A/N: Hey, so I am very proud of this chapter. I hope you like it! There's some pretty cool stuff going on here, so keep r/r-ing! Thanks! :)

Chapter 5:

EPOV

There she is. She looks as beautiful— no, more beautiful than I ever remember. How could I have ever left her? She is perfect; she is everything I have ever wanted and I left her out of pride. What I fool I am. No, what a fool I was. I am back, am I not? At least I found the humility to return to her after all these years. Suddenly, a beam of sunlight finds its way through the thick brush and trees. It lands itself upon my right hand. A single shining light reflects itself against my pale, vampire skin. I pull my hand away as fast as I can, but it appears to be too late.

"Rhett, can you go inside for me, please?" I hear Bella ask someone. I hear a tiny squeak of a voice come from somewhere and I look around, curious as to what I am hearing. Then I see a boy, probably six or seven playing on a swing set. I chuckle in a muted manner. Bella was always too clumsy and childish herself to ever babysit a child. What in the world has gotten into her now to make her pursue a career in being a governess? A disappointed grimace crosses his face. "Go inside," I hear Bella repeat. She certainly is firm enough with the boy, because he gets down from the swing and goes inside the house through the porch door.

"Show yourself!" she shouts from a distance. Oh, damn. She must have seen me sparkle earlier. Bella picks up a branch from the ground. I chuckle yet again at her feeble attempts to seem tough enough to ward off a predator… a predator like me.

For a moment I question ever coming back. Would seeing me hurt her even more than me just staying away? I take a step back, away from the sun I was going to expose myself to. I look back to Bella, my Bella. She is scared… I have to go to her. Something inside me forces me to step into the yard. I am still underneath brush that is bulky enough to shield me from the light. I hear Bella gasp at my presence. Well, I am already in this far. I thrust my leather shoe into the harsh daylight and then the rest of my body follows suit. I unbutton my shirt and the sun hits my icy chest. I now sparkle all over, reflecting light in every which direction. I begin to slowly move toward her. She begins screaming, getting louder and louder with every step I take. She screams that there is a child here and that I can have anything I want. I laugh quite openly this time. All I have ever wanted was always her. Her screaming stops. A look of fury takes over her terror and she is running full speed toward me. I expect her to make contact with me, but she instead stops as she grows to be only two or three feet away. She drops her shabby stick to the ground and gasps. We are completely still for a moment. I smile and she returns the gesture.

"Bella," I say. Just saying her name makes me feel complete.

BPOV

I drop the stick from my hands and my jaw drops. He now stands before me, in the flesh. For the first time in ten years, I am seeing him not as a dream, hallucination or mirage, but as an actual being; a person standing before me. His face smiles and I weakly smile back. For a few blissful seconds all I can do is stare; take in every last detail of him… of Edward.

"Bella," he says with his familiar, angelic voice. My fears, ambitions and whole body melt to butter as he says my name. My knees escape me and I begin descending toward the mucky floor. I feel his cold arms envelope my body. I shiver at the shocking temperature of his skin, although I should've expected it. His face has worry written all over it. I smile and bring my palm to his cheek. He smiles a bright, blissful smile and I climb out of his arms, putting all my faith in my knees to stay strong. As I look at his face, memories once again escape from the hole that they have been hiding inside. This time, however, I am glad to see them. I remember high school, being the 'it' couple and not caring, being so deeply and irrevocably in love that we didn't care, being ultimately happy. Then new thoughts enter my head… when he… left. Pain enters my mind instead of joy. I remember him leaving me for dead in the forest, insulting everything we ever had and not even bothering to come back. I feel my smile fade to anger. He left me! Now look at me! I am letting him back in! All he is going to do is hurt me more. Leave me even more depressed than ever and I am letting him! How stupid am I? I suddenly raise my hand to connect with his cheek. He does not react physically to my slap, but his face turns to confusion. I try to run away when his hand grasps mine. I turn around abruptly.

"Edward, you left me! You left me!" I repeated, stressing the 'left' part. We stand in awkward silence for a moment. "Now you just… expect me to be all happy when you come back!" I throw my hands in the air and drop my head into them. "Edward, what do you want from me? I mean, why are you here?" Edward remains silent and my confusion grows more dominant over my situation. His face turns almost guilty and I know immediately what he came here for. "Oh, God, Edward…" His face turns even guiltier. "I did what you wanted when you left. I moved on with my life like you wanted. I…" started a family. I say in my head. He looks up expecting me to finish. "I… moved on." I decide to spare him pain just for now. "I thought that you did, too." There is silence for a moment until he speaks.

"Bella, I could never… never just move on from you…" he says. Suffering and pain is infused in his voice.

"Edward, did you really think that I wouldn't move on when you left? Did you think I would wait?" I know the words sound harsh when I see Edward recoil like a thousand little daggers are jabbing him in the heart. Edward could say nothing and I know that if he could cry, he would be. I instinctively walk over to him and wrap my arms around him as if he is one of my children. His cold skin makes contact with mine, but I do not notice. I feel at home… almost. I feel almost whole. I feel almost complete. I feel almost healed from my wounds. Why almost? Why? I pull back from Edward's body and let out a frustrated snarl.

