Twilight Fan Fiction ❯ Bette Noir ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Ten

Journal of Edward Masen Cullen

There is no way possible that I ever could have been prepared for what happened. Alice wasn't even prepared for it. The night of terror, the bette noir, that struck my family was unlike anything that we have ever experienced. Carlisle has been a doctor for close to two centuries, yet even he was unprepared for his reaction to all that has occurred. Not once have I heard such fear, such immobilizing terror from my own family.

Isabella Marie Swan. Barely eighteen years old and human - human! I had never, not once, given thought to my own soul. Falling in love? That was something best left for fairytales and novels, no matter how much Carlisle wished for me to find it. Love was something that I couldn't consider, something I couldn't even allow myself to imagine and then, barely a year ago, this little fragile human walked into my life. A human who's mind I couldn't read, who didn't believe in marriage, who had a hard time understanding love.

She stepped into my life, my eternal torment. She healed my soul, breathed life into my undead heart and took with her everything that I am while asking for nothing in return. She never believed herself to be deserving of me. She thought herself too plain, too unforgettable to garner my attention and yet, her scent, her beauty - beauty she still can't see, is all that I want. She entranced me, ensnared me heart and soul from day one! And I, Edward Masen Cullen, was left powerless in her wake.

When I saw Alice's vision, the few seconds with which she saw Bella crash her truck into the tree, stumble blindly through the freezing rain…in those few seconds I felt my life, my very heart taken from me only to be crushed beneath the hands of fate. Had I escaped the Voultori's wrath, their clutches by finding Bella again only to lose her to something so…so…human? I am the fastest of my family, able to move with speed that is unmatched, but that night I moved faster than I ever have before. From the forests of Canada down to Forks, Washington I ran.

When I saw Bella, broken, bruised and in unbearable physical and emotional pain, lying in my brother's arms…my thoughts of waiting until after our wedding night to change her were banished. I was ready to take her from his arms and make her immortally mine right then. My desire to change her, to make certain that nothing could ever hurt her again was unlike anything I had ever felt. I burned with the thirst of a newborn while my heart, my dead still heart, cried out with the agony that only a widower knows. She wasn't dead, I could hear her heart beating and saw the rise and fall of her chest as she drew breath, but it felt as though I was watching her die.

I was afraid of myself, afraid that if I touched her I would change her or that somehow she would disappear. She still had her father, Charlie. She still needed to see him, to let him know that she was okay. He was supposed to be there to walk her down the aisle, to give her away at our wedding. It wasn't until a few days later that we found out Charlie had been shot twice and was lying in a surgical ward in Seattle Memorial as he fought for his life.

I was able to hold Bella after the first few days, after I was no longer afraid of what I might do. I was able to lie still and feel her warmth against me, doing as Jasper instructed and letting Bella find what way was comfortable for her to sleep. I wrapped her in my arms, kissed her forehead, touched her arms. I held her through her nightmares, soothed her through her upset when she was awake. Her nightmares wouldn't be silenced however.

Night after night, day after day, she was only able to sleep for an hour - two at most - before she was woken by the memories of that night. The memories burned into her mind of listening to her mother on the phone, hearing the crash of the cars, hearing her mother take her last breath. It is forever branded into her mind the sight of her mother trapped within her car, lying dead and broken as I saw them through Jacob Black's mind. I didn't know how to help her, Jasper did all he could, but even he was being constantly worn down.

His need to hunt was becoming a daily thing, until Carlisle sent him to Seattle to stay with Alice and Emmett, to be with Little Bella and her infant brother. He wanted to give my brother a break from the torment of Bella's grief as much as he felt that Bella needed to be able to feel it on her own without Jasper's calming influence. My father felt that in order for Bella to gain control, to move past the grief, she needed to feel it completely. But my brother's absence only caused her nightmares to occur more frequently, her stomach more unsettled because of it.

Before Jasper left she had barely been able to handle much food, often turning away a meal presented to her after eating only a third or maybe half of what was given to her. After my brother left…her stomach couldn't handle any of it. That first night that he was gone she spent a total of almost three hours in the bathroom throwing up every bit of food or liquid that had been in her stomach. Carlisle's concern was maddening to deal with on top of my own, Alice's constant texts of `no feeding tubes' driving us both to the brink of insanity.

