Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3 - The Birth of Isa Cullen

Forks felt... Quiet. It wasn't all that late and you couldn't see anyone around, it was the middle of the week, so the teens were probably at home doing their homework, or already getting to bed so they would wake up in time for school in the morning, and other than a couple of cars that passed her a few minutes ago, Isabella hasn't seen anyone in her way to the hospital.

...

"I should probably tell you; Carlisle is in town.", Charlie said as he watched Isabella throw away the empty cans and get started on what he only supposed was to be his dinner even if he had been trying to tell her it wasn't necessary, they could just order pizza or something.

The blond stopped the gathering of ingredients, those unnerving red eyes of hers zeroing in on his.

"What?"

"That's why Jacob has been telling anyone that would listen that the Cullens have something to do with you going missing," he told her, "You disappeared and by the end of the week Carlisle came to town. He even got his job back and stuff."

Isa tried to recall if they had agreed to meet in Forks but came out empty-handed. However, she could understand what he was thinking when deciding to come back, someone needed to keep one eye on things, or at least explain things to Charlie if she didn't manage to come back in time. Carlisle knows how much Charlie means to her, he would do whatever it takes to keep him safe, he would go against the treaty and turn him if needed to save his life.

"I didn't know he was in town. I mean, in retrospect it makes sense he would come back if only to make sure you were safe until I arrived. I don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier."

"Because you were worried about how I would react to the truth.", he said, "And I don't blame you. It wasn't exactly an easy conversation."

The blond girl started playing with her fingers, twisting them as she tried to find the right way to voice her thoughts without Charlie getting mad at her or accusing her of abandoning him again.

"Go." That was all he said, "I know how you get whenever you are away from him. Even before, you never stayed for long if he wasn't close."

"It's not like that, Charlie. And you know it." Her voice sounded tired, "It's not as if we are co-dependent on one another. We can be apart without issue; we have been apart since 1918. Only meeting here and there for short periods of time and usually because we had... Situations to deal with. It's just that... For most of our undead life, we never really needed to be separated for more than a year. We have other friends, and most of the time our social circles will overlap, but we weren't together 24/7. Sometimes I would travel on my own and he would do the same, but it was never for too long and then... Then came the day one Edward Masen found his way into Carlisle's hospital and I knew I had to leave if I didn't want all of my hard work to be blown up into smithereens."

Her fingers carded through her long hair, she didn't pull on it, but the gesture was almost that, one could taste her frustration.

"That boy was so convinced that he needed to save me. That becoming a vampire would be the same as damning my soul to hell that he would have done whatever it takes to stop things from happening as they were supposed to. I knew I couldn't risk trusting him to let the future unfold as it should.", it also doesn't help that Edward was pretty convinced that he was her mate, or at least he was before leaving her.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Fixed point and whatnot.", Charlie made a dismissive gesture with his hand but the smirk on his lips let her know that he was coming to terms with things, at least enough to make a joke.

Her Dad started getting the ingredients back into the fridge. She wouldn't be doing dinner tonight. He wasn't even sure he would be able to eat anything while still digesting the knowledge of what her life had been like for all this time and everything else.

"Now go get your... Sire," the word sounded weird to him, "And bring him here so that you can finish explaining how in the hell my daughter ended up as Isa Cullen."

...

There were a few more cars in the hospital's parking lot than she had seen on her way here, probably belonging to the doctors and nurses who were working the night shift. It was easy to spot Carlisle's Mercedes and she thanked every God she could recall that she wouldn't have to run all the way to his house because she was sure it would start to rain soon.

Isabella got inside the hospital, walked to the front desk and ignored the woman sitting on the plastic waiting chair, the woman looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place a name on the face so decided it couldn't be anyone important.

"Hi.", she said with her most friendly smile to the older woman managing the front desk, "I wanted to see Dr Cullen. I was told he's working the shift tonight. Or was it that he should've gone home by now...? I'm not really sure. Could you call him?"

