Thank you all so much for continuing to read and review!

And lots of thanks to anhanninen for prereading and to MelissaMargaret for making this pretty.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or these characters.

Esme POV

With the addition of Alice, I had expected some level of jealousy from all of the kids. I wasn't assuming that it would be smooth sailing by any means, but that didn't make seeing Pumpkin this upset any easier. I knew it would be the hardest with him, since Alice had started breastfeeding. Not wanting to deny either of my little ones, it was obvious that I would be tandem nursing for a while.

That I could handle. What concerned me was Pumpkin's current behavior.

Lauren had directed us to a wonderful playroom on the floor down from Alice's room, and while Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper enjoyed themselves with the puzzles and games, Edward refused to leave my side.

"I'm not going anywhere, baby," I promised him, kissing his cheek. "Mommy's not leaving you."

"Mama," he whined. Placing his head against my neck, he reached up and grabbed onto a piece of my hair. He held it tightly, not quite pulling, but still preventing me from moving much.

"I don't know how to explain it," I said softly, mostly to myself. "Alice isn't replacing you. Not by any means. Daddy and I still love you so, so much, and your brothers and sister, too. Well now, sisters." I paused and shifted enough to kiss Edward's head. He sighed and snuggled closer, giving me hope that just maybe this would eventually make sense to him. "We'll figure it out, Pumpkin. I love you."

"Lo ouu," he murmured. "Leelee?"

I chuckled. "Okay, baby. We'll go play with your Leelee."

Standing from the rocking chair, I carried him over to the table the kids were sitting at. I sat beside them, not trusting the miniature chairs to hold the two of us comfortably. Em chattered up a storm, like always – some about Alice and some random silliness. Rosalie and Jasper were quieter, but it didn't worry me. They all had their ways of dealing with new situations. Carlisle and I would be there for them no matter what, and already at their young ages, they realized that to some degree.

"You know what, guys?" I asked them, and they all looked up at me. "I think maybe we should go visit Mrs. S some time. Think that would be fun?"

I'd been thinking about it all day, wondering if Siobhan might be able to help us make sense of…everything. There really had been so many changes for our family in a short period of time. And though I hadn't discussed it with Carlisle, it made sense for us to restart our sessions with Siobhan. An outside opinion was always welcome with us, especially from her. She had our complete trust.

We could have navigated through our crazy life without her, but it wouldn't have been as easy by any means. Her insight was invaluable.

"Mommy, she has fun toys!" Emmett said with a wide smile. "We can go play with her again?"

Rosalie smiled. "We can take my girl sister Alice with us, right, Mommy? She can play with us."

"We would take Alice with us," I agreed. "And we can all talk to Mrs. S about how we feel about Alice coming to live with us."

"I like her," Jasper said softly, scooting out of us seat to come sit in my lap.

"You like who, buddy? I asked and kissed the top of his head.

"Alice. She a little baby, but I like her."

Relieved, I did my best to hug him tightly. "I'm so glad you like her, Jasper. But if you or Emmett or Rosalie ever have something to tell Mommy or Daddy, you can. Or if you want to talk to Mrs. S, do that too, okay?"

The three of them nodded, and then Jasper stood up and went back to work on the puzzle, effectively ending our conversation. With just their few words, I felt better. Hopefully, they all understood as much as they seemed to. Carlisle and I both loved being able to relieve their fear and anxiety, but they had to know to tell us if anything bothered them. We were pretty good at picking up on the signs, but since our lives would now be much busier, I didn't want to chance anything going unnoticed.

I let them play for a while, and after a few minutes, Pumpkin left my lap to sit with Rosalie as she colored. I stayed close though, wanting him to know that I wasn't going anywhere without him. As long as he could clearly see me, he was fine, and Rosalie even let him help her finish her picture.

"Look," she said, holding up the finished product. "I colored Rapunzel for Alice! And Pumpkin helped me!"

"Oh, wow," I exclaimed with a smile, admiring her picture. She'd actually done really well, staying in the lines and keeping the colors fairly accurate to match the cartoon. "You did such a good job, sugar. Are you going to give it to Alice?"

She nodded. "Uh huh. But I wanna put hers name on it. Can you help me?"

