I DON'T OWN ANYTHING TWILIGHT RELATED. THAT BELONGS TO THE GREATLY LOVED STEPHANIE MEYER.
This chapter was written because I always wanted to read a chapter where you see a solid bond between Bella and the Cullens. Also Emmett is brought into the story in this chapter but it is not what you expected. I know a lot of you, the readers want to know what happened to poor Bella and I promise you will find out in the next chapter but right now all I want to show a broken family. Please read. By the way THANK YOU for your reviews. LOVE YOU ALWAYS! ENJOY!
PARENTAL COMFORTS.
CHAPTER TWO
Bella's POV.
"……… I would give up my life so that you could live you. Do you understand me?"
"Yes dad. It just hurt so much."
I woke up slightly groggy but mostly content. I snuggled closer into the stone cold embrace of my father, Carlisle. His words had pulled me from the edge letting me know I was not alone in my pain. I enjoyed this comfort until the pain surfaced once again and threaten to consume me again. To prevent myself from falling into the abyss of my pain once more, I opened my eyes only to stare into the golden brown eyes of my father. For once the pain that was etched into his God- like face made him actually look like a three hundred plus year old vampire with the compassion and understand that only his long existence provided.
"My dearest Bella," came the voice of my mother figure, Esme. I was unaware of her presence, but now, knowing she was there eased the pain, even though I knew it was only for a while. I reached out to her and she quickly responded by hugging me and placing a delicate kiss on my forehead. As she pulled back I was stunned to see how much anger that was swimming in her golden eyes, and though I knew that anger was not directed towards me in any form, I could not help but be a bit terrified at seeing the power and depth of her emotion.
"Bella, my darling, I am so sorry." Her words stunned me but she continued as if she did not see a change in my facial expression. "I, as your mother, as well as theirs," she spat but continued lovingly and compassionately as only as a mother could, "should have seen this coming but I was blindly overlooking the actions o f my children out of sheer love and now as a result of my utter foolishness Edward has hurt you once again. Oh my dear forgive me."
At the mention of his name, the pain that shot through me was deeper and more strangling that when he first left me. As the pain coursed through my system, I unwillingly let out a cry of pain and clung closer to Carlisle trying to hold myself together. As I sobbed tearfully into Carlisle's chest, ruining his shirt as I went along, Jasper came across from where he stood with Alice and placed his cold but gentle hand on my shoulder. I was then I was hit by a burst of calmness and serenity but it only helped to dull the pain to a bearable point. After my sobs quieted I noticed that Alice had curled herself into a ball and sat on the floor in the corner of the room watching me with a mixture of pain, sadness and sympathy. It truly shocked me to see their reactions but I knew that all of their eyes reflected that they were all angry about what happened
After what seemed like forever though it was just a few minutes, Carlisle shifted me in his lap so that he could see my face properly. Taking one of his hands, he gently wiped the tears from my eyes before turning to speak to Jasper.
"Jasper, son, could you please go and find Emmett and bring him home. Also if he is to inquiry as to their whereabouts, please inform him that I requested that they do not stay in the house or anywhere in the vicinity until this matter is sorted. Do whatever you have to do to bring your brother back here. Both your mother and I want all our children here now. Please go and find him."
With a swift nod of his head Jasper leapt lightly through the southern windows in Carlisle and Esme's bedroom and took of running through the green expanse below.
Alice then, uncurled herself from her position on the floor and slowly came up to me, pain etched in every line on her angel like face. Kneeling in front of Carlisle and myself, Alice took my hands gently in hers and kissed my cheek before turning to speak.
"Bella, please forgive me. I'm so sorry. I just didn't see it happening. You were so sure of your path and your choices that I guess that must have prevented me from seeing what they were up to. Oh Bella, please forgive me. I know this is going to be tough on you but just know I will be there for you. Okay? I love you Bella. Always." With those words she buried herself in my hair, clutching at me and sobbing tearlessly my neck. It crushed me to see Alice like that. Her voice was laced with so much anguish and hurt that I reached out to comfort her.
Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her back slightly to look into her eyes.
"Alice, it's okay. I don't expect you to see everything. Remember, you're my sister and that will never change. I'll love you until my death. Besides you did nothing wrong so there is nothing to forgive." My voice was hoarse from crying but I hoped the emotion that I put into my little speech was enough to convince her that I did not hold her accountable for anything.
Apparently it worked because she was able to give me a weak smile, though I notice that it did not reach her eyes, and then she ever so gracefully rose and went to sit next to Esme, resting her head on Esme's lap. Unconscious to her movements, Esme raised her hand and began to play with Alice's hair. On a regular day, Alice would immediately begin to fuss about how Esme had just ruined her hair and that she was going to have to do it all over again, but on a day like today, a day filled with so much heartbreak and pain, I guess we all just wanted our parents to comfort us. It was just nice knowing that we had the parental mantel settled around us keeping us intact when we could not do so ourselves.
