She smiled softly and sighed as she watched her children speed off in Rosalie's car. Edward had left awhile ago to get Bella, her soon-to-be daughter. She was so happy Edward had finally found someone, their family could be complete. Bella was extremely accident prone and very shy, but she made her son happy and that was all a mother could hope for.

She turned back to her kitchen, a useless room until Bella arrived, and began looking for any little messes. She never would have before, but she knew her son had started cooking and used her kitchen to practice in. He reminded her of how things were when she first fell in love with Carlisle. He always did little things to make her happy, to woo her. Chuckling, she realized how he still did that.

The kitchen was spotless, as usual. He always was good at cleaning, even though she had told him not to. Esme needed new things to do around the house and he was just making it harder.

She continued to walk around, a small rag in one hand and a can of pledge in the other. The house was searched from the first floor up to Edward's room for any speck of dust or fingerprint to be cleaned, but nothing was there. Rolling her eyes, she thought about how silly she was being. It was a house full of vampires and one human who visited; the house would never be dirty for long.

Sitting in one of the chairs in the living room, she thought how lucky she was. Ever since her first marriage to Charles went wrong, she never thought she would be happy. Her pregnancy was a highlight of the marriage, the idea of a baby was the light she'd been looking for in the dark. When that was taken away, her beautiful baby boy who never got to see the beautiful world around him wasn't allowed to live but her horrid husband was, she didn't see a point. Her son was the only reason she'd kept herself alive that long. The emotional pain was devastating, yet the physical pain was a much worse kind of torture. Three days seemed to last the eternity she was going to receive. When it all ended and the first thing she saw was an angel, her angel, she was sure she had finally died and was going to join her little boy. Part of her still loathed what she was and the fact she didn't get to join her son, but the happiness and love of her new husband and her adopted children made up for that fact. She still was unsure how such luck has struck her.

She turned her eyes to the clock that read nine. It was really only nine? Her children had left only an hour and a half ago, her husband two hours ago. She wouldn't hear from them for quite awhile and she still had nothing to do. Everything had been cleaned, there was no laundry to do, and Bella wasn't coming over today so she couldn't cook anything. She reached for the remote and braced herself for the horrors of day time television. She skipped past the news but could only find talk shows or shows for young children. The talk show hosts were all morons and the kid shows reminded her of what she wanted, lost, and could never have. She hit the power button, preferring the silence at the moment.

Another five minutes past and she still couldn't think of anything to do. Her garden didn't even need tending today; the rain was the only thing it needed. Carlisle wouldn't be home until three, along with all but two of her kids. Her lips pursed as she thought of having nothing to do for another six hours. She let her thoughts wander as the silence continued to fill the room.

She stood up, deciding to take a hot bath and read a book. Carlisle had been telling her about this book he just finished and insisting she read it. Taking her time as she walked up the stairs, she thought about where the book was. Carlisle had mentioned it would be in the library…

She sung to herself as she walked towards the bathroom, turning on the hot water, then back to the library to find this book, not paying attention to any of her surroundings. As she entered Carlisle and 

her bedroom, she felt arms wrap around her waist and throw her onto the bed while she squealed out of shock.

The blonde vampire grinned at her. "I'm home."

"You scared me!" She shot back, frowning.

"I'm sorry, dear. The hospital told me I should take a few days off; that I work too much. I thought I'd surprise you and we could spend some time without the kids. Then maybe a nice hunting trip?" He smiled hopefully. It had been awhile before they'd been truly alone.

"I suppose. It doesn't sound like a horrible idea."

"Was I interrupting anything?" He asked, remembering the sound of running water in the bathroom.

"I was just going to take a bath and do some reading, it can wait though." She tried assuring him. The more she thought about it, the more appealing this alone time sounded.

"No, I've got a few things I need to do before we leave. You go relax, and I'll get them out of the way then work on packing for the both of us, alright?"

"Alright." Esme agreed, kissing him chastely before heading towards the bathroom and closing the door.

Several hours later, just before three, the couple was curled up in their suite on a chair, a fire in burning in the fireplace as the only source of light.

"I love you, Esme. Forever and for always, you will be the keeper of my heart. I swear it. It will always be there for you to do as you please, though I beg you to hold it and keep it safe." He whispered into her hair.

She smiled softly at the words, a tiny sigh leaving her mouth. She knew if she could cry, she would be. "I love you too. Your heart is as safe with me as mine is with you. I will never break that promise to my guardian angel."