Disclaimer: I do not own any of Twilights characters, however much I want to. sniff

Megan's POV

I don't know how long I had been lying on the forest floor when they found me. All I remember was the pain and thirst. After the transformation I had run. I don't know how far. I just wanted to get away from the smell. Intoxicating, alluring, but repulsive, and wrong. I was so little! What had I done to deserve this? Eventually I collapsed and lost myself in the misery. Eventually the thirst would overcome me and I would have to give in. I would have to drink.

Then he found me. I thought he was a bear at first. He was huge, bigger than a mountain! I blinked up at him, utterly confused. When he laughed, I was scared out of my wits! He was so noisy. I flinched away. "Easy runt, I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, I probably couldn't!" this provoked another laugh. The pain would come soon. I was always beaten after the laughter started. At least he wasn't screaming. You were beaten harder if a man screamed. Closing my eyes, I shut out the sound and hoped that this nightmare would soon be over.

Rose's POV

When Emmett walked in, cradling a little girl in his arms, I couldn't believe it. He wouldn't be so stupid as to reveal our secret to a human child! Would he? My husband came closer and I ran up to meet him, angry words ready to burst out of my mouth. They died on my lips as I saw close up what he was holding. It unmistakably a vampire. Her hard, cold skin ruled out any other possibilities. She was curled up into a ball and had her eyes closed tightly, as if she was in pain.

Everyone thinks that I'm hard and cruel, but I'm really not. I'm sad, disappointed, and angry. I had so much torn away from me. I wanted a normal life, children, and a house. I wanted to grow old beside a man I loved. Well, I would never grow old, but I had Emmett. He had given me everything he could, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't give me what I wanted most. A child, a little girl or boy that I could love and care for.

Looking at the little body, I felt a stir of anger, what twisted vampire would do this to such a little girl? She's so young! I reached out to touch the girls face, but as my hand came close, she flinched back, cowering away, she began to shake. That hurt me, why would she be scared? Was I frightening? Emmett interrupted my thoughts.

"Rose, I need to take her inside, Carlisle needs to see her. She's so still, and she hasn't said a word since I found her."

"Of course. I'll go get him."

Emmett's POV

Rosie seemed upset. Had I done something? She couldn't be mad at me for bringing the runt home! What, was I supposed to just leave her there? When I first saw her, I couldn't help but pick her up. She was such a pretty little girl and she had seemed so helpless. I held her protectively against me. I didn't care what the others said. I was keeping her.

Carlisle's POV

When Rosie came up into my office, my first thought was that someone had died. Her face was incredibly pale and she looked almost… scared. Maybe Emmett had done something dangerously stupid again. She didn't even say anything to me, just grabbed my arm and began to tow me downstairs. I stopped determinedly and asked her, "Rosalie Hale! What are you doing?"

"Emmett, he brought home… a little girl… I don't know what's wrong with her! She's scared and shaking and, and…"

I was worried now. Rose never acted like this. I let her tow me the rest of the way down the stairs without complaint. When I got to the bottom, I stopped in shock. Emmett was sitting on the couch, hunched protectively over a little girl in his lap. Bella was bent over him.

"Please Emmett? Won't you just let me see her?"

"No, Carlisle needs to see her first. He might know what's wrong with her. "

"I'm here. Who is she?" I ran over to sit by Emmett and transferred the little girl to my lap. He surrendered her without complaint.

"I'm not sure. I found her on the forest floor. She looked like she'd been there for a while. She hasn't moved. Even when I picked her up, all she did was shut her eyes and curl up into a ball. When I did see her eyes, they were black; she hasn't eaten for a long time."

Cautiously, I tried to uncurl the girl. She didn't resist. In fact, she went completely limp. After a quick examination, I could find nothing wrong with her. Externally, she was fine. But, whenever I touched her, however gently, she flinched, as if she expected not a gentle touch, but a fist, pummeling her to the ground. When I was done, I sighed, and sat the girl up as best as I could manage. Everyone but Rosalie and Emmett had left the room as I conducted my examination. I looked down at the little girl on my lap. She still had her eyes closed tightly. Her hands balled into fists and every muscle in her body went tense as I touched her shoulder.

