Chapter 19: parents and child.
Bella pov:
" I think it might be better if we paused for today. " her grandfather spoke as he suddenly came between Bella and her mother.
Bella stared at him in confusion. What was he doing? Why couldn't she talk to her mother?
"Duncan? What do you think you're doing?" her mother questioned in anger.
"you are tired. Bella is tired. Why don't you talk to her tomorrow morning when tensions aren't so high? Besides we don't want to stress Bella out, it seems she is pregnant after all?" he questioned. Looking down at Bella for confirmation.
With a sigh, she nodded. It had been a stressful few days and she truly just wanted to sleep.
"oh my gosh.. oh my gosh… Bella, you are really pregnant?" her mother questioned. " I thought Joy was lying.."
Bella held her breath as she waited for the moment of truth. Her mother was going to be mad. She had already been uncomfortable when she married Edward, but now this. Pregnant at 19. It was everything her mother didn't want for her. She squeezed her eyes shut waiting for Renee's reprimand.
However, her mother surprised her.
"oh, Bella. My sweet baby girl. Can I hug you?"
Bella opened her eyes looking at her mother in shock.
"o-of course Mom. You've never asked before."
"Well, you've never seen me almost kill someone." Her mother told her.
It was then Bella felt her mother pull her into a hug. And it was then memories began to swim before her. every single time her mother made a mistake, the memory was chased away with something good. Anytime, Bella had been left waiting on the stairs of the school after hours, it was replaced with her and Renee cuddling on the couch and laughing.
It was then what the old man had said a while ago hit Bella.
"yes, Renee does have her problems. She had you when she was young and she felt like her whole life had stopped. But please do not doubt her love for you. She loves you in her own way. you should give her a call. she's been worried about you. Charlie can only stall her temporarily. Eventually, she will want to find you and that won't be good if those soulless creatures that are lurking around her for information. I have kept you hidden Isabella but your choices affect that if you leave my covering."
It was right there and then, that Bella couldn't doubt her mother's love for her.
" Let's talk tomorrow morning. I don't want to stress you out anymore. I need the sleep myself."
With that said her mother kissed her on the forehead and headed towards the guesthouse.
As soon as her mother was in the house, Bella turned to see Quil putting his mother in their truck while Big Quil and his wife were making more room.
Once joy was settled in the truck, Quil turned towards her, sorrow in his eyes.
" come Bella let's get you off your feet." Her grandfather ordered.
Bella however didn't move, she wanted to see Quil. needed to see him. To make sure he was ok.
"Quil?" she called out.
He was standing in front of her before she could even blink.
His fingertips trembling as he resisted the urge to touch her.
" are the three of you ok?" he asked softly with worry in his eyes.
Bella placed a hand over her womb, where their pups lie protected and cherished.
"we are ok. I promise."
"good. Get some rest, I have to work tomorrow but I will call you in the morning."
"Sleep well Q."
" get some rest. All of you."
….
Bella jumped at the sound of thunder. She had been having a nightmare.
Edward's red eyes watching her from the shadows.
She couldn't do this. Sit by idly while he practically stalked her.
Her hands rested on her abdomen as nausea hit her.
"Ohh, come on babies." She groaned as she stood.
Maybe some ginger tea and soup would help.
She couldn't help but smile as four sets of snores rocked the house.
It seemed snoring was a genetic thing in the swan family.
"oh yeah that's right we're not swans." She muttered aloud.
Exhaustion and confusion filled her as she thought about the past two weeks.
She had been lied to by both her parents. First her father not being honest about his true heritage and then her mother with her strange powers.
But Bella had hidden secrets of her own, so she couldn't be too angry with them. She just wanted to know why. And what that meant for her.
Soft whispers and the dim light from the kitchen brought her out of her thoughts.
When she opened the kitchen door, she was surprised to see both her parents wide away and talking lowly.
They were holding hands.
"Mom, Dad?"
Her parents quickly separated and looked up.
"oh Bella, you should be sleeping." Her mother chided.
"I couldn't sleep. I ..was having nightmares of Edward."
"he won't get near you, Bella. We can promise that." Her mother said confidently
"no, you can't promise that Mom. You have no idea who we are dealing with."
Her mother let out a dark laugh as her eyes flashed green.
"sit down baby girl. I think it's time we all talked."
"anything I can get you, bells?" her father asked
"some ginger tea and some soup would be nice. It should already be in the fridge."
Once she ate her soup and ginger tea, she pushed it away and looked at her parents.
"I want the truth. All of it."
"I'll go first," Charlie said as he sat up straight and looked her in the eyes.
" I should have told you everything from the start but.. we didn't want you involved in the family politics."
"We?" she questioned.
" yes, we." Her mother said as she reached over and grabbed her father's hand again.
It was then Bella noticed her mother's wedding ring was missing.
She didn't ask but filed it away for later.
