Chapter 17
Untitled
Bella P.O.V.
I tried. I really did. I remember throwing the baby at Edward while it was still in the sac. I knew it was suffocating but Edward had to deal with her. I needed to be with my brother. I remember hearing her heartbeat fade. Not a good sign. I had placed a hand on Emmett to get him to stop pumping more venom in her system because it was useless. He had shook me off and held her in his arms. I went to the living room where Edward was dressing a baby. I noticed the blonde ringlets of hair first. The baby turned around to look at me. I took note that it was a girl. I was still referring to the baby as it because she was a spitting image and reminder and the reason why Rosalie was dead. Emmett probably wanted nothing to do with the baby. I got over my personal vendetta against the baby and I went to sit next to Edward. His face was a composed mask and a fake smile plastered his face. I took the baby in my arms so it wouldn't pain him too much. Rosalie after all was his sister and she was dead because of me and my family.
"Hi there Lillian," I cooed with false cheer. I noticed how big she was. Quite bigger than your average baby. The venom must be speeding up her aging I figured. She reached a hand out to touch my face.
A word whispered through my head with such clarity. It was a soft, ringing sound. One word was whispered and it brought me to sobs. Momma? Edward heard her, too. He doubled over and fell to the floor with his head in his hands. I saw him shake with quiet sobs and I broke into loud ones. Lillian looked back and forth between us with a confused expression. Momma? She asked again, pointing at me with the hand not touching my cheek.
"No Lillian, I'm not your Momma," I told her in between gasps. I heard Emmett start to yell.
"NO! NOT ROSALIE! TAKE ME!" Edward's tearless cries got louder with each of Emmett's words; as did mine. Lillian was still baffled at us. Emmett started again, "DON'T LEAVE ME ROSALIE! DO NOT GIVE UP! REMEMBER IT WAS ALL SUPPOSED TO WORK OUT, PLEASE!" I stood and lay Lillian on the couch. I walked slowly to the dining room. Emmett was sitting on the table with Rosalie in his arms. Her body was limp and loss of all life. Emmett's face was tilted up towards the ceiling as if praying to an imaginary god. "I JUST FOUND YOU! THE REASON TO MY EXSISTENCE! YOU WILL NOT LEAVE ME ROSALIE!" He said this facing Rosalie. I went and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder even though I understood he needed to be alone with her right now. "GET AWAY!" he yelled at me. I knew he didn't mean it. He just needed time alone with Rose. I gave him his space.
"Edward, why don't we take Lillian for a little walk? It is such a nice day out," luckily my voice did not betray the real voice inside me. The one that was screaming out in agony and pain. The one that was distraught and dry. The one that was cold and harsh.
"I think that would be great," Edward's false enthusiasm did not get past me. I placed a strained smile on my face and picked the confused Lillian up.
"Come on Lily," I cooed and tickled her belly. She squirmed and giggled. Her blue eyes reminded me of Rosalie's and Emmett's before he was turned. The little dimples on her cheeks were definitely from her Daddy. The little blush present on her cheeks distinguished that she was half human. I heard the flutter of a fast, light heartbeat and I could feel a very faint pulse that ran through her veins. We stepped outside and I saw Edward's skin break out into little rainbows. I smiled a genuine smile at my very own Adonis. He returned the gesture to me. I looked down to see I was sparkly like him, but Lillian only hand a bright glow to her; one that wouldn't keep her inside on a sunny day.
Lillian placed her hand on my cheek. I saw a vision of Edward and I. She gave me a puzzled look. I deciphered that she was asking about our skin and why hers wasn't like ours.
"Vampire's skin is like a diamond," I started to explain as we made our way through the forest at a steady pace, in no hurry. "When we step out into the sunlight, the sun reflects off of our skin and shows little rainbows. Luckily you have enough human in you that you won't have to be inside all the time when it's nice out," I assured her pout. I was quite interested in her ability, but I wasn't going to press it now. It didn't surprise me that her ability would be something as unique as she is.
Her thoughts showed another image, it was dark and wet. I heard several voices in the thought and I noticed the voices of Rosalie and Emmett. My dead heart quenched at hearing Rosalie's care free laugh and I heard Edward's pause as he ran. I turned to see his face was in a composed mask. I wondered if it would stay like that. I guessed she was asking where the woman was from her memory.
