Worthy of Love
Chapter Ten
|Lost & Found|
"I think I'm onto something!" Emmet called over to Rosalie as they made their way through the Southern woods surrounding the town of Kipta. Rosalie slowed her own pace and zipped to Emmet's side and smelled the area carefully around him.
"That is not Amanda's scent!" she exclaimed hotly.
"Really? It smells so familiar. I was sure--"
"That is because it is Mom's scent, you great moron!" Rosalie snapped impatiently at him, "She went out today to pick the remaining wild flowers before the chill sets in,"
"How I am supposed to remember that?" he asked defensively.
"Oh, forget it! Let's keep looking. It is dark now and it is too dangerous for a little girl to be out at night all alone," Rosalie reasoned and tugged on Emmet's arm to get him from smelling the tree trunks surrounded by white baby's breath and purple foxglove, shriveling in the coolness of the fall weather.
"Okay, Babe," he agreed to move on, but he was still sure that he had been onto something. The scent was off slightly, but he was certain that he was on the right trail somehow.
They took off again, running at a good speed, sniffing the air in hopes to pick up Amanda's scent.
Emmet was along for the ride. He was always game to participate in anything the family was into so he didn't mind helping to search for the little girl. He didn't even think of why it was so important to his vampire family to help this one particular child. He just figured it was one of Carlisle and Alice's good deeds that they were forever extending to humans.
Rosalie on the other hand, was thinking more logically. She knew that Alice had been keeping a secret from her for days now. Alice was never very good at withholding information. Rosalie could tell that something was making Alice antsy and not in her usual elfin way.
'What is so God damn special about Amanda that we are out here searching for her? We could just call the Sheriff!' Rose thought to herself as she combed the wooded area. She didn't mind Amanda, and did feel a bit more connected to her than any other human because she had saved her from drowning, but Rosalie was not impressed at the center stage Amanda was taking in her family's circle at the moment. She felt it was dangerous to become too involved.
Rosalie was not happy about Amanda encroaching on her family's lives, but she was not cold-hearted enough to not be concerned for Amanda's well being. If it were her child lost in the woods she would hope that there would be someone out searching like they were doing for Amanda.
"Nothing over here…I think we have gone too far, Rose," Emmet spoke up after minutes of intense searching. He was probably correct. They had traveled so far south that they were closing in on the Sheraton Indian Reserves.
"Let's go back then…and West as Dad suggested," Rosalie agreed, her face full of intensity. Emmet read her facial expression as concern.
"Don't worry, Babe. We'll find her,"
"Then what?" Rosalie asked huffily. She had the suspicion that Amanda would not being going back to Donna Combs's after this incident. A run away child is not something taken lightly. "That pixie-freak better not think we are going to take in that human stray!"
*
*
*
"Still nothing?!" Jasper asked Alice as they speedily raced passed the dark trees with graceful agility. He was expecting Alice to pick up a glimpse of Amanda's future to guide them in their search, but Alice was still unable to pick up anything concrete.
He was just as concerned for Amanda as Alice was. He hated to see her so worried like she was now and had been for the last few days. He felt she was stressed by something and was keeping it a secret. He accepted this and knew Alice would have her reasons. Jasper trusted Alice absolutely.
"She's is too upset. She changes her mind set every few minutes. I have no idea what she is planning or where she is headed. She was going to stop and sit down. I thought we could perhaps find her then if she was motionless for a time, but she changed her mind. She changed her path. I don't know which way! It was too dark to see and Amanda is not sure where she is either," Alice ranted at top speed.
"She will settle down soon. She must be getting tired," Jasper offered. Alice frowned. She knew Jasper was being rational and that they would find Amanda soon. With five vampires out looking for her, the odds were in that favor. However, she was not used to this level of uncertainty in her visions.
"Amanda must be so upset. She is not thinking clearly. I hope she is all right," Alice admitted gently as the pair of them came to a stop at the Northeast part of Babine Lake. Jasper carefully scanned the nearby area and shook his head to let her know there was no sign of Amanda there as well. Alice knew as much already.
