Carlisle POV

My grandchildren surveyed the scene as if the adults around them had gone rabid. Nessie finally looked over at Henry with a knowing expression on her face. The picture of an artless, innocent child, she rolled her eyes and said, "They're talking about sex."

Jacob roared in protest at Nessie's observation, coming off the couch to grab her in his arms. He placed his hand across her mouth, effectively cutting off any further comments, but Nessie's laughing face was apparent through his hand. Alice and Jasper began giggling at Jake's discomfort as he glared around the room looking to find someone to blame. True to form, Emmett provoked the situation further by saying, "They're in Chicago, so you'll have to wait to take it up with them when they get back."

Esme even let a chuckle escape as she snuggled into my side. I was still waiting in trepidation for her response to my present. She slanted her eyes at me, and carefully tucked the present to her side. Her actions were making me increasingly nervous, but I wasn't given much time to think about the situation.

Esme reached down and grabbed my first present; a prescription bag from the local pharmacy. I saw where the white receipts had been stapled to the bag, but removed leaving the staple intact. I wondered when was the last time Bella had been to the doctor, and what she would have gotten me that she felt the need to put it into an old prescription bag. I was figuring this for her present, as she would be the only one of the group that would have had need of medicine in the past several decades.

Tearing the bag open, I dumped the contents into my lap. It was a prescription bottle, filled with several dozen little blue triangular pills. I blinked twice; not believing my eyes, even knowing my vision was perfect. It was Viagra. The prescription was written out to Carlisle Cullen, "Take as needed." I was absolutely mortified, trying to picture Bella putting this together without dying from embarrassment. I heard the kids stirring in curiosity to see what I held in my hands. Esme began to spasm with laughter.

The discomfiture escalated as I read, "Contact emergency services if condition lasts more than 4 days." The "hours" that would have normally appeared after the number "4" had been whited out and replaced with the word "days." It was then that I realized who the culprit behind the gift was. I knew that handwriting. My gaze flew up to Emmett's face as he was attempting to hold the laughter in. "Whose house did you steal this from Emmett?" I forced through my clenched teeth.

"No one's," he challenged.

I raised my eyebrows at him, and the group around us exploded in laughter as Esme whispered "Viagra" to them. I looked at her in astonishment, and she raised her eyebrows, subtly challenging me. I had been a participant in her horror picture, and the fantasy outfit. She wasn't about to make this easy on me.

"Emmett Cullen, this is a controlled prescription. You could get us all in a lot of trouble if you were caught with it," I reprimanded.

Emmett scoffed at the idea of getting caught. "I didn't steal anything, Carlisle. I went to see Dr. Gerandy. I explained about your little problem, and the fact that you were too full of pride in your youthful stamina to ask for help. I explained that our family was desperate; that we feared a breakup of the marriage if something didn't change. I broke down sobbing, explaining that this was the fifteenth foster home I had been in - that I couldn't take much more. That you and Esme made me happy and that I couldn't lose you. He wrote the prescription out, mumbling about the possibility of losing his license for prescribing something to a patient he hadn't seen. But he couldn't refuse this face," he concluded, posing in his infamous sad-little-boy look.

My hands trembled as I held the bottle in my hands. My voice came out in a mere whisper, "Where did you get these filled?"

"In town. Why?" he grinned.

Esme was holding her breath, attempting to contain her laughter as I vacillated between acute embarrassment and enraged insanity. If the prescription had been filled here, it wouldn't take a day for the gossip to be all over town. Then I looked at the bottle again, and realized that the pharmacy in question was located in Seattle. Emmett started bellowing out his laughter when he heard me release my breath in relief.

"I've never seen whether or not that particular appendage reattaches, Esme. I wonder what would happen to the vampire who lost it accidentally to a fire. I've never heard of anything growing back," I whispered. She immediately took her hand away from her mouth, and her pealing laughter rang out through the room. She was laughing so hard the she actually started snorting.

Nessie had left Jacob's arms to come over and sit at my feet. She had most likely been concerned about my too quiet voice but, when she saw Esme's reaction, a breathtaking grin split her face. Henry had crawled over as well and was staring up at me with his blue eyes. He beamed at me when I finally shook off the numb feeling. Emmett continued to laugh uncontrollably across the room, and Jacob's deep baritone laughter had joined in. I sent Jacob a stern look; letting him know what I thought of his traitorous ways.

