Thank you all so, so much for sticking with me! (If you're still with me.) And of course, thank you for the lovely reviews!
A zillion and a half thanks to MelissaMargaret for making this pretty and to anhanninen for prereading.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or these characters.
Carlisle POV
Having the whole family home together provided a huge sense of relief. There had been no way to escape stress over the last week. Alice's prognosis wasn't as worrisome now that it was clear she was able to make progress, but just being away from home and the other kids was stressful enough. Now that we were together again, I felt like I could finally relax and enjoy.
I couldn't relax as much as Esme, though. While she slept beside me, I wasn't sleepy enough to do the same. Alice also slept peacefully in her spot on my chest, but no matter how much I tried to force it, my brain wouldn't shut down.
Finally, I moved carefully, making sure Esme wasn't disturbed as I left the bed. I shifted Alice so she was cradled in my arms and then headed downstairs.
The house was silent as I sat in the recliner and grabbed my laptop. I reclined enough to be comfortable with Alice and covered her with a blanket as I waited for the computer to turn on.
The hospital had had internet access, but I'd basically ignored everything that wasn't Alice. She was the most important thing over the past week, and I didn't regret giving her my undivided attention – not even now while I was sifting through over a hundred emails.
Most of it was junk, thankfully, but I answered the most pressing ones. There were also some from Maggie, filling me in one what the next week looked like. She and Peter had done their best to either postpone some appointments or help accommodate the demanding ones while I was gone. As long as Esme was okay with it, I planned to work next week, but only part time and only for the most important appointments that couldn't be rescheduled.
In an email from this morning, Maggie ordered me to not even think about working tomorrow. I chuckled as I read through it, easily picturing her wagging her finger at me. She didn't have anything to worry about, though. I had no plans to be away from home for the rest of the weekend. We all needed the time to adjust and figure out our new normal, as we had with the addition of every member of our family.
I replied to her email, assuring her that I wouldn't be going anywhere and also inviting her and Ben over for dinner next week. They'd only been able to visit us in the hospital twice earlier this week, and I knew Maggie was dying to get her hands on Alice again. The whole family had been practically fighting over who held her, and Alice was handling it as well as could be expected. She still preferred to be with me or Esme, but allowed a few minutes of snuggling for everyone else.
Alice was getting closer to actually snuggling with each day that passed. After closing my laptop and putting it to the side, I rubbed the back of my finger over Alice's arm, just to watch her shift closer. She didn't disappoint, drawing up closer to me with a long sigh.
After kissing the top of her head, I leaned back and closed my eyes. Sleep continued to elude me, but just resting as I listened to Alice's soft breathing was good enough for me at the moment.
A quiet noise startled me, and upon opening my eyes, I spotted Jasper at the doorway. Quickly, I assessed his appearance, trying to figure out why he was out of bed. He didn't appear to be upset, though, but I couldn't tell much else.
"Hey, buddy," I said softly, smiling at him. "What are you doing up?"
He rubbed his eyes as he walked over to me and climbed into my lap. He had his dog blanket in his hand so I spread it over us and remained reclining. Jasper didn't offer an explanation, and I didn't pressure him.
"Daddy," he finally said after lying against me in silence for a few minutes. "Alice sleeps a lot."
I chuckled softly and nodded. "She does sleep a lot. Babies need more sleep than big people do, and Alice is sick so she needs more sleep to help her get better."
Esme and I had debated on how much to tell the kids about Alice's condition. We didn't want them to worry, but the fact was that Alice was going to need a lot of our attention in the immediate future. The other kids deserved to know why their new little sister would be taking Mommy and Daddy's time.
"She gettin' better, right?" he asked, looking up at me with furrowed brows.
"Mmhmm. Dr. G, Peter, Mommy, and I are making sure she's getting better. And you know what?" He shook his head. "You guys can help Alice get better, too."
"Oh." His eyes widened, making me chuckle again as I kissed his cheek. "How we do dat, Daddy? I want to make baby Alice all better."
"Well, you can give her lots of kisses and tell her how much you love her," I suggested. "And when Mommy or I help you, you can hold her and give her hugs. Do you think you can do that?"
"Yeah! I can do all dat stuff. See?" He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Alice's temple which made her squirm and suck faster on her pacifier before settling again. "What's dat mean, Daddy?"
"That means she's feeling all the love you're giving her," I explained. Jasper's smile was nearly blinding, and he leaned over to give her another kiss, followed by another.
"Daddy, I'm so good at dis," he said proudly. "I love Alice and now she can get better."
