Esme

I hung up my jacket on the coat stand as I came through the front door. Carlisle's house was softly lit, but the hallway was empty. I knew it would be. He didn't finish work for another hour or so. I'd agreed to make dinner.

This past month had been blissful. My hospital work experience was nearly over, and after next week, Carlisle had suggested we start telling people about our relationship. I'd told him we should wait for another month or so, and he'd agreed. It wasn't for the reasons I'd suggested to him, however. I didn't care if my parents got mad. I did care that the hospital didn't punish Carlisle, but it wasn't even that that kept me quiet. It was the fact that, for the last two months, I had had something wonderful, something that was exclusively and privately mine. I wasn't quite ready to share him with the rest of the world yet.

Ever since that night, three weeks ago, when we had… well, life had been happier than I could ever have dreamed it. I floated on air most of the day, and I slept in Carlisle's arms every night I could manage it. There was only one downside to my joy, and that was that Rose still hadn't told me what she planned to do with the baby. Every time I asked, she said she needed a bit longer to think.

Soon, she'd be out of options. As much as I didn't want her to get rid of her child, I didn't want her to feel burdened by a responsibility she didn't want. It was a catch-22, and I hated that I had such a massive part in it. It shouldn't have been my decision, but it felt that way, at least in part.

Shaking the thoughts from my mind, I focused on what this evening would be. Just a quiet night in, me and Carlisle in our own private little bubble.

I kicked off my shoes and padded my way through to the kitchen. My nose in the fridge, my head a million miles away, I didn't even notice that someone else was in the room until they cleared their throat. Loudly.

Jumping, I whirled around. Sitting at the breakfast bar was a tall, beautiful blonde, every bit as lovely as Rose, but older. She looked amused by my reaction, a smile lingering on the corners of her full lips.

"Well, Carlisle never told me he had company," she drawled, her golden eyes raking me up and down in a way that made me want to cover myself up. I frowned.

"I could say the same thing," I responded, sounding more confident than I felt. The woman grinned at me, eyes sparkling. I didn't know when she'd arrived, nor how she'd let herself in. She certainly wasn't here when I'd stayed over last night. Or the night before that…

"I'm assuming you have no clue who I am," she guessed, and I nodded slowly. I was warier of her than I'd ever been of another woman. She was gorgeous. And she had a key to Carlisle's.

"Who are you?" I prompted, when she didn't offer an explanation.

"Tanya," she supplied. "Tanya Cullen."

Cullen? "Oh. How do you know Carlisle?"

She chuckled enchantingly. "Not figured it out yet? Okay, you're squirming, so I'll let you off easy. I'm his big sister."

I was so relieved that I nearly passed out. His sister! Then another worry crept unbidden into my mind. Had he even told his family about us? Would they, could they, ever approve? I was still in high school, and the expression on Tanya's face told me that she damn well knew that.

"Who are you, again?" she asked, when I didn't respond to her little revelation.

"I'm… Esme Masen."

"And you're a friend of my brother's?"

"Yes," I murmured, fighting the blush that would give my lie away. "He didn't mention to me that his sister was visiting."

"Sisters," Tanya corrected. "But Kate doesn't arrive until tomorrow. She's stuck in Paris on some business meeting."

Paris? Well, that sounds exotic. I've never even been abroad… "Oh."

"Kate wanted to introduce our little brother to her new fiancé, and I just missed him enough to fly all the way here from the Windy City to join in the family reunion." Here she paused, and glanced around the room theatrically. "He has sweet digs here. I get why he left Chicago now."

I nodded. "Forks is a nice town."

She eyed me curiously for a moment. "With plenty of nice girls, I'll bet."

I bit my lip, but didn't offer a comment. It wasn't up to me to tell Tanya what I was to Carlisle, though I'm sure she wasn't stupid. She'd already guessed.

Just then, the door slammed.

Our heads swivelled towards the noise, just as Carlisle called out.

"Honey? I got away early for a change, so don't worry about dinner, I thought we could order in! I'm starving! How was school?"

He swept through into the kitchen, completely oblivious to his sister, who had skulked over to the far corner, arms folded, just watching. I tried to warn him with my eyes, but distracted as he was, he didn't even notice. Instead, he stooped to give me a kiss.

"Tyler Crowley came in just before I left. He needed stitches – apparently he crashed his car into a tree. That's about the third time this year – I swear, it's a miracle that boy still has his driving license. What do you want for dinner?"

He froze beside the drawer that I knew contained his take-out menus, and fixed me with a concerned look.

"What's wrong, love?"

In answer, Tanya – very deliberately – cleared her throat.

He spun around to face her, and I watched as several expressions flitted across his face in less than a heartbeat. Joy. Suspicion. Comprehension. Panic. And finally, horror, as his eyes flickered between my worried expression and Tanya's knowing one.

"Oh," he muttered, at a loss for anything more robust to say.

