After our amazing bubble bath, I realized that Esme and I hadn’t had a date night in a while and I was determined to change that. So the following day, while Esme went shopping with Alice, Nessie, and Leah, I got myself ready. Jacob was walking around the backyard with Seth and they were just rough housing. I was racing back and forth between the house and the woods. Finally after a while, Jacob’s curiosity got the best of him:

“Hey Carlisle! What are you doing? You’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off!”

Jacob always had a way with words. I shook my head and laughed.

“I’m making a special surprise for Esme. We’re having a date night tonight. It’s a surprise. So please don’t spill the beans.”

“Oh ok…..I gotcha, I gotcha.” Jacob nodded with approval.

I ran off yet again. I had forgotten the candles and tea lights. When I was carrying those and a massive bouquet of flowers, Seth looked at me with round eyes and said:

“Wow, Carlisle. You’re totally bringing sexy back!”

“Say what?” Jacob guffawed.

“You know, Justin Timberlake’s song…..it’s so Carlisle right now! I mean….dude…look!” Seth pointed to what I was carrying.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the two boys as they argued about what I looked like. I didn’t care. I was going to make tonight a night Esme will remember for the rest of eternity. I carried my load to the location I had picked out and arranged everything perfectly. Now all I had to do was wait for my wonderful wife to get home from her shopping trip and get ready for our wonderful date.

I didn’t have to wait long. About 45 minutes after I finished everything, the Mercedes drove up the driveway. The girls got out; everyone had at least 2 huge shopping bags. They came in laughing and talking loudly about everything they’ve seen and bought. I waited until the others had gone to their respective locations before I approached Esme. She was bending over, picking something out of one of the shopping bags. I swear you could probably put Seth in one of those bags and he wouldn’t even have to bend much. They were massive! I couldn’t imagine what else they could possibly buy. Esme reached in and pulled out a beautiful burgundy sweater and handed it to me. I was speechless. She always thought of me when she went shopping.  And even though I had as many sweaters as Bill Cosby on the Cosby Show, she always finds me more and more unique ones that I don’t have. I love her. After I kissed her and said thank you for the beautiful gift, I said:

“Honey, I want you to go upstairs and get all dolled up because we are having a special date night tonight.”

Her eyes lit up and she squealed.

“Ooooo perfect! I bought the most beautiful dress today and shoes! They will be perfect for date night!”

“Let’s go get ready. I’ll change in my office and you can have the bedroom. I can’t wait to see the new dress sweetheart.”

She clapped twice, grabbed the bags, and flew upstairs. I followed. We moved into our own private rooms and started getting ready. I could hear her humming as she was getting ready. I smiled and knew that that smile was going to be on my face for the rest of the night. After I made sure I looked presentable; I was wearing the new sweater she had gotten me, black slacks, and black shiny shoes. My hair was slicked back and I spritzed on some Versace cologne Edward and Bella had gotten me for my birthday. Then I walked out of my office and walked down the hall to our bedroom. I knocked softly.

“Coming!”

The door then opened and there stood a vision. The vision was so breathtaking that I couldn’t speak for a long moment. My jaw went slack. I was absolutely blown away. There stood my wife, my reason for existing, my heart, my soul, and my whole world. She was wearing a deep red strapless dress that was short. It stopped just above the knees. It was like a tight top and had ruffles on the bottom. Her shoes were shiny and black like mine and were on a very high heel. (Pictures of her dress and shoes are below) She was wearing bright red lipstick and very little jewelry and make up; her hair was blown out to look like Farrah Faucett. No offense to Ms. Faucett, but Esme looked 100 times better with that hair style! The dress showed off all the right curves and her best features. When I could finally utter a word I said:

“Oh my…..Esme you look absolutely breathtaking. I don’t think you’ve ever looked more radiant and dazzling than you do now! Except perhaps on our wedding day. Sweetheart, you are so beautiful! I look like a plain Joe compared to you!”

“Oh stop it! You’re never plain to me! You could wear nothing and still look like the most gorgeous man on earth!”

“Hmmmmm……wear nothing huh? Well we can have that arranged…..but a little later.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her. She giggled and swatted my arm.

“Honey, you’re silly.”

“Ok silliness aside, let’s go. I’m eager to show you our date location.”

I took her by the hand and we ran down the stairs and out the back door past Bella and Edward. They looked at us with surprise because we nearly ran them over! We laughed and waved as we headed toward the woods. They waved back and told us to have a great time and that Esme looked beautiful. She smiled and then we reached the forest and really picked up speed. We ran for about 6 miles west until we were about half a mile away. Then I slowed us down and we started walking at an almost human pace. As we approached the location, it was Twilight. I put my hand over Esme’s face because I wanted to surprise her. Then as I walked her to the edge of the location, I dropped my hand and told her to open her eyes. She looked around and gasped.

