Matters of the Heart Chapter 13: Bonding and Baseball, a twilight fanfic

Matters of the Heart

A Carlisle Cullen/OC Story

By: Katie Sheridan aka GerrysLittleMissSunshine08

Summary: Katie Sheridan has always lived a quiet, but never normal life in Indiana. Now when her boyfriend moves them to a small town in Forks, Washington when she meets a young, charismatic doctor who is still grieving the loss of his wife. When it comes to matters of the heart, can they both help one another with the love they need?

Disclaimer: I own Kellan Lutz….ha! Bet you didn't see that coming! I don't know or own any peeps from Twilight or the song I use which is "Without You" by the group Hinder. The lyrics fit perfectly for Katie's breakup and thoughts right now. Go check out the video for it, you will definitely recognize someone in it, right Desi?

http: www. youtube. com / watch?v =DV-MdkrGfZc

Without the spaces of course.

A/N: Thanks to all my loyal and new reviewers!! My-forgotten-rose, CullenandSwan1993, drcarlisleforever, K-to-the-E-to-the-L-L-I, Nekokitten1123, Lift the Wings, ladyhouse, DesireeBoils aka Desi and XxKatieMarieCullenxX (Nice name lol)

And thanks to everyone who has added me to their story alerts and favorites!! You guys are awesome!

Here is one of my favorite chapters, I just have to say 1 word to describe it….BASEBALL!!! And since my grandma is currently reading Twilight, I'm using the movie for the quotes. Bella's in there too. I hope you all like it!

And there will be a moment where each Cullen bonds with Katie, well except for Rosalie. I'm looking forward to see this, but what will happen when Emmett visits Katie first in the hospital? Chaos? Hilarity? Madness? Jasper and Alice will be next chapter, Edward's coming up soon.

I have 2 dedications in this chapter:

First, once again to Desi, my best friend and personal cheerleader. Put up the Dance thread already haha! Thanks for all the chats, laughs and support. And last to my very own Dr. Cullen, he will never read this and that's fine, but thanks for an amazing day yesterday.

Happy Reading!

Katie

Chapter 13: Bonding and Baseball

Everyone turned their heads to see Carlisle standing there.

"Well?" Emmett asked never turning his head from the basketball game.

"She's awake." Carlisle announced and everyone cheered.

"Is she alright?" Kat asked her as Will reached over and hugged her close to him.

Carlisle smiled. "She's doing just fine; just a bit groggy from the pain medicine that's all. She's up for visitors; are there any volunteers to be first?" He asked her curiously.

Kat, Erik, Lauren, Alice and Bella all stood up at the same time. Carlisle laughed. "Okay one at a time." He said.

"Well who is going first?" Bella asked curiously.

"Family?" Carlisle suggested.

"That's me." Kat said.

"Wait!" a booming voice heard and everyone turned to see Emmett stand up and quickly made his way towards Carlisle who had his eyebrows raised.

"I'll go first." Emmett volunteered ignoring the stares he was receiving from everyone and the glare from Rosalie.

"Emmett…" Carlisle began to warn him.

"Oh come on Carlisle, I'm not going to do anything to Katie. She needs to know how Grayson is doing. Parenting is very important you know." He said and all the Cullen kids began snickering.

"I don't know Emmett, Kat should be first." Carlisle said quickly.

"Would you like for me to begin experimenting with Grayson's stuff?! Because you know I want to." Emmett threatened while laughing staring at Carlisle.

Carlisle quickly shook his head. "No! Leave it all alone Emmett, sorry Kat. But Emmett does like to experiment and he will if you leave him alone with it for a period of time. Okay Emmett be nice. She's down in Room 3." He said pointing down the hall.

Emmett rolled his eyes, grabbed something from Grayson's bag and walked down the hallway towards Room three. He knocked on the door and walked inside.

Katie glanced over and raised both of her bandaged eyebrows up. "Emmett?" She asked him curiously.

Emmett grinned at her playfully as he strolled into the hospital room and sat down in the chair next to the bedside.