"Oh, indeed, little brother. You have some serious explaining to do," Tanya replied, her narrowed eyes – identical to Carlisle's, I realised – now fixed on him.

"I'm going to go," I told Carlisle quietly, and his eyes flashed up to meet mine, panicked again.

"Don't," he pleaded, and my heart melted.

"I think it would be best for now, Esme," Tanya interjected coldly. I blanched at the expression on her face, but nodded. As I made to pass Carlisle, he caught me by the arm to halt my progress.

"I don't care what she says. I love you, and that won't change," he promised in a whisper so soft, it was meant for my ears alone.

"I love you," I murmured back, and stood on my toes to kiss him goodbye. He responded, angling his shoulders so that Tanya's view of our private moment was well and truly blocked.

Having said everything that needed to be said, I removed myself from the kitchen, leaving the siblings to regard each other in a stony silence that I had never experienced with my own brother.

It wasn't until I shut the front door that I heard the first sound of raised voices.

Rose was waiting for me in my bedroom when I got home, and Emmett was with her. I froze, surprised, one hand still on the door handle. They both looked at me expectantly, as if I were the solution to all of their problems. Sighing, I shut my bedroom door.

Emmett was the first to break the silence.

"We told our parents."

My eyebrows shot up into my hairline. Did that mean what I thought it meant? I glanced at Rosalie for an answer to my unspoken question. Almost imperceptibly, she nodded.

Relief, cold and incredibly welcome, rushed through me, so quickly that it almost made me giddy. Unable to help myself, I broke into a huge grin, which was hesitantly returned by the other two occupants of my room.

"You're keeping the baby." It felt so good to say it out loud.

"Yes," Rose whispered, and I saw her eyes sparkle with unshed tears. "Oh, Esme, you won't believe it! I had my scan today, my eighteen week scan. I saw him! He's so beautiful!"

"It's a boy?" I checked, smiling at her elated tone. This was everything I wanted her to feel, everything I had dreamed she would feel. One glance at Emmett told me he felt the same way.

"Henry," she gushed, nodding at me emphatically. "Henry Hale McCarty."

I watched my best friend, glowing with pride as she said her child's name. I felt my own eyes welling up. "I'm so happy for you."

And I meant it. Words couldn't describe how happy I was for them both. I could've been upset. Jealous, even. I would have been, had it not been for Carlisle. Then I remembered Tanya's ambush, and my grin faded a little.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked me, concern saturating her voice. I nodded, recovering myself hastily.

"Uh-huh. How did your parents take it?"

Rose made a face. "They were a bit disappointed, but I guess they're going to be supportive."

I nodded again. "When are you going to tell everyone else?"

"Tomorrow. Do…" Rose hesitated. "Do you want to see the scan picture?"

My face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Of course!"

We spent the next hour or so cooing over the picture and speculating about who he would look more like – Rose or Emmett. When they finally left my room, it was hand-in-hand and full of smiles. I sighed and leaned back against my pillow as the door closed behind me, finally feeling as though the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders.

Music blared out from the table beside me, and I raised one hand to lift my phone up. My smile widened. Carlisle.

"Hello?"

"Esme?"

I laughed, giddy with happiness at the sound of his voice. "Who else would it be?"

I heard his throaty chuckle in response. "Good point. How are you?"

"I'm happy. Rose is keeping the baby!"

"That's wonderful…" he paused, and I could feel some unspoken tension emanating from him, even through the phone.

"Are you okay?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"I'm… I'll be fine. Esme, my sister is somewhat reluctant to accept our relationship. She's threatening to tell the chief of medicine at the hospital if I don't break up with you immediately."

My stomach lurched, and I was suddenly feeling nauseous. "She can't do that! You'll lose your job!"

"I know," he replied gravely.

"So what do we do?" I demanded, my head spinning. I didn't know how to process this. I couldn't let Carlisle lose his job, but I couldn't bear to be apart from him. I think I'd sooner die.

"I will fix this, Esme. I promise you that. I'm hoping Kate can talk some sense into her tomorrow."

"Okay," I responded, struggling to calm my breathing down. "Okay. But, Carlisle, what if…?"

"I will not lose you, Esme. Not ever. I'd sooner lose my job."

"But you love being a doctor."

"Not as much as I love you. I wish you could have stayed tonight."

"I wish I could have taken you out of that house with me."

"Goodnight, Esme. I'll call you in the morning."

"I love you," I told him, as if he didn't know that.

"I love you, too," he replied, his words ringing with an understated fervour.

I hung up the phone and sighed, staring at the handset as though I expected an apology for Tanya's behaviour.

"Okay…" I glanced up, alarmed, to find Edward in my doorway, arms crossed so tightly over his chest that it looked as though it might hurt to unfold them. What had he heard? "What the hell was that? Because it sounded as though you are dating Dr. Cullen. "

I looked up into my brother's furious expression with a heavy heart.

I really didn't need this right now.