Chapter Fifteen: Slowly Breaking Down

Carlisle's POV

As I helped my mother unpack their bedroom, I couldn't help but slightly cringe at the photo of Esme and I on our wedding day. I probably would always love Esme. She was the first person I loved, my first wife, the mother of my son, but now I was moving on with my life with Bella and my mother needed to come to that relization.

"I love that picture." She whispered as she looked at it with me. I had to admit, it was a good picture. Esme and I were just looking at each other as we sat at dinner. She was smiling widely and I was cupping her cheek with my hand looking lovingly into her eyes. But, this was the past.

"Mom, you gotta put these pictures away." I sighed, handing it to her. "I'm with Bella now...I don't think having these pictures of me with Esme are appropriate anymore."

"It's just a picture." She sighed, putting it down on the dresser.

"Yeah, of me and my ex-wife." I reminded her. "I'm always love Esme, but I'm in love with Bella and I don't wanna be reminded all the time of my past with her."

"Carlisle,"

"Mom, please." I begged. "I'm not asking you to throw the pictures of us away, just put them away and hold onto them."

"Are you telling Edward to put away his pictures?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"No, that's different." I sighed. "And I'm only talking about the pictures with only Esme and I in them. Please, mother."

"Fine, I'll put them away under the bed." She smiled. I knew her well enough to know she had almost her entire life hidden under the bed. The flowers that my father wore at their wedding, the hat they put on me when I was born, a wine glass from the night Esme and I got engaged.

She wasn't a hoarder, but she liked to keep at least one thing from every important day in her or my fathers or my life. And, I'd always loved her for that.

"Are you happy, mom?" I asked as I handed her more frames, smiling of the picture of her and Edward when he was three at Central Park for the first time.

"Of course, baby." She whispered. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just a lot to take in." I shrugged. "Me getting engaged, moving to another new city."

"I just want you to be happy, kiddo." She assured me. "If you're happy being engaged to Bella then I am too. And as for moving to another new city, I just want to be close to my kids. Plus, Queens was getting kind of old. I mean, we've been there since your senior year of high school."

"Some people might consider a stable home a good thing." I laughed.

"I consider a stable house where the family is." She told me. I continued to go through the boxes and found something I thought I'd never see again. It was the onesies Edward was brought home in when he was born. I looked high and low through the old house when we cleared it out after Esme died and was devestated when I couldn't find it.

"How did you get this?" I asked, showing it to her.

"Esme gave it to me." She shrugged. "She was afraid she'd lose it if she kept it in the house."

"You've had it for thirteen years?" I asked. "I looked everywhere for this!"

"Sorry, kiddo." She laughed. "You can take it home with you know if you want."

"Gee, thanks." I laughed, folding it up and putting it back into her box that went under the bed. I knew it was safe here with her and like Esme, I feared I'd lose it. After another hour, my parents bedroom was set up and ready to sleep in. Bella had taken Edward home before we'd even started unpacking their room and I was glad to get out of there.

I loved my parents, but I hated moving.

"If you need anymore help, call me." I told her as I hugged her tightly. "But, all the heavy things are in place so you and dad should be good from here."

"Thanks for the help, darling." She said as she tightly hugged me. I showed my dad how to use the new security system before leaving and I was grateful when Bella had dinner coming out of the over. Edward was out with his friends again and it was just the two of us again.

"You know, I'm getting used to it being just us." I laughed as I scooped out a portion of rice. "We gotta start making Edward stay home."

"Hey, count your blessings." She laughed, but then she grew serious. "I talked to my parents today."

"Oh," I whispered. I knew she was nervous about telling them about the engagement and she'd been at war with herself about how to tell them for days. "How'd that go?" I asked, but when her eyes filled with tears, I knew it hadn't gone well at all.

"My mother tried to act like she was happy for me and okay with it, but I could tell she wasn't actually happy." She cried. "She didn't say much, and my father...well he threw a fit."

"I'm so sorry,"

"He threatened to not even come to the wedding." She cried. "I knew he wouldn't be happy, but I still thought he'd come to his only daughters wedding. I mean, I've dreamed my entire life of being walked down the aisle by my father and now...that's gone."

"You aren't...uh, having second thoughts are you?" I asked nervously. Last time she had doubts about us we were apart for a month and it wasn't good for either of us.

"No, I've also dreamed my entire life of marrying my true love." She smiled as I took her hand in mine. "And that's you. I just wish I could have both."

"Like you said, you're his only daughter." I sighed. "Give him time, maybe he'll come around and be there to walk you down the aisle."

