Moving Forwards: Chapter Two
After a long make-out session with Jacob, and more fake heaving from my kids, and a round of 'whoops' from Rose and Jacobs mother Sara, us girls were on our way out.
We took the long hour drive to Port Angeles, singing karaoke until out lungs burned from our horrible recreations.
It was there, down the main street of Prot Angeles, at 'Bella Ragazza's' that my world was turned upside down.
Rose spotted the store. It was small and beautiful and tucked between a floral shop and bike repair. The display window was what drew me in; each manikin wore a beautiful designer gown that could easily fit into the vision I created of mine and Jacobs wedding. So I took a leap, and I stopped the car and I got out. What. A. Mistake.
Oh my god. I didn't expect to see her, any of them. I'd hidden the Cullen's in a file in the back of my mind that was marked 'Forget About', because the single thought of them brought me to tears. And it brought back the memory of that day; the day he said he no longer loved me.
That was truly the worse day of my life. I didn't just lose what I thought was the truest of true love, I lost a best friend, a brother and a sister, a mother and father; I lost a family. So this, seeing her, my would have been sister, was torture.
"Bella, I-Isabella Swan?"I turned my head, a reflex that I had yet to disengage. And when my eyes met those wide Indigo balls, I knew time must have lapsed, because this just couldn't be. "Oh my god, Bella, it's really you!" Alice screamed, as she ran towards me. I was in her arms and pressed against her chest before I could take in my next breath. She held me close, but I did not return the gesture. This was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me.
"Bella, god I've missed you, you have no idea. What are you doing here? I mean not that it's not nice to see you, but what are you doing here in my bridal store?"
"Your bridal store, as in you own said store?" I asked quizzically.
She stepped back from me, her eyes a mist with the commencement of her tears. She nodded her head yes to my question and began to wipe away the remanding tear drops. "I've had it for about four or five years now. I found it while I was in college." For the first time since I've stepped in this store, she looked behind me. "Who are they?" she asked glancing at Rose and the two Sara's.
"Oh," I was at a lost for words. I didn't want her to know who my Sara was, but I be damned if I denied my daughter for anyone. "This is Rose, my best friend. And this is Sara my soon to be mother-in-law," Alice's eyes widen at my words and she quickly looked away, hiding her emotions. "and this is Sara, my daughter."
Her head turned back toward us, her eyes searching for Sara once again.
I think I knew the exact moment it clicked in Alice's head because without knowing it her eyes bugged out, her breath caught, and her knees gave way a bit. She scared the crap out of me. "Alice!"
"You're a mother, and she looks so much like-"
"Alice, please, not here?" I begged. She looked at me searchingly and I nodded my head then asked if there was somewhere private we could talk.
"My office, follow me." I helped her up, and when she straightened herself we were walking behind the counter where there hung a long, silk curtain. Just beyond the curtain was a short winding curve that led to a pink door. "Just go in," Alice directed as she walked pass the offices. "I'll get some drinks.
When she disappeared down the wall Rose, the two Sara's and I walked into her office. Where Rose rolled her eyes and Sara squealed like a banshee and I freaked out as if the walls were closing in on me and Momma Sara just shook her head. Pink, everything was pink.
"Mommy, I so want my room to be this color when we go back home! Can I have it; can I have it, please?" Sara asked, her face taking on that famous Cullen pout; too bad this time it didn't work.
"Not on your life." She huffed and swung herself down into one of Alice's cushy chairs, momma Sara following her lead.
"Bella, what is going on? Who is this chick?"Rose asked skeptically.
"She's an old…acquaintance I use to know." Rose didn't buy that for one second. And I knew that by the delicate arch in her groomed eyebrow.
"Well, by the looks of that picture over there, the word 'acquaintance' is not what I would use. Try something along the lines of sisters." I flinched away from the indication. If only she knew how right she could have been. "And who the hell is the hottie around your waist?" she stood, crossing the room towards the picture that I have yet to set my eyes on. "Frikk me!" Rose exclaimed as she curved around to face me. "Outside, now!" Rose demanded in her 'not taking any prisoner's voice'.
