April 18th, 2023
Carlisle's POV
We had told the kids about the necklace. And surprisingly most of them were not all that excited. I guess with all the things our family had seen in our times, we had become numb to the supernatural. If anything, Alice had been the most enthused with the discovery, asking if she could use it to help solve the mysteries revolving around her memory loss of her early human life. Esme had said she could, but in due time, after she learned how to control it independently. But all the kids expressed interest in using it to see bits of the past that they missed.
It was eleven-thirty in the morning. All of the kids were at school, so the house was quiet. I had done the night shift Monday when we returned and was off for this morning. As I sat at my desk in my upstairs office, I could hear my wife humming to herself as she was down the hall in her art studio, painting away on a canvas. The distinctive scent of oil paints filled the air predominantly. She had been in there most of the morning.
Across my desk was papers upon papers of things I had to do, forms to fill out, and people I would have to call. I promised my wife I would do what I could to go through with exhuming her sons grave. But I had little knowledge on the subject and a lot of research to do.
I had been at it since the house had emptied at seven-thirty this morning.
Finally, I set my pen down, and sat back in my leather chair.
"Esme?" I asked, my voice soft, knowing she would hear me, "Can you come here love?"
A moment later I heard her setting her paintbrush and pallet down, and her soft footsteps padding down the hallway; the absence of heels clicking was noted. She appeared in the doorway of the office, a gentle smile on her face, hair tucked away in a loose ponytail. She was in leggings and a sweater dress, her shoeless feet covered with socks.
"Yes?" she asked, folding her hands in front of her stomach. Every time I summoned her to my office, she had this demeanor that made it look like she was worried or in trouble. I smiled softly and motioned for her to come closer. She stepped though the doorframe and came around my desk, and I let her settle onto my lap.
"It's some paperwork I need to go over with you," I told her, tucking a loose piece of her bangs behind her ear.
"About the baby?" she asked nervously. I nodded,
"Yes love. It's a lot more work than I thought. And I just wanted to go over it with you so you understand what would be happening if you do go through with this," I explained to her. She leaned closer to the papers I had spread across my desk. My computer had a spreadsheet of information I had compiled to reference as well.
"Ok..." she said and nodded. I gestured to the papers as I explained each bit to her one by one.
"So it's not as simple as just going there, and taking the casket out of the ground. The landowner and groundskeeper need to be there, as well as the funeral director to take the casket to be cremated. Also at least one police officer, and an Environmental Health Officer will have to be present," I told her. She nodded and nibbled nervously on her indestructible fingernails. "I'll need to file for a Disinterment Permit from the Department of Justice to have an exhumation done,"
I turned and looked at the notes of things I was still missing.
"Do you…still have the papers tucked away somewhere? Birth and death certificate, burial papers?" I asked her softly, hoping not to strike a nerve to hardly. She nodded numbly,
"They're in the attic, in the box," she said, and swallowed nervously, "I can go get it," she added and slipped off my lap.
"I can come if you need," I offered, and she paused, shaking her head.
"I'm fine. I'll only be a minute,"
True she was only a minute, but she looked fairly upset when she set the box down softly on the edge of my desk. I had seen it several times in moving but Esme had not opened it in front of me more than once. The box usually stayed in the attic or in the absence of an attic, under our bed to keep it safe.
She stared at it for a moment, sighed, and flipped the two locks, opening the trunk-like box. She was silent and moved slowly as she shuffled through the box and pulled out a large envelope with "Joseph" written in her own hand on the front. She set it on the polished oak desktop and slid it towards me.
I hesitated to take to envelope, but delicately opened the seal and carefully pulled out the century old papers and unfolded them. Esme took the open box and set it gently on the couch, before sitting back down on my lap.
"I'll take photocopies of these and give the originals back to you," I said, wrapping my arms around her. I had the certificates in my hands, looking over them. "We'll have to come up with something that deters suspicion, because I obviously can't apply in your name as a "parent of the deceased"," I explained, and she nodded. "At first I thought about saying we wanted to cremate and rebury the baby with "you"...in Columbus, but the officer oversees that it will happen so that wouldn't work," I continued. In Columbus where her parents were buried, was a headstone and empty grave for Esme that her parents had put there before they died. She had discovered it after her parents passed and we had gone to visit the cemetery.
"So what I came up with is this. We state that you are the only known living relative, say a second cousin or niece of the deceased, and you inherited the "ashes" of the child's mother and want them to be together. Because the grave your parents placed in Columbus is empty, I can fake the papers saying the body was found, cremated, and kept in the family, ending up with you," I continued to explain this story I had made up.