"Bella, what's wrong?" he asks, the roles reversing.

"It's just that… that…"

"What?" he questions.

"I WILL NEVER BE MYSELF AGAIN!" I release in a scream loud enough to rustle some birds in the distant forest. Edward jumps back in shock.

"What do you mean?" Edward asks as calmly as I'm sure he can.

"When I'm Jake, I can't help giving part of me to you. When I'm with—"

"Jake?" Edward interjects. His voice is submerged in hurt.

"Yes. And when I'm with you, I can't… help… giving…" I start up again as realization hits. He… he didn't know. Suddenly Edward's hand is holding my left hand. He pulls it close to his face looking intently at my fingers. I look up confusedly, trying to pull my hand away. Suddenly, he sees something on my ring finger and his face turns to despair. He slowly drops my hand back to where it was. I once again look at my hand to see what he was looking at. My wedding ring.

"Oh, Edward… I thought you knew…" Edward's face shows ultimate sadness that immediately brings tears to my eyes.

"Who is he?" he asks suddenly. He didn't realize who Jake was when I used his name? This was going to be the hard part.

"Jacob. Jacob Black…" I respond. I look to the ground. I hear nothing from Edward for probably a minute or two.

"Isabella Marie… Black," he chokes out the last part of his murmur. My eyes fill with tears and I rush forth once again to his arms.

"Edward…" I say his name and close my eyes. I feel his arms grow tighter around my body and I return the force. We stand there until I pull away. He looks deeply into my eyes.

"You deserve to live your life," he says, pain and anguish in every cell of his being. I can see it in his golden eyes. "I'm sorry that I came back. I never should've have tormented you in such a way. I'm… I'm sorry." He turns around and begins walking in the opposite direction. He's leaving… again. Suddenly, something inside of me snaps and I find myself crying and in pain all over again.

"NO! EDWARD!" I scream, going after him. He turns around at the sound of my shouting. "You can't leave! You just can't! I know that you don't want to hurt me anymore by staying as a constant reminder in my life, but by leaving I'm feeling the same pain but it's ten times worse because you aren't with me! By leaving you make things worse! Please, please stay! You can't… you can't just… no…" I stop moving toward him and stand in place in defeat. I stand there for a moment, humiliated by everything I had said and look at the ground. I know that when I look up, he will be gone. I know that when my eyes rise toward the horizon, they will no longer meet his like they did just moments ago. I know that everything that had just happened, was only a sick, masochistic hallucination. I raise my eyes. Edward's meet mine. He has a warm smile living on his face and his golden eyes seem to sparkle like the rest of his visible skin.

"If you wanted me to stay, all you had to do was ask," he replies. He surrounds me with his arms. As I am engulfed in his arms, a thought occurs to me. While we're on the topic of my life, I should probably rip the Band-Aid off in one sudden movement.

"Oh and Edward?" I start hesitantly. He responds with an 'mmhmm'. "I, uh, I have a son. A little boy named Rhett." I feel Edward's arm loosen.

"You mean that that wasn't just a kid you were babysitting for?" he asks, confusion masking his voice. I shake my head.

"No, Edward. That's my son." I see Edward's face slowly turn to a grimace. I cannot bear to see him in pain or concern anymore, but how can I get myself out of this? "Would you… would you like to meet him?" I ask cautiously. Edward's mouth turns up at its corners. I knew that that would do the trick.

"Of course I would, Bella!" he responds happily. I smile and run for the porch. I look back to see Edward buttoning his shirt and pushing up his collar. He understands the whole not-telling-the-child-about-monsters thing, at least. I open the porch door and call Rhett's name. I hear him coming from down the hall.

"Mommy, can we go outside now?" he asks impatiently. I roll my eyes.

"Yes, but first there's someone I want you to meet." Rhett smiles and heads for the door. I follow closely behind him. Rhett swings open the door and runs for the swing set. He looks around and finally catches a glimpse of Edward standing near the forest. Rhett waves wildly and Edward returns the favor. He begins walking toward us, a striking smile on his face.

"Rhett this is Edward. He's been a family friend for years," I explain to Rhett.

"Hello, Rhett," Edward greets. "Would you like for me to give you a boost on the swing?" Edward asks, winking in my direction. We all already know the answer to such a question.

"Ooooooh, yes, yes, yes!" Rhett cries, clapping his hands triumphantly. He then darts over to the swing set followed by Edward, a glad grin in his expression. I walk over to the porch and just sit in the chair watching everything unfold in one smooth rapid motion. I watch as Edward thrusts Rhett into the air by the back of the swing. Both of them giggle and laugh uncontrollably. I giggle along with them.

"Higher, Edward! Higher!" I hear Rhett scream in happiness.

"Alright, Rhett!" Edward responds. Rhett comes shooting back toward Edward at a remarkable speed and Edward slams both his hands into the plastic, creating a guttural sound almost like a muted thunder clap. I close my eyes and shield my face from the strangely loud sound. When I open my eyes, all I see is Edward running forth from the swing set and a little boy, my little boy, lying on the ground, unmoving.

A/N: Yes, very cliffy I know, but don't worry all will be explained in the next chapter! As always thanks for reading! :)