"Alice…Sweetheart?" Jasper was quiet and serious for a moment. "I don't want to pry, but if you could spare some details to what this search is all about, why Esme is not in on the search, perhaps we could all be better suited to find the child,"
Alice sighed and longed to tell him the whole story. Keeping anything from her Jasper was unimaginably difficult for her to do. They had no secrets from one another.
In an instant, Alice sank into a blurry, vision. Amanda, sketchy in the dark of night, was at the lake house, placing the Marc Jacob's coat on the front steps of the house, returning it. And as she turned to run away again the door opened and the light poured out from the inside of the front foyer and streamed down the front driveway, spotlighting Amanda.
She turned to face the light and her eyes widened. There stood Esme, in a white, silk evening dress. Amanda staggered back, uncertain, but not yet afraid.
"Amy?" Esme's whispered eerily.
"Alice? Is everything okay? Please tell me?" Jasper asked carefully as Alice blinked herself away from the ghostly vision. She was whiter in the moonlight, but it could have been from shock if she were human enough to experience that state. Alice turned her startled face to Jasper's.
"We have a problem…" she began.
*
*
*
Amanda could not feel her legs any more. They were too immersed in a sprint. She feared to stop because she was sure she would fall down. And she didn't want to stand still. The pain and self-loathing would take her over again.
She blamed herself for this mess. Like she blamed herself for her mother's death.
Amanda wished she could have been better behaved, better at school, prettier. Anything more than she was now. Maybe then, her mother would have wanted to live. And then maybe…she would not be in this situation right now.
But the maybes didn't help Amanda as she ran aimlessly through the darkness, tripping on branches and ripping her clothes. The jacket she adored so much was getting dirty. The one item that had significantly made a difference in her life the last few days was beginning to fall apart as well. Amanda came to a slamming halt with this realization.
Luckily for her, there was a glow of light from the distance. A house, it looked like, and as she began to run toward it the house revealed itself to her. It was like it was meant to be. Amanda could not have planned this better herself. She had never been on this trail before, so to find the lake house was fortuitous.
She began to unzip the jacket as she jogged, her legs felt like pegs beneath her. She wanted to give back Alice's coat before she continued on her journey. This seemed like a good idea to Amanda who didn't want to steal anything more by accident; especially from Alice, who she quite liked and had been so kind to her.
The house seemed to emerge quickly before her as she ran. She had the jacket half removed as she scurried as quietly as she could to the front steps of the house. She would just leave the coat on the front steps and hope that they found it before the weather turned too nasty and ruined it worse than she already had.
As Amanda slipped her sore, right arm from the warm sleeve she shuddered. It was bittersweet to leave the lovely borrowed gift when she could have really used it now. She was homeless, she figured. And although she was not apposed to freezing to death as an option, Amanda's instincts told her that she should fight to stay alive and ditching the warm vessel was a mistake.
None-the-less, Amanda dropped the designer coat at the front door and backtracked towards the trees again. She heard a click behind her and suddenly there was a long shadow of herself stretching in front of her. Yellow light lit the path entrapping the black figured shadow and Amanda spun to see where it was coming from.
In the doorway of the magnificent mansion was a woman trapped in the bright light shining outwards into the night. She was wearing a white dress that flowed around her and stopped at her knees. The woman's face was hard to see with the light hitting the back of her, but Amanda recognized the beautiful woman.
It was the woman from her dreams. Amanda gawked and nearly fell backwards as she attempted to stable herself to get a better look. She was a bit scared now, but wasn't sure if she should run from the woman she had always thought was her mother's angel.
"Amy?" a voice echoed softly, like music, from the light.
*
*
*
Carlisle left his car at home and hurried into town on foot. He made his way to Donna Combs' home. He already had the feeling he was too late, with the sun gone behind the mountains already. Sure enough, there was no one at the pitiful shack, called a home, when he arrived.
