Chapter 11

When Esme and Rosalie returned, Rosalie immediately hopped in her car and left the house, apparently still not wanting to speak with Emmett. He respected her decision to blow off some more steam and tried to get lost in a movie that struck his interest on the television.

"Are you alright, Emmett?" Esme asked, passing through where he sat.

He nodded, "I'm fine. Thanks. Do you know where Rosalie went?"

"She told me she was just going for a drive," Esme told him, "I don't think she'll be gone for very long."

Emmett nodded a second time before slouching down into the couch and refocused on the movie.

Carlisle made his way halfway down the stairs, then motioned for Esme to join him. The two of them went into their room and Carlisle shut the door so they could attempt to talk somewhat privately.

"We need to iron out the details of our situation," he told her, hoping she would understand what he meant.

She nodded, "I agree. I can see where Emmett was coming from a little bit."

Carlisle felt a little relieved that she was able to see it from the logical side of things, "I think he raises some good questions. We need to find out what the three of them actually asked for, word for word."

"Well, Leah said permanent fertility."

"But does that mean being able to go about things like a human couple, or does that mean that every time we-"

Esme shook her head and called him over to look at her phone.

"What?" he asked, confused.

She pulled up a calendar and pointed to a date that occurred a few weeks before Christmas, "This was the date of the last eclipse. It's when they made their wish."

Carlisle nodded, "Yeah."

Esme pointed to another date, "This is when we realized I was pregnant, which means the day before is when the child was conceived."

He continued to listen, following along.

"There were a couple of times in between those two dates, if you remember..." her eyes met his and she chuckled once, "that we were together and nothing happened. I've thought about that, too, but it's definitely not the case. I think it's possible at any time, now, to have a child, but I don't believe that it will definitely happen. From what I can tell, it's exactly like a human situation."

Carlisle's eyes still scanned the small calendar on her phone before he nodded in agreement, "Alright. That makes sense." He let out a breath and Esme laughed as some of the concern was alleviated from his face.

"On the other hand," she said, "It is a possibility at any point in time. Which could be a good thing, but I can understand where Emmett has his concerns. Eternity is a very long time to be perfect, in a sense."

"Yeah," he agreed with a nod, "Don't take this the wrong way, but can a wish be reversed?" He waited for her response with a cautious expression.

Esme smiled, "I am close to fifty-fifty with this," she told him, "As much as I'd love to be able to try for a baby on the drop of a dime, just the ability to have one at all is more than enough. I actually agreed with Emmett's statement about having the best of both worlds, but I would never say that in front of Rosalie."

Carlisle smiled and gave a quick laugh, "So, what do we do?"

"I say we talk find out if the wish they made could be altered at the next eclipse at all."

He nodded, "And what if it can't be?"

"Well," she shrugged with a grin, "We might as well get down to testing out some traditional human birth control methods."

"Medicine won't work," Carlisle told her almost right away, "I've tried things extensive things like morphine and a number of things on our kind before." He shook his head.

"Then we'll try some other things, and if we do it now when there's no repercussions it won't be a big deal if something fails."

"Now?"

Esme laughed when she realized he was serious, "Not right now, but sooner rather than later."

Carlisle sat onto the bed, then laid down on his back across it when his legs hanging off, "We should have a long talk about these wishing days with everyone." He put his hands over his face, "Masen... be careful what you wish for."

"Well, it's not all bad," Esme said, sitting down beside him, "It seems like our baby will age slower."

He nodded, "I know."

"And, I mean, humans have to kind of think about this stuff all the time. We were kind of off the hook, in a way, for nearly a century. Worst case scenario, it was a good run." She smiled, waiting for him to respond.

Carlisle removed his hands from over his eyes and made eye contact with her, letting a smile slowly spread over his face, "Yeah... I knew there was at least one aspect of this all that was just too easy."

Esme leaned down and kissed him once, "Come on, let's go down to see Billy. We can ask if he knows anything about altering a wish that was already granted." She stood up and held out both of her hands. Carlisle grabbed them and let her pull him up off the bed. He sighed and put an arm around her as they made their way down the stairs and out of the house.

When they arrived to the reservation, Billy was outside of his house, trying to knock icicles off of his gutters with a snow shovel. He was struggling, but was ultimately successful in the task and waved as Carlisle and Esme got out of their car and wandered up to greet him.

Billy eyed them with a half guilty expression, "Thought I might see you here soon." He reached up with the shovel again and knocked a group of three or four down at once.

Carlisle looked over to the left side of the house that he hadn't gotten to yet and took it upon himself to clear the side with a quick sweep of his hand.

"Thanks," Billy said, taking in a big huff of air.

"You're welcome," Carlisle said, rejoining Esme.

"These are the days when I miss Jacob the most," he told them.

They both smiled at him.

"You should probably come inside if this is what I think it's about."

Carlisle nodded and opened the front door while Billy wheeled himself in.

"This wasn't my idea," he started off as the three of them got settled indoors.

"It's alright," Esme told him.

"These things can be so abstract," Billy told them, "Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't."

"What would be a scenario when they wouldn't work?" Carlisle asked.

He shrugged, "I suppose if it's not meant to be, or if God has other plans," his eyes wandered upward, "I don't know."

"Can a wish be reversed? Or altered?"

Billy laughed, "Not if it's already taken place," he looked at Esme, "Leah told me that you were..."

She nodded, "Yes, but... what was the wish exactly?"

"Word for word," Carlisle asked.

He thought for a moment, "I believe they phrased it like, I wish," he motioned to each of them, "that the two of you could have permanent..."

"Fertility?" Esme asked.

"Yes," Billy nodded, "And then piggybacked it with the child aging at the rate of Cassandra."

"If it's a wish for something permanent," Carlisle went on, "Does that mean that another wish can't override it?"

"How so?"

He thought of a better way to phrase it, "If someone were to wish during the next eclipse that we couldn't have children all the time and that it could only happen during the total lunar eclipse?"

Billy looked unsure of how to answer, "All I know, is that things happen when they truly are the best option, or when someone very selflessly wishes for something better for someone else. So, I guess you'd have to ask yourself if reversing the wish would be better, or truly helpful to the two of you. None of this is an exact science."

Carlisle sighed and began to think that, compared to a number of other things, their situation was not on the negative end of the scale. From other peoples' eyes, they were given a gift, and to take it away would, in no way, be beneficial or right to those who were incapable of having children. Had they not known the powers of the moon, and were just one day blessed with something like this, the two of them would have been ecstatic to hear the news. To be able to conceive children on the night of the eclipse, though never having to worry otherwise, seemed all too good to be true to begin with.

"What's so bad about the new gift you've been given?" Billy asked, "It's not abnormal outside of your kind."

Carlisle and Esme both thought for a moment and looked at each other. At that moment, they both felt a little selfish.

"You're right," Carlisle told him, "You're absolutely right." He looked at Esme, "We can decide to have children whenever we want."

She smiled shyly at first, then let her grin grow wider.

Billy smiled at their reactions, "You'll adapt."

Carlisle smiled and Billy met his eyes with a nod.

"Thanks again for getting those icicles down," Billy told him.

"You're welcome," Carlisle said, "Take care, Billy."

"See ya around," he said, feeling satisfied that he was able to help them out at least a little bit. "Oh, and stop slipping Cassandra twenty dollar bills. She doesn't even want my fives anymore."

Carlisle laughed and Esme looked confused, but Billy smiled and waved as they left.

"I'll tell you on the ride home," he told her, grabbing her by the hand as they walked to the car.