I'd just like to point out, because I'm worried it's not obvious, we love Rosalie so much it hurts in this story. Rose and Carys' relationship is one of the things that just came to me without having to work at it, and I already have scenes with the two of them written or imagined all the way up to Eclipse.
I'm still on my break! That's why this is a tiny chapter, I just wanted to drop it now.
Thank you to lucefatale, eeeeaud, and ninaaark for your reviews! I hope this answers your question eeeeaud, and ninaaark, I can't wait either! I know I'm the author, but I love it too!
Chapter 16 - Forks and Seattle, September, 2004
When Rosalie and Edward returned home that morning, neither one was very happy with Alice.
"If she hadn't given up and gone to sleep when she did, she might have guessed something!" Rosalie hissed, throwing the record she owned countless copies of onto the coffee table. "What if she says something and the rumours start? I like it here. I'm not willing to leave and have to start all over if she works it out just because you like her, Alice."
Edward was, for once, in agreement with his younger sister. Though his glare was far less aggressive, he was no less appalled at the way Alice had made Rosalie believe her vision was far worse than it had been.
"Neither of you understands," Alice complained, not at all oblivious to her siblings' anger at that moment, "if she hadn't had a little push..."
She looked to Carlisle in appeal, but her adoptive father was as non-plussed as Emmett now appeared.
"If she... Alice, did you purposefully make Rosalie leave the shop so that Carys would see the picture?" Carlisle's voice was calm as usual, but it held an edge of confusion and worry for his family's safety.
"No. Well, not really. Maybe a little bit. You don't understand - I saw something terrible, and Rose helped me. It just happened that Carys bought the record for her and noticed the picture."
"What did you see, Alice?" Edward asked, eyes narrowing as he continued deceptively quietly, gesturing to his family. "Why don't you tell everyone else?"
"Well..." Alice looked to Carlisle again, large eyes widening further and shimmering with unshed venom as she thought over her vision. "Carys was going to force herself to ignore her feelings for you, Carlisle. She's been here for a year now, and very soon she'll have a choice to make. I saw her future if she goes... I saw what it would do to you. To us."
Carlisle turned away from his children, staring out of the window with much the same contemplative expression Carys had worn the night before.
Emmett looked as if someone had just told him he'd won the lottery, such was the expression of incredulous excitement that lit his face.
"So it's true then?" He asked, looking between Edward, Alice, and Carlisle. "A human? Carlisle's mate is a human!?"
Edward's eyes widened a little. The argument he'd been ready to voice moments before died on his tongue as he listened first to Alice's, then Jasper's, and finally Carlisle's thoughts. He knew more than most of the need vampires had for their mates. Hadn't he heard countless times how spending a night away from each other worried and hurt his siblings, even if it was for a hunt?
He was still confused all those months later, over how a human could possibly have become his father's mate - how Carlisle could have fallen for her with a single glance. He'd always thought that love at first sight was a distinctly human phenomenon...
Though, hadn't Rosalie made a split-second decision about saving Emmett? Hadn't Alice and Jasper known the moment they saw each other, albeit at different times?
He held infinite respect for Carlisle's self-control at that moment, only then hearing the full extent of the need his father had attempted to hide from him for almost a year.
"Edward, you can see it too, can't you?" Jasper asked quietly, his southern drawl lifting his words as he implored his bother to answer honestly. "Wha' would it do to Carli-"
"He would need to follow her," Alice cut across her husband, resting a hand on his arm as she gazed at him with love and fear clouding her eyes, "he needs her, Jasper. What would you do if I left?"
Jasper hissed as an expression of fear and anger flashed across his face at the mere thought of Alice leaving his side.
Edward looked to Carlisle as the older vampire turned to face his children again.
Alice stiffened as new images flashed through her mind.
Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Edward watched Carlisle in utter silence. They knew what Alice was going to say even before her tinkling voice broke the stillness of the room. Edward hardly needed the ability to read minds to imagine what Carlisle had chosen, what Alice was now seeing.
She spoke then, her now quiet voice confirming needlessly.
"She's his mate. His future is entwined with hers. Nothing will change that now."
By the time Carys finally pulled herself from her bed that morning, she'd already received a response from her parents. They were going to try and change their holidays from work and their flights so that they could visit Findlay's parents as soon as they could.
Carys' guilt over admitting her fears around Findlay's dad's health left her as soon as she walked downstairs and caught the tail end of his latest coughing fit. If that hadn't done the trick, finding Rachel in the kitchen working on breakfast instead of Sean would have. Her step-grandfather had always prided himself, as his son did after him, in his cooking. It was usually a battle to convince Sean to let someone else take over completely, so the fact he'd left Rachel to cook the meal whilst he sat in the lounge spoke volumes.
"He needs a warmer climate," Rachel tearfully admitted to her later when Carys had taken over preparing the meal, "it's the cold and wet... His chest can't take anymore..."
Carys pulled the porridge off the heat, ignoring the thought of Findlay's horror if he ever found out she'd abandoned porridge halfway through cooking, and wrapped her arms around her step-grandmother.
Rachel clung to her for long seconds, before they broke apart with a tearful laugh on Rachel's side upon hearing Sean's annoyed yell at the TV when his team lost another point.
"He doesn't want to worry your parents," Rachel commented a minute or two later, watching Carys from the corner of her eye. "I suppose that's why I wanted you here... Do you think maybe..."
"I've already emailed them." Carys confirmed, inwardly sighing with relief that Rachel thought the same way she and her parents had. "They're going to try and come for Thanksgiving or before."
"Oh thank the Lord." Rachel took a deep breath as she clasped her hands in front of her and then shook herself, grabbing first a tea towel and then a clean glass from the draining board. "I didn't want to worry them, being so far away, but..."
"I know," Carys told her, laying a hand on her shoulder before returning her attention to the pan which sizzled as she dropped thick strips of bacon into it. "They knew something was up, that's why they sent me."
"I know you didn't grow up with us, Carys," Rachel began. She paused for a moment, her hands stilling as she turned her head to smile at Carys before continuing, "but I hope you know how much we love you."
Carys smiled at the older woman.
"I love you too, both of you..." She paused before she said too much, and returned her attention to the pots and pans before her, commenting wryly a second later, "though I really don't know how much Sean is going to love me after he realises how much sugar I've added to the porridge."
Rachel's laughter filled the room and warmed Carys' heart.
Her next comment stilled it.
"I don't think he'd begrudge you anything just now, not with how excited he is for his newest grandchild!"
"His... His new...?"
Findlay was an only child. Surely her parents would have told her if they'd decided to go through the fostering or adoption process? And wouldn't that have taken them far longer than a few months?
The fact they'd not said anything to her about it when she'd been home or in the subsequent months made her think she must have misheard. Had Rachel meant her?
That wouldn't make sense either, what with her having come into their lives years before.
"Your little baby sister or brother-" Rachel broke off, covering her mouth with her hand as she stared at Carys' confused expression. "Oh god, tell me you knew? That I didn't just...?"
Carys swallowed thickly and turned back to the stove, just catching the bacon on time before it started to turn from crispy to burned.
"Of course," she nodded as she spoke, though she knew she wasn't fooling either of them, "I mean, they wouldn't just have another kid and forget to tell me!" She let out a little half-laugh.
"It was supposed to be a surprise," Rachel murmured minutes later, breaking the silence as they placed the hot dishes on the table, "I'm sorry, I thought they'd told you already."
A/N: The reason this isn't including all the months, is because it not only took on a life of its own, but so did the others. When I do come back, get ready for a 5000-word chapter which will include the promised hug and a lot of cuteness - don't say you haven't been warned!
