This little 'snapshot' of The Family Business is an unforgivably overdue outtake from last year's Fandom Gives Back. It was delivered to those patient souls who donated and is now being posted. I hope you enjoy revisiting Edward and Bella as much as I did. I couldn't have done it any justice without donnersun and TexasKatherine's input, proofing and gentle nagging. I'm still working on a few other franchises, so keep in touch! - Suz
The saga and characters belong to Stephenie Meyer and I'm still so grateful that she allows us to outsource;)
The Family Business
By SuzsPetals ©2011
Epilogue/Outtake (Edward)
Snapshots
The average person of my generation is expected to change not just jobs, but careers, an average of seven times in our lives. Once I'd retired from the exciting world of vamp hunting, I figured I still had six paths to follow. I hoped they wouldn't all be in the odorous vein of bowling alley attendant, but with Bella's unconditional support I looked forward to seeing what stuck to the wall.
As my eyes tracked in slow motion to the gap between the trees where I'd heard the barely audible sound, I became aware that my future ventures had just been reduced to living or dying.
A wolf like nothing seen on Animal Planet entered the clearing, its eyes glinting with malice. I recognized the tawny pelt from the night Bella and I had barely eluded Aro in Forks. Fear made an appearance and my heart stumbled in its attempt to beat out of my chest. I estimated I'd covered a couple of miles since leaving the cabin. Garrett and the rest were even farther. Not even vamp senses could pick up the wolf odor at that distance.
The gun.
Could I reach the 9mm before the beast launched herself at me? Not that I held out much hope for stopping her hairy ass, but maybe it would slow her down long enough for me to call Garrett. Or Bella.
As these unrealistic possibilities ran through my mind in slow motion I knew my time was about to run out. The she-wolf pulled her lips back, baring wet, sharp incisors and growled low but loud enough to shatter the silence. Who was I kidding? I was fucked.
"Aw, shit."
The monster lifted a paw to close the distance as I dove for my pack. My hand slid under the flap and wrapped around the grip before I exhaled. Unfortunately, mythological creatures don't play by the rules of physics and she was flying through the air before my finger slid over the trigger.
Her long muscular body lengthened as her front paws seemed to push the air out of her way. I released the gun from its hiding place as the wolf landed in the snow a mere five feet in front of me. As close as she was, I knew my shot missed the mark. The explosion reverberated in the quiet clearing, but the wolf didn't even flinch.
Before I could squeeze the trigger again I felt as though I'd unwittingly walked into the path of a fast moving train. The breath flew out of me with an excruciating huff. The cold air rudely seeped through my coat — reaching for my very bones.
Dizzy with fear and confusion, I looked down to get my bearings and realized at once why the frigid air had gripped me.
"Aw, shit," I repeated dully before toppling over.
.~~~.
The cold was harsh; a blanket made of frozen burrs, and it conspired with the agony threatening to blot everything out. I had seen the damage to understand the source of the pain and tried to concentrate on the cold. If the wolf had left, satisfied in her success, then I could hope the shock would finish me off faster than blood loss or internal damage. It was pretty damn sad, as hopes went.
Bella was bound to find me. I moaned, not in pain but with regret. So consumed by that regret, I could almost feel her presence, hear her voice. It was easy to will myself back in front of the fire, locked together. But the tenor of her voice in my wishful memory was distracting – wrong. Desperate.
My eyes opened, prepared to see the snow and the wolf – maybe the light at the end of the tunnel. Instead I locked onto Bella, her amber eyes burning with anxiety, her pale skin impossibly whiter.
"I'm so sorry, baby," I told her, although I wasn't sure if I actually said it out loud. "I love you."
I tried to explain what happened before the blanket of cold smothered me. It was so easy to fall, fall, fall...
Instead, there was fire. Relentless, unforgiving fire.
.~~~.
Like a lost man searching desperately for signs placed few and far between, I sought Bella's voice, her touch, her hope. But the pain was too intense to sugarcoat it any further with euphemisms like fire and flames. It embraced every nerve ending of my body until I found myself praying for madness. Even insanity was preferable to the agony that refused to abate.
Excruciatingly brief glimpses of her presence would keep me anchored to sanity, focused on the next moment in time — believing in the possibility of something — anything — besides the searing pain.
