Carlisle stood in front of the giant castle doors, staring up until the castle got lost in the sun. He felt a small water droplet fall down his face from his hair, one of the last beads of water that hasn't dried since emerging from the water. It reminded him of an afternoon Esme and him shared.
It was a warm afternoon and Esme and Carlisle were sitting on their back soaking up the sun. It was moments like this when they are grateful for the privacy, they can sit outside without worrying about anyone seeing them and exposing their secrets. Their house was quiet, it was a rare day all the Cullen children had left for a week, all of them wanting to do their own there. Edward and Bella took Renesmee to visit Bella's mother in Florida. Emmett and Rose decided to go on one of their random adventures, promised they would be back in a week. After the 5 of them left, Alice and Jasper walked over to them, Alice with a smile on her face.
"Don't tell me the two of you are leaving too," Esme complained, hating not having her family under the same roof.
"I think it is time that you and Carlisle have some alone time. It's been a long time." Alice laughed slightly, leaning over and capturing her mother into a hug.
"Will you be gone long?" She asked, unable to keep the worry out of her voice.
"Long enough," Alice said, her mischievous smile spread across her face.
"Alice," Esme stated, giving her daughter a sterned look, unable to keep her own smile off of her face.
"We will be back when the rest of the family gets back. Should be in about a week."
"Where are you two going?" Carlisle asked, stepping forward and wrapping his arm around his wife's waist.
"Alice hasn't decided yet, but we will let you know when we find what we are looking for," Jasper stated, only to get a fast annoyed looked from Alice.
"What are you looking for?' Esme asked.
"We will let you know when we find it," Alice stated, taking a step back and walking towards the front door.
Once they were outside Esme waved them goodbye. "But safe." She called after them.
"Have fun" Alice called back, causing Esme to hide her face in Carlisle's chest.
A few hours later, Carlisle and Esme found themselves laying back on their porch, listening to the birds.
"This is nice." Carlisle sighed, wrapping his arms around his wife a bit tighter.
"It really is," Esme said quietly.
"But?" He asked, looking down at her, knowing what she is about to say.
"I really hope the kids are okay."
"Sweetie, I am sure they are okay, and I'm positive Alice saw something in our future and hinted to everyone to leave the house." He chuckled, having Esme join in, leaning her back deeper into his body.
"What do you think she saw?" She asked, her voice growing deeper and slower, as she turned towards his, batting her eyes and giving him a shy smile.
"Why Esme Cullen, are you flirting you little minx." he teased, nuzzling his nose into her neck.
Standing up, Esme stretched her arms up, her shirt lifting slightly exposing her creamy white stomach, nearly to her belly button. "I think I need to relax a little, I think a bath will do me good." She smiled, walking towards the patio door.
Reaching for the door handle, she looked back at her loving husband, still sitting in the same spot, dumbfounded. "Care to join me."
Laughing, they both made their way to their bathroom, to enjoy a long hot bath.
"Carlisle," Jasper said, pulling Carlisle out of his memories.
Looking around, Carlisle noticed the rest of his family had caught up to him. "Come on, let's head inside," he said turning back around and heading inside.
"Carlisle, we need a plan, we can't just walk in there, we don't know what is waiting for us on the other side," Alice exclaimed, walking closer to him.
"Can you see anything Alice, anything that could help us?" He asked.
"It's been changing constantly, I...I.."
"Exactly, we don't know what is waiting for us, Esme could be battling something huge, and need us. Do I need to remind you she is pregnant and human? Esme is at her most fragile and needs us more than ever. We need to help her and your baby sister. It doesn't matter what is waiting, we are a family and we will be there." Carlisle said and walked through the front doors, the rest of his family right behind him.
Walking through the doors they all stood up straighter, smelling the sweet smell of fresh blood. Carlisle immediately stiffened, fearing the worst had happened. All of them running down a hall, they saw a trail of blood, leading them into a different room. When entering they found a mangled body of a girl. Walking towards the body, Carlisle breathed a sigh of relief realizing it wasn't Esme.
"She was the Volturi's receptionist. She was attacking Esme when Emmett and Rose got to her." Alice said, her face buried into Jasper, hating what she saw in her vision and holding Jasper back from drinking Human blood.
Carlisle walked over to the body on the floor,, blood still coming out of various wounds across her body. He took note there wasn't a single bite mark on her. Kneeling down he couldn't help feel sorry for this woman. He closed her eyes, and bowed his head, sending up a silent prayer.
"Where should we head to next Alice," Edward asked, reading through her thoughts and visions.
"I saw them in a room with a giant thrown, but I am not sure where it is," Alice confessed.
"That's okay, let's take a look around, this woman died only minutes ago, Esme, Emmett, and Rose can't be far," Carlisle said, walking towards a door he saw on the far side of the room. The rest of his family followed.
After a few minutes, they entered a room with a single throne.
"Okay, we made it to the Throne room, but they are not here," Bella said, walking towards the throne.
Suddenly they all heard a loud bang from further from the Castle.
"What was that?" Bella asked, her shield at the ready.
"I'm not sure." As soon as the words left Carlisle's mouth the sound boomed again, causing all of them to run after the sound.
Once they were able to see, he was relieved to see Esme still standing there. They watched for a moment as Emmett rammed his body into a wall, close to breaking it. Needing his wife more than ever, without thinking he reached out touching her shoulder, causing her to jump and let out a scream.
"Carlisle!" Esme screamed once she realized who was standing behind her. "Oh you scared me half to death." she accused him, but pulled him in for a hug, unable to keep the tears from streaming down her face.
"I scared you? Honey, I have been running all over the world and this Castle looking for you. Why did you leave? Why couldn't you have waited just a little bit longer?" he asked angrily, still holding onto his wife, unable to let go over her.
"I was scared we were going to run out of time." She answered quietly.
They heard a loud bang and pulled away, as they noticed Emmett broke through the wall.
"Well we are here now, come on, let's go save Gracie," Carlisle said, grabbing his wife's hand, heading towards the hole in the wall.