So... Eclipse is going to be a longer book. After this, we have two/three more chapters and the epilogue (I plan), and then Breaking Dawn!

GuestMG asked about Carlisle's accent. If he's alone with Carys or with his family, it's English, but if there are other people around, it's mostly American but with the odd slightly English-accented words. He was English when Carys was hurt as well! But they knew he was from London originally because of his story.

Chapter 28

A day after regaining consciousness, another patient had come onto the ward with injuries sustained by a rock-climbing incident, and Carys had been moved to a small room of her own to recover.

By that night, she was stubbornly sitting up in bed, and by Saturday afternoon, she was strong enough to have Shauna tucked securely against her right side, able to remain conscious for more than a few hours at a time.

It was then that she, as politely as she could, asked their parents to pop out and have lunch together.

She knew they meant the best, but it was frustrating enough to follow the lie, and having her parents ask her questions about it while Carlisle wasn't there to help answer them made it worse. The elephant in the room - Carys' father - remain unaddressed. That, too, was a source of unspoken tension. There was only so much she could take of it all, and she hadn't wanted to give up time with her sister by pretending to sleep. Again.

They'd been hesitant but amenable.

They would be returning to California the next day, and Findlay had had to spend the work week worrying out of his mind and checking in from afar due to his job. Shauna - who required night feeds, and, therefore, their mum - had worked her magic on everyone and wrangled her way into the local day-care for much of it, but, as Amy had whispered to their dad on their way out, a stress-free hour away from the hospital wasn't such a terrible thing for her, either.

It hadn't stopped Findlay asking the nurses to keep an eye out every few minutes to be sure Carys was awake, of course. As he was overhead to say, "I'm not sure which one I'm s'posed to be more worried about."

"It's just you and me now, 'Auna," Carys cooed, using the nickname her parents had taken to calling the little cherub. "You wanna take a nap? A nun-night?"

"Nun-night?" Shauna asked, staring up at her sister. Though she'd been struggling to keep her eyes open since finishing her lunch - and was leaning heavily against Carys - she maintained a look of utter innocence and confusion, as if the suggestion had come entirely out of the blue.

"Yeah," she confirmed with an indulgent smile. "You sleepy?"

Shauna rubbed her eye for the fifth time in under a minute and blinked her huge dazed brown eyes in response.

"Yeah?" Carys coaxed again.

Shauna yawned, rubbing her sister's right arm before she pointed a hand towards her left side. "Owwie?"

"It'll be okay," Carys promised. Though the mere thought of the long angry red wounds she'd seen last time the dressings were changed was enough to churn her gut, it wasn't as painful as it had been. Which wasn't to say it was comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but she wouldn't let it get in the way. "If you don't want a nun-night... here. Snuggle up, and I'll tell you a story."

There wasn't any space left between them, but the little one turned and burrowed in regardless, while Carys twitched the covers over her little shoulder, rubbed her back, and tried to remember the words to The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Quickly, she decided instead to make up a story, and launched into a tale of a princess who ran away to be a pirate for the weekend.

Carys had lulled Shauna to sleep, and was finishing her story for herself when Charlie's gruff voice interrupted her. He said, knocking a single fist at the air and entering the room, "Heard you kicked everyone out."

As it was his day off, and he was dressed casually in jeans, flannel and a t-shirt, he looked more like one of the old lumber workers.

She made a gentle shushing sound, nodding her head down towards the softly breathing baby, and kept her voice low. "Just Mum and Dad. And it wasn't really a kicking, more a suggestion."

"Is this your sister?" he asked just as quietly, approaching the bed.

There was no denying the similarities between them, and Carys grinned proudly. "Yep. Shauna. She's adorable, isn't she?"

"She is. Rosy cheeks," Charlie said with a small smile of his own. Easing into the chair by the bed, he cast a routine glance about the white room, twisting in his chair before slumping back. "Carlisle not around?"

