2

The Airport

We were now waiting inside the airport for our children to get off their plane. I was extremely happy and worried at the same time. I just hoped my family could overcome this.

I held Esme close to me, Jasper stood next to us and Emmet and Rosalie stood a little farther away, Rosalie leaning against Emmets chest with his arms wrapped around her.

I could already smell my children and felt as if I would be jumping up and down if I was human.

Finally I saw them and they saw us. As soon as Alice saw Jasper, she ran at a fast human pace straight into his arms. We could all feel Jaspers joy as he was accidentally projecting his emotions. I knew they would need a moment alone.

I fixed my eyes on Edward who was walking towards us carrying Bella. She had her arms around his neck, her head on his shoulder, her face hidden from us by her hair. Her small figure was drowned in clothing that was too big for her. She looked like a small child seemingly asleep in his arms. As soon as they were only a few meters away Esme stepped towards them.

"Edward, Bella, I missed you so much." Bellas head shot up and turned to look at where Esmes voice was coming from. Her eyes fixed on Esme and I saw her face for the first time. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw now. Bella had deep black circles under her eyes, her face was sunken in and she was extremely pale. I knew from the hospital files that is was bad, but to see it for myself was ten times worse. I had to work hard to keep the shock from my face. I saw Esme do the same. Bella fixed her eyes on Esme and I could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Can you put me down Edward?" She asked with a quiet and trembling voice. He put her down carefully but kept one arm around her waist as she seemed very unstable on her feet. As soon as Bella was standing , Esme drew both of them into a tight hug, careful not to hurt Bella.

"Never do that to me again, both of you, do you hear me?" Esmes voice was shaking.

"Yes, mom" Edward replied easily. Bella had started crying and just nodded weakly, slumping against Esme a little.

"Do you have her?" Edward whispered to her, low enough so Bella wouldn't hear. After Esmes affirmative nod, Edward extracted his arm that was supporting Bella, kissed her head softly and stepped out of Esmes embrace, who in return put both her arms around Bella and started stroking her hair, speaking softly to her and telling her that she was sorry, that we loved her and would never leave her again.

Seeing that Bella was in safe hands for now I stepped toward Edward and folded him into my arms. Never ever do that to us again, Edward, I told him in my mind, showing him how devastated we had been when we had heard about his plan and how our family was not complete without him and Bella. "I'm sorry dad. I won't do it again. Just the thought of having to live with out Bella… it was too much." He whispered, pained. I only held him tighter. I did understand. Just the thought of having to live without Esme was excrutiating.

Are you better now? Will you stay with us and her? He nodded against my shoulder. "I don't think I have the strength to leave her again and from what I have seen she is definitely not safer without us." His voice was pained. Yes Edward, she definitely was not better off without us. This will be a long and hard road of recovery for all of us but especially for her. We really hurt her and should never have left, especially not the way we did. And Edward, we will never leave her again unless she asks us to, and if she still wants to be changed next year and you refuse to do it, I will do it. She can make her own choices and I refuse to lose her or you again.

"Yes , dad". I was surprised he wasn't fighting me on this but I guessed he had learnt from his mistakes. I tightened my embrace again for a second, then let him go. Go say hi to the rest of your siblings. And please be nice to Rosalie, she really feels bad. Let her explain. He nodded and after looking at Bella and Esme again, reassuring himself that she was as okay as she could be at this time, Edward walked towards Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper and Alice who now stood close together and were talking. I could hear their greeting and Rosalie apologizing and starting to explain what she had told me the day before and then then put my complete focus on my sweet human daughter in my wife's arms. I took a deep, unneeded breath and stepped towards them.

"Bella" I said quietly, making my presence known. Bella looked up at me, her eyes red and puffy. I opened my arms for her, hoping she would accept my invitation.

And she did. She carefully extracted herself from Esmes arms and without hesitation she jumped into mine, her arms going around my neck and her legs around my waist as I picked her up. I smiled at Esme, for a moment just happy to feel my daughter in my arms even though her weight was barely noticeable and I could clearly feel the bones beneath my fingers. It was a thought that pained me greatly but for now the relief that they were home and were save was bigger than any worry and I decided to just enjoy the feeling of my little girl in my arms and worry later. She was still crying as I rocked her back and forth carefully.

"I missed you so much my sweet little human daughter." I whispered in her ear, stroking her hair at the same time. Her arms around my neck tightened as she whispered back that she had missed us, too.

