Emm McCullen.. with Emmett's job, I was thinking he was like a patient transporter or something like that.. not a doctor or anything.. but I don't think I specified in the stories so far.. lol, hope that helps :)

Chapter 15

Alexandra continued to grow as the days went on. Esme found herself feeling as though it was at a more rapid pace than Masen, though knew it was just her imagination of longing for a longer childhood for her daughter.

Autumn came and went and Esme spent countless hours of the day teaching Alexandra the ways of the world, and elementary educational information. She'd done the same with Masen, though began to get more thorough the second time around. Everything they worked on together was carefully documented and dated. For the future, if she and Carlisle, or any of the others continued to have children, she wanted to make sure they got the best education possible. It was unfortunate that they would be unable to attend a normal school due to their rapid growth.

Carlisle had done the same with his free time, trying to teach his daughter any and everything that came to mind. He read up on everything Esme had done to see Alexandra's progress. The two of them, as Edward and Renesme had, checked the weather every day, discussed the meaning of temperatures and the different weather patterns. He explained how different things were for humans than for immortals and tried to illustrate the major differences between the two to her.

Those days, too, were beginning to pass, much to his dismay. Alexandra was beginning to enjoy more independence and had made faces, or excuses, when Carlisle tried to prolong their bond by checking up on the week's weather report with her.

It was spring time when she had finally reached the age of the "almost teenager". Carlisle found himself being overly protective, and suddenly felt what he assumed Esme did when Masen grew up before their eyes and sprung so suddenly into his relationship with Leah. He realized how not ready he was for his daughter to grow up. In his wallet, he kept a treasured picture of her at her earliest stage of life when the two of them chased the waves together at the beach. It was something they'd made a habit of once or twice a week, though Carlisle knew those days were long gone.

He sat in his office, thinking about his daughter's latest refusal for some father-daughter time. She wanted to hang out with Rosalie, Alice and Bella, or Renesme when she wasn't off at the reservation. They gladly took her under their wing, as they had Renesme. Rosalie and Alice had taken her shopping just twenty minutes, or so before, leaving Carlisle to his memories in the dim, upstairs room. He leaned his elbows on the desk and let the picture of Alexandra linger in his fingers before it dropped an inch to the wood below.

There was a light knock on door frame, as the door itself stood wide open. Esme looked at him with a smile, sensing he was feeling down about Alexandra. "What's wrong?" She asked lightly, folding her arms across her chest.

He twisted his mouth up in a forced half smile and shrugged.

Esme made her way toward him and put her hands on the desk across from him, looking down at the picture of a baby Alexandra with him at the beach.

"I know," he said, "I can't fight her growth spurt." He leaned back in the chair, still eying the photograph.

"It's okay to be a little sad, honey," she told him.

"She doesn't have time for me anymore," he said with a laugh.

"I heard her kind of blow you off to hang with the girls," Esme told him, grinning. She walked around the desk and sat on his lap.

Carlisle welcomed the affection and put his arm around her, "I guess I know what you felt like with Masen now."

"It's different, isn't it? He went from being mama's little boy to... a man."

"I guess we'll just have to keep having more so we can stay in the baby years." He laughed and glanced up at her as she played with his hair.

"Things will start to seem normal. They did with Masen," she assured him, "And look at William now. He's more or less full grown."

"I know... been spending lots of time between here and Alaska," Carlisle said, raising his eyebrows.

"The matchmaker game worked, huh," Esme said with a smile.

"Mmm..." his voice and eyes drifted away from where they currently sat.

Esme ran a hand along his jaw line and let her palm rest on his face, "Don't be sad."

"I am sad," Carlisle said, still able to force another laugh.

She kissed the side of his face gently and eyed the photo that he was beginning to fiddle with in his hand again, "This is why we have to take tons of pictures."

"We used to do the weather together every day," he told her, "And play games. Read.. Anything..."

"And now she just wants to shop with her big sisters."

"They stole her from me," Carilsle joked with a grin. He looked up at Esme and motioned for her to kiss him. She smothered him for a moment and tried to get him to laugh, but he continued to look at her with the same sad eyes.

"Carlisle," she said with a wide smile and another kiss, "She loves you and I just as much as before."

"I know," he shook his head, "I just-"

Esme's phone went off and she reached in her pocket. Carlisle looked over and spotted Rosalie's name.

"Hello..." Esme said.

"Hey.. it's Alice. I'm using Rosalie's phone."

"Hi, Alice."

Carlisle listened in on the conversation, narrowing his eyebrows as he struggled to hear details of their conversation.

"We thought it might be a good idea to take Alexandra down to the reservation with us tonight. The boys are planning one of their infamous bonfires and we all thouht it would be a fun thing to do."

Esme made eye contact with Carlisle, who shrugged, not signaling one way or another what his feelings were on the subject. "That's fine," she told Alice, "Can you put her on for a second?"

"Of course." There was a pause before Alexandra's voice came over the phone, "Hey, Mom."

"You're all going down to the reservation tonight after shopping?"

"Uh-huh, is that okay?"

"Sure. That's fine."

"Jacob said they'd be down on the beach."

Carlisle spun the picture under his fingertips in a full circle on the desk, finding it ironic that that's where they'd be going - the same place as his daughter played carelessly in the photograph.

"Okay. Stay with the girls, and be safe."

"I promise," she told them, "Love ya."

"I love you too. Dad wants to talk, hang on."

Carlisle grabbed the phone from Esme, "Alex.. be careful over there tonight. Don't go hunting alone if you need to. Bring someone with you."

"I know," she said to him, "I will. Mase will be there. He wouldn't let me anyway."

"Okay. Well... I love you and, like your mom said, be careful."

"Love ya, Dad. See you later on tonight."

"Okay." Carlisle hung up the phone and let Esme take it from him. He sighed as Esme continued to playfully comfort him.

"Smile for me, Daddy," she teased, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

"I swear if she comes home and they say one of the Quiluete boys imprinted... I'll be the one to make a new treaty."