An almost mesmerized look came over the woman's eyes, and Isabella wasn't even using vampiric allure on her, she was just being very sweet and polite, she found out pretty early in her undead life that their beauty plus a nice attitude could work far better than vampiric allure. Of course, it wouldn't always work, but it certainly helped a lot.

"Of course, honey.", she said, "Do you have an appointment?", she asked while reaching for the phone.

"I'm afraid not." The blond said, sounding sorry for giving the woman trouble, "But I'm sure he would be thankful to know I came here."

The woman by the waiting chairs didn't even pretend to not be listening in as soon as she heard that the girl wanted to see the good doctor. there was a small voice in Isa's mind telling her how no one would miss the nosy woman if she were to suffer from an unfortunate accident. No... Not death, but something... Maybe polka-dotted skin? That would stop her from seeing other people to gossip about.

The receptionist called his office and it was only a few seconds before he answered, "Dr Cullen, there is someone here by the front desk...", she listened to whatever he had to say, Isa wasn't really paying attention, still deciding on the colour of the polka-dots, "A young woman, says she needed to see you...", maybe making her have to regrow her hair. She knows it takes a long time for mundanes to do that without undergoing procedures such as hair transplants, "Sweetheart, what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," Isa turned her attention back to the receptionist with her affable smile, "Isa...Bella. Isabella Swan.", she almost said it was Isa Cullen and that wouldn't go down well.

"Oh my!", it was only after the surprised reaction that Isa realised that people think she's missing. They have believed that to be the truth for almost two months. Well... Guess it's better that they start getting used to her being back and well... Looking like she does now, "Dr Cullen, she said... Yes, Ms Swan.", Isa heard the disconnected call sound from the phone the receptionist still held on her hands, the woman's eyes unable to leave the girl in front of her, as if Bella was a ghost.

Carlisle didn't take long to show up, she could bet Garrett's entire collection of Quidditch paraphernalia how he had to stop himself from running full vampire speed to check and see if she was well... Still her. If she was his Isa, if everything worked as she hoped it would. He stopped just a few steps away from her. His eyes were golden, she noticed, probably a glamour to look like the vegetarians on his coven, they both knew theirs would never become that colour, and that wasn't just because they could never resist blood pops, but because they were still abominations. Their eyes would be that vivid red whenever they feed off of fresh blood, be it human or animal, and then it would fade back to the crystal blue of Carlisle's human eyes, the ones she inherited as his progeny.

Her nose twitched in a way that showed her dislike when she saw how he had tried slicking back his hair. She forgot how he used to do that when working in Forks. It was so not Carlisle that she couldn't help reaching for his head with one of her hands and messing his hair completely, bringing a bit of laughter out of him.

"Much better." she nodded to herself, trying to sound serious and clearly failing in it, "Slicked-back hair was never for you, Carlisle. It can't hide your baby face."

"I don't have a baby face, Isa.", he rolled his eyes, but right now he looked nothing like the well-liked doctor the town knew him as. Right now, he looked like he couldn't have been much older than Emmett pretended to be.

"Keep on telling yourself that."

He sighed deciding this was one battle he would never be able to win, she knew too much for him to be able to win anyway. And she was right, he doesn't look old enough to be out of college, even less to be a well-renowned doctor.

"So it worked?", he asked and she nodded, "Thank God. I was so fucking worried, Isa. You have no idea."

"I know," she said, her arms hugging herself, "But I couldn't come back until I was sure and risk being around at that time. It... It wasn't safe, Carlisle." Her voice was almost pleading, hoping that he would understand her side. That he wouldn't get mad at her for making him go along with her crazy plan and lie to the rest of the coven about her existence. Letting everyone believe Edward was his first companion.

She was taken out of the spiral of not-so-happy thoughts by her Sire pulling her into his arms. The blond felt her body relaxing instantly as she hugged him back. It would be fine. Everything would be fine. They could stop with the lies now that Charlie knew the truth. They could tell the others. She could see her Mum, tell her who she was. It would be fine.

