A fresh, rather thick blanket of snow had covered the ground overnight, covering the tracks that moved from the door to the driveway, where we had spent all of the previous day moving our possessions into the new house, settled not far from Anchorage, Alaska, in a small town no bigger than Forks had been. As usual, our house was set further back from the road, between trees, partially hidden from view. You'd never see it if you weren't distinctly looking for it.
It was abnormally quiet in the house - which had been completely set up during the night, so by the time the first few rays of light stretched over the horizon, glinting off Anchorage in the distance, the house was completely arranged to our liking.
"Esme, stop it already. I think you've rearranged that curtain three times now."
I looked up at my Carlisle, who was seated behind his desk in the room that had been transformed mostly into his study. The area by the window with the window seat was mine, set up to where I could paint what I saw out my window like I had often done before. I even had a few shelves among Carlisle's medical books to hold my favorite novels that I had collected over the years, and had never had the space for them. This house was much larger than the one had been in Forks, which everyone was grateful for. The house in Forks had begun to get a bit crowded.
"I want everything to look nice." I replied, and turned back to where I was attempting to pin the curtain back, so I'd have a better view of our backyard. A smile crossed my pale face as I saw Emmett and Jasper playing in the snow, wrestling. Edward, Rosalie, Alice, Bella, and Renesmee stood off to the side, watching with amused expressions on their face. But that didn't last long, as their play spread, and turned into an all out snowball war.
"They're trying to take Renesmee's mind off Jacob." Carlisle commented, coming up behind me to gaze out the window at our children. I hummed in response, knowing he was right. We'd been forced to leave Jacob behind, because he had to stay with his pack. But as soon as he could get away, he'd promised he'd come to visit, and bring Seth and Leah with him, That was, if they could stand the cold.
A snowball nailed the window right in front of me and I flinched slightly. Carlisle chuckled softly as I playfully glared at Emmett, the culprit. Reaching forward, I unlatched the window and threw it open, shifting so I could stick my head out.
I was met in the face with another snowball. That did it.
Ignoring Carlisle's laughing, I shook the snow from my face and hair, sitting on the window edge before leaping down, landing silently in the snow below. Two could play this game. The others had paused in attempting to get each other now, and were watching us. I'd never been considered one to join in any games except for baseball - which, I barely did anyway - but snow was one thing I loved to play in.
A small smile played at my lips as I bent down, digging my bare hand into the snow and scooping a handful up, packing it into a tight ball. I couldn't even feel the cold against my marble skin - which was a good thing, considering I only had a short sleeved shirt on, and a pair of jeans. The wind was blowing faintly, swirling snow off the ground and up around us.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you manners, Emmett?" I asked sweetly, stepping toward him. He chuckled, almost darkly, another snowball prepared in his hand.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you that you should watch your back?" He retorted, a knowing smirk across his face. Before I could even process that, a snowball hit me square in the back. With an almost playful snarl, I turned, and began to advance toward Carlisle, who had been the one to throw it this time. I didn't hesitate this time, instead ran after him, a sudden blur against the white landscape surrounding us. This seemed to be a kick-off, as the others soon became involved into their fight once more.
I heard the laughter filling the air - I couldn't have asked for a better family. We were finally complete, with the addition of Bella and Renesmee, and I couldn't have been happier. I couldn't wait for Bella to travel with us, and see the sights we'd seen all those years - France, Italy, Russia, England. Anywhere and everywhere we could go. Carlisle was already planning a trip sometime, but was going to wait since it had only been a year since Bella had joined the family, and we had just moved from Forks to Alaska.
I gained on Carlisle, leaping on his back and sending us both flying into a snow bank near the frozen river that wound behind the house and away from the town. I shoved the snowball into his face from behind as we went down, sending the powdery stuff flying.
"That was for hitting me with that snowball." I told him, then leaned down and gave him a lingering kiss.
"What was that for?"
"For being the best husband in the world."
"Hey! Stop making out in the snow!" Emmett groaned from somewhere toward the house and I giggled, sitting up, shaking snow from my hair as Carlisle sat up beside me.
"We weren't!" I protested in defense.
"We were about to." Carlisle muttered, but only to where I could hear. I stifled another laugh and got to my feet, extending a hand to help him up. He took the offered hand and dusted himself off, wrapping an arm around my waist as we headed back toward the house, where the others were already heading inside.
