A Mother's Ache -Open-

[Esme Anne Cullen]

In my children's eyes I am a hero,
Yet I feel I can't help them through their pain.

Esme Cullen had been in her garden for the majority of the day, planting new seeds that would grow in the spring. This made her smile, her garden was her little place of life, and it was almost as if it was magic. It filled every inch of this small plot of land and she enjoyed tending to it at human pace, it allowed her to see new life grow from something so small. In a way, this garden was in memory of the son she never got to see grow into the young, strong man he should have become. Of course she loved her children all the same, but she still mourns that of the son she never knew, everyday he would enter her thoughts. All Esme could hope for was that he grew up to be a handsome man, on the other side away from all this pain that could be caused. But with her pain, eventually came her happiness once more, Carlisle had found her, and turned her into what she is today and surprisingly she has never regretted one moment of it, she is with the man of her dreams and she has some wonderful children.

She walked in the growing in the shadow of her what she liked to call her English garden. There was a fountain that flowed clear and soothingly, flowers that followed her as she walked, turning their massive, multicoloured faces in her direction. It was a rather warm day in Forks and therefore she had to dress for such a day in the event she went out of the house, so in this event she wore a long pencil skirt, and a purple blouse completed with a pair of black heels and a light summer jacket. Her hair was clipped back off her face. Her clothes were covering her marred, pallid skin with practiced ease. Her fingertips danced restlessly over the title of her book, attempting to find a solid place to sit that wouldn’t block her view of everything around her, this was one of the rare moments were she could enjoy all the hard work she put into this garden. She settled on a simple bench in the shade of a tree, flowers surrounding her, moving towards her by instinct. A faint smile curled her pale pink lips, reaching a hand down to brush a fingertip along a silky petal of a magnolia. She cracked the book, almost towards the end already. It was not the life she had planned for herself but it would do, her dark caramel hair swayed in the wind. Something’s never changed her life, she had a normal childhood growing up where her love for reading had developed and she had a happy immortal life to spend with her family.

However lately her family had been feeling under threats, not because of an outsider, but because of two people falling in love with each other, when it should not have been written like that. Esme closed her eyes for a moment as she thought about it all, she still loved her children, but she hated to see them all hurting and there was nothing she could do about it. She let out a soft sigh as she thought about everything that had happened and things that she sure would happen in the near future.

[Elizabeth McLaughlin]

Elizabeth wandered around the foliage around the Cullen estate. She had grown more familiar to her surroundings in this area, and is becoming more accustomed to the vampires around there. The female raised an eyebrow when she sensed the matriarch of the Cullen coven seeming distressed. Within minutes Elizabeth was at Esme's side, sitting on the ground beside the other and watching her closely.

"Esme, are yeh alright?" she asked, her Irish accent lacing into her speech as she reached out and touched the other vampire's shoulder. Esme was the one she had grown attached to the most. The others of the Cullen family, she still had work to do to trust them. Esme reminded her of her mother. Kind, gentle, always looking out for her children. Oh how she missed her mother. The female could barely remember what she looked like. She had heard some of the fights going on between Edward and Jasper. Most likely over Bella. Elizabeth had made it a point not to get too involved, or she'd be forced to take a side.

[Esme Anne Cullen]

In my children's eyes I am a hero,
Yet I feel I can't help them through their pain.

Right now she did feel rather small not able to help the pain her children were suffering, she could not see a solution around this situation, there was a sign in her mind and it did feel like her cold heart was very painful. The storm was still brewing, that much she was still sure of. Esme was not one to over think matters, but this was a matter she could not help but over think, it was why she had been working her garden for the majority of the day. Carlisle had been working overtime at the hospital once more, he was not handling the pain of the family well from what she could see and yet he would not speak to her over such matters, he always had a smile on his face, but his eyes were not the same as his smile, they held hurt and pain in them just like her own did. Esme did have faith that the Cullen family would pull through this, but she was not sure if they would pull through it together as one whole family. She was worried that some of her children would leave the family home for a while. This would hurt her more than she could possibly comprehend.

Esme just looked down at the book in her hand, if she could cry, she would be, the tears would have ran freely down her face and Esme would have made no attempt to stop them. Sometimes she wished she could cry. There was no doubting that she would always be there for her family, no matter where they were. She was in a complete nightmare and she just wanted it all to end. To the human world, she played the dotting wife and mother and she did in private, but her family looked perfect to anyone looking in and yet they could not see the pain and crack that were starting to form in its foundations. Maybe it was time that she went back to Isle Esme, just to try and clear her mind, of course she would miss everyone, but could she really leave when her family needed her the most. Even now she would often sit at the window in her study and write in her diary, it was her only comfort and to write down what her thought process was. Silently she closed her eyes as she tried to banish her thoughts, it would not do to go on with such thoughts. She had everything by her side and yet she still felt that some day soon she could lose it all. It felt that she could not laugh without destroying something and yet she still did not understand why she felt this way, someday she would, but now she did not.

She would survive they all would. Then she heard someone approach, she picked up the scent and recognised it, but before she could put the smile back on her face, they had arrived. Esme saw that it was Elizabeth. “Hello my dear.” She spoke softly. “Don’t be worried Elizabeth, I was just in deep thought and something crossed my mind that I did not quite agree with.” It was the truth, but just not the complete thing. A small smile appeared on her face that was reassuring.

[Elizabeth McLaughlin]

"Are yeh sure, m'dear?" Elizabeth asked, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow at the other female. The drama of the Cullen house seemed to be choking everyone in it-figuratively, obviously- and this was not a good sign. The coven needed to come back together before something horrible happened. Elizabeth's thoughts wandered to the encounter she had had earlier that day and she turned to the other. Esme needed to know.

"Esme, James is here... In Forks... He's lookin' for Victoria, and is after Bells," she explained, making sure she was quiet enough that only Esme would hear her. The last thing she needed was James popping up with a surprise attack. "I tol' him she wen' to Phoenix... He won' be there long..."