Chapter 41

Alice glided her way home and whisked in through the front door of the house. The sky was breaking way to dawn and she was the first of her family members to arrive after another long night of waiting for the intruder who had yet to resurface on the Quileute land.

Esme was vacuuming the rug in the living room that sat centered beneath a coffee table. She gave Alice a quick wave, then turned off the cleaning appliance as she approached.

"Any news?" she asked.

Alice shook her head, "Another quiet night. Did you two hold down the place here okay?" A smile spread across her face and Esme shook her head, trying not to grin.

"It was quiet," she said without elaborating.

"Does Carlisle have to work today?"

Esme shook her head, "No."

She sighed, "Aro should be arriving today to talk. It won't go well with Lucy, but he also wants to talk to Carlisle."

She leaned an arm on the top of the vacuum and looked at Alice with a little concern and an almost annoyed expression at the mention of Aro.

"He'll be expecting Edward to be with him... which he will be. I've seen Edward confirmed that he knew nothing about the attacks on the Quileutes. Luciana won't believe him despite Edward's confirmation."

"What will Aro do?" Esme asked.

She shook her head, "Nothing. I want Jasper to be with them too to pick up on if Aro will be sad about his daughter's rebellion and wishes not to speak with him."

"I would imagine he would be."

Alice agreed, "I do too." She looked around, "Where's Carlisle now?"

"He was in the shower when I came down to vacuum," Esme told her, pointing upward. She glanced at the clock, "He's probably done."

Before Alice could respond, Carlisle made his way to them freshly showered and dressed sharply. "I heard everything the two of you were talking about," he informed them, "What time today is Aro coming?"

"Just before sunset," Alice told him, "Four.. four-thirty this afternoon."

He put a hand by his mouth and his eyebrows pressed together as he thought before giving a simple, "Alright."

"Where's Jasper?" Esme asked Alice.

"Hunting with Nicole, Rose and Emmett."

The three of them looked toward the door, hearing Edward's voice outside. A few seconds later he emerged with Bella, Caleb, Alex and Michael. Alice didn't have to say anything before Edward let them know that he already knew what was going on.

Bella looked at her sister, "He always leaves me out of these things," she huffed.

Alice looked over at her, "Aro's about to be in town."

Her expression changed from carefree to stern, "Why?"

"It's nothing," Edward said. He looked at Alice, "You think I'm going to read that he's not involved with what happened to Jared and Embry?"

"I don't think," she told him, "I know."

He shifted his eyes to Carlisle, and Esme took Caleb from Edward's arms, smiling immediately at her baby. He made a few noises, and tried talking to her in his own little language.

"What Caleb?" Esme asked, "Tell Mommy. What?"

He babbled back to her before she peppered his cheeks with kisses.

Everyone took a second to admire their interaction with smiles before Esme looked up toward Edward and Bella, "Thank you for watching him last night."

"You're welcome," they both said with matching smiles. "Ask us anything," Bella added, as Edward had emphasized the day before.

Esme nodded and repeated her statement, "Thank you." Carlisle ran a hand over the top of Caleb's head.

They both nodded before focusing back on the Aro conversation.

"I can't believe he's coming here," Alexandra said, now instilled with the deserving fear of the Volturi leader that had not been present prior to trip to Italy.

"I promise it'll be fine," Alice told her, "Just stay here with Michael when he arrives. Carlisle and Edward will meet him on neutral territory."

"Should we warn the tribe?" Edward asked.

Carlisle met his eyes and thought before he gave a nod, "I say we should. They'll sense him in the area regardless. If you could tell Jacob first that he had nothing to do with the attack, he can tell the rest of them that there's no danger. If we don't say anything, they could initiate an attack on him, or all of us. We don't want to lose their trust."

Edward nodded in a strong agreement, "Alright."

"Esme," Carlisle said, "You should maybe plan a visit to Sue's, just as added protection over there."

She nodded, "Alright. She asked me a few days ago to get together, but I couldn't because of the class. I'll call her."

"It's only a six," Edward reminded his mother with a smile.

Esme glanced at the clock again, "Oh, yeah. Thanks for stopping me. I wouldn't want to wake her."

"She'll accept," Alice assured her.

Esme snickered, "Thanks, Alice."

