Carlisle's Diary

Return

Dear Diary:                                                                           June 7, 2013

          I love being on vacation as much as I love being a doctor. Esme and I spent two weeks on the island. We spent the whole time exploring, swimming, and making love. The weather was beautiful. We were sparkling and we didn't care. We would swim deep in the water, around coral reefs, and we saw different fish. Even came face to face with a barracuda. It just looked at us with a bored expression and swam on. I was able to really enjoy my life without thinking about what was going on.

        We had called home and heard that Nessie had her cast removed and was getting her full strength back in her leg. Charlotte's parents had arrived and took her back to Texas to heal from her horrific attack. They had been trying to persuade her not to come back to NH, but Charlotte wanted to. Her boyfriend was here and she really loved the hospital. But for now she's back in her home state recuperating. I don't want to seem selfish, but I'd love for her to return to us. She's a sweetheart and has made the hospital a much more cheerful place to be.

        My family was handling things at home just fine without me. While we were still on the island, we sat by the waterfall one day and this beautiful bird flew by. I realized that I really wanted to sketch it. So I'm going to ask Alexander to give me a tutorial on drawing so I can draw beautiful things too. I've always admired artists.

        Coming home was bittersweet. We love our little island and it's such a perfect escape from everyday life, but we had to return to our family and my job, of course. Bill can't handle the hospital and this aftermath alone. After another boat ride, 14-hour flight, and short trip in a town-car, we were back in Hanover and in our driveway. The family came out to welcome us home. Nessie bolted out of the house first and ran to me for a hug.

"Welcome home Grandpa and Grandma! I missed you both very much," Nessie said, hugging me first, then Esme.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Esme said, kissing Nessie on the top of the head.

"How was it?" she asked.

"Wonderful, it was nice and warm and beautiful as always," Esme related.

        Edward and Emmett helped carry our bags inside and took them upstairs. They didn't have to, but I had a feeling that we were missed. I noticed that two people were missing from our family and those were Bella and Leah. As soon as I noticed their absence Edward said that they were on their usual hiking trip. They said that they would try to get back for our arrival, but must have gotten stuck somewhere along the way. As soon as Edward started worrying that something was wrong, Keith called and said that he had been flying in the area and said the two of them were sitting on a log talking. He didn't want to bother them so he flew by without them noticing him. All was well.

        We did have two sour pusses in the house. One was Alice, because Bella was spending so much time with Leah. She felt that she was losing her best friend. I couldn't believe it. Alice was actually jealous! And of Leah out of all people. Everyone including Bella had told Alice that no one would ever replace her and the only reason she and Leah were spending so much time together was because they had a ton in common and were still discovering it now that all that bitterness had been put behind them.

        It was so refreshing to see Leah finally letting go of all of her ghosts. She was hardly ever angry anymore. The only time we saw her frowning was when Seth would play a practical joke that she would find annoying. Otherwise, she was always smiling. She was an incredibly pretty young woman when she smiled. Even Jacob felt better about having her in the pack because now her thoughts weren't about how bitter she was and how much she hated her life, rather they were about her next hiking trip with Bella or her next date with Keith. When that was brought to her attention, she would blush and look down. She'd still apologize for being such a "bitch" for all those years. At this point, it's water under the bridge for us all.