Hi guys!

I'm sorry that I did not post the new chapter on Saturday. I had no internet since Saturday noon and it was only restored earlier.

Here now the chapter from Saturday. Have fun reading!

Verena


Chapter 103

Pasts


Edward


Friday. The afternoon after Halloween.

Bella was already coming out the front door when I arrived at the end of our driveway.

We kissed in greeting as she jumped into the passenger seat, but I immediately drove off.

For the next few hours, it would be just the two of us. Except for the night, which Bella preferred to spend sleeping, a continuous period of several hours that we had all to ourselves was almost unthinkable. We always had too much going on for that. Visits, the children, our family, parental obligations, friends. There was always something. I didn't even dare to think about a whole day with my angel.

I parked in my carport - hail and thunderstorms were forecast for later - and showed the lady of the house through the door.

As always, she stopped at the first wooden beam, leaned against it and looked around.

I leaned against the opposite side.

"What do you think?" I asked curiously.

Whenever we came here alone, she had this adorable expression on her pretty face. Tentatively smiling, her eyes shining and her gaze floating through my little house.

"I feel very comfortable here, but I'm looking for the detail, which is decisive for that," she explained to me.

Without further ado, I pointed at myself.

She chuckled.

"Yes, you contribute considerably," she meant. "But I didn't mean it that way at all. In Forks, your entire house was very modern and nicely decorated. But at the same time, it was intimidatingly perfect . I've always had jitters about making something messy and thereby destroying the perfection ... But here I feel like it's always been my home. It's perfect, but different."

"Is perhaps because I set it up. Not Esmé ... I is perhaps not quite right," I mused, holding out a hand with which I gently pulled her into my arms. "Whenever I acquired such things for myself, I always had the youthful Bella from my fantasy world there to advise me. Sometimes even with frightening stubbornness. In that respect, you helped furnish this house."

"Then what did I choose?" she asked curiously.

"The desk, for example," I said, and she walked toward it.

I told her how I had found it on the Internet.

It was a little old-fashioned. More like a secretary than a real desk. Made of dark wood and with many drawers. There had also been a plain, rather practical desk to choose from, but my imaginary Bella had already taken a seat at this noble piece and looked very satisfied.

Just as my goddess was now standing in front of it in reality.

She looked increasingly thoughtful as she tentatively stroked the wooden inlays with her fingertips.

"You really clung to that conceit, didn't you?" she asked gently.

"Yes," I admitted, sitting down across from her on the bench in front of the piano. "Imagining you made the time bearable. To consciously include you in my life, to imagine how you would react to something. Doing things that I knew you would like. Telling myself that you just weren't there right now. That pushed back the pain inside me."

"Did you play the piano for HER, too?" asked Bella in a delightfully jealous tone, thrusting her chin stubbornly forward and nodding snidely in the direction of the grand piano.

"No. I haven't touched that grand piano since Forks. The night of your birthday was the first time I played again."

"My birthday," Bella smiled shaking her head and sat down on one of my legs. "Our kitchen battle!"

"The one you lost!" I teased her. But I also knew something else about that afternoon. "That day, Leah mentally mouthed the word 'parents' when she saw us arguing in the kitchen," I remembered it pretty clearly.

Bella looked at me irritated.

She seemed to be thinking, reviewing the afternoon, until it flashed in her almond eyes.

We had been 'arguing' about Jake. She had been exorbitantly worried because people had been lying in wait for him at the gym and he wasn't home yet. I had dismissed her concerns as too exaggerated and made more fun of them until Leah referred to us as parents. I had momentarily lost my ability to speak.

"Leah completely surprised me with that notion, and she surprised herself as well, which is why I couldn't follow you and your concerns about Jake for a moment. But then your fears for him suddenly made sense. I could understand them," I answered her gaze.

"Then at that moment you became a father who was worried about his children?"

"I think yes, although not consciously," I said. I wasn't sure at what point Jake and Leah became my children. There were so many moments that kept intensifying my bond with them.

My angel looked at me lovingly, cuddled my back neck and gave me a gentle kiss.

"Play for me," my angel asked and of course I fulfilled that wish while she sat very close to my side.

Afterwards, after my hearty reward, Bella disappeared briefly into the bathroom and bedroom to put on something more comfortable. She also went to the kitchen while I was still sitting in front of the grand piano. I strummed the keys a little awkwardly, but the same little sequence of notes kept crystallizing.

"That's nice. What are you thinking there?" Bella came back to the piano with a cup of tea.

She looked lovely. Sweatpants, thick socks and a sweatshirt from me.

"Leah," I answered.

Leah appeared so cheerful and exuberant in the last few days. So good mood as at present she had not been even, when she was still together with Ben. Absolutely nothing brought her into a rage. If I didn't have a slight suspicion as to what that was, I would be seriously worried about Leah.

"And when you think about Marcus?" asked Bella inquisitively.

I let my hands bang disinterestedly and clumsily on the keys. A noisy hodgepodge of notes rang out.

Bella laughed unabashedly at me.


By the time Bella had finished her salad and baguette, the fireplace was heated up, and spread a cozy warmth.

Bella had begun to tremble slightly.

It was a bit crisp in the house. The whole week the heating was turned down, so the rooms were quite cooled down. At it I would think next time before.

"What else did I pick out here?" she asked.

I took Bella by the hand and walked with her into the fireplace room.

