4
For a moment, Bella let herself get lost in the feelings of holding her best friend for the first time in over five years. It wasn't until a small, soft voice said, "Mommy," that she was pulled back to reality. Yanking herself out of Alice's embrace, she turned to the tiny, dark haired girl standing just inside the house and reached for her. Charlie scrambled across the room, leaping into Bella's arms. She could feel the little girl shaking, and hated once more that she had to cause such strife in her innocent life. Charlie deserved better.
"Mommy, I want to go home!" Charlie cried, burying her face against the side of Bella's neck.
"B?" Alice whispered, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. "But I thought . . ."
"I know," Bella murmured. "I'm sorry, Al. I'm . . . I'm just sorry."
Without giving more of an explanation, knowing that she'd have to confess her sins sooner rather than later, Bella held her daughter tighter and walked away, searching for a safe place to let the little girl cry. She found, what she hoped to be, the guest room and kicked the door closed behind them. She sat on the edge of the bed, cradling Charlie against her.
"It's okay, sweet girl. I promise," Bella lied. Knowingly lied to her. Nothing was going to be okay, not until he was taken out. Prison proved not to be strong enough to hold him, the law couldn't touch him. Time had proven that much over and again.
So instead, Bella held Charlie until she cried herself to sleep. Then she tucked the little girl into the bed and slipped out of the room. She found Edward sitting in the living room with Jasper and Alice, the tension thick and unasked questions hanging in the air – questions she knew she had to answer whether she wanted to or not.
"She okay, B?" Edward asked, tilting his head toward the small hallway.
"No," she admitted. "Her world's been destroyed and it's all my fault."
He shook his head, but didn't argue with her.
"B," Alice whimpered, and Bella sighed as she settled on the coach next to Edward and turned her attention to the small, dark haired woman sitting across from her. Five years had passed, but she didn't look like she had aged a day. "I don't understand. I thought . . . she . . . you . . . Please, tell me what is going on!"
"Al. . ." Bella paused and shook her head. "The only way to protect her was to run, to run and hide."
"Fake your death," she said, quietly. "I thought you were dead, that you'd lost her."
Bella wasn't sure what to say, so she sat there saying nothing. The decision to lie to the only person who really understood the hell she went through wasn't one she made easy. The only solace Bella had over the last five years was that Alice had gotten out, too.
"She's beautiful," Alice murmured with a smile. "She looks like you."
"Hmm," Bella hummed, unsure of what to say. Sure, there were parts of her daughter that reminded her of herself, but there was more of him in her than she wanted to admit.
"What's her name?" Alice asked.
Tears filled Bella's eyes as she stood, her daughter's name tumbling out of her mouth as she fled the room. "Charlie Renee."
Rushing outside, she stumbled down the porch, falling to her knees as she sobbed. As a pair of arms wrapped around her and she looked up into the piercing green eyes that saved her from a life of hell, she thought about her father and mother, how much they would love their granddaughter, and wished more than anything that she could feel their arms around her once more.