Her periwinkle pumps matched her dress down to the exact shade. As she walked up the stone front steps onto the front porch of a modest, suburban home decked with white paneling and black shingles, she checked her reflection in the glass of the storm door. She turned to face her brood. "Now behave yourselves. There is a pregnant woman in there." The five of them rolled their eyes, but smiled all the same. As long as they maintained the bodies of teenagers, Esme would insist on treating them as children. "Sunglasses off, Edward. It's terribly rude." He took them off quickly and, for good measure, smoothed out the front of his shirt before she found something else to fret over. "Jasper, fix your hair."

Jasper looked to Alice for help, and as usual, she came to his rescue. "That's just the way his hair grows, Esme. Don't worry, it'll be all right. Dinner is going to go beautifully. Go ahead, ring the doorbell."

"See? It'll be all right. Just relax. The Grangers are very nice people." The patriarch rested his hands on her shoulders and reached for the door bell.

A musical charm rang once throughout the house and a "could you get that, honey?", followed by footsteps could be heard loudly through their sensitive ears. As he waited, Edward found himself distracted by how positively normal Carlisle's co-workers are. The grass was cut neatly in their little square of a lawn with a small flowerbed of pink and yellow tulips that was obviously lovingly cared for. The vehicle parked in the driveway left much to be desired, but he took notice of the bulky contraption that would, presumably, strap the baby safely to the car. A stuffed lion was strapped in where the baby will be in about a month's time.

He looked over at Esme, who was still trying to smooth down her caramel locks while Carlisle kept an arm around her shoulder. He, as well as the rest of the family, knew how important this was to her. In general, they tried to avoid contact and relations with the humans that move in and out of their lives. When she'd heard that one of Carlisle's acquaintances was expecting a child, a baby girl nonetheless, she became excited for the young couple. When the doctor came home, she would ask how the mother was doing, how far along she was and for her sake, Carlisle became closer friends with Michael Granger than he had originally intended. When the couple invited his family over for dinner, she was absolutely over the moon. It had been so long since she was around anything related to infants and while it made her miss the one that she had lost, her mood still lifted whenever she saw someone with a stroller on the street.

It was only because of this that they all gathered together to spend a few hours as a normal family in such an intimate, yet foreign setting. Jasper's brow furrowed as he tried to prepare himself for a night of suppressing his urges. How were they going to get through a dinner when they didn't even really eat? Emmett rocked between his heels and toes, nearly bursting with energy. He would never admit it, but Edward knew that he was excited about the squirming little worm growing inside of Jane Granger as well. Rosalie looked absolutely livid beside him. She looked impeccable, as always, but he could almost taste the jealousy she felt as she tried to wrestle with the fact that she could never experience the joys of having a child. As beautiful as she was, she would never be able to hold that perfect combination of herself and Emmett in her arms or feel it grow in her empty abdomen.

The footsteps came to a stop and the door opened to reveal a tall young man, perhaps in his mid to late 20's, with dark brown curls dressed in a soiled apron. He held a spatula in one hand while holding the door open in the other and he smiled a full set of pearly whites at them. "Carlisle! Come in, come in! Have a seat in the living room while I take care of the steak in the kitchen. Jane will be down in a second."

They were ushered into a  small, homey room  with a round, nearly ragged red rug in the center of the mahogany floors. An old piano with stained keys sat in the corner and on the mantle were several picture frames of black and white faces that Edward could not recognize. These people were probably born around the same time as he. Esme found the rocking chair in the corner occupied by a recently finished baby blanket resting in a bag of yarn and smiled fondly, fingertips gently brushing the light yellow yarn.  Footsteps, much more dainty than the last, approached from the staircase behind him. "Is that Dr. Carlisle Cullen I see in my living room?"

Edward watched as the blond rushed over to help the obviously pregnant woman down the remaining steps. "It is lovely to see you as always," he said quietly  before kissing the woman on the cheek. Edward supposed that in another century or so, he would be able to do the same without feeling just a bit dizzy from the proximity to, well, food.

When Carlisle stepped back, Edward could see Jane Granger clearly - chestnut curls ran to her elbows and a pair of ocean blue eyes smiled warmly at him. By instinct, he tried to read her thoughts only to be surprised when he found that they reflected the exact words that came out of her mouth. "What a lovely family you have, Carlisle! Oh, I should have had you over much, much earlier. Hi, I'm Jane." She walked directly over to Esme and before she could be prepared, gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He could see Esme freeze for a moment before, very carefully, returning the hug. "Your wife is absolutely lovely. You're a lucky man, Dr. Cullen." The doctor smiled and nodded in response.

Throughout their teasing, Esme was mesmerized by the soft bump she had felt against her own, marble hard abdomen. "May I?" she asked tentatively, her hands knotted with themselves to keep from instinctively reaching over without permission.

