Chapter 5: Amaranthine
am·a·ran·thine [am-uh-ran-thin, -thahyn] - unfading; everlasting.
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What is Heaven?
Heaven is defined as the abode of God, the angels, and the spirits of the righteous after death, or the place or state of existence of the blessed after the mortal life. It is usually classified as a part of the sky, an expanse of space surrounding the earth. There are many different theories on the existence of Heaven, angels; many people even question God, though there are others who are religiously devoted to Him. The idea of Heaven is different between every person on earth.
For Edward and Bella, however, they knew exactly how to describe Heaven.
If Bella was curled up against Edwards chest, with his strong arms tightly wrapped around her tiny frame, not allowing any part of her to be more than an inch away from his tall, lean body, and they were looking into each other's eyes, their breathing in perfect sync, and electricity tingling through their bodies every time they shifted, then they were Heaven. And they loved this Heaven.
When the two had awoken, they didn't have it in themselves to get up to go to school. They wanted to spend as long as much time as they could, given the circumstances, alone together – with no prying eyes of the curious people of Forks, who were no doubt still pondering over this new development. It would most likely be a topic of gossip for months to come, as it is something completely unheard of before – and seeing how hardly anything happened in Forks, this was big news for the tiny, cloud-covered town.
Bella had yawned and rubbed her eyes with her fists, slowly blinking her eyes open. Edward had been up, just watching her for a while, waiting for her to wake up. He was glad he had managed to wake up before her – usually, he was a late sleeper – because now he was certain that he didn't ever want to miss her waking up; it was too adorable. Feeling his gaze on her, she smiled sleepily, and curled as far into his chest as she could, and sighed in happiness when he pulled her in tighter. He let her warmth seep into him, filling every part of his body. He took in several deep breaths of her scent, and focused his hearing on only her breathing. This was truly Heaven – for Edward and Bella, at least.
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The rest of the Cullens had wisely decided to ignore the newest couple for now. The children went to school, and Carlisle headed off to work at the hospital as always. Esme stayed home, tending to her garden, doing some laundry, cleaning random spots of the house that were starting to gather a bit of dust. She also spent the day avoiding the third floor, where Edward's – and now Bella's, too – room was.
She hadn't heard any noise come from up there, but she knew they were most likely awake. It was past noon now, for though Edward had never liked when his alarm woke him up, he had never slept past eleven before, unless he was sick. Esme had raised the kids to wake up at a decent hour, even if there was to be no school that day.
Esme could not remember a time when she had been happier. She had been ecstatic as Emmett and Alice both, in turn, found their mates; it was hard for her, a mother at hear, to leave them alone, but she gave them their privacy. All the years together, she had worried about her youngest, Edward, who always seemed lonely and resigned to a life alone. She saw the little bit of hope whenever they encountered a lion, and also saw it disappear as he didn't feel any of the effects of mating. Even she had been beginning to lose all hope of the idea that he would find his mate, someday.
The little lamb that was currently upstairs had brought all this happiness into the house. She had never seen Edward as content as he had been when she was at his side; and, like her husband, she, too, had noticed all of the protective measures Edward had even when faced with his own family. Esme knew, that if Edward had any say in things – and she knew he always would – little Isabella Swan would never be harmed by anything or anyone; Edward would make sure of it.
It had been hard for her to hide the worry about her son, but now she had no reason to worry. Her family was finally complete.
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"What's your favourite colour?" Edward asked Bella randomly. They had been staring into each other's eyes, basking in the contentment they received from just being in the other's presence, when he realized that he didn't really know this tiny creature. And that made him desperately want to know about her – everything about her; he wanted to know all of her hopes and desires, her likes and dislikes; he wanted to know what made her tick.
Sometime, Bella must have realized this, too, so she wasn't too confused by his seemingly arbitrary question. "Blue; midnight blue."
Edward smiled; he favoured midnight blue, too. And when he imagined her wearing clothes of that colour, he smiled wider; midnight blue would make her look delectable – well, more so than she already was. "That is my favourite colour, as well," he said, causing Bella to smile softly at him. They had found something in common, besides that they were each other's perfect soul mates.
The questions continued: favourite music, favourite hobby, questions about friends, family, favourite subjects... anything that came to either Edward's or Bella's mind was asked. But no matter how many questions they asked, they always felt as if they couldn't learn enough about the other.
They were aware when Edward's siblings returned from school; it was hard to miss Emmett's booming laugh travelling up the stairs and through the closed door. They had remained tangled up in each other all day, just getting to know each other. Edward once would have thought that this kind of thing was pathetic, but now he realized just how it felt to want to know more about his mate. Now he knew how it felt to even have a mate, and he was reluctant to even think about letting her go anywhere without him. It was only when he heard a slight moaning sound from his Bella's stomach did Edward realize that neither of them had eaten at all during the day, and he became worried that she would become sick from lack of food.
And, so the over protectiveness began.
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Esme had started dinner early, fully aware of the fact that neither of the members of the newly mated couple had managed to make it down to grab anything to eat. She fondly remembered the first days after she had met Carlisle; she also worried about the fact that Edward didn't seem to want to allow Bella to be alone. Carlisle and Esme had been able to be apart right away, though it was uncomfortable.