"Good you remember my name, you get brownie points. I know this may be a dumb question, but how are you feeling? We're all outside in the waiting room you know." He said to her.

She nodded and sighed in response. "Well to be perfectly honest with you, I feel like crap. How is Grayson? Carlisle told me that you took him back to your house after Michael left. Thank you so much for taking care of him." She said giving him a small, but grateful smile.

He smiled at her back and reached over to pat her hand softly as he could with her IV in there. "It's no problem, he's cool once he's fed and has a new…uhhh…diaper, I think that's the word. And no offense, but you kind of do look like crap." Emmett commented with a snicker.

"Emmett!" Carlisle's voice rang out loudly from the down the hallway and Katie laughed at the look of Emmett's face.

"It's okay Carlisle, she likes me! Not you! She wants my sexy body not your old one!" Emmett shouted back and they both heard loud laughter coming from the waiting room. Katie began laughing as well.

"I never said that Carlisle." Katie said as loud as she could and Carlisle laughed.

"Oh I know my dear, its Emmett you have to watch out for." Carlisle said.

Emmett grumbled in response. "He's just jealous that he's not young like us. Speaking of Carlisle, I want you to know that on behalf of all four of us, thank you for making Carlisle happy. We haven't seen him like this since Esme died. I'm being serious too." He said directly to her.

Katie's eyes had gone wide. "The four of us? Who are you ruling out? And I'm glad I can make Carlisle happy. He makes me happy too. He helped me through this whole ordeal and was there next to me as I gave birth to Grayson. Gray has Carlisle and Erik's names as his middle names you know. But thanks Emmett. I can't imagine this being easy for you all to deal with. The pain of losing your adoptive mom and seeing your dad get close to someone who is different from you all." Katie said to him.

He gave her a small smile and patted her hand gently. "Carlisle was right about you, you know. You are a good person whom bad things have happened to. Just so you know, you know Carlisle's never going to let you leave Forks and I'll help him now that I've talked to you more. And I'm sorry to say, but the one I am forgetting out is Rosalie. She thinks you're trying to replace Esme which everyone knows it's not the case. She loves Grayson though. She loves children so know that he's in good hands with all of us." Emmett said and she felt better instantly.

He then handed a small case which held a CD in there.

She took it from him and read what it said on the CD, Hinder-Without You.

"Emmett what is this?" She asked him curiously.

"Bella found this song and made a copy of it for you. But Hinder's one of my favorite groups so don't let her take all the credit okay?" Emmett asked with a laugh as he stood up from her chair.

"You don't have to leave Emmett." Katie said to him.

Emmett smiled as Carlisle stuck his head inside the hospital room and then looked around the room. "Yes I do. I look forward to playing baseball with you soon and getting your butt kicked." He said winking at her playfully as he left the room and Carlisle was immediately next to her where Emmett was.

"Good everything's in one piece." Carlisle commented with a laugh and Katie smiled brightly at him.

"Emmett's a sweet guy; he said that Bella made this for me." She replied holding up the CD.

"Well let's listen to it." Carlisle said with a smile as he took the CD from her and placed it into the DVD player in the room. Soon the soft rock music filled the air of the song. Carlisle sat next to Katie on the bed and grabbed her hand in his as the song began playing.

I just wanna be alone tonight
I just wanna take a little breather
Cause lately all we do is fight
And every time it cuts me deeper

Cause something's changed
You've been acting so strange
And its taking its toll on me
Its safe to say that I'm ready to let you leave

Without you, I live it up a little more everyday
Without you, I'm seeing myself so differently
I didn't wanna believe it then
But it all worked out in the end
When I watched you walk away
Well I never thought I'd say
I'm fine
Without you

Called you up cause' it's been long enough
And you said that you were so much better
We have done a lot of growing up
We were never meant to be together

Cause something changed, you were acting so strange
And it's taken its toll on me
It's safe to say that I'm ready to let you leave

Without you, I live it up a little more everyday
Without you, I'm seein myself so differently
I didn't wanna believe it then
But it all worked out in the end
When I watched you walk away
Well I never thought I'd say
I'm fine,
Without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
I just wanna be alone tonight,
I just wanna take a little breather.

Carlisle climbed out from the bed when the CD ended and he took it out of the DVD player and then handed it back to her.

"I liked it. I'll be just fine without Michael." Katie said giving him a small smile.

"It won't be easy to move on after what you've been through Katie, but we're all here for you. Especially me." He told her and she gave him a smile. She grabbed his cold hand and then kissed it very gently.

"Thank you Carlisle." She said to him warmly while Carlisle smiled back at her holding onto her hand tightly.

Three Weeks Later

Katie sat next to Carlisle as he, Bella and Edward had climbed into a large silver Jeep Wrangler which turned out to be Emmett's. Edward started the car and then they were speeding off.

Carlisle then turned towards his left and handed her a gray shirt. Katie glanced at him with a raised eyebrow as she unfolded it and it saw a gray baseball jersey with her name on the back.

"Oh Carlisle, thank you I love it." Katie said to him quietly as she put it on over her hooded sweatshirt that had Notre Dame on there knowing that Emmett would love it. She liked sports and liked to argue with Emmett about which teams were the best.

Carlisle smiled and hugged her close to him. "Your welcome. I knew you would appreciate it. Don't be nervous, it's just the seven of us playing baseball." He said to her.

"It is the American pastime you know." Edward commented from the front of the Jeep as they pulled into a field where Katie and Bella saw the others waiting for them.

Katie laughed. "Since when?" She asked as her and Bella began laughing.

Edward placed the Jeep into park and everyone stepped outside onto the field. Katie followed Carlisle over to the home plate and she then heard a loud booming laugh. She then turned to see Emmett grinning at her from beside her.

"Nice. Trying to suck up before the game begins." Emmett said with a laugh.

"No, Bella and Katie will decide which one will be umpire or catcher." Carlisle said to them.

Bella and Katie glanced at one another. "I don't mind being catcher." Katie said.

"Are you sure you're up for it Katie?" Carlisle asked her curiously.

"Sure watch this…hey Emmett throw the ball to me! And as hard as you can!" Katie yelled to Emmett who was in the outfield already.

Everyone watched in silence as Emmett grinned at her and threw the ball towards her. Katie then moved to the left and caught it perfectly into her hand. She barely winced at the pain she felt and Emmett cheered as he ran to her and was at her side before she could blink.

"So Bella's the umpire." Alice said cheerfully.

"She thinks we cheat." Emmett said with an innocent grin.

"Oh I know you cheat, call them as you see them Bella." Carlisle said as Katie took her place behind Rosalie and squatted down as Bella stood next to her.

"It's time." Alice said as a loud clap of thunder was heard. She then took a deep breath and threw the ball. Rosalie hit it and it boomed against the thunder. Both Katie and Bella's eyes went wide.

"Okay now I see why you need the thunder, that's got to be a home run right?" Bella asked curiously.

"Edward is very fast." Carlisle replied as a few seconds later, Katie saw the ball come flying towards her and she caught it easily as she bent down and touched the base as Rosalie slid up next to her.

"You're out." Bella said.

"Out!" Emmett cheered, "Oh come on babe it's just a game," he said as Katie watched Rosalie glare at Bella.

She heard Carlisle say something to Rosalie before winking at Katie and standing in front of her. He placed the bat high in the air before swinging it carefully not to hit Katie. Alice threw the ball and Carlisle hit it loudly and began running.

Katie and Bella watched as the ball flew in the middle of the field. Katie saw Emmett jumping towards it and then Bella pointed out that Edward was jumping too. A loud boom was heard as both of them collided in the air and landed onto the ground as Carlisle slid into second base.

"Nice." Katie said towards Carlisle as Jasper took his turn to bat. Alice threw him the ball again and he hit it loud as well. Katie felt like she was going to get knocked to the ground at anytime because of the wind blowing massively in her face. She then saw the ball fly towards Emmett and he jumped into the tree, caught it and then threw it back towards Alice.

