Disclaimer:

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Morgan Locklear owns a Storm Trooper helmet. (Scout Trooper helmet to be more specific).

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Queen Elizabeth's Buttons

Fall swept into Manhattan like bats pumping their wings against a strong wind. Leaves on the ground flirted in tight little pairings as Atlantic air made the nights crisp and the mornings quiet.

October felt so real that it spilled from the rooftops and hid in the basements of the island's damp buildings. Fog was not uncommon, but that year it seemed to announce every morning like a rooster.

Rosalie knew that everyone had been focused on Bella and Edward's wedding but never felt rushed to coordinate her own. For one thing, she planned a very small ceremony with at most fifteen people in attendance. It was not going to be the spectacle she had always imagined as a young girl, but she was strangely comforted by the intimacy it promised.

Jacob had been delighted to allow his fiance to take control of everything, but requested that they somehow incorporate water into the wedding somehow. Rosalie had not objected but had also had not come up with anything by the time The Tempest closed. The final performance was a matinee and the cast party left the garden a mess but the stage was clean as a whistle.

Jacob and Rosalie played a game of chess at the party. It reminded them both of their trip to Versailles.

As they moved their playing pieces, the couple discussed several projects Rosalie had in mind, including putting the spring board into full production and pursuing the electric battery industry. Both were open minded but knew that they had to pick the most fulfilling and profitable endeavors.

She had over a dozen drawings from Alice already that showed her holding some strange contraptions and, in one case, a handsome young Benjamin sitting atop what looked like a miniature locomotive.

Jacob made a devilishly good move with his bishop but Rosalie had been leading him into a trap and took his piece while putting his King in check.

"Is there any way out of this?" Jacob asked while looking down at the large game board he stood on.

Rosalie studied his Knight and his King. His Queen had already been taken, which was the beginning of his downfall.

"There is one move that can get you away."

Jacob stepped his King out of immediate danger.

"That wasn't it." Rosalie put him in check again.

Jacob finally saw it, he had two more retreats and then it was over. He tipped his King over and eyed Esme who was walking nearby with a tray of food.

Rosalie followed his gaze. "There's something with caramel in it," she told him. "And little bundles of tuna wrapped in cabbage leaves."

"She still made truffles didn't she?" Jacob had a genuine look of concern on his face.

"They're cooling in the green room," Rosalie confirmed with a smirk. "We should actually go get them for her."

Jacob's eyes lit up.

"You can have...one," Rosalie instructed him.

The two of them spoke with a few actors before going on their way into the theatre. They asked Carlisle to convey the message to Esme that they had gone for the truffle tray.

While in the elevator, Rosalie told Jacob that she was having trouble coming up with a way to include water in their wedding without it looking out of place.

"I know that it's significant to you," she said as her small hand crept into his large warm paw. "And I know that you don't even know why yet, but the wedding must have a certain flow."

Jacob snickered at the unintentional pun but recovered quickly enough to open the elevator door for her when the machine lowered them to the lobby level.

As they strolled through the large room, Rosalie couldn't help but think back to the last time she had been there, not an hour before. The main floor, as well as both mezzanines, had been filled with friendly faces and clapping hands while Edward drew their attention to the artist behind what was the most creative advertising campaign the city had ever seen.

Emmett did not know that he was a celebrity, but Edward suspected it on opening night when their unknown theatre produced a well known Shakespeare play to a sellout audience. Excitement had only grown each weekend of the run.

Emmett had captured the city's attention, so that all Edward had to do was raise his voice from the highly visible front door area and introduce Emmett McCarty to the crowd. They knew exactly who he was.

Rosalie and Jacob had been exiting their private box on the second level where they had watched the entire play with their fingers laced together in the dark.

The room was a riot of noise and she had remembered worrying about her baby brother even though he had initiated the uproar.

Now as they walked into the auditorium, it was silent, reverent. Jacob had been thinking about the wedding.

"Can we be baptized together?" he inquired at last.

Rosalie liked the idea but was unsure of protocol.

They took up the truffles and the next day Rosalie posed the question to Father Steven, a humor filled middle aged fellow with a square brown beard and no problems conducting a wedding on a Tuesday night.

He told her that even though she had already been baptized in a good Catholic Parisian household, she was welcome to recommit her service to God and accompany Jacob in a baptism before they recited their vows.

