The Adopted Cullen

Chapter 14

Grace wakes up, 30 minutes after she falls asleep, screaming. I try and calm her down, but she is crying to hard. Jasper comes up and focuses to calm the girl down. She closes her eyes a little bit and sighs, but she still has tears falling freely down her face.

"Don't leave. Don't leave." She mumbles over and over again until she falls back to sleep.

"Is she ok?" Jasper mumbles. I nod and he walks back downstairs. I wish we could help her. She needs to be a happy little girl. She doesn't need to be scared. I listen in to see what the others are thinking. Maybe they have a good idea.

'We need to do something for Grace. Maybe we can go shopping. A girls day might make her feel better,' Alice thinks. I go to Rosalie and Esme next. They both have the same idea. I look through everyone's thoughts and they are all the same. We need to do something special for Grace.

I look into Grace's thoughts and see she is about to have another nightmare. I gently shake her awake, hoping to wake her before her nightmare does. "Grace. Wake up, princess. Your special day isn't over with yet." I say and see her stir in her sleep.

I listen in on everyone's thoughts and hear that we are all going to go out to Port Angeles and let Grace have fun there.

"We've got a surprise for you, Grace." I whisper and caress her cheek softly. I look and see her move, her beautiful blue eyes starting to open up. I smile once I see her yawn and her eyes open widely again.

"Eddie. I had a bad dream," She mumbles softly.

"I know, Grace. We're going to take you somewhere so we can have some fun tonight."

She shakes her head, "No! I don't want to leave!"

I hug her close to my body, "Your not leaving us. We're all going to go somewhere together. A family night. I think we might even get to stay up past your bedtime." I say and smile at her.

She smiles softly, but looks scared. "You won't let go of me, right Eddie? You will be beside me. Right?" I smile and nod, "Yes. I promise I won't leave you, Gracelyn."

"Pinky promise?" She asks and holds out her pinky. I smile, "I've got one better. Here's the princess promise." I say and I lock my pinky with hers and I kiss my side of the hand and what till she kisses her side. To top it all off I give her a hug and kiss her head.

She smiles and nods, "Ok. We can go now, as long as we all go together. And not going into the woods. Bears may come back to hurt you Eddie." I grin at her concern.

"Ok. No woods. Now, I think Alice and Rosalie have been waiting to get you ready for your surprise," I say and lift her off the bed. I start to carry her downstairs, but I hear Rosalie say, "Edward! We're in her room! Bring her on in." I chance courses and take her to her room.

She give both of the girls a small smile, but makes no move to leave my arms. "Ok. Let's get you ready for our super, duper, family night!" Alice says enthusiastically and goes to take Grace from my arms. She holds on tight and shakes her head. "I want to stay with Eddie."

I sigh and sit her down on her bed. "I'll be waiting for you downstairs, my princess. I promise I'll be the first one to see you when you walk down the steps." She nods slowly and I leave, watching Alice and Rosalie get Grace ready to go. I can hear the girls trying to get her to cheer up. Telling her she's going to have a fun day with the family, but I can tell she doesn't believe them.

"She's still scared Edward. She's cheering up a little bit, but not enough." Jasper says and the whole family look up towards the stairs where Gracelyn is at, in concern. "We'll just remind her that we won't leave her and that we love her. It's the best we can do." Carlisle says with his arms wrapped around a very upset Esme.

"Are you ready to go downstairs, Grace?" We all hear Alice says and we all put on smiles for the young child. I hear her tiny feet walking down the stairs. I rush to the end of the stairs so she is directly in my line of sight.

She comes down in a little yellow dress that makes her look like one of her favorite Disney Princesses. Grace jumps into my arms and holds on tight. I rub her back gently, "You look beautiful, princess."

I hear her mumble a soft, "Thank you" and I smile. "Now that's what a real princess looks like." Emmett says from behind me and I see Grace look up at him as he grins at her.

"Come here gorgeous," he says and opens his arms wide. She leans towards him a bit and I hand her over.

She hugs him tightly, "Love you, Emmy." She whispers in his ear. "Love you too, squirt." He whispers back and she smiles slightly.

"Well, now I've got to have my hug from the beautiful Princess Grace." Jasper says and twirls Grace in his arms. She smiles and hugs his neck. "I love you, Jazzy." She whispers just like she did to Emmett, like she's trying to keep a secret from everyone else in the house. "I love you too, darlin'. Don't forget that, ok?"

I see her nod and she crawls out of his arms. She rushes over to Carlisle and Esme, and Esme exclaims, "Now you couldn't forget us. We need our special hugs too." I see Grace hug her tightly and say sadly into her neck, "I didn't mean to make you upset Mommy. I'm sorry." I frown at how many times she apologizes about the simplest things.

"I'm not upset, baby girl. There is no need to be sorry." I hear her sniffle and my heart breaks at the sound of her holding  back her tears. "My turn, sweet pea," Carlisle says and holds the small child close. She holds him just as tight at she did the others and whispers to both Esme and Carlisle that she loves them. They smile sadly at each other,

"We love you too, Gracelyn. With all our hearts." Carlisle says and she smiles a tiny smile at them both. When they let her go she runs over to me and garbs on to my leg, as a show off her wanting to be picked up. I gently lift her into my arms and she wraps her arms around my neck. "Ok. Let's go have fun!" Alice says and everyone smiles, except Grace. Tonight is going to be a hard night, I thought sadly.

As we head out the door we all smell the stench of wolf. I hold Grace close to my body, shielding her eyes just incase she sees the wolves by the boarder. When we all get into the garage we have to decide who's riding in what. "Ok. So, who wants to dive what." Rosalie says and heads towards her car.

"Let's have boys in one car and girls in the other!" Alice says in her normal chirpy voice. They all nod their heads, but Grace. She looks back and forth between the two cars, trying to decide which outcome is better.

"Come on, Grace. We'll see the boys in a little bit. Don't worry hunny." Esme says and carries Grace away from me. She nods he head, but looks at me sadly. I walk over and kiss her head. "I'll see you later, princess. Be good for the girls on the ride there, ok?" She nods her tiny head and hugs my neck.

"You'll be there when we get there, right?" She says to me and I nod my head. "I promise. We'll be there before you are."

She nods and I set her down she goes over to Esme and allows her to pick her up. She glances back at the rest of us guys and we all give her a comforting smile.

We head towards our car and I start to regret leaving her alone. She looks so miserable. Hopefully the girls find a way to make her smile.