I reached my hand down to Henry; letting him select my next gift. He handed me what was obviously a book wrapped in newspaper, and Nessie's excited smile told me that this was her and Jacob's gift. Tearing through the newspaper, I uncovered an almost new looking Dog Anatomy "Coloring Book." It was clearly a veterinary book, but one designed as an instructional aid. The description on the back cover indicated, "Helpful do-it-yourself coloring format maximizes comprehension and retention." I flipped to the middle of the book and found an intriguing layout of the internal anatomy of a German shepherd.

Jacob interrupted my browsing by saying, "Nessie and I figured that Henry could help you color in the lines, and in the process you might learn something useful. Originally, we had gotten the two of you the Attitude Adjuster together, but we found this at the book sale. I realized that it is hard to teach an old vampire new tricks, but maybe the coloring exercise will help your retention."

I heard Alice's tinkling laughter rise about everyone else's, and I was shocked to hear her say, "I'm really enjoying not having to worry anymore about laughing. Maybe next year we will have to let certain rules slide so that we can do this more often."

I continued looking through the book, thrilled about some of the stuff I saw. I would actually be able to use some of this knowledge in the unfortunate event I ever had to deal with any injury to the wolves again. I stopped at one page, and looked up at Jacob.

"The details in this book are amazing. Truly, I may able to use some of this later. For instance, this particular dog is so similar to your structure as a wolf that it is amazing, Jacob," I said, as I turned the book around for the rest of the family to see.

Rosalie punched Jacob in the arm, in her glee, "Hey, look; a little SHIT-zu." She continued, adding with just the right amount of innocence, "Do you think we might possibly consider getting an Irish Wolfhound for around the house, Carlisle?"

Jacob curled his lip back in a snarl, and Jasper snickered at his reaction.

"Good, so when you get me that Jack Russell you promised, I won't have to take it to the vet. That should eliminate some of the excuses about the cost," Nessie added, smiling at Jacob in response to my comment. Rose threw a pillow from across the room, knocking the laughing Nessie in the back of the head.

Henry had been picking up several of the presents and shaking them, obviously in an attempt to see what was inside. He handed me a small rectangular package that had a note attached. I read out loud.

Dear Carlisle,

Since I've recently taken up new pursuits and responsibilities, I expect you will miss our frequent debates on religion and philosophy. I hope that, in lieu of my company, these gifts will sate your interest. And don't forget to "always look on the bright side of life!"

Love, Edward

"Wow. I never thought of it that way," said Emmett mischievously. "If you'd like, I can see if we can get those Jehovah's Witnesses to come back again." The rest of the family snickered, while Jake looked back and forth between Emmett and I quizzically.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they went into Witness Protection after what you pulled," I rejoined. Seeing Jake's confusion, I explained. "Just after we moved to Forks, Alice had a vision that some Jehovah's Witnesses would be visiting the house one day while I was at the hospital and Esme was running errands. Emmett got Alice and Edward to keep it quiet, so Esme and I had no idea what was going on."

"An hour or so before they were supposed to arrive, Emmett put on a hockey mask and coveralls and went out hunting. He caught a deer and killed it but, instead of drinking the blood, he proceeded to chop it to pieces with a chainsaw, so the outfit he was wearing was covered in blood spatter and gore. When our guests arrived, he answered the door in that outfit with the chainsaw idling in his hand, then, nice as you please, invited them in for a snack, just so long as they didn't ask what it was. On top of that, Jasper was hiding out of sight, amplifying their fear and nervousness."

"The end result was that those two couldn't get out of here fast enough, and they ended up reporting us to the Sheriff. After Esme and I had come home, a few deputies came out to check on us. We had no idea what was going on because Emmett had cleaned up all the evidence, so you can imagine the awkward conversation we had. We smoothed everything over, but for obvious reasons, the Jehovah's Witnesses don't come to our house anymore."

By now, the snickering had become open laughter, while Emmett grinned triumphantly.

Esme frowned at Emmett, no doubt remembering her mortification when she found out how the uninvited guests had been greeted at her home.

