Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.
Beta-in-Chief: Lola...she was a showgirl, but she gave that and her yellow feathers up to beta my little story. (Additional disclaimer: Barry Manilow owns the lyrics to Copacabana)
"Jason, can't you go any faster?" Bella's voice panicked as she held tight to her son's waist. She had to yell to be heard through the visor of her helmet, and she knew he was straining to hear her through the thick material of his own. His head gave one quick sharp nod of acknowledgement. Occasionally, she would let go of his waist to brush aside an errant piece of his long black hair that escaped its tight braid as it hung down his back. She would definitely be asking him about a haircut this summer. It would be futile she knew. Like his father before him, he had never wanted a real haircut and much preferred the straight long black hair that his Indian ancestors had.
He shouldn't be driving her motorcycle, and Bella knew that. He had his driver's license though, and was going to work on getting his motorcycle license this summer with his Grandpa Billy. Not that Billy could ride, but plenty of the boys his father had grown up with promised to teach him. He had known how to ride for years, Jacob had seen to that before he died years ago. But really, was anyone in Forks going to arrest the Police Chief and the Tribal Chief's grandson? Bella doubted it and egged her son on to go just a little faster even though she knew it was wrong. She just needed to drop him off at Charlie's house and then she could continue on with her own summer vacation, not that it was going to be much of one.
She had purposefully arranged with her book agent to go scope out a couple of sites that the production company was thinking about using when they filmed the second installment of her fiction series. Not that they were going to give her any say in it, but her writing was her passion and she felt very protective of it.
She was more successful than she had ever thought she would be. She could still hear Jacob's words to her when she told him that she was going to be published. He would always tell her that he knew she was going to be, and that she would be more successful than she ever dreamed, 'I know this Bells' she remembered him saying to her frequently.
Bella closed her eyes and remembered when they had gone to the first premiere. She breathed in the leather from her son's jacket as she let the memories overtake her. They had gone to the premier, hidden off to the side of course. They had both valued their privacy too much to give it all away to a world full of complete strangers. She wrote as an alias and even though she was bribed more than once by her friend and agent to 'come out' she had no intention of doing so. She was just grateful that the movie came out before Jacob died. The two of them laughed when they watched it. Bella had been given a walk on part and had done it, albeit clumsily, with no one except her agent being any wiser. Jacob had thought it hysterical when he heard the people sitting behind them in the dark theatre ask why no one had ever seen what the author of the book looked like. Of course it was even funnier because the woman had said it right as Bella tripped onto the screen. They laughed about it all night.
In her wildest dream, Bella could not have imagined how popular her books would become or how famous her penname 'Blackened Swan' would become. The name was another of Jacob's ideas and Bella laughed and blushed deep scarlet under her helmet when she thought about how he had come up with it. She thought she would be a lot less popular with the younger demographics if they ever found out how she had earned that nickname from him.
Being back in Forks made her extremely nervous. She was always afraid of what she might run into, and even more afraid of whom she might run into. The last time she had been back was Thanksgiving last year. She and her son had driven into Forks, had an early Thanksgiving lunch with her father, and drove back home that same day. Charlie didn't look so good then. She would have to keep closer tabs on him, and this was one way she knew how.
Ever since Jacob died almost 5 years ago, their son was asking Bella for permission to go to Forks and to stay with his grandfathers. He wanted to spend his summer hanging out and fixing up cars with his father's friends on the Reservation. He wanted to spend time fishing with Charlie and Billy. He even admitted boyishly that Charlie might take him for a ride-along in the police car. Not that there would be anything exciting to do in it except ride around. Crime was still nonexistent in Forks, a fact that depressed her when she was younger and looking for excitement, but now comforted her as her father was Police Chief.
She was brought out of her memories as her son put his foot out on the ground to correct the tire slipping on the soft road. Bella kept one arm around her son's waist and reached her other arm out to see what time her watch said. As she did so, Jason caught sight of what she was doing.
He sighed. "Hang on mom, we're almost there." Jason turned a corner quickly and swore as the tire slipped a little. "Sorry," he mumbled hastily as he put his long, muscular leg out to correct the slip yet again.
