Chapter 12

Hope's pov

Two weeks later, we'd endured the memorial and all the hubbub that it entailed. Aunt Aria moved into our house and things were settling into some sort of routine. The kids were healed up and Dillion was back in school which gave him some stability and for that I was grateful. The loss of our parents seemed to be effected him more than my sister who still wanted to know when Mom and Dad were coming home. Dillion on the other hand was filled with anger evident in the hole I'd had to patch just the night before from where he put his fist through the plaster. Dr. Cullen who still checked in with us quite regularly recommended counseling, but I couldn't force him to do something that I myself wasn't willing to do.

We were all situated into the livingroom watching the snow fall outside. Our dog Jesse slept before the fireplace, Aunt Aria and Emmalyn snuggled on the sofa, Dillion played on his DS and I plugged away at one of the many schoolwork assignments sent home by my teachers who were attempting to keep me caught up with the rest of the class. I watched my Aunt out of the corner of my eye. Though she tried to put on a strong suit, I knew she wasn't handling the loss of my parents any better than I. Lately, I'd caught her taking pain killers even when I knew she didn't have the migraine she claimed. I knew it was just another way to deal with things just like the glass of wine she nursed throughout the day. Oh well, it wasn't the worst thing on earth. At least, her presence allowed us to stay together.

The doorbell rang and Jesse sprang into action running to see who was at the door. The four of us exchanged glances, we weren't expecting anyone tonight and usually Grampy called before driving over. I could tell no one else was willing to get up so I set aside my schoolwork and trudged off toward the door to greet our guest. I opened the door to find Dr. Cullen and his wife Esme standing there holding some sort of covered dish.

"Hello, Hope," Esme greeted, pulling me into an embrace in a motherly manner that made me miss my own mom even more. My heart pained as though the emotional was taking a physical tole on my body. I tried to push it away, but from the look on Carlisle's face, I could tell that he'd witnessed the brief lowering of my artificial shield. "We made way more than we could possibly eat for dinner tonight and thought perhaps you guys could use a homecooked meal."

"Thank you, that's very sweet," I smiled, accepting the dish. Little did they know we'd been living on delivery and frozen meals for the past week and a half. "Um, would you like to come in?"

"Why yes, thank you," the two of them followed me into the livingroom where the rest of the family was.

"Esme!" Emma shrieked and ran across the room to jump into the woman's open embrace, her chubby little arms wrapped their way around the older woman's neck and she nestled into the crook for Esme's neck.

"Hello, Darling," Esme pressed a kiss to the little girl's curls.

"Aunt Aria, you remember Esme and Dr. Cullen?" it was mostly a question though I was certain she must have met them with all the time they'd spent with us both at the hospital and the memorial.

"Yes, of course," she nodded in her med induced haze. "I didn't realize you made housecalls," she joked.

"Not normally," Carlisle smiled, "This is a special case."

"Have you had dinner yet?" Esme inquired.

"Nope," Dillion reported in a huff. He was not in the least bit impressed with Aunt Aria's presence in our home playing the Mommy role and had given her an incredibly hard time the past few days especially.

"Why don't you show me to the kitchen and I'll get this heated up then," Esme offered kindly.

I could see Aria was less than impressed with this offer. For as long as I'd known her, she'd been a private kind of person who didn't like to let outsiders in. I always wondered just how much of that was based on her desire to keep her "crutches" a secret. "That's fine, I'm sure I can figure it out."

"Nonsense," I could see Esme wasn't going to take no for an answer giving me the impression they didn't just swing by to make sure we ate. "It won't take anytime at all, besides you're new to the area and I'll bet you could use a friend. I know what it's like to jump into a mommy role overnight. You may be surprised to find out just how much we have in common."

Aria thought it over and agreed at last. They disappeared into the kitchen with Emmalyn and Dillion who only followed out of curiosity to find out what was in the covered dish. This left me alone in the livingroom with Dr. Cullen.

Carlisle's POV

"How are you feeling?" the girl curled up on the sofa with her dog and a large, soft blanket. She was wore pjs, slippers and a stocking hat. I could tell it had been a few days since her last shower and perhaps longer since her last decent night of sleep.

"I'm fine," she responded a little too quickly. I narrowed my eyes, watching her pointedly as she distracted herself with adjusting the blanket. I crossed the room and took a seat on the ottoman across from where she sat. Reaching out, I tipped her face upward so I could look into her eyes.

"You've lost weight," I stated, it was not an accusation just an observation.

"I'm just not hungry," she looked away and began to pick at a bit of fuzz on the corner of the blanket.

"When's the last time you actually got a full nights sleep?" I picked up on the anxiety she was throwing out. It wasn't easily missed.

She sighed, "I don't know...Dillion and Emma have nightmares since the accident so I get up with them throughout the night."

I got the impression she purposely left out mentioning her own night terrors. I nodded and picked up the empty wine bottle on the coffee table shaking it carefully. "Be honest with me, are you guys OK?"

The girl's sudden tears didn't surprise me in the least. I could see the struggle as she fought to control her emotions followed by a fake smile and a response of "We're doing great."

My heart sunk. Esme and I wanted to do so much to help this family that had been brought into our lives by such tragic, random events. I hoped my wife was having better luck than I as we attempted to reach out to them. Right now, my gut told me everything was NOT going well.