Unabashed, Emmett looked back at her with feigned innocence. "What? I invited them in for some refreshments, but they were quite positive that they couldn't stay."

I shook my head. I might not agree with the philosophy of the Jehovah's Witnesses, but I always tried to treat them with respect. Emmett, the incorrigible prankster, had no such compunctions.

"The incident with the Southern Baptists and the rattlesnakes was a close second to that one, and only by a slight margin," Alice giggled as Jasper shook his head, agreeing with her. By now, Jacob was laughing uproariously.

Returning to Edward's gift, I ripped open the package to find two DVDs: Monty Python's The Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life. Irreverent child - only Edward's black sense of humor would have thought of these. The Life of Brian poked fun not at the Christian Messiah, but at the artificial and sanctimonious religiosity surrounding him - much of it directly contradictory to the messages he preached. The Meaning of Life, in turn, mocked the various seasons of human life, from birth to death and everything in between.

Before Bella appeared and totally changed his life, only Edward, of all our children, had the time available to ponder and discuss religion and philosophy at my level. Now that I thought about it, watching these again would almost be like having a conversation with him. I couldn't help but laugh at the ingenuity of the gifts.

"Hello. Can we have your liver?" Rosalie intoned in a perfect English accent.

"Listen! I can't give it to you now. It says, 'in the event of death'." Emmett quoted and then added, "Oh wait - I guess then we all qualify except for Jacob, Nessie, and Henry." The group erupted, and I knew that they would continue with their perfect recall.

Jasper roared out a laugh, "I think Life of Brian fits Carlisle the most. You don't NEED to follow me, You don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals."

Jacob chimed in with a heavily accented voice, "Vee are ze Judean People's Front kwack suicide squad. Suicide Squaaaad, Attack!" Then he pantomimed stabbing himself in the chest.

Alice, of course, quoted her favorite line, "One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Bloody do-gooder."

I glowered at each of my children in turn, attempting to reprimand them for their disrespectful additions. It was futile; they grinned back at me in impish humor. As I tried to intimidate my offspring, Henry was dragging a large gift bag toward me by the handles, and I reached down to help him. He grinned, patting the bag.

"That is from Henry and me," Rose added, confirming what I had deduced from Henry's actions.

Inside the bag were several individually wrapped gifts. As I reached down to get the first floppy package, Rose got up and walked around the corner into the kitchen. As I tore into the package, finding a floppy fishing hat, Rose leaned two fishing poles up against my chair, opposite of the side where Esme leaned. I glared up at Rose, and she gave me a dainty smile as Henry began bouncing up and down in excitement. I hated fishing. The smell was horrible and the feel of the fish …ugh, revolting and slimy. It was the main reason I had never attempted to utilize the hobby to bond with Charlie; I could be self-sacrificing, but fishing was just shy of martyrdom in my book. Rose knew, however, that I would do anything for Henry or Nessie.

"There's more," Rose giggled, "I realized that we hadn't bought you any appropriate 'Grandfatherly' type things."

As I unwrapped the presents, I found an assortment of gifts: A license plate ring for the Mercedes that read "I'm out spending my grandkids inheritance," a handicapped parking placard, and an outfit that consisted of a hideous Hawaiian print shirt, dark shorts, dark socks, and slip-ons to wear with them. In this outfit, I would look like the epitome of a retired grandfather enjoying his pursuits. She had also included an envelope that contained a reservation for Esme and I to attend one of those time-share conferences in sunny Florida.

"Henry helped pick out the outfit, Dad," Rose said, as Alice stared in horrified pleasure.

Henry squealed in glee and grabbed one of the fishing poles, pulling it to his side. As he pulled the one toward him, the other slapped me in the side of the head. I groaned, to everyone's delight, as the look in Henry's eyes guaranteed many long mornings of smelly displeasure.

I whispered lowly to Esme, "Maybe I can convince Charlie to take him." She shook her head side to side, warning me.

Henry grabbed my leg, having overhead me. He used my leg as an anchor to pull himself to a standing position. "No, damn it, I want you to take me," he stated, pointing emphatically at me.

