Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I am back on track and will be posting more frequently from now on. Thank you to those who are still reading!
Mornings were always quiet in the Cullen house, but it had become a regular thing for Esme to be up earlier than usual, maybe it was down to her impatientce. The days had felt twice as long, and the nights; even longer. She couldn't wait for their meeting with the adoption agency, it was the only thing she was looking forward to. Carlisle had finished his work for the week and had been home all night, which wasn't usual for him, he usually went out and hunted for them or took their children out hunting, but he stayed put in his study. Esme decided to pay him a quick visit to check he was alright, and just spend a little time with him, but he seemed rather distracted. She pottered silently down the wooden stairs and headed straight for his study before peering through the door, only to find her husband hidden by a mountain of books and photo albums. The sight alone was simply adorable, plus the fact that he was dressed in his white shirt and his braces, she always loved it when he wore them.
"Hey, handsome." she whispered as she entered the room.
"Why, hello there my love" he beamed, sounding both elated and exhausted.
"What's all this?.." she asked hesitantly, brushing her fingers along the back of the old leather couch as she walked towards his cluttered desk.
"Sorry, I had to get some of our history together for the meeting, they are going to need some kind of background information," he explained, letting a large book close with a thump.
"Oh, right.. the meeting. I had completely forgotten" she lied.
"Yeah, yeah." he teased, his eyes peering over the top of the book pile.
"So, are you all set? Have you got everything?" she asked, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger.
"I assume so, yes. I have some old photo albums, and some of our old housing documents, as well as some marriage certificates," he explained, his eyes wandering over her as he ran through each peice of information in his head.
"You are adorable, and you don't need to worry. We'll be absolutely fine, they are going to give us a baby, for sure," she explained, falling delicately onto his lap and wrapping one arm over his shoulder.
"I know, I know. I just can't help but worry about the effect this could have on you if it all goes wrong, and I will be to blame," he replied, his voice low and raspy.
Esme fell speechless at his words, and found herself clinging to him in attempt to reassure him. She felt more to blame than anyone, if she hadn't craved this so baddly, they wouldn't be in this mess, but she was more than certain that they were going to get this baby, they just had to. She would probably fall apart if it all went wrong now.
"Everything will be fine," she whispered reassuringly.
With that, the pair continued on with their day, preparing for their evening meet with the agency. The day dragged on as long as it possibly could until finally five o'clock rolled around.
Knock, knock, knock.
The agent was there, at their house, waiting to talk with them about a possible baby, and they were as prepared as they would ever be. Carlisle answered the door as Esme made the lounge human friendly. She placed a pot of tea on the table and laid out some biscuits to go with it, smiling nervously as Carlisle lead the tall brunette lady through the door.
"Hello there, welcome to our home," Esme began, leaning forwards to shake her hand, but retracting it away abruptly. She couldn't lose her cool now, she had to act normal, without being too normal.
"Hello, I'm Anna. You must be Esme? Your husband has told me alot about you" She explained, her eyebrows knitting together with confusion at Esme's actions.
Carlisle tried his hardest to keep calm and collected, but whenever he forced himself to act normal, he always seemed to look uncomfortable and on edge. He sat carefully on the couch, pulling Esme gently against his side once Anna had taken a seat. The pair went rigid, they sat in complete silence as they watched Anna take notes on their home. They had decided to keep talk of their other children to a complete minimum, and they were only set to mention Edward and Alice, as they're the youngest, and they both look a little like Esme. The agencies can be a little difficult if they know you have a lot of children already, and in this case, it would have been impossible to explain their situation to her.
"So, why did you choose now to adopt? Was it timed, or unplanned?" she asked, pushing her glasses up.
"Oh, we've uh.. we've been planning it for a little while." Carlisle blurted. They needed this to work out, he needed it for her sake.
"Right, and how old are your previous children?" She asked.
"Edward is seventeen and Alice is sixteen, would you like to meet them?" Esme forced, smiling sincerly.
"No, It's not mandatory." Esme cringed at her words.
"Is there anything else you need to know about us?" Carlisle asked, looking over onto her paper.
"A few things, but we'll get to that soon. What I really need to know is why you want to adopt a baby now, despite the fact that you have two clearly beautiful children.." she asked, glancing over at the photograph of Edward and Alice.
"Oh, uh. We've wanted this for a long time.. My wife has very strong maternal instincts and has missed every second of our children's childhood. We just want to have a fresh start.. we were both very young when we adopted our first two." Carlisle explained, his hand extending out to reach Esme's, gripping it ever so gently.
"Right.." she barely muttered as she scribbled something onto her pad.
The questions continued and the couple struggled through them as planned, but Anna didn't seem too impressed. She kept her head down, buried in her notes, and she was extremely blunt with them both. Carlisle defended his wife as best he could, and Esme answered in the best ways possible, but nothing seemed to work with her, even offering her coffee and tea. Finally, when she had asked them everything she needed to know, she rose from her chair and bowed elegantly to them.
"I think I have everything I need, we'll be in touch." she muttered as she headed for the door.
Carlisle was beside her within moments, leading her down the stairs and towards the door. He stood in her way for a moment, his expression was desperate. He couldn't have her leave and not give them something to hope for, or to hold on to, it would torture them.
"Please, my wife.. sh- she needs this. She has just recovered from her depression, and the only thing keeping her going was the thought of finally getting a baby. Please, you can't do this to her, she'll go straight back down again, and I don't know how long it'll be before she gives up completely.." Carlisle forced out, trying to sound both compassionate and pleading at the same time.
Anna seemed a little irritated as she glanced up over her glasses at him, her eyes were dark and stern. She rose a hand to her glasses and removed them from her face before speaking, "I am sorry that she has been put through all of this, but I cannot simply tell you here and now-" she began, watching as Carlisle's expression shattered into a million pieces. It was like watching an angel sighing. "Alright. If you must know, I am not fond of your.. wealth or the maticulous way you live, but you ticked all of the mother's boxes, and you'll be perfect for her baby. I'll give you a phonecall later to let you know, I'm sorry, but it's the best I can do" she finished, sighing quietly as she left.
Carlisle closed the door behind her and watched through the window as she pulled away, his entire body relaxing as she drove away, out of sight, but certainly not out of mind.
"Esme?" he called out, his voice shaking ever so slightly.
Before he could even take a step, she was there in front of him, staring hopefully into his eyes. He let the silence continue, and his body do the talking as he leaned forwards, cupping her face with his palms and pressing his lips delicately against hers.
"She said we ticked all the boxes.." he whispered against her lips.
"She- she said what?" Esme was utterly taken back by his words, she had been in the living room preparing herself for the worst.
"She is going to call the mother now, and get back to us as soon-" he didn't even get to finish his sentence before he was rudely interrupted by their telephone ringing.
The pair tensed, their hands locked together and their gazes shot towards the ringing phone. It was the agency, they were calling to tell them about their possible baby. This was it, everything she ever wanted could have been at the end of the line, but so could her worst nightmare.
"C-Carlisle..answer it." she blurted, gulping nervously.
