Have a nice third advent!

Here is the next chapter and I would be very happy about some reviews! Verena

Today there's a teeny little breather for Bella and Edward.

Sandra (Psy1980)

Chapter 18

Head of the Family

Carlisle

I hurried home as soon as my shift at the hospital was over. Even though I was off duty, I usually took a tour at my patients to see that everything was all right. But today I really wanted to be the first to arrive home. I was a little ashamed of this carelessness towards the people who put their lives in my hands, but I also didn't have anyone that I feared their imminent demise, today.

I expected to find a note from Edward on my desk; a farewell letter, a final greeting. But he disappointed and amused me at the same time.

Only his keys were lying there and I understood the meaning.

It was his propensity for theatricality. He would not return home even if Bella did not require his life, but only banished him from hers.

I immediately heard the Porsche drive up and my children frantically make their way to me.

I expected that.

I quickly hid the key in a drawer and stood at the window, looking outside.

I liked to have family discussions in the dining room, but that didn't seem appropriate today. The large round dining table gave the accurate impression that no one in this family had more or less rights than any other and that every opinion was important. Even if they recognized me as the head of the family - and I was happy to be that for all of them - it was still true for me that my opinion was not necessarily the right one. Today, however, I would have to express my authority and the easiest way to do that was to have the conversation in my study.

"We will have to wait for Esmé, however!" I said in a measured tone as my children began to run up the stairs.

"She'll be here in two minutes," said Alice. It was Alice, but her voice sounded nowhere near as jolly as usual.

I looked over through the trees to Edward's house, which was about 2600 yards away, while the rest of my family quietly entered my room. But I paid no attention to them.

I wondered how Edward would face Bella and when. When would I find out if my son would return home?

Since he had left me this morning, I had been considering how to explain his behavior regarding Samantha to his siblings. They would not readily understand that Samantha was still alive - and also an equal part of our family -. Although no one said anything and I was standing with my back to them, I felt the resentment and suspicion from each of them.

How had they found out in the first place? Had Edward told them himself? If so Samantha must have done something serious that caused him to lose his composure so badly. Because we had agreed that they should never know. We had both feared exactly what I now had to prevent. Samantha's destruction at the hands of our family.

Samantha had had no choice and was forced into this immortal existence. So, Samantha had become a part of this family. I respected her and treated her no differently than the rest of them despite this incident with Edward. Or so I hoped.

Something about her made me suspicious, but I hadn't found any concrete evidence yet. There was nothing wrong with her behavior overall. It was only towards Edward that she did not behave as she had sworn to him. No one noticed any of this and I only knew because Edward had informed me. Just as I had asked him to do. Lewd remarks and similar prompts whenever no one else was there to notice. That's all I knew, and Edward was willing to tolerate her, as Samantha apparently endured his continued rejection without hesitation. He was so annoyed with Samantha, that I couldn't blame him for leaving the family for a while next year.

Finally, Esmé came home and I asked her to join us. She was surprised to find all of us here in this room.

I greeted her warmly.

My Esmé. My beloved.

I smiled.

After all those decades by her side, I still couldn't wait to hold her in my arms again after a few hours apart.

Jasper cleared his throat after a long moment.

"What's going on here?" my beloved asked me.

"Our family is a little upset because they found out what happened between Edward and Samantha," I explained to her, and fear was immediately evident in Esmé's eyes. The fear of losing another daughter. She did not share my mistrust, rather the opposite. Esmé had taken Samantha into her heart a long time ago.

"You knew about this?" Alice asked, distraught.

"Of course," I said, finally turning to face them.

Rose and Alice sat in the big leather chairs, Jasper and Emmett each on their wives armrests, and Samantha stood between them, bored. I thought I saw a little condescension on her face, while the other four now looked rather shocked.

"Why didn't we know about it?" Jasper now asked.

"Because we feared exactly this reaction," I explained calmly and sat down.

"We expected you all would want to hold Samantha accountable," Esmé said, walking over to her and putting an arm protectively around her shoulders.

"Sure. We want her head!" Emmett hissed in Samantha's direction and received murmurs of agreement.

"To do such a thing to Edward!" Rosalie pondered crossly.

"It bordered on coercion!" rumbled Alice.

Only Jasper was relatively calm, but looked suspiciously at Samantha. He spoke matter-of-fact: „She took advantage of Edward's weakest point. It was shameless and wicked."

Samantha, on the other hand, didn't react and just looked stubbornly in my direction.

She already knew me very well. I would not let any of them lay a hand on her. But I wouldn't spare her the humiliation of explaining herself to them. To at least try to.

