Re-viewed/edited 29/01/2013
Eternal
Prologue ll
Always and forever
Jakey, we best friends?
S'course, best friends forever and always.
Charlie had full custody over Bella and that excuse of a human being was behind bars, getting extra special treatment from the guards once word got out what he did to a cops little baby girl. The creep will wish he was dead before the month ends.
The unhappy period Bella went through was short and she was easily distracted by Jacob who convinced her that she was going to love the worm he found in the backyard or that she would love running around his mom in circles until they fell down. Of course, he was right.
Charlie knew that he owed the small kid his daughter's happiness and vowed that one day he would repay him for the great debt, even if a time came that he understood what had happened to her. He decided he would start small, like giving Jacob a huge fire truck for his birthday and allowing Bella to spend the night even though Charlie was desperate for her to be with him all the time.
It took a few years until he felt secure enough that she would be fine staying over at the Black's without him. That didn't stop him putting her in his bed the next night though so he could feel her safe next to him and know that she wasn't going to be going anywhere.
She would spend her days on the reservation when he had to go back to work. Sarah, Jacob's mother, gladly took another little bundle of energy into her already full house and refused when Charlie tried to pay her for her trouble. She always made sure Bella was fed and cleaned when he had to work late so it was less trouble for him when they got home. In other words, Sarah acted like the mother figure Bella needed, and provided her comfort when Charlie wasn't there to kiss a scraped knee or a banged elbow.
It seemed Bella had no recollection of the times when she was younger and Charlie prayed that it would stay that way. He wouldn't wish seeing your own child sedated so a doctor could assess the damage done to her, wouldn't want any other person have to listen to their child tell a group of strangers what the nasty man had done.
He had even started a collection box for the victims of child abuse and had gone to training so he could give lectures in Port Angeles on how to spot if your child, any child you knew, was showing signs of abuse.
There had been no sign of Rene since Charlie won the court case about Bella's custody but about three months later, a man who was claiming to be her lawyer showed up and told Charlie about a fund she had set up for Bella. $500 would be deposited in the account monthly and when Bella turns sixteen, she will be granted access of $10,000 a year and then the restriction to be removed once she turned eighteen. The monthly deposits would stop when Bella turned thirty.
Charlie hadn't understood why Rene would feel happier paying her daughter off for the trauma she had caused and still was causing in her absence. Surely, coming to see your own daughter would give you more satisfaction than giving them money like she was someone you were trying to bribe to keep quiet.
Billy had told Charlie to leave it, that what she was doing was her own way of grieving for something that shouldn't have happened. Guilt, it seemed was keeping Rene away from her child.
Eternity
"Daddy?" Charlie looked down at Bella who had appeared from nowhere. She had started going to pre-school last week and he could already see a difference in her; she was happier, she was talking more and more and his fridge was covered in paintings she had done for him.
It wasn't only his fridge that was suffering from becoming over encumbered with childish pictures, they covered his board in his office at the station and he was sure there were some in his cruiser. Occasionally she would make something for Billy and Sarah which they would dutifully pin to their fridge. He was sure Jake even had one in his room.
"Daddy, are we best friends?" Charlie smiled and scooped Bella up, kissing her forehead before considering how to phrase a response.
"Yes honey, we are." He walked over to her little cubby hole and pulled out her bag which only contained one picture today. "Are you excited to go over to Jake's? Aunty Sarah has made some cookies." He smiled as her head moved up and down so fast there was surely a risk of it spinning off.
On the ride over to La Push Bella was quiet and Charlie assumed she had fallen asleep until she spoke up once more. "Daddy, if we're best friends, how can Jakey be my best friend tooo?"
He suppressed a chuckle at four year old logic. You had one best friend and everyone else was just your friend. "Well honey people can have more than one best friend. You can have as many best friends as you want." Charlie glanced back at Bella to check she had some understanding as to what he was saying.
When they arrived at the Black's, Sarah was just getting out of her car, the twins already out the car and running to the house, Jacob could be seen struggling with the buckles on his car seat as he looked from the straps to where Bella was now standing next to Charlie, her little hand buried in his.
As soon as Sarah let him free and placed him on the ground he was over by Bella in a shot, he grabbed her hand and began eagerly pulling her behind him talking wildly about a rabbit his dad had caught and put in a cage the day before.
