Tiny Hands, Recycled Cans

They were all gathered in the living room watching Jukka as she slept in a bundle of blankets and pillows on Carlisle’s lap. Some were sitting around her, others were towering over her.
Esme ram to the door at vampiric speed as the bell rang. On the other side was her husband’s awaited guest. He, like Carlisle, looked no older than mid-twenties at the most. He had light brown hair and, unfortunately, crimson red eyes. He also held a stack of three hard cover books. They were plain and had no decorative cover or title printed on them.
“Come in.” Esme said politely as she stepped to the side. “Carlisle would have greeted you, but the baby is asleep on his lap.”
The man smiled and said, “Well, I’m going to go congratulate the new mommy.”
“What?” Esme inquired with wide eyes.
The man softly laughed and shook his head. “You’ll more than likely find out in a few minutes.” He then walked into the house behind her and over to Carlisle.
“Elliot, you’ve made it!” Carlisle said happily. Maybe now he could get some answers.
Elliot smirked and said, “I see you’ve finally fulfilled your dream of becoming a mom. How does it feel?” Carlisle continued to smile, but as Elliot’s words registered in his head, his eyebrows furrowed and his head tilted to the side, “Excuse me?”
Elliot laughed and explained himself, pointing at him, “She’s sleeping on your lap.”
“Oh, thank you. That explains everything.”
“Panther demons, as infants, take in two scents. Their mother’s and their father’s. They decide those particular scents from the others because those are the first scents that they come in contact with. The very first is the one their mind tells them is their mother. The second, they identify as their father.” Elliot explained.
“Why?” Emmett asked. “Because until they are about five weeks old, their eyes can’t open. Their hearing comes shortly before that and a sense of smell is all they have. With those two scents locked, they know that those people are safe to be around and the food they supply is safe to eat. It’s a survival instinct. Carlisle, are you the only one she’s warmed up to this much?”
Carlisle thought back to when he came down from his study and Rose was upset that only Jasper was able to get Jukka to eat. “No. Jasper’s been feeding her.”
Elliot looked shocked for a moment. “Well, whoever left her knew they were going to when she was born.”
“What do you mean?” Emmett asked stiffly, parental instincts he didn’t even know he had kicking in.
“Once a panther demon identifies a smell as their parents, there is not do over. Since you and Jasper are having so much luck with her, you must have been the first two people she smelled. And going by the fact she looks about four of five months old, they had to have been blocking her senses when they were feeding her.”
“That’s just sick!” Rosalie exclaimed standing up. “Actually Rose,” Edward began, “When you think about it, they saved her life.” “By abandoning her!?” Rose said, getting angrier.
“They were going to leave her either way. They already knew that. They kept her from smelling them so she would be able to eat when someone found her. If they hadn’t, she would have starved to death because she would have refused food from anyone else.” He reasoned patiently.
After realizing Edward was right, Rose sat back down and resumed watching Jukka sleep silently.
Carlisle began to run through a mental checklist of the things they would need to know to raise her to the best of their ability. He was about to ask about diet when he, just as Esme had before, noticed the spines of three thick, title-less books staring back at him. “What are those?”
Elliot looked confused and gasped when he looked down, having forgotten he had brought the books. “Oh! I brought these to give to you. I have them all memorized, so I don’t need them anymore. Besides, now you have more use for them than I do. This blue one here,” he said grabbing the book on top with his other hand, “covers just about everything briefly. That’s why it’s the thickest. The dark green one discusses things health related, such as diet, sleep, and the diseases that they are susceptible to. And then this black one here pertains to just mating.”
Jasper couldn’t help but hope they would never need to know the words in the black book. Of course, he knew this was only wishful thinking.
Carlisle took the books as Elliot handed them over to him and nodded thanks. “Now, Elliot, I was wondering if you could fill us in on what to feed now so we don’t have to read a book to find out we have been poisoning her.” He asked in a laughing manner.
Elliot grinned and said, “Well, from the time they are born to about three months they drink their mother’s milk, then they eat bread until they are thirteen years of age. After that they eat the raw meat of animals they hunt. The only exception of that is when they are pregnant. Then they go back to eating bread for the duration of the pregnancy.”
A few moments after Elliot finished his sentence, Jukka began to stir. Elliot froze. It was just now dawning on him that after centuries of being obsessed with these beautiful and rare creatures, this is the closest he has ever been to one.
“Do you mind if…Do you think that maybe, I could hold her?” He asked getting nervous as Jukka’s eyes began to open. He suddenly felt a wave of calm come over him as Carlisle got up and started walking towards him. When he searched for the source, he was met with a smiling Jasper who said, “We can’t have you holding something so precious to us while you’re so jittery, now can we?”