Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of these characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

Previously.I think that I heard my dad's voice trying to reason with me, but to no avail. I was wrestled to the bed by Emmett and felt a sharp pain in my ass, followed by a feeling of dizziness and warmth as it washed over my body. The last thing that I heard was my mom sobbing, calling my name and my dad saying to call Dr. Crabb before I was back in the darkness once again. My last thought was of Bella.


Esme POV

I stood there, shell shocked by what I just heard. Edward, my baby boy had been sleeping with Tanya for god only knows how long. I wanted answers, but was afraid to ask the questions. Edward, ever the gentleman took responsibility for his actions with her, that tramp, and asked that we not blame her. How could I not, though? She's way too old for him for starters, and not someone that I would want to think of my 17 year old soon having a relationship with. How could this be going on under my nose and I not notice anything, how did Rose not know? She was her best friend after all. I knew that she had been spending more and more time with Emmett lately, but where were they meeting, and how did anyone not see them together? I looked to where Edward stood last, and was shocked when I saw that he was hunched down on the floor, rocking back and forth. Every maternal instinct in me told me to go to him and try to make it all okay. I knew that was not going to happen, my poor baby had been through so much, and kept us all in the dark. He has had secrets for too long and I didn't want to think how deep and far these reached, or what else he has been hiding from us.

He shocked me by suddenly bolting from the room; all eyes followed him. I heard him run up the stairs and his bedroom door slam. I assumed that he would hide up there and I intended to follow him once I had dealt with Tanya. I was shocked to hear that she could behind the reason that Edward ended up on the beach filled with liquor and pills and I wanted to know everything. I took a step towards Tanya. Watching her reaction to me, her eyes widened like a rabbit caught in headlights. "So Tanya, turns out that you have been quite busy with my son and-" Suddenly, the sound of crashing and screaming cut through the air and stopped me dead in my tracks. Carlisle, Rose and Emmett's heads snapped around towards to source which I feared was Edward's room. I could only watch in horror as Carlisle and Emmett bolted from the room. After exchanging glances with Rose, she said to me,

"You go, I'll stay here with Tanya. I want answers just as much as anyone." Turning to Tanya she spat. "I want answers and fully intend to get them."

With that, I followed my husband and Emmett upstairs, hearing shouts and screams that made my blood run cold. The scene before me was one of destruction, the mirror was smashed, his desk was on its side and his room looked like it had been ransacked. Emmett had Edward in a restraining hold and was just throwing him onto the bed as I saw Carlisle produce a syringe and vial from his doctors bag all the time trying to reason with our sonl. My heart lurched in my chest, my knees went weak and I feared that they would not hold me upright much longer. Sobs escaped from my chest as I called Edward's name, hoping that he would hear my voice and that it would help to calm him down. No such luck. I held onto the doorframe for support as I watched my son's futile attempts of breaking free slow until he eventually went limp.

Carlisle looked at me with sorrow written all over his face. He took me in his arms, kissing my head gently before he let me go, stepping back to say. "I need to call Dr. Crabb if no one has already. I really could do with getting her professional opinion on this, we aren't well enough equipped here for outbursts of this nature."

I nodded at him, knowing that we could not handle this alone, but also knowing the full story about what happened; Carlisle didn't. As he turned to walk away from me I feared that call would mean Edward being taken back into hospital, or into some kind of Psychiatric unit. I absolutely did not want that. He was my son and I would fight with every last breath in my body to protect him and keep him safe from any harm. I reached out and grabbed his arm. He turned to face me, a questioning look on his face.

"Carlisle, please. Don't ring Janet just yet, we need to talk first. You need to know what has happened here this afternoon."

"Okay, I won't call her just yet. Let me get Edward comfortable here and then I will be right down." He turned back into the room and proceeded to check on Edward, before placing him under his duvet and pulling the door almost closed behind him. We made our way downstairs to find that Rose had taken Tanya through to the dining room, and was effectively standing guard over her; arms folded across her chest while she glared at her.

