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THE FORGIVENESS ONLY SHE CAN GIVE.
CHAPTER ONE: HER RETURN.
Edward's POV.
~ The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness ~
Victor Hugo.
If someone had tried to prepare me for this encounter, they would have failed miserably. Nothing anyone could have said to me would have prepared me for this. From the moment she stepped onto the stage there was no doubt left lingering in my mind that this night was not going to be easy at all.
Since her disappearance on that summer's night, so much had happened in my life; in my family's life. In the space of seven years, my brothers and I had gained wives but lost our parents. We had gone through college and earned degrees but were no longer our father's pride and joy. We had started families and while our children were the heart and soul that pulsed through our parents' home, we were now strangers in our mother's heart.
Standing there in front of the entire population of Forks, or at least most of the inhabitants, she looked breathtaking. Her thin yet beautifully curved frame was covered in an elegant knee-length black dress. Her eyes, that once smoldered, now burned with a fierceness and vigor that I was yet to see grace any woman. Her skin still held its creamy flawlessness and her hair cascaded down her back with its signature coffee-brown colour.
From her physical appearance but more importantly her attire, it was plain to see that she was living a life full of luxury; the luxury I once dreamed of for my family but can no longer give. I did not need my sister-in-law to tell me that the clothing and jewelry that she adorned bore a hefty price tag. The way her earring sparkled and threw rainbows against the far walls of the room, even in the dim light of the auditorium, was proof enough that she wore diamonds. But even if I was a fool and could not tell she was well of by what she wore, I would have certainly been able to when I looked at the ring on her left hand; the ring that signified her union with another.
As she began her speech, I became entranced by the way her lips moved. Just like in her youth, her lips still held that pinkish hue that made them look so lush and soft. Her voice was soft and gentle reminding me of the calm and peace her voice once brought to me when she sang the nonsensical nursery rhymes of our youth but it was her words that cut throw me like a knife made with the sharpest of steel.
My grandfather always told me that it was the person who showed emotion that cared the most and it was now that I saw the true depth of that statement. As time and her speech progressed, her tiny hands became clenched fist and her delicate frame shook violently as tears streamed down her face. Her plea was simple as she begged the youth of Forks not to walk the path she did; to not become a victim like she did.
My wife held my hand firmly in hers as her body trembled with her own sorrow. My wife, like my mother, had the ability to love endlessly and I knew hearing this story was tearing her apart. Without a moment's hesitation, I pulled my wife into my chest as she sobbed. My brothers too, had their wives cradled to their chest but there was a marginal difference between the tears my wife shed and the tears my sisters-in-law shed.
Standing directly behind our guest speaker, was the man to whom I owed dearly and even though we were yet to meet, I knew that if he should ever need anything of me, I would gladly answer to his call.
There were several moments during her speech where she would freeze or where her emotions were too much for her to bear and it was in these moments that he would, gently and lovingly, place his hand on her back, silently offering her the comfort that only he could give; the comfort a husband gives to his wife. Even though to some, those simple touches meant little, to me and my entire family, it showed the deep level of adoration, love and commitment that was shared between them.
Also present on the stage, lingering in the shadows, was Chief of Police, Charlie Swan and his wife of a little over ten years now, Sue Swan. Since that day, almost seven years ago, I had gained a lot of respect for them and at the same time, lost the ability to look them in the eye since my shame crippled me.
I did not know how much more of this that I could have taken and judging by the looks on the faces of my brothers, I was not the only one at the end of their road. My heart, soul and conscience could not bear any more. But as faith would have it, she had decided that she had shared all she could have and left the stage sobbing quietly into the arms of the man she now called her husband.
In a suffocating silence, my family and I walked out of the auditorium into the car park and stood waiting for our parents to meet us before we separated for the night.
Fifteen minutes later, my parents arrived with my father supporting most of my mother's weight against his chest as her pained cries could be heard across the parking lot. Immediately, on seeing my mother's distress, my wife shot out for my side and raced to my mother.
"Oh mama!" She sobbed as she let her own tears fall.
"So much pain, Angela. So much pain. And she has so much more to tell." Esme, my mother cried clutching Angela to her chest as my father brought his arms around both their shaking forms.
"Wh-h-hat-t do you mean?" Angela stuttered over her tears refusing to pull away from their embrace, taking comfort as a parental mantel settled around her; a comfort I longer received.
"She stopped because she said it looked like we, the audience, couldn't bear anymore. Selfless as always." Esme responded with a watery chuckle as she pulled back to cup Angela's face in her hands.
It was unspoken knowledge that of all three of the daughters-in-law, my wife was the favorite. My parents openly despised Alice and Rosalie and had on more than one occasion, refused to acknowledge them as Cullens. But try as we might, there was no way that my brothers could have changed our parents' views. After all, they knew. They knew what we did.
