The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25 dot com

Prompt: #21
Pen Name: MinaRivera
Characters: Carlisle/Esme, Edward/Bella
Rating: T
Word Count: 466

Beta: Ms. Walrus

Photo prompts can be found here:
thetwilight25 dot com/round-eight/prompts

The One

Carlisle heard the raised voices from the bedroom and quickly made his way out. As soon as he walked into the kitchen, he found his wife crying and his son storming out through the back door.

"What's going on?"

Esme niffed and shook her head. "Nothing."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow.

Esme sighed and wiped her tears with a napkin. "Edward asked for my mom's ring."

Carlisle sucked in a breath. "And you refused to give it to him," he deduced.

Esme nodded. "He's too young, Carlisle, and this girl, Maggie," she sneered when she mentioned their son's girlfriend's name, "isn't right for him. She is… well, she's a bit of a bitch and a whore."

Carlisle bit his lips, trying to contain his chuckle. He knew Esme didn't like the girl; she was far too flirtatious with every single man in the family. Heck, she even flirted with all the married ones as well.

"I'll talk to him," he offered. "Don't worry, okay? I think you did the right thing."

Carlisle walked out, knowing exactly where his son must've gone to cool off. He was probably already beating himself up over making his mother cry, but Carlisle needed to make him understand that he was too young to make this kind of decision.

Carlisle followed a path of wet footprints down the pier, and spotted his son swimming on the lake. Carlisle waited for him by the towel he must've grabbed on his way out.

Edward pushed himself up on the pier, soaking wet, and sat down next to his father.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his head down.

Carlisle took the towel and threw it over his son's shoulder. "I don't want you to catch a cold."

"I made her cry… I didn't mean to."

Carlisle nodded, but didn't comment about it.

"I'll apologize when I see her."

"Do you understand why she said no, right?"

"She doesn't like Maggie."

"No, she doesn't, but also you must see that this relationship you both have isn't the real thing."

Edward sighed, wiping his face with the corner of the towel. "I know you guys think that, but I really care about her."

"But do you love her?"

Edward's hesitation was enough of an answer for Carlisle.

"When you meet the right one, you will know. Maggie's not the one."

After he apologized to his mom, Edward remained quiet for the rest of the day.

Esme and Carlisle watched him return to college a couple of weeks later, their worry over what his son might do still lingering between them. It wasn't until Christmas when he arrived with a different girl that they knew things had changed.

"Mom, Dad… this is Isabella."

When they saw the spark in their son's eyes, they knew he had found the one.

Thank you for reading. xo ~Mina