When You Love Someone
Chapter 8
Edward
"Their godfather? Is she insane?" Emmett is the first to speak after I've told my family all that Jennifer relayed to me. "No, this is sketch, Man. This doesn't sound like something Bella would do."
"Jacob Black is a dog!" Now it's Rosalie's turn to shout, visibly incensed. "Bella is so selfish! Those children should have been given to us, not that mongrel!"
"Those children should have been given to me," I correct her, silencing the room, "because I am their father. As it is, we were all…unavailable…and Bella did what she thought was best. It hardly matters now. The twins are nearly grown, and Jacob Black is dead."
"What?"
"Victoria killed him."
"That's so sad," Esme sympathizes. "It must have happened soon after we left, then, because you, Emmett, and Jasper tracked her down and killed her, remember? It's a shame we couldn't have stopped her sooner. And—oh! She must have been looking for Bella," Esme says with a hand to her mouth in horror. "Oh, Edward! Jacob must have taken Bella's place to save her and to save the twins. He sacrificed himself for your children!"
"Son," Carlisle stares me down to drive home Esme's point. "You owe the Black family a priceless debt. I hope you realize this."
"I do," I nod, swallowing hard, "and yet, I must go to Forks and ask them for another favor."
"Forks?"
"What?"
"You're leaving?"
"You can't go there. What about the Treaty?"
"What favor?" Surprisingly, it's only Jasper who thinks to ask this, but his question makes the room go quiet with curiosity. What favor could exist between a vampire and a pack of werewolves?
"Jennifer told me," I explain, "that the last time she saw Bella, the twins were four years old. Bella was handing over the children to her, the godmother, and not to Jacob, the godfather. Bella never explained why."
"Isn't it obvious?" Rosalie snorts. "Think, Edward. Think really hard. Jacob probably only agreed to this godfather business because he thought it would get him Bella. That's it. Otherwise, do you honestly think he wanted to play house with two vampire babies? Especially knowing they were your vampire babies? Jacob probably hated Mason and Isabella Renee, and the minute Bella made it clear she didn't want to be with him, he probably tried to kill them all."
"Rosalie!" Carlisle snaps at her, reminding her of her place. "Were you there? Did you see Jacob say this to Bella? No? Then perhaps it would be wiser to say nothing at all rather than slander a young man who died at the hands of a woman who tried to kill your niece and nephew. Wouldn't you say so?"
"Maybe that's it, Edward!" Esme sits forward on the couch with the force of her epiphany. "Maybe that's why Bella left the twins with Jennifer and not with Jacob. If Jacob was already dead by that point, then she couldn't have left them with him, and if she felt like his death was her fault, then that would be why she wouldn't account for it to Jennifer."
"No, I don't think so," I shake my head, lost in my own thoughts. "Jennifer is a witch, you see."
"A witch?" Emmett smirks and frowns at the same time, as if he wants to laugh but needs to know that there's no way I can possibly be serious. But I am. "A witch?" he repeats. "Like a Wizard of Oz witch or a Harry Potter witch? Or a Rosalie witch? What?" he says defensively when we all laugh and Rosalie pins him with an icy stare. "Rose, look, I love you and all, but have you seen yourself? You're witchy, and it's actually gotten worse since we left Bella. I think you miss her."
"I don't," Rosalie is quick to correct, and even quicker to move to the other side of the room, distancing herself from her irritating husband. "And I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"Fine, then," Carlisle allows and switches his attentions back to me. The room follows his lead. "Edward, you were saying?"
"Jennifer, the twins' godmother, is a witch in the truest and most ancient sense of the title. She has vision-dreams, she can sense the energy of others, and she's telekinetic. All in all, the perfect surrogate mother, and a small wonder Bella chose her," I have to smile here, impressed by my love even now. "Bella was with Jennifer when she gave birth. Jennifer told me so because Jennifer cast a spell to ensure Bella's delivery went…traditionally."
"Ah," Carlisle nods. "I see. And did it go traditionally?"
"In every way. Bella outlived the twins by at least four years. Wait a minute," I frown and lose my focus on my family, suddenly struck by a fact that leaves my mouth dry.
"Edward, what's the matter?" I can feel Esme's hand on my shoulder. I can feel Jasper trying to send me waves of calm—but it isn't working.
"The timeline is off," Alice says in a whisper just as it also occurs to me. "It's wrong. The chronology is wrong. It has to be."
"What do you mean Alice?" Carlisle turns to her, frantic for answers, so she begins to explain.
"Think about the time we killed Victoria. It was before Bella had the twins, which means that Jacob Black should have been dead by the time the twins were born."
"So?" Rosalie huffs, disinterested as always, but Jasper catches his wife's revelation immediately.
"But we already know that it's impossible for Jacob Black to have been dead by the time the twins were born because after their birth, Bella named him godfather. Either Jacob is not their godfather or Jacob isn't dead. Someone is lying."
"Jennifer said," I speak again now but hesitantly, still trying to figure it out myself, "that Bella baptized the twins when they were a year old. Then, for the next year, neither Jennifer nor Jacob knew where Bella was. The next time Jennifer saw Bella, the twins were four years old, right, and Bella suddenly no longer wanted to speak of Jacob whom, we've established, was not actually…dead? That means for two years, Bella could have been anywhere….but I'm guessing she was—"
"With Jacob," the room finishes the sentence for me, looking sorry but not sorrier than I feel.
"They must have quarreled," Carlisle helps me reason. "Something major happened between them, Edward, and, whatever it was, it made her put the children in hiding and exile herself to whatever life she had left to live. Poor girl."
"If he truly isn't dead, then Jacob Black knows exactly what happened to Bella," I speak aloud my suspicions. "He might even hold a clue as to where she is now…if she's anywhere now. I must return to Forks. I must speak with him at any cost."