Chapter 10 – The Explanation

I stopped walking and Carlisle's hand slipped from mine. I was playing with the twigs of Shepherd's Purse and Calendula and looking down at my hands. Carlisle had turned around and I could feel his eyes on me.
"Is everything alright, Mitch? Come on, you shouldn't be outside so much with your wounds being open still," Carlisle cooed calmly.
"I don't know if I will be able to show my face to everyone up at the house. I mean, what will everyone think about this? They'll think I'm manipulating you," I said starting to tear up.
"Don't worry about it. They're a lot more accepting than what you think. Please, come back to the house. I assure you that nothing will be mentioned about it," Carlisle replied stroking my shoulders.
I hadn't noticed before but I was shivering and Carlisle's cool hands weren't adding anything positive to the situation. It was completely dark now and I could hardly see but somehow I still knew exactly where I was. It was like I was feeling the forest and it was whispering to me the things I needed to know.
"Come on, you really need to get inside," Carlisle said wrapping his arm around my waist and pushing me forward.
Carlisle and I continued to walk up to the house, walked up the deck stairs and entered through the dining room door. I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water.
"Would you like a glass?" I asked Carlisle rinsing out my glass.
"No, thank you," Carlisle said sitting at one of the bench stools.
"Do you have a mortar and pestle? So I can get the oil out of these," I said waving the Shepherd's Purse and Calendula. "Your wrists, they've almost healed."
"The mortar and pestle is in the cupboard by your legs. Oh, um, well," Carlisle started to panic slightly.
"What's going on? No one can heal that fast," I said placing the mortar and pestle on the bench.
I was staring at Carlisle and Carlisle was visibly beginning to get panicky and at that moment Edward and Alice walked into the kitchen.
"Oh my goodness, Mitch, are you alright? I was so worried," Alice said standing back from me slightly.
"I'm fine. I have some Shepherd's Purse for my wounds," I said I said stripping off the leaves and began crushing them.
Edward was whispering to Carlisle and then looked over to me, then to Alice, back to me and was looking at Carlisle again. Alice looked at me with sad eyes. I started to grind harder and soon the leaves had turned into a chunky paste. I grabbed the paste and started to lather it into my wounds.
I finished tending to my wounds and began to crush up the Calendula leaves. Soon enough, while Edward was still whispering to Carlisle, the Calendula paste was ready so I walked around the kitchen bench and was standing next to Carlisle.
"Let me have a look at your wrists. The Calendula is ready," I said putting my hands out to Carlisle.
Carlisle showed me his wrists and there were only little blisters but there was still a lot of redness around his wrists. I grabbed his left hand in mine and with my right hand applied the Calendula paste. I lightly massaged the paste into his wrists and I lingered with my touch a bit when I had finished just relishing in the feel of Carlisle's skin. I realised what I was doing and pulled my arms back fast and knocked the mortar and pestle off of the bench and it smashed onto the floor.
"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to. I just...I was distracted. I'm sorry," I said as I bent down and began to pick up the chunks of white marble.
"Mitch, it's alright. Both Alice and Edward know of the situation at hand," Carlisle said calmly.
"Oh...well...umm," I said standing up and feeling a little awkward now.
"Don't worry about it Mitch. Everyone here is very accepting of the relationship between you and Carlisle," Alice chimed with a smile on her face.
Edward stood there stoic and gloomy. I turned to Carlisle who was smiling his heart warming smile. I smiled back at him.
"I still don't understand how Esme fits into the scenario," I said looking down at my hands.
"Well, how about you and Carlisle join me out on the patio and hopefully we can come to some understanding," Esme said from the doorway.
Carlisle stood up and walked to Esme, gave her a kiss on the cheek and proceeded to walk outside to the patio. I followed suit and Esme just had a pleasant smile on her face. I walked out to the patio and took a seat next to Carlisle. I hadn't realised how cool it had gotten and I was now wishing I had grabbed a jumper. Carlisle must have noticed this and pulled me over closer to him. Although he didn't warm me up I acted as if I was warmer and just enjoyed the feeling of being so close to him. Esme walked outside and took a seat on the opposite side of the table.
