Thank you for your patience
Chapter 14:
Six weeks later….
Edward pulled the car to a vacant parallel parking spot on North Paulina Street, directly across from what had been his childhood home. He silently stared at the cheerful façade, neatly kept yard, and well-cared for trees.
"It looks just like the house in Evermore," Bella murmured, turning to face her husband to gauge his reaction.
Edward remained silent as he took in every detail. He could hear children laughing in the back yard and the soft clink of silverware being removed from a dishwasher and placed in a drawer. The house was alive. It was a home.
For a moment, he thought he saw his mother flash by the front window, but knew she couldn't be there.
After they had told her of their engagement, her health had taken a rapid turn for the worse. Carlisle had confirmed the fact that she was suffering a relapse and should take to her bed immediately.
"If I had known you would be such a fuss budget, I would never have allowed …" Elizabeth had groused, pulling a blanket tighter around her legs. Even in her illness, she still sat proud and tall in the high-backed chair her son had carefully set her in after carrying her down the stairs.
"Fuss budget?" Edward looked abashed at the term. "I merely wanted you to rest so you will have strength to attend the ceremony Bella has planned."
Elizabeth took a deep breath and slowly released it. She knew her time was short and judging by all the whispers around her, whispers they thought she couldn't hear, it was closing in on her quickly.
"I am not an invalid, Edward Anthony."
"I never said you were, Mother."
"And I am not afraid of dying."
Edward stared at his mother for a moment, reading her face. No, she was not afraid. But deep down, he knew he was. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of losing her.
Again.
He shook his head as the idea that he had once said good bye to her before passed through his mind.
"You're right," she whispered.
"What?"
"We have said farewell before."
His eyes widened as he thought on what she said.
"Second chances are wonderful things. I have been blessed to come back and meet your bride and…" Elizabeth began to cough, cutting off her thoughts.
Edward rushed across the room to get a glass of water and pressed it into her hands, earning a smile of gratitude.
Alice bustled into the room, holding a small bouquet of flowers.
"Bella will be here in a few minutes. Emmett and Rosalie are bringing her. Esme sends her regrets. L has gone into labor and she is needed there."
The flowers were placed on the table next to the door and Alice sat down at the piano.
"It won't be as good as if you were playing, but …"
"We appreciate it, nonetheless, Alice," Edward said, straightening his tie as he waited for his bride, a sense of unease and excitement combatting each other for supremacy resting in his chest.
"The renters know we are arriving," Bella said, checking her phone messages. "They're excited to meet the owner."
"Owner's grandson," Edward softly corrected, his eyes never wavering from the front door.
"We don't have to do this."
"What?" He shook his head to clear it. "No, no. I'm fine. Just remembering some things."
"Some things?"
"Our wedding. Our third wedding," he quickly added.
"Edward, I…"
He silenced her by taking her hand and bringing it to his lips.
"I cannot thank you enough for that memory. To have Mother there when we wed."
Bella smiled wanly at her husband who returned her smile.
"It didn't go entirely as planned."
He chuckled.
"No, but then, things rarely do."
Edward stood beside the reverend, his back straight and tall. He was nervous. Anxious. He had heard the front door open and close and knew in just a few seconds his bride would walk around the corner and toward him and together they would say their vows.
Elizabeth tried her best to stifle a cough, earning a concerned look from her son. She waved it off with an impatient wave of her handkerchief.
Alice began to play softly.
And then Bella appeared and that was all Edward could think of. The smile that graced her face the second their eyes locked was more precious than all the gold in Midas' mines.
"Lovely," Elizabeth murmured, earning a silent nod from her son who stepped forward to meet his beloved.
The ceremony was short and to the point. No music other than a processional. No lengthy prayers. No homily on the sanctity of marriage and the promise of generations to come. The wedding of Bella Swan to Edward Masen was filled with simple heartfelt vows promising love and laughter and adoration spoken in hushed, sincere tones witnessed by friends and family.
Congratulations were elicited to the happy couple after they were presented, the loudest, of course, coming from Emmett who picked up Bella and swung her around in a circle, nearly knocking Elizabeth out of her chair.
Hasty apologies were made but with a wave of her hand, Elizabeth dismissed them. Her eyes filled with happy tears as she watched her only child kiss his bride.
"All worth it," she whispered.
Not long into the celebration, Elizabeth excused herself to her room, citing the need for sleep.
Edward promptly escorted her to her bedroom and kissed her on the cheek at the door.
"I will see you in the morning," he murmured, anxious to return to his bride.
Elizabeth smiled sadly and patted him on the cheek.
"I love you, dear boy. From here to the moon and back."
"I love you, too, Mother."
He thought nothing of the exchange as she silently closed the door and he rejoined the celebrations.
The next morning, Edward rolled over in his marriage bed, wrapping his arms around his beloved. Bella sighed happily and snuggled closer to her husband.
He felt different. Not ill. But not entirely well, either. There was an empty feeling gripping his heart and for a brief moment, he wondered if he was coming down with an illness.
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"I'm not entirely sure."
A soft laugh brought his attention over to a pair of warm eyes that gazed lovingly up at him.
"Something just does not feel right. I'm not sure if it is physical or mental."
Bella nodded in understanding.
"The last several weeks have been rather intense."
"But you are here with me now. Forever. Never to part."
He was rewarded by a giggle as he pulled her even closer and as she realized other parts of his body were awakening as well.
Edward pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket and lightly traced his mother's handwriting.