He went over to the house to pick up Amanda's scent, hoping he would be able to follow it to where she was currently. As he round the house, looking inside to make sure Amanda had not snuck back inside, he tried to get a good idea of which direction Amanda had taken.
A familiar smell mingled with the surroundings and with the fading scent that Amanda had left at the house. Carlisle knew its origin right way. He knew that Elizabeth must have been at the house not too long ago and was probably trying to find Amanda as well.
Just then, bright headlights flashed on the side of the house. A red Firefly pulled up fast and screeched to a stop. Carlisle jogged at a human's pace to the vehicle as his red-haired assistant stepped out.
"She's gone!" Elizabeth yelled out frantically as Carlisle reached her.
"I know. My family is out searching for her right now," he explained and she gripped Elizabeth's arms to steady her. She looked about ready to fall apart.
"I tried to call the office to ask you if she came back there. You had already left. I tried your cell too, but you didn't pick up!" she hurried over her words, not taking a breath. He looked at his phone and sure enough there was a missed call. He must have left it on silent from his workday. It was set to ring now.
"I'm sorry I did not answer my cell. We were preoccupied with the news when she had gone missing. We having been searching for her. I am sorry you have been so worried," Carlisle tried to console Elizabeth. She nodded frantically.
"I checked Tyler Davis' house, he hasn't seen or heard from her. His parents are out searching the neighborhood as well. She is not at the school. She is not at the office. I went back to my place, hoping she would come to me…but she didn't and I thought maybe she would come back here and ..and…" Elizabeth spoke quickly, heaving in the night air in between each sentence.
"We'll find her, Liz. Don't worry,"
"She is just a little girl. And it is cold and she is out there…all alone,"
"I know…I know," Carlisle soothed Elizabeth softly, his words like gentle puffs of air, "We will find her. She won't have gone far. I am certain we will find her,"
Elizabeth began to calm down with his words, hoping that the brilliant doctor was correct. He was so sure that Amanda would be found safe she wanted to believe him.
Then his phone rang from inside his hand and he let go of her arms to answer it. Elizabeth waited impatiently to hear what was being said on the other end. It took whoever was on the other end only seconds to get their message to Carlisle. His face could not hide his concern and it made Elizabeth fear the worst.
"Oh, God, no!" she exhaled. Carlisle put his hand on her shoulder as he shut his phone. He was not so sure how it would turn out, but Alice's instructions on over the phone to him were as follows:
"Amanda is heading to the house…Esme will see her. Bring Elizabeth with you!" she had demanded of him. Alice knew what she was doing. Carlisle believed that.
"My wife has spotted Amanda. She was at my house," Carlisle explained.
"Oh, thank God!" Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. She had no idea how much worse this scenario was than it seemed. For Carlisle and his family, anyhow.
"Would you please give me a ride home?" Carlisle asked already ushering Elizabeth towards her driver's door and opening it for her. It would be faster than going on foot. He couldn't risk running through town at his natural pace in case a resident saw him.
"Of course, let's go!" she answered without hesitation and slid into her seat as he shut the door behind her.
*
*
*
'Mom?' Amanda questioned herself, confused. She felt like she might have lost her mind. There was no way her mother could be standing there, alive.
She thought she might be dreaming. The forest in her dreams was always in the day light, but the figure standing before her now was the very same. The white dress, angelic face, and soft graceful features of the woman in the doorway were just the same.
She had always thought it was her mom in her dreams, but now Amanda was not so sure. As the woman very carefully drew nearer, Amanda felt frightened. She couldn't seem to get her legs to move. They were stiff underneath her. She was only able to watch the woman in white come towards her with the same curiousness she felt.
'Perhaps she is a ghost. She sure is pale enough. Or she really is an angel,' Amanda thought to herself as Esme approached her. The light behind her now was not so blatant and Amanda could see her Esme's face more clearly.
It was not her mother. Amanda could see that now. There was no mistaking the two. This woman had fuller lips than her mother had, and was a bit shorter. Also, her eyes were an odd golden color. But the face shape was just as her own was... heart-shaped and symmetrical. Her eyes were perfectly set apart and her nose was dainty between them and her luscious, full lips.
