AN: Thank you to Clueless Daisy, serenitynight, xtwistedxobsessionx, Edwella4eva, candacecullen and cheer-chick8208for all of your reviews, alerts and favorites. Also, I have a play-list that I'm working on for this fic...I know how obsessed with music we all are, so if you want to know what's shaping this fic, here is the list of songs in no particular order so far: You'll Be In My Heart - Phil Collins, Two Worlds - Phil Collins, Baby Mine - Disney's Dumbo, Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel) - Billy Joel, Strange and Beautiful - Aqualung and that's all I have for right now. I'll update it as I go. Hope you enjoy that.
7. Fairytales:
Bella:
"Mommy," Elizabeth asked softly as I tucked her into bed.
"Yes, honey?" I replied, making sure that the blankets were snug around her. It was an exceptionally cold night tonight, or so the thermometer read.
"Why do you and Daddy never look old," she asked, "And Grandpa and Grandma, too?"
I sucked in a breath. This was exactly the thing that Edward and I had been dreading. We knew that we couldn't keep it from her forever. We knew that she would notice. Of course she'd notice but I had hoped that it would have been a bit later on. When she was a bit older than six. A bit older to understand. To know the truth.
"Mommy?" Elizabeth said again, "Mommy, don't be sad. I didn't mean to..."
"It's alright, love," I smiled, to show her that it really was okay, "You didn't make me sad."
She peeked up at me through her strange eyes, eyes that held such a weight to them, as if they should belong to someone much older than a child. I smoothed her black ringlets away from her cheeks, cheeks that held dimples when she smiled. What should I tell her? What could I possibly say that wouldn't frighten her? She was much too young to know the truth, but to old not to guess that something was amiss with us. What would a child understand? And then I had a wonderful idea.
"Let me tell you a story," I began, earning myself and excited smile.
"Is it a fairy story?" Elizabeth asked, eyes shining.
"Sure, we'll go with that," I nodded, "Where do I begin?"
"Silly Mommy," Elizabeth giggled, "You have to say, 'once upon a time.'"
"Oh, right," I laughed with her, "Once upon a time, there lived a girl..."
"Was she a princess?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Er, no," I shook my head, "Far from it. No, she was more of a plain type of girl, like a peasant."
"Like Cinderella?" Elizabeth interrupted again.
"Lizzy, hon," I laughed, "Do you want to hear the story or not?"
She nodded.
"Okay then, you have to let me tell it," I smiled.
"Sorry, Mommy," Elizabeth replied, cuddling into her pillow.
"It's okay," I said, "But no more interruptions, alright?"
She nodded again and stared up at me expectantly. I took an unneeded breath and chose my words carefully. It wouldn't be too hard to turn my past into a fairytale. Only one tiny detail had to be altered to suit a six-year-old's story. Too bad it was the most important detail in the whole thing.
"Once upon a time," I began again, "There lived a plain, peasant girl who was very clumsy and shy. The peasant girl went to live with her father in a far away kingdom called Forks. Her new kingdom was much smaller than her old kingdom of Phoenix. All of the other peasants knew each other and the girl's father, who happened to be the Sheriff of Forks, and so they had all heard of her arrival. When the girl came to Forks, she made new friends and gathered with the other peasants for the...uh..."
I paused. What could I use to replace school? It had to be some sort of gathering place. Elizabeth was watching me as I told my tale, trying my hardest to make it up so that it fit the theme of a fairytale. Maybe this would be harder than I thought. Oh, I knew what I could use!
"She gathered with the other peasants for the daily market," I smiled, proud of my invention, "And that's where she saw a group of the most beautiful people that she had ever seen. One boy in particular drew her eye. He was the most beautiful among them. When the girl asked her friends about the group, they told her that it was the Royal Family and the boy who had caught her eye was a Prince."
Elizabeth's eyes grew a little wider at hearing the last and I smiled. Yes, Edward was my own personal Prince Charming.
"The other peasants left the Royal Family to themselves and continued on with their business," I continued, "And as the day wore on, the girl finally had a chance to meet the Prince. Because she was shy, she didn't speak to him, only sat next to him on a bench to rest from all of her walking. The Prince acted very strangely to the girl, almost as if he were angry with her. The girl could see the Prince tremble and how his hands were clenched and she felt very sad and angry at him. She had done nothing to him to cause him to act that way to her. The Prince got up from his seat and avoided the girl for the rest of the day."
I fell silent for a moment. How did I explain what happened next? How could I make it work with the context of the theme? Elizabeth waited patiently for me to gather my thoughts.
"For the next week, the girl didn't see the Prince at the markets again, but she saw the rest of his family. The girl couldn't help but worry over the Prince's absence, even though he had acted so strangely toward her when they first met," I said, "When the girl saw the Prince at the next market, after his visit in another kingdom, he was very different to the girl, talking to her and even being very friendly. Then, one day at the market, the girl was tending her booth when a runaway carriage headed straight for her."
Elizabeth gasped and I stifled a chuckle as she pulled the blanket up, covering half of her face.
