Introduction: I know we are not meant to have chapters that are essentially author's notes, but this "story" is not of a normal structure, so I want to prepare you. This is a companion piece to 'Prelude in C', and includes outtakes exclusively from Esme's point of view. So far, all outtakes are from her human life, before the action of 'Prelude'. They are not strictly necessary for understanding 'Prelude', but offer insights into Esme's history and character, and help explain some of her reactions to Carlisle and Edward when she enters their lives. Each chapter will represent a different "snapshot" of her life. The chapters will not flow together as a proper story. They will be much shorter than the chapters in 'Prelude', often only 1-2k words. In the beginning I will present them in chronological order, but as time goes on, that might get messier.

Several chapters have already been Private Messaged to reviewers of 'Prelude' as 'Esme Outtakes'. Those of you who saw them in that format, I thank you for being my guinea pigs as I worked out Esme's back-story and voice. I appreciated your feedback; your comments often made me think differently about her story. I'm finally ready to post these snippets, because her back-story is much more stable in my mind now. Thank you for your help in getting me there. All of those outtakes will eventually make it into this story. The versions you see here will be a bit different, and will have all those nice features that PMs don't, like italics, and swear words that aren't asterisked out. There will also be many completely new chapters. If a chapter of 'Intermezzo' relates directly the action in a chapter of 'Prelude', I'll make a note of it in the AN.

Esme's history is dark. Canon tells us she had an abusive husband, and feared for her child. Some chapters of this story will include dark themes, including verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. I will put warnings at the top of the relevant chapters. Please just skip them if you are not comfortable reading those themes. I try not to have gratuitous violence, but I want to stay true to Esme's story, and it was often violent. I also want to give readers fair warning. Most chapters will have a rating of K+ or T. If you don't see a warning at the top, it should be safe.

Finally, a word about titles. A prelude is a piece of music that comes before (or introduces) another piece. So 'Prelude in C' acts as a preface to Twilight, establishing origin stories for the relationships and dynamics we saw in the Saga. And of course it's in C for Cullen. An intermezzo is a short piece of music that is played in between longer pieces…reflecting the short, sporadic, interspersed "postcards" we have here from Esme's past. I don't intend to have a playlist for this story, but if any music does seem fitting enough to mention, I'll add it to the 'Prelude' playlist. Thanks to NixHaw for both my playlist, and helping brainstorm on the title.

Esme was born in 1895, so in the first chapter, taking place in 1904, she is nine years old…