Carlisle leant to his side to lean against his wife, who had just been looking him over as she always did when they fed. He saw the same changes that she must have seen. It wasn’t quite a subtle change for those who knew how to look. For example, he did not expect anyone at the hospital to notice anything different about him, save maybe the eye color, which could be easily explained as an ever-changing eye tone that some humans possessed. He knew that eye color in humans didn’t change as drastically as theirs had, but most people didn’t question or wonder further than that. He was silently grateful for his good looks when it came to work. It was because of his looks that no one noticed the odd changes that occurred over time. They didn’t notice when he became paler, nor did they really notice how shallow his skin could look. Most people assumed he was tired, and why shouldn’t he be, what with all of his long hours at work.

It was easy to fool them all, though he wasn’t taking their lack of notice for granted. Indeed, it was the only thing that made this place so stable for him and his family. Here the sun never shone, there was plenty to feed on here and everyone was so enthralled with the entire family that no one dared to wonder. That is, except for Bella. But then again, Edward gave her a few rather obvious hints. Perhaps he wanted her to know, or maybe he simply couldn’t help himself. Carlisle smiled gently and breathed in deeply. “Esme, why were you worried about us being alone together? Did you think I could ever refuse you?” He kissed her cheek and smiled. “It is a relief, to say the least. Not only to have fed, but to be alone with you as your husband. I find I am too often the doctor, or the protector.” He sighed as he glanced upwards toward the darkened sky.

Even from this distance he could still smell his kill, only a short distance away, but the too-sweet smell of the stag that he had killed was fading quickly, and would soon become another smell; a darker smell. What most humans took to be a sweet smell when they did smell vampires was the smell of the blood in them. The truth of it was that the scent was deathly to those who knew what they were smelling. The werewolves, for example, found the scent of vampire to be so vile because it was decay that they smelled. There was no fooling the ancient enemy of their kind. Well, perhaps not his own kind. He often thought of his family as a different kind of vampire, one that was rare. Perhaps it would be time for them to travel farther to rekindle old friendships with the other family. But it could wait until they had one more addition to their family. And even then it would be some time before Bella could be around other people, including other vampires.

Carlisle held Esme now, his arm around her shoulders as her head leant against his chest. He wondered if she ever missed the heartbeat sound there, though she had never known his. It was innate; humans lived inside another for a time, hearing little but the thunderous beating of their mother’s heart. It used to trouble him deeply that he no longer had a heart beat, though his body still simulated breath. Carlisle sighed lightly as he began to stand. “Come, Esme, let us walk for a while. The scent of my kill is…Well, you know what happens. Besides, I smell that scent constantly when at the hospital; it will be nice to smell the forest instead.” He moved in closer and tilted Esme’s face toward his own, “Your scent will do nicely also.”

Bravo, Esme.

What that I made it long?