Thanks to my beta's: BelleDuJour and Darcysmom for all their hard work.
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Disclaimer: All Twilight Saga related thing belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Once Upon another Escape
24
Overall we had a nice day at the beach. Masen was having fun with my family doting on him, and we all got along nicely.
The boys had a beer chugging contest, and I think I even saw Esme crack a smile. The sun was finally going down and everyone had changed into warmer clothes. I walked over to a lonely Esme and sat next to her. I handed her one of my grandmother's famous lemon bars.
She thanked me, but the silence was weighing heavy on us. "I'm sorry."
"What?" I asked turning my head toward her.
She took a deep breath and stared into my eyes. "I'm sorry," she repeated and took another deep breath.
"Bella, there is something I need to tell you. Something that even Edward doesn't know." She paused. "You know you and I are more similar than you think." She laughed without any humor.
"What do you mean?"
"My father and your father are like two peas in a pod. The only difference was that my father was murdered before I married Carlisle. I never told Edward that his grandfather was a horrible man." She sighed.
"Bella, when I look at you. I see someone who is so much stronger than I was. If I ever talked to my father the way you did I would have been six feet under. Don't get me wrong—I would have loved to tell him "fuck off."
It was a little strange hearing Esme talk like that, since she was always so prim and proper.
"But I was so scared of him and what he was capable of. It was such a relief when I found out he was dead. That might come across as something horrible to say, but he beat my mother and me constantly, when the cops were on his tail for the money he was laundering."
"I also have a half-brother who has contacted me a couple of times asking for money. He followed the same path as my father and got in with the wrong guys. His body was found washed up on the shore."
As I listened to her, her, things started to click with me and her behavior.
"When Edward told me about you and that he wanted to marry you, I was afraid that you were after my son's money. Then I met you and you were so strong and welcoming, everything that Edward had said you were and I didn't want to believe it. I felt like I was back to being fifteen years-old, except I wasn't as strong as you. Not to mention the fact that my son was going to be married to you. I resented you for being everything I was not. And I can see how clearly wrong I was."
She grasped my hand and squeezed it tightly.
"I'm so sorry for the way I have treated you, Edward, your family, and Masen. I would love to get to know Masen better, if you allow me to." She quickly wiped away her tears.
"I forgive you." I paused. "Thank you, for telling me your story."
She nodded her head and smiled. I quickly pulled her into a bone-crushing hug before pulling her along with me to the rest of my family as we enjoyed the last night of the vacation together.
This is the last chapter. I will post the Epilogue in a few minutes.