Thank you so much to everyone who's still reading! You guys are the best!

And a million thanks to MelissaMargaret for making this pretty and to anhanninen for prereading.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or these characters.

Esme POV

Even after all of our time together, I didn't think I'd ever be immune to the pure joy and contentment I felt whenever I was wrapped in Carlisle's arms. Having nothing between us currently only made it better.

I hummed softly and closed my eyes as Carlisle placed light kisses over my collarbone and up my neck as he rubbed his hand over my back. My fingers ran through his hair, lightly scratching his scalp.

"Do you think we woke anyone?" he murmured, his lips barely leaving my skin to get the words out.

"Mmm . . . I don't think so. But I can't bring myself to care if we did."

He chuckled softly, finally ending his trail with his lips on mine. After a few lazy, slow kisses, we both opened our eyes, and I felt a wide smile form on my lips. Oh how I loved this man.

"Good morning," I whispered.

His smile matched my own. "A very good morning indeed, sweetheart. As much as I love letting you sleep in, I'm thinking I should wake you up like that more often."

"I don't think I would complain," I admit, remembering exactly how he woke me a while ago with his mouth and fingers. "But I really don't want to get out of bed now."

"Me either," he said, turning us slightly so I could curl up next to him. "Busy day today, right?"

I nodded against him, mentally going through my checklist of everything we needed to accomplish today.

Carlisle had work, as always on Thursdays, but today he was only working until lunch. Then came the fun. It was finally time to check to see if Emmett's cast could come off. It had been four weeks since his accident and even though we'd been managing fine with no complaints from Emmett, we were all ready for it to come off if the X-ray showed the bone was healed enough. Emmett might have been fine but his over exuberance in general but especially while passing out hugs was proving to be dangerous when combined with a hard cast. Peter expected it to be fine so our tentative plans were to remove it and go to a brace today.

It was also a big day for my little love bug. We'd had Alice's monthly appointment with Dr. Gerandy two days ago, and she had amazed him once again with her progress, not only with substantial weight gain but with her attachment and this time even development, too. Though still not at a level appropriate for her age, Alice was a completely different baby from when she first came home with us. We were still waiting on a smile, but we saw so many other facial expressions every day and she finally seemed to be engaged with her environment. She hated tummy time — among other things she didn't pause to let us know about — but it was such a joy to see her lift her head and look around her. She was also beginning to grasp objects if we offered them to her. The kids loved this because in their minds, Alice was playing with them now.

Overall, the doctor's visit had gone amazingly. The only downside was that Dr. Gerandy and Peter had talked and decided that Alice was healthy enough to start her vaccine series. On one hand, I was relieved that she would be better protected from illness, especially with fall and winter approaching. But on the other hand, I was terrified about her regressing if we caused her pain. It was probably an irrational fear but we had worked so hard to establish this bond with her. As Siobhan had explained, we were firmly in the trust versus mistrust stage of Alice's development right now. She was learning that she could trust us to meet her needs and keep her safe but would this shatter that trust? I knew Carlisle and I would handle any outcome together so I just had to trust and pray everything would be okay.

As long as we made it through Emmett's and Alice's appointments, we had another big task for the day: back to school shopping. We were cutting it a bit close since we only had a little over a week before Emmett's school started, but finding the time hadn't been a priority earlier in the month.

Since we knew everything would be changing soon with three of our little ones in school, we'd tried to pack in as much summer fun as possible. Trips to the zoo, the splash pad, children's museums, parks . . . they all filled our time in the best way. And with Chelsea with us and Alec coming every weekend, school supply shopping just hadn't fit in our schedule. We couldn't avoid it forever though, so Carlisle and I planned to tackle it together with Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper. Emmett was thrilled to be going back to school — even a new, unfamiliar school — but the other two were a bit hesitant. We hoped getting them involved with shopping would boost the excitement level or else I wasn't sure my heart could take it.

"Hey," Carlisle voice broke me from my thoughts as he gently squeezed the back of my neck. "I can hear your mind working."

I chuckled, lifting my head slightly to give him a kiss. "Just thinking about my to do list for the day. It's a full one."

"I know," he said with a nod. "But we'll get through it. You're bringing Alice and Emmett at twelve thirty, right?"

"Mmhmm. Chelsea is taking Rosalie, Jasper, and Edward to Carmen's to swim after lunch so when we're done we can pick them up there for shopping."

"Good deal. And as much as I want to lie here with you forever, I guess I should shower."

I sighed dramatically as I sat up. "If you must, dear husband." He sat up with me, his lips finding mine once again as his hand drifted south. I could barely bring myself to stop him, but someone had to be strong before the morning completely disappeared.

"I'm going, I'm going," he said with a laugh when I playfully pushed him away. "I love you, dearest wife"

"I love you, too. Pass me my pjs and my love bug?"

He nodded and picked my pajamas and underwear off the floor, tossing them to me with a wink before lifting a still sleeping Alice out of her bassinet. He gave her head a few soft kisses, while I put my bottoms back on and held my arms out for her when I was finished. Once she was in my arms, Carlisle headed to the bathroom to shower and I settled in for our morning routine.

My early morning time with Alice remained one of my favorite times of the day. I still couldn't say I enjoyed waking up early, but this time was special now — relaxing quiet time before everyone else was up when I could talk to, sing to, and pray for my precious baby girl. Carlisle often joined the tail end of our tender morning moments before he left for work, but for the most part, this was Alice's and my bonding time.

As I expected, she only slept for a few minutes longer after being cradled against my chest. She always smelled breakfast and latched on before even opening her eyes, making me giggle quietly every time and today was no different.

"Good morning, love bug," I said quietly, gently running my fingers through her soft, dark hair. "How are you this morning?"

She grunted, stretching slowly like a kitten. After rubbing her hands over her face, her little eyelids fluttered open and her gray eyes met mine.

"There's my baby girl. Mommy loves you so much." I gave her my finger to hold and brought her hand up to give it a few kisses. She watched me intently as I did but never stopped drinking, not that I'd want her to. Her enthusiastic eating was so amazing compared to the baby who refused to finish a four ounce bottle a little over a month ago.

As she filled her belly, we spent our quiet time together, uninterrupted until another little person made himself known.

Rosalie had had a sleepover with Chelsea last night, sending Edward back to his own bed for the first time in a while. It didn't seem to phase him though, and I smiled as he went through his usual morning routine of babbling to himself before sitting up. As soon as he saw me, he stood and waved.

"Mama! 'Ey, Mama!"

"Good morning, Pumpkin," I said, blowing him a kiss. "Did you sleep good?"

He nodded and grabbed the side of the crib, jumping. "Out, out, out. Dow, dow."

"Wait just a minute, baby," I quickly cautioned. The shower had cut off a few minutes ago so I knew Carlisle would be out soon. "Wait for Daddy. He'll get you out. Can you sit on your bottom for me, please?"

Thankfully, he listened and landed on his bottom with a hard bounce and a bunch of giggles. I knew it was only a matter of time before he'd be scaling the side of his crib but I didn't want that day to be today. One broken bone in the house in a month was more than enough.

Sure enough, Carlisle came out of the bathroom a minute later. Pumpkin squealed as soon as he saw his daddy and stood back up, holding his arms out.

Carlisle picked him up as requested and carried him for a diaper change. When they returned, he placed him on the bed and he immediately crawled over to me, settling on the side Alice wasn't currently occupying.

While Carlisle went downstairs to answer some emails before breakfast, I enjoyed the time with my two littlest ones. Unlike my time alone with Alice, there was nothing quiet about it. Edward liked to unlatch every few minutes to tell me something in his own language which often resulted in him giggling before I would coax him to return to his pre-breakfast meal. Not that I minded his silliness. His easy-going nature made everything easier.

And today, the evidence of his uncomplicated acceptance of Alice brought tears to my eyes.

"Mama," he said, unlatching as he sat up slightly. "Baby. Al-sss."

"That's right, sweet boy. That's baby Alice. Do you love your baby sister?"

Without any hesitation, he nodded and reached over to hold her hand in his. "Lo, lo, lo. Baby."

Alice turned her head slightly, looking over to stare at who had interrupted her though she didn't move her hand. As Edward resumed nursing, the two of them simply stated at each other while holding hands and I could barely sniffle fast enough to keep my tears from falling.