In those vicious short snaps of clarity when I heard the grief and fear and ...guilt... in her voice, I knew. I knew the reason for the pain. I could hear the pain in her voice mesh with the agony in my body.
And I knew.
.~~~
"My God, you're beautiful."
I focused on Bella's ethereal presence. Her scent was haunting and her voice was delicate like monk's chimes. I was able to temporarily ignore the brush fire in my throat.
Holy shit, if someone didn't extinguish those flames I would dissolve into ash!
Ash. Just like the hundreds of beings I had incinerated in the past five or more years.
"It... it hurts."
.~~~.
The blood flowed down my throat, coating it in a weak, musky ambrosia. Relief. I felt an uncomfortable shift as sadness and anger entwined. The knowledge settled in my psyche.
I would never be the same.
I dropped the skinny deer in the snow like a discarded chicken bone at a picnic. Forgotten. The lingering blood was appealing but not wholly satisfying. I wanted, needed, craved something more and that awareness gnawed at me.
"Better?"
Bella watched me, her eyes brimming with concern and wariness. Understandable, but my senses were on such overload that I didn't know how to respond so I just nodded. I followed her golden eyes as they traveled down to my chest. It was smeared with the blood from the deer. I wiped my fingers absentmindedly through the trace and tasted it.
She flew across the clearing and her presence erased the conflicting feelings – the hunger – I struggled with. She kissed the palm of my hand before reaching up to taste my jaw.
Enough.
Scarcely aware of my actions, I pressed her against a distant tree, demanding that she distract me from the nagging thirst. She welded herself to me — all the assurance I needed regardless of her words. My lips crashed against hers. Briefly tentative, she pushed back with an urgency and strength that would have killed me as a mortal.
We flew across the forest, snapping another tree like a toothpick. A part of me was darkly satisfied that she was unhurt – unable to be hurt. Our clothes disintegrated as my hands traveled over her perfect body. I pushed her into the snow, spurred on by her moans of pleasure.
I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, how badly I wanted her, how I couldn't live without her, how deeply I understood her decision, but I couldn't find the words. In the moment, I simply wanted to devour her. I'd only known – intimately known – Bella's body since her change. Suddenly the power and passion and supernaturally strong libido that I subconsciously knew she kept on a tight leash was released. And now...
I saw the heat and desire reflected back in her eyes as I explored every inch of her body with hands that had never fully appreciated the satin feel of her impervious skin and the strength just below the surface.
Bella cried out with the release of who-knew-how-many days of anxiety and gripped my hair as she tucked her face into my neck, licking, sucking, nipping. My erection pressed against her stomach and I reached down and guided myself inside her as we slid down the trunk of the tree, settling into the crisp cool snow.
She gripped my hair tighter and it didn't hurt anymore. I hoped it was equally painless as I drove deeply, over and over. I wanted to bury myself inside of her until spring. I wanted to be one with her – to somehow merge the stone of my new body with hers, creating a monument to our passion.
If only the pain in my throat wasn't a constant intrusion.
.~~~. One month later...
I approached the cabin at an easy gait, my camera swinging from my neck.
"...he'll ever forgive me."
Bella's voice carried through the window, across the yard, and I slowed my steps. We were seldom apart and I wasn't aware how easily I could hear her at this distance until now.
Don't listen. It's rude and intrusive.
But I knew when she said 'he' she was fretting about me so I couldn't help myself. I listened to the remaining conversation, filling in the gaps of Alice's unheard side.
Oh, my silly stubborn girl. How could she believe I hated her for the decision she made? How could I not understand it? It seemed like years, rather than months since I'd made a similar, fateful choice.
A choice impossible to regret every time I looked at her.
I sometimes wished I could watch her sleep. At peace for once – not worrying about me, Charlie, our impending visitors. But neither of us would ever sleep. I could only hope she would relax and let go of the things I knew distressed her.
Bella had taken the news of her mother's marriage with the resigned patience of child who was much more mature than the parent. But I saw the wall crack when Joe Caius had gently explained about her efforts to cash in on Bella's presumed death.
She disappeared for hours and I prayed that a hapless hunter didn't cross her path – not that I needed to worry.
Whether in anger, lust or mere survival, Bella always maintained untouchable control over her thirst. It kind of pissed me off, truth be known, because I couldn't say the same for me.