"I sure can." I scooted closer to the table, getting up to my knees. I placed a crayon in her hand and put mine on top of hers, guiding her to spell Alice's name. "Okay, so we need an A-L-I-C-E. Alice. Do you want to put your name on the bottom so she'll know who it's from?" She nodded, loving the idea, so I let her write her own name on the bottom and then helped Pumpkin write his. He clapped happily when he was finished and gave me a toothy grin.

"Good job, Pumpkin," Rosalie said, patting his back. "Now we can give the pretty picture to Alice! Can we do it now, Mommy?"

Looking up at the clock on the wall, I nodded. We'd been gone about an hour, and it was getting late. As much as I wished the whole family would be staying at the hospital, it just wasn't possible. Carlisle and the kids would have to leave soon.

We all walked back to Alice's room together. Rosalie pointed out the butterflies this time, loving them like we thought she would. Emmett and Jasper also thought the decorations were cool, and the anxiety they'd had about visiting the hospital seemed to be slowly abating.

Pumpkin walked on his own with Rosalie holding one hand and me holding the other. I hoped this meant he was feeling better, but as soon as we stepped into Alice's room, he nearly scaled my legs in an attempt to be closer to me.

Instead of making a big deal about it, I simply picked him up and gave him a kiss. This wasn't going to be something we'd solve in one night, and that was okay. It also meant that Pumpkin would be staying with me tonight, but I'd prepared for this possibility.

Emmett and Jasper ran over to the chair they'd been sitting in, asking for the TV to be turned back on, and Rosalie skipped over to Carlisle and Alice. I smiled as I stood and watched them. Carlisle and Alice both were completely calm as he rocked slowly in the chair. I would have thought Alice was asleep if she hadn't been facing me.

"How's it going?" I asked as I stepped closer after Rosalie finished telling him about the picture.

"Definitely no complaints from me," he said with a grin. He reached up, patting Alice's back, and she shifted, appearing to snuggle just a bit closer. "Yep. This is perfect."

With a matching grin, I knelt down beside the chair, running my hand lightly over Alice's head. "Hi, sweet girl. Did you have fun with Daddy?" She shifted again, opening and closing her eyes slowly. "Oh, I think someone's sleepy."

Carlisle chuckled, and I looked up at him in question. He nodded toward the other side of the room, and I looked over. "I think she's not the only one." Emmett and Jasper were leaning against each other, TV forgotten as their eyes struggled to stay open. Rosalie was no better as she leaned against the side of the rocking chair. "We probably need to leave soon," he said regretfully.

"I know," I sighed. "What time are you coming back tomorrow?"

"I was thinking after lunch would be good. Or I'll bring them to eat here. Whatever you think."

"Call tomorrow," I suggested. "I'll see if there's anything good in their cafeteria. And I'll see if we can take Alice down with us."

"Sounds good, sweetheart." He leaned over to kiss me and gave Pumpkin one, too. "How's my boy? Are you ready to spend time with me tonight?"

Pumpkin smiled and babbled too fast to be understood, but I knew his smile would disappear as soon as I tried to release him.

"I think I need to keep him with me tonight."

"Are you sure?" Carlisle asked, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.

I nodded. "I need to get used to juggling them both, and he's not willing to leave my sight right now. And I packed him a bag just in case."

"I'm glad you suspected this," he said, smiling sadly. "I didn't even think about how he'd react to you and Alice."

"I didn't think it would be this bad," I admitted. "We'll work through it though. But I'm thinking we should go see Siobhan. See what she thinks could make this easier."

He nodded in agreement, but then we were once again interrupted by a knock on the door. I stood and opened it, smiling at Lauren.

"How's everyone doing?" she asked as she entered the room. "Any problems or anything you need?"

"I think we're doing okay," I said but remembered something. "Oh, I was wondering if she needed some formula now. She ate a little over an hour ago. Just one side, but I think it was a little more than before."

Lauren nodded. "We'll give her some more in a few minutes, but that's great! Our hope is that she'll increase her amount on her own, so good job. Tomorrow morning we'll do her weight. Fingers crossed she's gained a few ounces. I'll be leaving for the night soon, but Jessica will be coming in, and she'll be with you until tomorrow morning, okay?" We nodded. "Anything else you might need before I go?"

