AN: I'm now in my last week in my current job and then I'm redundant, so I'm hoping for a new and better chapter in my life.
Thanks as always to SarcasticBimbo for being a star and beta'ing the next few chapters in double quick time. I'm glad she's feeling a little better. Also, my thanks go to MeteorOnAMoonlessNight who helped immensely to get this whole story to make sense (or as much sense as a time-travel fic can make).
My heartfelt thanks to all those who continue to follow, favorite and review; I love you all.
And finally as usual - Stephenie Meyer owns it all, I just love Edward Cullen (and Rob of course)
Irrevocable
Summary
It doesn't matter when I live my life, as long as it's with you.
Chapter 7
Edward
There was a spring in my step as I carried the tray, taking the stairs three at a time. Despite her strangeness, I was in a hurry to get back to Bella; she intrigued me, no matter how or what brought her into my life.
I strode along the upstairs hall towards the door of the guest chambers and after pushing the door open, backed inside.
"Your breakfast, my la—" my voice petered out as I was faced with a different person, dressed in the most ridiculously short skirt, I suppose you could call it. My gaze travelled up her body, which was embarrassingly uncovered. "Who are you? Where's Bella?"
"Obviously not here," was her scathing reply. "You'd better set that down over there, Edward, and then you and I need to have a talk."
Dumbfounded, I did exactly as she asked and then sank into the seat closest to the table.
"I am Mary-Alice, in case you hadn't worked that out, and I am, for all intents and purposes, your wife. Bella, I assume, is back in her own time at the moment, and you and I will have to work out what to do so that the next time this happens I stay there. I never wanted to be married to you, and I have found something that is far more preferable and I intend to keep it, if I can."
"But ... but ... this cannot be true. There is no such thing as time travel. How...?" I stuttered through a few words, unable to get my head around the shocking difference between this person and my Bella.
My Bella! Where did that come from?
"Now, before we get to our proper talk, please leave and allow me to get dressed ... and I suggest you do the same. We can reconvene in the study and I will tell you what I know."
With that, I was dismissed, and she encouraged me to stand, practically pushing me out of the door. In a daze, I did exactly as she suggested and made my way to my own rooms, where I completed my ablutions and dressed. Within thirty minutes I was making my way to the study, still unable to comprehend what I had seen.
The room was empty, leaving me to pace up and down, dragging at my hair and waiting for Mary-Alice to arrive. She calmly entered the room, ringing the bell for tea, behaving as if nothing untoward had happened. A short time passed and with a tap on the door, I opened it to admit Rose carrying a tray. Her eyes widened as she took in the view of Mary-Alice, and she glanced at me with a quizzical look on her face. When I gave her no reaction, she placed the tray on the table and left the room, still looking at me closely.
Mary-Alice poured tea for the two of us and then sat back while I continued to pace agitatedly.
"Sit down, Edward. Drink your tea and we will begin."
Despite the fact that I really could have done with a whiskey instead, I sat as she suggested. The room was silent while we drank the tea as I waited for her to begin as I certainly had absolutely no idea where to start.
Placing her teacup back on the tray, she folded her hands in her lap and began. "This may be difficult for you to believe, Edward, but Bella is not from this time." She stopped looking to see if I had anything to say. "Something has allowed us to switch places. You would have known we were not the same person had you been gentlemanly enough to wait after the marriage ceremony, and lift my veil as you should have done."
I opened my mouth to speak, but she held her hand up. This was not the person I had been led to believe was Mary-Alice Brandon and her actions caused me to close my mouth and wait to see what else she had to say.
"No matter, now; it's not important," she dismissed me before I could utter a sound. "Things have changed; I have had a taste of a life that I will not give up lightly, and I will do my utmost to make sure that it becomes permanent." She smiled, her face lighting up with a happiness which I was sure had nothing to do with me. "Oh, and I go by Alice now."
As she paused I spoke, "Mar—Alice, I apologize for my awful behavior. I did not want to marry, at all and shamefully, I took that out on you. It was not your doing and I should have been man enough to stand up to my father and refuse to go through with it. I ask for your forgiveness for that, though I am not sure what we could have done otherwise."
Her smile stayed on her face. "Thank you for that, Edward. We were in an impossible situation, but we now have a chance to change that. We need to be careful that the actions we take make this permanent. I don't want to lose what I have found, and by the look on your face when you entered my rooms, neither do you."
I huffed a small laugh. "Yes, I'm sorry, Alice, but I want Bella and I believe that I am in love with her already. What do we need to do?"
I amazed myself with my complete acceptance of the situation, as it was clear that something other had arranged for us to meet, even though my logical brain tried to dismiss it.
"Bella told me yesterday that my mother has some journals, which contain information that may help us, so I think we should explain this to Mother and see what she can do to help. Shall I call her in to join us?"