I had a newfound respect for drug addicts and alcoholics. After weeks of inhuman restraint, I had been able to move the constant thirst to the background, like the static on a bad radio station.
It was easier to do when I was touching Bella, running my sensitive fingers over her flawless skin, slipping them inside her until she groaned with primal pleasure. Only then, did I completely ignore the hunger.
God, I loved her.
.~~~.
I ghosted my fingers over the strings of the new Fender and closed my eyes, enjoying the subtle sound I seduced from the instrument. My blood lust was still a wild beast I tamed every day. Just when I was sure I was lord and master of the thirst, a hiker would wander too close to the cabin and my throat would betray my arrogant lack of control. If it was just I out here, I couldn't swear on a stack of bibles that everyone would survive my exercise in restraint.
And so I perversely took pleasure in the fact that my musical prowess had followed me into the immortal afterlife. My new strength didn't intimidate or overpower me as it had Bella in her first days after the change. I relished breaking things – trees, rocks, an old shed I had planned to demolish anyway – and then I was surprised and thrilled to find the strength also held supernatural sensitivity.
Thanks to my exponentially improved hearing, my first attempt at playing guitar was more than successful. Before my human memories could recede into the fog, I played Bella's song in a way neither of us had heard before.
"Show-off," Bella had mumbled before removing the guitar and my clothes in one fluid movement.
I smiled to myself, remembering the overwhelming passion that mingled with the confusion and anger and thirst – always the thirst – in those first few days.
I heard her stop her current rearranging project in the bedroom when I teased the tentative first notes of the song. In a blink she was at the doorway.
"Is that for me?" she asked, her eyes already hooded with want. She held a heavy cobalt glass candle holder absently in one hand; her decorating momentarily forgotten.
I grinned, pleased that I knew her trigger and could stroke it any time I wanted. "Do you want it to be?" I teased.
Bella narrowed her eyes at me, apparently debating whether to finish her preparations for company or throw herself across the room.
"You are entirely too cocky for your own good, Mr. Cullen." Damn company.
"I don't know what you mean, baby. I'm just working on a new song to share with the family when they get here..." I let it hang there, gauging her anxiety level "...in nine hours." She was at Defcon four based on her widening eyes.
"Holy shit, Edward. What was I thinking telling Alice they could visit us? We don't have enough room, enough food, we're in the middle of nowhere, they-we-I..."
She stopped talking when I put down the guitar, crossed the room, and gently took the glass cylinder from her hands. She was used to my speed and barely even blinked at my approach.
"Shhhh. There's nothing to worry about, Bella. If anyone should be nervous, it's me. They've met ...you," I said, gesturing at her sublime body. "I'm the one who's going to inspire a dozen new words in my father's already colorful vocabulary."
I stroked her cheek and planted a soft kiss on her temple before continuing. "Any arrangements you make now are just going to be undone and rearranged by Alice. Emmett will joke about the lengths I would go to just to be able to kick his ass. Mom will hug us both, and cry. And hug us some more."
I was rewarded with a small smile.
"Then after we've shown them all around and gotten comfortable, you'll announce dinner and they'll all look nervously in my direction, trying not to stare at my blood red eyes."
That time I was rewarded with a solid fist to my chest. It didn't hurt, but then she hadn't exactly put all of her strength behind the punch.
"Shut up. They're barely red anymore. No one's going to worry about you and you need to stop worrying about it. You're fine," she said without a hint of doubt.
"I'm not worried." Much. "I was just kidding." A little. "What do you want me to help with?" I asked, shifting the conversation away from my nagging, hungry fears. Bella didn't answer right away, assessing my sincerity. I don't think she bought it but she didn't push the issue, instead taking the candle holder back and returning to the bedroom.
"I've changed my mind and think the bed should go on that wall," she said, pointing imperiously across the room. We both knew she could move the furniture as effortlessly as I could, but my mother didn't raise a fool. I moved the bed – and dresser, and night stand – three times before she was satisfied.
.~~~.
The sound of tires crunching on the snow reached our ears at the same time.
"Half a mile away," I whispered into her neck. "We still have time for..."
"Edward!" Bella said with mock exasperation before running her hand over my chest. Then she giggled and stood, gloriously naked, on the fake rug in front of the fireplace. "Come on, stud. I didn't work this hard on the house just to have your parents walk in on us doing... you know."
