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Chapter 24: Origin
First Floor People
Who am I to fool now if you're gone, you're gone?
If I am found below the ground
I'm searching, desperate.
Prepared people, take your places on deck.
I'm a lost boy with no one to tell me I am safe
And when you find yourself riding in the center of the vortex of unknown, your lungs feel like they're compressed. You wait to breathe that sigh of relief or feel a crushing blow aimed right at your heart. The unknown can be thrilling, it can be scary and it can be lonely.
Then again, it could be all three at once, which is exactly what I discovered as I stood there with that picture in my hand. It was a mystery I couldn't make sense of.
This woman, whose face wasn't just beautiful but appeared kind, smiled at the person behind the lens, her green eyes so hopeful. It was a close-up shot, which made her features very easily seen. She was young, eighteen maybe. Her hand was positioned against her cheek, hair nearly the same color as Edward's blowing in the wind, a stray strand covering one of her fingers.
The backdrop was a meadow of some kind. There appeared to be lots of trees, along with wild flowers that tried to make their presence known even though the camera cut off much of their view.
I held that picture in my hand, whose edges were a little frayed, my body stock still, trying to find something to debunk what my brain was screaming at me, but I always came back to the same conclusion. This woman, she looked like Edward, so much that it was eerie. That realization aired a lot of questions, like a bunch of pistons firing off in my brain, but it all led to the biggest question of all… How was it even possible?
"What do you got there?" I never heard Alice move toward me… or even felt her peering around my arm.
I answered her, though I didn't recognize my voice when I did, but my eyes stayed on the picture practically glued to my fingertips. "Who… who is this?"
She grabbed the picture from my hand, but not without resistance I didn't realize I was giving. She stared at it, the smile on her face becoming a frown. "This was my Aunt Elizabeth, my mom's younger sister."
Even through the shock I caught the obvious innuendo, but I still asked the question anyhow. "What do you mean 'was'?"
Her shoulders slouched, her words carried a saddened undertone. "She died… before I was born."
My chest constricted. I felt the loss of this woman, whom I'd never even met, all because she looked so much like the man that was a part of my soul.
"How… how did she die?"
Alice leaned against the boxes the pictures were in. "I don't really know all the details. My mom doesn't talk about it much."
"So you don't even know what happened to her?" I asked.
"I think I was around seven, and my mom and I were sitting in that old recliner she used to have, the one she kept reupholstering until my dad talked her into getting rid of it, like, two years ago. You remember the one I'm talking about, right?" I nodded. "She was showing me some family pictures. Most of them I hadn't seen before. We came across one of my Aunt Elizabeth. I asked who she was, and my mom began telling me about her. I was curious, because what she said wasn't that much, so I started asking more questions. You know how I am.
"The only thing she told me was that they had had a fight when they were younger, and that fight led to them not speaking. She never said what the fight was about. I guess Elizabeth moved away after. I remember feeling my mom's tears landing on my arm as she spoke. She said she thought they'd have more time to be sisters again, but apparently, God wanted Elizabeth to come home."
"But did she say how she died?"
I realized how aggressive I sounded, and I'd have to be sure to apologize to Alice later, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the details were significant.
She shot me a quizzical look. "You really are curious about her, aren't you?"
"I just… well, I was looking through these pictures, and every picture has a story to tell. I guess I was just curious about hers. She looks happy here."
I couldn't tell her the truth, not without knowing what it was I was actually looking for.
"That makes sense," she responded, shrugging. "The pictures my mom has of Elizabeth are all before their falling out. But to answer your question, from what I was told, she died of a broken heart."
"A broken heart?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
Dread was attacking my insides like millions of tiny shards of glass. I couldn't explain, even understand why I felt the way I did, but looking at the face in the picture, the face that belonged to Elizabeth, I couldn't detach myself from the ominous feeling. There was something about this woman that felt important.
"What broke her heart?" My voice was raspy, sounding just as rough as I felt inside.
Alice exhaled, answering in a whisper, "A child."