"He'll be back soon. You know him and days off. They don't quite exist unless he's away, and I kinda put an end to our holiday plans." She joked, but whatever had taken him away, it had been the longest he'd left her side since she'd been admitted. "So... to what do I owe the pleasure? More bear-related policing?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head, slapping one hand gently against the arm rest, "I-uh." He cleared his throat. "We weren't sure, for a bit there, if you'd pull through. Monica said you were compos mentis enough for her questions, so... Thought I'd put in an appearance."

"Careful," she chirped, lowering her voice again when Shauna's little hand flexed against her middle. "I might think you were worried."

Not quite meeting her eye, he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, you're... You're liked," he went on as if the words were being pulled from him by force. "Would be a shame for people to lose you like that. A real shame."

Carys read between the lines. "You're my best friend too," she teased, alarming him in the process. "Seriously though, thanks," she said, genuinely touched, "that means a lot."

"Good. Right. Well." Nodding, he made to get up again.

"Charlie?"

Halfway from the chair, he paused and looked at her. "Hm?"

"Would you pop something on the TV? I can't reach the remote, but we could hang out for a bit? If you wanted to?"

She'd been annoyed with him, but it seemed so long ago now. She only had so much space in her bad books, and though Edward hadn't had a chance to talk to her about the Bella situation, the teenager's name was marked in pen and underlined.

Charlie's lips tipped up at the corners, twitching his moustache. "Uh, yeah, sure," he agreed. Dropping back into the chair, he adjusted its facing and grabbed the remote from the table.

He chose the news and lowered the volume. For a moment, Carys was unsure why he'd been so specific, until the sports commentator came on screen, analysing an ongoing game. A few minutes passed before he looked around and asked, "This okay?"

She held back another chuckle and confirmed, "Yeah, this is good, thanks."

He gave her a perfunctory nod.

Her gaze quickly returned to Shauna. All she could think about was how much she'd changed a matter of weeks, and how much she'd miss having moments like this - though they would have emails and phone calls - until the slow in and out of her breathing began to take on a mesmerising quality, lulling Carys in the same direction.

She shook herself and glanced up.

Carlisle was standing in the doorway, watching them with an unreadable expression.

She was faintly embarrassed to realise she'd missed him over the past couple of hours. More so when her heart rate picked up just a little, beeping in the background.

He smiled and strode across to press a lingering kiss to her forehead, then to greet Charlie. Taking the chair to her other side, he struck up a quiet conversation about baseball.

Later still, after her parents returned - Amy subtly changing the channel while Findlay joined the conversation - Shauna babbled herself awake, taking cuddles from Carys before she stopped looking so stunned and held out a hand, grabbing lazily toward Findlay.

Seeing Carlisle take a break from the conversation to interact with her sister, Carys had to remind herself of what he'd told her. "Adoption isn't an option. In such close proximity, over time, children would realise there was something different about us."

She searched her heart and was surprised at what she found. It wasn't her loss that bothered her when he played peek-a-boo for twenty minutes straight, without losing an ounce of patience or enjoyment, it was his.

As if he knew what she was thinking, he looked up and favoured her with a brilliant smile. Shauna made her disappointment clear when he left her to sit on the bed beside Carys, but Sarah picked that moment to poke her head in, and she was easily distracted.

"You're not the only one who likes shiny things, I see," Carlisle whispered in Carys' ear while Sarah took up his post in the crowded room.

She chuckled under her breath. "She likes her fringe," she explained. "Her bangs, I mean."

Carlisle made a sound of assent. "When Leah and Seth visited, she babbled about Leah being 'pity keen' for a full five minutes before we worked out she meant 'pretty Queen'."

"Well she's not wrong."

"No. Edward says she was in awe of them both, but he may have been exaggerating."

Carys wasn't so sure he was. "D'you know if they're coming back?" she asked, hoping the answer would be 'soon'.

"They'll come tomorrow afternoon, after your parents leave."

"Alice said...?" she whispered.