The first few days of Edward adjusting to Alice had been rough but now it was as if they'd always been together. Tandem nursing a baby and a toddler had seemed like a challenge to me at first, but now I couldn't help but think we were all benefiting. It wasn't just Alice and me who were bonding. Edward and Alice were bonding during this time together too, and I couldn't have been more thankful for this blessing.

Once they were finished, our sweet moment ended thanks to the lovely surprise Edward had deposited in his diaper and Alice was wet as well. I changed her first to end her angry faces and then settled her in her wrap on my chest before starting on the big task.

"You couldn't have done this earlier, huh?" I teased as I laid him on the changing table and started unsnapping his onesie. "You know daddy would've loved it."

He grinned and babbled, clapping his hands.

Once his diaper was unfastened, my happy well behaved baby disappeared as had been par for the course lately.

"Uh uh," I warned as I caught his hands before they could explore the mess. Why this child wanted to play in his poop was beyond me but we definitely weren't doing that this morning. "No sir. We don't do that."

Unfortunately my warning didn't do much except make him cry and try to squirm away from me while fighting for his hands, but by some mommy miracle I managed to get him cleaned up and secure a new diaper.

"Are you going to be a cranky pants now?" I asked as I placed him on his feet on the floor, still whining. "I'm sure Aunt Sea doesn't want to play with a cranky pants today. Don't you want to go see her?"

He stopped whining and looked up at me. "Sea?"

I nodded. "Do you want to go find her?"

That successfully distracted him and I caught his hand before he ran out the door, fully back to his usual happy self.

We found Chelsea in the kitchen, still in her pajamas and messy hair piled on top of her head as she cooked sausage patties.

I laughed as I went over to kiss her cheek and give my niece a morning rub. "Rough night?"

She huffed, shaking her head. "You could say that. Rosalie slept fine but she's the only one of us. Little miss is using my bladder as a pillow or something so I was up and down all night and she's been craving sausage since four this morning. I tried to talk her out of it but no such luck. Don't tell on my unhealthy eating, please."

I laughed again as I gave Pumpkin a few Cheerios to snack on. "I won't tell, not that Gianna would say anything. You've only gained eighteen pounds so far and everything is fine. You can splurge a little this morning."

Not only had Chelsea and Alec been working on getting their house ready on a tight schedule, but they also quickly realized they'd need a new doctor here as soon as possible. I recommended Dr. Banner without a second thought and Alec managed to stay until Monday his first weekend here so he could go to the appointment. However, the plan changed a little.

Dr. Banner had added a midwife to her staff in the last year, and Chelsea got to meet with both of them. Since she was low risk and her pregnancy had been perfectly healthy and smooth, Dr. Banner suggested having the midwife be the primary care provided for the rest of the pregnancy and oversee the delivery. She would still be involved and be available just in case her skills were needed but she felt Chelsea would benefit from midwifery care, especially since her birth plan — like my previous one — focused on doing things naturally without any unnecessary interventions.

Gianna Monroe was enthusiastic about doing everything in her power to help Chelsea safely achieve her goals during the rest of the pregnancy and birth and immediately made Chelsea and Alec feel at ease. I was along for the visit too as part of Chelsea's birth support and I was extremely impressed with Gianna too — even more so because she would oversee home births. Carlisle and I had talked in passing that we were curious to explore that option with any future uncomplicated pregnancies so it was nice to know that option would be easily accessible without me having to leave my favorite doctor.

"How about some eggs and whole wheat toast to go with the sausage?" I suggested, not wanting Chelsea to feel bad about her craving. I knew her hormones wouldn't be helping her get over her unneeded and irrational sense of failure but maybe my distraction with more food might.

Sure enough, she agreed right away and we laughed and joked together as we finished breakfast. Carlisle joined us when I told him it was ready and the three of us along with Pumpkin sat down to eat.

I was trying to let the kids enjoy this week without getting up early — not that Emmett ever did — but the smell of food soon lured their sleepy heads down to the kitchen.

We shared a fairly quiet breakfast together and then Carlisle kissed us all goodbye to head to work. After he left, Chelsea and I cleaned up the kitchen together then spent the rest of the morning entertaining the kids.

Our plans changed when the kids begged to go to their nana's before lunch. It didn't really bother me or Chelsea and of course Carmen was more than willing to have us over early and provide food, too. She had Kate and Garrett's bunch over already and her philosophy was always "the more, the merrier." My mother-in-law was such a priceless presence in our lives.

