Drowning

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thanks for the kind reviews, Nikki

Part Two

Bella sat in front of Jacob and held out one of the plastic rings to him, he grabbed it in his chubby fist and waved it around for a moment, before finally placing it on the stand in front of him with the other coloured rings. Bella smiled and clapped her hands in delight. "Momma look, he done it!" She crowed.

"You mean he's done it." Renee corrected her daughter's pronunciation. She stopped what she was doing and twisted round to look at the two children playing at her feet. She was struck at how much time had passed already. Jacob was now a year old, just about finding his feet as he began the long process of hauling himself up by the furniture and taking tentative steps. He had been motivated a lot earlier than some she thought because it meant he could follow Bella around more easily than his usual fast crawl. Bella hadn't grown much in stature, she was still small for her age, and Jacob was already catching her up, he loved his food and like his father, Billy, it seemed he was destined to be tall. Bella was now three years old, and she loved telling people how grown up she was in that rather coy, whimsical manner she had.

Renee turned her attention to the twins who were sitting slumped on the sofa in the front room as they watched the flat screen. They had a bored air about them, but at least here in her own house they couldn't get up to mischief like at home. This reminded Renee of exactly why she had all the Black children under her roof for the fourth time this week. Sarah had hit the bottle again. Sarah's depression had failed to lift, and so she had begun to seek solace through alcohol. The drink would give her a temporary high but she would soon feel low again and needed to search for stronger alcohol to give her the same type of buzz.

Billy was working all the hours god sends to effectively feed his wife's new addiction. Charlie had tried to talk to his friend about Sarah's new drinking habit, but as she always managed to mask it when Billy came home from his time working away, he didn't believe it was as bad as Charlie was saying. Charlie then tried to enlist their other friends the Clearwater's to get through to Billy and make him realise how bad Sarah was getting, but with their own growing brood and Sue's demanding job at the hospital there hadn't been much time. Once again it had been left to Renee to step in, and Charlie was far from happy about it. Billy was due home at the end of the week from his construction job and he was determined to get his friend to listen.


It was mid-afternoon when Renee heard the screech of tyres outside the house and she knew that Sarah had arrived to pick up the children. She peered through the curtains to see a frazzled looking Sarah, her long black hair scraped back in a bun and a scowl on her pretty face, as she marched up to the front door. At least she seemed sober, Renee thought as she headed to let the other woman in, she wasn't looking forward to a confrontation but by the look on Sarah's face it seemed that it couldn't be avoided.

"Where are they?" Sarah demanded, not bothering with any sort of greeting. "Rach, Becca get your butts out here now and get your brother. We're leaving."

Renee bit down on her bottom lip as she tried to stem the anger which was building up inside. There was no thank you for watching over her children while she got over her latest hangover, no it was just the same old animosity. Well Renee had just about had enough. "We need to talk. " She hissed.

Sarah's dark brown eyes darted to Renee's. Her scowl deepened as she glared at her. "About?"

"About the fact that I got a call last night from your daughters, remember them? Begging me to come over because Jacob was crying his head off and their mother was too sozzled to give a shit." Renee snapped, trying to keep her voice low so the children wouldn't hear.

"You had no right to come into my house and kidnap my children." Sarah retorted. "I woke up this morning to find the house empty with a sarcastic note left by you on the kitchen table."

"And it took you to two in the afternoon to even fucking notice?" Renee's pale cheeks reddened. She was so angry she couldn't see straight. She so badly wanted to slap Sarah that she was having a hard time keeping her hands at her sides.

"Mom." Rachel and Rebecca had sidled out into the hall. Rebecca was holding a squirming Jacob in her arms as she studied her mother warily. They were anxious; Renee could see it all over them. Her heart went out to them as they approached Sarah cautiously. Renee could swear she heard Rachel sniff the air around her mother to check for signs of drink. But no Sarah was sober, for now at any rate.

"Get in the car." Sarah barked at them. The twins did as she bid at once. They had learned swiftly not to argue when she used that tone. When they were outside Sarah shot Renee one last glare. "Do not interfere in my family again." She emphasised her point by pointing the car keys directly at Renee.

Renee didn't bother to reply. She bent down when she felt little Bella clutch her leg anxiously. She lifted her daughter up and cuddled her close, a tear spilling down her cheek as she heard the loud roar of the car's engine as it took off at speed.


Billy couldn't avoid the matter any longer when he came home at the end of the week to find his wife missing and his two daughter's trying to feed a dry piece of bread to their baby brother for dinner. He came inside the house and smelt the stale smell of alcohol. His eyes travelled to two empty bottles left dumped on the kitchen counter. Rebecca and Rachel were relieved to see him, they abandoned their attempts to feed Jacob and came hurtling toward him as they sought comfort. Jacob began to cry, and after Billy hugged the twins, he hurried over to his son and quickly picked him up to soothe him. "Where's your mother?" He asked the girls cautiously.

