Esme

I had managed to pull myself out from underneath Rosalie on the couch without disturbing her. I placed a pillow from upstairs under her head and made sure the blanket was tucked around her to keep her warm.

I was able to get a few mundane things done around the house that now seemed important with Rosalie living with us. I was subconsciously listening to her breathing rate as I moved around to make sure she was still sleeping. I wanted to be there as soon as she woke up. I was so worried of Rosalie being by herself when awake, partly because I was worried of what she was capable of and also worried about something happening to her physically.

Thankfully, Rosalie remained asleep until everyone got home from school.

Emmett went straight to her and pulled her into his lap on the couch. Alice had grown quite attached to Rosalie over the last couple of weeks and was right there with him on the other side of her.

I could hear Jasper in the garden with Edward and I know Bella had driven from school straight to Charlie's house to see Renesmee. I had sat down with Rosalie a couple of days ago and had spoken to her about Renesmee. I had told her that Renesmee was our youngest adopted daughter and was currently staying with her biological grandfather outside of Forks. This was believable to Rosalie, but she questioned why Renesmee had not been in school and why we hadn't told her about Renesmee. I had said that Renesmee was still new to our family and had chosen to be homeschooled herself as there was so much change to adjust to already. My only worry was that Bella and Edward looked so much like Renesmee and I was worried about Rosalie connecting these dots when Renesmee came back. In honesty, we all looked like each other thanks to our vampire characteristics but Rosalie hadn't really questioned this, so I was hoping we had some time to work this out.

I updated Emmett on Rosalie's stomach bug as she slept in his arms. He was frustrated he hadn't been there in the day to look after her, but he trusted Carlisle and I to keep her safe.

"She'll be alright, Emmett." Alice said softly as she ran a hand through Rosalie's curls. "I know she will be. I can see some of her future. It changes and blurs all the time but there's a future there, and I know she will get there in the end."

Emmett seemed reassured by this. It was better to see some sort of future than nothing, after all.

Rosalie stirred not long after and was happy to see Emmett. They had a connection no one could describe. It was nothing I'd seen before – completely different to even Edward and Bella. I was so happy to finally see all my children find their soulmate. Rosalie was part of our family now no matter what happened. We would protect her at all costs, and she would always be welcome.

The adoption was nearly finalized; we were just waiting for a few documents to go through. I was hoping the news would be reassuring to Rosalie. I know that she was hurt that her parents had abandoned her, but I hoped she felt safe with our family and that she was loved. Rosalie was meant to be with us. This was her home now, even more so than ours.

Edward had come into the living room now and smiled at my musings. He gave a brief nod as though to reassure me that Rosalie felt safe. He hadn't been able to see much of her thought process, but her guard was coming down and he could at least see that she had found comfort in being with us.

He got a jug from the kitchen to sort out Rosalie's fluids for the evening as Carlisle was at work. He was planning to leave the feed for during the night when Rosalie slept as we had learned that that was still too much for her when she was awake.

Rosalie didn't stiffen in Emmett's grip this time round like she usually did. She watched Edward cautiously; tracking every movement with her eyes but she remained calm. We had been doing this for so long at this point that we would all be confident and able to do Rosalie's fluids and feed, but I felt much more assured allowing Carlisle and Edward to take lead. I was pretty certain even Rosalie herself knew how to do it – she always watched so intently.

"I'm going to do your medication and your water now, Rose." Edward said softly, moving closer to Rosalie as she sat up in Emmett's lap.

"No," At first Rosalie's word quivered but she cleared her throat and sat up straighter. "No, stop." She reached to stop Edward's hand as it moved to the syringe to draw up the water.

I moved closer to her, and I watched as Emmett's eye grew concerned. Rosalie usually didn't resist water through her tube – she was always more worried about feeds. I was concerned on how unwell she would become if she started to resist water too.

What she did next shocked me. She turned to me and smiled. "Can you get my water bottle? I want to drink."

I was still for just a second as I processed her words. Rosalie wanted to drink. She wasn't taking a step backwards; she was taking a hundred steps forward.

I went straight to the kitchen to fill up her water bottle and handed it to her from where she sat on the couch. She took a small sip, but I think she felt self-conscious with so many people around her.

Edward still needed to give her medication and decided this was best through the tube. Rosalie didn't resist that – water was okay for her to accept but she was not confident taking medication orally yet. Edward did some water through the tube to flush each medication, but he didn't do the usual number of fluids in order to give Rosalie chance to drink some herself.

I was so proud of the steps she was starting to make, particularly this week.

Things were going to get better.

I knew it.