Our both favorite room in this house.

"You insisted on this particular lounger!" I accused her playfully.

"What else?" she said, disguisedly horrified, and sat down demonstratively on it. "It's perfect! Black goes with everything. Leather also wipes down well; in case someone spills or crumbles something. It's comfortable and the backrest is just the right height for reading without having to sit stiff as a board ... And best of all, we both fit on it," she explained with mock severity, pulling me toward her by my sweater.

"You already told me that about three months ago!" I smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose before lying all the way down with her and holding her in my arms. That had also been the reasoning of my fantasy Bella.

"I thought in your imagination I didn't say anything."

"You always just nodded or shook your head, smiled or looked angry. But about a year ago, you started talking to me. Even arguing with me!"

"What happened a year ago?" she wanted to know.

I gently stroked her cheek, knowing she wouldn't like the answer.

"Samantha," I said.

My angel lowered her gaze.

Except for my confession - on the day I was her submissive slave - we had not talked again about what I had done with Samantha.

Snuggled up close to each other, we talked at length each other about this topic. That's how it felt to me.

I told about Samantha, how it had come about and how I had experienced it in itself.


Flashback


I regularly had imaginary whispered dialogues with Bella, during which I imagined she was sitting right in front of me. I told her about my experiences.

On such an evening, Samantha had tricked me, because I always forgot everything around me so as not to miss any of Bella's gestures. I had been blind and absorbed in my memories with all my senses, so that Bella stood very clearly before my eyes. Her smell, her eyes, her warm skin, her pink colored cheeks. This beautiful angel who never left me alone in my thoughts.

I saw Bella right in front of me, as she smiled at me, reprimanded, annoyed or sometimes even cried, and told her about the last weeks. Mostly about my family or what else I had experienced.

But that evening I expressed the doubts I had about Samantha.

Had her blood really sung to me, or had I just remembered too well, based on Samantha's appearance, how I had been drawn to Bella's life juice. I wasn't sure and it made me question my self-control a lot.

But this topic had been a mistake.

To 'talk it out' with Bella about this made my paradox with Bella, which had been working very well for several years, collapse and the pain reawaken clearly. Everything came back. All the pain that I had successfully banished for some time. He held me captive, overwhelmed me and I despaired. I had left Bella! Forever! Never again would I see her smile, look at me, or the blood color her cheeks. Would never again feel as she lay in my arms, touch me, or kiss me. Would never again hear as her heart skipped a beat, breathing stopped short, or hear her enchanting voice. I only wailed still. Told her how much I loved and missed her. Asked her to forgive me for leaving. How much I wished she would be with me now. In my arms. To come through my door, right now.

And Bella had indeed come. She was standing in my room.

Forgetting everything around me, I immediately took Bella into my arms. The question of how she knew where I was was unimportant. Bella was here! With me!

"Bella! Is it really you?" I had asked doubtfully, hardly able to grasp my fortune, and she breathed to me a devoted and liberating "Yes".

A yes that made me forget the past years. I would do anything she wanted. Anything to never have to leave Bella again. Transform. Sex. Money. Leaving my family. Hunt people. No matter what impossible things would occur to my beloved. I would grant her everything. But her hands already told me what she wanted now, and I was not able to deny her anything.

Hours later, a small question ripped me mercilessly back to reality, "So Bella was her name?"

From that moment on, I had hated Samantha. I had spent hours in bed with her, seeing only Bella in front of me the whole time. Had called her Bella and she had not contradicted. This hatred brought the imaginary Bella closer to me when she suddenly began to talk to me.

Her first words at that time had been: "You have cheated me, but I am not angry with you!"


Flashback end


Bella, on the other hand, now told me in person for the first time that she had slept with David.

So far, I had only heard it through his thoughts, which Bella had merely confirmed to me vaguely afterwards. How lonely and alone she had felt on many an evening. She had two great kids, wonderful friends, but no one who desired her as a woman. There were other men, but she had never gotten beyond insignificant dates with them.

Except for one.

I almost growled when she told me about it.

Not because of Bella, it wasn't pure jealousy, but because I was getting angry at this man.

He had been so kind and obliging. Then they had slept together, after which Bella dared to introduce him to the twins, whose existence he had only heard about before. But this guy had no ambition to engage with the kids in any way and consistently avoided them. That was the end of what was only a very short relationship. She had been so ashamed of her naiveté that she hadn't even told David about it. Bella had to think about how long it had been - about eight or nine years.

So, my children must have been eight or nine years old at that time, too. An age when they would have really needed a father. I had no problem with Bella sharing her bed with Jacob Black, with David, or even with other men. She was a human being who had human needs that wanted to be satisfied. Moreover, she had no longer believed in my love, since I played no role in her life. That was exactly what I had challenged back then in the clearing when we parted. Therefore, how could I be angry with her or disappointed in her. But for myself, I set different standards. I had soiled my love for her. That's how I felt. Even today.

I had the impression that it did us good to have talked about it.

We didn't want to keep secrets from each other, we had promised each other that, but to work through the past twenty years and tell each other about it, we would finally have time. Nor was it an exhausting conversation that proceeded soberly and stiffly, as if we were confessing the atrocities of our lives. We teased each other along the way, kissing again and again.

It turned out to be a relaxing evening in front of the pleasant crackling of a fireplace, while rain pattered against the windows.