Rosalie chose vows from the Common Book of Prayer. Where she loved extravagance in presentation, she preferred simple and succinctness in all things administrative.

As a result, she was going to drape lace over each pew despite the exclusivity of the event, and despite the fact that it was going to last exactly five minutes longer than the Minister's opening remarks.

Jacob smiled his way through the planning stage and was a diligent worker during what was called "Toot Sweet Week" by all the girls. Each of them was given a very difficult task the week ending on Saturday,October 29th. Alice was in charge of getting all the men outfitted in matching wool suits that would give them the old fashioned look Rosalie wanted.

She had already finished with Rosalie's dress, which was a chore in and of itself. She made the gown with Egyptian cotton and had gotten quite good with the sewing machine she had gotten for Christmas the year before. Not only was the dress beautiful, but it was a downright sturdy little thing.

The slender dress was champagne in color and Rosalie resembled a golden statue in a Versailles Palace fountain when she tried it on for the first time.

Bella was in charge of candles and flowers. She chose, with Rosalie's blessing, tall skinny white tapers and big seasonal Bachelor's buttons. They were big round blue flowers that had enough height to make for lovely arrangements when mixed with tiny white foxgloves.

Esme was in charge of the reception, which would be a nice dinner for just the few guests. Rosalie liked the Idea of hosting the meal in the theatre but did not want it to be yet another get together in the garden.

Esme suggested one of the large resident wings instead. One night when Rosalie could not sleep, she watched Jacob for a bit before going up to the top floor of the tower where she stood above the ever stirring city.

Jacob had decided to build Redwood furniture for the nursery but would not have the room ready until well after Christmas. The room was still big and bare, with the exception of the square grand piano.

Rosalie pictured all of them dancing on top of the city while her brother played songs on the instrument and knew that she wanted to throw a party in the lookout before it was employed to shelter their son.

She told Esme, Alice and Bella about her idea and all four women spent an hour up there deciding where they would have the men move tables and chairs to.

Alice also suggested window treatments.

"You are far too busy for that," Rosalie determined. "I know you need help with the pew dressings as it is."

"I was going to lend a hand with this room," Bella volunteered. "I think I could use them to dress the pews in Trinity as well, if you don't mind."

"That would be wonderful," Rosalie said. "It would be a nice connection between the two, but all the more reason not to add window treatments."

"Nonsense," Alice replied cheerily. "All I have to do is make one and ask Emmett to copy it a dozen times."

The statement took mother and daughter by surprise. "Emmett sews?" Rosalie's voice was high with humor.

"He got tired of waiting for Bella to get done with the typewriter the other night and I told him to play with my sewing machine instead. He took to it like a duck to water."

"That's so adorable," Esme smiled with her hands clutched to her chest. "How is his work?"

"He was a surgeon," Alice pointed out. "He was is twice as good as me. Works fast too."

They all laughed. Bella knew that she had been hogging the typewriter to write her story about a crime solving woman named Rosalie, but had no idea that she had driven Emmett to such pursuits.

"Alright, then," Rosalie said. "See if he'll do it."

"He'll do it," Esme predicted. "Emmett's a good boy."

On the morning of November 1st, Jacob woke up to an empty bed. His bride-to-be rose early to observe the tradition that he not observe her until the moment she was presented at the top of the church aisle.

Rosalie was in the south residence wing. Jasper was relegated to Edward and Bella's room, and Bella was over with Alice and Rosalie.

Esme was on her way from their house located next to Central Park. Carlisle had been instructed to rise early and drive her into mid-town by seven o'clock and he was ten minutes early.

Jacob looked at the irregular shapes made by the sun's light as it sprayed the walls through windows that circled the room like a halo. He could hear nothing, not even his heartbeat. And that, he knew, would still take some getting used to.

He nearly had a panic attack the first time he realized that he couldn't hear the rhythm that had accompanied him for almost half a millennium. Now, he was in the habit of putting his hand to his chest to feel the movement beneath.

Jacob did enjoy sleeping and he never remembered his dreams. He liked that too. When he sat up that autumn morning, the sheets fell from his chest and the cool morning air that stirred in such a stone building brushed against the tender new skin that grew on his back.

His door shook with a powerful knock mere seconds before it was opened by Emmett, who strolled in with a smile almost as wide as the bundle of fabric he was carrying.

