Chapter 1
"I should check in with mum and Findlay about how Shauna's doing tomorrow, don't let me forget," Carys announced, checking her eye in the mirror as she unscrewed her moisturiser.
Carys' younger sister Shauna had been born in early April, was named after her grandfather who doted on her as much if not more than her parents, sister, and grandmother, and was by all accounts the cutest baby in the world when she wasn't screaming the house down.
"I won't," Carlisle promised. With his vampiric memory, it was far more effective to ask him to remind her of something than for Carys to write it down, and he'd easily slipped into the role of her calendar in the past month. "But it'll have to be either early or late."
"Oh? What's happening in the middle?"
Carys stood facing the large mirror suspended above the countertop in Carlisle's bathroom. She dotted moisturiser around her face and then began to stroke it into her skin as Carlisle watched her from where he lounged against the wall.
Carlisle's fascination with Carys' nightly cleansing and moisturising had once been a little strange to her, but when he'd explained his reasons, she'd very quickly come to love the routine they maintained no matter whose house they spent the night in. It even helped in a way as it made her remember to cleanse her face properly, but she wasn't going to admit that to him.
It had also been the basis of some of the points on her pre-change bucket list - things they could do together that made him feel more human or he'd missed in his human and vampire lives - but she wasn't going to tell him that either.
It was almost mid-September, and she'd all but moved in to his house at this point. Or, rather, he'd all but moved her in.
At first, it had been little things: her overnight bag would be unpacked by the time she was done in the shower; the small section of his walk-in wardrobe he'd cleared for her had grown; he'd suggested she might want a drawer or two, and then added another chest of drawers; the kitchen was suddenly stocked with the types of food she liked; he'd added a shelf of books she might like to the library in his office...
Little, thoughtful things that were spaced out enough she didn't immediately see what he was doing, until the conversation came in early August.
The: "well you have enough here and we go back and forth all the time, should we talk about alternating weeks at each house?" conversation that ended with her suggesting they could just play it by ear if she was seeing friends or wanted to stay in Forks, otherwise she might as well stay there.
At first she'd thought it was sneaky of him, but after another week spent in Forks, she'd gone through her drawers and discovered she'd been doing the same with his belongings without realising. He'd simply been the first to ask.
Besides, she'd been spending so much time with the other vampires in his family - his kids, and Esme, who was more of a sister to him and had already adopted Carys as her sister - over the summer months, that when Carlisle floated the idea to the family in between Rosalie and Emmett's summer trips, Rosalie had shrugged it off with an: "Isn't she already pretty much living here?" that was echoed much less dismissively by the rest of the family.
Even Jasper, who Carys knew still struggled with his bloodlust, had been happy to accept her and was excited at the prospect of continuing their "training", though it did mean his hunting trips had become a little more frequent.
It was then that Alice had taken to calling Carys "mom" every so often, despite, or perhaps because of, Carys insisting that she didn't want to hear too much about the vision she'd just had about their eventual wedding, because she wanted it to be organic and to make the decisions themselves when they came to it.
"So, Alice has decided to have a birthday party for Bella tomorrow night," Carlisle murmured, appearing behind her suddenly and wrapping his arms around her waist as he gently kissed her silk-clad shoulder.
Carys paused, hands stilling in front of her face as she met his eyes in the mirror. "And what does Bella think about that? I thought she didn't like celebrating things?" She asked him, massaging the last of the cream into her hands and frowning lightly.
Carys hadn't spent as much time with Edward, Carlisle's firstborn son, or his human girlfriend Bella, but she was sure she was right.
"I don't know yet... Actually..." Carlisle sighed and bit his lip as he gave her a sheepish look in the mirror, ruined by his grin. "None of us know yet...?"
Carys swatted at his stone-hard shoulder, gasping her shock, and he loosened his hold so she could turn around to look up at him. "Carlisle! No! That poor girl! Tell me Edward's planning on telling her tonight at least?"
Carlisle shook his head, quaking with silent laughter when she swatted lightly at his chest this time, her mouth dropping open.