"Oh yeah, you're definitely my kid." Bella laughed as she yelled it to him and they both shared a laugh through their helmets.
"We're almost there. This weather is for crap though," she heard Jason yell back, although it was muffled somewhat. He paused, taking his eyes briefly from the road to look up at the darkening sky. The quick glance was his one mistake. As he looked back at the road, he noticed a driver coming straight for them on the small 2 lane road. He moved to one side after gauging that the other driver made a turn into his lane, but still hadn't vacated it. "Hang on!"
"Jason!" Bella screamed, and that was the last thing they said to each other before blackness took them over.
"How is she really Carlisle? She should have woken up by now." Bella could hear Charlie's worried voice break through her fog.
"She'll be fine Charlie. The CAT scan of her head is clear. He really had no business driving though, and she should have known better. At least they both had helmets on and riding jackets." Bella heard the distinct sigh from Carlisle's voice, a sound she hadn't heard in over 10 years, but still missed nonetheless. She tried to move her right hand to cover her eyes from the bright overhead lights but it was bandaged and strapped to her chest tightly. She raised her left hand instead.
"Some things never change do they Charlie?" Carlisle laughed lightly.
"Sorry, sir, it's my fault. I told her to let me. I do have my driver's license, and I plan on getting my motorcycle license this summer." Bella turned her head toward the sound of her son's voice. She could hear her son introduce himself to Dr. Cullen and her chest filled with pride. Jacob would have been so proud. She tried to shake off her fog.
"Jase?" She asked in a raspy voice. She tried to clear her voice and say it again as her thoughts remembered exactly what had happened. "JASON!"
"Easy there, Bells. He's here, he's fine. You took the worst of it. What were you thinking riding your bike out here?" Charlie's voice grounded her thoughts.
Bella opened her eyes and quickly closed them again. She turned her head toward her father's voice, and cleared her throat before speaking.
"I was just thinking that I was going to drop him off and start heading south to vacation with Gen. You know, it wasn't his fault that someone cut into our lane. He had no choice but to swerve onto the soft shoulder to avoid a head-on collision. Heaven forbid Clallam County have an actual road with a shoulder to pull off on." Bella smiled through her reprimand, knowing that it would hit Charlie right where she wanted it to. "How're you really, Jase?" Her brown eyes filled with tears as her face flooded with concern.
"I'm good. Never better. I got more stitches on my arm, and my jacket is pretty tore up. How do you feel, mom?" As he spoke, Bella couldn't help but notice the resemblance from the past. It was as though Jacob was watching her through their son's eyes, like he was staring at her from his grave.
"Your jacket is ripped. It is not 'tore up'," Bella said weakly as she tried to assess the damage to both her and her son standing next to her.
"Geez. If she's correcting my English, she's fine," Jason said as Charlie and Carlisle both laughed with him. "Seriously, mom, are you ok?"
Bella closed her eyes against the light. She was just tired, physically and emotionally. She hadn't been sleeping well with all the anticipation she'd been feeling from taking this trip, and getting up early that morning didn't help.
She always tended to over think things. Bella knew one reason that she agreed to come back here and let Jason stay with his grandfathers this summer. He needed to know everything about Jacob. There were things that Bella just couldn't trust herself to tell him. Jacob had another life on the reservation, which Bella was never really a part of. He had friends there that he was very close to there who could tell Jason things about his father that Bella couldn't.
She couldn't believe Jacob had been gone for almost five years. Just as their son was approaching manhood; just when he would need him most. Of course, Jacob was always there for him while he was growing up. Teaching him, even as a toddler, how to shake people's hands and look them in the eye. They had made certain that their son had grown up right.
In the high school where he attended and Bella had substitute taught English and Creative Writing, he was one of the most popular kids. Ever since he was a freshman, he made friends with everyone, no matter their social status. He was on the varsity baseball team since he started there. Jacob would have been so proud that all those hours playing baseball with their son hadn't been for nothing. Jason had a following at his school, he had a best friend, and he had a girlfriend. He made friends so easily.
