Edward's P.O.V
It was hard to understand. It was hard for everyone to understand. Almost five minutes after James left, Bella woke up feeling better but she still had that sick look on her face. Her skin was slightly paler and there was a dark shadow under her eyes that began to grow darker and darker by the minute. Lilly helped her out with some tea and something to eat while I asked her to explain to me what was her plan.
She said the only thing that mattered for her was safety. She didn't say hey safety, simply safety. Not long after James came back with a little girl, she couldn't have been older than a year or two. What left everyone in shock was the fact that by one quick look at Bella, the little girl jumped out of James grasp and ran to her, calling her Ma. Bella caught her in her arms and hugged her tightly against her, kissing her repeatedly.
We were all speechless and for one single moment I thought that little girl was actually her daughter. But she wasn't, it was obvious. That little blonde, blue eyed angel couldn't be Bella's. They were the exact opposite and yet this girl called her Ma and Bella treated her as if she was her own.
Bella, noticing my confusion, explained it all to me and for a second, it all made sense.
Bella wanted to come back almost two years ago. She wanted to see me, talk to me and explain what had happened but Irina - her half sister - showed up at her doorstep with a major problem in hands. She was pregnant and the father of the child had bailed on her once he knew about her, so Irina went in search for her sister's help. Bella couldn't deny helping her so she held back her original plans.
Bella says Irina was fine during the first months of the pregnancy, she even thought of a name for Mia. Once she was close to her due date things got to real for Irina, she realized she wasn't ready to be a mother and it was too late for an abortion. Bella said she was disgusted by her sister when she said that and even more disgusted when she said she had planned leaving the baby at the hospital.
"You can understand my point of view," Bella said as she played with Mia's hair. "Coming from a mother who didn't want me, I knew what it felt like and thinking my own niece could go through that... I didn't think about it. I told Irina I'd take her daughter, that I'll raise her as my own if she signed her rights away to me. Irina accepted immediately.
"After Mia was born, it wasn't even a day later when Irina signed her rights away. I was scared by them, I thought to myself, 'what have I done? If Irina wasn't ready to raise a child, how was I ready for one? I can barely take care of myself.' Then I was mad, mad because I added one more innocent life to Charlie's kill list."
Irina was captured by Charlie over eight months ago, she was with a boyfriend at a bar in Ireland when they caught her when they caught her. That's why they ran again but Bella didn't want to go anywhere but here.
That night both James and I agreed that it was better for Bella to stay here. Bella didn't agree but it was both our word against hers, she had no other choice but to stay. Mia stayed as well. She was already asleep by the time Jacob, Lilly and James left so I carried her to my bedroom and laid her on the bed.
When I came back to the living room, Bella was trying to get off the couch but seemed to be having trouble with it. I rushed over to her.
"What are you doing?"
She sat back down on the couch and let out a deep sigh. She looked very exhausted, even in pain. "I wanted to walk... You don't have to give us your room."
"Yes, I have. Now let me carry you there."
She looked at me and narrowed her eyes. "You really want to carry me?"
I shrug. "You can't weight more than 20 pounds," I joked as I swept her in my arms. "Wow, you're even lighter than Mia."
She laughed, it was a childish laugh that brought a blush to her cheeks. That's when it hit me, Bella was in my arms. Weaker than before but it was still her. It was her warmth radiating from her to me as I carried her to my bedroom. She stayed silent as I laid her on my bed and covered both her and Lilly.
"You can sleep as much as you want, I'll be in the living room. Call me if you need me," I told her as I fixed the bed.
She took my hand in hers, keeping me from moving away from her. I looked at her as she looked at our joined hands and caressed mine with her thumb.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
She shrugged. "I... I want to apologize, Edward. I'm sorry." She looked at me in the eyes, hers filled with tears. "I'm very sorry that I ruined your life, that I lied and manipulated you, Jacob, Rosalie... Your family. I'm sorry. You have every right to hate me, I am everything you believe me to be. A bitch, a heartless monster." She paused and sobbed. "God, I am my mother."
"No, no you're not." I sat on the bed next to her. "You went through sixteen years of neglect and abuse from your own mother and apart from that your own father is after you. I can't say that I understand what it is like to be in your shoes, to live through what you have lived through, but I am no one to judge."
She looked at me and shook her head. "But I can't be forgiven, can I?" She laughed and wiped her tears away. "Do you seriously believe that after all the horrible things that I've done, anyone would forgive me?" She paused. "I'm not the girl I used to be, Edward. I'm not strong, I'm scared. I'm frighten for me, for Mia, for James, for you, for everyone that I know. Can I ever be forgiven?"
