Esme awoke to the sun stream in to her and Carlisle's bedroom. Rolling over onto her back she could feel what felt like paper rub against her leg. Sitting up she realized she had fallen asleep while reading about Gracie. Tears started to form in her eyes as she thought about it. Not wanted to start her day off crying, Esme decided to get out of being and head downstairs to hang out with her family.
On her way downstairs she could hear her family moving around the kitchen, she got a small tingle sensation on the back of her neck . She learned when ever she got that, they were speaking at a volume only vampires could hear.
Upon entering the kitchen, she was met with the dining room table covered in all types of foods. She could eggs cooked in many different ways, bagels, a bunch of fruit and so many other foods, her senses were having a hard time keeping track.
"What in the world.." Esme whispered before turning and meeting her family's gaze. "What have you guys been doing?" she asked, but couldn't help but smile.
"Well, we notice that you have been eating pretty plainly and we want you and the baby to be healthy, so we planned on making you a healthy breakfast." Alice said, stepping forward with a cup of orange juice in her hands, handing it to Esme who took it gladly.
"Well I know I have been eating a lot lately but there is enough here to feed the entire town." Esme chuckled slightly, looking around and spotting more food on the counters.
"No one could settle on what to make you, so we decided to make it into a competition." Emmett proudly.
"Okay, how about I take a bite of everything, but please no one get offended if I don't finish your meal, there is just way too much food here." Esme said, beaming with joy that her kids are acting like kids, and not 100 year old vampires.
Making her rounds, Esme ate more pancakes, bananas, sausages, bagels, and eggs than she ever thought possible. Her kids really went all out.
"Alright mom, last one!" Emmett said handing her a plate with fried gets, homemade hash-browns and some fruit.
Taking a bite of the fruit and the hash-browns was delicious has she expected. When she cute open the eggs, she realized with were runny. When she took a bit and say the yolk slimming out of the egg, Esme quickly stood up from her chair and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
When she emerged from the bathroom, after losing the breakfast her kids made for her, she was me with 7 pairs of eyes looking at her, all with concerned expressions. "I am very sorry, I promise it wasn't your cooking, just watching the egg...move, made me not feel so great." Esme confessed, slightly embarrassed, and feeling guilty.
"Her cheeks do go red." Emmett boomed, causing Esme to cover one of her cheeks,
"Carlisle has a hard time keeping his thoughts to himself." Edward confessed stepping towards Esme who chuckled slightly.
"Oh, well that would explain it. Speaking of, where is you father?" Esme asked, making her way back over to the table, sitting down, noticing the plate had already been moved.
"He got a call from the hospital, something about a car crash." Rosalie said.
"Oh, okay, what does everyone have planned today?"
"Someone has some school work to get down." Bella said, looking down at Nessie, who was making a funny face.
"What subject are you learning today?" Esme asked.
"Math." Nessie said, her disapproving face, showing more.
"Well if you need help, feel free to come up to your Grandfather's study, I will be up there today working on my own project." Esme said, standing up. "Speaking of, I should shower and get my day started. The same message goes for any of you, if you need me I will up in the office."
After showering and putting on some clothes, she realized that she was wearing some of her new maternity clothes. Her belly was starting to become more noticeable, reminding her she was now 11 weeks pregnant. Looking in the mirror for a moment, brought back memories of her little boy. The clothes she use to wear when she was pregnant with him.
Realizing she was tearing up, she wiped her face with the back of her hand and made her way over to her bed and grabbed the papers that she was reading the night before about Gracie and heading for the office.
Once she had settled into the chair, she began to read the letter that Tia wrote her.
Dear Esme,
I am very sorry I cannot be there and tell you this story in person, but it's too much to speak out loud. I will write you everything I can think of, if you have any questions, I will be available to answer them, the best I can, but for now, here is the story of my daughter.
As you know, after the stand down with the Volturi, Benjamin and I decided to find a place of our own. We found a lovely little home, that was perfect for us. It is a two bedroom farmhouse, in the middle of nowhere. Perfect for us. We used the smaller bedroom as an office, but I think we both knew we wanted more, but we were unable to harm anyone, unless they were dying, much like Carlisle did, and gave himself and you a family. All we had to do was wait.
