Unplanned chapter, but anytime I write something for this I will post it good or not.
Chapter 3
It has taken only a matter of minutes for Esme to prepare, check, and then re-check that everything was at the ready in her love's office before taking up pacing, if you could call the blurry back-and-forth vision that she created to the naked eye as she paced, thinking over all that had occurred that evening.
They had been passing a typical evening, if any evening a group of vampires could ever pass together can be called typical, when Alice had been struck with a vision. Alice got many visions and after many years they were all familiar with the varying degrees of seriousness of her visions. There were the elongated blinks (Mike was going to fail and embarrass himself in his attempt to ask Bella out in front of Jessica... again). There were the visually concerning but actually ambiguous futures that either would or would not be (the Volturi coming down with Bella's future unset or they would have years to tour the world for the nth time before the Volturi would be a problem). And then there were the non-blinking, heavy, dread-filled minutes where Alice wouldn't move, didn't even draw, just felt and projected dread. Those visions the family knew would change everything.
There have only been a few examples of these latter visions. The time a gifted rogue vampire slipped into their territory with the power to incapacitate them and end what they had all built. Or the time Buffalo would have been erased as a possibility as a permanent residence if they hadn't of moved in time given a convergence of interests by dangerous parties. These have been diverted successfully. The first, however, was before she joined the family. It was one of her first visions. Her first bad one. She left the asylum at least knowing that there was a future for her with people that would care for her, always. But then she saw that there would be a moment that would potentially tear them apart. Shortly after joining the family/coven she shared the vision with Carlisle and Esme. They made the decision to keep it to the three of them, doing their best to keep it from Edward knowing that the little they knew would not help them save him or them in the end. They knew he would be the catalyst but could never be the solution. Now of course they knew that the vision of him on his knees in front of the Volturi begging for death had come and gone. They thanked their savior daughter, but unfortunately never looked beyond their relief that their greatest fear was a memory.
So, Esme was unprepared when she heard an intake of unnecessary breath. She had looked to her first son, but his gaze was fixated on his gifted sister. Looking to Alice produced a worrisome image. The few times Alice had looked so still and eerie had meant ill news for her family, but when Edward had moved fast enough to break through the sliding glass door before the sound of it breaking had sounded, she knew it was as bad as the future they have just avoided. Alice and Jasper had been barely a moment behind him with only one word as explanation from her serious son... "Bella." Esme looked to Carlisle whose eyes took upon them a particular determination reserved solely for his family as he flitted to his office, grabbed his bag, and instantly followed. Rosalie grabbed Emmett's hand when he went to follow without any hesitation to his beloved sisters' aid. When he looked at her in question and saw her turmoil, he paused. Whatever went through Rosalie's experienced mind in those few seconds she would never share, but when she suddenly squeezed her husband's hand and turned to follow Carlisle, Emmett did not (nor did he or would he ever) need another cue. Where his sisters needed him and where his wife went, he would always go.
Esme didn't falter. An outsider might think she hesitated or didn't know what to do, but she did know. She knew who she was, before and after her immortality. She was a mother, a nurturer. She needed, craved to care for her children. Bella was her child. They all were her children, but she accepted that the traditional role wasn't what most of her children sought in her. They respected her as a leader, Carlisle's mate, and as a vampire. That was enough. But Bella was special. Bella needed her as a mother whether she realized it or not. Esme knew though. Esme knew that Bella positively lit up anytime Esme made a plan that involved Bella's interests or cooked one of her favorite foods. Esme realized early on how Bella shined when she was unexpectedly cared for. Bella quickly became her baby. Her youngest. Bella was special.
When they left... when they abandoned her baby, Esme was not okay. She and Carlisle have done their best to work through it, but Esme isn't okay. She has worked hard to not completely blame Carlisle or even Edward because she knows that at the end of the day SHE left. She left her baby. She left Bella. Hindsight is supposed to be 20/20, but she still cannot seem to see what it was that was good about leaving. She didn't want to but at the end of the day she will follow Carlisle. What doesn't make sense is that she sees the same turmoil and confusion with the decision within him. Why did they leave her? Why did they leave Bella? Why did they abandon their baby? Their family was destroyed by leaving. No Bella, then Edward left anyway. Then Emmett and Rosalie for another honeymoon, though she knew they really just couldn't stand the emotions which hung so thick in the air. Emotions... Jasper. Her poor boy. He felt everything, he feels so much. He felt everyone's heartbreak and took it upon himself. Alice, our cherub child; she saves us, but will never quite be grown up. They have been together for so long, but they knew, Jasper and Alice especially, that there would be an end. It came when everyone left. It was a time for broken dreams.
They made their way back to Forks, but at what cost? Bella has paid the price. She knew in her dead heart that Bella was not as okay as she seemed. There wasn't anything she could quite pinpoint as a problem though. She couldn't see tears, or sadness, or anything wrong, but... something. Bella ate, she slept, she talked, but never quite enough to be truly healthy. Her and Carlisle had spent many evenings post-hunt talking about this fact in the woods as they made their way back home. As she adjusted the blood pressure cuff for the hundredth time, she knew she missed something important and was about to be faced with the result. She and Carlisle had failed terribly when they left and had not made true amends. Suddenly she felt resolved. She knew that whatever shape Bella came in: a sprained ankle, small splinter, broken arm, concussion, or even cancer... Something was wrong with her child, and she was going to need her help. Her care. She would prepare for that. She would prepare this house for her human child. She moved in her inhuman way preparing Carlisle's study for a patient, her bed for a sick child, a pot with healthy soup, a washer cleaning extra sheets that were already clean, and her resolve for whatever state her family was in when they came back through that broken door.
I always thought that if I wrote a third chapter (remember I hadn't planned to continue this) it would need to be back at the house with Esme as she prepared for she didn't know what... Hopefully this is okay. Still not sure how to deal with it all... And still no promises to continue. However, I appreciate any and all reads, follows, favs, and comments. I am still amazed anyone actually has read and actually liked this.