Carlisle chuckled. "No, dearest. There is a wondrous new invention called a telephone. If each of you has one, you can dial - that's what it's called," he explained, miming the action of a rotary, "dialing - a string of numbers and as if by magic-"

"Alright, alright," Carys complained, blushing as she pushed at his immovable chest. "I didn't know Leah was on speaking terms with you, that's all."

"I spoke to Seth," he said, pressing his forehead to hers. The move seemed to remove everything else from the room around them. People talked, but their voices dimmed, falling into the background.

"That makes more sense."

"Hmm..." He stretched his arm across the pillows behind her head and leaned back a little when she covered a yawn. "Would you like me to clear the room so you can sleep?"

"No, it's okay..." Pressing against him, she laid her outer arm to his cold jumper, easing the burning a little. "What were you doing just now?"

"Inducting my replacement before he starts on Monday."

It was an effort to keep her voice low. "What?"

"I'll be on hand if I'm needed, but, as it happens, when your fiancée nearly dies, a leave of absence is not only understood, it's expected."

"But you're-"

"I planned on telling you when we were away, but it's been in the works for a little while now anyway."

Carys wished, then, that they were alone, where he wouldn't feel uncomfortable kissing her, even if he was limiting them. With her parents present, it was a no-go either way, though the hungry intent in his darkened gaze told her he would rectify the situation as soon as he could.

"Carys!" Amy laughingly admonished. "Shame on you!"

Carys turned sharply, and found Shauna's eyes covered, while every other pair was either brimming over with amusement or awkwardly averted. As for their mum, she was openly gleeful, her hands paused halfway through gathering her long twists into a bun atop her head.

While Findlay, grinning, held steady against his baby's best efforts to bat his hands away, their mum said, "Unless you want to explain why your heart just started beating out your chest?"

Just before she disappeared under the covers, Carys spared Carlisle a glare.

Monica and Sarah came to spend some time alone with her that night, after hours, while Carlisle pretended to sleep on a cot beside her. He was taking the opportunity to search his memory for any mention of absorbing blood.

The visit wasn't technically allowed, but when, after an hour or two, Nurse Cassidy reminded them of the fact, the three women simply asked the permission of the Attending.

"I'll make an exception," Sarah informed the room at large. "Just this once, mind. I don't want this happening again." Leaning in her chair, she nodded. "It won't, I promise-" and back again "-just be sure it doesn't."

Monica sniggered. With a laugh and a roll of her eyes, the nurse left them to it.

"One day you'll be the Director, and Mon'll be the Chief of Police, and you'll end up accidentally running this town," Carys chuckled.

"Don't jinx me!" Monica cried, tensing. "Take it back!" After Carys dutifully crossed her heart and threw imaginary salt over her right shoulder, she relaxed. "You don't know the paperwork," she sighed. "No. For real though. I didn't take my exams for nothing..." she trailed off, blanching.

"Still hoping there's a murder mystery to solve?"

"Yeah..." Shifting awkwardly in her chair, she complained, "There's just so little intrigue in this town. I mean, yeah, there's stuff going on, but I know it all."

Carys highly doubted that, but she kept quiet, allowing Sarah to move the conversation on to brighter things. Namely, finalising the purchase of their new family home.

While she listened and made appropriate comments, she wondered what had happened to Richard. He hadn't been at the battle. Had he died, or simply run away as a few of the newborns had?

She realised she'd zoned out when she came to to find the couple wrapped up in each other, smiling happily against each other's lips. Monica deepened the kiss, leaning over Sarah.

"Hey," Carys half-heartedly cut across, "no PDA!"

Sarah disentangled herself and raised an eyebrow. "Never been a problem before-ah. Carlisle's on strike, is he?" Carys nodded sadly, and so she asked, "Since this afternoon?"

"Before," she grumbled, "No proper kissing 'til I'm off the monitor." Remembering both that he could hear every word, and that she didn't usually share intimate details of their relationship, she coughed lightly and amended her tone. "I mean, no. No idea what you mean. I just have a thing against snogging now."

"Lemme guess," Monica said, highly amused, once she'd moved back to her seat, "it's the devil's work now you're not getting any again?"