"Carlisle! You can't let them do this to her." Carys told him quietly before she ducked out of his arms and headed swiftly out into his bedroom. "Alice!" She called a second later, ignoring the loud boom of Emmett's laughter from a couple of rooms away or how silly she felt calling a 104-year-old vampire as if she was truly the 17-year-old she was pretending to the world to be. "Mary Alice Brandon-Whitlock-Cullen-Hale, whatever your full name is, you get in here right now!"
The one positive that had come from James' attack that Spring had been Alice discovering that not only had she not been wilfully abandoned as a newborn, but her life had been saved by the change.
Subsequently, she'd begun to uncover more about her past by using the small pieces of information James had given at the start of his videotape to investigate her human life. The only mistake she'd made when she'd found her full name had been to tell Carys what it was, though Alice seemed to enjoy having her name called out far more than Emmett or Edward did.
"Darling-"
"Don't you darling me, Carlisle Cullen. There is absolutely nothing about Bella Swan that screams she'd enjoy a party, let alone a surprise one." Carys told him, reminding him that she'd not spent the entire summer advocating for the humans in the situation for naught.
"She will like it!" Alice announced, making Carys jump out of her skin, not helping herself as she appeared suddenly at the human's elbow. "I've seen it!"
"Have you now? And this seeing-" Carys motioned quotations as she spoke, "-would that have anything to do with Jasper's power over her emotions, I wonder?"
Alice looked to be momentarily at a loss before she seemed to find the bedside cabinet incredibly interesting. Then she looked to Carlisle in appeal.
"Don't look at him. He is not going to be able to help you."
Carlisle moved quickly, though she knew for him it was likely incredibly slowly, away to join Jasper by the door. They wore matching expressions of interest and mild fear which would usually make Carys laugh, but she chose to ignore that as she raised her eyebrows at the tiny teenage vampire in front of her and tried to steady her heartbeat.
"Well," Alice began, bouncing gracefully on her tiptoes and looking at Carys with wide pleading eyes before she continued excitedly, "Bella will love it! And it's been so long since we've properly celebrated a birthday! You and Carlisle already got her a present she'll love and I've sorted out the decorations and the cake - we'll have a great time!"
"We had a party for my birthday less than three months ago," Carys countered, quietly sighing and willing herself not to pinch the bridge of her nose, "and liking a present doesn't mean wanting a party, Alice."
"No! We had a tiny little lunch and watched one film, and then you and Carlisle went off to Seattle to-" Alice broke off, her eyes widening slightly as she realised her mistake.
"We went off to do what, Alice?" Carys asked, her voice lowering in what she could only hope was a threatening tone but likely didn't come close judging by Jasper's snigger.
Alice's eyes darted to Carlisle before she tipped slightly to the side and shot Carys a rueful grin. "Go on... Holiday...?"
"Yes, because we don't talk what you saw about my birthday, do we?" Carys asked, having to try harder than she wished to keep her blush from taking over as memories of what they'd spent the weekend doing instead of attending the masked ball as they'd told them all they had flashed through her mind.
Likewise, she tried not to show that she noticed how much Jasper was struggling with his laughter, or how Emmett and Rosalie had joined him and Carlisle in the doorway to watch the scene unfold. Rosalie seemed to be trying not to show her interest, but the fact she was there at all spoke volumes. Carys was chipping away, but she'd not quite managed to get her to vocally admit she liked her yet.
"No...," Alice conceded, smirking whilst she flicked another glance at her siblings and father which Carys only just caught.
So much for promises; Alice had likely told them all the minute she'd seen they weren't going.
Carys sighed, trying to keep control of what she called her mum voice as she put her hands firmly on her hips. "You have to tell her, Alice."
"Can I tell her at school in the morning?" Alice asked her hopefully with an overbright smile. Something in her face suggested she'd been planning to do that anyway.
Jasper snorted. Emmett let out another laugh. Rosalie smirked. Carys narrowed her eyes.
Carlisle nodded. "That sounds like an excellent idea, doesn't it darling?"
"Hmm..."
Alice spoke so quickly it seemed to Carys as if all the words blurred into one. "Okay-great!-Bye-mom!-Sleep-tight!"
"I wasn't fin-" Carys broke off and sighed as she was suddenly left alone in the bedroom with Carlisle and a firmly closed door. "Carlisle, what if she hates it?"