"Twelve hours of freedom left!" He announced as Jacob rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Good morning, Emmett. Have you been given your marching orders?"

Emmett sat on the bed while his friend rose and began putting his clothes on. "Alice said that Rosalie said that we need to hang these window treatments..." Emmett set the lacy fabric down next to him. "Then we need to bring up five tables and fifteen chairs from the lounge."

"Hold on!" They both heard Edward's voice spring up from the stone spiral staircase. A moment later, he appeared with a round bistro table held out in front of him like a wet dog. It was the only way he could get it up the stairs without scraping it on anything.

"I'll take care of the tables and chairs." Edward was moving so fast that he delivered his sentence from three different rooms.

"Thank you," Jacob called up.

"Just keep everything away from the windows for the time being please," Emmett instructed.

Edward stopped in Jacob's room to confirm that he had heard Emmett's request and to shake the hand of the man who would marry his sister. "I'll keep everything in the middle of the room and then I'll give you two gents a hand." He was gone in a wink.

Emmett left Jacob to his morning duties and climbed up to the lookout. He began by hanging a ruffled and hemmed valence above an east window. He stood on the sturdy square stool that spent most of its time hiding under the oblong piano and affixed the fabric to the stone walls by using tacky balls of light gray putty. Rosalie had given them to Emmett with the boast that the material would hold up to four pounds.

Edward brought up the rest of the tables and was starting on the chairs by the time Jacob stepped into the room. He immediately identified the putty as Strong Seeds.

"Is that what she calls them?" Emmett asked.

"It's what I call them," he said as he picked up one of the many little globes Emmett had set on the piano.

"Rosalie wants to call them Sticky Balls, but I think you can understand why that won't work."

Edward came into the room chuckling. "Bella said that Rosalie ran the name by her and she laughed so hard her hair bun fell out."

"You can't deny it has a nice ring to it," Emmett commented. "Sticky Balls, the name might...stick."

It was not very long before the three of them were arranging the tables and chairs beneath the newly dressed windows and Emmett fussed with a loose thread on one of the treatments as they all went back downstairs.

Bella met them in Jacob's bedroom and informed them that Rosalie had taken up residence in the gigantic bathroom below. "You'll have to use the elevator," she told them unapologetically. She flashed Edward a smile before returning to the murmur below her.

Emmett smiled. He rather liked the elevator and could not believe that he was once frightened to ride in it. He led his friends to the corner room and pressed the call button.

The elevator carried Alice, who was looking for Jasper.

"We haven't seen him," Edward told her. He then closed his eyes and listened for his friend. "He's with Carlisle...on stage...where you told them to wait for you."

Alice smiled with her whole body, dancing a like a happy child. "What good boys!" She then eyed the trio of men. "And where are you all going?"

"We were just..." Edward began.

"Come with me," Alice ordered as she stepped back into the elevator. "We might as well get all your final fittings done at once."

Within six minutes, Alice was sitting in a wooden chair on the stage with a straight pin in her mouth and five men in various stages of undress all around her.

She was professional of course, but her situation did not go unnoticed and her spicy imagination gave her great mental pulp which she hurriedly and repeatedly hid from Edward.

She was always too late. Edward was treated to a parade of scenarios that would make a Navy man blush and received quite an education from the adventurous young lady.

It was a strange thrill being naked on stage. Edward knew that at times there would be almost a thousand souls in the auditorium, but hopping in and out of trousers with a few friends on his sister's wedding day seemed like the natural thing to do.

Occasionally, one of them would nearly topple over while pulling on his pants, breaking any notion of grace or poetry to their movements, or their conversation for that matter.

"Did you guys see that dead bird stuck in the telephone wires on Ninth and Nineteenth?" Jasper asked the group. Alice did not answer, she had been with him and had unfortunately seen far more of it than she had ever cared for. What she did not see was the reason to discuss it further, but Jasper was a macabre being and that's what she liked about him.

"I heard it happen," Edward said. "Well, I heard people reacting to it. I was on Seventh and Twenty Fifth. By the time I got there, it was over but still sizzling."

"That's going to start a fire someday," Carlisle observed. "They will need to insulate those lines or better yet, bury them. Run them along the subway tracks as they dig."

Edward thought it was a brilliant idea and wondered if he would ever see it happen.

"Why do we have buttons on our sleeves?" Emmett asked as he examined two small black adornments to each jacket cuff.