Packing everyone up took a while but we were soon joining the party. With the kids occupied in the pool with Eleazar and their cousins, we ladies were able to have some adult conversation as we watched them from the deck — something Chelsea and I definitely wouldn't have gotten if we had stayed home all morning.

We mainly focused on Chelsea and Alec's upcoming move. It was hard for Chelsea to only have Alec during the weekends this month and to not be moved into their house yet but they were handling it well. The whole family was offering as much support as possible and we already had everyone lined up to help complete the move in a couple of weeks.

Alec started his job the second week of September and he'd managed to use some vacation days so he'd have part of the week before off to get settled. The plan was for him to ship the rest of their things so they'd arrive during that week and we could all help unload and set up. Though Chelsea would get the keys to the house next week, she didn't plan to stay there alone and didn't want to set anything up without Alec's input. We had a good idea of how we'd do it though, including them both finalizing their decorating ideas with me, and I had faith that we'd be able to pull it all off without issue.

The morning passed quickly and soon lunch was over and it was time for me, Emmett, and Alice to make our way to Peter and Carlisle's office.

"Do I get my cast off today?" Emmett asked as I drove.

"We'll have to wait and see, Monk. Peter wants to take some more pictures of your arm first," I explained. "Remember how he did that before?"

I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw him nod with a smile. "Yahuh, Mommy, it's so cool! And then I get stickers from Maggie?"

I laughed and shook my head but agreed that he probably would be getting some stickers if Maggie had anything to do with it.

When we arrived at the office, I placed Alice back in her wrap against my chest, took Emmett's hand, and headed inside. The waiting room was empty with it technically being the start of their lunch hour at one, but I was sure we'd take a little more of their time than scheduled — not that anyone would mind.

"There's some of my favorite people," Maggie said with a large smile when she saw us walk in. "Come give me some love."

Emmett didn't have to be told twice and ran back ahead of me, throwing himself at Maggie and barely missing her head with his cast.

"Whoa there, dude." She laughed as she hugged him back and kissed the top of his head. "When are you getting that thing off?"

"Today, Maggie," Emmett said excitedly. "Well . . . Mommy said maybe after Peter takes pictures. Is he ready now?"

She laughed again, shaking her head. "Nope, sorry. Not just yet. You want to color with me while you wait?"

His excitement deflated slightly but he was still happy as she set him up with some markers and a blank sheet of copy paper.

"Hi, Maggie," I said, finally getting a turn for my own hug. "How's your day so far?"

"Pretty good," she answered, kissing my cheek and then Alice's. "They're not too far behind but it might be a few minutes. Now, pass me my sassy girl before those girls back there make her mad."

Alice was in a pretty good mood, so I handed her over to Maggie who held her in front of her in her lap. We both giggled while Alice stared up at her with a fascinated expression, sucking away on her pacifier.

A few minutes later, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I relaxed against him, having missed this for the past few hours.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said softly, kissing my neck. "Peter's ready for us."

I nodded and convinced Em to pause his drawing for a while, and Maggie reluctantly passed Alice to Carlisle. As he got in some snuggles, I asked him about his morning. He filled me in and led us to an exam room. Emmett was bouncing around and wouldn't sit on the table but luckily Peter joined us moments later.

"Peter!" Emmett squealed as soon as he saw him. "Let's take pictures of my arm!"

Peter chuckled and held his arm out. "All right, all right. Let's do it, buddy."

Emmett took his hand and followed him out of the room without a second glance back at us. Carlisle and I just shook our heads at our brave, big boy who was always marching to his own beat.

When they returned a little while later, they were both wearing smiles.

"Good news?" Carlisle asked.

"I'd say so," Peter agreed. "It looks about as good as I could expect at this point — surprisingly enough after everything and everyone he's whacked with it over the last month. And I usually say avoid strenuous physical activity for the same amount of time the cast was on, but I can't imagine that working out."

I snorted. "Definitely not. Especially with school starting in a couple weeks."

"Exactly. So we'll do a brace for now just to be on the safe side. Sound good?" Carlisle and I were both okay with this plan so he turned to Em. "Who's ready to get a cast off?"

