Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for several reasons.
Chapter 11: I Got 99 Problems
BPOV
I held her while she cried herself out, which was awkward for me, but despite not seeing her for years she is still one of my best friends. Then, I channelled my inner Charlie because I had a few questions. And then I drove us home and tucked her up in my bed with one of Charlie's 'special' hot chocolates.
Fortunately, Charlie fled to his bed on first sight of Leah's tear streaked face, so I poured myself some of his scotch and sat down and the kitchen table to do some telephonic interfering.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Sue, its Bella."
"Hi, Bella, to what do I owe this late-night call?"
"Are you aware of what is going on in La Push?" I ask her.
"Nothing is going on in La Push," she sighs, "did Charlie put you up to this?"
"No, he didn't," I assure her. "And this is certainly outside his remit. I am asking about giant man wolves Sue, giant, Quileute, man wolves. Would you know anything about that?"
"I know the silly legends, if that's what you're asking, but it's a bit late for storytelling."
Hmm.
"Leah is here," I inform her, "she's staying the night with me."
Sue sighs heavily.
"She's very upset," I press.
"I am sure she is," Sue snaps, "but she has a child, and a husband who needs her right now, she needs to come home and deal with her responsibilities."
"They didn't tell you, did they?"
"Tell me what?"
"That Leah started phasing quite a while before Jake did?"
Silence.
"That they didn't know what to do with her, so they just forbade her to tell anyone and left her to get on with it?"
"I don't believe you."
"That's up to you. But Jake's run off with the Pack, leaving Leah alone to deal with that and everything else."
Silence.
"Women don't phase," she says eventually.
"Right, so you're happy to come over and explain that to Leah? Bring Harry, I know she feels awful that she couldn't put him to bed."
Silence.
"Sue? Who is the Alpha?"
"Jake," she answers immediately.
"Why Jake?"
"He's the Chief's son, it's heredity, in the genes."
More silence.
"Let Leah sleep," she says after a while, "Harry and I will be there in the morning."
"Thank you."
…..
Charlie knew something was up but allowed me to make him waffles and usher him out the door to the station. Sue arrived about ten minutes later with chubby little Harry kicking his legs in a papoose.
I made coffee for them, and some more waffles, then took myself off for a walk.
When I got back it was obvious that everyone, including Harry, had had a good cry.
Sue made me waffles while I played with Harry's chonky little feet, and while I ate Leah took him off to change him.
"Everything okay?" I ask, between mouthfuls.
"It will be," she replies, clearly still a bit annoyed with me.
"What happens now?"
"We'll go home and work things out," she replies firmly. "And you should stay out of it. This is none of your concern."
"Leah, Jake and Harry are my concern," I point out calmly, "Jake told me about the wolves and he's the Alpha."
"He shouldn't have done that; outsiders have never been involved in our business."
"And a woman has never phased into a wolf, so maybe we're past that now?"
…..
"What are you going to do?" I ask Leah while Sue is securing Harry in the backseat of her car.
"Phase, so I can talk to Jake and ask him to come home. Then talk to him. I'm still me so he must still be him. We can work this out."
"I hope so."
We hug for a moment and then she jumps in the truck to follow her mom home.
…..
With the day still young I decided to make good on my promise to go into work for a while, since I have become adept at one arm driving. Also, something feels off in my shoulder so I might see if Clarice will x-ray it for me. I know we quacks can be hypochondriacs, but better safe than sorry.
The x-ray looked fine to me, and to Carlisle, who kindly came down to offer his opinion.
"You know," he chuckles, "if it's giving you gyp that's probably because you haven't been doing anything like the amount of resting recommended by your physician."
"You are probably right," I admit, "but it has been an eventful few days."
"Yes," he agrees quietly, "and we are all deeply sorry about that."
"Carlisle," I laugh dryly, "you guys are the least of my problems."
"We did wonder," he says, leaning in conspiratorially, "what was happening with the wolves. Alice says she can't see your future when they are around, they make blank spaces in her visions. She has been worried about you."
"I thought I was persona non grata?"
"No, Bella, no!"
Should you be rude to vampires? Can you be rude to vampires? Could you, realistically, get away with being rude to Carlisle? Who is probably one of the nicest people you have ever met? No, I cannot be rude to Carlisle, and not just because he is a vampire.
"I am sorry Carlisle, Edward made it clear that only you and I were to interact, and only then on a professional basis."
He sighs. He pinches the bridge of his nose. He shakes his head, as if to clear it. All very human.
"May I take you to lunch Bella?"
"It seems a little pointless," I shrug and he laughs.
"If I can force down a bit of human food for you then surely you can give me an hour of your time?"
"Okay," I concede.
"Okay," he smirks, raising his voice "Clarice, I am taking Dr Swan to lunch."
"O-kay," she responds, clearly surprised.
And off we go.
…..
At the diner we both order salads and I chuckle as he pushes his around his plate like he is on The Big Bang Theory. Nice fork work.
Feeling somewhat evil, I wait until he ingests his first morsel, before I speak.
"So, Edward?"
