This story is a collaboration between myself and HeartOfDarkess. Neither of us own's twilight...even if we wish we did.

Enjoy

Chapter 10

Bella had taken Tanya hunting. I was worried that they might not be able to find much on the Island, and not wanting to affect the small ecosystem here on the Island I had requested they go over to the mainland. Edward had not stopped pacing since they left and his mood was beginning to affect the house.

Jasper actually came over to his brother and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Shall we go for a stroll?" he asked, his southern drawl adding a twang to his words.

Edward looked up at his brother and rolled his shoulders visibly trying to shake off the tension he was feeling. He nodded his head and only moments later his brother Emmett bounded into the room asking to join them. The night was calm as was the water. Emmett wanted to challenge Jasper and Edward to a rock skipping contest to see who could skip their rock the furthest.

The two brothers chuckled and gave in, leaving with Emmett, cheered up by his enthusiastic attitude. I glanced at Alice the moment they were out of ear shot and asked her who was going to win. She giggled gleefully as she responded.

"It is going to be a three way tie. They are going to give up when they realize that they throw the rocks too hard and too far to actually count how many times they skip on the water," she laughed as Rosalie came into the room shaking her head at the antics of her husband and brothers, causing her mane of blonde hair to sway.

Carlisle sat at the table, reading a leather-bound book from his small study here on the Island. I moved over to lean over his shoulder so I could give him a quick peck on the cheek without interfering in his reading, but he surprised me by turning his head to intercept my lips, kissing me soundly.

"Aww, parental unit love display!" Alice said with a sigh. "Rose, perhaps we should go for a walk too?" She said gesturing to the door with a nod of her head.

Rose followed suit immediately, the two of them snickering as they went. I was tempted to roll my eyes as I had often seen them do, but I refrained, smiling at their antics. The moment they were out the door, Carlisle surprised me by pulling me into his lap.

"Well since the children are away…" he began suggestively as he nuzzled the curve of my neck as I closed my eyes at his touch. I never turned away from my husband's touch if I could help it, and since the opportunity had fallen into our lap, no pun intended, we were determined to take advantage of it.

His nimble fingers grazed along my collarbone as he kissed a trail from my neck sending shivers to course down my spine. I sighed in pleasure from the sensations of his mouth on my skin. I felt Carlisle's hands slip into the loose fabric of my shirt to cup my breasts through the lace of my bra.

"Really…can't you two at least act like the adults!" Tanya's haughty tone broke through the air, putting an end to our interlude. My body protested as Carlisle's fingers pulled away from my wanting flesh. I sighed softly in disappointment as I straightened myself up and slipped from Carlisle's lap.

"Tanya, weren't you supposed to be hunting with Bella?" I chided her softly.

"Yes, but it's like pulling Emmett away from an ornery grizzly that he just woke from hibernation. She is pouty and quiet, and all she seems to be able to do is talk about Edward…it's rather sickening to be honest," Tanya complained as she let herself flop onto the sectional sofa in the room.

"And where would Bella be now?" I asked, wondering what my sweet daughter-in-law could have done to irritate her so thoroughly.

Tanya shrugged her shoulders and I was about to speak up when an angry Edward burst into the house.

"Tanya, what the hell did you do?" he shouted at her. "Did you really just abandon Bella on the mainland? You know she will worry that you're suddenly not there," he hissed, going to the key hooks by the door. "I am going to go and tell her you're here. Why did you do that to her?" he asked, clearly irritated by her treatment of his mate.

"She wouldn't stop complaining Edward. What was I supposed to do?" she whined at him, her voice suddenly grating on my nerves. I noticed Edward watching her with a familiar expression that signified that he was scanning someone's thoughts.

"Shit Tanya, all she said was that she was looking forward to seeing me when she got back. What was wrong with that?" he said, fuming.

"Nothing if you want to spend time with someone who is all, 'Oh, I love Edward, let me bat my big eyes, and smile because my life is soo damned perfect with my sexy mate and my miracle child'," she said clearly mocking Edward's mate.

"You are the most self-centered being I have ever met, Tanya. Bella said one thing about missing me and you have to stomp off like a two year old having a tantrum! Well let me tell you this, there will be a day when you suddenly understand how being away from one person even for an hour can seem like years. There might actually be someone out there someday who you will love, and they will love you, God help them. When that happens you are going to have some serious sucking up to do to get into Bella's good graces!" Edward barked as he ran out of the door to retrieve his mate from the mainland.

Tanya huffed, crossing her arms across her chest as if she was the one who had been wronged, when in fact it was the exact opposite. I was hard pressed to keep myself from lashing out at her when I knew that she hadn't really bothered to think about how sensitive Bella was. My poor daughter was sure to be worried as she searched in vain for Tanya.

I knew that Edward was the best one to soothe Bella's hurt feelings…emotions that would be raw due to the fact that she was trying to reach an olive branch out to the one person who seemed bent on making her immortal life miserable.

With Tanya sulking in the house I had no desire to remain indoors, so I gave Carlisle a gentle kiss on the cheek before subtly exiting the house. I walked to the garden, taking the time to admire the buds that were striving to reach out to the sun, turning their unfurling blossoms towards the bright light. It always amazed me to watch the way the plants took hold, and used their tiny roots to grasp and hold even to the most precarious of places.

I took a few moments to pull away any weeds that were trying to infiltrate the soil around the plants that I wished to proliferate. The garden was full of plants that spread out as they grew in the fertile soil, but the well cared for soil was an easy location for many wayward seeds to set down in their journey to begin their life.

I let my fingers trail delicately over the colorful blossoms and creeping leaves, careful not to let my hands bruise the delicate petals. I sat back to look over the way the garden had grown over the years, and was happy to note that the retaining walls I had added a few years ago were preventing the soil from eroding away in the tropical storms that frequented the Island.

"You, my love are an image. Painters would fall over themselves to sketch the image you are presenting right now." Carlisle's voice softly rang out over the heated air as he spoke. He stepped closer, folding his long legs under his lean body as he joined me on the ground.

I turned to him and accepted his compliment with a soft smile. I often lost myself when I was trying to imagine ways to redesign things, or remembering how my projects had grown from beginning to their current states of beauty.

"Did you come out for breath of fresh air?" I asked, trying to keep myself from smiling. I knew full well why he had chosen to exit the house, as from my place on the sun baked soil I could hear Tanya up her complaints, both in frequency and in volume.

Carlisle raised an eyebrow at me and knew I understood the reason for his departure from the house.

"I came out for the solitude of nature, and was granted a vision of a lovely nymph waylaid as she admired nature," he intoned with a chuckle.

The two of us sat together, me discussing future plans to renovate the garden, and he listening to me as I animatedly spoke about my plans. Carlisle never ceased to amaze me as I rambled on and he remained ready with answers and questions to let me know he had not missed a single word as I prattled away. His love for me was reflected in every action, his every moment of dedication.

I stopped talking, choosing instead to turn the tables, and to speak to Carlisle about the topics he so loved.

"Are you missing work, my darling?" I asked him, genuinely worried that he missed his time at the hospital.

"The hospital will still be there when we return. There will always be humans who need care, but not always time to be here with my family in the sun. I am enjoying my time here with you," he countered.

I questioned him about his work and his favorite new technique that he had learned from studying the medical journals he often was buried nose deep in. I always tried to return the same level of interest that he showed me, but as he answered I was momentarily put off.

A brief feeling of peculiarity came over me as we sat there together. My sudden lapse did not go unnoticed by my husband, who knew my mannerisms so well. He turned to me, his face noticeably worried.

"Esme, are you alright?" he asked as I sat unmoving, trying to understand the reason why my body felt so oddly out of sorts.

I was unable to answer, as I was not sure. Was I alright? I was not sick…or at least I didn't think I felt ill, nor did I imagine that as a vampire I could feel ill, but I did not feel as I had only moments before, or hours before for that matter.

I tried to shake off the feeling of discomfort that suddenly seemed to plague me, and I shrugged my shoulder to pass off the moment.

"I am well, my love. I just feel…well oddly?" I told him as honestly as I could.

"Oddly…how so?" he queried as he rose to his knees, suddenly reaching for me with his gentle hands.

He ran his hands over my face, my throat, my arms and every other visible surface of my skin, and yet nothing seemed amiss. Even he, in his centuries of knowledge seemed confounded. I slowly stood, carefully taking stock of each limb as I moved trying to pinpoint the origin of my unease, but I could see nothing wrong.

I turned to my husband, my mate, and his concerned eyes made my chest constrict.

"It seems to be nothing my love. Perhaps vampires are able to succumb to heatstroke?" I said with a small attempt at a laugh. Carlisle's eyes watched me carefully, looking for clues as to how I was feeling.

I smiled at him, pushing aside the odd feeling within in order to put my mate at ease.

"Besides, darling," I said brightly, "how many vampires get to spend day after day in the sun? How are we to know if it could affect our bodies?" I added a small laugh, trying to make light of the idea that a vampire could get such a common human condition, wanting to put both mine and Carlisle's minds at ease.

Carlisle's eyes tightened almost imperceptibly as he watched me, but the he stepped to my side, wrapping an arm around me to tuck me firmly against his body.

"I have never had the chance to study such phenomena in vampires, however let us not risk anything to chance. I suggest we head back inside as I do believe Tanya had headed back to the pool house, and as a doctor, I do know some remedies for heatstroke…for humans anyhow. I recommend a nice, lukewarm shower to cool you off, but I fear I will have to keep you company at all times as I don't want you fainting from the heat," Carlisle told me seriously.

I laughed wholeheartedly at his response, happily willing to follow doctor's orders if he was to be my treating physician.