On Mondays in the library sometimes we do a show and tell to gain insight into each other. We haven't stuck to it as we originally intended, but Bella and I have both brought the occasional object.
She showed me a photo from her childhood today that her father usually keeps on display.
The picture itself showed Bella and her parents as a small child. She told me it was taken just before they split up. I could see Bella's resemblance to her mother, she had the same excited look Bella has when she talks about traveling in the future in her eyes.
To have a child must be a great and arduous adventure, one they say nothing can prepare you for.
It made me think of the children I have never had and will never have. I know that in all likelihood I would have died in the Great War had I survived the influenza, so my life has always seemed destined to have been cut short. Looking at that photograph made me wonder though; what if o had survived and married? Would my descendants be living in Chicago today? Would I have been happy? What life might I have had? Would I have been a good father? Husband?
It made me long for the simplicity of a human existence, the natural cycle of ageing and watching the younger generation. What would it be to grow old? I cannot imagine feeling my body falter as I aged. The thought seems quite terrifying. And yet I do so wish that I could grow old with Bella.
A/N: Please leave a review! Thanks so much to my wonderful beta wh1teow1, please show some love and read Moirai, a reimagining of Twilight for the new decade! What are your thoughts on Renesmee and the whole baby part of canon? I am not into it personally, this is a baby free fanfic!