Mary-Alice nodded her acceptance and I left the room to find my mother. Unfortunately, she had already left for her morning meeting with the charity committee, so I returned to the study suggesting to Mary-Alice that we should speak to her after dinner. She agreed and left to return to her room, while I proceeded to my office, attempting to work; not that I achieved a great deal.
Seven o'clock found me outside Alice's door, knocking and asking her if she would accompany me to the dining room. No matter what I thought of our marriage, I was sorry that I had treated her badly, and felt that I had to, at least, make it up to her, in some small way.
Both my parents were at dinner, so there was no opportunity to ask my mother any questions. I had a feeling that my father would not be happy to hear the direction our intentions were taking. He was definitely not the type of man to believe in—what he would term—rubbish, so we made polite conversation over the meal, knowing that he would soon be leaving for his club, as he did most evenings.
It was almost nine o'clock before we were finished and he left the house.
Within minutes of his leaving, I approached my mother, requesting that we speak to her as soon as possible. She asked that we give her a few moments to order tea and that we meet her in the drawing room.
Once again, I found myself pacing; this whole situation was causing me to be anxious and I found I wanted Bella more than ever. Despite our fiery meetings, her presence calmed me and I missed her more than I thought possible after such a short amount of time spent together.
Alice was the picture of calm sitting at the window seat watching the setting sun and I couldn't help but envy the positivity she exuded. It was as though she knew that the future would be fine and I had to believe that it would be, despite the oddness of the situation.
My mother walked into the room, followed by Rose and the promised tea. I declined and filled my glass from the whiskey bottle in preparation for the odd conversation that was sure to follow.
"Well, Edward? What is so important that you had to speak to me now?" My mother looked at me searchingly.
All of a sudden I had no idea where to start and I was glad that Alice did not seem to have the same problem.
"Esme," she began, "What we are about to tell you will sound totally insane, but please, for a moment, suspend your disbelief. I am Mary-Alice Isabella Brandon, now Cullen, but in another life I am merely Alice Cullen. When you asked me if Edward and I had been—" she stopped for a moment "—intimate, I told the truth when I said that I hadn't."
She waited, I assume to see if Esme or I had anything to add at that point. "I understand that is the opposite of the conversation you had with Edward, and it may be hard to believe but both are true, except that the person who awaited Edward in his chambers on our wedding night was not me."
The room was silent for a moment. "How can that be, Mary-Alice? I saw you enter the rooms myself. I assisted you with your nightclothes before Edward left the study."
"Yes, that is all true, but I fell asleep waiting for Edward. When I awoke, I found myself in an extraordinary situation. Somehow in the time between you leaving me, and Edward entering the room, I switched places with someone named Bella."
"Switched places?" my mother asked in confusion. "Who's Bella and how did she come to be in your place?"
"This is where it gets confusing," Alice went on. "From what I have learned, Bella comes from a different time and something brought her back here to Edward. I have no idea why, or how that happened, although I do have some ideas. To that end, I left a message for Bella with that information, and I hope that between us we can come up with a way to make this permanent."
My mother seemed to be parroting everything Alice said. "Make it permanent?" she echoed, looking at me.
I shrugged, "I know it sounds insane, but Mary-Alice, or just Alice, as she wants to be known, is definitely not the woman I was with on my wedding night or last night. I know I am not mad, although it does feel like that at the moment and if she, Bella, is willing, I want her to stay with me. That is partly because Alice wishes it, but also, there is something between Bella and myself that I am not prepared to let go of."
Turning to Alice, I continued, "Alice, you must be aware that Bella may not want this to be permanent, despite how much I want it to be so, and that you will have to accept that. She is the one that is at the center of this; it's her decision."
"I know, Edward, and it will have to be something that the two of us will have to live with if she doesn't want it. Can we do that?"
I fell silent for a few moments; I could not force Bella to be here just because I wished it, and so, if necessary, we would have to make the best of the situation.
"Alice, I would be prepared to offer you a divorce, and pass your father's money back to you to make your life happy. Would that be acceptable to you?" This was not what I wanted, and I knew that I would never be able to tell my father the real reason. He would just have to accept my decision, although it may initially cause dissension.
Esme had been watching us this entire time and spoke, "What is it you want from me?"
Alice launched into the discussion we had already had upstairs, regarding her journals, and although Esme said that she was more than willing to show them to us, she denied that there was anything in there that would help us. She left the room, returning in a few minutes with the last of her journals, which did indeed have nothing to add to the conversation.
Alice said that there was nothing more she could do, as it would seem that everything that happened was dependent on Bella. Exasperated, I decided to retire for the night, leaving my mother and Alice to speak for a while longer.
That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep for any length of time. Reminders of Bella ran through my mind, whether I was awake or in slumber. I missed her body next to mine; not just for the amazing and passionate sex, but also for her intelligence and the vibrant spark she brought to my life. I could only pray that she would be able to work out what had happened from the letter Alice left and would agree to stay here, with me.
**Irrevocable**