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The Journals
By Everleigh Allen
Chapter 10
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In memory of Gregory Tyree Boyce who played Tyler Crowley in the Twilight movies.
I send love, gratitude, and condolences to his friends, family, and the fandom.
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Town of Quillayute, Forks Prairie "Forks"
Clallum County Washington
1937
The memories of Annie Belle Adams's immigration to the United States in 1932 from Manchester, England ran through my mind…. Again.
I turned away from her, of course, as she entered Carlisle's office. It was barely better than going to school and I could study for my doctorate exams in peace, except for the constant loop of sadness radiating from Annie Belle's memories.
Annie Belle had a secret romance and marriage with an American soldier named Jeramiah Adams. Her family didn't approve of and instead of facing them together and staying in England, they decided to run away.
Jeramiah bought a ticket to America for Annie Belle before the ink was dry on their marriage certificate. It was a ticket to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and she would take the trains west to Washington and then a bus to a small town called Forks to wait for him.
Jeremiah Adams never made it to Forks.
Annie Belle never found out why, nor did she ever know why he sent her to Forks specifically, but she had a constant reminder of him sitting on her hip.
Marie was a beautiful child. She had her mother's thick blonde hair and soulful hazel eyes.
They were light brown at first glance but to Edward and those like him, could see the ring in fiery gold and greens which seemed to dart around with a knowing that a child her age shouldn't have.
Her thoughts were quiet with just a few blips coming through when she was upset.
Marie Adams was five years old with a firm upper lip that she must've inherited from her father. She seemed older than her five years and spouted off towards anyone who dared to look wrongly at her or her mother, much to her mother's chagrin.
But inwardly, Annie Belle smiled with pride for her child.
Her Marie wouldn't be daft and falling for wounded soldiers like she did.
"Sorry I'm late." Annie Belle smiled tightly as she moved through the office. She quietly placed Marie at the small desk that sat behind hers and quickly placed some paper and pens on the desk to entertain her daughter.
Esme moved into the office just as quietly, smiling happily at the little girl who returned her smiles.
Esme was the only person (besides her mother) that Marie liked.
Perhaps it was because Esme always made sure there were warm chocolate cookies for her every day Annie Belle had to bring her into work with her (which was daily since it was the summer.)
She was so quiet the clients often didn't even see her while her mother took their information.
"How's the nursing degree coming along?" Carlisle asks kindly, knowing the answer. Marie's eyes dart to her mother but she quickly looks down again without a word.
Carlisle is patient and holds his smile, waiting.
"I thought," Annie Belle whispered before she stiffened her spine and continued, "That I'd like to go for my doctorate instead of nursing."
"A woman doctor," Carlisle grins, bemused.
I turn in my chair and the movement only makes Annie Belle think she's in for a fight, but I know Carlisle well. He knows that Annie Belle doesn't like handouts and giving her a check for her tuition would be destroyed (after careful consideration.)
"I can handle it." She huffs, her eyes bright with fire.
"Oh, I don't doubt it!" He laughs. "But how will you manage the time and curriculum?" He makes no mention of Annie Belle's struggles being a single mother. Our family knows the truth and that her husband had every intention of coming back for her. She was widowed and they had yet to figure out why she wasn't notified from the military yet. Perhaps they didn't know of the marriage?
They were still looking into it on Annie Belle's behalf.
They had already created a trust for Marie in her father's name, but that wouldn't mature for thirteen more years and it wouldn't help Annie Belle at all in the meantime.
"I always manage," Annie Belle said quietly. It was the truth.
When she first stepped foot in Forks, Washington there was little help offered to her. She was British, alone, and had a small child. Annie Belle didn't offer any answers to the townsfolk, either, which made her an enigma. She took odd jobs at the diner and other stores when she could, but they barely made the ends meet.
When we moved into town, she was the first to greet us kindly and offered her help as a secretary. Even though Esme would've done the job effectively, the family was intrigued the headstrong woman. Most people avoid us but this woman ignored any and all of her reservations about us, being new once herself. Ultimately, hiring her made the transition into town easier for us.
She works as a secretary and Carlisle gives her a sustainable income.
She even owns one of the Cullen properties at the edge of town.
It was a proud moment.
But as she stands there visibly shaking to all of us, we can't help but be proud of how brave she is.
"She can start taking courses with me," I offer with disinterest before turning away. There's shock and elation running through her mind though her face doesn't show it.
"What an excellent idea, son!" Esme beams, sneaking Marie another cookie that she greedily eats. "I could help with Marie, of course." She says it as if it is the simplest thing ever but to Annie Belle her mind is spinning. Dreams are coming together that she doesn't dare trust yet.
"We can help you with the applications, too. We had to do them with Edward and Rosalie so they would be easy to fill out and help request scholarships, letters of praising-"
"That would be…" Annie Belle's eyes are brimming with tears threatening to fall, "lovely."
Marie grins and mouths a third chocolate cookie that appeared on the desk. It's too early to ruin her lunch.
"That settles it." Carlisle huffs in pride. "All is settled and we can get started today so someday you could be my replacement!"
"Oh," Annie Belle's mind races and I can't help my amusement in her thoughts. She's picturing herself in Carlisle's place and seeing the looks of everyone in town.
She'll show them.
And I don't have to be a mind reader or fortune teller to know that she will.
I just hope we're still around Forks to see it.