"I want him to be happy for us, Carlisle." She whispered. "I just don't want him to be there because he feels like he has to be since I'm the only kid he has."

"Well, fathers only want whats best for their kids," I explained. "And maybe I'm not the best thing for you, but fathers also want their kids to be happy and loved and cared for. And, hopefully he'll be able to see that I love you and only want you to be happy as well."

"You think?"

"I'm a dad too, you know." I laughed. "I know that even if Edward was marrying my biggest enemy, I'd be happy for him if he was happy."

Bella and I spent the rest of the night, wrapped up in each other's arms watching old episodes of Friends and Full House, laughing at how cheesy how Full House really was. By the time Edward got home, she was climbing into bed since I was dumb enough to get her a job.

The next day, Edward and I went over to the school's practice field and played soccer for hours straight. He was a monster on the field, stealing the ball and passing me up dozens of times. He also had perfect aim and was able to get the ball past me every time and into the net.

"I think you just may be good enough for varsity." I laughed as we took a break.

"I'm not even in high school yet." He argued.

"But, when you do get to varsity." I said, ruffling his hair.

"Dad," He wined as a ball was kicked over towards us. I turned to see a pretty girl with pretty long brown hair and tan skin. Edward's face lit up when he saw her running towards us and I could only assume this was Kayleigh.

"Hi, Edward." She smiled once she got over to us. Edward blushed a little before composing himself and saying hello. "Is this your dad?"

"Yep, he was just leaving." Edward urged with his teeth pressed.

"He doesn't have to." She insisted. "We could use a goalie." She smiled before turning towards me and reaching her hand out. "I'm Kayleigh."

"I'm Edward's dad and I'd be happy to be goalie." I told her. "If he's okay with it."

"Yeah, whatever." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Stay, but I call defense first!"

"No fair!" She called as she picked up the ball and they ran over to the middle of the field. "You're the best defense the school has!"

"That's what you get for asking my dad to play with us!" He laughed as I took my position in front of the net. They played for hours and Edward paid no attention to the fact he was playing with a girl. But, Kayleigh was a strong competitor and gave it right back to him, and ended up putting him face first in the ground.

"Do you two always play so rough?" I asked once they'd called a quits. "I mean, dang."

"Soccers a competitive sport." She shrugged. "You gotta be willing to get down and dirty."

"Trust me, that was barely even rough for us." He laughed. "You should see when it's guys versus girls and there are six on each side."

"It gets worse?" I asked, and they laughed as they nodded in agreement. "Well, unfortunately, it's my night to cook dinner so the old guy has to get home to cook." I told them. "You're welcome to join us, Kayleigh."

"That'd be great!" She said excitedly. "Let me just go call my mom."

"Sure," I smiled and Edward only glared at me. "I'll behave. Plus, Bella with be there it won't just be the three of us."

"Fine." He agreed. "But, bring up any stories about me pre-middle school and there will be consequences."

"Deal." I laughed as Kayleigh ran back over to us. She left to go shower and change and promised she'd be over as soon as she could be. When we got home, Edward took a shower twice as long as normal and stayed in his room until the doorbell rang. When he came flying down the stairs, I could smell my cologne from the kitchen.

"Dad, can we go up to my room?" He asked at the arch of the kitchen.

"No, stay down here please." I sighed and it looked like he was gonna argue, but since Kayleigh was there he decided against it. "You two can order a movie if you want."

"Thanks," Kayleigh smiled as the garage door went up. Just hearing her heals on the wood floor made me feel better and I had never been more grateful she was home. I didn't know how to be around teenage girls. She came into the kitchen and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"Smells fabulous." She laughed as she pressed her lips to mine. "Whose bike is outside?"

"Kayleigh's." I smiled. "She came to the field while Edward and I were playing soccer and I asked if she wanted to come for dinner and she said yes."

"So, Edward has a girlfriend?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"I don't know if she's his girlfriend, yet." I sighed. "I mean, he's thirteen."

"Okay, you keep thinking that." She laughed. She went up to change and when she came back down, dinner was ready. Once everyone was eating, the two of them were trapped in their own little world and ignored Bella and I completely. Once dinner was finished, he offered to do the dishes and I knew he was just trying to show off.

"No, you have a guest over." I said, sending him away. "Go do something else."

"Okay, come on Kayleigh."

"Stay down here please!" I begged as I heard them heading towards the stairs. After everything was cleaned up, Bella and I retreated the the outside patio and sat down on the same lounge chair and just spent the night looking up at the stars and drinking tea together.

"This is nice." She sighed as she snuggled closer to me. "I feel like we never have this anymore."