My angel fell asleep in my arms.

I smiled.

Bella always looked so peaceful when she slept.

I checked the fireplace and carried the sleeping beauty into the bedroom. Carefully I undressed her to her T-shirt and lay down - also largely unclothed, of course - next to her. I did not get tired of watching her sleep.

Like every night, I followed her heartbeat and breathing. I smiled when I messed it up with a careless - fully intended - touch. Sucked in deeply her flowery aroma and just enjoyed that she snuggled against me.

In the middle of the night she hit me.

So to speak.

It was clear from her monologue that she was bitingly asking my imaginary Bella to get the hell out of here. She would be superfluous.

I confirmed this by saying that everything pales next to the real Bella.

My angel actually still stuck her tongue out at the conceit.

It was getting brighter outside the windows and birds were chirping.

I saw cirrocumulus clouds in the otherwise blue sky, but they would dissipate in time.

This would truly be a beautiful day.

I went to the kitchen to make breakfast for Bella.

Going to the bakery when we were alone here was something she had forbidden me to do, just as she had forbidden me to bake her fresh rolls. The time I would need for that would be far too long to leave her lying alone in bed.

This argument I had nothing to say against.

So, I prepared her fried eggs, toast, and a little cereal. And of course coffee.

I opened the windows to let the fresh air into the bedroom and as I turned toward the bed, adorable chocolate brown almond eyes looked at me.

"Good morning," she murmured with a smile, trying to tame the mess of her hair and peeling herself out of the covers a little.

I had wanted to try out that with the tying up a little bit and wrapped her in the blanket so that she couldn't push her off the bed so easily.

It had worked. Even if only for a few minutes.

"Good morning," I replied in equally good spirits, kissing my well-rested angel before setting the tray down in front of her and lying down behind her.

She pounced on her cup first, which made me chuckle.

This strange human urge for coffee had still not become clear to me.

While Bella ate, we reflected on the sunny day ahead.

The plan was already fixed, but I suggested to drive with her to the city or to the beach. Both were rejected.

Bella disappeared into the bathroom, and I returned the tray to the kitchen.

We met again in the shower.

Contrary to all assumptions, we spent most showers actually just washing ourselves. So also today.

Afterwards, I rubbed her wonderful hair almost dry while she stood in front of the sink wrapped in a towel.

I loved combing her mane. Especially when her hair was still wet, I found the most diverse nuances in it. It fascinated me. And what a bouquet it gave off! Fabulous!

The drier the hair became, the less I paid attention to the comb in my hand. I stroked my fingers through it and left them to continue over her graceful back. I buried my face in it and inhaled deeply the aroma and kissed and cuddled over Bella's back of the neck and shoulders.

I didn't need to look into Bella's eyes to understand what she was craving. Her vital signs gave her away enough.

Gingerly I loosened the towel that covered my goddess.

I smiled as I looked in her mirror image.

She no longer noticed. Her eyelids were closed and under them quivered the lust that had already seized me. She let herself fall into my arms and I carried her kissing to the bed, where I spoiled my angel according to all imaginable rules of love ...


It was noon when we finally came out of bed.

Bella put on her shoes as I stood at the piano.

Again, I strummed the few notes before myself.

Bella looked at me downright insidiously.

I explained to her unmistakably that - if from it a song really originated - this would be only for Leah! That only her happy mood was decisive for these tones! Not her boyfriend!

Bella put her arms around me, kissed me on the neck, chuckled, and simply said, "Okay!"

Somehow I just didn't feel taken seriously!

We packed up some more dirty clothes together and left.

I did not own a washing machine. Alice hardly allowed us to wear clothes twice, but in return also made sure that there were enough clothes in all the closets.

So far, at least.

Because this was something that Bella could not approve of. She was familiar with the duties of a housewife, but also with relative thrift and foresight.

It would probably have been easier to settle the war in the Middle East than to make my favorite sister understand this. Of course, Alice had not only stocked the closet in the guest room for the twins, but had also added not inconsiderable items of clothing for Bella to my wardrobe.

Bella and Alice had been caterwauling at each other. When Bella said that clothes were unimportant, Alice had almost had a heart attack. On the other hand, Alice had no counterargument when Bella made it clear she couldn't explain to anyone how she could afford all those expensive designer pieces and therefore couldn't wear them in the first place. So, in the meantime Alice kept out of my closet.

However, I didn't mind having to wash my clothes now and put them on several times. On the contrary. I loved this middle-class family life. In all facets that belonged to it! So, it was also opportune that I drove with Bella on Saturdays to go shopping and kept the house clean together with her.


My BMW had tinted windows all around and our supermarket had an underground garage, so I had no trouble with the sun. And at home, I drove the car into the garage and went into the house through the back door over the patio so no neighbor would see me sparkling in the sunlight.

It was afternoon by now, the sun was shining, it was relatively warm outside, and two teenagers were sitting on the sofa watching TV.

More or less. They were busier with themselves than following the program.

I cleared my throat loudly so they would notice me.

Immediately, Jake eased away from Becky's lips and lifted his head.

So ... with a lot of imagination one could guess something like embarrassment in his gaze, but such a thing was not in Jake's blood.

"Hey, Dad," he said lapidary.

"Why are you sitting in here with this weather?" I accused the two as I stood behind them at the back of the sofa, looking down at the two with played disapproval.

