When You Love Someone

Chapter 11

Edward

Charlie Swan is glad to see Mason and Bella Renee. He welcomes them into his home as if he's been expecting them, and soon I realize that he has, indeed, been expecting them. Mason must have planned this. I'm torn between being glad my children have a calm, normal home to live in until we get this business with their mother settled, and being angry that, once again, Mason has put distance between my family and the twins. After all, enough time has not gone by since the Cullens left Forks; we can't show our faces. Our return must be a complete secret, meaning we can't be seen in public with the twins. All the more reason for me to wish the twins had chosen to live with us instead so we could have them to ourselves without needing to be careful.

"But this is best," I tell myself as I watch the three sit down for dinner.

It's best for them to be here with Charlie in the house where their mother once lived than to be caught up in the craziness of my family and I as we work on plans to interrogate the wolves. According to Alice's visions, our plans won't end very well, anyway.

I spy on the twins for hours, watching from my hiding place in the darkness of the tree boughs as Mason prepares himself and Bella Renee for their first day of school tomorrow. He packs their bags, their lunches, and puts a tattered copy of Sense and Sensibility in Bella Renee's backpack. He loves his sister. The realization of this makes me see him in an entirely different way, makes me appreciate him and feel proud of him. All these hard years, my son has looked after his sister, meeting her every need and being everything their mother and I haven't been. No wonder he hates me; I've done nothing for Bella Renee. I've done nothing for Mason.

"I will fix this," I vow to him as he texts a goodnight wish to Bella Renee.

I wait until he's securely in his bed and snoring before gathering the courage to make my next move.

Isabella Renee

Edward Cullen is tapping on the bedroom window.

It takes me a full two minutes of thinking this and staring at him before I fully grasp the situation. But once I do, I run to unhook the latch and he easily steps through.

"What?" he asks when he catches me staring.

"Nothing," I reply. "Only, you don't seem to be new at this. Do you use windows often?"

"Ah," Edward laughs half in amusement and half in shame. "I once used this window very often. Fifteen years ago, this was your mother's room."

"I knew it," I breathe and take in the space around me, every detail and especially the rocking chair I feel oddly connected to. "I knew she must have spent time here. I can feel her presence in this room. Is that weird?"

"I don't think so. Wherever your mother went, she left a mark. Who knows? Maybe she wanted you and Mason to come back here one day."

"If I can feel her spirit, do you think that means she's dead?"

"I think," Edward says slowly, carefully, "we should remain open to all of the possibilities and refuse to be discouraged no matter what. Here," he passes me a sheet of paper folded into fourths. "Those are directions to my house. You and Mason are welcome to visit anytime you like."

"Thank you."

"Your aunt Alice also wrote down our cell numbers. Call me whenever, for rides to school or for...anything. I would do anything for you and your brother. Do you believe me?"

"I believe you Daddy," I say, and watch his face soften in places I didn't even realized were tense. It looks like he's taking the first breath of his life, and then, I take mine as he hugs me closer and tighter than anyone who isn't my parent ever has. I realize that all the hugs I've ever gotten until this point have been poor excuses for this one. Now, there's just one other hug I need.

"Daddy, when are you going to look for Mom? I want to come with you."

"No," he immediately shakes his head. "Mason was right in doing this for you, bringing you to Charlie and putting you two in school. You need to go about life as normally as possible. You shouldn't be involved in this."

"I shouldn't be involved in finding my own mother?"

"You shouldn't be involved in what it will take to find your mother," he clarifies. "I promise to tell you of anything we find out. Until then, go to school, make friends, and be good."

"After school, I'm coming to your house and you will take me to...to Jacob's wolf pack," I say trying to sound firm, but my voice quivers on Jacob's name, ruining the attempt and making Edward frown. He's still angry over the way things ended in Maine.

"Get some sleep, Isabella."

"Will you stay with me? I have this memory of you singing to Mom before Mason and I were born. Will you sing to me now, Daddy?"

He smiles and it's luminous, but it isn't exactly happy, either. It makes me see for the first time the regret he's been talking about, trying to get me and Mason to understand. It makes me believe that he's sorry.

He walks away from the window and settles into the rocking chair. When he's comfortable, he holds out his arms to me.

"Come here, my Darling."

I run, not walk, and I don't use my human speed, either. I'm in Edward's arms in under a second, and he snuggles me to his chest, rocking me gently. So quietly I almost mistake it for the wind, he starts humming a soft, lilting song I've never heard before. Like magic, my eyelids get heavy. I can feel my head lolling against helplessly against his shoulder, and I can feel my lips parting. I'm slipping into sleep. I'm almost completely submerged in it when, out of nowhere, Edward stops humming and gently, almost fearfully, touches my cheek with the tips of his fingers. With my last grip on the waking world, I think I hear him say, "I love you, my daughter...my beautiful daughter."

I can feel an empty place in my heart fill up at last.