Chapter 33

Rosalie and Kate looked equally happy, with tear filled eyes, trying desperately not to smudge their perfectly done eyeliner. William and Madison stood facing each other, exchanging their vows, this time in front of close number of family members. The genuine smiles of their children matched what they felt in their own hearts for their respective husbands. It was a look that made everyone hold their significant others and children a little closer. It was a look of eternal love.

The priest putting on the ceremony must have thought they were crazy, and certain did a wonderful job pretending he was not cold in the crisp Alaskan air. For the location and time of the year, however, it was not one of the colder days they had experienced. The winds were dull and the overcast sky had the sun just dying to come out from behind the endless waves of clouds that hung over them. The day was perfect for a wedding.

"You may now kiss the bride," the priest's voice spoke calmly with a smile, staring at the young couple before him.

William leaned in took Madison's eager lips into his own, both of them fighting off smiles as they kissed. When they parted, he raised both of their hands into the air to complement their standing, applauding audience of loved ones, before leading his bride down the isle.

Emmett and Rosalie, as well as Kate and Garrett, walked up the priest and personally thanked him as the ceremony came to it's final conclusion.

"Sorry to keep you out in the cold," Emmett told him with a grin.

The middle aged man shrugged, "If you can do it, I can do it. Been an Alaskan man my whole life." He smiled and patted him on the back once.

Garrett proceeded to shake his hand before the four of them went back with the rest of their family to where a huge ceremony was taking place at a fancy banquet hall and hotel. Originally, Kate had suggested they have the entire event in the back yard of their elegantly spacious house, though Madison fell in love with the other place and so it was there that they went.

Like Masen and Leah's wedding, the reception was light and fun after the immediate dances of the bride and groom, then the mother-son and father-daughter dances. Rosalie lost it halfway through, shedding tears that Alice so eagerly caught on film. When her sister eventually got herself together, she insisted that Alice get rid of the emotional photos, though quickly realized her pleading and half kidding threats were useless.

"It's beautiful," Alice had insisted over and over. She spent the rest of the night either dancing, or taking more photos when the opportunities presented themselves. Jasper danced away with their daughter, pointing out some of the better songs that played at the previous weddings over the years.

Rosalie and Emmett were all smiles, and spent a lot of time chatting with Kate and Garrett, who looked as happily in love as the day they got together.

Carlisle and Esme caught up with Carmen, Eleazar and Tanya, complimenting them on how well everything was put together and, as always, the beauty of the place they called home.

"I only saw the pictures of this place online, but it's absolutely gorgeous," Esme told them.

Carmen and Tanya both nodded in agreement, "I love how it's decorated with different shades of purple everywhere," Carmen said, "Even the purple lights that make the walls look like they're glowing."

Esme and Tanya both looked around the perimeter of the room, taking in what Carmen had pointed out.

Alexandra walked up to them and exchanged hellos with everyone. She held Caleb, whom she had just volunteered to take from her parents a few minutes before, and handed him back to Esme.

"He needs to eat," she told her with a shrug, "I don't know where the bottles are. He's getting all... whiny and stuff."

The three women smiled, and Esme laughed, "I've got it. Go have fun with everyone Alex."

"I don't mind holding him," she told her mother, "I don't mind at all. I just don't know what to do when he gets like this."

Caleb hadn't broken out into a cry yet, but Esme knew it was likely to follow within a minute or two. She didn't want to gain the attention of the entire party and decided to go back to their hotel room where they had everything their son needed.

"Hey!" Alice said, joining them, "They're going to play that song from Masen's wedding that we all liked, ladies."

Carmen laughed at her enthusiasm and Tanya did a dance move that lasted a few seconds. Esme was about to tell Alice that she was going to the room with Caleb, but Carlisle intervened. He reached for their son and smiled at her.

"Go dance," he said, "I'll take him."

"No, it's fine," Esme assured him, "We've been dancing and everything for hours."

"You haven't," he told her, shaking his head, "I can take Caleb for the rest of the night." He continued to motion for her to hand him over. With Alice's added enthusiasm, Esme smiled and gave in.

