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Chapter 2

Grace age update: 3 - 6 months

Carlisle's POV

Throughout the weeks, everyone grew more attached to little Grace. There were often arguments to whose turn it was to put her to sleep, who gets to feed her and who gets to be her personal pillow. However, they all seemed to leave the diaper changing to Esme and Rosalie, while Alice made it her life focus to dress her, which was her bonding time with little Grace.

In the beginning, everyone was hesitant to get too close to her. Rosalie, Esme, Renesmee and I were the only ones holding and taking care of her. Slowly but surely, after getting tired of missing out on the fun, Bella also joined in. Being a young vampire in age and experience, she had to concentrate on controlling her strength to prevent herself from crushing the tiny person. As soon as she got a hang of it, she instantly became more involved in feeding, bathing, dressing and putting Grace to sleep. I would often pass the family room on my way to my office and catch a glimpse of her snuggling with little Grace while watching Disney movies for the fun of it.

Alice seemed to felt being left out as well and started observing from a distance every time Rosalie dressed Grace. She'd give her advice on what outfits to choose and what not. Eventually, Rosalie grew tired of Alice's constant nosing and butting in that she insisted she dresses Grace herself. Alice had no idea how to dress fragile human babies and asked Esme for help. Let's just say Grace would easily win the award for the most stylish dressed baby in history.

Edward was the first of my sons to get involved since he had the most experience with children of the three of them. He'd join Bella on the couch and ask to hold little Grace, then she would happily oblige and I would have the pleasure of watching his facial features soften and his muscles relax. In those few minutes, Edward was in his most vulnerable state, completely in his own little world.

That only left us with Emmett and Jasper.

Emmett always seemed to mysteriously disappear when we needed someone to watch Grace during hunting times. It bothered Rosalie more than the rest of the family. She wanted nothing more in the world for him to get the ‘fatherly feeling’ like she had the motherly feeling.

However, we all had a plan to get Emmett more involved.

All at once, we went out to hunt, leaving him and Rose alone at home. She faked her thirst and handed little Grace to Emmett before speeding off. She joined the rest of us in the trees where were kept an eye on Emmett to see what he would do. He only stood there holding Grace awkwardly in the air, too afraid to move in case he might hurt her. She made a few soft baby noises, almost like cooing, and flashed him that toothless smile. Emmett immediately smiled back and held her closer.

"You're actually cute, you know that?" he spoke to her, "Just think, all the things I could teach you. Maybe I could even get you one of those mini cars that work with batteries and install some sick speakers in it. Yeah? You like that? Me too."

We spent almost an hour watching Emmett playing with Grace. He would cover his eyes with his hands, pretending he's gone, then reveals himself and yelling "peekaboo", causing Grace to erupt into giggles. When he grew bored of that game he entertained her by pulling funny faces and eventually started tickling her feet. We returned just in time to save little Grace from laughing herself to death. Rosalie was beyond happy and wasn't afraid to show it to Emmett in their room that night. Since that night Emmett was constantly seen holding little Grace and ‘chilling’ with her.

All who was left was Jasper, although none of us pushed him to do something he wasn't comfortable with. He seemed alright with it though, not complaining at all when no one asked him if he wanted to hold Grace or not. It didn't even cross one of our minds to get him involved - unless he asked himself.

However, it all changed in a blink of an eye one day.

As usual, we went out to hunt, this time leaving Alice and Jasper at home to take care of Grace. She was sleeping near a roll of blueprints Esme was working on when Alice had to slip away for less than a minute, leaving Jasper alone with a sleeping Grace. At the same time, we were returning from our hunt when human blood suddenly hit all of our noses. I immediately assumed the worst; that Jasper couldn't control his thirst any longer.

We all sped inside and started searching for Grace. Esme was the first to track the smell of her blood straight to my office. What we found there was equally shocking and surprising.

Jasper was rocking Grace, holding her tight against him. It seemed as if she's been crying.

"Jasper?" Alice asked cautiously.

He looked up at us, away from the small bundle in his arms, "She got a paper cut in her sleep. I took care of it though."

Then I noticed the pink Band-Aid on her small hand and immediately understood what happened. Esme thought about taking Grace away from him, in case he was still uncomfortable, but he silently shook his head and took step back. Out of us all, I felt that he was the most attached to little Grace. Even more than Renesmee and Rosalie combined.

I gently showed the rest of the family to the door, "Let's give Jasper some time with Grace. How does backyard soccer sound to you?"

"Great!" Esme smiled, catching the hint and helped me ushering the rest out.

As I said before, everyone grew attached to little Grace.

Grace's cries echoed through the forest mansion, striking the whole Cullen family with panic. It was unusual for her to cry since they always made sure she was happy. With Edward reading minds and Jasper feeling emotions, it was easy. But this was highly unusual. They found her in the nursery in Carlisle's arms as he tried calming her down.

"What's wrong?" Rosalie asked in concern.

Jasper frowned when feeling Grace's emotions, "She's in pain."

Carlisle nodded, "She's teething. It's usually painful." He frowned as her cries turned to silent, painful chokes, "I'm sorry, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I wish I could take it away."

Out of the blue, Renesmee marched forward and took the crying bundle from Carlisle. She sat down on the armchair in the other corner of the room and shifted to get comfortable. Renesmee put her hand on the side of Grace's small head and started projecting her memories to her. It took a minute but Grace eventually stopped crying and looked at Renesmee in wonder, her blue eyes big and wide in wonder.

The rest of the family could only stare in awe as Nessie's gift made Grace forget about the pain she felt only seconds ago. Jasper helped by sending an extra boost of positive emotions towards her.

The next morning it was decided that Renesmee and Jasper would take turns on taking care of Grace since they were the only ones who could take away the pain she felt while teething. The rest of the family didn't complain though but seemed a little down when hearing they had to share her. Rosalie insisted to be present the whole time. Esme eventually convinced her to give the two of them a little alone time with Grace as well.

The first two nights went fine, both of them keeping the pain away, but Renesmee was still half-human and grew tired, dwindling on the edge of falling asleep. Even though it wasn't his turn, Jasper took Grace from her arms and Edward carried her to her room in his and Bella's house in the forest. Noticing the arms that were holding her was cold, Grace started crying. Jasper tried projecting positive energy towards her but her volume was already cranked up too high. He was starting to panic and didn't want the rest of the coven storming in there, so he did the last thing he could think of.

Jasper held her tighter and hummed an old Texas song while rocking her on the soothing rhythm.

"The stars at night are big and bright

Deep in the heart of Texas

The prairie sky is wide and high

Deep in the heart of Texas"

She stopped crying and looked curiously up at him, seeming just as surprised as Alice, who was eavesdropping outside, by his hidden talent.

"The sage in bloom is like perfume

Deep in the heart of Texas

Reminds me of the one that I love

Deep in the heart of Texas"

"The coyotes wail along the trail

Deep in the heart of Texas

The rabbits rush around the brush

Deep in the heart of Texas"

"The cowboys cry, "Ki yippee yi!"

Deep in the heart of Texas

The doggies bawl and bawl and bawl

Deep in the heart of Texas"

Her eyes started closing slowly as her tiny heartbeat slowed down. He cautiously moved towards her crib, checking to see if it was ready for him to lay her down.

"The stars at night are big and bright

Deep in the heart of Texas

The prairie sky is wide and high

Deep in the heart of Texas"

Jasper bent down and placed her on the velvet sheets in the crib, smiling as she didn't want to let go of his thumb. Eventually, she loosened her grip and fell asleep.

"Deep in the heart of Texas

Deep in the heart of Texas

Deep in the heart of Texas

Deep in the heart of Texas"

Almost sure she was already dreaming, Jasper placed a kiss on her puffy cheek, "Goodnight, little Gracie."

He left the room quietly, not even caring if Alice saw him and heard him singing. He only smirked at her surprised face and pulled her with him to their room.

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