1. I'm not Stephenie Meyer, because if I was I wouldn't be writing this or reading it. 2. I don't know much about Edward's past life-just like you don't either- so I'm making it up. 3. I've never been to Chicago so I'm using my great-grandma's stories (she's 3 years young than Edward so I think they're close enough) & Tulsa of 1920 to recreate this. Keep reviewing- I need more than 1 per chapter so WRITE BACK!
Later that night after Bella's friends left, my family, Renee, and Bella and I sat back down in the living room to open Alice's gift. Bella handed me the medium-sized package and watched me slowly tear the paper off it. Alice amused herself with Korean sign language.
"Hurry up, Edward! Alice left me for a week to work on this, and then she wouldn't show it to me!" complained Jasper. The image of Alice having a vision about this and buying a plane ticket to Illinois caught me off guard.
"Illinois?" I asked. Jasper and Alice nodded.
"I wanted to solve your next 'fight' before it starts. You two have been silent for too long, and I just wanted to help. Please remember that," warned the little pixy near the table.
I continued to tear the paper off, and little by little faint pencil sketching came into view behind a light oak frame. The sketching's skyline was peaceful and open even through the old-time buildings. Streets were faint pieces of ribbon in the background, but you could still see the tightly organized houses and shops. The main road of the art sharply turned around toward the center, showing incredibly detailed shops, important businesses, street signs, and early cars. Antique street lamps stood tall at every corner, and young, old, and average people lined the crowded streets of my Chicago.
One building in the far right bottom corner caught my eye: Anthony's Groceries, my first and only job. Outside the store doors was the newspaper stand where Mr. Anthony would stand and read the morning's news. The paper boy would stand on the corner of Madison and Washington calling out the headline of the day. And sure enough little Willie was there on his corner calling out the bold headline: "Titanic Sinks!" I looked closer at the date of the paper. April 13, 1912- the day my father took me to get a job.
"Alice, this is beautiful! What is this?" asked Bella, never looking away from the intricate lines and shades.
"It's the Chicago Edward grew up in, right?" she replied. She was worried that she had gotten something wrong, or that I wouldn't like it. I loved it.
"Alice…it's flawless! That's little Willie from the newspaper stand, and there's Mr. Anthony's grocery store. That was my first job. If you followed that road right here for a mile you'd be at my house." I laughed at the rushing memories. "My grandmother-before she died- always said that we lived in a square. Looking back now I can see that she was right. My house is about here," I said, pointing to soft lines in the background. "and the store is here, my father's work-he worked for a growing business dealing with oil, Texaco- is just off the page here. And down here, again off the page, was my school."
"One room school house?" asked Bella. She tore her eyes away from our gift and smiled at me. I smiled back and nodded, remembering the basic education. It amazed me how much I was able to learn with all the different aged kids, and how little we knew at the time. I tried to imagine how little Carlisle knew when he was growing up. I almost shuddered at the depressing thought.
"Just across the street from the school was St. Anne's Roman Catholic Cathedral, a small Catholic church that was built the year my parents got married…1897? They're buried in the cemetery behind the church." I wondered if Alice had seem all these place and known they're meaning to me. Of course not. We don't talk about our past lives that much, I told myself.
"What does a picture have to do with settling a fight?" asked Rosalie. I handed her the framed masterpiece. She was almost as amazed as I was; she grew up in a world very similar to my own, her and Emmett. He also looked at the drawing in a deeper way. I listened for Esme's reaction to the gift, but she only noted that that was nice of Alice to draw that for us. No memories of the early 1900s crossed her mind.
"I'll show you. Bella, what do you want to name the baby?" Bella thought for a moment before asking "Boy or girl?" Alice smiled back and said it didn't matter.
"Meredith is pretty." I snorted. Bella and I wanted an older name, something that wasn't used very often anymore, but not too old. Meredith was just ugly!
"And Edward?" asked a very passive Alice.
"For a girl…Kathryn. A boy…still undecided."
"Kathryn?" gagged Bella.
"See my point?" pointed out Alice. Rosalie rolled her eyes and nodded. "Now, if you two will look closely you'll find both names on there! I had a vision of you agreeing on the names and explaining more of your history." Bella and I looked at her in disbelief, but took the frame back. We looked at the words closer.
"Madison Street… Madison's a pretty name. What do you think, Edward?" I turned it over in my head. It was a name used when I grew up, but not anymore. It wasn't extinct, but I was sure I wouldn't hear it used for anyone else. I smile at her and held her hand.
"Well, that 's one, but I don't see any boy names, Alice," prompted Carlisle. We all looked at Alice, waiting. She smiled again.
"Well, Edward Anthony Cullen think about memories and family tradition." Bella looked back at me, hoping I would understand. Alice kept thinking about my name and emphasized "tradition." It was a Masen custom to name a son after the family. My father named my Edward after him, and our middle name came from his great-grandfather. Naming our son Edward would be too strange when he went to school with us, but why not Anthony? I smiled, finally understanding Alice's odd hints.
"It's a Masen tradition to name your son after you, and Mr. Anthony was a good friend of the family. How about Anthony?"
"Madison Joy or Anthony Ethan." Bella held me close and kissed me lovingly with her soft, gentle lips.