"Oh please, go ahead. Since I started showing, my belly has apparently become public property. Be careful though, she's been kicking quite a bit today. Anxious to get out, this one." She bent down to look at her protruding belly. "Just one more month, little one." Her jovial nature was contagious and as Esme placed her palm carefully on the stomach, Emmett loomed over them curiously as well. "I mean it, go ahead. I think that she likes the attention."  It was mildly amusing to Edward that in a room full of vampires, this woman was extending an open invitation to her baby. She grabbed Emmett by the wrist and put his hand next to Esme's on her belly. "Oh, there she goes."

Apparently, the fetus did like the attention as she gave a little kick that made Emmett release a booming "Ha!" and Esme smiled before leaning down to say hello to the underdeveloped being. Alice stood by Jasper, who was trying so hard to restrain himself, while Rosalie stayed on the couch, looking even more put off by her love's enthusiasm.

"I'm sorry, I must seem like a lunatic extending invitations to hold my bulging belly before even knowing your names." A round of introductions and a bit of small talk ("You know your father always comes down to the dental ward to say hello. One would think that no one ever needed surgery!") were made before her husband came out and announced that dinner was ready. The family looked at each other apprehensively. How were they going to get out of this one?

Trying his best to avoid the journey to the dinner table, Edward tried to grasp onto any way out that he could. "Are you feeling all right, Mrs. Granger?"

She looked back at him a bit surprised, which was to be expected. After all, how could this young man that she had never met know that she had been feeling slight pains in her stomach that she accredited to bad posture all morning? "Oh, call me Jane." He smiled politely as manners dictated. "Just a bit sore is all."

Immediately, her husband rushed to her side. "Are you all right? Why didn't you say something? Do you want to go lie down for a bit?" He checked her forehead and looked at her with concern and for a minute, Edward saw a bit of Carlisle and Esme in there. Had they had the fortune to meet during their first lives and been together, this could be a very likely scene between the two.

"Oh stop it, Michael, it's just a bit of - Oh!"  Carlisle was by the woman's side before she even crouched over. "Oh God." She took ragged breaths as the two older men maneuvered her towards the couch. Rosalie bolted up immediately and helped them put her on her back. Edward was surprised, to say the least. Rosalie tended to not be the most helpful person in the group. "I-It's too early, Michael! I... I want it to be full term!" Just then, a pungent smell hit all of their sensitive noses. Her water broke.

"Looks like you don't have much of an option, Jane. Rosalie, go upstairs to find some clean linens. Make sure they're clean. Alice, go with her and look for a soft blanket and sterilize a pair of sharp scissors. Emmett, Jasper, go find a tub of some sort and fill it with warm water. Bring a clean washcloth with you-"

"OH!" Esme tried to make the woman more comfortable, remembering a time when she was in the same situation, giving birth to a premature baby. She took off her large shawl and dragged it across her raised knees to give the woman some privacy in a room full of men.

"Edward, lift Jane a bit so Michael can get behind her and hold her hand."

"Carlisle, I can-"

"I know you learned this in medical school, Michael, but you are not exactly calm right now. Besides that, your wife needs you." At the sound of another anguished groan, the man slipped in behind his wife and rested her upper body against his chest as her own chest continued to rise and fall in a rapid manner. "Now, I need you to breathe for me, Jane."

"Come on, honey. You heard the doctor. Breathe." The comforting words, accentuated with exaggerated breathing sounds, were certainly meant to be private, but in a room full of sensitive ears, every word murmured into the woman's curls could be heard.

After another half hour of breathing, everyone had gathered what was needed and stood in the small living room around the screaming woman drowning out the Sinatra record that had been put on ("A bit of music would make you feel better, love." "You know what would make me feel better, love? If you NEVER touch me again!"). The smell of blood called to them, but it was easy to resist when there were such unappetizing sounds ringing in their ears. Edward stood at Carlisle's elbow as the one of them most able to handle such proximity to spilled blood while the others waited anxiously around for the occasional progress report and chore. Michael held his wife tenderly while Esme continuously washed the sweat off the woman's brow with a damp washcloth.

"All right, the princess is ready to arrive. You ready, Jane?" Edward looked at the woman as she strained a nod, sweat glistening on the pale underside of her chin and the expanse of her swan neck. "Push."

With a sound that Edward never expected to hear from a mortal, he watched as her knuckles turned white and her teeth bore down. "You're doing great, dear," Esme said softly, pushing the woman's hair away from her face. This continued for another ten minutes and dear God this looked painful.

"Yes, you are doing fantastic. She's got a head full of little brown curls. Just two more, all right? And one!"