Everywhere they had traveled, Jason was the one who initiated contact with people. They were just naturally drawn to him. He was a people person, and Bella just knew that he inherited that from Jacob's gene pool. He had gotten nothing from her side except his clumsiness. Even his tall, musculature stature screamed 'Black', furthering the proof that he could trace his heritage back to the great Chief How-Yak.
He would easily fit in the Tribe, should that be what he decides for his future. It hurt Bella to know that Jacob would never take his rightful place as Chief, and that he hadn't lived long enough to see their son take that place after him.
"My shoulder and my arm hurt. I suppose it's broken?" She picked her head up and looked over at Carlisle for confirmation.
"It's good to see you again, Bella, and you're right, it's broken. You should have been a doctor, not a teacher. You must have landed on your right side. I would like you to stay a little longer, just to make sure you aren't concussed. You slept through the x-rays and the cat scan." Carlisle started touching the top of her head gently.
"Carlisle, it's like old times, but, really, I'm fine. I was wearing my helmet." Bella said this as if it excused the accident. "It's just my arm. My leg burns, but I can see why. That's going to leave a nasty mark." She glanced down at her shredded blue jeans and saw the road rash underneath peeking through the rips and tears.
"Yes, well, it could have been much worse. It'll hurt for a couple of weeks at least. I'm going to bandage it before you go. Do you have an extra pair of pants? I think I am going to have to cut away some of the material on these." Carlisle's face was nothing but professional. During her years growing up in Forks, he had seen Bella in far worse shape than this. Even with all the years that had passed, and the fact that she was laying in front of him in just a black tank top and ripped apart blue jeans, the two of them were completely comfortable in each other's presence.
"Where's my bike at? I had another pair in the saddlebag. Is the bike ok, Jase?" Bella looked over at her son as she struggled to sit up fully.
"Uh, well, not completely. Grandpa had Quil come and take it back to his shop on the res to fix it up. I have your clothes in my backpack though. Uh, mom, you do realize that you are not going to be going anywhere on the bike with your arm like that right?" Jason stepped forward and laid a hand comfortingly on her good leg. His voice was full of concern.
"WHAT? No, no, no, no, no! I can't stay here in Forks. That wasn't part of the deal. I am just dropping you off for the summer. I'll be back to get you before school starts. That was the deal, Jason. Charlie, help me out here." Bella's voice shook and Charlie recognized that she was almost in full-blown panic mode.
"Bells, calm down. Your shoulder is going to need to be in that sling and your arm is going to be in a cast. You aren't going to be able to ride for awhile. You can hang out here for a couple of weeks. Would it kill you to spend time with your old man?" Charlie's voice may have been strong and sarcastic, but Bella could tell in his eyes that he was hurt, probably more so now than when she and Jacob had left together right after high school. There was really no reason she couldn't stay for a week or two. Truth be told, she could probably stay the summer. She wondered why she had never told Charlie that.
"Charlie, please don't do this. I can't stay here. I was supposed to go with Genophyr on a trip down the coast to check out a few things for a special project. Please?" Bella begged and threw an uncomfortable glance at Carlisle, trying to look apologetic.
"Bella, how about we set your arm in a cast and get your leg cleaned up and then you can decide from there? Hmm? Charlie, Jason, would you mind waiting in the hall?" Carlisle went over to a small cabinet on the wall and started pulling things onto a tray.
"No, I'll stay with her." Jason stepped forward with his arms crossed in front of him, almost daring Carlisle to say no. Bella laughed, if she let him continue, she knew without a doubt that Jason would get his way. He had a knack for getting people to do exactly what he wanted. She knew that Carlisle would cave in, just as she had when he asked if he could drive.
"Jason, go keep your grandpa Charlie company in the hall. I'll be fine. Leave my pack here." She called to him as he walked out of the curtained off cubicle. Both she and Carlisle laughed when they saw his hand reach back into the cube and throw the backpack through it. It landed with a soft thud on the floor by Carlisle's feet. He gently shoved it aside with his foot and laughed.
