A/N: This shows how Esme felt when seeing Bella and Edward together in the Cullen House for the first time in Twilight.
I don't own anything!
Him & Her
It was obvious how much Edward had changed with a day was Bella Swan.
He was smiling, a proper smile for the first time in decades. Not like the fake ones in all the photos that Alice insisted on taking. His eyes were alit and dancing with happiness. He happily joked with Emmett and Jasper. He even messed up Alice's short hair and she laughed happily about it. This family was changing; in a good way because now, it was complete.
"Now, could you all try not to scare her." Edward warned us in the early hours of the morning. Rosalie got up and exited the room with a 'humph'. Emmett shot Edward an apologetic look before following her out. He wanted to meet his 'new little sister' as he put it but Rosalie does not approve of Edward's choice in mate.
"Alice sees him falling for a human! How classically Edward!" Rose had hissed at him.
The memory still shocked me.
We were all shocked, shocked and worried that he might accidently kill her then we would have to move once more. But there was a swelling of pride, pride because my youngest 'son' had finally found his love, his other half, his soul mate.
It was now earlier in the morning, Emmett and Jasper had been taking bets if Bella was coming with Edward to see us today. Alice was on Jaspers side. When will Emmett learn not to bet against Alice?
We had it all planned out. Carlisle and I would greet her by the door. Alice and Jasper would come down the stairs and say hello if she wasn't that scared of us that much.
We were waiting now in our assigned potions. It was all a matter of waiting now.
Waiting for the girl who changed Edward completely from the grumpy old one to the shining new one.
"Carlisle," I whispered to my husband who stood by my side. "What if she doesn't like us? What happens if she likes all of you but not me? What if…" He cut off my worrying with a small kiss to my lips.
"Who doesn't like you? Esme, look at how she's changed Edward already. She loves you." He whispered back.
"Yeah Mom. Who doesn't love you?" Alice chirped from up the stairs.
With these words of comfort going around in my head, I leaned against Carlisle as a car was heard pulling into our drive.
"Wow." A quiet female voice exclaimed. Bella Swan.
"You like it?" Edward's voice you could hear had a smile in it.
"It… has a certain charm." Bella replied to him.
Edward's chuckle was the first one I've heard in years.
"Ready?" A door was opened and clumsy feet stepped out.
"Not even a little bit. Lets go." She replied choking out a forced laugh.
Edward make sure she knows that there's nothing to be worried of! I screamed in my head at him.
"You look lovely."
Well, he certainly needed to work on his replies. You know, I was thinking more of a: 'I love you. Now let's meet the parent's sort of thing'… I trailed of my rant as the footsteps came closer to the door.
The door opened and it revealed Edward and a brown haired human standing behind him.
Her hair was mahogany and shiny, it was scraped back into a ponytail. He eyes were big and brown with a huge depth to them. Her skin was clear and almost as pale as my own. She was petite standing next to Edward and I knew if she stood near to Emmett she would look tiny. Her blue blouse complimented her perfectly, as did her skirt. Her scent. Oh her scent. It was floral and sweet. I could understand why she was Edward's singer.
Her eyes flickered from Carlisle to me as if to examine us like we were doing to her.
"Carlisle, Esme, this is Bella." Edward looked at us as to remember not to scare her.
"You're very welcome Bella." Carlisle took a step forward and held his hand up to shake hers. She too stood forward and they shook hands.
"It's very nice to see you again Dr. Cullen." Bella's voice was sweet and gentle as I expected her to be.
"Please call me Carlisle." My husband was welcoming her into the family.
"Carlisle." Bella's smile lit up all her face. Edward visibly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief by her side. I too stepped forward and held out my hand. She shook it and I lost myself in the warmth. I felt myself smiling at her, I now saw her as my new daughter.
"It's very nice to know you." My voice was sincere and she smiled again. Any person who could change Edward in the way she did deserved the praise from everyone around them.
"Thank you. I'm glad to meet you too." She was relaxed now, and was no longer leaning on Edward as much as before.
"Where are Alice and Jasper?" Edward asked, triggering the line that would release the monster that was Alice.
A muttered 'Finally' before Alice added brightly: "Hey Edward!" loud enough for Bella to hear. She streaked down the stairs before coming to a halt in front of Bella.
I frowned at her and warned her with my eyes.
"Hi Bella!" Alice exclaimed, literally bouncing on the spot. She moved forward to kiss Bella's cheek. I felt my eyes practically pop out of my head. Bella looked shocked too but had a hint of pleasure in her face too. Edward didn't look so pleased beside her but when she turned to him he hid it. I loved the way they were so dependant on each other.
"You do smell nice. I never noticed before." Alice told her, Bella's face darkened in a blush.
Well, done Alice. We were meant to not freak her out. Well done.
There was an awkward silence before Jasper appeared. The room felt calmer and more at ease thanks to his presence.
"Hello Bella." Jasper didn't approach her in the same way that Alice did. He kept his distance, probably remembering Edward's warning from earlier.
"If you hurt her…" Edward's face looked upset just at the thought of it.
"I'm not going too. Unless I find a reason." Jasper's voice was harsh and I knew it was so that he could protect Alice.
"Just don't go to close okay? That's the best you can do." Alice's eyes were unfocused, probably looking through the future to see the outcome.
The idea of my family fighting within each was enough to make me feel sick inside.
"Hello Jasper, it's very nice to meet you all- you have a very beautiful home." Bella smiled shyly at us as she looked around.
"Thank you, we're so glad you came." I spoke with a passion behind my voice. All I could hope is that she didn't meet Rosalie in her death rampage. She was brave to come and see us here, as some would put it; in our crypt.