And then, the worst happened. The surgeon treating Charlie called Carlisle. Bella's father had died, his wounds too much for his fragile human body to bear. I held Bella, Esme seated next to her as Carlisle gave her the horrible news. She didn't cry, she didn't become angry, she simply sat there and nodded as though he had been telling her that it was raining outside. I can't read Bella's thoughts, I didn't know what she was thinking, I didn't know that she didn't believe him.

And then four days ago, the most difficult test, the most horrid of circumstance - we had to take her to the funerals. Not just one, but all three in one day. Esme had thought it best, for them to all take place on the same day so that her grief, her torment wouldn't be drawn out and extended more than it had to be. I will never forget the sound of her screams, the sight of her grief and my father's torment when she saw Charlie lying in his coffin.

I wanted to take her away from all of that, to set her free of her grief, but there was nothing that I could do. I knew at the funeral that she not only wanted but also needed Carlisle and Esme to be with her and I pushed her to them every opportunity that I had. When we came home she laid with me. We stayed together and I held her, trying to let her find some comfort some sense of peace with which to sleep. But there was none. An hour at best was all that she slept for. An hour. Her human body needed so much more, but her mind wouldn't allow it.

Carlisle tried morphine, tried sedatives, but even through the haze of a drug induced sleep, her dreams brought her screaming awake. The terror and pain of screaming, the way her voice has become rough, little more than hoarse breaths because of her cries has left me helpless. I didn't know what to do; I didn't know how to take away her pain or how to help her with her grief. And then last night, Jasper came home.

He understood through her emotions what I couldn't through my inability to read her thoughts. Bella lost Renee, she lost Charlie and even Phil. Bella lost the entirety of her human parents in such a short time that her nightmares were twisting the reality of her memories to a point where she was constantly losing Esme and Carlisle as well. She needed them, and not just to see them occasionally or to hear their voices at a distance, but she needed them. She needed them to hold her, to be with her as she slept and when she woke. She needed to feel their touch, to hear their voices next to her ear. She needed to smell them and to feel them because in the madness of her grief, without that tactile interaction, she believed that she had lost them as well.

He didn't have to speak the words, for I was reading his mind the entire time. As soon as Jasper laid Bella in Carlisle's arms, when she saw him and knew that he was there that he was holding her, the insanity of her grief abated like a great storm breaking. Through Jasper's mind I was able to feel her calm when Carlisle held her and then find true peace when she was laid in the bed between our adoptive parents. Carlisle gave her his sweater to wear to sleep in and in that moment through Carlisle's mind and Jasper's, I saw her fear abate and her grief come down to a level that she could not only endure, but she could control.

Last night was the first night in nearly ten days that Bella slept for more than two hours. In fact, she slept all the way through to the morning, her slumber undisturbed. This morning, with Esme sitting by her side and Carlisle holding her in his lap as she leaned tiredly against his shoulder, Bella was able to eat solid food for the first time in days. It was only oatmeal, something that would be calm on her stomach while giving her the needed fats and proteins, but still she ate and we were all happy when she was able to keep the bit of food down.

Rosalie helped her bathe after that and of all the surprises that I could've foreseen as possible; Jacob Black offering to hunt for us was not one of them. He is exhausted and malnourished - for one of his kind anyway. Werewolves, or shape shifters as the Quileute are, are still human and need to consume four to five times more than what they ate before they first phased into their animal forms. Jacob had not eaten in at least four days, and while Seth Clearwater said that he believed a similar period for a normal human would've been ten days, I believe it would've been much longer. Then again, Jacob had not slept in at least three days.

Esme saw this change in Jacob when he and Leah returned from hunting. She ordered him immediately into the house and brought him to the couch to lie down. She has treated him as though he were her son and, as shocked as I first was, he has turned to her as a second mother. He never did tell me what happened to his birth mother, but when Bella asked Billy out of curiosity, I was able to see her death through his eyes. He never told Jacob the truth of what happened, hoping to spare his son the pain of knowing, but Jacob's mother was tiny. Barely five feet and was a very small woman, delicate in bone structure. Jacob was a ten pound baby, born breech during a storm. He never knew his mother as she died giving birth to him on the way to the hospital. It was the same night that Billy lost the use of his legs.

His father had never remarried, and though other women had come and gone through their lives over the years, Jacob's thoughts told me that Esme was the only one who ever treated him with the love ad compassion of a mother. He protects my family for two reasons, first for Bella, but second and more importantly, because of Esme. He is downstairs in the front room sleeping right now, it has been twelve hours since Esme told him to lie down and nothing has been able to wake him since. He needs to feed, we all know that, but it seems that for now, his body needs to sleep more.

