"Hold still!" Alice commanded. "I'm almost done."

Lily let out a sigh. Rosalie and Emmett had made the decision to travel to Brazil for a week or so, and Lily was left with Alice to help prepare her for the date she had with Carlisle. "I'm sorry. I didn't sleep well and I'm worn out."

Alice sighed. "He should've given you some time to rest."

"Alice, I agreed to this," Lily defended. "I want to spend time with him before things get too bad."

Alice said nothing. Lily could hear Embry playing the Ukelele downstairs, singing with Elsie about a volcano. It was Elsie's favorite song, and she had been thrilled to learn that Embry knew how to play it on the small instrument. Lily could practically picture her daughter dancing around and trying to get Claire to join her. The two small girls had become close friends, and Elsie had even requested to be homeschooled to spend more time with the older girl. Embry and Quil had promised that schoolwork would come first, and Elsie was intelligent enough to join Claire at her level despite the age difference. Lily was slowly growing on the idea of becoming a vampire and thought that homeschool would be best for Elsie whenever that happened. The woman didn't want to think too much about the future and what it meant for her and her daughter.

Lily blinked and looked at Alice through the mirror with wide eyes. Her voice was a whisper. "Alice."

Alice secured the last pin in Lily's hair before moving in front of her. She tilted her head to the side. "What is it?"

"I- I think I just saw something..." Lily murmured, mostly to herself.

Alice furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

Lily's voice didn't rise above a whisper. "I saw myself... only, I was different. I-I think I was like you. My skin was paler than usual, almost glowing, and my eyes were gold. Carlisle had his arm around me. We were sitting outside in white wooden chairs. I was wearing a baby blue dress and he was in a suit with a matching bowtie... Elsie and Embry were standing in front of us, facing each other. She was in the most beautiful white gown."

Alice smiled softly. "I think you had a vision. I'm a bit jealous. I can't see the wolves or Nessie. It's because I haven't been a wolf or half human like Nessie is."

Lily blinked, looking at the small woman. "A vision? How? Nothing like that has ever happened before."

Alice shrugged and turned around to lay out Lily's outfit on her bed. "How do I have visions? How can Jasper manipulate feelings? How does Edward read minds?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Lily said and stood. Her eyes were a bit wide. "Edward can read minds?"

Alice giggled. "Yes. But he doesn't share what he hears, and he's gotten quite good at tuning it out when he wants to."

Lily couldn't help but blush at some of the thoughts she'd had during her stay with the vampires. "That's embarrassing."

"Edward's good," Alice insisted. "He wouldn't tell anyone your thoughts unless he felt he had to. If you were to hurt yourself, for example."

Lily allowed the smaller woman to help her dress for her date with Carlisle. "You said Jasper can manipulate feelings?"

"He's an empath," Alice explained. "He can feel what those around him are feeling, and in turn control the emotional environment around him. Those days where you feel a strange calm that seems to come from elsewhere? That's Jasper."

"Does anyone else have any gifts?" Lily asked in curiosity.

Alice buttoned the single button behind Lily's neck. "Bella is a shield. Edward can't read her thoughts unless she lets him. She can also project it to others. Any kind of power that works through the mind is blocked."

"Wow," Lily whispered. She had never imagined anything like this would be possible, but then again she hadn't exactly believed in vampires a month ago.

"Okay," Alice said gleefully. She handed a tube of lipstick to Lily and clasped her hands together. "Put this on and look in the mirror."

Lily did as she was instructed and gasped. She couldn't recognize herself. The woman in the mirror was someone from a long time ago, when she had been in remission and flourishing as a doctor. She smiled to herself. "Thank you, Alice."

Alice beamed. "He's going to love it."

Lily blushed and shrugged into her peacoat. "I think I'm ready."

The two women made their way down the stairs together and Elsie squealed in delight when she saw her mother. The ukulele stopped as the girl became distracted. "You look so pretty, Momma! Like a princess… but wearing pants."

Lily giggled and hugged her daughter. "Thanks, baby."

"Dr. Carlisle will think so too," Elsie assured.

"That is very true," a new voice said from across the room, a tone of awe lacing through the words.

Lily looked up to see Carlisle standing in the doorway to the kitchen and blushed. "Thanks."

"Are you ready?" Carlisle asked politely.

Lily nodded. "Yes. Are you going to tell me where we are going?"

"Not yet," Carlisle answered with a smile. He held out an arm to her and Lily quickly crossed the room to link her arm through his.

"Have fun!" Alice chirped before dancing away.

"Embry," Lily said. "She needs to be in bed by seven if I'm not back."

"I know, Lil," Embry said with a genuine smile. "I'll make sure it happens."