"They're Queen Elizabeth's buttons," Alice replied.

Jasper gave her a quizzical look that was funny alone, but coupled with the fact that he was wearing only black socks made her sputter laughter.

"I'm glad she didn't laugh like that when I was undressed," Edward muttered, earning the first real round of laughter for the large empty room.

Jasper, to his credit, and Alice's delight, remained in his exposed state until he located his entire outfit including his tie, which he put on first.

Alice told them her favorite of many stories she knew about her personal hero Queen Elizabeth I. "Queen Elizabeth was a no nonsense woman," she began. "She was painfully aware that half the country did not want her on the throne and to make matters worse, she was a woman, an unwed woman. She became one of the most beloved monarchs by the time she died of course, but she made her mark on men's fashion very early on."

Alice had found some lovely ebony buttons and was replacing the last one on Jacob's shirt. "She noticed that men on the street were constantly wiping their noses on their sleeves. Even at court she would have to witness all manor of stiff sleeved slobs use their clothing like handkerchiefs, which apparently, no one in bloody England owned at that time. Finally, she had had enough, some Duke of sorts insisted on kissing her ring, like the Pope for God's sake, and his damp sleeve came into contact with her arm. She put many seamstresses to work sewing jackets required for all men to wear at court. They were fine warm garments made in many different colors and sizes, and each one had a row of buttons up the sleeve so the men had nothing to wipe their noses on."

All the men had stopped moving, staring at the storyteller in disbelief.

Alice looked around. "It's true. We've simply continued the tradition because it weighs the sleeve down nicely and looks good."

Emmett dropped his shoes to the stage floor. His mouth was open. "That," he said slowly and earnestly, "is the most fascinating thing I have ever heard in my entire life."

Rosalie had finally gotten a chance to see a mechanical carriage up close and although she appreciated the concept, she preferred to be out of the weather. She enjoyed the comfort of the glass top chariot that took her to her groom on the evening of November 1st.

Since Jacob was not allowed to see Rosalie before the wedding beforehand, the wedding party traveled to the church in two groups. Edward drove the horses both times, sharing an easy relationship with the young Geldings.

Montgomery was smart and Edward told him so. He also taught him several tricks including balancing an apple on one raised knee before eating it.

The men arrived at the church first and they brought the flowers and candles with them. Bella had given Edward explicit instructions on how to display everything before deciding to go to the church with the first group.

Alice had also decided that it would be best if she got there early, thereby giving Rosalie and her mother some privacy when they made the trip over to Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

"Are you nervous?" Esme asked.

"No, I'm excited actually."

"Where is he taking you on your honeymoon?"

"He won't say, but he told me to pack for cold weather."

Esme nodded her head. "Edward is taking you both to the train station at midnight. He told me last night."

"I knew that too," Rosalie replied. "And I know we're getting off later in Vermont, but I have a feeling that there's more to it than that."

"There always is with men like him. He's just like your father."

"Oh mother, that's disgusting!" Rosalie turned to her mother in shock.

"Relax dear," Esme said while swatting at her chuckle in hopes that it would go away faster. "There is nothing wrong with choosing a man who embodies the same characteristics of your loving and romantic father."

Rosalie sulked. She understood her mother's point but the observation was untimely at worst.

Esme changed the subject. "Will you need me to take care of anything while you're away?"

"Everything is taken care of as far as the business goes. Garrett is going to set up a few meetings with some metal smiths and Edward is going to watch the mail for a return letter from Thomas Edison. He and Jacob have apparently been collaborating again. Just worry about Bella's wedding and I will be back in time to do my part. Jacob promised."

"As a matter of fact, he promised me specifically that you two would be back for Thanksgiving dinner."

"Is that right?"

"Oh, yes," Esme answered. "I am hosting it in my own house and it's about time. I will be having you all over in about three weeks' time."

"We'll be there."

The stars were bright but the city was brighter and Edward enjoyed the ride. The evening breeze pushed his hair from his forehead.

He saw Carlisle waiting next to the church and pulled up just as the bell began ringing.

"Nice touch," Edward remarked.

Carlisle smiled as he lowered the back door for the ladies.

"Oh, they're ringing the bell," Esme spoke with excitement.

"Are you ready?" Carlisle asked his lovely daughter.

Rosalie responded by quietly placing the delicate veil on her head.

