Gwendolyn
Carlisle looked at me and smiled, comfortingly. When I looked away from Carlisle's amazing eyes I was confused. The girls were giggling and speaking Spanish. Rosalie was applauding something one of the others had said. Edward was grinning from ear to ear. What he did next shocked me. He kissed Isabella full on the lips. His brothers then did the same to his sisters. My eyes almost went back into my head. I groaned disapprovingly. The gossiping adolescent in question also known as Bella turned to look at me. I glared at her. She rolled her eyes before speaking. "I'm going to play Risk anyone want to join me?" Her hot-headed immature siblings all nodded. Jasper looked toward Carlisle as he and the others walked out. "Not playing Dad?"
"No thanks you all have fun," Carlisle smiled at his son.
When I thought they were out of earshot I sighed. "How could you let your children date each other Carlisle?"
"They are all very well matched together. They are at their happiest when with each other. It's what's best." His answer sincerely annoyed me. Being incestuous was something that would only please the damned and devoid of conscience. That would definitely change next week. Maybe if they saw how it would be to date normally their views would change also. I didn't react externally, instead deciding that I would ask after the children's lives pre-adoption.
"So how were the children before you and Esme adopted them? Their lives I mean?" I asked curious.
Carlisle ran a hand through his hair, "I'd rather you ask them. I'd prefer not to betray my children's confidences." I nodded, annoyed. I'd ask the little brats myself then.
Esme
The suburb we drove into was posh with a dash of antiquity. The house we arrived at was something else however. The house was two stories and unoriginal. The grass was neat to a human eye. To my eye though the lawn was terribly mowed. The house was an off white and with my sight I noticed the paint starting to peel.
I got out and pulled my large suitcase behind me. The inside of the house was not much better to the outside. The furniture could stand to be updated and the bedrooms all lacked originality. My children kept memorabilia of the most imaginative types from Edward's records to Jasper and Emmett's guns. We still had the cross Carlisle's father had built from his church in London. Once I'd taken my things to the guest room, the camera man suggested I read the manual. So I sat at the table and did just that.
Dear New Mother,
My name is Gwendolyn Daniels. Welcome to my home. My husband Lake is a podiatrist and I'm a stay at home mom. I volunteer at a hospital, twice a week as a candy striper to the teenage patients. Mostly I assist the emergency chaplain while I'm there. My children Kyle 11,and Hannah 7 are angels. Hannah does ballet five days a week at the Orman Center for the Arts and Kyle plays football at his middle school. Lake's shifts rotate so he'll tell you when he has to work. Hannah is only allowed an hour of TV a day and Kyle an hour and a half. They may only watch when their homework is done. Hannah carpools to and from the Orman center so you will need to pick her up from the elementary school at 3:00 and Kyle from football at the middle school at 3:15.
Have fun,
Gwendolyn
I closed the book and made my way to the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator, curious. The three shelves contained a considerable amount of food for a family of four. A lot of it the dairy included had gone bad. Besides the spoiled food the Daniels family ate a lot of carbs. In the refrigerator there was an aluminum pan of leftover chicken cacciatore, two slices of red velvet cake, and in the pantry, a 24pack of soda, and three jumbo bags of various snack foods. They'd need to start eating better. I heard a car turn into the drive, so I made my way to the entry to greet my new family. A man probably in his late twenties or early thirties came in. He had dark brown hair and green eyes. He held out a hand. " Lake Daniels. Pleased to meet you."
"Esme Cullen, likewise Lake. I'm guessing you're Kyle?" I smiled at a boy behind Lake. He was the spitting image of his father, just slightly shorter. "Yes," he stammered. "Nice to meet you." His eyes were wide as he took in my appearance. "You as well. Hello Hannah." A little girl with dark hair and blue eyes looked up at me. "Hi,"she grinned shyly at me. "I heard you like ballet." "I do." "Ahh, my oldest daughter was trained in ballet, classical,and tap, with her friends when she visited them in New York," I replied remembering the recital Nessie,Jamie,Zora,and Juliana had put on in New York, years ago. I smiled at the thought and made a note to check up on her since we hadn't talked much lately. "How many children do you have Mrs. Cullen?" "I only wrote six because the oldest is all grown up with children of her own now." I didn't mention how old they were. "Oh. How old are the ones who are still at home?" "They're teenagers, juniors and seniors now." Lake nodded,and I checked my watch. It was getting late, I should probably start dinner. I edged toward the kitchen. "I'm going to start dinner." "We can just eat leftovers. There's plenty to go around," Lake replied walking toward my place at the refrigerator. I tried to control my face. Reheated Italian food did not sound like it would taste good. "It's no trouble. I like to cook." "No really. You just got here," he protested. So we ate chicken cacciatore and Kyle talked nonstop about football. After the dishes were done, and Wally, the kids pet turtle, was fed everyone retired. I threw up my dinner, showered, dressed for the next day and called Nessie.
"Hi grandma. Grandpa told me you're on a TV show. What did Uncle Emmett do?"
"He sent in the application," I laughed. "How is your family?" "We're all fine thank you Esme." I heard Jacob speak around a mouth full of food.
"Excuse him. He's eating dinner."
"Am I interrupting sweetie?"
"No, we just put the kids to bed. How are you?"
"Good. Iowa's got pretty good game. I like the architects at the office. How is teaching there?" My granddaughter was living in Venezuela currently since it wasn't war-torn anymore. "I love it. The kids are so sweet! I miss you guys though. I might drop in while your away to make sure Em doesn't destroy the house."
"I'd appreciate, it dear. I'll let you get some sleep. I love you. Have a good night."
"Love you too. Night, Esme."
I pulled Scaramouche from my suitcase and read until the sun came up. The children lazed around all weekend. On Monday I made breakfast and woke up the kids. They were shocked by what my granddaughter and her friends would call a single serving of food. I'd prepared pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, sliced fruit, and fresh squeezed orange juice. "Is this for us?" Kyle asked sitting down.
"Yes it is. I ate before I started cooking. I hope you enjoy it, I haven't made this much in a while."
The children and Lake devoured their food almost as fast as the packs could tear apart one of Kristen's holiday spreads and she served ten people at a time not counting Nessie and their other friends. "Thank you for breakfast, Mrs. Cullen. I have to be going now. I'll probably be home for dinner," Lake said kissing Hannah's cheek. "Have a nice day," I called as he walked out to his car. Once I'd washed the dishes at a fast human pace it was time to take the kids to school. "Umm, Mrs. Cullen today is Observation Day in my grade," Kyle stammered. "I have the chance to observe your classes?" I guessed. He nodded, a little embarrassed. "I'd love too. It's been years since I did that," I replied truthfully. I'd only done that on Nessie's very first day of medical school at Stanford because Carlisle was worried about her concealment.
After we dropped Hannah off, I drove around to the parking lot of Kyle's middle school. Before getting out of the car, I quickly emailed the hospital to tell them I had a prior obligation and wouldn't be volunteering today. We stopped in the front office and the receptionist smiled at Kyle. "Good morning. My name is Esme Cullen and I will be attending Observation Day." "Excellent, honey. Here you go," she handed me a hello my name is nametag and a sharpie, cracking the gum in her mouth. I wrote Mrs. Cullen in the blank space in neat cursive pressing it to my blouse. Alice would shudder at watching me apply adhesive tape to the blouse I was wearing. After I'd thrown away the paper Kyle led the way to his classroom. "So do you like your school?" I asked Kyle. "It's ok; I only really like science class. My teacher's really cool." Kyle had a silly grin on his face as we walked toward Room 214. Kyle held the door for me and I stepped into the melee that was sixth grade.
"Come meet my science teacher,please,"Kyle said grinning. "Sure." Kyle led me over to a woman who was sipping what smelt like a cappuccino while grading tests.
"Ms. Martin, this is Mrs. Cullen. She's my mom for two weeks!" "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Cullen, I'm Jillian Martin. If you don't mind me asking are your children around Kyle's age?" The woman was classically pretty and she reminded me of Nessie's best friend Jamie with her long wavy hair. "No they youngest are juniors and the oldest is married with kids. I remember when she was this age; she was traveling the world with her best friends." "Studying?" "No they were traveling for fun because they were all ahead in school. They were honor students, privately tutored. She wasn't taught traditionally until medical school when she was seventeen." "Your daughter is a doctor?"
"She was. Now she teaches and works at a clinic in Venezuela." "Your daughter lives in another country?"Kyle asked. "She's my great-niece actually. We adopted her and her younger brother. She met her soul mate very young and they got married the second she was done with school. He'd already finished and was working."
After a few more pleasantries, Ms. Martin started class. The students were doing a lab with carbon dioxide. Kyle paid close attention to Ms. Martin's solely verbal instructions and completed the assignment perfectly. He was the second student finished after a girl named Sophie King. He was clearly head over heels for his teacher.
As the day progressed I noticed that while Kyle had a natural aptitude for the sciences he proved proficient in everything other than history. So as we were sitting down to lunch the very last obligation for the day due to a reorganized schedule, I asked him about it. "Kyle do you find history uninteresting?"
"Yes. Why does what people did in wars matter to what we're doing in science now?"
"It was during wars that some of the world's greatest scientific advancements happened. German missiles in World War 2 were the basis for modern rockets. Computers were a product of various nations fighting in the war."
"Really?"
"Yes. As it happens my younger son collects memorabilia from the Civil War and my oldest one loves studying the First World War. I'm sure the public library has a few science history books you could use to write your paper."
"Would you please help me?"
"I'd be glad to. I'll ask a friend if her family can think of any public titles you could reference. Their whole family loves to read. And you know what? Her daughters are doctors and her sons and daughters-in-law are sound and video engineers."