Chapter Twenty-Nine: What If…?

I manage to get shakily to my feet, and notice that Edward is just picking up his head. I smile down at him. "Come on," I say softly. I help him to his feet before checking my watch and see that the day is over. I look down and see that I am in the same clothes as before. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow…"

"Hey, wait!"

I turn, almost surprised at hearing his desperate tone. "What?"

"I just think we should have a talk. We need to talk about your apparent feelings for me. It's the mature thing to do here…"

"I'm not in a mature mood," I reply.

"Please, don't be that way…"

"I've got to go," I say before running off into the distance. I get to the parking lot and am surprised to see my mother waiting outside of her Volvo.

"Hey!" she says, waving to me. She throws her arms around me. "Did you and Edward just get back from…there?" she asks.

I nod at her. "Yeah."

"I recognized the hair," she says, fiddling with it. "Where is Edward, anyhow?" she asks me, peering around me and looking for him. "I thought that he would have been all over you or something…"

I shake my head. "I made it so he doesn't remember anything."

"He doesn't remember where you were?" she asks in shock as she turns around and unlocks the car.

I shake my head as I open the passenger door slowly. "No," I say softly to her in means of a reply. "He does remember where we went, but not all the love and the love… making," I say in my most quiet voice.

Her head snaps to attention. "You two…?"

"Twice," I whisper.

She sighs, knowing that she should be concerned about the situation, but she was a teenager once, too... "Wow…"

I shrug. "It didn't mean anything," I urge her as she sticks her keys into the ignition and pulls out of the parking space. "Not to him…"

"But you love him, sweetheart," she says, pulling into the line of traffic forming at the exit of the parking lot. "It must've meant something to you…"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter," she replies. We drive in silence for the next few minutes. "I need to stop at the store. I thought I'd make your favorite ravioli tonight. Oh, and Jasper's invited Alice over for dinner."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up for just a second, please," I say as we pull into the grocery store's parking lot. "What about the practice?"

My mother smiles as she pulls carefully into a parking space. "Your dad and I never went to med school, Bella."

I shook my head. "No medical school?"

"No medical school," she replied. "Just a quiet dinner at home with your father, Jasper, Alice, Marie, Beau…"

"Marie?" I ask. "Marie's coming?"

"Of course! She and Beau will be coming over as usual," she says casually as the two of us walk out into the parking lot. "They'll more than likely be bringing Liam and the twins, Maggie and Siobhan."

"Marie isn't on Death Row?" I ask.

My mother stops walking, shocked at my question. "No, but she's sure had a few clients that have ended up there. Beau too," she continues, grabbing a shopping cart. "They own Machiavelli Law downtown."

"Beaufort's last name is Machiavelli?" I ask.

My mother nods. "It is." She puts various fruits into the cart, as well as a bag of salad before walking over another part of the produce department. While she is looking over the packs of mushrooms, two other women approach us.

"Renee?" asks one of them.

She looks up. "Kate?!" she cries.

"I haven't seen you since high school, before the band!" she cries with a smile. "This is my daughter, Tanya. Tanya, you go to school with Bella here, don't you?"

Tanya is clearly in awe of me, not something I am used to or entirely prepared for. "Yes," she says. "Wow Bella, I am your biggest fan!"

"Thank you," I say awkwardly. "And what is it I do again?"

She giggles. "You and your mother are, like, one of the most popular singers in the world, with your family band, Swan Fever," says Tanya.

"Okay, Tanya," interrupts Kate politely with a smile. "Why don't the pair of us continue with our shopping now? I presume Mrs. Swan and Bella have things to do."

"Good to see you," Mom tosses over her shoulder as we walk away.

"Swan Fever?" I ask.

"Your father picked the name," she admits to me as we go down the frozen food aisle. "The plus side is we only tour once a year, in the summer. This summer we're going to Europe! Isn't that exciting?"

"Yeah, exciting," I say, putting my favorite ice cream—caramel cone—into the cart. "So, you and dad—you're really not doctors?"

. . .

We return home at afternoon and pass by the garage, where Dad, and who he reminds me are Mike Newton and Eric Yorkie are jamming together. My mother kisses Dad as we walk through, and Dad grins and he gives me a one-armed hug before getting back to his guitar. I'm surprised that we can still afford the same house we were living in before, now that neither of my parents are making their hefty doctor's salary, but decide not to question it in front of anyone.

I help my mother unpack the groceries, making a bit of small talk before going upstairs to my bedroom to do my homework.

"Change into something nice for dinner," she calls after me as I leave the kitchen as I snag a cup of yogurt from the fridge.

I go upstairs and into my bedroom, setting down the yogurt cup and going through my cherry wood wardrobe. I find a white ruffled blouse and a knee-length pink skirt and put those on. I run a brush briefly through my hair—which is just the way it was styled at the salon, the honey blonde streaks still intact—and stare at myself in the mirror. I put on a little blush and some lip gloss and a bit of mascara, but for the rest, leave my face a blank canvas. Almost as if I know that I have years and years to put makeup on my face, I don't want to even begin to waste my time with it now.