"We love you so much and leaving you was the worst thing we ever did. Our family is not whole without you and it pains me how much we hurt you. I really hope we can earn your forgiveness one day sweetheart"

"I'm not mad at you, I'm just glad that you are all back." She told me once she had calmed down a little.
I smiled down at her, making a mental note that we had to talk to her about this some time in the future as we were definitely at fault. I used my fingers to gently wipe away her tears and kissed her forehead while Esme started to stroke her hair. I saw how Bella fought to keep her head up and her eyes open due to her exhaustion and used my hand to guide Bellas head so it would rest against my shoulder.

I saw my other children walk over to us, presumably to greet Bella. Alice was the first and she hugged me gently with Bella still in my arms as I told her I was glad she was home safe and reprimanded her for putting her life in danger. Then she turned to Esme to greet her.

Emmet and Rosalie came closer to us. "Hi Bellsy, I missed you, it really is no fun without you around." Emmet greeted her and affectionately messed up her hair a little. I looked down at Bella seeing a small smile forming on her lips, her cheeks blushing slightly. "Hi Emmy" she whispered making him grin. He really liked her nickname for him. She looked to Rosalie next, a little hesitantly. "Hi Rosalie."

Rosalie looked surprised at Bella, she probably had been thinking Bella was mad at her. "Hi Bella." She smiled at her softly " Family calls me Rose. I'm really sorry about how I treated you before and I can explain once everything has calmed down some. I'm really grateful that you helped save my brother and that all of you came back home safe and hope that I can get to know you better."

Bellas smile grew "There's nothing to forgive. You just tried to protect your family and I'd like to get to know you better as well ." She answered shyly making Rosalie smile.

Lastly Jasper stepped closer to us. "Hi Bella, I'm really sorry about your birthday and if you're afraid o…" Jasper started but he was interrupted by Bella.

"Stop Jasper. Please. I never blamed you and I'm certainly not afraid of you."

Jasper must have felt Bellas sincerity as he smiled brighter than he had in months. All of us had told him that over the last few months but it seems as if he needed Bella to say it to see the truth behind the words.

"Lets get back to the car so we can drive home." I said and everyone nodded.

Bella started squirming in my arms. I came to a stop. "What's wrong sweetheart?"

"I can walk, you don't have to carry me" she whispered.

I smiled down at her. "Its alright darling I've got you. I really don't want you to move around too much in your condition and I must admit I quite enjoy carrying you around." I told her as I started walking again. She had stopped squirming but blushed instead.

"I'm fine." She told me stubbornly. I send her a look that told her that I did not believe her. We really had to teach her to stop saying she was fine all the time when she clearly wasn't. This was another thing that had always worried me slightly. Her constant assurance that she was fine even when she clearly wasn't. Was it just stubbornness? Not wanting to show weakness? Or something else entirely? Was she scared about admitting when she was hurt or scared? Why did she feel the need to assure everyone she was fine when she wasn't?

I could feel Edwards eyes on me as he listened to my thoughts and shook my head slightly. So many questions and no answers.

We finally arrived at the car. I gave my keys to Emmet and asked if one of them could drive so that Esme, Edward and I could sit with Bella, Alice and Jasper in the back. Emmet nodded but didn't get in the car yet .Instead, he opened the back door for me and then proceeded to get the blankets from the trunk. Jasper followed and got the the drinking bottle and stuffed animal for Bella before closing the trunk again.

I carefully put Bella in one of the middle seats and strapped her in, then took the blankets from Emmet, thanking him. I wrapped the blankets tightly around Bella, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep warm on her own. I stroked the hair away from her face looking into her eyes. "Are you comfortable like this? Do you need anything else?" I asked her.

"No, this is great, thank you." She whispered. I could hear from her voice that she was telling the truth.

Jasper was handing me the bottle now. "Can you drink something for me? Its apple juice?" She nodded and I handed her the bottle but supported her arm as she lifted it in order to drink. She drank a few sips, then handed it back.

"How about some crackers?" I asked her next but she shook her head weakly. I had already expected that. Edward sat down next to her and put his arm around her. She in turn rested her head on his shoulder.

Jasper and Emmet handed her the stuffed animal then and she looked up at them surprised."Is this for me?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course its for you. We thought you'd maybe like something to cuddle", Emmet told her, grinning.