"That would be your mommy sweetheart," I didn't know if I should tell her the truth or not. I decided to skip the question and just describe Rosalie to Lillian. "Lily, your mother was a great woman. Her name was Rosalie. I'm glad to say that I knew her and was able to be close to her. Edward," I gestured to him and she turned her gaze to him, "is her brother." I saw his eyes darken, but his face didn't break composure. "Anyway, your mother was beautiful. My brother, your father, fell in love with her when she and her family moved here. That is how you came, and I am glad you did," I tried to hide the grimace that shook my body when I finished. I was glad that she was in my arms and alive and well. But I couldn't help shake the fact of how much she looked like Rosalie. I couldn't help get past the bright blonde of her hair. The crystal blue eyes that you could swim in. I noticed her legs were long and as she grew, she would grow into them. Lillian was a strikingly beautiful baby. She was very bright and smart for just being an hour old, probably as smart as a 6 month year old or even older than that.
Her thoughts flickered through my mind once again. This time it replayed my grimace and a look of pain cross my features. She was asking what was wrong.
"I'm just going to miss your mother that is all." I felt that my shield was down and I didn't even notice it. I extended it to Edward and around Lillian.
Edward, we should head back. I'm sure Emmett is worried sick about Lillian. He nodded his head grimly and made a wide turn to go back to the house. I followed in suit and we ran besides each other in complete silence. It wasn't awkward, but saddening. I felt like a part of Edward was missing. I wanted to restore that missing piece. I wanted Edward to be whole again.
We reached the house. I walked around to the front of the house so we didn't have to cross the dining room. I had seen where I had flown through the back door and glass scattered the floor as we passed. I didn't look any further as images shot across my mind of what I had seen when I entered the room. Edward grimaced as I fought to keep them at bay. I finally put them away as we reached the front door and I placed Lillian on the couch. I motioned Edward to stay with his niece as I made my way for the dining room. I prepared myself for the scene but was shocked into silence when I had entered.
Emmett had a broom in his hand and was sweeping up the glass jards from my entrance. The dining table was missing, as was the chairs and other things that might have her blood stained on it. The floors were spotless and the smell of bleach burned my nose. I scrunched my nose up and stopped breathing. Emmett didn't even flinch when I had entered, he just continued on cleaning. I went over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. This time he didn't shake it off or flinch, he embraced it. I saw Emmett's face as he turned to me. I saw the little boy was still there on the surface and was scared. I felt my composed face break and I brought him into my arms. He melted into my touch and his sobs shook my frame. I didn't care though. He was my brother and he needed me. I knew Edward needed me because that was his sister. But Emmett had to come first this time. I took Emmett into the kitchen and made him sit on the counter. I hopped up next to him. I placed a comforting arm around his wide shoulders.
"Emmett, you know you can talk to me, right?" My voice conveyed the sincerity of my statement.
"Of course Bells. I just don't know what to do. Rosalie was my everything. I don't know where to go on from here. She was my sun. I don't understand why she was taken from me after the short amount of time I had with her. It's just not fair," his words were muffled because he had placed his head into my shoulder as he spoke. I rubbed his back soothingly and whispered comforting words.
"Well, there is something that needs you right now. Her name is Lillian Christian McCarthy and she is waiting for you in the living room with Edward. Go to her," I advised him. He nodded his head solemnly.
"Thank you Bells, I'm sure I would never be able to move on without you," he squeezed me tighter once and released me, hopping off the counter. "You do too much," he patted my knee.
"Emmett, where is she?" I asked as he turned to walk away. He froze mid-step and turned half way back towards me. His voice was flat and held no emotion to it.
"Upstairs in my room," Emmett stated coldly and stalked away. I flew upstairs. I stood outside his shut door thinking. I thought and prepared myself for the scene. I knew I had to get her cleaned and ready for the burial we would hold today most likely. Or whenever Alice and Esme got back from their shopping trip in Seattle. They had left early this morning when they found that some major baby store had a sale going on. I knew Alice was speeding her way here. She would be here soon. I wanted to get this done fast so she wouldn't have to see Rosalie like this, neither did I want Esme to. I took a deep, calming breath and turned to knob. I cracked the door and the smell of dried blood hit me like a wall. But I wasn't hit by the smell of rotting flesh like one did while around a dead person. Curious, I opened the door and stepped inside. I shut the door behind me and stepped towards the bed. There was a figure lying under a sheet on the bed. I walked closer to the blood stained sheets and pulled them back.
Rosalie's hair was sprawled around her face, matted with dried blood. Her face looked peaceful if you looked past the deathly pale look and dried blood smeared across different spots on her face. Her green shirt ripped, showing her red stained stomach that still showed the bruises of her baby that had been the death of her. Now that I was closer, I could smell it. The smell that hung in morgues or around a dead body. I kept to my task and continued surveying her body. Her sweats had been ripped and also covered in the dried blood that was everywhere on and around Rosalie. I sighed and made my way for Rosalie's half of the closet. Since becoming pregnant, she had moved in with us. That meant her dress from prom was still in there. I grabbed the designer covered hanger that covered the beautiful gown. I sat it down on a dresser. I started the bath and my way back to Rosalie's body.
