AN: As with all my chapter, I will post the disclaimer that I do not own the Cullen family or Bella, but Bella's mother and background are part of my invention.

On another note, I'm sorry this is later than I meant it to be. Today is my surgery prep day and I have been rather busy. I won't get out of the hospital until the weekend, and writing will depend on how I'm doing, the intensity of my therapy, and how doped up I might be from painkillers. Please read the note at the end about the contest this story is included in. Thanks for all the kind people who sent reviews for the last story.

Journal Supplement: More Than Meets the Eye [April 1959 – Esme]

I never thought I would contribute to this compilation on Bella's pre-vampiric life, but since I'm the one who had the conversation with Bella's mother, I thought it would be best if I wrote it. Everyone in the family knew about Bella's 'uniqueness' in regards to her attraction to all things dangerous. How her mother was able to live with all of that, I'm not sure, but she did her best to be a mother who was both supportive as well as protective without over doing the protective part. What we didn't know about Bella, early on, was the other side of her story, and I was fortunate that Joanne felt comfortable enough to share it with me.

In early April of 1959, not long after Bella's sickness that frightened Edward, I attended a PTA meeting at the school. The parents had gathered to discuss the upcoming prom and we, those of us at the meeting, decided to do something extra special for the graduating class. The school administration scheduled the graduation ceremony for 6 p.m. on Saturday evening. In the past, students always went to parties afterward, but the parents at the PTA meeting agreed that it would be nice if we sponsored a party for them. The party would be held in the school gymnasium.

Once the group had made the decision, we began volunteering for ways to help. I loved to bake, but only Bella benefited from my culinary skills, so I signed up to help with a bake sale to raise money for the graduation party to which the PTA would play host. Mrs. Swan signed up on this committee as well. We ended up being a committee of two; this development led to a meeting with Mrs. Swan one Monday morning while our children were in school.

We talked about the sale, what we would need and how we could arrange the sale to make as much of a profit as possible. We immediately and quickly came to a consensus on what we would do – with some undisclosed help from Alice during my part of the suggestions. From there, the conversation took a completely different direction.

"Edward is a very nice boy," Mrs. Swan commented as she shared coffee with me. Of course, I only pretended to drink the coffee.

"Thank you," I offered, but I could tell she had more to say, so I allowed her time to gather her thoughts.

"Bella could not have found a better person to choose as a boyfriend," she finally added and then paused for a few more minutes.

I sensed her uneasiness, so I said, "They make a good couple. Edward never paid attention to girls before Bella came along. He is very committed to her Mrs. Swan, and I know he would never hurt her." I hoped I had made it easier for her to share what she felt she needed to share.

"Please, call me Joanna," she said.

"And you must call me Esme," I responded with a smile.

"I really want you to know that I don't doubt Edward's sincerity. I have a feeling, but no one has really confirmed this, that their relationship has gone further than boyfriend and girlfriend," she commented as she stared down into her coffee.

"Would you object if it did?" I asked simply.

"No," she looked up at me as she replied. "I think Edward is the best choice she could ever make. He is constantly there for her. She'll need that; her life has not been simple, ever. She seems to attract dangers to her life, but there is more to it than most people have ever seen or realized. In fact," she paused to sip from her cup again, "Even Bella hasn't realized just how truly 'unique' her life really is."

Now she had my full attention. Carlisle and I had missed the original conversation about Bella's accidents because we had not been in the house at the time but Edward had shared the information with us later.

"Bella's uniqueness goes back to her great-great-great grandmother. My family is Welsh and up until my mother, very steeped in Welsh folklore and beliefs. My mother wanted to detach herself from her heritage. I think she felt ashamed of the beliefs of our family."

Once again, she paused as she took another sip of her coffee, so I offered, "I have met some people like that. They believe the only way they can become more a part of the American society is to denounce their ancestral roots."

"Do you believe that way?" She asked with a searching look.