"So, you know the drill, this is going to hurt some." Carlisle filled a syringe with a painkiller and numbed Bella's leg a bit. She gasped quickly as he poked the needle in a few places trying to numb it up before getting to the actual cleaning. "Almost done," He smiled at her. "Once I start cleaning out the gravel and asphalt, you shouldn't feel a thing and that's when it would really hurt if I didn't numb the wound. So, Jason is going to stay with Charlie for the summer?" He tried to make conversation and take Bella's mind off the shiv that was repeatedly penetrating her flesh.
"Well, Charlie mentioned it at Thanksgiving last year that he would like to have him for the summer. Between Billy and Charlie both, I think they can handle him. He doesn't need constant supervision anymore and he's more mature than most kids his age." Bella sucked in a quick breath as Carlisle touched a spot on her leg that obviously wasn't affected by the medication yet.
"More mature than some adults I've met too. You should be proud, Bella." Carlisle looked up at her from where he sat on a stool next to her bedside.
"I am, Carlisle. I'm very proud. He's so much like me in the fact that he always tries to be independent and control the situations he is put in. I have tried really hard to let him grow up a kid and not have adult responsibilities. I wanted him to have the childhood I didn't. After Jacob died, he almost immediately went into adult mode though. I guess it was unavoidable. Jacob and I both did the same thing when our mothers died." Bella looked over at Carlisle as she realized that he stopped what he was doing.
"I was very sorry to hear about Jacob, Bella. Please accept my belated condolences." Carlisle's brow furrowed as he went back to cleaning up her leg. He was clearly remembering something that was bothering him.
"It's ok, Carlisle. What doesn't kill me is going to make me stronger. Jacob always told me that after we left Forks. I am sorry that the funeral was held on the reservation. If it makes you feel any better, Charlie and I were the only ones there that didn't belong to the tribe. Those were Jake's wishes, to be laid to rest on the reservation." Bella's eyes took on a distant look as she remembered her husband. "He was my best friend."
"We would have liked to pay our respects, but we thought that it might raise a few unpleasant…" Carlisle couldn't finish as Bella interrupted.
"Carlisle, truly, I appreciate your concern. I did receive your card and I turned the check over to the high school he taught at to use for a scholarship in Jacob's name. It was very generous of you and Esme. Jason and I didn't need the money and Jacob just wanted a simple burial on the reservation. We're doing ok with money, but thank you for the thought." Bella blinked away her tears before they could fall and give her away. "I've missed you and Esme terribly. Please let her know that I thought of her so often throughout all these years. How is she?" Bella had to look at Carlisle's face to make sure he was telling her the truth.
"She's doing beautifully. She and Alice have opened up their own furniture store in Port Angeles. She dotes on our grandchildren now. Emmett and Rose's daughter will be 16 this summer, and their sons are now 9 and 5. They have their hands pretty full. Alice and Jasper are trying to have children now too." Carlisle's face showed his pride and love for his family and Bella remembered that even though his career was demanding, he always put his family first.
"I should have known that Alice would end up with Jasper Whitlock." Bella gave a sad smile as she thought of her old friend, Carlisle and Esme's daughter, Alice. "Please tell Esme I was thinking of her. I've missed her a lot over the years." Bella willed her eyes to stop misting before Carlisle could see them.
"I certainly will mention it to Esme." The implication behind Carlisle's words was clear. He would not be mentioning it to anyone else in his family besides Esme. "How have things been otherwise, Bella?" Carlisle couldn't hide his interest.
"Good. Really good lately, all things considering. I was supposed to take a trip with a girlfriend of mine down the coast but looks like that's out of the question now." Bella winced as the gauze Carlisle was using snagged on a piece of skin.
"Charlie mentioned you are a writer as well as a teacher. We would have guessed at that. I have one of your books that you've written. Stopwatch I think is the name of it?" He said conversationally as he worked. "I was sincerely happy to hear that you were able to finish your degree after you left. It couldn't have been easy for you and Jacob." Carlisle looked at her so she would elaborate.