With a serious look on his face, Carlisle pulled out a chair to allow me to sit down before he took the seat next to me. Tanya, Rose and Emmett took seats, too. Once everyone was comfortable he looked around the table. He smiled at me before drawing a deep breath.

"So, who wants to start off telling me what exactly is going on here? I obviously came into the colorful conversation half-way through, so I must have missed the really fun part. I must admit that walking in and hearing about his exploits with Bella was enough for me. I'm sure thought that that little episode was not only caused by recounting that. Especially judging by the fact that Rose seemed to have taken up assaulting her best friend. I am curious, so come on, enlighten me."

No-one said a word. I, in all honesty didn't know where to start. How do I tell my husband that our son had tried to kill himself because the woman he had lost his virginity to got jealous when she got dumped? That she and her crazy boyfriend wanted revenge but ended up with far more than she bargained for? I looked at Tanya who had her head bowed. I could hear her crying, but there was no way that I was going to comfort her. Having her here in my house right now made me feel sick from the pit of my stomach. The only thing from keeping me from calling the Police at that point was the fact that she was the daughter of my oldest friend, Irina. But, even that would not protect her from the anger that I had raging inside of me. Seeing my baby hurt like that ripped my heart in two. Rose opened her mouth to speak, and I cut her off. I looked at Tanya as I spoke.

"I will tell you what happened to our son. He appears to have fallen under the spell of the delightful Tanya here. They were seeing each other and she weaved some kind of magical spell on him."

Carlisle looked confused, asking, "But I thought that he was seeing Bella?"

I smiled as I faced him, "Oh, our son seems to be quite the ladies man; first Tanya and then Bella. Tanya here was apparently his first, if you get what I mean."

I watched as his face registered what I was saying. Confusion is replaced by recognition which then quickly faded to a look of shock. I continued, "I see you do, Carlisle. To add to this fun revelation, we also found out that there was some kind of prank played on him and Bella at the dance; something to do with pictures of them together. The top and bottom of it is that she and her psychotic boyfriend are the reason that our beautiful boy tried to kill himself on the beach." As I reached the end of my speech, my voice broke, and the emotions that I had been holding back struggled to be freed. I managed somehow to pull them back under control before I looked across the table to where Tanya was. "Have I missed anything there, Tanya? I think I covered everything, but please do let me know if I missed anything important?"

Her crocodile tears had dried up, and she was staring at me open mouthed and seemingly surprised that I was so cold towards her. What did she expect from me? A shoulder to cry on? A hug? A congratulations for almost ripping my family apart? No-one around the table spoke and the silence was deafening. I stood, pushing my chair away and all eyes fell on me. "I am going to call Irina, and ask her to come over to collect her trollop of a daughter. I cannot bear to have you in my sight, let alone my house. You have caused more than enough damage. Just to warn you though, don't think you have gotten away with this. We need to discuss this, Carlisle and I, along with Edward once he is awake and then we will decide how we choose to proceed."

I walked out of the room towards to kitchen and prepared to make that call. I explained briefly to Irina what had happened and that she needed to collect Tanya immediately. Not being able to be around her I went out and stood on the front porch, While waiting to greet Irina when she arrived, I hadn't noticed that I was shivering from the cold until Carlisle came out with a coat for me and slipped it over my shoulders. I turned to thank him but was distracted by headlights coming down the drive. It was Irina. After quickly greeting my friend, she collected her daughter from inside the house, depositing her in the car like a naughty child. She closed the car door on Tanya before she came over to me, putting her arms around me and whispering in my ear. "I'm so sorry Esme, I had no idea. I will make sure that she is punished. If you decide call the Police, then call them. I need to get her away from James, but she won't listen to me, maybe this will be the wake up call she so badly needs. I am so very sorry that Edward got so horribly hurt in all this. I am ashamed of my daughters behavior. Edward has always been so special to me, he was like my own son and I cannot begin to tell you how I feel right now. If you want to talk to me about this, please just call me. Anytime."

She backed away from me in tears. I couldn't bring myself to speak, so I just nodded. I could feel Carlisle's hands, strong and protective on my shoulders. I watched as the car disappeared off the drive before I turned into my husband's embrace, where I crumbled. He held me while I sobbed and cried into his chest until there was nothing left to come out of me. Carlisle was my rock, and right now I needed him more than ever. He lead me into the house and to the lounge where he sat me down on the couch, he filled two of the crystal tumblers with whiskey, pressing one into my trembling hands. He sat on the coffee table watching me carefully as I took a couple of small sips of the liquid before I gulped the rest down. I rolled the tumbler between my hands before I pulled my arm back and threw it against the wall. He didn't flinch, not even a muscle moved. I broke down once again, he was there for me, taking me in his arms, allowing me to cry.

I felt numb, knowing that there was nothing that I could do to take the hurt away from Edward, for all the world I wished that I could, I would give anything to be able to make things alright for him, wipe away the hurt that he must be feeling. I couldn't imagine how desperate he felt after hearing that he had been humiliated in such a cruel way. I had failed him when he needed me the most. Breaking from Carlisle's hold I made my way to Edward's room. Once there, I peeked around the door to see Rosalie sitting with him. She saw me immediately and said in a low voice, "He's still out of it. I just wanted to be here, so he wasn't alone. Is that crazy?"

I walked across to her, putting my arms around her, "No sweetheart. It's understandable."

She almost whispered as she spoke, "Tanya?"

"Gone. Irina came to collect her."

"Good. I swear I will not be held responsible for what I do to that bitch when I see her next."

"Rose, now is not the time for revenge. Look where Tanya's need for that got her, and Edward. No, you are not to do anything rash. I will speak with your father and Edward when he is conscious. Given her confession tonight we need to decide together what we want to do."

She simply nodded and left the room. I took her place sitting on the side of Edwards bed, my hand stroking his hair off his face. He looked so peaceful in his slumber, but I knew that he was simply unconscious. Whatever Carlisle had given him had done the trick, but I hated seeing my son like this. It reminded me of the hours I spent in the hospital waiting for him to come back to me. A lump formed in my throat at the memory of it. Getting that phone call was the worst moment in my life. I thank god that I had Carlisle with me; he was my rock and with him by my side I could get through anything.

As I watched my son's chest rise and fall with his breathing, I felt guilty. I felt like such a bad mother. I should have seen this happening; how could I have been so blind? What did I miss to allow Tanya to seduce my baby boy right under my nose and not notice the signs? I remembered when I tried to suggest setting him up with Bella on the day that she came to the house following her first drunken visit. His reaction to her then must've been due to the fact that Tanya had her claws deep into him. I remember his outrage at seeing her in the house, and oh, my reaction to him. How could I have treated him so badly? How could I call myself a mother when I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most? He should have been able to confide in me, tell me anything, yet there were so many secrets hidden from me, from us all. These were secrets that nearly cost him his life. With tears welling into my eyes, I leaned forward, kissing his head gently, and began to whisper in his ear. I doubted that he could hear me but this could not wait.

"Edward, darling. I am so sorry, I have failed you. I wish I could go back in time and take it all back, everything. I love you son, with all my heart. I would do anything to suffer in your place, to be the one who felt so lost and alone. I wish that you had spoken to me, told me what was happening in your life. There is nothing that I wouldn't do for you, you are my baby and I love you. Please forgive me?"

I gave up fighting back the tears and a solitary tear fell, hitting his face and running down his cheek. I moved to brush it away and he stirred. The words which fell from his lips broke my heart. "Bella, forgive me. Please?"

I gasped out loud, realizing that despite Rose's accusations at the hospital and since,

Bella was an innocent caught up in the crossfire. I needed to speak to her, to try and resolve things. I didn't know what had gone on between the two of them since the hospital, and I was pretty sure she had not been in touch with him since.

I made my way on slow unsteady feet from Edward's room and into our bedroom, Carlisle was already in bed. He looked so attractive sitting up with a newspaper opened out before him and his spectacles perched on the end of his nose. I used the bathroom, slowly and methodically removing what little make up had managed to survive the trials of the day. Throwing my clothes into the laundry hamper I wrapped my silk robe around my body and stood in the doorway just watching my husband. My heart swelled with the love that I felt for him, and I felt like a teeanger all over again. Even now, after all our years of marriage, he still had the ability to make my insides turn to jello. He looked up at me over the top of his newspaper, smiling at me. I made my way around to my side of the bed and he pulled back the duvet and I climbed in next to him. Putting my arm around his waist and snuggling close to my husband, I felt safe. He pulled me closer to him saying, "You okay, darling?" I nodded and my emotions finally gave way after such a long and stressful day. Tears fell down my cheeks and onto his bare chest. I could tell he felt them because he quickly dropped his newspaper to the floor.

"Esme, are you okay? What's wrong, is it Edward?" He looked at me almost panicking.

"No, he's fine. Well, as fine as he can be. He's asleep. Well, still knocked out." I sighed. "Oh Carlisle, it's all such a mess. I'm glad that I have you. Please don't ever change."

"Ssh, you know I'm not going anywhere. C'mon Esme, pull yourself together. Dry those tears and let's get some sleep. I know that it's been a hell of a day, and you are emotional."

He put his glasses on the nightstand and turned the light out. Pulling me as close to him as possible and I felt safe in his arms. He rubbed my back to comfort me, but it was not enough for me, I wanted more, I wanted my husband to show me that he loved me, that I was everything to him, that he would always be here for me, for our family regardless what was going on. My hand caressed his chest, making its way up to his face, and he placed gentle kisses on my hand. I looked up to him, beseeching him with my eyes, telling him without words what I wanted what I needed. It's always him. I could tell that he was receptive to me as he kissed with me with passion and I felt the tingle throughout my body. I loved the way that he made me feel. Even after all these years he is the one that I turn to and my body recognizes him instantly. The love we have and share is unique. He is my lover, husband and most importantly, soul mate.

He pulled back from our kiss and he appeared to be worried as he scanned my face and then saw my smile. I needed him so badly, I needed this to make me feel something other than a failure as a parent. I gently laid back onto the bed, pulling my husband with me and his body covered mine. He paused for a moment to looked at me and we made love. My husband had shown me in every way possible that he loved me, and would be there for me. I lay wrapped in his arms, pressed up against his chest and I felt safe and secure there.

I heard his breathing deepen as he fell asleep. I tried to get out of his arms to check on Edward again, but when I tried to get free, he stirred, mumbling in his sleep.

"No, don't leave me. I need you here with me. Love you Esme."

Hearing those words from his subconscious pulled me back to him. I stopped trying to leave him, and pulled his arms tighter around me. I laid there looking out of the window at the moon as it peeked through the blackness. Something about seeing it and being in his arms soothed me and I drifted to sleep knowing that tomorrow we had a real mess to deal with. I just didn't know where to start, but the only thing I did knew was that I needed to make things right, I just didn't know where to start.


Authors Note:

Nervously peeks out from behind fingers - I really hope that you liked this. YES this is different but I wanted to give Esme a voice, I know through the reviews that some of you thought that she was a bad mother, or didn't like her for her reaction to Edward in an earlier chapter. I hear you on that, but she deeply regretted that action, especially now that she knows what happened with him and Bella. Bear with me on this - I hope that you like it.

Thanks go out as always to my amazing Beta – Cosmom & Pre-reader Kitties1

NOW! Great news! My little story here is up for THREE awards in the Wordsmith Awards. Best Bella, Best Rosalie and Best Original Character for Dr Janet my beta Cosmom and pre-reader Kitties1 are up for awards for their work too. I am completely blown away by these nominations. Voting doesn't open yet but here is the link wordsmithawards(dot)blogspot(dot)com

Please do leave a review by clicking the button below, and if you are on Facebook and want to come and join the group I have set up for my fics, come on over to Fraggle Rock Fics, I will post updates and teasers in there and also plot bunny ideas.