Bella was able to turn and wave at her father before she was tugged around the back of the house, taking her out of Charlie's view and leaving him standing in the space between the cars with Sarah.
"Thank you for doing this." He said, still staring at the space where Bella had disappeared. "She was asking about best friends earlier so expect some questions from Jacob later." He smirked at Sarah's head shaking. Ever since they had learned to talk to each other they were always swapping stories and then the stories were asked to be confirmed by their parents. It was like they wanted to make sure that the other knew what was right.
"That's fine." Sarah said, a small smile of her own growing on her lips. "Jacob will probably tell her about Seth making a big mess on Sue's new rug this morning when I dropped him off there." The two adults chuckled before Charlie climbed back in is cruiser, confirming to pick Bella up at 8 'o clock when his shift ended.
Eternity
A sleepy Bella rolled over onto her belly and looked over at Jake who was denying to himself that he was tired. "Jakey, we best friends?" She asked, her eye lids slipping lower over her eyes as she yawned. The two of them had been running around the back of the house, Billy chasing after them, making them scream and giggle and then pant when they ran out of breath.
Jacob rolled over and placed his little hand over Bella's smaller one. It still made him stare when their two different colours of skin were touching, even after the numerous times it had happened he still thought the two colours were very pretty together. "S'course, best friends forever and always." He rolled closer and put his head in front of hers, their noses touching as they looked sleepily into each other's eyes.
The two of them fell asleep, their noses and forehead pressed together as they lay in dreamland. They were found a short while later by Billy and Sarah who smiled and took a sneaky picture that planned to keep until they were older to embarrass them.
Billy bent down and scooped up Jacob, making sure he was still asleep as he carried him to his bed, returning quickly to pick Bella up and placing her next to Jake. He sighed and shut the door quietly behind him as he went to the kitchen and sat down with his wife and twin daughters. It sometimes felt like Bella was another one of his daughters, a fact that made him smile whenever he thought about it and then panic when he realised he would have an extra beauty to protect from boys.
Eternity
Bella giggled. Jacob had been making funny bird noises for quite a while before he said they should try and climb the tree behind her house. That had confused Bella because there were lots of trees around her house and she wasn't sure how they were going to choose to which tree to climb. Watching Jacob try and shake each tree before he attempted to climb them was the cause of her girlish giggles.
"Come on Bella, this tree is the bestest one." He claimed, already starting to hoist himself up the branches before stopping and offering a sticky hand out to Bella. She didn't hesitate when she reached out for it and allowed him to guide her up numerous branches until Jacob declared they were high enough.
"Its my birthday soon Bella." Jacob pronounced proudly. He would be turning seven the next week and he couldn't be more excited about it. Bella nodded, she had already gone out with her daddy and bought Jake the best ever present. They had gotten him a set where he could make his own wooden wolf that was very tall, nearly as tall as Bella was.
Little fingers pounced on Bella's stomach and the giggles once more returned. She squirmed and tried to move out of the way. She was able to shift away from his wiggling fingers but the movement caused her to lose her balance on the branch and fall, fall, fall, down to the ground, landing with a loud crack that immediately brought on a huge round of tears.
"DADDY!" Their shouts were identical, and it wasn't long before both Charlie and Billy burst through the back door, their eyes falling on a crying Bella and Jacob descending from a tree, a look of sheer fear and panic on his face as he raced over to Bella.
Charlie carefully unfolded Bella, his eyes widening when he saw how obviously broken her little arm was. He hushed her and turned her head away from her injury as he gently lifted her into his arms, running his hands over her other limbs to make sure there were no more breakages that needed to be taken care of.
"Bella!" Jake jumped and tried to look at Bella's face as Charlie began to hurry the crying girl around the house and to his car. He came to a stop when he realised that he would have to put Bella down to open the door and drive her to the hospital. He hopelessly turned to Billy, begging with his eyes for his friend to help him out.
"We'll take my car Charlie. Jake, come on." Jacob quickly jumped in the back, leaning over the middle seat to look at Bella when Charlie slid in the opposite side.
"Charlie, is she going to be okay?" His bottom lip had begun to tremble and Charlie just knew that he was about to start crying and his tears would join Bella's.
