Chapter 7

"What's going on guys?" Masen asked casually as his parents entered his home with Alice and Nicole.

Leah smiled and waved as she sat with a plate of eggs and toast in front of her. Cassandra was enjoying a similar breakfast that was accompanied by French toast and an orange juice.

"I just showered, didn't get a chance to talk to Leah about her brother," Masen went on. He glanced over his shoulder at Leah.

Leah was about to say something about Seth and Luciana, but Carlisle spoke before she could.

"We're not here about that," he told them, then looked at Nicole.

Masen and Leah both looked confused as their daughter nonchalantly continued to eat her breakfast.

"Ask them Nicky," Alice urged.

"I saw you guys with Billy," she said.

"Billy Black?" Leah asked, "When?"

"Hmm..." she thought for a second and let her expression overly show that she was digging deep in her mind by tapping a finger on her mouth over and over, "Two and half, make that three weeks ago."

Alice giggled at her daughter's words and it seemed to make Cassandra smile.

Masen and Leah still didn't seem to comprehend what Nicole was getting at. Carlisle and Esme still stood confused, also, having raced over to their son's house without much of a conversation.

"I have visions like Mom's," Nicole said to them, "You know how she can see the future like no one else can?"

Leah looked at Masen, who nodded to her, "It's true," he said, "They told me when I stopped by the house a half hour ago."

"That's great Nicole," Leah told her.

"Yeah," she responded simply, "But Mom can't see you guys all the time because you're a wolf."

Masen and Leah both laughed and Cassie made a howling noise that made everyone smile, or chuckle a little. Leah ran a hand over her daughter's arm, then continued to listen to Nicole.

"I can see you though," Nicole continued with a small smile, "And I saw you with Billy. You guys talked with him." She sighed trying to figure out how to explain it.

Esme shifted uncomfortably again and Carlisle focused his attention her.

"What's wrong with your mother?" he asked Masen.

Alice smiled behind them and Masen met her eye line, causing Carlisle to turn around to face her for a second. She tried to let her smile fade before he saw her but was unsuccessful. Leah stopped chewing mid bite and reached to try to hit Masen but he was just out of her reach.

"Mase," she said with a mouth full of toast, chewing faster so she wouldn't choke from talking with her mouth full.

"What?" he spun around to face her.

"Remember?"

"Remember what?"

"What did we talk about when we were with Billy?" She waved her hand around, "A couple weeks ago. We didn't know if-"

"Oh yeah!" Masen said aloud.

"What?" Carlisle asked.

"I forgot about that," he went on talking to Leah, "I just assumed it didn't work."

"We didn't even know if it would work, or if it was possible in the first place," she said back to him, "It was a shot in the dark."

Masen nodded and looked over at his parents, who seemed to be waiting for an explanation from his and Leah's secret language.

Alice crept up behind Nicole and put a hand on her shoulder. Her daughter leaned into her and smiled at Masen.

"You sure know how to keep the anticipation going," Esme said. She shifted her eyes several times from Masen to Leah. Both of them had a guilty, yet pleasant, look on their faces.

"Um, well..." Masen started, "What's wrong Mom?"

She looked confused, "I thought you knew."

"She's getting pain in her side," Carlisle said.

"In your side?" Masen asked.

"It's not really painful," Esme told him, putting a hand near the center of her stomach, "More like pressure. I don't know."

Leah stood up and took Cassandra's now empty plate, "Does it feel the same way as when you had Masen?" She tried to avoid eye contact, and focused briefly on Alice before placing the dishes into the sink.

Alice eyed every little decoration that hung in the kitchen to try to avoid being directly involved.

Esme thought for a moment and Carlisle shook his head, "It can't be that."

"Every time that's happened, it's been because of a wish on the night of the eclipse, right?" Masen asked.

Carlisle turned his focus to his son and didn't respond. He waited for him to continue.

Leah returned to Masen's side and he rested a hand against her back. Cassandra waved her hand to Nicole, asking her to join her at the table. The two of the shared a smile and Nicole scooted over to check out whatever Cassandra was looking at to keep herself occupied.

"What's going on?" Carlisle finally said, "Masen..."

"The two of us and Billy..." Leah started, then shrugged, "The last eclipse we made a wish, and we had no idea if it would work or not. Like we said before, it was kind of a shot in the dark. You just always seemed to happy with taking care of the kids, and we thought you kind of got short changed when it came to, you know... the 'baby years'."

"I've heard you say you wish you had more time with me, and with Alex," Masen continued on Leah's explanation, "And I know you've said you'd want more kids at some point, so..."

"We wished for something for you," Leah concluded.

Carlisle and Esme both shook their heads, "But we didn't take our part in the equation of having another child on the night of the eclipse," Carlisle told them, "So, I still don't see how any of this makes even a little bit of sense."