"I'm fairly certain they know that we... you know. In fact I'm pretty sure they've done it once or twice themselves." I grinned at her but Bella's attention was already on the clothes strewn around the room and I could hear the vehicle progress inexorably closer.
It's show time.
Sighing as she threw my shirt at me, I tamped down the nerves threatening to rise and got dressed. Within minutes I caught the first whiff of human blood and as the SUV pulled up to our property, I heard six distinct heart beats.
Please don't slaughter your entire family, Cullen.
As though reading my mind, Bella flew across the room and framed my face with her hands. Her expression was fierce – and loving.
"You can do this, honey. Just focus on them, not their scent; your emotions, not your thirst. These are the people you love – that we love. And they obviously love us or they wouldn't have dragged their asses all the way up to this frozen, isolated corner of the world to spend a week with a couple of vampires, right?"
She arched an eyebrow as though it was the most normal, rhetorical conversation two people could have and I laughed in spite of my fears.
Her smile lit up the room and she kissed me deeply and passionately until the first car door opened and the scents exploded like a bouquet of intoxicating flowers.
Family. Love. People. Not food.
Bella's eyes blazed with confidence and I let her sweet breath wash over me like a drug. Lacing my fingers with hers, I strode to the door, leading the way.
"Come on, baby. We have company."
Six humans spilled out of the vehicle, a variety of colored parkas, hats and scarves contrasting brightly with the snowy backdrop. Some of the guests were looking around at the vista with wonder, while the driver stepped out and focused on one of his gloves, adjusting it nervously. Only one passenger stood next to the car and stared at me so intently I would have squirmed if I was still human.
Slowly, Alice's smile broadened and her eyes sparkled with tiny diamond tears on the tips of her lashes. Bella squeezed my hand – I wasn't sure if it was understanding or encouragement, but the latter wasn't necessary after all.
This was my family. The only people I had ever trusted with my life before Bella and I knew without a doubt that though my heart had ceased to beat, it had never stopped loving them. I slipped my hand free and held my arms open as Alice bound toward me, utterly fearless.
"Edward!" she squealed, throwing her arms around my neck. I lifted her off the ground and breathed in her scent. The burn was there in the background, but otherwise she was just Alice, my intuitive, annoying, perfect little sister.
Back on her feet, she leaned back to appraise me. Her eyes widened slightly when she met mine, no longer green, but not quite amber yet. Her hand stroked my jaw and she grinned.
"Permanent scruff. I like it." Before I could respond, Alice discarded me and threw herself at Bella.
Then my mother was standing before me, tears shimmering in the eyes mine used to resemble. Her hands reached for mine and her expression betrayed nothing as she took my cold, solid hands in hers.
"Oh, honey, I've missed you so much!" The tears spilled freely and she buried her face in my chest. Muffled, hitching sobs soaked my shirt as I carefully embraced her.
Jasper had joined Alice in a bear hug with Bella. Over Esme's head I saw Emmett and Rosalie, arm in arm, beaming at me.
"I thought vamps got better looking, Edward. Why didn't it work for you?" said Emmett. Rose shot an elbow to his ribs and rolled her eyes.
"Ignore him. You look fantastic, Edward," she said.
"Well, sure, for a dead guy. Bella carries it off much better, dude."
"No arguments here," I agreed, enjoying the familiar banter.
Esme stopped crying and let me go long enough to hug Bella just as tightly. Her salty tears added to the melange of scents they all brought, but to my relief they just smelled like family. I understood now why it was never an issue for Bella – how her feelings and emotions could easily override her hunger. I'd still have to rein it in around strangers, but the thought of humans filling my home this week no longer filled me with dread.
"So," continued Emmett, looking around the property, "you got anything to eat around here – you know, besides us?"
"Emmett, would you kindly shut the fuck up so I can say hello to my son? You know, the one I like." My father had finished scrutinizing his gloves and began walking slowly toward me. Although he was smirking with amusement, there was a small cloud of sadness casting a shadow over his eyes.
"Hey, what'd I do?" Emmett mock pouted.
"Let's just say that if you take one more bottle of beer down, and pass it around, I'll put your ass on a puddle jumper to Anchorage before I'll ever get in a car with you again."
