Sorry for the wait.
It turned out, my fears were correct. Bella entered the house happy and cheerful, probably from Edward, and she left the house grumpy and exasperated. Alice refused to answer her questions about where she was being taken. When Alice paraded her in front of me, I couldn't help being slightly stunned by her appearance.
"You look gorgeous, honey," I told her, rushing forward and wrapping her into a warm embrace, being careful of all her makeup.
"Watch out for her makeup, Esme!" Alice sqealed, as though I actually needed the warning, I ignored her, looking back at Bella.
"Edward's going to be stunned when he sees you," I told Bella gently. At the mention of her boyfriend, Bella's face brightened slightly, and I smiled back at her. As though in perfect timing, I heard Edward's car pull up in the garage. Alice heard it too, and her head shot up. Automatically, Bella followed our gaze, even though there was no way that she could have heard Edward's car.
"Edward's here!" Alice squealed, causing Bella's face to brighten even more than it already had. You're going to love this, Edward, I told him in my head. She looks so gorgeous, even to my eyes, and I'm not her boyfriend.
"She always has been," I heard Edward mutter under his breath, so low that only I could hear it. I chuckled mentally. You two are perfect for each other, I told my son honestly. I'm so glad you found her. Alice grabbed Bella's elbow and began pulling her to the garage door. Bella hurried to catch up, seeing as she had a walking cast on. She didn't even look back at me and she rushed as fast as she could towards Edward.
"Bye, Bella," I called, careful not to give away any hint as to where they were taking her.
"Bye," I heard. I smiled, and stood, watching the door. The door opened just before Alice reached it, with Bella tagging somewhat behind.
"Edward, she's all yours," Alice told him, smirking. He didn't even respond at all towards her, his eyes were so fixed on Bella. Likewise, hers were on him as well. I heard both their sharp intakes of breath as they saw each other.
"Bella," Edward breathed, stepping over to his girlfriend. "You look gorgeous."
"Hey, Edward. And thanks." she replied, her voice breathless and slightly shaky as Edward wrapped his arms around her. The couple didn't seem to be aware of the two of us watching as my son leaned down to Bella's face for a kiss. She responded with fervor, until Edward retrained her face and pulled back. He smiled at her blushing face.
"Let's go, Bella," Edward murmured to her, smiling tenderly at her. Alice waved, and so did I. Bella waved at Alice, and Edward at me. You two are perfect for each other, I told my son again when our eyes met. Edward smiled at me, and leaned down to whisper something into Bella's ear. With my vampire hearing, I heard every ounce of love that he put into the three words.
"I love you."
Bella blushed, and smiled up at Edward. Edward returned the smile, and ushered her to the car without saying a word about where she was being taken. Bella crossed her arms over her chest, and huffed, digging her heels into the ground where she stood.
"I'm not going to move until you tell me where you're taking me, Edward. And trying to dazzle me into it won't work this time." Edward simply chuckled, and picked her up. With her protesting, he easily carried her out into the garage. I chuckled to myself, and headed up the stairs to wait before my husband, for one, came home from work, and for two, my son came back from his prom night with Bella.
As it turned out, the former occurred before the latter. I heard his footsteps from the driveway, and instantly reconized them as belonging to my husband. I looked up from the book I was reading, and turned to the door, looking at it expectantly. After a few seconds, it opened, and Carlisle walked in. His face broke into a smile in the sixty-fourth of a second that it took him to realize that I was there.
"Hello, Esme," he murmured, rushing over to me and engulfing me in a hug. "I love you."
"I love you, too," I told him. Just then, we heard a faint hello coming from upstairs, in Alice's trilling chimes. Seconds later, she was rushing down the stairs, Jasper in tow.
"We're off to the prom now bye!" she chimed, so quickly that it seemed like one sentence. Carlisle waved with one hand, not removing the other from my waist. When Alice and Jasper were out of hearing range, he looked at me, and I saw the undisguised love in his eyes.
"Now that the youngsters are out having fun ," he murmured to me, using the name for Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and now Bella that we'd come up with as a joke. I watched as his eyes turned a beautiful dark golden color. "What do you say that we have a fun time of our own?"
I didn't reply, I simply streched up and kissing my husband as hard as possible. He must have absorbed some of Alice's power in all the time that they spent together, because as it turned out, we did have an amazing night.
