𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 • 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧

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[16th June, 2006]

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"SHE'S A UNIQUE ONE, Carlisle. One meant for you."

Alice's eyes sparkled with the undercurrents of playful mischief, a wide grin on her pretty face. Even after all the trials they've been through, Carlisle admired the fact that the girl he considered a daughter, and her mate, adapted so well to all the changes they've undergone.

As vampires welcoming a human into their lives.

As people who can love without fear of harm towards others or discovery of their true natures.

The choices made over the last few months had been dangerous, risky, but the dividends it paid off far outweighed the troubles they caused.

Edward no longer had to bear his existence in solitude and Isabella made a perfect mate with whom he can spend that time.

To Carlisle, fighting to protect family has always been worth the effort.

Now, however, as they stood in the backyard preparing for Edward and Bella's wedding, Alice had delivered another shocking vision.

For a fleeting moment, her words seemed to have made his dead heart vigorously thump back to life and the apprehension, the piercing sorrow, as to who his companion would be consumed him.

He didn't miss the furtive glance she threw Jasper's way. He must have given an affirmative answer for her smile brightened to a powerful degree.

"Would you like to know more about your mate? Who she is, what she-?"

The words were too quick, too gruff. "No." He set a tree-trunk bench on one side of the intended aisle, the agony of his response broiling within his chest - making him feel things that he shouldn't ever feel. Not because he didn't want to but because the peculiarity of it bewildered him. It veered off the beaten path he'd always chosen for himself.

He felt his sister's hand on his shoulder, Esme's onyx gaze filled with patience and happiness - being without a mate herself. "It's alright, Carlisle. Alice can always tell us later but it's time we take a break to hunt."

The implication was clear in her tone. She wanted no one else to accompany them, especially if she felt that Carlisle would pour his heart out as he tried to process these negative feelings towards the very things he'd always wanted out of life.

They took off, racing faster than the speed of light, the wind whipping at their hair and clothing, the smell of rain and churned earth providing an ephemeral distraction. And when they finally descended upon a herd of elk, the invasive thoughts threatened to overtake him.

Family came first, always. While Carlisle would battle against a ten-thousand-strong army of newborn vampires for his family's sake, he can never see himself - or his intended mate, for that matter - being the reason that they should ever go to war again.

The time had now come for his children to settle down, to exist in peace and harmony with the world around them and with someone at their side to love and guide them.