I swallowed the lump in my throat, resting my head on his. Thankful didn't even begin to describe how it felt to be blessed with our children. They were truly amazing.
Jasper continued kissing Alice and telling her how much he loved her, but unfortunately woke her in the process. She didn't fuss or move around much, but I could tell that she wasn't completely happy.
"Come on, buddy," I said as I helped Jasper down from my lap and stood with Alice. "How about you help me change Alice's diaper and then we'll head up to bed."
Jasper nodded. "Kay. I wanna sleep in the big bed. Please?"
I knew the right thing to do was to put him back in his bed so we could get back into our routine. However, I had a feeling that Jasper had missed Esme and me more than any of us realized and was probably the reason he was up late to start with. So I nodded to him, not caring what was right. This was right for us.
Placing Alice on the top of the pack and play we kept in the family room, I had Jasper hand me some wipes and a new diaper. Once the clean diaper was in place, Alice seemed more content but still not all the way happy. When she spit her pacifier out and started pursing her lips, I knew why.
I sent Jasper upstairs ahead of me and turned out the lights before making my way back to the bedroom. Jasper had made himself comfortable next to Esme, but I scooted him over so I could lay Alice in his spot.
"Sweetheart," I whispered, kissing Esme's forehead. "Es, Alice needs a bedtime snack."
A few more kisses later, she stretched and mumbled something I couldn't understand before finally opening her eyes.
"Hi," she murmured. "Where's Alice?"
I nodded toward the spot beside her, and she smiled when she saw both Alice and Jasper. While they settled, I left the bed to finish readying myself for bed. When I crawled into bed, Esme was singing softly, and Jasper had already fallen asleep listening. Alice wasn't far behind after she finished nursing, and we worked together to get all four of us comfortable and where we needed to be.
As soon as I was sure Alice was sleeping soundly in the bassinet, I turned toward Esme, extending my arm over Jasper's body to search for her hand. Her hand quickly found mine, and she threaded her fingers through mine as her foot slid across the bed.
"Oh, your feet are cold," she whispered as her foot found mine.
"Sorry," I whispered back. "I love you."
She giggled, squeezing my hand. "I love you, too. See you in a few hours?"
I agreed and thankfully my brain seemed to find what it needed to switch off. Every minute of sleep was important when we were up every two or three hours with Alice. We somehow managed to not wake Jasper throughout the process, and Alice nursed well each time she woke.
Even though we'd had a few days of this new routine, we still weren't used to it. When eight o'clock came around, I wanted another few hours of sleep but knew it wouldn't be happening.
I rolled out of bed after convincing Esme to get another couple hours of sleep, taking Alice with me downstairs to start making breakfast. As I was trying to decide what I could handle on my own, we were joined by Rosalie and a distressed Pumpkin.
"Daddy, Pumpkin is sad," Rosalie told me, holding his hand as they entered the kitchen. "I think he misseded you at our sleepover."
I carefully knelt down and offered my free arm to my boy. He came running over and wrapped himself around me as best as he could, sniffling softly.
"Da-deee."
"Aw, what is it, Pumpkin?" I asked, kissing the top of his head. "Did you miss me? I bet you were confused, huh? Waking up in Rosalie's bed."
"Leelee nigh nigh," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah, you spent the night with your Leelee. It's okay now, buddy. Do you want to help me make breakfast?"
He nodded, so I picked him up with my free arm and stood. Making breakfast with both of my arms full was going to be impossible, but thankfully I had Rosalie.
"Hey, baby girl, do you want to hold Alice this morning?" It was a useless question; there probably wasn't much else in the world Rosalie would rather do right now.
After she calmed from her enthusiastic response, I kicked the foam couch over by the table out of the way and had her sit down. When she was sitting, she reached for Alice, and I helped them get comfortable.
Periodically, I glanced over at them while preparing breakfast, but I didn't have anything to worry about. Rosalie stayed seated and was perfect with Alice, talking to her and kissing her over and over. Alice was quiet and calm, not fussing as her sister loved on her. I loved watching them.
Pumpkin was content, too, as he rested his head on my shoulder and talked to me. I could only understand half of his words, but what I did understand was happy so I poured him a cup of juice and let him babble away.
Esme, Jasper, and Emmett joined us right as I was putting the cinnamon rolls and fruit on the table. It wasn't the most nutritious breakfast, but the kids were happy with it and I hadn't needed any help from Esme. I wanted her to get as much rest as possible now that she had more on her plate.
