Chapter 24

A few days after the wedding, life had generally gotten back to normal. Michael had begun frequenting the group again, and apologized to Edward and Bella for missing their daughter's wedding. He had found himself overly concerned with the fact that Charlie and a few other humans would be present, though Jasper kept reassuring him through Alice's visions that he would be fine.

It was a rare, clear night in late June and everyone sat scattered around the house. Carlisle and Edward were engaged in a game of war.

"I think you're cheating," he said, throwing down a jack that taken by Edward's queen.

He smiled, "Never."

The deck of cards in Carlisle's hand was gradually decreasing in size as his son closed in on the win.

Esme and Rosalie shared the kitchen, preparing pasta for those of their extended family members who ate. Alexandra took a bite of garlic bread to see what it would be like and quickly spit it out in the garbage.

Rosalie laughed and had her stir the sauce while she washed her hands.

"Masen coming by?" Alexandra asked.

"Him and Leah should be by any minute."

Seth and Luciana were already there, in front of the television with Emmett and William.

"Are you guys still catching a movie?" Edward asked Seth.

"Me and Lucy are, yeah," he responded, "Why?"

"Just asking," he threw down another card, taking another decent one of Carlisle's in the process, "I guess it's my lucky day."

"Apparently," Carlisle said, shaking his head with a smile.

The doorbell rang and Luciana stood up to answer it.

"Why wouldn't they just come in?" Emmett said aloud to no one in particular.

When Luciana opened it, Peter stood on the step shyly with a smile, "Uh, hi."

Luciana looked over her shoulder toward Carlisle and Edward. They both stood up, and everyone else took a glance toward the general area of the front door, entering the room all at once. They'd picked up on his scent as the door opened. Alexandra's expression turned shocked and she suddenly looked overwhelmed.

Carlisle walked over to the door.

"Hi, uh, Mr. Cullen? Or, Dr. Cullen I should say..." Peter said.

"Yeah," he answered back.

"I just came down here to see if it would be alright to possible speak with your daughter."

Emmett grinned from where he sat and muted the television. Rosalie walked up and stood behind the couch he sat on with Alexandra not far behind.

Carlisle turned and made eye contact with Esme, who immediately changed her expression to a warm smile, "Come in," she said.

"Should I take my shoes off?"

Carlisle and Esme answered oppositely. She said a friendly "no" while he said a firm "yes".

Peter looked confused and didn't know what to do.

Esme joined Carlisle and gave him a little look, "It's fine. Please come in. It's Peter right?''

"Yes, ma'am," he said, then made eye contact with Alexandra, who looked away for a moment, then re-adjusted her eyes so they fell back in line with his.

Rosalie nudged Alexandra and purposely cleared her throat, urging her to say something to him.

"Hi," she choked out.

"Hi," he said again, looking around at everyone's staring expressions.

"Maybe we should give them some privacy for a few minutes," Rosalie suggested, looking at Esme, then to Alexandra.

Alexandra slowly made her way across the room toward Peter.

"Maybe you could head out onto the back porch," Esme suggested.

They both nodded and made their way through the house with Alexandra leading the way toward the back door.

Carlisle typed something on his phone and angled it in Edward's direction so he could read it. The message read: Read his thoughts.

Edward nodded and Esme looked at the two of them before continuing to prepare dinner in the kitchen. Masen and Leah soon entered the house.

"Alex's boyfriend is back, huh?" he teased, guiding Leah to the kitchen.

"He's not her boyfriend," Edward said before Carlisle could.

"Get Michael on the phone," Carlisle whispered as quietly as he could to Edward.

"Okay," he agreed.

"I want him to come here to see if he recognizes Peter from anywhere in the past."

"You mean Olivia?"

He shrugged and gave a subtle nod.

Bella brought a basket of rolls to the table and looked over at Esme upon overhearing them.

"Let the interrogation begin," Emmett teased, he folded his arms over his chest. Edward left the area to listen a little closer to Peter's thoughts and texted Michael in the process. Emmett joined him, light but leery of the stranger slightly, himself.

Carlisle sat back down and flipped through the deck of cards, shuffling them over and over in his hands. Esme made her way to him for a moment and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Stop looking so down," she whispered.

He shrugged and continued to shuffle the cards unnecessarily.

Outside, Peter charmed Alexandra with his words, playing his strands of her hair on occasion and expressing his guilty pleasure of enjoying chick flicks like The Notebook, using the words 'love' on occasion to describe things to keep her attention. They shared a few laughs and reminisced on their night of dancing at the wedding.

"I'd like to take you out somewhere, on a date," he told her, "If that would be okay with your parents."

"Yeah," she said, thinking immediately how overly eager she must have sounded.

He grinned, "Okay. Well, since I came all this way... how about tonight?"

Alexandra's glow grew instantly, "That's fine. It's great," she smiled a set of perfect teeth, "Where? I mean Seth and Lucy are going to the movies."

"Do you think they'd mind if we joined them?"

"I'm sure it would be okay."

"Great. Now I just have to ask your parents."

"They'll let me go."

Peter grinned and stood up, asking for Alexandra's hand with his own outstretched before him.

She eagerly grabbed it and let him lead her back inside, passing Edward in the process.

"Mom..." Alexandra's voice came.

Esme turned around from her position in front of the sink, "Yeah?" she smiled at them.

Peter shifted his eyes from Esme to Carlisle, "Would it be okay if I took Alexandra to a movie tonight?"

"With Seth and Lucy," Alexandra added.

Carlisle eyed the floor and waited for his wife to respond. She glanced over at him and knew he was allowing her to make the decision from his posture.

"That would be fine with me," she said, "Carlisle?"

He looked up at Peter, "Okay. Come home right afterwards," he looked at Seth, "What time is the movie?"

"Eight fifteen."

"How long is the movie?"

"Um," he shrugged, "A couple hours."

"be back here by ten thirty," Carlisle told them.

"Okay," Alexandra agreed happily.

He looked at the clock. It was almost seven thirty.

Seth finished a big bite of spaghetti before he spoke, "We can head out right after I'm done," then added, "Great spaghetti Mrs. Cullen."

She laughed, "Thank you Seth."

Rosalie gave a little wink to Alexandra. She smiled back and mouthed the words 'thank you', to Carlisle, who forced a smile.

Peter went up and shook his head, "Thank you. We won't be a minute late."

Carlisle returned the gesture politely and nodded. No longer than fifteen minutes later, the four of them were out the door and wandered into the night. Edward pulled Carlisle aside when they were out of an ear's reach.

"What?" he asked, eager to know what Edward was going to tell him. They sensed Esme and Bella were listening in and could start a lecture at any minute, so the two of them decided to go for a hunt together.

When they were out into the woods beyond the boundaries of the house, Edward turned to his father, "There's something weird about him. His thoughts sound.. rehearsed. He kept thinkin something, then he'd think another thought before he'd finish the first one."

Carlisle looked confused, but kind of followed him.

"I don't know. It's like he has safety phrases that he can repeat over and over in his mind so he won't reveal anything."

"Does he know about your abilities?"

Edward shrugged, "I don't know for sure."

Carlisle looked down, "What did Michael say?"

"He was on his way back from a hunt. Maybe we can have him here when they get back."

Carlisle nodded, "I just want to make sure this kid is who he says he is."

"Me too. Emmett seemed a little overprotective after the two of us were listening in on them. He said he sounds like a player."

"Great," Carlisle shook his head.

"It may be nothing. We're all on edge about it a little more than the girls are."

Carlisle looked around the trees in the darkness.

"We won't let anything happen to Alexandra. There's plenty of us to keep an eye on them."