Carlisle, I could guess was warning Edward about our 'visitors' in town while Bella was distracted. Edward nodded once. Bella seemed to have caught on to their silent conversation and looked away; my guess was trying to be polite.
Her brown eyes settled on Edward's piano in the corner of the room. She looked deep in thought as she gazed at Edward's most prized possession. Second one now, Bella looked far too delicate so he would be preoccupied with her all the time.
"Do you play?" I asked her, tilting my head towards the corner.
"Not at all, but it's so beautiful. Is it yours?" She replied.
"Of course. She has to go and love the stuff that Edward loves." I heard Rosalie mutter to Emmett from inside the garage somewhere.
"No," I laughed, ignoring Rosalie's comment. "Edward didn't tell you he's musical?"
She turned and narrowed her eyes at his innocent expression. "No, I should have known I guess."
My eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Edward can do anything right?" She explained to me.
Jasper snickered from behind Alice and I looked at him, hoping that he would apologise.
Edward. I warned him in my head.
"I hope you haven't been showing off. It's rude." I told him. He must remember his manners when he was around Bella.
"Just a bit." Edward laughed and I felt my face soften. She was making him into a new person, a happier one at that.
"He's been too modest actually." Bella explained.
"Well play for her." I told him.
"You just said showing off was rude." Edward pointed out.
"Well there are exceptions to every rule." I retorted.
Edward. You have to play. This is a command from your mother. Do it or go to your room. I threatened him in my head.
"I'd like to hear you play." Bella said, trying to prevent an argument, which I would win by the way.
"It's settled then." I propelled him towards to piano and he grabbed Bella's hand and pulled her along too. She sat down on the bench beside him and he began to play. His fingers traced the keys to my favourite song that he had composed.
He looked at her and winked. "Do you like it?" The music still playing in the background.
"You wrote this?" Bella gasped beside him.
Edward nodded. "It's Esme's favourite."
We all started to back out of the room, leaving them to their selves. Alice and Jasper disappeared upstairs while Carlisle and I stayed in the kitchen where we could still hear them.
"What's wrong?" Edward's voice sounded worried.
"I'm feeling extremely insignificant." You could hear Edward relaxing again.
The music changed into something softer and sweeter. "You inspired this one." Edward whispered to Bella.
It grew even sweeter than it already was and it was clear this song was for Bella even without Edward telling you so.
"They like you, you know. Esme especially." Edward told her.
By the sounds of it she had looked behind her and we weren't there. "Where did they go?"
"Very subtly giving us privacy, I suppose."
"They like me. But Rosalie and Emmett…" Bella sounded worried about the last two members of our family that had yet to show any interest that she knew of to her.
"Don't worry about Rosalie," Edward said, you could hear the frown in his voice. "She'll come around."
"Emmett?" Bella asked.
"Well, he thinks I'm a lunatic, it's true, but he doesn't have a problem with you.
He's trying to reason with Rosalie."
"What is it that upsets her?" Bella sounded as worried as any teenage girl would if her boyfriend's sister didn't like her.
He sighed deeply. "Rosalie struggles the most with… with what we are. It's hard
for her to have someone on the outside know the truth. And she's a little jealous."
"Rosalie is jealous of me?" Bella sounded surprised.
Of course. She's human and is able to have children. My internal voice sighed.
"You're human. She wishes that she were, too."
Of course. We all do.
"Oh, even Jasper, though…"
"That's really my fault," he admitted. "I told you he was the most recent to try our way of life. I warned him to keep his distance."
"Esme and Carlisle… ?" The hesitation in her voice hurt me. Of course I liked her.
"Are happy to see me happy. Actually, Esme wouldn't care if you had a third eye and webbed feet. All this time she's been worried about me, afraid that there was something missing from my essential makeup, that I was too young when Carlisle changed me… She's ecstatic. Every time I touch you, she just about chokes with satisfaction." That seemed to be the right description.
"Alice seems very… enthusiastic."
"Alice has her own way of looking at things."
"And you're not going to explain that, are you?"
"So what was Carlisle telling you before?"
She noticed that?
"You noticed that, did you?"
"Of course." She was far too observant for her own good.
"He wanted to tell me some news — he didn't know if it was something I would share with you."
"Will you?"
"I have to, because I'm going to be a little… overbearingly protective over the
next few days — or weeks — and I wouldn't want you to think I'm naturally a
tyrant." He would be that anyway! She was his mate.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, exactly. Alice just sees some visitors coming soon. They know we're here, and they're curious."
"Visitors?"
"Yes… well, they aren't like us, of course — in their hunting habits, I mean. They probably won't come into town at all, but I'm certainly not going to let you out of my sight till they're gone."
"Finally, a rational response!" what did he mean by that? "I was beginning to think you had no sense of self-preservation at all."
"Not what you expected, is it?" he asked, his voice smug.
"No," I admitted.
"No coffins, no piled skulls in the corners; I don't even think we have cobwebs… what a disappointment this must be for you," Of course not. I would not allow any cobwebs in my household.
"It's so light… so open." Well duh. What did she expect? Candles lighting gloomy smelly passageways?
"It's the one place we never have to hide." That's true.
The song Edward was playing drifted to an end.
"Thank you," Bella was such a polite girl. And she was crying, I think but the smell of water in the air.
"Do you want to see the rest of the house?" Edward asked her after a moment of silence.
"No coffins?" Bella asked, sarcastically.
Edward laughed. "No coffins," he promised.
I felt Carlisle's arms wrap around my waist.
She really had changed him, something that I would be eternally grateful for.
A/N: Well there we go. The life inside the 'mother' of the Cullen's head. Just a sweet little thought that popped into my head. Did we enjoy?