"No," I replied simply. "My great-grandparents emigrated from Britain and even though they were happy to become Americans, they still passed on their family traditions. We always had a Yule log at Christmas, and it's a tradition that I've always enjoyed."

I had a feeling I was going to learn a wealth of information not only about Bella but also about her mother. I had always felt her mother was rather unique as well as Bella. When she had been at the house the day Bella's fever had been most crucial, we had some time to talk, and I heard her teasing the boys about older women still appreciating the male physique. I ended up chuckling about the comment because I was very aware of what my sons looked like with bare chests, and then I had to explain to Carlisle, who was standing beside me, why I was laughing. I imagined at that moment, that Mrs. Swan would have felt the same way if she had seen Carlisle's bare chest, and she was right, age in a female had nothing to do with appreciation of what was pleasing to the eyes. I pulled myself from my thoughts as she began to speak again.

"My grandmother had a family heritage that passed through the females. My great-grandmother immigrated here when she was seven, and her mother told old stories of the family to her children and grandchildren. My mother, however, chose not to tell me those stories so I had to get them from my grandmother whenever I visited her. In fact, I named Bella after my grandmother. Her name was Annabella, and she was named after an ancestor who was believed to have been carried off by the Fae. Of course, the other story is that she ran off with a young man whom her family did not approve of leaving behind a young daughter from her first husband who died in their second year of marriage. I took all my grandmother's stories to heart. That doesn't mean I believe them, but I remembered every detail. I never shared parts of them with Bella because Richard, my husband, would not have approved. Richard felt I shouldn't fill her head with fairy tales and old legends."

She paused again and I wondered how she felt about being denied the opportunity to share those special stories with her daughter. I also suspected that she mentioned these stories for another reason.

"As I said, Bella's life has been rather unique, and that uniqueness caused me to remember those old stories of my grandmother's, especially the one about the ancestor who was carried off by the Fae. In that story, it was said her daughter was actually part Fae, although she never told her husband. After the child's birth, the husband died leaving Aeronabell widowed with a month-old infant. Family legend says the child was either the result of her assignation with a Fae or the child was Fae touched; either way, all the females afterward have had some special ability. In the case of the child, she was very adept at healing potions. After that it varied. Some were able to foresee the future while others knew about plants and how to use them."

"Do you have any special ability?" I had to ask, but I wasn't sure if she would answer.

"Let's just say I'm very aware of what is happening around me, but I learned at a young age to keep what I see to myself. As I said, my mother didn't like the old tales, and she refused to acknowledge anything that had to do with her heritage. I knew she had some type of ability, but she would not talk about it, so all I had to go on was the little I could see. I loved my mother, but she did not show affection of any type – I learned to live with that as I got older, but for a child, it was hard to understand why your own mother would not hug you or say any kind words to you."

"That must have been hard; I can't imagine treating my children in that manner."

"Well, it was something I was determined not to do with Bella. I made sure that, at an early age, Bella knew I loved her by not only telling her but showing her also. In addition, I shared what I could about my heritage, which to me was very important. It is part of Bella's uniqueness, but then there is the other part that comes from her father. In Richard's family, there seems to exist a streak of bad luck. He never fully explained it to me, but he assured me that Bella carried his family's curse and that is why she had so many accidents and mishaps. I think, but I cannot prove this, but I think he sometimes wishes we would never have had a child because of his curse."

"But there is more to it. Bella might carry his curse, but she also carries your side making her an extraordinary person." I began to see why Bella had no problems with falling in love with a vampire or integrating into a world that included more than just humans.

"Yes, she is and extremely so, and that is why I'm so careful . . . where Bella is concerned."

