Hi y'all - the amount of attention you are giving to this story means the world to me, you are all beautiful & wonderful little readers!
I've been getting a mixed reviews on Emmett's POV, I know that he was a little pervy & inappropriate - but the story is so dark, I wanted to add some humor to lighten it up a little, & as always, Emmett is a great candidate for that! - Don't worry, I promise he redeems himself later!
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight, I'm just playing in her world.
-9-
EPOV
I was glad when Alice made Emmett and Rosalie leave. Emmett wasn't helping, and neither him nor Rose knew the situation. I would fill them in eventually, when the time was right, but right now wasn't the right time.
I turned my focus back on Bella who was laying back, sucking on the fudgesicle Emmett had given her, quietly, she was pale, and the makeup she had put on this morning was streaked down her face.
I empathized with her, she was still heartbroken about the baby not making it, and now she had to go make arrangements, and bury the son she would never know. She hadn't even known it was a boy. I probably would have passed out from shock if I was in that position as well.
Burying my mother was devastating, I could not even begin to fathom the amount of pain she must be in.
Alice walked back in and took a seat on the other side of Bella. Wrapping her tiny arms around her.
"I can't do it Edward." she finally said, not looking up from her fudgesicle, leaning her head on Alice's shoulder. Alice rubbed her arms reassuringly, nodding at me in agreeance.
"I'll tell them to make whatever arrangements they need to, that it's too painful for you." I told her, completely understanding that she couldn't handle it.
"Thank you" she said, barely above a whisper, still not looking at me, I was worried.
"They won't bother you about this again" I reassured her. "Also, I'm going to ... Work on making things more permanent for you." I said, even though this was probably the worst time to bring something like that up, I cursed at myself.
"What?" she and Alice both asked at the same time, looking at me with confused looks on their faces.
"I'll explain later, when I have more of the information for you. I just need to know that you trust me. Do you trust me Bella?" I asked, taking her empty hand in mine. Working my hardest to ignore the spark that ignited in my heart.
She looked up at me with wide, worried eyes. And nodded.
That wasn't enough. I needed to be a hundred percent sure.
I needed her to trust me, more than I had ever needed anything. I wanted to prove to her that I would never let her down like everyone else had, that I cherished her trust.
"Say it." I told her, trying to sound stern, but not mean.
"I trust you, Edward." she said matching my voice.
I pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her forehead, looking at Alice who had a mischievous look on her face. Leave it to Alice to be planning something all the time.
Even though I was pretty sure she already knew how I felt. Alice could read me like an open book. Alice always had an uncanny way of knowing things, and she was usually right. We had an ongoing family joke to never bet against Alice, and we never did, and she usually never steered us the wrong way.
The next few weeks went by quickly.
My days off I spent with Bella, getting to know her, and continuing to tell her how James wouldn't find her, and that I was going to protect her no matter what.
She had begun to relax around me more. She had also gotten to know my siblings and their significant others, and had hit it off with all of them. But Rose was not the easiest person to get along with. I pulled her aside multiple times, but she continued to be stubborn, but I knew she'd eventually come around. She was convinced that Bella was sticking around to mooch off of the families money, and take advantage of our kindness. No matter how many times I told her how wrong she was, she wouldn't believe me. Emmett would convince her otherwise, it was just going to take time.
Bella didn't seem to notice though; she was preoccupied with worry, and pain. On the plus side she had started going to Jasper's office, and it had been helping her. Jasper and his colleague, Dr. Embry, who was her therapist, had spoken very highly of her, and that her progress was coming along nicely.
I wanted to be able take her pain completely away, to tell her there was nothing to worry about, but I knew that was almost impossible to do.
All I had felt myself wanting to do was kiss her sweet lips. The Emmett in me was becoming more and more dominant the more I spent time with Bella.
The day Bella blacked out I came into the hospital, and told them to take care of her son, and to not contact either one of us about it again. Bella would never forget the pain that the loss of her son has caused, but the faster she can move on, and try to put it behind her, was definitely the best option.
She was strong; I could see that in her. But how many losses can one person take? She had been losing people she loved her entire life. It was clear the way she acted that these last two losses were the straw that broke the camel's back.
I ran my fingers through my hair, leaning back into my leather chair. It was late, it seemed whenever I had days off the paperwork just accumulated so much more than usual.
I was a little worried about leaving Bella alone, but she usually didn't end up alone, Emmett and Rose would end up there, Emmett stuck to his word and came over every morning for breakfast, and many times Alice and Jasper would usually show up. Everyone had really taken a liking to her.
She usually ended up making big dinners for us all. She seemed to enjoy cooking, and man that girl could cook.
I'm not sure what my family thought me and Bella were. I knew Alice and Jasper knew the truth. But Emmett and Rose thought she was my girlfriend, they knew parts of Bella's story, but not the entire thing.
I couldn't blame them, I never really brought girls home, and she was basically living with me. The way I was with Bella, was definitely more than friends. Whenever I had the chance to touch her, I took it.
That spark that I felt when I touched her was something I was looking forward to, I began craving it, like a drug. I couldn't get enough of her. I couldn't get her off my mind, ever.
Whether it was brushing her hair out of her face, or hugging her, or rubbing her back, or holding her hand, or kissing her forehead.
I know it probably wasn't fair to her, because she just got out of a difficult relationship. But I couldn't help it. I was selfish when it came to her. But I did my best not to make her feel uncomfortable, or bring any of my feelings up. I knew she needed her time to heal, and I was doing my best to give her that space.
But it was hard. When I wasn't with her, all I could think of was what she was doing, how she was doing. If she was alright, if she was okay, just everything involving her. When I was with her, all I could think about was making her happy, and constantly wondering what was going through her mind, I would kill to be a mind reader some days.
I sighed, trying to shake the thoughts from my mind as I looked over the paperwork on my desk.
I needed to make sure that Bella was safe, that there was no way James could get to her again.
The thing that kept pulling at me was the fact that James hadn't even called the hospital to see if his girlfriend was okay, to see if his baby was okay. What kind of monster was he?
It had been over a month since the night she showed up at the hospital, and every time I had a chance to look online to see if any reports of a missing woman had been added, there was nothing.
Bella hadn't talked about him, or anything about her past to me, or to any one else since the night she had opened up and told me everything. We had the one discussion and that was it, it was never spoke of again. I wasn't sure if that was a good, or a bad thing.
I wanted to erase her past for her, to erase all her hurting and pain, to make her happy again. I would do whatever it takes.
I sighed. Knowing what I had to do. I piled the papers up and pulled out my cell phone. I knew exactly what I had to do to protect her, and I knew who I had to call to help me.
It wasn't a phone call I was particularly looking forward to. Other than the fact that this would be held against me for the rest of eternity, but because what I was about to do wasn't exactly legal, and I didn't exactly talk it over with Bella yet, but this was the only way to make sure she was safe. I would do whatever it took.
I sighed, scrolling through my phone book and found who I needed. I pinched the bridge of my nose and hit the call button, bringing my phone to my ear.
"Hello?" the familiar voice said after only a few rings.
"Hello, this is Edward Cullen" I sighed, bracing myself.
