Sunday, June 28, 2009
Chapter 4. Childhood Memories


Charlie came over to visit today. He would come over to visit once every few weeks on his off day, whenever he’s not out fishing with Billy Black. He had grown used to Nessie’s extreme growth sprout over the past year, and his annoyance at Edward had noticeably reduced too.

We heard the cruiser pulled into the driveway. We were at the doorway welcoming him in a flash. I’m still loved the whole speed thing. I felt proud of myself whenever I beat Edward home every time after we hunted, even though I knew he had lost on purpose to make me happy.

Charlie came stumbling into the front room holding a parcel with a huge FedEx stamp at its side. Edward took the parcel from him before he could protest.

“Grandpa!” screamed Nessie, as she broke off Rosalie’s hold on her and began to race down the stairs towards him. Charlie welcomed her with open arms and they stayed in a tight embrace for a while. When they broke apart, their eyes were lighted up, excited to see each other.

I leaned my head on Edward’s shoulder and smiled as I watched their little reunion. A familiar warm feeling of pride and love was filling every inch of my cold stone body.

“Wow Nessie! You have grown an inch taller since I’ve last saw you.” remarked Charlie, as Nessie spanned around in a circle to show off her dress, her latest present from Alice. Nessie threw him a proud grin and pulled him to sit at the couch, where she happily settled onto his lap. I pulled Edward forward and joined them at the couch.

“What’s in the box, Grandpa?” asked Nessie, pointing to the parcel in Edward’s hands.

“Oh, Renee sent it over last week, asking me to pass it to you. But I forgot about it, until I saw it again this morning.” Charlie replied, while looking sheepishly at me.

I raised an eyebrow and shot a curious look to Edward, who reflected the same interest in his liquid golden eyes. The family started to gather around me to see the contents of the parcel. Carefully using normal human speed, I took the parcel from Edward and opened it.

Lifting up a little pink tutu from the top of the pile, I stared at it as I struggled to remember why it was looking so familiar to me. The video at the ballet studio! I shuddered slightly as I remembered the deathly survival game with the tracker James three years back; everyone except Charlie and Nessie caught it.

“Momma! What is this?” asked Nessie, as she bounced off Charlie’s lap and walked over to me.

“Nessie darling, this used to be Momma’s when I was learning ballet as a kid” I answered, as I passed the tutu for her to examine. She held it in front of her and whirled around to show the rest. Murmuring appraisals came in response.

While Nessie continued to show everyone her latest possession, I dug deeper into the box and pulled out an old worn out white bunny toy. Some of its whiskers had already dropped off, and one of its round black eyes was missing. It was my favourite toy, when I was young. I remembered that I used to throw tantrums, refusing to sleep without it.

Clutching the bunny close to me, I let vague little precious human memories that I still remembered flood my mind. Edward wrapped his left arm around me and gave me a gentle squeeze. Giving him a small smile to reassure him that I was alright, I released my shield and showed him my thoughts. He smiled as he watched the flashback in my mind.

“You were so cute even when you’re little, love.” He chuckled, as he watched the little Bella’s desperate attempts to dance gracefully across the ballet studio which always ended up with her sprawling face-down on the floor.

I jabbed him in the ribs and smiled as he winced a little. Guess I still don’t know my own strength. Returning my attention back to Nessie, I watched as she dug more old dresses out of the box. Renee had kept all of the things from my growing years.

Waves of guilt washed over me. I had not seen Renee since the wedding last year. I kept my distance, believing that would make her safe. I only emailed her once every few weeks, but not a single phone call to her. My voice was simply not the same anymore. She tried calling a few times, but each time I had Edward answered for me, giving one reason or another for my absence. After few rejections in a row, she gave up and settled with just emailing me to stay in touch.

Carefully concealing my emotions, I rose and excused myself to my room, with Edward following behind. Charlie and the rest of the family did not mind; Nessie was putting on a great fashion show while playing dress-up with my old dresses.

Once back into the safety of the room, I flung myself into Edward’s waiting embrace and began a hysterical round of tearless sobs. He knew I was just holding it back so that I wouldn’t upset Charlie and Nessie. I had no idea how much time had passed before I finally pulled myself back together.

“Bella, love, it’s okay. You don’t have to rush down. They are doing fine without us.” Edward pulled me back and gave me a kiss. I accepted his kiss hungrily; I was feeling empty, drained of happiness.

“Let’s go down. I’m ready.” I said finally, breaking away before my determination could waver. Taking a deep breath, I braced myself and stepped out of the room. Edward chuckled and wrapped his right arm round my waist. I could hear happy voices and laughter from the room below. Immediately I felt a strong, desirable urge to join them, to laugh with them. Together we walked down hand in hand, to meet the family that I loved so much.

***

10:23 PM