"She'll be fine Jake, her arm will need to be fixed by a doctor first though." Charlie held her closer at the thought of her reacting to the hospital environment. The last time she was there she was getting her top up on her vaccinations and she screamed bloody murder at the sight of the needle that hadn't even touched her yet. Charlie had to hold her tightly against his body as the doctor quickly pushed the needle in. Tears had been welling in his own eyes as Bella's screams faded and she returned to sobbing quietly into his neck. It was an experience he didn't want to relive ever again.
When they got to the hospital, the woman sat behind the desk at A&E took one look at the crying girl and didn't hesitate when she called for the nearest doctor who gave Bella some pain medication before assessing the damage done to her arm.
Jacob sat on the bed next to Charlie who was holding Bella in his lap while the doctor put a plaster cast on her arm. A clean break, he had said, was the best break for young bones. It would heal itself quickly. After Bella was sorted, the doctor gave Charlie some pain killers and the warning that they might make her drowsy.
Bella didn't fall asleep until Charlie placed her on the couch, Jacob squished as close to her as he could possibly get. Billy frowned at his son before heading into the kitchen with Charlie.
"I'm sorry. I don't think Jake knew what could happen otherwise I'm sure he wouldn't have let Bella anywhere near a tree." Billy sunk down into one of the kitchen chairs. "Jake's probably thinking about how he can get rid of all the trees so she can't get hurt by one of them again."
That made Charlie smile. He didn't have any blame towards Jacob, he knew that things like this were going to happen. He just wasn't expecting one so soon.
After Billy and Jacob left, Charlie stood in the doorway to the lounge and watched Bella sleep. She didn't look anything like her mother. She held the dark features that she inherited from Charlie, her dark hair and eyes matching his, it was no question that they were father and daughter. The only resemblance she had of Rene was her pale skin, but most people that live in Forks had pale skin, including Charlie himself.
It was past midnight before Charlie moved Bella from the couch and placed her in his bed. It was another hour before he was able to close his eyes and sleep. He didn't want his daughter to go away. Ever.
Eternity
Bella climbed onto her Daddy's lap and put her hand on his cheek. It was wet and she wiped her hand on her top before putting back on her daddy's warm cheek. He looked so sad and she knew that it wasn't anything that she had done.
She had tidied away her dolls like he had asked her and then she had eaten all her dinner, even those nasty little green trees that her daddy gave her all the time. Bella knew that whatever made him sad couldn't be because of her. She had been good today.
Wrapping her little arms around her Daddy's neck, she nuzzled her head into his and whispered; "Why is Daddy so sad?"
The sound of his daughter's voice brought Charlie out of his feeling of shock. He held her close and continued to let the tears fall from his eyes and into Bella's hair. He was trying hard to absorb the information he had just been told but it seemed impossible.
How could it have happened? Why did it happen? What had they done to deserve this?
A rumble of thunder and a crack of lightening caused Bella to whimper and attempt to burrow herself into Charlie's neck. He allowed her to pull herself closer before he stood up, bringing her with him as he walked around the kitchen, his hand running up and down her back soothingly as he tried to calm his own personal storm in his mind.
She couldn't be…she would have to pull through…and Billy…he would have to wake up….the kids….oh god…Jacob, Rachel and Rebecca….they had to pull through to see their smiles again….they couldn't leave so soon…
"We're going to the hospital, Bella Bee." He whispered, searching for her coat and shoes and then his own. "We have to go and make sure Aunty Sarah and Uncle Billy are okay…" He trailed off as he watched Bella pull her shoes on then stand up and hold her hand out to him.
"Come on Daddy, its will be okay." Her strong statement would have seemed funny coming from a six year old if it wasn't for the squeal she let out when there was another rumble of thunder. "Is Jakey going to be there?" She asked when he had picked her up.
He didn't have an answer for her. It was a lucky coincidence that Jacob and the girls had been at the Clearwater's and not in the car…if Jake had been in the car, he was sure Bella wouldn't recover.
Charlie bent the rules and drove to the hospital with the lights flashing and the siren going. This was something that usually made Bella giggle but today she was quiet as she watched her Daddy drive and wondered what she could do to get rid of the sad look on his face.