I nodded in compliance, she deserves the truth. I turned to Sara and asked her to stay here with her grandmother why I talked to her aunty Rosie outside. She was more then excited to stay in her dream world.
Once outside Rose didn't even give me a chance to speak, she demanded the truth and I gave it to her, starting from the beginning. "So that prick just left you? Did he know you were pregnant?" I shook my head no, and let her finish. "And this Alice chick is his sister, what do you think she wants?"
"I don't know, but honestly Rose, I don't want to be here. But I can tell, just by her reaction when she looked at Sara, she knows now. Just by looking at Sara she knows."
"Sara? Yeah, he looks a little like her, the hair, the nose, that damn smile that her and her brother have, but he looks more like Danny then anything; the eyes, the smile the jaw the face. They even have the same hair from the looks of it. Bell, this is just nuts. And Jacob-"
"Knows everything; so does Sara and Billy and Charlie, and now you and Alice. But none of the other Cullens know, and I want to keep it that way. And I certainly don't want them to know about Danny. She knows about Sara, but that's it. I won't tell her about Danny."
"God Bella, I hope you know what you're doing."
"So do I." I whispered meekly. "So do I."
Alice came back five minutes after Rose and I went back into the room and took our seats. She came in bearing sodas. "So, where to begin?" She asked, her eyes locked on Sara.
"Oh I have a suggestion, let's start from the beginning. So your prick of a brother left her. There the floor is now open for discussion."
"Rose!" I exclaimed angrily. With one last glare at Alice, Rose stood and stepped towards the door.
"I'm bored and this conversation is totally going to kill my buzz. Sara, why don't you come with Aunt Rosie and help me find a pretty dress for your mom?"
Both Sara's stood, walking to the door and leaving the room with Rose quietly. I turned back to a sullen Alice, and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry about her. She doesn't like new people. It takes forever for Rose to warm up." With a soft sigh I asked my first question. "What do you want to know Alice?"
"Why did you leave? And how come we don't know about her? Where have you been all of this time? And how could you leave without saying goodbye?" she finished angrily.
"Wait a minute." I started when I realized her ranting was over. "What do you mean, 'why did I leave?' And why do you need to know about my daughter? I left because your brother broke me. He broke me, Alice. And you all left first. And as far as Sara goes, she's my daughter, mine! None of you have a right to know of her. You abandoned me, Alice. You left, and you have the nerve to ask me where I've been? God, what is it with you Cullens! I've been with my kids, and their father, Jake. And unlike you, and the rest of the 'clan' he hasn't abandoned me, or my kids. We're happy, so you just stay away from us!" I demanded as I stood from my seat and walked out of the room, slamming the door as I went.
I'd never felt so enraged in my life; to finally stick it to one of them, to give them a chunk of my mind. I knew it was the wrong Cullen, but she left too. They all deserve it!
As I made it to the front of the store I couldn't help the small smile that spread across my face. It's about time I felt good about that day. He did me a big favor, he didn't break me, like I'd been thinking all these years; he fixed me. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have Jacob, and my kids wouldn't have the best father anyone could think of.
"Bella?" Rose called as I stepped through the curtain. "What happened?"
"I told her to leave me alone, and I told her to stay away from Sara. I don't think she'll listen, but I'm going to do my darnest to make it happen. We might even get visits from the rest of them, and no doubt he's going to find out now. I have to get home, tell Jake, he's going to be so pissed…."
And I was not wrong. As soon as we got to La Push I kissed Danny hello, found Jake and dragged him -by the hand- out the door. I told him everything as soon as our feet hit the sand. That was almost an hour ago. He hasn't spoken a word since.
"Jacob, please, talked to me." I begged for the fourth time in the last ten minutes. With a long sigh, he looked down at me and spoke.
"Those are my kids, Bella. I'm their father, me, not him. I can't- you- me…I can't lose you all, Bella. I can't lose you and I won't survive losing them."