"A child broke her heart?" I asked, incredulously.
She shook her head. "No. She lost a child. I guess the baby was stolen from her shortly after the birth. A year later he still hadn't been found, and she just gave up on everything, even her own life."
I had to lean against the box to hold myself up because my knees felt like buckling underneath me.
"She… killed herself?"
"No. I mean, not in the sense of overdosing or anything like that. She just didn't fight to live because she didn't want to."
"Oh God," I choked out. "That's just… that's…" I couldn't even finish.
"I know," she replied sullenly.
"How did your mom find out?"
Alice set the picture back in the box. "I don't know what brought it up because I stumbled in mid conversation and sort of eavesdropped on my parents talking one night in my dad's office, but I guess my mom never even knew Elizabeth had a baby until after she died. It's pretty sad, considering they were sisters, but I guess the fight between them was bad enough that they knew nothing about each other after it happened. She ended up finding out about the baby and her sister's death from Elizabeth's husband, and that wasn't until after the funeral."
"Did they ever find the baby?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so, at least not that my parents know about. If Elizabeth's husband did, he never told them about it."
"God, I'd certainly hope he'd have enough respect for his wife's sister to tell her if he had."
"Me too," she agreed.
"Why have I never heard about this before?" I questioned. "We've known each other forever, and I had no idea about any of this."
Alice arched an eyebrow. "Can you honestly say you've told me everything about your family?"
She had a point there. "Well, no, but I-"
"I didn't know her, Bella," she interrupted. "I never had a chance to know that part of my mom's life. And the way things ended between the two of them, constantly discussing it made her feel even guiltier."
"Is that why she never mentions her?"
The sadness in her expression deepened. "She does discuss her, but it's rare. I asked her not too long ago why she hardly talks about Elizabeth, thinking that if she did so it might help her, be therapeutic or something, and she said that she felt like she failed her sister, like she just walked away too easily. She didn't want to talk about it or have me worrying about it. She said I was too young to worry about things that couldn't be changed. She said she refused to put that weight on me.
"I didn't know my aunt, so there wasn't a connection formed between us, but I still hurt over her death because it hurt my mom. We kind of do stupid things when we're younger, you and I know that, but sometimes there's just no way to go back and change those mistakes. Sometimes you just run out of time to make things right. I guess people don't think about that before they do the things they do. We always think we have more time. I think her way of moving on is just by living, making sure she doesn't make the same mistakes with anyone else she loves."
"I can understand that."
"Me too." And just like that, she was ready to move on. Alice wasn't want for gloom. She stood up, shaking her head, her short hair bouncing with the movement. "Anyway, I think I've got enough pictures. How about we close these boxes up and head downstairs?"
As I placed the pictures that sat on the bed back in the box, making sure not to cover the picture of Elizabeth, I couldn't divert my eyes from it. I knew what I was thinking about doing was very wrong, but the need to do it surpassed the knowledge of how wrong it was. It was like an itch that wouldn't settle no matter how much you scratched it.
I grabbed the picture, stuffing it into the waistband of my jeans, and sealed up the box before following Alice back down to her room, listening to her prattle on about the ideas she had for the last scrapbook.
I wasn't sure what information I was going to gain from a picture, or why I was taking it to begin with, but I knew I had to have it, at the very least to show Marcus.
He was the only one I could approach right now with what I knew was probably complete craziness. As farfetched as my thinking was, I couldn't tell Alice, not yet. I wasn't going to build anyone's hopes, only to have them shattered later, especially on something that was just a whim.
The musing behind the picture would be chalked up as another one of the many secrets I'd been keeping lately.
-OO-OO-
I left Alice's house an hour later. She was still shrieking in excitement about meeting Edward. Of course that discussion was a nice distraction from my lingering thoughts of Elizabeth. I forced myself to use Alice's over enthusiasm as a weapon to stave off anything that could remotely be a buzzkill to what should be a happy moment; Edward was coming so far, and meeting anyone outside of me was a huge step for him.
