Disclaimer ~ especially in this chapter I had help from Midnight Sun (sadly not mine) and I have made particular effort to adhere to every little bump in the road of the Twilight Saga (also, unfortunately, not mine!)
Chapter Six: The New SongEsme:
No decision was announced after Edward's departure, but the meeting seemed to draw itself to a close. We all knew we had to stay; though he tried to deny it, Edward's heart was too powerfully attached to this girl.
While we tried to find the right path, Edward went through nearly two weeks more of lifelessness. He blamed himself for the predicament we now found ourselves in. He wanted to leave because of this, but he made himself stay. I know he stayed for our sakes, and I was glad of it, but he could only do so much. It was so hard to watch him like this.
Suddenly, one day, everything changed. The children left for school as per usual, but I didn't see Edward that afternoon. According to the others, he was hunting. I started to wonder when he stayed out all night, only arriving the next morning, once the others had already left.
There was a new look about him this morning. A glint in his eye I recognised from the way Carlisle looked at me. A smile crept onto my lips; he'd finally realised the feelings we had all known of. The powerful connection to Bella. The reason we were still in this town.
My son is in love.
He is finally going to feel this.
But not until something was determined about the girl's fate. Death or changing didn't offer much of a choice for him or for Carlisle. I'd change the girl myself, but I would almost certainly lose control and kill her. Not to mention, Edward would wholeheartedly object. He'd probably fight me for her. I didn't want that to happen; the family was already so terribly precarious. There had to be a way for my son to feel like this without the pain and torment he burdened himself with, but I couldn't think of one, so I let him avoid my gaze as he dressed, and spent the rest of the day in quiet hope.
Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper arrived home first, and informed me that Alice and Edward had gone to the Swans' house to return Bella's truck. Rosalie told me with a roll of her eyes that Bella had fainted in Biology and Edward had driven her home. I couldn't help smiling: it sounded like something out of a Jane Austen novel. Edward had always been such a gentleman.
A few minutes later, Alice and Edward arrived home. I was absorbed in my planning - trying to fit another cabinet into Carlisle's study for his huge collection of antiques - so I barely noticed. I was humming with happiness over the life that had returned to my son, and that everything was starting to work again. The frightening accident two weeks ago seemed to be drifting into history, and Edward was happier for it. What was not to love about today?
Suddenly, it got better: I heard a sound I was beginning to wonder I would ever hear again.
The piano.
Edward's playing again! I thought happily, as if I were shouting it from the rooftops. I was filled with such joy that I immediately abandoned the blueprints and flitted over to the stairs. The music was beautiful, second only to the song Edward had composed for Carlisle and I. I sat on the top step, resting my head on the banister, and let the notes flow through me. A new song. It's been so long. What a lovely tune…
My eyes drifted shut, enjoying the peaceful music. Suddenly, the tune cut off. Edward gave a sharp bark of amusement, and I jumped to my feet, eyes flying open. Rosalie was glaring at Edward with as much fury as I have ever seen her possess, and Edward had a hand over his mouth, stifling laughter. I was downstairs in a moment, standing between them, waiting to stop a fight. There was nothing but silence for a long, tense moment, and finally I broke it.
"Don't stop, Edward," I encouraged. A grin spread across his face, though he tried to hide it, and a very embarrassed, very angry Rosalie stalked out of the lounge.
"What's wrong, Rose?" Emmett called after her from his position at the back of an adapted version of chess that he was playing with Jasper. Rosalie didn't react: she stormed out to the garage, fuming, and hid herself under her car.
"What's that about?" Emmett asked, turning to Edward.
"I don't have the faintest idea," Edward replied, his hands hovering above the keys. I had a feeling he was lying, but since it was not serious I let it slip. Those two were always getting on each others' nerves. Besides, I was enjoying this new piece.
"Keep playing," I encouraged. He put his fingers back to the keys and continued, and I put my hands on his shoulders, lost in the song. He tried to work a bridge, but he kept going back and playing it again, changing it, fixing it.
"It's charming," I commented, not wanting him to lose heart in the beautiful piece. "Does it have a name?"
"Not yet," Edward replied.
"Is there a story to it?"
"It's…a lullaby, I suppose," was all he said. His hands continued to work the keys, and this time he found what he was looking for. The song flowed on, but he was no longer looking at the keys. He was seeing something else…Bella. I smiled.
