Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters.

August 1, 1942…

Bella

"Oh, my dear, let me help you with that." Henry stood from the coffee table and rushed up to me, taking both cups of tea from my hands and nodding back toward the table. "Go on, have a seat."

"Thank you."

I took a seat at the coffee table or more likely fell into it, my belly wasn't helping much. Henry placed the cup of tea in front of me and then took a seat across from me, still holding his cup.

"When are you due?" He asked, setting his cup down.

"Beginning of October," I said. He hummed to himself and a heavy silence fell between us. I fidget with the handle of my cup. "Do you have children?"

I knew Kate's letter said he had a son, but I wasn't comfortable openly asking about his son when we barely knew each other.

"Yes, a boy. Just turned fifteen."

"Lovely."

"He really is."

Once again, silence fell upon us. You could hear nothing but the tick of the clock down the hall.

I cleared my throat, shifted in my seat and said, "So, I assume you'd be my father's…"

"Brother. Older brother by two years," he said.

"Brother?"

"You sound surprised," he said with a slight chuckle.

"Because I am," I admitted. "If I'm honest, up until recently I didn't think I had more family outside of my parents. My father never mentioned he had a brother, ever." I paused, thinking it over. "What about my grandparents?"

"They have both since passed," he said quietly. "It's only me and my family."

"Ah…" well, that was that. "Can I ask, why is it you never came to visit? Why would my father not have said he had a brother?"

"Frankly, I am not sure." Henry shifted in his seat as well. "After he and your mother moved out of Chicago, we were in constant contact. I didn't know they had children after Alice. Last I heard, Alice was a newborn before the letters stopped. I tried reaching out to your father several times over the years, but never got a response. After some while, I decided to leave it be. I figured one day he'd reach out. I wasn't expecting you to be the one reaching out."

"And to sign it off as a Cullen?"

Henry laughed at that.

"Oh trust me, my dear, for a second I thought it was a joke. A damn good one at that."

"Why is that?" I leaned forward on the coffee table. "What happened between the Cullen's and my father?"

Henry took a sip of his tea.

"Well, first I need to know what you know."

"Honestly, I hardly know anything. But let me give you the basics of what I know."

I gave him a quick retelling of why Alice and I were in Pearl Harbor, how I met Edward and our rocky relationship, how I had no idea we were tied from the moment we met by whatever happened between our families. I told him about my father's reaction the day of the funeral when he saw me hugging Edward and how he'd cut me off for being acquainted with him, and I told him what Edward's mother had said to me the day she came by the house to tell me Edward was supposedly engaged to Tanya Denali.

Henry listened to it all, not once interrupting me. He simply listened, fascinated even. When I was done, he simply chuckled to himself and took another sip of his tea.

"Fate has a wicked sense of humor," he said after he was done.

"It would seem like it."

He cleared his throat and leaned on the table. "Well, let me tell you the story from my perspective, okay?"

I nodded, sitting up eager to listen to what he had to say.

"We grew up with the Cullen's. Our father's were business partners, so as children me, your father and Edward Sr would often run off together, getting into all sorts of trouble. We were all very good friends, but of course as time went by, I got older and with that came new responsibilities so my time spent with your father and Edward was cut indefinitely. But they always remained close. By the time they reached their adolescence, things began to change as well. They started noticing different things, different people I may say. Women. And there was one woman specifically that had caught your father's attention and I'm sure you can guess who that woman was."

"My mother?"

"Precisely. Your mother. God, you look so much like her, at least from what I remember the last time I saw her." He shook his head, a little smile playing on his lips. "But yes, your father was captivated by your mother. In love with her, actually. But your mother's attention was elsewhere. With Edward Sr."

My eyebrows shot up.

Well, I was certainly not expecting to hear that.

"My mother was in love with Edward Sr?"

"Oh, very much so. And your father was immensely jealous. It affected his friendship with Edward Sr when he began courting her."

"He courted her?"

"Yes. But then the war came and they were deployed. From what your father told me, Edward Sr was quite the rake while they were overseas. Bedded as many women as he could, and even fathered a child. Your father already had animosity towards Edward Sr when your mother chose him, and to see him with all those women, disrespecting your mother at that, well, that only made his hatred for him grow. When they finally came back home, your father told Edward Sr he had to come clean to your mother because she at least deserved that. It was an ultimatum, you tell her or I will. Edward Sr simply laughed it off and did perhaps worse."

"What did he do?"

Henry's lips tightened.

"Weeks after they came back, your father ran into your mother at the park and he said she'd been crying. He sat with her and tried to coax whatever was troubling her out of her, and he said it took some time, but she finally said what was troubling her. Edward Sr was engaged to Elizabeth Watson, a marriage arranged by their families while he was at war. But that was not the only thing that had your mother in tears, it was the broken promises. The fact that she had trusted him and… gave into him so to speak, thinking he'd marry her."

At that moment, I felt my jaw drop. My mother? With Edward's father? And he left her?

"She then told your father she was with child."

I fell back against my seat, dumbfounded. My mother was pregnant? Whatever happened to that baby?

"Your father in anger went after Edward Sr and told him he couldn't just abandon your mother, that he had to marry her and care for the child, but he said his hands were tied. That he had to marry Elizabeth and his family would never allow him to acknowledge the child as his. Your father knew that this would ruin your mother if word got out she was pregnant and out of wedlock, so that is when he came to me."

"He decided he would marry her?"