"Hey, Dad," I said as he stood before me. His brow furrowed in spite of the smile he offered. So much of his world had turned upside down in the past few months. I couldn't begin to imagine what he was thinking with this latest change – the most profound – facing him. I didn't move and everyone else seemed to pause as well.
"Hey, kid. You look... remarkably well. Thanks for letting us come." Then he reached for me and it was as though nothing had changed. I heard everyone release their breath at once and I could sense Bella's tangible satisfaction.
"It's so beautiful up here," said Alice. "I can see why you guys want to stay. Can we see the cabin now?"
With that, the initial reunion was complete. Bella and I gave them the requisite tour and threw together an informal feast so everyone could graze while catching up. Well, almost everyone.
.~~~. Later...
"How is Dad handling... everything?" I asked bluntly as soon as I knew we were out of earshot.
Alice didn't look at me or answer immediately. Instead she walked ahead, bent over and formed a snowball, shaping it until it was a perfect sphere.
"I suppose it's a total waste of effort to start a snowball war with you like when we were little," she mused, tossing it deftly between her hands.
"Give it your best shot, snowflake." I grinned, knowing Alice was diverting me from the question... for now.
She shrugged at me and turned, as though to walk away, but whipped around and threw the snowball with all her might. In the blink of an eye I pulled a branch from the nearest tree and batted the icy missile like it was a mosquito. It disintegrated, sprinkling snow on Alice's dark hair in the process. Her mouth hung open and she continued to gape at me as I crushed the branch into thousands of splinters that peppered the snow around me.
"You are such a show-off. Does Bella enjoy that kind of machismo? I doubt it," she huffed.
"Just tell me."
Looking resigned, my sister sighed and kept walking, her voice clear in the chilly evening air.
"I think he's better now, now that he got to see you."
"And before?" I urged.
I could see her tense imperceptibly as she kept walking, talking.
"Dad was really pumped up while he reorganized the mission, gathered the troops. He helped the Quilleutes transition and look at things differently. He's amazing. It should have been him taking over when John died." Her pride for him was etched in her voice and I felt a twinge of regret for all the years I spent resenting him.
"Then when you– and Bella had to– well, he kind of lost it."
I winced inwardly, though not totally surprised to hear of his reaction.
"Mom barely restrained him from flying to Italy and killing Aro with his bare hands when we heard. I've never seen him that angry –no. Angry isn't a strong enough word. Then it was torture for all of us to wait so far away while you... you know." Alice stopped and turned to me, a crooked smile on her face.
"Changed," I finished for her.
"But you didn't change, Edward. Just like you would say about Bella; you're still you. I was never worried, but who knows what horrible things Dad has seen in his lifetime that we don't even know about. I could tell he was scared, but Mom never left his side while we waited for news, and of course she never doubted the outcome either."
I remembered those harrowing thirty-some hours waiting for Bella to emerge; hoping for the best while fearing the worst. I could relate to my family's anxiety.
"And now...?"
Alice looked intently at me and I could tell she hadn't discussed this with anyone before now.
"I think he blames himself. He spent a lot of hours trying to figure out how Aro found you two." Her delicate features blanched. "Then he spent a lot of hours figuring out how to kill the bastard. Until he did."
"Are you having qualms about his actions?" I asked curiously, without judgment.
"No! If I could have done it myself, I would have. Not just for you, but for all the lives he ruined. We'll never know how many, but there's no doubt Aro was evil and beyond rehabilitation." She nodded somberly, decisively. "I just worried how Dad would reconcile a lifetime spent healing and helping with the calculated plans he made to end a human being."
"And?"
"He was worried sick about Marcus getting caught, but everything went off perfectly. Dad was... mmm... distant, a little withdrawn, the first few days, but he's fine with it. All the hunters know it was him, even though he feigned shock at the news of Aro's untimely death." Alice looked sideways at me with a hint of both guilt and pride. "I think they have a new respect for him. A healthy bit of fear, maybe?" Her eyes twinkled.
"That's probably not a bad thing what with the changes he's instituting. It won't be easy after all these years." I was glad to be out of the business, but could appreciate what a long haul Carlisle was in for.
