Chapter 14

Esme's Point Of View

I had to make sure my daughter was all right. It was driving me insane not to be able to see her to her; I needed to see for myself that Bella was no longer afraid of us. I needed to hold my horrible human fragile daughter in my arms right now.

"Edward I need to see her…please…Edward." I begged him in my thoughts; trying to be conspicuous about my pleading, I turned my face into my husband's chest and sobbed quietly. Carlisle rubbed little circles on my back to try and comfort me. It was helping; but I could not be totally at ease until I saw my Bella.

"Would you like to go see Bella first mom?" Edward whispered quietly; it was a whisper of pain and agony, it made my heart flutter to think of my children in pain. And right now Bella and Edward were both suffering the most. I only nodded with a tiny smile of thanks and darted up the stairs.

"Esme wants to see you little sister, she is waiting out in the hallway; she was very worried about you." Jasper said hugging his little sister tightly for a second—holding his breath of course—then let her go. "If you need anything Bella, I will be down stairs." He promised Bella before he met me out in the hallway.

I stood in the doorway for a moment—to test Bella's reaction to me, but it was not needed. Bella was looking down at her tiny little hands while I was taking the few seconds to see her fragile trembling body and her mood of very mixed emotions. As a mother—even as a second mother—it killed me to see her in pain. When Bella looked into my eyes; I could see hurt, pain, confusion, betrayal, scared and many other emotions, but it was not the pain in her eyes that made me move towards her.

It was her words that made my feet move and cradle her in my arms.

"Mommy?" Bella cried breaking down; it was the worst I had ever seen from Bella; she was practically screaming at the top of her lungs as she cried a steady stream of tears. After an hour of screaming and crying; came her pleading and crying.

"Don't leave me mommy…please don't leave me mommy…I don't want you to go. I don't want you to leave me again. I need you and want you…I love you mommy." Bella cried pleading with me; her fists were griping the front of my blouse with all of her fail human strength.

I broke down. I tried to be strong for her.

"I will not leave you my daughter, I swear to you. I am here and I am not going anywhere. I will always be here for you." I promised her sobbing tearlessly, burying my face in her hair. "I love you too Bella…so much, my precious baby girl." I whispered brokenly in her ear. Then I called for Carlisle so low that Bella would not be able to hear me.

Bella just sat in my arms crying; I had never seen Bella cry or scream or seen her so frightened. Bella was the best and brightest out of us all—not to mention the strongest—but here she was broken and scared in my arms. Carlisle came in the same instant to see his newest daughter through her agonizing pain.

"What have we done to you?" Carlisle whispered horrified from the doorway—I could hear quite a few hisses and low growls from down stairs—Carlisle stumbled into the room to the bed, to take Bella from my arms. My blouse was soaked from all of Bella's tears—I could probably wring it out it was so soaked through—I gently loosened Bella's grip from my blouse; Bella shook her head from side to side violently, not wanting to let go.

"Come on honey; daddy's here." Carlisle said gently taking Bella into his embrace; Bella went willingly but gripped his shirt with the same strength, her knuckles were white as bone and no doubt cramped in pain.

"I am just going down stairs; I will be back." I swore to Bella before flying down the stairs into living room. I flew down the stairs enraged coming to a stop a foot away from Edward, who was curled into a ball on the floor by himself—no one pitied him as he sobbed brokenly the same broken tearless sobs as my own.

"Get up and follow me!" I hissed furious. "Now!" I growled standing over him.

Edward got to his feet shakily and followed me out of the forest; we were only a few meters from the house—I could still see the house from where we stood—out of Bella's hearing range. I stood for a minute taking in Edward's appearance; not far from Bella's…but he caused this pain and heart ache.

"How…how could you do this to your mate…to your Bella…to your lover?" I questioned him fuming; my hands were balled tightly by my sides. "That girl…my daughter; she sacrifices everything for you and for our family, while betraying her human family and you do nothing but hurt and lie to her. I raised you better than his Edward." I yelled at him.

"I know mom…I thought I was doing the right thing by hurting her…to hide this side of myself from Bella…" He mumbled hanging his head in shame.

"Yes because that worked so well for her…you selfish childish little boy; grow up Edward!" I snapped at him still as furious as I was five minutes ago. "All Bella wanted was for you to explain to her, all she wanted to know was why…why you refused to see her and shut her out. Bella is your fiancée for Christ sake Edward. What happens the next time this happens and she is no longer human? Are you going to run away from her again without a word and leave her for weeks or months on end? "I asked goading him further; I thrust pictures of Bella into my mind, while I held her tightly in my embrace while she cried herself out.

Edward cringed and choked out a howl of pain, gripping the sides of his head as if someone was screaming in his ear or screaming their thoughts abnormally loud in a very close proximity of him.

"All I am asking is for you to explain to her Edward…it is what you should have done in the first place!" I sighed frustrated. "Just go back to her and make everything right again…and if you ever and I mean ever hurt Bella like this again…I will not hesitate to hurt you for her; Bella is the only one out of the eight of us that cannot defend herself against our kind and most of hers. We are her protectors and her family; we are supposed to love and care and provide for her and protect her and so far all we have ever done is hurt and protect her." I pushed on as Edward just kneeled on the ground by my feet clutching his hair in his hands; I thought for sure he was going to rip it out screaming. I knelt down beside him to pull his hands from his hair—gently—and look him in the eyes. He was the burning man again; the one I saw months ago when he had first left Bella; the agony etched in his eyes was overwhelming.

"Go to her Edward…do everything you are supposed to do. Love her and protect her." I said gently. "Go now son, before it is too late." I demanded helping him to his feet.

Edward threw his arms around me and hugged me tightly still sobbing gently.

"Thank you mother, I don't deserve a mother like you or a wife like Bella…yet I was blessed with both and thanks for the kick in the ass." I chuckled lightly squeezing him tighter for a moment; I let him go and watched him dart out of the forest and into the house.

"You're welcome my son." Is all I thought before going back to the house myself; and joined my children—Edward included—he was waiting for Carlisle to call him up.

"Today is far from over and tonight will be just as long; Bella has a lot of healing to do. There will be no family hunts unless Bella is fully aware of it and has a way to contact each and every one of us. Today will never happen again." I said looking at all my children.

Carlisle came down the stairs with a tortured look on his face; his shirt was soaked—same as mine—with Bella's salt water tears. "She finally cried herself out and is now sleeping soundly." He muttered walking to the back window looking out into the forest. "I gave Bella something to help her sleep through the night." He said taking off out the open back door asking I not follow.

"A long night and even longer morning." I added mentally.