"We're just considering what to do in this weather," Jake tried to defend himself.

"If you think about it any longer, you can stop poring over it. Because then the day will be over!" Bella also already reprimanded as she came through the front door with the mail. "Where's Leah?" she asked afterwards.

"Outside?!"

Question or statement? I was not sure. I was sure, however, that she was not alone outside.

Becky confirmed my fear, saying she was out with Marcus.

I gritted my teeth together.

"Relax, Edward!" Becky indicated to me, chuckling, and gave me an implied kiss on the cheek.

"She's right !" contributed Jake, and Bella just raised her eyebrows invitingly.

I rolled my eyes and got the rest of the groceries out of the car.

But also really no one shared my dislike for Marcus. I stood alone on that bridge!


We were at least able to get the children, if they were already doing 'nothing', to at least do it outside in the fresh air. They sat down on the terrace, where the sun's rays were slowly arriving.

Bella and I took care of the housework, which we were pretty much in tune with by now, but soon we were sitting with Jake and Becky.

Between lemonade, cookies, ice cream, and little endearments, Jake and I went to the garage.

We hadn't gotten very far on his Harley yet. My son was a busy young man. School, friends, studying, basketball and of course his girlfriend. His main/favorite activity. But we took it upon ourselves to really work at it regularly now. Together. Every Saturday. As far as his schedule allowed, of course.

I smiled as he thought in sentimental memory of once standing with Brandon in front of Bran's grandfather's Simson and they puzzled over where the parts that were left belonged.

My smile abruptly died as I saw a chin hook in his thoughts.

Jake had knocked Brandon down. Willfully. And with far too much force for a human being.

Jake appeared upset, yet also angry, as he drove with both hands through his long hair.

"What happened there?" I inquired anxiously. According to the general memories of my loved ones, this had never happened before, that the two of them argued to such an extent that they became physical. Disagreements, yes. But actually they were sworn comrades, who went through thick and thin together since they knew each other. Since the first day at the Elementary School.

"Are you trying to put me in a bad mood?" bowled out Jake.

Probably rather involuntarily, Jake thought back to that encounter.


Flashback


Yesterday. After gym class.

Leah had to clean up the gym, but since she was to be picked up by Marcus, Becky, Brandon, and himself were already walking to the parking lot. A little exhausted from the practice, but definitely in a good mood.

They saw Jenny with her new boyfriend Chris making out without restraint. As if they were just waiting to be seen by Brandon.

"I now know how fucked Mike feels!" Brandon had suddenly said in a bad mood.

Jake turned to him, completely horrified to hear such a thing from his best friend, when he already lunged for the punch.

The only thing that went through Jake's mind when Mike's name was mentioned was the rape. To that extent, Jake assumed that was exactly what Brandon was alluding to.


Flashback end


"You should talk to him," I said softly, knowing Brandon's thoughts over the past few days.

Jake almost growled his rejection.

I put my hands on my son's shoulders and he looked at me angrily.

"Jake, please," I tried to reassure him a little. "Brandon actually sees some parallels, but not the ones you're thinking of. He's angry at this Chris guy, who he blames entirely. Mike did the same with you. The new boyfriend bears responsibility for turning the girl away from them in the first place. Only ... while Brandon really had feelings for Jenny, with Mike it was more of a possessiveness. But both have the same consequence: No one is allowed to take an interest in the girls and get too close to them. And if someone dares to do it, like you did with Becky or Chris did with Jenny, violence is a very popular means to explain his opinion ... Brandon's comment was undoubtedly inappropriate, and I would assume he has understood that himself by now. Therefore: Talk to him."

Jake would think about it when the opportunity arose. Stubborn like Leah. Or his mother. Or myself? I doubted that I might not have reacted similarly if, for example, Carlisle had dropped such a thoughtless and thoroughly inappropriate remark. It would be as inconceivable to me of all people from Carlisle as Jake felt it was from Brandon.


It was time for Bella to get ready, with me giving her a hand.

Very slowly I pulled up the zipper of the tight black skirt. I kissed her back neck as I buttoned the lilac blouse. The pearl necklace I also put on with special care.

"When will you be home?", I inquired as I helped her into the blazer that went with the skirt.

"How long I have a pass?"

"The way you look, I shouldn't let you out of the house at all!", I stated, surveying my beautiful angel.

She smiled adorably and pulled her eyes together in a playful huff.

"I just want to know how long I have to wait until I can take off one part after the other again!" I concretized my question and kissed her.

However, I did not receive a concrete answer.

We went down again.

Bella said goodbye to the kids while I opened the front door.

"Sonya. You look gorgeous!" I remarked honestly and took her in my arms for a moment.

The ladies wanted to go to a restaurant first, then to the theater, and maybe have a drink afterwards.

Originally, only Zoey and Bella were scheduled, but since Sonya had been living here for a week now and hardly knew anyone so far, Zoey had unceremoniously gotten a third ticket for the performance.

"Have some fun!" I gave my angel another kiss along the way.

I reminded Jake not to spice up his 'Chili con Carne' too much.

After all, I had already been reprimanded by all three for such actions.

He didn't listen to me, but very confidently gave me a tasting portion for David. He would trust David's judgment more than mine in this regard.

"Hey, Dad," Leah came home, just as I was about to hit the road.

Her eyes beamed as she hugged me in greeting. And the reason for this followed on the heels.

