Dear Diary: April 28, 2013

I have to say that I cannot be more proud of my granddaughter. Nessie has grown into a loving, caring, brave young woman. The story she told of how she survived the school shooting was nothing short of miraculous. And on top of that she actually risked her own safety to try and help her classmates. We are all very proud of her and also just so glad that she's safe. I also thought it was cute to see her snuggle with Bella. It reminded all of us of when she was younger and she would always want to be and play with mommy.

The following day, Alice and Jasper arrived back home. The very first thing Alice did when she stepped through the door was run over to Nessie and give her a huge hug. She even forgot her shopping bags for a while. Jasper also walked over and gave Nessie a hug. Jasper has been showing more and more emotion. We are proud of him. After all the hugging and greetings were over, Alice started handing out gifts to everyone. I received a beautiful chiseled marble game of chess, Esme got a new book on crocheting new patterns and designs plus a beautiful dress, the rest of the boys received a ton of different Japanese traditional clothes, while the ladies received dresses and kimonos. But it was Nessie that received the most beautiful kimono of them all. Hers was a rich red with real gold threading for all the embroidery on it. She loved it!

Also, we finally received all of the news on the aftermath of the shooting. There was only one shooter who Nessie identified as being Frank Jordan. His father was ex-military and kept all sorts of different guns in a storage locker behind the house; he was also an avid hunter and was teaching his son how to be a man. Unfortunately, no one really paid attention to what Frank wanted or who he wanted to be friends with. So after being constantly ignored and disregarded, Frank had enough and took his rage out on his father who he hurt badly and the students and faculty at Hanover High School. All said and done, 33 people were killed or died later and more than 40 were injured; with at least 4 being paralyzed in some way shape or form. In Nessie's class alone, 7 people were killed including Mrs. Lounds. The FBI said it was the deadliest school shooting in American History. It surpassed what happened in Virginia Tech only by one person.

The school has been totally boarded up, students are still recovering. Esme has taken over homeschooling Nessie, Seth, Jacob, and Leah. But Dartmouth has very generously given a whole wing of one of their buildings for the high school students to finish out the school year. The town board has decided to destroy the school and build a new one a half mile or so down the road. A memorial will be placed in its place. Nessie we have a feeling will want to return to school. Her savior and new friend Michelle comes to our house every day to be taught by Esme. She doesn't want to go to a school type setting and wants to spend more time with Nessie. She admitted that she always admired Nessie and wanted to be friends with her; they have a lot in common and spend a lot of time together. Michelle doesn't seem to pay much attention to our subtle differences. She just enjoys spending time with Nessie and absolutely raves about Esme's cooking. You can imagine that has made Esme incredibly happy. So the FANTASTIC FOUR have become the FAB FIVE!

We've had to deal with a lot of media from around the country. They've staked out the hospital to talk to anyone; doctors, nurses, even janitors just to get the latest scoop on whichever patient. It annoys all of us to no end that we can't have any privacy for our patients. And my whole family has been on edge because we're not big on being the center of any kind of attention under the circumstances and now we have the whole country "eyeballing us" as Jacob says. It annoys him and his pack as well because they can't even find a place to phase in the woods since they don't know where there'll be a hidden camera. Tanya and Kate have invited us to come spend some time in Alaska so we could get away from all this mayhem for a while. We're all seriously considering it, except for Nessie. She says that she doesn't want to run away. That this is our town, our home, and we shouldn't let some spineless reporters run us of town. Those were her words actually. Verbatim.

On top of everything else, Nessie has finally told us about a weird dream she has been having. At first she wasn't sure what it meant and then she realized that it had been something she actually saw when she was awake and because of all these traumatic events, shoved that memory into the back of her brain so now they were popping up in her dreams. She had seen a man with bright red eyes staring at her from far away when she was walking to school one day. A translation was that she had seen a vampire. But who was he and what did he want? Everyone has been running around our property in doubles, trying to pick up the scent but it's long gone. And what's even weirder that none of us picked up the scent of a vampire period anywhere near our town. Perhaps this vampire has a gift of masking his scent. Whatever, we don't know and we aren't taking any chances. Everyone has been on high alert. Since Nessie is the one who saw him and vice versa, she's not allowed to go anywhere alone until we figure this out.

We make sure that if she and Michelle go out shopping that both Alice and Rosalie tag along no matter what. Michelle doesn't mind and likes everyone in our family. "The more, the merrier." She says. We're very happy that Nessie has found such a nice and caring friend. And Michelle is overjoyed because being an only child; it gets quite lonely in her house with just her parents. Then she comes to our house and it's like a zoo, circus, and soap opera all in one sitting. Emmett has grumbled more than once that he's glad she's entertained. Even Leah is pretty warm around Michelle because Michelle always makes it a point to include Leah in everything just like Nessie does. Jacob and Seth complain that they're outnumbered by the females; who also quite frequently beat them in volleyball, ping pong, and even basketball.

