Hey guys! So I know I should be updating my other stories, and I promise those updates are on their way! But I've been messing around with this for a bit and thought I'd find out what you thought of it. It's a human version of the Cullen family with the kids as young children. Please let me know what you think!

EsmePOV

I hum softly to myself as I set the dining room table, glancing out the window at the children playing in the steadily falling snow. Living so close to the mountain, the snow isn't expected to stop for weeks, and the roads this far from town won't be cleared until it does. While most people might be unhappy, it always struck me as cozy, having all the people I love together. I feel strong arms wrapping around me. "Penny for your thoughts?" Carlisle murmurs.

I smile, leaning back against his chest. "I love this time of year," I reply, leaning up to kiss his cheek. The timer on the oven buzzes, and I reluctantly break free of his hold. "Would you mind rounding up the children, dear?"

He nods, opening the back door and calling to them as I put dinner on the table. The first one inside is twelve-year-old Rosalie, her face red from the cold and from her temper. "Emmett got snow in my hair!" she cries.

"I didn't mean to!" Emmett insists, shaking the snow off his boots. "It was an accident! I was aiming for Edward, and she got in the way!"

Edward, the oldest at fourteen, follows him in. "Don't drag me into this! If you hadn't tried to hit me in the first place, you wouldn't be in trouble!"

I take a deep breath, keeping my voice calm. "Now now, everyone calm down. Emmett, please apologize to Rosalie." He mumbles out an apology before taking a seat next to Edward, who's trying to hide a book underneath the table. "There. Rosalie, your hair will be perfectly fine. Edward, no reading at the dinner table please. Where is your sister?"

"I'm here!" a small voice calls out as little Alice bounds through the door, rogue snowflakes falling from her coat. She runs up and hugs me tightly. "Hi Mommy."

I smile, hugging her back. "Hi baby. Did you have a good time playing?" She nods, climbing into her chair and joining the others.

I happily listen to them chatter as they eat until a small noise catches my attention. I look up, trying to listen for it again. Carlisle squeezes my hand. "Esme, sweetheart? Are you alright?"

I nod, smiling at him. "Yes, I'm fine. I just thought I heard something, that's all. Probably the wind." We continue eating, and suddenly I hear it again. It's faint, but there's no mistaking it for the wind this time. I frown, getting up from the table. "I'll be right back. I just want to check something…" slowly, I move towards the front door, listening carefully but not hearing any more noises. I open the door a little, looking around. There's nothing but the snow. I'm about to close the door when something red catches my eye.

On the floor of the porch lies the frame of a small boy, no more than eight or nine, facedown in the snow. A small shriek of surprise escapes me, and the boy's eyes open weakly for a moment. He whimpers out something before his eyes flutter closed and his body falls limply against the porch. Carlisle appears behind me, a worried expression in his eyes. "Esme, darling? What's wrong?"

Speechless, I point to the boy, and his eyes widen. The doctor in him takes over, and he kneels beside the small frame, his fingers gently searching at his neck. "I-Is he…?" I manage, finding my voice again.

"He's alive," he confirms, "but only just barely. He must be freezing. Let's get him inside." He carefully picks the unconscious boy up, cradling him gently as I notice that the snow around him is stained pink.

I tell Edward that he's in charge before following Carlisle into his office, where he gently lays the boy down. "I think he's injured," I tell him. "There was blood in the snow." He nods, carefully peeling back the thin fabric of his clothes, which have become plastered to his body with ice and blood. The more he works, the more injuries he uncovers. "Carlisle, should we call the hospital?"

He shakes his head. "It wouldn't be any use, the roads are too bad for an ambulance to get through, and by the time they dug it out it'd be too late," he points out. "We'll just have to do what we can for now." I nod, watching him work over the boy. "How did he even get all the way out here?" he muses as he carefully cleans and tends to the boy's wounds. "All the roads have been closed for days. There was no one else around?"

I shake my head. "No one. I almost didn't see him. He looked up at me, and he whispered something and just passed out. What could have happened to him?"

He sighs, looking at the boy with sorrow before resuming his work. "I don't know. What did he say?"

"Well, it was hard to hear, but I think he said 'help me'. Should we call the police? This must be someone's child."

He hesitates, looking up at me. "Not yet," he says. "I think we should wait until he wakes up. These aren't normal injuries. Someone did this to him, and I want to know who before we hand him back. Besides, they won't be able to get here for weeks anyway."

"You think he's being abused?" I ask, lightly running my finger along the edge of a bruise marking the boy's pale cheek.

Carlisle sighs softly. "I think it's a very large possibility. If we call the police now and someone has reported him missing, we could be handing him over to whoever hurt him. Maybe when he wakes up he'll be able to tell us."

I nod. "But he will wake up, right? He'll be okay?"

He takes my hand, lightly brushing the boy's hair back. "He's dehydrated, malnourished, hypothermic and extremely weak, but we'll warm him up, get some fluids into him, and let him rest. With any luck, I think he'll make it."

I help him clean the boy up and redress him in some of Edward's old things before settling him under the comforter in one of the spare bedrooms. As he warms up and the color slowly returns to him, the dark bruises littering his body stand out in sharp relief, and I want, more than anything, to make sure they're never put there again. Carlisle attaches him to an IV to rehydrate him and warm him from the inside out. I leave him making his notes to get the children ready for bed. "Mommy," Alice asks, "who is that boy?"

"I don't know yet, dear," I reply, pulling her pajama top over her head.

"Is he sick? Is that why Daddy took him upstairs?"

I smile, tucking her into bed. "Yes, but Daddy is going to make him better. I think he's going to be here for a while. Now, it's past someone's bed time. Goodnight sweetheart. I love you."

I kiss her cheek softly, and she nods thoughtfully. "That's good," she murmurs sleepily, "we have to keep him safe."

I want to ask her what she means, but she's already fallen asleep. Instead, I tiptoe back to the boy's room, finding Carlisle watching him. "Any change?" I murmur.

He shakes his head, pulling me into his lap. "Nothing yet. I just wish there was more I could do."

"You saved the boy's life, dear," I remind him.

He nods uneasily. "Yes, but what I really want to know is why his life was in danger in the first place. There was no car. He had to have gotten here on his own. And no one, much less a child, makes it all the way out here on foot in the middle of a snow storm unless they're running from something awful. Whatever happened to him, it was bad."

I hug him gently. "I know, sweetheart. We'll see if he remembers anything when he wakes up. But whatever he's running from, he has help now." He nods, yawning, and I giggle. "Why don't you go off to bed?"

"Are you not coming?" he asks.

I look back at the boy. "I think I might stay here for a while," I decide. "I don't want him to wake up alone." I take a seat next to the boy, careful not to disturb him, and gently take his hand, pleased that the temperature is improving. I watch him for a few moments before I find myself talking to him. "I'm so sorry for whatever you've been through," I murmur. "I know you must be scared, but I promise you're not alone anymore. Whatever it is you're running from, we'll protect you. You're safe now."

Well there you have it, chapter one! Please remember to review and let me know what you think about it!

Love,

TheSongSmith