Saint Patrick's was brighter than Notre Dame, even at night. It was a warm and open sanctuary with very round arches that made the ceiling appear like ornate caves.

Jacob stood much taller than the two men next to him. He, Edward and Jasper stood at the bottom of the wide steps that led up to the altar.

Rosalie, Bella and Alice, came into the candlelit room like butterflies. There was no sound and then suddenly, there they were; three delicate and beautiful things. They were tiny at a distance and the wonder in Jacob's eyes turned the heads of those gathered to witness and celebrate the event.

Boston, Lawrence and Sean were on one side of the aisle, each sporting a pocket watch bigger than the one next to it. On the other side, the rest of the friendly vampires were focused on less pedestrian accessories. They were among the newly converted to the suspender-less breeches and would be the first to remove their jackets at that night's reception to show off how nicely their shirts bloused.

Father Steven stepped out just as the organ began playing a selection from Handel's Water Suite. It was something Bella had suggested as a perfect processional when she found out that the ceremony would include a baptismal.

The piece itself was called Air and it rang through the eternal sanctuary like a hymn.

Carlisle and Rosalie were at the head of the line instead of the back. They walked with practiced deliverance but, per his daughter's request, did not dilly dally either. They made it up the aisle in a respectable time and the bride couldn't take her eyes off of the groom.

Likewise, Jacob was transfixed by his approaching love. He loved how all of her hair had been swept up and tied with what looked to him like flowers, lilies. Her neck was sleek, feminine, and lightly brushed with lightly blushed skin.

Her champagne dress cascaded all the way to the floor and made Rosalie look like she was gliding up the aisle with the guidance of her father, who was dressed in a black evening jacket with short tails, matching crisp black trousers, also suspender-less, and shoes as shiny as a puddle of water on a sunny day.

They walked all the way up to the men and Emmett, who had been escorting the mother of the bride up the aisle, sat them both next to a space left by Boston. Bella and Alice took their place opposite the men and Father Steven spoke.

"We are gathered here tonight in this holy place to witness the union of this man and this woman. They have professed their eternal love for each other and wish to be legally bound, sharing in all of life's future surprises." He took a moment to regard the couple before him. Jacob was eager and focused, his hair was still quite short but thick and dark. Rosalie was smiling and calm, her cheeks were red and her eyes were wet.

"The two of you have come to this church seeking not only God's blessing on your marriage, but in your lives, so we will begin with the sacrament of baptism."

Jacob was first and Father Steven led him to a large brass basin that sat in front of the altar. The priest instructed Jacob to lean forward over the basin until he could see his entire reflection in the water.

Jacob looked into the deep mirror as Father Steven read from the Book of John.

"Jesus answered and said to him: Amen, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him: How can a man be born when he is old? Jesus answered: Amen, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."

The priest then used his own hands to scoop water up and released it over Jacob's head several times. His image became distorted but the first drops to disturb the water had come from Jacob's eyes. He was, after all, recently born again in a real way and wished to live a virtuous human life.

Jacob was given a towel as Alice helped Rosalie remove her veil.

She leaned over the water, just as Jacob had done. Father Steven had not known about her pregnancy, and she would not be showing for another month, but his choice of Bible verses was hauntingly appropriate as he read from the Book of Acts.

"But Peter said to them: Do penance: and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call."

Again, he used his hands to scoop up holy water and it found its way back to the basin through the hair and spirit of the woman standing over it.

She was given a towel as well and fussed with her hair for only a minute before looking expectantly at the priest.

He began the vow exchange by asking the couple to face one another and take hands. Then he asked Jacob to repeat his words. His promise to her was made with an increasingly thick voice.

"I, Jacob, take you Rosalie, to be my wife, and in doing so, commit my life to you, encompassing all sorrows and joys, all hardships and triumphs, all the experiences of life; a commitment made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and eternally made new."

Jacob was just happy to make it all the way through without crying.

Jasper leaned over to Edward and whispered. "They ask the groom first in case he tries to make a run for it."

Emmett chuckled from his pew.

Father Steven then asked Rosalie to repeat the words and she did so with a power and commitment that impressed those present.

"I, Rosalie, take you Jacob, to be my husband, and in doing so, commit my life to you, encompassing all sorrows and joys, all hardships and triumphs, all the experiences of life; a commitment made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and eternally made new."