"Me!" Emmett raised his non-casted arm in the air, but as soon as he saw the cast-cutting saw, the bravery dropped a level and he was climbing into my lap. "What's that?" he asked Peter cautiously.

"It's what I'm going to use to remove your cast," Peter explained.

"Will it hurt me?"

Peter shook his head. "Nope, it won't touch you at all . . . just the cast. But you can sit with Mommy while I do it, okay?"

That made Emmett relax a little, as did Carlisle holding his free hand, and ten minutes later the green cast was no more.

"Wow," Em said slowly as he studied his arm. "It looks so weird."

"It'll go back to normal, little man," Carlisle promised. "It just needs some lotion and a good bath."

I had to agree with Emmett's assessment. His little arm did look weird, but Carlisle was also right. I knew from experience that a gentle washing and some good lotion would help tremendously.

After his new black brace was in place, he thanked Peter with a big — now, not so dangerous — hug and ran back to find Maggie and his art work in progress.

Then came the part I was dreading.

Peter noticed my falling expression right away and came over to rub my shoulder in reassurance. "It's just two today. We're taking it easy on her to start out so we don't overwhelm her in any way."

"I know," I sighed. "I just worry. I know we're doing what's best."

"It'll be okay. Now let me go track down a couple volunteers and we'll get you out of here."

His words did little to calm me, but Carlisle tugging me over into his lap and placing Alice in my arms helped.

"I'm right here beside you," he unnecessarily reminded me, though I appreciated it all the same. "We'll get through this just like with the other kids. We'll all be okay. Alice included."

I took a deep breath and nodded, finally smiling when he turned my head so he could place a kiss on my lips. As some of my tension melted away, I adjusted my shirt and tried to get Alice as comfortable as possible so she would be distracted with a snack or at least use me for comfort when the torture started. Her eyes were a little droopy, signaling her need for a nap, but my hope of that was short lived when nursing seemed to wake her up instead.

"You won't make this easy on Mommy, will you?" I murmured, letting her grasp my finger as Carlisle chuckled.

The unlucky volunteers soon knocked and entered and I had to laugh. Apparently there was someone dreading this more than me.

"Tell her to stop freaking out," Kate said as she bumped her shoulder against her partner. "It's not like I want to do this either but Char is with a patient right now."

"This is like trial by fire, isn't it?" Renata asked. "My first week here and I have to give shots to the boss's baby girl? Trial by fire."

We all laughed at her, knowing she was mostly joking.

My best friend had calmly announced at Sunday lunch last week that Sarah Beth would be getting a brother or sister in March or April. We all reacted not so calmly and were completely overjoyed that we'd have another new baby joining our large group. Charlotte and Peter were such wonderful parents to Sarah, and I couldn't wait to see their family expand. But this meant Carlisle and Peter had to speed up their search for a nurse practitioner and another nurse. They were still working on finding the perfect NP, but surprisingly they found the perfect nurse within the first week of advertising.

Renata had experience working with both adults and pediatrics, and was eager to find an office position so she would have more regular hours to spend with her husband and four year old son. Carlisle and Peter had fallen in love with her resume and instead of going through a regular interview process, we'd all gone out to dinner together. If Renata had been intimidated by the potential bosses and their wives, she hadn't shown it, and we'd shared a lovely evening together. She had an easy-going and sweet nature and after Kate met her the next day, it was a unanimous decision to hire her. She was already fitting in well here after only four official days working.

Though now she had been handed a challenge she didn't seem too thrilled with undertaking.

"This won't be the last time," Carlisle reminded her with a laugh. "We have five kids. You couldn't escape this for long."

"I know, I know. But four days in? That's kind of evil."

"Hazards of the job," Kate joked. "At least Miss Priss can't run from us. You'll get that joy with my Riley." She patted Renata's arm in mock sympathy, and we all laughed together.

The mood was lifted a bit then, though Alice still wasn't sleeping. I could only hope she'd handle this half as calmly as Edward always did.

Kate explained the strategy she and Charlotte usually used to Renata, and they got everything prepared. As Carlisle held me tightly against him, I did the same for Alice after making sure her little legs were accessible.

