I don't own twilight or it's characters. Shocking, I know.
AN: Short one shot. Just an idea I wanted to deposit. Hope you enjoy it.
"Why is Grandma Bella so sad today?"
My mother had a small sad smile. "Grandpa Edward died one year ago today."
"He was very old." I thought old people die. So why wasn't Grandma Bella okay? I didn't mean to be mean, but that was how it worked wasn't it?
"She thinks he should have lived longer. It hurts when you lose someone. The truth is that he lived a very long time all things considered." I was setting the table with her as she had a far away look in her eye.
"Considering what?" I asked.
"Considering all the things he survived in the war. It's a good story. I'll tell you about it tonight." I had never stopped to think about Grandpa surviving war.
We sat down to dinner and remembered Sunday dinners with Grandpa Edward. He was senile and would start yelling gas attack. And the entire family would make him happy by dragging our plates under the table eating our roast. He hadn't gotten mean like some people when alzeimers kicks in. But he made life more interesting. When he played war with us, he really believed it. At home that night, Mom poured a glass of wine and stood in the kitchen with me once everyone had gone home.
"When Grandma Bella was a little girl, her father died in the second Boer war. Things were very hard for her and her twelve siblings. She swore she wouldn't marry and have children because she wouldn't put them through the hardships that they went through. Of course, when she came of age she met Grandpa Edward. He swore to her that he wouldn't die and leave her on her own. After chasing her long and hard, she agreed to marry him. I heard that she said she would torment him in the afterlife if he broke that promise. No sooner than they had gotten married than the Great War broke out. He spent three years in the trenches when most men died within weeks. He escaped gas attacks and around the clock artillery and malnutrition, sleep deprivation and disease. Until the winter he got stuck in no man's land. He was gassed and suffered a severe gut wound. His friend dragged him out, but when they made it to the aid center, he was triaged out as a lost cause. They left him outside to bleed to death in the cold snow. His friend was pulled inside against his will and treated for his own wounds." Mom swirled her wine in her glass with a small smirk.
"He said all night he remembered his promise to Grandma Bella. And he thought of how hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. He swore he believed she would torment in if he died." We both laughed. It sounded like something Grandpa Edward would say.
"So he concentrated on breathing all night long. And in the morning, he called to a nurse as she passed by. She was shocked to see he was still alive and decided if he had lived through the night, then he could make it through surgery. He came home and he kept his promise to Grandma Bella until last year."
I frowned at the end of the story and thought aloud.
"Do you think Grandma Bella is going to torment him in the afterlife for breaking his promise?"