheart, look at me. Tell me what's wrong."

Bella looked up slowly and her sad brown eyes met Esme's. She blinked and bit her lip softly, a trait Esme noticed that she picked up from Rose, but she still remained silent.

Esme sent a pleading look toward Edward. When he gave a hesitant shrug admitting he didn't know what was wrong, Esme turned back to Bella. She thought back over the brief conversation and then it struck her. She felt so foolish that she didn't recognize it immediately. Bella, in all of their public outings, which were rather few and far between, had managed to avoid referring to Esme by a title. She seemed to actually go out of her way to avoid having to refer to Esme. At home, Bella mostly called Esme by her name, but occasionally she would call her mommy. Esme felt terrible, it was bad enough that Bella had to carry around this giant secret, but she also had to pretend to have false relationships just to maintain appearances. That was a large burden to ask of a five year old.

She looked to Bella and tried to convey her understanding, "Bella, sweetheart, can you please talk to me about this?"

Bella looked sheepish and said, "I am tired of the lies."

"I know, sweetie, we are asking you to keep a huge secret about what we are and who we are to you. We don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I want to go," Bella said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"You can just call us Carlisle and Esme if you like," Esme said, willing to try anything to make the child feel better.

"But you cannot be my mother, even though I think of you as such."

Esme's eyes misted over. She desperately wished she was in the backseat so she could hold her little girl. She tried to convey her embrace simply by her tone, knowing it wouldn't be enough, but she tried all the same, "Bella, my darling, I am your mother and nothing will change that. I would love for you to call me mommy all the time. I just did not want you to feel like you had to because of this trip. I love you and no matter what you call me I will always be your mother."

A single tear fell down Bella's cheek, "Then can I call Carlisle 'daddy' too?"

Esme could feel the joy that radiated off of Carlisle in that moment. She knew that he would never begrudge Esme of her relationship with Bella, but she also knew that there was a part of him that desperately wanted this child to claim him as well. He looked at her through the mirror again and said, "I would be honored, Bella."

Bella beamed. The previous morose atmosphere of the car was lifted and the excitement for the trip filled the space. When they pulled into the long-term parking Bella was immediately embraced by Esme and Carlisle. Alice flitted over after she got out of the other car and placed an envelope in Carlisle's hand.

"I had this made for the trip; I thought it would make things a bit easier."

Carlisle opened the envelope and found a new identification card for Bella. Her name read, 'Isabella Cullen'.

He looked to Alice, "You knew!?" He asked incredulously.

Esme looked over his shoulder to see what he was looking at and gave Alice a radiating grin. Then she patted Carlisle on the arm and said, "Welcome to my world, she has been doing this to me for months!"

Alice simply laughed them off and took Bella from Esme's arms. "Come on, little sister, we should hurry to get inside so we can find some snacks for the plane." And without a parting glance she took off toward the terminal leaving the rest of the family to follow behind.

The flight started smoothly but quickly took a turn for the worse when Bella needed to get up to use the restroom. Esme was able to walk her up without incident, but on the short return to their seats, the plane had a minor bout of turbulence and it knocked Bella off balance. She fell from Esme's grasp and cut her arm on the neighboring chair. The seven vampires on the plane immediately went into panic. Bella was bleeding. They all held their breath and then another panic set in, Bella was hurt. They all tried to huddle around her to make sure she was alright, but struggled with the limited space the plane provided.

Bella looked up at Esme with tears swimming in her eyes. Esme didn't hesitate; she knew she would never hurt her child. So she deliberately took a breath and picked her up. Then she noticed she couldn't smell Bella's blood. Even though her blood was soaking her through her shirt she couldn't smell a thing. Esme didn't take any more time to think about this revelation; she flagged down the flight attendant and asked for a first aid kit. When the flight attendant arrived, she handed the kit to Carlisle but stayed in the vicinity. Carlisle bandaged up Bella's arm quickly while Esme held Bella rubbing soothing circles in her back.

"All finished, sweetheart." Carlisle said while placing a kiss on her newly bandaged arm. "You're as good as new."

Bella smiled at Carlisle and then retreated further into Esme's arms. The flight attendant took the first aid kit from Carlisle and spoke softly to him and Esme, "You have such a beautiful family." Esme and Carlisle smiled at her while Carlisle responded, "Thank you."

The rest of the plane trip was uneventful and they managed to get both rental cars to the hotel without incident. They relieved themselves of their luggage and then set out to explore the park. Bella was enraptured by the place. She didn't seem to even want to blink for fear of missing something. But, as Bella was human, she tired. Carlisle noticed that she was moving slower than before so he swooped in and picked her up to carry her for the rest of the way. She looked at him with eyes that were already beginning to droop and mumbled, "thanks, daddy." Before closing her eyes completely and resting her head on his shoulder.

Carlisle was overjoyed and a smile split his face and he continued to grin for the rest of the walk. Esme leaned over and smiled at him, "Feels amazing doesn't it?" Carlisle didn't respond verbally, he just nodded and continued to grin.