Everybody in the room froze. Just like Nessie, Henry had progressed in a moment from baby noises to his first complete sentence. It didn't escape anyone's attention that his first sentence also contained a curse word. As I stared in shock at his assertive expression, the room exploded around me. Rosalie leapt over several bodies as she pounced on Emmett. She pinned him to his chair with one hand and mercilessly pummeled him about the head and shoulders.

"Rosie, I'm sorry. I tried to keep from saying things like that in front of him," Emmett pleaded, but he was distracted from further conversation by the urgent need to protect himself.

"EMMETT MCCARTY CULLEN," she roared, as she continue to beat him, "I will never forgive you that my baby used a swear word the first time he spoke."

Emmett was all on his own. Jacob and Jasper were laughing too hard to intervene, and Alice was in danger of falling out of Jasper's lap in the throes of her own mirth. I started to rise, but Henry continued to glare at me, silently demanding my acceptance of his request. He was less concerned about his father than wrangling a promise out of me. I lay my head against the back of the chair for a brief second, in resignation, before looking at him and saying, "Okay, Henry, I promise."

Before I could lift Esme off my lap and go over to intervene between Rose and Emmett, Henry turned to his parents.

"Mama…"

It was the first time he had said that word aloud, and Rose froze in place. It was quite comical. Her fist halted in mid-swing, and she turned to Henry with a love struck look on her face. After a split second, she loosened her hold on Emmett's jacket and straightened up, coming over to lift Henry into her arms.

"Don't blame Daddy, he can't help himself. I hear more than people think I do."

Rose was still glaring daggers at Emmett, but her anger was swiftly abating. She had the audacity to giggle as she handed me the next gift. "Bella asked that you open hers with mine, since they both relate to the grandchildren."

At least it was a book. How much damage could be done with that? I unwrapped the paper and found the child's flip card book "No Biting" by Karen Katz. The back cover displayed the summary, "How to teach your babies not to bite." I opened the front cover to see the first cardboard page. It had the adult looking at the baby and speaking softly, "What can you bite?" A note had fallen out when I opened it.

Carlisle,

Since this family seems to have problems with this particular issue, I thought you might want to start early with Nessie and Henry. Good luck!

Love, Bella

Esme took the note out of my hands and read it to the others.

"Well, at least it isn't a book about having a biting fetish," Emmett joked, cutting his eyes toward Rose, "I sure would hate to have to go to Dr. Gerandy for a treatment for that, too." I growled at his reminder.

"I'll show you a biting fetish, you oaf," Rose grumbled at her husband, still not ready to let Henry's first swear word slide so easily.

"Well he did stop at four, so I'm not sure that would technically qualify as a fetish," Jasper joked, as he handed me the next gift.

I held the poster container in my hand as the family continued to banter around the topic.

"He did choose equally between males and females, so its not like he's gender selective," Alice noted, pretending to ponder the subject in an introspective manner.

I opened the end of the container and spun the cap at her. She caught it in midair just before it would have hit her head, and I grinned as she began to laugh.

"Had I known the trouble I was getting myself into, I might have stopped way before four," I swore back at the family.

I reached in and pulled the rolled paper out of the container. It was a poster similar in size to the Eye Chart that Edward had done for Alice. It was one that doctor's offices generally utilize to educate individuals about Blood Typing and the Rh factors. Jasper, however, had provided his own clever spin.

Under the type A column, he had placed a picture of Edward's face. Just above the large A he had written in small script "Type" and below the A was "personality." Below the picture of the blood cell, where the remarks about the blood type's characteristics generally were found, he had written in several comments. "High Stress," "High Maintenance," "Whiny," "Needy."

Under the type B column, he had placed the same changes to the heading, but had placed a picture of Esme. Her comments included: "Easy Going," "Sweet," "Patient," "Low Maintenance."

The AB section came next and Emmett's smiling mug stared out at me. "Gets along with everyone," "Mixes well," "Will donate to anyone," were a few of the things listed.

The final column was the O section. Jasper had placed the words, "The Big" above the O and Rose's smiling face in the picture area. He had put comments such as "Dishes out to everyone," "Picky about what she receives," and "Unlikely to find someone suitable for compatibility."

