Rain trickled down the window pain, tapping lightly at the glass as evening was threatening to begin over the small New England town. Dark gray clouds had rolled in long since before the sun had begun to set and just beyond the outstretched yard of the beachside home, waves crashed wildly against a row of docks and boats of all sizes.

Tap, tap, tap...

Rain continued to fall, streaking down the pains of glass that were separated by thin bars of wood painted white.

Carlisle lifted his head up and met Esme's lips with his own. She laid on top of him beneath the covers with her hands placed on his bare chest.

"I can't believe this is the end of our honeymoon," Esme said, sighing deeply as she did.

Carlisle traced a hand up and down her back. "These few weeks went by fast."

"So, you've taken me all around the United States," Esme recognized with a grin. "And some parts of Canada." She leaned down and kissed him once. "I loved Alaska."

He smiled back and glanced out the window. "And how have you enjoyed the coast of Maine?"

"Maine is beautiful; the beaches, the little rows of houses and shops..." Esme sighed again. "I never in a million years thought I would get to scale every inch of the country. It felt impossible." She smiled at him, unable to keep herself from doing so. "I guess all of this seemed impossible just a short time ago."

"Do you have any regrets of this life?" Carlisle asked, "Do you-"

"No," Esme cut him off. She shook her head. "I love every, single thing about it. The throat burning when I'm deprived of blood isn't the most comfortable." Her accompanied giggle was purposeful to let him know she was kidding. "But it's well worth a little discomfort for everything I've gained."

When Carlisle didn't immediately respond, she kissed him again.

"I love you."

He closed and opened his eyes. "I love you, too."

Carlisle urged her mouth back toward his and kissed her with a slow, enthusiastic passion.

Esme felt the familiar butterflies form in her stomach as she kissed him and felt his level of arousal heighten. The pleasure she experienced from the simple touches his hands as they traveled along her body in their embrace was unlike anything else.

The feel of his gentle fingertips as they danced along the curve of her back sent chills of desire down her spine.

Esme felt high in the moments of physical intimacy with her new husband. In all of the times she had fantasized about him leading up to day of their wedding, there was no fantasy that even remotely lived up to reality.

Carlisle found himself to be completely comfortable with Esme on every level. The nerves he'd felt the first night they were together had vanished and were replaced with a whole-hearted passion of his own. Carlisle recognized how significant this new part of his life was going to be, and the only worry he had was what life would be like when the two of them returned home and privacy was virtually non-existent. On the same note, Carlisle had never had something so overwhelming to compete with his clear, work-based state of mind.

He did recognize, however, how lucky he was to have such a struggle; the struggle to balance out two aspects of his life that he loved and cared for so much - calling Esme his wife, and practicing the art of medicine. Carlisle knew he would find a way to keep the two major parts of his life in check, and decided that he wouldn't worry about it that night.

He flipped himself so Esme was now positioned beneath him and smiled down at her.

Esme giggled and locked herself against him as tightly as she could. Her hands pressed firmly into his back and she locked her legs against the backs of his.

"Let's enjoy our last night alone," she told him.

"How would you like to spend it?" he joked, touching his lips to hers as he spoke.

Esme laughed and kissed him at the same time. "Well seeing as we hiked practically all day," she kissed him again, "And then shopped once it got dark... and walked the beach."

"Yeah?" Carlisle smiled down at her and accepted another kiss.

"I think we should spend the remainder of the evening right here."

"Alright." He kissed her again and the two of them got lost in the moment, and in each other.

Esme loved the little obvious reminders that he was her husband, and smiled against his kiss again when she felt his wedding ring against her fingers as he interlocked his hand with hers. She finally felt whole. Esme recognized that her dreams had quite literally come true.

_._._

The two of them laid together listening to the rain in the later hours of the night. Esme laid against Carlisle's chest with one leg draped over his beneath the blankets. She smiled every so often when he'd use his fingertips to create a pattern across her back. Everything about the moment was soothing, and she greatly enjoyed the silence.

A number of thoughts were racing through Esme's mind, but one was reoccurring. She wondered if there would ever come a day, possibly in the near future, when she and Carlisle would talk about having children.

After the events of that night and those just passed, she wondered if the possibility existed that it was already in the midst of taking place.

Esme smiled to herself again and looked up toward Carlisle as he exhaled deeply. A part of her wanted to talk to him about it that moment, but she didn't want to get into a heavy, serious conversation right then.

I'll save it for when we get home, she thought.

Esme closed her eyes and felt Carlisle's arm tighten around her just a little. The two of them continued to lay entwined, listening to the sound of the rain as the final night of their honeymoon came to a close.