Chapter 38
When Carlisle got home with Cassandra, Alex and Michael, the rest of the family was yet to return. The four of them went into the empty house, which was dark and cold feeling, very opposite from the typical welcoming atmosphere. He flipped on a few lights as they made they way around and Cassandra quickly made herself comfortable on one of the couches with the remote in hand almost immediately.
Alexandra and Michael joined her and Carlisle made his way to the kitchen to get Cassandra something to eat, considering lunch time had come and gone.
"Do you want a grilled cheese and some soup Cassie?" he asked, quickly scooting back to where she sat in the living room.
She nodded, "Yes, please."
He smiled at her and went back to get the small meal started on the stove.
"Oh, leave it here!" her voice cried out enthusiastically. Alexandra and Michael both laughed before giving her the okay.
Carlisle put the radio on as he got a can of chicken soup ready on one burner, and laid down the sandwich on a pan beside it, pushing down on the bread with the spatula. In one of the cabinets below he found a bag of chips and threw a handful on a paper plate next to the stove.
"What do you want to drink, Cass?" he called out to her.
"Iced tea," she responded, then added a quick, "Thanks!"
"You're welcome," he said back, then made his way to get a pitcher of it from the fridge that Alice had made several days earlier.
The rest of the family entered the house all together, creating a livelier atmosphere. Emmett tried his best to keep the mood lighter than it had been all week and picked up Cassie from the couch, holding her upside down by her ankles.
She laughed and swatted at his legs, "Stop! Emmett! I'm watching TV."
He continued to tease her for a minute before letting her get back to her television show. Masen walked by and laughed, then messed up his daughter's hair.
"Hey!" she shouted, straightening it back out immediately.
"Boys are always causing trouble," Alexandra commented and looked toward her brother and Emmett.
"You're quite the angel," Emmett said sarcastically.
"I am," she said with a smile, then glanced at Michael. He smiled shyly and Emmett chuckled again.
"Oh, we're definitely changing this," he said, trying to draw a rise out of Cassandra.
"Oh no we're not," she said back.
"That a girl, Cassie," Rosalie said, joining them, "You tell him."
Emmett pulled Rosalie onto his lap and waved a hand at Cassandra. She stuck her tongue out at him and stretched her feet so they rested on Alexandra's lap.
"She's going to be a heartbreaker when she gets older," Rosalie told him, glancing over at her, "She's already gorgeous."
They looked toward Cassandra, who had been oblivious to their words. She played with the strands of her long dark hair almost habitually and didn't even seem to realize she was doing it. Her complexion was a perfectly light olive and, at the moment, her eyes were an overly light shade of hazel, though turned a deep amber whenever she was on her blood diet.
Carlisle entered the living room, with Esme at his side. He held Cassandra's food with both hands and Esme got a tray for her to eat on so she didn't have to leave the couch.
"Thank you," she said, smiling up at them.
Masen snickered and looked at his parents, "Suckers."
Esme smiled at him and shook her head, "It's our job as grandparents," she insisted, "And it's been a rough day... a rough week."
Alice, Jasper and Nicole joined up with all of them and everyone enjoyed the next two hours or so watching funny televisions shows. Within five minute of each other, Masen and Renesme each received a text message from Leah and Jacob, respectively. They looked at each other, typing away on their phones before Masen took the lead and stood up.
"About that time huh?" Carlisle asked, "How's Leah?"
He nodded, "She's alright. I think it's about time we head home, though, Cassie. We need to keep Mom company."
His daughter still sat closely with Alexandra. She looked up at him and willingly agreed to go back home. On a typical day, she would have more than likely put up a struggle about leaving, though she wanted to see her mother that night.
Renesme stood up from where she sat next to Bella and Edward, "Jake just texted me too. He's on his way here to pick me up. I think he's pretty close."
"Alright," Bella said with a closed mouth smile. She joined her daughter as she made her way toward the front door.
"Thank you guys," Renesme said, looking at everyone, "I love you." Everyone took their turn saying goodbye to her, Masen and Cassandra.
"Take the car back," Esme told her son.
"It's fine, Mom," he told her, shaking his head.
"We don't know what's out there with whoever it was that attacked the boys on the reservation."
"We'll be okay... Alice!"
"I'm not getting involved," she called back to where they stood by the doorway.
"Nessy, is Jacob coming here by foot or in a car?" Esme asked.
"Car," Renesme told her, "They can jump in with us and we can drop them off on the way."
"Mom..." Masen said, giving her a look.
"Oh, come on Mase..." Renesme said, putting a hand on her hip. He made a face, though smiled at her.
Less than a minute passed by before Jacob rounded into the driveway with Leah in the passenger's seat. Renesme, this time, turned and made a face at Masen. He snickered as Leah exited the car, still looking a little stern in her expression.
"Jake offered to take us home," she said.
Masen's lighthearted nature turned a little more serious as he could see Leah was hurting. "Okay," he agreed.
She waved toward where Carlisle, Esme, Bella and Edward stood as Renesme bid farewell to her parents.
Carlisle and Esme hugged Cassandra, then Masen and the three of them walked down to the car. Jacob gave a wave from behind the wheel and in a moment they were headed back to the reservation.
Esme sighed as their car pulled out of sight. She turned at looked at Carlisle. Caleb still clung to her. "Are we patrolling tonight?"
He nodded, "Yes. They agreed to it. They'll be on guard as well."
"Good," she said, "I don't like knowing that all of them, especially Cassandra are in the target area for whoever did this."
Carlisle rubbed the upper part of her arm gently, "Nothing's going to hurt them."
She gave him a closed mouth smile, though worry clung heavily to the rest of her facial expression.
"Give Caleb to me. You've been with him every second in the last week, including the wedding."
"You had him for a little while at the wedding. When you slept..."
"You need a little time to relax, Esme," he told her, "I'll keep him with me. Go upstairs and take a bath, or just relax however you want."
"I'm fine," she continued to insist.
Carlisle looked at her and she handed him their son, "Do it for me."
Esme sighed and gave in at his genuine stare. He took Caleb from her arms and leaned his face in to give her a kiss.
She returned his gesture and ran a hand through his hair, then kissed him once more. "I love you," she said.
Carlisle hugged her and took in a long deep breath when she was up against him. "I love you too." Esme ran her hands along his back and then kissed him quickly a final time before heading toward the stairs to do as he suggested.
Each stair she climbed seemed to weigh her body down, and when she finally reached the upper level it felt like she had climbed a mountain. The week had left her feeling drained mentally, and it played tricks on her mind to make her body feel tired. She knew a bath would be the perfect temporary solution to everything that was going on, and as much as she didn't want to admit it to herself, having just a few minutes alone was more welcoming than she thought. There was not a bone in her body that wanted to ever part from Caleb, though fifteen minutes away to take a bubble bath didn't seem like such a bad idea.
Esme sat with her hand draped in the water as the tub filled up, and she could tell that it was warm. She closed the door and hopped in, trying not to think of all the problems going on, yet again, in the lives of her and her family. Almost right away, she found that to be nearly impossible. As the mother, adopted mother, grandmother or mother-in-law, Esme found herself feeling selfishly vulnerable. She felt like it was her job to keep all of her family members protected and safe. The deaths of Embry and Jared made her feel much more insecure about that. It proved that they were not untouchable, and that bad things could happen. Permanent bad things.
She sighed and closed her eyes, trying a second time to focus on anything but what was happening. She thought of Isle Esme, for a moment. She still wanted to take Alexandra down to visit there and felt she deserved to know what it felt like to be free; free in the sunlight, free to roam around as she pleased without the fear of consequences for doing nothing but living. As normal as they'd all made their lives in Forks, they still, to an extent, had to hide who they were. The thought of their own personal paradise made her smile for a moment.
Esme's eyes shifted toward the shelf that hung just above the bathroom vanity, and just below the mirror. A small I-Home player sat plugged in with her I-pod in place on the deck. She got out of the bath for a moment and hit shuffle on the playlist, letting some of her favorite songs play over the course of a nearly a half hour.
The bath and music combination had fulfilled it's purpose and after only twenty-something minutes, Esme felt a little better. She dried off and threw on her bathrobe before making her way back out into the room.
She sat down on the edge of the bed with a decompressing sighed and turned on the television, hoping Carlisle would bring Caleb upstairs. She was finding a comfort in the solitude of their room and didn't, at the moment, feel like returning downstairs.
She thought Edward must have read her thoughts, because only a few minutes later, Carlisle made his way into the room.
"Edward?" she asked.
He grinned, then nodded, "He didn't want me to say anything about him reading your thoughts."
Esme shrugged, "It's fine."
Carlisle leaned over and kissed her forehead, still towing Caleb. He propped a few pillows on her side of the bed and patted them, "Lay down."
"Is it that obvious how... drained I am?"
"Yes," he said with smile, "Let me take care of you."
Esme gave a little laugh and made her way to the head of the bed and laid down, pulling the covers over her. "Will the two of you lay with me?"
"Of course," Carlisle told her. He took off the outer shirt he'd been wearing all day, leaving him in a white t-shirt and laid down beside her, keeping Caleb on his chest as he had at the hotel. Esme smiled at the way they laid, triggering the memory from when they were in Alaska.
"We going out on the same shift tonight?" he asked.
"I'd like to," she told him, "But we can't really because of Caleb."
"Me and Jas will take him during your shift," Alice called from downstairs, then added, "Sorry. Just letting you know it's an option."
"So will I," Rosalie offered next.
Carlisle and Esme looked at each other and laughed. She draped her hand over Caleb's head and ran a hand through his hair, or the lack there of. Carlisle closed his eyes and slide an arm around her so she could cuddle up against him so she was face to with their son.
His tiny hand reached over and rested near her face before he curiously moved it to her nose and cheek.
Carlisle turned his head and snickered. Esme smiled and let her thumb run along the back of his hand. She sighed again and began to talk to him in a sensitive, quiet voice before planting a kiss on his cheek, making his eyes close for a moment.
"I don't think we'll see anything tonight," Carlisle assured her, reclosing his eyes. He slid a hand down the back of her robe to massage her back. "Alice would have seen it by now. We can just get things started and organized tonight."
Esme closed her eyes and put her arm over Caleb, letting her hand rest on Carlisle's hip, "Yeah. They may not even come back. Maybe they didn't realize what they were up against."
He nodded, "It's certainly a possibility."
She sighed again, though it was mainly because she was starting to feel relaxed.
"You okay?" Carlisle asked her.
"Yeah," Esme assured him, "Thanks for making me take a bath. It helped."
He stopped rubbing her back so she'd look up at him. When she did he gave her a short series of kisses. "You're welcome. You needed it."
Esme perched herself so she was slightly upright from the position she laid in and kissed him again, this time for a little longer, before laying back down against him. She wanted to enjoy another couple of hours in peace until the time came where they would have to be on another potential life threatening alert for the latest intruder on their lives.
The question remained in all of their minds. Would they ever find peace?