I couldn't watch them poke her, but even if they hadn't counted down, I would've known the second they did it. Alice stiffened in my arms and unlatched from my breast, letting out a cry like I'd never heard before. As soon as the band aids were in place, I stood and began pacing, trying to do anything to soothe my sweet girl.

"You're okay, baby. You're okay," I chanted as I gently bounced her in my arms. "Mommy's love bug is just fine. No more owwies. No more." My words did nothing to calm her, and her face grew increasingly red with her screams.

My control seemed to evaporate too, and I tried to look at Carlisle for help. He was on his feet as soon as he saw my panicked expression, walking over to me to wrap us both in his arms.

"Try nursing her again," he calmly suggested. "She'll calm down soon."

I wasn't so sure he was right, but his steady voice and direction gave me something to hold on to. With my free hand, I offered her my breast, but she was too inconsolable to even notice.

Carlisle reached over and began rubbing her head, humming as his thumb rubbed that magic spot between her eyes that normally could put her right to sleep. It did nothing today, however, and I felt the tears begin to leak out of my eyes.

"Shhh." Carlisle kissed my cheek. "It'll be okay, sweetheart. Want to try some kangaroo care in my office? We're not in a hurry."

I sniffled and nodded, following him across the hall and settling on his couch. With his help, we removed my shirt and Alice's dress, settling us both skin to skin. Carlisle resumed humming and rubbing her head and after what seemed like years, her wails quieted to hiccuping whimpers until finally she was silent.

"Is she asleep?" I whispered.

Carlisle nodded, smiling sadly. "Mmhmm. She cried herself out. She'll be okay, though," he assured me again. "Peter gave me the safe dosage of tylenol for her if she has any pain, and we'll keep her comfortable and happy. Okay?"

I loved how he worried about me and Alice, and I kissed him to show it. Really, I would be okay. This was as hard as I'd expected it to be because my baby's pain was my pain. And I was still worried about how she'd act toward us now but I could only pray our attachment would remain intact. Carlisle was right — we'd do everything we could to keep her comfortable now, and that was really all we could do.

"I love you," I told him. "Thank you."

He kissed me again, his smile turning happier. "I love you too. Ready for some shopping?"

At this point, I was wishing we could simply go home and cuddle our babies the rest of the day, but I knew that wasn't possible. Emmett, Rose, and Jasper were excited about going shopping and we really couldn't wait any longer if we wanted there to be any school supplies left in stores.

Alice slept soundly through us redressing her and didn't so much as sigh as Carlisle held her in his arms for me to put my top back on. The crying had completely worn her out and combined with the fact that she'd needed a nap before the torture, I had a feeling she would be out for a while.

Carlisle closed his office door behind us when we walked out and we went to find Emmett who thankfully was right where we expected him to be — going through Maggie's sticker drawer.

We cut him off at three stickers, one of which he heartwarmingly gave to Alice, but then he wanted some to share with the rest of his siblings. As he went through the slow process of choosing the right ones, Carlisle and I said our goodbyes to everyone. Renata was still upset about upsetting Alice but we weren't having any of it. She was only doing her job after all, a job she was very good at. And when Emmett found us and made some silly faces to cheer her up, everything was fine again.

After leaving Carlisle's car at the office to pick up later, he drove us to his aunt and uncle's house to pick up Rosalie and Jasper along with some lunch for him. We didn't stay long and were soon back on the road with three happy kids and a sleeping Alice.

I didn't have time to dwell on my fears for Alice with my other babies around. That was our life. A few moments of fear and sadness but so much love and joy it was impossible to focus on the negative. Deep down I knew Alice would be okay — how could she not with how much we loved her? So I decided I'd love on her as much as possible but also enjoy the rest of our day.

Emmett entertained us during the drive by telling Rosalie and Jasper about getting his cast removed. They weren't too impressed until he gave them the stickers he'd picked for them.

Everyone was in a good and cooperative mood when Carlisle parked the van at the office supply store. I carefully placed Alice back in her wrap on my chest and grabbed Rosalie's hand before we headed to the door. Carlisle had the boys on either side of him, and we both started chuckling at the kids' expressions as we walked inside. Apparently we'd never brought them here, and they seemed to be impressed.

"Mommy," Rosalie said in awe. "What is this? We get stuff for school here?"

"Is it a work?" Jasper asked when he saw the desks on display. "Lotsa people could work here, huh?"