Rosalie pouted through breakfast because she had to give Alice up, so we tried to placate her with the fact that they could spend the whole day together.
"The whole day?" she asked, obviously suspicious of our honesty. "I don't have to go no where?"
"You don't have to go anywhere," I gently corrected. "I don't think any of us are leaving the house today."
"Except Mommy," Esme added. "We need a few things from the store, so I think I'll be going after lunch. Anyone want to go with me?"
"Me!" Emmett and Jasper said at the same time then laughed at each other.
"Can we do something fun, too?" Emmett asked.
Esme chuckled. "You mean the grocery store isn't fun enough for you? They give you a free cookie and everything."
He thought about it for a few seconds and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. I like cookies."
Jasper agreed about the cookies, and after breakfast Esme and I decided she'd be taking the boys with her to store and maybe to the park while I spent some time with just the girls and Pumpkin. We both felt that Emmett and Jasper needed some time away from the house and hospital to enjoy themselves as well as to spend time with Esme and hopefully it would help with the adjusting.
We took our time with dressing and spent the rest of the morning playing in the family room. Being able to take our time and relax was a nice change from the pace of the past week. The kids definitely seemed to enjoy having our full attention, and even Alice stayed awake as her brothers and sister played around her.
After we ate lunch and Esme nursed Pumpkin and Alice, Pumpkin quickly went down for a nap, and Esme headed out with the boys, leaving me with my girls.
The first thing I did was to take off my shirt, then removed Alice's outfit.
"It's kangaroo time for you, sweetheart," I said, kissing the top of her head as I got comfortable in the recliner. She squirmed and grunted but soon found her preferred position and quieted down. Rocking slowly, I kissed the top of her head and covered us with a blanket.
"Daddy, what are you doing with my girl sister?" Rosalie asked as she climbed over the arm of the recliner and into my lap.
"We're doing kangaroo care," I explained. "Where do kangaroos carry their babies?"
"In their belly pouches!" she answered right away, giggling as she rubbed her stomach.
"That's right! And their babies are always happy in their mommy kangaroo's pouch. It's warm and they can hear their mommy's heartbeat. So Mommy and I are kind of doing that with Alice. We hold her against us, and she can feel warm and hear our hearts." I hoped I was explaining it well enough, but she seemed to get it.
"Ohhh." She nodded, leaning over to put her face next to Alice's. "Alice, you can hear Daddy's heart, huh? I love Daddy. You can love Daddy too, okay? He's the bestest daddy ever in the world."
I wrapped my arm around her and held her close, overwhelmed by her love. Sometimes it just hit me how blessed I was to have this kind of love, from both Esme and the kids.
"I love you to the moon, baby girl."
She reached up, placing her hands on my face as she gave me a kiss. "Love you to the moon and back, Daddy. Can we read a book?"
I smiled and nodded. I had expected her to request something that would require some juggling with Alice in my arms, but reading was something we could easily do.
"Pick out a few books," I instructed. "Maybe ones that the boys don't like."
Her eyes lit up as she nodded quickly. "We can read the pink book!"
I chuckled as she jumped out of my lap and ran over to their large bookshelf. If Rose wanted me to read Pinkalicious, I wasn't going to deny her. She usually did a good job with variety when it was her turn to pick the bedtime book, so she deserved this without the boys complaining.
Rosalie returned with an armload of books and after helping her back into my lap, we worked our way through the stack. As I read, Alice was content and fell asleep, even staying asleep when we finished the books and Rosalie asked to hold her.
"You're such a good big sister," I said softly, kissing the top of Rosalie's head.
She looked up at me and smiled proudly then leaned down to place a kiss on Alice's dark hair. "I love being a sister, Daddy. I's always wants a pink baby and now I have one! Thank you for the girl sister. We keep her forever and ever, right?"
I nodded. "Forever and ever and ever. Mrs. Shelley and Mrs. Mary are going to make sure Alice becomes a Cullen."
"Like me! I Rosalie Cullen."
"That's right. We're all Cullens in this house because we're a family."
Rosalie put her head close to Alice and kissed her cheek. "Baby Alice, you's gonna be a Cullen like me. A'cus we're sisters. You little and I big, and we can play together!"
She grew louder on her last word, startling Alice and waking her. She whimpered, but I took her into my arms and got her settled before she could fully cry.
"There's my pretty girl," I said once her little face lost its distressed wrinkles. "Now you're awake to talk to Rosalie, huh?" She glanced up at me, holding my eyes for a couple of seconds before looking away. "That's a good girl, looking at Daddy. You're doing so well."
