Chapter 22
Masen knew his mother was worried, as were the rest of them. He decided to give in to her wishes and promised to check in with her multiple times throughout the night while he was at work. Leah, too, was extremely clingy and Cassandra, while given only scarce details about what was going on, knew something out of the ordinary was going on. She kept looking toward him with worrisome stares and barely removed herself from his side.
Emmett had, had a serious talk with him outside of the house before he went in to see his mother, making sure Leah and Cassie weren't around to hear what he was saying. It was his brother's words and Leah's bouts of random hysteria that really began to take a toll on him. Masen was sure in private, both of his parents were having similar breakdowns, particularly his mother. All of this began to weigh in on his mind harder and over the course of the last hour at his family's house, he had begun to feel physically worse.
Esme's eyes met the clock on the wall for the hundredth time. The ticks seemed to be louder to her than to anyone else in the room as she knew the minutes were counting down until her son had to leave for work. Carlisle had well since returned from hunting, and she had taken the time to eat, but it did not take away the tight feeling that had begun to linger in her throat. At that moment, Esme wasn't sure if it was physical or psychological.
The family attempted to remain normal, though everyone's faked low key postures were poorly masked. Alexandra tried to play it cool, though sat next to her brother rather than Michael. The two of them looked equally edgy as they pretended to focus on the television. Emmett had hardly spoke and hadn't even attempted any of his usual lighthearted banter. Rosalie sat far too stiffly at his side and hadn't removed her hand from where it clutched his knee for almost an hour. Edward and Bella both wore heavy, glum expressions and also were far quieter than normal in the corner of the room. Alice failed to make eye contact with anyone and had been playing with her daughter's hair for awhile, twisting it in braids and styling it different ways to keep herself occupied. Jasper sat beside her almost as stiff as Rosalie and shot his eyes occasionally in Masen's direction.
The clocked continued to tick, leaving Esme more overwhelmed with each second. Carlisle sat with his hand on the back of her neck, soothingly running different patterns with his fingertips. He glanced over at Leah and Cassandra without them realizing it and noticed how hard Leah was trying to hold it together. On the surface she looked calm for her daughter, and she was surely fooling her. Carlisle, however, could read in her more rapid than normal breathing patterns, rigidly seated position and the way her nostrils were somewhat flared from the clenching of her jaw, that she was struggling for a battle of composure with herself.
Masen moved slightly and everyone's heads snapped in his direction. He sighed and looked down. "I have to leave for work," he told them all at once, then looked at Leah, "You can stay if you want, or you can take Cassie back to the house."
"Why do you have to go, Dad?" Cassandra asked him, tilting her head with sad eyes, "You always have to go at this time at night. I want you to stay home at night."
He smiled and picked her up, then kissed her on the cheek, "I only go to work so I can buy you and Mom all kinds of nice things. Like your One Direction sheets, or that Taylor Swift CD."
"I don't want anymore," she told him, "Can you just stay home?"
Masen smiled and kissed her forehead, then looked at Leah, who appeared sadder than he'd ever seen her, "It's fine," he assured her, kissing her forehead in the same fashion as he just did with their daughter. His eyes scanned the room at everyone's puppy dog faces.
"I'll see you all in the morning," he said, "I'll stop in to say hello, and Mom," he turned to her with a smile, "Calm down, or you'll have a baby by the time I get back here. I've read about that stuff, you know."
Esme smiled and stood up. She wrapped her arms around him and cradled his head for a moment, "Call me when you get there, then every so often throughout the night."
"Okay," he promised, kissing her cheek.
Carlisle stood up and decided to walk him out with Leah, Esme and Cassandra.
"I'm going to try to get her to lay down," Leah whispered to Esme, "We'll go back to the house, but anyone can stop by at any time."
"Are you sure?" Esme asked her.
She nodded and hugged her for an extra long time. Esme felt her heart breaking for her daughter in law as they hugged. She then gave Cassandra a warm goodbye before doing the same thing, yet again, with Masen.
"Be careful," Carlisle told his son, "And remember, please don't use your gift tonight so we can attempt to figure this all out."
"I won't," he promised, reaching out to shake his hand.
Carlisle pulled him in for a hug instead.
"I'll call you," Masen said to Leah as he parted from his father.
"Okay," she nodded, "I love you."
"I love you, too." He leaned in and gave her a kiss before taking off toward Charlie's house.
Leah felt her chest tighten and looked at Cassandra, "Hey, can you wait in the car for a minute, honey?"