"You're probably wondering how I fit into the whole scenario?" Esme asked in her motherly tone.
"Well, it would definitely clear up a few questions, yes," I said feeling a little uncomfortable being on Carlisle with Esme there.
"Well, what are some things you would like to know?" Esme asked politely.
"For starters, what is the situation between you and Carlisle?" I asked. "Are you his wife?"
Carlisle placed his arm around me and lightly stroked my shoulder. "Esme and I aren't husband and wife. Have I ever said to you that Esme is my wife?"
"Well, no, so you two aren't married? Then, why are you two, I don't understand," I said scratching my head in confusion.
"We aren't married. We live together because we are very old friends. And also, it appears that people have connected me to being the mother of the others. I have known Carlisle is gay for a long time," Esme said.
"So, everything that is going on between Carlisle and me is alright?" I asked nervously.
"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?" Esme asked politely.
"Well, because of the age difference, the fact that everyone seems to dislike the tribe that I'm from and that it'd probably be very socially awkward," I replied.
"Well, I assure you that I have no hardships of the relationship you share with Carlisle," Esme said.
I looked at Carlisle and he was staring at me. "So, what does this mean for us?" I asked.
"Well, for starters, we need to let everyone else know what is going on. Also, I am fine with being public about our relationship. However, it is up to you," Carlisle said running his fingers through my hair.
"I reckon we should just keep it on the down low for now but we should tell the people who are close to us," I said nuzzling into Carlisle's neck.
Esme stood up and excused herself as Carlisle and I sat there. I inhaled Carlisle's scent and it intoxicated me. I nuzzled into Carlisle's neck more and got out of my chair and straddled his legs. Carlisle's hands were roaming over my back and he returned the nuzzling just as fierce into my neck. I lifted my head and looked into Carlisle's dark golden brown eyes which had a light blue tinge from the moonlight.
"How could I have ever been so lucky to run into someone like you?" I purred.
"I could ask the same thing. I guess destiny favoured us," Carlisle replied.
I leant down slowly and Carlisle came up slowly and as our lips met I could see the reflection of my eyes in Carlisle's and noticed my eyes were a vibrant green. I pulled back from Carlisle.
"Are my eyes any different than usual?" I asked.
"They're very green at the moment. However, it's most likely the moon's light reflecting back out of your eyes. I think they are amazing," Carlisle said kissing me again.
"I think we should go inside," I said.
"Why is that?" Carlisle asked nuzzling into my neck.
"Because I am very cold and you aren't at all that warm yourself," I said as Carlisle laughed into my neck. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, come on inside, you need to get warm," Carlisle said giving my butt a light slap.
I stood up, stretched and wove my arm behind Carlisle's lower back as we walked back inside. Carlisle directed me into the kitchen and started to make me a cup of hot chocolate. I was sitting at the bench and Carlisle was on the other side of the bench making the hot chocolate. I stood up and walked behind Carlisle and wrapped my arms around him. Emmet and Rosalie had walked into the kitchen.
"Get a room, lovebirds," Emmet howled.
"Emmet, be quiet. They're both happy, that's all that matters," Rosalie said with a hint of self-restraint in her voice.
"I was only kidding, Rose, chill. I'm really happy for the both of you guys," Emmet said.
"Thanks Emmet. Thanks Rosalie," I said.
Alice and Jasper entered the kitchen as I sat down with my hot chocolate.
"I knew it was going to happen," Alice said with a cheeky grin on her face.
"Congratulations," Jasper whispered out.
"Thanks Alice. Thanks Jasper," I said as Alice hugged me.
"It may not be the best thing but it is good to see Carlisle happy," Edward said as he and Esme walked into the kitchen.
"Thanks Edward. I cannot apologise and be thankful enough to you either, Esme," I said getting up and giving her a bear hug. "I just want to say how grateful I am of everyone here and how supportive all of you are being. I promise I will never hurt Carlisle."
"Good, because if you do you're going to have a lot of people on your tail," Emmet said chuckling.
I had a feeling he wasn't kidding though. I couldn't help but have an awkward feeling about this family. Edward was giving me a strange look but I shrugged it off and put my mind at ease with another sip of hot chocolate.