We couldn't think of anything, so after saying our goodbyes for the evening, we were left alone once again.

The kids were all about to fall asleep, so even though he didn't want to, Carlisle stood and placed Alice back in her crib. As he redressed, I stood next to the crib so Pumpkin could talk to Alice. She wouldn't look at him, but he was happy to talk to her and pat her hands. His problem wasn't with Alice; it was my relationship with Alice. I wasn't sure if that was going to make things easier or more difficult.

After Carlisle finished putting his shirt on, he came over to stand behind me, sliding his arms around my waist. "I love you," he whispered, kissing my temple. "I'll miss sleeping beside you tonight."

I relaxed against him and patted one of his hands. "I'll miss you, too. We'll have to both stay tomorrow night if we can. I definitely don't want to spend two nights apart."

"Done," he said simply. "Nana and Pops will have company tomorrow night."

I chuckled but didn't object to his plan. It wasn't as if Carmen and Eleazar would mind. They loved having them for the night, and I knew they'd somehow be even more willing now that we were going through these challenges with Alice. There was no way we'd be able to do this without our family. Their support meant the world to us.

Carlisle made a trip out to the van to grab the things I'd packed just in case Pumpkin stayed, and then all too soon, he and the kids had to leave. While I was used to the kids being gone for the night, being separated from them and Carlisle was a new experience for me. I didn't enjoy the feeling, but I could deal with it for my baby girl.

Lauren came in one last time before her shift ended and poured some formula into a bag that attached to the pump. Again, I tried to pay attention to the steps she followed, but with Pumpkin in my arms, it wasn't easy. She assured me that I'd have plenty of time to learn, so I didn't worry too much about it. After settling everything up, she wished us a good night and left me with my babies.

"All right, Pumpkin," I said as I settled him on the couch. "I need to wrap Alice up, so you sit here with your toys." I pulled a few out of the bag, making sure he was interested before going over to Alice. He whined softly, but I shushed him and started singing for both of my babies. It soothed them, Pumpkin staying put and Alice not making a sound as I wrapped her up in a sort blanket.

"There we go, little love bug," I said when I was finished. "Now you can come sit with me and Edward." Carefully carrying her over to the couch, I watched Pumpkin, sighing in relief as he made no move to protest.

I shifted Alice to the opposite arm as I sat down so he could see her, but instead of just looking, he climbed into my lap, too.

"Baby," he said, pointing to Alice. "Baby. Mama, baby."

"Good job. Alice is a baby. Can you say Alice?" I worked with him for a few minutes, but even though he could repeat me, he didn't associate the name with her. I didn't push him since I figured it would come in time.

Once again, Pumpkin was quickly bored with the baby and slid down to the couch to focus his attention on his toys. I was able to finally relax and enjoy the time with both of them. I'd never had two little ones this size at the same time, but so far, it seemed easier than having three toddlers getting into everything. Of course, it was the evening, and Pumpkin was sleepy. There was no way to tell how it would be once Alice came home.

Alice fell asleep in my arms less than thirty minutes later, and Edward was yawning like he was ready for bed, too.

"Is it past your bedtime, baby?" I asked him, kissing the top of his head.

"Nigh nigh, Mama." He signed for milk in between rubbing his eyes, so after giving him another kiss, I placed Alice in her crib and went to stand at the door. It would have been easier to hit the call button, but I wanted the new nurse to know that she could come in. The sign had given us fantastic privacy so far, something I was truly thankful for.

One of the nurses noticed me right away, and smiled as she walked over.

"Hi, I'm Jessica," she said when she reached me. "I'll be Miss Alice's nurse for tonight and tomorrow night. You're Mrs. Cullen?"

"Esme, please," I said with a nod. "Nice to meet you."

"You as well. Can I get you anything before I come in to take the evening vitals and take care of her bath?"

"Could we get some blankets and pillows?" I requested.

"Sure. How many do you need?"

"Hmm…enough for me and my son. But he's…" I paused, feeling something grab onto my legs. I turned around, chuckling as Pumpkin attached himself to me, and picked him up. "But he's small, as you can see," I finished.

