Author's Note: Thank you for your wonderful response to chapter 2! Thank you to my betas December LeNoir and sweetishbubble.
Carlisle's POV
The air was still. Not a word was spoken as we processed what Maysun just said. She had been expecting a baby and she was still here. Before the full meaning set in she continued.
"At first we were worried that she would destroy me as I had destroyed my mother, but I knew that my mother's pregnancy had been accelerated, and I had been showing signs of pregnancy for several months. There was nothing we could do but let it proceed. After nine-months I gave birth to a very special baby girl that I named Khalida. She had the beauty of a vampire, but she would appear human to anyone who didn't look too hard. Her body temperature ran cooler, closer to Chisisi than my own. Her heart beat, but slower than mine. Her eyes were as dark as a hungry vampire's, and have never changed their tone. I was surprised that I was able to breast feed her."
She looked at Bella as she said, "It became apparent early on that she was gifted. She was aging at a normal human pace although her mind seemed advanced for her physical development. I wanted to protect her, and I had to make a difficult decision. I feared for her safety and Chisisi. If Joham discovered our creation, he would want to experiment with her and with me, and he would bring down Chisisi if he had to. I didn't want that. I wanted their safety. So Chisisi took our daughter and we parted ways to protect her more than anything else."
"For how long were you separated?" Esme asked; her voice cracked.
"We only found each other again last year." Maysun's expression showed her mind had returned to that reunion. "So for nearly fifty-nine years we lived separate lives, which was good because Joham found me on several occasions, but never stayed long, and I never agreed to go with him. I kept my love and my child a secret from Nahuel, Jennifer, and Serena as well. Secretly I have longed to have them back. Not a moment went by when they weren't in my thoughts and I was in theirs as well. Chisisi had been looking for me for several years when I began my search for them. Once reunited and having seen the beautiful woman my daughter had become, I knew I could never leave them again.
"I brought them here because I wanted them to meet my brother."
"Where are they?" Ness asked. She had been completely enraptured with the story.
"What are her powers, Maysun?" Alice spoke up and I could tell she was concerned. I realized she hasn't spoken much that afternoon. She hadn't announce that we were getting close to them. She hadn't chimed in that there was no threat. Had she seen some kind of manifestation of Khalida's powers and was asking Maysun to confirm it or was the problem that, like with the wolves, she couldn't see at all?
"She has many gifts at her disposal, including something similar to Bella's mental shield," she said with a nod toward Alice and Edward.
"But I can see Bella's future. I've been blocked here," said Alice with a guarded tone.
"I said it was similar; I didn't say it was exact," Maysun insisted.
"Where are they?" Ness asked again eagerly.
"We're here," a deep voice called beyond the trees. A moment later a man and a woman emerged into the small clearing, Chisisi and Khalida.
He was as tall as I am, but that was where any comparison ended. He was dark skinned, as muscular as Emmett, and his eyes glowed red. His daughter appeared older than her mother. She had at least three inches of height on Maysun, a skin tone that fell in between theirs, and on first glance appeared to be a stunningly beautiful human, but the darkness of her eyes bordered on unnatural and there was an aura about her that was otherworldly.
"Greetings, Cullen's," Khalidi spoke with much more assurance than her mother had. "Based on what Nahuel has told us about you, I've been eager to meet you all." Her eyes moved from face to face and she looked as if she knew who everyone was. She turned to Alice and said, "I'm sorry that I've been blocking you, Alice and you too, Edward," she said he she looked at him. "We thought it would be easier to have Maysun explain on her terms."
"If you can block us, why didn't you just block Joham and return to your mother decades ago?" Jasper interrupted. He too must be affected by her shield.
Khalida didn't lose her stride. "I didn't know I had this particular gift until much more recently, Jasper, and when we realized I did then we started looking for her."
"You said that you realized she was special almost immediately. If you just discovered this shield, what did she exhibit early on that made it so clear that she was special?" Esme asked looking at Maysun.
Maysun exchanged a look with Chisisi, but Khalidi was the one who responded as she looked at my wife with kindness in her eyes. "All in good time, Esme Cullen."
Esme's POV
There are so many things I shouldn't feel from a biological standpoint in my vampire form. Physical heartache was definitely on the list, but when Maysun told us that she and a male vampire had sired a child, my heart fell.
For most of my family it meant something else completely. Maysun being a half human/half vampire and the discovery that she bore a child was a breakthrough. It could have huge repercussions for Renesmee.
I don't think anyone of us have wanted to think about Ness being fully developed and being intimate, although we all knew it was just a matter of time before she was fully grown and started developing feelings for Jacob that were more than brotherly affection. I knew Carlisle, Edward and Bella have had some preliminary discussions about it, but there's been no desire to have "the talk." She wasn't ready and neither were her parents.
I loved Jacob Black. He's been a part of our family since the day Renesmee was born. I knew at times that he felt like an outsider and I believed he always would. I could only try to make him as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. In my mind I wasn't prepared yet for him to make the leap from the boy who pursued my daughter-in-law and was my granddaughter's best friend/ pseudo big brother, to her boyfriend and one day her husband and, possibly, the father of her children…my great grandchildren.
Renesmee had exhausted herself and was asleep in her tent with Jacob resting in wolf form in front of the entrance. Maysun was leaning against Chisisi's shoulder, their hands intertwined, as she continued to answer the barrage of questions from my family. The discussion was lively, but I was barely engaged.
I knew I should have been happy. This was an incredible piece of knowledge. Renesmee could bear children. But I felt my own selfishness overpowering my happiness. I glanced over at Rosalie to see if in her face I could see similar emotions reflecting back. She was either suppressing them or not feeling the same thing as me for she was hanging on Maysun's every word.