"Jacob," I called as I stood, moving in front of him so I could look into those big, warm, brown eyes. This man, my love, was afraid he'd lose us. Was he in sane? "Jacob, you are their father, no one, and I mean no one, will take that away from you. You won't lose us-"
"One of them knows now, Bella." He argued. "That means they'll tell him, and if he's still as in love with you as he was before his stupid mistake, then he'll want them, and you. And I'm not stupid; you used to love him too, what if you want him back?"
"No! I love you, Jacob Black. I said yes to you. I want to be Mrs. Jacob Black. You are their father, you. And if you listen to yourself speak I'm sure you'd hear what you said, used to, as in pass tense. I love you, and don't you ever, ever doubt that. Don't you even mention that what he did to me was a mistake, because I wouldn't have you, and you won't have them, so no, he didn't make a mistake, he gave us this." I grabbed his hands and lifted them to my heart, right between my breast. "And I wouldn't trade this for anything."
He sunk his head, his forehead resting against mine. "What are we going to do? Legally they're not mine Bella. He can come and take them away from me, from you. He can destroy our family."
"Then let's make it legal. Let's not wait until the end of next week to marry; let's do it this week, the faster the better. He can't hurt us Jacob, I won't let him."
"So this week? When this week?" he asked happily.
"Friday, the suns supposed to be out. I still have to get a dress though, but I think ordering it off line will be best. Then we'll have to call everyone in the wedding party and see if they can make it, but if they can't then we can have a small, quiet wedding here on the beach. What do you think?"
His smile grew, blinding me speechless. "I think…I think you should hold off on the dress until after we know if the wedding is going to be here, on the beach, or in a church." He pulled me to him and kissed me fervently.
ALICE POV
After Bella, and my niece left I quickly called my mother and asked her to organize a family meeting immediately. She asked me what the problem was and I only had to mutter one word, Bella, and the meeting was in affect almost instantly. She'd promised to call Emmett and dad, and have them meet us at the big house as soon as possible.
I hung up with her soon after and gathered my things. I appointed Sydney, one of three workers I have, to close up the shop. Once my business was taking care of I jumped in my car a speed to my parent's house.
As I drove, my conversation with Bella kept replaying in my mind. God, she's pissed, and why wouldn't she be? She was so right, we all abandoned her. We left her because of one stupid mistake that I never, for one second, believed. But Edwards my brother, my blood, I couldn't just let him go alone. He's my twin for god sake; we have that odd twin connection. I actually miss him when he's gone.
But she was my best friend, my sister of sorts, I should not have abandoned her when I knew him leaving would hurt her just as much as it did him.
When I arrived at my mothers' house I saw the familiar three cars of my family members and I couldn't run fast enough to get into the house. When I did make it, I was out of breath and discombobulated.
"Alice!" My mother yelled. "Are you okay, sweetheart, what happened, where's Bella?"
My mother loved Bella, as one of her own; she's going to be so saddened when she finds out that Bella loathes her. "Mom, she's back. She's really back." I said between pants. There was a big rower from the next room and I walked around the corner to see my father and Emmett by the door way pumping their fist like school boys who'd just won a big game.
"Whoa! My sisters back! So lone to the wicked witch of b,itch world!" Emmett exclaimed loudly. From behind me I heard my mothers twinkling laughter. I wanted to join in on the celebration, but there were a few issues that they still needed to hear.
Putting my pinky and pointer finger into the mouth, I blew down on them, making a screeching whistling sound and called the room to attention. Once everyone was looking at me, I continued to explain. "Yes, Bella is back…with her fiancé. She's getting married." I finished wearily.
"What!" Emmett exclaimed angrily. "What do you mean she's getting married, to whom?"
I hunched my shoulders. "I don't know, she didn't really talk about him. I think she said his name; Joke, Jean, Jake-"
"Jake?" Emmett asked confused. "Isn't he the kid that always had a crush on her? Her guy 'best friend'. The dude from La Push?"