Esme was determining the same explanation as Amanda. She could see now that this was not her daughter Amy, but she still felt that the child before her was her kin. Amanda looked like Amy had when she was a kid. Only Amanda was a lot thinner with grey circles under her large, tired eyes.
'She is around the same age as Amy was when she went missing,' Esme decided. She was partly relieved it was not her daughter, although she had always dreamt of seeing her again. Esme was glad this child in front of her was a human. And not Amy's ghost or worse…some immortal version of her beloved daughter.
"You must be Amanda," she finally spoke. She knew from Amanda's frail appearance and worn clothing that this was the child her Alice had been watching over since they had arrived in Kipta. This was the same girl that Carlisle had taken in at his medical practice. The child who had crashed a car though his lobby window.
It dawned on Esme how she knew nothing more than the child's name and her neglectful passed. None of her family who had met Amanda had ever mentioned the resemblance she had to her own daughter and herself. But Esme didn't focus on this thought. After all, she had not liked to talk about Amy and only kept a few photos of her little girl in her jewelry box.
"I…I…" Amanda stuttered as she began to get very afraid. Esme was only a few feet away from her now and looking more and more ethereal than Amanda had ever dreamed. The moonlight glistened off of Esme's skin and made her appear snow white in its reflection.
"Don't be frightened, Darling. My name is Esme. I am Dr Cullen's wife," she spoke at a whisper. She couldn't stop herself from staring at Amanda's tired eyes and notice how lovely she was in spite of the abuse her body had been through.
'Impossible!' Esme thought, shaking a number of reasons for Amanda and Amy's strong resemblance. As she grew closer to Amanda, she caught her scent and she gasped and dropped to her knees and reached out. 'No…my Amy is dead. This can't be happening!' It was like she could feel Amy in her arms again. The nostalgia was overbearing.
Amanda stepped back from Esme's hand in fear, it had been inches away from her cheek. As she placed her foot behind her, it caught on the curb of the driveway and Amanda tripped. She fell down hard, her arms stretched out behind her to catch her fall. Her right arm took the brunt of the slam into the pavement and she yelped. Shooting pain shot from her elbow towards her shoulder and her wrist. It stopped as she hugged her arm to her body tightly.
"No no…stay back! Stay away from me!" Amanda pleaded as Esme moved forward to help her up. She kicked at the cement as she tried to push herself away from the woman in white that she was now sure was real. Amanda realized she was not dreaming this time.
"I am so sorry, Amanda. Please. Let me help you. Carlisle and the kids are all out looking for you, but I will call them and tell them you are safe. And I can make you some warm tea," Esme offered, "How about we go inside?"
"No. I can't. I have to go," Amanda spoke, her voice cracking on the crisp air. She got herself standing again, her arm was only aching mildly now. The pain had subsided and she didn't waste any time. Amanda's legs were still tingling and numb from excursion, but her mind told her to run again and so she did.
"Amanda! Please! Come back!" Esme called out, starting to go after her. However, Esme stopped herself. She was supposed to stay at the house for a reason. And she was now very aware that her family had been keeping Amanda away from her. That much was clear…
'But why?' Esme wondered as she watched Amanda run toward the lake. She didn't go after her. She had to find out why Alice had lied to her. There was nothing about Amanda that made Esme feel out of control. 'So, why did Alice lie to me that day when Amanda was coming to the house? Why did I have to be taken away that day if there was no danger to Amanda? What is my family hiding from me?'
*
*
*
"I still can't believe this!" Jasper exclaimed as he and Alice made their way back home. Alice had seen Amanda leaving her jacket at the lake house and then had proceeded to tell Jasper the whole truth.
"I know, but every word of it is true. Dad and I did the research," Alice confirmed as they ran in sync through the woods, dodging trees elegantly and effortlessly.
"Amanda is Mom's granddaughter?" Jasper said, not as a questioned, but to hear himself say it. He was trying to make sense of the story Alice had just told him.
