Chapter 66 - The End Is the Beginning Is the End
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A few days later….
-Relieved? -E
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- Mucho -B
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- Another crisis, another wild ride, but we've beaten the odds again. -E
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-You better be knocking on wood, because you probably just jinxed us all.-B
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- I'm ready to be done with tests, hospitals and appointments for the rest of my life. -E
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- I know the feeling. I also know what high blood pressure and swollen feet feels like, so I'm not quite ready to swear off hospitals and the wonders of modern medicine just yet." -B
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- Sorry, that came out wrong. I know we have to go back, but I just don't want to think about that, right this very moment. I want to rejoice in the present. -E
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"Are you two texting each other?" Alice asked incredulously from the driver's seat. They had just pulled onto the interstate, leaving Seattle and UW Medical Center behind.
Beside her, slumped in the front passenger seat, Edward looked up from his phone long enough to grunt, "Of course not. Why would we text each other when we're riding in the same car?"
"Because you're known to be ridiculous and doridiculous things," Alice commented, with a quick glance in the rear view mirror.
In the back seat both Bella and Jasper were sitting with their phones out, completely engrossed in whatever they were reading.
Over the span of the last few hours they had amused themselves (and everyone else) by googling Vegas bachelor party ideas and Elvis themed wedding packages. Whenever one of them would stumble upon something they found particularly funny, or wild, or tacky, they would read it aloud and then they'd all sit back and wait for Alice's horrified reaction. Needless to say Alice did not disappoint. The mere idea of a quickie wedding was unthinkable to her.
The only one unamused by all this was Anthony, who had fallen asleep in his car seat the minute the car had started rolling.
"Well, who are you texting then?" Alice inquired, signaling to change lane.
"Elvis," Jasper replied instantly, not missing a beat. "Or the Graceland Wedding Chapel, more precisely."
"The pope," Edward said, with a nonchalant shrug. "…or mom, actually."
"God," Bella deadpanned. "He called me a bitch and I was like 'oh, really?!'"
Edward snorted and half-turned, looking over his shoulder. "I'm sure he meant to type 'one lucky bitch'. Give the poor guy a break. It can't be easy being all-knowing and all-seeing, all the freaking time."
Bella felt a bubble of laughter well up in her throat and it escaped, unbidden, like a sudden bursting hiccup. 'Lucky' didn't even begin to cover it. The whole reason behind their trip to Seattle had been to see a specialist and get the recommended fetal heart scan preformed.
The test itself had taken a nerve wrecking hour and a half, but thankfully the verdict had, in the end, been a positive one. Because, while the electrocardiogram had indeed confirmed the occurrence of multiple atrial ectopic beats, it had also shown that there were no signs of any underlying structural heart diseases or cardiac tumors. This meant that those few extra erratic heartbeats would, most likely, have absolutely no significance to the health of the baby, once it was born.
Add to that the fact that Bella's boss, FBI chief inspector Jenks, had taken upon himself to personally notify Edward of the results of the toxicology tests. This phone call had taken place mere hours before their trip to Seattle, so to say they had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions in the past 24 hours was no exaggeration.
It had been another bullet dodged, as the preliminary tests on Anthony's hair samples had shown no presence of any toxins. Everything came back normal, except for the child's iron and mineral levels,whichwere all low. This, however, was something that Carlisle had already warned them about, seeing as it was consistent with malnourishment and lack of vital nutrients.
With all the screwed up things, all the mistakes, all the bad luck and the occasional blind luck they had been having lately, this news felt like a big gift, like they had actually, and very unexpectedly, lucked out for once.
Just then Edward's phone buzzed again indicating a new message and Alice fixed him with a dirty look.
"You ARE texting each other!"
"Eyes on the road, Alice! Eyes on the road," Edward shot back, while unlocking his phone to read the message.
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- I really just want to go home. You know HOME home. -B
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He couldn't resist typing a quick reply.
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- You and me both. It's just a matter of getting clearance to take off -E
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They were a package deal now.
This somehow seemed to have centered Bella; the knowledge that circumstances had changed and that she was no longer alone. There had been a change in their dynamic. It was still new and fragile, this truce and this … pact to communicate they had going on. That being said though, when they left Forks, it would be together.
Edward waited for another ten milliseconds and then sent another text.
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- Keep up with your veggies and your smoothies and I'll see if I can book us on a flight leaving on Sunday. How does that sound? -E
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Bella replied with a string of excited emojis.
She knew full and well though, that it was up to the Docs to decide whether she would be deemed fit to travel or not. Carlisle had cleverly avoided answering that particular question, saying they should wait until after the fetal heart scan to even discuss it. They also had another 'regular' ultrasound in a few days to see if the baby was growing more rapidly now with all the rest, medication and healthy eating, but after that there was no holding them back. They had already started working on preparing Anthony; telling him about airplanes and how they would soon be flying in one.
Emmett, Rosalie and Elliott had bid their farewell two days ago. Emmett was needed at the gym to tackle the rush of New Year's gym-goers trying to honor their work out resolutions. Alice and Jasper were booked on a flight leaving on the upcoming Thursday. Alice was more than ready to leave the pine trees and the stillness of Forks behind and return to her hectic, big-city life and Jasper missed his beloved Rottweiler, Bentley, something terribly. Also his classes were starting up in a few days and after having spent that much time with two toddlers in the house, he was actually looking forward to going back to work again. At least his students were old enough to know how to blow their own noses and tie their own shoelaces… So yeah, he was eager to get home….
Edward's phone chimed again, but this time only to announce the arrival of some type of e-newsletter, which he had no real interest in reading. He barely glanced at the display, but it was enough to provoke Alice. "Stop texting! It's annoying," she snapped with an irritated little growl.
"Whoa, chill! Why don't you just turn on the radio, or something?" Edward responded, grinning widely at her, because there was no radio to turn on.
"You know why," she replied, referring to the fact that the volume control on the radio was not working properly.They had already argued about this. Making a nearly four hours long ride listening to ridiculously loud music, was simply not a particularly appealing option.
"Want me to sing something for you?" Edward teased. "I think I can manage to belt out a few Disney songs while I finish up with my texting."
"No, I want you to talk to me," Alice frowned in a pointy sort of way. "You haven't talked to me in like forever."
"What ever would we talk about though, Alice?" he asked, still smirking. "You don't want any part in planning my wedding and you point blank refuse to look at the listings from my realtor."
Alice's made an affronted gasp, while Jasper hissed "That's a bit harsh, man," from the backseat.
It WAS harsh, but it was also hilarious. The whole thing had turned into such a farce, one that they should have put an end to, like yesterday. She'd do it before Alice boarded that flight to go home, Bella vowed to herself. They'd probably have to make Alice the godmother to make up for the distress they were putting her through. It was either that or naming the kid after her… But frankly, the universe wasn't big enough for more than one Alice Cullen at the time, so that was a no go.
"You want to elope and get married in front of an Elvis impersonator," Alice fumed loudly, gesticulating with her free hand for emphasis. Bella had to press her hand over her moth to keep back the giggles.
"AND you're planning on moving my newest nephew and my only niece to Alaska! Alaska, Edward! ALASKA!"
"Oh, for fucks sake," Edward feigned annoyance, but couldn't quite keep a straight face. "You can't possibly know it's a girl. I've told you umpteenth times already, stop calling it a girl, you'll hurt his feelings," he scoffed, deflecting like a champ.
Alice looked like she was about respond with something equally, if not even more snarky, but was firmly interrupted by Jasper, "Honestly Al, if you bothered to look at the links they have been sending you, you'd know that most of the listings are NOT in Alaska."
"Whatever, I still want no part of it. Anything further than 5, heck 3 miles, is just too damn far of a move. Also, what's the point in having a wedding, if you aren't going to make it special?"
"Who says a trip to Vegas can't be special," Jasper frowned.
"Exactly," Bella agreed. "Not everyone wants a formal large-scale church wedding, with a big swanky reception afterwards."
"Complete with a scrumptious feast and a seven-layer wedding cake," Jasper added with a grumble, putting his phone down.
"Not this again," Alice sighed. "I've told you, with a 200 people guest list you'll need a seven layer wedding cake."
"Cut that list and that cake in half and it still would be way too much, too big, too expensive."
"But then it would only be half as special," Alice pouted at her fiancés words.
"Whose nuptials are we talking about again?" Bella cut in, exchanging an amused look with Edward in the rear-view. "You forget I've already done the 'wedding' thing before and it didn't work out. I can assure you that when, or if, I get married again, it will be a very simple registry office wedding and a nice meal afterwards."
"WHEN and IF? What do you mean when and if? I thought it was already decided?" Alice interjected abruptly, her eyes leaving the road for a brief second.
Bella choked back another wave of convulsive giggles, nearly losing it again at the confounded look on Alice face. "One thing at a time. Let's start with a roof over our heads first, alright," she suggested, trying to smooth over her slip.
"Actually, let's start by putting the past in its rightful place. I just had an idea," Edward announced, rather abruptly and then leaned forward to rummage through the backpack at his feet.
When he straightened his back again, he was holding a folder a folder in his hands. "You'll like this Alice. I've been told it makes for an interesting read."
"Edward?" Bella said his name cautiously, recognizing the thick brown, almost cardboard-like folder in his hand. "Are you sure about this?"
"I'm sure," he responded, sparing a glance at her over his shoulder. "It's time. It's been burning a hole in my brain for too long. I've made up my mind, but I need some help with this. I want one of you to read this aloud for me."
"What the heck is that?" Alice asked at the same time as Jasper said, "Is that what I think it is?"
"It's Angela Weber's journal entries," Bella explained, watching Edward turn and pass the folder to her.
"Are you sure?" she asked again, scanning his face this time, looking for some kind of indication about how he really felt. "Anthony is right here, in the car and he-…."
"…will sleep for another hour or two if we're lucky."
He was probably right there, because the boy appeared to be completely out of it, snoozing happily with his head lolled to the side and his stuffed teddy tiger tightly clutched to his chest.
"You don't have to do this, Edward," Jasper said, with a for him unusually uncertain voice. "I know I asked to read it. I want to know what to expect. I want to know if there is anything about me in there. But not like this. Not, if it means forcing you to do something you're not ready for."
"I don't think I'll ever be ready, but I'm sure….Lets do this. "
"Should I pull over?" Alice asked, her hand on the turn signal.
"No, no. Keep the car rolling," Edward replied, gripping the handle above the window. "I need the car to be moving. I think the whole being stuck in a moving vehicle with no escape, might actually work in my favor."
"Alright," Bella, unfastened her seatbelt and scooted forward to reach across the center console and squeezed his shoulder. Her stomach got in the way, but she managed it. Twice. Before she grabbed the papers from his hand and leaned back again.
"Let's get on with this. One last hurdle to get by, before we start building something new." Even though the idea was still a little ludicrous to her, it did feel right somehow, like a circle coming to a close.
"Yeah, let's do this," Edward gave a grim nod and Bella cleared her throat, flipping the folder open. And then she was reading….
'Dear diary,
No fuck that shit.
To whoever-it-might concern…
No, to Eddie,
I saw you today. Fucking finally!
All the months I've been waiting to see my plans unfold, to see things finally become a reality…. But of course you ignored me — looked straight through me like I was not important enough to notice, like I was just some random idiot.
Lie, and tell me you don't recognize these eyes. If anything it will help keep the scarring on my heart fresh and raw.
The betrayal stings like a festering disease, but the pain is real.
It's welcome.
I'm gonna make you change your mind, you'll see…
I'll stalk you until you're mine.
I'm right behind you – plotting.
In the shadows –watching.
I have a knife in my bag.
Still don't recognize me?'
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THE END
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AN: Yes really, this is the end (for now). Bet you didn't expect that, but come on with 60 + chapters, this story has been draggin on forever. I've said from the beginning that I was going to make this into a three part series. And that I had the intention of making every part as stand alone as possible. I think I failed a bit on that account with this part, though. Never meant to drag this much of their past into the story.
So what's next…. I'll be going back to fix a few timeline and plot errors (nothing major), but apart from that I'm about to take a much needed break from posting for a while. Don't know if it will be weeks or months. I have my vacation coming up in July, I expect to get a lot of writing done during that time.
Keep me on alert and you'll notice when I start posting again. The title for the continuation will be something along the line of "Lethal Conclusions". What will it contain, you ask? The birth of baby Swan of course and Edward finding out that life at home where it's just the three (soon to be four) of them is quite a bit different than he could ever have imagined. They don't call it 'terrible twos' for nothing. Then there is James that is till on the loose and also, there is something fishy about Rene…. Don't you think?
So there you have it. 20 chapters, 25 at the most. I really need to work on the outline before I start posting, because I don't think I'll survive another fic as long as this one.
Finally, a BIG thank you all for reading, commenting and following along. I suck at replying to reviews, but I am reading them! Usually very fun, spot on and useful insights. I really do appreciate all of the feedback!
How about we make a headcount?! The hits and the alerts, as lovely as they are, don't really tell you how many that have actually stuck with it to the final chapter. Everyone that's made it to the end, please post a review. You don't have to write anything, just put a smilie in it or something. Thank you!