"Even if she begs," Lily said with a raised eyebrow.

"Even if she begs," Embry promised.

"Good."

Once Carlisle knew Lily was ready, he led her outside to her car and opened the door for her. Lily spoke once they were on the road.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"There's a place I go to think," Carlisle answered. "My family and I were here for two weeks before I started at the hospital, and I didn't want my sorrow to affect them as much as it had been. I found a small clearing just outside town that helped me some. Edward likely thinks I took a page out of his book."

"It sounds beautiful," Lily said kindly, though she didn't know what he had meant by the last part. She glanced at the speedometer and noticed Carlisle was going way faster than he should have been but said nothing. She could practically hear his thoughts and feel his excitement about their date. "Is that why there's a picnic basket in the back seat?"

Carlisle smiled. "You're very observant. I thought you might be hungry."

"Thank you for considering that," Lily said genuinely. The rest of the ride was left in a comfortable silence.

"There's a short trail to get there," Carlisle began after parking the car. "I can carry you, if you wish. It will be faster and you won't have to exert yourself."

Lily thought a moment and nodded. "Sure. I suppose that would be a smart idea, considering the fact that getting out of bed is tiresome some days."

The couple exited the car and Carlisle gathered the picnic basket before walking around to Lily. "Would you mind holding this?"

Lily took the basket and let out a slight squeal when she was effortlessly lifted into Carlisle's cold arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck securely, the basket against his back and her face closer to his. "Is this okay?"

"Yes," Carlisle answered. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Now I want you to close your eyes."

"Okay," Lily whispered in excitement. She closed her eyes firmly. Merely a second later she felt as if she were flying through the air, Carlisle's secure arms still around her. The feeling was incredible, but she didn't dare open her eyes. The thought of watching all the trees whip past them made her feel slightly queasy, and she didn't want to chance actually being sick. Though she knew they were moving at an unprecedented speed, she was barely jostled from her spot in Carlisle's arms.

"You can open your eyes now," Carlisle said softly only seconds later.

Lily slowly opened her eyes, realizing he had stopped running, and looked around. The clearing was perhaps half the size of the soccer field she remembered from her high school. It was small and quaint, and she loved it immediately. Carlisle set the woman on her feet and took the basket, gesturing for her to go look around. Lily moved to the center of the clearing and smiled, loving the feeling of the sun on her skin. It took her a moment to realize that Carlisle was still standing in the shade. "Carlisle?"

"I don't want to frighten you," he said clearly. "You haven't truly seen me for what I am."

"I won't be scared," Lily promised. "And it would be difficult to be on a date with one of us way over there."

Carlisle couldn't help his chuckle at that. "Very well."

The vampire gracefully stepped forward and Lily blinked in surprise. Carlisle was quite literally sparkling, though at first Lily was sure he had burst into flames. The woman felt as if she could see diamonds, or perhaps something similar, imbedded over Carlisle's entire body- or what she could see of his skin, at least. It oddly complimented his blonde hair and gold eyes. The familiar feeling of the hair standing up on the back of her neck registered in the back of Lily's mind, but her conscious attention was on Carlisle's sparkling and glittering figure. The woman stumbled forward two steps before Carlisle was suddenly in front of her, holding her steady. Lily blinked. "Wow."

"I understand if this is too much for you," Carlisle said gently, as if worried about frightening her more. "We can leave if you like."

Lily shook her head fervently. "No. I want to stay."

Carlisle nodded. In two seconds, he had a blanket spread out in the middle of the clearing and had helped Lily to sit before it truly registered in her mind. She looked over to see Carlisle pulling food out of the basket. "Renesmee helped with the food."

"I'm sure it'll be great," Lily said.

The two spent the afternoon talking with one another and Lily occasionally stopped to simply admire Carlisle, tracing shapes on his hands and playing with his frozen fingers. Though a vampire, he was truly one of the gentlest souls she'd ever met. The couple exchanged stories of their childhood, their hopes, and dreams. Lily shyly mentioned she'd seen a picture of Esme in the bedside drawer when she'd been looking for the painkillers Leah had put in there. Carlisle had started to apologize before Lily cut him off and told him it was okay. She understood that he had lost the one woman he'd truly loved in his life. The conversation drifted to family, and Lily learned more about the Cullens than she had before. She found out about Renesmee's abilities and how Jasper and Alice had come to be with them. Overall, the afternoon turned to evening and the two of them only stopped talking when Lily let out a yawn. Carlisle carried her to the car with gentle arms and they'd kissed before starting the drive home. Lily fell asleep on the way, but only after insisting that Carlisle help remove the pins from her hair before he began driving.