"Bella." Carlisle's voice pulls me out of my thoughts. I look up at him with questioning eyes since I had not the will or want to talk at the moment. "You need to tell us what happened."
I was only able to croak one word as the pain consumed me again as the memory was brought to the forefront of my mind.
"Hurts."
"I know it hurts sweetie. But you have to tell us. You are our daughter, Bella. We want to help you. We want to protect you but we can not do that properly if we do not know what happened. Please my dear. Tell us. Let us help you." Esme's voice was so filled with compassion and love that it was almost if not saturated with the sheer depth of her feelings. I sobbed once more as I realized how much this family cared for me and how they thought of me as part of their family.
Suddenly we were all pulled from our conversation by the sound of shuffling feet. And a very heated argument.
"Emmett could you please stop being ridiculous. We know you are hurting but that is no way to deal with this."
"Let me go Jasper. Please. I cannot deal with this." That cannot be Emmett. That was not Emmett. That person sounded so broken. The pain, sorrow and hurt that came with that voice definitely did not belong to Emmett. After hearing the scuffling, Carlisle and Esme both turned expectantly towards the door. Neither Alice nor I moved to see them mostly because Carlisle's arms kept me firmly in place and Alice most likely saw what was happening. Finally their footsteps came to a rest at the doorway.
"Oh Emmett, come here my dear. What happened to you? Where were you? Why are you…………"
I was unable to hear the rest of Esme's words as her voice trailed off. What followed though forced me to cringe closer to Carlisle. Esme, at vampire speeds, was standing toe- to-toe with Emmett, her hand raised in the air and sped down to make contact with his face. With the sound that could be mistaken for thunder, Emmett's head was whipped to side from the force of Esme's slap.
With that exchange I turned to see what brought about what happened to or was done by Emmett to warrant that reaction from Esme. What I did see however made me gasp out loud in shock.
Emmett was a mess and that was putting it lightly. His clothes were torn and he was covered in dirt and filth. Emmett's head hung in shame because he clearly knew he had hurt his mother. But for what I didn't know until I noticed the ash covering his body.
I made a lot of sense now. However even though we all knew what had happened and what Emmett was trying to do neither one of us had the heart to scold him further. It truly pained all of us to see Emmett this way, there was no joy in his eyes, and we certainly knew we were not going to here his booming laughter anytime soon. The bottom line of it all was that the person standing in front of us may have looked like Emmett but truth be told our Emmett was now lost in the pain caused by them.
Esme had begun to tremble as she looked at Emmett. Carlisle reached out to Esme placing his hand gently on hers. At his touch, Esme seemed to regain control of herself. Taking a step forward, she forced Emmett to look her straight in the eye. When he finally did, she crushed him to her chest and allowed his dry sobs to shake her entire frame.
"Emmett McCarty Cullen, you are to never try to take your life again. Do you understand me?" She waited until he nodded before she continued. "We love you Emmett. We are going to help you through this. You are my son, our son and we will not let anything happen to you. We will grieve with you, stand by you, strengthen you but most importantly we will love you. Please do not take yourself away from us."
With that Esme took Emmett's hand in her and sank back down onto the bed while Emmett sat onto the floor placing his head on Esme's lap. Smiling slightly, Esme placed her hand on Emmett's cheek only to have him raise his own hand to keep Esme's firmly in place. Jasper sat on the other side of Esme and placed his head on her shoulder. The smile on Esme's face only brighten as her sons surrounded her and she gently draped her other arm around Jasper.
We all remained this way for quite some time, the only movement coming when Carlisle called to inform the hospital that he would be unable to work that night due to an emergency. After his call, he once again cradled both Alice and myself to his chest ever so often being to gently plant a kiss on your foreheads. No one said anything mainly due to the fact that there was certainly no need but was in this moment that I realized that not only due this people here surrounding me deserved an explanation but I also knew that I had the strength to tell them what resulted in our family falling apart this way.
With the new found strength that coursed through my body I shifted to sit up on Carlisle's lap. As planned my movement turned the scattered attention of four vampires on to myself. Emmett was the only one who eyes were completely blank and hollow and showed no responds to my movement.
"Bella dear, is everything alright? Are you okay?" Esme asked, concern filling her voice.
"It's fine mom. I'm fine. It's just that I'm ready to tell you what happen this morning."
"Alright Bella. We are all ears and remember that we are here for you," and with that Carlisle placed his hand onto mine offering me his strength and comfort.
With a small smile on my face, I began to recall the moment that shattered my heart.