I picked her up and brought her to the bathroom where I undressed her. I placed her in the tub and started to gently rub the blood from her body. I had thrown her clothes into a bag and stored it away so I could throw it out later. I scrubbed her body and washed her hair. I made sure to keep her head out of the water. I made sure I respected her body and not let her just fall around the bath. I took extra care with her and measured my movements before I acted. When she was finally clean, I brought her out of the bath and sat her back down on the bed where I dried her off. I took the underwear I had laid out and placed them on her body. I placed a robe around her body, just as if she was getting ready to go out or for school. I placed a towel around her head and took her over to the vanity we had put in Emmett's room since she moved in. I plugged the blow-dryer in and toweled dried her hair for a few minutes. I made sure to keep her up straight. I took a brush and combed her hair. It didn't hit me that I was brushing Rosalie's hair while she sat dead in the chair in front of me. I just pushed all thoughts outside my head.
I picked the blow-dryer up and turned it on low. I started to hum along to Untitled by Simple Plan. I felt the song fit my mood. "I can't make it go away," I started to sing, "No, I can't stand the pain. How could this happen to me? I made my mistakes. Got nowhere to run, and night goes on as I'm fading away. I'm sick of this life. I just want to scream. How could this happen to me?" I skipped the next few words and sang, "I wanna start this over again. So I try to hold on to a time when nothing mattered. And I can't explain what happened. And I can't erase the things that I've done." I hummed the chorus and the guitar solo. Her hair was starting to dry and I turned the blow-dryer off. I got some mouse and ran my fingers through her hair. I finished blow-drying it. Her hair was in a nice wave. I smiled and thought I did a good job. She looked beautiful.
I grabbed her favorite lipstick that was dark red and smeared it on her lips. I made it looked stained and it looked very nice against her very pale skin. I got some of her bronzer and stroked the brush across her skin so she didn't look so pale and made it look as if she had her usual natural glow to her. I picked out black eyeliner and traced her eyes with it. I put a little gold eye shadow on so it enhanced her features. I slicked some mascara on and felt my job was done. I smiled again at my third completed task. On to step four. I picked her up and laid her down on the bed again. I took her robe off carefully. I took the dress out of the bed. I slipped it over her body and zipped it up. The dress was simply breathtaking. I stood her up and held her by the shoulders so I could get a full view. (A/N Picture of dress on my profile.) The gown was a diamond white shimmer chiffon dress from Landa; some designer I don't care to pay attention to. The dress was a halter with a deep v cut neck line. The back cut low as well. (Here's how bad I am at fashion) a diamond belt like thing that came under the breast and another was a few inches below it. This one came up in an upside down v and started from the hips. From there the dress lightly flares out in the skirt. A long slit is in the front of the skirt but doesn't reveal much. I laid her back down and went to her jewelry box. I took her favorite Tiffany's necklace and placed it on her neck. I knew I wasn't good at the whole fashion thing and I had a sense it didn't match, but I didn't care. I wanted this to be Rosalie's moment with her favorite things. This dress was a prize possession of hers. So was the necklace she wore quite often. I clipped on her favorite stud earrings and placed her charm bracelet Emmett got for her birthday on her wrist that had a crystal heart on it. I took out the engagement ring Emmett was going to give Rosalie when she had the baby. I felt a stab in my chest as I slipped it on her ring finger. I knew Emmett was going to break down when he saw it there. He had come to me two weeks ago and asked if I would help pick a ring out. I, of course, obliged. We had got it had Tiffany's because that was her favorite store. It was called the Tiffany Novo. (A/N picture of ring on profile) The clerk kept giving us odd looks when we asked for it. He kept mentioning that it was around 10 grand. Emmett told him money wasn't a problem. He just nodded his head and pulled it out. I was the ring sizer since Rosalie had a pretty similar hand to mine. I tried the beautiful but simple but still elegant ring on my ring finger. One large round diamond was in the middle, while little ones covered the rest of the ring. It was simply gorgeous.
I smiled at Rosalie. She looked beautiful. I stripped the bed and put new sheets on them as Rosalie sat in a chair. I had forgotten during my time with her that she was dead. I had just pushed it aside and pretended I had to keep quiet so I didn't wake the sleeping beauty. That is what I kept repeating in my head. I think that is how I was able to finish my tasks. I placed the sheets in the bag with her clothes. I got to work on cleaning the bathroom and floor and everywhere else with blood or just a trace of it. Once I finished that task, I started to pack away everything I had dug out, so that way nothing looked disturbed and Emmett could have a few moments how he would want them in here before we did clean it all out. That is if he lets us.
