His Wife | Twilight Saga | Carlisle Cullen

11: Stories and Fixing Things

*Third POV*

Carlisle walked slowly inside the comfortable house as the burden of sorrow and shame pressed down on him. He groaned loudly as venom laced his lower lashes as he reclined back onto the sofa in the living room and covered his face with his hands.

"...but us... that's not easy to fix."

The venom in her voice as she spat the words at him kept echoing in his head, causing his heart to contract in agony. He heard his family entering the living room and took his face out of his hands to look at the fireplace. His family sat around him and watched his immobile body with anxiety.

"Carlisle," Connor called to him, "Are you gonna be alright?" he asked.

When Carlisle turned to look at his brother-in-law, Connor noticed that the once-bright golden hue of his eyes had faded to a duller, deader form. He didn't respond to Connor, instead returning his gaze to the fire for a few more seconds before saying, "I don't want any help," which alarmed the family.

"What?!"

"Carlisle, that isn't a wise decision."

"I've seen everything playing out."

"We can talk to her kids, maybe they can help."

"Enough!" Carlisle yelled, shocking everyone in the room because he had never before yelled at his family. Carlisle turned to face his family once again, his eyes burning and venomous, but not angry, but rather sorrowful and broken. Before saying, "She said so herself, we're not an easy thing to fix so it's gonna be hard and complicated and I'd rather not have you kids meddle with our relationship right now," he combed his fingers through his golden locks. "By law, we're still married; she is still my wife, and if she hasn't changed much since I last saw her, I might be able to save our marriage," he said, looking at the ground.

No one spoke, preferring to simply gaze at the damaged man in front of them. When the doorbell rang, Emmett got up and went downstairs, where he could see several people through the glass window. The Heinz and Reinhart children, Ian, and Mateo all greeted him when he opened the door. Ian said, "May we come in, Mr. Cullen?" with a sneer, acting as though they were still at school. Emmett glanced at them all in confusion.

"Uh yeah, yeah come on in," Emmett replied and opened the door wider as they all filtered through.

They were all taken aback by how different the Cullen mansion was from their own, how much less lavish yet modern it was. Emmett anxiously wiped his hands on his slacks and asked, "Was there anything I could help you with?"

They all turned to look at Christian, who was standing in the middle of the group. "We've come to speak with you all," he spoke with a steady, unflinching voice and showed no signs of fear. From upstairs, Carlisle's eyes jumped to the stairwell as he heard Christian's voice, as he could see so much of himself in the youngster. Emmett nodded and led them all upstairs where the family was listening to the conversation.

Carlisle saw so much of himself in Christian as he entered the room with his family. As humans, they shared beautiful blue eyes and similar curly hair. Christian's entire physique was remarkably similar to Carlisle's as a little kid. However, Christian still had his mother's dark brown hair instead of Carilse's golden one.

Before answering, Christian looked around at everyone else rather than returning the man's stare. "For one, I think it very rude to listen in on one's conversation and their thoughts," His gaze flashed to Edward, who scowled regretfully at being discovered. "Secondly, we've come to make amends of sorts with our friends," The children of Cullen and Hale perked up at this, glad to have kept their newfound friends.

Esme, ever the sweetest, smiled at the children and men, "Why don't you take a seat," She said and motioned towards the empty couch in front of them. Ian and Mateo sat down with Christian in the centre while the other children moved closer to their friends, Carlisle was staring right at Christina who didn't even acknowledge him.

Ian cleared his throat, "Mateo why don't you start?" He asked gazing lovingly at his mate, who smiled back at him.

Mateo turned to face them all and said, "Bea has given us permission to tell you some of her life," before starting the narrative, "After Carlisle disappeared, Beatrice had a difficult existence. Men came to court her but she turned them down because she always thought he would return. It wasn't until a man stayed he knew who she was; his name was Arthur, and he was a nobleman and one of our kind. Just after she gave birth to Christian, he was the one who changed her," Mateo stroked his fingers over Christian's curls as the youngster leant back onto his uncle. "She took advantage of her talent to raise her child safely because she was gifted with the ability of compulsion"

Ian said, "She travelled the world with Christian when he was old enough, Arthur had joined them before they split apart so she could find Carlisle, along the way she found all of us, Mateo was the first back in 1769, he was dying after saving a woman who was being beaten by her lover," The words connected with Rosalie, "I was next back in 1864, I was apart of the American Civil War, I was fighting on the Union's side but I was however shot down by the Major of the Texas Calvary, Jasper Whitlock," Ian turned to face Jasper, who froze. "Mateo found me dying on the ground and brought me to Bea; I thought I was seeing angels," he said.

"She found Malia and me next, it was 1901, I'm technically the older sister out of the two of us, I was a part of the protest for women's rights, and I was a strong believer that we deserved what the men got, I was walking home one day after a protest and I was dragged into an alley by people my father considered colleagues...they beat me to death, I was only seventeen," said Lily from her seat next to Alice and Jasper. When Beatrice, who was passing by, discovered what had happened, she became furious and compelled them to leave, which is when she changed me. It turned out that Christian and I were mates when she took me to her house."

Nathaniel talked while leaning on the couch where his uncles and brother were sitting. "She turned me and Malia in 1914," he said. "We were lovers, World War I had just begun, and I was drafted out. She didn't want me to leave; it was as if she knew I was going to die...but I had no choice. After a few months, it finally happened. As everyone withdrew, I was shot dead and left on the battlefield. I was in excruciating pain, but I wasn't prepared to hear footsteps just before I passed away. Believing it to be the enemy, I grabbed my gun and fired. I believed I had accomplished something significant, but as I heard a chuckle, everything changed. When I awoke, Beatrice and Christian were there. They showed me how to survive, but it wasn't until we returned to my hometown and I saw Malia once more that I realised she needed to undergo the same changes since she was my mate. I was aware of that even then."

"When he came home, I knew he was different," Malia was speaking next to Rosalie. "His body was colder and his reflexes were sharper, I was pissed at him, he never once returned my letters and no one knew what happened to him, he showed me what he was, he introduced me to Beatrice who asked me if I wanted this life, without hesitation I said yes and she changed me, I wasn't expecting to find my older sister who had disappeared thirteen years ago however," Malia chuckled.

After hearing their experiences, everyone fell silent; some were surprised that they had been involved. Christian rose up and eventually turned to face Carlisle, who was staring back at him. "I'm not forgiving you, not yet at least, it's like Mother said, you have to prove yourself but...it would be nice getting to know my father," he replied with a slight grin.

"I'd like that," Carlisle replied, "I'd like that very much."

Mateo said, "We will come back around another time, I can see you all have many questions," as Ian rose up. "I think it's time we head home now, children," Mateo said. They quickly left the Cullen home after that and returned to their own. Although millions of questions were raised by everyone who was astonished and perplexed, they could wait until another time.