"Bella, I was born and raised in Forks. But that didn't mean It was a happy time. My mother Helena Roscoe, married Jean Swan. A few years later I was born but..I wasn't Jean's son. My mother had an affair with a man named Duncan Alvarez. He didn't know she was married. As soon as she found out she was pregnant, she broke the affair off and told Jean they were having a baby. Jean not thinking his wife would ever cheat on him was happy as can be. So I was born and everything was alright in the swan's world. Until Duncan showed up at the door one day. That's when everything was revealed. Duncan wanted to claim me as his kid, jean was pissed at your grandmother. They hadn't had any kids after me. so Jean did not allow his pride to go down the drain. Did some investigating on Duncan. Found out he was from a small yet prestigious family here in New Mexico. Jean came down here and told the Alvarez family what Duncan had done. and that right there had sealed the deal. The Alvarez family didn't want some half-breed in their mix, not to mention how it would look their oh-so-prestigious reputation. They made Duncan come home and I never existed. I was raised as a swan from there. it wasn't until I was seventeen years old that I got to meet Duncan. It was my mother doing. She couldn't let me not meet my biological father. we stayed in contact from there on out, but it was hard. Your grandfather comes from a family who isn't fond of white people, even if they are family."
Bella blinked back tears when she thought about the rejection her father probably went through with both sides of the family. An angry and embarrassed stepfather and father who wanted you but couldn't have you.
"then what happened?" she asked.
"Well, once I turned twenty and married your mother, your grandfather Duncan took over as head of the Alvarez family, he was free to be in our lives."
"and I hadn't met him because?"
Charlie sighed.
"I didn't want you to be put through the rejection I went through. As you can see your aunt Brigette still holds some of those prejudices. But looking back on it, I should have allowed him to be in your life. He could have warned you about Edward, with Duncan being a shapeshifter and all."
"do you shapeshift?" she questioned.
"nope."
"Can Aunt Brigette?"
"yeah. She's really good too. Strong, skilled fighter. Maybe when she gets over her racism, im sure she'd love you."
Bella nodded and then turned to her mother.
"your turn Mom."
Bella watched as her mother squeezed Charlie's hands, tears brewing in her eyes.
"Bella. No matter what you think of me after this. Please just know that …I have always loved you."
"I know you love me Mom. Now please tell me the truth."
" I was born to a dying clan. We were a people of many gifts. Some could bring happiness to others. Some could read and see the bonds between other people. And then you had a select few of us who could create a shield to protect others and move things with our minds. When you turned three months old, a group of supernatural creatures destroyed my side of the family. Your grandmother Marie, and I were the only ones left. She could make people happy and I had telekinesis plus my shield. I had to make a choice. I had to leave forks …and your father."
Bella's eyes widened.
"wait, you didn't leave Dad because you were unhappy?" she questioned.
Renee laughed and wiped her eyes.
"oh heavens no, Bella. I loved forks. I loved the small-town vibe. Spending my days on the reservation, helping Sarah, and then teaching pottery at the Forks Community Center. I wouldn't have traded it for the world if I could have. But.. we were under threat and being watched. I had to take you and leave. And I had to break your father's heart. I needed whoever was watching me, to think I was fed up with my life in forks. If they saw that I didn't care then they wouldn't come after your dad. Not to mention I couldn't leave you with your father defenseless, or they would kill you both."
"so you lied? Did you lie to Dad? To me?" Bella questioned.
"yes. it was a lie. All of it. I would have never left your father, or taken you away from him if we had the choice. Not to mention, the fake divorce."
"fake divorce?!" Bella and Charlie exclaimed at the same time.
This time, Renee turned her attention to Charlie.
" we…never divorced Charlie. it was all a lie."
"wait a second Renee! What about the court papers? And the lawyer! and the papers I signed!" Charlie questioned.
"all fake for the benefit of our stalkers. Please hear me out, Charlie. Your parents were old, and you didn't have the money to go through some long drawn-out divorce! I used that for my benefit to keep my family safe. I needed our enemy to see that this was the real deal."
Charlie stood and shook his head.
"you mean all this time, were still married? What about Phil? You married him!"
Renee shook her head.
"that was fake. Phil was an old friend of my family who was trying to protect us. As soon as Bella landed safely in Forks, we split up. he just hung around to make sure we were ok."
" but I mourned you, Renee. I mourned us! you took not only my daughter but my best friend. You were it for me!"
Bella felt her heart break for her father, his face was showing a lot of emotion she was not used to seeing.
"And you are it for me, Charlie. always have been, and always will be. You have to understand I was trying to protect you both. I couldn't lose you, Charlie."
"and yet I lost everything!" Charlie exclaimed.
Bella watched as her mother stood and slowly approached her father.
With gentle hands, she cupped her father's face.
Bella felt moved by the love she saw in their eyes.
It was then she could see her parents for who they truly were.
In their hearts, they were still 19 and 20 years old, still hanging on to the love that brought them together in the first place.
"is the threat gone?" Charlie asked swallowing hard.
"yes. killed them before I got to the airport."
"Mom? Who were they?" Bella asked.
"children of the moon. The last of them anyway. They wanted revenge for what our family did to them."
"wait? Our family? What did we do?" Bella asked.
"thousands of years ago. Your great uncle….Aro, I think his name was he made a vendetta to kill off the children of the moon. They were too unstable. Unfortunately, the ones who remained tracked down Aro's descendants and killed most of them. You and I are the only remaining ones."
Bella felt her heart stop. At the name.
It couldn't be.
There was no way.
"Mom… what was their last name? Aro? What was his last name?"
"Volturi? I think. why?"
Bella passed out.