The Twilight 25

Prompt: Prelude

Pen Name: CherBella

Pairing: EdwardxBella

Rating: M

All copyright and trademarked items mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. The remaining content is all mine. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without my express written authorization.


~*~ Prelude ~*~

And so they lay as lovers lie… curled together, bodies entwined and wound into a most intimate embrace. Her head tucked under his, his cheek against her hair.

Together now for all eternity.

From the moment they first saw each other, from the moment they first touched as they swirled across the dance floor their hearts beat in a rhythm belonging solely to each other, their fates irrevocably fused together.

But truthfully this tale of the ill-fated, star-crossed young man and young woman's tragic love began much earlier than that first dance. Their destiny began long ago, their connection forged from the moment they were born…

She was born to parents of the poor, laboring class in England. Her mother was a housemaid and her father a groomsman of the horses and stables for a wealthy English aristocratic family. It was while working at the family's country house that her mother and father met and fell in love. Fearful of losing their much-needed jobs, they initially tried to hide their relationship. But before long she was with child and they were forced to reveal themselves to their employer. Her father was overjoyed–he loved her mother and gladly wanted to do the honorable thing and marry her and build a life with his wife and child. The couple was concerned, however, that the Lord would cast them both out on the street for the scandalous predicament they found themselves in.

Fate and luck were on their side, as the Lord of the Manor had always found them both to be exemplary employees and did not wish to lose either of them. He allowed them to marry and move to a larger room in the servants' quarters. It was still cramped, barely room for a crib and their meager belongings, but they were in love and happy that they could now be together. They married and soon welcomed a healthy baby daughter into the world.

The young girl's early years growing up at the manor were happy ones, as she was taken care of and doted on not only by her parents, but by all of the other household servants. And the large house and grounds provided many places for a young child to run and play and rejoice in the innocent joys of youth.

Many years later the Lord and Lady of the Manor had a child, a son. Their first child, also a boy, had been an absolute cherub of a baby, perpetually happy and joyful, rarely a cry out of him. The new baby however, was fussy and unhappy from the moment he entered the world. The young daughter of the housemaid and stable manager heard the adults talking of the new baby and she was curious to see him but when she asked to come with her mother to see the baby, her mother told her she must stay away. His poor frazzled nursemaid certainly didn't need another child underfoot while she was trying to take care of him. The young girl was disappointed but did as she was told.

Until one day when her curiosity got the best of her. She was wandering the halls of the servant quarters when she heard the baby wailing loudly from the upstairs. With no one around, she hurried to the end of the hall and up the stairwell to the upper floor that housed the Lord and Lady's residence. She had only been upstairs a handful of times and didn't know her way around very well, but she just kept moving toward the sound of the baby. When she finally came upon his room, she peeked her head around the doorframe. The nursemaid was pacing back and forth, holding the baby against her shoulder and patting his back, trying to soothe him. He continued wailing away, and finally she placed him back in his crib and hurried out of the room through another doorway. As soon as she left, the young girl crept quietly into the room toward the crib. She stood on her tiptoes and peered over the edge of the elegant crib. His face was round and beet red, scrunched up and wet from his tears. He had little tufts of the most unusual reddish-brown hair on his head, and his arms were flailing about, hands curled up into tight fists. She continued to stare wide-eyed at him. In the middle of his tantrum, his eyes caught sight of this little person staring at him and he immediately quieted down, his attention drawn away from whatever had upset him, to the deep brown eyes above him. The little girl snaked her hand in between the slats of the crib and touched his cheek with her pudgy fingers, wiping away his tears. He continued staring at her and she at him.

This was how the nursemaid found them when she entered the room again, holding a fresh nappy in one hand. The young girl was immediately chastised and pushed away front the crib by the nursemaid. The baby boy immediately started crying again, and the nursemaid picked up the baby and carried him off to change him.