We were in an area surrounded by trees that created almost a canopy around this one particular location. You couldn’t see the ground because it was totally covered with flower petals. There were candles in the trees and there was a little brook nearby with a small waterfall. I had placed tea lights in the brook and they sparkled away. I had hung different wind chimes and decorative moons and suns all over the trees. There was a smell of lavender in the air. On the right very close to the brook, there hung a hammock. But it wasn’t made out of rope like the usual ones you see in backyards or on beaches. This one looked like a swing with a bed on it. I called it a hammock bed because it had a canopy made out of trees on top just hanging not at all connected to the rest of the bed. It looked like the bed was levitating. You couldn’t see what it was attached too but you could tell it was about 3 feet off the ground with just air underneath.

As Esme was taking all of this in, I ducked behind a tree and turned on the music. I had installed speakers so they wouldn’t be seen in the trees as well and surrounding bushes. I turned on the song “At Last” by Etta James. I bowed, and then held out my hand to her. She was so taken aback by the surroundings that it took her a few moments to understand what I was asking. When her thoughts caught up with the rest of what was happening, she put her hand in mine and I spun her around and fit her perfectly in my arms. We danced slowly around and around. She was trying to look at me and still take in all that was going on around us. Fireflies had come out by that time and it was as if I had arranged for them to be there too, they were perfect with the candles and tea lights.

“Oh Carlisle…..this is…..I have no words…..this is all so beautiful!”

“It was the least I could do to show you how much you mean to me still. I’m so sorry we haven’t had a date night earlier. I feel so bad that I’ve neglected you.”

“What are you talking about? You are a doctor with a hectic schedule. We live in a supernatural world. It’s par for the course! You give me so much. And most importantly, I get to spend the rest of eternity with you. The most perfect man!”

Before I could argue with her about how much of a louse I’ve been, she kissed me. Well that worked. I shut up and forgot what I was about to say. We could be in the middle of the end of the world, and if Esme kisses me, I wouldn’t remember what was going on, the day or even time. She would always have this effect on me. Even in the beginning. We stood there kissing and just then Faith Hill’s “This Kiss” came on.

I smiled against her mouth. How perfect is that? She felt my smile and pulled back. I didn’t have to say anything, she knew why I smiled and she giggled. Then she backed up and kicked off her shoes and started singing along with Faith Hill. She was dancing and making silly faces and singing the song as I just stood there smiling and watching my beautiful wife. When she was singing and dancing, she turned her back to me and at that point I grabbed her around the waist and just spun her around as she squealed and laughed.

Then I set her down gently just as Phil Collins “You’ll Be In My Heart” started playing. I turned her to face me, she was still smiling. The moon was shining on us.

“I love you so much my beautiful wife. You are the shining light in my life. I am so honored to spend eternity with someone as perfect as you.”

“I love you too. You’ve made me incredibly happy.”

Then I kissed her. Softly at first and then harder and stronger; more passionately. She responded with a soft moan. We stood there kissing for a long time. Then I slowly walked us over to the hammock bed. We smiled at each other. I then reached around the back of her dress and unzipped it. When it fell down on the ground, she was wearing a strapless red laced bra and matching panties. My dead heart turned over. She stepped out of the dress. She then walked over to me and started to strip me very slowly with a slow smile. Until we were both in our undergarments; mine were nowhere near as hot as hers. But I guess that’s normal for most women. Then we kissed again as our hands starting to roam over each other’s bodies.

We then sat on the bed, which took a little effort as the bed was swaying. She hitched herself up to the pillow and lay down under the covers. I hovered over her. She then moved her hands to her bra that unhooked in the front and took that off. Her eyes never left mine. I bent down and kissed her again….then I let my hands roam over her body down to her panties; I slowly removed them as I kissed down her body. She moaned louder. Then she was totally bare in my arms, her soft skin glowing under the moonlight. I took off my briefs and slid under the covers with her. I hovered on top of her and kissed the tip of her nose, her lips, down her neck, to her breasts……kissed each one, nuzzling them…..then down to her stomach as she arched her back.

It may not be common knowledge but we do own a copy of the Kama Sutra. Ours is an old one with watercolor pictures. For obvious reasons our family doesn’t know this. I don’t want to hear gagging noises coming from each room.

But I digress; I wanted to make her feel loved in every way. We made love multiple times that night. In many different positions. We didn’t really speak much except the occasional “I love you”. Finally we were satiated just as the sun started to come up in the east. The birds were chirping, the animals moving slowly about, and the fireflies had gone off to bed. Esme was laying on my chest, just humming away to the latest piece of music playing. I wasn’t paying much attention to it. But I was pretty content. I kissed the top of her head, smiled to myself and thought;

I really did bring sexy back.