Her hesitation led me to believe she was going to say more, so I patiently waited taking the time to take in my surroundings. When I had first walked into the house, I had noticed a number of pictures of Bella, at various ages, hanging on the wall. They seemed strategically place in such a manner that they did not overwhelm the viewer nor did they clutter the walls. I also noticed a similar look on Bella's face in each picture. Although she was smiling, there was also a far off look in her eyes as if she were waiting for something. I noticed that same look when Alice had first introduced Bella to us, but it seemed more intense as if she knew what she was looking for but it was out of her reach. Once Edward finally started dating her, the look vanished from Bella's eyes. 'So,' I thought, 'Maybe Bella was been waiting for Edward all her life, knowing he was out there, but not know how to find him.' It was an interesting thought, and something I decided I would talk to Carlisle about later in the quiet of our room while Edward was out of the house.

I had also noticed that the decor of the living room was modest yet refined in an understated manner. I had admitted to myself that Mrs. Swan had good taste but had also learned to work within her budget. Her dining room showed the same style. The furniture had good clean lines, and had just a touch of simple elegance. There was nothing shabby about the Swan home which, in my opinion, reflected the careful but creative housewife that Mrs. Swan was. Mrs. Swan's voice brought me out of my reverie.

"Bella seemed to be different from the day she was born. In fact, her first odd mishap occurred in the hospital during her birth. Somehow, it seems, she was completely entangled in the umbilical cord in the womb. My labor was extremely difficult, and a few times, they thought I might lose the baby, but when things seemed the worse, a nurse came over and held my hand and whispered words of comfort. She was very memorable. She was willowy and ethereal, her hair was blonder than I'd ever seen before, her blue of her eyes was almost unbelievable, and I felt a soothing warmth flow from her hands into mine." For a moment, I thought she could have been describing Rose, but knew it wasn't possible because of the warm touch. "She seemed to exude tranquility which helped me make it through all the problems that had arisen. After Bella was born, I wanted to thank the nurse, but the other nurses who had been present claimed no nurse had held my hand." She paused and took another sip of her coffee.

A number of possibilities about this mystery person came to mind, but I didn't mention any of them.

"From there, it was minor things; a bump, a small scrape or cut from falling, and other sundry bruises. Her first real serious incident was around the age of five when my husband fell asleep at the wheel of the car and we ended up in a ditch. It was near dusk when the accident happened, so no one actually witnessed all of the accident. We were fortunate that one couple saw the car go off the road because they reported the accident and requested help. My husband and I were both unconscious, so our knowledge of the incident comes from information provided by the rescue team. I guess we were both pinned in the car, and it took them a while to extract us. The ambulance driver rushed us to the hospital for treatment. It wasn't until the next morning when I woke up and asked the nurse about my husband and daughter that anyone realized there had been a child in the car. As soon as that was discovered, search teams were sent out, but they didn't hold out much hope that she would be alive. The temperature that night had dropped below freezing and a light cover of snow had fallen. It took them half a day of intensive searching to finally find her, but what they found surprised everyone. Not only was she alive, but she had not suffered from the cold. It seems, as hard as this may be to believe, that some wild animal had lain down beside her to keep her warm during the night. Rangers from the area that had helped in the search were unable to identify the animal because its tracks were mostly covered by the new snow, and what had remained had been trampled beyond distinction by the search teams. Even the imprint in the snow where the animal had lain beside Bella to keep her warm was not identifiable. I overheard two of the rangers talking, and they said the imprint belonged to some animal that they could not identify. They argued about the imprint being similar to a bear, but one said it was too large for any of the normal bears that lived in that area. One of the police officers made a comment about a partial paw print that he saw, and he said it looked similar to a wolf print but larger than any wolf he had ever encountered."

"That sounds just like something that would happen to Bella, but she never mentioned that part of the story when she told Edward about the incident," I commented thinking about the wolf comment and not believing the possibilities it presented.

"I'm happy she shared this with Edward. I've encouraged her to do just that because, I told her, if she was serious about this relationship, she wouldn't want to keep any secrets from him. Unfortunately, Bella can only share what she knows and neither her father nor I felt it necessary to share that part of the story with her. This, however, wasn't the only time we withheld information. We felt that some events, especially when she was younger, were better left unmentioned." She stopped abruptly and took another sip of her coffee.

