Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns everything. Except this plot.


prompt: "You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all she's left. Your heart can be empty because you can't see her, or you can be full of the love you shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember her only that she is gone, or you can cherish her memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back. Or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on." - David Harkins

rating: k+


Bella sits and stares numbly at the tiny granite headstone, one that is mournfully emblazoned with a sleeping cherub above a name that now only exists within memories and rock. Her eyes are red but dry; sleepless and tearful nights have completely drained her of everything.

The fact that it's beginning to rain does not register in her mind until her eyes follow a few water droplets as they trail down into the engraved letters and numbers of a birthday they'd never get to celebrate, mocking the tears she's too weary to cry. Bella doesn't move from her spot in the damp earth, even though the rain and her soaked clothing are starting to chill her to the bone. She almost thinks she deserves it.

She can hear a pair of feet sloshing through the puddles towards her, but she doesn't bother to check who is approaching. She already knows. His too-warm arms wrap around her shoulders, pulling her into a tight, comforting embrace as his lips brush softly against her sodden hair. His abnormal body temperature warms her instantly.

"It's going to be okay, Bells," Jacob whispers softly against her temple. He rocks her gently back and forth to soothe her. "I promise, it will get better, I promise."

"I still don't understand," she replies hoarsely, still staring blankly at the gravestone. Her throat feels like sandpaper. "I thought I did everything I could to protect her. She was smiling that morning, Jacob. Smiling. She had your smile..."

"Shhh," he hisses calmingly into her ear, "shhh, Honey, you did everything you could do. Nobody knows why this happens. You were the best mother she could have had, and don't you ever forget that." Bella nods against his warm chest, more to pacify Jacob than to convince herself.

The rain falls harder as night begins to break, and Jacob releases her from his grasp. "Come on, Bella, let's head home before this storm hits full blast." He takes her hand and pulls her close when they stand, giving one last long glance at the memorial for the night.

Bella knows that it will take time for her maternal grieving to cease, but as long as she has Jacob by her side, she knows she can make it through anything.

Ava Anne Black

May 16, 2014

July 23, 2014

So small, so sweet, so soon