"All right, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. Why aren't you talking?"

Megan's POV

I didn't get it. Why hadn't they beaten me yet? That's what my dad always did. I had run off without permission, surely that earned me a beating? But these men were nice. I was so used to everyone hitting me, but these people had been nice. The big man that had picked me up had been gentle. I had felt so safe in his arms! But then he had handed me off to someone else, someone new, and someone who might hit me. They were talking to me again. The new man was asking me a question.

"Why aren't you talking?"

Why wasn't I talking? That was an easy question, but not one that I really wanted to answer. Oh well, I was already going to be beaten till I turned black; nothing I said could really make it worse.

I took a deep breath and whispered, "If I talk, I always say something wrong. Then you'll hit me harder."

"But we aren't going to hit you!" The man sounded surprised.

I opened one eye a crack, suspicious. "You're not?" They had been nice to me so far, but everyone hit me at one time or another.

"No, we're not, look at me." The last words were a command. The new man had put his hand up to my chin and was forcing it up. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes.

Everything was bright. I was looking up at the most beautiful man I had ever seen. My daddy was always dirty and his breath smelled. This man was clean and light. He had gold eyes, and gold hair. Everything about him seemed to glow. But now he was frowning! Oh no, had I done something wrong already?

"Emmett, go out and hunt something for her, she's starving! Her eyes are pure black!"

I looked up and saw the big man who had picked me up stand up, ready to leave. "No!" The word escaped my lips involuntarily. This man had been nice to me. He had carried me out of the forest; I didn't want him to leave. But I had spoken against a grown up. That always got me beaten. If they hadn't beaten me before they defiantly would now. I flinched back and closed my eyes again, waiting for the blow. Surprisingly, it didn't come. Instead, I felt a now familiar pair of arms pick me up and squeeze me to an over large chest. The big man's voice was quieter than it had been in the forest as he said.

"Rose? Will you go out to hunt instead? I need to stay here."

"Of course." came the reply. Daringly, I opened my eyes and looked up. The big man, the gold man had called him Emmett, had sat down and was holding me lightly to his chest. Unthinkingly, I reached out to his shirt and pulled myself closer to him. He smelled so good! A question popped from my lips before I had a chance to think about it.

"Why don't you hit me? Everyone hits me, but you don't."

His big hands squeezed me tighter. "I'll never hit you runt. None of us will."

"Never?" I looked up at him.

"Never."

Rose's POV

As I ran through the forest, my mind wasn't on the hunting. It was back in the living room with Emmett and that cute little girl. Emmett had been so sweet. I had never seen him look like that at anyone but me. He looked tough, but really he was just a big softie. He had melted under that little girls scared eyes. And she had been scared. Why did she think that everyone was going to hit her?

My teeth sank into a mountain lion. It wasn't big enough to completely sate the girls thirst, but for now, it would have to do.

Emmett's POV

The little girl was so cute! I had managed to get her to tell me her name and how old she was. She said that it was Megan and that she had just turned six. She sounded so excited when she said that. I had gotten her to sit beside me on the couch and had begun to clean her up. Her face and hair were a mess. Alice was teasing me, calling her my doll and asking me if I wasn't just a little bit old to be playing with her. I really didn't care what Alice said. I didn't ask Megan why she thought that we were going to hit her. She was just starting to lose that scared look and I didn't want to bring it back.

Once she wasn't afraid anymore, she sat up and asked me who everyone was. I introduced her to Alice, Jasper, Esme, Carlisle, Edward and Bella. Megan seemed to like Esme but she shrank buck onto my lap when Alice came up too her. I seem to be the only one she trusts.

Then she asked who the girl was that had left. I told her that that had been Rosalie, but she could call her Rose for short.

Megan's POV

Maybe these people wouldn't hit me. They were all being so nice! Especially the big one, Emmett, he was the nicest. He had brushed my hair for me, and washed my face. My dad never did that for me. All the other girls I've met say that dads are supposed to be nice to you. Mine never was. Maybe he wasn't really my dad. Maybe Emmett was. He was big enough for two dads! The thought made me giggle.