Alice came over then, and sat beside Edward. She started singing – almost humming, really – over Edward's playing.
"I like it," he remarked, "but how about this?" His fingers effortlessly twisted her melody into the piece, and the song again evolved. Alice listened for a while, then started singing along.
"Yes, perfect," Edward confirmed. I thought I might just explode with happiness. I squeezed Edward's shoulder, glad he had decided to play again. The song was coming to an end now; it became sadder, and Alice's voice became lower and more solemn. But it was still an incredibly beautiful piece. Bella Swan, the girl who had brought life to the piece and to my son, deserved every single note.
It's going to be fine, Edward, I told him, not wanting to interrupt the silence that had fallen over the house, because now it was a peaceful silence. This is going to work out for the best. You deserve happiness, my son. Fate owes you that.
I had given up believing in God for many years of my human life – things can only get so bad before you start to believe you've been forgotten by those who are supposed to offer retribution - but I had never stopped believing in fate. I had just believed I was destined to live out the rest of my days in pain and misery. When Carlisle saved me, I realised fate had offered me a new chance. She was offering Edward a chance now, a rare chance among our kind, and I willed him to take it.
"Thanks," Edward whispered, though he sounded regretful. He didn't believe me. But he would, eventually, when he realised the true meaning of love.
Love doesn't always come in convenient packages, I reminded him, remembering all I had had to go through to meet Carlisle. He laughed dryly.
You, out of everyone on this planet, are perhaps best equipped to deal with such a difficult quandary, I encouraged. You are the best and brightest of us all.
Edward sighed, but despite all that troubled him, he was glad I was happy.
She'll have to love you back, I reminded him, smiling confidently to myself. If she's a smart girl – which, apparently, she was. But I can't imagine anyone being so slow they wouldn't see the catch you are…
"Stop it, Mom, you're making me blush," Edward teased. Alice leant over and started playing the top hand of 'Heart & Soul,' and Edward accompanied her further down the instrument. When they finished, Edward entertained us with a rendition of 'Chopsticks.' Alice giggled.
"So I wish you'd tell me what you were laughing at Rose about, but I can see that you won't," she said.
"Nope," Edward agreed. Alice flicked his ear, put out.
"Be nice, Alice," I chided her, though I was a little curious myself. "Edward is being a gentleman."
"But I want to know!" Alice whined. Edward chuckled, then returned his fingers to the keys.
"Here, Esme," he offered, caressing a familiar tune from the piano. The song he had composed for Carlisle and I. He had named it Esme's Favourite: I couldn't think of a more perfect title.
"Thank you, dear," I murmured, already reminiscing.
"Oh! Jasper, guess what?" Alice cried cheerfully, waking me out of my pleasant trance. Edward's hands froze, Esme's Favourite drifting into a silence that twisted it.
"What, Alice?" Jasper inquired.
"Peter and Charlotte are coming to visit next weekend! They're going to be in the neighbourhood, isn't that nice?"
I smiled, glad that Jasper would get to see the old friend of his, but I could feel the tension in my son's shoulders.
"What's wrong, Edward?" I inquired.
"Peter and Charlotte are coming to Forks?" he hissed at Alice. Oh.
"Calm down, Edward," Alice shrugged off her brother's concern. "It's not their first visit."
The words hung in the air as though they had been spoken; but it is the first since Bella arrived. I had smelt her on Carlisle, and even that had made me thirsty: it was not just Edward her blood appealed to. As pleasant as Jasper's friend and his mate were, they didn't exercise the restraint we did.
"They never hunt here, you know that," Alice replied, seeing the problem.
"When?" Edward demanded. Alice's reply was silent.
"No," he said, but he didn't sound like he was objecting to anything. I wondered what Alice had said. "You ready, Emmett?"
"I thought we were leaving in the morning," Emmett said.
"We're coming back by midnight Sunday. I guess it's to you when you want to leave," Edward delivered the ultimatum. Emmett, not wanting to miss out on the opening of the bear season, had to abandon his chess game.
"Okay, fine," he said. "Just let me say goodbye to Rose first."
"Sure," Edward agreed, sounding a little smug. Then, in response to Emmett's thoughts, said; "I suppose I have."
"Play that new song for me, one more time," I requested, seizing the opportunity. Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out – a bottle cap? I glanced at Alice, but she was just as confused as I was.
Shrugging it away, I let the music drift through me again.