A Certain Metamorphosis || Rosalie Hale

Chapter 4 - A New Beginning

With his final piece said, Carlisle readied himself for the day. He gave his mate a lingering kiss before forcing himself to leave the comfort of his house and go to work. The world didn't magically change overnight even if their world did.

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The Cullens fell into a new routine. The children attended school while Lily and Esme stayed at home during the day. Esme made a point of learning her new child's favorite foods, assessing her education, and building a close bond with her. Any scrap of information she was given was filed away and cherished. Esme found this new aspect of motherhood fascinating. While her fake children occasionally asked her for guidance or assistance, they were mostly independent. Lily was different. She was still learning. She needed help in ways the others never did.

In the beginning, it was hard for Lily to tell Esme what she needed. Esme could tell it wasn't because of nerves. Lily wasn't afraid to ask for things. It was more as if the thought never crossed her mind. She just didn't think to ask Esme about meals or books or anything else. Esme tended to let the girl move at her pace, but she did have to step in when the girl nearly burned herself cooking. Lily made a passing comment on how it was nice to have someone to cook with. The comment made Esme's insides twist painfully.

Lily was starting to open up more to the odd family. Her road to acceptance was not an easy one. It was not uncommon for Esme to have to console a crying child at the beginning of their arrangement. She was often overwhelmed with a sinking feeling of panic when she remembered the events that led to her sudden adoption. It was fear, more than grief, that affected the girl. She never cried out for her parents. This did not sit well with Esme or with the rest of the family.

As the weeks passed, there was no official investigation the coven could find regarding the missing family. This really did not sit well with them. Shouldn't there be someone missing their presence? Wouldn't someone be looking for the child? Lily had mentioned some interesting facts about her parents. She did not appear to be particularly close to them. She made several comments to Esme that made the vampire pause. While playing outside with Jasper or Emmett, she reminisced about exploring her neighborhood or the woods around her house alone. She mentioned earlier in passing that she had no idea when they were returning to their house. She never mentioned any other family members. There were no stories with aunts or uncles, no cousins, no grandparents, no one. Any of the other adults she mentioned never had a name associated with them. They were all nicknames, but nicknames of Lily's own creation. The most frequent appearances were made by 'Buzzcut' and his girlfriends 'Red Lady' and then 'Lemonade Lady.' This did nothing to ease their concerns. It was just her and her two parental adults. It didn't take long for the family to jump to conclusions about her previous life. Her parents were involved in something illegal, but the actual activity remained a mystery.

But one thing was clear to the Cullen family, Lily was incredibly bright for her age. This was not only limited to book intelligence, but also situational intelligence. It only took her a matter of days to figure out which family member would cave in which situation. Emmett was always willing to sneak the girl treats and help her "sneak" out of the house. Edward was still awkward around her, but he became her go-to for new entertainment to help her pass her days away. He never minded teaching her something he found interesting such as music. Carlisle was willing to teach her almost anything and let her stay up late if she asked in just the right manner. Alice was also tricked into taking the girl out of the house into town one weekend afternoon after she let "slip" that she wanted more dresses.

There were only two people she tended to avoid, Jasper and Rosalie. To be fair, Rose was avoiding the child as well. While they were nothing but pleasant to each other and were perfectly capable of spending time together, Rosalie wasn't quite sure what to make of the new addition. She had always felt protective of her siblings, but not like this. She was also conflicted because she did not view Lily as a part of her family. She was, at the end of the day, human and she was a temporary addition. She had to be. She was too good to be cursed to this immortal existence. She would grow old and be able to succeed in life where Rose herself could not. Though she had to admit that Lily did bring out some of the more charming aspects of her fellow vampires who have been able to relax as the days continue to pass.