My new dad put down the hair brush and swung me up into the air. I shrieked with laughter. This was fun! If only I wasn't so thirsty, this would be perfect. I decided to ask my new dad for a drink of water. Wait, would he get mad at me for calling him dad? I didn't want to make him mad. I could call him Em... Emmit. I think that's what the other grownups called him. He had sat me back down on his lap now; I reached up and tugged at his shirt. He leaned down.

"Mr. Emmit?" he laughed when I said that, but he laughed all the time. It didn't frighten me now.

"Yeah runt?"

"Can I please have a drink of water? I'm thirsty."

Rose's POV

As I came in, I heard the little girl ask for a drink of water. I felt a pang of sadness go through me. This poor little girl would never taste water again, only blood. I called to Emmett.

"I have a mountain lion out here, but I don't want to bring it inside, it'll drip all over Esme's nice carpet."

There was a pause, and then. "Sure Rose, we'll be out in a minute.

Emmett's POV

Now came the hard part, how do you explain to a six year old that she's been turned into a vampire? She obviously had no idea what had happened to her. I decided to start with that transformation. Everyone remembered that. I felt angry again at the thought of anyone harming my little Megan.

"Hey runt, where were you before I found you?"

"I was in the forest. You came and picked me up."

"No, I mean before that." The girl shrank back onto my lap, pulling herself as close to me as she could.

Finally she whispered, "It hurt. I was walking home and a man caught me. He wouldn't let me go. And then he hurt me! He hurt me so bad!"

Now I was really angry. "It's Ok, shhh…" I pressed her to my chest and rocked her. She buried her face in my shirt. I continued to talk softly to her. "I hope you never have to feel pain like that again, Megan. That man that hurt you, he was a vampire. Do you know what a vampire is?"

"No."

"The pain you felt was turning you into one. A vampire is an immortal, a creature that lives forever. I am one, so is the rest of my family. We try to act like humans as much as we can. Sometimes it is difficult. We feel cold to other humans because we don't have any blood of our own. The worst thing about being a vampire is that we can't eat "normal" food. We have to drink blood to survive."

Suddenly, she pushed herself upright. "No! No, I don't want to! I don't want to hurt people! I don't want to be like my old dad!" She was shaking again, if she had been human, she would have been sobbing.

"Megan, what did your daddy… do?" I wasn't sure I wanted the answer.

Megan's voice was only a whisper. "He would go out at night. When he came back in the morning, his breath would smell bad. Sometimes he would bring a lady home with him. Always a different lady. They hit me. One time, I hid until the lady left, but then my daddy came and found me and hit me with his belt. I turned black for weeks.

A few nights ago, he came home covered in blood and dirt. His shirt was red with it. He looked scary. I tried to run away from him, but he came after me and caught me. He took his shirt off and rubbed it in my face. He laughed while he did it. Then he beat me. He beat me harder than he ever had before. After that, he went off to sleep. That's when I ran. I knew he would find me but I didn't want to be in that little house anymore. Then the big man found me and he hurt me! He hurt me! I don't want to hurt people like they did."

We were both shaking by this time. I was so angry, I could have ripped that vampires head off! Not to mention Megan's fathers. I tried to calm down, for her sake.

"Megan, you don't have to drink human blood."

"I don't?" her anxious little face turned up to mine and it was so hopeful that I had to laugh.

"No, our coven-"

"What's a coven?"

"A coven is a group of vampires. Our coven feeds off of animal blood. None of us kill people. But you have to watch out for vampires who do, vampires like the one that changed you. You need to eat. Feel thirsty?"

"Very!" She was bouncing up and down now, happy that things were going her way. It was lucky for her that it had been out coven who found her.

"Rose has an animal outside that you can drink from; it smells like a mountain lion. You can finish that off and then you should be strong enough to hunt something bigger."

"Emmett!" Rose could be so impatient sometimes, oh well.

"Come on, Runt. Let's go eat!" She took my hand and all but dragged me out onto the porch. I laughed all the way there.

Rose's POV

"Emmett!" I called out impatiently. His one minute had turned into three! That girl needed to eat!