The morning after their wedding, he had brought his bride back to his mother's home to have breakfast with her, as was the tradition in his neighborhood but she was nowhere to be found. Her bed had remained untouched and there was no sign of Elizabeth Masen.
Atop her bed lay a scrapbook tied with a beautiful purple organza bow. Pictures from their courtship with notations written in his mother's loopy script filled the pages. A simple card explained how she had returned through the grace of the creator and the fact that L's charm intensified by her pregnancy created a bridge for her, of how she was overjoyed to share in their courtship, and how she had to return to her beloved but would ever be watching over them. And, the need for the two of them to visit Chicago.
"All these years it's been in plain sight," Bella murmured.
"If it's still there."
"Yes."
Edward unfastened his seatbelt and ran his hand through his hair, making a few pieces stand up on end. Bella reached over and gently smoothed an errant lock.
His phone beeped with an incoming text which he quickly read.
"Alice says it is there."
Bella chuckled and shook her head.
"So how are…" she began before another beep, this time on her phone. She read the message quickly.
"Ellie and Andrew are enjoying their first airplane ride just fine. They should be in Forks by nightfall."
Elizabeth Grace Lawrence and Andrew William Lawrence, the joy and trial of Liriope and Will Lawrence, had been born mere hours after Bella and Edward said their 'I do's' and once born, ended the enchantment that had brought Elizabeth Masen back to earth, or at least that was the solution everyone had finally come to after studying what had happened.
Edward unfolded himself from the driver's seat of the car and hurried around to open the door for Bella.
"You are learning," he teased as she rolled her eyes and huffed softly. "Thank you for allowing me to be a gentleman now and again."
He escorted her to the front door and a few minutes later, they found themselves in the parlor.
"Can I offer you two something to drink?"
Bella and Edward graciously declined.
"We don't mean to take too much of your time, Mrs. Blanc. I just wanted to get a box my grandfather left here."
Edward proceeded to repeat the story they had originally e-mailed Mr. and Mrs. Blanc about his grandfather that was now in an Alzheimer's care center in Washington State who had insisted a box of mementos had been left.
"Now isn't that exciting! We've lived here three years and haven't found any such thing."
Edward nodded.
"We aren't even sure it really exists, but I promised I would look."
"Well, lead the way!"
Edward headed for the kitchen, a flood of old memories washing over him. Ever since he had found the scrapbook, more and more bits and pieces of his prior life came forward. He had stood in a chair looking out that window as his mother had hung laundry over a line and he had used that same chair to get to the cookie jar that was on top of the ice box only to drop the jar, shattering it into a million pieces. For a second, he could still feel the sting of his punishment for that incident. The sensations were bitter and sweet at the same time.
"Didn't you say it was by the back door?" Mrs. Blanc said, interrupting his journey down memory lane.
"There used to be a …" Edward stopped as he saw the exact place he was looking for.
After dropping to his knees, he stuck his finger in a knothole in the wood floor and gave a sharp tug. Years of floor wax and spills gave way as a small panel pulled free.
"Well, I'll be." Mrs. Blanc took a step closer to peer into the space as Edward pulled out a wooden fruit box.
He opened the lid and gazed inside.
"My journals," he murmured.
"What?"
"Journals. My grandfather's journals." Edward pulled one out, instantly recognizing the leather bound volume.
A thin piece of cardboard stuck out from the edge and he pulled it out, revealing the last family portrait he had taken with his parents.
"Wow! You look just like your grandfather!" Mrs. Blanc exclaimed, peering over his shoulder.
"I've been told that."
"Handsome fellow!" A panicked squeal took her attention and Mrs. Blanc glanced out the window at her children playing in the back yard. "You two take your time. I need to check on the kids."
And with that, Bella and Edward were left alone with a box of pictures and his journals from another lifetime.
"I can't believe these have been here the whole time," Bella murmured, pulling out a picture of a baby Edward in a christening gown. Elizabeth sat regally in the same chair she had sat in for their wedding, cradling her infant son.
"I can't believe they are in such well-preserved condition having been in a kitchen floor for nearly a hundred years."
Edward carefully put the journal back beside its brothers and gently ran his hand over the top of the crate.
"There was an old African-American man who came door to door selling apples. One day some kids tripped him and his wares scattered everywhere. Tom and I helped pick them up and he gave us this box to thank us. I couldn't have been eight at the time."
"She gave you your memories," Bella murmured softly, linking one arm through her husband's.
"That she did." He pressed a soft kiss on to her temple before looking back at the box. "Now I have my past and my future."
"And we can all live happily ever after." Bella maintained a straight face for a few seconds before snorting in laughter at the idea.
Edward joined in the mirth.
"Not as long as we have L and Emmett to keep us entertained." Edward stood and extended a hand to help his beloved stand.
"Well, she's sworn off any more Evermores," Bella offered, taking his hand.
"Can't say as I've minded the end results of the last two, Mrs. Cullen."
Edward pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
"Can't say I've minded, either, Mr. Cullen."
"Our perfect piece of forever."
~BE~
And that is the end of Evermore…
I greatly appreciate your patience as these characters, once so loud and demanding, fell silent so many times or when real life called me away from writing.
As for the future of these characters, I leave that open ended. Perhaps they will come back to talk. Perhaps they will move on in silence.
Right now, I have signed up to do the Twilight Twenty-Five and will work on those as time permits. I also have a few original plot bunnies I need to work on.
But for now, I'm going to DisneyWorld! No…really…I am.
So as I mark this complete, I beg and plead one last time for Liriope….let me know what you think!
Hugs and besos!