I find that I cannot get into my European history, and soon discover that I'm bored. I cut corners a little and wish that all my homework is finished with at least ninety-five percent of the answers correct. I don't want to seem too brilliant all of a sudden, just because I had some 1980's experience.

I log on to my computer, and absentmindedly go to the social networking website and onto Edward's profile. He has recently posted something along the lines of confusion, and his relationship status has gone from "single" to "it's complicated" in the last hour. I sigh, gazing at that profile picture of his for a moment and allow myself to dream…

I push that from my mind and type another essay along the lines of wanting what we can't have, just to have it, really. It is sort of a rough copy of what my final essay is going to be, and I am very proud of it. I hear a knock at my door and look up to see Alice standing there. I squeal and start to get up, but she comes to sit beside me on my bed, so that I am free to throw my arms around her in my utter happiness at seeing her.

"Wow, I'm seriously thinking fortnight syndrome," she says mockingly. "It's only been a few hours. What's the deal?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I just missed you."

She smiles. "Why, thank you."

"Anytime," I reply.

She looks around my room a bit, almost as if she's some kind of sleuth or conspirator of some kind. "What do you say that just the two of us take out the S60 before we eat?"

I pull back completely. "Beg pardon?" I ask, confused. "S60? Silly Alice, what can you be talking about?"

"Your car?" she says, standing up slowly. She nods to the set of hooks on my bedroom wall, where a shiny set of silver keys are hanging. "Why don't you grab those, and I'll go tell Jasper that we're going out for a hot minute?" she asks, walking towards my bedroom door and out into the hallway.

I follow her out into the hallway. "Jasper's here?" I ask.

Alice makes a face, almost as if I am slowly but surely coming down with a case of incompetence. "Well, of course he's here—where else would he be?" she says. "Your brother may go to the University of Washington, Bella, but he's not involved in the whole frat house crowd, but you knew that. Ever since everyone in the frat house he pledged got alcohol poisoning, he moved back in six months ago."

"And…law school?" I ask.

She grins, an indulgent look entering her eyes. "Well, at least that hasn't changed. He's still going to be my little Jaspery lawyer."

"I heard that!" Jasper says from down the hall.

She rolls her eyes. "Until I return," she says in a voice hinting at potential naughty behavior before walking gaily down the hall to Jasper's bedroom, just a few feet away.

I get up and grab my keys and go downstairs, just to see if my mother needs any help with the cooking for the night ahead. I tell her that Alice has suggested a quick drive before we eat, and she smiles in approval. She says that we have about a half an hour before the evening meal is ready, and that Marie won't be there for at least another fifteen minutes. I nod and go out the side door of the kitchen and down the stone path of the garden. I go out the back gate where I see the S60 parked and waiting for me.

I look down at my keys and smile. I click the automatic unlock button and hear the sweet sound of the car opening for me. I grin at the leather interior and open the door and sit behind the wheel. I stick the keys into the ignition without turning them and put my hands firmly on the steering wheel. I adjust the mirrors and put on my seatbelt when Alice comes out the back gate and grins and waves at me.

She gets in through the passenger door and shuts it behind her. She puts on her seatbelt and claps her hands. "Ready," she says.

I roll my eyes and grab ahold of my keys and turn them to the right. I turn off the emergency break and adjust the gear shift out of park and into first gear. I lightly press the gas pedal down with one foot and keep the other foot close to the break, just in case. I go down the street and turn the corner and keep on driving until I get to where Edward and I slept together at the now gone hotel.

I stop the car in the abandoned lot just next to it and take my keys out of the ignition, thus turning off the car completely.

"Why did we stop here?" Alice asks.

I sigh. "Because I have to tell you something."

"What?" she asks.

I turn and look at her; two tears—one for each cheek—going down my face, and shake my head, knowing that I have to tell someone. "I need you to promise not to be judgmental and to really believe every word that I'm about to tell you. Okay?"

Alice nods; although slightly perplexed, I know full well that she will give me the benefit of the doubt. "Of course I will."

I push back my hair and show her the necklace, still clasped around my neck. "Do you know what this is?" I ask her.

She nods. "Of course I do—it's your necklace," she replies. "You got it from Marie that Christmas after you turned fourteen. I remember that she and Beaufort were in London on a second honeymoon, and Liam was staying with you guys, and she was in labor with Maggie and Siobhan, and that's why she missed your birthday."

I nod, pretending to understand and be fully aware of this knowledge that I'd previously known nothing about. "Yeah, that's right," I reply. "There are two things that I have to tell you, though, Alice, and you've got to listen carefully."

"Of course I'll listen."

"This may sound crazy, but touch the necklace and wish for something, anything." I smile a bit as she hesitates. "Trust me, Alice."