Jessica nodded. "No problem. I'll have those to you in just a few minutes, and we'll get Alice taken care of, too."

As she headed off to find the linens, I took Pumpkin back to the couch, laying him down so I could change his diaper and clothes. I'd packed a warm sleeper since the room was cool as well as his favorite blanket to sleep with. I finished dressing him before Jessica returned, so I settled in the rocking chair to quickly nurse him.

He was almost asleep anyway, so I knew it wouldn't take long. Though not thinking, I hadn't closed the door all the way, and Jessica entered with her arms full of supplies after knocking once. It didn't bother me because I was completely covered up, but she continued to whisper apologies until I stopped her.

"You're fine," I assured her. "I didn't even think to close the door, and he's just about finished anyway. You're not the first and definitely won't be the last person who's given us an audience."

"But, really…I should have knocked. I'm so –"

I cut her off, shaking my head. "No more sorries. If you insist on making it up to me, you can let me help with Alice's bath." I winked, smiling as she let out a breath.

"Okay." She smiled. "I can definitely do that. Let me put this down, and I'll get everything set up in the bathroom."

As she set the blankets and pillow on the couch, I checked on Pumpkin. He was still latched on but wasn't drinking, and his eyes were closed. Slowly, I moved him away from me, testing to see if he was really asleep. He didn't fight me, and his eyes remained closed as he sighed. I kissed his forehead and stood, carrying him over to the couch. He wasn't one to move around in his sleep, but I still placed one of the pillows beside him just in case he decided to roll over.

Once I was sure he was fine, I joined Jessica in the bathroom. She was filling one of the plastic hospital tubs with warm water and baby wash along with setting out towels and a wash cloth.

When she noticed my presence, she turned and smiled. "You could probably do this on your own, since I'm sure you've given plenty of baths. So I'll just show you how to get around the NG unless you'd rather I do it. Whichever way is fine with me."

"I'd like to learn. Anything you're willing to share about that feeding tube, really. She'll be coming home with it, right?"

She nodded. "More than likely, especially if the doctor decides to discharge her early next week. And based on the improvement she's had in just a day, the possibility is definitely there."

"Really?" I knew Alice seemed to be content with us, but the eye contact still wasn't there, and overall, the way she responded to us still wasn't like a normal baby. And she did breastfeed better than she'd taken a bottle, but that didn't seem like a huge accomplishment either.

"Oh, definitely," Jessica said, nodding emphatically. "Two days ago, she was a totally different baby. Her cry was just so pitiful and nothing we tried could comfort her. But now, well…I've never seen her be this quiet for so long. It's truly a miracle."

"I don't know what we're doing." I shrugged. "Nothing we wouldn't do for our other babies."

"And I think that's exactly what she needed. Just that. She needs to be someone's baby. Now, let's get your baby girl cleaned up and settled for the night."

We walked back into the room, and I watched closely as Jessica disconnected the feeding tube from the pump, clamping it so that nothing could leak out.

"And, since she's well hydrated now, we get to lose the IV," she informed me as she went for Alice's foot. "This shouldn't be too uncomfortable for her, but we'll just see."

I nodded and unwrapped the blanket, leaning down to be closer to Alice. I hoped to both comfort her and distract myself. She didn't deserve this or any other kind of pain, and it hurt me to think about.

Alice woke up as Jessica removed the tape and began squirming, her forehead scrunched unhappily.

"It's okay, baby." I ran my hand over her head a couple of times before holding it in place so my thumb could rub her temple. "Miss Jessica will be fast. Mommy's right here."

I knew the second Jessica pulled the IV out because Alice squeaked unhappily, not unlike the sound Edward always made while getting shots. But I could tell she wasn't going to be as easily comforted, so as soon as the band aid was in place, I picked her up and bounced her lightly as I paced in front of the bathroom.

"That's my good girl," I said, kissing the top of her head. "It's all over now. We don't need to cry now that it's over. Mommy's so proud of you."

Patting her bottom, I continued murmuring softly to her while keeping an eye on Pumpkin as well. So far, Alice's upset hadn't woken him, and as she gradually calmed, the chance that it would lessened. Pumpkin was generally a good sleeper, something I was thankful for since right now, I couldn't imagine having to comfort both of them at the same time.

