Oh ye of little faith...If Iris can bring Edward Cullen back from the dead, she can certainly reverse this child's play...Told ya Thea wasn't Renesmee...

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Ch. 73 Child's Play

"Ok, tell me what the hell is going on!" No more skirting around things. I'm in control. I can handle it!

"Thea." Edward looked pointedly at our daughter who I, by some miracle, was able to hold without feeling any bloodlust.

Oh yeah. "Sorry, Thea. Don't say hell. It's a bad word."

Edward raked his hands through his hair. "No...I mean yes, but no, you asked what was going on. It's Thea." He explained.

"Your kid is freaking me out, guys." Emmett interjected.

"She's gifted." Rosalie beamed.

"Gifted? Gifted and dangerous..." Alice said under her breath.

I was beyond frustrated with everyone. Bella was still screaming while Esme held her and sung to her. Jacob was outside whimpering at Carlisle and Jasper probably trying to get to Bella, and my mind was spinning. "What do you mean?! I'm not in your mind anymore, Edward! Explain everything. Now."

Edward looked back to me, his eyes still haunted. "When you left my body, you were gone for a few minutes. We were waiting for you to wake up in the woods when Thea drifted to us looking for you. Alice, Rose, and Esme ran to us in a panic to find her, and then you did wake up and chaos ensued." Edward took on a far-off expression.

"Of course this was all my fault..." I groaned.

Edward ignored my self-deprecation. "Thankfully you weren't attracted to Thea's blood, but you were frantic with the stag so close. Your mind was chaotic and you felt threatened by so many of us near in your newborn state. Rose tried to take Thea away, but she just kept drifting back to us. You were so afraid of us that you darted off into the woods, and Emmett, Jasper, and I went after you. We were calling to you, but even with Jasper blasting waves of calm at you, we couldn't make you slow your pace. I had almost caught you when you must have drifted here, to the future. We didn't know at the time where you went, but it was Thea who found you."

"What do you mean?" I pulled Thea in a little closer to me.

"Rose was holding her, and she just...she brought all of us with her. Iris, she's powerful. The others weren't even near us, and we had no way of knowing where you were. Thea just kept thinking that she wanted everyone together, and then she made it happen..." I looked down at my mini-me. When we said we were in trouble, we had no idea..."When I arrived to this time, I scented Bella immediately, and, well, you know that part..." Edward looked to be in pain. He hated what he did to her. He didn't know her very well this go around, but he had most of my memories of her. I knew he hated himself for being weak just like I hated myself. Two peas in a pod...

"Jacob phased when he saw me bite her, and he went for me. But you reached me first, stopping me mid-hunt. The blood from the open wound made you frantic again, and you took Bella into your arms to finish her yourself. When Jacob saw Bella after he phased...his demeanor changed...his mind shifted like he was pulled to her."

"He imprinted..." Jacob imprinted on Bella?! What did that mean? "Edward. That means the story is different."

"What?" He stared at me blankly as he tried to follow my train of thought.

"I was wrong. I thought I couldn't change the plot of the story. I thought this was some kind of payback from Twilight because I skipped around so much, but it's different. Jacob imprinted on Bella..." I shook my head in wonder. "Then what happened?"

Edward watched me with a strange expression, but he continued. "Seeing Jacob was enough to shock you out of the frenzy when your protective instincts took over again. He ran off into the woods, and I went after Jacob to stop him from hurting himself or someone else. When I got back, you had saved her. How did you do that? As terrible as it is, I thought she was dead the moment I bit her. I didn't expect to return to her still alive."

"I just...I was freaking out because it was Bella. I couldn't let her die. She's like my sister in a weird way...I guess I just put her well-being before my bloodlust. It's what I've always done even when I was human. I'm fine when it's someone else who needs help. I'm just not so good at solving my own dilemmas..." I looked back at Thea. She was lying quietly, looking around at the dust-covered living room of the Forks house. "So you're telling me that our daughter—who is just three days old—just brought our entire family to the future...AND she found me blindly?!"

"Well, not blindly. Her ability is strange. She's able to get a feel for other's minds...or more like their auras, so she searched for you. Then she just drew everyone along with her when she drifted. It's like some odd mixture of your ability and mine. She can move in the present as you've seen, and she can apparently go forward in time."

While Edward was explaining everything, I had been trying to think of a way to reverse this, but if I tried to drift myself, there were no guarantees that I could find a place in time with my family intact. Thea was able to carry us with her. She had to fix this...my three day old baby held our future happiness in her hands...Oh God.

"Well, If she can go forward, then she can go backward...Just like when we travelled back to Bali!" I turned all my attention to our baby girl who was babbling to herself and blowing spit bubbles. "Thea, baby, you have to take us back! Let's go back home. Remember the manor in Scotland? All the trees, and your room? Baby, can you take all of us back—mommy and daddy, your aunties and uncles, gramma and Grampa? Please, baby? We have to go back home." Please, Thea. We have to fix this. Bella deserves so much better.

Thea looked directly at me. It still kind of freaked me out how aware she was at her age. She smiled and cooed. And though it wasn't exactly English, I understood her. She just wanted her family together. It didn't matter when.

"Esme take Bella to Jacob. They need to be together. We're leaving. We're going to fix this. This can't be Bella's fate."

"Alright." Esme looked to me and then back down to Bella. She placed her hand on Bella's cheek. "I'm taking you to Jacob, dear. He will take care of you."

I rushed over to Bella before Esme could leave. "You're going to be fine, Bella. Everything will work out."

"Are you sure about this? It could make things worse..." Edward began. He was so deep into his spiral of self-hate that his optimism was fading.

"I have all the faith in our daughter, Edward. Look at her. She's a light in the night sky. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She just wanted her family together, and she can have us when we fix this. Isn't that right, Thea?" I tickled her tummy, and she smiled again, totally content to be in my arms. This will work. It has to work.

"Come on." I walked outside where everyone was already gathered. I looked to Jacob who was finally with Bella. He was obviously distraught over her. His yellow eyes kept shifting back and forth between his imprint and us. "Jacob, everything will be fine. We are leaving, going backward in time, and you and Bella won't be affected by us anymore. You will live happy, normal lives. I promise."

I turned my attention back to our little trouble maker. Ok, that's an understatement..."Ok, Thea. We're ready. Let's go home, baby."

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