"Wait, I don't understand. What do you mean gift?" Carlisle asked, taking a step closer to Esme. feeling a bit protective of her.
"It is very clear to see that your wife is human, my dear cousin." Benjamin explains.
"Yes, it's true, there is no denying that, are you the one who turned me human?" Esme asked, feeling a small amount of relief hit her.
"Esme, Carlisle, please sit and let me explain." Benjamin says, gesturing to the couch.
Esme sat down on the sofa, with Carlisle sitting beside her on the arm of the sofa. They watched as Benjamin and Tia sit down across from them.
Benjamin looks up with a smile on his face. "Where shall I start?" he thought out loud. "After our brief meeting with the Volturi a few years ago, Amun was kind enough to let me live on my own, with the understanding I would be around for coven meetings and if we ever have to face the Volturi again. Tia and I were so grateful, so we found ourselves a little home a few towns away from here, and started wondering what good we could do." He started, looking over at Tia, love filling his eyes.
"We picked up on your lifestyle, of feeding on animals, we couldn't bare the thought of killing another human, especially after meeting Renesmee." Benjamin stopped briefly, only to look over towards the kitchen where he spotted Renesmee, doing her best to stay quiet, but listening.
"Come here, child" Benjamin said, causing Esme to look over at Renesmee, who was slowly making her way over towards this man.
Once she reached him, she placed her hand on his cheek, letting him know what was going through her mind.
Blinking a couple of times, Benjamin leaned forward a bit more, to make eye contact with her. "How could I have forgotten what a special child you really are. Your power has grown since the last time I saw you. You know more than I thought you would."
Esme and Carlisle look at each other, slightly confused.
After receiving a nod from Benjamin, Renesmee made her way over to Esme, who happily picked her up, for her to sit on her lap.
Benjamin cleared his throat as he continued. "As you know, I can control the elements. Water, fire, earth, air, and so on. A little while ago, I began to wonder if it was nature I was controlling and not just the elements in it. So one day, while I was out hunting, I started focusing on a deer. I was able to not only hear its heartbeat, but I could feel it. I could the blood flowing through its veins. I soon found that I could control them." He explained,
"Control? How?" Esme asked, unsure as to how this was related to her, but intrigued with the story.
"It started as something small. After concentrating on their blood flow, and heartbeat, I was able to interrupt their heartbeat. I could make their heart race, or slow down. I was able to change the flow of their blood. After studying this for awhile, I moved on to something bigger. Their muscles. I was able to make them walk and move anyway I wanted them to. The thrill of this was amazing." Benjamin got lost in thought, remembering when he first was able to make a deer walk across the field, who excited he was, to see what else he could do.
"Benjamin." Esme started, pulling him out of his thoughts and back to the present day. "While I am very happy and excited for you, that you were able to extend your powers, what does this have to do with me being human?" She asked, purposely leaving out the fact that she was pregnant.
"It has everything to do with you, my dear Esme." Benjamin vaguely said. Causing Carlisle to tense slightly. What does an animal walking around a field have to do with his now human and pregnant wife.
"Once I grew confident that I could move any animal without much thought, I wanted to challenge myself. I began to work on their anatomy, and began helping animals that were having trouble conceiving. I would focus on.." Benjamin took a small break to look and Renesmee.
"Let's just say, I would help animals conceive babies on their own." Benjamin unnecessarily breathed out.
"So you were able to help animals have babies and somehow that lead to my wife becoming human?" Carlisle asked, clearly annoyed with the lack of useful information he was receiving.
"Carlisle.." Esme said, placing her hand on his knee, hoping it would calm him for a moment. After watching him visibly reflex slightly, she gestured for Benjamin to continue.
"Once I realized I had this gift, the gift of a new life, I wanted to share it with whoever I could. I become a male midwife, and would help women who were trying to have a baby, but couldn't on their own." Benjamin explained, watching as all the answers played out in Esme's head.
"You...you.." Esme couldn't get the words out while holding back a sob.