"Mom does not know yet. We were not sure how to tell her,"
"She will find out soon…I don't think we will make it back to the house in time to stop their meeting," he said as they hurried along at top speed. They were only moments away from home at this point. Alice knew they were too late when she saw Amanda on the run again in her mind.
"Yes, we are too late," she explained, "Amanda took off again,"
Only this time Amanda was not so uncertain of where she was going. Alice saw it clearly as Amanda chose her resting place for the night. Jasper could tell how Alice was feeling and she was not as worried about the child now so he didn't badger Alice for details.
Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmet all met up back at the house at the same time.
"We didn't find her. Did you two have any luck? Alice?" Rosalie asked as they all flew in to the front driveway and stopped in front of the huge garage.
"No, but Alice saw her. She was here," Jasper explained to Rosalie and Emmet.
"She WAS?" Rosalie asked, emphasizing the passed tense.
"She saw Mom and was scared off. She took off down the trail. She will be fine. I know where she is," Alice shared her visions with her siblings. Rosalie's eyes grew hard with annoyance.
"Scared? Of Mom?" Rosalie inquired, not seeing how Esme could look threatening in any light. Esme was the warmest, gentlest vampire she had ever met. Rosalie had never known a more loving, maternal person, even in her human life. It seemed silly to picture Amanda, the tough kid with an attitude, being scared of their sweet mother.
"Did Mom try to bite her?" Emmet asked in a dopey loud voice. Rosalie smacked the back of his head in reflex.
"Don't be an idiot! Of course not!" she scolded him as he rubbed the back of his head and messed his thick, dark curls.
"Alice Cullen, I need to speak with you right away!" Esme's voice rang out with authority above them all. There was silence. It was like being called down to the principal's office. None of the Cullen kids ever wanted to disappoint Esme or Carlisle. Alice stepped forward.
Esme was standing by the house, arms folded across her chest, a disciplinary edge to her beautiful voice spoke out again.
"I think you have some explaining to do, young lady," she announced. Esme knew that Alice had lied to her about Amanda being a temptation and she wanted to know the reason behind it.
"Yes, Mom," Alice complied, scooting over to her mother with her head hung in shame. She felt so much guilt for keeping a secret from her mother, that Jasper felt like he was in the wrong too even though he had only just found out about Amanda being Esme's granddaughter.
"What is going on?" Emmet blurted out impatiently. Rosalie grabbed his hand and squeezed it in a gesture of warning. He took the hint and shut his mouth. The three older kids huddled together as they waited to hear Alice's explanation.
The sound of chugging broke up the quiet and everyone turned to look for the vehicle that was making its was to up the drive. Esme relaxed her arms and let go of some of the tension she was carrying as she saw her husband in the passenger seat next to his assistant.
Alice was relieved. They were right on time. She could now point them in the right direction to finding Amanda and everything would work out. The car jerked to a stop and the doors flew open. Both Carlisle and Elizabeth got out and ran over to the waiting Cullen family.
"Where is she?" Carlisle asked first.
"Is she hurt? Can I see her?" Elizabeth questioned before anyone could answer Carlisle's. Her compassion for Amanda was clear in how she cared for the little girl. Esme liked this about Elizabeth and would have smiled if the mood was not so harried.
"She is okay. She is down by the first beach. Adjacent to the dock is a large, weeping willow. She is up in there. I thought it was best for you to get her down," Alice shared, looking to Elizabeth at her last sentence. She foresaw Elizabeth being able to talk Amanda out of the tree with very little trouble.
There were more than a few sighs heard around the crowd. Elizabeth didn't seem to find herself the odd one out in a group of stunningly gorgeous vampires. In fact, she didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary at all. She immediately looked to Carlisle to see if he was going to follow her as she started down the hill towards the lake.
"I will be home soon," Carlisle whispered to his family. He could read the tension on all their faces; and the concern they all had for both Amanda and also for his wife. He knew right away by Alice's large, worried eyes, that Esme must have met Amanda tonight.