She leans forward and tentatively touches the necklace. "I wish that Jasper and I would get married someday."

I shake my head at her. "Not that kind of wish," I say. "It will come true, but that whole 'someday' bit won't work. Let me show you." I touch the jewel in the center of my necklace myself, and it is then that I remember that it is still attached by the Cleopatra gold collar from the dance. I banish the thought from my mind and keep my hand firmly on the jewel. "I wish that I had a real jade bracelet."

Just then, a pale green, real jade, bracelet appears on my left arm.

Alice pulls back, her eyes widening with a sudden moment of terror and shock. "I mean... I don't know. Wow," she gasps. "I love jade."

"I know," I say, slipping it off my arm and handing it over to her. "Why do you think that I was so specific?"

She takes the bracelet and slips it carefully onto her right wrist. "So…that necklace of yours, grants wishes?"

I nod. "Yes. And there's one wish in particular that I wished for just earlier this afternoon that I have to tell you about."

"What did you wish for?" she asks.

I sigh, lowering my eyes. "Well, I wanted to meet my parents before they got all wrapped up in their work."

"So…what happened?"

"Well, Edward and I went back to 1982."

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" she demands, and peek up at her, noticing that her eyes are slightly hurt at what I've said and done. "You took Edward but not me?"

"That was an accident," I say quietly in immediate defense mode. "But I made it so the poor guy doesn't remember specific things that happened between us during the trip."

"What specific things?" asks Alice.

I sigh. "Do you ever remember a Best Western Plus being here?"

"Yeah, like a long time ago. Why?"

"Because that's where one of the specific things happened."

"You slept with Edward?!"

I grit my teeth uncomfortably and look away. "Yeah..."

Alice squeals and throws her arms around me, cheering mightily. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" she chants.

I cross my arms. "Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

"You love him!"

I look away. "Yeah…"

She squeals again and claps her hands. "You love my brother!"

I roll my eyes. "Look who's talking, Alice."

Alice is still raving about it when we arrive back at my house. I tell her to put a sock in it and to go get Jasper. I enter the living room and see Marie and Beaufort sitting there, talking with my mother. I grin and wait to be noticed, because I know full well not to interrupt.

"Bella!" Marie cries when she sees me, standing up and running across the room towards me, her eyes bright and her smile exuberant. She throws her arms around me. "It's only a few hours for you, I know," she says softly. "Your mom was just telling me that it was today that you went back and fixed things."

I grin at her and pull back to get a good look at Beaufort. "Hey, Beaufort," I say, and allow him to hug me. "Was I right about Marie?" I ask.

"Well, yes. But at first you wanted me to wait until now to call her."

"Oh, I love that story!" Marie says, giggling.

"I think we're all here now," I say.

"Not yet," my mother says. "There are three more to come."

"Who?" I ask. "Dad and Mike and Eric?"

"No," my mother says, as three sets of feet come down the stairs.

I turn and look to see Jasper coming in with Alice, and a boy version of me coming into the room, and my mouth fell open. "Emmett?" I say, knowing what my name was to have been, had I been a boy.

Emmett grins. "Hey, little sis," he says, putting an arm casually around my shoulder and kissing me on the forehead. "I know I'm six minutes older than you, but the awestruck reaction when I enter the room is getting really old." He turns to our mother and grins at her. "Mom, I'm really starving here. Are we going to eat anytime soon?" he asks, going into the dining room, with our mother following in his wake.

"He may be six minutes older than you, Bella, but you still skipped sophomore year," Marie says with a chuckle, before stepping towards her husband. "Beau, why don't you call the kids? Last I saw of them, they were in the backyard."

"Will do, Counselor," he says, leaning down to kiss her.

Marie returns the kiss, before stepping back, one hand still on his cheek in a moment of pure and unadulterated tenderness. "Thank you, Counselor," she replies, watching him walk out of the room for a moment before she turns to me and smiles, her face flushed. "Without those long hours at the office, the added stress of not conceiving right off the bat seemed to increase the miracle twofold."

"So…I'm a twin?" I ask.

Marie nods. "You are a twin."

"Emmett Swan," I say, nodding.

"Well, technically Emmett Paul Swan," Marie clarifies.

"Why doesn't he have a car?" I ask.

"Your parents don't think that he's mature enough," she replies, waving it away with a perfectly manicured hand. "He takes the bus, but I think he's going to succeed in begging them for a motorcycle sometime soon..."

I nod. "Who else are we waiting for?" I ask her.

"Just Tanya and Edward," she replies, walking into the dining room.

"Edward?" I think, shivering again.

Alice comes back in and grins at me. "Edward just texted, and he and Tanya should be here any minute." She gives me a hug, and I think I can hear her whispering something, but I'm sure that I'm imagining things. The doorbell rings and I move to answer it while Alice goes back into the dining room, where Jasper is more than likely waiting for her.