"Don't beat me to the best part." Benjamin joked. "Once I was able to help out many women have babies of their, I still felt like I wasn't doing my part. One night Tia confessed to me the longing you have for a child of your own. I knew the love you have for each other and your adopted children, I wanted to give it a try." Benjamin finished, unable to make eye contact with them.
"Benjamin..did..are…" Esme couldn't stop the tears from running down her face. "Did you help me get pregnant?" She finally asked.
Looking up, Benjamin was met with a look he had seen a hundred times, but this one made his unbeating heart melt. The look of being grateful. " You..your not mad?" He asked.
"Mad? How could we be mad? You did us a wonderful thing. I will be forever in your debt." Esme explained, lifting Renesmee off of her lap and stood up to give him the biggest hug she could muster.
Once Esme released her grip and began wiping away more tears, Benjamin looked up to see Carlisle right next to them, leaning forward to give him a hug as well. "Next time, I only ask, you give us a warning." Carlisle said, half joking, half serious.
"Deal." Benjamin said.
"Can I ask you guys some questions?" Esme asked, taking her seat back on the sofa.
"Of course." Benjamin said.
"This might seem a bit of a weird question, but how were you able to turn me human, or human enough to have a baby?"
Benjamin chuckled slightly. "Well, I concentrated hard night, thinking of your still heart. I eventually was able to get it beating just long enough for the baby to be conceived. I have kept the baby alive while you were still a vampire, until I could figure out how to keep you human, without draining me entirely. I was able to do it just in time as well. I can hear the baby's heartbeat just as strong as your own Esme."
"Will she be like this forever?" Carlisle asked, worrying he will have to turn his wife back himself .
"Worry not, after the baby is born Esme will return to her vampire state." Benjamin said.
"What about the baby?" Esme asked, placing her hand on her stomach.
"Well, you will have a very normal pregnancy, and when you give birth, you will have a human baby." Benjamin said with a smile.
"Human? If this baby was conceived the same way Renesmee was, wouldn't that mean, they would be half vampire half human?" Carlisle asked.
"I never said that baby was conceived the same way your granddaughter was. All your parts were working as humans, only for a moment." Benjamin said with a devious grin on his face.
"Wait, how…"
"Why didn't you guys have your own?" Esme interrupted. "Tia and I talked for a long time, both of us wanted a child of our own, but knew the love we had for the people in our lives would be enough."
Tia and Benjamin gave each other a sad look. "We had a child, once" Tia finally spoke.
"What happened?" Carlisle asked.
"One of my very first clients who I helped get pregnant, well there were some complications." Benjamin explained.
"What do you mean?" Esme asked, placing her hand on top of her husbands, knowing he was thinking the worst would happen to Esme.
"Throughout her entire pregnancy, everything was going well. She ended up going into labor a little bit early, but no one thought anything of it. Soon after the baby was born, she started to bleed and we couldn't stop it. She was gone in a matter of minutes." Benjamin stated, knowing very well, if he could cry he would be.
"What happened to the baby?" Esme asked, her own tears filling her eyes.
"We took her in. Her mother was going to be a single mother, no father to be found. We couldn't bear to see her go into the system, so we adopted her. Her name is Gracie." Benjamin said, placing his hand in Tia's.
"Where is she now?"
"The Volturi found out that we had a human staying with us. Fearing we might turn her into an immortal child, they took her from us." He said, reliving the moment the Volturi came into their house, and taking Gracie from her crib sound asleep. The memory of a distraught Tia looking for their little girl, was killing him.
"We will see what we can do." Esme spoke.
"What do you mean, love?" Carlisle asked.
"I mean, we are going to look for Gracie. They deserve to know what happened to their child. They have given us the greatest gift of all, we should repay them by helping them." Esme said, already making up her mind that she would help in anyway that she can.
"That would be deeply appreciated." Tia spoke.
"No thanks will be necessary, you are apart of this family as much as this unborn child of ours, we are here for you. All we need is some information."