I heard a car pull into the driveway and I had completely forgot the people downstairs. I picked up Rosalie into my arms and waited quietly for Alice to arrive and relieve me of my duties. I stroked Rosalie's face and played absentmindly with her hair. I never felt as close with her as I did now. I know it sounded creepy. But I felt connected to her. This was our little special moment together. For some reason, I got the sense that she was somewhere near. I don't know where it came from. But all of a sudden I felt her presence.
"Rosalie?" I called, and immediately felt stupid that I said that out loud.
I heard a rush of wind through the room even though there was no window cracked or door left ajar.
"Is that you?" I asked, not feeling like I lost my mind this time.
There was another rustle of wind. I smiled.
"I know we weren't that close why you were alive. But I thought I would let you know now that I do care about you. I hope you aren't disappointed about your appearance. You know I am not all that good at that kind of stuff," I was cut off by a nice breeze that lifted my hair. I knew, right then, that she was proud. "Emmett will miss you most. I know everyone will miss you dearly. But Emmett feels completely lost. Please, let your presence be known to him, too."
The breeze came strong my way and I knew that it was her spit fire attitude scolding me for even bothering to tell her the obvious. I laughed despite the fact her body was in my arms.
"Rosalie? I will truly miss you," I said as the breeze disappeared and the door flew open. Alice's hair was a mess and she looked entirely dishelved. For once, she didn't look perfect. Esme was close behind her and they came to my sides.
"Oh Bella, that was so kind of you dear to fix her up. She looks stunning," Esme assured me and stroked my and Rosalie's hair. I smiled thanks her way before turning to my distraught sister. I knew she was on the brink of breaking down. Her hand picked up Rosalie's left. She eyed the ring with an amused expression.
"What?" I asked her.
"Oh, just that Emmett took you instead of me to get the ring. But you did a good job," she patted my shoulder comfortingly.
"Thanks," I whispered and went back to looking at Rosalie.
"We should do this before it gets dark. Jasper and Carlisle are on their way here," Alice informed us.
"Yes, we should get everything ready. Alice, where will it be?" Esme asked.
"Backyard behind the garage. The garage was Rosalie's second home. It only seems fitting," Alice answered what I could have easily answered.
"Of course," Esme agreed with a calm smile. I saw her composure was shaky but she was holding up good. I'm sure she got it all out of her system before seeing Emmett; I felt bad for Alice. Then again, she was probably right there with her seeing her calm state now. I was worried about my brother and I felt the need to go to him; and Edward…
"Go ahead Bella. Why don't you go put something else on and we will take care of her from here?" Alice asked in a sisterly tone.
I nodded my head thankfully. I could smell the dried blood on my clothes and I really wanted a shower. I took off for my room and hopped in the shower quickly. I got out and got ready for Rosalie's funeral.
A/N okay, it's really late so I'm going to bed. Games were cancelled last night and tonight and probably Thursday night. So I will be trying to update my stories. I did this one tonight because I couldn't stop writing. A lot of fluff I know, but Bella felt she wanted a few moments with Rosalie before she left for good. Rosalie's spirit had stayed and watched as Bella took care of her. She was very thankful and decided to let Bella know she was there and she thanked her. Oh, during the blow-drying part, I was listening to Untitled and was like; this goes along great with this chapter. So I changed the chapter title to Untitled. Now you know why. It was I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith. I was going to do Emmett's P.O.V. for the last part of the chapter but I decided to let Bella have her moment. Next chapter will be the funeral. You will be surprised at who all attends. I might switch P.O.V.'s a lot next chapter to get the feelings of everyone out there. Or I might just display their thoughts through Edward… IDK yet… Um, reason I won't be able to update often this week would be that I have started the House of Night novels. Awesome series and you should read. Again, I'm rambling. Sorry, review and tell me what you think!
Lyrics game: Congrats to heathercullen, Tj09, australiantwilight95, RockerGrl1321, berrysweet15, Blue Tulips, xX9SoftballChick9Xx, Tokiie, and ExBandFAXlova for guessing 1985 by Bowling for Soup! Awesome song by the way…
This Chapter (OLD! But I still love her…) :
I'm Miss American dream
Since I was 17
Don't matter if I step on the seam
Or sneak away to the Philippians
Their still going to put pictures of my
Darey rear in the magazine