"Mom, I will tell you everything. I promise," Alice said, so Carlisle could hear and know that the secret was out. Elizabeth was ahead of him, already half way down the slop to the shore when he heard this. Carlisle turned to face his wife for a moment.
"I am so sorry, my love. Just know that I only kept this from you to save you from the pain. I love you," Carlisle whispered into the wind. Esme tilted her head and smiled faintly. She was not angry with him at all. She only wanted to know the truth.
*
*
*
Amanda had successfully managed to climb the thick trunk of the willow tree with only one good arm. The base of the tree was slanted slightly and has a few nubs where she could place her feet and use as a stepping ladder. She then crawled up a few branched and sat into the hallowed curve of the large tree, hugging her knees to her chest.
This was the same tree that she and Tyler had always wanted to build a tree house in, but they never were able to find the time to make that happen. Amanda had always had the thought of sleeping in it if times ever got too tough at Donna's. So, even without the tree house built, she felt slightly comforted to be nestled in the tree, high up off the ground.
She felt hidden in a sense. And oddly safe, even though it would not be hard for anyone else to climb the tree behind her and come after her. She was only about five and a half feet off the ground. Not that Amanda expected anyone to be looking for her. She pretty much figured she would have to go it alone from now on.
Then, Amanda thought about the woman in white that she had recently ran away from. Amanda's stomach flipped inside her. She began to wonder if she had done the right thing. So many times in her dreams she had chased this woman and tried to catch up to her. She had begged that woman to not leave her.
So, now she was not sure if running away and giving up on the woman in white was such a good idea. She had finally caught up to her. She had finally found her. Even though the woman in white was clearly not her mother, Amanda felt the strangest lure toward her still.
'Why did you have to run away?!' she demanded of herself, 'You finally got what you had been searching for and you ran away!'
Amanda was furious with herself. She was used to blaming herself for all the things that happened in her life. She was the one who always made the bad choices. She was the one who let her mother die. She could have been a better girl. Then her mother would have wanted to live. These thoughts and other were planted firmly in Amanda's mind.
'Stupid! I am so stupid! Why do I always mess everything up?!'
The tree was icy cold and it made her bum and back numb where she touched it. She tried to lean forward so her back was no longer resting against the tree branch. Amanda was not unbearably cold for the temperature it was outside. Her heart was beating fast from all the excitement still. Amanda wasn't sure if it would ever slow down again. She could not erase the image of Esme from her mind.
Amanda thought she heard her voice being called. Someone was looking for her.
'Oh no...'
Amanda wasn't sure if she wanted to be found or not. She pressed her face into her knees and hid.
*
*
*
"Amanda!" Elizabeth called out as she ran down the dirty trail toward the willow tree. She could see the tiny figure of the little girl curled up into a tight, a barely visible lump in the center of the tree. Carlisle rushed along beside his assistant, careful not to be too gallant and blow his human charade. He saw Amanda too and was pleased she was in their sights now.
"Amanda," Elizabeth said her name again, this time more softly as she reached the base of the old, willow. She placed her hand on the trunk and cocked her head back to look up at the Amanda, who was silent and hiding her face in her lap.
"Amanda, are you hurt?" Carlisle asked, troubled by the way she was favoring her right arm carefully by holding it to her chest. The joint around Amanda's elbow was swollen, and her wrist as well. This was not visible to a human's eyes at this dark of night, but he could tell that she had injured her arm again and most likely broken a bone.
"Go away!" Amanda said. Her head planted firmly into her jeans muffled the sound of her voice.
"No," Carlisle whispered kindly. "We are not going anywhere without you,"
"Please. Please, come down from there," Elizabeth reasoned with Amanda. She reached out her hand and was just tall enough to touch Amanda's shin with it.
"No!" Amanda strongly rebuffed, not budging.
"It is late. It is time to go home now. Please come down from there," Elizabeth tried again. Carlisle waited patiently, knowing that Amanda was more likely to listen to Elizabeth then himself.
"I have no home!" Amanda's voice cracked. Warm tears soaked into her jeans and she shivered as she realized how cold her skin really was.
"Of course you do....You are coming home with me," Elizabeth told Amanda, her voice steadily assertive. There was no doubt in her tone or in her mind that Amanda was to go anywhere else. Amanda could hear this in Elizabeth's words too and she began to sob, releasing her tense body position.
Elizabeth reached into the tree for the fragile girl to come to, catching Amanda as she slid down the tree branch and into her open arms.
"That's it. Good girl. You are going to be just fine. Everything is going to be okay," Elizabeth cooed soothingly to Amanda, rubbing her back as she cried silently, resting her head on Elizabeth's shoulder. These were the lies Amanda had always wanted someone to tell her. The words made Amanda cry even harder.
"You will need to ice her arm to bring the swelling down," Carlisle told Elizabeth very quietly as they headed back towards the house. Amanda clung tightly with her left arm holding around the back of Elizabeth's neck and her legs around Elizabeth's waist. She had her sore arm bent at a ninety-degree angle and tucked in between herself and Elizabeth.
"Yes, I will. It is late now. I want to take her home. I will bring her to the clinic tomorrow with me if you don't mind,"
"Oh course not," Carlisle agreed, "You take good care or yourself Amanda,"
They were back at the house in no time at all and he helped buckle Amanda into the passenger seat and Elizabeth went around to her door.
"See you tomorrow," Elizabeth said. Carlisle nodded.
"Thank you, Liz," he replied gratefully. He could not have wished for a better home for Amanda to go to. Elizabeth was an amazingly kind, generous, woman. He would have gladly taken Amanda in, but it was safer, and better for everyone that she go home with Elizabeth.
Once the red Firefly had disappeared around the bend, Carlisle made his way towards his home. He could hear his family inside talking as he walked up the driveway. The chandelier was lit in the grand dining room. A family meeting was in session.
*
*
*
Rosalie was upset. The news of Amanda and Esme's relationship was not taken well by her at all. She was scared that the Volturi would find out. "We should move! We have only been here for less than a month. It is not a big deal to pack up and take off!" she suggested. Emmet didn't seem to care about the news.
"Aw, come on! I like it here. There is good game to snack on! And this house is one of the best we have ever lived in! Besides, that kid hates Pops anyway. Once she has finished paying her debt to him, we won't see her anymore. Problem solved," Emmet said as if there was no problem at all.
"It had already gone too far. Amanda is a part of our lives if we want her to be or not. She has seen Mom and she is not a fool. Once the shock of tonight wears off and she begins to explore who Mom is, it will not take Amanda long to figure it out on her own," Jasper rationalized.
"I think we should stay," Alice perked up and added her take. "Amanda needs us and I can't predict a happy ending for her yet. There are too many obstacles in the way keeping that child from happiness,"
"We can't stay. If she finds out what we are word gets out…the Volturi will have us all destroyed!" Rosalie raised her voice, interrupting Alice.
"I will look out for any dangers, Rose," Alice suggested. Rosalie heaved a heavy sigh and then Alice continued, "I know you guys don't want to hear this…but she deserves to have Mom in her life. And Mom deserves to get to know Amanda as well!" Alice voiced her opinion.
Carlisle walked in to his home and hoped to hear his wife speak. She had been so silent. As he made his way to the dining room where they were all gathered, he could see her wistful stare as she was thinking about her own little girl.
"I am so sorry, my love," Carlisle whispered into his wife's ear as he wrapped his arms around her and held her in front of him. She reached and held onto his arms and sighed.
"Don't be. There is nothing we can do about the past," she somberly said, "but the future we do have a say in. And I say they we stay in Kipta. At least until I am sure that Amanda is taken care of,"
And with her words, the family meeting was adjourned and the decision was made. The Cullen family would remain in Kitpa for the unforeseeable future.
Esme had accepted Amanda as her granddaughter.
Review Please!