"Oh my god, he is. I wonder when they got together? I remember her saying she never saw him like that."
"Well, I guess times change. So when is she getting married?"
"I don't know, but there's something else I need to tell you guys, and this is way more important then anything I've said before."
"What is it Al?" My father asked as he walked over to my mother and held her closely.
I took a deep breath, looking everyone in the eye and told them everything. "She's a mother. Bella has a daughter, around seven or eight, but if my calculations are correct and I think they are, Sara is seven, which means-"
"Edward is her father." My mother whispered. "Oh god. Al?"
"Wait mom, let me finish. When I was alone with Bella, I questioned her about a few things, and she became furious. But you guys know Bella; once she starts she gets it all out there. So when she kept going, she kept saying kids, as in more then one, as in not just Sara. I think Bella may have had more then one kid for Edward, or she could have one for Jake, I'm not sure. Before I could question her again, she stormed out of the room demanding I stay away from her. She's really angry with us. I mean really angry. She thinks we just abandoned her. Mom," I whispered looking only at her. "I don't think she'll allow us to see Sara."
"What?" my mother asked, disbelief in her tone. "But if she's Edwards daughter she's our granddaughter. She's apart of this family. Bella wouldn't do something so spiteful. Carlisle?"
"It's going to be fine; we'll figure this out, love." He promised her.
"So you saw her, Sara I mean?" Emmett asked. I nodded a yes in response. "How does she look?"
"She's beautiful Em. She has mom and Edwards' hair; the same strange penny shade. She has you, dad, and Edwards' nose; she even has Edwards' half ass smile. She has Bella and Charlie's eyes. Bella's heart-shaped face, she even blushes, but not like Bella, like Edward, when he's embarrassed. She's beautiful."
"God, she sounds beautiful. If we're not allowed to see-"
"No mom," Emmett interrupted. "that's not going to happen. I mean we have rights don't we? As her uncle and aunt and grandparents, we have a right, right?"
"Sadly we don't son." Dad spoke up sullenly. "Edward is the only one that has rights, as I assume he didn't sign them away."
"Do you think he knew?" Emmett asked angrily. "Do you think that was the main reason he left, because he knew she was pregnant? It makes so much sense now. That line he feed us about Bella, which never made sense to me. Maybe he just didn't want the responsibility of a kid. I'd kill him!"
"Emmett?" my mother reprimanded.
"No," Emmett fought back, verbally, of course. "He was a prick for just leaving her like that. And what if he did know she was pregnant, and that was the main reason he left so quickly. It's his fault our family was torn apart like a thin piece of parchment. And you guys let him do it. He was seventeen and you let him make such a drastic decision that affected all our lives. I lost a sister because of him, and you lost a daughter." He pointed at our parents, mom with tears in her eyes already. "And now, we find out that it wasn't just her that we lost, but we also lost seven years of that little girl's life. And it was all because we let a seventeen year old boy hold our lives in his hand. Now, I don't know about you guys, but my suggestion is that you drag Edwards sorry ass back here, with the witch if need be, and you tell him everything, because I for one, refuse to lose out on being an uncle because of his mistake. And if he's really lucky, maybe he'll make it back here before Bella gets married. Maybe she'll realize that she loves him after all and call this ridiculous wedding with the other guy off, and take his sorry ass back."
That was the most serious, and longest speech Emmett McCarty Cullen has ever made in his entire life and I was left god smacked, gapping at him.
"Emmett's right!" I exclaimed as I recovered. "We need to get Edward back here, soon. I think her wedding is next week sometime, so the sooner the better. If he starts working on trying to get her back this week, that'll be perfect. I'll give him a call tonight."
"No," mom spoke up this time. "You give him a call now. I want my family back. I want to meet my granddaughter."
Without any hesitation I pulled my phone out a dialed the familiar ten digit number. It rung four times before there was an answer. "Hello?" giggled a female voice. I knew instantly that it was Tanya Denali, my brothers' girlfriend. "Hello, is anyone there?"