"Grandma, can I have hot cocoa please?" Renesmee asked sweetly the minute I had stepped back into the heat of the house. I glanced at Bella, who gave a slight nod in approval.
"Sure sweetie." I told the girl and scooped her up in my arms, balancing her on my hip as I split from Carlisle, heading for the kitchen. We kept some food in the house for when Jacob and his friends came over, and for Renesmee, who could never make up her mind if she wanted human or vampire food.
I sat her on the counter, grabbing the packets of hot cocoa from the cabinet after putting a pot of water on to boil. Renesmee watched me carefully, her legs dangling off the side of the counter, still wearing the coat and boots Edward had bundled her up in. She was half human, and even half humans still got cold. They didn't want to take any chances of her possibly even catching a cold.
"Let's get you out of these things, okay?"
She nodded and I pulled off her boots, setting them near the back door before unzipping her coat and peeling it away, tossing it over the back of one of the chairs at the small table in the kitchen. She continued to watch, almost fascinated as I made her a mug of hot cocoa - I almost wished I could drink it. I missed being able to eat chocolate.
"Marshmallows?"
"Yes please!"
I fixed her the mug of hot cocoa and made her wait a bit until it cooled before sending her back into the living room with it. I followed, finding Emmett had pulled Jasper into some sort of racing game - it looked almost violent as they used the steering wheel controllers, twisting this way and that on the couch. Edward watched with one raised eyebrow, every once in a while frowning. I shook my head - my boys.
"Rosalie and Alice took Bella to Anchorage to go shopping." Jasper announced, noticing me out of the corner of his eye, but never looking away from the game. I gave a nod - when weren't they shopping? But they had a new place to shop now besides Port Angeles, so I figured they had a right to. I was just glad Alice had Bella and Rosalie to go with her. I did like shopping, but not as much as Alice did.
Carlisle had apparently gone back to his study, so I followed his scent up the stairs, poking my head in. I frowned, noticing he was scribbling something furiously across a piece of paper, a rather determined, yet excited look on his face. I didn't dare interrupt, merely let him continue, stepping all the way into the room and silently shutting the door behind me. I watched him write - every moment or so he would pull one of his books on his desk toward him and flip to a page, studying something before going back to writing. It was quite odd - I'd never seen him in such a . . . a tizzy.
"Carlisle?" I finally broke the silence. For a long moment he didn't look up, but after that he seemed to realize I was standing there. His eyes were sparked with something that I couldn't quite place, but it had never been there before.
"Are you okay, Car -?"
"Carlisle!" Edward's shout from below but me clean off, and before I knew it my oldest son had appeared in the study. "Don't."
"Edward, calm down." He said in a calming tone. I glanced between them - apparently I was missing something.
"Carlisle, I can read your mind. You can't do that. It's dangerous."
"I'm not going to do it. It's just research."
"Think of what Bella went through."
What on earth were they going on about? Both of them seemed to have forgotten I was in the room as well, so I merely listened to their conversation. It soon became one-sided, as Carlisle turned back to his work, but Edward continued to read his mind.
"I don't care."
Scribble. Scribble.
"Carlisle, I don't care if you're just experimenting. You can't do that to her."
Scribble.
"I won't let you."
His pen hovered over a certain spot on the paper, but he didn't look up.
"Esme, please excuse us for a moment." He said finally to me. I frowned slightly, but didn't bother to argue, instead, slipping out of the study, completely confused. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what Carlisle was planning.
When I headed back downstairs, Emmett and Jasper were keeping Renesmee entertained. They glanced up at me as I approached.
"Either of you know what's gotten into Edward?"
"No, we were going to ask you the same thing." Jasper said, frowning. "They're both pretty pissed."
"As I just witnessed." I said quietly and sat down on the couch, tucking my feet underneath me as I reached for my sketchpad lying on the coffee table. My mind wandered as I began to sketch out a drawing of my two sons and Renesmee on the floor, coloring. What was Carlisle so worked up about, and why was Edward so upset about it? I'd hardly seen either of them like that before, and frankly, it made me concerned. I didn't like being left out of things either, which was another part that was really irking me. I almost wished I had Edward's gift to read minds.