Rosalie patted my arm, so I looked over at her, surprised to find that she was frowning. "What's wrong, baby?"
"Daddy, I sorry," she whispered. "I didn't wake Alice up purpose."
"Oh, I know you didn't do it on purpose." I pulled her closer to me and Alice. "And Alice knows you didn't do it on purpose. She's happy to be awake now so you can talk to her and love on her. "
She quickly got over her sadness since she was able to kiss and hug Alice without worry. And kiss and hug her she did. We were an affectionate family anyway, but Alice seemed to be bringing it out even more in all of us. She needed affection and love more than anything else, and we were more than happy to give it.
When Pumpkin woke up from his nap, we all played in the floor together. Alice wasn't a big fan of tummy time, but she tolerated it well enough. Though she only lifted her head up a few times, it was clear that she had some motor skills like Peter had reassured us. She wasn't close to being on track, but we weren't starting completely over.
Edward seemed to enjoy the time with me, Rosalie, and Alice. He was a mama's boy – there was no doubting that – but he loved spending time with me, too, especially since I wasn't the milk source he was having to share with his sister. He was still self weaning and hadn't lost much progress because of the addition of Alice. The jealousy was there, though we were doing our best to distract him during most of Alice's feedings. So far, he was only nursing three or four times a day and wasn't showing any kind of resentment toward Alice. For that we were extremely grateful because it was the last thing we wanted.
We'd been home less than a day but so far, the adjustment was going well. I knew better than to think we were free and clear of any issues. That just wasn't realistic. But since we had an appointment with Siobhan on Tuesday, I was confident we could at least make it through the weekend without anything major happening.
.
My confidence was not unwarranted. When Esme returned from the store, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening together as a family. The boys had greatly enjoyed their uninterrupted time with Mommy, and everyone's mood was even better than before. Any residual anxiety Jasper had had from Esme being gone disappeared, and Emmett was as well adjusted as ever.
Saturday followed the same pattern. None of us left the house until dinner time which we spent with Carmen, Eleazar, and Kate's family. Everyone loved getting to see Alice which led to another family discussion. We knew the church congregation would love to meet Alice and of course we wanted to show her off. There was always worry about sickness, though. Talking about it with the rest of the family helped alleviate some of our concerns. Carmen and Kate both volunteered to spread the word ahead of time that everyone could look but not touch. While it wasn't cold or flu season, Esme was right to have some worry because of Alice's low immune system.
Our plan was successful. We were able to go to church as a family, and Esme kept Alice against her chest in her wrap. Alice slept through the whole thing, including everyone coming up to tell us how beautiful she was and that they were praying for us. Having so much support felt incredible, and Esme and I were glad we'd decided not to wait to bring Alice with us.
We ended our weekend with some swimming and family time at Carmen and Eleazar's house, making sure to have Chelsea and Alec on the webcam with us. In a few shorts weeks, they were coming to visit and get their house ready to move in. They'd already closed on the house in my aunt and uncle's neighborhood, so all that was left to do was a few improvements and moving in. Chelsea wouldn't be going back to California, but Alec would have to go back to finalize everything before leaving permanently.
Our family's lives were changing quickly, but it was all welcome.
Monday was a usual day for us. The weather was perfect, so we stayed outside and let the kids run off their excess energy. Alice seemed content to sit with either Esme or me in the shade, though she definitely wasn't ignored by the other kids. They periodically came over to hug or kiss her, and even Pumpkin loved on her.
Tuesday morning had patients scheduled, but thanks to Maggie's quick action, most of them were rescheduled for either later in the week or next week. Our appointment with Siobhan was at ten in the morning, and there was no way I was going to miss that.
"Are you guys ready to go see Mrs. S?" Esme asked as we loaded everyone into the van after eating breakfast.
"Yeah!" Emmett cheered. "Is she gonna let me play with the toys?"
"I bet she will," I answered. "But she wants to talk to all of us too, so be nice and listen, okay?"
He agreed as did Rosalie and Jasper, and no one seemed to have any anxiety – except Esme.
"It'll be all right," I said softly, running my hand over her leg as I drove. "Siobhan will only have good things to say and will probably give us great ideas to bring home with us. Everything's okay."
She took a deep breath and slowly released it, threading her fingers through mine. "I know. I know all of that in my head, but I just can't get rid of the nerves. I just . . . I want to help Alice as much as possible, and I know what we've done so far isn't wrong, but I just want to be the best."
