~~~~OOO~~~~OOO~~~~
"Seth?" Gideon questioned as he approached.
Gideon couldn't help but frown at his most favorite pupil as he watched him. Seth was worried, that much was obvious, but Gideon had been around Seth for a long time now so he knew it was more than that.
"Look," Seth said simply.
Being angels allowed their kind to observe many things at one time. It was just one of the many benefits of being an otherworldly creature. Of course, it was kind of what they were known for, too.
Gideon glanced in the direction Seth indicated and he couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of him. As he watched Edward and Isabella discuss having dinner with Emmett and Rosalie, Gideon flushed with pride at the steps young Edward had already taken. Sure there was much left to do and in all reality they hadn't even touched on the most difficult things yet, but progress was progress nonetheless.
"Seth, you should be..." Gideon began, but then his attention was focused on what Seth was looking at.
"Good morning, Es," Carlisle Cullen told his wife affectionately as he entered a kitchen in a house only a few miles away from that of Edward and Isabella.
It might as well have been on the other side of the country considering the distance between the occupants of the two homes.
"Morning, dear," Esme Cullen answered her husband as she placed a mug of coffee on the table in front of him. She kissed his cheek and then walked back to the counter to get his plate of breakfast.
Ironically, she'd fixed the same meal as her beloved daughter-in-law.
Once she had placed Carlisle's plate on the table and had retrieved her own and a glass of orange juice, they sat in a companionable silence while they ate...as they had done every morning since they'd been married.
A few minutes passed before Esme said, "Edward should have gotten home last night. I hope he had a safe flight."
Esme, along with the two heavenly observers, watched as Carlisle sighed deeply and then allowed his mouth to form a tight line. It was always the same whenever Edward's name was brought up, and had been for too many years to count. By this time it was an unconscious reaction, but the action spoke louder than words.
"Carlisle," Esme said in a resigned voice. She should have known better than to expect a different reaction from him when she mentioned Edward, but he was their son and she loved him. She knew Carlisle did as well. She just wanted things to be different.
So much time had passed; so many things had been left unsaid by all of them. Grief, misunderstandings, anger...all had festered and grown, unchecked, until the family was in the disarray it was in now. At this point, blame or who said what first didn't even matter. Esme wanted it fixed, and she wanted it fixed now. Enough was by God enough.
"Carlisle? Cullen," Esme said in a sharp, fierce voice causing him to slosh hot coffee onto his hand. "You know, for someone who was treated as an afterthought by his father, you would think you would try to be different with your own children," she said and then stood to carry their dishes to the sink.
"I'm having lunch with Emmett today," Carlisle answered lamely.
Esme turned her green eyes, the same ones Edward had inherited from her sister, and let them smolder at her obstinate husband. "That is not the son I am referring to, and you damn well know it. If something had happened to Edward on his flight home yesterday, just think how you would feel. I've lived for twenty years with the regret of not reconciling with my sister and there is not a day that goes by that I am not pained by that fact. I'd hate for you to have to live with the same regret, Carlisle."
With that, she turned and left the room, leaving Carlisle to ponder what she said. His heart did truly ache for his son and for the distance between the two, he just didn't know how to fix it. He didn't even know where to start.
The two unseen observers looked toward each other, both with the same pained expressions on their faces.
"So much hurt," Seth said as his heart beat painfully in his chest. While this assignment was one he had wanted, in fact he'd wanted it more than any other, it did not come without its own personal, painful reminders. Seth's life before he began his new one as an angel had many similarities to Edward's. Not exactly of course, but enough that it made it easier for Seth to understand Edward more than anyone else.
"Yes, but so much forgiveness and love and joy when all is said and done," Gideon said quietly. "You can do this, Seth, you must. Not just for Edward, but for all of them."
With that he took his leave while Seth continued to watch over the family that had come to mean so much to him.
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