For now, Esme would just brush it off as an after effect of being a new couple. How wrong she was.
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It was around four when Edward lifted Bella into his arms, and carried her downstairs. Esme was just finishing up setting the table, and had been about to call for them when they turned into the dining room. She smiled as Edward moved his chair and Bella's closer together, practically placing her on his lap when he sat down.
"Good mor- err, good afternoon, rather." He said to her. With just his eyes, he apologized to his mother for not making it out of his room all day. She nodded to him; quick as that, all was forgiven. Edward had always been good at reading people; so much so, that he had been accused many times of being able to read minds. He had always denied it, but Emmett or Alice still brought it up every once in a while.
Edward had already realized how difficult it was for him to read Bella; it was like something was blocking him from understanding him more, and that frustrated him. He wished he could read her mind, and her mind alone, but also knew that the wishing was futile; he would never be granted the chance to know exactly what she was thinking, no matter how much he wanted to.
"Dinner will be in about an hour, but I've made you sandwiches to tide you over until then. Really, you two, you need to remember to eat. You can end up starving yourselves by just staying upstairs all day long." She playfully reprimanded them, smiling kindly as Bella blushed slightly. Edward smiled sheepishly, squeezing his mate's hand. Esme sat the sandwiches down in front of them; she had cut Bella's in half, and only gave her one half of it; the other, she put alongside Edward's two sandwiches. Seeing this, Bella smiled in thanks to her, happily reaching for her meal. Edward took in her childlike innocence with wonder, barely looking as her, too, reached for a sandwich. It would take some getting used to, him being awestruck by everything about her.
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Emmett came into the room then, and immediately chuckled a bit as he noticed that his new little sister was so small, that her feet were swinging as she sat in the chair. She looked at him, widening her eyes slightly, before turning her gaze down embarrassed. She bit her lip, causing Edward to look towards it and think about kissing her, though now was not the time; she needed to eat in order to remain healthy. He couldn't bare it if she fell sick just because she hadn't eaten enough.
"Well, so you two finally realized you had to eat, eh? What happened, did Bella find out that Edward wasn't as interesting as she thought he was?" He laughed afterwards, in his usual overwhelming way of filling the room with his reverberating laugh. Emmett had a little problem with being quiet. It took him years longer than what was normal for him to understand what he needed to do to whisper. He liked for everybody to know when he was in the room, though it was hard to miss his hulking frame. He was a rather overpowering being. It was no wonder that he was a bear.
"Shut up, Emmett." Edward replied, used to his brother's moronic jokes. He had grown up with him, after all, though he seemed to be able to resist the teasing better now; he knew that his new found control was because of Bella. Yet another reason for him to be thankful for her position in his life.
"Oh, come on, Edward. It was just a joke." Emmett whined, though he was surprised. It usually didn't take very much before Edward would snap and lunge at whoever was making fun of him; he had a very short temper, usually. "Besides, we all know it's true."
"I'm warning you." Edward replied, finishing off the last bite of his sandwich. He had polished all two and half down quickly, but Bella had only eaten around half of her portion. Not eating all day had made her feel a little bit sick and uncomfortable, so she was taking her time in getting it down, still slightly swinging her feet as she tried uselessly to feel the ground beneath her. She had always hated how small she was, and now even more so to see that she was the smallest in this family. Though everyone thought she fit in with the criteria needed for being a lamb, she knew that the only reason she even slightly resembled the adorable little animals was because she was one. It's not like you get to choose what Tier in Geist you will get; you just got what you got.
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Let me explain that part better. Say, if Bella hadn't come out all cute and cuddly like she is, but instead had come out to be rather self-confident and assertive, she probably would have been something like a tiger. If she had come out sneaky and exuberant, she probably would have been a monkey. Nobody gets to choose just what Animal in Spirit – Tier in Geist – they will receive, but their personalities always grow into their spirit animal. That is the way things have always been, and why people have grown used to the judging of character just from one look at either the ears or tail. It is easy to tell what each person will be like before even being properly introduced from just one simple glance.
That is one of the drawbacks of this world; the judgement of others. Many animals like to find others of their 'kind' and start covens, or tribes or whatever. Just like the real animals in the wild. Others become quite primitive, taking after their spirit animal and living alone in the woods, forgetting that they are indeed part human. That's what we are: only part human. I do not know how we became this way, whether by evolution or experiment, but we are what we are, and nothing will ever change that.
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Edward and Bella remained sitting at the table, talking quietly, as the others drifted into the living room. Esme moved about the kitchen quickly and efficiently, making sure the meal was finished just as she heard her mate's car pull up on the driveway outside. She smiled, happy at the thought that he was home now, before setting all of the food on the table.
Edward and Bella headed off quickly to wash their hands, and returned within five minutes. The others walked in after washing up, as well, and they all felt the feeling that here, with the newest addition of their family, they were complete now; and they all knew that they would do anything in their power to make sure their family only grew in numbers, not decrease. They would do anything to protect each other, especially Bella.
Unfortunately, lambs are always an easy target for predators.
AN/ I apologize for taking so long to get this out, but here it is. Another chapter will be out tomorrow; head over to my blog to see when I will be planning to make updates.