          I have to say that I cannot be more proud of my granddaughter. Nessie has grown into a loving, caring, brave young woman. The story she told of how she survived the school shooting was nothing short of miraculous. And on top of that she actually risked her own safety to try and help her classmates. We are all very proud of her and also just so glad that she’s safe! I also thought it was cute to see her snuggle with Bella. It reminded all of us of when she was younger and she would always want to be and play with mommy.

           The following day, Alice and Jasper arrived back home. The very first thing Alice did when she stepped through the door was run over to Nessie and give her a huge hug. She even forgot her shopping bags for a while. Jasper also walked over and gave Nessie a hug. Jasper has been showing more and more emotion. We are proud of him. After all the hugging and greetings were over, Alice started handing out gifts to everyone. I received a beautiful chiseled marble game of chess, Esme got a new book on crocheting new patterns and designs plus a beautiful dress, the rest of the boys received a ton of different Japanese traditional clothes, while the ladies received dresses and kimonos. But it was Nessie that received the most beautiful kimono of them all. Hers was a rich red with real gold threading for all the embroidery on it. She loved it!

           Also, we finally received all of the news on the aftermath of the shooting. There was only one shooter who Nessie identified as being Frank Jordan. His father was ex-military and kept all sorts of different guns in a storage locker behind the house; he was also an avid hunter and was teaching his son how to be a man. Unfortunately, no one really paid attention to what Frank wanted or who he wanted to be friends with. So after being constantly ignored and disregarded, Frank had enough and took his rage out on his father who he hurt badly and the students and faculty at Hanover High School. All said and done, 33 people were killed or died later and more than 40 were injured; with at least 4 being paralyzed in some way shape or form. In Nessie’s class alone, 7 people were killed including Mrs. Lounds. The FBI said it was the deadliest school shooting in American History. It surpassed what happened in Virginia Tech only by one person.

           The school has been totally boarded up, students are still recovering. Esme has taken over homeschooling Nessie, Seth, Jacob, and Leah. But Dartmouth has very generously given a whole wing of one of their buildings for the high school students to finish out the school year. The town board has decided to destroy the school and build a new one a half mile or so down the road. A memorial will be placed there instead. Nessie, we have a feeling will want to return to school. Her savior and new friend Michelle comes to our house every day to be taught by Esme. She doesn’t want to go to a school type setting and wants to spend more time with Nessie. She admitted that she always admired Nessie and wanted to be friends with her; they have a lot in common and spend a lot of time together. Michelle doesn’t seem to pay much attention to our subtle differences. She just enjoys spending time with Nessie and absolutely raves about Esme’s cooking. You can imagine that has made Esme incredibly happy. So the FANTASTIC FOUR have become the FAB FIVE!

           We’ve had to deal with a lot of media from around the country. They’ve staked out the hospital to talk to anyone; doctors, nurses, even janitors just to get the latest scoop on whichever patient. It annoys all of us to no end that we can’t have any privacy for our patients. And my whole family has been on edge because we’re not big on being the center of any kind of attention under the circumstances and now we have the whole country “eyeballing us” as Jacob says. It annoys him and his pack as well because they can’t even find a place to phase in the woods since they don’t know where there’ll be a hidden camera! Tanya and Kate have invited us to come spend some time in Alaska so we could get away from all this mayhem for a while. We’re all seriously considering it, except for Nessie. She says that she doesn’t want to run away. That this is our town and our home and we shouldn’t let some spineless reporters run us out of town. Those were her words actually. Verbatim.

           On top of everything else, Nessie has finally told us about a weird dream she has been having. At first she wasn’t sure what it meant and then she realized that it had been something she actually saw when she was awake and because of all these traumatic events, shoved that memory into the back of her brain so now they were popping up in her dreams. She had seen a man with bright red eyes staring at her from far away when she was walking to school one day. A translation was that she had seen a vampire. But who was he and what did he want? Everyone has been running around our property doing double shifts, trying to pick up the scent but it’s long gone. And what’s even weirder is that none of us picked up the scent of a vampire period anywhere near our town. Perhaps this vampire has a gift of masking his scent. Whatever, we don’t know and we aren’t taking any chances. Everyone has been on high alert. Since Nessie is the one who say him and vice versa, she’s not allowed to go anywhere alone until we figure this out.

           We make sure that if she and Michelle go out shopping that both Alice and Rosalie tag along no matter what. Michelle doesn’t mind and likes everyone in our family. “The more, the merrier.” She says. We’re very happy that Nessie has found such a nice and caring friend. And Michelle is overjoyed because being an only child; it gets quite lonely in her house with just her parents. Then she comes to our house and it’s like a zoo, circus, and a soap opera all in one sitting. Emmett has grumbled more than once that he’s glad she’s entertained. Even Leah is pretty warm around Michelle because Michelle always makes it a point to include Leah in everything just like Nessie does. Jacob and Seth complain that they’re outnumbered by the females; who also quite frequently beat them in volleyball, ping pong, and even basketball!

