Epilogue: Hold You Up

Bella's POV

5 Years Later

I stopped in front of the door that had been closed for the last ten years. Taking a deep breath, I extended my hand and turned the doorknob, slowly pushing the door opened. Once it finally opened, I froze up. I hadn't been in here since Emmett's death and everything was the same. The only time I went in here was to move my clothes to my new room...but even that was right after his death.

I slowly walked inside, and picked up a picture frame with a photo of Emmett and I on his twenty-ninth birthday...weeks before he was killed. I gently ran my hand over the glass, trying so hard to remember him. I closed my eyes, savoring the memory of that night.

It had been ten years today and I...was a complete mess.

"Mom?" I heard Aiden ask. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh," I sighed, putting the frame down and wiping my eyes. "Nothing."

"But," He began to argue before I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. "You never..."

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" I asked, changing the subject. "You up for pork chops?"

"Sure." He whispered. "But, mom..."

"It's nothing, Aiden." I spat, and he dropped the subject. "What do you have for homework tonight?"

"Not much." He told me, sitting down on one of the stools. "I had a bunch of tests today."

"And how'd those go?" I asked as I began to season the meat. "Good I hope."

"For the most part."

"How was math?" I asked. He'd gotten my skill in math...and it wasn't much. But, he still did pretty well and was in Algebra 2 as a freshman.

"There were a few problems I wasn't sure of." He shrugged, taking a bite of a carrot. "But, other than that I think I did pretty well."

"Good." I smiled and I went back to preparing dinner and he began the homework he did have. Olivia and Adam arrived home just as the meat was being pulled out of the over, and the potato's were being mashed by Aiden. "Hey."

"Hey." He smiled, leaning in a kissing me gently. Adam and I married a year and a half ago and I couldn't have been happier. He was exactly what I needed in my life. He understood the pain of being a single parent for so long. We completed each other well. We also made a great team in parenting, and since I'd adopted Olivia and he adopted Aiden, it was a perfect little family.

"What's for dinner?" Olivia asked as he stole some of Aiden's carrots. "I'm starved."

"Pork and potato's." I answered. "How was practice?"

"It was good." Adam answered. Olivia was the goalie on the JV soccer team at school, and since it was such a small community, Adam was her coach. I was afraid it would become a problem with her father as the coach, but she only benefitted from it. They'd been on a winning streak since the beginning of the season, and only lost one game.

"Olivia is on her way to varsity next year." He told me as I dished the pork onto plates for everyone. "She's was stopping balls left and right."

"Really?" Aiden asked. "Because, she loves them balls." He smirked, and I saw her turn beat red. Aiden and Olivia were close, but since they'd been around each other for five years, they were like any other brother and sister. They screamed and yelled at each other, did things to sabatage one another, but in the end always loved each other.

"Aiden!" Olivia cried as she ran upstairs. I knew what he was referring to. I was the one she came to when she wanted to start birth control. We told Adam the basic reason...to regulate her period and that's what she told me too, but I was also a sixteen year old girl once and I knew why she really wanted it. Adam on the other hand...was a guy and once the word 'period' was said, let her get it.

"What do you mean...loves them balls?" Adam asked Aiden as I turned to go upstairs. I knocked on her door and I could barely hear her say come in. I opened the door and she was sitting on the edge of the bed, tightly grabbing her pillow.

"Hey," I whispered going and sitting down next to her.

"Carter and I haven't gone all the way." She explained. "Not yet anyway. I just wanted the birth control to be...safe...for if we decided to...go all the way."

"Olivia, I get it." I told her. "I was sixteen once."

"Yeah, but Aiden is having sex!" She told me, and she clasped her hand over her mouth. I could feel my face heating up with anger and I saw the shame on Olivia's face for telling me that. "No, he isn't. He's a virgin...and so is Melody."

"Olivia...tell me the truth." I ordered. "Are Aiden and Melody having...sex?"

"Yeah." She whispered and I stood and walked into Aiden's room...finding the box of condoms in the most obvious place...his underwear drawer. I picked them up and ran downstairs, flailing the box in his face.