So, I prompted Samantha to reveal her motivations at the time.

Esmé, Edward, and I had known them. With that, she had begged Edward for mercy. Whether it was the truth, only she herself knew.

"Edward changed me and since taught me everything I needed to know as one of you. Yet he was so courteous, attentive, and patient. He took such good care of me in the first days and weeks ... You told me about the girl he loved and that I looked similar to. Bella ..." she began to explain and I paid close attention to my family as she pronounced the name.

Each of them noticeably flinched and lowered their gaze. Even Rosalie. She had realized over time what Bella meant to Edward and had felt sorry for him. She heartily regretted that he had to leave his love behind, but on the other hand she was the one of us who was most likely to understand Edward's motives and had never held it against him.

"Exactly! You knew about her!" Alice hissed at Samantha.

"I thought that was the reason he picked me," Samantha quickly defended herself, taking a step back.

And then the behavior came out of her that made me suspicious.

She had started her answer calmly and apologetically but changed to aggressive and defiant in the middle of it: "Getting interested in Edward wasn't hard. He'd always been sweet and kind to me, was overly gracious, and ... my God, he looked hot. Of course, I wanted him. But I thought, that he felt the same about me. That he was not touching me only because of his excessive guilt."

"So, you thought you'd help him out a little?" Emmett asked condescendingly.

"And make him think you're ... Bella?" Alice grumbled, and it took her some effort to actually pronounce Bella's name herself after all these years.

"So, to speak. I didn't know that he had never had sex before. I thought maybe I would help him get over her by being with me ... He is obsessed with that girl. It's sick!" she explained again with a change of mood.

"That she is his one true soulmate, didn't occur to you, I suppose?" nagged Rosalie.

"I had no idea about that!" Samantha raised his hands defensively and I now joined in the discussion myself.

"Samantha didn't know about the deep bond between soulmates yet at that point. I only talk to her about it because of this incident," I explained. They were not satisfied with Samantha's exposition - as expected - and continued to accuse her. In their eyes, their brother's trust was most unconscionably betrayed.

It became a loud and long discussion about Samantha, which I finally had to end.

"Edward alone has the right to judge Samantha and punish her, and that's what he did that evening!" I said with all the authority at my disposal.

"How?" asked Emmett with interest.

I said nothing, but just shook my head and lowered my gaze.

I remembered Samantha lying naked at the bottom of the stairs, brutally thrown there by Edward. Countless cracks adorned her entire body, her wrists shattered, a handprint embossed into her horrified stone face, more rock-hard bones broken than were left intact, and all the while he had been screaming at her. I could understand how he felt. Pretending to be Bella when he was escaping into his own world had been shameless. But killing a living being was against my nature. After all, Samantha had not taken the life of anyone and was not a mortal threat to my family.

My silence explained enough to them.

"How did you find out about it?" Esmé then asked, while everyone was probably trying to imagine what Edward had done to Samantha afterwards.

I doubted they would let things with Samantha rest completely now, but it wouldn't cost Samantha her life.

Jasper then told us what had happened in the school parking lot this morning. They didn't know what this Native American boy had done to make Edward seem closer to death than life in that moment, but Jasper explained his feelings of pain that threatened to tear him apart from the inside. However, this Jake had also taken this suffering from Edward again.

I suspected the memories Edward hinted at were behind it.

And then Samantha had overreacted, as she now ruefully admitted herself.

But Edward had also gone too far in the eyes of the others.

Samantha had apparently been afraid for Edward, as she explained, and the others agreed. That's why she had grabbed this boy, even if a little too roughly. But the fact that Edward thereupon almost destroyed Samantha went too far for all of them. They didn't understand his irrepressible reaction to Samantha because they didn't know that it was Bella's children he was trying to protect.

"Where is Edward, anyway?" Alice asked.

"Exactly. After all, we've been talking about him the whole time. Why isn't he here?" Emmett now asked.

"He has something to do that can't be put off," was all I said.

"Does it have anything to do with those dogs?" Rosalie asked, somewhat belligerently.

"Hmmm ..." Alice concentrated, using her gift. "I don't see him."

"That doesn't have to mean anything. You've overlooked one of us from time to time," I tried to convince not only Alice, but especially myself. Had it already happened? Had I already lost my son? "And yes. It has something to do with the wolves ... You already know that they belong to the Quileute Tribe and they know that Edward broke the treaty. He is endeavoring to do damage control and is willing to deliver himself up if necessary, so as not to put us in danger," I now explained. With this I had found an explanation in case Edward did not return home.

"What?" Jasper gasped.