"I was gonna go with loose lips sink ships, actually," retorted Carys, making a face.

Sarah shook her head. "That's sharing secrets."

Carys made a moue of dissatisfaction. "Yeah, but it could work on the level of seduction being involved? Maybe?"

Sarah wrinkled her nose and shook her head again. Carys groaned and sank against the pillows.

"No, no, she could be right," Monica interrupted, sitting forward in her chair. "Maybe she needs some hints. Just how badly are you kissing, Carys? Are we talking washing machine, or limpet? Oh, or snake? Just unhinging your jaw and latching on to-" she broke off with an amused snort when Carlisle rolled over.

Though his eyes remained closed, it was enough to remind them, too, of his presence.

Far quieter this time, she asked, "D'you think he heard me?"

"No," said Sarah patronised, widening her eyes for effect, "you were so quiet!"

Monica shoved her as she and Carys descended to laughter. Carys winced, gasping as the convulsions tugged at her bruised ribs, which Carlisle used as a perfect excuse to 'wake up' with a groan, pushing up onto one elbow, squinting at them all.

"Something funny?" he asked, his voice artfully sleep-roughened.

"Nothing you need to know," assured Sarah. "We better get going anyway. You two have a good night." Bending over Carys while Monica gathered their jackets, she whispered, "There's a mute button."

Carys waved absentmindedly and then cast Carlisle an arch look. He waited until they were clear, then gave up the pretence and dropped back down, staring at the ceiling.

Entirely unimpressed, she asked, "Well? What d'you have to say for yourself?"

He released a heavy sigh. "You're in pain, love."

"Don't give me 'you're in pain, love'," she said, imitating him as she jabbed her index finger towards the monitor, "gimme mute and snog."

Carlisle burst out laughing, near silently. The longer she glared at his profile, the worse it became. He threw an arm across his eyes, shaking his head. "When you're up," he wheezed. "You can endure pecks until then."

"Carlisle," Carys worried aloud, "have you gone off me now my arm's disfigured?"

"Off you?" As if horrified by the suggestion, he sat up quickly, frowning at her. "I want you under me, over me, in every position you can conceive of and more, you daft turtle."

"Then why?"

He dropped back down and adjusted his position, turning his frown on the ceiling, this time. "It's difficult for me to kiss you the way I want to when you're laid up here. I can hear everything... Oh." His tone lightened dramatically, his expression clearing in an instant. "Sally Mallory-Jenkins is being admitted."

"Oh, she's having her baby?" Carys asked excitedly, forgetting her ire.

"Yes! Jason is far less composed than she is," he added, turning his head a little to listen out. "Ha! From the sounds of things, he tripped over the-oh, poor boy." He looked up at her, a smile playing about his lips. "His nose may be broken."

Carys smiled softly as he chuckled, returning to stare up. "D'you wanna get out of here before it starts?" she offered, not really wanting him to leave. "In case there's screaming?"

"No, no, it's fine," he insisted, waving dismissively. "I've learned my lesson in the most horrific of ways; I'm not leaving your side unless I have to. Besides, I'm rather used to the sound by now. There are two people screaming downstairs as we speak, but they're in highly capable hands. It will stop soon."

"That's the most horrifying thing I've heard you say," she told him in a dull voice.

He shifted to look at her again. "Is it?"

"Probably." Begrudgingly accepting hospitals might be off-putting, Carys yawned. "Give me my peck and turn out the light, then? I'm about to click for the good stuff, and it'll make me even more sleepy."

"You're under-using it," he reproved. All the same, he swung his legs over and stood in one smooth movement, stepping across to ease down on the side of her bed.

Carys fiddled with the edge of her blanket. "I don't want to miss everyone," she said simply. They both knew the depth of emotion beneath the words.


"Your mom thought she was protecting you by not telling you the extent of it," Findlay explained from the chair. He'd returned an hour after they'd said a full goodbye (until they returned for the wedding in a matter of weeks), to talk to her - because he hadn't wanted to call it a warning - about her father. "He was getting worse."

"I remember parts," Carys said slowly. "The arguments, the emotional stuff. I didn't know she tried leaving before. It was always about money and how he was seen."

He nodded, equally slowly. "She protected you from it. After the crash, she told him she was leaving and this time, for whatever reason... He gave her an ultimatum; she took his deal."

"What was the deal?"

"He'd agree to a divorce, and she'd leave his mistress' name out of the documents and take you, both of your things, and a small settlement. Enough to put down first and last on the house you grew up in."

"And he got everything else." It wasn't a question.

It was surprising to find she wasn't surprised in the least. Discovering he'd taken money over her just confirmed what she supposed she'd always known. It confirmed the type of person he was - whether she'd allowed herself to think it or not.

"And he got everything else," Findlay echoed. "The house, the car, no alimony. This was the eighties. She didn't want to risk losing you through the courts."

"I thought it was me...," she hesitantly admitted. "I thought he didn't want to deal with me after the crash or something."

"No, sweetheart. It was him. All him. He wanted what he called the 'picture perfect family'. He decided you and your mom weren't that, and that's when it began. Your aunt - your father's sister - helped loads; gave you a place to stay while your mom got things together, and helped in other ways before she died. Your mom might not have got out if she didn't have that support." He sighed, sliding down a little in his chair.

Carys bit her lip and quelled the tremor. "Mum's really strong," she observed, "isn't she?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, "Yeah, she is."

"I'm kinda glad she took me t'be honest," she said, twisting her hands in the blanket. "That's weird, I know-"

"I don't think it's weird at all."

"You didn't hear what I was going to say," she murmured, eyeing him suspiciously.

"It's not weird to be glad you got the right parent."

"Isn't it? I'm kinda... I knew she went through a lot and it wasn't always easy, but I just didn't realise she lost so much for me... I wouldn't've blamed her if she did it differently."

Findlay rolled his dark blue eyes and let out a deep breath. "You literally just said what I said, only you took a lot longer."

Carys kicked up one leg, threatening him from afar. Unfortunately, he knew her too well and smirked.

"Why isn't Mum telling me all this?" she asked.

"Er..."

"Dad?" she prompted, referring to Findlay by the title.

"Before I say this, I just want you to think to yourself," he appealed. "If this was your daughter, would you leave it?"

"She got his number and called him, didn't she?" Carys wasn't surprised by this turn of events, either. In fact, she was embarrassingly grateful.

"Yeah," he said, nervously drawing out the word. "You rambled a bit, so Carlisle filled her in that he'd been in contact, wanting to be in your life. I'm not sure everything she said to your father was anatomically correct, but points were made. I thought it'd be better coming from me, so I said I was getting coffee for the road. Please don't blame her - it took a lot to speak to him again. She planned just on asking him to leave you alone, but-"

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"He wanted to have his family on the top table and walk me down the aisle."

Findlay looked fit to explode. "He what!?" he bellowed.

Carys remained silent through his tirade of curses. She'd known him for going on twelve years, and she'd never heard him so angry. When he settled down - after a nurse came to see if she needed help, and Carys explained she was fine - she ran him through the call, and the many she'd ignored since.

Whichever one of her mum's friends had told her father about the wedding would, Findlay was sure, be firmly removed from the address book when Amy heard.

"I better be getting back before I'm missed," he said when Carlisle returned, holding two to-go cups for him to take. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Perfectly," Carys assured him, tearing her gaze from the steaming cups. She hadn't had coffee since her birthday. "But."

Findlay paused as Carlisle settled himself in the chair he'd just vacated. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind if I walked down the aisle on my own? I would want you to do it if I had anyone do it, but-"

"Why don't we say you're following Mom's tradition and leave it at that?" he asked softly.

"That's alright with you?"

"Hell, Carys. So long as you go the whole hog and take out the obey bit in the vows too, I'll be happy. No offence, Carlisle."

"None taken," he said matter-of-factly. "It's antiquated at best."