"Ah," Carlisle replies, swallowing convulsively a few times. "Edward, yes. He is a complicated soul. I met him, well more his mother really, in Chicago in 1918. Her name was Elizabeth and she was an incredibly strong-willed woman. By the time I met she and Edward, at the hospital, their flu was advanced and there was nothing I could do for them. Edward was unconscious but Elizabeth was alert, watching him, and us, all the time. She begged me, bargained with me and bullied me, into promising her that I would save her son. I will never know if she knew what I was, knew what she was asking, or if she was simply desperate for some hope in her final hours. But when she passed, I stole Edward from the hospital, bit him and ran away with him into the night."
"Why?" I ask.
"She was most insistent," he says with a faint smile, "but also, I think, because I was lonely. I travelled the world alone for many centuries. Selfishly I wanted a companion, a friend, a family."
"But why Edward?" I press. "As I understand it you could have 'made' a friend at any time."
"Do you believe in fate?" He asks.
"No," I scoff.
"That's shame," he chuckles, "because that would be my answer."
"Edward and I travelled together for a few years, and then we met Esme. Well, I had already met her once before, when she was sixteen and I treated her for a broken leg. Life had not been kind to her when I met her again and I saved her life, by changing her."
The idea of sweet and gentle Esme not being anything less than happy unexpectedly makes me well up a little, and Carlisle pats my hand briefly.
"She was quite wild at times, as a new vampire," he continues with a fond smile, "but we fell in love and eventually married. That is when we first began living among humans as a family. Esme made us a family."
"How did Edward feel about that?"
"That's a perceptive question," he muses, "he was happy for us, but I think, for the first time in his new life, it made him consider how he would fit. In vampire terms, as his sire, I am his 'father', but reality is more complex than that. In the late twenties he had quite the rebellious period."
"Sounds perfectly normal to me," I offer.
"You have a story to tell?" Carlisle asks.
"Not right now," I mutter, attacking my salad with renewed vigour.
"Fair enough," he allows, "most of us have a rebellious period. Anyway, in 1933 we met a young woman, Rosalie, life had not been kind to her either. When she was brutally attacked and left for dead it seemed the right thing to save her, change her. And I hoped . . . I hoped that perhaps Edward would find in her what seemed to be missing from his life."
Whoa. That is a bit extreme for an arranged marriage!
"It shocks you?" Carlisle asks, being quite perceptive himself.
"Um?"
"It wasn't my only reason for saving her life," he continues, "she was a good woman, treated horrendously by the people she trusted, why shouldn't she have had another chance at a happier life?"
"Although she and Edward were clearly never meant for each other, her arrival enhanced our family, her loyalty and love are fierce and unmatched. And ultimately, she brought Emmett into our lives, and who can object to that?"
I nod, I felt drawn to him the first time I met him, like a plutonic magnet. Evidence free you still cannot help but believe that life would not be improved with more Emmett.
"And Edward?" I ask.
"Edward loves us all, but he found family life difficult."
"Why?"
"He has a gift."
"Alice mentioned that, but she did not elaborate."
"I find," he hedges, "that Edward explains it best."
I nod, though since Edward is not speaking to me that explanation is unlikely to be forthcoming.
"Edward," Carlisle sighs, "holds himself to higher standards than anyone I have ever met. And is harder on any failure to meet them, than anyone else could ever be. He grew up in a time of heroism and romance but his 'death' never allowed him to experience them. His dearest wish, according to his mother, was to be a soldier."
"He's still a child," I observe.
"No, Bella, that isn't true. Edward has grown as a man over the years, in so many ways, he just refuses to see it. I admire him, he has become a better man than me, but his greatest fault is stubbornness." He pauses to smile and shake his head. "Great, great, stubbornness. Which brings me back to why we are here."
"It does?" I am not so much confused, as awash with information that I will need time to process.
"Edward," he replies, "is entirely correct when he says that withdrawing from your life would result in you being less visible, and therefore, less at risk from our kind. James and then Victoria deliberately targeted you to get to us. He has a point when he says that we should leave Forks entirely. However, some of us argue that the danger has passed, and we are perfectly able to protect you in the unlikely event that something similar happen again. Some of us go further in suggesting that the presence of the wolves protects you even more thoroughly. Edward has a reputation in the family for being entirely dispassionate, logical, those of us who wish to continue our friendship with you are possibly influenced by our warm feelings toward you. So, the decision, must be entirely yours."
"Um?"
"Esme and I, and Alice, are in no mind to heed Edward's edict to cut you out of our lives if that is not your wish also."
"Would that not cause friction?"
"We are a family of vampires who have been together a very long time, friction is a relative concept and logic does not always produce the best results."
"Um?"
"The decision is yours alone Bella," he says, covering my hand with his briefly.
I stare at him, unable to form words or a coherent thought. For an inordinately long period of time. Like, enough time for me not to respond to an offer of a coffee refill from the waitress, or her return to talk up the dessert specials. And I usually love a good dessert special.
"If I were dying, would you change me?"
"Would you want me to?" He asks, deadly serious.
A/N Sorry I didn't get to reply to every review to the last chapter, covid is messing with everything. Wear a mask and wash your hands!