Being so focused on Alice, I didn't notice that Jessica was watching us. When I looked over at her, her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were wide.

"Is something wrong?" I asked softly, kissing Alice's head one last time as she quieted down completely.

"N…no," she stuttered. "Not wrong at all. It's just so…different. When Lauren put that IV in, Alice screamed for almost an hour. She only settled after exhausting herself. What you did just now…was amazing."

I simply smiled, too overwhelmed to speak. Maybe these simple things were helping more than we ever could have thought. The only thing that mattered was that Alice healed. The pace made no difference as long as we made it to the end result.

When I was sure Alice was calm, I carried her into the bathroom and finished undressing her. With her diaper removed, it was even easier to see how small she was. I was worried, but knowing we were already working to make her better relieved my worry somewhat. I placed a tender kiss on her forehead, wishing there was something I could do to fix everything right now.

The bath turned out to be almost exactly like the ones I'd given to Pumpkin months ago, and Jessica stood back, not crowding me as I took care of my daughter. Alice didn't like the water, but I discovered that as long as I talked to her, she stayed quiet.

Even cleaning around the feeding tube wasn't as difficult as I expected. Jessica explained that as long as the tube didn't get pulled out, there was no wrong way to do it.

Thirty minutes later, Alice was dry, lotioned, and wide awake as her vitals were taken.

"Her vitals are perfectly stable," Jessica informed me when she was finished. "And unless you need anything, I won't be officially bothering you until morning. I'll definitely knock next time, though."

I laughed softly and nodded. I still wasn't bothered, but if it made her feel better, I wasn't going to argue.

Before dressing Alice, I quickly used the bathroom and went through my nightly routine. With that taken care of, I focused on Alice, dressing her in the pink sleeper I'd packed.

"We'll be kangaroos again tomorrow, baby girl." I settled her in my arms, smiling as she shifted toward me. It was slight, but so much closer to what I'd expected in the beginning. Maybe she really was improving. "That's my sweet girl. I think tonight we'll let you eat again and then it's sleep time for all of us. Your brother's already out for the night, so now it's your turn."

I sat in the rocking chair with her and rocked for a few minutes before shifting her to see if she wanted to nurse. She latched on but only drank enough to soothe her to sleep. Knowing she'd had an exhausting day, I didn't even think of waking her. Instead, I kept rocking to try to shut my own brain off. There was so much to think about, planning that needed to be done.

But I tried to keep all of that in the back of my mind. It wasn't important. Not right now, anyway. What was important was the little brown haired beauty sleeping comfortably in my arms. I gently ran my finger over her cheek, smiling as she turned toward me and started making a sucking motion.

Standing from the chair, I walked over to the crib and laid her down in the middle. I wrapped a receiving blanket around her as well as the soft, thick blanket, and waited for a minute to see if she'd stay settled.

As she continued sleeping, I backed up to the couch and started working on reading my bed for the night. There was no way Pumpkin and I could both fit comfortably on the couch, so I pulled the chair over until it was touching the couch, placing a sheet in the seat. As quickly as gently as I could, I transferred Pumpkin to the chair and covered him with one of the blankets Jessica had brought. I then made up the couch and after turning out the main light, lay down and tried to get comfortable.

It wasn't my bed and I missed Carlisle, but I was happy. Being here with Alice, being able to be her mother was the best way to spend this Saturday night. I hoped for a future full of nights like this, though the preference would be that they'd be at home.

Based on what Jessica and Lauren had said, discharge didn't seem so far way. Dr. Gerandy would have the final say, so I couldn't wait for him to visit. Hopefully he'd see the same thing they did. And hopefully, at the very least, he'd agree that we were good for Alice.

A/N: Well, I made my 2 week goal. =) Thank you all so much for being patient with me this semester. Finals are finally over, and I'm finished until next year, so hopefully I can keep up regular updates. If not, just know that I'll never abandon this story.

Also, a few days ago, MelissaMargaret posted a continuation of the o/s she wrote for my birthday! It's called You Belong to Me and it's so, so lovely. Go check it out!

Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!