"Do you trust Alice's visions?" Carlisle asked her, pulling her against his chest and dazzling her as he stared deeply into her eyes.
Carys wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded. She did; she had to. Alice had seen them together long before she'd realised Carlisle was her destiny, and subjective or not she couldn't see how she could be wrong about something happening as soon as tomorrow if she'd been so right about Carlisle and herself. "Yes... But I really can't see Bella liking it, Carlisle. You know how she is."
"I know, but it'll be nice for the kids as well."
"Fine... But Alice has to tell her. I'm not going to let them scare her to death on her birthday."
"They won't," Carlisle assured her, his eyes darkening as his gaze began to roam her body and he tugged lightly at the tie of her silk dressing gown. "Not when you've just laid down the law so brilliantly..."
Carys feigned ignorance as she turned her face away from him, but smiled slyly as he began to kiss down her neck slowly, knowing he could hear her heartbeat speed up again as he did so. "The kids...?"
"Otherwise engaged." He murmured the words against her skin with a smile.
Carys bit the inside of her cheek and pulled away, Carlisle letting her go reluctantly despite the two of them knowing full well he didn't have to. She'd realised over time that when they were all occupied and Edward was out of the house, they were as oblivious to the goings-on in Carlisle's bedroom as she and Carlisle were to theirs.
Carlisle was rewarded a moment later when Carys walked towards the bed. She let the dressing gown drop to her feet, revealing the matching slip and turned to shoot him a coy glance over her shoulder. "Don't rip this one, Dr Cullen, I like it."
"I can't make any promises, Miss Vale." He spoke quietly, intently, as he removed his watch and began to unbutton his shirt. "And we both know that lying is a sin, don't we?"
Carys giggled as she climbed onto the bed, but the rustle of Carlisle's clothes stopped as soon as she sighed heavily and dropped to lie on her back, arms outstretched, her legs dangling off the side.
"It didn't do anything, did it?" Carys asked, turning her head so that she could watch him as he came towards her in all his shirtless glory. It was a sight she didn't think she'd ever get used to.
Carlisle dropped to his knees before her, barely suppressing his amusement as he shook his head. "Not at all, but it was rather stunning to watch."
"You just think that 'cause it gets you all hot and bothered," Carys complained, pushing his hands away when they began to slide over her knees, bringing her slip with them. "You know I don't actually think I'm her mum or anything, don't you?"
Carlisle pulled away, rocking back on his heels as he stood, gripping Carys' waist and lifting her further onto the bed so that he could lie comfortably between her legs. He settled his cheek against her ribs and eased his arms under her waist. "Don't tell Alice that," he warned when he was comfortable and Carys had begun to stroke his hair.
Carys hummed in acceptance and thought for a moment before she pushed up onto her elbows, a light frown of confusion creasing her forehead. "Why?"
Carlisle responded by tilting his head and shifting up to meet her eye, cushioning his hard cheek against her breast. "She trusts her visions, as do we. As do you."
Carys shifted, taking her weight on one elbow to resume her gentle stroking whilst she stared at the wall opposite. "You mean she's had a vision of-I mean, I know she's had a vision of us getting married, but she's had a vision of that?" It was strange to think of how differently things worked when you could see the future.
Carlisle nodded, his eyes taking on a catlike quality, half closed in contentment. If she didn't know he wasn't able to sleep, she would have imagined he was halfway there by the soft purr in his musical voice when he spoke.
"Alice knew she would love you one day, and so she did. She knew the same of Isabella. And joining our family. And Jasper. And countless other things... And yes, she has seen that one day in the future she'll view you as her mother, so to her, that day has already come."
Carys stared at the wall, unblinking, for a while longer before she hummed again and dropped back to the mattress to think. And then gasped as Carlisle slowly turned his head to press open mouthed kisses to her skin.
She didn't have a chance to ponder it again before she fell into a near exhausted slumber some time later.
At least her slip survived the interaction.
When Carlisle woke her the next morning with a hot cup of coffee and a freshly baked croissant, thoughts of Alice's opinion of their relationship were pushed from her mind. Complaints about having to get up and go to work took precedence.