The little girl ran from the room, and was scolded later by her parents for being upstairs by herself and for disturbing the baby. But she was still drawn to the boy and whenever she could, she would try to sneak upstairs to see him. Particularly when she heard him crying. Invariably he would always calm down the minute he saw her. Eventually the nursemaid caught on to this unusual effect the little girl seemed to have over the boy, and allowed her to come visit whenever she wanted. He always quieted immediately and his eyes would follow her around in amazement.

The months passed and the baby grew quickly as healthy babies do. He began to sit up and crawl and babble incoherent baby words. He could smile now and whenever the young girl with the long brown hair would visit him he would instantly break out into a big smile and raise his hands toward her. Occasionally the nursemaid would even let the little girl hold him for a short while. Usually he just crawled around on a blanket and she would try to entertain him with a ball or one of his many other toys.

One day the little girl came downstairs after one of her visits with the young baby to find people scurrying in and out of her family's room, and loud moans coming from someone inside. Being so little, she was not noticed at first by the adults and managed to get close enough to peek in the doorway. Her eyes grew big at what she saw. Her mother was lying in bed, perspiring and writhing and moaning in pain. The local doctor was on one side of the bed, touching her stomach. Her father was kneeling down next to the bed and holding her hand, and trying to smooth the hair away from her damp face, talking softly to her. He looked so scared…the little girl had never seen such a look on her father's face. She took a step into the room, intending to go to her father, to find out what was going on when she was grasped by one of the other housemaids and whisked away swiftly toward another room. The maid was speaking to her…something about her needing to stay out of the way right now. Her mother was not feeling well but the doctor was going to make her better.

The little girl stayed in the room for what seemed like forever. Adults came in and out to make sure she was okay, to bring her food or her favorite doll. She heard her mother's moans eventually quiet, and then after a long period of silence and hushed voices she heard her father crying out.

Her mother was not better. She had been in the early months of pregnancy but had been having many days of unusual pains and fatigue and sickness. By the time she had collapsed in pain and the doctor had been called, it was too late.

The adults were crying and hugging her. She didn't understand what was going on, she just wanted to see her mama. Eventually she fell in and out of sleep. When she awoke, she opened her eyes to find her father standing in the doorway. His eyes were red, not focusing; his face haggard and contorted in utter agony and shock. He saw his little girl curled up on the far corner of the bed. He shuffled over and sank wearily down next to her. He crushed his little girl to him and began sobbing again.

After her mother's death her father chose to leave the Manor. He was utterly shattered by his wife's death and could not stay in a place that haunted him with so many memories. Without warning to the little girl, he packed up their few belongings one day and moved them to the city. The day they left she tried to sneak away to go upstairs but her father kept reprimanding her and finally he scooped her up and carried her out to their carriage. Her heart was breaking as they drove away…away not only from the only home and life she'd ever known but also from the baby boy that she did not get to see one last time.

The young boy woke up in a panic. He fussed and cried for a week. The doctor examined him but found nothing physically wrong with him. He was too young to know what was going on but he felt a loss just the same. He simply missed the girl with the long brown hair.

The little girl and her father moved in with his sister for a while until they could get a place of their own. He took a job as a constable in the city and worked a lot of long hours. When he wasn't working he was quiet and distant. He tried to be a father for his little girl but every time he looked at her he saw his dead wife in her eyes and in her smile. He took to drinking to drown his sorrow. When the young girl was sixteen, she came home one day and found him dead. She was now officially alone in the world and on her own, left to fend for herself.

The baby boy meanwhile grew up in his life of privilege, having the best of everything and doing what was expected of him. He spent many of his days, however, unhappy and restless and lonely.

Two people living in completely different worlds, completely unaware of each other. Unaware that soon their stars would collide, changing their lives forevermore…

~*~O~X~X~O~*~


A/N: So this is an experiment of sorts, born out of an idea one night to try and write a story in a sort of "storytelling" style...maybe like an adult fairytale? IDK...anyway I decided the Twi25 challenge with it's short chapters might be a good fit for this idea. I don't normally even READ period pieces much less have I ever written one so I may completely fail at this, LOL.