She had more to say, but she paused suddenly while thinking deeply, I knew she was considering how to share it. I had a feeling she was going to share more of the stories Edward had already shared with us, but I was going to see another side to each of them.

As she set her coffee cup down, she continued. Her determined look informed me she had decided not to keep anything back. "My husband refuses to tell Bella anything about that accident. In fact, he refrains from talking about any of her accidents with her. In this particular case, he already felt guilty enough that it was his fault, but the fact that she had been missing for almost an entire day was even worse for him. When we were first warned not to keep our hopes too high about her being alive, he was in tears, but after they found her, he refused to ever discuss the event again with anybody." When she first began talking, she had her hands loosely wrapped around her coffee cup, but as she spoke, I noticed her grip tighten on the cup.

I seldom reached out and touched humans because our touch was so cold, but I felt compelled to touch her hand in a reassuring way as I said, "I doubt Bella would ever blame either of you for what happened. I have noticed that Bella takes everything in stride and see these events as no more than everyday expected occurrences, and she never blames anyone for them happening."

It surprised me when Mrs. Swan did not jerk her hand back in reaction to the unnatural coldness of my hand, and I wondered if she had ever touched Edward. Bella had reacted the same way when Alice first touched her, and even Edward commented that she didn't flinch at his cold touch. I then remembered Aleksey and figured both might have become accustomed to his touch; as a child, I couldn't imagine Bella not touching him because most children like hugs.

Joanna's only reaction to my comment was to chuckle softly at my words and add, "Bella never has the heart to hurt anyone else by laying blame. She is completely forgiving even when it appears that the accident could have been avoided. She is more likely to blame herself than anyone else." She chuckled again but with a harsh tone to the laugh as she said, "It was just like that when she was gored by the bull. I still do not understand how she survived that incident. I saw it happen, and that bull had gored her, but the doctors assured us that the term 'gored' did not really apply because the wound was shallower than it looked." She shook her head in disbelief, "I never believed that. I saw the horn completely disappear into her skin. It went deep, and it should have caused more damage; although in the end, it revealed something that caused more damage than could have been foreseen."

"She told Edward that she still has a scar from that incident, and she told him about the tumor and its results, but Bella told Edward the injury developed a serious infection." I replied.

"That was part of the story she was told. I had to give her some reason why the x-rays were taken, and why she finally had the surgery. I'm not sure why I lied, but at the time it seemed easier than telling her that the tumor might have killed her," she admitted.

"Was there anyway you could have been mistaken about what you saw?" I asked knowing that if she were indeed a perceptive person, she really had seen it as she described it, which meant something had happened that changed what really had occurred.

"No, there was no mistake, and the funny thing about that was Bella still did not blame anyone but herself for the accident. She argued it was her fault on the grounds that she was the one who convinced us to take her to the fair. I'm glad though that she shared that information with Edward about the tumor. I told her she needed to be completely honest with him, and I assured her that from what I saw of him it would not make a difference to him."

"You're right," I replied as I pulled my hand away from her. "Edward loves her for who she is. I think Bella is beginning to understand that her physical body does not matter as much as the person she is, and that is who Edward has fallen in love with.

She then sighed deeply. "There is more to that story of the bull though," she said as she looked me in the eyes. "Bella claims she remembers little of what happened that day." I noticed a rather haunted look in her eyes. "Right after Bella was gored, a man ran over to her and chased the bull away. I thought he was one of the midgets from one of the sideshows because he was so short and rather stocky. After the bull left, he bent over Bella saying something, but I was too far away to hear what he said. I saw him lay a hand on her injury and felt rather protective because here was a stranger touching my child. I didn't think he meant any harm but something about him didn't feel right. Before I could reach her, another man knelt down beside her, and he had a black bag with him. It turned out he was a doctor who worked for the fair. As he began to treat Bella, the shorter man got up and left. He had vanished into the crowd by the time I reached Bella's side. The doctor looked up at me, and I told him I was Bella's mother. He was the first to reassure me that the injury was not severe and that it would take some minor stitches to close the wound. He also told me an ambulance had already been called and would arrive soon."

She took one more sip from her cup, and I noticed that once again her hands shook a little.

Finally looking up at me, she continued. "I have a feeling that Bella does not always remember certain events relating to some of her accidents, and her father will never speak of them. I once tried to ask her about her recollection of that accident, but she replied that it happened too fast. She clearly remembers walking and talking with her friends, and she remembers seeing the bull, but then all she remembers of that event is the doctor telling her she was shaken, slightly hurt but otherwise okay."

"Maybe the shock caused her to not fully comprehend what was going on at the time," I offered. Over the years, I've heard Carlisle talk about patients who didn't remember events leading to major injures because of the trauma and shock that accompanied the incident.

"That is possible, and it could explain the lapse of memory she had after her more severe experiences, but I still wonder about it because, you see, I went back to the fair the next day and asked to talk to the man who had been with Bella right after the bull hit her, but I was told there was nobody connected to the fair that matched the description I had been given. I then sought out the doctor and he assured me that there was no one beside Bella when he arrived. How did I see a short stocky man who was not observed by anyone else? Even Bella didn't remember anyone but the doctor."

She had a point; it was a perplexing dilemma unless what she thought she had seen never happened. The problem was I didn't take her for a woman who hallucinated.

"There was one more astonishing event tied to that incident. After arriving at the hospital, the doctors informed us that Bella's wound had already begun to heal, and they would not need to apply any stitches to the wound since it appeared mostly healed. She ended up with a round scar that looks as if it had sealed shut on its own, but I swear, that bull did more damage that any doctor's ever saw. It was one of the reasons why the doctors ended up x-raying the area to see what was going on inside of her, and that was when they found the tumor. At first, they were only going to do a biopsy, but when they actually opened her up, the tumor was so entwined into the tissue of her uterus that they could not remove one without removing the other. They knew even if the tumor were benign, that it would have to be removed, so they told us what the options were and what the end results would be."

I watched as she twisted her cup in her hands, and I knew this was something hard for her to share. "Would you like another cup of coffee or something else to drink?" She asked as she suddenly looked toward the kitchen.

"No thank you," I replied, "I'm not really thirsty."

"If you will excuse me Esme, I think I need something else to drink," she replied as she got up from the table with her cup.

I watched her walk into the kitchen, and my acute hearing indicated she had placed her coffee cup in the sink, and then she moved and opened the refrigerator door. The next sound I heard with a drawer opening and a bottle cap being removed. I watched as she walked out with a bottle of coke-a-cola in her hand.

"Bella's influence," she admitted as she held up the bottle, and then sat down at the table.

We both laughed at her comment and the atmosphere in the room seemed less tense because of that shared laugh. It was as if she felt more at ease, but whether it was because of what I was that first made her tense or just the topic under discussion was undiscovered by me.

She took a drink before taking up her narrative again. "You must have some idea of how it might feel to find out your child needs the type of surgery that will stop her from being able to function like other normal healthy people." She said as she fidgeted with the bottle.

I wanted to say yes, but I knew I didn't really. None of my children were normal people, and I accepted them that way when they came into the family. In my own way, I could feel for her and the idea of losing something, but in my new existence I had gained more than I had actually lost. When I should have died, I lost an abusive husband, and when I woke up, I gained a friend who became a loving husband and a grown son. In Joanna's case, she lost the potential of grandchildren, but she still had her daughter. I could not help but wonder what Bella must have felt when she discovered she could never have children.

"After giving us our options, the doctor allowed us five minutes to come to some decision. In my mind, I would rather have the tumor out than risk losing my child. Richard didn't want either decision. I tried to point out the advantages, but he finally said I should decide and he walked out of the waiting room. After the doctor returned, I gave him my decision and then he handed me some forms that I had to sign. I must confess, I didn't read them even though I should have, but I was distraught at the time and could not focus on anything but the welfare of my child. After the doctor left, I went searching for my husband but didn't find him. It turned out he went back to work and only called me two hours later to see how Bella was doing. By then she was out of surgery and in a room. She didn't really wake up until the next morning. She mentioned the pain she felt but never asked what had happened, and we didn't talk about it until after she was finally released and returned home. It was not a conversation that my husband took part in. I waited for him to leave for work one day, and then sat down beside Bella's bed and explained what happened and what it meant to her. She never shed one tear in front of me, and I never knew if she cried later. It was not a topic we talked about until after she started dating Edward, and then she thought that he might not want her after he found out about that surgery. I told her that if he really loved her – and in my opinion, I added, he really did – then it would not matter to him. She laughed at my reply at first, then cried a little, and finally said she would tell him, but she warned me I should not mention it because she needed time to prepare herself."

"I think it was hard for her because Edward said he could see the fear in her face when she told him, but all he could think was how much he loved her and nothing would ever make him change his mind about that. Edward is fully committed to Bella; he will never leave her," I assured her.

"I know," she replied. "I realized that the second week they were going out. I could see it in his eyes and in the way he treated her. At first, I was afraid he would become as overprotective as her father, but I've notice he has backed off a little from being so overly protective," she admitted.

"You have Emmett to thank for that. He has had a number of talks with Edward about how he might push Bella away from him if he didn't ease up, and Emmett was very upfront about comparing Edward's actions to Bella's father's actions. I think that helped, especially when Bella would say things about her father smothering her in his overly concerned manner." As I spoke, I watched Joanne carefully to make sure I didn't offend her.

"I warned Richard numerous times that if he wasn't careful he was more likely to drive Bella away than to earn her trust, but he seems obsessed with keeping her safe no matter what it takes. I fear he is going to lose her affection if he keeps it up." She shook her head as if she realized she could do no more to curb her husband's actions. "I keep telling him that Bella is more than just accident prone. Sure she has accidents, but it seems with each accident something else happens that seems to render the accident less serious. Between the car accident and the bull, Bella should have lost her life, and then the incident with the tumor, well the doctor told me that Bella could have gone years with no one discovering it. Bella might not even have had any pain for years, and then, by the time it became painful and was found, it would have been too late to treat or remove it. The doctor said the incident with the bull was more of a Godsend because it allowed them to find and treat what might have killed her later on. I tried to tell Richard that, but he refused to listen. To him it was just another reminder of the curse he passed on to his daughter."

"Does he have the same kind of bad luck?" I was curious about his relation to the bad luck. I had never heard Bella talk about her father as being someone who had accidents like her, but there had to be some basis for his belief.

"No, but he claimed his father did, although I never met his father because he died before we met. I've met his cousins, but I've never heard tell of bad luck with any of them, so I sometimes wonder where the original belief came from. Richard does not speak much of his family or of his childhood, and his mother had very few pictures of him until he was older. I always wondered why, but I learned early on that he didn't like me asking questions about his family, and for the sake of our marriage, I stopped asking questions."

"Do you sometimes regret . . ." I realized I was entering dangerous ground. Most women didn't like to speak about their marriages, but it bothered me when I saw strife in a couple because of what I went through with my human husband. After Carlisle freed me from him, I always grieved for women who were prisoners in like relationships.

"It's okay to ask Esme, and I guess my answer would truthfully be no. My marriage isn't perfect, but then whose is, and as to regrets, if it hadn't been for Richard, I wouldn't have Bella, and I would not trade Bella for anything. I've often wondered what will happen after Bella leaves home, but I've decided that is a question that can wait until she really leaves home. I know there are women who are divorcing their husbands and it is not as frowned upon as it once was, but still, it is a drastic step to take."