It was a good solid two hours before I heard a door slam upstairs. Edward didn't return downstairs, but I could tell he had gone to his and Bella's room. Jasper's brow furrowed - apparently anger still rolled off Edward in waves. I didn't say a word, but continued to draw, my picture almost complete now as I shaded in Emmett's hair.
Not long after, the girls returned from their shopping adventure, laden with several bags. Alice was in the house first, and before I could even ask her what she had bought, she was up the stairs - I traced her to Carlisle's study. What was going on?!
"Did you girls have fun?" I asked Bella and Rosalie, who set their bags down, Bella picking up Renesmee as the girl tottered over to her.
"Until Alice decided we needed to cut it short because she needed to speak to Carlisle about something." Rosalie replied. I frowned.
"Funny. He and Edward just finished a shouting match." I replied. "She tell you why?"
"Not a word." Bella sighed and sat down beside me, balancing her daughter in her lap. Rosalie watched her husband put away Renesmee's coloring books and crayons, kissing his cheek as he passed.
"Odd." I mused. Something was going on, and I was determined to find out. It wasn't like Carlisle to keep things from me, and it wasn't like Edward to get into a shouting match with his father. Nor Alice to cancel a shopping trip halfway through.
Excusing myself from my family, I returned upstairs. I passed the floor that held Carlisle's study, heading up to the third floor that held Alice and Jasper's bedroom, as well as mine and Carlisle's. I headed for the latter, shutting the door behind me quietly. Like a dutiful wife, I'd wait for Carlisle to come to me, but he was going to tell me what was going on whether he liked it or not.
Night was falling already, and I knew as soon as it hit, Emmett, Rosalie, Bella, and Edward were going out to hunt, due back at dawn when Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, and I would leave. We went hunting almost in shifts anymore, just in case the Volturi decided to come back, and so someone was with Renesmee at all times. It was merely a precaution, but much more sensible than all of us going at once.
By the time Carlisle did make his appearance in our room, looking a bit weary, it was pitch black outside. I was curled under the blankets of our bed, reading. Our bodies allowed us no sleep, but during the night the house was much calmer. I usually read because Carlisle had frequent night shifts at the hospital, but other times, we spend the night . . . in other ways. Plenty of pleasurable ways, in fact.
"What book tonight?" He asked, kicking off his shoes and lying on top of the blankets next to me, his back propped up against the pillows.
"Pride and Prejudice." I replied. It was one of my current favorites. "It's nice having you home at this hour." I added, marking my page and curling into his side, merely taking in his scent. I could drown in it. Carlisle made my life complete - I couldn't imagine it without him.
"Won't be for long. I'm applying at the hospital in Anchorage soon." He murmured, his lips trailing across my neck. I sighed.
"Of course."
"Didn't you say you were going to apply for a job at the school?"
"I told you I was thinking about it."
"I think the kindergarten could use your creative talents." He mused. I merely hummed in response. Silence fell between us as he rubbed small circles on my back. If I had been able to, I would have fallen straight to sleep. Instead, I shut my eyes, pretending that I could, my fingers playing with his tie before I spoke.
"Are you and Edward fighting?"
He tensed slightly.
"No."
"Funny. You two seemed quite upset with one another. What was it over?"
"Nothing important. Just some work he didn't quite approve of."
"Uh-huh." I said and shifted to where I sat between his legs, my back against his chest. I reached for my book and opened it to where I had left off. We did this often - he would read over my shoulder, every once in a while offering some sort of commentary. It usually made me smile, but tonight, I was still rather upset that he was hiding something.
"So what about you and Alice?" I pressed after a long moment, and we had read several pages.
"Hm?"
"She came home halfway through her shopping trip, because she'd seen a vision. She went to your office - she didn't look happy."
"Oh." His tone of voice had changed. It was more guarded as he carefully chose his next words. "She just saw an accident at the hospital I'm going to be working at. I'll be able to prevent it." He assured me, reaching from behind to flip the page we'd both been staring at for the past few minutes while we talked. I sighed softly - I could tell when Carlisle was lying, and now was one of those times. But I didn't say anything - not once had we ever fought over something in our marriage. Disagreed once or twice, and I didn't want something as silly as this to turn into a fight.
"Glad she could do so." I replied and I felt him relax slightly, leaning up to rest his chin on my shoulder, reading from behind. He hummed in response, carefully moving to draw the book out of my hands.
"I think we should use the time that we have while we're both home." He said softly in my ear, being careful to mark my page before setting my book on the bedside table. My lips curled up into a slight smile.
"I am inclined to agree with you, Mr. Cullen."
"Glad to hear it, Mrs. Cullen."
. . .
Before dawn reached us, Emmett, Rosalie, Bella, and Edward returned, their eyes the lightest topaz they could possibly be. Carlisle and I had already redressed and changed into more suitable clothing for hunting, and met Alice and Jasper downstairs. We would be heading away from any sort of town or city, out into the cold wilderness. Not that I minded - I sometimes enjoyed the quite solitude of hunting, as it gave Carlisle and I more time away from the kids.
The four of us traveled side by side for a long while, until we could no longer sense any human presence. Only animal. Alice and Jasper split off to head east, allowing Carlisle and myself to continue north.
"Don't Tanya and the rest of her coven live up here somewhere?" I inquired, breaking the silence between us as we slowed to a fast walk, not making a sound as we moved across the thick blanket of snow, our target the herd of American Bison up ahead. It was a small herd, as there weren't many in Alaska, but one for each of us would subdue our hunger for a while.
"Somewhere not far. I think perhaps we should visit her sometime." Carlisle replied and I nodded in agreement. Even though Irina had not been the best, I didn't necessarily blame Tanya and the others for her misdeeds. We were still on good terms with each other.
The herd came into view and at the same time, we crouched down, silent predators. While our children often made it a game of who could catch the most, Carlisle and I made it merely a race, to see who could take one down first. Many had ended in ties, but I think we were about even on the score after these many years.
Letting my instincts take over in one of those rare times, I sprang forward, leaping into the air and coming down in the middle of the bison. They barely had time to even realize we were upon them before I sank my teeth down into one, their skin and fur merely tissue paper against my teeth. The blood flowed freely from its body and into mine, flooding me with renewed strength and quenching my hunger.
The bison collapsed as I drained the last of its blood. The rest of the herd was long gone now, galloping across the snow farther out, afraid we might bite into them next. I reached up and carefully wiped what little blood had gotten on the corners of my mouth - at least I was much cleaner about my kills than the others in my family.
"Point to me." I announced as Carlisle straightened, his own dead bison laying at his feet in the snow. Carlisle glared playfully.
"I don't think so. I took mine down before you."
"You did not."
"Did so."
I folded my arms across my chest as he approached, pressing a quick kiss to my lips - he tasted of the same blood I had just ingested.
"Fine. But it's a pity point - I'm ahead." I replied with a small shrug. He eyed me suspiciously.
"Last time I checked I was ahead."
"Carlisle Cullen, are you calling me a liar?"
"Not in so many words." He responded, a teasing smile. It made me almost forget he was still hiding something, keeping it from me. I still hadn't mentioned it again, and didn't have plans to. He'd tell me in his own time - last time he'd tried keeping something from me, he'd come clean three days early. It'd been when he'd bought the island for me. He'd bought it for my birthday one year, and he'd whisked me off to it three days before schedule.
He'd crack eventually.
Jasper and Alice met up with us almost at the exact point we had broken off, their eyes light in color to match our own. We ran in silence back toward the house, reaching it just before noon.
"Esme?" Rosalie asked carefully only a few moments after we had stepped through the door.
"Hm?"
"Can you help me? I was, uh, going through some old photos I found in a box upstairs and wondered if you'd help me put them into a scrapbook?" She continued. Renesmee tugged at her dress hem.
"I help too!"
"Of course you can." I told her, ruffling her curls. As I followed a few oddly acting Rosalie upstairs, I noticed the others moved toward the dining room. Odd.
Rosalie took me to her and Emmett's room, where piles of old pictures sat, near a pile of what I assumed to be empty scrapbooks. We sat on the floor in a circle, and I pulled a stack toward me.
"I wondered where these went." I said, frowning slightly when I recognized the faded black and white photographs. Most were of Edward, Carlisle, myself, and Rosalie together as a family, and eventually they expanded to include Emmett, and then Jasper and Alice. The newer ones were recent photos with Bella, and even a few with Renesmee. Others were photos of the various places we'd been, the houses we'd lived in, and other vampires we'd met over the years - Alice had gotten a little camera happy over the years.
"So - this isn't a ploy to keep me from a family meeting is it?" I asked suddenly, after only about fifteen minutes of sorting photos. Rosalie jumped, clearly distracted.