"We were in this same position last night watching TV." I laughed, kissing the top of her head.

"This is different somehow." She whispered as I heard the faint sound of the piano being played inside. I sat up and listened closer and recognized the song to be Haven't Met You Yet and couldn't help but smile. Edward rarely spoke about girls before and now he was sitting beside a very pretty one, playing the piano for her.

"You think they will turn into...boyfriend and girlfriend?" I asked as I listened to him play.

"Either that or they're going to be best friends for the rest of their lives." I smiled. "My best friend from Forks played me his Saxophone a lot when we were about their age and we dated for a year once we got to high school."

"And?" I asked.

"Then, things got weird when the pressure was put on us and we decided to break up." She sighed. "We were better off as friends."

"And, do you still talk to him?"

"I wish," She sighed. "He drowned the summer after freshman year of college."

"Oh, Bella." I sighed, hugging her tightly.

"Yeah, he was cliff jumping with some of his buddies and...he didn't make it." She sighed. "Sam would have loved you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're a lot like him, actually."

"I am?"

"You're sweet, smart, funny, very good looking." She laughed. "And he liked anyone I did because...that's the kind of person he was."

"Well, I'm sorry I never got to meet him."

"Me too."

After another hour outside, it was getting late and we got up to go inside. We found Kayleigh and Edward very close to each other on the couch, but not touching, watching Matilda. I had a strong feeling that soon they'd be 'more than friends' if Edward was willing to watch that movie for her.

"Do you want a ride, Kayleigh?" I asked, turning on the light in the living room.

"That'd be great, thanks." She smiled. "But, what about my bike?"

"I have a rack on the back of my car." I explained. "I'll go put that on for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Cullen!" She shouted as I headed outside.

Edward spent the rest of the evening at his piano, playing different songs that I didn't know at all, and it even sounds like he was toying around with phrases to come up with a song of his own. And, when I went in and told him it was time to start getting ready for bed, he argued with me until I was pretty sure his throat would explode.

I would never understand teenagers, but I had to count my blessings. I couldn't imagine what it'd be like having a girl instead of a boy.

The next day, Bella was at work and Nate's family had taken Edward camping with them so I had the house to myself for the entire day. Although I liked the silence, I missed the chaos and I wasn't sure what to do exactly. So, I pulled my old running shoes out from the back of my closet and grabbed my headphones.

I hadn't been running since long before the divorce and I'd forgotten how soothing it is. Since Pittsburgh weather was so bipolar, it was a cool, cloudy day compared to yesterday and it was perfect for running. The pavement felt great against the bottom of my feet, and the world sorta just...fell away.

Until I barreled into someone else. I removed my headphones to look down and I was surprised to see Kayleigh standing there, out of breath...and wearing a long sleeved sweater and sweatpants. It was cooler than normal, but it was still a good seventy degrees.

"Sorry, Mr. Cullen." She breathed as she hunched over, trying to catch her breath.

"Kayleigh, are you okay?" I asked as I bent down to meet her level. "Why are you dressed in winter clothes?"

"No reason, I'm fine." She said as she shook her head. She tried to begin running again, but I grabbed her hand, lifting the sleeve to her sweater. She tried to hide the black and blue mark covering half her arm, but it was too late. I'd already seen it.

"Kayleigh, who did this to you?" I asked, trying to stay calm.

"It was an accident." She lied. "I play soccer, I'm bond to get a little bruised."

"It's nine in the morning." I reminded her. "When were you possibly playing soccer since I dropped you off at nine last night?"

"It's none of your business!" She shouted as she broke free and began running again. I wanted to chase after her, but I didn't want to create a scene and I didn't want people I was a kidnapper or anything like that. I checked my watch and I figured I could be in the city by the time she left for her meeting.

I went home and changed into some clean clothes and jumped in the car, praying there wouldn't be a lot of traffic. Thankfully, there wasn't and I made it to her office minutes before she had to leave.

"Babe, what are you doing here?" She asked as she gathered things into her hands. "I have a meeting."

"Bella," I sighed and she knew me well enough to know something was wrong. She dropped everything and went over to shut the door to her office. "I think something's happened."

"Is Edward okay?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but Kayleigh...isn't." I whispered and her breath caught. "She has a bruise running up the length of her arm to her elbow and who knows what was under the pants she was wearing when I ran into her."

"She played soccer and other sports I assume." She said, trying to make herself believe what she wanted to. "I'm sure..."

"Bella, I ran into her at nine o'clock in the morning." I sighed. "I don't think she fell during a soccer game in the park."