"I hope you don't get mad," Leah went on, "And, like we said, we really didn't think it would work."

"Think what would or wouldn't work?" Carlisle asked again with a further sense of urgency in his voice.

"We wished for permanent... fertility, I guess," she told them, "That you could have children whenever you want."

"And that they would age at Cassandra's rate," Masen finished.

"You guys explained that so much better than I could," Nicole chimed in from the back of the room.

Alice laughed again, "Why haven't we ever thought to change the initial wish until now?" she wondered aloud.

Carlisle turned to face her, "What can you see from all this?"

"Well, I couldn't see that they wished that," she told him.

"I could," Nicole said.

"But, I can tell you what the future holds and their words stand correct."

"Are you serious?" Carlisle asked her, then turned the question to Masen and Leah with his eyes. Esme still stood silent by his side.

"Yeah," Masen said with a nod, "I just, I mean, I guess we just forgot because like a couple weeks went by. No one really knows the dynamics of the eclipse yet. Not really. No one's gone outside the box with these things."

"Except for some of the old timers," Leah said, "They could tell you some scenarios."

"So, does it feel like the last two times?" Masen asked his mother. He stepped forward and put a hand on her stomach.

She looked at him for a moment and helped his hand find the point of movement, "Yeah," she told him, "Identical. I just thought that was impossible."

Carlisle looked over at her for a moment, contemplating all that he'd just been told.

"Dad," Masen said, "Isn't this what you guys wanted? To be able to just decide on a moment's notice, 'hey let's try for a kid'? Now you can. Just like if you were human."

"You probably should have mentioned something," he said to him, "Given us at least a heads up that you were going to do that."

His expression changed, "I mean... I just, I don't know. I didn't know if it would work, and I thought of everyone that you wouldn't necessarily mind. Plus, I thought that you guys would want that if it was possible."

"We do," Esme told him, "It was... thoughtful, and I know we've said that the baby years were so young."

"We didn't want to have another one right now," Carlisle told his son.

Esme looked over at him and he swallowed hard and changed his words, "After everything happened with Alex and Michael, and we still have you to look after, and I mean even William, and Cassie and Nicole..." he shook his head, "We haven't caught up to teaching all of you the ways of the world, and what's right and wrong."

"Cassie's not your responsibility," Masen argued, "She's ours. And I'm pretty sure Alice and Jasper have a pretty good idea of what they're doing with Nicole. I'm grown. We're married. Alex, yeah, she had a lot to learn still but-"

"But there's still a lot for all of you to learn," Carlisle continued, "It's not the time for this right now," he looked at Esme, "We already decided that."

"Well, I guess fate had other plans," Masen told him, a little angry in his tone, "I thought you'd be happy if our wish actually came true."

"I'm not... unhappy," Carlisle told him, then looked around, "I just wish you could have, possibly..." he ran a hand slowly through his hair, "Said something. I don't know."

Alice glanced over at Esme, who appeared somewhat neutral on the situation on the surface, though she could tell that she wasn't particularly happy about the direction Carlisle and Masen's conversation was going.

"What's the big deal?" Masen asked, "Everything's quieted down now. I mean..."

"It's a very big deal," Carlisle told him calmly. He glanced over at Esme, "It's another person who's going to grow, and make mistakes, and learn... possibly the hard way. It's someone's life, Masen. It's a huge deal."

"What's wrong with having another one?" Esme finally said, "We were going to again some day anyway."

"I know," Carlisle said, "But we reasoned out together why it was best to hold off for awhile. Alexandra needs a lot of guidance still."

"She's going to be fine, Carlisle," Alice said, "She's going to be more than fine, and you've raised her right."

"There's still a lot-" He stopped mid sentence and told himself that the argument he was presenting was useless, seeing as the immediate future was already mapped out.

"I'm going to tell Rosalie about this," Alice said, "She's going to be even happier than before."

"Wait," Carlisle said, "Can we make sure this is actually what's going on first?"

"It's confirmed," Alice said simply, and called for Nicole.

"Bye Cassie," she said.

Cassie waved with a smile, "Bye Alice."

"Bye bye sweetie," Alice said, then turned to Masen and Leah with a smirk, "See ya."

"We're sorry," Leah said, "I just thought-"

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Esme said. She looked down at her stomach, "I mean, it's been what I've wanted... forever. It's the human experience I always wished I had, to be able to have a child whenever we decided to." She looked at Carlisle and became more disappointed at his less than thrilled expression. "I'm going back to the house," she said, looking at Masen and Leah, "I'll talk to you guys later today. I'll bring over some dessert for you and Cassie, Leah."

"Okay," Leah nodded, now feeling a bit awkward at their split reactions.

Esme looked at Carlisle for a moment and he looked at her before she took off toward their house.