Thanks for the reviews. And all of you were right. Of course its Esme!(:
Anyway, to answer a frequently asked question, Edward left because it's his 'rebellious stage' they talked about in twilight. don't worry, you'll get a look in his head soon. (*hint hint, the whole next chapter.*)
BPOV
Previously:
She finally, but slowly, very slowly, sat up, and opened her blood red eyes.
She had the same, pale, beautiful features as the rest of our kind. Her heart shaped face was surrounded by billows of caramel colored hair, reaching her mid back. She was small, but less angular. She was beautiful, and something about her just reminded me of mothers.
She gasped when she saw me, then turned to Carlisle, gasping at his beauty as well. She opened her mouth to say something, and I waited anxiously for her to speak.
"I know this may sound silly, but am I dead?" she asked us. Her voice was like wind chimes, and I immediately fell in love with her. But as a friend. Only a friend..
I chuckled. "No. you are not dead. My name is Isabella." I offered her my hand, and she shook it.
"My name is Esme." she smiled a warm, friendly smile at me, and then turned to Carlisle.
"I'm Carlisle." he said, looking at her. She shook his hand as well, and then turned back to me.
"You are very beautiful, dear." she complemented me. I could tell she was nervous, and was trying to make small talk, but I took it the heart.
I smiled brightly at her. "Thank you. So are you." I smiled again, but this time at the look of confusion on her face. I was prepared for this though. I reached over onto a side table, and handed her a mirror. She looked in it, and gasped. "That's me?" she whispered.
I nodded and smiled. "I told you that you were beautiful, Esme. Would you like to hunt?"
"Hunt?" she asked in a shaky voice.
I laughed again. "Of course. I almost forgot. You're a vampire now. You have to drink blood, but don't worry. We drink animal blood instead of humans, but I guess if you didn't want to stay with us you could drink from humans.." I informed her, but said the last part in a small voice.
She just looked shocked. I sighed. "I know it's a lot to take in, but isn't your throat on fire right now?" I asked her, concerned if she was hurting or not.
Her hand shot up to her throat as a reflex. This time Carlisle chuckled, and grabbed her hand. "Bome on." he said, as he pulled her out the door. Looking at them, I knew they would be the perfect couple. Just the way they looked at each other made me almost positive they would end up together. I crossed my fingers that they would.
I followed them out the door, and started running behind them in a daze. I was making up fantasies of how their wedding would be, on a beach, or maybe in a meadow. Esme would look amazing in white, and Carlisle would be the happiest man in the world. She would be like a mother to me, because I already considered Carlisle as a father to me.
When I finally snapped out of it, I noticed that Esme was having trouble finding a meal. I called out in my mind that a group of deer I sensed a few miles away to come over to us, and sure enough, minutes later, the deer started appearing.
Carlisle gasped, and looked at me in awe, and Esme pounced on a deer before she could realize what she was doing, and how the deer got here. I smiled at Carlisle, and watched as both he and Esme hunted. I already fed earlier today, so I was full. I noticed that Esme was very graceful, even for a vampire.
When we ran back to the house, I saw Carlisle and Esme holding hands still. I let them have their moment, but I was always the impatient type. I wanted to know what Esme was doing by that cliff, and if her falling was on accident, or on purpose.
"Okay you guys, enough of that later. We need to talk." I said from across the room, they both looked down at the floor in embarrassment and followed me into the dining room.
"So Esme…" I started, "What were you doing by that cliff?"
"How do you know about that?" she asked me hesitantly, afraid of something that I couldn't identify. If only Edward stayed for a few more days, then I would know what was going on in her head..
"I was the one that found you. I brought you back here, and you were about to die, so Carlisle changed you into what you are now." I explained quickly to her, before Carlisle could say anything.
"Oh. Well you see, I had my first, and only, baby a week ago. He died a few days after he was born. It broke my heart, and that's why I jumped off the cliff. He was everything to me." she explained quietly, hiding her face.
"You jumped?" I asked, shocked.
She just nodded weakly. I looked at her and smiled. "It's okay. I understand. But you can have me now. I lost my mother to the Spanish influenza epidemic last year, and I would love for you to take her place. You remind me so much of my mother, and it would be nice to have one…." I trailed off at the end, afraid of what she was going to say.
A true, genuine smile lit up her face. "Are you sure?" she asked me, excitement in her voice.
"Absolutely." I said, and nodded my head. She just ran up and hugged me. Im taking that as a yes? I hugged her back, and looking over her shoulder at Carlisle, I laughed. "Looks like you have a wife now, Carlisle." he just chuckled, and looked down. He wasn't quick enough though, I saw the hope in his eyes.
Esme was laughing, embarrassed also, but laughing because she was happy she could have a family again. She was so warm and caring already, I couldn't help but love her.
"So is there anyone else in this family?" she asked after a minute or so. Carlisle flinched, and I just glared at the wall. Trying not to look at Esme, so she wouldn't take my glare the wrong way.
"Yes." I said in an emotionless tone. "But he just left three days ago."
She was shocked. "Why would he leave his family? You two are so nice and welcoming."
"We don't know," Carlisle answered, before I could. He knew I would make a comment about how much I despised Edward , and he didn't want to make a bad impression of Edward to Esme. Carlisle told me that Edward has his rights, and free will, and we cant make him do anything, especially stay with us.
Esme looked down at the floor again. "Oh, I see."
I laughed again, trying to lighten the mood. "It's okay though, we have you now. So don't worry about him, he will probably show up sooner or later." 'hopefully later.' I added in my head silently.
She smiled again, and then took a deep breath. "Everything is so much clearer, and I smell everything. Is that normal?"
Carlisle and I just laughed. "Of course it is normal. Its one of the positives of being what we are." Carlisle answered her, smiling. I was still silently shaking with laughter.
"We should probably teach you the rules now." Carlisle finally said after we both calmed down.
"Wules?" Esme asked in a questioning tone. I have to say, im surprised she wasn't mad at us for laughing at her. Now that I think about it, it was rude.
"Yes. They are very simple. don't tell humans about our secret, and don't reveal yourself to the world. Which means you cant go out in the sun in public, and you cant display your inhuman strength and speed in front of any humans." Carlisle told her, and she nodded her head.
"Sounds easy enough. But why cant we go out in the sun?" she asked curiously.
I was surprised she was adjusting so easily. "I'll show you some time." I told her ominously, making Carlisle laugh, and her look at me with a questioning glance. "Don't worry. Its nothing bad." I assured her.
She smiled. And nodded again.
"So Esme, do you want to pick out a room?" I asked her, wanting some alone time with her to get to know her better.
She smiled. "I would love that."
I smiled back at her. "Let's go," I said, as I grabbed her hand, and pulled her to the stairs. I looked back to where Carlisle was standing, and saw him getting his briefcase for work. "Bye Carlisle." I called over my shoulder.
"Why is he leaving?" esme asked me quietly.
"Oh. He works at the hospital in town, and is a doctor there. His going to work right now." I told her, smiling that she was interested in what everyone was doing.
"How can he stand that? I mean, with the blood…" she asked, trailing off.
"I asked him the same thing. " I assured her, "He has been alive for almost 300 years, and has had 300 years of practice. He is now practically immune to the scent of blood. He told me that he loved how his enhanced abilities let him save someone who could have been lost. He told me it was pleasant knowing that some people's lives are better because he exists." I told her, watching fascination sprinkle across her face.
"What exactly does he do?" she asked, still very curious.
"Well, he is a surgeon, but sometimes he works in the ER." that's all I really knew about that, I've never asked him.
"Oh. So wait, you said he's been alive for 300 years now? How is that even possible?" she asked me, disbelief coloring her tone.
"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you the most important part. We are immortal, we never age, we never change our appearance." I told her. I cant believe we forgot to tell her that.
"Wow." was all she said.
"Yes. That is why we have to move around a lot, people will get suspicious of us not aging, and start asking questions. We will matriculate a lot." I said, laughing at the end.
"That's amazing. So um, about my appearance, when do my eyes change into the golden color Carlisle's are?" she asked the same question I had asked Carlisle.
"Carlisle told me in four to six months. It depends, really. First they turn amber, and then they turn the golden shade his are." she amazed me. She didn't seem phased at all about the idea of being a vampire.
"Now, enough about us, what about you? How old are you?" I asked, truly curious.
"Oh. I am twenty four. And you?" she asked politely.
"I'm seventeen, forever." I smiled at the end, and she laughed. "I guess that makes me twenty four forever also."
I laughed with her. "I guess so."
She stopped laughing, and then looked at me hesitantly, another question burning in her eyes. I sighed. It looked like she didn't want to offend me about something.
"Esme?" I asked her, "Are you alright? You seem hesitant," I tried to prompt her, and it worked.
"Well, you said that someone else was in the family before me. What was his name?" she asked, still hesitant of my reaction.
I just sighed. "Edward. His name was Edward."
She smiled. "That's a lovely name. I was going to name my son that, but I chose the name John instead." I smiled back, but I was uncomfortable talking about Edward. I didn't want my anger towards Edward scare her away from me.
"So, you said that you guys don't know why he left?" she asked, again, hesitantly.
"Yes. I was telling him about something, and he just told me he was leaving." I avoided the subject of what I was telling him, because it was about Esme. She seemed to sense my reluctance, because she didn't ask anymore about the subject of Edward.
"Thank you for the dress, by the way." she said casually. "Tt is very beautiful. I love this shade of blue."
I smiled. "Tour welcome. It was one of the dresses I bought because I thought it was beautiful. But when I saw you, I knew just the dress to put you in."
"I love it, so thank you, again." she said, still smiling.
"Your welcome." I smiled back at her, being as warm and friendly as possible.
We continued to talk about dresses, and about places where we could move next. She mentioned a town in Washington called forks, a town in Oregon called Astoria, new Orleans Louisiana. I told her about the volturi, and repeated all of the stories Carlisle told me about them. I warned her many times to never provoke them, and she nodded her head each time I told her. She asked questions about my childhood, and about my parents. I told her that my room I have here looks almost exactly like my old one back at home in Chicago. I learned she was originally from new Hampshire, but moved here to escape life at home.
When she heard that we can decorate our rooms however we liked, she dove right into plans. She sketched out all of her furniture, and ordered it on the telephone. She chose fabrics, and paints, and new hard wood floors. When she was going to look for a bed, I informed her that we never sleep, ever. She was surprised, to say the least, but got the bed anyways, saying that the room wouldn't be complete without it. I went along with it, because I also have a bed in my room. All in all, Esme was a terrific interior designer, and I told her she should do that as her career. She was flattered, but instead offered to do all of the extra rooms in the house.
When Carlisle came home, Esme literally pounced on him with questions. We were sitting there, talking about the plans for upstairs, when as soon as Carlisle opened the front door, Esme was on top of him, and he was on the floor, pinned down.
"Your three hundred years old?" she screeched in his ear, which probably hurt his ears.
"Tes." he said, shifting positions so they were both sitting up on the ground. I just laughed, looking at their position, and walked away.
"I'll be in my room." I called over my shoulder as I was running up the stairs. I went in my peaceful mode, sitting on my little pink armchair, eavesdropping on their conversation.
"So, did Isabella explain everything to you?" I heard Carlisle ask.
"Yes. She also told me some stories you told her, is that alright?" I heard Esme's worried voice ask.
I heard Carlisle's light chuckle, and "Yes"
Esme audibly sighed in relief, causing Carlisle to laugh again. They were getting along great. They were such a good couple, and I kept my fingers crossed that they would indeed get together. And soon.
So what did you guys think? Please review. They make me all warm and fuzzy inside. (: