"Mia's looking a lot better than when I last saw her," commented Emmett when Esme came downstairs after putting Amelia to bed. She had been exhausted, and was already asleep when Carlisle attached her IV antibiotics and feeds. It was somewhat of a relief to hear the oxygen concentrator whirring away on the third floor. The house had been too quiet without it when Amelia was in hospital.
"Yes she is, I suppose," murmured Carlisle as he also walked downstairs.
"She's sleeping," stated Esme, walking into the kitchen with the mug of cereal. Amelia had eaten most of it and Carlisle told Esme to just leave what she hadn't eaten. Amelia had eaten what she could and it was pointless arguing further with her.
"She'll wake up around noon," said Alice, "she'll be a little bit peckish but rather let her take care of it, Esme."
Esme nodded and went to put Amelia's bath towel in the drier. After she had bustled about and kept herself occupied for a while, she walked towards the living room. The Denalis had arrived home after their shopping trip. Blythe was walking into the house, and greeted Esme cheerfully as they met in the corridor.
"I got Mia some ice-cream," said Blythe, holding up a tub of the cold dairy refreshment, "mint chocolate. It's her favourite."
"Amelia likes ice cream?" she frowned. She didn't know Amelia even ate it, let alone her favourite flavour.
"Yip. She really dug into it last week at school when they served it in the cafeteria as a treat," replied Blythe, walking into the kitchen and opening up the freezer, "Jeez! How on earth is this thing packed? There's not an inch of space! Why do you have so much food, Esme? Mia doesn't eat that much!"
"Ever tried feeding a pack of wolves?" hummed Esme, following Blythe into the kitchen and holding out her hand for the ice cream, "mind out the way, hun. I need to figure out where to put this darn tub."
"You could just hold it all day long," called Emmett.
"Are you volunteering?" retorted Esme.
"Nah, I'm good thanks."
"That's what I thought."
One repacked freezer later, Esme and Blythe walked to the living room where the others were sitting. Alice had brought Amelia's birthday presents out so that she could finally open them. Amelia had not been in the best state of mind to unwrap them during her party. Practically everyone had retreated to the TV room to watch a film, except for Carlisle, who was waiting for Esme so that they could chat to Blythe.
"Blythe, do you mind if the three of us have a little chat?" asked Carlisle. Blythe nodded and they went to sit down on one of the couches.
"Is everything alright, Carlisle?" asked Blythe in concern. She racked her brain to think of something she had done wrong, but came up blank.
"Everything is fine, sweetheart. You haven't done anything wrong," promised Esme.
"Ok, that is a relief," said Blythe, sighing in obvious relief.
"We wanted to know what your plans are when the school exchange is over. You've been in Forks for nearly 3 weeks, so I imagine you have little more than a week left with us?"
"I have 13 days left. I will leave next Saturday, so I have two more weeks left of school, although I will not be going in on the last Friday because I need to pack up my things."
"We have a proposition for you. We were wondering if you'd like to move in with us," said Carlisle.
"For how long?" asked Blythe in surprise.
"Indefinitely. Esme and I consider you a daughter, and the kids think of you as a sister."
"We worry that you're going to be all alone," murmured Esme.
"I've been around for nearly 200 years, Esme. You really don't need to worry about me," she teased gently, "I'd really like to see more of you all in the future, Amelia in particular. Please do keep in touch if nothing else. I respectfully decline your offer for now, but I promise to give it some thought in the future."
"Our door is always open, Blythe," said Esme, giving the teenaged healer a hug.
"Thank you, both of you, for your hospitality. You have both been so generous."
"We should be thanking you, Blythe. You've saved Amelia twice this week alone."
"It was an absolute pleasure. I shudder to think what would have happened otherwise. Amelia is very special."
With that, the trio walked into the TV room to watch the film with the others.
Amelia awoke with a start at around noon. She'd had the strangest dream, and by strange, she meant downright weird. Her family, Blythe, the Denalis and the shapeshifter pack were standing at the edge of a cliff, a waterfall to the side. They seemed sad. Her mother was holding onto something. The pack disappeared behind the trees and returned a few moments later in their human form. Amelia couldn't understand why everyone was so sad. She could hear her family muttering something and the sun coming out from behind a cloud and the vampires sparkling. Wait a minute, they really did sparkle? Talk about looking like a walking disco-ball.
