Dear Diary: September 6, 2013
It's been a long time since I've written to you all. It's been an absolute zoo at the hospital. I've been working quadruple shifts. It seems like every sick person in NH has shown up in our ER at least twice! Some sort of flu has hit the Dartmouth Campus and the students are coming in left, right, and center. I'm once again short staffed as Charlotte has left to go on her maternity leave but promised to be back as soon as she could. So we have Melanie from the NICU coming down and working with us sometimes too.
So you can imagine it's been quite hectic in my house since Nessie's birthday party which seems to have happened ages ago. Bella's own birthday is next week and to be perfectly honest, I've been so busy I wasn't even going to write until then but as usual in the Cullen family......something came up. As I sit and write this, everyone is home except Edward and Bella. Edward took Bella on a pre-birthday trip to Switzerland. I have no clue why there but as soon as he told her where they were going, she started laughing. So I suppose it's a private inside joke between the two of them just like that lamb on the cake was for their anniversary. Another reason Edward is taking Bella away for an extra week is because the rest of us need just a little bit more time to put the finishing touches on our master plan.....also known as Operation Movie. It has to do with her birthday present. I don't care how much she hates surprises; she's going to LOVE this one. Even the Denali's are coming!
Now we all know Bella who hates expensive surprises and lavish gifts but Edward promised her it wasn't going to be any of that. We have a house in Switzerland as we lived there at one point in the 1950s as well. We not only have regular houses but vacation homes as well. So I guess you can consider that house a vacation home. So off they went. Everyone else seems to be busy doing lord knows what. Rose and Emmett have been helping Jacob restore a really old hunk of junk of a car he found in some garbage dump outside of town. When it comes to fixing up machinery, any lingering animosity between Rose and Jacob pretty much evaporates.
Jasper and Peter have been very keen on teaching Seth on how to play chess while Esme, Corin, Alice, and Amy have really started growing a beautiful garden outside. Leah and Keith are on a hike with Rogue and Alexander. John and Maria have actually also flown the coup to visit some friends in Idaho. The other day when everyone was still at home and more or less in one place, Michelle came by. She was so excited she could hardly keep still. If she smiled any wider, her lips would wrap around her head!
"Hey Michelle! What is it?" Nessie was the first to ask.
"So um.......you remember how I was saying that there was a possibility that Kim would move up here to be with me?" She was literally hopping up and down at this point. She reminded me of Alice when she was excited about something clothing-related.
"Yes we remember." Nessie said with a smile.....we all knew where this was headed but we let her finish.
"So she's moving up here TODAY!!!" She all but squealed that last part as everyone laughed.
"That's wonderful news, Michelle!" Nessie said and gave her best friend a hug as we all nodded in agreement and each hugged her as well with Jacob ruffling her hair while she swatted him away with a giggle.
That puts another Watcher in the neighborhood, but at least it made Michelle happy being near the woman who cared such a great deal about her. Love was a beautiful thing; regardless in what form it happened to come. Alexander once told me that when he was still mortal, his best friend was gay. Back then in Ancient Greece it was very frowned upon so he didn't advertise it for obvious reasons; one could actually be stoned to death if found out. But it didn't matter to Alexander whom his friend chose to love. They were close as two friends could be. When Alexander was chosen, he was sad to leave his friend behind in his mortal life, but watched over him to make sure he lived a safe life. In fact, Alexander was there the day his friend took his last breath of life and he was the one who buried him. Even though he was sad by his friend's passing, he was proud that he had kept him safe. His friend was able to fall in love and live with his partner to a relatively old age.
Which brings me back to the present; when Kim moved up she moved into Michelle's house. John, Maria, and the other Watchers very quickly went about building them a little house of their own. Once that was done, Kim and Michelle moved in quite happily. Everyone was happy for them.......everyone that is except Nessie. So when her parents left for Switzerland and everyone else was preoccupied doing their own stuff, and I was in my home office with a day off finally, a knock sounded on my door.
"Um grandpa? Can I come in?" Nessie asked uncertainly.
"Of course sweetheart." I said with a smile closing my journal and sitting up.
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I? Because I can certainly come back later."
"No no, come on in." I motioned her over; she seemed nervous, unsure, and perplexed all at the same time. Time to turn on my teenager-tuner for what this could possibly be.
She walked in, smiled half-heartedly. She seemed genuinely confused about something. She walked to the window and looked out as I waited for her to begin. I knew she had to gather her words, whatever they may be. Then she looked at me and bit her bottom lip in a move that was classic Bella; like mother like daughter, I thought with a small smile. I then decided to ask because I could see she was struggling with whatever it was.
"Alright Nessie, what's the matter? What's bothering you?
"Oh grandpa.......it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo embarrassing! But I have no else to ask. Mommy is in Europe; I feel beyond awkward with the Watchers and the others." Her voice trailed off into silence.
"What about Michelle?"
She pursed her lips at that one. Aha. So that's who the cause of this perplexing mood she was in was.
"Alright, what is it about Michelle that you are having an issue with that you can't speak with her with. And I'm a doctor so remember; I've dealt with everything and then some." I said hoping to comfort her. She took a deep breath and said:
"Michelle and Kim moved in together. But.....but......they aren't married. They aren't even engaged." She looked at me.
That's when I understood. Unlike the rest of our family and 98% of the Watchers, all did things the traditional way. Get married and then consummate the relationship. Nessie was very confused because neither Kim nor Michelle was doing that. Sex before marriage was a foreign concept to Nessie. That's why she was so uncomfortable with asking the questions. I could understand her discomfort; having learned and seen how her whole family does it and now seeing the total opposite was a bit confusing for my little hybrid granddaughter. I patted my knee so she could come and sit on it. When she did, I started to explain:
"Honey, Michelle and Kim are both consenting adults. Even though Michelle looks 17 and can pass for 13, the real fact is that she's over 500 years old. Each couple decides what is best for them and how they were raised plays a pretty big part in that too. Michelle and Kim have been together for a long time. I'm sure it's not the first time they spent intimate time together. It's not the way I handled things, nor your parents, but other people both mortal and immortal do this. It is in fact quite normal in these modern ages. Maybe not so much in the era of the rest of us; except your mother maybe as she was brought up in the modern era and yet still has old fashioned values. Everyone is different. The important thing is to not judge Michelle and Kim on their choices because they aren't ours to judge but theirs to make. Do you understand?"
She was taking everything in that I had just said and with a sigh, she let her head fall on my shoulder. I knew it would take her a little while to process everything. I'm glad she had come to me; even though there are half a dozen people she could have approached including the people at the topic of this discussion. It just reminds me that even though we live in a crazy supernatural world, we still have to deal with basic human needs and confusions. Even though these have been very uncomfortable questions for Nessie, it makes all of us just a little bit more human.
After about 10 minutes of sitting on my knee she smiled again and hugged me. She thanked me and said she would be alright now. I knew she would broach the topic with Michelle when she feels comfortable. No one is rushing her. I will let Edward and Bella know when they get back so they're in the loop and can answer her questions thoroughly. I know Bella more than Edward can answer that for her.
After she left my office, I sat there just gazing out the window, thinking about the old way of living and this 21st century of ours. Lord willing, we will continue to live throughout the upcoming centuries happy, healthy, and whole. And there will always be very confusing uncomfortable questions asked by someone because that's how we live, learn, and grow; even us immortals.
Pardon me for being so philosophical. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy your weekend and next time I write will most likely be about Bella's birthday and her gifts. Don't worry there will be pictures. =)
~Carlisle Cullen