"One minute the girl was staring at a carriage coming toward her and the next, she was gazing at the handsome Prince where he held her, safe and unharmed," I smiled at the modified memory, "The girl was very confused and couldn't stop thinking about how the Prince had saved her. He hadn't been anywhere near her when the carriage was coming. In fact, she could clearly remember seeing him across the square a second before the carriage came."
"What happened?" Elizabeth gaped.
"I thought I asked for no more interruptions," I smiled gently as she ducked a little further into the covers, "Anyway, the girl and the Prince began talking, sort of becoming friends. She even invited him to hang out with her and her friends at a neighboring village but the Prince declined. The girl went the village without the Prince and found that the inhabitants of that village were very superstitious. The girl met a boy there..."
I stopped. The echo of an old ache tore through my chest. Oh, Jake, how much I missed you, even after all that had happened between us.
"Mommy," Elizabeth asked softly.
I cleared my throat, "The girl met a boy there and he told her all about his village's stories, his fairytales. He told the girl that his people had as story about the Royal Family. He told her that they were...enchanted...That they could never grow old and how fast and strong they were. He told her that they were...fairies. But his people thought that they were the bad type of fairies, the type that would hurt people."
"Faries aren't bad, though," Elizabeth protested.
"Hush," I replied softly, "The boy said that the Royal Family were bad faeries and that the girl should stay away from them or else she would get hurt. The girl thanked her new friend and went back to her kingdom, the boy's stories on her mind. As she was on her way home that night, she was attacked by thieves who were going to hurt her, but the Prince rode in on his white horse and saved her."
I lied, throwing two events into one. I had a ludicrous vision of Edward riding a white horse and snorted to myself. Knight in shinning Volvo I had called him once. Ha!
"When the Prince was taking the girl home, she told him about the stories she had heard. The Prince confessed that he was a Fairy. He told her that he and his family were all Fairies, but they weren't the bad kind, not really. He told the girl that she made him want to be bad, but he was doing everything he could not to be bad."
"Because he loved her?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes," I smiled, "How did you know?"
"Because that's how it's supposed to happen," Elizabeth explained as if it were quite obvious, "The Prince is supposed to love the girl."
"Well, you're right," I nodded, "The Prince did love the girl and she loved him, too, very much. The Prince was fighting off his bad side just to be with the girl and help keep her safe. So anyway, the Prince and the girl fell in love and his family welcomed her with open arms even though she was just a plain, human girl and she grew to love his family, too. One day, when the girl was with the Prince and his family, playing a royal game, three bad fairies showed up."
"Uh-oh," Elizabeth sighed, pulling the covers over her face again.
"Uh-oh, indeed," I agreed, "The bad fairies wanted to kill the peasant girl because she was human and they hated humans. The Prince and his family protected the girl and they made up a plan to try and hide her. They sent her away, back to her old kingdom of Phoenix to try and trick the bad fairies. Unfortunately, the leader of the bad fairies was very smart and he knew where they were sending the girl. The bad fairy went to the girl's old kingdom and pretended to kidnap the girl's mother. In exchange for her mother's life and to keep the Prince and his family safe, the girl decided to give herself over to the bad fairy."
"No," Elizabeth called, "Where's the Prince? He has to stop her!"
"The girl went to the evil fairy," I went on as if she had not spoken, "And he was very cruel to her. He hurt her a lot and almost killed her before the Prince and his family saved her. The Prince healed the girl with his good fairy magic..."
"And then they got married, right?" Elizabeth asked, "The Prince married the girl, huh?"
"Yes," I nodded, "Eventually, the Prince and the girl got married. And, because the Prince loved the girl so much, he used his good magic to make her a fairy, too."
"And they lived happily ever after!" Elizabeth yelled with happiness.
"Yes they did," I agreed with her, even though getting to the happy ending was much harder and more painful than that simple ending. She didn't need to know everything just yet. No, the simple fairytale would do for now. Besides, that first year was the most important part, really.
"So you and Daddy are fairies, Mommy?" Elizabeth asked around a huge yawn.
"Something like that," I said softly as I kissed her forehead, inhaling her intoxicating scent, which was getting easier to ignore with every passing day, "Go to sleep now, my angel."
I rose from her bed and headed toward the door. I turned to see her snuggling deeper into the covers, another yawn escaping her lips.
"Goodnight, Elizabeth," I said.
"Goodnight, Mommy," she replied sleepily, "I love you."
"I love you, too," I said, flicking off the light and closing the door soundlessly behind me.
Edward pushed himself away from the wall and pulled me into his arms. I sighed as I melted into him.
"The Prince rode in on his white horse, did he?" Edward said softly and I could hear the smile in his voice.
"Yes, he did," I replied, "Many times."
I looked up at him to see the crooked smile that I had fallen in love with all those years ago, just as I knew I would. He kissed me gently.
"So, Fairy Princess, is this the happily ever after that you've always envisioned it to be?" Edward teased.
"Yes, it is," I smirked, pulling away from him and heading into our bedroom, "Though, I have to admit, my Prince could be a little more charming right now."
"Hey," Edward called with a laugh, following behind me, "I can be very charming."
"Don't I know it," I laughed, pulling him through the door and closing it firmly behind us.