"Alright," she said to him, "Thanks."

Carlisle gave her a wink and grinned as they all went across the room together.

"Congratulations, by the way," Eleazar told him with a nod.

"Thanks," he said back, "Have you and Carmen had any interest in it?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Yes. We just have a hard time trusting the Volturi still. And after what happened to Madison when she was just a newborn, it was heartbreaking. I couldn't live through something like that if the effects were permanent."

Carlisle nodded, "I understand."

Eleazar looked like he wanted to elaborate, but decided not to.

"Well, I have to go feed him," Carlisle told his friend, "I'll be back down at some point."

Eleazar's eyes raised to a large clock that was fixed into the wall, "Alright." He smiled and waved his fingers toward Caleb before the two of them parted.

Carlisle reached in the pocket of his pants for the room key they had and headed out of the party, getting compliments from a few of the caterers on the way out on how cute or adorable Caleb was. When he was finally alone on the elevator, he sighed, then let out a deep breath. Caleb's fussiness continued and he began to cry.

"It's alright," Carlisle said soothing voice, "You're going to eat in a minute."

Caleb's wails continued to sound off against the enclosed elevator walls, before the doors opened on the fourth floor, sending the two of them into the long hallway that lead to the room.

Carlisle glanced down at the room number again, and his eyes scanned the numbers that were printed on the wall, sending half of the guests in one direction, and the other half in another, depending on their room number.

"Shhh, it's okay Caleb," he said, hoping somehow his words would quiet him down, though with little success. He knew people in the hotel were probably sleeping by now, at least some of them. He wished he had Jasper's power to calm his son down in times like this.

He found the room that matched his key and quickly opened the door, shutting it extra quietly behind him. On the center of the bed was Caleb's bag, with bottles tucked neatly in the main compartment. He unzipped the bag and removed his son's food source, giving it to him immediately.

Caleb's cries went off like the flip of a switch and his tiny hands latched onto the bottle, bringing his dark eyes back to a deep gold. A second bottle waited on the night stand next to the bed where Carlisle had placed it. When Caleb finished off the first, his cries picked up again and so Carlisle began to feed him the next bottle. He looked at the clock, which read ten forty-seven. He took out his phone and sent Esme a text message, letting her know that he would probably be up there for the remainder of the time, considering they only had the hall reserved until eleven. He added in a second message to tell William and Madison congratulations for him.

"Party time's over for us," he told Caleb, continuing to let him eat. His son's eyes stayed staring back at him for awhile, before he finally parted with the bottle, pushing it to the side.

Carlisle dried his son's mouth and put the bottle down. He turned on the television, took off his shoes and removed the tie from around his neck before settled down in the center of the bed with Caleb on his chest. His eyes were still curious and the noises he made, made it seem like he was trying to tell Carlisle something.

A closed mouth smile crossed his mouth and he closed his eyes for a moment, listening to a song that played on the television station that he hadn't changed since turning it on. He hadn't paid much attention to the fact that it was a station that just played music and actually found the slow, acoustic folk song that hummed in the room to be nice.

Out in the hall, he heard his children's voices, who were also accompanied by Cassandra and Nicole.

"Let's race!" Cassandra said eagerly.

"No, no, no," Masen told her. His voice turned to a quieter tone, "It's late. Everyone's sleeping."

Carlisle smiled to himself and continued to listen to their conversations.

"That's Pop's room," Masen said, most likely to Cassandra, who proceeded to chuckle, then asked him if they could knock and run away. Nicole's quiet laughter came next and Carlisle waited until he heard a series of loud knocks echoed off the door, followed by the stomping of running feet down the hall and more laughter. Deciding to play into their game, he walked over to the door, opened it and took a few steps out into the hallway before going back inside.

A few minutes later the girls did the same thing, this time unable to keep quiet when he walked out into the hallway. Cassandra peeked her head out from around the corner and began to giggle, before Nicole and the rest of them made themselves known.

Carlisle put his free arm out to the side and walked up to them, "I thought I heard someone knocking."

