The More Things Change: Chapter 21

Carlisle POV:

Things had finally settled down enough that we were all back to basically our normal routines. There was a new treaty with Sam's pack. Jacob, Leah, and of course Seth, were still with us, along with a couple others that I regret to say I still had trouble keeping the names of straight.

Renesme was still growing faster than normal, but it seemed to have slowed down some. She grew more attached to Jacob by the day, much to Edward's chagrin.

Maria was finally tolerating Seth…especially since she had discovered that he would do pretty much whatever she asked. Leah rather resented this fact, but I could tell that Maria was developing an attachment to Seth beyond making him her servant. I could see it as her eyes took on an affectionate look while gazing at him more and more frequently. And in the genuine smiles and laughs she made at his corny jokes (which were becoming more common as he continued to try and win her affections). Some of us could see that he was succeeding, unless it was the increase of their imprinting bond taking stronger hold over her heart. Esme and I believed it was a bit of both.

And I was still very confused by that…why had a wolf imprinted on a vampire? It made no sense whatsoever. And all of us were at a loss as to an explanation of how it could have even happened. And when put together with other inconsistencies—the fact that Sean could read Bella's mind despite her shield, his comment to Alice that he "couldn't die", the two strangers from his family who were at the wedding and weren't the least bit afraid of vampires—started me wondering more.

Sean and Alice had been gone on their extended honeymoon just over five weeks. We all missed them and hoped they'd be home soon. But understood when Sean had adamantly stated that they needed a good deal of time alone together if for no other reason than to get to know each other better after their whirlwind courtship, as he called it. I knew he was still confused and afraid of the speed with which they had fallen in love.

One evening, most of us were relaxing downstairs. I was reading, Esme was sewing, Rose was in the garage with her beloved vehicles, Jasper and Emmet were playing some video game in the other room—Call of Duty, I think—and Robyn was watching them. Jacob was helping Renesme with some schoolwork, while Edward and Bella were playing chess in the living room. Maria and Seth were on the front porch talking. A warm scene of average life in a large family. I felt a sense of contentment.

Then the phone rang.

Esme answered it. "Hello, Cullen residence? Why, hello, Sean! How are you guys doing?" She paused a minute to listen to his reply. After a few more seconds of small talk, Esme said, "Carlisle? Why yes, he's right here. Just a moment." She handed the phone to me and whispered, "Something's wrong," a frown marring her beautiful face.

I frowned as well as I took the phone from her hand. "Hello, Sean. How is Hawaii?"

"Oh, it's beautiful here, sir! Absolutely gorgeous. I've finally got my wish of going somewhere tropical…and with an even more beautiful woman, who despite my better judgment has found me worth loving." He seemed a bit too rushed with his words, but I could tell that even now he still couldn't quite figure out why Alice loved him the way she did. I'd have to try and help him understand, but not now. Esme was correct: something was definitely bothering our Irish son-in-law.

Sean was silent for so long, I wondered if somehow I'd lost the connection. "Esme said you wanted to speak to me?" I finally prompted.

"Yeah, yeah I did, kinda. Um…well, I was wondering about something…" His voice trailed off, and he was again silent for a good while, almost as if he were trying to collect his thoughts. I became a bit nervous as the silence continued. Esme was sitting closer to me, never taking her eyes off my face.

"What did you want to ask, Sean?" I again prompted after the silence had dragged on for over a minute.

"Your type of vampires never get sick, do you?" He blurted out.

I was a bit taken aback by his sudden question. "Um…no, we don't get sick." Esme made a small gasping sound and grabbed my arm. I glanced at her and saw the look of fear in her eyes. Edward and Bella had stopped their chess game and were watching with concerned looks on their faces as well. "Why?" I asked. "Is…is something wrong with Alice?"

Another lengthy silence from Sean. "Well…" he began before pausing yet again. "Well, see, we went hunting before dawn this morning, so we'd be back at the cabin by the time the sun rose. We'd been back a couple hours, and we were sitting on the porch just talking, when Alice sat up and said she felt strange. Then about three seconds later, she ran to the railing and….well, she threw up."

