Once again thanks to TwiDi for beta'ing this for me. And any mistakes are my own cause I went and messed with it again.
Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, Jacob would have been a drag queen, and there would have been more books, and more Edward nudity.
So just to clear up a few things :)
1. Yes this Bella goes back and forth between child like and adult like. I know personally for me between 15-19 years old I would feel like an adult one moment and a child another. This Bella is very sheltered too so some of it is her being naive.
2. I personally have never liked this story, I took it down previously due to the negativity it brought to my life and a hate hate relationship I had with it. Thats one of the reasons I could careless about mistakes in it.
3. I'm not reading any more reviews for this story and just going to work on putting the chapters up. Honestly most of you are super sweet and I thank you. The others that complain, no one is making you read something you don't like, you are the one wasting your time reading something you don't like. Feel free to go find something much better. I highly recommend The Bandits of Bennett Circle By: samekraemer its an awesome read, very well written.
4. I'm not sure if/when I will be working on anything further as the return to this story has been so negative that it has once again killed my mojo.
In the morning, I pulled Emmett to the side and noticed that he was expressing the same concern and hurt that I was feeling, so, we decided to gently confront Esme about it. Therefore, as we sat around the lunch, she had made us—talking and catching up—Emmett made the first move.
"Hey, mom, Rose is coming back this week, isn't that great?" He looked at me and I wondered what Rose and this friend of my Aunt's had anything to do with each other, but this was Emmett, so I just played along.
"And Jasper. He'd be mad if you forgot about him." I put in.
"Oh, yeah, and the Ken doll." His laughter boomed in the kitchen.
"Yes, I can't wait to see them both, it's been too long," Esme said sincerely.
"Speaking of girlfriends, how's that one you found online? You haven't mentioned her in a while." Emmett pouted while asking the question and I stifled a grin. Other than saying she had found an old friend online and how much fun they had talking and catching up, Esme never talked about her friend.
"Girlfriend?" Esme looked startled.
"Yeah, the one from high school?" I put in just because I didn't want Emmett to have to give up his cute pout by talking.
"Kids I never said it was a girlfriend." She gently laughed and then looked around almost like she was worried to tell us. "His name is Carlisle Cullen." Emmett and I were staring at each other feeling confused and a bit betrayed. "We dated in high school junior and senior year. Carlisle came out here with his Mom after his parents divorced; her family was from Forks, you know the Brandons, right? His Mom was Irena Brandon. Then he got into his father's alma mater—Harvard—and went back east to attend there." My jaw dropped. The Brandons were loaded and Lady Irena—as we all called her—had been royalty around here until she passed away around the same time as Uncle Marcus.
"Oh." I pushed the sound past my lips since Em didn't look up to speaking. The Brandons made the Hales look poor. Serious money.
"Carlisle's wife died in a car crash when their twins were only two. They turned seventeen in June and are both beautiful to look at. For twins, though, they look very little alike—besides their eyes. Alice and Edward both have bright green eyes. They are also so very polite and smart." She gave a small smile and Emmett jumped from the table.
"Mom, how do you know his kids are polite and smart? You only have this guy's word for it." He tried to joke, but I could tell he was freaking a bit.
"Carlisle and his family live in Chicago now, Emmett. When I went to the conference on the world wars in Chicago, I met up with him for lunch. We had been talking so much; and since I was in town, it just felt right that we see each other." She looked down at her hands, which she was twisting nervously. "We ended up seeing each other every day I was there."
Meeting her son's stunned hazel eyes my Aunt pulled herself to her full 5'4 height and said firmly, "When Carlisle left me, I thought I would never love again. He was my first love and it was powerful. The Cullens are more powerful and richer than the Brandons ever dreamed of being and I knew I couldn't fight them. I was tolerated as his high school crush. He swore he would come back for me. I tried to believe him, believe in him. We wrote every day for 6 months. Finally, Christmas break came and I took my savings and booked a flight to see him. It was a surprise for Christmas. When I got there, I found him hugging another girl. I never said a word. She was holding him tightly and telling him how much she loved him. He just rocked her back and forth and whispered softly in her ear. I ran. I came home with my tail between my legs and I wrote him a final letter. I told him it was over; that I had met someone who was on the same level as I was and who would never abandon me like he did." She shook her head and tears began to fall.
"Aunt Esme?" I stood up and gently put my arms around her shaking shoulders and Emmett kneeled in front of her. Taking her hands in his, we sat there for a few minutes holding her and keeping her strong, struggling with our own emotions.
