Marvellous days

Chapter 30 -Mary and Peter-

I picked Carlie up out of the car seat and carried her over to the house of Mary and Peter. Carlisle was at my side. I knocked and Peter opened the door. He was a little surprised but hugged me and led us inside. “Nice to see you,” he smiled and walked into the kitchen to get two glasses of water. “Mary should be home any minute. She was shopping with our junior,” he said and sat opposite us.

We talked a bit about his recovery and the new job. He was doing pretty good with that one and has recovered fully. He talked a lot about his son and I could feel that he loved his son very much.

“I’m home,” Mary called happily. “The little one is a little cranky, but I found some nice outfits for him,” she called and walked into the living room. “Oh, Esme, Carlisle! Nice to see you,” she smiled and hugged us. “Oh, hello, Carlie!” she cooed and stroked her hands. Carlie smiled at her.

Then we heard the wails of Peter. “Just a moment,” Mary said and walked into the hall to then return with Peter in her arms.

He looked much older than the last time I’ve seen him. He was nearly 7 months old and was very aware of the situation as he smiled at us. He was just as much as sun shine as Carlie.

Mary handed Peter over to his father, who kissed his son and then sat him on the floor to play with his toys. I sat Carlie next to him and it was hilarious how they looked at each other. It took a couple of minutes but then they laughed and babbled with each other. Peter gave her some of his toys and Carlie smiled brilliantly at him in return. “Oh, a little gentleman already,” I laughed. “That’s my Peter,” his father said proudly.

We watched them for a while and Carlisle and Peter Senior took some photos of their little ones together.

Mary sat next to her husband with a cup of tea and relaxed. “It’s still stressful to go shopping with Peter even though he is older,” she explained. “I can relate, Carlie doesn’t like grocery shopping at all,” I laughed. “Don’t even start with that! I always try to let him stay at home or bring him to some friends.” “Yes, Carlie is either entertained by her siblings or Carlisle or stays at home.”

“So what brought you here? Not that we are complaining but usually you call before you come over,” Mary explained herself.

Carlisle spoke up for the first time since Mary came home. “We actually wanted to tell you that we will move to Hanover. We didn’t want to go without saying goodbye. I got a job offer at Dartmouth and as my kids will attend college, we thought it would be the best solution.”

“Oh, I will miss you so much,” Mary sat and hugged me again. “You will definitely call and maybe visit?” she asked. “Definitely, my daughter in law still has family here so we will be here more often and you might visit us there and see our new home,” I told her. “We’ll try,” Peter said with a smile. Mary hugged me and Carlisle again. “When will you move?” “Tomorrow,” I said shyly.

“So soon?” she asked sadly. “We’re sorry. I had to decide quickly if I want the job and as the next semester will start in a few months I already have to attend at the beginning of next month,” Carlisle explained.

“But, Esme, we will stay in touch, right?” Mary asked. “Definitely,” I said, but didn’t want to promise anything. That was one of the curses of being immortal: you were not able to form strong bonds of friendship with humans and in just a couple of years it would be too obvious that we are not aging.

We talked for hours and only when Carlisle pointed out that we were nearly running late for the farewell party at the hospital did we stop. “I’m sorry, but my colleagues insisted to make a farewell party today,” Carlisle excused us. “No problem. We wish you a good start at your new home and your new job, Carlisle. Be safe,” Peter said and Mary nodded.

We got up and I went to get Carlie. “We go now, Carlie. Say bye bye to Peter,” I said and kneeled in front of them. She looked at me with big eyes and then at her new little friend. She reached over and kissed his cheek. Little Peter squealed and wobbled. “Oh, so sweet,” Mary gushed.

I picked Carlie up and both started to cry. “Shush, sweetie, shush,” I tried to soothe her and rocked Carlie in my arms. She sighed once and a tear ran down her face. I wiped it away with a kiss and patted her back. Mary did the same to Peter and walked over to us. Our kids smiled at each other again.

“Good bye, we will visit you the next time we are in the area and you can come visit us any time,” Peter said and hugged his little family to him. “We will,” Carlisle said and shook hands with Peter and Mary. I hugged both and then we went to the car. They both waved when we drove away.

-All rights belong to Stephenie Meyer-