"This is where people buy supplies for their work," Carlisle corrected. "It's a store and we will definitely find school supplies here. Does Mommy have your lists ready?"

The only real list I had was for Emmett. He had quite a long list of items he needed for kindergarten. As for Rosalie and Jasper, they only needed crayons, a backpack, and a paper folder, but I hadn't wanted them to feel left out so Carmen had made some cute lists for them, complete with pictures beside each item on the list.

"I do," I answered, nodding toward the carts. "Let's get a cart and I'll get them out of the diaper bag. I need some good helpers today, okay?"

They all agreed and once I pulled their lists out, they were ready to get started. We tackled the common items first. The folders were fairly easy to pick out since the kids were consistent lately with their favorite colors. Rosalie chose purple, Jasper choose blue, and Emmett choose red and green because he needed two. The crayons were easy as well, but then came the difficult part. Backpacks. There were actually a good bit of choices left even though it was so close to school starting, but the options made my children's decision making skills fly out the window.

I left Carlisle to deal with them as I grabbed the rest of the things on Emmett's list. I knew he wouldn't miss picking out glue sticks and scissors and honestly it was best if he didn't know we had them until school started. Just as I was grabbing some required tissue and hand sanitizer, Alice began moving against me, so I placed the bottles in the cart and then moved the fabric of the wrap around so I could see her face.

"There's Mommy's sweet girl," I said softly as her eyes fluttered open. "Did you have a good nap, buggy? My love bug was so tired."

Alice squirmed a little as I talked to her but finally stilled and looked up at me. I smiled and kissed her forehead, so happy that she wasn't immediately upset.

"Do you feel better, baby? Did that nap make it all better?"

Her eyes locked with mine and before I could realize what was happening, the corners of her lips curled up in a smile, her eyes twinkling with obvious recognition and happiness. My eyes widened as I gasped which made her face return to its usual contemplative gaze but I couldn't be disappointed. And I couldn't wait before rushing back to find Carlisle.

"Carlisle," I called when I found them on the backpack aisle. My tone immediately had him on alert as did the tears in my eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked right away, putting his hands on my arms to hold me. "Did something happen?"

I nodded but smiled, obviously confusing him. "It's Alice," I explained. "She . . . she smiled at me."

"Oh! Really?" He moved to stand behind me so he could see Alice. "Did you do that, baby girl? Did you smile for Mommy? Can you do it for Daddy, too?"

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Alice was giving out more than one smile for now, but I was positive I hadn't imagined it. Carlisle wasn't too disappointed either because if it happened once, it would definitely be happening again from now on.

I could barely focus as we finished our shopping, but I managed to give my babies the attention they deserved while showing me the Cinderella, Lego, and Ninja Turtle backpacks they'd chosen. After letting Emmett pick out some pencils, we checked out and headed back to the office for Carlisle to get his car.

An hour later we were back home with Edward and Chelsea, too. I'd told everyone about Alice's first smile, but she just wasn't in the mood to show off. Carlisle cuddled with me and Alice and I knew he wanted that next smile, but I could tell her poor little legs were starting to bother her. I couldn't blame her for not wanting to smile again.

Still, the memory was burned into my mind with my other babies' first smiles I ever saw. Nothing could beat it, though I couldn't wait for everyone else to experience Alice's clear happiness too. It was special with her, proof we were providing her with what she needed to grow and develop as she should. Doctors could tell us the same thing all day long but it was different when we could actually see it.

My baby girl was making progress and meeting milestones, and so were her brothers and sister. We were all growing and changing together, and I felt so blessed that Carlisle and I had been given the chance to have these wonderful little people in our family. Today had been a reminder for me to enjoy every short minute of this crazy ride of life, and I planned to do just that.

A/N: Hi! I'm so sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to reviews this time, but I'm sure a chapter is preferable to that anyway. Just know that I appreciate all of your kind words so, so much and I'm so glad you're continuing to enjoy the story!

And sorry again for the longish wait, but this time it's for a good reason at least. I started a new job in March which I'm enjoying a lot, plus the break from job applications is amazing. I'm hoping to work in as much writing as possible whenever I can find free time so I'll keep aiming for shorter time between updates. =)

Thank you all again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!