As time when on and Benjamin had found the extension of his power, he began working as a traveling midwife. He would go into homes and help women throughout their pregnancy and help them give birth to their beautiful babies. Many of the women had a husband or partner, but every so often he would come across a single mother. I met some of the women that he cared for, finding their lives so interesting. I wanted to know more about them and how they were preparing for their child.
One woman, her name was Gloria, she found Benjamin herself, showing up at our doorstep hoping for his help. She was one of my favorites. She had such a bubbly personality, and never had anything negative to say about anyone or anything. She was so interested in life around her. She told me of her life, her husband had died just before finding out she was pregnant. He was a firefighter and died saving a family from their apartment building burning down. She would tell me the story of how they met and how they fell in love. Their love was one for the books, I was always begging to hear more.
We were there for her for about 80% of her pregnancy. It was beautiful Esme, watching her go from a skinny little thing, to a very pregnant women, who wanted nothing but the best for her child. Her water broke one early autumn morning. Benjamin was nervous because she was 5 weeks early, but we had faith. I was able to be there for the whole thing. When she began pushing Gloria grabbed my hand and confessed she was scared, not for herself, but for her child. She was scared she was going to die, and leave her child parent-less. I promised her, they bother were going to be fine, but she made me promise that if anything happened to her I would take care of the baby.
Soon, after one final push, we could all hear the screams of a beautiful newborn baby. The baby was here, she was here. Benjamin handed Gloria her baby, and she cradled and cried, saying she was beautiful. It was a beautiful moment, but as you and I both know, beautiful moments must come to an end.
Gloria hadn't stopped bleeding, and it was getting out of Benjamin's control. We brought her to the hospital where they performed surgery on her. I can't tell you everything that happened while we were at the hospital but I can tell you that, that little baby, slept through the whole thing. We were told that Gloria had bleed out and passed away on the operating table. Social services came to take the baby, but I begged them not to. Benjamin and I came to a silent agreement that we would take in the baby. We soon were able to adopt her.
We named her Grace, but she liked the name Gracie's better. She was such a happy baby Esme. She had the beginning of brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She was so smart and was a fast learner. She began crawling and becoming quiet an explorer. Oh how I wanted to tell you Esme, I wanted you to meet our daughter, but we wanted to wait, till she was a little bit older.
We are not sure how but when she was 6 months old, the Volturi got wind that we had a baby. They believe we had somehow made an immortal child and they were going to take her from us. They entered are home one night while she was sleeping. We tried to convince them that she wasn't immortal, and told them was Benjamin was doing as a job and how we got her and adopted her. They were able to hear her tiny heart beat, and they believed us. They took her anyway, saying we are not allowed to live with a human. They we were going to change her as a child. We fought them, but Jane used her power and tortured us. I watched as they took my baby girl away.
We have gone to their castle to find her, to find out what happened to her. We were unable to find her or any of the members of the Volturi. We were told they were at a new temporary location, but we were not told where they were or when they were going to come back.
I hope this was the information you were looking for Esme. It pains me to not see her everyday. I just want to make sure she is okay.
Thank you Esme,
-Tia
Esme put down the letter, which had a couple of teardrops drying on it. Wiping her face off with a nearby tissue, Esme picked up the picture that came with the letter that Tia sent. It was a picture of a 4 month old baby, with bright green eyes and a head of brown hair with two little pigtails on up. She had the cutest little smile on her face, and the biggest chubby cheeks. Esme's heart swelled at the picture.
Putting the picture down, Esme opened Carlisle's laptop and began looking for people dying or disappearing mysteriously. Unable to find anything promising, Esme began pacing in the office, hoping for a quick walk around the room would clear her mind. She was wrapped up in her own thoughts, that she didn't even hear Carlisle come in.
"Everything alright, my love?" She heard Carlisle say, pulling from her thoughts.
"Carlisle! I thought you were going to be at the hospital all day." Esme said, crossing the room to great her husband.
"I have." Carlisle confessed. "My love, it's 5 o'clock in the evening. Have you been up here all day?"
"Oh! I guess I have been. I have been wrapped up in my own thoughts I guess I didn't realize how late it was getting." Esme said, looking back towards Carlisle's desk, walking over to clean up her mess she had left.