She was right about that. Even ten years ago there was a stigma attached to divorced women which was only just changing, but it was a slow change. Besides that, it was hard for a divorced woman to make a living because it was still a man's world.

"There is still one other accident that happened that had an odd twist to it. When Bella was thirteen she nearly drowned out on a lake where we had been skiing. Once again, her father blames himself for it. Bella was so happy that day, and she had enjoyed herself skiing even though she fell down a lot. After Bella was back in the boat, she laughed about the falling claiming it was the one time she could fall down without skinning her knee or bruising herself. We were all enjoying our time on the boat and then Bella leaned over the edge claiming she saw something in the water. She would never tell me what she thought she saw, although since then, I have asked her a few times. She just said it was her imagination playing tricks on her." She paused as she took another drink of the pop in her hand. "Richard claims something flew through the air at him and he raised his hand to deflect it, in the process, the item flew toward Bella and hit her on the head. Everything happened so fast. One minute Bella was leaning over the edge of the boat and the next she was in the water, but somehow her life-jacket had been ripped off. We all rushed to the edge of the boat, but I was the only one who saw Bella under the water. There was a woman with long blonde hair holding her, and I watched as she put her mouth against Bella's, and then the woman pushed Bella up toward the surface of the water. Richard's friend Bill jumped in the water and pushed Bella up so Richard could pull her into the boat. Then Bill gave Bella mouth to mouth resuscitation. It took little for Bella to cough out some water, and then breathed on her own, but when I mentioned the woman I saw in the water, both men laughed and said women hallucinated about the oddest things during an emergency."

This was another new twist on the story that Edward told, but then Bella did say she was unconscious when she fell, so it was not hard to believe she would have no recollection of the event. I was beginning to wonder, though, just who and what Joanna had seen both under the water, at the fair, and in the delivery room. She had mentioned she was 'aware' of what happened around her. That fact had been made very clear when she informed Edward that she knew he had been paying nightly visits to her daughter; it did surprise me that she hadn't put a stop to it immediately, but then she also admitted she trusted him. What, I wondered, did she see in him that made her trust her daughter's virtue with a teenage boy, for that is how Edward appeared to humans. What did she see that other humans didn't?

"It really hurts to be laughed at and told your eyes are not seeing what you know you saw, but that was also the case with the bull accident. As I said though, I'm very aware of what is happening around me even when others don't see it, or maybe they choose not to see it," she stopped and stared off at the wall and I could tell she was once more deep in thought.

It gave me time to reflect on her ability and wonder if that is why she knew what we were. She saw what other humans decided not to see. Visually we were different; we were paler and more beautiful than average humans, and our skin was cold to the touch; even our eyes were different, but most people made no comment about those differences. Bella noticed them right away, but she accepted the difference with no fears, and it seemed that Joanna did also, but, unlike Bella, Joanna did not admit that she saw the differences. I could not help but wonder what happened to her as a child that made her stop letting others know she saw what they failed to see.

Suddenly she whispered, "That's why Bella knew." Her words were meticulously clear to my acute hearing, but I knew to any other human, her words would have been inaudible. "I'm sorry," she offered finally looking at me. "My mind wandered off for a moment."

"Very understandable considering what you have been telling me. It seems as if someone or something has been looking out for Bella especially when she had extreme accidents." I took time to choose my words carefully because I didn't want to say anything to offend her, but I also wanted her to understand that I believed what she was telling me.

