Happy Tuesday, everyone! For those of you who mentioned that the last chapter was sort of getting away from Carlisle/Esme, you are absolutely right--my only excuse is that I'm rereading "New Moon" right now, so I've sort of been imagining happy moments for Edward and Bella before they separate...(I've only got about two hundred pages left, so maybe I can finish tonight and watch "Twilight" tomorrow! Oh, this week is so much fun...:)) This next one is rather sad, but hope you enjoy it and thanks for all your great reviews—they always make my day :)

Disclaimer: Stephenie MeyerONLYTWODAYSUNTILNEWMOON!!!

2005: Father

Carlisle's POV

After what seemed like hours of discussion, they'd reluctantly reached an agreement. Edward's mind was made up, and Alice unhappily reported that she saw them leaving Forks, so that was what they were going to do. Tonight they would pack, Carlisle would call the hospital and inform them of the nonexistent job he'd been offered in L.A., and this time tomorrow, they would be gone.

"Edward, are you certain that this is for the best?" Carlisle said quietly. He'd asked this question repeatedly since Edward had announced his intention to leave (and his desire that the rest of the family relocate as well), but Carlisle was uncomfortably aware that he was holding out hope of Edward altering his plans at the last minute.

But his face was set, though his eyes were miserable, as he shook his head upon hearing this thought. "Tomorrow I'm going to tell her," Edward said flatly. "And then I'm leaving. I need all of you to do the same."

"Fine," Rosalie said smugly. "We'll be happy to help you overcome this ridiculous obsession of yours."

"Rosalie," Esme said sharply. "Don't."

Rosalie fell silent, actually looking slightly chagrined. Carlisle squeezed Esme's hand gently; she was easily the gentlest person he knew, but Esme was without question a mother through and through, and when one of her children was suffering, she wasn't going to tolerate anyone making light of the situation.

"We'll go get ready then," Alice said softly, standing up and leaving without a backward glance at Edward. She'd come back to collect hers and Jasper's things for the move—he'd left town the day before, but would wait for Alice before heading up to Denali. Jasper felt guilty at being the unwitting catalyst for this situation, but Edward didn't blame him. If anything, he was grateful for Jasper's failed attack, in the sense that it had reminded him of the danger they posed to Bella.

Carlisle sighed—he shared Alice's unhappiness, and agreed with her opinion that Edward was making a mistake, but no one had been able to change his mind. Rosalie alone was happy that they were leaving, but with Esme still looking at her sternly, she left the room with Emmett without a word.

"I'll go get packed," Edward muttered. "After school tomorrow, I'll take Bella for a walk. I'll tell her then."

Now it was Carlisle who felt Esme putting pressure on his fingers, and he wondered if he looked as desperate as he felt. For so many years, Edward had been the only member of their family without a mate, and though he hadn't always enjoyed living in the midst of three happy couples, Carlisle knew he'd never really felt that his solitude was something unpleasant—he'd never experienced any other state of being. But now he'd known love—it had changed him, it showed on his face every time he smiled. Now he was giving that up, and his anguish was such that Carlisle didn't know what Edward was going to do. It was clear that he loved Bella enough to endure leaving her, and hurting her as a result, and he would very probably break his own heart in the process. But after tomorrow, when there was no clear course of action ahead of him, what would Edward do? After he'd left Esme, he remembered—

"Son—" Carlisle began quietly, but Edward had heard his thoughts and was already moving toward the stairs.

"It is not the same," they heard him whisper, his voice both despondent and defiant.

For a few moments, they stood together in the empty dining room, and then Esme moved to turn off the lights. Carlisle took her hand, and they moved up the stairs without speaking—around them, they could hear the sounds of their children swiftly gathering their belongings. Two moving trucks were coming in the morning, and everything would be ready, as it always was—decades of experience with moving at a moment's notice served them well.

No one was speaking much—they all felt sorry for Bella and Edward, and as a result, no one was going through the usual motions of at least pretending to be eager about a move. Carlisle suspected that even Rosalie pitied them deep down, somewhere beneath the layers of jealously and resentment she'd built up around her brother and the young human girl he'd grown to love in the past few months, but she would never admit it. If asked, Rosalie insisted that Edward was a fool for having ever put them in such danger, and Bella was at best an idiot and at worst suicidal for having anything to do with him. Carlisle wondered how much different Rose's reaction might have been had Bella been immortal; that at least would have removed her desperate desire for mortality from the equation.

"Rose is wrong," Carlisle murmured, shutting the bedroom door behind them as Esme began opening drawers and removing their contents. "Leaving isn't going to help Edward."

Esme looked at him, her expression sympathetic. "You're speaking from experience, aren't you?"

Carlisle ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "After knowing you for just a few hours, in ten years, I never forgot about you. Edward's far closer to Bella that I was to you when I left—I just wish I could convince him that he's making a mistake."