When I arrived home, I noticed Rosalie's car parked behind Emmett's. I groaned as I turned the ignition off. I completely jinxed myself on the buzzkill front. Rosalie wasn't exactly my favorite person, and I certainly wasn't hers. She was hardly what you would call 'nice'.
I'd rather spend an evening with Mike Newton drooling all over me while immersed in an inane conversation where I spent the majority of the time watching the food stuck between his teeth move as he spoke. Good times, right?
I had no doubt the feeling was mutual on Rosalie's part. At least we knew where we stood concerning one another.
Charlie was seated in his rocker when I walked through the door. "Bells, is that you?"
"No, Dad," I called out, teasing. "It's the mailman."
"What?" I heard feet shuffling toward me. "The mailman doesn't come this late."
"She was being sarcastic, Emmett."
Emmett peeked around the corner, like there was actually a possibility I was the mailman. "Oh, it's just you."
I shook my head, laughing. "Uh, yeah, it's just me. I figured my voice would have given me away, but this is you we're talking about."
He promptly flipped me off. He was so full of brotherly love.
"Rosalie and Emmett bought pizza for dinner. It's on the counter."
"Okay, thanks," I answered back.
"Just grab some, and come join us for the movie."
I took my bag upstairs, placing the picture in the drawer of my nightstand, then headed back down to the kitchen, grabbing two slices of pizza and placing them on a plate. I made my way into the living room, choosing to sit on the loveseat because Rosalie and Emmett were on the couch.
"What are we watching?" I asked no one in particular.
Rosalie chose to answer me in a curt manner. "A Time to Kill. Emmett picked it out."
I glanced at her. "And you like this?"
It wasn't meant to be snarky, though that's how it came out. That was just our way. I refused to let her walk all over me. But I was legitimately curious as to why she'd be watching a movie like A Time to Kill. It didn't seem to be something that would warrant her attention.
"Well, yeah. Hello, Matthew McConaughey is in this movie. He's hot." The expression on her face, the way she stated the words, it was like her reasoning should be obvious to everyone.
"Babe?" Emmett whined.
She leaned in, kissing him before whispering seductively, "But not as hot as you."
Needless to say, their PDA ruined my appetite. I wasn't given any kind of reprieve either. They spent the entire movie holding hands while cuddling. There was even kissing, followed by soft whispers of adoration. Rosalie and I weren't friends, but I saw the way she made Emmett's eyes light up, and that was why I tolerated her. There was no question he had the same effect on her.
I envied them.
What they felt toward one another, it was out in the open with no threat of being taken away by anyone's choices but their own.
That's what I wanted for Edward and me.
As soon as the credits came up, I excused myself upstairs.
After showering, I lay in bed, holding the picture of Elizabeth in my hand. I studied her face, making note of all the similarities between her and Edward until I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer.
-OO-OO-
Several days passed in much the same way. I got up every morning, spent the day with Edward then came home. Edward even spoke to Marcus another time on the Walkie-talkies. They were certainly the best investment I'd ever made.
The need to open up to Marcus about the picture was simmering deeper as the days passed. I considered that it was all a fluke, that what I felt in regard to the picture stemmed from stress and my unwavering need to help Edward. It wasn't like there weren't people around who looked as if they could be blood related. It happened all the time. I mean, I'd even been told we all had a twin somewhere across the world. I wasn't exactly sure about the validity of that statement, but I'd still been told that was the case.
With that in mind, I shrugged the feeling off, telling myself that I was overanalyzing things that didn't need analyzing, but the more I sat at my desk, holding that picture between my fingers, seeing the similar features to Edward's, the more I knew there was something to it. By Saturday night, the itch to know was a flaring need.
I considered Googling information on Elizabeth, but unfortunately, I never got her last name.
I woke up early Sunday morning with the intention of slipping out of the house before anyone woke up. Thankfully, I was able to do so.
I stopped off at the diner and grabbed coffee and donuts for Marcus, Edward and I before driving to the hospital. Marcus was on the third floor, heading into the room that led to the coed bathroom. I strolled down the hall with coffee and donuts in hand to find him.