"Love, what are you thinking." Carlisle asked.
"I am thinking that I really want to help Benjamin and Tia." Esme said, turning around to face her husband with all of the papers in her hands.
"I know you do love, what I have you found so far?"
"Nothing, really. That the Volturi took Gracie, but no one has seen or heard from them since. I looked online to see if I could find anything concerning but I can. I have no idea where they would be." Esme confessed.
"Love, I don't think there is anything else you can do." Carlisle confessed.
"Well, maybe there is one thing." Esme said, looking down at the floor, knowing her husbands answer before she even told him her plan.
"What would that be?" He asked, stepping towards his wife.
"What if, we all go, or some of us go to.." Before she could finish her sentence, Carlisle interrupted her.
"No! Absolutely not! You are a human and you are pregnant. I will not let them know about this or for them to kill you." He began to ramble on, his fears coming to the surface, whether they made since or not.
"Carlisle they are not going to kill me! They are bound to find out about the baby, and I am not just going to sit here and let Benjamin and Tia suffer when I didn't try everything I could!" Esme yelled, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, which only made her more angry. "How can you look at those two, the two people you consider a friend and let them suffer. You don't understand Carlisle!"
Taken back and his usually soft spoken wife, and hearing her yell at him out of anger, Carlisle knew he had to calm her down. "Love, we are not letting them suffer. You and that baby are the most important things in my life right now. I can't have anything bad happen to either one of you."
"And Gracie is important to them, as we are to you." Esme said defensively. "You just...you don't understand."
Carlisle was about to ask what she meant when there was a soft knock on the office door. Sighing in defeat, he let the person on the other end of the door it was open and to come in.
"Hey, the rest of us are back now, and we don't mean to be eavesdropping, but I might have a solution." Rosalie said, as she entered the room.
Esme walked over to Rose and grabbed her hands, wincing slightly at how cold they were. "What's on your mind?" Esme asked in a softer tone.
"Emmett and I were planning on taking a little vacation next month anyway, we can always stop and see if the Volturi is back yet, or if we have heard anything about them."
"I think that would be a better idea, only if you two are safe." Carlisle said, receiving a nod from Rose.
"Of course. What about you Mom?"
"Well, I don't like the idea of you two doing work for me, or going out there and possibly getting hurt, but I have a feeling your father won't let me leave the house anytime soon, so I will agree to it, for now." Esme said, moving some of Rose's hair behind her ears.
"Thank you Mom!" Rose said, giving her a gentle hug before leaving the room.
Once Rose had left, Esme, went back to the desk and grabbed the papers before leaving Carlisle's office without saying or looking at Carlisle.
Later that night Esme was in her and Carlisle's bedroom, getting ready for bed. He had on a new pair of Pajamas and was about to crawl into bed when there was a small kock on the door. Without saying anything Carlisle entered the room and looked at Esme.
"Esme, I'm sorry if I offended you earlier. I just don't want anything to happen to you or to the baby. You both are a little more vulnerable than you are used to." Carlisle said, sitting on the edge of the bed looking at Esme who was sitting on the other end, refusing to look at him.
"Esme, please say something."
"What do you want me to say? Thank you?" Esme said, her voice sounded harsh.
"No, I am glad you are talking to me, but You have said twice that I don't understand. What do I not understand?" Carlisle asked, reaching for Esme's shoulder, he was relieved when she didn't try to move his hand.
"You don't understand what it is like to lose a child. You don't understand that pain and I hope you never do." Esme said quietly, rubbing her stomach slightly, feeling Carlisle harden his grip on her shoulder.
"Esme, I.."
"It's okay, I may have overreacted, but I am very emotionally invested in this, and I just want them to be reunited." Esme said sadly.
Suddenly Esme felt her husband remove his hand and she felt both of them lift her up and brought her to the head of the bed, settling her in between his legs, while he back rested on his chest. "I'm sorry my love, but please understand where I am coming from."
"I do."
They both took in the moment, before Esme grabbed Carlisle's hand and placed it on her stomach. He felt a small movement under his hand.
"Is that..?"
"That's our baby."