Esme moved away from the clothes she'd been dropping into a suitcase—her frantic packing revealed that she was as agitated as he was. "We can't alter his decision," she said, taking his hands. "But we can be there for him and try to help him as time goes on. Despite what Edward says, I don't believe that this is forever. It might be months, and it might be years before he returns to her, but he will come back—sooner rather than later, I hope."

Carlisle smiled faintly, but he still felt uneasy. "Now you're speaking from experience. It's certainly a reassuring thought, but it's also a bit provoking, knowing that this separation is both temporary and unnecessary."

"Why did you leave me?" Esme said gently, pulling him toward their bed until they were both seated on the edge.

Carlisle sighed. "Because it seemed like the necessary course of action at the time. I was afraid that I'd change you…that I was already half in love with you, and that I couldn't deny you anything, even if I told you the truth and you decided to give up your mortality for me. I told myself that you might be too young to understand what you were sacrificing, and that you'd have regrets when you began to see that this is really…forever. And for my part, I felt guilty simply contemplating taking your life away like that. So…I left."

"To protect me from you," Esme said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "That's what Edward feels he has to do too. He thinks that it's what's best for Bella, and though I wish he'd talk this through with her instead, he loves her so much that he'd rather live without her than risk her life again. Still, I suppose he can't help but think about what happened to me."

"He knows that in leaving, I almost lost you forever," Carlisle agreed, stroking her hair absently. "Edward's resigned to living without her, but I suppose I haven't made it easy for him by dwelling on the parallels between the two situations myself. It certainly seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but I'll always regret that you suffered so much for the choice I made."

"Your Edward's father, Carlisle. Of course you don't want him to have the same regrets you do, but he's right—Bella's situation isn't the same as mine was. For one thing, this is a completely different time—Charlie's not about to strong-arm Bella into marrying anyone. Besides, we need to keep reminding ourselves that it's Edward's choice. We'll just have to do our best to support him, come what may."

Carlisle smiled and kissed the top of her head. "You're right, of course. It's his life and his choice, and it won't help to worry about the ramifications of his actions now. That's something he'll have to discover for himself."

He had his arm around her, and Esme shifted slightly so she could look at him, her expression serious. "I don't blame you, you know. I never have, but you've always considered yourself one of the guilty parties in the outcome of my human life. That's what I'm afraid of for Edward—that he won't be able to forgive himself, and that it'll take that much longer to return to Bella, if he's afraid he's hurt her beyond reconciliation."

Carlisle hugged her tightly. "I'm very lucky that you still loved me when I found you again," he said. "It was more good fortune than I deserved."

Esme smiled. "Luck had nothing to do with it and you know it." Then her expression grew serious again. "I hope she can wait for him. Humans are so fragile, and there are so many accidents in this world…"

Carlisle almost shivered at the thought of Bella's death. "She'll be all right," he said instead. "She's a sensible young woman, and once we leave Forks, there'll be far fewer dangers in her immediate vicinity."

They both knew they should be packing, but for a long time, they lay down on the bed without speaking. This would be their last night here—Carlisle didn't like to think the word 'forever'—but for how long?

"I know she isn't my daughter," Esme said at last. "Not yet anyway. But I wish we could say goodbye, and that I could tell her everything's going to be all right."

Carlisle leaned his forehead against the top of her head, trying and failing to forget his worries as the familiar scent of her surrounded him. "Me too. Other than Edward himself, I think we all feel like this is a mistake, except perhaps for Rose, and I can understand her objections even if I don't agree with them. Alice especially is feeling this. She's been seeing herself gaining a sister for months, and now she's losing one."

Esme sighed. "I wish she wouldn't feel guilty about this happening—she can't see everything."

Carlisle didn't say anything, but he guessed they were both wondering the same thing: what was Alice going to see in store for Bella tomorrow? Or all the days after that, until she and Edward were back together and their family was whole again?

"We'll see her again," Carlisle said firmly, sounding more certain than he felt.

Esme smiled sadly and kissed him. "I dare say we're going to be telling each other that a lot in the months to come. Thank you for saying it, even though you're not sure."

"Thank you for trying to believe me," Carlisle said, embracing her again. "I know I'll be reassured the next time you tell me that same thing, even if it's years before—"

He stopped. Carlisle didn't want to think about years; he remembered the part of his life between the time he'd met Esme and the time he'd changed her as a lonely, unsettled period that had only improved when he'd found Edward. But really, there was nothing he could do to stop his son, nothing he could say that would make him any less determined to do what he thought he had to to keep Bella safe. Carlisle was no longer exasperated with Edward's resolve, or anxious to overcome it. He was resigned to the inevitable.

"Let's start packing," he whispered at last. They kissed one more time, and then they began to gather their things; by morning, they were ready to leave, and it wasn't even noon when Carlisle drove away from Forks, Esme beside him, both trying not to think about what their son was about to do.