I cleared my throat and began talking. "Yes, hey Tanya it's me Alice." I could hear the sighs and growls behind me from my family when I spoke her name.
"Oh Alice, it's good to hear from you again so soon. So did you fix the problem with the pipes you had earlier?" What a stupid little girl. I had called Edward earlier to tell him about Bella when Bella was at the shop. But Tanya had also picked up the phone then. I hurriedly asked for Edward, but she acted like she didn't hear me and kept going on and on about her hair. I made an excuse about busted pipes in the restaurant and hung up the phone. If she was smart she would have realized I owned a dress shop, not a food chain.
"Look Tanya, this is an emergence, I need to speak to Edward."
"Is everything okay?" She asked bored. Before I could respond there was a sound like ruffles being shaken, then not two seconds after, Edward was on the phone.
"Al? Al, are you there? What's wrong?"
"Edward, god, I'm glad I got you. You know, you should really stop letting her answer your phone. What is she doing at your house anyway? No, don't tell me."
"Alice!" He hissed. "What did you call for? Is there a problem?"
"Yes! Look Edward, there's been an accident…mom and Em, and dad, was in a…."
"A car accident?" He asked frantically.
"Yes, a car accident! I think it may be serious and I'm here all alone-"
"I'm on my way, the next flight out. I'll see you soon okay. Hold in there Al, I'm on my way."
He hung up the phone and I turned guiltily towards my parents who, to my surprise, had wide grins plastered on their faces. "So?" Mom asked.
"He'll be here tomorrow, if there's a flight that leaves tonight. Which there should be; maybe we'll have our family back sooner then we thought." Boy was I wrong.
It was Tuesday afternoon, and Edward still wasn't here. He called me back last night, while he was at the airport, to tell me he couldn't get a flight straight here until later that night. He said the about trips weren't worth it. He just wanted to head straight here as quickly as possible. I told him it was fine, but to hurry. His plane should arrive tonight, an hour before dinner. So mom and I decided that we should make a welcome home dinner to easy the anger that he's sure to have once he sees that everyone is well and walking. So we'd taken it upon ourselves to head out to the grocery store and purchase some ingredients for the dinner.
While we were walking down the frozen meat section we couldn't help but over hear a conversation that two fellow shoppers were having. I mean really, they were just so loud.
"What is he thinking?" one said bitterly. "They're not even his kids. And he wants to marry her? God, she's not even pretty, I'm way prettier then her, aren't I?"
"Way pretty, Leah. I mean, has she even heard of a tan? God, what is Jacob thinking?"
"I know right. And her brats, their so…ugh! Why did he have come back here? And know my father is making me go to their stupid wedding this Friday." My mother gasped loudly, forewarning our informants that they were in fact being listened in on. I grabbed my mothers arm and quickly dragged her down the cereal isle and pretended to be looking for some 'Lucky Charms', my favorites.
Once they passed our new isle my mother and I let out a collective sigh. "They moved the wedding." my mother whispered. "Do you think this has something to do with the talk you two had?"
"No, I don't think Bella would do something like that. They were already getting married; maybe this was their original date."
"The old Bella wouldn't do something like that." My mother corrected. "This Bella is angry and she holds a grudge against us. I'm not so sure she wouldn't do something like that. I mean, you know about Sara and she still hasn't contacted you. Maybe she really doesn't want us around her. And did you hear the exact words they said?" I shook my head no and she continued. "They kept saying brats, as in more than one. And they said that neither was Jacobs. Maybe she does have more then one child for Edward like you thought originally."
"Twins?" I asked surprised. "Why didn't I ever think of that? Of course she had twins. Bella's grandmother on her mothers' side was a twin and Edward and I are twins. Maybe the gene caught up to her, finally and she gave birth to two. Oh my god mom, I have two nieces, or a nephew. Eee!" I squeaked in excitement. "Hurry mom, we have to get home. I still have to pick up Edward tonight." I can't wait to give him the good news….
A/N: