No copy right infringement is intended. SM owns most the characters I borrowed. I own all mistakes within this chapter.

3/4/2018


Ghostly Double

Chapter 53

BPOV


Time was ticking very slowly. I was getting antsy the longer the men stayed out looking for the people responsible for the vandalism around the towns. They had already spent three nights looking and only had two leads that turned up as dead ends. I couldn't help the negative feelings coursing through me. So many odds were stacked against us.

Alice had tried numerous times to get my mind on something else, but it didn't work. Then Esme, Sue and even Claire. It worked for a little while, but then the thoughts of never getting to see my husband's beautiful eyes again, would start running through my head; the thought of Arlo growing up while her daddy lays in a bed not being able to hug her, tickle her or even read a book to her.

It was driving me completely insane.

I sat with Edward most of the time they were out looking. Arlo sat next to her daddy and would pat him saying Dada. My heart melted and broke at the same time. He was missing so much the longer he was in a coma. Arlo had started crawling the day before and if he didn't wake up soon, he'd miss her learning to walk.

When Arlo was being taken care of by her grandmother or taking a nap, I would sit with Edward and talk to him. I even told him I was willing to give Anthony a second chance at friendship if he were to keep himself alive. That would be a little hard to do, but if it meant keeping my husband with me and his daughter, then I would work on it.

At midnight, I heard some banging coming from downstairs and it startled me. It didn't sound like the men coming in from their hunt, so I got up and headed down to see what was going on.

Esme, Claire, Sue, and Alice came stumbling out of their rooms, too. We met at the top of the stairs and headed down. I think Esme had a baseball bat in her hands, but I wasn't sure; she was the one at the head of the line.

I turned around to go make sure Arlo was still sound asleep. She'd been sleeping in the bed with me and Edward since we got to Ireland.

She was snuggled into his side fast asleep.

When I got downstairs I heard men's voices and then I heard Esme. She was talking to them calmly, so I knew the men were back.

My dad was standing in the doorway to the kitchen when I approached. He draped his arm over my shoulder and pointed toward the living room. "We got something for you while we were out."

I looked up at him screwing up my face with wonder. "The only thing I want is for..."

"Go look," Emmett said, cutting me off mid-sentence. "I think you'll like what we brought home with us."

I was so damn confused, so I played along and turned to walk into the living room. "If this is something stupid, I'm gonna..."

My words stopped on their own accord when I walked into the living room and saw a casket sitting in the middle of the floor on a metal rack with wheels. "Is that...?"

Marcus, my dad and everyone else followed behind me. I glanced around and noticed all the couples paired together; their arms wrapped around each other. They were waiting for me to react.

I walked over to the casket and just stared at it for a moment before I turned around and looked at my dad. "Are you sure it's him?"

"Oh, we're sure," Emmett said. "There's only two men I know with that face and that's one. The other one's upstairs."

My heart sped up with the anticipation and my hands started to shake. I was afraid to open it and see Anthony laying there because it also meant it would put the picture of my husband lying in a casket, in my head. That was something I didn't want; something I never wanted.

Esme came to stand next to me and put her arm over my shoulders. Alice came to stand at my other side. "We're here with you. Just open it and then we'll work on getting him awake."

I put my head against Alice's. "I have to be the one to wake him."

My dad stepped forward and handed me a small knife. "Already on it."

Us three women put our hands on the edge of the casket lid and raised it together. I had to close my eyes for a minute and take a few breaths. When I opened them, there lay Anthony. He was gray with dark streaks running through his cheeks and his eyes looked really sunken in. He looked horrible; he didn't look anything like the Anthony I knew.

The tears started welling up in my eyes and for some reason, I had to put my hand on his cheek. "Why did you do this to yourself? You're an idiot."

Without thinking, I took the small knife and placed the blade to the palm of my hand. Esme reached over to Anthony and pulled his lips open and his chin down. There was a gap big enough for the blood to drain down his throat. "This better work."

I made the cut deep enough that I'd probably need about ten stitches, but if this worked, it would be worth every drop of blood.

My hand hovered over his mouth and I watched as my blood slid over his teeth and his tongue.

After a minute or so, I noticed his fangs started to come down real slow and a smile started to spread across my face because that only meant one thing.

He was starting to wake up.

"That's enough, Bella," Alice said. "You're gonna bleed out too much."

"I don't care how much it takes; he needs to wake up. This is the only way Edward will come back to us."

Esme put her hand on my wrist. "She's right, sweetie. We have some other blood on reserve for him. You're giving him just enough to wake up."

I glanced over my shoulder at Claire, Marcus and Emmett. "We're okay, B. We've already had our share for this week."

Emmett always knew what I was thinking before I even said it. It was too bad I couldn't hear them. Vampires seemed to be blocked from my mind reading.

When I pulled away, Claire came over immediately and took my hand in hers. I didn't realize how advanced she was until she waved her hand over mine. The cut started healing right before my eyes.

I looked up at her. "Holy cow! I didn't know you were that good."

"Years of practice," she replied then looked over at Esme then Alice. "All of you will be just as good one of these days."

I shook my head and went into the kitchen to wash my hands. When I walked back into the living room, I looked down at Anthony and his face was starting to get some color back. "I'm gonna go upstairs and lay down with my husband and daughter. Hopefully by the time the sun rises, he'll wake up when we do."

I hugged all the men and thanked them profusely over and over as I made my way toward the stairs. "I'll see you in the morning."

When I got upstairs, Arlo had moved around and was now more on Edwards chest. She was so adorable; she missed him so much and being next to him was the only way to really keep her calm.

I climbed in the bed and scooted over close to the both of them. I watched as they slept and the tears began to fall again. If I didn't know any better, you would think I was pregnant with all the crying I had been doing lately, but I knew that wasn't the issue. I just missed my husband so much that it broke my heart.

The next thing I knew, I was being patted on my face by a tiny hand. The sound of raspberries being blown was very evident that my daughter was awake and wanted me awake as well. "Dada… . ."

I opened my eyes to the beautiful sight of my daughter leaning over me. As soon as she saw my eyes open, she smiled, but I didn't expect to see what I saw. She had a tooth on the bottom. The damn thing must've came in overnight. I didn't even realize she was teething.

I sat up and took her in my arms. "Little bit, you have a tooth." I started peppering kisses all over her face and blew raspberries into her neck. She laughed and grabbed my head as I assaulted her stomach next. "You're such a stinker."

"Dada da da da da..." One of these days, she'll start saying Momma.

"She's been smacking me in the face all morning."

I jumped from the voice I heard because I hadn't heard it in over a month. "OH MY GOD!" I bounced on the bed and hugged my daughter. "Daddy's awake, little bit."

I looked over at Edward and his eyes were bright with a huge smile on his face. "You two are a sight for sore eyes."

Arlo tried her hardest to get out of my arms and I let her. She went straight to her daddy and snuggled into the his neck. That was their thing.

With my daughter back with her daddy, I climbed over the top of him and straddled his hips. I leaned over Arlo and pressed my lips to my husbands. "I've missed you more than you know."

"I'm pretty sure I know because I missed you just as much, but right now, I really do need to piss." He moved to sit Arlo up, but she was protesting. "Little bit, daddy has to pee."

"Has your mom been in here?" I took Arlo so he could get up. He sat still for a moment as his feet touched the floor. He seemed reluctant at first until he braced his hand on the bedside table and slowly stood. "You need help? I can get Emmett." Someone had to come in and check on us because all the tubes were disconnected from him. Even his catheter.

He shook his head. "No. I don't want him seeing my dick. He might get jealous."

At that moment I was thankful Arlo didn't understand what we were saying. "I wanna see your dick."

Edward chuckled. "Oh, believe me, you will." He stood up straight for a moment before he tried to take a step. I was pretty sure his legs were weak from not walking on them for so long. "Just as soon as I get all my strength back."

"I'll hold you to that." I stood up and walked around the bed to give him a little assistance. I held Arlo on one hip while Edward draped his arm over my shoulders so I could help him take the fifteen steps or so to the bathroom.

"Where are we, anyway? This definitely doesn't look like our bedroom." We took a few more steps before he stopped and pressed his lips to my temple. "I love you."

I smiled up at him. "Believe it or not, we're in Ireland."

"Ireland? As in Belfast, Dublin, and Leprechauns?"

"The one and only." We started walking again, so I started to explain a few things. "We had no choice but to come here. Once we get downstairs, we'll fill you in on everything."

"Yeah, I've got some stuff to tell you too, but not in front of everyone else." We made it into the bathroom and luckily there was a window seal he could hold on to while he stood over the toilet.

I stayed by the sink and waited for him. It took him a minute or so to start peeing. I figured it was because he used to have a tube down his peehole for a while. I didn't want Arlo to see what her daddy was doing, so I turned the water on to get warm for when Edward washed his hands. "Is this stuff you need to tell me serious?"

I heard him chuff. "Eh...just some shit I found out about Anthony."

"Found out?" I was really confused now. "How the heck did you..."

"To you, I was in a coma, but I was actually somewhere that we would have never thought existed." He flushed the toilet and braced himself on the wall to step over to the sink. "There's such a thing as an In-between world."

My brows rose in wonder. "Okay. Like an afterlife?"

"No," he said. "I sure hope there's food; I'm starving."

He changed the subject real quick as if that was something he didn't want to talk about. I knew he'd open up to me once we were completely alone, so I'd leave it alone for right now.

Arlo wanted back in her daddy's arms, but I had to keep a hold on her until we made it downstairs.

Edward slipped on the slippers that I set out for him. He was slow moving, but it was understandable and I was patient. He could take all day if he wanted to.

When he stood, he leaned over and pressed his lips to Arlo's forehead. "Daddy'll get you when we go see grandma."

"Dada da da da..." She stuck her pointer finger into her mouth. Tears were filling her eyes because she wanted Edward more than anything at this very moment. Drool was pooling on her bottom lip and the tooth that popped up overnight was very visible. My baby was growing up way too fast right before my eyes.

The wonders of being a part of the supernatural world.

It took us a few minutes, but we finally made it downstairs and when we walked into the kitchen, the table was full with food. Esme, Alice and Carlisle came rushing over to us just as we stepped into the room. Jasper stood back and waited his turn to hug his best friend.

Esme kept kissing on his face. "You can't leave us like that ever, again." She was holding onto him like he was about to fly away. She was crying happy tears that her son was awake.

Carlisle took his place next and hugged Edward. "It's so good to see you up and about."

"It feels good," Edward replied. "I'm a little stiff and weak, but I'm glad to be up."

Alice and Jasper took their turns before everyone else started giving him claps on the back. My dad even hugged him as he handed him a chocolate chip scone. The other stuff sitting on the table didn't look like anything I would eat. It was apparent that Esme didn't cook all the food herself. Neither did Claire or Sue and I knew for sure that Alice had nothing to do with it.

Over all the excitement, we heard. "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

We looked over toward the table and there sat Anthony. He was shoving food in his mouth and I wasn't about to ask about the drink sitting in front of him. I was pretty sure it was blood. He would need quite a bit for him to get back to his normal self. I only hoped his time as a mummy did something to his head. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but that all remained to be seen. I didn't want to get my hopes up that he changed at all.

Surprisingly, when Edward reached the table, he sat next to Anthony. "You cook this?"

"Hell no. My specialty is pancakes and bacon. You should know this, jackass." I was confused, yet again, at their banter. "I jump back a lot quicker than you, so eat up." Anthony started putting loads of food on Edwards plate. There were sausages and eggs with some other weird stuff I wasn't about to touch.

"I remember," Edward said. "Where's my coffee?"

Anthony chuckled. "I'm not your bitch anymore. You're awake now, and you have a wife that can be at your beck and call."

I took my place next to Edward and released our daughter to him. He sat her on his lap and started giving her small pieces of scrambled egg. She took them with her tiny fingers and fed herself. Then she'd stare at Anthony then look at Edward. I was sure she was confused why there was another man that looked like her daddy sitting next to them. "Someone has a tooth," I announced as I started putting food on my own plate.

"Awee..." The other women at the table gushed over the small human. "I'm sure more are on their way, too," said Esme.

My phone rang from my purse on the counter, so I stood to get it. When I pulled it out, I go so excited. "MOM! It's my mom."

I answered as quick as I could. "Mom, hi!"

"Hi, baby girl. I just called to let you know that the strangest thing happened when I got home."

"You're home? When did you get home?" I stood facing everyone so they could hear the conversation.

"I got in last night. I tried calling Emmett, but his cell was off and he never came home last night and now, I'm over at your place. Where is everyone?"

I couldn't take the smile off my face. "I'm sorry, mom; some stuff's happened. It's sort of a long story and we'll fill you in when we get home in a few days."

"A few days?" Now she was the one who was confused.

I took my seat at the table and finished putting the edible food on my plate. "We're actually in Ireland."

"Ireland, honey? I didn't know you guys were planning to take a vacation?"

I sighed. "It's not exactly a vacation and like I said, we'll explain when we get home. Everyone is here and we're just staying a few extra days to do some sightseeing."

All eyes were on me as soon as I said that. I gave them a huge toothy grin. "Okay," she replied. I could hear the reluctance to question me further. "I just called to let you know that we're home."

"That's great. I can't wait to see you and everyone else. I'll call when we're on our way."

As soon as we ended our call, the happiness within me tripled. Today was definitely a good day.

While breakfast was going on, Edward and Anthony filled us in on the confusion we encountered when we first entered the kitchen. They actually laughed together at a few things they talked about. My husband and someone who used to be our mortal enemy were acting like they've been best buds their whole lives.

Anthony kept glancing at me with curiosity as we ate. Their whole conversation was so carefree. My immediate memory of telling Edward I would give Anthony a chance, came barreling back into my head. It was like he heard every word I said as he lie in a coma.

"You two are awfully chummy," my dad said, taking the words right out of my mouth. "Seems like there's been an olive branch extended?"

Anthony's face went blank as he reached for his glass of dark red liquid. "Yeah, about that. I've got a lot to make up for and a lot of apologizing to do. Especially to the people that always gave me the benefit of the doubt. They were my family and I let them down more than once." He looked around the room to Marcus, Claire and Emmett. "I love you guys. I really do and I'm truly sorry for everything that I've done. You never deserved the wrath I spread over our lives. I see things a whole lot differently now. and most of that has to do with Edward. He's shown me that life is better living without a lot of hatred."

"We love you, too, bro, but you know you'll have to earn our trust back. It's been gone for a while, so actions speak louder than words. Just prove us wrong that you're not the way you were." Emmett the ever loving man and his words were a solid example of someone that could see the good in people even when they shared their deception. He really and truly is a man with a huge heart.

Claire stood from the table and made her way to Anthony. "You've always been my son." Anthony stood and they wrapped their arms around each other. "And I love you. I want my son that I know you can be."

"I've dedicated myself to a new and improved me and if you think I'm up to no good, then I'll gladly let Emmett rip me a new one."

As they had their endearing moment, everyone watched in silence. They were smiling except Mr. Worley. He didn't know half the stuff Anthony did and I was pretty sure he was having conflicting feelings toward him.

I hoped he meant every word he said. If there was any reluctance, is was warranted from his past behavior. It was going to be a little while before I could completely wrap this all up in my head.


Welp...they're awake!

RTB