I nodded, bringing her hand up to my lips for a kiss. "I know, sweetheart. I want that too. And we'll get there. After we talk to Siobhan, we'll be doing everything possible to help our baby girl. I think we'll start seeing progress very soon."
"Really?"
"Really. I noticed some this morning. Did you see it, too?"
She smiled and shook her head. "I don't think so. What was it?"
"When you were nursing Alice, she was looking up at you. It probably didn't seem like very long to you, but it was at least four or five seconds which is incredible compared to last week."
"Oh. You're right that I didn't notice it. I guess we are doing good."
I chuckled and agreed. Sometimes it was harder for us to see since we were around Alice twenty-four seven. From the outside, it was much easier to see exactly how amazing Alice's progress was so far. I was excited for Siobhan's opinion on everything.
We soon arrived at the office and unloaded everyone. Alice had slept during the drive and remained asleep as Esme unbuckled her from her car seat. It was a nice change from her first trip in the car. Thankfully, there were only two other people in the waiting area. Our kids were generally well behaved, but we never liked to disturb people if we could help it. The other people waiting didn't appear bothered by our large brood, plus the receptionist, Susan, directed the kids to some coloring books at a little table to make our wait even smoother.
Esme's nerves returned after we'd been waiting for ten minutes, so she went to color with the kids in hopes it would distract her. I loved watching them together, my beautiful wife and precious little ones. I was proud to say they were mine, and I was theirs.
I was so engrossed in watching them laugh and color that I didn't notice Siobhan standing in the hallway until I glanced over to look at the clock. She smiled as she waved at me and motioned for us to come back with her. I hated to break up their fun but also didn't want to keep Siobhan waiting.
After rounding everyone up, we headed back to her office and took our spots on the couch while the kids scattered to the toys in the back of the room.
"Em is excited about the toys," Esme explained to Siobhan. "He's been excited all week. Sorry if you need him right now."
"No, no," Siobhan said with a short wave. "Don't even worry about it. We can wait on them. I just love that they're excited about coming, toys or no toys. So . . . I see the Cullens have multiplied again?"
I chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, you could say that."
"This is Mary Alice," Esme said as she gently turned Alice toward Siobhan. "Or Alice as we like to call her. We've had her since last Friday."
"She's absolutely beautiful," Siobhan said, coming over to get a closer look. "I haven't read anything about her yet, though Shelley Cope did send me a copy of her file. Would you like to fill me in? I'd love to hear more about her."
Esme and I told her as much as we knew. Alice's first seven months of life were still basically a mystery. Looking at Alice, it was a little difficult to believe that her biological parents even attempted to care for her, but Dr. Gerandy's explanation plus my previous knowledge made it seem very possible. The most we knew came from Dr. Gerandy's assessment and diagnosis and what we had observed in the last week.
"Have you ever treated a child with an attachment disorder?" Esme asked. It was probably our most pressing question. We trusted Siobhan's professional opinion no matter what, but it would definitely make us feel better about our future if she'd ever seen anything like this before.
Siobhan nodded. "I have. Several, in fact. And I've seen it more often in foster children, so this isn't new for me, though I haven't seen it in a child this young before. But as Dr. Gerandy said, I'd hesitate to diagnose a child with anything like that until at least five years old, so I wouldn't say Alice has an attachment disorder. Sure, she needs a good attachment, but I believable it's entirely fixable."
"Really?" I asked as Esme relaxed against my side. This was really the one thing we wanted to hear. "That's what we're hoping of course."
She nodded again, this time with a large smile. "Yes, I definitely believe this has been caught in time to both save her life and for her to develop a healthy attachment to her caregivers."
Esme audibly sighed, and I chuckled softly as I kissed her temple. "That's honestly more than we were expecting to hear," she said. "We dealt with separation anxiety with Rose and Jasper, but this feels so out of our league at times."
"That's understandable. Anyone in your situation would feel that way, but just being here puts you at an advantage. You care about Alice – you've cared about all of your children and yourselves – enough to ask for help when you need it." She paused, reaching behind her to grab a pad of paper off of her desk. "And I'm going to do my best to assist you now, just as I have before. Sound good?"
We both agreed, and Siobhan began asking us to describe everything we'd been doing for Alice so far. She was very pleased with Dr. Gerandy's suggestion of using kangaroo care, and by how often we'd been using it. Basically any time we were home and not busy, Alice was chest to chest with one of us. She was the most comfortable that way, and we loved having her close.
Siobhan was also pleased with Esme's decision to breastfeed and baby wear, just as she had with Pumpkin.
