CHAPTER NINETEEN

"I like this one the most," Kate said, looking up into her grandfather's faded green eyes. Edward's eyes crinkled in delight. His smile brought the wrinkles around his eyes.

"Me too, Katie, me too," he answered kissing the blonde child's head and staring at the picture with the daisy chain tiara and twig made crown.

"You loved her lots?" the five-year-old girl asked. The room waited for his response. His daughter and son-in-law wondering the same question.

"I loved her lots," he said again. He rested against the crisp sheets and tried to push the saddening thoughts away. Kate had asked about the photo many times, wondered about the girl with the flowers in her hair. He had kept it hidden for so long. The memories in the old dusted book were much too bittersweet to go back to. So he told her it was a story for another day.

She asked about almost every picture. She asked when she saw the flowers. Asked about the glittering crowns decorating their teenaged heads. Asked about the girl in the wedding gown that was not her grandmother. Each picture, each question, he held off for another day.

It was a memory trip he had postponed for much too long. He hadn't realized how much he had missed Bella. He hadn't forgotten about her. That was almost impossible. He would feel her sometimes as he sat on the old dock they use to camp at. See her smile when he least suspected it. Smell her skin as he faded to sleep.

He hadn't forgotten her, but he had put her away. Her looks had faded into a shadowed silhouette.

Seeing the pictures was like reliving his whole life with her. It opened doors he had shut tight. For a long time after she was gone, he wanted to do exactly what she asked him not too. He wanted to forget. He hadn't though. He had kept the promise unconsciously it seemed.

Explaining the smallest details had come effortlessly. He hadn't remembered so clearly in forever. It was almost as though watching a very old video. Everything came back, from the way her hair floated in the wind to the very words he spoke to her.

Bella had kept her promise to. She was always there. She was there when he married. She was there when he brought his daughter into the world. She was there when the years took his wife and he could feel her now, as the years prepared to take him.

"Do you ever think you'll see her again?" Kate asked her bright jade eyes asking millions of questions. He looked up. His family surrounded him and he smiled as tears spilled over his daughters cheeks. She knew the answer.

"I think I will," he told his small granddaughter. She smiled up at him.

"Will you meet her in Tiemp? Will you be her prince again?" she asked. She was astonished with the world he had created as a child. She had fallen in love with the kingdom, the people, and the magic. It was all pretend, he had told her, but her fruitful mind refused to believe it. Tiemp was real to her.

"I just might," he said and she opened the photo album back up stopping to stare at the small girl with soft brunette hair and warm chocolate eyes.

"Good. I think she misses you," Kate said, closing he book once more and climbing off the bed. She left the photo album on the table next to him.

"Come on, Kate, let's go get some food," her father said and she followed along giddily. Edward turned to stare at his daughter. She smiled and took a step closer to the bed. She sat on the edge carefully.

"Why did you never tell me?" she asked, taking her father's hand and playing with his fingers.

"It was a story for another day," he joked and she sent a soft smile.

"I'd like to think that you and mama will be together," she whispered and looked down, her bronze hair falling in her face.

"I loved you mother. Very much. She found me when I didn't think I would ever see light again, but she knew about Bella. She understood I'd never love another woman like I loved Bella. She understood and for that I love your mother," Edward explained.

His daughter looked up with a smile.

"I wish I had a chance to meet her," she said. Edward smiled.

"She would have adored you. Like I do," he said and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She cried into his neck.

"I love you, Daddy," she whispered. He patted her head. This was the hardest part, he thought. Saying goodbye. It always was.

"I love you too, sweet pea," he whispered back. She pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"I'm going to go check on, Katie," she said, and stood from the bed. He watched her go and rested against the sheet, feeling very tired.

He opened the book beside his bed and stared at the picture of the two children. They were happy and in Tiemp. He wondered if that was where Bella decided to go. After all, time didn't exist in Tiemp.

Hours passed and soon Edward lost hold of the world. He was floating it seemed, drifting into the real world and back again into blissful blackness. Sometimes he picked up the words being said to him and sometimes they faded away. Sometimes he noticed the people around him and sometimes he was absolutely sure he was alone.

For a brief moment he wondered if that was what dying felt like. Such peace.

He fell asleep then. The exhaustion came quick and suddenly and dragged him under before he could even think. He had never fallen asleep so quickly. At least he thought he was asleep.

He seemed to travel in his sleep. He witnessed memories. He said hello to people he had said goodbye to a long time ago. He saw familiar face after familiar face, but never the one he wanted to see.

Then suddenly… he stopped moving and woke in a very vague place.