They drove in together as Carys had left her car in the hospital parking lot the day before, and she wondered aloud whether she really needed her job, considering Alice's efforts investing the money she'd won from Emmett in March were going so well. Alice was, per her request, keeping things believable, but at last count, Carys had almost doubled her yearly salary.
Carlisle parked, and they sat in comfortable silence for a few moments before Carys slapped her hands to her thighs and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Right. Come on, you've got lives to save, and I've got-"
"A day filled with Sandra's passive aggressive quips about our relationship?" Carlisle asked dryly.
Sandra, Carys' boss, was about as unhappy that Carys had taken the best looking male doctor at the hospital (and, Carys shared this opinion: the best looking man in Forks) off the market, even though like most of those annoyed by the prospect, Sandra was happily married herself.
"Exactly." Carys agreed with a heavy sigh, shaking her head at him. "You could be a little less attractive you know, it'd really do me a favour."
Carlisle laughed, unbuckled his seatbelt, and grabbed his bag from the floor behind Carys' seat.
Carys assessed his face as he did so, the dark bruises under his eyes capturing her attention. "When're you going hunting?" she asked softly, cupping his hard cheek and brushing her thumb across one of the dark blue stains. "You look exhausted, lovely."
Carlisle placed his hand on the back of hers and turned to place a kiss to her palm. "Next week. You really needn't worry, I'm not going to go on a rampage. I never have, and it's not a habit I plan on taking up anytime soon."
"It's you I'm worried about. You may be an animated piece of rock-" Carys broke off as he chuckled, and pressed her forehead to his, "-but-but, I still get to worry about you."
"I'm exceptionally glad you do," he assured her, closing his eyes for a moment. "Even if it's completely unneeded."
They left the car a minute or so later, and Carlisle lost himself in his thoughts as he rounded the car. "Perhaps we should both resign," he suggested, standing in front of Carys as she leaned against the car door and checked her bag.
Carys looked up. "What?"
"Perhaps we should resign when Alice and Edward graduate. Take off; go and travel the world for a year; visit a few of the places on your list."
"Could we?" Carys mused with a disbelieving tone, adjusting her bag over her shoulder when she'd assured herself of its contents. A year spent travelling the world with Carlisle was a very intriguing prospect. If he was serious, that was.
"Of course we could." Carlisle's expression matched his tone perfectly. "You pay for food and entertainment and I'll take... Travel, unforseens, and accommodation."
"What about the hospital?"
"Ah, they'll get on without me."
"What about saving lives? You love working, it's what you've committed your immortality to."
"I do take time off, darling," he assured her, though something in his eye told her that wasn't necessarily the truth.
"Do yo-"
"Morning!" Dr Sarah Martins called, hot-footing it across the parking lot in her white lab coat, coffee in hand. Before she reached the doors, she turned and began to walk backwards, lifting her cup and calling, "Don't forget, coffee after work!"
"I won't!" Carys called back with a grin for her second-best friend.
Carlisle, who knew full well he was her first, lifted a hand and nodded in greeting.
When Sarah disappeared, Carys turned back to Carlisle, repeating her question. "Do you?"
"Of course I do." He sounded about as convincing as he did the first time.
"You'll be bringing every medical book and journal you can with us, won't you?' Carys asked with a teasing smile, adjusting his tie.
Carlisle grinned and took her hand again when she was done, leading her to the hospital entrance. "You know me so well." He raised his eyebrows when her only response was a chuckle. "So? What do you think?"
Carys' smile softened as she stared wistfully ahead. "I'll think about it."
"That's a yes then."
"You know me far too well."
When they reached the reception and Carys made to continue on to her office, Carlisle tugged on her hand and stopped her in her tracks. "Think you could get away at lunch?"
Carys nodded. "I've nearly finished the project I'm working on, should be done by then. Pop your head in when you're free?"
"Perfect. See you then."
"Love you."
"You too."
They parted ways with a last squeeze of their hands, and Carys beamed the entire way to her office. Not even Sandra's snarky comment about PDA with the doctors could dampen her mood.
A year alone with Carlisle and the most beautiful places in the world? Even the thought was worth having to stand Sandra for a few more months.
A/N: oh, best laid plans and all that...