He was cleaning out the shower stall Edward used when I walked into the bathroom.
"You know," I started. He turned around, smiling as our eyes met. "I bet people wonder why you never got any hired help to clean this place up."
"You know exactly why that is," he replied.
"I do." I nodded. I approached him, handing him a coffee.
"Thank you," he said. He took the coffee but declined a donut.
"I really think that once we get Edward out of here you should get some help finishing this place up like you wanted to."
He glanced around as he took a sip of his coffee. "Yeah, I may consider it."
I stood beside him, my eyes canvassing the room, silence enveloping us. The thicker the silence became, the more anxious I was. Marcus was not a judgmental person, but the idea of him thinking I was nuts hurt my heart. I wasn't surprised that he noticed how uncomfortable I seemed.
"You okay?" he asked, startling me. "You seem nervous."
I bit my lip. "Yeah… I just… Could we talk?"
"Of course."
I reached into my tote bag, pulling out the photo of Elizabeth. I took in a deep breath, briefly staring at the picture before handing it to him.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Just look at it," I told him.
His eyes lowered to the picture, casually, but the longer he stared at the picture, the more his brows knitted together in confusion.
I felt like I should say something, like maybe he wasn't seeing what I was hoping he would. "I know it's been awhile since you've actually seen Edward, but I just… Do you see what I see? Am I just grasping at straws with that picture? Please tell me I'm not losing my mind or anything."
"Dear God," he replied, shockingly. "She has the boy's eyes and hair."
"You remember what his eyes and hair look like?"
His focus was now on me, but the way he stared at me wasn't with the kindness that normally exuded Marcus, nor did it appear as if he was actually looking at me; it was more like he was looking through me, lost in memories.
"You never forget eyes as green and haunted as the boy's were. And that hair? I'd never seen hair that color before." He blinked, then gazed down at the picture again before looking back up at me. "Who is she? How did you come across this picture?"
"It was blind luck, honestly. I don't really know that much about her… well, other than she's the sister of Alice's mother, her name is Elizabeth, and she had a child that was taken shortly after birth. Marcus, her child was kidnapped from her."
His mouth dropped open. The hope in his eyes had my heart racing. "This doesn't mean anything, though. We have to keep open minds about this, Bella. It could be nothing at all. Coming across people that look alike is a common occurrence."
I think he was trying to convince himself of that fact more than me.
"I know that," I admitted. "I know that that's probably the case, and I've been telling myself that, but I just… For Edward, I need to be sure. If there is even a chance that he's related to Alice, we need to know, right? That would change everything for him."
"We can't assume that she's in any way related to him, but with the resemblance, we can't just let it go either. The possibility of the two being related is a stretch. You and I know that. Possibilities like this picture may produce don't ever come that easy, but it's worth a checkout. Do you… do you know where she's at now?"
I couldn't say the words for some reason, but I didn't have to. I knew when what I couldn't say registered with him. He frowned. "She's dead, isn't she?"
I nodded. "Alice said she died a year after the baby was taken. She said it was because of a broken heart."
"What about the father? Was he in the picture?"
"They don't know where he's at. I guess they haven't spoken since Elizabeth's funeral. And I'd have no way to contact him, either. I don't even know a last name, and I can't ask for it without saying why I want it."
"Well, that poses a problem." He leaned against the stall, scratching his head. "The picture can't be used as proof of anything." I started to speak, but he held up his hand. "I'm not undermining the fact that you may have stumbled onto something, and we wouldn't find ourselves in this hitch if you hadn't come across the picture, because there's definitely an uncanny resemblance, but the only thing that would be telling us for sure is DNA. Without the mom and dad…" He shook his head.
"Yeah, but Alice's DNA would share genetic markers if they're blood related. I mean, Esme and Elizabeth were sisters, Alice is Esme's daughter, so they'd have to share DNA."
"She definitely would. The question is, though, how are you getting that DNA? We can't wrestle it up ourselves, and even if we got it, we'd have no way of testing it. We wouldn't even know what to look for if we did have a way."