I am uncertain if I should tell Esme of what I have learned through Jacob's thoughts. She is the eternal mother, and while I know that she would not have any qualm with Jacob seeing her as a mother, I believe that he might feel betrayed if I were to share such intimate thoughts. Through the wolf telepathy, both Seth and Leah have seen how Jacob views Esme and while Seth has taken to her in a similar manner, guarding her without question, Leah has not. She stands beside Jacob because she cannot bear to be around Sam, but it is difficult for her to accept our place in Jacob's life.

Carlisle has taken a leave from the hospital so that he can stay with Bella as much as she needs him and it is this small fact that has left Sam restless. Jacob believes that he may become a threat to our family. I don't know if I agree entirely, but I can understand the possibility of such a threat. For now, my main concern is Bella. Let the chips fall where they may, my mate is my focus and nothing can distract me from her care.

E.M.C.

Edward set his pen down and closed the leather bound journal, wrapping the leather string around the book twice before tying it in place. Looking up at the glass walls around him he watched as the ribbons of burnt orange and fuchsia danced across the sky as the periwinkle of twilight followed. Closing his eyes, he watched through Carlisle's eyes as Bella woke slowly in his arms, her casted palm coming up to cover her mouth as she yawned. Standing up, he moved to the open entrance of his parents' bedroom and looked down on his love's drowsy form a she slowly floated closer to consciousness.

Her sleeping pattern had not quite returned to normal, though she was sleeping six to eight hours at a time. She would sleep through the night and then fall back asleep in the afternoon. Always, always, she had to be wrapped in either his father's or Esme's arms. She had to know that her adoptive parents were close, that they were not going to disappear on her. Through Jasper he was able to feel the peace that they both brought her and was humbled by her need of them.

Her eyes opened slowly, as she yawned again and Edward watched as she turned and buried her face against his father's chest. Carlisle had never had these moments of being a father to a human before and Edward felt as though he were intruding upon something sacred as he listened to his father's thoughts. Looking to his side as Jasper joined him outside the open doorway, he was struck speechless by the emotions that he read from his brother.

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Carlisle set his medical journal aside on the bed behind him as he felt Bella stir in his arms. Her heartbeat was gaining in speed and strength as she woke slowly, her breaths becoming shallower. Turning onto his side, he looked down on the human girl that lay resting on the pillow beside him and watched her stir. Her left hand rose to cover her moth as she yawned deeply, her eyes still closed and Carlisle caught her arm gently before she could slam her cast into her face as her clumsy, drowsy movements made it apparent that she would.

Tipping his head down, Carlisle kissed her brow and spoke her name quietly as she woke, his voice guiding her back to the conscious world without the fear of him being missing. She yawned again, sooty lashes fluttering over mahogany eyes like butterfly wings and Bella turned slowly, just enough to bury her face in the shirt he wore. His arm wrapped around her, holding her gently close as he spoke to her softly, promising her that he was there and that she was safe and loved.

“Carlisle,” her whispered voice was scratchy, rough and she breathed in deeply only to cough harshly.

He sat her up gently, bringing the cup of water that sat on the bedside table to her lips. He held her cradled in one arm as she touched her fingers to the cool glass, content to let him hold it as she drank the clear liquid, wetting her dry throat. After a few moments she pushed back slightly on the glass and he set it back on the table as he helped her to sit up fully and instructed her to breathe in deeply, slowly while he closed his eyes and used his sharper vampire sense to listen to her lungs rather than gather his stethoscope from his office downstairs.

There was no longer any bubbling to her breath, her lungs free and clear of the fluid that had been present only days ago. Opening his eyes, he nodded and smiled at Bella, his expression letting her know that there was nothing to worry about. He chuckled when her stomach growled and she blushed, her all too human mannerisms endearing her to him. Soon his human daughter would no longer blush, no longer sleep curled against him as she did now. She would be one of his kind, no longer in need of sleep, no longer need to be cared for in such a delicate and attentive manner. He would miss these moments, these precious times in which he was able to be a true father and not just the patriarchal guardian of his family.

“Go,” he told her gently, helping her off the bed as he stood. “Take a few moments; I'll have Esme make you something to eat.”

“Thank you,” she said, her tone making it clear that she meant her gratitude for more than just that moment. “I love you,” she whispered as she leaned into him, her arms encircling his waist as she hugged him.