Jasper had taken true characteristics of the human blood types and matched them to his siblings and mother. I wondered however why he hadn't chosen to use Alice in one of the areas, as she would have fit several. When I asked the question, I was floored by my lack of understanding.

"Ah, Carlisle, this is about the four human types you've tasted."

I started laughing, along with the rest. "This is very clever, Jasper. It's a shame I can't keep it at the office. The humor is great, although I'm sure Edward is going to be insulted."

"Like I noted on the poster - typical type-A personality," he responded.

Alice was helping Nessie to pick up a fairly long, flat box, as the laughter continued.

"Be careful, Carlisle, it's breakable," she said as she sat it on my and Esme's laps. I opened the end and saw what looked to be neon glass. Carefully reaching in, I felt the structure supporting the glass and used it to pull the item out of the box. It was a neon Vacancy/No Vacancy sign.

Esme and I both looked over to her in confusion, but I could see that everyone else was able to decipher the connotation, as they were collectively gasping.

"I found it at the motel on the way out of town. They had it in their window, but they were throwing it away because the switch is broken. It only reads No Vacancy," she said.

Maybe I was beginning to see the effects of my over 350 years, because I still stared at the sign in puzzlement.

"I don't want to come home one day like Edward did and find all my stuff moved out of my room. With the rate we're adopting strays around here, I think that might be a possibility. I'm proposing that we put that up in our front window to warn others away," she said, projecting a serious tone with her voice.

Jasper burst out in fits of laughter at the look on my face, and Alice's. "Your….You…You're the one who threw the poor guy out…saying you liked his room better. No more strays…ha…you tried to drag Bella home the very first day."

His words and laughter continued to come in fits as Alice finally lost her control and began to grin at us.

Jacob joined her. "Seth's already commandeered Edward's old room. I think he has more clothes in there now than Edward does. Maybe I should take over your and Jasper's room - its not like you need it to sleep in."

Alice let out an unladylike snarl at him. Jacob shrugged his shoulders, indicating just how unaffected he was by her threat.

As they continued to bicker, I realized that Esme's present was the last one on the floor. It was a small package wrapped in cloth, and tied off with bow. Nessie handed it to me and I noted it had to be clothing of some kind. I pulled the ribbon to undo the bow and saw a pair of scrub pants on top. I was again confused by the gift, until I lifted the pants and saw the shirt. Above the pocket on the chest was embroidered, "Dr. McDreamy."

Esme snatched it up out of my lap and held it up for the group to see. My children had no shame. They all burst out in laughter at Esme's reminder of my nickname at the hospital, compliments of a television show many of the nurses watched. She looked over to Alice and Rose, who had obviously been in on both of our gifts and grinned. The girls were looking like cats that had caught the proverbial canaries.

Emmett bellowed out, "See, Rose, I told you you're never too old to play doctor," before he was buried under a barrage of thrown pillows.

_________________

As Alice and I walked up the stairs together, I was still laughing at the expressions on Emmett's face when he received his gifts. Jasper had gone up just a few minutes before us. I was going to put my and Esme's gifts in our room.

The girls had informed me that the kids were all leaving for the evening, letting me know none too subtly that Esme and I would have the house to ourselves. Jacob was taking Nessie and Henry back to spend the night with him and Billy.

I heard Esme step into the room behind me as I placed the picture of the family and the brag book on our high boy. Her arms wrapped around my waist as she placed her cheek against my back. "I had an amazing time this evening. I hate that Edward and Bella had to miss it, but I'm guessing they're having a wonderful time in Chicago," she said, in her softly musical voice.

I turned so that she was now pressed against my front, wrapping my arms around her.

"It is amazing to see the difference in our family since just this time last year. Edward and Bella are together, forever. We have Nessie and Henry, and I've never seen Rose this happy," she said, softly nuzzling her face into my chest.

She let go of my waist, leaning back to look up into my eyes; her's flashing amber in the soft lighting of our room. "In fact, Carlisle, I would have never dreamed that I could be this happy. Our family feels whole for the first time." She smiled, bringing her hand up to my face to cup my chin. She proceeded to run her fingertips up the line of my jaw and across my shoulders, trailing her fingertips down my arms. Small rumbles of pleasure broke from my chest.