Then her mom and dad opened up whatever it was that Esme was cradling to her and tipped it, allowing the wind to carry the contents away. It looked like dirt. Why were her parents tipping dirt over a cliff? That made no sense. Was this some sort of weird vampire ritual? Speaking of, she really needed to speak to them about that. Wait a minute, was this going to be like that scene from The Big Lebowski when Walter scattered Donny's ashes and they blew onto The Dude?
Then the sun came out more and a rainbow formed and everyone seemed more at peace, albeit still sad, like they had lost someone close to them. Amelia half expected a unicorn or singing mice to appear out of the trees and serenade her family. Her imagination didn't disappoint, and she watched everyone be attacked and eaten by a giant squid.
Amelia blinked as she recalled the bizarreness of the dream. Darn, those meds were strong. She got out of bed, wincing as the various lines attached to the IV stand reminded her of their presence. She frowned and reached up to detach them from the IV stand, before putting on her slippers and walking slowly down the stairs, switching over concentrators when she reached the bottom. She peeked into the living room, no one. The noise she could hear from the TV room told her that that was where everyone was.
Amelia walked into the kitchen, coughing loudly as her lungs found yet another way to hinder her movement. She spied a hook near the sink and hung up her IVs and feeds there. She then opened up the fridge and stared at it for a little while, wondering what to have for lunch. She turned around, shut the door and walked to check the bread. It was fresh, excellent. She hunted around for the toaster and once she had pulled it out of the cupboard, she plugged it into the wall and popped two slices in. She then took out the butter, a knife and a plate and put the kettle on. It boiled quickly and she poured herself a cup of tea. She buttered the now toasted bread and wiped down the toaster.
She placed her plate on the kitchen island and moved her tea across, before taking the appropriate medication, grimacing as she quickly swallowed three Creon capsules, probably one of the most important medications she took. They provided her body with the enzymes that her pancreas failed to produce enough of to aid in food digestion. Failure to take these was not an option. Yay for Cystic Fibrosis.
"Did you sleep well?" a voice sounded. Amelia glanced up and smiled at Carlisle, who leaned against the doorframe.
"Yes thanks, Dad. I feel better having had a bath and nap."
"Glad to hear it. Did you take all your meds?" he queried, coming over to her and kissing the top of her head, before pulling up a chair next to her.
"Yes I did. Everything."
"Good girl," he smiled, watching her eat, "nice job with the hooks and your IVs."
"Gracias. As they say in Afrikaans, 'n boer maak 'n plan. It literally means a farmer makes a plan. Where there is a will, there is a way. Call it what you will," explained Amelia when she spied the confused look on her father's face. He nodded seriously. Amelia focused on her toast, staring at it for longer than was necessary, before picking it up and taking a bite.
"Is there something bothering you, Amelia?" he asked. Amelia glanced behind her in the direction of the TV room and shot her father a pleading look.
"Nothing Dad, just these meds are taking some getting used to," she said casually, taking another bite out of her toast and miming writing. Carlisle reached behind him and passed Amelia a pen and paper.
Chat later? Just the two of us? She wrote and passed him the paper. He read it and nodded. Amelia put her finger to her lips. He winked and tore up the paper, tossing it into the bin. Amelia sighed and leaned to the side, resting her head on Carlisle's shoulder. He responded by gently resting his head on top of hers. The pair sat that way for a little while.
"I love you, Dad," murmured Amelia, a million miles away, "I dreamed you were eaten by a giant squid."
"Well if that's not that the cutest proclamation of parental love then I don't know what is," muttered Carlisle sarcastically. The family packed out laughing, they had now moved into the living room so that Amelia could open her presents. Amelia snorted and groaned out loud when the action dislodged a piece of mucous, yanking her nasal cannula out before the mucous could block it up. Carlisle started laughing and handed his daughter a tissue, while she blew her nose and glared at him.
"You think it's funny? I'd love to say just wait when it happens to you but that's just a waste of my breath," she exclaimed in mock indignation.
"Mia, come and open your presents!" exclaimed Alice, dancing into the kitchen enthusiastically and dragging Amelia in the living room with her. Carlisle shook his head in amusement and trailed after his youngest daughters.
