So, in all honesty I had no idea where this story was going to go when I first posted the introductory chapter. However, now I have FINALLY decided what is going to happen. Sorry for the long wait. I know this chapter is fairly short- but it is setting up the next few installments.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight, Edward, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, Esme, Carlisle, Bella and unfortunately not even Jasper : (Chapter Two: Devoted
69 Years Later
A small pixie like woman sat in front of a smooth, grey tombstone. Her pale fingers traced the letters on it in patterns. It read "Isabella Marie Swan-Anderson. Caring Daughter. Devoted Mother. An Angel on Earth". As the woman read this she wished she could cry. For once she prayed that a tear- just a single tear would slide down her cheek but of course none did. It had been almost sixty seven years since her best friend's death and the woman could not believe that it had all happened the way it did. She glanced over at the next tombstone that belonged to Charlie Swan and patted it gently. Picking up a perfectly smooth stone she put it on top of Bella's gravestone. It was her way of letting her know that she had been there. Maybe if she had stayed this wouldn't have happened. She could have prevented this had she still been in Forks. There was nothing she could do about that now.
Getting up gracefully she walked back to her car and drove away, dry sobbing the whole time. She sped down the road towards her old home. She hadn't been there since her family moved away from Forks. She got out of her car and went into the house. She could still picture Bella tripping down the stairs and Edward catching her while Emmett made fun of her and Esme scolded the boys for behaving rudely. It broke her heart that they had given up the life they had loved here- and given up Bella. It was the biggest mistake they had ever made in their existences and it was one that had torn their family apart. Rosalie and Emmett had moved away from the coven. Esme fell in and out of depression and Carlisle tried to keep himself busy with work. Jasper could barely stand to be around her half of the time because of all the emotions that she was exuding. Alice had for the first time in many years- since she had gotten out of the asylum really- felt utterly alone.
Jasper could barely stand to be in the same house as her anymore let alone touch her. She felt such a mix of guilt, hurt and unbearable sorrow that it was too much for him to go through his own emotions and hers as well. She hadn't seen him in quite some time now. He checked in with Carlisle and Esme every month and she talked to him frequently, but it wasn't the same as actually seeing the perfect contours of his chiselled face or feeling his smooth skin against hers, sending fireworks through her body.
The woman walked by a mirror and stared into it, examining her reflection. She wasn't the same Alice Cullen that had lived in Forks. She was the shell of that once bubbly, eccentric girl that had seemed like she was on a sugar high at all times. Staring at her reflection she shook her head and in one quick movement she punched the mirror, sending shards of broken glass flying everywhere.
As she went further into the house she saw something sitting on the piano. A lump, covered in dust seemed to be beckoning her forward. Blowing the dust off of the piano, it flew into the air almost creating fog around her. She looked at the tape recorder curiously and picked it up carefully. Silently hoping it would work she hit a button and waited as the grainy sound floated through the silent room. With every heartbreaking word, every gut-wrenching key stroke Alice choked back a sob. As she listened to Bella saying that she had been the best sister in the world she felt as if she were burning. The tape ending and the room was silent once again. In her head, Alice debated whether to try and get this to Edward somehow. Would it be cruel to send him this tape? Alice had no doubt that he knew exactly how much pain he had inflicted and being as masochistic as he always was- he was probably punishing himself in so many ways. Carlisle and Esme had made him promise to not go to Volterra as he had almost done on several occasions.
Alice tucked away the tape recorder, not sure if she would ever give it to Edward. She would talk to Jasper about it later. Thinking of Jasper she knew that it was time to try and make things right between them again. One pair of broken hearts was more than enough. Bella wouldn't have wanted the family to fall apart as it had. Alice knew deep down that it was time to intervene. No one would ever get any better if they were all alone. They would be stuck living a monotonous existence filled with pain. Resolving to call a family meeting and try and work some things out Alice left the old house and headed to the airport. She missed Jasper and she would be damned if she let the love of her life slip away.
As Alice got in her car and drove to the airport she couldn't help but question the one thing that had struck her at the graveyard. Bella's tombstone had been engraved with "devoted mother". Maybe Bella had moved on just as Edward had intended. If Bella could move on then so could her family. Alice found new conviction in the realization that Bella had had a child. Speeding down the highway, for once she couldn't wait to get home.
