PRAYERS ANSWERED

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

But, before he could receive an answer Carlisle rose to his feet and quickly left the kitchen for a matter of minutes and when he came back he had paper and pens in his hands. And, it was at that moment that Edward moved over to Charlie and bent down to begin talking, but, his father was the first to speak and informed Charlie what was about to happen to which Charlie had a stunned looked on his face that seemed to manifest itself even further when Edward did begin speaking.

CHAPTER 29: ANSWERS FROM THE PAST

Edward had just reached the end of his narrative to Charlie Swan as Carlisle was nearly finished writing everything down as Renee and Esme walked into the house. They could tell at a glance that both men had been up the whole night instead of getting any sort of rest. "What is going on here?" Esme asked as she began to sort through the dirty dishes that had been left to accumulate from the men's all nighter.

The two men looked at each other before bursting out into laughter; laughter that carried the sound of excitement, exhaustion, elation along with other different emotions as well. Neither of the two women could tell how they should be reacting to this type of behavior, so, they just stood still and waited.

After waiting and nothing happened; nothing was explained to the two women, Esme and Renee finished clearing away the debris without saying another word to the two men since they seemed to have deemed it unnecessary to have Esme's question answered. It was by silent, mutual agreement that the two women decided that the menfolk deserved the silent treatment in return. So, without further ado they left the kitchen for a short period of time only to return with their hands full of pillow, sheet and blanket being tossed into the direction of said husband. And, still without saying a word the two women turned and left the kitchen once more, but, in a short span of time two doors could be heard slamming shut.

"Well, I guess that tells us where we rate tonight, or, at least, what's left of the night." Carlisle laughingly commented.

"Yeah, but, why? We didn't do anything to rate this."

"They're tired, worried, and we didn't answer Esme's question about why we were still up. They both could tell that we hadn't been to bed, so, they were curious, but, was told nothing."

At that moment one of the pens that Carlisle had brought into the room earlier was seen floating towards a piece of paper and then writing appearing on the paper. It said, "Tell Mom what is going on and reassure her that things are going to get better." But, before Carlisle could respond to the message he felt a soft wind near his ear. "Tell both of them what is happening. Also, tell Mom that I love her and if everything works out as it's hoped I'll be seeing you both soon."

"Edward, son, what are you talking about?" Carlisle paused as he waited for his question to be answered, but, there wasn't a response, whispered or written, that came.

XXXXXX

Bella knew when Renee and Esme left her room to head home, even, though, she was lying quietly with her eyes closed appearing to be sleeping. Renee had leaned over the bed and gently kissed her daughter on the cheek while squeezing her hand then she had whispered a "good night". Esme had also wished Bella a peaceful night and promised that she would return tomorrow the same as had Renee. Bella was beginning to understand what Edward had told her about her parents and his parents. They were, indeed, quiet, but, remarkably loving individuals.

After all she had been through during her lifetime so far, it was hard for her to believe in, or, to trust her good luck to be around the sort of people that her parents and Edward's parents seemed to be. She kept waiting for the masks to drop and fir everyone to revert to their true cruel, abusive selves. So, maybe, that was why each time any of the four are around she is figuratively holding her breath for fear of the change taking place. Waiting for their demand that she give an apology for taking up so much of their time. But, each time she is surprised because what she's expecting never happens; they stay true to what Edward had said about them.

XXXXX

Demetri was meeting with his friend, Felix, but, their relationship has been steadily going downhill since the loss of R. J. and then Edward. He still had a hard time believing that Edward had killed his sister, but, all of the evidence convicted him of having done it. There had to be something more that went on; something that wasn't being said or no one had found as yet, but, he had a hard time believing that Edward had raped and then killed his little sister in cold blood.

The question even now still plagued him of what could have happened that would have sent Edward off in that insane direction to do something like that? Maybe, it would remain a mystery and Demetri would never find out the real answer. But, all of this mind wandering was coming full circle and back to the facts that Felix wasn't the same; it was as if he lost himself somehow, and, didn't know how to find a way back to recover from whatever the situation was that was causing him such desperation.

Reaching this point in his thoughts he realized that he had arrived at the arranged meeting place where they were having lunch together. So, getting out of his car and making his way into the restaurant he quickly scans the place looking for Felix. Once spotting him at a corner table Demetri weaves his way through the other diners on his way to get to his friend.

Even before reaching the table Demetri could tell that Felix was still wrestling with something that was eating him up, but, what it could be he had no idea. It was for sure that he wasn't going to keep asking him what the problem was because Felix kept denying there was ever a problem and would fluff it off as some woman giving him problems, or, another person giving him grief about something. However, Demetri was smart enough to know that his friend was lying.

Just before he reached the table Demetri shakes his head as if clearing his thoughts, which that was more or less what he was doing, but, at the same time he came to a decision; a decision that no one was going to like. At this point Demetri didn't give a damn about what anyone would think about his decision in regards to Felix.

He knew his father was wanting him to take over the family business, but, he didn't want to do it. That wasn't the way he wanted to live his life after living through the events surrounding the loss of R. J. But, Demetri knew that he might not have a choice; his family was falling apart and heading to hell in a hand basket. Demetri wasn't blind to what the 'family business' consisted of doing and that just wasn't his way of wanting to do things.