Cassandra yawned and nodded, then did as her mother asked without question.
Esme sensed Leah was about to break down and hugged her hard just as the tears fell. Carlisle shoved his hands into his pockets and looked on at the two of them for a moment before he made his way to the car to distract Cassandra.
"I don't want anything to happen to him," Leah balled, "I've been trying so hard to keep it together." Her tears came out in buckets and Esme tried everything in her power to sooth her without completely falling apart herself. "Is Alice always right?"
Esme sighed, "Not always. Things can change if people's actions change. Now that Alexandra was able to tell him what was wrong, that might be the change he needs."
Leah let out a long, huffed sigh before wiping her eyes and pulling away, "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head.
Rosalie walked outside with a small wad of tissues and handed them to Leah, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop," she told her, "But I figured since it was hard for me not to hear, I might as well get you some Kleenex."
"Thanks," Leah said, reaching for them. A few drops of mascara had made their way just under her eyes that were quickly scooped up in the tissues. She let out another deep breath and hugged Esme once more, "Keep in touch with me tonight."
"I will," Esme promised.
Leah headed toward the car, where Carlisle had managed to get a laugh out of Cassandra before asking her if she had her seatbelt on. She nodded and showed him before turning her attention to where Leah opened the driver's side door, "Thank you guys," she told them, "I'll see you in a bit."
Carlisle nodded and gave a wave as Esme made her way to his side. He put an arm around her and the two of them gave a final wave to Cassandra before they took off toward their own home.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, once they were alone.
Esme nodded, "I'm okay."
"You can cry if you want," he told her, "I know you've been being strong for everyone, but if you need to, I'm here."
She pulled his face to hers and gave him a kiss, "That's why I'm so in love with you, Carlisle." She cuddled into his chest for a moment and sighed, then looked up at him, "I'm fine, though. Let's go inside."
"Alright," he agreed.
They linked hands and walked inside where everyone still sat in their same, almost statue-like positions.
"Go about your routines," Carlisle told them.
Esme went to go sit with Alexandra, but stopped partway and braced herself on a small decorative table. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking back at her husband who was about to make a trip up the stairs.
"Carlisle," she said quietly.
He spun around and saw the discomforting look on her face before rushing to her side.
"I think..." she started, then gave another look of discomfort and let her hands rest on her stomach, "Maybe Masen was right about the stress."
Rosalie lead the rest of the family's reactions in standing up abruptly. Edward was the next to pick up on it, followed immediately by everyone else.
Carlisle placed a hand on Esme's back and held one of her hand's with his other. Rosalie was quickly on Esme's other side.
"Can you make it down the hall?" Carlisle asked her.
She nodded, "Yeah."
The two of them secured Esme on both sides and lead her down to where she had previously given birth to Masen.
"This is a lot better than the beach," she joked, looking at Rosalie with a smile.
Rosalie shot her one back and squeezed her hand.
Carlisle set up the room and got everything prepared, verbally checking in with his wife as he did so. Esme remained calm and tried to take regular inhales and exhales. If for no other reason, the technique seemed to at least calm her down.
"Alright," he said, smiling at her, "I think it's definitely about that time."
"Mmm-hmm," she agreed, letting a breath out through her nose.
"It's going to work out fine," he assured her, "Just like the last times. I just need you to follow my lead, okay. I love you."
Esme nodded, wanting to say it back but she could only nod. A few minutes passed and the feelings became more consistent and intense. The birth was beginning to feel a lot like Masen's had with the upgraded speed of the whole process. She tried to focus in on all of her husband's commands and instructions. His words were gentle and calm. The fact that he didn't seem nervous at all made her feel the same way. Rosalie's hand stuck firmly in her own, and her daughter's words were just as encouraging.
She wasn't sure how long the process was actually taking, but all at once Carlisle and Rosalie were walking her through her final push, both more vocal and demanding, though both equally as tranquil as before. Esme closed her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of their faces, though could only focus on the task at hand, which was bringing baby Caleb into the world.
"I got him, I got him," Carlisle's voice called. Esme looked down at the end of the table, shocked as the baby boy's cries rang throughout the room. She hadn't felt a ton of pain and almost didn't realize that her previous push would end up being her final one.
Rosalie began to smile and let out an appreciative, joyous laugh. Carlisle, too, had the same look on his face as when he saw their two other children for the first time. He walked their baby up to Esme with a smile and kissed her once, placing their child into her arms.
Esme felt her heart skip a beat with happiness and formally welcomed Caleb Cullen into the world.