A few days passed at the Cullen household, where I became more comfortable around them every day. I fell into an easy routine with the whole family.
I slept in Jasper's room since his room was the only room with a bed in it. When I asked him why he had a bed he told me he liked how comfortable it was. He often stayed in the room and read a book while I slept. Ever since I told him the truth, he decided he never wanted to leave my side again. He would always wake me up in the morning just as Esme finished making me breakfast. I would eat it in the dining room with whoever was doing nothing in the house. They always gathered with me, so I wasn't alone while I ate.
I spent the days doing different things with different members of the family. Emmet, Edward, and I played a lot of video games. Noah showed me his favorite poems from various authors. Alice tried showing me the latest fashion trends and why I would look great in them. Rosalie and Esme would bring me out to the backyard, where they let me help with the garden they had been working on.
Then at night, Carlisle would come home from the hospital, Esme would make me diner, and we would all sit around the dining table. No one else ate anything, but they all joined me and conversed freely with each other. It made me feel like I was a part of one big family with all of them, and I had never been happier. Then we would hang out altogether before I would go off to bed in Jasper's room once again.
All the while, Carlisle was looking for the vampires who killed my parents. He tried not to talk about to around me, but I could hear bits and pieces of conversations. I had figured out that he had met one of the nomads, but they said they didn't do it. I knew he would keep looking, but I had already basically moved on.
Even though they were my parents, I didn't care about them at all. They only caused me pain and suffering. Besides, I felt like Carlisle and Esme were more my parents than my birth parents had ever been.
After spending a few days at the Cullen's house, Chief Swan came over to talk to me about what to do next.
"Well, you are not old enough to live on your own," Chief Swan told me, "So we'll have to find a family who will take you in and adopt you permanently."
I let his words sink in as reality set in. There was a possibility I would be separated from Jasper. As much as I loved getting to be around the Cullens, I knew there was no way they would adopt me. Having a wolf live permanently in their house would be maddening. I would never ask them to do that. I decided I would just have to figure out something with Jasper so I could still see him.
"Okay," I told Chief Swan. "How do we do that?"
"I can put the word out to the community and see if anyone in Forks would adopt you if you want to stay local, and we can see if anyone is up for it." He spoke slowly and with confidence, but I figured he was just as nervous about this whole thing as I was. Forks was a small town. Stuff like this didn't happen here.
"That sounds like a plan." As I spoke, I tried giving him a small smile, but I think it looked more like a grimace.
Chief Swan let out a sigh as he placed a hand on my leg in comfort. "Look, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. Heck, if no one will adopt you or if everyone who wants to is too weird, I'll adopt you myself if that would make you happy."
My smile turned into a genuine one as he spoke. "Thank you, Chief Swan. That means a lot."
"Call me Charlie," he told me. "Chief Swan sounds too serious."
"Thank you, Charlie."
"Don't mention it, kid." He stood up from the couch as he spoke. "I'll come back over soon, and we can talk again."
Charlie walked out of the living room right as Jasper walked in from the kitchen. Without saying anything, he walked right up to the couch, sat down, and hugged me. I could feel him trying to soothe my emotions as I buried my head in his chest.
"Everything will be okay," Jasper told me. "Carlisle will offer to adopt you."
"No," I shook my head slightly as I spoke. "I would never ask him to do that."
"Emma," Jasper started saying before I cut him off.
"No, you guys cannot live comfortably with me also living here. I'm not asking Carlisle to adopt me. I'll probably just go live with Charlie." My words caused Jasper to groan in frustration, but I didn't care.
I was not going to ruin the Cullen's life by moving into the only place they can be themselves.