Carlisle returned her embrace, holding her tightly against him as he bowed his head over her and rested his lips against her hair. He rubbed her back, her words warming his heart with a gentle burn that filled his soul. Let the Voultori try, he thought as he held her, just let them try to come between Bella and my family. The bonds of love, of family, are far greater than any power on earth.

“I love you too, baby girl,” he whispered back.

:::::

Bella sat at the kitchen table, sipping her orange juice as she watched Esme move about the kitchen. She seemed so happy to be making her breakfast, turning the two strips of bacon in the frying pan as she flipped the single pancake. She still wasn't able too eat too much at a time, nowhere near her normal appetite but far better than she had been only three days ago. She couldn't help but laugh as the plate was set before her, smiling down on the single pancake that had been made in the shape of Mickey Mouse. To others it may appear almost childish, but to Bella it was a welcome sign of Esme's motherly devotion to her.

“Thank you, Esme,” Bella said as the woman joined her at the table.

“You're most welcome, my dear,” she said and watched as the girl nibbled on the bacon, delighting in its flavor. “How are you feeling?”

“Stronger, but more tired which seems weird,” Bella said and shook her head before lifting her eye brows in an almost shrug. “It still hurts a lot to know that they're all dead, that they won't be there to see me married…”

“But?” Esme prompted gently.

“But…” Bella paused, licking the syrup from her lips as she gathered her thoughts in a way that they would make sense to another. “I have all of you. It's not so bad. You and Carlisle…you make it easier somehow…safer. The grief isn't so maddening as long as you're near. I can handle it; I can feel it without letting it take me over. If I didn't have you, or Carlisle, or any of you,” Bella sniffled back tears as her voice faded away.

Esme moved from her chair to stand before Bella and take her into her arms, stroking her hand down the length of Bella's hair as the girl pressed her face into her stomach. Looking up to see Edward standing in the doorway she offered him a soft smile and he nodded silently to her. Esme had been more than welcoming of him since Jasper had brought Bella to lay with her and her husband. She left her mind completely open to him, never attempting to block him and always projecting to him that it was perfectly alright for him to watch Bella through her mind and to know her thoughts concerning the girl.

It was through her mind, her thoughts and those of his father that he had been able to be near Bella and feel her recover through their care. Carlisle and Esme had been the leaders of their family, the adoptive parents and those Edward and his siblings turned to for advice, but never before had he seen them both so purely parental as they were with Bella. It was humbling, soothing, and a way he couldn't fully describe or understand, the most beautiful and natural thing that he had ever born witness to.

Stepping up to their side, he took Esme's vacated seat at the table and nodded once in gratitude as she kissed Bella's hair before clearing the table. He laid his arm across the table, his hand turned palm up and his smile was warm when Bella slid her hand over his palm and chaffed her thumb against the inside of his wrist.

“I love you, Edward,” Bella said softly, standing and moving to his side.

“You are my life, Bella, you hold my heart,” he told her as he moved her to sit on his lap.

Cupping her cheek in his hand as she turned her face to his, he captured her lips in a slow kiss, his lips moving over hers languidly. Bella sighed into the kiss, pressing closer and he was happy to comply, until he felt the scrape of her casted wrist against the skin of his neck. Kissing her once more before pulling back he looked into her eyes, the beautiful brown orbs full of confusion and desire. She wanted more, wanted to kiss him more, but he pushed her gently back and leaned away from her.

“Edward, why are you stopping?” she asked, resting her hands against his chest as she stared at him.

“You're hurt, Bella,” Edward said as he framed her face in his hands and kissed her gently before staring into her eyes once more.

“I won't break,” she said to which he snorted and looked down at her casted arm. “That doesn't count; it's not what I meant.”

“Bella, my beautiful, fragile little human,” Edward said with a chuckle and kissed her once more before helping her to stand and standing with her. “You are injured, you have been broken, don't argue,” he told her with an amused grin when she opened her mouth. “I will gladly kiss you, hold you, carry you, touch you, but I will also take things slowly and be cautious of your injuries. I wish not to hurt you further, you are finally beginning to heal and I will not impede that. Will you stop that,” he chuckled at the argumentative expression on her face as she once again opened her mouth to speak. “Let me pamper you, let me treat you as delicately as I want while you're healing. Once you are no longer injured, no longer in pain, I will not hold you back.”

