Ben
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.
A/N-thank you for reviewing this story and sorry for the lack of updates. My muse continues to bug me as far as Jake and Bella are concerned. I need some inspiration really quick!
Chapter Twenty-Eight-Betrayal
Carlisle couldn't contain his shock. He was silent for a few seconds as he tried to absorb the information that Edward had just unloaded on him. This newfound knowledge made everything much more serious.
"Carlisle, are you still there?" Edward asked impatiently when his mentor failed to respond.
"You need to come home." Carlisle said eventually. "You've interfered enough."
"I haven't interfered in anything. This happened before I arrived. Apparently, Fred's body lay undiscovered for a while. A formal identification hasn't been made yet…."
"Then you don't know for certain that its him!" Carlisle snapped. "You've just made an assumption based on nothing but a few stray thoughts you've picked up in the detectives minds."
"Who else would it be?" Edward replied sourly.
"What about the other boy you told me about?" Carlisle demanded. "Has there been any sign of him?"
"No, he's missing." Edward continued mulishly. "I'm deeply concerned, Carlisle. The police have put an APB out for the boy and his brother. They're still questioning the neighbours about the last time anyone saw the family, including the mother. This will eventually lead back to Charlie and Bella. I knew as soon as Ben came into their lives that it would cause problems. I need to protect her from the fallout when the authorities come for him…which they will."
Carlisle rubbed his aching forehead. This was more trouble he didn't need. He couldn't risk anymore exposure than he had already. It was time to talk to Esme again. "Come home, Edward." He ordered. "There is nothing more you can do there."
"Fine." Edward reluctantly agreed. "I'll head back now."
"Good." Carlisle responded brusquely, before hanging up.
"How are you feeling, Luka?" Esme asked gently as she handed him a glass of water. "I hope today didn't take too much out of you."
"I'm tired." Luka admitted as he cradled the glass in his hands. "But it was so worth it to see Ben again. He was so happy."
"Yes." Esme agreed with a warm smile. "Charlie and Bella have been taking good care of him."
Luka cradled the glass in his hands and took a small sip of the water. "I will be able to see Ben again tomorrow, won't I? I did promise I wouldn't leave him again."
Esme tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear affectionately. "Bella explained to Ben why you had to leave again. He understands, Luka. You don't need to worry about him anymore. You're surrounded by people who love you. Let us take the strain for a while."
"Thank you, Esme." Luka placed his glass carefully on his bedside cabinet before flinging his thin arms around Esme. He clung to her as she returned his hug. "I wish you were my mother for real." He whispered.
Esme felt her emotions getting the better of her as she pressed a light kiss into his hair. "Come on, you need to rest." She said, letting him go and gently guiding him to lie down. He snuggled down under the blankets and she smiled down at him. "I'll see you in the morning, Luka. Goodnight!"
"Goodnight." Luka whispered as he closed his eyes.
Esme closed the door quietly behind her, before walking gracefully into the lounge to face Bella, who had been patiently waiting for her to settle Luka for the night. Esme smiled pleasantly and offered Bella a drink, which she refused. "Can I get you something to eat instead?"
"Esme, I've been eating all day." Bella reminded her pointedly. "You don't need to play the perfect hostess for my benefit. Can you just sit down so we can talk?"
"Old habits die hard, I guess." Esme sighed as she settled down on the plush leather sofa. She knew there was no avoiding this conversation any longer. "So, what did you want to talk about, Bella?"
"I want to talk about Luka's living arrangements." Bella got straight to the point.
Esme frowned slightly in confusion. "I've already had this conversation with Charlie. He's quite happy for Luka to stay with me…"
"Only after you used some extra persuasion. I never thought you would do that." Bella folded her hands in her lap and sat forward in her chair. The last thing she wanted to do was upset or argue with Esme. Bella loved her like a second mother and was deeply grateful for all the support and love she had given her, especially recently. But she was worried that Esme's strong maternal instincts were overriding her good sense when it came to Luka.
"I was given little choice in the matter if you remember." Esme said haltingly. "Charlie was about to go to the authorities. If I used some extra persuasion as you put it, I did it for the best of intentions."
"But Luka staying here?" Bella continued to protest. "It won't work long term, Esme. You told my Dad you were looking to buy a house right down the street from us so Luka and Ben could see each other every day…"
"Yes, and I have already found one."
"Esme, please." Bella begged her. She reached out and took Esme's cold hands in her own. "I am so grateful for all your help. I really am. And if circumstances were different, then I would have no reservations about you fostering Luka, but you're a…"
"A vampire." Esme interrupted her. "You can say it."
"Esme." Bella whispered.
"Luka knows, Bella." Esme told her.
Bella stared at Esme, stunned. "You told Luka?" She said in disbelief.
"I needed to be completely honest with him if he chose to stay with me." Esme revealed. Her golden-brown eyes gleamed with supressed emotion as she carried on her explanation. "I didn't enter into this lightly, Bella. Luka's welfare comes before everything else. He is such a loving and intuitive boy. He accepted me as I am and all that I have to offer him."