"Hey don't cry, don't you like it? We can get you something else.", he asked her as he saw tears pooling in Bellas eyes, streaming down her face. He wiped them away gently as Bella hugged the small mountain lion tightly to her.

"Thank you. It's perfect." She whispered, making both of them smile.

"You're welcome" they both told her and then everyone proceeded to take a seat. Esme next to Bella. Alice and Jasper opposite them. Before I sat down I carefully touched Bellas cheeks, then her forehead with the back of my hand to feel for a fever. When I felt none, I kissed the top of her head, told her to try to sleep a little and sat down as well.

"Don't want to sleep" she mumbled. I chuckled. Our Bella was still as stubborn as ever.

She suddenly straightened in her seat. "I should probably tell you about the wolves." She whispered. "What wolves?" I asked gently, confused . Edward made her lean against him again as she answered "They killed Victoria in our meadow when she tried to kill me. Jacob and the others I mean. You triggered the werewolf gene again when you moved to Forks."

I saw Edward hold her a little tighter, reassuring himself that she was still alive in his arms as we all stared at her in shock.

"Victoria had been in Forks and she tried to kill you?" I wanted to be sure I understood correctly.

She nodded. "The wolves saved me just in time. She wanted revenge on all of you."

We were so lucky that Bella was still with us and I made a mental note to send a thank you to the wolves later. We still didn't have the best relationship with them but all of us kept to the treaty and we accepted each other.

Edward kissed Bellas forehead, telling her that he loved her and that he was grateful someone protected her when he didn't. "Luv u too" she mumbled incoherently, slowly drifting off to sleep. Edward started humming her lullaby and she was completely asleep within seconds. He continued humming for a while, probably to make sure she wouldn't wake up again.

"What are we going to do now?" Edward asked quietly, looking at me once he stopped humming.

"We'll take Bella back to Charlie for now and I'll talk to him. I hope he'll let me treat her and take her with us for a while after she has rested some. We'll tell him that I had a job offer I couldn't refuse and that you thought it would hurt both of you less if you broke up and stopped all contact. That you hoped she would get over you quicker if she thought you didn't love her anymore. And about Bella's disappearance, we'll say Alice took Bella to you when she realized both of you wouldn't overcome this break up and needed each other." I looked up at Alice. " Will this work?"

She closed her eyes for a second and frowned. "I can't see Charlie very clearly at the moment, I think it's the wolves that mess with my visions. I'm sorry. But I don't think he'll refuse to let you treat her. He seemed exhausted and sad and helpless when he told me about her. He didn't know how to help her and I think if he thinks there is any chance at you getting her better he'll take it. He won't be too mad about our leaving as I texted him the whole time so he wouldn't worry too much. I'm sorry that I can't tell you for sure, though"

"It's okay Alice. It's not your fault. Thank you for trying. And thank you for thinking so far ahead and texting Charlie. I'm sure it will help us a great deal as will be a little less mad at us. Does everyone agree with the plan?" They all nodded and I relaxed against my seat a little.

The rest of the car drive was relatively quiet. All of us were conversing in hushed tones with our mates and Edward continued humming to Bella after our conversation was over.

We arrived at Charlies house around 7pm. Bella was still sleeping. I didn't want to wake her so I carefully extracted her from the blankets and picked her up with the stuffed mountain lion still tightly in her arms. She stirred a little and I hushed her, telling her to keep sleeping, that it was alright.

I was glad when Charlie opened the door without me having to knock as I was afraid it would have woken Bella. He looked at her worriedly. Only when I said his name and greeted him did he look up at me. "She fell asleep in the car and I didn't want to wake her. Do you want to take her?"

He nodded and I carefully handed her over to him.

"I'll take her up to bed. Please come in, all of you" he said looking at the car where the others still were. "I want to talk to you."

I was glad he wanted to talk to us, hopefully he would give us a chance to explain but I was a little confused that he wanted all of us to come in. He hurried up the steps with Bella in his arms and I nodded to the others who understood and came to the door and then inside with me. We heard Bella wake up shortly when Charlie tucked her in. He admonished her disappearance gently making her promise not to worry him so much ever again even though Alice had texted him. She apologized and told him she loved him. I had to smile at myself when I heard Charlie giving Bella a kiss on her forehead. As soon as she fell asleep again, he came back downstairs and we braced ourselves for the upcoming conversation.