I leaned over into Carlisle's ear and whispered, "I'm going for a walk."
"Do you want me to come with you?" I could hear his concern.
"No, it's alright. Stay here and keep learning." I wanted to be alone.
I stood up, and disappeared into the darkness of the trees. The moon peaked through every so often, but it was fairly dark under the rainforest's canopy. The voices of my loved ones faded as I walked on.
I could feel the burning in my throat not associated with thirst but with crying. I swallowed in the thick, humid air trying to find relief. I picked up my pace to put further distance between me and my family. I didn't need Edward hearing my thoughts or Jasper sensing my emotions.
I was nine miles away when I sat down by a stream, and shuddered with a wave of emotions.
Pull yourself together, Esme! I thought. But I couldn't. Not yet. Not again.
"This is a beautiful spot. Too beautiful for tears of sadness." My head shot up to find Khalida perched on a nearby rock as if she had been waiting for me.
"It's a good thing that I can't shed them," I said bitterly, but instantly regretted my rudeness. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine, Esme," she said, never losing her sweetness.
"How did you escape your interrogation?" I mumbled.
"Very stealthily," she said with an air of mystery in her voice before a mischievous smirk took over. "And I told my father I was going to the bathroom, and didn't want the mind reader seeing it. I didn't feel like being interrogated over my bowel movements tonight."
I couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm sorry that they have so many questions."
"But you don't?" she asked.
I sighed and looked away as I asked, "Can I feign exhaustion from the journey?"
"Only if you were not a vampire," she says with a bubbliness that for a moment reminds me of our Alice.
"I guess that I can't then," I said returned my gaze to her. She seemed to be scrutinizing me.
"I've been looking forward to meeting you, Esme. I'm excited to find you alone."
This takes me a bit by surprise. My family was a cast of characters, five, six if you count Carlisle, of which have extraordinary abilities. I wasn't usually the one anyone was excited for in comparison.
"You have your own gift, Esme Cullen and that gift makes you a mother and a wife in an existence where such titles are rare. I want to know your story from you," Khalida said.
"My story? What part of it?" There was so much that could be told, but I didn't know if she truly wanted to hear it all or if I even wanted to tell it.
"All of it. I've heard so much from Nahuel about your children and your husband, but he doesn't seem to know as much about you, and I find you fascinating."
She was staring at me as if I was most interesting creature she had ever seen and it was a bit unnerving.
"Don't be overwhelmed," she said.
I was beginning to see there was more to her than meets the eye as I asked, "Can you read my thoughts or sense my emotions?"
"A bit of both." The impish look crossed her face again.
"What are you?" I asked as my skepticism rose.
"I'm unique," she stated with a shrug. "And I want to know more about the true Mrs. Cullen."
"What do you mean by true?"
"Although your family bears the last name Cullen as the sign of your unity, you are the only one truly married to the one and only Cullen – the legendary vampire doctor who resists human blood and willingly dives into it; the one who doesn't take human life but does everything in his power to save it. But he didn't save you for human existence, he changed you." She sounded as if she was in awe of my husband and I spoke without censor.
"I was beyond repair. There was no saving me in my human existence. I was dead to that life."
"And yet, he saved you. I want to know the woman that he saved," she punctuated the end of sentence with a yawn. "But not tonight. We should get back. They're going to come looking for us soon. And I need rest."
I stood up and brushed off my pants. "You sleep?" I asked as I turned to head back toward our families. Her stride matched my own.
"I don't need as much sleep as Maysun and Renesmee, who require a human's amount of rest. I only need a few hours at most."
"Do you dream?" I didn't know why I asked it.
She once again looked amused. Maybe that was just the way she always looked. "I do dream. Do you dream?"
"You know we can't sleep."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can't dream. I have a hunch that you are a dreamer, Esme."
"I live in reality. Carlisle was my dream and he came true." I felt very small. The way her voice danced over every word seemed to hint that she knew more about me than she was letting on. It was almost intimidating.
"I know. He loves you very much and you adore him."
"How do you know that?" There was agitation in my voice that I didn't intend to put there.
She laughed. "It doesn't take a mind reader to see that, Esme. It's in his eyes. It's in yours. There is complete devotion in every movement." We were almost back to the place where our families were at rest. "I don't mean to cause you stress, Esme. I am no threat. As I said before I'm just curious about you."
"You seem to know so much already."
"Only at the surface, but I can sense there is so much more to you. There's an incredible strength that at is at your core even though you are feeling weak at the moment. You have a passionate heart. I want to learn where that passion was created." Her lips were warm as they pressed against my cheek at the edge of the clearing. "You may not have a supernatural ability, but you are special. I will learn why, later."
She left my side and bound over to her father. He was leaning against a tree off to the side with Maysun asleep against him. Khalida sat down on his other side and rested her head in his lap. Chisisi smiled at his daughter, and ran his hand over her hair as her eyes closed. He looked so content with his family. He nodded at me as his eyes met mine. I nodded in return before heading to my husband's side.
Nahuel must have taken his leave to sleep for only the vampires were still talking near the campfire. I avoided meeting anyone's eyes as I sat down next to Carlisle, slipping my hand into his.
He leaned into me and whispered into my ear, "What's wrong?"
I shook my head gently and kept my voice light as I said, "Nothing. I'm fine." I knew Jasper sensed my true feelings of confusion and some despair. I looked into the flames of the fire before me. I knew even without supernatural abilities that Carlisle realized I wasn't being honest with him, but he wouldn't push me among non-family. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my temple. I rested my head on his shoulder and shut my eyes.