"What do you need these for, Aiden?" I asked, as I saw his face widen. "Huh?"

"You ratted me out?" He asked, looking at Olivia who's face was turning red. "You bitch!"

"Aiden Samuel!" I yelled. "Are you and Melody having sex?"

"YES!" He admitted. "We're having sex. And have been for a while. But, Olivia's giving Carter head in the back of your car, Adam! Did she tell you that, Mom?"

"You're doing what in my car?" Adam screamed, and Olivia's face turned even redder. "Olivia Faye!"

"Well Aiden and Melody had sex in your bed!" Olivia yelled, and I saw Aiden's face grow even angrier.

"What?" I shouted, this was just too much. "Oh, Aiden. You are in gonna get it."

"You wanna know why the soccer coach actually left?" Aiden asked and I could see Olivia's attention jerk towards Aiden. "You know...the twenty-three year old one?"

"Aiden don't you dare!" She scolded, but Adam only shushed her.

"She was having sex with him!" He explained. "In the locker room...after every practice. He got caught and chose to resign to save Olivia's ass."

"Aiden!" Olivia cried as she ran upstairs. I went over the time frame in my head. She'd only recently asked for the birth control when she got serious about Carter. And the old soccer coach resigned last spring...when she was only fifteen year old.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Adam shouted after both of them were in their rooms. "I'm calling the cops on him."

"Adam, please." I begged. "Let's just deal with this now. Please don't get the cops involved."

"That's rape, Bella!" He informed me. "That punk fucking raped my daughter!"

"Technically..."

"Legally." He sighed, but I knew he wasn't really going to call the cops and hung up the phone and sat down at the table. I walked over to him and began rubbing his shoulders, and he moaned in appreciation. "And I thought we had the good kids."

"We do." I assured him. "We just have very...sexually active kids apparently." I tried to joke, but he wasn't having any of it.

"Bella, this isn't funny." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I mean...the fucking soccer coach?"

"Our bed?" I asked, pointing out Olivia wasn't the only one at fault here. "Look, this is bad. I know that. But Olivia isn't pregnant or have any STD's and Melody isn't pregnant either. We kinda have to count our blessings."

"But...how?" He asked. "I just found out my daughter lost her virginity...to a guy seven years older...a guy she didn't even love. At least with Melody and Aiden we know they love each other."

"That doesn't make it any better." I whispered. "They're both still kids and unless they're lucky, they aren't getting married." We sat in silence for a while. We'd both just learned things about our kids that no parent ever wants to know. They aren't little kids anymore. They're growing up...and are having sex. "How do you wanna handle this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean family meeting. Blood to blood. Man to man and woman to woman?"

"Let's do man to man and woman to woman." He sighed, standing up. "I think it'll be a little easier that way." I took a deep breath as we seperated and he went towards Aiden's room and I walked down the hall to Olivia's. I knocked on the door and didn't even get an answer this time. I opened the door and walked inside, and sat down in the chair she had in her room.

"Okay." I sighed. "Talk."

"About what?" She asked. "I'm not a virgin. I lost it to the coach. I'm a whore."

"You aren't a whore, Olivia." I told her. "You made a really bad choice, but you aren't a whore."

"Really?" She asked. "Because I only asked for the birth control cause I thought he got me pregnant."

"What?"

"Yeah, he was already gone by the time I took the test...it was negative...but he'd already left." She cried. "That's why I wanted birth control...we only used condoms."

"Oh, Liv." I sighed, walking over to sit next to her. "What were you thinking? Your father wants to call the cops on him...and for good reasons too."

"It'd be pointless." She sighed. "No one knows where he is. I haven't heard form him since he left." She said, her head looking down at the ground. It was at that moment that I knew Adam had been wrong. Weather she was fifteen or not, she fell in love with this guy and he'd just left.

"You loved him, didn't you?"

"Yeah." She whispered. "But, it didn't matter. Because he didn't love me and was only using me."

