Chapter 5

A fire burned in the fireplace, though the living room was vacant so Esme decided to put in a DVD from Season Two of "The Office". The entire collection of the series was one of the many things Rosalie got Emmett for Christmas and Carlisle and Esme had begun to enjoy it upon catching a few random episodes.

"Want to see my sketch?" Nicole asked, noticing that Esme had turned on the DVD player in the living room. Jasper was just behind her, smiling at his daughter's enthusiasm to show off the talents he was teaching her.

"Of course!" She made her way across the room as some previews began on the television. "Let me see."

Nicole gave a grin and handed Esme her finished product. A smile immediately took over both of their faces as she scanned the landscape that Nicole had obviously taken great pride in drawing. The nearly full moon highlighted the sky and a small diamond shaped stars were scattered around it, all overlooking the ocean that was sketched perfectly with little, choppy waves. The fact that it was done in black and white made the picture appear more artsy and authentic.

"You did this?" Esme asked.

Nicole nodded, still smiling shyly, "Can you tell where I tried to shadow over here?"

She nodded back, "Yes. This is the best drawing I've ever seen."

Jasper seemed to be glowing over his daughter and put a hand on her head to mess up her hair just slightly.

"Dad..." Nicole said, though grinned up at him.

"Jasper, she's quite the artist," Esme told him.

"I know," he said with a nod, "She's a natural."

Esme handed the sketch back to Nicole, who glanced up as Carlisle made his way downstairs. Jasper nodded in his direction and his daughter made her way over to him.

"Check out what I drew," she said to him as his feet reached the bottom level.

Carlisle accepted the drawing and gave a similar reaction to Esme, "Wow," he said with total approval, "This is great Nicole."
"Thanks," she said with a smile, "I want to do some more soon. This is my first finished one."

Her enthusiasm radiated into him, and he chose to try to elevate her spirits even more, "The shading is done really well."

"Really?" Nicole asked him, looking down at the picture that still lingered in his hands.

Carlisle looked up at Esme and Jasper with a quick wink, obviously overhearing Nicole's initial concern about the shading when she showed it to Esme before. "Yeah," he said, which was enough confirmation to keep her smiling, "You should keep doing these."

"I plan to," she told him with a smile, "That was the first time we've gone down to the reservation to draw, right Dad?"

Jasper nodded, "We can go again whenever we want. And I'm almost comfortable letting you go alone."

"Almost?" she asked with a smile.

"Almost," he confirmed, "But not quite."

"Soon, then?"

"You don't want to draw with your old man?" Jasper asked her with a smile.

"Well... yes," Nicole told him. She smiled at him without continuing before giving him a hug, "Thanks for taking me."

"You're welcome. Go show Mom. She's back."

"Okay."

Nicole skipped happily out of the room, looking a lot like Alice in her movements as she did so.

Carlisle looked over Esme's shoulder at the television that was now sitting on the Main Menu screen, "What episode did we leave off on?"

"We're on the last episode of Season 2," she told him, "Rosalie said it's when Jim finally tells Pam he loves her."

Jasper looked at Carlisle and smiled, then snickered, "I've been meaning to talk to you guys about Nicole. Alice and I think we discovered something."

Carlisle's facial expression changed to curious and he unknowingly leaned a little in Jasper's direction as he waited to hear what he was about to say.

"You know how Alice's visions are sort of incomplete at times?" he asked them.

Esme made eye contact with Carlisle briefly before they both nodded. "Yes," Carlisle said.

"It's been happening more lately," Jasper went on, "She can see what Alice can't. It's like a completion to what's been missing for her entire existence."

"So she can see the wolves?" Esme asked him.

He nodded, "Yeah. She can see pretty much everything Alice can't. It's like the piece of the puzzle that was missing."

Carlisle found himself deeply fascinated, "Can she see what Alice sees? I mean... her part of the vision?"

Jasper shook his head, "Nope."

The three of them stood in silence for a moment as Jasper allowed both of them to process the information he'd just given them.

"That's amazing," Carlisle finally said, "What has Alice said about it?"

"She thinks it's great, but she also feels a little bad for Nicole at the same time. Having those visions all the time can get overwhelming."

"I can only imagine," he said.

Jasper nodded, "But it's useful, and Alice obviously doesn't mind. It's only every now and then when it drives her a little crazy." He smiled, "Hopefully this means that there won't be any more blind spots if we ever need a concrete vision in the future."

A half smile formed on Carlisle's face, "Things get more interesting every day."

