Chapter 9

Esme had been kissing Carlisle when a light snore woke her up. She hastily pulled away from him, rolling on her back. Thankfully, she had kissed him only in her mind, and hadn't disrupted his sleep. She took deep breaths, attempting to get her foggy mind back on track. According to her clock, it was 6.15 a.m. She was in her bed, and Carlisle was next to her. He was sleeping soundly on his side, facing her. His face was relaxed, his breathing even. Even though she'd slightly drawn away from him, he still had an arm around her waist. She blushed as she remembered what had most likely been a dream. It had all begun with him pulling her even closer to his body and she'd looked up into his eyes to see them full of a loving passion that had lit a small fire in her stomach. She'd reached up for his face and pressed her lips to his, kissing him with abandon until the real Carlisle had unintentionally woken her up.

Now she laid in the darkness, slightly ashamed of herself, trying to calm her beating heart down to a normal rhythm. She was too hot and got rid of the blanket, folding it over Carlisle, before deciding that, since she was awake, she might as well get up and take a shower. The alarm would soon go off anyway. She carefully moved Carlisle's arm away from her, letting it down gently on the mattress.

"I'll be back," she promised in a whisper.

She kissed his cheek, got up from the bed, retrieved (as silently as possible) some clothes from her wardrobe and headed to the bathroom.

Carlisle was pulled from sleep by the annoyingly persistent ringing of Esme's alarm clock. He reached out blindly to turn it off. He opened his eyes and found only empty space next to him, where Esme should've been. That woke him much more efficiently than the alarm. He straightened up and began panicking. Where was she ? Had she left him ? Then he heard the sound of flowing water. He immediately relaxed. It sounded like she was showering. It was 6:30 a.m. per the clock. He got up and headed to Esme's kitchen, where he sat down in a chair to wait for her.

It was not long before he heard a door opening and paces that headed away from him. She must be going back to her bedroom to check if he was still asleep.

"Carlisle ?" he could faintly discern her saying.

"I'm in the kitchen !" he shouted.

She quickly joined him there.

"Good morning !"

He grinned in answer.

"Hi !"

"I hope you slept well ?"

"Yeah, and you ?"

Actually, just like the night before, he'd slept even better than 'well' ; he thought it was because he'd had Esme in his arms. She warmed him much more efficiently than the blanket.

"I did, thanks."

They smiled at each other and started to take out the things they needed for breakfast.

"By the way, I was wondering," Carlisle began as he got the butter out of the fridge, "how did you know about Edward ?"

He repressed the lump in his throat that surged each time he thought about his little brother.

Esme finished plugging the toaster and paused, looking embarrassed.

"I heard you say his name once, when you were sleeping. It was during the second night I spent at your house. You were sick and I'd been to the drugstore to fetch you some medicine. Late in the night, you grew agitated and you talked about him, but you didn't say enough for me to guess who he was."

It made sense, Carlisle remembered having had a nightmare about Edward that night. Later, he'd hoped Esme hadn't been in the room in case he'd said something, but apparently she had heard him.

"I didn't know I talk when I'm asleep."

"I think you only did it that time because you were sick. I didn't hear anything last night, but maybe I fell asleep before you."

"I'm almost certain you did."

He recalled a moment when her breathing had grown deeper, and she'd hugged him tighter. She'd buried her face in his chest and slipped one leg over his. He'd stayed very still, waiting with bated breath to see if she'd move away, trying to figure out if she was conscious or not. After a while, she still hadn't retreated, and he'd relaxed slightly, finally closing his eyes and surrendering to sleep too.

"But you didn't say anything," he finished.

They exchanged a smile and continued their breakfast.

"Hey, Carlisle," Tanya called as he was about to leave.

"Yes ?"

He turned around with a look that said : If you want to tease me about Esme again… She waved off his worries with a gesture of her hand.

"Maybe you've heard about it already, but the hospital organizes a party on Christmas Day, the 25th. Will you come ? Carmen and Eleazar said they would."