“Shut up,” Bella said quickly when he paused and placed her fingers over his lips as she smiled. “My turn,” she said her voice holding restrained amusement. “I love you; I never thought I'd find anyone like you. And yeah, ok so I'm a little banged up - don't,” she laughed at his expression, her fingers on his lips silencing whatever objection he had been ready to voice. “I'm getting better, I'm healing, I'm…coming to terms with everything that's happened. It's going to take time and I know that, but don't be afraid of me, please. I want to kiss you and love you just as before the accident.”

“Bella,” he chuckled her name as he shook his head. “Dear, sweet Bella, I'm not afraid of you and I don't not want to love you. But before your accident we were passionate, our embraces testing each of us for our control, I don't want that while you're injured. I will still love you and touch you, but I will be far more gentle with you. I don't want our passion to injure you further. My little kitten, you might have claws but you're far more fragile than you think. Let me be gentle with you until Carlisle deems you healed.”

As Bella opened her mouth to answer him a loud terrible rumbling broke the silence around them followed by a thud and she startled, spinning around. As soon as it had started the sound quieted and she shook her head, confused by the noise. Turning back to Edward she found that his eyes were wide with surprise and barely contained amusement. Stepping around her, he took her hand and led her to the doorway leading into the front room as the noise sounded again.

Jacob lay on his side on the floor, snoring intermittently. The teen had rolled off the couch onto the floor in his sleep without waking and Esme was quickly moving the furniture around him out of his way with Rosalie's help. Frowning at their actions, Bella asked what they were doing and looked up at Edward when he chuckled.

“Damn dog started kicking in his sleep and then rolled right off the couch,” Rosalie said as she moved the couch behind him five feet away from the sleeping wolf. “We're moving stuff in case he phases in his sleep. Seth said that he's seen Jacob do that before and we don't want anything ruined.”

“He was so exhausted,” Esme said as she stepped up to Jacob's side and knelt down to touch his face. “I couldn't even wake him to eat.”

A soft curse sounded from near the doorway seconds before Seth raced in and pulled Esme away from Jacob, carrying her to the doorway before setting her down. The swift movement had caught her off guard and she shook her head at the young wolf, not understanding why he had done so until he raised his arm and pointed at Jacob. In the short matter of seconds that it had taken Seth to move Esme away from the sleeping boy, he had phased into his wolf form and lay on his side kicking his legs as though he were running.

“Didn't want him to hurt you, Esme,” Seth said with a shrug. “He doesn't have much control when he's asleep.”

“Thank you, Seth,” Carlisle said as he stepped up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Of course, Doctor Cullen - Carlisle,” he corrected himself at the man's amused countenance.

“Seth?” Edward questioned the boy, concerned by the thoughts he read from the younger boy. “Are you sure?”

The boy nodded sadly and looked at his friend and alpha. He hadn't wanted to say anything, believing that he would be breaking Jacob's confidence, though he hadn't ordered the boy's discretion. Billy hadn't been able to handle the loss of both Seth's father and Bella's father so close together and had turned to his old friend - whiskey. He hadn't become violent, but he had become derogatory and more than a bit mean. He always did when he was drinking, which was why Billy had never had more than two beers at a time. Before now, that is.

“What?” Esme asked, as she looked between her son and the teen standing next to her.

“Billy kicked Jacob out, the night after the funeral,” Seth said as he looked at Carlisle and Esme. “Billy always refused anything harder than beer and I never understood why until about a week ago. He likes whiskey, but it makes him mean and angry.”

“What happened, Seth?” Carlisle asked compassionately, Esme's expression of horrified disbelief leaving her silent.

“Billy got drunk, blind, raging drunk. He called Jacob a whole list of names, things I'd really rather not repeat and then he told him to get out. He told Jacob that if he loved being a wolf so much than he could go live in the forest with all the other monsters.” He turned his attention to Esme. “Until you commanded him inside, I hadn't seen him in human form since that night. Billy didn't know that I was in the house, he didn't see me, but I saw him. It doesn't matter that he can't actually hit or injure one of us, his words were enough. Jacob tried to hold it together, but that was when Sam decided that we needed to get Bella away from you all. Jacob just lost it. He attacked Sam and broke free from the pack by reasserting his status as true alpha. I left with Jacob and Leah followed me.”

