Sorry for the massive delay! It's short but I will post a second in a few hours. Between sick hubby, kids and me, it's been a very eventful two weeks! The rest of the chapters will be up each morning until we're done by next weekend. Then the focus will be editing the next chapters to each of my stories that have already been written. In Searching - a 6 part epilogue. A Mother's Choice - 1 long epilogue. Ghosts of My Past - Masen is Missing!. What Happens In Vegas - Honeymoon - Em POV (Also is Bella knocked up?). I even have an outtake for The Perfect Doctor's Wife.
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The trail that Bella had chosen was well marked, and more important to the distraught young mother, completely deserted. There were no evil glares or hateful words. The farther down the path she got, the more she felt herself start to relax, and the tears that had endlessly flowed since she left the hateful grocery store had finally stopped.
"Oh, Emma," she said, rubbing her daughter's back through the sling. "How can such a hateful place exist?"
Emma didn't answer, obviously, but by simply talking to her daughter, she felt immensely better. Her mind switched instantly to Emmett. He was going to be devastated when he heard the new development, and she found herself wishing that she had never left the Cullen's home this morning. She hated herself for adding to his pain like that.
She thought back to Germany, and her conversations with him. He loved this town. It was a part of who he was, and yet now, when he had come home to share this town with his wife. The townspeople had turned their backs on him, and he was struggling to understand how that could happen. She could do nothing to make it better and watching him hurt like that broke her heart.
"I would do just about anything for your daddy, Emma, but I don't think we can stay here. It's just too much," she finally confided to her little girl. "But how can I tell him that?"
Fresh hot tears fell down Bella's cheeks. She didn't want Emmett to lose the relationship that he was building with his parents again, and distance would surely do that. She knew that he was stressed, wanting to be able to support his family as he felt was his duty, and that ability was all tied to Forks.
She had never hated another human being as much as she hated Rosalie Hale.
Bella took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Hating the girl wasn't going to get her anywhere. She continued to walk the path until she came to a point that overlooked the Sol Duc River. Walking off the path into a small clearing, Bella found a bench and settled in to watch the water bubble and move. The air was clear and refreshing and Bella relished this small taste of the outdoors. They had been prisoners in the house since they arrived in Forks for obvious reasons, and being outside again was peaceful; now that there was nobody else around. She looked around at the beautiful scenery and smiled sadly. Geographically, Forks was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. Rich green forests, majestic mountains, clear blue water, it was a natural paradise. But right now, all that beauty was superseded by the ugliness of it's inhabitants. What kind of place would not allow a person to even purchase diapers for their child? The tears rolled down her cheeks as she remembered the humiliation in the grocery store.
The new round of tears and self-pity passed quickly, soon met with a new resolve. Forks didn't deserve her tears. She loved Emmett and she knew that he loved her. The rest... they simply didn't matter. She was stronger than them, would remain stronger. She would show everyone that she was not some shrinking violet that was going to take their abuse. She would not be their victim anymore and she vowed that the people of Forks had seen the last of her tears.
The revelation had been freeing. She wasn't going to allow anyone to make her feel like she didn't belong with her husband. Everyone was just going to have to deal with it. She laughed a little at the levity that appeared in her soul, and she breathed a sigh of relief, happy to have finally come to that conclusion. She decided to enjoy her time outside for a few more minutes before heading back to the car and then to the Cullen's house.
Unfortunately, she had no clue that Emmett had already been to the store and was currently out searching for her and Emma, growing increasingly frantic by the moment. He envisioned all sorts of horrible things, from Bella and Emma being taken by someone to them hopping the first bus out of town to return to Germany. Thankfully Jasper was there to help calm him down and offer more rational possibilities. Carlisle, Esme, Emily and Embry were also helping search.
A cool breeze brought Bella out of her enjoyment of the spot and she shivered against her light coat, holding Emma tighter to her as she looked up at the sky, which had been so blue moments ago, but was now darkening with big fat clouds rolling in. She stood to leave when she was met by a gasp. She bit her lip nervously before steeling herself again. Nobody could make her doubt her husband. She turned around slowly to see which citizen of Forks was going to be the first to test her resolve.
How apropos! Rosalie Hale!