"Olivia." I sighed, bringing her into a tight hug. No matter how angry I was at her for doing what she did, I was also hurting for her. She'd given this guy everything, and then he left her.

"He didn't even say goodbye." She cried. "No call. No note...nothing but an empty office."

"Oh, baby." I whispered, stroking her hair out of her face. "You deserve so much more."

Two months had passed since the blow up in the kitchen. After talking to them, we grounded them and tonight was the first Friday in two months they'd be free to do anything. Being the snitch I was, I warned Jasper and Alice about Melody's sexual activities with Aiden and they grounded her as well...just not for two weeks.

"What are you and Melody doing tonight?" I asked at breakfast that morning. Although they couldn't go out, we didn't deprive them of any outside contact and they still had their phones.

"Not having sex in the back of your car again." He laughed. "That's for sure."

"Good." I smiled at him. Although I was disappointed in both of them, Aiden could still make me laugh about it. We all rushed to finish up breakfast and sent Olivia and Aiden off to school and Adam and I got into our car to head the other direction.

It was a long day. Most of the kids were restless and I didn't get much sleep the night before. I was thankful when recess came and Adam and I were able to eat in his room before the bell dinged. After what seemed like hours, the final bell of the day dinged and Adam and I were finally free for the weekend.

"Let's have a date night." He whispered, wrapping his hands around my waist from behind. "We haven't had one of those in months."

"It's true." I agreed, since we hadn't gone out for two months so we could keep an eye on the kids. We trusted them...but not that much anymore.

"Let me take you out." He whispered, kissing the back of my neck. "Get all dressed up. Let me take you to our restaurant."

"Sounds good." I told him, unwrapping myself from his grasp and moving to my desk to grab my things.

"Mom." I heard Aiden say from the door and looked up to see his cheeky smile. "Hi, Adam."

"What's up, kid?" I asked.

"Can Melody and I use your car tonight?" He asked. "Alice's is in the shop and Jasper needs his tonight."

"What do you two need a car for?" I asked. "Everywhere is within walking distance...you two wanna go to Port Angeles?"

"Nope. Seattle." He told me and I stopped breathing. "There's this battle of the bands thing there and a band from our schools gonna be in it. The whole school is going."

"No." I told him sternly. "You aren't going to Seattle and neither are Melody and Olivia."

"What?" He asked, and I saw Adam cross his arms and sit on one of the desks. "Why not?"

"Because, I don't want you going there."

"Why not?"

"Because!" I nearly shouted.

"Because is not an answer, mom."

"It's not safe there and I don't want either of you going there."

"What will you do if I decided to go to Seattle for school?" He asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "Will you tell me I can't go to the school of your choice?"

"I don't know, Aiden. Maybe."

"You can't protect me from everything!" He spat at me. "If something is going to happen to me...it'll happen to me!"

"Aiden." Adam warned, but Aiden ignored him.

"Just because you couldn't save dad or Emmett doesn't mean you need to keep me in a little bubble!" He shouted, making my stomach clench. "You can't protect me from everything!"

"Aiden, stop it." Adam told him.

"No!" He shouted. "She's always trying to protect me because she couldn't save them! It's not fair."

"Your mother has good intentions."

"I don't fucking care!" He shouted as he moved out of the room. "Have a nice fucking night!"

"Hey!" Adam called. "Watch your mouth!"

"Emmett was killed there." I cried, falling into Adam's chest. "Emmett was murdered there...I can't...he can't..."

"Shhhh. Bella." Adam tried soothing. "It's okay. You don't need to explain anything to me." He whispered and squeezed me tightly. "But, it may be time to explain everything...to him."

"How?" I asked. When I explained how Emmett died, I lied to him and told me it was an accident. It technically was...but I never really told him exactly what happened. "It's been...ten years."

"And he deserves to know the truth." He reminded me and I knew he was right. We drove home in silence and came home to an empty house. It was expected I just prayed Aiden had listened to me and wasn't going Seattle. It was nearly midnight when I heard the front door open and close. I sat up and Adam kissed the top of my head before going upstairs. I turned to see Aiden looking at me, his eyes red and his face puffy.