Esme seemed to understand what I was saying but she seemed saddened. I reached a hand up and caressed her cheek softly.
"Are you alright love? I can stop if it's too much," I asked and she snuggled up to me, resting her head against my shoulder.
"I'm ok… It's just… a lot of information to absorb at once," She say, her nose nuzzling my neck. I turned my head to kiss her forehead and gently pulled her hair free of its pony.
"If you think you can't do it sweetheart, you aren't legally required to be there," I told her, trying to give her a little ease. She shook her head violently and I heard her begin to cry softly. I lifted her head from my shoulder and cupped her cheek, running my thumb along her cheekbone, as if to wipe away the tears that wouldn't fall from her eyes.
"No…" she whimpered softly, "I-…I just," she stuttered a few times before trying to calm herself a little, "I was there when I put my baby in the ground, and I'll be damned if I'm not there when I take him out," she said, her voice shaking, wavering as she cupped a hand over her mouth to hold back the sobs. I hushed her soothingly, pulling her into a tight embrace in my lap.
"It's ok," I whispered softly, stroking her hair. She slowly calmed herself and lifted her head, reaching for the papers again.
"I'm ok," she sighed, wiping her eyes. A human and unnecessary habit she still did.
"Are you sure? We can deal with this another day, love," I assured her. She shook her head,
"The sooner we approach this, the closer I am to having my baby with me," She said, and swallowed hard, taking another deep breath, "I want to help…What do you need me to do?" She asked. I smiled weakly and kissed her shoulder softly.
"Pull up the other chair with me and I'll go through what I have for you to fill out," I told her gently and she nodded, leaving my lap again and crossing to room to fetch the smaller office chair that was at a second, smaller desk in the corner. She pulled it up beside me, leaning into me slightly.
"Where do we start?" she asked. I pulled a pen out of the cup holder, handing it to her, and sliding two small piles of papers in front of her.
"You can fill out the information on the application if you want," I offered and she nodded, "Remember it says at the top here to fill everything in block letters. And this pile is the guide if you need help with any sections," I added. She nodded again and set about filling out the questions and information. I turned to my computer, going about more research…
OoO
Esme sighed heavily when she finished filling in the papers.
"Done… I think," she said, putting her final signature on the last page, straightening the papers out and sliding them back to me. I shuffled through them, glancing over each one quickly and nodded.
"Yes, I think it's good," I told her, and slipped the papers into a fresh manila envelope, along with the photocopies of the papers Esme had given me, and I flipped the unsealed envelope over.
"What have you worked on?" She asked, leaning closer to look at more paper piles. I looked down at the papers as I was writing the Department of Justice's address on the envelope.
"Well, I'll mail this application to the Department of Justice, and hopefully in a few weeks we'll have our answer… But we can take the time to fill out the other forms and have them ready to send off as soon as we know," I explained to her, setting my completed envelope on the corner of my desk.
"Other forms?" She asked and I nodded slightly.
"The funeral director who will take care of the remains, once out of the ground, will need this form on hand," I said, sliding the new set of papers to her. She bit her lip nervously as she read over it.
"This is a lot," she said, and started slowly filling it out but paused after the first line, "Can you walk me through the whole process?" she asked me, looking at me. My eyes met her, and they were filled with many emotions. Fear, worry, concern, curiosity. I smiled softly, and pulled out a blank piece of paper, writing as I explained.
"Ok…Well earlier this morning I emailed a request to the landowner asking for permission to disinter a body on the site and sent him the information of who we are and which grave it is. I'm waiting for the reply. If we get a yes, they will fax me the approval, which I'll add to this envelope with the permit application and the copies of the papers you gave me. I'll send the envelope to the Department and in about 20 days we'll have a yes or no. If we get the permit which is good for 15 days, I'll then contact the funeral director in Ashland and send them a copy of the permit and this form you have here," I said as I lightly tapped the paper in front of her, "The funeral director will ask for the date of disinterment, and will contact for the groundskeeper and a local police officer to be at the site on that day. And the funeral director will take everything from there, requesting for an Environmental Health Officer to be sent to the site as well. All we have to do after that is show up," I finished my explanation. She swallowed hard again and ran her fingers through her hair, still looking like she had a million questions on her mind.
"What happens after, though? Once he's…dug up? Do I get to see?" she asked, and I turned to her, taking her hands in mine to keep her relaxed.
"After they take the vault with the casket out of the ground, the box they put everything in will be labelled and the funeral director will take it to his business to be cremated," I explained softly to her, "It's unlikely that they will open the vault in front of you, and certainly not the casket itself," I said, and she hung her head but nodded, "This form you're filling out will tell the funeral home whether you've chosen to rebury the ashes in the grave, or have the grave and headstone removed so someone else may use the plot. You can decide what's done with the headstone as well, if you'd like to have it moved, in the case of burying the remains elsewhere, or destroyed,"
She looked over at the papers she had forgotten about and then back at me.