Marcus.

We shook hands. Politely we looked at each other and I could bring myself to a little smile.

I guess that's the way it was supposed to be.

There it was again! This flickering in his thoughts. The brief flash of memories. That was what made me so suspicious. But before I could even think about it or interpret it in its entirety, it was already gone.

So, I wished the young people a good time and disappeared.


'Come in. The door is open,' David told me mentally when I rang the bell.

I found him in the kitchen.

Deacon, his younger son, sat on the kitchen counter with thick tears and David holding a cool pack against his forehead. He nodded to me in greeting as I entered.

'You are a doctor?' he asked with an anxious gaze.

I nodded, walked up to them both and took the ice off Deacon's head, who was slow to stop crying.

"He hit the edge of the table while he was frolicking," David said rather guiltily, although he had apparently not been there.

I saw in his thoughts that he had only heard the screaming all at once. And that it typically happened when the children's mother was not in the house.

I had seen a small stick flashlight the other day when he had put something in one of his PCs, and now I asked about it.

He fetched it while I looked at the full-blown bump and asked Deacon how it happened.

The skin was a little scraped, but it wasn't even really bleeding.

I palpated the cervical vertebrae that might be affected by the sudden impact.

David handed me the light, I raised a finger in front of Deacon's face and asked him to look closely at the fingertip to check the pupil reaction.

I smiled reassuringly.

"Everything is fine. No concussion. Just a bump!" I said and put the ice pack back on the forehead.

David breathed a sigh of relief.

"You know what helps for a bump?" asked David of his son with a conspiratorial tone of voice.

Deacon wiped tears from his cheeks with his sleeve, pulled the snot up his nose, but just shook his head silently.

Heartbreaking!

"If ice is already good on the outside, ice cream on the inside is bound to be even better. What do you think? Should we try that?"

In fact, a smile flashed across Deacon's face. Together with a vigorous nod.

David took four ice creams out of the freezer and unwrapped one of them.

"Why four?" I inquired.

"You can't give one kid ice cream and the others none. One can't survive that!"

Deacon grabbed the ice cream and ran up the stairs to bring his siblings theirs. In the process, he forgot the cool pack in the kitchen.

Didn't seem to hurt as much anymore, I guess.

Deacon announced upstairs that I was there.

"Eddie?", I already heard the sugar-sweet Emma, who immediately made her way to me.

I walked out into the hallway, David following with a smile.

Emma had been impossible to overhear.

When Emma slipped on the last steps of the stairs, David put his hands over his face in shock. He didn't want to see his 'smooch ball' fall down the stairs and was too far away to do anything.

I caught her without Emma herself noticing.

After all, she was already almost down. So, she was merely surprised that she was in my arms faster than she would have thought.

A stifled giggle escaped through her mouth as she gave me a kiss.

'Is she still alive?' murmured David in thought, still holding his hands in front of his now pale face.

"Relax!" I murmured to him.

The boys also came down to say 'hello' to me and joined us in the living room. The kids armed with ice cream, and David enjoyed the perfect Chili, grumbling only about the too small portion.

Daniel, who would be staying overnight for the first time today, talked a lot about his boarding school and the Halloween party there. There was a girl with blond braids and green eyes. They would have kissed.

"Voluntarily?" asked Deacon, quite distraught.

"It's gross!" Luces was also convinced.

"Are you married now?" asked Emma, on the other hand.

David and I smirked, and Daniel was overstrained.

Emma held the opinion that only married couples kissed each other.

Her brothers tried to explain it to her. To clarify for her that they had been at a wedding the previous Saturday. That you were only married if you wanted to be and had a very big celebration with lots of cake.

"... and when you're married, you have babies! Just like Mommy!" Deacon then stated in conclusion.

"How?" asked Emma.

Stifling a laugh, I looked at David promptly. And just as curious as Emma. He was pale a moment ago, now red.

"I'll explain when you're a little older!" he dodged the question.

"Oh no, menno. I'm not a baby anymore!" the little angel replied snottily.

"No. You are a lovely young lady!" I confirmed.

She giggled and crawled onto my lap.

"Then you'll explain it to me?" she asked me.

Uh ...

Now besides David, Daniel, who of course knew the details of this, was also laughing.

After all at fourteen years was really no small child anymore.

"I think it's rather time for the young lady to go to bed!" David saved me from answering.

What could I have said to the child anyway?

Emma insisted that I put her to bed.

She gave her daddy another big smooch and wished the boys a casual "See you tomorrow," waving once around the room.

I helped her with her pajamas, supervised the brushing of her teeth, and put her along with Teddy to bed. She insisted on a 'good night' story and so I read to her from a book about a bear wandering through the country. I had not gone far when her little eyes were already closed and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

Emma was so magical, but if I just stole her, I think it would stand out here.


It was still too early for the boys to go to bed. Therefore, we played with them for some more time. Deacon eventually got tired and went to sleep on his own, but the older ones then watched another movie, whereby David and I disappeared into the gentlemen's room.

Time for my revenge on the chessboard! He was a truly good player.

"You were really scared earlier," I remarked after some petty chit-chat.

"Why are you surprised?" he asked, irritated.

"Weren't you the one who told me recently that one become more relaxed with each child?"

"Yes, you do. But that doesn't change the fact that you're constantly afraid for your children. Above all, that feeling becomes even stronger when you suddenly find yourself standing alone in front of four bullies."

"Do you resent Sonya for leaving you alone with the kids for an evening?" I inquired in wonder.

"Oh nonsense!" clarified David.

He was happy when Sonya got out and was around people she hadn't changed diapers for. She liked being a housewife and mother, devotedly taking care of the children and their home. The well-being and satisfaction of their loved ones filled their lives. So, I also heard it from Sonya's thoughts. There was a distribution of roles between her and David that could be considered quite old-fashioned and could hardly be called common practice nowadays.

I had brought this up to David as a reproach and chuckled myself.

I, Edward Anthony Masen, who was downright reprehensible in holding on to virtues and traditions, made a reproach of it to him.

But David assured that it was not his decision.

David also saw the traditional division of roles as backward and had apparently not insisted at all that Sonya put her family before her career as a web designer. They were also his children, so he was just as responsible for them as their mother.

"... I just meant that it seems harder to take care of everyone equally when you're alone. Little accidents like that usually happen when only one of us is home. So, in other words, when I'm alone with them. That gnaws a little at my sense of responsibility. That it wouldn't have happened if I had been paying more attention."

"But you can't protect them twenty-four hours a day!" I said.

David smiled and somehow, I had the impression that the subject was about to change here somehow indefinitely, because it was exactly the answer he had been waiting for.

"Neither are you, and you're not even asleep yet!"

"What do you mean by that?" I inquired.

"I'm talking about Leah!" he made clear.

"I think your kids fell asleep in front of the TV."

"Don't deflect!"

"What did she tell you?" I asked cautiously.

"Unimportant! ... You, my dear Edward, can hear Marcus' thoughts, but you don't say a word about it ... I stand by my opinion. If his considerations - as far as Leah is concerned - were dishonorable, you would have said something immediately. To get rid of him and thus protect Leah from disappointment ... But you say nothing!" He leaned back in his chair and let the words stand in the room. "The subject isn't over yet!" he almost threatened, when he did check on his sons then. "And if you want to run away: I know where you live!"

I smiled at this statement.

While Daniel stumbled into bed on his own, he carried Luces upstairs.

I stood at the window and looked indecisively into the forest.

Marcus! Maybe I was telling myself something. Or maybe I wasn't. Either way, Leah was happy. How important was my own opinion then?

"So! Shoot. What exactly is your problem with Marcus?" David came back into the room and leaned against the windowsill next to me.

"I ... see ... something now and then. In his thoughts. Something I can't place or evaluate completely. It's always fleeting, as if he wants to hide it from himself. That fuels my mistrust ... If he's hiding something from himself, what does he have to hide from us - or rather from Leah?" I tried to put it into words.

"And you haven't talked to Leah or Bella about it yet," David noted to himself.

"No. So far, no. For one thing, because I can't interpret it in its entirety. It is unclear and contains many different things. They are only small details and only like a brief glimmer. I don't know if they are his memories or if he was just a witness. Facts or reflections. Whether they are current or past images. I also cannot see a connection with the situation in which I see them. A plot, how it comes to these snippets. It's too short for that," I said.

He tried to imagine it.

"The human brain can process twenty-four images per second. This flare-up is like the twenty-fifth, which is only received subliminally. I'm not even sure if Marcus realizes that himself ... On the other hand, I'm not used to being so in the dark because of my gift. Having to guess what it means," I finally admitted.

"Let's be clear then! What do you see?" David then demanded directly.

"A bottle of vodka. Handcuffs. A marijuana bong. An injured boy on the ground. A significant fender bender to a car. Smashed windows."

David sucked the air sharply through his teeth. He went to his display case, which was well locked away from curious children's hands in this room and poured himself a sip of his brand of whiskey.

"How sure are you that it has nothing to do with today?" he asked.

"That's where my problem with him is. Because I'm not sure about that."

"But the likelihood that it's from a bygone age is pretty close," he reflected.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well ... I've only met him once with you at breakfast, but he made quite a good impression on me. Polite and open, although somewhat reserved, which is only understandable among strange adults. He did not dodge any of the questions of your exaggerated interrogation. And he wasn't annoyed by your sometimes really idiotic questions. I mean, as Leah's father, to what extent does it matter to you what kind of car his father drives? ..." he paused briefly to shake his head in amusement and sip his glass. "... Only you can judge whether he lied somewhere, but if he had, you would have teased the truth out of him. In front of Leah, so she would know his lie! ... You said he wanted to study sports science. Those are pretty concrete plans for a good-for-nothing. Especially if he plans to do that including medical school. And if I may remind you, you were even impressed with his plans. How well thought out they were!"

"Maybe he's just playing a very clever game to seduce Leah!" I countered.

"Edward, he's just a young man. A human being. Almost still a boy! ... Do you seriously think someone his age would make up such an elaborate story just to get a girl?" asked David and I was about to say 'yes'. "Without you seeing through it?" he followed up, however.

Of course, there were such men. Neither him nor me. Nor Jake or the other boys in his circle of friends. David also hoped that his sons would never grow up to be such people. But it could also not be denied that there were certainly such young men. But in thought, none of these subjects would need to continue this game.

"You don't know what it's like to lose your daughter to someone you can't judge!" I defiantly replied. It was an exaggerated answer. I knew it.

"Don't talk nonsense! You're not the only one who's worried about Leah!" he countered just as aggressively.

