It's Been a Lifetime Waiting

Veronica’s eyes snapped open, panic setting in. She was in a bed that wasn’t hers. She was in a bedroom that wasn’t hers. She was in a nightgown that wasn’t hers. And her leg felt really heavy. The bear trap! Whimpering, Veronica sat bolt upright, throwing the duvet back, gasping at the sight of a thick cast on the bottom half of her left leg. What happened? Where was she?!

Then the door opened, and in walked an unfamiliar blonde good-looking man, and Veronica edged backwards.

“Calm yourself, I mean you no harm. I’m Dr Carlisle Cullen, I treated you at Anchorage Hospital. Unfortunately the hospital has run out of empty beds, so I brought you back to my house to recover with me and my family,” the attractive man explained

Although Veronica didn’t trust people easily, there was something honest and genuine about the man in front of her. Some form of warmth that she had only ever seen in her brother’s eyes.

“O-Okay,” Veronica stammered

“What’s your name?” Carlisle asked, sitting down in a chair next to her bed

“Veronica Miller. Call me Roni,” Veronica said firmly

“Duly noted,” Carlisle chuckled

“What happened to my leg? All I remember is a bear trap!” Veronica frowned

“Ah, one second. Alice! Esme!” Carlisle called

Veronica’s eyes widened at the sight of two beautiful women walking into the room, the older one with flowing light-brown hair and the short one with pixie cut dark hair. Veronica hated meeting new people, she always had done, and having to do so when disorientated and in pain only made it worse.

“Why do I recognise you?” Veronica frowned

“We found you in the woods while we were hiking,” the short pixie girl smiled

“Oh,” Veronica sighed

“This is my adopted daughter, Alice, and my wife Esme. Alice brought you to the hospital herself. Your leg was horribly mangled in the bear trap and it had to be reconstructed. Right now you have two thick metal rods in your leg, and they’ll stay there for the rest of your life. Your leg will take about a month to heal properly, before you can walk on it,” Carlisle explained

“Damn it,” Veronica grumbled

“You lost a lot of blood too, and you had to have a few transfusions. You’ll have to eat regularly to make sure your body starts the healing process properly,” Carlisle added

“I’m a good cook, so don’t worry. And in case you were wondering I’m the one that dressed you in the nightgown, I hope you don’t mind,” Esme smiled

Veronica just nodded, a bit stunned. Why were these people so nice? It was so strange and foreign to her...then something else flooded her mind and she clutched at the bedsheets.

“Where are my sketchbooks? My camera? My paintbrushes? My pencils? My bag?” Veronica panicked

“Calm down, don’t worry, my wife brought them all back here. They’re over there on the desk,” Carlisle chuckled

Veronica turned her head, letting out of breath of relief at the sight of all of belongings. Especially her camera, she needed that for her job. Her job!

“I need to call my boss and let him know what happened,” Veronica said quickly

“Where do you work?” Esme asked warmly

“I’m actually a freelance photographer for the National Geographic magazine. I was taking photos of a group of deer when my leg got caught in the trap,” Veronica explained

“That’s so cool! But you look so young! How old are you?” Alice asked curiously

“I’m 19...about your age, right?” Veronica asked

“Actually, I’m not even 17,” Alice giggled

Obviously that was a lie, but Veronica didn’t know that. Her jaw dropped, making the small group laugh.

“Would you like to meet the rest of my family?” Carlisle asked

“Uh, I’m not really good with meeting people. This is pushing it,” Veronica confessed

“Please? They’ve been dying to meet you,” Alice begged

Something about the beautiful pixie girl made Veronica change her mind.

“Okay,” Veronica said, unsure

“Yay! Everyone, you can come in now!” Alice called happily

Veronica ran her hand through her short caramel curls nervously, gulping as the door opened. Her eyes went wide again as 6 more people walked in, two girls and four guys, all of them looking about Veronica’s age. Then again, if Alice was only 16, who knew how old these people were?! One girl was short with long brown hair, the other was reasonably tall with long blonde hair (she was the most beautiful person Veronica had ever seen). One guy had short light brown hair, one guy had short messy copper hair, one guy had messy wavy blonde hair and the last guy...wow, the last guy was breathtakingly beautiful to Veronica. He was tall with broad shoulders and very short dark hair. They all had strangely coloured amber eyes.

“Um, it might be easier if you say your names in a line,” Carlisle prompted

“I’m Bella Swan,” the brown haired girl smiled

“Rosalie Hale,” the blonde introduced with a sneer

Veronica just raised an eyebrow at her. What was stuck up her ass?

“Lucas Swan,” the next male said smoothly

“Edward Cullen,” the copper haired one smiled

“Jasper Hale,” the blonde nodded

“Emmett Cullen,” the burly one grunted

Again Veronica raised an eyebrow. A grunt? Nice, caveman. The one called Edward snorted, obviously finding something funny.

“Lucas and Bella are brother and sister, Jasper and Rosalie are twins, and Edward, Alice and Emmett are brothers and sister,” Carlisle explained

“We have another family member, Renesmee, who’s mine, Edward and Emmett’s cousin, but she moved to Forks, Washington, to live with her boyfriend a few months ago,” Alice smiled

“Fucking big family,” Veronica said simply

The burly one, Emmett, suddenly left the room, making most of them frown.

“Excuse me,” Edward apologised, following his brother out

“Tell us more about you,” Bella said warmly

“Uh, there’s not much to tell, really. I’m Veronica Miller, call me Roni, I’m 19, I moved out of my parents house when I was 16, I haven’t spoken to my parents since I was 16, I have an older brother, I’m a photographer/artist?” Veronica offered

“Why don’t you talk to your parents?” Alice frowned

“They didn’t approve of my career choice and that I dropped out of high school and didn’t go to college like my brother. I’ve been travelling around ever since, and am self-sufficient,” Veronica said proudly

“That sucks not being close to your family. I mean, we’re all so close,” Alice smiled

“Speak for yourself,” Rosalie muttered

“Ignore Rosalie, we do,” Jasper chuckled

Rosalie sent him a withering look, folding her arms over her chest.

“Can I go now?” Rosalie asked Carlisle

“Yeah, sure,” Carlisle sighed

Without a further word, Rosalie left the room.

“I’m sorry about my fiancé, she doesn’t like meeting new people,” Lucas apologised

“We’ve got that in common,” Veronica muttered

Veronica didn’t mean for them to hear that, but they all laughed, soft melodies filling her ears. Then Veronica shifted her weight and whimpered as pain shot down her leg. Damn, that was going to be annoying.

“We’d better give you some more rest, Roni. We’ll continue talking when you have your strength back. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call for someone,” Carlisle smiled, pulling the duvet back over Veronica’s body

“My room is right next door,” Alice beamed

“Uh okay,” Veronica nodded

One by one the Cullen family left the room, and Veronica laid back down. She was so confused. Why had this family taken her in so randomly? And why were they all so beautiful, with such strange eye colours? And what the hell did Emmett and Rosalie have a problem with? All she knew was her life was about to take a huge shake-up. And she didn’t know if it was going to be a good thing.