Chapter 4 – EPOV

A/N Hello everybody, or just anybody who was brave enough to continue reading this story. Give yourself a pat on the back or a chocolate or something, but pretend it's from me.

Stephanie Meyer is lucky that she has amazing dreams which she can turn into amazing stories. I am lucky to have read those stories. And you, dear reader(s), are not so lucky that I decided to twist her story around. Still, I own nothing.

I heard my family's thoughts as we drove home from the hospital. There was a mixture of confusion and excitement. They had all smelled Bella's scent outside her hospital room, and then they had seen the look of pure joy that I wore when I walked back out into the hall. I retold the story of what happened in Rachel's room, though they had heard the whole thing for themselves from right outside the door.

Alice was ecstatic and couldn't wait to see Bella again. Her visions were starting to make sense. It was like the first time we met Bella all over again, it only bothered me a little bit that Alice still saw Bella as a vampire.

Jasper was trying to be logical. He didn't understand how Bella could be back, and that was suspicious. As vampires we had learned not to question the supernatural, but seeing Bella again was a miracle that none of us could fathom. The word Jasper kept thinking was "reincarnation". He thought Rachel was some sort of reincarnation of Bella.

Rosalie had resolved to be happy for me since my mood was so uplifted. Emmett couldn't wait to see if the new Bella was as clumsy as the old one. I resented that, but didn't dwell on it because I could tell he missed Bella almost as much as Alice.

Esme had been worried. I would've thought she would be delighted that I had found Bella again, but she was concerned that I would get built up in all my happiness and then have to fall down all over again. I didn't understand. Why did she think I would fall down into a mood of despair? I wondered if Carlisle would agree with Esme when he found out.

My brothers and sisters and I got home shortly before Carlisle and Esme. I liked to drive the fastest as well as run the fastest. I backed into my space in the garage and followed at human pace as my brothers and sisters ran to the house. I looked at our three story home for the first time in the three years we've been here. It really was beautiful I noticed.

The sky was beginning to clear before sunset and the sparkle of my skin reflected back in my eyes from the huge glass windows which covered the walls of our home. It was so old fashioned and I realized it was quite a masterpiece. Esme had spared no resource in making this one of the loveliest homes we had ever had. I began to compare it to the house we had in Forks, it was quite different. This home was light yellow with a dark colored roof which rose at steep angles in different sections of the house. There was a balcony which wrapped around the first floor. It had white pillars which connected the floor and the roof. The partial octagon cutouts in the house were charming, and they made divine nooks for Jasper's library and Carlisle's office. I stared at the whicker porch swing out front and imagined Bella and I rocking in the swing together watching the sunset, enjoying a summer evening breeze.

I hoped that one day I could make that possible. If fate was giving me a second chance with Bella, I would take it. I had cursed fate for far too long to think that I deserved one, but I wasn't going to question Fate if she placed Bella into my life once again.

Soon I heard Carlisle and Esme driving down the dirt road to our house. Carlisle's thoughts were loud in my head: What can this mean? Could it really be Bella? How is this possible? So Esme had already filled him in on the situation.

Esme was also lost in thought as they parked in the spot next to mine in the garage. I was about to walk inside when I heard her beseech me, "Edward," she said out loud for Carlisle's sake as soon as she got out of his Mercedes, "We need to talk to you, why don't you wait outside and we can take a walk."

This I knew was code for "Let's talk somewhere where your brothers and sisters won't hear us." I smiled and agreed to accompany her and Carlisle on a "walk". Carlisle immediately took notice of my new mood. Oh my dear sweet Lord, it's like he's Edward again. Just look at him smile. I don't care who this girl is or where she came from, but if she's Edward's Bella to him again, then I couldn't be happier for him. The poor kid deserves happiness.

I smiled as I listened to his thoughts, they were comforting, but they were also surprising. These were the thoughts I would have expected from Esme, not from Carlisle. In fact these were exactly like the thoughts which had filled Esme's head over fifty years ago when we lived in Forks. But now Esme was worried, a bit more like Carlisle had been. There had to be something Esme wasn't telling me, I couldn't understand why she was so worried.

"Edward," she began cautiously, "You don't know for sure that this is Bella. Please son, be realistic. Bella died, and only recently have you begun to recover from that. You can't chance all of that improvement and let yourself fall in love all over again with somebody new, especially a human, they're just so fragile."

Carlisle looked shocked. Apparently he had not been expecting this reaction from his wife. What has gotten into Esme? I would have thought she would be thrilled that Edward found his Bella again. He looked at me, and I just shrugged. "Esme," he peered at her questioningly, "Don't you think Edward deserves a second chance at the love he had, the only real happiness he ever knew?"

