" Iri , come on, Sweety, it's time to go home. Or we'll be late for dinner and Mom would be quite angry with us ," Rosalie told the little caramel blonde girl with the big topaz coloured eyes ,who was playing on the swing in the park near their house.
Iri, was short for Iridessa the baby girl who had grown up a few years now.
She was five now and real chatter-pot .
Everyone had been surprised when she first opened her eyes and it was the same as theirs.
Carlisle had done some tests and the results had been that that colour was her natural eye colour.
Nobody could say that she isn't Carlisle and Esme's biological child because she had the same eyes as them and her hair was caramel blonde like Esme's .
Nobody had expected that and suspected that was a blessing in disguise.
Although she wasn't as pale as the rest of her family , she was still pale enough to blend in with them whenever they had an outing where she could accompany them .
All the Cullens loved her . Even Alice who no one would've thought would .
Alice would play endless hours of dress up with her and she would never complain .
The teenagers treated her like their very special little sister . Protecting her from everything that could harm her.
Carlisle and Esme loved her like they'd given life to her themselves . Carlisle was a good father and Esme was a good mother. They kissed away her boo-boos and made sure she had everything she needed .
At some nights she would climb onto Carlisle's lap and he would read her a story . But the best stories came from Edward and Jasper .
They didn't read to her . No , they told her made-up stories that they'd created to entertain her .
She absolutely adored it and could never fall asleep without them telling her one .
Emmet on the other hand would help her build pillow forts and small towns for her toy cars ,yes you heard exactly right ,toy cars , and he'd even built her a wooden Barbie doll house that she especially loved . Yeah, Emmet played with her Barbie dolls too , keeping it munchkin friendly otherwise Rosalie would let her wrath rain down on him .
Rosalie was fiercely protective over her innocence , not even a swear word was allowed around her little sister.
Today Rosalie had opted to look after her when everyone else had things to do and that's why they were visiting the park.
They weren't living in that small sleepy town anymore .
They'd moved since then to another bigger town where Carlisle worked at a hospital.
Their house was a little smaller and out of town on a small ranch that Carlisle had bought .
There were no animals on the ranch. Only them, the people who lived there , and the woods that bordered the ranch.
" Will Mommy really be angry ?", Iridessa asked as she unwillingly walked over to Rosalie who lifted her up onto her hip .
" Yes, absolutely . You know she hates it when we're late for dinner ."
Iridessa didn't say anything back as she leaned her head on Rosalie's shoulder , while dreaming of mac and cheese that she always begged Esme to make .
The walk to Rosalie's car wasn't long and soon enough they were driving homeward where Emmet waited for them on the front porch .
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" She's growing up so fast . Too fast ,if you ask me , Carlisle . We've barely had her as a baby and now she's five ", Esme ranted as she checked the spaghetti sauce .
Ever since they'd taken her in ,small things changed , like they could eat now like normal people and they used the bathroom too .
It was like a magical spell had been casted over them and they became more human like .
They got hungry like humans did too. Even though they didn't really have to eat food like humans ,they did so because they wanted to be there every step of the way through Iridessa's life .
So, Carlisle decided that they'd eat like her .
" I know ,Honey, but there's nothing we can do . She's a growing human being and we should grant her that much of her human life. Growing up is what humans do ,Esme . "
Esme sighed then nodded . " Alright, but I'm scared that she would grow up too fast and disappear on us . I really love her , Carlisle . She's my little baby . I can't think of her as _"
The sound of the front door slamming shut caused her to cut herself off while forcing a smile on her face when the little girl came running into the kitchen .
" Mommy , are you angry because I'm late?", she asked as she clambered onto Carlisle's lap .
Esme couldn't help but laugh at that . " No ,Sweety . I'm not . Who ever gave you that idea ."
Iridessa who played with Carlisle's one button said " No one . Rose only said that we'll be late ."
She didn't see the amused smile that formed on Carlisle's lips . She'd just given away Rosalie without knowing it . He winked at Esme who shook her head, smiling .
Alice came into the kitchen with a stack of mail in her hands .
" We've got a letter from Albus Dumbledore , Dad ", she said .
She never called Carlisle by his name ever since Iridessa could talk because then they'd have to explain to the little girl that Carlisle and Esme should be called Mommy and Daddy and not by their respective names .
Esme paused in stirring the spaghetti sauce, her eyes roaming to the stack of mail .
" We'll read it later ," he said giving Alice a look that spoke volumes .
The pixie nodded. " Okay , well, what's for dinner ?".
" Shagangetti," Iridessa piped up causing Emmet to burst out laughing from where he sat in the living room with Rosalie.
