We Are Family
Chapter 10
"If I can be excused, I'm kinda tired." Bella said getting up.
"Of course, Darling." Esme said. Bella went around the room and hugged everyone wishing them goodnight before walking back over to Edward and dragging him towards the stairs with her.
Bella POV
I woke up the next morning wrapped in the secure arms of Edward, with the comforter pulled up to my neck so I didn't get cold.
"Morning." I say sleepy, I hadn't even opened my eyes yet.
"Morning, Love." Edward said, putting down the book he was reading and looked down at me.
I smiled at him before remembering the outcome of last night's conversation with Reneé. The feelings must have shown on my face because Edward looked down at me with concern in his eyes.
"Bella, are you alright?" He asked me solemnly.
"I am just so angry with her, but I know you will keep me safe." I mumbled to him.
"Always." He said, pulling me tighter to his chest.
We sat silently for a few minutes just enjoying the time together. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in." I mumbled, knowing that whoever it was would hear me.
Jasper opened the door and came in with a cup of tea and my laptop in his hands.
He sat on the end of the bed once he had placed the cup on the sideboard. He placed the laptop on the bed beside me.
"That," he said pointing at the tea, "is from Esme." He said. "I have sorted out the location settings on your laptop so nobody but Reneé and Phil will be able to find you." He told me and I smiled, getting out of Edward's embrace to hug him. I clambered down to the bottom of the bed and wrapped my arms around him, and he secured his around my back.
"Thanks, Jasper." I told him honestly.
For a minute I felt a heavy wave of love and compassion and I realised that Jasper was showing what he felt for me.
"I love you, too." I mumbled into his ear.
After a moment I began to feel a little shy so I pulled away and climbed back over to where Edward was sitting on the bed.
Jasper chuckled. "No need, Bella, isn't this what big brothers are for after all?" He asked me laughing.
"Yeah I suppose, I never had one before remember." I asked, giggling.
"Well you got two now!" Jasper said, letting his southern accent come into his voice. I realised that Jasper never spoke like that around other people, or at school. That he just does it when he is at home and with people who he is comfortable with. I smile to myself upon realising this.
Jasper touches my hand reassuringly before getting up and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
"When will she be here?" I asked Edward quietly.
"She will be here mid-morning tomorrow, she has booked a night flight for her and Phil for tonight and will be arriving in England tomorrow morning. I'm sorry Bella." He told me.
"Why on earth are you sorry, you have done nothing but help me and be supportive." I told him, letting the irritation I am feeling show in my voice.
"I don't know, if I hadn't given in and let you go down to the reservation, none of this would have happened." He said, his head down.
"Hey." I said, putting my index finger below his chin and requesting he lift his head to look at me.
"You are not at fault here, you were giving me what I wanted, if anyone is to blame it's me." I said solemnly, "Please believe me." I told him.
"I believe you, but this was not your fault either. Let's just settle that nobody is to blame but Jacob, Charlie and Reneé?" He asked me, the tone of his voice lightening.
"Okay." I agreed before snuggling back into his chest and tucking my head into his shoulder.
"What do you want to do today?" He asked me.
"I have no idea, what do you want to do today?" I asked him and he chuckled.
"I am going to spend the day on the sofa watching movies with my fiancée." He told me with a damn beautiful grin on his face.
"And will your fiancée like that?" I asked him giggling.
He kissed my forehead. "She most certainly will." He said before kissing my lips.
"Come downstairs when you are ready." He told me before kissing me chastely and heading out of the door.
I took a shower and got myself ready, before taking off downstairs in search of Edward. I walked down the stairs to find nobody in the living room, but I found Esme in the kitchen.
"Morning." I told her, sitting on a bar stool.
"Good morning, Sweetheart, how are you feeling this morning?" She asked me, concerned.
I smiled at the amount of compassion in her eyes.
"I am feeling okay, I guess, I know that I don't need her in my life, she just doesn't seem to understand that I am happy here, happier than I have been in a very long time. I know you heard what she said." I confidently said the first part and then mumbled the last part of the sentence to her.
"I did, Sweetheart, we all did, but it doesn't mean we love you or think of you any less than we did before the conversation with Reneé." Esme told me, coming around the island to take my hand securely in hers.
"I know, but she hurt you, I saw the look on Carlisle's face, that's when I lost my temper." I told Esme, with my head down.
"Bella, Carlisle was angry, but not with you, I don't even think he could be angry with you if he tried, he is the same with Alice and Rose." Esme told me, smiling at a memory she was recalling in her head.
"Yeah, but it's different for me, I'm not his daughter." I told her with my head down.
