His World

Renesmee and Jacob(3)

"Carlisle!" Alice sang as he walked in the door. The smile on her face was bright as ever and she was happy with what she'd just seen.

"Hello, Alice," Carlisle greeted calmly. He placed his shoulder bag on the table. "I trust everything went well today?"

"Just as I saw it would," Alice answered. "Nessie has classes with everyone, so she isn't ever alone. Jacob was upset he couldn't be in all her classes, but I told him that was just unrealistic."

"Have you found a way around the blank spots?"

Alice let out a sigh, leaning on the counter as she spoke with him. "Not yet. There are fewer headaches, though. I realized that I can see the future of anyone so long as Jacob isn't in it. I saw you meeting Dr. Bradshaw. She's very pretty, isn't she?"

Carlisle was sure that he would've been blushing if it was possible, though it wasn't hard to keep his outward composure. He spoke as he pulled out a handful of files from his bag. "Watching me meet a colleague isn't anything new, Alice. She was kind enough to show me around."

Alice stayed quiet as she watched Carlisle pull the files from his bag. It was no surprise he already had work to bring home. Her voice was quiet when she finally did speak, having seen things that Carlisle had no idea of. It was hard for her not to give it all away. "It's okay to be happy, Carlisle. She would have wanted you to be."

"That's kind of you, darling," Carlisle said. The pain of losing his wife was still fresh in his mind and heart. He couldn't bring himself to look at his daughter as he continued. "If you'll excuse me, I have some work to do."

Carlisle moved to his study and looked out the window. The home they had in Tillamook was smaller than their others, but the land was large enough for more buildings if ever needed. Esme had drawn up blueprints for modest cottages spread over the land, and many had already been built. Knowing they would have to leave Forks sooner rather than later, she had made calls and plans to add another small home to the property. One was for Edward and his family, having three bedrooms to allow Jacob to stay with them. Another was for Alice and Jasper, and a third was for Rosalie and Emmett. He had the main home to himself, whenever his children decided to spend time on their own. It was typically at night when that happened, as Jacob and Renesmee slept and the others worked on small projects they had. Carlisle missed his companion more than he thought possible in those moments. He understood now what it had been like for Edward when he believed Bella had died, how it felt impossible to continue on without her. The quite nights were the hardest, when he was alone, though he never outwardly showed how it affected him. Any thoughts he'd had on ending his life in hopes of being with his Esme were quickly dismisses. Carlisle knew she wouldn't want that and wouldn't tolerate his entertaining those thoughts.

"It won't feel this way forever," Edward said from the doorway. "Alice has seen you happy again."

"Her visions are subjective," Carlisle murmured, the same thing Edward had said about the vision of Bella joining them in this life. He moved to his desk and began his work without meeting Edward's eyes. "We both know that."

"She was right about Bella joining us," Edward said, speaking Carlisle's thoughts aloud. "That was enough for me to believe her visions are more accurate than we thought."

"You both know better than to intrude on the affairs of others, no matter how natural it may seem," Carlisle said firmly. It wasn't often his voice hardened and his eyes grew dark. It went against everything he was. But Carlisle didn't want the pity or help of his children. He had been alone a long time before Esme came around, and he was sure that things would work out now that he was alone again. His time for saving others by turning them into the same kind of monster as himself was long behind him. It was made clear when Edward had been the one to change his wife. That had been five years earlier. Carlisle was sure that what he needed was time to mourn Esme and busy himself with new projects. The time period for mourning was different for each individual, and that difference was even greater between humans and vampires- the very concept of time was different between the two species. He heard Edward leave without a word as he turned to his new work in hopes of distraction.