"That's up to you. If indeed you have change then that's what you have to prove it."
That gave her something to think about. I wished her a goodnight and left the room with nothing else to say.
That night I'd say I was rather sleepless. My mind was roaming through all over the things that happened today. Bella's weak condition, Charlie still haunting her life and adoptive mother of her own niece. That little girl obviously loves her, I saw the way she gripped herself to Bella, how she ran to her the moment she saw her and I know, I can see it in Bella's eyes that she loves her as well.
The next morning I was woken by a light patting on my face. When I opened my eyes I saw two pairs of blue eyes looking at me.
"Hey," I said as I stood up.
Mia smiles at me and reaches up to me. She's adorable, her cheeks are cubby and when she smiles she has small dimples. Her eyes are wide and big, make the blue in them pop out. Her straight blonde hair is a current mess, I think she might be hungry. Shit, I don't think I have anything to feed a baby.
I take her in my arms and sit her on my lap. "Hey, little girl, you hungry?"
She nodded without losing her cute smile.
"Is Ma still sleeping?"
She nodded again.
"Okay, okay," I said patting her back. "Let's go check on Ma first then we can make something for breakfast, does that sound good?"
Mia nodded her head. I have no idea if she understands what I'm saying but I will just go with she does.
When I opened the bedroom door, Bella is laying on her side on the bed. She's sound asleep. I watch her carefully just to make sure she's breathing, once I see her chest raise and drop a couple of times, I gently close the door.
I look at Mia and say, "Do you like pancakes?"
She jumped in my arms. "Cakes, cakes!"
I smile at her. "I'll take that as a yes."
Let's just say that trying to make pancakes with a once and a half year old is nothing but fun and it left my kitchen a total mess. One hour later I place a plate filled with twelve pancakes on the table and sit Mia on my lap so she could reach.
"You like chocolate in your milk?" I ask her as I pour milk on the smallest cup I have in my kitchen.
"She loves chocolate." I turn to the hallway where Bella stands, looking at us with a smile. She looks so much better now, there's color on her face and her eyes look brighter. "Something smells good."
I smile at her. "This little girl and I made some pancakes for breakfast. Come on, sit down."
Bella walked over and sat beside me. Mia reached out toward her and wrapped her arms around her. Bella takes her gladly and kisses the top of her head before sitting her on her lap.
"Oh, God, what happened in there?" Bella asked looking at the mess in the kitchen.
I shrug with a smile. "We got a little out of hand with the ingredients."
Bella laughed. "I'll clean it up."
"You don't have to-"
"You cooked breakfast, the least I could do is help you clean the mess my little girl did."
I smile at her and say, "Fine but I'll help you. Now, let's have some breakfast."
PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:
I hate lectures, I really do but this is something I must do.
A couple day ago I was at school and when I checked my phone while I was on nutrition break, I was shocked to see some comments on this story that left me practically speechless. I won't say who the people were, I'm pretty sure they are aware of who they are but I will say what happened. They each started to insult each other, it went from attitude to telling each other to fuck off and calling each other idiots. I guess you can say I was shocked to read this.
Here's the thing, I love writing. It's my passion and I love to share it with everyone but I DO NOT take my time off my studying time, the time I could use to spend with my family to write these stories that I love so much only to see people insult each other in the comment section. I HATE when people disrespect each other, I HATE fighting and that wasn't only disrespectful towards each other but it is disrespectful for the people who read them and for me.
I did tell them that was something childish and immature to do. The comments have been deleted but this is what I want to ask EVERYONE: Please respect one another. You can make fun of the characters in the stories, call them names, insult their poor decision making. By all means, go ahead and do it if you want. Those comments make me laugh, they make my day. What I don't want to see is people disrespecting each other. I hate it with a passion, you have no idea how much I hate it.
I hate these type of things, I'm not a mean person. I love each and every one of you and thank you for your support, but that's all I ask for. RESPECT. If you hate the story, don't read it. If you dislike people who comment, ignore them. I don't want to see hate comments, insults, PROFANITY on my work.
If you don't have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.
I hope we all are mature to understand what I'm asking for and I hope things like this won't happen again.
And for those who like to insult people and disrespect them, then I'll politely ask you not to comment in my stories anymore.
I love you all and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Have a nice weekend!
Vote!
Comment with respect towards each other!
~Joan0324