Carlisle

Speaking to Rosalie's family had been a challenge. In all my decades as a doctor, this conversation had been one of the hardest. I couldn't quite put my finger on why, but Rosalie had made her way into each of my family's hearts in a short space of time and I knew that had something to do with it.

Rosalie's dad had been quite short on the phone – once he knew where Rosalie was, he wasn't too bothered about what else I had to say. The way Rosalie had spoken about her home, she didn't seem to see her dad very much regardless. He said he would pass the message onto his wife and that she may call. He agreed for Rosalie to stay with us indefinitely which made it easier on our part.

I called the school next, using my doctor status to inform them that Rosalie was unwell and was likely to be off from school for a few weeks. They noted the information, not challenging me or asking any further questions due to me being respected in Forks. They did say they would confirm the news with Rosalie's parents but I didn't see any problems arising from that.

Edward and Esme had helped move Rosalie to Emmett's bedroom during the early hours as he had been worried about moving her alone and hurting her despite his strength. I agreed it would be better for Rosalie to stay in the main house considering her connection with Emmett and the defiance of admitting that anything was wrong.

Charlie had called to the house before dawn whilst Rosalie was still asleep to take Bella and Renesmee out for breakfast before Bella went to school. It was a social event more for his benefit; I knew he missed Bella.

It gave us time to at least figure out how to let Rosalie know about Renesmee, as it seemed impossible to tell her the truth that Renesmee was Bella's daughter because they looked so similar in age now that Renesmee was fully grown and appeared to be around 17 years old. Fortunately, she hadn't been to school in Forks due to her rapid growth and so most people assumed she was home schooled so Rosalie did not know of her yet.

I was quickly jolted out of my thoughts by Emmett who appeared quickly in the doorway of my office. "Are you alright, son?"

He shifted position, leaning his head against the wood. "I'm so confused, I'm in love. I'm in love with a human. She's my soulmate, I know it. I can feel it. She's meant to be with me. I'm just so confused, I don't know what this means."

I tried to hide my smile but I couldn't help but find amusement in this situation. Emmett always put on a tough front but deep down he had a big heart. "We take it each day as it comes," I started, moving past him in the doorway to head to his room. "We follow Rosalie's lead. Only time will tell the future, unless you're Alice of course." I laughed softly at that but Emmett frowned deeply.

"Alice can't even see her future," He reminded carefully, moving his eyes to the fragile human curled on his bed.

I nodded in agreement, quietly observing Rosalie with my eyes to make sure she was okay. "She can't, but even Bella's future became blurry at times. Rosalie will be okay. She is in charge here – we follow her. We do whatever it takes to ensure her wellbeing, safety and physical health, however that may end. I hate the idea of taking another innocent human life but we already know we may end up in a situation where we have to."

"If she becomes too ill to survive you mean?" Emmett asked, taking her small hand in his. "I feel selfish. I want her to get better and be healthy – I don't like seeing her so ill, but a small part of me knows that when she is healthy, she will grow and age and live her human life with me never changing, never moving forward. She doesn't know about us and I don't want the burden of knowing about us weighing her down which means when she's healthy I'll have to let her go." Emmett moved a small lock of blond hair away from Rosalie's eyes and sat back. "Part of me wants her to stay sick, so that one day her body gives up and I have to make her one of us, from no choice of mine. I want that option more and I hate myself for even thinking that way."

"You love her," I told him, walking over to the bed and checking Rosalie's vital signs. She was stable at least. "You want to spend your immortal days with her, you want to share your life with her, and why shouldn't you feel like that? Nobody wants to lose the ones they love. It will all work out in the end, Emmett, whichever road we go down. It will all be okay."

I made a mental note to try and allow Edward and Emmett some time together alone in the near future. Edward knew better than anyone what it was like to love a human, although I knew Emmett and Edward were each very different in their values.

He nodded, not taking his eyes from Rosalie. I made a quick check of his appearance, noticing the deep rings under his darkened eyes and the tightness of his features. He was hungry and he hadn't hunted since Rosalie had been brought to us. "Go hunting, Emmett. Esme and I can take care of Rosalie today. You will have to go back to school tomorrow or people are going to start asking questions. Rosalie is already off school; we can't have people making assumptions."

We had allowed Emmett to stay home for today because he was so set on knowing Rosalie was okay but we needed to keep up normal appearance where possible. More than one day off would raise suspicion and I wasn't ready to move on from our life in Forks.

Emmett reluctantly agreed but wasn't willing to hunt too far away from the house. He wanted to be in earshot in case anything went wrong with Rosalie.

I did remind him there was such a thing as phones but that failed to settle his concern.