I rubbed my temples, trying to temper the throbbing of my head. "We can't know for sure without Alice, I know that, but I'm afraid of what kind of damage telling her may cause. Not just for her family but for Edward. I know Alice, and in this case, she'll only see things in black and white. She's either going to believe they're related or they aren't. I don't want to hurt anyone, Marcus, and I'm afraid that could happen. And think about Edward. Telling anyone about this is going to expose him. I really have no idea what to do."
He faced me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Yes, you do. Because you know what the right thing to do is, whether it's an easy decision or not. We don't have any other alternatives to go through. If we did, we'd take them. Whatever the outcome, you can't walk away from what you found, not without knowing for sure. You were right when you said this changed everything. He deserves to know if he has a family that'll love him."
"He already has a family that loves him."
"He does, but we aren't his blood, Bella."
"Blood doesn't make a family, Marcus."
"You're right, it doesn't," he agreed. "And as true as that is, he still has a right to know the truth. Finding his real family, that could be what the boy needs to get better. He was taken from the once, I know you don't want to be responsible for keeping him from them. Neither do I."
"I know you're right, but he's already getting better. They need to know, I know that, but I think-"
"You know what I mean. I know he's getting better, but they can fill in the missing pieces of him that we can't."
"It's not that I don't want to tell them, but not knowing for sure makes this risky."
"He's worth the risk. And whatever the fallout, we'll deal with it, right? We aren't losing him."
I sighed. "I'm going to be telling Alice, aren't I?"
He smiled. "You're going to be telling Alice."
"Are we really contemplating this as a possibility? We're really that insane?"
This time he laughed. "I guess we are. You might as well open up a can of worms if the cause is good enough. I can't see a better cause than this one. Besides, people have done crazier things. Just watch that Jerry Springer show, and you'll see what I mean. I've seen it all on there."
"You watch Jerry Springer?" I chuckled.
He nodded. "Why not? You're always guaranteed some entertainment."
The smile left my face. "Marcus, would it be wrong of me to wait until after Alice comes to meet him? I have this feeling like I need to wait until then. I don't know why, but I do. I'd like to see something first, how they interact with one another."
"Is your gut telling you to wait until then?"
"Yes."
"Then do what your gut tells you. No matter what, I know you'll do the right thing."
I swallowed down the fear. "I will. I promise I will. But if this doesn't turn out, I just… I'm scared for him, Marcus."
He wrapped his arm around me, hugging me. "Me too, kid. Me too."
-OO-OO-
Edward was lying on the mattress, on his stomach, reading from one of the practice books Marcus bought for him while writing on the notepad I gave him the day before. There was a bag of opened Reese's pieces to the right of him, Lancelot was on the left of him. He sat up, smiling as soon as he saw me.
"I didn't know if you'd be here today."
"Is that why you're still in your pajamas," I teased.
He looked down at his clothing, laughing. I swear I'd never get used to the sound. It always sent delightful chills up my spine. I'd love to bottle the sound and carry it with me wherever I went.
"I got lost in what I was doing."
I leaned against the doorway. "I see that. You like that book, don't you?"
He nodded. "I do. I didn't realize there was so much to learn, and I'm so behind, I-"
"You'll catch up," I told him. "Look how far you've come already."
"I know." His hand came out, reaching for me. "Come here."
I walked over to him, placing my hand in his. He pulled me down so that I was seated between his thighs, my back to his chest. His arms wrapped around me, holding me closely against his body as he pressed his face into the crook of my neck, inhaling.
"You were too far away," he whispered against my neck. I shivered from the warmth of his breath and the tone of his voice.
I sighed, leaning my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes, enjoying the way it felt to be in his arms. "You're right, I was."
His lips brushed along my cheek. "Eu senti falta de ter você em meus braços, meu anjo."
I chuckled. "I have no idea what you're saying, and you do that on purpose for exactly that reason."
He smiled against my skin. "I only said that I missed you."