"Calmer now?", his voice was barely above a whisper but Bella nodded, "Why don't you wait here while I clock out and then we can talk about what happened?"

"Sounds good.", she muttered but it was obvious she didn't want to let go but did anyway.

Bella went to one of the chairs, sitting there as Carlisle went back to his office to change out of his white coat and make sure Dr Gerandy had already arrived to cover for him. The blond was doing the utmost to ignore the woman who sat a few chairs down from her and the receptionist who went mute at hearing her name. Isa was sure that by the morrow everyone in town would have heard how the Police Chief's missing daughter came back looking like she must have undergone plastic surgery or something to be looking like that.

Carlisle didn't take long to be back, and thankfully he didn't try to brush his hair and simply went along with the wavy mess Isa loved so much (it felt good knowing he didn't look perfect by vampire standards, that he had the worst case of a bird's nest on top of his head she has ever seen in a vampire).

"Come on, let's go." He said offering her his hand as if second nature. And it was.

When their hands touched they could feel their magical core humming at the feeling of completion and familiarity, of being home. It was soothing and other magicals with twin cores they met would describe the feeling in that same way. It was only inside the car that Isa turned to look at him.

"I went to see Charlie. We talked," she said and noticed how he stopped his hand that would start the car, "I told him some things, and I think he's starting to understand."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am." It wasn't she the one that had been lied to her whole life, "He wanted me to bring you by the house. I think he wants to hear a bit more before going to sleep."

"That's okay by me." They do owe that to Charlie.

He turned on the car and drove slowly to her father's house, there was no hurry, Forks wasn't big, and it didn't even take much time for him to turn on her old street. Was it weird that he couldn't think of that place as her house anymore? Whenever he would think of the words Isa and Home his mind went back to the townhouse in London, the one they got after the Great Fire. They lived there for almost a century before they started travelling around the continent and beyond, so he thought it acceptable that thoughts of home would take his mind back to memories of Isa running around the old classical townhouse, barefoot while trying to hide from the house elf that was trying to force her to attend some social gathering that Carlisle wasn't even remotely ashamed to use his job as an excuse to miss.

He parked the car beside the cruiser and got out, he didn't have time to open the door for Isa, she was already outside and waiting for him, her whole body was close to vibrating out of pure anxiety. It had been ages since he last saw her like this and a part of him wanted to deal with everything on his own to save her all the suffering and anxiety, but wanting to do that and actually doing it were two different things. He knows he can't protect her from everything, some battles are hers to fight, but that doesn't mean he won't be by her side either way.

"Time to face the music." Isa tried to smile as she said that but it came out as a grimace.

Carlisle didn't say anything as her hand searched for his, simply letting her hold and squeeze his fingers for dear life as he pressed the doorbell. Charlie didn't take long to open the door and let them get inside, simply gesturing for the two to go to the kitchen. The Chief hadn't been drinking any more beer; however, the kettle and the mug told them of some herbal infusion.

"Charlie?", Isa asked pointing towards the kettle.

The Chief went a bit red on the face, scratching at the back of his neck.

"It didn't seem like a good idea to drink coffee this late if I plan on catching any shuteye after I get some more answers." He gave a means of explanation, "Now, who is gonna explain how you go from Bella Swan to Isa Cullen."

"That would be my fault...", Carlisle started.

She was back inside the room Carlisle had been renting in the inn. He left Bella alone for most of the morning and she wasn't planning on holding that against him, he is a Healer, and he has a job to do that he can't just put on hold because he now has a fledgling on his hand when he is still one himself (Merlin, what a messy situation they got themselves into). So while he went to work she spent her morning looking through his books, and let me tell you he had a lot. There weren't novels of any kind, and it wasn't a surprise, she always found the wizarding community to be lacking in that aspect, however, he has a huge collection of books on transfiguration and charms, and a good few interesting ones in Potions and even mundane healing practices. It was obvious that he had been acquiring most of these during his training as a healer, some were older looking so she would guess from his time at school (he said he went to Hogwarts, didn't he?). She chose a Charms one that looked promising and decided to see if there were any new charms she could try. It would be a good way of passing the time as long as she's careful to not cause any accidents.

