Thanks for all the input and support with this series. I'm glad people are enjoying it. I really appreciate it! Hope this one is up to par. :) Happy New Year

Chapter 1

Esme wrapped up another week of school, allowing the kids to leave fifteen minutes early as a "Valentine's Day" gift. She had finally managed to get back into a regular routine and began straitening up the room so it would be neat when they resumed on Monday. Her arms were full of the notebooks everyone had handed in upon leaving and she walked over to the back of the empty classroom to place them in a tall cabinet as she always did on Fridays. The gloomy February weather made her greatly miss Isle Esme, as they had now been back for several weeks. Caleb hadn't attended the class that day, as Masen had asked to spend the day with his little brother.

She placed a few of the notebooks down on the desk that William typically sat and smiled as she saw he had lightly sketched Madison's name in the corner with pencil.

Young love on Valentine's Day, she thought to herself as she opened the cabinet. Esme went to place the first stack of notebooks on a shelf but stopped as she was surprised by a single rose and a card with her name written neatly across the front of a white envelope. Another smile spread across her face and she placed the rest of the books down on William's desk to read the note.

Esme removed the card and began to read it aloud quietly. "Care for a bubble bath? Head to our room." She looked around the empty room and out the windows where the darkness of the late evening took over the lightly illuminated space. At that moment she felt like a school girl, herself, with her first crush leaving love notes in her locker. The feeling was exciting and fun, and so Esme packed everything away, took the rose and locked up for the weekend. She quickly made her way back home where Emmett sat with a heavily pregnant Rosalie.

"Hey guys," she said with a smile, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek before running her hand over Rosalie's stomach.

"Any day now," she said, raising her eyebrows.

"I wonder if it'll a boy or a girl," Esme wondered aloud, looking at both of them.

"Girl," they both said at the same time and Esme smiled, thinking initially that Emmett was hoping for another boy. "We'll see," Rosalie added with a grin. She cuddled up against Emmett and they continued to cuddle as they watched a movie on the television. A few red bags were on the ground in front of them, and Esme guessed they had exchanged gifts for the holiday.

She smiled at them again and headed upstairs, hoping to find Carlisle there waiting for her. Her images of him shirtless in the tub encouraged her to take the stairs by two and she would have shoved the door open, though it was already positioned that way with just the lamp on the nightstand on.

Esme looked around the room before heading into the bathroom, initially disappointed to see the tub empty and Carlisle nowhere in her immediate vision. Her eyes fell on another rose with an envelope that sat on the ledge of the tub and she shook her head with another grin and reached for them.

A sigh left her mouth as she read the message that he'd written for her. Go to our place by that overlooks the ocean.

Esme knew exactly where he meant and grinned. She could hear the rain pelting the windows and falling harshly on the roof and contemplated changing out of the nice outfit she'd worn to school, but quickly decided that she didn't want to wait another minute and let herself out through the window so she wouldn't disturb Rosalie and Emmett. She also didn't want to explain where she was going, though knew they would be well aware that she left the house, regardless.

She ran through the woods, feeling strands of her pulled back hair flying out of place as she increased her speed, heading for the tall cliff that she and Carlisle occasionally snuck off to to watch the sun rise, or to have a little alone time.

The rain fell hard, though the tall trees provided some level of coverage. Esme didn't care much. She didn't know how many clues Carlisle had left for her, but she was having fun playing the game he'd set up for her for Valentine's Day.

Several minutes passed before Esme arrived at the destination that was set for her. She could sense that Carlisle had been there, but didn't see him. Her eyes scanned the darkness for another note, or another flower but she didn't see initially see either.

She headed towards the ledge and paced around the immediate area, still not seeing another note nearby. Esme wondered if he'd planted something farther down, but she knew for sure that the area where she stood was where they typically met up. For a second she stared out at the open ocean, barely able to make out of the waves and water. Below, however, she could hear the crashing of the waves against the stray jagged rocks that accompanied the bottom of the cliff.

For a brief second, she felt a twinge of fear, thinking of Felix and Demetri in her mind and jumped when she felt a pair of arms slide around her waist from behind.

Carlisle chuckled to himself and Esme quickly let her body relax and fall against his as a smile spread across her face. His lips connected with the part of her neck just below her ear and he continued to laugh lightly.

"I didn't know it was suppose to rain," he whispered, tugging on her earlobe with his teeth lightly for a moment.

Esme scrunched her shoulders and giggled from touch and pushed some hair back away from her forehead. She spun around to face him with a big smile and kissed him immediately without saying anything back. She took in his outfit, noticing he'd worn a nice pair of khakis and a blue shirt to match. His hair was now matted down onto his forehead from the rain and beads of water decorated his face.

She brought her lips back to his and felt him smile as their embrace became heavier as the rain continued to pour around them.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Carlisle laughed as Esme continued to actively pursue him.

She finally managed to pull back with a smile. She took in a deep breath, "I have your gift at home."

Carlisle smiled and took her hand in one of his hands, gently wiping away drops of water with his thumb with little success, "Want to go back?"

Esme looked around, then back to him and shook her head, "No." She pulled him a little tighter to her and played with the hair on the back of his head.

He was happy to hear her answer and removed his other hand from her lower back to hold up another rose. "I got a dozen and I wanted to send you all over the place, but I didn't think I could wait that long."

She laughed and took the flower from him before wrapping her arms back around his neck and shoulders, "I was a little disappointed at first not to find you in the tub."

Carlisle laughed with her and shrugged, "Still disappointed?"

Esme shook her head and closed her eyes as he kissed her again. She allowed herself to focus only on her husband as they remained engulfed in each other for the remainder of the storm.