Rachel and Rebecca exchanged a dubious glance. They could sense a storm coming and they wanted to avoid it, but even to their young eyes it was obvious that it couldn't be prevented. Rachel spoke for both of them. "Mom left a couple of hours ago, she ran out of that." She gestured toward the empty bottles.

"We thought she would be back by now." Rebecca took up the story. "We tried to ring Renee but she wasn't answering the phone. Then Jacob started to cry and we tried to change him…"

"And feed him." Rachel interjected. "Are we bad? Is that why mom leaves all the time?"

Billy felt his heart split in two. Charlie had warned him but he had refused to listen. He wanted to believe the good that was still in Sarah. He knew she was suffering, that the postpartum blues had turned into serious depression, but with all the bills piling up and the constant need to seek paid work to put food on the table, it had been just another problem he couldn't face. But now look where he was? His family was falling apart. His wife was god knows where, probably off of her face, and the children had been left alone. He sat down on the nearest chair and perched Jacob on his lap. He looked the twins directly in their eyes and tried to sound calm and in control. "You are good, brave girls looking after your brother like this. Your mom is going through a rough time at the moment that's all. We will all get through this, I promise. I am going to try and be at home more to help, okay?"

The twins looked back at him, their whole demeanour showed their distrust. They didn't believe him, he could see it. To them his words must sound like yet another false promise, and it was, he couldn't stop working. He needed to earn money to keep the roof over their heads. He swallowed thickly as he tried to make plans in his head, he needed extra help, and once again he knew he was going to have to lean further on the Swan's to provide it.


Charlie groaned when he saw one of his officer's steering an inebriated Sarah toward him. He couldn't believe it, not again! He began to panic, worried about the children she must have left alone yet again. He called Renee to see if they had been in touch but her cell went straight to voice mail. Charlie then tried calling the Black's, hoping that one of the twins would answer, but it turned out to be Billy. Thank god he was at home. Charlie hated having to tell his friend that his wife had been arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour. He could sense the despair on his end of the phone as Billy went quiet for a moment. "Is she hurt?" He finally asked.

"No, physically she seems okay. I'll get one of our first aiders to check her over."

"I can't come down there, Charlie. I have the kids…." Billy's voice tailed off.

"I'll bring her home when she's sobered up." Charlie hesitated a moment before continuing. "You can't ignore this any longer, Billy. The situation is getting dangerous."

"I know, chief. I know." Billy sounded weary so Charlie left it at that and ended the call.


Bella walked slowly around the front room holding onto Jacob's hand. He was beaming with delight now he was walking properly and looked so proud of himself. Renee laughed and took a picture of the two of them, they looked so cute. She turned to glance at Sarah, who was sitting on the battered old couch, flicking through a magazine. "Don't they look sweet together?" She asked trying to get the other woman to show some damn emotion. Sarah had been off the drink for four days after an intense row with her husband. Billy had forced her to promise to give up the alcohol and graciously accept Renee's offer of help every day. Sarah had grudgingly agreed, anything to get Billy off of her back. Going dry was proving difficult though and it was making her very crabby indeed.

"He is not the first child on this Earth to learn how to walk." Sarah replied irritably. God she was bored. The house was stifling and she longed for some fresh air, but with Renee up her ass at all hours of the day it was proving difficult to escape. At least she had a few hours rest from the twins while they were at school.

Renee inhaled deeply as she tried to keep her irritation under control. She didn't want Bella or Jacob to see her fly off the handle. Poor Jacob, already able to read his mother's moods had become tense, his dark eyes watched Sarah's every move, and because Bella was so attuned to Jacob, she too began to look anxious. Renee cursed Sarah in her head.

"I need some fresh air." Sarah announced suddenly as she discarded the magazine she had been reading and got up. She reached for her purse which did not go unnoticed by Renee. "I might head out for a walk."

"And you need money for that, do you?" Renee said sarcastically.

"Get that stick out of your butt, Renee." Sarah hissed. "I am sick of your superior, holy than thou attitude. I don't have to explain myself to you." She grabbed her car keys as well and began to head toward the front door.

Renee got in her path and tried to wrestle the keys from Sarah's grasp. "Give them to me."

"Get off." Sarah snarled, she hit Renee around the face before shoving past her and running out the door.

"Mommy?" Bella's voice sounded small as she joined her mother. Jacob was still clinging tightly to her hand. The little boy's lower lip was wobbling and tears were welling in his eyes.

Renee wiped her own eyes as she knelt down and scooped the two children into her arms. The shock of Sarah's slap was slowly wearing off but she was still shaking a little as she tried to calm herself. "I'm okay. Don't fret, it's alright." She cooed.

Bella reached out and put a gentle hand on Renee's cheek. "Poor mommy." She whispered. "Poor mommy."

A/N-thanks for reading!