Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Are you Carlisle Cullen?” A woman with red hair frizzed out from the light drizzle outside stood in front of him. She held a large bag to her side before outreaching her hand. “Sorry to bother you while you're at the job, but you are a difficult man to get a hold of.”

He smiled, taking her hand, giving a firm shake. “I apologize. I wasn’t expecting anyone. May I ask who sent you?”

“Of course, I apologize for not introducing myself sooner. My name is Elenore and I am with Child Protective Services. I am here to talk about your emergency foster license."

Carlisle froze, a mixture of emotions running through him, before forcing another smile. “Of course, please follow me to where we can talk a bit more privately.” He quickly motioned her to follow, before leading her to his office. He made sure to close the door behind them. He took a seat, along with her, before clearing his throat. “What specifically did you want to talk about?”

“Oh yes! I apologize for coming here all presumptuous, but I took notice of your foster profile, and I must say it is stunning all the work you do, especially in such a small town-”

“Ah, yes thank you. I strive to be a good example for my children.”

“Of course of course, as any such parent should. I’m rambling a bit. Well to put it lightly, it has been awhile since your last adoption, the twins I believe, and I am assuming they’ve settled well. And well, of course no pressure, we currently have a child. We have struggled to place her in the last few homes, and to be honest here, considering your success rate, you are honestly our last resort for her. We were curious if you would be interested in fostering again?”

“I would need to discuss this with my family, but I am a bit unsure on how we have become your last resort. Are there no other people who would take her?”

“Well, there are- It’s just we would have to move her across state lines and that gets even more difficult. Plus it lowers the chance of her parent, she has a father in the area, if we can find him of course, and he passes all the tests, in getting her back. Along with that, she has a history of mental health issues, such as PTSD. We suspect abuse though having nothing confirming it. Since you are a doctor, you would be able to give her the help she needs.”

He frowned a bit when he heard the word abuse, but nodded at her explanation. “I understand. I feel very compelled by the poor child’s story, but I must speak with my family first. I will be in contact one way or another.”

“Of course, I understand.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a card, sliding it over. “Here, this has my number on it. Contact me either way please, so I can know how to progress.”

“Alright then. If that is all, I shall see you out.” He stood up, before opening the door and leading her back to the main area. He gave a quick goodbye before being dragged off to another medical emergency. 

----

Carlise sighed as he entered his home, putting his bag and coat up, before making his way into the living room. He met his family's anxious glances with a calming smile. “It’s alright everyone. No need to stress. I see Alice informed you all that I needed to talk.”

“Yes she did.” Esme sat on the couch, motioning for the spot beside her. He took his place there. His children sat around, in their respective places hovering, waiting for him to talk. 

“So, I had an interesting conversation today. A worker from child protective services came by and since I have a starring success rate with what she called ‘difficult’ children. She gave me a proposition. To, at least foster, another child.”

“There’s no way we can do that!” Rosalie protested, a frown on her face. 

“Wait a moment, Rosalie. Hear me out.” Carlisle held out a hand, trying to keep her calm, while the rest of the group shifted with unease. He continued, “We are starting to get weird looks from the town. At least in some areas of our lives. The rumors, about us, are starting to pick up and it does not help that the wolves are nearby. I phantom that some of these rumors could be from them as some of them try and force us out. Usually when this happens, we move towns and start over, but if people are looking at us more closely, it could raise more suspicion to up and leave. We are also in the middle of a school year. This is even more paperwork and people looking at us closely. I think it would be for our best interest if we took in the girl. It would up our disguise, especially since we are trying to stay under the radar of the Volturi. These are my thoughts. I would love to hear yours.”

“My answer is no. It’s too dangerous for a human to live here.” Rosalie stated, temper flaring, before standing up. “I’m done here.” 

“Rosalie…” Carlisle sighed watching her go. “Well, there is one answer. The rest of you?”

“I don’t have a real preference, if I am being honest. As long as we can guarantee her safety then I don’t care.” Emmet nodded, before wandering after Rosalie to calm her down.

“Give me some time to see if I can see anything.” Alice said while standing up. “I’m going to go to my room now. Jasper, do you want to come with me?”

Jasper nodded, sparing a brief glance at Carlisle, “Let me think on this as well.”

Edward and Esme were the only two left in the room with him. Edward was quiet, already knowing everyone’s thoughts. He took a moment, before glancing at them. “If you both think it's the best way to protect us, then I don’t see the harm in trying.” 

Edward left for his room, leaving only the couple in the living room. Esme reached over, placing her hand on his. “Whatever we decide. It will be the best for the family.” She gave him a small smile, before standing up herself, leaving him alone to think.

Chapter Text

Trees blurred past as she stared out the window, The forest only grew bigger as they traveled deeper into the state. Once again her case worker could not shut up. Usually this conversation happened within the last thirty minutes of the trip, so at least she could get out of the car soon. 

“Mari, are you listening to me?”

“Uh huh” Mari stretched a bit, leaning back into the seat before glancing over at Elenore. “It’s the same old spiel right? I got it, what? The last three or four times? I bet I could say it memorized now.”

“Mari… This isn’t the point. It’s the fact that this house is one of your last chances in the area, before we are forced to put you across state lines.” Elenore flipped the turn signal on, “We need this to work. At least… try. They seem nice, well the father-”

“Carlilse? Was that it? What kind of name is that? Sounds like an old person's name.”