Jasper smiled back, "Indeed they do." He glanced at the television, "That's all. You can watch your show now."

Carlisle was about to say one more thing before Jasper disappeared.

The two of them made their way to the couch and Esme found the episode they left off at before pressing play.

"Did you drop off Alex and Michael over to stay with Leah?" she asked, "Or did you let them go on their own?"

"I dropped them off," he told her, "Why?"

Esme shrugged, "Just wondering."

"Still don't trust them?" Carlisle asked with a smile as he put his arm around her.

She sunk into him and crossed one leg over his as he pulled the end of the couch into a reclined position. "I do..." her voice trailed off, "But.. it's still fresh in my mind."

He nodded, "We'll keep them on a short leash for awhile."

"Hey," Edward's voice came from behind them, "Can you restart this? We've been watching these too."

"It just went on," Esme told him.

"There's always a funny part right in the beginning," he told her with a smile, "Bella was going to ask, but she's still too shy."

"I am not," she said, looking at Esme, shaking her head.

They made their way into the living room and Esme restarted the episode. "Give it right back to him, Bella," she said.

Edward and Bella both smiled as the very start of the episode began again.

"Did Jasper tell you about Nicole?" Carlisle asked them.

Edward turned his head, "Alice did. Amazing right?"

He nodded, "It is."

Esme and Bella both laughed at something in the show's introduction before the theme song began.

"Did you say before that Jim tells Pam in this one?" Bella asked.

"That's what Rosalie said," Esme told her with a shrug, "It's about time."

"Really," Bella agreed with a nod.

Carlisle and Edward exchanged a look and a smile. Esme gave a tug on the collar of Carlisle's shirt and he gave her a kiss before she made her way to his earlobe with her teeth for a quick second before leaning back into him to watch the show.

He whispered to her approvingly, and hoped it was somehow possible that only she would hear him, "What's gotten into you tonight?"

Esme's eyes met his and she shrugged as he pulled her tighter up against him.

Edward turned to both of them for a second before turning up the volume on the television.

"It was loud enough," Bella told him.

"Thoughts are louder..."

"Hey," Alice crossed through the living room with a gray envelope, "I forgot this came in the mail for you." She handed Carlisle the piece of mail that had his name etched perfectly across the front. Right away he knew who it was from. "Hope I'm not ruining your night with this," Alice added before slowly making her way back to where ever Jasper and Nicole had settled.

Carlisle sighed and Esme paused the DVD. Edward and Bella both looked over at him.

"It's from the Volturi?" Edward suspected. He arched his neck, though Carlisle turned so he could see the handwriting sample on the envelope.

Esme looked a little concerned as he tore it open, revealing a letter that she could already see was signed solely by Aro.

Carlisle began reading it to himself until Edward requested he read it aloud.

"Carlisle, I write to you upon reflecting on the conflict that occurred a number of months ago. It is to my displeasure that we have these run-ins every so often. What I propose for now is a truce among old friends. There need not be any hard feelings, and it would be much to pleasure if we went about our separate lives, only to communicate if absolutely necessary. Thank you greatly for your understanding, and please tell the members of your coven hello. With great sincerity, Aro."

Esme let out a quiet sigh of relief that the message was so simple.

Edward stared at his father for a moment before Carlisle got up and walked toward the fireplace.

"What are you doing?" Esme asked him, "You always save those kind of things."

He proceeded to toss the letter into the fire before rejoining her on the couch. Everyone's eyes watched the letter slowly disintegrate into ash.

"I've already decided to cut my losses with Aro," Carlisle said aloud, leaning forward on the couch, looking slightly stressed. He turned to Esme, "I haven't been able to get the image of him hurting you out of my head. As far as I'm concerned, he's dead to me." His words had a nonchalant, unchanging ring to them and no one could disagree with his reasoning.

Carlisle remained in the tense position until Esme was able to coax him back to relaxation by running a soothing hand along his back. He glanced at the flat screen where the DVD had paused and let a low chuckle escape his mouth.

Everyone else refocused where he was looking, realizing the show had been paused just right to leave a close up of Steve Carell with a funny expression on his face. Edward laughed next, then Bella and Esme joined in.

"Put the thing back on," Carlisle suggested lightly. He turned as Esme hit the play button again. The show went back, getting right into the comedy that brought the mood back to normal.

Carlisle stared for a moment at Esme until she glanced up at him. "I love you," he whispered.

She smiled, "I love you more."
"Impossible," he told her, pulling her back up against the side of him before they shared a kiss and enjoyed the next few episodes with Edward and Bella.