This short story has been sitting on my hard drive for a long time. It was a simple plot bunny that I didn't intend on sharing. But as I was looking through my folders, I figured why not. So here it is.

THE THREADS OF A NEW LIFE

Carlisle had the gentlest, most loving hands.

As Bella stood by the wall of windows, her gaze directed at the sun beyond the trees, he announced his proximity by running his fingertips up and down her neck, slowly and tenderly, sending a series of frissons all throughout her sated body.

With closing eyes, Bella drifted upon the sensation, her chest rising on a contented sigh.

"Penny for your thoughts," Carlisle inquired, his voice scarcely above a murmur, as he wrapped his arms around her frame.

His fingers skimming the edge of her bathrobe, he pulled at the collar enough to reveal a few inches of skin. Luxuriating in her husband's touch, Bella loosed a delicate hum just as his mouth found her shoulder, then her neck. "What are you thinking about?" he asked again, his breath feathering against her smiling cheek.

To a human, his skin would have been hard and cool to the touch, but because they were both vampires, Carlisle actually felt warm, his skin soft and smooth. Leaning in the bracing circle of his arms, Bella turned her head, and sought his eyes. They were gold now, the blackness of arousal having faded in the wake of their recent lovemaking.

"I'm thinking of you." Her arm rose, her palm coming to rest on the side of his beloved face. "How happy you make me feel."

The love and joy on his features could not be missed. It made her life to see it.

Snuggling into his embrace, Bella looked to the windows again. "My only regret is that I wish we could sleep again. Even if only once." Her smile turned slightly wistful. "I would have loved that, I think. Waking up in your arms."

As the midnight sun shone between the trees, casting warm light on their refractive skin, Bella closed her eyes again.

Carlisle asked, "Are you up for the day or are you coming back to bed?" Being taller than her, he bestowed a kiss to the crown of her head.

"I hadn't really decided yet. Maybe I'll leave it up to you."

His answering purr sent a jolt of heat straight to her core. Winding slow, proprietary touches up and down her arms, he nipped her earlobe once, twice, then a third time. "I think…" His breath gusted against her skin, the sensation as rousing as the graze of his teeth on the rim of her ear. "I think you should get back in bed, Mrs. Cullen. Your husband already misses you."

"So soon?" Bella teased, and twisted her torso to better see the hunger on his face.

In answer to her question, Carlisle leaned forward to claim her mouth. Before their lashes lowered, the last thing Bella saw were his irises. They were turning dark again.

"I can't get enough of you, Bella…" A low moan, followed by another searing kiss. Breathlessly, he begged, "Please… come back to bed."

How could she refuse?

Facing him fully, Bella returned his kisses, and rose on her toes. As she placed her palms upon his shoulders, massaging the corded muscles beneath, Carlisle encircled her waist and walked her back toward their rumpled bed.

With practiced ease, he soon divested her of her robe. As it slid to the ground, the fabric landing in a puddle by her feet, Carlisle pulled her flush against him. She gasped. He only smirked and stared.

His arousal was now pressed against her abdomen, a straining need that only fueled her own. God, she loved and wanted this man.

A man who had somehow found his way into her grieving heart, rekindling her desire to live and love again.

If it hadn't been for him…

As Carlisle guided their nude bodies onto the mattress, rolling them so he could lie in the cradle of her thighs, Bella thought back on the long and arduous path they had travelled to get to here. An emotional journey of loss and grief, discovery and shame. Until finally, after a long internal struggle, the two had given in and ultimately found peace and healing.

And love. So much love.

Though everything had been stacked against them—not the least of which was the fact that they had once seen each other in a very different light—Carlisle and Bella had ultimately embraced their growing feelings. A slow process of acceptance that had taken years.

You see, Carlisle had been Edward's sire. His brother. Sometimes, his father. But no matter the roles they had played—roles that allowed them to blend and move around in the human world—Carlisle had always been the leader of his coven, his family. A family Bella had married into.

Edward. The husband she had lost. The father of her daughter.

Back in those days, Carlisle and Esme had been the embodiment of marital stability. A husband and wife who loved each other deeply, and looked after their loved ones—their chosen sons and daughters.

Bella being married to Edward, she had fallen into that category for a time, especially with Esme, who had been like a mother to her. Carlisle, on the other hand, had been a slowly changing equation in her life.

On paper, he had been her father-in-law, it was true, and admittedly Bella had seen him that way at first. But after she had gotten pregnant with Renesmee, Carlisle had looked after her as her doctor and OBGYN, spending many long hours at her side. While monitoring her health, he had held countless conversations with her. Most had been light and pleasant. But he had counseled her also, warning her of the real and inherent risks associated with her impossible pregnancy. After the birth—and Bella's death and subsequent change—her close friendship with Carlisle had not only endured, it had solidified.

Instead of a father figure, he had become her confidant in many ways. A good friend with whom she could speak her heart, or share her love of books. Of course, she'd still had Alice in those days. But though the two had been best friends, Alice had differed greatly from Bella. Sometimes, it'd been easier to relate to Carlisle.

Renesmee quickly grew from baby to child. And for a brief moment in time, the Cullens were all very happy. Bella and Edward had a daughter of their own, that they had made together. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett had a niece to spoil. And Carlisle and Esme had a granddaughter to love.

But then came that dreadful day, when the Volturi challenged them on that snow-covered battlefield. At the time, none of them could have foreseen the future, the terrible losses they had been about to incur.

Edward. Esme. And Alice.

The three of them ripped to pieces and burned before their very eyes.