Isabella hadn't noticed the passage of time as she tried to correctly perform the new charm when the door to his room opened and Carlisle came inside. She stopped what she was doing and looked outside, it didn't look to be late.

"Back already?"

"Yes. I see you went through my books, found anything fun?", he didn't sound mad that she touched his things, so that was good, it would be terribly boring if he expected her to just sit like a statue until he came back from work.

"Just looking through this book and practising a few of the charms. It seemed like a nice way to improve not only the control over my magical core but also my strength and movements with something as delicate as a wand." Isa explained her train of thought.

Carlisle nodded to what she was saying. It was, indeed, a good idea and one that he also tried when he transitioned. Control was something vital for creatures like them, even if they didn't suffer from the bloodlust of the Cold Ones, to perform magic and to be Healers took more finesse than many vampires could claim to have.

"Maybe we could get some things for you to start brewing potions here. Preparing the ingredients and performing all the steps to correctly brew a potion demands attention and a delicate touch even from humans. It would be good practice both for your control and also as part of your apprenticeship.", he suggested and the bright smile he got in return was enough for him to know she would agree to scrub cauldrons as long as it was a part of healer training (Not that he was planning on making her do that... Much), "Anyway... I got you something."

"What exactly did you get me?", she was never one to easily accept being given stuff.

"Here." He put a couple of parcels on her hands and watched as she started to open it and look at what was inside, "I noticed that your clothes would bring you too much attention and it's not as if you could simply borrow something from me."

"Is this a corset?"

The blond girl sounded appalled as she looked at the garment. It wasn't overly decorated; it was simple in design and not even close to what she saw in some movies.

"I know what you are thinking. It's not one of those women have to wear to formal events and social gatherings and whatnot. I swear," he was quick to explain, "I recalled the girls that attended school with me talking about ladies' garments," he frowned a bit, "The girls in Ravenclaw would make sure that all the boys understood how much they had to suffer with bothersome clothes, especially those boys that were betrothed, something about "making sure they knew how to be decent husbands" or something among those lines." It was obvious that even being single didn't spare Carlisle from suffering that fate. He learned more about what was like being a woman in these times than he ever wished to know. Isa even stopped looking ghastly at the corset to laugh at his scarred look, "The point is, the one I got you are supposed to be comfortable; they aren't tailored so the shop owner told me you would have to use tailoring spells to adjust it correctly to your body."

"Thank you, Carlisle." Isa managed to say when she finally stopped laughing at how uncomfortable he was with this whole situation.

It makes sense, they aren't lovers or even siblings and still, he had to go buy her clothes and undergarments. To look at those and think of her actually wearing them, of course, it was more on the lines of: would it look good? Will she like what he chose? What if she hated the colour? Those questions and doubts were all so clear to read on his face. Carlisle was an open book in that sense. Perhaps because he hasn't been a vampire for long and didn't have a need to lie to people as often as he will have to in the future as he starts mingling with mundanes.

"Good... Good. Well, I was thinking," he began as she looked through the rest of the clothes, "We should go to Gringotts," when she looked at him puzzled at the change in topics he started explaining, "You don't have any form of identification, that is something we need to rectify if you truly intend to become a Healer. And if we finish things there quickly, we can go find you some other robes. I only got you this set and you will need more than that."

As much as she wanted to refuse, she knew he was right. She needed more clothes to change into as much as she needed new documents.

"And we can also stop to get the Potion's equipment?", she asked with a shy smile but twinkling red eyes.

"I think we can manage to squeeze some time in there to get those too.", he got up, "Come on. Go get changed so that we can go."

Isabella took everything with her to the small washroom to get changed when her eyes met the bathtub. It wasn't the cosiest-looking tub she had ever seen, but after transitioning and practising magic the whole morning a bath, even a quick one, sounded like a good idea. She had to use a couple of spells to get herself dry and her hair untangled but soon she was dressed properly for the current time.

"What do you think?", she asked Carlisle as she gave a spin so that he could look her outfit over and point if she missed anything or if she did something wrong, it was her first time dressing like that.

"You look like a proper lady." Carlisle gave his approval and soon they were both making their way to the northern side of the Alley, towards the bank.

During the night Diagon Alley was something new and mysterious to look at, but during the day... It was magical. No pun intended.

Some people would look at them weirdly, wary of their red eyes and non-human beauty. Wizard folk were always smarter in recognizing dangerous creatures and staying the fuck away, she can still remember the mundanes back in Forks and their reactions to the Cullen family.

They reached the snowy-white marble building, it towered over the little shops made of grey stone and dark wood, some painted in vibrant colours to attract the eyes of passersby. What caught Isabella's attention, however, was the text on the silver doors when they passed the goblin guards:

"Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there."

"Very welcoming." Her voice was low enough that only Carlisle would hear it.

"They are, first and foremost, a warrior race, Isabella. So heed those words. They won't care if we are wizards or vampires." his voice was just as low as hers, but she could hear in it more than just a warning but also his worry. It was more of a primal thing, about being outnumbered. It was easier to ignore when they were human.

The girl nodded as they went to a teller.

"State your business." the creature spoke, as it looked at them.

"My...", how was he supposed to introduce her? What was Isabella to him? To simply say she was his friend wouldn't do any justice to the fact that he embraced her and turned the young woman into a vampire, but he also doesn't see her as his Childe. They are almost the same age, and it would be weird if he started seeing himself in the position of a father, "My Progeny," was the best he could use to describe their situation as of now, "Has no documentation and no family to claim her. I would like to rectify these matters and to properly claim her as part of my family." It would be only right to do so. Yes, she came to the past by accident, but he was the one to turn her into a vampire without asking. She may be okay with how things turned out, but that doesn't excuse him of his responsibilities as her Sire, and that also means giving her a family name.

The teller looked at the two of them before nodding and calling another Goblin.

"Go through that door. They will draw new papers for the young lady." They didn't need anyone to tell them they were dismissed.

The two followed through the door and found themselves in what looked like a small and very generic office, it was probably for meetings such as this one.

"Good afternoon, I'm Bogrod." The Goblin introduced himself before taking his seat and gesturing for them to do the same, "I will be helping you with all the procedures today."

"My name is Carlisle Cullen, and this is Isabella, my Progeny."

It wouldn't be a good idea to try and fool Goblins regarding what they are. Goblins are the cleverest creatures Carlisle has ever met, he knew they had identified the two of them as some species of vampire or similar dark creature as soon as they stepped inside the bank.

"Well met." Although he said that it was obvious Bogrod wasn't all that happy in having to do this work. If it was because of having to deal with wizards in general or simply dark creatures, he had no idea. "Now, tell me exactly what you expect of us."

And so he did.

Carlisle and Isabella alternated in explaining her circumstances, said circumstances that they thought should be better kept out of the Ministry of Magic's ears for their safety. They went on to explain how she would need documents to prove her identity at this time, and Carlisle offered his family name seeing as he was her Sire, he should also be responsible for her ("No, I'm not training for when I become a father, Isabella! Stop saying that!"). He also asked for a vault key for her, for if Isabella is anything like him, financial freedom and security would be very important.

When they finally stepped outside Gringotts, Isabella Swan was gone and Isabella Marie Cullen had been born.

Charlie went to bed not much longer after they finished telling him about the changing of her name and answering some of his questions about wizarding culture, he got curious about law enforcement when Isa described the inscription of the silver doors and that developed into a more in-depth explanation about the Auror corps. They decided to avoid telling him about the wars and their participation in them, at least for now. It already seemed to be too much for him to stomach and it was only the beginning. Isa could hear when his breathing became slower and knew he had fallen asleep.