They all stood around thinking in silence before Alice broke it, "Well, we have all day. No worries guys." She patted Carlisle's shoulder and walked out of the living room. Alexandra and Michael looked around before quietly making their way elsewhere.

Edward turned to Carlisle, "Renesme and Jacob are coming by around noon. We can talk to him then."

Carlisle nodded, "That sounds good." He sighed and looked at Caleb, reaching his arms out to take him from Esme. She smiled at let him have their son, who tried his version of communication with Carlisle.

"What?" he asked him in a soft, baby voice that urged him to keep the baby chatter going.

Esme smiled and looked at Bella as she stared at them admirably. She wondered if what Edward said was true, and they would take the plunge and try for another baby. She knew it would make them happy, and felt bad that Bella had such a traumatic experience with her first delivery.

"He was so good for us last night," she told Esme.

"More than I can say for Alexandra and Michael's experience," Carlisle said with a laugh.

Edward grinned, "Why?"

Carlisle and Esme looked at each other and they both smiled, "Let's just say it took me awhile to get this place back in order," Esme told them, letting out a laugh at her vision of the house in shambles.

Bella chuckled and Edward continued to smile. "Well, he was great for us," he assured her.

Caleb laid his head down against Carlisle's chest and let his hand play with the collar of his shirt.

"Back in sync?" Edward asked, looking at Esme, then to Carlisle. He felt a little uneasy thinking of the two of them as anything aside from perfect, as he'd known them forever. Everyone knew they provided the stability for the family, so hearing that they weren't on the same page for a little while was enough for him to check in on their situation.

Esme looked down shyly and smiled, then looked at Carlisle. He stared back at her as she answered with a nod, "Yeah. Back in sync."

Carlisle smirked and put his arm around Esme's shoulders, then landed a kiss on her temple.

Edward and Bella smiled and she leaned into him. "So there's really no reason to worry, huh?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Alice would know," Edward said, "And apparently there's no connection with Aro and the wolf attacks. We have to expect he'll be here every now and then because of his daughter."

Bella nodded, seeming to understand.

Esme looked at Carlisle, picturing him burning the Volturi's items that were given to him as gifts over the years the night before. "Do you think Aro will want to read your thoughts?"

He looked at her and shrugged.

"Because you were burning those things last night..."

Carlisle smiled, "I only burned that one paper when you walked in."

"Do you think he'll get offended if he sees that?"

He took a deep breath and grinned again, "If he does, he'll understand why I really lit that fire."

Esme looked confused at first, then looked into his partially squinted smiling eyes and realized what he was talking about. Edward's face twisted, though he began to smile.

"I'll leave you two alone," he said, reaching down for Bella's hand. She smiled, realizing he must have seen whatever they had been thinking.

"It's not necessary," Carlisle said.

"Oh, it is," Edward disagreed with a laugh.

Carlisle shrugged and brought his attention back to Caleb. Esme rubbed his back gently and leaned up against him, "Be careful with Aro."

"We'll be okay."

She sighed and nodded.

"We will," he said again, "Don't stress yourself out all day."

"Can't help it," Esme told him.

Carlisle leaned his face down and kissed her, then kissed her immediately again as she pulled back. Esme initiated a longer, third kiss and almost continued before Caleb's hand landed solidly on the side Carlisle's face.

His eyes opened and Esme laughed as their son continued to slap him in the face a few more times.

"Caleb," he said, starting to laugh.

"Are you hitting Daddy?" Esme asked with all too enthusiastic ring in her voice.

He looked at her and laughed again, "Don't encourage him."

Caleb's hand cocked back again and Carlisle closed his eyes in anticipation as his hand slapped him across the face again. The look on her husband's face as he waited for the tiny impact made her giggle and Caleb let out one of his first true baby laugh's immediately following hers.

Carlisle's eyes met hers and he shook his head with a wide smile. Esme ran a hand through his hair and kissed him once more, then kissed Caleb, who was still upbeat and happy.

"He's going to be the biggest handful of the three of them," Carlisle told her, "I can just tell."

"Third time's a charm," she told him, raising her eyebrows.

Carlisle leaned in and kissed her forehead again, then continued to play with Caleb. Esme sighed, feeling somewhat alright about Aro's visit because of Alice's sureness about the situation. She also had a good feeling that she and Carlisle were out of the funk they were in and that things would begin to get better after the unfortunate events from weeks before.