When the Volturi had suddenly left the battlefield, leaving the Cullens in a grief-induced stupor, even Bella had been motionless, her booted feet cemented to the spot by a mixture of shock and trauma. It had been the same for all the others. While a part of them had screamed for vengeance, their emotional wounds had been so grievous, none of them had felt capable of giving chase.

Bella, Carlisle, and Jasper had lost their spouses, their mates, the other halves of their souls. Emmett and Rosalie had been the lucky ones. The mated pair hadn't been parted by death.

The years that followed had been long and painful. A family of grieving vampires, including three widows, with Renesmee in hiding with Jacob… It was pretty heavy stuff.

Given the unbearable circumstances, Bella had once feared that the family would splinter apart, that Jasper would disappear into the wilderness, while Rosalie and Emmett would leave to fashion their own lives. But in the end, out of love for one another, they'd all stayed.

As emotionally battered as they'd been, the Cullens were stronger when they were all together. They all knew this, hence the reason they now lived in one home. A newly-built residence nestled in the green forests of the Yukon Territory.

After a few years, when Renesmee had reached full stature, she and Jacob had chosen to come out of hiding, deeming it safe enough now that it was clear she posed no threat to vampire kind. To Bella's disappointment, however, she and Jacob had politely declined to live with the Cullens, choosing instead to live on the reservation. At least the two visited every now and then. And thanks to the wonders of technology, they also kept in touch via video chat.

Understandably, Renesmee had been a little unsettled when she had learned that her mother was in love with the man she considered her paternal grandfather. But after a year or so, she had ultimately made peace with the idea, giving them their blessing because she loved them both so much, and wanted nothing more than to see them happy.

The sun's slanted rays seeped through the windows, bathing the bed in brightness and warmth.

"Bella…"

Carlisle was now buried deep within her, his face inches above her own. His weight braced on his tireless arms, he moved in a steady rhythm, his hips thrusting in time with their breathy moans and sighs. Fingers gliding through his golden hair, Bella moved with his motions, and watched him through her lashes.

The love in his hooded eyes was such that she could have wept at the sight of it. But because vampires were unable to cry, she conveyed her emotions in the ways that were left to her–with her eyes, with her touch, with the fervent words that now tumbled from her mouth.

"I love you. So very much." As her hand fisted in his hair, Bella's shoulders left the mattress, her breath coming in rapid pants when she said, "Kiss me."

He did. Fully and deeply.

Her thumb curling toward the inside of her left palm, Bella felt the edges of her wedding ring, a simple traditional band matching the one Carlisle wore on his left hand. Two of a kind. A matching golden set engraved with their initials.

Even after three months, the fact that she could now call him her husband still seemed surreal at times.

To think, they had nearly turned their backs on this. In guilt and shame, they had nearly shunned the love and peace they had ultimately found over the past two years.

Bella had loved Edward. She had cherished him with every fibre of her being. But in the years immediately following his death, she had lived only half a life. Some days, she had been no better than a marble statue. Silent and motionless. A shell who was merely existing.

Carlisle, for his part, had been in a similar state. His grief was such that he had even quit medicine for a time. For him to abandon the career he loved…

Her heart had gone out to him in those days. To Jasper, too. But for some reason, Carlisle had been the one she had gravitated towards, the one she had felt most comfortable in approaching. Talking about their grief had helped them tremendously. Together, they had often reminisced about Edward and Esme, and still did.

On the night before their wedding, the two of them had been strolling about the forest hand in hand when Carlisle had turned to face her. His fingers finding her chin so he could raise her eyes to his, he had regarded her with a subdued yet hopeful smile. "Tomorrow, you'll finally be my wife, and I will be your husband. I do not doubt your love for me, and I never will." His hand had lowered to her chest just then, his palm resting over her silent heart. "But know that I will respect the fact that a part of you will always belong to him."

Her eyes had fallen closed at that. Then Carlisle had spoken again. "Edward was your first love."

Moved beyond reason, Bella had mirrored his actions, placing her hand on his chest. "And Esme was yours."

He had given a solemn nod. "They would want us to be happy. And I am, Bella. Because of you, I feel like I'm living again."

Now, they were living their lives to the fullest, taking not a day, not a single moment, for granted.

In the relative privacy of their bedroom, Bella was flying on sensation, her body thrumming with bliss as Carlisle rolled onto his back so he could stare up at her with a blend of lust and wonder. His beautiful features sparkling in the morning light, he encouraged her movements with his hands and his words. "You can't know. You can't know what you do to me."

"I'm yours, Carlisle." Another panting breath, another series of whispered words. "Forever and always… oh God." She was nearly there.

Not long after Bella had gone over the edge, Carlisle reached completion as well. His eyes clenched shut, his features contorting with the intensity of it all, he cried out, his body seizing and quaking as he finally came with the strangled sound of her name.

In the aftermath, he held her for several long moments. In the end, he only moved because he had to. His beeper was beeping.

"It's the clinic,"—because they lived near an isolated community, the town didn't have a hospital, only a clinic from which trauma patients and critically ill people could be flown out via helicopter—"I'm afraid I have to go."

"That's alright." Her smile was genuine. "Your patients need you. Go do your thing."

Rising and dressing in short order, Carlisle was soon on his way out the door.

"I'll see you tonight, sweetheart," he said, kissing her as she handed him his briefcase.

"I'll be here." Watching him go, Bella waved at him from the doorway.

Given the lessons she had learned over these past few years, she appreciated the ritual. From simple moments to extraordinary ones, Bella cherished them all. For these were the threads of their new life. A life of hope, healing, and new beginnings. Of love and family and all the memories they had yet to make.