His breathing was ragged. Unnecessarily so. Wonderfully so.
Even as his wife flitted out of the study, already fully clothed once again, Carlisle leaned back against the bookshelf, relishing the afterglow of the marital bliss.
He had never wanted to stop. If the situation was not what it was, he could have whisked Esme away to a place where it would be just them. But while the man in him wanted to be selfish, the father, the doctor in him knew there were others who needed Esme too. Her heart was so full of love, it would have been greedy and unfair of him to keep it all for himself.
So, when he heard the crush of gravel under the wheels of the black truck, he had reluctantly allowed Esme to slip out of his arms. She had put her clothes on, and with each inch of her heavenly beauty she had covered up with the modesty of apparel, his heart broke.
"I will get clothes for you," she had kissed the promise onto his lips and left the room.
It had been barely a minute before she was back before him.
It was a minute too long. Sixty unnecessary seconds keeping her from him.
He took her offered hand and pulled himself up off the floor. She did not let go of his hand as she took a step back, appraising his completely naked self before her. If he could have blushed, he would have. Over eighty years of marriage and he still had the bashfulness of a schoolboy stripping before his lover for the first time whenever Esme looked at him so.
"I feel bad for covering you up," she sighed, shaking her head as she held out the neatly folded stack of squares that was to be his attire for the day. He stepped forward, closing the distance before them and pressed a kiss full on her mouth. She responded and it was only the steadily increasing sound of the approaching vehicle that made him step back.
Wistfully, he took the clothes she had brought him, turning more into a doctor with each article he put on.
The moment he closed the last button on his light sweater, Edward and Rose were in the house.
Carlisle took Esme's hand and together they bolted down to meet them.
"The girls are back," Edward announced and Carlisle felt a wave of embarrassed guilt when he realized just how long he had been holed up with Esme in his study. The sun outside was just past its peak.
Billy was beside Sue now, the mother continuing her ceaseless vigil beside her sleeping daughter. The boys upstairs were also still asleep. Carlisle made an estimate of the time and knew soon he would have to taper the morphine down. The kids would be in pain. But he needed them awake to examine them and decide the best course of action next.
Rosalie disregarded the fact and went up the stairs, to Renesmee. Their grand daughter was still sound asleep, exhausted by the excitement of last night and all the rough-housing in the forest with her uncles.
Carlisle gave a nod to his son. Edward and Esme went to the front of the house to meet the girls and Carlisle turned to the two tribe elders before them.
"Billy, Sue," he called softly and the two exhausted humans looked up at him.
"We don't know what is going on in La Push right now. Charlie has been unreachable and we have not heard back from the boys either. I understand the reservation is rather inaccessible and perhaps a little unsafe right now," he sighed, willing Billy and Sue to understand the necessity of the request he was making. "But I believe it would be for the best if the girls found shelter elsewhere. It will be easier on my family. And safer for the girls should the fight in La Push reach here."
Billy looked at Sue, and they had a near silent exchange of thoughts as the implications of his words set in. He heard their hearts race up.
"Charlie's?" Sue asked tentatively and Billy shook his head.
"After the reservation, and this place, Charlie's house is the next place trouble will find," his gruff voice spelled out the truth for her.
They looked a little lost, their mind working as they tried to find a safe place for the girls.
"If you so wish, I can have arrangements made for the girls to spend a few days in Port Angeles, or Seattle," Carlisle offered. It would not be too difficult to book a couple of rooms in any hotel in the city. He could bill the entire expense on one of their credit cards so all their needs including food would be taken care of.
There was a moment of reluctance in their eyes. Billy was a proud man. A distrustful one too. But he was also a smart man, and a worried father. If he could get even one of his children out of harm's way, it was an opportunity he would not disregard instantly.
At Sue's encouraging nod, Billy swallowed.
He looked up at Carlisle and gave a small nod. "Thank you," he said, his voice low. "For everything you have done."
Carlisle smiled back.
"Perhaps you and Sue should consider the offer too," Carlisle said but the slight tightening of Sue's hand over her daughter's leg was all the answer he needed. He did not push that and instead, walked out of the house to join his wife and son.
Edward had removed the bright blue tarp that had been tied over the back of the truck. Esme was pulling a huge, heavy box from the over loaded bed of the truck. He rushed forward to take the box from her, throwing her a smile that begged her to indulge him. She could carry the truck and everything in it with a single arm. Yet he did not wish to see her inconvenienced.
"I am a little inconvenienced too, you know," Edward muttered as he raced past him into the house with another box. Esme laughed and Carlisle shook his head.
They placed the boxes in the foyer and went out to get the next round of things. The first box that touched his hand had a very strong, very unappetizing smell.
"Jasper had called and asked the man to send food too," Edward clarified as Carlisle looked at the crate full of still slightly warm meal boxes. Going by the size, there would be at least fifty of those in there. "He asked to send a lot of food."
Carlisle carried it inside, placing it on the kitchen counter.
He heard Esme telling about the food to Billy and Sue, and asked if she should open it or if they preferred it to not be affected by her smell. Carlisle frowned at the tentativeness of her voice but he said nothing. She cared deeply about her guests.
Rachel offered to do that instead and Esme only helped the younger girl break open the tough outer seal. She told her and Kim where they would be able to find plates and other cutlery before she joined them again.
"What's this?" Edward's hands paused, on their third trip to the truck, over a large, flat, object placed inside a brown cardboard box. It was tucked neatly between two rows of other equipments.
Carlisle frowned, trying to think of anything that he had ordered that might look like this. Nothing.
He took a deep inhale and a rush of scents flooded him. He sorted through the obvious ones. Blood. Quileute wolves. Rain in the air. The heady aroma of the forest. His family.
He delved deeper, focusing his sense towards the contents of the truck.
The sharp scent of the alcohol. Metals. A little wood. Glass. Plastic. Linseed Oil. Fabric.
He took a few tentative steps towards the box and touched it, pushing his fingers into the cardboard till he could make out the shape a little. It was something flat on one side and multiple curves on the other side. Metal. Glass. He could sense that. And a smell of…varnish?
His eyes found Emily's. The only one of their guests who was still hovering near the truck. She walked forward and looked at the object of interest.
"I don't know," she said. "This wasn't there when they loaded the truck in Port Angeles."
"Did you stop anywhere on your way from there to here?" Carlisle asked and she thought for a moment.
"Once, near a gas station to freshen up and buy a few snacks," she mulled silently. Then she looked up and spoke quickly. "But it wasn't for long. At least not long enough for someone to undo all the ropes that tied the tarp over everything, remove it, make space in between the other things, put this box inside and then tie everything back up."
Edward's eyes were on his face. He knew it just as Carlisle knew it.
Emily was right. A human would not have been able to do all of that so quickly.
But a vampire certainly could.