"Hm? Of course not. I just needed help. You're the most creative one." She replied smoothly. I almost wanted to believe her.
Almost.
It nearly stunned me that what seemed like my entire family was keeping something from me. I didn't like it, and I wanted to know.
"Rose, what am I being left out of?"
"Nothing. Dad just had to explain a few things to the others that didn't involve us. So I figured we'd do something while they were having their little . . . gathering." She gave a shrug, carefully placing an older photo on the page she was currently working with. She frowned, and then removed it, picking up another.
"What's he explaining?"
She gave another shrug. "Not entirely sure. He's been doing a lot of research though."
I glanced at her, then toward the door, struck with a sudden thought.
"Stay here." I stated and got to my feet, instantly by the door. Rosalie seemed to be following my pattern of thought, and joined me by the door.
"No way. Not without me."
"I'll be right back. Stay with Renesmee." I nodded toward the girl on the floor, looking up at us curiously. Rosalie glanced between the two of us, but gave a curt nod. I was out the door in an instant, following the stairs as quietly as I could up to the top floor.
I had never gone through Carlisle's things without his permission. I'd never had the reason, but my curiosity was getting the better of me. And I was losing my patience with him, for not telling me. I'd quickly glance at what his research said - if it even had anything to do with the conference going on below - before returning to Rosalie and Renesmee and pretending it had never happened.
I was inside his study in an instant, and on the other side of his desk. Of course, none of his papers were left out, so I opened the drawer nearest to me. More medical books. I opened another. Hospital forms that held no interest.
Finally, in his bottom drawer, I found several notes in his hand writing. I scanned the first page, my lips parting slightly before dipping into a frown. I read the second page, and then the third, my mind reeling at the information presented to me. I could see why he wanted to hide it now, why he had yet to tell me about -
"Esme?"
I didn't have time to pretend like I was only looking for a pen. Clutching the notes in my hand, I steadily met Carlisle's gaze. He looked at me with a blank face - I hated that I couldn't read his expression.
"What are you doing?" He asked, although I had a feeling he already knew.
"Is this all true Carlisle?" I held up the notes. He never broke his gaze with me. "Will it work?"
"Its research, Esme."
"You couldn't have told me?"
"I didn't want to give you false hope." He replied weakly.
"Carlisle, if this works . . . ."
"Well, we're not going to find out. We've just had a meeting about it downstairs - the vote is no." He stated firmly and was suddenly in front of me. He pulled the papers from my hand and stuffed them back into his drawer, shutting it before gently laying his hands on my shoulders. I met his gaze once more.
"Carlisle -."
"No Esme. It's theories. I don't know if it will or will not work, and I'm not taking that chance."
"It's my body. I should be able to choose."
"I'm not putting you through that. You saw what happened to Bella."
"I don't care."
"Esme - ."
"Carlisle."
We stared at each other for a long moment and he finally sighed heavily. I tried hard not to give a bit of a smile, knowing that action served as the signal that I had won the small battle.
"Let me . . . do a bit more studying. You can go and talk to the children about this decision, and see how well they take the news." He replied slowly, cautiously. I couldn't help the smile that crept up on my features this time, pulling him into a tight hug and pressing a kiss to his cheek.
"Thank you."
"Nothing is definite. It may not work Esme."
"Thank you for trying."
More elated than I had ever been, I called out for a family meeting. Most of them having been situated in the living room, they met me in the dining room. I didn't sit down, merely stood at the head of the table where Carlisle would normally sit. He didn't join us, instead leaving me to face the others alone. I didn't mind. I did see the rather upset look on Edward's face - it was a mix of distress and worry as he silently pleaded with me not to go through with it. Alice was staring of into space, obviously seeing the future once more.
"What's going on?" Rosalie asked carefully, the last to join us as she sat down beside her husband.
"Carlisle's found a way for us to reproduce without us sinking our fangs into the nearest dying human and turning them." Edward announced, almost disgusted now.
"What's so bad about that?" She questioned. Edward glanced at me and I gave him a slight nod.
"He wants to use Esme as a test subject."
A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know you all are probably like 'OMG another Esme gets pregnant story', blah, blah. Sorry, but the idea struck me. Mine's going to be rather different than all the others, so hopefully you'll stay tuned and enjoy the ride. Don't forget to leave a few reviews too!