It would be in only a few days : today was December 21st. Carlisle thought about it. He had to ask Esme what she was doing for Christmas. She'd mentioned she had a brother, but he remembered she'd said their parents had both died of old age a few years ago (they'd had their children late). It was probable she'd see her brother, but would she go visit him wherever he lived or would he come to her house ? Carlisle didn't know. He hoped if it was the latter they'd both accept to go to the hospital's party with him. Maybe the two of them could spend Christmas Eve alone, as a family, and they'd spend the following day (at least, part of it) with Carlisle. He needed to sort it out with Esme.

"Oh, sorry, I'd forgotten you're meeting your new in-laws."

"Tanya !"

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," Tanya apologized with a smirk. "Anyway, will you be there ? You can bring people with you, of course," she added with a wink.

Carlisle sighed.

"I'm not sure."

"So what you're saying is you'll probably come, and you hope Esme will accept to come with you, but you're not sure if she will ?"

He smiled.

"That's about right."

"What can I say, I'm the best. Well, speak to her and tell me tomorrow."

"How do you know I'm seeing Esme this evening ?"

Tanya made a face.

"I have a brain. Have a good evening !"

"You, too," he said.

He pressed the button to call the elevator ; it arrived promptly and he left.

"Esme, what are you doing for Christmas ?"

They were in Carlisle's living room, sitting on the couch. When he'd got back, he had asked Esme if she preferred that they go to her house or if she wanted to come with him inside his house and she'd chosen the latter option.

"My brother Emmett is coming to my place for a few days," she answered. "What about you ?"

"I don't have any family left, except for Aro, who was my father's cousin. He and my father had had a disagreement a very long time ago and since then they'd ignored each other, and by association Aro had also ignored my mother, Edward and I. He didn't come to my parents' funeral. I'm almost certain he wouldn't have taken care of us if I hadn't been an adult."

"I'm very sorry for you."

Esme was gazing at him with a compassionate expression.

"Don't you feel lonely ?" she asked. "You have no family, and you barely see your friends – unless I'm mistaken ?"

He shrugged.

"I see my friends everyday at the hospital."

He smiled.

"But, yes, I do feel lonely. It was okay in the beginning, but these last months…"

His voice broke, and Esme hugged him comfortingly, running her hands along his back.

"I'm here."

"I know, and I'm so thankful to you for that," he whispered.

She smiled and let him go.

"So you're celebrating Christmas alone ? You should come to my house and spend it with Emmett and I."

He immediately brightened.

"Are you sure I wouldn't bother you ? You probably don't want me to intrude."

"You won't be intruding, I'm asking you to come."

"Yeah, but maybe Emmett wants to be alone with his sister without having to endure the company of some random guy."

She rolled her eyes.

"Stop being ridiculous. Emmett won't mind. Plus, you're not a random guy : I told him about you."

"Well, then…"

He hesitated.

"If you're sure…"

"I am," she said in a confident voice.

"I'll come, then."

He felt so happy he thought he could have jumped around. He was so glad he'd be able to spend several days with Esme – and he'd get to meet her brother, too ! She'd mentioned Emmett a few times with a tone that made it clear she loved him very much.

"Wait, I've got something else to ask you."

"Yes ?"

"The hospital organizes a party on the 25th. I said I'd go. Everyone from the hospital is invited, but we can bring other people, too. Would you please go with me ? Of course, Emmett can come, too," he added, in case she didn't want to find herself surrounded by strangers, the one person she knew being her neighbour who she'd first talked to because she'd witnessed him fainting in front of his door.

A horrible thought crossed Carlisle's mind. What if she was sick of him but was too polite to tell him ? He was being incessantly insistent to spend time with her, couldn't manage to do anything without her (except his job – there was that, at least), and had cried twice in front of her. Maybe she wanted him to go away and stop bothering her, but he always asked her to go to his house, not even asking if she desired his company. It had been nearly a week since he'd spent a day without seeing her – and that was only because, before that, he didn't know her.

His panicked thoughts were interrupted by Esme's answer.

"Of course I'll go with you ! I'm not sure if Emmett will want to, but I definitely will."

"Really ? Oh, thank you so much !"

He wanted to kiss her – that is, give her a friendly kiss on the cheek, of course. Instead, he gave her an overjoyed grin that widened even further as she reciprocated it.

"You're welcome," she said. "Emmett is supposed to arrive the evening of the 23rd – so, the day after tomorrow."

"That's great ! I look forward to meeting him."

She smiled at him, and they started preparing dinner.