"Jasper told me what really happened, mom." He told me, coming to sit down next to me. "That night...when Emmett died."

"Oh," Was all I could say.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" He asked. "I could've handled it."

"I didn't think so." I sighed. "You were so little and I just told you about what happened to your father. I...I was scarred, Aiden."

"Okay, so you didn't tell me when it happened." He said. "But, why wait...ten years?"

"I...thought it would make it worse with more time that passed." I admitted. "I'm so sorry, Aiden. I should have told you from the beginning."

"Maybe." He shrugged. "But, it's okay, mom. I understand. You were trying to protect me...I should've realized that this afternoon...not yelled at you."

"But, you wouldn't have if I had told you the real reason I didn't want you going to Seattle."

"Maybe." He shrugged again. "Mom?"

"Yeah, bud?"

"Were dad and Emmett...really brothers?"

"Half-brothers."

"So...Emmett was like...my uncle?" He asked and I only nodded. "I knew there was a reason we were so alike."

"Yeah, bud." I smiled, bringing him into a hug. "You were his nephew...and he loved you so much."

The next day was nice and peaceful. Aiden and I were getting along better than we had in months. Olivia and Adam were practicing in the backyard again. And Alice and Jasper were coming over for dinner later that night.

"I'm gonna run to the store to get things for tonight." I told Aiden. "You need anything?"

"Condoms." He told me, and there was no smile to tell me he was joking.

"Aiden Samuel." I scolded, but he burst into laughed seconds later. "You gotta stop joking about that."

"Oh...I wasn't joking." He informed me. "But, I'll get them on the way home from school tomorrow." He winked at me as I rolled my eyes.

"As long as you two are being safe." I mumbled as I closed the door behind me. I was quick at the store, only needing a few things. But, I didn't make the turn onto our street, instead I drove straight. I drove to almost the county lines and turned into the place I hadn't been in years.

I took a deep breath before turning off the car and getting out, making the familiar walk to the grassy area. I stopped in front of three stones, kneeling down and placing a single rose beside all three but. But, I stopped at the last one and just sat in front of it.

"Hey you." I whispered, running my fingers over the stone.

Emmett David McCarty

August 16 1988 - September 25 2016

It had been ten long, agonizing years without him and not a day went by where I didn't miss him. Emmett brought me back to life after Edward. He taught me how to love again and that it was okay to love again after a loss. He loved my son and gave him the best figure to look up to for the five years he was with us.

"Oh, I miss you, Emmett." I sighed as I stood up and headed to my car. It didn't take long to get back to my house, and the Whitlocks were already there when I pulled into the driveway. I walked inside and noticed Aiden was sketching on the kitchen island while the girls sat in the living room, watching something on TV.

"I would have picked those up for you." Alice told me as I put the grocery's away.

"Oh, I ran another errand to run." I told her, and thankfully she didn't question me. "What are the girls up to?"

"Watching a movie." She told me. "Why?"

"I was gonna ask if they wanted to help us." I told her as I walked into the living room.

Jamie saved my life. She taught me everything. About life, hope and the long journey ahead. I'll always miss her. But our love is like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it.

I recognized the quote from A Walk to Remember, one of mine and Alice's favorite movies from when we were in high school. I glanced over at a picture of Emmett and Aiden together, and smiled. Finally understanding what Landon meant when he said their love was like the wind.

"I miss you." I mouthed to the picture "I love you." I said, a little louder.

"You say something, Bells?" Olivia asked as they turned off the TV.

"You girls wanna help with dinner?" I asked and they all smiled as they walked into the kitchen. I looked at the picture one last time, smiled at the memories, and followed them into the kitchen.

Emmett POV

I watched as Bella looked over at a picture of Aiden and I from when Aiden was three. I saw both the happiness and sadness in her eyes as she looked at it.

"I miss you." She mouthed.

"I miss you too, baby." I said out loud, but she would never hear me again.

"I love you."

I watched as she and the girls walked into the kitchen, and reached out for her.

"I love you." I whispered. "So much."