A pitiful whimpering sounded from Jacob as he lay sleeping on the floor. All eyes turned to him and Esme's heart broke as she watched his tail curl up between his legs, his ears folding against his head. Even without the sounds he was making it was clear to anyone that he was in emotional pain. Disengaging Carlisle's arms from around her waist, she stepped up to Jacob's massive head and rubbed the short course fur along his snout. Her hand moved up to the base of his ear as his eyes opened slowly, the hazel orbs staring up at her with lingering sadness.

Esme spoke his name and waited as he slowly reverted back to his human form. He stood next to her, his jaw clenched as he tried to hide the emotions running through him. He had dreamed of that night; his father's angry words, the slurred speech and smell of whiskey on the man's breath were so powerful in his mind that they would not diminish. He closed his eyes against the sight of her golden eyes and pale face staring up at him with kindness and compassion, he felt somehow undeserving of her affection. That night when his father had belittled and damned what he was, who he was, Jacob had needed someone to blame just to make it through the night and he had blamed the Cullen's. He had never and would never say as much to them; it had been his trial to endure, but that one moment of weakness made him feel unworthy of her kindness.

“Oh, Jacob, no,” Esme said, wrapping her arms around him as she responded to the thoughts Edward read from him, his voice too low for the teen to hear. “Sweetheart, you are welcome here with us. Jacob, look at me,” she demanded gently, her hands framing his face.

He was trembling; his muscles displaying the strain of his efforts to keep from letting his emotions overtake him. It took everything in him, every ounce of control he had to look down at her and open his dark eyes to her. Her golden eyes were kind, staring up at him with a look of timeless knowledge held deep within as though she knew his pain, knew what he felt and could see through all his barriers deep into his very soul. It was her eyes that finally broke him, the promise of safety, the promise of home. They were supposed to be natural enemies, they were supposed to hate each other and want to do nothing except kill each other, yet there she stood welcoming him into her home, into her family.

He fell against her, his emotions taking over as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder. Esme returned his embrace, holding him tightly, as she rubbed his back to soothe his upset. Carlisle looked upon his wife with great pride and endless love. Her talent, her greatest strength was her heart, her passion for those she took into her care and called family. That his family was protected by three werewolves was testament in and of itself, but for his wife to take one in and call him family spoke not only of the person she was but also of the person Jacob was. Stepping up beside his wife, he laid his hand on Jacob's shoulder and nodded his agreement when the teen looked up at him.

“You are welcome here, Jacob Black. You have a home with us,” Carlisle spoke his words not just a message to the boy in his wife's arms, but a decree to his family as well.

Standing back from Esme, Jacob breathed in deeply and nodded quietly. Standing to his full height, his head held high, he looked to Seth. The teen nodded and stepped outside for a moment before walking back in with his sister, the girl clearly unsettled at being inside the home of a vampire coven. Seth moved to stand behind Jacob on his right side, his stance mirroring his alpha's. Leah followed suit on his left.

“Carlisle Cullen, Esme,” he nodded to each in turn, his words formal, ceremonial. “As alpha of my pack, beyond the lines of the treaty you made with my ancestor Ephram Black, I promise you the protection of myself and the two standing with me. My pack shall protect you until the day we die. You have earned both my respect and my gratitude.”

It was Jacob's nod, his sign that the ceremonial words had been spoken that broke Seth out of his formal stance. He looked at Esme, the playful expression on his face bringing a laugh from her as he stepped up to her with a slight bounce.

“What do you say, Mom,” he joked. “Can we keep the puppy?”

Carlisle chuckled, Esme laughed, Edward shook his head, Jacob rolled his eyes and Bella giggled. Leah made her excuses and stepped outside; she heard the words, understood his command and would follow it. Under her pride and spiciest bias she had to admit her own grudging respect for the Cullen's, that didn't mean she had to like it though. Rosalie stepped up to Jacob, her eyes narrowed on him as she studied him stoically.

“Depends, is he house broken?” she asked with dry humor.

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Emmett packed the rest of the bags into the trunk of Jasper's car and closed the lid. Staring up at the small one floor home, he shook his head. Little Bella still didn't understand what it meant that her mother was dead, but she was excited to go home with him and meet Papa Carlisle and Gramma Esme. He watched Alice come out to him carrying the infant in her arms. She had changed him into a one piece sleeper, the soft blue cloth decorated with little brown wolves. All four walls including the door of the children's room had been made into one giant mural. The painting held extraordinary detail, the scene a forest that bled from the sunrise on the door, to the full moon on the west wall. Trees and tall grasses, dandelions and wildflowers, bears, wolves, rabbits and other forest creatures decorated the walls.