"Think of it this way," she said, gesturing toward Pumpkin who was playing with Rosalie. "Edward is well attached and adjusted and how did that happen? Through these exact things you're doing with Alice. Imagine she's a newborn and do whatever you would with a newborn to bond. She might be seven months behind, but you'll be surprised by how quickly she'll catch up."
"With everything?" Esme asked with wide eyes.
"Well . . . I should probably be more specific. I can't say how long it will take her to catch up to every milestone, but I do believe forming an attachment is going to happen in the next couple of months."
"Wow," I murmured. That definitely wasn't what I expected.
Siobhan laughed, shaking her head slightly. "You weren't expecting that, I'm guessing."
"Definitely not," Esme agreed. "We were hoping for it to happen in maybe six months. But two? No, we didn't expect that."
"Now, that's just my opinion," she cautioned us. "It could very well be longer than two months. But with what you've told me you've observed in a week's time, I believe it'll happen quickly. And now if it's okay with you, could we discuss how your other children are handling this adjustment? I know that's usually in the front of your minds."
She was right; when we came to see her, our main goal usually was helping the kids adjust.
We mainly had good things to report. Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie loved Alice and told us so throughout each day. They had no issues expressing affection to her, to each other, and to us which was normal for them. So far, neither Esme nor I had noticed any serious jealousy among the three of them. The memory of Pumpkin coming home was fresh in their minds, so they seemed to understand why Alice needed our attention.
Edward, however, was a different story, but Siobhan wasn't worried.
"This is very common around this age," she explained. "You probably saw this with Emmett when you were around other children."
I nodded, remembering how Emmett was very territorial whenever I was around Kate's children. He was closer to two when it happened, but I could see what she meant.
Esme also nodded. "So this probably would have happened even without Alice?"
"Probably so. I think you're getting it a bit stronger just from the breast feeding 'competition', but yes, this is very common. How you handle this is really up to you."
"Any advice?"
"Yes, we'll take anything," Esme agreed, making Siobhan laugh again.
"Well, I think keeping his routine the same will be beneficial, which I'm sure you're already doing. Reassure him anytime he needs it, which I'm sure you're doing as well." She shrugged, folding her hands in her lap as she smiled as us. "Honestly, you're great parents. I could write down all kinds of strategies for you, but I'd rather see what you do. Sometimes flying by the seat of your pants is better than getting advice from a book. I wouldn't say this to just anyone, but you've been raising four children with different backgrounds and beginnings, and all of them are well adjusted, loving children. I don't think you'll go wrong with number five."
Esme passed Alice to me so she could reach up to wipe her eyes. I cradled my sleeping baby in one arm and held my wife close with my other arm, turning to kiss her temple.
"Sorry," Esme said, sniffling. "I didn't mean to cry, but that really means so much. To hear that someone on the outside sees these things. I just . . . it feels so amazing."
I nodded as I kissed her again. We weren't insecure about our parenting, and we knew we had healthy and happy children. But having someone else say that was the best pat on the back.
Siobhan reached over and placed her hand over Esme's. "You should feel amazing because you two are doing an amazing job. Alice is very blessed to have you as her parents, and I'm positive you'll start seeing progress with her soon. And we have about fifteen minutes left now, how about we talk to the little ones?"
Esme and I rounded the kids up and corralled them onto the couch between us and on our laps. Each of them had plenty to say on their turn and had the three of us laughing. Getting a glimpse into how they saw the world was always a treat.
Even Pumpkin had plenty to say. We could only understand half of it, but he was smiling and giggling, and that was enough for us.
We left Siobhan's office with boosted confidence. There wasn't much we needed to change to help the family continue to adjust, but knowing we were doing everything we could was going to help us rest easier. A weight was lifted by just knowing we were doing something right.
And knowing Alice begin could possibly form an attachment with us very soon provided the most relief. We still worried about her weight and would continue to do so, but right now, her bond with us was the most important thing.
We were getting there, even if we couldn't always see it as clearly ourselves.
A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter. I just finished a semester from hell, and studying and school work took nearly all of my attention and free time. But the good news is that I graduate in a little over 3 months, so if all else fails, you won't have to wait longer than August for another chapter. I'll definitely never abandon my baby. =)
Thank you all again for your patience, understanding, and support. It truly means so much!
Also, anhanninen and I wrote a one-shot for the Happily Ever After Twific contest. It won host's choice, and we're beyond excited and still can't believe it! If you'd like to read it, it's called Superheroes and Second Chances and is found on my profile.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!