A New Cullen Sister

Chapter 59

"We're almost here," stated Esme. Blythe nodded from the backseat, and glanced to her right where Amelia was sleeping. After her long crying session that morning, Amelia had slept for quite a while. Carlisle had woken her up a few hours later for physiotherapy and they had then bundled her into the car, fetched Blythe from school and started the long drive to Seattle. She was still in her pyjamas and a dressing gown. They were presently stuck in some light afternoon traffic, and were only a block away from the hotel that they were staying at, which was conveniently located quite close to Benaroya Hall. Blythe reported that Amelia's orchestra-mates were beyond excited for the following day's concert.

"Should I wake her up?" queried Blythe softly.

"Leave her to rest," spoke Carlisle, glancing at Amelia through his rearview mirror, "we'll wake her up when we are settled in."

"She'll probably be hungry when she wakes up," mused Esme, already planning what she was going to feed her teenage daughter.

"Are you sure you'll have enough food? I reckon you only packed a week's supply in the trunk," muttered Carlisle sarcastically. Blythe stifled a giggle, recalling how she had popped open the trunk to put her clarinet away after school, only to find that Esme had packed everything but the kitchen sink. She had groaned, shut the trunk and merely climbed into the back seat, dumping her backpack and clarinet case on the floor, arching a perfect eyebrow at Esme who looked innocently back at her. Carlisle was too busy laughing to be much help at the time. Now it was Esme's turn to glare.

"You never know what might be in hotel food, Carlisle. Heaven knows what sort of processed garbage hotels dish up these days," she retorted.

"I swear you could feed the shifter pack for three days on the food you brought along," he snorted, shaking his head in amusement.

"So how are you liking driving the SUV?" interjected Blythe mildly. Carlisle had ordered an M-Class AMG Mercedes Benz for Esme's birthday, which had unfortunately arrived a week too late. Esme had been driving it around, but this was the first time Carlisle had driven it. Esme preferred to let Carlisle drive on the longer trips, particularly now that Amelia was with them. The fact that a powerful healer was lazing in the backseat next to said teenager was irrelevant. Carlisle briefly wondered how Esme would cope when Amelia was turned and didn't need round the clock care anymore.

"It's a very smooth ride," he commented, smiling at Esme, "great boot space. I doubt we could have fitted an entire week's worth of food in the sedan."

Esme rolled her eyes and folded her arms, refusing to react to Carlisle's words. He was trying to wind her up in the hope of putting a smile on her face. Peace had been restored in the family since him and Amelia had sorted their argument out, but a heaviness lurked in its wake. The family had literally sat in silence for several hours while Amelia had slept, trying to grasp the enormity of her words. Rosalie had been the first to crumble, leaving the house and running into the forest, Emmett trailing after her while she flattened a few trees. Edward and Bella found out later when they arrived to find the others in uproar.

By this point, Rosalie and Emmett had returned, Amelia's social worker had been contacted, Blythe was at school and Carlisle was contemplating murdering an already dead man. Esme was distraught, so Rosalie and Alice made her help them pack things for the trip to Seattle to keep her mind off the bombshell of a revelation, hence practically the entire kitchen was crammed into the trunk. Somewhere in there were four overnight bags, Amelia's artillery of medication and feeds, a spare concentrator, her nebuliser and her Windsor violin. The Stradivarius was safely in her room at home.

Carlisle brought the car to a stop at the entrance to the hotel. Bellhops immediately rushed to assist them. Blythe couldn't help but laugh when their eyes grew large at the sight of the jam-packed trunk. Esme breezed through the doors to check them in.