"Well, if anything makes it easier for him to embrace change, I'm sure it's seeing you. Happy, whole, relatively sane." She grinned at me before adding seriously, "You're happy, aren't you, big brother?"
I brushed the remaining dusting of snowflakes from her hair, tussling it in the process.
"More than I've ever been in my life. Either life," I added with a wry smile. "Even better with all of you here."
.~~~.
Carlisle tapped the spoon on his wine glass, delicately at first, then with more authority. The loud hum of conversation around the table didn't change one bit. He cleared his throat. My mother was usually attuned to him completely, but she was absorbed in a serious discussion regarding the ideal month for an outdoor wedding in Forks — as if there was one — and remained oblivious to his attempts.
I knew Bella was able to pick up on all of the threads of sound and senses as well as I was, but she was giving Esme and Rosalie her undivided attention. Only I seemed aware that my father had something to say to the room. I nodded absently at Emmett while suppressing a smile, waiting... waiting for it...
"For god's sake, people, can you shut the fuck up for one minute so I can make a toast?" he roared over the din.
The whole room went silent, but not from any misplaced intimidation. He fooled no one. I watched him all week as he watched us. Not just me, but all of us – his new extended family that was poised to grow even more. Emmett had been so inspired by the raw beauty of the Alaskan wilderness that he proposed to Rosalie earlier that morning, and the crazy, obviously mentally challenged, blonde had accepted.
I was happy for my brother but my heart was even more full seeing the sense of pride and contentment in my father's face. It was hard to believe I feared he would kill Bella only a few months prior, when now, I could see how clearly smitten by her he was.
Even Jasper seemed to fit into the family like another piece of a puzzle. He and Carlisle reveled in lengthy historical and philosophical debates and my sister's love for the lanky Texan was painted all over her face. I winced inwardly when recalling how much I wanted to kill him not so long ago.
I gazed at the amber eyes of my soul mate, listening to the subtle heartbeats of everyone in the room – but hers, of course – and realized how much had changed since I walked into that shitty crack den last fall.
And yet, it felt like this was always the way it had been. As if reading my mind, Bella turned to meet my gaze, her smile like warm honey through my veins.
Alice sighed theatrically. "But, we've already toasted twenty-eight times at least, Dad. What more could you possibly say trying to warn Rose off of Em? It's hopeless; she wants him." We all shook our heads at the mystery.
Emmett had been ribbed all night, but he was too happy – and possibly too drunk – to care. He just grinned and bobbed his head in agreement at his unbelievable luck. Rose smiled like the cat that had just consumed the canary.
Carlisle stood, raising his wine glass with a sense of gravity. Remnants of the feast were strewn over the table and I recalled Bella trying to help the other women prepare all the food she had bought, while her scrunched up nose betrayed her true opinions. Everyone reached for their respective glasses; mine and Bella's were empty but we embraced the symbolism, nonetheless.
"Although we probably haven't spent enough time marveling over the reasons why Rose would agree to spend the rest of her days with my eldest son, I'm not going to belabor the point now." He smiled at Emmett who grinned and bobbed some more.
"Before we head back to civilization tomorrow, I just want to acknowledge what we already know." The room stilled, becoming quieter than it had all day.
"There have been a lot of changes in the past few months." Bella snorted and promptly covered her mouth. She would have blushed in another lifetime and Carlisle might have frowned at the interruption in another lifetime. Instead, he chuckled and tipped his glass in her direction.
"I've never been a big fan of change–"
This time everyone in the room snorted, no one even bothering to hide it. He mumbled some good-hearted obscenities and continued. "Nevertheless, change happened and we were all affected in one way or another." His eyes met mine ever so briefly, a ghost of pain passing through his expression so quickly I'm not sure he even realized it.
"We've experienced fear and loss and irrevocable change, yet here we are. All of us." My father carefully met everyone's eyes before continuing. "Thriving, learning, moving forward, and above all, loving – all because of those changes."
I saw the events of the past several months flash before him and he blanched, his face shifting in a split second as he reined in his emotions.
"It doesn't really matter what James or Bree or Aro or even his bitch assassin did to fuck with us," he said. His expression was fathomless as his eyes settled on me. "Ultimately, the family business isn't nearly as important as the business of family. And in that, we are a success."
Then Carlisle pointedly tipped his glass of Pinot toward each glass held by his family.