"Well of course I want him to have a second chance, more than he could possibly know. I want him to be happy, or at least not miserable. All I'm saying is that we need to be careful, and more importantly he needs to be careful, before he allows himself to fall in love again. I just don't want him to get hurt again. Besides we don't even know if this is even the same girl? How do we know this is really Bella?"

There was something else, I could tell. Esme was focusing really hard on what she was saying, on the points she had to make. Carlisle was still curious, "Esme, you said yourself that she looked just like her, sounded just like her, even smelled exactly the same, how could it not be her?" What's wrong here? Esme should be encouraging something to help Edward get back on his feet, to regain his happiness. What's going on? Again he looked at me quizzically, but this time I answered.

"Esme," I breathed, "She remembered me."

Carlisle and Esme both became statues. "How do you know?" asked Carlisle.

"She called me Edward," I said simply, "I never told her my name."

Carlisle was smiling already. It's a miracle. Edward will have his second chance. Bella will finally become a part of our family and we'll be whole once more.

I enjoyed Carlisle's train of thought at my revelation and even Esme was smiling a little as she remembered the fleck of recognition that passed in Rachel's eye when they first met, earlier that day. Esme had loved Bella too, so of course she wanted to believe that this girl was some sort of reincarnation of Bella. So why had she been so hesitant? There had to be a reason.

"Esme, why didn't you tell me she recognized you too?" I asked.

Sheepishly she replied, "I couldn't know for sure. I could have sworn it was Bella when I first saw her so I thought maybe I had imagined that look Bella gave me." But when I found out about, the—she stopped her train of thought and glanced up at me as if just remembering that I could hear everything that passed through her head.

"Esme, what is it? What are you not telling me?" I implored.

Carlisle glanced at his wife, and realization began to take root in his consciousness. Esme met Bella's reincarnation, Rachel in the cancer ward. Rachel came from a hospital in downtown Chicago, Chicago is known for it's huge leaps and technological advances in the war against cancer. If Esme is being so hesitant, that must mean that Bella, or Rachel is—and then he looked up at me, nearly derailing his own train of thought. "Esme," he said, pain threatening to show in his voice, "What's wrong with Rachel?"

"I don't exactly know," she began, with her voice shaking slightly, "It's a rare type of brain cancer. All I know is that it's killing her, and quickly. Dr. Minor doesn't think she'll make it to her seventeenth birthday."

My whole world came crashing down on me once again. How many times can a dead heart be ripped in half and glued back together? I was sure to be the one to find out. The pain that seized me again was unbearable, and for the millionth time, I longed for sleep. I longed to wake up back in Forks, fifty three and a half years ago, before her birthday when I realized we had to leave, before I left her.

I had thought fate was giving me a second chance with Bella when I walked into that hospital room and heard the love of my life call my name, begging me not to forget her. But now I realized the truth. Fate was cruel and unbelievably sadistic. Fate waited until I was finally beginning to recover from the greatest loss of all time, and then she dangled a reminder in my face, only to whip it away from me moments after I had latched onto it. Yes fate was ruthless and merciless. I must have done something to upset her, because now she was exacting her revenge on me and there was nothing I could do to fight her because she was a thousand times faster, stronger, and more powerful than a vampire.

Carlisle and Esme both looked heartbroken as they watched me face the weight of this world. There was nothing they could do to help and they knew it. Carlisle was the one to ask the question I couldn't bear to ask myself, "Esme, when's her birthday?"

Esme looked like she wanted to smile at this question but thought better of it, "September the 13th."

I could have laughed myself. That was Bella's birthday. "Well I have a little over six months to spend as much time with her as I can then," I said stubbornly.

They both simply stared at me, shocked. I should have known that would not be any kind of deterrent for Edward. He's going to have to keep going to school though if he doesn't want to raise any suspicion, so that we can stay here with Bella. Carlisle always considered the logical side of any situation, so of course he would suggest I keep up appearances when all I want to do is be with the girl I loved, one more time.

"Alright, I'll keep going to school!" I nearly yelled, "Anything else, or may I please be excused. I have some business to attend to."

Just know we love you honey, thought Esme, No matter what happens, we love you and want you to be happy. She tried to smile, but I knew it was forced.

"Thank you, I love you both very much as well and I wouldn't dream of doing anything to destroy this family," I said calmly to ease their nerves about the torturous six months we were about to endure, "But I have to do this. I've begged for a second chance for more than fifty years. Now it's here and I don't want to waste it, even if it is limited."

"I understand," said Carlisle. And your siblings will too.

I felt oddly like Cinderella as I sprinted back to my car. I wasn't hoping for a happy ending, just a short time to spend with the Princess before I returned to my sad life. I heard Carlisle and Esme walk in the front doors of the house, and before I sped down the driveway I heard Jasper wondering why Esme and Carlisle were suddenly so depressed. I couldn't bring myself to care all that much as I left the grounds of our estate.