I R E N I C

n i n e t e e n

Bella had finally convinced Charlie to allow the Cullen (Hale) women to meet Hailey. All under the condition that it was under his roof and that if Hailey showed discomfort that they would leave. Reluctantly, Bella had agreed. Which led to this...

Bella, Esme, sat at the small kitchen table while Alice and Rosalie stood around the kitchen. Hailey sat at her normal place on the table. There was a tense silence.

Hailey was staring blankly at Bella who shifted nervously in her seat. Finally, Bella spoke. "Hailey...this is Esme, that is Alice and Rosalie." She introduced them.

Hailey looked at them for a moment, muttering a small hi. The silence then returned.

Esme looked at Bella before turning to Hailey with a smile, holding her hands out for Hailey to touch. "Nice to meet you, Hailey. Bella told us so much about you."

Hailey looked down at her hands but made no move to grab them. Her small brows furrowed before she looked back up at Esme. "You are bad with kids." She stated simply.

This caused all women to look at her wide eyed. Esme spoke up, her voice soft. "Why do you say that?"

Hailey pointed at her hands. "I'm not going to sniff you like a dog." She looked towards the other two, not saying anything.

Esme kept her smile but retreated her hands. "That wasn't my intention, Hailey. I wanted you to see I meant you no harm."

Bella gave her a small glare. "Don't be rude."

Hailey didn't respond. Instead she looked between all three. "Bella said you took them in, why do you have the same eye color if you aren't their mom?" She asked with a hint of curiosity.

This stunned them. Bella once again whisper yelled. "Hailey! You can't just ask that!"

Hailey looked at Bella confused. "Why not? They came here, this is our house."

"It's too personal!" Bella said exasperatedly.

Again, Hailey looked at all of them. "Why? Aren't you dating one of them?" At this point she was doing it more for her entertainment. Quite frankly, she hoped to make them as uncomfortable as possible so they would leave.

Unfortunately, they would not break as easily.

Rosalie crouched down in front of Hailey, a soft smile. "Weird isn't it? Maybe that's why Esme took us in." She spoke softly.

Hailey looked into her eyes, lifting a hand she gently caressed around them. Finally she broke out into a small giggle. "You make it look pretty." Hailey gently touched her hair.

They all almost let out an audible sigh of relief.

Rosalie laughed slightly, letting the small girl touch her as she pleased. "Well, one of us had to make it pretty."

Alice, unable to contain her excitement bounced over to Hailey. "What about me? Is it pretty?" She asked and crouched down to give Hailey a better look.

Hailey turned away from Rosalie to look at Alice. Her small hand never leaving Rosalie's blond hair. Hailey looked into Alice's eyes, shaking her head. "Looks prettier on Rose."

Score two for Rosalie. She was called pretty and was given a nickname. This caused Alice to pout slightly, faux hurt in her tone.  "Why don't you take a closer look?" She leaned in closer until they were forehead to forehead.

Hailey giggled, "Sorry, Alice but Rose is still prettier."

The tension was gone. This gave Bella the opportunity to talk about the family with Hailey. "Hailey, would you like to meet everyone else?"

At this Hailey tensed, the air became awkward once more. "No." She stated simply.

Esme looked at Bella before looking at Hailey once more. "Why is that?"

Hailey began to give a small glare, her brows furrowed deeply in displeasure. "He will be there." She said with distaste. Everyone immediately knew who she was talking about; Edward.

Rosalie tilted her head to look into her eyes. "You can't avoid him forever, Hailey." She said matter of factly.

"Yes, I can." Hailey said stubbornly.

Rosalie laughed, shaking her head. "Trust me, you can't. I've tried." She said jokingly. The other women in the room looked at each other with a nod, Rosalie would convince her.

Still, Hailey shook her head. "I won't do it!" She exclaimed, growing frustrated at the pressure to meet him.

Rosalie held her hands up in surrender. "Okay okay, but how about we make a deal?" Rosalie asked in hopes to calm her down.

Hailey looked at her questionably. "What?"

"You can bring anyone you want along to meet everyone else." Rosalie proposed. "But, you have to talk with Edward."

Hailey huffed. "This is ex-tor-ti-on." She said slowly as she tried to say extortion.

Rosalie laughed. "You got a better idea?"

Hailey thought for a moment. Then she glanced over towards Bella before she leaned in to whisper in Rosalie's ear. "I get to use his money for one...week." Funnily enough, everyone but Bella heard.

Rosalie tried to suppress her laughter along with the two other vampires. "Deal."

Bella looked at them confused as they shook hands. "Hailey, what did you ask for?" She asked in a stern tone.

Hailey smiled innocently. "Cake." With that Hailey got down from her seat and hugged Rosalie.

Rosalie hugged her back, a smile on her face. When she looked at Bella her smile fell but she gave her a thumbs up to signal that Hailey would meet Edward.

Though Bella was still hesitant she nodded. The biggest challenge will get Hailey to act civil with Edward. Whatever deal was made between the two didn't matter.