"Selfless as always? What do you mean? Did you know her before?" My angel asked softly raising her head to look at both my parents in utter confusion.
"Of course we knew her. Weren't you told?" My father, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, asked as he placed his hand around my mother's waist as he turned an accusing eye towards us.
"Told what?" She asked glancing between me and my parents. "Please dad! What was I not told?" Angela pleaded.
"Before I answer you, answer me this- have you ever heard of our guest speaker before just now?"
"No," She answered simply, her brow furrowing together.
"Why does that not surprise me?" my mother asked rhetorically with a dark chuckle. "Man enough to destroy a life, to rip a child away from its mother but not man enough to admit his crimes." She continued as she turned to stare in our direction.
"Well dear, I think your husband and his brothers should have been man enough to tell you about her but since they clearly aren't, I will tell you." My mother sneered in our direction.
"Mrs. Cullen, please, is it possible for us to conduct this conversation in a more private place?" Rosalie asked in the cautious tone that she used while conversing with my parents.
"No!" My father snapped, causing us all to recoil in fear. "Why should we care? Do you not want people to know what you are capable of? After all you should always be proud of what you accomplished no matter the cost."
As soon as my father's rant was over, my mother turned her attention back to Angela.
"That woman who spoke tonight is the only child of the chief of police and his first wife Renee."
"Wait, the Chief has a daughter?"
"Yes dear. She was born on the thirteenth of September, 1988. Her name is Isabella but to close friends and family she goes by Bella. If you had been lucky to meet Bella seven years ago, you would have been meeting someone completely different. At the age of fifteen, Bella was full of life, loving, humble, got straight A's. She was perfect but she grew up without a mother. Now as you know I always wanted a daughter but God would not grant me such a gift but now I believed it came with good reason. Emmett, as you know, was the youngest of my sons and he was already in kindergarten when Isabella was born and since your father-in-law over here insisted I stop working when I first got pregnant with Edward, I had a lot of free time. So after talking to Charlie, I became Bella's nanny of sort but as time passed she became more to me, to us." My mother said clasping my father's hand in hers.
"Very soon, Bella became a very important member of our family; so important that on her thirteenth birthday Carlisle and I presented her with a locket engraved with the Cullen crest on it. In every sense of the word Isabella Swan was a Cullen but then things changed. Her world was shattered. Rumors began to fly and spread how she was a whore; that she slept with married men. The rumors were horrid just like the people who spread them." my mother huffed shoot a glare in the direction of my sisters-in-law but Angela did not seem to notice as her vision blurred with tears.
"What caused it? What caused the rumors? Was there any base to it?" Angela asked cautiously as if fearing the answer.
"No one knew what triggered the rumors at the time but we soon discovered it was simply jealousy that reared its ugly head. And like all rumors, none of it was true." My father answered wiping the tears from my wife's eye and gently seating her on a near by bench as her frame began to shake.
"And after?"
"Well dear, she was alienated, shunned, insulted. The list goes on and on. Charlie, Carlisle and myself tried our best to protect her but we were only three against every one else. We tried everything we could to protect her but it was not enough. Then one day it was just too much and she ran. For five years we searched. We never could give up hope; wouldn't give up hope and then, just like she left, she came back."
"What?"
"On our thirtieth wedding anniversary, she sent us a letter congratulating us and telling us that she would be in touch." My mother revealed leaving every single one of us in shock.
"And she did just that." My father added with a chuckle.
"What happened to her in those five years?" Angela whispered.
"She told you tonight dear. She told everyone what happened during those five years. Why do you think so many people were crying? It was guilt; the guilt over what they did" My father responded taking Angela into one of his signature paternal hugs.
"So when do I meet my sister? I mean you did say you consider her a…." My mother gently shushed my wife with a chuckle.
"Tomorrow at lunch. I invited her to join both of us and to bring Jacob along."
"Jacob?"
"Her husband." My mother clarified before bursting out in one of the most love-filled smiles I had seen in a long time. "Oh gosh Carlisle, she's home. Our baby girl is home." My mother gushed.
With a hearty chuckle, my father placed a delicate kiss on my mother's forehead. "Yes, dear. She's home. Finally baby girl Cullen is home. After all she is more of a Cullen than some."
And there it was; the reminder of how our parents thought of us; of how much anger they still held against us. After all, we were the ones at fault. We were the ones who drove Isabella Swan away and tore the only daughter our parents knew, right from their hands and for that we will always pay.
Author's Note: So give me a review and let me know what you think. Also check out the blog for all the pictures. The link is on my profile.