Note: I do not own Twilight!!!

Chapter 24

Lean On Me

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That which has never been broken can never be mended, that which has never been lost can never be found, and that which has never been forfeit can never be redeemed.

Unknown

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Carlisle paced the garden, lost in his deep pondering. Alice left him to gather his thoughts before facing Sarah and the rest of his family. Before doing so, she gave him two more kernels of information to add to the heavy dose of reality he was ruminating on. It involved two snippets of visions that had surfaced over the past twenty four hours. Both involved Sarah and Bart.

The first vision she described to him was a still, sepia-toned image, like an old tin-type photograph. Sarah and Ben stood together in their Sunday best with Bart, smartly dressed, in front of them. Each of them had a hand resting on one of the boy's shoulders.

"It's a family portrait, Carlisle," Alice explained. "Bart is destined to join this family as Sarah and Ben's child."

That wasn't entirely surprising; Bartholomew was an orphan now and Sarah had a soft spot in her heart for him. The second vision was more shocking and a little confusing.

"I still see her biting the boy," Alice told him.

A deep pain settled into his chest at her words. "She can't Alice, the boy is only ten. Creating an immortal child . . . they'll both be killed."

"I said my vision shows her biting Bart . . . I don't see him becoming one of us." Even his gifted daughter looked confused by this.

"But he's to join the family?" perhaps the one vision was determinate on the other.

"Yes, Carlisle, he's going to join the family . . . as a human."

Those words still rattled through his mind as he sighed and turned to leave the peaceful garden. He couldn't put things off any longer.

He knocked lightly at the door to his daughters' apartment. When he opened the door, he found Siobhan and Maggie were gone. Sarah sat on the sofa between Esme and Alice. Rose and Bella had taken up flanking positions on either sofa arm. Four pairs of honey-gold eyes were focused on him as he moved, at human speed, across the room. Even Sarah's sightless hazel eyes seemed to drill into him as he approached. He now knew what the deer felt like when he watched them with his predatory gaze.

Slowly, he knelt before Sarah. He allowed himself to look first to his mate. Her face showed her worry but her anger was gone. Carlisle wondered if Alice had spoken to her. His gaze then shifted to Alice, she flashed him her usually pixie smile and nodded her encouragement.

"Sarah," he breathed her name softly and watched her reaction. He noticed that she was trembling when he knelt in front of her; the sound of him whispering her name intensified her shaking. He turned again to Alice, questioning clearly written in his features. She smiled and nodded again.

"Sarah, honey." He reached out to take her hand in his, but instantly pulled back. At his touch, Sarah flinched. Carlisle took a deep breath and tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he reached out again and gently took Sarah's hand. "Shhh, it's alright sweetheart, I know, it's . . ."

"I'm sorry, Papa," she squeaked. "I'm so sorry, please don't be angry."

"No, no, honey, shush, it's ok . . . it's ok." He reached up with his other hand and cupped her cheek, ignoring her slight reaction at this. "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you, not the other way around." He paused and then added, "Papa has been acting like a real nincompoop and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you the way I did, Sarah. I've never raised my voice in anger to my children like that before; it was uncalled for . . . it was wrong of me." Carlisle sighed, he had absolutely no right to ask this of her, he deserved his guilt, but he needed her absolution. "Do you think you could see your way clear to forgive your foolish old Papa for his foolishness?"

Her reaction was instant; she launched herself at Carlisle wrapping him in an exuberant hug. He caught her in his arms and returned her embrace with equal fierceness. Though she was incapable of tears he felt her begin to sob in his arms and, to his amazement, he found himself doing the same. Ages had passed since he'd last allowed himself this level of emotional release, but in that moment it was inescapable.

By virtue of his age and experience, Carlisle regained his composure first. He continued to hold Sarah as he whispered gentle encouragement into the top of her head.

"Papa," he heard her croak when she was a little calmer, "Papa don't be angry . . . I almost . . . I nearly . . . killed that man."

She was sobbing again by the time she finished.

"Shhh," he pulled her in even tighter, "It's alright honey, I know. Alice told me. We'll get you through this, it's ok."

"But . . . I nearly killed him," she protested and then paused to try and catch her breath. "I . . . I wanted to . . . drink all of him. It was awful."

"You lost control, Sarah," he whispered, minding his tone to keep it calm and understanding. "It happens sometimes, especially to young ones like you. Don't misunderstand me; I'm very impressed with you. Your control is extraordinary considering you're only a few months old. You made both a trans-continental and a trans-Atlantic flight on airplanes packed with humans, most of us couldn't do that at your age . . . not without leaving a body count anyway."

"But I came so close." He noted the anxiety in her voice that the thought of her near slip caused.

"Yes, but the most important thing is that . . . you didn't kill him."

"But what if I had . . . would you hate me?"

He tipped her chin up so that he could gaze into her eyes. Even though she couldn't see, those soft brown pools held a reflection of her emotions. Often he had wondered in the past three centuries, if their kind still possessed souls. Looking into Sarah's eyes made him certain that she, at least, did. It was laid bare in those hazel depths, for anyone in the world with as much as an ounce of discernment to see.

"Sarah, there is absolutely nothing you could do that would ever make me hate you." He bent forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Lean on me, honey, and I'll always be there to support you . . . call on me and I'll always come to your aid . . . trust in me, I'll never knowingly hurt you or lead you falsely. You don't have to bear your burdens alone Sarah, you have a family to help you . . . you have your Papa to help you. Let us carry what you can't handle on your own."

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Chapter Notes:

I know this chapter was a little short, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything more beyond Carlisle's words of wisdom. Next chapter will be longer.

Yes, the title of this chapter came from the song, Lean on Me. I have two versions on my playlist, one by The Temptations (old school) and one by Rockapella. I like them both very much.

Before any of you ask, no, Sarah doesn't know about Alice's visions concerning Bart. At this point, only Alice and Carlisle know and it's their little secret. Alice did speak to Esme about Carlisle's apology . . . maybe he won't have to spend the night on the sofa after all. Ha ha ha.

PS: If any of my dear readers knows where that quote at the beginning of this chapter came from, please let me know. I have bits and pieces of all kinds of stuff just floating around inside my head. In any case, I'm quite sure I'm not clever enough to come up with something like that on my own.