Cassandra laughed and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his waist, "It was us."

"Are you sure?" he asked, "That sounded too loud for it to be you."

"No, it was really us," she insisted with a laugh, then looked up to him, "Hey, where's your tie?"

He chuckled, "I took it off."

"You took off your shoes too," Cassandra pointed out, stepping on his feet with her own.

"Now your socks are going to be all dirty," Nicole said.

Alexandra and Masen looked at each other and laughed.

"It's time for someone to go to bed," Masen said, looking down at his daughter.

She shook her head, and he returned the gesture with a nod and smile.

"You must mean it's Alex's turn to go to bed." Cassandra crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back into Carlisle, staring right at Alexandra, who raised her arms in the air and pretended to yawn.

"Yeah, I think you're right," she told her niece, "I'm sleepy."

"Okay, goodnight," Cassandra said to her, still smiling.

"Goodnight." They continued to stare at each other playfully for a few seconds.

Caleb began to stir a little in Carlisle's arms before he began to let out a few short cries. Carlisle put him up on his shoulder and patted his back, attempting to settle him down.

"It's Nicole, Alex and Leah right?" he asked, looking at Masen.

"Yep," his son said, "And then me, Michael and Cassie." Masen looked down at the card in his hand, "I think we passed it actually."

"No, I'm with Mom and Alex," Cassandra told him.

"That's fine," he said, scooping her up, "Let's just get out of the hallway so we don't wake up the entire floor.

Carlisle smiled at them and accepted a hug from his daughter before they found their rooms, which were more or less right across the hall from his own. He waved goodnight, trying to get Caleb's cries to die down.

"Man, the little guy's not liking the change of scenery," Masen said as his father went back into his room.

Alexandra shook her head, "Nope." She looked toward the door as it closed with a smile and waved her hand around, "Should I work my magic?"

Masen smiled, "You just want the freedom."

She made a face, "No I don't. I want Dad and Caleb to be able to rest."

Her brother raised his eyebrows at her skeptically and she pushed him before using her ability to give Carlisle and Caleb the rest they both needed.

Masen shook his head and smiled at her. Alexandra rolled her eyes and the two of them went into the same room across the hall where Nicole had already made herself comfortable.

Leah rounded the corner with Esme just as Masen was almost all the way into the room. She shouted in a whisper down the hall, not knowing they had already all been loud just a few minutes before.

"Masen!"

He leaned back and waved as the two of them approached.

"Cassie's going to stay in the conjoining room with you and Alex," he told her, "Me and Michael have this one."

"Nicole too, right?"

He nodded, "Everyone's in here for now though."

Esme smiled, knowing her son was also trying to make it known to her that it would be him and Michael in the same room, rather than Michael and Alexandra. Masen smiled back at her knowing she saw right through him.

"Just to let you know," he added.

"We'll make sure everyone behaves," Leah assured her.

"I know you will," Esme told them. She said her goodnights and peeked her head in at the rest of them before going across the hallway into the room she was staying in.

The light on the nightstand was the only one on, though it provided a decent amount of light in the room. The acoustic music still played on the television and Esme peeked around to where Carlisle laid silently with Caleb on the center of his chest.

"Car-" she stared, then quickly realized Caleb's closed eyes and his steady breathing. It matched that of her husband's and both of them laid together motionless and quiet. She smiled to herself, then walked up closer and leaned at ear down, still slightly unfamiliar with the occasional ability to sleep when it was granted by Alexandra.

Seeing the opportunity as a photogenic moment, Esme removed a small digital camera from her bag and took a picture of the two of them from a couple different angles before deciding to take a shower. She walked over and kissed them both on forehead and stopped to look at them once more. She visualized them both drifting to sleep to the sounds of Eddie Vesser's song Society as it was almost finished playing on the television.

For some reason, the lyrics almost made her sad, though happy at the same time that she had two of the most precious people on earth right in front of her. The one line that stuck from the song was, I hope you're not lonely without me.

Esme smiled to herself once more, shaking off a temporary floating thought of the fear of losing them, before jumping in the shower to relax on her own.