Chapter 2
It was the longer pregnancy in existence. Ever. That's not being dramatic either: instead of the usual 9 month pregnancy, it was 18 months long. 18 months of hormones and cravings and, as much as Carlisle loved his wife and as much as he was a patient man, there had come times when he just wanted to strangle her. It wasn't great with their whole not raising suspicions that they were different so for most of the pregnancy the story was that Esme was not well enough to socialise with the neighbours but that in turn had made her stir crazy. They had gone further afield to go out and about so people wouldn't know how long she had been pregnant.
When they baby finally came, after even more screaming from Esme and Carlisle trying to be both a doctor and a supportive husband, on September 9th, he had never felt so relived. Both mother and child were fine and all the stress of the past 18 months drifted away. It was a girl, a beautiful tiny girl with brown hair and, for the moment, these dark grey, brown eyes which weren't really a colour. Esme was entranced with her as soon as she heard her cry and cried herself when the tiny child was placed in her arms.
He kissed his wife's sweaty forehead and smiled down at her when she looked up him, a beaming smile on her face despite her exhaustion which he couldn't help expanding his own smile to return in full force - never did he think he had been so happy, not even on their wedding day. He would say that she was the most beautiful child he had even seen but he would be biased. He was sure however that she had vampire beauty.
"She's warm," Esme muttered softly, brushing a hand over their daughter's small forehead.
Carlisle nodded, pressing his lips together. He could only guess that that was because of what she was. When he was holding her before he had passed her to Esme, he had also noticed how warm she was, the slightly hardness to her skin, it was pale with a slightly blush to it, he could also hear that her heartbeat was faster than any species he'd ever met before, like the fluttering of a hummingbirds wings, and her scent was a strange mixture between vampire and human. He forced her abnormalness out of his head to focus on the joy he was feeling.
"Well, what do you want to call her, my love?" he brushed Esme's sweaty hair out of her faced, perching on the side of the bed, she leant against him, his stone like body a perfect support in her weariness.
"Isabella," she whispered and the child blinked at her, hand reaching and Carlisle chuckled. "Isabella Cullen"
"Seems she agrees."
It didn't take them long to decide on a middle name, choosing Marie after Carlisle's mother who had died giving birth to him all those years ago. Isabella Marie Cullen, their daughter, their beautiful little hybrid.
After a while Carlisle noticed that Esme breathing was slowing down towards sleep and he looked down just in time to see her force her eyes open.
"Darling, go to sleep, you're exhausted, you deserve to sleep, I've got Isabella," he whispered softly in her ear and felt her nod against his arm.
He took Isabella off her and she lay down, her breathing falling into a steady sleeping pattern quickly. He smiled at her before averting his attention to the tiny, warm bundle in his arms. She was the quietest baby he had even seen and he saw a lot working in a hospital for so many years. She stared straight up at him, seeming completely aware of everything going on. He felt love for her surge though as she raised her arms and wriggled slightly. Raising his hand to hover over her, she quickly grabbed his finger, blinking again to show pale lavender eyelids. Her grasp was strong, stronger than a humans.
There was the sound on footsteps and so. leaving Esme to sleep, Carlisle took his daughter down stairs. Edward would be entering the house within seconds. Time for the fifteen year old to meet the girl who Carlisle hoped he would love like a little sister.
"How's Mom?" Edward asked as he stepped into the room; he switched between calling both Carlisle and Esme "Dad" and "Mom" or their actual names frequently, sometimes multiple time during a single conversation. Carlisle supposed it was a matter of what he felt most comfortable saying in that specific moment.
"Sleeping but she's fine," Carlisle replied as he stepped into the room that Edward was in fully, he saw Edward's nose wrinkle as he caught Isabella's smell. "Do you want to meet your sister?"
Edwards lips quirked into his crooked smile and Carlisle smiled fatherly back at him, telling him to come closer with his thoughts. Edward drifted forward warily as though scared he would lose control or something despite the strange smell of her blood and attack the tiny infant but when he was close enough Carlisle crouched down slightly and saw his face soften immediately.
"Wow," he whispered and it dawned on Carlisle that Edward had probably never seen such a young baby. "She's so beautiful, Dad."
"Yes," Carlisle managed to nod, watching Edward eye his daughter warily. "Do you want to hold her, son?"
Edward swallowed but nodded. There was no way he was going to drop her being a vampire and all and her skin seemed to be reasonably tough. Edward shouldn't have been so scared but then when you're a vampire you do get it in your mind that you're rater like a bull in a china shop. He carefully instructed Edward on the best way to hold her and then passed her gently in his arms, warning in his mind that she ran hot, enough that it was a slight discomfort to their ice cold skin but nothing to worry about.
He smiled at the sight he never thought he would get to see and perched on a chair as he watched Edward interact with Isabella. He was smiling again, talking to her and Isabella just watched, probably not understanding a word he was saying but that wasn't the point.