Edward finally resigned himself to the fact that he may never witness another childbirth ever again and peeked under the sheet. For an underdeveloped little bugger, she did have a head full of hair. He watched in amazement and only faintly registered as Carlisle told Alice and Rosalie to have the linens and blanket ready and to double check the temperature of the small bath.

"All right, I know it's tough but I need one more from you, Jane. Just one. I would say whenever you're ready but I feel like the little one wants out."

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" The last quarter of that long held scream was accompanied by a small twinkle of a cry. The baby was here, with a full set of lungs apparently. She had slid right out and she was pink and wrinkly and dirty and loud and absolutely incredible. With the widest grin Edward had ever seen, Carlisle held the screaming baby up for the couple. Michael had tears in his eyes as he beheld his daughter for the first time and Jane collapsed against her husband, hands gripping his shirt with an exhausted smile on her face. He murmured into his wife's hair and left his friend to take care of the rest.

"Grab those scissors, Edward and make a snip just here." He looked at the brown, wrinkly cord that started at the baby's belly button and disappeared beneath the sheet. She looked quite a bit better now, still whimpering, but Esme had taken a soft, wet washcloth and wiped the birth from her skin. Very carefully and, he hoped, with the precision of a surgeon, Edward made the cut that would make her a completely individual being. Before he knew what was going on, the bundle was placed in his arms while Carlisle dealt with the afterbirth. "Mind the head now."

Never in his existence had he been so intensely focused on one being. A slip of his hand and the little thing would stop crying, breathing all together. Her little pink fingers would stop waving around and her smushed pink face would relax into the paralysis of death. Somehow, looking into that flat face, he found the delicate balance between a suffocating grip and losing hold. He knew he didn't have to breathe, but somehow he found it difficult to catch a breath as he felt little feet kicking against his chest.

He stared, mouth slightly opened, as the thing quieted and opened its eyes to stare right back at him. Startled, the amber spheres held his gaze more steadily than anyone else had ever done. Perhaps it was because he had been the first one to really hold her, the first one to be completely responsible for her well-being, the first time another being had been so dependent on him. At that moment, he swore to himself that he would do anything within his power to keep her from harm.

"I have to wash her, Edward." He was reluctant in handing her over to Esme, one of the most trusted people in his life. What if she accidentally let her hand slip? What if water gets into the infant's little lungs? What if she couldn't resist a helpless feast? One look at her and he immediately felt guilty for his thoughts. Her eyes beheld the baby as thought it was the most precious thing in the world, and at that moment and perhaps forever, it did indeed become the most precious thing to him.

He watched closely as the baby was washed and wrapped in the blanket, snug and warm. She was exhausted from the environment changed and laid quietly with her eyes closed, a tiny thumb in her mouth and little hairs pressed to the top of her head. She was passed around the entire room - Esme rocked her gently to sleep; Alice held the infant close to her face before granting her a kiss and a prediction, "This one is really going to grow up to be something great."; Jasper, temporarily amazed at the birth and distracted from his thirst, held the baby with a full, relaxed smile and elevated the serenity in the room; Emmett had to be stopped from lifting the baby over his head as some sort of trophy, but laughed when she gripped his finger firmly.

Rosalie, surprisingly, had tears in her eyes as she oh-so-gently took the baby in her arms. With more maternal instinct than anyone knew she possessed, she gently cooed to the baby and waved a teasing index finger in front of those wide amber eyes. She closed the blanket more firmly around the little one at the heart of the bundle before handing her back to the parents, who received her with proud smiles. "Does she have a name?"

The couple shared a glance before the new mother looked back at the stunning blond. "Hermione. Hermione Jean Granger." A beautiful name, Edward thought. Poetic. Very fitting.

"Do you have a camera, Michael?" Carlisle asked, having taken care of the messiness of the birth.

"Oh yes, upstairs bedroom in the second drawer. I obviously have to take a picture of such a fine, good-looking delivery team." Within minutes, Alice had retrieved the camera and snapped pictures of the new family.

At midnight, the Cullens took their leave and left the family alone. The car ride was silent, the passengers pensive and exhausted. "She's a witch, you know. A powerful one, at that," Alice said ten minutes into the drive. Edward only shook his head - it would make his job as guardian much more difficult. Even in those few minutes in his arms, he could tell that she was going to turn the world upside down or, perhaps, right-side up.


Years later- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


 
"Wow, cute baby."

"She was a premie." Edward explained, his hands on the wheel of his silver Volvo. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Bella took an aged photo from the visor clip on the driver's side. "A month early. Six pounds, two ounces." A look at the sleeping infant in his arms brought a soft smile to his face that Bella had never seen before. Who was this child?

She turned the photo over and read the scrawl on the back, written in black ink with a handwriting so messy that it could only have belonged to a doctor.