A few seconds later, he came clumping out of the house. I smiled. The girl was laughing and skipping, towing Emmett around like a big stuffed animal. This was the first time I had seen her properly uncurled and with her eyes open. She had a petite figure with dark brown hair and an oval face with wide set brown eyes. She was beautiful!

And hungry. In a flash, she had run over to the mountain lion and had sunk her tiny teeth into its neck. Emmett laughed, but then again, he laughed at everything. One of the reasons I loved him so much.

While she drank, Emmett pulled me into a hug and put his mouth down by my ear. "Her name is Megan, she's six. According to her, she was ambushed in the street after she had run away from her father. Her father beat her regularly and the last session had been particularly bad. That's why she was so scared of us. She had been beaten by everyone, so why should she have expected anything different from us?

I've been trying to explain to her what a vampire is. She's never even heard of us before. She really freaked out when she found out that she was going to have to drink blood, but calmed down when she found out that it didn't have to be human blood."

"Her father beat her!?" That was all I could say or think.

"Rose-"He was cut off by Megan.

"Thank you very much for letting me drink." Her eyes were still black, but you could see a ring of reddish gold around the overlarge pupil.

"Aren't you still hungry?" I was shocked; a newborn should have a much bigger appetite then this.

"No, thank you."

"Liar!" Emmett laughed, again. He stopped guiltily when she flinched back and ducked her head.

"Sorry runt, but I know you're still hungry. There's no way that that one little mountain lion could have filled you up. Come on, I'll take you hunting for seconds!" I could tell that he was trying to make up for scaring her.

"You have seconds?" Megan's eyes were wide.

"You've never had seconds!?" Emmett was past shocked, he looked horrified. For someone who eats as much as he does, the idea of never having seconds was probably unimaginable. I burst out laughing at their expressions.

"Come on you two! Let's go get something to eat!"

Megan's POV

Life was perfect. It would go back to being horrible as soon as they sent me home, but for now, I just enjoyed it. My new dad is teaching me how to hunt. The first time I tried, I made too much noise, and the deer I was stalking ran away. Rosalie is trying to teach me how to walk quietly in the forest. It's hard! There's so much to step on! She's a nice teacher though. She said I was a quick learner. I wander if she'll be my mom? I've never had a mom before.

There's another deer in the meadow now. I will be quiet enough this time! Yes! A perfect catch! The blood feels so good in my dry thought! I can hear my new dad and mom laughing behind me.

The deer was big and by the time I finished I was fuller than I had ever been in my life! But now I would have to go home. I must have frowned because my dad sat down near me and asked me what was wrong.

"I have to go home now." I told him. "My dad will be really mad at me for being away for so long. If I don't go home now, he'll come and catch me and make me turn black again."

"My new mom came and sat next to me, pulling me into her lap. "Megan, you don't have to go home. You can stay here with Emmett and me! We can adopt you! Oh and I can take you shopping, and Alice can treat you like a pampered princess every day for the rest of your life! If your dad tries to come and take you away from us, Emmett will kick him out the door!"

I didn't have to go home! I could stay and have a real family! I would have a real mom and dad and an Aunt and Uncle! Maybe I would even have a grandpa! I jumped up and hugged my mom around her neck. "Mom! Oh thank you thank you thank you!" My new mom wasn't hugging me back. "Mom?" I put my nose up to hers looking into her big gold eyes. She looked like she was going to cry. "Mom are you ok?"

Suddenly, she threw her arms around me, hugging me as hard as she could. "Yes! Yes! Everything is perfect!" I couldn't agree more. Suddenly my new dad crawled up next to us and dragged both of us into his lap.

"Does this mean I'm a dad now?"

I looked up and giggled at his face. His eyebrows were way up and he was looking down at me trying to be serious! "Yes!" he gave up and laughed so hard that all three of us ended up on the ground.

My mom picked me up and draped me over my dad's shoulders. Then she kissed both of our cheeks and ran back towards the house. Dad was laughing so hard that he had a hard time following her!

How had this happened? I had gone from a hell to heaven in just one day! I had new parents, a new house, a new life… I didn't know how it happened, but I was ready to enjoy it.