I froze, unable for a moment to process his words. "You say Alice threw up?" That drew gasps from both Esme and Bella. Esme gripped my arm even tighter, while her other hand flew to her mouth. Her look of worry was replaced by a look of fear.

"Yeah, all the blood she'd taken on our hunt." I could hear a bit of fear in Sean's voice as well.

"How is she now, Sean?" The fear was building in me as well. Never had I heard of a vampire throwing up, unless they'd eaten human food for some reason.

"Well, after that…incident, she came back over to me. She was a bit rattled, understandably. But she calmed down after a bit. I told her we should call you, but she was adamant about finishing our vacation. So against my better judgment I let it go. A few hours later, she told me she was hungry. I asked if she was up to hunting again, and she said, 'No, I want a big cheeseburger and fries. Oooh, and a chocolate shake! I've always wanted to try that! It sounds sooo good!' So since it was cloudy, we went into town and…got her a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate shake. Which she promptly consumed all of."

I was more confused than worried now. And intrigued. "She ate a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate shake?" I repeated for the sake of my listeners. When they heard that, we all exchanged incredulous looks with each other.

"Yeah," Sean replied rather sheepishly.

"Did she keep that all down?"

"For the last seven hours, yes."

This was insane. Absolutely unheard of.

"Um, Sean, would you be kind enough to put Alice on the phone, please?"

"Well, you see Carlisle, I'd like to. I'd like to let you speak with your daughter. I really would. But, I don't want to wake her up to do that. She's, uh….she's asleep."

"Asleep?!" I exclaimed. This really was the last straw. "Sean, how soon could the two of you get back here?" Concern surged through me. Something was wrong with my daughter, and she was too far away for me to do anything to help her. Esme's grip on my arm never slackened, and I knew she felt the same way.

"Hmmm…" Sean paused in thought. "I could probably line a flight up within an hour or so. I know a guy who has a pretty fast plane. You, uh…you think it's that serious?" I could hear the fear still in his voice as he asked, almost as though he were trying to get me to tell him Alice was ok. But how could I until I examined her?

"I don't know, Sean," I replied. "But it sounds like it could be. I've never heard of anything like this happening to a vampire before. And the sooner you get her back here, the sooner I can check her out and try to discover what's going on."

"She's gonna fight me on this; you know that, right?" Sean sounded as though he was almost afraid of Alice's wrath at being woken up and told their honeymoon was being cut short.

"Sean," I said a bit sternly. "We need to find out what's happening, don't we?"

He sighed. "Yeah…yeah we do. OK. See you all early tomorrow morning then. Bye." The line clicked off, and I put the phone down. Instantly after doing so, I was bombarded with questions from the others, their voices overlapping and tumbling all together.

"Please, we won't know anything else until they get here!" I half yelled to be heard over all the confusion. Which then brought everyone else into the room to see what I was yelling about. Twelve voices simultaneously raised in speculation and argument, coupled with my great concern over what was wrong with my daughter, nearly gave me a headache. There was no use in trying to get everyone to calm down and wait until Alice and Sean arrived, so I just sighed and answered what little I could…which basically consisted of retelling the phone conversation a half dozen times.

Everyone was still debating and talking five hours later when we heard a car pull up and stop outside the house. We all froze, even though we knew it was the newlyweds returning. I heard a car door open and close, followed a few moments later by the sound of another car door opening. Then I heard Alice's voice, loudly proclaiming that she and Sean should have finished their honeymoon, and that everyone was over reacting and being silly. Esme and I exchanged a smile smile as we heard Alice being her typical self. It gave us alittle hope that all was really well with her, despite the reasons for them being back early.

The door closed, and Alice's voice grew louder as they approached the house. Footsteps strode across the porch, then the front door opened. "It's just silly, really! Another week or two would have been fine! I don't want to stop being alone with you yet!" Then Alice was there, in the living room. She blinked, then broke out in a huge smile. "Hey, everybody! What are you all doing just standing here? Oh, I missed you all so much!"

"But aunt Alice, you just told uncle Sean that you wanted more time alone with him," Renesme commented, sounding a bit confused.

Alice enveloped her in a hug. "Psh, sweetie, I did want more time with your uncle Sean, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss you all terribly. Especially you!" She tapped the tip of Renesme's nose with a finger, eliciting a smile and giggle from the child.

"Sweetheart, would you please heat up the frozen pizza and French fries for me?" That last comment was directed over her shoulder at Sean, who had now appeared in the entryway behind Alice. Alice greeted everyone else warmly, and I had to admit: she liked perfectly fine. She actually had a glow about her and seemed happy and genuinely cheerful. Maybe it was all some kind of weird, Irish practical joke?

Sean, by contrast, looked tired, haggard, and worried. Well, so much for it being an elaborate practical joke on his part. He looked horrible. His hands were full of grocery bags bulging with various food items. I caught his eyes, and he shook his head before he turned and trudged into the kitchen.

I let people continue to talk with Alice for a bit. Esme excused herself after a few minutes and went into the kitchen to help Sean. After about ten more minutes of chatter, during which not a single person brought up the reason for Alice and Sean's early arrival back home, I cleared my throat. "Alright, everyone. I need to speak with Alice upstairs, if you don't mind. We'll be back down in a few minutes." I put my hand on Alice's back and gently guided her upstairs into my office.

Half an hour later, I sat at my desk, looking over the results of my examination for what seemed the hundredth time. I rubbed my eyes and shook my head. My mind screamed that this was absolutely impossible. Impossible! Literally beyond the realm of possibility. More impossible even than what had happened to Bella and Edward on their honeymoon. But, the indisputable result was staring me in the face, daring me to deny it. Sighing, I pushed the chair back and stood up. Walking down the hall to the top of the stairs, I heard Alice, Bella, and Robyn all chattering away in Alice's room where I had sent her and told her to lie down. I hadn't shared the results with her yet, wanting to talk first with Sean and see if he could possibly shed any light on this situation. Anything at all.

Once he and I were seated back in my office, he leaned forward and said, "All right, Carlisle, level with me: what's wrong with her?"

Now it was my turn to hesitate. "Sean, I'm not certain how to tell you this, and I have absolutely no idea how it could even be possible, but….". I paused again. Best to just say it, I thought. So I did. "Your wife is pregnant."

Sean stared blankly at me a moment, blinking once or twice. Then a rapid stream of emotions flashed through his eyes and across his face: confusion, skepticism, fear, worry. Then he looked me in the eye, and a grin slowly formed on his face.

"Ok, haha, you got me, doc. Had me going for a good bit there, I don't deny it. But seriously, what's wrong with Alice?"

Now it was my turn to blink at him. "I am being serious, Sean. Alice is pregnant. And there is no way she could be."

"Oh come on, Carlisle," Sean said, a little angrily. "You had your joke. Now level with me."

"Sean, it's not a joke. I heard the fetal heartbeat. Alice is approximately five weeks pregnant."

Sean shook his head in disbelief, anger in his eyes. "What, one magic baby in the family isn't enough for you?! Be serious! Look, Carlisle, every instance—EVERY SINGLE ONE- of vampire hybrids have occurred with a female human and a male vampire! It is IMPOSSIBLE for a female vampire to get pregnant! Why, do you have any idea of the powerful levels of magic it would take to….to….to…oh gods!" Sean, eyes nearly bulging, sank back in the chair, his face turning paler than I'd ever seen it, the hands he put to his head, grabbing his hair in his fists, were shaking. There was a wild look of fear in his eyes that replaced the anger of earlier. "Oh gods!" he repeated, his eyes blank. "Is it possible? It can't be! They knew! They knew and they didn't say anything! Oh, what have I DONE?"

Without warning, he shot out of the chair, pulled his phone from the pocket of his jacket, and tore out of the room. Two seconds later, I heard the front door bang open as he dashed outside.