Alice is in the meantime watching for decisions to be made by the Volturi and others. We never know who can be after us. I don't know why but I have this gnawing feeling that something is brewing on the horizon and that something is going to happen. I'm not usually the one with the foreboding thoughts of gloom and doom and even Esme has rolled her eyes more than once at me.

"Aww come on honey. You're just being sensitive because of everything that has happened in the past few weeks."

"Yeah Carlisle, maybe it's just a loner who was curious about Nessie from a distance. Could be a regular nomad." Said Emmett.

"I really hope you both are right." I sighed.

Alice then skipped to my side and said: "Don't worry, if anything is to happen, I will tell you ahead of time."

"Yeah Grandpa. Aunt Alice will tell us if something is meant to happen. I bet he was just passing through." Nessie said from the couch.

"I doubt any vampire that's not like us would want to stay in a city teaming with a ton of reporters and squad cars." Bella chimed in shaking her head in disapproval.

"Why not?? The reporters must look like walking happy meals! I for one won't cry if one of those jerks gets eaten!" Emmett said.

"I hardly think any vampire would be that stupid and risk that kind of exposure, Emmett, and then the Volturi would really need to interfere." Said Jasper frowning. Bella shuddered.

"True." Said Emmett thoughtfully.

I let my family discuss the not so appetizing idea of a reporter-vampire lunch and walked out of the living room. I found myself on the back porch and walked to the swing in the backyard and sat down on it. I saw Esme follow me not too long after that; she smiled as she approached and then sat down next to me. She put her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She sighed contently.

"Honey, please don't worry about anything. We are a strong family and we always take care of each other. Whatever it is, we'll get through it." She looked at me earnestly as she spoke.

"I know sweetheart. I just think all this insanity with the shooting and not knowing whether Nessie was alright plus losing multiple patients on my watch and now this mystery guest; I think I'm burned out. Or at least my mind is." I sighed.

"How about going hunting and then taking a nice long bath after?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye. That's when I realized that I was really thirsty. When was the last time I hunted? Goodness, I don't even remember. My eyes must be pitch black.

"That's a good idea sweetheart. I don't think I realized how thirsty I was. Let's go now and then take that bath after everyone has gone their separate ways."

"Sounds good to me. Would you like your bath with bubbles sir?" She giggled as we stood up and holding hands ran toward the woods.

"That would be OUR bath not just mine and yes I think bubbles will be needed." I smiled at her finally.

Only my wife could make me think about something silly like bubbles when my thoughts were troubled. We ran and ran, straight out of town, deciding to go out of town just in case any of those pesky reporters were snooping around the woods for whatever reason. We ended up in Canada before we stopped. Finally hearing and smelling some mountain lions and deer, we took off on the hunt. 15 minutes later, we were together again, fed and I could tell my sense of strength return and the gloomy outlook was replaced by determination and positivity. Esme saw the same and she smiled happily. Without talking we ran back home; running side by the side looking over at each other every so often.

Finally, we reached our backyard again. It was Twilight. We could tell that everyone had retired to their respective homes and rooms. Now we could have some alone time. And there was that bubble bath I was promised. I looked at my stunning wife and wiggled my eyebrows mischievously. She giggled and we ran to our suite of rooms. We had wings in this house and ours was in the West Wing. Yes, just like the President. We got there and while I got myself ready, Esme went to look for that special bubble bath that smells like lavender. We both adore it; especially Esme. She got the bathroom ready and when I opened the door, she stood there wearing nothing but a robe. Candles were flickering everywhere, there were rose petals floating in the water. The whole room smelled of lavender. I looked around with a small smile but my eyes were mainly for her. When I looked at her and started my slow approach, I could tell she was ready for me by the lowering of the eyes for a bit and then swallowing hard.

I walked to stand in front of her. I was also wearing only a robe. I placed my hands on either side of her face and drew her head up into a kiss. We stood there kissing and swaying slightly. I then withdrew and looked at her. We stood there just looking at each other. Then I undid the knot on her robe as she undid mine and before long we were both standing only it what God gave us holding each other. Then we both climbed into our massive tub and I sighed at the pleasurable feeling of the hot water, with the bubbles, and Esme's soft skin against mine. We just lay there luxuriating. I knew at that moment that all the negative thoughts had evaporated and I was in pure heaven.

~Carlisle Cullen