-EAMC
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"Did you know that that was my grandmother?" Bella asks into the empty room. She had left her room and wandered the empty house for a while without seeing another soul. But the 1936 journal seemed to fall in front of her in front of every twist and turn so she knew she wasn't completely alone.
They were watching.
Finally, she relented and found a warm spot in the library to read.
"No, they didn't." Alice said as she appeared at Bella's side.
No one knew.
"You helped my great-grandmother, grandmother, and I'm guessing my mother- get their educations," Bella swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Yes. But we didn't know Renee was your mother. She used the trust money we set up for Marie."
"Thank you."
"Welcome!"
Bella smiled softly before biting back the tears. "I'm named after Annie Belle, Isabella. 'Oh, look at the wee lass, she Is a Belle- ah!' Annie Belle had said when she first saw me. It was just before she died and the name stuck. Gran would mimic her mother's English accent each time we saw each other and I'd blush at the attention. I am named after both of them. Isabella Marie."
"That's beautiful."
Alice and Bella turned towards the new voice as they sat in the library.
With a gleeful clap Alice grinned.
"Esme?" Bella whispered in awe. The woman beamed and nodded, her sparkling caramel colored eyes matched her hair and in her hands she held a plate of chocolate cookies. Bella looked at them in disbelief before she let out a small sob. It was almost as if her Grandmother was right in front of her handing her the same cookies she ate throughout her whole childhood.
Esme didn't react as she placed the plate in front of Bella, but Bella instantly moved towards Esme, engulfing her in a tight hug. It was unexpected but Esme quickly wrapped her arms carefully around Isabella, trying not to breathe.
"I don't think I've hugged anyone like you since your great-grandmother and I dare say I feel the same warmth from you as I did with her." Esme chuckled lightly.
"You remind me of her." Bella smiled softly.
"Well, I sure hope so, I was the one who cared for her and taught her all I know."
"Including how to sew?" Bella asked suddenly as they slowly released each other. "Like the quilt on my bed?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Esme snickered coyly but Bella missed the jest.
"It's just that it's very similar to my mother's quilt. It was handed down from my great-grandmother to my grandmother and to my mother when I was born. It got lost in one of my mother's moves."
Esme looked at Alice and when she nodded she said, "We found this quilt in California, dear. It was brought on a camping trip just north of the Muir Woods. You were probably a teenager on summer break and in between visitations with Charlie and Renee. You're mother never lost in in a move. She may not have noticed it missing until later."
Bella couldn't help feel a rush of emotions with Esme's words. She knew her mother preferred California where she was born in Downey and then later lived in Riverside. Renee left California when she went camping with a friend along the pacific coast. It was then, on First Beach, that she met Bella's father, Charlie. He was different than the California guys she knew and she liked that about him. She quickly moved to Forks and they hastily married, much to Marie's disappointment. When Isabella was born, Marie sent Renee the heirloom quilt.
When the marriage ended, Renee moved back in with Marie and took Isabella with her to California before eventually moving to Arizona on a whim. She enjoyed the warmth and new adventures until she met Phil and left Bella behind to go back to Forks, Washington with her father.
"Why did you take it?"
"Well, we had met Alice by then and when we moved past it during a hunt, Edward had a reaction to the smell. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it had the Cullen crest on it that I had sewn on so I knew who's it was instantly. I considered giving it back to Marie, but she had already passed away by then. So we kept it… for you."
Somehow, some way, the quilt from Bella's room appeared on the table before them. Bella brought the quilt up to her nose and smelled it, hoping for some lingering traces of her grandmother, but there was none. "Thank you." She whispered.
"Ready for more journals?" Alice asked. "I'm getting kind of impatient for you to find out about me in them."
"You could just tell me."
"Where's the fun in that?" Alice scoffed, tapping Bella on her head. "Besides, this is actually more fun than we've had in fifty years."
"What happened fifty years ago?"
"Um, read and find out!"
Bella looked to Esme who quickly agreed with wide eyes. "Yes, read the journals so you can learn about your new family."
"Wait, what?"
But it was as if Bella was speaking to thin air because the room was instantly empty except for a journal that plopped down in front of her in their wake.
She quickly grabbed a chocolate cookie and stuffed it in her mouth before opening it up to see what adventure was next.
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A/N: I've taken creative liberties pertaining to Marie Adams- Higginbotham, her parents/ linage, her husband whom isn't known/ named and created a storyline how I imagined they would go within the timeline of events at the time and as it is presented within the story. I only added what the Cullen's had in interaction with Annie-Belle and Marie.
In my head, the Cullen's forge a Trust with enough money that is initially used for educational purposes as well as income for a down payment on a home, car, etc. Jeramiah Adams is eventually listed as "Deceased" and there are additional benefits added to the trust when that comes along. It isn't the same scholarship offered to Bella that brings her to Chicago; Bella does her best not to use the trust money. (Of course.) There is little insight or info on Marie's sordid life- other than she's bitter- or how she became a Higginbotham.
Kudo's to whoever knew or picked up the quilt references from the Twilight Books. ;) There will be more about the quilts later.
I thank you for your patience with the last posting and this one- it's a week late and early for Monday/ Tuesday postings. This chapter is shorter and I do often go back to other chapters to fix/add/subtract from them as we go along so if you do re-read them they may be different. The next journals will skip twenty years to Alice/ Jasper so we can move forward with Bella and Edward's story!
I hope all is well with all of you and your health and happiness remain safe.