"Why did he go to them alone?" hissed Emmett.

"To deliver himself up?" said Esmé, stunned, whom I immediately took in my arms.

"He has to do this on his own. He wants to preserve the peace, that is now in danger due to his actions, and maintain it for the future. None of us has anything to do with it. None of us has the authority to interfere ... And if the wolves pass a fatal sentence - which I do not assume at the moment - I expect each of you to continue to behave absolutely peacefully and not to pursue any plans for revenge! We have given the legal claim to the wolves ourselves through the treaty, and you are to accept it without reservation!"

I looked each one long and unyieldingly in the eye, waiting for a sign of acceptance in each.

By now it was past ten o'clock in the evening and I expected to see Edward come through my door at any moment.

It was more of a hope than an expectation. I made the same mistake as everyone else who had not seen a loved one for a long time. My memories - and therefore also my imagination - stuck to the youthful Bella.

The young woman who could not hurt a fly. But she wasn't anymore. People changed with time and with their own life experiences. Bella was therefore an adult woman who had certainly already experienced a lot. Among other things, she had given life to two healthy children, which greatly influences a woman in her outlook on life. Nineteen years ago, I would have had no doubt in my mind that Edward would come home again. It was not in Bella's nature then to seek revenge and demand his death. But today I could not be sure of that. I couldn't know how her life had been. Whether she was an upright and good-natured woman or whether the suffering she had experienced and her maternal instinct had turned her into a person who knew no compassion and instead sought retribution.

My fingers involuntarily picked up Edward's keys.

How long yet would it be before I had certainty about my son's continued existence?

I remembered back when I first saw Edward in the hospital.

A young and handsome man, his face full of goodness and purity. That's what I would have wanted in a son. The pleas of his mother to save him. If Bella claimed for his demise, I had failed. It would be hard to explain his death to my family. They would yearn for revenge no matter what I said to them. Every single one. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett would do it without question. But Rosalie wouldn't let it go either. If Edward truly did not return, even Esmé would demand satisfaction.

On the other side was Bella, who had demanded his death. And after what Edward had said this morning, she had every right to. I had a hard time believing it. Not because I didn't trust Edward's judgment or doubted Bella's resolve. I did not want to imagine how my human daughter should have suffered so much. I was proud of Edward for being willing to face the consequences of his actions. I knew there was nothing I could have done to dissuade him from this decision. If Edward didn't come back, I would seek out Bella. Not to hold her accountable for his death ...

"But?" asked the familiar voice of my beloved son behind me.

I exhaled in relief as I turned my chair in his direction. He smiled hesitantly, but his eyes were more alive than I had seen in nineteen years. I jumped up and took him in my arms with relief.

Bella didn't desire his life. He would remain my son. And maybe I would get my daughter back.

"Calm down. I can't promise you any of that. It's too early yet," he whispered sadly, and we sat down.

We talked quietly so Esmé and Samantha wouldn't hear.

Edward talked about the children.

Jake and Leah. They were good kids, which didn't surprise me with Bella as their mother any more than it did Edward. I would like to meet them, but Edward forbade me to pay them a visit. He was, in a sense, intimidated by the children. Not because they were wolves or he had broken the treaty. The children were afraid of losing their mother, that she would be taken away from them. And they were afraid that meeting Edward would pull her back down; into a being with no will to live. This was a concern Edward shared with them and from what Edward was now telling me about Bella, what memories Jake had shown him, this was not out of the question. He had not exaggerated his worries this morning. I was very sorry and felt guilty for what Bella had had to go through after we left.

When I tried to imagine what I thought was within the range of human ability to cope with something, Edward only commented, "Even worse!"

We had destroyed her life.

Then I wanted to hear all about Bella.

His smile became a little more relaxed and joyful with each word.

By all appearances, this first encounter had gone well. She had sprained her ankle, which was nothing special considering her medical record. However, this circumstance - even if unfortunate - led to Edward being able to treat her. Against her will.

Of course. Our little martyr.

As dawn broke, Edward picked up his key and said farewell with the words, "I have to upset someone soon!"

I smirked guessing what he was up to.

Hopefully it didn't backfire.

He stopped in the open doorway for a moment and raised an eyebrow.

"She wouldn't be Bella if she didn't get mad at me," he explained in a whisper and left.

My thoughts were still rambling.

I would not lose my son; of that I was certain. More than Edward was. But whether I got my daughter back was still unclear.

My thoughts hung on a date.

February 14, 2007. The day - or rather the night - when Edward returned to us. The day the twins were born. I considered whether it was more than coincidence that both had happened on the same day.

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