Carlisle POV
I came through the door of the garage and heard Bella and Esme talking in the kitchen, I had no idea where the others were.
I had just come from the hospital, some of the senior members of staff had heard of a Dr Cullen before but I was quick to tell them that I have an older brother that lives in New York with his family.
I put my car keys back onto the hook in the garage and made my way through the house and into the kitchen.
"Bella, Carlisle was angry, but not with you, I don't even think he could be angry with you if he tried, he is the same with Alice and Rose." I heard Esme say to Bella, she must have seen my reaction to Renee's phone call, this wasn't good. I leant against the doorframe of the kitchen door and listened intently to their conversation.
"Yeah, but it's different for me, I'm not his daughter." Bella told Esme, her head in her hands.
"I will be hearing no such thing." I said, startling Bella, Esme already knew I was here, of course.
Bella turned around in my direction as I strode into the kitchen. I took a seat on the barstool beside Bella and took the hand, that wasn't in Esme's, in mine.
"Bella, listen to me." I said and she looked up at me.
"You are very much my daughter, I love and cherish you the same I do, Rosalie and Alice. You have no idea how happy I am that you feel the same way about us, that Esme and I feel about you, we see you as a third daughter." I said to her. I saw that her eyes had turned glassy with unshed tears.
Bella got up and I did the same. She put her arms around my waist and I hugged her back, the way a father should, in fact I wonder if she has ever had anything like this from Charlie, whether she feels the same way now. After a few moments Bella looked up at me, a questioning gaze met my eyes and she wiped away her tears with her hand.
"Can I ask you something?" She asked me hesitantly.
"Of course, Sweetheart." I told her, not letting go of her hand as she asked her question.
Bella took a deep breath and looked back up at me.
"I wanted to ask you something about the wedding…" She trailed off. I didn't interrupt, I just let her speak.
"I know that we have told Alice we want it small, just family and that, but, I know you are probably supposed to be with Edward and…" She rambled, trying to get the words out.
"Bella, calm down, what do you want to ask me?" I asked her.
"I know you are supposed to be with Edward, but I was wondering if you, if you would give me away…" She asked me, looking down at her feet.
I couldn't believe it, Bella wanted me to give her away when she married. She didn't want Reneé or Charlie, she wanted… me? I was ecstatic, I could not believe it.
"You want… me?" I asked her, not wanting to distress her.
Bella looked back down at her shoes.
"Well… yeah, I mean I would understand if you didn't want to, but…" She said before I interrupted her.
I put my index finger under her chin and raised her head so she was looking at me.
"Bella… it would be my absolute pleasure." I told her smiling.
Bella grinned and bit her bottom lip, looking happier than I had seen her in a long time. I pulled her in for a hug which she easily complied to. Esme came back into the kitchen smiling at us, having heard our conversation.
Bella pulled back from the hug looking at Esme questioningly. "Esme? Where are the others?" She asked.
"That is a good question." I said, turning to look at Esme.
"They have gone hunting, they left after Emmett and Jasper practically dragged Edward out of the door because you needed to talk to Carlisle about something."
Realisation hit Bella like a ton of bricks. She smiled, "Oh, okay." She said before leaving the kitchen and heading back upstairs to grab her laptop that Jasper took up there earlier.
Esme came and sat beside me on the barstool Bella just got up from.
"How did it go at the hospital?" Esme asked, curiously.
"It went well, I'm going to start on 3 days a week, I want to spend more time at home I think, it might be easier with the transition of things." I told her. "Where have they really gone?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.
"God, you are good, married for 100 years and you can still read me like a book, I need to change tactics." She told me, giggling. I chuckled at her.
"Alice and Rose are out looking for a new car for Alice, as planned but Alice wants to be prepared. The boys are trying to figure out a way to stop Reneé and Phil from getting here, but they are coming up empty." Esme said sadly.
I caught her hand in my own. "Hey, it's okay." I told her, running my knuckles down her cheek. "You know as well as I do she wouldn't go down without one hell of a fight…" I trailed off and she laughed a little, shaking her head.
"I know, I would like to speak to Reneé myself to be honest, but I don't want her anywhere near Bella, she is hurting her now and she isn't even here." She told me sadly. "You know, Bella told me that the reason that she got angry yesterday was because she saw the reaction on your face." Esme told me sombrely, "She realised that Reneé was not only hurting her, but hurting her family as well." Esme told me, placing her head on my shoulder, I kissed her forehead and we stood holding each other in the kitchen until Rose, Emmett, Edward, Alice and Jasper came through the front door, noisily.