"My monkey man." Rosalie said as she took her place to bat again. She then hit the ball that Alice threw and began running when everyone stopped moving.

"Stop!" Alice yelled and everyone turned to see three figures walking towards them.

"They were leaving until they heard us" Alice said to everyone as they all rushed towards Katie and Bella. Carlisle grabbed Katie close to him as Edward grabbed Bella.

"Is something going on?" Katie asked Carlisle curiously.

"Get your hair down." Edward said to her and Bella.

"Like that will help I can smell them half way across the field." Rosalie said in disgust.

"We shouldn't have brought you here, we're so sorry." Edward said to them as Carlisle gently pushed Katie towards Bella and Edward.

"What?" Bella asked glancing over at Katie.

"Just be quiet and stand behind me." Edward said to them both and they nodded as the three people stopped walking in front of them. One held up their baseball.

"I believe this belongs to you." The tall one commented as he throws the baseball to Carlisle and Carlisle catches it gracefully.

"Thank you." Carlisle said.

"I am Laurent and this is Victoria and James." Laurent said introducing them.

"I'm Carlisle this is my family." Carlisle said towards everyone.

"Hello." Laurent said glancing at everyone.

"I'm afraid your hunting activates caused something of a mess for us." Carlisle announced to them.

"Our apologies we didn't realize that the territory had been claimed." Laurent said.

"Yes well we maintain a permanent residence near by." Carlisle replied.

"Really? Well we won't be a problem any more we were just passing through." Laurent commented as his eyes were turning red. Katie noticed that and turned towards Bella with wide eyes.

"The humans were tracking us, but we lead them east you should be safe." The woman named Victoria said to them.

"Excellent." Carlisle commented.

"So could you use three more players? Oh come on just one game." Laurent asked as everyone stared at Carlisle curiously.

"Sure why not? A few of us were leaving you can take there place. We'll bat first." Carlisle replied throwing the ball back towards them, but was caught by Victoria.

"I'm the one with the wicked curve ball." Victoria said with an evil grin.

"Oh I think we can handle that." Jasper said as everyone laughed a little and turned around to walk back towards home plate.

"We shall see." Victoria said as her and Laurent left leaving James to stand there and stare at both Katie and Bella who were behind Edward and now Carlisle. The wind then blew hard and they watched as Bella's hair blew in the direction of where James was standing.

James took a deep breathe and then turned towards them, "You brought a snack." he said as Bella and Katie were pushed back suddenly and every member of the Cullen family had now surrounded them. She felt Carlisle's arm wrap around her from behind and both her and Bella had terrified looks on their faces.

"The girls are with us. I think it would be best if you leave." Carlisle warned them all careful of their next moves.

"I can see the game is over well go now…James." Laurent said tugging on James' arm as James and Victoria both stood up and walked away turning their backs on the Cullen family as they disappeared.

"Get Bella out of here go. I'll take Katie back to the house." Carlisle said to Bella and Edward.

"No Katie needs to go back to her house." Edward protested.

Carlisle turned to him and shook his head. "No they could track her scent there as well. Go to Katie's apartment, grab some clothes and inform Kat that she will be staying with us. Tell them to get Grayson out of there as well. Now climb on my back Katie." Carlisle replied.

"But Carlisle…" Katie began to ask questions as everyone then disappeared.

"Katie there is no time for questions, just get on my back and close your eyes." Carlisle said to her seriously. She then nodded and slowly climbed onto his back. He wrapped his arms around her legs.

"Hold on, don't let go and close your eyes…now." He instructed her and she nodded as she closed her eyes as he ran into the woods and soon they arrived in front of the Cullen house.

He helped her down and they walked inside the house where everyone was in the same clothes, but running around with bags and other objects in their hands.

"Carlisle can you please tell me what is going on?" Katie asked him getting impatient.

Ooohh a cliffy! Well review and you'll see Carlisle's response faster than before lol. I know where I'm going with this and I'm excited. I'm working on my Phantom one too, but that's being slow and Erik's being difficult with me. Not the Erik in here, Erik in there lol. Get it? Hope so lol.

Please read and review!

Katie