The ring portion of the ceremony went quickly and they were reminded by Father Steven that the reason wedding rings were worn on the left hand was because the heart pumped blood to the left arm first. Furthermore, the priest informed them, the biggest vein in the hand ended just below the ring finger. This meant that a wedding ring was as close to the human heart as it could get.

When Jacob was invited to kiss his new bride, he swept her into his arms and kissed her so long that Father Steven finally cleared his throat. When they split apart he announced them as lawfully wed and challenged any but God to say otherwise.

He presented them as Jacob and Rosalie Black and the applause filled the church tremendously, considering that there were so few people in the vast bright chamber.

When the organist began playing Air, once again, Edward glanced up as he took Bella's arm and led her down the aisle. The orchid pink sound waves were actually appeared more like bubbles that sprang from the silver pipes.

Edward caught his sister's eye as she passed him, she looked right at him actually, and he did not have to read her mind to know that she was happier than she had ever been.

Father Steven was invited to the reception and surprised everyone by agreeing to attend. It was already understood that blood would be consumed privately anytime human visitors came to the theatre. Even in a flask, as Jasper had suggested, the bright red lips were a dead giveaway.

Emmett wore a top hat that was ringed with the same material as the window dressings he made. All the men looked wonderful in their evening jackets but the women had all chosen very modern dresses that showed off their curves as well as their skin.

Esme, the oldest in human years, was so stunning that she could have been the one tossing the bouquet, underhanded, directly to Bella.

Carlisle knew how beautiful his wife looked and kissed her by the piano when he got a moment.

Edward was playing something original, it sounded like happiness and when Bella sat down next to him, minds and fingers worked together to compose and then immediately expose every nuance of the organic music.

Jacob started dancing with Rosalie and everyone, including the occasional glance from either Edward or Bella, watched them share the first of what would certainly be a thousand dances together as husband and wife.

As Edward and Bella grew more in tune with each other's playing, the song grew into something more complicated and before long it became a spectacle that even the musically disinclined, like Sam and Lawrence, gaped at.

They ended together and graciously accepted the applause of their friends and family, but Bella rose from the bench and did not play again with Edward that night. It was not their intention to detract from the elevated celebration.

They would surely pursue the newly discovered product of their mutual skill and mental connection. Edward was particularly excited and kept telling Bella mentally all the different things he had learned just in the short time playing with her like that.

He even cursed himself for not having done it sooner during his entire rendition of Robert Schumann's Carnival.

"So, are you ever going to tell us where you are taking Rosalie on your honeymoon?" Emmett asked loudly after Edward had finished playing and after offering the newlyweds some sliced strawberry and provolone on crisp dark crackers.

Jacob looked at Rosalie.

"I would love to find out," she stated. "But if it spoils your surprise..."

"Your surprise," Jacob corrected gently. "And if you want to know now, I would be happy to tell you."

"Yes!" Alice answered for her. "She wants to know!"

Jacob chuckled with the rest of the group. "There is an island on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain called Knight Island and we will be spending our time there."

"Will we be taking a boat or a sled?" Rosalie wondered if the lake would be frozen over.

Jacob's laugh filled the room like thunder. "We will be taking a train," was the only answer she received.

The round room above the city was filled with love and happiness that night, and was thereby christened well as a place where an infant should form his first dreams.

Carlisle and Esme ended their evening out in the garden while nearly everyone else accompanied Jacob and Rosalie to the train station at midnight. They hooted and hollered so much that the human couple could hear them from the west facing swing.

"He's going to take good care of her," Carlisle murmured.

"Yes, he is," Esme answered, almost sleepily. She was nuzzled under her soul mate's arm. "He's going to take good care of both of them."

"Thank God we don't have to anymore," Carlisle joked.

Esme responded wisely. "I have a feeling that our job is just beginning."

He was horrified at first but soon a smile settled on his face. He would hate to miss out on seeing his grandchild grow up.

"One down..one to go," he said after a while.

Carlisle and Esme fell asleep in each other's arms, and when Bella and Edward discovered them a while later, they used their own bedspread to cover the loving couple.

New York City held them like that until the sun rose and a river breeze tickled their eyelids.

NOTES:

I would like to thank Ishouldntbehere once again for her heard work, serving as my last line of defense before I post. You wouldn't believe the goofy stuff she catches.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you on the US East coast this weekend. I hope your power stayed on long enough to get to this note.

MOG