In the hospital, Charlie and Bella were met by Harry who was sporting an expression equally as grim as Charlie's.
"Billy's in a room now, he should be waking up in a few hours but Sarah is still in theatre." Harry looked down at Bella before squeezing his eyes shut and tilting his head back. "The other driver was drunk. He's dead."
Charlie kneeled down so he was at Bella's level. "If I put you with Uncle Billy do you promise to be very quiet and not try to wake him up?" He smiled sadly when Bella nodded vigorously.
When she immediately curled into a ball on the old leather chair Charlie placed her on, he made sure to repeat the rules to Bella one more time before he left to see if there was anything he could do.
As soon as her father had left the room, she crept from the chair and walked slowly up to the big bed that had her Uncle Billy asleep on it. Her little hand lifted and she placed it over the big brown hand she could see. Biting her lip, she stepped closer until she was able to see the side of his face.
"Uncle Billy." She whispered. "You gots to wakes up. Daddy is sad and so is Seth's Daddy. Jakey might be sad but Daddy ses he okay." Bella sighed when Billy didn't stir, she looked around the small room, her eyes gliding over the beeping machines until they landed on the chair she had been sat on. She quickly scrambled over to it and began to pull it over to Billy's side, pausing only when it made a screechy noise on the floor.
She stood on the chair and leaned over Billy, stroking his cheek like she had done to her own father when he was sad earlier. "Daddy ses to not wakes you up, but you know lots." Bella stayed stroking his cheek, hoping for him to wake up.
Almost without realising what she was doing, Bella began to sing the lullaby that Billy always sung to her when she was staying at his house when there was bad rain and loud noises. She repeated the song over and over until she ended up humming it, her body draped over his shoulder as she carried on.
That was how Harry and Charlie found her. Charlie was ready to scold Bella for breaking his rules until he saw that Billy was awake and staring at the little body next to his.
The three men stayed silent until Bella fell asleep, her humming ended and Billy avoided eye contact with Charlie and Harry. "How bad is she?" He asked, his voice hoarse, his eyes stinging from the bite of unshed tears.
Charlie shared a look with Harry. They had asked the doctor if they could deliver the news of Sarah's death to Billy, thinking at the time that it would soften the blow and maybe not seem so harsh, but now both men had no idea how to tell their friend.
Stepping forward and placing a hand on Bella's back, Charlie took a deep breath before letting it go. "She's gone Billy." He paused, not sure whether he would want to hear anymore. "They tried their best but there was internal bleeding and nothing could be done, they got to her too late."
The sobs that ripped through Billy were quiet but loud enough that they woke up Bella. She instantly stroked his cheek and pressed her head into his neck, holding herself close in hopes he would be better. She was lifted from Billy by Charlie who thought it would be best for Billy to have his moment of grief by himself. He heard Harry mumble something behind him before he too followed Charlie out the room and collapsed into one of the plastic chairs near the nurses' desk.
"Daddy, Uncle Billy is sad, he needs a hug and kiss." She said, her eyes filling with tears at the sight of tears in her father's eyes and the fresh memory of Billy's sobs. "He needs hugs." She insisted, not understanding why she wasn't allowed to go and give him all the hugs she could.
"Bella." Charlie whispered. "Billy's sad because…Aunt Sarah…Aunt Sarah has gone to heaven." He rubbed her back, watching the cogs turn behind her eyes as her little mind worked through this new piece of information.
She knew what heaven was. She had been taught all about it in school a few weeks before and had even talked to Charlie about it and asked why some people went quicker than others.
"I don't want Aunty Sarah to be in heaven." She wailed, clutching at Charlie as she shook with tears. "Tell her Daddy, tell her she has to come back."
"I can't." He whispered. "I can't baby girl."
Eternity
Bella held Jake's hand tightly in her own as they watched the big fire. She was wearing a black dress that was itchy and didn't want to wear until Charlie told her why she had to wear it. She was being respectful to Aunty Sarah.
When she had told Jacob that his Mommy was in heaven, he had said that the Quileute's didn't have a heaven, instead they had a spiritual world where all the spirits rested until they were called forth again. Bella hadn't said anything to him, but it sounded an awful lot like heaven.
"Bella." Jacob said. "Will be together all the time?"
"Always and forever."
And they believed it to be true.
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