Felix had been employed by his father during the time they were back in high school and he was only doing courier type jobs at that time alongside Demetri and Edward. The friends were doing it for two reasons: to earn extra money and for the thrill of defying authority. And, just as his dad had asked about Felix so he did about offering Edward a more permanent position. But, Demetri instinctively knew that that wasn't a good idea and told his father that.

From a very early age Demetri, not R. J., were made aware of what type of job his father had and why he had so many business meetings at all hours of the day and night. He was also told that it was expected for him to take over the business once his father deemed him ready. And, Demetri had been advised recently that it was time.

Once more snapping his attention back to the present time and reaching out to shake hands with Felix as he arrives at the table, both men greet each other and then take a seat. The waitress came over to take the newcomer's order and then both men got down to the reason for the meeting. "Dad has declared that it's time I take over the business." Demetri immediately informed Felix.

Felix looked at his friend and then slowly smiled, something that had become a rarity since R. J. had been killed. "It's about time. Now, maybe, we can teach some respect to the thugs on the street."

"Felix, if I take over the business it will be to bring everything into legitimate standing. Everything illegal will be done away with since I refuse to have anything to do with drug dealing, murder and all the rest of that shit." And, as he spoke of his intention he saw Felix make a move as if to say something only to think better of it. So, he asked, "What is it that you're wanting to say?"

"Nothing really, other than to ask if your dad was aware of your plans."

"I made it very clear to him and Mom, that if I did take over the business then it would be on my terms and ran the way I wanted without any interference from dad or anyone else. And the only thing Dad did tell me was that I needed a good right hand man and suggested that I offer the position to you.

"I must say that he does have a good idea because you have the qualifications needed to help me, but, there will no longer be strong arm tactics used. There isn't going to be any need for it." At this point, Demetri pause because he wasn't sure how to approach what needed to be said, or, how Felix was going to react to it.

"What seems to be your problem with me standing with you? You can't possibly have any doubts as my being on your side or defending you no matter what, surely?"

"No, that isn't the problem. I don't doubt your loyalty, but, I do wonder about your stability." And, with that said he saw Felix react to it and that he was about to say something, but, Demetri forestalled him by saying, "Don't say anything until I've finished." So, Felix did remain quiet and allowed his friend and future employer continue with whatever it was that he wanted to say.

"My concern is that you've changed since we lost R. J. You aren't your old self. You were the one that first condemned Edward as being responsible for R. J. being murdered. It was you that turned your back on helping him and trying to get him cleared of the charges; charges might I add that were only circumstantial that was used to convict him. In fact, it was you that made the comment to my family.

"I don't think you know about the history Dad has with the Cullen family. It all happened long ago and Dad was wanting payback for what he felt were wrongs done to him by Carlisle Cullen and his friend Chief Charlie Swan. It was during a time that Dad was wanting to expand his territory and it involved going against a rival family.

"Anyway, to make a long story short, it was Mom that convinced Dad that Dr. Cullen was only doing his job and had no ax to grind one way or the other against anyone. Also, the same about Chief Swan, but, that came later; much later after she found out about Dad putting plans into motion to kidnap Swan's only daughter.

"Mom had taken the time to look into the Swan history and what she found made her sympathize with them. That was what caused her to go to Dad to tell him to have their daughter returned. It seems that Mom had suffered through a few miscarriages before I was born and then R. J.

"Anyway, Dad did agree with her since Swan wasn't a threat to the family, or, at least, not a great threat. However, it seemed that the couple he had hired to grab the child had disappeared off the face of the earth and then later he learned that they worked for his rival family. But, he wasn't able to locate them no matter how hard he tried."

"So, that's why your Dad was a bit freaked out when we first became friends with the Cullen kids, but, later relented in his attitude."

"Yeah, he let the past stay buried. That's what made it so hard for him later and made him more receptive to your condemnation that Edward was responsible for R. J.'s murder. Because of that we were all ordered to let the courts have him and let the law have their way with him.

"Now, with all of that being said it brings me back to my point, it was you that caused Edward being hung out to dry. I never felt that he was the murderer, but, at the same time none of us took the time to go by to check on his family, to offer any sort of assistance; in fact, we did nothing. And, while we did nothing, you began to change, but, not for the better.

"So, what is going on with you? Until you give me some answers that are believable I will continue to have a hard time accepting you as my second in command."

"I loved, and still do, R. J. with all my being. She had a crush on Edward and he ignored it. That was what led to her murder. That is why Edward is responsible for what happened to her; that's why he's the murderer."

"We all knew about R. J.'s crush on Edward, but, Edward, you damn fool. Once he did know about it, he talked to me about it and I advised him to ignore it and not to encourage it if he couldn't return her feelings in the same manner; so, that's what he did."

A/N: So, we have some questions answered, some doubts being expressed, but, no real excuses given. What will Demetri do about Felix? What will Felix do about the guilt he seems to be carrying? What is the true cause of his guilt: Edward, R. J. or both? Will any of this lead to unexpected help and revealing the real killer?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to your thoughts and reviews.