"Esme- "
"Please let me finish, Bella." Esme cut her off. "I understand your reservations. I do. But I really think there is nothing to worry about. Luka is thirteen years old. In five years, he will be an adult and the whole world will be his oyster. He can go to college, study for a career, he can travel the world if he wants. I can help him achieve those dreams. Its five years, Bella. I know you are worried about my never aging, but who really does in so short a time? I don't mix much. No one around here knows me. I doubt most of the local population would even notice or care."
Bella felt herself being persuaded. The way Esme presented it, it sounded so simple, so easy. But that small nagging doubt remained. "I want to believe it can be that easy, Esme. But remember what happened to me when I got involved with your family. It was disaster."
Esme stood up and began to pace. "That leads me to the main reason why I want to foster Luka and stay close to protect him and Ben. And why it is imperative that Alice stay around, too. And it's not just because of the stepfather."
Bella felt a cold dread overcome her. She suddenly knew what Esme was going to say. Her hands trembled and her eyes widened with panic. "You're talking about the Volturi." She said tremulously. It had been so long since she had allowed herself to think about them.
Esme winced as she hurried to comfort Bella. "Yes." She wrapped her arms around her in a gentle hug. "I'm sorry, Bella. But we have to be prepared. Now that you are no longer set on becoming a vampire, you know that sometime in the future they will come to check on you. And there is no way I am going to leave you or any of your family unprotected. I love you all so much. I know you have Jacob and his pack, but you know yourself just how powerful the Volturi are."
Bella's breathing became harsh and ragged. She jammed a fist into her mouth to stop herself screaming. Her past was coming back to haunt her yet again. She couldn't believe she had so easily forgotten about her promise to the Volturi. She had been so wrapped up in her little brother and then the search for Luka, that she hadn't even given them a passing thought.
"Jake doesn't know." Bella admitted to Esme brokenly.
"You mean you never told him?" Esme's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"There didn't seem any point. I was marrying Edward…. then Ben came into my life and changed everything. What am I going to do, Esme?" Bella sobbed hysterically. "I'm as much a danger to Ben and Luka as their wicked stepfather is."
"Hush." Esme warned her softly. "You need to calm down, Bella. You're not being rational. You are not a danger to them. You're not to blame with what went down with the Volturi. That is all on us." She sighed heavily as she placed a gentle hand on the back of Bella's head. "If anyone is responsible for this its Carlisle and the questionable choices he made regarding Edward. I should have stood up to him sooner, but, like always, I played the dutiful wife and went along with what he wanted."
Bella wiped her streaming eyes as she tried to compose herself. Crying wasn't getting her anywhere. She'd been down the path of self-loathing too many times to go down that route again. It wouldn't help anything. "What do I do?" She asked Esme again.
"You start by telling the truth." Esme said as she watched Bella's face pale. She wished she could ease Bella's burden, but there wasn't much she could do but offer her support.
"Jake won't forgive me this time." Bella mumbled in despair.
"You know he will. Don't be overdramatic. He loves you." Esme brushed Bella's hair away from her face and gave her a sympathetic smile. "You know I'm not just talking about Jacob, don't you?"
"You mean Charlie?" Bella felt her gut twist into knots. "I can't…I…"
"There's no choice now, Bella." Esme said earnestly. "He has to know the truth. Not just for your sake, but Ben's and Luka's, too."
"Oh, god, this is all such a mess!" Bella drew her fingers through her thick brown hair as she tried to focus. "How am I going to tell him? How?"
"You'll find the words. I'll be right there with you when you do." Esme promised.
Carlisle had overheard everything. He pressed his back against the wall outside Esme's apartment and rubbed a hand over his face. He had come to finally tell his wife about what Edward had discovered, but instead he had learned he wasn't the only one keeping secrets. He was appalled at what he had found out. He couldn't believe the woman he loved so much could be so duplicitous. She had been lying to him about so many things. And to hear her blame him for his questionable choices when she had been making so many of her own behind his back angered him.
Carlisle tried to not to let his negative emotions override his good sense. He fought for the good memories, the reasons to be kind. He fought to keep himself empathetic even as every terrible thing he had overheard Esme say hurt his soul. The mystery of where the other boy, Luka, had disappeared to was now solved. Esme had been hiding him all this time. She had known about him and kept it to herself so she could create the picture-perfect family she desired so much with the Swans. Edward had been right all along to be concerned. He should have listened to him and then none of this would have happened in the first place.
With that bitter realisation resounding in his head, Carlisle walked stiffly away and headed out of the apartment block and back to his car. He sat inside the Mercedes Guardian, staring morosely out of the blackened windows towards Esme's apartment. He sat there for a good hour before he noticed Bella leaving. He watched her climb into the cab of that ridiculous old wreck that she was so proud off, before she switched on the rumbling engine and drove away into the night. Carlisle cast his eyes upwards towards Esme's apartment again. He saw her close the drapes, shutting out the dark, shutting out him.
"I won't let you do this, Esme." Carlisle murmured. "I won't let you destroy everything we've built together." He pulled out his cell phone and dialled 911.
A/N-thanks for reading!