The first week of their vacation they spent at the various Disney parks. The second week they ventured out of the area. First they visited the aquarium in which Bella decided that she did not like sharks; in fact they were fighting the clowns for the top spot on things she feared. The Cullens tried to assure her that the sharks could not leave their tank, but it did little to quell Bella's fear. Rose, when seeing that her family's attempts to pacify the girl were failing simply knelt down to Bella and said, "My teeth are much sharper than a shark's. I am also faster and stronger. There is no way that shark can take me," Rose finished smugly.

To the surprise of all of the Cullen's Rose's statement worked. Bella went directly over to the tank and peered in at the shark. She looked back to Rose and smiled, "You are right, he isn't so scary." Rose held out her hand and Bella took it and the left the area to go to the next. Esme smiled fondly at the pair. She took Carlisle's hand and led him out to follow them.

The day after the aquarium they were going to go to the zoo to spend a few days there. Bella was initially very concerned, mostly for the sake of the animals. It took all of the Cullens promising not to snack on any of the wildlife before Bella would agree to go to the park. Most of the family was quite amused by Bella's insistence, so they quickly made her their promise and thought nothing more on the subject. Esme, however, pulled Bella aside and spoke to her softly.

"Sweetheart, you know that we would never hurt anyone or anything unless we absolutely had to? We don't kill just to kill?" Esme almost pleaded with Bella to understand.

Bella looked at her for a moment, "But you do kill animals?" She asked softly.

"Yes, but only because we have to."

"Mama and Papa do not kill." Bella expressed cocking her head to the side as though she was curious as to the differences between both sets of parents. Her voice didn't contain any judgment or fear, however.

Esme did not have the heart to tell Bella that her parents not only killed, but they killed humans. She didn't think the five year old could understand. She did however voice the concern that had been plaguing her since she met the young girl, "Do you think of me as a monster?"

Bella's eyes widened in shock, "No! I could never think that. I am sorry, Esme. I just did not want you to expose your secret when we were at the zoo."

Esme's mood lightened a bit. Bella was clearly more concerned about the Cullens exposing their secret than she was for the animals being hunted. However, it didn't stop Esme from asking a follow up question, "Does it bother you that we kill?" Esme couldn't help but press, she desperately needed to know if Bella feared her on any level.

Bella thought for a moment and then answered honestly, "No. Papa told me that you hunt animals that are," she hesitated struggling to recall the word her father used, when she failed to remember she simply said, "Animals that have too many babies. He said that nature needs balance and you help keep that balance."

Esme smiled in relief, but couldn't help herself; she had to ask one more question, "Bella, why did you ask if we would attack your puppy when we first met you in Volterra?"

Bella knitted her brow together seemingly trying to recall the event. When she remembered she spoke, "Mama and Papa told me that vampires do not like dogs. Mama says they smell bad. When Aunt Dora bought me Pocio she too warned me that vampires did not like dogs. But then she also said he would be safe because no vampire would ever hunt a dog. But Uncle Cauis said that she could not actually say that because some vampires actually drink from animals. Then he told me vampires who drink from animals have yellow eyes and I should watch out."

Esme felt the relief flowing out of her in waves. This entire time she had been terrified that Bella would think of her as a monster, and it was all some prank idea planted in her head from her uncle.

Bella looked up at Esme and her eyes were drawn in a very serious expression, "I think that he was messing with me."

Esme couldn't help it, she laughed. She laughed partly from relief and partly from the adorable expression on Bella's face as she realized that she had indeed been messed with. Esme picked her up and hugged her tightly, "Oh my dear girl, I love you." Bella looked up at her in confusion but accepted the cuddle and responded in kind.

The next few days were spent at the zoo and Esme was happy to notice that Bella didn't seem concerned about them attacking animals during the entire time they were there. It seemed as though she trusted them implicitly and if they said they had no desire to hunt at the zoo, than she didn't give it another thought.

After their last day at the zoo they headed to the boardwalk to enjoy some of the games. Esme was concerned considering last time they attended a carnival it did not end well. Alice assured her, however, that everything would be okay. Nonetheless, Esme made sure that she had her eyes on Bella the entire time, and when Bella was not playing a game, she made sure that she was the one holding her hand. Esme also made sure to steer clear of any clowns. It wouldn't do to remind Bella of her fear just as her dreams were becoming free of them.

The last day of vacation they spent at the beach. Although it was overcast, it was still warm enough to enjoy being outside. The family decided to play a game of beach volleyball together with Alice, Jasper, Esme and Carlisle on one team and Emmett, Rose, Edward and Bella on the other. Emmett took to placing Bella on his shoulders to play, which basically left Rose and Edward to cover the entire field by themselves. It was the first time that Esme had ever seen Rose and Edward work together and actually enjoy themselves. She sighed as she thought of this vacation ending so soon. She wished they had more time. Then she realized that it wasn't just more time on vacation that she was hoping for. She knew from talking to Suplicia that the war was coming to an end soon.

Esme looked up at the child laughing on Emmett's shoulders and sighed and said so no one could hear, "We are going to miss you little one."

a/n: fair warning, the next chapter may be a bit sad. I'm going to try to end it on a happy note, however.