" It's spaghetti ,Sweetling," Esme corrected her fondly .
" That's what I said ", the little girl countered .
Carlisle laughed softly ." Did you now ?", he asked tickling the girl in her sides ,causing her to giggle while trying to get away from that traitorous fingers ,"Must've heard wrong then. Come on , Little Missy , let's go wash our hands while Mommy and Alice lay the table ."
He stood up with her in his arms , sauntering over to Esme to give her a quick kiss on the lips and Iridessa copied him , but didn't stop there , he got a kiss and Alice got a kiss too .
And after laughingly giving everyone kisses because they complained about not getting any , Carlisle carried her to the bathroom where they washed their hands .
" Is it clean ?", she asked ,holding her hands up for him to see .
He cringed slightly as his super sensitive eyes saw the left over germs on her hands while her eyes couldn't see them.
" Let's clean it again ,yes ?", he said taking her hands in his to help her .
Once he deemed her hands clean enough , he lead her to the dining room where Esme and Alice had laid the table with plates and everything needed for dinner .
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The Cullens read the letter that evening while Iridessa slept .
Albus Dumbledore informed them of many more things and he also expressed his gratitude towards them for taking in the child .
After that letter more came each month that passed by .
Iridessa kept growing and Esme kept worrying about it.
She had the worry of a normal parent .
Carlisle told her that it was the way of life .
Children are born and each day they grow.
There was no way it could be stopped.
Then Iridessa's first day of elementary school began and that was the saddest day for both Esme and Carlisle.
They both took her to school that day and Rosalie picked her up after school .
Iridessa hated school ,but she studied diligently with the help of all her family .
She got good grades out of it and even though she didn't make any friends , she still had her family . It wasn't like she could make friends , really, what with her family being what they are .
One year in her third year of school she broke her arm after a little boy shoved her out of his way on the school playground and Esme decided to homeschool her .
It was for the best it seemed because soon after they moved again . This time to Canada .
Iridessa didn't mind moving . She actually liked seeing new places .
She loved the way her Mom fussed about packing things carefully into boxes and her Dad getting excited about working in another hospital . Not that he always worked in a hospital ,though. He sometimes taught at a university . Or went to one himself for whatever odd reason .
One evening in her tenth year she came downstairs to get water and found him sitting alone in the kitchen with a laptop open doing research of sorts for an unknown reason .
" Hey, Little Missy , why are you still up ?", he asked when she walked past him to get to the tap at the sink .
" I got thirsty ,Daddy . What you doing ?".
Rubbing his face as if he was tired , he said " Oh ,you know , just researching something . Don't drink the water from that tap . There's bottles in the fridge that Rose left for you ".
She walked over to the fridge to grab one ." Is the water from the tap germy ?".
He chuckled." Yes, quite germy . Come sit here . I think I can leave the research for later ." He patted a chair beside him .
She walked over to him eagerly . She loved talking to her Dad . He was always patient and friendly with her.
" There was a kid sniffing around here today ," she said as she settled on a chair ," Bet he's trying to find out what you are ".
Carlisle scrunched up his face . " Poor kid , he's not going to find out anything . "
She giggled before sobering ." Will we have to leave again soon?", she asked .
He shrugged ." I don't know yet . Maybe next year , Little Missy ."
She nodded , bringing the bottle to her lips when the back door burst open and Jasper came stomping inside followed by Emmet.
Carlisle stood up . " What happened ?", he asked seriously.
" There was some weird animal in the woods . We don't know what it was ,but it was creepy ", Emmet said .
" It looked like a sasquatch ", Jasper added ," Edward got into a fight with it ."
Carlisle sighed , pinching his nose . His kids were always getting into trouble one way or the other .
" Is he alright ?", Iridessa asked anxiously .
" Yes , Little Rainbow . He is ", Emmet said , giving her a soft smile .
" And the sasquatch ?".
" It ran off ", Jasper spoke up quickly before Emmet could say something .
Carlisle looked at the little girl . " Why don't you go to bed , Little Missy," he said causing her to let out a dramatic sigh ,but she didn't protest as she walked out of the kitchen after kissing his cheek .
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It wasn't long after the sasquatch incident that the Cullens packed up again to move away .
The kid who sniffed around was a little too much for them and they decided that it was best to move .
It would be the shortest stay that they'd ever had in one place .
Next they were back in America , in the state of New York where they would stay for a while .
Then it was the dreaded year when Iridessa turned eleven and with her birthday came a letter from Albus Dumbledore .
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Hope you enjoyed .