"To save her from social ruin? Yes, he would. And he would care for the child like it was his. He loved your mother that much. But unfortunately before we could even announce the engagement, word got out of your mother's pregnancy and the backlash her family received… Well, it was horrific to witness. Your father was convinced the Cullen's had spread the rumor of her pregnancy in attempts to ruin the Dwyer family as they were in competing business with them. And they surely achieved that. But your father kept his word, he married your mother and the two of them moved out of Chicago to get away from the scrutiny.

"Your father has always been convinced it was the Cullen's who spread the word of your mother's pregnancy. But if I'm honest, I highly doubt it would've been them."

"How so?"

"Well, if they'd done that, then everyone would've known it was Edward Sr who fathered the child. Everyone knew he'd been courting Renee. They would've been met with the same backlash, albeit not as bad as the one your mother was met with, but still. They are a smart family, Isabella. It couldn't have been them."

"Well, then who? Who could've also known about my mother's pregnancy?"

The corner of Henry's lip twitched in distaste.

"Well, I do believe it was Jane Vulturi, but your father never listened to me whenever I brought it up."

Cold chills ran down the back of my neck at the mention of Jane Vulturi.

"Jane? Well… how does Jane fit into all this?"

"She's the woman who Edward Sr fathered a child with while he was overseas. She immigrated here after she found out she was pregnant and she was met with the same treatment as your mother. Edward Sr never recognized the child as his. And I've only met Jane briefly, but even then I knew something wasn't right with her. The woman could be vengeful. I have no doubt in my mind that she spread the word of your mother's pregnancy in hopes to ruin the Cullen's and get back at Edward Sr, but like I said, your father never listened to me. They've always had a bond that was born over their hatred for the Cullen's, so much so I believe he took her under his wing when Edward Sr turned her away."

I leaned forward again. "You're telling me Marcus Vulturi is… is…"

"Your husband's brother? Yes, he is."

It was as if the world had stopped spinning. Marcus was Edward's half brother. Jane was… wait…

Realization hit me like a punch in the gut.

I didn't know they had children after Alice.

He would care for the child like it was his.

Alice.

Alice was Edward's half sister…

My Mary Alice…

"She doesn't know," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Alice doesn't know."

Henry sighed, looking down at his cup. "I doubted she would ever know. But it's the truth. That is why your father married your mother, why they left Chicago."

"Because he thinks the Cullen's spread the word of my mother's pregnancy. But you believe it was Jane."

"Yes, I believe it was. But I don't know for a fact, as far as I know, it could've been them."

But if Jane was angry enough at Edward Sr for refusing to acknowledge their child as his, she could have, and like Henry said, the Cullen's would have risked their own ruin if they spread the rumor.

It made sense now why my father was so angry when he found out about me and Edward.

Now tell me, did he already take advantage of you? Huh? Did he already compromise you?

He saw Edward just like his father.

But Edward was nothing like his father and he shouldn't be judged for something his father did before he was even born.

"What are you thinking, Isabella?" Henry asked.

"I have to go home."

Henry stayed in Pearl Harbor for a week after his arrival. Fortunately, since there was no bad blood between him and Carlisle, they got along just well and he reiterated the story to Carlisle and Esme about what happened between my father and Edward Sr. Needless to say, they were shocked as well.

His company was very much welcomed and I got to learn more about the family I didn't know I had.

I decided to go home in September. My father had mentioned in his letter that Alice would be in Forks in September, and she deserved to know the truth. I thought many times about writing to her and telling her, but frankly, Alice deserved to know the truth in person and not by a letter. And I needed to confront my father and Jane, and see if she truly was the one who spread the news about my mother's pregnancy like Henry believed.

"If you're set on going to Forks, then at least allow me to go with you," Esme said one afternoon as we made dinner. "You're due in a couple of weeks, I worry the whole situation will stress you."

"I couldn't possibly ask you to do that, Esme."

"I'm with Esme," Carlisle said. "I would feel much more comfortable with her accompanying you. It's a long journey and it won't be an easy one, Isabella."

I wouldn't be opposed to traveling with Esme. Truth be told, having Esme as support while I confronted my father would be smart. I'd grown very attached to her and sometimes it feels as if she knew me better than I knew myself.

"If it's not too much to ask," I said, rubbing a hand down my belly, marveling at the feeling of my baby moving inside me. My little nudger. That little piece of Edward that I had with me.

Esme took my hand, giving me a gentle squeeze. "Anything you need, sweet girl."

August 25, 1942

Carlisle

"Doctor Cullen, everything okay? You've been staring at that letter for a minute now."

I snap out of my trance, folding the letter and quickly pocketing it in my white coat.

"Everything's fine, Lydia. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office."

Lydia nods.

I stride down the hospital halls until I reach my office and lock the door behind me. It takes a moment for me to control my ragged breathing as I pull out my son's letter and read it again.

And hope against all hope that what I'm reading is not correct.

Father,

I'm sure you're wondering why I sent this letter to the hospital rather than home, but I couldn't risk Mother seeing it was for me and opening it herself.

I have news and frankly I am scared. Edward was sent on a mission to Japan with several other pilots, but there was word just last week that there was an ambush. Edward is missing. They located the plane not too far from where they'd been ambushed and from the looks of it, he might've lost an engine during the battle. But he's a damn good pilot, Dad. He landed that thing, but now the only thing that is missing is him.

Our commander fears he might've been taken by enemy soldiers. I have hope he is still out there, but no resources are being sent to locate him as of yet. I wanted to let you know because I trust your judgment. I just hope we are able to find him and that he is safe.

I love you.

Your son,

Seth.

Author's Note:

So Bella finally knows the truth about what happened between the families! And Edward is missing... yikes. Also, this story is coming close to an end! Still not sure how many chapters, but we're close to wrapping up!