"You're right, and it is not just with major incidents. Sometimes there are intercessors even with minor events. One day she was passing a neighbor's house when their dog charged Bella but before the dog could reach her another dog interceded and attacked the dog who tried to attack her. There were a few witnesses to the event and everyone agrees that they had never seen the other dog before; it was bigger than most dogs they had seen – one man described it as wolf-like – and no one ever saw it in the neighborhood after that. Bella may be cursed, according to her father, but she has also been lucky at the same time. Even her meeting with Peter was a blessing in disguise. Peter explained to me later that there had been a rogue bear in the woods that day he found Bella, and it was lucky he found her before the bear did."

He didn't tell her, like he told us, that he that found and dispatched the bear before he found Bella; of course, from another point of view, if he hadn't been in the woods, the bear would have found Bella and no one would have been around to protect her.

"Peter and Edward are the two best things in Bella's life. They both are protective of her in a way I cannot be, and even though Bella was upset when she found out, Peter has never been more than a telephone call away." She finished off her pop after she finished speaking and then placed it on the table. "You do realize they have both promised me that if anything were to happen to Bella that she would not recover from, they would both be there for her and make sure I didn't lose her." Her look was very intense while she spoke, and she knew I understood what she meant. "I will give Edward the first opportunity, but if he fails me, I know Peter will not. I just thought you should know that. I think Edward already understands, but I wanted you to see this from my point of view. I will do anything not to lose Bella."

Not only was her look intense but also the inflection in her voice. This was her child she was talking about, and I understood exactly how she felt. I loved Bella dearly, like my own daughter, but I wondered how Joanna would feel if she received what she wanted for Bella and then Bella out-existed her. I also couldn't help but question how Bella would feel about that as well. I know Alice and Edward have told her that would happen, but I've never heard what Bella's response was to that comment. Then of course there was the fact that everyone believed Joanna already knew what we were; therefore, she understood the consequences of her request.

Joanna began to laugh lightly, "This turned more serious than I meant, but I think, as mothers, we understand each other. I know your family will always look out for Bella's best interest."

I smiled as she spoke; she was right the conversation had taken a serious tone toward the end, but her last comment made me smile even more. I hoped she understood that sometimes Emmett could become a little reckless but not in a harmful manner. I too had heard about the poker game, after the fact of course, and it amused me when I discovered that Bella could hold her own with Emmett. Sometimes, though, I feared that Emmett might forget that although Bella enjoyed his form of horseplay, he might slip and be a little too rough with her.

Almost as if she knew the line my thinking had taken, she reached out and touched my hand. "Don't worry too much about Emmett; he is strong, I will not deny that, but there is a special tenderness I see in him when he is around Bella. I believe he really does see her as his little sister in a way that only a true brother does. I also know he would do anything for her, and that is what worries me because Bella, at times, can fail to see the harm in some things she wants to do."

I chuckled at that comment because it was Bella's idea to go skiing and even if she had lost the bet, I was willing to lay odds – as Emmett says – that Emmett would still have taken her skiing for Christmas. "He does seem to be putty in her hands, but I think Jasper and Edward will curb any requests that might appear harmful to Bella."

This time Joanna laughed outright. "What might appear harmful might indeed be beneficial, while something innocent can end up being the dangerous decision. Just look at Edward – he was the best thing that ever happened in Bella's life, and I'll never regret allowing that relationship to develop even though it had a rocky start."

I wondered if she really knew how rocky that start had been. I had heard her tell Edward she knew about his visits to Bella's room at night, but was she also aware of them at the very beginning?

After that afternoon, I realized a new relationship had begun to develop and from that point on Joanna and I spent more time becoming friends; something Bella told me later she was happy for. She said her mother didn't have many friends, and it was partly due to all the moving her family had done since Bella was a child. Here, I decided, was a woman who needed a friend, and later I would be glad I took the time to become the friend she needed.

AN: A number of my stories, including this one, have been nominated [many thanks to Hyvanna] for the Bring Me to Life Awards. Please go to www(dot)bringmetolifeawards(dot)weebly(dot)com to vote for your favorites. Please show your support for this story, and any of you others that you have enjoyed, by voting now. I thank you for your support.

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