"In a few days, usually one to two, the crematory will send you a box with the remains in it, along with the papers that need to be sent into the Department of Justice within 30 days so they know the task has been completed," I said and sat back in my chair, still holding her hands in mine.
She was quiet for a while before looking back up, so her eyes gazed into mine.
"Thank you," she whispered, barely holding herself together. I could hear it in her voice.
"Are you doing ok?" I asked and she nodded feebly.
"It's just hard, you know…" she said, biting her lip to hold in a sob, "Because for a century I've never had to think of his grave as anything but a resting spot of peace and a place to grieve. Now I feel like the dark, haunting reality of what's really under those four feet of dirt is creeping up my spine, " she choked out a sob, and her voice was becoming a bit frantic, "Just a rusted metal box with a disgusting rotten casket and-" she pulled her hands free of mine and covered her face letting out a cry of anguish, and then running her fingers over her face and through her hair, "God I feel like I'm having a nightmare," she said as she hid her face in her hands, resting her elbows on the desk, "What's wrong with me?" she asked, half crying, but she sounded frustrated.
I rolled my chair closer, allowing my hands to rest on her knees.
"It's ok to be upset or worried, Esme," I tried to calm her by running my hands softly on the top of her thighs, "But please don't be distressing yourself with thoughts like that," I hushed softly. She pulled her head out of her hands and looked at me. Her eyes were sad. I sighed and in one swift motion, closed my laptop, stood up, and scooped her up in my arms.
I was in our room in mere seconds, setting her gently on the bed.
"What are you doing?" she asked, wiping her eyes again. I brushed her hair gently out of her eyes as I sat down on the edge of the bed beside her.
"That's enough papers for now. It's clearly upsetting you," I told her, and she opened her mouth to speak but I pressed a finger to her lips, "I'll go back to it later," I assured her.
She nodded and with no warning she had her hands on my shoulders and swung a leg over me, straddling my lap. My hands involuntarily fell to her hips, holding her there. Her fingers trailed their way to my neck, and she leaned in, pressing her bodyweight onto me.
"Take my mind off it," she whispered near my ear before kissing the flesh on my neck softly. I swallowed the lump in my throat that was forming.
"Are you sure?" I whispered back, and she nodded against my skin. Her hips pressed into mine, and I felt a moan in my chest. She smirked against my neck and moved her lips across my jaw until they sealed with my own. I smiled into our kiss and slowly leaned back until my back was pressed against the comforter. She squirmed against me, her hands making work of the buttons on my shirt. I chuckled running my fingers through her hair as she kissed me.
"Touch me, please," she moaned, finishing the buttons and placing her lips on my bare skin.
"Esme," I tried to get her to relax and look at me. The door was still open, my legs were hanging off the bed, at the knees, and her lust had come out of nowhere. She was tense too, and her mine was clearly elsewhere, "Esme," I said a little firmer and she stopped, looking up, her hair half hiding her face as she was leaning over my chest. I gently rolled her off me and hovered over her.
"What…?" she asked, her voice wavering. I slid off the bed, and she sat up, confused, "Carlisle?" she said. I slid my unbuttoned shirt off my arms and tossed it onto the bench at the foot of the bed. I climbed back on the bed and relaxed into the pillows, propped up against the headboard. I grabbed her arms and pulled her back into my lap but cradled across rather than straddled.
"Slowly," I told her with a soft smile and gentle tone, fixing her hair again, tucking it behind her ears, "Just kiss me…and relax"
She smiled sweetly and leaned in, sealing our lips together again, kissing me softly but with passion. After a minute I could feel the tension in her body melting away as her tongue entangled with mine. When her lips fell from mine, they came to rest on the scars across my collar bone and neck. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back.
I could tell she had full calmed down when she snuggled into my chest. I tossed the throw blanket at the end of our bed over to two of us and laid there together in silence for the rest of the day.
My own mind was wandering, questions galore. I was thinking so many things at once it would have drove Edward insane. But most were around the peaceful woman I held in my arms, who had relaxed to a state of near sleep as she inhaled my scent and mindlessly traced nothing on my chest with her fingers.
How well would she fair with resurrecting even more memories; the hardest ones? Her baby…
AN: Sorry the kids finding out was anti climactic, but it's a Carlesme story and I like focusing around my main two people. Plus I do feel that the kids would be excited but not over reacting or fighting over who gets to use the necklaces power first.
