Esme carried on walking slowly, towards the direction of her house. Renee kept up with her, always keeping one eye on the kids, as Esme was clearly distracted. The twins had been getting a bit restless and Emmett had started crying. Renee stepped in front of Esme and the pram as they got to her house, stopping Esme in her tracks. "Es, why don't you come inside? Charlie is at work, I can make some coffee and we can just chat… Bella has some new toys I'm sure she'd love to show Rose…" Esme looked like she was going to argue, but a steely gaze from Renee and she shut her mouth, nodding slowly.

Renee helped her lift the pram over the high step after unlocking the door. Bella and Rose barged past them, running up the stairs to Bella's room, while Renee lifted one of the twins and carried them into the main room. Esme followed her silently, cradling Emmett who was still fussing. "Ssshhh baby don't cry… what's wrong sweetheart are you hungry?" She started to smile as Emmett began to settle, just comforted with being in his mother's arms. Renee lay Edward down on the sofa net to Esme and Emmett, placing a pacifier in his mouth. She put her hand on Esme's shoulder in a comforting manner for a moment, before walking towards the kitchen.

After boiling the kettle, and shuffling round the kitchen, clattering cutlery on crockery, opening and closing cupboards, Renee emerged, passing straight by Esme as she crossed the room to the stairs. Minutes later, Rose and Bella were sat in front of the television and Renee was carrying bowls of ice cream for the girls, cups of coffee for the adults, and warmed bottles of milk she had taken from Esme's bag, for the twins.

Esme slowly drank her coffee, watching her twins wave their arms, smiling as their fists bumped repeatedly in the air. The girls were talking quietly, transfixed with 'Peppa Pig' or whatever kids program they were currently obsessed with, and though Esme hadn't noticed, Renee was watching Esme intently, waiting for her to begin talking. Eventually she got tired of waiting for Esme to make the first move, and shuffled closer to Esme, trying to catch her attention. When she looked up at her, Renee raised her brow. "I want you to tell me who hit you Esme." She said simply. Esme glared at her, shushing her and made a motion with her hands as if to make her lower her voice.

"It only happened once and it was a misunderstanding." She looked over at the girls who seemingly hadn't heard her, before gritting her teeth, shaking her head at her friend who was becoming increasingly annoying. "Carlisle? Carlisle hit you?" Renee's voice became louder and Esme shushed her again.

Esme clenched her eyes shut, her stomach sinking as she heard the television volume go down, and her daughter gasp. She figured Rose didn't understand what Renee had said, but the mention of her father's name and the detectable anger in her friend's mom's voice might make her concerned. "Shut up!" She hissed quietly, smiling at her daughter as if nothing was wrong. Slowly, Rose turned back to her programme and Bella turned the volume back up, before Esme turned back to Renee. "No, Carlisle did not hit me!" She continued speaking quietly, keeping one eye on her daughter to check she wasn't listening. She looked down at her boys who seemed to be holding hands, and placed her hand atop their conjoined ones, as if grounding herself, focusing back on the conversation at hand.

She was about to carry on talking when she felt her daughters little hand slip into hers. She looked up at the four year old. She was smart for her age, and very inquisitive, maybe Esme was wrong about her not understanding what the adults had been talking about. She looked at her little girl, trying to look happy, but frowned when her bottom lip began to quiver. She had heard. "Daddy hit mommy?" She asked, squeezing Esme's hand tightly.

"No he didn't honey. Mommy fell." Esme tried to explain, exasperated. She narrowed her eyes at her soon-to-be-ex friend, muttering about keeping her mouth shut, before she lifted Rose to sit on her lap. She held her hand to her daughter's cheek, capturing her full attention. "Mommy is fine, she and daddy love each other. And we love you." She turned back to Renee. "Don't go causing a scene."

She stood up, telling Rose to collect all her things, before lifting the boys one by one to put back into their pram. They needed a bath, and Rose needed a nap, and Esme needed to get out of Renee's house. She made sure she had everything, and that Rose wasn't too upset about leaving. One look at her and she knew Rose would rather be alone. She was an odd four year old like that. "We're going home. See you later Renee." She waved at Bella. "Bye bye Bella."

I know this is a short one, but it is definitely longer than it was on the first write. I just want to stick with the original chapters and I am getting closer to starting next semester, and I have to begin preparing. That means buying too many textbooks and reading them, instead of writing this.