"No, it wasn't, but honestly, Charlie and Billy were able to help a little. Then we had student loans and housing help. Don't get me wrong, we lived in some of the nastiest places. You probably still remember what it's like to be in college and have a young child. And I am sure that Jason was no where near the handful that Emmett was." Bella laughed as she recalled the early years of their marriage. "It wasn't easy at all, but I wouldn't trade it either. I went to school at night and Jacob went during the day. That way one of us was always able to be with Jason. I remember coming home once and finding him doing dishes with Jason strapped in a papoose! It was the funniest thing, but it worked believe it or not. Billy sent it to Jacob, apparently it was his and he sent a few things that he had laying around from Jacob's nieces and nephews. I hope that Jason grows up the same way, knowing how important it is to help others and never take what you have for granted."
"He seems like a wonderful boy. I can't believe he's 17 though." Carlisle poured a solution over her leg and she winced and sucked in a breath, clearly feeling pain in spite of the medicine he had given her.
"Yeah, me either." She said dryly. "Seriously, Carlisle, this accident was unavoidable. I've been riding for years now and I'm certain that Jason did everything he could have, including swerve to avoid a head-on collision, which would have involved a few more people into your Emergency Room here. I trust him." Bella said firmly.
"He's very respectable. His concern for you is obvious. You and Jacob raised him right; I have no doubt about that." Carlisle kept up small talk for awhile and it occurred to Bella that maybe he was dragging out the clean up longer than necessary just to talk to her more. After another 20 minutes went by, and when Carlisle could no longer delay the inevitable, he reached for a roll of gauze to bandage her leg. "At least there were no stitches for you this time." Carlisle looked up as he rolled the bandage around her leg.
"Thanks, Carlisle. Seriously, how long do I need to keep this bandaged? I was planning on leaving tonight. I was just going to drop Jason off." Bella shrugged her shoulder and winced.
"At least three weeks Bella, I'm sorry. No motorcycles. He's a great kid. He insisted on looking after you. He even made me do his stitches here in your cube. I couldn't get him to sit still to save my life. I see he's inherited your gracefulness." Carlisle's eyes couldn't hide his amusement.
"Yeah." Bella laughed and then added, "Except for when he's playing baseball. He's about as graceful as an elephant otherwise. On the field though, he's spectacular. He's been on the varsity team since his freshman year. He's definitely Jacob's son in that respect." Bella felt the tug on her heartstrings again. It was lessening over the years and although she was looking forward to a time in her life when it no longer physically hurt, she was also going to miss the fact that she had let go of Jacob completely.
"I've heard a lot of great things about him from Charlie. He's very proud of you too, Bella. It couldn't have been easy on you and Jacob. You must let me apologize for…" Again Bella cut his words off.
"Carlisle please. Everything that has happened is for a reason. What that reason is, I have no idea!" Bella rolled her eyes. "I'll be the first to admit that my life hasn't exactly turned out the way I thought it would, but I wouldn't trade the way it turned out for anything. I can't regret my choices. Worrying about the future is no way to try to navigate through the present. Jacob use to tell me that as well." Bella sniffled lightly and gratefully took the tissue Carlisle handed her.
"Well, I think my work here is done. You should keep your leg lightly bandaged and avoid showering for a day or two, until it scabs over a bit. Do not get the arm cast wet at all. I think you should know that by now," he told her with wink. "I'll need to see Jason in two weeks to have the stitches out. Will he be over at Charlie's then?" Carlisle started writing down instructions.
"Most likely. With Charlie working during the day, I imagine Jason will want to be spending that extra time with Billy. I am not sure what arrangement the two of them have made. It's going to be worse than a custody battle between the two of them this summer." Bella laughed lightly as she tried to climb down from the exam table. Carlisle caught her as she faltered.
"I'll send in a volunteer to help you with your clothes then. Follow up in a few weeks with your regular doctor. Don't forget. I'll remind Charlie to bring Jason for his stitches in two weeks." Carlisle gave her an awkward hug which she turned into a sincere one. She turned into his chest, wanting to feel the familiarity of one of his hugs. She rested her forehead on his chest as he rubbed her back gently. "It's good to see you again, Bella." He finished with a quick kiss on the top of her head before he left her alone with her thoughts.