“That’s rude, but yes you are correct. He’s like 40 something. Not that old.”

“To you maybe, what a year away from hitting that milestone? Or have you passed that already?”

“I’m 32….” 

“Oh…”

“Ahem… anyways there are a few others, you should at least try to memorize their names. Its-”

“It's a courtesy I know” Mari sighed, glancing out the window again, ignoring the silence that followed. She almost dozed off during her gazing, but her head made impact with the window, jolting her awake, when Elenore took a sharp turn.The driveway was paved up to their home. A beautiful house with a lowkey obnoxious amount of windows. It felt like something only a rich person might have… wait…

“You didn’t tell me they were RICH?” Mari turned suddenly. “I’m pulling up with a fucking duffle bag and a dream and you’re LEAVING me with RICH PEOPLE!? I quit, let’s turn around and leave now.”

“Now, don’t be like that. They are perfectly nice people. You haven’t even met them yet. Give them a chance. Now get your stuff and get out of the car please.”

“Great… let's go play meet the charity case” Mari grumbled before grabbing her bag and getting out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She followed Eleanor to the door, mildly glancing around, trying to get familiar with the property. She jumped, a bit startled, seeing the door suddenly open like the person behind it knew they were there. The woman who had opened it had long light brown hair and a kind smile. 

“Oh, hello. My name is Eleanor and this is Mari.” Eleanor shifted her papers into one hand and held out a hand for her to shake. “I am here to discuss final terms and paperwork, if she gets settled.”

Mari flinched a bit. This bitch really had no hope for her.

Esme smiled kindly, shaking Eleanor's hand, before introducing herself. “Please come in. It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Esme. The rest of the family is waiting in the living room.”

Esme opened the door wider, motioning the two inside, before leading them deeper into the home. Mari followed them into the living room where she was greeted by a very pale anemic? group of people staring at her. Carlisle, she assumed, sat in the middle of a couch, a space was to his left for his wife, and who she thinks is Edward -he was a bit too scrawny to be either Jasper or Emmet- sat beside him. She blinked a bit, was he smirking at her? Shaking it off, she continued to place faces to names, or was it names to faces? She never remembered. Sitting in a love seat was, hmm, wait she almost has it. Aha! Those were Jasper and Alice. She remembered that Alice had the sick bob. Sprawled across another chair was Emmett and Rosalie stood behind him, and she looked pissed to put it lightly. 

She cringed a bit at that, but nevertheless she sat herself down on the couch next to Eleanor, awkwardly hoping that she hadn’t made someone mad already. 

Carlisle cleared his throat, before smiling more so directed at her Mari realized. She couldn’t help but smile back a bit.  “Welcome in. As my wife said, it's a pleasure to meet you. These are my children: Alice, Edward, the twins Rosalie and Jasper, and last but not least, Emmett." He motioned to each one as he spoke, “Then my wife, Esme, as you have already met. I am Carlisle. I’m a doctor in town and my children go to the local high school where you will be joining them!”

Mari nodded, though a bit hesitant. He was already sure that this was going to work out. “My name is Mari. It's nice to meet you all as well.” She introduced herself. Her mother did NOT raise her to be impolite even though she felt a bit awkward being here. 

“My name is Eleanor. I’m her case worker. It’s nice to meet you all as well. There are a few things that we need to go over if introductions are done, preferably it can be with just you two if that’s alright. Just a bit more details about her history and signs to watch out for. Though if any of you have any issues with her, you can bring them up with me directly as I will be leaving my contact information.”

“So pretty much if you don’t like me you can get rid of me pretty quickly is what she’s hinting at.” Mari yawned, leaning back into the couch with a slight smirk, “Oh and she’s going to tell you that I bite in your little conference.” 

A mixture of confused, but equally amused looks crossed most of the family's faces. Must be some weird inside joke she doesn’t know about yet. However, Emmett snorted, loudly, grinning ear to ear. “You bite?”

“Its a LONG story. I’ll definitely tell it to you sometime, but the guy definitely deserved it.” Mari grinned back at him, some of the nerves seemingly melting away in the process.

Eleanor cleared her throat, sending a stern look at Mari. “While you may have found the situation funny, the paperwork was not. Besides, that and many OTHER incidents you may have “forgotten” about has labeled you as both a major risk to take in and a major flight risk for the family which is exactly why I have to have these lovely discussions with each one of you fosters to make sure they understand what they are taking in.”

The mood of the entire room shifted into an awkward silence, much to the obliviousness of her case worker. Mari’s expression shifted, her shoulders dropping a bit, while she stared blankly at Eleanor for a moment, before finding a lot of interest out of the many windows in the room. “Yeah whatever.”

“Alice, Jasper, how about you show Mari her new room, so she can get settled then give her a tour of the house later once Miss Eleanor leaves.” He asked softly, before firmly looking at Eleanor “We will continue this discussion in the kitchen, privately.” A weird tone, at least to Mari, was set in his voice causing her case worker to stiffen. 

Mari blinked a bit taken aback by the sudden shift, but stood up grabbing her bag, forcing a brief smile on her face. His two kids were already standing, ready to lead her away from what was sure to be an awkward conversation. Thank you Eleanore for airing out all of my dirty laundry… 

“I’d love to see my room. Lead the way.”