Hey! OMG, so I'm sorry I haven't been on in, like, forever!! I've been really busy with school, TAKS testing, and then drum major try-outs were this week!! So, I've been back from N.C. for about a month. I would've updated sooner, but, like I said, life's been throwing me curve balls. Not to mention trying to plan my sweet sixteen!! God, I feel so old!

Recap on the last chapter: Carlisle and Esme are officially together, the guys want the girls to come to them, and in my AN, I decided to call for a vote on who the next pairing should be. I'm still taking votes, so let me know. Emmett and Rosalie, or Alice and Jasper? Tell me!!

EsPOV

I returned to my room, and the girls bombarded me, talking above each other and wondering what the heck happened in the locker room. Did I tell Carlisle my secret? What was his reaction? Did his brothers overhear? What were their reactions?

"Girls," I started, trying unsuccessfully to calm them down enough to tell them what happened. "I didn't tell him."

"Why?" Rosalie asked. "I thought you were going to?"

"I was," I said, "but he said that he didn't want to hear it until I was ready to tell him."

"Awe!" Bella cried, sounding like Alice when she found something really cute on sale. "Esme, that is so great! He really cares for you!"

"I'd like to think so," I said, smiling when I thought about the fact that he'd asked me to be his girlfriend and I'd accepted.

"What did he ask you?" Alice asked. I'd forgotten about her and her feelings for certain things. Apparently she'd had a feeling about something like this happening.

Bella and Rosalie looked expectantly at me.

"He asked me to be his girlfriend," I said, giggling a little at the end. The girls all shrieked, and soon we were jumping up and down and hugging each other like there was no tomorrow.

"Oh, my gosh, what did you say?" Bella immediately asked after we'd all calmed down somewhat. "Did you say yes?"

"Of course she did!" Rosalie said. Then she turned to me. "You did say yes, didn't you?"

"Yes, I said yes," I told her. Alice squealed again, and that had us doubling over in laughter all over again.

"This is great, Esme!" Alice said. "And I have a feeling that this is going to last a really long time!"

CPOV

"I've got a girlfriend."

"Dude!" Emmett shouted, surprising Mike who was just coming into the locker room. He slapped me on the back and said, "I didn't think you had it in you! Holy shit. I never thought I'd see the day when Carlisle got himself a girlfriend, but that day has arrived!"

"Shut up, Emmett," I said, trying my hardest not to turn red. Then I turned to my sub. "Hey, could you take over tonight?"

"Sure," he said, shrugging out of his jacket. Then I took my costume off—hanging it up in my locker—and put my nice evening clothes on. I walked out of the locker room and toward the stairs (they were faster than the elevator). When I got to the Tower Room, I heard a lot of giggling coming from inside. Apparently Esme had told the girls already.

I knocked on the door, and the giggling suddenly quieted. When the door opened Bella was on the other side. She was on the petit side, so I had to look down a little to be at her eye level.

"Carlisle, what a lovely surprise," she said with a smile. "I assume you came here to see Esme?"

I smiled back at her. "Yeah, actually, I did. Do you know where she is?"

"As a matter of fact," Bella said, moving aside and motioning me inside and closing the door behind me, "Alice and Rosalie dragged her off to play Barbie."

"What?" I asked. I had no idea what that meant, but it was obviously an inside joke with the girls.

Bella just laughed at my confused expression. "What I mean is, Alice and Rosalie are going to do her hair, make-up, and choose her outfit. Alice had a feeling you'd be coming up."

"Are Alice's feelings always correct?" I asked.

"Mostly always," Bella said. "The only time her feelings are wrong is when one of us makes a split decision. Then it totally throws her off."

"Only when one of you makes a split decision?" I asked. That was interesting…

"Yep," she said, popping the P. "Otherwise, she'll know about it. It's actually pretty creepy sometimes. But she's never used her feelings to her advantage. Only to help other people." Bella's expression became one of sadness, and I wondered what kinds of things Alice helped with. But before I had time to ponder that thought, Bella suddenly smiled a little too brightly, like she was trying to hide her emotions. "So, where are you going to take her?"

"Well, she needs to say yes, first," I reminded her. She just laughed.

"If she said no, then what would be the point of Alice and Rosalie playing Barbie with her?" Bella asked, going into the little kitchen unit that was set up in that room. It was the only room with a kitchen unit, because it was for the customers who decided to spend more than the weekend at the park. And they had it because they would be spending 3 weeks here. My face broke out into a smile at that thought. I still had about 2 ½ weeks with her. Hopefully by the end of that time I could convince her to make our relationship more permanent…

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Bella handing me a glass of water. I took it, had a small sip, then put it on a coaster on a nearby coffee table. I could see water rings where previous customers—namely Lauren Mallory—had set down cups without coasters under them. I looked up to see Bella looking at me.

"Coaster?" she said with a pointed look.

"Yeah…" I said slowly. "I can't stand rings on the tables."

"Well, then you and Esme will get along famously," Bella responded softly. "She can't stand to see her furniture ruined. She loves decorating houses, and she does awesomely during the holidays. During Halloween, the dorms and the haunted house are the scariest you've ever seen. She does a really fantastic job."

"Yeah, I asked her to design some room for the castle," I told her. "We've been meaning to add on to the castle to make it a little larger, but our last contractor retired 3 months ago."

"What did she say?" Bella asked excitedly.

"She said she didn't know," I said, a little disappointed. "I'd hoped to see some of her designs, but she won't let me see them."

Bella looked like she was about to say something, but she was interrupted.

"Hello, Carlisle!" Alice said excitedly. "Are you ready to see her?"

I nodded, and then Rosalie came up behind Alice.

"Where are you taking her?" Rosalie asked.

"Rosalie, come on," I heard Esme's voice say. "I'm not a teenager going on her first date, and you're certainly not my father!" She came out of the bedroom, and I could only stare. She was absolutely gorgeous.

She turned to me, a beautiful smile lighting up her heart-shaped face. Her caramel-colored hair was piled up in an elegant twist atop her head. Her dress came down to her knees, had a shimmering belt that criss-crossed just under her bust—not that I was looking—had a sheer red slip underneath that was meant to be seen, and it was a dark-red color. She was so stunning, I nearly tripped on my way over to her.

"Wow, you look really very beautiful Esme," I stumbled out eventually, taking her hands in mine.

"Thank you, Carlisle," she said with a slight smile. "So, where are we going?"

"That, my dear, is a surprise," I said with a smile, offering her my arm. "Shall we?"

She looped her arm through my offered one, and we walked out the door. I turned back to the girls, and I saw that Alice and Bella were smiling. Rosalie had a ghost of a smile on her face, but at least she wasn't trying to kill me.

Yet.

Dun, dun, dun!! I'm just kidding, Rose isn't going to kill Carlisle! What kind of author would I be if I made Rosalie do that?

Anyways, I'm still taking votes for the next couple. Em/R or A/J? Come on, people, vote! So far, I've only gotten 10 votes all together! I know y'all can do better than that! And I won't tell you who won until I post that chapter!

BTW, I have a picture of Esme's dress on my profile if you want to check it out.