"Couldn't agree more." Shifting the cups so that one was tucked against his chest, Findlay patted Carys' lower leg. "See you soon."

"See you," Carys promised, sharing a smile before he left the room. "So my first dad's an absolute dick," she bit out as soon as he was gone.

"Oh, after hearing the tail-end, I wouldn't say that," Carlisle replied serenely, reclining in the seat as he opened his book to the marked page. "Let us call a spade a spade. He is an absolute fucker."

Carys' jaw dropped. "You called him a fucker!"

Without looking up, he said in the same tone, "As the English language goes, fuck is one of the oldest words in continuous use. If you pick your timing-" he turned a page "-it remains effective."

"You can apologise if you like," she assured him, "there's no one else here."

Before she got the words out, Carlisle crossed himself quickly. He didn't have a problem with people swearing, nor did he mind swearing occasionally, but calling someone a swear was, after all this time, just enough to warrant a very quick call on high.

Carys made herself more comfortable. A thought occured, and she opened her mouth-

"Yes," Carlisle said, "it would be possible to ruin him, but I would counsel against it."

"Hmm, good to know-fuck. What about the siblings?"

He did look up then. "Jasper has contacts. They're happy. All of them. Your step-mother seems to be on the same level as your father, and from school reports etcetera, your siblings are chips off the old block as it were."

"So they're... picture perfect?"

"Nowhere near as perfect as you and yours," he said quietly. Carys wasn't sure if she was supposed to have heard the comment.

She hummed and hoped a further investigation - though she wondered when Jasper had arranged it - would prove the first one correct. All the same, so long as they were truly happy, it was all she cared to know.

It was strangely relieving to have closure.

Her mum had a good life now; as did Carys. Injuries aside. That her mum was the happy, confident woman she was, was all that mattered to her.

She came to the realisation around the time Carlisle rose, pushing his chair back against the far wall.

"Leah and Seth will be here in a while," he explained when she looked askance. "I think it would be more comfortable if I wasn't so close to you when they come in."

"Why would that matter?" Carys asked, no less confused as he took up the same position as before. "You'd be here anyway."

"Yes, but it gives them access to your bedside without having to come too close."

"Oh. Thanks." Closing her eyes briefly, she said, "Sorry, I'm just a bit-" she broke off, waving her right hand toward her head.

He offered her an understanding smile. "I thought you might be. Fair warning. When they leave, I plan on hugging you for an age."

Carys saluted. "You're a bit of alright, Carlisle Cullen," she murmured lovingly, "a real stand-up bloke, as we'd say back in London."

"Pah! London, indeed. When I grew up," he drawled, "your home was little more than a hamlet, four miles from the city walls."

"Touché," she allowed with a grin. "Keeping me honest."

"Someone has to."

A/N: I know, I know, I need to stop making promises about people we'll see... I want to give Seth and Leah their due, and not worry about the word count when I'm writing them.

If this was a real book and I was editing, I think I would remove all the stuff about Carys' birth father from New Moon (save mentioning the remembered trauma of his leaving) and Eclipse. I feel like it made sense at the time, but it's an unnecessary sub-plot and removing it wouldn't really make a difference to the books.

Thank you to: BMBMDooDoo-Doo-Doo-Doo, 0oKitteno0, Guest (he's so frustrated, not having an answer!), Momochan77, Nana (hahaha! ;) As for the dreams, the hint is in knowing her powers are similar to theirs - undefined in a way that could be forged by her mindset during the change. You're right about the range, but with Charlie, she knows he's losing Bella to the change soon, and with the sleeves, she saw her arm and decided she wouldn't want it on display. P.s. I'll add it to the list!), GuestMG, Books-n-Harleys, Shelley J88, KEZZ 1, seconddragon, Ghostwriter71, jhaenox, Serena Salvatore, Guest (he's trying! And he's going to be her doctor, but he'll team up with Rosalie, as she has medical degrees and could help, and I doubt Edward would be so eager to do so despite his), TDI-Ryro-Eclares, and LarissaValenti2613 for your reviews!