I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers, marveling in the powerful feelings she continually evoked within me. She stood on tiptoe to give me closer access to her mouth, but I gently lifted her to bring her solidly to me. The intermingling of our breath between our opened mouths washed over my senses. She pulled back, looking at me with adoration.

"Before I get too distracted, I'd like to give you my present," she said, gently tapping on my arms. I grinned and released her back to the ground, albeit reluctantly. As she was walking over to the closet, we heard Jasper and Alice's laughter as they ran into the woods. She turned in the direction of the sound with a pleased look on her face. I turned to the nightstand and pulled out the two gifts that I had hidden there for her.

We met in the middle of our king sized bed. She looked quizzically at the gifts I placed before me. I was as intrigued by the large box that she had sat on the bed.

"Esme, before I give you my present, the family wanted to give you something from all of us," I said while reaching for the elaborately wrapped box.

"Carlisle, Esme, we're leaving now," Jacob's deep voice call from the garage area.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Emmett called out before starting up his Jeep.

We heard their combined laughter as they pulled down the driveway, and the garage door shut. Esme's eyes darkened considerably when the silence of the big house signified our solitude. Her fingers twitched above the bow on the package, as if in indecision as to where to go next, the present or me.

I leaned over, putting my lips as close to possible to her without actually touching. I used the tip of my tongue to outline her lips. She gasped, and leaned forward to deepen the connection.

I laughed, pulling back. "I don't want to get between you and your presents."

She looked at me, frustrated, and then smiled her siren smile. "You know, two can play that game."

"Please, don't. I'll be good for now," I groaned, realizing nothing would please me more than to put the gifts aside for the rest of the evening. I had promised Rose and Alice that the gifts would come first, and now I knew why Alice had laughed so much when I made the promise. She had clearly seen how distractible I would be at this moment. I had long since gotten past my embarrassment over what Alice saw with her little gift.

Esme untied the bow of the present and unwrapped the paper without moving her eyes from my face. When she felt the box under her fingertips, she finally looked down to remove the lid. Under several layers of tissue paper was a framed picture of the group of us, all together, in our formal attire. This was the picture that had been taken before Alice set up the staged shot. It looked like a fashion shoot with the perfected faces and bodies present, the formal black attire contrasting startlingly with our pale skin, Jacob looking debonair with his startlingly white smile. I saw Esme run her fingertips over the faces and was momentarily jealous of the glass that she caressed so lovingly.

She looked up to me. "This is exquisite. I …I don't know what to say," she murmured. She looked down again, but not before I notice the bright sheen to her eyes.

"Although they will moan and groan about it, we actually have another appointment scheduled, but this time with you. They want to get a picture made for Christmas, with all of us together. Alice already has it scheduled for just after Thanksgiving. Henry and Nessie will be too different to go back to the same person, so she has it set up in Seattle with someone she located there."

Esme glanced back up to me, and her lips trembled with emotion. "Our family, Carlisle. Look at our family."

I let her linger in the moment, wondering for a brief second what it would be like to have Edward's gift. To be able to see into the incredible mind in front of me. She shared herself so fully with me that I couldn't imagine knowing her any more intimately. But there was always that small feminine piece of her that was so elusive. Anyone else would have grown bored looking at the picture in front her, but not Esme. It was as if the picture truly contained her whole world, instead of just being a representation of it.

She gently placed the picture down on the table beside her, brushing her hand over it again as she did. When she looked up, I was holding a small rectangular box in my hand just in front of her. She smiled gently at me and took the box from my hand. I had asked Rose to wrap it for me, and she had an artistic flair for making even the simplest thing spectacular. Esme opened the box to find several pieces of folded over paper. Upon opening them, she realized that they were three airplane tickets to Chicago, one for each of us, and one for Nessie.

She raised her eyebrows in question, before saying, "Carlisle you know I would love to go to Chicago and spend time with Edward and Bella, but don't you think they will enjoy the time alone. Its not like they enjoyed a traditional human or vampire honeymoon period with Nessie coming so quickly. Shouldn't we give them some time alone before we take over the house?"