"I had known Marcus my whole life. He was the older brother of my friend Renee. I was terrified Carlisle would show up and that if I didn't have someone, he would call my bluff. So, I asked Marcus to help me out and he agreed. I was broken and half-dead to the world. Marcus kept me strong and made me smile again. He was warm and kind and as the months went by, we grew closer. Finally, one night I wanted to feel whole again, I begged Marcus and finally he gave in and we made love. I just wanted to feel like I did when Carlisle had been with me. Alive and whole. And while it was pleasant and I loved Marcus, it still missed something. However, three months later Marcus and I got married. Six months after that, Emmett made his way into the world. He filled all my voids or so I thought. Until I looked into Carlisle's eyes and saw his warmth… and instead of feeling already fulfilled, I felt whole again for the first time in nineteen years." She looked pleadingly into Emmett's eyes begging for understanding, showing that she loved him.
"Mom…" came the anguished groan of my cousin.
"Emmett, please understand that I loved your father so much and I would have never have left him. But he's not here anymore; and he wanted me to move on and to love again. He told me so, so many times. I never thought it would happen. Especially not this quickly, but I still love Carlisle. And he feels the same. The girl I saw him with that day was his cousin who was depressed. Mary was clinging to him for dear life and being the kind and loving man, he is, he took care of her." She sighed. "That compassion is what makes him a great doctor." Looking back at me, she gave a grimace. "Bella, you know I love you like a daughter?" I nodded. I was scared now, but I knew it was true. She continued, "Carlisle asked me to marry him, he wants Emmett and I to move to Chicago."
"NO!" Emmett screamed he lifted me up and held me tight, glaring daggers at his Mom. "NO!" he yelled again. He turned with me still in his arms and ran up the stairs and locked us into his room.
"I won't leave you, Bells." He swore and he held me tight. Tears streaming down our faces, I held him close and tried to keep my own grief at bay. Esme and I shared no blood, but I never thought she would abandon me. Why I was surprised I don't know, my own Mom had no problem leaving me behind.
"Hush, Emmybear, it will be ok." I whispered into his curly hair.
"Rose will take care of this." He mumbled and I had to laugh at his faith in Rose. "FUCK! Rosalie! I can't leave her either, Bella." He held me tighter and I cursed Carlisle Cullen and his perfect offspring for ruining our world.
Emmett and I stayed locked up in his room for hours. Esme tried to talk to us some more, but Em just blasted the radio and told her to go away. We went through family albums and held each other as we cried. Finally, around ten that night, we were both hungry as hell. Running down stairs, I made us both sandwiches, with Emmett never far from me. He acted like he was on guard duty. As if someone was coming to rip me away if I were to be more than five feet away from him. Using his cell, he called Rosalie and Jasper to fill them in. To say Rose was pissed would be putting it lightly. She was coming home with a vengeance and Esme was her target.
"Hi," A soft whisper came from the door. I jumped at her voice and Emmett landed protectively in front of me.
"Hi," I whispered back.
"Grrrr." Came from Emmett who glared even harder at his Mom.
"Emmett!" Esme and I said at once, and half a smile hit my face. Like so many times before we had yelled at him in unison. Only part of me worried it would be the last.
"I called Carlisle and told him that we weren't coming. I told him that I can't leave Bella, and that you can't either." She told us and looked right in my eyes. "The two of you left before I could finish earlier. I was going to finish by telling you both… I wasn't sure if I could go. Bella, you're my daughter in all ways but blood; and to leave you, would kill me. My happiness at being with Carlisle would be tarnished and blackened with guilt and pain because I would have lost you."
I ran into her arms holding her tightly and looked back at Emmett who was easy to forgive and ran to hug us both.
"I love you both so much," she whispered fiercely. And we told her we loved her too.
For hours we all ended up cuddled together on the sofa watching a DVD of old Buffy episodes. Emmett was quick to forgive and forget, not bringing up the subject again. I, however, felt guilty. Esme clearly wanted to be with Carlisle and I was her only obstacle because Emmett wouldn't leave me behind. I wondered if Esme's love for me would be destroyed or lessened because I came between her and her love. And part of me was just pissed that my Aunt could so quickly move on after my Uncle had died. Her speech earlier had made it sound like Uncle Marcus was second best and easy to forget. Then I felt guiltier, because I knew my Aunt loved my Uncle because I had seen them together and had held her while she cried after he passed away. I felt myself drifting to sleep, cuddled tight in my Aunt's arms and my last thought was 'damn Carlisle Cullen and his perfect kids for screwing up my life'.
~0~
The following day dawned bright, and we were all stiff from sleeping cuddled on the sofa, but Emmett couldn't stop grinning and giving us bear hugs. Esme had decided to drive us all to Olympia where they were having a summer fest fair. So, around 11 am we all crawled into her Malibu and took off. Emmett was excited because Rose would be home the next day and I was happy because everything was ok in my world again. It wasn't perfect or even back to normal, but we were ok and I had hope that we would make it through and that Aunt Esme would be happy again with us.