"He seems to be taking things better than we expected."

"Yeah... That surprised me too." She agreed, "I was expecting... I don't know. Lots of shouting? Him refusing to see me as Isa? Expecting me to go back to being Bella? Merlin... I feel like such a bitch for expecting only the worst outcome."

She sat on the couch, letting her body sink in it. It didn't take much for Carlisle to be lying on the couch by her side, his head resting comfortably on her lap as she played with his hair, making it into a bigger bird's nest than it already was, he wouldn't fight her on it this time, he knew that it was as soothing for her as it was for him when he did the same to her hair, and she never complained of his poor braiding skills.

"It's understandable, Isa," he spoke even though his eyes were closed, "You were scared of what was to come. Let's be honest now, we have been holding onto a lie for the past eighty years, give or take a few years in there. We hid your existence from the coven. We lied to people we care about and made others keep the secret for us. We did it. The both of us. You are not the only one at fault. And yeah, I know we had our reasons. But not everyone will accept that. There will be hurt feelings."

Isabella sighed. He was right. It doesn't mean she wants to admit to it. She let her eyes drift to the ceiling as her fingers kept brushing his hair, she felt Carlisle moving to get into a more comfortable position, were he human she would think he was getting sleepy as he was now lying on his side, his face burrowed on her stomach to the point she could feel his breathing through the fabric of her shirt.

"Thanks." She said after a while.

"Hmm?"

"For being the annoying voice of conscience that I need to listen to from time to time."

He opened one of his eyes to look at her, clearly annoyed by the description.

"I'm amazing and you know it, you menace."

"I'm not a menace," she defended herself, "I'm an angel and you love me."

"Well, so was Lucifer. See where I'm getting at?", that was answered with a well-deserved (in Isabella's opinion) slap upside his head.

"Since you are calling me Lucifer, I believe you wouldn't want some of what I brought with me." She said with her most tempting voice as she reached for one of the pockets in her discarded jacket on the armrest of the couch. It was effective as Carlisle now had both eyes on her grinning face.

"What are we talking about?"

"Draught of Living Death." One could hear the pride in her voice, "I thought you would like the idea of actually sleeping just as much as any other person-... Hey!", he was sitting now and holding the tiny vial.

"Were you the one to brew it?", he asked.

"Of course, I would never drink a potion brewed by just anyone. Especially this one. It's the only sleeping potion that can actually work well on us, I didn't want to risk someone messing up." She dismissed his worries, "What do you say? A drop each? We should wake up by seven, seven and a half in the morning."

Carlisle was already filling the dropper when she finished assuring him that it was safe for them to use the potion. It's not that their kind can't sleep, it doesn't come as easy as it does to pure-bloods, that's for sure, but they aren't incapable of sleeping like Cold Ones. The potion helped when they were nearing burnout and needed to rest their brains before tackling the world and their responsibilities.

She opened her mouth letting him give her one drop of the potion, it was a testament to how much she trusted him, for that was a very dangerous potion, one drop would put even the undead to sleep for an entire night, more than that could put them in a coma until the effect was gone or someone administers the antidote. It didn't take long for her to feel the effects of the potion taking hold. Isa barely noticed when Carlisle took the drop himself and was back to resting his head on her lap, one of his arms around her waist as if the girl was his favourite pillow right now.

It wasn't a dreamless sleep like other potions, the sleep was natural even if it came rather quickly after taking the potion, it was safer for those who are undead than it was for humans, no one could deny it. The dreams were your regular weird shit that people tend to dream about, not worth recalling by the morning. But it was peaceful, and honestly, isn't that what everyone wants? Peaceful dreams? Some books describe it as the sleep of the dead, but that is only in the sense that the person won't wake up until the effects end. If brewed correctly and administered properly, the potion is as safe as any other sleeping potion could be. And that was the excuse Isa would be using on her Dad when he was woken up in the buttcrack of dawn by someone playing flappy bird on the doorbell.