I smiled a very pleased smile before I lifted the rest of the tissue. On the bottom of the box was a solitary key and another piece of paper. She retrieved them from the box and slowly opened up the paper, quizzically. It took her only a few seconds to read all the fine print. And then she launched herself at me.

I was thrown onto my back from the force of her impact. Staring up into her elated eyes, I barely heard, "MY HOUSE!" before I was smothered by kisses and little girl squeals. Any other time, I would have been thrilled for Esme to tackle me in this manner, but I realized she was too excited about her gift to realize the effect her enthusiasm had on me.

"Carlisle, when…? How…?" she stuttered in her excitement, looking down at me.

"I got the call from the agent a month ago. The lady that lived in the house passed away and her kids weren't interested in keeping it. I'd already told him that it didn't matter about the cost, so he spoke to the family before it went on the market. Bella knows we're coming, but she's going to let us surprise Edward. I've already hired a crew to go clean up the yard and create a path between the two houses," I smiled, running my hands through her hair as she grinned down at me.

She must have seen the darkening of my eyes, and quickly jumped away.

"Not before you open your gift from me," she retorted.

I sat back up as Esme placed a large wrapped package in my lap. I could tell that it was a box, and it was definitely heavy. Tearing through the paper, I uncovered a Victorian Era Apothecary Medicine Chest. The wood was in immaculate condition, and as I ran my fingertips along the wood grain, I felt the soft luster of a well-loved piece of medicinal history. It was stunningly beautiful, and I laughed as I realized that I was probably displaying the same affection toward my box, that she had toward her picture.

She looked to me questioningly.

"I watched you looking at your picture, the way you handled it, and I just realized I was doing the same with my gift," I could tell she understood completely by the look on her face.

"That's not all. Look inside," she said, motioning with her hands.

I flipped the two locks and opened the chest to find a myriad of cobalt blue jars, a 18th Century Boxwood Pill Silverer, a Brunton silver plated Otoscope, and a brass Pill Press. Several of the blue jars contained ingredients. I opened them to smell, and the aroma of Foxglove, Hawthorne, and Chinese Sage Root mixed with the more familiar scents of our room.

"I couldn't find items that were true to the era of the box, so I looked for things I found interesting," Esme said.

"I assume that you choose these specific herbs for a purpose?" I asked, as I handled the items with reverence.

She smiled, "Carlisle Cullen, you are quite aware that they are things used to treat maladies of the heart." She laid her hand where my heart should be beating. "And we both know you were the ultimate cure for the affliction of mine."

She leaned forward over the box and gently feathered her lips against mine. Before I could even reach over to seal her body to mine, she flitted across the bed with a smile on her face. "I'm going to take a quick shower before we 'go to bed.' Henry and Nessie kept me busy outdoors today. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I heard the shower in our bathroom turn on, as I continued to marvel at the beautiful gift she had given me. Within just a few minutes, I heard the shower shut off, followed by the sounds of cloth on skin as she dried herself. And then the door opened. I looked up to ask her a question about where she had found the Otoscope, and I froze.

Esme stood in the doorway wearing the nurse outfit I had purchased her. I couldn't have taken my eyes off her if I wanted to. In a slow traverse, my gaze followed her figure down to the red high heels on her feet, then returned back up the white thigh high stockings, the tempting line of bare flesh between the stocking tops and the bottom of the dress that barely covered her hips, to the cleavage displayed by the low cut top, and finally to her beautiful, eternal face, with the bedroom eyes that she reserved just for me.

I didn't remember putting the chest down anywhere, so I was hoping it wasn't lying on the floor in a broken pile as I pressed her body against the doorframe. My hands shook as I battled for control, remembering Emmett's jibes about the glorious outfit not lasting longer than three seconds. Taking a few deep breaths, I slowly lowered the zipper, revealing inch after inch of creamy, perfect, bare skin. I chased the zipper with my questing lips on her body as Esme's victorious laugh echoed above me.

An alternative scene for Emmett (after Edward's gift) was deleted, because I thought it might be a little too controversial - and hit several of the no-no's for the site. Leave a review if you would like to see it and I will forward it along.

All credit goes to my two totally awesome Betas:

CullenFest - for her patience with me and my anxiety about writing.

Crmcneill - for his mighty red pen, and help in mapping out strategy.