"She's not YOUR daughter!" I growled.

"But also not YOURS!" he answered immediately and looked at me spitefully.

We stared at each other.

Three seconds. Four seconds.

Until he turned away and set his glass aside.

I let my shoulders sag a little.

He was right. In a way.

"You are, in a sense, as much Leah's father as I am. And therefore, of course, equally concerned for her welfare," I admitted, turning in his direction.

He nodded and smiled.

He had been there for Leah and Jake for the past fifteen years if he worked in Saco. Was very anxious - on those always few days - to be a role model for them, to do something with them, to give them the feeling of having a father. And he had been very successful with it.

"So, Marcus has a past!" David summarized to some extent after reviewing some fond memories with the twins. The first school dance he had driven them to still. How he taught Jake to ride his bike in the driveway when he was about five. How he had Leah paint his fingernails when she was eleven.

We smirked together and stood again leaning side by side against the windowsill.

"I don't think I'm going out on a limb by suggesting that everyone has a past!" mused David. "Everyone! I have one. Bella has one. Even your twins have one. And almost certainly you do, too!" he stated.

I looked at him.

Yes, I had a past. A kind of bestial even. However, I had been walking on this earth for some time longer and was not a human being.

"Not every past has to be cruel or shocking in some way, like that which you see with Marcus. If it really is his own past. It can also in retrospect be simply superfluous or embarrassing. Call it youthful recklessness or cockiness. The wrong arrangement of priorities."

"Then let's hear your past!" I urged him.

He smiled a trace sheepishly.

"I was a pro-gamer ... I lost myself in the online role-playing game 'World of Warcraft'. It got to the point where I almost got kicked out of school because all I did was sit in front of the PC day and night. I skipped school, didn't go out the door more than necessary, but wrote my own addons for the game instead," he admitted.

"Then maybe you ran into Emmett once in Azeroth," I laughed.

Em had spent so many nights playing this game that at times even Rosalie was mad at him. However, there was also an undead villain that I had steered through the virtual world. Em hadn't let up until we hadn't all tried it at least once.

"Twelve million players can't be wrong!" justified David himself.

"How did you escape this addiction?"

"I more or less secretly left home to go to the 'BlizzCon' in Anaheim, California. I was pretty overwhelmed by what different kinds of people were all gamblers like myself. I got to know a lot of people. One of them was a programmer at 'Blizzard', but he was also passionate about gaming. His name was Malte. From then on, I knew what I wanted and resolved to do everything to achieve it. Inevitably, I had to give up gambling in order to get a decent high school diploma. However, while I was studying, I quickly realized that most of the IT students were there for exactly the same reason. The games industry couldn't offer that many jobs. So, I looked for another field where programmers were in demand and for biology one was hand-wringing for capable people ... That's also how I got to know Bella then."

"And what is the twins' past?" I inquired curiously.

"Jake was smoking pot," David opined.

"What?" I was horrified. My son had been using illegal substances?

"Yep ... for a few months. He always thought we didn't notice, but the red glazed eyes were too obvious."

"Didn't you do anything about it?" I wasn't sure yet which should upset me more. Jake's drug past or that Bella and David seemed to idly condone it.

"Jake was fifteen. That's when you test things out. What were we supposed to do? Forbid him? Under threat of punishment? He would have laughed at us and continued smoking. After all, we could hardly supervise him twenty-four hours a day ... Leah promised us to watch over him and tell us if it got out of hand. But it never came to that. He just became more and more indifferent, which then got on the nerves of the girls in his friends group ," he explained to me conciliatorily.

It took me a moment to recover from this information.

When I thought about it properly, I should have expected it. Young people are easily seduced by drugs, and so marijuana was still the best thing he could have done. There were far harder substances he could have resorted to.

I took a deep breath and then fearfully asked for Leah.

"Leah shoplifted."

I said nothing and just looked at him.

Inwardly I quivered, but waited for David to continue.

He was smiling namely.

"Since Bella doesn't use makeup, but the girls at school started using it, Leah didn't dare ask her mom about it. So, she went to a drugstore and got it herself. Of course, with the result that she was caught. I wasn't there, Bella just told me, but she had apparently picked up Leah howling her head off at the police station. Fortunately, the owner refrained from pressing charges when he saw her like that. That saved her from the legal consequences in the end."

Another deep useless breath.

Woe betide Bella if she ever accused me of giving our children the credit cards again!

We devoted ourselves to the game of chess again, after I refused to report on my own past.

"I don't want you to have nightmares!" I said, and in David's eyes sparkled a little fear indeed.

I played unfocused because we returned to our initial theme.

"The fact is that Leah is unmistakably happy at the moment, and despite your ability to see inside Marcus' head, you have no concrete argument against him!" David elaborated immediately.

I was unfortunately forced to agree.

"What was with Ben?" he asked after he made his next game move. "I mean ... looking back. What's your opinion of him today as Leah's boyfriend, regardless of the fact that he didn't get it right with the wolves."

I thought for a moment.

"I have to admit that I'm actually surprised that they were in a relationship for half a year after all. Leah is so impulsive. Ben, on the other hand, was downright lacking in feeling. One could also call it weak. I didn't see if the two of them ever argued, but I can imagine whether Ben would have just backed down."