"I missed you, too." I turned my head, pressing my lips softly against his. He hummed in contentment, pulling me even closer as his tongue entered my mouth, grazing mine.
"Are you spending the day with me, or do you have to leave early?" he asked as he ended the kiss.
"I didn't have any other plans today, none that were more important than you, so I'd like to spend the day with you."
His lips turned up into a beautiful smile. "I'd like that."
"Are you enjoying the candy too?" I pointed to the Reese's.
"Definitely." I was pretty sure he wasn't talking about the candy.
I reached for Lancelot, placing him in my lap. "How's Lancelot doing? Is he helping you?"
He laughed. "You could say that."
"That doesn't surprise me. I always knew he was a smart bear."
Edward nuzzled my neck, placing a kiss below my ear.
"That's quite distracting."
"Good," he responded.
As much as I didn't want to, I needed to talk with him about Alice, and if I continued to let him do what he was doing to me, I'd forget my own name, let alone telling him what I needed to.
I shifted the position I was sitting in so I could face him better, then placed my legs over one of his. "I talked with Alice last night, you know, about coming to meet you."
His fingers trailed along my cheek, his eyes traveling with the movement. He was avoiding my stare. "What did she say?"
"She agreed, of course." He smiled. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
He nodded as his eyes finally met mine. "I'm sure. I won't lie and say I'm not nervous, but it's not so bad, not since I've been talking to Marcus. I know I can do it."
I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I know you can too."
"When is she coming?"
"We agreed on Tuesday. I figured you having a couple of days notice would be easier."
He pushed a stray curl behind my ear. "You seem like something's bothering you." He knew me far too well now.
I glanced down at my lap, but I didn't want to lie to him. "I do have something on my mind."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I will. We'll talk about it, I promise, I just need to do something first. Would that be alright?"
"You know it is. I just want you to know that I'd like to help you as much as you help me. I want to be there for you."
I cupped his face in my hands. "You are, so much. It's not that I don't want to tell you. I don't want to keep anything from you, okay?"
"Okay."
"We'll talk about it, I promise."
He placed a chaste kiss against my lips. "What do you want to do today?"
I smiled at him, silently thanking him for the subject change. "Anything… as long as it's with you."
"You give a man a lot of options, Bella," he teased.
"I guess that's the opportunist in me."
He laughed. "Is that what it is?"
I nodded. "It sure is."
His voice lowered. "You probably shouldn't have said that."
The mischievous look in his eyes as he kissed me told me he was probably right.
-OO-OO-
We passed the day reading, working on his practice books, watching movies, taking strolls through the hospital because Marcus left us for the day, even talking about different places we'd like to go together once he was out of the hospital.
He got a little writing practice by mapping out places we'd go on a piece of paper. He said we'd take one long vacation, going to each place one right after the other. Theoretically, I knew it wouldn't happen that way, but it was nice seeing him making plans for the future, especially ones he was excited about.
We'd just started a game of cards – I'd been teaching him how to play Spades – when he placed the cards he held on the bed, face down, and reached for my hand.
"Do you remember what we were talking about a few days ago?"
"Which part?" I asked.
"The part about going outside."
I set my cards down just as he had. "I remember. Are you… You want to go out right now?"
"We're making these plans to go to all these places. The pictures are great, beautiful even, but it's not the same as really experiencing. I want to do all these things with you, go to all these places, but I can't do that if I can't even step outside of this building."
"I know, and I'm certainly not going to say you aren't ready to, but you want to go now? You haven't even eaten dinner."
"Dinner can wait," he stated pointedly. "I know you worry about me freaking out, but I made it to the door once, didn't I? And that was before I was even comfortable walking around the hospital."
"It's not that I-"
He stared past me toward the doorway. "I don't blame you, because I know how I acted before."
"Hey, look at my face," I told him. He did as I asked. "I believe in you. I believe in what you can do and what you will do. I worry about you, yes, but not because I think you're weak and can't manage things on your own. You've shown me how strong and independent you can be. I was a little thrown off at first, but my asking about going had nothing to do with anything but eating dinner first." I stood up, holding my hand out to him. "If you want to go now, we'll go now."
