Like A Memory It Falls
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns all characters. I just like them…. More than they like me… I also do not own "Kathy's Song." I'm just borrowing lyrics.
Prologue: No Rain
It had been unusually sunny on the Olympic Peninsula for the past four days and the Cullens were getting restless. Alice kept a running countdown until the next storm came—currently fifteen hours, eight minutes, and 45 seconds—while watching Jasper and Emmett retool their chess game to cover half of the living room. Her visions were, thankfully, inconsequential. Emmett would lose the chess game but win the wrestling match. Bella would willingly ask to go shopping. Alice grinned and bounced in place for a moment, ignoring Edward's low chuckle. Emmett and Jasper exchanged bets and threats in the same breaths, promising each other that when the weather finally turned, they would take it outside. Their thoughts flickered between their games and their wives at the mercy of the Volturi. For Edward's sake, they tried to concentrate on the games.
Rosalie sat with Renesmee on the white loveseat, absently stroking the little girl's hair as they both looked at the latest edition of the owner's manual for Bella's blue Ferrari. Rosalie tried to focus on the installation methods for the sound system Edward insisted Bella have instead of the feel of Renesmee's weight in her arms and the wish for Renesmee to be hers. While grateful to Bella for saving them all from the Volturi—and for birthing Renesmee—Rosalie couldn't help but think that, somehow, the entire situation had been Bella's fault. Or, if not Bella's, definitely Edward's. And if Edward wasn't around to blame, the filthy mongrel Jacob Black was always an available scapegoat. Rosalie ran her fingers through Renesmee's curls, glad that the dog was outside "making the most of the sun."
Edward sat at his piano, absently running his fingers along the keys, not entirely in the mood to play due to his family's mercurial thoughts. He was not willing to give up on it quite yet, though; the piano was one of his favorite places to think, after all, and even absently played music was better than nothing. Bella kept distracting him, though she wasn't aware of it. She had been particularly quiet for the last four days, speaking only if spoken to and keeping her shield up. The Volturi's bid to harm not only Renesmee but the entire Cullen family was still too recent of a memory for Edward's liking and he suspected Bella was still thinking about what could have been. He wasn't far off the mark.
Bella's thoughts were, indeed, on her daughter and the Volturi. She was pondering Edward's remark that the family had survived because she, Bella Cullen, had frightened Aro. She shook her head at the thought and chuckled lightly. She could feel Edward's gaze as she laughed; she could always tell when he was watching her. She glanced at him and gave him a half-smile. He flashed her a crooked smile and opened his arms—an invitation she rarely refused. Once in his embrace, she rested her head on his chest and breathed deeply of his scent; it never failed to soothe her. Edward in turn breathed deeply of her and rocked her gently while humming her lullaby. He was always pleased when she would come to him. Bella smiled as he sang to her and reached up to gently kiss his throat. He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head without breaking the melody. They would talk soon, but now was not the time for conversation.
Carlisle sat in his office, the thick volume on his desk forgotten as he gazed out the window and over the south side of the family property. His thoughts, too, were on the Volturi and the battle the family had faced. He finally understood why the Volturi, once close and dear friends, found his way of life strange, even repulsive. Where the Volturi were bound by lust of power or compulsion through Chelsea's gift, the Cullens were bonded through blood and venom. The Cullens chose to remain together, chose to cling to humanity as much as they could. They cherished human life by allowing it to continue where the Volturi regarded humans as beneath them and little more than animals. Carlisle understood more clearly now Edward's prior hesitation to change Bella but still could not bring himself to agree with his son's motives. Aro was right about Bella being unusually suited to immortality and the vampiric lifestyle…
Carlisle heard Edward's low growl and qu ickly moved his thoughts along as Esme approached the closed door. She knocked lightly before entering and smiled at the sight of him behind his desk, so handsome and intelligent. He was everything she had ever wanted, the light in her darkness with Charles. Where Edward doubted the possibility of salvation for vampires, Esme knew that her salvation was a vampire. Without Carlisle, she would have died alone and broken, unworthy of notice and certainly not missed by anyone. She understood better than anyone—even Edward with his mind-reading—the struggles of conscience with which Carlisle still wrestled. Ever the preacher's son, he never escaped the guilt of even wanting to take human life. Despite his extraordinary control, he could still be tempted. What Esme didn't know—or had yet to realize in their eighty-plus years together—was she was still the most tempting thing in his universe. Carlisle stood and walked to her in one fluid motion so quick she almost missed it. He brought her into his embrace and walked with her in his arms to the landing overlooking the living room. They surveyed their children and smiled contentedly. They were all alive, all safe, all together.
When time is meaningless, it can pass quickly or with infinite slowness. Fortunately, the remaining fifteen hours before the coming storm passed quickly as Carlisle and Esme continued to watch their family and think of each other. Alice, having signaled to Jasper Emmett's next move, smiled to herself and ran to open the nearest door, letting the scent of the approaching storm waft through the house. The Cullens breathed deeply of the ozone and freshness and gathered at various doors and windows, watching the clouds roll in.
Renesmee clapped and squealed in delight as the first drops of rain hit the ground, then jumped for joy as the heavens began to pour forth as if it had never rained in Forks before. Rosalie grinned at the thought of Jacob being soaked, then frowned at the prospect of wet dog smell permeating the Cullen home. Emmett and Jasper smiled like little boys and charged outside to start the wrestling match; Alice followed behind shouting encouragement to Jasper. Bella and Edward stayed by the piano and watched out the front door, both preparing for their upcoming conversation. Carlisle and Esme retreated to their bedroom and opened the windows wide as they lay quietly content in each other's arms. Yet among their disparate activities, every Cullen adult had the same thought during the rain: This is the life I always dreamed of having.
A/N: This is the third story I have up, so I may not be updating soon. Unless, of course, you would like me to?