~0~
It was late when we finally made it home. The sun had set a long time ago and I was stretched out in the back-seat half asleep, Emmett and Aunt Esme were talking about our upcoming junior year of high school and Rose and Jasper's birthday party in August. It was peaceful and normal, welcomed after yesterday. However, a startled gasp that came from my Aunt jerked me into a sitting position. A strange black sedan sat in front of the house and on our front steps—illuminated by our porch light—sat a man, head down on his knees looking almost defeated. I wondered if this guy needed help or had an accident and just landed on our doorstep till, I heard a whispered, "Carlisle". And as if he heard her, the man sat up and looked our way. I could tell even in the dim light the blond-haired man was one of the most handsome I had ever seen. And I hated him on sight because I knew he was here to destroy my life. Emmett looked at the man and back to his mother and back at the man letting out a growl of displeasure. I knew my cousin felt the same way as I did about this intruder in our lives.
Slowly, Carlisle stood and began to walk towards the car. Even slower, Esme opened her door and began walking towards him. Then—as if some magnetic-pull spontaneously happened when they were within a certain distance from each other—they both took off into a run and into each other's arms. I could hear them mumble how much they missed and loved each other. I heard him whisper something low that sounded like 'I won't live without you'. He was tall, around 6'2 and had pulled my Aunt up to his height where she dangled. She was wrapped so tight around his frame though I wasn't worried about her falling. I was however worried about the vein in Emmett's forehead was going to bust at any moment. He was not happy and very close to breaking up this reunion in front of us. I felt nauseous. This man was here to take away my family. My way of life.
~0~
Carlisle talked Aunt Esme into going for a drive with him, so they could talk in private. Emmett tried to argue, but Aunt Esme felt that she at least owed this much to Carlisle. So, now here Em and I sat in complete silence waiting to see the outcome. In the pit of my stomach, I knew this guy wasn't going to just leave us alone. He had chartered a private plane after Esme had called him just so he could get here as quickly as possible and from the sounds of it, he had been waiting for us to come home for a while.
I wanted to fall apart and cry. I just knew they would leave me soon. I couldn't do that to Emmett though, he needed me to be strong right now. And no matter what my personal fears were, I needed to be strong for him. Poor Emmett, he was still reeling from the death of his father and now his Mom's old boyfriend is trying to uproot him from everything he has ever known.
"Bells." He groaned and put his head in my lap. Like so many other times when he was upset, I knew what he wanted. Gently, I rubbed his head, playing with his hair, and hummed an old melody. It always soothed him and it made me feel better, because in some way, I was helping him right now.
I must have fallen asleep rubbing Emmett's head, because I jumped awake when a hand touched my shoulder. Looking up into the kind hazel eyes of my Aunt, I gave a faint smile. Emmett was sitting up, looking like he just woke up. I heard a gentle throat clearing from an unfamiliar male and knew that it had to be Carlisle. Looking up, I realized he was even more attractive in full light and I could see how my Aunt would be attracted to him. However, I still didn't like him.
"Emmett, Bella, it is so nice to meet you both. Esme has told me so much about you. I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen, but please, call me Carlisle," he said in a kind voice. Apparently, Emmett wasn't fooled either by this wolf-in-attractive-sheep's-clothing-trying-to-play-nice, because he pulled me closer.
"Hi," I whispered just because one of us had to talk, and all Em did was letting out growling noises and grunts.
"Emmett Marcus McCarty, behave." Esme gave her son a disapproving glare and gave me a kind loving smile. "We would like to talk to both of you, please hear us out completely before doing anything." I nodded and Emmett glared.
"I have been in love with Esme since the first time I saw her when I was younger than both of you. Situations and misunderstandings stood between us, mainly because we were young and didn't know how to fight for our love."
He looked determined and with his every word, I felt myself grow colder. He was going to take them away; Em and I were being told that we couldn't stand between them.
"I realize all of this is a shock and may seem sudden. However, we have spent months talking. And the minute I saw Esme again, I knew I didn't want to go another moment without her permanently in my life—in my arms. We know that this won't be easy mixing families with all of you kids so grown. However, Alice and Edward are going to be seniors in the fall as well, so at least that is something in common. I know that both Emmett and Esme refuse to leave you Bella; and I would never ask you to let them go. So, before I came here, I talked to my children, they have agreed to move to Forks." Em and I shared a glance, I wondered briefly if we were supposed to stand and applaud the 'sacrificing perfect kids' of Dr. Cullen.
"Kids, please help us make Alice and Edward more comfortable here. They are giving up a lot so that our family can be whole." She wrapped her arms around me and I nodded my head gently. Emmett was not happy but at least he didn't grab me and run. He just grunted and patted my knee. I vaguely listened as they spoke of an early September wedding before the school year started. Emotional exhaustion was taking over, though I did hear one thing before I passed out… my beloved cousin mumbling about how maybe a doctor in the family might cut down on my trips to the ER.