He lifted himself off the mattress, completely dedicated to his decision, then took my hand, and we crossed the threshold of the doorway, moving down the hallway. Once we entered the boiler room, I glanced down at my watch to see the time.
"I had no idea it was after seven. The moon should be coming out now. You'll get to see it again, but without the fireworks this time."
By the time we made it to the second floor, he was still following beside me. He was quiet, but his steps never faltered. The last time we found ourselves in this particular juncture, he was shaking pretty badly because of it, but he forced himself to the doorway. He was nervous now, but he was still in control.
"It's just like last time," I explained. "I'll open the door, and we can either stand at the doorway, or we can step outside as far as you'd like to."
He straightened his body as much as his nerves would allow. "I want to try stepping outside."
We started toward the door slowly. His breathing elevated, but it wasn't obscenely different. Once we stood in front of the doorway, I opened it just as slowly as we approached it. I didn't want to make any sudden movements and take a chance at startling him.
I knew that this was what he wanted to do, this was a decision he made on his own, but the fact of the matter was, his actions, despite how ready he claimed he was, were unpredictable. The situation had him anxious, but I wanted him to be as comfortable as possible.
When the door was fully opened, I stepped out first, taking small steps to keep with him.
He took one step at a time, moving cautiously, following me onto the broken pavement outside the doorway. I kept my eyes on him for the most part, only turning away long enough to make sure I wasn't going to stumble over something along the walkway, watching for any signs of stress. He never stopped moving with me, his eyes scattering around anxiously at our surroundings.
It was like he was in awe of everything, though he was nervous, trying to soak it all in at once. The way his eyes darted from one object to the next, it reminded me of a small child who saw Christmas lights for the first time and became entranced by the multi-colored glow they produced.
We stopped where the cement met the grass. If he wanted to move further, we would.
"Are you okay?" I asked. The need for him to be alright overpowered the sheer joy I felt at what he was achieving.
He continued looking around as we took more steps away from the building. "I'm… I'm alright." He shook his head. "I never…"
"You never what?"
His eyes found mine, tears brimmed the corners. "God, Bella," he breathed. "I… It's so beautiful."
I smiled widely, stepping toward him to wrap my arms around his waist. "It is, isn't it?"
I pressed my ear against his chest, listening to the rapid thump of his heart. He lowered his head, resting his chin on the top of my head as his arms came around my shoulders.
"I feel the air on my face," he whispered.
That one sentence, the way he said it, like that single act was the most extraordinary thing he ever experienced, had the tears rolling down my cheeks. Feeling the air on my face, it was something I didn't ponder much because I was used to it. In a sense, I took it for granted because of that fact, but Edward, it was something quite profound to him. What most people took for granted, he appreciated.
"That's my truck over there." I pointed in the direction where it sat.
His eyes shot in the direction I was pointing to, but he kept silent for the longest time.
"Thank you." His hands came up, cradling my face, tilting my head upward so he could look at me. "Eu não sei como lhe agradecer pelo que você me deu, e eu não tenho muito para dar em troca, mas eu lhe dou meu amor, Bella. Por quanto tempo quiser, é seu."
I had no idea what he said, but it didn't matter. In that moment, the only thing that mattered was that I loved him, he loved me, I was in his arms, and the future that seemed impossible for him several months ago was, despite the heavy obstacles we were about to face, very possible.
I chose right then to believe that everything was going to be alright.
-OO-OO-OO-OO-
Eu senti falta de ter você em meus braços, meu anjo = I missed feeling you in my arms, my angel.
Eu não sei como lhe agradecer pelo que você me deu, e eu não tenho muito para dar em troca, mas eu lhe dou meu amor, Bella. Por quanto tempo quiser, é seu = I don't know how to thank you for what you've given me, and I don't have much to give in return, but I give you my love, Bella. For as long as you want it, it's yours.
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