11
Felt like they stood there, in complete silence, for hours, before Edward placed his hand on Bella's back and said, "We need to get inside."
When she looked up at him, he added. "To make sure we weren't followed."
Inhaling a deep breath, Bella nodded and looked from her father to her mother, and finally to her brother. "If we're not welcome . . ."
"Of course you are," Renee said quickly. "Um, yeah, let's go inside." Then she turned to Charlie, stretching out her hand. "Honey."
"Your daughter?" he asked again. "You have a daughter?"
"I do," Bella whimpered. "I can explain everything, but not out here." She paused. "Please, Daddy."
Charlie looked from Bella to her daughter and nodded. "Okay."
He turned and walked over to Renee, sliding his hand in with hers as they waited for Bella, Charlie, Edward, Alice, and Jasper to move. While Bella knew she had to tell them, the last thing she wanted was to air her dirty laundry. She had come to grips with never seeing her family again, yet here she stood in front of them. This would be one of the hardest days of her life. Proceeded only by the day she faked her death and escaped Hell.
"Come on, B," Edward whispered, nudging her forward.
"Tell me again how it's going to be okay." She shifted her tear filled eyes to him. "Tell me again."
"I promise it's going to be okay," he murmured, reaching around Charlie and cupping her face. "I promise, B."
Wanting nothing more than to believe him, Bella tightened her hold on her daughter and took the first step toward the house, knowing they would follow. Carlisle hurried up the front porch, holding the screen door open for their parents, Jasper, Alice, but when Bella carried Charlie up, he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to tense and pull away. Their eyes met, and while neither said anything, she let a tear fall down her face. Carlisle opened his mouth to speak, but promptly clamped his lips together.
Stepping into the house, Bella was unable to keep the rest of her tears at bay. The house hadn't changed a bit in the eight years since she had left. The only difference were the lack of pictures of Bella after the age of sixteen. She had missed a lifetime with her family, and there was nobody to blame but herself.
"Well," Renee said, bringing her hands together once everyone was inside the entry room. "Are you thirsty? I have some tea and lemonade. Might be a soda in there somewhere."
"No, thanks," Bella murmured.
"Mommy, I need to go potty," Charlie whispered, trying not to let the others hear, but when they shifted their eyes from Bella to her, Bella knew she had failed.
"Okay, sweetheart."
Bella put Charlie down, keeping one hand on her back as she lead her between Charlie and Renee, down the hallway by the stairs to the small guest bathroom. She closed the door behind them, and waited while Charlie hurried toward the toilet.
"Mommy," Charlie said, softly and she looked over at her. "We're never going home, are we?"
Bella shook her head. "No, sweetheart."
"Why not?" she whimpered.
Sighing, Bella walked over to her, kneeling in front of her and taking hold of her hands. "You know how I told you about how some people are good and some people are bad."
Charlie nodded. "You said sometimes bad people pretend to be good, so we have to be extra careful."
"That's right," she replied, softly. "Well, one of those bad people are trying to hurt us, and um, Edward and Jasper are trying really hard to stop him."
"And that's why we can't go home?" she asked, reaching up and brushing Bella's tears off her cheeks.
Though she wanted to be strong, she found herself sobbing in the arms of her five year old daughter.