"That's how it was. When tension threatened to arise, Ben made every effort not to let it break out. He subordinated himself to their temperament. That can't be good for a relationship - even at that young age. Admittedly, when Ben was still current, I saw it differently. I thought that they would attract and balance each other out as opposites. Today, however, I think it was only a matter of time before they separated. But Marcus is a very different caliber of man," David stated and I inevitably had to laugh, which David didn't understand.

"That's exactly what I thought of you - compared to that Andrew - when you showed up at our house!" I declared, and David laughed as well. He thanked me for the compliment. "But I know what you're getting at. Marcus certainly wouldn't be intimidated by Leah's personality."

"What are you going to do if Marcus is really the one for Leah? If she has to choose between her boyfriend and your blessing? If you're going to lose in the process?"

"Bella already asked that too!" I admitted contritely.

"And your answer?"

"I'm still thinking about it!", I answered nastily and made my next move.

David laughed and poured himself another sip.

We continued to play in a lively mood.

Until Alice called me. Two vampires in the forest and the Spirit Warriors wanted to take care of it.

Briefly, I explained the phone call to David.

"They need an excuse to leave their friends alone!" I pondered feverishly.

David looked at his watch.

"They should come over here. I could Skype with Charlie," David suggested.

"You know Charlie?" I asked in amazement.

"Yes. From back in Jacksonville. He used to come to Renée's with Billy and Sue at Thanksgiving and Christmas to see his grandkids," he explained as I was already texting it to Leah. "You look like you want to go with them," David commented.

"Of course. But the two wouldn't let that happen!" I replied with conviction.

"Don't you think they would like to have their father by their side for support?"

"In life never! They'd be afraid I'd spoil their fun!"

"I think you're wrong," David mused, on the other hand.

So, I proved him the opposite and convincingly played the caring father who hardly ever let his children out of the house alone.

How they growled at me that I shouldn't accompany them!

"I was wrong!" admitted David as we stood together facing the window facade in the living room, looking out into the woods.

"Told you so," I stated.

"But aren't you afraid?"

"Yes and no. Of course, I'm afraid that something will happen to my children out there. They stand in the way of their nemesis and under the fur put almost normal people. People who may well die ... Four weeks ago, they met a group of our kind and they were so badly hurt that we feared we had lost them, although Em and Rose stood by their side. But in doing so, I also understood what Jake and Leah were really capable of. Because these four were not normal vampires. They were trained fighters who learned to take every advantage of our existence. Leah and Jake are not simple-minded about these things. They fight with sense and reason. They are courageous without being reckless. They know their limits. They were born to destroy vampires," I explained respectfully.

I was very proud of the twins. Nevertheless, I could not help feeling a certain basic apprehension. Even though I knew very well that there would be no cause for concern today. Just two ordinary nomads, and Jazz and Alice were there too.


Time seemed to stand still until I finally caught Jake's thoughts.

However, I was taken aback by the steady "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ..." that I heard there.

Shortly thereafter, I also captured Leah.

I opened the patio door and signified to David that the twins were coming back, but that something was wrong.

Jake jumped over the fence, which made him yelp. Stopping directly in front of us, Leah quickly got off of him and awkwardly flipped over between David and me. Jake immediately dropped to his side and stretched his paws from himself.

"What happened?" I inquired.

I sounded quite a bit more panicky than was intended.

Blood crusts from minor injuries adorned the Native American skin of both of them. None of it could have been actually dangerous, only small scratches and abrasions, but the multiplicity had frightened me briefly.

"The forest attacked us," Leah said, holding out her hands to me in evidence.

"And it won!" added Jake from the ground, offended.

In the meantime, my siblings had also arrived with us and gave me a more detailed retrospective.

I smirked.

The vampires had not been a problem, but the unpredictable malicious forest had been. David carried Leah into the house, and I took Jake. None of them could/would walk. They were in pain, so I immediately reached for the box with the syringes while Alice and Jazz helped the wolves dress.

"Don't you dare!" Leah hissed at me.

David chuckled while he was already removing thorns from her hands with tweezers.

Okay?

I took the injection for Jake, but he also growled angrily at the syringe. Completely perplexed, I stood there for a moment.

My brave Spirit Warriors who carried the blood of the mighty tribal chiefs were afraid? Of needles?

"Bella's kids! ... Did you seriously expect anything else?" asked David, amused.

"Um ... yeah ... Actually, I do," I stammered in disbelief and then began to free Jake from the thorns.

Every single sting removed, the two commented with a soft hiss, which in turn made me chuckle. A small prick and they would feel nothing more of it. The kids went to wash the grossest dirt off their faces and hands, and my siblings promptly disappeared when I heard Sonya approaching.

She was drunk! Of course not from alcohol, as a pregnant woman she did not drink, but from the merriment of the evening she was plenty exhilarated.

She greeted everyone present with an extended hug. When she got to David and was no longer willing to let him go, we said goodbye and the hugs began again.

"Edward," David stopped me at the front door as the kids hurriedly ran down the driveway. Their friends were still waiting, after all. "You should give Marcus a real chance. Leah can't stay your little girl forever. You will have to let her go, even at the risk that she may be disappointed. I know you just got her, and you don't want to give her up. But I can promise you on faith that it will be easier if you make an honest friendship with the 'competition'."

"How can you make such an assurance?" I asked.

"I speak from experience there ... I lost Leah to you!"


Thank you for reading!