01 | exhale, seth clearwater

EXHALE

While on a trip in Atlanta, Georgia, Carlisle and Esme Cullen wound up walking through the small town of Roswell. It was a beautiful late-August day, and luckily, it was easy enough to walk in the shade to hide themselves. It was also beginning to get dark out, working in their favor.

Carlisle's hand was gently interlocked with Esme's, the two of them having peaceful, happy smiles on their faces. Despite Esme's heartbreak from Edward leaving them over a year earlier, she was so blessed to have Carlisle, and she was appreciative for this trip.

A sudden, powerful smell slapped them both in the face. Human blood.

Lots of it.

Esme clamped her lips tightly and held her breath as Carlisle went into doctor mode, rushing to where the scent was coming from. His hand never left his wife's, who was just as concerned as he was for the poor human being bleeding out.

They wound up in a yard, where a woman in her early-to-mid-thirties lay, her lower half covered completely in blood as she was trying to silence her screams.

"She's in labor," Carlisle said quietly, and Esme wasn't sure if he was speaking to himself or to her. Nonetheless, he jumped into action, doing what he had to for the mother and her child.

A few minutes later, two identical wailing baby girls were brought into the world. They were a bit small, but healthy and beautiful. Esme felt her heart soar as she looked at them, a connection forming between her and the two girls.

Carlisle looked up from the babies in his arms, who were swaddled in blankets that Esme quickly ran to get, at their mother.

Her face, which was previously bright red and pained as she pushed, was now pale and her eyes were lifeless. Still doing his best to be calm, Carlisle looked to his wife. "Do you think you can hold them while I do CPR?"

Esme hesitated for a millisecond. The girls had been washed off as well as Carlisle could manage, but the scent of their mother's blood still lingered on their skin. Despite this, Esme rushed to aid, still holding her breath as she cradled the girls in her arms.

Carlisle did CPR for as long as he possibly could, he even bit the woman, but it was no use. Her heart had already stopped. The venom wouldn't be able to circulate and turn her. She was gone. The two babies were orphans.

Esme's face was horrified when Carlisle stood up, a grim expression on his face as he picked the woman up. "I'm going to find out if she has family and then I'm going to take care of her."

"Alright." Esme frowned, devastated by what she just witnessed. She didn't know how her husband did it.

Hours later, after Carlisle found out that the woman's name was Carley Brooklyn and she had no family, he gave her a burial and Esme planted flowers around her grave.

"What will we do with the babies?" Esme asked the question she was afraid to ask. She had already become attached to the little girls after caring for them all day.

"We will have to find a family for them."

Esme bit her lip, her golden eyes flickering from her husband, down to the little girl in her arms, while the other was in Carlisle's.

"I think I won't be able to let them go." Esme whispered, her voice barely audible. If she were human, tears would be rolling down her face, she was sure of it.

For a few moments, Carlisle mulled over his wife's words in his head for a while, and then decided that they didn't have to give the babies away.

"Okay. We can keep them." Carlisle nodded.

Esme's head snapped up to his, her eyes wide and hopeful. A smile spread across her face instantly.

"I'll go get the car ready." Carlisle finally said, handing the baby in his arms over to Esme, who easily took her.

Esme pressed a featherlight kiss to the baby on the left. "Flora Camille Cullen," she whispered.

Then, she turned to the baby on her right, and gave her an identical kiss. "Bloom Grace Cullen."

Crouching down on the ground, she leaned close to where Flora and Bloom's mother, Carley, was buried. "I will take care of them and love them like my own for the rest of eternity, I promise."

Flora & Seth's Playlist: 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4q6aeGHg7C4f8LDHUJyD0E?si=6538a0ad40d94026