           Alice is in the meantime watching for decisions to be made by the Volturi and others. We never know who can be after us. I don’t know why but I have this gnawing feeling that something is brewing on the horizon and that something is going to happen. I’m not usually the one with the foreboding thoughts of gloom and doom and even Esme has rolled her eyes more than once at me.  

 “Aww come on honey. You’re just being sensitive because of everything that has happened in the past few weeks.”

“Yeah Carlisle, maybe it’s just a loner who was curious about Nessie from a distance. Could be a regular nomad.” Said Emmett.

“I really hope you both are right.” I sighed.

 Alice then skipped to my side and said: “Don’t worry, if anything is to happen, I will tell you ahead of time.”

“Yeah Grandpa. Aunt Alice will tell us if something is meant to happen. I bet he was just passing through.” Nessie said from the couch.

“I doubt any vampire that’s not like us would want to stay in a city teaming with a ton of reporters and squad cars.” Bella chimed in shaking her head in disapproval.

“Why not?? The reporters must look like walking happy meals! I for one won’t cry if one of those jerks gets eaten!” Emmett said.

“I hardly think any vampire would be that stupid and risk that kind of exposure, Emmett, and then the Volturi would really need to interfere.” Said Jasper frowning.  Bella shuddered.

“True.” Said Emmett thoughtfully.

           I let my family discuss the not so appetizing idea of a reporter-vampire lunch and walked out of the living room. I found myself on the back porch and walked to the swing in the backyard and sat down on it. I saw Esme follow me not too long after that……she smiled as she approached and then sat next to me. She put her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She sighed contently.

 “Honey, please don’t worry about anything. We are a strong family and we always take care of each other. Whatever it is, we’ll get through it.” She looked at me earnestly as she spoke.

“I know sweetheart. I just think all this insanity with the shooting and not knowing whether Nessie was alright plus losing multiple patients on my watch and now this mystery guest; I think I’m burned out. Or at least my mind is.” I sighed.

“How about going hunting and then taking a nice long bath after?” She asked with a twinkle in her eye.

 That’s when I realized that I was really thirsty. When was the last time I hunted? Goodness, I don’t even remember. My eyes must be pitch black.

 “That’s a good idea sweetheart. I don’t think I realized how thirsty I was. Let’s go now and then take that bath after everyone has gone their separate ways.”

“Sounds good to me. Would you like your bath with bubbles sir?” She giggled as we stood up and holding hands ran toward the woods.

“That would be OUR bath not just mine and yes I think bubbles will be needed.” I smiled at her finally.

          Only my wife could make me think about something silly like bubbles when my thoughts were troubled. We ran and ran, straight out of town, decided to go out of town just in case any of those pesky reporters were snooping around the woods for whatever reason. We ended up in Canada before we stopped. Finally hearing and smelling some mountain lions and deer, we took off on the hunt. 15 minutes later, we were together again, fed and I could tell my sense of strength return and the gloomy outlook was more determined and positive. Esme saw the same and she smiled happily. Without talking we ran back home; running side by the side looking over at each other every so often.

         Finally, we reached our backyard again. It was Twilight. We could tell that everyone had retired to their respective homes and rooms. Now we could have some alone time. And there was that bubble bath I was promised. I looked at my stunning wife and wiggled my eyebrows mischievously. She giggled and we ran to our suite of rooms. We had wings in this house and ours was in the West Wing. Yep, just like the President. We got there and while I got myself ready, Esme went to look for that special bubble bath that smells like lavender. We both adore it especially Esme. She got the bathroom ready and when I opened the door, she stood there wearing nothing but a robe. Candles were flickering everywhere, there were rose petals floating in the water. The whole room smelled of lavender. I looked around with a small smile but my eyes were mainly for her. When I looked at her and started my slow approach, I could tell she was ready for me by the lowering of the eyes for a bit and then swallowing hard.

           I walked to stand in front of her. I was also wearing only a robe. I placed my hands on either side of her face and drew her head up into a kiss. We stood there kissing and swaying slightly. I then withdrew and looked at her. We stood there just looking at each other. Then I undid the knot on her robe as she undid mine and before long we were both standing only in what God gave us, holding each other. Then we both climbed into our massive tub and I sighed at the pleasurable feeling of the hot water, with the bubbles, and Esme’s soft skin against mine. We just lay there luxuriating. I knew at that moment that all the negative thoughts had evaporated and I was in pure heaven.