He had found an unfinished painting in the master bedroom, a portrait of a man, Little Bella's father he assumed, holding the child on his knee. There was the edge of an outline of something in the man's hand and though he hadn't been able to clearly identify what it was meant to be, he thought perhaps it was a book. Bella's mother it would seem was an artist, and a very talented one at that.

“The movers will be here tomorrow to pack up the rest of the house and bring the truck to Forks,” Alice said as she handed the child over to Emmett. “We should name him; we can't just keep calling him `little brother'.”

“Do we have the right to name him?” Emmett asked as he tucked the sleeping infant into the car seat and fastened the straps.

“His mother is dead, Emmett, his father is unable to care for him,” Alice said reasonably and looked to the car seat next to him, Little Bella asleep and leaning against the safety straps. “There is no one left to name him. I searched for infant books, but I didn't find any.”

“I called Eleazar,” Emmett said as he shut the back door quietly and looked at Alice. “The doctors have been talking to him about staff infections and possible amputation. I told him to call Carlisle, I don't know much about the medical side of things and don't feel comfortable calling the shots on that.”

Alice nodded and set her overnight bag on the front passenger seat. The past few days had been trying to say the least. The infant boy hadn't wanted to sleep at all in the past few days and they were both thankful that he slept now. Emmett took the car keys from her hand and pulled his sister close for a tight hug. Alice buried her face in his shirt and drew in a deep shuddering breath as the emotions from the past week caught up with her. Her hands gripped his shirt tightly as she sobbed tearlessly in his arms. She was used to having Jasper there to comfort her when she was like this, when her emotions overcame her and the need to cry was beyond what she could control. He would soothe her with his talent and hold her until the feeling passed, but she didn't have him here.

Emmett bowed his head over her, engulfing her as completely in his arms as he could while speaking soft words of comfort to her. He hugged her tightly, rubbed her back as she trembled in his arms. It was times like this when he held her that he was reminded of just how tiny his little sister was and vampire or not, her diminutive size always made him feel that she needed more protection. He held her until her dry sobs passed and she grew calm again. Her eyes would never be red, her cheeks never warm with the depth of her sorrow, but her golden eyes would always display the emotion as clear to him as the summer sun. Kissing her forehead as he pulled back, he opened the car door and held it for her while she climbed inside and buckled in.

Closing the door, he walked around to the driver's door and took one last look at the quaint cottage style house before slipping behind the wheel and driving away. In just a few hours they would be back with their family and Little Bella and her infant brother would have a veritable village to take care of them. Holding out his hand with a lopsided smile, he heard Alice's soft laugh when she placed her palm inside his.

“It'll be alright, Ali,” he promised her. “You'll see.”

“Thanks, Big Brother,” she said, grinning when he smiled brightly.

:::::

Bella's eyes fell closed on a soft sigh as she stood within the circle of Edward's arms. He stood with her in the library, her casted arm resting against his chest as he danced gently with her in small slow circles. The sounds of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata soothed her into a state of semi consciousness as her cheek rested over his silent heart. He kissed her hair as the song ended and bled seamlessly into Debussy's Claire de Lune. She offered one more, soft happy sigh before her body grew heavy against him, her muscles relaxing completely. Edward bent down and caught her behind the knees, cradling her high against his chest as he continued to sway and dance slowly to the classical music.

Kissing her forehead as the song changed and strings of Chopin filled the room. He danced with her through two more songs before looking down into her sleeping face as he came to stand still. She was completely asleep, her face peaceful and relaxed. Walking with her into Carlisle's office, he found his father gathering papers off the fax machine. Turning around, Carlisle looked up and smiled at the sight of Bella sleeping in his son's arms. Setting the papers down on his desk he stepped up to Edward.

“All ready for bed?” Carlisle asked as Edward laid her into his arms.

“Just barely asleep,” Edward answered with a smile. “She can fall asleep with me just fine, but if she wakes up without either of you…”

“We'll take care of her,” Carlisle promised him as he kissed Bella's forehead and stepped past his son.

He cradled Bella in his arms as though she were the most precious and fragile thing he had ever held. Carrying her up the stairs, he tucked her into his bed and covered her with the thick blankets. Moving to the bookshelf beside the window, he retrieved the copy of Wuthering Heights that Esme had begun reading to her the night before and sat down beside Bella on the bed. Turning to lie on his side next to her as he opened the book, he curled his arm around the sleeping girl and began to read.